Gilbert cruise video

Enjoy!
Cruise posts: here here here here here here and here :)

A Birthday Post

Monday=happy birthday to me!

Thanks to my sweet husband and wonderful family, I had an amazing birthday.

My husband woke me up at 2am to tell me that he had stayed up to finish all of his papers (he had four 8 page papers due Monday/Tuesday--this is why I'm not an English major!)

I had told Taylor not to worry about celebrating on Monday night.

I knew he had so much to do for all of his papers + finals!

I suggested we do a quick dinner, and then he could spend the rest of the evening doing school work.

But that sweet boy worked so hard over the weekend and into the night so that he was completely free to celebrate on my birthday.

What a gem!

I woke up to a world full of snow.
That was a little bit of a downer.
It has been so warm lately and I was hoping snow season was over.
Guess not.

Some of my students even remembered  my birthday!
I got a (half-open) box of Mike and Ike's and a coke.
The coke was not half open--just wanted to clarify. ha
These kids--I love them.

Taylor wanted to give me his presents before I left for work, but I told him I wanted to wait.
I like the suspense and excitement.
But he was dying all day.
So when I got home, he told me he had to give me one present before he spilled the beans on the other.
Present #1 was Lincoln! (the movie)
I LOVED it--and am SO glad I own it now.
Good job, Tay!

I also opened a gift from my sister, Marci.
Earrings, watch, and a top!
Look how cute!

Per request, my parentals sent me a gift card to PF Changs.

So guess where we went to dinner?

By the end of dinner, Taylor was dying.

It was so cute--he was literally like a little boy trying to keep the biggest secret.

He told me that he had the best hiding spot for it:

My bag that I take to work.

"You've been carrying your present in your bag for the past two days!"

Really? I was so confused.  How did I not notice?

He tossed me my bag and told me to look for it.

I looked for a few seconds--but found nothing.

After being thoroughly confused, Taylor laughed and said, "It's actually not in there now.  It's right here." He faced my open laptap towards me and opened on the screen was FINAL CUT PRO X!

Here's my initial reaction--I thought he was kidding at first!

Big thanks to Mom and Dad Gilbert who helped out!

I was sooo excited!

He downloaded it on my computer a few days ago--lucky for him, I didn't notice.

(hence, his hint: I had carried it around for the past two days)

I have been going down to BYU to use FCP there. 

But it is SO much more convenient to have my own!

I had dreamed of it--but never, ever thought to ask for it.

I have quite a few half-finished movies.

It takes weeks to finish just ONE, because I have to find the time to go to BYU and stay there for a couple of hours.

I'm still learning--but hoping to keep getting better!

I seriously CANNOT express how PERFECT this gift was.

My husband knows me much too well.

Later that evening we had cake and ice cream with family.

My camera was pretty much dead (clearly I did not expect to be getting FCP, or it would have been fully charged!)

So I only had like four video clips to work with, but I made this short video on my very own FCP :)

The Boston Bombings happened on my birthday.

It seemed a little strange to be celebrating when something so awful had just happened.

My heart breaks for Boston.

Yesterday, I asked Taylor, "Why are people so mean?"

And he reminded me, "When things are wrong in the world, look for the kindness."

He's so right, and so wise.

I am comforted by the kindness shown in times of tragedy.

I am surely praying for Boston.

All in all, I had a pretty prefect 22nd birthday.

I'm ready to see what big 22 has in store for me. 

Bring it on, world!

How is it fair?

When we were in Ensenada, we met these beautiful children.
They were sitting next to their lovely mother as she sold little trinkets to tourists on the side of the road
While my Mom looked at their mother's items, I "talked" to the children.
They didn't understand much of what I was saying.
And I didn't understand anything they were saying.
But through smiles and laughing, we understood each other.
I asked the mother in broken spanish if I could take some pictures of them.
Big Brother (blue shirt) was instantly amazed.
I'm not sure if he had ever seen a camera before.
When I showed him the picture of himself on the digital screen, he couldn't stop giggling.
"Mas! Mas!"
He would make funny faces and then point to the screen--indicating that he wanted to see the picture.
Little brother wasn't quite sure what to think of the situation.
He was pouty and stayed a good distance away.
Big Brother noticed Little Brother's hesitancy and decided to include him on the fun.
He motioned for me to take a picture of Little Brother.
When I showed Little Brother the picture of himself, his frown instantly turned to a smile.
And soon he was also saying, "Mas! Mas!"

After a few minutes of snapping pictures and laughing together, it was time to go.
But as I walked away from those sweet children, I couldn't help but think about them.
They were impressed and fascinated by something that seemed so "normal" in my everyday life.

As I was thinking about these children, another boy--probably around 13 years old--approached me to ask if I would buy one of his trinkets.
I politely declined.
But he continued to follow me.
Nothing unusual in Mexico.
But this time, this boy, he was different.
He asked me for money "one dollar. uno dollar."
I honestly only had a debit card on me--no cash.
I told him, "I'm sorry! I don't have any money.  I wish I did!"
And then instantly I saw it--the fire in his eyes.
He looked at me with such hatred.
I had never felt so small on the inside.
I had said, "I don't have any money."
But to him--we had so much.
And from the look in his eyes, I knew he was frustrated with the imbalance of the world.
Here I was: a large camera strapped around my neck, a $200 watch on my wrist, an iphone in my hand, walking back towards an immensely large cruise ship--and I was telling this small boy in tattered clothes and dirty cheeks that "I don't have any money."
He continued to follow me even as I continued to repeat, "No dinero...no dinero. Lo siento!"
With the fire still in his eyes, he would repeat, "No verdad. Mas dinero." (okay---maybe this spanish is wrong, I understood what he was saying from my few years of high school spanish, but I'm not sure if I'm saying it right as I recall the conversation.)
Then he pointed to my watch.
"Give me that."
I looked at the watch.
I suddenly felt wrong wearing it.
And yet--I told him no.
This watch has so much sentimental value: Taylor gave it to me on our first Valentine's Day.
How could I give that up?
But as I walked away--I felt guilt.
And not because I didn't give him my watch--but because somehow, in the large scheme of things, I ended up in a comfortable and easy life.
While this young boy was begging on the streets, clearly consumed with feelings of injustice at how the world had played its cards.

Those small children and that bold, fiery boy left me thinking for the rest of the night.
Am I quick to be fascinated by the simple things in life?
Am I quick to be grateful for what I have?
Am I quick to act in a charitable way and think of others before myself?
Am I quick to ignore my wants and instead focus on someone else's needs?

That 13 year old boy has made me start to think about other imbalances in life:
How is it fair that I was born into a loving family--with supportive parents and wonderful siblings?
How is it fair that I was born in a free country?
How is it fair that I have been lucky enough to find a wonderful eternal companion?
How is it fair that I was born in the gospel while others seem so far from ever finding the truth?

I asked Taylor some of these questions last week.
And he answered simply, "It is fair. God knows what he's doing."
And as much as those thoughts consume me--how is it fair? I find comfort in the fact that God does know what he's doing.
It wasn't just a random distribution of "cards."
While I probably won't ever understand exactly how it works, I know that God loves me as much as he loves those small children in Ensenada.
He listens to me.
He listens to them.
He cares for me.
He cares for them.
He knows me.
He knows them.

And in the end--what could be more fair than the love of a Father in Heaven?

But I also know that I can do my part.
I can help others feel loved.
I can help others feel important.
I can share the love I feel from my Heavenly Father with those who don't quite understand how to feel His love.

And I'm determined to do just that.

Sacramento for 24 hours.

After the cruise, I decided I would drive the 6 hours to Sacramento with my parents so that I could see my grandparents, my grandma, and the cutest Wallace fam you ever did see!

Then on Sunday afternoon I flew home out of the Sacramento airport.

Oh, but before Sacramento pictures--isn't this the loveliest of all lovely pictures of Jamie?

Too bad it's blurry -_-

I was most excited to see this cute face!

I hadn't seen him since he was a month old! 

He is seriously the happiest & cutest little nephew in the world (along with Max and Nate of course---my other nephews ;)

Isn't my grandpa the cutest?

 His face is totally like, "Okay, Aunt Kelli, do we seriously need to take 5 bilion pictures together?"

 (I am so sad I didn't get a picture with my other grandma!)

And oh, hey. I even got to watch bath time.

I almost died.

The sisters went on a 10pm run. 

It was so fun!

Wish I lived there so that I always had running buddies!

 (sorry Marce, I had to include this--it killed me!)

Then we pulled Mama into a picture.

And apparently, Marci and I are only capable of one normal picture. ha

I found these last two pictures on my camera the other day.

HA!

Guess that's what you get for playing with my camcam ;)

I miss them already!

Especially baby J!

A rant. --edited

Okay...so if you read my blog before 6pm yesterday, you read the pre-edited version of this post.
After contemplating on what I had originally written, I decided it would be in my best interest to edit the post.
I went into quite a bit of detail--and, let's face it, I want to keep my job ;)
So, here is the edited (and much shorter!) version.

It is 12:15.

And today has been just one thing after the other.

Every time something happens, I think, "Well, it can only get better, right?"

Wrong.

This was my day:

Woke up late.
(forgot to set my alarm)

Hurried to get to school.

Staff meeting that I wasn't happy with.

I have prep 1st period.
Another teacher asked if I would copy some things for her during my prep.
I had a lot to get done, but I figured I would be nice and do it.
But there were copy problems (not her fault--just the copy machine)--so it took almost half of my prep to make those copies for her.

Then, during the other half of my prep--the internet goes down.
Great. I desperately needed the internet during my prep.
Oh, and my whole WW2 lesson is an interactive lesson today--with internet.
I worked SO hard on this lesson.
SO many hours.
I was so frustrated that this lesson wouldn't work for today.
I did the best I could to stall for time while the internet was being fixed.
It did finally get back up, thank goodness.

It probably doesn't help that I'm extremely tired.
I've been worried about how Taylor has been sleeping.
(oh, p.s. he had minor surgery yesterday)

I decided I would go and get a soda from the teachers lounge to lift my mood.
I rarely drink soda--but I figured it was well deserved.
Coke.
Sold out.
Dr. pepper.
Sold out.
Sprite.
Sold out.
Diet Coke.
FINALLY.

But what do you know?
I open it and take a sip.
It's EXPIRED.
The expiration date was December 2012.

What are you going to throw at me next, world!?

Here's to better days ahead.

I really want...

CHOCOLATE.

It's just one of those days.

P.S. In my teacher box today I found an envelope that says "Gilbert."

Inside?

A Barnes and Noble giftcard that said "Thank You."

But no hint as to who it is from!

What did I do to deserve this?

Dear sneaky&kind person out there: thanks! 

That really brightened my day. :)

I

Ensenada + randoms

Our last stop was Ensenada.

It was mostly just a tourist trap.

Jai almost died though. It was all shopping. And that's all Jamie.

She spent a few pretty pennies there ;)

These first two pictures are just two randoms from the night before Ensenada.

But I wanted to fit them in somewhere. :)

Okay...on to Ensenada!

 This picture was right after I found wi-fi and was able to FaceTime Taylor! 

It was only for like 10 minutes, but I couldn't stop smiling the whole day afterwards.

It was the first time I talked to him in 7 days!

Sorry for the picture overload.

I have seriously been spoiled with wonderful vacations the last little bit. :)