LA Initiation Complete

Yesterday I played a little pick up soccer some African/Jamaican and Asian brothers (sorry if that was not the political correct way to put it) Anyhow the point of the story is this….. I scored, and following the event I was received into the culturally diverse fold. Me, Vanilla, was accepted as they cheered on the "white girl" and gave me high fives. So I have arrived- I have made it in LA baby, my initiation is complete. However, I may or may not be able to understand all the forms of English here.

Burritos & Bandidos Murder Mystery

It is fiesta night in the little village of Adios, Mexico and a group of party revelers are gathered on the outdoor patio at the Hasta La Vista Cantina. In the darkness and noisy confusion of a fireworks display, Senora Margartia Spencer is fatally stabbed with a small dagger. Recently widowed, the beautiful and charismatic Margarita had returned to the village of her birth to invest her multi-million dollar inheritance and develop Adios into a world class travel resort. Not everyone was excited about Margartia's return. One of the guests at the cantina had murder in mind!
For New Years Eve this year Rachel spiced up our night with hosting a dinner murder mystery. We had a great time making the food, finding our costumes, pretending we were good at accents, and playing along with the plot. So without any further adieu
Introducing...

Senorita Bonita and Warren Peace

Rusty Pick (or should I say Rusty Pickle), Xochitl ('Desert Flower'), and Squaw Baby

Windy Skies and Kay Pasa

Juan and Don Diamblo (with Squaw Baby)

Sergeant Honesto Seguro- I am the law

Ode to Frugality

Living in a very expensive city and not having any income can pose some interesting dilemmas. It has been weird for Enoch and I not to have jobs for the past five months while going to school. At first all the adjusting to a new school system new place did not allow time for employment, but now it is time for me to get on top and find my place as a suga' mama.

I can say that I have learned a great deal from this experience. Here are some of my finanical thoughts as of late:

-the financial plan of just not spending any more than you have to is not realistic

-When being overly frugal if all you do is get frustrated at how carelessly others spend their money and how they don't deserve it- it is you in the wrong and not them (from experience)

-Frugality is fun when you let it be, for instance it allows you to anticipate the simple and not so simple things in life more, for instance eating out is a big deal to us, we are going on a "hot date' when this occurs

-Elder Hales in the April 2009 General Conferences gave a pointnet example of how having a goal in saving money makes things more meaningful, "When our boys were young, we had a family council and set a goal to take a “dream vacation” down the Colorado River. When any of us wanted to buy something during the next year, we would ask each other, “Do we really want to buy that thing now, or do we want to take our dream trip later?” This was a wonderful teaching experience in choosing provident living. By not satisfying our every immediate want, we obtained the more desirable reward of family togetherness and fond memories for years to come"

-earthly happiness does not come by material means, repeat, repeat, repeat

-there is nothing wrong with a $10 eating out budget a month and a $10 clothing allowance

-we must have a really strong testimony of education to go through all this trouble

-you can live in a home where the roof leaks, there is constant ant attacks, a never ending supply of dust, and no coach if it means you can save over $1,000 a month in rent

-this month's Relief Society message taught me that provident living is more than building your food storage and getting out of debt/ saving money. Julie Beck teaches, "We become self-reliant through obtaining sufficient knowledge, education, and literacy; by managing money and resources wisely, being spiritually strong, preparing for emergencies and eventualities; and by having physical health and social and emotional well-being."

The Lord is so watchful of our needs, he is present in all things and desires greatly to bless us, this principle has been demonstrated time after time as we receive pell grants and other random grants

Home for the Holidays

Attending college in Provo made life very convenient when holidays and any other special occasion came around, a quick 30 minute drive and I was on my front doorstep. However, this year things have been very different with our recent move to California. For the first time (besides the study abroad I went on) I have yearned to come home for the holiday and understand what the sentiment really means. The wonderful atmosphere of my parents home all decorated with holiday cheer, the smell of delicious food, and the close friendship of my family and friends was such a treat for me. This year was Enoch's year for Christmas with his family and so we made our drive December 26 to long the awaited Highland. Our lists were long of all the things we wanted to do while in Utah, here are some of the highlights

Coming from So Cal we cherished the snow and made time for sledding
twice and tried our hand at cross country skiing
My cousin Kelli got married over the Christmas break, I felt lucky to be in Utah at the time. She looked absolutely gorgeous and the event was wonderful even though the temperature was not so wonderful (under 10 degrees). We also were able to stop by the new family History center and low and behold found some sweet stuff on our ancestor Abigail McBride thanks to Rachel's love of history!
Kennedy was of course the center of our world during the time of our stay, and is by far the cutest thing that has ever happened to the Bradshaw family up to this point
Go Cougars!
She absolutely loves the horses which of course delighted my dad and of course they were the best of friends the entire time, she lovingly refers to him as pampa (grandpa)
Enoch also took to the horse riding and found himself racing in the snow with Ryan- they are crazy, (horses are so pretty in the snow)
Kennedy of course realizing her influence soon caught in the the fact that any time she wanted to see the horses she just simply needed to say "orses, orses" and run the door and we would shortly wrap her up and take her for a visit. Enoch's style was my personal favorite for this visit to see the horses.
We even visited my mom at her preschool (and caught snack time) little Kennedy fit right in. It was darling how my mom passes out the snacks and each kid has to answer if they want any and then say please and thank you Mrs. Bradshaw- when she came around to Kennedy I began to flinch wondering if she was up to the challenge and with style she said her please and thank you- Rachel has trained her well
No visit to Utah would be complete without BYU athletics, we went to a men's basketball game and it was awesome, here is for hoping the cougars will stay ranked highly longer than football team did this year
Finally, we loved seeing our roommates and catching up with friends, I think I am one of the luckiest girls alive to have such wonderful friends and family, thank you Utah

Ingredients for a Merry Christmas

#1 Get the Christmas rolling with high class chime playing with good friends at the Ward Christmas Party
#2 Go and look at Christmas lights, one stop shopping at this house- no need to look for any better lights
#3 Add liberal amounts of family#4 Throw some old school bed linens on and read from Luke 2

P.S. I can't believe I was able to play Mary this year, that is such a coveted role in the Bradshaw family that I thought came but once a lifetime
#5 Insert some seriously cute nieces as angels, with tin foil halo's
# We can't overlook Cynthia's skeleton pj's which Enoch made it a point to teach her where her tibia was
#7 and a crazy Grandpa to open presents with
#8 Now the secret ingredient, the best husband and most understanding friend in the world- ENOCH

Our 1st Anniversary!

(ok, sorry I am a bit behind)
I can hardly believe that Enoch and I have been married a year now, but we were so excited to celebrate it none the less. To start things off Enoch came home from his last final and completely surprised me with tickets to Mary Poppins. It was so thoughtful considering I am a total sucker for theater and Mary Poppins was my favorite play I saw in London. I love the magic of Mary Poppins, all of the dancing, and of course Bert.

We then traveled to Huntington Beach for the rest of our celebration. We tried being a bit risky and booked our hotel through Hotwire, luckily we were rewarded and for a mere $75 a night we scored a 4 star suite

Here is the view from our Balcony

We loved walking to the pier and watching the sunset and all of the amazing surfers

and of course.... the beach

and the Newport Beach boat parade
I can never express how wonderful marriage is, there is no doubt in my mind that family is the central unit in the world. It has been such a blessing to have begun my family with Enoch a year ago.

Christmas Reflections

This year Enoch and I were asked to sing in the stake Christmas fireside. When I agreed to it I thought we would be singing with another couple for some reason; however, it soon became very apparent to me that was not the case. I love singing and all, but I have not have many successful experiences logged in front of people before- you can imagine my anxiety.

With that being said, Sunday rolls around and Enoch and I were frantically practicing good ol 'What Child is This' all morning and praying even harder that things would work out. The day continued and soon the fireside arrived. The program was beautiful, based off Charles Dickens’s experiences while writing the Christmas Carol with the overall theme of Peace on Earth and Good Will Towards All. The other musicians were serious all professions I could swear and they didn't even sweat a beat, yet Enoch and I trembling got up and managed to finish our number. We were nothing special I can assure you, but once I sat down I become so overwhelmed by the thought that I was and have been able to do so many things I never thought were possible. Singing the duet with my sweet husband was just a small example of this as this year as I have moved to a new place, attended school somewhere different, made many enormous decisions, got married... the list goes on. Therefore, this Christmas will stand out to me as a time where I have defied my self-imposed limits and attempted to stretch and share my talents. I have learned to never put a barrier on what I can, or each of us can do.