City of Angels - 30 Seconds to Mars

About 3.5 months ago I put myself to the test and decided to do the "100 days of happy challenge" via Instagram. I wanted to do it because sometimes I feel like life, and people, often try to get the better of us. It/they think that if one thing is "off" then we're automatically miserable. This isn't the case and, for me, hasn't ever really been the case. I very much try to keep all aspects of my life in their own area. work stays with work, relationships stay with their own relationships, and so on.

I know that if we try and look for one good thing in the day it can change your whole outlook. The goal with me was to not put so much of an effort in trying to find the one thing just so I could get it over with. It was all about enjoying the little things and at the end of the day being overwhelmed with gratitude because hey, life is pretty swell.

I'm a happy person. I try to be positive and optimistic and maybe I have it easy because I have a lot of good things going for me. But it hasn't always been flowers. I obviously have bad days but in the end we all control our attitudes.

You get what you put in and I am really happy that I stayed consistent in my postings because now I have over 3 months of memories and the knowledge that there is always good if you allow it.

I put together a little video with all the pictures I posted in the 100 days. (It's below, I'm still learning how to make my posts snazzy.) I decided on City of Angels as my background song because first, this band and song are aaahhhhmazing. Secondly, it's all about LA. Even though I was young when we moved to Utah California will always be a home to me. That west side state has a way of bringing me to life. It makes me... happy.

I Go Back - Kenny Chesney

“We all have a song that somehow stamped our lives; Takes us to another place and time.”

I am eternally grateful for the connection I have always had with music. How a simple melody with words can resurface so many emotions and memories. Along with hearing some tunes I also love how various smells can gently pick you up and drop you into a whole different world. Today I wanted to expound on something that happened earlier this week when I was mentally taken to a different time.

I was getting ready for bed one night and I was feeling a little chilly so I asked Zack to grab me another blanket. He ended up grabbing one that belonged to my Nana. He put it over me and I was talking to Padfoot when I got a whiff of a familiar smell. I stopped mid-sentence and looked questioningly at the blanket. Then I sniffed the blanket. It was the same smell from so long ago. It was my grandma’s house.

In my mind I moved myself to years prior when I would spend nights at my grandma’s and she would tuck me in. Obviously I started bawling but the memory of her and the constant love was so sweet.

I don’t know how that blanket had that scent. My Nana has been gone for just over 3 years and since then the blanket has been in basements, boxes, those vacuum storage bags, just numerous places that should have removed any history. It was nothing shy of a combination of luck and a small miracle that the smell remained.

As unexpected as it was I’m happy it happened. I had been kind of going through a hard time with my emotions earlier that week. I was full of questions and curiosity and a whole lot of missing some loved ones. I have never been able to express how much complete adoration I have for my Nana but being able to experience whatever it was that happened the other night was, to me, magic. It was almost like a little nudge from my Nana saying, “I’m still here and everything is fine.” It brought me so much comfort because it is exactly what I needed to hear.

 

Sorry, Blame It On Me - Akon

This is gonna be an awkward post....

I come to you all with my head hung in shame because apparently I was lying through my fingers when I promised I'd be blogging frequently.....I know I have countlessly decreed that I was going to be on top of my game when it came to this part of my life and time after time I fail. All I can is, I'm sorry. Also, that failure leads to success!!

I don't know what happened. Life got busy then I sort of just.... forgot.

Recently, however, my life has taken many (many) (oh and did I say MANY) turns and I have the desire and need to document what's been going on. Change is always great but you don't realize how big of an impact things have until you look back and reread or reminisce about what used to be.

So, while this is just a short posting it comes with a small challenge to myself.... at least 1 blog entry a week. I'm going to try and do more but I'm not going to overwhelm myself. :)

Please Note: I am posting this passage on to BOTH of my blogs. Change awaits the both of them. (They are a little dated.)

Roll With It - Easton Corbin

My oh my have the times changed. As you may or may not know from my second blog I am officially off the market. I'm a MARRIED WOMAN BABY!!!!

I feel proud to say that and I'm super happy that I've started on this new path of life with my favorite man. 

My life has changed immensely in the last close to year but I plan on getting my interweb life in order and start blogging more.

I actually really enjoy this blogging thing, even though I am horrible at it. With that being said I just wanted to "clear the confusion" to my army of few followers. 

This here is the blog I will be using to post about my life stuff and random obscurities. For instance, football news I feel the need to expound on. Concerts if I ever go to another one. And perhaps even just random venting I may have. 

My other blog (burnett-pooks.blogspot.com) will be allll about the married life. Examples include: recipes, in a few years "mom" stuff, Burnett life news, cleaning tips I find out, organization hints (if I get a grip on it), and how much I love my husband. 

So bare with me. I'm a bad blogger now but I fully intend on getting better so that maybe one day when I'm gone and my great-great-grand baby wants to know how "Nana Pookie" made Abuelita or always got stains out or what kind of things people talked about in the 2010's they can be like, "Oh let's read her blogs from 50 years ago." 

Side Note: That is said with a British accent.

I realize these are odd thoughts for a 20 "just hitched" year old girl to have but as soon as Zack asked me to be his wife it's like I had this sense of urgency to write down and use whatever tips I found out throughout my life to benefit stalkers and friends I didn't even know I had.

Soooo for my first post since I fell off the face of the planet I want to tell you about 2 of the best girls I know.

Miss Maggie for starters is of course my Ginger best friend. I moved to Bountiful in December for a job and I barely see her. But she has always been there whether I realized it or not. She's come through during all this sometime madness I call my life and I am a lucky lucky girl to have a soulless friend like her. 

Aaaaaand then there is cute Allexis. She's weird and I love it. She has that personality that brightens your day. Even if she's sad you would have no idea because she is almost always smiling her perfect smile. She's a wonderful human being and I thank the fates over and over again for putting us odd-balls in the same gym class.

I love you two ladies and am so happy you were there (amongst my other favorite girls) on my happy day. 

The reason I decided to come back and talk about friends is because you never realize how important they are until you don't see them all the time. 

It's tough being in Bountiful. I am a social person but I'm also stubborn. I don't want new friends I just want my old ones. Catch my drift?? 

Of course I have Zacky who was such a sport about watching a romantic comedy with me earlier today but I need lady time dang it!! 

All in all I really have learned that you have to appreciate the time you spend with your besties because before you know it you could be nearly an hour away from them and all you can do is go along with it and make it work. 

Here's to a fresh blogging start and great friends!!!!

Get The Party Started - P!nk

Hello Earthlings!!!!!

Apparently the last time I blogged here my baby brother was not even a month old, my dad had very recently moved to a different state, I was still living in the house I finished growing up in, I had a brother serving out of the country, and I was a single lady.

My oh my how the times have changed. It's been forever. Seriously, I just did the math and a human child would have been fully developing in the time I didn't blog. Nine whole months. Guess I have a lot to catch up on.

That baby brother. He's over 20 pounds and the happiest, most adorable baby ever. My dad moving states, yeah never realized how different that would be. I've moved not once but TWICE since then. It's also been 5 months since Miguel came out of the SLC Airport gate waving a flag and chanting, "Viva Argentina!!!" Craziest part of all, I'm engaged. Mind blown.

The last couple months have been eventful to say the least. Not only did all the above happen but so much more. I wish I could remember half of my crazy events but no way is that going to happen. So I'll just pretend I've been a good blogger and fill in how my holidays were spent. Think I've done that once or twice before.

If you know me, you know I love the snow. I think it's absolutely beautiful. This holiday season though, it was really starting to piss me off. It started Christmas Eve. The most gorgeous and well needed snowfall I've seen in awhile. And it didn't end until two, TWO, days ago. It just kept falling.

In all honesty, I only got annoyed because I had stuff to do. I recently got a job in North Salt Lake. Almost an hour drive from where I was previously living. Obviously this was not going to work seeing that my car died 2 months prior and I was bumming rides off my cute lover and big brothers. So I went about moving. Lucky for me, I was able to move Christmas weekend. YAAAY.

An hour back and forth, when you have other Christmas plans, during the snow, is NO BUENO. But it's over with now. Luckily.

I was fortunate enough to be included in my future in-laws Christmas traditions. It was really fun because I was worried as to how the holidays would go with me only having my 2 big brothers. I'm definitely used to having family around so I think spending the time with them saved me an anxiety attack.

New Year's Eve I was so excited to spend the 2nd annual Cheascake Factory tradition with my best friend and other (slightly unwelcomed) guests. It was a blast. Though I feel dreadful they had over an hour wait and had to deal with the hostess from hell the time I spent with them was priceless and I definitely look forward to (somehow) making this tradition work EVERY year. Cross your fingers.

As 2013 rang in I was able to kiss the love of my life and the man I'll be smooching for the rest of eternity. In my mind the anticipation of this was a lot more exciting. Of course according to Victoria the moment before a kiss is always better than the actual kiss. (Sorry. Had to throw in that nerdy HIMYM reference. It was a popular topic at dinner.)

Sidenote to the above: Technically Zack was playing iPhone poker at midnight and I DID have to ask him to kiss me so that might have killed the mood. But I still love my man. And it still counts as a "Midnight Kiss". SCORE!!!

Now with the New Year undoubtedly there are resolutions. Eh. Not for me. I figure why do you need the clock to hit 12 in order to try and better yourself? Why can't it be an everyday thing? Don't get me wrong, I do have personal goals and stuff I want to achieve but it's not something that a new calendar pushed. Frankly, My life goals changed the minute Zackary asked me to be his wife.

I've been doing this "engaged" thing for 2 months now. I by no means want to make myself sound like I have all the answers and am the powerful all-knowing but you do get a change of perspective when someone puts their trust in you and asks you to love them for the rest of forever. It really gives you a whole new meaning to life.

I could get all mushy gushy about Zack and I all day but I created a special love blog for that so I'll spare you the details. Unless you're into that hopelessly romantic stuff. In which case, go here.

Getting back on track though. Aside from my cynical views on resolutions I am excited for 2013. It's gonna be an exciting year.

Unfortunately the return of Elder B the 2nd did not reunite my ENTIRE family so we all still haven't been in the same room for over 4 years. My wedding will change all that. Speaking of which, this year I'll say my vows to my soul mate and become a wife. That alone is quite the event. I'm not sure what other occassions are going to occur this year that I'm antsy about but I know there'll be more. Hopefully I'll be able to keep updated with this blogging thing. Pretty sure I've said that before though.....

Anyways, that's enough of my schpeal for today. I do wish all my (2) readers a very happy new year. Cheers!!

Something To Be Proud Of - Montgomery Gentry

Yeah it's been a VERY long time since I posted. I didn't even talk about half of the concerts/things I did over my 19 and Crazy Summer. And, luckily for you, I'm not going to.
It's too much to catch up on so I'll pretend like I've been an avid blogger and have kept you updated with my life so far.

Truth is, I need to vent. And that's the only reason I'm back.

About a month ago I traveled with my dad, little brother Luther, and Leo the turtle across the country. We were making our way to Indiana where my step-mum, Chelsey, was waiting for Papi Chulo's arrival with Baby Sebastian growing in her tum-tum.

The drive was, well, long. But at the same time one of the coolest things I've ever done. Jason Aldean's song "Fly Over States" definitely comes to mind. It was nice to spend those last few days with my dad and baby brother knowing that they were going to stay and start their new life and I was flying back to Utah after the weekend.

Chelsey was thrilled to have her man and new son there permanently. I was happy to see her all big but I still wanted that baby born while I was out there. Apparently, however, Sebastian is definitely a typical stubborn Bustillos because the kid came out FIVE days after I went home. FIVE!!!

I was still excited to know that I have a new baby brother; that is adorable. He is growing and learning and he's making all of Indiana happy.

I'm flying out at the end of this month for his baby blessing and I can't wait to meet the little guy. He's changed all of our lives so much already and I can't wait to see what comes of all this change.

I'm happy for my dad. I know that it's a hard adjustment for him. And if I'm totally honest with myself it's a hard adjustment for me too. But we are trying to get things situated and in no time we'll be pro at whatever there is for us to be pro at.

My dad did/does a lot for us. He was a single dad for a long time and he met someone that makes him totally happy. Chels is a good woman and I'm glad she agreed to spend the rest of eternity with the Original Rico.

They just celebrated their first anniversary and they have a lot to celebrate. They've overcome a lot throughout their relationship. I know that if they continue to work hard at it then one day they will undoubtedly have a life to be even more proud of.

With that word, "anniversary", in mind, it's coming to the one year anniversary of my Nana's passing. Which is really hard to comprehend. I miss her, a lot.

She always said that she wouldn't leave until she knew we were ready. And because of that I know that she's looking down at us and watching over all parts of our family. That knowledge really helps.

She was such a wonderful lady. I know she's having a fiesta up there but it's not easy losing someone. It's definitely not something you ever get over. But you work through it. Because you know that's what they would want.

She had a remarkable life. I found out so many incredible things about her after she passed. I didn't know one person could go through so much and come out as strong as she did. She's a role model. I know she touched the lives of everyone she knew.

The next two weeks leading up to the day are going to be rough but I know that if I really try I'll be able to feel her around me.

Crazy this time last year she was being her usual fun self asking for KFC chicken. And in a few days I would be getting a call saying she's in the Emergency Room and staying the night at the hospital. I guess life really does take crazy unexpected turns and the only thing you can do is learn to adjust.

The past couple months have just been a whirlwind of events. But our family has come out, for the most part, strong.

In four months we get to welcome the Elder of the familia home and it'll be the first time in over four years that we'll all be united. We'll be missing the woman that got us through so much, our Nana, but she'll be there celebrating his return alongside us.

I honestly can not wait for that day and all the days leading up to it and those following.