remember when i graduated?

Yes, well I still am not employed. Suggestions? Leads? Encouragement? PLEASE! Do you think it is sketchy to apply for jobs I find on Craigslist? Don't you want to hire me? I am looking for a job that:
Is part time
Involves talking to people- preferably in Spanish for a portion of my days
Does not require me to wear a hair net
Does not require me to work a lot of evenings
Does want to pay me more than Utah's minimum wage.

I'm sure you guys will think of something- thanks for your help. Andrea

courage and faith and love and remembering

This week Brian and I are going down to St. George with some friends for the weekend. We are so very excited. But before I left I wanted to post a little note to all of my lovelies. This week I have been thinking a lot about this:

On June 13th it will be one year since John passed away. He is my best friend Brittany's daddy. He was such a wonderful father, husband, priesthood holder, and served our country for so many years. He was such a good friend and example to me and every year on June 13th I feel grateful that I was able to watch him so bravely fight cancer. And I will always feel grateful for what I have learned from the Pierce's as they have fought the battle of life with out their dad and husband. This picture was taken right after John was diagnosed with cancer. Britt and Brandon were both serving as missionaries but came home for a day to go to the temple as a family. Don't you love that? Don't you love that they went back out and finished their missions? So, so brave. Love you all. Have a good rainy weekend- we will be basking. - Brian and Andrea Todd

remember when ali gave her dog away?

Brian and I are puppysitting Shane and Lauren's dog Lucy this week. And we LOVE her. We have been looking into getting our own little Lucy for quite some time. Fortunately I have a wise, expressive older sister whose experience with dog ownership led us to reconsider. But after almost a week of Lucy I want one more than ever.

And then I was like... and then she said.... And then this one time I...

Yesterday we were eating dinner with my friend Jenn and she brought up something I always do! Her and her husband had gone to dinner earlier that week with another couple and her husband is really quiet. She didn't realize until the next day but she had talked the whole time. Two hours- talking. I laughed so hard when she told me because I might have been guilty of this same thing once or maybe even twice. Do you do that? So to my friends we often do dinner with- (look below) I am asking you to interrupt me, share your own anecdotes, get my husband talking, whatever it takes.


P.S. This was at my birthday in April. It was such a blast.

the rose

There are roses blooming in our front yard right now and I can't stop singing Bette Midler's song "The Rose." Confession: When I was in high school I still had naive dreams of becoming a pop star and I took voice lessons from Jessica Leiber (now Dahlquist!) That was the song I practiced. I think she once mentioned something like a recital- that was probably our last lesson. I figured if I didn't feel comfortable singing in front of a bunch of 7 year olds and their parents I would never get a record label.

Tonight we are hanging out with Kim. It looks something like this:



We are now going to Costco for churros and maybe a berry sundae.

i forgive you- do you forgive me?

Lately my heart has felt hard and closed. A tender heart is hard to come by, and it takes work to not let life's experiences creep in and harden you towards others. This morning while driving to school I was listening to an NPR interview with Diane Reams and Elizabeth Edwards. I know, everyone has 1 million opinions on her life and marriage but say what you want about Elizabeth- her comments really touched me. These feelings led to me recognize the need for forgiveness in my life. I give a lot and therefore I expect a lot and sometimes I expect too much. Do you ever do that? I have found that as a result I will foster bitterness and hurt and more resentment then the other persons actions ever warranted. When I heard Elizabeth talk about moving past the faults of others I could see how forgiveness leads to a calmer peace of mind. Sometimes when I want to forgive someone I write them a letter and fill it with how my heart really feels. I then tuck the letter away and ask Heavenly Father to tuck my bad feelings away with that letter. It works so well. I have not been writing enough letters lately. I'm going to get on that.

Remember Cher?

One of the best things about being Marilyn Faulkner's daughter is that she introduces you to incredible movies and even better books. Moonstruck is a movie from 1987 about an Italian- American family in Brooklyn. The gist is this: Cher falls in love with Nicholas Cage and he has one hand and they go to the opera and Cher wears a velvet dress. It is incredible! It makes me want to have a last name like "Castarini", eat noodles, and live with a large loud Italian family. Really you'll love it- you will.