Kaiizen Is For The Kids... Including Me!

Warning: This is a lot to take in. If you need to pause for a break. Do so. I will not be offended!

Oh what a whirlwind of a weekend!

Monday night Brazier called and we had a little bit of a heart to heart. It ended in him telling me that I needed some "us" time and that I needed to be on the trip this weekend.

Some background on aforementioned "trip." Two of my closest friends in the entire world started a non-profit called Kaiizen I think... mmm.. 5 years ago. This organization is meant to help kids who are less fortunate than others around the world. One of the things that Kaiizen does is a project called BAJA. These trips entail taking a group of 50 to 80 college students down to do service at orphanages in Baja, Mexico. These students mostly come from BYU/ Utah but others have come from all over at times as well. The trip lasts a total of 4 days in which you do projects for the orphans, camp, play in Ensanada, learn to speak better Spanish, hold tiny babies, get super dirty, cook massive amounts of food, and get to know everyone you came with.

Knowing I hadn't been on a trip in quite sometime (yes, I have been on many over the years) I figured it would be some "chicken soup" for my much needed soul. I have been struggling with what to do next in my life and just really needed to give to others to help gain some perspective back. The only problem I had was that I was scheduled all weekend to work and knew that there was a pretty huge probability that this wasn't going to happen. Low and behold the Lord knew what would be best for me. On Thursday night at 10:45 I received my last phone call that someone was going to pick up my shift and off to Mexico I could go!

Leaving at 3:00 in the moring I arrived in San Diego just after rush hour at nine to wait for J-Rosh here.

Yes, I got to spend the day at the Temple. My experience was beyond words. I can not express how truly blessed I feel to be able to go to the Temple and feel of the Lord's love. My eyes could hardly take in everything I was seeing and my heart was having trouble keeping my emotions in tact. It was a great way to start off my weekend and a wonderful choice in helping me be in the right place a the right time to be prepared to be in the moment for the kids in Baja.

After spending most of the morning there I decided to go to my next favorite place.
Tell me this is not Heaven on earth? Not only was there a Jamba Juice across the street it was located in bewteen a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's. Life really doesn't get better than this. Peach Plesure in hand all I had to do now was wait for J-Rosh to appear and off we would be!


Background on J-Rosh. And Brazier.These two boys are two of my very best friends. They are my brothers and they make my life better. We were all introduced through Matt and have remained freinds through thick and thin. I have never had two people be better friends and give me more love than I knew what to do with. They are both so passionate about life and really show everyone around them what it means to live life to the fullest. I am so proud of them both and know that we will be friends for ever and ever.





After a short nap and hour and a half drive later this is how J-Rosh and I were greeted.

It was amazing! And so special just for us! Heaven greeted the earth right before our eyes! Now in the picture above, this is the beach that we camp on for two nights as a group. It is unreal to be able to wake up, unzip your tent, and be greeted by the Pacific first thing in the morning! A few times I have seen a dolphin or whale or two accompanying the great sea for our early morning awakening! It is truly a humbling experience to see how small and simple you are in the world when that is the first thing you see/hear/smell in the morning!

Over the course of the next few days I got to spend my time with the kids. It was so great to see how big some of them have gotten! I felt sooo old! The best thing was getting to see Sofia and getting to catch up with her and all of the things she has been doing. Her and I both had a great time just talking about all of the things that we have both done since the last time we saw each other! I love her patience with me and my spanish and the fact that her heart has been through so much and she still sees the world through such hopeful eyes! My favorite moment with her was giving her my CTR ring. She said she had always wanted one. The great thing about that is that she is Christian and yet at 17 years old still respects what it meant and wanted to be able to also share the same common belief in that we need to "Choose the Right." It was a moment that I will hold dear to my heart forever. It just goest to show you never now what little things mean to those around you. Even if it is just a ring.





Above are just a few of the great moments of the weekend and the people I got to share them with.

I also say that spending time with Bill and J-Rosh, well I can't remember the last time I laughed like that! Between the "Chris Brown" jam sessions in the car, "Josh, Do you want me to drive?, Bill's IBS (ha ha), our special sunset moment, and being sandwiched between the both of them while star gazing I was having the best time of my life.





All in all Brazier was right. I really needed to be in a familiar place with those people whom I love giving all I can to a better cause. Once again, here I am bloging about how greatful I am in my life to have what I do with the people I do. I have more "close" friends that most people do and I have never for one moment forgot that. I only hope and pray that I can continue to help and to show others around me what life is really about. I love knowing that Kaiizen is for the kids... including me!