Monday, October 15, 2012

A Little About Ourselves

Not much to report here in the Castro home. We love where we live more and more each day and I've become a Craigslist/Goodwill addict trying to furnish this place. My internship is going great and Joel is getting into the swing of things at work. Yesterday my question-a-day-journal asked me to describe my life in three words. I chose "happy, emerging, exciting." Okay, so not the best choice in adjectives but life is pretty great.

To prime the pump and end this blogging dry spell I thought we'd spend this week getting to each other a little more. This month the Relief Society had me fill out a questionnaire for the monthly newsletter and I thought it'd be fun to answer them with Joel and add a few of our own.


Name: Joel da Silva Castro, Jr.
Age: 26 years old
Sign: Pisces


Name: Sara Elizabeth da Silva Castro
Age: 23 years old
Sign: Aries

What do you do?
I'm an accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
I'm an intern at Random House Children's Books. 

Hometown?
São Paulo, Brazil and Menlo Park, CA
Born in southern California but North Ogden, UT is my home

What do you miss most about Utah?
BYU spirit.
My family. I can't tell you how badly I want to see my new baby niece! 

Where's the furthest that you've traveled?
Mozambique.
Hey, me too. 

What's your favorite movie that you could watch 100 times and not be sick of?
The Dark Knight
Baby Mama and most Norah Ephron movies.

Are you a morning person or a night person?
Morning. You can get a lot more done when you wake up early.
Night. Which means I'm more fun, right?

What's the last book you read?
Return From Tomorrow And how was it? It was very good. Interesting and inspiring. It made me want to treat others with respect and really love my neighbor. And it made me think a lot about our actions and life after death.
My Life in France by Julia Child. And how was it? So good. I'm a sucker for a good autobiography. It made me want to travel to France and eat and eat and eat. As cliche as it sounds, it also made me want to follow my passions. Her passion and love for food is so contagious. I love when you enjoy what you're doing so much that time has no meaning and you get completely lost in your work. I want to discover and rediscover those things in my life.

What single piece of technology makes your life easier?
Microsoft Excel.
(It's true, he is in love with Excel.) My phone--it works miracles.

What's your favorite Halloween tradition?
Trick-or-Treating. I didn't grow up doing that because I lived in Brazil. After we moved to the U.S. I went Trick-or-Treating until I was 18 to make up for the lost years.
I hate Halloween. I feel creeped out most of the day and find myself wishing for the day to just be over. But I love dressing up and eating candy so I still have some fun.

What are your hobbies?
Sports. Mainly soccer but I also play pick-up basketball, football and volleyball games.
Traveling, reading, writing, eating and shopping for home goods.

Who is your doppleganger?
When I had long hair in Mozambique three people told me I looked like John Travolta.
(Laugh laugh laugh...barf barf barf)
I've also been told I look like the guy in Eat, Pray, Love.
I've been told I look like Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kate Middleton (if only) and Rashida Jones.

What restaurant would you recommend?
Patxi's in Palo Alto
He stole mine. Angelo's pizza in NYC is pretty dang great, too.

Did you have a nickname growing up?
Caco. It comes from the word "macaco" which means monkey in Portuguese. I had a lot of energy growing up. Caco is what everyone in family still calls me.
Sara doesn't lend itself to many nicknames. I think my mom called me Sara Bear every once and awhile.

If you could be any character who would you be?
Batman.
Anne Shirley. I feel like there is a better fit, but I just can't think of anyone else.

What's your favorite quote from a conference talk?
"Come what may and love it." -Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin
"Fill your mind with truth, fill your heart with love, fill your life with service." -President Thomas S. Monson

What was your favorite T.V. show growing up?
Cavaleiros do Zodiaco and Fresh Prince of Bell-air
Oddly enough, A Baby Story and The Joy of Painting. Mom, you can attest to this.

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? 
A soccer coach. High school or middle school.
A writer and/or something in publishing. Is professional traveler a job? I'd take that, too.

How many kids do you want?
Four.
Six. 

What's your top 5 favorite shows this season?
Modern Family, Psych, Community, Shark Tank and Once Upon A Time.
30 Rock, Modern Family, Parks & Rec, Community and Once Upon A Time.