The scariest experience of my life

It was four days into our vacation. A Tuesday if I recall correctly. We had plans to go to a new beach with my husbands uncle but after driving there we found out the beach was closed. How that happens on a tropical island I have no idea but it makes sense since it was the week of thanksgiving and the "winter season". 

After a quick stop to discuss the change of plans we decided to go to the beach that we were at the day before. Crash boat beach, so beautiful. Is a must go every time we travel to PR. The water, the ambiance, is just perfect. I'm not even a beach person but I get in this water. Well I get in the water in other beaches too but salt water is not really my thing. I mostly hang out on the shore with the little ones. This day however I was daring. I got in waist deep and was on a boogie board with my toddler. 

Now you must know that I can't swim properly. I can float and can somewhat swim under water if need be so using the boogie board as a floating device was my way of "protecting" ourselves. We were all enjoying ourselves, chatting, and going with the waves which were not that strong. When suddenly I see a wave come our way. I look back and immediately know that this wave will push AJ and myself way into the shore. But as I look back again I know for a fact that this wave was going to take us under. I seriously thought the worse. And let's not forget, I Can't swim. 

As I'm underwater being shaken side to side I think of letting go of the boogie board to protect myself but quickly remember that AJ is on top of it too. If I let go he can go lose and who knows what his fate would be. So in a split second I manage to grab him by the waist and keep him close to me. I hold him as tight as I possibly can scared to dead that he would go lose and get taken by the waves that our coming on strong. Somehow in between all this I go head first into the sand feeling like I hit concrete. It was definitely a front flip under water and then another back flip. Then I found myself out of all that jumbo mess sitting butt first in the sand as the hubby and my son walked toward us. I quickly get up, hand over AJ to one of them I don't even know who it was and fix my top since there's boob everywhere. I started to feel light headed and touched my forehead feeling for the area that I hit on the sand. As I look at hubby's face he looks at me and says "babe your forehead. Is white". With a confuse face I stare at him then at everyone else in the group who are also staring at me. I ask what is it, meaning a scrape, a bump, a sea animal on my face, what was it? He says that it looks like a rug burn that pilled my skin off. He literally said "babe it seriously pilled the brown off your skin". Freaking butt-head said it laughing too. Shame on him. Then I started bleeding so I got out of the water and headed straight for a mirror.

This picture does it no justice. It was mainly bruised but Imagine the stares I got as I walked from the beach to our table :( it wasn't nice. 

As I sat down waiting for SIL to care for my forehead all I could think about was my baby AJ. My baby. What if I would have panicked and let go? What if I couldn't hold on to him like I did? What if he would have drawned because I was holding him tight and pulling him under water with me? because I'm sure he drank a lot, a lot of salt water. 

Im so thankful that we are both okay. And that only I got hurt from this. As I checked him for marks or bruses  and saw that he was fine I thanked God for protecting us. 

Needless to say that after that day I have not gotten in the beach again. I walk the beach and chill on the very edge of it but that's a far as I go. My mom always told me that the ocean is deceiving and cannot be trusted and after this experience I have learned the lesson. I will never feel the same about this beauty that although breathtaking can be very very dangerous. 

Seven days after the accident and this is what my battle wound looks like. I'm very sad about it. I always say beauty is not everything but my wave story is not that convincing. It looks more like I burned myself with a curling iron. :( the past few days the purple area had turned into scab-like and kept peeling off and today I was able to clear it completely. Of course that this has not stopped me from taking selfies and pictures with my family, after all it could have been worse and right now I'm only thinking about the fact that I'm alive, that my child is alive, and that this was the worse out of the scariest experience of my life. 

Even on vacation I can't scape the trials

How is it possible that even when I find myself in the middle of a beautiful place surrounded by so much beauty somehow life manages to kick me down. I have to admit, I'm sure I let the enemy in my head at some point but when things continue to happen over and over and over again is hard to believe that that is God's hand in it. Or is it? As a toddler in my faith how can I distinguish the things that are from the Heavenly Father and those that are not? I mean it has to be the human part of me right? When we have some sort of expectations of how life should be like, a life that has been given to us by God, how do we know that it is truly God throwing us a curve ball instead of the devil trying to attack us and test us? What if it's both a test and an attack from God and the devil just like they did to Job? 

Call me crazy but some days I think that way. And I remember that I should do about it. I should keep focus, pray, and worship. But then days like today I wonder, what if it's God? What if he's trying to redirect me and I'm not being obedient to his will? How do I know? What should I do? 

How do I know what I should do? 

😔

 

Breakfast Oatmeal Drink ~ Avena Caliente

This is one of my favorite breakfast drinks from my childhood. I remember my mom or grandma making this for all the kids and serving it in a mug with a piece of bread in the mornings. Last time I had this was in 2014 when we traveled to DR for my moms wedding. I had asked her best friend/our aunt to make us Avena and in my mind I had an image something completely different. I was thinking of cream of wheat. So when she called me to the kitchen and handed me this mug with oatmeal and sticks of cinnamon in it I had the the only look of confusion yet out of respect I didn't say anything, grabbed my mug, thanked her and walked away. Then I tried it and it was the most amazing thing I've ever had! 

I didn't have this again till last week. Which is funny because I've been meaning to ask my mom to either make it or tell me how to make it. My kids are weird when it comes to eating foods that I grew up eating, I'd say that they are very much Americanized in many things, shame on me. When she made this they were in school/daycare and I ended up taking the leftovers to work to have for breakfast and that's when I realized I had to make this more often in our home.

Came Saturday morning I woke up thinking about eating this. I asked my mom to make it and she said that she was going out. So I asked her how do I make it. I was worried about making it because I had to make a big batch for every at home. But I faced my fears and gave it a try anyways. And guess what? Success!!!!! It was just enough and it was delicious. A little less sweetened than what my mom's was because I always watch how much sugar I add to things but it was good nonetheless.  

So without further adieu here's the recipe per my momma. Remember, I made a double batch that fed 6 people using 6-8z mugs. 

Lets pretend this is not a snapchat picture. Ignore the nutmeg, I didn't use it.

Ingredients

1 cup quick oats

1 can evaporated carnation milk 

2 cups milk (I used 1% but even almond milk can be used)

4 cups of water 

1/2 cup sugar (you can add more to your liking) 

Cinnamon to taste

Whole cloves to taste

Pinch of salt 

Lemon skin 

Directions

-Put 1/2 of the quick oats and 2 cups of water in pot using medium heat. 

-Using a blender, blend the other 1/2 cup of oats with the remaining 2 cups of water then add to pot. 

-add salt, lemon skin, whole cloves, and  cinnamon to pot and bring to a boil. It will look very thick. 

-add carnation milk, regular milk, and sugar bring down the heat a notch and let it simmer for about 10mins. 

-serve hot and enjoy! 

This is a very easy to make and nutritious breakfast. All the kids at home ate every bit of it. I also served it with some bread like I had it as a kid and got no confused looks :)

***since this is a very hot meal and it takes a while to cool down I usually add a little bit more milk to each individual serving and mix it around so that it can cool a little faster. If you plan on doing this keep in mind the amount of sugar you add as it will make it less sweet. Next time I make this I will definitely add a little more sugar. 

October '15 Staycation

This was a much need staycation from my part. I was able to actually relax, do school work, do things around the house, bond with my mom, and spend time with my family. Having my SIL in town is always nice but it also feels like her agenda gets too full before she even arrives to town. Almost every trip she has made back home after moving out west has involved some kind of event. And due to the fact that this girl has so many friends, she has to pencil time in with each and every one of them which gets me upset because I get thrown to the back of the bus. Well not really but that's how I feel. We're so close and we speak often when she's far away but when she's in town is like I hardly see her.



Anyways. Enough venting, lets get to business. This was the highlight of my October Staycation :)

1. Being greeted with the most amazing sound coming from my 4 years old nephew/godson running out front toward my car from the back of MIL's house screaming "titi, titi, titi you're here". I seriously did not expect that. Yes we Facetime often and I know he loves me but having him come running to me like that and give me a hug made me feel so special. It was like "Wow! this kid loves me!". I kid you not, it felt like a movie scene :)



2. Seeing SIL again after what felt an eternity. I mean it had only been one year, two months, three days, four hours and five minutes. Ha! just kidding, but close! It was funny because seeing her felt no different than when we talk on the phone or facetime except we were actually hugging. It was like she was never gone. 

3. Having Prestyn (that's my nephew/godson) over our house for a "play date" with AJ. They played together, ate lunch together, fought over toys, took pictures, made messes, and so on but it was so nice and surreal having him at home playing with his cousin like normal cousins do. Usually when they facetime they ask each each other "whatchu doing? whatchu playing with? what's that? whatchu watching" over and over again hahaha.

 4. So I took Prestyn with me to pick AJ up from daycare. I wanted to see both of their reaction when they saw each other for the first time, in real life, and omg it was not what I expected at all  (link that to video). They just starred at each other like "what? you're here? your real? you're not inside an iPad?" hahaha, so funny. I had to tell them to hug before they actually leaned toward each other. I was expecting this loud "Prestyn! AJ!" but nope. Nothing. It was cool to get their reaction on camera though.

 

5. Bonding with both of my sisters-in-law. I love my Lola (hubby's sister) and the more I get to know Stephanie (BIL's girlfriend) the more I like her too. So we decided to plan a night out with just us three. We planned for appetizers and drinks at Brewworks but we ended up at Chilis. Just a little talking and a couple of drinks to make some bonding memories. It was low key and really nice. I can't speak for them but I did enjoy hanging out with them.





6. Being part of Lola's friend bridal shower, bachelorette party, and wedding. I was meant to be her "wing girl" but Lola don't don't need a wing girl, that girl has enough wing for herself and an entire team ;-P It was fun though and I've always enjoyed everything wedding related and seeing how other group of friends interact. 







7. When Lola and I took the boys to Dorney Park for Boo Blast. I take my boys every year and hubby and I have been going since we were kids ourselves so adding that to the memories of our kids was priceless for me. Plus seeing the boys play and enjoy themselves together was the greatest feeling ever! Although Steven didn't enjoy himself as much as I would have liked :( I guess the age difference thing had a bit to do with it but thankfully hubby was able o make it up to him by taking him for Haunt Night at Dorney later in October.





8. The Pumpkin Patch. On Columbus Day we gathered all the kids (foster kids included) and headed over to the pumpkin patch. There we got tickets for some rides, took a hayride to the pumpkin patch, and took lots of pictures. Again this was more for tradition and to have the kids enjoy themselves than for anything else but it sure was fun.



9. A night out with friends. I was very hesitant about this night. For weeks I tried finding a way to get out of it because I really didn't want to go to a "club" but as the day neared the dancer part of me got more excited for it. Especially because it had been so long since I went out. I justified that outing in so many ways I couldn't even begin to tell you. All I could think about how I was going to regret it afterward but thankfully it was a really nice time out with friends and family and honestly I'm glad it happened. I was able to scratch an itch while at the same time realize that that's just not me anymore. I'm on to great and better things now :)


 
10. Getting a picture of my nieces and nephew to print and display in our home. The Sunday before Lola left she came over for brunch and my brother stopped by to dropped off the girls. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to capture one of sweetest moments in my life. It made me sad to have the newest addition to the clan be missing though and now this picture won't be as current as I would have like. Worse part is that I don't know when I'll have all my nieces and nephew together again under one roof. It may be years before that happens again :(

Hello Sweet November!

I can't believe how fast the year has passed by, this is insane! Although the weather is still bearable and the leaves on trees are just beginning to change color and fall off the changing of time today will make it official for me. Colder mornings and darker evenings, sigh not my liking but I must deal with it. I hope the winter ahead is not too bad, who am I kidding, I'm sure it'll be deadly.

On another note, just 20 days till we head out for our vacation in Puerto Rico and 10 work days for me :) I love having things to look forward to at the start of each month/work schedule. We are spending Thanksgiving there and this will be the first time in 10 years that we celebrate Thanksgiving away from MIL. However, it will be the first Thanksgiving we spend with SIL since like forever ago. I can already imagine the chaos of cooking dinner in a place that is not our home where we have every single dish and spice we need. Will we get dress up? Will we eat in our pajamas? Will we have a turkey? What will be on the menu? So many questions so little time. I'm so excited! Our last far away vacation was back in July 2014 when we visited SIL in California for July 4th week so we are way over due for another one. Plus, my boys need a little more beach time for the year ends. OMG it's almost the end of 2015! Eeeekk.

I'm ready though, I've had an unexplainable feeling about 2016 for a very long time and I am super excited to greet and live through 2016. In the meantime I'm planning to make these last 61 days of the year count! Bring on the Holidays, the most wonderful time of the year! :)