A reunion kind of weekend

Earlier this year my dear friend Tatiana messaged me saying that she was taking a trip up north with her littles. She wanted us to get together to catch up on life and reminisce on the good ol' days. Tatiana and I met when I was in 10th grade. She's two years older than me but I think she was an 11th grader. I remember exactly how we first exchanged words. I walked in on the first day of cooking class and the classroom was semi full. I looked around the room and didn't recognized anyone, not to mention that they were all mostly guys. Then sitting on the table right by the door was this very pretty girl. Best part was that she looked Hispanic so I gravitated toward her and sat on the same table as I said Hi. And the rest is history. Literally. 

 

We hit it off very well and ended up in cosmetology class together too later in the our rotations. Cosmetology was the class where I became part of a group for the first time ever. Six girls from different backgrounds that would be my best friends throughout high school and beyond. Later that year Tatiana got married with her military boyfriend and moved to Germany. I was still very ignorant to marriage at such early age and worried for her yet I didn't know her well enough to understand her reasons and give my opinion on the matter. Whether it was "true" love or not. We agreed on staying in touch but I honestly doubted that would happen and I carried on with my life. 

A couple of months later My mom gives me a message that a friend called. She was calling from Germany so she had called me during school hours and she had told my mom that she would try again later. They agreed on a specific time for Tatiana to try. And just like she said she did and by 8pm that night I was talking to her. I was happy to be talking to her but a little surprised because I never thought that I would be talking to this girl again. Is crazy how I remember these things. 

Well about two years later, my senior year in high school, Tatiana came back home and we reconnected. The best moments of my early twenties were spent with this girl. She divorce her military husband and her new boyfriend at the time hit if off great with my boyfriend then now turned husband. That meant that we did many things together. From clubbing to trips to Virginia while we were both pregnant to trips to OCMD with our littles. It hasn't been a easy life for my dear friend but I am so proud of her and so happy that she's happy now. Seeing her again felt just like old times except that she's in her 30s and I'm not far behind. 

Fast forward to April 2016

That Friday night she came over my house and we sat and chit chatted over a glass of wine. Then my mom got home and we went out for a little dancing. We met with our other friend, Zoila and her husband, and I kid you not it was just like old times minus Tatiana's hubby. I can't speak for them but I had an amazing time. Although I felt a little guilty for being where I was we had an entire area to ourselves where we didn't even have to go on the dance floor at all. From here we headed over to the diner and made plans to get together with the kiddos the next day. 

I cannot believe how many kids have been born since then. Adding another girlfriend of ours and my foster child there are 12 kids between us all. Looks like we were pretty busy the last 11 years hahaha. 

These girls. They bring fun into my life. They know me. They understand me. They accept me. And I love them for that. We might not live near, well 3 of us do, but we definitely don't talk as often as we should and you know what it's ok. Because if we are able to get together and pick up right were we left off that means we are true friends and there aren't many of those anymore. 

There's a special story between each one of these girls and I. I love that I get to still have them be part of my life today. Thank you girls for showing me the meaning of true friendship, life without you wouldn't be the same. 

I love you! xoxo

14-17/52

Oh April, you were awesome! 



Still with the kitchen reno but this month involved picking the finishing touches. From the floor tiles, granite counter tops, mosaic back splash, and wall paint color it was all very fun and challenging at the same time. I'm glad that everything flows great together though and I look forward to showing you all the process details with lots of pictures.  

With AJ being done with daycare we did a lot of bonding. Our morning consisted of dancing our way to the unfinished kitchen and trying to make breakfast with the little space and dishes we had. More park outings, playing dress up, coloring, and learning our ABCs. This little guy is such a character and so much fun to hang out with. Except on the days where he has his tantrums and there were quite the few. This month I came to the conclusion that I didn't have as much patience as I thought I did and he definitely challenged me on my parenting skills. Although I did lose my cool more times than I'd like to admit I'm happy to report that I've gotten better at it. I think my patience did increase a bit more and I'm finding myself being more tolerable at his mischiefs as well as understanding why and when he does what he does. Most times is just from being over tired while others he's just testing me and us both getting used to this new routine.





Baseball season is upon us and I'm happy to report that I have made almost every game since it started. Last year I missed a lot of games because of my 12 hour shifts and although in April I was still working 12 hours most of the games fell on days I had off. Sadly my child is not any better than last year, but he is trying harder and he gets credit for that. Like his brother, Steven challenges me at every opportunity and that is something I often have a hard time with because I don't want to be looked at as the "bad cop", I want to be the "cool mom".  I've said it before but boy do I fear the teen years.






A date night with the hubby that ended up in a fight. Keeping it real people, not everything is sweet as  cotton candy on these parts.

Lots of quality time spent with the boys this month. We went out bowling, to the drive-in theater to watch the Jungle Book, and several times we headed out for frozen yogurt after dinner. It sure has been a nice way to transition into the warmer weather, and the boys are very happy about it all.






We got to spend some time with my favorite girls, my nieces. I can't believe how big and gorgeous they have gotten. It's always so much fun having them around.






Another birthday celebration consisting of a family dinner turned game night. A always so much fun!





A fun thrifting date with my cousin who is soon to be married followed by a Happy Hour stop. We always have fun when we're together. Never did I imagine growing up that this girl and I would become so close later in life. Cheers! to family :)





Lots of money was spent buying school supplies from books to uniform to stethoscope to shoes and everything else you can possibly think of. You spend so much time trying to get into nursing school to then be accepted and realized you go broke soon after starting and then wanting so badly for all of it to be over so that you can try and have a normal life again. Or so I hear ;)  #thestruggles

I was also forced to re take and pay for my CPR renewal even though I still had a year left on my current card. 





Lastly, the biggest highlight of the month was having my high school friend flight in from Florida for a week and meeting up to catch up on life. We don't talk as often as we should but being together those couple of days sure was fun and an opener, we are definitely not 23 years old anymore hahaha.