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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to document our happenings on a weekly basis. I mean it could be fun but also overwhelming if you happen to fall behind as much as I have. So to catch up on the past two months I'm just going to recap the entire month of March and April like I did for February. I'm thinking that from time to time I'll record a week here and there but for the most part it'll have to be a monthly thing.
I celebrated my 29th birthday this month. I didn't have anything in mind about what I wanted to do, yet for some reason going dancing kept popping in my mind. Personally I believe that after a certain age you shouldn't find yourself at a club shaking all you have. Your late twenties is a time of transitions. Either you recently got married and/or had children so you start a new role in life that requires you to be mature and level headed. Not that you have to stop having fun but that fun should be more responsibly. That being said I just knew, knowing myself, that after next year the club scene was going to be a thing of the past or at least a once a year for a special occasion type deal and I wanted to get it out of my system. I already enjoyed those years and that fun, now I want something better and worthwhile. I want to travel and create memories with my little family. I want to live life purposely. I want to focus on my home and my career, like really focus. I want to get to know myself and do some soul searching. What sucks about this is that "my friends" are not there yet. They still enjoy the club scene and for the most part our priorities are different because we all find ourselves in a different phase in life. I guess that's the thing about life. We grow up and move on leaving behind those who are not quite where we are. Sad but true. I do like however that when we do get together we pick up right where we left off and that my friends is the beauty of friendship.
Thinking back on March it was a busy month. Lot's of work on our kitchen reno and definitely a slow process. From the cabinets taking an extra week to arrive, one cabinet arriving the wrong size, our contractor needing days off, and our granite guy going on vacation for two weeks it was all very frustrating. I seriously thought this project would take just about a month if that but apparently this was the project that didn't want to get finished. The kitchen was gutted out to it's very core. Just imagine electrical cables going through cement walls. It was definitely no easy project. But now that it is all pretty much finished it was worth every minute of it. Everything came together like it should and once again I was reassured that everything happens for a reason and with purpose.
I celebrated my 29th birthday this month. I didn't have anything in mind about what I wanted to do, yet for some reason going dancing kept popping in my mind. Personally I believe that after a certain age you shouldn't find yourself at a club shaking all you have. Your late twenties is a time of transitions. Either you recently got married and/or had children so you start a new role in life that requires you to be mature and level headed. Not that you have to stop having fun but that fun should be more responsibly. That being said I just knew, knowing myself, that after next year the club scene was going to be a thing of the past or at least a once a year for a special occasion type deal and I wanted to get it out of my system. I already enjoyed those years and that fun, now I want something better and worthwhile. I want to travel and create memories with my little family. I want to live life purposely. I want to focus on my home and my career, like really focus. I want to get to know myself and do some soul searching. What sucks about this is that "my friends" are not there yet. They still enjoy the club scene and for the most part our priorities are different because we all find ourselves in a different phase in life. I guess that's the thing about life. We grow up and move on leaving behind those who are not quite where we are. Sad but true. I do like however that when we do get together we pick up right where we left off and that my friends is the beauty of friendship.
Birthdays are always a good excuse for getting together and celebrate with food and alcohol or in my case catch up. I was invited out for breakfast and lunch by two dear friends. We were overdo for catching up on life and it was time well spent. Then a nice dinner with my love at a Thai restaurant was the cherry on top. The food was delicious and the service phenomenal. I look forward to the day we go again.
Shopping for the kitchen and new decor around the house was pretty fun too!
Playing with the snapchat features was a good way to include the kiddos in my photo adventures.
A few trips to the park with the little guy was a must to welcome the nice weather and a trip to see the Sleeping Beauty Play was so much fun. It was the perfect ending for AJ's last day with his friends. I'm sure that I was affected more than he was but after a couple of weeks he started to miss them very much.
We also attended Steven second concert of the year. He has learned so much and I hope that he continues to play the Viola in the years ahead. We are so proud of him. I still remember the days when he wanted to be a singer hahaha.
A few trips to the park with the little guy was a must to welcome the nice weather and a trip to see the Sleeping Beauty Play was so much fun. It was the perfect ending for AJ's last day with his friends. I'm sure that I was affected more than he was but after a couple of weeks he started to miss them very much.
We also attended Steven second concert of the year. He has learned so much and I hope that he continues to play the Viola in the years ahead. We are so proud of him. I still remember the days when he wanted to be a singer hahaha.
AJ had his surgery this month too. They called it a Bilateral Inguinal Hernia/Hydrocele Repair and we were worried for nothing. Quite the experience for sure but the team who performed his surgery was awesome. Our worries were understandable but I wish we had seen the animated procedure in YouTube to keep us at ease. Other than that my little guy is doing just great and hopefully we don't encounter any more issues for as long as possible.
p.s.
that picture below is one of our little AJ way up on cloud nine before being taken back. The video is even funnier, or so we think ;)
p.s.
that picture below is one of our little AJ way up on cloud nine before being taken back. The video is even funnier, or so we think ;)
We ended the month with Easter Sunday by attending church followed by an early dinner at MIL's and an egg hunt at my cousin's house. Good times! I always try to make it clear to my children the real meaning of certain holidays such as Christmas and Easter. I wasn't raised with the traditions that Americans have in regards to these even by coming to the States at an early age and it has been hard adjusting and keeping the real meaning of said Holidays the main focus. Kids care too much about the presents and the Easter Bunny and honestly it bothers me. I try my hardest to maintain balance between the traditions so that they grow up with fair understanding and so when they become adults they may decide for themselves what they want to teach their own children. In the meantime I guess we will continue to celebrate both meanings.
After the egg hunt we returned to MIL's where we had family game night and dessert. This was so much fun and I love that it is turning into a fun tradition of at least once a month.
I've been slacking using my big girl camera to take weekly pictures of my boys but I hope these ones will count for the month :)
I've been slacking using my big girl camera to take weekly pictures of my boys but I hope these ones will count for the month :)
When I started this journey in 2008 I had no idea what I wanted out of life. All I knew was that I wanted a college education because I didn't want to find myself a few years down the road working retail or at a warehouse. I remember meeting with an advisor and being told "Give it a try. Take one class now and see if college is for you or not." And that's exactly what I did. I registered for a College English class online late that fall semester and passed it with an A. I was pretty impressed because I was not expecting that at all. On to the next semester I went taking 2 classes. From there on I kept taking either one or two classes every semester. I still had no idea what I wanted so my intended major was general studies. About a year or so after that initial class I decided on Diagnostic Sonography which lead me to a biology class. There a met a a girl who would become a really good friend. Somehow she convinced me to try nursing and after several looks at the required pre requisites I said what the hell, worse case scenario, if I'd change my mind again the only difference between both majors would be a math class. We took A&P I and II, Microbiology, Chemistry and Statistics. After taking statistics I knew that there was no turning back, a degree in nursing it was. Until chemistry that is. Oh that chemistry. Three times I repeated that class and with each time things seemed to get worse. Never did I imagine that repeating this class several times would lead me to dead ends when applying to nursing schools.
Life also got in the way on multiple occasions and I ended up taking four semesters off throughout this journey. What was I thinking???? This set me farther and farther behind each and every time. But I am glad that I didn't give up. Yes there were many times when I felt hopeless and doubted that a career in nursing was for me but deep down I knew that I was meant to do this kind of job. My clerical days where over. I was bored of them and they brought no excitement to my life. I felt like I wasn't helping anyone. I didn't see purpose behind it even if I was a pretty darn good one finger typist ;)
2015 was a tough year. Feeling lost, confused, overwhelmed, and like a failure had me very stress and depressed but with each passing month I found a little bit of hope.
Moving on to my last resort in pursuing a nursing degree I chickened out twice when it was time to proceed with the required steps. Then this past January I decided to hold on to faith. I submitted all my paperwork. I was called in for testing which almost made me back down again until I got the results which resulted in moving on to the interview phase. The interview was a piece of cake. And now, now I am 2 days away from my first day of nursing school. I still can't believe it if I'm being honest.
So many tears. So many frustrations. So much stressing and worrying and feeling unwanted and now I'm on the road to completing my dream. Of course that it only gets harder from here and various times I've doubted if I was good/smart enough to make it through the next twenty months but like I told someone a few weeks ago. Failing is not an option for me at this point. I've made it way too far with many road blocks in between to screw it up now. I don't really care what I will miss out on the world because there's nothing out there that my "friends" are doing that will give me a rewarding life. I do fear missing out on milestones in my kids lives (am I exaggerating on this?). I hear over and over again how nursing school is stressful and for the duration of it I will eat drink and sleep studying. I will only succeed if I give it my all and for me not succeeding is not an option so yes I fear that I will have to put my kids after my studies. I repeat over and over to myself that it is all for the greater good and that I have a great support system with my mom and husband alone but some days doubt creeps in and messes with me.
Nonetheless, here I am. A Friday night sitting on a study station I set up a couple months ago looking at my surroundings and imagining what the next twenty month will be like. I'd lie if I say I am not scare shitless but I'd also be lying if I don't say that I am overflowing with excitement. If you could look at my life the past several years and saw everything that I have gone through you wouldn't believe it. Just these past several months, the way things have fallen into place I know that God's hands have been poking around these parts. I am unworthy of his Mercy and Grace yet I am so thankful that he has not given up on me. It is all happening on his time and for his purpose and I will try my hardest not to let him down. Not to let my mother, husband, children, and everyone who has supported me down.
I honestly cannot fully grasps how much difference a year can make. Last year around this time I was being prepared (through my devotionals) for some very unfortunate news and this year, oh this year. I have been immensely blessed in every aspect of my life. Can life ever be sweeter than this? We're not even half way through 2016 but I am sure that things will only get better, as long as I stay obedient. And that is only a small price to pay for the amount of happiness and joy that I feel.
Life is a journey. Actually, life is full of journeys and I have embarked into quite a few of them over the years. Now I'm ready for the next one.
Thank you Jesus! I give you all the glory.
p.s.
Can I just say that in orientation we were told our graduation date.
December 7, 2017 at 7pm Coincidence or Fate?
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