Flip flops and high heels.....

The more I thought about this the more I REALLY wanted to blog about it.... I hate high heels, I pretty much always have.... hahaha!! I believe they are the most uncomfortable shoes in the history of shoes.... BUT I will bring them out for a special occasion, you know the one's, a wedding, a formal party, a funeral.... :( and that's just what I took them our for this time, a funeral.

I always give myself the benefit of the doubt, before I try and go out wearing the nightmare of a shoe.... ;) and I was so full of confidence last week that I even amazed myself.... lol!!!

Here I was.... and cleaned up and wearing heels, greeting people I hadn't seen in years.... after 10 minutes I thought.... pheeeew.... I made it, now it was time to go and sit thru the mass.... :) an hour and a few minutes later I was still wearing these "beloved" shoes.... hahaha And that's when I saw my brother looking at my feet.... What the Hell??? you're wearing heels?? hahaha!! I looked at him funny and said REALLY??? then after a few more statements, he said you're stupid for wearing those.... you're not gonna last more than a half hour.... (gotta LOVE little brothers... ;)) I replied VERY proudly that I had ALREADE lasted more than an hour.... and he was nice enough to point out that I had been sitting for most of that hour!!! hahaha!! he was so right.... I assured him that I would make it the rest of the day.... and he pointed out that I wouldn't make it past lunch.... ugh!!! as hard as I tried, he was right, I lasted like half an hour with them on... before I felt like I may need to shoot off my foot,, not both, just one, weird I know!!!

I was smart enough to pack a pair of flip flops in the car.... gotta always have an extra pair handy!! ;)

So it was on this day that I remembered how grateful i was for flip flops, comfortable and close to the ground!! ;) hahaha!!!

Here's to little brothers who "know" best..... funny the other day he asked me if I had burned the heels, hahaha!!! ;) I haven't yet.... but I just might soon, to make room for more flip flops!! ;)

WOW!!!!

Have you ever gone thru a day where you think, "someday, i'm going to remember and laugh about this." Where the only word to describe is "WOW" or unreal??? That was so my sunday.... I will certainly remember yesterday as the most "bizarre" day I've EVER had. I keep replaying it in my head, yesterday on the way home, in bed before I finally went to sleep, as soon as I woke up this morning, in the shower.... I can't just stop thinking about..... haha!! It was a day in which EVERYTHING and I MEAN EVERYTHING went wrong.... to the point where I got in the car somewhere off the 5 freeway and said a prayer asking God to please just deliver us to my house unharmed.... haha!! YES it was that bad.... ;)

To make a LONG day short, I will rephrase.... Jaime and I went to USC to take her dental hygenist test, her patient was nowhere to be found, the test started at 1230, I think the girl finally showed up around 1245ish?? so Jaime pulled someone off the street, yep, literally off the street, and off we were to get ready for her test, I had to wait in a different room.... and let me tell you that it was a long wait, I was already kinda flustered, and HOT really HOT!! haha!! she came and got me pretty quick, good news I thought.... ummmm.... nope, the kid wasn't going to work, so off she went to get someone else, our original patient was downstairs, so she took her.... and I was still waiting.... those 2 hours were the LONGEST 2 hours of my life.... only for her to come get me again.... and tell me the girl wasn't going to work either.... so Jaime had to withdraw from the test.... I can't even begin to describe how I felt at that moment... definitly sad for her, I knew she was SUPER sad... then of course there was the feeling of frustration, there was nothing I could do to make her feel better.... as a friend you want to be able to do anything to make another feel better, there was definitly nothing I could do or say at this moment... :(

The only thing I could do was "arrange" dinner with Jessica.... :) We were going to meet at Miguel's, but first we had to "get rid of the girl," (by that time Jaime was done, and just wanted to go home.) and show her the right fwy, since she was going a different way.... however, someway along the line my FANTASTIC sense of direction failed me and I missed the 60 fwy, so I stayed on the 5, and thought I'd catch the 91 later on..... and we were ALMOST at the 91 when it happened "the girl" in her mom's mercedes rear-ended a kid in an acura, AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU FRIGGIN KIDDING ME??? so off we were to make sure she was ok.... and to wait for a tow truck, and the cops... in the meantime I called Jessica back to cancel dinner, and yes by that time "things just kept better for us"..... haha! ;) Finally all cars were "towed" and we were on our way to San Diego to deliver our newly aquired "package" to her mom's house in Coronado.... so there you have it, sunday was definitly a bizarre day, or should I just stick to unreal?? If only we were allowed to have "do-overs" of some days?? I'd definitly choose a do-over for sunday, for Jaime's sake, and for mine.... hahaha!!! No one deserves such a bizarre/unreal day!!!

I do have to say that Jaime taught me a very valuable lesson in staying calm on sunday.... the day was so horrible, and those were her words.... I'm sure I would of had a gnarly meltdown or two, especially if the day had been half as important to me as it was for her.... Instead she kept her cool THE WHOLE TIME.... and for that I admire her.... I certainly do appreciate the fact that "she kept on going" and trying to give it her best all the way to the end.... She kept saying I was her only calming factor that day... funny she was mine!! ;)

Here's to NO more bizarre days in my future.... ;) And to being able to laugh at this one... someday!! haha

family fun!!!

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are mosty filled with "family" happinesses!!

Tio Edu's passing made room for lots and lots of family time!!! Tio Rafa came down from Guate, and he got to spend lots of quality time with the family, especially with his two granddaughters, Vides and Lucciana!! Vides LOVES her abuelo, and he had a great time with her and the baby..... :) Virginia had us over for Pozole and so that we could all enjoy some quality time, before everyone had to go home!!! :)

Abuelo and Lu!! look at how happy she is!! I LOVE this picture!! :)

awwwww!!!

Tia Lela and Vides.... Vides decided to go and give her a hug, "because she Tia Lela was sad about Edu", Gosh I LOVE the way 4 year olds think!! :)
Me and Bea!
We tried so hard to try and get a picture of all of the little cousins..... this is the best I got! Sophia wanted NOTHING to do with the picture so she took off.... and I caught her in the act!! hahaha!!!
...... and this is what happened next! she was PISSED about the picture!!! lol!! Poor Sophie!!
The big cousins, and their offspring.... I'm almost positive we're almost outnumbered.... we were missing Lukas and Timothy for the little ones, and a few of the "big" kids! ;) great picture though, it's not everyday we get this many of us together at one time!!
Cousins!!!!!

Cake Decorating here I come!!!!

So Gaby and I decided to take a fondant and gum paste class, we thought it'd be fun to learn how to use both of these things to decorate cakes.... The class turned out to be a lot of fun!!! we started off by making a bow out of fondant.... talk about jumping right in!! hahaha! I thought for sure that the bow was the final project, boy was i WRONG.... :) thankfully it wasn't very hard to do, the class is on tuesday nights, for 2 hours, and we're already looking forward to the next class.... :) here are a few pictures from the first class!!! :D

This is what my "work" place looked like!

Rolling out our mixture of 50/50 fondant/gum paste..... The teacher let us dye our fondant.... I decided to make a yellow bow and Gaby decided to make a pink one!!

getting the "ribbons" ready..... we made 14 total

The we made "bases" for some flowers we're going to make at the next class.... this one's going to be a carnation!

The first layer of our bow!

All done!!!!! :D

The pink one turned out super cute too!!!

Yep.... I was very proud of my final project!!! say Cheese!!!!!!!!!

Gaby and her final project!

more photos!!!! :)

We were so excited for our bows..... and we can't wait until the next class!!!! :)

Until next time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

The sun finally shined thru........ :)

The day started off gloomy and rainy, and kinda cold.... it seemed appropriate since we were saying "see you soon" to grandpa today..... Funny how things turned out today.... He managed to get the whole family and I mean the WHOLE family together today, not one kid was missing!! And that alone was a reason to celebrate!! :) there was so many people there today that I hadn't seen in forever, I LOVED it!! Thanks Ed for getting us all together again..... We love you and we'll miss you, thank you for teaching us what family is all about!

Then there was the fact that Holland won their game today... hmmmm.... not really a coincidence that grandpa was from Holland.... nope, not a coincidence at all!! i can almost guarantee that Holland takes it all!! ;) we'll see.... :)

And we got to finish the day on a good note, Gaby and I had signed up for a cake decorating class a few weeks ago, figures the first class would be today! we almost didn't go, the day's "activities" were exhausting.... we thought that since it was the first class we may not do anything important, and lunch and mingling was taking a while.... we ended up making it home with just enough time to get dressed and go, so we went. I'm so glad we did, it was just what we needed to clear our heads of a "gloomy" day! ;) and we learned how to make a bow out of fondant.... I would of been devastated if we would of missed that lesson, that's the part that I was looking forward too!!! :) and we had a good time! We couldn't believe how fast the 2 hours passed! I can't wait to take the next class.... here's a "sneak" peek at my creation, there will be a "bow" post later!!! :) oh and don't mind my appearance, it was a LONG, weird, emotional day!!! oh and one filled with Miguel's so I may of gained a few pounds today too!! haha!!

Happy 4th of july!

4th of July came and went this year.... we kinda did our own thing again this year.... My parents went to an Angels game.... their friends had a suite for the game, so they got to go.... appearantly MY invite got lost in the mail!! haha! they had a good time though, so I was excited for them..... Bea, Rome and the girls had come out for the weekend, the girls get to stay for a few weeks... Yiiippeeee!!! so we hung out in the pool all day and BBQ'd, Gaby, Mike, and Sisco came over for a little while too.... then they were off to Mike's parents, and V got to play with Ruby.... hahaha!!! Ruby's a runt compared to Sisco, but it looks like V had fun with her!! :)
Melissa, and Alex came over with the kids too!! and at the last minute Michelle ended up coming over with William too!! Samuel had such a fun time with William.... hmmmmm.... looks like he may need a little brother to play with!! ;)
Having fun in the pool!! :)

Vides looks ready to go swimming doesn't she??? haha!!!

we went up to the park to watch the fireworks, (don't mind my hair.... it was a long pool day) haha!!! we got such a good show for like an hour! Elsinore is seriously one of the best places to watch fireworks.... the neighbors ALWAYS put on the best firework shows!! ;) This year I even got my own personal show right outside my bedroom window! I didn't even have to leave the comfort of my bed! :)

I can't wait until next year!!! :)

For some moments in life, there are no words....

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal."

How do I begin a post dedicated to the man who allowed me to call him grandpa for 22 years?? The man who showed my family unconditional love for so long?? The man who DEFINED unconditional love?? The man who took my parents, and their kids in with open arms when we first came to this "unfamiliar" country that we now lovingly call home?? My grandpa was one of the most wonderful, selfless, loving, noble men I've ever known.....

Grandpa already had grandkids of his own.... my cousins, but he took 3 more in.... he refered to us as his grandkids, and he was grandpa to us... he was always proud of all that we accomplished, I remember how he taught us english when we first came here, and I remember how he always reminded me that spelling was important.... He was a teacher you see... :) I remember as a teenager how everytime i came over he "allowed" me to enter all of his grades into his book.... I so looked forward to it too.... It was my "priviledge" he'd say, but now I see that it was also VERY helpful to him!! :)

I also remember how proud he was of everything I accomplished, and he eagerly awaited hearing about all my adventures, he was always excited to hear what I was going to be up to next.... and I will never forget how excited he would get whenever I'd get home from a "vacation"... I also remember how "dissapointed" he was when after the Australia fiasco I said I was going to take a brake from traveling.... I'm almost POSITIVE that aside from my parents and my sister he was the only one that ever looked thru the whole "vacation" picture books cover to cover.... He was overly excited and proud when I finally made it to Europe.... and he waited eagerly for the "picture" book... :) and I know in my heart that even thought he wasn't really with us these last few days he heard me tell him all about my latest trip to New York, and I'm almost positive that he will be waiting for the "picture" book, so I better get a move on it! ;)

He was also my dance partner at weddings.... he always made sure that I got at least one dance... that's one of the things I will miss the most, that is one of the things that I have missed... I ran across this picture today..... it was the last one I took of us before he got really sick and couldn't remember us anymore.... Alzheimers is an awful disease... :( We were at a birthday party and we were dancing, this time I asked him to dance and I remember he was super excited, we both were.... This is definitly one of my favorite pictures.... I remember we had a great time.... and the picture shows it!! :) I will also miss the big bear hugs that grandpa gave..... and how his face lit up everytime he greeted you with a "como estas voz"??? ;) How are you?? And I will miss hearing the story of how he killed an elephant in indonesia as a young adult.... the elephants tusks sit proudly at my uncle's house these days.... I must of heard that story a thousand times, and it never got old.... and how while having a conversation with him you'd get at least 2 different languages if not 3, it always kept us on our toes!! ;)

Although we've known for a few weeks that the end was near.... hearing this morning that it had finally come was not easy... I'm not sure how I felt, I don't think I really felt anything initially, I was numb for most of the day....I told one friend, and 2 or 3 co-workers.... I think that's all I could handle... :) after work we drove out to Seal Beach, and the drive home was a quiet one, I think that's when it hit me, when the memories started rushing in, as I drove, tears kept filling my eyes.... Funny how neither my parents or I said anything at all the whole way home.... we were all consumed with our own thoughts, and memories of Ed.

Tio Edu, you will be in our hearts forever, thank you for all the memories, and unconditional love, and for allowing me to call you grandpa for nearly all of my life, I truly did feel like one of the "grandkids".... I know it was your time to go and although it hurts me terribly that you are gone, I know you're in a much better place, one without hurt and worry, and that gives me peace.... I know you'll be watching over us from up above.... Until I see you again..... I LOVE you grandpa!!!