New Year's Eve!

I am a bit bummed that I have to work today from 2p-7p. My parents are going to get together with family in L.A. and I have to stay behind and go to work. :(

I was going to call in because I'm still sick. But I decided against it, I'm going to go in, I figure if I can't handle it, I'll just go home early. It's such a beautiful day!!!!!!!!! I wish I could just hang out and enjoy New Year's Eve. Oh well it is, what it is! I'm grateful to at least have a job, and my family.

I can't wait to get better so I can start shedding those pounds. It's on baby!!!!! LOL.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Determined!

I've been here many many times. But it's time to get it together. It's not a New Year resolution, it sounds so cliche, but I have to stick with it forever. LOOSING WEIGHT! And aside from that we have our wedding that is right around the corner. :)

As I was unpacking today and doing my laundry, I was thinking. I decided to clean out my closet and put away all the clothes that didn't fit me. OMG there were a lot of clothes on the floor. LOL! Very few things fit me. :( So helloooooooo reality check! I have gained massive weight. Every time I loose 10 lbs. I will try on the clothes that don't' fit me, I'm sure that will motivate me to keep going once I see that things fit. There is no turning back and I have decided that I have to start as soon as I get better. I don't want to start now, because I can't work out like I would like to, with this cold. It may sound like excuses but I know myself.

I would reveal my weight but nahhhhh it's way too much I'm sure. What I'll do is I'll blog about it every time I loose 10 lbs. After I've reached my goal I will announce all the weight I took off this 5'1 body. :) I have four months and a few weeks to reach my goal. I have made up my mind, there is no turning back.

Guadalajara!

My trip to Guadalajara was great, except for the fact that Raul and I got extremely sick. We made the best of it and went about our days. Raul got sick on his way to Mexico and I got sick on Sunday. I had a few days to enjoy a few cocktails, as for Raul he was drinking orange juice, no ice the whole time! My poor baby! Last night I felt like I was dying. I had a fever the whole way home. It was horrible, and last night I felt like I was dying. I was waking up every 30 minutes with cough attacks. :(

When I arrived Friday night we went to a place called Bariachi's and of course you can't leave Guadalajara without listening to an awesome Mariachi. Some of Raul's cousins joined us, his sister, and a few others. It was fun, we got home around 2am. Raul was such a trooper, because he hung in there sick and all while we all drank up a storm. He insisted that we stay as long as possible. Here is a picture of us at at Bariachi's Restaurant!


Before heading out! Yup Raul is sick, can you tell?








Rose (Raul's sister) and I!


Saturday was Valeria's baptism. And here are a few pictures as well.



Raul and his sister Rose!




Raul and BIL Carlos!


My love!



Me, Raul's mom, and Raul!






Raul and his Dad!

12-28 Lounging on Sunday!

Okay I'll post more pics. later, this thing is time consuming and since I'm sick my patience level is at zero. LOL.


I was so excited to be going to Mexico. The only bad part is coming back. I almost cried when Raul and I were saying our farewells. But I held it in and acted like miss tough girl. :) Time will fly by and before I know it, we will see each other again in May! :) This time for good! One thing I must say though is that I don't feel like being at home. It sounds mean but I guess I am feeling that way because I just got back from being with Raul and honestly I feel like starting my own life already. Don't get me wrong I love my parent's to death, and even if I wasn't getting married I would be itching to get out of the house and do my own thing. I just wish Raul and I could start our own thing. Oh well, no other choice than to have patience, and I will be just that PATIENT. :)

So overall my trip went well and Raul and I had a lot of time together. They had a mini family reunion on Sunday and that was a bunch of laughs. :) We also ate great tacos while in Mex., and a variety of junk food. But not so great for my waistline. LOL! Speaking of food, I'll be posting a blog about that soon, I really have to give myself a major makeover physically. :)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and I of course Happy New Year to all!

??????

I finally finished shopping for the babies (Raul's niece and nephew). Wheww and I am very happy with what I got. :) I worked a 330p-11p shift yesterday and agreed to cover a co-worker from 8a-330p today. NEVER AGAIN! Now I understand why they always make sure we get enough rest after two days of work. It's crazy in that store, especially right now. So this week I am working three days straight and when I am there I feel like I'm going crazy, and once I get home of course I chill out.

The days are flying by and before I know it I'll be getting on the plane to see Raul and his family. YIKES! Good YIKES! :) My grandma is here from Mexico and it's good to see her. And it's also good to know she will be with us for the holidays. Anyway well I better go because I feel like I am just blabbin' away and have nothing interesting to say. :) I need some inspiration. I'm sure I'll be filled with lots of stories once I get back from Guadalajara and oh yes with lots and lots of pictures of everyone. I'm not sure if time will allow for me to post more blogs, or I just might have writers block for a while.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and I hope you all enjoy yourselves with all of your family and friends. May God bless you all, and remember that I'm glad that you are all a part of my life, you all hold a special place in my heart.

PEACE OUT BIIIIIIIIIITTTCCHEESS! :)

-B

Starting to feel a lot like X-mas!!!!

I hit the mall with a few goals in mind. But did I accomplish any of them? NO! I was supposed to concentrate on buying a gift for Raul, his nephew, and niece. Instead I ended up with a pair of jeans for myself, a black vest, Paul Mitchell hairspray, and "this n that" for my trip to Guadalajara. I used my gift cards, and I still have some left. :)

I didn't see anything that caught my attention for the babies. Everything was so blahh! And I hate having to buy another typical sweater for Raul. I need to get creative!

The streets of Mo Val were packed. Did anyone say BAD ECONOMY, NAHHHHH! Everyone was getting their shopping done and along with all that I couldn't avoid the slow walking people in front of me, the slow driver who thinks they are the only ones on the road, and the loooooooooong lines. I sound like scrooge huh! But no, I think it got to me after hours and hours of trying to find a good gift. I decided I would just finish tomorrow. :)

Excited!

I've know that Raul and I are going to see each other on the 26th of this month, but just today it actually hit me that, I'M GOING TO SEE HIM IN A MATTER OF DAYS. I'm soooooooooooooo excited. We have not seen each other for 7 1/2 months and at times I don't even know how we manage. Somehow we adapt to the situation, we have concluded that it's simply the love that we have for each other, that is what keeps us there. Anyway I get a quick visual of his lovely smile and I just get butterflies. BARF!!! LOL!!!Sorry but it's true I can't wait to get a big ol' hug from him, he gives the best hugs. SIGH!!! I'm soooo excited! :)

The rain can't stop me! :)

Yesterday was a very rainy day!!!! But that didn't stop me from shopping, shopping and shopping. I love it! I used some of the gift cards that I got, and I was so happy to get some good deals! I was so excited, because I haven't shopped like this in a very long time. I didn't know what to do with myself. I went to H&M and got some pretty good deals there. I had my eye on this very cute lavender scarf. I took it with me to the register, and at the last minute I thought nahh I could probably find it cheaper at Old Navy. They have nice scarves for like $2.50. I left it there. Later I decided nahhhhh I'll go back to H&M and buy it it's only $9.99. So I go back and IT'S GONE AHHHHH. I hate that! I should of bought it, but then I thought oh well it wasn't meant to be! I love scarves dang, I still regret not buying it!!!!

I bought the wonderful Endless love lotion from Victoria Secret mmmmmmmmm love that smell! And a awesome lip gloss from Sephora!!! I also got two cute scarves from NY & Co. Yeah I made up for not getting the lavender one. :) Yuupppiii and I'm going to keep shopping tomorrow! LOL! That's what gift cards are meant for!!!!

Here are some of the things that I bought!


I bought the larger red traveler bag. Original price was $12 at Bath & Body Works but I got it for only $3. WOW! I was such a happy shopper!

Original price $34 I got it for $13 at New York & Co. I love purses! :)

I got this make up bag at Bath & Body Works for just $1

And these sassy boots from Macy's! I can't wait to wear them!

The Grand Finale!

Summer of 2008 was here and I was weeks away from starting the summer quarter. My plan was to take three classes during the summer. I didn't want to waste anytime. My thing was to work hard, so I can finish faster! Something along the way told me to check with financial aid and make sure that all the funds would go through to cover the expenses for my classes. I find out that my financial aid was denied. I wouldn't be getting a penny to cover my classes. That is the last thing I needed to hear. That meant that I wouldn't be graduating until June of 2009. In order to keep this short I will number the things that followed:

1) I went into plan B mode and I decided to ask my parents for financial assistance. :) Long story short they agreed and dished out money for my classes. They gave me the exact amount to cover my classes. For some reason I left out the cost for my parking permit. I felt so bad about asking for more money that I ended up doing without the parking permit. I had to park off campus and walk an extra 25 minutes to my class. I had to make that walk four times a week for eight weeks. IT SUCKED!!! But I wasn't the only one and I figured it was good exercise for me LOL, and all that made me humble.

2) Going back a bit, around November or December of 2007 we found out that one of my close uncles was having health problems. Around the same time another dear aunt of mine was also going through health issues. My uncle had brain cancer, and my aunt had a lot of complications that eventually lead to her death. My aunt passed away July 25, 2008. My uncle passed away August 7, 2008 and my cousin (my aunts daughter) got married August 9, 2008. So first we went to a funeral, a wedding and another funeral. We were going through an emotional roller coaster! We couldn't understand what was going on! It was tough for our family!

3) I wasn't working much and honestly I don't even know how I managed not to get my phone cut off. Maybe a decent balance of the check book helped. I was desperately looking for a job, ANYTHING. I must of had a collection of rejection letters. And it didn't help the economy was bad!!! And well, still is a bit rocky. I remember the summer of 2008 being an extremely long summer. No money, no hours at work, nothing to do. It was awful. Thank God I at least had my nephew around. I would pass my days and hours playing with him. I mean, talk about being dead broke. And when you are dead broke, time passes by realllllllllllllllllly slooooooooooooow! I am glad that's over. I will always remain a strong believer that money isn't everything, but at times it gives you peace of mind and things to do! LOL!

4) Raul and I were trying to figure out what we were going to do about our wedding plans. We decided that we couldn't be apart much longer, we wanted a wedding and we had to have it as soon as possible. That is when we decided on getting married in May of 2009. Thank God things started falling into place! We now have the venue, church, and honeymoon booked. The rest is slowly but surely falling into place. I can't believe there is less than five months left, as opposed to the nine months that were left when we started planning.

5) The fall quarter came around and I started taking my last two classes. I was also given a job at best buy. Whewwww! And well, you all know the drama I went through with the stats. class. I just graduated as you all know as well, on 12/13/08. And I am sooooooo glad to be done!!! :)

It was an interesting journey. At times I thought it would never end! I don't regret the decision I made because I learned a lot along the way. I am glad that I accepted the challenges because I am now enjoying the victory. I now know the true meaning of hard work and sacrifice!!!! I know what it's like to have a passion towards something and work hard for it. It's not that I've never had to work hard to get what I want, but this was something I worked extremely hard for. I had to give up a lot, but in the end it was worth it. I know that I wrote about a lot of the bad things that happened, but don't' get me wrong, I see the positive side of it all too. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to focus mainly on my classes. Getting through school is not easy. I admire people who have a full time job, kids, school etc etc. because that takes a lot of dedication, discipline and hard work. You can't slack off and expect to get good grades. It takes work. So my hat comes off to those who juggle all those things at once. I am here to say that it doesn't matter how long it takes you, as long as you have your eye on the prize, you will get there. And that is all that matters! Don't give up! I am now ready to enjoy life! I will soon be getting married to the love of my life and I can't wait. We have been apart too long and we are ready to start our lives. All I want to focus on for the time being is the wedding plans, my family,and being a good friend and person each and every day. I have many hopes and dreams for the future. I hope that 2009 has a lot of good things and blessing for me, my family, and friends. I just want to be a good future wife, and mother. I hope God blesses us with a bundle of joy by early 2010. :)

Undercover Operation???????

Yesterday after work I was running some errands and I stopped by Target. We have two in town, and I decided to go to the one where there is less people. I guess I just didn't want to deal with the long lines. Anyway so as I am looking for parking I notice a police officer driving east bound in the parking lot as I'm driving west bound. I thought nothing of it. That side of town is pretty much quiet and all the upper middle class lives in that area. Everything there is brand spankin' new!

I find parking and as I am parking in the vacant spot I notice that the car parked next to me has the trunk wide open. But again I think nothing of it. I park my car, turn it off, get out and lock my car. I am always observing my surroundings, it's just part of what I do, and I have done it for as long as I can remember. So as I lock my car door I notice that there is no one around the car next to me, but the trunk is wide open and there is a play station box in the trunk. So I think, I better shut this trunk so that no one strolls by and steals it. It seems that maybe the owners tried to shut it and as they walked away didn't realize that the trunk was left wide open. So being the person that I am, I decided I would take a brief look around and after noticing that no one was around I shut the trunk. After shutting it, I looked back and the trunk locked in.

So as I am walking into the store I'm thinking dang that would of sucked if someone came by and took that Play Station, it must have been a gift for someone. So I go into the store and go about my business. About 30 minutes later I come out the store and immediately notice that there is a police car and a white car parked right in front of my car. I must have 20/20 vision because even though it was night time I could tell they were blocking my car.

As I approach my car, I noticed that there was a male in the back seat of the police car. There was a police officer speaking with what seemed to be an undercover cop. They soon realized that they were blocking my way, so the police officer said, "sorry miss, just give us a second while we move our car." I said nothing, and just stood there while they did what they had to do. The white Mitsubishi Eclipse was in front of the car that had it's trunk open, and the police car was parked right behind it. Hmmmm! So they quickly move the car and I am able to get in my car and leave.

As soon as I drive off I'm thinking, okay let me try to put all this together. Was this an undercover operation, that I just screwed up????? Or maybe interfered with??? I was thinking back and I did notice an old beat up blue van parked across from me and there was a white heavy set man standing next to it, but he had his back to me. So I'm thinking that was definitely the man I saw speaking with the police officer. He was one of the undercover officers. It had to be!!

So I'm thinking they were doing an undercover operation on someone in specific and they decided to put the vehicle there and leave the trunk open with the Play Station in it. They knew this person would be going there and so they set it up that way. And then I thought what if they were just doing that set up for any random person. I've learned that entrapment can be a very controversial issue but it's allowed. Police officers are allowed to do such things. So anyway I don't know what really happened, but it was just such a coincidence. This may seem weired but if this happened to you, what would you make of it? This area of town is so peaceful and quiet that I never thought I would see anything like this. It may sound like I was being paranoid but the whole thing was weird.

Catching up!!

I realize that I haven't completed the grand finale of my two year journey. And honestly I'm trying to think of a way to make it short. At this moment I can't get my thoughts together because I have gone through a lot of exciting things in the past few days. I am trying to play catch up with a lot of things. The fact that I had to work the day after my graduation really sucked and today I went in bright and early. :( Luckily I have the next two days off and I am looking forward to my days off.

I'll write my grand finale soon. What I must say though is that I'm glad I made it through. I feel like such a big load has been lifted off my shoulders. I am happy! I still don't know if I passed my Statistics class but I am being optimistic. I am prepared for whatever the outcome may be. All I know is that I am so glad that I won't see that crazy teacher anymore. She needs to stop teaching. The final exam was so confusing, but I won't get into it, I finished the whole thing in time and all I can say is that my conscious is clear because I know that I worked my ass off and I didn't slack off. If things weren't good enough for her then there is not much I can do. Everyone I spoke with is terrified! But we just have to wait and see!

I am also looking forward to seeing my baby Raul. Ten more days, I can't wait! I am soooo excited! I am ready to enjoy life, like life was meant to be enjoyed! I've worked hard the past two years! I'm happy, and I am happy with the way things are going in my life!

Happy Day!

Hello everyone, it's been a while!

The graduation ceremony and party was a success. The ceremony was of course boring, but exciting when all of us graduates walked out, when we walked up to the stage, when they called my name, and at the end when all the graduates danced to an old school song! LOL!

It made me feel so good to see the look on my parents face when they saw me in the crowd at the bottom. I was able to spot them and my friend and the were waving and my parents looked so proud. What a great feeling! SIGH! The weather was a bit on the gloomy side and it even rained here and there but the party kept going.

It was so nice to see my friends that I haven't seen in a while. It was the best. I missed a lot of you and I wish you could of been there. It was also so cute to see Jordan (Jamie's son) and Alyssa playing and it almost seemed like they had a crush on each other. Mind you they are like 2 and 3 years old. Jordan looked so cute in his Puma outfit! My friend Carolina flew in from Arizona and I must give a million thanks to her for being there every step of the way. She was helping with setting up for the party, taking pictures, music, food, taking video, she is the best and I thank her so much!

I got a lot of gift cards, and yes you know I already started shopping!!! I bought a Victoria Secret lotion and a nice little scarf so far. :) THANK YOU to all my wonderful friends that got me something, you know you didn't have to and I wasn't expecting it. I was excited just to have you all there! You are all the best.

There was a brief speech given by my parents, my friend Carolina, and from me. My Dad is a man of few words, therefore all he said was, "I am the proud father of Belen, and I am so proud of my daughter, and thank you all for being here." But to me his words were powerful!!! My mom said, "I want you to know that we love you (even if we don't tell you often) and we are very proud of you." She was close to tears!! My friend said, "I am so proud of you, all your hard work and sacrifice paid off and just know that I love you and I am here for you." We were all close to tears now. Then I proceeded with, "thank you all for being here, I am forever grateful to my parents for all their support, (even though I don't express it, can you tell there is no communication between us LOL. j/k) I love you both." And there I go a tear comes out, I had to stop talking because I was getting too emotional. :) I must note that the day also marked the 38th anniversary of my parents marriage. So my gift to them was my graduation, because I know that made them proud. :)

And another fun part was that we all played catch phrase until 1 in the morning. :) It was so much fun. I love that game! So it was WOMEN against BOYS. LOL! It was so funny, and fun! I am sad to announce that the boys won, but that's okay we let them win! :) I get competitive when it comes to game playing. If I remember correctly Susie was getting scared because I was trying to make us win, Mirella was laughing because I started saying "warm apple pie (inside joke) and I added a little dance to it", Greg was being too serious and technical on all the descriptions. The word to describe was "Miss. America." And Greg said, "it's what's on TV and it's really dumb", Oh yeah Miss America!! LOL and Judy was just fighting with Jr. And Leo ummm I think he was just making us laugh with his comments.

Once again thank you everyone for coming and joining me on this special day. And for those who didn't make it, I hope I can see you all very soon. :)

I posted some pictures on myspace, but for those who don't have a myspace account I will post a few here. Enjoy! And love you all!!!!







I realized that I didn't take pictures with Leo, Judy, Jr. Mirella, Susie, Greg etc etc....dang...I don't know what happened. :( This loading of pictures is taking forever, so I'll post more later!

Current Issue!

I was watching a Spanish news channel, and they were covering a story where the city of Compton was handing out toys to less fortunate families. Among the families were a combination of black and Mexican families. Well, that's a nice deed, right? Being that it's the holidays and times are tough. However the story caught my attention because they stated that city officials required that all families provide a valid California ID. BUT wait now I can't remember if they required ALL families to show valid ID or only required Mexican families to do so. Anyway if they couldn't provide some proof of legal residency their children would not be given a toy.

So I was thinking about this, and in reality who is at fault or wrong here? Here are a few questions I came up with.

1)How did the families find out about the event? Did they find out through the media or newspaper? Did the media specify that you would have to prove your legal residency? If so why would illegal residents show up and and have their kids be disappointed about not getting a toy. OR they just didn't understand due to the language barrier. But what if it was in Spanish? So in that case if Mexican families were advised, then city officials are not at fault?

2) Is it right for city officials to do such a thing? I mean, you might as well say if you have committed a felony please do not show up because your child will not get a toy. Prove that you have a clean criminal history. That's wrong, you can't do that! So why is it okay to do that to illegal residents?

Granted it's wrong to be here illegally, but why involve kids in this. They don't know the meaning of all that. Why not just do a good deed, and put aside the legal aspect of it all. Or simply don't do anything at all. I don't know, but this whole thing bothered me. And I don't agree with it.

I'm going to do some more research and see if I find anything on this online, but nonetheless I disagree with the whole deal.

Not my taste and this and that!!!!!

I decided to relax tonight, from I guess you can say, all the reality that is going on in my life!!! I went to class today, studied for 2.5 hours and now it is ME time. :) And what do I choose to do???? Yes, watch TV, chit chat with my Dad about this and that, blog and change my background layout on my blog page. :) Awwwwww refreshing. Talk about having NO LIFE! LOL! Aww whatever I'm happy doing just this for now.

The background on my page is not exactly my cup of tea. But I decided to go with something different. My favorite color is red!!!!!!!! I love it!!! There can be something very funky and ugly looking but if it's red I'll find the beauty in it. :) I just can't find any layouts with a red background. :( They don't give too many layouts to choose from. If anyone knows where I can get more of a variety please let me know!!!!!! For now I'll stick to polka dots....until I get tired it. I tend to be girly, but not thaaaaaaaaaaat girly. I don't know, are polka dots girly. Aww who knows!

On a side note, yesterday I felt completely overwhelmed. I was close to tears. I was on the phone with Raul and he managed to make me feel better. He always has the right words to make me see things from a different perspective. I love him for being that way and for being so supportive and encouraging. I can't wait to see him! I'm just counting down the days! I can use a great big hug from him! :) SIGH!!!! For those of you who have your hubby's and boyfriends close to you give them a hug and a kiss. Those little gestures go a long way. And for those who can't stand their hubby's or boyfriends uhhhhh can't help you there. :) C'mon people let's spread the love. :) LOL!

Until next time!

Stats. Chisme :)

Let's see it's been a few days since a bit of drama unfolded, so let me try to gather my thoughts. Okaaaaaaay, yeah I remember. Lupe and the other girl have constant contact because they have two classes together. So I get all my information from Lupe, because the other girl always makes crazy comments against ME. Don't hate!!! LOL! Anyway so we've had to submit a few assignments and today we turned in the last one. The other girl made a comment to Lupe and expressed that she was going to get the third assignment from a girl that took stats. before with the same teacher. I'm thinking how does she know it's the exact same assignment? This teacher is crazy and she changes things all the time. I found out today that the other girl never gave her the assignment and she got a big fat well deserved ZERO.

Anyway okay so a few days pass by and the night before our third assignment was due I get a text. I couldn't recognize the number, it read "I'm off today is there any way we can meet today so we work on the assignment. I soon realized it was the other girl. Jajajajajajajajajaj! I erased her number from my phone weeks ago, and that is why I couldn't recognize the number. So then I respond by saying, "sorry I have to work." Then later that night I get another one from her and it read, "what time can we meet tomorrow morning?" Jajajajajajajaj again!!!! The way she worded that was as if she was already certain that I would meet with her early in the morning. There was nooooooooooo way I was going to get up early when I didn't have to. Especially not for her!!! Remember I'm a sangrona!!!!!!! Yup, yup that's me! I never responded to that text!

The next day rolls around and as I get out of the elevator, she is right in front of me with Lupe!!! Come to find out that Lupe was hiding from her the whole time in the restroom. LOL! I just have to laugh it off at this point. This girl is insane. So as I walk towards Lupe, the other girl doesn't say a word to me, and well neither do I. It was so weird!!!!!!!!! As if she never tried to contact me the night before!!!!!!!!!!

She asked Lupe if they can meet over the weekend. All of a sudden she is interested in learning the material and we are less than 7 days from the final exam!!! In a nice way Lupe said she can't. This girl needs a miracle! And you know what????? I'll contribute to saying a little prayer for her tonight, because she can use that miracle to pass this class. Even though we have been studying like mad women, we still run across some problems. Best of luck for her! I'm just amazed at how weird some people can be. This girl has a lot of growing up to do!!!

I got a call from another girl which I met last year. She is also a criminal justice major. She is taking the same class but with another teacher. She asked me if I could help her with the material and I gladly said yes. I got together with her and explained some of it. We worked out a few problems and we got them all right. :) I found that explaining it to someone else helps me out a lot!!! There, that was my good deed for that day! :)

Brief!!!

I wish I could sit here worry free and blog blog and blog. But I can't! It's seems as though the next eight days will be complete chaos. There are assignments to turn in, more studying to do, work, work out (to keep the stress down), graduation party planning, and FINALS!

I have a few things that I would like to blog about, but I guess I have to use my time wisely for now and complete an assignment that needs to be turned in tomorrow at 10a. If I didn't have to work at 12p today I know I would use my procrastination skills and put my assignment off until the last minute. BUT it's now or never!

I can't wait until I can sit down with my friends and family at my grad. party and just chill, with no worries and a nice margarita drink in my hand. :):):):):):)

I was reading one of the inspirational quotes that appear daily on my blog and it read:

"When you find yourself stressed, ask yourself one question: Will this matter in 5 years from now? That is sooooooo true, and that helped me out! I'm getting better day by day when it comes to over stressing. :)

Chaos on the job!

I've been in the new department at work for a week now! I was told that I would be given five hours of training. I got about an hour! I was put there during the craziest time of the year! I have concluded that the customers that call in are the ones that are training me. They basically call in and ask millions of questions about our products and I'm supposed to know it all. The pressure is immense at times. It's one 5'1 girl (me) dealing with 10+ calls. Somehow I manage to keep my composure! Fortunately I have Raul who has been answering all my computer questions. He is such the genius when it comes to computers. In addition I've been taking initiative and going on the BB website and learning more about what we have and how everything works.

I am the type of person who plans, organizes, thinks out, and prepares for everything. In order for me to be disciplined, I plan things out. BUT in this position planning is thrown out the window. I have to act on the spot and be on my toes 110%! We have to sell to customers and that is something that is foreign to me! The dollar amount that I bring in daily is looked at by the managers every day. Anyway as with everything I try to look at the positive side of things, NEVER THE NEGATIVE! So I have been thinking about this one, and I have concluded that I better take advantage of this. I am getting paid to explore a side of me that I thought I would never be exposed to. I have discovered that I always tend to prepare for the expected, but I tend not to deal well with the unexpected. Well, actually I have known that for a while, this new job didn't make me realize that. But now it's being put into practice, and I intend to learn from this!

I was talking to Raul about how I felt on the new job and what he said was true. We have to have an open mind about things and be willing to learn a little bit of everything. I guess I just felt overwhelmed because it is just the beginning. I must say that I am feeling comfortable as each day passes. I like the fact that the managers make it a point to tell us (personally) that we are doing a great job. That brings up morale and you don't get that often in the work force. And I also have to admit that every time I bring in sales and the customer actually comes in to buy something, I find myself pulling off the "YES" deal!!!! LOL! Anyway I'll keep taking things day by day and hopefully after the holidays things will cool down!

My two year journey Part III!!!

At this point it is late 2007! I am starting to get used to my new job, and studying like a mad women! I had NO LIFE! Seven months had past since Raul and I reconciled and we still had not seen each other due to financial constraints. The holidays came and went and I was just wishing things could be different. It almost seems as though I am bringing up all the bad things, but that was my reality! Raul and I had our hopes up that he would make it out here sometime early January of 2008, it almost seemed like a done deal, but at the last minute things didn't work out. I remember getting his call saying he wouldn't be able to make it. I remember I was walking to my class when he broke the news! I remember hanging up with him after the news, walking into class, sitting down at the desk and the tears rolling down my face. An array of emotions came over me because I felt so overwhelmed with everything. I just couldn't see the the positive side of things, I couldn't understand why things had become so difficult.

I concluded that I just had to take things day by day and do the best I could. Raul and I had to work extremely hard to make it this far. We never gave up on each other and we gave each other strength. January of 2008 crept up before I knew it and things at school were still tough. I was taking all my upper division classes! Writing loooong ass papers, doing research, spending endless hours in the library, and taking math classes (which I hated). The funny thing about it was that every time something challenging came up in my classes, I would get motivated and I would just sike myself out and think, "oh this is easy, I can do this", when in reality a side of me didn't know where to start. But I felt driven to figure it out, and do the best I could. IT WORKED!

My b-day was on 1/17 it fell on a Thursday. I will never forget that day! I tell you some things have just made me humble. :) It was one of my long days at school and I had to work late that night. All of a sudden the boss comes up to me and says, "can you please help clean up, because the guy in charge of cleaning is by himself and he can use the help." Uhhh that meant I had to sweep the floors in the student union. Well, how can I say NO to the boss. There is not even a nice way to do such a thing. So I say, "sure." I started helping him and as I am sweeping the floors I'm thinking why is this happening. It's my b-day, I'm at work when I rather be home or partying, and I'm SWEEPING AND MOPPING. I rarely do that in my own house. If I didn't start laughing about the whole thing, I knew I would start crying!!! I couldn't believe it!! I just laughed it off and kept going. Things couldn't get any worse!

May of 2008 came around and GUESS WHAT????? Yes, Raul and I finally got to see each other!!!! :):):) It was the happiest moment ever once we finalized everything! The simple act of being able to hug him and see him was the best feeling ever. We had the best time ever and nothing could ruin how happy we felt. :) When he came in May we told my parent's that we were planning on getting married sometime in 2009, we just weren't sure on the date.

Summer of 2008 was here and like they say things will get worse before they get better!!!!!! Stay tuned for the grand finale!!!! :)

Too much going on!

OMG I have been away for a few days now. I can't even begin to put all my thoughts together, therefore this one will be short. I am super busy with work and preparing for upcoming finals. I am super excited that there are only roughly 16 to 17 days left until the BIG DAY. MY GRADUATION! The day I've been waiting for-for two years is finally just around the corner, and I couldn't even begin to explain how happy I am.

I feel absolutely confident that we will pass this exam, and that all of our endless evening and weekend study sessions will pay off. It is not over, but we are almost at the finish line. I'll be back with more blogs, I'm sure I will feel inspired to write by the end of this week.

Reflection!

Those that know me, know that I don't have the best relationship with my Mother. I can list a great amount of positive things about my mom, she has a lot of good qualities. But with that come a lot of other issues, as we all have, no one is perfect! And well, I'm not perfect either.

My Mother and I are really opinionated and we disagree a lot of times on a lot of things. Sometimes I feel like she is just so unfair! But I've noticed through out the years that it doesn't take too much to get her to be happy after a brief argument.

The other day I was on one of my normal study sessions with Lupe! And in between all the studying we got lost and started talking about our personal lives. Well, actually she started telling me about her life. I was just listening! I have this thing, where most of the time I enjoy listening to other's life stories and learn something from it, rather than talk about my myself.

I am not going to divulge everything she told me, because I don't feel that I'm in the position to reveal someone else's business. Unless of course she gives me the OKAY! But I won't even bother getting permission. Let me just say that I was in shock by what she revealed about her life. I couldn't believe half of the things she has been through. But it was true!!! Most of it was about the relationship between her and her Mother. All I can say is that her Mother is a really mean spirited person! :( After hearing her story it made me reflect on the relationship that I have with my own Mother. And I thought about it, I thought my mom wasn't that bad. Although it's tough with her sometimes (okay most of the time) it doesn't compare with Lupe's mom. I've always been close to my Father, and I would do anything for him, for both of them for that matter!

Anyway Lupe is not your everyday American girl! She was born in Mexico, and I admire her for how far she has gotten! People look down on her because if you see her you think "oh just just another Mexican girl in America." It sounds cruel, but it's true! Sometimes the truth hurts. I have never been one to care too much about what class you are in upper, lower, middle I don't give a damn. As long as you are genuine, and sincere with me, I'll be your friend forever. Money or status doesn't mean much to me! And that is one of the major reasons why I value and appreciate the friends that I do have. All because I actually found some genuine quality in all them. Otherwise, believe me I wouldn't be associating with them! Lupe is not into the latest fashion, doesn't drive the best car, she is humble beyond compare, and she possesses what SOME people struggle to have, A GENUINE HEART AND COMPASSION!

It's kind of weird talking about her, I didn't think I would, but after finding out about her life story, it made me reflect on my own. And I must say that I have it fairly easy. Without a doubt Lupe times 6 billion people = A better world!

A mess!

I used to be a faithful customer at Ziba Beauty in Victoria Gardens. I love the way they always made my eyebrows look close to perfection. :) BUT unfortunately everything is so far from MV that I had to search for a place closer to me. So I found a place inside the MV mall one day. And I thought great, I'll just come here from now on. I've been going there for a few months now. Weather you want to admit it or not, we all care for great customer service. But these people have none. I mean they don't even talk! I can't conclude that it's because of their culture, because I've met others that are super nice.

So this is the normal routine every week and a half or two!

Me: I walk in and smile!
Them: "EYEBROWS?"
Me: Yes!
Them: They point to the chair! (That means sit down!) As if I am about to sit in the electrical chair. :(

***They finish their job, give me the mirror***

Them:"you like?"
Me: uh huh! (What's the point in that, what if I DON'T LIKE, you can't give me new eyebrows!!!!)
Them: okay pay!!!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh the torture is unreal! All so that I don't have to drive 60 +/- to get my eyebrows down some where else.

Sooooooooo the other day I found another eyebrow place on the other side of the MV mall and I was very happy. So I go in there to check out the place and they have great customer service. They gave me a card and said please come in anytime. I didn't stay because I decided that I would let my eyebrows grow out a bit more. Hopefully they can reshape them and make them look 10 times better. But I feel a mess because my eyebrows are in major need of immediate work!!! But I'm going to TRY to tough it out and wait until my Graduation day which is on 12/13! Whewww let's see if I can do that, it's awful having crazy looking eyebrows!!!

I can't help it!!!!!!

This may be getting old, but I can't help but share the latest on my Stats. drama. So like I said before there was a brief study session at Starbucks on Tuesday, this time with all three of us. So today as I am standing by our class waiting for the professor to show up, I happened to turn around and notice that "the one girl" (LOL) is standing behind me. But she doesn't notice that I turn around and see her there. So I quickly turn back around and go about my business. So I'm thinking well she obviously saw me, and we just met about two days ago and she hasn't even said hello or something. So I'm thinking, WHATEVER! So we go into the class and it's business as usual, all goes well. Lupe arrives and manages to sit next to me in the front row.

So after about an 1 hour and 1/2 the class comes to an end and Lupe and I are discussing our next study session. And as I'm telling her that I think we should meet tonight, I notice from the corner of my eye that the one girl is standing next to me, but I proceed with my suggestions. :) So we finalize everything and Lupe and the other girl walk away together. But I think nothing of it and I go to my next class!!!

So after my last class I get a call from Lupe. She just wanted to set a time for us to meet. And she says, "Oh and I have something to tell you, but I'll wait until I see you tonight." So we meet up and she tells me that as her and the other girl were walking to the car, the other girl tells her that she thinks I am a SANGRONA! JAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA! I started laughing just like that when Lupe told me. For those who don't know what sangrona is, it pretty much means that I'm stuck up or something. And Lupe tells me she gets a bad vibe from her because she has been noticing that the other girl has been parking right next to her the last two days. STALKER! So she says, "I don't care, I get the formulas now, I don't care if Belen doesn't want to meet up with me." Jajajaja again!! So the other girl tells Lupe if they can meet on Saturday, but Lupe makes up a story and says she can't. She is meeting with me instead!!!! Poor Lupe she can't seem to get her off her back. She is just too nice, and can't find the way to say NO! But I understand.

So once again I am a 29 year old woman, and I feel like I'm dealing with a bunch of 19 year olds, (with the exception of Lupe) I'm not in HS, I don't have time for this BS. So anyway God help the other girl, she is a genius and has figured everything out in a matter of days. :) Some people I tell ya!!!!

I hope this is the end of my Stats. drama. Less than 3 weeks to go, can't wait! :)

Change sooner than I thought!!

As I mentioned before I started a new job at Best Buy. I was initially assigned to the Geek Squad. :) A couple of days into the new job, the work reminded me of INS. Customers have a problem with their laptop, camera, Ipod, etc. etc. and we check it out and if we find that there is a major problem we send it our service center. So we are constantly receiving calls from the customers asking about the status of their product. OR we are having to call them to keep them updated. We have to look up the status on the computer, and whole bunch of other good stuff.

So anyway I notice that there is a paper hanging on the wall in the break room. It read, "If you see your name on this paper, please see admin." Okay so I briefly look over it, and my name is on there. So I go see the lady in admin. Pretty much it was only to provide my availability. So okay I'll log into the computer and do so. As I was walking away she says, "oh did you know that you are going to be transferred to another department?" I say, "no. " And she replies, "oh yes, well now you know." By the way she is way cool! And then she says, "no worries, your new department is not bad, you'll get use to it." I'm thinking okay should I take the comment in a bad way or a good way. Alright I'll go with the good. Hmm so now I'm curious!!!!

A few hours later, the Geek Squad manager calls me into his office. And I'm thinking okay well I'm SEMI prepared for this. He confirms the transfer!!!!!!!! He says "we are cutting down hours in the Geek Squad, and being that you just started we don't want to have to cut your hours also, and it so happens that this opening was available so we want to put you there." Wow, okay how nice of you!!!! So I officially start on Sunday! I am actually looking forward to it! I got some training today and it doesn't seem too bad. But they really emphasize the fact that we have to "sell to the customers." I'm not good at doing that, because I don't have retail experience, but hey whatever, always open to learn something new. I'll pretty much be answering all the incoming calls for the store, and checking if we have certain items and offering to put things on hold. There is more to it, but if I keep typing my fingers are going to fall off.

So I have a full schedule and nice and hefty hours for next week. I have three whole days to prepare for next week, both mentally and physically. :) Mentally because I have a lot of new things to learn on the job, and physically because I will be spending long hours at work due to the holidays. I'll have to step it up at the gym, so I can have energy to make it through my days at school and work. I have found that excercise is the best medicine!! :)

Until next time!!!

Study at Starbucks? Okay!

It's been about three weeks since the midterm, and "the one girl" that used to meet with us decided she would meet with us today for a study session. Lupe is the one that I have been studying with and she is so nice, bless her heart. So the other girl goes to her all the time, and not me. Maybe she senses that I don't have too much tolerance for BS. So apparently the girl asked Lupe when we would be meeting again. Lupe told her that we would be meeting at Starbucks to go over the new material that was covered in class today. Which is pretty much our routine, every time we cover something new, we meet the same day or the next day and study study study.

So as I am sitting in class I see Lupe running to my desk to deliver a little note. LOL! She is pretty much saying not to tell the other girl that we have been meeting, because she is going to feel bad that we haven't called her. Well she hasn't called us either!!! But anyway my opinion is set aside at this point! I'm thinking that this girl was going to want us to explain everything from the beginning. And there was no way, and thank God Lupe was feeling the same way.

And sure enough that girl had not studied or looked at any of the latest material. She even admitted that she didn't understand any of it. Well all I could say to her was, "you really have to study this, or else you are not going to make it." Yes I tried to be as civil as possible, and she just sighed! Ahhaaa just sighed. Her plan failed because we were not about to sit there and explain sh@! from the beginning.

So we went over everything that was covered today and it is all crystal clear. We are up to date with everything and we feel good. But I could clearly see that the other girl was frustrated and she wasn't grasping it. Well about 1.5 hours later I say, "well I'm hungry I better get going because I can't think anymore. See you guys later." Then Lupe quickly gets up too, and says, "yeah me too, see you guys on Thursday." LOL! It was so weird, you could feel the tension. I wish I could of taken a picture of the girl, her facial expression was priceless. I know this all might seem mean, but not really. I can't have sympathy for people like that. I truly like helping people when the genuinely want and need the help. Lupe has a son, husband, job, and goes to school full time. How does she manage to meet with me every other day for two hours???????? I DON'T KNOW! But she does! Point made!

Okay this is getting old. Bye bye!

2 in 1!

Soooooooooo what is up with all the earth quake warnings. I'm scared! :( Someone hold me!!!! LOL! Is it that they are able to predict earthquakes like they can predict the weather??? Who knows what they have going on! We had a earthquake drill at school on Thursday! But we couldn't even hear the instructions over the intercom, we couldn't hear s@*t inside of the class. You think you should start there???? Anyway apparently we were supposed to go under our desk, ummmm, nope no one in the class did such a thing, and the professor didn't encourage it either. It was just another day at CSUSB. It was statistics as usual! So anyway, I even heard about the warnings on the radio. It's a bit scary.

I was in Azusa today! I felt good to get out of boring ass M.V. I drove out there to meet the potential DJ guy for our wedding.

A couple of weeks ago I went to see a videographer. So I tell my friend that I will be paying this guy a visit. And I tell her, "It's a house because the street is blah blah blah COURT. No business is going to be under such street name. So she says, "okay give me the address and call me when you get out." And I'm thinking yikes should I really get off. I've never had to do this. And being a criminal justice major, I'm paranoid and distrustful of a lot of things. So I see the wife come out (at least I think it's the wife) and she looks over and smiles. And I think okay what the heck, I'm already here, lets see. So I go to the door and the nice Argentinian man answers the door. And as I go in I feel at ease. There is a huge wedding picture of him and his wife in the living room and a bunch of toys lying around, indicating they have a child. I'm still a bit apprehensive, but I'm not as worried. SIGH!!! At times like this I wish Raul could be here. All went well, and I really liked his work. He told me over the phone that it would take about an hour to go over everything. BUT I didn't tell my friend that, so my phone is ringing like crazy, it's her, she's probably thinking, "OMG she's dead or something." I know it sounds horrible, but kinda funny. So I immediately call her back when I'm done, and let her know I'm still alive and kicking. Whewww!!!!

So the same thing with the DJ guy, I let my friend know and I also let my Dad know! He was worried and says, "do you want me to go with you?" Mind you, he's in the middle of tending to a yard sale. And I'm like, "no Dad, I'm sure." He says I'll put everything away and I'll go with you." He is so kind! Everything went well. And I like the work this guy does as well! :) We are going to go with him as well.

My two year journey Part II

January 9, 2007 came around and it was my first day of "college life." I went in with an open mind. I was a couple of days from turning 28 years old and I found myself surrounded by a bunch of 18 year olds. I thought, aww man this is going to be interesting! I was behind schedule by 10 years. LOL! There were a few oldies but goodies, but the younger crowd was the majority! Not that I was OLD, but I somewhat felt out of place, you know I had gone through that thing called, MATURITY!



So the first quarter maybe even the second quarter pretty much felt like a breeze. I thought, "Oh this is easy, I can handle this." You know I was used to EASY, life was good! I got to wake up late, go to class around 11ish or 12ish. That sure beat going into work at 8:30am. I was diggin' college life! The A's seemed like they were just falling on my lap, not too much effort! I was a genius! NOT! Reality check Miss Thang! I think it was around Summer Quarter of 2007 when the road started to get a bit bumpy! I wasn't used to bumpy! :)

But let me go back a few months! It was around late February of 2007 that I went on a mini vacation with my friend Danielle to South Padre Island, Texas. We had a great time, well long story short my ex (Raul) was living in Texas. While I was there I found myself thinking about him a lot. And no I didn't go there because of him, totally nothing to do with him. Danielle and I just wanted to go somewhere we had never been to before. So anyway I was really caught off guard by the fact that I was thinking about him more than usual. I tell ya, life will throw some interesting things your way. Long story short, he contacted me and we got back together sometime in March of 2007. I thought, wow God gave us a second chance at this, we are so grateful! BUT that was just the beginning! We were about to be put to the test!



So as I said things at school started getting to me a few months into it. And it just kept getting worse from there. My classes started getting more intense and required more of my attention, hard work, and time!

I ended up getting a job on campus! The job entailed working evenings during the week and weekends as well. At first I thought it was worth it, because I was at school all day during the week, and then I would just go to work after class. I remember there were many times where I would be on campus from 8a to 11:30p. It was a nightmare. I hated it! All I wanted to do was leave and just be home!!!!!! And aside from all that I was trying to deal with a long distance relationship! Those who have been in a similiar situation know that is extremely hard not to be able to see the one you love, whenever you want to. But it's a decision that we both made and we had to work really hard at it, AND WE DID! Life was no longer easy, or a walk in the park! The pressure was on, and there was no doubt that I was feeling the heat. I had no idea how I was coping! I felt alone, everyone was going about there business, enjoying life and I was in the middle of the unknown! To be continued......

My two year journey! Part I

I think I've been down this road before! But I feel a need to express what is going on in my head! I don't know if any of you have seen the show called "Exiled". It's where (usually) a girl gets sent off to a country where she finds herself dealing with less fortunate people. She is sent there because she is spoiled and the whole experience is meant to teach her a lesson. At times we have it so easy that we get lost in it all, and loose the notion of how blessed we REALLY are. The above mentioned might not make sense at first, but at the end it will!

Before I decided to go back to school I had a full time job, lived on my own, had the city of Pasadena at my feet, enjoyed life, and just lived a care free life. But somewhere inside of me, there was something missing. I felt that I had not let myself reach my own full potential! When the thoughts of going back to school entered my mind, I knew there was a reason for it all. I just couldn't put all my thoughts in order. I had to weigh all the advantages and disadvantages of making such a decision. It's something scary to get out of your comfort zone. We tend to fear the unknown! But entering into the unknown can be the best thing you can ever do for yourself!

I thought I was prepared for what was to come when I announced to everyone and to my boss that I would be pretty much leaving everything behind to go back to school. I had a steady pay check coming in, and didn't have too many worries. As far as I was concerned LIFE WAS GOOD AND EASY! December of 2006 came around before I knew it, and around that time I was going through extremely hard times. I had gone through a break up, (yes with my now future husband) I was quitting my job, moving out of my apartment, moving back home, and going into unknown territory, SCHOOL! I WAS A MESS! :) But I have always tried to maintain a positive outlook on things no matter how hard it gets, so that helps me a great deal! I was ready to start a new chapter in my life. I remember I quit my job 12/20/06 and I had about 2 1/2 weeks before I started school! It was just a waiting game! Stay tuned for what followed!:)

Chicken or Chips......ahhhhhhh CHIPS! :)

I hate to use the word "diet" because that makes my mind feel like it's being deprived. And when I feel that way, I crave certain no-no foods. So instead I choose to say, eating healthier! Yeah, the mind can do some crazy things to ya! My cousin has been helping me get on the path of eating healthier and exercising. And I thank him so much for motivating me. BUT I am human and I have to admit that I have slipped here and there. I understand it's not about loosing weight for now. I know it has to be a long term thing.

BUT at times it can get so hard. But I figure as long as I keep at it, it's okay. So today was one of my "mess up days." I have a weakness for chocolate and chips. OMG, I can't help it! So I was munchin' on some chips today, and my Dad says to me, "Oh mija did you stop your diet?" Arrggg I must admit even though I don't like to be lied to, sometimes I can't handle the truth. And I just respond by saying, "NO!" And as I see him helping himself to some of my chips I say to him, "OH DAD DID YOU STOP YOUR DIET?" He laughs hysterically and says, "they are soo good." And I say "thank you, that's why I love them." And he replies, "okay let's put them away, don't eat them anymore." DAMN, I guess he doesn't want to see his daughter all chubby and what not. I know he means well! But I guess it throws him off, because for the most part he seems me eating all healthy and all of a sudden I'm devouring a whole bag of chips. LOL!

But anyway, I have to be on top of things if I want to fit into my wedding dress. It's just that sometimes I can't help but indulge in the things that I love to eat. :) I must say that I have lost six pounds, so I am proud of that. I just have to take it day by day! I know great things don't come easy, you have to work hard at it. But c'mon Santa give me a fast metabolism for x-mas!!! LOL!

The "One Girl" and the "other girl"!

After the midterm, I noticed that one of the girls that was part of our study group, was taking advantage. Yup, once I get that vibe, I'm pretty much done! After discussing how horrible we did on the midterm, we decided to work extremely hard and meet for two hours every other day, and study for two hours on our own. We are determined to pass this class! BUT while discussing the extra credit assignment, "the one girl" says, "oh you guys just do it and I'll just copy it later, because I have to work and can't meet with you guys." Ohhhhhhh noooooooooo, I thought! I don't think so! I didn't say a word, but my mind was going at 100 mph. I wasn't about to put all this work into my extra credit just to have someone copy it, and take full credit for it NO WAY! I will totally take notes and pass it one to someone if they can't make it to class, but THAT, no sorry, I can't do that, unless you have an extremely great reason. But I already had that bad vibe, so SORRY NO CAN'T DO!


So about three days pass and the day it was due, 30 minutes prior to the class starting I get a text from her saying, "can you meet me in the lab so I can copy the extra credit?" An immediate F*c@ came out of my mouth. I couldn't believe the nerve, I mean that's something that I wouldn't do, I don't expect it to be done to me! So I respond by saying, "I'm sorry I'm running late, I can't meet with you." C'mon 30 min. prior, give me a break! Long story short, the "other girl" let her copy, she ended up getting the whole 5 extra credit points, without putting too much effort into it. I wasn't happy, but WHATEVER!!!!


I am an extremely laid back person! But when I know that I'm being taken advantage of, I can't deal with that person, not even for a minute. So Lupe (the other girl) and I decide to get together the next day, and stay on top of things. So we meet the next day, and and it almost felt like we simultaneously thought that this girl was out of hand. So since then, her and I have been meeting every other day, and we feel sooooo confident about the new material. We are keeping up the formulas and understanding everything. I have to work too, but I make sure that right after I get out of work I meet with Lupe and get things going. This other girl is full of excuses. I'm sorry, I'm not one to sit here and criticize, but I'm calling it as I see it.


The problem in the beginning was that we tried to cram everything all at once and all at the last minute. It's different this time around! And I'm sure we will be just fine! In addition, my wonderful friend Maria sent me a Stats. book that has been helping us out a lot. We've been referring to it during our study sessions! It's great!

Anyway that's the latest!

Nervous, Anxious, Excited, and Happy all at once!

My in-laws have been in town for a few days now. They are here visiting their son! And also to stop by the Ramirez residence and ask for my hand in marriage. That is the typical Mexican tradition. It's a bit weird because Raul and I already started all the planning, but nonetheless it gives both families to meet and make things "official" per say! I must admit that I was a bit nervous when I found out that they would be coming over. So after numerous brief conversations over the phone with Raul's mom, we decided that they would come by today!

I was still getting ready when I heard the door bell ring. YIKES, they are here already and I'm not even ready! That built more on my anxiety! So I get ready as soon as I can, and work my way downstairs. By now my parents have already greeted them and they are quickly striking up a conversation. I must note that my parents met them years and years back through my Grandmother. But anyway that's a whole other story! So I finally walk into the living room and I give them all a hug and say my hello's. :) I'm slowly but surely calming down.

I was looking forward to seeing them, because it's been a while since I have seen them. And Raul has never had anything bad to say about them. He is crazy about his parents. So to finally be able to see them was a good feeling. So the time they were here pretty much consisted of lengthy conversations of "this-n-that." So we eventually busted out with the champagne and toasted to mine and Raul's upcoming wedding! Everything went very well and I am happy that they came over! And here is a picture of my in-laws and brother-in-law Javier!

Me/We

For as long as I can remember it’s always been about ME. I have had to worry about no one else but myself. And I loved every minute of that. If Belen wanted to go, she went, if she wanted to do, she did!! We all know change does not come easy at times! As I; I mean WE go through the whole wedding planning I find myself often saying, “I’m getting married; I mean WE are getting married.” Or “I have decided; I mean WE have decided.” It’s going to take some getting used to, but I’m sure I will adapt!

I guess it also has to do with the whole GIRL thing. The majority of girl’s dream of that special day, it’s all about MY SPECIAL DAY! Men don’t think about that, wait they don’t think at all! LOL! J/K Anyway I’m sure I’ll overcome this! :)

Interesting!

Today was my official first day at the cash registers. Lately I've been training in my own department where it doesn't involve to much contact with customers. I must admit, that I found myself being really comfortable with the whole process, within the first hour or so! However, I was amazed at how I had to deal with an array of personalities. It's not that I expect everyone to be the same (that would be boring) but you just run into so many personalities within a four hour span.

So at Best Buy we offer a "reward zone card", where for every $250 you spend you get a $5 gift card towards anything at BB. Without divulging too much information, we pretty much get the customers info. and swear some of them almost seemed bipolar to me. I mean, I would ask them, "what is your name?" And they would reply by saying, "my name is Joe, TODAY, who knows tomorrow." Or others would respond by saying, "well what voice should I listen to today?" Uhhhhhhhh it was kind of weird, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'm not kidding, it all seemed weired to me.

And then you get the DEMANDING customers! As I would give them their change and receipt, they would snap by saying, "JUST PUT MY RECEIPT IN MY BAG." AGAIN I'm thinking, Uhhhhhhh OKAY, why can't you just take it! And then we have this thing where we tell the customers to log on to our website, take a survey and enter for a chance to win a $5000 shopping spree. Some would respond by saying, "ahhh this is bulls*i%, I've never won, why would I now." And others that would say, "Oh great, I can use that during the holidays, I'll give it a try." Let's just say I favored the optimistic crowd! :)

Anyway I survived my first day at the cash registers! Keep it comin'. :)

One-Hundred-Ninety-Nine Days!!!

I happened to log into mine and Raul's wedding website today. The website has a countdown to the wedding, and I was shocked to see that there are only 199 days left until our wedding. It just seems like it's right around the corner when you put it in days!!!! At times I can't believe this is happening. Before Raul came into my life I never gave marriage much thought. I was more into my career plans. But once Raul came into my life, everything changed! I fell in love! :) And after years of dating, I still feel the butterflies every time I see him. And I hope they last forever! :) I am so excited about the whole wedding plans (although at times I stress out) and I can't wait until we are surrounded by all of our family and friends! I can't wait to start my life with the love of my life. I'm sure it will be a fun ride! :)

Update on Prop. 8

I just wanted to give a brief update on the Proposition 8 sign that was in front of the Ramirez residence!!!!! I had a chat with the parents and inquired as to why that was placed out there, and after a 5-10 minute converstation they realized that were not well informed. They mean well, they do! :) So the sign came down, and I'm so happy about that. But I guess the latest news is that Proposition 8 might be passed. Taking away the right for gay couples to marry! How gay is that? LOL! I was listening to KROQ yesterday and they brought up a great point. Of course using sense of humor!! :) Basically they said why not let gay couples marry and experience the following:

1) Being mad because their partner is watching TV and not paying attention.
2) Snoring
3) The no sex phase
4) Cleaning after their partner

etc. etc. the list went on and on!!!! It was very funny and true!

P.S. And yeaaaaaaah Obama is now President! Makes me proud to be part of this historical election!! Corny, but true!

Snow!

Oh and here is one of him in the snow in Montana!! Little snow angel!!!! They live in Montana, they need to come back to sunny California. :)

Halloween 2008!

I just wanted to share some Halloween pictures of my nephew. He was Spider man Black this year! He is such a boy and loves everything from insects, cars, drawing, and cartoon characters!

With his friends! He looks thrilled by their costumes!

Sister-in-law and Spider man!

HOPE!

There is still hope yet! Our professor told us yesterday that we still have hope. :) I must of talked to at least five of my classmates yesterday, and they all failed the exam. Not good! But to make a long story short, we need a total of 238 points to pass. I currently have to get 143 points to pass. There are still plenty of points up for grab. I no longer have to get a perfect 90% (although I'll aim for that) to pass. And I am very happy that she gave us a homework assignment that is worth 5 extra credit points. At this point we will take 1 point extra credit!!! LOL. So that in my book, is a plus!!! :)

There is no room for failure, graduation will take place!!! :)

Silence is key!

So as I was driving to class today, I found myself in traffic. Typical. There were orange cones that were on the fast lane, so the cars were merging to the right! There was a car in front of me that was trying to merge onto the right lane. The cars behind that person wouldn't let him/her merge, and there were still about 45-50 feet ahead of us that allowed for them to keep driving and merge further ahead. So I'm waiting, and waiting, and waiting for some generous soul to let this person merge. Well this thing called IMPATIENCE got the best of me, and I had just enough room to go around him/her and keep going. So as I did that, and comfortably get into the right lane, I see a cop right behind me. His sirens are going crazy and, YES I was being pulled over. Well, I try to really watch my language in my day to day things, which is good, because I save them for situations like this. I was saying every bad word possible while I'm pulling over. At this point the cop is on my butt, as if I am going to be one of those fleeing felons, you know like the ones on TV LOL! And I'm thinking, "dang is this necessary?"

So I pull over, he gets off his patrol car and approaches my vehicle. With a very high tone of voice (almost yelling), tells me "let me see your license and registration." Okay, I give him what he asked for. The whole time, I'm thinking I am not even going to ask why he pulled me over, let me SHUT UP. Maybe keeping quiet will work in my favor! So he proceeds by saying, "why are in such a hurry, and cutting people off?" Whaaaaaaaat? And I tell him, "I'm not going to argue with you." All along I knew that wasn't the case. And I thought if he gives me a ticket I'll just fight this in court, why even try reasoning with him.

So he checks my information and I swear, when he came back I thought I was dealing with another officer. He is CALM and says okay, "you have a good driving record, so I will let you go and save you from a $800 ticket. What is the reason you are in such a hurry?" And I just reply by saying, "I have to get to class." And he says, "Okay Miss, you have a great day, be safe." Whewwwww what was that all about? OMG $800 ticket for what??????? I should report him, nahhhhh I have my Statistics class to worry about. LOL.

Anyway sometimes silence is key! I put my pride aside, beleive me, I could of argued with him. And thank God I shut the trap because that saved me $800. For what??? Who knows!

I don't know where to start...

My worse fears have been confirmed!!! I bombed my midterm in Statistics :( grrrrr!!!! I should of just left my books and notes closed prior to this exam because it did no good! And just as I was open about getting 85% on my first assignment, I have to be just as open about how I got 47% on my exam! This is b*llsh*t, and I just can't even begin to explain how I feel.

But the only comfort that I can find, is in knowing that, I am not the only one! After the midterm, I ran into at least 5 of my classmates and they were all stressing about how they did. All of them just had a gut feeling that they didn't do so well. This is an extremely hard class. In all the time that I have been in school, I have never done this bad. I must add that a lot of us are not very fond of this professor. And we have heard the rumors all along from other students. She explains everything really fast, and just expects us to grasp all the information and acts as if we have been doing this for 15 years, just like her. She is not very approachable, and believe me there have been many complaints about her.

So I talked to some of the people from my study group and they bombed it as well. She makes the exams so confusing, and words things in a complicated manner. And this was not multiple choice, we had to actually answer her questions and work out 15 formulas. So one of my classmates and I are suppose to be graduating in December. So we went ahead and asked if we fail a course, can we still walk at the commencement ceremony. YES! We can still walk, but we just won't receive our degree, and we will have to return in the Winter and pass the course, then we will receive our degree. Well it's not that I am setting myself up for failure, but a side of me has to be somewhat realistic about the whole thing. Believe me I still have some hope, I have not given up, but the standards as of now have been set extremely high. In order to pass I have to get the following:

There are 4 lab assignments worth 20 points each, and 2 exams work 150 points each. From now on I would have to get perfect scores on the next two lab assignments, meaning 20/20. And I would have to get 135/150 on my final exam, that is 90% on the final exam. That would leave me with 71% as a grade! I WOULD PASS THE COURSE! Seeeee I can be good with numbers and calculations, it's just that this class goes beyond all that. :(

I feel motivated right now, I have actually started reading and trying extremely hard to understand all the material.

To be continued.......