Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Good Bye 2008!

It has been an amazing year and I want to thank all of my friends and family for sharing it with me!

So many changes, challenges, and best of all: Blessings this year!

So one last time: Thank You & Good Bye...



Family

This weekend, as Hubby and I were visiting our parents, we came up with this CRAZY (REALLY Crazy) idea: Let's invite all of the kids to come visit us for a few days and give the adults a bit of a break!
(Sounds reasonable, right!??!??!??)

Anyway, Hubby and I brought the kids over in my parent's truck and drove a few hours home. They brought their PS3 and some movies, and off we were. After driving only 15 minutes, we realized that maybe this wasn't the best idea ever, lol. The youngest (Jonathan, 6) was being such a brat! After calming him down and finally arriving home, we set up camp, haha.




We had 2 blow-up beds and a bed topper laid out on our living room floor for them to sleep. FUN! :)

The first day, Monday, we just stayed in and played games all day. We watched like 3 movies, lol.
Tuesday we went to the mall and to the beach (after Hubby came home from work). We got to take some amazing sunset pictures:

Betito & Agustin:


Gaby:


Jonathan:

Hubby and I:

We Had so much fun! Believe it or not, it went up to 83 degrees that day (DECEMBER 30th 2008).
Wow, the power of SoCal! :)


I Love my family, but I don't think we'll be doing this again anytime soon, lol.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Today is hubby's and my 1 year anniversary!!

BIG Day today!

Hubby and I got married December 29, 2007 and are celebrating our 1-year anniversary today!


We just want to say "Thank You" to all of our family and friends that remembered our Big Day! You guys are Amazing and we truly appreciate it!

I LOVE YOU, hubby!
Happy 1-Year Anniversary!

Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas (Eve) Time!

Christmas is a BIG deal at my house! When I say Big I mean BIG!!
There are so many people, it's hard to keep track.
PLUS, we don't wait until midnight to open presents, only because there's SO many that if we waited until midnight to start, we wouldn't finish until around 3 AM!!
This year we decided to start around 11 PM and we finished at about 2 AM. That should tell you how many of us get together!
(You should have seen the amount of gifts we had, too)

Anyway, here are some pictures from Christmas Eve:

Vicky being her adorable self:



My Brother and nephews:


Vicky messing with the Christmas tree:



Some of the kids waiting for their next gift:



Alma got us all the same shoes:



Look how high the trash was stacked at the end of the night!:



I hope you all had an amazing Christmas Eve as I did with my family!!

Again, Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!! :)

I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!

May the Lord Bless you this holiday season and may you all have an amazing New Year!





Also, please remember the reason for the season!





<3 ya!

Monday, December 22, 2008

What do you think??

So I am super excited for my photography class in January that I decided to learn a few tricks on my own... Let me know what you think: (p.s. It's a little blue/green, but I did that on purpose, I like it better that way!) =]
(Click to enlarge)


Before:




After:



Thanks for the feedback! :)

BTW, I took these pictures on a little trip through Valley Circle. We didn't really know where we were going but we ended up by the 118 freeway, around Simi Valley/Chatsworth area. These are looking off the mountains towards Simi Valley and the 118. You can see the freeway on the bottom-right. Look...

Amazing views!



<3

Saturday, December 20, 2008

BREAKING NEWS... =]

So Baltazar and I bought a fish tank and about 10 fishies about 4 months ago. Two of our fishiess started, how do I put this, umm... making looooveeee (they are called Mollies). The girl is white and the dad is black.

Well, we would see them get it on ALL of the time!! People were over, they were doin'it. They didn't care! lol.
Anyway, the mom, Molly (creative name huh!?) got really fat all of a sudden. Then she got skinny again but we saw no babies. Then Hubby spotted a tiny speck of a fish one day (probablly the size of this period mark --> . ), and Molly came around and ate it right in front of our eyes! :( We were sad.

That wa
s about a month or two ago and today Hubby saw a small fishy that looks like a fishy but really, really small!!!

WE HAVE FISH BABIES!!


It was sooo exciting to see it swimming around and stuff so we looked around for another one and we saw a second one!!! Yay!! We are very happy to have two amazing grand-children-fishies!! :)

<3

101 in 1001: #87 - In Progress

This is a goal I set for my mind (I guess I can tell you this one now): #87 - Re-read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.



I had to read this book in High School in one of my honors English classes and I fell in love with it. On a random trip to Barnes and Noble with the hubby yesterday I saw the book and decided to buy it. Good thing I saw it since it was on my list!! I started reading it this afternoon and am already about 60 pages in! It is such a good book and I hope some of you that haven't read it will decide to do so sometime soon.

Also, I am still doing well with the other two goals I had started a couple of days ago! This 101 in 1001 thing is amazing! =]


Good Luck to all of you trying it!

Love ya!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

101 in 1001: #47/#26 - In Progress

So... I am on a good start towards completing my list... =]

I know, I know. I just started, I'm all excited... blah, blah, blah. Anyways, I AM excited and I am happy to say I have started two of my goals.

The first one is supposed to last a month, so let's see how I do! Hopefully everything goes well!

The two goals do not relate to each other at all and I am glad I jump-started this process! I seriously hope some of you are also pondering this idea. I already got a couple of people to start, so you should give it a try! Good Luck to you all!

Let me know if you start and keep me up to date on your progress!!

"What are your 101 in 1001?"


Wish me luck!!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

101 in 1001

If you haven't heard of this, here is what it basically is:
"The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.
The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).So I made my list and I am very proud! It took me 2 days to come up with 101 things to accomplish, but I finally finished and I can't wait to get started."

I thought it was an amazing idea and I started immediately! I hope I can inspire some of you to do this as well. Hopefully your list doesn't look like this:


lol


Instead of doing New Year's resolution, you can do this. Plus, you'll have almost 3 years to accomplish all 101 things! You can pick your start date and figure out your end date here.

I also gave myself an incentive: at the end of the 1,001 days, I will buy myself something nice. The catch is, I only get to spend $2 for every goal I reach! BUT, if I accomplish less than 75 goals, I have to donate $2 for each goal I don't accomplish to any charity instead of buying my something nice! Either way, someone wins! =]

Hopefully your list is full of great goals! I know mine is!
I will keep you all updated on how I am doing. Maybe I'll reveal my list as i go... we'll see! ;)

December!

December is an amazing time of year in my family! We always have lots going on this time of year just because of the holidays, but Man, are we busy!!

First there's my brother Jr's Birthday on the 22nd. He's turning 20 this year.



Then there's Christmas Eve/Christmas. We have an absolutely HUGE family so Christmas is extra crazy!


Hubby's and my Anniversary is on the 29th (we hit the BIG 1-year mark this year!! I hope Hubby reads this and remembers how special it is to me, lol. J/k, he knows better than that!)

After our Anniversary is my Dad's B-Day on the 30th! He turns 50 this year so we are making a HUGE deal by throwing him an amazing party but, shhhh, it's gonna be a surprise so please don't tell! =]

THEN, it's my parent's Anniversary on the 31st!! (I warned you about all of our celebrating this month...) They are celebrating their 31st year of marriage!! Amazing, right!! They're a huge inspiration to all of us!

After the 31st is New Year's, of course! And that's always fun!! (Hubby and I are staying home for New Year's so hopefully we can still enjoy the celebration!)

And that's it for December through New Year's Eve and New Years. But to go just one more day in, my oldest sister, Gabriela's B-day is on the 2nd of January and her baby daughter, Vicky's 1st Birthday is on the 17th of January! Wow... That's a lot of Celebrating in one month's span if you ask me!!!















But: I'm NOT complaining! It's actually pretty amazing!! =]
You will all see how each of these events pan out since I will be taking LOTS of pictures and I will be showing them off to you all in blog-world! Yay!

Sunday, December 14, 2008

If you haven't Noticed...








It's beginning to look a lot like
C
hristmas!!


I'm Baaaaaa-aaaack!!

So I have been soooooooo out of the loop these past four months (this semester) and I have lots to make up for!


You have to understand, though... I mean, if you were a business student at Pepperdine and you took Policy with Seshan you would DEFINITELY understand, lol. Anyway, I was way to stressed and way too busy to do anything but HW, papers, projects, cook, and clean... so sorry to the few loyal readers I have had, lol...

I finally finished the semester last Wednesday and can finally come back to you, dear blog friends. I have only 1, yes ONE, semester of college left and I will not abandon you again. You see, next semester will be Super-Chill!! Here is a list of courses I am signed up for:

  • Humanities III
  • Service Leadership
  • Piano, and
  • Photography
Amazing, right!! I can't wait!!

PLUS, I am taking FULL advantage of the photography class and, in preparation, my amazing father bought me an early Christmas gift: Nikon D80!! As I have said before, BE JEALOUS!! =] I hope this is the start of an hobby that will some day be more than just that. Can't wait!! :)



Anyway, I want to mention my amazing friend and twin, Carmelle... She had a harsh past couple of weeks and I want her to know I am thinking of her waaaay over here in the west coast! =] I also want to send some readers her way: you can read her blog here! Enjoy!


Thanks for reading!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Back to School

So it's time to go back to school and I am actually pretty excited, believe it or not!

I mean, I'm a senior!! It's so exciting and, even though it's going to be a very stressful year, I can't wait to experience our last year with all of my Pepperdine friends!! I have a busy schedule with classes, a job, and an internship with Northwestern Mutual, but I will try my best to make the best of it.

Because of my busy months coming up, I just wanted to ask you all for your thoughts at this time. I will need your prayers because not only do I have to be a student too, but I wanna be an amazing wife all the while and I know it's going to be tough.

Jesus will be with me through all of this and I can't wait until May 2, 2009!!
(Mark your calendars!!!)


GRADUATION!!


=]

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

It's Official!!

So Monday I decided it was finally the day to make things official...
Off to the Social Security Office I went!

Believe it or not, I changed my name!


I kept my full first name as my parents had named me, and I kept my maiden last name too... so what exactly did I change??

Well, I hyphenated! I added my husband's last name to the end of my maiden last name!
It was amazing!

Yay!! =]

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Health: Day 1

So Hubby and I have decided it was time to start worrying about our health. We decided to go to the local gym Tuesdays and Thursdays, and play a few sports (tennis, basketball, etc.) on other days. Well, today was day one...

http://images.marapets.com/gym.gif

...and workout we did. We were there for about an hour, didn't want to over-work ourselves on the first day, lol. =] I ran about 3.25 miles and did a few reps on my arms. I am so excited about this new schedule of ours, and I really hope we keep with it. I wanna loose a few pounds and there isn't a better time than the present!

Wish us luck!!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Cooking - Dessert: Father's Day Cupcakies! YUMx2!!

Father's Day Cupcakes were a success. I told my niece and nephews I'd make cupcakes for them so they can decorate some for their dad's. Well, it was so much fun! They decorated cupcakes for almost a whole hour!!

Here are some pictures of our productive
Father's Day Morning!!

Undecorated Cupcakes & Decorating Materials:

Close-Up of Decorating Stuffs:

Sprinkles, Chocolate Chips, and White/Milk Chocolate Chips:

My Nephew, Agustin (9) sitting proud with his 1st decorated cupcake!
Yay!

My Nephew, Betito (10), and my Niece, Gaby (15) decorating away!!

My last nephew, Jonathan (5) sitting proud with his over-decorated cupcake! =]


As you can see, Father's Day Cupcakies Day was a Success!!
FYI, if you haven't noticed, I have 3 nephews and 2 nieces (one niece, the 5 month-old
posted on a past post, isn't shown here) and I couldn't be a happier aunt!!


You should try decorating cupcakes with a bunch of kids, it's amazing!! =]
P.S. It's really, Really hot back home which is why 2 of the kids don't have their shirts on, lol.
Sorry if they're inappropriate, hehe.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Cooking - Dessert: Father's Day Funnel Cakes!!! YUM!

For father's day, hubby and I decided to go visit our parents for the weekend so Saturday morning, off we were!
After swimming, playing with the baby, and having a carne asada, something caught my eye. It was a bag of powdered sugar. This may seem weird to you but since I've been baking and cooking so much (the housewife in me, lol), I felt like I just had to make something with it. I asked my dad what he wanted me to make (so long as it included powdered sugar). The first thing he said was "Funnel Cakes!" Funnel cakes....?? I don't even know how to make them or... Funnel cakes? Really?? Well, ok. Dad wanted it so Google and I became acquainted once again.

I found this quick and easy recipe on line and quickly started to work since all of the ingredients are things you'd normally have at home! Let me tell you... they were DELICIOUS!!! =] I was so glad I made them. They were going faster than I could make them so I decided to eat small pieces as I was making some more. Father's Day Funnel Cakes were a success!

Here are a few pictures of my funnel cakes:










Add some strawberry marmalade... Yummy!!

Six Flags ain't got nothin' on me! =]

You should all give them a try!
Not as difficult as you'd think.
Good Luck!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Cooking - Dinner: Beef Enchiladas

I had planned to make Enchiladas for dinner tonight since Monday evening. After checking in the fridge to make sure we had everything I was good to go! I decided I would take pictures of every step so I can teach others how to make Mexican Beef Enchiladas through my blog. Anyway, here are the directions along with pictures for all to follow (p.s. I really like cheese so feel free to omit some where ever you'd like)!! Good Luck and Enjoy!

Ingredients:
-1 lb ground beef
-2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
-16 oz of Salsa
-1 can of enchilada sauce (I prefer "Las Palmas")
-1 Packet of Taco meat seasoning (I use "Taco Bell" brand)
-1/4 cup of water
-8 Corn Tortillas






Directions:

1.) Heat all 8 tortillas and set aside to be used later
2.) Brown mean and drain. Add 1/2 cup of cheese, meat seasoning, water, and 8 oz of salsa to meat and heat until everything is mixed well and cheese is melted

3.) Open enchilada sauce can and pour sauce in a semi-deep plate (you need something wide enough so you can put the tortillas in one at a time but deep enough to hold the sauce)
4.) Put the remaining salsa (and cheese if you'd like) on the bottom of a baking dish to prevent the enchiladas from sticking when baked. (I like to use a squared baking dish and make 2 layers of 4 enchiladas)

5.) Dip a tortilla in the sauce plate, covering the front and back with sauce.
6.) Add some of the meat mixture and, if you'd like, a bit more cheese.
7.) Fold the tortilla over and place in the baking dish, over the salsa, seam side down
8.) Repeat with all 8 tortillas, adding a small layer of cheese between each layer of enchiladas
9.) Place in oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted10.) Add a dab of sour cream and enjoy!