NAMI Ventura

I am in this class called "Service Leadership" right now and what we have to do is meet with a Non-Profit Organization and help them with some of their problems and give them a few possible solutions. Our group is called BNB Consulting and we are 5 students that have to work for them. Well, we met with NAMI Ventura for the first time on Wednesday (1/28/2009) and I was blown away by all that they do. "What the heck is NAMI," you may be saying. I said the same when I first heard about them. Well, let me tell you a little about what they do and why I decided to do a blog post on them.



NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is a non-profit organization that helps family members of those with mental illnesses. They have a bunch of classes and mentoring that I am so surprised that more people don't know more about them. Most of their classes are absolutely FREE and most of the people that take the classes say "Why didn't I hear about you sooner?" Well, my group, BBNB Consulting, is going to try and help the org. advertise themselves better and we are going to try our best to get the word out about them because they truly are an amazing organization!

I just want to say that if you know anyone with any kind of mental disorder, or if you know anyone that has a family member with a mental disorder, please find your local NAMI organization and get in contact with them ASAP. I promise, it will make a world of difference!

See, I am already starting my job: getting the word out!

Hiking?

A few days ago, I decided to try and take some sunset pictures and told Hubby I wanted to go to a different location than just from our balcony. Hubby decided to take me to these hills around the corner (that were more like mountains!!). I didn't really know how steep the hill was going to be, so I just wore my flip-flops. Bad Idea! This hill was super steep around the top and it took me for-ever to get to the top. It made me realize just how out-of-shape I really am! It's pretty sad, actually. But once we got to the top, we got some really good pictures of Calabasas and of the sun setting, of course. Here are some shots from that day: Enjoy!

Rattle Snakes?

A Really Cool Tree:

Beautiful Sunset:

It was amazing from the top of the hill:

I don't know why the clouds didn't turn purple/pink, but they were still beautiful:

I really liked this tree:

Here it is again, peeking from the side, lol:

The city and the sun setting:

It was tiresome but fun! :)
Yay!

Vicky's 1st B-Day!

My Niece, Victoria Grace, turned 1 on January 17th and we celebrated with a huge Birthday Party! At first, she was super annoyed and had a mad face on because she didn't recognize most of the people, but towards the end of the day she really let go and was smiling left and right! I was lucky enough to get plenty of shots of her and her amazing smile! We all got to sport pretty princess crowns throughout the night, you'll see them on all of our heads, lol. Enjoy!!
P.S. There are about 15 pics here... =]

The Birthday Girl!

Her Pinata, cake, and Cupcakes!

Vicky being her adorable self!

Playing Hide & Go Seek! =]

Soo Adorable!

She Loves Balloons!

Getting ready to Cut the Cake!

Vicky and her Big Brother

Hubby, Me, & my sister Alma!

Hubby and I <3

Vicky and her family!

Vicky and her Abui! (grandma)

Jonathan and I

Mom, Jonathan, Vicky, my Brother RJ, and I

and finally:
My Mom and Dad! :)

Letting everyone be Princess for a day is a lot of fun!
=]

Los Molcajetes

My sister Star works for a company called The Mize Agency as a sort-of consultant with some of their clients. Well, Star is working with The Mize Agency to make Los Molcajetes (a Mexican restaurant in Bakersfield) a website. If you go to their website, you will see that it is still in the starting stages and is in need for some pictures. Well, that's where I come in: I was called to take a couple of pictures of the restaurant to be used in the restaurant.

It was so much fun and my passion for photography keps growing more and more each time I take a picture! Here are just a few pictures SOOTC (Straight Out Of The Camera) for you all to see.

Enjoy and PLEASE, leave me some feedback! (Remember, these are all before any editing!)

The Sign
From another Angle =]
An Eating Area
The Entrance, from the Inside
(Look at the great Brick-Work)
Some of their Art
A Fireplace in the Waiting Area
Details, Isn't he Adorable :)
Look at all of that Alcohol
Another Eating Area
with Beautiful Art and a Plasma TV, lol
A Shot from the Inside Eating Room
A Shot from Across the Street
It was a Beautiful Day!
Beautiful Architecture!
Some of the Wait-Staff
Staff in Action :)
People were parked outside waiting for it to open
half hour early!
That's it for now!

Thanks so much guys!
2009 is off to an AMAZING start!! =]

Just Checking In...

So, it's been a while since I last posted, but, believe me, there's a lot going on right now!

I am so excited to say that there are plenty of developments happening in my life:
I have already booked my first AND second weddings!! PLUS, today I am shooting for a restaurant in town! I am soo excited! I promise I will come back and post follow-up posts on everything I have mentioned, plus some personal/family stuff too, like Victoria's 1st B-Day Party!

Yay! See you all in a few!


P.S. Sorry for no pictures in this post... I promise I will make up for it later! =]

Date Night!

Sorry for being such a bad blogger lately... I will post more stuff soon! :)

Hubby and I went on an old fashioned date last night. We went to the movies and had a blast! I want to say that I loved the movies we watched!

First off, Bride Wars: It was good! Not the best I've seen, but I liked it! I love, Love, LOVE Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway, so that helped the movie! Most of the funny scenes were in the previews, but it was funny none the less! I think it's a good movie to watch with a bunch of girlfriends or with people that are recently married or planning a wedding. Its fun! =]

Secondly, Marley & Me: It was really good! Initially, when the movie came out, I didn't really want to watch this movie, as it didn't catch my attention much, but I figured I should watch it after reading a few really good reviews and because I love Jennifer Aniston. This movie was great! It's really a dog-lovers' movie, but is still good for anyone to watch because it's a movie about life. I laughed, I cried, I loved it. BTW, when I say I "cried" I mean I teared up... it's hard for me to cry so tearing up is just like crying to me. (Though, you should have heard some of the people in the theater completely crying, blowing their noses and stuff... Intense!)


Weird thing is, I thought I was going to like Bride Wars most, but that wasn't the case. I do recommend both movies to everyone, though!

P.S. Hubby is great for sitting through these two movies with me!! He's the best!!


<3

Dreams...

So, I always have dreams! I mean, multiple dreams a night (I generally remember 1-3 of them) and I am always dreaming something as I am waking up! When I am dreaming as I wake up, I wake up feeling as if the dream was REALLY happening! It feels sooooo real! It's really weird, and lots of fun, I think. I also like to go to a dream dictionary website and try and figure out what my dreams could possibly mean.

Well, Sunday night I dreamt I was pregnant. Apparently, it represents the birth of a new idea, direction, project or goal. (I think I know what that is!!!!) Yay.

The weird thing is: last night I dreamt I had a baby girl. Imagine hubby and I with a baby girl!!


Aahh!! So exciting!
Well, I was dreaming this dream of having a baby girl right as I was waking up so I woke up looking to see where I had left my baby. Once I realized it was just a dream, I got a little sad...
:(
It was horrible. It had seemed as if I REALLY did have a baby in my life, and suddenly she was gone. She was so adorable too. When someone else had held her and they were giving her back to me she just clung to me, like "Mommy!"!! It was amazing!


I cant wait to be a mommy!

Hello 2009!

I hope you all had an amazing time bringing in the New Year! I sure did! I ended up going home and spending it with my family!

My Parents:


My sister Gabriela & her husband Agustin:

My sister Alma & her husband Rufino:


Hubby & I:
Wishing everyone a Happy 2009:

It was so much fun and I wish you all an amazing New Year!
May God Bless you and your loved ones today and always!!


<3