An Aha Moment

As most of you know I was born in Mexico and moved to the US at an early age and grew-up in Southern California. Growing up I was always stuck in the middle because I knew I was not from the US but yet at the same time I felt like a tourist in my own country when I visited. Everyone assumed that because I'm Mexican I must have worked in the field or have been a housekeeper. I have not. We actually make fun of my sister-in-law Melissa because she has done a lot of those jobs. So we tell her that it's not Mexicans taking jobs from Americans it's Melissa taking jobs from Mexicans. It wasn't until I served my mission that I came to love my culture and really gain a pride of where I came from. That was my first "Aha" moment. The second was last night.

I'm currently working at a company that deals with logistics and I do the Customs paperwork & verify everything is in order & shipments are ready to go. Well sometimes shipments take forever to clear customs so I'm just sitting there bored out of my mind. So I decided to go help the people in the warehouse.

Most of the people there are immigrants from all over Latin America. I've met people from Mexico, Honduras, and even a Russian kid. I was helping Yuliana from Mexico who's 4 months pregnant. I helped pull 3 orders for a last minute order. I felt so proud of myself but then I saw all the work they did and was just humbled by it. They are a hard working group of people. In that shift alone they loaded to full capacity 4 18-wheelers, unloaded 3 and that was just what I saw. I left at 11:30pm and they were still working.

I know lately the subject of immigration has been on peoples minds. I hear about it on the news all the time. We even crack jokes about it like the whole "Anchor Babies" (Thank you John Stewart) And this post is not to take sides because everyone will have their opinions and they are entitled to them. But my "Aha" moment was that I was once again reminded that I am very proud to come from where I came from. I'm thankful for all the sacrifices my parents have made to bring me and raise me in this country. After working for the US Navy I also gained a great appreciation for the men & women in uniform who provide me the freedom I enjoy. After I became a citizen of the US I finally felt like I was home. We are all immigrants in one way or another and that's what made me fall in love with this country was it's diversity and the amazing people that make it what it is, like those people from work.

I'm Mexican and part Irish and I'm proud of my heritage :-) So feel free to post your thoughts and maybe write where you came from as well. Until next time

Whidbey Island

I love this sign! I had to go back 2x to take the picture because the light kept changing and I had cars behind me. It was after, that I realized there is a park right next to the ferry entrance that I could have parked to get the picture. Oh well leave it to me to make things more difficult.

Back in May I did some exploring of Whidbey Island and being a procrastinator I hadn't loaded some pictures. It's a very pretty place I had a lot of fun walking and enjoying the view. Unfortunately they have a museum there but it was closed by the time I made it there :-(

Enjoy the pictures!