One Phone Call & My World Changed

In all honesty I have been dreading this specific post for over two years. I have thought about it over and over. Monday, August, 26, 2013 started like any other. I got ready for work and headed into the office started shooting the breeze with my new bud and co-worker Christie. As I sat at my desk I kept getting a call from my dear friend Fernando Garcia. Garcia and I were both aides to the same Admiral and we became best friends instantly, I love this guy! I ignored his call since I was at work and figured he would leave me a voice mail and then I would call him when I got a chance. He called right back which I found odd but knew it had to be important so I told Christie I needed to take this call and stepped outside. When I answered he didn't do any of our usual chit chat all he said was "Monica I have some news, Bryan has been killed in action his parents will be notified in a few hours." When people talk about having an out of body experience this is what I imagine it would be like. I heard his words and as crazy as it sounds they even made sense but my brain was not processing. All I asked was" Are you sure its him? Has it been confirmed?" Garcia said "Yes" to which I answered "Ok" and hung up.

All I remember was walking into the office still in shock and when Christie asked me if everything was ok or something like it all I said was "Bryan has been killed in action, his parents will be notified soon." I sat at my desk and she came over and at that moment I lost it, I had just heard what I had said and finally my brain understood what was going on. I started sobbing and I felt pain I never thought a human could feel, I honestly felt like my heart was breaking. I just needed to get out of there and fast.

I came home and my sister in law Melissa was surprised to see me and asked why I was home so early I didn't need to say anything she knew by the look on my face. I remember her saying "No, no, no" and just hugging me and we both just cried. I then called my Mom and my sister and cried some more. Brandy came over to help Melissa out and I just wanted to die. I went to my room and screamed into my pillow cried, begged and waited for the call that would tell me that it was a mistake and that Bryan was ok, that call never came. Instead it was my friend David Mullen who was supposed to come and visit us in Yakima after he was done at Whidbey Island asking what he could do. I fell asleep and woke up to my brother Monico hugging me and asking what he could do. Everyone was asking me what they could do and there was nothing that they could to make it better. I just wanted Bryan with me and no one could grant me that. I made arrangements to head over to Dover were Bryan's body would be brought. My friend David would meet me in Seattle and we would fly to Dover to bring Bryan home.

The Hunger Games: AKA Wedding Planning

To say that I was completely out of my element would be the understatement of the century! I would've loved a courthouse wedding and then a small dinner with close family and friends. I have seen so many girls get so wrapped up on the wedding and so many meltdowns over the silliest things I wanted nothing to do with that. I told Bryan that I didn't want a wedding, I wanted a marriage and I could marry him anywhere as long as it was just him and I that's all I needed. Plus Bryan had been previously married so I was thinking he would be all for a courthouse wedding, he was not!

So let the wedding planning begin! I know it sounds harsh to compare wedding planning to The Hunger Games but seriously it's crazy all the things that go into it and all the things people tell you you NEED to have oy vey! Well a relationship is about compromise so I knew a wedding was important to Bryan so we started planning. Once I started trying dresses is when it finally hit me "Holy crap! I'm getting married!!"

The plan was simple: We would go back to where it all began, Monterey, CA where we met. It would be a small event with close family and friends. Being that most people would be travelling to the location it would be a three day even so we could enjoy our time together but also so our families could get to know each other. Well it was nice in theory. We went from something casual to something formal, from 60 guest to 150! Also to be clear that was all Bryan. 

So as luck would have it everything that could go wrong went wrong. The invites never got made so last minute I had to order invites, the caterer double booked and we were the second ones to book so they dropped us, and some of the bridal party went a little diva on me. It became a little overwhelming especially because it was just me planning the wedding. Soon after we got engaged Bryan got deployed and would be taking some liberty to get married and then head back. We would be doing our honeymoon after his deployment. Anyway so I didn't want to bother him because well he had more pressing matters at hand. 

My amazing mom came to the rescue I think because she was sensing my meltdown she gave me the best advice ever. She said "You can't please nor accommodate everyone. This day is yours and Bryan's so whatever makes you two happy do it." And we did. Bryan had the biggest sweet tooth on the planet so we planned for a candy bar, instead of cake we had cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes from DC a bakery we would go to all the time, and for food, In & Out! Finally the big day was planned and ready to go.

Future brides, do what makes you happy and don't get caught up in the silly details. Enjoy the moment.

Breaking News: I'm Engaged!!

As I was looking at the recent blog post I have made I realized that I hadn't written anything about breaking the news to my family and friends. I wanted to share that part because I think it's important. Not because I am super girly and I want to go into detail how my girlfriends and I broke down and started crying and planning my wedding ASAP. But because it was a hard thing to tell people because of what their reaction would be.

As most of you know I grew up LDS and served a Spanish speaking mission in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (Best mission in the world by the way) So you can now understand why I was not really looking forward to telling people I was marrying a non-member and not getting married in the temple. I worked up the courage and finally called my Mom and let me just say my Mom is amazing. I just spilled it all out and she listened and she asked " Does he love you? Does he respect you?" I told her "Yes" and she said "That's all I need to know." Other people where not as kind, some reacted as if I had just told them I had cancer. 

I think for this reason I wanted to post this because I think it's important for us to follow the rule of "If you don't have nothing nice to say don't say nothing at all" I found myself having to explain and sometimes justify why I was marrying Brian. The same people didn't even bother to ask about Brian but all they focused on him not being a member. Let us be kind to each other and think before we speak.

A Tiny Miracle and an Answer

January 2013 came and I made my move to Yakima, WA. Bryan and I continued to date long distance and I was still trying to figure out my answer. I was really getting frustrated because I was not getting one and Bryan well bless his heart he was giving me the time I needed and was not putting any pressure on me . I was settling in to my new place and the new winter weather that I was not used to experiencing. 
As posted before Nico decided that he wanted to make an early appearance. He was due on March 18th but decided that he wanted to come in January 31st instead. Melissa had gone to a doctors appointment and she send me a text telling me she was being send to the hospital. I figured I would go and keep her company at the hospital. As I was getting ready to cross the street to walk into the hospital I got a call from my brother telling me they were taking Melissa in for an emergency C-section. I'm still in denial of how fast things were moving because I come into the room and see Dad (I've adopted Melissa's parents as my own) and he tells me they've taken Melissa to the ER. I ask him if we could say a little prayer as we wait for Melissa and baby news.
By this time the anxiety is building up because I know I have to call my Mom and tell her whats going on and I'm starting to freak out because I don't know what's going on and I don't know that everything is going to be ok.
At that moment I call Bryan and I tell him what's going on and here I am in Yakima, WA in the hallway of a hospital having a meltdown and he is in Spain. In good ol Bryan fashion he makes everything ok, he reassures me and I know that everything will be fine, Melissa and Baby will be ok. A few minutes later I met Nico.

As I stood there looking at this tiny miracle everything made perfect sense. I knew that I wanted Bryan by my side to go through life with and hopefully he still wanted me by his side too. No matter what life threw at us as long as he was with me life would be good. There was no doubt in my mind that he was my person and if Heavenly Father ever blessed me with children I wanted them to be Bryan's children. I had my answer, now time to tell Bryan.

As soon as he answers he ask how everyone is doing and if there's anything he can do. I give him an update and send him pictures so he can meet Nico. I then tell him "So remember that question? I have an answer for you. The answer is YES! There's no one in the world I would want to go through trials and happy times than with you. I loved you since the day at met you and I love you more than ever today." There was silence at the end of the line. I actually asked if he was still there. Because by now I'm thinking "Oh man what if he changed his mind and is trying to find the words to tell me no and I just made a fool of myself." He finally answers and says "Yes I'm still here and I knew you would say yes." Bryan overnighted the ring. I'm officially engaged!

Cracker Jacks and a Question

One night while in Russia we decided to go for a walk and then dinner. The city looked beautiful with all the snow on the ground and the dim lights.We talked and laughed and we finally made it to this small mom and pop restaurant and had the best meal ever, I was getting close to be in a food coma when Bryan sees a guy playing guitar and ask if he could borrow it. People who knew Bryan wouldn't think too much of this because well that's who he was plus I had just figured he'd made a new friend haha.

Bryan sang a song that I'd heard before in a movie and had told him how much I loved it. The song is "Never Had by Oscar Isaac." ( http://youtu.be/vEvIaQifj5c )I believe there are moments in our life where we touch heaven where everything is just as it should be and one feels a type of happiness that we never thought it was humanly possible to feel.
And at that moment Bryan said "I know this is not Yankee's Stadium but hope this helps." At that moment he gave me a Cracker Jack Box with a ring tied around it with a red ribbon. A side story about Yankee Stadium is that years ago a friend of ours Fernando Garcia was trying to figure out how to propose to his girlfriend and he asked me "How would you want to be proposed to?" I replied "Oh that's easy! I want to be proposed to at Yankee's Stadium and have the ring put in a Cracker Jack Box." I have to admit I got funny looks from those two but I had long forgotten the conversation until that December night in Russia when Bryan asked me to marry him. Ok now back to the question at hand. You're thinking I said YES! Actually, I didn't. Bryan knew me well enough that he knew I was going to freak out! I was just wrapping my head around the fact that I was dating CAPT Smith!! The hottie that walked into my office to introduce himself as the new JAG Officer years ago, my best friend.  In his asking he said "I know your answer is going to be no but I need you to know that this is the end game I see for us, marriage." My reply was "I am not saying yes but I am not saying no either. When I have my answer I will let you know and I will not look back." Two days later Bryan left for Spain and I headed back to Seattle.

From Russia With Love

A year had passed and Bryan and I saw each other during the Fall when work took us both to San Diego. One of the many things I loved about Bryan is that  no matter what or where life took us we always seemed to come back to each other. I thought that after a year Bryan would have given up on us dating but if anything he was more determined than ever.

As I returned from San Diego I realized how much I missed him and how much I cared for him. I knew I loved him as  friend but I wasn't sure if I was in love with him as more than friends. The truth was I knew I was in love with him and that scared me to death! The more I told people the more they would tell me " So he's your best friend and you care for him right? So what's the problem again?" One thing you have to understand about me is that it takes me a while to process information but once I do and I make a decision I'm full speed ahead with it.

In December I was told I needed to head to Russia for work. I mustered all the courage I could and I called Bryan and asked him if he could take some leave and meet me in Russia. I was finally ready to see where this would go.

Bryan met me in Moscow and we explored the city together and had a wonderful time. Being with Bryan was as natural as breathing ,I could always be myself. It didn't matter what we did together it was just amazing being in the same room. I didn't think the trip could get any better and then it did.

Stay tuned

And the Plot Thickens

As most of you know I left my work with the Navy and moved to the Pacific Northwest. Everything that could've gone wrong went wrong. Seattle was everything I wanted in a city but it was a hard place to make friends. People had either grown up together, went to college or worked together. Breaking in as the new girl was hard.  As I was beginning to question my decision of moving who gets transferred to Bremerton, WA? Now CDR Smith, I of course was over the moon to finally have a friend in Seattle. But as luck would have it he was deployed  with the USS John C. Stennis as soon as he got here. It turned out I had three friends all deployed on the same carrier at the same time. Being the good friend that I am I made sure to send care packages for "My Boys" as they became known. 


Now this is where the story gets interesting,  I remember a conversation that I had with Bryan while he was deployed. They were getting ready to get home and I was telling him my great plan to set him up with my friend as soon as he came back. To my surprise Bryan became angry and said " You know Monica you're such a guy sometimes!" He then handed the phone to my other friend Sean and I told him the conversation and how confused I was as to what had just happened. Sean replied "You know Smith is in love with you right? Oh my god you really have no clue? You're a man stuck in a woman body De Leon." I blew it off as those two just messing with me.


When Bryan returned from deployment he came back hell bend on us dating. In his words  "I will keep asking until one day you'll say yes to me."Anyone that knows me, knows that I love dating, its commitment I hate. As soon as someone wants to date exclusively I want to date other people. So when Bryan told me his great idea I was freaked out. My fear wasn't because I didn't like Bryan it was the complete opposite. Bryan was one of the most amazing people you would ever meet. He was everything I wasn't. He was kind, funny, super smart. Bryan saw many things in the world and yet he still saw the best in people. I was afraid of not being enough of loosing my friend.


At this time as we tried to figure things out the NAVY decided to transfer Bryan to Spain. At this time we decided best for us to remain friends and if things were meant to work out they would. Bryan left for his new duty station in Madrid, Spain and I remained here in Seattle, WA.

Where it all Began

I have been thinking about this post for many, many, many months. How do I start to write what has happened in the last year. I guess I will start at the beginning..... His name was Bryan Smith.


Bryan and I met in Monterey, CA when I worked for the US Army. I worked in the Civilian Human Resources Department and he was the JAG Officer assigned to our office. He came in to introduce himself to everyone and well let me just say all the ladies where in love with the new JAG Officer. As we worked together we became good friends, the only thing that drove a wedge between us was I bleed NY Yankee Blue and he bled Boston Red Sox Red.


I would talk about the famous CAPT Smith to all my friends and what a looker he was. He was new to the area and we just clicked. The funny thing was that we couldn't be more opposite! Here's a little list of how opposite we were.

Bryan vs Me

Bryan: Born and raised in the East Coast
Me: Born in Mexico and Raised in CA


Bryan: Parents; Father a 3rd generation corporate law attorney. Mom; A law professor at Harvard Law
Me: Parents: Immigrant workers who worked construction and my mom was a stay home mom.


Bryan: Oldest
Me: Youngest


Bryan: Family vacation home in Nantucket, MA
Me: We went to TX once and I was sandwiched between my brother Jose and Monico and let me just say this started my hate for Texas!! 


Bryan: Boston Red Sox Fan
Me: New York Yankee Fan




I transferred work and started working for the US Navy at the Naval Postgraduate School  and Bryan was transferred to San Diego as well but we always remained in touch. I was on travel in D.C and who did I run into on Capital Hill? CAPT Smith! I was working on a project that required JAG and I suggested to my boss that CAPT Smith work with us. As we worked together we became great friends, he became my person.

Pinterest Project #1: Potatoes & Crunchy Chicken Dinner

I started my day snuggling with my bud Nico and enjoyed his adorable face. I can honestly look at that kid all day long and not even feel bad that that's the only thing I've done. I feel my time has been well used. Melissa was doing all feedings in person, which meant she had to stay at the hospital all day to be there every 3 hours to feed Nico.

I offered to cook dinner because well that;s one less thing Monico & Melissa have to worry about. I decided to try this recipe for red potatoes because it had good comments and it was very easy. The recipe was simple: Red Potatoes, 1 cup of melted butter, and 1 packet of Italian dressing. You melt the butter and mix Italian dressing ingredients and pour over potatoes and bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees.

The potatoes looked and smelled wonderful! The downside, they tasted plain :-( I tasted one and it was very plain and had no flavor. I was very disappointed about it. Everyone ended up using ketchup on the potatoes, so sad.

 



 

The main dish was baked crunchy onion chicken made with French Onions. Again the recipe was simple enough and this one actually came out really good. I for the most part eat a vegetarian diet but I also happen to live with carnivores, who if they could eat meat all three meals a day, they would. So I made enough just for them. Here is the recipe link Crunchy Onion Chicken The only change I made was that I added the 1 egg AND the 1/4 cup of Honey Mustard and that made the onions stick better to the chicken breast. It smelled awesome and there were no left overs, so I'm not sure if it was because people were starving or it was good. I'd like to think it was good. I will definitely make this again, minus the potatoes.

 

 

 



My obsession with Pinterest

When you say Google or Facebook everyone knows exactly what you are talking about. And if they don't, what rock have they been living under?! First we worried that our time was wasted via IM with our friends or what we called "chatting" back in the day of AOL, then we became addicted to Farmville on Facebook and now the latest addiction is Pinterest.

I will admit I am addicted to Pinterest and all those creative people! There's so many things to look at and next thing you know one hour has gone by and you've pinned away your day :-/ that's the only downside but on the plus side there are some awesome ideas and projects to be made.

Since the birth of my nephew Nico and being currently unemployed I've been looking at Pinterest a little too much. In my defence I have been looking for dinner ideas and fun little ideas to make the house prettier. One of the enticing things about Pinterest is that everything seems so simple that you feel like you can cook, bake, sew like a pro just because it looks so easy. Well not all pins are created equal that's for sure.

I do believe we should look for way to self improve and one of the things I have always wanted to do was sew and cook. I make OK food and know VERY basic sewing stuff but I really want to be able to do more.

The goal I have decided is to do 90 Pinterest Projects I have pinned by the end of the year. One of the downfalls I think of having so much information handy is that we take it for granted and I am famous for the "I'll do it later" and never do. I guess the main thing is that if i want to be able to justify my time on Pinterest I better be doing some of those projects.

 

If you have any ideas or pins you have enjoyed doing let me know. I'll keep you posted on mine.

My Love of Letters and Books

 

Anyone that knows me will tell you that I have a HUGE love for books, good books I might add (Ok I did read and own all the Twilight Books, so please don't judge me) and I absolutely love handwritten letters. When I get a handwritten letter I feel like a child on Christmas morning. Why you ask? It's simple, someone thought enough of me that they took time out of their busy day to write me a letter. I think in this day an age technology has made our communication instant, but at the same time we are so disconnected at the same time. I know I myself take the people in my life for granted and think because I wrote on their "Wall" on Facebook or send them a text that I have talked to them. In reality I haven't and a lot of the times I'm surprised to hear about big events or changes in their lives and that's usually when I pick up the phone and catch up.

So today I went to Kohl's and they had some really cute Dr. Seuss cards so I bought some and figured I would send them to my nephew Billy who is in Boot Camp right now and can only get handwritten letters. As I saw the Dr. Seuss note cards it reminded me of my second love, BOOKS! I enjoy reading many types of books, Romance (not the trashy ones), History, Biographies, Self-help, Cooking, Travel, Friendship, Religion, and I can't live without my Classics. It was through books that I feel in love with travel and knew that the world was a big place and i wanted to see it all! I also found the great love of my life, Mr. Darcy. As I sat there waiting to pay for my things I thought about the man who taught me this love, my father. I have to say I am so thankful for his example for reading. My father didn't learn to read nor write until late in his life and once he did he went crazy reading as much as he could. When I asked him why he read so much he said " I spend so many years not being able to read i have to catch up." How many of us take that simple ability for granted? When was the last time we read a good book? I have a goal of reading at least 2 books per month and I enjoy that time very much.

How will I connect these two random things together you ask? With a simple challenge, write a letter to someone who has given you a love for something. It could be a coach who taught you the love of running, your mom for teaching you to love to cook, or a simple note to say "I was thinking of you." I know I'll be writting my father.

Hello, My name is Monico Ernesto De Leon

 

I'm an auntie again! YAY Baby Monico Ernesto arrival was earlier than expected but very much welcomed none the less. I know I'm biased but he is seriously one handsome devil! He had stoped growing at 28 weeks and was not getting enough oxygen so the doctor decided to do an emergency C-section at 33 weeks. Mommy and baby are doing great.

 

Everything happened so fast that I don't think we had time to react because it was over before we knew it. For me it was after that I thought of all the things that could've gone wrong or that could go wrong but when I saw that 3lbs bundle my heart melted. I don't know what it is about a new born that makes you realize your heart is no longer yours because this tiny human who you've just met has captured it. I just cried because I felt I was looking at the most beautiful creation Heavenly Father had ever made, and here I was getting a private tour of one of His master pieces. And if that's what I felt  I could only imagine what his parents were feeling at that time.

 

As you can imagine you will see plenty of post on baby Ernie and our adventures as I spoil him rotten and get to enjoy him.

Happy New Year!!

 

I bid 2012 adieu and welcomed 2013 with open arms. Here are a few highlights of 2012. Family: Well 2012 has been a very challenging year for the De Leon Family to say the least. Many health scares and many blessings of health at the same time. Miguel entered the MTC to serve a mission and Billy went into boot camp for the US Marines. On a side note let me just say that most of the time I feel young but it's until I have my nephews going off to college, missions, military service that I feel like "Old Man River" here. And after 13 plus years of waiting, Monico and Melissa are expecting their 1st baby! We are all very exited for the new addition to the family. Health: 2012 was the start of getting healthy and back in shape year. In March I joined Weight Watchers and made the goal of doing one 5K each month as a way to stay motivated to be active. It was a rough start as all things are, but as the year has progressed it's been so fun and nice to be able to be back doing the thing I love the most, running. As of December I had lost 20 plus pounds! Work: As I mentioned before on my last post there were some changes going on at work. Changes that I was not a fan of and so when the offer of taking a lay off came along I was very excited. I felt bad because I know I should be grateful for having employment in this economy but work was really taking a toll on me emotionally and physically. In short, I just couldn't work for a man I didn't respect, so my last day of employment was 12/31/12. So what does 2013 hold in store? I have absolutely no idea! And anyone that knows me knows that I ALWAYS have a plan, I must always have a plan. The only set plan I really have is to go back to school and be a full time student. I feel I have finally figured out what i want to do when i grow up and I'm looking forward to this new adventure. I'm also very excited to be completing my one year of 5K's in March and ready to start 10K's in April. I hope Heavenly Father continues to bless our family with much needed health as I know we will need it. I look forward to seeing what great things my nieces and nephews will accomplish. I can't wait to meet my new nephew and enjoy every minute of being an aunt. I am extremely thankful that my Heavenly Father has a plan for all His children and even if at times we feel completely lost its a wonderful feeling knowing that He knows who we are, what we need, and when we need it. Ever since I moved to WA nothing has gone according to plan, but I have never doubted that my Heavenly father brought me here for a reason and I've just been enjoying the ride.

Christmas 2012

 

I am having a hard time falling asleep so I figured I would update my blog since I have not done so in quite some time. I'm quite excited I finally made it to my Christmas post, YAY!!! But then I thought "Ummm what did I do for Christmas?" Well Christmas was very quiet. My friend Jessica who I met in Monterey, CA came to visit and it was so much fun seeing her again. She is getting married this year so I was very excited her fiance was able to part from her for a week so I could hang out with her :o) Many changes were going on at work so I decided to use my vacation while Jessica was here and stay in town for the Holidays. My big Christmas dinner was awesome pizza and apple cider, it was delicious. Another fun thing I did was go see the movie Les Miserables. Oh my heavens what an amazing movie! I feel like FINALLY there is a movie that has done justice to the musical & book. I was crying the whole time, the music was beautiful. There is a scene when Ann Hathaway is signing and she has just hit rock bottom, she realizes that she will never recover from it and her voice just pierces your soul. You feel her desperation in her voice, ahhh simply amazing.

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving was a special one for a few reasons, one we had the whole family together and we were saying goodbye to Mikey as he left for his mission in Bolivia. I went home a week earlier to spend time with my family and enjoy my nieces and nephews. As part of the holiday we ran a 5K benefiting the Burbank YMCA. I was so excited to do this 5K mainly because it was with most of my nephews and nieces and we dressed in costume. We figured that since it was Thanksgiving Day it was very fitting to have Indians, a Turkey and a Pilgrim. Unfortunetly our Pilgrim had to work that day so he was not able to go. But Joel was a real sport and was the turkey and even wore the tutu to go with his hat. Although, I have to admit he was a little too fond of that tutu and kept wearing it even AFTER the race :o). 2012 was a year of many trials for my family but it was a wonderful time to be able to be there together enjoying eachothers company, well as much as we could stand it before punching each other like the loving siblings we are. For one night we put our differences aside and left our troubles at the door. That night we celebrated our crazy love for each other, we celebrated my Fathers health, reminiced at how Mikey was now young man getting ready to leave home to serve the Lord, and celebrated the excitement of a new future member of the family. Overall it was a wonderful holiday!

Running and Its Lessons

For the past few weeks I have been working really hard on my training for my 5K’s. For the last few weeks my times improved and I have been taking 2-3 minutes off my time. A minute may not seem like a lot but believe me when you’re crossing that finish line even a second less is pure glory! So on Saturday I was very excited and ready to do my September 5K which was the 9/11 Heroes Run benefiting the Travis Manion Foundation. I had done it last year and let’s just say that it was pathetic how awful I did, but in my defense I had not trained at all and I was in horrible shape. So this year with my running time improving and having been running for a while I was ready to conquer this race. I got to the park and thought it would be all flat and well it wasn’t, it was more of a trail run which was something I was not expecting nor prepared for. My main problem while running is controlling my breathing but I was doing great and was on a roll but half way through it I looked back and it was all downhill from there. Everything that could come into my head came; “You’re way behind everyone; you’re going to be last, Just walk.” I knew I wasn’t tired and my breathing was great but for some reason I could not get my body to go. I thankfully got my second wind and finished the race. My time was better than last year for sure but I did not improve my time as I had expected. Well if you thought I was having negative thoughts during the race you should’ve heard everything that poured into my head all at once then. Today I was just trying to figure out what I could do to improve and really “What happened?” type of conversation, and then I read an article by Lauren Fleshman. One, I was not too excited to hear what she had to say since Lauren is the ultimate love of my ex, the “I want to marry her and have her babies” kind of love. I was like “Really? Pour salt on my wound why don’t you!” haha But she talked about how not only is it important for a runner to prepare themselves physically but mentally too. Lauren talked about how in 2007 she was training for her 4th USA Championship in the 5K as a professional runner and she just froze. She talked about how she became so consumed by fear and even though she was doing great and was in the lead she stopped and walked the half mile she had left. Lauren goes on to explain how we must prepare mentally because even if we are in our best shape if we are not in our best shape mentally we will not improve. I have to admit I was so glad I read that article because even though I am nowhere near Laurens level I felt the same way on Saturday, I was scared. It also made me think how we carry the same mentality into our personal lives too. Getting back in shape and eating healthier has truly been a journey and it continues to be and there are days when you slip and you eat that piece of pie when an apple would’ve been a better choice instead. But then you feel like “Oh my whole diet is ruined! I might as well just have that ice-cream while I’m at it.” And heaven help us if this happens mid-week because for some reason we think we can only start a diet on a Monday. As if any other day of the week is not as good to do so. I was reminded that I did not gain my weight overnight but that it was something that took time as well. The lesson I learned is that it will also take time for me to retrain my mind just like my body to be healthy and think positive.

So yes, I froze on Saturday and didn’t do as well as I hoped but I am better for it today. I now have the challenge to continue to improve my times and do better on my race for October. This race is done and there is nothing I can do about it anymore, my time will remain the same and no matter what I say or do. What I can do is learn from it. The lesson I learned from Saturday’s race was “Never look back” whether it’s in a race or in life. We will all make mistakes and wish there were things we did different or wonder “Am I the last one?” But our focus should be the finish line. We weren’t sent here to fail, we will fall and sometime come in last but we will finish and be better for it.

The wait is over; I’m going to be an aunt again!

Anyone that knows me well you know that I am always bragging about my amazing and most beautiful nieces and nephews in the world. As the years pass, it’s been amazing to see them grow from babies to young men and young women. All of my siblings have kids except my brother Monico and his wife Melissa. They had been trying to conceive for quite some time and after 13 years they have been blessed with the gift of parenthood. I am very excited for them because they will make amazing parents, and not to brag but that kid is going to be so cute since both parents are quite the lookers as babies. Plus I also told them I refuse to have an ugly niece or nephew, so they better deliver a super cute one preferably with blue eyes. With this news it has been very fun talking stories about the shenanigans those two did when they were kids. Melissa liked to run away from home and she was a climber. Monico well let’s just say my parents had a marked parking space at the doctor’s office from all the visits they made to get him stitched up. So it will be very fun to see them with their mini me. Now the only thing we are waiting for is what the sex of the baby is. Oh how much fun shopping will be if it’s a girl because they do have way cuter clothes but boys have the best toys ever! So we shall see.

Visiting Big Sky Country

A few weeks ago Monico and Melissa came back to Seattle to pick up the last of their things that couldn’t fit in their car during the move. Memorial Day weekend was coming up and they invited me to go on a road trip with them. Originally we had planned to go to Victoria, Canada because Monico and I haven’t been there but hotels & ferry were very pricey. So we joked about visiting Montana but then realized how it was pretty close to us and none of us had ever been there. So it was settled, road trip to Montana. Going through Eastern WA is not the most scenic drive but once we got to Idaho the drive was nice. Unfortunately there was a fire so we had a lot of smoke blocking our view on the drive through Montana. In a way it reminded me of driving in Monterey, CA because the smoke felt like fog at times. There were some areas where the river and the backdrop was breath taking that Melissa said she expected Brad Pitt to pop out any minute like in The River Runs through It. We finally made it to Missoula, Montana late at night and we were ready to head to bed and start our exploration in the morning. Missoula is a small town but with a lot of potential. The University of Montana is there and we happened to come on game day, so everywhere we looked there was Grisly Fans. I have to admit I really enjoyed that part because everyone showed love for the school that day. In the morning after breakfast we hit the Farmers Market in town and let me tell you, those vegetables looked like they were on steroids! I have never seen such HUGE produce and the price was awesome. The pictures really don’t do them justice. I only wished I had a cooler so I could have brought some home. After the farmers market we headed to a ghost town. Once there, Melissa pointed out how there were many rattle snakes because she could hear their rattle. Well you have to know this about me, I am TERRIFIED of snakes, any type and size so her pointing that out made it a very unpleasant trip walking down to the town. Once we made it there one of the park rangers asked me if I had any questions and I asked “Do you have a lot of rattle snakes?” To which thank heavens she said “No their numbers are low this season.” You have no idea how relieved I was to hear that, so with that new information I got a pep in my step and was ready to explore the town. This place is welled preserved and people can even rent some cabins to stay there if they want. I love visiting ghost towns and learning the history of what brought them there and what happened to the town. I was not disappointed by the town, very fun. On our way back we got some pictures but I think the view would have been more amazing if there wasn’t so much smoke. The next day we went mining for sapphires. Monico can be a nerd about certain things and I have to admit it cracked me up seeing him so excited about this. So we made it to the ranch and were given Sapphire mining 101. We actually found quite a few and I have to admit I had a lot of fun doing it. I wanted to take a picture of our treasure so I emptied the container in my hand and Melissa said “Be careful you don’t drop them.” And just as I was saying “Geesh I am not that clumsy” I dropped one of them. Insert foot in mouth! I was terrified of losing any more of them so I passed them on to Melissa and Monico as soon as possible. They had them appraised and we had quite a few that could actually be cut! They asked me if I wanted to keep any and well lets just say I figured they would be in safer hands if they kept them. Overall it was a great trip and great company. I hope to visit again.

London 2012

I don't know about you but I LOVE watching the olympics summer or winter. Each have their sports that I love to watch. I am the least coordinated person you will ever meet so to see people who are the best in their sport compete and represent their contry is so fun to watch. I have always admired those talents in others because I know it's not something everyone is blessed with. One of the things I really enjoy is hearing the human stories whether its about the hosting nation or the atheleates themselves. I liked the focus that they made this year on the sacrifices parents and the atheleates make to get there. It made me think of the sacrifices I now see that my parents made for me and my siblings. It makes me very greatful for them and I know that I wouldn't be who I am if it weren't for them. Another thing that I love about the olympics is the love for ones counrty. As you know I was born in Mexico and grew up in the US, so I have two homes Mexico and the US. Although I have to admit I feel out of place when I visit Mexico because I have not lived there for so many years I always feel such a pride when Mexico is represented. So with that said I was so proud to see Mexico take the gold in soccer and I sang along as the national anthem was played. So proud to be able to call 2 wonderful countries my home. I think we all celebrated with the countries when they won and our heart broke a little when they didn't or they fell. No matter what country is our home for 17 days everyone in the world was united by the spirit of the olympics and love of their homeland, we became one which you have to admit it's a great thing.

Love hate relationship

Summer is here and in full swing in Seattle and with that the beautiful weather. I have been here in WA for 3 summers and I have enjoyed each one so much. I think anyone that has ever lived in the PNW or lives here they have a love/ hate relationship with WA. For 9 months we have non-stop rain which keeps our area so green and lush. I mean we are not called the "Emerald City" for no reason. And then we are blessed with the most AMAZING summers. So this past winter was the hardest one for me because I was so ready for this weather to be over and for some sun any sun really to come out. Well summer has not dissapointed this year I think it has been a great one. Today I went on a ferry to Bainbridge Island and headed to brunch and it was the perfect way to end the week. There are certain views that always make me smile and remind me why I love Seattle so much and the picture above is one of them. So although I am sure once the long winter comes I will be questioning why I moved to WA in the meantime I am enjoying the beauty of the area and all it has to offer. Hope everyone is enjoying their little piece of heaven where ever they are.