California Calling ♥

After two months in Idaho,

I was reunited with my family in California for Guillermo's wedding.

[ yes, Guillermo got married, and we all thought he wouldn't settle down ]

Suzy is such a wonderful person though.

They truly are the perfect couple and I know our Father in Heaven will bless them both immensely.

♥

Well, the vacation could be summed up in these few words:

" Five days of Emotional Adventures "

I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty sure I was an emotional wreck this entire time I was with them all.

Let's start from the very beginning why don't we.....

 I traveled for hours and my flights were delayed for a bit.

That only made me grumpy and edgy.

I wanted to see my family sooooo bad, and it seemed like it was taking FOREVER for that to happen.

Then,

when I finally do see my family, I'm like happy tornado!

It was soooooo good to be able to hug my mom and dad again.

♥

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AND.... you ready for this?

I got to see my paternal grandmother after five years!!!

It was soooooooo great to hug her and just tell her how much I love her.

She made me cry, when she spoke about my grandpa, but I knew I had to be strong for her.

My grandfather passed away last year and she is doing great.
She's always been such a strong and empowered woman.

I'm just glad she's surrounding herself with family right now and feeling the love we all have for her.

We did a lot together,

Take a LOOK!!!

{ Street Performers }

{ Clam Chowder at Pier 39 }

{ Alcatraz Island }

{ Golden Gate Tour. Three Generations }

I was also able to see my maternal grandmother,

My Aunt Hellen

&

My Aunt Sheny

My Aunt Hellen is such an angel.

Her knowledge and love for us all amazes me so much.

She is still one heck of a poker player too!! haha

In all honesty, I love my entire family

BUT I think my favorite part of the trip,

was catching up with all of my cousins.

They say that cousins are disguised brothers and sisters within an  extended family.
To that I say,
Heck Yes they are!!!

My cousins and I have such a blast together.

We even sat around and snap chatted one another.

It was such a blast watching us all interact with one another.

We hadn't seen each other in YEARS and we each acted like it had been mere days.

We had so many laughs and giggles this past weekend.

♥

That's the beauty of family my friends.

Regardless of how crazy and weird you may be,

they are exactly the same!!
So you always fit in perfectly.
{ and they kinda understand you in a twisted way }

♥

My family is seriously the best.

I miss them all like crazy now,

but I know that no matter where we all live,

we'll always keep in touch.

It's been amazing watching them all grow up as the years go by.

No better words can be said than,

"God be with {them} til we meet again"

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Siblings is another word for Best Friend.

Siblings:  
[see-buh-leengs] (adjective)

 any group of persons closely related as sisters and/or brothers.

{ Andrea, Maria, Guillermo, Luis }

Remember the times we'd make home videos?

Like the dancing cow...the weather man..

and Luis' epic "I know how much it costs" moment
as he was unwrapping his birthday present.
Or how about all those times Luis cried because he was way
too short for all the good roller coasters?
How about all the vacations and family parties??

Living in the Apartment in Mt. Prospect?
or maybe
Walking around the Golf Field in Hoffman Estates??

 Recently,

My mother's words have echoed in my head all week.

" El dia que esten lejos de tus hermanos y hermana,

los extrañaras y recordaras todas las peleas 

que solo eran una perdida de tiempo."

Translation:

"The day you're away from your siblings,

you'll miss them and you'll remember all those fights

that were a waste of time."

All those fights seriously were a waste of time.
I look back and really ask myself "why?"

What was the point in arguing over a sweater,

a video game, or even a toy!

As a child, you don't really treasure the moments you have with one another.

All goodbye's seem short, family gatherings seem to take forever,

and family pictures were a waste of time.

With time,

goodbye's get harder,

Family Gatherings are meaningful,

and those family pictures we dreaded...

they've become our memories.

Looking back on the years,

I start to wonder where they've gone.

We've grown older, 
[ some even wiser ]
but the good thing is that all those memories remain.

I don't know where we'll all be in five years.

Or maybe even ten years.

But I can only hope that our sibling bond,
becomes eternal.

Wherever life leads us,

may we remember our roots,

and never forget that we are a family.

An Eternal Family

I Love You All.

 "Family is not an important thing, it's everything."

Michael J Fox

{ See you in 14 Days. }

One Month [ or so ]

It's officially been one month since I've been in good old Rexburg, Idaho.

[ Has it really only been a month?? ]

The semester is going great, and my homework load seems to be piling up as the weeks go by.

Have I mentioned before how much I tremendously dislike Physics at times?

I don't mind math at all, but what is the point of Physics

in the medical professions field??

Will I ever truly use it or am I merely being punished?

Who cares about figuring out an angle and velocity in which a

 ball must be thrown in order for it to displace 50 kilometers.

When will I ever use that when I'm helping patients out??

Grrrrrr...it's frustrating.

This past week was actually a stressful one itself,

but I'm still standing. That's all that matters.

Not only did I have classes, exams and an Anat&Phys lab,

 but the Cheer team had their first performance.

Not only was it the first, but it was also the BIGGEST one of the semester,

Ally did a super job at putting a routine together and

 the girls did a magnificent job considering we only had four hours of practice total.

We were all so proud of them all.

It may not have been the GREATEST performance ever,

but it was definitely a good one.

Each and every one of them was smiling and just filled with spirit.

Which is exactly what we were looking for.

We've got the rest of the season to show the school what were made of.

{ Winter Cheer 2013 }

{ Me. Ally. Austin )

We have some pretty talented ladies on our team this semester
and there is a ton of potential.
Oh the endless possibilities of what we can do this semester.
I'll post some videos as soon as we have some.
OH! and I'm a flyer this semester.
I'm pretty stoked to get back into the feel for it too.

February is the month of LOVE.
[ or so they say ]
It's also Black History Month.
But of course all everyone cares about is Valentine's Day.
Oh the wonderful Hallmark Holiday.
Words cannot express how ridiculous this day makes us single people feel.
But that's besides the point.
I think this is the first time in years that I will enjoy the month of February.
My little mini-me turned nine on the 2nd of February.
I get to see my family on the 20th.
My little brother Luis' Golden Birthday is on the 20th.
After like five years, I get to see my paternal Grandma.
My oldest brother gets married. {So I get a sister-in-law}
Crazy right???
Words cannot express how ecstatic I am.
I miss my family a ton when I'm out here.
We're very close knit and it just feels weird not being around them.
But I knew that at some point I needed to branch out on my own.
I'm just glad that regardless of how far away we are from one another, 
we manage to uphold the close ties with each other
and laugh at the wonderful memories we've created throughout the years.

Final Note:

Happy Nugget Wednesday.

{ Jacob did not appreciate being nuggeted, but it has to happen to someone. }

Looks like I'll be carrying my backpack everywhere from now on.