Thanksgiving Sunrise

First let me start out by saying Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I woke up rather early this morning, and I am so glad I forced myself out of bed on this chilly November day. My Church had decided to hold some beach baptisms on Thanksgiving morning along with a short sunrise service. The idea of having to wake up at 5am to be at the beach by 5:30am did not really sound all that appealing to me, and it was freezing at least for a Floridian it's freezing. Once we finally arrived it was so peaceful and serene to see the sunrise that morning with some hot cocoa and close friends, I couldn't have had better morning. I would love to wake up every morning to a view like that. So before the baptisms began my pastor asked if any of us wanted to share anything we were thankful for this year. I really wanted to share my thoughts, but just the thought of sharing what was on my mind brought tears to my eyes, since I did not share my thoughts on the beach, I will share what I am most thankful for here on my blog. I am thankful to God that in October my father made 13 years of being a sober man. I am thankful that He (God) is with him (my father) today and everyday so that he remains a sober a man. In January my father is going to walk me down an aisle and give me away, and I am thankful to God for that, and the for the many blessings He has given to me, and to my family. I recently read a book by Mitch Albom entitle "For One More Day" without spoiling the book to much it talks about a man who had a drinking problem and because of it, missed out on his daughters wedding. His daughter refused to invite him because he was not in the right state of mind. Several weeks later my father rented the movie not knowing that I had read the book and we sat in our living room and watched it together. That afternoon my father told me as he has told me countless times before, when I have shared life's problems with him, that he was so thankful to God that he was able to have a relationship with me, and that he was able to give me good and Godly advice, because he was not longer a slave to alcoholism as he once was.

The Book

Movie Poster of the Book

The Sunrise

You Know How I Know Your Gay?

If you have ever watched the movie the "40 Year Old Virgin" you will know exactly why I titled this post the way I did. Am I gay? Yes, because I not only like COLDPLAY, I absolutely LOVE them!!!! They are by far my favorite band, and in my mind I am going to marry Chris Martin, he can serenade me any day!!! I better stop talking before I get myself into some trouble! Anyhow, I was fortunate enough to go see Coldplay for the second time around, I went few years back and absolutely loved it, but was stupid enough to forget my camera!!! Ugh, I am still regretting that!! Once again I was in awe by this skin and bones band, they played three of my favorite old songs (In My Place, Polotik, and Yellow), but its always so hard to pick favorites with them, because even there least popular songs are awesome! They turn everything into something beautiful, its really all about the lyrics!!!!

Here are some pics of my glorious night!! At least this time I have something to show for it, but even if I didn't I wouldn't forget how much they ROCK!!!!!

How Ironic

It only happens a few months out the year, but its finally here again. The Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, is by far my favorite cup of coffee, so as I sat and enjoyed my seasonal coffee and nibbled on my lemon cake, I read "The Way I See It" #141 from the back of my cup. I always find these little excerpts to be so interesting, I have yet to receive a cup with something I have already read, not only do I read my cup but I also read the cup of the person who accompanies me as well. It is something I must always do, no question about it. My cup read as follows:

I used to feel so alone in the city. All those gazillions of people and then me, on the outside. Because how do you meet a new person? I was very stumped by this for many years. And then I realized, you just say, "Hi." They may ignore you. Or you may marry them. And that possibility is worth that one word.

-Augusten Burroughs
Author of Running with Scissors

What I find to be so ironic about this excerpt it not so much what it says, but the title of the book that it comes from. Now I have not read this book, but I do know that running with scissors is considered to be something dangerous, but can saying hello to a complete stranger really be all that dangerous? It's crazy to think how easy and how hard it can be to make friends, but the wonderful part about it is, that it is always unexpected when you do. Doing so is easy when we do not care about what could possibly happen, but hard when we do care. It is not always easy to be vulnerable, but I believe and have learned that in order to have any kind of meaningful relationship you have to be willing to be vulnerable. If running with scissors means saying hello, than perhaps I am willing to be a little dangerous.

If You Look, You Shall Find!

When I was a senior in high school, I went on a search! I went on a search for my prom dress! As some of you may know, I am extremely picky when it comes to formal wear, especially when its for one of the biggest events in High School! I went to every store in the South Florida searching for the perfect prom dress, I even flew to New York for a day in hopes of finding her! After many months of searching I found a pink Lillie Rubin dress that I fell in love with. Almost eight years later I still think the dress is beautiful, but now I am on a search for a different dress! I am now searching for my wedding gown. I believe that this search will not be as easy as it was searching for my prom dress, but nonetheless know she will be found. It is crazy to think how swiftly time passes by, and as I embark on my search I was given the advice that once you find her (the dress) STOP looking!!! The elderly lady that gave me this piece of advice told me in Spanish "si sigues buscando, vas a encontrar" translation "if you keep looking, you will find". What she said to me that day really stuck with me, because it was something so simple that made so much sense. The way she said it was as though it had a second meaning that not only applied to finding my dress, but that it applied to other aspects of life as well. If you think about it, it really does. If you have found what you are looking for, why keeping looking? If you are looking, then keeping looking till you find!!!

Down To The Last One

My coworkers and I decided to go to a Thai restaurant for lunch today, Fridays are usually our cheat days since we are all trying to watch our figures. After our delightful sushi lunch we decided to order some Thai donuts for desert with condensed milk on the side of course! What else would we dip those fried donuts into? As the three of us ate the first set of 6 donuts, we decided to order another six, because I of course was not satisfied with the two I already had. I had to have another two to myself. Have you ever gone to a restaurant and shared an appetizer or desert and it comes down to the last chip or the last spoonful of ice cream and you don't want to be the glutton of table to eat the last piece of food? Of course you have, everyone has, so you casually wait to see if someone offers you the left over piece, well this is what I was hoping would happen, but to my dismay did not turn out that way. He offers one of us the last donut and before I can say okay you don't have to twist my arm, she is already gobbling it down. I guess we were both waiting for our opportunity and I did not rise to the occasion.

I want more Thai donuts!!!

Endurance

Several months ago I was given an opportunity to be a part of a major non-profit organization here in Hialeah for one of its major fundraising events. Although I was thrilled in taking on this big task, I was also very relieved when it was over, not because it was boring or uninteresting, but because it consumed a great deal of my time. There were several times that I felt like giving up because I just could not juggle all the other things that were going on in my life. Apparently I did a good job of juggling all 5 things, but that's besides the point. My point or thought is, what happens when we get to a point that we are so frustrated and stressed out that we just want to give up. Is giving up even an option? For me it was not, only because I gave my word and commitment to several things at the same time, and my word, my dependability etc. meant so much more to me then to sever some one's confidence in me. Have I learned my lesson about committing to several activities at the same time, absolutely!!! I learned that being stressed out is okay sometimes, it allows you to become resilient to other things. I learned that as much as I enjoy being surrounded by other people there are times that you just need some time to yourself. I also learned that I can handle a lot more than what I would have ever given myself credit for. Some times you just have to push yourself and ask yourself what is most important? Doing something I love that benefits others is what's most important to me!

According to Webster, Endurance is the power to withstand stress and it is the ability to carry on through hardships. How much are we willing to endure?

The Boys Are Out!!!!!!

I am sadded by the loss of my boys to the New York Giants. I guess now Tony Romo can go wherever he wants with Jessica Simpson, and we will see how the Giants matchup against Green Bay.

:sigh:

From one moment to the next

Yesterday was my first day back to school in over a year! That's right I decided to get a Master's degree, I was excited and nervous about what to expect in this new program, but I thought it can't be that bad! People juggle full-time jobs, family, and school all at the same time! What would be so different or hard for me to accomplish that same goal that many others seek? I left work a little earlier to race to Ft. Lauderdale and make it to class on time, but as I was driving my mother called to inform me that she had some bad news to share with me. Her voice sounded calm, but very serious and I did not expect the conversation to end the way it did. The first thing I thought about was my dog, I was certain something had happen to Puchie, but as she continued she assured me that Puchie was fine and that the news was far more serious than something being wrong with my dog. She hesitated and I questioned her as to what was wrong and she continued on to inform me that her Aunt had passed away in a tragic accident. I could not help but feel awful because here I am thinking about a dog instead of human being. I guess I did not realize the seriousness of the conversation when we began talking. I thought about the last moments that Bertica (that's what we called her) and I shared together, never thinking that new years eve would be the last time I would ever see her again. I did not appreciate her as much as I should have, perhaps because we were never really close, but this has made me think twice about how much I should appreciate those around me. When my phone conversation with my mother ended I began to drive a lot slower and bit more cautious than what I usually do, you see her tragic accident involved a car collision that was not her fault but took her life in flames. I thought about a conversation I had with one of my best friends as I continued driving to school and how her mother always tells us "Mejor que llegar tarde que no llegar" translation "it is better to be late than to never arrive". Here I am flying down I-95 without a thought in the world that anything can happen to me and to some degree nothing can until I am called to leave this earth. Whether I make it late or not at all to my destination does not matter because when it's my time, it's my time! It hit me as news such as this always does we are here one moment and we are not the next, we believe we have so much control when we do not, and we forget how important life is.

Life is nothing and everything at the same time!

Distortions Through a Perfume Bottle

It was the first night of the year and I could not fall asleep. I must have stayed up until 3am tossing and turning flicking on and off my television set, perhaps it was the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks that I had earlier that kept me up so late. On most occasions I can fall asleep no matter what amount of coffee I drink prior to bed time, but I guess it was not one of those nights for me. As I laid in bed under my warm comforter, I began to stare at the objects that were sitting on a small table next to my bed. I focused and observed two large clear perfume bottles that stood out to me amongst other things in my room. I noticed that I could see straight through both of them onto the other side. I could see fragments of a distorted basket in which I kept the rest of my perfumes except for the two bottles I had just mentioned. As I laid there I wondered how may times do we assume we know someone or believe that we can see straight through them? For the most part, most of our assumptions and beliefs about people come about when we begin to get to know the person or from our first encounter with them. Did you know that most first impressions or what we believe about a person is inaccurate information or an inaccurate assumption? That's some social psychology for you!!! What do we really see when we look at people? Do we see them for who they really are, or do we see a distortion of what or who we think they are?