2009: A look over the past year!

Well this year was really something! Lots happened. So let's begin my recap, and sit tight because it's a lenthy one!


January

My 21st Birthday! I was poor so I didn't do anything too out there like go to Austin or even go to a bar down here. We just had a family get together complete with BBQ and my awesome cake! And to top it off a bottle of patron - as you will notice not pictured here ;) But I did have one!

February

Nothing special here either! lol. I lead a very boring life, or led, this year. All work and school and hardly any play! But Danny did buy me a bouquet of my favorite flowers! DAISY'S!!!

 

March

This was a sad month. My dad's dog [and the family pet] Chula died. It's still unclear as to what she died of exactly, but it was definitely something neural. Poor girl was walking in circles over and over again. She wouldn't even respond to her name being called. It was so bad she would cry when she actually laid down. She lost weight and stopped eating. We had to hold her head just so she wouldn't dehydrate.

This was her last day with us. Don't worry, she was just sleeping.

So after we lost Chula, Bonnie [my spaniel] needed a companion. She got really destructive, tore out the inside soles to my dress shoes - don't ask, I have no idea how she accomplished that. So I went to a shelter to adopt her a new friend. I intentionally wanted a boy, and something not too big, but not too small - something that wouldn't bend over and let Bonnie dominate them. But it had to be a puppy because we had cats and puppies can be trained to get along with cats. And sadly, there wasn't a boy puppy to be found at the time there at the particular shelter I went to. But instead, I found Bella.

 

We brought her home that day, and let me note - completely unprepared! Bonnie didn't like her at first, but as the night went on she warmed up to her. Soon they were inseperable.

 

April

Ok you can't hate me - nothing big happened this month! LOL. Nothing. If it did, it wasn't of significant importance to me.  It was the usual: work, school - ooohhh we did have finals this month ... and that's it.

May

This wasn't a good month either. Danny got Bells Palsay. It was awful. He was really sick and his face got really swollen. His ears were the most apparent apart from the left cheek. Not much else to say about that either. He was able to rest a lot and spend some time with our dogs, so it wasn't entirely a loss.

June

Of all the months this year, June was the worst. My dad had been depressed for a good while due to the loss of his dog. And well for Father's Day my sister and I wanted to get him a new dog. But a breed that he'd been itching for for some time. He wanted a Collie or a German Shepherd. Well we live in a very intensed heated climate so Collie's are extremely rare! I was able to find a German Shepherd mix being fostered through an animal shelter in Alton - about 40 minutes from where I live. So we picked her up one morning and brought her home and cleaned her up. She was disgustingly covered in ticks! All sizes. It was sickening. Poor girl. Who knows what kind of dieseases she could've contracted if she stayed in the environment any longer. Well the whole thing was to be a surprise! And it was! :) He came home just as we were through with her bath! So that morning also happened to be the same day my friend Irazema was getting married! So we all got ready and went to the church mass for the wedding ceremony and then came home to finish watching Defiance and then get dressed again and go to the dinner reception. Some drama ensued at the house and well we got ready and left. My dad was working on his truck and we drove off leaving the dogs outside. And the gate stayed open. That was enough. We didn't even get into town when we got a phone call. We had to turn back around and go home because Bonnie had run out and got hit by a car. She didn't make it. I was crushed. It was really the worst thing I could have ever imagined. I miss her intensely to this day.

RIP BONNIE

 

On a happier note, Irazema's wedding to Gus was beautiful. I feel bad though because I was in the worst mood ever. But Danny and Audrey & my dad were there to help me through it. Plus I had some support from "the guys" that went to the wedding - they're pretty great like that.

July

Nothing happend here either. Just a lot of mourning. Took a summer class. Passed. That's it.

August

This month I started what would hope to be my final semester of college! I was so excited and so determined to finish off my college career with a 4.0 ... sadly, that didn't happen - but I did pass all my classes! We also discovered that my Grandma Lucille [my mom's mom] had a gangrene infection in one of her legs and was moved into a hospice. So my little sister and I scheduled flights to go out and see her before it was too late.

September

We didnt' make it to see my Grandma Lucille in time. In fact, we were 2 days off. She died on a Wednesday and we were not scheduled to leave until crazy early Friday morning. So we attended her funeral. It really is so sad that that is the only time we see our West Texas family. It's been 2 funerals so far. My Grandpa Eustacio's back in 2001 and then Grandma Lucille.

 

The upside was seeing everyone after so long. But again, unfortunate circumstances.

 

And then: two weeks later Audrey and I flew off to Chicago for my nephew Jack's Birthday! He was so blown away! He really enjoyed us visiting them in their new home and I'm glad that he was old enough to appreciate it!

^^^ Jack and I at his birthday party at the Morton Arboretum

^^^ Jack and his Auntee Audrey at the Morton Arboretum

We also had a chance to go downtown and do some extremely quick sightseeing.

Some highlights:

  

 

 

October

We managed to make it over to SPI for the annual Sand Castle Days! Unfortunately, due to red tide the weather was pretty awful! There was a thin layer of sand flying everywhere, people were wearing surgical masks! And they were the smart ones! There we were driving in making fun of all the people wearing them! Boy did we get what we deserved! We were gagging the entire time we were there! But we did manage to take a few pictures of some of the good show pieces!

 

November

We actually took a random trip to Ausin one weekend! It was a girl thing. My sister and I drove up on a Friday afternoon and well of course drove back down that Sunday.

 

I got to see my buddies and went to 6th! LOL Well 6th happened after a trip to Trudy's for Mexican Martini's ... the details are all a little fuzzy if you know what I mean. Well the next morning was a bit rough, but we had planned to hang out and roam Austin with my cousin Annie who is also up there going to UT.

Mount Bonnell

We went down Congress and to Town Lake to see all the dogs play. On our discovery we saw a particular clock that Audrey and I were drawn to - and as you would have it, anyone who loves math would be too!

And our trip was rounded off with a trip to Hey Cupcake! The cupcake trailer on Congress!!!

The red sprinkled one is Red Velvet - the nut topped one is the 24 Carrot - and the one with the chocolate sprinkles is the Michael Jackson.

Then the usual holiday occurred, you know the pig out one :) THANKSGIVING! It happened as usual. Way too much food, and Danny and I were splitting our time between his family and mine. I made a ham! You know the one with the pineapple rings and cherries? But again, I suck - no picture.

December

GRADUATION! I graduated from UTPA! For a more in depth persepective read the blog below. Yes I had a whole blog about my graduation, I had to!

Christmas and New Years are also memorable events ... and there's a Christmas post too!  Although New Year's is occurring as we speak so I'll have to blog about that holiday in it's own entry.

So that's it. My year. I'm sure 2010 will be even more memorable!

Christmas Recap

So I was completely undecided if I wanted to publish a Christmas post or not. But I feel guilty – it is a perfectly good blog topic! Lol. So here it is:


Christmas Eve
The cousins and I were feeling a bit Grinch-y. Ok, ok – that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But nevertheless we were not feeling the Christmas spirit so much this year. Probably for different reasons, but I know the weather played a big factor. The days leading up to Christmas Eve/Christmas day were HOT! Ok , exaggerated there too, but they weren’t cold, and nothing near a white Christmas. Another factor, for me anyway, was the fact that we didn’t decorate at my house! Not one bit! Nothing. Not even a wreath on the front door.
So, me – being the genius that I am ;) – suggested we cousins bake and decorate sugar cookies! What’s more Christmasy than that?! [BTW that was a rhetorical question!] And so Christmas Eve morning we proceeded to bake a zillion cookies! Ha-ha – well it was quite a lot.

Can you see the cookies all stacked up in the center of the table?! Yeh, that's after we had already decorated those in the first picture!

And that was pretty much our Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day
The next morning, we did the usual – Church in the AM, and then tamales for breakfast/lunch followed by the presents, well this year we got a basket. With stuff. And snackage. The day ended with TV, Inglorious Basterds, and an interesting game of TABOO!!!


Day – after Christmas
One word: DISCOUNT! LOL. Although I probably could’ve saved a lot more if I waited even longer to buy things for next Christmas – but then there’s that chance that I wouldn’t find a darn thing. Unfortunately I didn’t find everything I was looking for. Some things that I had at the top of my list were stockings (3), a Christmas tree, a Christmas tree topper, stocking holders (3), and ornaments & wrapping paper. I did not find any good ornaments or the tree topper! I was really hoping that I would because during the regular season, pre-Christmas, I can easily spend $50 on several boxes of beautiful ornaments.

So Kohl’s was the first stop – mostly because we drove by Target just after 6 am and the doors were still locked and a few people were already lined up waiting it out. Brave people, it was a bit chilly that morning. Anyway, at Kohl’s I found the stocking holders and this candle thingy. I didn’t intentionally go for the tea light tree, but I saw it on the table as I was walking away and perhaps drawn to its shiny-ness.

 See how pretty it is and how I just had to have it? :)

After Kohl’s we drove by Target again, still not knowing what time they were gonna open. And guess what? They were still not open! So we headed for some coffee and breakfast at the Starbucks right there. Unfortunately they don’t serve breakfast there at that particular location so we had to settle for coffee. Still yummy! And then after that we drove back to the Target to see what was up. It was just after 6:30AM at that point. And guess what? It was still closed! But only this time there were several more people waiting and forming a line by the doors and way more cars out in the parking lot! So me, being the worry wart that I am, start freaking out close to 6:40AM and thinking that once we finally decide to get out and get our butts in line would be at the end of whatever line there was! And I successfully convinced Audrey to ditch the warmness of the car and get into the little line. Lol. Really by the time we got there, there weren’t more than 15 people in line. However, once we got out, it seems everyone and their mother’s also got out of their cars and got in line!

This was just after 6:50AM and close to the door opening! Lol.

And then we were in at 7AM!!! We walked really fast to the northeast corner of the store, and were astonished that they still had a crapload of really nice stockings in a whole aisle! And it didn’t even take us that long to find a couple of really pretty ones too! Danny and mine both have a snowflake pattern, but mine is way more feminine in white with a feathery type of top and gold/silver beading and Danny’s is red with a stitched on type of [material] in the snowflakes, and the top is a corduroy type of thing – material and pattern. I even bought one for Bella! It’s reversible in that if I have it on one side it says “Nice” and if I turn it over it says “Naughty”! So if she’s a good girl you know what it’ll say! And I also found a tree! Then once we successfully got through and out of Target we headed to Macy's since we had time to kill before Hobby Lobby opened - crazzies waited all the way till 9 AM to open!

I used my gift card and bought a new pair of shoes - and unfortunately I suck because I didn't get a picture of those! But they're brown with a suede fabric and quite comfortable.

Finally, we headed to Hobby Lobby and that's where I was hoping to find the most beautamous ornaments. But to my dismay I wasn't quite that lucky. I did get 5 rolls, I believe of 100 sq. ft. a roll wrapping paper and some bows!

That pretty sums up my shopping for that day. After that I was dead broke. I mean dead broke. lol. Oh well, money well spent - I don't even wanna think how much it'dve been if I waited till next year to buy it all.

Here's my loot in all it's glory:

Apologies for those pictures that didn't rotate properly!

Real Life.

So I just filled out my first job application. Like real life real job application! It was a little odd to say the least.

It's for the Accountant position available right now at UTB. It's a long shot, but I'll never know if I don't try - right?

Short post. But it is a post! lol.

Blogs to come soon. PROMISE!

I'm done! ... Now what??

LOL! I graduated! That's right - me, graduated, from UTPA! "Heck yeh" is pretty much all I've got to say for myself. It's such a great achievement and accomplishment. I'm so relieved beyond belief! Really. It feels good! :)

So it all went down yesterday (12/19/09) at approximately 4 pm. I, surprisingly arrived there earlier than my expected arrival time of 3pm. And unfortunately had to wait with all the other graduates in one of the meeting halls in the McAllen Convention Center for almost the entire hour before the commencement, well began! My poor feet. Well then we all headed out, that's when the nerves set in! It was all so surreal and exciting at the same time. We started walking in, and I am the weirdest person ever! I show emotions at the oddest times, lol. I started to tear up a bit before we entered the exhibit hall, but then I was able to gather myself together and continue walking in with the rest of my class. Apparently the camera was right on my face for a good while - so Audrey and my dad say. Well then we get to our seats and well sit. I was extremely happy to turn around and see the Danny and the bulk of my family sitting in the stands, [Tina, Casey, and Jack were missing] and I'm so glad that my best buddy Danny S. and Joana made it. It didn't seem to go on too long, thankfully for the guest speaker - the current Mayor of Edinburg. He was actually quite entertaining. The College of Business was the first to go. So I didn't have to wait long to be called and make my way across the stage, which was a good thing I think. But anyway, it came, it went, it's happened :)

It's time to think ahead. I've got a resume to write and then send off pretty soon. I need to make sure I have a job come April! I have high hopes. I'm looking at working for UTB, they've got 2 staff accountant positions available, or maybe at a bank. GOD willing.

So that's my graduation blog, in a nut-shell.



Gas update: $2.28, where we were today - on the west side of the valley.
                      $2.39 here at home.

The End!

So that's it.

lol. Nothing bad, don't worry. It's just that this morning, I had my last final! That's it! College is over, for now. You know unless I go nuts and decide to come back and do it all over again for something I want to do. But as of right now I'm going to be graduating this Saturday (Dec. 19th) with my BBA in Accounting! Exciting stuff huh? lol.

Earlier this week I was receiving my packages of things that I ordered from David's Bridal online, mostly for the wedding ceremony aspect, with the exception of the cake topper! It was more of a settling for the cake topper than a choosing. Me, being the nit-pickiest person on the planet, could not for the life of me choose a cake topper! So I took it upon myself to browse online since I had not come across one I liked in stores, and I found the cutest, modern-ish [I guess you could say] cake topper on theknot.com:

Only guess what the problem with this one is? Come on, guess! .... Ok ok I'll tell you: it's $79.95! Yep that's right practically $80! For a cake topper! Suffice it to say that I did not buy said cake topper. Nope. Instead I resorted to David'sBridal.com and ordered everything on my credit card. This is what I ended up with instead:

And at a much more affordable price, since you know - everything is overpriced these days!

So now all that's left to order, are the invitations and the napkins for the cake, you know the personalized ones. Although, we really don't have to if we don't want to ... I probably will though anyway.

Gas update: $3.29 in Edinburg; $3.39 everywhere else.

I'm a very bad blogger! :(

Apologies! Lol. As if anyone really reads this shtuff anyway :)

The past month or so has been so hectic! But it's all calmed down and now we're heading towards the finish line!

There are 2 more days till the official class day; 10 more days till my last undergraduate final; 12 more days till my college graduation and then the race through the holidays, my birthday and finally the WEDDING!

The original day was supposed to be this past Saturday, but alas no such luck. It's ok, we weren't prepared for it anyway. But just my luck, it was a beautiful day. Actually, Sunday was better because it was a bit warmer, but still Danny loved Saturday's weather. I think the high was 60 .... somewhere around there.

We are on track for the wedding in April though. Everything, and I mean everything is booked! Now we gotta pay it all off and have a great day! I'm not worried anymore, and if only my body would take that and RELAX. lol. I need a project or something.

Bella is doing great. She lights up everytime Danny comes over. And she's so loyal. I only worry about her being alone. And I think what'll happen is we'll adopt another dog from a shelter, an older one, similar to her size to keep her company and to play with. I do wanna adopt a boy, neutered of course. But I haven't revealed my plans to Danny yet :)

So I'll leave it at that. And I promise, now that my schedule is becoming more regular, I will be blogging more consistently :)



Gas update: I was actually too tired to catch it today! I failed :(