Cough, Cough

Ok, so last week, Emery got sick. She was vomiting and running a fever pretty much all night. So, I stayed home from work on Tuesday to take care of her. By Wednesday afternoon she was completely over it. Well, then my Uncle got sick on Wednesday followed by me Thursday night, and my husband and mom on Saturday. Yea, it was so much fun, let me tell you. Eh. Thankfully, it came on fast, and left just as quickly (it only lasted about 24-hours). So, most of my time was spent either in bed, or taking care of someone in bed all while still doing every day chores. Super Mom! I didn't get a lot of chances to post, and this week, I might be a little off too. 

I spent a good part of last week, doing nothing but catching up on Vampire Diaries on Netflix while we were all sick. My mother helped me keep up with laundry, but the house is back to being a mess. Fortunately for me, I get a four day weekend, so I plan to fully take advantage of it! I’m hoping to get some painting done too!! The inside of our house needs it, bad. So, that will be my project, starting Thursday! Woot woot! Now, I’m off to go study for these exams. I’ll update more later! 

Wordless Wednesday

Sampson Safety

I've mentioned before that we have a dog. I also mentioned that I felt we weren’t doing a very good job at giving him the attention he needed. Our life had been flipped upside down when we found out I was expecting, and then we moved right next door to my parents who aren’t big “dog lovers”. After that he killed the cat which made my family a bit angry with him. Ok, a lot angry with him. So he was turned into a permanent outside dog. Well, as we all know, life got even more busy once Emery started walking AND once I started school. So, I really had no idea if we could keep the promise to spend more time with him.

But, we’re making the effort. We aren’t giving Sampson up and we want him to be a part of this family. Well, as much of a part as a dog can be. So, my first step in that direction was to officially bring him back to being an indoor dog, part time. When we’re home he comes in, when we’re out he stays in his outdoor pen. We’ve gotten a few protests from my family due to “safety” involving Emery. I’ve taken everything into consideration and as I’ve stated before that no matter what breed a dog is, they’re still animals. I’m fully aware of this, and I’ve taken some precautions to try to make sure that nothing ever happens.

• Emery is never alone with Sampson.
• He’s not allowed near her when there’s food involved.
• She’s not allowed to hit, bite, or pull on any part of him.
• And we have his crate ready for when he needs his “alone time” to relax without having a toddler running around wanting to pet him (so long as his pillow is in there he usually refuses to come out at all anyway)
• We’re also recently showed Emery how to pet and not slap at him. 
• She can give him kisses, one is usually enough, and there’s no grabbing his mouth.

Now, I know that this isn’t a 100% secure plan that he won’t ever do anything. I’ve read all of the horror stories, all of the accidents, and I know that tragedies happen. But I feel like I’m taking all of the right steps when it comes to having any kind of pet inside the home. Sampson’s personality has always been gentle and laid back (until we go outside and he wants to play). He’s always wanting his belly rubbed, and he LOVES to cuddle. But I understand that we won’t ever know him 100% because, well...he’s a dog. Still, Sampson was always a part of our lives, and I don’t want to change that. I want him to feel like he’s truly loved, because we do really love him.

Just because we had Emery, doesn't  mean that we can't still have Sampson as our pet. It just means that we have to be more disciplined, and responsible. So, I’m really looking forward to these changes. I’m looking forward to having Sampson back in our daily lives. 

Book Review- The Vampire Diaries Vol. I

Hello! Ok so I’ve been reading books again! It’s been a long time since I’ve actually read something I wanted to, instead of just something I had to. And to be honest, I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be addicted to books. That feeling you get when you look at the clock and tell yourself “Ok, 30 more minutes and that’s it.” Only to look back up and realize two hours have gone by. Or when you get ready for bed and snuggle up with a book intent on finishing just a single chapter. Only you over did it and realize it’s about to be 1 am, you’ve already gone through half the book, and you should have been in bed HOURS ago. Yea...I missed that. LOL!

So, as we all know I’m a big “young adult fiction” lover. More specifically supernatural stuff. Vampires, Witches, Demons, Magic, Werewolves. And I’m a sucker for romance. So put those two together and I’m a happy lady. Now, my goal was to read one or two books a month and then write a “review” about them. But then I started looking at how everyone else writes reviews, and realized I can’t do that. So instead, I’m just going to be telling you what I thought of the books/how they made me feel. But, in not so fancy wording. Ok? So here goes:

Overview

Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants. 

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past. 

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her. 

Collected here in one volume for the first time, volumes one and two of The Vampire Diaries, the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.

My Review

If you like Twilight, but don’t like a lot of “emotional” stuff then this book is perfect. We have a very self-centered girl (Elena). A brooding “I’m-a-monster-that-can’t-be-fixed, but please try” vampire (Stefan). And his douche-bag, “I’m-a-monster-that-can’t-be-fixed, and don’t even think about trying” brother (Damon). The setting is high school, of course.

The books seem to cover a lot in a very limited amount of pages. I didn’t feel like I connected at all with any of the characters (lots covered in a few pages). But the story, even though it’s a bit repeated, was decent. I found myself on “Team Stefan” throughout the entire book. Elena, on the other hand, annoyed me. I kept asking myself if Stefan and Damon were even “looking” at this chick or if they were just in love with who she reminded them of? Because seriously, I would have ditched her a long time ago.

The ending of Volume One was a bit predictable, but not at the same time. I knew it was something bound to happen, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon. So that was different. There wasn’t a lot of “interaction” between the characters. Mostly it was Elena trying to make herself out to be a victim and a protector all at the same time, with bits and pieces of vampire “action” thrown in.

Like I said, if you don’t have time to read four huge novels like the Twilight series these books are perfect. It definitely has the main character be more of the “selfish” type than I’m used to but still it was ok. If you watch the TV show, I recommend reading the books just so you can get the real version of where it originated from but, don’t expect it to be the same. Even though the main characters were transferred to the screen, that’s as far as it goes with “keeping to the books”.  

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

Spanish Speaking Child

In case you can’t tell, or if for some reason I may look as if I’m of a different ethnic background (people ask if I’m Asian all of the time) than what I really am, I’m stating now that I'm Hispanic. More specifically, I’m Mexican. My dad is from Mexico, and my mom is Mexican BUT she was born here in Texas. I was born here in Texas too.

I grew up speaking both English and Spanish. And according to my family, they were all amazed at how easily both came to me. Some family members spoke to me in English and others spoke to me in Spanish and I consider this as being one of the major reasons why I was able to catch on to both. Also, most of my summers growing up were filled with a few weeks spent in Victoria, Tamaulipas, México to spend time with my dads side of the family. So that helped. I was able to communicate with my family, and they all understood what I was saying. Even if I mixed a sentence up. My daughter on the other hand, well, it’s a different story for us.

My husband is half white and Hispanic. He looks and dances like a white boy though! Since his father was never in the picture, he wasn't taught how to speak Spanish. While I was pregnant though, he was very upfront about wanting our daughter to be taught BOTH English and Spanish. I was in complete agreement. We wanted her to be able to talk to her Spanish speaking family just as easily as she does with her English speaking one. But we both work full-time, and now I'm going to school full-time, so teaching her Spanish seemed like it would be difficult. Thankfully, our babysitter speaks only Spanish. So that solved our problem.

But now that Emery is saying words, we've both noticed that they’re all pretty much Spanish. Even her little “toddler mumbles” come out sounding Spanish! And this doesn’t really phase me because I can understand the words she’s saying, but my husband can’t. Sometimes he’ll smile, nod, then quickly ask me what she said. But the other night, he just smiled and said “Love, I wish I knew what you were saying.” His statement really got me thinking about how frustrating it will probably be for him. Emery will more than likely be learning the language she hears the most a bit more quickly, than the one she doesn’t. I was like that too. And who knows, she might even prefer Spanish over English? So it makes me a bit sad to think that my husband won’t really know what she’s saying half the time.

I've been trying to teach her the English words for all of the Spanish ones she knows. I’ve also been trying to help my husband out by telling him what her phrases mean that way in the future (or when I’m at school and they’re alone) he can understand what she’s saying/asking. She’s not speaking complete sentences yet, and most of her “questions” are one or two words. She knows a lot of English words too, so it’s not like everything she says is in Spanish. Still, I’m pretty sure even one word questions can seem confusing to someone who doesn’t understand them. And with her growing vocabulary in both languages, I'm sure it's only going to get more confusing. 

Listen

Old

A little over two weeks ago, I fell as I was leaving work. We have this slope that leads up to a garage, and our entire drive/parking area is made up of loose rocks. I had my books, my back pack, my purse, and a drink all either on me or being carried. As I was making my way down this slope some of the loose rocks gave way, and I almost did the splits. Only, I landed on my left knee. Full force. Now, despite the recent weight loss I’m still not very light. So, imagine most (if not all) of your weight on top of your knee being slammed onto rocks. There was a bit of blood, a quiet “SHIT!”, and I limped my unhappy ass to the car. I had two exams and I was already running behind. I didn’t look at it again for the rest of the day, but I did limp around.

The next day I had a huge bruise. Sorry I didn’t take pictures. I had a scrape that I cleaned up, iced, and I went about my business. Limping. Fast-forward to two weeks later, and the bruise is almost completely gone, but my knee is still in PAIN. And the limping in still here. I tried to run on it, and that failed miserably. I tried icing it again. I stretched it out thinking it might just be a kink I need to push through. I’ve even tried to keep off of my feet and keep my leg elevated as much as possible.

Today, I still have a limp. My knee still hurts and I have this overwhelming desire to buy myself some Bengay, calcium supplements, and a knee brace. Seriously, this fall doesn’t even register on my “Top Ten Worst Falls”. I bounced back from those within a few days. So I found myself asking “Why the hell is this one taking so long?” Then I realized... “Oh yea...because your OLD! Now get over it!” 

So, off I go to buy some Bengay. 

Editing

I was finally able to start editing all of the pictures from my past posts! The down side is that I apparently write a lot. So, I only made it to February 2011 on my blog archive before having to quit for the day. Even then, there are a few pictures that I left as “blank” because they were of someone else other than my daughter, and those could wait to be replaced. Once I’m done with the pictures, I’ll be inserting my signatures in all of the posts that left it off. Yes, I’m a bit OCD.

I’ve also decided to switch my video “host” over to Vimeo. They have a way for me to embed my videos, and only people with a password can view them. Plus, no one else can embed them to their sites. This is mainly going to be for our family members. I know it’s such a bummer and a drag, but like I said before I’m aiming to share as much as I feel comfortable with all of y’all while also keeping my daughter as private as possible.

I’m also going to be changing things up around the blog. I’m a creature of change after all. It was bound to happen again. :-P I’m thinking about paying someone to make me a cute banner. I’m taking this out of my lunch money, because I’m still saving for that awesome VACATION we’re going on in a few months. Woot Woot! If I don’t pay someone, I just might change the layout or background and make myself a banner. Who knows?! Still, lots of changes going on. Pretty excited!

So, bare with me as I get my blog together, ok?  

Vegetarian

Recently, I decided I needed to take a different approach to my diet. I need to start really watching WHAT I’m putting into my body. Counting calories has been great, and I’ve lost 10 lbs with doing just this and working out. Unfortunately with life being a bit more hectic than usual, eating on the go, and not having a lot of time to keep a consistent work out going, I’ve realized that just counting calories isn’t going to cut it. At least not if I want to keep loosing.

So, recently I’ve looked into vegetarianism. Now, before I go any farther let me just say I love meat. I am from Texas after all. I love a nice medium rare, 12 oz. steak (great, now I’m hungry) just as much as the next Texan girl. But, eating this all of the time is no bueno. Not that I eat a steak every night for dinner. But I do catch myself eating friend chicken, chicken, or beef in/with a lot of my meals. I really feel like this needs to stop. I think I need to be focusing more on whole foods. Lots of veggies, fruits, and a lot more water. A lot like clean eating.

I don’t plan on being completely vegetarian exactly. Like I said, I love meat. But, I think that I need to cut as much of it out as possible. My plan is to really limit beef, and just stick to chicken (not fried chicken). Slowly wean myself off of them both to where they’re pretty much nonexistent. Maybe only include them in two meals a week? I don’t know how well this will work, or if I’ll even be able to stick with it. Especially in a family that loves meat, and will not alter their diet just because I’m altering mine. LOL! But, my main goal is to have more veggies and fruits than I do meats.

This week I ate meats. I had some hot pockets that needed to be finished up, and I’m the only one that eats them. Excuse? Maybe. Tomorrow I’ll be doing our weekly grocery shopping, so I’ll be going through a whole foods and vegetarian cookbook to get some ideas on recipes and ingredients. If I fail miserably, well at least I tried, and learned a few recipes! 

Trick or Treat? Yea...about that...

As everyone in the world knows, Monday was HALLOWEEN!! I personally used to love this holiday. Mainly because I got to dress us, and get drunk. Lots of laughs, and a lot of parties. Ha! But, once you have a kid, even if you still get to attend those parties the day of Halloween is all about the kids! You dress up with your child, and you go trick or treating. Right?

Well, last year for Halloween we did nothing. Emery was still pretty much crawling around. My husband had just gotten back from working in Oklahoma, and we weren’t in that great of a place. This year, even though Emery is fully capable of walking around and carrying a bucket for candy, we I opted out of Halloween. My husband said he wanted to take her, but when I had said that I didn’t think I was going to he decided to leave it at that. Lay on the guilt trip why don’t ya?? And then when people would ask, and I’d tell them we weren’t going, they looked at me as if I had “criminal” stamped on my forehead.

“Why not? How can you not take your daughter trick or treating?”

Easy! She’s 20 months! Not even two years old yet. She can’t even say “Trick or Treat” herself! Seriously. And we all know who would have ended up eating the candy *points at herself* because Emery is not allowed to have any. So, I firmly believe she’s too young still. Next year, it might be a different story. But see, I want her to be just as excited about Halloween as my husband and I are. I want her to be able to dress up and somewhat get the concept of how the whole thing works. This year, she couldn’t care less. I cooked dinner, and we watched Casper. Then when her dad got home, they stayed up playing and watching Sprout while eating ice cream in their PJ’s. We allowed the ice cream because it was Halloween. She was happier than a clam!

Now, I’m not saying it’s wrong to take your kids, that are pretty young, out trick or treating. I think it’s really cool that parents do that. I just didn’t think it was right for us. And despite the weird looks, and some “two cents” opinions that I received on the matter, I completely stand by my decision. Now let's just hope this isn't one of those things that my daughter tries to hold over my head later on, lol! 

p.s. Surprisingly, my mother was completely

with me on this. LOL! 

Reading

click image for source

I’m a bit of a book worm. When I was younger, on our bus rides to and from school I would turn on my CD player (yea, it’s been awhile) and read a book. Sometimes I would skip out on lunch, or study hall and I’d ask to go to the library. It was always so quite, and peaceful. It smelled like books. Pages. Have you ever bought a new book, opened it up, and smelt it? I know it sounds weird, but to me they smell amazing. Any way, I was always reading. I LOVE reading good books.

Currently I have two dilemma’s getting in the way of this love of mine. One being time and the other is trying to find books for my age. I’m 24 years old and I can’t help but still look in the “Young Adult” section. I do consider myself a young adult, but the books in this section have always seemed to target more of the teenage category. Which makes me wonder what the heck is actually in the “Teen” section then? It seems as if I’m finding it harder and harder to find good books too. They’re all about the same thing! Thank you, Twilight. As much as I love vampires, witches, and werewolves sometimes I’d like a little variety. Because of this I’ve tried to stray from my typical options every once in awhile, only to come running back to my normal selection.

Finding time to read has also been a big problem. I have a total of four books that still haven’t been touched, just sitting there...waiting for me. It’s a bit annoying knowing that I could be reading a good book instead of doing whatever it is I’m doing at the time (chores, homework, laundry, etc. ). So, recently I decided that I should pick this habit of mine back up. Maybe not like before where I would spend HOURS reading, but I think an hour or two of reading and no TV would do some good. Not only that but I really want Emery to have a love for books like I did do. A lot of things I’ve read about turning your kid on to reading is to lead by example. If you want your kid to like a certain type of music, listen to it. Dance, show them that you like it too. If you want your kid to draw, do it. Sit down and draw with them. If you want your kids to enjoy reading, read yourself and/or read out loud.

So now, I’m making it a point to read a book (maybe two) every month. Reading was something I really loved, so I need to find make time to get back into it.