Day 5- A picture of somewhere you have been to

Steven and I are fortunate enough to have been able to take at least one trip every year that we have been together. These pictures were taken last year on Steven and I's trip to Virginia, Washington D.C., and Maryland. It was such an amazing (and long) vacation.
The first picture is from JFK Memorial. John Fitzgerald Kennedy is one of my favorite presidents. I have always been fascinated by his presidency and his assassination. I am by no means a history buff nor am I interested in politics at all. He is basically the extent of both those subjects.
The second picture is on the long dirt road to my Tia Lisa's house in Leesburg, Virginia. Its a great road because the way the trees curve into one, and it looks picturesque. It leads to another very long drive that takes you to her farm. Its amazing.
The third picture is very dear to me. This is the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C. as well. It is very dear to me because there is a place there that is in memory of my tata Pascual Herrera who served in the war. It was so emotional to see his name placed in such a sacred and historical place. I love him.
The fourth picture is Lincoln Memorial. Ever since Forrest Gump where he ran to Jenny. Love it. Unfortunately they were remodeling it so it was dried out and full of dirt. Bummer.
Anyhow, I know this was supposed to be "a picture" but I really enjoyed my week long vacation.

Day 4-A habit that you wish you did not have

This is easy. 

It is a habit that I have always tried to break because I have always wanted to break. I bite my nails. It is so disgusting and annoying. My hands look like man hands. HA HA!! I stopped biting them for about 2-3 months and they grew so fast and long. I just cant seem to keep it up. It is one thing that I wish I could give up. Maybe I should have considered that for lent. I notice that I do it when I am really stressed or when I am watching a movie. I saw Black Swan recently and when she ripped off her cuticle all the way down her finger, it grossed me out. It made me not want to bite my nails ever again. I guess I should think about that image next time i go to bite them.


I just have to give it up one of these days.

Day 3 A recent picture of you and your friends

This was hard because I did not have one recent pic of me and any of my friends. I am usually the one behind the camera. This was taken last month after dinner with my old friends from Jenny Craig. That is one great thing that came out of working there for almost five years, making lifelong friends. I have lots of other great friends too but this one is most recent.

(from left to right Annise holding Denise, Sharon, Rita, Me holding baby Claire, Jordan and Kerri)

Day 2- the meaning behind your blog name

Easy enough, I was looking for a name and this one came to me. I didn’t want it to be my name because that iss easy and I am honestly not a fan of my name. And I am gonna change my last name in a few months when I get married. So that was out of the question.

      My sisters is Lifeat554. Her address. But she bought her home so its gonna be a permanent thing. I move around a lot and also plan on moving very soon, so I didn’t want it to be something else that is going to change. 

      HopeStrengthCourage. I like to live by Serenity Prayer, so this kind of reminds me of it. I think that without hope of any kind, we don’t really have anything. Everyday I hope for something, anything. Even strength or courage. I ask for the strength of wisdom, patience, love, hope. Courage because it is something that I never had before but I gained a few years ago. The courage to be the person that I want to be. The courage to be a better person. The courage to be a strong, independent woman and better than the person I was made to believe that I was. 

      I don't think that I chose this name, I think it chose me. 

Day 1- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

This pic is as recent as this morning on our way to church. 

1-I go to school full time. I started college 7 years after I graduated high school

2- I am not a big fan of chocolate; never have been. But my taste buds are starting to change.

3- I love to draw! Its my all time favorite thing to do. Wish I could do it more often.

4-I can read, write, and understand Spanish but I don’t have the confidence to speak it. I wish I was fluent in it.

5- I wish I could be on Project Runway because I love making/designing clothes. 

6-I have 5 tattoos and my future husband hates tattoos. It was one thing he considered NOT dating me because of.

7-I would LOVE to take part in a flashmob but I do not know how to dance.

8- I wish I could sing...good.

9- I made a deal with one of my friends that we would get married when I was 30 if neither of us were married by then. Luckily, I will be married soon.

10- I have always wanted to have 5 kids.

11-I love being pregnant and have always wanted to be a surrogate.

12- I once had 12 piercings, all at one time. 

13. I was in reading classes every grade of my life because I wasn’t very good at it. Which made me hate it until recently. Now I enjoy it!

14.- I took a try at about 5 different religions to convert to and ended up back at my roots.

15.- I can write legibly with both my left and right hands. 

30 Day Blog Challenge

I will be quite honest, I stole this from a very good friend of mines Wonderful Blog. Thank you Stephanie @ http://stephanie-mommyoftwogirls.blogspot.com/

I am going to try and keep this up as best I can. I think it will be a good start to my blogging. :) It will help you learn more about me, and I will probably learn more about me too!

Day 1- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

Day 2- The meaning behind your blog name

Day 3- A recent picture of you and your friends

Day 4- A habit that you wish you did not have

Day 5- A picture of somewhere you have been to

Day 6 -Favorite super hero/fictional character and why

Day 7 -A picture of someone/something that has the biggest ipact on you

Day 8- Short term goals for this month and why

Day 9- Something you are proud of in the past few days

Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad...

Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends

Day 12- Book I am currently reading and/or would like to read

Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you

Day 14- A picture of you and your family

Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play

Day 16- Another picture of yourself

Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for 1 day and why

Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have

Day 19- nicknames you have; why you have them

Day 20- someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future

Day 21- a picture of something that makes you happy

Day 22 -what makes you different from everyone else

Day 23 -something that you crave for alot

Day 25 -what I would find in your bag/ purse

Day 26 -what you think about your friends

Day 27 -why are you doing this 30 day challenge

Day 28 -a picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?

Day 29 -in the past month, what have you learned

Day 30 -who are you?

My health is starting to become my life

As I get older, the time gets shorter and shorter. I think also being a parent has a lot to do with it too. You concentrate on your kids, your spouse, your home, maybe at the end of the day, you concentrate on you. There is one thing that I can say has been a constant factor in my life that plagues me every single day. My weight.
For the past 10 years I have struggled so hard with my weight. I know it has been 10 years exactly because that was right after I had my first son Ryan. Thankfully after Jacob, 3 years ago, I was able to get lower than I have been since being a mom. It has always been about vanity. I wanna look good, I wanna feel good and I wanna be comfortable.
Now it has come to the time where I need to focus on my health. It is official, my dad is diabetic. For the past 8 or so years we have had to deal with my mom being diabetic going from type 2 to type 1. It was a big deal coming from our parents. Then, in 2007 my dad had a heart attack at 54 years old. When this happened it was, for me, one of the hardest things that I have had to take in. The other was when my nana dill had a heart attack. Its my dad, my dad. He did great for a while after, where he lost weight and was working out. I know that its just not fun to work out. But the benefits outweigh the cost. So now with both parents having diabetes it makes it harder for me as their child. to be able to do what I want, and eat what I want. My doctor said to me the other day that now with it coming from both parents, I really need to be more aware of everything that I put in my mouth. I cannot just eat what I want, when I want.
So when I say that my health is starting to become my life, I consciously think about what I am eating and what I plan to eat. There may be slip ups and I may make mistakes. Most importantly I do not want to be diabetic, I want to live a healthy life.

Wish I had more time

As I sit here at almost midnight, I always wish that I had more time to do the things that I want to do. Everyday I rush through the boring, lame things that I do not want to do in the hopes that I will get the time to do the things I want.
What are the boring, lame things? Easy. Homework, bills, cleaning, cooking, laundry, grocery shopping, yadda, yadda, yadda. I know there are other people out there that have all that to do AND have a full time job. Although there are some days where I wish I could get out a go to a job, I think about my old 9-5er and THANK GOD that I do not have to do that anymore. At least not for a while. Everyday just seems to be the same thing, day in and day out. I like a little change now and then.
What are the things that I want to do? There are lots! I wanna make cushions for my barstools, and storage chest. I have stuff that I have been promising people that I would make them (silence Jess). Organizing, packing, reading....BLOGGING. I have 4 new-to-me pair of jeans that need to be hemmed because they are way too long. So until I get those done, I can not wear them.

I think most importantly, I would have more time with my kids instead of being too tired or exhausted. There are times that I pray to have a personal assistant to be able to do all the things I have to do. One day...maybe.

I've made a decision...

I have come to a part of my life where major changes are going to happen. It seems like it is all happening at once. Which is pretty much how everything is in life, I guess. I decided to start this so that I can get into the habit of keeping people posted on the things in life that are going on.  As I plan to stay up to date on what they are all doing. Lets see how well this works out. I am not the best writer, or talker. The way things come out, are the way they sound in my head. Its honest, its raw, its who I am.

Within 2011 there are alot of things that are going to happen. I recently got engaged to my boyfriend that I have been with for 4 1/2 years. I know, its about time! In August we are getting married. In May, we will be starting our new lives in Dallas, Texas. Far from home, and a completely different place. I am excited about what the future holds. To close out 2011 I plan on being pregnant. Yes, bun in oven, 3rd, possibly final child, huge belly and all. Yup, if you caught it I said "possibly".  Although to a normal person, all this change would be scary and nerve racking. To me, I am looking forward to it, and ready to face it all head on!