6 Years!

Six years ago I started dating my soul mate!

Cheers! ;)

NAMI Walk

NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) provides awareness and free support and education about mental illness.  You can read more about NAMI on their national website.

Carlos and I have decided to participate in one of their major fundraising events, a 5k walk on May 14.

We have a goal of raising at least $100 each, and can receive donations online at our individual websites, or via check/cash.  Should any of you wish to donate:  Please contact me if you wish to donate via check or cash.  If you are comfortable and able to make an online donation you can do so at the following locations:

My Website
Carlos' Website

My husband, mother-in-law, and I have been attending a free 12 week course for family caregivers of individuals with severe mental illness.  The course is taught by people who have also been caregivers of a person with mental illness.  The course covers topics such as: information on the illness, medications, communication, workshops, strategies for handling conflicts, locating support and services within the community, gaining empathy, current research relating to the biology of mental illness, etc.  We have also found a local NAMI support group to be quite helpful.

Mental illness is still something that tends to be quite misunderstood and contains a stigma that it should not.  Should your life ever be affected by mental illness, please seek support.  Don't be afraid of what people may think.  The right support can make all the difference in the challenges that mental illness can create.

My Husband's Birthday

My husband had an enjoyable birthday this year, and, of course, I got to enjoy it with him.  On his birthday we ate with family at a local Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Saigon.  We had some meatball Pho, spring rolls, beef rib tips, etc.  For anyone who is unfamiliar with Vietnamese food, a spring roll is similar to an egg roll, but it is wrapped with rice paper instead, and is not fried.  Pho (pronounced fuh) is a rice noodle soup with a choice of meat/shrimp in broth with rice noodles & vegetables.  The Pho is served with a plate of things to be added to the soup (cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapeno, lemon).

The day after his birthday we celebrated with friends.  My husband decided that he wanted to go out to eat and then play laser tag.  The closest place to play laser tag is about 45 minutes away in a different city, so we decided to choose a restaurant near there.  We wanted to do some sort of prank for April Fools Day.  While it may sounds lame, it actually turned out to be pretty funny for us.  We told everyone that we were eating at Olive Garden (which is just next door to the restaurant that we actually ate at).  Initially we were all going to carpool in a van, but that didn't end up happening, which allowed the prank to be funnier.  My husband, a friend, and I were the first to arrive at the restaurant that we were actually eating at.  Two more groups of friends were to arrive.  As they arrived they would text us to see if we were there, and we told them that we had a table.  Anyways... So our friends ended up looking for us in the Olive Garden, and obviously could not find us.  We didn't let them look too long, and were able to state "April Fools", and let them know that we were just next door.  They didn't appear to be too annoyed by it.  We had a very enjoyable meal.

After dinner, we went to play laser tag (although only four of us were able to stick around for that portion).  It was a lot of fun!  There were a lot of players there, which made it extra fun, and our team won. Yea!

After playing laser tag, we spotted an interesting store.  It was called Entertainmart.  The lights were so bright!

It's basically a store that sells used movies, music, and video games.  The prices weren't bad, but there wasn't really any order to the items inside.  It, actually looked very organized.

It was in order by category (movie, game, music), but there was no category or alphabetizing within those categories.  It was at least interesting to check out.

We got to celebrate his birthday a third time last night.  My mother-in-law made beef enchiladas, beans, and a special dessert for Carlos.  Cheesecake!  We also enjoyed a nice night time walk.  :)



Video footage of the weekend can be seen here.

Some Time to Myself

This past week my husband was out of town from Wednesday until 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning (he was in Phoenix for a high school robotics competition with the team that he mentored).  I enjoyed the time to myself and got to do a lot for myself that I have been wanting to do.  I got the usual chores done (cleaning, grocery shopping, etc), but was able to have a lot of relaxing "me time".  I rented a couple of chick flicks, took a bubble bath, did my nails, finished my book, took a nap, ate a frozen dinner (I can't remember the last time I've had one of those)...  You know, things of that nature.

And yet... the best part of the weekend:  When my husband got home! :)

Ashley's Birthday

This weekend my sister, her boyfriend, my husband, and I went to visit my parents to celebrate my sister's birthday!  We left Friday and returned today.  Friday when we arrived there was green chile stew and sopapillas for us to enjoy.  Here is a picture of my dad rolling the dough.

Saturday morning Carlos and I went for a jog.  We all then had a wonderful breakfast together.  Afterwards, we all began to prepare for the day (making food etc).  That evening we had quite the smorgasbord.  My parents' friends and their 4 sons came over.  Our main course was burgers.  We had a very tasty strawberry punch and strawberry cake.  My sister was in a strawberry mood.  After all the food, we played pictionary!

She opened her gifts before the company arrived.  She was very excited to get a GPS unit.

We were all very tired and full at the end of the day (and not too pleased about the time change, but who is?).  You can see video footage of this weekend here.  I will also post more pictures on facebook. We had to hurry back on Sunday so that I could make it to my choir concert and so that my sister could get home to study.  It was a very wonderful weekend.

Goings On

Three items of note:

1. Well, if you've read my past blogs you may be familiar with the fact that we have had some issues with our refrigerator.  Unfortunately it is broken was again.  I'm sure it's the exact same problem.  It has been breaking every six months.  The latest repairman believes that the problem is a slow leak.  That definitely would make sense, because it could be taking the refrigerator 6 months to leak enough freon to where it is no longer cooling down enough.  The repairman is supposed to arrive this afternoon to take our refrigerator, and he's suppose to be bringing us a "loner fridge".  Hopefully he will, and hopefully the problem will be fixed for good.... we'll see.
2. Thursday it was announced at my office that our company is not getting enough work, and that they are going to have to have a round of layoffs.  I work at the branch office of the company.  We are a small office.  Two of the employees at the branch office were laid off.  We are now left with 8 people in our office.  Friday felt very very odd.  Being such a small office we all have grown pretty close.  One of the men laid off had been working there for 13 years, the other man had been working there for 6 years.  It's going to be different without them there, and it's going to feel very different knowing that I was not one of the people who was chosen to be laid off.  It's very interesting the thoughts and feelings that have accompanied this event.  Too much to explain in just one blog.
3. On a happier note... My husband and I finally made it out to our local farmers market today!  It was a lot bigger than I was expecting.  Being the middle of winter (well, nm winter, not really winter), there wasn't a lot of produce.  There was a lot, a lot of arts and crafts, performers, puppies to adopt, lots of foods & drinks, and lots of people.  It was very nice just to get outside in the beautiful weather, to be among a group of people just enjoying themselves, and to see so much that our local farmers, artists, and vendors have to offer.

My View of Valentine's Day

Things that I do not believe:

• Valentine's Day is not for single people.
• Valentine's Day was created by card companies.
• Some people are "above" Valentine's Day, or they don't need to be reminded that they love each other.

Things that I do believe:

• Valentine's Day can be celebrated by anyone.  Celebrate the love, not only of a significant other, but of your friends and family too.
• Valentine's Day dates back centuries before Hallmark was founded.  While the holiday is commercialized, no one is forcing you to buy cards, candy, or flowers in order to celebrate it.  Get creative and celebrate in a way that is special and/or inexpensive for you.
• People are only "above" the holiday if they choose to be.  If that's the case, why celebrate anything, or any other holiday.  Why not take the opportunity and the time to remember and celebrate the love in your life.  If more people took more time to recognize the love in their life the world would be a happier place.
• There is nothing wrong with not celebrating if a person chooses not to.

I grew up celebrating this holiday.  Even before romantic love ever entered the picture.  I will continue to celebrate it even if it's just in my own little way.  Today I am preparing a delicious roast for dinner.  I am wearing a pink sweater with heart jewelry.  My computer is even themed with Valentine's colors.  I went to Valentine's Tea at my church on Saturday, and I exchanged valentines with my parents.  My parents gave my husband and me some gift cards for Valentine's Day.   My husband is one of those people who views Valentine's Day as a "Hallmark Day".  We've never really had any big celebrations because of this.  However, he's open to the idea of celebration, but we still don't make a big deal out of the holiday.  We will use our gift cards soon, and will most likely consider that meal our "special Valentine's dinner".

So whatever your view on the holiday, I hope you have a great day!

 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!