Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

Yesterday was the 26th Anniversary of my amazing parents..my oh my..how time flies when you’re in love!

Mom & Dad posing in Laguna Beach

So, as I was trying to find the perfect picture to post of my parents…I realized that I don’t have too many of them together. But, I definitely wanted to recognize them because they made it through 26 successful years of marriage! That’s a pretty LONG time! Ha. I’m definitely not an expert at marriage, in fact I haven’t even made it through 1 yr yet, but I give all married people props. I love being married, but I’m not going to lie…it has its challenges.

My parents have always taught me that if you work hard enough for something, you can obtain it. That’s what they did when they moved from the Philippines & Vietnam over 30 yrs ago. My dad was only 6 when he immigrated here and my mom was 11. Their paths never crossed until they met in college on a blind date. Their college stories are kind of funny. My dad was always naturally smart, never had to study for his tests and aced them anyway! You could always find him at the arcade (TANGENT: no wonder my siblings and I like games so much!) or playing pool or ping pong. My mom, on the other hand, studied like crazy and barely passed her tests. She would be in the pool hall sitting on the tables with all her books in hand while my dad played until the wee hours of the night.

Anyway, once they fell in love and got married…they had me, their first child. They had to pay their way through college and their tough Microbiology programs with 1 kid…and soon another (my brother) before they even finished school. My dad worked several jobs, one was at Denny’s, to make ends meet. They even started a small business selling personalized books at local Swap Meets. I remember living in so many different apartments while I was little. We moved a lot. Finally, after about 4-5 yrs they bought their first house in West Covina. They had their 3rd child, my sister, and settled happily there for a bit.

Many unfortunate things started happening though. Our West Covina house was robbed twice. Because we lived right next door to a high school, people would always destroy my mom’s rose garden and she would get so pissed! Graffiti began to appear in different areas throughout the neighborhood. They knew it was time to get out of there! Eventually, they ended up moving our family to a smaller and quieter city called Chino Hills. It was empty back then…nothing to do. Now, the city has developed and grown tremendously.

Anyhow, they are comfortable and permanently settled in. They both landed jobs at a hospital and have been very successful at what they do. They’ve also found a hobby they could enjoy together: POKER! If they’re not home, you can find them at the Bike, Lake Elsinore, San Manuel, or Commerce Casinos. They even started a local poker group in the neighborhood with friends much younger than them, but they manage to fit it just fine.

Well, mom and dad, if you’re reading this…I just spilled the beans about your whole life. Hope you don’t mind. Congratulations on being married for 26 years! Sorry we didn’t celebrate your “silver” one either, but hopefully in the future we can plan something nice for you both. I love you!

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TodayI..Reflected on the Value of Life

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Read time: 15 minutes

First of all, it’s really late. I can’t sleep for some reason..perhaps it’s because I have so much on my mind right now. I mentioned earlier that we went on a mini vacation to Las Vegas. Well, I’d like to share two interesting experiences we witnessed on the drive there…

While we were driving we witnessed two car collisions, however, there was only 1 car involved in each. If that doesn’t make sense…let me try to give more detail.

Collision #1: A big rig flipped on its left side in the opposite direction of the freeway. We were driving East, the truck was driving West. We first witnessed a large amount of smoke/dust fly in the air which initially brought our attention to the other side of the freeway. Then, my husband said, “Oh S***!” And…there it was…a huge truck falling down on its side…making a loud screeching sound and dust/smoke violently filling the scene. It was a crazy sight to see, especially being so early in the morning (7am). So, I do not know what happened..if there was something on the road the driver was trying to avoid..or if the driver fell asleep and lost control somehow..or..I don’t know. I hardly doubt the truck was trying to avoid something only because there were hardly any cars on the freeway to begin with. Whatever it was, we called 911 immediately. I never have to call 911, so calling automatically made my heart pound. Ever since that memorable Saturday morning, I have not been able to stop thinking and hoping that person is okay. It’s not something we see everyday. It’s not a number we have to dial everyday (thank God). But, please, pray for the man or woman who was driving that big rig.

Collision #2: Okay, if that wasn’t scary enough..get this. Eddie and I were driving on the 15 fwy to meet up my grandparents for lunch in Vegas. It was around 11:30am, not too much traffic. We were in the middle lane, there were a few cars to our left & our right. I then noticed a green SUV that was driving about 100 ft ahead of us in the carpool lane… when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it slammed to its left directly into the center median. Pow! We heard a big boom! We couldn’t believe what we just saw. Then..its not over. Because of the impact of hitting the median at such a high speed, the SUV bounced off the median to the right and started spinning. The driver seemed to have lost control as the tires were off the ground spinning uncontrollably at that point. Regaining control of the vehicle was seemingly impossible. We, along with the other cars nearby, begun to slow down. The SUV made about 2 360 degree spins..then started driving towards us (in the opposite direction of traffic). I said to Eddie, “Eddie..stop..stop!” scared out of my mind that the car was going to hit us or the car directly to our right. He, and the other cars, were able to stop within 50 feet of the SUV without hitting it. Phew! It was INSANE! Thankfully all the cars behind us were paying attention and no one got hurt. Once the vehicle finally came to a complete stop…I was, without a doubt, sure that it would take a miracle for the driver to survive such an extreme incident. We waited a bit. Then, we saw him moving reaching for something behind him. I don’t know…he looked disoriented..probably shocked..probably scared out of his mind. It was then that we called 911…again! Twice in 1 day…better yet…twice in less than 5 hours. I told Eddie, we just witnessed a miracle right in front of our eyes.

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So, I couldn’t believe it. My heart continued to race for about 2 hours after the second collision. To this day, my mind still thinks about those two people in those vehicles. Are they alive? Did they make it? Do they have families? Do they realize the value of their lives? God, please be with them. I can’t help but think about them. It’s kind of scary to think… what if we left 1 minute earlier to go eat with my grandparents? What if the car kept spinning and eventually hit us? What if someone from behind hit us? What if that driver of the SUV was on drugs and was coming back from the EDC festival that was going on? Why did he suddenly turn left into the median? What if he was trying to commit suicide? I don’t think it is very healthy to think these things, nor do I hope you are affected by my crazy thoughts right now. I just wanted to share with you this: LIFE IS SHORT. You never know what is going to happen. We all really have THIS 1 LIFE TO LIVE. We need to make it worth it and savor it. I love this poster that I know I’ve probably posted before.It’s one of the first posters that actually inspired me to start this blog. Therefore, I must do it to again:

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TodayI…Got a Surprise in the Mail!

Today’s Unique Find is…

West Elm Products

When I came back from our mini vacay on Monday, a little surprise was waiting for me at our door step! It is so exciting to receive mail!

Aren’t they amazing? My best friend, Jiamee, saw these on my Pinterest site and bought them for me. She is the sweetest! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Jiamee for these amazing plates. I LOVE them!

And now..here’s some more sweet finds from West Elm: (click on image for source)

Gradiated-Stripe Cotton Rug

 Angle Nesting Shelves

Cityscape Ceramic Vases

Watercolor Dot Pillow Covers

Umm..I might need to buy these to match my plates! Ha

Shane Powers Hanging Glass Bubble Collection

This collection reminds me of the ones I found on etsy here.

Jason Polan Glass Decoupage Trays

Modern Weave Napkin Ring

Organic Reflections Duvet Cover + shams

Tribal Zig Zag Window Panel

Round Uplight Table Lamp

Essex Upholstered Ottoman

Metal Easel Adjustable Floating Frames

Okay, I could go on and on with things I want from West Elm. Now, if I was posting about things I really needed…that’s another story. Hope you all enjoyed this! If you have free time, head over to West Elm and check out their inventory. Also, here’s a little summary about the company:

TodayI…Took a Deep Breath

Hello everybody!

First of all, thanks for all the love about finishing my first year of teaching! I felt so motivated after reading everyone’s comments. I’m glad I could come back from a long weekend and finally just take a nice, well-deserved breath. Well, we came back from Vegas today so sorry for the lack of posting on time! I try to post everyday and around 7am in the morning because of this article I read awhile back. Some people gave me slack for it, but one person (thank you Jiamee) actually told me she liked that I posted everyday. So, naturally, I couldn’t wait to come back and post! Haha.

Weekend highlights:

The weekend really started off here: Gaslamp Restaurant & Bar. Really great 80′s music and fun environment. It’s really loud though so be prepared if you do go. On Friday nights, they have this awesome band called Knyght Ryder who play just about all of the best hits of the 80s. I felt like I was at a concert. It was FUN!

When Saturday rolled around we headed towards Las Vegas and stayed at the Excalibur Hotel (the castle one). Great hotel for kids! Anyway, I’m not much of a Vegas person, unlike my sister & brother who always seem to be there (haha), but I do enjoy family trips so of course I’m always down to go!

Hanging out with this goofy kid was awesome! It was his FIRST time in Vegas and my, oh my, did he have a blast! Reminded me of the times my parents used to take us to Vegas every year. We LOVED the pool and the arcades, as did he! And..to top it all off..he finally started calling me “Auntie Melinda!” Aww, I feel like an official member of the Sosa family now. haha.

It’s always fun eating dim sum with my grandparents! Aren’t they adorbs (as my friend Annika would say)?!? Sadly, their English is very limited so our entire conversations with them are very short. I really wish I knew how to speak Vietnamese…I want to say so much more to them, but I can’t. And, I can see it in their eyes that they do too. Dang, my eyes are tearing up just thinking about it. I love them so much! One word my Grandma does understand: SHOPPING! Haha.

Last, but not least, we stopped by the Circus Circus hotel in Las Vegas. Man…I can’t remember the last time I was there. However, it is soooo much more amazing now than I could remember! They have a huge arcade (with real circus acts throughout the day) and an entire Adventure~dome with rides, rock climbing, roller coasters, and such. My husband and I got to ride the Canyon Blaster, one of the best roller coasters I’ve ever been on.

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Anyhow…there were so many more little things that made this weekend memorable, but we’ll save that for another day. I hope your weekend was as eventful as mine. Anyone do anything special? Tell me. Tell me. If you want to read my husband’s perspective on this weekend…check out his blog here in the next couple of days. I always think it’s interesting to hear both the woman and man’s perspective on the same thing. I don’t know…am I the only one who thinks that?

Have a great week!

Oh yeah…quote of the week:

“Mommy, can I have my birthday in Las Vegas?”

~ Vincent Wood (my 7yr old nephew)

*Apparently, we have another wild one in our hands.

Here I come Summer 2011!!

TodayI…Felt like this:

Today was my last day of school!! Woohoo! It’s been a real challenge which was expected. Being a teacher at a school in South Central LA has not been an easy task, but I thank God for surviving each day. “Day by day”… that was my motto this year. Now that it’s over, I actually feel stronger mentally and feel a sense of accomplishment. It is always helpful to look back and reevaluate on how you can improve things in the future. I think it makes everyone a better person.

Anyway, have a great weekend! Some things I have planned for this weekend…

Celebrating this!

Trying to learn this rap, haha.

Partying it up here!

Continuing to read and determined to finally finish this, this, and this.

Hanging out with this couple..

And maybe making stuff for this girl’s bridal shower..

Ah! The excitement!!! Bye friends!

Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things #2

Sorry for the late post! I’m really off my game this week with the last week of school and getting ready for summer! Did I tell you how much I am really enjoying this book! I have so many random things in my place that I kind of don’t want to throw away (even though my husband would probably say otherwise) so I thought, what better way to keep them from collecting dust than to find other ways to use them!

Today’s featured item:

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CLOTHESPINS!

What sorts of things can you use clothespins for?

1. Organize your studio, work space, kitchen, bathroom, etc.

studio space

Bathroom

 work space

kitchen

2. Decorate with them

from thismommyloves

from design sponge

from cfabbridesigns

As you can see, you can pretty much use clothespins to decorate anything!

3. Organize your closet

 from ashbeedesign

Clip-on clothespins to hold together pairs of shoes, boots, sneakers, even gloves! No need to go hunting for the matching pair anymore!

4. Prevent vacuum cord “snapback”

To avoid the annoyance of you accidentally unplugging the vacuum cord, use a clothespin to prevent the cord from retracting. Simply clip the clothespin at the length you want.

5. Make an instant bib

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Simply clip a towel or napkin around a child’s neck using clothespins. You can even make a lobster bib for adults! It is actually  mush faster than tying on a bib.

5. Make clothespins puppets

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The traditional straight clothespins (as opposed to the ones with the metal springs) are ideal for puppet making. Using the knob as a head and kids can use random crafts to create their own masterpieces.

6. Hold leaf bag open

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Next time you rake up the leaves, use clothespins to clip one side of the bag to a chain-link fence or other convenient site in order to prevent the leaves from falling out.

TodayI…Admire this Toilet Paper Art!

French artist, Anastasia Elias, creates silhouettes using mere toilet paper rolls, scissors, tweezers, and glue.

     

Honestly, I’ve been saving my toilet paper rolls because I imagine I could do something with them…but as they pile up in my storage room, I’ve been thinking to myself, “Why am I even saving these?!” Then, I saw this amazing art and was reaffirmed! Have you ever made anything like this?

It reminds me somewhat of a shadow box project I had to make when I was in 5th grade. I’m surprised I even remembered that. Anyway, there’s always a way to create works of art from random pieces of junk..trash even. That’s why it’s hard for me to throw things away!

Happy Wednesday! 2 more days until summer break!!! I cannot wait! Do you guys have any special plans for summer?