New Year, New Life, New Perspective in Life

So today is the last day of the year 2013, my favorite year. Why is it my favorite year? First of all my favorite number is 13!! Second of all, I believe this year has brought many beautiful things in my life along with some not so beautiful, like my divorce, but with every thing that happens, good or bad there is always something that we learn and that we get out of every experience.

This was the year that my first born turned 13 and I am glad to have been able to give her a birthday party even though she wasn't going to be with me on her actual birthday. Just like my babies will not be with me as the year comes to an end and a new one begins, but come January 2nd my babies will be back with me once more.

I want to take the time to Thank God for everything he has given me this year.

Thank you God for:

My beautiful daughters, they are my life and without them I would be lost. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to have them with me and be healthy and happy and help me raise them good, with good values and love for you God.

Thank you for providing me with a nice home, big enough for us and that we have nice things.

Thank you for my job God, for my co-workers, and my boss. Thank you for letting me know that at my job I have a second family and because it provides me with challenges and enough money to sustain myself and my daughters.

Thanks God for my family, because I have my grandparents still alive and they are still strong at 91. Thank you for my mom, and my aunt and my cousins and my brother and my sister and my dad and everyone else who can be considered my family, may it be by blood or not, because family are those who you keep in your heart.

God Thanks for my Church, because I have found an amazing Church with an Amazing Pastor, because I can truly say that he is honest and a true man of God. Someone I can look up to for advice and for support and for encouragement and because he's a great role model.

God, thanks for my car, even though I have a love/hate relationship with it, it has helped me to get to and from places and it has facilitated many great moments with my family and friends.

Thanks God for my Best Friends, Tania, Nancy and Vini because they have been there for me in good times and bad times. And this past week when I have been alone without my girls on the holidays they have helped me have a GREAT time. I love you guys!!

Thank you God, for all these things, and for the Sky, and the clouds and for Manta Rays and for Music and Photography and Internet and Life!

God, I am really grateful for what you have given me this year, for every smile, and every tear, for every tiny bit of happiness and every great and amazing moment when you have allowed me to feel loved even if just for a moment.

Thank you Lord, for with you all things are possible!!!

May the new year bring many blessings to all and may you be able to Thank God yourself for all the blessings he will give you.

What are you grateful for coming the new Year?

Finding my artistic side once again and making new friends.

For the past several months I have been getting involved in the artistic side of my job. I have taken on new responsibilities and being in charge of a monthly Art Gallery Opening at one of my boss' buildings. Since I have been doing this I have felt a sense of joy and excitement that I have not felt in many years. I feel like I am really good at something, like I make a difference.

And not only that I have been meeting new people, making connections with Magazine Editors, Musicians, Galleries, Artists, Designers and Curators and I am fascinated of this whole new world that has opened up for me.

On one hand it saddens me to know that for the first time in 7 years that I have been working for the same company, that just when I am about to move to a different state I finally find out what I love doing the most. Now that I love everything about my job, now I have to leave. But on the other hand, I believe that this is the time to learn as much as I can about this world, and get involved in every aspect of it so that when I finally move to Florida, I will be able to pursue a job in what I am passionate about. I won't have to be a secretary anymore.

So today I took another step toward this new route. I took a class of Drawing through Observation at The Living Gallery in Brooklyn. I must say it was a bit hard, since I had not drawn in so long, but I felt really proud of myself for taking the initiative to get back into art. And then when we where on our way home I remembered that a friend had told me about this new art store that had opened up near our house and I asked the girls and it was a unanimous decision. I must say this store was amazing! It had so many things my head was spinning. The first area I walked into just happened to be the area about print making, and I must say that was my favorite part of art class. They had Silk Screen Printing and Print Making with Linoleum. It was a hard decision to make, but I ended up buying the Linoleum Kit as it was less expensive and I wanted to try and start small. The truth is that I got all excited! I couldn't contain myself. Now I just have to come up with a cool design and bring it to life!

Another thing that I have been thinking about is how it is good to have different kinds of friends. I must admit I do not have many close friends. But I have found to be so important to have at least one friend who shares at least one of your biggest passions. And if you have several passions then to have at least one friend for each one of your passions, unless you are lucky enough to share several passions with one friend (which doesn't happen to me too often).  For example, I feel passionate about Art, and writing, so it is important to relate with friends who love art and friends who love writing. Also note that your significant other doesn't have to be that friend who shares all your passions. I mean, if he is, then wonderful, but if he's not, it is OK to have friends with whom you share your other likes and dislikes. Your significant other should be your best friend and should support you on all your endeavors, but he doesn't have to share all your likes, just as you shouldn't feel guilty if you don't love ALL the same things your partner loves as long as you are both supportive and encourage each other to follow your dreams.

So today's question is: What are you passionate about? And do you have friends who share your passions?

Parenting - Do you ever wonder what your kids will be as teenagers?

The other day I was about to take the train when I saw a group of girl teenagers hanging out in the train station waiting for the train the same as me. They were all from different nationalities, and one of them was fair skinned and with glasses and slightly overweight, and she seemed to be the one carrying on the conversation at the moment, her friends who ranged from Eastern European to African American and Hispanic were actively listening to the first girl rant about how she couldn't believe the hideous dress that whatever girl was wearing that day. "O my Gawd! She looked so hideous, her skirt was all long it looked like she was a grandmother wearing that!" The others agreed with her and proceeded to comment about all the other girls that were ridiculous or hideous or simply didn't fit the standards that these girls had placed on them. At that moment I thought to myself:
"I really hope my daughters don't grow up to be like that!" And honestly I really doubt it. But as I see them grow and see their friends I know that it is my responsibility to teach them to be respectful to others and teach them good values and to accept people and not gossip. I like to lead by example here and I do think that they will grow up to be respectful people and that they won't end up hanging out with their friends talking about how horrible the other girls dress was. I expect them to not contribute to the gossip if they ever encounter themselves in a situation where her friends are doing it and would prefer if they had the option to walk away from it. Sometimes they will be able to walk away and sometimes not, but in the end I know that they would choose to be respectful.
Do you ever imagine your young kids as teenagers? Is there anything that worries you?
Or if your children are teenagers or older? Are there any thing that worries you about them?

Japanese Love Day 3 - Anime & Manga

Most of have certainly grown up with Anime, at least I did. In Puerto Rico when I was a little girl we used to watch many animated cartoons from Japan, like Candy Candy, Mazinger Z, Dragon Ball Z among others. Every generation has at least one Anime that they remember growing up with.
Now my children, especially Gaby is growing up with Anime and Manga as well. Manga is the Japanese Comic Books and Anime is the animated cartoon. My cousin/sister Karla is also a big fan of Anime and Manga. She is currently living in Germany as her husband is stationed in the Army there. We were talking the other day and she told me that her daily routine includes reading some stories in Manga.com My husband and I when we were teenagers and dating we would also watch a lot of these Japanese Animations and would go to Japanese activities where animation was the main theme.
Today I would like to share with you my daughter's two favorite Anime cartoon series. Pani Poni Dash and Lucky Star. I must say that my daughter discovered these through Yucheng and she can spend hours on end watching these videos, and she has even learned a little bit of Japanese as a result. She likes to see the videos in Japanese with English subtitles and sometimes they have Romaji and English Subtitles which is great for learning the correct pronunciation of the Japanese words.
Gaby can sing the intro and ending songs of these shows flawlessly, it impresses me so much. She will also get some catch phrases from the show and say them over and over and over...

Pani Poni Dash! is a show about a ten year old teacher of a High School Class. It is very funny and the characters are very cute.

Then Lucky Star is about a group of girls that are friends and enjoy Anime and video games.

Well, here are my daughter's two obsessions at the moment, hope you enjoy them. And Anime and Manga are other reasons why we Love Japan so much, and as promised here's a link to another webpage you can go to if you'd like to contribute to helping Japan get the things they need at this very difficult time.

So what do you love about Japan? Did you grow up watching Anime? What series do you remember? Please share!

Finding Your Own Worth

As I walked to my daughters school another mother approached me and said, "Say hi to your mom for me" I smiled and nodded when suddenly I realized that even though I've seen this woman often, I have never spoken to her or know her name.
My mom lived with us for 2 years, and she made friends with everyone. She loves to talk and make friends and even the mailman sends his regards to her. I am more of a keep-to-myself kind of gal, yet I can appreciate my moms quality and know that thanks to her I have been able to make quite some awesome friends. But there's a part of me that goes back to my teenage years of hearing people refer to me as Grace's grandaughter, Chalin's grandaughter, Linda's daughter, Karla's cousin... and comparing it to Gaby's mom, and Elsie's mom, and Jesus's wife, and Joseph's assistant... it makes sense I would struggle with identity all these years. But I do appreciate the contact's these extensions of myself have brought me.
I can admit that I tend to be quiet and keep to myself, but I also can claim April to be my friend, one that I found all by myself. As is Ingrid, and Yanira, and Bibi. So, I acknowledge that I too have merit, that I too am wonderful and capable of making my own friends. I too have worth, and I wouldn't change a thing.