A blessing in disguise.

What a weekend! My cousin passed away last week so I had to take a last minute trip to Houston. Left the house at 6 am to make it there at 11 am and oddly enough it was one of the best days ever. I got to see my uncle, finally, after over 11 years. He was my favorite one. Also, my grandma was there too and a distant cousin I would love to keep in touch with.

I wonder if people ever really sit and think about the reasons why their parents do things when they were young. I came from a VERY sheltered life; no friends, no telephone, no nothing. My life consisted of studying, eating, and doing chores. There are not a lot of good memories about my childhood at all. Back then I hated every moment of it because it was a very abusive and controlling time in my life. Now that I look back on things, I realize that what I went through as a child is probably one of the best things my mom could do for me. She loved me so dearly, but expressed it in a harsh difficult way. I am thankful for that now otherwise Id probably be a dumbass druggy with no motivation in life. Not having friends as a child (and I do mean that literally, if I got caught talking to someone at school I would get in trouble) has helped me realize that I am the most important thing in my life - not to put that selfishly. My studying and what I need to do to get things done comes before procrastation for social time. Ive realized that people today do not have the morals and honesty that I have, and I learned that the hard way by putting them at the same "level" as I am. It sounds cynical, but the reality of it is true.

My birthday is in a little over a month and I was trying to plan a trip to Vegas for it but.. plans have changed. I got an invite to go to Belize instead and Im talking her up on it! Nothing is set in stone, but Ill keep you guys posted!

:(

Eleven years today. The pain gets easier, but it never really goes away. 

RIP Daddy. I love you. 

Mynx

I had a busy little weekend. Saturday I went to Six Flags with the Tran Clan and my cousin Alan. It's been a looong time. They changed the ride names and it's not really divided into Six Countries anymore like I remember. I still loved it, of course, because the sole reason I go to those places aren't for the rides (2 heart surgeries.. no thanks) but for the food. Why is it that every time I go to the State Fair or Six Flags somebody has to make a "You're still eating?!" comment? Who doesn't love junk food? I made an exception to my healthy eating for Six Flags.

Then there was Houston on Monday and Tuesday. Long story short, I am now IV Certified. All I have to do now is wait for my certificate to come in the mail, update my resume, and start applying for hospital work. I made an extended exception to my healthy eating (I refuse to call it a "diet" because the bigger people get offended since I am not fat) for Houston too. While there, Josh and I hit up the Houston Galleria (which, by the way, blows Northpark WAY out of the water) and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I tried their blueberry white chocolate cheesecake for the first time and it was de-lish! My mouth is starting to water.

Annnd the best is always saved for last..

Meet Mynx. I visited her while visiting my friend, Desmond, in Houston. She makes me happy =D

Withdrawal

Right now, more than anything, I want to eat bread. I know that sounds really weird, but Ive been on a diet for like um.. 3 days now (lol), and Im not allowed to eat pastas, breads, and the like. The other day I went to Albertsons and the cashier checking me out asked me if I wanted a fresh, hot loaf of french bread. I have NEVER EVER been asked that at Albertsons. It was all steamy and I could just smell the goodness of it just sitting there looking all yummy. It was really hard to decline. But I did..

Because I am strong.

We all scream for ice cream

One of my favorite things to hear growing up was that musical truck outside of the house. Yup, the ice cream man. And I still do love that sound. But today was a little different..

A couple months ago, Robert and I were at the house when we heard the truck go by. You cant hear the truck go by and NOT run out there like a little 5 year old, so we did. Its so hard to choose just one, but after much thought I ended up with the Watermelon Bomb Pop and he got the Fudge Bomb Pop. We ate them like 5 year old kids too. But..

I shouldve gotten the damn Fudge Bomb Pop.

So for the longest time I kept two dollars on me (if you know me, you know that I rarely ever have any cash on me) because I craved that Fudge Bomb Pop. And for the longest time the ice cream man would not come back. Eventually I spent the money on something else.

To my surprise, while I was taking a nice little nap today, I was woken up by the musical truck. I cant remember the last time I jumped out of bed so fast. But instead of running out the door, I ran to the window to watch the truck go all the way down my street and then turn around and go all the way back until it disappeared. I felt like a disappointed 5 year old girl.

And even acted like one when I went straight to the edge of my bed and sat there to mope.

On a more positive note, this morning I worked out on the elliptical for an hour straight. I left the gym over 500 calories less then when I got there and I felt damn good about it. Maybe this was why I didnt get my Bomb Pop..

Goals II

Ok, I think I failed miserably at this one. The bad thing about hanging out is that you have to have money, and well, with one job right now I just cant do that all the time. The good news is that lately Ive been setting new goals for myself and Ive been successful at them.

• Working out. This one is a hard one for obvious reasons. Right now I weigh 105 lbs. I know, "Youre skinny" and "You dont need to" yadda yadda. I get that all the time. The older you get the worse your body gets. I am skinny everywhere except my belly and that bothers me so its time to tone it down. I have been waking up early every morning (even on days off) to do this and I feel accomplished everyday.
• Eating healthy. This one is harder than the whole workout thing because when you cant cook its hard to eat healthy. Well, I cant cook but that doesnt mean I wont try. Today I cooked tilapia for the first time. Success!
• Working hard for the money. Ill be starting my Senior CPhT training here in a few weeks so that I can get promoted at Walgreens. Not only that, Ive signed up for a class in Houston to get my IV Certification for hospital pharmacy which will begin in May. Hopefully afterwards I can find a part time job at a hospital.

My biggest goal will be the hardest of all. Traveling. I have wanted to take a vacation since forever but I havent been able to. There will hopefully be a Las Vegas trip sometime soon and Robert wants to go to Jersey this summer. I was reading Celeste's blog and noticed that she had a ABC Destination List. Brilliant idea, so I "stole" it. Lets see how far I can get.

Sisterly love

I didnt realize until just a few days ago how much my oldest sister, Ann, has done for me. I got to thinking about it and she has been with me through the most memorable moments of my life. Let me name a few.

1. My very first concert. It was Ashlee Simpson (LOL). 

2. Introduction to Cirque du Soleil. I loved it so much that I always go when they come to Dallas and I want to go to Vegas just to see them there.

3. Britney Spears concert. I have been a Britney Spears fan since she came out in 1999 but I never had the chance to go to one of her concerts. Ten years later, Im at the Circus tour with none other than Ann.

4. First show at the Improv - Angelina Johnson aka Bon Qui Qui from MadTV. If you havent seen it, YouTube it because its well worth your time. I got my first picture with someone famous that day.

5. The Guadalupe River. Although I dont feel the need to go anymore and want to find a new summer tradition, I did float the river for a few years after she took me there for the first time.

Recently, I had found out that Chelsea Handler was coming to Dallas so I went online to get tickets to her show. To my disappointment, they were already sold out. Last Saturday was her showing and instead of having a good time there I had to work (with a headache). When I got home the headache had gotten so bad that I couldnt do anything but lay in bed with the blanket over my face to block out the sun and I was pretty sure it was turning into a migraine. (The neighbor's lawn mower was SO not helping!) Ann came home a few minutes later with a present for me that seriously made my headache go away in an instant.

No, it was not tickets to the Chelsea Handler show. Dont be stupid. See below:

Yup, its my very own Chelsea Handler book. But that was not the cherry on top:

"Sara! Cheers! Chelsea" ..and she specifically made her sign it in my favorite color - purple. My first autographed anything.