Go trojans!

                                      

I have finally made my decision! I will be attending USC and getting my Masters in Social work this fall. I'm very excited and grateful for this opportunity I've been given to attend grad school. Frankly, I didn’t think I would get attend USC but I really had strong promptings to apply. As I was waiting to hear back from them I thought of how crazy I was to apply there since that school was not in my plans. However, I really feel the Lord prepares you for the good and the bad. As the days went by I would ponder if I would go there if I got accepted. I had good feelings about it and prayed for the answer. Enoch was so supportive, encouraging me from the beginning. My family was so happy for me. The first person I called was my mom. She has always believed in me and wanted me to get far in life. She instilled responsibility and discipline in me which has allowed me to work hard in school. I don’t consider myself to be smart, just a hard worker. We haven’t heard back from CSULB for Enoch but I have a good feeling about that too. I’m excited to start in August and participate in this great program. I know we will need to sacrifice much but I know it will be worth it in the long run. I plan to enjoy every step of the way at USC.

Hello Mexico!

Last Monday we headed to Tijuana, Mexico. To many, this would not be a big deal. But for me, it was! I had not traveled outside of the U.S. since I arrived to this country 20 years ago! That's a long time if you ask me. So Enoch, Athena and I went on a Monday morning and drove to Mexico. We stopped by one of the beaches first, where we had  a nice lunch in a restaurant with an ocean view.

We ate seafood of course, and to top it off we drank coco juice. Yum!!

Later we headed to the city where we shopped around and got on some rides. We had a blast getting on ride in the restaurant where we had dinner. If I could sum up how it went, I would say it went great! I didn't expect to have such a good time. It was just so much fun to go away.

The End of Poverty?

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."-Martin Luther King, Jr.
This last Saturday Enoch, his sister Athena and I went to see a movie in Santa Monica that touched us like no other movies we've seen. To me, this movie had new information but, it didn't surprise me. I come from a very humble country and so this movie was only a visual representation of what people who are living in my country go through each and every day. I won't spoil the movie, but I do highly recommend everyone to see it since it brings to light many issues that affect people in this world. A reason why I love Enoch is because he is not selfish and always thinks of others before himself. He gives service without thinking twice. I thought this movie encourages us to not be selfish , it makes us realize how blessed we are and our responsability as human beings to help one another. It helped us to put in perspective whats really important in life.

Happy New Year!

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book iS called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." 

 -Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I don't know about you, but I love the new year. I love to have a fresh start at things. The year 2009 brought much happiness but sadly much sorrow as well. So despite those bad experiences Enoch and I are looking forward to this year filled with many opportunites. One of those opportunities is to serve. Enoch and I both love to help those in need. So its no surprise that my job in Santa Monica and my calling in the church entails helping and serving. For this coming year we have many goals and hope to accomplish them.

For new years eve, we spend some time with our families who live in the same area and our friends! I love friends. They lift you up and offer some of the most genuine concern and love. I was thrilled to welcome the new year dancing the night away. 2010 came faster than we expected but, boy were we waiting for it! Every year brings hope and faith that things will get better and it is a reminder of how short life is. So one of our new years resolution is to enjoy the journey and while the destination is important, the journey is just as important. I look forward to the trips and memories we will build as husband and wife this year. Specially because it will be our first anniversary this year. I'm still hoping to get a camera soon so we can post some better pictures of our trips and such.

We know this year will be a good one and we wish you all the best as well!

Busy bees

Its been a while since I last blogged and updated about what's going on with us. But lately, Enoch and I have been so busy with work, and school of course. We are applying to schools and so this takes a chunk of our time. However, we manage to squeeze a little bit of fun times here and there. Thanksgiving was busy for us as well. We moved back to the Torrance area so we didn't have much time to really have a "normal" thanksgiving. Nonetheless, we did have a chance to spend it with our families going from one dinner to the next. We had lots of delicious food and we were just happy to be together. I keep missing my long lost camera. I hate not being able to take pictures when I want to.
But we both know that if we work hard it will definetely pay off in the future. As for life in general, I'd like to say its pretty good. I feel so much better and healthier now that I joined a gym 3 weeks ago. I feel the difference in my stress levels as well. Enoch and I are really looking forward to starting "real" school next fall. I am applying to 3 Masters of Social Work programs. I plan to apply to USC, CSU Fullerton and Long Beach so we'll see where God wants me to go:) As for Enoch, he just got back an acceptace letter to CSU Fullerton in to their BS in Bio Chemistry program. I'm really proud of him! But he still has to hear back from CSU Long Beach.
I will be leaving for Florida next week with my friend Josefina. I hope she has a camera so I can post some pictures soon. I really needed a vacation so I consider this trip to my friend's wedding an answer to prayer:)Plus, I love weddings!

A ferris wheel of a month

Have you ever felt that life is just spinning around you and as much as you'd like to stop it, you can't? That was this month for me. I had to undergo strong experiences that shook my whole being. It all started with issues with my legal status here in the US. This is something I have always struggled with. Something that lurks from behind me and never knowing when its going to strike. For the sake of time all I have to say is that I am finally a permanent resident. Thanks to God and my mother I am able to enjoy the blessings that come from having this status. But getting to this place took many tears, frustrating and unfair experiences that I have to leave in the hands of God. And last but certainly not least, at the end of the month in September I went through one of the most terrible and painful experiences I have ever gone through. I found out on 8/31/09 that I was expecting a child. Wow! we said a baby! We were so thrilled that I didn't know what to do with this happiness. It is something that we believe God wanted us to do. We were preparing mentally, spiritually and moving things in our lives so we could welcome this blessing in to our lives.

However, just like I mentioned, life can be a roller coaster. Sometimes your up in the sky enjoying the view and when you least expect it, boom! You're doing again looking up and at times wondering what happened. Needless to say, I was in shock when the doctor let us know in the ER that I had a threatened miscarriage. I could not believe it. Was this a dream, a joke? As the days went by I started loosing my hope. I started to realize that this dream of becoming a mother was not going to happen this time. I started to ponder on how much I loved mu child and did not want to say "good-bye." I couldn't. It was during those moments that I started to experience a different kind of pain. I wanted to scream, yell, and go crazy. But I couldn't. I have a knowledge of God's plan for all of us and simply decided to place my life and my child's life in His hands. And so after 2 days. I lost my child.
My mother and husband were so supportive. I felt so blessed to have their love because I don't know what I would've done without them. God is a merciful God and he knows why we have to undergo through certain experiences. Placing my trust in the Lord helped me to overcome this great trial in our lives.

Birthday celebration

For my birthday, Enoch took me to San Diego and we stayed at a real old school hotel from the 1940's/1950's era in the downtown area. The night we arrived there we walked around the streets of the city and had a nice Mexican dinner and for dessert, a sundae from the Girardelli chocolate store. The next day we had a delicious breakfast and headed to Balboa Park where we walked to the botanical garden and to Art museums. I was so happy to know my husband took the time to incorporate some of the things I love in love in this trip which are chocolate, gardens, Art, and museums. One of my favorite parts of the trip was being able to see the San Diego temple because we had not been back since our wedding day. We got home just in time to start the "surprise" party Enoch had planned for me. My family and friends were there which made this day, oh so special!