Gracias!

This thanksgiving my time will be spent baking a ham, making home made fruit juices, cleaning my house and of course working on my  good old finals for school. I hope I can manage to do all of this but I know I wont have time to write a post on what I'm grateful for.
I have so many things to be thankful for, somehow  in the past 3 years this holiday always makes me reminisce on the day Enoch and I went on our first date. I had plenty to be thankful for in 2007, a new friend, a new potential boyfriend!Haha..Little did I know that this first date would be one of many to come. For this reason, I can start off by talking about me being grateful for my wonderful, fantastic husband of mine. Here is a list of just a couple of things/people I am grateful for:
1. God and his gospel
2. My Enoch
3. My mother
4. Being able to go to school for my masters at USC
5. My job/internship
6. Friends
7. Family
8. My bed(I never see you but when I do, its great:)
9. Being able to travel next month and visit my country Guatemala
10. Peace, love and charity(both receiving and giving)
11. my surprise
12. A good laugh
13. Sour foods
14. The beach
15. Life experiences- both the good and the bad

Happy thanksgiving!

FHE FUN

About the time Sonia and I got married, there was love in the air everywhere. My sister got married just before us and a stream of marriages happened in the local singles ward. A few months back we decided to have a monthly family night with the other newly weds.

This last one was great. The hosts of course, being Brazilian, had ahuge meal with Brazilian beans, chicken pie, and well rice krispy treats.

Anyway, after the meal we always have a lesson. Yesterday's lesson was very simple, yet profound. We were talking about being prepared for emergencies. Having a plan, having food, water, and fuel. The simple topic opened my eyes as to how much more Sonia and I need to do so that we are prepared.

After the lesson we played games and really got into it. TICKET TO RIDE is a great game that I highly recommend.

To keep things simple, Sonia and I really enjoyed ourselves and look forward to next months.

Just a small update

The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense. -Thomas A. Edison 
Lately, it feels like Enoch and I have been in school forever!  The transition of going back to school for me has been a challenge. I think it has to do with the fact that I'm working 30 hours and doing 16 hours of internship on top of a full load of classes. Yes! It's a lot. Why did I do this to myself? Ha..ha..
At the same time, it has been quite the learning experience. I've learned so much about human beings/behavior, and myself that it makes it all worth it. Midterms just ended and they consisted of me writing about 30 pages total in a time frame of 2 weeks.
But I still manage to squeeze some fun every once in a while. I've had such a good time riding my beach cruiser at school. Enoch even bought me a basket where I can place my books. Riding the bycicle from institute to school is one my favorite parts of my crazy, hectic day. But my favorite part has to be the part when I get to see Enoch at night. Its interesting the things we take for granted. I've been learning to love the simple, little things. My sense of gratitude has also been reinforced when I give therapy in my internship. I talk to clients who don't have the gospel. Having the gospel and  God has been my anchor in these busy, challenging/fun times. Enoch and I will be having some halloween fun tonight. I hope I'll remember to take our camera because lately, we've been using our phones to take pictures like the one below.

USC vs. UCLA girls soccer game

Guatemala "Land of Eternal Spring"

Today is my countries independence day. All these years I've really missed out on visiting, I miss my family and feel so blessed to have the opportunity to finally go. I am very excited since its been 20 years since I haven't been back. Its a part of my identity and its been hard and sad to not  know nor remember  my own country! So in honor of that I want to share a few interesting facts you might not know about Guatemala.

*The name Guatemala means ‘Land of the Trees’ in the Maya-Toltec language.


*Twenty-one distinct Mayan languages as well as several non-Mayan Amerindian languages are spoken here, especially in the rural areas.

*There are three UNESCO World Heritage sites, namely, Antigua Guatemala, Archeoligical Park and Ruins of Quirigua and Tikal National Park.
*The country is recorded to have 100 rivers, 61 lagoons, 5 lakes and 3 swamps.


*The country has a distinct fauna of its own and has about 1246 known species inhabiting it.


*Agriculture contributes as one-fourth of the country’s GDP. Coffee, bananas and sugar are the main products of the land.


*Guatemala is a storehouse of a number of libraries and museums. Some of the important names in this list are the National Library, the National Archives, the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology.

Summer time update

I know summer's pretty much over but I thought I could update on what we did this summer. First of all, the reason why we couldn't update our blog during the  summer is because we've been extremely busy. So what have we've been doing? Well, lets see...preparing for school, working long hours and getting settled in our home. Preparing for school entailed going to school orientations, scheduling, and saving money for the expenses. We've also worked, Enoch at one time had 3 jobs and I did a lot of over time. And for settling down at our home? This is where some of the fun stuff comes in. I've been decorating our home to make it cozy and a refuge to us after our busy and exhausting days. Decorating my home has made me super happy. Many don't know but one of my other "dream" careers is to be an interior designer.
We said" good-bye" to our summer by celebrating my birthday. It was so nice to spend time with my family members and close friends. I wanted to have a birthday party since I know I wont get to see them as often as I'd like. I've been having to manage working a full time job, an internship and a full load of classes. Its been so stressful but now and then I try to squeeze in some fun with Enoch. And by the way he has been sooo helpful to me. He makes dinner for me and is so understanding. I feel so blessed to have such a hard working hubby! And last but not least, the best part of all...this summer Enoch and I bought our airplane tickets to Guatemala!!Yes!!We will be spending our holidays at my motherland. I am so stoked and can't wait! Meanwhile, we will both continue to be stressed out as students:)
Below are pictures  of my b-day party and home.

Mom, friend and Aunt

Cousins, and sister

Family and friends

Acting silly with friends

We're moving along

May was such a busy month. Everything from starting a new job to planning parties, and being in a wedding. Overall, I can say I had a lot of fun but at the end of the day I was exhausted! So now for some updates..
I started a new job at the end of May, I work for the Children's Institue, Inc in its Los Angeles metro office(it has offices all over the South Bay area). I will be working as a Child and Family Specialist, I'm excited and grateful for this opportunity.
Next, Enoch and I will be moving.  Not too far....actually we're staying in the area because of the schools we're attending. Enoch will be going to Cal State Fullerton and I will be going to USC. So Torrance is in the middle for both of us to commute. We're both excited for school but also happy for the summer:)
Lastly, my best friends wedding. It was wonderful! The sealing was beautiful but its too bad I forgot to take my camera. However, here are some pictures of the bridal shower and bachelorette party.

Feliz dia de las madres

In the U.S., mother's day was yesterday May 9th. In many Latin American countries, including my country Guatemala, that day is today. So I want to take this time to write how much I admire, appreciate and love my mother. No one knows my mother like I do. Being the oldest, I have been a witness of how strong and resilient she has been throughout her life. My mother has not had the typical life some mothers had. From her childhood to the present, she has overcome so many trials. I don’t know how she’s still manages to be sane and "normal." I admire my mom for her strength in dealing with life's difficulties and oh...did I mention she drives 18 wheelers for a living? Yes! She’s super strong. I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. And yet she is so sweet, responsible, and a great cook. She can cook anything from wontons to a delicious seafood soup. She has taught me to study hard in school and never give up. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from her is to always work hard regardless of your circumstances.

I'm grateful to God for my mother, I can honestly say that I am the person I am today because of the morals, values and lessons I have learned from her. I love her dearly.