Thursday, July 26, 2012

Throwback Thursday: Anniversary

Jose pinning money on his best friend Chris

Last year we went to California for Chris and Natalie's wedding. It was a great time. They had a photo booth, a taco stand, dancing, and plenty of drinks. The last time we saw these two was on April Fool's Day 2012. They announced they were pregnant, but of course no one believed them because of all days to share the news. Turns out it's true. Hopefully our next trip out there will be to congratulate the new parents and meet the baby, but until then this card will have to do. 



Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Journal Time

Today has been a day of lessons and good times. This is definitely a journal entry type of post.

For the past few weeks I have been dealing with a salesman that wants to control every last detail. I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way. You bring me the deal, it gets approved, and you get the hell out of the way. OHH no, he wants to come up with checklists for how this deal will work. I'm sorry but this is what we do and what we do has worked for years. We don't' need 50 emails about a revised checklist.

So I'd say today was the 2nd time I got annoyed with him to the point that I was a little rude. So what I cc: the customer on the question she asked. It saves time from me telling you, who then has to tell her. No need for a middleman, that's how things get confused.

After I knew he was pissed I decided I better let my boss know before he let her know. I started thinking about an earlier event in the week where we honored a woman who has been with our company for 25 years. All of her former bosses went on and on about how she has always shown professionalism in the workplace. My attitude today did not reflect professionalism and I told my boss my thoughts about how I felt like I failed in that aspect and should probably just answer the salesman's questions without having an attitude.

Don't know why I let it stress me out so much.

To de-stress I went to the gym and did day 15 of Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer. Today the workout switched up and kicked my butt. To relax I went to the pool afterward. It was my first time and WSU's pool.

After the workout I was starving. I invited my brother to Wing Nutz where we had the special, 20 Southern Hottie wings and a pitcher of Bud Light. I had a good time with him, but poor him, he had to listen to me rant. I love him.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Meeting You

Before                                                  After

 
I received this picture frame at a Christmas gift exchange. I’m a big hater and can’t stand that quote, “Live, Laugh, Love,” not because it’s not inspirational, but because it’s over used and if you know me I’m not into believing the hype and almost refuse to do things because everyone else is doing them. I do allow myself to get suckered into reading certain books though.

I decided to re-design it with a quote I pinned on Pinterest. I reworded it a bit because I didn’t think it would fit and I felt like the word privileged was too formal.

1 Universe, 9 Planets, 204 Countries, 809 Islands, 7 Seas, and I got to meet you.

I think it’s amazing living in this big world where we get the opportunity to meet people who have such an impact on our lives. There are so many people I’m grateful to know, but only 5 frames, so it was difficult choosing who to showcase. If I love you and you aren’t in this frame you’re probably hanging up in another.

Top Left:
When I married Jose I got to join the club of vibrant Angulo women. I can never relate with those mother-in-law horror stories because mine is great. She’s so non judgmental and understanding. The thing I admire most about her is her willingness to serve others. Next, I got a badass sister-in-law Susie who is down for anything. It makes me laugh when her guy, Jaime, describes her as brava because that is exactly what she is. She won’t take crap from anyone, knows how to have a good time and is the best mom. Then there’s Leilannie, my oldest niece, who’s heading towards greatness. This picture was taken April 2012 in Ensenada, Mexico.

Top Right:
This picture was taken in a tuc-tuc in Guatemala on a study abroad trip in 2010. When I started college I knew people went to study abroad, but I never thought it was something I’d do. I’m so glad I went and had the chance to cross paths with Ashley and Kevin. Life is busy so we aren’t able to keep in touch as often as I’d like, but we have great memories together.

Middle:
This is the most recent picture of the PRAMS Girls taken this June. I’ve known most of them for 6 years. We met at a crucial time in life when we were all transitioning into young adulthood. It’s nice to have this support system. (I don’t like the shadow the frame casts on this picture.)

Bottom Right:
This is a picture of me and two of my favorite roommates I had when I was going to the UofU. Frank is a crazy, fun-loving Georgian and Adam is a Portuguese speaking Californian who now lives in Texas with his wife and one-year-old son. I don’t know if we will ever see each other again, but we keep in touch through Facebook, Instagram and Blogger.

Bottom Left:
This was Halloween 2011 out in good ol’ Plain City, Utah at Parker and Caysie’s Halloween party. These were originally my brother’s friends, he and Parker were born on the exact same day and were best friends growing up. Now they’ve become our friends. We always have a nice, drama free time with them.

I enjoyed re-doing this frame, it ended up being way more than just gluing. I got the chance to reflect on how big the world is and how lucky I am to be Where I’m Supposed to Be meeting such wonderful people. 


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Throwback Thursday: Best Cousins

2003

I could go on and on about memories with my cousin Stephanie. Growing up we were best friends. I chose this picture because I had the chance to go visit her tonight. It's nice to see us both grown up and married. When we were little girls I don't think we could've of imagined how blessed and happy we'd be. 


Thursday, July 12, 2012

Throwback Thursday: Jackasses

July 12, 2006

I was looking through my external hard drive this morning trying to see what I could find from a previous July 12th. When I saw these I knew I had to share. I was going to write from memory but I was having trouble remembering which pet it was and the details of what happened. I knew I wrote this story down somewhere. I looked through my emails because before Google Docs I used to save journal entries as drafts in my email. I finally founded it on my MySpace blog. 

I'm posting my original blog post because it's an interesting look back at 18 year old me. It's actually kind of embarrassing how immature I sound. I've also included a few comments that were left on my post because the dialogue between my brother and I is hilarious. Don't worry, we're good friends and I'm glad we can tell each other like it is. 

Jackasses

7/12/2006

Current mood:sad
So today sucked.....I was home from work for only a few minutes when a neighbor pulled into our front yard. I was on my way outside when I saw him. He asked if we had a burro, I couldn't even understand what the heck he was saying I thought he was asking somthing about a burrow. So anyways I finally understood what he was saying, he had our mule in his dog run, because she got through the fence.

I hopped in the car and followed him to his house and sure enough it was Sammy. My dad is out of town for work so I called brother,who was at work, to see if I should just walk her around to the house. I didn't know what harness to get because all I could find was these retarded Mexican ones. I got the harness and didn't want to walk through the street, all the way around to the guy's house, so I just went through the back yard. I had to jump the stupid fence which took me a minute, but I finally got over.

I got Sammy all harnessed and started walking her home. The road I had to take her on is kind of busy, so there were several cars passing, I don't know if she got scared because she started going all crazy. I still had the rope in my hand but duh....the mule is obviously stronger than I am and she took off running, dragging me behind her across the gravel and the road. I didn't really have time to worry about that though, I was just tryin to get the stupid mule out of the road cuz there were trucks and cars. 

Sammy ran all the way back to the guys house. After almost getting home she went all the way back to where we started. This guy pulled over and walked back to the guy's house with me. I felt so dumb because he saw me fall. We locked her back up in the dog run and I started walking home. The guy didn't even offer me a ride...which is an ok thing cuz u shouldn't ride with strangers and I needed to walk back and look for my phone. I found my phone and called my brother to let him know that the plan didn't work. I knew better than to tell my mom because it's her greatest fear that the animals will get out when my dad's gone, plus she's mad because he won't sale them to pay for my college. That would only make things worse if she knew the mule got out and I was hurt. I couldn't get a hold of my dad and I really didn't want him to worry about it while he's away. I'll just wait until he gets home. I thought brother was the only one I could trust until he started yelling at me and telling me that I'm dumb. Ok whatever....I tried.

When I got home my grandma was on the porch so I tried to sneak in the drive way so she wouldn't ask any questions.  I didn't want her to know cuz she would tell my mom 4 sure. I went up stairs to take a shower and check out my wounds. I have road rash all up my legs and arms and stomach. I wasn't going to cry for some cuts.

Brother came home from work as I was getting out of the shower. He started yelling at me asking where the mule was. He said "I don't care about you, just tell me where the stupid mule is." So I told him. Well that was it... I am so not the person to cry over anything but I did. Lame huh. Oh well he made me feel really bad.

Bro in respone to your text if I'm ok----what do you think jackass?

The End

    • ELSA Fierce.:DnT kNo My NaMe jUsT …
      YA HA HA HA HA I HEARD ABOUT THIS YA IF IT WAS ME I'D LET THE THING GET HIT SHIT... I DONT CARE BUT I GUESS IT WAS NICE OF U. 
      5 years ago
      Stela
      ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaqhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ok my hands are tired but if i could go longer i would lol!! thats funny man i love you !!
      5 years ago
      Alfredo Perea
      Hello!  This is actually Kate!!!  I feel so bad for you!  I've been there before chasing cows and stuff!!!  Horrible isn't it.  I don't know if you are an animal lover, but I have an idea for you, the next time it happens CALL ME!!! And I will come over with my shotgun and take care of everything!!! (the jackass)  And then you can blame it on some crazy lady woman who came and shot the think cause she thought it was ugly!  Kisses Dearie!!!  Note:  I hope you don't love the animal, if you do, then I will just have my dad kill it!!!)  I LOVE YOUR BRO TOO!!!
      6 years ago
      Alfredo Perea
      well sutpid ass let go of the rope and be smart no shit the mule is stronger than u
      ok this is the jackass this story is written about let me tell you she is stupid what do u want me to do i was at work .
      but being the jackass that i am i left work, lost money, and got ur stupid ass mule and on top i got home to ask her where the bitch ass donkey was and she dosent answer ur lucky i didn't beat the shit out of u right there. so in conclusion to jackass i say stupidass
      6 years ago

So far this has been my favorite flashback. This is one of those stories that is in no way funny at time, but 6 years later I can laugh, and I have been all day. 


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Birthday Wishes Through The Mail

I don't know about you, but I enjoy receiving something fun in the mail. With our fast paced forms of communication it's easy to post a birthday wish or send a quick text, but when it comes to the special people in my life I like to send them something in the  mail. 

I have nieces and a nephew in another state and we miss out on being there to celebrate their birthdays. I want them to remember that they have and aunt and uncle who adore them and enjoy watching them grow into smart, good-looking, funny people. 

Our oldest niece, Leilannie turned 14 in May. I remember being fourteen in 2002. That was one of my funnest adolescent years. When I hear songs that came out that year I drift back to that summer and all of the fun times. I remember that was around the time my mom stopped going to church, hard to believe it's been 10 years. I think since she stopped she was a little more lenient and open-minded. I was finally allowed to hang out with friends. I loved all of my junior high friends and even had my first little boyfriend ha ha. 

*SNAP*SNAP*
Okay back to the present. I struggle with b-day gifts, but I remember Lani liked my no-show socks from Journeys so we sent her a couple packs and some money. 


Check out this awesome girl!


Next up is Jimmy. He is the sweetest, happiest, easy-going boy I've met. I only hope my kids are as enjoyable. Here's the cool dude with the big birthday card we sent him.



The most recent one was sent out to an old friend. We don't talk anymore, but I wanted her to know I still think of her. This was totally passive of me, I didn't even sign my name. That's one thing about being best friends though, you know each other's dislikes. She has some kind of issue with multiple eyes and she knows what gives me the creeps. I glued each eye on just for her. We've always gone back and forth tormenting each other like this. I'm not looking forward to what's in store for me.  


I know takes a little more time and effort to send something by mail than it does posting on Facebook, but I really enjoy sending and receive correspondence the old way. 

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Throwback Thursday: Baby J Video

July 5, 2011

This is a video of my youngest niece Janeece when she was 10 months old. Her Nana, my mother-in-law, taught her how to get off the bed. This was a fun day hanging out with all of the girls, Stela, Nana, and my oldest niece Lani. I miss my cute niece, but I know her mama loves her so much and is doing what is best for all of them right now. 

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Family Loyalty

I find the dynamics of loyalty among family members very interesting. I only have one brother so growing up he was usually the first to know my secrets. Now that our family has grown making a total of 7 siblings/sibling-in-laws and 4 parents/parent-in-laws, alliances have been shifted. One unspoken rule that I follow is that if someone tells you something it is not your place to tell everyone else until that person is ready to share the information.

When one of the siblings had their first unplanned teen pregnancy. I was honored that I was told before anyone else in the family, but knowing and keeping it from everyone had me on the verge of insanity.  I was seriously going nuts keeping a secret from my partner, but my loyalty to the sibling was more important; it wasn't my news to share. So when it happened again five months after the first baby was born I asked if it was ok to tell my partner.

I used to visit a sibling in lock up once a week. Conversation would hardly slow and before I knew it our forty-five minutes were up. We would talk about everything in a safe space. There was an unspoken establishment of loyalty. I was told things that disturbed me but I felt like whether they were secrets or not I shouldn't blab my mouth and tell other family members. I think this was a good lesson for me to be less judgmental and just listen because sometimes the best way to work through a problem is just to let the person talk it out.

Another example that doesn't include me being loyal, but me being of out of the loop was when my husband knew that one of the siblings who owed us money lost their job.  Conversation went on as usual until I found out on my own. I didn't feel betrayed in anyway, rather, I admired the loyalty that was respected.

The hardest alliance for me is the one between siblings and parents. For example we've done several jail-bail outs which have turned into a one-time thing because that's an unexpected dip into our savings that doesn't always get paid back. I've kept them a secret, but usually my parents know when I'm keeping things from them. I just tell them that I can't talk about it. If they want to know ask the person directly, after that we are free to discuss and problem solve. The only exception I would make is if someone were in danger.

Dr. Lynne Durrant, one of my professors, said that dysfunctional families seek to maintain homeostasis creating their own functionality. I feel like that's what we have created, among our dysfunction is something that works for us. This is such an interesting topic to me that I'd like to hear how you and your family have established boundaries regarding loyalty or any other family dysfunction that functions. Leave a comment or link your post below.