Atlanta is fine!

For most of my life the majority of my travels have been to Mexico to visit family. The last few years i have been able to travel a little for business reasons. This January i was sent to Atlanta, Georgia. There were so many things to see and unfortunately, because i was there for business and not pleasure i did not get to see everything that i would have wanted. Someday i hope to go back and see more of this state. So far I've traveled to Arizona,California, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana,Missouri, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and now Georgia - and the list grows on!

5 question friday

1. What is one food you could eat every day?

Definitely chocolate with pizza a close second.

2. Are you working in the career you thought you would be when you were 18?

No. When I was 18 I had still not decided on exactly what I wanted to do. I was leaning toward becoming a teacher. I had no direction or idea on how to obtain information about getting scholarships, etc. for college so nothing ever came of that. Almost 30 years later I’m still trying to obtain a degree in the field I ended up in by chance (communications). Its still not something I would love to be doing for the rest of my working life but it pays the bills.

3. What is something that you wish you would have done when you were younger and you didn't?

I would have loved to have traveled to many countries and pursued a photography career.

4. What color are your kitchen walls?

The walls of my kitchen and family living area were just redone (pics to come) and it is now light beige color with slightly darker glaze over the texture.

5. Do you remember what your very first favorite song was?

It was a spanish song called Una Lagrima por tu Amor (a tear for your love) by Estela Nuñez. 

Now its your turn! Click on the button below for how to ‘play’. Have a great weekend!

Kansas Here i Come

On Wednesday i leave for overland park, kansas for a business trip - right up tornado alley. We will be super busy with minimal time for sight-seeing, not sure if there is anything to see there, but we will get to sample at least a couple of nice restaurants. Wish i had more time (and $$$) to travel for fun vs. business, but gotta do what we gotta do. And i know i'll forget something, i always do (don't you hate that?). The good thing this will be a short trip (back on Sunday) and then its back to the really important stuff like blogging and taking photos - ;)
It will definitely be a great opportunity to people watch and i'm sure some future blog stories will come out of this experience.
i will have my most essentials for my "home" away from home-

• a good book (eat, love, pray)
• my camera
• my blackberry
• a laptop
• comfy pjs
• my shuffle (music)
• stamps for sending postcards to the kids
• and most important my necklace with the Virgin de Guadalupe

what's your essential travel piece? and your favorite souvenir to pick up? i always get postcards and a shot glass from Hard Rock cafe.

Finding my passion

How does one find their passion when one is interested in so many things?! Focusing on just one thing to be “good” at is difficult when there are now so many more options open to women. The options are also now more available as I’ve moved out of my parents home – away from parent rules and restrictions - yet straight into the husband’s rules and restrictions. Once able to find my voice and the courage to express it in that relationship - there were still the restrictions of money and motherhood. When the children were born they were my passion. Through the years as they’ve grown and developed into adults I’ve slowly been able to explore more of what I like to do.
• Read – Books were my best friends during school years. It may sound corny but through books I could explore anything and everything. From the original “Super Nanny” Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, a series of books about a girl named Ginny from a town up north, learning about my Mexican heritage (Aztec Indians, Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Cesar Chavez, etc.) to the discovery of Rosemary Rogers and her passionate love stories. I LOVE to read! My dream job would be to get paid for reading books. Until about 3 years ago I got to read for a living at my current place of employment. It wasn’t books but it was close enough. I loved my job and then they had to go and do this reorg thing. Now my job is nothing at all of what I did then.
• Sewing – This is another fave hobby that I have done off and on every since learning to sew as a child. From early attempts at making Barbie clothes and pillows, a passable tank dress made in home –ec class during high school to most recently a finished quilt (with more in progress)!
• Scrapbooking – I’ve completed several for my children with still several more to go. Where to find the time (and the space) for this. This one also ties in with my interest in photography, genealogy and recording family history.

• Dancing – I’ve loved dancing since discovering the Mexican cumbias (a long time ago in my youth). My parents would take me to dancing clubs (no respectable girl – back then anyway – would go to a club without her parents – so I was told). Anyway I didn’t care as long as I got to dance – and dance I did. We would get there at 8 p.m. (way to early by today’s standards I know) so we could get a table and then would stay till we shut the place down at 2 a.m.! On my list is to do ballroom dancing.
• Traveling – After traveling every year since birth to my parents birth place in Mexico you would think that I would hate traveling. I guess traveling this much you are going to either learn to love it or hate. I LOVE it! I miss traveling with my dad as he always loved to explore new places (my husband does not) and we visited a different city in Mexico each time we went. Once driving all the way to Mexico City to visit an aunt. I try to squeeze in at least a short road trip every year to some place new. Also finding postcrossing helps me travel to exotic places one postcard at a time!

• Cooking – although many people might not thinks this since I do not get to cook a meal every day, I do love cooking. I once even had my own cake business. When it became too stressful (too many cake orders + 40 hour week job + family duties) I had to choose between cakes and job. Cakes were not yet profitable enough to support and the job was more secure so the cakes had to go.
How to pick the most favorite of them all. It’s a work in progress and i'm a work in progress.

New beginnings

Well my baby has graduated high school. Empty nest you say? No, she will be attending community college like her older siblings until she decides exactly which of her many interests she would like to develop into her career. Who knows where her endeavors will take her but wherever it may be, this one will enjoy life no matter.
Would that I had to do it over again I would have given it my all in order to get a full scholarship somewhere (anywhere!) and gone off to explore the world – regardless of what my parents wanted. They wanted me (and my sisters) to stay and study close to home. None of this going off into a scary world where only God knows what could happen – COULD happen. But what if nothing bad had ever happened – all those chances and experiences lost.
I gave each of my kids that chance and tried to tell them. Of course they know all and do not listen. I said get a full paid scholarship to anywhere (through grades, sports, whatever) and you can go – not one of them did. So they go to the local community college and stay close to home.
Me, I am still working towards my BS and grab a little adventure when ever and where ever I can. Tonight it’s off to sewing class to learn another new trick and ideas. Very tame for most I know but some traveling adventures are coming up on the horizon…..

On my way..

Second day of quilting class and we got to use the Thangles! A neat little invention that helps you make perfect little triangles into perfect little squares in such an easy way. Being a first timer I thought they were fun and was disappointed when I was done ripping them off my material - it’s a stress reliever! For homework we have to sew all our strips together (3 strips of two different material) and then cut those into squares. It was a relief that I didn’t have to buy a special foot (1/4 inch quilting foot) for this. Hopefully I won’t need it down the line, that’s just one more expense and my regular sewing foot seems to work just fine. I can’t imagine all the time and effort it took back in the olden days to put these together and sew every stitch by hand. How fortunate those who have quilts from long ago that have been passed down through generations. They are true treasures. I found a fascinating web site that features and sells antique quilts from as far back as the 18th century. If I ever get to York Village, Maine , Rocky Mountain Quilts will definitely be a stop on my itinerary. It’s so neat to see my first quilt start to come together and I love being able to have this time to sew again