Happy New Year 2012

As I have been saying for a while now - time is flying by! With a blink of an eye, 2011 came and went!! We now have welcomed a new year, a new clean slate - 2012 is here!! What are your goals, plans or resolutions for this new year? I will be making a list of mine and will be posting them in the next few days. I was able to enjoy some new experiences in 2011 and I just know that 2012 will bring many more. I am confident that this year is going to be a great blessing; it already has given me a few great days! I look forward to this new year and all that it brings... I am anxiously awaiting all of the wonderful blessings with arms wide open. Cheers to a great 2012 filled with blessings of every kind - spiritual, financial, emotional, physical, etc. Blessings!! xoxo

A Broken Heart? - Living With Heart Disease

As many of you may know, I'm a very thankful heart disease survivor. I have lived with heart disease all of my life, since my condition is congenital, meaning I was born with it. One of my first treatment procedures was a Cardiac Catherization through my groin/femoral vein area to enable the doctors to administer medication and take cardiovascular measurements; I was about 2 months old. This was then followed by open-heart surgery, specifically a Fontan Procedure, when I was about 2 years old. I have been on medication all of my life - Digoxin - and have some limitations, most of which I have come to accept. I'm on an annual check-up schedule which involves electrocardiograms, cardiac stress tests, holter monitoring and echocardiograms. I had a huge scare in April 1999 and was rushed to the ER and later UCLA for a couple of days to undergo specialized testing but thankfully did not need to undergo another surgery. All in all, I am very lucky, very blessed! I share my story & my scars proudly! This is something I have come to terms with and it makes me who I am. I know I went through a lot, and so did my family, especially my parents. Watching the movie John Q was a very emotional moment for me; I was watching it with my parents one night and they were telling me stories of everything we went through when I was younger, and the fact that they could relate to the parents in the movie; I was crying throughout the entire movie! 

Knowing what I have endured and knowing that it could have been a lot worse makes me very thankful to God and appreciative of this beautiful life I have been blessed with. 

I recently met a family with a 10-year old boy named Johnny. He, too, was born with heart disease. His story differs from mine in that he's already undergone 5 surgeries, the last one being in 2009. I met him soon after that and the scars across his little chest were so new. I showed him my scars and told him he would heal, grow and be able to live a near-normal life just as I have. This little boy smiled from ear-to-ear. I have shared my story many times, but that time was different. It was special. It was gratifying. I gave him hope. I helped him smile! And now here we are, 2 years later, and little Johnny is facing the possibility of yet another surgery, which will make it 6 surgeries by the age of 10. It breaks my heart! My family and I went to see him & his family last night, we talked to them, tried to comfort them and we ended with a beautiful prayer for healing & protection. Seeing little Johnny scared, nervous, sad... and his parents the same way, just touched my heart so much and took over my emotions. I know what he's going through, but only to a certain degree. I was too young to know what was going on. I don't remember any of it. I don't remember being scared. I don't remember understanding. Here he is, 10 years old, knowing what it all means. Knowing what it involves. He understands the reality of it. Scared. Nervous. Sad. Crying. And all of that makes it even harder on his parents. They know he's scared. They know he's sad. 

Seeing this family last night and sharing with them just made me realize once again how truly blessed I am. Yes, I live with heart disease since birth. Yes, I have had open-heart surgery. Yes, I'm on medication. Yes, I have limitations. But I wasn't scared. I wasn't nervous. I wasn't sad... I didn't understand; I didn't know. All-in-all, I AM BLESSED & THANKFUL!! 

And once again, talking to him & relating to him to some degree was just so powerful. You should never be ashamed of sharing your story. You may be the one person that makes a difference for someone else. 

XOXO


Learn the facts of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.

American Heart Association


Get educated. Get tested.


 

Coming Up...

Wow, so much has happened since the last post!

Here are some posts I'm working on...

• Career Changes
• A Better Spiritual Life
• New Roommate
• New-found Love?

Be back soon.... :)

The Breakup :)

I haven't posted anything new since...January!! And boy have things changed!!

To start off... I am now single!! Well, okay, if we're being honest... I'm not quite single yet, at least not legally!! (Will I be "single" or "divorced"??) Well, I prefer the term "SINGLE" :)


After 5 years of marriage, what's-his-name and I separated earlier this year and have since then filed for divorce. I have no hard feelings...anymore...but I just don't want to type out his name! lol. Anyway... I will keep the details to myself. My immediate family and some friends that were around me when this all happened know all the details. And if you ask me, I will tell you; I just don't want to make it public notice to the world. We separated just days before our 5-year wedding anniversary! That was a very rough time for me! :( I admit, I cried A LOT. But I did not let myself fall into depression...and neither did my family! I thank God every day for my parents and siblings that were there to pick me up when I needed them the most! Love you!! :)

I have great friends that have been there for me and I love them for that. Some have been there for me when I most needed it, without them knowing they were making a difference at all! When I most needed a pick-me-up, a good laugh, my phone would ring, or a text message would come across...and it always made things so much better! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Let me tell you, that saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger"...really is true!! There were many dark days, but in the end of it all, the sun does finally shine again! =)

Things are so much better for me now! I have a new-found freedom; a new job; new car (not the car of my dreams, but a new car still); great friends; new friends; renewed faith in God; a bigger, more genuine smile; new hope; and a brighter future!! :D

When people would say that they were happier or much better off after a divorce, I thought they were crazy, they must be lying to cover up the truth! But now I understand! It's a very tough situation to go through... but you can come out a stronger and better person in the end. And I believe that's what has happened to me. Everything happens for a reason. Everything.

So, cheers to change...happiness...peace...love...and the future!!

SCAM ALERT!!

Here is a very informative blog post I just read on Brooke Burke's website .. it is written by Brooke Burke herself and I thought I should share it! Please be careful when answering your door! And please be careful when being charitable!

=============================

SCAM ALERT!
Posted 1/12/2010 9:52 AM PST
“May none of us open our hands in need this year, but offer it only in friendship.”

Crazy story to share. I want to give everyone a heads up. Can’t believe it happened at my house!

David and I went to a friend’s house for dinner the other night and she was a bit spooked when we rang the gate bell. She began to tell us the story of a young man that paid her a visit that afternoon…

“A 20 something yr old boy rang our bell, the gate was open so he came to the door.” He said, “My grandmother lives just down the street and I have just come from your neighbor’s home, Mrs. Levy. He said I should stop by. My sports league has just won our tournament and we are trying to raise money to pay for our trip and championship uniforms. We are asking and hoping for any contributions you may be willing to give.”

My friend called for her husband, and was happy to write a check (she is very charitable), but her husband wanted more info.

He did not recognize the boy’s grandmother’s name. He asked him what the name of his money raising org was. He stepped away for a moment with the info to check online to verify it. He found nothing. Then he began to drill the boy for anything credible before he contributed…

“Quality Subscriptions Inc is the name of our group, Sir” said the polite young man.

“Just give me a moment,” my friend said to the boy.

He Googled that name and what he found was FRAUD SCAM!!! www.complaintsboard.com

“You better leave our neighborhood immediately before we call the police!” said my friend’s husband.

The boy left immediately and they followed him in their car to be sure he kept going and stopped at no other homes.

Wednesday, my doorbell rang…. I answered by phone from my bedroom.

“Hi, my name is Bill, my grandmother lives in the yellow house on the corner, I have just come from your neighbor’s house next door (she happily wrote him a check btw) and she suggested that I stop by. My baseball team just placed first in our league….could you come down so I can speak to you on person please, so I can explain?”

OMG, I thought! I quickly called David so he could handle it, we already knew the drill, but it was still so creepy. He had the fake southern accent that I remember my girlfriend imitated.

David answered the door. He strongly demanded, “What is your name?!?, Your last name?!? Which house does your grandmother live in?!? What is her name?!?”

The boy stuttered and had no accurate info.

David told him to leave our neighborhood, never come back and that he was calling the cops.

The boy ran off without a word! I spoke to my neighbors and they quickly began cancelling the checks they had written. The stories and pitch that this organization is using is compelling, convincing and backed with neighborhood details.

We were on our way out and saw the boy after he left our neighborhood. He was taking pictures on his phone of people’s car license plates. Who knows what he was up to and capable of. DO NOT answer your door for anyone! Even the boy in uniform with a great story…

People are desperate and will do anything to make money these days. It’s scary, but you have to be more aware than ever. Be careful of the sales scams. Ask a lot of questions and then go online in one minute and verify an organization. If the person is legit, they won’t mind waiting for 2 minutes while you check.

I am telling this story to open everyone’s eyes. If my girlfriend, who lives across town btw hadn’t shared with me, I would not have been prepared when the scam came to my house. This group is crossing the nation and we should all be aware.

Christmas 2009

This year went by so fast; Christmas has already come and gone. This year, we celebrated Christmas at my sister Alma’s house. It was a ton of people! We took lots of pictures, of course! And we had lots of presents, of course! I was in two gift exchanges, one with my extended maternal family and one with my immediate family. From my extended family I got a blouse and a coat… which I am exchanging, LOL. From my immediate family I got a coat, which I’m also exchanging, but only because it’s too big on me! My parents also gave me a coat… so pretty, dark gray!

Here are some photos from Christmas 2009…

Blast From The Past!

I just had to post this…

Here is a picture of me and a great friend of mine (Silvia Lopez), with a classmate. This is when we were in 6th grade, so when we were about 11-12 years old. This is too funny! Look at my crazy hair! The bangs! OMG!! Look at those dark bushy eyebrows!! Hahaha. This is so hilarious!!

Tristan, Me, Silvia



Thank you, Silvia, for the photo!!