New Year 2012

I realized I forgot to talk about my New Years Eve! Ron and I have a tradition now with the Coombes family. They are a fun, wonderful Filipino family that live up North in Pittsburg, CA. It's about an hour north of San Jose. We were invited over for the 2010 New Years Eve party. It was SO MUCH fun. They made home made everything... lumpia, panset, pandesol, babinka, etc. I don't care too much for Filipino food but I like lumpia and pandesol. And they also made spaghetti because Ron is vegetarian. It worked out great.

They had one room for karaoke. Upstairs was for games. The kitchen was food and shots. The dining room was cleared out for dancing. One of the kids had professional DJ equipment and he knew how to work it! They turned down the lights and had Christmas lights on the walls. I danced for hours. It was SO MUCH fun. This reminds me of my Uncle's house in Brazil. I remember dancing samba outdoors in his outdoor kitchen and eating some mangos off the tree in his yard. I love people from different countries. First generation foreigners are so different from Americans. They bring their love, culture, and friendly values with them. Since that night, it has become tradition to spend New Years with them and their family. This year, they came down to a cousin's house in National City (half hour from where we live now). This house was the same fun! Same EXACT scenario and setting. I danced for hours. I didn't really drink much this time. I had one shot and one beer.

I don't drink patron, so I knew I could only handle one shot or I would be sick. It didn't stop me from having a fabulous time. They had party hats, silly string, glow necklaces and bracelets. It was really a lot of fun. Their was triple the amount of food here. We even had a roasted pig head and home made cake pops.

They feel like the family I never had. I fit right in with these people and I can truly be myself. This family reminds Ron of his mother. I probably would have been great friends with his mom.

Mama Marilou =) 

 Melissa & AJ

Mama Marilou & Papa Edwin

Gettin' ready for shots! 

That's Bonehead on the right... AKA Mikey

This girl was crazy fun.

Don't they know how to have a good time?!

College

I am excited to be in school full time this semester! I start January 23 and the 2 classes I took at DeAnza transferred to Miramar. School is right across the street in walking distance. As in, I leave the gate of my complex and cross the street and enter through the sidewalk that says "campus access" with a fat arrow. Work is in walking distance too so life really can't get anymore convenient than this! And I have the sun all the time so I never have an excuse to drive to work unless I have errands to run before or after work.

This has been quite the decision to return to school this year. I almost wasn't going to because of the money that managers make at In N Out. But then I became sad at the thought of not accomplishing my goal of school. I had this goal before In N Out even entered my life. And I am showing the beginning symptoms of becoming burned out from customer service. I've been doing this for 8 years now. For any of you who have had jobs trying to make people happy, you know it is impossible to make everyone happy. Someone will complain about something because that is simply the way Americans are. They think the world owes them everything. It is hard to be the person behind the counter, much more difficult than what people realize. We have to smile, bite our tongues and allow the customer to get away with almost anything. They are even aloud to degrade us.

Well, I am finally tired of being treated this way and I am not going to be able to tolerate it much longer. So now I am a full time student, not part time! I am ready to roll! This coincidentally happened around New Years. I didn't have the intention of making it a resolution. Regardless, it is definitely a fantastic beginning of 2012! I am ready to be broke, have no money, rely on Ron for everything and get this done. I have a different attitude now and I have motivation to be on this path.

Thank goodness for Ron. I would not be able to do this without him. I am glad I waited to go to school because I can appreciate what school has to offer me now. I am the person I am today because of the experiences I have been through. I learned a lot in my early 20's and have quite a bit of life experience already. I took vacations, road trips and experienced freedom to be independent and learn who I was and who I wanted to become.

I scored high on my English placement test. I am at the college level for English. Unfortunately for math, I have to start at pre-algebra. Math is one of those things you lose if you don't practice it. 8 years of not using it will definitely take you backwards. Oh well. It is what it is. I am moving forward. I hated school as a kid and a teenager. Now, I enjoy it and I am excited! I am ready to learn. It is truly phenomenal what happens inside a person when they change their diet, exercise and attitude. I am walking proof of change.