FSA CONFERENCE 2011 - SUNNY LAS VEGAS

This year the Federal Student Aid Conference was in Sunny Las Vegas. It was gorgeous weather, about 72 each day and sunny of course. My boss and buddy Lori and I headed out there on Monday (11/28) and had the best time. We got to see a lot of our friends from other Ivy Tech Regions and hang out with them and enjoy their great company. Shout out to our pals from Bloomington and Ft. Wayne...had a great time with all of you at Ellis Island - $7.99 steak special YAY! We learned some valuable information and had great times and laughed A LOT! Dig down deep Lori, dig down deep!

Arapita

Alexander loves making arapas with his abuela!

Happy Birthday Nicole

Our good friends daughter turned 14 yesterday so we pretty much spent the weekend hanging out with them and  having fun. Today, was paintball...Nicole's choice for her birthday fun. Ironically enough, it's also Kelly and Trevor's 7th anniversary but Kelly didn't play and stayed home to watch Nate. Having an almost 6 year old get hit with paint balls...not a good idea. Alexander hung out with his Abuela so Ricardo and I went along to have some fun. It was our first time ever playing and we'll definately do it again. I only felt one hit, I have no clue if I got hit anywhere else but I can tell you the place on my leg, no I mean the egg growing out of my leg will hurt for a few days. Thank you TREVOR! I can't say much, I did my fair share of shooting and Ricardo was not off of my radar although I never actually hit him. Word of advice, wear as many layers as you can possibly get on top of each other and still move, gloves are a must, and buy some anti-fog spray for the mask. Shooting blind is only reserved for excellent marksman like myself...yes, I did shoot someone when my goggles were completely fogged. Sorry about that Daniel! WUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Pee pee on the potty...

Everyone knows Alexander has been very adamant about NOT going on the potty. He has told many people straight out, "I WEAR DIAPERS".

My friend Kelly continued to tell me that I should just relax and one day he'd decide he wanted to go and it would just click. I was beginning to wonder if she was right. But, we just let it go and continued to change the diapers. Then, the unthinkable happened...last weekend he said out of the blue, "I want to wear my underwears (that's what he calls them)". We ran in the house to get them and while he never had an accident, he couldn't quite understand how to "let" the pee come out. On Sunday (last weekend) Ricardo had to stand and make jokes so he'd laugh hard enough to pee. We figured if he peed at least once he'd get it. Sure enough, it worked. Alexander has not worn a diaper, except to sleep, since Friday. He's wrapping up day 3 of living in potty-ville. And, he actually pooped on the potty today. We are really in disbelief. He's worn underwear, peed in public places, and even asked our friend Jackie to take him to the potty yesterday at the karate tournament. As my friend Lori put it, it's like the clouds parted and the angels began to sing! Maybe, just maybe, after this package of diapers is gone, we will no longer have to go down the diaper isle...well to buy diapers anyway because as a general rule of thumb, I will NEVER live without baby wipes. :)

Happy Anniversary and a whole lot more!

This weekend Ricardo and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. We can't believe it's been 5 years since we headed down the isle to start our life together. It's always fun to think about what has changed in your life from year to year on a birthday or special event but when it comes to remembering 5 years...there's a lot of changes that have occurred, some good and some sad.

Ricardo became a US Permanent Resident after we got married which enabled him to go to Venezuela for the first time in approximately 5 years. That was really exciting for him and for his family. And, the trip wasn't too shabby for me either :). Another trip to Venezuela ensued in these last 5 years as well. He also became a US Citizen! I finished my Masters Degree and moved on to the job I have now which was a huge step up from what I was doing before, particularly in pay! Yay for us! Ricardo opened the karate school. Although the school provides us with some stress, it has provided us with some wonderful, godly friends that we absolutely will cherish for the rest of our lives. We are forever grateful for their friendship and the support they provide to us on a daily basis. We are also grateful for the friendships we continue to have in those that were in my life before we got married. Of course, we cannot forget Ricardo's new place on the US National Karate Team either. We've been to Disney World twice as a family, bought new cars, another house, and a lawn mower. We've enjoyed lots of wine, sangria, and great food.

We have these tiny little clothes mixed in with ours now where before it was just the two of us. Never before was our life so full of joy and so full of challenges as it is now. Our son continues to be our greatest accomplishment in those 5 year!!! Right now, he is cooking fake food on his fake grill for us because he claims we're hungry.

Unfortunately in 5 years you cannot have good times without the bad. My little dog Maverick died last year unfortunately after my poor husband spent all that money to save his life only 1 month after we were married. I'm not so certain Ricardo feels that was money well spent...everyone knows he is not the biggest lover of dogs. Our biggest loss of all though was the passing of my dad last summer without warning. I continue to feel sad that Alexander will not know him personally and that my dad has not witnessed all of Ricardo's accomplishments in karate. I know he would really enjoy seeing Alexander at his best which we all know is being ornery. Dad would certainly encourage that behavior I'm sure. We've both lost two uncles in the past year, Ricardo's Uncle Domingo and my Uncle Mark. Again, we're sad that Alexander will not have the pleasure of knowing them as he grows up.

Yes, 5 years brings many changes and challenges and I'm sure I could list a lot more but for now it's fun to recap some of the basics and enjoy the memories we have and look forward to the ones we've yet to create!

Happy Birthday Husbando

Thursday was Ricardo's 34th birthday. We celebrated on Thursday with lunch out and a whole Cheesecake Factory Cheescake Thursday night. Friday though, was the big surprise. Ricardo thought we were having dinner with our friends Trevor and Kelly and their family but quickly realized there were like 20 other people there as well. When we walked in he got a huge SURPRISE and was so excited to see our friends and family. We were short a family, our good friends the Argue-Pods due to a trip out of town to visit an ill family member. Missed them a ton!

Everyone had a great time eating, drinking, and laughing for the few hours that we occupied half of a room at the Fireside Brewhouse. The service was great and we had a fantastic time! Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate Ricardo's birthday.