Summer 2015

Summer 2015 felt both long and short. I was so excited to finally be able to stay home and do nothing...of course, that's not true, one of the first things I did was clean up the garage and we made 3 trips to the local thrift store to donate things we didn't need anymore.

QUALITY TIME
I spent quality time with my children...watched movies, cooked yummy foods, desserts and engaged in awesome conversations.

CAMPING -THE VANAGON DIARIES

Portland 

We camped in our Vanagon at Half Moon Bay, it was a short camping trip, but it was very fun. Beautiful scenery and very fun in our new Van. We also drove to Stinson Beach and Point Reyes. Oh, and we tried to go out and enjoy the meteor shower but it was hard with all the light pollution in the city...but we did get to see at least 5 shooting stars.




BOSTON

Harvard University

Later on in June I traveled by myself to the east coast to attend a conference. The experience was great, I have to admit being scared and missing my children too much. I was not able to adjust to the 3 hour difference, had to ditch a couple of workshops to go take a nap. I also couldn't sleep all by myself in that huge suite. I took nice long walks by the Charles River under that hot humid sticky weather. And I had an chance to see some of the most beautiful sunsets ever. I loved it!
Would I do it again? No! I think I can always do those type of trips for professional development later when my kiddos are all grown up...it can wait...but for now it was great!
Oh, the other thing I loved about being away was that my husband cleaned the house and cooked a delicious meal for me upon my return....I was impressed! My little one just wanted to be next to me too, he truly missed me.

CANCUN

Tolum

The next summer adventure was traveling to Cancun....FINALLY! what I had always dreamed of. Well, the place is gorgeous, I couldn't believe the beautiful colors of the ocean, the turquoise Mexican caribbean ocean. I was in awe. I loved it. What saddened me was the segregation between all those american tourists and the locals, so unjust. Everything costs in dollars, everything is extremely expensive and they even spoke to us in English, even though we spoke Spanish. We tried our bests to adapt and enjoy ourselves but at times it just felt weird. They also harassed us at the hotel so much into getting a stupid time share that I won't ever return there. One of the highlights of this trip was being able to meet up my parents in GDL...that was very nice. It was only for a few hours but it definitely recharged my spirit. In Cancun, I loved Isla Mujeres, I snorkeled!!! Yes, in the ocean! It was an amazing experience...I enjoyed every minute of it. We also went to an aquatic park and for the first time in many years, I felt adventurous...I jumped off the "quebrada" a 10' high cliff into the water...it was one of the best things ever. I went zip lining and we all had lots of fun.

Cancun

Tolum

On our return we got very scared due to awful turbulence, the plane shook and dropped so much I thought it was the end. I felt scared, guilt for bringing my kids on this trip, lost of things crossed my mind in those seconds. Thank God everything was fine, we were just scared...we made it safely back home. I have to say though, that my whole body was so sore, I felt sick for a few days, I think I had "susto." Anyway, at least visiting Cancun is now out of my system. I have swam in the gorgeous turquoise Mexican caribbean ocean and loved it.




POINT LOBOS -MONTEREY GET-AWAY

Point Lobos

We went to Point Lobos and it was beautiful, I hadn't been for about 10 years. Kids liked it. We also visited Monterey and Lover's point, one of my fave placed...my little one loved it, the weather was perfect, everything was perfect.







BACK HOME
My whole summer I stayed actively in search of another job...I submitted a good number of applications, a lot of them are still being processed...like my mentor says, I do a pretty good job in creating opportunities for myself...I'm glad I do, although sometimes having too many options can become a problem as I can be somewhat undeceive. I also learned that there's a lot of very nice people out there. People that I didn't know and that are willing to talk to me and help me in my decision making, that's awesome and I feel so grateful to God for it. Now I have to pay it forward, I have to help others that may need me as well. I also had a chance to plan curriculum and do different things I hadn't done before...so it felt good knowing that I'm still learning and growing as a professional. I realized also that I like creating new things and working on new projects and the job I had was pretty much going to be the same all over again and I couldn't take it anymore so I'm done. No more tension, hostility, passive aggressiveness, sabotage, etc., We only live once and therefore I need to make these type of decisions now, not when I'm old and it's too late. And at the same time, I think I'm teaching my kids about the importance of self care and not conforming to mediocracy and unhappiness. I hope this new cycle is good for me and my family. I'm still feeling that weird sensation about all these changes, but I want to be hopeful that it will be okay. "La esperanza es la ultima que muere."

Point Lobos