Day 28: Things that make me LOL

This topic is quite difficult to pinpoint what exactly makes me laugh because I am constantly laughing at everyday things. You don't even have to try to make me laugh because in all natural cases I would probably be laughing by the third sentence or so into the conversation that is if the person happens to be friendly and kind to me. Alright well here are a few things I find myself laughing at.

1. My dad's jokes - My dad could whip up a joke from thin air and have me holding my stomach from laughter. I want to say that I laugh a whole lot than I should is because I have such a visual imagination that allows to surpass the intentions of the joke. Yet, I still enjoy his jokes even if some people may not understand his humor the way I do, I don't mind being the one laughing the hardest among the crowd even if my dad needs to explain himself sometimes. 
2. My best friend's stories - Hands down my best friend is one of the best storytellers, her choice of words and actions that she takes to explain her experiences actually makes you feel like you're there with her cringing alongside, laughing, or being embarrassed all depending on the central emotion these stories are based on. Also the most sarcastic and punniest person, the fact that I can distinguish when she is being sincere or serious I could tell which expressions she used. I feel like I know her so well to that I can guess what happens in her stories before she tells me which again activates that vivid imagination of mine.
3. Watching Wipe Out with commentary - I already know what you are going to say, that laughing at people's pain is not a laughing matter but this rule does not apply when you are watching Wipe Out. Just the fact that people sign themselves up to do these stupendous obstacle courses, you pretty much gave the viewers the right to laugh. Many nights on the i-Pad I would just watch it with my dad and laugh to the point where my mom on the other side of the room have told us to be quiet. No apologies there. 
4. My twin a month apart - Alright so I have this close friend who's birthday is June 5th and mine is July 5th so I consider us to be a month apart twins. Well I have met her my freshman year of high school through my best friend, and I felt like something clicked between us. Just one of those friendships that you can instantly trust and share personal information with because you already know they can handle it. My friend has been one of the most hilarious people I have met, her stories, her reactions, her phrases, just as a whole person she is brilliant and I am really glad to have been introduced to her. Now as high school graduates we are still friends sharing laughter and stories when we can. 

Honestly I am constantly laughing, whether my laughing is legitimate or I am nervous and decide to laugh away the distress, I am simply a giggly person. I laugh at the smallest things that people may overlook at and perhaps give me odd looks for laughing at air. Sometimes I laugh at my mom when she misinterprets my question and says something completely off topic. Or when people swear in front of me and think that I haven't heard such colorful words before. I laugh when people mistaken me for a little girl and hand me goodie bags because the joke is on them! Maybe I take some things lightly but I prefer to laugh than to hold back things that are bothering me. Laughing is the cheapest medicine, the best therapy to sadness, and a great exercise for those lungs and abdominal. 

What makes you laugh?

xx Chavelita

Day 24: Working out at the gym

Before I had started going to the gym with my mom, I didn't think I would fit in at the gym because I of my size and my lack of not knowing how to work the machines. I was still keeping this mentality that I was too young to go to the gym and that the gym was just not one of those places for me. Until one day my mom knocks on my door and invites to go to the gym with her, already dressed to head out the door which is probably what motivated to go. The motivation that my mom had in me as she was pushing me softly to go to the gym, and her being dressed and was totally motivated herself to go, made me want to go. I gave the gym a chance and now I find the days I do not go to the gym to be weird. I know that another reason of mine to go to the gym was so my dad would stop using the guilt trick of being a lazy bum and leaving my mom alone to go to the gym especially now that I have time. I ran out of excuses and so I went completely head first to the gym. Thanks dad for caring about my health. (a bit of sarcasm intended but more of a genuine thanks for pushing me to do more) Now having to go the gym for multiple times this month I have learned a lot about working out around other people...

1. No one cares what you're doing or why you're doing there because for the most part they are focused on their own goals. At the beginning of the month, I felt pretty insecure that I didn't qualify to go to the gym. I kept close to my mom and she was the one who taught me how to work these new spinning bicycles that they had and the elliptical there. I would actually only do spinning because I was in front of mom in my own little comfort zone. Yeah guys, you don't need any qualifications to attend the gym. You also do not need to know how the machines work, unless you're going to use them but there are also plenty of other things you can do to obtain a great workout without them like using dumbbells or walking. Go to the gym if you want to and push yourself to go when you don't want to because after that kicking workout you will be thanking yourself. At least I know I do and always look forward to my Nature Valley bar that I reward myself after every workout. 
2. No one cares what you are wearing. I know for the fact even to save my life that I always have this little-girl-who-looks-lost-looking-for-her-mother look wearing some bright pink pants with either a proper exercising shirt or an oversize t-shirt and my bulky Nike white and pink tennis shoes. So instead of feeling like an embarrassment walking around the gym doing my own thing I might as well rock it and show the other patrons that even the little girl can do the same workouts you are doing. 
3. When working out, it is true that you do find your true zen. I am here running on the elliptical next to my mom for the first twenty or so minutes of my workout. The meter that measures my heart beat picks up pace as I progress into my first mile. 130. 145. 160. 180. The trickle of sweat sliding off the bridge of nose underneath my glasses because I do not like to wear my contacts as I workout, my breath in rhythm with my heart and it's just me running. Running off the calories. The stress. My anxiety. Leaving me literally breathless in the end with my muscles having seizures of their own. Afterward I walk on the indoor track to catch my breath and cool down. After I walk a couple of laps around, I prepare myself for my second part of the workout, which are the actual exercises. 
4. The day after soreness. Will be the enemy of your next workout because you will not want to move just to avoid the pain. At times I do let the soreness get the best of me where I retreat to watch Netflix or YouTube videos in bed. Well use that pain as your pillars to keep wanting to workout, when you feel soreness, you are feeling progress, and with progress then you get results. Not all who workout shoot for losing weight, a grand majority but not all. I have come across a lot of well fit individuals at the gym which I have had a pleasure to see because it does give me hope that someday I can have a body like there's if I strive for it. I want to be strong and not look like I am frail. I feel like many forget and the way society perceives this is that skinny people are not all fit and healthy, we also could have the potential of being out of shape. I want to gain a bit of backbone and get respect is what I am shooting for. 
5. When you take a friend to workout with you, chances are you more likely to compete. Even without a friend though you find yourself competing to do better than the day before. Pushing yourself is great because you do need it to encourage yourself to continue your set workout and or exercises. Only thing I am asking is that you are aware of your limits and that you do not cross them because you do also want to have a safe workout without any injured muscles or bones. Whenever I workout with my friend, I feel like she pushes herself more because she knows that I am watching and I do the same so I feel like it's nice to have that mutual support especially when you are starting to workout. We both try to be better with one another that we end up beating our own set goals. I know having my mom around whenever I go to the gym with her has brought lots of courage and perseverance in me. 
6. Plan out ahead what you want to accomplish and do in the gym. Think of a routine, and stick to it. Even if it's the littlest thing like go on the spinning bicycle for thirty minutes or dance Zumba for an hour. Have that game plan to refer back to so you have something to keep your progress in check. I have this bad habit of not counting how many sets of pushups I do or how many lunges I do, but if you keep count of what you do, the easier the workouts will be. Not only do you have something to do and look forward to, but you know what changes are needed to make when you start to feel like you are not getting the same results like before. 

Which workouts do you enjoy doing?

xx Chavelita

Day 17: So what about the stars?

As all of you may know about zodiac signs and how if you're in the right position of the stars and the planets and almost about every little thing that moves outside of our planet that we are meant to be have a really good day... For starters lets see what my zodiac sign, Cancer, says about me and the rest of those who fall into the same birthday range based on a few websites... To keep things brief I am only taking a few sentences from the description but I will leave the website for those who want to read in further detail.

1. "Cancerians love home-life, family and domestic settings...The moon is their ruler, so they can be a bit of a contradiction and sometimes moody. However, they are conservative, so they'll be apt to hide their moods from others altogether...Cancerians make loyal, sympathetic friends. "  Website No.1
2. "Cancer have an offbeat sense of humor, often finding something humorous that others don’t. They are extremely good listeners and have a heart for the problems of others...When a Cancer becomes your friend you can be sure that they are truly your friend and will not consider using someone to their own benefit. Cancer tend to be dependable and reliable...This sign can be moody, clingy, and often become incredibly insecure if they feel that they are about to lose the friendship or love of someone close to them." Website No.2
3. "Strengths: Compassionate, thoughtful, defensive, steadfast Weaknesses: Controlling, unable to let go of the past, lack confidence, have a bad magpie habit"Charismatic marks: Average build, round face, busty (women)" Website No.3
4. "Nurturing and protective, Cancer loves to take care of people and make everyone feel at home...Sensitive Cancer can take things personally, overreact and get upset at the drop of a hat. Mood swings are no fun to be around!" Website No.4
5. "Cancer Strength Keywords: - Loyalty - Dependable - Caring - Adaptable - ResponsiveCancer Weakness Keywords:- Moody - Clingy - Self-pitying - Oversensitive - Self-absorbed" Website No.5

Now I am not sure how accurate these websites are at evaluating people depending on the day they were born but I just cannot fathom an explanation of believing in something that I cannot comprehend. I do believe that in order to get to know someone is to actually physically give them a chance to prove themselves who they are to you. Now if you believe in your zodiac sign and the horoscopes that come along with the sign, then that is great. I believe that everyone has the free will and the right to believe in something and to have something to look up or to look forward to. Though I am certain that horoscopes are not meant for me and for me it does not define me for the person I am. Only I can define myself along with what I have learned from my experiences and from the people who have grown to know me. 

Do not get me wrong I know that my flaws could include being shy and reserved to new people and experiences, being hard on myself for not being able to explain my emotions or express my emotions to others, and jumping into conclusions but I knew these qualities before I was explained what were zodiac signs. I believe the one who noticed the most about my flaws was my mom because before I was able to gain a sense of memory she told me that I would cry if I wasn't near her. That if new people wanted to hold me she either had to be near me or I would just cry. I didn't handle new situations well and a part of me couldn't decided what I wanted. That was all before I could speak, now imagine me speaking and that just stirs up a whole another chaos within. So why would I let zodiac signs depict who I am and who I should be, when I know who I am and still figuring out what I should be? I'm pretty sure I could figure out myself more for observing my actions rather than looking up in the sky waiting for the stars to wink at me. 

What is your zodiac sign, and do you believe in it?

xx Chavelita 

Day 15: The wildest day

Well the challenge today was to bullet point my day from start to finish, but between you and me I did nothing but lay in bed and wishing for my headache or migraine of whatever it was that was bothering inside my head to go away. Yet I will still bullet point my day and we will both see how much of a productive person I can be.

• I woke up around 9:45 in the morning to the sound of my mom knocking on my door to announce that she had made oatmeal to accomdate the four week diet she has been partaking in
• I got up, took out my retainer (gotta keep those teeth in place don't want those four years of braces to just go down the pipes) and I brushed my teeth. Not sure if I'm the only one who does this about after I brush my teeth I like to give myself a big open smile half reason to see if I brushed properly and other half to make me laugh because let's face it (pun intended) making faces in the mirror is pretty hilarious 
• I had my oatmeal with my mom that I'm surprised to say that I finished the whole serving because normally half way through I'm tapping out 
• My mom left to go to the gym, I stayed at home this time because I wasn't feeling my charming best to be running on the elliptical so I decided to stay and watch a few subscribed YouTube videos specifically The Saccone-Jolys that post their daily vlogs at six GMT which is around eleven over here 
• I had a lie down day in bed and watched Goodbye Life, Hello Sister and was able to guess the typical plot of the movie without watching it so I found to he unimpressed. Which is quite upsetting because I'm finding it harder to watch original plotted movies that have unexpected twists and drops maybe I'm just not looking in the right place... 
• I had flatbread for the first time during lunch time with my mom and I was not disappointed! 
• Then of course I watched One Day again and got easily excited to find out that July 15th was the day that both characters would meet each other to catch up on their lives and well you look at that today it's also July 15th! (That was probably the highlight of my day to be honest...)
• Near 3:30 I gave my mom company as she drove to the local university to go pick up my brother and take him to his referee job 
• For dinner I had teriyaki chicken with asparagus and carrots. I had asparagus for the second time only this time I was actually able to taste the flavor of asparagus and well it kind of tasted like lettuce to me which I'm not complaining. Asparagus tastes good and it also looks like such a fancy veggie. 
• I went for another lie down in bed to finish One Day and still felt the same emotions like the first time I watched it even though I already knew what to expect and I even prepared myself but we all know that doesn't work. 
• Now after eating some creamy peach yogurt, helping my mom put the cover on top of our new swimming pool, I am now watching HGTV shows on Netflix with my mom. 

Yeah my day is as typical as it gets when I don't have any plans and I fall off the radar for a bit. Though I don't mind relaxing days but yeah it does get tiring to lounge around the house throughout the week so hopefully I feel better tomorrow and that I have some sort of plans to take my mind off my random panics of starting college. 

What was the highlight of your day?

xx Chavelita 

Life is precious

As something that is expected, could easily be taken advantage of such as life. Not everyone is guaranteed a life, but those who were blessed enough to be given one chance at this confusing but amazing living time on Earth are not appreciating this wonderful gift. I have found myself many times of not being grateful for this life I have and as awful as that sounds it's like I am living in a mode where I live to just see the next day. Everyday living to reach the next day and some part of me feels like life is much more than that and that there is so much more to offer that I am clearly not seeing.

I was about the age of thirteen when my life was shaken for a moment. On the bus heading home from middle school, I typically spent the bus ride goofing around with my two closest friends and singing along to the latest tunes of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga that the bus rider was kind enough to play loudly on the speakers. When I reached home I called out, "MOM I'M HOME!" as I normally do to announce that I made it home safely. Only this time I was not getting any response. Strange enough if my mom were to go somewhere or leave she would of told me something, right? Trying my best to stay calm I go check to see if my mom was sleeping in her bed, my dad at the time he was out of town in a training to prepare for another deployment he was going later in the year. I should explain that without warning, because that is just how life likes to take action, my mom was feeling ill a few days before and as to this day I have no idea to explain the pain she must of been to not be able to button her own pants or change her clothes.

Back to story, at this point I was beyond terrified because now the only thought that was on loop was that she was in the hospital and that somehow her condition worsen. My mom wouldn't pick up the phone and I had no way to contact my dad to ask what was going on. He was not even on the island at the time, and both of my brothers have not made it back to the house. I turned on the television in my mom's room to calm myself down but I wasn't even paying attention to what was airing, I felt frozen with fear and I began to cry. Not one of those pretty cries, not that any cry is pretty, but it was one of those uncontrollable cries where you shook so much and that at that moment is where I felt like my brain wasn't working. Several minutes have passed and my phone began to ring, it was one of my mom's friends who lived just a few blocks from us. In Spanish, she asked, "You know that your mom is in the hospital?" and there was this silence and this awful pang of disbelief and anger that my conclusions were correct. Drawing conclusions should be the total opposite of what is happening and for once I did not want my conclusions to be right. Took so much to hold myself together on that phone call, where I mainly listened but when I had to answer back I would swallow profusely to hide the fact that of all things, of course I wasn't fine. All I wanted was someone to be there with me to just hold me and remind me of how life could play some cruel tricks but that things would or could get better. I remember my mom's friend telling me that she was coming to pick me up so she can take me to the hospital to see her and I said okay, hung up, and cried.

I picked myself up, wiped away the tears, popped a piece of gum in my mouth because I have learned that keeping my mouth closed to fight back the tears will not work but if I had something occupying my mouth that I would fight through it, and waited for her to come get me. On the way there I did not talk much, not that I speak much as it is, but my mind was roaring with questions. What happened to my mom? Was she okay? Did they find out what was wrong with her? Is she coming home tonight? Was anyone able to contact my dad? This was the first time I was allowed to go to the side of hospital where they kept the patients overnight. The sensation was foreign, I felt that I was not supposed to be there and that someone was going to tell me that I couldn't enter and redirect me to the same entrance. Only I wasn't and now being lead to the end of the hall, my mom was in the second to last room to the left side of me. Memories like these do not just disappear with time but are just faded scars. They're enough to be seen but not a deep wound that everyone questions. She laid there in the hospital bed wearing the typical hospital gown and socks that had grips at the bottom of the feet to prevent her from slipping if she were to get out of bed. This was definitely the moment where I realized how much of my life is revolved around my mom and it upsets me how terrible things have to turn out in order to take full appreciation of what we may have. No one wants to see their parents in a hospital bed with an IV running through their veins.

I thank God so much that now that I am about to turn eighteen that I still have this chance to spend my moments with my mom and with my loved ones. She is indeed my everything and without her, I wouldn't be the same person I am today. I also cannot thank enough for my mom's friends for taking care of me and my brothers. For letting me have a place to stay so I wouldn't be left alone in the house, feeding me when I did not have the motivation to eat and for giving me a ride to school (and for also teaching me about my worth and value on that car trip to school but that is another story). Your support and love will forever be remembered and if you are reading this I am certain you know who you are and how much I love you all.

Life comes unannounced and most certainly life comes quick. Your life is valuable, you have the power to do anything that you want, and most important that life is precious. A gift that not everyone receives. If you are going through some tough times remember that you have the ability to make the tough times your steps in success or the anchor to your ship. Depends on how you want to take life by the reins and there is definitely support out there, ask for it and the help is all yours. Lastly just like the sermon I heard at church yesterday, your life is right in front of you if only you are willing to look up from the distractions.

What are you most grateful for?

xx Chavelita