New Year, New Resolution

2011. A new year to start over. Last year has gone like the wind without warning me that the new year was near. Sometimes we think the end of the year is far away but time flies without us noticing. Now, we must welcome and embrace the new year. New beginning to start over. If last year was not your year, this one still has potential. An opportunity to start over and reach your goals once again. As you start a new journey remember that yesterday is gone and tomorrow still remains.

My new years resolution: Embrace what I am blessed with and take care of myself. (Physically, and mentally)

My Nominations for Inspirational Women in my Life

1. My sister Kenny Diaz: For all of my life, my sister has gone beyond playing the role of a sister. She has been my friend, my mother, my sister, my teacher, my adviser, my therapist, and one of my writing inspirations. Since I was old enough to have a concrete thought, I have always admired my sister. She is a true warrior princess (like Xena) that has gone through all the bumps and dead ends of life. Even when life didn’t make sense to her, she was mature enough to surpass it. A description of her: Strong, fearless, fighter, faithful, loyal, trusting, stern, aggressive, accomplished, loving, wife, mother, sister, daughter, forgiving, kind, passionate, hard-working, realistic, and beautiful. Over the course of my lifetime, my sister has always been someone I have admired, want to be and sometimes afraid to disappoint. Growing up, she always made me feel good about myself and helped me develop my backbone. Now, I am her younger adult sister that she still sees as her little sis, and she is my older sister that has been married 16 years and has 3 beautiful children to be proud of. Although life has never been easy to her, she manages better than anyone I know. So I propose a toast, to a woman who has inspired me, to a person I hope to be at least a small amount alike, and to the woman I am grateful to have in my life, my sister Kenny.

2. Adrian Kendrick: Here is a woman who always seemed very modest, down-to-earth, and shy. Getting to know her was certainly my pleasure. Not only is she a passionate and creative writer but she is also a very humble person. People like Adrian are rare in this world. Everyone holds their guard up because we have such a bad judgment of people in general. However, I instantly grew fond of this woman because she very similar to how I am. Although I must say, she is far more ambitious than I am which is why she has succeeded beautifully. Life hasn’t always been easy, but if someone knows how to look past the bad to get to the good, it’s Adrian. Her foundation should be an example to everyone. God is her foundation. If advice is needed on anything, she is always there to help. Even when there were sleepless nights, long studying hours and out-of-mind experiences, you would still see her the next day in her stylish clothes working on her articles. So I say cheers, to a friend I will always admire and hope to have in my life for many years.

3. Taylor Swift: Tall, Blonde, curly hair, red lipstick, dresses, thin, and amazing voice. All these are words that embrace Taylor Swift. Even though she is younger than me, (by one year) I truly admire her. It’s not the fact that she is young and successful, (although that is admirable) but the fact that she is humble and true to herself. I know the world is cruel and pressure is very intense on celebrities, but yet Taylor is a strong women who has not let the fame take over her. I know the magazines and tabloids are waiting around anxiously waiting for her to “mess up.” I want to say to does people who want to destroy her image, to get a life. I will cheer for Taylor always because I truly believe that unlike other young celebrities, she will always stay true to herself. I love the fact that she writes wonderful songs about boys who are immature to let a wonderful woman like her go. If she weren’t famous, there wouldn’t be so much pressure to “never make mistakes” but on the other hand, she wouldn’t be blessed with the successful career she has. Life is not easy and there are always pros and cons to decisions we make it. So I say cheers to a young and extremely talented woman who will continue to inspire me and make me smile with her wonderful songs.

4. Maya Angelou: Dr. Maya Angelou is a remarkable Renaissance woman who is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary literature. As a poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, she continues to travel the world, spreading her legendary wisdom. Inspiration is a word that identifies Maya Angelou. When I first read her poems, I was dumb-founded by such profound and beautiful words that embrace my mind. Her words are powerful and have very meaningful value. Her books make us cry and yearn for more. She has seen it all in life and yet has persevered through it. To you Dr. Maya Angelou, I say thank you for existing and sharing with the world your profound words.

5. Beyonce: Strong, bold, feminine, smart, artistic, dancer, singer, chic, fierce, nice, and etc. Since I was in 5^th grade, I fell in love with a group called Destiny’s Child. Theirs songs were always blasting from my cd player. As the group became more successful, the light was shinning on Beyonce. Now, about a decade later she has become her own empire. Her latest tour was phenomenal. A world tour with millions of crying fans singing and watching her perform. Although we would like to say she is perfect, no one is perfect. Even Beyonce has her bad moments but through it all this ambitious and passionate woman earned the respect of many. To Beyonce, I say cheers and hope that your life continues to direct you in the path that will lead you to eternal happiness.

Getting ready for ...winter road trip!

Friday night...or it might be Saturday morning when we head out on the road...again! About 2 months ago...I was on the road from my former home (California) to my current home (Washington). The trip started out well because of all the sight-seeing and the changes of weather. However, after a certain time on the road, I started to get restless. There were sleepless nights, crappy junk food, and the enclosed smell of a small car. By the end of this trip, I was angry, happy, emotional, and extremely tired.

With this in mind, I am excited about going to visit my future in-laws, but I am still very nervous about going on a road trip again. In addition, this time there are greater nerve-wreckers. Firstly, the weather...its winter, there is snow every where, ice on the road, heavy rain, and wind. That in itself has heighten my anxiety. To top it off, we have to top about 5-6 states! So much for quitting my nail-bitting addiction.

Nevertheless, I am trying to keep a positive attitude and enjoy my time with Josh on the road. I am excited to go back to the state I fell in love with and of course spend time with family for Christmas.

In all, I am praying to God to keep us safe and that we will get there well and safe. I know in the end, I can't do anything about past experiences but I can embrace the one ahead.

I made a really good cheesecake!

About two weeks ago, I decided to be "adventurous" and make this amazing cheesecake that caught my eye. I attempted to recreate the "caramel apple cheesecake" created by the wonderful and amazing Paula Deen. The first time I flipped the channel to the food network and saw Paula Deen, I set the remote on the table. She is an amazing cook, (not the kind my sister would follow lol) the expert in comfort food plus I have a love/hate relationship with her southern accent. I was soo inspired by the delicious-looking pie infront of me! I decided to make it.

Here are the ingredients:

• 1 (21-ounce) can apple pie filling
• 1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust
• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup caramel topping
• 12 pecan halves, plus 2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Everything seemed pretty simple but the absolute best part of the cheesecake were the caramelized apples! The cheesecake itself is a simple regular cheesecake but before you put the batter on top of the graham cracker crust, you pour some of the apple filling on top of it and then the cheesecake batter over it. AND...to top it of....the topping is caramelized apples and chopped pecans!

MMM...and the end result....it was soo delicious! Josh loved it and I was very proud.

Exercise.....?

It's Tuesday evening and I can't fight my mind anymore. My body is saying "no, be lazy...it’s more comfortable." Then my mind is saying, "No...You are too young to be lazy and not be fit. There are too MANY good reasons why you should exercise...the pros outweigh the cons!" Finally I decided to shut my mind and take out my weights and EXERCISE. Wow....me exercising?...But that being said, I did it I exercised! I started out stretching of course (which I am horrible at!) then began doing arm workouts with the weights. Not bad...then began the lunges and squats. I did 20 reps of each and started feeling the stinging burn that my body so tried to avoid. I told myself "keep going you can do it! You are tough! You are confident!! The only one bringing you down is yourself!"

The reason for exercising Now: I wanted to have a toned body especially my legs and buttocks! In addition, for more energy and to finally start my climb to good health.

Exercise...so many people do it, yet so many other people don’t. When you start, you are hopeful but the key is CONSISTENCY. If you are not consistent, then it becomes another goal that was never accomplished.

I hope to be consistent because even when your body is resisting just like life, you have to keep going and never give up.

Reality check!

This picture, saying...is very true but its not always easy. How many times have I looked in my past and said wow! I was very successful and happy! Today its not my relationships or achievements or past failures or accomplishments that make me question what I want, Its the fact that I doubt myself instead of being confident. And being confident is not relying on thy self but on the Lord. So I need to tell my self that I am not alone and I can make mistakes and I can embrace change because God will give me the confidence and faith to do so.

maybe its the sleep...

As my first blog, I wanted to share how exactly I am feeling right now. For starters, I have a very odd sleeping schedule (don't ask me why) and when I am awake I can be a grouch. Now, keeping that in mind I feel like at this point in my life I don't have a right to feel the way I feel. I feel SAD, LONELY, and PASSIVE. It might have something to do with the fact that for the past month I wake up at odd hours (ex. 3am, 12am,6am) and can't fall back asleep. My mind bothers me soo much because I cant shut it down. When I am awake, I feel very anxious and weird. When I am trying to sleep my mind keeps racing at maximum velocity. I've tried sleeping pills, I've tried reading right before bedtime, and drinking tea before bedtime. The pills work until I wake up with a migraine. I guess I can call it insomnia if that's what it is. This is the reason I'm so frustrated that I feel lonely,sad, and not caring sometimes. Oh, and the reason why I believe even though I feel this way I don't have a right to, is because I am very blessed! I have a supporting family, a loving fiancée, I just graduated with my Associates Degree, I am set to move to Indiana next year to go to school for my bachelors, etc. However there are quite a few changes that have happened in this past month. I moved away from my family, I quit my awesome job because I moved states, I don't know anyone here in Washington except my fiancée, and I am no longer in school. I never thought soo many changes in such a short amount of time, could affect me. ME. The person who had EVERYTHING figured out. Yeah right! I don't know maybe its the lack of sleep or the change that makes me realize I need to move on...so I can be at peace of mind.