Good-bye 2009

Happy New Years Eve to everyone. I hope that everyone has a happy and safe New Years. You are all in my thoughts. Talk to you all in 2010.

Taking out the OLD, Bringing in the NEW

I can't believe that New Years Eve is tomorrow. I am still working on my 2010 to-do list but until then I wanted to post something else. I have received this from numerous friends and thought that it was appropriate enough and very well put so I wanted to share with everyone.

HANDBOOK 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.. 4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive
present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin
your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum
that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything..
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Back to Work

Christmas has passed but the spirit is still here.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas with your family. I had a very nice quiet and relaxing Christmas and weekend. It was just what we needed. The kids had a great time and so did we. Everything just went smoothly. This whole season has been wonderful. We have been so blessed to have so many people to spend time with this holiday season but most importantly I have been blessed to have Jose and the kids. Each year is just another little reminder of how lucky I truly am.

Now we look to the New Year. First and foremost, I want this coming year to be better than the last. Isn't that what we always strive for. I am going to be working on my famous to-do list for 2010 this week. I am hoping to get it posted on here for New Years of shortly after. I will also be going over last years list and see how I did. Maybe I will have to bump some onto this years again...lol. Talk to you all soon !

I also want to include more pics in the blog this year so I am posting this pic because I think that it is just beautiful and reminds us of the innocentness of childhood.

Our Perfect Place

Well this will be our second Christmas here in NC. It will be our second Christmas of new traditions and new beginnings. We will be spending it at home in our jammies watching the kids open presents. I will take tons of pics and share them with you all as usual. We want you all to see the kids growing before your very eyes. This year CJ understands a little bit more about Christmas and what it means. Nathan and Larissa haven't asked for much at all for Christmas. I could take that as they already have so much or I could take it as they are truly amazing kids who are thankful for what they have. I choose to believe that they are amazing kids. After all, they are my kids. :o)

I can't believe that we have been here this long already. Living here feels so natural like this is where we were meant to be. It's amazing that we spent so much time in one place not knowing what else is out there. We hope that at some point, every one of our family and friends in RI can take a trip here to see why we love it so much. We are lucky enough to have enough room for plenty of visitors so don't hesitate.

I don't know if we will spend the rest of our lives here in NC but I do know that we will not spend it in RI. We are truly blessed with all the family and friends that we had to leave behind in RI. We can always look back and know that we have nothing but great memories. We even anticipate visiting often and seeing everyone again but now having seen what else there is out there, it has just opened our eyes to so much more. RI is where Jose and I spent most of our lives. It is where our children were born. It will always be a piece of our lives and our hearts. But we have to look forward to our future and we have so much more here. Concord, NC is not perfect for everyone but it is perfect for us at this moment in our lives. I hope that everyone out there can find their perfect place for them, no matter where that place might be. There is such a satisifaction in knowing that you are where you want to be and where you should be.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and although I am working, I do not know if I will have time to post. So I want to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas !

Christmas is coming !

I can't believe that Christmas is Friday. Where does the time go? Don't get me wrong, I am more than ready for Christmas but it seems like this year has just flown by.

Let's see...the Christmas tree is up, the decorations are outside, the gifts are all bought, 1/3 of the gifts are wrapped (2/3 will be wrapped after tonight) and I have to go grocery shopping tonight for Christmas Dinner.

I can't wait for Christmas. I can't wait to see the kids faces on Christmas morning. I can't wait to spend the day helping them pull everything out of the boxes and bags and going through it all. The joy of being so innocent. The simplest things make the kids happy. We get so worked up in the buying and sending of gifts that we forget to slow down and enjoy it all. This Christmas season has been wonderful for me. I have so much to be thankful for and so many people to be thankful for. There are so many people out there that have so much less than we do. Those without jobs or worst yet, without homes. Those that have lost loved ones and those that won't get to spend Christmas with their loved ones. I just want everyone to take some time on Christmas and take a look around at what you have. You might not have gotten what you wanted for Christmas or you might not have been able to give your kids and family members what you would have liked but don't you have what really matters?

I hope that everyone had a very merry christmas and a happy new year from my family to yours.

RIP Bianca Chanise Borges

Today my little girl would have been 16. I will never know what she would have looked like or what she would be like but I do know that she is looking down on me and her siblings and smiling. I will never forget her and I will never allow my children to forget that they have a sister who is an angel.

Happy Birthday and Rest In Peace. We love you and miss you !

Tuesday

Hey Everyone. Today is Tuesday. Last night we took pics for our Christmas cards finally. Hopefully I can get them done and out tomorrow or the next day the latest so that you can all get them in time for xmas. What a hassle it was to keep everyone still and smiling. But the overall outcome was really great. I love the way the pics came out and can't wait to share them with everybody.

Tonight Nathan has boy scouts. It is their Chrsitmas party combined with thier ceremony to give badges too. I wish that I remembered the name of that but unfortunately I don't quite have the terminology down yet. Nathan will be getting his first boy scout badge tonight. He is super excited and we will be sure to take pics so you will all have that to look forward to.

I called Larissa to make sure that the battery for the camera is on the charger for tonight and she informed me that my mother is decorating the outside of the house. So maybe I will have some pics of that too, who knows.

I actually downloaded all the pics from my camera yesterday when we did our Christmas pics so I will be able to share them with you all once I get them in some kind of order so that you know what you are looking at. I don't even remember what was there but I am sure you will enjoy them, regardless of what they are.

Hope everyone has a great night, I know we will. Talk soon !