a rekindled love

this story starts way back in elementary school. now my memory isn't that great so i'm sure this will be the vaguest story ever. i was in 6th grade in a school that went up to 8th. 6th, 7th and 8th graders were pretty much separated from the 'younger' kids and we got to participate in more activities, of course, right? (this is when i started to play basketball, one of my all time loves) ... but also we got to take part in a bowling league after school if we wanted. and i did. i must have bowled for 2 years on the league, then the school closed and so was the end of my bowling career. my mom used to bowl every week on an adult league and i would go with her and watch. i loved to bowl so much that my mom bought me my very own ball. but as things do so often, bowling got pushed aside. once in a while i would bust out my ball and bowl with some friends. but nowhere even close to often enough.

fast forward to married life. now, those of you that know carlos, know that the 'social scene' is not one of his favorites. and i would guess that bowling falls into that category. "i get bored after a couple frames," he tells me. he's humored me two, maybe three, times in our 13 years of marriage. and i respect him enough to not push him to go with me. besides, we have enough other things in common to keep us busy. (i will say that he has actually gone once since we've lived in cali. and i'm sure it was only because our friends, greg and angie, asked us to go with them.) ...

to get back to my story ...

once we started having kids, forget about 'me time'. well, not completely, but at least all the fringe stuff. so my ball (like carlos' golf clubs) sat up on a shelf in the garage collecting dust and who knows what else. maybe it's just me, but as a mom i've lost all identity. i've become mom and wife and coming up a distant, distant third myself. carlos often tells me,
"go and do something for yourself." my response, "i don't know what i would do."
"go to starbucks, grab a coffee and read." read? "no way. i've never enjoyed reading."
"why don't you scrapbook?" "because i'm already too far behind that it stresses me out just thinking about it."
"go for a run." yeah right, i really hate to exercise. BUT if i could play basketball, now you're talking. (i think that's the only 'identity' i've held onto all these years.)

so that brings me to last night. i was out bowling until 12:30am, yes AM! with greg and angie. (and you all know how much i LOVE to sleep) i had such a great time. i actually bowled pretty well, for not bowling for years and years. but not as well as greg ... he bowled a 300!! what a blast! greg and angie are on a couple leagues, i'm hoping to be able to join them some day!!

... so?, my rekindled love? ... BOWLING!

(sorry to those of you that thought this was going to be all mushy or spiritual),
nic

15 more days!

but who's counting? ... me obviously ...

let the lists begin! so much needs to be done before i leave and so much needs to happen while i am away. BUT all the preparations and all the arrangements that need be get done for the kids while i am gone is most definitely worth it. i can't believe that i will be in liverpool in just 2 short weeks. i can't even begin to imagine all the emotions i will go through. what will it be like to be 'just visiting' and not having a place of my own? what will it be like to be there without carlos and my kids? how in the world is 5 days enough to visit all the people i want to see? is there enough mealtimes to visit all of my favorite restaurants? WOW, i can't wait to see everyone. i can't wait to see faces that i've missed for 8 months. i can't wait to see my family (biological and chruch) and hug them until it hurts. ALL this is so much more important than my FEAR of flying. i still can't believe that i have to fly by myself - YIKES! this coming from the girl that get's sick just driving by an airport. oh well, i guess i'll be growing up pretty quickly in that area. a wise women once told me (mama J.!), "if you're meant to get shot, you won't get hung." (or i think that's how it went) but the meaning is still very evident. don't live in fear of death, because when it's going to happen, it'll happen and i have no say in it.

love to you all!
nic

Hannah And Me

This is my friend Hannah. She lives down the street from me!!! We are in the same class in school!! And I just wanted to share a note that she gave me on Valentine's Day!
And it said:

Hi Lexi,
I am so glad GOD made us friends, and also I'm so glad that GOD made us!!!!You are the bestest friend a girl like me could ever have!!!! Also your family is so awesome!!!! Expecially YOU are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well g2g bye
I love you,
Hannah.

I am soooooooooooooooooooo glad GOD provided Hannah to me!!!!!!!! Even though I miss my other best friends Katie and Sarah A LOT, I think Hannah is a great friend!!!!!!!
I love you all,
Lexi Cueva

quick catch-up

so much has happened since i've last posted an entry. so much that i don't even know where to start.

let me first start by saying ... 22 more days until i take my trip to NY!!! i am so looking forward to connecting with people that i miss and love so much. there is NO WAY that 5 days will be enough ... i am hoping that going to the 'girlfriends' event on the 14th will allow some much needed time to connect with friends and that palm sunday will give me the time i need with my family.

to put it simply ... i've had an interview for an administrative assistant job at another church that i was sure to get, but didn't. i've picked up a couple cleaning jobs and am looking for a couple more to bring us close to surviving out here. God has been so incredibly gracious to us, and has provided all we need. i know that won't change, but we are feeling tremendous pressure for me to find some sort of income. so ... i clean. the two jobs i already have, have come to me by way of our 'west coast mexitalian family' - Angie and Greg. God just keeps blessing our family through them. i am cleaning the beauty salon and their house. i am continuing to wait for doors to open (and close) in hope to find more opportunities. my prayer is to not work at the expense of being around for my kids. and i think that cleaning lends itself to that. i'm looking to fill my monday's and maybe another day ... i'll keep you posted.

yesterday was such a fun day for us. carlos and i took the kids to a nearby park and had a picnic. we played soccer, baseball, and flew the remote plans that were gifts from uncle mike and aunt paula. what a blast!! i can't believe how nice the weather is. to be playing outside in the winter with shorts and being able to wash the cars - it is taking some getting used to.

alright, for now i must go. i am so behind in all aspects of my life. the papers from the kids school are piled HIGH. each piece needs to be read and filed in either one of the keep files or the trash. laundry is also backed up ... and not just the dirty, but the 'to be folded' and the 'to be put away' piles. about the only thing that i'm not behind in is sleep. i slept almost 12 hours last night. CRAZY, huh? i guess i needed it.

thanks for putting up with my rambling,
nic

maybe this time ...

everytime i go to post an entry, something comes up. our computer has been on the fritz for the past few days and things are crazy around here. anyway ... YES, my family made it back from mexico safe and sound. they had a good time. the kids wish they could have interacted, verbal, more with the kids, but they did just fine playing and doing crafts with them. thank you to all that prayed!

tony and me? we (or should i say 'I') locked ourselves out of the house the day los was in mexico. and guess where our other key was - in mexico! i think i should make another copy and hide it some where outside. i'll have to tell the whole story next time ... i've got to run now!

nic

mexico bound

just a quick entry to ask all that are reading this today to pray for 3 of our family members. carlos and alexis and jackson are going to mexico today, (hopefully are already there but i haven't heard anything yet). they are going to visit and minister to an orphanage there. they went with carlos' cousins, who go there once a month or so.

tony and i are having a fun day to ourselves.

thanks for your prayers for a safe return. hopefully, carlos will take pictures that i can post.

nic

many thanks

thanks everyone, for your love and support after reading my last blog entry. sorry i was such a downer ...
that day has come and gone and now i am thrusted back into life (not like i ever left). i do need to tell you of one more thing that happened that day that made the day even worse. I FORGOT TO PICK THE KIDS UP FROM SCHOOL! WOW, talk about a messed up day. probably not many of you know that 2 of my kids get out at 2pm EVERY THURSDAY. i guess i just forgot that it was thursday. that evening we were having some friends over for dinner so i was cooking up a storm. i even made sauce from scratch-scratch (not just opening some cans of crushed tomatoes and adding my seasonings) carlos' mom gave us a bunch of ripe tomatoes, so i thought i'd try to make my sauce from them. it came out quite good, if i do say so myself and our guests agreed. so anyway, i was cooking and my phone rang. i didn't answer it, of course, because if i don't recognize the #, i don't answer it. the person (lex) didn't leave a message, so i just went about my business. a little while later (it was 2:38p), it rang again, this time it was the school's number. lex was on the other end and for a moment i was scared because i thought something had happened to her. nope, that wasn't the case. she said. "mom, where are you?" then it hit me, it's thursday!! ah man, i felt terrible. and the thing that makes me laugh the most about it now is what jackson said to lex as they were waiting for me, "maybe she got hurt or something and is dead." i feel so horrible for the mental pain i put them both through. BUT the evening progressively got better, i am happy to say. we really enjoyed the company of our dinner guests and dinner came out great ;)

thanks again for your prayers and concerns.
nic