Blogging

Blogging, it has been fun and interesting. I have never blogged before so this was all new to me. I did enjoy it and the comments that I got. I didn’t think that I was going to enjoy it. I did like getting the comments on my writing and thoughts. I am not sure if I am going to continue or not. That doesn’t mean I won’t do it in the future. This was a good experience and I learned some things about myself. I liked the blogs and think it was a really good idea.

Kauai

The time that was amazing for me was not to long ago. I recently went on vacation to Kauai. Wow, it was beautiful and the weather was perfect. I went with my husband, son and husbands family. Flying in I could see the island and the water and of the lush plants. My favorite was this secret beach that we went to it was like a postcard. The sand was smooth and the water was so clear. My son was in love he didn’t want to get out. We were able to see such beautiful fish and coral. My husband and I snorkeled it was breath taking. Where we were it was full of palm trees and we were able to walk out so far into the water since it was rock underneath for miles and out in the distance the waves were crashing. Another event was the luau we went to, it was really cool. We toured the gardens ate and saw the pig roasting and saw the dancers. The food was so good and so much to choose from. Honestly the fruit was amazing. It was so juicy and sweet a perfect ending to the meal. The dancers were so entertaining they told stories and used fire and beautiful costumes. The beautiful scenery of Kauai was heaven it was so green and the air was so fresh. The whole trip was so great the best part was being with my family. My husband and son made this trip unforgettable.

Meat is it what's for dinner?

I thought of reviewing a no meat eating diet. I have recently tried to go back to only eating fish, and still getting my nutrients that I need. If anyone is interested about this here is some information I gathered. A lot of people think that it is unhealthy to exclude meat, chicken, pork, etc from your daily diet. I want to share that you can get a good amount of protein and nutrition from this. There are some amazing brands that have a variety of options, and tastes really good. My favorite is the Morning Star non-chicken patties. They tastes really good, it has a crunchy crust and a hearty flavor. It is a great substitute for chicken patties and not as fatty. Other brands I would recommend are Boca burgers and Andreas. There are enchiladas, lasagna, and pizzas, really anything you can think of. In my opinion it tastes better and it has a good amount of protein. Another way to substitute protein is by adding tofu, it woks great! Tofu really has no taste so whatever sauces you cook it in or smoothies it takes that taste. I know for me it was hard in the beginning when I had no idea about what I was going to eat and if it was healthy for me. So if anyone is interested in trying any of these products I would recommend it. I think most people would be surprised at how nutritious and good it is.

Fast Food Nation

After reading Fast Food Nation, I was really glad that I did. I learned so much about the fast food industry. It really has changed my views on fast food and eating there. I could not believe some of the things that I read. After reading each chapter I found myself telling my husband about the information I learned. The chapter that really disturbed me was the meat chapter. Learning about all the different chemicals that were put into the food to give it flavor surprised me too. I can’t believe that the fast food industry can do the things they do.
Like I had mentioned before about the meat chapter, that stuck with me. Honestly, now when I see the fast food billboards I get grossed out. It really was sad, and disturbing. I used to only eat fish for two years and I started eating meat again. I was really healthy and got all my nutrients despite what some may say. I was debating going back to just fish and after reading this I want to even more. I am going on vacation with my husband and his family so it may be hard if everyone thinks I’m not eating meat. It really is a social thing, I realized that from before people think it is harder to accommodate you. I’m just going to do it again and not mention anything at first. As of right now I have no craving for meat and even chicken at all so I’ll just see how it goes.

My thuth and this semester

My Truth: I am three months pregnant and excited!

I started this semester out hoping to do well in my classes. I am really happy that I stuck to it. For a while it was hard to stick all the way through the semester. Now I feel like I am able to focus more and stay motivated. Don’t get me wrong at times it gets hard with family and school, but it works out. For me finishing this English class is an accomplishment. I took English two other times before this and stopped in the middle. I am happy with my progress and so happy to finish the class without dropping it.
This semester I started taking a political science class along with this class and kickboxing. I did decide to drop my political science class but I am happy I did. I really didn’t connect with the way the teacher taught or tried to organize the work, it wasn’t the right class for me. I felt that it did give me more time to concentrate on my other classes. It was hard being away from my son for six hours two days out of the week. That is what makes things difficult I want to get my schooling done and also be spend good time with my son. I am happy for this semester and school in general. I am currently pregnant and know that I will take at least two semesters off. My son is what motivated me to keep going to school and I will. With another baby on the way I know it will take longer to finish but I won’t let that stop me. I think that little by little I will get to my goal. I think of it as I can do one or two classes and spend time with my family. In a few years from now those two classes at a time will add up and I will be happy I continued my schooling and was able to be there with my kids.

Find the truth

1)I have a dog named Rocky.
2)My favorite ice cream flavor is mint.
3)I am 3 months pregnant, and excited.
4)I love to do essays on the weekends.
5)I was born in Oxnard.
6)My favorite food is lamb chops.

Smile!

My new post is the picture of my son.

Growth and Maturity

From now and my past I have changed my opinion on so many things. I can’t even remember some of the things that I thought were so important at the time. I look back and wonder how I could have thought the way I did. I can say that a lot of my growth and change in opinions are due to maturity and experiences. I can especially say that when it comes to what I think is most important.

            When I was younger I used to think that going out and hanging out with friends was the most important thing. I was so focused on being “cool.” Working out and having fun I wanted to get married and settle down, eventually. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to have children, I was worried about gaining weight. When I look back I think of how silly that sounded. After I met my husband and found out I was pregnant it changed a lot of things. Through my experiences and maturity I saw what was really important. I am so happy to have a family and especially my son. I wouldn’t change my life now for anything. It doesn’t matter about trying to be cool and hanging out with friends. As I got older I have two or three friends that I keep contact with. Being home with my family is what is really important. After one look at my son putting on a few more pounds was definitely worth it. Now it’s all about him and my husband, and finding time to manage my time. I didn’t think I would be able to take on family and my personal routines, but I have and it’s better than I imagined it would be.

Family

           Many people have different definitions as to what a family is. For me a family is a loving support system that you can always count on. I'm not saying that things are always perfect. There are fights, disagreements, and, you do bump heads every now and then. The thing that binds everything is the unconditional lovethat just comes from being a family.
           Throughout my life I have had my childhood years, my not so smart years, my growing up years, and now. In my not so smart years I bumped heads a lot with my father. He was in the military at the time so he was always very strict and punctual. I remember times I thought I would never talk to him again. I thought he didn't understand, and he should just let me do what I wanted. Obviously, I was very stubborn and hard headed that is why we clashed at times; I get it from him. Now that I look back I wonder how he put up with my attitude. What was I thinking? Not just that my mother had to go through the fighting and trying to stay neutral. I can honestly say that was definitely unconditional love.
           As I got older I started to see things a little better. My family and I had our moments and my brother was now getting onto his not so smart years. Through it all we managed to stay a tight family. Despite all the arguments I always knew that my parents and brother loved me very much, as did I. My father suffered through a stroke and we were all very worried. It was hard because he was always so tough. The doctors said that he wouldn't be able to walk again. It took some time a few months but he did it. We all really came together and through love, support, and prayer we got through it. Today my father walks, runs you wouldn't know that he had a stroke. That moment I really saw how blessed I was to have my family.
           Now I am a mother and I have a family of my own. I now see so clearly why my parents told me the things that they did. I see why they didn't let me do what I wanted and go where I wanted. I am so grateful that they cared that much to say no. When I see my son now he is not even two yet but I am worried. I wonder what will I do when he gets older? I'm glad that I can look back and see that it won't be the end of the world when he gets mad at me. It will still hurt when we fight I'm sure but I'm not trying to be cool; I'll just try to be a mom. I love my family and it is only growing. My husband is so loving and his family is great. I am so happy to have such a strong family and no matter what there will always be unconditional love.

My son

I thought I had everything figured out I was going to cosmetology school and had an awesome boyfriend. All I had to worry about was school and what I was going to wear to the next party. That summer was the best my boyfriend and I would have parties at his place and BBQ all the time. I didn’t really worry too much about what was going to happen in a year or even a month. After the summer I realized I didn’t really like cosmetology as much as I thought, so I went back to community college. I was torn between teaching and doing hair; finally I went back for teaching. Everything was going good I was off and on going to classes, and still having parties, I thought why worry.

            I remember the night so clearly I had been feeling weird for about a month and decided to take a pregnancy test. My boyfriend was right next to me, my heart beating like a drum. I starred at the test waiting its results, with each breath I felt more and more nervous. I thought of so many things the results came up in two minutes and in that time my whole life was flashing before me. My boyfriend and I had talked about marriage, and having a beautiful wedding a planned wedding. Then it came up one line which meant negative we hugged and said that we did want children but later. We hugged to soon it took a couple more seconds and the second line appeared it was positive.

            My free-living life was gone, I was pregnant and I wasn’t ready. I dreaded telling my parents, I didn’t know what to do. The time finally came and we know that we had to let our family know and start the process of doctors and appointments. We both were already at a mature age, now it was time to get mature. The news to our family wasn’t as

Paz 2

horrible as I thought it would be, and our big wedding was now going to be small and only family. It was time to get my priorities straight and really look at what needed to be done in order for me to be the mother I wanted to be. The hard part was over now, it was time to plan, read and plan some more. If I only knew that telling my family and planning wasn’t going to be the hardest part.

I had gone through months of preparation, reading books and watching shows. I gathered as much advice as I could from family and friends. That could not prepare me for what I was going to do. Now it was time to bring my son into the world. I was nervous, anxious, and relieved to get my body back. With all of my research and planning I thought I knew what to expect.

            I was in the hospital bed for one day before the actual pregnancy. One day felt like years going by. It was like your watching a mystery movie and your about to find out who did when, it stops. My husband was more help than most of those nurses, after a couple of hours he knew that room inside and out. I was ready, and tired of just waiting as nurse after nurse walks in with words of “Just relax.” I didn’t want to relax! At this point I felt like I was going to be pregnant for another nine months.

            I was so thankful that my husband so understood the whole time. He stayed by my side through it all. I felt terrible that he had one small faded blue couch to lie on. This couch was child’s size and for a six foot man, not the most comfortable. Not to say that the hospital bed was better, the sheets were paper-thin. The room was cold and plastic. We had one small television that couldn’t play but five channels. I remember that the Lakers were in the play offs and we had I Love Lucy as entertainment. At night it was

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either cold or hot, not the best temperatures. Than 11:30 at night came the worst roller coaster of pain of my life.

            Here we go I thought and what the heck! Really, I was supposed to concentrate on breathing. Once I got the first roll of pains the no medication plan went out the window. My husband rang for the nurse. As she was trying to calm me down and tell me the advantages of natural birth I uttered, I want the epidural! After the shot the pain left, but it made me sick. There were some problems and I just remember all the nurses filtering in the room. My sons heart had stopped for almost a minute, I was terrified. The rest of the night they kept a close eye on me and everything seemed back to normal.

 I woke up the next morning, still waiting. The doctor walks in, she tells me “We have to do and emergency C-section.” I had the choice to give natural birth but at the risk that my son wouldn’t make it. I put all my feelings aside and said, “Ok I’m ready.” At that moment I was trying not to worry my husband or myself. I tried to stay composed; my hands were shaking like a rattle in a Childs hand. I couldn’t see anything but the nurse and my husband. Minutes later I heard my husband gasp and a cry. I looked to my right and there was my son, his eyes wide open. My husband told me that he umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. Thank God that the doctor made the decision for the C-section, I thought my little miracle.

            As I held my son in my arms all the pain was worth it. I knew right then my life had changed forever. I couldn’t stop smiling he looked so angelic and perfect. I had so many feelings going through my head. I was so happy, relieved, and shocked. All of a sudden panic set in. Did I have everything? Is he going to like his bed? How will I know

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when he wants something? I couldn’t believe I gave birth to my son it was like as dream. I was hoping my motherly instincts would get me through it all.

            As family came in and hours went on I knew everything was going to be fine. Reflecting back I can say that this experience matured me fast. I knew I wanted to finish school and my priorities were all on my son Jacob. All the little things that I thought were so important seemed so petty. I was now a parent and things would never be the same again. I was right it is better. I love my family and my son is my inspiration for everything I do. At times days are hectic, than my son looks at me with a smile on his face. Those are the moments that make me stronger, proud, and I know I can accomplish my goal, and anything life throws at me.

Texting

Technology has grown and changed rapidly within the past five years. One of the major changes have been with cell phones, you can do anything on them. The one thing that has stayed the same is the texting. Even back when people used pagers to communicate, that to me was the first form of texting. For those who don’t know about pagers, you would call a pager number then leave a message using numbers. Some examples were 911 meaning emergency or 143 meaning I love you, then you would leave your number for that person to call you. It sounds weird but in junior high those were cool. Although texting has been around for a while it has not had the same affect on people’s lives as it does now.

            If you look at texting now it’s the same concept, the only thing is that we can now send actual messages back and forth instead of using numbers or codes only. If you look around campus or even the grocery store you will see at least ten or more people texting. It has gotten so crazy that we have laws that tell us not to text and drive. The fact that people can’t tear themselves away from texting for the amount of time that there driving says a lot. Most people can’t live without texting, or even last a day without it. If you really want to know how dependent you or your friends and family are on texting, try going one day without using it. How long do you think you’ll last?

Fast Food?

 Growing up I was always expected to eat all the food on my plate. I didn’t think much of what was good to eat and what wasn’t. My parents would take my brother and I to Taco Bell and we especially liked McDonalds. In grade school we had a neighbor that would always take us to McDonalds as a treat once a week of their carpool days.  I would get a cheeseburger happy meal and a shake. My brother and I loved it. As I got into middle school I started to care a little more about what I ate. I still ate fast food and I remember l really liked Jack in the Box. As I got into high school food became more of an enemy to me. I was really paranoid of what I ate and worked out a lot. I ended up working at McDonalds on base as a first job. At first I did eat there and that’s why I started working out so much. It was probably until the second week or so that I just told myself no more, I was too worried about gaining weight. I worked there for a couple months and got another job. Fast food was seen as a treat, you get food and they give you toys at the same time. As a little kid to me it was fun.

            Now that I am older and have a family of my own I am more aware. For a little while after my pregnancy things were hectic and we did eat out a lot. This was not helping, I wanted to lose weight and this definitely wasn’t the solution. My husband and I see that yeah it does make a big difference on what we eat. I don’t want to raise my son to eat fast food and it really starts at home. Now we rarely go out to eat and I cook all the meals at home and take snacks. Let me tell you what a difference it has made in my weight loss. I still have a ways to go but I feel better and I have energy to workout, go to school, and care for my family. What I really noticed was that it took longer to go buy the food than just to make it at home. When you eat out and get stuck doing that you find yourself losing time and money, that’s what I experienced.

            Food is a part of life and what we eat really does affect our mood, and energy. Don’t get me wrong once in a while if I find myself eating out I won’t worry. I tell myself two times a month are what I am allowed and really I don’t even know if I want it anymore. I feel that I have a better relationship with food and have found the right ways to eat. As I think about my history with food and the different food chains it really amazes me how much of an impact this has on peoples lives. I just know that I want my son to grow up eating food that is going to benefit him, once in a while fast food will be around. It made me think if I wouldn’t want my son to eat fast food all the time than neither should I, like I said earlier it starts at home.

past, present, future

My name is Monique Paz. I grew up in San Diego and moved at the end of my eighth grade year. I loved the neighborhood; there were so many kids and things to do.  My father was in the military and was gone most of my grade school years. My mom was home with my brother and I and took care of some of the kids that lived in the neighborhood. I can honestly say I had a great childhood from clubhouses to volleyball games and riding our bikes it was the best.  It was sad for us to leave after so long and so many memories. The upside was that my dad would be home more so that was the best thing for us. We moved to Oxnard and it was very different we moved to Pt. Mugu base. At first I was devastated to have to meet new friends and live in a new area, but everything worked out. I met some great friends and it wasn’t the end of the world like I expected it to be.

            Today I am happily married and have a wonderful son who is 19 months. I am currently a student and my husband works. After I graduated from high school in 03, I know it’s been a while. I took some classes at VC, so now I am continuing that at OC. After having my son so much changed in how I look at everything. Going back to school is huge for my husband and I he plans to finish his education, as do I. Days are busy with school working, and everyday life. My favorite time is snuggling on the couch with my family and watching a good movie.

I see a lot of good things in the future. I plan to transfer to CSUCI and finish to become a teacher. I have always had a passion for teaching and have faith that I will find a school to work at. I plan to have a house for my family and I and have another child. After I complete my schooling my husband should be finishing up his or working towards it. At that time my son will be starting school or close to it. That will most likely result in me giving him the longest hug ever and crying. I know it will be hard but I will be so proud of him at the same time. All in all the past has made me who I am today. I am enjoying my present and hopeful for the future.