News and the Paper

Just a random post that I saw the other day in my travels on BART that I would like to share with you. So when you read the newspaper and when you go to turn the pages does the middle (the crease) of the newspaper sometimes poke out towards you and drive you nuts? It does with me, but that isn't the case here. What do you do to fix the problem? Shake the paper out or poke it out with your fingers/hands?? I don't know of any other way or have seen any other way of fixing this constant problem of the newspaper; until now.
I was sitting behind a guy who was getting really upset with his newspaper poking out. He was shaking it really hard and smacking it with his hand but this didn't seem to make him content. So you know what he did? He HEADBUTTED the newspaper. Yes, you read that right, he took his forehead and butted the crease that was sticking out. I thought it was kind of funny because I've never seen such action taken to a newspaper.
Just another day in BART paradise.

The Year of the OX

Monday was the Chinese New Year that marked the year of the Ox. I have a co-worker that is Chinese and he brought me a gift. This gift is a tradition that is carried out in China. For luck someone gives you an envelope with a new crisp $1 bill that you are to keep and NOT spent it for if you do luck will on be on your side. He told me that usually this gift is given to single individuals only but he wanted to share his tradition with all including me (since I'm married and all). I just thought it was a cute idea and wanted to share with you all.

Class of 2001

My new church calling is with the Young Women (Beehive age 12-14) and am super excited to be among teenagers since I still feel young at heart. (Haha; right.) Anyhow, I feel like I can give them a lot but then again I need to set a good example too. So the other night for an extra activity I went out with the girls to get ice cream in honor of a new girl joining our class. I quickly remembered what it was like to be a young teenage girl and all the chatting to go along with it. Man its amazing to think that I too once was able to carry 3 or 4 different conversations at the same time (and not get a headache). But now along with those conversations the girls are texting on their cell phones, wow! The whole night was hilarious with the random conversations but to think about how life as a teenager has changed. I mean the same situations are there but the amount of technology that has come into their hands has advanced.

I mean did you have a cell phone in high school? I sure did but I did know maybe 5 people that actually had cell phones and they weren't their parents.
At what age did you start to use the INTERNET/Email? I was in 9th grade when it all came about and we used dial up so it wasn't that cool to sit around and wait for ever.
Could you be out among your friends and IM or email your friends by your cell phone? No, you had to sit at home with your dial up connection to do those things.
Download music to your Ipods? What's an Ipod?, Cd's were the coolest things ever and those are huge compared to Ipods.
Okay so we've already discussed Ipods and cell phones but having a devise that can do everything: play music, email, surf the Internet, and be a phone too...wow!

Okay so I've just scratched the surface of how life has changed for the teenager but I wouldn't change the way I grew up. What are some things that you've noticed over the years?

Facebook Buddies!

As if blogging wasn't enough I joined the world of FACEBOOK. Yeah yeah I know I'm a few years behind but I thought maybe I could reconnect with some friends that obviously haven't joined the blogging world.

Nothing exciting

Much has happened this week but nothing too exciting that I want to write about. So I guess I just want to update everyone on how happy we are with life. We have been blessed in our life and are grateful everyday for these blessings. Working in the Financial District in SF both Romulo and I see the struggles and changes that are happening with the economy. And with these experiences we are reminded about what is really important in life.
A few days ago while traveling home on BART I over heard a conversation between two people about job loss. They were saying how when people have jobs they complain about having to work but then when people are out of jobs they want to be back at work. How true is that? That was a good wake up call to me because I should and need to enjoy everyday to its fullness.
Anyways, moving along. I talked to my sister, Sarah, this week and she was telling me that lil'Zander was telling here that he had seen me and wouldn't stop talking about his La-La (the nickname he gave me). How cute is that? Sarah had to explain to him that I was in CA and that he couldn't have seen me. How are you going to tell an almost 2 year old that!
American Idol started this week and it was better than ever! I loved it.
Yayaya for this weekend because I get a 3 day weekend.

"You don't alter a Vera Wang, you alter YOURSELF to fit in a Vera Wang"

With me being sick at home all week I've been watching a lot and I mean a lot of TV. And it seems like all the morning shows, celebrity entertainment shows, and some of the late night shows have been spot lighting the new movie "Bride Wars" (with Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway). Now I'm not one to run out and see a new release movie. Why, umm that is another post for another time. But this time my husband convinced me that I needed to get out of the house plus he wanted to go out on a date with me. So that's what he did. He took me to see "Bride Wars" and then out to eat. It was the prefect date and much needed. (Just as a side note I wouldn't qualify myself as a hot date tonight considering I had NO makeup on, hair still kind of wet from the earlier shower, and wearing jeans and a sweater.) The movie was cute and of course very predictable but I like movies like that because I don't get all anxious and scared about what will happen. And from a guys point of view Romulo kind of liked it.
Thanks Romulo for knowing just what a girl needs.

Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean

I wish Zander was here right now helping Auntie La-La clean her apartment. I didn't go to work all week because I was sick. (By the way with an extra doctor's visit this week and getting two different inhalers to use I am feeling much much better.) With me being down and Romulo either working from home or in SF the house sure could use a little helper like him. His momma sure does have him trained well. Let's just hope he stays that way and if he does, he will surely make his future wife happy. Zander taking a baby wipe to memoms, already clean, carpet.

17 Person Circus

Over Christmas break my whole family was in one place and my parents decided it was a great opportunity to take advantage of it: by taking family pictures! They ended up turning out great even though at the last minute people were still not 100% on the color choice. It went from black/white to gray/blue to blue/brown and finally red/brown. I think they turned out great considering I never have a picture to show people of my family. I usually showed them 3/4 pictures to show them my whole family or really old pictures like ones from my wedding (4 years ago). The last time we took family portraits besides someones wedding or graduation we did it when I was 15 or 16. My oldest nephew Hudson was 5 weeks old and now he is 9. Plus over the years my family has added 3 brother-in-laws and 4 grandsons. That is a lot of people: 17 in total. I enjoyed being in one room with my family capturing memories.

The Family
The 6 Johns' Kids
Just Romulo and me!The Circus

Thanks Kim for your patience with this Circus!

Oh If I had a Parrot?

Who says a wife can't benefit from their husband having an XBox? I guess some can agree with this but others might not look at an XBox as beneficial. Over the last 4 years I've tried kind of hard to learn my husband's native tongue, Portuguese, but still haven't made it. Hopefully one day I will come close to completing sentences. But lately my husband has set up his 25 inch computer monitor to the XBox. This has allowed me to continue watching TV. He sets the monitor/XBox right beside the TV I'm watching. It's his way of still being in the same room as me and feeling close to me but doing what he loves to do. So you're probably wondering how I benefit from the XBox? I listen to him playing with other Brazilians speak Portuguese. Okay, so I don't understand anything but I do LOVE to mimic his phrases. The phrases are usually really short and are repeated very frequently so I'm able to pick it up easily. I think it's funny mimicking him because most of the time he doesn't realize I'm yelling the latest phrase with him.

I'm Lucky to be an Aunt

I know I'm not around 100% of the time to my nieces and nephews but I do have a blast when I am around. Over Christmas I had so much fun spoiling my 5 nephews (on my side of the family) and for them to interact with me. I got a new nickname too: Zander calls me La-La. I've been called a lot of different nicknames but never that one and I will forever cherish it. But over the break my sister had Jen (a local photographer) take some precise pictures of baby Aiden. Some of the pictures are up on her website if anyone wants to see my new nephew. I love his sweet spirit.

ER Visit to Start the New Year

I knew this new year would bring new different challenges but I never thought it would bring a visit to the E.R. That's right this morning I woke up at 6 am and knew I needed to see a doctor. At the end of our visit in VA I wasn't feeling the best but thought I could shake it off by rest and over the counter medicine but boy was I wrong. I'm fairly new to CA and please someone let me know if I'm wrong but they don't have Urgent Care centers; but if there are I don't see them. So here I'm stuck with the E.R. I went through my symptoms: tight chest, sore throat, coughing my head off, aches and pains, and stuffy nose. I got two x-rays done on my chest and walked away with a cough medicine and antibiotics. The doctor was super nice with me, unlike my last E.R. visit here in CA but that's another story, and told me to take it easy for the next couple of days. I have some kind of viral/bacterial in my chest/sinuses and it could easily turn into walking pneumonia if it's not that already. Nice huh? Just how I saw myself starting off the 2009 year.

VA Christmas 2008

Christmas in Virginia this year was very special. We were able to play with our nephews, visit some of our favorite spots in Northern VA, strengthen our relationships with our family members, and were also able to be at Aiden's baby blessing.It's kind of funny being from a large family (6 kids) and when I was growing up I kind of thought our family was small in size because I don't know when you grow up around a lot of people you don't really mind the lack of space one has to live in. But since being married and moving away from everyone you start to realize how quite life is and how much space you have. At least for me its that way. I get scared really easily now and like to have my personal time alone. So going home this year and everyone being around I realized how much I missed the large loud crowd. (But trust me I like being at home in my own quite personal space.) It took me a few days to readjust but after that I was right at home.So what did we do in VA for 2 weeks? Shopped with my mom and sisters, visited Middleburg and D.C., drove by the house I was born in (yes, I was born at home and yes it was planned), walked the streets of Purcellville (the town I grew up in), played a lot with my nephews, took family portraits with my family, and ate a lot of my mom's home cooked food.Sarah with Aiden Christmas morning trying to stuff him into a Christmas Stocking. His little shirt says, "Santa is my home boy."
Ellen not liking that I'm taking random pictures but she was a good sport after the 10th picture.Winfield being the little cutie that he is.Another picture of Sarah with Aiden (two weeks old).Zander Christmas morning playing with his Home Depot tools. What fun?Easton is all about the Lego's and counting money these days. Here he is already putting together one of the many Lego sets he received Christmas morning. Hudson all excited about the electronic dirt bike he received from Santa. At first he was a little scared about getting on it but after the first test drive he is now cruising around outside the house. Washington, D.C. at the Monument.
The Capital building is getting all set up for the upcoming inauguration of Obama. Romulo and I in front of the Thomas Jefferson memorial.