The Best of 2011

Another year gone...Another year beginning.
So many great events and some, not so much.

2011 started with my husband being gone just shortly after the New Year - He was sent to Italy for 3 months. This past year was not as difficult to endure as the months before that had been; I made myself stronger for our child. Erick traveled so much I think we saw him a total of 2 months the entire year. I am praying for a change this year.

I was accepted by the Page Parkes Agency in January as well - something I have been extremely excited about and working at everything and anything to move forward.

C.J. and I in Austin, November 2011

I got to see more of my older brother Jesse and his family this year - that was something special. (They met C.J. for the first time in 2010 and I wanted them to know each other more.) They have all since quickly bonded.

I found C.J. and myself a place of our own in June which turned out to be the very best move for us. It is our own space, all we could ask for. Of course it still is only temporary but so far was worth it.

I finished my externship and school in July and received my degree in Medical Office Management in August. Big milestone for me!! I am taking some time off for now but waiting on our next move because I do plan to return to school. I was advised that I need more labs if I do plan to apply to medical school sometime in the future. (Something I have been considering for a while now.)

I was able to return to being a stay-at-home Mom in August after the bank I was working for, closed. It has been wonderful! I missed our time spent together those 8 months. :) I am so thankful and lucky to be able to continue my job at just being a full-time Mother. We keep ourselves busy with board games, cars, and Play-Doh but of course we practice our letters, numbers, and languages in between as well. And for our lay-low days we always have Friends and "Sheldon" (The Big Bang Theory).

I've been practicing learning to speak Italian, I continue to do so. Erick got me the Rosetta Stone early in January and now I have the basics down and can make a few sentences. My Italian is slightly conversational right now, not intermediate and nowhere near fluent. :) But I will continue to work at it. When I speak with my friends Mino and Valentina, (both from Italy) I try to speak with them only in Italian as I know this will help me more. They are also super supportive and help me out as much as possible too. I am also set on learning American Sign Language as well. I know about 20 signs right now, (not including the alphabet) but really want to expand this as well. I want to teach C.J. everything I learn as well - I know this will greatly benefit him later.

I started a great new workout this year as well with my bank buddy, Jessica N., The Firm Express. Running alone just wasn't cutting it anymore. We've really enjoyed it and saw results after about a month. We continue to keep up with it, whenever we are not traveling, and hope to meet our goals this year. Right Jess?? ;)

When September came around we were able to make another trip to Pennsylvania to visit with the Sutliff's. <3 Always something special for us. We got to see Ellie turn 4! And although Erick was not able to join us this time, which Brad was very disappointed by, we hope to make another trip soon with everyone.

As you know, I celebrated my 30th birthday this year and C.J. had his 3rd. I wasn't able to celebrate exactly how I wanted to but I'm hoping I can make up for it if I can celebrate with my friend Jessica B. who will turn 30 in February. (She wants to take a trip and I am totally up for it.)

New Year's Eve 2011

The holidays were very busy for us starting with Thanksgiving. We were excited to spend them in Brownsville with our families. Christmas and New Year's Eve were so much fun! What a blessing to have the entire Mendoza family together, with the exception of one. I also got to spend some much needed quality time with my sister, Leslie and her family. But most importantly, my little family was together. Erick returned from Japan on December 23rd - just in time for Christmas.


I cannot really say this year "flew by" but yet it is gone.
A few things for 2012: I'm hoping for change; Praying our families continue to move forward; I'm excited to meet my nephew Yandel next month; I hope to travel more; I want to see my friends - far and near; I want my husbands job to settle; C.J. continues to grow strong and healthy; Return to school. Maybe, just maybe, if things do settle, talk about expanding our family. ;) We shall see.

Happy New Year everyone!! Many blessings for a prosperous 2012!!