Disney on Ice

Arturo and I took his little cousin, Jimmy, and his nephew, Bryan, to Disney on Ice at the Sprint Center yesterday. Of course, I just really used them as an excuse for me to go! :)

The show was cute--my favorites were The Little Mermaid and The Lion King shows. Basically each ice skating "episode" was a mini-version of the movies. They summed up each story in a 15-minute ice skating show. For me personally, the Tinkerbell show was a little long, but it was visually beautiful!

Both Jimmy and Bryan liked the Cars part of the show. They all came out as show #1, and once they performed, the rest was a little "girly". Jimmy said, "I don't like Tinkerbell!" He wanted Lightning McQueen and Tow-Mater to come back out, as evident by his cute little hat.

Arturo was too cute as well. :) He was so worried about Jimmy and Bryan the whole time. He wanted to make sure they were having a good time and being taken care of. He will definitely make a good dad someday!

First Day of Spring

Are you kidding me? I wake up to NINE inches of snow on the first day of spring! What happened to our 60+ degrees just a few days ago? Needless to say, I was hoping our speech tourney would have been cancelled, but now I'm glad that the show went on because now I am done until October or so. :) I just can't get over the snow...

More details of my new-found happiness

Well, Arturo and I have pretty much been inseparable since we met back in February. Even though it's only been just a short time, we both feel as if we've known each other for much, much longer. I don't know what it is, but I feel totally safe when I'm with him and feel like I could tell him anything (and we have told each other stories aplenty!). I've shared my stories of my childhood (including my baby scrapbook), marriage to Todd, divorce, and my relationship with Joon and the consequential breakup. Sometimes I think the whole purpose of my relationship with Joon was to show me that there could be love after divorce and to open my eyes to other cultures.

I met Arturo's family this past week. What can I say? I LOVE them!!! His sister, Esperanza or Espy, and her family welcomed me with open arms. His cousin, Nancy and her family also brought me into their home. They all seemed genuinely interested in me and my life. I can't wait to get to know them more. I know it sounds crazy, crazy, crazy, but I can honestly see myself someday being a part of Arturo's family. Even though Arturo's sister and cousin are the only ones over here in America, he comes from a large family in Peru. Of those I met, I can see they love each other so much, are so close, are loud and boisterous, and are totally giving of themselves. They love to get together and have a good time--eat, dance, take pictures, and spend time outdoors in the summer. How do I know this? Well, I looked at photo album after photo album at Nancy's house and fell in love with them (I also saw a golden opportunity to create more scrapbooks!! :)). Once Arturo and I were looking at the picture below, I noticed how familiar his sister, Espy, looked in the middle. I kept thinking that she looked so much like my sister Angie, and after putting Angie's high school graduation pic next to the computer screen, it was Uncanny. Wow...I will try to find a pic to post later to show really how much they do look alike. Maybe that's a sign... :)

Where will this relationship take me? I have my own ideas, and I'm definitely willing to find out~ I hope we will be together for the long haul. And yes, I do realize that it seems so soon to be saying something like that, but both he and I feel as if we've known each other for soooo much longer. I know Arturo really likes me, and the feeling is mutual for him as well. I'm excited to know that my best days are ahead of me.

A whole lotta new

This will be a short blog because I'm trying to watch the 2010 Academy Awards, grade, create a vocabulary handout for Romeo and Juliet, and de-shed Soze all at the same time. However, I wanted to take a short break and reflect on the events of the past two weeks of my life.

I have met someone new. This someone is probably the nicest man I have ever met or will ever meet in my lifetime. His name is Arturo, and yes, he is another foreigner. :) It's not like I go looking for them, but he found me, and I am so, so happy he did. We only met two weeks ago, but we have pretty much been together ever since. Arturo is from Peru, has lived in this country for nine years, and works very hard to better his life. He has high hopes for his future and isn't satisfied just working to pay his bills. That is one of the things I admire about him--that, and his love for his family. And yes, I've asked about their beliefs in fortune tellers! ;)

We will see where this relationship takes me, but for now, I know I'm in good hands. He tells me I'm beautiful, treats me like I'm his princess, and who can resist that? I'll post pics when I have them.

a spring and summer of entertainment

Part of a newfound resolution for me is to spend money. Ha! I wish it were that easy, but I've decided I'm tired of sitting at home and missing out on all these great concerts and shows because I don't think I have the money. Yet I'll go to Walmart and spend $50 or more on random crap...makes no sense to me.

Over the past two days, I've spent money on three upcoming shows--Train (April 6), Michael Buble (June 26), and the Broadway show "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" (July 9). These three have been added to the list, alongside the Broadway show "Legally Blonde" (April 10) that Mom and I already have tickets for. Needless to say, I should have much to blog about after each show!

If you don't know Train, you should! Their current album, "Save Me, San Francisco" has become my new workout music. Plus the song you hear on the radio, "Hey Soul Sister", is a great one to belt out in the car!

Michael Buble is coming here to KC in June to the Sprint Center, and while I thought he was out of my league concert-wise, I decided this will be my treat to myself for making it through another school year. I'll also be teaching summer school again, so this will be an added bonus!

Both "Legally Blonde" and "25th Annual..." have been on my Broadway list since they hit NYC. These will be two shows I hope never to forget.

The spelling bee show is supposed to be hilarious! For example, during one song, a "kid" misspells a word because he can't control his...ummm...growing member. :) Can't wait for that one!

The Lovely Bones

I just got home from seeing one of the BEST movies I've seen in my 31 years--The Lovely Bones. Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame made a beautiful, stunning should-be-an-epic film. I won't give anything away, but if you are a fan of moving storylines and gripping climaxes, this is a movie for you. I knew I would like it before I ever watched the movie because I read the book back a few years ago before it became popular, and it hit a nerve with me. I don't know if it's because of my sister's death from so many moons ago, but I recognized myself in this story. The Lovely Bones was such a mesmorizing book I didn't want it to end. Skirting the border between human reality and the imagined wonders of heaven, I felt I had been introduced to a world both tangible yet so far away all the same.

What do you think?

2010 already?

This time last year I made a resolution to be happier...happier with my health, my weight, my love life, etc. I just didn't know how much happier I'd be New Year's Eve 2010 than I was for 2009. Heath-wise, I *think* I'm in pretty good shape--no major battles to report. Weight? Well, I'm down 40 pounds from where I was a year ago, except I've eaten like a bear going into hibernation over the past two weeks. I'm back on my regiment of smaller portions, healthier eating, and working out 3 days a week starting on Monday. You know you can't start anything diet-related on any other day, right? :) And my love life?  Let's just say I'm in a great place with Joon, and I can't wait to see what 2010 brings for the both of us together.

New Year's Eve took all of us--Joon, his sister, Ji-Yoon, and me--to a cool Chinese restaurant in Westport called New Peking. The food was unbelieveably good with the portions out of control. For the three of us, our table looked like a mini buffet. The best part was getting up late this morning and finishing off the leftovers.

After dinner, the three of us went to Argosy Casino to test our our luck for the new year. Who knew SO many people would have the same idea? It was crazy busy--"investors" spending money left and right. I was pleasantly surprised to have only lost $5.00 in the four hours we spent playing the slots. Not bad...it could have been worse. At the countdown to midnight, we toasted each other with our champagne and welcomed in 2010 with open arms.

In the same fashion as last year (I figured it worked for me then, it can do it again!), here are some of my thoughts about the upcoming year. I'm not calling them resolutions because those always get broken.

*Continue on my track to get healthy. I'd like to be down 20 pounds by my birthday and another 20 pounds by the end of summer. I will officially be in my ideal weight range if I can succeed with both of those.

*Continue working out 3x a week. This seems to be the easiest of the two because I've sort of actually learned to enjoy going to the gym. YIKES!

*Keep my house clean. I've always been one to be organized, but when it comes to dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, etc., not so much. Soze doesn't help matters since she loses about a pound of hair a day, but I'm determined to keep on top of the dirt this year.

*Learn to cook for myself. I don't cook at home hardly ever. For me, it's so much easier to stop through at Subway or Long John Silver's or Taco Bell or any other fast food place than it is to whip up a meal for one. However, in order to save money, eat healthier, and show Joon that I can actually make something NOT out of a box, I have to learn to refine my skills in the kitchen. Does anyone know of any good, simple, healthy recipes? Rachel Ray's 30-minute meals is my kind of cooking, but even her food tends to require ingredients I normally don't have in my house.

*Finally, become free of credit card debt and save up for a new car. My little Focus is turning 10 years old this year, and it's time to say goodbye. While I'm not sure what kind of car I'll actually get, the new Kia Soul looks SOOO cute!!

Monday means work again, but I'm not dreading this next semester. Nicole, my student teacher, begins on Monday, and will be with me pretty much until she graduates in May. Yea me! I'm looking forward to getting some much-needed organization done in my room at school while she's teaching, plus taking the opportunity to actually impart knowledge on someone new. Look out world!