History Lesson

Wow, what a busy couple of weeks it has been! Summer is definitely kicking off to a great start, with lots to do and tons of fun things filling up my calendar. I realize I'm a little late on finishing up blogging about my trip to Dallas, since it happened almost three weeks ago, but there is just one more thing I HAVE to tell you about, and that is pretty much the only site-seeing I did. We had our Friday morning free, so a bunch of us girls decided to walk down to Dealy Plaza and the Texas School Book Depository. Sound familiar? That is because it is the site of one of the most significant moments in US history - The assassination on JFK. Dealy Plaza is what the motorcade was travelling around, and the book depository is where Lee Harvey Oswald sat as he shot the president (the last window on the sixth floor, to be exact). Now the book depository acts as a museum on JFK and the events surrounding the assassination. We went up to the sixth floor, which is the main part of the museum. Just being up there was so eerie yet fascinating. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures inside the building, but I did manage to snap photos of the outside, where it all took place.


Texas School Book Depository

Closer view of the sixth floor window, the top one in the picture, with the window slightly opened

The "Grassy Knoll". Also, if you look close enough you may be able to see the X's on the ground. There are two of them, marking the exact spots where JFK was when the bullets hit him.

Dealy Plaza

Other side of Dealy Plaza, with the book depository in the background

JFK Memorial

I also feel like I need to mention a wonderful book I read that is about the JFK assassination. It's a little bit science fiction, a little bit historical, and a whole lot of amazing. The book is 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Although this is a fictional novel, King did a lot of research about the assassination and even traveled to Dallas to make it as factual and realistic as possible. Having read it a few months ago, it was that much more fascinating to actually be there after reading so much about it and building my own version in my imagination. While I don't really have a desire to go back to Dallas, I am so glad I got to experience this and would very much recommend it to anyone wanting to see a truly historical, emotional, and important place in America. xxoo

Deep In The Heart of Texas

Last week I ventured down to the one and only Dallas, TX for the Mended Little Hearts national convention. Travelling sans baby and husband was much easier, but it also made for a looooonnngggg flight. I'm pretty sure it took about 19 hours to get to Fort Worth International from SFO (ok so it was only 4). Anyways, I was quite nervous to leave my guys for four days, but once I got to Dallas and realized how busy we were going to be over the next few days (and nights), I was able to relax and focus on all the awesome new people I was going to meet and of course lots of leadership training for MLH.

The training was great. I learned so much about the organization, and about Congenital Heart Defects. Did you know that more children die each year from a CHD, than from all forms of childhood cancers combined? And about 1 in 110 babies are born with a CHD? Pretty scary stuff. As sad as these facts are, it is so great to be a part of a group that is working so hard to spread awareness, advocacy and support for this extremely worthy cause. 

It was kind of surreal for me to be among so many "heart moms". Being a CHD survivor myself, I loved hearing everyone's stories, and being able to tell mine. Some stories were happy, some were heartbreaking, but all were powerful and inspiring. 

It wasn't all business though. Remember, most of the participants of the convention are busy moms and wives, and being away from home/husbands/kids meant it was time to blow off some steam and let a little loose! After the meetings were done each day it was time to hit the town, Dallas style! We enjoyed delicious BBQ at Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse, went (mechanical) bull riding at Trophy Room, experienced some real cowboy line dancing at Cowboys Red River, and somewhere along the way we were able to get our own limo driver for the weekend! xxoo

Our Mended Hearts logo in the lobby of the Hyatt, Dallas                                                                                                                                                                                              

Me and our Silicon Valley lead coordinator, Andrea

That's a nice pair of hooters! - Outside of Hooters in Dallas      

Just a few of the awesome ladies I met. I'm already excited to see them all again  next year!

With our limo driver, Coley and the stretch Hummer limo!

Love to L.O.V.E.

Since I went, oh, a year without blogging, I feel like from time to time I need to back track and post about things that happened during my hiatus. One of these things was mine and Jose's Christmas gift to each other - a trip to Vegas! So here we go...
This year as I was thinking about what I could possibly want for Christmas, it dawned on me that I really didn't want anything. I mean, sure I could think of things if I really tried but nothing seemed enticing enough to ask Jose to buy me. And since I was having trouble figuring out what to get him as well, I offered up this suggestion: we forego presents and instead treat ourselves to a trip to Vegas. And since my birthday is just two weeks after Christmas (Jan 4), it doubled as my bday gift.

Vegas in January is the way to go (as long as you're not itching to lay by the pool all day). It wasn't hot out at all, and it was so cheap! We only went for 2 days, and didn't have a lot planned so it was nice to just relax, party a little bit, and spend time together. The only thing really on our agenda was to go see L.O.V.E., the Cirque de Soleil Beatles show. Being a huge Beatles fan, I had been wanting to see this show FOREVER! I've had the soundtrack for a couple of years now, and I love it. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. There was a point in the opening number where I actually teared up, I was so excited! Jose loved it too, the first thing he said when it was over was, "I can't wait to see that again." I hope we do get to see it again someday soon!

All and all, I have to say that a trip to Vegas with your honey is a must. And if you can swing it, go see L.O.V.E. It's super expensive but worth every penny, and something you are guaranteed to never forget. xxoo

All dressed up and ready to rock!

Outside of the L.O.V.E. theatre

Little Trip to the Big Tomato

Hello all you blog enthusiasts! Well this past weekend was a busy one. Since Jose has been working every weekend for the past few months, I try and find ways to keep myself and the little man entertained when he's not here. This weekend, we took a little road trip up to Sacramento to visit my friend Kimberlyn. Kim is someone who I have know for almost ten years now. She was one of my 5 roommates while studying abroad in London (when I was 19), and lucky for us we have managed to stay in touch over the years.
So off to Sac-Town we ventured on Friday afternoon. I guess we beat traffic, because we really didn't hit any until we actually got IN Sacramento. After arriving at Kim's house we decided to have a nice night in with pork tacos and some white wine. Mr. Sanchez Jr. was a bit of a pill to put to bed, but that is to be expected in a strange place with lots of new things to discover. Once he was finally out for the night, it was so nice to just be able to sit with Kim, drink some wine, and catch up on each other's lives....

...Enter the next morning, where it became clear as day to me that I should no longer participate in the consumption of white wine (maybe all wine, but the jury is still out on Syrah). The past 2 times I have gotten even a slight buzz off white wine, I have woken up sicker than sick and this was no exception. And when I say sick, I don't just mean your average run-of-the-mill hangover. I'm talking can't keep anything down (not even water), throwing up your empty stomach, hurts to lay down and stand up kind of sick. Very food poisoning-esque. Anyways, after a full morning of that drama, and dear Kim was so sweet to watch/take care of Joaquin while I recovered, I finally started to feel better around 4pm. We decided to hit the town of Old Sacramento for a little Cinco De Mayo fun!

Old Sac is a great place, so cute with so many little shops to explore. After enjoying some pizza (the only thing that sounded good to me at the time), we wandered the cobblestone streets and got to observe Sacramento party people of all kinds. There were (of course), many people out to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, as well as the kids having their high school prom near by, who were for some reason roaming the streets in their prom dresses and tuxes. It was a little odd, but so fun to see the "kids" all dresses up. We got back to Kim's house that night pretty tuckered out and ready to just chill and watch Bridesmaids (she had never seen it!). Joaquin slept better the 2nd night, which was awesome, as we both needed a good night's sleep.

When we got home Sunday afternoon, we were both pretty exhausted. Joaquin went straight upstairs for a nap, and I continued to recover from my Friday night stupidity. :) All and all though, I would say it was a pretty successful trip, I look forward to hanging out with Kim again, and for the days when Joaquin is old enough to be able to enjoy the state capitol is all it's glory :) xxoo