Sunday, December 19th, 2010

Today, Sunday, I spent my day with one of my oldest best friends. It was one of the only days she was off work and I hadn't really hung out with her since I left for college. We went to breakfast because she was going to catch up with her dad in the afternoon but wanted to see me before I left for Missouri. We have had our ups and downs in all the years we have known each other. We are pretty much like sisters, and that closeness will always cause conflict, and over this breakfast we just laughed and talked about our past, how everything was now, and how we cant wait for our future. It's funny how we can act like such little girls but can also be serious about certain topics and talk like old women. I think the people at the restaurant we getting a little irritated about how noisy we were. By the time our breakfast was over and she was leaving to go see her dad, we took forever outside to say goodbye. It was hard leaving each other when I was leaving for college and this time was no different. We hugged too long, took to long to say an actual goodbye, and took to long to actually walk away even though I'm just going to see her in January when I get back from Missouri. The rest of the day I spent packing and getting a bunch of candy with my sister for our flight tomorrow morning.

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

Saturday night was my sister's birthday dinner. Although, my sister's birthday isn't actually until the 22nd of December, my parents wanted to celebrate it early since we are leaving for Missouri on Monday and Saturday night was the only night that it would just be our immediate family. We went to this nice little restaurant in San Anselmo, and caught up over dim lighting and good food. My sister and I made sure to bother our parents and have this technique of interrogating them before they can interrogate us about our lives. Like always it worked to our advantage and we were not asked about our social or school life the whole night. Usually dinners go smoother that way. At the end of the night I made sure to go to the bathroom just before everyone is done eating and found our waitress and let her know it was my sister's birthday. The waitress did not disappoint and had the staff come and sing my sister happy birthday and even gave her ice cream! The night ended perfectly and my sister had a smile on her face the whole time.

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

Saturday, I went to one of my best friend's house to meet up before we left for the movie that we went to see that day. We caught up that morning over pupusas, a Salvadorian dish, and talked about how crazy our final's week went among other things. I had missed having breakfast at her house before we went out for the day, so it was nice to know that we would still do that. the afternoon rolled around and one of my other best friends got off work and came over to come with us to the movies. It was raining outside and we talked about how we were glad we were doing something indoors. Like usual we went to this Rite Aid that is right across the street from the theater and stalked up on candy and junk food to sneak into the theaters. The movie that we were seeing had just come out the previous night, called "The Black Swan". Once we were in we took a seat right in the middle of all the seats, not too far back, not to far forward, perfect seats. The movie was amazing! I loved the dancing and how thrilling the storyline was. The acting was all very well done, and the ending was perfect. Although my friends said it made them sad, it made me happy for some reason. I wont say the ending, but I guess how you feel about it depends on how you interpret it.

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

With Thanksgiving break behind me, Winter break is now here and hopefully will be a much needed break that the other one could not give me. Finals are over and so far the break has been wonderful! I went home on a Thursday and spent the night with my family catching up over dinner and watching late might movies with my mom. Friday my parents left for work, and my sister left for school. I hadn't slept in a while because of finals so I took that day to sleep in and had a friend come over later to catch up with and go christmas shopping with. I got my sister a birthday present and a christmas present since both are only two days apart. I would have gotten the rest of my family gifts but this christmas we aren't staying in the bay area like we usually do, we are going to Missouri to visit my dad's side of the family and my mom already got them presents, getting more would just be too much luggage so I stuck with getting just my sister gifts.

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

I realized that I did not post about my Thanksgiving! I was actually on break for a full week instead of just Thanksgiving day, but all my memories from that week are too jumbled to try and remember them all now, However, I do remember Thanksgiving. As always, my family and I had Thanksgiving dinner at my Tia Leticia's house. My dad's side of the family lives all the way in Missouri so they are hardly ever with us during Thanksgiving, so it was just my mom's side of the family this year. Since this is my first year in college I have never been away from them for this long. Walking into my tia's house it was exactly as I remembered and it surprised me how big my little cousin's were getting in such a short period of time. I spent most of the night with my tia Martha, she is my mom's youngest sister and one of my best friends, and it was great to catch up with her. I've noticed how much smaller my family is getting. Our dinners in the past year used to pack the house completely, but people have been moving away recently and although we still had around 20-30 people there, that is tiny compared to previous years. Thanksgiving started out to be a great night. I left with my cousins and my sister to go find this tree swing that one of my cousins wanted to take us too while my uncles were cooking dinner, but the end of the night changed my mood from happiness to sorrow. When we all got back the food was ready and we all headed upstairs with the rest of the family to eat. Before we ate my grandmother said a prayer like she does before all our family dinners. She spoke in spanish, but slowly so that my sister and I could keep up. She spoke about how blessed we are to still have each other. however, she also spoke about having the lord bless our family with health. I found out that night that my grandmother had not been taking care of her kidney problems that she has been having, and hasn't even gone on dialysis yet. She desperately needs a kidney transplant and has not been listening to her doctor's orders for the foods she should be eating, they cant speak to her in spanish and it is not the same when my mom or her siblings try and translate for her because she doesn't understand just how important the instructions are. On top of that I found out that one of my cousin's just got uterine cancer and because of how long she waited to get checked has to get her whole uterus taken out, and although the surgery will hopefully be helpful, she will never be able to have children, she is only 25. Thanksgiving just went downhill from there. It was wonderful to be able to see my family, but by the end of the night no one left happy.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Status Update:
Today is the day after my nineteenth birthday, one more year and I'm twenty! It seemed like yesterday that my mom was telling me on my tenth birthday,"Erin you are going to be double digits tomorrow!" I was so young I didnt even know what a double "digit" was. Life is flying by, and it's crazy how much every year changes you, never ceases to amaze me. Looking back on just this past year of 2010, it has definatly been the year of the most change. I grew up a lot, became more independent, and in return let myself worry less of how others thoughts and actions affect the life I'm trying to lead. The most important lesson learned in 2010 was that I'm tired of letting my worries affect my life and my soul, all used to do was slow me down, so now my goal for 2011 is to be the best me that I can give. Get my education and take care of my family and those I love most. Stop taking the easy and quicker way out, take my time and not rush everytime a new obstacle is thrown my way, because at the end of all the stuggle the result is more fulfiling.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Today in my Psychology class we were discussing how violence in the media and video games are an associate violent behavior in kids, and that they will grow up thinking that violence is acceptable, so kids should not be exposed to large quantities of these factors. I understand were my teacher was coming from when she addressed this issue of violence in the media and in video games and how it can be harmful, but wouldn't children just grow up ignorent without the experience of being able to see the negatives in the world as well as the possitives? Our teacher was saying that she does not allow her son to be shown violence except for in low doses (a couple hours of violence in movies, with her approval of the rating), but can she really monitor his life outside their household? This issue touched me because of the amount of friends that I have had who have been murdered. Ignorance is not bliss no matter what people what to think. I found myself thinking, "How can she really believe that this is helping her son, and how can she be teaching us to raise our kids that way as well?" I respect her and her family, but I have my own opinions on the issue. She was telling us about a study were children were taught how to use a gun safely, but when put in a room with a gun and other toys they would immediatly go for the gun and try and shoot it. This study to me seems like it was done completely wrong. I have known too many people who have been shot down by guns due to gang violence, and I can't help but think, "Could my friends murders have been avoided if their murderers had someone in their life that educated them on the violence around them, and taught them right from wrong before they were tainted by gang mentality? Why did these murderers feel that gang life was the way to go? was it safetly in numbers? was it the need for family?" Well I believe its ignorance. Instead of having the corriculum teach us about how violence in media and video games will alter children's minds, maybe we sould be focusing on how to tell our children right from wrong before they go out in the street and have someone else use our children's ignorance to their advantage. We should be educating our children to survive OUTSIDE the household, it may be hard, and disturbing to show violence to children, but its something that needs to be done to benifit them and society as a whole. I'm in no way saying that a 3 year old should be exposed to violence in the media, but by the time that child leaves the house, even to kindergarden, they should have some kind of exposure so that their minds won't be tainted by others.Growing up in violent neighborhoods, or growing up in peaceful ones, its an issue that has to be discussed with children, because no matter how much you might want them to stay innocent, you dont want them to grow up with the wrong mentality.