I'm gonna be an aunt!!

So I'm not sure how many of you are aware that my sister is having a baby, but come August, I'll be the proud aunt of one Reina Fae Oppenheimer.  Well, at least that's the name they've chosen for now.

Gaby's ultrasound from a few days ago.  She's at 20 weeks.

 

 

I'm so excited!!  You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to smushing and cuddling and hugging that baby.  I also get to buy it a lot of cute outfits, and help dress her to look adorable.  And the shoes!!  Baby shoes are freaking cute!!  I may or may not already have a (secret) Pinterest board for stuff I plan to get.

I can't help it, there are just so many adorable things out there for little girls!!  Like these:

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And I also get to instill in her a love of all things Hello Kitty.  I will buy the shit out of everything Hello Kitty offers.

I'm also really looking forward to, hopefully, teaching her how to love reading.  I love it, and I did everything I could (and succeeded!!) to make sure Gaby also loved it.  Now I get to make sure her daughter is the same. Somehow, I will also make her love camping and going places.  Not right away, of course, but in time.  Maybe it'll finally be time for that Disney family vacation we never took, right??

I also get to plan the baby shower.  Nothing crazy, but it'll be nice.  We're thinking a jungle theme, and my mom's friend Elsa is going to be making lots and lots of Mexican food, along with the snacks and appetizers I make.  And Gaby's asked me to make a cake, which hopefully will turn out nicely.

And, on the last bit of exciting news, guess who's the godmother??  That's right, ME!!  I'm happy Gaby's asked me to be, as I plan to be there for her daughter through anything and everything, good times and bad.  I'll make sure that no matter what kind of life she has, or what kind of world we live in, there will always be a safe have for her to go to and someone to talk to.  Because that's my job as aunt, as godmother, and really, as someone who loves her already.

Anyways, this is super exciting!!  If you see or talk to Gaby, feel free to congratulate her.  I know she'd love to hear it.

How fast the years go by...

Me as a kid in El Salvador.

So tomorrow, I turn 29.

It's weird.  I mean, there's nothing big about 29.  You can't drive or vote or drink for the first time, and it's not some big marking point, like a quarter century.  You're not even hitting that fearsome new decade.

But it does mark the last year if your 20s.  It kinda feels to me as though it may be the last year of your youth.  I know, I know, it's not that drastic, and I'm honestly not as afraid of my 30s as I may sound.  But I do feel that I'm hitting that age where I should totally have my life together and be an adult.

When I was younger, I was suer that by this time I'd have a career, I'd travel often, I'd speak more languages.  I thought maybe I'd be married, have a kid or two, definitely have some dogs.  When I was teen, I as sure that by this time I'd be in some war zone, reporting to the world what's happening.  Sadly, the reality isn't as awesome.  But things can change, right??

I have heard that the 30s is the new 20s, and I'm totally gonna choose to believe that's true.  Bad times aside for me, I feel like the 30s could be as awesome, if not more so than my 20s.  Even though my friends and I are getting to that age where houses and weddings are common, I don't feel like we're slowing down the fun.  Parties are still happening, clubs are still being hit up, and New Year's is still epic.  Road trips are still a go, and new places are still being visited.

Me, all dressed up for our 2012 New Year's Eve Burlesque Ball.

So I've decided that I'm going to look at my 29th year as time to get ready for what's sure to make an awesome 30s.  You know, do all the stuff I should have done by now: find a stable, permanent job, get my car back on the road, get my finances back on track.  Moving out would also be ideal, although in the end, being roommates with my brothers may not be so bad for a while.

Hopefully, by the time I hit my 30s next year, I'll be set and ready to live life.  Hopefully I can spend a great part of that decade seeing the world and enjoy the amazing places and do the awesome things that have been on my list for years:  do the hike to Machu Picchu, see the northern lights, visit Angkor Wat, learn to surf, go skydiving.  Maybe take some classes, learn to cook like a chef, take pictures like a pro, or learn to paint like Bob Ross.

But those awesome things will come later.  This year will be all about working towards travel.  Working towards stability.  Working towards the being able to do the things I want to do, even if it's only on the weekends.  It'll also hopefully be a year to get myself healthy enough to live through my 30s.  Lose weight, eat healthy, take yoga for my back.  Maybe even get some Lasik.

Also, I need to write more.  I don't write enough, which is sad, because it calms me down and makes me happy.

So here's to another year older, another year done, and hopefully a great many more to come!!

It's a new year, which means it's time for all those resolutions I'll have forgotten about by next week!!

So we made it to 2013.  It's amazing how fast time goes.  Was it really ten years ago that I spent New Year's Eve in El Salvador??  Was it really almost a decade since I finished high school?? Was the first Christmas Dinner that Kasia and I hosted really twelve years ago?!?!

Wow.  I feel like all this time has gone by and I haven't noticed.

Regardless, in the spirit of it being a new year, I figured I'd be cliched and come up with some goals for the year.  I don't want to call them resolutions, since that title is just begging for me to break them ASAP, so goals works for me.

Anyways, here they are, in no particular order:

1. Get a real job.  Not a temporary, for now, or in the meantime type of job, an actual full-time, permanent position.  With benefits.  The whole temp thing just isn't working out for me.  I need something with a little more security and longevity.

2. Move out.  I'd love to have my own place, and it'll have to happen this year.  Currently, I live at my mom's, but she'll move in with her boyfriend soon, which means I'll definitely have to find somewhere.  Somewhere in Sauga, I think, not downtown.  And I don't want to look for a roommate, I'd rather have my own place. As for moving in with Matt, well, I have no idea.  I like the idea of seeing him every day and sleeping next to him every night and waking up to him every morning, but I also like the idea of having my own space and decorating how I want to and getting the chance to live on my own.  Plus, I have no idea how he feels about moving out with me anymore, since I tossed us aside.  Twice.

3. Go on vacation.  Not camping, but somewhere that I can lay on the beach, drink lots, and not have to worry about a goddamned thing.  Cuba, maybe??  Or somewhere different, like St Maarten??  Just somewhere that if I wanted to do nothing for a week, I could.  Even El Salvador would be good, although that would be much more heartbreaking to leave than anywhere else.

4. Go somewhere new.  Similar to the vacation one, but with more doing.  Maybe sightseeing or a tour or hiking or whatever.  Machu Picchu??  Thailand?? Somewhere new and interesting and awesome.  Honestly, I'd even settle for somewhere closer and less exotic, but till new.  New Orleans??

5. Learn a new language.  Or possibly work on the two half languages I know (Spanish and French).  Maybe learn some new Polish words??  The last few I learned were a few years ago.  Time to add something to my mental translator!!

6. Finish a story.  I've been stuck for the last while and haven't been able to write too much, even tough I have an incredible amount of ideas.  Maybe I can work on getting them out??  I've still got some up on my FanFiction profile, and I've got maybe 20 pages of another. I've also got like 35 pages of an original story, and a bunch of stories left anywhere from 2 to 5 pages.  I really should work on those.

7. Find a new hobby.  I keep saying photography or painting, but I do neither.  So I need to give them my all or get off the pot and find some new ones.  I can't imagine me knitting or anything.  Cooking??  Maybe more event planning??  I do love me some planning.  I could definitely make that into something fun!!

8. Pay off debts.  Honestly, I need to do this.  If I'm smart about it, and I find a job soon, I should technically be able to pay off all the people I owe money to, and fix quite a bit of my credit, this year.  I obviously can't finish OSAP this year, but I could do almost everything else.  Or, quite possibly, everything else.  Let's aim for as much as possible and hope it goes well, okay??

9. Lose weight.  I have to find a way to get rid of at least 60 lbs.  HAVE TO.  I can't use any machines or go crazy (stupid back), so I've gotta take up swimming and an aerobics class. Maybe I'll join Kasia in  Zumba, as much as I don't like it.  I've also gotta do yoga or something to help stretch out my back.

10. Relax.  Be healthy.  Smile.  Honestly, I need to just learn to enjoy life and laugh it off when it goes wrong.  I need to not blow everything out of proportion and I need to not over think everything and stress myself out to the point I get panic attacks.  I need to be on the offensive much less and not bite everyone's head off.  I need to think less for me and more for others, and sometimes, I need to think the opposite.

Wow, that's more than I planned to set for myself.  I don't think they're hard, though.  At least, most of them aren't, so I should be able to find ways to get them done, right??  Or possibly, and maybe even more realistically, I'll forget all about them until the end of the year.