ending the year

This is a picture from our backyard.  I believe when we move one day, this will be what I miss most about our home.  Our shaded trees in the backyard have provided shade for our summer backyard BBQ's and gatherings as well as just a scenic view from the inside.  We don't have set plans of where we are moving or even when, but we have definitely outgrown our home.  As of now we are just scoping out areas.  It's a big decision to make since we love where we are so much.  Our neighbors are just the best.  I wish we could just pick up our street and relocate it!  ha! If only life was that easy!  Hopefully within a couple of years we will make a decision on where we will settle down.  Until then, we will just enjoy our cozy home.

So, the new year is fast approaching and I wanted to share my new years resolutions or goals for the coming year.  I am going to keep it simple.

Give some time to my favorite hobbies-photography and scrapbooking.  I love these pastimes and I would like to devote some good time to them.

Exercise on a regular basis.  I never say I diet because I really feel diets are useless.  The term alone gives restrictions and we all know what happens when you say no you can't have that....you want it even more!  My weakness is chocolate, but it also makes me weak!  So, I do limit it. Having a high energy, high stressed job (at times) exercising on a routine will definitely help to keep me balanced and also improve my overall health.

Lastly, devote some time to practice the Spanish language.  This one is difficult, but I think I can do it.  Being of Hispanic descent and not being a fluent Spanish speaker is difficult.  It's almost as if you MUST know it since you have a Spanish surname.  Being I am 5th generation born in the United States, the Spanish language was lost-there is a story to that.  (I may share later.)  My parents, grandparents, and elders know the language, but it wasn't passed on past their generation.  So, most of my cousins do not know it.  Funny, I may be one of few of my cousins that know the most!  That's scary!  Regardless, I do feel it is important to know more than one language.  Why not let it be Spanish? :)

So there, these are my goals for the year.  Let' see how I measure up in the end.  This ought to be interesting.

Here I am wishing my dear husband, loving children and all my family and friends another prosperous new year.  May the 2012 year be a blessed one.

Taken from a dear friend's FB quote that I love:

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgiven past.

 

Happy New Year 2012!

tortillas para mija

My daughter wanted to learn how to make tortillas.  I barely remember making them once with my mom.  That's not to say SHE-my mom never made them.  She did.  I just only made them once with her.  I had an idea how to make them, but needed the exact ingredients to make them from scratch.  I ended up getting the list of ingredients from my grandmother when I visited with her on Christmas. So, we got everything we needed and went to work! 

We mixed all the dry ingredients together-flour, baking powder,  salt, and shortening by kneading it together at the same time adding hot water a little at a time.

Adding the hot water forms the masa into this "blob."  It has a sticky and soft feel to it. 

After the masa is made, we formed them into little round pieces to get them ready to roll them out.  

Once we made the little balls of masa, we rolled them out on the counter top.  We had to add flour to the counter top and rolling pin to keep the masa from sticking to each part.  

Rolling the masa out.

We didn't have a comal, so we had to use this small sauce pan to cook the tortillas on the stove. 

Our tortillas turned out pretty good!  A little folds and some shaped like Texas...but we had some pretty good round ones too!

I made a ground turkey and potato dish to go with the tortillas.  It was YUM!  

So, this little experience got me thinking of adding a page to my blog with recipes I enjoy!  I love cooking and I do more when I am home on vacation.  So, maybe you can look out for that coming soon!

Until then! Ciao!

for my baby girls

My precious girls 

This one is dedicated to the baby girls in my life...Zoie, Victoria, Abie, Natalia, Julia, and last but certainly not the least... My most precious baby girl Alyssa... may you always cherish your childhood. Take time to take in your youth. One day it will be a distant memory and you'll wish you had it all back again...

Never Grow Up by Taylor Swift Your little hand's wrapped around my finger And it's so quiet in the world tonight Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light To you everything's funny, you got nothing to regret I'd give all I have, honey If you could stay like that Oh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little Oh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart And no one will dessert you Just try to never grow up, never grow up You're in the car on the way to the movies And you're mortified your mom's dropping you off At 14 there's just so much you can't do And you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shotsBut don't make her drop you off around the block Remember that she's getting older tooAnd don't lose the way that you dance around in your pj's getting ready for schoolOh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, just stay this littleOh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simpleNo one's ever burned you, nothing's ever left you scarred And even though you want to, just try to never grow upTake pictures in your mind of your childhood room Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home Remember the footsteps, remember the words saidAnd all your little brother's favorite songs I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be goneSo here I am in my new apartment In a big city, they just dropped me off It's so much colder that I thought it would beSo I tuck myself in and turn my night light on Wish I'd never grown up I wish I'd never grown up Oh I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up I could still be little Oh I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up It could still be simple Oh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little Oh darling, don't you ever grow up Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple Won't let nobody hurt youWon't let no one break your heartAnd even though you want to, please try to never grow upOh, don't you ever grow upOh, never grow up, just never grow up

Natalia, Abie, Victoria, and Zoie at Dewberry Farm in Katy enjoying the sunflower garden.  Can you tell Zoie is going to be our super star? :) These girls mean the world to me!

Victoria, Abie, and Zoie playing dress up.