Girl's Night Out!

Yesterday, Alex and I, plus two lovely ladies who also work in the church nursery, went out to dinner. As Leilani says, "We all see each other on Sunday, pass each other in the nursery....then later ask, 'What's her name again?" We want to establish friendships on a Godly foundation. So after a few weeks of trying to plan a day to get together, we finally met up :) We met at BJ's around 6:30 and, needless to say, I was super excited! While we waited for a table (40 minutes was the wait time we were told), we chatted it up about our weeks, how our day was, future plans, and families. Then (the wait was only about 15 minutes), we sat at the table and figured out what we were going to eat. I ordered a Turkey Cobb Sandwich with avocado and sans the bleu cheese dressing :) And I also had about 4 glasses of strawberry lemonade...and yes I had to use the restroom a lot because of that. We ate and talked and ate and talked and ate and talked! It was so much fun! I loved getting to know Leilani and Kallie more! And I loved spending time with my sister :) After dinner, Alex, Leilani, and I decided to get coffee at CB&TL (I ordered a Cafe Caramel...DELICIOUS!). We sat for a good hour and talked some more. Among the topics discussed were stalking…*ahem*…I mean hanging out with cute guys in military uniforms, our fear of frogs, disciplining children, buying houses, and what it means to live life with God first. We finally parted ways around 9:45 p.m. and headed to our homes. And because I had coffee as my dessert, I took Alex to the store to buy candy :) Then, we belted out Prince's Kiss in the car on the way home. When we got to the parts of the song we didn't know, we just screamed random lyrics and, oddly enough, we sounded like we were singing :) We danced in the car as we drove closer to home. It was definitely a fuuuuuun night! I'd love to do it again! Blessings!

Though I didn't wear this on the girl's night out, it is one of my many party looks ;)

Juana Lopez sets in church with my children:) to love " M, J, and new P ". Hollla for my children!

I got the idea for this blog post from one of those big "Bathroom Readers" that you find at Walmart or Costco. The instructions are to type a sentence into an online language translator, first in English, then translate it into another language (and to make it more fun, into one or two more other languages), then back into English. It's hilarious to see how the sentence changes once it is filtered through each language. I decided to use random statements that I encounter each day. Here are some that I translated...I used Free Translation.

Original (My latest Facebook status update)
Juana Lopez is sitting in church with my babies :) Love "M, J, and new P". Hollla for my babies!

Translation (English > French > Russian > English)
Juana Lopez sets in church with my children :) to love " M, J, and new P ". Hollla for my children!

Original (A friend's Facebook status update - I borrowed Christen Allocco's...Thanks, Christen!)
Christen Allocco Heading out for the coolest wedding of the century.

Translation (English > Italian > Spanish > English)
The the title of Allocco was for the marriage the most fresh one of the century.

Original (A random sentence that you say during the day)
I need to use the bathroom.

Translation (English > Arabic > Spanish > English)
It is necessary to utilize the bathroom.

Original (Your favorite quote from a movie - Mine is from The Dark Knight)
"Never start with the head, the victim gets all fuzzy"

Translation (English > Finnish > English)
"It is never a start, which is the head, not a victim of all fuzzy"

Original (Your favorite quote from a song - From Lady Gaga's Bad Romance)
"I want your love and I want your revenge. You and me could write a bad romance."

Translation (English > Turkish > English)
"I love you and I am in revenge on me to write bad love for you."

The results are so funny! Play around and make your own hilarious translations! Comment and let me know how they turned out! :) Blessings!

Havin' Fun at a Graduation :)

Today, my aunt Kathy graduated from CSUN (California State University of Northridge) with her Masters in Cellular and Molecular Biology. Woweeeeee! Congrats to her! :) We had an awesome day hanging with family and experiencing a college graduation. These are the highlights of the day!

Wake up and run around getting dressed...clothes and makeup were practically flying about
Pick up another aunt from her apartment...I dove in the backseat in heels and a dress so she could have my seat
Laugh about tv shows with the fam on the drive to CSUN
Talk about my upcoming move to VA
Sit in the car with our aunt while my parents visit an office building...talk about boys and cars :)
Sit in the car while my parents visit a house
Drive to McDonalds so I can get food and coffee :)
Drive to CSUN (about a block away)...park the car...rearrange my purse while my family tells me to hurry up
Find other family members...find seats...visit Kathy while she waits to graduate :)Watch the graduation :) Kathy graduates!
Take lots of pictures afterwards!
Record Noah dancing to music :)
Drive to the Olive Garden for graduation dinner
Waltz with Noah while we waited for our table - Man! Can Noah dance or what?!
Eat way too much food at dinner
Spot William Hung (from American Idol) at the restaurant
Run full speed to retrieve my bracelets which I forgot in the restaurant...I got them back :)Watch Louis drive the car to the curb and make us laugh hilariously at the joke he played on our uncle
Hear Noah sing a gospel song in the parking lot at the restaurant
Dance and sing wildly (ok, that was just me...) in the car on the way home
Arrive at home...upload pictures
Stay up late chatting with friends, folding clothes, and watching tv with Alex :)

Here are some pictures and video from the day! Blessings!

The graduate

Funny girls!

Fam Bam!

Meeeee!

Beautiful family!

Beautiful sisters!

Noah Dancing :)

A Good Cause

A fellow blogger and Regent classmate of mine named Lindsey Christmas is passionate about helping others. She formed a group called Serenity Self Defense that is dedicated to teaching women how to defend themselves against attackers. She also often blogs about different websites and organizations that raise money for those in need. Her most recent blog post focused on a non-profit organization called CommonThreadz that gives money, clothes, and other items to children in developing nations. Lindsey is hosting a giveaway on her blog (1 item from the webiste) and the deadline is May 25th (6:30 EST). Go to http://lindseysdolcevita.blogspot.com/ to check out Lindey's blog and to enter the giveaway. You'll have a great time reading her blog, as well as learn more about the CommonThreadz organization when you check out their website.

I think we can all take a note from Lindsey and learn to be more passionate about heling others. In all that we do, we should glorify God and what better way to do that than to help God's children? :)

Blessings!

For Me, For You - An Original Poem by Juana

I wrote this poem on a whim - just trying to put feelings into words, into a poem :)

I'll write a lovely song for you.
Teach you
Know you
See you
Meet you

Understand you.

Show you.
But why?
Why?

Why not for me?

Why not write a song for me?
Teach me?
Know me?
See me?
Meet me?

Understand me?

Show me?
And why?

Love me as I love you.
I'll let you go.
Goodbye.

Favorite Bible Verse

I have a lot of favorite Bible verses that always inspire me and give me a boost of faith and admiration for the Lord. One of my favorites is Psalm 40:1-3:

I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth. Praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord"

This verse popped into my head one night and I had not known the scripture by heart so I looked it up and was pleasantly surprised! I had been dealing with stress and loved how God led me right to what I needed to hear. This Bible verse is so amazing because it always reminds me that God hears us and brings us out of dark places. And no matter what, we should always have a good song in our mouths praising the Lord! Thank you, Lord, for holding me up :) Without You, I would not be able to stand. I love you.

Thanks to Christen Allocco for this blog post idea :)

Blessings!

The Drinking Debate

The topic of this post has been on my mind for over a year now. I really didn't know how to put my thoughts into words for this one...but I feel like its appropriate now.

I'll be 21 soon and will be of legal drinking age. I get asked by most people "What are you gonna do for your 21st birthday?! Going to go out drinking?!" And I can honestly say that I'm not going to go out drinking. That's just not my thing. That's not to say that I won't order a glass of wine or something like that when I go out to dinner with my family, but I want to control myself and make sure that I'm not just drinking to be drinking because I can. This issue also brings up the debate of whether or not the drinking age should be lowered or raised. Those who argue for it to be lowered say that places like Europe who keep the drinking age low don't deal with as many instances of alcoholism and underage drinking. Others argue that it should be raised because even 21 year olds are not responsible enough to handle alcohol. The debate goes back and forth.

While I see that both sides make good points, I can only say that no matter what age people drink at, it can cause them to make bad decisions. A lot can be done to take away the glamorous side of drinking that is portrayed in the movies and television shows. That might alleviate the many instances of teen drinking. I also think that teens (as well as all people) should make better choices for themselves concerning alcohol.

I could go on all day, citing arguments from each side of the drinking age debate, but to sum up my feelings on the issue, I say, "BE RESPONSIBLE, THINK OF OTHERS, THINK OF YOURSELF."

What are your thoughts on this debate? Should the drinking age be lowered, raised, kept the same? I’d love to hear what you think!

Blessings!

Reasons I Love Being a Girl

I'm so so so glad that God let me be a girl! I absolutely love it! Here are just a few reasons why :)

1. It's okay to wear the color pink...and I do it quite often :)
2. Skirts and dresses make up the majority of my wardrobe
3. We get to have babies!!!
4. We can wear heels
5. We get to wear pretty pretty makeup and play with different eyeshadow colors :)
6. We get to see the look on guys faces when we beat them in a game, make a goal, shoot a basket, or beat them when running a mile.
7. Lipgloss, 'nuff said.
8. Smiling and batting our eyelashes to get free stuff, but only when absolutely necessary ;)
9. We pretty much smell good all of the time
10. Being able to dance crazily, scream madly in public, and act silly :) No one calls it insanity, it's just me being me :)

Blessings!

Plus, you get to act crazy with your sister :)

Remeber my reason about wearing dresses? Yep :)

Yep again :) And wear pretty feather masks :)

2010 Summer To-Do List

Alrighty! I'm done with classes for the 2009-2010 school semester! Wooohooo! *Pats myself on the back for a job well done* And congrats to my fellow students and classmates! Such smarties we are :) Now that I'm done with classes until the fall, I thought it was appropriate to create another summer to-do list like I did last year. It's a list of things I want/plan to do during the summer. Last year, my list was not too long, but I was able to complete pretty much everything on my list. So here's my 2010 list:

1. Celebrate my 21st birthday (woot woot!)
2. Finish the 4th book in the Luxe series, Splendor
3. Go to the beach more than once
4. Take bellydance classes
5. Play more tennis
6. Celebrate Alex's 18th birthday
7. Celebrate my mommy's birthday
8. Go to Universal Studios
9. Prepare for my move to VA
10. Keep making lists of my summer plans :)

Pictures from last summer :)

Mommy, Alex, and I at Louis' graduation

Me being silly

Alex and I before going to the beach