I went to Colorado on August 8th to visit my cousin Sarah and Zeke. They moved out there in 2004 after they got married. In California it costs an arm and leg just to rent an apartment let alone own a house. The houses you have to pay a fortune for out here are also around 50 years old. In Colorado you can build a brand new two story home with a basement for like 240. Plus it's a lot cleaner and traffic/crime free out there. They figured it was a better place to raise a family. Anyway, now that I got their history out of the way..

Sarah scrapbooking while Ty plays
My cousin Sarah had a little boy last February, his name is Ty. So I was really excited that I was going to see him. I flew into Denver airport and they had a damn subway on the bottom floor to get around the airport. It was similar to the one at the Dallas/Fortworth airport. I got picked up by my cousin Sarah, Aunt Barbara, and Ty. It was good to see everyone again. On the ride home Ty cried the whole time because he didn't know me and I was sitting next to him. Once we got to Castle Rock we went out to dinner at Red Robin. It was delicious.

Zeke holding Ty
Sarah and Zeke's house is really nice. It felt very cozy! Sarah's friend Judit also flew in since it was Sarah's birthday weekend. We drove through downtown Denver, I saw the Rockies' stadium from the street. We went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant for Sarah's birthday. The workers put a sombrero on her head and sang to her. Later we had Cold Stone cake for dessert.

Sarah wearing her sombrero
Sarah and Aunt Barbara
Sarah and Judit
Sarah and Zeke
We checked out the mall and the outlets in the town. I got to see Ty's doctor's office. We also looked around at all the new houses being built. There were some really big ones that were beautiful. Sarah took me to the Denver Zoo. It was awesome! I got to see Polar Bears so that was a big deal. I got to see my Aunt Barbara's new house, I helped clean it on the last day I was out there. I watched about 14 episodes of Gilmore Girls on DVD and a lot of Olympics with Zeke. Sarah made lots of great food including spaghetti (haha) and I played with Ty a lot. He is such a little cutie. I also got to see my aunt's work.

Aunt Barb and Uncle Marty's new house
At the end of the week we drove to the town of Estes. The town has the famous haunted hotel that the Shining is based off of. We walked down the streets through all of the stores and shopped. We ate at a little restaurant then finished off our trip with a soft serve cone from McDonald's. One of the craziest things about Colorado was the weather. It would be hot all day then in the evening it would start raining with thunder and lightning. About fifteen minutes later it would clear back up. It also hailed at one point which was incredibly random. I slept on the couch for the first few days and then went up the bedroom after Judit left.

Cleaning with Sarah, Judit, Zeke, & Aunt Barb
Colorado was really lovely and I had a great time seeing my family again. I can't wait to visit again!

Labels: daily, family, travel

Last weekend we had two parties for my family. Ons Saturday we celebrated my cousin Alyssa's 9th birthday. I feel so old, to think she's nine and I used to change her diapers. Where did the time go? We ate pizza and Subway, We also went swimming and hung out. She had a Hannah Montana cake which had strawberries in it. I got her a Nintendo DS game called Purr Pals or something.

On Sunday we had a going away party for my Aunt Barbara who moved to Colorado. My uncle Marty stayed behind to finish up things around the house and then he will head out there. We had a BBQ and lots of my aunt's friends as well as our family showed up. Everyone was sad at the end of the party because who knows when they'll be back out here. My Cousin Sarah moved out there and has only been back out because of weddings.

Labels: daily, family

Present

I recently joined a math class for summer school. I struggled with math and started having trouble due tot he fast pace of the class and will be dropping it.

I now wear glasses. How lame is that? I have to wear them full time. I keep forgetting to do that but I'm trying! Some day I will probably end up wearing contacts which sucks. Oh well, what can you do?

Fourth of July

I spent the 4th of July at my Aunt Irma and Uncle Tony's house as usual. We had a BBQ, swam in the pool. lit fireworks, played cards, and relaxed. People who attended were Ben. Robert, Bobbo, Erin, Gina, Monique, Alyssa, Conrad, Bayster, Lupe, Dorian, Uncle Tony, Aunt Irma, Mike, and some other people.

New Cell Phone

I finally got a new cell phone! After two years of having my red one, which I was fine with, I got a new one. I needed a new one really bad because the screen on my old one was totally destroyed with like goo oozing out the sides of the screen. I got the LG enV2. It was a beautiful phone and works wonderfully. I love it. I usually only go for Samsung phones but the Glide was too expensive and I didn't want a touch phone. Plus the camera is hella nice on it. Yes Matt, now you'll get to watch better quality videos.

Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics

The worst NBA Finals ever. If anyone watched and can actually commentate with a non biased opinion, you will agree with me when I say the Lakers could have taken the series. Unfortunately they decided to get lazy, not play defense, and where was Kobe when they needed him the most? I'm the first to say that the Lakers are the best and Kobe is better than Jordan, but I can also say they played like shit in the Finals. Whatever. Celtics have a million and a half superstars on the team so they better have won. Next year baby, next year.

Megan's California Visit

Megan and her mother visited California. We went to Santa Monica and walked down the pier. We got Megan a churro while I ate Dippin' Dots. We checked out a lot of apartments and cruised through some ghetto ass areas of Los Angeles. Some lady locked herself out of the apartment office. I decided to be nice and let her use my phone, then she decided to charge me $1.50 to call 411 without even asking or reimbursing me. It's okay, what goes around comes around. We cruised down PCH with the car top down. I had never done that in a car before so it was really cool. We ate dinner with my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Marty at my cousin Tom's restaurant in Long Beach.

Megan spent the rest of the week with me. We watched the Lakers play. We went to the Grove shopping center and then out to dinner to Buca di Beppo for our five year anniversary dinner. It was delicious and we had a blast. Oh and god damn parking garages should take credit cards. Argh. I bought Megan some Roller Derby roller blades. She practiced in my street. She's almost got the braking down. We also played catch with my brand new football she bought me.

Uncle Marty's Retirement Party

My Uncle Marty retired from Toyota recently. We had a BBQ for him to celebrate it. We ate lots of food and visited. Not too much happened, but it was good times.

Megan's Graduation/North Carolina

I went to North Carolina for Megan's graduation. It was a beautiful area and everyone was very nice. I met a nice black man outside the airport when I landed and talked to him for a while. I enjoyed the weather and checked out my surrounding. I watched everyone and tried to see how people acted down there.

After a while my girlfriend picked me up. We headed off to N.C. State for her basketball tournament. I was finally able to see her play. She was amazing, imagine Candice Parker but better. Her team did really well and ended up finishing third in the nation. Woo hoo! The team they lost against were a bunch of, well, lame asses. I got to play NCAA Basketball for XBOX 360 while she sat around with her team. We stayed at the Holiday Inn before the last day.

After the tournament we headed back to her school town. I got to see the town, her dorm and room, her friends, and her tanning salon. She had really great friends and a very pretty school. We ate in the cafeteria and we got Ben & Jerry's one night. It was fun seeing all the places she went every day. We also ate at Barberitos (sp?). I met a few of her professors and attended a College Democrats party. We shopped at Target and when I handed my discount card to the girl, she told me, "You can do it, you've got the power." It was really random and funny. I also bought a shirt at TJ Maxx I believe.

It was really hard keeping good hygiene. I had to shower ever morning sponge bath style at Megan's sink and trips to the bathroom were out of the ordinary. I ate at the Cookout, went to the mall, and went to a college democrat dinner at some sandwich place. I was out of place in that meeting, but there were lots of funny stories to keep me entertained. (To Megan: Sweaty + Sage = Swage) Such a funny story!

Megan's family showed up and I got a room at the Inn. I was very thankful for her mother putting me up and still owe her for that! I got to shower which was lovely. Later on I attended Megan's graduation functions which were a luncheon, Baccalareat (sp?), and the actual graduation. I got to her Nido speak, he had some funny lines. I got to see Lee Greenwood perform his hit song "God Bless the USA". I also got to see a good ol' Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas speak, what a boring guy! But you know I do feel sorry for him growing up without a father. Haha. Megan looked beautiful in her cap and gown. I snapped lots of photos of her with everyone. I attended a Political Science graduation party which was off the hook. I met some of her professors and I even met her father. Thanks for telling me about hitting your dad in the face Megan! I also tricked her dad into carrying heavy stuff by himself. I am a sly fox, oh yes, yes I am. We moved Megan out of her dorm room which was a lot of trips down the stairs.

We ate a very elegant graduation dinner. I had lamb for the first time. I think I have to get used to the taste before I can say I like it. Oh and we ate at Outback the night before. We woke up at like 3:30 the next morning to take me to the airport. Oh, and I suggest stopping at JRs! They have everything including Christmas 24/7!

I flew back, got delayed, and ended up getting a free ticket with some food for volunteering my seat to an overbooked flight. I was in Vegas for an hour or so for a layover until I finally got picked up back in Los Angeles by my aunt and uncle. It was a wonderful trip, very good memories.

Labels: daily, family, girlfriend, lakers, sports

Two weeks ago I attended my second cousin's 5th birthday party. It was a lot of fun. They are a jumper and a karaoke stage for the kids. It was a High School Music themed party. The food was really good and lots of people showed up.


Later on in the day I dressed up as Willy Wonka for all the kids. I walked around and passed out Wonka candy. It was fun, but I didn't really look like Willy Wonka.


On a side note, I really need a camera. The quality of my two year old camera phone just isn't cutting it.

Labels: daily, family

Last weekend my baby brother made his first communion. The following day his sister Abby was baptized. I'm not sure what the point of a first communion is, I should probably do some research on that. After that we had a little party at the house for them. We ate pizza and cake. The cake had white frosting and two crosses on the top. I probably should have taken a picture of it since I don't see that every day.

Labels: daily, family