Bullets

They're good things . . .

• The kids are back to school. I have two VERY regular clients, leaving me with about 2 1/2 hours of tutoring a night. That's a good 8-10 hours a week of tutoring money. A nice $120 to $150 a week.
• Mona signed up for Gmail specificially so we can Gchat during our boring days at work. We keep each other entertained.
• I had my one-year review on Friday--it went well. I've been promoted to "Office Manager" and my payrate got a nice little bump--went from $12 to $14 an hour! That's an extra $320 a month! All going towards the savings! I'll have a little more responsibility here at the office, but I'm sure I can manage. If I can manage my current work load, plus have time to write Blogger entries during the day, I'd say I was desperate for more responsibility.
• Saw Superbad on Saturday.
• Neda's Birthday Party on Sunday was good times. The drinks were flowing, the food was abundant, and I got to hang out with some of my old friends from high school and junior high that I haven't seen in quite some time.
• I have a new little sister from the pledge class that I am currently pledging as pledge mother. She doesn't know it yet, so I can't say who it is, but come September 8th, I'll let you know who it is. I'm super psyched to have her as a little sister!
• Having a slumber party this weekend with Mona and the pledges as a chance for our pledges and their pledge mothers (Mona and myself) to get to know each other better.

~LOVE~

Saturday Morning Re-Cap

We recently received a visit from my sister-in-law, Naomi, and her son (our nephew) Ryan. I threw down a mini photo shoot and here are some of the best shots.

Seven months and already crawling like crazy!

Uncle Fernando with Ryan

He's pretty much one of the cutest babies I've seen. Half Mexican, half Armenian is a good combo.

This past weekend, I attended the baptism of Julia Ruby Barba, my cousin Jason's baby girl with wife Grace. This was the third baptism I attended this year! After the actual ceremony, it was back to Jason and Grace's house for food, drinks, and a mini-reunion with my cousins. I regret not taking more pictures. My uncle Jesse and aunt Esther were there, along with all three of their sons--my cousins "Little" Jesse, Michael, and Eric. It was actually Little Jesse's birthday on Saturday. His 40th! Michael came with his lovely wife, Claudia (I love her!) , and their kids Jacob and Briana. Jacob is ten years old and TALLER than me. The last time I saw him was at our wedding shower. He was short and pudgy. He has totally stretched over the last year. Briana is in the "losing teeth like crazy" stage. She's such a cutie, and really takes the job of taking care of her little cousin, Matthew, very seriously. Yes, Eric was there with his wife, Laura, and their son Matthew, who has also done a lot of growing up since I last saw him. It makes me happy to see how happy and successful my cousins have become. I can't wait until my brother and myself move into that tier of our life-- successful marriages, home owners, careers, and kids. The one thing that put a damper on the event was seeing my cousin, Sal. It was awkward as all hell because I didn't know he was out of prison yet. Yeah, Jason's brother, my cousin Sal, has spent the last several years in prison. He looks a lot older than his 27 years. I feel like I don't even know him anymore. I haven't seen him since he was a teenager and we had to stay a week with my Nana. Overall, though, I was happy I went. I spent most of the evening just talking to my aunt Esther and Claudia (and my mom) who I went to the party with. Here are the only two pictures I took that day:

Baby Julia with Mom, Grace

The priest, Jason, Grace, Julia, and Godparents. My aunt Linda was the Godmother (she jockeys for the position of Godmother for all the girls in our family--she's my Godmother, too). The Godfather (I forget his name) is a good friend of Jason's.

On Tuesday night, Fernando and I took his sister, Melissa, out for dinner for her birthday at The Olive Garden. Again, I was lax with my camera and only caught these two sub-par pictures:

Melissa looking embarassed because the staff was singing to her--that's her hubby, Clement, next to her.

Blowing out the candles on her huge chocolate cake! She's 27, which means my wonderful husband is soon to be 26.

And finally, here are two pictures of the hub and I last night at Acapulco's in Northridge. Fernando with his grande margarita and me with my mojito.

~LOVE~

I Love It

I haven't written in a long time. I suppose it is time for an update.

The summer is whizzing by me with no regard. To put it in perspective: My summer class will be over today after I take my last test. Summer school (and summer school tutoring) was officially over on Monday night. I begin tutoring again next Thursday for the school year. Fernando starts school in about two weeks. Also, it's August! Crazy.

The past several weeks have kept me very occupied. Working (we got rid of the first bookkeeper we hired after Charlene left because she--the new bookkeeper, not Charlene--sucked and consequently hired a newer, much better bookkeeper). Tutoring summer school for a girl whose parents think she needs 8-10 hours of tutoring a week. Reading, taking quizzes, completing assignments, studying for and taking tests for my Psych class. Slaving away at making sure pledgeship is both organized and well executed for my wicked awesome pledges. And somewhere in there, finding time for family get-togethers and spending time with my husband.

I keep tripping out on the fact that one year ago, I had just moved back to the SCV from SLO, was living at home, planning a wedding, and looking for a job. My one year here at work is on August 30th. Nuts. Can't wait for my promotion.

This month--Fernando's sister, Melissa's, birthday was on Saturday. We took her and her husband out for dinner at Olive Garden last night. Fernando's birthday is on the 15th. He wants a Wii for his birthday. I'm not even exactly sure how to go about getting one of those. But my mom already told me she was going to give Fernando some money for his birthday because she wants him to put it toward a Wii. Then it's Neda's birthday on the 24th. She's having a little poolside soiree at her brother's house on the 26th. Almost forgot to mention I'm traveling up to Sacramento next weekend for the Sigma Omega Nu National Conference with the pledges in tow. Yeah. I'm pretty hardcore.

By the way, can I just say how much I love my pledges? They want to have a Harry Potter themed Big Sis/Lil Sis dinner. I'm debating what to dress as-- Professor Trelawney or random Gryffindor student. And when I assigned the Famous Latina Biography project, one of the girls asked if she could write about La Malinche. Yeah. Nerds. I love it.

~LOVE~