Happy Thanksgiving

Seriously, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

Usually for this very special and delicious holiday we go from house to house enjoying all the wonderful food. The last house is always my parents' and there are always well over two dozen people in attendance. It really is grand.

Since moving to NC, though, we can't afford to be flying home for all the holidays.

So last year Alex's mom flew up to spend Thanksgiving with us. It really was special.

This year we are continuing the tradition. In just a couple hours Patty will be landing in RDU and tomorrow we are cooking up a feast! I have all my recipes ready and we were able to purchase my dream dining set from Target. It's beautiful.

Here's the table. Here's one set of chairs. And here is the other set of chairs.

I love the colors and the simple design...and most of all, I love the price!

I hope everyone's holiday is extra special. Remember to show God your gratitude for all His blessings.

Hispanic in the South

Have you ever seen the movie 'Selena'?

It's about the Mexican-American singer who was shot and killed in 1995 at the age of 23.

(This movie also made J.Lo famous)

Anyway, there's this scene when Selena's dad, Abraham, is going on a rant on how difficult it is to be Mexican-American.

"We've got to know about John Wayne and Pedro Infante...Oprah and Cristina... American food is too bland and yet when we go to Mexico we get the runs!... We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans, both at the same time! It's exhausting!"

It's a humorous part of the film and maybe he's exaggerating it a bit, but I can somewhat relate.

(Check the scene here, jump to 6:50 in the video)

Since I grew up in Miami it really wasn't that big of a deal being Hispanic-American. My friends and I were all weird hybrids. We love frijoles and cheeseburgers, Salsa and classic rock, Que Pasa USA and Friends. We all identify with the countries of our origins ("I'm Puerto Rican," "I'm Cuban," "I'm Nicaraguan") without having to add the silly 'American' part. We speak in a blend of Spanish and English, Spanglish. And it's fine, nobody minds, we all understand each other.

Whenever I've gone to Nicaragua (or other Latin American countries), though, I am straight up American. I trip over my words and can't relate to their way of life.

Here in the South, though, I am decidedly not American. I don't like college football, seersucker anything, or Paula Deen...nor can I relate to any of that. And WHAT is the deal with people around here having parties with no dancing? No dancing?? Sad.

I'm not American enough and I'm not Nicaraguan enough.

Again, in Miami this wasn't a big deal...we're all hybrids, remember? Now that we're living outside of Miami, however, the differences are more evident. I wonder how it'll be for future generations in our family, my kids and grandkids. Every generation will be less Hispanic and more American. I would hate to lose our culture to a fully American culture...not that I don't love America, I do! Honestly! But I'm proud of our roots. I love the Spanish language, I love my Abuelita's Nicaraguan cooking, I love getting together with my loud crazy family over the holidays, I love salsa dancing at every get together. I don't want to lose that.

Anyway... I'm not sure where this blog post is going, haha. These are just thoughts that have been swimming around in my head today.

Any thoughts of your own to add???

Thanksgiving Break!

Hallelujah! I am officially on Thanksgiving break. No school for ten days.

I still have to write two papers and complete a couple other assignments though... so school work will not be completely absent from my break.

The best part of this break though is that my lovely parents will be coming into town on Saturday! I have many plans to show them around the city and let them spoil me with a few dinners. ;-) They leave on Tuesday and on Wednesday Alex's mom is flying in to enjoy Thanksgiving with us.

I am already thankful for the fun times Alex and I will have with our parents. It is such a blessing that they will be here with us during a time when many people get to go home for the holidays.

P.S. Can I tell you how much I love Real Simple Magazine?

I looove it. And here's just one reason why... Ten Ideas for Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey. (I guess that could technically be ten reasons...)

Don't let your leftovers go to waste!

The Itis

I've got the Itis.

We only have about three weeks of actual school left in the semester and I am just not feeling very motivated. My mind is on Thanksgiving (I'm cooking everything this year, ahh!), Christmas (we're headed to the mountains in Asheville!), and our trip to Denver in January.

How can I be expected to focus on writing papers and studying for exams when I have all these exciting things to look forward to???

I have to keep focused and finish out the semester the best way I can.

But really all I want to do is this... :-)

sources: here and here.

Blog Slacking

I know I've been slacking on the blogging. Things have just been busy busy busy.

Since we got back from Orlando both Alex and I have been busy with school work. I'm proud to say Alex wrote his first exegesis paper on the book of Ruth. Hoorah! I'm proud of him. Writing an exegesis paper for the first time is hard for anybody, Alex stuck with it and did a great job.

Also, last weekend Lucci and his girlfriend, Megan, came into town from Orlando. It was so great to have them visiting with us!

In that same weekend we had the Craft & Bake Sale hosted by Connecting Point at the seminary (I was the coordinator). I'm happy to say that it went great. We had so many more visitors than I expected. All of the vendors had interesting displays, though I can't lie, my favorite table was the one with the three Miamians selling Tres Leches and Cuban coffee. ;-)

As soon as the sale was over Alex, Lucci, Megan, and I hopped into the car and drove straight to Charlotte to see my all-time favorite band in concert, MuteMath. They just never get old, honestly! I went back and counted and I think this was my 8th time seeing them, it's hard to keep track. They did a phenomenal job. I only wish I could have been with all my crazy MuteMath fans back in South Florida (the shows are definitely crazier down there, must be because we hispanics are wild).

The next day we went to church at the Summit (I love that place) and had a Denver church plant meeting (I love those people). We also explored Falls Lake Dam...nature fascinates me to no end. It's apparent to anyone around me that I'm a city girl when you get me out in nature. I saw a crawfish for the first time! (I think it was a crawfish...)

Anyway, this week we've been back to the daily grind. Work, school, the usual. I'll try to update more frequently. :-) Anything exciting going on in your life lately?

New URL

We're back in NC!

It was long drive back and I was ready to be home. We had a great visit in Orlando with Alex's family. Some highlights from the trip:

• Watching Lucci cross that stage in his shiny gray cap and gown. ;-)
• Eating delicious sushi at the greatest Japanese restaurant...even though it took forever to get there...it was worth it!
• Standing outside of Halloween Horror Nights and getting scared by the zombies. We almost bought tickets to go in...but our wallets prevented us. ;-)
• Seeing Saw VI. (it really wasn't that scary or gross)
• Walking around downtown Orlando with Alex, his mom, and his aunt on Halloween night. Wow. Very interesting.

I have a lot to do now that we're back in town...only I can't really remember everything. I know I have some homework...grocery shopping...I'l figure out the rest.

Anywhoo...Alex made a URL for me. http://kristelfatima.blogspot.com can be confusing I suppose. My new URL is www.glowinglightblog.com. Hoorah!

Happy November to all.