Find your strength to weather the storms

I haven't updated this blog in awhile so here it is...

School has been alright, I have been trying my best to keep my grades up especially with soccer consuming up basically my life for right now. I am actually in San Francisco right now for soccer. We just had a game last night against Santa Clara. We were suppose to start the game at 8 but didn't even end up starting the game until like 9:30pm. By the time our game ended it was already 11:30pm, which is very late for a soccer game to end. We ended up tieing the game 2-2 although we should have won and the referee's screwed us once again. Our team this year is legit and we are 4-3-5, but we are much better than our record, and despite the fact that we played six teams in the top 20.

Today, we had a light training session because we have another game tomorrow against University of San Francisco. After our training we headed over to one of my teammates house who lives in San Francisco. On the way there I got to see the Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz, and Golden Gate Bridge. It was my first time to see the Golden Gate Bridge and it was pretty exciting that we got to cross the bridge with our bus LOL. Other than that I just have been chillen and getting rest for tomorrow's game.

A couple weeks ago, Toe-Knee of the Wildboyz and Victory Nightlife missed his flight to SD from New York so he ended up catching one to Los Angeles. LAX is basically where my school is and he asked if I could drop him off at the train station, but instead he ended up watching my game and then hitching a ride with my parents and I back to San DIego. It was good to see TK cause I haven't seen him in awhile. It's funny cause my brother and his brother use to hang out a lot and there was a time when TK and I use to hang out a good amount HAHAHA. It was a long ride home, but an interesting conversation made it a little more exciting than usual lol. TK and his 1700 dollar camera followed me everywhere I went. Basically, he was like paparazzi status and created a lot of attention to me LOL. But here are some of the pictures...

Standing Pose Shot

Action Shot

Thanking the fans (my parents) shot

My mother and father outside 

Model shot. haha jk!

The Friday, which was the 10th of October, I met up with Bianca, Porky, James, Kirk, Keshia, and some of their friends at Knott's Scary Farm. I got there a little earlier than them so I was just waiting in my car. It was pretty funny because these mexican people got into a fight and that shit was crazy lol.  There were a couple of good mazes that scared me pretty bad. I got scared on one of them that I even lost my phone hahaha. It was good to see some people from SD and I had a good time. Thanks to Bianca for the invite and a special Happy Birthday shout-out to her as well! Here are some pictures from the evening...

The crew

Bianca and Me

Keshia, Porky, Me, Bianca

Keshia. Porky. Me. Bianca. James.

The Crew again

On another note, Trevor James just turned 19 years old on the 14th of October. Congratulations as he is one step closer to becoming a man! LOL. Tj is one of my best friends so I decided to head down the Saturday night before his birthday to hang out. I was accompanied by Allyson and Cheryl aka the broncette's lol. We had a fun evening hanging out at TJs place and going to gravity hill. If you do not know what gravity hill is, basically it is a hill that you go down and there is a stop light. If you put your car in neutral your car goes backwards up the hill. It was my first time going and I couldn't believe it actually worked! haha. After gravity hill Tj, Marvin, and Kevin wanted to go to Mercy Road. I was too scared so I stayed in the car with Allyson, Cheryl, Ryan, Kay, and Jenn. Finally, the guys stopped pretending to be so hard cause they knew they weren't going to go all the way down in the first place. After walking a couple steps they came back up and we all just went home. I ended up sleeping at TJ's house cause I couldn't go home since I had a game the next day or my parents would have been pissed. Anyways, I had a good time kicking it with some of the friends I haven't seen in awhile. Here are some pictures from my photobooth at TJ's.

Marvin while he was sleeping. I think this was the Buldge affect on photobooth. HAHA

TJ. Allyson. Cheryl.

Allyson and Cheryl

Allyson. Cheryl. Me.

Me. TJ. Marvin. HAHA TJ's got a horse grill

LOL Marvin is a martian!

Last of all, Congratulations to my roommate Kenny for getting his first tattoo! It is probably one of the sickest tattoo's I have seen. Check it out for yourself!

HAWAII

I went to Hawaii for 8 days because my club soccer team won our state championships and advanced to regionals, which were in Hawaii! Our main goal was to win the tournament, which we accomplished, than to enjoy Hawaii and what it has to offer. I had a great time enjoying the beautiful beach of Waikiki, and the other attractions as well. Thanks to Nikki and Katrina for showing me their neck of the woods, and the pain I suffered from walking those damn rocks! The weather was amazing as well as the beaches. Anyways, here are some pictures from the trip...

The view from my room!

The beautiful beach. Literally a block away from our hotel.

Junior Seau of the New England Patriots was there on vacation. I don't know if you can see him cause I took the picture from a good distance away.

Austin, Dan, and I at the team BBQ.

Some of the guys just hanging out enjoying L&Ls BBQ and company.

Me at the beach

The team at the beach enjoying a nice day under the sun

My buddy Andre and I

Dan. Me. Shaun. Cesar

David. Dan. Me. Shaun. Cesar

Me. Andre. Servando.

The only soccer picture I have from Hawaii. I'm in the white with the neon shoes haha

Austin and Cesar with some late night hunger after a night filled with intoxication. HAHA   

                              

Kaitlyn's Going Away BBQ

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page."

-St. Augustine

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain

                        

Kaitlyn and her sister Jenny both departed overseas to study abroad. With their time left in San Diego they both decided to throw a joint going away BBQ at their house. It was an eventful night with many people showing up from class of 01', 05', and 07'. We ate some delicious food and played a few games of pong. Here are some pictures and videos of the evening...

Kaitlyn aka Kay aka klol aka KAYsadilla aka Bake Me A Cake

and the delicious ice cream cake she made for everyone.

The hosts of the evening, la familia de Kay.

Jared, April, and Ian of Hoey Inc.

Iron Chef, Josephine

The lovely ladies and myself =D

My sister Stephanie and I

My sister Stephanie and her boyfriend Wiley

The boys

The boys and girls club

The 05' heads kicking it outside

Shotgun

My brother and sister

My sister giving Marvin the infamous Dash

It was nice to see James hanging out again

Jommellee, Jared, and I showing off our pretty smiles

My two brothers, Kris and Chris

Awww Kay! I'm going to miss her! But not too much because we can still video chat! 

Yeaaa Macbook buddies! LOL

The story of our life is an autobiography. We write the pages with the experiences we go through in life. Explore, Dream, and Discover. Make your story worth reading. 

The girls challenged the guys to some 4 on 4 action in beer pong. Of course the guys came out on top. Better luck next time girls! HAHA. Here is some footage of the evening festivities.

 Ryan defending the girls team in BP. 

"Hey Fuck You Kris!" -Ryan C.

"Woooo! Wooo! Wooo!" -Marvin C.

"Get on the fucking guy side Kris." -Ryan C.

"It's alright ladies these guys are fucking losers anyways." -Ryan C.

"Dude were losing come on gaahhh!" -Jared M.

                              

the guys vs. the girls. Team Guys > Team Girls. 

"That's why I said one at a time bitches!" -Agnes P.

"Fuck that shit Go!" -Agnes P.

"Just Do It!" -Kay

"Did someone call me a bitch!?! Did someone call me a bitch!?! What the fuck cuhz!" -TJ

"You're talking too loud! You're talking too loud!" Kris G.

                              

 I don't remember why, but the guys just started c-walking. 

I think some gangster song was playing and we all dream of being gangsters.

LOL look at TJ in the navy blue shirt. He is laughing so hard and he is sooo faded! HAHA

"STOP! Black Magic." -Kris G.

                              

Congrats Sister!

"The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work."
-Harry Golden

Congrats to my sister! She just found out this morning that she was accepted to the nursing program at Cal State San Marcos. Out of the 400+ applicants only about 45 would be accepted and my sister was one of them! She works hard and really deserves it. I'm very proud of her. Good job sis!

If you haven't seen this video yet it's a good laugh to cheer up your day. My favorite part is when they asked him if he should be punished and he says, "Just a little bit, no video games for a whole weekend." HAHA this kid is classic.

                                

I was on myspace and I came across this bulletin by Ian Hoey of Hoey Inc. It's just a small poem he wrote that I found interesting and thoughtful. Check it out...

Enslaved by the nine to 5

Come home to the same old jive

Pay the bills, the loneliness builds, live to work, but work to stay alive...

Breathe breathe she said to me

The words bounce off her lips

The kiss the taste of coffee drips

The clocks second hand in hour ticks....

My soul spoke in broken notes

Her hope shook shivered my bones

Alone she said? You're never alone, but it's all you know...

the sunset upset, only to peak with a dream

Live for my own, or live theirs? it seems there's little room in between...

*snapping ensuthes*

On another note... I have been so bad with updating my blog! I guess I have just busy lately or really lazy haha. I'll be sure to post everything up to date  by the end of the week. 

The Glass Castle

"Real strength is not just a condition of one's muscle, but a tenderness in one's spirit."

-McCallister Dodds

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

-Eleanor Roosevelt

I have one more final in Macroeconomics tomorrow and a 7 page paper on philosophy due Friday! I am so stressed and tired I just wanted to take a break and write up another blog entry. So here it goes...

In my English course this semester we had to read a book called The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls. It is about this amazing woman, Jeannette Walls, who basically goes through hell, well maybe not hell, but a lot more than people could eat on their plate as a young girl. Basically, this lady of such great perseverance was able to withstand her abnormal yet traumatizing years as a child. She pretty much grew up taking care of herself and her family. Although she had two parents they were nowhere close to being the father-mother parental figures most kids have. Instead, the roles were flipped, Jeannette played the mother and father figure while her parents portrayed the role of a little kid with their irresponsibility and immaturity. It is amazing to read about the strength of this lady who overcome such a tough childhood. The quote above says, "Real strength is not just a condition of one's muscle, but a tenderness in one's spirit." Jeannette's strength comes from her heart, and her spirit. She really illustrated a clear image of her strong spirit through her courage to keep going in life. The other quote I felt really portrayed Jeannette as well. The fear of living everyday and having to provide for herself and her family is daunting. But surviving the experience and each day really provided her the strength, courage, and confidence to keep pushing herself in life. Most kids would be shitting in their pants if you ask me, I know I would. She faced this fear, this horror, and realized that what doesn't kill her makes her stronger. Any bump in the road, or any obstacle isn't great enough for this resilient woman to overcome.

Although it is like a girly book I really enjoyed reading it. The book made me realize how thankful I should be for the life I am living and the opportunities I have been given. It really made me appreciate my life more and the people in it especially my mother and father. Thanks mom and dad, I Love You! With that said, I hope that you get around to reading the book, but if not here is a interview with Jeannette Walls about her life and the book. Hope you like it!

EDIT...

I found this on a site that gives more detail of Jeannette Walls' life to help you really grasp what she went through and the book. Make sure you get around to reading the book! Enjoy!


From the jacket...

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.

Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story.