It's Just Business In Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia

We arrived in Washington DC! Wow I was very impressed, it is a really beautiful place. Like in the movies!

Geral came to pick us up. She is so awesome! We met back in 2004 and we've been good friends ever since and it's really nice to get together in DC, who would ever thought we would be there together! Así es la vida!

She told us that we would have to walk a lot to see the museums and the monuments. I thought it would be hard but not as hard as it went. My feet hurt badly. I was dying!

We visited the museums during the day. They are really really amazing, I learned a lot of new things. We also walked towards downtown, it is very clean, super nice, the buildings are really nice. Not as many people as in New York. I really would love to live in DC as well.

At night, Geral's fiance took us to see the monuments. Wow, they are stunning at night! We walked tons but it was worth the pain. We were in Washington DC and stayed in Virginia, I don't understand how's that. We made a stop in Maryland and that made us get to Washington really late. It's all about the fun and the places you get to know!


At the end of the night we got together with Kelvin and his brother, really cool guys. We laugh super hard at all the crazy things we say when we are together. I'm a happy person I guess haha! We had a really yummy shake and got excited to go together to church the next day and spend more time together.

I Felt Like If I Was Back In April

Great! This is vacation! Time to explore! Time for me. I wish I could stop thinking that I have to come back to Utah and study hard. I cannot stop thinking about it and in all the things I have to do to keep a good balance. Oh well..

Anyway, we woke up as early as we could after recovering a little. Hah! I felt like I was back in April. Nothing had changed. It was the same New York I loved.

Here comes the adventure highlights.

We visited central park and had lunch there (hot dogs, yum!) talked to some handsome Europeans, took pictures, walked a lot, saw a lot of things we like on fifth avenue and got a picture with one Abercrombie's model. Oh my...! So cute! We went crazy haha! We saw a couple of interesting people doing nice things on the street and parks. We felt "in."It was really cool to see really nice things all over the place. We were gonna leave at 9:00 PM for Washington DC so we got back early from the city to get our backpacks ready for the next 4 days.






We left the house early to be at least one hour and a half before "just in case." Well, thanks goodness we did. Andrea couldn't find her confirmation number in her email. We called customer service to get the confirmation number and they put us on hold for like 20 mins. At first they told Andrea that they couldn't find her name nor her email and debit card number. Oooohh nooo! That was very stressful to know because we had everything planned and all of a sudden the confirmation email disapears and then they said that they could not find her name so they couldn't resend her confirmation number!

No way, "we are gonna get to Washington no matter what!" We were gonna leave for Philadelphia from Washington DC and all of our journeys depended on that. I couldn't believe that could happen to us! I felt that there was something wrong because we remembered having compared our confirmation emails when we booked the journeys. I decided that I should call too and that I was gonna go as far as I could to not let anything ruin our fun time : ) It turned out that the lady that took Andrea's call needed some extra training because she didn't know how to help us properly and made us freaked out for a while. The lady who picked up my call was able to resend the confirmation number in less than one minute : ) Yes! I knew it! We had to go, I was pretty sure that everything would turn out okay. I could feel it. Strong feelings don't fail!

I'm back in NYC! Oh yeah! The city were dreams are made of and where is nothing you can't do.

We arrived around 10:30 PM. Changed our shoes and got ready to carry our luggage to our friend's place, which was kind of a pain since we both had 50 pounds each of luggage filled with all our necessary items plus a bunch of "just in case" stuff. Well, it was only about getting to our friends' place and we were gonna be set!

We apparently took the longest way. Ooh I was back in NYC! I couldn't believe it! It was about 1:00 AM and tons of people around. I love that! The city is always alive! That's my style!

We started looking all those handsome boys, and when we arrived to our destination we got to talk to a very handsome guy in blue shirt. Success!!!

Diego was waiting for us. It was good to see him! He married one of my best friends. He is a very awesome guy, very smart, adventurous, conqueror, caring and cool. He graduated last spring from BYU and now he works for JP Morgan in downtown New York.

Great! We are here! Tomorrow I'm gonna go explore an get to know the city more!

From Day Zero!

I can feel it! This is gonna be great!

At 33,110 feet!

I'm in the airplane right now. We'll be traveling a lot so I guess I'll be taking the time to write every time we are heading somewhere so I can keep these memorable and crazy adventure a little updated.

I had an amazing weekend after a ridiculously crazy and busy school term. It all started with a graduation party in honor of Franklin and kelvin. The next day we went for lunch to one of my favorite restaurants, Tucanos! So good! I love pao de queijo! Shortly after that, I headed back to work and decided to go to Salt Lake to party rock with my precious friends and talk more seriously with Andrea about our upcoming trip since we both were in school before and it was hard to coordinate some things and they were very time consuming haha! Trip had been planned out but we had to look at the details and other plans B in case things don't work out as planned. Also, we had to thing about what was going to be our attitude towards problems that come up, which is a really good thing to look at.

We spent our weekend doing a lot of the things we love the most like eating sushi! David Polk joined us! David is a great friend of us. We love him so much! He spoils us! He is originally from Florida and has American and Vietnamese blood. He is very smart, very cool, chill, spiritual, talented and laughs at everything we say. We laugh hard the whole time we are together. We hadn't seen him in a long time because he was doing study abroad in Argentina. He studies Architecture and is a very outstanding student. He plans on going to Harvard or UC Berkeley for grad school. I want him to design my future house! :)

Last night, David and Andrea picked me up to take me to salt lake and be ready the next day to head to the airport. We went to bed super late with Andrea, we always stay up till late talking :) It wasn't hard to wake up bright and early, it's exciting to share a good trip with someone who is similar to you and likes almost the same things.

David came to pick us up in the morning, we got some breakfast to go, we got to the airport right on time. We were about to go through security when the officer didn't let us in because of our two last names. Our flight tickets only had our first last name and our ID's had two so he wanted to see both last names in the flight ticket as well which was ridiculous! I have always traveled with only one last name in my flight ticket, plus here in the States are used to only one last name, all places I go they always do that.

So we had to run to where we got our flight ticket and see if they could do something to change it. Well, they could do something with Andrea's but not with mine. It was 11:08 AM and our flight would leave at 11:30 AM. Great! I freaked out only thinking about the wait for the next flight that I didn't know how long that was going to take. So I thought, "No, we're gonna make it on time no matter what! Our plans cannot be frustrated!" so we took our shoes off and told people in line that we were gonna miss our flight so they could let us go first. People was cool about it and the other officer didn't even say anything about my ID issue, just like it's always been!!! So we passed through security really fast and our gate was so far away but we ran fast to our gate and caught our flight just right on time! Yes we made it! Ooh baby!!! THAT WAS PART OF THIS ADVENTURE! So crazy! We ate our to go brakefast in the airplane, but it wasn't warm :(

We landed in Denver, Colorado. We had a kind of long layover so we went to explore the different shops and took some pictures. Airports always have nice settings where you can get really nice shots!

Great! We ate really fast since we had like 4 hours of flight to New York. We are very excited. Now I can really feel it, this is gonna be good! I love this sensation! I love being away from my reality and just admiring and enjoying life in a different setting! I love diversity! Can't wait to see the NY lights from above!

First stop: NEW YORK CITY. It will be my second time in that beautiful city, and it's Andrea's first time! She'll fall in love with that city as much as I did. I really would love to live there eventually :)

But Tomorrow May Rain So We'll Follow The Sun

And now the time has come and so my love we must go... One day, you'll find that we have gone...

Dream like New York, as high as the skyline. We'll be running down Broadway, catch the next train, go make our way.

To Go Beyond is as Wrong as to Fall Short

They say that some mistakes in life are too fun to only make once and that a lot of mistakes are also great memories. Yes, it can be true; I must say, but what is called a mistake usually brings a lot of regrets. The way I see it is that you can either learn from it, forgive yourself and forget it or run from it.
We call mistakes to those things that we consider as wrong or those things that ruin our dreams, lives or expectations. The concept of a mistake depends on the principles that rule each one's lives.

Yes, it was bad and we shouldn't have done it. We didn't think the way we should've thought about the situation. Everyone makes mistakes right? But I don't pretend to justify mistakes only because everyone makes them or because I have to make some mistakes in order to learn and grow.

Feelings of regret will come but we must let them pass and keep moving on. 

Live and do things differently. What we did cannot be undo but the way we decide to live our life afterwards is what can compensate the tiny part in the time of our lives that went wrong... It probably took 5 mins or only15 secs to do, say, see, etc. something... But forget about it. Don't regret too much and make the necessary adjustments by taking some action to forgive yourself and do things better for real... Leave it behind because you can't go back. 

There are limits between what is right and what is wrong, sometimes we like to get to the edge in between what is wrong and what is right, so we like being in the middle. We do things that we think they are okay because we haven't crossed the line completely but they are surely wrong because going beyond our limits is as wrong as not going far enough... It's all about character and self-control.

Make a change!

Ode To My Joy

I've been thinking a lot about the things I've done that have required a great amount of courage from my part and I thought, "That was really courageous! What did I have in my mind at that time?! How did I do that?" and then I though that if I have had the courage to do those things in my past that have been for my good, that means that I can do whatever I want. I know it is hard and I have to go through things that require a lot of sacrifice from me.

I have learned so many things thanks to those decisions, things I know I would have not learned if I would have not have the courage to do so. I have also had a lot of fun.

"Do not let the fear of the unknown stop you from anything you want to accomplish."- Claudia Recinos.

Today I heard very wise words that I decided to apply in my life. I feel happy that I get to hear wise counsels to make my life better and improve myself.

A Friend To Laugh and Much More!

So happy together...

We enjoy ourselves...

We laugh hard...

We go crazy...

We like to party rock together...

We  support each other...

We listen to each other....

We go on fun and adventurous trips together...

We have over 250 friends in common (Facebook stats)

We love our friends that are as close as we are... 

Always there to cheer our friends up and make them laugh! 

We'll conquer the world!

1st Sunday of December 2011. Freezing cold weather
right after the LDS Christmas Devotional of the
First Presidency.

Eternally Grateful

I'm very grateful for my parents. I feel very happy to talk to them, they are really true friends. They give me courage to face life. They have taken care of me and done a lot of sacrifices to raise me.

Graduation

God loved me so much that He gave me the parents I have, and for that I am eternally grateful. They are not perfect people but they are perfect for me no matter what.            I miss them so much, sometimes I wish I could just leave and eat from my mom's food or talk with my dad about life while it's raining. There are so many things I miss about my family but this is part of life. Someday I was gonna have to leave home for marriage or any other reason. It's part of life.




Just how it happened in heaven... I yearn to go back home. No place like home.

Someone Who Truly Knows Me

"Did you know that Heavenly Father knows you personally--by name? . . .
You may not have heard the Lord call you by name, but He knows each one of you and He knows your name. Elder Neal A. Maxwell said. 'I testify to you that God has known you individually . . . for a long, long time (see D&C 93:23). He has loved you for a long, long time. He not only knows the names of all the stars (see Psalm 147:4; Isaiah 40:26); He knows your names and all your heartaches and your joys!' ("Remember How Merciful the Lord Hath Been," Ensign, May 2004, 46)."
- Elaine S. Dalton

Love Trying SOMETHING Different

Coconut curry-Chicken

Henry came the other day from Salt Lake for work and stopped by to spend some time with me. I really needed to take a break from school and from all the emotions that had been all over me lately. I know is normal to feel upset, disappointed or sad and I usually fight over them and always replace them with other things or by doing the things I love the most but lately I kinda got tired of fighting AND accepted that I was not having a good time and I hated it because life has always been great with me and MY EMOTIONS had been in place. Now I look back and see that I hadn't even finished fighting the first round and I already wanted to feel knockout... No! I cannot do that!

What is the problem? The problem is me! I am so used to the life where everything seems perfect to me and everything seems to be working out amazingly great and there's nothing I have to worry about other than work, giving my best, looking up for better opportunities in life and other random stuff.

Yeah, I love trying new things but is disappointing and hard when they are not how you thought they would be. It's just that I'm experiencing big changes in many aspects of my life that are making me grow up, becoming more like an adult  and overall BRINGING MY FEET BACK TO THE GROUND!!! I'm facing my reality, THIS IS REAL LIFE! This is an opportunity to discover myself more, learn from this and act wisely. Getting used to changes is not always easy to handle. I must say.

Avocado shake

 Henry is really genuine and nice. I like people who is genuine because it shows a lot about who they really are, specially that they are nice because they are just like that, not only to please you. He took me out for dinner to a really nice place from Sri Lanka. It was way good, and there I tried an avocado shake... Huh? Avocado? Yeah, that's what I thought but it was really good! I love trying new things! It turned out that it was as good as I thought it would be! And that makes me happy... Oh they joy of life!

Winner: A Big Thing For Me

Competing was a big thing for me. I used to worry a lot about winning and I cried every time I lost a competition. I used to be more competitive than now because I was very involved in a winner-loser setting and I wanted to be outstanding but later on in the general settings of my life like school and work, I care about being an outstanding worker and student but at the same time I just care about giving my very best and becoming the best I can be. I don't seek to compete against people in particular. I think like this: "If the means of giving my very best take me to the 1st place, that is great! If not, I might need to do things differently." I compete only against me towards what I want and where I want to be. I might not always reach the 1st place but it's about giving my very best right? True thing is that there are a lot of people better than me in so many ways, and that is great! I don't worry too much about it, they are just my inspiration and I hope I can be like them someday :) In fact, I loved this great quote from Jeffrey R. Holland, “There are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition. May I plead with us not to be hurt—and certainly not to feel envious—when good fortune comes to another person? We are not diminished when someone else is added upon. We are not in a race against each other to see who is the wealthiest or the most talented or the most beautiful or even the most blessed. The race we are really in is the race against sin."

 Some of the medals I won from track and tennis. I was all about sports. I started competing in track and tennis in1998. I stopped in 2004 not playing tennis or doing track but playing basketball and badminton. I had an amazing time and I experienced great feelings of victory as well as sad feelings of losing. Sometimes is okay not being the winner but the best of it is knowing that you gave your very best!

Learning to Let Go "I Remember The Day I Met You"

I feel like I have finally accepted the fact of letting go each and everyone who once was part of my life but did not come to stay in it. I always have had the hope that maybe, eventually or later down the road a miracle to have you back in my life could be possible and that we could enjoy the moment just like the old days. Yes, I'm talking about that impulse of holding on to how I wanted things to be or how I want them now.

Assuredly, now I have come to understand and overall accept that I have to let go whatever is not serving me, whatever I no longer need (or maybe I do but it cannot be), whatever keeps me from accepting new realities and do not dwell in possibilities of having what once were my dreams of the future.

And this is why is hard to let go: Letting go is about being okay with the fact of what once was important, now it's all gone... I do feel okay with it but not consciously. I miss the commodity of the things I experienced, which now are in the past and it's hard to imagine something or someone better than that and because the future is uncertain, it's really hard to tell how things are going to be, specially who or what I will probably need. The way I see it: I am not used to let go because I feel like holding on to someone or something can eventually benefit me in the future.

Definitely, I should never give up, and that's one of the things that keeps me being persistent with my hopes but now with these kind of things I should remove all hope and possibility because that is what "letting go" means, "things will not change."
                                                                                                                                                                         

I'll look at it as if the people and things that were in my life once, have fulfilled their purpose and will never get back together with me.

And that's it. I no longer want to remember the day I met you, I don't want to remember how I felt, what I did, what you told me, what I should've done nor "what could happen if..."

I'm even willing to not recall or go back to those chapters of my life. I miss them but there's a lot more coming soon! 

Think positively and cheerfully!

What I treasure the most

I feel very grateful with the life I have to learn and progress. I have been given many opportunities to experience joy and real happiness. My friend Fernando told me sometime ago that every time I made reference of the year 2002 in my life when I met him in 2004, I used to do it in a very thoughtful way and that was because that year marked my life forever. Between the years 2000 and 2002 I experienced many things that made me long for a happy life. Things were not pointing towards the future I was longing and life was not making any sense, and this is not corny. Really, life was not making any sense to me.

The day came for me and my family in 2002 when our lives were changed and taken to the path towards real happiness. What was brought to my life was what I was needing, my soul was so hungry and needy. A lot of my friends were a lot older than me, I was not living the childhood stage anymore, I wanted to jump quickly to the adult life so I was aware of my reality and the reality of others around me. I told myself that I would strive myself to make my family, my future family and myself happy as much as I could and that's why I'm so willing to do whatever it takes to prepare myself to be a good counselor, friend and companion for my family, future family and friends. 

I'm preparing myself right now to get a good education and I know that at the same time I have to work side by side to be mentally, temporally and spiritually prepared to face life. I had to go through things that I wish I never had to go through when I was 5-6 years old. They probably were not as bad as other people's but they refined my character and made me very strong even though I was a little girl.

Now I don't have many trials nor hardships but I know they will come sooner or later. What I treasure the most at this moment of my life is the peace and comfort I can receive from the gospel. That is definitely the best thing I have in my life, with only thinking about it my heart is filled with joy and gratitude. I feel very loved by a Heavenly Father who has never left me alone. I know He knows me by my name and He knows the greatest desires of my heart. He gave me wonderful parents that represent His love with their genuine love. 

Under Control

One more day. I woke up in a new place. I had to wake up without debating this time, a long way and maybe traffic is ahead. I gave thanks for being alive and start another day, same routine? Maybe a little bit different. It’s nice to be busy but it’s not cool when you can’t do something you want because of your busy life. Multitask if possible! Yes, some days working 8 hours and some days almost 16 hours. Atotal of 62.5 hours a week… Going the extra mile is always an opportunity for you or for others. The way I balance and manage my life has to do with “giving a little bit of this and receiving a little bit of that.” I learned at home that if I wanted something I had to work for it in order todeserve it. I'm very thankful with my dad for having taught me that, he always told me that I'll appreciate it later and that's how it is. Nothing was given to me without deserving it, though it was frustrating... Something inside me always told me my dad was right. I have very clear that“nothing good comes easy.”

Getting home after midnight, alarm goes off at 6 AM. Are youkidding me? Snooze button yeah! I leave home at 7:30 AM and come back after midnight! No way! I need to rest! 5 minutes more!!! Yay! Noooo it’s 7:00 AM!!!(One of those days) Get ready fast! Break my record so I can be trained for future inconveniences. Dry hair, braid it or tie it up  in the bus (ifI catch it on time) or do it in the car in every light where I have to stop. Call mom or dad on my way to let them know I’m fine and that I’ve been surviving for the last 3 months I’ve been working like this. Good thing is almost over... back to the 40/20 hours a week... My other life motto is “Don’t worry, I have everything under control,” be calm and take it easy.

Busy busy, fully engaged on what I do? Multitasking right? Cellphone in front in case someone needs me. Important call? Okay I pick it up or I can get back to you as soon as I can. Text messaging? I might answer in 2scs or next day (maximum). Facebook? Not really care about other people’s posts but Facebook messenger keeps me connected all day in case anyone wants to reach me or if I have something to say… 20^th Century! I need to accept that communication is getting more and more nonverbal. Gym? Yes sir! Early in the morning or atmidnight, 30 mins or 1.5 hours at least 3 times a week.  Embarrassing moments? I think I was born for them… Sadly the most embarrassing moments are mine. It’s part of life! I cannot help it. Friends? Yeah baby, I love laughing hard with them. “Claudia, have you forgot about me”? Of course I haven’t, I always have you on my mind, I'm here for you. Count on me. Party rock? Oh baby yeah! Couldn’t be missed on Fridays or Saturdays! Errands? Go Saturday! Efficiency and effectiveness please! I love saving time and money, get me the best deals and don’t make me lose too much time. ----> I have many ideas, little money and little time to lose. 

Times Square, New York
(Frenando el mundo por un segundo)

Lifting and edifying my spirit? It’s not about quantity, it’s about quality. I’m nothing without a great lesson every day, I can tell the difference. I need to have enough faith to keep moving forward with confidence in the future.It will all work out right? Following challenging and righteous advice has never driven me to failure but to success and real happiness, happiness and joy that I cannot find anywhere else and that anyone else can give me. Notepad by my side to write down at least one thing that I learned. Did I mention multitasking? 

Statue of Liberty, New York

Love. Live. Laugh.