A poem to my Sis, with all my heart :)

She’s a very unique woman
As special as could be
She’s strong and independent
She’s responsible, yet free

She’s wise beyond her years
She’s patient, also kind
She’s understanding and caring
Always keeps an open mind

She’s always the best of listeners
And will give you good advice
If you only stop and listen

Her love will transform your life

Her smile has the endless power
To light up the darkest room
And know in the darkest hours
She will be there for you, too

Her sense of humor is priceless
Her innocence like a kid’s
She’s intelligent and humble
Never loses faith in me

She’s my sister, she’s my best friend
She is my partner in crime
Don’t you dare mess with "The Jenny"
'cause you’ll have to deal with “moi”

My New Year's Resolutions

Everyone writes down these ones at some point of their lives. Sometimes, tired of failing, our resolution becomes to never make another resolution again; but that is OK, because out of my 65 item list from last year I accomplished more than 1/3. So this year the list shrunk considerably....NOT!!!! Well, this is it.

1. Apply to & get a scholarship
2. Handle my finances (responsibly)
3. Travel to a new place (hopefully out of this country)

4. Get my driver's license (finally!)

5.Get my personal training license and start my own business

6. Get in top-notch shape (go to the gym at least 3 times a week)

7.Read at least 50 books for pleasure, not school

8.Give time to my sister

9.Decorate my new room (Paris themed)

10. Make my relationship official (2/12/09 :) )

11.Learn to play video games (start with Guitar Hero)

12.Run a 5K or 10K marathon

13. Volunteer

14. Start a diary/blog (apparently I already have)

15. Visit NYC and Canada

16.Get an amazing 25th anniversary present for Mom and Dad (8/8/09)

17.Get a pet turtle

18.Buy a professional camera and start developing my own pictures

19.Learn to use PhotoShop, professionally

20.Get A's in all my classes

21. Hydrate my skin and hair, drink lots of water and take my vitamins

22.Learn to ride a bike

23.Go to the beach, and get a tan

24.Learn how to walk in high heels

25.Return to my belly dancing classes

26. Grow my hair down to my waistline

27.Get a car

28. Celebrate my birthday in a unique way

29. Go to Disney World and Halloween Horror Nights

30. Pierce my ears (again)

31. Go on a spiritual retreat

32. Learn to play a sport

33. Learn a new language (Italian)

34. Get more than 7 hours of sleep, weekly (j/k!!! every night, of course)

35. Get my pictures taken at a studio
36. Go to a museum or art gallery
37. Try food from another country
38. Cook more
39. Go to the opera/theatre
40. Always have flowers in my room
41. Go dancing and have a movie night at least once a month
42. Celebrate my month-aversaries and finish the scrapbook
43. Go to Vizcaya at Night
44. Go to a concert
45. Start wearing what I have in my wardrobe and stop buying clothes and shoes I'm never going to wear.

So, what are yours?

2008: My Review

As this chapter of my life closes, I look back at it and review it as the great film it was.
It had everything you could ask for: romance, drama, comedy, terror, mystery, adult content, science fiction (why not?) and plenty of technical difficulties.
Starring: my family, boyfriend, old and new friends, those who walked out of my life but not out of my heart, and of course, simply because I want to feel important: ME. After all, not often does the spectator get to participate in the movie.
In only one year I had a spectacular job, started university, made the best of friends, and finally grew some derrière.
I had a psycho teacher who liked watching vultures eat the Thanksgiving leftovers, an English professor I called Weed-Land, and a teacher who couldn’t pronounce “Darwin” correctly.
I developed an addiction for Starbucks hot chocolate and stopped freaking out about my waist size (although I have my regressions every once in a while).
I realized I want to become an editor, and climbed a tree (even though one thing doesn't have anything to do with the other).
I donated blood while dancing, or did I dance while I donated blood? I don't think anyone could tell the difference.
This was a year of firsts. I got a 4.0 in my first college semester, searched for a Torch-of-Knowledge that looked like a coconut, went to a football game, swam in a pool while wearing boxers and had the coolest lab class.
For the first time in my life I stopped going to class completely, and still got an A.
I learned how to play Taboo, saw a friend run naked around Brickell Key, and got my first sunflowers.
This year I turned into an environmentalist and bought more peace sign jewelry that I can wear.
This was the year when my cousin, who was the apple of my eye, passed away.
This was the year when Heath Ledger and more than 5000 dollars also passed away, and I honestly do not know where those 5000 went.
This year I fell in love with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, had my first anniversary, and fell out of love and back in love again.
This year I played pool and scored three stripes.
This year I realized that the probability of getting a D on a math test that you didn’t study for after spinning the cube is…well (I still can’t calculate it) very high. I also learned that if you try hard and you have Saleh as your professor you can still get an A on the class regardless of that D.
This year someone very special took me to the place with the best ice cream: Via Venetto.
I learned that the best way to pull an all-nighter at the FIU library is having your best friends by your side.
I also learned that Wendy’s is really cheap, and I regret not having learned that earlier (maybe I would still have those 5000 dollars).
I learned that having plenty of money in your PantherID card can save your friends’ butts.
I learned that sometimes it’s OK to leave your comfort zone and order something other than turkey sandwich at Subways.
I learned that ignoring your problems doesn’t make them go away, and saying you are sorry and crying because you truly are don’t mend a heart.
I learned to go by my book and not anybody else’s, and stopped doing what I wanted to start doing what needed to be done.
I told everyone, just for the record, that I don’t have a penis.
I nicknamed myself Dr. I Blow, and it stuck (no pun intended).
I acquired a new baby iPod.
I learned that everything happens for a reason and nothing is a coincidence.
I got a reason to remember the 5th of November.
I studied the interesting life of a herpatic chancroid.
My laptop broke and I finally bought my dream Sony VAIO laptop (which also broke and miraculously came back to life on its own).
I fell even more in love with Coldplay’s music.
I turned 5 (leap year!).
My friends and I made a video to solve the FIU parking problem.
I walked barefoot across the UP Campus.
I was 30 minutes late to lab.
I cried myself to sleep.
I laughed so hard I cried.
I had the best private driver in the world.
I had my first journalistic assignment.
I took a nap on the floor of GC.
I baptized Nerd-o-Land, Crappola and Whistle with their names.
I dressed up as an angel on Halloween and danced on FIU’s lawn.
I blamed everything on Polly Phillips and Sarah Palin.
I supported Barack Obama’s election and tackled Javi to get his vote (which got me a broken toenail)
I took more pictures than I can put up on Facebook. Yeah, I also got addicted to Facebook and posting notes as a way of expressing my feelings.
One month I had to pay $16 dollars for text messaging charges, and for the first time went over my minute limit by 27 minutes (still waiting for that bill).
And then there was this bear...
I stayed up crying on the phone until 5 in the morning.
This was also the year of the longest silences over the phone... because no words were needed.
This year I realized how little I know myself and how much I have left to grow.
This year I learned that procrastination is detrimental (hahaha I learn that every year, just that the lesson never sticks).
I learned that sometimes you just have to trust people—especially yourself—and stop questioning their motives.
I learned that I must be beautiful, because apparently that’s what a ton of biased people who love me want me to believe.
This year I became someone’s Miss Independent.
This year a star saved my life.

To all of you, my friends, those who are gone and those who still remain, I want to send my deepest gratitude for making 2008 memorable. This was a film I needed lots of popcorn and handkerchiefs to get through, but I’ve made it. We’ve made it together. A toast to that! But please, make it a shot of tequila (at least for me).