My blogs at a glance

This blog is my last required blog. Looking back over my previous blogs I have seen how much I have grown. Even just looking at the date of the first blog shows how much has changed. What a difference a little over two months can make. I know I am not the best writer but I like to write. I think have a blog was good because I feel like my writing was allowed to be more casual than normal college writing. I am not sure if I was keep up with my blog on a regular basis but I know i will take a glace time to time. I feel it serves as a little reminder of the value of time and growth. Good-bye for now!!

Thanksgiving

Yesterday November 22, 2007) was Thanksgiving. Besides being off from school I was very excited for the holiday to see my family and eat food. Like always, my grandmother hosts the holidays. It is the same thing so it tends to be kind of boring but it makes my grandmother happy. I was hoping the my two cousins would bring the babies (they are very entertaining) but due to a recent death on the other side of the family, they were unable to come. We had lots of food, the traditional turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, mashes potatoes, antipasto, baked ziti, and every pie you can think of. Being a vegetarian for ten years I did not get to eat everything the holiday had to offer. Like always I starve myself the previous day so I can stuff my face for Thanksgiving but as usual I hardly eat and am starving my the time I go home. I guess it is my own personal tradition. It is so strange to look around the apartment and see how grown up we are. I still feel so young but now I am one of the older cousins and it really shows me that I am not a baby anymore. All and all it was a good time. All us cousins shared stories of how embarrassing and annoying our parents are and what we are up to next. All the boys watched the football game. Next get together is just a few months away.

Forensic science case

Have you ever been watching T.V. and go to change the channel but you find yourself still watching that particular show? That is what happened to me the other day. I was watching T.V. while getting ready for work and Montel was on. I never watch Montel but ended up watching it. On the show Montel revealed that he was a huge fan on forensic science shows. He showed segments of he's favorite show and a real like forensic science case. The case was about a couple. According to the husband,this was a young couple who went out to eat to celebrate their third wedding anniversary. After the dinner they went for a stroll on the beach. While on the beach, the couple was attacked be a gunman. The wife was shot in the head and killed. The husband was shot four times and lost conscience. When he regained consciences, he dragged himself across the sand to aid his wife. Montel paused the case and asked an audience member what she thought. She thought that the husband was the killer. Montel resumed the case. The husband gave a description on the gunman. With his description, they police was able to draw a sketch and find they man. The alibi of the man was his credit card records proving he was in a different state at the time of the murder.

Something seemed sketchy about the husband. His four gunshots were too perfect. Too perfect in the sense that they did not harm any organs. Was it a coincidence? Also when the went to the scene of the crime, there was more murder weapon. they also noticed something about the wife's body. Around her mouth was residue from the salt water. On top of the residue was blood. If she was shot first and then laying face down in the water, blood would be first then the salt water residue. The police had a warrant to search his house. Once in the house they checked his computer records. In his records it was seen that in the past months, he was searching for gun wounds. The was looking at the best place to be shot and not have any real harm. They was a clear give away. We find out the real story. At dinner, the wife was telling the husband that she wanted a divorce because she found out that he was having an affair and wanted his wife's money. They went on the beach to talk it over more. The wife noticed that he had a gun on him and tried to run way. The grabbed her and try to drown her. Once dead he shot her right in the head (the reason why she has the sea salt and then blood around her mouth). He then shot himself four times specific places. He wanted to killer to get her 2 million dollar life insurance. The case was really interested and showed me how crazy for money people really are.

Think You know...

This blog is about Christmas. Christmas time is rolling around again. Time to get loved one's gift. I have a big problem when it comes to giving gifts. I never know what to give the person. I could know the person backwards and forwards, until it comes time to give the gift. I blank out. I want to make sure I get a gift that is practical and will go to good use. I want to make sure that the person who receives the gift truly loves and and could use it. You know you gift did not have much thought when you get a bath and body gift set. Nothing says "I had no idea what to get you" more than a bath and body gift set. I love the reaction when you give a gift that somebody really enjoyed. it makes all the stress, effort, and time worth it. I know that it is bad to be worrying about gifts right now but it is what I do best.

Jon and Kate Plus 8

There is a show on TLC called "Jon and Kate Plus 8." My mother actually got me into the show. It is a reality show about a married couple. The were having trouble getting pregnant and took fertility drugs. They then had a pair of twins. They wanted only one more child and took more fertility's drugs. They ended up with sextuplets. The show is about the crazy life they live with two six year olds and six two year olds.

Watching the show puts things into perspective for me. This woman quit her job as a nurse to stay home full time. She is very organized. She handles nine other people so well and I can not even manage my own life. Jon and Kate so get stressed out but they handle it better than anybody else would. The viewers could see that the family really loves each other at the end of the day. They two year olds have developed their own little personalities. The parents make sure they give all the children attention. The six year old girls feel like the leader of the pack. They never complain that the younger kids get more attention.

This show is entertaining to watch. It makes the viewer think that they can handle anything. I suggest everybody should watch at least one episode.

Black Out

This weekend I purchased Britney Spears' new album entitled "Black Out." I was a little skeptical of what I was going to hear. I thought that album would be horrible. I have to admit that it is not bad. Maybe it is just me because I have been a Britney fan since I was ten years old and want her to do well. Some of the songs are very catching and I find myself singing the throughout the course of the day. I like the second track which is called "Piece of me." It has a catchy tune and has good lyrics. It discusses the abuse she gets from the public. I believe this track is going to be her second single. Maybe the public will see her different. I am the type of person that can not stand to see people fail so I think that is why I want her to get back on track. The glass is always half full with me.

Project hospitality

This past Friday, I volunteered at the project hospitality house. We enterained the kids. To get ready for the event, me and the other volunteers put together goody bags for the kids.Inside were basic fun items like pencil, yo-yo, game piece, etc. We also assembled models of the craftt hat we were going to make with the kids. We planned to read a booked themed on Thanksgiving and make a turkey hat. When we were all prepared, we headed to the project hospitality house. This was my first time going so I did not know what to expect. When we met with the kids, I was so excited. I love kids so I felt right in my element. The ages ranged from 3- 10 years old. The older kids took a little time to warm up to us. We got to know the kids a little bit. Two of the children wanted to sit next to me the whole night. Each volunteer read a piece of the book to the kids. To my suprise they were into the story. Then it was a little crazy when it came time for the craft. It was a good crazy though. One little girl made hers to look exactly like mine. I felt so honored. We gave out snacks to the kids. It was a great time and everybody had fun. I love to vlounteer. it is not a chore for me and I get so much out of it. Can't wait to do it again.

Brain Tumor Walk

As mentioned in a previous blog, I stated that I was going on the Brain Tumor Walk. On October 28, 2007, A couple of my friends and I met up at the Staten Island Ferry a few minutes before 8:30 AM. The ferry was not running at 8:30 so we waited until 9. Once we were in the city, we had McDonald's Breakfast because we had some time until the walk.

The walk was at Battery Park. All the walkers signed in and got their shirts. I bought a wristband for the cause. We all started off on the walk. It was a 3 mile walk. The people on the walk got less and less. Even if people dropped out of the walk at least they tried. On lamp post and fences were arrows to point the walkers in the right direction. At some points we did not see an arrow for a while and thought we got off track. It was really fun and I have personal reasons why I went and will always go.

A Look Into the Future

Sunday, November 4, 2007
Gemini (May 21 - Jun 20)
It's a smart idea to resist any temptation to get overly involved with someone else's problems now. But, unfortunately, you may be hit very close to home with a situation you cannot avoid. Oddly enough, your interactions with those close to you can bring up issues that are totally yours. Looking at your own unsettled dilemmas first will make it easier to think about someone else.

This is my horoscope that I found for yesterday. I check my horoscope when I can. This particular horoscope is very true. With out getting in too much detail, I will say that a issue that has affected somebody close to me occurred and I was asked for advice. Trying not to hurt an feelings of other people, I had to be there and address the issue. Hearing this issue, I realized that to give a completely un bias opinion, I had to get over some personal demons I have going on right now.

I am not saying to give into the horoscopes or psychics or anything like that. It is fun to do sometimes and you might discover something that you needed to

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room is a song by John Mayer. I first heard this song when a good friend of my mine introduced it to me sometime last year. When I heard the title, I did not know what to think. It was oddly intriguing to me. When I heard the first few measures I was instantly addicted. The music sounds like nothing we hear in today's music. It is very blues and jazz which I liked because it is different from what I normally listen to. John Mayer's voice comes through the speakers and his voice is raspy yet soothing.

The song itself is about a couple that is on the rocks. This couple is doomed to fail. They have to wake up and deal with the problems themselves because nobody is going to help them anymore. He even says that nobody is going to save them because they pulled too many false alarms. He says that he cannot hold her like he wants to anymore. From the song it seems that the girl is moslty the problem in the relationship.He basically says that she is doubting his feeling for her.

He pulls you into the song to the point it feels like he is singing to you. I know that sounds pathetic. I sure I am not the only person that has been in the same situation as the one in the song. It hurts to be in that situation. You both know that it is over between you two but still can not let go. Your friends might try to give you a pep talk but you know it is truly over. You know that the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.

Here is a you tube video I found of the song. Hope you take the time to listen to it and fall in love with it like I am.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MnKdz60H8VI

Speak up!

I read a little article about a young female that was abused by her teacher. In the article she mentioned that this teacher was a male. He would always hit on the girls and say inappropriate comments and compliments. this made the girls feel uncomfortable. The student that wrote the article says that after taking a test she felt that she failed, she told the teacher not to bother grading it because she felt that she did horrible. He took her into his office, erase all the answers and filled in the correct ones and grade it as 100. She felt that it was not right and she told her mother. The mother encouraged her to go to the school officials. nothing was done. After graduation, another student confessed that she had an affair with that teacher. When \the official heard of this news, the told him to leave. that it just leave. He works at a different school right now and is probably doing the same thing. This goes out to ALL students )male and female) to respect themselves and not be afraid to speak up when they feel uncomfortable with anyone, teachers, bosses etc

Money Money Money

I would like to know why prices everywhere are going up and my pay is not. Everything is so expensive these days. I work in a pizzeria and a regular slice is $2.00. I remember when I was younger it was $1.25. Sometimes when the older customers come in (around the age of 65 or so) they take my down memory lane with them. They tell me that slice of pizza was .10 cents. I could not believe that when I heard it. Also I think that people are spending money like it is going out of style. I am conservative with my money, not cheap, conservative. I know where my money needs to go. I also know when it is okay to treat myself. The people going into debt are younger and younger. Some in their early twenties. I can not believe it. It is hard to save. Back in the day, there was not cell phone or ipods to worry about spending money on. Also activities have gone up in prices. It is crazy the price for a single movie ticket. I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. You have to know your spending priorities. Separate wants and needs. I am planning to go on vacation in December and it is difficult because so many expenses have to be paid and with school I can not work as much. I guess I am writing my blog to see if I am the only one that feels this way or not.

Body Peace Treaty

In the November issue of Seventeen Magazine, there is a Body Peace Treaty. It is a vow for young women to be at peace with there body's. Many celebrities have signed it. I have signed it as well the treaty reads...
I Vow to...
-Remember that the sun will rise tomorrow even if I had one too many slices of pizza or an extra scoop of ice cream tonight.
-Never blame my body for the bad day I'm having.
-Never allow a dirty look from someone else to influence how I feel about my appearance.
-Quit judging a person solely by how his or her body looks - even if it seems harmless- because I'd never want anyone to do that to me.
-Notice all the amazing things my body is do for me every moment I walk, talk, thing, breath...
-Quiet that negative little voice in my head when it starts to say mean things about my body that I'd never tolerate anyone else saying about me.
-Remind myself that what you see isn't always what you get on TV and in ads- it takes a lot of airbrushing, dieting, money, and work to look like that,
-Remember that event the girl who Id swap bodies with in a minute has something about her looks that she hates.
Respect my body by feeding it well, working up a sweat when it needs it, and knowing when o give it a break.
Realize that the mirror can reflect only what's on the surface of me, not who I am inside.
-Know that I'm already beautiful just the way I am.
XOXO_______________________

Breast Cancer Walk

This past Sunday I went to the Breast Cancer walk. Most of the St.Johns participants met at St Johns to have a mass early in the morning. The priest had a really good sense of humor. I enjoyed the mass and I am not a religious person. After the mass was breakfast. St Johns had a bus to transport the participants to the location of the walk. The walk was held at Clove Lakes Park. There was so many people there and little dogs too!. In the center of the walk, tents were set up selling shirts, pins jewelry, and other items. All the proceeds went to the cause. Some of the walkers were wearing shirts in honor of friends and family battling breast cancer or lost their lives to breast cancer. It was perfect weather for the walk. Even by doing something so simple as to walk for the cause, makes such a difference, I am proud of myself for being apart of this event. I advise everyboy to pay it forward. Next week, Brain tumor walk

Very Superstitious

Today my ears started to ring. I know a common superstition if one of your ears rings, somebody is talking good about you. If the other ear rings, somebody is talking about about you. It was bugging me because I could not remember which ear meant which scenario. I was online and found so many outrageous superstitions. some of them I follow, some are just ludicrous.
The most common ones are...
-it is bad to put a hat on a bed,
-a bird in the house is a sign of death,
-making wish on birthday candles,
-do not step on the crack of the sidewalk,
- if you drop a fork that means a man will visit,
-bad luck to walk under a ladder,
- break a mirror and you have 7 years of bad luck,
-do not put a pair of new shoes on a table,
-wish on a shooting star,
- if you eat a watermelon seed a watermelon will grow in your stomach,
-and knock three type on wood after mentioning good fortune.
Some of the bazaar superstitions are...
-If 13 people sit at a table to eat dinner, one of them will die before the year is over,
-if you take a picture of 3 people, the person in the middle will die first,
-if you drop scissors, your lover is being unfaithful to you,
- an acorn should be carried to bring good luck,
-see and ambulance is bad luck unless you pinch your nose, hold your breath, until you see a black or brown dog,
-if you kill a bee in your home you will have bad luck,
-you you say good-bye to a friend on a bridge, you will never see each other again,
-cows lifting up their tails is a sure sign that rains is coming.
These are just some superstitions, I suggest you take a look at the rest. It is very interesting.
http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/scary.html

Friends

Friends. Friends are to most important things a person could have. I think back on my life of the past few years. As I get older, I realize I lost a lot of female friends due to their boyfriends. I am sure every person could relate. Some of my friends I was with night and day. Constantly talking on the phone and spilling secrets with each other. Then they would start liking a particular boy. We would both be happy for her. In the beginning of the relationship, I would not mind being put on the back burner. I would want my girls to be happy. I would find that instead of seeing my friends everyday, it became twice a week, then once, then twice a month. Before I knew it I couldn't even have a phone conversation (which were ALWAYS about the boyfriend) with out the boyfriend beeping in on the other line. It then became impossible to even get in contact with my girls.They only time I spoke to me friends, it was because she need to vent about a fight or talk about him. I was always told not to mention where we were because the boyfriend would be mad or jealous. Was I to blame? Of all the times this situation happened to me, I blamed it on myself. I felt as if I was selfish to want to have my best friend. I was always told When I had a boyfriend I would do the same thing. I have been in a relationship for almost a year. I have not once heard from my family or friends that I was always with my boyfriend, or talked about him too much, or we are always fighting. This makes me wonder. Do I have a good relationship or did I learn what not to do in a relationship from my friends? I guess I could only leave off with what I know... Friends are extremely valuable, Try not to sweat the small stuff, some people are part of your past and thier is a reason the are not in your future, and finally , strangers are friends that you havent met yet.

Memoir.

What is a memoir? A memoir is a collection of one's thoughts and opinions of personal experiences. It is similar to an autobiography. I think the event is more detailed than an autobiography. I also think a memoir does not discuss every event in a person's life like an autobiography, just the more memorable events. When I hear the word memoir, I think of the first time I was introduced to the word. It was in high school when my class was reading the book Angela's Ashes. I think that every one should write a memoir. Oprah always says that every one has an interesting story, even if they do not think they do. That always inspired me to document events of my life. I never know if I might need it.

Do older siblings see parents more?

Another cosmopolitan conversation starter. This one says, Firstborns get 20 to 30 more minutes of qualilty time per day with parents than younger sibilings. As a younger sib, I thik this is true. I think parents tent to hold on to their elder children more than younger. I can only speak from a personal standing. My sister has not lived with me for over 2 years but she sees my parents more than I do. I thik my parents "had a second chance" with me and pressured my more to do better in school and work hard and be independent. Not that my sister is dependent on them or that they did not raise her well but they let more things slide with her. They corrected anything they might have done wrong through me. I think my sister is more open with my parents when I am more quiet. I like to fix my own problems and fight my own battles. That could also be why I see my parents less. This could also be due to my personality and not the fact that I am the youngest. Who knows? It makes you think though.

You may now kiss, the (25 yr old) bride.

On cosmopolitan.com they have a section called "conversation starters." Since I was stumped for a blog discussion, I thought this would be a good place to go. There are so many conversation starters. A couple actually caught my interest. The average age for women in the U.S. to get married for the first time is 25.5. Just one week ago my sister got engaged to her long time boyfriend. The proposal was just 2 days before her 23rd birthday. My sister said she is not going to have a wedding for another 2 years. By the time of my sister's wedding, she will be 25. it also made me think of my cousins who walked down the aisle. They were all 25 years old. That makes me believe that study. This study also makes my look into this more. When my mother was younger, the average age a woman got married was about 20. More and more woman are in school longer and want to get thier careers established first now days. Woman have careers now, they are not just a house wife anymore. I also think the actualy couples are paying for their weddings, not mommy and daddy. That also delays a wedding. I personally think that 25 is a perfect age to get married. I think you also know who you are as a person, you know what you want, and are mature enough to take responsibility.

stress is an understatement

I have been under so much stress lately. This blog goes out to all the fellow stressed out people. Especially teenagers. For all the responsible teenagers, I do not think we get enough credit. We are at school all day, work part time ( and sometimes end up doing full time), do chores, and make time for friends and family. To most teenagers' parents thats not enough. They think because we are young we have all this energy to burn. We don't! When we get home for a long day packed with school and work, we don't have a chance to kick back and unwind. We get told that we have to do housework and then after we have to do homework and study. Since we are up late studying, sleep is on the back burner. I, like most teenagers, can not remember the last time a night of sleep contained more than 5 hours. I know that sleep keeps the mind healthy and all, but lack of sleep is the only option. I know it is bad when on a friday night I'd rather stay in than go out due to my body being weak. Not only are we physically stressed, we are mentally stressed too! How am I going to pay for this and that, When am I going to find time to the project or study for this test, I'm hungry but do not have time to eat, When is the next time I am going to hang out with my friends or boyfriend are all questions that go running throught my head everyday. I go to mental therapy once a week and still manage to get stressed out. I know I am not the only person. Teenagers go throught the same exact thing. Even adults do with career, bills, kids, student loan debt. I guess we have to run ten times faster than the world just to keep up.

Values

Hello again fellow bloggers!
Yesterday I started my second session of being a member of VITAL. For those of you who do not know, VITAL stand for Vincentian Initiative to Advance Leadership. Its an organization on campus that meets once a month and each year is a session. Yesterday's meeting was the first of the year. The main topic of the meeting was "values." It really made us members take a step back and re-evaluate our lives. I thought it was really helpful. Sometimes we all get wrapped up in our busy schedules and forget what means the most to us. We had to define the term "value." Then we were given bout 5 different colors of paper. Each color had 3 different pieces of paper. Each color represented something else that had value to us. Blue was people, red was hobbies, green was what we liked about ourselves, etc. Then we were read a story. The story was so sad. We had to picture ourselves in the story. To sum up the story.. You are 29 have a great life, totally happy, did everything morally good and physically good, go to the doctors and are told you have throat cancer. the only cure is to have the infected part removed leaving you to never be able to talk again. The story was paused at different part and we had to throw 2 pieces of paper on the floor at each pause. It really made me realize what I value more then others. My last piece of paper was a blue piece which represented at person. If fact, every single member had a blue paper as thier last one. My advice to all you readers is this, take time to think about what you truly value and cherish. Never take advantage of it and never sweat the small stuff.

Unknown to be known

Hey everyone! I'm Raquel. I'm a very private person so this blog thing is very new to me. I titled this blog "unknown to be known." I think that title is perfect for my life. The title has a few meanings . Its where I stand with my life in general. So many unanswered questions. Will I become successful? Am I going to go against what I believe in and actually get married? Am I going to have kids? The title is also how I view people and how people view me. Nobody really knows a person. They are unknown to them; one day, in some cases, they will know them. Sometimes you get to be lucky and get to love that person and have that person love you back. If you are even lucker, you will find somebody to fall IN love with. I'm so happy to say I am one of the lucker people. There are so many things in life that are unknown. Sometimes it's good when they become know and others bad. Well thi is my first of many blogs. like I mentioned earlier, I am a private person, I bet i will warm up and my blogs will get better!!