Monday, December 5

weekend madness!!

As you know, my Weekend Madness is here! For my new readers, this Monday post is basically a photo and tell of my weekend :) Tons of photos (usually of me cause weekends are usually me time lol) and a few stories and words. Hope you enjoy ;)

Friday Night :)
Dinner With A Friend:

On Friday nights (or sometimes Thursday nights) Lindo and I find it healthy for our relationship to spend time away from each other with our friends. We do spend a lot of time together and going out with our friends, but it's sometimes the one-on-one time you get with others that give you a chance to miss each other and quite frankly get away from each other for a little bit :) But no worries, we love each other very much so this time is cherished and once we get back together we tend to be a little more in love :)

This Friday night I decided to get a little gussied up to go out to Panda Express with my friend.  It was fun just to get cute even though I was only out to laugh and eat some super unhealthy food lol. Plus! I got my very first curling iron and I wanted to put it to use :) Please ignore my messyish room (it happens when I try on 50 outfits and shoes before getting it right). 

Saturday Morning <3
Dear Coffee:

I don't think you understand how much I rely on you to get me up and going in the mornings. You taste so good and feel me with warmth on cold mornings like Saturday. The coffee maker is literally one of my favorite household appliances (next to my stove) thanks to you. You make it easy to begin my day with a smile and with the energy sometimes my body forgets to produce on its own. There's only one problem I have and that is that I think I am a fiend.
But thank you anyways :)
Realized that my coffee pot must be wrong because those little white numbers on the side are not for cups, but rather a reminder that I drink too much coffee lol. Yes, 4 is what I drink in the morning.
No makeup & tornado hair. That's what Saturday mornings are all about :)
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Saturday Afternoon
Work & Play:

After my morning coffee and cleaning spree, Lindo came home from work to take me to his last job. I usually like to accompany him on Saturdays since he works alone all week and it's a nice change for him to have some company for one day.  So I was all cute and ready to go sit in the cold and watch him work lol.

Of course I helped a little, but usually I just "supervise" which consists of me usually taking photos and messing with my camera settings than actually supervising anything lol. 
 I think he's so HOTT when he's all dirty and working :)
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Saturday Night
Finally A Date:

Lindo & I rarely go out on dates (which is terrible, we should). But Saturday night we decided it was time to have a little time together and do one of our favorite things: eat lol. So we TGIFridays (one of our favorite places) and had a WONDERFUL time. 

Sorry, only photos of me because Lindo is just not very pro-photos.


Sunday
Birthday Fever & A True Story:

Ironically, Lindo's mom's birthday is the same day as mine! Now, if you know me, I don't usually like to share my one day. But I usually don't have to. 

Yesterday we celebrated Lindo's mom's birthday and it was a blast :) We ate good food, danced to fun music and laughed till our sides split and our faces turned pink.

The Shortened Version of My Story (which I need to make some time and write out the full version one day):

Lindo & I - in case you couldn't tell - are an interracial couple. And there are some challenges when you are interracial. Everyones challenges are similar, but the ones Lindo & I have ran into thus far are:
Language
Culture/Traditions
Family Orientation

Language is big because most his family (including his mother and one brother and sister speak little english).  Now my spanish isn't too bad, but it's not enough to keep a full on conversation.  I can usually understand and respond in English pretty well though. But Lindo has actually taken phrases I've used and heard all my life, wrong. Like my mother use to always tell me "Beggars can't be choosers" which basically meant that whatever mom got us to eat or clothed us with, we had to eat and wear. I used this phrase one time with Lindo and he almost broke up with me right then and there (three years into our relationship). When we finally talked and I explained what it meant and even had to have my mom and grandmother tell him what it meant, we realized we cannot take some things like we perceive them. This is a constant battle as we both have to remind each other.

Culture/Traditions are big because we find a lot of things my family do are completely different and sometimes strange to Lindo and vice versa. Lindo & I always seem to find the beauty in the differences though :)

Family Orientation is big because his family are BIG on this. They get together and celebrate everything and sometimes nothing at all. Family is a big part of who Lindo is and how his family functions.  Although my family gets together, we never "party" like Lindo's family nor do we get together and "party" for no reason at all. This is my favorite difference.

So yesterday. One thing that is hard when you are interracial, is acceptance. I think this is the hardest thing for most people to adjust to. Since Lindo's mom and I met I had this feeling that she just didn't like me. We are estranged around each other and sometimes it's awkward being left in the car, room or even house with each other alone. I think we both feel a little on egg shells because our communication is limited to "hi" "how are you" and "bye". But yesterday, oh yesterday.  The walls came down and I found new love and acceptance.

Lindo's mom made her way to the end of the table I was sitting at and put her arms around and squeezed. Then she stood up, put her hand on my shoulder and quieted everyone down (as best she could with screaming, playing kids all around). She started telling the family something about me - she was speaking so fast I was only catching some of it until I almost gave up. Luckily I had my lovely translator there (Lindo).  

She told all her family and friends that she loved me. LOVED. And she respected me no matter the color of my skin or the language I spoke. She told everyone I was her family and that she was happy for Lindo and for me. My heart MELTED. MELTED!!! Tears flooded my eyes (I'm a crier by nature already). I have never felt so accepted in my life.

Course she went on to talk about how she wishes Lindo and I would hurry up and make cute dark babies with redhair (I keep telling Lindo the chances of that are slim to none). And laughter roared out and smiles broke out and drinks were toasted. 

We took his mom home last night and spent an hour just talking and really having a conversation.  Course Lindo had to translate once in awhile because some English words she didn't understand and some Spanish I couldn't understand. But for the most part, Lily (his mom) and I had our first actual conversation. And I fell in mother-in-law love.

I prayed for acceptance and found more than I asked for. 
Love is the greatest gift you can ever give yourself and others. Don't take it for granted and don't spare it from others.
Lindo & Lily

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