As I sit in the stillness of my home sipping my coffee, a lot of thoughts about the year we are leaving behind tonight come to my mind.

Memories of family, time spent with friends, a few health scares here and there, but most importantly lots of laughter.  Every year, no matter what kind of year we've had, I feel immense gratitude for the people in my life.

Gratitude for Stan, who no matter what, continues to hold my hand through the ups and downs of life and reminds me that things will be ok.  We might drive each other crazy at times, but I know that at the end of the day I can lean on him and he has my back unconditionally.  His caring personality and sense of humor are in most days the light at the end of my tunnel and his love and support bless me daily.

Michelle is the reflection at the end of most of my days, and right up there with Stan, she is the one who makes me laugh the most.  Her sense of humor and laughter often remind me of the best times I've had in my life so far, her laughter is contagious.  This girl keeps me on my tippy toes with her pursuit of happiness and her pondering mind, but I too love that about her, it completes the picture of who Michelle was born to be. She is the person I go to first for advice and my confidant. Michelle gets me like no one else does.

Bella is bella.  We were on vacation this year and someone asked Bella for her name and then the lady said to her "you know, a name tells a lot about a person, and your name suits you well." And she couldn't have said it better.  I was telling a friend the other day that if I could clone anything, it would be Bella’s sweetness and then I would put that in a spray bottle and walk the hallways of every school and sprinkle everyone with it! We got a good chuckle out of that, but in all seriousness, Bella is the epitome of happiness, contentedness, kindness and unselfishness and I couldn't be prouder of being her mom. 

I am also extremely grateful for having my parents in my life, who despite of dealing with the reality of aging, they continue to be a great source of love, support and inspiration to me.  Every time I pick up the phone to call them and they answer, I want to bottle up their voices and the love they send through the phone line, I am just so grateful.  My brothers, well, they know how much I love them and how much I admire them and despite the long distance, our bond has only gotten stronger through the years.

I also feel incredibly blessed with our amazing community of friends who continuously show us love and support, especially in times of need.  We might not have extended family close by, but we have never felt alone as we journey through life as a small family of four, and that will always mean the world to us. 

Before I started writing this, I thought “what were my favorite memories of 2019?"

2019 was an amazing year for me, truly. I had many incredible opportunities, and despite a few bumps on the road here and there, it was truly a year of blessings.

JANUARY

Michelle turned 21 in 2019!!! 🎉

She continues to love life in New York City and has been been really committed at school even with the health issues she had this year. I admire her strength and determination towards the things she feels passionate about in life.

FEBRUARY

In February I started a part time job a local Funeral Home, something that was not planned, an opportunity that was presented to me by surprise but that was also quite appreciated. This job opportunity has really transformed my perspective on life in every way. I still remember the first day I started working there, I went home and I told Stan that I didn’t know that I could do it, he said “it’s fine, don’t worry about it, you don’t have to do it!” I am an over sensitive person and I was worried about being able to deal with the burden of people grieving the loss of loved ones. I am glad I stayed and gave it a second chance. It has really been a year of growth for me working there, learning many aspects of the business and most importantly, I have really treasured the times when I have been able to help families and offer any type of support they need during their most difficult times of their lives. The entire staff has been extremely gracious and welcoming to me and have quickly become part of my family. It might be physically challenging at times working a full time job as well, but I always walk out feeling thankful for the opportunity to serve others.

In January I did my first round of Whole30. 30 days (no cheat days) of healthy eating and following their program. The results I had were simply amazing and most importantly, it gave me a glimpse of hope into living a healthier/pain free life. Because I was so inspired about my results, I wrote my experience of doing Whole30 for the first time in my blog and then to my surprise I was later contacted by someone in Whole30 management asking if it would be ok to share my story on their social media platforms. It felt like Christmas that day to be honest! 😉

This is the picture Whole30 used to feature my story. This picture is from another AMAZING experience in 2019. My very first photo shoot by my incredible and talented friends Sonce and Juliette. Something I was extremely fearful about doing because I’m only good behind the cameras, not in front of the cameras, but their love, friendship and support gave me the confidence I needed to make it through and at the end, I drove home with a happy heart and thankful for their commitment to pursuing my picture taking. ❤

MARCH

I spent the month of March contemplating the sky pretty much, worrying about Michelle’s health and changing plans I had of going to visit my parents. My leisure trip to Mexico had to be replaced with an impromptu trip to NYC to bring my oldest daughter home. Sometimes in life, you have to choose responsibility for comfort, I love both, but when a mom’s heart is worried, you do what you have to do, and the trip to New York City was the right thing to do at the time.

This is a picture of a March sunset I took the day before I left to travel to New York. ❤

APRIL

In April, Stan and I celebrated birthdays and we also celebrated our 23rd Wedding Anniversary among many other things. April is always a fun and busy month for us. Incredibly thankful for all the memories made with Stan and the girls these past years. ❤

MAY

Bella attended her first High School Prom! She might be in High School and becoming all grown up but she will always be my baby. ❤

JUNE

Bella and I went on our first cruise ever with her Girl Scout troop and this will forever be one of the best experiences of my life. The cruise ship was amazing, the food delicious, the ports we visited incredible and the memories I made with Bella, her friends and their moms UNFORGETTABLE!!! Every time I look back at those pictures and remember all the things we did and experienced on the cruise, I smile! ☀

JULY

My High School bestie and her family came to visit us from Arizona and we had an amazing time!!! I absolutely LOVED spending time with them, showing them our beautiful city of Chicago and simply just being together. Her kids are the most joyful and energetic little bunch I’ve ever met and I have missed them since the day they left. ❤

AUGUST

In the Spring of this year, I started working for FLAG (Foreign Links Around the Globe), an International Exchanged Student program in the US and after a series of interviews, training and many knocks on doors, I placed my first student from Spain with a lovely family from the Chicagoland area. This has truly been a great experience for me and I have learned a lot about the Spanish culture and this program itself in the short few months I’ve been involved with FLAG. Looking forward to another year of growth with FLAG!

In August, I also started a page on my blog called “Morning Coffee with Maria”, a space where I share my thoughts, dreams and silliness every morning while I drink my first cup of coffee of the day. I have been journaling every day for a few years now, and then one day while on a walk by myself this past Summer I thought “I’d be fun to start sharing some of that journaling with the people that read my blog”, and here I am, haven’t missed a day yet, even though sometimes I don’t upload them until very late at night because I have been insanely busy lately, but I have to say, journaling keeps me going and motivated even on days when I’m feeling tired or not myself. Give me a cup of coffee, paper, a pen, a quote, a good or a bad day and I’d write you a story! 😉☕

SEPTEMBER

Last year, EXACTLY a year before I had this amazing experience, I attended a workshop about building vibrant parishes. I remember sitting there among the many people that attended the conference and toward the end of presentation they had a session for Q & A. I was so passionate about some of their topics, especially about the role that social media plays in building a vibrant parish that I had to share some of what I do at my job at the church to communicate some of our news with our faith community. I still remember this experience as if it was yesterday… the presenter said to me across the room before he finished the presentation, “do you mind staying for a few minutes after the presentation is over, I’d like to speak with you for a few minutes.” Thankfully I had the whole day off and I wasn’t in a hurry to leave. He shared with me that he was working on a special project and wanted to know if I’d be interested in participating. I had NO idea what he was talking about, but told him that if he decided I was a good fit for it, to contact me through email. A few weeks passed and then I received an email from him, asking if I’d agree to be his guest speaker for the month of September for a special Webinar series called “Building a Vibrant Parish”, the month of September would focus on social media and would be called “Social Media 101”. It was one of the most exciting emails I’ve ever gotten, but also one of the most frightening ones. I had never done a live webinar, or a webinar alone for that matter and I would have to show my face and talk and give advice while people at the other end of the screen would be watching and asking questions??? The whole concept sounded terrifying but at the same time exhilarating and since I love a good challenge, I said YES!

The live webinar was one of the most exciting projects I’ve ever worked on (so far 😉) and it also motivated me to do a lot more of what I love to do! Follow your passions, face your fears and happiness will find you!

OCTOBER

My sweet, dear aunt came do visit me from Mexico for two full weeks and we had so, so much fun!!! I won’t share too much of our travels and adventures now because I’m finishing editing a blog post of her visit but I am so excited to finish it and share it with all of you, especially my aunt. Those were two weeks of joy, love and pure bliss and the memories we made will forever stay in my heart. ❤

NOVEMBER

November… a month of thanks, and we had so much to be thankful for! My cousin and her family came to visit from California and as we always do, we loved our time together, sightseeing, eating, laughing, cooking and simply being together. I also loved visiting with her extended family who also joined us to celebrate Thanksgiving. I’m thankful to my cousin especially, for always making me feel at home, no matter where I am. ❤

DECEMBER

Michelle came home from New York for winter break and the walls of our home have been filled with love, laughter and conversations from the moment she walked in. I have loved our time at home, but what I have loved the most, is seeing my girls have so much fun together! As I was saying to a friend the other day, I knew Michelle and Bella would grow up to be good friends when they were growing up, but I don’t think I’d ever imagined they grow up to love each other as much as they do. I couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas gift that to have my family together. ❤

Tonight, we will be turning the last page of the last chapter of 2019 and I will be welcoming 2020 with a grateful heart and a positive mind.  May this new year, this new decade bring us love and peace to our lives and to our world. ❤