Mickey and Soccer

When it comes to sports, my little brother Miguel Angel who is currently eight years old has been playing since he was three and a half. He is fast, has great agility and has a love for the sport. Growing up we began calling him Mickey and is now his nickname with everyone. Today, June 2, 2012 he had a game for the outside soccer league he is playing for, Chelsea Football Club, at noon. They lost with a score 1-3 against another group with red shirts.  

Mickey has been playing for team Chelsea for a year now and when he first started playing he played for two age groups:  8 and under and 10 and under. Currently, he is only playing for 10 and under age group and his coach is Hilario. The first couple of months into playing for the outside league, Mickey was offered to play for Santos another soccer team where they travel and he would get a scholarship for the expenses; however, my parents saw it fit that he stayed playing for Chelsea since he was just starting out.

When I asked Mickey why he chose to play for Chelsea Football Club he responded, “Because Chelsea is the best.” He shared with me his love for soccer and mentioned his favorite players to be Chicharito who plays for Manchester, Messie who plays for Barcelona and Ochoa who plays for Mexico. 

My Type of Relaxation

I lead a busy life for the most part. I have always enjoyed being a productive individual who is multi-tasking and has little time to worry about herself. However, I do admit of wanting to take a break every once in a while to breathe.

By allowing myself this time I take time into doing an activity I enjoy like taking a nap, being creative by doing crafts or sometimes coming up with dances and recently a routine. 

Even though, I consider what I'm doing to be fun it is still doing something productive yet enjoyable. No matter how hard I try to just relax I find relaxation in creating a dance that will fulfill my satisfaction and am proud of something I created that is fun and brings joy to others when they see the routine.

According to online site The Inspired Classroom in the article “4 Positive Effects of Dance and Movement for K-12 Students” by Elizabeth Peterson written on May 4, 2012 they say the benefits are: being physically fit, creating an outlet, ability to connect with classmates and builds confidence. Elizabeth Peterson writes, “Performing a dance in front of other people, especially when you are new to dance, is a huge risk, and challenging students to take those kinds of risks can build confidence for years to come.”

I agree with Elizabeth Peterson because the first time you perform in front of an audience you get intimidated but once you do perform and everything goes well you become more confident in yourself and begin to build confidence. However, if it doesn’t go too well it motivates me to be better next time I perform. I get an extreme satisfaction from dancing and performing and knowing I created a dance for all to enjoy is even greater. I may not be the best dancer in the world but that doesn’t bother me. After all we can’t all be talented in every department!http://theinspiredclassroom.com/2012/05/4-positive-effects-of-dance-and-movement-for-k-12-students/

Dance.. Dance.. Zumba

Recently I purchased the Zumba game for the Wii at home and it is quite a work out with upbeat music; which leads me to think, what are the benefits of Zumba?

On the online newspaper Huffpost Healthy Living the article “12 Healthy Benefits of Zumba” posted on November 2, 2011 it explains the benefits to be: calorie burning, body toning, motivating, good results, good for all ages, stress reliever, flexible, not time consuming, people can socialize, body awareness, readily available, and a cheerful activity,

Dancing to Zumba includes music like salsa, cumbia, reggeton, hip hop and a variety of others with the options of how intense you want the work out which range from low to high intensity. My favorite is the high intensity work outs because the music choice is faster pace and I love to dance.

I would have to agree with Zumba being good to relieve stress and is motivating because at times to go to the gym only few are motivated to attend and this game as well as the classes available at the gym provide a good work out without realizing you are working out different parts of your body at once.

When I first tried the work out I felt a bit foolish because you have to be a quick learner to pick up the steps but the game repeats some of the steps and towards the end you have so much fun doing the moves and adopt favorite songs.

I would recommend this game to anyone interested in a fun work out who loves dancing or has free time to waste.  And I go by this quote from Ruth St. Denis, "I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what is too deep to find for words."

Anorexia Nervosa

Strange disorders have always fascinated me everything from rare sleeping disorders to abnormal skin tones. However, one topic that has always intrigued me is anorexia nervosa.

 Due to my weight individuals who don’t know how fast my metabolism is assume I am anorexic and perhaps that is why I am intrigued by this topic because it fascinates me the various ways an individual can become anorexic.

Psychological and physical are the main components that seem to motivate victims to seek desperate measures to be thin. Some derive from trying to look like the model in the magazine, others from being told to lose weight for an activity, while others want to control something in their life because they feel it is chaotic and their weight is the easiest to control; however it can also be the deadliest.

According to the Web MD online the section of Anorexia Nervosa Overview, “Eating disorders are complex, and experts don't really know what causes them. But they may be due to a mix of family history, social factors, and personality traits.” Majority of the cases according to this article say the problem begins with dieting and taken to an extreme; when individuals are thin they still see an obese individual in the mirror and continue with taking the dieting and exercise to a higher extreme.

Any sort of eating disorder is a serious problem and should not be an issue taken lightly or joked about. If you know someone with this issue contact a local center or you can go to this website to find a center near you. http://www.eatingdisordertreatment.com/

Why we need to sleep

Having the right amount of sleep is important for individuals to stay active throughout the day and without sleep the body would be powerless. Difficulty in performing daily activities can derive from deprivation of sleep or inability if the individual is too weak to execute the action.  

There are distinct sleeping times that range throughout a person’s lifetime. According to the Web MD online from the article “Are you getting enough sleep” infants sleep the most with an estimated sixteen hours of sleep, toddlers are expected to sleep nine hours, and adults between eight to seven hours of sleep.

Receiving enough sleep is not only important because it gives you energy throughout the day but because sleep allows your body and mind to proper functionally.  The outcome to not enough sleep or too much sleep can be detrimental to a person’s health.  According to Web MD online, “Since drowsiness is the brain’s last step before falling asleep, driving while drowsy can – and often does – lead to disaster.” Not having enough sleep can innate the abilities of an individual to successfully achieve their activities for the day and the mind won’t function properly due to the lack of sleep.

Rest is very important for anyone and must be achieved in order to continue to live a well rested and healthy life.  

Chocolate Pretzel Sticks

Pretzel sticks with chocolate shapes are a simple treat to make and family, friends or loved ones can enjoy this treat year round.  I started making this treat about two years ago and have received many compliments on this treat I thought I’d share my little secret. They aren’t difficult to make at all and one batch should take less than 20 minutes to make. 

An article on The Huffington Post called “10 Health Benefits of Chocolate” posted online on March 28, 2012 states, “Keep in mind that all chocolate was not created equal: Dark chocolate packs more a health punch overall, but even the bittersweet varieties can be high in calories, fat and sugar.” So although, some chocolate can be beneficial this should be a treat you should enjoy occasionally. 

The main ingredients are:

·         semi-sweet chocolate (milk, dark, white)

·          pretzel rods

·          mold of your choice

·          a sauce pan

·         spoon or fork

·         sandwich plastic bags  and ties for the bags

The first step is to wash your hands, the mold, pan and area you are going to use to keep everything sanitary. 

After you have done that quickly dry your mold and pan with a napkin and turn on your stove to low heat.

You can break the chocolate by leaving the chocolate inside its bag and hitting it against the kitchen counter top. Once you have broken the chocolate place the pan on the stove where it is on low heat and add your chocolate in the pan. Stir slowly and make sure your chocolate does not burn. It should take about three minutes for the chocolate to melt.

After the chocolate has melted begin pouring the chocolate onto the mold make sure to do this slowly so you don’t spill. 

Once the mold is filled begin placing the pretzel rods on top and make a slow turn to cover the back side of the pretzel with chocolate. After completing this place a plastic sealing wrap on top and make sure it is long enough to cover all the chocolates. Keep the chocolate out for five minutes to cool before you place the chocolate in the freezer.

After the chocolate is hard from the freezer take out the chocolate from the molds. There is the option to eat the pretzel chocolate treat right away or and individually wrap each treat and tie it. Once that is complete you can place them in your fridge for whenever you want one you can enjoy the treat!

It is as simple as that and if you want to be fancy with making them different colors that will only work with white chocolate by adding food coloring.

On Saturday April 21, 2012 at 5:00pm Rubi Cortez and Elpido Rivera joined in civil matrimony witnessed by family and friends of the couple in Wasco, California.

 

The matrimony took place in the front patio of Elpido Rivera uncle's house where family and friends of the couple sat and witnessed the marriage at 5:00 pm.

   

After the marriage, guest took their seats in the front of the groom's uncle's house where they waited to be served food for the reception. 

 The food served at the reception of Rubi and Elpido Rivera's wedding was birria (cow meat), Spanish rice with peas, and macaroni salad. Along with the meal a variety of soft drinks, water and alcohol, for adults ages 21 and older, were available to drink.

The bouquet of flowers was thrown by Rubi Rivera in the evening for the traditional toss that is to be caught by the next bride-to-be.  

The bride, Rubi Rivera, hosted guest and thanked them for attending the wedding. On the back table gifts were dropped off for the bride and groom.

This was the main floral arrangement placed on the table were Rubi and Elpido Rivera enjoyed their dinner. The theme colors for the wedding were white and red. 

The bride, Rubi Rivera, spoke with her mother, Teresa Cortez, and her sister called Tere Cortez over party concerns.

Mr. and Mrs. Rivera make a quick run to the house of the bride's mother for the remaining soda cans they are running low on.

 

 

Champagne was served in the evening where family and friends rejoiced and wished a lifetime of happiness to the couple.

 

Rubi and Elpido Rivera went around thanking their guests for attending their civil marriage that took place April 21, 2012.

Kelly's Unusual Side

There is a bond between a pet and family that is like no other. Pets have a way of making you laugh at the silly circumstances they sometimes find themselves getting into. Currently, our puppy’s name is Kelly we aren’t exactly sure what her breed is because she was a gift my sister received from her boyfriend at the time; a short while after the death of our previous puppy Daisy who was unfortunately run over by a reckless driver.

We have noticed the difference in the two puppies. Daisy was rather a playful puppy who enjoyed barking and making a scandal. However, she was also very sweet and would wake us up in the morning by nudging us when our alarms rang. She was smart enough to know whose alarm went off and who to wake up and who to leave alone.

The first couple of days we had Kelly home all she would do was hide under the bed. Now she still hides under the bed when frightened like right after I showed her this video of herself barking that I posted she ran under the bed because she was afraid of herself.

According to the article posted August 4 , 2009, “Stages of puppy” found online at dogtime.com “When puppies are separated from their littermates too early, they often fail to develop key social skills, such as sending and receiving, the hierarchy process (who is in charge), and so forth.” We believe this may have been what has kept Kelly from being social with other puppies.

She is slowly developing her doggy skills. A couple of weeks back, we doggy-sat my cousin’s puppy who is a Chihuahua mix named Princess. The first night Princess was trying to play with Kelly; but Kelly was scared and would hide under the bed. By the second night the puppies were fighting over which bed was whose and eventually both puppies gave up and choose a bed. Then on the third and final night both Kelly and Princess were like best friends playing together and sharing food which surprised us all because when Kelly usually sees other puppies or dogs she will hide behind our legs.

The video above shows the rare side of Kelly barking at her own reflection.

Raining Can Benefit Us All

Rain benefits us all even if it gets our favorite pair of shoes wet. The sound the rain makes when pouring down can be soothing as the droplets hit the ground. The rain is so small yet when thousands of droplets hit the ground a serene note can be heard. According to Michael C. Miller who wrote the online article "The Benefits of Rain" on Ezine Articles he says, "Since rain provides fresh water making the rivers flow, filling lakes and keeping plants alive, it is very significant."
Living in a town where agriculture is important, rain contributes to keeping plants alive. According to city-data.com for Shafter, California the average precipitation is less than two inches of rain; and months of precipitation tend to be from January - April. When the rain does trickle down to the land the soil and plants benefits from this like this picture of Almond Trees I took on the month of February 2012 posted above.
Shafter is known for its agricultural industry and according to Wikipedia such crops include: cotton, almonds, pistachios, alfalfa, carrots, and potatoes among other vegetables. 
So whenever I hear the sound of rain falling on my window, it is the sound of soft music to my ears; because every drop penetrates into the soil that helps keep our crops or plants alive. Due to rain I am able to eat corn, almonds or pistachios locally grown and not have to worry about where my food came from.