What Doesn't Defeat You, Makes You Stronger

I know I haven't been writing much lately, but I wanted to share with you all something that I have encountered within these last couple of months. It's a bit of a personal post, but I hope it gets a message out. I know on a previous post I talked about personal growth and the struggles of living that grown up lyfe. During the month of April, I had the idea of taking a beginner's Algebra class. Why you ask? Well...for one, it's a subject I have always struggled with since I was a little girl and two, it's something that has always stopped me from progressing. So I decided to challenge myself and enroll in the class.  

On the first day of class, I was super nervous. My legs were all jittery, I could feel my armpits starting to sweat up and I thought to myself, "Fuck, what did I get myself into." That little negative voice inside my head that always told me that I "sucked", regardless of how many times I tried started to creep up. It was the anxiety. The anxiety that has always haunted me, that has made me cry of frustration because I didn't understand, and that always reminds me of the countless times that my mom took me to tutoring as a little girl because it was so hard for me. I will never forget the time when my mom took me to see a math tutor and he got so frustrated with me that he walked off. All I remember was crying and feeling super shitty. 

The classroom door opened and a little, old lady walks into the room. She introduced herself as our teacher and went over the syllabus. I had flipped over the pages to see what I had to do to pass the class. In big bold letters it read, "In order to pass the class you need to get at least an 80% or higher." 

I started thinking to myself, "Will I be able to get a high enough grade to pass the class?", "Is it too late to drop?", "Can I really do this?". I've always been a "B" and "C" student so getting an 80% or higher would be a blessing for me. 

As she finished going over the syllabus, she began going over the first chapter and gave us our first homework assignment(s). 

After class I called my mom right away. She is my go-to person whenever I need someone to talk to. My mom told me that she understood my struggle and knew that this reto (challenge) was a big step for me and for my future. She always seems to have the right words to say to console me in time of need. 

She told me in Spanish, 

"Se que es algo que te ha dificultado por un gran tiempo, pero estoy tan orgullosa de ti que estas tomando este paso para mejorar. Tu eres una luchona y se que vas a lograr a cumplir tus propositos y pasar esta clase. Manos a la obra mama." 

("I know it's something that you've always had difficulty for sometime, but I am very proud that you are taking this step to do better. You are a fighter and you have the capacity to reach your goals and pass this class. Let's get to work mama.")

I don't know why, but those words made me cry. Those sincere, warm words that have always supported me are still there pushing me to keep going till thee end. 
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Within the months of April, May, and June so much had changed about myself. I was surprised to see how much I had accomplished throughout that time and how much my confidence level in math had improved. 

Some of the things that I had noticed about myself along the way and that had changed about me as a student/individual were:

 -  I started being more responsible and wrote down in my planner what days I was planning on studying/completing homework for my math class and what days I was going to be studying/completing homework for my marketing class. 

-  I had made sure that I had completed tasks from my full-time job early enough so that I could arrive to class on time.

- I was active in class and asked a bunch of questions to my teacher whenever I needed help and even stayed after class and went to the math lab to prepare myself for tests and quizzes.

- Whenever I would get my tests/quizzes back, I yearned to get a better grade than the last.

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Whenever my teacher would hand back our tests/quizzes, I would always be surprised at the grade(s) that I would get which ranged from 90%-95%. It feels weird to say it but I feel proud of myself that I was able to ponerme mis pilas (get my act together) and follow through with my goal. I know math hasn't defeated me and I know that I haven't given up.

 At the end of the semester, which was last week, I logged onto my student account and checked on my grades. Right in front of me was marked the letter "P" for pass. I had passed my first math class in 4.5 years and I could not have been anymore happier! I am currently taking another algebra class; which is part two to this first one that I completed and I am excited to take on this next challenge. Let's do this!

Lastly, I just wanted to share with you all my some personal advice/opinion. For those people or for mom's and dad's who have kids who are struggling or have struggled in math or another subject in the past, my biggest advice/opinion would be not to give up. I know it's probably an easy thing to do and this is probably a cheesy and cliche thing to say but if you really set a SMART goal for yourself and really put your mind and soul to what you wanna accomplish, you'll definitely see results. 

What's a subject that you've struggled with and how did you overcome it? Let's talk!

* Images courtesy of Google

From LA, With Luv
Fati <3

On The Streets: Greetings from Colorful Colorado

Hey hey everyone! I've missed you all so much! I know I've been absent from writing but I am happy to finally be back in the blogging groove. There are so many summer events happening in Omaha that I am really looking forward to sharing with you some of the local happenings and also catching you up on what I've been up to lately. 

But for right now, I wanted to share with you all a recent road trip my boyfriend and I did to Denver, Colorado this past Memorial Day weekend! I've never been to Colorado before so I was pretty pumped to check out some of the local shops, meet my boyfriend's cousin, Kaitlyn and her husband Paul; whom we were going to be staying with, and of course take some awesome photos. Well enough with the sweet intro- now let's get down to the nitty gritty!

One of the things I didn't know prior to this trip was that Denver is located about 7-8 hours from Omaha. It doesn't seem like a far distance but if you're not used to driving for that long, it may seem like forever. Luckily, my boyfriend has driven to Colorado before and was able to tell me what to expect. As soon as we both got off of work, we packed our bags in the car and we were set to go on our adventure!

About 4.5 hours into our voyage, we had passed various cattle ranches and farms, survived a massive storm cloud carrying lightening, rain, and thunder, spotted a triple rainbow, but best of all we got to jam out to some old school music and had some interesting conversations. A few hours later, not knowingly, we had crossed the Nebraska-Colorado border.  Ahh! We were getting close. Do you ever get that squirmy and excited feeling whenever you are approaching your destination? Well, I started clapping and jumping on my seat when I spotted the, "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign! 

A few minutes later, we had finally arrived! 

Seeing how it was a long weekend and there were so many things to see and do, I am going to share with you all some of my favorite things we did and places we visited in Denver!

   Red Rocks Amphitheater 

One of the places we visited was to the world-famous Red Rocks Amphitheater located just fifteen miles west of Denver. A few friends had previously told me about this place, so it was quite the treat to check it out. As we drove to Red Rocks, I saw the beautiful mountain scenery and then suddenly in the middle of the bright green grass were these giant, sandstone rocks that began to appear. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We had parked the car and we began to walk up. Thank goodness I brought my comfy shoes, because it was definitely a work out.  

There were so many people in workout clothes and exercise gear coming to and from the amphitheater and there were groups of people tailgating for a band that was going to perform later on. As we started getting closer to the entrance, I was left in awe. It was so surreal. For some reason the giant, sandstone rocks reminded me of the ones on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad ride at Disneyland, because although the rocks were very much real, they almost looked fake. 

When we entered the amphitheater, I was just amazed to see the amount of people that were there visiting and also waiting for the concert to start. If you looked into the distance you're able to catch a breath-taking view of the city. Kaitlyn mentioned to me that whenever there are no concerts going on, people go and exercise. They even have free yoga on the Red Rock events that are free. She also mentioned that during the summer time they have movies at the rocks, which sounded pretty sweet!  After a few pictures here and there, we were off to our next stop. 

 Colfax Avenue

As we drove back down towards the city, Kaitlyn and Paul drove us towards a major street called Colfax Avenue. I was reading a bit of background history and something I learned about Colfax Avenue was that it's known to be one of the longest commercial streets in the United States, extending a total length of 26.5 miles. That's almost the same length as a marathon! 

Most of the neighborhoods that were located around Colfax Avenue in the 1800's were filled with many mansions of the wealthy and elite of Denver. Throughout the years, there have been many redevelopments made, but you can still see some of the remnants of how the houses and mansions used to look back in the day. 

One of my favorite things about Colfax Avenue other than it's historic background is the variety of eclectic shops and restaurants that you can find. From tattoo parlors to bookstores to uniquely-inspired street art, there is something for everyone. There is also a great variety of street style fashion which I was able to capture! As we passed all the shops and restaurants we started to see the Denver mountains starting to appear, which lead us to the next place Paul and Kaitlyn showed us to.

 Boulder, Colorado

Located about 30 miles northwest of Denver is the happy city of Boulder, Colorado which is home to the University of Colorado at Boulder; the state's largest university and where Coors and Anheuser-Busch breweries are located. Seeing how it was such a beautiful day outside, Kaitlyn suggested that we take a mini hike and see the boulders. As we drove there, a few of the things that I noticed was that everyone in Colorado (not being stereotypical or anything) are active. I saw people running, biking, hiking trails, walking their dog, and so much more. Also, whenever we would pass by a mountain range it felt as if we were passing through a different country because of how green they were and how peaceful everything looked.  

As we arrived, we started spotting gray clouds coming in so instead of hiking we just drove up the mountain. There are no words to describe how breath-taking the view was. There was so much to look at and so much to take in. My boyfriend stopped the car and Kaitlyn, her dog Boston, and I hopped out of the car to get a better view. It started to pour rain but we didn't care it was an amazing experience. Once we had reached Flagstaff Summit which was about 1300 ft elevation, we were able to get a better view of the surrounding area and even the University of Colorado campus. 

(Video footage from the mountain)

All that exploring made us hungry. Paul and Kaitlyn mentioned us about the Pearl Street Mall in Downtown Boulder and how cool it was cause of its shopping and dining amenities and since it was Memorial Day weekend there might be some weekend events happening. We decided to check it out!

The Pearl Street Mall is made up of four blocks filled with boutiques, bars, street acts, and even a pop jet fountain for the kids. It was funny watching a group of kids jump and run around as the water shot up in the air. During the time we were there, there was a huge event for the Bolder Boulder marathon. There were so many tents throughout the mall promoting running gear and energy bars. There were even people signing up for the race and getting their grab bags for the big day. Paul, my boyfriend, and I got to take a crowd surfing picture at the Clif Bar station! 

 After we had finished walking around and our tummies were full, we headed back to Paul and Kaitlyn's place to call it a day. As I sat on the bed, I picked up my camera and went through all the photos that I took throughout our time in Denver. It was an overall amazing experience being able to make a weekend trip to new place and discover things that we've never seen or thought existed. Special thanks to Paul and Kaitlyn for their amazing hospitality and for showing us around! A trip to Denver, Colorado is definitely in the plans for the future!

From LA, With Luv
Fati <3