Best 3 weeks of my life

Due to popular demand (mostly by Rachael) and my own desire to update my lifeless blog I now write with the hope that it won't be deleted by a bad Internet connection. I actually tried to write this up on Thursday but as always with my dear school network connection it starts acting up at the worst opportune times :)

The usual customary winter trip to Puerto Rico was the best I've ever had. There was something about it that made this trip way more special than any before it. I think the fact that the whole family came together and we all hung out, laughed, and were together for the first time in about 6-7 years was also a key factor.

According to my last post I think I mentioned that I arrived in Puerto Rico with no problems whatsoever and my luggage actually arrived on time and everything. Beautiful stuff I tell you :) The first couple of days consisted of going to the chiropractor to get my routine checkup and try and fix the annoying pain I've had on my left hip since LYC '05. Also on the agenda was to get my dental checkup and cleaning of the pearly whites and check for cavities. Apparently I do a pretty good job and I've yet to have a cavity. Yay for good hygiene :)

The trip to Puerto Rico was shorter than usual because I wanted to make it to KC for the costume ball/dance/sports weekend. With the short amount of time in the Island of Enchantement I had to do as many things as possible in a 2 week span. The first Friday night I stayed up really late hoping to talk to one of my good friends from high school but alas it was midnight and I was heading off to bed. Although the phone rings and it's my friend Coral and we end up talking till about 5am. Good thing Church services are at 2pm in PR because I was working on fumes. It was a great all around conversation though. I know it's ridiculous to talk for that long but we covered a lot of subjects, although if I had known originally that it was going to be that long I probably would have cut it short sometime around 2 or 3am :P

Sabbath services were great in PR! I joke around that in PR I make sure that I pray longer and harder in the morning before heading out to services because the crazy driving involved by the population can cause some major wreckage. It's a short and beautiful drive to services in the town of Cidras (in the mountains). There's a lot of green, mountains, beautiful sights...everything that doesn't exist in the Midwest. Services are held in the elder's house and it was great to see the Church growing from the last time I was there. Most of the people are ex-WCG people that used to attend with us and it is comforting to see them again after so many years. The sermon was on being a good neighbor and the importance and meaning it entails. It used the examples of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (although the latter a bit of an sharp edge) and how they handled disputes with their neighbors.

That first Saturday night was supposed to be clubbin' night but it ended up being the night we walked all around old San Juan and played some pool. Coral was wearing high heels for some unknown reason and could not walk back to the car (the streets in old San Juan are Spaniard brick old school streets which take a toll on your feet). So I offered a piggy back ride back to the car, about 3 miles worth but since she's a lightweight it was possible without breaking my back, lol :P Overall, a tiring but fun night. The fun part is getting back into the house at 5am with all the gates and locks in the house without making too much noise that would wake up the parents.

The first Sunday meant sleeping in until 1pm and receiving a surprise phone call from my best buddy Jonny G! So Jon and I talk for about 2 hours and my Mom is like, "you guys talk a lot on the phone!" I proceed to explain to my mother that Jon and I give each other the weekly update on each other's life, after which we proceed to analyze what we just told each other, finalizing with the overanalyzation of what we just analyzed. It's a beautiful thing we do, although my Mom we're getting nowhere with the overanalyzations...I don't know, I think we've made some inroads :)

After about a 2 hour conversation I decide to lift weights for about an hour and then I wash and vaccuum my Mom and Dad's cars so that they can be clean, sparkly, and smelling nice for the rest of the trip. House chores to keep myself busy and push my weight around since I don't like to slack and be lazy when I'm at home. Listened to some tunes while washing the cars, had a blast, and then got ready to pick up a friend at the airport. After much delay and waiting, the person came in safe and sound.

The next 10 days in PR were an amazing combination of fun, family, excitement, joy, spontaneous activities...everything a trip home should be :) Apparently since none of us planned to have a family get-together my older brother and his family (with my Mom's precious granddaughter) decides to surprise Mom and pay a visit! Along with that was the fact that my uncle Joe decides to move back and we have the entire family (except my neocon Aunt, lol) together for some great times and food. The great thing about Puerto Rican families getting together after a long time apart is the fact that it makes for an awesome eating festival bonanza! :) Wonderful times and conversations!

For those who know me or know about my thoughts and opinions, you guys would say I'm pretty 'hawkish' or 'neocon' about many things. Some wonder where does it all come from? Can someone be that crazy? I have tried to explain things before but I conclude the explanations by saying that you would have to meet my family. A week or ten days with the crew would provide enough evidence as to why the Martinez Moran clan is full of conservatism...I would go as far to say that my Grandma, Mom, and my Aunt are the founding members of conservatism :)

That quite a digression. Anyways, if any of you are willing to step out on a limb and do something completely spontaneous then you should head out to Puerto Rico sometime. My house is pretty big, there's always something different to do every day and night. I can guarantee great food, great times, great conversation but I can't promise you'll get any sleep. It seems like I never get any sleep when I'm back home but that's exactly how I like it I guess. There's not a whole lot of time to do everything so I always try to fit in as much as possible and it renders me as a very tired person :)

After a wonderful 2 weeks in PR, I proceeded to pack my things and head out for another grueling semester of school. It's my last semester so I feel a bit overwhelmed, nervous, and anxious about what the next phase of my life is. But before the torture of another academic semester, the KC weekend was first and it lived up to the hype.

So I got to the Bible Study with about 2 hours to spare so I proceeded to nap in my car :) I went in about an hour before it was supposed to start so I got to see all the wonderful people come in as the place soon became packed to full capacity. I have to say that it was great seeing everybody coming together for a joyous occassion. I had the feeling that it was a mini-Feast. Actually it felt like a Feast but shortened to a weekend. The Bible Study was wonderfully done by Mr. Millich; it centered on Proverbs and also included one of the most hilarious Scriptures that had Jon, Jeremy, Emily, and me laughing it up (I think Annette realized why we were laughing and I saw her smiling as well).

The Scripture we were all laughing at was found in Ezekiel 16:44, "Indeed everyone who quotes proverbs will use this proverb against you: 'Like mother, like daughter'!" If any of you know of my previous relationship and some of the problems surrounding it, you would know why we were all laughing. My mom always said you have to laugh so you don't cry. That's what I've learned in the past 6 months, laugh about it because I shouldn't waste time in dwelling on the negatives of it. Move on, and let the past be the past. Learn from it, don't do it again, apply what was right, don't repeat what was wrong.

Hmmm, I should seriously consider being a professor. It seems like I am able to go on tangents as they willingly and willfully do during lecture. Back to the KC weekend though. I was glad to see people I hadn't seen in so long such, especially people like Rachael whom I hadn't seen in more than 2 and a half years!! The conversations were pretty awesome as well. I was able to talk to Rachael, Ginger, Mariah, Courtney, Desiree, Gina M, Kristen about a lot of things. Wide range of topics and I got some insight on life, women, relationships, etc from talking to all these people. Of course the guy talk with Jonny G, Juan, Jason was awesome as well.

Sabbath services in KC were pretty awesome! I was in the overflow with about 10 other people. Quite fun if I do say so myself :) When the children's choir started singing something to the tune of, "if you're happy and you know it..." I led the pack in the overflow room in stomping the foot, clapping hands, doing a nerrdy dance move :) Yep, acting my age during services.

The dance was an ok one. I don't know if it was just me but I just was not feeling it on Saturday night. I went as Alvin from chipmunks with Jon and Jeremy as Simon and Theodore respectively. The music selection was great though, a lot of songs that I hadn't heard yet being played at a Church dance. Apparently someone is hearing my advice about there being other kinds of music other than country that can be played at a church dance (yay for playing Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together"!) As Josh and Desiree have mentioned in their respective blogs, people left in groups to two main locations. I went to the Wilson's where I proceeded to drink a lot of water and play pool. I made some of my best pool shots in a while but I scratched on the 8-ball...good shots gone to waste :( Oh well, Jon and I decided to head out with Evan, Chris, Kyle, and Peder and play some poker. Here here for 2am poker and going to bed at 4am!

Sunday was an awesome day in KC! Sports day was awesome and I apologize to my team for getting there late. I blame my driver Jon for thinking that he could get anywhere on time, lol. Josh gave the rundown on how the games went. We had a pretty good team, once we warmed up we made our shots and developed some good chemistry. I wish we could have played the Moluf team though, I was up to the challenge :) After about 3 hours of basketball, I decided to play frisbee for a bit and experience massive leg cramps that I loosened up by running more :) Overall, sports day was the best Church sports day I've ever experienced. It was the perfect balance of competitive fire and 'churchy' aspect that I never saw in sports before. It was great!

Sunday night a bunch of us stayed around and went to Fox & Hound...an pretty neat bar & billiards place. Pretty nice looking place and it wasn't smokey, only in a certain area. They had the best Long Island's Ice Tea I've ever had, I highly recommend the place. The pool was great but it was even better to have meaningful conversation with Mariah, Courtney, and Sophia...although the latter was almost hustling me at pool until I made the best shot of my life and then proceeded to drink the rest of my Long Island's :)

After pool, we all went to Lanna and Richard's place (they live right across the street) and had some more convo and were able to partake of Jonny Scarboroughs musical talent! The guy is amazing and it provided a great attitude to the environment and the whole night. Pretty much an amazing weekend all around.

I think this is getting a bit long so I will sum up the rest of the weekend. On Monday I took Kristen to the airport so she could catch her flight. Quite an interesting day, full of long lines, delays, and great conversation in between. After dropping her off I proceeded to go back to the Routh's home and get all my stuff and Jon and I left to spend the next couple of nights at the Millich's. It was great hanging out with Tiffani, Daral, and Heather...they make for some awesome conversation. We watched the Florida State-Penn State game and the madness of its triple overtime/botched kicking festival. Great stuff. Jon, Mike Diekmeier, Missy, and I left on Wednesday afternoon and headed up north. I got to school at about 6pm and proceeded to order pizza and get ready for the ultra-hyped championship game between Texas and USC! Awesome game, great athletes, excitement, changing leads, game changing plays...everything that made for one of the greatest championship games in college football history.

I think that's about it for now...I've got some good blogging material on the way but I go now to run and play ball for a while. Take care all and to those who start school again, good luck.

P.s. Oh and congrats Annette, glad to have you in the family :)