nice cold air!

the cold chill air outside totally brings out the fact that christmas is in the air. i love it! and whats amazing is that IM ALMOST DONE WITH SHOPPING! all i have left to buy is a present for my godson, lolo and lola, and mom and dad. i guess i saved the most expensive for last right? oh damn i still need to buy gift wrapping paper and stuff...HAHA well thats easy.

so i know we still have a whole month of december left to go, but i figure nothing's wrong with reflecting on this past year's events already. so lets see, i remember ringing in 2007 with my family at my house. for some reason i already knew that this year would be one of those good years...ya know? especially cuz i had just gone through one of the hardest quarters of college i had ever gone through with one more class to go through for the winter quarter. the justin timberlake concert was in january and it was well...AWESOME! but later when i came home i found out that my mom went into anaphalactic shock and was in the ER. that scared the hell out of me. thank god she was alright. the next day shai went into labor and we welcomed baby KIAN ZACHERY DIZON MANCE to the world. 3 days later i turned 24...whoa...24. seriously that was one up and down kind of week. geees what else happened that month, oh a lot of birthdays and i started my very last quarter and class at UCSD. oh yea i gotta add that the beginning of january marked the month i decided i needed to change, make myself better, healthier, and grow up a lil.

feb was a slow month...bah

let's see, the i remember going to vegas in march with kuya and shai and their friends cuz they decided to get married there. that was a life altering moment for sure. i met new friends and got closer to my family. and they definately learned that im not a little girl anymore. i think at that point i had lost 15lbs or something. oh oh and i just finished my last quarter and class at UCSD...IM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH COLLEGE! WOHOOOO!

april was just a regular month i believe. nothing too significant happened.

may was when the craziness started to happen....jeff's birthday at J6 bar...uhh..enough said. brother and friends graduating. one crazy ass night at belo followed by another crazy drunk fest at decos...MY GOD THE DEBOCHERY THAT ENSUED! that was the beginning of a great summer! oh and kristine left san diego to live in seattle of all places. what the hell dude! but it was for the best and i know now that she doing sooooo well for herself. im proud of you chicky!

june, i finally did my official walk out of UCSD with my BS in Biochemistry/Chemistry. at that point that was the biggest accomplishment i had done for myself in my lifetime. i thought i would never be able to do it cuz god knows i had my moments. VELARDE PALOOZA happened and it was a success...never throwing a big shindig like that again though...mom gets too loopy. she doesnt know how to handle situations at all, i swear.

july, kuya lito and family arrive from guam to kick it for the summer woohoo! then my life changing event happened. one of shai's friends, who i made friends with in vegas asked if i wanted to try out kickboxing at her gym, "the boxing club". i went, i loved it, and i knew it was right for me. Rowena i am in debt to you girl. you gave me something to do with myself other than work.

august, was a hard month with the untimely passing of my tita linda in the PI. dad was pretty sad for a while. i dug deeper in the world of kickboxing and started personal trainning sessions in muay thai. i think at that point i lost 30lbs or something for the total years count. i was feeling good about myself. i also was hanging out with the family a lot at this point, which was a great thing cuz we havent been so close in such a long time. that makes me soo happy.
edit: omg i totally forgot about VEGAS again with sandy, frank, and ellene...OMG thanks ellene for the reminder...not that it was forgetable but its just that my memory slips sometimes...HAHA REMEMBER THAT DRAG QUEEN AT BODY ENGLISH? HAHA

september was a slow month up until another untimely passing of my little cousin irvin in the PI. that was another hard blow to the velarde family. seriously thank god for kickboxing cuz i dunno how i woulda been able to handle that stress and pain. september was also when my visiting family left to go home and summer was over. one of the best summers ever.

october-november marked marked the start of the holidays with halloween and thanksgiving. at this point all i had going was was work, muay thai, lots of trainning, and get togethers with friends in between. thanksgiving was a success this year with lots of food and family gathered. that weekend was exhausting and thats all i remember about that.

now that brings me to the present. at this point in my life this year i have managed to get closer with my family again and get pushed into adulthood. i started off the year weighing 160lbs...i think..im pretty sure. i now weigh 109lbs. MUTHA FUCKA WHO KNEW HUH? besides graduating, this is the second biggest accomplishment life altering moment to happen to me. i've been blessed with great family, great friends, and a great life so far. every little bump that happened in the past has helped me to get through this life and i know that now. i mean i knew that in the past that that stuff had to happen for a reason. im a firm believer that that these things do happen for a reason and that eventually you'll find out why. im also a firm believer that we meet certain people for a reason too and that you should never take these people for granted. try your best to always put on a good face, be nice, and helpful when necessary.

well this blog has been long enough. thanks for going on this journy of reminscing with me. next time maybe we'll talk about the things im looking forward to and hoping for, yea? yea!