Aunt Paula & Michelle
Manny is part Portuguese. Melissa thought it would be fun to label each guest table with the names of the Azores Islands of Portugal. I helped her put them together. They turned out really cute!
"FROG HUNTING"
One of my fondest childhood memories is going frog hunting on a hot summer night! I remember spending hours after the sun set catching frogs by the bucket fulls! Little did I know, this was something I would be passing on to my neice and nephews, even my friends' kids. Here is one of my friends' little boys, Avi, exploring the jackpot of baby frogs in their backyard up in Sacramento. It was his first time actually holding a frog!
Jai was more interested in playing in the water than the frogs. Maybe one day his brother will teach him!
"The Count of Monte Cristo"
Just finished this book! I have been wanting to read it for quite sometime; luckily my friend had a copy and let me borrow it. I won't say how long it took me to get through it(cause it's just embarrassing to say), but I can tell you that it had some surprising twists that will leave you fascinated! I had to watch the movie after reading it just to enjoy the story with a less complicated plot. The book was still intensely satisfying! I highly recommend it
Tribute to an inspiring leader
I am not passionately political. I probably never will be. Earlier this week as I was checking my email, this picture popped up on my homepage.
For those of you who don't know the man in the photo, this is Nelson Mandela, one of the most beloved and influential leaders of Africa. There are MANY recognized quotes from speeches he gave that offered strength,hope and faith to the people of Africa during a time of great oppression and suffering. Some of his quotes I completely fell in love with and wanted to share some inspirational thoughts of a truly great leader. The first is one of my favorites.
I hope we may remember during this Independence Day, all those who have lost their lives fighting for the freedoms we are so blessed to have today, and to remember those who have sacrificed their lives in other parts of the world, in order restore and give a hope for a better life to others.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us: it's in everyone. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
— Nelson Mandela
"There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires"
— Nelson Mandela
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."
— Nelson Mandela
"In my country we go to prison first and then become President. "
— Nelson Mandela
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling,but in rising every time we fall.”
- Nelson Mandela"
"I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities and a thousand unremembered moments produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people. There was no particular day on which I said, Henceforth I will devote myself to the liberation of my people; instead, I simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise."
— Nelson Mandela (Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela)
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
— Nelson Mandela
"I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death."
— Nelson Mandela (Long Walk to Freedom: Autobiography of Nelson Mandela)
"I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended."
— Nelson Mandela
"One of the things I learned when I was negotiating was that until I changed myself, I could not change others."
— Nelson Mandela
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