Blizzard of Changes for 2011

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope it was a good one spent with your friends and loved ones, and didn't party too hard. I spent the holidays back home on the East Coast with my friends and family, I feel refreshed and renewed.

My trip started with Anthony picking me up from the airport, and then a late lunner at Friday's. We got some delicious appetizers and drinks, then we got to Amanda's house and went out later to my favorite Chinese Restaurant, Golden East. My friend Amy, whom I hadn't seen in a while, was able to join us as well. It was great to see her again. I got the corn and crab soup that she got me addicted to, which ended up being a meal, and hot tea since the weather called for it. We all enjoyed each other's company and stayed there a while just chillen out at the Restaurant, and seeing what other people ordered to eat. I never knew they had some dishes that were served on fire, it was pretty cool! Now I know what I want to order next time. Later on that night we went back to Amanda's and had some drinks, had some good laughs, and took some funny pictures; it was a great way to end the evening.

I got to see some good friends, have some good laughs, make some new memories, take pictures etc. I got to spend Christmas with my girl, Amanda and her family; it was so nice to get to celebrate it once again and we got a lot of snow while I was there. It was the Blizzard of 2010, got snowed in while I was visiting them. I don't get to see snow often so it was beautiful to see it on the trees and ground. I always loved the way it looked on trees when it snowed, so beautiful. We took some goofy pictures, opened presents, had a nice dinner, and dessert that we shared with special company. I really felt like we all bonded being there a little longer as planned due to the weather.

I also got to stay with and spend time with my family. We went out to a new Italian place for dinner with my Aunt, Uncle, their friend Anne, my cousin, and her boyfriend. It had a really nice atmosphere, and the food was good, as well as the two desserts we all shared together. Later on that night we played some video games on the Wii. We bowled and played Wheel of Fortune, it was fun to play games again; I hadn't done so in a while. We also watched movies and just enjoyed each other's company catching up with one another.

I ended up having to stay a couple nights at a Hotel, so I got some experience with that which isn't bad as well as being on my own. I didn't particularly like the one I stayed at, and probably won't again in the future. If I need to again during a future visit, I will stay somewhere else. It was a small room, the bed was comfortable, but the heater was loud as anything. They did have a complimentary Breakfast which I missed the first day, but the last day I got to have it and it wasn't that special. The eggs were circular shaped and at first I didn't even know if that's what it was, so that was weird.

I did end up walking across the Highway to our old Mall, there was nothing to do at the Hotel but sleep and watch TV so I decided to go out. I walked around a little bit, then decided since there wasn't anything to do that I would go to a movie to pass the time. I saw "Yogi Bear" in 3D, it was a cute movie but I would've preferred to have someone to watch it with. After that I got a Jamba Juice then walked back to the Hotel until I went out later that night.

I got to go back to one of my favorite Thai restaurants called Pad Thai with Anthony and then afterwards since what we ate was spicy, we stopped at Baskin Robbins to help cool us off from the spices that were in our entrees. We also went into the city to see my favorite Broadway show "Phantom of the Opera" It was amazing and the voices were fantastic, especially the man who played the role of the Phantom. The first time I heard him sing during the show, I literally had chills his voice was so powerful. It was my second time seeing it and Anthony's first. It is definitely an incredible experience to see a Broadway show, especially this one; it's been around for a long time and I hope it continues to do so. I really missed the city as well, it was great to go back in and see everything lit up at night. There was a lot of traffic going into the city, so I was relieved we just made it to the theatre before the show began.

After the show ended we were pretty hungry so on our way back we found a nice bar to eat at. It was a really nice place, the bar was lit up in neon orange. The food was really good and watched a movie to end the night.

New Years day came and began with an awesome lunch at Red Lobster after I checked out from the Hotel. In case nobody knew this by now, I LOVE seafood! I had the Ultimate feast, it was so gooood. Anthony shared his bbqed lobster with me since he wasn't a fan of it, I found it better than the one that was served with my dish. It was nice to be back there again, another one of my favorite restaurants that I would rarely go to due to it being a bit on the expensive side.

New Years plans changed close to last minute, so I ended up spending it with my ESP girl and her boyfriend, Andrew at his house, and a friend of his. We had mozzarella sticks, pizza, and other appetizers before we went to a party at a friend's house. We drank a little bit before then, and then went to the party. I had some Strawberry champagne which was really good, and some Arbor Myst wine. We watched the ball drop downstairs with a lot of people that I didn't even know but they all were very friendly and nice people. I got hugs from total strangers, but it was all good and they made me feel welcome.

They had a lot of animals living there; cats, dogs, and fish. One of the dogs only had hair on it's head so we were all making fun of it and laughing when it kept coming over to me whimpering for attention; it was weird. Why don't they just shave the rest of it so it didn't look so strange looking, I kind of felt bad for it. After the party we went back to Andrew's, drank some more, had some Baby Back Ribs flavored potato chips, and just hung out until we all got tired and went to sleep. We were up till around 4 even though it didn't feel like it.

We all slept a bit on the late side the following day, and drove to a strip mall, went into a couple stores, got some candy for the movies, went to see "The Tourist", then went out for dinner at the Macaroni Grill. I hadn't been there in a really long time, the food was really good and we all had a good time together. Later on we left Andrew's and Amanda dropped me off at our family friend's house for the night. I didn't do much, just stayed in and talked to Donna and her family until I went to sleep.

The next day Amanda and I went into Red Bank to get readings at this New Age store we liked to go to. We both hadn't been there in a really long time so it was nice to be back again, and I may consider living around that area; we'll see what happens. We had a really good reading that made us bond even more than I thought we could. It's a nice place but a lot of their things tend to be on the expensive side so you just get what you need. Amanda got an interesting book and some stones, I got a Chakra necklace and an incent holder since I didn't have one anymore. After that we left and had dinner at Amanda's. Her Dad made homemade Lobster and shrimp bisque with 6 cheese macaroni, it was delicious and I hadn't had bisque in a long time so it was a real treat.

Amanda drove me back to Donna's and I just stayed in for the night, hanging out with Jaime watching movies and having girl time just relaxing. We watched "Rent", it had a lot of good music and some songs I could even relate to; plus it was something to do. Another night we watched a free movie On Demand, "The Decent". It was a crazy, thrilling movie; we both jumped a couple times but it was fun to watch with some popcorn. We stayed up talking for a while until I got tired and went to sleep.

Unfortunately while I was on my vacation I did get sick a couple times, but I still managed to have a great time regardless; and didn't let it get me down and keep me from having fun. I did have to cancel my original flight and stay a little longer due to being pretty sick, but of course I didn't mind and made the best of it.

The next days I rested and didn't really go out too much, needed to take it easy. I did get to do take out from the Chinese restaurant in my old neighborhood one of the days which was pretty cool. I used to go there a lot with friends, it was still the same except the name changed from Chopstix King to EB Chinese. I just stayed in for the rest of the day. Jaime had a friend come over and we all hung out and watched episodes of FRIENDS, LOVE that show!

My last full day I slept late, had a late lunch with Donna, Jaime, and her friend Jackie at Chili's. I got half a rack of baby back ribs and black beans, hadn't had that in sooo long with some tea. We stayed there for a while just talking and then went back to the house to rest until I went out later that night.

At first I didn't have plans, I was able to make some last minute with a friend of mine I hadn't seen in a long time. I got to spend some girl time with Jenn, got dropped off at her house, we walked to EB Chinese and ate there, picked up some wine coolers at the liqour store, walked around CVS, then walked back to her house. We had a long girl talk, and then our friend James came over to hang out with us. We had a good time talking, laughing, and taking pictures, then James and Jenn dropped me off at Donna's house for the night. It was great to see them both, and I'm glad we took some pictures; we hadn't taken any in years!

This was the first time I didn't have a nonstop flight back. I went from Newark, then to Orlando for a couple hours; needed to switch airlines. I got a little lost at first being in an unfamiliar airport, but I was able to ask for help and get to where I needed to be. I was glad I had bought a book before I was there to pass some time, and had some friends to text while I was waiting for the final flight. I did get a lot of exercise that day walking around in the airports so I slept well that night.

Overall it was a great vacation that was very much needed and over-due for, very grateful that I got to go home and see people and have fun.

I'm sure everyone has their New Years resolutions, mine is to get a couple jobs and get my own apartment. I believe it's time for me to move out and have a life of my own where I'm my own Boss and can live my life the way I want to and where I want to. Before I even came back here, I started doing some job hunting and applied to a couple jobs that offered a really good salary as well as jobs that I feel confident that I could do. I know it's a whole process, but I'm already taking steps to getting my own place. I feel like I'm not growing here anymore and I'm being held back from doing so which isn't good.

Another new thing in my life is this company Herbalife that helps everyone lose/gain weight or just increase their energy levels. I just started taking their meal replacement shakes and vitamins, and have already been getting results. I now have enough energy to get on the treadmill a few times a week!

I have always had a passion for helping people and ever since I got involved with this company that happens to have been around for 30 years, I feel like I've found my true calling. I've always liked holistic/herbal methods when it came to health and medication as well and that's what their products are, they are all herbal and natural ingredients; everything the body needs to work it's best to keep us healthy. I'm working on becoming a Distributor and having a business of my own, being my own Boss for once in my life; it's what I've always wanted. I already have a couple customers using the products so that's a beginning, and have been promoting the Business during my trip; my work never stopped even while on vacation.

There are good things in the works coming up in my life. Let it be a good year for us all. Amen