Night by Elie Weisel

I first heard about this book in Hist 102 last year when it was recommended by my history professor during our WWII lecture.

At our student ministries Garage Sale, when we were cleaning up, I found a copy! I got to take it home for free! Score!

Everybody that knew I was reading it said things along the lines of:
'I love that book'
'I read that book in high school'
'It's such a good book'

and I really is a great book.
It's definitely worth reading.

What shook me the most was his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech at the very end:

"As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame. What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs.
Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately."

All I can think of when I read that last sentence is:
"My life no longer belongs to me; it belongs to the One I need desperately."

Myspace

So I finally got a Myspace again... here.

I'm updating my blog on there which is called:

"17 going on 30... camera phone diaries"

That will have daily updates with pictures I take on my phone. ;)

Kitty Gets Baptized!

This last weekend I got to go to California with my family. My Dad was singing at few churches, including the church that my parents pastored for 17 years before moving to Las Vegas (our current location) to start a Hispanic ministry with South Hills.

My cousin/sister (we're connected at the hip) wanted my Dad to baptize her, and he worked it out so that he could do it this weekend, and I got to be there!! I was so excited, and so was she! 

Me and Kitty (the baptize-ee) hung out all day, everyday I was there, and barely slept because of all the places we drove to with my Dad. Here's a pictures of us (isn't she beautiful?). I was chewing gum in this picture:

Phil Wickham VS. Lincoln Brewster

On Monday (Sept 29) I went to a free, Phil Wickham concert!! It was at the Valley Christian Bible Fellowship in town. My phone was dying, so I couldn't take any pictures of him, but my friends got a bunch. It was an acoustic performance, and the crowd was about 70-90 people (I think). We got some GREAT seats down front, and I sat with all of my girlfriends. In between songs, Phil would talk to us and we even took a moment to pray for a Canadian girl in the crowd who was going to Sudan in a few days.

Later he asked if anybody was from California, and me and my girls all yelled saying, "Yea! Whoo hoo!". And he was like, "Okay we got a few people from California. Do you guys live here, or did you travel together? You're all sitting together". And we said that, yes, we do live in Las Vegas, but we all originate from California, and I said, "Yea, California girls find each other" He thought I said, "California girls fight each other" Hahahahah! And then we said we were sitting together because we're from the same church (South Hills) and he was like, "Wow, so the whole church moved to Las Vegas together?". Hahaha. It was funny. And I cried so many times during worship. Phil's songs really struck a chord. =(

The concert was awesome. Phil Wickham has a very special anointing that is completely undeniable. He sings with a heart that is very similar to the one my Dad sings with. It's been a long time since I've been around somebody like that besides my Dad. We stayed around after the concert to chat with him, and he was super-cool and chill. We didn't want to faun over him, we just wanted to hang out, and he allowed us to do both (we couldn't help it)!! All my friends and I cried during the worship, and I'm so blessed that I was able attend.

Yesterday (Oct 1), I went to a Lincoln Brewster concert at a local Central Christian Church. I had never been to Central Christian, and it's huge. We thought we were going to have to roam the parking lot for hours to find a parking space, but park-help was very organized and we parked almost right as we pulled in. When we walked in the "main auditorium", it was even HUGER (yea, I know it's not a word) than I expected. We took a long time, but found seats in the stadium-esque part of the room that is so FAR from the stage-especially compared to the intimate setting of the Phil Wickham concert.


Lincoln came out with his band (amazing) for a few songs, and then we were officially welcomed by a pastor, but it was hard to listen to him because there were loud people all over the place. But later on, Lincoln quieted everything down, and he really spoke out to everybody individually. So even though I felt like an ant, and he was the size of a mouse (from where I sat) he had a way of making me feel like he was talking to me. Lincoln totally rocked the house for Jesus. We had to sneak out during the encore because we didn't want to get trapped in traffic, so I didn't get to meet him (like Phil). BUT, I did get to snap some pictures (my phone was alive). . .

So all in all, I loved both concerts for different reasons. I have a new found appreciation for both Phil and Lincoln, and all talented, loving, and anointed worship leaders. They both expressed their gratitude to be able to worship with us, and it was a big blessing for me to be there. In their music, words, and character, they project so much praise to God, that it's totally undeniable to anybody in the room.

And by the way, yes, we are on a first-name basis. . . 

Tijuana, Baja Cali, Mexico

Last weekend, I went to Tijuana with my Dad, Edlin, and Kristy! We had so much fun.

My Dad sang at a few different places, and we ate tacos all day, everyday. Kristy, a super-white girl (hahahahaha) didn't even get sick (until the day she got home, anyway)! She was such a trooper, and she ate everything like a champ. This is a picture of a high-value salt shaker and toothpick dispenser they had at a local taco stand (they're Gerber food glass containers). I took so many pictures when I was there, and you can find some here, and here, but there are just too many to post.

What's on your face Dad?

The other day, I was looking for my Dad and I found him downstairs watching TV with Diego. The very first thing I noticed, was that he had a UFO (unidentified face object) and said: 

Me: "Papi, what's on your face?"
Dad: "Nothing"
Me: "Um, yes, you do Dad"
Dad: "No mija, it's your eyes"
Me: "Get up right now, and go look at yourself in the mirror Dad! And don't take it off until I can take a picture of it!"

When he saw himself in the mirror, he had all of this black stuff on his face! We were craking up because he had no idea. In this picture, you can't really see it, but it was way worse in real-life, trust me. We tried to find out where it came from, but we didn't figure out until it was night time. The culprit: our kitchen swivel-chair was producing black dust out of the paint in the swivel-piece. We cleaned it up, but it was so funny when I found him like that. He had no idea.

Questions

Last Thursday at Jacob's Well (college age ministry at South Hills), there was a night dedicated to asking any questions about God, or anything to do with beliefs, morals, church, or religion. We would text the questions to Chase's cell phone, and he would present them to 3 of our pastors: Pastor Neal, Bret, and Chris

(listed as pictured... and by age).
It was so great to have this event, and I'm down for having another one. It's such a great opportunity for any person to ask those burning questions.

Taste the Rainbow...

On our drive home to Vegas (from Salinas, CA) I spotted my first rainbow in a very long time! I hadn't realized that in Las Vegas, I don't get to see rainbows often (or EVER). So when I saw this one, it nearly took my breath away.

Then I realized that it started/ended on the hill next to us!! I didn't spot a pot of gold, but it felt like I had.

My Kitty...

When I was in Salinas (talked about in previous post), my cousin/sister, Karina (or Kitty) came to the last day of the tour to San Jose with us!! I was happy to have her there because I hadn't seen her in over a year, and I love her so much!! We got to spend time together at the concert, and I was able to spend the night at her house my last day in California! We couldn't stay up late (like old times) because it was a school night for her (and me, but I missed my first day of school for that trip), and I was pooped from traveling, so we just went into comas at about 11pm. Still, it was amazing spending time with her, and her family. We tried to take a picture of us, but we (mostly, I) hated all of the ones we took. This one is the best one because I don't despise it completely. =(

Los Hermanos Medina's Legacy Lives On

Last, last, weekend, I ended up being able to travel with my Dad for the very last time before I got tied down with school. It was a bitter-sweet trip, but more sweet than bitter!

On Friday morning, my Dad and I went to pick up my Tia Elvia and my Tia Pati. At around 7am, we left for Salinas, CA for Celebracion 2008 where both my Dad and my Tia's (Grupo MEDINA) would be singing (be cool, or carpool). Later, I found out the weekend would be a 3-day-mini-tour with:

MEDINA, Gilberto Medina, United by 3, Yvette, and Lali Torres. click on name for websites
The whole concert was so awesome!! All of the bands were super-cool, talented, and chill. The first night was in Salinas, second in Watsonville, and the third in San Jose.
It was kind of weird being back to the county where I grew up. We drove up to Salinas a million times when we lived in King City. We stayed at a Best Western in Salinas right next to the only In&Out there, where my Dad used to take me after every dentist appointment . It was nice visiting, but I don't miss living there. I love Las Vegas. And I loved traveling with my Dad and my Aunts for my last trip. We all shared a suite, and my Tias are such awesome singers, and women of God!

In Watsonville, my Dad invited my Aunts to sing a song with him like old times: back in the day before my Dad became a pastor in King City, they were "Los Hermanos Medina" in their teens, and had a lot of success in the Hispanic Apostolic church. They were a christian band ministry when it was still unheard of to do something like that full-time. There weren't any young, Hispanic, Christian singers recording any type of music in the 1970s, so their music was the very beginning of that. They recorded LPs and 8 tracks (old school!), and we have them hanging in our family music room at our house (come and see!). Yyvette and Lali Torres both recognize this, and throughout the whole weekend thanked and recognized my Dad and his sisters for paving the way for Hispanic, Christian singers around the world today.

The church they sang at in Watsonville knew Los Hermanos Medina from the 1970s, so when they sang together again like old times, the poeple went NUTS. There were people crying, and cheering. When the concert was over and it was time to sell CDs, the congregation came out and flooded our table for hand shaking, purchases, and testimonies. Some people were saying, "Your music has blessed me so much! When I first became a Christian, your music is what I would listen to. Thank you for singing your old songs!". My Dad re-recorded some of their old songs for that purpose: to provide even more blessings for those who still treasure the ministry of Los Hermanos Medina. It's always my honor to support my Dad and his ministry because it has been, and continues to be, such a precious blessing to the Hispanic Christians everywhere.

When we got home, I was so super-sad that it was over. Celebracion 2008 was so awesome! God worked in the people who attended, those who participated, and me. I hope I can go to something like that again!!

Right when we arrived in Vegas, we met our family at Chuck E. Cheese!! My nephew, Diego, was so excited! The Chuck E. Cheese we went to in Henderson was a lot smaller than the one in San Jose, CA (which is probably as big as a football field, or at least it felt like it when I was little), but we had fun anyway. We took so many pictures at the photo booth there. It only cost 1 token, so we went a little crazy.

The Bakersfield Experience

Last Saturday, my Dad and I were on our way to Bakersfield. We were going to spend the night there with my Tia Rebecca, and leave in the morning to Fresno where my Dad would be singing. When we'd driven for 2.5 hours (to Barstow), we got a call from my brother telling us that my Mom was in the emergency room because she'd put super-glue in her eye. . . !!! We could not believe it, and my Dad decided to turn around and come home. When we got back to Vegas at 9pm, my Mom had just gotten home after they'd been able to open her eye.

It turns out that she'd woken up late for work, gone to her sink, and put in her "eye drops" which were actually not her eye drops. Since she's a nurse, and works at the nearest hospital to our house, her coworkers were teasing her, but helping her feel better, about her dumb mistake.

She's fine now, but we had to wake up the next morning (Sunday) at 8 to leave, once again, toward Bakersfield, but now we had to go straight to Fresno. We made it to the first service at 2pm, ate, and headed for another service. We ended the day at midnight, and then finally headed to Bakersfield. We were so sleepy, but we made it (Thank God). Monday morning was my cousins' (Hanna and Donna!) first day of school, so I got to ride (not drive) them to school. =)

When I got in the car to go pick them up from school, my Dad's song was playing on the radio!!! Since Las Vegas doesn't have a variety of hispanic, christian radio, I never get to hear him on the radio. My cousins always get to hear him, but when I heard it, I screamed and called my Dad right away! I was so happy, and proud of him! =)

Monday afternoon we came home and my Mom's eye is still in recovery (but she's fine, Thank God).

Turtle Story

The other day I woke up and my aunt, Yeya, said she needed to show me something. She told me to look at the pool, and there was a turtle chillin' at the bottom. "Una tortuga?" ["A turtle?"] I said, and my Yeya said, "[in Spanish] I don't know if it's real". My sister-in-law, Crystal, went out to see if it was real, and I held my baby nephew, Roman, for her. She stuck a pole in the water to try to take it out, and it started swimming!! It was definitely alive! She took it out of the pool, and me and my Yeya went to look for a box to put it in. I went upstairs and found a plastic box-like container. Crystal went online to see what type of turtle is was, and it was a Red Eared Slider turtle. Diego, my other nephew, was so excited, and would sit next to it and talk about how it was a turtle, it had ouchies (nails) on it's feet, and how we got it came from the pool.

The next day, my Mom got rid of it. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it, but it was a little big bigger than this little guy I got off dB Fotografy's photostream.
We still have no idea how it got in our pool.