Resilience:)

Good evening all,

I wanted to be a bit transparent we all have things or obstacles we have overcome right? When you are faced with something twice in your life that scares you shitless you don’t wish it upon anyone. It was amazing to see how many people care about you when you are down and out for a long time but my excuse was need to find out what is really wrong with me before involving everyone. I appreciated the prayers and positive vibes from everybody once I finally started to come back into the world of social media. It definitely got me thinking a lot of things with my life career-wise and what I have yet to do to live life to the fullest.

I was always a very positive person but for some reason lost who I was for a minute. There were friends reaching out to me that could not believe my tone of voice and my physical condition etc. Those who knew me well realized it was not the Joanne that they love on the phone but it was some version of losing my faith. It was great to hear from family and friends texting me and seeing how I was. I hated not being able to be strong enough to do things on my own so began to recover at my parent’s home.

At first, it began as a medical test, and then when it came for the second exam a mixture of antibiotics and pain killers were very bad for my body so much so they started burning my insides so instead of feeling better started feeling worse. I kept on telling myself this is all a process and it will go away eventually and these were necessary exams to keep my body healthy. I loved the motivation from everyone that I knew to help me not forget myself and who I stand for. I was always the type of person that would enjoy hearing everyone else’s problem and try to help them with it before thinking of myself. I learned little by little to focus on what I love to do my passion for writing, fitness, singing, art, family, etc.

It was great to hear from a friend of mine when I was going through major physical pain and it was defeating me so he suggested meditation, I told him I know this could relax me but are you sure the pain can start going away, he said just give it a whirl you never know with this type of meditation your whole body and energy is on a relaxed state of mind so much so I saw how powerful my mind truly was and began to feel like myself again. I do not know if it was a mindset thing but the pain started to go away little by little and once I had another appointment with the doctor, she regulated the balance in my immune system making me feel a lot better. I finally realized I had a shot at a comeback to be not only 100% but comeback at 110% I felt like I could conquer the world again. Due to physical ability, I began to explore options of what I wanted to do with my life and my career path was not settling right for me at the time especially because of the health scare. I came to the realization that the career path I was in was not long term and it was time to make a change. I hated leaving everybody behind because I created some close relationships but I knew it was time to think of me and maybe the health scare was telling me to take it easy so I had no choice but to listen and honestly to look within what makes my heart beat.

Remember all, even when things get tough you never know how strong you are until strength is the only thing you have and it is awesome to see who you inspire along the way. Please go ahead and comment if you ever felt this way would love to hear your stories of resilience and insights.

 

Jojo

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First Family Hike to the Waterfall :)

Good evening all,

A few weekends ago, I decided to take my parents up the infamous Eaton Canyon with all its natural beauty. I knew my parents would love the trip because I remember the first time we conquered a mountain unfortunately my mommy did not make it all the way until the end. So this was definitely redemption for her, I felt like she was ready for this because I know that mom and dad have a competition going on through Fitbit which allows them to run so since I knew they have been running or walking long strides I knew mommy can finally conquer a mountain and best of all was the beautiful waterfall at the end of the hike. I loved spending time with the folks and the peace within nature is uncanny. I was the expert hiker especially on this trail. Before starting the hike, it is good to use certain apps like Yelp or All Trails to give you a map with a direct location to the trail you want to try out for the first time.

My daddy can be described as the nature guy so he loved it when we began the trail. One thing was a warning for sure not to drink way too much water because I knew the rest stop was the only one that we ran into before following the trail. The start of the trail is amazing because it has the best mountainous nature views with the greenery in the pasture to the wild yellow flowers. The rock formations were so great because of all the steps that we had to face some were wet and near a riverbed, but we were able to help each other so we got to the end goal. I was super proud of my mommy because we reached the beautiful waterfall and accomplished the hike together.

My mommy was so happy to make it happen and so was my daddy we all loved every minute of it. It made me believe that it takes one step to anything you want to accomplish by committing yourself to reach your goals. My mom and dad say the average steps on a Fitbit is about 10,000 steps so that is the goal to reach everyday and when they lack they start dancing or marching, it is too funny but I definitely love their tenacity. I enjoyed myself and so did they when we heard the birds around and took a whiff of the trees. When arriving to the waterfall, it was the best time to take pictures and just listen to the serene water to reflect the beauty. It was a bit hott that we did get some color but we did have to get back since we had an engagement to get to. In the end, pictures are worth a thousand words so we had a blast and will continue to be a hiking family.

Remember to do something always that makes your heart sing, please as always share some of your favorite stories and comment below.

 

 

Have an amazing night 🙂

Jojo

The American Young Badass :)

Good afternoon all,

I have taken it upon myself to get out of the writing block I was in and decided to write about this young lady I am extremely proud of. Time flies and life flies by and the years roll by, it was just yesterday I blink for a second and I remember when you were just a child and I had you in my arms and now you are a grown woman headed to a great adventure that makes you “an American Young Badass,” since you are Airforce bound. Ever since you were little you always wanted to serve our country and follow your path and now you are going to put your passion for kids into good use through the nursing program. I admire what you are about to do it is very commendable and you are going to be in a journey that not a lot of people have chosen but it is an enormous honor.

It has been great accompanying you on your journey through many milestones in your life such as graduation from 8^th grade to graduating high school. Now you will be sworn in in the next couple of days to become a United States Airwoman facing obstacles that I know you are strong enough to handle. You are the light of everyone’s world at church and in our family. I loved being like a big sister to you too whenever we talked about crushes or anything going on in your life etc. I love you and will miss you so much for some time as will my family but I know we will see you when you finish the greatest accomplishment and complete your graduation as an Airwoman and cannot wait to hear your experience and how you came out a badass for it.

 

Love your auntie,

Jojo

Best friends for life :)

Good afternoon all,

Another thing that I am very passionate about are my friends, I know I have been anonymous about my subjects in my stories but this is in honor of my best friend Joyce. I created this collage of the years we met and have been through so much as you can tell from 2006-2017. I love the fact that we have been through bad times and good times. We were so young back then, however, now we are mature adults that have busy lives whether it is career or relationships, we always seem to catch up whenever we can. After all the saying they told me when I was in college, I never understood it which was “friends you make in college will be your friends for life,” until I met you my first year.

We explored college for the first time and enjoyed ourselves to the fullest and now we are independent women who are striving far in life. We have set sail not knowing what we wanted to major in and then decisions have to be made when Cal Poly would send those awesome emails saying major needs to be declared etc. We both seemed so ready to get the years started in the University so eager to know what was in store for us. We had fun in all the parties and dances that we attended and shaked our booty together.  I was there for all the girls’ nights, birthdays, bachelorette’s, and epic moments in your life.

You have been a great friend, an inspiration to be a future wife for my future husband in the future, admire the tenacity in being cupid for me in order to have me jump back into the dating scene, appreciate the support in anything I do, appreciate the fact that you can be a long-lost sister from another mother, the trustworthiness, a kickass teacher that is teaching her kids to be the best they could be because it is super rewarding, even through tough times such as any family ordeals we are there for one another, no matter if we don’t agree on things we are very respectful, and exciting and positive nature makes us n’sync to be driven towards our goals. We had some good old days too like when one of our hangouts was downtown Fullerton and had no care in the world and just loved having fun. Nowadays, like these last little outings it definitely makes us feel young at heart and having interesting conversations is really good because when we were younger there are some people men in general that did not look pass looks and now intelligence is the forefront that lights up a room and if other people that we meet cannot handle an intellectual conversation than so be it move on to the next.

The intent is not to get crazy but to have fun conversations with men even as a married individual you know how to hold your own and keep our friendship growing strong and you do not forget about that. I am very fortunate to have a friend like you and I cannot wait for many more milestones and memories in our lives. Like you said, it is like the real Sex and the City but this time when guilty by association plays a part I love being part of being beauty and brains because the going with the flow can end up into something great and for that I thank you. I also thank you for being an active listener and helping me through relationship tough times etc. and getting me back in the saddle shortly but surely. I also thank you for being such a genuine person with me because only then would I have felt comfortable enough to share the real me too. It was one of my favorite moments of my life when I was honored to be your maid of honor in one of the most epic times of my life and for that I love you my dear close friend Joyce.

 

Jojo

Please go ahead and comment if you have any friend of yours that has shaped you 🙂

A soul that will never leave us :)

Good afternoon all,

This has been one of the hardest pieces I have ever had to write, some people deal with grief in a different way and I write my thoughts down in paper and this helps me deal with it. May has been an interesting month and also a reminder that the patriarch of the family has left us and has gone to heaven. What can I say about Papi Lautarito, he had a nickname for all of us including myself “Huesitos” most translated in English as “Bones.” Looking back at all these memories makes me feel sad and all emotions of what I felt that day that we were losing Papi. He lived a fruitful life, always making jokes, dancing, and always looking like a young buck.

Everybody had their own personal memories but one of my cherished memories was when he taught me how to play 40 the most famous card game in Ecuador and since he knew all the rules he would always have the huge advantage to beating me. There were times when I would win and he would tell me how I cheated. I used to say I just got the lucky cards what can I say. I loved hearing all the childhood stories of when he was a young boxer because it must be true since whenever I would see him dreaming I would see him punch out mean old right hooks and jabs. He extended his love to everyone his grandkids, great grandkids, even his sons and daughters.

He was so independent even when I was taking care of him for a long period of time all he wanted was someone to keep tabs of the time schedule for medication but he would want to do it on his own always. He used to make fun of people on walkers because he said he would never be that person that should be cared for. He was always resilient and loved telling those stories of when him and his wife first started to make it out in the world from beginning to end. Sometimes he would be sad telling the story and I would feel his pain whenever he would talk about how bad the cops were with deportation when immigrants did not have any papers. He always told me how much sacrifices he had to do in order to provide for the entire family and always admired him for that.

We enjoyed watching sports together such as basketball even though he was going for whoever wins. I would tell him that is not the point to go for the one that is winning but go for the team one loves but to him it made no difference. Every time we saw the Lakers play on the big screen, he would think Kobe Bryant was his neighbor and we never corrected him because God forbid he was wrong about something. He loved animals so much so when we would visit his house in Ecuador I saw the whole entire zoo  and loved getting to know each and every one of them as we got to give them names. He was an extraordinary dancer so graceful and so on point that may be why I was so curious in learning everybody’s steps on the dance floor.

Papi always loved spending time with dad since dad would listen to all his stories, dad would have a great time watching soccer with Papi. All these pictures with all these beautiful memories remind me of how much we loved our grandpa. My cousin Adam was always known as baby Adam and his best nickname for Papi was chiripoopoo. My cousin Michelle was known as la chinita to Papi and she had a blast when she spent some of the most precious times with him when she was being his nurse and for that we thank her because she knew what to do at the most difficult times. My favorite little Moras have so many precious moments with him too since they loved sharing stories with him every time they came home from school.

When our favorite Papi left us for a better place, my mom and her sisters each have a different experience with him but my mommy was a huge rock for us, however, our family had to definitely return the favor and make sure she got through this hardest of all days we provided her love, understanding, caring, and absolute devotion to her. Every kiss and cuddle, surprising him when I got home from work always made him smile huge. He got me involved and addicted to soap operas in Spanish so with my parents we kept on watching religiously to carry on that tradition. I know this may sound weird but I feel like Papi never left and is always guiding me through the path of life by asking him questions and praying to him to make some decisions where it came to emotional feelings and one thing that he would always tell me that resonated with me was “always follow what your heart desires no matter what.” He always believed in me and my passions so ever since then and always I have never backed down from the goals I set out for myself because I always look back at why I started and what drives me. I will always remember my dear Papi Lautarito I love you and miss you so much and decided to honor you by telling this story and I will never forget you and your soul will remain in our hearts forever.

Jojo

Please friends and family comment below and tell me someone you have honored in the past or present that you love dearly.

A Little Piece of History :)

 

Good evening all,

I had an epic weekend this past weekend because sometimes I don’t know if it is just me but when you are little you tend to remember what places you visited. It turns out I went somewhere new and to embrace a place of history. My uncle was very kind enough to invite me to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library with his nephew that came from out-of-town. It was such a wonderful experience to step into the life of a great president and learn all his accomplishments. It made me understand the difficult decisions that being a president entails.

President Ronald Reagan was an actor and an American politician serving as our 40th president of the United States of America. He was also the Governor of California according to Wikipedia talk about super qualified. By learning more about our President through research found out that he had Democratic views and then later became conservative and switched to the Republican Party. The relationship between Ronald Reagan and Nancy was one to admire because it was so strong from the beginning due to him starting from the bottom being raised in a poor family and through his journey in Hollywood as an actor she was always by his side. I also found out the candy of choice for the President were jelly beans that I had to take a picture of the masterpiece self-portrait made of jelly beans. I was impacted of how calm the President was to make decisions especially when we had many enemies that wanted to tear us apart.

I definitely also resonated with this President because he would have his own personal journal where he put all his thoughts down and for me writing is passion in the way I express myself. It was amazing to find out that one of his accomplishments was the                               devising the INF Treaty with Mikhail Gorbachev in order to shrink the Soviet and United States’ nuclear arsenals. People love to see the fashion that the First Lady makes a trend and I have got to say some beautiful gowns that I took a picture of as well. It was awesome to see the replica piece of the Berlin Wall with its amazing masterpiece even though it is a picture of a butterfly that has always been symbolic for me in that it came out of a cocoon and is now ready to fly solo and reach the gold and go after its dreams no matter what. The President at the time was a huge horse lover and loved anything western so there was a lot of cowboy memorabilia that he would wear at his retreat in Camp David.

I also had a chance with the fam bam of course to go inside Air Force One and Marine One so realized Press always sat in the back but very cool communication gadgets in order to talk to the world globally no matter where the President was at any given time. It was cool to take the famous pose with the family the presidential wave before boarding Air Force One. My favorite picture was me practicing for my presidential speech because believing in yourself takes only one step to make anything happen I want to inspire others to believe in themselves because some fail to have faith but as long as you have God by your side anything is possible. It was interesting to see how the President was so resilient when there was an attempt to murder him, he was still telling jokes in the hospital and came back stronger than ever. It looked like he definitely touched the lives of so many which is why there was past presidents that respected him until the time of his death when he was battling Alzheimer’s. He always embraced the opinion of women and respected his wife who was there throughout everything. I admire that partnership or marriage and have faith that God will put a great man like that in my path of life when the timing is right.

 

“Remember warriors with God anything is possible,” please share any museum visit stories on the comment box below.

Jojo

What does Easter mean to me?

Good afternoon all, I was excited when April came around because it means so much for a lot of people including myself, things that were brought up to light from an adorable friend of mine such as a few birthdays from people I care about and also someone I absolutely love like my mother. Her birth month is the best because this woman I admire was born and she is an extraordinary person, love her business mindedness, how passionate she is, supportive, go-getter, friendly, gives great advice, stubborn, patient, determined, easygoing, has a big heart, cares for everyone, puts family first, independent, adventurous, ambitious, reliable, best mom in the world, and loyal. I would have not existed if she did not bring me into this world and for that I am forever grateful for this beautiful individual that is born on this month as we call April showers where nature is warmed in order to be full bloomed. There are other things that happen in April as well such as Hitler’s bday as well what is so fascinating about him is that he had the ability to lead in such a way that everyone would follow no matter who it was or what race they were.

Another thing that comes to mind is Palm Sunday, which is based on Catholic Online, the final Sunday of Lent, the beginning of Holy Week, and the triumphant arrival of Christ into Jerusalem. The Palm is a huge symbol of peace and victory which is why it is widely used in this glorious occasion. Now we come up to Good Friday, which is today coincidentally and represents the crucifixion where Jesus dies on the cross to absolve us from our sins. There are also some other days that we Americans face and that is tax season when it comes everybody thinks dang that was fast or I better get on it lol. Last but not least, Easter, according to AllaboutJesusChrist.org, it symbolizes Jesus Christ’s victory over death and his resurrection states that eternal life is granted to all who believe in him. Easter to me signifies a new beginning a clean slate when we see the age of innocence in children using their imagination and creativeness seeping through their veins. I believe that anything is possible if they want to be whatever it is when they grow up then I say support them never put a damper on their dreams because you never know they can surprise you in huge ways. I love it the most because it is a family holiday and no matter how old the kids are they will always appreciate the togetherness, love, understanding, gratefulness, passion for one another, supportiveness, and spending the cherished quality time.

 

Remember would love to hear your Easter stories or what they mean to you, please comment below any thoughts. All you warriors out there no matter how big or small your voice matters never ever turn back and keep moving forward !!!

 

Jojo

First time meal prepping:)

Good evening all,

Today has been a great day, I know we all love food but in order to accomplish health and fitness goals, there has to be what I call a flexible diet. Some of the fitness trainers or advocates have always said, “abs are made in the kitchen.”  With that said, flexible diets include meal prepping for the first time. Even though, I did not get up at a decent time I still had a nutritional breakfast and mid day lunch that I have never prepared before. I was craving an egg white recipe, so I went on Pinterest and saw a recipe for spinach & egg white omelette. The complete recipe so you all can try it is as follows:

Prep Time: 2 mins.      Cook Time: 3 mins.   Total time: 5 mins.

Ingredients 

• 3 egg whites
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 1 Tsp. olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg whites and water. Season with salt and pepper.
2. In a nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add spinach and season with salt and pepper. Stir for a minute, until leaves are wilted and tender.
3. Add in egg whites and cook until almost set. Using a spatula, lightly lift up sides around the outside of omelette and let any uncooked egg whites run underneath.
4. Spread cottage cheese on top of the omelette in the middle, and sprinkle with parmesan. Fold each side of the omelette over onto itself , covering the cottage cheese.

Yummy Healthy

I learned by making this new creation that I have never done before that it takes one step to make it and even though you may not have a passion for cooking, you are passionate for your goals so then you do whatever it takes to learn and nourish yourself. The body is your temple and when you work hard in the gym or at home, you need to complement it with nutritional food. Along with eating, you must always drink lots of water as part of your nutrition. Here is why, an image I wanted to share with you all from Google:

As for dinner, I was craving a chicken breast recipe so I thought to myself made this a long time ago, what better way than bring back all the chicken breast recipes for healthy eating from the Food Network. First, I grabbed the chicken breasts and started thawing it with hot water so I can separate all the breasts. When I went to the grocery store, I made sure to buy a little seasoning from Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper. The seasoning that I put on the chicken breast was a sprinkle of Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper, sprinkle of Cumin, 2 tbsp. of minced garlic, dash of garlic salt, and mixed all the breasts in a bowl so they all have the seasoning on it. Then, I got a cooking pan and sprayed some Pam olive oil and put the chicken breasts with seasoning and left it there to cook, make sure you pay attention to it so you can flip it and cook the whole breast. Multitasking is key, so I got another pan to put frozen corn and green beans steaming them. I also pulled out a spinach salad with pieces of carrots added a little goat cheese, almonds, raisins, and balsamic vinaigrette to complement the meal. When the dinner was done, I could not wait to eat it since the meal prepping comes with timing, therefore, I started the plan to eat snacks and complete meals every 3 hours ever since I started working out hardcore.

Remember all, cooking is an art form and even though you may not be passionate for it, you need nutrition for your ultimate fitness goals, therefore, you learn it.

Jojo

 

Unleashing the Beast Babe :)

Source: Unleashing the Beast Babe 🙂

Unleashing the Beast Babe :)

Good evening all,

When I came home one day, it was great to have new gym gear that I was hooked up with by Ammo Athletic. I loved the way the fabric felt making me feel very comfortable with its racer-back fit. This made me feel like a lioness and invincible with whatever I am trying to accomplish. Ammo Athletic’s logo of the tiger shines through and when things get rough you always finish what you start. It was awesome to share this with friends and family because the company motto on the shirts “Stay Hungry” is right on for anyone that is barely starting off the gym for the first time or people who have been going consistently.

It is great to share some of my knowledge for years to my other peers or friends. Today, I was talking to a friend and told me some of her goals that she wants to reach to get that summer body she deserves. First and foremost, it has been one of my passions to let someone feel that they can attain anything and so we will record her progress along the way. First thing I always say is “Are you committed to attaining your goals?” because if you are you got to do whatever it takes and unleash the fire inside of you to finish your workouts without any problem at all. It may sound like I am a sergeant and take it super serious because I enjoy having a fitness and healthy lifestyle. It started with taking a before picture then told her to add my fitness pal to log food and exercise routines in order to see what she is putting in her body and how far she can exert herself in accomplishing her goals. Right now, she may not feel as strong but little by little she will get it done because I know she will stop at nothing to make it happen. I also  It does take some time to get used to it if you have never done it before. I promised to my friend with great nutrition and a consistent workout routine that you can see the results that you want to get, progress you will notice in about a month. The only way you get to see it is if you are persistent, some people believe a gym myth that involves more weights hence getting muscular, however, that is not true, it actually depends on the amount of the reps and weight for you to gain more tone.

Please comment below in how you unleash the fire within?

Please come and check out all the newest fitness gear perfect for athletes or to just kick ass in the gym from my referral website: Ammo Athletic  🙂

Jojo