Tag: Quarantine

Just starting at Southern New Hampshire University

Momma Bear

So I did something crazy and signed up for school on top of the many things I have to juggle at the moment. Since the pandemic began I have felt as if time is just soaring past me leaving me behind in its dust. I have yet been able to accomplish graduating from college because of the many things life has thrown at me and the decisions I made in my past, but I am done letting that get in my way. My younger sister, Stephany, had already told me about how she had enrolled in SNHU through a program with IDEA that had really helped her out, she is now working on finishing her masters! It seemed like the best move to make and I tried to enroll two years ago, but it was not the correct timing. Now, fast forward two years and I have another baby and I have so much fire within me to finally finish what I started. I feel like time just keeps getting faster and the time is now. So I enrolled again, with my husband also enrolled and we began this journey together. What is really cool about this time around is that everything is virtual thanks to our beloved COVID, so it makes it a lot easier for me to finish since I do not have to do my school hours at the actual IDEA building. No time to waste! So far I have turned in three projects, which is what you need to turn in to master that class to get a college credit. Well I failed all three by getting a “not yet” which just means that I have not mastered my course, yet. So now I need to go back and correct the things that the reviewer commented on. I have never been good on receiving constructive criticism and this is something very new to me. I have taken this whole day to kind of reflect and think about how I am going to go about this. I just need to suck it up, go back and fix what I have to fix in order to master the project and move on. If I can turn in a minimum of two projects a week I should be graduating with my associates by this October, and I could not be more ready. Sometimes I feel like quitting, but then I look at my two babies and I’m like nooooope girl you better get back to work! I want to give them everything they need and a mother they can look up to and be proud of. They deserve that and much more. I am very grateful also to have my husband going through this journey with me. He will be graduating with his bachelors and then moving on to his masters and he already mastered his first project! I could not be more proud of him for the man he has become. I am overwhelmed and I doubt myself all the time. Sometimes I do not feel like I am smart enough to finish…but I have to keep pushing forward and keep trying. You only fail when you stop trying.

Texas has no power!

Momma Bear

As you all know, there has been a wild arctic blizzard going on for the past few days. I am not too very well informed about the politics of all of this, but I do know that a lot of people seem to be blaming this on Governor Abbott and ERCOT, they seem to be in charge of Texas’ power supply. Our home thankfully has not been impacted by the power outages, but my mom and mother-in-law have not had light since yesterday morning. This is ridiculous, it was as low as 23 degrees last night! I was so worried about our moms out there in the cold and darkness. Tonight they finally agreed to leave their homes. I tried for hours to find a hotel for my family but literally every single hotel in the Rio Grande Valley is booked! My mom, dad, and little sister came to stay with us and my mother-in-law is staying at her father’s home; so everyone is safe. But seriously, what about the poor people out there that do not have anyone? Or the poor defenseless animals roaming the streets? Ugh, I don’t know l, I just think all of this could have been avoided and the government just honestly could not give two craps about us. I am afraid of what the future holds as I watch my two beautiful children grow up. They have never known life before COVID, well Luna did for a little over a year but then BOOM! Life just changed completely. I can not help but to feel a little mom guilt because I feel like I can not show them cool places or take them on mini adventures. I can not imagine the families that have no light right now and they have small babies like mine! I do not know what this world is coming to but all I can do is raise my babies correctly, teaching them right from wrong and praying that they will be protected and be the light in this dying and dark world.

Two months sober…& counting..

Momma Bear

This is me checking in, just filling you in on something personal. Two months ago I found myself in a situation where I had been in many times unfortunately. Hungover and regretting my decisions or the things I said the night before, I decided it was time to change, seriously. Being a new mom is a wild experience and it has its roller coaster ride of emotions but there is something about my little girl that just pushes me to be better. I don’t know if it’s because she reminds me of a miniature version of myself, before the world messed me up and I realized the cruelties of life, but I just refuse to mess her up. I took it upon myself to stop drinking COMPLETELY for her. If me not drinking means that she will never taste a drop of alcohol until she is 21 or older then I will gladly do it. I refuse to let her go through all of the things I had to go through because I started drinking at an early age. I refuse. Well anyway, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that it has been the easiest of journeys…it seems almost as if life decided to throw all these obstacles at me as soon as I decided to quit drinking. We decided to move a week before Christmas and I swear it has probably been the most stressful time. I had a panic attack in the process of all this and we had family over during Christmas, in this pandemic, and everything has just been freaking me out to the max. I have always had anxiety and depression since I was a teen but I had always coped with it, I guess, or actually hid behind alcohol and substances. Now that I have decided to try and live a healthier lifestyle, the universe decides it’s got jokes for me…being sober is HARD I’m not going to lie. I am not going to tell you that it gets easier as the days go by , as others would like to say, it doesn’t. Every single day you will be faced with stresses, issues, and people that you just want to run away from… but hang in there, please. I have not relapsed, nor do I intend on it. I have had so many opportunities to do so, or even just moments where I have felt like saying “fuck it , I deserve a drink!” , but NO. I refuse to go back, I have come such a long way and my baby girl is so proud of me. I am so proud of me. Every day is a decision made, and I am in control. Mental illness is real, don’t ever let anyone make you feel broken…

How to make the best grapefruit pie!

Momma Bear

I have this really annoying habit of craving the sweetest things when I’m on my period. If you’re anything like me, you may like a little sourness within the sweetness as well. When I first met my husband, he took me to this really cute bbq place and he introduced me to something amazing, GRAPEFRUIT PIE. I know, it sounds weird, but trust me; it is SO good! I took one bite of the delicious pie with a little dip of whipped cream my husband had lid out on the side, and I was hooked. The only little problem was that it was a little pricey, close to $20 and unfortunately I couldn’t just go buy a $20 pie every time I got my period. So, I decided to make my own! Not to toot my own horn or anything but I personally think that it tastes better than the one at the restaurant. Why? Because I made it with love! No, honestly I don’t know why but I just like the way mine tastes better! Anyway, some people like to add marshmallows to their grapefruit pie and that’s totally cool too, but, I’m going to share my little recipe for my grapefruit pie.

Grapefruit Pie
Ingredients
-5 or 6 ruby red grapefruits peeled and sectioned off
⁃ 1 cup of sugar
⁃ 1 1/2 cups of water
⁃ 1 strawberry gelatins box
⁃ 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
⁃ Pie crush 9inch (I get graham cracker)
⁃ Cool whip tub

Instructions:
1. Peel and section grapefruit into slices without any white peel, place in fridge
2. In a medium size pot mix in the 1 1/2 cups of water with 1 cup of sugar, 3 tablespoons of corn starch and continue stirring on medium/high heat until liquid becomes thick.
3. Once liquid is beginning to thicken, stir in the strawberry gelatin box, continue stirring until completely dissolved.
4. Remove pot from heat and let cool for 2-3 hours
5. Once the mix is cool, carefully add grapefruit slices from fridge into the mix
6. Add the new mix carefully and evenly into the pie crust and set it in the fridge for 4 hours minimum
7. Enjoy with whipped cream!

Now, I have a little secret. I have two babies so I don’t have the time to be cutting and peeling grapefruits perfectly. I go to Costco and get these super cool little cups of already peeled and ready to go grapefruit slices! I drain the juice from the cups, I use about 5 cups, and just use that! You’re welcome.

How to Stay Healthy When One of Your Family Members Has COVID-19

Momma Bear

So, we all know that we are currently living in probably one of the craziest time periods, like ever. Everyone is getting sick, people are dying and things are just going absolutely nuts. How can a momma protect her little ones from something that seems to be taking over everything? Well, I am going to quickly share our experience and hopefully this helps you guys out a little. My husband unfortunately ended up contracting the virus at work back in the end of June and our world got turned upside down. It’s a pandemic and everyone has someone they need to look out for so it did not come as a surprise when nobody wanted the kids or I to stay with them while my husband quarantined here at home, so I quickly realized that we were going to have to tough this out together…in the same apartment. Now, don’t get me wrong, we have a good amount of space but the chances of us getting sick too seemed extremely high and that terrified all of us because of our babies! Well, we decided on quarantining him in our master bedroom while the kids and I stayed in the living room. Anyway, he ended up testing positive for a little over a month and let me tell you; that was probably one of the most difficult times we had to go through. Thank goodness and to everyones’ surprise, nobody else in our household got sick! What did we do, you ask? Well we decided to keep the door to our bedroom closed at ALL times, he rolled up a towel and stuck it under the door. No kidding, if he wanted to go outside to the backyard, he would have to go out the window. We would also make sure that the air vents in his room were always closed so there was no air flow in there, which meant he had to have his windows open. Oh, and he made sure to invest in a good fan since he can not stand to be warm. Any food, water, or medication I would place by the door and he would, as quickly as he could, grab it and spray lysol as he closed the door. We made sure he had disposable silverware, cups, plates everything. Thankfully after one more positive COVID test he was able to test negative a few days ago and we could not be happier to have him back out here with us. Even though we were in the same home, we all felt so far apart and it was tough for us. Thankfully, however, my husband’s case did not lead him to the hospital but it was pretty rough on him. I think the worst part about it all was his high fever for about three days and the terrible cough he developed. As for the medications he took? We used a LOT of Theraflu Severe, XL3, and we purchased a Vicks humidifier which worked wonders for us.