Rockin' Dancin'

Tonight was Alayan's dance recital at the middle school. It amazes me at how fast our once tiny baby is growing up into a beautiful ballerina. She was only in two of the 1000 dance sets but she was the best dancer out of them all...including the rap guy.

We don't have pictures of her dancing, but as soon as we get the DVD I'll try to put a clip on the blog. Have a great night, and God bless

Turkey Day

Hey hey. It's been a while since I was on last so I thought I would let you all know whats going on up where we're at. I'm into my second full week at my new job and I realize now that it's not all bad. I'm in the rent-to-own business, so the hardest part of my job is that I have to go to customer's homes and ask them when we can expect them in to make a payment. Some people do not like that we go to their homes and "harrass" them. I am a mellow, almost too kind of a person by nature, so I have a hard time dealing with the occasional unruly customer. So far, the benefits of this new job outweigh the negatives. I like to help people so I think this will work out for Leola and I in the long run.

Last Tuesday was my birthday. Hooray. Usually I tell everyone and their grandma's that my birthday is coming up, lol, just to see if I'd get anything from anyone. This year it was a little different. It just seemed like any other day. I almost forgot that it was my birthday until Leola reminded me of it haha. This birthday will be one that I remember because when you spend a special day with someone you love and without gifts that distract you, you're day becomes even more special. But I want to thank all of you who called or sent me a message on Facebook to wish me a happy birthday. Bonus: Leola made me a birthday pie. The best pie I've ever had.

As far as Thanksgiving Day, Leola and I decided to have our own dinner at our place. My grandma invited us over but my aunt and uncle are coming down, and instead of making dinner they are going to order it because they have to work the day before and after the holiday. I'd rather stick to the tradition of cooking, and it would be cheaper for them if we would have our own. I also think its time we start traditions of our own, and still continue with the old.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving this year, and I'll put some pictures up once I get a chance. Happy Turkey day, and God bless.

More pictures from Halloween
 
 
 
 

Halloween '09

 
 
 
 
Hey y'all. I hope that you all had a great weekend doing what you do. Leola and I finally got to take Alayna out trick-or-treating. We had a blast! Alayna dressed up as Tinkerbell and Leola was a cat thing. I got to go as a low-cost vampire. (I bought a $4 cape and dressed in a white shirt and black slacks haha). Our pastors' daughter went with us too, so we really got a lot of loot with us four dressed up.

The weather wasn't that bad for the end of October. It was warm all the way up to sundown, then as the night went on it got a little chill. Alayna ended up wearing her sweater under my sweater at the end of the night, lol, so she ended up getting double the candy for being a champ and fairing the cold breeze to get her pumpkin filled.

All in all, it was a good weekend. The day before, my dad came down from Denver and stayed the night with us. Leola and I really love having our family over. We also got to see my grandma Romero and I wished that I could say that she is doing good. Us going over to see her really lifted her spirits.

Oh yeah. Candy corn is the worst candy that exists and has ever been made, along with the other "flavors" that they make too. Don't eat it. Ever.

But that's all I got. Have a great week! God bless

Outreaching in Alamosa

 
 
 
 
I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. Leola and I had the opportunity to go to Alamosa on Saturday to help our sister church, The Door, hand out flyers about revival services that are going on this week. We had a lot of fun up there, and as an added bonus, a lot of the people that opened their doors for us were very receptive to our outreaching.

Pastor and evangelist Robert Polaco is the guest speaker at the church there. This man is a powerful speaker, and a gifted man of God. We had the chance to hear him speak in Las Vegas, NM a month or so ago. He will leave a lasting impression on you if you hear him.

I think in total we covered about 6 blocks and who knows how many houses. But I think I burned off just as many calories walking as I did eating lunch that the church provided. Hopefully revival came to Alamosa today, and hopefully revival will come to Trinidad soon enough.

Didn't think it could happen to us

Hey everybody. Just wanted to let you know how things are going in our neck of the woods. In case you don't already know, my position at work was terminated the other day. I still have a job (barely). I am now out in the gas fields doing maintenance and labor work. I suppose that is better than sitting at home doing nothing.

As far as the "barely" part of my job goes, as of today I am on a will-call basis. And I had my work truck pulled today too. AND the will-call basis goes according to seniority. So, being that I am the relatively new guy on the crew, I will be one of the last they call to go to work.

I guess you can say that I am a little nervous about our future. And I am a little upset that this is happening to us. I worked hard for my reputation, but it goes to show that it's not what you know, but who you know. Leola and I will try to make it work for as long as we can. And once we cant make it work anymore, there is always family in Rio Rancho that will lovingly take us in until we can get back on our feet.

But enough complaining! Leola and I are hosting a bible study at our house on Friday which will be fun and maybe a few new faces will show up. This will be the first time that it is at our place, and the third time that the study has been going on. On Saturday, we are going to Alamosa, CO to help our sister church outreach and pass out flyers. That will be an interesting time for us.

That's all I have to say for now. We promise to keep you all up to date on our happenings. Keep us in your prayers as far as my job situation goes! Until next time, God bless!

Oh, yeah. We went to see "Where the Wild Things Are" and it was horrible. So where are the wild things at anyway? SUCKVILLE!!! Don't see it. Okay, see it, then get mad for spending two hours to see it and wasting money. LOL laters!

October Already?

Hello everyone. Just wanted to update everyone as to whats going on in Trinidad. My mom had to take my grandma Garduno to the hospital last week. She was having trouble breathing and getting dizzy spells which are not good things. The hospital down here did nothing to help or diagnose her condition, so my mom decided to get after her brothers to take responsibility and take her to the hospital in Pueblo. Turns out she has Sarcoidosis. Apparently this condition causes to enlarge her lymph nodes in her chest and press on her lungs...causing her to loose her breath and get dizzy spells. All it took was an x-ray to figure it out. Good news though, she will be fine.

Leola had a hair show in Denver two weekends ago. I got lucky enough to go with her. She had a great time learning about all the products and equipment that go along with being a cosmetologist. And I got to learn about how expensive being a cosmetologist is. Fortunately, she is good at what she does, so I dont mind getting her all of the good stuff. I didnt get to go to the show personally (because the cost was $100 at the door) but I got to spend time with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Ida. They took us to Casa Bonita for dinner which was cool. The food was so-so, but the cool thing was that the restaurant had an arcade, haunted house, gift store, and cliff divers. Nuts...you couldnt pay me enough to jump off a cliff and into a wading pool.

Last weekend Leola took my mom back to Rio Rancho because she didnt want my mom driving on three (maybe, give or take) hours of sleep in two days. I spent the week by myself. Let me tell you, I thought being alone for a couple of days would be cool; a welcomed break. But I was lost without Leola. I was bored out of my mind! I didnt have my best friend here to talk to me. I went down to pick her up Friday night and spent the weekend with family and check out all the hot-air balloons in the sky. By the way, Leola and mom cheat at Rummy. My dad and I were crushed, but only because we are honest players! Ha!

Anyway, until next time. God Bless!

Snow Day

 
 
 
 
I'm not sure if you know this or not, but today is actually the last official day of summer. Tomorrow kicks off autumn and what better way to show that its here than to snow. I'm putting these pictures on here because it is a little odd that it snowed this much this soon. Leola is from Michigan so she should be used to it (you would think, right?) but she's not. She hates the snow! Haha....I love it.

Well, its bed time so talk to you soon. God bless

 
 
 
 
More pictures of the Harvester's rally in Las Vegas, NM. Have a great day.

Harvester's Rally '09

Hello everyone. Leola and I just got back from Las Vegas, NM today for the Harvester's Rally that the church has annually. What a powerful three days we had down there. There were pastors from all over the country at the rally, and even one from Panama was able to make it. I never really was able to see how urgent the need for God in the world is until this Harvester's.

Aside from hearing from many blessed pastors and feeling renewed, meeting new people was a very cool thing. The opportunity to fellowship and eat lunch and talk and hang out with new friends (ultimately brothers and sisters) was one of the many highlights of the trip.

Leola and I were mentioned as the first couple in our church here in Trinidad to be married, and even had our pictures up on the bulletin board and in a DVD as well. We are very blessed to have so many new friends and a church family that cares for our blossoming marriage.

I will post more pictures of the Harvester's and of friends later on. For now, here are just a couple of pictures. God bless!

My Masterpiece

I finally got to finish the cage that I was building for our parrot last night. It took a while to build but the finished result is totally worth the sweat I had put into it. I cannot say that I did all the work myself, though. I have to give thanks to my dad and my wife for helping me when I needed it.

Check it out and let me know what you think. I might have to put another door on it one of these days. I didn't take into consideration that our arms are nowhere near long enough to get to the top of the cage. I guess that's the name of the game lol.

By the way, we finally came up with a name for the parrot. I think Fry fits him well, don't you think?

What a great weekend

We're back from visiting mom and dad down in Rio Rancho. It was really nice to get away from the monotony here at home. One reason we went down to visit is because we had found out last Tuesday that Leola miscarried. Mom had suggested that we go down to stay to keep our minds off of the bad news. It worked. We got to hang out with the family, and I (PJ) got to fabricate most of the cage for our parrot. Even though we didn't do much to occupy our time, spending time with family is so much better than doing something that is distracting.

There are a lot of prospects for a young couple such as us in Rio Rancho. Leola could finish school down there for her cosmetology licence and I could possibly start an apprenticeship for HVAC or even go back to school. We have a lot of thinking and praying to do before we make a sure decision.

Just want to thank you all for your prayers. It really helped us through our hard time dealing with the miscarriage. But keep us in your prayers still. We will be trying to add to our family again soon!

Until next time. God Bless

Amazing Doscovery

Leola and I were going to our car to pick up Alayna for the day when I heard a sqwak. I looked up and saw a parrot flying towards us. Strange thing was, he flew right to Leola and I without fear and landed on our car! I think this parrot was a pet that escaped. So we have a temporary pet until we can find his real owner.

If anyone out there has any idea what kind of parrot this is, please let us know. And if anyone has a cage that we can use, let us know as well. Have a great Sunday!

New Addition!

So Leola and I have some great news to you all. We are going to have a baby! I'm really excited and nervous, and Leola is just ecstatic. She will make a great mother. We found out that we are going to be parents a couple of weeks ago, and as far as we can tell, Leola is about 6 weeks along. Nine months cannot come soon enough!

Keep us in your prayers for the first trimester. We will keep you posted and up to date with the good news!

Finally Friday! I (PJ) have a Trinidaires concert tomorrow in Raton so my Saturday is pretty much shot. Leola is coming so the performance will not be too boring. She can be my page turner. The concert is some sort of fund raiser for the church down there. Wish me (and Leola) luck. Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday

Today is Leola's dads' birthday. I dont want to divulge his age, but we did get to talk to him today. He is in a great mood aside from having to work today, but he is always fun to talk to.

Tomorrow Leola is giving her mom a perm. She is turning out to be an accomplished cosmetologist.

Here is a picture of the Smith side of the family.

Until next time, God bless.

The First Post

Hello everyone. My name is Paul (PJ) and my lovely wife is Leola. We decided to start a blog to keep in touch with friends and family. We are a family oriented couple. We realize that with the hustles of life and the vast amount of junk mail in peoples' inboxes, we hope to keep everyone up-to-snuff with the happenings of our lives.