Happy Friday

It's been a looong time since I have posted.


But I just want to say how grateful I am to be alive. I almost died this year and it is a true blessing to be given a second chance at life. I don't know what I could've done to deserve a second chance but I just know that I have a purpose and a duty in this life. I am trying to figure out fully what it is.


I think it is so important to live life to the fullest. The reason why I haven't posted much this year is because I have been doing just that. I have been living life to the fullest and I am not so worried about documenting it. Although, please check out my instagram for some pictures of places I have been.


Life can be taken at a blink of an eye.
and you can have everything one moment and be stripped from it all in just seconds.


Don't be scared to be yourself in public, although people may look at you funny.
Don't be scared to love.
Don't be scared to laugh out loud with all you've got.
Just Enjoy Life.


Make your own happy... make your own rainbow.. make your own storms!


Don't be scared.... to be scared.
and do the things that scare you the most, those are the best....


Your breath can be taken at the sigh of sadness
Your breath can be given to you with a bit of laughter.


You decide..


BUT HAPPY FRIDAY Y'ALL!

He Tells The Ocean Where To Stop

Surf boards in the crystal waters of the hawaiian islands,

Nothing better than to lay down as you let the waves guide you

Stroking the water to get as far away from the land as possible.

The waves seem to be so rough when you’re so close to land still

But the further out you get, the waves become more stand still

Fight your way through the  hard waves of the shore

Your arms will get weak but they’ll become strong enough to keep you paddling more

Battling more.

It’ll seem like the waves keep pushing you back as you keep pushing forwards,

And you struggle to keep going as your strength and willingness lowers

But inside you lives an ocean in itself.

The power of those waves are inside you as well

And although it seems like they’re crashing against you

Crushing inside you,

Or…

Just crushing you…

There’s a power in you that holds the world in their hand.

Understand?

So let the waves crash from within, it’s okay.

Let little drops of the ocean come out from where they want to stay.

Let the salty drops of ocean run down those sandy cheeks,

Because although you are strong, the power of life sometimes makes us weak.

Salty waters weakens you, they say..

But once it has taken over it has the power to take over the world in every way.

I know you are paddling hard right now

Against all currents I see.

Trying to escape where you are currently.

You’ve gone under because a wave caught you off guard.

Now you’re underwater trying to swim up

Through the pressure of water from up above.

Where you figure strength is supposed to come from.

And it does.

Just swim through the water,

breaking it with your hands alone..

Because after all, I know you can reach the man on the throne.

He who has a purpose and a reason for the currents

He who tells the ocean where to stop.

So the ocean drops WILL drop, til they stop

So just know…..

and I know you know..

Reach up, breaking waves

Even when all hope fades.

Dedicated to my Anie, Francine Curry. My ohana. & To her loving father

07/07/2017

Side Note:

😊 Happy Friday!




I want to say how much I love having a blog. It is such a great way to relieve stress and just speak my  mind.


Also, parking at Bart was free today, so that was great! WOOHOO!💣


I learned it's always good to have a plan B ready. 😓


My jeans don't fit me so I need a belt, but I am wearing boots with heels so I used rubber bands as opposed to walking to Target (2 blocks but still.) 😒


Lunch with Tina, but my phone is dead so I don't know how I am going to get a hold of her.


Outfit and Hair on fleek (LOL) 💇


And bought my Birthday outfit ;) 💃


What else..... hmmm.. Oh yes. IT'S FRIDAY! TIME TO PARTAY! jk , hehe... maybe.


Played my first round of Foosball already (addict) and the next round is at 3 today, yay!


Oh and Rambo, he's doing great. In case you were wondering. He's the bestest <3


Have a wonderful Friday night and an amazing weekend!


Besos!
Jaqueline Herrera

Bad Habits Killed the Rabbit

Do you or do you not love my title to this post?

OKAY! HAPPY FRIDAY TO EVERYONE!


So back in July I wrote two posts 1) Follow Me on My Journey and 2) Party Week is Over. I suggest you read those in that order, if you haven't already, in order to really grasp the meaning and value of this post.


It is January 12, 2018. Crazy right?!


I am just stalling on this post because I don't know how to begin to say what I need to say. How typical of me.
 
I was really nervous when I wrote "Follow Me on My Journey" because that was the first time I made it public that I wanted to lose weight but I am soooooooo glad I wrote it because now I am able to go back and read how excited and nervous I was to start this really difficult journey.


Not long after I wrote "Follow Me on My Journey," I wrote "Party Week is Over." This post was really funny to read but also an eye-opener for me. I saw how hard it was for me to be motivated especially when things got off to a bad start. I just kept making bad decisions.

July was when I decided to go on this Weight Loss Journey and that is when I hired my personal trainer. I stopped going in October when I was hired to work in San Francisco, the commute was too much to keep up with.

I was determined to NOT GIVE UP, therefore I joined Weight Watchers in November.

Weight Watchers is all about healthy foods, healthy eating, healthy portions, healthy, healthy, healthy. I KNEW this was going to definitely be a challenge for me because food is my weakness.

It is now January 12, 2018 and I just found out that........ I lost a total of 13 pounds since July 2017!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Possibly 15 but I didn't take my boots off because that's a hassle. (knee high boots)) I know that may not be a lot to some people, but it is a HUGE deal for me. I found out the total I had lost because I went in to my Health App which I got when I started with my trainer and I saw the weight I had entered at the time.

13 POUNDS! I have never lost that much weight. I have GAINED that much, but I never LOST that much.


Thanks to WW, I have changed my eating habits and it has helped me mentally as well. I also lost a pound during all these Holidays, soooo that's awesome!!


The biggest thing for me is the way WW changed my mentality. I have not reached my goal yet and it is still very hard for me to eat right, but here I am, continuing on this journey.


Special thanks to my sister, Orlenda Herrera for supporting me and being my personal cheerleader. To my co-worker Donna, who puts up with my extreme grocery shopping at Trader Joe's during our lunch, waiting as I scan everything to make sure it is low on points. To my dog Rambo for being my emotional support and my best friend.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ! I hope this helps someone and encourages someone today.

I'll be posting just random pictures I have taken of my food, sorry in advance for the bad quality of the pictures, they were taken from my iPhone. (hehe)










 

 



                       

-Jaqueline Herrera :)

Only Words

"Happy Friday to everyone who is reading and will be reading this post," said Jaqueline about 3 weeks ago when she actually wrote this. LOL

So, I am sorry for the long post and just keep in mind I wrote this a little while back. I am finally going to publish it because I just wasn't sure before.

Today, (as in 3 weeks ago) I want to just (try to) talk about a couple of things. I am going to treat this post like pieces of paper from a diary. I am as open and transparent as I can be but sometimes the lack of being shut up for pretty much my whole life, has made it hard to open my heart and mind but mostly my mouth to the things I feel inside. With all the honesty in the world I write down these words hoping that maybe it'll reach at least one person who can relate and mostly I am writing because writing always helps me feel better. Sorry if I lose my train of thought.

This isn't perfectly written, I may have some typos, some run on sentences, horrible punctuation but just keep reading and bare with me.

First of all and MOST importantly, I want to say that I love my family, I love the way I was raised because it has made me who I am today. I appreciate my dad so much for being the type of dad he was to me. Although most people didn't and wont understand it or see eye to eye with his ways, the way my dad raised me made me into a person that people enjoy to be around and love, someone who is hardworking, smart, independent and in a weird sense he made me strong. I am grateful for the way my life has been so far although it has not been easy.

That being said, I share with all of you reading, some of my deepest feelings today. I don't know how to start but here we go.

How I've felt my whole life:

Ever since I can remember, I have always felt useless and as if I am not good enough and I know I am not the only one who has felt that way. After years and years of not getting an "I am proud of you daughter" from my parents, my older sister sat me down and said this to me, "You have to do things for yourself."

AND SO I DID.

Now?
 I know that my parents are proud, because how can they not be? I've been doing pretty darn good for the past 4 years on my own.

BUT, that's just my family part of things.

What about my person, my self, my feelings about me, my self esteem, my self confidence, my trust in people, my trust in him and Him and me, and what about my SELF LOVE? My mind is funny.... it plays tricks on me. Telling me I'm not what I am and am what I am not. Not only my mind but there are people who try to come in my life and tell me that I am things I know I am far from.

I've had some really bad people come in my life, and when I was younger, there was no one to protect me from it. As I got older, I didn't know how to protect myself from the monster.......

and the monsters that followed after that one.

I just did what I knew to do, and that was LOVE. The amount of love that I give is too much for my own good. Crazy right?

People will not love you the way you love them and they will not do for you what you do for them, they will not treat you, respect you, appreciate you, cherish you, admire you, hold you, kiss you, miss you, please you, understand you..... like you do them... And that's life.

I have been put down, thrown down, spit on and stepped on and I stay down for long periods of time sometimes. I stay down and no one can pick me up but the person who threw me down. But the only thing they do is push me down harder as I try to get up.... and that delays my getting up.

UNTIL: One Day.....

I couldn't believe my eyes as I ran up to the door to tell you the good news I had... I couldn't believe it... "Oh no" the little voices in my head said... "Oh no, not again."

I begged for the truth..

Your mouth told me lies
but I could see the truth clearly coming from your eyes.
They say the eyes are the windows to a soul...
something like that at least, I've heard it many times before.
and now all I see is a dirty mind
and I cant shake the thoughts that you surely left in mine.
I'm pretty sure this is not the second time.
I cant shake the feeling and the hurt that others left behind
Don't even apologize, trust me.... i'll be fine.
the fact that you said my heart would be better off in your hands
I've been hurt so many times before, I promise this will come to pass
Surprised tears even came out, I really thought I had none left .
I was starting to get concerned, if the water in my body was at all wet...
Honestly I don't even know what I write anymore.
I need to go shopping for some lines at the kurt brodie store...

THE END PEOPLE...... THE END OF THIS POST....

Thanks for reading amigos, come back for more of my none sense, some sense, and for my two cents.

WHAT JAQUELINE???

IDK anymore (insert laughing emoji)

-Jaqueline Herrera

My Dreams Became More Real

My nightmares used to follow me in to the real life.
Now they don’t even come out at night.
I told all my sorrows goodbye.
Because one day I decided to walk forward and smile
That was better than falling to my knees to cry.
Now I’m happy all the time.
Because my dreams became more real than the nightmares that haunted my life

Thanks to everyone who reads.

-Jaqueline Herrera

Frenemy

First and foremost: Messy hair, Don’t Care

The important thing about healing is that you learn to be open about your feelings... here’s a poem I wrote a while back... I’m not ashamed to write about REAL LIFE, REAL FEELINGS...

My heart feels tired and it needs a break

A break from the hurt, the pain and the constant hate 

I need time to heal, time to build myself up 

I got broken down to the point of no love

Thats where im at . 

I got no faith, no love, no hope

Everything stripped from me and I gave it all

Once again, I gave it all

After this there’s nothing left of me 

Nothing left to give 

Stripped down to just my humility and my low self esteem

See through like a window but reflective like a mirror

A window you can't break and a mirror you look into. 

Crazy , Psycho, but we all got our issue.

You can try to hide it but you also have a mirror.

Fool the world into thinking you’re something you’re not

But at the end, there’s no one left and you’re all you’ve got

And if you’re not happy with that 

then you just found your worst enemy

I know cus myself never been a friend to me

I am my worst bestest best frenemy

.

.

.

I have learned to love me for me regardless of what others have done to not love me... 

Still Breathing

I feel like I’m drowning...
I almost hit rock bottom but then I was brought to reality...
I woke up and realized I’m still breathing,
so I haven’t even gone under yet, apparently
Apparently I’m still above water
And I was reminded to just keep swimming..
Reality ..

Apparently.

Beautiful lines keep me alive .
They keep my blood running to mind.
Ignoring my heart and keeping my mind from pressing rewind.
We just press the forward button
My eyes focused on what I set them on.
Everything from before comes out as lyrics and songs,
Eventually.
Loving my life, living my life shamelessly.
Loving my life, living my life successfully.
Eventually

-Jaqueline Herrera

Marks on her Heart

Marks on her forearms like I've never seen

The marks go up to her shoulders and places that can't be seen

Like on her heart much deeper than the ones on her skin

Oh love, where have you been?

Where have you been for this woman I see

She's fine while I watch her watching me

But what happens behind the scenes?

I just want to approach her and tell her I love her

I don't even know her but I know what hurt her

Love.

or the lack thereof.

You've been stuck in this room in your head that you can't get out of .

Head down, bowed down to the devil

Straight down, that's how he gets you

Look up to the one, that's your refuge

Look up to the one, He can save you!!

I know what you see looking at me doesn't match up to what I'm sayin

But best believe when I'm feeling your pain, I'm down on my knees prayin

With much love to the girl on bart

Wherever you are

Wherever you go

-Jaqueline Herrera

R.I.P Tito

It’s been almost a month since Tito passed away. Tito passed on September 18, 2017. Things have not been the same since. We used to feel comfortable leaving the doors unlocked because we knew that he would tear anyone up that tried to come in the gate, now we have to lock the front door because Rambo won’t hurt anyone 😂

The other day, I had cops show up at the front door accusing me of animal cruelty. I couldn’t believe it. When I refused to give them any further information, they called for backup!!!! I was like, “seriously, go save a life or something.”

Could not believe it... ridiculous.

R.I.P Tito ♥️ 09.18.2017

Healthy Eating, Healthy Living

I have been enjoying eating healthy so much! Especially because I have been working out 4 times a week. It really does make a difference on how you feel throughout your day. I'll maybe give more details on my meals later on. Not sure yet. But!! I have been eating lots of berries, trying to chill on the MANGOS. 

I LOVE MANGOS! MANGO MANGO MANGO! 

So yeah, lol. I am also loving being away from any negative people that use to be in my life and learning how to stay away from them too. I love positive, loving human beings. This world really needs more of those people. 

This salad was simply a mix of baby spinach and butterlettuce with a Parmesan and Garlic Dressing and a little bit of Parmesan Cheese. I didn't have cherry tomatoes, grilled chicken or boiled eggs to add to it but it was still pretty great. The dressing was sooooo good! 

Thanks for reading this short post about salad hehe :) 

Stay Tuned for my upcoming poem! 

-Jaqueline Herrera  

Snapchat finds Rambo

September 2, 2017, I get a call at work informing me that Rambo was missing. Instantly, I wished I could leave and go look for him, but I couldn't. I waited 12 hours until I was able to go home. As soon as I got home my search started. It sure made for an interesting night. It was 4am and there was no sign of him anywhere. I started to cry wondering where he could've gone, if he was okay, if he was hurt, if he was scared, if someone had taken him and if so, were they treating him good? 

I couldn't help but lose my hope that I would find him. Rambo is smart, cute and one of a kind. He is so sweet and loving and understands almost everything when you talk to him... 

We have had multiple people come by and offer to buy him or ask to have him. This was my main concern, that someone took him and therefore would not give him back to me.

My next step was  going to be to make flyers and put a Cash Reward of $300 but seeing that it was 4am, I decided to get some sleep and take care of it in a couple of hours later. 

At around 7am, Roger came and told me that someone posted a story on their Snap Chat of a dog drinking water with the caption, " Is this anyone's lost dog by Food Barn?" 

We headed straight to Food Barn. Once we got there we asked a drug dealer on a bike if he had seen him, he told us where and we were headed there!!!! 

Automatically saw Rambo and yelled for him. He came running to me and jumped all over me. I had left my car door open and Rambo just jumped inside the car. My baby was ready to go home ... ❤️ 

We went straight to PetSmart to get him a name tag. We got home and I bathed him soooo good and he slept for 5 hours straight.. 

He was so tired that he fell off the couch while turning over in his sleep and didn't even wake up. He continued to sleep on the floor. 

My heart is happy. He is my family. I love you Rambo and I'm glad we found you. 

-Jaqueline Herrera 

Genuine Love

Isn't he cute ?? Or was it a she ?? Lol, I don't remember.. not mine 😐

But anyways!! HAPPY FRIDAY!! 

I just wanted to post about how thankful I am for the genuine love that dogs give. 

One night, I remember being so sad and crying in the front porch, when my dog Rambo and Tito came and started to comfort me. It worked too! But I couldn't believe how much they really were worried about me.

They jumped up on me and laid their heads on my chest or lap. They made me so happy.. I really do love dogs. 

They truly are a best friend ❤️ 

Have a Blessed day everyone, 

Jaqueline Herrera . 

Sunday Funday

Hi everyone !

Today was a great day :) I spent all day working, babysitting Nathan, Julia and Baptiste. Nathan and Julia are siblings, I've been watching them for 4 years now. Baptiste is Nathan's friend from France. 

Anyway, it was a great day full of activities and fun and BAD food 🙄👀 

Julia asked me to do her hair, which is the purpose of this post LOL 😂 

Obviously you know this is Julia :) 

This is a Half-up Half-down hairstyle with a Dutch Braid at the top.....

A braided bun 

And of course, some curls to add even more style :) (DONT MIND THE STRAIGHT STRAND OF HAIR😂)

I'm thinking of maybe doing hair tutorials since I enjoy doing it... 

What do you guys think??? 

On another note: We went bowling and Nathan left my door wide open while we were at the bowling alley for like 3 hours... keep in mind that my CANON was in my car!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙄😒 My goodness🙈

Thanks for tuning in and don't forget to follow 😘😉

-Jaqueline Herrera 

LEGENDS

Legends everywhere.
But we all have a story.
Not all faces are painted on murals
Not every painting is a mural

Not every person is a hero

Not every story is a fairytale
Not every fairytale is a fairy tale
Not every ending is a happy one
Not everybody gets what they want
You can't always have what you want.
You can't always see the blind spot
Hence why they call it the blind spot
It'll make you collide
In this cold world, people just want to divide
Division is the the best weapon.

The weak can't take loneliness,

it puts an end to them .

Strengthen up.

Rise up.

Cuz it's a cold world.

Everybody’s got a story that's untold.

Adventure in Point Reyes

Are there even words to describe the beauty of this place?

I love everything about it.. It is just beautiful... 

There is beauty in imperfections. There really is. No matter how much we hate our imperfections, it is what makes us unique. It is what makes ME, ME and therefore, no one can be me, and no one can be you. <3 

Point Reyes is about 1hr 20min drive from where I live and what a beautiful drive it is. 
It was a perfect day to take pictures... It was a beautiful day in altogether. The drive was just so amazing ! I have to keep finding adjectives to describe the day and the views because if not, this whole blog post would be filled with the word BEAUTIFUL.

Here are some pictures of the views I would see along the road during our drive.

I do have a funny to tell, so here it goes....

I took blankets for this trip so that we could lay on top of the rooftop of the wrecked ship, and we did. This is what it looked like from the rooftop.

Ended up falling asleep for 3 hours up here. Watching the night sky filled with glistening stars. (So beautiful!)  We woke up at around 11:00pm to some noisey photographers. We got up to and realized the ship was surrounded by water!! SURROUNDED!!! This is what the ship looked like before the tide came in.

Land EVERYWHERE as you can see.

We had to figure out how to get off the rooftop of the ship and no, there are no stairs haha, we actually climbed to the top. I ALMOST DIED! Okay, not really BUT I did almost die climbing off. I had to be carried down.....-_- (I wish I knew how to insert face expressions haha, I'll get there) 

So after managing to climb down, 45 minutes later....We now had to find a way to get back to my car, through land ONLY (Irvin's strict rule that had to unfortunately be broken because there was NO land!.) So, I picked up the blankets and put them around my neck, picked up my phone on one hand, and my Canon on the other hand and I stepped down unto the water. 

MAKE A MENTAL NOTE OF THIS:  THERE ARE PEOPLE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BOAT, JUST LAUGHING AT US! Eventually they ended up helping us by flashing their huge photographer lamps on the way we should go, since they knew where it was most shallow. 

Now there are several problems.

Problem No.1: Before the tide came in, the land had little creeks of water coming in, like the one on the picture below. 

So when the tide came in, the deeper creeks became a problem because they were now holes on the ground that we couldnt see. 

Which leads us to .... 

Problem No.2:  Irvin doesn't know how to swim. (sorry Irvin for putting that out there.) 

Short Story:

When Irvin was little he actually drowned. Therefore the fear of drowning remains and this could happen if someone falls into a hole that was not expected and they don't know how to swim. 

The water felt good actually, it was a bit warm and pretty good to swim in. Irvin did great too! He thought he could just do it all by himself, when suddenly he slipped in the hole, good thing he didn't lose his balance. The water was deep enough to come up to his stomach, and he is pretty tall. We came out alive HAHA. Had to trespass to get to my car and then cleaned up (somewhat) and we were on the road again. 

We passed a creepy town like something out of House of Wax or The Walking Dead. 

I also almost ran over a baby deer. (I don't know the correct name for baby deer soooo, that'll do hehe) Which scares me because what if there's a massacre in California like the one from Texas Chainsaw Massacre? You just never know.....

Anyway! 5 miles or so up the road from wherethe shipwreck is.....

there is a place called the Cypress Tree Tunnel. Real pretty, but nothing too extreme. (just sayin) BUT it IS very beautiful. Like a nice stroll for the family or alone with your thoughts, or with your dog or with someone you love or simply just to photograph.

Cypress Tree Tunnel

You don't need money for a trip like this. Just a car and some gas. Take some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches if you wish.

 

 All in all, it was an amazing little getaway.

The best things in life are free.

Family, Love, Laughter 

Point Reyes Shipwreck

-Jaqueline Herrera