this one's for you, momma.

momma's been a mother for twenty-five years. so, in honor of mother's day and the wonderful mother she is, this blog is dedicated to her.

twenty-five things i love about my momma. <3

1. when i'm sad or down, she sings "you are my sunshine" to me. regardless of how old i am.
2. the way she fake laughs at the jokes i tell. she doesn't want me to feel bad, because i really think they are funny.
3. when i was younger, momma used to look at my finger nails to see if i was lying or not. she told me that if i had white spots (calcium deposits) on my nails, i wasn't telling the truth about something. haha. thanks to ms. coopersmith, i know the truth now. LET ME CHECK YOUR NAILS, MOMMA!
4. her laugh is contagious. and she laughs at pretty much anything. therefore, i laugh at pretty much anything. :D
5. she has one dimple on her face, and it is cute.
6. momma is so dedicated to her patients and co-workers down in the keys that she chooses to continue to drive there everyday, even though she could work at a local hospital.
7. i absolutely love her childhood stories. one of my favorites is when she chipped her own tooth and blamed it on her brother. CLASSIC. (sorry you had to go through that, uncle david.)
8. when i'm giddy, momma gets giddy, too. even though she's already in bed, getting ready to go to sleep.
9. she always gives me the best advice, even though i may think it won't work. she just knows.
10. i love sitting next to momma at church. worshiping Jesus while standing next to the woman He created me through; it's amazing. <3
11. the way she would get semi-violent with me when i had a loose tooth. i've been tackled to the floor at these twice in my life because of loose teeth.
12. road trips with her were and still are exciting. even if it's to the local grocery store. my favorite one in particular was our road trip to florida gulf coast university. almost getting on I-75 through a "do not enter" section. getting pulled over by the university police because she ran a stop sign. good times for sure.
13. her free spirit. it's not normal to start singing and dancing in the middle of publix. but she's done it before, and people may she her as a crazy lady, but to me, she's beautiful.
14. during my graduations, momma always reminded me of the first time i got on the school bus. and the story was always followed by tears. from the both of us.
15. she's a strong woman. very inspiring. i've seen a transformation in her life, and it's a wonderful thing.
16. she always has an open shoulder for me to either cry on, or rest my head.
17. her smile is beautiful; she doesn't only smile with her mouth, she smiles with her whole body. it's lovely.
18. momma has the best jokes. "big caca. no chief." favorite punchline. ;D
19. she has always encouraged me to pursue my passion.
20. she has a very distinct voice, and i can always single out her voice among the crowds.
21. she's just all-around a very happy person, and she shares that with the people who surround her on a daily basis.
22. momma loves animals. she ran over a squirrel once, came home, and was just so broken about it. :/ poor, momma.
23. bike rides with momma. she had this seat attached to her bike; i would sit in it and we would just ride. then we would go see and feed the ducks. life was grand.
24. when i was younger, i never understood why momma would cry during movies. i would always ask if she was okay. now, we cry together, and people don't get us. <3
25. momma is full of love. full of love for her family. full of love for her friends. and full of love for Jesus.

remembering hector

i often think about the serrano children. i often wonder how their parents could live with such a loss. but lately, i've been thinking about the serrano family more than usual. tomorrow, january 25th, marks the one year anniversary of the tragic loss of the serrano children.

one of the three children was hector; he was a student of mine during my student-teaching internship. he was a wonderful student. he had this laugh, and there was just something about it that made me want to laugh along with him. he told us silly jokes, and i'll admit, i use some of those jokes today. he was a pleasure to be around.

hector was pulled out to work with another teacher for math and reading. whenever he would come back to class for science or social studies, he would knock on the door to the rhythm of "shave and a haircut," and i would knock back in reply, "two bits." i would put my ear to the door, and i could just hear him laugh his heart out. there were times i didn't have to put my ear to the door to hear him laugh. and there were even times when the other students inside the classroom could hear him. his laugh was absolutely beautiful. he found joy in the simplest things.

i had hector for science and social studies. he was always amazed by the science experiments i came up with. he called them "crazy fun." i'll never forget the volcano experiment we did. i brought in all the materials for the students to build their own volcano. after the students were done making them, we went outside to pour the vinegar in their volcanoes. all the students were wearing their safety goggles like all great scientists do. hector was watching his classmate as he poured the vinegar into the volcano. "WHOA! oh my gosh! look at it!" was his reaction, followed by his contagious laughter. he seemed simply amazed.

although i didn't have hector for math, i knew he knew his multiplication tables. while we were on lock down during fcat time, we played educational games in the classroom. one of the games we played was "around the world." the objective of the game is to go around the classroom and answer any given multiplication fact. the same problem is given to two students, the first one to answer it correctly, moves to the next student. the student who goes around the whole classroom, answering all questions correctly against all the other students, wins. hector was always our champion. he never had to think about it; he would just answer milliseconds after the multiplication fact was given. the other students thought it was the coolest thing.

the students' field day was held after i had graduated, and i wasn't required to be there on that day. the students insisted i be there, but i played it off as if i wasn't going to be able to make it. i decided i would surprise them. one of the students spotted me, and a herd of students came stampeding my way. it was such a good feeling.

hector participated in the jump rope event, and i must say, he was jumping as if he did it professionally. he beat the other kids by about 120 jumps. it was pretty wild. as i was watching the other kids doing their events, hector came up to me to show off his first place ribbon. he was so proud. that was the last time i had seen hector.

hector was something that this world needed more of, but he was taken from us too soon. his life and death have both made a tremendous impact on my life. his life made me realize how beautiful some of the most simplistic things are; his death made me realize we have no control of God's timing.

before i graduated, the students made cards for me in their art class. this one was from hector:

the inside reads:
"dear ms. guinta. i'll miss you when i'm thirteen years old. i will put you in my head. if i'm 9 years old, i will remember you in 4 years. if your not here, i will never, never, ever forget you.

love: hector serrano"

i look at this card, and all i can do is smile and remember his silly sense of humor. i am so blessed to have known such a special person.



dear hector,

i will never, never, ever forget you.

love,
ms. guinta

meet dina.

this is my friend, dina. there is so much about her that i admire. her contagious dina laugh, her passion for her crazy science experiments with her students, her full reliance on God despite some of the junk life's put on her plate, her love for music, and her ability to always find a way to fit in a blondie after eating a meal at ruby tuesdays. but there's something more about her that makes our friendship so much more meaningful; she has helped me come back to my senses and restore my relationship with Jesus.

the first time i met dina was our first day of school in 2008. i started out as a substitute teacher and knew nothing about the school. i was given a packet of papers to pass out to students and a bundle of emergency contact cards. they gave me a piece of paper that had a room number to go to. i wasn't informed of the grade or subject. i was completely lost, but had to put on this front that i knew exactly what was going on. in reality, i had absolutely no idea. i got to my room, and saw some students and parents waiting outside my classroom. i greeted them and welcomed them into "my" bare classroom. i stepped outside and waited for other students to show up. then i saw this woman pop out of the classroom next door. it was dina. she introduced herself. i told her that i was just a substitute and wasn't too sure what was going on. "well, whatever you need, let me know," was her response. so, i took her up on her offer and whenever i had a question, (which happened quite a lot that day) i went to her. it didn't matter to her how many times i went to her. she seemed so okay with it. and there were times she wasn't able to answer my questions, but i still felt that sense of assurance that everything was going to work out.

she invited me to eat lunch with her that day. there was that sense of awkwardness. eating lunch with someone i really didn't know. i scanned her classroom a few times. looking at the same things for five minutes wasn't really doing much for me. so, to kill the silence we would ask each other basic background questions.

as the first week of school went on, we learned more and more about each other. then monday of the second week came around. dina's teaching assignment had been changed, and she had to move to a different classroom. she packed up her classroom, and moved down a different wing. we still managed to eat lunch together and continue to have our thirty-minute conversations. during these times together, i learned dina believed in Jesus. she had made references about how if we want to soar like the eagles, we have to stop hanging out with the turkeys. she would tell me that He had a plan and even though we didn't know what it was, it was all going to be okay because that's what Jesus wanted. and despite the junk that was put on her plate, she was still fully dependent on God.

before meeting dina, i wasn't on the path of righteousness. i had abandoned my relationship with Jesus for stupid and foolish things. i was completely brainwashed by a certain individual who told me that church was just a money-hungry organization. church was a place where hypocrites gathered to worship God and then leave and continue on with their unrighteous ways. sadly, i fell for it and believed it all. i stopped attending church. i closed all forms of communication with Christian friends because i was completely ashamed of who i had become. i wasn't happy with myself, and i didn't want my friends to see someone i didn't even like.

if you know me, you know me as the person who grew up in a church, going at least three times a week, surrounded by amazing Christian friends. in college, i was a youth leader and a small group leader. people came to me for spiritual advice.

foolishly, i gave this all up because of someone else. throughout my whole life, i was taught that i should not be in a relationship where the two were not evenly yoked. i heard it from pc, my youth leaders, the pastors of summit church, and even pastor travis. they would warn us of the dangers of being in a relationship like this because those who are not followers of Jesus are not going to change for the better. if anything, we would change for the worst. instead of listening to these wise people, i chose to do what i wanted to do. i told myself that i wasn't going to change. i had a strong relationship with God, and nothing was going to come in between that. i was so completely wrong. i fell flat on my face.

when dina would bring up Jesus, i would try to play it off like i agreed with her. in reality, i didn't want anything to do with Him. and i was certain He didn't want anything to do with me. she invited me to several church activities, but i always found an excuse to not go.

a few months into the year, there were major budget cuts in our county, and the students i was teaching had to be dispersed into other classes, and i became a regular substitute teacher; i had a different schedule every day. i wasn't able to eat lunch with dina as much as before, but i did every once in a while. the lunches eventually stopped because i had taken over a full-time position, and whenever we saw each other, it was a simple, "hi. how are you doing?" sort of thing.

the school year ended, and dina and i caught up on a few things in our lives at our end of the school year party. we said that we would keep in touch over the summer, and she even invited me to go with her to a church luau she had at her church. of course, that didn't happen.

the summer passed, and the new school year had already begun. my cousin, which was one of dina's former students, told me that dina wanted to see me and catch up. when my cousin told me that dina was excited about seeing me, i thought, "why does she want to see me? i wasn't even a good friend to her." but sure enough, i walked inside her classroom and she greeted me with a huge smile and a hug.

dina is such a compassionate and beautiful person. despite the fact that i was a bit of a crappy friend, she wanted to know what was going on in my life; and she wanted to keep me updated with hers. i really had no idea why.

once again, dina had invited me to a church activity--a girlfriends conference held at trinity church in miami. she was really excited about it, and she really wanted me to go with her. she still had no idea that i wasn't on the path of righteousness. she had no idea that i knew Jesus wanted nothing to do with me. but there was something inside of me telling me that i HAD to go. that i NEEDED this. so that weekend, i decided to go back to church.

during the praise and worship service, we sang phil wickham's song, cannons. it's a beautiful song, and some of the lyrics are, "i am so unworthy, but still You love me." that spoke directly to me. this weight was lifted off my heart, and i felt so free. i had no control of the tears streaming down my face. Jesus had wanted me this whole time and i was just too lazy and stubborn to realize it.

the following week, dina brought up the conference again and reminded me about how excited she was about it. i decided that i wanted to be a part of this. i NEEDED to be a part of this. the girlfriends conference was absolutely amazing. it was full of strong women who loved Jesus with everything they had. women who loved sharing the gospel and the good news about our majestic King. one of the songs we sang was hillsong's, mighty to save. "Savior, He can move the mountains. my God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save." i was that mountain. Jesus moved me from a place that was disgusting and unpleasing, and He placed me where things are beautiful and lovely.

i thank Jesus every day for placing dina at our school, even though she wasn't too pleased with the decision made by the administration. but we both have a pretty good understanding of why she was placed there. i thank Jesus every day that dina was so persistent with inviting me to church and always wanting to pursue a friendship with me, even though i was stubborn at times. i thank Jesus every day for someone who has shown me that His love never fails, despite some of the garbage we go through. i thank Jesus every day for dina.

Lord of all creation. of water, earth, and sky.

it wasn't until recently that i started admiring nature. i owe my recent nature admiration to my philosophy course.

while in college, i had to take philosophy. at first, i wasn't too thrilled about it. not quite sure why, but it didn't seem too appealing. after completing the course and completing the education program altogether, philosophy ended up being one of my favorite courses. one reason, my professor was quite a handsome and comical gentleman (i know. not very jasmine of me. lol.) and secondly, i had to prove anything of my choice to my professor through a term paper. what i chose to prove was God's existence. it was a bit challenging; i had always accepted God's existence just simply because of my faith. how was i going to convince someone else of His existence solely based on MY faith? there's no justification. and justification is what professor wanted.

i visited google and searched for justification. a lot of what i found was the science of human survival. there was information on such intricate details needed in order for human life to be even possible. i combined this information with thomas aquinas' "the five ways". in summary, aquinas was a philosopher from the 1200's who stated that God's existence can be proved using five arguments.

i was simply fascinated with some of the pieces of information i found. here's some of the goodies:

the earth's atmosphere has the perfect combination of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and several other gases. the size of our earth corresponds perfectly with all the gases in our atmosphere. if the earth were any bigger or smaller, life would be impossible.

although the approximate distance between the sun and the earth is 93,000,000 miles, if we were any closer, we would all burn; if we were any farther, we would all freeze.

the earth is at a perfect distance from our perfect-sized moon. we have the gravitational pull from the moon, creating perfect tides at the right times. if the earth didn't correspond with the moon, we may have certain issues like flooded land.

water. the earth's most abudant resource. without it, we would not survive.

so, what does this have to do with God's existence? there must have been someone intelligent enough to know the exact combination of the size of the earth and the mixture of gases in our atmosphere. there must have been someone smart enough to know the perfect distance of the earth from the sun and moon in order for any type of life to be possible. there must have been someone powerful, knowledgeable, and good enough to allow humans to live in such a beautiful and perfect creation. God. it is all God.

i find beauty in the most simplistic things. i find beauty in things i've seen my entire life, but never gave much time to. i find beauty in everything my God has created for us.

rock at look out mountain, ga. i found this fellow while hiking the trail. he's so lovely. and happy.


flowers in my momma's backyard.


pretty flower, standing out in a patch of weeds.

the tree which stands in my neighbor's backyard. i admire it's beauty.

a flower given to me by a not-so-secret admirer.

a rainbow i spotted while momma was driving to the hospital to visit my cousin jessica's new born baby son, rodney clyde.

old and young. something just amazes me about this picture.

branch of a tree in my momma's backyard. i love the contrast. the clouds look amazing.

beach days. beautiful colors.

thank You, Jesus. amen.

tata's 75th birthday bash

today, we celebrated my grandmother's 75th birthday.

during the Christmas vacation, my family and i decided we would throw a birthday party for her, but never really went into good detail.

so, after church, i rounded up the gang, went to party city, and got ready to have a good time. i rode down with my mom. i blew up about twenty-five to thirty balloons on the ride to tata's house. with my lungs. i started laughing while i was blowing up one of the balloons, it slipped from my mouth, and started flying around in the car. it was dangerous, but quite funny. my mom laughed, so it's okay i say it's funny.

we arrived to tata's house, gave it the party feel, and we were good to go.

conversation about the spelling on the cake:
aunt mary: can you make sure it's spelled right. it didn't look right to me.
mom: t-a-t-a. yeah. that's right. that's how you spell tata.
aunt mary: i KNOW how to spell tata. i wanted to make sure cumpleano was spelled correctly. wow, lichi!
haha. oh, definitely too funny.


did i forget to mention it was a surprise party??

SURPRISE! her face is absolutely classic.

she sort of got scared, and started walking out of her house. oh, man. good times.

i bought a special birthday hat just for tata, but i have no idea where it went. i checked the cars, bags, under tables. it was nowhere to be found. so, thanks to my last-minute creativity, i designed these special hats just for her and her wonderful occasion.


partay people with the birthday girl. ♥





kisses for the birthday girl. ♥


tata with her grandkiddies. minus a few.

tata and her kiddies.

isn't she lovely? i think so. :]

happy birthday, tata! te quiero mucho mucho.

wedding photography::nicole and bryan

this was the first wedding i've done. my aunt mary has always been impressed with the pictures i've taken, and decided it would be perfect if i shot at her friends, nicole's and bryan's wedding.

funny story. i was meeting the bride and groom for the first time the day of the wedding. before the ceremony began, they were playing a slide show of their lives. there was this one picture of a young boy, probably around nine years old. i recognized the boy as someone who i went to elementary school with. i asked my aunt mary who the boy was, and it turned out to be the groom. when i met bryan the day of the wedding, i had no idea who he was; but i did recognize him as a boy i went to school with when they were playing the slide show. life is funny like that, i guess.





this is nicole's favorite. mine, too. :]