Time off?
Ok. So we took the weekend off and drove up to Tampa. You know… for a little R&R. Soooooo, this is how we roll in the Cuevas family. Take a look;)
Archived entries for Living Life
2010… Bring it on!
]Here we are at the beginning of a new year. Last year is now in the rear view and a whole new landscape is before us.
I’m usually leery about looking back as I don’t want to get stuck there, but 2009 brought some highlights. My oldest daughter moved to MIT for college. My middle daughter sang the national anthem at her school pinning ceremony and got incredible letters of recommendations from teachers for her college applications. My youngest, well… she turned 13! I remember being “13″. Me and Laura stumbled upon motorcycling as a hobby and now we can’t get enough of being on the Harley.
Our CCk family has grown in numbers and in relationships that have become precious to us. We even got the privilege to host over 20 teens at our house this year for movies and video games. What a blessing.
Now, the new year swings open another door. What surprises does God have up his majestic sleeve? Where will he take me? What will he allow me to see and experience? Whatever it is, this year is already moving. So in the memorable words of Kuzco as he went over the waterfall in The Emperor’s New Groove… “Bring it on!”
SoNo, Bakeries and Dentists… Oh My!
The family enjoying the backyard cascade of the river.
Good morning everyone! This vacation has been one of the most enjoyable vacations that we’ve taken as a family. We’ve been hanging out with the family doing fun little things with everyone. Yesterday we took a drive down to SoNo (South Norwalk) and walked up and down a little bit. We stopped at a bakery that was awesome and picked up a slice of cheesecake, a chunk of coffee cake, a loaf of sourdough bread, a sticky bun, some monkey bread (look it up… its delicious) and then Madrina bought a coconut cake. Padrino also bought a trail mix cookie, which was so good… I need to look up the recipe, and a chocolate cherry cookie, which was good. Pretty much everything in that place was delicious, and I’d definitely go back for more.
Later, we all kinda split up. We went back to the house and had some lunch and then Oliver had to go to rowing practice. Megan had ballet later too. Mom, Dad, Padrino, and I went to go get Oliver from rowing and then we went to Madrina’s office and got our teeth cleaned. She’s a dentist(: And then we went to the coolest grocery store everrrr: Stew Leonard’s. It has like animatronics in every aisle and has really fresh food and its awesome. We were starving so we went back home and scarfed down some congri, ribs, baked beans, awesome bread rolls and ensalada. Its a weird mix of bbq and cuban food, but hey, we were hungry! And then Madrina pulled out the coconut cake and fudge ripple ice cream. Man, I’m going to have to work out to get that buttercream out of my system. Great…
After that, everyone started getting ready for bed, and when midnight happened, several presents were shoved into my face, and happy birthdays started streaming in from facebook. Its been great so far. Thanks for the birthday wishes, and also thanks for keeping up with this blog and being faithful to pray for us. We’ll be on our way home soon, so keep checking up on us. Hopefully we’ll get some more pictures up here soon.
with so much love,
aimee nicole
Picture TIme!
Hey guys, sorry its taken such a while to get these pictures up. Here are several of the different places we got to visit on our College Road Trip 09. Enjoy, george.
MIT Tour
Berklee School of Music
Fenway Park
Bunker Hill Memorial
Boston Stroll
Welcome to Boston
MIT humor;)
Today was our first day really getting to know Boston. And besides the really horrendous parking situations, its pretty cool. While I was at Berklee College of Music for my first day of vocal classes, Dad, Mom, Becca and Grace had fun exploring the MIT campus. They visited pretty much every building there and more. Becca’s super excited even though I’m pretty sure she’s a little freaked about the size of the campus. Its so big! But of course, once she’s up here in the fall, it’ll be even better.
My classes at Berklee (Check out the map) were great. There are 3 different buildings along the same street that I have to walk to to get to my classes. And lunchtime is great because I pretty much walk up Boylston and check out all of the different places there are to eat. Its kind of like New York, but… different. The atmosphere of the school was great. All the students there are awesome and really helpful (buildings 130, 136 and 150 are pretty crazy). Its really fun and crazy and musical, and its amazing.
So far, the only downer has been getting dinner. Everyone walks everywhere here, but we have a minivan which means parking. And parking is an incredibly huge ordeal. Like you wouldn’t believe. So after a frustrating half hour drive around Cambridge, we settled on Dad waiting outside while we ran inside the Taquería in the MIT student center. And yes, MIT students make ballin’ mexican food.
Tomorrow, I have more classes from 10am to 6pm, and while I’m there, the family will be touring Boston’s suburbia with some friends that live up here. I’m sure there will be pictures up soon, and I’ll try to remember to take pictures tomorrow so you can see my (hopefully!) school too. Believe me, its much more loose than Becca’s (;
PICTURE CHALLENGE: In the fly-thru movie above we found a Calvary Chapel along the way… which one was it? If you find it, comment below.
with much love,
aimee nicole
In The Beginning…
and so our blogging begins(:
this morning, we left Miami at around 6am. we had a long drive ahead of us, and we didn’t want to catch the morning rush. how long was the trip, you ask? well, today’s was about 15 hours of driving. yes, you read correctly. FIFTEEN hours. now, if you were with us on the California trip last year, you know that our endurance and tolerance to this has been developed incredibly, and, though we did start to feel the brutal drive in the later hours, we definitely had fun on the road.
again, we stopped at each state sign and took pictures for you to enjoy. there’s also the ever so popular, crowd pleasing fly-through, which will be posted here as well. your prayers have definitely helped because we haven’t had a major crisis yet, and all of us have gotten along really well. something different this year, we noticed, was that the food we decided to bring this year was healthier than last year’s choices. of course, the funyuns and doritos are excluded from this mix, but the fruit and whole grain muffins that we’ve brought along have been really good too. also, Grace broke a record: she managed to use the restroom at EVERY state line. yes. every. single. one.
tomorrow we have a 9 hour drive ahead of us, which is refreshingly brief after today. our only worry is hitting traffic in Washington DC, so please keep us in prayer. we’re leaving early in the morning again in order to try and get to Boston sooner. we want to check out Berklee College of Music and which building the Vocal Summit will be held at so that registration on Thursday morning will go smoothly. i have a placement audition, so please keep me in prayer!
thank you so much for joining us on this trip. we hope that you enjoy this as much as we are, and hope that you feel a part of our journey.
with much love,
aimee nicole
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Van pickup!
Well it’s done! We will be traveling in a silver, 2009, Chrysler Town & Country van.
It has captain seats in the front and second row seats. The back is a 2/3 bench that we’ll fold down and stick our cooler for easy reach. Another cool surprise was satellite radio! Bam! It’s also equipped with an Aux connection which allow us to connect our iPods and listen to them through the car stereo system.
We rented the van from Dollar Rent-A-Car and picked it up at the beach. The reason for that is that if you pick the vehicle up at the airport they charge you extra. Sooooo, since we’re on the cheap, this is easy savings.
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Stay tuned as we continue to get ready to hit the road:)
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RoadTrip prep
Time is coming around quickly for us to pack up a van and head on out on our College RoadTrip:09. Laura has been hitting the internet and setting up our hotel stays along the way and previewing the map to see the best way to get to Boston.
What is the trip about? Well, we actually are doing double-duty. Aimee is doing a 3 day Vocal Summit at the Berklee College of Music. Meanwhile, we’ll visit MIT and check out where Becca will be going come August.
We plan to keep you up to date so that parents heading into the “college kid” season of their life will get a short glimpse of what it is all about.
Meanwhile, read and comment your fingers away!
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Fun with Julio & Dayne
What to do the Friday after Christmas… hang out with friends what else!
This has to sound familiar to most. You live in a great city and you never visit any of it’s tourist destinations because, well, they are always there. We take them for granted that they are just never going to leave. So we don’t bother making time to see what the fuss is all about.
Well, after eating a Mexican feast and talking about all kinds of things, my friend Julio pipes up and asks “What is there to do hear in Florida?” Mind you, he has lived here in Miami most his life. We all drew a blank trying to think of something else to do that would not involve a theme park (ala Disney) or visiting some beach community (ala Naples/Key West). After real bad attempts at coming up with some points of interests further up in central Florida, he says, “We (him and his wife) are thinking of going for an airboat ride wanna come?” I’m thinking “AIRBOAT RIDE!” Sounded cool but I have an aversion of being eaten alive by pigeon-sized mosquitoes! Yet with very little coxing we agreed to go and check it out.
Needless to say this was another lesson in how we cut ourselves short of God’s blessings simply because of fear of the unfamiliar. Being born and raised in Miami, I had NEVER been on an airboat ride. I had NEVER visited any of the Miccosukee Indian areas and I think i took a field trip to the Everglades in second grade. So much for having enough knowledge to create ANY kind of perception. Of course, with both families astride, we took off to the Miccosukee Arts Festival for a day of discovery. It was a great, beautiful day. We could not have picked a better day to go out there. The day was cool yet sunny. Breezy yet crisp. Perfect in every way.
Not only was the weather on our side, but so were our dear friends Julio and Dayne. You know, life should not pass us by so fast that we miss hanging out with the best people on earth. Julio and Dayne are those kinda of people you just can’t seem to get enough of. Don’t see them for six months, no problem, pickup exactly where you left off next time you get together. No guilt trip. No “Hey why don’t you call me anymore?” Just a genuine desire to be friends for as long as possible. In my book, they are low-maintenance with a high-friendship value.
Laura, armed with the digital camera took about 400 pictures. I’ve boiled it down to the following. Check them out. As you do, I hope it brings to memory that special friend you haven’t gotten together with in a while… go ahead and don’t wait to call and setup a gathering time. Also, I pray you see that the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, set us up to be amazed by the smallest pleasures in life… whether it’s exploring an indian village, examining the bumpy skin of an alligator or just enjoying the cool wind hitting you as you speed in an airboat, allow yourself to enjoy life… live life to the full.
As always, leave me comments and let me know what you think.
Click the picture to see the entire gallery
Go Gators!
What an awesome game the Florida Gators put on against Alabama! Nail biting all the way through!
No. 2 Florida (12-1, 8-1) defeated No. 1 Alabama (12-1, 8-1) in front of a record crowd of 75,892 at the Georgia Dome on Saturday night to claim its eighth Southeastern Conference title in school history. Under head coach Urban Meyer, the Gators are 5-1 against opponents ranked inside the top five by the AP and 9-4 against top-10 ranked opponents.
It’s so great to be part of GatorNation!
ThanksLiving
What a wonderful day. One where the United States of America actually makes it a point to thank God for our many blessings. Personally this year has been filled with many highs and serious lows. One of the greatest blessings was knowing a friend by the name of Mary Barrett. She went on to be with the Lord this year, yet I cannot thank God enough for giving me the pleasure of knowing her, her music and her passion for Jesus.
Another major highlight was the surprise purchase of a 1999 Harley Road King Classic! I never even dreamed of owning a machine like this. It’s hard to express how incredible and fun experience owning a Harley is. If you own one, you know what I mean. The best summation of what it feels like to ride is a quote from the book “RoadShow” by Neil Peart… “When I’m riding my motorcycle, i’m so glad to be alive. When I stop riding my motorcycle, I’m so glad to be alive.”
I also thank God for my girls. All three girls are doing great in school. Gracie is focusing and getting great grades. Aimee got her IB pin and Becca’s filling out college apps and scorching her report cards with A’s. I am blessed. How about Laura? Well, as my wife and best friend I’m most grateful that I get to be with her most of my day. I share both work and home life with her… how awesome is that?!
Then there is my CCk family. I thank God for the ability to do what I love doing and doing it with friends I love. Being part of a group of Jesus loving, God honoring folks who selflessly give of themselves to see others lives change for the better is a huge blessing.
In retrospect, all this thanksgiving is just a daily build up of gratitude to the Lord. Despite ups and down. Regardless of good or bad circumstances, the bible exhorts us to give thanks in “all” things (Eph 5:20). So till next Thanksgiving, live life in an attitude of thanksliving so you won’t miss any of the many blessings God is throwing your way.
Seals on beach
This trip was full of surprises and this was one of them. We were simply driving along, looking at the twisted coast then bam! There they were… seals just relaxing on the beach. Take a look.
Grrrrrrrand Canyon
I must admit that we didn’t have “grand” expectations of seeing a gigantic crack in the earth’s crust… but we certainly were moved by how big God is. The canyon is soooooo wide (seven to ten miles from rim to rim) that it is difficult to take it all in at once. It is so deep (nearly one mile) that it is hard to discern that size of trees and rocks.
The visibility was cloudy the day we were there because there was a fire on the northern rim blowing smoke our way. Still we could see peaks 130 miles away!
We had some great family fun. It was cool, it was hot. It was terrifying and it was awe inspiring. Check out the pictures.
Continental add, substract and Divide
The trip had a lot of interesting ups and downs. At this point we were at one of those “ups”… over 7000 feet above sea level.
So what is the continental divide? I had no idea either till I did some research. Check this site out.
Cadillac dream
Ok. So we are driving out of Dallas and i’m minding my own business when I look to the south (we’re heading west) and what do I see… an artwork installation that i never thought i’d ever see in living color. Cadillac Ranch! As I drove by, I spoke to Laura and thinking out loud at the same time saying to myself “I am never driving this way again, I have got to turn around and go back”. Mind you, the kids were dozing in the car and Laura was so kind as to play along and with my delirium. I couldn’t believe what was happening… a dream was about to come true.
So what is so special about “Cadillac Ranch”? Well, first of all, as a kid studying art, the first time i laid eyes on this installation i clearly remember saying, “Man! i’d be so cool to see that for real!”. Secondly, how often do you get to see 10 Cadillacs stuffed into the ground, in the middle of a field? Is it art? Is it great? It really doesn’t matter to me. All I know is that God, in His infinite love for me, made one of my (silly) dreams come true that day… and i enjoyed every minute of it.
Want to know more about Cadillac Ranch? Click here.
Here are some cool pictures.
Crossing the state lines
Hey folks! The trip might be over but the posting ain’t dead yet. We’ve got tons of pictures to sift through and post.
Here are pictures we took when crossing the state lines. Mind you, to take these pictures you have to risk life and limb as most of these signs are placed very close to the interstate with speeding traffic nearly ripping the door off the car when you get out. But it was funny to hear the truckers honk their horn as they drove by and saw us clowning around near the sign.
You know, one thought that occurred to me in attempting to make this memory moment, is that states are missing a wonderful marketing opportunity. If at the entry point of every state you had some incredible, sculptural signage specifically designed for a photo opp, I bet a lot of families would love to show off that picture (thus plugging the state – that’s the marketing side). For example, check out our California picture… BORING! Such a gorgeous state and the sign is small and uninviting. Now, how about if that sign was stuck on top of a killer wave with a surfboard in it so families could stand inside and take a picture? Get the picture?
Anyway, i guess i had too much time to think along the way:) Enjoy.
Home Is Where The Heart Is
Yesterday we left St Augustine, Florida and arrived at the one and only Miami. It was a short trip; only 5 hours. It felt like an eternity. I was so anxious and excited to get home, and the van just would not move fast enough. I just wanted to be home.
A small detour postponed the arrival to our house. We had to pick up the dog from my grandmother’s house. We had lunch there at abuela’s and she was so excited to see us. My grandfather was thrilled that we actually made it all the way across the country and back, though I’m pretty sure he wanted to keep Mac (our dog) for the rest of the year. We ended up running to the van in pouring rain, which I missed terribly, and we finally made it home.
Being able to stay in my own house, my own bed, eat Mom’s homecooked food, made me realize how much I truly missed being home. But as much as I missed being at home, the trip was indeed the trip of a lifetime. I’ve been asked, “What was the highlight of the trip?” or “What did you enjoy most from this trip?” and in response to both, my answer is “Everything!”.
I mean, think about it. You’re asking me to pick and choose the best and worst of the trip? Honestly, there was no worst. Did I like all the cities I stayed in? Absolutely not. But does that mean that there wasn’t anything at all to enjoy there? Of course not. Within all those cities, there was something that made being in that city so awesome.
It was all the amazing food. As a family, we decided that we wanted to try new fast food places on the road. There were winners and losers. By the way, the ultimate winner was In-N-Out Burger. If you haven’t had one, get one sometime in your life. There were also some great restaurants we visited. And then all of the food in the car? My goodness, we were always eating. And it was almost always great.
It was the new experience of the different ambientes, or atmospheres, of all the cities we visited. There’s just something about hanging out in a new city that you just know whether you like it or not. Some cities just make you feel at home, while others give you a sense of adventure. All of the cities we visited had such different atmospheres and the majority of them were awesome.
It was being with the family. Believe it or not, we get along so well. We joke, we laugh and even if we start getting attitude-y on each other, its easy to break the tension with a quick witted remark. Being with my family and genuinely hanging out with them, because, obviously, there was no one else to be with, made the trip incredible.
There are so many things that made this trip amazing and bearable. Even when the going got tough with long car trips and finding a bathroom along the way and the GPS deciding to navigate incorrectly, we got through it. If any trip is going to stay imprinted in our memories forever, its this one. Everything about it made it extra special. Everything about it made it fun to be on. And everything about it made this trip completely unique, because its ours: The Cuevas Family Road Trip of 2008.
You know how they say, “home is where the heart is”? Well, since our hearts are set on Heaven, and that’s our real home, it makes it easier to leave on a trip like this knowing that we’re just on one big road trip anyway. I hope, we all hope, that this blog has made you see, if you ever doubted, that family vacations are possible. And they’re possible without needing a second vacation afterwards. Thanks so much for coming on this trip with us. It was truly a blessing to log on after a long day of driving and see that our hard work on this blog was not in vain. If anything added exceedingly and abundantly to this trip, it was the fact that we had all of you with us. And we thank you for that.
with much love,
aimee nicole
<3
Here and Now
Today we arrived at St Augustine, Florida! Yes, we are in Florida! Its really good to almost be back, and its feeling like home already.
If you don’t know, St Augustine is the oldest city in Florida. It also happens to be the oldest city in the nation. So everything here is pretty… well, old. Historically, its a city that was a fort for the Spanish. There’s a fort with the original cannons and it used to have a moat and everything. Some of the original streets are paved with brick that came from ships. One of the many words that can be used to describe this city is “quaint”. Its just really cute and there are bed and breakfasts all around with little “vacancy” signs.
Tomorrow is the last day of our road trip. We end up in Miami. I’m so excited to get home, but at the same time, I’m sad that its almost over. But its not over until tomorrow!
with much love,
aimee nicole
Almost Home
Today we arrived in Mobile, Alabama. The trip wasn’t half bad. I’m telling you: after 2 weeks of varying times in the car, you just get used to it. Again, this is coming from the perspective of a passenger. Now Daddy driving… ah, well. Ask him how he was doing.
The trip was around 8 hours long. We left San Antonio at around 9 in the morning. The trip out of Texas was long. Remember, its a huge state. After we passed that, Louisiana wasn’t a big deal. And Mississippi and Alabama were easy. We decided to take a picture by the “Welcome” sign because, well, let’s face it. We forgot to take a picture going to California. So we did that. And then the hotel was right off the exit. We got there relatively quickly. And again, I was asleep for about 6 hours. No lie, no exaggeration. I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to sleep at night.
We ate at Carrabas, which was delicious. And right now, we’re just relaxing in the hotel. Its been a good day. It went by really quickly, and we’re almost home which is really exciting. I can’t wait to see you guys!
with much love,
aimee nicole
“Authentic” Texas
We’ve been in San Antonio, Texas for the past two days. Sorry about not posting yesterday, but we got to the hotel really late thanks to a 13 hour trip from Tucson, Arizona.
Yesterday on our way from Tucson, we stopped in Las Cruces, New Mexico to visit with a couple of friends. They’re an awesome family with really cute kids and they’re all so fun to be around. Needless to say, the stop was worth getting to the hotel late.
We arrived in San Antonio around 11 last night and we had issues with the wifi and we were all exhausted and it was a mess. Today we were able to hang out around downtown. We’re staying right across from the Alamo, which was pretty cool. Its historical landmark, and I’m sure if you look it up, you’ll find out what happened there. We also visited a place called Riverwalk which is the single largest mall I have ever walked around in. Its built around the San Antonio river, and it even had a statue of St Anthony, which inspired a spontaneous and brief photoshoot. Hopefully those will go up on here for you to see… or laugh at. Either one is good.
We also went down to Market Square. That was a cultural experience in itself. You walk around and its all South American and Central American imports. The imports were pretty much monopolied by Mexican stuff, but that was fine. It was kind of expected. There were blankets and maracas and mini guitars and these really cool little wooden frogs that made noise. The country music and mariachi was cranked all the way. And yes. My ears were bleeding. Just kidding, haha… or like any person that speaks spanish puts, jaja.
We ate at this awesome Mexican restaurant (of course) called Mi Tierra. Rebecca and I shared some enchiladas with green tomatillo sauce and it was delicious. Mom and Grace shared a taco platter and Papi had a taco plate thing too. Everything was so good. I’m not sure I know exactly what “authentic Mexican” is, but man; this was tasty stuff. So if you’re ever in San Antonio, visit Mi Tierra at Market Square. Oh, and throw in an order of sopapillas for dessert. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.
After that, we hung out at the hotel. It was really hot outside and walking around without air conditioning was pretty brutal. As a result, we got to catch up with this blog, and in turn, catch you guys up on our journey. Tomorrow we head out to Mobile, Alabama. We’re hoping to travel the coast of Texas to see what it looks like. We’re only 3 days away from getting back home. I’m sad that the trip is coming to a close, but I’m really excited to get back home to see all of you! Keep checking with us. The twits on the right of the screen are your best bet to getting updates in real time. I’m constantly texting to it throughout the trip.
with much love,
aimee nicole
Pebbles at Pebble Beach?
Things that make you go hmmmm…
Golden Gate Bridge?
We had such HUGE expectations to see the entire Golden Gate bridge. Well turns out they had “fog” issues while we where there. Oh well, we tried.
Desert Images
Hey check these images out. These were shot driving from Anaheim through Las Cruces, New Mexico to San Antonio.
Tuscon to San Antonio – fly thru
Ok. This leg of the trip has been desert, followed by another desert, followed by, you guessed it… another desert! I never knew we had so much scorched, wide open, burnt space in the United States! Take a look at this video but keep you eye on the horizon. Notice how it changes. From low and wide open to rocky and mountainous. Take a look.