The Rojos

The year so far...

2010-07-01T00:21:00.000-07:00

Oh my, how time flies. I wish I could update this more regularly. I'd like to promise myself that I will update this weekly or monthly, but I hate empty promises to myself. This year has been wonderful to the Rojo family. I cannot complain, we have truly been blessed with lots of work and lots of health. That being said, I just lost my job last week and the girls have been sick for the past two weeks. I know, it kind of contradicts my last sentence, but the job loss and the sicknesses are so temorary compared to the permanent happiness I feel when I am with my beautiful wife and girls. I was laid off on Friday last week. Huge surprise. Huge. I have some great leads though, and I think the future is bright. I gotta wear shades. Tami finished second grade tis year and is looking forward to being a third grader. I remember when I was going to be a third grader at Del Cerro Elementary. My teacher was Mrs Amstead and the main reason I was looking forward to the third grade was that as a third grader you are priveledged enough to ride your bike to school. I was stoked. There is no way in this day and age that I would even contemplate letting my third grader ride her bike to school alone. She can ride her bike to school when she's a student in college. Maybe. We'll see. Earlier this month, I completed my second ultramarathon. It was a 33 mile race in the mountains in Big Bear, Ca. I finished in a little over 8 hrs. The altitude about did me in. I was exhausted by the time the race was over. I was so sore! I had to get in my car and drive home right away though, because I had work the next morning. It was so much fun, it definitely was not my last ultra. I may try to do a 50 miler next year...
Guaci continues to work at the mall and is doing quite well. They have offered her leadership positions several times but they are asking her to work crazy hours. She is more dedicated to her family than she is her job so she has turned them down every time. Arianna is learning to read this year and is doing so well. She will be in kindergarten next year and will be a reading machine! I'm so proud of my little girls. The Rojos Rock!
*Also, we had to put our beloved dog Tara down. She had so many tumors on her body and was in a lot of pain. She was the best dog I've ever had. She will be missed. Big time.

Summers over...

2009-10-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Well summer is gone and the cold weather has started creeping in. I like the cold weather for about two weeks and then I'm ready for summer again. I feel the same whenever summer arrives though. It's hot for about two weeks and then I'm ready for some cooler temperatures. I guess I'm never satisfied with the weather. Guaci's brother was here for a couple of weeks in September. We all really enjoyed his visit an look forward to her parents and older sister Ani arriving next month. We just moved to Henderson, NV at the end of August, and I also started working for Whiting-Turner again. I had lost my position with them last summer due to lack of projects in the area but now I am with them again. I hope this will last at least until I am done with my schooling. Speaking of schooling, my oldest daughter Tami started 2nd grade this year and I am taking Hospitality Managment classes at CSN. Guaci started working for Ann Taylor Loft here in Las Vegas recently and they love her there. Of course they do, she is a selling machine! I'm so proud of her!

2009-10-04T18:14:00.001-07:00

Test blog from mobile device

Has it really been two months since my last post?

2009-06-17T01:22:00.001-07:00

A lot has happened since my last post...hmmm, how to go about filling in two months of activity. Here goes: I got laid off at the end of March, and have not been back to work yet, so if you read this and you're hiring, call me. Unemployment sucks! I turned 33 May 4th. I seem to get these crazy gray hairs right on my sideburns. Both sides. May be time to ditch the burns. We pulled Tami out of traditional public school in January. She started Virtual Academy and is doing great! She is learning so much with this system, which is kinda online, kinda homeschool. She does have a teacher, Mrs Brown that she sees every now and again for progress conferences and assessments. Tami is learning things that I dont think I learned about until I was in Jr. High! She can talk to you about DaVinci, Picasso, the Trojan War, you name it, she's so smart. I'm amazed at how much she is learning and retaining! Guaci is her "Coach" which means she guides Tami through all of her lessons and helps her with her homework etc. Guaci is doing an awesome job. Even Arianna participates in some of the lessons and is learning as well. She loves to do the science projects and art. I started to run a lot recently and was planning on doing my first ultra marathon which was going to be the "Running with the Devil" 50 miler at the end of June, but doe to some circumstances beyond my control, I will not be participating. I do look forward to the E.T. Full Moon Midnight 51K in August which is a thirty one mile race starting at midnight that goes along the "Extraterrestrial Highway". This is near area 51 and there have been several supposed UFO sightings. The runners wear neon glownecklaces because it starts at midnight. My parents came to visit last weekend. They were here for a few hours only though. They were passing through on their way back from a family reunion in Utah. We went to lunch at one of my favorite mexican restaurants here in Vegas, called Lindo Michoacan. It was nice to see them. When they left though, Arianna got mad. "You just got here!" she yelled. They had to get back to California though, but we hope to see them again soon. Today I went and spoke to a counselor at CSN to see how many more classes I need until I can transfer to UNLV. My major is Hospitality Management and I've been slowly plugging along for a long time but I came to the decision that I need to stop plugging along and really tighten the belt to get it done. I was happy to find out that I may be able to transfer to UNLV by this time next year with an AA in Hospitality Mgmt as well as a General AA degree. I will enter UNLV as a junior. I'm going to check into also getting degrees in Spanish and International business. My dream job would be to work for an international hotel chain like Hilton or Marriott and work for them in Spain.

Our new dog

2009-04-16T12:03:00.001-07:00

Her name is Tara. Tara is the name of the goddess of fertility for the Guanches of the Canary Islands, where Guaci is from. Guanches were the aboriginal inhabitants of the canary islands before they were conquered by the Spaniards in the 1400s. There are no descendents of the Guanches, because rather than being captured and forced into slavery by the Spaniards, they would climb to the highest cliffs on the islands and throw themselves off to their death. The irony of the name "Tara" for our dog is that she is fixed. Ha Ha We found Tara through Craigslist and were skeptical when it said in the ad that not only was she was free to a good home, but she also was housebroken, trained, spayed, and has had all of her shots. Apparently, the couple that gave her away were working too much and didn't have time to even take her for a walk some days. We were the first people to call about her so we piled in the car to go have a look. Well, the ad was 100% accurate so we brought her home with us. She is pretty much the best dog ever. She loves the girls, the girls love her and she loves going on long walks.

Night at the park

2009-01-07T10:48:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, we took the girls to the park just before dark to wear them out so that they would go to bed at a decent hour. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. This time it did!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2008-12-28T22:31:00.000-08:00

Holidays

2008-12-28T19:29:00.000-08:00

2008-12-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

Gingerbread House that we won at a White Elephant Gift Exchange.

Misc. Pics

2008-12-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

2008-12-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

My Witches

2008-12-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

2008-10-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

2008-10-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

2008-10-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

2008-10-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

Things of interest or lack thereof:
1. We sold a bunch of stuff on craigslist the other day and got full asking price! Usually people try to drive down the price at the last second, not this time. We sold an elliptical machine that I found in the garbage the other day.It was practically brand new C700 Proform elliptical machine that sells in Target for almost 300 dollars. The only thing wrong wa that it was missing a screw, so I put one in and sold it for 100 bones on craigslist. Woohoo!
2. We ate at Chili's the other day and I found a tooth with a cavity in my nachos.It was hidden within the sour cream. Sick!
3. Last night it poured here in Vegas, I mean POURED! We were driving home and I seriously could not see the lane I was driving in. I can't imagine what people go through when there's a hurricane or tornado or any other crazy weather. We're definitely lucky to live in vegas, where the only thing we have to worry about is the heat.

2008-09-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

May

2008-06-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

Guaci's parents were here throughout May. We had a lot of fun while they were here and managed to get down to Arizona one weekend for my niece's baptism. I especially enjoyed all the great Spanish food that my mother in law made. She made tortilla espanola, ensaladilla rusa, croquetas, ropa vieja, caldo de huevo, and so many more great dishes that we haven't had in a long while. I also turned 32 on the 4th. I feel like I'm 25 though. But with more aches and pains and a few gray hairs.

April

2008-06-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

So much for trying to get in at least one post a month. April flew by without much excitement. I continued with the remodelling of our home, trying to get prepared for the arrival of Guaci's parents from Spain on April 29. Well, they arrived and I had not gotten nearly as much done as I had hoped for. Most of the wooden floors were installed throughout the house with the exception of the stairwell. Most of the the tiling was done as well, with the exception of the bathrooms. House was painted, some new furniture was bought (Thanks IRS refund!) and all in all, the house looked really nice by the time the in-laws arrived. To be honest, I still have a few things that need to be done, ie. some baseboard that needs to be installed and a few things in the master bath. Guaci's dad helped us out a lot by doing the tile in the bathrooms as well as the entryway. He also changed out one of the bathroom sinks and put in a pedestal sink.

Facebook Rocks!

2008-03-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

I joined the facebook community a few months back to follow the crowd. It seemed at the time the cool thing to do. It still is. I have been able to touch base with many people that I have not spoken to in years. Today I got in touch with another old friend that I haven't spoken to in about ten years or so.
One of the features on facebook that I like is "Owned". It's hard to explain what it is without it sounding a little creepy, but let's just say, somebody bought me for$12,000!

Family addition

2008-03-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

No, Guaci is not prego. We got a DOG!!! I was working a few days ago and Guaci called and said this lady was selling miniature Dobermans and she was getting one for the girls. I don't know if she was asking me or informing me. Anyway, they picked out a 6 week old dog and took him home. When I got home, I asked Tami what the dog's name is. I was expecting something like Stitch, or Koda,or something. But no. She named him Eric.!???? I said," umm Tami? Are you sure you want to name him Eric? What if you're at the park and you yell,'Hey Eric' and some boy runs over to you?" She agreed and so she decided on calling him Coby, after Guaci's German Shepard that she had when she was growing up. So far, he's been well behaved. He cried a lot the first night though because he misses his mama. We're excited to have him with us, and I know he's already made the girls so happy. They can't wait to get home when we go somewhere so they can play with him.
On another note, I can't believe I didn't write anything in February! I can get lazy sometimes. I'm not promising that I'll write something every day, or even every week, but I'll try to get some inkling of an update a couple times a month. So check up on us from time to time.
I'll be working on a new project starting on Monday. We are doing a remodel at the Caesar's Palace Forum Shops. Finally, after six months at the Springs Preserve we finished our punchlist. Now on to bigger and better things.

Lazy Sunday

2008-01-27T20:38:00.000-08:00

I love Sundays. Especially these lazy sundays when I don't have a lot of church meetings to attend and whatnot. I love to stay in with the family and just veg out on the couch. It was raining today too so that made me feel that much lazier. Trust me, the lazier the bettter. I was sad to see that President Hinckley, the President and current prophet of our church died today. He was a sweet man. On the other hand, I am happy that he is reunited with his wife who died a few years ago.

Christmas in California

2007-12-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

This was the first time that the whole family has been together for Christmas in about 15 years. On Sunday evening all of my aunts and uncles and cousins were at mom and dad's for dinner. We showed up a little late, but were still able to see everybody, including my cousin David who I haven't seen since right after I got married 7 years ago. In fact, his first comment to Guaci after talking to her was "Hey, You speak English!" The last time he saw her, she didn't speak hardly any English. She laughed and said "I know Dude! And I'm taking college classes!" On Christmas Eve morning,just the immediate family came over to mom and dad's for breakfast and gift exchange. We had a good time. It sure was nice to see everybody. Later that morning, we went down to the beach with my brother Tony, his wife Amy and their son, Antonio. The weather was soo nice. We went to Laguna Beach and took some pics at the same beach where Guaci and I took our engagement pics. This time our family was a little larger. It was also the first time that Ari had ever been to the beach. We came home today, Christmas Day, and we are all exhausted. I have to work tonight.

Dec. 20, 2007

2007-12-20T16:39:00.001-08:00

I'm still working at the Springs Preserve trying to get rid of all of the punchlist items remaining. Looks like we might get out of there by the end of Jan. I know the Springs Preserve is sick of us being there. But definitely not as much as we are!
We're going to California for Christmas to visit mom and dad. All of us kids will be there. This will be the first year we have all been together in about 15 years or so.I'm anxious to see Antonio, Tony's baby. We've yet to meet him.
Tami and Ari are so excited for Christmas. Ari loves all the lights on the tree and Tami can't wait to see what Santa has in store for her. Guaci has been a real trooper holding down the fort while I've had nightschool and working the graveyard shift. She's about as exhausted as I am, if not more so.

Black Friday Shopping....

2007-11-23T05:36:00.000-08:00

I just went to Toys R Us for their Black Friday sale. They opened up at 500 am so I showed up at 430, thinking that I would beat the rush of people trying to buy stuff. In retrospect, I should have arrived somewhere around midnight. The line was ginormous, and wrapped around the building. I stood in line for one item only. The Zune MP3 player for 79.99, which has 30 GB and holds 100 hours of video or 10,000 songs blah,blah,blah, etc. etc. I actually got into the store pretty quickly considering how long the line was. Of course, they had already sold out of the Zune MP3 player. I left quickly and came back to work which happens to be a block away. Next year, I'll be one of those camping out on the sidewalk the night before listening to my walkman to pass the time.

Turkey Day already?

2007-11-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

I am so not ready. It's a good thing we are going to some friends' house that know how to deep fry a turkey. mmmm I know my way around the kitchen, after all, I did take a cooking class and a chocolate class at College of Southern Nevada. But I cannot do a turkey. I've never tried to do one actually. I prefer to do the other stuff. Guaci is at Costco right now actually, buying everything I need to take an apple pie. She's buying an apple pie. See? My higher learning in the kitchen is paying its dividends. I am, however actually making Cream of Corn from scratch. Well, not really from scratch, I mean, the corn is frozen and all I really do is boil it in some heavy whipping cream. At least I can say though that the candied yams are definitely mine. Well, when I say mine I mean, I'm the one that put them in the oven and smothered them in butter and marshmallows and brown sugar. I guess that counts as cooking. Chef Steve, my teacher from last year's cooking class would be proud. I'm just glad I bought that $250.00 set of German knives. Maybe I'll put my chef uniform on while I heat up my food, just for giggles.

Jarond Suman as Bello, Latin Male Model

2007-11-20T20:19:00.003-08:00

"I ain't got much of a smile" by Cacaman

2007-11-20T20:19:00.002-08:00

2007-11-20T20:19:00.000-08:00

Testing, testing, 123

2007-11-20T02:54:00.000-08:00

This is my first post and hopefully it will not be my last. I have tried writing journals before but those usually only last a couple of weeks. Except for when I was on my mission in the Canary Islands. I wrote a little more regularly then. Anywhoo, yeah, I know, this sucks, but it will get better. It can't get much worse can it? I'm at work right now. Graveyard. Yaaaawn. I work for Whiting Turner Contracting Company as a Superintendent. Right now I'm at the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, overseeing the completion of punchlist items that some of our subcontractors need to complete in order to make the owners happy and so we can complete our end of the contract. http://www.springspreserve.org/ Check it out if you'd like. If you're ever in Vegas and want to visit, call me. No, I can't get you in for free but I sure would like to see ya.