2013 in no particular order

I quit my job at Cedars and studied full time for the MCAT. I started teaching Yoga. I took the MCAT. I went on vacation to Zion, Havasu, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Big Sur, Portland, Bishop, then Dallas and Houston again. I watched Ted and Tina get married. I went to Vegas for the first time and then four more times after that: twice as a touch and go, twice to party, and once for Interbike. I practiced yoga. I applied to 18 medical schools. I got a job at UCLA doing the same old thing and I got a key to Bikerowave. I watched the modern production of The Magic Flute in LA. I backpacked for the first time in Havasu with the Sunnyvale crew, then three more times after that in Big Sur with Dan, the Angeles National Forest by myself and finally outside Bishop with Brandon and Eric. I started rock climbing. I worked on my Spanish. I chopped wood in Joshua Tree. I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time. I rekindled a friendship with Rose. I rekindled my friendship with alcohol. Chelsea got engaged. Linh came to visit me and we ran the Disney Half with Jimmy. Derek moved back to Chicago. Heather got engaged. Emily visited LA. I stood up for myself. Brandon taught me how to skateboard. Kevin got engaged and then married. Stephanie bought a house. I met and became good friends with Jeremy, Danny, and Leigh. Pattie visited LA. Another Stephanie visited LA. Sheree and I went to the San Diego Zoo. Steven, Jaci, Junior and I hiked a part of the PCH. Chris visited LA. Leigh became my roommate for a short while. Steven threw parties: dinner parties, board game parties, drinking parties. Genevieve and Arch moved in together. Jason got engaged. Jesse sent me a Kindle and I read a lot of books. I volunteered at the hospital. I assisted at Yogis. I bought an orange computer, and Chelsea gave me orange sunglasses. Derek was going to propose but broke up instead. I met Eduardo’s friends at the LA Gay Pride Parade. Gina and Peter got engaged. I saw Tiesto, Kaskade, ATB, Above & Beyond, Deadmau5, Katy Perry, Tegan and Sara, Ellie Goulding, Casey Musgraves, Vienna Teng, Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw, Foxes and Sara Barellis on stage. I took my family to see the Nutcracker in Houston. I rode my bike to eat seafood for my birthday and then to breakfast a lot of times. Steven and I ran a lot and ate a lot of food. I restarted a friendship with John. I bought an orange knife. I watched 3 seasons of Game of Thrones in a week. Then I watched 3 seasons of How I Met Your Mother in a week. I clocked an avg of 17mph for 18 miles at the Malibu Relay Tri. I got 6 medical school rejections. I fell for a guy then had to come out of it. Pattie got engaged. Then I met someone else. I reunited with Caitlin, Theresa and Chels. I practiced yoga. Carol moved to LA. I rode my bike all over town. Arch cut my hair. Steven and I were in a car crash. Jesse took me biking in the south bay. I got sick for the first time in a year and spent all day in bed watching and finishing Sword Art Online. Derek visited LA. I volunteered at a free clinic in Mexico. Alvis graduated from Irvine. Danny visited LA. Piper treated me to Café Gratitude. I went to Oakland to take Rose to the airport. I went running. Genevieve helped me with my Spanish. Linh taught me about the Five Languages of Love. My brothers and I went to Dallas. I danced. I laughed. I cried.

This year was filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. A lot of people got engaged. I feel like I was building, building, building towards something but it’s not here yet. 

Home

I went home to Houston for about a week and now I'm back home in LA to start the new year here. Last year I spent almost 2 weeks in Houston for Christmas and by the end I was really ready to come back to LA and my life here. This time I didn't really want to leave Texas. This past year was hard in a lot of different ways and I just wanted to be in a place that I knew I would be happy. It was comfortable and I didn't feel like I had to be in my head a lot. Last year it felt like I was coming home. But this year it felt like I was leaving home. It's hard because I've made a life for myself in LA, but my life in Houston is still there. Some days I think I can't move back, and some days I think I will end up back there. Who knows? There's still so much life left to live. 

Las Cucarachas

La semana pasada enseñé una clase de yoga muy atípica. Mi estudiante, Geetesh, trajo a un amigo que necesitaba audífonos para oír. Entonces tuve dos estudiantes que no podían oír bien y tengo un voz muy suave. Siempre me olvidaba de usar una voz fuerte. El nuevo estudiante se llamaba Sammy y él nunca había  hecho yoga. Fue muy buena práctica para mi porque hábia sido un año desde que enseñé A un estudiante que nunca había hecho yoga. 

Al principio los estudiantes me siguieron bien pero a mitad de la clase una señora y su hija pequeña entraron. Su hija tenía unos cinco años Y ella se mantenía tranquila por diez minutos. Después de diez minutos ella decidío que no quise hacer yoga y empezó a jugar cerca de su mama, en el espacio entre la ventana y la puerta. Fue muy mono pero distraía uno poco porque ella echaba una ojeada a su mamá a veces. 

¡De pronto, una cucaracha! La cucaracha estaba enfrente de la señora y ella gritó - ¡Cucaracha! Ella estuvo riendo y gritando - !Cucaracha, cucaracha, cucaracha! Estuve riendo tambien y Brandon se levantó de su pose para coger la cucaracha. Cinco minutos más tarde una otra cucaracha aparecío encima de un bloque. Recogí el bloque con la cucaracha y se quitó de encima después de un rato afuera. ¡Ay! 

Fue una clase muy atípica, divertida y un poco estresante. Pero en días como esa, hay que mantenerse en los dedos de los pies.