Are You A Hero?

Recently I tagged along to one of my wife's ultrasound appointments. Yeah, I'm going to be a daddy again! As the nurse was looking around and taking measurements she would occasionally update us on what she was seeing. If it was normal or not. Thank God everything is perfect! However there was one thing she said that really stood out to me. It was when she was looking at my baby's spine. She said, "There's no sign of Spina Bifida." You may be wondering why that would stand out to me. You may also be wondering what is Spina Bifida.

First let me explain to you what Spina Bifida is. Spina Bifida is a developmental congenital disorder. It is caused by the incomplete closing of the embryonic neural tube. Some vertebrae overlying the spinal cord are not fully formed and remain unfused and open. If the opening is large enough , this allows a portion of the Spinal cord to protrude through the opening in the bones. When the nurse made that statement it reminded me of a very good friend of mine that is affected by Spina Bifida. Her name is Laura Tellado. She a young Floridian with a heart of gold that has made it her personal mission to bring awareness to this condition that can be easily prevented. I first met Laura when she started "Holdin' Out For A Hero" her blog about Spina Bifida just over a year ago. 


She is now a very well known activist in Florida for Spina Bifida awareness. She was recently interviewed by Telemundo about her cause. Laura is also a columnist for Latism and she recently started a new blog about food called, "Expresso Con Leche". Needless to say this girl is BUSY!! She is currently having a fundraiser and I was hoping all of you could help. It's the Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida fundraiser. Laura's goal is to raise one thousand dollars. She is almost there. Won't you help her reach that goal? It would mean the world to me and to Laura if you did! Remember any amount will help so please donate generously! Remember it's going to a great cause. If you can not donate please forward this blog post to your friends and help raise awareness for Spina Bifida. To learn more about Spina Bifida please visit "Holdin' Out For A Hero" or "The Spina Bifida Association Of Florida".

Food Porn!

There are two things I do not have a problem spending major money on and that's comfort and great food!

There is nothing worst then sleeping on a hard bed at a hotel. It kills your whole mood the following day. Likewise, there is nothing worst than being super excited about going to a new restaurant and walking out totally disappointed!One of the ways I try to avoid this (and I am sure a lot of you do as well) is by asking my friends or family their opinion on a certain restaurant or hotel.

One of those friends happens to be Thimetis "Timo" Molina. She is a connoisseur of all things edible! You can most likely find her at the trendiest restaurant in Phoenix trying out their latest food creation. If you are on her Facebook wall you've probably have seen her "Food porn" posts. She'll take you all over the valley of the Sun and show you some of the most delicious food you have ever seen! So imagine my excitement when she announced earlier this week that she was going to start blogging about it! 

So get ready people if you want to know where the hottest restaurants are in Phoenix are, follow her blog and soon you'll be a connoisseur yourself! Trust me you can't go wrong! I'm definitely looking forward to all of her future posts! You can check out her blog at "The Adventures Of a Hungry Latina" Please show her some love!

Backwards Church

Imagine this scenario: You are down on your luck, you've lost your job and you barely have money to eat. So you decide to go to your local food bank and ask for some help. They are more than happy to help you with some vegetables, meats, milk and cereals. Great right?! There's just one catch. You have to sign an affidavit stating that none of your family members are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

 What?!! I am sure you're asking yourself the same question I did when I heard this. Isn't that discrimination? The answer is, yes. However according to Catholic Charities  it isn't. This is exactly what they were doing in Springfield, Illinois. That is until the State of Illinois got wind of it. You see when you open a non-profit organization like a food bank you qualify to get government grants. Which are paid by you and I. The tax payer.Under state guidelines you CAN NOT discriminate based on gender,religion or anything else for that matter! The state of Illinois has now terminated its grant to Catholic Charities.

So you would think the church would act Christ-Like, right?! Nope. They have the audacity to sue the State. Catholic Charities are seeking a declaratory judgement that "religious principles" supersedes state anti-discrimination laws. So now they think they're above the law. Catholic Charities, may I refer you to Mathew 22:21 which reads in full "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. " It is a statement made by Jesus when he was asked if it was lawful for Jews to pay taxes to Caesar. In other words follow the law of the land.

Now, whether you agree with certain people's lifestyle or not it is irrelevant. This is a matter of helping out a fellow human being that is down on their luck! It's ironic that an organization that claims to follow the teachings of Christ is judging and singling out a group of people based on their sexual orientation. From what I remember Jesus did not hang out with "perfect people" He hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes! He forgave a thief while hanging on the cross. Jesus himself said, "...For I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Mathew 9: 10-13)

I can not for the life of me comprehend how an organization let alone a religion can go so wrong! If there is one thing I detest is people judging other people specially when it's a religious organization! I feel I have to continue quoting from the Bible because clearly they have forgotten some very important "Religious principles" . For example when Jesus said, "Judge not that ye be not judged. For what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged..." Did we forget that?!

Doesn't the Catholic church have bigger things to worry about like sex scandals with their priests? Clearly this church is stuck a few centuries in the past. I seriously doubt that this lawsuit will be won by Catholic Charities. I am glad the State of Illinois is not allowing this to continue. I commend them for that. Bottom line, I hope this stupid lawsuit is thrown out and this organization gets hit with severe penalties. This is the opposite of what a religious organization should be teaching they should be ashamed! That's my two cents tell me what you think.

Porque Te Quiero

Porque te quiero te beso apasionadamente y tu te ries.
Porque te quiero te acarisio y tu te ries.

Porque te quiero yo juego con tu pelo y tu te ries.
Porque te quiero yo te doy una rosa y tu te ries.

Porque te quiero yo beso tus pies y tu te ries.
Ya no aguanto tus burlas. Porque te quiero?

Cada dia muero lentamente. Porque te quiero?
Cada noche es un insomnio. Porque te quiero?

Cada noche lloro y lloro. Porque te quiero?
El metal de el revolver es frio. Porque te quiero?

La bala penetra mi cerebro y esta noche yo muero.
Porque te quiero!

Fillet Mignon and Jarritos? Yes!

Like most people I love a good steak. So this past weekend I decided to cook some Fillet Mignon steak. The day was perfect nice and sunny and breezy. Which is odd for summer weather in Arizona. So I headed to my backyard and fired up old Betsy (my grill). Yes, I named my grill. Don't judge me!

Anyway, while Betsy was getting warmed up I was seasoning the steaks. A little salt and pepper was enough to bring out the flavor of these delicious cuts. Betsy at appropriate temperature, check. Grill brush, check. Tongs, check. 

Everything was ready to go. As I set the steaks on the grill the sizzle it created was music to my ears.Two minutes in the smell coming from the grill was making my mouth water! I couldn't wait to take the first bite. Are you hungry yet?! 

Finally the grill marks were set in and the steaks were ready! I decided to also bake some potatoes for the side dish. Time to sit down and enjoy my meal. But wait?! I'm missing something, the red wine. I went to grab a bottle of my favorite red wine and panic set in! Here I am all this time preparing this perfect meal and I realize I am out of wine! Noooo! What do I do now? Do I run out and get a bottle? That'll take too long and my steak would be cold by the time I get back. 

Now I am running around like a chicken with it's head cut off looking under the sink, in the dishwasher, under my couch anywhere hoping to find a bottle but with no success. Exhausted I open my fridge to get something cold to quench my thirst. As I opened the fridge, the light bulb inside illuminated a tall bottle of the most beautiful red liquid I have ever seen! The answer had been there all along and I was a fool for ignoring it.

What could go better with Fillet Mignon than a delicious Strawberry Jarritos! It was like heaven sent. Finally  I could sit down and enjoy my meal. As I open the bottle the aroma of the Strawberry emanating from the bottle was better than any aged wine I have ever had. The taste of it was sweeter than the riches grapes any wine could have been made from. I can feel every bubble tickling my tongue. After every drink I wanted more and more! I couldn't stop. It had my taste buds lusting after it. I could nothing else but to give in. With every drink my taste buds were swimming in ecstasy. 

Like all good things it had to come to an end. As I sat there in heaven from all of the flavors my mouth had just experience all I could think of was how lucky I was to have experience such a plethora of flavors! I could only hope soon. Until then I will wait for your return Strawberry Jarritos. I will dream of you daily until then. I miss you. 

If that wasn't enough for you to get up and get a case of Jarritos then I don't know what will! It is awesome!!

The Face Of Evil

September eleventh two-thousand and one will be a day that I will always remember. I was awaken abruptly by someone telling me "Chris, a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!" I remember replying, "Get out of here!" I could not believe that a pilot would miss seeing two of the worlds largest buildings. I immediately thought that something must've been medically wrong with the pilot.

I got up but did not go see the news I went straight to the shower. I figured a story like that will still be on when I got out. It could wait. After getting dressed I went to my living room just in time to see footage of what I thought was a single plane crashing into the World Trade Center. I remember saying, "Wow, they caught it on tape"! Then I was told that what I was seeing was actually a second plane that had crashed into the second World Trade Center Building.

I was confused but what I heard next from the news anchor cleared everything up "The country is under attack" he said. It was clear then that terrorists were involved. I remember thinking, "Terrorism in America?!" My shock quickly turn into anger. An hour or so later just when I thought things couldn't get any worse. I saw something that I had only seen in disaster movies. I saw two iconic buildings reduced to ruble in seconds. It was totally surreal.

Like many Americans that day I tried to compose myself and attempted to have a "regular" day at work. However it was impossible. The updates of the situation were everywhere. From the radio to the T.V. and from co-workers filling me in on the latest. My feelings that day ranged from shock, anger and sadness. So many innocent people died that day. Brothers, sisters, mothers, daughters, sons etc...

On my way home that day the I saw our Air Force jets flying over American homes. Even though they were patrolling the skies for our protection it still felt so wrong. For the first time in my life I was afraid of our own jets. I became slightly paranoid for sometime. Almost everything was "suspicious".

I remember thinking, "What's going to be next, car bombs? To think that I couldn't walk down the street without looking at the car parked next to me and thinking that it might blow up was very unnerving for me. I was afraid for my future and my Son's future. Will he have to have the same thoughts as me or will things be better? Nobody anywhere in the world should have to worry about those type of things. However, it's sad to know that unfortunately that is not the case in so many parts of the world.

President Obama announced earlier that Osama Bin Laden is dead as a result of an American military operation. Finally justice has been served for the families of the victims of 9/11! I thank God for the men in our military who were involved in this. I am glad none of them were hurt. There is a quote that says, “To celebrate a man's death is soul-less, unless the soul wasn't in the man to begin with.” I can assure you there was no soul inside Osama Bin Laden!

May first two-thousand eleven will be a day I will always remember. It will forever mark the day that justice was served to not only the victims of 9/11 but to the countless innocent people that have been killed or effected in some way by this evil man all over the world. Thanks again to the men and women of our military for continuing to keep us safe and for their sacrifice!

                                          GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Thank You Jarritos!

These last few weeks have been awesome! I have been eating like a king! My wife has been cooking up some delicious dishes. This time around she made Tostadas. Tostadas are composed of a hardshell tortilla topped with refried beans, seasoned ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, Avocado and sour cream. Now doesn't that sound delicious?!

Of course I had to have a Jarritos with this and this time I chose their "Mexican Cola" flavor. Now I have to tell you that at first I was very skeptical about how it was going to taste. I have always been a fan of cola specifically Coca-Cola. I remember drinking it ever since I was a toddler. I have tasted other brands claiming to be "Cola" and frankly just end up disappointing me. They turn out to be a water down version of the real thing.

Well like I've said before, I have yet to be disappointed by Jarritos! Their "Mexican Cola" flavor is awesome! It's in a class of it's own. It has the cola flavor that you are looking for but it also has it's own rich flavor that I can't quite put my finger on it. It will not burn your throat like Coca-Cola will but you will still know that your drinking a cola flavored drink. I give it a five out of five stars! Go and buy a case! Better yet buy a few cases 2012 is coming and if there was a drink that I would need to have when I am in my underground bunker waiting out the Apocalypse it is definitely Jarrito's Mexican Cola!

What A Scorcher!

Carne Asada is a traditional food that we as Latinos love to eat. So when my wife suggested we have some Carne Asada tacos for lunch on Saturday, there was no way I was going to say, "No". Again I might be bias but my wife makes the best Carne Asada Tacos ever!

The homemade Salsa that she makes to go with the tacos is fantastic also. It consists of diced Tomatoes, Avocados, Jalapenos and squeezed lemons. I tell you it's to die for! It was a scorching 95 degrees here in Phoenix when we started cooking. Of course this is considered "cool weather" in a state where the temperature can reach 120 degrees!

While I was in my backyard cooking on the B.B.Q. I remembered being at my grandmother's house and picking Mandarins from her tree. They were so juicy and sweet!

As you can imagine I worked up a major thirst being in the AZ heat. This gave me the perfect opportunity to try yet another delicious Jarritos! Naturally I chose Mandarin! What can I say, Jarritos has yet to disappoint me. The taste of the Mandarin flavored Jarritos was excellent! It really quenched my thirst and cooled me down! If it wasn't for the glass bottle I could've sworn I was eating one of my grandma's Mandarins.

Of course the tacos were awesome also! So if you are looking to quench your thirst and cool down this summer you have to try Jarritos Mandarin! Don't forget if you just can't get enough of Jarritos like me the follow the on Twitter at @jarritosnation and on Facebook at  I still have a few more flavors to go so stay tuned!

Jarritos, The Tradition Continues

Now I might be bias when I say this but my wife makes the best Chicken Enchiladas I have ever tasted! So when she made them for dinner last night I was in heaven! I love the way she serves them too. The home made Guacamole and the sour cream go perfectly together! Of course I had to have something to drink with this awesome meal so why not an awesome drink like Jarittos?!

With so many flavors to choose from it was hard to decide which one to drink. When I was a kid I would eat Guavas all the time. I remember the sweet flavor of Guava was like candy to me. So when I saw the Guava flavored Jarritos, the choice was clear. As I was in heaven eating my wife's delicious Chicken Enchiladas, the taste of the Guava flavored Jarritos took me back to my childhood!

Jarritos has done an awesome job at staying true to the natural flavor of the Guava. I loved every sip of it. I have shared with you two of the eleven flavors Jarritos has to offer. However I have to confess. I have been keeping something from you. I am sorry but Jarritos is so good I wanted it all for myself!

So here it is. Now you can also share the awesomeness of Jarritos with your friends on Facebook by sending them a virtual bottle of Jarritos! Just go to http://www.facebook.com/Jarritos and click on the "Send A Jarritos" link on the left side of the page. Pretty cool right?! Best part about this is that when you send a virtual  Jarritos bottle you are also helping them raise five thousand dollars towards Japan's relief fund. Hurry only three day left! So what are you waiting for?!

Jarritos: A Great American Tradition

With baseball season about to start I thought It would be fitting to cook some hot dogs. Not your typical one though these were bacon wrapped! Giving the all American hot dog a Latin twist. Of course you have to have a drink with that, where most people would go for a cold beer I prefer to go for an ice cold Jarritos bottle! Nothing quenches my thirst quite like a Jarritos. Today I decided to have a Tamarind flavored one. Let me tell you it hit the spot right on! I am really impressed in the way Jarritos has been able to maintain the natural flavor of the Tamarind.  I have TEN more flavors to go through so I can't wait to share them with you. So stay tuned for more pics and posts.

Let It Go!

There are people who can walk away from you. And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you: let them walk. I don't want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you. I mean hang up the phone. When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left. The Bible said that, they came out from us that it might be made manifest that they were not for us. For had they been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us. [1 John 2:19]  People leave you because they are not joined to you. And if they are not joined to you, you can't make them stay. Let them go.And it doesn't mean that they are a bad person, it just means that their part in the story is over and you've got to know when people's part in your story is over so that you don't keep trying to raise the dead. You've got to know when it's dead. You've got to know when it's over. Let me tell you something. I've got the gift of good-bye. It's the tenth spiritual gift - I believe in good-bye. It's not that I'm hateful, it's that I'm faithful, and I know whatever God means for me to have He'll give it to me. And if it takes too much sweat I don't need  Stop begging people to stay.

 Let them   If you are holding on to something that doesn't belong to you and was never intended for your life, then you need to.....

LET IT GO!!!

If you are holding on to past hurts and pains .....

 LET IT GO!!!

 If someone can't treat you right, love you back, and see your worth.....

 LET IT GO!!!

 If someone has angered you ........

 LET IT GO!!!

 If you are holding on to some thoughts of evil and revenge......

 LET IT GO!!!

 If you are involved in a wrong relationship or addiction.....

 LET IT GO!!!

 If you are holding on to a job that no longer meets your needs or talents

 LET IT GO!!!

 If you have a bad attitude.......

 LET IT GO!!!

 If you keep judging others to make yourself feel better......

 LET IT GO!!!

 If you're stuck in the past and God is trying to take you to a new level in Him......

 LET IT GO!!!

 If you are struggling with the healing of a broken relationship.......

 LET IT GO!!!

 If you keep trying to help someone who won't even try to help themselves.....

 LET IT GO!!!

 If you're feeling depressed and stressed .........

 LET IT GO!!!

 If there is a particular situation that you are so used to handling yourself and God is saying "take your hands off of it," then you need to......

 LET IT GO!!!

 Let the past be the past. Forget the former things. GOD is doing a new thing for 2011!!!

 LET IT GO!!!

 Get Right or Get Left .. think about it, and then.

 LET IT GO!!!

"The Battle is the Lord's!" .........Written by T.D. Jakes

El Equipaje Del Destierro

Tú me preguntas como fue el
acoso aquel que obtuve
Metes la lengua en mi cabeza,
en mi pensar, en mi algo.
Y bien, te dejo suponer que
abandoné mi pueblo.
Que huí rompiendo el crudo
umbral como un puma aterrado.

Pero yo te aseguro que no me
han quitado nada.
Puesto que de esa tierra no me
podrán apartar.

Pues como van a robar mi
volcán y su volcana.
Desviar de mi alma el embocar
del río con su ría.
Hacharme en el paisaje el árbol
con su arboladura
Matarme en plena sien el rudo
piojo con su pioja.

Quemar con un fogón usual mi
libro y su librea
Juntarse el yatagán con mi dolor
y su dolora.

Hacer agua en temporal mi
bote con su bota
Batir en retirada mi conjuro y
su conjura
Vibrar la cuerda de mi solfeo
con su solfear

Tú me preguntas como fue el
acoso aquel que obtuve
Pones el ojo a ojear en la
estación de mi memoria
Y bien concedo que al final
ganaron la batalla
Que falta conocer el resultado
de la guerra.

Pero confieso que yo no
extravié un grano de polen
Puesto que de esta tierra no me
podrán apartar.

Pues como van a extenuar mi
caso con su casa
Adelgazar mi saco vecinal
con su saqueo.
Uncir mi canto universal de
grillo a su grillete.
Vaciar de contenido mi
araucano y su araucaria.

Cavar con fúnebre placer mi
tumbo con su tumba.
Frenar la turbulencia de mi
gesta con su gesto
El choque de mis esperantes
con su espera dura
El equipaje del destierro es mi
maleta de humo.

Puesto que de esta tierra no me
podrán apartar.

People

People vanish, people die. 

People laugh and people cry.

 Some give up, 

some will try.

 Some say hi, 

while some say bye. 

This is life.