Just before our Citizenship/Naturalization Ceremony in 2011!
Growing up, I never thought I’d write my thoughts somewhere for others to see.
In fact, as a kid I tried to keep a diary but after a few months I stopped because I didn’t see the point.
Then life went on, several years went by, and when I was 13, my parents and I (legally) moved to the States. Almost ten years later, we became citizens!
“WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS (ahem, COLOMBIA) ANYMORE”
Suddenly I felt like what I grew up knowing had little value here. I was SO surprised to find that life here was so much like and unlike what I grew up watching on TV (American shows are huge in Colombia) that aside from my involvement in numerous school organizations, I more or less “hid” behind my shyness and never really voiced my opinion.
Check out what I mean: Here, most people think of their parents as accessories, of alcohol as water/soda, of God as nonexistent, and of sex as the only pastime–especially if you’re not married!
But to me (and millions? others) this has simply never been the case. I wasn’t raised like that and at some point during college I thought it was about damn time I voice what Latinos AND non-Latinos like me thought.
My (at-the-time) future husband and I attended a Halloween party once as Mr. Spock and Uhura. Afterwards we went to dinner, where a waitress said we made her “freaking day”!
HENCE THIS BLOG
Now don’t get me wrong. Life here has been everything I always dreamed it’d be and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I cheer for Team USA like I’m its only fan and I tear up during most renditions of our anthem. I also want my kids to be born and grow up here and for them to always know they’re among the most fortunate in the world.
(And between you and super honest me: After having experienced our version of the American Dream and knowing what we do now, I don’t think I’d ever want to move back to Colombia–despite the fantastically blessed life God gave my parents and I there.)
SO BIENVENIDOS!
If you’re still with me by now, I’d like to WELCOME YOU into my corner of blogland. Here you’ll find an alternative outlook to the one that’s so often predicated as truth, and I hope you enjoy my take on modern topics.
Just a few minutes before he popped the question in November 2015.
LINKS!
First Up: Pages!
Let’s get you to discover more about me, shall we?
+My Bio would be a great next stop.
+ If you’d like to grow your blog (and I’ve only ever met ONE blogger who said this wasn’t her goal), then I invite you to check my Resources page and cool Blogging Tips.
+ If you need to revamp your blog, then remember I can help you redesign your blog!
+ Feel free to check my FAQs, find out about sponsoring XOAnnie, see what I can do for your business marketing-wise, AND even browse through my brand new small-business marketing blog!
+ And if you want to get a hold of me, you’re welcome to contact me.
I bet you’d like to read a few popular posts now, huh?
+ In Live-In Relationships: I’m Not A Car That Needs To Be Test-Driven, I discuss why live-in relationships aren’t all that great.
+ In In Defense of Overprotective Parents, I talk about how part of what makes my parents THE BEST ever is how they see me as their own life–and are thus lovingly overprotective.
+ In Being Away from Your Kids Isn’t Good for Everyone, I debunk the myth that kids need to be apart from their parents for extended periods of time.
+ In these posts about cryptocurrency, I debunk another myth related to bitcoin–mainly that it will take over the world. No, it won’t: because it’s sh!t and broken. (My husband mines cryptocurrency and he has better recommendations.)
+ In It’s Not About Modesty–It’s About Class And Comfort, I try to steer the conversation about modesty away from God and men and into what it’s REALLY about.
+ In my ongoing Wedding Planning Adventures in Salt Lake City series, I discuss the good and the bad of planning a wedding in the Salt Lake City area.
(Don’t forget to check out the CATEGORIES at the top for more!)
My now-husband calls me his little yappy Hispanic woman :).
Again, muchísimas gracias and I’m very glad to have you here. So stay, share, and be merry!!
XO, Annie