Punta Cana

Recently J and I went to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and we had a fabulous time! It was beautiful, the people were kind, and the culture was amazing. The food wasn't spectacular, but was pretty darn good. It was nice to just relax and get away with the husband. I would totally recommend Punta Cana to anyone wanting to get away for a relaxing and fun vacation. It was amazing!

 The Room

The Mamajuana

The Water

 The Sand

The People

The Drinks

The food

The Husband

  = one beautiful trip!

30 Before 30~ Lose 30lbs!

Well I'm proud to say that I can check one more thing off my 30 before 30 list! I have lost 30 freaking pounds!! I wish I never had these pounds to lose but PTSD & PCOS are a weight gaining bitch! I really had no tricks to losing it. I just lowered my carb/starch/sugar intake and started going to the gym more often. Of course I had my splurge days and slip-ups but 2011 was my year to start getting healthy and I think I made a pretty good dent! I'd still like to lose 30 more pounds and then I could be in the best shape of my life but I've got time on my side and I plan for it to keep coming off slowly is fine with me!

These are my before pictures I am embarrased to show these but I hopefully will never look this way again so I'm okay with showing you.

 April 2010

August 2010

Christmas 2010

These are my now pictures (I won't say after because I'm not done losing)

Christmas 2011

 Feb 2012

March 2012

30 Before 30~ Find a job I love

On my 25th birthday I started compiling a list of things I want to accomplish, a 30 Before 30 list. It has been a slow process of crossing these things off my list but today I get to cross of number 18. Once I graduated from nursing school with my ADN I needed to pass the NCLEX and find a job. The NCLEX was tough, but I passed with flying colors! The finding a job part seemed to take forever! Almost 6 months to find a permanent full time position! Just a few months ago on Valentine's day I started a great job working for Macer Medical. It is a great working environment, and Dr. Macer is always teaching me new things. As a nurse I always thought I would need to work in a hospital, but as it turns out working in a clinic is great for me! I have great hours, and weekends/holidays off! I even have some wiggle room to go back to school and get my BSN if I want to. Dr. Macer is even starting a new business called Medilean to help her patients lose weight. I'm excited about it because I get to be here while it is just starting out, so she values my input which is great! I get more responsibilities all the time and even got a raise at my 90-day evaluation! This may not be my forever career, but it is a job that I love. I love being a part of the Macer Medical staff, and I hope I stay a long while!

30 Before 30~ Finding a great church

A while back I created a list of 30 things I wanted to accomplish before I turned 30. Since they were in no particular order I started with #29 to find a great church. Shortly after making the 30 before 30 blog my house was broken into. It was heartbreaking, and scary all at the same time. In the middle of the day by breaking a door in the sun room somebody came into our house and stole all of our jewelry, most of our electronics, and much more including the feeling of security. Friends and Family were of great support and I cannot thank them enough for their kind words, offers to stay, and even some financial help, so that we could replace some of what was lost. We will never be able to replace the rings that were blessed on our wedding day, but our love for each other will never be lost.
I decided that this was a better time than any to turn to God. Ever since we moved to Long Beach I said that I wanted to find a church where I could feel like home so I finally set out to find one. I started by a mere google search for churches near my house. Then I looked at websites and narrowed it down to 3 churches. I went to United Church of Christ first, and I liked it a lot and felt good about my first visit, but wasn't sure if it was my "home" church or not.
Then I went to Parkcrest the following Sunday. As soon as I got there I felt good about it, but then the sermon started and I realized this was the church I was supposed to be part of. I never even needed to go to the 3rd church. The sermon was about rethinking fear. It was exactly what I needed to hear after my house was broken into. I had felt broken, and unsafe in my own home. The sermon taught me to not allow fear to have the final say, and to be proacive instead of reactive. So we got an alarm system, and a new Dog. My FIL also put bars on the windows. I feel safer trusting God and relying on him in the midst of my fear. So since my first visit I have been attending Parkcrest heartwell campus. The sermons have been amazing and I really look forward to Sunday mornings.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7




ETA: I brought my Mom to church with me last Sunday and it turns out the associate pastor Married my Parents!! And the main pastor Mike interned under my old pastor, the one who married Josue and I. SO I guess this church was meant to be.

30 Before 30

Just after my 25th birthday in February I started compiling a list of things I really want to accomplish in the next 5 years. I like to think I am a goal oriented person so I hope that writing these things down and setting these goals for myself means I will accomplish them. These are not the most adventurous things, but just normal things I will aspire to finishing.

Daniella Karinne's 30 before 30 list

1. Buy a house
2. Make a family; have a child
3. Run a 5K (well at least jog it)
4. Go to Hawaii
5. Go to Punta Cana, DR
6. Go to Mardi Gras
7. Be brave and go back to Mexico
8. Visit NYC with Josue
9. Go on a classic American road trip
10. Go on a road trip up the pacific coast
11. Go on a mission trip
12. Learn conversational Spanish
13. Lose 30lbs
14. Read the bible all the way through
15. Purchase one piece of expensive jewelry for myself
16. Go snorkeling
17. Go Kayaking
18. Find a job I love
19. Take a pole dancing class
20. Begin more philanthropic ventures
21. Learn how to make a gourmet 5 course meal.
22. Finish my in progress scrapbooks
23. Make a first year scrapbook for my phantom child
24. Pay off our debt (school loan & Truck)
25. Grow berries and more organic things in my garden
26. Write a book (TKN?)
27. Start a retirement plan or an investment portfolio
28. Make a difference in at least one person’s life.
29. Find a church I really like
30. Forgive and move on

As I finish these I will cross them off my list and write a blog about each one.

When I am finished I will write a 40 before 40 list and so on.

Hopefully by then I can add some more adventurous things to my list.