My younger brother, Brent, has always been the person that is always wanting to see the smile on people's face. Years ago, when I was in fourth grade, I was in a JROTC program with at my school. There we were required to wear the camouflaged uniform with the black boots and everything along with it. Well, Brent always watched my clean and shine my boot and always teased me, telling me my mom was going to send my off to the army that's why I was in the JROTC. After my fourth grade year, I transferred to Winslow, so that was the end of my "army" days.
As for my uniform, it became Brent's Halloween costume that year, but the boots I could not give up, so they remain inside my closet. Occasionally, I would wear them when I would go paintballing with my brothers, though after awhile I stopped going. Every weekend Brent asked if he could wear my boots and he was still in preschool at that time, so the boots were big on him and practically reached his knees. He would not take no for answer and I ended up having to lace the boots up for him and he would run around all over the house them. By then, I ended up giving my boots to him because I had no use for them anymore. Brent would always wear these boots everywhere he went: school, to town, to play outside, and once even to bed. He absolutely was in love with these shoes and they lasted up to his third grade year.
During his third grade year, he was given an assignment to write about something he likes the most and you guessed it, he wrote about the boots. I had never seen him so happy about something he wrote and he had a picture above it, which was cute because he really emphasized the black on the boots and the rest he drew in pencil. His story went a little something like, "My big sister gave me her black boots. I really like my black boots because I can go play paintball with my sister and brother."
It wasn't until after I read those two sentences, I understood the saying, "Other man trash, is another man's treasure". Throughout our years there has been something at one point that we saved from being thrown away. The little meaningless things that we have no use for, might beneficial for another. Being the oldest of my two brothers there's been numerous things that I wanted to throw away but they wanted it and made something better out of it. Like how I was really into drawing but I stopped because I didn't have time to draw anymore, but Nate wanted my sketchbook, paint brushes and paint, charcoal, and pastels. Majority of the things I gave him I never ever opened but when I gave them to him, that same day he did like three drawings and they were pretty good. My brothers have always been a big part of my life. My parents always used to tell me that my brothers are watching my actions and are learning from me, but really it's them who are teaching me.
Showing posts with label Learning new things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Learning new things. Show all posts
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Something New
This weekend was the first time ever that I didn't go to valley to watch the semi-final and final basketball games. Instead, for the first time I spent the entire day with my aunt and cousin brother. My aunt, Rae, is currently going to school at Northern Arizona University and my cousin brother, Colin, is a junior at Winslow High School. We went to town because he needed new clothes for a roping his doing this weekend and I needed new moccasins with my leggings attached to the new pair, our aunt was just the driver, but the trip was really for Colin.
My brother is careless, but I have never seen him so picky until that day. He told us before that he needed an outfit, I just didn't expect it to take an entire hour! He started team roping and well be roping this weekend in Holbrook, AZ, at the Tolani Lake Classic. My aunt and I started browsing through shirts after shirts, after shirts and every shirt seemed to have something wrong with it. The buttons were right, the shirt was too thin or too thick, or the color didn't match his rope! The last one made me laugh but he quickly defended himself by saying "my rope is an accessory to me." It wasn't until Rae picked out a blue shirt with black buttons, one pocket on the left side, without the shoulder design that he didn't like, and had the right thickness. Though it still didn't match his rope, so he ended up buying a new rope. Just his new shirt alone was about $65 and his two pants were $50 each, it was shocking to witness him spending all that money within minutes. Selecting his rope took even longer! From the rack, he inspected each rope and each one had a defect he named by just looking at it. "It's not balanced", "It's not straight", and my favorite "It has a bend", well of course it has a bend, it's a rope! After going through nearly all the ropes he finally found one that was "perfect" and I asked, "How did he know?" He undid the rope and told me to watch, then he threw the rope up in the air and let it hit the ground. I watched but I didn't know what I was really watching. Then he said the rope goes straight up and comes straight down without moving, that means it's balanced and the honda (the loop for the rope) is straight. Then I was amazed with how much he could tell about a rope with a quick glance. He then compared it to sports for me by saying, you spend hours at a shoe store looking for the right pair, then you wear the shoe in practice so that your used to it, and in practice you run and do whatever you need to do for the real game. It's the samething for me with roping, I trained my horse myself, I ride it everyday afterschool, I select the perfect rope, boots, and clothes, just so I know I did what I can to win.
I never noticed how dedicated he was to roping and it was impressive on how he compared what he does to what I did. He told me about some of the local ropings he goes to and wins about $800 to $300 each weekend. So he invited me to watch him in his first roping this Friday, I'll probably end up going to support him at his first roping. For him, it's just having fun and if he's lucky he wins. Rodeos do not interest me, but he bought my shoes for graduation with the money he won, I'll watch him (maybe). I love how my cousin has something he's dedicated to entirely.
My brother is careless, but I have never seen him so picky until that day. He told us before that he needed an outfit, I just didn't expect it to take an entire hour! He started team roping and well be roping this weekend in Holbrook, AZ, at the Tolani Lake Classic. My aunt and I started browsing through shirts after shirts, after shirts and every shirt seemed to have something wrong with it. The buttons were right, the shirt was too thin or too thick, or the color didn't match his rope! The last one made me laugh but he quickly defended himself by saying "my rope is an accessory to me." It wasn't until Rae picked out a blue shirt with black buttons, one pocket on the left side, without the shoulder design that he didn't like, and had the right thickness. Though it still didn't match his rope, so he ended up buying a new rope. Just his new shirt alone was about $65 and his two pants were $50 each, it was shocking to witness him spending all that money within minutes. Selecting his rope took even longer! From the rack, he inspected each rope and each one had a defect he named by just looking at it. "It's not balanced", "It's not straight", and my favorite "It has a bend", well of course it has a bend, it's a rope! After going through nearly all the ropes he finally found one that was "perfect" and I asked, "How did he know?" He undid the rope and told me to watch, then he threw the rope up in the air and let it hit the ground. I watched but I didn't know what I was really watching. Then he said the rope goes straight up and comes straight down without moving, that means it's balanced and the honda (the loop for the rope) is straight. Then I was amazed with how much he could tell about a rope with a quick glance. He then compared it to sports for me by saying, you spend hours at a shoe store looking for the right pair, then you wear the shoe in practice so that your used to it, and in practice you run and do whatever you need to do for the real game. It's the samething for me with roping, I trained my horse myself, I ride it everyday afterschool, I select the perfect rope, boots, and clothes, just so I know I did what I can to win.
I never noticed how dedicated he was to roping and it was impressive on how he compared what he does to what I did. He told me about some of the local ropings he goes to and wins about $800 to $300 each weekend. So he invited me to watch him in his first roping this Friday, I'll probably end up going to support him at his first roping. For him, it's just having fun and if he's lucky he wins. Rodeos do not interest me, but he bought my shoes for graduation with the money he won, I'll watch him (maybe). I love how my cousin has something he's dedicated to entirely.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
My Bundle of Joy
Babies. I have always have a fear of babies. I don't know why but I always try to avoid them as much as I possibly could. On the other hand, my mom loves babies so every newborn it was like we were the first to be there to welcome the new baby. I would just look at the baby and that was about it.
Though a few months ago, I was blessed with a beautiful, baby sister, Samantha, on November 10, 2011. She's really my niece but my uncle was the father figure for me as I grew up, and evolved into being my other dad over time. On the night of the Sam's birth, he was constantly texting me and keeping me updated until the actual birth-giving part of it. The next morning my parents left and said I could visit her until she was back at my uncle's, but that wasn't soon enough for me to meet my first sister. I say "my first sister" because I grew up with nothing but boys and never really had girls to talk to until I started going to school that is. But with my parents gone and my eagerness increasing to visit my sister, I asked a friend to take me to Winslow and since she had to pick up hay herself, it all worked out fine. The first stop was Little Colorado Medical Center, room 3, I remember walking through the hallways looking at every label searching for "Room 3". As I passed every room, my heart began beating faster and I became nervous walking until I reached the right room.
When I entered the room I saw my other dad, his girl, her daughter, and my baby sister. I hugged the three of them and stood beside my baby sister, she was asleep, so I began stroking her above her forehead and along her jawline, admiring her birthmark on her left jaw. I couldn't help but smile knowing that I finally have a sister of my own, so I held her hand and felt a warm tear gently roll down my face, tears of joy. Sam then moved her hand from mine then grasped my pointer finger and didn't let go until I had to leave. As she held on to my finger no words could ever describe the feelings that I felt that day for her. I stood beside her in silence listening to my other dad tease about him waiting for the doctor to tell him to deliver his child, his girlfriend telling me that she didn't feel any pain at all throughout the entire thing, and her daughter making fun of my dad telling me that he drove so slow from Holbrook to Winslow and occasionally I laughed with them. The four hours I spent with her felt like 20 minutes but my friend was waiting for me outside, so I had no choice but to leave the side of my sister. I said my good byes to the three and told them I would be visiting my baby sister as much as I could.
Samantha was the first baby I first held inside my arms and I enjoyed it a lot! I still have a slight fear when she cries inside my arms, but thankful my mom has been there for me to hand her Sam. I love spending time with my baby sister whether its a few minutes or a few hours, I know those are times that I will never regret. I am still learning how to feed her, change her diaper, and everything else you need to know to take care of a baby and I'm loving it and learning a lot. I just hope to be there for my little sister as she grows up, just as her dad was there for me as I grew up.
Though a few months ago, I was blessed with a beautiful, baby sister, Samantha, on November 10, 2011. She's really my niece but my uncle was the father figure for me as I grew up, and evolved into being my other dad over time. On the night of the Sam's birth, he was constantly texting me and keeping me updated until the actual birth-giving part of it. The next morning my parents left and said I could visit her until she was back at my uncle's, but that wasn't soon enough for me to meet my first sister. I say "my first sister" because I grew up with nothing but boys and never really had girls to talk to until I started going to school that is. But with my parents gone and my eagerness increasing to visit my sister, I asked a friend to take me to Winslow and since she had to pick up hay herself, it all worked out fine. The first stop was Little Colorado Medical Center, room 3, I remember walking through the hallways looking at every label searching for "Room 3". As I passed every room, my heart began beating faster and I became nervous walking until I reached the right room.
When I entered the room I saw my other dad, his girl, her daughter, and my baby sister. I hugged the three of them and stood beside my baby sister, she was asleep, so I began stroking her above her forehead and along her jawline, admiring her birthmark on her left jaw. I couldn't help but smile knowing that I finally have a sister of my own, so I held her hand and felt a warm tear gently roll down my face, tears of joy. Sam then moved her hand from mine then grasped my pointer finger and didn't let go until I had to leave. As she held on to my finger no words could ever describe the feelings that I felt that day for her. I stood beside her in silence listening to my other dad tease about him waiting for the doctor to tell him to deliver his child, his girlfriend telling me that she didn't feel any pain at all throughout the entire thing, and her daughter making fun of my dad telling me that he drove so slow from Holbrook to Winslow and occasionally I laughed with them. The four hours I spent with her felt like 20 minutes but my friend was waiting for me outside, so I had no choice but to leave the side of my sister. I said my good byes to the three and told them I would be visiting my baby sister as much as I could.
Samantha was the first baby I first held inside my arms and I enjoyed it a lot! I still have a slight fear when she cries inside my arms, but thankful my mom has been there for me to hand her Sam. I love spending time with my baby sister whether its a few minutes or a few hours, I know those are times that I will never regret. I am still learning how to feed her, change her diaper, and everything else you need to know to take care of a baby and I'm loving it and learning a lot. I just hope to be there for my little sister as she grows up, just as her dad was there for me as I grew up.
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