papa

we call him ‘papa’ or affectionately ‘puppy’,

my dad is a man who treats everyone like family,

with such a big heart he exudes with love,

such an ego less soul must be an angel from above,

having a father like mine is truly a blessing,

every time we converse I learn a new lesson..

..about business, life or God, anything at all,

with him by my side I will never fall,

blood, sweat and tears, he sacrifices everything for his kids,

we’re forever grateful papa-may God bless you, long live!

Monica Sawhney

family

So I've been thinking a lot about family recently. Specifically I've been wondering why it is that we only congregate as a family for either very auspicious occasions of celebration or when a death occurs. What happens in the time in between those occurrences? Why do our meetings convene on such extreme emotional occasions?
I remember when I was a little girl and my Grandmother was still alive, every Sunday the whole family used to get together at my Grandma's house. And I mean EVERY Sunday. We used to cook and have a huge family meal together. After we ate, we used to look forward to the 'family lottery.' I can't explain how excited my cousins and I used to get after dinner. Each family would put 20 pounds into the lottery and I was in charge of collecting it from each Uncle (There was a total of 5 Uncles). My brother was in charge of writing down everyone's name in the family (including the pets) and they would be put into a little crystal bowl. My cousin would then close his eyes and place his hand into the bowl. I would begin to get butterflies at this point. Then the winner's name would be announced! Every one usually applauded and the lucky winner would collect his/her 100 pounds earnings! It was such an exciting day for everyone and each member of the family would genuinely engage with each other. I miss those days. It is a shame we never carried on with that tradition after my Grandma passed away. I would like to do something similar when I have my own family one day.....something to think about.

Warning

"I suggest we learn to love ourselves before it's made illegal"

Incubus-Warning

Just aint right...

After a lot of studying and deprivation of food and sleep, my significant other, yesterday morning, went ahead to take his LSATS. Upon arrival, he used his school id to register. He was about to take his seat when the proctor of the exam, stopped him in his way. To make this story concise, she essentially told him he would not be able to take the exam unless he used a fed issued id. A conflict arose as he had witnessed other students use their student ids with no problem. She said she didnt want to hear it and when he objected she told her assistant to 'take this brown boy out of here'. Ok, lets just stop here. Racism remark necessary? Not only is this argument trivial and invalid (as you are legally alowed to take your LSATS with a student id) but why bring race into it?!
When I heard this, I just couldn't believe how unproffesional the proctor had reacted. The unnecessary bureaucracy in this country is aggrivating!!! Another thing I have come across is, particularly when I was gaining admission into schools here; is you ask one person in an organization and they say one thing, and you go to another person and they say something else. It's not that persons fault it's just the way the system is setup. And in my opinion the system is dodo.

Leader Know Thyself!

I'm taking a Leadership class this semester. Couple of exercises I had to complete:

1)If you could choose ONE quality, trait or skill that is your strongest virtue, what is it?
A: ADAPTABILITY

2) If you could choose ONE quality, trait or sill that you most need to improve, what is it?
A: SELF-ASSURANCE

3) You are going to attend a host dinner for five people. You can invite anyone you wish, living/dead as long as he/she is a real person. Who are you going to invite?
1. Ray Croc
2. Jiwan Sawhney (Pops)
3. Will Smith
4. Alex Ferguson
5. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

What I've learnt thus far in this class is that unless you truly know yourself and your ways, you can not wholly succeed and fulfill your potential and become a true leader in life. Sometimes I find it difficult to answer questions about myself. This leads me to think that I really do not know myself all that well! I am still on the track to getting to know my persona. It'll take some time but I know that it is imperative to do so. It's also important to know that "If you aren't your own cheerleader, then no one else will support you".

Lightweight Champion!!

So after Wednesday night, I officially declared myself the Lightweight Champion!! Why would you do such a thing? I hear you ask. Well, to make a long story short, on Wednesday night I went out into downtown and before we went I had a mojito. I downed it in about 7 minutes and then we headed out to Club Pulse ("Orlando's Premier Gay & Nightclub & Ultra Lounge"). Before I proceed to talk about the alcohol related fiasco that occurred later on that evening, I want to mention how much I enjoyed carefree dancing, not having to co-ordinate my moves according to drunken perverted men around me!
Anyway, alongside dancing I also consumed 2 long island ice teas (within 10 minutes). The music was awesome, the vibe was top and everything was going great until I didn't feel all that..well, great anymore. Needless to say my evening quickly ended. Shortly after, to put it nicely, my body rejected the alcohol..several times. Yeah it was not pretty, and more than anything, so not like me. I felt horrible the whole night but I'm so grateful I was in good hands. The next morning, I experienced my first hangover. Eugh. Even worse was the lecture I received from my bro when I walked through the door.
Meh, I dunno. I just assumed that I could handle my drinks, but clearly not. I don't know why I consumed that much in such little time. I haven't drunk really since Cancun during spring break, and I drank a lot more then but I guess we spaced them out and drank immediately after eating so that must have made a difference.
Some may say it's not a big deal but it was for me. I felt like I had let myself down and that I had turned into the girl I never wanted to become. It was an experience I will definitely learn from and never repeat. That is for sure.

Taurus

I've never really known what to think when I've read horoscopes in the past but yesterday, in aid of starting a new year the right way, my brother told me to print off a list of character traits for my start sign, Taurus. He said, regardless of whether or not I believe they're true, I should adopt and affirm these positive attributes within myself. They are listed below:

• Steady
• Determined
• Dedicated
• Reliable
• Creative
• Kind
• Loyal
• Generous
• Practical/Sensible
• Easy-going
• Down to Earth
• Strong Roots
• Traditional
• Loving

Likes: Comfortable life, Independence, Expensive things, Delicious food and wine, Beauty,
A beautiful home, Gardening, Nature
Dislikes: Change, Manipulative people, Betrayal, Vulgarity, Being Controlled

All in all, looking at both positive and negative Taurus traits, I felt some of them made sense already. Regardless, if I act like I already have these positive attributes, then that should help in the process of bettering (is that a word?) myself .

Grateful

So I just got done paying school fees. One word:Ouch. This is the negative side of studying internationally. All I can say is that I'm so grateful for my parents supporting me through my education. I admire all my friends that are paying their own way through college.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I'm essentially here to babble about any new or interesting music, recipes, videos, ideas etc etc that may have tickled my pickle. Enjoy!