A little more about me...

Prepare yourself, this is a bit longer than the first one.

One of the hardest things to do is talk about yourself, or is that just me? It usually takes me a while to warm up to someone and even then, I would rather ask someone else about themselves than talk about myself. Anywho, that needs to change. I want to be more comfortable talking about myself, because I like where I'm at in life so I'm hoping that makes it easier.

It's 2020, new decade, new age group, 30! Whaaaat? Still doesn't feel like it, but work is making it a whole lot easier for me to feel my age. How does graphic design make me feel old? It doesn't. My full time job is actually not that. I work at a high school as a bilingual teachers assistant, helping kids that know little to no English. I go to their class to translate and explain whatever subject they are working on. So depending on their class, I need to be able to understand certain subjects I haven't studied in over 10 years. Wow! Writing that down really put into perspective how old I am. Words of advice, if you ever want to feel your age, go work at a high school.

Family

So, continuing on with this "talking about myself" theme. My first name is Maria, and I've honestly never used it. I've always gone by my middle name, Nelly. I guess Maria is kinda starting to grow on me since I'm entering the "señora" stage according to these high schoolers. I'm Mexican-American and fluent in both Spanish and English. I have some wonderful nieces that I love with my whole entire heart, they are my life! I would post pictures of them, but my brother and sister-in-law are not big fans of the girls pictures being posted publicly and I respect that. I have 2 hard working parents, and 2 younger brothers as well, no sisters. However, I am lucky enough to have found amazing girlfriends and a sister-in-law! Been with my boyfriend for a little under 2 years, he has 2 boys that are just, such boys. Sour patch kids if you will, because they can be sour but they're also the sweetest. Roughest little sports players but love arts and crafts. I love my boys.

El novio y yo at a friends wedding.

Hobbies

Well I guess by now you know I'm artsy. I love creating all kinds of things on the computer. Buuuut, I also love creating things the old-fashioned way, getting my hands dirty with paint, chalk pastels, charcoal, colored pencils, crayons, you name it, I love it! I've also had a Cricut machine for a little while and I love creating things on it. It's def something I plan on using way more this year.

Another hobbie I love, that in itself is another art form, is escaramuza. Pronounced exactly how it's spelled, es·cara·muza. In English it means skirmish. This is a team of 8 girls on horse doing synchronized exercises in the center of a round arena. We ride a side saddle, wear a big flowy dress, and a sombrero. This is the national sport in Mexico, not soccer surprisingly enough. It's easier for you to see for yourself than to explain it. It's a blood, sweat, tears, early mornings, late nights, rain or shine kind of sport, and it's such a part of me that I literally can't seem to retire from it. This is what most of my summers have consisted of since I was about 11. It's time consuming, but I love it. Nothing connects me to my Mexican roots like this sport does. To me it's the epitome of what it means to be Mexican. Now, I might be biased, but let me tell you, my team is pretty badass. Not even talking about competitively, (which we are) but the women I ride with are just the absolute best. I can't see myself being part of any other team. Coronelas de Illinois for life baby!

These are pictures from our last trip to a nacional, November 2019. Nacional is kind of like the olympics for us. You have to qualify to make it, and it's an unparalleled experience. Simply the best, no matter the outcome.

Photo Credits: Pasion Charra

Moving on, I also help, on occasion, coach a youth team for this very same sport. They are the most dedicated group of little girls I have ever met, they are Las Monarcas. They are coached by a pair of amazing women, Nancy and Adriana, but also by Nancy's husband, Jorge. The girls have benefited from them so much, they are chingones at what they do. The girls have grown so quickly that we still find it hard to believe how much they accomplished in just their very first year of riding. It's also amazing how much you can learn from teaching kids. You end up learning just as much, if not more than they do, without even realizing it. They started on stick horses, yes, stick horses. Some as young as 4-5 years old. Now, they've "graduated" to real horses, just like the adult teams. Some of our youngest girls are only 6 or 7. They ride exactly how we do, side saddle, dress, sombrero, the whole nine! And they do an amazing job. Really hoping I can continue to learn from them. I could go on and on about this sport, but I'll stop there. Proud doesn't even begin to express how I feel about both these teams.

These are the most recent pics of Las Monarcas. Some are from their competition in Oklahoma and some from Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico, yes, MEXICO! First year riding and they already made it to nacional. #goMonarcas

Photo Credits: The Parents

So, that's me. I could probably come up with more, but I also don't want to this to turn into a book. I've lived a pretty great life, with some curveballs and pain, but who hasn't? I can't complain, I have my health, my families health, a roof over my head, stable job, anything more is really just a bonus. If you're reading this, thank you for sticking around for the whole thing.