21 Things I Love about Ma Pops

Today was a great day consisting of early morning World Cup games, delicious breakfast, basking in the sunshine at Jeremy's football game, cooking out, listening to Salsa music, presents, and pics...all in the company of the man of the day - ma pops.


I love...


1. His sense of humor
2. He gives 110% in everything he does
3. When he says “There’s a saying in Spanish…”
4. His elaborate stories that always require some sort of diagram, drawing, or map
5. How he can use metaphors to describe almost anything
6. His macaroni…among many others dishes
7. His 'uniform' - soccer shorts and a cut up sleeveless t-shirt
8. He would do anything in the world for his family
9. When he texts me “Sap”...that's it. just Sap. (meaning "what's up?")
10. His crusty feet and his eyebrows…or lack there of
11. He is always making sure I have everything that I could possibly need
12. Watching him dance with my mom and when he twirls me and/or my mom when dancing
13. He never fails to get an ab-workout in while watching tv (his mat)
14. He will help anyone when in need, and truly likes to
15. His sense of nationalism
16. that He served in the Air Force
17. His overused jokes that never seem to get old to him
18. His unconditional love for Lola (however odd it may be)
19. The way he designates nicknames for EVERYONE

20. The way we joke together

21. His sense of style...I think he is a pretty hip dude.

(she's replaced me)

The list could definitely go on for days. I love and admire him more than he will ever know. I think the world of him. He is an amazing person and I am so lucky that I can call him my dad. Happy Father's Day Pops. Uda Uda Best

- me

Compulsive List – Maker

So as I was contemplating starting my blog, I thought about what I could do to ensure that I post often. And it hit me…LISTS! I really think I am a compulsive list maker. Does anyone else feel the urge to make random lists while they’re driving down the free way, sitting in class, at work, laying in bed at night??? Well I do, and I thought I might as well use it to my advantage and instead of writing long boring ol’ posts (much like this one), that I would make lists! (I think I’m brilliant) The thought of it is making my brain go crazy and tons of titles of lists are popping in my head…its seriously a problem and kind of creeping me out now that I am talking about it. Well let me just let you in on some of the compulsiveness…I have countless Word documents titled with different lists ranging from Songs to Play at My Wedding, Birthday Wishes, Letter to Santa (including a list of my wishes for X-mas), Teaching Ideas, good Children’s books, a list of things I wont let my future children do (weird one I know), reasons I love my mom/dad, songs I’m digging at the moment, and many, many more….I have notepads galore all throughout my purses that are filled with scribbles of lists…grocery lists, things to do, random things that pop in my head. I have a journal with way too many ‘list’ entries…ranging from things I LOVE to things I HATE, to my OCD quirks, to Bucket Lists, a list of names for my future kids, a list of concerts I have been to, a list of peeps to invite to my wedding, lists of my favorite movies, a list of movies that I want to see before I die (dramatic I know)…okay I don’t really think I need to carry on with this insanity. I’m pretty sure you get the point. My name is Maria Soto. And I am addicted to making lists.

Ben Harper's set list that Jonah caught at ACL 2009 (pretty sahweeet) 

- me

Third Time's A Charm...Right?

So this is my third attempt at starting a blog (refer to the date of the first entry...I thougth it was pretty pathetic as I read it...I really seemed to have myself convinced that I was going to become a blogger. I typed with such excitement and eagerness. haha) anyway...I am really hoping I can make it past my first post this time. I don’t really know what it is that keeps me from making that second post, but it just never happens. But I’m determined to stick to it this time. With a little boost from my  Emsy BemsyI'm ready to rock n' roll.

I’m seriously like the queen of documenting everyday things that happen and blogging just seems like it should be right up my alley?!??…so I’m giving it one more shot. Here goes nothin….

- me

My New Hobby...hopefully

Alright! So I've finally made it here. I've almost gotten to this point once before (I created a profile, named my blog, and picked out a cute layout) and that's as far as I got. I lost my password, forgot the e-mail address I used, and that was the end of that. Now, I must say I am pretty proud of myself for actually getting as far as an actual POST!

SOoo, what finally got me here you ask? Well I found myself spending hours (literally HOURS) reading other people's blogs all the dang time {and getting made fun of by the mister because of it might I add}. I would get in bed at 11:00, thinking I was getting to sleep "early" and all of a sudden look down to the bottom corner of my computer and see that it was 2:00 AM! I decided that with all of the time that I spend creeping in on random people's lives, I could spend on creating my own blog. What a concept. Also, the past few weeks I have gotten myself into the habit of becoming a creature of my bed when I get home from work/school. I can easily spend the entire day SLEEPING. Once I've plopped myself into my oh so comfy tempurpedic mattress, I can't ever seem to get any motivation to get out from under the sheets (with the occasional trip to the freezer for Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream of course). So back to my point...I needed to get a hobby other than SLEEPING in my bed for countless hours at a time, so here I am. my new hobby = blogging. I figure, I can still be in my bed, but at least I'm working some part of my brain by writing right? SOoo here it is. my hobby. MY first post.

p.s. I really hope that I stick with this whole blogging thing, and post on a regular basis. But my procrastinating ways are saying otherwise. Well I guess we shall seeeee.....