My Life the Musical

When I was a kid my parents split up and my mom and I moved back to Puerto Rico. Back in the states I was an only child (still am though) I was shy and conservative, didn't really had any friend that I can remember playing with. But that all changed living with my moms side of the family! As soon as we arrived we moved in with my grandparents for a few years while we were trying to get a place of our own. During the day my mom would go to work and I would stay at the house with my grandmother and my other gazillion cousins! My Grandparent have 9 grandchildren from which 4 of them, including myself, would stay at my grandmother's house while our parents worked.

Most of my childhood memories is playing with them like savage little monkeys around the woods of the 2 acres plot of land that my grandparents have up in the mountains. We would play A LOT, all day every day! Just to name a few games, we would ride our bikes, skates boards (or at least try!) Just for fun we would blindly throw rocks at each other while hiding behind the trees (that was like our extreme hide and seek game). Slide down the hills with cardboard boxes, climb the mango trees and try to swing of any available vine like Tarzan.

The introduction song for the Nickelodeon TV series called Rocket Power brings back the great memories of my childhood playing with the cuz's. And just like in the cartoon, I was the only girl in the group that liked to play their extreme games. One of our most difficult game to win was dodging my grandmother's flying sandals when we did something she didn't like. Does were the good old day just a couple of kids living the island life!

As we got older our interest started to developed. One of my cousins wanted to be a mechanic, the other an electrician, and another wanted to be a math teacher. I wanted to become a geologist. I love the outdoors and that line of profession seemed like a good fit for me. But as the years went by I noticed that we needed to work hard to accomplish our dreams. One of my cousins (that wanted to become a math teacher) ended up getting pregnant and married too young (at 16!!) Her dreams of becoming a teacher turned into other priorities. My other two cousins (her two brothers) develop the "Teenager Rebellious Syndrome" and their grades were plummeting to be accepted into any good credited university. From the 4 of us I was the only one to graduate from one of the best Universities on the island. It took me 8 years to graduate. Yes, I admit I took my time in school. But I enjoyed every second of it. I did two undergraduate research, went on internships, presented at geological conferences, participated in international field trips. I wasn't going to graduate until I took advantage of every and any opportunity. This next song called "Almost There" from the movie "The Princess and the Frog" explains really well my determination in achieving my goals.

8 Years later of hard work and my mom supporting me I graduated and was ready for the next phase of my life. But the hardest part about finding a profession you want is finding a job on such profession. As soon as a graduated I began to apply for jobs, but most of the companies on the island were not looking for geologist, they mainly wanted engineers! And if they did wanted a geologist, they wanted someone with more experience than a freshly graduated student. For 6 months I kept myself busy with voluntary work and eventually cutting grass for 7.25/hr!! Was cutting grass really going to be my future on the island? I needed out! I needed to find where I could put my skills to good use. But the bad thing about being part of a big and close family as mine is that sometimes is really hard to make difficult choices when everyone really wants you to be content with the status quo. I feel that this next song called "Where you are" from the movie "Moana" explains it really well.

Despite the "Don't go to far from home" lecture giving to me by some of my family members, I got accepted into the job position Im currently still on. I am a geologist at an environmental consultant company. But the catch was to move from Puerto Rico a tropical paradise in the Caribbean all the way to California the land of opportunity! I was thrilled for the opportunity, but also scared, excited, nervous, anxious, and worried. What was I thinking?! I'm I going to accept ?! Will I really drop everything and leave everyone behind? All these thoughts were racing in my head. But my mom told me "This is your next chapter, the opportunity you have been waiting for. Dont let it pass by." With her blessing my decision became easy, I accepted the job offer and with her help and the help of my grandfather I got on the plane towards my next great adventure. This next song called "On My Way" from the movie "Brother Bear" is my go to song when I visit a new place!

All the way on the other side of the globe. The new job was going great. New and exciting places to see! New people to meet... and that's when I saw him. The man that would become the love of my life. Meeting him felt like I was inside a Disney princess movie, but even better because this was real life! The next song is called "Part Of Your World" from the movie "The Little Mermaid". I was always singing and replaying it in my head since the day I laid eyes on him.

Butterflies in my belly, the constant thoughts of him and the amazing time we would share together exploring the outdoors. Being with him was like sweet electricity running through my veins, like this next song called "Electric Love" by "Borns". We knew it was meant to be and we tied the knot.

Some time later we were expecting our first child. But after 12 week I had a miscarriage and lost the baby. It hit us hard... I don't really know how to explain our grief. This next song called "River Lullaby" from the Movie Prince of Egypt for me is the best way of describing a grieving mother .

After the lost of what was supposed to be our first child I began to question and doubt myself. I wasn't confident in the decision that I had made. Mainly because I was feeling alone and homesick away from my family. Were my goals in life really worth it? Were they the right ones for me? There were times that I would cry for the life I had left behind on the island in pursuit of something even harder to acquire. In these moments of self doubt I would listen in a constant repeat this next song called "I am Moana" from the movie "Moana" . It help me remember all the great thing I had accomplish in such a early time in my life and all the other great things that I still needed to do.

A few months later we got pregnant again! Nine months after that we had a beautiful healthy boy. We were thrilled and excited, but most of all extremely happy for the next chapter in our lives together as a family. Our little baby boy gave us new priorities and a new visions of the world around us that changed into something magical. We began to experience the once ordinary things in life with a new perspective. Everything for our boy is new and exciting, so it became new and exciting for us too. This next song called "Here I' am" from the movie Spirit captures this feeling to the dot.

Most of us know, being a parent isn't easy. It brings its challenges and specially when it come to the first child. Everything is new for all of us. We no longer only have to care for ourselves but for someone else too. This teeny-tiny person being held up in my arms needs me, depends on me for his survival! And when his tiny tears drip from his eyes you would do anything, move any mountains to care for him. This next song called "You'll be in my heart" from the movie Tarzan help me alot to soothe the tears from my sons eyes.

When our son was born Covid hit the country. Our once somewhat economically stable situation in California became even harder to achieve. With our new baby and the fear of Covid, only one of us was working (which ended up being me, because I had a more stable job) while my husband stayed at home taking care of our boy. After a full year of only one paycheck coming in at a time, California "the land of new opportunities" didn't seem to bring us enough income to live in a safe environment. My husband applied for a job in the East Coast. He got accepted and we moved to a more affordable state. Don't get me wrong we still miss the West Coast, and we dream of one day returning. But for now we reminiscent the California life with this next song called "Pacific Coast Highway" by "The Hip Abduction".

We are all caught up to where we are now. Our baby boy just turned 3 and he is just full of life and curiosity. He loves the great outdoors like us and begs us to take him to visit museums, specifically the aerospace museums. (Don't tell him, but we have a surprise trip this Memorial weekend to DC to visit the museums there). My husband got certified as a dental lab technician and is currently making arrangements to own a dental lab. As for myself, I got promoted at my job and work with many different clients. I am also working on my next goal, to become a Professional Licensed Geologist. I'll soon be able to add the letters PG to my name! Things are looking up in our lives, this next and final song called "Safe and Sound" from Capital Cities captures the great mood we currently live in.

Thank you all for reading and listening to My Life The Musical Playlist. Hope to see you all again soon for My Life The Musical Playlist Part 2! :)