Pray tell, when was the last time you called someone just to say hello? A friend, your grandmother, your dad, your cousin? Whenever I get in my head, need a quick chat, or just want someone to spend time with, I think of my friends, of course. But I also think of my brother, my sister, my cousins, my grandma, and my parents. I think somewhere along the way, the line between family and friendship started to blur. My mom is my mom, of course. But she’s also my friend. We talk, we go on night bike rides, we run together, and we share parts of our lives with each other. And the older I get, the more I realize how special relationships like that are.

I hope all of you have people in your life who can be both family and a friend. People you can call just because. People who pull you out of it yknow?

I’d like to think I’m that kind of person for some of you too of course, a sort of father figure, if you will.

Happy Fathers day to all the father figures in my life, such as; Arturo, Ana, the León sisters, Giselle, Boq, and Melody.

10 year banquet! Everything that WE yes WE have been working towards has come to fruition. The banquet was wonderful, everyone looked magnificent and the vibes were just so great. We enjoyed our toast, which I so gracefully gave a quick speech for, cut our beautiful cake, and strolled and saluted. You just had to be there, you just always have to be there actually.

Spent some time with the cuzzos watching a few world cup games, I don’t know much about soccer besides the basics; some of these guys deserve Oscars.

BUT! I LOVE the community it brings, everyone is so happy and united and proud of the teams that represent their countries and if there’s anything i love its community. Because it’s not just about the sport, it’s about the WORLD.

This summer, one of my dearest friends, told me that if I’m not uncomfortable 90% of the time then I’m not doing summer right. And you know what, she is correct. I know what I like, I stick to what I know, and I like routine. I like predictable stuff, I think. Not too sure, does anyone ever really know what they truly like or just what they get dopamine from? Okay but to focus, long story short, she was just telling me to not be afraid to try new things and branch out. And she is so right. So this past thursday I went out to the city with Kari & Lih and it was wonderful. I rode the train for THE FIRST time and it was cute and relaxing at first. Then… I heard the saxophones.

We had to transfer trains to get to our destination, we’re running to get to our train and we make it just in time (we jumped over the turnstile and didn’t pay, basically felons), and the train cart pulls up and people are packed in there like sardines in a tin box. Let me tell ya, it. was. india. Liz looks back at me and says, “Leslie, be selfish. You have to fight for a spot on this train, don’t lose me.”. Then Liz literally disappears. And I felt like the frat parties I went to trained me for this moment. It was a dense crowd and I had to navigate through it, so I grabbed kari’s hand and together we pushed and made way into the train cart – finally locking eyes with liz. Before I could safely grab hold of Liz though, a man blocked my way! And I nudge a bit thinking, oh you know, he’ll be a gentleman and back off. I’m just trying to squeeze through. NO! News flash, this is india! So when I realized not only was he not gonna let me through but he was trying to BLOCK ME, I became selfish just as liz told me to, and I pushed my way through and safely made it next to liz and kari. It was INSANE, but for others it was just a thursday afternoon in the city.

Then, most recently on saturday morning my family and I went out to the park and we did a 6 mile run from one city to a neighboring city on a popular trail. It was SO FUN because we ran while my youngest siblings (4yo & 5yo) rode their bikes alongside us. My siblings are SO COOL because they did not get tired going uphill, they rode through busy crowds, made sharp turns, all that fun stuff. It was just a blast and we only lost Luke once!

Then saturday evening I had my line sisters graduation party. She’s a riot! I’m so proud of her, and experiencing undergrad with her will be a forever cherished memory of mine. Alcohol was involved along with a mechanical bull so you can imagine how fun that was. Like I said earlier, my friend reminded me to try new things, so I did something I NEVER thought I’d do. Which is ride a mechanical bull, and so I rode it once, got competitive, and finished the night with the longest recorded time on the bull muahahaha. I also rode it like 4x.

After all the festivities, I had a sleepover with my dear friend. I LOVE sleepovers. She’s currently dog sitting and one of the dogs IS SO FUNNY. I love animals with character bc this dog has the biggest eyes and teeth that stick out and she has a staring problem. Just adorable!

Lastly, for fathers day I spent some time with my dear dad and we watched toy story 5! I LOVE toy story. I’ve always had a thing for close-knit bonds, and the stories that touch my heart the most are the ones that show how time and distance changes those relationships. In my dreams, every single one of my friends and family stay together forever and ever and nothing changes. I get so sad when in stories or movies people have to split up or go their separate ways. I get why, but it always brings a teeny tiny tear to my eye. But toy story 5 was a touching movie and I recommend it to all my friends and family. This is the outfit I wore to the movie, I was channeling Jessie!

Lastly, I’d like to leave you all with this thought: what does it mean to be a father to someone? Is it to protect, provide, defend, and maintain? I would say yes. To protect can mean preserving a child’s sense of wonder. To provide can mean creating an environment of trust and safety. To defend can mean using your wisdom and experience to guide a child through things they may not yet understand. And to maintain can mean continuing to nurture and build the life and values you’ve always hoped to pass on. And I think when you think of fatherhood that way, your perception on who can step into such a role changes, because that could be anyone – and i’d argue it’s more of a feeling than a title.

I just think relationships and connections like that are so beautiful and I get emotional thinking about it and I just love love.

I’ve always found parenthood to be such a special thing, and when done well, I think it’s just an extension of our one true father’s love. Mr. G up above, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I hope you all had a great fathers day to those who celebrate, and a happy sunday to those who don’t. I’d like to thank everyone I love everyone and goodnight.

Songs of da week