I'll be back in 2010 :)

Hey everyone, I've been really busy since my milestone birthday, but don't worry...I'll be back in 2010!

In the meantime, wishing everyone
Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year!

For all the latest on my life, check out my Facebook profile at:

My 40th Birthday Celebration

So I am now the big 40... Do I feel 40? You ask. Well I can say the number 40 makes me feel like I'm finally a "Grown Up". Meaning as a child I recall looking forward to being a grown up and now I feel like I'm there. 40 is definitely different than 30.

I now know who my true friends are and my family is more important to me than anything in the world. At 20 and 30 I questioned how I felt about my family, but now I know how I feel about them...I love them :) I want nothing more than to ensure my family is happy and I do my best to keep in contact with all of them. I also have new family from my husband, Dave, I love them just the same.

My friends...they are family too. A few of my friends, who were my friends at 30, are not my friends anymore and now I know it's for a reason. They wanted what they wanted, not necessarily what I wanted. I'm sure this feeling was the same on both sides. "These friends" are good people, but I know they didn't believe in me and I learned they are not to be trusted, but I do wish them the best. The friends I have in my life now...they know! I obviously feel the same way about them. We go through ups and downs, I get upset with them, they get upset with me, but there is LOVE on both sides and we all know it. They are the best and I'll never let them go!

As is standard procedure for my milestone birthday (20th and 30th birthday) I ordered a fun jump, invited friends, family (and their kids) and performed the Centipede. Check out these pics from the party:
Fun Jump________________Amanda & Katie (awesome friends)

Dee, Darla and Ted (my 2nd family)_________Joyce (mom in law), Me and Tanya (BFF)

The girls (toasting to my Bday)

Rushelle and Me (aka Shelly and Cheri)___Dave's cousins and me (Amanda, Michelle and Me)

My Bro (Brian) and Katie______________Me and Emily (my awesome niece)

Jenni, Cheri and Veronica_______________Deirdre, Selina, Bro, Darla, Cat and Tarah

Here is "the video" of me doing the Centipede:

This picture means the world to me! It's a picture of Dave and Emily the evening of my actual birthday. Emily whispered in Dave's ear (earlier in the evening) then they both told me to go pick up a movie at the video store. I could sense they were planning something, so I went to the video store. When I returned back to our house they cleaned, decorated, made party hats and surprised me with a mini- birthday celebration. How can I not love them? I do :)

Michael Jackson Remembered

Michael Jackson

August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

In our darkest hour, In my deepest despair
Will you still care?
Will you be there?
In my trials and my tribulations

Through our doubts and frustrations
In my violence, In my turbulence

Through my fear and my confessions
In my anguish and my pains

Through my joy and my sorrow
In the promise of another tomorrow
I’ll never let you part
For you’re always in my heart!

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone enjoyed celebrating America's Independence Day! I had a great time hanging out with friends...and my brother (I guess he would be a friend too)! Dave, my husband, snapped a few good pics from the party.
See below:

Darla and Brian (my bro)_________Selina, Brian and Me

THE GIRLS!!

Happy Father's Day...Dad :)

Unemployed...

Life may take you where you least expect it but always have faith you are exactly where you are supposed to be.

As I recently became one of the unemployed, I decided it’s time to pursue my dream to be a Writer. I figure since I write emails to customers all day, wrote several manuals and have been writing daily during my entire career span, it's worth a shot. I'm leaning toward a Technical Writing career since I've been in the high tech industry for over 15 years and am pursuing a Technical Writing certification at DeAnza College. Although, I’d be happy to write short articles and/or write a screenplay or two, as well. My primary goal is to keep a positive attitude and not give up! Here I go...

Check out my writing portfolio at:
Cheri's iFreelance Portfolio

My resume can also be found on my LinkedIn site:
Cheri’s LinkedIn

Here are a few websites, I frequently visit, which have helped to keep me in the loop on the latest high tech trends:

John Dvorak – Tech News and Trend Analysis

Unemploymentatlity.com

Mashable.com - Social Media Guide

American Idol 2009

"This is American Idol..." Aah, music to my ears. As we all know this year was full of ups and downs. I was lucky enough to be chosen as an audience member for this year's American Idol Finale and drove down to LA with my good friend, Tanya, for the face off between Kris Allen and Adam Lambert.

Many of you have asked me how you can be an audience member for the American Idol Finale, as I've gone to the Finale for the last 4 years. Well, I'm about to spill it (hopefully this doesn't ruin my chances next year)...
At the beginning of the season, I join the wait list by submitting my information on this site (with all 3 of my email addresses):
ocatv.com.
A few weeks later, I receive an invitation to be an audience member for American Idol. There are normally about 16 American Idol contestants when I receive this invitation. As I'd obviously prefer to go to the Finale show, I wait until the date passes for this invitation and resubmit my wait list request. Like clockwork, this second submission is the request for the Finale show. Keep in mind, they send out the invitations the Friday before the Finale, so there is not much time to plan if you don't live in the LA area. Next year I'm also going to try Seatfiller.com, as my friend had front row seats for this year's Finale.

Here's a video from where we were seated at the Pre-Finale show, after the show was over. You can see what a great view we had of Kris and Adam:

Guess who I voted for...

Honestly, I think Adam is the better singer/performer, but I picked Kris to be the next American Idol from the beginning of the season and stuck with him for the duration.
Plus, he's soo cute!

Here is a picture of me and Tanya standing in line for American Idol and a picture Dave took of me with my American Idol ticket in the background:

I thought this would be a good time to reminisce about a previous season of American Idol. Check out this video of me and my friend, Maricar, two years ago:

Happy Mother's Day 2009!

I spent Mother's Day weekend with my wonderfully, awesome Mom! I was feeling a little under the weather, but did my best to rally. We enjoyed Mother's Day weekend by catching up while pulling weeds in the yard, shopping for food and jewelry at Downtown Campbell Farmer's Market, playing a fun game of gin rummy and visiting the neighborhood I grew up in South San Jose. All in all, a perfect Mother's Day!

Here's a pic of me and my mom:

Hope all Mother's enjoyed their Mother's Day, as well!

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Happy Cinco De Mayo

To celebrate Cinco De Mayo, I ventured over to a friend's house for a fun-filled day with great friends! Here are a few pics of our wonderful day...

Hope all of you had a very Happy Cinco De Mayo, as well...

California Sun and Girls Night out

Dave and I had a wonderful time on the Santa Cruz coast. We decided we were due for a vacation. So we drove Hwy. 9 (back route from Los Gatos to the beach) to a wonderful spa overlooking the Santa Cruz Boardwalk beach at Chaminade Hotel, Santa Cruz, CA

Here are a few pics of me and my wonderful family at the beach:



And how can we forget "girls night out"!!! Here we are having a good time!


More to come...

Remembering 10 yrs. ago...

Today marks 10 yrs. since the Columbine High School massacre.
I often think back to the dreadful day when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris enacted an all-out assault on Columbine High School. I personally think every parent should remember this day and look at their children and ask themselves daily, "Do I know my child?" Has my child's personality changed dramatically since he/she has become a teenager? These are two questions, I've always wondered if Dylan and Eric's parents asked themselves, but to date they haven't spoken about any changes in their child's behavior during their high school years or answered the question, "did I know my child?". This is the only response I've seen, "Whether they had problems at home isn't known. Their families aren't talking."

Here's a picture of my visit to Columbine a couple of years ago:


And here are a few articles I found on the subject:

• Fatal Friendship - How two suburban boys traded baseball and bowling for murder and madness
• Two sets of parents reacted differently
• The Columbine Massacre 10 years later: what about Klebold's and Harris' parents?
  

Again, just my thoughts and from what I've gathered over the last 10 yrs. it doesn't seem like many people blame their parents. I understand there were other factors which led to their behavior change, but if I was the mother of a child who killed others, I'd say, "lock me up and throw away the key...and mean it!" And I would speak to any reporter or parent, who has questions about what I may have missed, so they could learn to listen to their children and ensure this doesn't happen again...

Let the memory live again!

Ooh the memories...a couple of weeks ago, I met up with a few high school friends and had a great time. It had been about 15 yrs. since I'd seen Alan and Kent. We plan to have another mini-reunion again this summer in Vegas and include more friends from our past. I'm looking forward to seeing my high school and post-high school friends again :) Here are a couple pics of Alan, Kent, Me and Deirdre:

Last weekend Dave's mom flew into town for Dave's Birthday. Although the weather was not cooperating with our outdoor fun, we were able to enjoy what little sun the weekend gave us, for some fun at the beach in Capitola. Here are a couple pics of our weekend:

Early this week a good friend of mine had a baby girl and I'm soo happy for her and happy to be an Auntie! Her daughter is simply adorable :)

And today I met up with my friends at Darla's house for a Jewelry Party. Check out their website if you'd like to plan a party and/or purchase beautiful jewelry: BlingItOn.net. Here is a pic from our day today:

Lastly, this week's episode of Grey's Anatomy gave a very thought provoking monologue and I thought I'd share with the world:
Trauma messes everybody up, but maybe that's the point. All the pain and the fear and the crap. Maybe going through all that is what keeps us moving forward...it's what pushes us. Maybe we have to get a little messed up before we step up.