man my life stinks...i woke up this morning to my annoying dogs wanting to be taken outside...it was entirely to early for me to wake up...i mean i am usually up by 6:30 or 7 but my dogs have made it a habit of waking me up earlier than that...i am thinking about getting rid of my alarm clock since i don't need it...or maybe i should just get rid of the dogs...they cost more money than the alarm clock...a couple of days ago we took them to the vet and it cost us $111 just so that the doctor could tell us that they are fine...man i felt like burning my wallet...

not much is going on for us...yesteraday was really a lazy day...i worked and got a bunch of stuff done but for some reason i felt like i just wanted to fall asleep...maybe it the fact that i am losing weight yet again and my diet is called "Just Don't Eat"...i may need some strength...anyway i allowed my weight to get back to around 195 and that is not moving in the right direction...

also ale is getting sick...which is both good and bad...on the bad side that means that my food may be contaminated because she is the one that cooks for me...also it is difficult to give my wife a kiss since i know that i am putting my amazing body at risk of contracting the same virus that is now ravaging through her body...the good is that she is not wanting to out as much which means that only the vet will have access to my wallet...i think its punishment for trying to break me when we went to wal-mart...

i hope you all have a good day...i will try to update later on since right now i have to go to see my mother...as you all know my mom has been sick and it helps to see me and ale in the morning...so we try to make it over at least once a day...please continue to pray for her....take care people and don't allow yourself to be lazy...

i feel like an update is warranted since we have had an absolutely jam packed week...starting saturday we began to make final preparations for the pastors conference and we started receiving people on sunday...by monday things got rolling...john, blandy, justin, jacob, and roxy arrived on monday as did tio noe...it was really fun to see them again because we got to meet one of the newest members of the mendoza family, jacob...it was also amazing to see just how much justin has grown...it is incredible to see how smart he is and how he is following in his father and grandfather's footsteps of preaching...i wish i could post that here but i do not have the video of justin preaching...maybe blandy can post it on her blog...tio noe looked great...i think he has lost some weight...of course i give him a couple of weeks and i'm sure he will regain the weight...jajaja...everyone was really busy but we still had a great time with the family...

every day was a blessing from the Lord and i am so happy that i was able to attend almost ever night...the first night i had to go to sarasota because ale and i had to take moises (audy's little brother) back to sarasota because his practice started on tuesday...i was able to attend every day after that...it was really awesome...

the all-star break for the lakeland flying tigers is here and the guys had a few days off...right now lester and audy are here watching a movie with us...the season starts again on monday and it will be difficult for them...they will have a double header on monday starting at 5...then a 10:30 AM game on tuesday then another double header on wednesday...that means they will play 5 games in 3 days...trust me that is not something they like...tired arms and tired legs are not a good combination...hopefully the boys can pull through and have a great rest of the season...continue to pray for them...i have to tell you lester is fat...jajaja...that's it...i know he will read this later on....

everything else is going well we are just trying to recover from last week and that has proven to be tough...on friday i had to get up early to take care of some loose ends at the bank...satuday we woke up at 4 AM because some idiot drunk driver who decided to drive in our appartment complex crashed into the extera that audy is driving....so a guy is banging on our door to tell us that some guy hit our car and drove off...the police showed up but couldn't do anything...sunday was another early day because i simply couldn't sleep...so hopefuly tomorrow i can sleep in a little...my body is just tired...anyway i hope all is going well for everyone...take it easy...

to start this i just want to let you all read the article that was in the USF newspaper on Jafet...I am really proud of him and I can't say enough about how hard he has worked...he has really made all of our family proud...later i will update on the stuff he is doing in the DR....anyway you can click on the link to read the article...it is also on the "opinion" section of vidamendoza.com...

ARTICLE IN THE USF PAPER ON JAFET

well i can't say that my week has been a bad one because that would be a lie...but i can truthfully say that it has been extremely busy and stressful...i had a test on monday so i studied like crazy...i studied all day thursday, most of friday, saturday, sunday after church, and monday at the beach...all in all i estimate close to 25 hours of study time for a 20 question test!...alejandra says that i study too much but trust me the tests are that difficult...monday was especially a difficult day because we had a field trip with the guys from extended spring training...

we left at about 9:40 and arrived at the Salvador Dali museum in St. Pete...it was a good experience for the guys...remember that most of them do not get exposed to this type of thing...a little culture never hurt anyone...the first field trip was t a classical music concert...most of the guys were skeptical at best about the concert but they ended up enjoying it...the next trip was to MOSI in tampa...it is a science museum where they have the famous "bodies" display...that was very interesting...

after the Dali Museum we went to the beach...now as some of you know i don't much like the beach during the day...the last time i really enjoyed the beach was when ale and i went at 5 o'clock and the sun was on its way down...i really don't understand how people can go sit out in the boiling sun, jump into salt-water that makes you sticky and gross, and swim in water that may contain sharks, jellyfish, and who knows what other crazy animals are in there...i like the A/C and I like the pool at night...jajajajaja...but it was all worth it to know that the guys were really enjoying themselves...they live very stressful lives and are under constant pressure because their immediate future is crowded in uncertainty...they had an absolute blast...i had to go back to the van and study for the test...i was sweating like a pig...man it was gross...

anyway all of the studying paid off since i got an "A" on the test...but it was because of a miracle...i will tell you all about it later since this entry is already getting too long...

by the way my parents went fishing with they guys from extended spring training today and they are just getting home...really an all nighter...

Yesterday was one of those days...just crazy!...I had been working all day when my mom calls me and tells me that she thinks that one their dogs may have a broken leg..."one of their dogs" can mean a whole plethora of dogs since they have tons of dogs...anyway I make my way to their house only to find out that the dog is seriously hurt...the bone had been broken so badly that it was sticking out of the flesh...it turns out its Jafet's dog Lady...so we took it to the vet and they kind of fixed her up...they placed the leg in a splint and it seems like the dog will be fine...but the vet said that surgery would be the best option...the leg was broken like a twig...it was really bad...anyway that did not help my mom who is still going through a lot since jafet left...she is doing a lot better but she has her moments...

the dog being hurt ruined our plans since ale, my dad, my mom, and me were going out to eat at buffalo wild wings...but food had to wait although it may not be a bad thing...i have kind of put on some of the weight i lost again...i have gained 3 pounds and that is not good...other than that everything is great...i do ask for your prayers as school rolls on...it has been crazy...monday i have a test and i have already dedicated almost 20 hours from wednesday to friday just studying for the test and i am still not done with all the study guide we were given...i am really thankful that the test is only on two chapters...anyway today i plan on studying like crazy again...i'm telling you i have no life...all i can think of is debits and credits...this can't be good for me can it?...

I hope you all are doing well...please continue to pray for jafet as he continues his work in the Dominican Republic....he is doing a fantastic job and we are so proud of him....anyway he sends his best to all of you...its really early in the morning here so if there are any incoherent thoughts in this update...blame it on the morning...have a great saturday!....

I just wanted to post an update.  I am about to have lunch because I am hungry.  Things are going well for Ale and I as the Lord continues to bless.  Jafet is doing well in the Dominican Republic and he has been given more responsibilities by the team.  Please continue to pray for him and my mom who is still having a tough time dealing with his departure.  She is doing better as family and friends have pitched in as we try to get her mind off of the situation.  Yesterday my mom, dad, isaac, medardo, alexis and lebron went fishing and Alexis caught a huge fish...he is going to think he is all cool for a while...don’t worry I will call and bring down his self-esteem...

School and work have been going well...I still can’t believe how difficult school has gotten...it has forced me to work harder and study much more...I am very thankful to the Lord because He has really helped me...On my first test of the year I thought I failed but I was  able to pull an “A”...my second test gave me the same feeling but I pulled an 88% B...so not bad...but believe me this class makes me feel dumber than I really am...

I updated our pictures from our trip to Chicago...They are not the best pictures but I hope you enjoy them...check them out by clicking the "gallery" tab on the top menu...I hope everyone is doing well...remember to behave and be good...have a great week