Another year, another letter to thank you, because even when you just read, it makes a big change in me, in people behind this and I cannot tell you how grateful I am for you, reader.

And for the second part of the year things indeed began to change and take a twist, but this part it's also about me and the changes I was making for myself.
July was a big month for me, I started a new job / came back to one of the most amazing place I've ever worked in, no one knew until the last minute, I didn't want to jinx anything, but when I got it I could feel this rush of anxiety and adrenaline, I was excited but a part of me was also scared about messing one of the most important things in my life up, but I'm glad I said yes to that and kept up with it.
August was what you may say changing mode, the summer had its end near by and school was coming, I finished succesfully with that and kept going, I'm not going to lie, after a month and a half working on an amazing team with amazing people, I was really sad to leave, but summer can't last forever and I came back for my autumn semester.
September, oh sweet september, everything about you screamed autumn and better days, most of my month was spent travelling a bit and getting used to idea of graduating and starting with all of the preparations for it, which freaked me out and I wasn't my normal self until later when I decided that pushing forward was the only way to go.
October, my lovely and dark October, it wasn't as easy as we had a few family issues there, some that managed to make me feel quite uneasy as my birthday approached, but the October Project was quite something else, something new and exciting that made me really happy and I would certainly be doing it again.
November was cold and so much like winter that I almost forgot the season, but it was all about work and getting back on my feet, because one thing I've learnt from my mama is that if you fall or you get pushed, you have to get up and keep moving, and ever thought it really took time for me to recover mentally, I did and started working and focusing in something else, something as exciting as the year before, because this is when all the stories began to flow and the "12 Acts of kindness" project was borned.
December went fast but leaving us with a great taste in our mouths, plus full bellies that wouldn't want to move until the next year, I got an opportunity at an old job to work for them, I've been deciding what direction I want to go next, Artiste's baby was borned and life seems better, I feel like more than ever, I'm ready for the next year.

Looking back to year made me realise how many things I've been able to live and to enjoy through this months and how many I shared with you in here, so much has happened that I don't even know where to start, I just know we are going to have a good life and enjoy the memories.

Photography became one of my hobbies when I started this blog, mostly because as much as I loved what other people took, I wanted to share my full on vision and how I saw things, but it wasn't and hasn't been any easier, but I truly enjoy going to places and seeing what's out there, that's another reason of why there have been many Photo Diaries and I assure you, next year there will be a lot more. In true Editor's Idea, I'll be sharing 12 of my favourite ones.












Matter of fact, the last picture was one of the first one I took this year and I love it, this set of pictures show how my year went, it had it's ups and it's downs but at the end, I had something beautiful coming out of them, either a lesson or a memory. Maybe 2016 wasn't your year or had some bad events, but that doesn't mean you should not learn from it.

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This year unlike any other, reading was a big part of my life, not only because I found amazing reads, but because it helped me discover new worlds and find hope in someone else's words, sometimes it doesn't matter if it's all fictional, as long as it has the good intentions and the right words, it can really bring a smile to your face and change the way your day went.

Let's get this opportunity to have a cup of tea and catch up like old friends would. It's been awhile since the last time I've updated you on what's going on in my life and how am I doing and let me tell you that there has been a lot going on here, but let's begin from the start.
Life has gotten busier and busier this month, at first I thought I was going to have a chance to stay at home, read a lot and relax, but if you have been a reader for a while you may know that things for me never go as planned, so I now have more responsibilities than ever and so much stress that my back it's starting to resent it. But let's go by parts because we are going to get really confused.
The month started with quite a lot of stress, I had a lot to plan, I had about half of the stories and the ending was nowhere near, along with that I had school and a few other bits and bobs that wouldn't let me fully take December as I first planned it, luckily I managed to finish my school work in time and handed it in for a few days of peace on that side.
I only had like 3 days at home that I would call "holiday", I got an opportunity that I couldn't turn down, I now have an office job along with my other part time job, I took it, I decided to push myself into doing something new and exciting and here I am with no time and no plans of relaxation.
Through this days I also stumbled upon some family issues that messed me up a little bit, it was one of those times in which it was something I couldn't take out of my head, so the overthinking started and even when the solution was in front of me I couldn't handle it properly and it frustrated me a lot.
I had a pretty bad nights of sleep, I was feeling really tired, moody, in physical pain (over the lack of sleep) and I was not my happy self, the only way I can explain those days it's like I was living in a bubble, I could see but nothing was coming in.
But as problems began to solve, my schedule began to take shape, I began to feel happier and better about my life and I also had a good chance to see why I was making the decisions I was making, at the end I'm fighting to get somewhere and that takes a lot of work, but that doesn't mean I'm not taking days off and enjoying myself and my loved ones. It's all about balancing and timing, I will be struggling a bit some days and feeling oddly defeated but at the end it will all be worthy.
As you are reading this I'm on holiday with my family, I will be enjoying time by the pool, reading and maybe, just maybe, enjoying time with my family and friends a little bit more, as I haven't had that chance to be as present in their lives lately.
Hope you had a great day, weekend, month and year. My best wishes to all of you and keep on dreaming.

Ever since I was a little kid, I've seen my parents help others, they are always the first ones to raise their hand when someone needs help, so I grew with this positive image of people helping others, trying to make the world a little bit better, but lately life has been harder, every time you turn on your T.V. you can see something new happening, people attacking each other and it makes me sad.

One day I was going to have breakfast with one of my friends when I noticed I didn't had any money, I'd left it at home, so I decided not to eat until I got home, but she notices something was going on and as she was going to eat alone, she lent me some money, she read me.

"This semester a few boys made a project but it didn't work because they didn't calculate the amperage right, so I lent them the only transformer I had, they passed and I never got it back."

"A few days back a man was carrying a little cart of tacos and I saw how everything fell, it was pretty heavy because it had a gas tank, all because a car lost control and to not hit get hit, he fell to the side so I helped him pick everything up."

About two years ago I went shopping before having to go back to work, I got into the bus and sat down, about 4 stations from the one I was supposed to get down the lady besides me fainted, I turned my head and saw her eyes going white.
If you know one thing about me is that I don't know how to handle myself, let alone help anyone in this kind of situations, so a lady started telling me what to do and went into automatic pilot, I was moving but not really thinking, we got her down in the next stop and called the cop that was on the station for help.
She called her brother to come pick her up and we waited with her, I remember being terrified but looking for something to do that may help her recover and feel better, luckily the other lady helping was a nurse, she knew what she was talking about better than me.
Her brother came and took her not before thanking us for the help and telling her sister to never ever go again to donate blood without having someone by his side.
It was quite the day.

Once upon a time there was a biology group and an evil head office that decided to cancel the field trip, but the students and teachers would not give up, they had been planning all of those field trips for months.
After weeks of collecting signatures, reunions and many protests from both sides, the evil head office that was only counting on senseless arguments, was defeated, the students were able to go to their field trip without knowing some of the secret reasons of why the teachers fought with them.
They wouldn't let many students go, but they let two extra teachers in, they told us to fight for our field trips because it was our right, but they were using the spots we deserved.
Two of the head teachers turned to the evil side as they made every student pay more than they should for the room, even when they were more in the room to make it cheaper, but three brave students were not going to let that happen and only payed what they were supposed to.
The teachers began looking for the fugitives, checking room by room, counting and registering every student, but the three heroes were smarter and managed to fool them for one more night.
But the next day was not going to bring more luck, as they were getting onto the bus, they cornered them, seat by seat asking for the room information and checking with the hotel, it was the end for them, they were going to get busted.
Sadly that was how one of the evil teachers broke his character, showing his true self in front of everyone, while his partner was trying to figure out what had happened, the other one attacked them for the money, luckily for our heros, the good guy calmed the dragon and helped our heros come out victorious.
At the end some teachers do worry about their students, even when it doesn't show.

"One time when I was walking with my now ex, we saw a man taking an almost empty bottle of Coke out of of the garbage, I had one full bottle of water with me, we got close and we gave it to him, he was surprised and thanked us a lot."

"Coming back from work I saw two women, one was younger than the other one and she was carrying her baby, the other one was carrying a load of bags, so I helped her go up the stairs with the stroller and a few bags"

One day when I was on my way back to school from seeing my girlfriend, I got onto the subway and a guy sat next to me and started talking to me, telling me that someone was following him, he was not from the city and he didn't know what to do, he was asking me for help.
I told him to get down in the next stop but just right before the doors closed, to avoid them, once we were down I told him we couldn't keep going by subway, they would notice, so we got down and took the bus to the next connection.
On our way there he told me his story, he was from Monterrey and he was here pursuing acting, he was told to come here to certain address, but when he got there, there was nothing just two men that started following him, the only thing that he could come up with was getting on the subway and then he found me.
Right as we got to the station I told him I couldn't continue the trip with him as I was going to be late for class, but before saying our goodbyes I gave him the extra shirt I had with me, which also happen to be one of my favourites, I told him to wear it and disguise them. We parted ways not before I wished him luck getting back.
About a year later I got a call from him, he was back with his family and happy, his parents thanked me for helping him get back.

Have ever had to face tests?
This is the story of how I faced two of the most difficult, yet important tests in my life.
Through the years we live different things, each with it's own level of difficulty and importance, but what matters is that you learn from them.
Both tests started at the same time, but I didn't had to manage both immediately, everything has it's own process.
The first test started when I met this one really unique woman, she was different, that caught my attention, I wanted to make things right, so I waited and dedicated myself to her before rushing into anything, I needed to know if it was the right thing, luckily for me, it was, we are working through it, but it's all having a great start.
The second test has a close bound with the first one, one is product from the other one. This one has had a slow beginning, I tried not to rush anything, I've been letting things slowly develop, I know that he can feel when someone's being fake or not completely honest.
With time I've been able to to build a stronger relationship with them, to this day I know that if he were to chose, he wouldn't chose me, I've learnt that sometimes we hold on to hope for a long time, fortunately his age is on my side, I know that with time he'll be able to adapt and we may even build a relationship.
I've never been in this type of situation before, I've never been involved when there are many conflicts and many points of view getting in the way, but I've learnt from it, because there's a way of handling them by putting necessities over desires, by helping him understand the situation in a different way, a more positive one.
I'm talking about my relationship with a single mother, my main goal is to build a strong and positive relationship, filling every aspect of my life, bringing happiness back into our lives and being able to show her that nothing is impossible and to the little one, I want to show him that a break up doesn't mean loneliness, and making sure he understands that I'm not there to take the place I don't belong in, but to support him and her.
Now comes the part in which I tell you how am I, I'm good, they fill me with energy, happiness, stability and security. I'm excited to be by their side, making that bound stronger. I'm getting to know my new family.

On the birthday of one of my friends, we went out to a party, after a few drinks we were all wasted, I drank and drank but didn't feel anything. About 5 a.m. we were about to leave, I got everyone into a cab and left to leave them at the club, but I had to come back for my friend's car and to pick up everyone that was left there.
I was getting close to the party when all the alcohol hit me, soon enough I got a call from them, I got scared because they were inside a police station, I sobered up in a second when I heard that, I was so scared, it was one of those times where the alcohol leaves your system instead of through the night, in a minute.
I called them again and they told me that they just needed to use the toilet, they got in the car and I drove them back.

About three semesters ago, I had this one class on the afternoon with a bunch of my other classmates, I used to enter the morning and afternoon class so it was easier for me. When exams rolled around they made me do exams later because of the way I was assisting the class.
One girl asked me for help because she didn't understood anything, so I started using my free periods to help her but she never understood a word I said, when her exam came around I did it for her, I'd done it before, she passed, I didn't.
I even missed classes to help her, I stayed with her until later in the afternoon to help her and at the end she passed the class and I didn't.

About a week ago I had this really dumb accident, I fell down the stairs coming out of the subway, it had been a really tough week, I was really stressed over school, papers due and exams, I was running late and I tripped over, I was just able to put my hand to not fall down but my stuff flew around and this one guy helped me get up and pick my stuff, he then proceeded to walk me all the way to school and made sure I was better, well, more focused and with less pain.

Author's Credit

"You never know what you have, until you lose it" it's a common phrase to hear, but no one gives it the respective value until you live it.
Since I was a little kid, I grew believing I was the big promise, my parents gave me everything they could to make me the person they wanted me to become, they put their hopes and dreams on me, giving me everything a humble family could and I took it, every single thing, thinking that one day I would make them happy.
My potential developed, people used to think I was a genius, a prodigy, a person with great virtues and talents, capable of accomplishing whatever I wanted and what I wanted was to become an engineer. I had dreams and I felt capable of making them happen.
But then I met the world and realised that there were roads without exit, promises than can't be kept and dreams that stay in just that... dreams.
In the last few years I destroyed that life, little by little my life fell apart, my grades reached a critical point which led me to leave college, I lost the passion for my mayor, I realised that it was just admiration for someone in my family that had picked it before me, everyone admired him.
My family, my friends, everyone stopped believing in me, I slowly developed an inferiority complex, I let everyone tell me who I should become, who I should be, what would be my next step. Everyone saw someone else in me, someone I wasn't.
Before I knew it I was in front of an empty person, a person without dreams, without motivation, I was incapable of feeling, I was an empty shell being filled by other people words and desires.
In the next few months I met people that tried to entered my life, but I pushed them all away, until I fell in love with one of the best friends I've ever had, a girl that came into my life when I was empty, she offered me something to hold onto, but not all stories have happy endings and she left me when I let her life take over mine, she became my centre, my everything.
Once again I was lost in the road, a lost puppy without home, without motivation, without dreams, without knowing where to go.
Despite talking with my parents and looking for professional help, I was empty.
One day, a classmate offered me the opportunity to go with him to an IT course, he had been talking me into it for months so I decided to go. I haven't told him this yet, but that invitation has been the biggest gift someone has ever made me.
After the course, my friend's boss saw something in me and offered me to go and learn everything I could with the people under his charge in an IT consultancy, I was hesitant at first but said yes anyway.
The more time I spent there, the more people I met and the more I learned from them, they are amazing people with amazing stories of how they overcame some sort of bump in their road, all of this because of my boss' philosophy, one that I've been making mine too.
Weeks passed and I slowly became friend with the people that work there, my now boss told us about a trip to Guadalajara, we were invited and that trip was the second biggest act of kindness someone has ever had with me. It was a time out, an opportunity to get away from my life and discover many things I'd forgotten.
I regained my ability to be surprised, I reconnected with old friends that live there, I listened to many stories of people and how they overcame pain and how they live happy now, with problems as everyone else, but happy, that's when I decided to fill myself with my own life.
From there I've been working, day after day, to fill myself with something new, to get excited over little things, to study and go back to school. I look out for my independence, I laugh when I feel like it, I cry too, I get mad when I'm stressed but restrain myself from living tied to others and their lives, I want to live my own life and make my family and friends proud of myself, of the things I've achieved, respecting the philosophy of the ones that inspired me, helping others when they need it, being the best version of myself.
Right now, I'm a work in progress, there are many things I can't seem to let go, wounds that haven't healed, but I'm living at my own past, valuing more and more what's inside me, my dreams, my promises and my own way.

A year back I came up with this idea of using this space to share 12 stories that changed people and turned into who they are now, that idea came into my mind after having a fight with "Sourire", I realised that everyone in this city has something to tell and why not use this space to share it.