Our beautiful Nia, rest in peace. .Lost a friend, but gained an angel. January 15, 1973 - Forever in our memories

This is a cool video tribute that some of Noemi's Austin friends put together -- Nia, Living in the Moment.

The Choices You've Made

Experiences will show which choices
have helped you. To learn from experience,
decide to keep making those choices.
Experience will tell you which choices have
held you back. To benefit from even your
negative experiences, remember to
avoid those same kinds of choices.
The choices you've made have brought
you to where your are. Now looking at
those choices can show you where you
wanna get to where you wanna go.
You've experienced the reality of what
works and what doesn't, so the choices
you now make can be far more informed
than those in your past. You've earned
the ability to be very clear in your
vision for the best life can be. And
you've earned the ability to make the
choices that will actually get you there.
Look back at the choices you've made,
and consider what they have brought you.
They'll help you know what's best to
choose now.

- Nia

You Will Be Missed

One of my best friends, Noemi Pascual Pham, passed away on Sunday, August 13, 2006. We knew each other for more than 14 years (+/-, as my life is a blur and my memory sucks). When we first met, we just clicked -- I got her and she got me. I knew that no matter what, we would always be friends. Through the years, we went through periods of not talking -- which I will forever regret -- but whenver we did, it was as if we never stopped. We were cool like that.

The last time I chatted with Noemi was over AIM sometime in July. She told me that she had finally bought a house and was really excited. She told me how she spent most of her time (and money) fixing up the place. She also mentioned how she was planning on going back to school to get "the paper." She had a good job, but knew that she needed a degree to move to the next level. Overall, it seemed like things were going well for her. I was happy for her. ;)

Fast forward a couple of weeks.. When I heard the news that she had passed (not until the night before her funeral) my heart was broken. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to attend her funeral. I figured it was just as well, since it would take more than a day for me to say goodbye (although I would have really liked to have been there with her friends and family).

The recent developments surrounding her murder has answered some questions, but has raised many more. I know that a trip to Houston is in my future...to at least see Glen in person and let him know what a pathetic person he is. What a piece of #$%#@#^%!!

Anyway, here is her Guest Book to sign and a picture gallery that offers a glimpse of how beautiful a person she was.

For Every Ending There's a New Beginning..

Well, I'm vowing again to start blogging regularly. I certainly hope that I can keep it up, since my life just seems to be passing me by. To stay motivated (or maybe just an excuse to buy a new gadget), I just purchased the Sony Ericsson k790a (latest mobile phone from Sony Ericsson w/ a 3.2 MP camera and "Blog this" integration with Blogger). I probably won't receive it until about a week or so, but I figured now is just as good a time as any to start.

Usually when I try to blog, I end up either being too busy or too lazy. I often type up a post, and just don't feel it's ready to be published...heh. Going forward, I'm going to try to be less controlling. I'm going to try to speak and share my thoughts. Good or bad. Ready or not. I just need to learn to speak before the silence kills me.

Anyway, within the past year, I've had three deaths to cope with (i.e. my father, my aunt, and one of my best friends). All three were dear to me, all three left this world in very different ways -- one day I'll blog about this, and all three took a part of me with them. Anyway, I'm finding that every good thing comes to an end. They say that "for every ending there's a new beginning," so I'm trying to be hopeful and look forward to what's to come..

[Hrm.. Reluctantly pressing publish]