My 37th year

It's a little weird to think I've actually been alive, and survived, 37 years. With everything that has happened to me, I'm still upright. 

My life has been very privledged in many ways. I was born to a Mother, whom I resemble in so many ways. Her characteristics of loyalty, determination, tenacity, true love and deep friendships are all things I strive to attain on a daily basis. 

I then found a man, at the age of 17, who I would marry and have two amazing and beautiful children with. He, himself, has stood upright through his own traumatic childhood and then he married me and we, together, encountered a ride which would've taken almost any marriage down. Both of us have grown from it all. We are different people but I would hope this happens. I was 17 and he was 18 when we met. 

 

Nick and I are moving through life. He understands me unlike anybody else. He understands the rebel in me and the way my personality rolls. He just turned 39 and then I bring up the rear as I turn 38. It has been 20 years that we have been together. He and I have been together more than half of my life. That truly boggles my mind. 

We are once again making a geographical move so we can begin to grow, once again. 

I will begin to stretch my wings too. I've spent 6 years building a company that was nothing. I have built a name for this company. I have been so closely tied to this company. My persona has become PhotoFunBooth. I look forward to working, in my 38th year, to a new beginning. 

Here's to my 38th year! 

 

Look what I found!

Wowser! I had a friend say she found my blog on the internet and then my son said he had been searching online and saw a blog about him. I was confused because I hadn't written on it for what seemed like forever. After a quick search, it turns out it was there. The last post was in 2011 and this seems like forever ago on so many levels. For myself, 2011 is when everything changed.
My family and I made the trek back "home." Nick and I were both born and raised in Tucson, we both left for college and after a short stay back in Tucson we got out of town. We both had no real desire to live in Tucson. I think for me, Tucson was where I had grown up and needed to spread my wings. For Nick, he had so many bad memories of family issues he couldn't wait to leave. When Nicolas was 4 we left and had no real desire to ever look back.
Then came 2011. Nick was transferred back to Tucson with his company. 9 months later the company downsized and he was caught in that. Before any of that happened we had decided to buy a little photo booth company from Nick's cousin. She had one booth and it was really just going to be a hobby for me. Something to keep me busy on the weekends. Two months after the purchase Nick was laid off. What was going to be a hobby quickly turned into needing to be a full time job and as I usually do I took off with it and never looked back. My son was use to me being involved in everything he did and I now had a two year old little girl who just wanted her Mommy. Nick too was accustomed to me being the one who organized everything for our family. With the purchase of PhotoFunBooth in April of 2011, everything changed.

I don't want to sound unappreciative, at all. The doors were opened for me to really find my independence and boy did I. I began working 7 days a week on promoting my new company. It was a TON of work but I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed having my name known. I wasn't any longer just thought of as, Nick's wife. I was Errin Mendibles and people wanted to hear what I had to say. It was so liberating and freeing.
I loved my husband but I was always, just his wife. Very few people knew my name. We would go to his work parties and they, "all loved my husband. " He traveled out of town at least 3 times a week and sometimes more. he was all consumed with his work and his work was all consumed with him. It isn't a bad thing but I lost myself and that, perhaps, is why everything happened.
I was working 80-90 hour work weeks. Nick quickly became Mr. Mom. He was now the one picking the kids up, cooking and cleaning. He said he didn't mind doing this and I don't think he did. I think what hurt him the most was his pride. He liked working. He liked being the one to provide for his family. In fact he thrived on it. So we had a clashing of our pride. I needed to work again. I wanted to work again. I wanted my own identity and I didn't want it to be associated with his work.
2012 quickly came without much change and then he was offered a job in VA. He moved out there and we were to follow in three months. We Skyped with one another and with the kids. It wasn't the same as seeing him in person but we never fought. It's hard to fight with somebody over 2,000 miles away. Then the unthinkable happened. two days before the movers were coming to pack us all up, his company, abruptly, let him go. Needless to say this company had done the same to 3 previous HR Directors but nonetheless it was a HUGE blow for Nick's ego as well as our families sense of security. Nick came home and we had no idea where we stood.
So we stretched into 2012 and everything began to unravel for the two of us. He didn't want anything to do with PhotoFunBooth and I wanted to only be working. All of a sudden my job was what was keeping us afloat. It was my excuse to be working so much as it had been his excuse for so many years.
I always put on a happy face around the kids but deep down I didn't know if he loved the new me. I just wanted to hear him say how proud he was of me. I always had people telling me what a great job I was doing but the one person I wanted to hear it from wasn't even whispering it to me.
I began to silence my marriage doubts with work. Oh how quickly that turned into a problem. A very big problem. I truly didn't even recognize myself any longer. I was great at hiding my disdain for the realities of my life but my husband and kids saw me every night and knew.
And then in 2014, my business was thriving but my personal life was hanging on by a thread. It was a very tough year.
2015 came and I tried my best to keep my head up. Nobody knew all that had happened to me and I wanted to keep it that way. In July I went off the grid. I went inward and finally broke down and told my Mom and Nick all. There was anger and then a lot of sadness. It was hard to watch the two people I care so much about be so sad but secrets makes sickness.
So in 2016 I rose from the ashes and moving forward. I have decided to not look back. I will not allow anybody take me down. I have no time for negativity or drama. I will continue to work on me as this is a daily process. In the meantime, I am reaching outside of my comfort zone and I continue to know, there's always tomorrow.
 

Throwing out the pitch for U of A baseball

 

 

     The legacy

All smiles

Chipotle is the sponsor on the score board!

Cole Frankle is agreeing to give an  autograph

Autographing the glove!

Here Cole give him a game ball too.

Signing the ball and glove

Dad and son on the field

The Mendibles crew without Bella though

Coming off of warm-ups

Nicolas getting warmed up

Wow you've got a good arm kid!

"No I'm not nervous."

Thumbs up to Isabella in the stands

On the line for the national anthem

The scoreboard and flag.

Right after the pitch!

Right after the huddle and cheer with the team

There's Bella!

Nicolas got to throw the pitch out at the U of A baseball game yesterday! Chipotle was the sponsor of the game so the PR team asked Nick if he would like to throw the first pitch out at the game. They all know how much Nick loves U of A and baseball. Nick, being the great father, said he wanted his son to get to do it. So Nicolas went out and threw out the first pitch. He not only threw it, he pitched it and pitched a strike. The entire dug out cheered for him as well as the stands. It was great to see. The        U of A special events coordinatior said she's been working there for three years and hadn't ever seen anyone get it over the plate and get a strike. She was very impressed. Nick was beaming! He was such the proud Dad and I think he enjoyed it even more to be able to watch Nicolas do so well and throw a strike than he himself throwing the pitch out. They did allow Nick to stand on the mound with Nicolas when he threw the pitch.
All in all in was a great day and what an experience for Nicolas. I'll add more pictures soon. I'll get some from the media photographers that were there as well as the special events coordinator. Great day that Nicolas will not forget!

Salt River Canyon

We went up to the White Mountains for Nicolas' Spring break. We had a great time and saw so many cool sites that I hadn't eve seen. 

When we arrived at the cabin we rented there was even some snow left on the ground. It was pretty cold at night, down in the 20's and the days were mid 50's. It was a nice break from the heat of Tucson. The boys loved the pond that was right across from the cabin. They had a good time showing Isabella how to break apart the cat's tails. They chased each other around with them trying to fluff the other person. Bella wanted to go swimming in the pond and didn't understand why we couldn't. She was good though and just sat on the edge watching the ducks and calling out to them.

The boys were planning on going snowboarding for a day while Bella and I hung out at the cabin. They were gone for about 45 minutes when Nick came rushing into the cabin saying I needed to come outside quickly. I, of course, thought something was wrong. There was a little puppy in the back of the highlander. They'd found him on the way to Sunrise in the middle of the road. He was covered in dirt and had a cough. We decided we would take him to a local vet's office to see if he had a chip in him and try to find his owner. The vet let us know they see abandoned animals all the time coming off of the reservation. She said this dog was so lucky that we stopped for him because he wouldn't have made it another night out in the elements or even worse a coyote would have gotten him. So the dog came home with us and his name was decided, Lucky. The vet gave him a shot of antibiotics and a RX for an oral one too. She said the dog was about four months old and a pure breed golden retriever. She said these types of dogs are great family dogs because they're so good with children. 

We played around town with the kids and Saturday morning we left with a new member of the family. We had to leave early in order to make sure we'd make it back to Tucson in time for the 

U of A basketball game but on our way through the canyon we made a pit stop down at the bottom of the Salt River Canyon. My parents used to have a cabin in Pine top when I was younger so I remember going through the Salt River Canyon but I don't remember going to any of the water spots we found. It was breathtakingly beautiful. It reassured me there is a higher power to have created something that beautiful! Everyone played in the water, and my children actually went swimming in the freezing water. Even Lucky Boy jumped in. 

It was a great three days out of Tucson and I'm so glad we decided to get away, even if it was for a short time.

Enjoy the pictures!!!!

 

Nicolas, Isabella and their cousin Andrew

Look there's snow still

Pretty girl

Pulling the cat's tail apart

Mom and Bella

Wait for me boys!

OOOhhh Daddy!

I want to try

It's cold here.

No words needed

The lake by the cabin we rented!

Getting ready to go boarding

Instead they brought a puppy home!

Here Lucky.

She wanted to go swimming.

Of course Nicolas did too.

The bridge through the Salt River Canyon

The falls

Wow

Cute Family!

AAAHHH

Breathtaking

Great views downriver

Lucky was thirsty

Again

And Again

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