MY FULL CIRCLE .... all the way UP and back....

PRE BIRTH.....

First it was mom and dad .... she married her sweetheart ... her first and ONLY love .... 

My mom and dad (RIP) my beautiful angels....

and they had us ... and mom sewed ALL our clothes INCLUDING our swimsuits .... my sisters and I ... from left to right my beautiful sister Dr. Maria Carmela (Mela) R.I.P., in the middle yours truly ME ... and on the right my beautiful lil sister Rosita ... my brother Roberto was still a wee baby....

CHILDHOOD .. me in my diamond patterned swimsuit in the middle of my eder and younger sisters....

ADOLESCENCE...

YOUNG ADULT ... YAYYYYYYYYYYY I AM A MOMMY TO MY FIRST BORN CANDICE MARIE.... oops weight starts creeping up...

and up....

and UP.... until BEFORE RNY WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY

and this was me last night .... FULL CIRCLE ... FROM 327 POUNDS HIGHEST WEIGHT ... to maintaining a total loss of 203 pounds 6 years and 5 months post WLS .... I am living my life like it is golden...

Going out with friends yesterday evening...

ME TODAY...

DYI grooming my DOGGIES....

NO REGRETS!!!! NO GOING BACK!!!! There is joy and there is misery in equal measures in this world ... like my friend Mary once said ... I am embracing JOY and MAKING IT HAPPEN to me!!!!

Thanks for allowing me to share ... snippets of my journey....

Nice, thanks for sharing.

thank you!!!

Absolutely love the old pictures! Beautiful parents! And of course I love the new pictures!

Thank you! beautiful....

My handiwork as a self-made dog groomer ... I have just saved me $150 twice a month in groomer's fees ... my dogs kept growing hair like crab grass in rainy season LOL ... I took my serrated shears and went to cutting ... I made Pierretta a pointy nose ... and both Chip and Pierre have donut faces and puffs on limbs .... OMG there was sooooooooooo much hair ... it was like sheep with wool LOL.... how did I do??

My toy poodle Pierretta who is expecting her first liter ...

My toy poodle Chip who is the sire of Pierretta's liter...

and this is my adorable fixed toy poodle Pierre ... Pierretta's brother...

Your Dad looks like Denzel in that picture!!  and you look flawless in that pink dress!!

Thank you ... I made that pink dress about a year or so ago.... Today marks the 2 month anniversary of my dad's passing and the 5 month anniversary of my sister's passing ... I am the oldest sister now and over the weekend my youngest sister and I spend the time exchanging pictures of our past back and forth ... it was fun ... and I just wanted them in my snippets this day... thanks for allowing me to share...

Great collage today!  You look beautiful as always.  And, WOW, your dad looks like Denzel Washington in that picture.  What a beautiful couple!

Thank you beautiful Miss Liss .... mom was definitely my all around hero ... she cared for us and loved us and made us all feel like little queens even growing up in the countryside... dad meant security and strength and a great provider but he was a bit too opinionated for me .. .we bumped heads a lot ... and in the end whatever he told me turned out to be out of love and concern .... I wish I had listened more often .... he did protect his girls and gave us the best of everything within his means especially and awesome education in the most awesome private school until we went off to the University ... that was dad ... and he was handsome and awesome and he knew it too LOL