Autobiography of ME.

So, about a year ago, I started writing about my life. I began writing about the first year of my life and atleast of what I was told about myself, I guess I just wrote about my childhood stories that I heard of because of course, I can only remember running around houses with my cousins and the rest is a mystery to my mind. Here is my little preface for any of those interested or bored enough to read it. I guess I kind of want to write out the most memorable or important times of my life so someday when i'm old and can't remember sitting here typing this out, at least I have a blog to read back on to help me remember how my life was at one point! enjoy!!

Miss Mayra d.

Nueva Vida

I was born on Tuesday January 11th, 1987 at approximately 1AM.My mother from Michoacan, Mexico; my father from a pueblo outside of Guadalajara, Mexico. I was the fourth girl, the unplanned little swimmer who got to the egg first, I made it and because of that my parents life completely changed. You see, my mother had been married previous to the relationship she started with my father. They were only dating when the news of my conception spread like a storm of fires blazing through California, I was definitely unexpected and certainly unwanted by some. After being more than delighted to keep my, my parents moved in together, my maternal grandmother opposed, along with my older sisters.

The night of my birth, my father and grandmother got into an argument, ironically I was born on her birthday, and after taking one look the fighting stopped and love surrounded their hearts. Apparently, after my birth, my mom suffered from paralysis to her facial muscles up until I was 6 years old. It never clearly hit me how horrible that was until I realized that I didn’t have too many pictures with my mother.What a terrible birth present, how could such a loved baby do something like that to their nurturing mother whom i love so much, well, it wasn’t me, blame the anesthesia for that. For the longest time, I held myself responsible for my mothers suffering, but I was always reassured by everyone that it was not my fault.

I was pretty spoiled,my three older sisters seemed to resent me a bit because they just thought I took away all the attention away from them. My older sister Grace has told me how my oldest sister Veronica attempted to kill me at one point, how rude! If she had conquered that day she would never have know how much she means to me now. She is like my second mommy whom i love so much.

I was a brat, i never cleaned up after myself, I was always running around playing with something and to top it off, I was so annoying. I will never be able to tell you the extent of the annoyances I caused my sisters but apparently I was that little girl that wanted to know EVERYTHING about you. “Whats your name, where do you work? How old are you? Who's your mom? where are they from??” I guess I was just curious about everything, maybe that explains why I have such a fear of the unknown now a days, because back then I asked to know it all!

...To be continued...

<3

Wedding Bellsss!!

Let the count down begin!

I can literally start crying this very moment with excitement for everything. I cannot wait to go through the temple, I cannot wait to be Mrs. Stevenson, I cannot wait to finally call someone mine. I cannot wait to start a family. I cannot wait to start living. This past week has been so much better, the anxiety and panic has subsided and I am back to working on the wedding plans. I am so eager to just have it here already. Today I went to LA with my friend Bea and my sister Grace to get the materials we need for decorations. We got a few things for a realllyyy good price that will definitely enhance the look of our wedding reception. I am So excited to get things done and just be married and just be so in love. I already am, I just can't wait to take it to that next level, 'naw means ;) HA. anywho, Mona's family is teaching me a Samoan Taulunga that I will be dancing that day, i'm so nervous that I'll mess it up and insult culture so i'm trying so hard to learn and be patient on how to do things. His culture is so beautiful, so soft and so awesome. I love me my Samoans! :) Anywho, I have had so much fun doing a lot of things myself lately, I made my own garter today, which looks SO good! I made the necklaces for my bridesmaids, and I'm working on a few things to do on our own, I'm really diggin' this DIY stuff! Thank you Pinterest for all the wonderful ideas! :) Anywho, Only 3 weeks to go!!!! So excited!!!

Thanks for the love,

Miss Mayra D.

Feel free to check out some of my pictures!

http://lightbox.com/photos

wedding stress. work worries. anxiety scares. one week of misery.

I hate having an anxiety problem. I really don't like it what so ever. This past week and a half has been one of the most stressful scary weeks i've had since probably high school. I had some serious irrational anxiety provoken thoughts, I was acting like such a mental and honestly I don't know what in my rational mind made me feel semi sane because i was becoming insane. Its done. First off, i will never EVER watch a R rated movie, scary movie, ever again. I made a huge mistake of freaking my soul out after watching a movie that to this very second shakes my core just thinking of. NEVER AGAIN. I honestly spent a week of my lovely so excitiing time of life in a stressful inner mental state of shake and fear. I swear i feel so bad for Mona to have to deal with me last week, no wedding plans were put into progress due to my stressed out state of mind. I guess you can say that the stress and fear all combined and just broke me down completely and I was just a huge emotional mess. I'd say I probably had like 3 panic attacks a day, EVERYTHING and anything made me cry, I was just destroyed. The ONE AND ONLY thing i'm soooo extremely OMG THANKFUL for having in my life is my LOVELY SAVIOR and Heavenly Father. Honestly, he was there, silently, but he was there the entire time. At night, when it would be hard to sleep, i'd blast my hymns and just pray so hard for me to feel better. The last thing I want is to be an anxious freak during my first year of marriage, I JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY! :) Mona is so great too, he was sooo supportive during all of my freak out moments, of course it is so hard for him but i'm so glad to know i'll be marrying a man that will support me in all aspects of me. I love him so much.

Last week i turned 25 :( oh man. I AM OLD! But that whole night i was full of anxiety so it wasn't the 25th birthday I envisioned. My mom threw me a Bridal shower on saturday and all of her friends came over and we had a good time. It was in all spanish so don't be mad if you had no idea but it was family and friends mostly.

Anywho, the wedding plans are going great, only one month to go! WOOT WOOT! so stoaked and just ready to finally have a HUSBAND, an eternal companion! :) YAY for never being alone any more! :) i cannot wait to be his wife! I was just reading back on blogs from last year and man, last year was SOOO though on me! I will never forget the trial that 2011 was, no wonder i had anxiety so bad to kick off this year, lol. Anywho, hopefully life will be full of blessings once we walk through those temple doors. I cannot wait to be sealed FOR TIME AND ALL ETERNITY. I just cannot wait to walk through those doors! Man, I'm going to cry some great tears! :)

I cannot believe how my life just fell into place so well, I am so trully blessed for everything I have in my life. Such a supportive and loving family, a strong family I will be joining ( i really hope Mona and I build a family structure like his family bc they are SO close) and just life is going to be great! Anywho, life is better now, I'd say my anxiety isn't so persistant, life isnt cloudy and scary like it was last week but i'm still in process onto full recovery! Nothing I cannot overcome with the help of the most amazing and loving HF ever. He gives me the strength i need to get by day by day!

With love,

Mayra D.

2012!

Can you believe it is here? I honestly don't know where 2011 went but boy was it A YEAR!! so much happened in 2011, the good, the bad the ugly and the UNBELIEVABLE! :) Last year i made a top ten fashion list or something like that of 2010, but this year I want to do the most memorable things of 2011. There were a few good, a few bad but definitely a year I will be thankful for for the rest of my life! So without further a do...

January

I turned 24, had the last ever Mayra D. Hau5 Party for my Birthday with my two best DJ Friends in all of the universe. I can definitely say that night was CRAZY, I'd never EVER had so many people at my house and in all honesty I didn't have the BEST time because I was too busy freaking out about the crowd, but defeinitely never will forget it!

February

My mom being in the hospital was definitely something that I didn't like at all but thankfully all of the fears that this month brought were strength builders. My mom is great now, she hasn't been back in the hospital since, her heart is healthier, she's loosing weight and is more aware of what she eats than ever before. I love this woman with ALL of my heart!

March

This month was fun, well, kind of! I had to make a pretty tough decision about something and ended up kind of loosing a close friend of mine. We threw miss Hannah a birthday party for her 21st this month, it was fun, we had a very good turn out and it was a successful night! March was one of those months you need to have to get you ready for what is to come next, its the Storm I guess you could call it.

APRIL

MOST IMPORTANTLY:LOVE HAPPENED

04.17.2011

I finally made it up for EDP

Went to my FIRST Fashion show

evita.hannah.meeeeeeeeee.gary.

MAY

Talked about the future with someone

This month was a little difficult though, I remember having

a lot of anxiety this month. I had just got sent to a different

store at work and it was all too much for me. I wasn't happy

with where I was working and I wanted out very soon!

JUNE

LA GALAXY

This month was very work based, Mona got

a job at puma, life started to get crazy with school

coming to an end and summer coming in! We headed

down to san diego for a fun day in la jolla. It was quite

the adventure!

July

August

We were both in the tahitian group in our wards dance show, It was so much fun learning all of the movement and doing a dance that is similar to Monas culture. I'm definitely hoping on joining in on a dance group this year!

September

Alyssa turned 21!! YAY! My sister Veronica let us

throw a party in her back yard, thank you! It was good times!

October

I was la Llorrona for halloween, it was definitely a good time!

November

ENGAGED!!!!!!!

FEBRUARY 18th 2012!!!!

So EXCITING to be engaged to amazing

Solomona Stevenson, we may not be perfect,

but our love is! :) I cannot wait to be married

to this man!

December

This month came and went so quickly, we did a lot of wedding planning and got a lot of things done this month. To this day there are still a few things that need to be situated but most of them should be fine. We took some engagements with one of our amazing friends Anna and Tegyn who both did such a good job on our photos and we loved how they turned out. This month I also tried to do a few different things with my style choices and hair do's. I started reading more fashion blogs and I really love going on Pinterest. We had a great Christmas with both of our families and then spent the 26th at Disneyland. New Years was okay at Dave n Busters, it was extremely crowded so we didn't have the BEST time that we would have had if it weren't so crowded. Life is going great, only 47 more days until the wedding, Only 47 more days until marriage; I cannot wait!

Live with a smile,

and shine like the sun.

Enjoy life always!

<3

Mayra d.

the month that has passed...

I swore I had updated the blog a while ago, but apparently i thought wrong. so, BIG NEWS... i'm engaged :) YAY!!! I get to spend the REST Of my LIFE ..and then some... with my best friend, the man i can tell anything and everything, the man that supports every decision I make, the one that kisses my forehead on a daily basis and tells me i'm pretty. The one person that can make fun of me and love every one of my silly blond rediculousness... I know i'm going to have so much fun being married to him! We got engaged on November 17th, our 7 month anniversary :) We went up to this gorgeous cliff in Ranch Palos Verdes, theres a little park that overlooks all of the pacific.The view was gorgeous, It was a cloudy day so we were able to see the blankets of clouds covering the sky below. It was phenominal! Then mona started being super cute, he started to say the cutest things like how much he loved me and how he had waited for this day for such a long time. And then he pulled out the box, and I pulled out my SMILE! :) he got so red and was like "ah i don't know why I'm so nervous right now"-- got on a knee and asked "Mayra De La O, will YOU marry me??"

let me think about that for a second... YESSS!?!??!?! hahah

yay! :) we are so excited, nervous,anxious ready and just want to be married like already. I can't wait to be able to grow with him, to learn and to start my life with him. I know one of the biggest things I look forward to is starting a family. I can't wait for that opportunity! The wedding plans are coming along! :) We have our engagements done, also our invitations, the first of 7 bridesmaid dresses has come in, it is GORGEOUS, we have a photographer, videographer, location, mariachi, food, and we just need to find a decorator and we are completely ready! :) I've been just focusing daily on this so that it works well! His immediate family is flying in from Sydney in February, I cannot wait to meet them! So excited! :)

So to update on that Wells Fargo Interview, I GOT THE JOB!!! :) I honestly will never forget that interview, it was crazy and so funny all at once! I'm at the lynwood location and I start as a teller this monday, I've been training for 3 weeks now! I quit windsor the monday before black friday so I have every sunday off from now on!! WOO HOO!!! Life is good, I'm at my sisters house in torrance, I'm trying to come up with a routine for my little nephews and nieces to dance to at our wedding. It's going to be so cute! I cannot wait!! Anywho, remember to focus on the eternal, and how things now affect things later, DON'T give up on yourself, always remember who is the most important and that is HF. He is #1 always!

xoxo

Mayra D. :)

New Beginnings...

I'm pretty exhausted, but i'm forcing myself to write this down, even if no one ever reads this, I HAVE TO TELL THIS STORY! Or atlease write it down to remember all the details, It's pretty long but I promise it is pretty funny at the end... or atleast I think so..

A few months ago I applied for a teller position with Wells Fargo, probably about 3 months ago. I went through the first few interviews and passed the phone interviews, but i couldn't seem to get into an actual interview slot. I was messing up on a lot of things during that time, I wasn't really going to church (not by choice) but because I was being scheduled to work from 1 to 10 every sunday. I had even put in my 2 week notice but because i had no job to secure me financially, i took it all back. Our store ended up doing horribly for inventory, My store manager quit and to top it all off, one of our Assistant managers got injured and never came back. It was all me to fend for the store until our new store manager would come in from Arizona. A few horrendous corporate visits from our VP and DM made me realize how i could work a little harder and give a little more effort to make this better.

I looked at how i was living and how i was making excuses for EVERYTHING, I was sad all of the time, I just didn't understand why things didn't seem fair in anything that I did. Even Mona was getting it from me, I was just a mess. Then I looked at the bigger picture, What was missing? why was i so sad, so confuzed and so hopeless in all the things that were easily manageable. i'd done it before?Where had my faith gone? It was at that moment that I realized how much I was doing was wrong or just throwing a BIG pitty party. I was tired of having to work sundays, I was tired of messing up, I was tired of giving in to temptation. I was just tired of everything. So I said sorry, REALLY sorrry.

.. its really nice that during this time you have a very understanding boyfriend who will help you get through the hard times, even if we had our trials, we got through every one. He is my best friend and the one person who understands so much about me but at the same time can drive me NUTS :) i'm sure he feels the same way at times. But i love him so much, he is my world.

I prayed a lot, I talked to bishop and I cryed away all my fears and just stepped it up. In that next week, I got an email from Wells fargo to call for an appointment slot for a group interview, I had been in that process for about 2 months and all appointments were being filled up quick. That morning was different, THEY ACTUALLY HAD AN OPEN SLOT! I hadn't gotten my schedule at Windsor but i booked it for the coming week anyways. I was able to get the day off and go to my interview. There were 15 people, all eager as me to get this job. Only a few of us really stuck out and I left the interview feeling really good about my performance. About 2 weeks later I would get an email telling me that I had made it to my final interview process! YAY! Which would be Tuesday Nov. 8th at 1030 AM. It would be in Downtown LA, yes that big building in Dwntown. I was pretty excited to be heading into the city for a big girl interview. It felt really cool in all honesty.

MORNING OF... THIS IS WHERE IT GETS INTERESTING...

So I woke up and got ready for my interview, I made sure to pick out my outfit the night before, I was done doing that late stuff so i woke up and left my house at 915 to get to LA. I live like 30 minutes from downtown, NBD right? So Since It was a little early i figured getting an iced Chai to calm my nerves would be a good idea. I got on the 105 at 935, thinking it would be enough time, only to find myself sitting in morning traffic, WTH? I thought it ended at 9 am? WRONG. SO here i am, freaking out because I want to be IN the building by 1020. I jump on the 710N and thank goodness no traffic. I'm on the 5N in no time, 950ish and kaboom, TRAFFIC. Urg, so closeee! Traffic was HORRIBLE on the 5 to the 101 which is where i had to be, It took about 10 minutes to get to the 101 and from there I had to go to spring street which was ONLY 3 miles away, yea, that means 15 minutes in traffic. SO here i am, screaming freaking out because I'm like runnig late, i'm nervous, let the panic attack arive, just what i needed right? WRONG. So i get off on spring at 1020, head to the so called parking lot that the wells fargo recruter said would have a shuttle to get to the building. So they lied, it was 12 bucks, not ten, so i gave the guy all my change which was probably 1150 or so, give me a break. I ask about this so called shuttle, but he had no idea what I was talking about. At this point i was like F it i'll just walk. So I ask the guy where the wells fargo was at and he pointed me west, I kind of had a feeling of taking my flats to walk but I was like nah, i'll be good in my 4 inch heels.WRONG.

10 minutes until interview,

I walk down spring street only to find that he had pointed me towards ATM machines from wells fargo FML. SO i asked someone directions to the Wells Fargo tower, 4 blocks up 4th street... ???? WHAT! its 1023 now... so I decided to book it, I literally started running in my heels, BAD IDEA. I was good, then i feel a slight slip and hear a tear... "omg.. i'm falling i'm falling i'm falling shoooootttt... omg i'm goonna cryyyy" right in front of a sandwich shop where everyone was waiting for me to hit the ground, but i made it.. lol. I decided to take off my shoes and just RUN, So here i am, wearing a blazer, a cute top, a skirt, BAREFOOT in Downtown Los Angeles. I made sure to watch evvery step i took, no siringes, no gross stuff, just pavement... I found 4th street, went up 2 blocks and put my shoes back on, thinking it would be good from there, I was already late, it was 1030 on the dot. I crossed the street, only to find A HILL!!! A FREAKING HILL!! omg... KILL me.. this is the interview from HELL.. lol. So, I take of my shoes, because THERE IS JUST NO WAY, and i book it up there, mind you its like 70 plus

degrees at this point so i'm like sweating. I find a nice man who walked up to the Wells fargo tower

area and pointed me in the right direction. Of course I went to the wrong enterance and had to go all the way

around to FINALLY make it. it was 1040 AM. 10minutes late BUT thankgoodness they were running

late so it was nothing to them. I was ahot mess, and everyone else seemed to look ready and nice,

I was not happy. I got some water, cooled down and did my all.

Today, I found out I got the job. THANK YOU HF! All of that trouble and it all paid off,

I guess a rule of thumb is to ALWAYS prepare for traffic in LA, and NEVER wear 4 inch stilletos

to an interview.

The end.

<3

Six.

Life is so pleasant, even when things are difficult

when things don't go your way, you learn that

the most important thing is the people who

love being by your side.

I couldn't be happier,

finally a love that is unconditional

finally a love that can last forever

finally someone worth getting through the fights for

finally someone to call MINE.

Today marks six months since Mona and I started dating, which is really exciting! So much has happened in these six months, so much to grow from, so much knowledge and so much adventure!

I love how he looks at me, I love how he knows when something is wrong, I LOVE how he loves me, I love how i can look like a hot mess and he smiles, and says i look beautiful. Since day 1, we've been the biggest cheeseballs, but since day 1, he's had my heart. I'm looking forward to the next few months and what comes our way, what obstacles we'll face, what happiness will bring, what adventures we will take, what risks we'll be taking.

This weekend was one much needed, Thursday, we spent all day together, I got my hair cut and then we went and saw 50/50 which was a pretty great movie! Friday, he got off work early and surprized me at home so we went and danced at El Dorado's dance. Its so much fun being on the dancefloor with that boy, its like nothing else matters... really.

Saturday we went and did laundry together, lol, we're trying to be "grown ups" but it was nice to sit and just conversate with him. I swear when we get married we're going to be that newspaper couple, sipping on some OJ reading about the 99% of the population being broke arses. I find it cute, but he always makes conversation so easy, even if we disagree, its so easy just to talk. After laundry we went to mama's sushi where i tried ALBACORE for the first time, now let me tell you, flavorgasm. That was a good meal though, after that we went over to his aunty and uncles house for a bbq, his cousin Justin who plays for Notre Dame came into town so we went and just chilled with his family. Its nice to be welcomed like they do, they're really nice! I always tell him that when we have a family I want us to have the samoan family bond like his family does. I mean, mexican families are way close too, but not like his family seems to be. Anywho, that was fun, we talked about the gospel with his other cousin for a few hours actually, that was probably the best part of the night, sitting with Mona and talking about how people are around the world and how Jesus Christ affects their lives in such a positive way when they are open and willing to listen to a message of Christ. After that we went home and fell asleep, I was pretty exhausted.

Sunday came and we headed to El Dorado, and for the first time in a really long time, we made it to church on time! :) you think girls take forever to get ready, meet my Bf, omg... lol. anywho. Church was great, the talks were great. It was so nice to be back at church. I've been working every sunday for the past 2 months so its been REALLY hard to get to church and really take advantage of the blessing of the sabbath. Ironically, we had to leave early to head over to Lomita and get my nephew Alex so we could head to the LA Galaxy Game vs. Chivas USA. It was fun, Alex was able to run around the field before the game started so it was great to see that! The game was great, Galaxy took the victory. I was exhausted after so we went back to mona's and watched Apocalypto on Netflix. That movie is crazy! I fell asleep in loving arms and thats how my sunday ended.

Today was a good one too, Today is our actual 6 month anniversary and we went to Zavalas for some tacos for lunch. I dropped him off at work, which is always the saddest thing, I swear I could be with this boy 24/7 without getting "sick of him" haha. Maybe he does, but I sure don't!

Anywho, things are so good! I have an interview with Pepsi Co. for a customer service rep tomorrow at 1 so i'm really HOPING and PRAYING that I get this job. It's $1 more than I currently make and 1/2 way closer than I work now! Pray for me please! School is alright, I need to focus because i'm definitely being a slacker ( I should be doing HW at this current moment) lol. Family is doing great, things are just at a good place right now! I know things will only get better with time, I can feel it! I'm ready for any challenge that comes my way!

With that,

keep smiling!

Chao!