User Profile

I was born in the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines. My father was born in Mexico and my mother was born in Brownsville, TX (one of the major border-towns along the border in the most southern tip of Texas). I am mostly of Hispanic (Mexican) descent with a little bit of Native American Indian, Scottish and Irish somewhere back in my roots. I am the oldest of five (5) children – 3 sisters and one brother (the youngest).

I have two wonderful daughters ages 17and 20 that I am extremely proud of. My career is in the engineering and technology which has slowly been moving away from technology. It’s interesting that most people assume much about me just because I make a living in the Technology field. Outside of work I spend very little time in front of a computer; I do not own a single video game; I am not into science fiction nor comics and I don’t play any type of role-playing games.

So what are my interests? I enjoy getting together with friends and meeting new people in small quiet settings to talk. In larger crowds I tend to remain the quiet person so most people initially think I am introverted but in reality I just don’t like competing for the chance to talk. On the other extreme, I love going to a clubs where the music is loud so I can dance and just have fun! I do hate the smoke and I don’t drink mixed drinks much since I will most definitely end up not feeling well. I enjoy drinking wine but can only have a couple else I end up with a headache. Luckily I really enjoy beer – I love drinking different types and am not afraid of the dark thick beers but am slightly more drawn to the wheat beers.

I play darts and although its been some time since I have played, my favorite sport to play is volleyball – especially sand volleyball. I played on leagues many years and would like to do that again once I find the time. While I don’t mind going to watch a live game of almost any type, the only sports I watch is football but that is mostly just to be around people. I usually keep up with the Dallas Cowboys and outside of that, I couldn’t tell you much about any other sport – even my second favorite team… The Cubs.

I also enjoy traveling. I’ve traveled to Mexico, the Caribbean and Hawaii. When I travel, I prefer to take in the natural and historical sites and love learning about the culture, people and history of where I am. While I am usually quite busy on my trips I do also take a day or two to relax by the pool and go shopping. I try to pick up one thing from each of my travels for my home along with a piece (OK maybe more) of jewelry for me. Other places I would like to travel are South America, Italy, Spain and Greece. I would also like to have a chance to visit Jerusalem to explore the places related to my faith.

I’ve also traveled quite a bit in the continental United States. Again, I enjoy taking on the natural and historical sites during the day and eating out in the evenings. I grew up taking road-trip vacations and still enjoy them to this day. Thus far, I have visited Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, DC, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and California.

I love camping, hiking and occasional mountain biking. As I’ve aged, I only tent camp for long weekends at most and now keep my hiking and mountain biking expeditions to those suited for beginners. For me the best part of camping is spending time with people and exploring nature’s sites. Camping just for the sake of camping and walking just for exercise is not something enjoy much. I do not seem to do these activities as much as I use to but I still do enjoy them very much. It’s been years since I’ve gone snow skiing but that is another outdoor activity I want to do again. I’ve set goals to go skiing each of the previous few years but thus far the snow has come and gone without a single trip.

Architecture and design is another interest I have. It’s not an interest that is so developed that I can name the different styles or architects of structures but there is just something about looking at buildings and structures that catches my eye and my interest. In the cities, I love looking at the various buildings as well as learning the history of the city and its structures. I also enjoy visiting old homes and appreciate the work in restoring these buildings to their original states. If I could relive my career, I would most definitely go into the area of architecture. Over my life, I’ve created and have drawn out several dream homes. However, at this stage of my life, I no longer desire a huge house and would just prefer to have a nice comfortable home that is easy to keep and maintain. I would love to live downtown once my daughter graduates from high school - as long as it had a patio for me to enjoy the outdoors.

I also enjoy and appreciate decorating styles for homes and frequently end up visiting model homes just to look at the homes – both in their design and décor. As such, I enjoy spending time just browsing stores to get ideas for things to decorate my home with. Another related interest I have is non other than fashion. I really like nice-looking clothing. I am not into brands so I really don’t care who makes it as long as it looks nice to my eye. Yes - you can correctly assume I enjoy going to the malls to browse the many clothing and shoe stores offered in our modern-day material world.

When it comes to reading, I like to read books about people growing to a state of personal fulfillment and happiness from within. Some books I have recently read are: The Four Agreements, Eat - Pray - Love and The Mermaid’s Chair. Other areas of interest, are Human Behavior, Religion and Human Relationships. I also enjoy a good love story as long as it’s not too focused on the physical acts and brings out my own emotions.

As far as my spirituality goes, I am a practicing Catholic and enjoy my religion despite its shortcomings. It is a frequently misunderstood religion even by those describing themselves as devout Catholics. I also believe many aspects of many different religions outside of Christianity are very worthwhile to me in helping me become as close to God as I possibly can as well as to understanding my relationship with God and who I am to God. I am not concerned over one’s practiced religion as much as I am as to what kind of person they are - how they treat others, themselves as well as myself. I am pretty good about not judging others as I believe their actions are more closely related to who they believe they are and their own inner peace as opposed to me.