Growing up, I embraced my biculturalism– that is, that of being Latina and living in the U.S.– particularly during the holidays. And why wouldn’t I embrace it? For starters, Latinos tend to extend the Christmas season through at least the first week of January, ending on Epiphany, or “Three Kings Day.”

Being an only child, I looked forward to spending many of my Christmases with my extended family in Puerto Rico. Cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents filled the house, as did food and music, and lots of love, laughter and mirth.

In the past few years, it’s getting increasingly difficult to spend Christmas as a family. With airline ticket prices skyrocketing, and also because I wanted to spend Christmas Day this year somewhere “chilly,” my family opted not to visit Puerto Rico for la Navidad.

That was hard, but I don’t regret it. My parents and I made a roadtrip with stops in Charleston, South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina. We spent two nights in the historic Charleston, made notorious by the Civil War, before heading up to see our dear friends in Charlotte.

This is to say, we spent the greater part of Christmas week riding in a cramped SUV, stopping multiple times along the way, yearning for any weather that was at least a few degrees colder than Orlando– which was not hard to find.

I stayed up late Christmas night, watching the classic, maybe even cliché “It’s a Wonderful Life,” with the fireplace flickering away in our pre-Civil War room in the bed and breakfast in Charleston. I can’t imagine a more idyllic way to spend the night that has been immortalized in so many black-and-white classics.

The following day, we met up with our friends, who cooked for us and showered us with love and attention. We even celebrated my birthday– again!

My family has never been one to find a tradition and stick with it– except perhaps for our fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants style, as we demonstrated by not booking anything in advance. (It practically gave some of our friends a heart attack!) We march– or rush frantically– to the beat of our own drum, making our own last-minute plans along the way.

Whether it’s an American-style Christmas Eve with the fireplace crackling, or a Puerto Rican-style Noche Buena with coquito and pernil, and música, we make it special in our own way.

What never changes is our sense of solidarity, and our desire to make Christmas a time we spend together, even when we’re apart from most of the family.

I guess that’s where I get my belief that the family that Christmases together, does indeed stay together. 

Love,

Laurita ♥

**Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Britax (follow on Twitter) and I will be compensated. I am a member of the Britax Latina Advisory Board. All ideas and opinions are my own.

After over 40 individuals entered this giveaway, and many of you submitted additional entries, Rafflecopter had to make the tough decision of randomly selecting a winner. Thank God it’s not me who actually has to do this!

And the winner of a brand-new, BRITAX BOB Stroller is…

Dawn Schmidt 

Congratulations, Dawn! Please E-mail me at laurita.tellado@gmail.com with your contact information and full mailing address so I can send it over to BRITAX.

Thanks to all who entered, and be on the lookout for more giveaways in the future!

Continued Happy Holidays!

Love,

Laurita ♥

“Think Globally, Act Locally.”                                                                                                                –René Dubos, microbiologist, experimental pathologist, environmentalist, humanist, & Pulitzer Prize winner    

“For Jesus Himself testified, that a prophet has no honor in his own country.”       –John 4:44, King James Bible 

It has been a very overwhelming, yet encouraging past few weeks for this often-weary activist.

Several projects and events I’ve wanted to put into action during the Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida season, are finally seeing the light of day.

Two events in particular are taking place this coming week which I am very proud to be a part of: The Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida Twitter Party (the first of its kind!) on Wednesday, October 17th, and Cocktails & Bites: A Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida Pre-Event, happening in my town of Orlando.

Both events have caused me to reflect on what it means to have a supportive community backing me up– both online and off; both locally and globally.

To me, it means the world. Every single person involved in this multi-tiered effort to raise awareness and funds, whether it be by donating, sharing a link, inviting friends to either event, blogging or Tweeting about it, or simply being there to offer moral support when things don’t go exactly as planned (when do they ever?), — is greatly appreciated and thanked. I mean it. 

One person I need to thank from the bottom of my heart for her tireless (literally– she goes to bed late working on this!) efforts is my friend, blogger and multicultural family expert, Chantilly Patiño. While we followed each other on social media sites and have been in many mutual “circles” for a long time, I first officially connected with Chantilly when she offered to take the reins last October for the Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida Blog Carnival, which raised money and awareness for the Walk-N-Roll, and included the partnership of over 25 blogs and organizations.

Now, Chantilly has been burning the midnight oil for several weeks, while planning an awesome Twitter party for The Cause and working on all the graphics, sponsorships, and other coordinations that go along with it! (Read her wonderful post about this on Multicultural Familia.)

Then, on October 7th, together we launched a Facebook group, the Spina Bifida Advocacy Network, in the hopes of bringing together people within and outside of the “spina bifida community” for a common goal– awareness. This group is already nearly 500 members strong, and it is to Chantilly’s credit that she suggested I create a group in the first place.

I could never begin to thank Chantilly for all she has done– long before we even met in person this year, at Hispanicize, where she moderated the “Blogging for a Cause” panel my friends Lisa, Eliana and I were on.) But I know she does this because she has become truly passionate about The Cause!

After I published a post on NBC Latino promoting Spina Bifida Awareness Month (thank you, Adrian Carrasquillo, for your support with this!), I received several Facebook messages from people in the Spina Bifida community– and by “community,” I mean from the state of Georgia, and from as far as New Zealand and Scotland. I also received a message from a young woman in Central Florida with Spina Bifida, whom I’ve never met. The zip codes may have differed greatly, but the underlying message was the same– “We need more awareness.“

So, whether we rally more people for The Cause locally, nationally, or globally, rest assured I will continue to fight the good fight, as long as I have fabulous people like Chantilly– and Ramu, Diane, Ericka and Amjid– cheering me on and helping me do the work.

To find out more about the local and online events I’m hosting this week, you can also visit the Facebook event pages: 

The Walk-N-Roll Twitter Party for Spina Bifida

Cocktails & Bites A Walk-N-Roll for Spina Bifida Pre-Event 

One of the things I’ve enjoyed reflecting on the most since I began blogging three years ago is how much I’ve learned. I’m continually amazed at all the knowledge I’ve acquired, especially in the two years since I graduated college.

Of course, I like to attend many conferences for bloggers and social media enthusiasts in order to learn, but I’ve realized that the learning doesn’t stop once a conference session is over and I step out into the hallway. It goes much deeper than that.

During the past three years of my life, I’ve learned a lot about relationships and friendships. I’ve learned about loyalty. I’ve learned about honesty and integrity, and how important it is to have all these qualities in order to be respected in the realm of social media.

Many children and teenagers are currently in the process of going back to school, beginning a new grade, meeting new people, and maybe even getting acquainted with a new academic institution. I learned a great many lessons within the walls of my schools and colleges, but I learned a great deal more from my interactions with many people. 

I can vividly remember shopping with my Mami for school supplies, carefully reading her my teacher’s list of requirements. I would get so excited about buying new notebooks, binders, pencils, pens, and loose-leaf paper. And, of course, every year I was interested in a different “theme” for my supplies. One year it was pink unicorns, another year it was Latino heartthrobs. 

But one particular memory stands out in my mind– one that remained consistent from one year to the next: my anticipation. With the plastic wrap still on my loose-leaf paper, and my dividers still not clearly labeled, the coming year held all the possibility and hope that only a year that hasn’t been lived yet can hold. 

When I graduated from the University of Central Florida, I had to choose between attending the ceremony or attending the BlogHer Conference. Of course-- I chose BlogHer, but I brought my cap along!

Now, long after having graduated, I miss the structure of my education, how my day was planned out according to each class and the assignments I had. I miss the daily interactions with peers who I didn’t always like, but that I now miss not getting to know better. 

Yes, I even miss scrambling to get to class on time when the warning bell has rung, and feeling my heart pound and the adrenaline rush when fearing I wouldn’t be able to find my homework. 

I miss the constant motivation of getting work done– that each assignment would guarantee us a grade– An “A” was a true reward, an “F” a true punishment, and anything in between was simply subject to personal interpretation. But I miss knowing that every action taken had a direct result; that nothing was overlooked or taken for granted. 

That’s not always so in the world of social media. Many times, we’ll spend hours a day writing a post, then promoting it on twenty different social outlets or pages, only to find a handful of people will actually read it. There’s no guarantee of either reward or punishment for a job well done or a job botched up. 

But life changes without the “structure.” We adapt to the changes in our environment, in our daily routine. We make our own rules, then rewrite them. We learn to live without the “back to school” rush. 

We learn. 

**Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Britax (follow on Twitter) and I will be compensated. I am a member of the Britax Latina Advisory Board. All ideas and opinions are my own.