Hola, ABQ Moms! My name is Dani, and I’m so excited to share my motherhood journey with all of you as a new contributor to ABQ Mom.
I was born in West Texas and raised in a small town in Northern Mexico where everyone knows everyone. My hometown in Mexico is heavily influenced by US culture, so I was blessed to be bilingual in Spanish and English from a young age. I have a bachelor of arts in Journalism and Mass Communication from UNM. Go Lobos! I married my sweetheart almost 7 years ago, and we have 2 energetic, sassy, and beautiful daughters – our rainbow baby, Arielle Victoria, and our surprise baby, Catalina Alexa. They sure keep me busy, and I wouldn’t want it any other way!
My Home Away from Home
As a kid, I used to come to Albuquerque often to visit family. To my younger self, Albuquerque always meant missed birthday parties and weekends with my friends, and a long drive (7 hours) on Saturday evening to just turn back around on Sunday to be home in time for a new week on Monday. I remember one time when we got here, my aunt received me with a new Spice Girls cassette tape. I must’ve listened to it on repeat for hours. And that’s when I decided Albuquerque wasn’t that bad after all!
In May of 2009, I came to Albuquerque just for my cousin’s high school graduation. I never left. I like to think I stayed and enrolled in UNM because my destiny was to meet my husband!
Eleven years later, I’m still here, raising my family, and loving it! The thing I missed the most about my hometown, besides my parents and friends, was the sense of community. Albuquerque has given me that! I love how much culture we have here, and how it still feels like a small town but with all the great things of a big city. I used to believe that by calling another place home, I was letting go of my roots. However, now I know that my roots come with me wherever I go, and it’s okay for me to plant new seeds. This city has given me my most beloved treasures, and even though it took me a while, I’m now happy to call Albuquerque my home.
Mamá
I always wanted to be a mom. I always wanted to love someone with the same intensity my parents loved me. There was a time when I thought it just wasn’t going to happen. After one miscarriage and 2 years of single red lines, we welcomed our rainbow baby. Two years later, our second miracle and surprise baby arrived. Arielle and Catalina make life so much more fun, and every day I find myself in awe that they’re mine!
Spanish is my native language, and my husband doesn’t speak it besides “Hola.” Okay, that might be an exaggeration. He can also say, “Hola cómo estas.” My goal is to raise bilingual girls and for them to know that Spanish is part of who they are. Raising bilingual children when your spouse doesn’t speak the language, is extremely hard, but not impossible. It has definitely been fun seeing my daughters’ brains learn two languages and see them be comfortable with both. I’m just a working mom trying to raise my daughters one dance party, one prayer, and one Spanish book at a time.
This Online Community
Whoever truly knows me, knows that writing is my passion. I’m excited to be a part of this community and rediscover that part of myself that was somehow put away years ago. I look forward to sharing the ups and downs, the fun and not so fun aspects of motherhood while inspiring other mamas through my words and experiences.
