Hola Lina!

Meet Lina.

Isn't she beautiful? Lina was my college roommate while attending my Freshman year at Penn State (Abington). We lived in an attic, in an old mansion across from our campus. I am not kidding when I say ATTIC. There were three (mini) bedrooms, a bathroom and a "kitchen" that had a mini fridge and hotplate in it! It wasn't luxury (even though it was in a beautiful mansion) but we made the best of it. I was a little nervous to meet Lina at first because the owner (Mrs. Joseph) had told me that my roommate was a "princess from an island." hahaha!

I still remember that hot August day as we unpacked our belongings. We were in our makeshift kitchen and at the same time we placed a can of peas&carrots and a can of New England Clam Chowder on the shelf. That was the icebreaker we needed. (I thought I was the only weirdo who ate that stuff) We had a good laugh and quickly learned that we actually had A LOT in common even though we grew up in different cultures. Our year living together was awesome and I will always cherish those memories!

Lina was born and raised in Puerto Rico and she moved back to PR after graduating in 2000. She married her college sweetheart, Kris (funny that we married guys with the same name AND they are both engineers) and they are the proud parents of THREE gorgeous girls! I plan to do a Flashback Friday soon about my 2008 trip visiting her family...it's always fun spending time with them. I wish we had a vacation house there so I could live there in the winter!

Here is Lina and Kris with Ryan. They met Ryan and Kara for the first time this past September. It was a great seeing them and I hope we are able to visit them down in PR soon!

Lina and I do a gift exchange around the holidays each year for the children. This year, she got Ryan this fun spin and hop toy. He really loves playing with it (as does Chris!).

Thank you Lina!

¡Nosotros le perdemos y le adoramos tanto!