7. Who am I?

I'm Fino. I'm 21. I'm 2nd generation Ethiopian. I love to sing. I love to play Piano. I love to record music. I enjoy editing videos & photos. I like silence. I write a lot when .. especially when something is bothering me. I write stuff that I bet a lot of people could relate to  in one way or another... I'm friendly. I'm consistent. I'm not going to be nice one day and shady the next. I'm trustworthy. I am a great friend. I'm dependable. I'm different than anyone you've ever met. I'm pretty grounded, staying humble and honest is what does it for me. I wish I could better answer this question, but I guess I'm on a journey trying to figure this question out for myself...I'll let you know as soon as I figure this question out! By the end of this 45 day challenge I should be answering this question : )

6. Important photo

well.. i'm a photographer so I'll just put up a slideshow of my pics : )    - if I had to choose 1 photo it would be one of me and my Grandfather. I love him sooooo much!!!!

5. Religious views

       I grew up in a strictly religious household. My entire family is Christian. I am Christian. Church is a big part of my life. I have been active in my church since I was 6 or 7 years old. I went to a Private Christian School till I was in 8th grade. I feel kinda bad for saying this but I feel like Church takes all our family time. When I was growing up our family was the first family at church WAY before everyone else and we were the last to leave because my dad was a Deacon... a lot of times my dad couldn't do stuff with me cause of Bible study or whatever... even today Church takes 50% of his time and work takes the other 50%.  I know it sounds selfish like i'm jealous of God or something but I actually like Church too, I just look back and think why couldn't my family have been more normal? Idk- Church is good but I think because I was FORCED to go and be active in it for so long, I prefer to Worship God on my own... and my dad doesn't get it at all.. he's always telling me that it's " important to worship with other Christians and participate in fellowship." I agree, but I prefer to read my Bible and worship in my home... Christianity is the foundation of my family, but RELIGION... now that's always been sketchy. My mom is Eastern Orthodox ( very similar to Catholic. More stirct though.. if you have seen "my big fat greek wedding, it's like that kind of Church) ... and my dad is Lutheran- Protestant-Evangelical...so NATURALLY we have a million differences. I gravitated towards my mom's religious views- Orthodox- Catholic, and my dad is constantly trying to "reverse the damage" and get me to see things his way. I'm just tired of Religion. I feel comfortable with the Catholic Church/ Orthodox- but at the end of my  life God's not going to care what denomination or Religion I was practicing.. he's going to care if I read the Bible and followed all his commandments and lead a life according to his will. I like that song that's in the "Fighting Temptations" with Beyonce & Cuba Gooding Jr. " I'm not good enough, but he still loves me." .. it's true : )    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAinzW3NUQk&feature=related

4. Poppin' bottles & Pills

 Drugs I don't condone- Weed ( not sure honestly it could be good or bad... but I probably won't try it to find out!) drugs are scary and EXPENSIVE habit to fund .... ALCOHOL- Now that's a topic I could right a lot about! lol... I'm still trying to figure out alcohol. I use to HATE it as a child. I use to chastise my parents for drinking wine by saying," EWW it's bad for you and it taste gross!" I use to ask them why they drink it with dinner sometimes... now the tables have turned! haha. They don't drink but I do... too much sometimes ( The Party at Avalon) ... I think alcohol is perfectly fine in moderation. I've been drinking for the wrong reasons recently- trying to "forget my problems" but that is not an adequate solution to the problem. If misused- alcohol can become a means to an end. ..I don't get drunk easily, but almost 2 months ago I drank drinks that were meant to get you messed up and forget your problems and when I get drunk My balance is the only thing that's affect. my speech doesn't slurr or w/e but it does get kinda hard to breathe and talk... I drank like half a can of Four Lokos and I fell down a flight of stairs. I knocked some doors down... so I have made a new rule for myself. 2 drinks MAX at parties/bars/clubs. It's easy for me to say it all started when I turned 21 last month, but I've been drinking since I came to San Antonio. When I'm sad I knock back shots of tequila or drink Four Lokos - and all my problems fade away... till the morning! lol . headache/falling - but when I'm happy I toast Champagne or order a 'hurricane' at the bar.... I haven't TOUCHED alcohol since Jessie's party at Avalon- I don't think I will drink until new years when I toast champagne with my family... OMG I GOT SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sick that night. Never again. lol. Alcohol is cool if you drink in moderation and don't MIX drinks that don't need to be mixed! lol. #LessonLearned  

3. 10 years from now

...WOAH! A decade from now- that seems so far away, but here I am at 21 years old ... It's funny how fast life moves. In ten years from now I'd like to be ALIVE. lol... I want to be able to have a job that pays me enough so my parents don't have to work and I can take care of them the way they've taken care of me my whole life. Matter of fact I want to be the CEO of my own business venture. I want to be content.. not happy. I've been happy before. Happy comes and goes- CONTENTMENT lasts. I wanna be able to look back at defining moments in my life that made me who I am. I wanna look back and finally understand why I had to go through all that shit. I wanna be able to to say that " I did it." I triumphed despite all the people rooting for me to fail, and I wanna celebrate with the people cheering from me to succeed. I wanna have a family. I want kids. I see myself living in North Cali- San Jose/Oakland/ or Sausalito. I wanna have done something that had impacted someone's life in a very positive way. I see myself OLDER. WISER...hell just this past 2 months have forced me to make some changes. I feel like I can't be nice to everyone anymore. I feel like I have to be in 'BOSS mode' every time I'm out cause people don't treat you with respect unless you demand it. I tried being nice and people use you as a doormat so I'm turning the 'BOSS mode' on! I can't be the same as I was before because life isn't all fun and games. I fear loosing the very essence that makes me, ME. I feel like a large part of my innocence is gone now that I've been betrayed by a close friend... It just forced me to realize that I can't be in 'relaxed and fun' mode all the time... but every experience is there to make us stronger and wiser.
I see myself having most of the same friends. Even though we won't all be in the same city, we'll still be really great friends. I think I'll still be living by the same code I live by now," you can't trust just any body...only a special few. I see myself making a difference in society. Naturally, I like to fix things. I can't just see something broken and walk away. I feel like a lot of things in society are broken and it's my responsibility to help fix them. For instance- In ten years time, I see myself having a ten-story book club for kids. Kids these days don't read books. I wanna help inspire them to read in a fun setting... People always told me since I was young that they see "big things in my future" .. idk how they "saw" these things cause they AIN'T Psychic! lol... but I think they recognized that I am goal oriented and that I care about what direction my life takes.... I realize that life is short and I have to make the most of it. One person that I admire is Benjamin Franklin. I always say that I wish I can lead a life similar to his. He managed to accomplish things in his ONE lifetime that ten people COMBINED wouldn't accomplish in their lifetime! He established the Fire Dept. Police Dept. Library, Post Office- He invented the Cast Iron stove, he was one of the original founders, he was PRESIDENT...he did it all. He had his faults ( known womanizer) - BUT he really used the time he had on this earth wisely. If anything I wanna be able to look back ten years from now and say," With the help of God I have been able to accomplish everything that I set out to do."

2. Dear Sha'ree

This letter is too long to post- everyone who matters to me has already read it anyways so I'll just skip this.

1. Hi, I'm Fino!

I'm Fino. I bet you were expecting a "lady gaga" introduction, but I'm just simply Fino! I guess I could take the time to point out everything I am or am not, but then what would be the point of getting to know me and deciding for yourself? ; )  .. I will tell you this- I am very protective of those I love and try my very best to be respectful of my friends and family. I am LOYAL. I give equal opportunity to everyone I meet. Everyone get's one shot with me and that's it. I don't have time to be bullshitting around with people. If I'm giving you 100% then I expect the same back...I can usually tell if I'm going to 'click' with that person or not- the moment I meet them. I got that from my mom! .. Being able to read someone right off the bat helps me a lot in life. My 'inner GPS' as I call it. My 'inner GPS is usually on point' 
#LikeMacy'sSenseOfStyle!  : )    ... sometimes my 'inner GPS' has to "re-calculate" and that sucks.. let's just say I've been doing a LOT of "re-calculating" recently. I haven't found the path I'm supposed to be on quite yet, but I'm damn near close and once I get back on it, no one can stop me cause "I CAME TO WIN!"  
- I'm single- not really wanting to mingle. lol. I've been asked out by the WRONG type of guys this year. I kinda liked this one guy ( Chris) but I don't think we're compatible-i don't think we want the same things or have similar goals ... there is this ONE REALLY REALLY SPECIAL GUY who I kinda-sort-like.. he caught me off guard cause I wasn't expecting anything from him, but he really impressed me. He's cute and i like him. He seems like a keeper...but a  friend of mine is "talking" to him so .. yeah. It was one of those 
K : " girl I have some GREAT NEWS TO TELL YOU!" 
F: " Omg, me too!"
K: "You first!"
F: " no it's ok you first!"
K: " OK! I met this amazing guy and he is just so wonderful and I am head over heals for him and we're going on a DATE!!!"
F: "OMG I met someone amazing too! ... who'd you meet?"
K: >SAME MF PERSON AS ME<   
F: *awkward silence* .... *DAAAAAYYYYUUUMMM!!!* .. " I mean, Congrats girl!"
*sigh* .. I can't believe she even knows him. It sucks kinda but it's ok... and i KNOW it could have worked another time and another place-  I'm here to get my #StudyingOn
anyway. lol.. I was dating this guy before I came to UTSA... he's an ok guy, we had so much in common ( at first) ... long story short- we were different in a lot of ways...he was jealous of every guy I talked to, So I CTA'ed and kept it movin'... I have a lot of guy friends cause girls are complicated and conniving...( few exceptions but you know what I mean)...I'm having enough drama with FRIENDSHIPS let alone RELATIONSHIPS....then there's this completely OTHER guy- he's fun,  he gets me, he encourages me, we are thinking the same thing at the same time, we have a million inside jokes, he's smart, kind, and there for me... but i don't know what we are, i just know that he's special and if nothing more than I want him in my life as my friend for a long long time. but it's complicated.... it seems like everything is complicated these days : /  .. I usually don't make New Years resolutions cause no one keeps them anyways, but this year I resolve to be more REAL with people. I wanna make better decisions. I wanna invest my time in places/people/organizations- that are willing to invest time in me. Things have to be balanced to obtain harmony... #Process=Journey[Journey=Wisdom]