My biggest fear....

You hear all too often how teenagers or young adults go out partying and get drunk and sometimes end up in a fatal situations.

Just on Friday as I was at work, I read about Nicole John, the daughter of US ambassador to Thailand Eric John, and her fatal night of drinking.

It's stuff like this that scares me as a parent and teaching my daughter the importance of being safe and not doing certain things and about following the rules. As much as teenagers like to experiment and do things, especially if their friend's are doing it, it may lead to a situation that can cost them their lives.....and that scares me to death!

This is something that I think about all the time. What choices my daughter will make when she is a teenager. What kind of friend's she will choose to influence her. What kind of teenager she will be, in general. Will she follow the rules? Will she listen to my husband or I? Will she ask for advise from her parents? Will she even like alcohol? We are always having this talk with her now. We don't believe in sugar-coating anything, but doing it on a level for her age.

If she is out drinking and one of her friends gets into a car to drive home, we have always told her to call us. She won't be in trouble. We will be happy and relieved that she will have made a wise decision of calling us so that she will get home safely....no matter what time of night it is. We just want her to be safe.

We also talk to her about the consequences drinking and drugs has on people. Just for the simple fact that there are people in our lives being affected by it. Although, we have removed ourselves from it, at the same time. These are things we have decided to discuss so that our daughter understands the consequences and will hopefully make a smart decision if the situation arises.

Our daughter seems to have a good head on her shoulder and seems to understand and not like the bad things in life that people sometimes chooses. I just hope and pray that we are doing a good job in teaching her and getting her to understand that life is precious and we need to make good, healthy choices so that we can enjoy this life. Keeping her on the right track being influenced by positive, good spirited people is so important to me and I pray we are achieving this!

My heart hurts for the John family. I can only imagine what they are going through. I just pray I never have to deal with such a gut wrenching, horrible tragedy. My thoughts and prayers are with them!

The Trap...

I like Sacaramento! It has this old time, country, gold miners, 1880's feel about it.....and I like it! I've always been interested in the 1800's era anyways and then when we go to Old Sacramento to learn the history about it, it really puts me back in that time period.

Then we go to the state fair and it doesn't feel so 1800's.

However, this weekend my hubby and I were invited to a little "hole in the wall" bar for some BBQ. It's my husband's - friend's - wife's - dad's place. Did you get that?!

Anyways, it's called The Trap and indeed it is a "hole in the wall" and it gives off that old time, country, 1800's feel....and I like it!!!

{Sorry, tried to get the picture bigger but this is what I have to work with without distorting it}

On the way out there, we dropped our daughter off at my BFF's house out in Stockton so that she could play with her friend's while my husband and I headed to Sacramento for a couple hours.

I'll admit, I was nervous. I didn't know anybody there. Sure, my husband had his friend but I had never had a full on conversation with him before. My husband knows him from his job cause he delivers there and they became friends during this time. A simple "hello" was pretty much the extent of a conversation I had with this guy. So going to this bar to hang out with everyone who knows everyone was making me a little nervous but I wanted my husband to be able to hang out with one of his friend's for once.....so we went. I'm so glad we did too cause I felt at ease once we got there and settled in.

Take a BBQ potluck with lots of good food, tri-tip and pool tables, mix it with laid back, friendly people and you've got a great time! Indeed, we had a great time too!!

We stayed there a couple hours and then headed back for our daughter. Once we got to my friend's house, we hung out there for a couple more hours.

It was a great night! Great weekend!

Six Word Saturday!

How Do You Stop Following Someone?

No, SERIOUS! I have done everything. Followed all the directions to "Stop Following" and they have disappeared from my list of "Followers" but their posts still keep popping up. What the heck am I doing wrong??? It's frustrating cause they post multipule times in a day so when I want to see what anyone else is doing, I have to scroll and scroll. It's so annoying, I could scream.

Now head over to Cate's to see what everyone else is saying.

Progress....

Recently I had mentioned I was working on creating a new website for my photography business that I am slowly trying to start up. Something I feel very passionate about and enjoy doing.

When I had originally created my first website, I loved it however, there were a few things I didn't like and had trouble fixing. Either the computer would bog down and take forever for me to work with the program or it would just freeze up completely on me so I gave up. Took what I had and decided to be happy with what I had.

I have finally finished my new website and I'm really excited about it! One reason being, the original website was made from a template and I just added or removed what I did or didn't want. My new website was made from a blank palate. I created each and every page as to how I wanted it to work and flow. It was fun, frustrating at times but very rewarding. I was also able to fix my previous issues from the other website so now I am completely satisfied.

So please, stop by and check out my site!

A Bit of a Scare...

Every Wednesday I go to Bible study after work. Yesterday was no different than any other Wednesday....but it was.

Around 8:45pm we started to wrap things up and was closing in prayer when all of a sudden, my cell phone goes off. NICE! {Embarrassing too}. So, what do I do? I mute the ringing. Well, not more than a few seconds later my phone starts ringing again, so I look to see who it was. Sure enough, it said "Home", so I answer it.

I figured it was just my husband wanting to know "What took?" but instead, when I answer it I can hear panic, crying, confusion and then this was the conversation...

My husband: "Can you please get home now?!"

Me: "Yeah! What's wrong?"

My husband: "I don't know, Ozzy {our dog}. Somethings wrong with him. I don't know. Just get home quick!!"

Me: "Okay, I'm out the door!!"

I get off the phone and my mind is racing. I have no idea what's happening, only thoughts of what could be wrong from past pets. Ozzy has been fine but for some reason, the last few days something has been bugging me. Like I have some weird sixth-sense with my animals and can always tell something is gonna happen. You know, how animals get when an earthquake is gonna happen right before it happens? Well, that's basically how I've been the last couple days with Ozzy. Never saying anything to anyone, just observing him with worry. I know he's 11 yrs old but he's given no indication that something is wrong.

So once I left the church and was walking to my car, I called home again to see if I could get any more info from my husband. My daughter answers. She was trying to explain but because she was crying and hysterical, I told her to give the phone to daddy cause I couldn't understand a word she was saying. My husband gets on and you could tell he was really upset also, but at least I could understand him. He said he thought Ozzy had a seizure, and then explained what happened.

Once I got off the phone, I started rationalizing what could have happened. For the last couple days, it has been the two hottest days of the year here in California, 107-110. Maybe he was just overheated. Yeah, that makes sense!

So once I got home, he was completely fine! He was his jumpy, excited self. My husband actually thought he was going to die cause he was so stiff, legs straight up in the air, head twitching and completely unresponsive. For my daughter to have to see our dog having a seizure like that, what a tramatic experience for her. She is so worried about him now. She didn't even sleep well last night that she slept in our bed with us cause her tummy was upset. :o(

Anyways, all through the night, he was fine. Then this morning my daughter said "Mommy, last night Ozzy felt really hot but today, he feels cooler." So, I'm just hoping this isn't the start of something terrible to come, just that he was overheated and I need to keep him hydrated and cool.

*praying*

30 Days of Truth...

Here it is, Day 3 and not a "Day 2" in place for the arrival of my "Day 3". Well, fear no more. I've gotcha covered {If you're even reading them}.

Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.

Something I love about myself is my loyalty and love I give. If you're in my life {for the obvious reasons, of course}, I give my 100%. I also love unconditionally. When I got married, I took my vows very seriously. I am always there if you need me and listen when you need an ear. I'm always a shoulder to cry on or a compliment away. I will also tell you if I don't agree with something that you may do or not do, but it's because I love you and am concerned for you. I will keep quiet if you need me to or share in your excitement when you have great news. I even pray for them every morning. I love and cherish my family and friends and I don't take them for granted.


Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.

I have to forgive myself for choices that I have made in the past. I need to remember that if God can forgive me, than I should be able to forgive myself. I need to live for today and not dwell on yesterday. We need to live for the moment now cause we don't know what can happen tomorrow. As a mom, I need to teach my daughter these things so that she doesn't make the same mistakes I have. I know she needs to learn from experiences but if only I can guide her on the right path.

Post-It note Tuesday

I've seen people do this meme from SUPAH Mommy's blog and never jumped on board but I thought I would actually start doing it today. Yah Me!

30 Days of Truth...

Today is Monday, the start of a new week. With that said, I thought I would part take in a challenge that I feel may be a little difficult for me. However, I think I'm up for that challenge.

I found this challenge from Denise over at Laughing with Spoons. If you want to jump on board, here are the daily challenges.

Since today is the first day of the challenge for me, here is mine....

Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.

I really hate that I have a lack of patience. I never thought of it before until I had a child. That's when I really picked up on the fact that I really lack in this area. It never really bothered me until I noticed when I would get upset with my daughter when she would just constantly ask questions, want me to do this or do that, or just talk continuously. Sometimes my husband and I tell her to take a breath. It just makes me feel like a terrible mom when I can't just stop and listen to the daily activities of my daughters day while she's at school. Well, I do but sometimes she just has those moments when she is super hyper active and will seriously go on and on if we let her. I really do love to hear what's going on in her day. Why else would I volunteer in her class each week. However, sometimes when I'm busy running around doing errands, cleaning, cooking or just wanting a moment of silence, it makes it hard for me to focus and then I get upset. Sometimes I feel like my head is spuing out all over with too much information and stuff that it's about to explode.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's "Truth of the day".

It's my turn....

In a lot of cases, this could be a good thing. However, in my case, it's not.

You see, my dad has this thing about how he makes his rounds with my brother, mom and I. He's get pissed off at us for the stupidest thing and then holds a grudge for some time. When he gets mad, he is a bit extreme. It's his way or no way, basically. In fact, once he refused to talk to me for a whole year. His own daughter! Honestly, I can't even remember what it was about. That's how petty it was.

Well, on Wednesday my mom and I had gotten into a bit of a tiff. My mom is sensitive and I feel I have to watch what I say with her, and honestly, I know I can be the same way but I feel I was not at wrong and as a parent, I'm standing firm on this. However, it's also something that is, in my mind, water under the bridge now.

Well, evidentally, my brother called me this evening to tell me that he talked to my mom and my mom told my brother to call me to let me know that she has been sick over what happened on Wednesday and that she loves me. Oh, and then my brother goes on to add that my dad is apparently mad about the situation.

My response to that would be......"OF COURSE HE IS!!!

My dad will take any opportunity he can get to be pissed off at any one of us. Honestly though, it's been a few months since my dad has been mad at me so I should have know that my time was coming. Coming indeed....it has arrived! Yah me! Might as well hurry and get it done and over with until next time, right?!

It seizes to amaze me though. I'm 36 yrs old and my dad still treats me as if I'm a child still living at home. Sorry Dad....it's been 16 yrs in case you hadn't noticed!

My only issue is, I want to go to church tomorrow but he'll be there with my mom. How awkward will that be? Should I sit next to them or not? I know I shouldn't let him get in the way of my relationship with God but my dad kind of has that affect on us. I just prefer to avoid the whole situation or silence, for that matter.

What do you think?

Six Word Saturday!

Working On Creating A New Website!

I have my photography website {do stop by and check it out, if you have a chance} that I created and I love it but there was always certain things that I wasn't happy about, so the other day I started creating a new one. Well, basically I'm just reconstructing a new layout. I love making things to personalize my style. My current website was made from a template but the one I'm currently working on is all me. I started it from scratch so I'm pretty excited to see the finished product!

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Now head on over to Cate's to see what's up with everyone else.

Friends, Food & Good Company

This past weekend we had a BBQ with a bunch of our friends.

We had so much fun! We told stories...

laughed, ate, drank...

told more stories....

and laughed some more until our cheeks hurt

Rude Awakening...

Wow, Mama Kat got me two weeks in a row! Like last week, as soon as I saw the prompts, I knew exactly which one I was meant to do.

2. This one time I was sleeping and....
(Inspired by Jennifer W. at Mommy made it look easy)


Here's my story.....

I was living in an apartment with my brother. It was the apartment that my boyfriend (now husband) and I got together but after 6 months, my boyfriend (now husband) moved out and my brother moved in. After a short time, my boyfriend started to spend the night over. It ended up being a nightly thing. Since this was a one bedroom apartment and both my brother and I had seperate bed, we shared the bedroom. That was until my boyfriend (now husband) started to stay over every night. That's when I started to sleep out on the couch with him.

So this one night, my boyfriend and I were sleeping oh so snuggly close. I was in a deep sleep. He was in a deep sleep.

{via}

He was in such a deep sleep that he was dreaming about getting into a fight with this guy outside the bank. During this fight, my boyfriend punched the guy.

That's when it became a reality. This guy in my boyfriend's dream didn't feel it....I DID! The dream was so real to him that he PUNCHED ME! IN MY SLEEP! IN THE FACE! It's a good thing it was his left fist but OMG....talk about a rude awakening.


{If you've seen the movie Friday, then you should know this scene. That's how I felt that one night}

I instantly started to cry. I had no idea what the heck happened. All I knew was my face was in pain because I felt this sudden impact on my cheek.

As soon as my boyfriend punched me, he instantly woke up because it felt too real. That's when I confirmed it with my crying. He felt so bad too. GOOD!

Anyways, that was about 15 yrs ago and fortunately, he hasn't punched me again! Fortunately I can laugh about it now :o)

Photoshoot...

I love Photography! You will know this if you have read my blog.

I even have my own website. I love doing landscape! I feel it cooperates better than people. However, my husband said that I should try taking portraits of kids. This was my weak point. Sure, I take pictures of my daughter, but that's different. I need to step out of my comfort zone.

Since I have been trying to widen my abilities of photography, I thought I could practice on my friend's kids. They have been happily obliging also.

Well, one of my friend's has a niece who is an aspiring model. So, a couple weeks ago her niece wanted me to take pictures for her for her portfolio. I was more than happy to help her out as I was getting my own practice in.

Beautiful girl and a great model. Made for a super fun and easy shoot!

Funny things said from an 8 year old...

I just came across this post that I had never "published". I read what I had drafted up and instantly remember these conversations to which it instantly brought a smile to my face. So I wanted to share with you all a couple little funny things my daughter has said.

~~~

This was when we were coming back from our Disney World vacation last September. We had a layover in Vegas and once off the plane and had a bite to eat, my daughter started to feel sick because of the bumpy plane flight. So sick that we couldn't get her back on the plane when the time came so we ended up staying the night in Vegas.

We got a room at the MGM Grand and once in the room, my daughter still not feeling good, fell asleep. She still had her regular clothes on so I decided to change her into her jammies to make her more comfortable. In the midst of changing her clothes while she was sound asleep, she russeled a bit and then randomly exclaims "Ah Jeez, people!" as she continues to sleep. LOL! I have no idea what the heck she was dreaming about but I have to admit, my husband and I couldn't stop laughing. It was one of those moments I wish I had the video camera.

Then...

About a month later while she was playing with our little dog, she starts to wimper so I asked "what's wrong?" and she says to me "Ozzy just punched me in the eye!"

Really??!! The dog punched her in the eye?! LOL

Ah yes, the funny little things kids say. PRICELESS!!

A "Foul" Situation...

If you're like me and everyone else browsing the Internet, then you've seen this couple.

{via}

If you're not, then let me shed some light. This couple was at a Houston Astro's baseball game this past Monday. When a player hit a foul ball, the boyfriend said that he would catch the ball when at the last second, decided to stand clear of it and allowing it to hit his girlfriend. Nice, right?!

Well, they have been all over the news, youtube.com and now on CBS's "The Early Show". The latest news is, they have split.

Split?

People took a poll asking if this girl should have broke up with him for the lack of chivalry he displayed.

My feelings are 50/50.

Reason is, his reaction could have been just by instinct. You can't control that if you're scared. He probably didn't actually think it would hit her. He could have thought it was just gonna go in the spot he was standing. Then again, he clearly said he would catch it when she said she was gonna get hit. What if it happened again, would he be willing to "protect" her next time? What if they were in a more dangerous situation? Would he be willing to "protect" her then?

What are your feelings? Do you think she should have broke up with him because of this?

Six Word Saturday!

BBQ/Potluck Today With My Friends!

We've been seriously trying to get a BBQ together with a bunch of our friends but because we are always "go, go, going" that we never have time. Then last year in September we had a weekend planned and confirmed with our friends but the week before, a couple of our friends were in a horrible motorcycle accident, so of course it got put off.

Since our friends are doing really good {almost a year later and they use canes and Michael is pretty much out of the wheelchair}, thank the good Lord!!, they will be able to come over for the BBQ!

Anyways, we're gonna have around 20 people here which is a lot for me. We usually don't do this sort of thing except for my daughter's birthday. We're looking forward to it though! It should be a good time!

Hope everyone has a FABulous weekend also!

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Now it's your turn to head over to Cate's to see what others are saying.