Our Life's Journey

Six Word Saturday!

2012-01-28T10:43:00.000-08:00

Karate,

Suprise Party

And Hockey Game!

We have a fun filled day today!

First, we have my daughter's karate. Then, one of my friends turned 40 a couple days ago and his wife is throwing him a surprise party today. Should be fun! Lastly, we are heading out near one of my friend's area to hit their local hockey team. Her boys have never been to a hockey game and we thought it would be fun to all go together. Can't wait!

What are your weekend plans?

Writer's Workshop: I Decided...

2012-01-26T11:35:00.000-08:00

Before I had my daughter, I worked full-time at a manufacturing company for garden tools and furniture. I loved my job! It was close to home {15 minutes away}, I could wear shorts and a t-shirt, unless we had one of our vendors coming in for a meeting with the big wigs.

I worked in customer service. I helped customers who bought the product from local retailers and I would send out replacements to the customer when the product was faulty or if they need say, a new blade for pruning shears.

In the warehouse, we had a couple golf carts so the workers could get around the warehouse quicker. I would sometime I, along with other co-workers, would drive those golf carts around goofing off when I was on break. So much fun! Good times....

However, with a decent size company as that comes drama, or shall I say.....gossip! I. HATE. GOSSIP!!!

I went home on several occassions all upset. Lame!

So when I found out that I was pregnant {4 months after we got married}, my husband and I were talking about maybe me going part-time. I knew I couldn't just quit work. Living here in California is expensive and there was no way with all our bills, that I could just quit work. So we decided on working part-time and I loved the idea.

After having my daughter and after I got back from maternity leave, I talked with my job and they didn't agree to it. Either I work full-time or I would have to look for a new job. So I did.

Two months later, I got a new job at a CPA firm {45min to an hour in traffic, away from home}! I've been there 10 yrs {this year} now. I love my job because there is none of this....

It's just me and the boss. He actually acts like my dad sometimes, which annoys me but hey...I make good money for being an admin. assistant {location, location, location}! I go home and work is left behind. However, I would like to be a stay at home mom but this is the next best thing. I get to volunteer at my daughter's school and pick her up 2 days out of the week. I love it! What more can I ask for?

It's Tuesday which means.....

2012-01-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

It's a date with....

Myself,

the couch,

{clearly this isn't my couch, just loved the scenery. via}

{via}

and Sarah Jessica Parker!

I love Tuesdays!

What day do you look forward to?

What's going on...

2012-01-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

You know that song...the one by Marvin Gaye? Great song!

Well, I thought this was a good time to catch you all up on what's going on around here.

Let's see.....

I just went out last night for a "girl's night out" with 3 of my good friends whom I haven't had a chance to visit with for a while. It was a lot of fun! We went to dinner at Chili's and then we were supposed to go see that movie, Haywire but instead, window shopped, chatted and laughed.....A LOT too! So much that my cheeks were hurting! Don't you just love that?!

This past week my daughter & I were sick. We both ended up at the doctors. First I got a sinus infection and then I passed it onto my daughter. All's good in the home front now though!

For the past few weeks we've been checking out different churches since we decided to part ways from our old church. Unfortunately, there was resistance to change so we felt it was time to move on. Too bad cause I really liked the church but I need to be able to grow so now I'm letting God lead me.

The church we went to today I really, really liked. It's small {which is what I prefer} yet, their style is appealing to today's Christians with the contemporary music and such, which I also like! We were immediately greeted upon arriving, which is a plus and lots of people were coming up to us to welcome us. Very warm and friendly!

We still plan on checking out more churches in the coming weeks so I'm excited to see where God plans to take me :O)

Lastly, now that we are in a brand new year, it brings on a new season.....

TAX SEASON.

Boooo!!!

I have noticed one thing though....

I've been with this company for 10 yrs this year and with every year, I notice each year seems to be a little easier than the previous. Not sure why but it does. Maybe cause I learn more and more each year. Well, whatever it is, I'm just counting down the days. As of today, I officially have a minimum of 38 working days left , that's if I don't work any additional days, which I already know I will.

So, here's to a successful tax season!

Wish me luck

Six Word Saturday!

2012-01-21T00:17:00.000-08:00

I Hate When Questions Turn Sour!

A simple "?" turned into this....

And because I'm stubburn and a hard head, I keep it going and I stand my ground.

But then so does he.

Wouldn't it just be easier though to....

But don't you just hate it when this is how the time is spent after the fact.....

What a waste of time!

I admit, I'm so guilty of this too!

*sigh*

Here's to hoping the rest of the day goes better.

Praying helps....that's for sure!

What it means....

2012-01-19T14:16:00.000-08:00

You know what this is a picture of??

Besides the fact that it's a picture of two of my neighbor's houses across the street from me.

This picture actually speaks volumns.

Considering we are in the middle of winter and we haven't had rain,

this picture is a sign of rain to come for the first time in a couple months.

Let's clarify something here....

I am a Summer girl. I LOVE the sun, the blue sky, the warmth of it all!

Lately, we've been getting a lot of sun and the blue sky however, not the warmth of it all.

NO!

We've been getting temps in the 20's - 40's.

Again....I'm a Summer girl and needless to say, I HATE COLD!!!

That to me, my friends, is freezing to me!!!!

SO.....

With the rain about to come, I am a happy Summer girl!

Why?

Cause we all know, with rain and clouds comes the warmer temps.

*happy dance*

Then I happened upon this and thought how perfect for how I'm feeling...

And what better quote than this....

Project 52 * Week 2

2012-01-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

I meant to start this 2 weeks ago but life happened.

Doesn't it always?!

So, before week 3 officially starts {tomorrow}, I'm gonna squeeze in my Week 2's photo!!

Last week...okay, so maybe 2 weeks ago I took this picture but hey, I'm using it for week 2 {close enough} so I don't lag anymore than I already have :o)

AND.....if anyone knows me and my photo style, they'll know I don't like to edit buuuuuut, I edited this one :o)

This was actually taken with my cell which usually doesn't take the greatest photos but with a little editing, it actually gave that vintage feel I was looking for!

~~~~

Now, if you like taking photos and want to join this project, go check out Amarie's site, Tickle My Whimsy!

This Sunday....

2012-01-15T18:22:00.000-08:00

Has been very uneventful.

We went to breakfast to a new place.

New to us, that is.

I took a nap.

Still haven't taken a shower...and at this point, considering it's 6:18pm, I don't plan on it until tomorrow morning.

My husband started putting together a marble toy that my MIL got for our daughter.

3 hours later, my husband is finished.

Personally, I think some people have evil intentions.

Oh yeah, and last night, our heater went on the fritz yet again!!

My daughter and I have been snuggling in bed {watching the Golden Globes} with a bunch of blankets AND our jackets on.

Yeah, you can say.....we're freezing!!!!!

May this week get warmer!!

I Want Candy!

2012-01-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

My daughter has a couple little friends who live behind us. They're sisters. They are 9 and 5 yrs old. I've mentioned them before.

The 9 yr old is very quiet and reserved around us while the 5 yr old is very spunky and outgoing. Honestly, she isn't afraid to say or ask anything.

Why do I say this?

Because every time, and I mean every time, that little girl asks the same thing every time she comes over here.

What does she ask for?

My daughter just told her that her dad got rid of all it. So she asked if she got some from Christmas. Then as they were just walking out to go next door, I hear her ask "Can I have one?" and my daughter says "No, that's a cough drop." lol If no one told me, I would think she never gets candy or something over there.

Hey, I'm not judging, trust me cause my daughter gets lots of candy from people, birthdays, holidays, you name it but because I'm so set on her not eating too much of it as it's, 1.) not good for you, 2.) rots your teeth and 3.) too much can be a very bad thing. So when she does get lots, it usually sits there and then ends up getting thrown out. We don't deprive her, it's just in moderation.

It's funny how kids have a one tracked mind though. :o)

Ozzy!!

2012-01-10T07:40:00.000-08:00

He's the newest doggie sensation!

Okay, so maybe not but I'm sure going to see how far I can take this!!

Why?

Cause I have nothing better to do and well, cause that's what my daughter wants to do.

Humor me here.

You see, it all started with that cute little dog, Boo.

As soon as my daughter saw that he had a Facebook page, she wanted me to make our dog, Ozzy one. I kept telling here "no" or "not now" or even "maybe later", just trying to buy myself time. Hoping that maybe, just MAYBE she would forget.....but noooo. She kept buggin'.

So what happened yesterday?

That's right....I gave in. I caved!

Does this look like the face of a sucker?

Yeah, I thought so!

So, let's see how far we can take this!

You guys with me???

Let's see if we can make my Ozzy-boy as popular as little Boo and maybe even get his very own book deal!

Just go here and "Like" his fan page!

I'm counting on you guys!!!!

Who's to blame?

2012-01-08T20:43:00.000-08:00

I received my first gray hair when I was about 17 yrs old.

My mom went gray early also. In fact, her hair is pretty much salt 'n pepper all the way through. She's only 58 yrs old.

For as long as I can remember, she's had lots of gray but she always dyed it......until recently.

So here I am, just a few minutes ago, observing my hair, checking all the areas that I could possibly check.....gray, gray, gray.

Okay, so maybe I'm not salt n' pepper.....not by a long shot. The only time you can see my gray is if I pull my hair back by my temples to see underneth or better yet, when I get that one crazy gray on the top of my head that refuses to lay down like the rest of my hair so in turn, to avoid having it appear obvious, I have to pluck it out only to receive two more in it's place. You know how that goes.

So the question lies......who's to blame for my gray hair?

Well, let's see shall we....

1. Genetics? Because my mom went gray early, I will probably go gray early too, right?!

2. My daughter? Because I stress everyday for her safety. For the future and the events that are to come for her, that I have absolutely no control over. Yes, I stress about this!

3. My husband? Because he drives me bonkers like husbands tend to do.

4. Myself? That's right! I can be honest. I stress, stress, stress. I stress about crazy things. Or even just the mear fact that I pluck those pesky grays. Is THAT why I have all the gray I have, because each one I plucked, I gained 2 more in it's place?

This we may never know. Like that question, "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop?" The world may never know!

A New Years to remember...

2012-01-07T09:50:00.000-08:00

Last year for New Years, we went to Old Sacramento. We stayed in a hotel to avoid being on the streets with drunk drivers. That was the most we had done for New Years in many years. In fact I would have to say, that was one of the best New Years in terms of going out and doing something.

Well, I think we got last year's beat......by a long shot!!

What better place to spend the start of a brand new year than.....

However, it didn't start off good. Well, not in my book anyway,

We weren't actually in the park. We were right in the corridor to Disneyland and California Adventure. By the time we drove out there, the park was full. That's okay cause we didn't plan on going in anyways cause our season passes are blacked out on NYE.

As soon as midnight struck and the fireworks went off {which btw, we couldn't really see cause all the fog}, we made a mad dash to the shuttle bus station. We got to our spot about 12:03am. We were able to see our spot as we were walking to it. Not a bus in sight. We wait.....and wait.....and wait some more. As we waited, we noticed all the other shuttles picking up their people. In fact, some of the stations were able to pick up their people more than once. Meanwhile, not one bus came for our station.

Finally, a half hour later, a bus pulls up. I go to get on and the driver says "This is bus 15A". Well, we needed 15B. How convenient. At this point, I'm freezing, tired and beYOND pissed! I asked the driver when bus 15B was supposed to arrive and he said it arrives on the hour. I quickly informed him we were at the station on the hour and bus 15B was NOT! He called in to find out where our bus was and he told us another 5-10 min. Well, our bus finally arrived at 12:48am. I was so grumpy at this point I was about to have an adult tantrum, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut. Meanwhile, I was screaming in my head.

Our whole intention was to get back to the hotel by 12:30 to get to bed to be at the park by 8am. We didn't actually get to bed until about 1:30 or 2am.

The next morning we got up.....dragging myself but I got up.

I bet you can't even tell I was grumpy either?

I was!! Very grumpy!

For the first part of the morning, anyways.

{If you're wondering why my daughter's fingers were crossed, she was avoiding the "cheese touch"! Not sure what that is? Watch Diary of a Wimpy Kid.}

We had fun as the day went on. Crowds weren't too bad. Assuming most people were hungover. :o)

We went with a friend and her two girls. Behind my daughter and her friend was our friend and her other daughter.

We're in the front two rows. Of course, my daughter is the crazy one!

My hubby and I are in the very back row and our kiddo is of course, front and center!

Upon one of my fears, we conquered Mickey's Fun Wheel. Not in just the stationary cage either. I'm sure my screams were heard across the park too!

Funny story....

Remember I mentioned the "Cheese Touch"?

Well, while at California Adventures, my daughter and I were giving random people the cheese touch. You basically touch someone and say "cheese touch". I have to say, the looks on people's faces were so hilarious!! Priceless moment.

We hit Autopia cars and I even drove while texting this picture to Facebook!

We were at Disneyland until the 3rd. To be honest, as the days went on, the crowds got bigger. By the last day there, we were so ready to go and get away from this....

I'll tell you, dealing with this kind of crowds takes a toll on my body and makes for a grumpy hubby.

I still love Disneyland though!

How was your New Years?

When technology is a good thing...

2011-12-29T09:59:00.000-08:00

Last night my baby girl stayed the night at her friend's house.

I dropped her off and met my husband and his friend back at a local sports bar to finish watching the San Jose Sharks game.

After the game, I took my husband's friend home, cause that's what I do. I'm the DD.

Once we got home, we went onto Priceline to try and bid for a hotel for our NYE plans {for another post}.

Around 11:30pm, we got a phone call. I noticed it was my friend's house, where my daughter was staying the night.

I answer it.

It's my baby girl.....crying.

She started talking and I simply could not understand a single word she was saying.

I was getting nervous. I asked if everything was okay and again, words came out that I couldn't understand.

Finally I told her to calm down that I couldn't understand her. She gained composure.

She had a nightmare!

She dreamt that something happened to me. So she wanted to Skype so she could see me. To make her feel better.

It made all the difference!

My poor baby! :o(

Merry Christmas....

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

From My Family to Yours!!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Christmas filled with all of God's goodness.

May you have Love, Joy and Peace this coming year!!

With that said...

Here's my all time favorite Christmas song!

Ever since I was a little girl I loved playing this on the record player.

If you're traveling, please be safe!!!

Six Word Saturday!

2011-12-24T06:59:00.000-08:00

Need To Do Last Minute Shopping!

YES! I am a procrastinator!

I still need to shop for my hubby. Not only that, I need to take the kiddo to see the "Big Man" this morning.

Like I said.....I'm a procrastinator!

Honestly though.....this is normal for us...lol!

Are you ready for Christmas? Or do you have last minute stuff to take care of also?

This has been apart of Cate's "Six Word Saturday"!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

*Jesus is the reason for the Season*

Six Word Saturday!

2011-12-17T13:45:00.000-08:00

Going To A Fun Themed Birthday!

One of my friends is celebrating one of her son's birthday today. It's not going to be your typical themed birthday party either.

No Sir!

There's won't be any SpongeBob

or Spiderman.

There won't even be Disney's Cars!

At this party, we will be enjoying all of holiday goodiness with the likes of

AND

A Christmas Tree cake!

How fun this will be! I've never been to a Christmas themed birthday party but I know it will be fun! I can't wait to get pictures of my kiddo with Santa either!

Geek Chic!

2011-12-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

I really don't know what to think about this new style with the kids these days.

In my day, if you looked like this

You got picked on, heckled or even beat up.

Maybe things haven't completely changed but it seems some people have taken a whole new approach to the idea of being a geek or a nerd.

Stores have started selling popular characters on shirts, backpacks and even school supplies that read

I'm actually liking it to the point that maybe, just maybe the teasing will stop.

I even started seeing kids at Nuggy's school wearing fake glasses and adding tape or a bandaid to the center to give it that authentic look. At that point I thought it was a bit silly but whatever.

Then I realized, my own child hoped onboard the "geek chic" train!

Honestly though? She a pretty cute looking "nerd"!

Still seems silly though. Just sayin'....

Gold Camp 2011

2011-12-15T20:23:00.000-08:00

A couple months ago my daughter had a school field trip that was a two night adventure up in California's Gold Country. Being the mom of only one child and a girl at that, I just couldn't bring myself to let her go without me.

We learned {yes, including me!} all about the Forty-Niners, and I'm not talking about the football team. I'm talking the real deal, people! I know, I probably already learned about all this stuff years ago when I was my daughter's age but us adults forget these kinds of things after years of other learning. {Isn't learning fun? We forget almost as soon as we learn it!}

The kids learned different methods of "panning" for gold.

The camp directors even dressed in period clothes so if felt like an authentic experience. Pretty cool!

Each group had our own cabin

What a great experience I had with my daughter! I never got the opportunity to do this when I was her age. I just hope she enjoyed her time with me as I did with her!!

Bah Humbug!

2011-12-13T09:36:00.000-08:00

While this is the scene of what it's been like here in my neck of the woods...

It just doesn't feel like Christmas unless it looks like this...

Funny thing about it all is, I was watching the news this morning as while Los Angeles is usually the one that always has most of the sunshine, up here in Northern California, we usually see most of the rain.

Well, not today.

We have sunshine and they have the rain.

As much of a Summer girl that I am, I need rain or fog to make me feel like it's Christmas!!

This year it's been really hard for me to get into the Christmas spirit because of all the sunshine. Sure, it's been cold out...and to this California girl, cold to me is 50's. Brrrrrr!!!

(go ahead....laugh)

THEN...

Someone went off and stole one of our Christmas decorations!

The 4 little circles on the far left {below}....those are snowflakes.

Someone stole those!!

I'm pissed too!

We believe they also tried to steal our candy canes but when one of them was separated from the base, we think they thought they broke it so didn't take it.

Well, if anymore decorations get stolen, it's all getting put away and we'll only put up the lights instead.

Just wish people didn't have to ruin it for others!

Annoying Texts

2011-12-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

Am I the only one?

Lately, when I send a text to my husband that includes a photo, he never seems to receive it

until

in the morning...

while we're sleeping....

A week later!!!!

Six Word Saturday!

2011-11-26T09:06:00.000-08:00

Must Have Slept Wrong Last Night!

{Even though this picture depicts a sore lower back, mine's the shoulder blades}

Every now and then I will sleep wrong which then leaves my back all in a funk.

Well, today is that day!

RAR!

Happy Thanksgiving....

2011-11-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

From my family to Yours!!!

This morning we left the house at 8:30am to enjoy our annual Thanksgiving breakfast out.

It's something we enjoy and look forward to every year!!

This year we went to IHOP, as requested by that little girl above.

She ended up ordering the Eggnog Holiday Pancakes,

{pictured below, bottom left}

Turns out it was way too sweet for her sweet tooth...lol!

She ate about half. Good thing she ordered the eggs and hashbrowns with it, so she can eat something healthier first.

We also ordered the Carmel Hot Chocolate, each. Right after I ordered it and the waitress walked away, I noticed the calories on it. 400 calories!!! Ummm, yeeaaah.....I drank maybe half. Again, it was too sweet for my little one.

A mom's opinion? GOOD!!!!

~~~

May you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! May you have peace, love, good food and share the laughter and goodness in your life.....together!!!!

Six Word Saturday!

2011-11-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

Things Are Starting To Perk Up!

This month has been quite difficult for me around here. Not constant, just off and on but I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.....again!

Why?

Because I prayed. I prayed HARD! I do believe God heard my cries!

Literally.

Ya know, yesterday while listening to my favorite radio station, KLOVE, they were talking about how there really are no "newer" songs for Thansgiving. They mentioned that if any Christian artist could come up with a song just for Thansgiving, it would be Matthew West. So, they asked us, the listeners, to come up with things that are a must in a Thanksgiving song.

What would you say?

First thing that came to mind, for me, especially since God heard my prayers, would have to be.....the abundance of blessings!

What are YOU thankful for this Thansgiving season?

Silence is deafening...

2011-11-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

{via}

Bare with me here.

I need to just talk.....or shall I say, write.

I'm going through a rough time right now. It all started yesterday. Honestly though, this has been a rough month. It was fantastic in some parts, then it went sour once again.

So, I was sitting here a moment ago. You know when normal, familiar sounds can be comforting? You find peace in them. In my case, while sitting here, those sounds became overwhelming.

It's quiet yet, I hear the sounds of cars, birds, a neighbor pounding a hammer, or even the humming in my ear. The quiet became deafening. Then I felt the stress building in my chest. I want to run away but I have obligations.

I just wish I could rewind a day. When things were going good.

I've been in this place before. Many times. I've heard the same things. Many times. When do I start believing it? When do I take it serious?

I'm the one who is mad. PISSED to be honest! Yet, I ask myself....."Why am I the one stressing? Why am I the one with butterflies?"

I don't want to do anything. I just don't have the energy. I feel weak. This overwhelming feeling of stress is too much.

All I can do is pray for God's help. I just need to continue to have Faith that HE will help me through this.....again. He always does. Yet, here I am again. Apparently I haven't learned the lesson I'm suppose to learn.

I know life isn't easy. I just wish I had less trials than I'm dealing with right now....in this moment. Such a wonderful time of year becomes so tainted by every day life and trials. Always during the holidays.

You can't handle the truth!

2011-11-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

I know that what I'm about to say is going to cause a possible blogosphere meltdown.

Perhaps alot of this

or even some screams of outrage,

but honestly, I feel I have to say it.

In fact, I've been putting it off for quite some time now because I knew just what kind of response I would get.

That's okay.

I've gotten over that part.

So, now I'm ready to be honest with you all.

Bare with me.

In fact,

Brace yourself, dear friends.....

You know those boots called UGGS?

I know why they called them that.

Because they're UGG-LY!!!!

The Boob-Tube Routine

2011-11-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

Every night here at our home, we watch various programs from the Food Network's

to TruTV's

to

However, in this house, no matter what, we have a nightly routine. That is, Monday's thru Friday's.

We can NOT miss an episode of TMZ.

We love TMZ! It's so funny!

Especially when they mimic Justin Bieber's voice!! LOL!!!

We even DVR it so that we are guaranteed to watch it each night while we lay in bed. It's usually the last thing we watch right before we go to bed for the evening.

One of these days on our many trips to LA, we're gonna take the TMZ tour and get us our free TMZ t-shirt just so I can blog about it.

Just you wait!

I'm Feeling the Holidays!

2011-11-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

This holiday season I'm feeling a bit festive, in the June Cleaver, homemade baking goods kind of way.

I'm not much of a baker. It sounds fun but I'm not one to get in the kitchen and cook things from scratch. Again, sounds fun but not for me.

A couple years ago I wanted to do something different for the holidays so I actually stepped out of my comfort zone and looked online for an "easy" Dutch Apple Pie recipe. Sure enough...I found it!

The last couple years I've made it too and it was fun! However, last year I learned a valuable lesson....never use frozen pie crust. The first year I rolled my own dough out and it came out perfect. Last year it was still yummy, just more runny.

This year I plan on making my dutch apple pie as usually cause my family loves it but I also wanted to do something fun. Something fun for both my daughter and I do together.

Popcorn Balls!!

We can dye them for Christmas colors or add some M&M's to add some festiveness to it.

Then last night my husband requested something.

Cake Pops!

I was actually surprised by his request too.

We can get all sorts of creative with these. Like some pink ones dipped with peppermint candy.

Or maybe something super cute and fun like Rudolph ones!

So adorable!

We just may have a new holiday tradition in our family!

What kind of holiday traditions do you have?

You know when....

2011-11-07T20:44:00.000-08:00

You know when you're so cold,

{via}

you get snuggled in the blankets and just to keep warm, you cover your head,

{via}

you can see your own breath when you breathe, or

{via: my camera}

when your hands are so cold they hurt and feel like icicles?

That's how I'm feeling.

Okay, so maybe not quite yet, but I'm getting close

and I'm afraid that by tomorrow morning, I will feel like all the above!!

This morning when I got up and jumped in the shower, my husband came in the bathroom to tell me,

"I don't think the heaters working."

I asked why and he replied,

"Because it's blowing out cold air."

Well, he checked the pilot light and it won't start, plus....when we turn the heater off, it still runs.

Something isn't right!

We had this problem last year.

So we have to call to get someone back out here. Only thing is, I'm sure we're not the only one that is having heater problems. Now that this is the start of the cold season, I'm sure this is a peak season for these kind of companies.

Let's just hope I can get an appointment this week. We shall soon see.

In the meantime.....

Brrrr!

Oh Yes we did!!

2011-11-06T20:56:00.000-08:00

Every year my husband and I make it a plan to put the lights on the house and decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Some times we just decorate but when it comes to putting the lights on the house, that is a feat that usually waits until a few weeks before Christmas day arrives.

A couple weeks ago my husband said, "Let's be crazy this year!!....."

Okay.

So, last week my daughter and I went online to check out our annual Christmas music station to see when they were going to change from regular classic rock to the festive tunes. Well, to our delight, they have a "sneek peek" of the Christmas music but only online! The transition doesn't happen until the day after Thanksgiving but if we really wanted to listen, we can do online streaming. So we did!

THEN...

My daughter asked us yesterday, "Let's decorate for Christmas!"

It took some "hemin' and hawing" but finally my husband went out to the garage and started to bring in all the Christmas tubs. We started opening them and pulling out all the glorious delights of the holidays. We were getting excited!

So much so that my husband kept true to his promise...

"Let's be crazy this year!"

In deed we have!

In fact, we are the only ones in the neighborhood with our house lit up one week into November!

So, with that said....

Let the holidays begin!!

Guess Who?

2011-11-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

This time every year we try and make it to the best corn maze in our area. Last year, because of the bad rain storm we had, the maze had been destroyed before they could even open.

So this year (last weekend) we made a point to go for sure since we lost out on last year. Unfortunately for us, because we went a week before they closed for the season, the maze had been pretty worn down from either the winds, people trampling through the corn or just both.

However, guess who we saw while we were there??

CHARLIE BROWN!!

Coincidence??

2011-11-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Last week while at the grocery store,

we went down the aisle for some cases of water.

As we left that aisle, my husband took notice of something.

He says to me,

"Babe, check out what that ad on the front of the cart says and then look at what's inside."

So I glanced over....

First thing that comes to my mind was,

"I have to Facebook this!!"

So I grabbed my phone, not caring that the store worker was right down the aisle.

Just as I'm holding my phone to take a picture, the lady looks at me, probably wondering what the heck am I doing taking a picture of a cart full of wine.

I quickly reassure her I'm not a weirdo by informing her what the ad says in the front of the cart and how coincidental it is that wine would be in that particular cart.

She laughed and said,

"Oh how funny! I didn't even notice that. Of all the carts, it would have to be this one they put wine in it!"

Coincidence??

Six Word Saturday!

2011-10-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Irritated At One Of Nuggy's Friends!

Why, you ask??!!

Well, apparently her friend thought that calling at 1:20am was an appropriate time to call and ask to speak to my daughter. REALLY???!!!

When you're in a deep sleep and the phone rings in the middle of the night, panic sets in. This time, not for me but for my husband it did!

One thing I can assure you is, her friend's parents are going to get a call from me this morning!!

WHAT'S WRONG WITH KIDS??!!

Now go visit Cate for some more SWS fun!

I amuse myself!

2011-10-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday while browsing the internet, I came across a picture on the front page of MSN.

It was Steven Tyler.

I noticed the photo everytime I press "home" to go back to MSN.

Only thing was, I never bothered to read the "blurb" below the picture.

The whole time I kept seeing the picture, the thought that kept going through my mind was that he was dressed up for Halloween.

That this was his costume.....right?!

NO????

When I finally decided to click on the story to see what this picture ~~costume~~ was all about, come to find out, poor Steven Tyler didn't choose to look like this. He actually fell in the bathroom and this was the result of his accident.

Note to self: read the story before assuming I know the "real" story!

LOL!!! Poor Steven! At least he has his Halloween costume this year. Too bad it's gonna last longer than a day. ;o)

Scaredy Cat!

2011-10-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

As a child, I was shy, timid and very passive.

I tended to keep to myself.

While at home, I was a goofball though.

I loved the camera, just being myself to my family.....a "ham" as my mom would call me.

In being myself with my family around, I wasn't afraid to be "afraid".

You ask, What was I afraid of?

Well, what most kids are afraid of....

The DARK!

At night time when I would go down the hall I would get scared, so I would turn the light on. Sometimes I found myself trying to be brave and go down without the light. However, I remember a few occassions where, when I went to turn on my bedroom light, the lightbulb would go out so I bolted down the hall, thinking some little monster would come out of my closet, which was right next to the light switch, and come after me. So I would run just to reach the entrance to the kitchen cause that was where my parents were able to see me. I felt safe knowing nothing could possibly happen when I was in the view of my parents.

Funny thing is, some things never change.

Okay, so maybe I'm not the extreme as I was when I was a little kid but I have to admit, I'm still afraid of the dark (HEY....don't judge!). It's pretty much when my husband isn't home at night, which is very rare. However, in those rare moments, I feel childhood behavior creep up on me.

With Halloween literally around the corner, what a perfect time to share what things you are afraid of!

Six Word Saturday!

2011-10-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

Going To Gold Camp This Week!

Through my daughter's school, the 4th graders get to go on a two night trip out in the gold country to learn about the California Gold Rush. They learn how to pan for gold and do other things the men used to do in those days. I, being her mom, just couldn't let her go unless I chaperoned. We leave this week and then when we get back, we're hoping in the car with our friend and her family to head down south....to Disneyland! What an exciting week it's gonna be!

Not only that.....

Dinner And Movie With The Girls!

Tonight I'm getting together with my girls for dinner and a movie! One of our friends moved about 30-40 minutes away so getting together as often as we used to just doesn't happen like it once did. So, now we have to make plans in the evening to get together. What better way too?! Can't wait!

Six Word Saturday!

2011-10-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

She Gets Rides...

I Get Chores.

I just dropped my baby girl off at her friend's house. She's having a sleepover over there but first, they're heading to Six Flags for some fun. Meanwhile, I get to do chores. That's my fun for the day :o/

I guess I should look on the bright side....

I'll be having tons of fun riding rides exactly two weeks from right this minute! :o)

Woo Hoo!

Where you might ask?

*Hint* We always go there cause we have season passes ;o)

A Journal Idea

2011-10-05T15:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday night we were watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

It was about a little boy that needed a bone marrow transplant.

The mom has been trying everything, everyday to fight for her son who was only all of 7 yrs old, yet has endured so much at such a young age.

Well, every night at bedtime, they would write in a journal what they were thankful for.

It got me thinking...

{via}

What a great idea!

I am all for praising God for all he has done for me, even through my trials, he has a purpose. We may not always like what may be going on in our lives at the time but he has a bigger plan.

He is trying to mold us into being who we are meant to be. He turns every tragedy into something good. Whether it be to turn a tragedy into something for others to learn about or to open our hearts to something we may otherwise never seen without the tragedy.

I have had my share of heartache in my life yet, I have learned so much because of it.

I am a firm believer in God's greatness and to have Faith and praise him.

With all I have overcome, I still get to live my life enjoying the goodness He gives. For that I am thankful!

Now that we have a daughter who gets to enjoy so many great things, I thought this would be a great exercise to do with her since there are so many things we can and should be thankful for.

{via}

So, I plan to go out and buy a couple journals for us so that we can do the same thing!

Hopefully this will become an encouraging thing for our family and maybe, we can share with others to do the same.

I think we, as people, we need to not take things for granted and to look around at the things we may have (big or small) and appreciate it! All of it!

Fall Kickoff...

2011-10-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

It's official....

I have kicked off this season sick.

Say it with me now...

BOOOOOO!!!!

Hey, as long as I don't have the cough that my husband has been suffering from for the past 2 weeks, then I refuse to complain!

AND...

I don't have a boss tomorrow so that makes for a better "sick" day.

So, here's to looking on the bright side of being sick :o)

Key West (Day 3)

2011-09-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

Our final "full" day in Key West was a fun one!

We went to breakfast in the morning and then decided to take a walk down Duval Street for a fun little adventurous treat (you'll see what that is in a sec) for the day.

I wish I could say we enjoyed our walk but that is an understatement.

The majority of the way to our destination was to be desired.....the sun just beat down on us the entire time. So once we got to where we were walking, you can bet your booty, we were thrilled to get cover for the short amount of time we were gonna have it. It would soon get better though!

I kept falling behind though cause I kept taking pictures along the way.

{You can see my husband and daughter way up there}

But we finally reached our destination and needless to say....we were pretty excited!!

That's right....we rented mopeds!

My husband got a double for him and our daughter

While I got my own! I had never ridden a moped before but that was okay....I learned very quickly.....and it was FUN!!!

We cruised around the island...

Taking pics along the way...

Even made it to the Southernmost Point of the Continental USA.

Then we headed down to Smathers Beach for a swim.

Enjoying the beautiful turqouise ocean.

We even saw an iguana walking out in the open, minding his own business.

Then we decided to "scoot" along to show our daughter a cruise ship in person cause she has never seen one "live" and in person to see how big they really are.

After that we decided to get a treat to cool ourselves off.

Honestly though, this had to be one expensive treat!

Here at home we will spend on an average about $8-10 for frozen yogurt for the three of us.

Key West? $26!!

Well, I guess we were on vacation, huh?!

One thing about Key West I loved was that roosters and chickens roamed the street and it was the cutest thing EVER!

*I used to have pet chickens so that's why I find them adorable.

Right before we had to return the mopeds (and before the rain started, literally right after this picture was taken), we made our way to Ernest Hemingway's house for a quick pic. Unfortunately, we never made it inside. Perhaps next time.

Then we had dinner at Sloppy Joes and enjoyed some live music.

Before the trip was over, we promised to take our daughter to the Key West Toy Factory.

It was a fun toy store. It actually reminded me of the store in that movie, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

They had so many cute things. We just couldn't buy them as we were limited on luggage space.

Then we finally called it a night to get ready for our 3 hour drive the next morning up the Keys to Miami for lunch and then our flight out of Fort Lauderdale.

Come back to see our final day on vacation in Florida.

If you missed the first two days, you can find them here:

Key West Day 1
Key West Day 2

Fall Must-Have's

2011-09-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

I love sharing my current "must-have's" for each season. I feel as if it's the kick off of the season to come and to help me in preparing myself to gather up all the goodies for the season.

A couple weeks ago I got an email from Bath & Body Works advertising their deal at the time so we made our way over on the last day of the sale to stock up on some Fall favorites for my soap.

Oh yes...and the Carmel Apple smelled so good!

Among others that I grabbed.

One of my kiddo's friends who lives behind us had a school fundraiser of carmel apples. We've never really been one to eat them, maybe because it seems like a lot of work to eat, so we don't but this time we thought we would help out a little kid.

We bought the Apple Pie Ala mode and it was so delish that my husband said "I don't understand why we don't buy those more". Well, maybe it will become a Fall tradition?

Yep, I am excited to announce that it's that time of year again where Disneyland has geared up for some Halloween fun! Every year they would do the Halloween Trick-or-Treating at California Adventure but because they're doing a major overhaul on it, it's been moved to Disneyland instead.

We're not sure if we'll do the trick-or-treating because they charge an additional $59 per person to get in (compared to $15 per person when they first started it).

However, one of my favorite things is when they turn Space Mountain into Ghost Galaxy!! Oh yeah!!

Even though it's still in the 90's here in California, I still like to have my blanket with me in the evenings. Especially once the heat cools down and I've got a good movie to watch.

Which brings me to some good movies! I love watching movies in the evening. Grab some popcorn, hot tea, my pillow and blanket and it's snuggle time with a good flick!

Lastly, we just received our season tickets for the Shark's games. As much as I can care LESS about watching the sport on tv, I have to admit...going to the hockey games are so much more fun! Plus, since HP Pavilion is in Downtown San Jose, we love to hang out before the games and go to dinner first. Lots of fun!

Now that Fall is approaching, what are your "must-have's"?

Key West (Day 2)

2011-09-20T16:20:00.000-07:00

On the second day in Key West, we had so much planned.

Parasailing, snorkeling, dolphin and sunset cruise! We were so excited!!

Parasailing was first thing in the Sunday morning, 10am. We walked down to Mallary Square and waited for our boat arrival.

Taking pictures in the meantime...

Baby got to go twice. Once with me and once with daddy.

{photo courtesy of Sunset Watersports}

{photo courtesy of Sunset Watersports}

{photo courtesy of Sunset Watersports}

Round two!

{photo courtesy of Sunset Watersports}

It was so much fun!! We even got video of the 3 of us up there!

After parasailing, we grabbed some lunch at Margaritaville. Taking pics on the way.

In front of Sloppy Joe's Bar

Once the evening approached, so did our snorkeling/dolphin/sunset cruise!

We got very close to some dolphins too!

As we got to our destination to go snorkeling, which was 7 miles out, we anchored and surprisingly, it was only about 4-5 ft deep.

We all jumped in the water and seriously, not more than 5-10 minutes later, Baby got stung by a jellyfish! She started crying claiming it was burning and itching so we got her back on the boat while the boat crew sprayed some stuff on her legs to help ease the pain which made it better.

While she stayed on the boat for about 10 minutes, hubby and I stayed close by the boat however, that left nothing but sand for us to explore. Oh yeah, and jellyfish to avoid!

Once Baby got back in, we started to swim where the corral reef is. Baby swam next to daddy the whole way. Since I'm not the best swimmer, I kept falling behind yelling "Wait up!". Just as we got to the corral reef, hoping to see some fish, my husband calmly says "Ok, there is a jellyfish right there" as he points and just then, Baby freaks out and climbs on my husband's back choking him. At that point, he started to swim back to the boat cause it was impossible to enjoy the water with her freaking out about the jellyfish....poor thing! Can't blame her though.

It was time to head back anyways. Got on the boat, enjoying the sunset.

While one of the boat crew guys asked us if we would like anything to drink, I simply asked for some water, husband got a beer and baby got a Sierra Mist.

I start drinking my water and it tasted like salt water. I thought maybe it was from the water on my lips or whatever water I ended up swallowing (on accident, obviously) while snorkeling. I made a comment and the guy thought strange. Other people thought it was from my skin also. I kept drinking it and I couldn't get over the taste. Then another lady said the same thing so the guy decided to pour himself some to taste and sure enough, he says "Oh wow, yeah, I don't understand. We have a filter and it obviously isn't working. Sorry about that!"

The lady next to me said "I'm surprised you drank as much as you did." I was simply just trying to suck it up and deal with it, really.

After our cruise, we went to Caroline's for dinner and had some yummy food and just relaxed...

enjoying each others company!

Be sure to come back to see what fun stuff we did on Day 3!

In case you missed Key West Day 1, you can find it here.

Pictures worth a thousand words...

2011-09-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

I am one proud Auntie!!!

That's right! I am an auntie.....finally!!

{He was born yesterday, 9-15-11 at 7:54am at 9.1 lbs}

Okay, sure...maybe I have been an Auntie on my husband's side of the family BUT......this is my brother's baby!!!

My baby is also beyond excited herself to have a new cousin!

Unfortunately, my hubby doesn't have baby fever :o(

Apparently, my mom said that's how much hair I had as a baby.

Aww...my little smoosh smoosh!!

I can't wait until we see his little personality start to shine through!

Needless to say, the holidays are gonna be extra fun this year :o)

Key West (Day 1)

2011-09-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back from vacation and honestly, as most people would say....

I'm so sad it is over!

BTW...with such a short trip, I have so much to share so I'm gonna share by a "day by day" basis, so I hope you'll join me in this 4 day journey with me ;o)

I am still recovering from it too. I have been going to bed at 9:30pm the last few days trying to get my rest back. It was so worth it though!

We did so much in such a short period of time. We arrived in Key West around 2:35pm Saturday (Sept 3rd) however, our flight from San Francisco left at 12:25am Saturday morning. We tried to sleep on the plane but we had a layover in Houston so I only got about 1.5 to 2 hrs sleep while my husband couldn't sleep a wink. Poor guy. The kiddo was able to sleep more than us though.

From Houston, we flew to Tampa for another layover. On our flight from Houston, guess who was on our flight??

Brian McKnight!

Then we hopped on our flight to Key West.

{click on photos to view larger}

Once we got there and checked into our hotel, we decided to make our way down Duval Street, at which point we booked our parasailing adventure for Sunday morning and then the Dolphin/Snorkeling/Sunset Cruise package for later Sunday evening.

We had a bit of excitement during our snorkeling trip too. Can't wait to share!

After booking our adventures, we found a great spot in Mallory Square for drinks and to enjoy the first sunset there in Key West.

A couple Key Lime Colada's was my enjoyment!! YUM!

Oh, and there were so many photo opportunites to be had too!

Trivia: This island you see above, it's called Sunset Island and Oprah, Pierce Brosnan and Kenny Chesney all own houses on there.

After the sunset, it was time for dinner at Two Friend's Patio Restaurant.

Talk about a small world? Our waitress is from San Rafael, Ca, which is right by us!

After dinner, we made our way down Duval Street back to our hotel but we had to stop by Sloppy Joes as they have a webcam. I called one of my friends who saw us while I was talking with her. Then, I started getting texts from another friend who just so happened to be on the website just as we showed up in front of it.

These are pics they started sending us of us on the webcam...

After that, we called it a night so we could be rested up for the next days adventures.

The Secret is out!

2011-09-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

{Vacation in progress....}

That's right...we finally did it!!

I talked about it here but never thought it would actually happen....but here we are!!

Since we are only going to be here until Tuesday, we had to make sure we had everything planned out ahead of time so we didn't end up walking around looking like a couple (or trio...the kiddo is with us!) of lost tourist wondering the streets. What we have lined up is snorkeling, dolphin watching, sunset cruise and parasailing.

It gonna be a blast!!

Oh yeah....if you're one to watch webcams, here's one where we'll be.

On the road again...

2011-09-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today is the day. Well, actually, tonight is the night we leave for our vacation. But if you really want to get technical, tomorrow morning is when we leave. Our flight leaves at 12:25am but we will be leaving for the airport in about 3 hours.

{via}

As we head to our secret location (tba tomorrow), we will have 2 layovers and one plane with propellers...yikes! But once we are there, we have so much fun stuff planned in this short Labor Day weekend (we'll be back Tuesday) and I can't wait!!

Stay tuned for our adventure captured all on camera!

Who Does This??

2011-08-31T11:08:00.000-07:00

Really?!

Here I am, getting ready to go on vacation in a couple days. We're taking a "red eye" flight to our destination (tba later) on Friday night, and I am stressing!!

I've been tracking the weather, which seems to be up in the air. Then, I saw an acticle yesterday on the internet "Are airline pilots forgetting how to fly?" (really???!!), Then, last night I had a dream that I was chatting with my pastor's wife and she pulls me aside to tell me, "I have a bad feeling about your vacation". WTH???!!!

Who does this??

While I should be envisioning this

This is how I'm feeling.

I need to relax! I've been praying and I need to just have faith that we're in God's hands and I'm just being a nut!

Do you ever get like this?

What helps you?

I'm torn...

2011-08-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, I took my daughter to school as I always do on Tuesdays.

I always hang out with her on the blacktop until the bell rings and the teacher walks them to the class. This is something I enjoy doing, as well as she likes for me to do.

So on Tuesday, we got there and she noticed a group of her friends hanging out laughing and chatting. We walked up to them. My daughter pokes one of her friends and says "hi Autumn" and her friend says hi back. They all continue chatting and laughing at the stories they were sharing. All seemed good.

Being the mom, I decided to grab my phone and play on Facebook as to seem like I'm not "eavesdropping" on their little conversations. Try to distance myself somewhat. However, I noticed the girls not including my daughter.

I noticed my daughter slightly turn and take a step in the opposite direction of her friends. I noticed an uncomfortness, so we had the following conversation:

Me: "Are you ok, sweetie?"

S: "yes"

Me: "Do you want to go over here?"

S: "yes".

Noticing the sadness, I asked again

Me: "Are you sure you're ok?"

S: "well, I sometimes feel left out."

My mind got ticking so I softly asked her

Me: "Do you think maybe it's because I'm here?"

She nodded.

Me: "You want me to go?"

She quickly replies

S: "No!"

as she grabs my arm.

I'm now wondering how long before she decides she doesn't want me "hanging around" with her when I drop her off at school. So far I've had a couple people say it probably won't happen because the bond my daughter and I have. I have the same bond with her as I did with my own mom growing up. My mom even confirmed that I never was one of those kids/teenagers that was like "Ok mom, you can go now". I'm mean, my daughter still gives me goodbye kisses and loves when I help out in class. She always wants me around and wants "snuggle time" EVERY night.

I just hope she doesn't start to feel that pressure from her friends. One good thing is, all the kids pretty much know me and they all greet me with "Hi Mrs Phillips" or "Hi "S's" mom" and my daughter even said a couple of the boys said I'm cool, so that's a plus!

Wish me luck cause I think 4th grade is gonna be tough on me! (lol!)

Oh the devastation....

2011-08-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

I saw this on an article a few minutes ago and couldn't help but laugh. I'm sorry but I'm from California where we have earthquakes all the time and honestly, I love them! Call me crazy but they're fun....and I was even here for the Loma Prieta quake also. Granted, the east coast is not familiar with them but it's just funny the stories about the reactions.

So, anyways....hope you find the humor in this as I did. haha!!

As it reads...

"Thanks to all of you for your kind words of support, as we look to recover from the devastation of today's quake!"

Six Word Saturday!

2011-08-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

A Day With My Best Friend!

I've been ready since 8am and already ran an errand.

Now I'm ready to head out to Stockton to go visit my BFF, only thing was, when I was coming back from my errand, I called her and she just woke up so I told her I would give her a little time before I hopped back in the car to head out her way. Since it takes about 45min to an hour to get to her house, that will allow her some time to wake up and get ready.

While I'm there, we're taking the kids to a little lake so they can have fun and play in the water. Hopefully we'll be able to chitty chat without interruption....but who am I kidding?!

So, what do you all have planned for today?

Six Word Saturday!

2011-08-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

Volunterring At Children's Carnival At Church

My church is small, so this little carnival will be, by no means, big.

I signed up to volunteer last week after trying to switch things around on my calendar. My daughter really wanted to go since we've never been to it before. Only seen pics.

So "mama" worked it out and thought, since I've been wanting to get involved more with the church, what better way than to start here, right?! Only thing is, I waited too long to actually be put on a "schedule" that once I get there, I'm gonna be put to whereever they basically need me.

We're gonna have face painting, coloring books, games, dunk tank, bounce house, balloons, popcorn and even an appearance by the Kingdom Riders Motorcycle Club.

It's to help raise for a new little playground for the children at our church. The one we have is old and a bit rickety.

So, that's what I'm doing....til 2pm, that is :o)

What are you all doing today?

Writing Assignment: When it's inappropriate!

2011-08-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Warning: There may be some inappropriate content for younger readers. Please read with caution.

5.) I sometimes laugh when I’m uncomfortable…or being yelled…or in church…or at a funeral. Write about a time when you laughed at an inappropriate time.

Growing up, there were some bully neighborhood kids that my brother and I dealt with. They were all brothers....Teddy, who was 19 yrs old, Bobby (who was about my brother's age, 17) and Joey (my age). Unfortunately, we knew they were going to grow up getting in trouble with the law.

This particular day, in the Summer of 1989, Teddy's trouble finally came to an end. He had gotten into a police chase and ended up being shot and killed by the police. I, at the time was 15 yrs old. This news, even though it was one of the problem kids in the neighborhood, was still disturbing and sad to me.

When I read in the paper when the services were going to be, I noticed a time for visitations. I just had to go....by myself. I asked my mom to take me to the funeral home so I could pay my respects. It was difficult for me but it was one of those things I felt I had to do.

I walked into the dimmed lighted room. There were family and friends there crying, the mom in front being consoled by family. I walked up to the casket, examining Teddy, thinking to myself how different he looked from what I remembered. Also noticing, was the bullet hole on his right temple. In with Teddy, was a cassette tape of Jimmi Hendrix. All this was somewhat less than what I expected. I thought I would cry. I mean, this was the first time I saw a deceased person. I was by myself and only 15 yrs old. I guess I felt I handled myself pretty good considering the situation.

Then I turned around, seeing Teddy's mom sitting there with her head down crying. I kneeled down in front of her and expressed my deepest condolences. Through her tears, she said thank you. I then stood and proceeded to walk towards the door when all of a sudden....you know when you have slip on shoes and if there is any air released from the inside bottom of your foot when you walk and it makes...um, shall I say, a tooting sound?! Yes, my shoes "tooted"!! Right there in the quiet room as I was leaving. I was so embarrassed that I kind of laughed quietly however, in the quiet room, I'm sure people heard. Plus, there was a man standing in the back of the room as I was approaching the door that I'm sure if he hadn't heard my shoes "tooting" that he may have mistaken my quiet laughter as a sign of disrespect for the situation. Goodness knows if the mom heard me laugh, I would be devastated to think she thought I was laughing about her dear son's death, when in fact I clearly was not. *sigh*

That moment has stuck with me and now I try not to wear shoes like that anymore. At least not at funerals ;o)

Book vs. e-books

2011-08-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

I recently heard on the radio the DJ ask this question...

"Which do you prefer? Regular books or electronic books?"

This got me wondering if we will eventually end up losing our source of books and such with all this technology. We hear about libraries and book stores closing. I'm sure the lack of sales in-store have contributed to this. It seems as though many people are just going online and purchasing new books for their electronic device.

Honestly, I know nothing about these things. I've never even fiddled with on in the stores. I have no desire. My child, on the other hand, can't keep her hands off of all these electronics. "Which one can I touch now?" is what she thinks when we go into Best Buy. :o)

I personally am old school though. I prefer a book in my hand! Books are reliable. Electronics die eventually. I don't like dealing with plugging things in. It's bad enough we have our netbook that we use and I seem to be the only one that plugs the thing in once everyone is done with it.

I also just like the look of books too. You can even use them as decorative pieces in a bookshelf. I also like that some books for children have the textures or the "scratch 'n sniff (lol!). My husband and I even want to buy an encyclopedia set. I remember when I was a little girl living at home, my parent's had an encyclopedia set and I would go sit in the living room browsing through them, looking up different things. I think the e-books take away from the whole experience of a book.

So, with that said.....which do you prefer and why?

The Next Level!

2011-08-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yep, that would be my baby girl moving up from a orange belt to the blue belt.

We are so proud!!

She really enjoys karate too and it's such a great source of exercise, discipline and self defense!

Not only that!!

We just got her STAR test scores back from 3rd grade....

ADVANCED!!!

WOO HOO!!!!

Proud parents Right. Here!!

All things must come to an end....

2011-08-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

I am so sad.

This has been apart of my life for the past 7 years. I knew I couldn't keep it forever.

People kept telling me I was gonna have to give it up sometime.

That the moment was getting close.

I knew it was.

I kept hearing the rumors.

However, I tried to hold onto it as long as I could.

Tried to savor every

last

moment,

but then today I got the news.

Desperate Housewives is coming to an end, May 2012.

This is the last season.

WHY??!!

*sigh*

Always my shows!

Curse you Hollywood!!!

I guess I'm just going to have to check out the newest show this season

No one can replace my girls on Wisteria Lane though.

It's Official.....

2011-08-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

I have a 4th grader!!!

Tuesday was the first day of school. Yep!

As much as I would love to have my daughter home with me until Sept. on Summer vaca, it is also nice to have that time split among other months so that when we want to go on a mini-vacation, the price is cheaper and the crowds are less :o)

Makes for a happy mommy and daddy!!

My daughter has quite a funky, sporty, yet girlie style. Complete opposite from her mom ;o)

I love that she loves fashion and expresses herself this way!

In fact, she wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up.

What do I tell her?

You can be absolutely anything you want to be!

I can't wait to see {actually, yes I can wait. Let's not rush things here!!} her blossom and become all that she ever hoped to be!

She's got that look of "Hurry up mom, take the picture already. Sheesh!"

Onto a new year and new adventures!

Six Word Saturday!

2011-07-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow = Another Year Of Wisdom Earned!

And for my birthday (tomorrow), all I want to do is go to The Mystery Spot.

It's been almost 18 yrs since we've been there and I want to take my daughter there. It's inexpensive too!

In fact, I just booked our tickets for today. It will be lots of fun! In fact, we just may stay the night out there or in Monterey. :o)

Then, my mom is buying me the perfume I've been wanting...

By Jennifer Aniston! Can't wait!!

~~~

A "serious" fad?

2011-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

While this is acceptable and necessary

I have a hard time with mixing this

with this!

Why on earth do teenagers feel the need to walk around in public with a pacifier in their mouth??

Really?? Is that necessary?

During my search for appropriate pics to go with my post, I actually come across such findings on the "oh so knowledgeable" internet and why teenagers use these pacifiers and this is what I found...

"The use of ecstasy. The drug causes tooth grinding and the pacifiers alleviate that problem."

This was originally going to be a "wise crack" post about how ridiculous these kids look with these pacifiers in their mouth however, after learning more behind this, well....I'm taking a different approach to it.

I even found that some teens actually put stuff (drugs) inside the pacifiers to suck it out. As a parent, I'm glad I learned this little bit of information. Even though my child isn't a teenager yet, and although this may be a fad that will eventually fade as they all do, I just feel the more knowledgable I am on such topics, the better prepared (I hope?!) I am in tackling the situation.

I hope that our constant open discussions about today's issues will be beneficial when the time comes.

So, with all that said, have YOU seen teenagers in your "neck of the woods" with pacifiers in their mouths?

This Summer's must have's...

2011-07-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

Every year during the Summer, I find myself needing certain things to get me through the summer heat.

This year I have found myself enjoying the following things...

What's on your list of "Summer's must have's" this year?

Baby shower planning in progress...

2011-07-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

My mom and I are planning a baby shower for my SIL, my brother's wife. This is their first child. Thank goodness cause I thought my brother was never gonna have a kid. With him turning the big 4-0, perfect timing to get daddyhood rolling! In fact, the baby is due right around his birthday, Oct. 1st, give or take a few days.

My mom and I went shopping a little for some decorating items, but we still have lots of planning to do. I've actually been stressing about making sure everything gets done cause I am quite the procrastinator.

In fact, last Tuesday I woke up with a migraine around 4:30am, so I took some exederine and went back to bed. Well, wouldn't you know it, I couldn't go back to sleep. Why? Because I was thinking about the baby shower and what all needs to get done. Oh....the things that keep us awake at night...sheesh!

So, besides the decorations, planning what games to play, what foods to serve, we have the problem of venue. I had originally planned to have it at my house however, while counting how many guest we should have, ultimately my house is too small for such a party. Sure, we can have it outside in the back but my mom can't stand the heat so, indoors it is. Which lead me to the thought of our church.

So many things to get in order before the day of the party. We officially have one month and four days to go. Time to get on the ball!

Have any ideas you would like to share? I'm all ears :o)

Six Word Saturday!

2011-07-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

This Is My Husband's Birthday Weekend!

{Pic taken at our daughter's birthday}

Well, his birthday is actually Monday but since my birthday is next week, we usually do stuff on the designated weekend for each of us, or just make one trip somewhere for both of us on one of the weekends.

Still not sure what we're going to do for his birthday. We keep asking him what he wants to do but like every year, he says "Nothing". We'll see how this goes. My daughter and I were throwing out ideas yesterday but he kept saying "No. I don't want to spend money." However, knowing him as well as I do, if we don't do anything, we will hear about it. He has to be difficult!

I love him so but we can't win with him.

Wish us luck! :o)

A first for everything....

2011-07-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

Last night after my husband and I climbed into bed, while watching tv, I noticed a commercial.

Most of the time when you see commercial ads for vehicles, the normal price you would see is, oh......maybe between $15,000 to maybe even $45,000, depending on the vehicle.

Never in my 30+ years have I ever seen a commercial, especially in these economic times, in this price range...

Really??!!

There's actually a commercial for a $78,925 vehicle?!

I highly doubt too many people will be buying that considering people are losing their jobs and homes.

I guess there's a first for everything.

What's cool on tv....

2011-07-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

While on Facebook, I hear all these mom's complain about being sick and tired of watching their children's shows. That if they see another episode of Spongebob, their gonna lose it.

I'm not like that!

In fact, I get lost in the shows sometimes. In fact, while watching Phineas & Ferb, my daughter caught me staring at the show....like this....

with my mouth open

{just without the 3-D glasses, of course}.

My daughter said to me "What?"

Confused, I said "huh?"

She says "You're staring at the tv with your mouth open" as she begins to laugh.

See?! These shows aren't that bad! It takes me out of reality for just a little while. :O)

In fact, here are the shows of choice around my household....um, that would be until 5pm....

Besides Phineas & Ferb, there is....

♥ Spongie!

With Victorious, I even have a favorite character....

Cat! She's such a ding dong!

Cute little show with a cute little girl!

iCarly. This one I'm actually starting to get bored with though.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching my own shows also and get tired of watching these shows if they've been the only thing on all day, however, I don't mind them. I won't "lose it", per se.

So, are you as cool as me and like your kids shows also?!

Which ones?!

Date Night!

2011-07-16T15:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight my hubby and I are going on a date!!

Woo Hoo!

We're going to spend the evening with John Witherspoon....

Better know as the dad on the Funniest. Movie. EVER!!!!

FRIDAY!!

I can't wait! I hope we can get our picture taken with him too!

How cool would that be?!

Funny little things she says....

2011-07-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

Ya know, I originally had this post ready and scheduled. Then I had a doubt, asked my husband if I should post it and he said that if I had a doubt, then maybe I shouldn't.

So I deleted it.

Then yesterday while chatting with a friend, I came to the ultimate decision to post it.

Why?

Because these are one of those things that I want to remember when I'm 60 yrs old. It's one of those things that my daughter would like to share with her child. It's those funny little things that I personally don't remember saying and nothing to remind me about.

So I share, for I will have all these "funny little things" chronicled for my daughter.

~~~

A couple weeks ago, we were watching the Food Network, the show was called "Ice Cream: Unwrapped". They were showing an ice cream man who had been driving around his town for the last 50 yrs, serving up ice cream treats to the local children.

When out of the blue, my daughter says to us "Every time I see them, they are always lesbians."

I'm all "What? How do you know?" and then my husband quickly follows up with "What are they?"

She replies "They're always lesbians, or whatever they're called. You know, what Osama Bin Laden is."

I seriously could not stop laughing. My husband was also laughing and our daughter kept asking, with the innocent yet serious look, "What's so funny?"

I couldn't stop laughing, so my husband explained the difference between the two, lesbian and Muslim. She honestly thought she was using the correct words, in all her child-like innocence.

Poor thing was embarrassed but we were loving it....still are....so much so, that we bribed her with $2 to post it on Facebook!

I ♥ her and all the funny little things she says!

So, with that said....Here's to keeping the memories!!!

To Leave or Not to Leave....

2011-07-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

That is the questions, my friends.

I'm sure you've all heard the grumblings about the latest news with Netflix. If you are a Netflix member (which we are), I'm sure you have had your own share of annoyance with the situation.

If you haven't heard, Netflix has decided to raise their rates by 60%. Personally, I'm not sure how ours will be raised 60% but here's our situation...

We have the "3 out at a time" selection. With this selection, Netflix also offers online streaming and also streaming through the Wii console.

Well, they have now decided to seperate the costs. The streaming will now be an additional $7.99. We currently pay $23 and change for our service. My husband does not want to pay an additional $7.99 on top of that and I don't blame him. That was one of the reasons why we canceled our membership with Hollywood Video when they decided to change their service we had from $24.99 to $40 a month.

So, as we were thinking about it, there is Blockbuster Video (Trivia: I was a prior employee 14 yrs ago) who also offers the same service, they also have a few additional perks....they are the only "mail service" that allows new releases when they come out (Netflix and Redbox you have to wait 30 days for new releases) and you can do 5 in-store exchanges a month rather than waiting for them in the mail.

First thing tomorrow morning, I will sign up for my 2 weeks free trial with Blockbuster to see if we like the service and if we like what they have to offer, if we get our movies in a timely manner like Netflix provides (I do like Netflix), we just may be saying "Hasta la vista" to Netflix and saying "Hello" to Blockbuster Video.

Are you a Netflix member? Was this rate increase too much for you? Are you going to stay or leave?

I Just Realized....

2011-07-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

In 11 days, it will mark my 3rd year blogging!

{via}

As I sit here and think back about the reasons why I started my blog, it really has turned into something different.

I started this "space" of mine to let family and friends know what was going on in my life since I couldn't talk to them on a regular basis. I wanted them to see pictures and know what was new with us. Everyone knew that we were always doing new and exciting things but I could never tell each and everyone about it so I thought this would be a great place, a general place for everyone to read and see and I only had to say it once.

Well.....it never ended up that way.

My family and friends are probably the last ones to, if at all, read what I share.

It's all of you that hear me and share in my exciting adventures! It's you that when I am struggling with personal struggles, give words of encouragement.

Now, this outlet of mine has become something different for me. I believe I have mentioned this before, but it's my place to share all these adventures, struggles, memories and photos, all for my precious daughter. For one day, I hope I can get them published into books from this website.

So, anyways...

I thought I would grab a few posts for you to check back on that were fun ones for me...

My Beautiful Daughter

Blogversation: Discipline

Writer's Workshop

Weekend Fun...and Pictures!

Fabulous Foto Friday

I Met Donna Martin!

As Promised...The "Bend and Snap" on video!!

~~~

There are many more just like these too!

I'm sure many more to come too, in this crazy family!!

Is It Meant To Be?

2011-07-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

The infamous question keeps finding it's way back into our lives lately.

"When are you guys going to have another one?"

This question has been filtering in and out of my life now for the past 8 yrs but the wants and desires have been a mix-matched box full of pros & cons....

"I want another one but I'm afraid I'm gonna miss something with Nuggy."

"I want another one cause I miss Nuggy being a baby and how cute babies are."

"I want another one but we are at a point where we can just up and go on vacations now."

"I want another one cause I always wanted to have two."

"I want another one but Nuggy can go on (just about) all the rides now."

"I want another one cause I want Nuggy to have a sibling like I do. Especially when we "go", she'll have someone."

"I want another one but it will cost more to go on vacation, which in turn may limit our vacations."

"I want another one cause Nuggy wants a sibling also."

"I want another one but we really need to find insurance that covers maternity."

"I want another one cause I would love to experience pregnancy again."

"I want another one but I'm getting nervous about my age."

"I want another one but having to deal with the headache of having the grandparents watch the baby was a headache even when Nuggy was a baby."

With all these pros and cons, my husband made this proposition to me the other day...

"We can have another kid if you agree that if it's a boy, I can name him Gunner."

Uh....NOOOOO!!!

Let me just say right now, this name was never my idea, nor am I going to allow my child to be named this. When I was pregnant with Nuggy, we decided to not find out what we were going to have. We had already had her name picked out but we were having issues with the boys name. From the get go, my husband wanted the name Gunner. I said NO! So then we were thinking of Daniel Tyler but then my husband at the last moment decided not on that name and that thought making him (if it was a him) a 3rd since my husband is a Jr. Still, I didn't care for his name either, which he already knew. Maybe that's terrible of me but I should also have some sort of agreement in this since I AM the one bearing the child.

Anyways, the whole time I was pregnant, my MIL and SIL, knowing I hated (yes, hated!) the name Gunner, would then call my "belly" Baby Gunner. Pissing off a hormonal, pregnant woman is not the best thing to do.

So, I'm sure you can see why NOW I am absolutely adamant about still not naming my child Gunner. It would be as if they won, at least that is how they would think, anyway.

I did however, agree to the middle name being Gunner. I was not about to take that away from him. Even though I agreed to that, I still don't know if anything will come of this. I mean, technically there ARE more "cons" then "pros". The way I look at it is, God will allow such a miracle into our lives.....only if it's meant to be. :o)

Still a little bittersweet about it all though.

Six Word Saturday!

2011-07-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

Girl's Morning Together, Seeing Monte Carlo!

That's right....just me and my little sweetheart are heading to the movies while the hubs is at work. Not only is my baby girl looking forward to seeing this movie but, so am I!

To top it off, we shall arrive listening to Selena Gomez also! We're cool that way ;o)

Planning again....

2011-07-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

As always, here in our little abode, we tend to plan vacations more than the average person....so I hear :o)

In fact, my boss jokes around all the time about how we're always going places. This past week, he told me "I just don't understand how you guys do it." That was after I told him on Wednesday that we were just in Los Angeles the day before. As he thought about it, he replied with "Wait a second, you were just here at work on Monday." That's right!

THEN.....right before our 4 day weekend here, Friday he says to me as he's walking out the door, "So, where are you going this weekend? Europe?! You have 4 days to tackle that." LOL

Okay, so we like to travel! Life is short, doggone it! Live it up!!

So, where do we have next on our little travel itinerary?

That's right, baby!! Key West! {Oh, how I miss thee!!!}

That's where we spent part of our honeymoon 10 yrs ago and we loved it!

So.......we have a 4 day weekend coming up in Sept. for Labor Day and we still have our Southwest credits to use up before Oct 3rd, so why not??!!!

Sure, it's not set in stone yet but it surely is set in our minds!! :o)

Yes, we would be taking our daughter but we figure there is enough to do for a couple days. One being...... to relax!! Enjoy the beach, some Conch, take in some Key Lime pie, hit the glass bottom boat and take her to the SouthernMost Point in the U.S. Oh yeah, and get on the webcams we love to watch on occassion. In fact, we even saw my brother and SIL on it once during their honeymoon 7 yrs ago.

So, here's to planning vacations and to hopefully using up our credits in good ol' Key West!!

Happy 4th of July!!

2011-07-04T08:00:00.001-07:00

{click on the photo to enlarge}

A little "funny" to add an additional sparkle to your day!

Happy 4th of July!!

God Bless America!!

Be safe!!!

....and then there was more!

2011-07-03T17:00:00.000-07:00

I had previously posted here about our Vegas trip and how I realized I didn't take that many pics. Well, while in the shower {cause that's where I do my best thinking}, I realized that DUH...I didn't always have my camera but thanks to technology, I did have my cell phone. This is what I had captured.....

{hubby at the Bellagio}

{one of my 5 delicious cocktails of the evening}

{a random photo of the tram station}

{our delicious appetizer from Gilley's. you can never go wrong with deviled eggs. de-lish!}

{the boo boo on my foot that my lovely husband was so lovingly able to achive. while wearing flip-flops and then having a size 14 foot step on the back of them can be damaging! OUCH!}

{Cream! Alcoholic infused whipped cream....need I say more?! Yum! Now, to order it online and have them ship me a can....or two...or three!}

{second of my 5 yummy cocktails. honestly, this one is where it all began!}

Have a great week!!

Annual Vegas Trip...

2011-07-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, when I started this post, I thought I was gonna have a bunch of photos to choose from. Then I noticed and was surprised that I didn't take many photos while we were in Vegas.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I was already in a funk from the funeral that I attended prior to my flight departure.

And then the fact that the next day I find out that my mom ended up in ER {fortunately nothing major} but because I didn't know what was wrong for at least a good 7 hrs, I found it hard to relax and enjoy myself.

Once I got the news all was good, you can bet this non-drinker put away 5 drinks in 6 hrs. All that matters was, my husband was quite impressed! I was impressed too cause I didn't wake up with a hangover!

{Click photos to view larger}

{love the "restroom" sign above us. Classy!}

{we tried to find the wedding chapel that we got married in 10 yrs ago and found they tore it down in exchange for a topless pool area. In exchange for this new one.}

In between seeing KA {horrible, might I add} and Carrot Top {AWESOME!!!},

I decided to play around....

That's it, my friends! Until next year....

oh wait, my husband says he's sick of Vegas. WHAAAT??!!

Yeah, okay....we'll see....

Summertime Photoshoot...

2011-07-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday, my daughter wanted me to take her out and do a little photoshoot with her. I was reluctant for the simple fact that I was tired and it was getting late but after her grabbing a bag full of clothes to change in (LOL!), I decided to do it. Just without all the change of clothes. I told her to pick one outfit and put it on.

I have to admit....it's been over a year since I last did a "photoshoot". Honestly, I felt all out of sorts too. I just couldn't get the photos I wanted. However, the more I took, the more I started to relax. I just didn't think I got a lot that I was happy with.

Once I got home and uploaded them, I did find a few that I really liked. I just still don't think my best was there.

Here, I was messing with the settings and in the midst of messing with them, I took a few shots just to see where I was at in the color {because the color was all washed out}, I came across a few that I actually liked. Sure, not everyone's cup of tea but that's what makes everyone different. Personally, I loved the look it gave!!

Now, she wants me to do a "4th of July" photoshoot.

I'm a bit curious as to what I come up with.

We shall see :o)

Six Word Saturday!

2011-07-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

Trying To Find A Campground Today

{via}

As always, we have decided to wait until the last minute to get 4th of July plans going. Which means, we are scrambling to find a campground to pitch a tent at. Fortunately, here in California, there is an abundance of places to choose from. Unfortunately, there are a gazillion people in this state that have the same idea as us. They just plan in advance. Duh! We're such "spur of the moment" people that it doesn't always help out. Especially in situations as these.

Wish me luck!

Six Word Saturday!

2011-06-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

In A Bit Of A Funk!

{via}

Six Word Saturday!

2011-06-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

A Funeral And Then Vegas Bound

Today is the funeral of our dear friend. Today is also the day I'm leaving for Vegas. I was actually supposed to leave at 9:20am but I had to change my flight so that I could attend the funeral. My husband unfortunately, was not able to change his flight because we paid for his flight through a package deal. He was able to go to the visitation yesterday at least. Needless to say, that was extremely hard too.

I'm dreading today. I miss our friend, Bob. He was such a wonderful man and my parents have put a lot of effort into making his service a nice one. I have also tried to do my part in helping them a long the way.

Service is at 2pm and once 3:15pm rolls around, I have to be ready to cut out to the airport and make my flight at 5:15. It's 10:13am now and I know the next few hours are going to fly by.

All I know is, I'm having my husband meet me at the hotel where the taxi will be dropping me off, with a drink in hand to help me with my nerves of the day.

We Love You, Bob!! You are truly missed already!!

~~~

Now head on over to Cate's.

What's Going On...

2011-06-15T13:42:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been posting too many photos these days. It's been so hard since we had an extra long Winter that I just didn't really have the motivation to pull out the camera with all that rain and grey skies.

Instead, I've been using my cell phone to capture those random moments....

My baby dressed in her sparring gear at karate.

My friend, Jenny and I at the park yesterday

A heart potato chip....awwww!

I took this pic of my little ladybug friend that literally held on for dear life from my house to my job which is about 26 miles. I was so worried for her that I avoided going my usual speed so she wouldn't get swooped off...lol! Which I'm happy to report, she arrived safely!

I took my baby out to breakfast for her birthday

Just before we got the horrible news, my baby and I were sun bathing in the backyard...

...and because I didn't like the sun shining in my eyes while they were closed, I put a shirt over my face so my daughter proceeded to put some glasses on me a took a picture! lol Silly girl....or am I the silly (looking) girl?!

Same day as the above two pics, just earlier in the day at the park

My daughter receiving her orange belt

About a week or two ago, my daughter and I watched Secretariat and so later that day, she jumped on her old horse and started yelling "Go Secretariat, Go!!!"

{Forgive the blur. Clearly my cell doesn't have the action feature on it.}

What's going on with you? Share with photos!

Disconnected....

2011-06-13T15:17:00.000-07:00

Techonology. We have it to be connected at all times. We have it so we are constantly in the know.

Because of it, we now have social medias, texting, etc. Everyone is using it. We are all staying connected. Right?!

We seem to only text or use social media now in order to keep in touch. We've forgotten how to stay connected by actually calling someone. We're so busy that we just do things the "fast" or "easy" way that we don't bother picking up the phone anymore.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH US????!!!!

All these outlets are fine to keep in touch, like for those that live far away and it allows those loved ones to know how we are all doing, or for friends we've lost touch with over the years after graduation however, we need to stay connected to those close to us. We need to pick up and call our loved ones. We need to hear each others voices. We need to let them know how much they mean to us and to not take them for granted.

We've become too reliant on technology that we've forgotten the real meaning of "connecting" with people.

So, with that said....

Call Someone!!

Missing You...

2011-06-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

I am at a loss for words.

This past Tuesday we lost a very close family friend. He is my parent's neighbor, Bob. I've known him for 33 years. It was completely unexpectd too.

He had a friend and her husband out from Arizona visiting him for about 5 days. On Tuesday he took them to Lodi to show him his plane and then they headed on over to Old Sacramento since they are all history buffs. As his friend's went to look at different stores, he left his truck to go around the corner to the restroom and that was it. Right on the cobble street, our dear friend passed away. They believed it was a massive heart attack.

We just saw him Sunday in the grocery store parking lot across the street from my neighborhood. My daughter just saw him Monday over my parent's house. My heart aches tremendously.

I found out after my daughter went to a friend's house for a sleepover that night. I was so afraid to tell her the next day cause I knew she was gonna take it hard. We lost my grandma a couple years ago almost to the day (6-8-09) but hers was a gradual thing. She was 94 and had dementia. We expected it. Not to sound terrible but you know what I mean. We knew it was gonna happen. We were prepared. With Bob, my daughter just saw him the day before, happy and in good spirits. This was a big loss for her. She adored Bob. He was such a wonderful guy!

Now, everytime I pass the grocery store parking lot or go over to my parent's house, as his house is right next door, I fight back tears.

He was like an Uncle to me. He spent holidays with us. He was an active role in my parent's life on a daily basis. He WAS our family! He will truly be missed!!

{Bob in his signature suspenders, Christmas dinner 2010}

{I'm gonna miss that sunshine smile! Always a delight to have around!}

In loving memory
Robert S. Spencer
Sept 24. 1936 - June 7, 2011

Six Word Saturday!

2011-06-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday To My Baby Girl!!

I know, a couple weeks ago we celebrated my daughter's birthday so that her school friends could actually attend, ya know, since most families head out on vacation as soon as school is out. However, today is officially the day! She is now officially 9 yrs old. How the heck did that happen??!! *sigh*

So, per her request we have decided to take her to Calaveras Big Trees State Park for an overnight stay. We bought her presents and she'll get to open them up there in the fresh air surrounded by Sequoias. Can't wait cause it should really help take our mind off of this.....I hope!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!!!

~~~

Now head on over to Cate's to see what others are saying!

10 Years Ago Today...

2011-06-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

{click picture to enlarge}

♥ LOVE ♥

It says it all!

10 years ago today, I married my best friend!!!

{Side note: Sept. 11th marks 18 yrs with him though}

Through all the ups and downs, he truly is the love of my life and I'm so blessed to call him my hubby!!

I look forward to many more adventurous years together with him!!

~~~

Now, here's a look back at us through out the years together...

{click picture to enlarge}

1994 - Old time photo

1999 - Hawaii

2001 - Our Wedding

2001 - Honeymoon, Cruise to Bahamas

2001 - Bahamas

2003 - Tahoe with our baby girl

2003 - Oakland Zoo

2008 - Vegas

2011 - Family Portrait

♥

Collecting Stones...

2011-06-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

It's funny how things work out. We live our life with people coming and going.

Sometimes there are those that are loyal and make an impression in our lives. We hold onto them.

Then something happens.

I have a very special friend whom I have called my BFF for over 20 years. She has been with me through thick and thin. However, in the last year, things in her life have turned sour. Things happened that I became very disappointed in her however, I have stuck there with her. Listening to her and trying to give the best possible advise I could give, given the circumstances.

Now, in the past couple months I feel she has been lashing out at me with her subtle comments are remarks. As things in my life have taken flight for joyous times, hers have smoldered.

So I wrote her a very long letter.

We shall soon see what becomes of this. It should be interesting.

~~~

We need to remember the ones in our lives, who are real, and who matters most. Don't take people, friends, loved ones for granted. They are the ones that make us who we are!

Six Word Saturday!

2011-06-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

Where Art Thou, My Beautiful Sunshine??

Here we are, it's June and we are in, the usual, sunny California. However, it's just not so sunny these days! Instead, it's cloudy and raining!

I'm MAD!

I'm IRRITABLE!

Personally, I'm just down right PISSED!!

What's happening here??

Not to sound spoiled but.....

I want my sunshine back and I want it...

NOW!

Are ya feeling me here?!

~~~

Now head on over to Cate's to see if others are feeling just like me ;O)

Six Word Saturday!

2011-05-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

Birthday Party For Baby Girl Today!

Today we are celebrating our sweet baby girl's 9th birthday! Even though her birthday isn't for another two weeks, we always have it early so that her friends will attend. Thing is, with her birthday being right after school is out, families already plan to start taking vacations. We have learned to celebrate it before school is out so there is a bigger turn out. Guess what? It works!

Last year we celbrated it at home with a jumpy, air hockey, photo prop and a BBQ. It was fun! This year we are having it at Pump It Up. Best think about that is, no clean up!!

However, I signed up for something bigger. Honestly, I'm not sure I'm prepared for it either.

SLUMBER PARTY!

That's right. Six girls, including my daughter. I have never had that many girls over here like for a sleep over. I just hope and pray I get my sleep tonight cause I need to be up early to make them breakfast (pancakes) and then get to church between 10-10:30am.

I'll report back to share the details. Pics and all!

~~~

Now head on over to Cate's to see what others are doing.

One Of My Favorite Things...

2011-05-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

When I was a young girl, my mom worked in construction. She cleaned model homes in a rich part of the Bay Area, California. She also cleaned brand new houses after they were built. She got them ready to move in once all the carpet, flooring, cabinets, etc. were put in.

She worked with her best friend, Diane. Sometimes my mom would bring me and Diane would bring her step daughter, my best friend, along to help and just have "mother/daughter" times. It was fun!

As I got older, I had decided I wanted to be an Interior Decorator (aka Interior Designer). I think when we would always go to the model homes, I became very facinated in them. I loved the idea of decorating a home!

Then I graduated and I never became an Interior Decorator. I got too involved with my "man" to go to college. It's okay though. I make a decent living working at an accounting firm.

Anyways....getting off track here.....

So every now and then, I will have this urge to go look at model homes. It's so much fun!! It takes me back to when I was a young girl and I would "play house" although, I don't have to "play" anymore. Now, I can actually place my things in these houses, in my mind, that is.

Just this past weekend, we went looking at model homes. We had so much fun! We were rushing though cause they close at 5pm and we only had an hour. We went to this one place that my daughter and I want to move to SO. BAD!

There is one house inparticular too. Even though I'm not a fan of 2-stories, this one has absolutely stole my heart!

Not so much because of the outside, even though I really like the outside, but for obvious reasons....the floorplan (click link and then the green box for the floorplan).

I've been browsing other home builders also, found a couple I like too. It's not like we can buy right now anyways. We have to wait at least another year and a half to two years. Things went sour this past year, like with most of America. We've been saving our money though. We bought at the peak 7 years ago. Back then, we had to jump on what we could get. Hopefully when we buy again, we can take our time.

In the meantime, we'll be checking out all the new goodies out there!!

Do you like to model home shop?

A Little Somethin' Somethin'

2011-05-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

I love these little "Get to know you" treats!

Something for you to learn about me, a little more.

Over at My Little Life, every Friday she has a list of 5 questions for us to answer.

As I know today isn't Friday, it does however give me something to post about!

So, hope you enjoy this and have a wonderful Sunday!

1. Do you and your spouse go to bed at the same time?

Yep, sure do. We usually head to bed about 10:30pm and then snuggle while watching TMZ.

2. A question for the ladies...What kind of facial hair do you like on your man?

I love my husband with a goatee!!

3. What's the worst vacation you've ever taken?

Really?? All my vacations are wonderful!

4. What's the first-ever blog you followed?

The first ever blog I followed is the same person that got me blogging in the first place...a friend of mine. We went to High School together also. In fact, you should go visit her. She's really a sweet and down to earth lady.

Her name is Denise at Laughing With Spoons

5. Do you enjoy amusement parks?

I LOVE amusement parks!!! My favorites are Disney's though.....both Disneyland and Disney World. We have season passes for Disneyland and actually went to Disney World for the very first time just this past September and had the best time ever!

~~~

Alrighty.....that's it for now. Just a little "somethin' somethin'" for the weekend.

Hope ya'll are having a FABulous rest of your weekend and have an even better week ahead!

Oh, any Memorial Day plans??

We don't.....yet. Maybe we can conjure up something that I can report back with you all! We'll see.

Nite!

Six Word Saturday!

2011-05-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

In My Opinion......I Don't Believe!

Nope, not me! Even though I do believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I don't believe that we will know when Jesus will return. It clearly states in the Bible that we will NOT know. It will be like a knock at the door.....Unexpected! So what this dude, Harold Camping thinks and where he thinks he read in the Bible that it will be today, May 21, 2011 at 6pm is beyond me. Sorry dude! That part is NOT in the Bible.

So, I will be carrying on with my day just like any other.

~~~

Now, head on over to Cate's to see how other people are spending this ordinary day!

Movie Review!

2011-05-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

It's movie review time!!!

And even though I super love, love, love to go to the movies all. the. time! I don't usually do a review about them. However, this one I just could NOT pass up!

Seriously?! This movie has GOT to be the #1 movie of 2011, as of yet!

Super funny.....okay, HILARIOUS!

A must see, for sure!!

Now....in case you haven't already seen it.....

{via}

I definitely recommend that you do!!!

Honestly, I have not laughed so much or so hard, for that matter, during a movie in so long!

I could go on and on about my favorite scenes but then that would ruin it all for you. You must experience it for yourself!

Oh yeah, and if you haven't seen the trailer yet, look no further....

Courtesy of www.bridesmaidsmovie.com

Okay, now do you believe me?! Go treat yourself....you deserve it!

And don't tell me I didn't already tell you so ;O)

A Bad Combination!

2011-05-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

Take this...

Plus this....

THEN......Add this....

Yeah, not a pretty sight!

Plus, we have my husband's friend who can't drive home cause he drank so he's sleeping on our couch. However, he keeps getting up to use the restroom and it's making me nervous cause he's had a bit too much to drink.

All I can say is, I told my husband that if his friend gets sick, I'm not cleaning it up AND I'm gonna be pissed!

Sometimes I wish sports and beer didn't exist!!!!!!! UGH!!!!!

I just want tomorrow to be here so this will all go away!!!

*sigh*

My Least Favorite Foods...

2011-05-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

There are two foods I can list that I can NOT stand. However, these two foods I do like if they are prepared with something, just not by themselves.

First up....

And not to be dramatic or anything but seriously, as this picture sits here on my screen, it's grossing me out. YUK! Here's why....

One, I've never liked mayonnaise anyways, just because it tastes gross. I do like it in potato salad or deviled eggs but by itself on a sandwich or on artichokes.....NO WAY! Nasty!!

Reason # 2, once my daughter had lice and for the life of me, we could not get rid of it. We tried everything (so we thought) but then we were told that mayonnaise works cause it's supposed to smoother the lice and since we were coming up on 3 months of this lice problem, I was willing to try everything! So, I put the mayonnaise in my daughters hair and since I have lots of hair and wanted to take precaustionary measures, I had my husband put it in my hair. Put the shower caps on our heads (I'm getting nauscious talking about this...lol), and went to bed. Next morning we took the caps off and OH. MY. GOSH!!! The stench it created was beYOND repulsive! I kept gagging as I was washing it out with shampoo. (GAG!) Yeah, not a fan of Mayo!

Side note: The mayonnaise didn't help.

Next up...which is just as bad.....

That's right, Tomatoes!

Funny thing is, I used to like them when I was a child. My mom would make tacos and burritos and I would always put some refried beans as the side, add some cheese and put one chunk of a tomato right on top...just like a cherry. Loved it!

Another time, my family went out to dinner while visiting my grandma and at the restaurant, I had bitten into a cherry tomato and it splattered all over. It was a funny moment. I loved them.

Then just one day, out of the blue...

I stopped liking them. Never have I liked them since. However, I do like salsa (non-chucky, of course!) or ketchup, and tomato sauce. Again, just not by itself.

In fact...

Once at a local pizza place, my husband and I got a pizza and the salad bar. As I was choosing my toppings for my salad, I noticed they had some extra sides like potato salad, pasta salad and then some cherry parfait. I had decided to add a little cherry parfait to my plate. When I sat down and started eating the parfait, I thought I was going to get sick. I started gagging and my husband was laughing at the look on my face. That's when I had realized that a tomato had gotten mixed in with the parfait. I literally thought I was going to throw up!

Needless to say, I never get that with my salad anymore.

~~~~

This has been apart of Mama Kat's Writing Assignment. Head on over there to see what everyone else is writing about.

Name That Tune...

2011-05-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

No...seriously!!

While we were driving down to Disneyland on Friday, we were flippin' through the channels and as most of them were Spanish speaking, we did find a few that weren't. When we came upon a song that sounded good, we listened.

Then, in the midst of conversations and such, I started to listen to this one song playing and I really liked it. Then I thought to myself that I better record it on my phone cause I was sure I would forget the name or details of the song by the time we got home.

So I grabbed my phone as the song was getting close to the end and this is what I got....

And of course, when the song was over, they didn't say who it was. Don't you just hate that?!?!

So now I ask you guys.....Does this song at all sound familiar??? It's driving me up the wall. It was such a good song and this is all I'm left with. I have tried searching the internet for the lyrics "and IIIIIIIIII don't wanna let go" and nothing.

HELP!!!

Six Word Saturday!

2011-05-14T03:00:00.000-07:00

Nuggy's Grand Surprise Today Is.....DISNEYLAND!!!

{via}

That's right! It's literally been a good year since we've been here (Disney World doesn't count)which is totally out of the norm for this Disney family! I must confess....I have truly missed this place just like a little kid would. So good to be back!

~~~

Now head on over to Cate's to see what else is going on here in blogland.

The Anticipation Is Brewing...

2011-05-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

It's been planned for a couple weeks now. We are the "spur of the moment" kind of family around here and we have learned that not always sharing our adventures with our daughter until the time it happens, is most rewarding.

We also decided to do as such because we have had to let her down on a few occassions which breaks our hearts, so instead...SURPRISE!

So today we will be going on another adventure after work, one of which we have told our daughter we will be doing this

and that we have a surprise sometime during the weekend.

However, we have something far better planned. We are hoping that we can arrive at the hotel while our little princess sleeps through the whole ride there. We are hoping that when we jump on the shuttle tomorrow morning, she will still have no idea what is in store until we arrive.

I am so excited myself! I hope to get all this and her excitement on video! We shall see.

My First Car(s)

2011-05-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

When I was 17 yrs old, I got my license. I didn't by any means have the money to buy my own car, so my parents let me drive one of theirs.

It was a 1963 Mercury Monterey.

It was fast also! However, I didn't drive it fast. I was a good girl. :o)

{via}

As I would drive it, I had older folks give me a thumbs up as I wanted to shrink down into my seat. I mean come on....the thing was a boat!

Okay, sure...it was cool cause the very back window rolled down......but it was a boat!

But then it was deamed unsafe to drive, so that stopped and I was back on foot again.

~~~

Then I moved out with my fiance (husband now) and he would always drive. When he could, he would even drive me to work.

Then my brother told me about a co-worker who was selling a 1970 Chevy Nova.

It was white and had rust spots around the window. Really not in that great of shape but I thought it was good enought to get around in.

{via}

Then I took it to the mall that was a couple towns over, probably about 25 miles away and the thing overheated on me. It happened twice!

Then one day while our apartments were repaving the parking lot, we had to park our vehicles in the designated areas or out on the street. There was no parking and I saw people parking in the red zones, so I did too. Big Mistake! It got towed. It was actually a blessing in disguise though, cause the thing hadn't really ran good for 4 months by that time so it was an easy way to get rid of the thing.

I was back on foot again.

~~~

Then my parent's neighbor said he would sell me his 1979 Datsun 280ZX. Right on...a little sporty looking car!!! I was so excited!!

It was in pretty good shape too. Only thing was, the engine had been rebuilt and whoever did it, didn't do a good job. It was a 6 cylinder but drove like a 4 cylinder.

Who cares! I loved my little 280ZX

{via}

It was a burnt red and had the luvers on the back window.

{via}

I loved my little car!

Then one day while my fiance took a trip to Michigan, my friend and I decided to hit the road to Big Sur for a camping trip. We were taking my car so I took it down for new tires.

Side note: The hood on the Datsun 280ZX opens from the window side out. Not from the front of the car and up.

So, the hindges to the hood of my car were broken so you had to align it just right, the front tucked under and then slam it down to shut it by the window. I told the guys at this Firestone this, incase they needed to lift the hood as I've seen before. Still doesn't make sense to me but whatever.

When I picked up my car, all looked good. I went on over to my friend's house to pick her up, finished loading up the car and we were all set.

We hit the freeway and not more than a quarter mile up the road the hood flew open from the front of the car up and was blocking my windshield. I couldn't see so my friend guided me to the side of the freeway.

Apparently the guys at Firstone neglected to tuck the front of the hood under the metal and then shut it by the window.

Later that day I had to go to the junkyard to pick up a new hood, a black one at least, cause the orginal was nearly folded in half. Talk about a scary moment.

I drove that car for a couple years until I got hit on the side and then everything just started to go at that point.

I bought a 1996 Mitsubishi Mirage and traded the 280ZX as "sight unseen" but as the dealership came to tow it away, I did not have a dry eye available. In fact, my friend thought my dog had died. That's how sad I was to see my "baby" go.

~~~

I've bought a few more cars since then and now own 3......a Mustang, a Mits. Diamante and a Pontiac G6. My favorite would be my Diamante and I'm dreading the day she goes "bye-bye" as I know those tears will be shed once again.

This has been apart of Mama Kat's Writing Assignment.

A weekend to never forget...

2011-05-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, how was your Mother's Day, all you mommy's out there?

Mine was wonderful!

In fact, I will report on all the lovely goodies my sweet little baby girl showered me with!

I love her! ♥

It started off on Saturday at my church. We attended the Mother/Daughter luncheon just as we had last year, only thing was, my mom wasn't with us this time.

My daughter and I still had fun! See the smiles?! :o)

Then yesterday, Mother's Day, my daughter and I went to church, then went home and we were preparing to head to San Jose for the Sharks game as we have season tickets and of course, the tickets for this playoff series landed on Mother's Day. My husband put them up for sale but they hadn't sold yet.

Just as we were getting ready to walk out the door, my husband thought to check the tickets to see if they sold yet. One last look. SOLD! WOO HOO

So, instead we went to my mom and dad's to give my mom her Mother's Day gift (flowers from my yard, movie tickts and a card...can never go wrong!). We stayed there for about an hour and then we went to the Outback Steakhouse for dinner. I splurged and had myself a sangria. Then for dinner, a yummy steak and lobster. I was so stuffed by the time I was done, ya know...after appetizer and salad. I thought to myself "Yeah, I'm not being good today".

Had to take a pic of me and my baby, since this is what it's all about!

NOW....let's get down to the nitty gritty!

Saturday my friend and I took our girls to see Selena Gomez in concert. It was at the Dixon County Fair. I was actually kind of surprised Selena was playing at a fair, especially one out in the boonies.

Anyways...

As we were waiting for Selena to hit the stage, we took some pics,

We were so excited too!

Then it began.

Everyone stood up, standing in the isles and I grabbed my camera. I had my zoom lense but I apparently was further back than I originally thought.

I look to my right, I see my friend and the girls. Then back to my camera. Snap, snap, snap. Trying to get the best photos I could, especially considering I'm short (a whole 5'3") and people in front of me were taller and the hands in the air. Yeah, it was quite the challenge.

Then I looked to my right again. My friend and the girls were gone!

Where the heck did they go??!!

I assumed they tried to get a little closer but as I looked ahead, nothing!

Where the heck did they go??!!

I stood there, looking around. Behind me. To the right and left. Nothing.

Seconds go by. Then minutes.

I then text my friend, yeah, as if she'll actually hear her phone. I didn't care. I'm gonna try anyways.

Where the heck did you go??

More minutes go by.

I moved through the crowd to the closest part before going down to the last section of seats. Decided to take more pictures. This time much better. Closer and less obstruction.

Then a sherriff came by and told me to find my seat. Just as everyone else was being told to do. Then an event lady was going through and telling people to sit down so everyone could see.

At this point, I thought for sure my friend and the girls would come back. I mean, where else would they find a seat but at our own seats.

Nothing!

I start to panic. Horrible visions sworm my thoughts.

Will I ever see my daughter again? Had someone taken her? Is she okay?

I started to feel a sudden case of closterphobia. I wanted to cry but I had to stay calm.

I then went to the event people and cops. I had my camera to show a picture of the three of them. It was getting dark at this time and they basically told me "Everyone looks like everyone else at this point". I was given permission to walk up and down the isles to find them. Just before then, I told the people that were sitting in front of us that if they come back, to let them know I was looking for them.

Then I hit the isles. Up and down. Nothing.

It was so hard to focus my eyes with it becoming dark and trying to see each person, scanning....panicking at the same time.

Nothing.

I made a circle back to my seats before I hit the otherside.

They they were!! Maybe a half hour later.

"Oh my gosh! You have no idea how scared you guys had me!!!!" I began to tell them. "I'm about to cry now". Just then my friend gave me a hug and apologized profusely.

Where were they, you ask???

FRONT ROW

You heard me right. They ditched me and were front row, no cares, waving at Selena just above them, carelessly enjoying the concert. Meanwhile, I couldn't enjoy it cause I had no idea where they were. Panicking, not knowing if my child was okay or if I would ever see her again.

Their defense?

"We thought you saw us going up there?"

uuummmm, really??? I'm the starstrucked person here and you seriously thought I wouldn't FOLLOW??? HELLO???!!!!

After all of this, I am just SOOOO happy that they were okay!! I never want to be scared like that ever AGAIN!!!

However, I'm never letting this one down.

Yeah, you can say I'm a bit "butt-hurt" over this.

LOL

~~~

I hope all my blogger mom's out there had a FABulous Mother's Day and you didn't get the scare of a lifetime! ;O)

A picture speaks a thousand words...

2011-05-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

Today while I was getting ready to take a picture, I had decided to view the picture I had just taken and upon viewing that picture, I came across several I hadn't taken.

It was clear who had.

The funny thing is, what those pictures were of.

Let's all look together, shall we....

First up, we have a door knob.

Oh, the importance of a door knob. We all need one....or two, or three.

Second, a picture of my husband and I years ago. Before this little amateur photographer was ever born.

Next, a self portrait.....of her hand, but of course! Need to see who's hands are taking the photos, right?!

And since we all know what her hand looks like, we just HAVE to see her feet. Can't forget the feet!

Lastly, we all have to know she thinks these photos "Rock On!"

I just find it funny, but also see an innocence in what children see and think are important and must capture.

Love it!