Memorial Day camping

As you all know, last week we were going camping for the Memorial Day weekend. We went for a couple days, so it was nice to get away. We had a blast too! So much so that I ended up taking over 400 pictures. Geez! Yes, I took my Canon too. I couldn't pass up the opportunity of getting some really good photos.

Every time we go camping, we love to go hiking. This trip was no different....okay, so maybe it was a little. It was different in the fact of how many miles we hiked this trip. Normally we hike around 4-5 miles. This time?? Are you ready?? We hikes over 10 miles!!! Can you believe that? It was actually split up between two days. We had originally planned on just doing a 5.5 mile hike but because I felt like I ate crappy the day before we had to come home, I said I wanted to do another hike before heading home. It was so much fun too!! I wish I could share all my pics with you but I just choose a handful or two to share.

Here's my hubby and daughter playing on a log by our campsite.

Me making breakfast

My SIL and daughter starting to eat their breakfast.

On one of our hikes.

Me and my noodle :o)

So beautiful and majestic!

My little family

She-Ra.....oh, I mean my noodle again!

He-Man! Nope, my hubby. Okay, so he's MY He-man!

One of the many flowers I captured.

My baby while on our hike. We stopped to take a break cause this spot was gorgeous and secluded.......and swarming with mosquitoes too!! I had to hurry and get out of there cause they love me!

A little butterfly. He actually let me hold him cause he couldn't fly. I saved him from the road. Poor thing.

My noodle at the end of our second hike and just before we headed back home.

We had a fabulous time and can't wait to go again in a month.

Next up.......Fabulous Las Vegas......in 2 weeks!!!! WOO HOO!!

3, My Lucky Number!

I've been in a blogging mood lately and since Mama Kat is always doing her weekly assignments and how I enjoy doing them if time permits (or when the boss isn't here at work...shhh, don't tell anyone), I love to participate. This week I've decided to do it cause, well time permited (actually the boss wasn't here!). Oh, and I've also decided to do 3 of the prompts this week. That's right! So hold on and prepare yourself...or don't! :o)

Okay, so this week I decided to go with the following:

3.) How much does focusing on weight affect your daily life?(inspired by Musings Of A Blond Mom)

I know most of you know that I was overweight for a short period of my life. I was never overweight until I met my husband. Over the last 16 years we got comfy and so you know the story.....girl meets boy, girl falls in love, girl gets comfy, girl gains weight. I kept seeing my "old" self and missed me. In fact, I would dwell on it and my insecurities became worse which wasn't healthy. Plus, I had a daughter that I didn't want to teach unhealthy habits so I felt it was time to do something about it. After a friend shared her "secret", that's when I joined Weight Watchers. 14 months later and 35 lbs lighter, I vow to keep the weight off and be more active and set a positive example for my child.



5.) List ten things that make you HAPPY.(inspired by our irritation at our own complaining from last weeks "Sick Of" posts.)


This is definitely in no particular order:

1. My family and friend ~ of course, right?! It's true! They are my security blanket!
2. My daughter ~ I know I could include her in #1 but I have to include her on her own cause she makes me happy in a whole different way. I couldn't imagine my life now without her.
3. Animals ~ Anytime I'm sad, mad or depressed, seeing a picture of a cute animal puts a smile on my face. Just seeing their adorable faces bring a peaceful feeling to me!
4. The ocean/beach ~ More so in a tropical setting. Seeing the beautiful blue/green water with sandy beaches and the palm trees truly brings a peace into my heart. Tranquility!
5. My pillow ~ Okay, I know you're probably thinking "weirdo!" but I'm serious! lol When I want to relax at home, I grab my pillow and sit on the couch and I am relaxed! I can't relax fully without it.
6. Food ~ Yes, although I was overweight, I still love my food. I have learned to eat and enjoy the things I love most without blowing it. I treat myself without depriving myself. That's the key!
7. Love ~ I think without having love, I would be depressed and sad.
8. Vacations ~ Without vacations, life would be boring. I feel I can destress myself and enjoy exploring and seeing all this wonderful world has to offer.
9. My health ~ I pray every day for my health as well as my family and friend's. What a blessing to be healthy when there are so many sick people out there. I am truly grateful for mine.
10. God ~ He's always there for me and has been there for me a lot lately. Without him, I don't think I would be able to make it through the hard times. When my life derails, I pick myself up and he is there waiting for me with open arms and I am truly grateful!!!
11. Photography ~ I know, only 10 things but I just CAN NOT leave out my photography. Sue me! :oP

6.) Ok I was going to end it with five, but Laina just got out of bed as I was finishing this post and I SWEAR she is sleep walking. It's creepy. I keep asking her what she is doing and she's staring at me...but not directly at me...kind of just a centimeter to the left of my head. I KNEW she was a sleep walker. I just knew it. SO! Share a sleep walking story of your own!!(inspired by my scary four year old)


I have a couple stories to share, that's for sure! lol

First story...

I was in junior high, about 7th grade. I always took showers in the morning. Still do. One night I went to bed. I fell asleep and while asleep, I dreamt that I was late for school. So I got up to go take a shower. Only thing was, I REALLY DID! My mom came storming into the bathroom since the shower was in there bedroom's bathroom. She opened the shower door and asked "What are you doing?" with a look and sound of What. The. Heck are you doing??? I looked at her with confusion and replied back "I'm taking a shower". She asked me if I knew what time it was and I said "Yeah, 6:00am". Her reply? "No, it's 11:00 at night!" Whoops! lol She handed me a towel and I immediately went back to bed...only to wake up 7 hours later to finish that shower.

Second story....

I was probably about 10 yrs old, in 5th grade. Remember way back when we had those math-a-thons and we would go door-to-door to see if the neighbors in the area would sponsor us and we would collect money for the school? Well, I did one of those. In fact, I had the money all ready to take back to school.

Well, one night I dreamt that all my money I had collected was scattered all over the family room floor so I decided to go and pick it up. I walked out to the family room while my mom was watching TV. I walked passed her and went right to our parrot (who happened to be the color of money) and started picking up "air" off the floor. At least that's what it looked like to her. She asked me what I was doing? I told her I was picking up my money. She was confused and said
"What money?" I was persistant and kept pointing to it, it which was nothing but our parrot. She tried waking me by shaking me lightly. I finally woke up.

Now, it's your turn. Head over to Mama Kat's and see what other's are writing about.

My Name Is Kim(my)?!

My name is Kim (technically it's Kimberly) but I go by Kimmy to everyone that knows me except one of my BFF's, who will only call me Kim. When I purchase things online or introduce myself to people, I am Kim. I need to come across as mature, right?! lol

When I started this blog, I thought "Kimmy" was fitting for this. In fact, once people get to know me, they end up calling me Kimmy anyway. I always say, "There's just a Kimmy-ness about me".

So, a week or two ago I purchased a bathing suit online at Victoria Secret's. My account online shows my name as I indicated as "Kim". I placed the order and once again, indicated my name as "Kim".

(Notice the picture below of my receipt after the order was placed.)

So why is it that once I received my bathing suit in the mail was it addressed to "Kimmy"? LOL As I always say, "There's just a Kimmy-ness about me!"

FFF ~ Spring Edition!

It's that time again for Fabulous Foto Friday! I hope you all will join in. If you like taking pictures, then this is just the thing for you. Check here for the rules.

This week I thought, you know, with spring being here and all, I thought I would share some recent photos I took of all the beautiful flowers that are in bloom. I hope you will enjoy!

Okay, now it's your turn! If you already did yours, enter your name below in Mr. Linky so everyone can stop by and see what you have to share.

Thanks for joining!!!!

Fabulous Foto Friday!

Welcome everyone!! It's that time again for Fabulous Foto Friday! If you weren't here last week, that's alright! My philosophy is "the more the merrier"!! So, I would love for you to join in :o)

So, here are the rules:

1. Post a special picture that you took during the week. If you have more than one that you want to post, that would be great also. It can be any kind of picture (i.e. funny, silly, weird, artsy, fun, whatever).

2. Write about what the picture is about and what it means to you.
3. Come back later today and sign your name on Mr. Linky to share, so we all can make our way to your blog and see your wonderful picture(s).

4. Be sure to comment on the person above you. If you want to comment on more than one person, I'd love that and I'm sure they would too! The more comments, the better :o)

I look forward to seeing what everyone has come up with to share!!

A New Resident

Let me first start off by saying "Sorry everyone!!" I know I haven't been a bloggy, commenting friend lately that I should be but there is a reason. I promise to be better....pinky swear (courtesy of my daughter) :o)

1. Personal things in my life have been going on and I feel that I need to take care of them first. When I am on the computer and not giving my family the attention and love that I need to, I have been feeling guilty lately which has lead to me not being on the computer as much as I had been.

2. Well honestly, there hasn't been much going on to really blog about. With the "personal" crap going on, it doesn't leave much else to write about and personally, the hubby wouldn't appreciate it if I blogged about our issues which in part has lead to me not blogging.

So now that we got THAT out of the way, I do have some things to report! WOO HOO!

Ya see, in our front yard we have two hanging pots hanging (as seen in the pic below) as you walk up to my front door. In them is nothing to be desired but dead foliage from last year. :o) I had been meaning to switch it out with something springy and pretty but before I could, something or shall I say someone, found it's undesirable-ness to be desired.

About a month or two ago I had noticed a couple doves hanging out in one of the pots. The farthest one seen in the picture. As days went on, we started to think that maybe they had made a nest. So one day, after they had flown away from getting spooked, I decided to take a peek and sure enough, there were two eggs in there. I was so excited!! I told my hubby and daughter and showed them.

Every morning when I woke and every evening before bed I would peek out the front window to see if the mama or daddy was there sitting on the egg. They would notice me looking too. It even got to a point where they trusted us cause we would be able to walk out the front door and pass them and they wouldn't even fly away.

After about six weeks, one evening my husband went to take the garbage out and he came back in all concerned. He said there was a baby in there and thought that it was dead. It was so cute, the concern on his face and in his voice was so heartwarming. :o) I went out there and he picked me up to look (cause I'm too short..lol) and the baby's eyes were open. I went and got the stool and stared at it to see if it moved and it did! It was so cute! However, there was only one baby. The other must have been a dud.

Since the mama and daddy wasn't there, I took the opportunity and grabbed my camera! LOL Yes, poor baby birdy got a nice flash in it's face just so that I could share with all of YOU! Isn't it soooo cute??!!! Awwwww!! lol


So after a couple weeks of the baby hanging out with it's mama and daddy, one day they all just left. No more doves? MY birds left? I was sad too! I missed them! I would still check through out the day just to see if they would come back.....and they didn't. UNTIL.....one day I noticed them in the other hanging pot. The closest one in the picture (above). It was almost as if they had used sheets in the original pot and wanted a fresh ones...lol!

So once again, when they weren't hanging out in the pot I decided to check it and sure enough.....one egg this time.

Awww...look how cute and little it is! So, the mama and daddy bird had been hanging out and sitting on this egg but not as much as the original egg when the baby was born. Now I've noticed they haven't been around at all for a whole day or so. I'm thinking this egg is a dud too. :o( I want more babies!!! lol At least I know that we will have doves apart of our family now!

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The other thing going on is, this Memorial Day weekend we will be going camping! I am so excited too! We love to camp and hike. Unfortunately we won't be bringing our dog though cause dogs are not allowed on the trails and doggone it...I want to go hiking!!! Poor Ozzy :o( Next time, I guess.

So you know I'll be taking my camera and plan on getting some fabulouso pictures! Too exciting!! Can't wait to share :o)

So, what are you all doing this Memorial Day weekend?

A Comforting Sound

This week I thought I would once again participate with Mama Kat's weekly assignment. Her prompts this week are:

1.) Define goodness...joy...sorrow...and anger using pictures you've taken.
2.) Tomorrow I will do it differently. Here's how...
3.)Describe a 'sound' from your childhood. What was it? When did you hear it? What does it bring to mind?
4.) I remember when...
5.) Right now is the best time to start. What's your first step?

I thought I would go with #3 this week....

3.) Describe a 'sound' from your childhood. What was it? When did you hear it? What does it bring to mind?

~~~~

The sound of the train coming through town. Growing up at home, my parent's house (they still live there) backed up to a field which has train tracks running through it. During the summertime, I would leave my bedroom window open, as would my brother. Hearing the train passing by throughout the day, it just became so common and almost unnoticeable. But at night, it was always a nice sound, almost comforting. Hearing the horn and the sound of the wheels on the tracks.

That train track has since been discontinued for service for many years now. However, there was recent news in the local paper that the service will soon pick up where it left off.

Now, living in my current home with my own family, we now have a train that passes by our neighborhood. In fact, if I'm standing outside my house and look to the right, I can see it passing right behind some neighborhood homes. I'm sure the homes that backup to the tracks (and I mean, they are very close to the tracks separated by a brick wall) don't like the tracks there but I have to say, it is a comforting and familiar sound I love to hear. In fact, some days when we have our front window open and the wind is blowing just right, the sound of the train and when it honks, is so loud that it sounds like it is passing right in front of our house. But again.....I don't mind it. Neither does the rest of the family!

I Wonder....

These things have been something that causes me to think and wonder all the time, or just at any given moment.

I Wonder....who came up with the roller coaster and what happened in order for that person to come up with the idea.

I Wonder....why people that are merging onto the freeway think that they shouldn't turn their blinker on. If anything, it makes me NOT want to let them in cause they come across as being arrogant and makes me think they are saying "Here I am, you better let me in." I have actually noticed that when I'm merging onto the freeway, I get a better response from people when I turn my blinker on than when I see people not turning it on.

I Wonder....why milk spoils before the expiration date. Even when it's been refrigerated the whole time.

I Wonder....why my family are all green thumbs but I can never get it right.

I Wonder....why I stress about stuff that hasn't happened yet and won't for 10 plus years. I guess that's part of being a mom, huh?!

I Wonder....why we can't all just get along.

I Wonder....if my daughter will be taller than me.

I Wonder....why when we think we are hungry, we are really thirsty.

I Wonder....what the heck we are going to do for our daughter's birthday party. 3 more weeks and still no invitations bought or a place booked. Stressing.....

I Wonder....if this person is going to come by and take a look at the available office to rent here. Waiting.....

I Wonder....by Dave & Buster's always smells like a Vegas Casino.

I Wonder....why people are gross and can't seem to clean up their messes in public restroom. Ewww!

I Wonder....if I'll get any sleep this Saturday night when the little one is over a friend's (our friend's daughter) having a slumber party/pool party which happens to be a camp-out in the backyard which there so happens to be the pool in that said backyard whereas my child doesn't know how to swim yet. They will be in tents and an adult will be there but I'm still having a heart attack over this. We'll be there for the pool party part but I'm worried about in the middle of the night. It's on a big lot and again they'll be in a tent but I'm still freaking out!!!!

I Wonder....what you wonder!

My FFF!

It's that time again for Fabulous Foto Friday! I hope you all will join in. If you like taking pictures, then this is just the thing for you. Check here for the rules.

This week with Disneyland and all, as you have already seen some of the pictures here from our trip this past weekend. However, I still had some more that I wanted to share with you here.

So without further adu...

My cutie with one of the fairies in Pixie Hollow.

My cutie looking so cute as always!

A "fake" Mickey Balloon
And because once again, we love to be silly and try and pass the time not only with Pringles but with Funyuns also...this is what we do when we are bored.....

Yes, that's me with a Funyun ring in my nose...LOL! Don't act like you've never done anything this ridiculous!!!

Notice my daughter in the back laughing?!

Love the serious look on my hubby's face. He's serious about his Funyun earrings, man!

Okay, now it's your turn!
If you already did yours, enter your name below in Mr. Linky so everyone can stop by and see what you have to share. Thanks for joining!!!!

Fabulous Foto Friday!

Welcome everyone!! It's that time again for Fabulous Foto Friday! If you weren't here last week, that's alright! My philosophy is "the more the merrier"!! So, I would love for you to join in :o)

So, here are the rules:

1. Post a special picture that you took during the week. If you have more than one that you want to post, that would be great also. It can be any kind of picture (i.e. funny, silly, weird, artsy, fun, whatever).

2. Write about what the picture is about and what it means to you.

3. Come back in a few hours and sign your name on Mr. Linky to share, so we all can make our way to your blog and see your wonderful picture(s).

4. Be sure to comment on the person above you. If you want to comment on more than one person, I'd love that and I'm sure they would too! The more comments, the better :o)

I look forward to seeing what everyone has come up with to share!!

Fun, Fun, Fun!!

I'm back!! I've been exhausted the last few days too but it's getting better. For those of you who didn't read my last post, we went to Disneyland. We had such a blast too!! I'll share all about it in just a second as there are a couple other reasons I'm writing today.

1. This just so happens to be my 200th post! I am so excited!!!! Sorry, no giveaways here. I haven't come to that part in my blog life to start giving away goodies.....if I ever do. I just wanted to take a moment to throw some streamers and party confetti for this special day of mine!!!!! WOO HOO!!

Okay, that was lame but WOO HOO anyways!! lol

And now the second reason....

2. To share my Disneyland trip with all of you. I took a bunch of pictures and I would like to share a handful or two with you all! You know me, I love sharing pictures.

Which leaves me with the third reason for my post.

3. I hope all of you will join me tomorrow for Fabulous Foto Friday. Yes, I know I've been flaky for the past few weeks and haven't done my weekly foto post but each Friday just kept creeping up on me and before I knew it, I wasn't ready. This week I will be and I hope you will too!!!

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Okay, so for Disneyland. We ended up leaving our house at 1pm Saturday, after my husband got off work. It was nice cause we normally leave at 6pm so we actually had some light during our trip down there. Only thing was, it was raining for an hour or so into the trip which wasn't too bad.

As we were driving and we were near the Grapevine close to Valencia, we came across this big rig. If you can notice, it says "Jesus Christ Is Lord". It had it on the front (pictured), the back (pictured) and big all along the side of the truck. I thought this was so cool just for the fact of what it says but also for the fact that we saw this very truck the last trip to Disneyland and I wasn't able to get a picture of it but this time when I saw it, I hurried to grab my camera and got the best pictures I could.

Under "Jesus Christ Is Lord" it says "Not a swear word".

Since we also have Six Flags season passes, 4 1/2 hours later we stopped off at Magic Mountain in Valencia and went on a few rides there. It was fun and I've always been a big roller coaster person but now that I'm getting older and having more headaches, Disneyland is more my speed. Plus, the Disneyland crowds are soooo much better since they are mostly families there.

Here we were on the Colossus, the wooden roller coaster.


We left Six Flags about 9:30-10pm and left to go to our hotel in Anaheim. Since our season passes for Disneyland were blacked out for Saturday, we went to Disneyland on Sunday and Monday. Sunday morning we got up, 1/2 hour later than I wanted to cause the alarm clock quit going off after a few times of snooze. We missed our shuttle so we drove.

We ended up meeting our friends there since we were meeting them there for a family vacation together. It was the first time we had ever done anything like this. Since my family has been to Disneyland so much, we know where everything is and we don't need a map so we basically were my friend's tour guide.

***(Captions are above pictures)***

Me and my cutie at Pixie Hollow getting ready to meet Tinker Bell.

My cutie posing with Tink!

My noodle and my friend's two daughters.

The three of us waiting for Buzz Lightyear.

The whole gang in the very back row.
(from left to right: My friend's husband with his face covered..lol, my friend, me, my hubby, friend's son, my noodle and then my friend's youngest daughter with her face covered too. The oldest was off with her friend)

Us three at the Grizzly play area by Grizzly run.

My hubby and noodle! Aww...I love them!

The three kids. Waiting to go on Splash Mountain.

My friend and I waiting for Splash Mountain.

We ended up leaving Disneyland Monday at 2:30p to head back home. Because we are silly, we like to pass the time doing silly things. For instance, as we would pass big rigs, we would act like we were riding a horse, act like we were were running faster than the cars next to us. Sometimes the people in the cars would laugh but the truck drivers like it the best cause they have such long drives, it's fun to change it up for them and to see something silly right?! Well, this time I had bought Pringles so I made the duck face and would look at the drivers as we passed them...lol. I even got a picture of the three of us with our duck faces.....

Nevertheless, after 3 stops we still made it home safely in 6 hours.

Don't forget tomorrow and Fabulous Foto Friday! I want to get this up and running again. I hope you will all join me!!