Hustle....and Bustle!

So the holidays are here, hence the lack of blogging! I am consumed with parties, presents, crowds and lists! Still have more xmas shopping to do but I'm trying not to get too stressed out about it. We've got the tree, decorated cookies, and looked at Christmas lights throughout the neighborhood! The most important thing will be the time I get to spend with my family! It will be a busy christmas weekend- but worth it none the less! A sleepover with Victoria is a tradition on Christmas eve! Then we wake up and make a huge breakfast at my Dad's house, typically comprised of cinnamon rolls, fruit, eggo waffles (with pnut butter of course!), and probably some pigs in a blanket- Joy's tradition addition to the Christmas breakfast! My Dad's house remodel is complete and I think this will be the beginning of many christmas traditions shared there. I'm hoping the Jingle Bears have found there way out of storage...
The afternoon is spent at my Mom's- which is about 1/2 a mile from my dad's so it makes traveling on Christmas great! :) Once all the siblings arrive, we open presents, take a family photo, listen to music and catch up! Maybe play with our "toys" a little bit too! :) More family will be over for Christmas dinner and the fun begins at the Kid's Table. This tradition has been going on for almost 20 years now! We have continued to call it the Kid's Table even though we are all over the age of 20! No matter how many "kids" are attending dinner- we all sit at one long table (which seems to be stretched longer and longer each year with new members of the family- husbands and wifes and soon to be babies!!!) You never know what's going to happen at the kid's table, but it is definitely entertaining- to say the least!
A quick trip to Big Bear with cap off the holiday weekend, along with another sleepover with Victoria. I love spending time with that girl- she is amazing! :)
The one thing missing this holiday season will be Clay- he'll be staying in Newport to spend time with his family and working....what a drag! But I can't wait to ring in the new year with him! 2010 is going to be a great year!
Peace, Hope & Love this holiday week! <3

New Laptop!

Setting up the new laptop I got for my bday! Thanks Parents!

More blogging more frequently…hopefully!

G.Y.M.

Trying to get back into the routine of getting myself to the gym has been pretty unsuccessful. Yes, I've taken a few months off and knew it would be so hard to get back on track...but I am determined to make it happen and there's no better time than today- no excuses. So, as tired as I always am, I need to realize this will help me attain more energy! As sore as I will be, I need to be thankful I can move those muscles to make them stronger. As busy as I am, I need to realize its a short part of my day that I need to make time for. Time to update the ipod- get some motivating playlists going and get my butt to the gym. :)
Making it happen now...

Today.

Today has been a sad day. Little Max, the parent's brand new kitten they got only a week ago, left us to be in kitty heaven. His heart stopped beating this morning as he lost a fight to panleukopenia. He was a spunky little thing who stole my heart just 3 days ago! These pictures were taken Saturday and I am so glad I have them now. Max fit in the palm of my hand- quite different from my own fatcat! He was the sweetest kitten, a purrrrrring machine! It is so sad to have to let him go...but I am glad he was loved for the short time he was here.

Also- today is Ryan's 31st birthday. It's sad to know he is spending it alone, no family or friends. Needless to say, this is not the first birthday he's spent incarcerated and it won't be the last. Hopefully... some way a lesson is being learned....

The Love!

Celebrated our 2 years together on September 3rd, 2009! Still going strong... Love you Clay!

Almost gave up....

Well, I was almost thinking of giving up on this blog- until I saw that my mom has started one and I must follow so I can get her recipes! :) So, I guess I havea few months to catch up on!
Well- here it is- Chels is married now- Yay and looking for a house...crazy! I've spent the summer mostly with family- driving to Glendora to help Victoria move back into her house/room. We went to the Jonas Brothers concert and I'm pretty sure it was the best night of V's life! She was Loooooooving it! Of course, maybe the fact that we were in the 3rd row helped just a tad! She still talks about it like it was yesterday- a month later! Hanging out with Chels and Meg when I can...I got to have breakfast with Dunc and Tracy on one of their quick trips down to socal. Hopefully they're moving down soon so we can hang out all the time! :) Football season has started, so my Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays are full of football on tv. Good thing Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday the tv is all mine- Glee, 90210, Real World, Kourt and Khloe, all the guilty pleasures!
Suzanne's babies are growing so fast! They're 9 1/2 month old angels! Gabby got another cute puppy. Clay's college roomie got married- one of his first friends! We went to an awesome Incubus concert for Clay's bday- in a limo! So much fun! And Clay and I just celebrated our 2 year anniversary! Life's not slowing down much- if anything, it's speeding by me so fast I feel like I can't keep up! Trying to spend time with family and friend's has become such an important part of living for me! Those are the moments that matter! And life's too short to worry about anything else!
Saturday morning will be spent helping my dad and Joy put on a yard sale! They have so much brand new stuff to get rid of- I'm hoping we get rid of most of it! More importantly- I'm hoping we get it to people who need it and will appreciate it! It's not about making the money...although that part of it will be much appreciated!
So- there was a quick overview of the summer and the months I've missed blogging. I'm going to try to get better at it! At least a few short blogs even if I don't have time! We'll see how it goes!

Sisters

I got to spend 2 weekends in a row with my amazing sisters. Chelsea's bridal shower went great! The food was amazing and we had ladies from all walks of Chelsea's life. This last weekend was Rob's retirement party. 38 years with one company- amazing! He had a great time when we finished the night off with a roast! Lots of great comments from family, co-workers and friends to tribute rob's hard work at Edison after all these years. Clay and I bartended...again! It' a great way to meet everyone at the party! :) And not too hard of a job when there's only beer, wine and margaritas!

Mother's Day was the next day and with Chelsea in Coalinga with Jeremy, it was just me, my mom and Rob left to celebrate! I met them at a little sushi place in Placentia. It was sooo good but we definitely had eyes bigger than our stomachs! Rob didn't even want dessert, which rarely ever happens! It was great to get together and have a quiet dinner after all the craziness the last few weekends! Both my mom and Rob have been working extremely hard to get the house ready for Rob's retirement party and the wedding in June. Their efforts definitely do not go unnoticed- the house/yard look the best they have in 25 years! It will be so exciting to have or close family and friends there for Chelsea's reception!

On that note...time to hit the gym- I have a dress to fit into in 2 weeks! Vegas wedding on the 29th- my friends from Santa Barbara are getting married! <3

Woohoo!!!!

It's Friday! Can't wait for the weekend- Chelsea's Bridal Shower and then Sunday Funday with Gabby and crew!
Family and friends...what more could I want!
:)

Have a great weekend!

Kids these days...

Wednesday night is bowling night. Clay and I pack up our bowling balls (yes, we now both have our own!) and head to the alley to meet up with the rest of the crew! In the midst of our first game, a young girl about 12 years old comes to our lane selling candy bars. Of course, we give her the business. Who can resist chocolate? :) I ask her what she's selling candy bars for and she says she's raising money to go to Disneyland. After that response, I was immediately interested in helping her out! I bought a candy bar and got a little bit of attitude because I only bought one! ha But I told her to have a great time at Disneyland! She collects her money from my friends and I and scurries off to the other end of the bowling alley. Later that night, Clay came back from the restroom only to report that he had seen that same little girl at the claw machine (where you try and claw the stuffed animals) digging money out of the candy bar box. Hmmm...now that's going to be one pissed off mom who has to pay for the box of candy bars because her daughter couldn't resist the bright pink elephant amongst a sea of fuzz and fur! Not only that, I feel ripped off now- I was giving money to support a trip to Disneyland, not to be wasted at the bowling alley. Geesh...kids these days! Never know the true value of the dollar!

Oh man...I'm getting old!

~crunch time~

So, it's getting down to wedding crunch time! No...not my wedding, silly! Chelsea's getting married June 27th. Her bridal shower is Saturday and I can't wait to celebrate and be with all my sisters! The bachelorette plans are coming around. The "day of" planning started last night at dinner with my mom and Chels. It took us 3 hours to tentatively plan the day beginning at 8am up until midnight! It's going to be a whirlwind of a day...but this MOH is getting organized!
Weddings are a funny thing- so much time is spent making stressful decisions and with so many detailed preparations and it's all over so fast! I don't know how I feel about that...
Hmmm...I'm sure it'll be different once I start planning my own (which won't be for a loooong time for all you wishful thinkers out there!) :)

Brit Brit's Circus

Alas, the Britney Spears concert came and went and boy, what an evening! The girls were all very excited for the day to finally come, since we bought our tickets (very excitedly) back in November. I had to work that day (and all weekend for that matter), so I rushed home after working the Lido boat show, got showered, ate and quickly was off to JT Schmidts for some drinks before the show.
I met Gabby and Larissa there, and Meg and lindsay arrived shortly after. The place was getting crowded- full of girls dressed to impress Britney! :) We got tons of compliments on our shirts that we made! Not sure if I'll have a chance to ever wear it again but it was fun for the night!
We walked back over to the arena and waited for the concert to begin. Perez did some sort of creepy intro- guess it went along with the circus theme? And the circus began...there were circus acts going on all over the stage and finally Britney came out. Although she was lipsyncing every single song, I was impressed with the show and loved the dance party we were all having!
It was an amazing night with some amazing girls! :) Unfortunately, we didn't get a group shot of our shirts! But the rest of the shirts spelled out I <3 BRIT! Probably the first and last time I'll ever see Britney on stage!

QUICK UPDATE

I'm horrible and missed over a month of blogging. And of course TONS of stuff has been going on so here's a quick update (from looking off my outlook calendar- my lifesaver):
WENT TO BIG BEAR- AMAZING
WENT TO ENGLAND FOR WORK- AMAZING
PURPLE DISNEYLAND- AMAZING
SHAMROCKAPALOOZA- ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARTY @ MY HOUSE- AMAZING
RASCAL FLATTS CONCERT WITH SUZANNE- AMAZING
THOMAS HART PENCE WAS BORN 3/23/09- CONGRATS CARRIE AND EVAN!
DISNEYLAND FOR MY MOMS BDAY WITH CHELS, LACEY, MOM AND ROB AND CLAY- AMAZING
EASTER CELEBRATION WITH (ALMOST THE WHOLE FAM)- AMAZING
LIDO BOAT SHOW STARTED WEDNESDAY WHICH MEANS WORK WORK WORK- NOT SO AMAZING!
HAPPY BDAY DADDY TOMORROW! :) I LOVE YOU DAD!

But the most exciting thing is about to happen in Sunday. The Britney Spears Circus Tour. Megan, Lindsay, Morgan, Gabby, Larissa and I are all heading to the Honda Center for this amazing show- and we even made matching tanks. I spent a Saturday night with Megan and Morgan crafting them and they are amazing! If I stick to my work at getting better at updating this blog then hopefully my next post will be the events of the night of the circus.
Better Blogging- I promise!

Girls Night*

I invited the girls over for some food, drinks, and just plain ol' girlie fun! We had a blast- laughing, talking, rocking out! I am so so thankful for the amazing friends in my life and I love every moment with them!

But I am definitely ready for the weekend away with Clay! We're going up to my parents cabin in Big Bear. It's going to be soooo relaxing and great! I'm ready for some down time...especially since I'm headed to London next week for work! A week away from my life...I'm a lil nervous! But it should be amazing, even though I'll be working the whole time! I just know I'm going to miss Fatty and Clay so much- hope they can take care of each other while I'm gone! :) I don't get back until the 22nd...where has this month gone already??? Time is drastically speeding up the older I get and it scares me! Maybe that's why I try to pack sooo much stuff into every week or weekend! I'm tired...but not too tired to live my life to the fullest!

Turkey*

Some friends and I went bowling last night- $25 for a lane from 9 til 1am. It's a great deal! There were 5 of us and a leopard bowling ball.

(Sub story- I have my own bowling ball. It's leopard print and has BROOKIE engraved on it. The finger holes are fit for my own. It was a Valentine's Day present... worst, most unromantic valentine's day present in the history of the universe. But I love it and am not afraid to carry it around in my leopard print bowling bag. End of Sub-story)

Now...don't let my collection of bowling equipment scare you into thinking I actually have some bowling skills! I have my moments...but usually my score card is left with a bunch of 8's and 9's and open frames! However, last night- when it really mattered- I got 3 strikes in the 10th frame! Woohooo! Took me right past my boyfriend's score into second place! :) (We're pretty competitive when it comes to bowling!) 3 strikes felt so good all in a row! Too bad the bowling alley we went to was ghetto and we didn't even get a turkey graphic up on the screen!
This may become a weekly occurance- so pics of my leopard ball will pop up sometime soon I predict!

Fat Cat

I decided to take Fatty to the groomer's for a cut since he was looking a little scraggly! I try to get him cut at least 2 times a year, but I can say it had been way longer than 6 months since he's last visited. I decided to try PetSmart since PetCo said Fatty was too old (sad....) for them to take. PetSmart said they can only do a shave on cats, which I though was fine since his hair grows back pretty fast and gets everywhere in the process!

Well, here's a BEFORE look at Fatty's fluffiness-

And now for the AFTER pose-

Does he look happy to you? I think he hates me....but he'll get over it! I try not to laugh at him too much but I can't help it! :)

Ohhhhhhh Nine!

So, the new year has begun and definitely pushed the blogging aside. But I'm back with some good stuff!
Technically, I didn't make a new years resolution but only because I don't want to be like everyone else and say I'm going to lose weight, get to the gym more, tone up and feel 100% better about myself! Don't get me wrong- I do want to do all these things, but there is so much more to this year than sticking to just one resolution that never makes it through to the next year anyways.
Something at church sparked my interest last week- GOALS ARE SIMPLY YOUR DREAMS SET TO A TIMELINE.
Everyone has dreams they would like to accomplish, but finding the time is the challenge. Or so we think... I think it's more challenging to convince yourself to follow through, than to actually find the time! It's a change of priorities, a change in thinking, a change to your set ways that you are oh so comfortable with. I want to change things- and make things happen, rather than watch this time pass by me so quickly- remembering that babysteps are key to making it through to the finish line.

So, My Goal: To feel good in my own jeans again!
My Babysteps: Don't buy any new jeans until Ican fit comfortably in my old ones! Not only get myself to the gym consistently, but eat better and make healthier choices for myself! Take it one day at a time, to one week at a time, to one month at a time!

I have let myself fall off the fitness track and it caught up with me quicker than I could have imagined! A reminder that I am getting older- and if I don't do anything now, it only gets harder the further I let it go! I am determined to not fail at this! We'll see how it goes...