Randomness

In December for my sesters 25th Birthday I made her this really cool collage of tons of pictures of us! It was really cute and she loved it! I thought I'd post a few never before seen pictures that I put on the collage. Well maybe they've been seen but not by many people reading my blog I'm sure! These old school pictures are some of my favorites! It reminds me of happy days with the family and my mama! My mom ironed patches on these shirts and then puff painted... yes I said puff painted, this was back in the early 90's. She would puff paint around the edges of the picture and more or less outline the picture in detail! I am happy to say that I still have my shirt!

Indulgence

Have I mentioned lately how lucky I am to have some pretty amazing friends? I'd like to take a moment to thank my long time friend Jennifer! When I say my long time friend, I mean LONG time. I've known this girl since we were in second grade. That's like 24 years of friendship right? She and I lived around the corner from each other when we were younger and had a great group of girls we hung out with. Gotta love the old school picture at Pizza Palace!!

During High School Jennifer and I went our separate ways and did different things. Early 2009 because of Facebook (of all things) we found each other again! We did miss out on about 10 years of each other's lives but the second we started talking and meeting up for dinner it was like we never stopped talking!

She is such a great friend! She is very kind, very caring and always so thoughtful! She is always great at thinking of good ideas and is very creative! I had a great week last week and on Monday found out I finally made my first goal of losing 15 pounds. On Thursday I received some very special snail mail, which is ALWAYS amazing to get! Jennifer mailed me this super cute little book with a little note that said Congrats on losing weight!

She always knows just what I need, from a dinner at Miguels to just a little note in the mail... she just gets it and I really appreciate it!

This book is so awesome! One thing I don't do very well is doing things that are nice for me! Yes I may go out for a drink with friends every now and then but I don't really ever do anything for me that is nice! This book will help me do a few fun things for myself!! Some fellow bloggers and friends of mine started last year with a "Bucket List" if you will. I wanted to do one but never really got around to doing it. I feel like doing some of the stuff in this book will not only be good for me but for my life in general. Some things will benefit Victor, some Alana, some friends.... some random people.

Here are a few that I'm excited to do:

#17 - Take a test drive in a car that you can't afford

#52 - Camp out in the backyard

#95 - Dance in the rain

#134 - Sleep on the beach

#178 - Make out at the movies

#204 - Have sex on your lunch break

#259 - Volunteer at an Animal Shelter for a day

#345 - Try a new hairstyle

If you need something fun to do - let me know and pick a number between 1 and 365 and I'll give you a good idea!!

Thank you Jennifer for thinking of me when you have so much going on right now! You are trying to get organized for a sweet little baby, trying to start a new life with Joe, moving, planning and stressing out and some how in the meantime you have time to think about me and take time out of your busy day to buy me this cute little book! I love you girly! Love you like my own sister! Thank you for being such a great friend to me! I someday would like to be a friend like you! I believe that God brought you back into my life right before my mom died for a reason. xoxoxo

Shower with LOVE

Last year my cousin Jen married Kwasi and they are the cutest couple EVER! Since they met everyone has said how adorable their kids would be!


Well no more guessing!! They are due to have a baby girl in May!! My cousin Chrissy and I threw Jen a baby shower this past weekend! We held the shower at her moms house in Orange. The day started out nice but there was a good chance for rain. As we set up we debated a few times on moving the showers into the house. I think I spent a good hour taping down everything to make sure nothing flew away on us! The day was chilly but the shower turned out amazing!

When my cousin Chrissy has a good idea she sure knows how to make it come alive! The colors went so well together and matches the nursery! I did these flower pots with daisy's in them as centerpieces and they came out so good!

Chrissy didn't leave out one detail, she remembered everything and I was so glad to be helping her with it all!

We got these beautiful cupcakes from a near by bakery and they went perfectly with the colors!

Jen enjoyed them as well!

Chrissy found these favors online that were little paper-ish Daisy's in a bag. You could bring them home and plant them and daisy's would grow from the pods!! So smart and so cute for the shower!


My favorite cousins!


3 generations of Jen's family, soon to be 4!

What is amazing about Jennifer is her smile! She seriously is ALWAYS smiling and is so beautiful!! Her and Kwasi both have such a great smile! I am just picturing this little girl to come out with a really big smile!

My mom was always such a sucker for babies, she loved them and thought everyone should have lots of them and NOW! Around Christmas a few years back when Jen & Kwas were dating, a few days before they were engaged I remember my mom hitting Jen up about having kids! "Aunt Pat, I'm not thinking about that anytime soon".... little did Jen know just a few years from then she would be married with a sweet baby girl on the way! Jen - Mom would be so happy for you and I know she has a hand on that little baby girl and will always be there to watch out for her!

Shoes

The other day Crystal and I went shopping and took Alana with us. Auntie Crystal has taught Alana a lot about shopping. If you know me, you know I'm not a big into shopping and don't have a lot of clothes or shoes or bags... that's just not me. Someone has to teach the girl about shopping!! We were in the shoe isle at Target and Crystal and I were showing each other shoes and saying "Do you like these?" "These are cute."... blah, blah. So Alana decided she would do the same. She's getting SOOO big!! She would pull out a pair of shoes and say "Crystal, do you like these? Do you want to wear these?". She was making us laugh so hard! She loved these galoshes and it was sooo funny so I had to get a shot of her in them!

On top of the world!

Down 15.2 pounds and I feel like I'm on the top of the world today!!! I know I have lots more to go but 15 was my first goal... I'm finally on such a good track!!

Thank you babe for keeping me going and taking me out for bike rides and walks... for exercising yourself so we can have a bit of competition!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I re-read my post from last year because I LOVE to read the Irish Poem that was read at my moms funeral! It's crazy that a whole year has passed and not a whole lot has changed as far as missing my mom. Time Heals everything.... I'm still waiting!!

Happy St. Mom's Day! (As my sister said) Shots of Bailey's for everyone! Cheers!

Holy Holy

A few weeks ago Victor, Alana and I had ventured off on a hike a co-worker had told me about. This weekend my cousin was taking his truck up the road to get to the actual hike so we decided to leave Alana with Grandma this time and head up there with my cousin! And I'm SO glad we did. A few weeks ago they had the trail closed off so we could only drive up so far and after an hour of walking up the hill we still didn't come to the actual start of the hike. We didn't know that until we went up with my cousin and drove ALL the way up! It was quite the adventure! Lots of dirt hills and water on our way up! Then when we made it to the start of the hike it was so beautiful and peaceful! It's called Holy Jim's Trail and is literally hidden away in the Santa Ana Mountains and is NOT easy to find, but going up with someone who had been there several times was a plus! As soon as we hit the trail it was uphill the whole way! I thought because I've been running so much that I was getting into better shape, and as that may be the case I'm not sure running prepares you for 3 miles uphill. It was an awesome hike and so beautiful the whole time!

Victor calls this the nest - it's tree's that have grown into a tunnel and is beautiful!

The entire hike followed a beautiful stream. The sounds of water and nature were amazing.

We had to cross several streams, most of them had rocks within hopping distance of each other, but not all of them were so easy to cross. It took strategy to get across some of them!

When you finally make it up the path to where it ends there is a beautiful waterfall there! It was worth the hike uphill! It was a really pretty and serene place!

We hung out for a bit, rested, ate some snacks and took it all in before we headed back down!

It was such a beautiful day out and it was a great hike! Kicked our butts getting up there but hey it's all part of us being healthy and getting out more and we are enjoying every minute of it! We can't wait to go back again next month. In the meantime we plan on getting out every weekend and finding a new place to discover! Some less intense so we can take our littlest hiker!

Love my hubs

Girls and more girls

Last weekend I had Ellie and Lexie for the weekend! Alana enjoys spending time with her cousins so it was nice to have them visit but was happy I could send them home afterwards too! I don't think I could ever have 3 kids! I don't know how people do it!

I think I have a picture just like this from last year, but they are so cute!!


We took the rug rats to the park and made them run around the baseball diamond to get some of that energy out! They slept really well!


Lexie and Alana play really well together. They sit and talk in their own little language and they are so funny together!

Ellie was enjoying the bigger kid stuff to do at the park

Lexie and Alana could swing for hours if we'd let them! I can't wait for the day they learn to push themselves!

On a seperate note, Alana FINALLY learned how to pedal her bike! She will be 3 in a few months (which is CRAZY to think about) but she never really would pedal with both feet. She always just did it with one foot and a few weeks ago she finally just got it one day! That means lots of trips up and down the street on her bike!

Flashback Friday

For some reason the last few weeks have been super hard on me, thinking about my mom and how much I miss her. How I would kill to just have one more hug from her. One more "Call me when you get home". Or just one more hug for Alana. I tear up so often and sometimes, in my alone time just break down crying because I miss her. I get she's in heaven but dangit I want to be selfish!! I do hold onto the great memories I have of her and with her. Sometimes I go back to this post I wrote. I love to read the fun times we had, but damn I'm just missing her and her motherly touch. Her motherly knowledge. Her words of advise to me. Our hour long phone conversations a few times a day.... It always helps me to look back at my favorite pictures so I'm taking Friday to flashback to some of the ones that make me happy!


Mom's surprise 60th birthday trip to Vegas to see LOVE!


Valentines Day Dinner with the Church 2008


Victor's 31st birthday Luau


My mom's first full body massage!!

Bragging rights

So normally I don't brag or really can't brag about things but today I need to give myself some credit!! For the last month and a half at work we've been doing a Biggest Loser contest called the Loco Losers. As I've said before, Victor and I want to have another kid and if all the cards fall into place this summer.... we just might be trying! One of those cards I talk about is me losing weight. Yes to get pregnant again and add more weight but really just for me. For me to feel better, to feel sexy, to feel better about myself in general! That is my goal! I want to fit into clothes and feel comfortable about it! I' m o N m Y W a Y ! !
I want to live a more healthy lifestyle in general and one thing I've been doing lately to help that is getting out and running! I get my butt up at 5am and go running in my neighborhood! I try to do it a few days a week and on the weekend I try to do it when it's light out! Running in the dark has been very changeling, creepy, scary, and yet so rewarding! Last week I almost got bit by a Husky. I don't know I was more scared of it or it was more scared of me. I run the same 2-3 miles all the time. The same path. I have my iPod on really low while I run so I can hear anything that's going on around me. I always have a hooded sweater on with the hood over my head because it's FREEZING at 5am! So as I ran down the street in the dark with only streetlights to see this dog comes running at me from a house. I didn't even pause as it lunged at me. I did what I would do normally to anything or anyone that scares me, I punched it. Ask Victor, he gets punched all the time when he scares me. It's just my normal reaction. Sorry, but you better duck if you plan to scare me. Are you thinking poor Husky? He was clearly going to bite me so please don't feel bad for the dog that got punched in the nose!! I stood my ground as he stood his and I backed away slowly... My heart was beating so fast it was crazy! He stood there and barked at me. As soon as I was a safe distance away I turned and ran... it was all so scary for the split second it happened but it's pretty funny now that I talk about it! Needless to say on my 3rd mile around I went across the street and walked slowly by the house! Now every time I run by there I slow down and look for him! Funny, I know!!
It's very changeling to keep up with running but once I've done 3 miles before 6am and the sun is just starting to peak out, it's the most glorious way to start my day! That's an hour in the morning that I have to myself. I can think about anything and nothing. I can run my ass off or just walk. It's MY time! It's my way to a healthier lifestyle, a happier me!

I'm down 12 pounds and couldn't be happier with my results! I'm kickin butt and I'm happy to do it, my butt needs a kickin. Eating healthier and getting out and be healthy feels SO MUCH better then sitting at home like a bump on a log! 12 pounds is just a start!! YEAH for me!!

Happy Day

I've been patiently waiting for Baby Em's arrival for 9 months!! Martha is one of my best friends and her and Paul were blessed with a very healthy baby girl on the 27th! She just couldn't wait for my birthday!! She was a big girl at 8 lbs 11 oz. Martha had almost the exact delivery as I did. She was in labor for 24 hours and after Em wouldn't move down the birth canal they took her in for a C-section! Martha's sisters are in another state so she didn't have any family here with her so I tried to stand in as much as I could. I consider her like my sister! This sweet little girl is going to be very lucky. Martha and Paul are going to make amazing parents, they are some of the best people I know!

Sweet baby Em!


After they came home from the hospital we took Alana over for a visit! I wanted to make Martha and Paul dinner and Alana wanted to meet Em. She's been talking to baby Em for 9 months in Martha's tummy. On the way over to the house I told he we were going to see baby Em. She didn't understand that she was no longer in Martha's tummy until we told her she could hold her. So the second we walked in the door she wanted to hold her!! She didn't want to let go of her. This picture reminds me of when Alana was born, Ellie was about the same age and I have the same picuture of Ellie this age with Alana as a newborn!

Alana and her baby Em


She even wanted to help Paul feed her. She was upset that she couldn't do it all herself and mom and dad needed to be so close by.


Sweet baby Em! Aunt Jamie loves you and is so happy to have you in our lives, please never move away from me...

Even Victor held her! Sometimes when you have a tiny baby you think "I don't remember Alana ever being this small" ... she never was this small! Crazy to think about!

Wordless Wednesday!!

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