My Busy Weekend

Abel was gone for the weekend
celebrating Fathers' Day with his
brother, cousins, second cousin and grandpa.

I filled my weekend with
dinner and girls time with....

Spending about 3 1/2 hours at the hospital with
Kristi and Princess G

Grandma, my cousin Allie, her sweet little angel Arden
and my sister in law, Kaylene on Friday.
(I don't have any pictures to share from that night though. :( )....

Studio pictures for our classes on Saturday morning,

Lunch and coffee at The Coffee Shop with Paul and PJ,

A movie, dinner and Fathers' Day shopping with PJ
While Paul went to the hospital to see Princess G,

Funny pictures and laughter with Paul,

A photo shoot at my house for our hip hop group with
Keri Elizabeth Photography
(You MUST check her out. She is pretty awesome.)

AND

Dinner with the madre for Fathers' Day
Dinner included more silly pics and much laughter.

Here are a boat load of pictures to amuse you.
Some are from the actual day,
Others not.

Enjoy!


Princess G





That's a pretty big bear....


Can you imagine what passer-bys were thinking when they saw a
giant bear in place of the paitent?!


Love the look on her face on this one:


My Day(s) with PJ:
Ham






Paul took him for a haircut


Getting ready to see Kung Fu Panda 2


Dinner at Chick-fil-a


After Paul got home from the hospital,
I hung out for a little bit longer.
Here are some pics for your enojoyment.
(Some from that night, and some from today....that app is addicting.)


My favorite:









My sister thought we were drunk.
I have no clue why...

And to proove that I'm not as dysfunctional looking at those pictures show to be...


I woke up to this on Sunday.
(Shhhh! Don't tell Abel the doggie was in the bed!)


Then, Drea, Brooklyn, Puppet and Keri
came over to do a photo shoot for our hip hop class.
This was the only time that everyone said they could make it,
but we still ended up missing out on Katie in the end. :(

I didn't really get any pics from that, but here's proof
the Drea snuck in a DP



Then I went to dinner with mom for
Fathers' Day.

My birth father died when I was 10.
My dad, and one of the most influential people in my life, died when I was 17.
I don't have any children.
So, this is what we do on Fathers' Day.

She won't let me post any of the silly pics we got of each other,
but I LOVE this pic.
Mainly because she wasn't posing for the first time in forever.

She's the kind of person that will have you take 25 pictures
to get one that she is semi-satisfied with.
I think she's beautiful regardless.


So there ya have it.

The longest post that I have ever put on a blog.
Hope I didn't bore you.

Nightmares

I've been having some pretty intense and realistic dreams lately.
They really bog down my spirit.

Sunday night, I dreamt that the building I work in caught on fire.
My manager wasn't in that day,
And the building next door
And all of the houses surrounding the building were burning.
(We don't have houses across the street from my work, but in my dream we did.)

We left one child and one of the workers in the building, unknowingly.
I woke up terrified and full of grief on Monday morning.

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the fires that overwhelmed Northeastern AZ recentlyBut it was scary nonetheless.

I came in to work today (Wednesday) to no A/C.
It’s only supposed to be 110* today.
No biggie. Ha!

I find out that my manager got a call last night from our fire monitoring service that
An error/alert popped up.
Something was not right.
We have no clue what, but of course
I linked it to the dream I had the other night.
I wonder if one of the AC units caught fire.




I had a dream last week that I got in a really bad car accident.

Just yesterday, as I was driving on the freeway to work,
I started to feel like something was off.
I had chest pains and felt really dizzy
And felt like I was having a heart attack.

I decided to check my blood sugar
(I have had diabetes since I was 10)
While I was driving.
I was 24.
I remember looking up at one point during the driver and
slamming on my brakes.
I almost hit the car in front of me – going full speed.
I honestly think that I blacked out for a moment,
and some kind of divine intervention caught my attention.

I sure hope that none of these nightmares become true reality.

Gabriella's Heart

My heart is heavy and there really isn’t a whole lot that any one can do about it.

For a whole year, there were no major complications with Gabriella.

Her and her sparkly heart were getting along so well.
They still love each other. I’m sure of it.

I don’t understand why this happens.
Why can’t she get a break?!

I know the day will come (and long for it)
When she performs on stage with her dance studio again
Has her first day in high school
Gets her drivers license
Goes on her first date
Goes to her high school prom
Graduates
Takes off to college
Gets married
Has a family

Knowing all of those things are comforting.
She WILL have those opportunities

I am just so angry that she has to overcome these obstacles
In transit to those events

Yesterday I was just sad
Today I am sad and angry
You would think that, after everything that has happened to her
I would better cope with this
I can’t though
None of it makes sense

Please keep praying for my precious little niece.
Along with my sister, brother in law and
My godson/nephew who is only just under 4
He is having a much harder time this go around

Weeeeeeeeee!

Here comes another summer season that

I’m too ashamed

Of my body to go swimming in front of people, go to water parks and go to the lake.

Oh….I’ll go to those places, alright.

I just won’t wear just a swimsuit.

Instead, I’ll wear too many layers of clothing in order to hide my

Insecurities.

I’ll suffer through the extra layers (no matter how cute the clothes are)
In the 120* weather.

Ugh.

I hate being fat.

Sometimes I just think that surgery would be the best option.

I’ve got to keep reminding myself that it may be the EASIEST option, but

Definitely not the best option.

Instead, I exercise.

And I dance.

And I watch carefully what I eat.

I watch what I eat more than the 130 lbs. beautiful girl at the table across from me does.
She stays the same size.
I lose a couple pounds.
Then I gain a couple pounds.

It’s a daily struggle.

Frickin health problems.

Happy Heart Birthday, Gabriella!

Today marks the one year anniversary of my niece Gabriella receiving her new sparkly heart.
You can read about her story here.

I started to type this long blog, but I can't get my words to convey what I really want to say.

It all comes to this....I can't even begin to express how grateful I am that Abbie's parents made the difficult decision to give others life out of their own tragedy.
My heart breaks for them, and I feel they are true heroes.

My sister and brother in law have been amazing.
They have fought for my niece and her health needs since they found out she was ill about 2 years ago.
They are heroes in themselves as well.

My life changed the day I became an aunt.
I love Gabriella and PJ more than I could even express.
The thought of losing either of them makes my heart ache with a pain that I can't even describe.
The fact that Gabriella was given life again a year ago today is beyond any feelings I can express.
I love you, Princess.

Emotions

I just got back from an amazing weekend in Snowflake, AZ.
The studio up there had their performance.
Everyone did soooo great!

Not only was I able to spend quality time with some of my friends, but I was also able to meet a few of the people that I have heard so much about.
I fell in love with everyone and feel like I have gained a new family.

Laughter was continuous.
Smiles were endless.
Love was abundant.

Now I’m back in the valley…..
I really don’t have much to say…
I’m just in a funk now that much of the
Laughter has ceased and smiles are sparse.


Ugh.
I feel like I’m always waiting for the end of everything.
It’s a very incomplete and unsure feeling to have.

Love

Today’s word was love.
I heard it everywhere.
Well, almost everywhere.

I could go on, but I’m not even going to try to put it all in to my own words.

Instead, I’m going to have you read my cousin’s blog post about it here.
I can’t stop thinking about the beauty that pours out of this post.
I love you, cousin. <3



“Unless you love, your life will flash by.”

Asparagus

If there were only one thing that I could eat in this world, it would be asparagus.
This is huge coming from the girl who refused to ever eat any vegetable her entire life.

I, of course love it with butter and garlic salt, so that kind of takes away some of the awesome nutritional value, but oh well.

Have you ever looked up how asparagus is grown?
Go ahead...go do it! Google 'asparagus farm.'

It's kind of creepy.
They look like fingers growing up out of the ground.
Apparently they usually grow on the side of the road or along railroad tracks. (when it isn't planted in a farm or course)
It really disturbed me for a little bit.
I got over it quickly though.

My sister loves asparagus too. Our mom things there is something wrong with us given how much we love and crave asparagus....kind of like how people with low iron crave ice.
I showed sis a picture of an asparagus farm, and she had the same reaction.
Pretty comical.
I'm sure she will make fun of me for this post. ;)

I think we should dress like this for Halloween.

Why am I talking about asparagus?
I really have no clue.
I guess I'm just bored.

Mothers' Day

Today is Mothers' Day.

It's MY blog, so I can complain.

This is my 7th Mother's Day with empty arms.

It sucks, but it is what it is.

I can still have an ounce of hurt, sadness and anger today.

I am thankful for my mom, my sister, my grandma Evie and all of the other amazing women who are moms in my life.

Regardless.....I hope that every women out there that is a mom, has been a mom, will soon be a mom and is hoping to one day be a mom has an amazing day. <3

To my mom:

Thank for you always being there for me.

For always caring.

For always providing.

For putting up with me when my blood sugar is high and I'm in a pissy mood.

For putting up with me when my blood sugar is low and I'm slurring my words like I am a drunk.

For always telling me I am beautiful.

For encouraging me to pursue my passions.

Thank you.

I love you!

To my sister:

Thank you for making my an aunt. It's the most prized title that I have.

For caring so gently and so fiercely for Gabriella through all of her health problems.

For being a great sister. We have definitely grown together as we age.

For giving me such an amazing princess for a niece.

For giving my such a stud for a nephew.

For giving me a brother. (ok...this doesn't pertain to Mothers' Day, but whatever!) ;)

I love you!

Room Remodel

If I were single or had a husband that didn’t care so much about the décor in our house, my color schemes would be so different.

We like darker colors. I’m ok with them. They are comforting and everything, but there is just something about having random splashes of color throughout the house that revitalize the soul.

You should see the playroom my sister has for her kiddos. It is bright blue. She’s planning on having Toy Story type clouds painted on the walls too. When you walk in the room, you can’t help but feel a little happier.

If I were by myself, I would have my neutrals, but in some rooms, I would have my greens, pinks, blacks, whites, purples, yellows etc.

Since that probably wouldn’t make Abel too happy, I choose to go with a more neutral green in our bedroom. I’m thinking green, black and cream/ivory (keeping in mind that our new bed and other furniture is black).

Here are some pictures that are inspiring our room remodel. Please excuse the crappy quality of some of the pictures. I took them on my phone and didn’t have the settings right.


I adore this idea the most.
















The picture that inspired it all....doesn't it scream Life?!











Wouldn't these be neat if they were in black against a cream colored wall?



The bedset I am lusting over....it's entirely too expensive though.



So there you have it.....after hours upon hours of searching both in stores and online for our color scheme, we are sticking with boring old green. It'll turn out pretty nice though I sure.