Day 30 of thanks!

a pizzoki to celebrate my birthday!! ;) and my bed, warm, cozy, and inviting me in for a nap.... ;)

....and that brings me to the end of my 30days of thanks!  It was definitely a fun project for me to do!  Don't get me wrong, the whole month wasn't peachy...  there was some days when my mood could've gone "the other way,"  BUT this helped me see the "GOOD" parts of the day, EVERYDAY!!!  Made this quote I heard the other day soooo true!

"Make a game of finding something positive in every situation. Ninety-five percent of your emotions are determined by how you interpret events to yourself." 

-Brian Tracy

I hope everyone enjoyed my 30days of being thankful as much as I did!  ;)

Day 29 of thanks!

Creativity.... ;)

starting/continuing my special project...  ;)  I LOVE trying to be creative....  I'm not that good at it, but I've been slowly getting better!!!  ;)

My very special project!!

...A Quilt, for a SPECIAL baby, my absolute NEW LOVE!!!  :)

One of my old college roomates informed me that she was pregnant a few months ago, so it was time to give her a baby shower...  they chose a day at the end of November, I had to hurry up and "create" something FAST.  It seems to me that as soon as October hits, life gets overwhelmingly busy...  I thought about it, knew what I wanted to do, I asked my friend Sharon for help with the back part, it was embroidered, and my machine isn't that "talented." And that's as far as I got until 3 days before the shower...  AHHHHHH!!!  Have I ever mentioned I work better under pressure??  Well let me assure you that this probably one of the busiest weekends in November, and I ended up pulling it off, BARELY! and actually finishing it with 30 minutes to get ready, yes I said get ready, and that was for the shower in the OC!!  THANK GOD I had requested the day off...  I know, I know, I cut it REALLY REALLY close this time!!  I was so happy with how it turned out though, totally made the stress worth it!  Here's a couple of pics of the process... and the final product... 

LOVE THE FABRIC!

the front and back of it...  my friend Sharon embroidered "LOVE" strategically all over a white piece of fabric..  I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first, but, I LOVED how it turned out!

sewing away!!!  :)

getting a "reminder" on folding the corners!  ;/

ALL DONE!!!  and with minutes to spare!!  ;)  Cute huh??  Baby still doesn't have a name, so I passed on "personalizing" it...

...and my mom knitted this one for baby!!

and the last 2 pictures are one's I edited and posted on twitter!!  :)  I also LOVE the editing picture feature my phone has to offer!!  ;)

Day 28 of thanks!

impromptu last minute "catch up" dinners with the forever sister friend! ;)  Nothing beats good ol' catch up conversation over a hamburger and fries!  ;)

Have I ever mentioned how lucky I am to have been blessed with GREAT friends??

Day 27 of thanks!

My Brother and Sister,

they remind me who I am, and who I used to be, and who I am supposed to be...  :)  Today is my brother's birthday, and all day today I couldn't stop thinking how proud I am of him, and of the person he has become... 

The little brother and the little sister have definitely made me proud...  They are both amazingly successful people, and they both make me proud to be their big sister every day!!  :)

Day 26 of thanks!

christmas movies and Christmas decorating... This is by far my most FAVORITE season of all!  ;)

Let's bring put the snowman family... ;) GREAT way to spend my Saturday off. ;)

Day 25 of thanks!

Jaime and Chris.... 

...and yummy breakfast sandwiches!  Thanks guys for always making me feel welcome, and for feeding me lunch on VERY short notice! ;)

...and for 4o'clock

after 9 VERY looooong days of work it was finally time for a day off, and a massage!!  YIIIPPPEEEE!!!!  :)

Day 24 of thanks!

So many things to be thankful for today, GOD, family, friends, lessons learned, quality time, freedom, a warm house, a roof over my head, a car to get me from to and from, creativity, the ability to fullfill my NEEDS, the kids, WORK, just to name a few...  Today especially I will be thankful to get to spend time with my family, eating laughing and talking around the dinner table, today we will enjoy Thanksgiving dinner made with all of the love that my mom has in her heart for us, today is our family day, and for that I am extremely THANKFUL!! :)

Thanksgiving

Blogging about Thanksgiving in January! Yep, I guess I'm a little behind! ;)  But another one of this year's motto's is going to be "Better late than Never!"  :)

Thanksgiving started by me making these little guys that I found on the idea room blog...  if haven't visit it yet, you should, she has some really great things!  These little guys were very easy to make...  very time consuming, but not hard!  ;)  And the kids LOVED them!!  :)

and again...  Nothing says Thanksgiving like my mom's table FULL of yummy food....  ;)  No ham or yams this year...  But the turkey was good!!  haha!  ;)

...anyone for a little "bubbly?"

...and treats, we had lots of pies and a special chocolate, chocolate cake!  :)  Happy Birthday Little Brother!

My Brother's birthday always falls around Thanksgiving, so every year we sing and celebrate for him on Thanksgiving day!  :)  ooopppssss...  looks like I cut my dad off?  weird!

...and Mike and Gaby decided to play games....  haha!

...and then we had a sister photo shoot, I liked this one the best!  ;)

....and one with Mom!  ;)

...looking back through these now I wish I would of noticed that there weren't any pictures with my dad...  He was there, enjoying dinner and "kid" time with us though!!  ;)  Here's to another fun family filled Thanksgiving!  :) 

Day 23 of thanks!

CREATIVITY, quality time, and heartfelt conversations with friends!  Aren't these guys soooooo cute?? 

I heard about these from a girl I follow on twitter, then Jessica and I spent the evening "creating" them...  aren't they sooooo cute???  ;) 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Day 22 of thanks!

Health.... Today I am thankful for my health, it's been almost 5 years and I can honestly say that I haven't felt this good in YEARS!!!  :)  and something must be going "right" because I think I've even put on a few pounds...  YIKEES!!!  Oh and I am grateful/thankful for my dad's health too, and for everyone else's health that I know too!! ;)

Turkeys EVERYWHERE!!!

I ran across these little guys on twitter, one of the "foodies," I follow posted about them...  and let me tell  you, I fell instantly IN LOVE with them, I got the supplies and thought they would be super cute to bring to the work pot-luck.  BUT first I wanted to try and make them, to make sure they weren't a complete "fail."  I thought I would send them home with Jessica, I would use the kids as my guinea pigs!  ;)

The initial idea came from the idea room, you can see those here.

These are mine!  ;)  They actually weren't hard to make at all...  the hardest part was finding the "perfect" candy corn for the feet!

I got a picture at work the next day showing me the excitement when the kids saw the treats...  ;)  haha!!  made my day...  I was glad that they liked them!!



trying out my new lens while making the turkeys...  I'm not sure why, BUT I think this is one of my new favorite pictures!!  ;)  I LOVE my mom's colorful rose's

Day 21 of thanks!

The Liberty to choose, Being able to make our own choices, and the liberty to try new things!
we all make choices, and today I am thankful for the liberty to be able to choose what I want...  Today I got to exercise my "liberty," and tried Ox tails for the first time...  let me tell you they were tasty!!  :)  I LOVE my cuban cooking friends!!  and I LOVE being open to trying new things!!  :)

Day 20 of thanks!

pictures and blogging, Pictures REALLY are worth a 1000 words, and I LOVE that I get to share their/my story on a blog ;)

Day 19 of thanks!

KIDS

 everything about them, the fact that they're so resilient, and honest, their unconditional LOVE and the way they smile when they see a familiar face, their snuggles, the way they get excited over the smallest thing, the fact that they are easily pleased, their honesty, their hugs, loving with everything they have and expecting nothing in return, the way they look at the world, almost like they're seeing it for the first time... we have so much to learn from children, and today I am thankful for them! :)

Strawberry Cake Pops!

..... For a Special little Girl!!

I had so much fun making these little guys...  And it was so special to me that Kati asked Sophia if she wanted me to make her some cake pops...  when she told me that, and that Sophia had said yes, I went to work!  ;)

I was armed with all the supplies that I needed and with Bakerella's wonderful book!  ;)

Thank you Kati for letting me borrow yours...  This is a GREAT book, and it has specific instructions on exactly how to make the cake pops...  If you don't have one of these, you should get one!!  ;)

Sophia was having a Strawberry Shortcake Party so Strawberries were on the menu!  ;)

Mike and Gaby were busy on this here day....  so I enlisted the help of my mom... I told her it was because I wanted company, but I think we both knew it was really because I wouldn't of been able to make these guys by myself!!  ;)  THANKS mom....  We did a good job!  ;)

I started out by piping out the "leaves!"

 ....and of course I forgot to take pictures of the "process."  But here is a few of the final product..  My mom was in charge of the "seeds,"  didn't she do a good job??  ;)

...and in the midst of my "procrastination," and finding the need to do MORE, I went ahead and made these guys too!!  :)  I had bought the molds for another party we had planned and actually never got to use them...  BUT I thought this was the perfect occasion to whip them up!

I was really happy with how they all turned out...  and I was super surprised to see how cute they looked inside the little fence that Kati created for them...  There's no doubt that "presentation is EVERYTHING!"

Happy Birthday Miss Sophia! 

I hope you had a wonderful birthday!!  :)

Day 18 of thanks!

Friday nights in... and getting to spend them creating these fun little guys....

friends who give me challenges like these... ;) and my mom who did an AMAZING job with the "seeds" ;-)  what a fun way to spend some quality time together!  ;)

Day 17 of thanks!

buy 1 get 1 at Starbucks, brunch, friends, pedis, Dr. Mark, hobby lobby, and MY RED LIGHTNING, for driving me EVERYWHERE today!! :)

Day 16 of thanks!

homecooked meals that simmered and cooked with love ALL day. The smell that filled the air was AMAZING! Yumm!! :)

Day 15 of thanks!

comfy clothes and getting to work in them all day because let's face it, it was a stay home in my pj's kinda day ;/

Day 14 of thanks!

dinner parties, and visiting family... Totally made "Monday" bearable today!! ;)

Princess Cupcakes!

...Fun cupcakes for a 5 year old princess!  ;)

My nail lady/friend's daughter was turning 5, and she asked me to make the treats for the party!  These were fun and SUPER easy!!  ;)  They really liked how they turned out, and I did too!!  :)

Happy Birthday Celeste!  I hope you had a fantastic day!!  :)

Day 13 of thanks!

my dorm family, not everyone was able to come this time... ;) so we were a smaller group than usual, but we kept up our impromptu Sunday lunch... :) good food, good conversation, and GREAT company... Thank you #lomalies for providing us a place to catch up today .. :)

Day 12 of thanks!

lazy, rainy and cold Saturday afternoons after work,

time for a little baking and some college football!! ;)

Day 11 of thanks!

thankful for a fun-filled evening with friends... :) and for being able to come home to a nice warm bed! ;)

Day 10 of thanks!

Quality time...

time spent with my parents, my friends, the kids, my sister, the puppy...  :)

Day 9 of thanks!

Sunrises....  and waking up to this.... ;)

what a beautiful morning today was...  I got to watch the sky turn colors from my bed today, and I LOVED it...  way to start the day with a clear head!!  ;)  I LOVE that my bedroom window looks out to this every morning...  well almost...  ;) 

Day 8 of thanks!

these guys.... ;) today and EVERYDAY! I'm grateful for my parents... my mom is the strongest, wisest, loving, most religious person I know, and my dad taught me everything I know about hard work, independence, and responsibility! Thanks to them I am the person who I am, and for that I'm grateful EVERYDAY!! :)

Day 7 of thanks!

the ocean, its smell, the sound, and the calmness it brings

A beautiful drive through wine country

I took a drive thru wine country the other day with Jessica and the kids...  She had been telling me how amazing the sky was back there!  and she was soooooo right...  I couldn't get enough..  and was extremely sad that my phone decided to die half way back...  But I got a few shots still...  ;)  There's nothing better than a sky after it rains..  it always looks so clear....  :) 

Just another way that God uses to speak to us!! I LOVED it, and definitely took it all in....  :)  ENJOY!  I did!!

The sky was sooooo different everywhere we turned!

Lose yourself in nature and find peace.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 6 of thanks!

The Joy of Baking, and how it makes me feel to watch people enjoy the "goods!"  ;) 
Windshield Wipers, and Ian, the wonderful boy that changed them for me...  Awesome, now I can see and drive in the rain!  ;)
 and AMAZING Afternoon Skies! The skies through Wine Country were definitely amazing today!  :)



A barrel of candy

I've mentioned before how much I LOVE to bake...  and I follow a lot of fun, and delicious blogs where I get my ideas from...  ;)  I'm still a little scared to "create" stuff on my own...  plus a lot of the time I have little helpers with me, so we need easy to follow and not really messy stuff to do!  :)  I LOVE my quality "baking" time with the kids....  I saw the idea for this cake on recipegirl's blog, I LOVED the idea, and REALLY, REALLY wanted to make it for someone, just wasn't sure who!!  Then Bobby had a birthday and I was hanging out with the kids, so I thought, "what a GREAT way to keep the children entertained for a little while!"  and baked goods always make for a good part of a b-day gift!  ;)  I went ahead and baked the cake ahead of time...  Yummy red velvet!  ;)

When I got to their house I frosted it and we started "putting it together!" Recipegirl said to use chocolate frosting and that TOTALLY makes sense...  BUT I wasn't sure how red velvet and chocolate would taste like...  I was afraid that it would be too much chocolate, so we went with cream cheese frosting!  ;)

The kids helped me "build" with the kit kats, they were funny, they would occasionally "accidentally" break one in half, so they HAD to eat it!!!  haha!

Then we poured in the M&M's...  see why the chocolate frosting would of made more sense?  ;)

.....and after discussing with the kids, we decided that we needed MORE M&M's, so we ran off to the store for another bag...  haha....  seeeeee.... much better, plus this way we had more left over to eat..  ;)  Then Miss Ella used her phenomenal writing skills, and wrote on the cake for me!  ;)

our finished product!  ;)  she was just as proud as she looked on the pic!!  ;)

..... one more of our fun, SUPER easy and yummy cake creation, it was so easy that EVERYONE got to help!!  ;)