You Challenge!!!

Self Portrait!

You challenge ends with a self portrait of me!!  :) 

Dim Sum, and a Birthday Celebration! :)

Good food and good friends.....

is MY favorite way to celebrate!!!  :)

I've known Isaac since our first year in College, we were neighbors at the dorms, and we've been friends ever since...  Thru good and bad, we've made it... :)

 and today was HIS birthday!!  He wanted to celebrate by eating Dim Sum!! 

Him and Tracy introduced me to Dim Sum a few years ago...  and I think it's definitely good enough to make the hour drive to China town in LA!!  :)

The pastries!!

The birthday boy!

Old friends, and birthday month buddies!!!  ;)

friends!!!

the beginning of my feast!  and I must admit that I definitely ate myself silly...  ;)

Sheila and Steve ordered these guys...  they kept staring at me...  so I had to go ahead and eat one!!  ;)

mmmmmmm......  :)

haha....  that poor guy had NO chance!!!  ;)

me and Aunt Sheila...  :) 

Isaac and Tracy.... 

We ended the night with Milk tea and boba ball/sliver drinks... ummmm...  yeah I can honestly say i'm still NOT a fan!!!   :/

Here's to a fun birthday celebration, filled with friends and yummy food!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC!!! 

Quotes to live by.... :)

Here are some quotes I ran across this week that 'spoke' to me...  Often times we question what happiness is..  and these sorta explain it, as long as we're "open" enough to read them for what they are!!  ;)

Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings.♥ ~ Eat Pray Love





ugh...  this last one...  is soooo totally me...  One of these days I will be able to "let go..."  Hopefully sooner than later!!  ;)

Thankful Sunday, and Respect!

Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves.

I'm going to take today's "thankful" post to write a little something about Respect, I have to say that for me personally Respect is VERY important...  I don't care who you are, or who you think you are, or who you think, I think, you are...  you must respect people...  In the last week I watched someone be mean to someone else ON PURPOSE!  while a manager/person in charge was watching, and was very well aware of what was happening... ugh...  SERIOUSLY makes me so mad...  haven't people figured out that the way we treat them is the way they're going to treat us, what happened to "treating people the way we want to be treated"??  I did say something and the "person in charge's" response...  with a smirk, I can't stop her..  you know she's on her own program...  REALLY??  my response...  ummmm, i'm sorry, LAST I CHECKED YOU were the manager..  right??  i'm not sure this person liked the fact that I said something, but there is seriously something to be said about respect...  AND yes there is a difference between "liking" someone and "respecting" someone.. 

I ran across this quote years ago...  and it's something that I've used in conversations with people...  It is something that I believe 100%

I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being. - Jackie Robinson

....and about halfway thru the week I had a "talk" with someone about respect...  this someone treats others like crap, and I mean like crap....  in turn though she/he DEMANDS/EXPECTS respect...  I'm sorry, I don't play like that...  Give respect and get respect in return...  I go back to that whole you don't have to like me thing.... 

I think i'm very easy to get along with, ok....  sometimes more than others...  ;)  I will do just about anything in my power to help anyone out, shoot I will probably give you the shirt off my back if you needed it...  But I will also completely shut down when people are rude or disrespectful..  I just can't, I'm not emotionally strong to be fake...  I never have been, I'm pretty sure I never will be...

Which brings me to my next quote!!  ;)

Men are respectable only as they respect - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The minute people start realizing this, is the minute that our world will become a better place!!  ;)  Back to the "person,"  I talked she/he listened, then he/she talked and shot back with some really mean/disrespectful things....  really dude/dudette?  you have nerve is what I wanted to say...  in the end though, I remained respectable didn't shoot back with anything disrespectful, and was COMPLETELY honest in expressing my feelings, I did cry which I am mad at myself about, but oh well, it is what it is....  :)  and I must of made an impact because I got an apology and a sincere want to start anew...  we'll see...  I'm also a strong believer in,

"actions speaking louder than words,"

I also got a "high five and an I'm proud of you!  for finally letting it all out, and standing up for myself..."  ;)  even though it is not understood why I care so much about this person at all...  I know RB, I'm not sure why I care either, but I did, this one time and I think I was meant to be EVERYONE else's "voice.."  ;)

Treat others as you want them to treat you because what goes around comes around - Author Unknown

.....as always this comes with a hard learned lesson, one of these days I will remember that people, even "friends," can't be trusted...  someone, went back and told this person I was talking behind their back... (and sadly I think, actually I know,  it was someone I consider a friend, oh well chuck this one to the lesson learned pile!) ;) when I heard this, all I could do was laugh..  haha!!!  ummm...  OBVIOUSLY these people don't know me well at all, because I never, and I mean never say anything about others that I wouldn't say to their face...  things ALWAYS have a tendency to come back completely backwards, and with completely different meaning...  so there you go, I think I 'learned' a few people a little something about respect, and in the process I learned something about trust, and loyalty... 

I need to remember to thank my parents for bringing me up with the belief that, as Sandra Bullock said... "There's no race, no religion, no class system, no color, nothing, no sexual orientation that makes us better than anyone else." and for teaching me that everyone deserves respect...  even if they're not our favorite people...  and also for teaching me that "respect is earned..."

Until next week!!!  ;)

Pre-Birthday Celebration!! ;)

Rosie thought it would be fun to go have a pre-bday celebration for my birthday..  how could I say no??  ;) 
We started off in Old Town Temecula, our intentions were to stop by the rod run and check it our...  BUT neither one of us knew that it ended early...  sooooo we missed it, oh well, we went ahead and jumped right into wine and dinner...  ;)  We at Bailey's (downstairs)

we started off with a yummy salmon/avocado brusheta bread thing...  it was actually really good!!  ;)

mmmmmm.... dinner!!!  ;)

I had the brisket...  it was good, but I think i should of sticked to a yummy hamburger...  Oh well, hindsight's 20/20....  right??

Then we were off to Longshadow Winery, for a bonfire/concert/wine tasting...  :)  I can't believe I've never heard of wineries doing this before...  it really was a fun time!!!  ;)

oh oh....  :)  smile for another shot!! 

After the concert ended we went back to old Town, and ended up at the Bank...  where we found Sancho!  ;)

....aren't we cute??  ;)  I haven't ever been to Old Town at night, it was something fun and new to do!  :0  it was really crowded though...  and I'm pretty sure EVERYONE in Temecula, murrieta and the surrounding areas came out too!!  ;)

Kelsie ended up meeting us with some other people!!  :)

Here's to a fun pre-birthday celebration dinner/fun evening...  :)

Now to officially begin birthday week!

Momma and Sisco.....

I went over to Mike and Gaby's for dinner today....  and afterwards we decided to have a momma and Sisco photoshoot!!!  Arent they sooooo cute???  ;)

 

kisses for momma!!! 

haha!!! I think they thought they were at the studio or something!! ;)

snugglin'.....  sooooo cute!!!  :)

Girl's Night B-I-N-G-O

Jessica and Melissa ALWAYS have the BEST ideas for get-togethers...  this time they thought that a BINGO night was in order..  and the theme?? bibbity bobbity bingo....  so cute...  AND sooo FUN!  Thanks girls, it was a fun night like always!  :)  I should apologize in advance for all the pictures, I couldn't pick just a few...  I will let them tell you about our night!  ;)
You can read more about this fun party here.
The hosts!

I made cinderella pumpkin cake pops!  ;)

 Every table had a different centerpiece...

 The prizes were so cute!

 Yummy witch broom sticks!

 ...and we all know it's not a party without spinach dip...  ;)

 The yummy spread!

 ..and there was a hot chocolate corner..  complete with fall flavored creamers!  :)

 Me and Jaime!

 The girls!  :)

 ...haha!  Emily and Jennifer were cracking me up the whole time!  :)

 ....lol!

 another one of the oh so cute table!

Jessica's view of the table's...  ;)  thanks for the following pics!  ;)

...and the cake pops!  ;)

And Melissa made a cute and delicious cherry jack-o-lantern pie

Here's to another fun girls night..  Thanks again girls for hosting..  it was a fun time..