The Holidays....

....are definitely among us!

You know how I know this?  because I haven't blogged in WEEKS...  YIKEES, it's seriously been weeks, so much has happened, baby showers galore, a quilt was made with all the love I have in my heart for a good friend and her soon to be baby girl, and lots of treats were made for another friend's shower, there was a 30th birthday party complete with sumo wrestling suits... and then there was the annual Ornament party, one I look forward to every year, it always brings a fun new addition to my Christmas tree, this year was no exception, and it brings girls who we only get the chance to see once or twice a year...  and there was a dorm group brunch get together to celebrate the holidays, and I know I haven't posted about Thanksgiving yet either, and then there's been a lot of working, and crafting, and more working, oh and somewhere in there I was sick, and there was a comedy night at Pechanga, and ahhhhh...  I'm tired just writing about it, and the month isn't even over yet, I still have a tamale making party, and cookie making sunday and a birthday dinner at the mission inn, and Christmas Eve with the family, and surprising someone with Christmas dinner, and Christmas at Gaby and Mike's, and more baking and wrapping and delivering....  Looks like I've been busy "socializing" ;)  I hope everyone's been enjoying the holidays and everything that comes with them...  I know I have...  Hopefully I'll get those pics up soon...  maybe tomorrow??  ;) the one's from the sumo wrestling party are definitely "PRICELESS"!  :D

Dorm brunch.....

....Ahhhh, one of my favorite part of the holidays, the annual dorm Christmas party, this year we made it a brunch!  I can never say it enough, I AM TRULY LUCKY AND BLESSED TO HAVE MET THESE WONDERFUL GROUP OF PEOPLE, THEY ARE DEFINITELY A BIGGER PART OF MY FAMILY THAN I COULD OF EVER IMAGINED, AND I AM BLESSED TO HAVE THEM IN MY LIFE!  :)  the dorm Christmas party is "my job."  haha, not sure how that happened or when, but I LOVE planning it, and I LOVE having everone over for it!  :) 

Naturally it is full of fun baked goods, I found these online and decided to make them...  they were so cute and so much fun to make!  :)

...and I used my snowman plate for fruit, how cute is that plate?  I wish I could use it all year long!  :)  and I made mexican wedding cookie things and banana bread!  YUMM!

...and Angie thought it would be a good idea to make it an ugly sweater party, I said sure, BUT of course I waited until the last minute and couldn't find anything, so we went ahead and made me one...  Gotta LOVE the fact that I had a bag of holiday fabric just laying around ready to be put to use!  ;)  AND yes that is a holiday chinchilla...  ;)  Thanks Angie, it was beautiful!

My friend Nichole makes this AMAZING blended salsa, I went ahead and made it, and even though it got good reviews, they all still said that they missed the original Maria salsa...  Guess I should stick to what the people know!!  ;)  Next year guys...  I promise!  ;)

...Heather made her and Matt's sweaters, and I'm pretty sure that they won!  ;)

The food spread!  ;)  There was an egg casserole thing, a french toast casserole, that was amazing, thank you Rachelle for the delicious recipe!  :)  we also had tamales, and those were definitely a hit!  :)

...our "surprise" group shot!  Charles was busy trying out my new tripod and other camera goodies!  ;)

GROUP SHOT! 

we had a smaller turnout this year...  But it was still a lot of fun!  :)  We definitely missed everyone that couldn't come! 

...our idea of a "silly shot!"  ;)

Here's to fun times with good friends, until next year!  :)

The annual Ornament Party!

AHHHH!!!  This is the party that I look forward to EVERY year!  I feel like it really marks the beginning of the holiday season for me!  And it's a great time to get together with friends, AND the best part is the fact that we all get to share one or two of our favorite treats/appetizers with everyone, while catching up with those we don't see very often...  Oh and I can't forgeg about the ornament stealing!!  ;)  I LOVE this tradition that Jessica and Melissa started years ago!  :)
Thanks for the pictures Jessica....  :)

Part of this year's spread!!!  :)

There is definitely NEVER a shortage of food/treats!  ;)

Me and Jessica!

Some of us girls!  I always think it's amazing how long we've known each other...  High school seems like such a long time ago!!  ;)

haha!!  SOMETHING must of been REALLY funny!!  :) 

 third time's a charm!!  ;)

Me, Jaime and Jessica...  <3

....and we turned around and Mary was modeling!!  haha!!

This little guy came out of nowhere with his binky, and blanket...  and snuggled right on up!! I LOVE when they do that!  ;) I think out of all of the kids he's been the BEST snuggler!! Notice the cookie...  How could I resist not giving him one??  and the funny think is...  he held it like that forever..  guess he just wanted it for "security?"  ;)

....The ornaments.... ALL ready to be exchanged!  :)

....and the girls, getting ready for the exchange!!  ;)

....and our group shot...  This is always the FUNNEST part of the evening...  Have you ever tried getting 20+ people to look and smile at the same time??  haha!!  ;)

Thanks again Jessica for hosting a fun ornament exchange party.  It's always a great time!!  :)  I can't wait until next year!!  ;)

Pedi time....

Today I met my parents for an early dinner at Sizzler, sometimes the chicken wings and salad from their salad bar sound so AMAZINGLY delicious, it's all I can think about!!  And they were up for it too..   sooooo, why not??  right??  ;)
I had one of these yummy strawberry lemonades with dinner.. and

yes, it was just as good as it looked! ;)

Then my mom and I were off to get a pedi, well she had a pedi, and I had my nails done....  I had them off for a week, and NEEDED to get them back on, so off we went!  and my mom had never had a pedi before...  yes I did say never...  My sister and I had tried to get her to get one FOREVER, but she always turned us down...  she doesn't like people touching her feet she said!

The people at the salon convinced her that I was VIP there, so she relaxed, and preceded to enjoy having her feet rubbed!  ;)  YES! Gaby they told mom that I had an account there...  BUT I promise I don't go there that often!  ;)  When it was all over, she told me that she didn't realize what she had been missing out on..  And she signed up to come with us next time we go!  haha! 

I Love that she enjoyed herself so much!!  :)  And I LOVE that I got to spend quality time with my parents today..  It is definitely something I take for-granted, but I am trying to be better about it... 

On the 6th day of Christmas....

We got our Christmas tree!!  :)

And YES, my dad went out of the house in his Santa hat!  ;)  haha!

I think this is by far my favorite part of Christmas!  :)  Going out and picking out the Christmas tree, it's something we still do as a family...  :)  My brother didn't get to come this year, that work thing always gets in the way!!  ;)  For me there is nothing like a real Christmas tree, I LOVE the smell, I love what it signifies, and I LOVE the memories that it brings back from my childhood, when the tree is what we looked forward to the most!  :)

Me and the sister!

After looking at all of them I found the perfect one!  I was guarding it, people get crazy about their trees..  ;)

Michael and Gaby located theirs too!!  :) 

...and what's one more picture while we wait for the trees to be wrapped and loaded for transport!  ;)

...and on the 8th day of Christmas...  we finally got to trim the tree!

Complete with some of my favorite ornaments...  all new additions, thank you Jessica and Miss Karen for my new additions, they fit right in!!  ;)

soooooo cute!  and what a perfect one no?  ;)

haha!  I LOVE this one...  it's a little kitchen aid!  ;)

...and well it wouldn't be my tree if it didn't have a "baseball" soemthing or other on it!  

...and two fun additions from my trip to NY!

and a new guy to the collection!  :)

....and the final product!  :)

 ...and my mom's fun centerpiece...

 ...This year I decided we needed a snowman wall...  complete with the authentic feliz navidad tree that traveled all the way from Guatemala!  :)

 ...and what's a snowman wall without a snowman table??  ;)

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

Let's Sumo!! ;)

My friend Angie turned 30, and one of her college roomates turned 29. In order to celebrate their big days they decided that we should have a sumo wrestling party...  It was something they've wanted to do since College I guess...  and it was definitely a GREAT time!!!  :) There are A LOT of pictures, BUT I did narrow it down to just "this many," and that task was not an easy one!  ;)

It was a beautiful morning, and the suits were "ready!"

The birthday girls getting "dressed:....  haha!!  I think Angie was taunting Shefali in this picture!  ;)

...looks like Shefali was READY!!  ;)

arrrrrr!!!!

...and it begins!

....and after all that, they finally went down!

The birthday girls!!  :)

Then it was Jeff and Brian's turn! 

They were pushing each other hard...  and after a minute or so they were down!

...haha!

....so we told them they couldn't use their hands!

...and then it was mine and Rose's turn...  ;/  sorta ready!  ;)

..haha!  we spent so much time laughing because I couldn't take Rose's request to knock her down seriously!  ;)

then we tried the no hands approach!!

...and more laughing...  haha!  Don't let the pictures fool you, she knocked me on MY A$$ twice...  but Brian was nice enough not to get that on camera!  ;)  Made me realize how out of shape I am...  BUT it was a GREAT time!  I'm sure I would do it again in a heartbeat!  ;)

Matt and Charles were next!  and doesn't Matt look so excited??  haha!  ;)

...haha!!  and Charles somehow got talked into the pink suit...  and YES he was excited to get his sumo on??  ;)

READY!

...SET

GO!!!!!

....and naturally, the first man down was Charles!  haha!  ;)

...then it was Brent and Annie's turn, and they were BY FAR the funniest!

he kept trying to get her to push him....

....But she couldn't/wouldn't stop laughing...  haha!

....soooooo, they went down together, in a hug like style!!  ;) and she rolled, and rolled, and rolled around in that suit...  so they were done after that!!  ;)  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, guys for the laughs...  ;)

...then we moved on to play a little tennis...  That we an all do without causing injury to anyone!  ;)

...after that we ate a little, caught up a litte, and then Rose and I left, I had another baby shower to get to, and Rose had to go home to get ready for work the next day!!  It was a wonderful morning filled with LOTS and LOTS of laughs, and good friends!!  :)  I LOVE these guys and I can't wait 'till we do this again...  and believe me, we planned to do it again...  BUT I think next time we will plan to have a lot more people who want to participate!!  ;)