I'm Official

A few weeks ago a dear friend of mine introduced me to Arbonne skin care products. I must say that this stuff is really good for the skin. It's all vegan and natural with no artificial preservatives or harmful chemicals or dyes. Some of the health problems I've had in the past has caused me to be weary of what I eat and what I put on my body. I was sold on this stuff when I tried the 5-step anti-aging product line. It left my skin feeling renewed, fresh and smooth, not dry like other products I've tried. I've also ordered their mineral powder and I really like how it covers up my sun spots or freckles or whatever you call them. After reading up on this stuff and learning more about where their skin care line is formulated, I decided to sign up as a consultant. Today I finally got my PIN and confirmation # in the mail. I just ordered a bunch of samples and stuff so I can start sharing with family and friends. I have worked as a secretary for a local hospital for 18 years now and while I've made lasting friendships and learned so much over the years, life at work for the last 9 months has become very stressful for me. There are days I wish I could just walk away and never look back. I am no salesperson but I'm always up for trying something new.

Baking Lemon Bars

I was cleaning out our pantry today and found some old recipes. Lindsey loves cooking so she wasted no time in picking out recipes she wanted to try herself. She found one for lemon bars that my friend Jill gave me.

Lindsey mixing the ingredients

Pouring the mix into the crust

Nikki was given the job of sprinkling powdered sugar on the lemon bars but Lindsey was just so eager to do it herself

Nikki finally gets her turn

Mmmmmm.....

Night at the park

Last night we went to Whaley Park which isn't far from where we live, and watched Shrek 3 on a big inflatable outdoor screen. It was our first time going to one of these "movie at the park" deals. There was free popcorn and drinks which was nice. The kids had a good time.

Introduction

Here I am wishing I would have started this blog ages ago when my kids were smaller. But better late than never, right? I use to keep a journal years ago but I wasn't very consistent with keeping up with it. This is much easier minus the messy writing. I write like a kid and sometimes can't even make out my own writing...sad.

Well here are some tidbits about my life. I'm a mom, wife, cook, chauffeur, and I don't know what else. My oldest daughter Lindsey is 11 years old and will soon start the 6th grade. She is growing up and I can't for the life of me figure out how to slow this process down. One day she was reaching up to me with arms extended pleading "mommy, upsy we goesies" and now all I hear is "mom, you can let go of my hand now". Suddenly my grip tightens and I've cut off circulation to her arm and then we both burst out laughing. She is a good girl, very studious and very talented. She never ceases to amaze her father and me with her amazing dedication and focus on her grades and her music. Truly a blessing. My youngest Nicole is 6 and soon to be a 2nd grader. She is my most active child who is just a ball of energy from the moment she wakes up until it's time to go to bed. Her creative nature is what keeps me entertained the most and her eagerness to keep the family involved in her little "shows" is just so cute. She expresses her love for us with not just her words but her little gestures. I'll have the worst day at work only to come home and find one of her precious drawings of our family on my bed. It's moments like these that make me tear up and remember that life is so short but the love of child goes on forever.

My husband Ernie works as an electronics engineer. We have been together 14 years and married only 5. I guess you could say we did everything backwards. We moved in together first, then got pregnant, then bought a house and then got married. As the years went by and the kids came we became more involved in church and realized that we were not setting a good example for our kids. Lindsey would often ask why my last name was different from hers. I don't know what kept us from making it official. All I knew was that our relationship was rock solid. But still, it was time and so on March 4th, 2003 we got married in front of the justice of the peace. Nothing big, just a small private ceremony. We were both happy and just tickled that we finally got married after so many years. Hopefully some day we'll have a big wedding with family and friends to share in the moment. But for now we're good.

Lindsey's Creations

Today my daughter Lindsey was a busy little bee making a card for her teacher, her friend Ashley and for her aunt's baby shower tomorrow. Take a peek and leave your comments.

A card for my niece

My little niece Noa just had her 2nd birthday on 5/16. Her party was last weekend but I couldn'g go because I was sick with a stomach virus. Her mom is pregnant and I didn't want her to catch whatever I had. Anyways here is the card I made for her.

New Card

Tomorrow I'm having lunch with a good friend of mine who I haven't seen in months. She moved away briefly and rather suddenly and I didn't get a chance to say goodbye or at least give her a card. Well she just moved back to California so I thought since I'll be seeing her tomorrow I would make her this pretty card. I'm trying to get my creative juices flowing and not depend so much on copying other people's work although I do from time to time and there is nothing wrong with that. I just like to create something of my own for a change. When I was younger I had much more of a creative streak but now it takes a good while for me to come up with something new. I've always liked working with two or three color combinations but in watching videos and browsing through scrapbooking magazines I've learned that its perfectly okay to throw in different colors whether its three or five or more. No matter what it will look pretty in the end. I love flowers and couldn't help but throw in a few when I made this card. Please leave your comments and let me know what you think.