yay for the U.S.A.

We'll be spending the holiday weekend with some All American activities...baseball, the beach, and a barbecue. How are you celebrating The Fourth?
Whatever you choose to do I hope it's full of fun. Stay safe of course!

where have i been?

Spending my days with this guy.
This is Scott.
Scott is an instructor for a company called 52hours.com. They are an on line classroom set up to prepare a person to get their insurance license/s. Once I finish with Scott, and 92 hours of training. I will be licensed to sell Life, Health, Fire & Casualty insurance.

Am I going to sell them, no, but I will be fully licensed to after passing the licensing exam.
Why, you say, am I doing all this work and not reaping the benefit? Well...it is my payment towards my beautiful new laptop. In my eyes a small price for an amazing, and much needed, piece of technology. I couldn't imagine how was I ever going to afford to get my own computer and then this door was opened.

Honestly, I have no interest in insurance, or working in the insurance industry, but I have the time right now in between my own classes, so here I am. Unfortunately, these courses are set up to be taken over 8 hours a day and finished within two weeks. Due to the fact that I still have a household to run and a 10 year old to keep track of I don't get that much time in one sitting, therefore it's taking me longer than most to get through all the classes.

I just thought it only fair to warn you, if my blog posts are few and far between, it's because I'm with Scott. If I don't have much of anything to share with you lately, it's because I'm watching Scott. Thankfully he is somewhat interesting and pretty easy to understand but I can't wait to break up with...Scott!

a little help along the way

Sometimes we all need a fresh perspective...and a good laugh.

Oprah, the queen of books, has highlighted these five self improvement books for your some reading time over the summer. I hope to get at least a couple of these in... and tops on my list is this.

If You Can't Live Without Me, Why Aren't You Dead Yet?

It seems to be somewhat of Graphic Novel meets He's Not That Into You. Author, Cynthia Heimel, had me at,
" What to do to meet the right man. Nothing. The right man will adore you,even if you have greasy hair, spinach in your teeth, and your skirt on inside out. Why accept anything less?"
Great advice to pass on to my daughters. I am always looking for ways to teach them the art of choosing the right man, while not losing touch with themselves.

Next up:

I'm Too Sexy for My Volvo: A Mom's Guide to Staying Fabulous

The best advice from the author...

"Buy bracelets before your due date because so many photos will include your forearms." So true, and something I tried to avoid, but sad to say, quickly fell victim to.

After that pick up

The Worry Cure: Seven Steps to Stop Worry from Stopping You

Who of us these days couldn't use a little help in this area? A pep talk on paper...That's what I'm talkin' about.

And after that, one for the males in our lives.

The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women Into Bed No, I won't be passing this to my son any time soon but let's face it ladies, this type of book could benefit us as well, if you know what I mean.

And last...

Our Lady of Weightloss: Miraculous and Motivational Musings from the patron Saint of Permanent Fat Removal

Weight loss turned into an art project. Really, does it get any better than that?

Most of these books can be found on Amazon for less than the price of a Venti Latte.
Grab some sunscreen, a beach chair and a good book for the summer.

Enjoy!

good things come...

to those who...you know.
She has waited, and waited, and watched as many of her friends received a car this year.
She is an honor student, a hard worker, a great teenager.
She has always been headed in the right direction and always been the one to show us just how much she loves us.
Of course she deserved a car, but times are tough.
Unlike when Ashley turned 16, we were coming out of a financial downfall these last two years and never thought we would be able to come through for her. It took a lot of hard work from both sets of parents, Jon and I , and my ex husband and his girlfriend but we did it. We did this for her and she couldn't be happier, which in turn couldn't make us happier. We were blessed by a great deal falling into our laps, or it never would have happened, but tonight we were able to surprise her at the house where she was babysitting...



She deserved this! She works hard at school, she works hard on the softball field, she never fails to deliver as a daughter, a sister, a friend. We feel blessed to be able to do this for her and lucky to have her as our child.



And... not just blessed once this month but twice.
I thought I was dreaming when Jon told me I was getting this...

For FREE!!!

The stars were aligned, the computer gods were watching over me...

Although I never blogged about it, because I wanted keep things light here, we had some stress last month when Jon lost his job. I can't go into details but as usual God has put us in a better place, always knowing before us what is best for our family and where we need to be. Within 24 hours he was employed again and this time working for a company, that to this day is so amazing he pinches himself before leaving for work. I have never seen him this happy to leave for the office, it has been a wonderful couple of weeks and is only getting better. After working for some awesome guys for the last month and through an unbelievable set of circumstances (and some work on my end) I was able to see a dream come true and receive a brand new Macbook Pro courtesy of Jon's new employer.
Even as I sit here typing on this just-too-good-to-be-true computer I am certain that we are not fully in charge of our lives and can only make our wishes known for them to come true.
I am fully aware right now of just how blessed we have been over the last month. I am probably more aware and grateful for these two things than I ever would have been if life had not taken us down such a bumpy road.

I have to tell you, I keep my wishes in front of me, pictures pinned on a board in my room. I save my prayers for the important things in life, the health of my children, the sick, the dying the lonely, but my wishes, my wishes I make known to the universe and I believe it makes a difference.
I have read two books regarding this phenomenon, The Secret and The Wishing Year, both of which I read with an open mind and took with a grain of salt, keeping what I needed but not disregarding the rest. I can't say I went to the extremes that these authors went to but I did change my attitude towards life and began to believe that good things would come my way once again.
Don't get me wrong, "things" don't carry as much meaning to me as they did when I was younger but I had to face the fact that certain "things" can make life easier. A car for my senior in high school to take over the neighborhood car pool and to help drive her siblings places when I can't. A laptop for me so that I can give my college age daughter hers back and have my own computer for school, work, and keeping our family on track, an iPhone, from a close friend...well that was just extra fun, we all know any little flip phone will work to get a call through when needed.

In any case, I have been blessed. I have many more dreams both material and not that I want to see come true but more importantly I don't take anything for granted in those dreams. I am comfortable in knowing that none of these things are necessary in my life as long as my family is healthy and happy and as long as I can teach my children to give back for all that we receive. But I have to say, it feels good. It feels good to have these dreams happen after such a long, hard road.
It does feel good.

celebrations

I am happy to say there came an end to the madness of the last couple of weeks.
I slept in this morning until 8:30, refreshing my body, and mind, after the last couple weeks of non-stop craziness.

It has been somewhat bittersweet for me realizing that my "baby" is moving onto to middle school.

You see, I know how fast these next few years are going to pass by. No blissfull ignorance anymore, and I can honestly say, I am not ready! Not ready at all!!!
I want to stomp my feet and proclaim that I do not want my kids to grow up anymore!

I never thought about all this after giving birth. Ignorantly I looked no farther than beyond the toddler years, thinking I would have babies around forever. It seemed that way for a long time and then suddenly they were grown.
Just as no one tells you that your butt will feel like you sat on a hot poker, or your arms will feel like you have lifted a small vehicle after pushing a child from your body; No one tells you that letting go of your children will feel as if your heart is running around on the outside of your body. I find myself in the middle of enjoying time for myself, and yearning for my children to be little, wanting nothing more than to have me carry them around on my hip, or kiss their sticky little faces. It's all a part of growing up I guess...for all of us.

On a happy note, we enjoyed the whole day yesterday with our kids celebrating Father's Day by letting Jon do whatever he wanted. Of course, that pretty much consisted of eating a big Mexican lunch and sleeping all day with no one bugging him. The girls made him an amazing card and he got some pretty sweet undershirts and a cool dad outfit. He truly is the guy who will do anything for his kids, proven by the fact that when they have done something wrong, or need help, they call him first! He has been a dad that most kids dream about...involved, loving, always their cheerleader. He is at his happiest when he is surrounded by his kids and when they are happy. He deserves the best Father's Day ever!




Yes, it has been very busy in our house lately but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am grateful for being able to celebrate Grant's achievement and for Jon to have a day totally for himself. I know one day I will miss this busy-ness and pine for the days of school, baseball, and non stop activity. I am always happy to end another school year, yet sad to see it go. Here's to making some great memories over the summer and enjoying every moment with my kids while they are still growing up.