Who am I?

I am a working mother and wife.
I scrapbook and craft with my daughters.
I have taught Mariah to be an entreprenuer and to work for the things she wants. I have seen her successfully start a business at school and then sell her homemade scarves in my store. I have seen the joy in her eyes as she has earned money to go to girls camp and to sly park. She knows that she can do anything.
I cuddle with my boys and read them books. I laugh as Parker dances and mimicks words. I am amazed that Alyssa is so sensitive yet continues to put herself out there trying new things.
I am a homemaker. I clean, cook, shop, fix, mend and create.
I am a friend. I listen to and vent with friends as we party, talk, eat and scrapbook. I share and contribute to relationships.
I am a student. I am continuing my education so that I can learn and grow. I am teaching my children by example the importance of continuing an education. I hope to get my bachelors in Business Administration in 2011.
I am not a good stay at home mom. I do better with quality time versus quantity time. I tried staying at home with my kids for 9 years. I am grateful for that time but have discovered that for me it is best when I work.
I am great at multi-tasking. I do best when I have a lot going on. I thrive on deadlines and juggling schedules.
I like to read. My favorites are historical fiction.
I used to like to cook. Now I like to eat out!
I am addicted to my computer. I check everyones blogs daily and facebook several times a day.
I want to have a good relationship with my family and keep putting myself out there only to be hurt over and over.
I love my husband. He is the most forgiving, honest, dependable, caring, self-less man.
I hate my accounting class. I will be glad when this semester is over. On the other hand I love my economics class. My teacher is horrible but I love the topic.
I am scared for the future of the world and what it holds for my children. The economy is scary.
I eat chocolate every day. Even if it is just one piece.
I need between 8-10 hours of sleep every night. I can take a nap and still sleep 8 hours.
I just had surgery last week. Hopefully my anemia will improve and I will finally stop being cold.
I want to find a job that will allow me to provide for my family and that I will enjoy. I want a job that will allow me to go to my kids school and church functions. I want to feel secure in a career.
I am sad that my dream of owning a scrapbook store is over. I will forever be grateful that I took the leap to try it. I have had experiences and freindships that I will treasure the rest of my life.
I am grateful for my mother-in-law for supporting me in my dream and reminding me that I am a good person.
I love reality tv and watch most of the new shows. Good thing I can multi-task as I usually study while watching!
I just interviewed today for a position with Walmart. I have a 2nd interview tomorrow. It is for a supervisor position in the shoe department.
I have a boot fetish. I own at least 4 pairs of boots and would own more if they sold them in wide width more often.
Aaron and I are getting our passports soon. We don't have plans to use them but we are getting them anyway.
My digital SLR camera is one of my favorite things. Taking pictures is a calming wonderful thing. I so horrible at playing the tooth fairy that I finally just fessed up and now the girls just bring their lost teeth straight to me in exchange for a dollar.
My favorite outfit is a red and black dress with my black boots. It is so comfy and yet cute!
I love to see live theatre. My favorite show ever is Wicked. It is in San Francisco and I would love to take all the girls.
Mariah and I went to see Wicked last year in LA and then went to Disneyland. I would love to go back and take the whole family.
I dream of remodelling our kitchen.
I am in the middle of a bankruptcy for the business. Unfortunately this also means I have to file personally as well. Good thing I am not planning on making any large purchases in the near future!
If I could I would join a gym and take the kids. We will start with weekly walks around the block.
Getting LASIK was one of the best decisions. I love being able to see while swimming.
I can get me and all 5 kids ready in a shorter amount of time than it takes Aaron to get ready.
I used to greatly dislike Halloween but since we started dressing up as a family theme I love it. We plan next years theme before this Halloween has even passed.
Time and money allowing I will both sky dive and bungee jump this year.
My guilty pleasure is getting my hair dyed and my eybrows waxed.
I have to keep my alarm clock on the other side of the room or I never get up.

Movie and Dinner or Bowling anyone?

This year Mariah is in 6th grade and has the opportunity to go to Sly Park. This is a week of crafts, singing, adventure, science, exploration, new friends and memories.

The cost: $290

She has been making scarves for the last few months and has made about $60 so far. If you would like to order a scarf leave me a comment with the color. They average $10 each and she can usually have them done in 3-5 days! She is quite good if I do say so myself. I wear a black and purple one regularly.

The school is doing a Bowling Fundraiser to help the kids out. We realize it is on a Sunday afternoon. I am sorry. We did not get any say in the day or time. Mariah and I will be there anyway as we have a few friends that have already expressed interest.

The details:
ONLY $5 includes "One Game" and "Shoe Rental"
$2.50 for each additional game

When: Sunday March 1, 2009
12 - 2 pm

Where: AMF Alpine Valley
2326 Florin Rd. (Near 24th St.)

If interested in tickets please contact me or Mariah. Tickets will also be sold at the bowling alley on the day of the event. All proceeds will go to Sly Park fundraising efforts. Everyone is wellcome so invite family and friends!

This will also be Mariah's first year of Church Girls Camp.

The cost of this fun adventure: $100

The fundraiser:

Movie and Dinner (hot dog, chips and drink)
Cost $5 each or $20 family

When: Saturday February 28, 2009
@ 5:30pm

Where: LDS chapel
6711 Seasons Dr.
Elk Grove, CA 95758

Our family will be there to support Mariah. We would be thrilled to have you join us.

Relaxing get away

Aaron and I had the opportunity to take another weekend get away! (I think we are getting spoiled!)

We left Saturday after I went to school and then put in a few hours on our last 'official' day of the store being open.

Aaron picked me up from the store after the kids got picked up at our house and we left around 5. The drive was long but nice. We chatted a little about our days and then each of us got lost in our own thoughts. I fell asleep for the last portion of the drive and awoke as we pulled into the hotel. We stayed right on the beach with a room looking out on the ocean.
This is what was saw from our room!

After dropping our things in our room we went to the restaurant hotel for a light dinner. We had the best fried calamari and clam chowder. YUMMY!! It was perfect.

Off to our room. We played some cards and I took a nice long hot bath while reading a novel. It was a perfect evening.

Sunday I got up early enough to do some homework and shower before Aaron got up. Then we ordered in. I had never done room service before so this was a nice treat. Again the food was delicious. I had an omelet with spinach and artichokes and the best fried potatoes. Aaron also had an omelet and potatoes. We were full and ready for our day.

We bundled up and headed off to walk the beach. For a holiday weekend it was very bare. We walked down stopping to watch the waves, birds and to pick up odd pieces of washed up sea things! A nice man even offered to take our picture.

After we were thoroughly cold we headed back. As we walked I closed my eyes and let Aaron be my guide. I knew he would lead me where we needed to go so I used my other senses. I felt the cool ocean breeze on my face blowing my hair. I listened to waves crashing on the shore. I heard the birds flying and chirping. I heard the cars drive by and the families talking and laughing. I felt the sand beneath my shoes; softer in the dry sand and more firm when we were closer to the water.


We reached our room again and freshened up before heading to the wharf. We walked and walked. The day was cool with light sprinkles. As we hoped the rain would stay light we became tourist window shopping but not entering any of the shops on the pier. Near the end was a man and his birds. Gathered around him were families and visitors in awe of the colors and types of birds. The man was bringing the children to him to hold the birds then having them pose for their mothers camera telling them to pet the bird like a cat. Some children were scared and hid. Others couldn't wait for their turn. After awhile the crowd thinned and Aaron and I stepped up. We couldn't pass up this opportunity.

We continued our walk following the path 1.2 miles to Cannery Row. The view on this path is spectacular. The city has gone to a great deal of work to keep it clean and well groomed with plenty of benches available to stop and a take a break. As we walked along we spotted a father and his son climbing on the rocks below near what Aaron has named 'Crap Capped Mountain' for obvious reasons.

As we looked we noticed this one white seal up on the beach. Suddenly 4 rocks moved behind him! Those seals camouflage quite nicely on the rocks.

Further down we stopped to take a snack break and were quickly joined by 2 hungry guests! They didn't give up their perch until after we did! During our break we saw a family going snorkeling and a group getting ready for a scuba diving trip. One our way back we saw a father flying a kite with his daughter. This is a great place for so many activities!

Down in Cannery Row headed into Ghirardelli market for a free sample and an ice cream cone. Then off for some more walking and window shopping. Finally we headed back the same trail being passed by both walkers and cyclists as we took our time.

Time to head back but before going to the hotel we stopped at Chili's for dinner. The waitress thought it was cute when Aaron and I ordered a salad and a steak dinner and shared them both. Cute or not it was the right amount of food with out having to take any home!

Back at the hotel Aaron wanted to go check out the spa. As soon as we changed and headed outside we discovered it was raining. This did not deter us! I am not usually one to be out in the rain but hey I was going to be getting wet anyway so what did it matter! The spa was a hot 104*. We stayed until we were officially prunes and had to get out. In our room there was a sign saying to use the towels at the pool instead of bringing down ones from the room so we obeyed. They forgot to mention that the towels were not much bigger than a hand towel! Drying of was kind of pointless anyway as it was still raining so we just ran back.

At this point exhaustion took over and I fell asleep within minutes of lying down. This meant I was no longer tired at 4 in the morning. Oh, well. I got up and got some more homework done and of course checked my facebook! By 6 I got back in bed for a few more hours of sleep. We both had a lazy morning of showering, packing and sitting before we checked out around 11. On our drive back we stopped for brunch and movie. I can't do the slow relaxing weekend for all my vacations but this one was needed and came at a great time.

Thanks Aaron for catering to my every whim this weekend. Thanks Dad and Connie for keeping all of our monsters. Thanks Sarah for closing the shop Saturday so we could get on the road.

I've Been Tagged!

Here are the rules:


1. go to your my document/my pictures


2. go to your sixth file


3. go to your sixth picture


4. blog about it


5. tag six people





I love pictures so I had to follow through on this tag! Thanks Kristi!

This is a picture of Mariah and I all dressed up and ready to go so WICKED in LA. What a fun night and weekend! We had the best time seeing the best broadway show ever and going to Disneyland!!!

Ok I tag: April, Sarah, Sherry, Robyn, Cora and Clayton!

Forever Plaid

My husband and I had the privilege of going to see Forever Plaid put on at California Musical Theatre's new Cosmopolitan Cabaret in Sacramento.

This show was Amazing! Not knowing much of the background I assumed it would be a quartet singing 50's and 60's music. It was so much more than that! The storyline left the audience laughing, the audience participation left us on our toes and the music left us in awe! When Jinx performed his solo half way through we couldn't wait to hear more.

If you haven't been I would highly recommend going, and if at all possible sit front and center. You won't be sorry!

Happy Birthday Andrew.

My oldest son turned 5 today! He is our superbowl baby. Coming from two non-sport parents I didn't even know it was superbowl the day he was born until the husband of the new mom I was sharing a post-delivery room with said something. Liz made this birthday cake. Andrew asked for a bionical cake but that was a little too much. We then suggested a lego cake. She had never made one before. I think it turned out great! As an added bonus Aaron and I found these candles that spell his name at Evangeline's in Old Sac. How fun!

Andrew was thrilled with all of his presents: a transformer, lots of bionicals, a shirt and Martian Matters. His oldest cousin Kamron, or 'big one' as Andrew called him, was elected to put the kits together. Kamron has been a lego fan for many many years and is quite the expert. Andrew let his younger cousin Logan unwrap a few of his gifts. He had a great birthday!