Shopping 'Til We Were Dropping

Saturday May 3, 2008
Saturday was pretty great as well. We didn't end up doing what was planned but it was fun anyway. We planned on going to the zoo but we got a late start and had things to do that made it too late to get out there. First up was me getting my order from Bountiful Baskets. Man I love them! Check out all this fresh, beautiful produce. For $15! Seriously... it's great. I was so excited about it. Gerald and I had one the grapefruit that morning for breakfast and it was perfect. Yum. So after I got that done I got Baily ready and she went with her grandparents to Mesa where Rachelle had a photo shoot planned with her biological mom. While they were doing that Robert and I got ready, we loaded Chunkers and then we headed out. We stopped by T-Mobile with no luck in finding what we were looking for and then went to Target. While we were there I got my early Mother's Day gift... a new digital camera. Wahoo! My old one's flash gave out and I was really bummed about it. But I love my new camera- it's got more megapixels and it's so cute and dainty. Thanks babe! After we left there we went to AZ Mills mall where we planned on meeting Gerald and Rachelle and the Bug to go to the zoo but since it was too late we just met them there and did... what else? Shop! It was a long day but we had fun and the kids did pretty awesome. For lunch we ate at the Rainforest Cafe. Besides the not-so-great service, it was fun and really good. It was practically like being in a zoo so we didn't feel so bad about not going to the actual zoo. Baily was pretty amazed by all the animals and effects. I had the coconut shrimp and it was delicioso. Baily got to ride the carousel and you would think it would have been Disney Land. She LOVES the carousel. And I just love seeing her excitement and joy as she rides it. Being a mom is the best! After we finished up our long day of shopping we grabbed some grub at El Pollo Loco and headed home. Robert and I got I am Legend to watch and some ice cream for dessert. Dinner was good. We miss having El Pollo Loco as often as we used to when we lived in Mesa. It's good eatin'. After we ate and the kiddos were fast asleep we ate our ice cream and we attempted to watch I Am Legend. Love that movie. Rachelle and I didn't make it to the end but Gerald and Robert did. Then it was off to la-la land. Fun times!

366 Blessings:

#124- How much Baily adores "Gampa" Gerald

Pres. Hinckley Quotes

"It's been the mothers who have been the great carriers and purveyors of faith throughout the history of this Church. I believe that with all my heart." GBH


"May I express my gratitude to you faithful Latter-day Saint women, now numbered in the millions and found across the earth. Great is your power for good. Marvelous are your talents and devotion. Tremendous is your faith and your love for the Lord, for His work, and for His sons and daughters. Continue to live the gospel. Magnify it before all your associates. Your good works will carry more weight than any words you might speak. Walk in virtue and truth, with faith and faithfulness. You are part of an eternal plan, a plan designed by God our Eternal Father. Each day is a part of that eternity." GBH

GNO Fun!

Friday May 2, 2008

Friday was pretty fantastic. I spent all morning cleaning and scrubbing like a mad woman. And instead of loathing it, it actually felt pretty good. I got all but my floors done when my step-dad and step-mom, Gerald and Rachelle, showed up. They had planned on being down here all weekend so we were excited. Baily kept asking me every 10 minutes when "Gamma and Gampa" were coming over. So she was ecstatic when they got here. While she was busy showing them all of her toys I showered and got ready. We all left and went to drop off Gerald at Robert's work where they headed to the Diamondbacks game from. Robert was pretty stoked to get to go to the game and they even had good seats. They had fun so that's good. After they left Rachelle and I went and dropped off my kiddos at their Abuela's and we headed out for our GNO- Girl's Night Out! It was much needed and much over due. We went to Mill's mall where I came to be thoroughly spoiled. First we had some pizza at Sbarro's. It looked much better than it tasted but still good nonetheless. After that we headed to the walk by massage center- the Aquamassage. I got treated to 20 minutes of bliss. I do love me a massage. This is the closest I've ever come to a professional massage and it was heavenly. After that we shopped around. We went to some "self-esteem buster" stores as Rachelle calls them. You know... the kind where when you try something on it doesn't fit even though in any other store that would be your size. The kind where you want to scream and hit all the skinny girls walking around saying "oh how cute."! Yeah... then we headed to Old Navy- much better. Rachelle had to keep prying me away from all the kid's clothes and stores. Hey, it's so much more fun shopping for my kids than for myself. I don't feel fat when I'm buying them clothes. It was fun shopping. I did feel weird and a little anxious not having my kids with me. I kept laughing at all the moms struggling with crying, whining kids. Mean I know. But this was the first time I'd been shopping without them in like forever so it was a little surreal and euphoric. Anyway, after the shopping we sprinted to the other side of the mall to make it to our movie in time. We saw Baby Mama. Hilarious! I highly recommend this movie. It felt so good to be watching a chick flick and just laughing and having fun. Thanks so much for this awesome night Rachelle. They boys got done before us so they went and picked up the kids- sweetness. So after the movie we headed back to my home and the kids were fast asleep. Even more sweetness. And to top it off, Robert had gotten a Barro's pizza and since I was still hungry I indulged- and it was very good indeed. Talk about a day of sweetness!

366 Blessings:

#123- Being spoiled by my step-mom Rachelle

Tagged... By Myself (Pathetic, I know)

5 things on my list for today...
1. Write my mom!
2. BFL Planning
3. Blog Catch Up
4. Order Mother's Day gifts
5. Pray

5 snacks i enjoy...
1. Soda :(:(:(
2. Nutty Bars
3. Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk Ice Cream
4. Goldfish Crackers
5. Chips

5 places I've lived...
1. Show Low, AZ
2. Mesa, AZ
3. Orem, UT
4. Phoenix, AZ
5. Maricopa, AZ

5 Jobs I've had...
1. Bus Girl at Loco Jalapenos
2. Assistant Manager at Grand Tuxedos
3. Server at Applebees
4. Selling Cutco Knives for Vector Marketing
5. Caregiver at Heart Prints Elderly Care

What I would do with a Billion dollars...
1. Buy my dream home and go to town on furnishings and decorations.
2. Can you say shopping spree?!
3. Pay off all debt and give a TON to charity.
4. Travel, travel, travel... first stops would probably be New York City, Alaska, Scotland and Italy
5. Spoil our families!

5 things you may not know about me...
1. I'm Alaskan Indian... Tlingit to be exact.
2. My mom's in prison for something she didn't do.
3. I'm a dreamer.
4. I am a wannabe professional dancer... I really think that was the calling in my life that I missed.
5. I LOVE Yanni and Josh Groban!!

I tag Sara, Eben, Alex, Becca and Janel!

A fresh start.

Thursday May 1, 2008
I've just been so overwhelmed lately that instead of doing just what little I can do, I've done nothing. I've just shut off and quit. Not good. I've found that when I'm on, I am on. I'm a great mom, wife, sister... you name it. But when I'm not on... I'm a wreck. I completely shut down and exist in this horrible depression stage with feelings of guilt, inadequacy, frustration, and so on and so forth. Enough of that. I need to come to terms with the fact that I have a depression problem once and for all. Not just when I'm dealing with being depressed but all the time. I will go and get medical help and won't let this drag me down any more. With that being said, I woke up knowing it's May 1st and deciding it was going to a fresh new start for me. And it really ended up being a great fresh start day. First up, and most important, making sure I knelt in morning prayer. I MUST do this every day. I can't function without it. And even though I didn't do everything I wanted to get done in a timely fashion that would be ideal, I did accomplish the important things. I read my Book of Mormon, and not only read but studied and that felt really good. This is another thing I MUST do every day in order to function right. I read with a renewed commitment to be diligent like Nephi and read at least a chapter daily but try for 2 with a goal finish date of August 20th. I've been way too relaxed about this and I've suffered the consequences of not having my daily spiritul boost that's so badly needed. And the only other MUST on my list today was to enjoy time with my family- real quality time. And that felt great as well. I was bummed yesterday when I found out at the Dr.'s that because of a nasty viral infection I have I can't workout for 5 days. I was totally ticked off. Unfortunately, in my screwy mind, that means I took a break from my whole fitness routine- ie. eating right. Me being the comfort binge eater that I am, I got stressed and ended up finishing off my new favorite thing to hate, Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk ice cream. Warning** If you've never tried this- DON'T EVER TRY IT! It's dangerous. It should come with a warning label. Oh man... it is sooo good. I also indulged myself a little bit with some reading time which I love but never take time to do. I got this book The Alchemist yesterday at Barne's & Noble with my giftcard from Christmas (yeah I know) and since I've opened it up I can't put it down. Talk about some major wisdom and inspiration! It's a good one. Later on in the day after a lot of R&R (the anti-viral I'm on is really strong and makes me so tired), I took the kids to go enjoy the perfect weather outside while we waited for Robert to get home from work. It was gorgeous outside and for once we weren't attacked by bugs and mosquitos as soon as we got out there. It was so nice and refreshing. When Robert got home he came out and hung out with us, blowed some bubbles with Baily, and as simple as it was it was complete bliss. My kids were happy, we were enjoying quality family time in absolutely gorgeous weather and I just did my best to soak it all in. I love moments like that. Like I said, it was simple but I'll always try to remember the sweet nothing moment that it was. When we were done outside Baily and I went and got some Carl's Jr. for dinner and yum-o! Two words... guacamole burger! Mmmm... (Seriously, why can't I have a happy medium when it comes to my eating and fitness. Why does it have to be all or nothing with me?!) After we ate we watched another episode of Prison Break and man is it getting intense. Love it! It's really gripping. After that Robert watched Lost and I watched tidbits of it while reading my book. I'm behind an episode so I wasn't really into it. After these new shows I love I've kinda lost my love for Lost- sadly :( Then it was family scriptures and prayers. I love how into this Baily is getting. She gets her own little scripture reader when we're reading and takes her "turn" with reading and always say "Hendy Fadder and Shesus" and then whatever else happens to be on her mind. And then when it's time for prayer (and she does this at meal time prayers too) it's always her turn and she has to do it on her own. I love it! It's precious and it totally melts my heart. I even got my blogging done today which feels good and I'm gonna get my mom's letter done tonight before I crash since that's the biggest thing weighing on my mind right now. And thanks by the way to everyone who's been so supportive and offered so much great advice with all my venting. Love you guys! What a great, fresh new start kind of day!

366 Blessings:

#122- Baily and her daddy blowing bubbles in a perfect evening weather.