Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Busy Days...where does the time go??

These spring days are flying by!! How is it already April??
As of late my days are filled with....

  • Working...extra shifts will be the death of me I'm certain...  
 

  • Family time...I had to work on Easter Sunday, so our family celebrated on Saturday. My parents, my sister and her friend Jackson came over and we grilled out.  It was pretty laid-back, but fun none-the-less.  I was lame and took absolutely no pictures...fail.  The weekend before I went over to my friend Lillie's house for an Easter BBQ...it's always so good to spend time with old friends.  Holidays like Easter and Christmas always leave me thinking about the traditions that I will one day want to have with my own family...I find myself already overwhelmed by the responsibility of having children and teaching them the importance and magnitude of days like Resurrection Sunday. I know I have plenty of time to figure these things out and there will lots of learning along the way, but I just want my kids to know the real reasons we celebrate these holidays....I of coarse want their memories to be fond ones filled with fun-times...but it's even more important to me that they know it's not about bunnies in baskets or brightly colored eggs.  How do you find the balance thats right for your family?? I'm sure when that time comes, there will be lots of praying and seeking done on my part!


                                                             
  • House cleaning and sprucing up for spring....well, let's be honest...I'm barely keeping my head above water in the house wife category.                                                                                       Roy is back to work, so I've lost my live-in 'Man-Maid'....oh, hello laundry piles and dirty dishes...I so didn't miss you  :(  But what is it about the spring that makes you want to re-landscape your entire yard, while washing all your windows and redecorating your entire house? Maybe it's because the spring always seems like such a fresh start...but, unfortunatly for me... we're trying hard to reign in any extra spending these days so we can pay off some bills, so for now, I will just have to drool over pictures of beautifully landscaped yards and decorated homes.

  • Sewing!!  I'm loving sewing even more than I thought I would...unfortunately most of my projects so far are for my best friend who also happens to be my only blog reader :) Hence I will not be posting many pictures of my masterpieces until later...


  •  Cooking dinner and packing lunches...something I've never been too great at.  But it turns out that when you're trying to save money, cooking and packing your (and your husbands) lunches becomes part of the deal.  Doesn't sound like too big of a burden, but when I get home from work at 8 in the morning the last thing I feel like doing is putting together some semblance of a decent lunch for Roy.  Alas, I will push-on!!

  • This is off the subject....but have you seen the new FOX comedy 'New Girl' with Zooey Deschanel?  It's hilarious...and I'm a tough crowd when it comes to comedies.....but  I don't go a single episode without seriously cracking up and several episodes have had me to the point if tears. Not sure what strikes a chord with me, it's just quirky and often inappropriate in the most hilarious of ways....watch it!! 

  • Shower Planning!! As previous mentioned a zillion times already, my best friend Rachael is having a baby in June!! Myself and our friend Alicia are throwing her a shower for all of our co-workers in May. I'm being a psycho and unnecessarily stressing out and putting way too much pressure on myself...but I just want her day to be everything that she deserves!!  At first I just had a bunch of jumbled ideas, but no real plans, but as the weeks have gone on we've gotten a pretty good idea of what the party will be like. I'm feeling slightly less stressed and much more excited.  Part of what has me stressed is just the fact that it's going to be held at my house. I've never had a big party at our house!!  I feel WAY pressured to have our home looking perfect...which is just ridiculous and is NOT going to happen. I should just get over it...No, Beth, we are not going to be buying new living room furniture and painting the house for Rachae'ls shower!! Sheesh...I really think I need some Xanax sometimes!!  I'll try to keep the blog updated on my progress without revealing too many details!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Sew I think I'm gonna like this!!

I'm learning to sew people...
and I'm pretty freakin' excited about it.
Score one more point for actually tackling
my new years resolution list!!

My motivation is solely being driven by my
excitement over Rachael's baby coming in June...
I keep finding fun projects that I want to make
for little Baby Clark
(formerly known as 'Keeks'...but we can't
call her that anymore :)
I'm sure once the baby comes I'll be able to find
tons of projects for our own home...
but baby things just seem so much more fun right now.

Oddly enough, Rachael is also the poor soul who's
having to teach this schmuck how to sew,
Atleast she will hopefully be reaping the benefits from
teaching me...
(assuming any of my projects actually turn out!)

Anyways...my mom got me this new sewing
machine for Christmas, but it's been sitting upstairs
in the guestroom for 3 months just calling out to me-
 I was too intimidated to sit down and attempt to
re-teach myself how to work the machine...

Enter: Rachael the sewing queen.

I lugged my machine over to her house Friday and we
had a little watch and learn lesson...
This was awesome-but unfortunately we didn't get too
far into my lesson before we realized that my sewing
machine was lacking some essential pieces...
say like..... half of it's parts

(Where did you say you got this machine again, Mom??
Sears?? Ummm no....I'm thinking more like a flea market.)

It was okay though, Rachael let me use her machine to
make my first project since 7th grade home-ec...


modeling my diaper cloth



Yay!
I feel all kinds-a domestic!

I just ordered all the missing parts for my machine,
so hopefully I will be up and sewing in
no time!!
Keep your eye peeled for future 
projects!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

St. Paddy's Day weekend and baby shower fun

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!
I'm about 1/64th Irish so I'm totally
validated in wearing green and speaking
in an Irish accent, right??

Actually....in all honesty
I could kind of care less about
St. Patrick's day...I'm not one for
the bar scene...
or beer in general...
but I am a fan of dying your food green
and Corned Beef & Cabbage.

So, In celebration of corned beef & cabbage
I invited my parents and sister over for dinner
Saturday evening. 
My mom volunteered to cook the meat...
Thank God, cause the first and only time I tried
to make corned beef it turned into some semblance
of charred jerky.
It was such a beautiful evening
so we had dinner out on the deck and the
food turned out delicious. I had hoped we could
play some games and hang out awhile after dinner,
but my parents scattered like roaches when the 
clock struck 6:45 pm...wah
oh the trials & tribulations of having old fogey parents
that live in tim-buk-tu....nobody ever wants
to stick around into the evening.  Ohwelll

I didn't take any pictures of dinner..oops.

Today I had fun plans to go shopping
with Rachael and to attend a work friends
baby shower. 
It's so fun to see your friends going through
these amazing stages of life...watching
them and their families change.
Having worked at my job for almost 5 years I've
seen plenty of girls get engaged, married and
start having babies.
I work with such generous people who do a
really great job of showering new mommys with
lots of gifts, despite the overwhelming amount
of pregnant women we work with.
This shower was for a sweet girl, Michaela who
Rachael knew previous to her working with us.
She is such a kind-hearted and caring person.
They are having a little boy that they're naming Jonah.
She'll be an amazing mama and I can't
wait to see this little guy!!

Here's a few pictures from the partay...

Rachel, Aja and Laura holding Laura's twins
Ava and Jackson. 
Aja is holding sweet baby Claire who is 
only 6 weeks old!

Beautiful mommies-to-be!
Rachael and Jenna.

The guest of honor, Michaela!
She looks so great!
I insisted on 'fluffing' my hair prior
to taking this picture...
in the future I think additional fluffing
of my fro will be avoided..eeek

Belly comparison...
Rach still has a ways to go!!

The three bump-eteers!!
(corny-ness is a struggle for me...I apologize)


Rach and I.
Again, I just had to show baby girl some
attention with a little rub..
Can. Not. Wait. for this little one!!

And BONUS...
I found a super-cute pair of skinny
jeans and even a cute pair of shorts
(which is a miracle in itself)
at The Gap today!!
Yay for 30% off coupons and jeans
that fit!!
Summer, you are officially welcome 
to make your appearance!



Overall a great weekend!




Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Is it safe to say it's spring??

Can you believe this weather??
 I don't care who you are...
there's no way you can walk outside into
this beautiful spring weather without smiling.
There's just something about the spring
time that leaves you feeling renewed...
Makes me feel so happy and alive.
And happy to BE alive!

I've had six of the last seven days off,
(halelujah!!)
And I've spent them all trying to squeeze
in as much fun as I can!

We've rented lots of movies,
spent time with family, gone out to dinner 
(a few too many times...eeek)
slept in late and stayed up even later!

Roy's off-season is quickly coming to
a close, and although I'm so
grateful to have a husband who works hard, 
I know that our late night runs to 
Wal Mart for a movie and snacks are
going to be few and far between.

It's good though.
And with that being said, I'm definitely 
feeling good about 2012 
and whatever it may hold for us.

Here's a few pictures from the week...

Breakfast in bed!!
Roy is far from a romantic...
which makes sweet unexpected
moments like this mean so much more...

Trying to teach myself to sew...
from a book...
it's not 'sew' easy...

Playing 'airplane' in the kitchen...
cause that's what you do when you're
27 and it's 3:00 in the morning!!
(Roy would kill me if he knew I posted
this picture of his ashen-gray feet!!) 
haha!!

Gettin' my walk on!
I haven't forgotten or abandoned
my new years resolution to
get healthy... 
It's a slow & steady process, people!

A Saturday shopping trip with mom leads to a 
weekend project of hanging some
SUPER CUTE solar lanterns on my deck!
I love them!! 
The best part is I don't have to WATER
them like the stupid hanging baskets
that I've tried (unsuccessfully) to
keep there the last 2 summers!

I'm hoping that they'll look cute for a
baby shower I'm going to be hosting
for a very special baby girl and
her mommy in May!

Visiting my sister at work...I never seem to 
wear the appropriate clothing here...
Note to self: when you visit a farm, wear
clothes that can handle cow drool, goat milk
and goose poop!!



It's back to work tomorrow 
for 3 nights, and then I spontaneously
decided to invite family over on Saturday
for St. Patrick's Day dinner....
Corned Beef and Cabbage?
Yes, please!!











Friday, March 2, 2012

Guess who's back??

Well, to be more specific
we actually got back Monday, but
this is the first opportunity I've had to 
sit down and post...

In a nutshell: 
It was great and 
very much needed!

I'm going to spare you all a lengthy
day-by-day playback of our trip 
that would most definitely include
uber-corny commentary
from yours truly...
instead I'll just post a few 
(28 is a few, right??)
of my favorite pics from our trip...

Yummy carne asada tacos we 
discovered on our first night!

USS Midway

Food picture #2
cause I'm a person who takes
as many pictures of the food I eat
as I do the people I eat it with...

...like this guy
Roy meets the Midway

Bay cruise boat tour

LaJolla cave

Roy giving me gray hairs

breakfast in LaJolla




playing in the freezing
cold water at LaJolla cove...
but how can you resist??

The Children's Pool...
aka
a baby seal 'rookery'
FYI...baby animals are cute

Hotel Del Coronado
The beach was beautiful and
this was one of our warmest days



Point Loma


The tide pools at Point Loma..
I had to include this one
cause Roy fell into the ocean about
2 seconds after I took this picture..hehe


Being blinded by the sun...
my TOMS served me well as I 
DID NOT fall into the ocean

So pretty.


The token 'Captain Morgan' photo
that Roy has become notorious for...
poor guy missed his calling as
a JCPenneys catalog model.
He specializes in ocean gazing with
slightly squinted eyes...
love him for it :)

Maybe my favorite picture 
from the whole trip

Balboa park

Botanic House...
probably our favorite part of
Balboa park

Desert garden at Balboa Park

In a tree stump...
worried about tree spiders