So I finally have some time to talk a little more about my trip to California. More importantly though two days ago was Thanksgiving! So I will update a little about that too.

Ok, so to explain the picture a little bit.. I love Jack-N-The-Box! Pretty much the only fast food I really enjoy, and like eating! So whenever we go to California, it is a must to stop in Valencia and grab Jack! Doesn't matter what time it is. I think they are open 24 anyway! So I had to take a picture this time for my hubby, since he couldn't enjoy the mouth-watering, deliciousness of a Chicken Fajita Pita with me!

My sister and cousin picked me up from the airport in L.A. They are crazy, but I love them. They definitely look like they are related.. so much so that people really honestly think they are twins. It is quite scary. Only problem is there is about 3 or 4 years age difference. I really look nothing like either of them. They are beautiful, don't know what happened to me. Maybe mom was right? Maybe I really was found under a
rock!! LOL Ok.. just kidding.














So I finally met my sisters fiance, John. He is a great guy. I am so happy for her. They make a great couple, he is very very nice, and I truly give props to anyone that can put up with my sister!! Ha.. love ya Katie! You know I have to give you a hard time, your my sister! But really, good luck John!! And welcome to the family!

While I was out there in the land of Fruits and Nuts as my Georgia friends put it.. my wonderful sister planned an early "birthday party" for me. Originally it was going to be a Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner type of thing. But I think Katie came to her senses when I kept telling her I didn't want everyone to have to cook twice. I loved the get together though! It was awesome, being able to see my family. My grandparents, great grandfather Big Pa, my aunt, my cousins, even my second cousin JR. I really did have a fabulous day! I miss the family so much!






Here is Big Pa! He is my grandmothers father, Yep that's right, my Great Grandfather! 5 generations alive and kicking in my family!!
That is JR standing there!
Big Pa is a most intriguing and awesome man. He turned 95 this past February. Still plays golf, still goes to dances and still drives. He recently got over another bout of pneumonia. Which gave us all a scare. But he is doing amazing now! I love him dearly!


This is my fabulous Aunt and JR again! They are actually cousins, so that makes me his second cousin I guess, not exactly sure how all that stuff works! My Aunt Lisa is a strong women. She has had her share of crap in life and stays happy and phenomenal! She is currently living with my other 'aunt' so to speak, Sandy is not technically blood related but her and Lisa have been friends for so long, that we all call her Aunt San! Her husband Al, "Uncle Al" is just an absolutely amazing man. I love him dearly. He reminds me of dad, so strong and caring. Unfortunately they couldn't come to my party. But I was thinking of them all the same! They all live in Arroyo Grande, on the coast. Aunt Lisa has been with them since she was laid off of her job in Tulare, and has been searching for a condo or something for some time now, but like so many others in the country at the time being, is having some difficulties finding the perfect place to call her own. She had an awesome place in the works for a while, but the owners had some problems like many many other people, therefore gave my Aunt some problems getting everything to go through ok. So enough about that! She will find a place soon, and be completely great!!

Here is us! Katie is on the far left, then John behind her, then Courtney and Travis her brother and then me. (See I look awful compared to them!! Well.. I do have three kids, and I quit smoking last year, so food just tastes so good now, and I am happy! Ok, I know I need to lose weight and work out.. I have tried and well, three kids a husband and a full time job gets in the way of just running to the gym whenever I feel like it.. alright alright, enough about that!)
Anyway, back to us! I am the oldest, then Katie, then Courtney then Travis. They are all great. Katie and John own their own buisness now. Courtney is a shift supervisor or something at Panera Bread in Visalia, and Travis works at Cigna. But hey, they are young and have their friends and their whole lives ahead of them. I am happy for all of them. I am glad they are all happy too! I miss them all so much. Wish they would come visit me sometime.


Here is grandma and mom, and now I feel really bad that I didn't get a better picture of grandma and I got no pictures of grandpa. I will be back out there in February though, I will get lots of good pic then ( I will have my better camera by then too!!) So, back to grandma. She is probably the strongest women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and am definitely honored to call her my grandma! She was married to a sailor when she was young. Raised two children while her husband was out on different 'missions' and excersices. Moved to different and new areas of the state and country with those two children. Adopted a third child. Worked and raised babies, after grandpa retired from the navy. Held down different jobs and maintained a healthy social life. Buried her mother, and recently buried a brother, her son and her dog. Moved away after her husband retired, knowing she would be away from her children and grandchildren. Moved back because she missed them so much. Battled and beat breast cancer. And has opened her home to her children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren when they needed it most, and were down on their luck, or just needed that little extra support for a time. My grandmother is definitely my idol. I have learned so much from her in my life. I remember as a child I would spend as much time as I could with her. I much preferred to be with her than at home. My grandma understood me better than anyone else. We had a special connection, much like I had with my Aunt. Wow, I guess I should have written a blog just about her all by itself! Didn't realize I was going to get so emotional and long winded!! So if you can't tell, my grandmother means everything to me! I am sure I will write more detailed info about her later!

This is Jeana and Baby G! She is actually my ex-sister in law.. But I still love her! I have told many many people, I still claim her as a sister and she still claims me as a sister! I love her so much! And baby G is so adorable! I just had to make time to see them while I was out there! I had to meet my nephew!! Yeah.. my first nephew!! Well, not really but oh well! And he actually liked me too! It was great to see them. I will most assuredly be seeing them again when I go back in February! Maybe he will be walking by then?!?!





Well, I guess I should probably finish up here, since I have been on here for a few hours now. I have taken many breaks to deal with kids and animals and such. I really wanted to post some pics of my Thanksgiving day feast I created for us. I guess I will just wait until tomorrow or so. I knew I had to finish up telling my readers about my California trip, and introduce a few of my family members!

So until next time! Have a wonderfully rainy day! (Yeah, it's raining here!)

Yeah.. I am home! Oh and it feels so so good! I really cannot express it enough, the feeling of being back home! From walking in the door to the familiar smell.. to sitting on my very own toilet!! Ok, that was probably a bit much, but still, just exhilarating!! :)

You know, as much as I love and miss my family in California, it just doesn't compare to how much I missed and love my hubby and kids, even for just 5 days.

So later this week I will have to write more about my trip, but right now, I hear my bed calling me, and it is no longer 2900 miles away. It is only a few feet!! I really can't wait to crawl into it! Tomorrow I go back to work, and with the upcoming holiday, the next several days are going to be absolutely horrendous. So hopefully I will be back to write more, but it may be Friday before I make it! Loves to all.

Hello all from sunny California! I have been here for a few days now, and have been so crazy busy. I really had wanted to drop a few lines the other day, but just haven't had a chance.

So thankfully, I have relieved us of our storage unit, that we have had since moving to Georgia almost 4 years ago. Yes, unfortunately it is true. When packing up our belongings to be trucked across the continent, it soon became clear that all of our things were not going to fit on the "ginormous" and quite expensive moving truck I had rented. Much to my dismay and disappointment, I had to sort through memories and necessities and decide what to leave behind. Mostly kids toys, a few household appliances we knew would not be needed right away. A few furniture pieces, and a ton of clothes, and caught up in the mix were two boxes of Christmas ornaments.

When we got to our new home in Georgia and started the unpacking process. I quickly realized the boxes of ornaments missing. Now, you are probably thinking, "ornaments, why be upset over that?" Well, I was very upset. After everything we had been through. After the change in everyones life we had just endured. After spending every last dime we had to move across country and try to make life better for us and the kids. I knew it would be hard to just replace ornaments, let alone get back to California before Christmas and retrieve the missing boxes. I was flat out devastated. The one thing I wanted to be normal and as much like the past ones as possible was going to be Christmas, especially knowing, this was to be our very first one without the rest if our extended family.

Well, Christmas came and went, and we made the best of it. We were able to replace some of the forgotten ornaments. I did find one box that had been brought with us. We made the best of everything we had. In the years since then, we have added to our collection and been just fine. I have always thought about those missing boxes. Knowing what things were in them, and wondering about other forgotten contents. Well, when I came here to California on this trip, my main purpose was to empty the storage unit. Only keeping a few things that I could not replace, and donating everything else to charitable organizations. While I was sorting through trash and donations, I came across the boxes. I was so excited, yet at the same time, felt so pathetic for being so upset over things. I realized that Christmas is not about what we have to show others, but about the others we want to show things to. I should have been thankful for having my husband and children, and not worried about having decorations. I don't know if that makes any sense.

Anyway, come to find out. I only kept 5 items and one smaller box out of the two big ones. Ornaments that I made as a child, and that my children made when they were smaller. The rest I have given away. Things I didn't know if we would ever be able to replace, and replaced with no problem. Things that were so trivial for me to be upset over, and so easy to forget. This trip has been an eye opener for me, in more ways then one.

Ok, going to cry now..

Can't wait to get home tomorrow and see all of my love's faces!! I miss them so much. Don't get me wrong, I have had a great time on this trip, and am so thankful for getting to see the family that I have seen in two years. But I want my babies, and I want to feel my husbands arms around me!

Love to all!

I am a bit excited! My good friend Jenn from work turned me onto this free creative writing class online. She helped me sign up for it, and we have been sorta talking about it since. Well I have been anxiously awaiting the start date, and today was it. But I am just a little disappointed. I am sort of an impatient person, for those of you who know me personally. So the first day of the class, I was really wanting to just dive right in. That's me though.. jump in head first un-prepared. So far though, the first class is just getting a binder and the materials needed prepared. So I can deal for a while with just getting everything ready. I am still excited that is all that counts! I love writing, and have always written. Usually I write as a form of therapy. I used to write really good stories as a kid. Then I turned to poetry, but then that got sort of dark, and those I let read it said I was slightly on the morbid and depressed side of things. So I stop letting people read things I have written. Thus the reason for the hesitation in most of my blogs. The blog thing really is a big step for me. Putting myself out there on the world wide web for anyone and everyone to read, and I have no idea. I guess that is what makes it ok for me, I don't know who is reading it. And they really don't know who I am.

I am also excited because I think I am going to get my camera for Christmas!!! Yeah! I have always always always loved photography. I meant to take photography classes in High School, and even in vocational and college later.. but life has always seemed to get in the way. There have always been more important things going on, and my own interests never seemed important enough. Everyone else has always come first. No matter what. My family, my friends, my job, my husbands job, my husbands interests.. I am telling you, everything. So maybe just this once it will be ok to try to pursue something I like... maybe.

I have been meeting a lot of really awesome and interesting people lately though, and two of them are phenomenal photographers in my opinion! My good friend and co-worker Jenn, and her friend Lindsey. They both have blogs here. I am telling you though, they are awesome! I could only hope to dream to be that good one day. And I know they would both say I am over exaggerating probably. That is just the way I see it though!

Ok, enough for tonight. Better get ready for bed. Got a long day tomorrow!

Talk at ya later!

So it has been decided. We are going to go to the fair Friday night! Yeah! Well.. Fred and Cindy had asked if they could take the kids, and me being the awesome cool mom that I am said sure why not. But you know I can't let them go without me!! So we are all going. Although I doubt that Billy will make it. He really doesn't do well in the crowd situations. But Reid is going to meet us when he gets off work! Yeah.. the mix-match family has a field trip. I am so excited.

And Saturday night the band is having their last show of the year. Since two of the members decided to have some babies!! But you know, babies are exciting, as long as I am not the one having them! Ok, I just realized that I use exclamation marks way to often. How funny. Back to the show. I am pretty excited about that too.. I mean I am always excited about the band playing, simply cause my husband is completely HAWT on stage, and I melt when he looks at me.

Crazy how little things like that drive me crazy, but everything else he does makes me insane and horribly angry. Sometimes I wonder if we will make it, and I know that is not a good thing to think. But sometimes I just get so frustrated, I hate feeling the way he makes me feel sometimes. Enough of that...

Fair!! Oh.. I have a huge surprise for some of my Cali friends!!! I can't wait!

Talk to ya'll soon!


Ok.. so I wanted to throw in some pictures I took last year.. just to spice things up!! LOL Enjoy!

Wow, what a day. Very very out there and just chaotic for everyone. I worked through lunch, and even stayed about 20 minutes late. So then had to hussle my bum to pick up Tristan before 6 or they charge $1.00 a minute for every minute your late.. yeah that sucks!

I am completely exhausted yet totally wired all at the same time.. how weird is that? So Billy had practice tonight. Went straight from work, not anything un-normal. He has had to do this many times before. I can't say I really get tired of it, cause I totally support the band thing. I love that he has a dream that he is actually going after, and loves doing it. I wish I had enough talent at anything I do, to be able to do that also. I guess, I have just gotten used to him not being here that much. Which is something I never wanted to do. But just have. And it's not that he is this big mean, neglectful, selfish person.. well.. not really. He works hard, and he works retail, so it is not like he wants to rotate shifts, and work some weekends. I totally get that. I have just gotten very used to the feeling of being alone. I haven't told anybody that. I am seriously rethinking this blog now! I may just delete it. I love him. I really do. But he can be seriously selfish sometimes. I really shouldn't say that. I don't think he means to be. I don't think he even realizes he does it. Ok need to change the subject.

So I just read some blogs of a very dear friend of mine on his myspace page. He is also another very talented person in my life. And another person that doesn't see his talent. He started this story, fictional yet non-fictional all at the same time. He has taken our adventures as friends, all of us, our little group, and turned them into this awesome sci-fi thing! He really is marvelous at it! I really hope that he keeps it going forever!! He also just start one of these blogs, perhaps he will transfer the story to here??!! Hmm.. maybe!! :)

Alright, I hear the oven timer going off.. which means dinner is finally ready! That is why I hate being late.. then everyone eats late!

Till next time!

Well. Halloween is over... I am definitely sad, to say the least. Of all the holidays throughout the year, Halloween is most definitely, without a doubt, my favorite. Yes even more so than all the fabulous food at Thanksgiving, and more than the wonderful present giving and receiving of Christmas. I am not really sure what my connection is. Perhaps it is the thought of changing who you are for one night, and not being looked upon as odd, or weird. I think that is probably the big thing. As a child I always wanted to be something or someone different, but was always to afraid to do what my sister can do so naturally and comfortably, which is getting on a stage in front of people she doesn't know, and does, and acting. I have not ever been able to do that. I would so much prefer to be behind the scenes with costumes, sets, make-up, choreography, anything but in the spot light. Heck, even my husband and kids can get out there and WOW everyone. But I just can't. Never have wanted to or been able to. Oh well. That has got to be why I like Halloween so much. Everyone else is doing it to, so it is not just me that everyone is looking at.

We did have a good Halloween though. Could have been a little less chaotic, but was good. Jess had homecoming that night, so unfortunately she didn't get to dress up and go around with the rest of us. But Billy and I took Dess and T around. They were so cute. We didn't get to go for very long, only about an hour or so cause we had to get to the game also. Can't miss Homecoming!! Needless to say, the kids did not get the usual haul of candy that they normally get. I think that is good though. Less to throw away later.

T was an awesome Iron Man!! After we went Trick-or-Treating we made it to the game, before half time.. which by the way saved us! Jess was going to skin us if we didn't make it!! But it was good anyway, cause they had all the kids that came to the game still wearing their costumes come down to the field for a little parade and contest!
OH, and Dess was definitely a scary vampire!!


You know I had to get in on the fun!!!











I also hadn't had a chance to post about our pumpkin de-gutting!! We always have a blast with this awesome ritual!!










It is to bad that we had the game to go to. I would have loved to have gone out with the "crew!" after taking the kids out. We could have dressed up really awesome! I have been thinking about it alot! We should really go as The Wizard of Oz next year. We would be perfect! I could be Dorothy, obviously! Billy could be the Tin Man, F could be the Scarecrow and R could be The Lion. It would be so freakin perfect, seriously!!! If you know who I am talking about, then you know exactly what I mean!!

Oopppss.. almost forgot Billy's fabulous costume!! The Dog Whisperer




Ok.. more to come at a later, yet to be announced time and date! Until then.. see ya!