Happiest Family on Earth

It seems to be a new tradition for my family to go to Disneyland every year around Christmas time. I absolutely love it! Disneyland is like our family time. We used to go every month and I thought it was the best. It was my opportunity to spend time together as a family which, let's face it, is hard these days.

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree!



On Splash Mountain. Mom really liked it =)



We gave mom and dad bunny ears. Dad didn't think it was funny, but we thought it was HILARIOUS!



On Thunder Mountain



"Old Fart Bench"



Tower of Terror



The ferris wheel is so pretty now!



The Brother



Jonathan and Alex thought it would be funny to fake a car wreck in Toontown. I guess it is kind of inventive



Soaked after a ride on Splash Mountain




I cannot wait to go back again! Although my feet appreciate the break =)

Thankful

It's Thanksgiving! Well, a few days past Thanksgiving actually. I was one of those crazy people who stayed up ALL night to go shopping. It was crazy but I got a lot of my shopping done and saved a bunch of money! I went to Michaels, Toys "R" Us (2 hours spent there), Walmart (5 hours!!!), and then went back that night to Target and Walmart again. It was nuts.

For Thanksgiving we went to my aunt's mother-in-law's house. We do it every year. This year I wanted to make something...different. My mom gave me this cupcake book called "Hello Cupcake" and I decided to try something from there. They are called "Turkey Dinner" cupcakes.

Turkey legs, mashed potatoes, and peas and carrots.

Here are some more pictures from Thanksgiving:











My dad. He didn't want his picture taken.



It has been a hard year for everyone this year and so I think its important to be thankful for what we do have because many families lot everything. In no particular order here are some things I am thankful for this year.



My loving husband who knows me better than I know myself
My wonderful and supportive family
My amazing friends
My apartment
Money in the bank
All my belongings. I'm lucky to have all that I do.
All the subbing jobs I've gotten this year.
My church job.
Good food
Bowling
My education/degree
Great deals at the 99 cent store
Target <3
Scrapbook parties
Our Disneyland passes
My favorite TV shows
Having the funds to pay most of my credit card debt
My cat Mia
Lazy Sunday afternoons with my husband
Date nights with friends
Thrift stores where I have found many amazing deals!
Blogspot
Facebook
Family trips
Chocolate

And
I'm just so thankful to be alive and have love around me.
I'm thankful for all that I have and all that I don't.

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

Another month gone by....

So I'm really not all that great at blogging. My last post was over a month ago. To take the time to write about something everyday is really just time consuming and my life is very uneventful. Trust me.

October was filled with subbing jobs. Which was wonderful for my bank account, but hard my housework and new cleaning schedule. Let's just say I have every intention of restarting that. My new goal is to get my house clutter free by the end of the year. I want to get rid of clutter and have a yard sale to make some extra money. Maybe I can get a lot of people involved because I doubt a lot of people would come to a yard sale that was from an apartment garage.

Halloween came and went. Jonathan and I went to a Halloween party at my aunt's house and to the church event that we attend every year. We dressed up as Disney tourists. It was awesome!




I went to Disneyland again with Jill and her family for the day. It was nice being able to have a relaxed trip to my favorite place.






Besides that (and my family trip this past weekend which I will post about later) nothing else has really happened.

I did start my Zumba training last month. That is going pretty well. I like that I have a trainer and that she keeps on my butt. She is supportive but pushes me as well. She's amazing. I haven't lost many pounds but my clothes are fitting a little looser and I feel more in shape. Score!

And she returns!

So, the last time I blogged it was about my 1 year anniversary which was exactly three months ago. Woops! haha

There have been many blogs started but none that I have completed.

August was spent working on my house and enjoying my last days before subbing began.

September was an eventful month.

September 9th I went with my friend Jill and her kids to Disneyland for her daughter's birthday. We had a great time!



On the train at Disneyland with Jill and her kids


For my sister's birthday I wanted to do something special. I came across this website and decided that I just had to make that cake! In truth it was my second attempt, but I think I have the kinks worked out. I'm not the best cook in the world, but I do love trying new things. I have to say that it is fun to make and fun to look at!



After putting the colored batter into the pans



Not the best picture (or the best looking cake for that matter) but you get the idea.


The weekend of the 12th and 13th I went to Las Vegas with Jonathan to meet up with some friends. My friend ended up being sick for the most part of the trip, so Jonathan and I were mostly on our own.



Standing in front of the New York New York



I actually won on the Wizard of Oz machine and then lost it all haha



On Fremont Street




The next week was my 25th birthday! It wasn't anything special, just another birthday haha. We went to dinner at Famous Daves with some friends.







On September 25th, Jonathan and I took my brother to the Kern County Fair. I'm not really sure why I go every year. I suppose it is because I rarely went as a kid because my sister and I had birthdays around the same time which meant birthday parties and presents and it left little to go to the fair with. I do like to go to the fair though. Maybe I go because its something to do in this town. Either way, we take my brother every year and walk around.





The kid area is really the best place to go. They have animals (including a kangaroo and scorpions! Ew!) and lots of other little discovery things for kids. We spent a little over an hour there.



Alex and Jonathan played a game of chess. As you can see, Jonathan won.



The cage was open and kids were picking them up and playing with them. I ran away in fear that one would fall and come after me.



And I got my funnel cake =)




October 3rd I went with Brynna and Cyndel to Disney on Ice. We had amazing seats and I loved the show! I love Disney and figure skating. So Disney+Figure skating=GENIUS! lol It was well worth the money to see the excitement on Cyndel's face.



That would be gum in her mouth haha




LOVED the show!




In other news, subbing has definitely picked up and I haven't had a day off in over a month. It's nice to have money in my bank account, but having a day off would be nice. There was a point where I worked for two straight weeks without a day off and that was including Saturdays and Sundays at both jobs.


I tried spin! (Check off to do list) and almost died!
I was sore for 3 days in places that I had no idea could get sore!


Jonathan brought home a new camera yesterday. It is one of those professional looking cameras and I'm so excited to start experimenting with it!


I am currently experimenting with a new cleaning schedule which is one room a day. So far is going pretty good and I hope to keep it up. I'll keep you posted!

One Year

Last weekend was my one year wedding anniversary!
I cannot believe that it has been one year since Jonathan and I became man and wife! Even though we have been together for over 10 years he still manages to surprise me everyday. I just love being a wife! I'm still not the best cook and I'm not the best at keeping the house tidy, but its things that I'm working on and I'm happy to work on.

Some of my favorite moments over the year:
~ Adopting our cat, Mia.
~ Our 10 year anniversary trip to Disneyland
~ Waking up next to him
~ Swimming with dolphins
~ Date nights
~ Goodnight kisses (even if they had to be over the phone)
~ The cruise
~ Celebrating each holiday as a married couple

What a wonderful year it as been!

For our anniversary we decided to go to Catalina. Jonathan loves fish and has wanted to go snorkeling again since we snorkeled in Cabo. My original plan was to get him tickets to Catalina Island as an anniversary gift (since the first year is paper). Then one day we were driving and he suggested that we go there for our anniversary. I couldn't stop laughing because I knew that he would love the gift and I eventually cracked. It's a good thing I did though because we barely got a room and tickets on the ferry when I booked it in May!

We left Bakersfield on Friday afternoon and arrived in Huntington Beach around 5pm and checked into our hotel. Then we went to Joe's Crab Shack. That place was yummy! I had this drink called shark attack that Jonathan said I just HAD TO HAVE! Basically they pour a shot of grenadine from a plastic shark and yell that that is a shark in the water. It turns the drink from blue to purple. It was yummy too.

The hotel that Jonathan set us up at was nice, except for the big group of drunk kids who woke us up from 3:00am-6:00am even after Jonathan went in there to tell them to shut up. We were really cranky that morning.

We got our ferry at 8:30 out of long beach. We got there too late to get any good seats, but we had a nice little ride over there.

On the Catalina Express



View of the casino and marina


We were lucky enough to be able to lock up our bags at our hotel room before check in. We went to a pizza parlor for breakfast(weird!) and I had Hawaiian french toast which was YUMMY! We shopped at almost every little shop and finally got to check into our hotel room at 1pm.


Our hotel. Our room was the third story up to the left of the tree. We had a great view and it was well worth the price!


I never did get a picture of our hotel room, but this is one from the website. It looks just like our room but our bed was on the opposite wall, etc.

We took a nap (since we were up almost all night and then went snorkeling! (I don't have any pics of that yet, but I'll put them up when I get the chance.) Jonathan had a difficult time. He got hit in the head with something while we were in the water and was feeding the fish peas and ending up getting bit by a big one.


I was told that I had to have something called Catalina Buffalo Milk. So, what better time than when I am there?


It was STRONG! It was rum, 99 bananas, and ice cream.



Look at my hunky salior man! I made him put it on lol


July 19, 2009- Our anniversary!
For a paper gift Jonathan ended up giving me a newspaper from our wedding day. He had saved it and mangaged to keep it a secret from me for over a year. I was impressed, it was very "out of the box". I made him a photobook of our 10+ year relationship and had another surprise for him. He also got me a rare pin of Cinderella and her prince that said "One Year Anniversary". It was perfect since that was our wedding theme! =) I just love him.
We decided to leave Catalina early because we ran out of things to do. We changed our ticket and upgraded to the Lounge (fancy!) and ended up sitting across from a really cool couple, Randy and Laura (my parents' names! lol). We went shopping at the Citadel outlets and had a wonderful dinner at Olive Garden in Burbank.



Catalina!



Waiting for the Catalina Express



Toasting with the free wine from Olive Garden! Which just happened to be the wine that we chose for our wedding!



Shara made us a mini replica of our wedding cake so we could have a piece of our "wedding cake" for our one year! It was exactly like our wedding cake! haha


I can't wait to see what the next 50 year has in store for us!

Ruby

This woman is my new inspiration!

Thank you for inspiring me Ruby. I'm behind you 1,000%!

<3

Red, White, and Blue

The last few weeks were a little tough and busy for me.

For starters, Jonathan was gone for two weeks on business in Arizona. He finally returned home last week. I missed him so much and I'm so happy that he is home with me where he belongs!

To surprise him, I had Shandy come over and dye my hair red! I still can't believe I did it! It's not all red, but it is like red streaks.

Mia never misses a photo opportunity lol


Speaking of Mia, here are some recent pictures of my baby. She has gotten so big!







Kisses



A huge 5lb chocolate bar!


I got a temporary job working for TNT fireworks. I was working in the warehouse where I answered phones, took reorders from the booths, and many other things that had to deal with with the booths. It was stressful and kept me busy for a straight two weeks. It was interesting finding out how much goes into fireworks.

We spent the night of the fourth of July with Joey and Brynna at Joey's parents' house. It was nice to spend a nice and relaxing holiday with friends. PLUS I got a nice big box of fireworks for working for TNT!!! Woo-hoo! AND Joey had brought some..ehm..illegals from Nevada.



The free fireworks from TNT!



Its called the airport. Basically you light it and it sends ground blooms flying. It was really scary haha.



Boys playing with fire= no good



Me and my one and only



Happy 4th!

Happy Birthday Bestest!

On June 22nd I went to Disneyland with my bestest friend to celebrate her birthday!
We didn't make it there until about 3pm, but it was so worth it to go! It didn't cost anything to us to get in (I have a pass and she got in free for her birthday), so it made it even better. We had so much fun and I loved being able to spend her birthday with her. =)

We are so cool lol



Decorated in Birthday gear



OMG I'm so cute lol