Happy Birthday!

I wanted to write two posts today because it's not just any other day. I want to wish my wonderful mother-in-law a very happy "39th" birthday! You do so much for all of us; your children, their spouses and all of your family and friends that I just wanted to recognize you for that! We always appreciate everything that you do from dog sitting, to lunches and talking, to anytime that we can just be together. I am glad when we can sit down with a glass of wine and chat, or take a drive, or walk through Michael's for hours at a time finding new and creative things to do! Always remember that even though we (your children) are grown up and adults that we will always need you to be there for us. To support, to encourage, to celebrate, to honor and to love. We will continue to do the same for you! I am very lucky to have a wonderful mother-in-law that I can count on to be there for me for all the journeys in life.

I hope that your birthday is filled with love and memories, a blue drink, time on the lake and maybe some slots! Have a great visit with your parents and remember to relax as it is your day!

Happy Birthday!!!!!

"If I could give you diamonds

For each tear you cried for me.

If I could give you sapphires

For each truth you helped me see

If I could give you rubies.

For the heartache that you've known

If I could give you pearls

For the wisdom that you've shown.

Then you'll have a treasure, mother,

That would mount up to the skies.

That would almost match the sparkle

Of your kind and loving eyes.

But I have no pearls, no diamonds

As I'm sure you're well aware

So I'll give you gifts more precious

My devotion, love and care"

Another One Bites the Dust

You guys I have been seriously slacking on getting some posts written. Could it be that by the time I get home from work all I want to do is veg out and not sit on my computer. Yes. Or the fact that I have taken on doing P90X and that takes about an hour to an hour 20 out of my evenings. Yes again. So I am starting to write a couple of posts while the hubs is out utilizing his birthday gift (more on that later) and am using his other birthday gift to write this post (his new iPad). Seriously. I can veg on the couch and blog?! Who would've thunk it!

So. A couple weeks back a dear family friend married the woman of his dreams. If you follow me on Instagram you probably already saw a couple of those photos. But if not here's a recap of the fun filled events. It was held a a gorgeous vineyard in Temecula. Honestly, the two hour drive didn't sound fun but was completely worth it once we saw the view.  We settled into our seats after a cocktail and signing the super cute guest book. The had every guest sign a puzzle piece and will fame the assembled puzzle for their wall! I want to see that! I can't imagine a cooler piece of art! Once the ceremony began I looked for the father of the groom, one of my dads best friends since high school, and he wasn't sitting next to his wife. I leaned over and asked my mom where he was and just as I said it he came walking down the aisle as a groomsmen. I seriously teared up. What a great honor to have your father stand next to you in support of your marriage!

Us at the ceremony

Cute puzzle guest book!

Mother of the Groom

Father of the Groom and a groomsman!

During the ceremony, when the minister asked for the rings from the best man, something hilarious happened. He opened his jacket and pulled out a box of Cracker Jack and dumped both rings out of it along with a couple of pieces of the popcorn candy. The minister, slightly confused, then giggled when he grabbed a piece of popcorn and ate it while passing a couple pieces down the line of groomsmen. The entire crowd laughed for a couple of minutes and it was a very memorable moment for everyone there. After vows and a quick sand ceremony, they kissed and were married. The recessional song was "Another one Bites the Dust" by Queen, which was another tee hee moment.

The Groom

Sand Ceremony

Everyone made their way to the cocktail hour and food. During this time my mom decided that my drink was better than hers and stole it! I had to send the hubby back to get me another one and we giggled about it for the rest of the evening. On my way to find the restroom I stumbled upon the bride and groom and got a really great shot!

The gorgeous view!

We settled into dinner and chatted away the evening with our table and had great conversations and food. We listened to heartwarming and silly toasts and then it was time to dance! We did the money dance, and I of course in true fashion danced with both the bride and the groom. The hubby and I made our way to the photo booth for some silly shots and we had some yummy cake. I was also able to steal a dance with my dad, which hasn't happened since my own wedding almost six years ago. Once we had our full of wedding, family and friends, we said our goodbyes and made our way back home. It was a beautiful wedding, and I will always love attending weddings with my hubs.

Awe photo booths!

The men in my life! Hubby and Dad

'Scuse the blurry photo, the non blurry one my dad's eyes were closed :-(

We wish the newly weds a life of love, laughter and happily ever after!

Catching flies while applying mascara?! - Tuesday Topics

What a week it has already been and it's only Tuesday. Monday just went right down the dumps with some medical mishaps and of course my car battery being dead when I went to go to work, but the hubby made it all go away by picking up some to-go and just cuddling the night away. Question of the day? Is it possible to put mascara on without leaving your mouth hanging open? I know I do it, but I don't notice that I do it. This morning I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw a woman trying to catch flies while putting on her mascara. Does anyone NOT do this? Just curious.

Anyways, it's the next round of Tuesday topics and I have been trying to decide whether or not to make this post "thing" related or not. I don't want to sound monotone by making my posts sound overly similar. So I think I will make this more of a ten things I live for if I was stuck on a deserted island, type of post.

10. Music. We all know that it's something that I cannot live without. I love getting caught up in the beat or lyrics of my favorite songs (which change on a daily basis.) Honestly if I had to be left to my thoughts I might over think myself to death. It's a great way to turn off my mind and just groove and sway.

9. Blankets. I am a self-coined blanket baby. It gives me a sense of security. I just love cuddling with a blanket. Even in the middle of summer, when it's 100+ degrees, you can find me under one! As we speak I am using an old blazer as a pseudo-blanket.

8. My IPhone. I'm admitting it here and now. I am addicted to my smart phone! It's just so convenient! I can look up anything, make phone calls and entertain myself all in one little device.....I guess though I would have to add charger and electricity to this as well, but in an ideal society it would have an infinite charge and access to free wifi everywhere!

7. A hot bath. There is just something to be said about sliding into a hot relaxing bath after a long day and just letting all your worries just float away. Except when your overly curious dog wishes to eat all of the bubbles.

6. Travel. Any chance we can get to experience something new and exciting we take it. Why not explore the world we live in?

5. Digging my feet under the hot sand to find the cool spot below. Anyone who has ever been to the beach knows this feeling. The wet sand squished between your toes, the gorgeous view of the blue ocean and spending time with people you love.

Ahhh, wind blown hair!

4. Relaxing on a nice blue lake or ocean! Boating is one of my new favorite past times.

Old photo, from our 2nd apartment.

3. The holidays and all the family and memories that come with!

Baby Closet Dividers

2. Crafting. It's similar to music in where it unleashes my creative mind and lets it turn off from all the thoughts and just focus on one task as hand.

1. Of course my list would be incomplete without mentioning my family. My little family with my hubby and our pup is something that I could never go a day without. I love them so. We're silly, we're caring, we love each other!

How I kicked the Soda Habit

Hey everyone. It's FRIDAY! This weekend hopes to be a relatively relaxing one as I see no plans in it! Yes....for attempting to sleep in.....well see, relaxing and writing thank you cards from our birthday party. Yes I know I need to write the post still, but I just got the photos and they need a little work before they are blog worthy!

So anyways, you guys it's been two months since the hubby and I stopped drinking soda. We haven't bought a 12-pack in over 10 weeks either. This is a huge accomplishment to both of us if you knew how much we were drinking.I am not saying that we haven't had any, for example on Wednesday the hubby met me for lunch and we went and had wings. Now you can't have water with wings, neither of us like iced tea, and you can't really have a cocktail in the middle of the work day without a little raised eyebrow....so we each ordered a diet soda. It was gross.

Here's how we did it:

1. Remove temptation. We made sure that there was absolutely no temptation around us. Don't buy, don't have it in the house.
2. Have an acceptable alternative. We have had Sparklett's water delivery for years, but this time we upgraded our service to get (3) 5-gallon bottles a month instead of one. Also with our Costco membership we are actually saving money, because they offer a discount to Costco members. 1 bottle plus cooler rental before $25. 3 bottles and a free cooler rental $18. Not a ton of savings, but were getting so much more water. Also, since water can be boring we decided to buy some water enhancers...like Mio. We tried to find something that didn't have aspartame (the major reason to cut out soda) but these still have artificial sweeteners in them. Next step cut out those! Also I like to mix it up and use different flavors like the Market Pantry brand (Target), Crystal Light liquid (the powder has aspartame in it) and Essential brands.

via

3. Have breakfast with protein. The problem I was having was my breakfast didn't have enough protein to wake me up, thus needing the caffeine to jolt me out of bed. Oatmeal and fruit are great, but I needed that extra oomph in the morning to get me up. When my sister-in-law introduced us to these protein shakes, we knew we found something that could work for us. They give us loads of energy and the added low glycemic index helps keep your blood sugar level, which is great for my hubby being diabetic.

Benefits of not having soda. We both have so much more energy its astounding to us. The need for it is gone and we both feel great. I have heard that your supposed to have clearer skin when you drink more water, well that I haven't noticed, but I have noticed that when I do get a blemish they don't stick around long. Also we have stopped eating out as much at fast food restaurants because the food just tastes gross without the distraction in taste from the soda!

I think that this is something that everyone should do. Cut that garbage out of your diet!

Note: All opinions are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this post. 

It's Thursday so I'm offering up some new tunes!

I haven't done a favorite's music post in a while. I love my XM radio and The Highway station because they always provide me with new artists that I may not have heard from. Lately they have been playing a band called The Civil Wars, and I really really LOVE them. While perusing the internet I discovered I had already heard a song from them and now think I need to widdle my little fingers over to Itunes and hit download on their Barton Hollow album. Please enjoy the two songs that have me all up in arms! I think you'll enjoy!

Social Approval? Is it Important? - Coffee and Conversations

I was going to write this post yesterday, but as we all know life gets a little crazy sometimes and we can't get everything we want done in a day. Seriously the last two weekends have been super busy and I haven't even had a chance to blog about them yet. We celebrated D's 30th birthday on the 14th along with a close friends wedding and this past weekend we were thrown a surprise birthday by our parents and many many family members came out to celebrate with us! It was so great! I just need to get the photo's so I can share about it with you!

A little teaser!

Anyways, back to today's post and it's another Coffee and Conversations post. The question at hand is: "How important is social approval to you?"

Lets get straight to the bare bones here. I think social approval is important to everyone. We are social creatures by nature and like to live in packs. We have family dynamics that range based on our locations, but the thing that remains the same is always being near to our loved ones and core group. With me, as I age I look at social approval very differently then I did when I was a kid or teenager. In high school I was awkwardly shy, and continue to be that way. This made me not have a lot of friends, but the core group that I had were very close and dear to me. I still am friends with some of those people today. Once out of high school I determined that it was very important to be socially accepted. With the invention of social media outlets it became a game to see how many "friends" you could acquire. These people aren't really your friends, just a way to increase your social reach. I have since this time done several 'cleaning' bursts on all social media to clear out these people because it's just not necessary to have that in my life.

Social acceptance also lies in the media. Being that you have to dress a certain way, or look a certain way, or weigh a certain amount to be accepted. Being that I live in the Los Angeles Metro area, I see this a lot. We compare ourselves constantly with others and the keeping up with the Jones' mentality is turning us into a materialistic, self-centered society. I hate it! Why can't we be who we are meant to be. I can't say that I am not guilty of being envious of others, how they dress or carry themselves. But I have learned to accept who I am, and those things that I find as shortcomings are usually only in my head. Other's don't see them. Frankly if other's wanted to point out my shortcomings and gossip about me, that is fine. I am who I am and I am not going to change for a social aspect.

In my life now, I am doing just that. Learning to accept who I am as a whole person. Loving my body (self-conscious), loving my personality, and just hoping that those people who are in my life can accept the fact that's who I am. Do I still need social approval? I guess in a way. I do write this blog and love when I see a new follower or comment. But I don't write this space for acceptance. I write it for me. I need approval from a select few in my life and those that I have chosen do. I accept them for who they are. I am constantly trying to improve myself and when I get constructive criticism, I make sure to apply it in my daily life. This is the best I can do. Just to constantly improve and look towards the future! I am so grateful to all my readers and those of you who accept who I am, and love to read what I write! Thank you for always being there!

A Lifelong Dream - Tuesday Topics

This is the last topic in this round of Tuesday topics. This link up was such fun and I got a preview of the next one and it looks even better! Can't wait to start it! However I do need to complete this one first. This weeks topic was one lifelong dream.

In my past this answer might have been different. Each person grows with every passing day, they change and desire different things. I still have dreams to travel the world, to be a top notch designer, etc. However the one dream that at this particular juncture in my life is to be a wonderful wife to my hubby, and hopefully soon a great mother to our children. I grew up in a large, yet close knit family. We are always there for one another and willing to do anything. While my immediate family was small, we had such a great bond that I hope to replicate one day. We did everything together, and I hope to continue that practice with my children. For them to have such great memories of their childhood, as I did with mine. I want to travel with them, and experience life again through their eyes. I also want to continue to grow as a supportive and loving wife to my hubby. To always be there for him whenever he needs. To desire him and to always be his best friend. We both continue to grow in our marriage, through good days and the trials. I just want him to know that life gets better with each passing day!

I want to thank the ladies behind Tuesday topics and I look forward to next Tuesday and the new round of topics! Bring it on!

Holey Denim - Quick Fix DIY!

We all have that pair of denim, whether it's shorts or pants, that is our absolute favorite and go to pair. I am the same way. I have a pair of denim shorts that have seen better days, but I can't bear to part with them. They are perfectly worn in, so soft and thin! I have already added lace to the frayed bottoms to help fix them from shredding, but at the zoo with my goddaughter I discovered that I had a decent size hole right below the pocket in these favorite pair of shorts. Sadness. So I took to Pinterest and found an easy way to help repair the hole.

What You'll Need:
Interfacing (You can get this at any craft store. Don't buy the polyester or paper kind. I used Pellon brand)
Sewing Machine and thread
Iron

Directions:
1. Cut a small piece of the interfacing to fit just over your hole. Turn your jeans inside-out and follow the package directions for attaching the interfacing to your work. Obviously my piece wasn't big enough so I had to cut another tiny piece.

2. Turn the jeans right side out and position them under the presser foot of your sewing machine. Sew several back and forth stitches over the interfacing going in all different directions until, using big zig zag motions and then smaller zig zags until your hole is pulled closed.

3. Admire your work. I only had white thread on hand, but if you get a color thread that matches your denim then your patch will barely be noticeable. I didn't care cause these are my casual lounge shorts.

Super simple fix for your favorite denim! I plan to get many more years our of these shorts if I can!

My hubby is a man of little words

I saw this post/link up and thought that it would be fun to participate. They gave their hubbies a handful of questions to answer. This was you all can start to get to know the man behind the blogs a little better. Be warned, the hubs is overly wordy here! (hint: sarcasm!)

1. What celebrity would play you in a movie about your life?
I was thinking Paul Walker but this was a hard question, or that guy from Waiting Justin Long. 

(Hehe....I think he threw in Paul Walker for my benefit. Seriously I used to love him! He asked me to help him and I told him to think of who he thought would play his personality the best. Justin Long kinda hits the nail on the head here! Not in looks, but def in personality!) 

2. What is your dream car?
Either a GMC Sierra 2500HD or BMW 335is in black  

(I could have answered a truck, but which specific one, I hadn't a single clue. Guess I need to look up the specs on the BMW too.....this is news to me!) 


3. Do you have any Tattoos? What? Where? Why?
None at the moment but would like to get one eventually on my back.  

(I told him to wait until he can figure out something truly meaningful to him!)

4. Boxers or Briefs?
Boxer briefs.  

(Simple and straightforward answer! They are the best of both worlds!)

5. List 3 random facts about yourself:
A) broke (my) femur swimming in High school due to a bone cyst and broke my ankle skateboarding
B) have 2 siblings
C) family and friends me everything to me.

(Seriously, my hubby is scar city! All from surgeries resulting from broken bones and just being a boy! The story about the femur is actually interesting, maybe I'll have him write about his scars one day! The other two are pretty self explanatory.)

There you have it folks....a little bit more information to you all about the man I spend all my days with! I love these! They add a little different tone over here to the blog! Maybe this should be a monthly thing?! Let me know if it's something your interested in!

Two Places I have Traveled - Tuesday Topics

Hey Guys, I'm back after my super relaxing/excitingish weekend.....I have the sunburn to prove it! Eek....Sometimes being fair skinned sucks! This weeks topic is two places you have traveled. I am going to remind you of my two most favorite vacations I have ever taken!

#1 most favorite vacation....our Honeymoon, particularly the island of Half Moon Cay. We had such a blast on this island, between the bike riding, laying out on the white sand beaches, and drinking cocktails. We were ever so relaxed and enjoyed one anothers company. You can read more about our honeymoon cruise here. It was the perfect end to a perfect wedding!

#2 most favorite vacation I just wrote about last week. If you missed my post on traveling to the U.K. you can get to it here. It was the most adventure I had ever had in my lifetime and it caused me to get the travel bug. Favorite area visited.....the Ring of Kerry in Ireland. I so want to go back!

Honorable mentions:

Catalina Island

Lake Don Pedro

 

A little shout out for a big day!

Hey Guys! I have been super busy this weekend with weddings and celebrating my loves 30th birthday. I took today off so we could just spend QT time together in honor of him. He got a sweet mountain bike and we are just heading out to the pool for some fun in the sun. I thought I would post a little note to say that I'll be back tomorrow with Tuesday Topics and a recap of this BIG weekend. I would also love to shout out to my main squeeze that I love you dearly and I hope that this weekend was everything you could wish for and more! Happy Birthday Again!!!!! Welcome to the Dirty 30 club!

Happy Monday!

Ever been hung off the side of a castle? I have! - Travel Diaries

Hey Guys! Are any of you the type of people that LOVE to travel? I totally am one of those people. I wish I had lots and lots of money so that I could just travel anywhere I wanted to go and just see the world. I blame my first ever trip outside of the U.S.A. to my infatuation with travel. Right after high school I went on a "school" trip to England, Wales and Ireland. It was a blast! 2 weeks in a foreign country!

Here's the thing, I thought I had lost all my photos! When I got married, my parents moved out of my childhood home. In the hustle and bustle of me moving, and them moving I lost the album with all the photos in it....people this was pre-digital cameras! I couldn't find the negatives either! I cried! Last year, my mom was going through boxes and FOUND THEM! I was so excited that I sent them off to Costco to be put on disc. I popped in the disc and was underwhelmed to say the least....my photography skills were lacking (18 years old with no idea what I was doing with a disposable camera!) I played with them enough to bring out the colors, and I think they look so much better.

So back to the story. We left LAX in the afternoon and took the 10+ hour flight "across the pond." We were all so excited that no one slept, and that 6 hour time difference dropped us in London mid morning. We were greeted by our tour guide, dumped our luggage at the hotel and made our way on the first day of touring. Over the next couple of days we did our performances, the reason we went was to perform for school kids and at elderly facilities...we did sketches, singing and dancing. We also toured all the areas of London....Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Changing of the Guard, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye....etc. Judging from the photos, I can't really tell what anything is, so if I have any London readers that could help me in determining what things are! If I remember correctly we toured Oxford as well....this was 12 years ago, so my brain and the memories have faded a bit!

Interesting outfit I have on! I wore the Shape Ups before they
were fashionable! Wait were they ever fashionable?!

Tower Bridge

The changing of the guard was really interesting! I also turned 18 while on this trip and we did it up right with fish and chips and lots of sightseeing.

Changing of the Guard

Gardens at Buckingham Palace

Our tour guide

After several days of playing in London, taking photos inside those large red phone booths (which have very interesting advertisements in them!) We made the trek into Wales to catch the ferry over to Ireland. We went to the train station in Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, Wales. This city has the longest name in the world and you can stamp your own passport with it! Of course we did! We hopped on the ferry and made our way over to the greenery that is Ireland!

We toured around the Ring of Kerry in Kilarney and just took in all the sights! Everything was just beautiful, however somewhere along the way I caught a cold, so I was asleep during much of the bus tours. I was also told that our bus driver like to spike his morning coffee with Baileys....so I was kind of glad that I wasn't awake for that roller coaster! We did our performances and went to a little fair/carnival and took in all the culture there. We also went to see a comedy show....although half of the show was in Gaelic so most of the jokes were lost on us Americans. We still had a great time!

My favorite memory was visiting Blarney Castle. It was just so cool to see a medieval castle and how people once lived. I was also very excited to kiss the Blarney Stone, that is until I realized what that entailed. You have to walk to the top of this 90 foot high castle, around the outer edge to the stone, lie on your back while two men hold your ankles and lean you backwards over the edge of the castle and kiss it upside down. I am terrified of heights! I had convinced myself that I wasn't going to do it, until it was my turn and I just said to myself....Diane just do it! They have since put in metal safety rails so your not hanging off the edge of the building by your ankles! It was seriously so exhilarating and I hope to take the hubby there someday! Watch the video below for a tour of Blarney Castle (not my video)

These pictures just don't do the beauty of this country justice! I hope that someday I can visit the world and see all the culture that it has to offer!

Love this little cottage!

Miles of greenery

Where have you traveled, or want to travel? What are the favorite memories of your travels?