Not even a week...

Can you believe I couldn't even make a full week in my 31 day picture challenge? Ha! I guess I am not as dedicated to this blog as I thought I maybe could be. I guess if I had something interesting going on in my life that people might want to hear about I could post more but alas.. this mom of 4 has a whole lot of nothing going on.. *sigh*

So anyways, back to the photo challenge... Day 7 wants a picture of my most treasured item. Easy as pie right here....


These four guys mean the world to me... I wouldn't trade them for the world :-)

Day 8 asks for a picture of something that makes me laugh. I can do that... Stay tuned!

Trading Places....

Who would I trade places with for a day if given the chance...

This girl right here! I don't care what you say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sarah Palin! I think it would be amazing to walk a mile in her shoes. She is so normal that people hate her because she tells it like it is. And people are scared of the truth... man, how I'd love to tell it how it is sometime...





Day 7 will be a picture of my most treasured item.. I already know what this will be :-) Stay tuned!

Memories...

OK, so don't shoot me. I already missed a day. How hard is it to just keep up on a 31 day challenge. Apparently, super hard haha! I guess from here on out I am just going to forewarn everyone that I might not make the Sunday posts. Football Sunday... I can't guarantee anything. Football Sunday is a holiday in our house.. for lots and lots of weeks haha!

So on with the show. Day 5 wanted a picture of my favorite memory. Again, you know me with just choosing one so I chose 2 (well really 5 but 3 of them, I do not have scanned pictures on the computer of).

So the first is a picture of my Mom and my ummm well her brother. This was taken the last night she was alive. She was always so silly. She was having a lot of fun with the whole family (cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers... you, name it). It was the night of my brothers birthday.. She passed away the next morning.


And my next favorite memory was the day each of my children were born. I wish I had pictures of all 4 boys but well, technology wasn't as cool then and digital cameras cost a million billion bucks so you'll have to deal with looking at Will and I about a half hour after he was born. He was so cute!!!


Stay tuned later today for Day 6 challenge.. A picture of the person I'd most like to change places with for a day. This will be fun!! Enjoy :-)

My Night

Ok..... Day 4 of the picture challenge asked for it so the picture challenge shall get it. A picture of my night. This is William and I. We're watching Toy Story and looking up planes online. He loves watching YouTube videos of plane take offs and landings.....


Tomorrows picture request..... A picture of my favorite memory... Stay tuned

Who wouldn't love them

Day 3 in the photo challenge wants a picture of the cast from your favorite show.

Well, I have 2 favorite shows and you know me, I had to do more then one picture so here they are. Luckily, both these shows are on different nights of the week... My first favorite show is


This is real L.O.L comedy. If you haven't seen it, check it out!

My second favorite show is The Vampire Diaries


How could you not love the Salvatore brothers?!?! Damon is just amazing!!!

What's your favorite show? Oh and make sure to come back tomorrow when I post a picture (or two) of my night!!

Who I can tell my secrets too

Day 2 of the 31 day photo challenge wants a picture of someone you have been the closest with the longest. This challenge was particularly hard for me because people have come and gone over the 363 months I've been on this earth. So I thought about it and narrowed it down to not one, but 5 people. All family members who I can go to for anything. We've all had our ups and downs between us but they are always here for me no matter what..

So lets start with these two.

My Aunt and Uncle. Isn't it odd that I don't have any pictures on my computer with me and them alone. I do have the group wedding picture but it did not come out as well as I had hoped so you get this!! Great picture huh?

The next picture is of me with my cousins (Joshua in the grey shirt, Jeremy in the black shirt) and my brother (Jim, on the far right with the vest on).

While I don't see or talk to them all the time they are the people I could go to for anything!!!

Ok, tomorrows challenge is a picture of the cast from my favorite TV show... Woohoo!! Stay tuned!

Here I am...

So after seeing a few friends of mine take part I decided hey, why not. I think (and hope) I can keep up with 31 days of photos. Like the story of my life huh?

So day 1 wants a picture of me with 10 random facts. Hmmmm 10 things that are random about me. I think I can come up with a list like that... But first off


Yep, that is me. WHO does that in their wedding dress??? Ok now for a more serious picture..


Eh, who am I kidding. I have no serious pictures of me by myself so I guess these will have to do for now. Lets get on with the 10 facts about me...

1. I am a glass half full kind of girl
2. I am over Christmas already and it is only the 15th. Seriously... Can it be January 2nd yet?
3. I can count on 2 and a half hands how many friends I have and of those two hands, I can narrow it down to half of one hand how many of them I could tell anything in the world to.
4. I don't think eggplant is half as good as most people say it is. I could do with out eating it again in the rest of my life time.
5. I have 4 kids (which if you've been reading you know already). They are all boys and part of me wishes one of them was a girl. But 99% of the time even if I could go back and make one a girl, I wouldn't do it. Boys are SO MUCH EASIER.
6. I hate skirts / dresses. I can really count on one hand how many times I wore them since I was 8. Sad huh? I guess maybe I was better off with boys haha! I wouldn't know what to do with a little girl.
7. I hate dishes being dirty IN my sink. Like, if they are on the counter it doesn't bug me as much. If they are in the sink, I HAVE to wash them that very second. I've been late for many appointments because I would go to grab will some water and see dishes in the sink. OCD much?
8. Finding Nemo is my favorite Disney Movie
9. I only eat natural casing hotdogs. I will not go near any of those store bought cheapey hotdogs. They have to be the natural casings with the little knot at the end that snap when you bite into them or I will go with out...
10. I really don't worry about what other people think of me. I mean, everyone says that people do worry and it's only human but truthfully I don't care. I am who I am and if people don't like it, I don't stress about it. Life is to short for un-needed stress!

Ok, I guess those weren't really random (well, other then the hotdog one... that was kind of random) but I did what I could! Tomorrow I'll be posting a picture of and talking about the person I have been closest with longest... That should be a good one. Now I need to figure out who this is and if I have a picture with them :-)

Happy Wednesday everyone!!

The blame game

Politics. I hate Politics. With a passion. Mostly because it brings out the worst in everyone. Especially this day in age. Republicans HATE Democrats, Democrats HATE Republicans and Independents hate both sides at this point.

I guess I want to start this posting out with stating that this blog is not about any one person I know, nor is it about any one blog I've read. I've been seeing a LOT all over the Internet, on the news, in the news papers, etc about the election results and how people are angry because of the way things went all over the country and truthfully it's all making me mad.

I really hate how each side of the political coin blames the other side for this countries failures. And the Independent party just blames everyone for everything. This is the problem with the government and why nobody can get anything done. Neither side can see what is good about the other sides ideas and they BOTH shoot everything down that comes across their plates. Mostly because the "other side" thought of it first.

That is why this country is in so much trouble. It's not about what is best for the country, or what is best for the people, businesses, education, children, etc. It is mostly what is best for the "party" who is in control.

And another thing I am sick of is every day people like you and me who want to complain about EVERYTHING yet do NOTHING about it. If you are so well educated and have so many good ideas, then put them to work. Get out there and run for local city and town offices. Get elected and run for bigger offices. Make your ideas known. Write to Senators, Governors, Legislature, whoever. Don't just sit back and complain about how stupid everyone is for voting in the "wrong" person because you feel that that person wasn't the right choice. The great part about this country is that every legal citizen over the age of 18 who has voting rights has a say in what goes on in government and if you aren't agreeing with the popular choice, then get yourself out there and try to swing people the other way. Don't just sit around and complain when all is said and done.

On my personal facebook, I've been seeing complaint after complaint about who was voted into office in many different states. Some people are happy, some people are sad, some are mad. This country went in crazy directions in all offices. Democratic states voted Republican in many cases. People want their voices heard and changed the way they vote. That is amazing. The fact that we all have the right to change our mind and vote the way we want to. There are so many issues that this country needs to face. Like Education, Immigration, Health care, Jobs and the Economy. Neither party is best to handle any of these issues alone. BOTH parties need to come together and figure out a solution that works for EVERYONE. Not just for the one party or the other.

I know this blog posting is really random but honestly I am just so tired of seeing hateful comments on FB and in the many blogs I read about how this country messed up on Tuesday. I don't think this country messed up, I think the government messed up by allowing all of this to happen. It's time for EVERYONE to take a step back and see where this country is failing and we as United States Citizens need to pull it together and start to make a change. The change is not going to come from blog posts, and fb status updates and twitter updates. It is going to start with each and every one of us. We all need to work on it or we are all the ones to blame for the failure. Not one party alone. EVERYONE!

Hey you... over there...

Yes, that is my blog talking to me. It's wondering where the heck I've been the last month or so. I'm such a bad blogger. I guess it might have something to do with the fact that I never have anything interesting to say so why would I want to write about something my readers wouldn't be interested in reading??

Well, now I officially have something interesting to say. We put an offer in on a house. Not just any house, but a pretty amazingly perfect house. Sad news is that it is a short sale house so it is going to take FOREVER to find anything out. Good news is, houses are not in such demand anymore. Since we missed out on the $8,000 sales have slowed way down, so the bank is more likely to say yes to our offer. Yes, we did offer more then listing, but it was not a ton more. In fact, not even enough more to make anyone flinch but hey... it's the thought that counts right.

More good news is that even though we are not putting much down, we still wont have to pay PMI on the house. WOOHOO! That is going to save me a bit of money a month too. Gatta love the VA for something anyways.

Best news, our interest rate is going to be SUPER LOW!

Anyways, keep your fingers crossed for me that everything works out. I would LOVE to hear by Christmas time. It would be an amazing Christmas gift to find out that we can go into Escrow. We would love to be moved in by the end of Feb, but hey... I'll take what I can get. I know the wait might end up being a long one, especially if we have to go back and forth with the bank but fingers crossed we wont have to do that...

I've joined the 360 month club

.. and I am not afraid to admit it :-)

So, 2 days ago I turned 360 months old (doesn't that sound more fun then saying the big 3-0). I am actually happy to say that I am now that old! I remember being 12 thinking 30 was old, haha! Boy was I wrong. I think life just begins at the age of 360 months.

The day was pretty good! I went out to lunch with one of my AZ BFF (and our boys also went and they are even better bffs). Here is a pic


Then my husband took me to dinner. I was still full from lunch, but it was nice to get out with my boys. We don't do this very often anymore. The day was pretty low key. I got William some 'melmo' slippers which he loves and refuses to take off. It's 107 outside and he's running around in them.


Next week, my friend KK is flying in from NY to celebrate with me. My IL's are also flying in, and they are taking the kids to a hotel so we can ring in 360 months, in style! All my ladies are going to be here, as well as a couple guys to keep my husband entertained. We're having a chic margarita styled party! Exciting. We've rented one of those super industrial sized margarita machines, we're going to have margarita cupcakes and lots of food. Oh and margaritas! I'll hopefully post pics after that is over

I'll leave you with two of my favorite quotes about turning 30....

"When you turn thirty, a whole new thing happens: you see yourself acting like your parents." - Blair Sabol

"30 is the new 20, unless your 20, then it's the new 40." - Dane Peddigrew

Day 6 ~ It's not on my to-do list, thats for sure

There are many things I would imagine that someone would not want to do in their life time. I can think of a million things that I would never want to do.

Day 06 on the 30 day challenge asks, what is something you hope you never have to do.

Easy enough. I hope I NEVER EVER have to say goodbye to one of my four boys. Parents should never live longer then their children. EVER! It should be law or something. I know that accidents happen but still. A child (even at 40 is still a child if Momma is around) should never go first.

So I hope that is something I will never ever have to do in my life time! Morbid huh?

A McDonalds vent..

I'll start off by saying I don't give this to my son often. I know it's not the greatest food out there, but we do give it to the boys once in a while. Does this make me a bad mom, who knows.. but I am still angry over tonight's incident...

OK, so we had to go pick up the car from Mazda today and Carl had to bring Chad to football practice which left me with going to walmart to get a few things we need for the boys to have dinner when they get back (Since my pulled pork didn't work out because Walmart sucks but that is besides the point.....)

So after all was said and done, it was late. Like 730. I knew Will had to eat and get put down so I figured why not go get him a happy meal at McDonald's right? (Yes, that is the bad mom part... I got my 2 year old McDonalds). Well I ordered and got up to the window. Waited 10 freeking minutes (not exaggerating.. I am serious... 10 minutes) and then he hands me a bag with a chicken sandwich in it.... Told her politely that I just ordered a chicken nugget happy meal. She looked a me like I had 10 heads. I held my arm out trying to get her to take the bag. She asked again "Whats wrong" and I told her again, "I ordered a chicken nugget happy meal." She took the bag then I waited another 5 minutes and she comes back and tells me I have to pull around to the front.... REALLY??? I had to wait for the chicken nuggets. When I asked how long it would be she said 7 minutes....

Yep, I got angry. Asked for my money back. The girl said please pull around front and we'll bring the food out. No, I want my money back please.. she said "well bring your food in 7 minutes"..

HELLO STUPID LADY.... I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!!! (no, I did not call her a stupid lady out loud)

I pulled around front and went in. The lady at that register goes "your food is right here". NO I WANT MY MONEY BACK NOW PLEASE... We went back and forth a few times on the matter. I did not care that my food was right there. It was the principal of the matter.

30 minutes after pulling into the drive through, I got my money back... Seriously..

Guess I shouldn't be feeding my kid McDonald's huh? On my way out, I said "We will go get chocolate milk and french fries at Wendys, Will" and he smiled big! The guy who was waiting for his food (Who looked aggravated by the way) said "Maybe I should go with you"... LoL

I am so mad though.... really... 30 plus minutes... that is nuts!

Vent over..

Day 5 ~ An item on my bucket list...

Day 5 of the 30 days of truth wants to talk about "Something I want to do in my life".

That question kind of makes me think of the Bucket List. I love that movie. So much that I've seen it a bazillion times. Every time it is on TV, I watch it. I really should just buy that movie. It really makes you think about the things you'd like to do before you kick the bucket so to speak.

I think I actually blogged about my bucket list at one time or another but I am to lazy to go find it now. Maybe later I will look and see.

I guess one of the most important things I want to do in my life is watch my children grow into well respected men. I want to watch them become Doctors, Lawyers, Marines, Construction men, whatever it is that makes them happy, so long as they are respected in what they do. I'd like to think I am raising them to be very polite boys and I hope that turns into something more as they get older. If they are well respected, then I will know I did something right as their Mom.

Now that that is out... something fun I'd like to do in my life is sit on the beaches of Turks and Caicos... Whose with me? :-)

Day 4 ~ To forgive and forget? maybe

Day 4 of the 30 day truth talks about someone we need to forgive.

This is an easy one. Kind of. My father left my mother when we were really young. I don't remember much of him. My mother never talked bad of him (which I am happy for, but I don't know if I could keep quiet if it were my husband that just up and left my family) but ever since I can remember, I was so angry at him. Angry because of not having a steady male role model in my life. It's hard to not have that. I think had he been around, that my life may have turned out differently. But who knows. One will never know and I am finally OK with that.

Now, you are probably wondering why I need to forgive him for leaving us? I mean, he was gone for 26ish years. Why would I even think about forgiving him? Honestly, I don't know. Maybe it is because I need to learn to let things go a little.

My fathers sister got in contact with me a little over a year ago. The joys of the internet and facebook right? I have not heard from any of my fathers siblings at all. His father used to write my mother letters when we were kids, but he wasn't around either for reasons I am not comfortable disclosing here. I never met him, but I read all the letters he would write for years and years. Anyways, back to my Fathers Sister. She sent me this message on FB. Telling me ALL about my life. Who my mom was, who my brother was. My Aunt and Uncles name, etc. Then at the end, she said " I apologize if this is the wrong Jessica Maiden Name, but I just don't want you to think I am crazy if I am correct in assuming this is you".

WOW. My world stopped for a minute. I did not have my husband to talk to. He was in Phoenix. My mother had passed away a few years earlier. So I called the next closest thing to her, My Aunt Vicki. I was dumb founded. Didn't know if I should write back or not. I decided, hey... what do I have to lose. If she is psycho, I can block her. We went back and forth for about 2 weeks. She was answering my questions about why they weren't around and why my father did not message me himself. Then...... a note from him...

Yep, it's been weird. I have not received all the answers I want out of him. Not even close. But we've been talking. Well, chatting on FB IM. That way when I get annoyed or frustrated, I can just log off and forget about him until I am ready to deal with it again. He wants us to be family. Wants for me to let my children meet him (Keep dreaming old man). He has apologized but I just have a hard time accepting it. I think I need to forgive him, but I don't think I'll ever forget what he did to us when we were little. I guess only time will tell.

At my breaking point...

What to do when you have a teenager who feels entitled?

Yep, I've written about this before. Back on day 1 or day 2 of school starting. The hard time I am getting with homework. UGH! It makes me want to pull every last hair out of my head.

He has an agenda book. He is supposed to write down assignments. When stuff is due, what he's supposed to be doing, etc etc etc. Do you think he uses it? No! Do you think he goes out of his way to tell me he has to do something, NO!

He plays Pop Warner football. The rule of Pop Warner is no pass, no play. That rule is totally fine by me. It would go the same if he were to play sports in school. He worked his butt off last year in order to make the C's or better I told him he needed in order to play. Now, this year it has gone all out the window. He's failing not one, but two classes. I've spoken with the two teachers and there really is not a whole lot he can do to get those grades up other then to pass in current assignments on time and done well. Yeah, right.... It's just like the saying goes.. you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

He's in 8th grade, so making his teachers sign his agenda book that he wrote everything down is out the window. I had a struggle with his 7th grade teachers last year for any help like this. In 8th grade, he's old enough to know better and the teacher should not have to babysit him to make sure he's writing stuff down. Besides that, they wont do it (I've asked). I can watch his grades online, but I don't know if the assignments are classwork or homework (not that it should matter) and the two classes he's failing are with two teachers who update their online gradebook once every 3 weeks or so. So again, its not like I can catch it and have him do it. I don't see it so I don't know. UGH!!

So now, we have to pull him out of football (which on a personal front for him, has been good. His respect towards us has been so much better), and lose all the money we've put into him and his team this year (Which was a LOT). I feel like I am at my breaking point with him and I am not sure what to do. I've tried everything I can think of. I have no problem pulling him from sports in order to better his grades and believe that is the right thing to do, but I think we are going to end up going back to the disrespectful, mouthy 13 year old again! UGH!!

Day 3~ Forgiving myself

Ok, so day three just jumps right into the heavy huh? It wants to know what is something that I need to forgive myself for.

This is truly a hard one for me. Not so much hard as in what I should post about but hard as in emotional. Something I hate myself for every single day. The reason being it really hits home, and makes me realize that time doesn't last forever and you never know when you are going to lose someone you love.

My mother passed away on July 16th, 2005. As an adult, I was never really close to her. In fact, if you go read this post here, you'll have some of that explained to you. She lived the kind of life style that I just did not want for my children. She liked to drink. A lot. We grew up watching this as kids and I just did not want my boys around that kind of thing.

I would only go see her for an hour or so at a time. As soon as she would start drinking, I would say I had plans to do something and we would leave. My Mom knew my oldest son, but she never got to know Kaleb or Christian. She had passed away before William was born so she never even met him.

I really hate myself for taking the only chance the boys would get to know her, away from them (and her). I hate that because I had a few issues with her that I took away their chances of getting to know each other. Because I was selfish my Mom had probably only seen the younger two a handful of times, for only few hours. Really... I mean, was my judgement of her so awful that I couldn't even deal for just a little while longer?

So every single day, I try to forgive myself for being so selfish. I NEED to learn how to just let some things go. Even though people live different life styles then myself, I need to know that it is OK for my boys to get to know them as long as I am stable enough to keep them out of danger. Each day, I get a little bit closer to forgiving myself for keeping them from her. Really, I do. I just wish I would have realized this before she passed away.

Now I ask you, is there anything you need to forgive yourself for?

Not that my head is big or anything...

Something you love about yourself.


That is day 2's question of the 30 days of truth challenge. Now, because I just told you that I don't have a big head, I will keep my list to under 100 things I love about myself, haha!

I love that I am a great friend to those I really care about. I would give the shirt off my back, or the last 5$ that I have to any of my friends. My friends mean the world to me and there is nothing I wouldn't do for them.

I also love how good of a Mom I think I am (Does this make me sound bad??). We all have our own parenting styles and I am fine with that, but when I receive compliments at a restaurant about how well behaved all four of my boys are, by complete strangers, it makes me smile.

I also love how well I can accept change in my life. I am very open to all ideas and am willing to look at all sides of the issue (no matter what it might be).

and the last thing I love about myself is how confident I am in the decisions I make! How many people can say that about themselves?

What about you, what do you love about yourself?

30 days of truth, Day 1

So I've seen this 30 days of truth blog challenge mentioned a few times in the last day or two. I decided to google this and find out what it was all about. I am still working on finding who originated it, but for now I've found this link on a blog called Angel Believes. Here are all 30 days worth of questions, and each day you pick the next one in line and answer it.

I've decided to join in the fun. I am hoping that this will help me to look inside myself a little bit more. I know there is a lot in my life that I have to evaluate and maybe this will help me out some.

Day 1
~Something that you hate about yourself
Yikes! What a way to start the challenge huh? Well, the biggest thing I hate about myself is how impatient I can be. It's like a sickness. I hate waiting. For anything. You should have seen me when I was TTC and I wanted to POAS so so so bad. This wasn't with Will, but with Christian. I waited and waited. Counting down the minutes and seconds. I even peed a few times just to see if maybe I could find out a lot sooner, haha!

I also hate how anti social I am. Don't get me wrong, I love going out with my friends and having my friends here, but when it comes to making new friends and going to gatherings where I don't know anyone, I am all set with that. It's a hard process for me to make a ton of friends. That being said, I LOVE that I can count my really close friends on one hand (OK, maybe 2). I don't like being "that friend" who is friends with people just to say I have a lot of friends. If I can't tell you all about me and my life, then I probably wont consider you a real friend. Maybe that is a bad thing, I don't know.

There are more things that I hate, but those are the biggest two. I guess I don't have much complain about if that is it huh?

Seriously lady... get over yourself

Let me start off by saying that my ex is truly a very nice man. We just did not work well as a couple. That being said, I really really HATE his mother. HATE HER!

So my IL's always buy the boys a ton of clothes. Birthdays, Christmas' etc. They are Kohl's addicted. Whenever they see good deals they buy things and stock up for whatever might be coming up. This makes me very happy because it is less that I have to spend on them and I can put money towards trips and stuff.

Well, when the boys went back to NH on Tuesday, my ex's mother (his parents live with him... LLLOOONNNGGG story there... I'll tell you another time) went through their suitcase and said "we don't need all this, they are fine, send it back to her".

Rich calls me today to talk about what he should get CJ for his birthday which is tomorrow. Then tells me "oh, well we are going to send some of those clothes back that your IL's got the boys, we don't need them".

OK, so I ask WHY? He said it is to much and that Christian has all of Kalebs OLD clothes. Now I have NO ISSUE at all with hand me downs but isn't it nice for kids to have NEW clothes once in a while? Why not send me some of the hand me downs and I"ll store them away for William and keep the NEW clothes for CJ?

His mom doesn't like me at all. She is very old school and thinks that I should have stayed with Rich no matter how unhappy I was. We were both unhappy but I chose to leave. He would have stayed with me I am totally sure of this. Ever since we broke up, she would take everything that I would send over to their house and put it in her attic. New shoes, winter jackets, toys, etc Everything was game for the attic of no return.

Now that the boys are older, she has a harder time getting rid of toys and such, but she still gets rid of clothes. Rich was up in the attic a few weeks ago and found a ton of shoes and clothes with tags on them. Really lady? Get over yourself. This stuff is for the boys.

Rich has talked to her a million times about this but she keeps on doing it. He wont kick his parents out (again... long story) but it makes me so mad. I don't want my IL's spending money on stuff for them that the wont use, but don't want them feeling left out and not getting gifts. They could send it all here but until they are here for good, it is pointless..

I am having such a horrible day over this! AGH! I just had to vent and get it out here!

Tweet Tweet

Are you a tweeter? Is that the correct word for it? I am assuming you know what I am saying right?

I've found that a few of my friends live for Twitter and even though I've had an account for over a year now, I've never really done anything with it before. I mean, can't Facebook do everything Twitter does? Why type things out twice?

Who knows, but anyways... I am going to give it a good college try. Maybe I'll find it more interesting then Facebook. Not sure I could ever kick the Facebook addiction but why not try! Worse case, it's one more thing my phone will just LOVE notifying me of every few minutes, right?

So find me on Twitter. My name there is @MommyV2you. Or you could just go here.

My next blog posting will be about the amazing talent my friend Beth has... keep an eye out for it!

Are you there god, its me Jessica

Yep, that was me today!

**let me preface this by saying I love my children! Love them to pieces! But teenagers know how to test the ever living crap out of you. Now I understand why my mother always would say she wanted to sell me to the gypsies...

Anyways, so today started off like any other morning. Well, for about 5 minutes anyways. Who knew the first day of school would turn a 13 year old boy into a 13 year old girl? And by girl, I don't mean taking forever to get ready. I mean the little whiney butt attitude that goes along with a lot of younger girls!

He lost his bike lock. Sometime over the summer, yet he expected that I was going to let him ride it to school anyways. Ahh think again mister, have a nice walk. Kids around here (especially high school kids) are known to steal bikes from the elementary school. Not ganna happen. Yep, got an attitude, and about 5 heavy loud sighs before he slammed the door (with the baby sleeping) and went to school.

Then... the cake topper.. when he got home, he was so unorganized (and there was not a lot to even be organized about... it was the 1st day of school). His math teacher gave them an easy peasy homework assignment. He acted like it was the end of the world. "I can't figure it out, I don't understand" and lots of blank stares at nothing until I told him to put it away, and email his teacher. Then I got a whole lot of "you think I am stupid, I don't want to email my teacher, blah blah blah".

Really? It is only the 1st day of school. The teacher put note up on how to do this assignment on his website. Chad said they did not do notes. Then when I showed him these notes, he said "Oh, I was paying attention when he did these, you don't have to write notes if you are paying attention".

Hmmmmm.... are you as confused as I, my blog readers? So you don't have to write notes if you are paying attention. Well, how may I ask do you write notes if you are not paying attention.

Long story short (wait, this blog post wasn't short at all, was it) homework did not get done. I got an attitude about everything because I don't know what I am talking about and I suck and I am so mean and I make things hard and I shouldn't make him do his homework (yes.. all out of my 13 year olds mouth).

All I am asking is for a bit of strength to get through tomorrow and the rest of the school year. So again I ask.. are you there god, it's me Jessica?????

28 days of magic (and maybe 29 too)

I know today is really the 30th day of the month, but I'm playing catch up with my 30 day challenge (Surprise Surprise, right). But before I begin on that, I will say that the 28th day of July is very special to me. My oldest son Chad was born on July 28th. He wasn't here to celebrate but he made it home yesterday so I am super excited about that.

Now onto day 28 of the challenge. What has been my most luxurious purchase. This one is simple, any single of of my vehicles. I'm not a big spender. Heck, we haven't even purchased a house yet. My college was paid off (and it wasn't much to pay at that) before I started except for a little little bit which I am paying on now. My wedding rings were cheaper (I'm not into big and flashy), my camera and computer were pretty cheap (what can I say... i love to find deals). So I am going to have to go with my car. I think we paid about $21,000 for my Durango. Best $21K I've ever spent. Even though Fred is dying now (that is my durangos name), he was a great truck!

Day 29 is about what we think our best feature is... Easy.. my boobs! Enough said. I'd post a pic, but well... my bloggy friends really don't need to see that!

My first Wordless Wednesday - Toes in the sand

2 days of fun

So I seriously think that I am the worlds worst 30 day challenge player. Mostly because it has been so rare that I've done the blog posting on the day at hand. Take today for instance, I'm going to group 2 days in one blog posting. I think that when I do a couple smaller notes on one day, they don't get read and then what is the point right?

So Day 26 wants to know what my most surprising moment was.

I am totally clueless as to what to write for this. I really don't like surprises, so I always know about things way before they happen. My husband and I both HATE surprises so we tend to tell each other everything. Neither of us like being the center of attention when we had no clue we were going to be. I knew about my bridal shower, my baby shower. Heck, I am even having a say in the details of my 30th birthday bash in September.

I guess I'll have to say when I found out I was pregnant with William. With the other boys, it wasn't so much a surprise when we found out. I had a feeling I was pregnant before I even was late for my period. But with William I had no idea. We HAD been trying for couple months. And by trying I'll say that I knew about when I would ovulate and we'd do "it" sometime in that week and see what happens. Well, it was in December Carl was cleaning the bathroom and found a random pee-stick under the sink. I forgot it was there truthfully. I had planned on waiting until after I was due to go to Walgreens to buy some but said eh, why not... A little tinkle tinkle and 3 minutes later, there was my plus sign..... Yep, I was surprised because I had NO idea this time.

Kind of lame story huh? Oh well, it is what it is. Now on to day 27. I get to brag about myself because I guess I get to tell you what I am good at! Woot Woot!!

Wait, now I have to think about the things I might be good at. Hmmm... OK, well here goes.

~Being a Mom. I guess I never would have said this but I've been told over and over how great my boys are, and how well behaved they are. I think that probably has something to do with how they were raised. I know I can't take 100% credit for this, but still... I must be doing SOMETHING right.

~Playing Soccer. Heck, I even coached my son's soccer team for a couple of years. I need to stop being so fat, so that I can play again. My heart couldn't take the abuse right now, haha

~Cooking. I love to cook, and make up new things. Though cooking cakes and other desserts are not my thing. I leave that to my husband (or to my friend Shannon when she comes for dinner, haha)

~ Dishes. Is it weird to be good at doing dishes? My mother taught me well

~Procrastinating... Why do something today when you can put it off until tomorrow??? That's my motto!

~Being the boss. I was a great boss back in the day. I can't wait to get out into the work force again and hopefully be the boss of some more people!

Holy HUGE house, Batman

Let's talk about dream houses for a minute. Everyone has their vision of their dream house? Right? Some people want a house on the ocean, some in the woods or on a lake. I've thought about my dream house for many many many years. It changes a little bit every now and again but the concept is the same.

I want a very modern / trendy kind of house. At least 5 bedrooms because each one of my boys needs their own room. I'd love 3 bathrooms as well.

I want some really nice tile in my kitchen and bathrooms but the rest of the floors need to be a light colored hard wood. I don't want carpet in my house. Anywhere! I'm all about area rugs. Carpet holds too many smells and I can not deal with that. I'd rather sweep and mop then vacuum and smell, haha!

All the rooms need to be different colors with the furniture and window treatments accenting the colors. Oh and I MUST have a library with a fireplace in the room. To some, a library might seem like a big room, but really, something the size of a den would do...

Now, how long until I get said house?? Hopefully not too long.

A weeks worth of missions

Day 24 is kind of a nosey day. It wants to know all about what I am doing.

Well, since I am late to day 24, I will wrote about July 24th and then 6 days after that. Does that work for you??

Saturday - The butcher, grocery shopping, movies and that is about it
Sunday - Yard work with the family and then splashing around in my pool
Monday - L is here along with my boys so pretty much doing artsy crafty type stuff and hanging out. When L leaves we'll be going for a walk and cooking dinner
Tuesday - Same as Monday
Wednesday - Same as Monday. It is also Chad's birthday!! YAY! To bad he wont be here until Thursday to celebrate
Thursday - Chad comes home!! Woot Woot! We'll be doing some birthday shopping while Carl is at work. We also have to make a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and spaghetti and meatballs. Carl picks Chad up at 455 and will bring him home to me where I will proceed to kiss and hug and embarrass my now 13 year old son!
Friday - Shopping with the boys for Chad's football stuff, park, pool, dinner

The life of a mom can be pretty boring sometimes, huh??? I guess this is a bad week for What am I doing??? haha

A never ending dark hole

Day 23 wants to talk about what I have in my purse.

Well, first off.. I'll tell you that I've been using a small black Coach. Not my usual big brown Coach tote so what I am about to describe is pretty good for carrying around such a small bag.

In my purse, you'd happen to find
~my wallet which carries my license, checkbook, credit cards and AAA card. Sometimes, you can find some cash in there, but it is highly unusual because I hate to carry cash.
~my keys
~my cell phone (well, most of the time)
~an elastic or two
~usually 3-5 receipts of things I got the last few trips to the store
~about $3 in change. All kinds of change. It always gets thrown to the bottom.
~3 or 4 pens. Usually 2 black and 2 blue. But always 2 black
~peppermint candies. I keep these in here for when my husband's blood sugar decides to drop a bit
~a sister angel ornament that my brother got me for my birthday 2 years ago
~insurance cards
~pantyliner and a tampon
~chap stick
~a hair clip

There might be more, but that is all I can think of at the moment

If I had a million dollars

I'd be rich!!

OK, I know that is a song. It's a pretty funny song I think but that is the theme of day 22. What would I do if I had a million billion dollars.

Sheesh, where would I start. I guess I'd buy a vacation home in Maine. I'd still want to live here in AZ because I LOVE the sun, so I'd probably buy a house in the richy rich part of Scottsdale.

I'd buy us all new cars and pay off all our debt. Then I'd take all my family / friends on a vacation to some place tropical like Bora Bora or Tahiti or something...

Sheesh, what wouldn't I do with a million billion dollars???

My free pass

So day 21 is fun!!! Talking about our celebrity crushes...

My husband and I have had the free pass conversation. Meaning, if we ever met our "crush" we would get a free pass to do whatever we want, haha!

Now, in all reality neither of us would actually do what we might think about doing but it's still fun to think about.

Here are mine. Again in no particular order

1. Chad Kroeger


2. Peyton Manning


3. Rob Pattinson


And again, this is in no particular order and it changes every now and again. I know they aren't "hunky" or GQ Sexy but mmmmmmmmm

Trials and Tribulations

Day 20 is all about the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with.

This one is a no brainer for me. I know a few of you know about this, but maybe some of you don't. Either way, here goes nothing.

I did not have the best life growing up. My Mom wasn't around as much as she should have been. My father was non existent. My brother and I hated each other up until a few years ago. I really had nobody but myself.

I didn't hang out with the best of people. Not that they are bad people, but probably not the best friends I could have chosen. I did great in school up until about my 9th grade year. I started slacking off and wanting to go out with my friends. I tried smoking pot (oh, the horror), I got into drinking. I met someone when I was 15. He was older then me. Old enough to no better, but what did I care. I looked older, he looked younger... everything worked out well... Well, until December 31st, 1996.

I found out I was pregnant with my oldest son Chad. I was ONLY 16 years old. I had no idea what I was going to do. Or even how to tell my mom. I was not with the older guy anymore. In fact, I had a really great boyfriend and had just started to get my head in gear for finishing high school, going to college and all that fun stuff.

My biggest worry was how I was going to tell my Mom. We had known someone that I had always rolled my eyes at who had 3 kids by the time she was 17. I did not want to end up like her. I usually just laughed when her name was brought up. She was only a year older then me, had dropped out of school, had 3 kids and was on Welfare. In my mind, I was scared to death I was going to end up like her.

I didn't have to tell my Mom. I got home one night and she was waiting for me in the kitchen. A "friends" Mom had called my mom and told her how old my "ex boyfriend was" and told her that she heard I was pregnant. My mom flat out asked me... I just nodded my head. We both cried and she left the house. I did not see her for 2 days after that.

There was a lot of back and forth on what we were going to do. Keep the baby, give the baby up for adoption, abort the baby. I decided to keep him. My boyfriend at the time wanted to stand by me and tell everyone that Chad was his. He loved me a lot. But stupid me, went back to my ex.

My son was born in July. I had to live on my own. I did not want to be a statistic. I went to school all day like any normal High School Junior, but then I had to work 8 hours at night. I never saw my son. He was either at daycare so I could go to school, or was a my grandparents house so that I could work. Obviously his father and I did not work out, because lets face it, how often does that happen. I was alone. This went on for two years until I graduated high school.

The day I got my diploma was the best day of my life. Not only because I know I worked my butt off with having a baby and paying all my bills and my own rent with NO welfare assistance, but I graduated in the top 50 of my class. I was so proud of myself for being able to turn my life around.

Anyways, that was by far the hardest thing I've EVER had to go through in my life.

These are a few of my favorite things

Day 19 is fun! I get to talk about 20 of my favorite things....

1. Chad
2. Kaleb
3. Christian
4. William
5. My husband Carl
6. My niece Lily
7. Chicken.. yep, chicken
8. Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream. They have so many flavors and always so yummy
9. The Ocean
10. Cheesecake
11. Frozen Strawberry Margaritas
12. Dirty Dancing the movie
13. Sleeping past 10 AM. I haven't done this in years
14. Sweatpants... Hello comfortable!
15. My frends.... you know who you are
16. OOB Pier Fries
17. Chinese food from New England. SOOOOO yummy
18. Thunder storms
19. The sun... Love it
20. A day on the couch in my pajamas

Collections

Hmmm... Day 18 is all about our collections. I guess that is sort of a neat topic. I sat and thought about what I might collect.

~dust
~laundry
~socks (only because the dryer monster always eats one and it's partner doesn't have a friend so in a bag it goes in hopes that the dryer monster will spit it out someday).
~water bottles (seriously, we have a ton near our bed.... *sigh*)

But I don't think she wanted to know about those kinds of collections. So then I had to think a bit more about what I might collect...

I never used to collect anything. But then when my mom passed away, I took over her snow globe collection. I used to get her a snow globe every single Christmas. We have a ton of them. After she passed away I wanted them back so now I have them. I need to work on getting some more.

I also want to start collecting the annual White House Christmas Tree ornament. Starting from 2008 when William was born. I need to work on ordering them up soon so wish me luck.

Pet Peeves..

Day 17 of the challenge is all about our pet peeves. We've all got them, right? I know I do. Anyways, here are a few of mine in no particular order

~ One-uppers. I can't stand people who constantly have to be one upping people. I've dealt with this in my personal life and when I was working, in my professional life.

~ Cliques. Again, hate them. We are all grown ups now, cliques should not exist. That being said, I am fine with people having their friends, but to be all cliquey and only include certain people is childish in my opinion

~Bad Drivers. And not just whoops, I had a moment bad driving, but people who are constantly driving bad. Talking / texting while driving and not being able to keep your car straight is annoying.

~ People who chew with their mouths open. Enough said..

~ Fake people... you know the kind. The ones who are all nicey nice and then talk crap about you behind your back.

There are more, but that is enough for now!

A lot of catching up to do..

So as most of you know, I've been participating in the 30 day blog challenge. Well, most of the others who participate have been keeping up. Me on the other hand, well I picked a bad month to try. We left for vacation after "Day 11" and I am just now sitting down to catch up. Instead of a bunch of separate blogs, I'll just combine them all into one.

So Day 12 is all about your biggest regret..

I'd have to say mine is not hanging out at my Aunts house just a little bit longer on July 15th, 2005. My brother had his 23rd birthday party up there and my whole family was there celebrating. Had I known this was the last day I would have seen my mom, I would have hung out a little bit longer. Instead, I left and went to her house to put the kids to bed. At least that was my excuse. The real reason I left was because I did not want to be around all the drinking that I knew was about to start. Now that I look back on it, I wish I would have hung out a little bit longer because that very next morning, she passed away. At my Aunts house. I felt so bad that I wasn't there, but everyone else was. I try to live my life with little to no regrets, but I still can't shake this one, not even 5 years later.

Day 13 talks about my ideal age.

I did not have the "best" childhood growing up. I wouldn't even say that I had good memories growing up so choosing a childhood age would not be in my personal best interest. I also had to grow up super quickly at the ripe old age of 16 because of poor decisions that I had made. I turned into a Mom on July 28th, 1997. I was only a child myself so I will not say that 16, 18 or even 21 were my best age. I've been pondering this for a few days now, because while I did not do my own blogging, I have been reading and wanted to come up with something that really worked for me. I think I will say the best age I've been so far is 28. My family completed itself at that age. I fell more and more in love with my husband and all my children at that age. I felt that my life was more settled. I can only hope that with each year that comes I will still feel this way, or even better.

Day 14 wants to know where it is I blog from.

Usually, it is from my couch, in the living room, in our "home" in Surprise, AZ. If you look back to my Mi Casa post you can see pictures of my house. This week though, I am coming to you live from Kennebunk Maine. God how I love Maine. If it were not for the snow in the winter and the humidity in the summer time, it would be the perfect place to live. Maybe I'll take pictures later and show you what my life in Kennebunk looks like.

Day 15 is all about my very own bucket list.

Have you ever seen that movie? If not, I highly recommend you watching it. One of the best movies that I have ever seen. Makes you think about life and all the things that you want to do before you pass away. I"ll keep my list fairly short, as there are a ton on it.. but here you go!

1. Kiss the Blarney Stone in Ireland
2. Drive a 69 Shelby GT500
3. Sit on the beaches of Turks and Caicos for a week, totally kid free
4. Go with my girlfriends on a cruise.
5. Pay for each of my children to go to whatever college they desire.

I know, that is not a lot, but those are the things that if I can accomplish in my life, will make me super happy!

Day 16 is a hard one for me. It is all about my worst habit. Now who exactly wants to admit their faults? I know I don't but all in good fun I guess I can share.

I think that my worst habit is picking at my face. Seriously, even if there isn't anything to pick at, I still do it. I have really fair skin so when I pick and poke it makes me all red and freaky looking. I really need to stop that.

Hmmmm... I guess that is it for this blog post. I'll post more later on how my vacation is going. I am having a really rough day and sent all 13 of my family members out to Carl's Aunts birthday dinner with out me. I think I am going to take some time to relax now. And catch up on some blogs that I have not been able to comment on.

Night all!!

Mi casa es su casa

Kind of anyways :-)

I don't have any pictures of my house with MY stuff in it, but the pictures I have will serve the purpose.

Here is the outside of my house from the front

Lovely, isn't she?

Here is the den and the dining room... looking at the front door from the kitchen




Ooops, here is the kitchen


Here are the stairs going up to the 2nd floor


Sorry, I don't have many pictures of the upstairs either. I'll get on that though.

Here is my view of the night time sky off of my bedroom deck!


Jealous huh?

Oh and here is half of my back yard. The other half currently houses an above ground pool!


***I can not wait until we buy our own house. Then we can decorate better and it'll feel like home. For now, it's a place to rest my head at the end of the day.

What is fear?

Day 10 talks about fears.

So, I guess I say to myself.. "Self - what are your greatest fears?"

I think my greatest fear is that my children will pass away before I do. No parent should have to live through their child leaving this planet before them. Parents are supposed to go first. It should be law.

Next to that is my fear of dying at the age of 44. We have a history in my family of women dying at 44. My Mother and Grandmother both died at that age. They both had 7 year old grandchildren when they passed away. My oldest son is old enough to have a 7 year old when I am 44. I hope he makes better decisions then I did and that I will "Beat the curse" and not die at 44. If I live to 45, I am going to have one heck of a party, and ya'll are invited.

My other big fear is water. After almost drowning when I was little, I've had a fear of water that is over my head. I am a baby. I know!

Wedding Challenge

So day 9's challenge was all about our wedding. I know I've blogged about my wedding before but I figure I can throw in a few more pictures!

We were married on May 6th, 2007 (5/6/7.. easy to remember) in Hudson, NH! There is a very old, little chapel there with a whole story behind it and we decided it was the best fit for us. After we had decided on it we told my MIL and she then informed me that it was the same place her and my FIL were married so that made it even more special.

The day was beautiful. It was in the upper 60's and very sunny. That was super welcomed as for the whole entire month before our wedding, it did nothing but rain. We were worried that the grounds would be wet, and muddy but we lucked out that things seemed to dry up and bloom just in time for the wedding.

The reception was in Hollis NH. Not the greatest place, but we had fun and that is all that matters! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.



Outside the Chapel


First kiss


My brother and I


Our amazing wedding party


The best friends we could ask for


So what, we were a little immature


We had a lot of fun


Go AJ, it's your birthday


Poor Joshua... embarassed as ever


Our boys were getting down with their bad selves

5 Question Friday

Today is also 5 Question Friday over at My Little Life. The rules are pretty simple. Copy and paste these question into your own blog, then link up here and go read everyone else's answers... Oh and have fun!


1. What is one food you could eat everyday?
Chicken. There are so many options with chicken and it is my absolute favorite thing on the planet... YUM!

2. Are you working in the career you thought you would be when you were 18?
In short, NO! When I was 18, I never would have guessed that I'd be a SAHM of four amazing little guys.

3. What is something that you wish you would have done when you were younger and you didn't?
College... like lived the total college life. I studied but wasn't into the whole dorm room thing, and college parties. *sigh*

4. What color are your kitchen walls?
A funky yellow! I want to change it

5. Do you remember what your very first favorite song was?
Ice Ice Baby..... Yeah, don't shoot me!

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you played and I'll go check out your answers too!

Romance Flomance

OK, so the challenge of the day over at Prenda LeStelle is all about romance. More specifically, What does romance mean to me??

I had a really hard time with this. I mean, I guess I could state the obvious and go with the old school "courting, chaperoned walks, sitting on the porch with iced tea and stealing kisses" (pretty much quoted from Edward Cullen by the way) but that just seems lame to me.

I could also go with the candlelit dinners and walking on the beach in the moonlight but that is also kind of lame to me.

So after giving it a little more thought, I think that romance is more about spending time with the one you love. Doing anything and everything possible. Romance can consist of holding hands when you are at the mall, or that little kiss on the cheek when you are cooking dinner together. Romance is also curling up in bed and watching Bones, or American Idol together. Anything really, that the two of us are together and enjoying each others company.

Romance doesn't have to be commercial. They make everything look so amazing on TV, or when you read a book. Actually true romance is totally different then that. Well, at least to me anyways. I dunno, maybe I am wrong? But my vision of romance is just knowing that I love my husband and that no matter what we do, or where we go.... he loves me!

Check back later. Day 9 is all about our wedding... I wish I had all my wedding pictures on here. I'll have to find them so I have a more detailed blog post!

Day 7 Adventure..... Senses galore

Ok, again I am a day late but the task of the day is the five senses. What are you doing with your five senses right now...

Hear ~ Swiper no Swiping.... anyone guess what I am listening to right now?


Touch ~ Hello laptop :-)


Taste ~ Don Francisco French Vanilla coffee.... Soooooo yummy


See ~ Again, hello Swiper no Swiping..... God I hate this show


Smell ~ Carpet powder... Having a house that is 95% carpet, smells never go away so we take stock in carpet powder. I smell EVERYTHING! And I super worry when people come over that it is smelly in here and I missed it. Hopefully one of my fabulous AZ friends would tell me if it smelt bad :-)


Now, onto day 8 in my next post!

Chef Jessie at your rescue

OK, so the day 6 theme is your favorite go to recipe... I have a couple so here you go!

The first one is a chicken corn chowder! I know it's hot in Arizona for chowder, but man oh man is it yummy!


Ingredients:
•2 tablespoons butter
•1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
•1/2 cup chopped onion
•2 ribs celery, sliced
•2 small carrots, sliced
•2 cups frozen corn kernels
•2 cans cream of potato soup
•1 1/2 cups chicken broth
•1 teaspoon dried dill weed
•1/2 cup half and half or evaporated milk
Preparation:
In a large skillet, melt the butter or margarine; brown chicken. Transfer chicken to slow cooker. Add onions and celery to skillet and sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes, until just tender. Add the onions and celery to crockpot, along with carrots, corn kernels, soup, chicken broth and dill to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 5 to 6 hours or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender. During the last 10 minutes, stir in the half and half or evaporated milk.

My second favorite recipe is a Hot Chicken Swirls appetizer...

Ingredients
2 tubes (8 ounces each) refrigerated reduced-fat crescent rolls
1 cup shredded cooked chicken breast
4 ounces fat-free cream cheese
1/4 cup reduced-fat ranch salad dressing
1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped sweet red pepper
2 green onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Louisiana-style hot sauce
Directions
Separate each tube of crescent dough into four rectangles; gently press perforations to seal. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; spread evenly over rectangles. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a short side; pinch seams to seal.
Cut each into eight slices; place cut side down on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 64 appetizers.

And with either of those options you could throw along a nice Frozen Strawberry Margarita!! :-). Wait, who am I kidding, you could throw along a frozen strawberry margarita with ANY meal!!!

Favorite vacation and holiday

Day 5 has us talking about our favorite vacation that we've been on. As well as our favorite holiday....

Because I don't have much time to blog, I"ll keep this simple.

My favorite vacation was our honeymoon. We went on a cruise out of Miami Florida. The boat stopped in Key West, Cozumel and Belize. While I thought Belize was a dump we had a lot of fun. I'll come back and post pictures soon.

As for holidays... I LOVE me some National Momma V Day! (Also known as September 15th). It's a holiday in my house!!

10 songs everyone should hear at least once...

Day four's challenge is one that I am finding myself loving! I am very much into music so this was really hard for me to chose only 10 songs that I think everyone should hear.... So in no particular order..

Evanescence – My Immortal
The Beatles – Let it Be
John Lennon – Imagine
Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb
Marvin Gaye - What's going on
The Beatles - Hey Jude
Buddy Holly - That'll be the day
Prince - Purple rain
The Eagles - Hotel California
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

Ok, I'm going to throw in another MJ song and say Thriller too!!!

What am I most proud of....

You've all seen this picture 100 times, but THIS is what I am most proud of..

A day in the of me

To keep it simple... This was my day on July 2nd, 2010

715 ~ Wakey Wakey Eggs and Bakey?

830 ~ Off to our planned play class.

915 ~ Planned play for 45 minutes.

1130 ~ Made it home FINALLY! Between planned play and shopping and getting my eyebrows waxed, it was a busy morning.

1145 ~ Subway for lunch.... sweet

1230 until 215 ~ Clean clean clean.... Auntie is coming and it's time to clean~

230 ~ Off to Sky Harbor... I feel like I live there lately

455 ~ I see Auntie.... Here she comes!

640 ~ Made it home, time for dinner.

730 ~ Clean up clean up....

845 ~ Upstairs to get Will ready for bed. It's been a LONG day!

1000~ Lights out for me.... It's been a long day!!

A 30 day challenge

So, here is peer pressure at it's finest. Well, Internet "bloggy" pressure anyways. I have always loved a challenge so here I go with the latest one... Vanessa put up a blog today about how she is joining this thing called a 30 Day Challenge. She had a link over to Prenda Le Stelle and she's pretty much telling me I should go do this too. So I figure why not. It will be fun to look back at this crazy month of July to see what I did, or thought or felt.

So today's assignment is for us to tell everyone single one of you about ourselves. This should be simple.... Maybe!

1. My name is Jessica. I hear my mother wanted to name me Jennifer but somebody talked her out of it. It wouldn't have mattered either way because there were at least 3 Jessica's and Jennifer's in my class at all times.

This is me ^^ (hey, it was my BFF's 30th b-day and I was designated carry the COACH lady. I had two of them at that point)

2. I married my best friend on May 06, 2007. His name is Carl. On most days I love him to the Moon and back. Days like today, well lets just say I wish his shift at work lasted 24 hours, haha!

^^ One of my favorite wedding pictures

3. We have FOUR (yes you read that correctly) amazingly handsome boys. As much as I thought I wanted a girl at one point, I would never trade any of them, for anything. These kids are going to keep me young.

^^here they are, taken in Feb of this year! Aren't they adorable?!?!

4. I don't have a TON of friends. I know a lot of great people and am becoming friendly with many more but I've been burned more times then I can count by supposed "friends". Lucky for me I have two BFF's of my own. One lives in NY. We'll call her KK!

^^ here we are together umm almost 2 years ago

and the other lives here in AZ. (I don't have a picture of the two of us together right now... need to work on that).

5. I am a HUGE fan of the Colts! Yes, the NFL team. I love love love football. On Sundays (and some Thur and Saturdays) you'll find me hanging out in front of the TV watching the games...


6. My son William has the cutest BFF in the whole world!

^^ enough said :-)

7. I miss my mother a TON! This month, on the 16th will be 5 years since she passed away. She never got to know my youngest son, or my niece Lily. They say it gets easier with time, but I am not so sure.

^^Here she is the night before she passed away. It really reminds you not to take ANYTHING for granted. And don't assume that someone will be here tomorrow, because my mom is living proof that that is not always the case.

OK, so there are a few things about me! I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds! I hope you enjoyed this posting!!