the "interest" bug

I went to check our online savings account and saw we had $4.21 interest this month. I found this to be VERY thrilling. Our interest rate is a measely 1.1% (although thats better than most money market accounts right now, so I shouldn't complain). HOWEVER, I thought to myself "hmmm, self, what if we had 10 times what we have in there right now? Our interest would be over $40.00 a month." That would be pretty neat. Then I said (quietly in my brain again) "Self, what if we had 100 times that in our savings account? That would be over $400 a month!" Sweet! Then for that last time I said "SELF! WHAT IF WE HAD 1000 TIMES THIS IN OUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT?? (or one day mutual funds etc etc) WE WOULD BE MAKING OVER FOUR GRAND A MONTH IN INTEREST!!" WOWZA!! Thats like one persons income! eek! and this is all based on a truly sad interest rate compared to what you can do if you invest in good mutual funds!! So, yes, I knew how interest worked and such but when I saw it, it just got me really excited for just saving saving saving! Who knew saving money could be such a BLAST?! I highly recommend it! I totally plan on doing a much more personal blog, but I just wanted to share my glee with everyone. haha :)

Ya-ya-ya-ya-Yoga

wow. So I've done the P90X Yoga X before, but I only did the first 45 minutes. I did the whole thing this time and LOVED it. And I love how I feel after. When you read article about Jennifer Aniston keeping her body awesome or Giselle Bundchen talking about getting her pre-baby body back they claim they they do Yoga. Honestly until today I thought that was a crock, but after 90 minutes of that (and if you did it often) it's totally plausible. I really enjoyed it. I was a little hesitant to spend 90 precious minutes of naptime doing it, but now I'm looking forward to it a week from now. I'm only on Day 4 of P90X, but I'm very determined to go much further than last time. I only made to Day 25 or so. I now have 86 to go. Kind of a bumer that I stopped doing it when I did because at 3 weeks I was just noticing a difference in how toned I felt. I'm looking forward to getting to that point again.

It's all about balance. Being a mom of 3 is tough. Toss in exercise, helping run a business, cleaning, sometimes transcripts and all those other little things us girls like to do such as a devotion, bikini wax (yes, I do my own at home; $6 dollars, ladies - completely worth it), read a good book, blog, catch up with a friend, make a pie, reorganize something, plan an event (seems like there is one every time I turn around), take an UNINTERRUPTED shower etc. etc.

So I would def. recommend trying it if you haven't! Have a great weekend!

Chipotle, Tokbox & Loofahs...Did I get it all?

I have been wanting to sit down and blog for a few days now, but I like to blog when I can upload some pictures, too. To give all of you visual representation of all my fairytales, horror stories or just mundane life. One thing I've been really wanting to blog about is cooking. Since we moved in with my parents, I haven't done hardly any decent cooking and I MISS IT! So, I've been on a cooking spree and I cook in anyone's kitchen that will let me! Last Friday I grilled us up some steaks, they were about medium-well. I was shooting for at least medium...oh well. I put together a wedge salad. I'm dying to know how to do a vinaigrette reduction like Outback does with their wedge, but I haven't learned yet. I also did roasted artichokes and whipped up a chipotle mayo dip.



So in the pics you can see the can I used for the dip, this chipotle can also be whipped into sour cream for tacos or on chili or even in a ranch for a chipotle ranch for a santa fe type salad. I'm looking forward to experimenting with it! I'm learning tons of new things while gooking with either Gary or Kathryn and I'm soaking up every bit!

So last week Josh had the week off and we picked up 13 new accounts. Our business has really had a snowball effect and it's been amazing. It's really growing which it couldn't be happening at a better time as we are trying sock more and more money away for a house and thngs the house is going to need once we get it. We have a saavings goal we are trying to hit by the end of July and we are over half way there with $4500 left to go, then we'll set a new goal. Baby steps. I made a huge poster with a meter so I can look at it everyday. Everytime I'm tempted to buy something I am going to come home and write on the sides of the poster all of the things I passed up for the greater good! LOL

Matt left last Thursday and we have tokboxed with a him a few times. The kids thought it was so cool. We soooo take technology for granted, sometimes. I am so glad the kids can still talk to Uncle Matt and visa versa.

I cut handsome's hair.

It's stinkin adorable! It was time. It was so long it was gettin in his eyeballs. Now he's the spitting image of his daddy, which of course melts my heart. I love it.


I started P90X yesterday. 1 down 89 to go. ugh. I'm SUPER sore cuz I havent done it in over a month, so sad. BUT I have been feeling VERY out of shape and that drives me nuts, so it's back to killin myself again. Naptimes have become very crazy. The second the kids are asleep. I am hammering out transcripts for the mother in law. She has been the Court Reporter for some of the GM arbitrations. Very interesting and I love being able to make good $$$ at home! Such a blessing!!
Now I'm trying to squeeze in a workout then shower and maybe a blog. Just depends on how quick I can MOVE. Clearly you can see the blog rarely makes the cut!

So Father's Day was awesome! Woke up and I ade omelets for everyone. Healthy ones from the P90X cook book. Then Holley and I met up with our dad and got to fill him in on stuff. I miss my dad. Then when we got home, Josh took the kids in the pool.


And then later we did dinner at Lauren & MommaKat's (Josh's dad & his wife). I brought my strawberry rhubarb pie!

We did gifts for Josh at different times during the day so...
7 am - new tumbler he can put the kids pics in
9 am - New button up Hurley Shirt
12 pm - Noodles for the pool
3 pm - His favorite pens for doing quotes
5 pm - A coupon for his favorite rib dinner
7 pm - A sweet treat, A cup filled with some of his favorite cand bars
9 pm - A loofah. He loves them and he's not ashamed. LOL

We're house hunting in Corona. We put our first offer in last night and looked at a few other homes. That's all the news on that for now.

I honestly hate doing these catch up blogs bc it doesnt leave me time and space to embellish on one subject. I will try to stay on top of it so you can enjoy my creative juices at their finest!

Ciao

In honor of now having 10 followers

...and the fact that the kids are still napping I will do a questionnaire. Enjoy!
Which coffee flavor are you?
I am definitely a dark bold roast. True coffee drinkers get me & love me, but I can add enough cream & sugar for others to enjoy me too :)

Which of your friends can you see together as a couple?Hmmm...most of our friends are already married or in a relationship soooo not sure on that one.

Which popular sitcom character are you closest to?
Kristina Braverman on Parenthood...I know its not a sitcom but its all I got. LOL

Which has been your happiest moment in life?
The instant I became a mom, hands down.

If told that this is your last day on earth, how would you spend it?
In Hawaii with Josh and the kids on the beach just being with each other.

If you were granted three wishes, what would you ask for?
1. Perfect body
2. $10 million- some to spend, some to save and some to bless others with
3. a new President.

Name one annoying habit of any of your friends’, which you would really like to change! I wouldn't, sometimes the annoying things about people make them who they are and you just gotta roll with the punches and love people for who they are. If you knitpick people, you'll find EVERYONE annoying cuz trust me, we all are in our own ways! LOL

Name one quality that you absolutely adore in your friends.
I adore that my closest girlfriends are good hearted, loving people. 3 of them come to mind and they all share very similar qualities. They are always kind and compassionate. They take the high road. They love their families. They dont gossip about their other friends. They are always there to lend an ear and practical, positive advice. I truly am blessed to have such amazing friends.

What has been your best-kept secret till date?hmmm...any secret I'm keeping is probably a 10 on the embarrassing chart so we'll probably keep it to ourselves for the time being...LOL

Which is the best vacation you’ve ever had in your life?Maui with Josh in 2008. It was COMPLETELY paid for. The food was PHENOMENAL. It was so great to have our hard work pay off to that degree! It was BEYOND AMAZING!

Has a case of the giggles =)

Soooo, my night was good, but then got a little glum, and then after a pep talk with the husband and the seester I had a full case of the giggles come about. She's been texting her new beau and she looked up and asked me "what's something random about me?" Being the compassionate loving sister I am, I could only think of hilariously royally embarrassing things to say which led us down memory lane that was full of small dogs, the hazards of walking and other lovely unpleasantries. Then we had contest between the 3 of us of who could have the deepest voiced and Holley once again marveled at my ability to sound like an african american male. She decided she would practice. At this point in the blog I would kill to be able to insert a voicenote of her not so cute low note. Hilarious just the same! We then started in our repeating lines from our favorite movie 'Spaceballs' which led to me buying it for a grand total of .99 cents on amazon! Happy early birthday present for me! Ah, but anyhow, I love those nights you just get on a roll and have a great laugh.

Matt left today. He made it safe and we have a family tokbox date tonight. I'm so excited for him! He really did find a great job and it's perfect for him. Don't get me wrong tho, I'm gonna keep my eyes peeled for an even better one her...LOL. Glad we got to have lunch with him right before he headed out.

Job sitch: Josh has had the week off and even tho he KILLED it in windows, he's staying put at GM until we are in a house.
House sitch: After withdrawing from 2 offers, we're back on the prowl. That's all the info I can divulge for now cuz it's all I got!
Kid Sitch: They're Awesome. Best kids ever. Got some new pics of Levi wolfin down doughnut. Cant wait to put those up. He was in heaven! LOL

Now were watching Man vs Food and they are showing places in San Diego. Um, thats totally doable! When we go on our Harrah's vacay down there we now have a list of AMAZING places to eat at!

Best Cookies from the WORST cook.

Dont worry, I already warned my mother in law I would be naming my blog this. Ha! Let's see, this weekend Uncle Matt came over and set up our web cam so we can stay in touch even more so! That was pretty cool. >


Later, Josh, me, Matt, Nate & Erin went out Friday to Fred's in HB. (My husband is hot even when brushing his teeth. Hehe)
We had a BLAST! We just walked on the pier and goofed off.

Saturday was our 5 year anniversary but we are both so exhausted and busy that we took a vote and unanimously decided to put off the Anniversary celebration until perhaps this weekend. We did, however, go over to Linda's and I made Acapulco Delight. I got the recipe from my nana, not sure where she got it, but it would be similar to a Mexican Casserole. I just went to google to see if I could find a pic, cuz I didn't take one but they have the exact recipe on http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/1119/Acapulco-Delight109326.shtml. I omitted the olives bc, well, olives are heinous and you shouldn't eat them. I also used a large can of refried beans as opposed to the smaller on and I did not use the taco seasoning, I mixed about 1.5 cups of salsa (whatever is your favorite) to give it flavor. I find packeted taco seasoning to be way too salty. So there you have it!

Sunday was Matt's going away party. ::Sigh:: We had a great time and had lots of great people who brought lots of great food. My mother in law, who I often tease about her horrendous cooking skills, has mastered the chocolate chip cookie. It is ridiculous how good they are. Between marrying Gary who couldn't screw up a meal if he tried and has made some of the best homemade dishes I've ever had and giving Mrs. Fields a run for her money, I'd say she done good by me! Thank you to everyone who participated! During the course of the evening I was attacked by a killer rose bush in the front yard, but as you can see I lived to tell about it. I topped my Sunday off with going to get a green tea with my bestest, Melina. So much has been going on and it was awesome so just be able to decompress all the craziness of the past few weeks! I <3 her and I'm so thankful for friends who are accepting of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Playing catch up!

It's been way too long since I've blogged and I've wanted to, but the time I get to do it (nap time or night time) I've either been gone or home and proofreading transcripts for the MIL. I LOVE LOVE LOVE doing it. I get to bring in a good little chunk of change while being at home with the pooks, plus it's quite stimulating for my brain. Testimony from very well-educated people. There are some seriously cool careers out there that you don't really think about when your younger pondering what you wanna be when you grow up. Anyhow, that's been consuming my blog time.

Lots has been going on and lots is still up in the air, so were not gonna touch on "lots" until it's all settled bc before the words leave my fingers, "lots" will change again. Lots = house sitch/job sitch.

Glad to report no more hate mail has rolled in. LOL. Sad to report Matt is still moving to AZ. Not as sad as I was, but definitely still bummed. I'm viewing this as a temporary situation and hopefully he'll move HOME in a few short years. Life lately reminds of when me and Justine used to be really into boogie boarding. We LOVED boogie boarding. With boogie boarding the waves just keep rolling in. They NEVER stop. Some waves you can ride, some pass you by with little to no impact and some swallow you up and pound you into the sand so hard you don't know which way is up. I see life very much the same way. We always have new waves rolling in. Uncle Matt moving is just another wave of life, but it'll pass and we're already looking forward to taking road trips to go see him.

In fashion news, I have gotten some great finds this week! I found the "one" and Nana got it for me for my birthday! I LOVE this swimmy. The top is reversible and it looks super cute on. Plus, I'm pretty patriotic and my birthday falls 2 days of 4the of July. I'd say we found ourselves a WINNER.

The stars and stripes never looked so good!

Next find were some totally awesome sandals. I have been dying to get cute sandals I can dress up or down and after making it past the mall cop at Ross I found theses beauts!


So funny, cuz I walked to Marshalls after I snuck these past Loss Prevention and saw the blue ones at Marshalls for a whopping $7 more. Well, shoot, I could have stole them from Marshall's instead without the hassle of Captain Planet saving the world one petty thief at a time. BUT - the Marshalls pair were missing rhinestones. So I came out the winner on that one! Hooray!
(disclaimer: I didnt actually steal these, just razzin my good ole buddy jerk Keith at Ross there)

Madison has spent the last few days with cousin Rachel! She is having a blast, but little Miss Haylie has missed her a lot (not gonna lie, mommy has too!), but we've been spoiling Haylie with ice cream and letting her sleep with us. It's been fun having my 2 babies to play with. Then as soon as we pick up Madison both girls are off to Papa & Yi's house for the night and Levi is staying with Grammy & Papa. Were heading down to HB for dinner with Nate, Erin & Matt. Just trying to get lots of family time in before Matt goes. I am very much anticipating the mahi mahi tacos at FRED's. The B.E.S.T.

And then tomorrowwwwww is 5 YEARS for Josh and I. Kind of excited about that...EEK! Talking about Josh and being married to him is whole new blog so be looking forward to that...hopefully I can squeeze in tomorrow!

almost positive even numbers are out to get me

It's true. Odd numbers are my friend and even numbers are my archnemesis. Welcome to June, month SIX in 2010. I was married in an odd year 05, all my kids were born in odd years; 05, 07, 09. I graduated in an odd year, 03. started our business in 09, paid off our debt in 09. Now it's true, my life has not seen too much tragedy, but it has had its fair share of hardship and I would put money on the peaks of hardships lay in the even years. SO I can't say I lost dear aunt Mable in 2008, cuz well, those statistics just dont exist, but I have had this theory for awhile and it pretty much ALWAYS pans out. Call me crazy, but I believe. Just in this months alone, the whole 3 days it's existed have been UGLY. Not even a hint of good news, just more and more bleh. I can't say "bad news" because for some my bad news is their good news. Example: Brother-in-law, Uncle, Bestie, Brother, confidant, pal, muchacho, amigo whatever you wanna call him, is moving to AZ. Where is the "I flippen hate this" button when you need it? I'm really trying to limit my complaining because I really dont want to be selfish and whiny, but I'm very displeased with this. Also on this fine day in month SIX, realized someone hit our car and didnt leave a note. Thanks, Jerk. Received an e-mail that was very unpleasant from a very disturbed individual that was just hate-filled. I'm a fixer, but I can't even begin to fix people on the crazy train that refuse to get off and live in reality. We should send the crazies to Crazy-Island where Spencer Pratt reigns and reality is whatever is in your head in that moment and you spew it out as you please.

You know what the major bummer is? I was stoked for June. STOKED. And, June, well, you have just let me down BIG TIME. Timeout for you! Can we just skip to July, MONTH SEVEN! YESSS! There is light at the end of the tunnel!