I ain't no quitter...

...however, I am also not a 'juicer'. My last sips of my lunch juice were pure torture to get down my throat. I don't know how anyone does that for 10 days, let alone some 30 or 60. BLEH! So I took my juicer back to Target and had me some Gina's Pizza then headed to Disneyland with the family. That sounded way more appealing than choking down one more of those heinous drinks and feeling like I could kill someone at any given second. I. Needed. Coffee. Yep, I'm weak and addicted to food. Oh well, at least I'm honest.

I am definitely feeling challenged to start cooking healthier meals for the family, although when I cook, they are pretty decent. I use lots of ground turkey and we eat poultry and veggies, but I want to fins a cookbook with healthy recipes for kids that I sneak some micronutrients into stuff that tastes good to them. My little Levi is hooked on Almond Milk and will hardly touch the regular stuff. My girls will drink it, too, but don't care either way.

In other bits of news, Madison's first week of school was awesome. She loves it and I LOVE that it's only 3 days a week.

We also bought a truck this weekend. Hooray! We've been sharing one vehicle for almost 3 years. It's been rough. We named her 'Ruby' and she's Fab.

That's it for today. Ignore my last post. That was very impulsive. Usually, I'm very aware of my limitations, clearly I was a little overzealous. We're just gonna pretend it never happened. Back to my cup of coffee. G'night! xoxo

Juicing, Day 1

I was going to do a post leading into today, but I didn't have time so here we are on Day 1 of juicing. Our Pastor let us borrow his documentary called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead." Pretty self-explanatory, right? Check out the link to hear more about Joe's story. I decided that I would like to do the 10 Day Juice fast. Not so much for the purposes of weight loss (although I wont complain if I lose a few), but more just to reboot my system and do a cleanse. The juice isn't as heinous and I was anticipating it was going to be and I'm just about finished with my morning glass. I already miss coffee that's for sure. Feels good knowing I'm putting some super healthy nutrients into my body tho. It's probably going to go into shock. I bought the Juiceman Juicer at Target last night. It looks like this:

The recipe for the juice is:

1 cucumber

6 Kale leaves

1/2 a lemon

4 celery stalks

2 green apples

1 piece of ginger

Bottom's up!

Folder Fanatic

Over the last couple of years I have developed this fondness for folders. Pretty folders, psychadelic folders, functional folders, etc. You know what I'm talking about?? A lot of times you can get a pack of 3 in the $1 section at Target. I use them for alllll sorts of things. For example, when were getting ready to go see our tax lady I had all our business/tax info all organized in a pretty little folder, I have one going for my sister's bridal shower, Madison's school stuff, etc. I usually write on the tabs in pencil so when I'm done needing a space for relevant papers I can erase and go onto the next project/idea/paperwork/whatever! Anywho, was picking up some more back to school stuff for M yesterday and I was in folder fantasyland! I don't typically buy the type of folder that opens and has pockets and no tab, HOWEVER, I fell in love and they are a poly type material which is WAY more durable. I just had to have them, take a picture of them and share them with you here!

i LOVE cute office supplies! any other funky folder fans out there??

I also picked up a cute new calendar. Levi mistook my other for his doodle pad -_- shucks, darn had to buy a new one, with flowers on it =] I also bought new pens to along with. We have so much going on on our calendar I like to use colored pens to decipher between all the activity at a glance! I started using this system when I was busy with Creative Memories, we'd use colored dots. I prefer my pastel pens.

My color code is as follows (I know you are DYING to know):

Black: Commercial Appts

Green: Residential Appts.

Pink: Personal Appts

Blue: Church Functions

Purple: Special Days (Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc.)

It just makes it easier to tell what is going on where instead of all these different things being written in black. The husband is good about using his phone, I'm old school. I need to see it and write it down.

It gave me warm fuzzies to share all this with you! Deep down I am part nerd, for sure.

Money Matters Monday

Anyone that knows me or has a read a few of my blogs will quickly find that Finances is one of my favoriteeee subjects, contrary to a lot of folks! I love to talk about spending money, saving money, couponing, great products for a great price, debt, investing, etc. SO - I've decided to start Money Matters Monday that will keep you updated on our personal financial journey and anything else that remotely has to do with money!

Now that you are dialed in, on with our first post!

1. My girlfriend, Erika, and I were at Nordstrom Rack last week and they were having some KILLER deals. I bought a cream babydoll blouse, regular $56 - I paid 8.70. I bought a couple of other things and one of those was a last minute impulse buy that I have been beyond thrilled with. As I was waiting in line to check out there was a display of compacts. I was out of mine and had been for quite some time, I was half-masked every time I left the house. This as allll about to change. It was a brand I didn't recognize and I didnt have time to check it was the best color for my frosty white skin, but nevertheless I grabbed one in the shade 'Laurel Nude' and checked out. Being over a week into using it I can confirm I am 110% satisfied with my $10 purchase of a Palladio compact.

I just don't have $25 to spend on a compact, $10 is my kinda price. I love how it's light, but not too light that it doesn't keep my face looking smooth and good all day. I went to an August wedding on Saturday and by 11:30pm when I got home, my makeup still looked good, usually it's halfway down my face and I look like the joker. If you're in the market to try some new cosmetics I would highly recommend checking them out. If you click on 'Palladio', you can learn more about their products.

2. We've been looking to reach an income goal for the month for the past couple of months and we've come with just a few hundred dollars of each month! Hopefully August is the month we blast through that ceiling! So important to set goals for yourself and write them down so you stay focused and intentional!

That's all I've got for you on money this Monday, hopeful by next Monday we'll have more developments in the paying off of the student loan! woo!

Weekend Recap: Harvest Crusades and a wedding!

This weekend was jam-packed! I'm going to try and get in as much detail and pcs as possible without spending a kajillion years on here! So friday night we had quite the crew and headed to Five Guys, a new favorite, and then to the Harvest Crusade at Angel Stadium. Our church got involved this year and I was privileged to be the church coordinator for our church aka the go between and bring the info to get our church involved and pumped. So grateful to the people who stepped and volunteered and also to those who have been praying! Kutless, David Crowder Band and Crystal Lewis all performed, it was an unbelievable time of worship. Friday there were 3045 professions of faith! To God be the Glory!

Here's a pic of me and the girls, we're missing Kristy. She was a lifesaver this weekend!

On Saturday, we attended Josh's cousin's wedding. I had a great time getting ready with Haylie. Even though, they stayed with Nana, Haylie and I still primped together. I truly LOVE having daughters. They are just the most precious little people to be around. Love how pure and innocent they are. Their girliness is the cutest thing EVER.

Madison and I also found time to goof off in the car. LOL




The wedding was held in Yorba Linda, but the reception was at the Queen Mary. I had never been there before so I was pretty stoked! The food was pretty good and the bride and groom are pretty entertaining so it was a lot of fun! So excited for them, congrats Jason and Marie! Bummed I didn't get a shot of them, but hopefully I can snag one from someone else later.




And then there was today, Sunday. It was simply amazing. God did his thang. Broke people's hearts. Pastor Charlie knows how to bring it. He lays down the truth, but always in love. So much healing and forgiveness happened today. I can't thank the Lord enough for what he's doing.

Only down side to church was my little Madison got whacked in the face by a ruler, fortunately it didn't hit her eyeball. Ay, kids.


Tonight we went to the crusade again. Over 4000 people made professions of faith. Loved being more apart of the crusade this year, such a blessing.

I have so many deep thoughts from this weekend, but I'll save those for another post! Lookin forward to everyone else's weekend recaps!

10 things that made me happy this week

1. Our growing group for the crusade!

2. My gf Cassandra bringing me a whole bag of Jose's coffee!

3. Diamond Studded Linings

4. Meeting with my mentor.

5. New 8 o'clock bedtimes for the kids. For some reason I though it was child abuse to put them to bed before like 9. Glad that was cleared up.

6. Prayer Night - Every word spoke was for me. Psalm 34

7. Reading a Proverbs a day. I'm on day 11 and so far it's all about using wisdom, seeking wisdom, wisdom wisdom wisdom. I love it, I def need those daily reminders to do things God's way and not my own way.

8. $1750 to the student loan and its under 20k!!!

9. Watching my kids kiss & hug and not try and kill each other.

10. Cleaning the carpets in 2 rooms. LOVE clean carpet!!! best part is that Josh and I did it together. Love being married to my best friend. God couldn't have possibly given me a better partner to go thru life with!

Wednesdayness

Today's post is brought to you by Chick-fil-A wi-fi!

Chick-fil-A just added a new item to their breakfast menu: Oatmeal!! Yum! I had it for the first time this morning and quite enjoyed it. I usually do not care for oatmeal other than the stuff I make at home, but I thought this was pretty good and will def be ordering again. Sidenote: Why did the people with the extremely unhappy baby have to pick the only table behind the girl working on a laptop when the restaurant is completely empty?? Come on, people. I'm moving, brb.

Ok, I'm back. I don't know about you, but being smack dab in the middle of the summer hasn't exactly made me excited about cooking. So I got this dandy idea to start cooking in bulk when I do cook. So last week I made 4 lasagnas and froze them. It was my first attempt at lasagna and it was pretty good. My friend Cassandra gave me lots of tips, she makes a PHENOMENAL lasagna. I think next time I'll add a leeetle more sauce, but other that it was pretty good.

This has been an interesting time in my life. God is stretching me and growing me. It's been very humbling. I was telling my husband, I feel so weak at times, but I know that God's strength is totally carrying me. The Lord has just surrounded us with so many people that are encouraging, that are praying and also sharing so much wisdom with us, especially when it comes to marriage and raising kids. It's been such a blessing. Even the new blogs I have been following have been blessings. I LOVE hearing about other's homeschooling experiences and also about their faith in Christ and adventures with their husbands and/or family. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

Just got a call from a new customer while I'm sitting at cfa...lol. I'm good on the phone, but sometimes I get so frazzled. Kids screamin and I'm trying to sound professional while I'm violently shooing children off! haha. God has definitely continued to abundantly bless Pristine Solutions. I can remember exactly where I was at when God put it on my heart that we should start our own business. We had NO CLUE what to even do and it all felt so overwhelming to me!! Now here we are 3 years later running our own business full time! Proverbs 16:9 says 'In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.' True Story.

The Harvest Crusades are this weekend! Be praying for those that don't know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior that they would hear the gospel and and come into a relationship with their Creator. I bawl every year at the crusades. Tears of joy!! Joy that those people are someone's answered prayer and they are now going to spend eternity in heaven. It's an experience like no other.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week!!

Good news bear

Not gonna lie it's been a rough 2 weeks, but this is a blog focused on the blessings of the last week.

Just put another $800 towards the student loan! yay!

Garage sale tomorrow and all that is going to the student loan!

Saw a loan officer to get a forecast on 'Home Buying 2012' and it was good! Yes, its a club, feel free to join.

Lot's of good news for people around me =]

The Lord is at work so much in our family!

Harvest Crusade is right around the corner!

Our business is still booming, I give ALL the credit to the Lord.

Definitely going up the mountain has been rough, but I have linked arms with some amazing girls who have poured out love, support and godly counsel. These are the things that friendships that last a lifetime are built on.

The girls are swimming like crazy, LOVE LOVE LOVE watching them swim! Seeing them work towards a goal and accomplish it has been EASILY one of the most joyful moments in life thus far. I'm so absurdly proud of them!!

My husband - he is always a joy. I am blessed.

Spent time with other family.

Mr. Handsome is more handsome than ever. He's talking so much and he is so cuddly. He will grab my face and plant a kiss right on my lips and hold it there. Priceless.

There truly were so many little blessings throughout the week. Too many to mention and some to personal to mention. God is so good. I will praise him in this storm.