The Best Four Years

I feel like you never know what true love is until you look into the eyes of your child for the very first time. The moment takes your breath away and every piece of emotion sweeps over your body. Excitement, love, joy, happiness and fulfillment. A big piece of your heart will always be in their hands. They make you melt with one smile or one laugh. Their carefree ways force you to realize that life shouldn't be taken so seriously and to live a little. Appreciate the small things and don't let the little things bring you down.

Four years ago today Madison looked into my eyes, squeezed my finger and stole my heart forever. She is truly the love of my life. You can be married, you can have a partner or be dating someone but this love is a different kind of love. A love that is unexplainable until you experience it. They say becoming a parent is like having your heart walk outside of you forever. This couldn’t be anymore true.

 

 Madison is truly my best friend. Last week my mother wrote a part of my post describing her relationship with myself. The same goes for Madison and I. She is my little side kick. She is what keeps me going day after day. Her free spirit, willingness to do anything and her loving ways show me that she has a great future ahead. There is nothing in the world that I wouldn’t give her, show her or experience with her. She makes me smile and laugh and appreciate being a mother. I love her with all of my heart plus a million times more.

 

If you are a parent, you know exactly how I feel. Nothing can describe the feelings you have when you look at your child or children. There is nothing better in the entire universe then spending your life raising a child and seeing them grow up before your eyes. I get the lump in my throat and the tear in my eye every time I think about how big she is getting but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

If you are thinking about having a child or are too scared to take the leap because of the stories you have heard or you don’t think you are ready, take the leap! Just do it! Trust me, you will never ever regret it. No one is ever really ready. You have to jump in with both feet and know that everything will end up just fine. Everything happens for a reason and I believe God has a plan for all of us. Children are the best part of that plan.

Here a few more snapshots and a recap of Madison's 4th birthday party!

 

 

 

The Strawberry Shortcake Princess

 

 Madison's future husband, Cash. He has a MAJOR crush on her. So sweet
 

 My sister is a cake decorator, isn't she talented?!?!?

 

Time to dive in!
 

 My mother made these small delightful treats, yum!
 

 My favorite picture by far
 

 Future model? I think so!

Go out and be a kid!

Live life, enjoy the small things and laugh as much as possible!

You only have one life to live, make the most of it!

It's A Wrap!

Hey there! How was your weekend? I had an extremely eventful busy weekend! Lots of fun and fabulous things happened! I love Mondays because I get to share all of the great details!

The Good...Madison is turning four tomorrow (blog post to come tomorrow) and we threw her a big Strawberry Shortcake party to celebrate! Everything from the cake, decorations, presents and the arrival of her friend (Elf On The Shelf) Lucy it all turned out to be spectacular!

The Bad...Due to the planning, shopping, running around and stress of everything that I have been doing I have managed to lose 5 lbs. Most people would think this is great but when you hardly weigh anything to begin with it makes a huge difference, trust me I have heard it from everyone. It's not like I try to be skinny. It's in my jeans genes.

The Ugly...I decided to snag some dinner at my first place of employment, Edwards Drive In last night. I ordered a shrimp dinner for myself, hey what can I say I wanted something different. On the way home the shrimp began to fill the car with its fishy smell and caused my stomach to turn. Even though I love the taste of shrimp, driving in a car with it was not an experience I care to ever encounter again.

I am hoping that the rest of the week flies by and comes to an end soon. I mean my vacation IS right around the corner :) Have a great Monday loves!

Sex And The City Marries Facebook

A few days ago I sat in my car waiting on a stoplight to turn green and heard a story come across the radio station. I began to turn up the volume and listen in on the “breaking news” for women. The radio personalities started to describe a new app that had hit smart phones and was becoming very popular very fast, especially for the single ladies.

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Now I myself would never really see myself using this new app, Lulu. I find it judgmental and sometimes could be hurtful to the person the rating is about. I would never want someone to base their opinion of me off of the opinion of others. What others say about you is not always true.

This app is described for “reading and writing reviews on guys, sharing tips and having fun with your girlfriends.” Sounds positive right? Well I’ll let you be the judge of that.

As a woman, most all of us have had that one guy or handful of guys who have scarred us for life or at least for a little while. We have spent countless hours wishing we could inflict revenge and hurt upon them to make them feel exactly how we did when they broke our hearts and wasted our time.

Lulu allows you do to this in a subtle way, by letting you rate the men you have met, dated or had an encounter with. You rate their best and worst qualities from their looks, sense of humor or willingness to commit.

Lulu has a drop down menu that hash tags your opinions, the positive ranging from #RespectsWomen, #CallsOnTime or #EpicSmile to the negative such as #NoseHair #WonderingEye or #ManChild.

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Users are to use Facebook as their log in and it insures that it is for “ladies only”. You choose that you are female and the process begins. By using Facebook as your log in, it syncs to your friends list allowing you to see the male friends in your life that have been rated. All reviews are anonymous and the users are instructed to specify whether the person they are rating is a crush, ex, partner or a few other options.

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Once hearing about this app I logged on and found that thankfully hardly any of the guys in my life had been rated only because the app is so new I’m sure. At least that’s what I am hoping for. I don’t really want to find out like other women that a friend is described as #Boring #CheaperThanABigMac or has #NoGoals.

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With all of the newly designed apps and technology coming out it is getting harder for someone to maintain a well-balanced healthy reputation. The judgment of others seems to often get in the way and lead someone to believe false facts. Before all of this was accessible to us we would find out the hard way if a man was a cheater, liar or so called waste of time and effort. What happened to gaining knowledge and experience in the dating world and getting to know new people? Dating, breaking up and moving on is a teaching experience do we really need shortcuts?

This isn’t the first app that has crossed smart phones and ladies yes we have become victims too. The guys have the app Hot or Not and can sit around talking about hookups and past dates and rate us as well. This doesn’t mean that their opinion is 100% true or justifies that this is right.

In the end I find it a waste of time and I have learned that what others say, think or write about you is not always accurate. You have to remember everyone has an opinion and if you were in their shoes you might see things a bit differently. Who are we to constantly judge others? Who are we to base an opinion upon others encounters? We are not here to convince others that a person is cute, ugly, smart, dumb or anything else for that matter. Give everyone a chance, people change and girls can be catty if you think about it. Stay positive, put the smart phone down and take a chance on someone. They might have been someone else’s Mr. Wrong but could end up being your Mr. Right.

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What do you think of Lulu? Have you used it? Will you use it?

Leave me your comments!

Celebration Week: H54F

My favorite day of the work week is back! This has been a fabulous, fantastic, awesome great week to say the least! It's my birthday week and with Madison's birthday celebration on Sunday I have a lot to be excited for! I have received a lot of great presents and surprises and I am ever so grateful to the people who made this happen, you know who you are! I'm linking up with Lauren to bring you my High Five For Friday! Let's go!

 

1. Dinner and shopping with my mom was a blast! We ate at Johnny Carino's and polished off these two lovely drinks and then ate about 3000 worth of calories in salads, bread and my delicious dish, baked cheese tortellini! We shopped till we dropped and scored some major deals on clothes! I swear if we could have been on the TV show supermarket sweep we would have taken home the big bucks!

 

 

 

 
2. Having Madison help me open my gifts was the cutest thing! She gets SO excited over opening presents and showing me what she has kept a secret!.

 

 

3. My co-workers surprised me and bought donuts and cookies! What a wonderful surprise to know how loved and cared about you are!
 

 

 

 

4. The countdown has really began for our vacation! Only a few short days away and my toes will be planted in the sand!
 

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5. It looks like the weather might just be nice enough on Sunday for Madison’s party! I am thinking the 20% chance of rain just might hold off for us?!?!? Wishful thinking I guess! Either way, she will have a blast and that’s all that matters!

Are you celebrating anything this week? Anything you are looking forward to this weekend?

What’s making you smile on this wonderful day?

 

It's My Birthday!

I am in a awkward position given the fact that I have to work an 8 hour work day and take my little princess to dance class tonight. What happened to party all day, party all night, this is the life of a, the life of a go getta go getta? Okay excuse my mini break out dance session! (If you have never heard this song, I apologize now for the confusion).

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Anywhooo, I guess getting older isn’t too bad. I mean what’s wrong with more wrinkles, gray hair, memory loss and even more sag to the noticeable areas? Alright, maybe a little too extreme for 28 but hey I’m sure all of this will come with time. God bless my aching heart.

 

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So I figured I would take a different route with the blog and let my mother take over for the day. I mean who else knows me as well as she does, um no one. So without further ado here is my mom and her heartfelt words about me and for me. Grab the box of Kleenex because this one is a tearjerker. Okay at least for me it was :)

 

On this day 28 years ago, my life began. Before, my life had no meaning, no purpose but then I was blessed with a blue eyed, blonde haired little girl. Oh how did my life change. I finally knew what true love was. Little did I know at the time but that little baby would be my savior and my rock and eventually my best friend. I would have never gotten through some difficult times in my life without Brooke. She is what kept me going and gave me a purpose to my life. Over the years, I have watched her go from a baby to a 5 year old going on 28 in 2 point 5 seconds. She was always older than her age, maybe because I treated her more as a friend than a daughter. She was my little side kick. We were always together and I was lucky enough to be a stay at home mom so I was able to volunteer at school to still be with her.  I wouldn't change a single thing about my life after having Brooke. I have 3 other children, Crystal, Daniel and Brian. Brooke wanted to be mom to them. She always wanted to help take care of them. My youngest, Brian was born with complications and Brooke was with me at the hospital the entire 9 days right by my side helping me keep it together. She wouldn't leave the hospital until Brian could come home. She has such a big heart. I don't think she realized at the time how much her being there meant to me. Of course, most 15 year olds wouldn't. She has made me so proud throughout life and continues to do so. She has now made me a grandmother and watching her be a mom is such a blessing. I see her with her daughter and see the friendship they are building with one another. I can only hope they will be as close as we were and are. She has grown up into a young woman that would do anything for anybody. I am so proud of her and so thankful to God for bringing her into my life. She is one of the 4 chambers of my heart and without each one, my heart would not be whole. I love you Brooke with all my heart. Happy Birthday!!!

 

Isn't she the sweetest? I promise I didn't pay her to write this :)

Well I am off to stuff my face with donuts, cupcakes, cake, chocolate, wine and anything else I can get my hands on. What can I say I'm partying, CAUSE IT'S MY BIRTHDAY. Okay not really, I will be a busy little bee and be in bed by 10. Isn't getting old so much fun? I will expect all deliveries to arrive in the mail by the end of the day :)

 

Happy Thursday!

Target, Victoria's Secret & Johnny Carino's Oh My!

Hey you! Thanks for stopping by again! I appreciate you and love to hear your comments and thoughts so please leave me one, they make my day!

Along with loving you, I am also loving all of these wonderful things!

I'm Loving...Johnny Carino's! My mom and I celebrated my birthday a few days early with some great food and drinks (more to come Friday) and this delicious bread with their special olive oil dip!

I'm Loving...The fact that Madison steals my cell phone and takes random selfies of herself. This was her latest one that I didn't find until a day later. She must have been REALLY mad at me for something. (She has had a rough week with the bedtime routine so she might be seeing me as the enemy right about now). Such a tough little life she has :)

 

 

I'm Loving...Target! I mean who doesn't? I love when you aren't even looking for a deal and one pops up right in front of you! A bathing suit for $17! Score!

 

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I'm Loving...Victoria's Secret new body mist "Fabulous".  I don't like overpowering perfumes so I tend to stick with the body mists and this one is a winner! It smells delicious and with a gift card that I previously had I was able to score a full size bottle! I am looking forward to smelling this scent every day!

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I'm Loving...My new jewelry from Old Navy! Who would of thought Old Navy would now sell cute accessories besides flip flops and hand bags! Of course I am obsessed with anything black so it came at no surprise that I purchased these two little pieces of cuteness! You can't tell from the picture but the earrings are actually in knot shapes!

I'm Loving...My mom. As usual. It comes to no surprise that she is my bff. I can always count on her to cheer me up, guide me in the right direction and to lend a helping hand at any given point. We have spent a lot of time together in the last couple of days and I am enjoying it.

I'm Loving...that tomorrow my birthday is tomorrow and I may or may not be doing a dance quite similar to this one! Who's down to party/dance/celebrate with me?

I have a ton of Pinterest items to share but that will have to wait for another rainy day!
I mean we all know how much we are all addicted to Pinterest! I have pinned a lot of great DIY projects and fashionista pins as well!
Be sure to follow me on Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for daily updates!
Happy Hump Day!