Grand Bethel Time!

Well its that weekend once more. The last full weekend of June every year all the Job's Daughters of California get together in Visalia and hold our annual convention called Grand Bethel. It is held from Thursday to Sunday. Thursday and Saturday nights are formal, while all of Friday we wear what are called "look-a-likes." This year our Bethel just decided on a fabric and each person made there own skirt or dress as they liked. Its always fun looking at all the different kinds of faberics and picking out each Bethel in the convention center. To give you a brief run down of our itinerary this weekend: we left for Visalia at about 9am on Thursday and arrived about 1pm. We made our first stop at the convention center to drop off arts and crafts and check in. Then we checked into the hotel, got set up, napped, etc. Alyssa and I were crazy enough to just start excercising and me, being really out of shape, over did it and made my thigh muscles so tight it hurt to stand and sit all of Friday! Thursday night was opening session and I got to wear my big purple poofy cupcake dress. Friday was LONG! We had morning session, breaked for lunch, directly after lunch was the necrology ceremony (honoring all those involved with Jobies who had passed away in the past year.) Then was drill team competitions and more business and stuff. Break for dinner and we went to Mimi's Cafe (YUMMY!).

Super Exciting News!

I am super excited! You ready? So I finally was able to get a car peoples! I recently gained access to a "trust fund" set up when I was a baby. Originally it was supposed to all go to school but I wanted to finally spend some money on myself and something that I have wanted for a long time. This is my baby! She is a silver 1999, 35th anniversary Ford Mustang Coup.

She needs a few minor things fixed but in general just some good TLC. Anyhow, I just wanted to share my bit of excitement with you guys! Huge Interwebbie hugs from me to you! :)

Christian's First Birthday

This past weekend I got to go up to Pleasnton for Christian's First Birthday party. It was a Hawian Luau themed party. It was really exciting because the weekend turned out to be a mini family reunion. We had three generations of our familyt there and I got to meet my cousin Kevin's kids for the first time. (His oldest is almost nine, thats how long it has been!) Here is the big birthday boy!

Unfortunatly he was fussy all day long and didn't want to be held or picked up by anyone who wasn't mom, dad or grandparent. But it was pretty funny watching him try and throw a nerf ball that was almost as tall as he is. My cousin Ursula made him his own little cake and he was hesitant and didn't know what to do at first and finally just started grabbing at the cake and the frosting. He was so covered in blue frosting we were cracking jokes that he had turned into a smurf. Little tip I found out at his party, baby's like playing with the tissue paper more that what comes wrapped up inside it! After his party my cousin Kevin, his kids and parents and my mother, sister and I went to the Denny's by our hotel and just caught up. It was really amazing to see all of us in one place and actually feel like a family. (side note there was a huge accident by the Denny's!) Then spent "cousin time" with Kevin watching Wild Wild West in our hotel room. Now we have all come together and decided on the planning of a legit family reunion in August 2014 at Montery Bay! Woop! Super excited :) I have to say I was pretty proud of myself that I drove at least 70% of the trip and did a darn good job at it! But I really hate that long 2-lane stretch of the I-5 that just goes through the middle of no where. SNOOZE-FEST!!! Another long weekend over with and time for some good sleep recovery! Goodnight world!

(From left to right: my aunt Linda and Uncle Arnie, the super tall guy is there son Kevin, Ursula holding Christian, below her are Kevin's kids, my aunt Mary (Ursula's mom), my sister Sam, my mom and me.)

Trash, goodwill and carpet!

The carpet in my living room is over 10 years old, gross and just time for a change. So after a couple hours of ripping, cleaning, vacuuming and swiffering we got a huge section of carpet cleared! It was really gross but I am super happy we made such a huge step in the right direction. Almost 3 bags of goodwill taken away and trash can is full of carpet and junk we don't need.

So as you can see we still have a long way to go but I think this is a bit of motivation that has been needed to get my house clean :) good bye carpet! (And good bye to fleas!!! My dog will be thanking us!)

Road trip and ferrets!

So I got sto do something very special for my birthday. Me and three friends went on a 2 day road trip to Arizona.

We left at about 10pm on my birthday on Tuesday and drove till about 2am which is when we decided to stop at a rest stop and nap for an hour ha ha ha. By the time we got to Phoenix we were so tired we just crashed at a Motel 6 and slept!

It was HOT, HOT, HOT!!! But I was able to pick up a few cards to start a new Magic the Gathering deck :) nerdaliciousness! Aww yeah!

I think it is kind of funny to say that we spent most of our time in Arizona eating. We went to a all you can eat sushi bar and buffet, got Howies Pizza (they have different crusts in the same way SubWay has different bread to choose from) and, of course, Craker Barrel!

There are no Craker Barrels in California so this was one of the places I absolutly wanted to stop. I would always go to Craker Barrel when I was in Kentucky with family but I haven't been to one in at least five years. Just seriously, look at this food! There dumplings are TO DIE FOR!

The other reason I love Craker Barrel is because the front is pretty much always lined with rocking chairs and the giant checker boards. 

 The other reason we went to Phoenix was to pick up my boyfriends things, including, 2 ferrets. Meet Kiki (white/girl) and Zero (black/boy). They are so adorable! And extremely hyper active when awake.

I have nicknamed Kiki little shit, because she doesn't get it to trouble often, but when she does, she is in big trouble. And Zero's nickname is little rascal, or derp. That is because he likes to get into things (like alcohol! Yes we have an alcoholic ferret! ha ha ha) and he likes to be an idiot and fall off things (icluding the levels inside his cage), attach towels and the vacum cleaner.

All in all it was a pretty good birthday present to myself and I had a lot of fun!

Graduation, An end and a beginning.

I graduate this evening and even though I am excited to graduate, there is part of me that doesn't want to move on. It's scary to move to a new town and meet new people and be on my own, I knew it was something that I would have to face eventually. 

A little while ago on the TV Show Castle, the daughter Alexis gives a speech at her graduation that has stuck with me.

“There is a universal truth we all have to face, whether we want to or not: everything eventually ends. As much as I've looked forward to this day, I've always disliked endings. The last day of summer, the final chapter of a great book, parting ways with a close friend. But endings are inevitable. Leaves fall, you close the book, you say goodbye. Today is one of those days for us. Today we say goodbye to everything that was familiar. Everything that was comfortable. We’re moving on. But just because we’re leaving, and that hurts, there are some people who are so much a part of us they’ll be with us no matter what. They are our solid ground, our North Star, and the small clear voices that will be with us always.” 

So to all the Class of 2013 graduates, remember to take a leap of faith. From here, we take the first step to building our own futures. And sure there will be times when we will stumble and fall, but the key is to always pick yourself up. Never give up on your dreams. Find what it is you want and run towards it full speed. Always remember what motivates you and make the decision to do whatever it takes to achieve your dream. 

Welcome to the future. Here I come.

The Magic - Power of Gratitude

My mom bought this book by the lady who wrote The Secret, Rhonda Byrne. It is all about positivity and the power of gratitude. The description says:

"ONE WORD CHANGES EVERYTHING For more than twenty centuries, words within a sacred text have mystified, confused, and been misunderstood by almost all who read them. Only a very few people through history have realized that the words are a riddle, and that once you solve the riddle—once you uncover the mystery—a new world will appear before your eyes."

The book has thing you need to do daily to get yourself into this habit of gratitude. Each day the practices change and it evaluates another part of your life. But every morning you write ten things you are grateful for and why. Then as you read back over them after each one you say thank you three times. 

It is really interesting and a lot of the practices really make you think about how grateful you actually are during your daily life. I know you are probably thinking, well I say please and thank you and I am glad for what I have. But how thankful are you really? Do you even think about how good your health is until you catch a cold or what not? Do you think about how thankful you are for your senses, your job, all the little things you have that others are unable to? 

This book really makes you think and I recommend it to anyone.