Reno~ Cherished memories

Hmmm, it's been a while! My house is now plagued with a nasty cold! I ended up with it as we were leaving on our annual Reno trip- same exact thing happened last year too! I was sicker then a dog when we went last year and then again this year........sigh.................Can you EVEN believe it?!?
As we arrived in Reno I was done with my pitty party and was determined to have a great time, yea, even though I wouldn't be able to fully taste the AWESOME all you can eat sushi bar! Or the prime rib, shrimp, or other yummieness at the very cool buffet Tod and I like to go too. sigh- So I sucked it up! Standing in line to check in to our hotel, I was helped by this young, totally adorable, 20- something, friendly clerk. I commented how cute her GREEN finger nails were since St.Patricks Day was the following day, and as I found out her birthday! Two minutes later we are laughing and chatting and then BAM! SHE UPGRADES US TO A SUITE!!!...............OOOOOOOOOHHHH SWEET JESUS! How incredibly kind was that??! The room was off the schiznit! Jacuzzi tub, marble bath room, plasma tv's in the bathroom and a bed that made me squeal!!! I was so blessed, I took advantage of the Jacuzzi and soaked for TWO hours while Tod went downstairs and gambled. I rocked out to their Bose stereo system in the room,(Thank you Lady GaGa for keeping me company) turned off the lights, and enjoyed the city lights from the 12th floor!!! hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-oh, yea, even though I couldn't breath out of my nose, or enjoy the full Bose system due to heavily plugged ears, It rocked all the same!!! I was 100% grateful for this chickies kindess!!!

In Reno Tod hit his stores he wanted to go to, then I was off to do some thrift finds.
Eh, nothing I HAD to have except for this stack of beauties below. These my friends are typed and loved recipes with a sprinkle of interesting newspaper clippings. I found them in a thrift store and had to have them. ....why you ask??? Let me paint you the picture that goes on in my head, so you will see why I had to have these:
Back in the day I would talk to my grandma and step grandma on the phone about life, like, potty training, acne, diaper rashes,planting a small garden, making my whites whiter, cleaning soap scum, etc...You get the idea... Soon after these conversations, letters would arrive from my grandmas with newspaper articles or magazine articles about the ailments that I spoke about on the phone. Also there would be a typed letter stating, "Jennifer, I found this in Woman's Day this week and thought it could be useful, Love Grandma"
First, how thoughtful to take the time to cut the article, type me a letter and send it off in an envelope full of love! Now when I saw this large ziplock bag full of clippings and hand typed recipes on the thrift store shelf, I thought that somewhere this grandma had taken A LOT of time to type these important recipes up, she also took time to clip these articles out that meant something to her... then, I think she probably passed on and her grown kids from out of state came to clean out her house- estate sale if you will, and tossed most of these things in a box for the "Goodwill"- well, my heart broke and, well, they needed to come home with me. I thought if it was my grandma and her recipes it would be one of the first things I would want to hold onto and cherish.
So next weeks task:
Get a new recipe box for them, sort them and file them and place a tag on the front of the box that will say, "Grandma's cherished recipes"




Large photodump the next time I post. Off to kiss sick kids and my honey night night

Prima looooooooooooooooove!!!!

HOW AWESOME IS PRIMA!? They have two more HUGE surprise giveaways!!
Their products are yummy, make me drool and want each and every single design they ever come out with!!!
Head ova for your chance to enter & win!!!!

Here's a sneak peak at their giveaway package! and more info:

If you don't have a blog, don't worry, you still have a chance to win.

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• Please copy this write-up and link us on your blog, Facebook, or any
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Just a couple more days of suspense!

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Minnie & Livie

We came home from running errands last week and Livie had received Happy Mail from a dear family friend for Valentine's Day!
Her own soft and sweet Minnie Mouse!!!
She takes her to bed each night and sets her in her rocking chair to watch Mickey Mouse Club House!!!

Uniquely Ella Vintage Giveaway!!

I have been lucky to stumble across this awesome blog by Marlene.
She is S U P E R TALENTED AND EXTREMELY SWEET!

She has a to- die- for blog and is inviting everyone over to her vintage giveaway!

Check out her vintage beautiful chic blog and enter to win her RAK!

Thanks again for the chance to win Marlene! And I so wanna go with you on your next trip to search for vintage goodies!!! The pictures of the keys made my heart sing! hahah!

Hurry, go check her out, you'll fall in love - just in time for Valentine's Day! My fav second fav time of the year!

GO.... HERE IF YA DIDNT GET ALL THE OTHER LINKS DIRECTING YOU ABOVE!!!!

A day at the park

A day at the park with Livie always makes for a good time.
She LOVES it, loves the slides, the swings and loves running and SCREAMING!

JANUARY 1ST 2010

I pray that the Lord finds you well and blesses you immensely in 2010.

It's AMLOST the second day of the new year..... Is time speeding by already.... ? sigh......
Today started out a little startling as I noticed a BUMP, not on one of the "girls" but a liiiiiiitle lower. I'll be keeping a watchful eye out on that one..... well not so much literally since I would be a contortionist!!!! Tod was happy to assist in my home examination though.........sigh!
Anyway, I know it will be fine, just a little startling.... "Hello 2010, here is a nice lump for you to worry night an day about!!! lol!

Since It's almost the SECOND day of the new year, and the first has slipped by so fast, I thought I would post some pics.

I hope you are all well and find new adventures and tons of dreams fulfilled in this new and exciting year. 2009 was NOT my favorite year, but blessed with my family, friends, and health all the same!

On to the pics.

Myself, Kira, and Betsy




Olivia and ALLLLLL her Elmos'




Betsy and I




Beautiful Kira on her 16th Birthday! with lil Liv

M.I.A.....? But I have pics...

Where has the time gone?? It is now December and days just flew by me! I did capture some high points on my camera.
I know EXACTLY when things went haywire! Right after our scrapbook retreat in Discovery Bay back in October. As soon as I got back it seemed as if my life just went into high speed and I could barley get out of bed. It wasn't that I was depressed, just overwhelmed.
Birthdays, allergies, rashes, migraines, ill cat, sick kids, bratty kids, pms, cramps, dreading your 40th birthday.... etc all seemed to take its toll on me.

Here are some of the highlights....of the Good times.
Happy holidays to you all, and remember to always tell the people you love, "I love you", you might not get a second chance.

Discovery Bay Sunset~ October 2009




Carving da pumpkins~ 2009
They look awesome!!!!!


Little Tinkerbell and her daddy! Halloween night Monterey

Baking.........
Grandma's 80th Birthday party~ November 2009
My 40th Birthday(UUUURGGHHH!) November 2009

More baking.....

Liv & her daddy preparing apples for homemade apple pies
and more baking........
And finally getting ready for Christmas!

Daddy's Boots

Every day when Tod gets home from work, he takes off his boots before walking on the carpet, (since I don't allow shoes on in the house!!!) and just as fast as Tod can get them off Livie is sitting on our desk chair right next to them slipping them on as quick as she can. Watching her try and walk in them racks me up!


(Future pictures to scrap!!)

Long hard rain!

The storm was to come in at 3 am, and it did. It was supposed to rain all day, and it has. It's been pouring down all day, some lighter then other times, but constant. Never stopped.
I love it. We need it. I love it. I love it.
Now in three days I might change my mind. But while the house is cozy warm, it's allllllll goood.

Cricut Celebration!!!

Over at the CRICUT MB they are celebrating their 100th Cart!!!!
Come join in for a chance to win a free cart!
How cool is that?! so go go GO!!!!

For da love of JuJuBee's!!!

I have been waiting for the launch of her kits, and let me tell you, they rock!!
JuJu Bee's has an awesome KIT CLUB now, I was lucky to get her first month and love what I got! Tons of paper for more then one two sided 12x12 layout, yummy Prima embelli's, cool ribbon and much much more!
Check it out HERE!! You'll also wanna check out her store, she has great sales, super fast shipping and yummy products! Plus the bonus is she is always a delight to talk to, so if you have any questions, comments let her know! She's a sweetie peetie! Check out her deals HERE!

Don't miss out on her cool BLOG!!! She has tons of new fun products that she lets her peeps know about, great eye candy, and a Fall Frenzy Online Crop until Sept 27th! GAMES, CHALLENGES, PRIZES!!! HOW CAN YA NOT STOP BY!?!?!

Come join the yummieness and check her out, join the KIT CLUB, join the FORUM, Dive into the ONLINE CROP, Check her STORE out, and order some googies and then get ready to create away!