Happy Easter!

This is my favorite holiday. It's my favorite time of year! Spring! :O)
First, this season is to celebrate Jesus and His unconditional love for us, how He has risen from the grave and is at God's right side. Because if Him, we are free, no matter what our circumstance, n matter where we came from, no matter how dark of places we were in, Jesus loves us and will ALWAYS love us, He has never turned His back, we just call on Him and He will help.... I in fact call in Him about 8k times a day! To keep me strong, to keep me focused, and to draw me closer to Him.

On to other things... Yesterday was salmon season here on the West Coast, so Tod and the girls went out at 3am and were back by 9:30 am. The waters were rough, but both Kira and Aiko landed really nice salmon!!! Tod was super proud, and even though he didn't catch one on that trip, it was awesome to have them pull in their own salmon for the first time! God told me the night before that There would be 6 salmon. They came home with 2 and I told Tod, "I wonder why He told me 6....?" Tod said, "Well maybe if we had stayed out longer we would have gotten the other 4 like He said"....AMAZING....Well, for my Tod to say that, to show faith...AMAZING- Thank you Jesus! :O) So we took the 2 salmon praised God and were blessed He provided those for us!

This morning Tod and his two buddies are fishing and will be home soon for Easter lunch. God told me last night Tod would catch two salmon(limit out) but I couldn't get info on the friends and if they would catch any... Tod called just about an hour ago to tell me he had a fish and as we were talking he said, "OH! I GOT ANOTHER FISH ON- GOTTA GO!!!" Hahahah! I laughed at God and how He worked it out, His timing, His sense of humor and His graciousness!! God is good! ALWAYS!!!!

Easter Blessings to all,

Jen

It's official- She's on the cover!!!

How awesome is that!??! She was thrilled beyond belief! She got a call from her uncle saying that he went into a 7-11 in the Bay Area and saw Kira's picture on a fishing magazine....no big deal! hahah!

We then searched high and low in our area and nothing....sad, we live 10 minutes from the Pacific ocean yet there isn't a fishing magazine for 80 miles along the coast...what's up with that?? Our friend Tom found a few at a bait and tackle shop in Moss Landing, so we have a couple now...and then, Tod checked the mail today and our subscription to the Fish Sniffer started today- so he walks in with a nice copy of Kira on the front! (God's awesome!!!) His perfect timing!

Isn't she a cutie pie!?!? I am so proud of her!!!

Perch Derby 2012

This year we all signed up for the Annual Perch Derby in Santa Cruz. Normally it's Tod, Tom and Tony and last year paul, Tony's son joined them. This was the day after the Tsunami and fishing was kinda odd. The guys reported that the fish were there but they were small.... which in turn ment all the winning fish were on the smaller side.... Tod told Kira and I that a woman had one with a small perch, ounces...not pounds. Kira and I vowed that night we would join them for the 2012 Derby and we did! Along with Pauls girlfriend Trish and Tom's wife Carolyn. We headed to our spot at 3am and set up. The first catch was Tod, a small leopard shark. Later Tom and Carolyn arrived and set up their gear. It was cold, dark and windy. Carolyn was smart and relaxed in their warm car till about 8am, after the sun had come up and the wind and cold had finally died down. Soon after Paul, Trish and Matt arrived....no Tony this time, his wife had been super ill and he was at home with her.

I didn't mention anything to anyone, but the night before the Derby God had told me Kira and Matt were going to win. I kept it to myself....until Tom and Carolyn were on fire, their poles were getting hit by perch left and right! Tom landed a BIG perch, 2.8 pounds. Shortly after I told Kira what God had told me...she was surprised....like I was. Kira and Matt had no fish as of yet.....

As I was watching our four poles in the water, I glanced at the one to the right, which was Kira's, it had done a funny little quick shake, and Tod started to reel it in...."Did he notice it was shaking as if a fish was on the line?" That was my thought, and then he said, "Kira, come get your fish, you got a bit" Kira jumped up and ran for her pole. She was nervous afraid her fish would come off as she reeled him in...."Some one take the pole, I'm gonna throw up,I'm too scared he's gonna come off!" ha! No one took it from her, and she did it all by herself!!!! He was a beautiful perch and weighed 2.6 pounds!!! Thank you Jesus! I winked up at the beautiful Blue California skies and said "Thank you".

Later I was talking to God saying...."Matt, really? he hasn't even had a fish over .4 ounces"....and just as I finished that statement to God, "Matt!!! Grab your pole before it goes in the water!!" Matt jumped up and reeled in his winning fish. I knew then that there was no need for either of them to keep fishing, those were the winning fish God had provided.

Back at weigh in, Kira weighed her fish and then got her picture taken over and over for several magazines....then we made our way to eat our dinner there and relax while we waited for everyone to make their way to the weigh in. Tony showed up after his wife was feeling better and was able to eat dinner with us and sit with us as we waited for results of who won.......

Tom won 3rd place men's division, Matt won 1st place jr's division boys, Carolyn won 3rd place woman's division, Trish took 2nd place woman's division, and Kira won 1st place woman's division. It was amazing, it was a blast and to know God told me Matt and Kira would win humbled me....why not info about Tom, Carolyn, and Trish...? I think maybe it was Him telling me the 1st place winners would be Matt and Kira...I just know it was amazing to watch it all unfold and it was a blessing He told me.

Sharon's giveaway!

So I have been following Sharon for years now and I adore her work, I love her style and her videos!!!

Take a look at this more than generous GIVEAWAY she has!! Swoonnnn!!!!

She makes me wanna get off of blogger and get a layout made!!!

P.S. Thank you for the wonderful inspiration Sharon!!! Muah!

xoxoxo

Jen

It's been a looooong time.....a 2 page layout....

Before my sisters wedding one of the bridesmaids wanted to put a scrapbook together for my sister, with each of us girls in the wedding making a layout. So Kira busted her's out and then later that night I completed mine. They turned out great but I was too tired and lazy to pull out my camera! sad, but true! The album looks great so when I head to her house soon I will snap some shots of all the layouts.

Annnnnnnnyyyyyywayyyy, After that layout I wanted to scrap so Kira and I spent the day craftin around! She made an adorable card for her bestie and of course I didn't get a picture of it before she took it to her! sigh! But the next night I completed this layout below. I was up till 1:30 am and I JUST NOW snapped some photos! ha!

These pictures of Olivia crack me up! We found the Jessie costume at Walmart as soon as they put their Halloween stuff out, so we snagged it and had it from August till October and almost everyday without fail Olivia would tell me she was sooooo excited to be Jessie! On Halloween Kira took her into her room to start the transformation! Her hair, her outfit,her makeup, her painted on freckles! A D O R A B L E!!! And our lil Ollie was dressed up as in a monkey costume!!

I have to say it's been a looooooong long time since I did a layout and it felt great to do two in a month!!! ha!

Drew's HUGE giveaway!

I just adore Drew's talent! He is beyond talented and funny!

He just reach over 1,200 followers on his blog and it pretty much makes sense, he is the shiznit! Check out his Thank you giveaway!!!!! Extremely over the top!!!

Check his GIVEAWAY HERE!!!

It's beyond sweet!

Our great escape

Tod and I took a trip up to the Klamath and fished one day with our guide Ken and his wife Kathy. I didn't take my camera only reason why was I thought the boat wouldn't be as stable as it acutaly was. So I'm super bummed, but we did have Tod's and it worked out nicely.

We rented a car and Tods treat to me was mapping out several thrift stores to hit on our way up. We stopped at one which was in Eukea and it was sooooooooooo fun! They have three little houses to buy antiques, clothes, and another barn that had clothes and shoes. What they also had were sections for furniture and yard sale finds. They would through items into bins on loooooong tables and you could walk and rummage in the bins for treasures. Once you found items you find this guy who wears a red shirt and kahke pants who prices your items. I found an old vintage suite case and some furniture, like two vintage metal bed frames one for a queen and one for a twin, which would have been perfect for Kira and Olivia's beds but we only had a rental so there was no way they would fit. So with my suitecase in hand he charged me two bucks. STEAL PEOPLE!! IT WAS A STEAL!!!! Beautiful Samsonite leather skin, PERFECT condition inside. sigh.. Yeay for me! hahah!

Anyway, the guy was local to Watsonville and a total blast to talk to. Super fun staff and great great finds. We are going back, but with our truck next time!!!

Oh, yea, back to the fishing, so we made it to Klamath and Tod and I stayed in this super cute hotel and the following morning we met Ken and Kathy and headed to the river....at the butt crack of dawn...did I mention that? sigh.

The river is beautiful. There was a bear cub roaming the river bank eating grass, he had been out there for about 2 months and he seemed to look healthy. Tod assured me berries would be coming on so he would have more to eat. He was A D O R A B L E!

I got 3 hits, and all three came off, there were 2 drive by's (hits on the line only) and then the 4th time I told Tod the next hit was his, he insisted it would be mine. When the line hit Tod tried to hand me the pole but I told him, "nope, it's all you!". So he ended up pulling in this monster! ha! nice! Tod said he almost cried when that salmon was finally on the boat! After we got off the water, which was at 3:30, we would have come in earlier but Ken and Kathy wanted to wait to see if I could get another bit and get a salmon. These peeps are awesome! What a great couple! We had such a great time on the boat, we talked and ate and talked and ate! ha!

After we got off the river we headed into town for a nice cold beer, BEST CORONA OF MY LIFE! Then headed to the Cunningham's (Ken and Kathy) to clean and bag the salmon. We met up later at the local bar right across the street from our hotel and had a great dinner yummy Ortega burger and killer fries with this "Burger Sauce" the cook made and then sat down next to Tod and told me how to make it....while he smoked is cigarette of course! haha!, We played pool and made more friends!

It was the best vacation we have had since we have been together. It was so laid back and so great to get away just the two of us. An air conditioned car always helps....I'm just sayin...

Summer updates

Summer has been busy this year. Lots of activities and trips planned. So this summer I have taken time off from Facebook and will return in the fall. This way I can just focus on the family and friends.

I have things I also need to accomplish this summer, I want to purge my scraproom, get chairs for our dinning room table, get Olivia's room organized and decorated, and clean Tod's mancave.....that has tons of my craft stuff in it.

So see, no need to FB when I have a full list of things to get done!

Enjoy your summer!

xoxo

Hunger Games

So have you read these books? Well in January I was waiting for my sister to start her testing for her Estheticianlicense and she handed me this book....within the first chapter I thought two things, I hope they make a movie from this book and second, how am I gonna get this book from my sister!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tried and tried for months to get Kira to read these books but she just wasn't haven it. Then about two weeks ago I told her, "Just try it, you'll love it." She said, (sigh!)"Will I be hooked or will it drag on...!?!" I said, "HA! You'll be hooked in the first chapter and you won't be able to put it down till it's finished!" Yea, she loved it! hahah!

So if you haven't read it, do it now! It's a great read, great love triangle and truly great suspense.

Start of summer

Today was Kira's final day for her junior year. No more checking in with the teacher, no more late night cram sessions of online courses and no more insane homework and stressful weeks.

Now it's time to enjoy three months of lazy days, sleeping in, late night movies, friends and family outings. She will be driving soon and even though I am so scared I could crap my pants just thinking about her on the road, I have to sit back and let God take over. She's a supa dupa smart kid and I am extremely blessed she has done so good, I just worry insanely about her....eh, it could be worse.....I just don't know how....ha!

Bin Laden is dead, God bless our troops and our country

It is finally done. Late night on May 1st we started to get reports that our troops had taken him out. Along with him, his son and one of Bin Ladens wives were killed. She was used as a human shield to protect Bin Laden. As I watched the news I was overcome with emotions. The families of 9/11 that had forever been changed, our country that changed that day as well. Our troops that have done so much for so so so long. It was all too much for my brain to handle. I wept in my car on my way to pick up Kira. As I listened to my AM radio to keep up with the breaking details of the events that happened earlier in the night across the nation, I said a prayer to God, "Thank you for taking him off this Earth, thank you for giving us our elite team, for their skills, their training and for their love of their country and to fight the good fight."

The fight on terror will probably NEVER be over, but knowing that the head had been cut off the snake that night..... I slept sound that night.

God bless our men and women who serve and if my grandpa who was a Master Chief Petty Officer in the Navy was alive to see this we would be celebrating with High fives...and maybe a few beers.