Turned Off...

This week has been quite..."off." The weather has been totally off...My body and health has been totally off...my mindset, normal sense of optimism, and will to do absolutely ANYTHING has been COMPLETELY off. =/

I feel some letter writing coming along...

Dear Horrid Cough - STOP and GO AWAY!...STOP making my chest hurt. STOP chasing everyone away from me. STOP making me sound like General Grievous...

Dear July Gloom - GO AWAY!...STOP looking all overcast and murky and teasing us by being all warm when step foot outside. STOP the rain.  STOP scaring us Southern Cali West Coasters making us think a HUGE earthquake is coming...Maybe you're confused...we're NOT in south...this IS Southern CALI...GET. IT. TOGETHER...

Dear Christine - PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!...Stop feeling down and out...YES, you are allowed to have these days, but ENOUGH, already...build a bridge and get over it, girl...Do what you need to do to feel good inside and out...Think of the good things going on in life...and just DO...and DON'T worry...Do what you can do and let God do the rest....Give it all up to Him...


Dear Principal Shawna and Loyola Marymount University - THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU...for leaving me that voicemal about LMU's summer sports camp...and THANK YOU LMU rep for giving me the "scholarship" code to plug into the online registration to make the camp fees go down to ZERO!!!...Hallelujah DAY!!!

Dear PicMonkey.com - You deserve a special shout out for making me feel like the glorified graphic designer people THINK I am...and really not...Thank you for making me look like I know what I'm doing and for making me look good.

WOWZERS...I actually feel a little bit better after blogging today.

Linked Up With:

Friday's Letters

Aloha Friday Hop

Week in Pics!!

This past week was AMAZEballs (thanks Ericas for that new vocab)! A lot of family time, fun, movies, amusement parks (not documented...sorry) and of course, tomfoolery took place.  Here's what went down:

Here's what my 4th of July looked like:

1. My brother parading Landan around after he got back from work. 

2. My Independence Day Swag. 

3. Good Ole Woody's BBQ...too hot actually cook that day.  

4. Throwing up the Two Fingers...as always. 

5. Tryna get their lives together for the photo opp.  

6. 2/3 of the B-Boys finally got it together for the pic.

As for the rest of the week:

1. **singing to self** "Its a beautiful day in the neighborhood..." for a walk.  

2. Kai testing out the new tent and tunnel Granny bought.  

3. Landan tearing up the new tent and tunnel Granny just bought. 

4. Still on this shirt...LOVE IT.  

5. AND still on the duces pic...its what I do...You'll seldom see a pic of me without my fellow fingers. 

6. Super geeked about to watch the Amazing Spiderman...wasn't it GOOD?!?!...and YEA for the new Peter Parker...WAAAYYY better than the last one...sorry Toby.  

7. The Greedy Mites...they just always seem to magically pop up anytime food is in sight.  

8. Bryant Summer School is session...still have to be on the educational grind...even during the summer.  

9. Landan FINALLY gets his turn at the Beyblade stadium...are anyone else's kids up on this new phenomenon?!?

Until Next Week...for another weekly re-cap.

I'm Gonna Write a Letter...

Dear Kai,


As much as I love you and want to give you the world and a bag of chips, I CANNOT give you a new Jaden.  I know you've asked twice this week for a new one and I totally understand why.  I can't relate firsthand since I've never been a middle child, but I do know how it feels to be left out of all the fun or not wanting to be played with...Sometimes, since Jaden is older than you, he'e gonna want to play by himself...he's almost 10 years old and he wants some time to himself...and that's not a bad thing...


So as much as I like to give you all your hearts desires, another JADEN is just not physically possible.  I would HATE to go through the trouble of trying to produce one for you and be a complete and total failure in your eyes when Mommy comes home with a newborn baby...not a brand shiny new 10 year old Jaden...and a GIRL at that!


I hope you understand what Mommy is trying to explain to you and pray that you will consider keeping the Jaden we already have and making the best of things.


Love always,


Mommy


P.S. Wait 5 years from now and you see for yourself what Jaden is going through...'Cause you'll be on that side of the fence then with Landan informing me that he's ready for a new Kai.

I'm Free...Happy Independence Day 2012!!

As I think about what Independence Day means to me, I can't help but think of all the nostalgic type memories that come to mind: fireworks, BBQ, family, summer, fun in the sun, American flags, being thankful of what war vets and present soldiers have done and are doing for us.  But in the back of my mind (and it probably should be in the forefront) I can't help but think of what Christ has done to keep me from sin, from the legalistic law, and free from death and evil...

And for these reasons I am grateful and is why I CELEBRATE my independence day.

 "Christ has set us free to live a free life. 

So take your stand! 

Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you." 

Galatians 5:1

P.S. Party on and everybody tell me how your BBQ was!!

#nojudgingfattymcfatty

Linked up to:

Red, White & You FollowFest July 4, 2012

BeYouTiFul (Beautiful) Tuesday

Happy BeYouTiFul  Tuesday, Blessings!!

There are many blogs that focus on beauty as its main focus and  that's awesome!!...
I need a little bit of help myself in that department sometimes...

But isn't funny that with ALLLLLLLLL the beauty magazines, websites, blogs, entertainment shows...etc. that are made available and are consumed that women, of all ages and ethnicities,  still suffer a great deal from the lack of self esteem?

I know there are days when I can look amazing!!...not to toot my own horn AT ALL, but only because of tons of complements I may have gotten that day, and none of it  can even matter because of the pre-negative thoughts I already have stored up within me...you know those days, right??

So, BeYouTiFul Tuesdays will be dedicated to affirming our natural born beauty and our God-given attributes that make up our beauty inside and out. This will be an outlet to encourage and inspire girls and women to love who they are no matter what the media may be feeding us...

There are two stories to everything...
you have to make the decision to choose which story you're gonna believe...

...'cause whether you believe it or not...your views on what is beautiful, YES...YOUR'S...are somehow in some shape or form,
somewhat based off what society has implied that it is...

BeYouTiFul Tuesday is here to reformat our programming...and the only way to do that is to do that is to reboot OUR  system and start over...with a perhaps a brand new program.

Let's begin with the TRUTH?...you ask what is true??...

Let's start with this today:

[Photo Source]

Be Blessed, my BeYouTiFul Blessings <3

My Life in Pics

The past two weeks have been CA-RAAAAAZY!  I feel like I've been running non-stop.  Two weeks ago was vacation bible school (VBS) so the B-Boys and I were at the church all week from 7pm to 9pm.  What was totally unexpected for us was that My Babe (Jarrett/JayBee, my hubby) surprised us by showing up there every night. Since he normally works long days it was such a treat for all of us to have him there with us...**BROWNIE POINTS for JayBee**...WHOOT WHOOT!!

This past week was even more hectic...This week was also our youth ministry's Annual Youth Lectureship..the theme was STAND - Stay True and Never Deviate. The lectureship ran from Wednesday to Saturday, with a last minute lock-in thrown together for our in-house youth...

Handbills

Light Of Life Drama Group

Cross Worship Activity - Cast All Your Cares

Youth silhouettes...I'm the one kicking my foot back...no judging,

On top of VBS and the lectureship, I had to fit time and activities in for the B-Boys.

So we went to library and the park on the day I had my very own personal nanny to help me along the day.

We also managed to make it to the HOT zoo...Man, it was HOT like a freakin' mug!!...

But still uber fun for the B-Boys.

Yesterday I realized that I wasn't the only one totally pooped...

When I pulled up into the church parking lot and parked this is what I found to my surprise...

So....
How To Get a TKO (Total Knock Out) Out of Your Kids:

1.  No Naps during the day.
2.  Only since its the summer, let them stay up a little past their normal bed time (not too much cause you still mos-def need your time to yourself).
3. Get lots of outdoor playtime...that sun gets them good!
4.  Allow them to wake up at the crack of dawn.
5. DO NOT...I repeat...I DO NOT play their favorite songs, radio or Pandora station in the car...totally listen to what you want to hear.
6.  Throw them in car for a nice car ride.

And TAAA-DAAA!!!....TKO!!!!

Now just pray you don't have to immediately get out of the car (like I had to for church...LOL!!) and pack some things for you to get into: books, magazines, snacks, water, laptop, work...and park somewhere nice and quiet, with a beautiful scenery...and notice how at peace and accomplished you'll feel.

Linked up to:
Phone Photo Fun Mondays
Meet Up Mondays
Miscellany Monday
Make My Morning Blog Hop

Hopping on the Linky Party Train

Aloha Friday!!...I just hopped on the Linky Party train...I did two last week for the first time and I absolutely LOVED it!...the attention my blog received and my few new "BLESSINGS" have gotten me super geeked to hop on a few more linkies. I think what I'm most excited about are all the new "BLOGGIES" (blog buddies) I will soon meet...I super stoked about the whole online blogging community...I admire the sense of family and support fellow bloggers have for another and I want to be a part of the positive and optimistic movement.

So, I stumbled across a rather cool chick named Nicole at Local Sugar Hawaii who's hosting the Aloha Friday Hop...and I'm spreading the word...
1. Cause its just fun!!
2. Who doesn't like making new friends?
3. Who doesn't want more readers?!?


So why don't you join in on the Friday goodness and hop on over with me...