nothing makes my heart smile more

Than hearing my boyfriend tell me how cute kids are!

Especially the special girls in my life, Reags and Paige.

John gets so excited to ask me if I saw a picture or video that Sarah has posted to make sure that I get my dose of cuteness for the day!

How could you deny that these girls are not the cutest you have ever seen?

I am a SUCKER for little girls with round bellies in bikinis!

Isn't Paige to die for in the pic above?

An oldie of Reags from over a year ago!

***Thanks Sarah for letting me "borrow" your pics. Hehe***

Tramp stamps

I was at the beach and I saw two ladies, in their mid-forties, with lower back tattoo's. They also had very plumped up lips and clearly spent some time in the tanning salon!

And it didn't look good.

I am not trying to judge. (ok, maybe just a little)

It got me thinking. I have a "tramp stamp". I got it when I was 19. And I actually still like it. I "designed" it. But I cannot guarantee that I will like it when I am 40. I am comfortable in the fact that tattoos have been a trend of my generation and I will have many people to commiserate with when I am in my 40's. But what is their excuse? I am sure that everyone has something that they might regret later. It could be a choice, a word, a tattoo, a clothing trend etc.

We do so many things to look younger and better.

Work out.

Tan.

Plastic surgery.

Diets.

And yet we are never fulfilled!

It got me thinking and I am praying now that I am 100% confidant in who God made me.

At 30.

At 40.

At 50.

At any age!

And YES, I will ROCK my tramp stamp!

I hope my future children will still love me. Haha

Faith

I saw this today...

God wants you to know that faith is exactly what it takes to get through uncertainty. Faith is not necessary when you know how things are going to work out, - that's knowledge. It's in the time of unknowing that having faith is what sees you through to the other side. Faith is what gives you strength. Faith is that light in your heart that keeps on shining even when it's all darkness outside. Now is the time to keep that faith alive!

...and I loved it!

Many people question faith, it is hard to convince someone WHY they

should be faithful. John and I discuss this all of the time. I was raised to

believe in God and that my faith will get me through. Unfortunately not

everyone is so lucky! I thank the lord for being there. Faithfully!

i am on a roll...

Is it possible?

This would be FANTASTIC!

LOL!

cuz it is ladies night...

SO much fun!

My old college roomie is gettin' hitched! I am so happy for her! My friend Lisa was my room mate my fifth year of college...yes it took me 5 years, I went to a STATE school! I learned so much from sharing a room with Lisa. She is HILARIOUS, an individual, fashion savvy, caring, loving and very cultured! I am so honored to be able to share in her events leading up to the big day! She has an incredible group of friends and I had a blast hanging out and getting to know them better!

Congratulations Jason and Lisa!!

Three college roomies!

I still wish she was my friend....

Happy Birthday Miss Jessica Simpson!!

(Don't judge me)

And YES, I posted this last year...he he

She is still my style inspiration, I love her shoe collection (hers and the ones she "designs") and her hair. The pic from 4th of July of me in my hat looks very similar to a pic I posted of her in a hat last year. YAY! This has been a tough year for her...break up rumors, messing up her own songs and the whole "weight" debate and she still came out on top! I was fortunate enough to see her sing this year and I loved it! Like I said before...number one fan!

i still hate it.

I mean it.

Working out is so challenging.

I have a few Twitter friends that work out multiple times a DAY. I can barely workout multiple times a week. I am a little jealous.

I wish it was easy.

I wish I saw results faster.

I wish I had all of the time in the world to do it.

I wish a lot of things.
But wishing doesn't change anything!!!

I am going to start using the word...inspire!

So the following pics INSPIRE me to hit the gym.

(I promise that I am not WISHING I look like them. Haha)

Hilary is one of my favorites. I love her style when she has clothes on and she looks FANTASTIC in a bathing suit! I had to include her SHAPE cover since it is my new top picks to purchase! And her hair color makes me want to go darker...just a little bit!

Jessica Simpson.
This picture doesn't need comments! This is the best she ever looked! And regardless of her weight (its about ten pounds people, nothing to make headlines) I will always be her number one fan!

Talk about a work out inspiration. Kim looks incredible! I follow Kim on Twitter and she says that she works out...A LOT!!! She had to for her work out DVD's but she has kept it up! Every part of her looks amazing!

I have NEVER been an @$$ girl. Ever!

But then after working out with Hunter and doing lunges over and over again I started to see my butt! It was kind of exciting. When you were blessed with a chest you don't think that it is possible to have a nice butt as well! When I saw this pic of Eva Longoria Parker with her husband I died. It makes me want to be on the stair stepper and lunge with every step that I take to look like that from behind!!

So I am hoping that looking at these pics EVERY DAY and will take HATE out of my title and change it to strongly dislike. I am taking baby steps! One day I will LIKE maybe even LOVE working out! Keep praying!

Books and Movies

I have always been an AVID book reader. I now read more than ever due to my travel schedule! I just saw the trailer for The Time Traveler's Wife and it looks incredible! Has anyone read the book???

I have this weird thing about reading books before seeing the movie adaptation. This backfired on me when I read My Sister's Keeper, the book was so sad I couldn't see the movie! Maybe when it comes out on DVD. I want to see Revolutionary Road (another depressing one) but haven't read the book yet! Is anyone else like this??

If anyone has read the books I mentioned or has any other book ideas I would love to hear them! Comment me your favs and I will pick them up at my nearest bookstore!

***I have to say that I am not one for the classics! I like my reading to be about pure enjoyment, or something that feels good! I don't care to learn when I read...if i do it's a plus! Don't shoot me****

Beach Day!

I liked this pic from our first beach day of the summer.

John and I went to Huntington last Sunday!

It was fun!!!

God bless America!

(My new favorite picture of us)

I honestly LOVE the Fourth of July. It is in my top three favorite holidays.

I love that it is a casual and relaxed day of family and food!

I guess that could describe Thanksgiving too! Haha
We had a wonderful day with friends!

I know that I am SUPER blessed and the fourth reminds me of that!

We spent the day at the beach on the peninsula in Naples with the Ireland's, Durnin's, Jacobs' and our friends from Nor Cal the Atkin's!

Some people spent a lot of time setting up a man made slip and slide on the sand into the ocean.
The kids were in heaven. They loved it!

I get such pleasure in spending time with my friends and their babies!

This is Reagan (left) and Kate (right)

Sarah Atkins got to rock Paige to sleep.

It is exciting because Sarah and her hubby Travis are pregnant with their first!

Reagan is growing up so fast!! She loves her Aunt Mandy!

All the ladies (told you I would keep it from the chest up! And you ladies look way better than me and you have had kids! Nothing to worry about there! Shanna is rocking a six pack!! Crazy)

After our fun in the sin we went to eat at a new place on 2nd. Street called Barry's Beach Shack. It was the usual offering of bar food but was REALLY good! We ran into my new friend Jill and her fiance Alan. We had a great time hanging out with them at Panama Joe's!

John in Alan's glasses! I think he looks so hot :)

And look at what my new IPHONE can do!!

It was a great day with many memories!

Thank you Lord for blessing us and our country!

Happy 4th of July!

Independence Day!

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Lauren and I have been friends since our freshman year in college...nine years!

We lived in the dorms together, were in the same sorority and had a few Mexico trips together!!

She is currently working in the Fashion Industry and have a lot in common!

I am so glad that I got to be there on her day!!

Me, Heather, the birthday girl, Jess and Jill!

A VERY FUN group of girls!!

and another one bites the dust!

Congratulations to our dear friends, Joe and Annie!!

They were married on June 20, 2009

This wedding was very special for a few reasons. The first being that Annie has been an incredible friend to me over the years, we met in 7th grade! Joe and Annie lived in Long Beach for awhile and were one of the first couples that John and I hung out with. The last reason is that my DAD married Joe and Annie! This was his first wedding since him and my mom became ordained and Licensed ministered. He did a great job!

The wedding was beautiful and it was so great to see Annie sooooo Happy! I also got to catch up with old friends! That is always fun!! Thanks for including us on your special day. We love you!!!

My Dad and Joe as Annie walked to the aisle
The Beautiful bride and her Dad!!


AN amazing couple!

I look like a GIANT and I had my 6 inch heels off :)

I love this pic of Annie!!!

the best FOUR bucks I can spend!

On magazines that is! Ha ha.

I am a tabloid trash reader.

Religiously.

All of them, every week.

Yuck I know!

(Not going to go into the media BS around this. That will be a whole other post)

BUT.

Yes, I have come to my senses which explains the but.

In my work out quest I decided to pick up SHAPE and SELF magazines. To motivate. To give me new ideas. To see that other people struggle like I do. To reassure myself that I am, gasp, Normal. Whatever that means :)

I loved them. They help me. Now have a better place to dump my dollar bills.

And I feel good about it!

Are any of you motivated by these magazines? Share your stories with me!

perks

The pool area at the Firesky!

It is a little Oasis, a piece of heaven!

There are definite pros and cons to my job! I get to stay in really nice places but I hardly ever get to enjoy them! I had a massive headache today. I have been sick and cannot seem to shake it! But work must go on! Since I could barely see I left work at 4:30. Yes a whole half hour early! Ha ha. But since I am in Scottsdale, AZ it was still 100 degrees out. So I made it back to the hotel by 5pm. And I laid out and swam in the pool for about two hours. It was so nice and relaxing. I think that air and being outside really helped clear my head!!

I was way happier than I look!!! Gotta love the cell phone self pic!

On Monday night I stayed in the Trump Hotel in Vegas. It was FANTASTIC! The rooms are actually condos and are beautifully furnished. This tic tac toe game was on the coffee table! I really wanted to play but was all by my lonesome! That is a con to my job. I always wish that I could experience and share these things with John!!