simply the best

She is the best! Meet my Grandma Shore. As many of you know, I adore my Grandma Shore. She is young at heart and always on the go. She is the one who invented Happy Monday's, Happy Wednesday's, Happy whatever. She would literally show up on your porch on a Wednesday, with some great item she had discovered. Well, she just couldn't buy one for herself, she'd buy you one too...making it a Happy Wednesday present. She is cute that way. When she had heard that I had dropped 60 lbs. (a few weeks ago) she sent me a very sweet note and a $60 check for the 60 lbs. I had lost. She figured I needed something new to wear. Boy was she right! It was so kind and so thoughtful. It was so very her. I have always been so grateful for her example, generosity and LOVE. She is simply the BEST!

sneak week

It is sneak week over on the Green Tangerines Kit Club blog. My layout was highlighted today and I thought I would share it her, on my blog. The November kit(not yet released)is filled with yummy Fall colors. This is one kit that you don't want to miss out on. Here is my take on the sketch(it will be included with your kit). You can check out what the other PBD Girls have done here.

soccer

He heads it into the net. It costs us ice cream (for the entire team) each time he does. He scores goals from half field. He is an awesome defensive player. He has taken on a new role this season. He hasn't been thrilled about it. He does it away. He plays with his heart and soul. He loves his new red/white jersey...this boy loves red like his Mama. He is one of the team captains. He loves the game.
















We love to watch him do his thing!

a special day

Today was a a very special day. My nephew, Jaedon, was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We were so thrilled that he called to invite us to be part of his special day. We drove down to the Bay Area and enjoyed a birthday dinner with the family. We celebrated Tyson's(my baby brother), Sommer's (my younger sister), Kiana's (my niece)and my birthday! It was so fun to be with my family.















After dinner, we headed over to the church for Jaedon's baptism. Here is Jaedon with his family and the missionaries who taught him the discussions.















Here is my family. We haven't had a big family photo taken in a long time. I think it turned out cute, considering all of the people we had to get to look at the camera at the same time!















And the Grand kids. It was such a great day, spent with the ones we love.

Uesugi Farms

The October 2011 Green Tangerines Kit Club has been released. Grab your kit now :-). I love the colors in this kit. Perfect for Fall photos...perfect for Summer photos(I will share that one next). I created 4, double page layouts with my kit. I was even able to scrap photos from '04. Super excited to have some old school photos(that is baby Garrett in the photos) scrapped and in the family album. Looking at these photos makes me miss Uesugi farms in the Bay Area. It was our favorite Bay Area patch. There are yellow and orange marigolds everywhere with pumpkins sprinkled in. It is beautiful. These photos also made me miss our wonderful friends, the Deakins. My, how our children have grown!

37

Sigh! It is true. I am another year older. Guess what??? I am so okay with that. I am embracing my 30's and coming to terms with the fact that I am not 27 years old anymore. At age 27, I simply stopped counting my birthdays and left my age at 27. As I have enjoyed the last year, filled with some major changes in my world. I am looking forward to the year(s) ahead and the life I get to live.

I am truly thankful for the friends and family who showered me with so much love on my special day. I received lots of phone calls, FB messages, visits on my porch and many thoughtful gifts. I am one lucky girl. 37 is off to a wonderful start and I am saying "bring it on!"

Daddy/Daughter Activity

Say what???? I know. I know. We still don't have any daughters! This is exactly why I love my calling(another name for our jobs at church). I am currently serving in the Young Woman's program and love doing so. I get to spend time with the amazing Young Women of our ward( another name for the boundaries in which we live in). We put on a Daddy/ Daughter activity and it was so much fun! It was Western themed and the girls and their Dads were asked to come in their best cowgirl/boy attire.



























We called it Brinner. The girls wanted breakfast for dinner. Their wishes are our command :-). We served a breakfast casserole, waffles(with whip cream) bacon and fruit. The girls and their Dad's each had to fill out a questionnaire about how they thought the other would answer the question. There were some very funny answers. We had a pie eating contest. There was a pie tin with a ton of whip cream. Each Dad had to find a candy corn in his pile of whip cream. There were relays and a doughnut eating contest.


















{My cute Laurels, another name for the 16-18 yr. old age groups}.
















{the pie eating contest...so funny!}















{The doughnut eating contest. We did not skimp on the dessert. Those bad boys were Krispy Kreme doughnuts.}

We had the details of this activity in the works before we enjoyed/listened to General Conference(a weekend where we get to hear from our prophet and other leaders of our church). A woman by the name of Elaine S. Dalton gave a talk titled LOVE HER MOTHER. You can read the entire thing here. She asked the question "How can a father raise a happy, well adjusted daughter in today's increasingly toxic world"? Part of her answer is as follows, "The most important thing a father can do for his daughter is to love her mother. By the way you love her mother, you will teach your daughter about tenderness, loyalty, respect, compassion and devotion." Tonight's activity was just another way those fathers showed their daughters tenderness, respect and devotion. I know the girls had a wonderful time, as did their fathers. Carving out time to spend the evening with their daughters/fathers...what a treat. I am so thankful to be part of a church that places so much value on family and our relationships.

Then and NOW

I have thought alot about this post for the last year(exactly one year from today). I had always told myself that I would write/post it. Now that the day is here, I am having very mixed and very overwhelming emotions about this post. I have decided to write/blog it. Maybe it will inspire someone else??? It is coming straight from the heart, so please be gentle(typing that for myself). In October of 2010 we had the chance to meet up with the darling Janea Greene of Janea Greene photography. I had won a free photo shoot off of her FB/blog. I was super excited and very ready for some new family photos. We met her in downtown Roseville and I instantly knew it was going to be fun. I knew she was going to capture some amazing photos of our family and she did. When we got our CD of images from Janea, I was "ooohhhing" and "ahhhing" over each and over one. The lighting that day was perfect and the boys had instantly warmed up to her.

























There was one photo that I was super excited about. She had the boys jump up on this teal-ish colored dumpster that happened to be behind one of the downtown stores. I was thinking, "The dumpster??? Okay. Lets go for it." As I was scrolling through our new family photos, I came upon the dumpster photo. The boys looked darling, John looked handsome and when I looked at myself, I literally lost it, tears and all. I exclaimed "Who is that girl? There is no way that that is me! No Way!" Let me just say, I am one who has a very upbeat, positive outlook on life. I am happy, I am not the woe is me type of person. But as I looked at that photo, I became very critical of myself and wondered how I had reached this point/weight in my life.














As soon as I finished looking at all of our new darling photos, I immediately began looking for the soonest/closest Weight Watchers meeting. Mind you, the meeting that I attended was one day before my 36 birthday(exactly ONE year ago today). When I told John what was I was doing, he asked if i wanted to wait until after my birthday to join Weight Watchers so I could fully enjoy my birthday and the treats. I told him "No way! If I am going to do this, I am doing it right now. If I can make it through my birthday week, I can make it through anything." I told myself that I was just 4 years away from turning 40 and if it took me 4 years to get it all off then so be it. BUT there was no way I would enter into my 40's with that extra weight on me. And so the journey began. I will be totally honest. There have been a ton of tears(usually after insane workouts),hard work, bad habits kicked to the curb, early mornings at the gym, days where I didn't want to go to the gym, treats staring me down(hello National Chocolate Chip Cookie day), self doubt, discouragement, clothes that were still too tight and the list goes on! I decided to approach this journey, one day at a time and as a lifestyle change, not a diet.

With the combination of Weight Watchers, awesome WW leaders, Fitness MD, My encouraging(keep me on track/task, whose name I am most likely to curse on any given day)trainer(David), a supportive family, lots of self pep talks, and HUGE desire to do this...I have and I am continuing to do so each day.

Now this blog post, in a sense, is another pep talk and reminder to myself that I can anything I put my mind to. I think the thing that I wanted to share the most is that we can do hard things. With lots of work and determination, we can make things happen for ourselves.

Now that a full year has gone by, I can look at that photo above and be thankful that I had the inspiration to make some changes in my life. I certainly did not look at that photo last year with that same mind set. I wanted to light it on fire and pretend that it did not exist :-). I am super excited to see what my 37th year of life has in store for me...starting tomorrow.

p.s. As of today, I am down 65 lbs. and still going strong. What a difference a year has made.

project life photo 10.19.2011

John and I had the chance to attend the Sacramento Temple with our ward family tonight. We rode over to the Temple with our friends, Patti and Greg. Riding to and from the Temple was such a treat. It was fun to visit. We attended the 8 pm session so we didn't get out of there until 10:15 pm. I knew I wanted a picture of the Temple all lit up as my picture of the day. Well, we had so much fun chatting and tailgating that as soon as I grabbed my camera, they started turning the lights off. Totally my luck. It is still gorgeous, minus a few of the lights.















We couldn't leave until we captured a self portrait. This one totally made me smile. I am so thankful that we were able to attend the Temple and I am really thankful for wonderful friends.

date night

John had been talking about the Journey concert for months. They were scheduled to come out our way. I told him we should go. We would talk about it and then forget about it. Well, he decided the week of the concert that we needed to go. An evening spent listening to 80's music, I was totally on board. John found tickets for the lawn and we were good to go. This was the beautiful sky we enjoyed on our way out to the show.















This is the sunset we enjoyed while waiting for the show to start. Absolutely breath taking.

















Up first, Night Ranger. They sounded great. John loved them. To be totally honest, I only knew one of their songs. John was flabbergasted that I only knew one song. Sister Christian was my song-haha. I will say (in my defense)that I AM the younger wife. While he was rocking out to Night Ranger, I was most likely b-bopping to New Edition :-). I had to laugh though, they still have their 80's rocker hair. Some things will never change.














Foreigner was up next. They got the crowd going. They sounded exactly like they did in the 80's. I knew most of their songs and happily sang along.

















Journey finally took the stage at 9:30 pm. They played for a solid hour and a half. It had escaped my mind that the lead singers position had been filled with a guy they had found performing Journey songs via Karaoke. I thought the guy did a great job and sounded pretty darn good/close to the real thing. I loved singing along with the crowd to the old Journey favorites. I got major goosebumps when they sang Don't Stop Believing. Who doesn't love that song???

















We have added another fabulous date night to the books. Thanks,honey!

family

I often find dozens of these masterpieces throughout our home on any given day. It's a picture of our family. Can you see us? Our heads? Our eyes? Brody draws us daily and can tell you exactly who is who. I am just thankful that his 4 year old self sees me with long legs and not the tree stumps I was blessed with!
Happy Friday!

cute chicks

Brody and his preschool friends have been watching and waiting for these baby chicks to hatch. Each year, the preschool gets a few eggs. It is very exciting for the little ones. Brody would give us an update upon returning from school each day. It finally happened, the baby chicks hatched. I stopped by the school on Friday to take a peek. They sure are cute.

This is this weeks, Kit of the Week for Green Tangerines. It is My Little Bicycles new fall line. The colors are perfect for Fall...I am in love. When I was putting this layout together (late at night), I realized that I didn't have any recent photos printed in a 5X7 size. I started digging through my photo boxes and stumbled upon this photo from 2008. I got a little teary eyed...look how little my boys are!!! Brody looks so tiny. I will be using this layout as the title page, for our 2008 family album. At a quick glance, you can see and get a sense for how big/little the boys were. When the layout is returned to me, I will add the journaling with little snippets that will highlight our 2008. As usual, you can purchase this kit from Green Tangerines(916-771-8010) for $8.00. I have completed 37 Kit of the Weeks(so far) for 2011. Are you keeping up on your kits? If so, you should have 37 completed scrapbook pages. Not bad, one layout a week will get your year scrapped :-).

a-z of me

I have seen this on a couple of blogs and thought I would play along. It has been awhile since I’ve done one of these and it is a great way to get to know bits and pieces about someone. Let me know if you play along!

{a} age :: 36...for 9 more days.
{b} bed size :: Queen...I know! I know! It is time for a bigger bed :-).
{c} chore you hate :: Putting laundry away. I don't mind the washing and folding.
{d} dogs :: None. I still haven't caved.
{e} essential start to your day :: Fitness MD (Fit Club workout).
{f} favorite color :: Red, but all of the colors come in a close 2nd. I love color.
{g} gold or silver :: Silver
{h} height :: 5’4 on a good shoe day.
{i} instruments you play :: I am so NOT musically gifted.
{j} job title :: Stay-at-Home Mama!
{k} kids :: Tanner(12), Carter(10), Garrett(7) and Brody(4),
{l} live :: Sunny California
{m} maiden name :: Davis
{n} nicknames :: Raim, honey
{o} overnight hospital stays :: Only overnight stays have been when I’ve had my babies.
{p} pet peeve :: Christmas lights that are left up all year long and tardiness.
{q} quote :: "Be SO happy that when others look at you, they become happy too!"
{r} righty or lefty :: Righty!
{s} siblings :: Two sisters and 2 brothers. I am the oldest.
{t} time you wake up :: 5:30 am
{u} university attended :: West Valley College in Saratoga, CA
{v} vegetables you dislike :: Celery and Brussel Sprouts-YUCK!
{w} what makes you run late :: I seriously try to be on time wherever I go.
{x} x-rays you’ve had :: Hand, arm, mouth
{y} yummy food :: Mexican food & Chocolate Chip Cookies
{z} zoo animal favorite :: Giraffe and monkey

I have officially lost...

another child.














So before the blogger police come after me(or worse,the real ones), I should clarify that I haven't really lost one of my children :-). I am happy to report that I am down 63 lbs.(as of this morning). As of this morning, Garrett weighed in at 59 lbs.. I have lost enough weight that amounts to a small 7 year old child...still totally mind blowing to me. I am continuing to work out. I am going to be totally honest. Some weeks/months have been slower than others in the weight loss department. I am proud/happy to report that I have stuck with it. I am continuing to work out. I attend Fit Club at Fitness MD 5 days a week and I am watching what I eat. The really fun part about the whole journey is that I am loving it! I really am. I feel strong and energized. I have picked up some new habits and have even left a few of the bad ones in the dust. I am doing things that I told myself I would NEVER, EVER do. Things like running, actually enjoying and looking forward to my workout time and looking forward to my assessments(every 6 weeks).

You may remember this post. I couldn't imagine doing my daily workouts with those extra 40 lbs.. Now, as I sit here typing, I can't imagine doing those workouts with those extra 63 lbs.. I am so happy that I have stuck with it and have continued on this journey. I will say that while the workouts have not changed(or become easier), I have become stronger and lighter :-).


I have been assigned a new trainer. When it came to setting new goals, he didn't waste a minute. I am super excited, and a little nervous to see what lies ahead of me. Wish me luck and maybe I will manage to lose another child :-).

Are you ready for some football?

My boys are just checking one sport, right after another off of their lists. Tanner is loving 7th grade and the opportunity to play a few more sports this year. He just finished his 1st year/season of flag football. He was quickly recruited as the quarterback. He had a great time and had some amazing plays. There were a few interceptions, touchdowns and lots of flag pulling. It was fun to watch him do his thing. He was all over the place, making plays. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the season.


































































p.s. the beautiful thing about middle school sports is that the season is short and sweet :-).