Joy of Love

So I decided that I would follow in my sister's foot steps and sign up for a photo challenge. This one in particular is called the Joy of Love and after reading about it here I am really excited to be a part of it... guess i should go dust off my digital camera lol.

Today was just another FREEZING day in Arizona. hahaha. Ok we actually did reach freezing temperatures here in the Valley which is crazy in itself. So after picking up Olivia from her dad's (and making the mistake of wearing flip flops which = numb toes) and taking her to go play at the play place I decided I would go pay my rent (as any good tenant should lol). I walk into the office at my apartments, and fill out the money order I had for the woman and then she asks me, "Did you see the fountain out front?". I asked her if it was frozen and sure enough, the fountain was covered in icicles. That's how cold it was here today. The wind chill factor was ridiculous. So here's my proof that it gets cold in Arizona... :D

Then I spent the rest of the day with Olivia reading books and playing. I decided that we were going to take some pictures of ourselves, but mostly I just wanted to take a bunch of pictures of her. These are my 5 favorites from today. I love her ♥

This last one Olivia took herself lol... 

Lastly... I got my Brand New Glasses today!!!!! I am in Love ♥! I ordered them like 2 weeks ago from Zenni Optical. Basically if you know your prescription you can order super cute glasses online for as little as like 13 bucks! It's crazy. Don't you love them??? I do. They were well worth the wait. :D

Without Olivia....

.... It is always so quiet in my house. She spends half the week w/ her dad and it still throws me off. Not that she spends half the week w/ him, but that I have half a life now lol. Silence drives me batty which usually leads me to throw on some loud music (Currently i just blast Florence + the Machine every chance I get) and get to cleaning or organizing something. That's if I'm home. Like I am tonight. It's too cold to go out. And I know what you're thinking... YOU LIVE IN ARIZONA!!!! It's not cold!!!! Well... maybe not to you, however to me 44deg feeling like 33 because of 20mph winds is COLD. :) So tonight I chose to stay in after a long day of monotony (you know... pay some bills, do some laundry, clean something, get dressed finally, go to school, get home, put laundry away, change the bed sheets, clean out olivia's closet, get thirsty, go to QT :D) haha yeah that was my day in order. So I treated myself to a nice big 24oz Vanilla Creme Cappuccino while I was there.

Anyways, usually when Olivia isn't here I try to find things to do outside the house. You know so I can re-connect with adults again. :D So I go to free poker w/ friends or I go to karaoke with friends. Or I just hang out w/ friends like Thursday Night Dinner Nights w/ Leticia. One of my favorite nights of the week. (cuz we're awesome and a force to be reckoned w/ and no one (we know) is a match for our cooking skills)...

So It's weird w/o my lil fireball. I'm still not used to it. I probably won't ever really be. But I just try to pass the time so I don't go crazy.... Now I guess it's the activity of choice is a NCIS marathon on my DVR until I pass out.

...a lil florence and the machine for you. This song makes my day every time (i swear I'm not violent). It's also my ringtone :D ♥♥♥

Pictures... as promised :D

So I'm not sure why i couldn't post these in my last post but I'll start with the most recent picture of myself.....

I got a hair cut just before Christmas and got my side swept bangs back. And while Karalyn was here we dyed the bottom layer of my hair a very dark brown and then I also got a monroe piercing while she was here too.... so this is the new me and I'm loving it ♥

Here are a few of Olivia and I ~ all taken pretty recently (within the last month) 

This picture is probably the oldest one of her out of the whole bunch and even still it's not that old because it's from after I moved to the new apartment. Crazy how much she's grown.

The pic above is Olivia currently. Took this the other day right after she finished eating an oreo. but messy face or not I love it! (plus we got rid of the pacifier!!!!! YAY! no more pictures with that facial obstruction lol)

Olivia playing hat time with her dolls ..... too cute

She actually let me braid her hair... I love it. 

Reading her princess book on her Tag Jr ( ty Grammie and Grampie)

ok this picture = ♥

crocheted olivia a hat.... She loves it

Can you say DIVA?!

 

And lastly, this one was just plain cute..... I love this little girl with all my ♥!

New Year... New Life... New Adventures...... ♥

Well the month of January has come and gone and I haven't posted my New Year post.... well actually, I haven't posted anything since Olivia turned 2 in September. A lot has happened since then and I feel terrible that I am JUST getting to it now, but bear with me.

This year is going to be awesome for many reasons.... but I guess I should start with what has happened since September...

For starters, I broke up with Chris. This was a BIG MAJOR IMPROVEMENT on my life and one that needed to happen a while ago but I had to do it on my own time and not on everyone else's time. Basically I was sick of being a zoo keeper/maid/nanny/exhausted mentally and financially/stressed out all the time..... and the list goes on. But I made the decision to be happy, as I wasn't happy with the way things were going and i do not regret this decision ONE BIT! :D

So needless to say, I got my own apartment. It's in a much better part of town and I love where I live and Olivia does too :D! We have a large 1 BR and we share a room but I'm ok w/ that. It's the perfect size for us for now. But I do not plan on moving any time soon seeing as I have moved 3 times in the last year and a half and there is no way a 4th is in my future any time soon.

The holidays were spent with friends which eased the part where I missed my family. Thanksgiving always hits me hard because it's the one holiday that we always try to make sure that we get together for. I got to spend thanksgiving with my friend Sylina and her huge Mexican family. The best mexican thanksgiving ever! Olivia had a blast with all the kids to play with and I was just happy to be a part of someone's family that day and not home making turkey sandwiches and potato salad haha... 

I decorated my front patio for Christmas and put up my tree in my living room. Christmas was awesome. The morning started out with a Skype session with mom, dad and Kate to watch Olivia open her presents and from there Olivia and I went and spent the day with Leticia and her sisters and her mom. Mexican Christmas... It was fantastic! We watched movies all day and grubbed on some delicious food and again, it made the missing my family part not so bad cuz they kind of are my family out here :D

The new year was also spent with Leticia. Olivia was at her dad's and I put on my pj's and went to Leti's and made dinner, had champagne and watched movies.... perfection.

This last month has been super busy.... starting with Karalyn coming to stay with me for a week - which was AWESOME!!!!! I love when she comes from NY to visit Olivia and I. I swear to you we laughed so hard our abs hurt for a week straight and i think we both probably lost like 10 lbs. haha
Then the week after she left, I started back to college for the first time in 5 years. This is awesome. I am soooo glad to be back in the college grind. I'm only going part time right now and just taking 2 classes, however I'm loving it. I have a computer class (lots of work but awesome) and an Astronomy class (not as much work and 2x as awesome). I was SUPER excited for my Astronomy class and have not been disappointed yet. Our second class was spent reviewing the first class, watching a pink floyd tour of the universe in the planetarium and going up to the roof to look at Jupiter and it's moons through the telescope. Yeah it was sweeeet.

So that pretty much brings you up to speed on what's gone on and how this year is going to be awesome... ♥

So here is the part where I bombard you with pictures... Olivia is getting so big (already over 3 feet tall) and she talks soooo so much and sings and dances all the time. Today she was singing along to one of the songs I was listening to and i couldn't help but grin cuz she was so darn cute! Every day is a wonderful day with her - even when she feels the need to be bossy and fresh (which is quite often). It's like that show/book Olivia about the little pig. She is a handful and at the end of the book when her mom puts her to bed she gives her a kiss and says, "You know, you really wear me out. But I love you anyway." and Olivia kisses her back and says, "I love you anyway too." ~ That's pretty much the same with Me and My Olivia.... She's a handful but I wouldn't have it any other way because she makes every day interesting and awesome. ♥ ♥ ♥

*ok apparently my image uploader doesn't want to work, so I will just post an entire post of pictures once i figure out what the heck is going on w/ it*

Happy 2nd Birthday Olivia!

Today my lil peanut turned 2! I can't believe how fast time flew by because it feel like just yesterday she was a tiny little thing and i was rocking her to sleep. Now she is opinionated, tells you what she wants and doesn't want. She goes to sleep on her own. She is saying sooo many words and putting sentences together. She's super smart. She is a cuddle-bug and tells me she loves me all the time. She is starting to sing her ABC's and we're just about to venture into the land of potty training. She's hit the terrible toddler-ness already but she counters that with being a sweet, chatty, loving, smart, happy little 2 year old girl!

Olivia, I love you SO VERY MUCH!!!! You are by far the best thing that has ever happened to me. You're the thing that makes me smile every day no matter what! I smile even when it's 6:45 am and you're waking up, because I know you're going to smile and hug me and tell me you love me and give me a big kiss! You're the cutest little kid in the world (yeah i'm biased but it's true) and you will always be my little peanut, my sunshine, my most favorite Olivia in the whole wide world!

I'm a Blogger... Follow ME!

I'm in this swap on Swap-Bot called I'm A Blogger...Follow ME! I love doing these kind of swaps because I love finding new interesting blogs to look at and I love making new blog friends!

Here are my partners for the Swap... So not only do i get to enjoy them but so can you!

Agnetha @ Lilofant Design
Sheri @ The Musings of a Manic
Laura @ True Stories, Honest Lies & Cook Pot Stories
Jennifer @ Jennifer Said.... Life is not a Rehearsal
Elizabeth @ ElizabethMD Jewelry Designs
Misses @ Better than Naked - Vintage and Handmade Finds
Christina @ Chrissy Gee's Swap Blog!
Cathy @ Remember When... Remember Then & Psychic Mama Indigo Child
Beverly @ Lots of Possibilities & Our Family Our Story
Nicole @ Kampiscines & P.S. Kampiscines

Happy Blogging and Swapping!

Just thought I would share........

.........My new favorite pictures of the girls

It seems like I have to settle for individual pictures because Olivia and Rachel pretty much refuse to take a picture together. And it's not like they can't stand each other because actually they are pretty much each others partner in crime and best friend but either one smiles and the other is crying or grumpy or vice versa. Never a cute happy pic of both girls when i want one. So instead, on the rare occasion, I get amazing pictures of the girls and today was one of those times. It was nice outside, they were happy and my phone was cooperating lol. Hope you love them as much as I do!

I Really cannot believe how big they are getting. Seems like they can reach things today that they couldn't yesterday. Like I remember when Olivia could barely reach the door knob to close the door and now she can reach the light switch if she stands on her toes!

In other news, Our 4th of July was pretty relaxing. Chris worked on our neighbors tattoo and I hung out with the girls and then we went to this ball park called Big League Dreams where they have replicas of different famous stadiums set up. So we took our spot in the outfield of Fenway and picnicked and chased the girls around until it was dark and it was time for fireworks. They sat really well for the show and didn't cry once! Although I did think Olivia was about to when the finale startled her. But all in all they were pooped and we had a blast! (Sorry i have no decent pictures. I tried to take some of the girls during fireworks but they didn't turn out so great and the fireworks setting on my phone is weird so i got some odd shots of the fireworks and nothing good except for maybe the videos i took that i will have to upload later.

Also, Chris and I are on the hunt for a new place to live. Preferably something that is bigger and can fit more than 1 person in the kitchen at a time and has a backyard for the girls and the dogs and maybe even a craft/tattoo room if we were to get so lucky. We called and gave our 30 days notice today so I'm praying that something will pop up that doesn't cost 3x the rent to move in. Oi!

Well I'm going to go watch The Hobbit with Chris now. (yeah we are having a blast from the past moment) and do the rest of my laundry and maybe some dishes (ugh). Goodnight!

Songs by Emotion

So I started back up on Swap-Bot in hopes that it will get my creative juices flowing again. I decided to join this one called Songs by Emotion E-Swap. Since they put a stop to mix cd swaps *sigh* the alternative is to send a playlist to your partner(s) with the link to the video or music from the internet. Doing it this way ensures that there is no illegal pirating of music going on.

Anyways I thought the theme for this music swap was fun cuz it made u think about which song you like falls into the respective category. So I thought I'd share with you the list I chose to send to my partners. :D Enjoy!

Pumping, energy, can’t sit still: Black Eyed Peas – I got a feeling  
Drowning, heavy, sad: Evanescence – Going Under                       
Hope: Josh Groban – You are Loved                                             
Upbeat, cheery, good day: The Beatles – Good Day Sunshine        
Raging, vent: Five Finger Death Punch – Ashes                             
Numbing, empty/depressed: Linkin Park – Numb                           
Slinky, dark, dirty: Nine Inch Nails – Closer                                   
Soothing, relaxation: George Winston – Blossom/Meadow              
Vast, alive, blissful, beautiful world: U2 – Beautiful Day                   
Love (any aspect): Steel Magnolia – Keep on Lovin’ You                  

On My Mind... (confiscated from As is Proper)

On my mind
For Today...
June 30, 2010


Outside my window... is a lot of sun. It's in the 100's here and it's still pouring through the windows.

I am thinking...  that I would like to do a project soon. I have a few things in mind but currently dwelling on the fact that I want to make a measuring stick to track the girls height. Probably going to go to Home Depot and get some 6' long 2x4's - one for Olivia and one for Rachel - and sand and paint them and put little designs on them and then screw them to the wall so i can track their height on there instead of a door post. It's something we can take with us if we move and if there is one for each gorl they can keep them when they get older. So I want to do that but Idk when.

I am thankful for... air conditioning lol

I'm wearing... a green tank top and jeans. nothing fancy.

I am remembering... Schoodic Point. I love and miss that place. I was always so inspired there and I miss Maine so bad. My family is going this year and unfortunately as much as I would love to go I don't think it's going to happen. :(  

I am creating... tattoos. Well sort of. It seems like thats the closest I've come to art recently. I've been doing the stenciling and drawing for our friends that come over for Chris to tattoo. And I even got in on it and did one on myself which i must say is awesome and i'm really proud of it.  Hopefully i soon i will be creating more stuff too.

I am going... crazy... no just kidding. Chris and i are going to take the girls to the water park at the junior high by us. It's got some slides and water mushrooms and geysers and a kid area and it's $4 total to get in. Yay!

I am reading...  wow nothing at the moment except for blogs. I'm in the middle of re-reading Cloud Nine by Luanne Rice.

Song that is playing over and over in my head... Dirty Heads - Lay Me Down feat. Rome of Sublime w/ Rome

I am hoping... that Chris and I will be able to find bigger place soon that is reasonably priced. *crosses fingers*

Noticing that... my house is a mess.... yet again

From the kitchen... I'm trying to avoid the kitchen right now. I guess i should go to the store and get soe meat so i can make some dinner in the kitchen lol

Around the house... Everything is everywhere. I'm trying to go through it cabinet by cabinet etc. so that when we do move it's not a bigger hassle than it will be already.

One of my favorite things... hugs from Olivia. she likes to nestle her head right in the crook of my neck and pull me in close. It melts me every time.

 A few plans for the rest of the week... Swimming tomorrow, Gotta go get some lab work done, and a meeting friday night otherwise not much else.

A picture I would like to share...

Tattoo

Sooooo.... I said earlier that I have been practice skin for Chris recently as he embarks on his tattoo endeavors. Well, today I decided to be practice skin for someone other than Chris............ and that would be me!!!! Yes I did a tattoo on my calf today and not just a nautical star that is what I guess would be a typical "starter" tattoo so I searched long and hard for something i wanted that i knew i would actually like and be able to do and I chose to tattoo this:

So I drew it up last night and did the outline today and it turned out like this!

Isn't he cute!? I'm waiting to color it in later when we get more colors so for now I will just have this outline but I loveeeeee it. And I am pretty proud of it for my first tattoo. It took a little to get used to the tattoo gun but once i was comfortable with it, it was just like tracing a picture (which is all it really was) and I had fun and got it done pretty quick.

:-D Fun times.... i can't wait to fill him in though.