My baby's BIG 30th!

Me and my man looking good for his 30'th bday party.

A kiss for the camera! Ohhhhhhh SCORE!

Sooo happy we got to go home to Cali for Jorges big 30th birthday. His parents flew us to Cali and gave him a big Mexican birthday party. It was great to spend time with friends we have not seen in a year or so and family. His parents are soo sweet for doing this for him. We spend the whole day and night before the day of the party preparing for it. His mom, myself and his sister made all the food from scratch. And darnet I didn't take pictures of the food or while we were preparing it. Oh well! All of his family was at the party to celebrate it with him. Also our friends Monica and Dom from the Valley that drove down just for him. Thanks guys! Also Ricardo, Liz for coming down I know you all were tired from work so thanks guy's. We had his Uncle DJ'd for us and also enjoyed Karaoke. It was soo much fun.

I love to see your smiling face. He knew what was coming up next.....the whole family was screaming for his face to be smash in the cake. It's a tradition!

That's more like it. Baby you make that cake look good!

My father and mother in law. These are the best In Laws in the world how did I get soo lucky? Actually I feel madly in love with Jorge the moment he took me home for the first time to have dinner at their house. I saw how he treated his mama and how he was not embarrassed to kiss and her hug her in front of me. He would always take care of her and not make her lift anything. I knew then he was a great catch by the way he was treating his mother. It gets me teary eyed just thinking about it and how much luv they all have for each other. They are such a loving family.

Monica and Dom. We have been friends with this fool's for 10 years. Jorge knows Dom longer through the military. We have so much memories with them and through the years we have kept in touch and friends no matter where the military sent us. And they are both from California too. He is not longer in the military and been out for a while but we always get together when ever we can. That was a fun night just catching up and talking smack and joking around.

Ricardo and Liz oh to be a newly wed again. NOT!!!!!hahahah. Ricardo has been friends with Jorge since 4'th grade. Liz is new in the clan but she fit's right in. She is now in of the circle! hehehe

Jorge's sister Isabel and her man David. I went to High school with her but didn't know her until I got together with Jorge. Thanks for everything sis! The kids had such a great time with Jakob and Alyssa.

Mini!!!!! I luv me my Mini! Mini is my mother in law's house keeper, maid, helper, assistant, babysitter and what ever else you want to name it. She is such an awesome lady. This was the first time I got to meet Mini and I luv her. She is such an awesome and sweet person. I made her cry on our last day in Cali and we all started crying even my hubby. She said that she has never felt so loved by strangers ever in her life and that she know how much our family loves her. I'm gonna miss waking up in the morning and having coffee with her and the whole family.

It was funny cuz it was sooo cold for California weather but to me, Jorge and the kids it felt great. It is much colder in Georgia so we thought this is awesome. Notice how everyone in the picture wearing jackets or sweater. After a while it got windy and finally had to put a jacket on but took it off as soon as I got inside. Here I am at the end of the night next to the fire pit chillin.

Thanksgiving Day.

I just wanted to share some pictures from our Thanksgiving day at the house. It was a simple party, nothing fancy but with friends and love ones. A lot of food and got to see my cousin Harry who just got back from Iraq and drove all the way from Florida to be with us. Ooooh how sweet!

Look at all the food! It doesn't look as much in the picture as it did in real life, but it was soo much food we had a marathon. I love holidays!

Isaac enjoying his food, although his face does not show it.

Isabella smiling even while her mouth is full of food. That girl know how to work it at a moments notice. hehehe

My handsome cousin Harry! He is such a grown up it is weird for me. I remember when I got to the US I was 12 years old and he was like 3 or 4 and I use to take care of him. I live with them until I reached High school so he was my baby brother growing up. Luv you Harry! It was fun having him for Thanksgiving and spoiling him with homemade food. Girls he is SINGLE!


Me and my love! Ahhhh how sweet! We were all chillin after the big dinner and after everybody left. We never get to be in pictures together since I am always holding the camera and most of all I tend to not take pics cuz we all have self esteem issues but I now try harder to be in pics for my kids and for myself as well. That's right folks that is no makeup and hair not dolled up but who care's it's a great picture cuz its me and my love. But just to make it interesting and getting back at my husband if you scroll down it's outtakes. He kept messing with me and saying how crazy I am for wanting to take pictures without looking at the camera. So this is what he did just to spite me. And just to spite you honey (cuz he looks at my blog all the time just to see what I am up to and comments once in a while) this is for you.

I can see you looking at me with those eyes! Punk!

Of course classic Jorge! Notice how he can fit half of his whole finger in there. Yeah baby! That's a Magana nose for ya!

Do you still take time to enjoy the little things?

Last night as I was about to go to bed and turn off my computer I noticed a little article about Leonid meteor shower doing its peak last night.The Leonid meteors are debris shed into space by the Tempel-Tuttle comet, which swings through the inner solar system at intervals of 33.25 years. So I thought wow I should see it. I have done this with a friend a couple of months ago when I visited her and we stayed up that night, sitting in her patio chairs just talking and watching the shower. I remember that day and treasure it. So I did not want to miss this chance to see it by myself.

My hubby and kids are all passed out, it was passed midnight and I read that it should start around 11:oo pm. I was late already but decided to take my chances anyway. I was wearing my jammies and it was soo cold outside. But I got my chair and sat my butt and just enjoy that moment of quiet and darkness by myself. I remember praying last night and being thankful that I can still take the time to enjoy the little things in life. I was thankful I still appreciated looking at the sky, the stars and the ability to experience these kinds of events. Not too many people do that anymore. And I prayed for God to let me see just one before going to bed. I waited for as long as I could in the cold but didn't see anything. After about 30 min. I decided to go inside and get a sweater and read the computer again. Maybe its over is what I told myself. I soon saw that it was hard to see them and they would only be at a certain spots. But that the best time to see them bright would be after midnight. So I decided one last time to go outside, besides I can let the dogs out one last time before going to bed.

As I got outside not even a minute later I see a big one, really bright but really fast. I said "ooooh there's one!" My neighbors might have thought I was crazy if they saw me but I didn't care. I was happy and I had a big smile on my face. Not even a couple of seconds later I see another one. A small reddish color one but this time it was slow and traveled across the sky taking its time. I gasp, and instantly thank God for giving more that what I had ask for. How great is that? I just had this feeling inside me of gratitude and appreciation. I love moments like that.

So I have a question for you! Do you still take the time to enjoy the little things in life? Do you take the time to be thankful for things you never thought you would be thankful for? Do you stop and appreciate the silliest things that you might be embarrassed to admit or show other people? And if you don't, why? This time that we have here is limited and can be taken away. I know this might be silly for some but I am not ashamed to share this with you all. I am not afraid to sound ridiculous to encourage you to take a little bit of your time to appreciate the things/moments until it is too late. Take the time to enjoy in the beauty that most don't see anymore. I don't mean to sound crazy but I just wanted to share this with you. Hope you all enjoy the remaining of your weekend. Beauty is everywhere, take the time to appreciate and be thankful for it.

It was a busy Friday!

Isaac had a field trip to see the Nutcracker at the local theater downtown. Would have love to go to that with Isabella but I had to go to my hubby's Thanksgiving party at work. I spent two days preparing for this party. The first day was grocery shopping and wrapping all the lumpia's for the party. The next day (Friday) I spend cutting vegetables for the Pancit (noodle), cooking it and frying the lumpia's. I was 30 min late for the part cuz it took forever for the lumpia's to cook sheesh. I only make these for special occasions but they are soo popular that everyone pretty much requested that. I didnt even take home anything back they ate it all. I was trying to sneak out with some Pancit but someone stopped me and said "uh your not taking that home, you can give that to me!" Huh! But of course I gave in and gave her the last bit of it. Got home and remembered I put a plate of it away for us. Yay! totally forgot about that. I have a little bit of the lumpia too but that is going to a friend as well.

So here is what I have been up to! I was asked by my husband's secretary to help her with a wedding album for her brother. She bought the album plain but wanted me to spruce it up a bit and her is what I came up with. The colors of their wedding are silver, red and black. I got this book Friday also and finished it today (Sunday). Its a good thing I don't have to do much on the inside. It is just a plain album where you slide pics inside. I did a little extra for her by adding a first page where she wanted to put the invitation and I also added a little something for the pages just to make it feel more like a real scrapbook. I hope she likes it! I had to get it done since I am doing another wedding album that I still have not finished. But the second one I am doing all the pages so it is taking a lot more time.

I have also been working on my LO's for the Ink Boutique DT call. I have one more LO to do and I am done. Unless I am not happy with what I have now and keep working on it till it is due or until before I leave for Cali. I want to post them here but don't want to take a chance to I will post them when the contest is over or will do a sneak peak without revealing too much. I don't know how this is gonna pan out since next week is Thanksgiving, Isaac is out of school, cousin is here for TG and having people over as well as getting ready for a 19 day vacation. Wowser! I have a lot to do and not soo much time. But I love the pressure so its ok. I can do this......I think. Ha!

What is your horoscope?

AQUARIUS - Does It In The Water

Trustworthy. Attractive. Great kisser. One of a kind, loves being in long-term relationships. Can be clumsy at times but tries hard. Will take on any project. Proud of themselves in whatever they do. Messy, and unorganized. Procrastinators. Great lovers, when their not sleeping. Extreme thinkers. Loves their pets usually more then their family. Can be VERY irritating to others when they try to explain or tell a story. Unpredictable. Will exceed your expectations. Not a Fighter, But will Knock your lights out.

Ok I am so loving this horoscope. I don't usually read this stuff but this was emailed to me and I luv it so I wanted to share it with all of you. Its weird cuz this definitely describes my personality. It is crazy! Oh and by the way the picture with the seahorse that is me that posed for that picture! Yes, that is me! What are you trying to say that I am lying? I am that skinny and my butt is tight and firm like that. hahahhaha I guess they should have added LIAR in that horoscope.

I don't know if you all noticed that I changed my play list. I was in the mood of love and slow jams today. I dedicate all of the love songs to my husband Jorge. Its funny cuz we will send each other emails when we find old songs that we dedicate to each other. I luv it when we do that cuz it just makes me feel special. Its kinda not fair to him cuz he is soo busy now and I have more opportunities to do that. I have a myspace account and a blog to use to dedicate songs to him. So when you hear an old song that is way too corny luvy duvy that is for my hubby. My jams are still there so its not like I totally abandon them.

Ok I need to go! This is just a short one.

Time for a challenge

So I was @ 2Peas today which is rare since I don't visit as much, but anyway I have decided to participate in a blog challenge. I should have been paying attention to this since it will help my blog.
Challenge: Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Share:
1. A childhood Thanksgiving memory.
2. A family Thanksgiving tradition.
3. Five things you're thankful for...besides family, friends and health.
Give it some serious thought and be specific.

1. A childhood Thanksgiving memory I want to share would be my first one. I grew up in the Philippines and only got to the USofA on May 1,1991. Yes folks I am an immigrant. I was 12 years old when I got here and did not speak a lick of English besides "Yes" and "No". I remember going to my Auntie Lydia's house and wondering what is up with all the food. I saw a big all chicken and was amazed at how big it was. I had never seen such a huge chicken in my life. They later told me it was a Turkey, although I still didn't understand what a turkey was since it look exactly like a chicken. They did do any kind of traditional Thanksgiving thing just a get together and eating great food. Alot of it! I loved Thanksgiving I had never eaten so much in my live and it was encouraged. I thought that was awesome.
2. We don't really have a tradition in the family. Only that we figured out who is doing what and where would the food be. In other words we get together to eat that's it. They do not go around telling each other what we are thankful for or whatever. We just eat, talk, yell, eat some more, wrap to go plates, make kids clean up and go home. Until next year.
3. I am thankful for being able to do the things I enjoy. My husband supports me with Scrapbooking no matter how tight our money is. He enjoys seeing me create and be involve in things. He is such a great husband for letting me be me and be able to express myself through my art and truly appreciate it. I cannot see myself with anyone else and would not dare to think how it would be if it wasn't him and that person does not like what I do or love.
I am thankful for the opportunity to be here in the US. Otherwise I don't know how my life would be if I didn't get to come here and stay in the Philippines. There was always this thing inside of me that told me it will all be ok and that there is something better out there for me waiting. I truly believe that and kept the faith and here I am. No matter how bad or tight I think our situations is (financially)I know it could be worse, way worse so I am always thankful for that and tell my hubby we have way more that alot of other people out there and to not take it for granted.
I am thankful for having the courage to create a different life for myself no matter how hard it was to walk away from my family and friends. It is hard to stop a pattern that has been going on in our family as far as emotional and lifestyle. I am very proud of that. I am a very different person from who I was before being with my husband. I always say a thank you to him and God for giving me the life that I have now.
I am thankful for everything that has happened in my life bad or good., Becuz if not for the things that happened in my life I would not be the person I am today. Strong and a survivor with anything that comes my way. God has truly blessed me in every way possible and I dont ever take it for granted.

I hope that you all share a little bit of who you are if you decide to do this challenge. I hope that you learned a little bit about me with this few questions that I answered and I am happy to share a little bit of me. Like a famous person said: " I am an onion, I've got layers". Shrek

Sorry been busy!

So I have been kinda busy and have not posted. I really have been wanting to but just got a little crazy. I wanted to share our Halloween pics. so here they are:
I usually let the kids do an activity before we trick or treating and this year they got to make their own baskets. They had so much fun and Isaac got a little creative and made his skull look grumpy instead of smiling. I had to help Isabella a lot cuz it was a lot of work wrapping the bucket with those fabric. She put the eyes all by herself and she was excited about that. She was already wearing her cheerleader outfit the whole day. I had to make her wear a long sleeves shirt cuz it has been getting cold here. But she still luv it though.
They also got to make their own foam scene. Isabella's was a Princess tower and Talita our next door neighbor helped her a lot by putting it together. It was a little too much for chabella but she enjoyed posing next to it. It is still actually placed in my bar area in the kitchen.
Isaac had the cemetery scene which he thought was just cool. Can you tell by his face that he is enjoying this way tooo much! Its kinda hard taking pics of him right now cuz he thinks he is too funny and make the silliest faces. Talita got to make this with Isaac as well and after wards they all ran in the backyard to mess with their buckets. They almost put dirt and water on them and I had to tell them its for their candies and they put them inside soo fast I didn't even have to yell! Yay!

Below is a picture of Isabella (cheerleader), Isaac (Darth Vader) and myself (40's mommy). My hubby came home late and didn't get to dress up. He opted to stay at home as usual and give out candies to the little kids. Seriously my boobs look so big in this picture its not even funny! But baby I am proud to say they are all mine.....all natural!

Jorge enjoying my outfit he wanted a silly picture of me. I would have worn my beautiful shoes I bought for this outfit but could not see myself walking up the hill and around the neighborhood with them. Plus it was kinda cold so I figured I could rock the socks and flats. I would have love to put my hair in a much puffier state but ran out of time and it got dark quick and kids were already knocking at the door. Oh well I still looked cute I think! hehehehe I should have held a baking pan or something and all I had was a stinkin bucket.

Picture of Jorge with the kids. Can you tell he was relax, little bum! That's alright, me and the kids had fun but Isabella quit half way but still manage to push her to walk all the way home. Although I had to hold her pom poms cuz she wanted to hold her bucket and got heavy after a while. There was surprisingly a lot more people in our neighborhood than last year so it was fun walking around. It was a little disappointing that not too many parents dressed up this year!

On other news:

This is what I have been up to. I have never participated in blog challenges but this time I have found some good one's that really inspired me to do it. This LO is for 2 challenges (OLW and HMITM). I had to use the work Delight for OLW and used Bling for HMITM. I luv this Daisy D's paper and enjoyed making this LO. Luv the bird and really wanted to feature him!

Here is a closer pic of the bird I was talking about. I think he is soo cute.

Below are my submissions to A Million Memories xmas tree contest. The rule is to make a LO, card or altered item with your own design of a xmas tree. It also said to be creative and step out of the box. I got all kinds of crazy ideas in my head and these are the ones that came out first. I have more I want to do but for right now this is it.

First is a simple card that I wanted to make look vintage. Used vintage cream ribbon and layered them to create a tree. I like that its just simple and to the point. I will probably add some small presents under the tree to make it more elaborate later.

Here is an idea I thought of first. Used empty ribbon holder/spool thingy. Covered it with PP and used ribbon to hold them together. Well I also used tape in the back to keep them in place and backed it with a matching green paper just for back up. I also used green,black and yellow ribbon from Autumn Leaves black bird buttons.

This is by far I think the most out there. I loved the Heidi Grace PP that had cupcake on it. So what do I do I create a giant dessert xmas tree. I thought it was different and supposed to look like the ice cream you get at McDonald's the white one. I even created a cupcake tin with frosting for the bottom. It is made out of white tissue paper, cupcake for ornaments and cut out the left over paper into little pieces to stimulate sprinkles. I made a cherry put it on top and couldn't help but add glittered butterflies for fun.

Isabella loves this I am putting it her room. She knew it was a xmas tree and that made me happy. Seriously it looks alot better and fun in person.

Here are frames that I got at dollar spot at Target last year for $2.50 for clearance or half off so that would make it $1.25 for the 3 of them. I added a gold star garland and created little trees and attached to the front of the frames. Used stickers for the work JOY and walla a xmas decoration. Very simple but very fun.

I've been tagged

5 things I was doing 10 years ago (October 1997):
1. Got married right after Highschool
2.Working as a waitress in RockOla Cafe
3. I had my first apartment with my husband
4. Became a military wife and learning the civilian world is so different from the military lifestyle
5. Learning how to drive the only car we had which was a stick shift.

5 things on my to do list today (since it's late, tomorrow):
1. Send Netflix back
2. send my cousin Rosies bday card and present
3. Laundry.
4. clean the house
5. Fold all the clean clothes

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. fresh fruits
2. home made chocolate chip cookies freshly baked
3. Dove dark chocolate truffles
.4. sharp cheddar cheese
5. filipino desserts

5 songs I know the lyrics to:
1. Colbie Caillat-Magic
2. Ingrid Michaelson-sweater song
3. Norah Jones-Come away with me
4. Almost all of Black eyed peas
5. Little mermaid song sings it to my daughter when she takes a bath

5 of my bad habits:
1. being lazy in the morning and doing everything when it is way too late in the afternoon
2. scrathing myself too hard that I mess up my skin
3. not folding and putting away clothes when I need to
4. too much time surfing the net instead of doing stuff
5. throwing food away

5 things I'd do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay off all debt for me and hubby as well as my mom and mother in law
2. put money away for college and retirement just in case I blow all my money on scrap stuff
3. Go on amazing vacations/trip with my family
4. Definitely take better care of myself
5. I will hire a massage person, cook (healthy meals), trainer and maid so I can scrap anytime I please.

5 things I will never wear again:
1. mix match colors and patterns
2. Rolled up shorts and pants
3. stuffed bras I have plenty of my own now
4. plastic shoe's
5. my size 0 clothes since I will never be that small ever!

5 of my favorite toys:
1. Cricut
2. Scrapbooking stuff.
3. Camera.
4. Computer.
5. stamps

NOW I tag these people to answer the same:
Grannielinda
Jensue
Gracie (come on girl joined the dark side)
Bliss
Meredith (did she do this alredy)

Thrift Finds

So Saturday afternoon I had to hurry up and go to Goodwill to hopefully find something I can wear for a Halloween party we were going to that day. Which was fine cuz I didnt have a costume for Halloween when I go trick or treating with the kids anyway. So in my head I was thinking gosh I need to make up something. I really wanted to go as a toga girl, student/nerd/sexy, or 40's housewife. Since I figured that's easy enough. Oh my gosh can I tell you how much I love Goodwill. You would have never ever heard me say that a couple of weeks ago but I am a total addict now. They have some awesome stuff in there. I dont know if it was becuz its close to Halloween or not but they put all their women's shirts, skirts and alot of other stuff all for $3.50 each. Yikes! They had so much stuff that I wanted not just for Halloween costume but for myself.

Here is a picture of me in my costume. I think I did pretty damn good specially it only cost me $15.50 in total for my full costume down to the shoes baby!

A self portrait of my me in my costume. Can you tell I am really feeling this. I love how feminine I look and believe me I do not dress like this but I am considering it specially how much attention I got from hubby. I LOVE THIS COSTUME!

How can you not do a total closeup of the shoes. This is the sexiest angle I can do from the front it just does not looke sexy so you get a side view. Sorry didnt have time to paint my toes.

So to make a long story short this is what I found at Goodwill that day and it would have been more but I was on a tight budget so can you imagine my loot if I didnt hold back like a real responsible adult should. I love my costume and really feeling it. Sorry for the blurry picture my husband took it when we got back from the party so my hair is a little flat already. It was alot puffier when we left. I love love love the shoes.

Here is the rundown: green shirt $7.00 it is a tank and sweater (and look at the detailed pic of the buttons arent they sweet) $3.50 each, skirt $3.50, shoe's $4.99 and my apron I made out of an old white sheet. Added my ribbong that I got from JoAnns for 97.c and a big ole red fake flower. I actually saw that darn thing in the car on the way to the party. I thought it came out pretty good considering I have not sewn since I was in Elementary school. I have been wanting to make an apron since I think they are so femenine and sexy and for my first time it is great. But watch when I get my sewing machine I am gonna rock those apron.hehehehe

The other things that you see are 4 table placemats that I love and they were only $3.09 the glass candy jar is $1.01, princess puzzle that Isabella picked out $1.00 and another shirt in the back that is totally soft and comfy you guest it $3.50. Can you believe it. And they had so many other things in there that I would have love to take home. Specially the skirts they had sooo much. I so into the vintage look rigth now and can I tell you my husband love that outfit soo much he is like "You should really dress up like that all the time! I want to see you clean and mop the floor, you know that's how they did it back then!"hahahahah He thinks he is soo funny. But seriously he loved it! I just dont think I will be cleaning in that dang outfit specially with those shoes on. Can you imagine that that's how they really were back then. I could not have live like that. Thank God I was born in this era I would have suck as a housewife!