Ain't No Party Like an East Coat Party...

...Cuz an East Coast Party Don't STOP!!

LITERALLY!

Okay, I have been way busy and a little under the weather, but needed to update a few things!

I had an awesome 30th birthday. It was seriously a month long full of celebrations that actually ended with John's surprise 30th birthday party! His birthday is 11/13, (lucky 13!) and the past month has been nonstop!

It started out with my mom coming to visit with her best friend that's known me since I was 3. I was so excited to have them here and we had so much fun! I am way into history, and we went to a bunch of museums and historical sites, ate good food, and laughed a lot! My mom is SO fun! And Ursula is so hilarious. She had us going non-stop!

John was totally wonderful and took care of the girls for four days so I could go to VA with them and finish the "colonial tour" and eat more good food. I must admit I cried my eyes out when it was time to say good-bye. I rarely get to see my mom, and I enjoyed having her all to myself (motherly kitchen inspection and all!) My girls loved having Nana here, and we all LOVED her cooking too! My mom is such a good cook, I hope I could be half as good as her some day!

After she left, John and I celebrated 5 years of being married and 12 years of being together (the dates are within a week of each other). Then came Jalen's Birthday, and the official day of my birthday. John watched the girls again for me so I could go shopping and have time for myself. Lovely!

Later on in the month, I celebrated with some girlfriends with a magical (and absolutely fun) night of dinner and dancing!
In between it all came boxes full of delicious and wonderful surprises from family and friends. The best one came from my mom after she left...it was filled with home-made potpourri for the holidays, poems, cakes, tassies, bread, chocolate...just all of my favorite things!

In between all this, John had to leave twice for a week at a time for business. On top of taking care of the girls, being sick, teaching, and running my business; I had a surprise birthday party to plan!

With the help of some of the girls from work, I pulled it off and the night was SOOOO much fun! I think the best part was pulling off the surprise, and getting to spend the night out with my guy.
It was hilarious trying to get him out of the house though, he almost didn't want to go; then he was fighting with our friends that were in charge of bringing him to the party b/c he didn't want to go to the club without me...awww sweet! But I was getting irritated b/c I wanted him there already! He stalled so much, he ended being 20 minutes late! But "The GOOD Surprise" was not wasted!

We are way into cars, I think that was something that I absolutely loved when we first started dating was the love we had for all kinds of automobiles. We both have vehicles we're restoring, and 'Shae' decorated this chocolate sensation of a cake into the front of his '72 C10. (Yes Tera, Pop's truck!)

~~~~~~~~

Ever since John and I have entered parenthood, there have only been 3 babysitters we have called on so we could go out. They were all in the family of my best friends (shout out to the Jones/Keim gals) and all when Jalen was no more than 6-7 months.

Besides turning 30, John and I hit another milestone and actually found an AWESOME babysitter in our ward! I love this family, and felt SO blessed to finally have a reliable, beautiful and responsible girl to call on if we need to. She was laughing at me the night of the party b/c John left so late and I was running around like crazy trying to get ready to leave!
Thanks Sienna for all your help!

This may sound like no big deal to some, but for me, (and those of you who know me best) this was BIG. I don't leave my girls with A-N-Y-O-N-E!!! We have had our family watch them for us, so we get to go out (don't think I'm kidding) about 4-5 times a year when his parents visit, or we go to AZ...which is rare.
The 'Over-Protected Duo' is taking a break!!

Okay, so after the shock wore off, John had a GREAT time and everyone said they had a blast as well. I had it in the VIP room of a club here in the OBX and they catered the whole thing. The food was great, the band was totally awesome, and the DJ ROCKED the house! And you know the dance floor is my home!
John was called up on stage by the lead singer and the whole club sang happy birthday to him! We had a few friends from VA surprise him and come down, and it was so good to be with old friends (and new ones) for the night.

Everyone that came from out-of-town stayed with us, so it was a full house.
We had a great "after-party" staying up till about 3:30-4 just talking and hanging out, catching up and talking about different parts of the night.

I'm leaving so much out, but this is long enough, and I gotta go to bed! Peace Out "ya'll"!

Our Annual Thanksgiving Dinner was fantastic, and now it's back to the grind! Will have to write about that Oh, and Halloween!...another time! Pictures to come as well!

THINGS TO DO IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS:

Finish packing to move in Dec.

Shop for dessert menu for Progressive Dinner (homemade: cannoli's, choc. cupcakes, gingerbread snowflakes, pumpkin cake, truffles.)

COOK like Crazy

Finish details for a wedding next month

Christmas shopping

Dr.'s appt.'s (4 of them)

Did I mention pack?

Meetings with 2 Photographers

Wedding show meeting

Association meetings

Jalen's Christmas project

Gift for Teacher

Work on other blogs

Cure for World Hunger

...Piece of Cake!

A Day Late...

But I didn't forget. HB....

These Small Hours

Today was such a surprise. After church me and the fam went for a ride and met my Relief Society President at the stables to feed her Arabian horse. She's beautiful!

Jalen had a BLAST sitting on her, and Brooklyn was too busy playing with her dogs. We were walking around the property looking at the other horses, and the breeze was so cool and crisp.

We've had such warm weather lately, and believe me I've loved it. But in the blink of an eye, it was Autumn.

Today reminded me of when I was going to school in Pennsylvania. There, in September~ early October the weather jumps into Fall. Before you know it, the leaves are changing and the shades of pink don't linger in the sky as much. I used to LOVE days like these when I lived there. It wasn't too cold yet, and (when I moved out of my step-mother's house) I spent a lot of time outside running, going ATV riding, or just hanging out with friends. It's the time (for me) to pull out an extra blanket and make hot chocolate. Well...anytime is good for hot chocolate!

Pear Tree & Pink Sky

I took this picture on my cell phone so it's not that great, but I wanted to remember this day. Our girls were running in the fields, laughing, playing with horses...just being little girls.
I caught the last of the pink in the sky today, savored memories made years ago and made a new one that will happily remain in my thoughts as well.

No One

I am lame b/c I haven't updated October at all. There's been a whirlwind of things going on, but I'm also out of commission right now.

Thanks to my lovely girlfriends for the fabulous weekend. Will be posting those pic.'s soon.
But for now...

"This goes out to that special person in my life that I couldn't live without all these years."

Yes, someday I will forgive you for taking my camera all those times!!! Hope you're dancing in your car when you hear this on the radio. You know you'll always be one of my best friends.
I know you're not a blogger, I barely count as one. SO as soon as you read this, you can tell me to "blog off" and I won't be mad. Love ya!

...And John - my all time # 1, I love you with all my heart! See you soon.

The Permanent One

Take-Out Tuesday

A few years ago, Sheba's friend Missy made a CD for me and it had a couple of Natasha Bedingfield's songs on it.

I fell in love with her voice and also b/c to me, she had so much feeling that came through in her songs.

I hear certain songs, and like second nature, I'm choreographing a dance in my head.

I finished teaching my classes last night, and played this song while I laid on the floor with my eyes closed. Flashes of memories like a picture book danced through my head.

Music has always been like a best friend to me. It has been there for my ups and downs; getting through the good and the bad. An instant time machine for episodes in your life.
Divorce, re-marriages, sisterhood, moving, parties, heartbreak, happiness, friends, boyfriends, summertime, per chance meetings, disappointments, final goodbyes...the list goes on.

I hear the word 'soul mate' and I think of friends that I have the greatest connection with. Friends and family who are not with me anymore. My sisters who, even though we don't always see eye to eye, I have learned to admire them for their beautiful talents; and that they will be there for me through and through ('not for nothing').

My daughters, who teach me something everyday, and pray that they will know I am there for them today and forever. My husband, who, from our first kiss knew we were instant soul mates; through the good and the bad. He keeps me in check, tells me 'like it is', and loves me through all my stubbornness. He supports me and makes me laugh.

I am grateful for all my soul mates. I am grateful I am here on this earth to appreciate them all.

Clean bill of health this time around.

And-You-Are-IT

OK, my TOTALLY awesome sister TAGGED me a MONTH ago and I've been stalling. Well, I've been busy, but I know she deliberately tagged me because I was making fun of her on the phone about being tagged.

Note to Self: Older sisters always have the upper hand

...(except when we're in Times Square in front of TRL!!!!) Give the Monk a High Five!!


***************************

Jobs I've had:

1. The Limited
   
2. Photography Studio
   
3. Scout for Modeling Agency
   
4. Supervisor @Fleet Bank Headquarters
   
5. Publicist
   
   

Movie I could watch over again:

1. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
   
2. Gone With the Wind (yes, I know how long it is)
   
3. Clueless
4. Tommy Boy
   
5. Anything with Brad Pitt...[Or Shebs...go see The Kingdom!] ;)
   
6. ACCEPTED
   
7. Can't write them all!
   

Places I've lived:

1. Staten Island & Brooklyn, NY
   
2. Mesa, AZ
   
3. Clarks Summit, PA
   
4. Woodbridge, VA
   
5. Newport News/Yorktown, VA
   

TV Shows:

1. So You Think You Can Dance
   
2. CSI
3. Anything on HGTV & Food Network
   
4. My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding
   
5. Dancing With the Stars
   
6. All the 'Friends' re-runs
7. Law & Order
   
8. Sex and the City
   

Places I've been on Holiday:

1. Trinidad & Tobago
   
2. Cape May/Wildwood
   
3. St. Thomas/St. John
   
4. Ocracoke Island/Pea Island/all of the OBX
   
5. Catskills
6. Ocean City
   
7. Miami/Orlando/Ft. Lauderdale
   
8. Philly
9. San Francisco/San Diego
   
10. Niagra Falls & Ontario, Canada
    
11. SLC/Provo/Bethlehem, Utah
12. Washington, D.C.
13. Connecticut
14. Miami & Orlando, Florida
15. Island Park/Rexburg
    
16. Bethany Beach
    
17. Hamptons
18. The Poconos!!! (ONCE in a lifetime experience)
    
19. NYC...Of Course!
    
20. Springerville/White Mountains/here & there, AZ
    

Favorite Dishes:

1. ANYTHING my Mom makes
   
2. Italian
3. Indian & Caribbean
   
4. Spanish
5. Thai

Websites I visit:

1. Martha Stewart
2. The Knot
   
3. Inside Weddings
   
4. Songmeanings
5. My two Favorite Photographers : Art Louis Photography & Innate Photographics (Kirsten Lewis)
   

Places I'd like to be:

1. Anywhere in the Caribbean with my family!
2. Italy
3. New York City ...................... (My sister wrote all three of these; great minds think alike, b/c all these are the ones I was going to write!)
4. In Bed
   

Tagging:

1. Tara R.
   
2. Tera T.
   
3. 'Mr. Busyman'
   
4. Jennifer R.
5. Dave
6. April S.
   
7. Anyone who feels like doing this!
   

Jumping Off the Cliff...

So the saying: "If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?!" came to mind while doing this.
So many friends have done this and I did too many months ago,...but actually having the cajones (sorry if spelled that wrong; have lived out of Arimexico too long I suppose) to post it.
This picture is not the best either, but I took a shot.

The first thought that came to mind was "Wha?! I don't think so!"
But hey...I would never turn down a job to be Beyonce's stand in if she ever needed one!....That's Hot. ;) Love that girl.

I think my personality is too silly to pull off any of these people. After Faith Hill was Gwen Stefani. How they figured that I have NO idea, but I loved her before she was on the map so I'll leave that alone!

If anyone hasn't done this yet, you should! It's fun!

Take-Out Tuesday = Throwback Thursday

I have had these songs on my mind for the whole day...and they're all 'goodies but oldies'.
I can't help but have a smile on my face whenever I hear these songs. I think anyone who lived the 80's has a story about these songs!

Love it!



This one is a little saddening for me to hear, but nonetheless, a great song...



Dedicated to all the John Hughes movie lovers:

Libra

I'm not one to keep tabs on my horoscope all the time...sometimes it pops up on my homepage and I thought this was rather interesting and nice. My life is very busy right now and felt a little pessimistic this morning. But I really can turn that frown upside down...especially with good friends coming to visit. It will be a nice break.

You can make real gains as you appear more optimistic
than you truly feel, but your current
progress is about neither fame nor fortune.
It's more about the quality
of your interactions.
Remember, good feelings that come from lasting friendships are,
in themselves, great spiritual blessings that are now
available to you for the asking.

Craving

It's almost five in the morning and all I'm craving is the new Twix PB. I usually keep a stash of my high-end choc-o-late-aye in a 'secret spot', but just like Pooh's Hunney Pot...I'm all out. So unfortunately I have nothing in my house except for the Special K Chocolatey Delight.

That's good and all...but which would you HONESTLY rather have? I really like this cereal, but after a day (and night) like I've had, I want my Twix Fix. Mmmm...

Twinkle Toes

This is why I procrastinated so much. 700 pictures to edit. I'm so tired right now, I can't remember what I added in. I might be adding more later so I figured I'd 'Slide' them since I helped my busy sister create hers.

I do know that Recital Day was very hectic, but a lot of fun! This is Jalen's third show now, and she did great! I know, as a parent it is your right to say that, but I really mean it! John and I were so proud of her. It's days like this that I truly love having little girls!

She was Miss India in her ballet; she kept going around the house all month long "I'm Miss India!" She played the part VERY well I must say. ;)

Then her tap, 'Broadway Baby' was awesome! She sang her little heart out center stage.

**sidestory: On the last week of school, they had a play and Jalen was called on stage to help with a story. After she was done, she took a bow and blew a kiss to the audience and waved as she went offstage. Her teacher said she was going to miss Jalen's 'little' personality. **

After all the sweat, extra practices and raw, torn feet, in the end everything came together and I was so proud of the effort my girls gave. At the beginning of the year, all I asked of them was to give me their 100%, and (besides a few teen-age meltdowns) they did.

Congratulations to Alexis who got accepted into the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive Program, and Dori for continuing her dance at NC State. Oh, and Tara! Who was chosen to perform with (specific name that I can't remember right now) Russian Ballet, and then onto New York!!

Well...no time to catch my breath. On to prepare for the coming year!

Big Girl Now

So...June came and went, and I have been wanting to write about all the 'fun', but really, I've been procrastinating because it just takes too long to write about.

I figure if I break it down it might be a little easier. So I'm starting with the most exciting part from June and that is when Ms. Bella (Isabella) "graduated" from Grade K.

We can't believe our little girl is already out of Kindergarten. I still can't believe she's going to be 6 in September!...and I can't believe I have a 6 yr. old. My friends that have like, 12 kids laugh when I say that...but it's true!

She was so funny her last day saying "Mom, now that I'm going to be in first grade, I can use the phone to call my friends without asking you or Daddy." Hmmm....



I was very nervous her first day of school. We were in a new town, and a new school and she knew no one. I should have known not to worry though. She made wonderful little friends...and to my surprise... the boy in the background showing his muscles claimed to be Jalen's boyfriend and 'Power Ranger Protector'.






















And most importantly, she had an amazing teacher. She was one of the most easy-going,helping, and nicest Kindergarten teachers there. John and I were so grateful for that!
She made Jalen's first year at her elementary school a fun and memorable one!