Thursday, April 30, 2009

Friends in Dallas


We met up with some friends in Dallas and even found Elvis!!  How funny that Elvis was in a patio seating area of a Tex Mex restaurant called Chuy's.  It was delicious!  

Laura's daughter, Leslie and my son, Dallas went to elementary school together.  Laura and I were part of a great group of gals who volunteered at the school and gave ourselves to the PTA for many wonderful years.  We all meet for lunch each year when Laura comes to town for her annual visit.  I was the first one to visit her since she moved to Texas 13 years ago.  I didn't think it had been that long!  
Here we are with our husbands.  What a great night...good food, fun place and good friends to catch up with.  Thanks Mark & Laura for treating us to a great Texas meal!  The sopapillas were to die for!!!
This is the beautiful home of our friends, Lucinda and Kevin.  They moved to Texas almost 3 years ago and love it.  

Isn't that a precious little face!  I got to play grandma to this little one for the morning.  He was a delight.  Can't you tell???
And this little one...oh my, all girl and such a beauty.  I enjoyed her too!
It was so neat to catch up with them and their precious family.  Their oldest was in school so we missed seeing her.  God bless this family.
What fun it is to visit new places and so extra special to meet up with old friends and catch up on their lives.  I was blessed and so happy to get to spend time with each one.  Can't wait until next time!

I've been to Dallas!

I've been to Dallas and got to sit on a real live long horned steer!  
I'll be back soon.  Gotta get caught up with some
things here at home.

Friday, April 24, 2009

College for everyone???

























My son...the one that said he was NOT going to college has a 3.6 GPA and is on the Honor Roll!  I am so proud of him and just beside myself!!  Girls this is amazing!  

I just want to share with you that this was a child that struggled from 3rd grade.  I home schooled him in 6th grade.  He went back to school for 7th and 8th grade and my husband home schooled him through high school.  You see...he is a smart kid!  It's just that all children DO NOT learn alike.  After having three grown children and observing how they learned and studied, I firmly believe our education system is doing it ALL wrong.  We need schools for those that learn by doing hands on projects can learn that way, those that need a little bit more help or can't do it ALL but have mastered the basics need to be encouraged that that's okay and as they grow they will learn more on this same subject.  After going through this with Dustin, I am a huge fan of two high schools curriculums.  One for the academic child or one who strives to be more academic and one for those that want to learn a trade or learn more by doing so that when they leave high school they can go get a job right away.  We need our carpenters, electricians, chefs, designers, home decorators, painters, etc for our world to function and they all DO NOT need a college education right out of high school.  

As for Dustin, we always listened to his "I am not going to college".  We would say "one day you may change your mind" but otherwise there are many jobs where you can make enough money to support a family without it.  We encouraged him to look into the construction trades because many of the men in that industry make very good money to support themselves and their families.  After high school he went to work and tried to pay for a nice truck, gas, insurance, cell phone, going out, clothes etc. and found out that it costs more to live on your own than he thought and that he could not afford all that he wanted working at a basic job getting a little more than minimum wage.  

It's truly a "GOD thing" to have him where he is today.  He decided he wanted to study graphic design so that he could design t-shirts and clothing.  He is chose the Art Institute and is studying graphic design and he is GOOD!!!  His projects are amazing and he works hard at his school work and doesn't complain.  He is learning to please the teachers he doesn't agree with or jell with and do what he needs to pass the class.   Most of his classes he has enjoyed but you know there are always the teachers who are....well you know.  

Thanks for listening to my rant.  Just remember to encourage your children in everything they do and that our role as parents is bring them up to be responsible adults who can function in the world we live in.  We have the privilege to raise them in our faith, with our values and sometimes it's easier than others.  So most of all, young moms and dads, enjoy your children, have fun with your children and help them to succeed in life at whatever they want to pursue and just maybe it will be with a college degree but if not...then encourage them to be the best that they can be and to care about others and to love their family.  That's what we've done and boy am I a proud mama!!  Congrats Dustin!  Keep up the good work and I love you so much!  So does your dad!

***A couple projects he had to do at school are shown above with a photo of him with sweet Bella.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

It's Done for Now!

It's as done as I am going to get it for now and I'm loving it!  This is my computer/craft room that I started cleaning up last week.  It's a small room ( 8' x 12') off of the family room by the extra bedroom and downstairs bathroom.  Whoever designed this room is so in touch with a woman's need for her photos, scrap booking supplies, a computer and desk, and so much more. My husband put in the cabinets and shelves like we had seen in the models.  I was an avid scrapbooker when we first moved into the house and was in heaven leaving my stuff out ready for the next day when I would come back and finish my pages.  As you see in the before photos, the extra stuff around the house had taken over the counters and this had bugged me since after the first of the year.  How did I go so long with such a mess???  It feels so good to have a clean room.  When we painted in September, we said we'd paint this room that next week and didn't do it....so it still needs painting sometime soon.  I store some of my seasonal wreaths and larger decor on the top of the cabinets.

So here's the same view of the room(which is hard to get a shot of, by the way!) all cleaned up!
This is the before...what a mess!  I am embarrassed!
This is another after.  I need to find a new lamp.  That one is an old one I need to get rid of the painting on the wall is one my son, Dallas painted in art class.  It's really pretty and looks so great now that I framed it.  This room has little touches of my children all over it.
This is another before..the handpainted calendar is from my tole painting days.  I can't get rid of it.  The photo boxes on the shelves are full of photos by year.  I am going to go through them this summer and really weed out the bad ones.  I have so many I've kept and for what???
My hubby wanted an area to put some of his things so they are not on the counter in the kitchen.  This is his little space with some of his books, etc.
I am redoing the wall above this area and haven't totally decided what to do...the framed article is one of when we were featured in the local newspaper in an article about how parents support their children in alternative sports these days however, our son Dallas got his story told of how we never supported him in his dream to be a pro skate boarder(he didn't really have talent on the skate board and was a very good student so we fully supported his education--sending him to a private high school instead) but fully supported his brother, Dustin in his motocross career.  Dustin raced for 2 years and had hopes of turning pro but soon realized it was a long hard road that he really didn't want to take.  We all had fun while it lasted and had many fun family times riding our motorcycles and quads in the desert.
Another messy before photo.
After~so peaceful!
Another after~see the wreaths and stuff on the top of the cabinets
 and a nice clean organized counter!
Some of the books I've started this year and need to sit down and finish.  My stack of CD's I don't know what to do with.  The candles are from my bathroom and I'm thinking about spraying them black.
I bought these three baskets at Pier One to hide some of my electronic things beside the plug in and to store cards I have for any occasion.  A friend gave me a set of cards from Hallmark with dividers for each type.  I forgot I had them so I thought if I get them in plain sight, I would use them.
Here's a close up of a card and the dividers.
Another before...more shelves with photos, craft supplies, photo albums, etc.
Here's the after...I still need to weed through some of this but it's better than it was.
This is the before looking into the room at the computer desk.  A country bench still sits along the Wall of Fame!
The cleaned up computer desk with the new iMac.  The child's painting
 on the wall is a self portrait of my son Dustin when he was in elementary
 school that I had saved and framed.  I love it!
This is Dustin's Wall of Fame!  This wall is a photo from all of his races and a few of his plaques and awards he received along the way.  I bought the photos in the beginning.  I began taking photos at the races and I started to get some good shots that I liked better than the ones the professional photographer took.  This wall has lots of good memories!  This room should actually be renamed my memory room.
These treasures are items my children have made me over the years in their art classes.  The snowman cup, Ariel, the little bowl and the handprint were all made by Danielle over the years. She always made such neat items.  The brown tea pot was made by Dallas his Senior year in ceramics class and is so special. 

I completed one part of my spring cleaning and it feels so good.  Hope you get some of your cleaning done and enjoy the memories along the way like I did!  Enjoy your day!  SMILE!!! 

Monday, April 20, 2009

Volleyball~~What fun!

The girls can jump and spike!!!
Blocking at the net!  Why is it that someone always walks 
in front of you when it's a great photo opportunity???
Our gold medalist winners~Phil and Todd
Valerie and her friend hung out with us courtside.  Valerie works with Dwight.
The Professional Volleyball AVP tour came to Riverside, CA.  That was a first and real treat due to the fact that we are 45 miles from the beach so how did this happen?  One of our city council members, Rusty Bailey went to West Point with his friend who happens to be the President of the AVP and one thing led to another and why not a volleyball tournament in Riverside???  For two or three days, they trucked in sand, closed down a city street and a large parking lot near the convention center and whalaa....we have sand courts for a volleyball tournament and what a fun time Riverside had.  It was a hot one....in the high 90's...we all wished we were at the beach!

Dwight and I got to attend as his company supported the tournament and we happened to get to sit courtside....right on the sand.  That made it even more fun.  We got to see the top players in the US and world.  Todd Rogers and Phil Dahlhausser were gold medalists at the last Olympics and put on a great show.  They sat just 6 feet away from me!!!  AND the gold medalist women's team are expecting babies so they weren't competing but the silver medal winners, Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh were awesome!  Although their swim suits were a bit too small for my comfort...especially their bottoms but ya know they seem to stay on pretty good.  Although one girl had a tag sticking out the back of her suit and her crack was showing...her bottoms were definitely too small and it bugged all of us.  

What a fun time and we hope that we get to go again next  year here in Riverside.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

It's getting there!

A little sneak peak at what my computer room looked like two days ago.  It's getting there...I'll be working on it again today and will show you my cleaned up room soon!  Hope you're all having a great day while I am trying my best to organize the last few items I don't know what to do with.  Do I really need them?  Or should I throw them?  That's always the hard question because I might....just might need these items sometime???  Won't I???


Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Amazing!

This is amazing!  
Click here to be 
blown away 
like I was!
Have a beautiful
day!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Tuesday Tulips


I bought yellow tulips for my MIL and then we bought purple tulips for my daughter's MIL who hosted all of us for Easter.  So, I bought these for myself.  Aren't they gorgeous???

I'm off for a walk this morning again and then to tackle my messy computer room.  I'll let ya know how I do.  I took pictures of the before so when I get it done...you will see what a job it was!

Have a great tulip Tuesday!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Procrastination!!




It's a gorgeous southern California day!  A little cloudy and 77 degrees.  I got up early and took a walk with a friend and came home to tackle my computer room that has become the junk pile room and it's BAD!!!  I really have good intentions of cleaning up this room each and every week for the last 4 weeks.  However, it's so nice outside that I'm making every excuse to walk outside and take it all in.  I took out some trash, watered my pots and just enjoyed the feel of the sun on my skin.  The photos today are from my backyard the other day.  I love the backyard and we spend a lot of time out here in the summer.  I need to find some new chair pads this year and I was thinking about spraying my outdoor table and chairs brown.  There is nothing wrong with them except the green is faded and I like the brown outdoor furniture now So...guess I should get moving on my computer room so I can enjoy the outdoors redoing my outdoor furniture.  I will keep you posted.  

Off to run a few errands....the computer room will just have to wait!  :)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!


Happy Easter
Grab a Funny Picture from pYzam.com


Thursday, April 9, 2009

I get to go to Dallas!!!

Should we go see South Fork???
I know I want to stay here!!  The OMNI!! Love their beds!


I am so excited!  Hubby has a business meeting at the end of the month in Dallas, Texas and I get to go along!  I've never been there and am hoping you all can help me with what we should do for the two days that we have to sight see in the Dallas area.  I know I want to stay at the Omni Hotel.  Other than that...I am researching on line to see what else we can do. A rodeo?  Tour of Cowboy stadium?  JFK memorial?  So help me....will ya???  I've got to keep busy now that Bella and Dylan are gone!  :(  I'm looking forward to your advice.  You all were great when we went to Chicago last year and gave me some great places to visit.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Southern Hospitality: Are you ready to print wireless?

Southern Hospitality: Are you ready to print wireless?

Giveaway at Rhoda's!


Rhoda at Southern Hospitality is hosting a giveaway for new HP Wireless Photosmart 6380 Printer. Go here to enter. Although I'm hoping to be the lucky winner...tell Rhoda I sent you!

They Made It!

Thank you everyone for your prayers and kind words. Dallas and his family made it safely to Denver last night. They drove all the way through....about 19 hours. Bella and Dylan were troopers and did just great! Thank you again! I'm having a Grandma Day with Mason today and lovin' it!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Sad and Happy!

Please pray for travel safety as Dallas and family travel to Colorado tomorrow! Thank you!
It's been a tough month as we've decided to close our small business after 2 years and our son who ran the business for us has decided to move to Colorado. WOW!!! A lot of emotions and tears and joy and sadness....I am one out of control girl and if you know me....I like to be in control. So what does this all mean...once again, I acknowledge that God is in control and is walking with me through it all. It makes it easier but not easy to go through it.

So...Dallas, Selena, my precious Bella and sweet Dylan are moving approximately 986 miles away. I realize now that I was fortunate to have all of my children and grandchildren within an hour from me and having Dallas and his precious family in town was an absolute blessing. I am saddened but excited to see them go. I was the one that moved away from my family to experience life for myself and our family. So I understand Dallas' yearning to explore. He and I understand each other and love to travel and see and experience different places. He has always loved fishing, camping and shooting guns. He is so looking forward to doing a little bit more of the outdoor activities. And once more God shows us he is in control....Dallas got a call today that he has a job and starts next Monday. Dallas had been applying for jobs here in southern California for the last 6 months to see what was out there and never got one call or followup. In one day, he got 2 calls to follow up on applications he had placed in Colorado online. So I am sad and happy for my son and his family and will miss them terribly. Some good news...I get to travel to Colorado, a place I've not been in a long time. So I'm excited to make plans to visit Bella and Dylan in the near future (and of course, their mom and dad!).

The business closing will be a blessing too and a big relief. Another not easy to go through experience but I feel such a relief not to have to continue something so stressful at this time in our lives. I want to thank Lisa at Sharing Life with Lisa for her blog that encourages me always as does Lisa with her kind comments left on my blog. God is using her mightily! Check out her blog here and join me in knowing that Jesus is enough! I don't know how I would make it through the trials in my life without Jesus. Today I am looking UP even though my emotions are all over the place!! AMen! JeSus Is EnoUgH!!

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