Today's Grab Bag of Thoughts

Dear Friend, Did you know that there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of you?  We may text and talk sporadically and only see each from time to time, but you are here in my life so much. Be it in a simple picture of us, me wearing any one of the tons of clothes you gave me or any of the numerous hand me downs you gave us when you redecorated your place. I see you in them all.  From high school to now, we managed to stay close. They say true friends can go long periods without speaking and never question their friendship. This was so true for us. You were always there for me. You were always there for Nacho, Smitty or any of the cats you house sat for. I love that we lived vicariously through each other when one of us was single.  We’ve had endless nights of fun. You even came with me on the Donny & Marie Cruizn with friends cruise, Now that is true friendship, you didn't even like them. LOL I'll always remember the ni...

I may be the only person that has experienced this, but I'm thinking if you are a parent, teacher, boss, or just a human being you might have too.  It is the very popular act of people blaming other people for their current situations.  We all have probably heard it...it's not my fault so and so made me do it.  BUT did you know that this whole situation goes all the way back to the Bible? This morning, as I was taking my daughter to school, we were listening to The Bible Experience.   This is a theatrical reading of the complete Bible that is so awesome, but I digress. We just found our collection again so we were starting at the beginning, Genesis.  As I am driving and listening, I started to hear it from another perspective...the parental perspective from God's eyes.  God the father speaking to his children as we speak to ours.  He's given them life, food, shelter (so to speak) and everything they ever need....sound familiar?  He give the...

It's been cold here California lately - you know what I mean, cold by California standards - and it seems nothing sounds good for dinner except soup.  On Monday our house got hit with the common cold.  Well with sick people comes...you guessed it Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.  Of course I could have just opened a can of Campbell's chicken soup, but really???  Nothing beats an old fashion all day 100% from scratch soup. Picture this:  I get off of work at 5:30 pm and drive to Whole Foods to pick up all of the organic items I need for this recipe: Whole organic chicken, organic eggs for the homemade noodles, organic onions, celery, carrots, parsley, garlic, etc.  Drive home, roll up my sleeves, take off my rings (I don't like to get gunk in them when I cook, strange I know ) and get the kitchen ready for some slow, leisurely chicken soup and noodles making fun. Let's speed it up a bit...Whole chicken in Rockcrok Dutch oven to simmer for an hour while I ...

I've never been a bandwagon type of person.  I'm loyal to my sports teams no matter how bad they are, and believe me they are BAD.  However, over the last year or so I kept hearing the hype of how wonderful the new pressure cookers are amazing.  The world was all a twitter (no not the site) over the InstaPot.  Honestly, I kept thinking why oh why would I need another appliance in my kitchen.  Flash forward to August and the pre-release of the Pampered Chef Quick Cooker.  As a independent consultant for the Pampered Chef I thought well, if they think it is great I should probably finally jump on the pressure cooker bandwagon.  I NEVER LOOKED BACK! When I say I love this thing, I don't even think that it expresses how much I love this thing.  I have the ability to totally forget to take out food for dinner AND still deliver a healthy dinner very quickly to my family.  I have used the Quick Cooker almost every day since I received it. The...

 Over the last few months I have worked almost nightly on making my wedding dress.  I did this so that I could get married  a dress prayed  over, made with love and that included just a bit of those we've lost over the years.  It seemed to me that I could not get married without my little sister and grandparents there.  So I came up with this great way to include them. My Grandma Perkins loved silk pajamas.  I am pretty sure she wore them daily.  When she passed away in 2007, many of us asked for a pair of her Pjs.  I have kept mine with me since then.  When I was thinking about the best way to include her in my wedding dress (apart from using her sewing machine) I decided that I would line the bodice of the dress with her Pjs.  It was hard at first, but then a feeling of love came over me.  It was so great to have her so close to me on that special day. My Grandma Dominguez loved to sew and make things.  She used to...

As I sit here 5 days before my wedding day, my mind wanders to the past.  To the days of little girls playing wedding day.  To teenager planning their wedding days years in advance.  Funny, I don't remember ever doing any of that. I don't remember dreaming of the man I would marry or how it would be.  I've been engaged before and it obviously never worked out, so I honestly never thought it would happen.  I have always known that God had a great plan for me, but I was never sure it would include a husband.  Now, I look back less than a year and I can't imagine him not being in my life.  God is good.  He provides exactly what you need.  BUT, he will provide it to you in his time, not yours. Can't wait to stand on that stage Saturday and say I do.

Since I got engaged in September of last year, I knew that I wanted to make my own wedding dress even though I had only been sewing for a year.  Crazy?  Yeah I am sure many people believe that I am.   Why would you do that?   Aren't you scared?   Are you just trying to save money? My answers, Why not?  Yes, I am scared and no I am not trying to save any money.  In fact if you add up all the time it will take me to do it, it would probably cost more.  But honestly, why am I sewing my own wedding dress??? As I sit here trying to put my whole thought process into words, it is a bit harder that I thought.  To me the wedding dress is a very personal thing.  You'll wear the dress once and it will be a day of big celebration but also one of serious commitment.  This day changes your life.  You can't get a do over on your wedding day.  So why would I put that pressure on myself on purpose?  L...

Let's remember the heart behind Christmas is not about going out and putting yourself in debt to give you children everything they want in life.  It isn't about that popular toy or piece of clothing. The spirit of Christmas, is fast becoming an endangered species in our culture today. We slash at it unintentionally with questions like, “What do you want for Christmas?”  Christmas is the selected date that we celebrate the birth of Jesus and the start of his path to the cross where he will ultimately die for our sins.  Jesus bought us forgiveness and gives us new life  Christmas to me is a way of life.  Christmas symbolized God's sacrifice, love, grace and generosity for us all. It is a time to reach out to one another and be God in each other's lives.  Show love.  Be generous.  Sacrifice for those that are in need.  Give grace where needed.  I truly believe that we should live everyday of our lives this way, but of course life get...

Attn: Self-Employed, contractors, freelancers etc, take note: The 2018 ACA (Affordable Care) enrollment period has been shortened from 90 days to 45 days (November 1-December 15, 2017).   Someone you know may desperately need health care. Many of your friends may still not have employer-based healthcare so this is relevant to EVERYONE'S interests. Remember, Under current law, health insurance companies can’t refuse to cover you or charge you more just because you have a “pre-existing condition” — that is, a health problem you had before the date that new health coverage starts. https://www.healthcare.gov/quick-guide/dates-and-deadlines/ https://www.healthcare.gov/get-coverage/

HI Stacy! Hope Heaven is treating you well.  We sure miss you here on earth.  I am sure you are watching us daily, but just in case you are missing the finer details let me fill you in on your kids.  They, just like me, miss you.  We all wish that tomorrow was a day of celebration not a day of remembrance.  But I guess we should celebrate that you are not in pain anymore and that all three of yours children are being well taken care of. Hey did you hear that I am FINALLY getting married?  You would totally like the guy.  He's so great.  He's a big goofball like me but very loyal, caring and helpful.  He treats us all with respect and has only the best intentions when it comes to the kids.  We will rock this parenting thing together.  These kids will have an additional person to fill them up with love. So what have you missed in the last 5 years?  Unfortunately a lot.  It makes me sad sometimes to remember what t...

This morning I woke up to a lot of people with the Facebook status of #MeToo.  I didn't get it at first, until I started reading more into it.  Sometime Hollywood can do something good.  Actress Alyssa Milano, known for her roles in "Who's the Boss", "Charmed" has started a twitter trend.  She is asking that "If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote 'Me too' as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem."  I bet if you log on to your social media account right now you will be saddened.  Many of your friends will have this on their status.  BUT it's not just women, some of my male friends have also had this happened.  I am so disheartened by what I see. #MeToo is everywhere.  No more laughing it off as nothing.  No more feeling to blame for it.  I will teach my daughter to stand up, speak up and not stand by.  I will teach my son that women are equal to men and they...

 This past Friday I got engaged.  Honestly NEVER thought it would happen to me, but yippee.  My Fiance is the most caring, generous, honest, silly, adventurous man I've ever met.  He's jumped into a big place and has decided that he never wants to leave.  He's happy to take on the position of keeping my crazy, grumpy and sometime bratty self happy AND helping to raise my two very wonderful children. Now that I am going down the path of marriage and I have started to sew, I have decided to sew my own dress.  YES, it is a big task and YES it will be hard and YES I will get frustrated at times, but it means a lot to me. Why? 1. I get to make one most important piece of clothing I will every wear. 2. I will be using a sewing machine that used to belong to my grandmother. 3. I will be able to add fabric piece of clothing that belonged to both of my grandmothers and my little sister to my dress (inside).  They won't be there to see me finally walk do...

Over the last year or so I have began sewing.  Sewing has quickly become a passion for me.  I absolutely love seeing my finished projects.  I started with simple skirts made from old t-shirts.  Well these were and are still actually my favorite pieces.  Not only were they my first projects, but they were made from clothing that was left behind when my grandmother went to heaven.  My daughter loved them.  She would tell her Papa that she was wearing Nana.  It was so cute.  This passion has become an obsession.  I have a pattern stash that I probably will never sew through.  I have fabric I've bought to make stuff and I am still not done.  The biggest problem is that this summer it was unbearably hot.  My sewing room is in our garage and it gets stifling.  I've used it as an excuse to not sew.  BUT, with this post I have decided to start a sewing part to my blog. On my blog I'll start with a few image of stuf...

Well it wasn't more than 13 days ago I finally sat down to write a post and in that post I said "still single"...funny thing is days letter I would fall head over heels for someone just like me.  As I sit and look back on my life and what I wanted and when I wanted them I never really just let God take the reigns when it came to relationships.  Why?  Because it is so much fun to hang out with tons of people that will break your heart.  j/k In all seriousness I have dated some craptastic men over the last X amount of years and each one has shown me my weaknesses and where I wont compromise.  However I have also dated 4 very wonderful, caring and loving men.  Each one of them helped me to see a bit more of who I am and what I want in life.  Each of them helped me to become the woman I am today.  I take away great memories and great lessons on how to do things better next time.  Though God's love and grace did the most.  God's love for me...

I just looked at my blog and realized that I have, for lack of a better word SUCKED this year,  I have not posted once since October of last year!  So here is what you should know 1. I am still alive 2. I sew now, instead of write...which is not ok 3. My teenager is taller than me, has a job and is old 4. My tween is almost taller than me, loves volleyball and is getting old 5. Still single 6. Trying to read 12 books this year. 7.  Still have tons of ideas for books 8. Have had to make big decisions this year 9. Love my life, even when I don't like it. 10.  Nacho is still the coolest cat in the world.

 I will admit that since I turned 18 years only I have only actually voted once.  Yes, you read that correctly once.  Believe me when I say I have already heard every one of the reasons I should vote and how "awful" I was for not voting.  Or how my ancestors...  Yes, I understand all that but in my heart I believe (and still sort of believe) that in reality my vote does not matter.  I figured that as long as I don't complain about politics then I was OK not voting.  I mean IF I didn't vote and complained about how things were run, then I'd be CRAZY right? I still do not understand why we have the whole electoral college.  I want them to count every single vote in the USA equally, but that is not what happens... " when a person casts a vote in the general election, they're not really voting directly for an individual ticket. They're voting for something called  Electors , and whichever ticket gets the most votes in a state then gets that...

Recently I read an excerpt from a new book by Lysa TerKeurst tilted " Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely " that really hit me.  Maybe not a message specifically directed to me, but I could relate and know many people who feel unloved, left out and lonely.  We all have those days when we feel amazing and not amazing and that is normal.  Ever been uninvited somewhere?  Shunned?  Lost friends because of gossip or a poor decision?  Been a bitch? Yes, just wrote that we are all grown ups here.  :-)  What if your self-worth depended on what others think of you (or what you think they think of you)??? As I continued to read, I started to think about the world we live in and how sometimes it can be extremely unfriendly, as can we all.  Everyday someone is hurt by someone else. Sometimes it shows on the outside, but most often it is hidden deep inside,  Sometimes it is on purpose, but a lot of times we let...

These will seem like the hardest years of your life, and well they might very well be but you will get through them.  My heart sends these words to you:  You are cherished and not a mistake.  Regardless of how you are treated, what lies are told to you or about you.  No matter the mistakes you’ve made or how bad your past has been.  Your past is not your present. Your past is not your present even though you might believe that it is. Who you were and what you might have done does not necessarily equate to who you are now or who you can be.  God has a plan for you.  Life can be “bad” but God is ALWAYS good.  Every day is a new chance to get life right.  God made you for a purpose. You are unique:   There is no one on earth that can ever compare to you.  Never compare yourself to another person.  Never compare your messy insides to other people’s cleaned up outsides. You are loved for you, not who you think you need to be...

As I sit here looking out on the dark ocean and the boats bobbing on the water in front of me, my mind is running wild.  I want something so bad and it is actually obtainable, but some what tainted.  I want the A version and I am being offered the B version.  I know the price I am willing to pay, but it seems to have strings attached that I didn't ask for.  It is sort of a dream come true, and a heart ache too. I want to say forget it, but I can't.  I want to detach myself from it's hold on me but I can't.  I want to tell the world of the options I got, but I also don't want anyone to tell me about other options.  Being alone here and being able to search my heart and mind have been great, but sometimes you can hear who is who and you just want to go go go. I'm sure that as I stay in this place longer the path I should take will reveal itself to me, but right now the options look scary and grim.  I know what I want, but don't know how to g...