Thrifty Finds!

My mom visited me last weekend while Kevin was away in Mammoth on a boys trip. While she was in town, we went thrift shopping! I hadn’t been to any of the thrift stores around here, so I’m glad she was willing to go with me to check some out.

We only ended up going to two, but we were in the first one for quite a while, and we hit up TJ Maxx in between the first and second store, and we literally spent an hour browsing around TJ. I had never been in a TJ Maxx before, and that is now my new favorite place! I got some pretty neat stuff, all on clearance! Score!

Anyways, the purpose of thrift shopping was because I’ve been wanting to do this project that I saw on Shannon’s blog, Bless Our Nest. Basically, you can get any old platter (or plate for that matter), paint the inside with chalkboard paint, hot glue a ribbon on the back, and there you have it! This is my first attempt. I got this platter at a thrift store in Truckee back in February.

As you can see, the middle is pretty beat up. So I used one of those sponge brushes, painted the inside of the platter with my chalkboard paint and here you have the finished product! I’m usually a super perfectionist, but I didn’t tape off the edges. The sponge brush is pretty easy to paint with, and if you mess up it’s super easy to scrape off whatever doesn’t look good around the edges.

 

I loved doing this project so much, that I went back to the the thrift store the next day after my mom left, to get a platter that I saw there but didn’t get at the time. I ended up getting the platter the next day because I wanted to make one for my Grandma Ruth. Her birthday is this coming Saturday. Here is her platter before

Her favorite colors are blue and white, so I thought this ribbon was cute for her. Here’s the platter after!

While I was at the thrift store for the second time,  I came across this platter and thought it was so cute because it was a little different looking than ones I’ve seen. I wasn’t quite sure where I would put it, but I found the perfect place! Here’s the little platter before.

And after. I ended up putting it in our front bathroom and I think it looks like it was meant to be there!

You’re probably wondering why nothing is written on these platters. Well, I haven’t for the life of me been able to fine just plain, white chalk anywhere! All I can find is the fat, colorful sidewalk chalk, and that’s not what I want. It’s become very frustrating. Ideally I can pretty much write anything on the kitchen tray; a bible verse, the menu for dinner, a happy holiday, etc. On my Grandma’s tray I’m going to write “God Bless,” and on the bathroom tray I’m going to write “Wash Room.” Since I enjoyed making these so much, I’m going to continue to hunt for trays throughout the year and I will be making them for Christmas as gifts. It’s super cheap, easy and thoughtful all in one!

Here are some other thrift store finds…

I found this little picture at the thrift store in Truckee. I ended up hanging it next to our coffee maker because it has that, sort of, cafe feel to it. I took some light sand paper to it to give the edges a little older look. You can’t really tell in this picture though.

Here it is from far away.

I found this old-fashioned candle holder last weekend. I absolutely LOVE it! It’s in the guest bedroom.

I think I’m going to start collecting these glass containers. I got the tall one on the left from Kevin’s mom’s garage! :)~ She’s getting ready for a big garage sell and let me go through her stuff first. Then I found the smaller container last weekend. I think I’m going to put some colored pasta in the large one, and maybe some rice in the smaller one. Still deciding.

So that’s pretty much it for now. While being crafty this weekend, I was also able to find my brother and mom their birthday gifts. The reason this is noteworthy is because their birthdays aren’t until May 8th (yes, my brother was born on my mom’s birthday, as well as Mother’s Day at the time)! I usually wait until the very last minute to buy gifts, but I found the perfect gifts for each of them and I can’t wait for them to open their gifts next month!

Three's of Me!

Three names I go by:
1. Kaysie
2. Kays
3. Kaysers

Three Jobs I have had in my life:
1. Dance Instructor
2. Admin. Assistant
3. Trust Asset Associate

Three Places I have lived:
1. Merced
2. Salinas
3. San Luis Obispo

Three Favorite Drinks:
1. Sake
2. Jack and Coke
3. Margaritas -- oh wait...was this supposed to be non-alcoholic drinks? oops! haha! ;)

Three TV Shows I Watch:
1. Big Love
2. The Office
3. Kendra

Three Places I have Been:
1. St. Thomas
2. Texas
3. St. Louis

Three of my Favorite Foods:
1. Tacos
2. Potatoes
3. Ranch (real healthy right? ;))

Three Cars I have owned:
1. VW Jetta
2. VW Passat
3. Nissan Xterra

Three things I hate doing:
1. Grocery shopping
2. Laundry
3. Waking up for work :)~

Three places to find me on the weekend:
1. My house
2. With my family in Salinas
3. With Kevin's family in Shingle Springs

Three Movies I have seen in the theaters recently:
1. Avatar (loved it!)
2. The Book of Eli (pretty good)
3. The Wolfman (AWFUL!)

Three Places I would like to visit:
1. Greece
2. Australia
3. Jamaica

Three people I tag to complete the 3's of me:
1. You
2. You, and
3. You!

:)

Hello there!

I'm being such a bloggie slacker lately! I had a great time in L.A. last weekend by the way, but I'm waiting for Maygan to email the video she took while we were on the teacups, and I don't want to post that blog until I have it. Yes, I'm anal.

So anyways, nothing too terribly exciting has happened lately. These last two weeks of work have been really busy, which is GREAT! It makes my days go by so much faster and I love having stuff to do.

A new little occurrence has popped up within the last couple days. As you know, about 6+ months ago I was on the job hunt. Well, on Tuesday I got a response from a company that I applied for and apparently they want me to move forward in the application process. It kind of surprised me because after my great review and raise I got a couple weeks ago, I told myself that I'll just stick with this job for a while and see where it leads me within the company. So now I get this email and my mind starts into the job-hunt mode again. Ahhh! I vaguely remembered getting some correspondence from this same company a couple months ago, so I logged into their site and sure enough I did; on February 1st. That correspondence was to inform me that I passed their examination process. I don't quite remember taking that examination, but what I do remember was that it was hardly an exam; basically just more questions about my experience. At any rate, I scored 700/700 and was ranked 3rd. I'm not sure if I'm ranked 3rd among 'x' number of applicants, or if I'm within a 3rd ranking group? So I'm not too sure about that. But that was surprising because I don't think I paid much attention to that at the time. Anyways, I decided to move forward with the application process and FedEx'd the company what they requested, so they should get it today. I'm really excited to see what happens because this is a management position with San Francisco County and I'd be making THREE TIMES what I'm making now! Crazy!!! Of course money would be good, but I'm really looking more for holding a management position. For some reason I feel like if I held a management position (and made good money) that that would make all the time, money and effort I put into my MBA worth it. So we'll see what happens, and I'll let you know (of course). It just kind of came out of left field, so I think I'm still processing it.

Just to let you know what I'd do with all that money...pay off my car in a couple months, then each month after that pay each one of my credit cards off. Then really start throwing down the payments to go towards my $50,000.00+ school loans, and sack the rest of the money away in savings for a down payment on a house. Oh, and of course buy a new work wardrobe from Ann Taylor ;) *sigh* Only dreaming... (for now)

Kevin left for Mammoth today to stay with his friend Brian for the weekend. Brian is one crazy dude. I often worry about Kevin when he hangs out with Brian. All the guys will be snowboarding this weekend, so Kevin has been looking forward to his little min-vaca. In the meantime, my mom will be making a visit this weekend so we can have a girls weekend. I'm excited! Mostly because she'll make dinner for me, and since I'm not the greatest of cooks, this makes me happy :)

I meant to post a Wordless Wednesday blog yesterday, but didn't get around to it, so I'll post the pictures I meant to post, today. We've had a set of male and female ducks in our neighborhood this week. I walked out of the house Monday morning on my way to work, and I saw the female just chilling in our front yard. She even quacked at me!





Then on Tuesday I saw the male in our neighbor's yard. It might be hard to see, but he's in the middle of the yard. I think if you click on the pictures, it'll make them bigger.



He flew away, and I haven't seen the female since, so I know they're able to fly to their destination. We have a pond down the road, so I just think they're making a pit-stop.

Oh, an update on the prayers I requested a couple weeks ago. My friend with Diabetes is slowly doing better. She's had to have her medications and doses changed recently so she has to re-adjust to everything again and they make her sick. So hopefully her body will slowly make the change and she can get on track with her health again. My other friend with the boyfriend who has lost his job, is hanging in there. He's a teacher so he has until August until he is out of a job. In the meantime he's still figuring out what to do. Kevin's aunt has intestinal cancer and is already in the process of her treatments (I don't know if it's radiation and/or chemo) so I've been praying for her health as well.

I've also been praying for a big blow to my family recently. I found out this week that one of my aunts (by marriage) has been having an affair! I am so angry with her! Her and my uncle have two kids, and my cousin is already having a really difficult time with her life (she's 15) and I know this will just be even harder on her. The lady (I don't really feel like calling her an "aunt" anymore) is making it VERY difficult on my uncle and really causing a lot of pain to him and the family and it makes me so mad that she could be so selfish and inconsiderate of everyone but herself. Yes, I understand that when someone is in an unhappy marriage that there's nothing left to do but leave, but she didn't even give them the chance to go through counseling or meet with their Pastor, or anything like that. She always came off as this very sweet, wonderful, Godly woman, and she's gone and done this and it's completely blown everyone out of the water. Even her own parents are upset with her and aren't talking to her. I just feel bad for my uncle and cousins. Obviously, they'll be getting a divorce. So I've definitely had them in my prayers, and I've also had the lady in my prayers as well, that she'll turn away from the devil and back to God, and do the right thing. So pretty much at this point, my parents are the only ones on both sides of my family that have remained married. My dad had four brothers (currently two) and the two living brothers (and one deceased brother) have all been divorced. My mom had five brothers (currently four) and all of them have been divorced. It's just sad to me. I know things happen in peoples' lives that make being married to their partner impossible sometimes, but I'm still a HUGE, firm believer in the sanctity of marriage.

Anyways, I didn't mean to end this post on a depressing note, but that's just what's been going on around these parts lately. Hopefully I'll get a post up of my weekend in L.A., soon. Blessings to you all and have a great weekend!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I hope you all are having a good one. My oh my, I haven't posted in a while! Therefore, this post may be all over the place.

It's been a busy week this week as I've been preparing to leave tomorrow night for LA to visit my girlfriends Maygan and Alana. If you know me well, you know I'm obsessed with cleaning and having a clean house. So all this week I've been trying to clean the house like crazy so I don't have to worry about it when I get back on Sunday. In all honesty I don't think I've cleaned it in over a month. I mean dust, sweep, mop, vacuum, etc. The get-down-and-dirty type of cleaning. I pick up every night, but I haven't cleaned. Plus, with the time change and it staying lighter, longer it feels like I can see all the dirt so much more clearly now! Ahh!

Monday I didn't get home from work until about 7, then I had to go grocery shopping (which, if you've read a previous post of mine, I dread grocery shopping) got home after 8, had dinner, then scoured the kitchen and mopped the floor. Kevin was nice enough to give Kahlua a bath because she was a stinky little thing. Tuesday I decided to go into work early so I could get off early and get a bunch of stuff done. Of course, every single time I attempt to get to work early, the train system decides to have mass delays. Grrrr! Anyways, I still managed to get off work early and once I got home I got right to being the domestic goddess that I am ;) (okay, not really, but it's my blog and I'm sticking to it!). I made dinner, did laundry, dusted the living room, office and our room, vacuumed all the rooms, and swept and mopped the floors (we have hardwood throughout the entire house except the bedrooms, so this is quite a task, ugh!). Luckily I managed to get to bed at a decent hour and I got up early again today as well, so I was early to work. The train system decided to behave this morning, so I was early. Tonight I have to clean our bathroom (it's so disgusting right now, it makes me gag when I brush my teeth), give myself a pedicure and then pack, pack, pack.

Kevin texted me today saying he would be in the city later this afternoon to celebrate St. Pat's, but I don't think I will be joining him. I have too much to do, and after the other weekend in Sacramento, I made a little vow to myself that I will not go out drinking with him again for quite some time.

Okay, I got a little ahead of myself. Last weekend we went up to visit Kevin's family. Saturday night his mom made corned beef and cabbage. That was the first time I've had that, and boy was it good! His mom, aunt, uncle, two of his cousins, his other aunt, and his grandparents were all there. I always have to remind Kevin of how blessed he is to have such a big family that still lives near each other. They always get together and it's so much fun. I have a big, extended family, but none of us are really that close and we're all over the U.S., so that's something I miss. Sunday we headed to Sierra at Tahoe and I attempted to snowboard again. This time I took a lesson and had the chance to ride the bunny hill quite a few times, and I will admit that I'm getting much better (if I do say so myself! remember - it's my blog ;))! I feel a lot more confident with it now. We're going to try and go one last time before the season is over. I keep feeling like I'll forget how to do it, but apparently it's like riding a bike - you never forget. Let me throw in here that I don't like riding bikes and I have this great fear that I'll seriously injure myself on one. Haha!

So fast forward to this weekend, and I can't wait! I'll be flying out to LA tomorrow night after work. Luckily the BART runs right to SFO, and the flight is only 45 minutes. Love it! Friday Maygan and I are going to just hang out, get our tan on, meet up with her sister for lunch, then wait for Alana to get off work. From there Alana, Maygan and myself are going to head over to Anaheim. We're staying at the Sheraton (I think) Friday and Saturday. I probably shouldn't throw that information out there so nonchalantly in case I have a stalker, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case. ;) Our plan is to get dressed up and go to Downtown Disney on Friday night and enjoy ourselves. Saturday we're going to Disneyland for the day, and I think we'll be going out again that night. The Sheraton has a shuttle service to and from the park so luckily we won't have to be doing any driving and it will be so much more convenient to be close by to everything. So there will be lots of eating, some drinking, and major girl talk going on this weekend! I don't really have any close girlfriends here where I live, so I really, really miss having my girl time.

And now lets switch gears to work (I told you this post would be random). So I told you that I had a great review and I also was blessed with a raise. Just this week our group found out that one of the guys we work with is taking a new position within the bank, so he'll be leaving in a couple weeks. I was just telling Kevin a couple days before this announcement that if this guy ever left his position, that I'd apply for it in a second! So when I found out that this guy would be leaving, right away it was like a sign! My boss said that we'll all be discussing how to deal with this person's portfolio in the next couple weeks, so I'm not sure what that means. But my boss and manager both know that I am eager to take on more tasks, so hopefully this will be a new opportunity for me. I don't know if I'm able to apply for this job, or if my boss is already looking for someone to fill the position, but I guess I'll wait and see what happens.

For the past eight months I have been on the lookout for a new job. I must have submitted over 100 applications to many different companies. In those eight months I only had two phone interviews that didn't go anywhere. Granted, the job market is insanely overwhelmed with all those who don't have a job and are desperately in the need of one. So I understand that, and I'm grateful for what I have. But after this announcement was made this week I kind of realized that God has had this planned out for me all along. Regardless of how frustrated I was getting in the past with the lack of response from potential employers I was getting, the lack of work I had to do here, and the struggle I was having with the pay I was making, the Lord knew that things would work out eventually, and I just needed to be patient. I'm finally realizing that He's setting me on a path here at my job and I just need to give Him the reigns. I guiltily wish I would have trusted Him a little more in the past when my frustrations were getting the best of me, but I live and learn!

Anyhoo! I think I'll wrap this up. Hopefully I'll remember to take lots of pictures this weekend and I can fill you all in on my fun. Have a great green day!

The Good With The Bad

Well, I had my review today and it went great! I’m so pleased with with how it went. I got complimented on my work ethic, what a big asset I am to the group, and all that good stuff. I also got a raise! *big sigh* So that is going to be so helpful. We also talked about more tasks that I can take on, and some classes in real estate they would like me to look into. After the meeting I literally said a quick little prayer to God thanking him for these blessings. Some more good news, Kevin landed a pretty good deal with a client today! So it was a good day for both of us on the work-front. I’m hoping tomorrow we can go to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. BTW, I’ve been wanting to go to the Cheesecake Factory for like six months now, and we still haven’t gone! We tried on my birthday but it was insanely crowded. I’m to the point now where I will wait an hour just to get a seat! Okay…maybe not. Let’s be realistic here. But it would be nice to go soon. The last time I went I think it was with Maygan, in Vegas, probably three years ago! Too long ago in my book!

On a more serious note, I found out today that one of my good friends was very recently diagnosed with Diabetes. It’s a bit of a shock, but she seems to be taking it very well, and in her words is going to “kick this things @$$!” So she’s doing good as far as her outlook goes about it. Her body is kind of going through a shock with all the medications she has to take now, so that is definitely no fun for her at the moment. But I’m sure once she’s able to get the hang of things, start eating right, exercising and getting healthy, this disease will really get under control and she can get on with her life. So I’ll definitely be praying for her, and that God gives her the strength to keep up the good outlook, the wisdom to get healthy and the motivation to continue to stay strong. (You can pray for her too if you’d like ;) I know she’d appreciate it).

Something a little random. After I got off the train tonight, coming home from work, this kid was standing outside the station (he was probably 18 or 19) and he needed some change to put on his ticket to get to his destination. Basically, the BART tickets work like a credit card. You can put a certain amount of money on them, and once you reach a destination and exit the station, it will deduct that money from your ticket. So the way my tickets work I’m always left with $4.40 that I never use (because my destination is $5.45). Sure, I can always add money to it, but I have tickets with full amounts already, so I usually have a bunch of tickets left over with the $4.40. So I happened to have one with me and I gave it to him (he only needed .40 cents btw) and he looks at it and yells “God bless you ma’am!” LOL! First of all, I get embarrassed easily if anyone points me out in a crowd or I’m noticed by multiple people (I don’t think I’ll do well in my wedding), but second, I felt so old when he called me “ma’am!” LOL! But really, it felt good to do that and the fact that he was so appreciative. Oh, and if you’ve done the math, it costs me $10.90 to get to and from work everyday; $54.50 each week. But, I’d much rather pay this than have to drive, and gas would probably end up being just as much anyways. Plus, Wells Fargo has a commuter benefit plan for employees where we can get our commuter fare deducted from your paycheck before taxes. So I end up saving something like $600/year because of this. So I consider myself lucky.

Okay, that’s all for now. Have a great night!

Hello there…

It seems like forever since I’ve posted anything. I guess it hasn’t really been that long. Thank you for all of your prayers. Nothing really new to report on Kevin’s aunt or my friend’s boyfriend, but I feel like prayers make all the difference anyways – so thank you! :)

Kevin’s gone tonight in Portland. He met with a client today, and I think tomorrow too. Not to be mean, but I love it when he’s away on business. It allows us to have our separate time apart (which I think is always healthy for a relationship) and I get a chance to catch up on all of my shows that have been piling up in the TiVo. I have five episodes of “Big Love” to watch! Ahhh! I just finished watching last night’s episode of “House” and the patient in this episode was super addicted to blogging. It was kind of funny. The blogging had nothing to do with her sickness though, *whew*. Thank goodness because then I’d be in trouble! ;)

Anyways, last Friday Kevin and I had an exciting night of shopping at Sears! LOL. He had a gift card to use and needed new work shoes, and I was browsing and they had a pair of $70 boots on clearance for $25!!! So I just had to purchase them. They’re super cute and comfy. I don’t think I’ve ever done any clothes shopping at Sears before (mostly appliances), but I had to make an exception. Kevin also decided to be super sweet this night and purchased my favorite perfume for me – Cool Water. Oh my it smells so yummy! I’m not about to drop $60 on perfume, but I’m not going to complain if someone else is willing to purchase it for me! ;) I think by me mentioning how sweet Margaux’s husband is for surprising her with flowers all the time kind of got Kevin thinking ;) Haha! From there we headed over to Claim Jumpers and had a couple cocktails and dinner. I had never heard of a Claim Jumpers before I moved here, but basically it’s like a Tahoe Joe’s, but with better food (in my opinion).

Saturday morning we found out that Kevin’s mom’s dog, Lulu passed away :( I was so sad I started crying! Lulu has been a part of Kevin’s family for something like 14 years! Unfortunately, she drowned in the pond on their property Friday night/Saturday morning. I’m still heartbroken over it. I think because I could only imagine my own little doggy, and I also grieve for Kevin’s mom because that was her baby. Lulu had been getting pretty old; she couldn’t hear, her eyesight was going and she had had a tough time walking like she used to. But either way, I guess it was God’s will in that it was Lulu’s time to go. R.I.P. Lulu!

Saturday night we had to be in Sacramento to help celebrate one of Kevin’s friend’s birthdays. The club where the celebration was going to be held at was having a Black and White theme, so I had been stressing about what to wear. I don’t go to clubs, like EVER, so I don’t know what girls wear to clubs nowadays! Well let me just tell you…they don’t wear much! I don’t think I’ve seen so many little black dresses on so many different body types – some of them good, some of them not so good.

I digress…

So I had purchased a dress from Express on Friday during my lunch break, but then I had buyer’s remorse come Saturday, so I returned it and got my $80 back. I ended up finding a different outfit I had in my closet (imagine that!) but I still wasn’t pleased with it that night. To put that night in a nutshell? I’ve had better times. Kevin and I got into a big tift at the end of the night, and I just was not enjoying myself. I won’t go into details here because I’m sure Kevin would like to keep our issues private (as would I), but I would have been better off staying at home that night and enjoying my time with a glass of wine and my dog. As you can tell, I’m still bitter about it. That’s why you won’t be seeing any pictures on here of that disaster (they will be on FB though, so I guess you can still get a peak if you want ;)). So the night ended and I couldn’t have been happier.

Sunday we headed back home and I was SO exhausted. I think I got probably two hours of sleep Saturday night, but somehow I managed to clean out all three of our flower beds in front of the house. The plants desperately needed to be cut back from the frost that happened a few months back, to allow them to grow. Yes, this is probably something Kevin should do, but I have a certain way I want things done, so I just prefer to do it myself. LOL! Can you say anal!? The rest of the night I finished up laundry, we watched “Inglorious Bastards” (weird movie) and then it was bed time.

So that pretty much sums it up. Today was such a busy day at work. A little stressful, but I thrive on that kind of work environment so I was just soaking it up :) Tomorrow morning I have my review. I’m a little nervous about it, but I’m hoping my boss, manager and I can brainstorm on some ideas on how I can start taking on more responsibility in my job. I’m also praying that the Lord will bless me with a raise. He already knows how that will turn out, so I guess I’ll just leave it in His hands ;)

I hope everyone’s week is going well. I can’t believe Spring is just around the corner! I can’t wait to switch up some of the colors in my house to make things a little more light (I have a lot of Fall colors going on right now). Anyone doing anything fun for St. Patty’s day? I don’t think I am. I am flying out to L.A. visit my besties, Maygan and Alana Thursday, the 18th, so I’ll need to concentrate on packing that Wednesday night. I think my days of seriously celebrating St. Patty’s day like I did back in college, are slowly coming to an end. *sigh* Such is life!

Prayer Requests

Hey all. Last time I put a prayer request out here Kevin gave me a hard time because he said that what I was asking to be prayed about (my stomach issues and his bad toe/foot) weren't really that important. Brat! But I think these couple things call for some prayers, so if you could keeps these things in mind, it would be appreciated.

We recently found out that one of Kevin's aunts (on his dad's side) was diagnosed with cancer. I won't go into details because I don't want to make public things that the family might want to keep private, but if you could please pray for strength for his aunt, her husband, her two little girls (who are eight and 10), and the rest of the family we would appreciate it. The Pino family has had to go through a lot of tough times; they lost one of their sisters in a car accident due to a drunk driver a while back, and there were some other trying times that went on with the family as well. So having this added to the mix makes things all the more difficult.

Also, I just found out that my best friend's boyfriend has recently lost his job. Today is her birthday, and he was given a pink slip today as well. Great way to celebrate a birthday, right? :( He is a school teacher and his students love him. He also just bought a house about six months ago that him and my friend were hoping to share together once they got married. So if you could keep them in your prayers that something will come up for him and he can still continue to keep the beautiful home he bought, and pray for strength for my friend so she can provide her boyfriend with positive encouragement, I'd appreciate it.

I think these situations warrant some prayers ;) So I thank you tremendously, in advance!

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. xoxo

For You Mommies Out There

And daddies for that matter. Although, I'm not sure many daddies read my blog. And I guess this could apply to anyone, really, but I think mommies/parents can relate to it a little more.

I'm completely obsessed with this one blog by Angie Smith called Bring the Rain. Not only does she have an amazing story to tell about her baby girl - Audrey Caroline - who is now in Heaven, but Angie's posts have really touched me spiritually and I just came across one of her posts and thought (if I were a parent) it would be a neat thing to do.

I'm not sure about all of your religious backgrounds, how spiritual you are, what your religions are, etc. So I'm just putting this out there and you can choose to do what you will with it.

You'll notice on the right side of my blog I've added an icon that shows a little girl with her hands folded in prayer and the saying "7x7 Pray." If you click on this icon it will take you to Angie's post that will describe what 7x7 means. To give you a quick run-down, it basically describes her desire to say seven prayers, each day, for seven days over each one of her children (she has two twin girls, and a third daughter). For any mom, I'm sure this would seem rather impossible, but I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if you said some of the prayers together or as you remembered them each day. But as I was reading her post I thought to myself "If I was a mom I'd really want to do this for my kids."

I think the verses she chose really fit perfectly with the events of a day in the life with a child.

So go ahead, click on the icon if you feel so inclined, and enjoy Angie's message!

Like I said before, Angie's blog has really spoken to me spiritually, and I'll be making another post about that later on. But I would highly recommend you become one of her followers because not only does she have a great story and a great message about her relationship with God, but she is a phenomenal writer and she is also hilarious (in my opinion ;))!

Trip to Donner Lake

This past weekend Kevin and I headed to Donner Lake to help celebrate his mom’s birthday with his family. It was such a great weekend. I told myself before we left that I was going to take a lot of pictures, so be prepared for a little picture-overload ;)

Friday: I decided to take an entire day off from work instead of a half day and boy am I glad I made that decision. Kevin left for work that morning at eight, and as soon as he left I all of the sudden decided that I wanted to take my truck into the shop to make sure everything was in good, motoring condition for our trip. I love the place I take my car to. They looked it over in about 15 minutes and didn’t charge me a thing! Luckily, nothing was wrong with it. I do have to get new tires soon, though :( After I took my truck to get a check-up, I headed over to Target (my fave spot!) and got some travelling essentials for the weekend. It’s amazing all the travel-size stuff they have now! I think I spent an hour going through their travel-size aisles. Decisions people! Decisions! LOL. From there I headed over to Sports Basement to get Kevin a pair of thermal pants and wool socks for both of us. Then rushed home, finished packing, took a shower and got ready, Kevin got home with Subway, we inhaled our lunch, packed up the truck and then we were off. My brother house-sat for us, and also watched Kahlua for us this weekend. Thank you Jared!!!

We stopped in Sacramento to pick up Kevin’s brother, Matt. By the way, the entire length of our trip there was treacherous weather. The rain was non-stop from the time we left, until we hit the snow. On the way up, there was a car on the other side of the highway that spun out and was perpendicular to the traffic! Scary stuff!

So we finally get to the where the snow begins. We had a set of cables so there was really not much to worry about right? Wrong! When we pull over to put the cables on (and by ‘we’ I mean Kevin and Matt ;)) Matt asks me if my truck is front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive. Like I’m supposed to know this type of pertinent information! So as they put the cables on the front wheels, I’m in the car trying to read through the Owner’s Manual to figure out what kind of ‘drive’ my car is.

Kevin and Matt putting the cables on the front wheels.

So they get the cables on in about 15 minutes – which is pretty impressive. So Kevin pulls out onto the road and we immediately start sliding all over the highway. About two seconds later my truck then becomes perpendicular to the road and we go sliding into the side of the road onto the embankment. This is the point where we quickly realize that my truck is most definitely rear-wheel drive. The end of my car was hanging out in the road, so Matt had to jump out and literally push us the rest of the way to the side of the road. Yeah…we were “those people” that day.

Here’s Matt now putting the cables on the rear tires. Poor guy!

So about 30 minutes later the cables are on and the snow is really coming down now. Even though the cables were doing their job, my car was still sliding every now and then because my tires are somewhat bald (remember when the shop said I need new tires? Yeah…I guess I really do…). It took us about an extra hour to get to the cabin. Kevin hasn’t really driven in that bad of snow (with bald tires) before so the rest of the drive was STRESSFUL to say the least! God heard quite a bit from me during that drive ;) I am a major control freak, and the fact that Kevin was driving and I had no control over how he was driving, or how bad it was snowing, or how my truck wanted to behave was literally killing me!! By the time we got to the cabin, I was a nervous wreck – but also so thankful we made it safely.

Kevin and  me enjoying our much-needed cocktails once we finally made it.

So, the cabin we stayed at, was built by his uncle Donny and his wife Kris. Donny are Kris are so great! Their cabin is sooo incredibly beautiful and is literally right across the street from the lake. We had a great meal of chili for dinner that night (I’m going to get the recipe from Kevin’s mom and post it because is was delicious!) and a great time with his family.

Here’s Kevin’s sister, Courtney, and her boyfriend, Brandon. Brandon met the family for the first time this weekend. He was such a trooper and is a really nice guy :)

Courtney and me

Kevin’s cousin, Danny, and Kevin being dorks!  We played Apples to Apples. That game is mighty fun, by the way!

Okay, so a side-note here. Above the table there is this awesome chandelier. One of Kevin’s aunts, Vicki, went to a garage sale and found this amazing candelabra (below) that matches the above chandelier, IDENTICALLY, and she gave it to Kris to use in the cabin! I thought these pieces were both pretty amazing-looking so I had to take a picture of them.

We’re singing “Happy Birthday” to Kevin’s mom, Debbie. She is so pretty and will be such a great mother-in-law one day (hopefully!). 

Saturday: We all got up really early (for a weekend; 7am) and headed to Northstar for the day to get in some good snowboarding/skiing. I was super nervous because I’ve never snowboarded before, and this was going to be my first time. I was more nervous that I was going to seriously injure myself, more than anything. I can barely walk down the street without tripping or falling, so I definitely had some concerns about my ability to snowboard. Courtney has a friend who was kind enough to lend me her board and boots for the weekend. Thank you so much Courtney’s friend!

Kevin’s ready!

Debbie and me on the gondola on our way to my doom! ;)

So once we got there, I strapped into my board and Courtney took me down the bunny hill. Oh my word! Snowboarding is hard work! I have such a new-found respect for people out there who can snowboard because it is not an easy sport. Sure, it’s easy once you have the hang of it and you’re good at it, but the learning process is brutal. Courtney was so sweet and patient with me while she was my little instructor. After the first run down the bunny hill I was spent! I told her to go on the regular runs with Brandon and I hung out and took a little break at the lodge until everyone was ready for lunch. Needless to say, this was my best friend that afternoon…

I have never tasted anything so amazingly good at that point in time!

Kevin and I after lunch.

Once we spent a fortune on food and drinks, Kevin said he’d take me down the bunny hill again. I wasn’t too keen on falling my way down the hill again, but I didn’t survive that entire stressful, drive the day before to go down the bunny hill only once! So we went back up the hill and I did so much better the second time around. I was quite pleased with myself and I got a lot of compliments on how well I was doing for my first time. That sport is so much fun and definitely something I can see myself getting into. In a couple weeks we’re going to head up again so I can take a lesson and really get the specifics of boarding down.

It started snowing pretty hard again later in the afternoon. I could have stayed inside the lodge, but the air was so fresh and clear, I preferred to freeze and enjoy it all. It was so beautiful!

Once we got back to the cabin and we all took our showers and freshened up, Donny put his infamous Pizza Oven (yes, they have a brick, pizza oven right in their kitchen! AH-MAZING!) to good use and made us some delicious homemade pizza. The dough was even made from scratch!

Pizza Oven

Danny, and Kevin’s aunt, Lynn, prepping one of the pizzas.

 Here’s the pizza, cooking away!

Dinner was great, and we all watched a movie afterwards and headed to bed early. It was such a long day!

Sunday: Everyone was able to sleep in and we had huevos rancheros for breakfast. Tasty! Can you believe that I’m 1/2 Mexican and have never in my life had huevos rancheros until this day!? Some kind of Mexican I am! ;)

Afterwards, Debbie, Courtney and I headed to the thrift store in Truckee. I love this thrift store! They have great items and on this particular day everything was 50% off! I got a ton of stuff for like $10. I’ll have a separate post later this week and let you in on my new treasures :)

We got back to the cabin, packed everything up and headed back home. Thank goodness the weather was so much nicer this time around. I was in bed and fast asleep by 9 o’clock last night.

I had such a great time with Kevin’s family. I always have a great time with them. Both of us come from very large families, but my family is spread throughout the U.S. so, except for my immediate family, we’re not very close. Kevin’s family is fortunate enough to live near each other, and so they’re able to partake in a lot of family activities; which I love. I’m so glad that Kevin and I are big on family. I’m very grateful for that.

So that was our big weekend. We haven’t done anything like that in a while, and it was really nice to get out of town and do something fun like that, and I’m glad that I could enjoy that hobby (and hopefully continue to enjoy it) with Kevin and everyone else!