I will ALWAYS love you

I have definitely been feeling the love this past week. Im not sure if it was because of Valentine's Day or if its because my life is at such a different place this year then it was last year. Either way I am grateful for the fact that God has shown me so much mercy and grace...both of which I DONT deserve for I am wretched person. A wretched person that has been rescued.

You are the source of life
I can't be left behind
No one else will do
I will take hold of You

'Cause I need You Jesus
To come to my rescue
Where else can I go
There's no other name
By which I am save
Capture me with grace


A great part of the week leading up to V Day was all the prep and shopping and dressing Stella in as much red and pink as possible :)


At the beginning of the week Carynn and I decided we would hand make our Valentines for our Valentines and also bake a ton of sweets for our sweeties.

BEFORE


AFTER



all went well and everyone was stoked on the outcome!

Ryan was really sweet and creative and hid three cards in my room for me to find that had "gift certificates" in them for things he knew I wanted...how thoughtful right? Gift certificates for some posters that I had been wanting to put up in my bedroom, new boots cause Stella threw up on my black ones, and a dinner for two at my favorite restaurant.

Yesterday morning we got up early and went to breakfast at Ruby's with Carynn, Kevy, Shaye, and Adam. Valentines Day breakfast with your loved ones is great way to start the day. Afterwards we went over to Carynns grandmas and ate so much sweets and dipped anything we could think of in chocolate. Once we all had belly aches we got into our swimsuits and cuzzed for about an hour. It was a FANTASTIC way to spend our family Valentines Day. Tonight Ryan and I are going to a nice dinner with Kevin and Lauren to end the Valentines weekend and I couldn't be more excited.

the valentine Stella made for me


To be continued...

the couple that works out together...

stays together?

Well Ryan and I started to work out together. He's my very own personal trainer he tells me what to do, how to do it, and why Im doing it. Its fantastic! Ryan also has the patience of a SAINT! We were working out chest yesterday and naturally he puts on his hundreds of pounds of weight to lift (if you've ever seen him you get it, hes got bigger boobs then me :) good ones!) and then he has to take every single one off for me to my "reps" because all I can lift is the bar :(. He does this 4 times in a row! He likes me ALOT! I really enjoy working out with him because he really does enjoy it and I feel like it almost brings us closer...that may sound lame, but doing things that may not always be your favorite in respect of your loved one can do WONDERS for your relationship. He's always making sure Im happy and doing what I want but going to the gym with him makes him truly happy so I will continue. PLUS I really want to lose weight, he says that lifting weights burns more calories then cardio (although I do that too), so Im sticking to his program and Ill inform everyone of my progress. Working out puts me in such a good mood too...Ryan says that I am releasing endorphins when Im working out and thats why I feel so good while doing it so there's nothing but positives coming out of this situation.

P.S. I couldn't be happier to be spending the 14th with this amazing man.

He is seriously so good to me and romantic on a daily basis that I am just the luckiest woman in the world to have him as my Valentine


cute.

the last 24

has definitely been better then the previous 24...













looking forward to tomorrow...

Jess said so

and shes taller then me so I abide...Im tagged so Im supposed to post a picture of myself and then 16 facts you might not have known about me.



1. I started shaving my hands when I was 10 because my step mom said only men had hair on their hands and I haven't stopped since.

2. I was Valedictorian of my school.

3. I graduated from a class of 10. (this made the above fact possible :)

4. I played soccer from the age of 8 to the age of 18.

5. For the first time since the 5th grade my hair is its natural color.

6. I was in an R&B group called Sonshine in high school. And let me tell you, we thought we were going places :)

7. I once auditioned at Ice Ts house in Hollywood for a Gospel Album

8. My first job was working at Pharaohs Lost Kingdom...shall I say first and worst!

9. Im the oldest of 3 girls and the shortest

10. I didn't break a single bone until I was 17 and in one year I broke 3

11. I love to kiss.

12. I was home schooled for two years my 6th and 7th grade year.

13. Im really good at cutting bangs...even my own.

14. I used to clean Brent's house to get tattooed. I even had to leave a chocolate on the pillow like the "real house cleaners do"

15. Growing up I thought I was destined to be famous...not sure who instilled this idea in me but Im still waiting for my big break!

16. Its taken me 25 years to come even close to kinda sort of getting somewhat of a grasp on what unconditional love is. And its breath taking.

i heart this week

MONDAY
we went to Kyle and Denas for dinner. It was tasty and entertaining. Except for when Mazzy took a dump on their carpet while we were eating dinner :( Other then that party foul we had good food and drink and of course great conversation both nostalgic and up to date themes.




TUESDAY
I worked as usual and planned to have my "hang out with Carynn on Tuesdays" appointment. Which technically it did happen just not in a fun or germ free place.

She had strep throat again so we had to hang out in urgent care instead of at the mall or the movies. But our tuesday wasn't void of quality conversation...we were still able to chit chat and catch up on the week. After I took baby home I met up with some homies for Johnny's birthday dinner at Eastern Classic and then Ryan and I headed to BJs to eat some real food :)

WEDNESDAY
Was my day off and this week also happens to be Kevin's vacation from good old Bud. So we planned to go to the zoo and take all the kids. We were there for almost 5 hours and let me tell you...it was PLENTY! We did have a great time and as crazy as our kids can be there were well behaved and a good time was had by all...at least I think :)





to see more zoo pics look HERE.

That evening Ryan and I went out dinner with Lauren and Kevin and we went to our infamous hot spot P.F.Changs. I got sick half way through the meal but we still had a great time. I love them and I love us together

THURSDAY
Ryan and I worked in the morning and then we went to OC because Ryan had scheduled a meeting with STYG. Riding in the car with Ryan is always an exciting adventure. First of all he drives like hes in the video game Mario Kart while text messaging and playing every "air" instrument used in the song we are listening to.

I was able to get Amanda and Josh to tear themselves from their glamours lives of writing smash hits and planning fabulous weddings to have some lunch with me. Of course the food was great and so were they. I wish we lived closer. It hurts to be away.

FRIDAY
Work as usual. Picked up Stella as usual. Video chat in crazy faces as usual.

"I wish I was your baby..."

modeling career in the future?

the greatest love of all is mine...

Here I am humbled by your Majesty
Covered by your grace so free
Here I am, knowing I'm a sinful man
Covered by the blood of the Lamb

Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice

Majesty, Majesty
Your grace has found me just as I am
Empty handed, but alive in your hands
Majesty, Majesty
Forever I am changed by your love
In the presence of your Majesty

Here I am humbled by the love that you give
Forgiven so that I can forgive
Here I stand, knowing that I'm your desire
Sanctified by glory and fire

Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice

saturday.

I had absolutely had NO plans today. I hated it at first but have loved the fact that we didn't have a million places to be and a million people to see today. Being home helps me appreciate who and what I have. Also, it gives me a chance to watch Stella play and interact. I am able to see what intrigues her, makes her happy, makes her bored, and unfortunately what irritates her (she lets me know at high levels when she is irritated :) Anyways I did my friend Lisa's hair for a wedding and then Ryan, Stella and I all went to breakfast at Redlands Family Restaurant, which is affordable AND fantastic. After that we watched some movies, played some Wii, and took a wonderful nap. I finished season one of Lipstick Jungle today and I am feening for season 2 unfortunately its still airing so its not on DVD yet, so I am killing time while some episodes download from itunes.

As far back as I can remember I have been about 5 feet tall. Carynn seemed to think I had a growth spurt and was taller then that. I believed her for a minute but three things happened this week that made me feel like my spurt was temporary...

1. I could not pull Stella out of the shopping cart at Albertsons because I was too short...or shes too tall Im not sure. But I would have had to pick her up above my head to get her out.

2. FOR THE LIFE OF ME I could not reach my top shelf at work today. I swear when I moved into the salon I was able to reach, now today I was not able to and hand to climb on the counter to reach it.

3. I was trying to pull the cork out of a bottle of Framboise tonight but the bottle was too tall for me to uncork. I had to stick the bottle in a drawer(which is lower then the kitchen counter) so I could be above it and then open it. Let me tell you, before that drawer trick I was STRUGGLING!

I need to get some TALL shoes!

from today....

D.D.D.

"daytime double date"



love it!

you me and baby babe

isn't she though?

Using Citrus Plaza to it's full potential

1. Lunch at Chick Fil A
2. Shopping at Target
3. Car wash at the 76 Station
4. Banking at Wells Fargo
5. Pedicure at Papillon Salon

I'm kinda stoked I was able to spend my whole afternoon in one center :) thank god for convenience right? Anywyas most of that was done with Carynn and then we went to Babes for dinner. It was amazing as always! We then went our separate ways picked up out significant other and met up later for a doubly at the movie theatre. We saw Gran Torino and it was fantastic! Clint Eastwood was brillant and quite attractive for an old man if I do say so myself. All in all it was a successful Tuesday. This blogs kinda lame. Sorry.

she

is killin' me right now. So cute and animated and sweet and all that good stuff


and in the blink of eye everything can change and she can throw a horrific tantrum. Ruining any sort of good time or enjoyable trip that we are in the middle of. Stella has never reacted like this and I tend to feel like I am loosing my mind...LITERALLY! Please someone tell me this is just a phase! Maybe since she didn't really have the "terrible 2s" thing its transferred over to "terrible 3s"? But when its good its soooo good. I can only pray it doesn't last long and that I can remain calm in the mean time :) ahhhh motherhood



This weekend has been wonderful. Ryan and I both had it off so on saturday we went to breakfast and then off to Cabazon to do some shopping. I thought since the holidays had just ended that it wouldn't be busy...WRONG. Dead wrong. And I thought for sure that Ryan would want to leave immediately because he tends to hate people on a general level, its the cross he bears :). Anyways, he was such a trooper and we actually found some good stuff. Not necessarily at "outlet prices" but some good stuff nonetheless. One tantrum and a 3 hour nap, it was time to go to Charlies birthday dinner. So many people and friends it was rather enjoyable even being the last person to get my food.

Today we went to church, had lunch with the entire fisher crew (man we have alot of kids), hung out at Lauren and Kevins and then we met up with Carynn, Clay, and Babe to see Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. Not a bad flick. Went home and started dinner...please tell me how I set off the smoke alarms making a grilled cheese sandwich? Im so lame. 2 Jim Carrey movies and 2 and 1/2 tantrums later Stella and I ended the evening in my bed watching Mama Mia. She passed out like 10 minutes into it but I am still watching, its so good and it keeps me smiling the entire movie.

P.s. Lauren has inspired me today. She has such a big heart and love love loves her family. She is not content with being content and that takes work and strength. Wife to her love, mother of two, and friend to me I am honored to be in her life.

Carynn shows me on a daily basis that she loves me no matter what. Thats saying alot. Im no picnic :) I can only hope I do the same.

Kali can be trusted with absolutely everything. And her love for my kid is nothing short of beautiful.

Ryan. Probably the most selfless person I've ever met. Constantly making sure that I am okay and that I have everything I need and even want most of the time. I have found my hearts counterpart and even at this very moment that reality brings tears to my eyes.

Amanda although I dont see her as often as I would love to I feel like we have such a deep connection even when we dont speak. I love you deeply

Im blessed.