Time for change

I'm excited and nervous to post this because not only does it make it too real but it makes me have to follow it through...

1. This is the more obvious typical resolution however.. get this lazy BEHIND back to sweatin. I don't care what kind of sweatin as long as it gets me back to moving and grooving and feeling back in shape. I miss a good work out.

2. Let go. I came to the realization that I like to have control and if I don't have control, I find a way to to control. This year I want to accept what I can't change and let go and the one book that will be helping me along the way will be one of my fav's called, Language of Letting Go.

3. Man upstairs. Become better friends with the man upstairs and developing a deeper relationship with him.

4. Thanksgiving. More gratitude of the itty bitty things in my every day life.

5. Talkin to myself. I know this might sound crazy at first but I want to check in with myself every night and find out where I am in most area's of my life. There is all sorts of benefits from this.

6. Simplify. Make my life more simple and one of those ways is getting organized and staying organized.

7. Become closer to my Canon. Find a way to not be intimidated of it.

8. Boundaries. No this doesn't mean learn some sport but this means to keep myself emotionally & physically healthy. I have a tendency to fade my boundary lines easily so it will be important to find clarity with this!

9. Swim in the library. I find a sense of serenity when I read so I want to make sure to always stay reading a book through the year.

10. Smell the roses. Want to constantly remind myself to slow down and enjoy the day to day things that we take for granted.

6 big years.

Six whole years ago, I gave birth to my first baby boy. I went into labor on Christmas day and he didn't want to arrive until 4-5 days later. He was a stubborn little guy. Even after I was given pitocin, he still had to be c sectioned out and yes he had a very large coney head :) We named him Isaiah Alexander Martin and somehow someway we started calling him Buzzy and it's been stuck ever since. If anyone knows Isaiah, they know he is an old soul in a young body. He teaches me so many things. I can always count on Isaiah to keep me on my toes and entertained. He is a very attentive big brother to London and I know that as they grow together, I can always count on him protecting her through what they go through. He is the child that is everybody's friend and he always wakes up with a smile on his face because he loves life. He honestly lights up my life and although he may be hard at times, I know he will be a great leader and will always love me. I'm lucky to raise this special and unique child and I hope I can be the mommy he needs through the years.

Happy Birthday Isaiah! :)

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change

Change is good, I think.. well I hope for this circumstance it is.

My family (the whole gang... parents, sister & their families) are deciding to ditch the ordinary Christmas and going to switch it to a Cabin Christmas. We are heading for the hills to stay in a very large beautiful cabin up in Heber City for a few nights. We are taking a Christmas tree up there and going to do it the old school way by doing popcorn string along with handmade ornaments. I'm actually really excited to stay in doors and simplifying Christmas this year by not running from house to house in a 24 hour span. With the women in my family, I have no doubt that it will be very eventful! Life is too short not to adventure out and try new things.. so we might as well start now :)

Two Piecer

So this is my handsome husband...
And this is my husband with a two piecer.. (hehe)

My newest crush.

First of all, if you know me, I have a special connection to makeup. My heart skips a beat when I walk past the cosmetics in Dillards and Nordstroms. Not just makeup but specifically MAC makeup. I have really tried hard to open my heart to a different variety of it all. There is the Jaguar of make up which is MAC, Bobby Brown, etc... and then there is the Honda Civic of makeup which is more like your Loreal , Maybeline, and Covergirl (which by the way, I own a Honda Civic and love it dearly- especially the gas mileage so no judgement there). I am excited to announce that my new big rage of the moment (and I am pretty sure it will stay a long lasting relationship).. is the


Last Blast Fusion Mascara that comes in my favorite color.. purple. I gave it a chance in hopes that it might be as decent as the ones I have had previously. It surpassed all my hopes!


Let me give you a little bit of background.. I always had decent eyelashes on my own. Never have had to curl them, luckily they have always had length and natural curl, nothing amazing but enough to get me by. When I told Mr J that I was thinking about getting eyelash extensions, he told me I was crazy but I had fallen in love with the way they looked on a few of my friends and I had to try them out. Don't get me wrong, I loved the way they made me feel and look. It's amazing how something as small as that can just help a little more with convenience of not having to put on mascara, to just wake up and feel like I look decent when I get out of bed without having to do anything! But weeks after weeks of watching them slowly fall out and now realizing my wallet was shrinking from just trying to keep up.. I realized it was not the best idea financially, since I knew I could be putting that extra money towards things we actually NEED. So the guilt got to me.. plus I learned a small lesson from this. The more things we do to enhance the natural beauty we already have... we start to lose the self confidence we had in the first place with just our natural components.. such as eyelash extenstions, fake nails, teeth whitening, breast implants, hair extensions, tanning, vaneers, lipo, face lift, tummy tucks, collagen, botox, etc... just to name a few! Trust me I am guilty of many of those things above.. but if it's something that you have to continue to keep up with and it's a lot of high maintenance and you end up cutting back in budget and you can't continue through it with anymore... all of the sudden you look at yourself without those enhancements and WOW.... how much do I hate the way I look NOW that I don't have the help from these extra added adjustments??? Now don't get me wrong, I have gone under the knife and I don't regret it in anyway but it just made me realize that once I take the nails off, stop whitening my teeth, take the eyelash extensions off and see my stubs of lashes that once I thought were pretty, and I don't keep up with the tanning, I realize how hard it is to like just ME, the way I naturally am, the way God created me. So doing these things are definitely our instant gratification of self esteem and I have to continue to be reminded that those things are what give my a solid foundation to love who I am. It all begins on the inside and then we work our way out. It's important to love ourselves just the way we are first and if we decide to have any work done, AMEN to that.. but do it right and let's change our perception of what beauty is! In this world it seems impossible but I know it can change with one person at a time...

One another note.. here is my crush: GIVE IT A TRY, it lengthens and thickens your eyelashes and does the best work by far compared to MANY other mascara brands I've tried throughout my years! If you try it out - make sure to leave me a comment and tell me what you think of it as well!

Ta ta for now!

Dearest Cupcake

To the newest member of my family,

Thank you for making me feel safe in my home again. If it weren't for you, I might be still escaping to Grandma & Grandpa Alvey's basement. There are a few things I am trying to get used to with you such as, thinking my toes and fingers are toys, slipping in right under my feet as I walk, and being quite the attention getter. I will try to be more patient with you, if you try to mind your own business while I'm busy working. We can create some type of win-win situation.

We weren't expecting opening our arms to a cute 4 legged kitten but after quickly weighing out the pros and cons of having mice or taking care of a kitten, it was an easy decision for me. Thanks for giving me the piece of mind of feeling like my house is MY house again.

Don't expect getting any brother and sister kittens to keep you company. I am definitely out of my comfort zone by even taking care of you, let alone a family of cats. I promise I will never be known as a cat "lady"- The only brothers & sisters you will ever have is Isaiah & London, so please keep them entertained more often so they don't need me as much. I would really appreciate the extra help.

I'll take care of you, if you take care of me and my home. Do NOT become friends with the enemy (mice). Hunt, hunt, hunt. And one last thing, please do not ever smell up my little cottage or make me ever buy those huge scratching posts. Just appreciate the cute little girl pink things I already have bought for you.

Thanks for being cute- just keep your paws to yourself more! And we really love when you chase your tail, we hope one day you win that game :)

P.S. oh and I would really appreciate you keeping on your cute new sweater I got you..

ghosts. vampires. superhero. ladybugs

Pizza night..

M*I*C*K*EY*

So life started out as usual this week until one little tiny thing occurred and after that life came to a complete halt! So many things in my life have happened and hardly ever has my life stopped all until a little mouse decided to make it's way inside my bedroom chamber and scare every bit of maturity and common sense out of me. I had no idea I was this afraid until I was face to face with him! I definitely learned something about myself.
After Jake traumatizing me and forcing me to try to catch Mickey with him , I finally evacuated my house defeated at 1 am and took the kids to my parents house, as if there was a full on fire or some kind of huge emergency. One night turned into two, two nights turned into three. This is now my second night back into my home after re- entering and doing some major cleaning and putting my bedroom back together after Jake trashing the place hoping to kill it. I'm having a hard time enjoying my home and feeling comfortable here again, now knowing what has taken place. How dare he? So I have had mice on my mind for 4 days straight now- hoping I can stay and not have another occurrence. I am not a happy camper.
p.s. Thanks heaven's for exterminators (and for parents with extra bedrooms) for my peace of mind, but where did he go? It's like trying to find Waldo in Where's Waldo, only ten times harder!

love these faces.

Lately my sleeping life has been nothing less than terrible and exhausting! Every night is SOOO LONG after such a long day. Night time is when I get "my" time usually and for these two to take that away from me, makes me pretty darn bitter. How dare them right?? I get desperate after 12 attempts of laying London in bribing her with every type of treat and toy imaginable, just to find out 10 minutes later, it didn't work and she has walked back out to tell me she is "tieerrrred." I don't think she realizes what tired means, to her that means she can't go to sleep. I don't even dare get comfortable cause I know I will have to get back up and do the same thing all over again. UGH. Anyway, so you can tell I'm pretty unhappy with my children but when I look at their cute faces, I'll I can do is smile. One day I'll get them back someway, somehow. Until then, I'll have to remind myself how cute they are in pictures where I love them the most (when they don't move or talk! hehe).

karate master

I might have a 5 year old son, but make no mistake of his size.. he will bring you down, literally!! Love him:)
We couldn't ask for a better place for Isaiah to learn karate (Bobby Lawrence Karate in Centerville). We are so impressed with the group of teachers. They know how to teach little youngens and do it well. They entertain all of us and we keep coming back for more! Isaiah is improving in so many different things, including learning to focus and having respect..and of course BREAKING BOARDS. :)

Makeup vs Natural

Sometimes I put on makeup and wonder if it's worth the trouble. I don't know about any of you, but sometimes I feel like I take time and apply it just to turn around and remove it. A little now known guilty secret is... It's one of the first things I do when I get home from my eventful days (along with finding my very old huge sweats)! I wish I could say that when Jake gets home from work, I'm in my short skirt, hooker heels, my hair did, face on, and in an apron cooking dinner. I wish I could be one of those women:) Poor Jake!
So yesterday when I was removing my eye make up, I looked in the mirror and saw one side had make-up on and the other didn't. I thought I better compare the fake me vs the real me. I truthfully was hoping to have hard evidence that the real me was not that much different.... however.....

THIS WAS A HUGE WAKE-UP CALL! Wow, thank the good Lord for putting a little concealer and foundation (for mothers with dark circles), bronzer (fake my tan a bit), beautiful shades of eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara (to help open up small eyes) on this earth!!

Now don't think I won't rock the old natural look every so often. I can appreciate any woman that can go out and show the real person she is without it, but this was good for me to admit and see for myself. I think I got away with no make-up for such a long time, but now my complexion really has changed with age and kids.. wrinkles and fine lines are starting to welcome themselves to my face, along with the above mentioned dark circles, my lovely moles and freckles, and last but not least my uneven color tone. This is just the beginning of the end for the face I ONCE had! Why didn't I appreciate it when I had it???

Happy Halloween