Entrepreneurs

This is the kind of stuff my kids do to pass the time.  Plus they both love money so they are always looking for ways to get more.  Today it was opening a spa in the living room.  They have business hours and a sign that they were out to lunch.  What really killed me was the tip jar.  Oh my goodness my kids are smart and super cute.  They even had an appointment book with a reservation in it for me.  While they were giving me my amazing massage and trying to get rid of the cracks on my feet with lotion they hatched a plan to expand.  They were designating rooms in the house for waiting areas and massage areas and then how they were going to need a much larger piece of paper so they could put a big sign on the outside of the house.  They were talking about how on a tv show they watch one of the kids went overseas for a year to learn how to walk on someones back for massages.  They were thinking that they should probably do something like this.  The business model was word of mouth.  Once people came and knew how good they were then they would tell their friends who would tell their friends and pretty soon they were going to have a lot of money.  Good news, I was not left out of this plan.  Giving me some of the money was included.  Listening to them chat about this and come up with this plan was so cute and it always leaves me wondering. Where in the world do they come up with this stuff?  

Skillz

What does a girl that always likes to have a different color of hair do when she needs a new do?  Why have a nonprofessional such as myself do it!  I am really starting to build up a list of people just crazy enough to have me dye their hair for them.  I'm a risk taker so I'm always up for the challenge.  This is one of the yw in my ward that is dear to me.  So, what did we do.  We dyed the under part of her hair black.  We also included the under bangs.  The black cream we had was aged a bit so it wasn't as jet black as we had hoped for, but still nice.  Then for on top.  A super bright orange that was called copper.  It was just the look she was going for.  Whew!  Next time I would take a little more in the bangs for the black and go up just a bit more in the back as well.  Trying to keep the 2 different hair colors from colliding was a fun challenge, so I decided to wrap her head in cellophane-- I think it's a rather nice look, don't you? haha  Who's next? :0) 

Love in LA

My many Loves in LA

I love my husband of 17 years.  He is my best friend.

I love how silly we are together.

I love this pier in the background.

I love food.  Especially good food.
I love to photograph particularly good food experiences.
I love how rude the employees were at the taco place.  It was very reminiscent of a show with Elaine and soup.  I'm telling you, I thought for a minute there they were going to say "No Tacos for You!"
I love breakfast foods and my pumpkin pancakes didn't disappoint.  Nate had cheese on his french toast. Amazing food at that place!
I love being adventurous, and that it was, in the neighborhood of this mexican restaurant.  Yum!
I love the beach.  I love the beach.  I love the beach.
I love taking cheesecake to the beach.
I love having good friends to share experiences with.

I love the picture below on the left that has 2 signs.... to me that typifies LA.  And let me tell you, there was a whole lotta "medical" weed happening there!

I love people watching.

I love street performer people watching.

I love how no one in LA is too proud to beg, as evidence by the octopus picture with the sign asking for donations of all sorts.  Every step someone was trying to get money out of you.

I love the crazy "freak show" that we went to.  Have you ever stapled money to a Man's chest?  Well, now I can check that one off my to do list! ;0)

I love perfect weather. 

I love weekend getaways without the kids.

Did I mention that I love my husband?

Did I mention that I love the Ocean?

There you have it.  

Say Wha????

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment has finally arrived.  This special moment took until my daughter reached the tender age of 14.... and this is where we will be for quite some time I'm afraid.  It started out slowly.  A nonchalant step away from me when I was doing something..... entertaining.  No worries, her feet were just about to fall asleep and she needed to move them.  It couldn't possibly be that she was trying to distance herself from the possibility that anyone might think that she was with me.   Then on a recent outing at a restaurant that was playing some old time country music I may have started doing a mini hoe down while waiting for a table.  Come on!  No one was around.  Sometimes the music just moves me....literally.  lol This received a step away, eye roll, with the added, you're so embarrassing! Say wha???  This one was a bit harder to play off as coincidence, especially with the "you're so embarrassing" part.  Then, today while eating dinner at a restaurant the little ones were playing a bit too rambunctiously and we got the eye roll with "my family is so embarrassing."  It was bound to happen..... I guess.  I was going along just fine living in- I am super cool and immune to having a typical teenager land. ;0)  So imagine my surprise when my teenager that once enjoyed the antics of her family suddenly found them embarrassing.  But, rest assured, now that I know what my special weapon is, watch out!  muwahahahaha

Random

It's been awhile since I have posted about the randomness of my dreams.  I frequently have dreams with famous people in them.  Sometimes they play out like a movie and sometimes they know me and interact with me.   This particular one that I had last night reminded me of the craziness of my sub conscience.  I have absolutely no idea where this came from.  Usually I can piece together events that happened in real life that would trigger such a dream, but I got nothing to explain this one.  How this person made it into my dream is a mystery.  Oh, wait.  I think I heard a song on the radio within the last couple of days.  White Wedding.  Yep, pretty sure I did.  This may be the missing piece....Anyway, the setting is a bit hazy, but I had just spent time at cub scout day camp where the kids went from room to room learning about different things to pass of in their books.  So, I'm thinking that is where this back drop was pulled from.  In the dream I was supposed to be going from room to room for different classes or lectures or something of that sort, but I ran into Billy Idol in the hallway and we sat on a couch and chatted for quite some time.  About what, I have no idea.  I do know that he thought I was funny and we were having a good time.  I had also made a mental observation that he must be pretty old by now, but that he didn't look it.   I also remember telling him that when I feel particularly low sometimes it helps me feel better to dance along to, Dancing With Myself.  I think I then helped him find a room that he was supposed to be in.  Interesting indeed.  Welcome to my my sub conscience!

Thirty Eight

On the first of this month I got dangerously closer to 40!  It's really not that bad, my brain just can't compute that I am really this old.  I'm not a big fan of my birthday and it is usually just another day only I'm a bit older because of it.  This year I had a surprise lunch with friends at my favorite local mexican restaurant where I enjoyed good company, carne adovada and sopapillas.  Then my hubby and kiddos took me to dinner at one of my favorite bbq places.  They make fresh homemade bread which is heavenly and some really good bbq and for your birthday you get to have your pic taken with a really large rack of ribs.  The kids were super excited to give me the gifts they picked out for me which Jordyn was barely able to keep a secret from me.  I got 2 necklaces.  One with a pearl because it's my birthstone and one with an owl because, aside from turtles, I love them.  The real surprise came when we got home and Nate got out the gourmet cupcakes that he got me.  That was a true surprise and really thoughtful especially since I am obsessed with cupcakes right now.  Poor guy went to a lot of trouble getting them.  He tells the story much funnier than I can recount it, but here goes:

After reading all the reviews from 2 local places he made the decision and then had to find the place.  He had 10 minutes between cases and this place was in a part of town he wasn't familiar with and was speeding just a bit when a police officer jumped out from behind a tree and clocked him.  He got pulled over, managed to sweet talk his way out of a ticket and made it to the place....which looked like it was closed down.  Not a cupcake in site.  What happened?  Are you open?  Turns out the movie studio, there is a big movie being filmed here right now with iron in the title, and they bought every single one in the place!  She offered to make Nate any cupcake he wanted for the next day, but my birthday was not the next day!  Feeling defeated he headed back to work and sent one of the girls from his office to go get some at the other place.  The other place was not up to par, but the fact that he had to try so hard to get me something that he knew I would love is the best gift ever, plus I tell everyone that a certain start robbed me of my birthday gift.  

As birthdays go, this one was pretty awesome!

Girls Camp 2011

Girl's camp turned out to be quite the roller coaster of events this year.  I was going up with the ward and then I wasn't......long dramatic story...... and then I ended up going up as stake staff this year.  I was asked to be the level leader over the 1st year girls.  I agreed to do this only if I was allowed an assistant because I already have a demanding calling.  I am the 1st counselor in RS and the Pres wanted to come up to camp with me, so we left the ladies in our ward to carry on without us for a few days.  

Going up with the Stake was a new experience for me and I had a lot of down time this year. I don't really know what to do with myself when I have down time, so I felt kind of useless the times that I didn't have any commitments.  We did have fun though showing our little 1st year girls how to tie 3 different kinds of knots, going on a 3 mile hike and talking about recycling.  The YCL's that were assigned to us were fabulous and super fun.  They didn't let us down with responsibilities that we gave them to come to camp prepared with.  So awesome.   

I also managed to get myself roped into sewing 25 yellow super hero capes for the ycl's before camp.  Wow, was that a mess.  But, luckily some good friends came to my rescue and helped me out. I also helped make the flag for our Ward.  Our color was orange this year, so I sewed that and helped with the design and each of the girls made their own little representation of themselves on it.  It turned out super cute!  

I got to make a cool wind thing made out of soda cans, play some fun games, be in a skit, be part of a revenge plot for a prank, and continue my reputation for having the largest tent for the fewest amount of people.  To exaggerate our lofty living my partner in crime and I sat outside our tent with a kiddie pool filled with water to soak our feet in.  This was no small feet considering the fact that there was no running water!  People would walk by and see how refreshing it looked and join us.   That turned out to be one of my favorite memories from camp because of the people we met and the fun conversations we had.   

Best of all, I got to be up there with my MJ.  So, fun.  

Food and Fun

What do you do when your friend has 6 kiddos and needs to move?  You hop on a plane and help.  Unfortunately the temperatures were well into the 100's the weekend that they were moving.  So staying hydrated and motivated proved difficult.  Especially when the 3 little ones ages 2 for the twins and 1 for the baby were constantly testing our patience and abilities to get anything done with them into everything.  I always say that it's a good thing kids are so darn cute!  :0)  So, how do you stay positive and focused on the insurmountable task at hand???  With little treats of yumminess..  The minute mart became our best friend between trips to the houses.  Lots of caffeine and chocolate.  Cookies from my favorite place, some yummy "crack sticks" (which are very soft pretzels with cheese), a burrito from one of my favorite places and some zen time pool side while listening to the water feature.  With a great friend by your side and lots of yummy food, you can get through almost anything. :0)