fairy tales do come true

Annual photo session by my wonderful friend, Amy Tejeda. She does such a fabulous job capturing our family just as we are. 2nd birthday, Easter, and family photos all rolled into one. Enjoy!

Click the link below :)

fairy tales do come true

Guide for 2010

I received this list in the form of an email from my aunt, but thought that it would be a good thing to add to my blog and share with all of you. Enjoy

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously.. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything..
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change...
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come...
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least:
40. Please Consider Forwarding this to everyone you care about

And This Is What I've Been Up To...

So after 6 months of being terrified, I finally decided to 'man up' and start using my letterpress; I bought the thing, and GD it, I need to use it! (I'm sure my husband has been thinking the same thing... and the friend who's wedding invitations I was supposed to be working on... wedding's at the end of March). So, with the pressure on, I gave myself a week to get those invitations printed and mailed, and guess what, I did it! I work better under pressure, what can I say.

It was a tremendous learning experience for me, as well as bittersweet for someone who is as much of a perfectionist as I am. My letterpress, it's VERY old and VERY small, so I had some problems getting an even pressure and it was really hard to accept the fact that every invitation will have some imperfections. BUT, as I finished more and more invitations and looked at them as a whole, rather than individually, I realized how very cool they really are. As a graphic designer, I have always been one that tends to lean more towards a simple, clean, and elegant style and I saw this reflected in these wedding invitations. It was an Amazing (yes with a capital 'A') feeling!! The finished product, they are SO me as a person and as a designer. And it feels great to call myself a designer again. Yes, I am a stay-at-home mom and I love it, but it also feels great to continue to put my college degree to use.

A light clicked while I was handsetting the type, "This is what I'm supposed to do!!" It's a feeling I was so hoping for when I first bought my press 6 months ago, but it wasn't actually confirmed until I started handsetting that type. Being able to actually understand the importance of knowing the anatomy of type... ascenders, descenders, ligatures, leading etc, etc, etc. And this light, it was so obviously burning internally, but also externally, and my husband took notice. Three days after I mailed the finished invitations to my friend, he let me buy a larger, newer letterpress, which I'm impatiently waiting to get here. So this journey, it's only just begun.

The finished product. The organic shape, that's not mine. My press is so small that I'm unable to produce these sort of things... YET. These invitation are actually a 'do-it-yourself' kit from Target. The wording, however, that's all me :)

Me, working my letterpress magic.

The letterpress from my perspective.

Locking in the type.... this part actually takes a lot longer than one may think. Gravity, it works against you. This is why handset letterpress operators charge so much. Now I know.

New Year, New Resolutions

As the new year begins, I've been trying to think of a few resolutions that I will actually stick to... I get bored working out and diets aren't my thing, so I'll skip the 'weight-loss' resolutions this year. So, with much thought, this year my resolution is to wash my face very night, because quite honestly, sometimes I've been too lazy, simple as that. And as long as we're on the topic of beauty, I vow to use up the plethora of various beauty products that are crammed under my sink. I'm positive a great deal of those products are past their expiration date anyway, so I'll go ahead and add 'purging expired beauty products' to my resolution list as well. So there you go, my new year's resolutions.

AHHHHHHHH!!!

It's been a while since I posted anything and I hate to make this a pity party, but I just had to get something off my chest. I am so full of pent up frustration and disappointment right now: I am SOOO tired of people in my life saying that they are going to do something and not following through. My life seems to be full of unreliable people full of broken promises and I am beyond over it!! I think this is why I'm such a control freak and why I'd rather just do things myself than rely on others.

Okay, got that off my chest and now I feel a little better. I think I need a massage...

Happy Halloween

My husband and I have been carving Halloween pumpkins together since we started dating. Now that we have a daughter, we decided to do something special with our pumpkins... More of the 'gang' to come this week.

I made the best-ever pumpkin seeds last night:

Clean pumpkins, leaving some of stings and pulp, but cleaning off major chunks of pumpkin. Toss pumpkin seeds in a bowl with olive oil, kosher salt, and garlic powder. Spread seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 300 for 45 minutes. EXCELLENT when eating while still warm.

Smart Shopping

My little girl recently turned 18 months, and with this milestone, she is growing out of her clothes. Lucky for me, her growth spurts generally seem to coincide with the seasons. So, I did some shopping today, a lot of shopping, but I did so in a smart way. I visited a consignment sale, a consignment store, Marshalls, and the clearance rack at Target. I also bought a 'lot' of clothes on eBay. Olivia's fall/winter wardrobe is now complete, and I did it under $100... At first my husband seemed a little skeptical of buying clothes on consignment and eBay. Dressing his baby girl in used clothes just didn't seem to make him happy; however, after he saw everything I bought, I think he's coming around.

It's been awhile... Sorry

So it's been a little while since my last post, but I do apologize; I've just been so busy. I recently started selling decorative blocks that I make... after a little push from some friends. I made my first set when I was pregnant with my daughter, who is now 18 months old, and kind of left it at that. About a month ago, I decided to make a set of blocks for one of my daughter's friends' first birthday. Well, shortly after, I started selling the blocks and I've been swamped with orders ever since. No complaints from me. I love making them and the added incentive of some extra money makes it that much sweeter :)

Denver Broncos

So I've been a Denver Broncos fan since I was born. I grew up during the era of John Elway. I missed school to attend the Broncos parade one year when the Broncos won the Super Bowl. I'm not a fair-weather fan; I sport my team colors regardless if they are having a good season or not. Moving out of Colorado, I continue to wear my blue and orange with my head held high. That being said, if the Broncos pick up Michael Vick to be their new quarterback, I will boycott the Broncos immediately. Every item I own in support of the Broncos will go into storage until further notice. What Michael Vick did is absolutely disgusting and I am appalled that he is even allowed back in the NFL!! These athletes are supposed to be role models!! As an animal lover maybe I'm just impartial. I seriously about lost it when I learned that not only was he doing the dog fights, but he was using beagles as the bait dogs.... I own two beagles, one of which wears a Denver Broncos collar. Michael Vick is disgusting and I can feel my heart rate going up just thinking about him.

It's a big two thumbs down for Michael Vick in a Broncos uniform!!!!!

Update on Our Playroom

So my husband finally worked up the confidence to tackle the bookshelves I wanted for our playroom. The bookshelves were originally $120 a piece in Pottery Barn Kids. My husband spent $99 on supplies and built me two bookshelves cheaper than the price of one. I couldn't be happier with the end result.

My poor husband, now that I know what he's capable of, his "Honey-Do" list may just keep getting longer and longer and longer.... I love my husband.