Eat your veggies...or Salad.

On my quest to lose weight and more importantly eat healthy I have discovered these quick and delicious salad

Can you tell it was good?

It's portion controlled which I like so I know how many calories I am eating. My favorite salad is my own special concoction which includes greens, feta cheese, sliced pepperoncini, black olives, cucumber, tomatoes and Good Seasoning "Mild Italian" dressing with half a splenda...so good.

Today is the first day of many changes needed in my life...I will document all of these changes along with the blood, sweat, tears that will go into it...stay tuned.

I'm Lovin It

Sorry for the delay in posting. After unpacking, organizing and playing dress up with Love all day; who has time to blog. I am still looking for a job and if anyone in Colorado needs an Executive Assistant...hit me up!

These pictures were taken at a place called Daniels Park which is very very close to our house so you have to love that. It was truly breathtaking.

I was in the kitchen last night and Love told me that I am the "bestest mom in Colorado"...funny thing she is right!

Colorado Here We Come

We are moving...next week!!!! I am so excited yet scared too. I am looking forward to moving to a new place, meeting new people and having a fresh start. I am a lil apprehensive about the drive...it's going to take us 3 days with stopping for 2 nights to refresh...it should be interesting though as I will have Love and Brutus with me and hubby will have Zman.

Our prayers have been answered and God is working his plan...things are falling into place and I am ready for our new journey.

I will be a little bit absent for the next 2 weeks as we continue to pack up and start out on our new journey next week!

Wish us luck...promise to be back with great "road trip" stories!!!

Now What?

Today is my last day with my current employer. They broke the news to me on Monday...hence why I have been a little down and not posting.

I am now in the stage of Now What?

Love is happy though she wants to do make-up on Monday and play dress up. Zman is excited since I will be home when he arrives from school...he asked me the other night "mom will you make me a snack or something when I get home?"

Last night when we were done working out at the gym hubby said to me...

Hubby-Starting Monday you will be doing all the stuff around the house

Me-Like what?

Hubby-You know cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids because you will be home.

Me-Oh no...I won't be doing any cooking; we know how that turns out.

Hubby-Oh you can make a couple things

Me-Like what...eggs and bacon? Bologna sandwiches?

The Chaperone Needs A Chaperone

My hubby volunteered to chaperone Zman's field trip next week.

I have told my hubby that he needs to read the list of rules Zman's teacher sent home and sign and return it.

Hubby-What rules?

Me-It's a list of what time you need to be there, what to pack your lunch in...just read it.

Hubby-I am getting Zman and I a 10 foot sub and we are going to sit back and just eat it. I will start at one end and he will start at the other end.

Me-Anyway; you need to pack your lunch in a plastic bag...and please behave...no cursing?

Hubby-Ok but if I slip I can't be held accountable.

Me-Zman please keep an eye on your dad during the field trip.

Hubby-And tell your teacher to stop hitting on me...I keep telling her I am married.

Date Night

That's right folks; we have a babysitter. We only have a few hours so we can't get all wild and crazy...but we do have alone time...I almost forgot what it's like. Maybe we will make out like teenagers in the car or something...hmmm.

Ok settle down...I promise I won't post pictures of that!

Happy Friday!

The Partridge in a Pear Tree Was Jesus Christ.

My blogger buddy over at The Pink Potpourri had an amazing and enlightening post today about the 12 Days of Christmas. You have to go visit her if she isn't one of your daily stops; I definately learned something new today.

So I am a firm believer of signs. I read her post today and also read it to my hubby who is Catholic and he didn't know the meaning of the 12 Days of Christmas song and how it came about.

We are struggling financially now due to our economy as both he and I work smack dab in the middle of the 2 hard hit sectors right now...the financial and housing industries.

So I was outside today and I heard a noise; I looked around and I saw a bird in a berry tree. Ok so it wasn't a Patridge (it could have been but I am no bird conneseaur but it was just a bird) nor a Pear tree but it was a sign that I am being watched over and everything is going to be fine...just have faith!

Polly Wants A Cracker (guest post by Hubby)

Today was one of those moments where your son asks you a question and you want to tell him the truth yet you want to shelter him from the "bad" truths of life. Faced with the dilemma of the question; I decided to explain to him the story behind the song Polly by Nirvana.

Zman recently discovered Nirvana on Rock Band. He realizes the thought that went into each song Kurt Cobain wrote. Zman was inquisitive of the song Polly and today he wanted to know what the meaning behind it was as he had gathered it was about a bird or a girl named Polly.

I wasn't surprised as he is very analytical and wants to know the "whys of everything" so I sighed a deep sigh and I had some angst about what I was about to discuss.

When I got out of the Navy in 1990 the grunge scene was just beginning. I myself was listening to a lot of Nirvana and I wanted to know the meaning behind his songs. Just the way he sang it just draws you in.

Now mind you it was very difficult to explain this to a 9 year as he is so innocent and has no idea all the bad stuff that surrounds us daily. But I am sure my wife has explained we are very honest with our kids.

Polly is about a 14 year old girl who is on her way home from a punk rock concert and is kidnapped. She is brutally tortured and abused by a psycho. Using a blow torch and a razor he had his way with her for a few weeks. The song is told from the view point of the abductor. Naturally I left out any graphic details while telling my son but I did get the point across and the message of the song. This being that the will to survive is stronger than most can comprehend.

What the young girl did to survive was to pretend that she liked him and began to flirt with him and pretended she enjoyed what he was doing whether he was looking or not. And what subsequently happened he untied her and left her alone and let his guard down. She used this moment to escape, save her own life and alert authorities. This man was then arrested.

The way I explained it to him was no matter what life throws at you never give up and always hang in there and have faith in God that he is always with you.

Then he asked me what my favorite song was to which I had to clarify "what type of song". Then I replied "do you mean what I think the greatest song that was ever written" and he said "yes". I told him it was "The Day the Music Died" by Don McLean. He then asked why...we are still discussing it...

Reflections

Tonight I had happy hour with one of my girlfriends I don't get to hang out with very much. Even though she lives 20 minutes away we get caught up in our daily lives and don't get to see each other very often.

While we were having drinks she was telling me about her recent break up with her live in boyfriend of many years. And she started telling me what her perspective was on what went sour in the relationship or how they grew apart. And then the topic of insecurities came up. I had no idea she had any. I know that is naive because everyone does but it was an "ah ha" moment.

It made me reflect on my own life. I am truly where I am supposed to be right now. Even though I am not the skinniest girl, or the prettiest (I am pretty HOT though) girl, or I may not have as much money as the next person. I am where I am supposed to be right now. I have love with my best friend who I am lucky to also call my husband. We are coming up on our 10 year anniversary next year and we are more in LOVE today than we were then. I truly love this man for putting up with me and my quirks. I have great kids who love each other so much. And we have our health but most of all we are truly a "family".

Sometimes in life you meet people who seem to be "put together" but you never really know what that person has going on in their own life.

Life is what you make of it.

LIVE LAUGH LOVE Right Steph ?

Scared...Why?

We can't control what happens in life; we can only react and learn from what happens. We ask ourselves what if? What if I waited the additional 10 minutes before I left? What if I didn't leave the office at all? These thoughts run through my head but in the end only God knows.

I truly believe in all my being that God has a plan for all of us. The joys we experience, the pain we overcome teaches us something in the end. I believe that everything happens for a reason. We don't always know but God does.

The strange thing is I had a strong feeling the other day I would be involved in a car accident. I brushed it off thinking maybe it was the commericals on tv I was seeing, reading the news about accidents that have happened in our area or just that I am scared to death of accidents. Your life can change in a split second. When I had the thought it sent chills through my body; but I brushed it off. I felt it was my mind playing tricks on me. It was something I had saw or read which was the reason I was feeling these "preminitions".

Was it God talking to me? What was he saying? Was I to go through this ordeal for some reason? Was I to take something out of it? Was I to lose something?

I was raised Baptist. I chose to be baptised when I was 13 right around the same time my parents were going through a divorce. My mom during this ordeal was trying to find the "right Church"...we tried several. Through the years I went less and less but always knew God was with me.

I met my husband who was Catholic but not the "practicing Catholic" I guess you could say. I wanted to learn about new faiths. I didn't quite know the difference between all the religions. What I did know was of a higher being; God. Someone who created this beautiful place we live in. Someone who created us; perfectly developed individuals all unique in our own way.

I know he has a path for me, my husband and my kids...not to mention the people he brings into our lives.

I know he will guide me and all I can do is let him take the wheel...but yet I am scared...why?

This accident has truly allowed me to "be in the moment". Appreciate what is and not what I want. Everything else will fall into place.

The Cosby Family...Only Better!

Tonight is Saturday night...I just tucked Love into her brothers bed (Can I way in Zman's bed for a wittle while) it's Saturday night and they want to sleep together...so I oblige and have her brush her teeth, go potty and off she goes into her brother's bed and watches Sponge Bob (she's 3 a big 3 and it's Saturday night...so she can have fun and wind down).

As I come downstairs I walk into the kitchen and over hear my hubby and son having a talk. I don't intrude just carry on with my blogging, making a drink etc...and overhear parts of the conversation.

What my hubby was telling my son was about his days in the military (he was in the Navy for 4 years). About waking up at 3am to someone screaming, the chanting, the schedule, the grueling conditioning. And my son loves history; he is hanging on to every word, asking questions and my husband is being brutally honest. Showing him a picture that hangs on our refrigerator of my husband and his best friend that he met while in the Navy.

As I sit here typing and I am overhearing the conversation of my husband talking to his only son I feel a sense of peace inside. You see my husband didn't know his dad, he was an alcoholic and divorced his mom when he was only 2 years old...he later died of "cirrhosis of the liver" and his mom never remarried. He didn't have a relationship at all with him when he left his mom. He didn't have any type of father figure except for his oldest sisters husband (his mom had 6 kids and raised them on her own...well his oldest sisters helped...another story).

When we met and fell in love (again another story...I will post soon...stay tuned) we talked about kids...I am 9 years younger and all he wanted was to have a family. He couldn't believe at 19, him being 28 that I wanted this...I didn't want to party, hang out with my friends...I truly fell in love with him, he accepted me for who I was in every possible way. We had Zman when I was 21 and my husband was so overjoyed.

His son, the only person in his family to carry on the name, my husband vowed to be the best father. He wanted to have the type of relationship he never had with his own dad. The one thing he misses about the lost relationship with his father was to have an adult father and son talk.

My son now 9 is so close with his dad. My husband never bull shits him (excuse my french but I feel so strongly). He is there in the morning; making our kids breakfast, getting my son off to school, my daughter to day care and then off to work he goes. He then leaves work early (he is a stockbroker and can finish the day from home) picks my daughter up from school, then home to meet my son who is riding his bike home (so he doesn't have to go to an after school program, he wants to be home when he get there) and greets him. My husband then finishes his day of work and then makes our kids dinner...whatever they want and is emotionally and physically there with my kids.

I then get home and feel the love when I walk into the door. It's the greatest feeling...my husband is the greatest dad in the world...and my kids are very fortunate to experience this kind of love and realness.

Because when my son at 9 wants to know about sex, he is there with all the truth and detail, when he hears a rumor at school about Bloody Mary (you know turn the lights off in the bathroom and in a mirror say bloody marry 3 times) he is doing it in the bathroom to teach my son kids tell bull shit and it's not real, not to be afraid. He wants my son to know the truth...at the end of the day when everyone else tells him lies or persuades him into doing something bad...he can always come to him and get the truth and most of all FEEL LOVED!

I love my life husband more than you know for how close and connected he is with our kids.

No money in the world can make me feel as I do right now!

(And now a military movie is on TV as I finish this post...coincidence?

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up

Turning 30 last year was hard. Not in the sense that I was 30 and OMG but in the fact that I was turning 30 and had no friggin idea what I wanted to do, or be. I am a mother and a wife but for personal empowerment; I definately don't see myself being a Closing Manager.

You see I "fell" into Real Estate at the age of 16 (my mom was a Real Estate agent and now works in commercial construction, my dad a welder).

I went to high school for a few hours and left after 3 classes to go to work; I still earned credits and was working as a receptionist at a Real Estate office. I worked their part time Wednesday through Sunday; it was boring for the most part but it enabled me to teach myself computers, programs etc...I worked my way up to Office Manager and then left to work at a Mortgage Company that pursued me.

After being there for 1.5 years I became pregnant at the age of 20 to my now husband who was 9 years older and was a stock broker. He was an established stock broker and loved what he did...and still does...meanwhile after the birth of my first child and only being 21, I went back to school for a few classes; but let's face it...still had no friggin clue what I wanted to do.

I decided to go back to work after staying home for 2 years and went to work for a home builder doing Land Acquisition; I had no idea what to do but had the Real Estate background, knew contracts and therefore thrived...few years later a Head Hunter contacted me and I went to work for a Home Builder handling closings...I was there 5 years and then the market turned...I got laid off...or volunteered to be laid off, took my severance and was off to the next builder/developer...I hated this job. Every day going to work I would say to myself "what are you doing...you can't keep doing this..." but I made a good salary for someone 29 and no college degree.

After being laid off from this position the President who was at the Home Building company I was at was now President at a new company and wanted me to join as the Closing Manager, I took the position as it was more money than I was making and needed to pay the bills. However we are suffering...in Florida with the number of foreclosures and pricing being at an all time low; let's face it...people aren't falling at our feet for homes...so it leaves me to square one...what the F@%* do I want to do?

I love fashion, always have always will. Let's face it...that industry is fierce. Not to say I can't "hang" but where do I start...how do I get started? Do I want to be a personal shopper, do I want to me a buyer for a major department store? I love dressing up, I love clothes, shoes, accessories...so I am sitting here wishing...where to go next?

I instill in my son to get good grades. I explain that he can do whatever he wants to do and with an education he will have the world at his feet. I explain that this is not what I set out in life to do but kinda got stuck and want him to pursue his dreams. But this still leaves me with "practice what you preach"...HELP ME LORD! Is it too late to say "What do I want to be when I grow up"?