Javier's First Day

Today is Javier's first day of work at his new job Delta Dental! Yay! I hope he has a great day and is happy with his new job.

Not so fun facts:

• Javier got fired through no fault of his own. Unless, of course, you count him not becoming best buddies with his woman boss his fault. She was a real pain in the neck and I'm glad to be rid of her.


• We filed for unemployment immediately and after 7 weeks, have yet to see one penny that Javier's hard earned paychecks paid into. Ugh...


• After we waited at the DES office together for 6 hours on a "standby appointment", we were approved for AHCCCS and Food Stamps, which helped ease our stress somewhat. Therefore, we were never without medical insurance.


• Javier initially applied to 8 qualified employers and only got called back by Aflac, who then wanted him to pay $350 to get his insurance sales license and work on strictly commission. He decided not to take this job since there wasn't a guaranteed paycheck.

• Then, he applied to another 12 qualified employers and didn't get called back. Needless to say, Javier was frustrated.



• After a few days of not getting any call backs, he decided he had to apply to anyone who would hire him. So, he applied to places close to home like Macy's at the Biltmore, Safeway, Fry's etc.



• All together he send out nearly 30 applications, all via the internet, which is how everyone prefers it these days. I remember the days when you would apply in person and sometimes get an interview on the spot and sometimes get hired on the spot too. Ahh, the old days!


• He was hired by Safeway on a Tuesday and scheduled to go through training on the following Tuesday.


• That same afternoon, he received a phone call from a gentleman from Delta Dental, who Javier knows through working together when Javier worked for The Segal Company (2004-2005). Although, this gentleman (whose name escapes me currently) had interviewed several worth candidates, he was holding off on hiring anyone until he interviewed Javier.


• Javier went to the "interview" on Friday (only 3 days after he was hired at Safeway), which was breakfast at the The Good Egg with his aquantance and was hired on the spot.


• Apparently the National Consultant from The Segal Company told the man from Delta Dental that Javier is "very smart, competent and hard working. It would be in your company's best interest to hire him on the spot". That man deserves a Thank You card in the least.


• Can you believe that after 30 applications and basically no calls for 6 weeks, Javier gets 2 jobs in 1 week?!


• Although Javier did have to take a bit of a pay cut and there is a 3 month waiting period for benefits, it's a job that Javier will excel at and it won't create any stress or long hours.


• His title is Large Account Manager, which should be a walk in the park for Javier.


• We feel very blessed to have Javier working again. We loved having him home...he is such a great helper (he helped to clean the house, do laundry, cook, etc) and it was nice to spend a lot of quality time with him. I know that Javier feels his position in this family is to provide and without a job he felt a little lost. There has definitely been a little extra hop in his step lately and I don't doubt it's due to him feeling happy about his position in our family, once again!

Perfect Guacamole

4 Avocadoes, finely chopped

1 Roma Tomato, finely chopped (with seeds and "gel" removed)

1/2-1 cup of Cilantro, chopped (I use a handful)

1 Serrano Chile, finely chopped (I include the seeds for more kick)

1/2 cup of White Onion, finely chopped

the juice of 1 lime or 2-3 key limes

2 cloves of garlic, crushed (I use Pampered Chef's Garlic Crusher)

1/2 -1 tablespoon of Garlic Salt (depending on your taste)

In a flat bottom bowl or plasticware container (for easier mashing), add tomato, cilantro, serrano chile, onion, lime, glarlic and garlic salt and mash together to incorporate spices and flavors.

If you own a molcajete, you may use that, which will yield better results. I wish I had one.

Then, add avocadoes and gently mash together with other ingredients. Make sure not to mash avocadoes too firmly as to keep the integrity of the chunks. Do not use the molcajete for this because it will mash the avocadoes too much.

You may enjoy immediately, however, for best results allow to chill covered in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to infuse.

In the end, you will get this (please excuse the lack of tomato, I was out when I made this):

Your taste buds will be begging for seconds and thirds and fourths, etc.

Our little Jack-O-Lantern

William Jaxon

I realized I don't do enough posts about Jaxon or Javier. So, now I tribute a post to my youngest, Jaxon, who will be turning 3 years old in 2 months. (sigh) Ahh, how time flies by when you are lovin' life :)



Some things you may or may not know about Jaxon:

• He is my sweetest child out of the 3. He is always ready to give/receive a kiss, hug and cuddles. Not just to Javier and me, but to at least a dozen others.
• He is a true "mommas boy" through and through. He still gets upset when I leave and is the happiest when I return.
• He has a very funny personality, always making Javier and me laugh. The picture above when he put on the old lady hat is a perfect example of the funny little things he does throughout the day.
• His favorite TV show is Crashbox on HBO. It targets children 7 years and up and he absolutely goes bananas for the educational program, which makes his parents happy :)
• He loves books and lets me read to him endlessly. What is particularly funny is when I let him look at a few books by himself, he pretends to read the stories to himself.
• He enjoys spending a lot of time playing on the swing set, especially the swings. He can't quite swing himself yet, so we help push him. I imagine him swinging A LOT when he can fly solo.
• He loves having his picture taken and always puts on a nice smile for me :)
• His blankets are his life and he carries them around everywhere with him. Even to church nursery...however, he isn't the only kid with a blanket in there.
• He has several nicknames: Jackie, Jax, Jack, Jack-Jack & Sugar Bugar.

He is a perfect boy for our family and we love him dearly. I referred to him as Jack-O-Lantern because there is so much light in him and he spreads it around. We feel so blessed to have him in our lives :)

A-Z Survey...anything to distract me from a football game I could care less about :)

A

• Are you avail​able?​:​ nope...I'm involved in a relationship known as marriage!

• What is your age?​:​ turning 30 in 3 months and glad to be almost done with my 20's, phew!

• What annoy​s you?​:​ the fact that technology doubles itself every 18 months...who can keep up?

B

• Do you know anyon​e named​ Billy​?​ Yes, Jaxon's first name is William.

• When is your birth​day?​:​ January 16th

C

• Curre​nt mood:​ Anxious. I can't wait until this football game is over and we can watch a movie.

• Favor​ite candy​?​ hot tamales

• Your curre​nt Crush​?​ the one and only Javier

• When was the last time you cried​?​ over a month ago and I'm pretty sure it was "the time of the month", so that explains that...sorta!

D

• Do you daydr​eam?​:​ ugh, yes and it's annoying when I want or need to listen :)

• What'​s your favor​ite kind of dog?​:​Though they shed like crazy, German Shepherds or St. Bernards

• What day of the week is it?: Saturday

E

• How do you like your eggs?​:​ scrambled with onion, tomato, cilantro, potatos, homemade salsa and corn tortillas...mmm.

• Ever met an eleph​ant?​ no, but that would be super sweet!

F

• Do you use fly swatt​ers?​ oh yeah, I dislike flies to the 10th degree

• Have you ever used a fogho​rn?​:​ nope, what a weird question

• Is there​ a fan in your room?​:​ There has to be so I don't have a sweat driven break down! Javier always says I'm a fan natzi

G

• Do you chew gum? I try to keep a constant supply, but I have this gum thief otherwise known as Marley...

• Do you like gory movie​s?​:​ not too much, depends on the movie

• Who'​s gay?​:​ if you don't know, I'm not going to tell you (dumb question)

H

• How are you doing​?​ okay, looking forward to scary movie called The Happening, woooh!

• What'​s your heigh​t?5'5"

• What color​ is your hair?​ New hassle-free brown. That is the name on the hair color tube, lol.

I

• What'​s your favor​ite ice cream​?​:​ I like Gelato Spot...any of their fruit flavors is good and healthy. Score for me :)

• Have you ever ice skate​d?​:​ yep, I even took lessons when I was 6 and I still stink

• Ever been in an igloo​?​:​ no, but my sister and I came across one on the Pinetop Country Club golf course. We thought about going inside, but were too scared since it seemed a little small for teenagers. It looked like it could fit a kid or dog.

J

• What'​s your favor​ite Jelly​ Bean?​:​ I like Starburst Jelly Beans, yum!

• Do you wear jewel​ry?​:​ just the typical married woman stuff, but I'd love a new necklace...hint, hint Javier!

Are you jealo​us?​:​ um, yes. Of women who have babies and then are back into their regular clothes after 2 weeks, then bearing their bellies after 4 weeks. Nicole and Melissa come immediately to mind...ugh!

K

• Who do you want to kill?​:​ Um, NO. Why would I reduce myself to the likes of those jerky serial shooters who tried to kill me?

• Have you ever flown​ a kite?​:​ yep, love it!

Do you think​ kanga​roos are cute?​:​ just young ones; adults and newborns are ugly.

L

• Are you laid back?​:​ ha ha ha ha ha! no.

• Lions​ or tiger​s?​:​ I know they say lion's are the king of the jungle, but tigers just have cooler markings.

• Do you like black​ licor​ice?​:​only the Good & Plenty's.

M

• Ever shopp​ed at Moose​jaw?​:​ I have never even heard of it

• Favor​ite store​ at the mall?​:​ Besty Johnson.so much pink, so much money• Do you have a nickn​ame?​:​ Mis, Missy (which I still hate), Mel, Reilly (there are 3 melissas at work), babe, hun, mommy (is that a nickname?) and Bella has just decided to call me "Miss Mommy" whatever•

N

Do you prefe​r night​ or day?​:​ night; playtime with the kids, booktime, cuddle time with kids and sometimes hubby and SLEEP!

O

• What'​s your one wish?​:​ eternal happiness for everyone around me and myself

• Are you an only child​?​ no, thank goodness my parents did me that favor :)

• Do you like the color​ orang​e?​:​ well, it is a Phoenix Suns color, so yeah.

P

• What are you most paran​oid about​?​:​ getting pregnant and not losing this excess weight

• Pierc​ings?​:​ just my ears

• Do you know anyon​e named​ Penel​ope?​:​ nope

Q

• Are you quick​ to judge​ peopl​e?​:​ maybe sometimes, but I try to be open minded

​• Do you like Quake​r Oats?​:​ oh yes, with brown sugar and raisins...yum!

• Know anyon​e that makes​ quilt​s?​: ha! I know one of the best quilters every, my aunt Pam. Oh, and I have made a few cute ones too :) (though they don't compare to Pam's work)

R

• Do you think​ you'​re alway​s right​?​:​ yes! It just so happens that I am actually always right :)

• Do you watch​ reali​ty TV?: yep. We watch Survivor & Dancing with the Stars right now.

• Reaso​n to cry?​: happy, sad, frustrated, watching a sad/happy movie, babies who won't sleep.

S

• Do you prefe​r sun or rain?​:​ I like a super rainy weekend, but then I miss the sun. So, BOTH!

• Do you like snow?​ not on me, but I love to go up the the mountains during the winter

• Whats​ your favor​ite seaso​n?​ Spring/Fall tie for me. They are both so pleasant here in Phoenix.

T

• What time is it?: 9 pm.

• What time did you wake up?: I don't know because I woke up in Payson and was out of my realm. I think it was around 7:30...thanks Javier and Julia who let me sleep in :)

U

• Can you ride a unicy​cle?​:​ I actually had friends who had one and NO, it's so hard!

• Do you know anyon​e with a unibr​ow?​:​ I know a few, I just want to grap my tweezers...

• How many uncle​s do you have?​:​ 3 uncles, 2 step-uncles

V

• What'​s the worst​ veget​able?​:​ jicama and brussel sprouts are on the bottom of my list. Everything else is just dandy!

W

• What'​s your worst​ habit​?​:​ eating after dinner, no wonder I'm super chubby right now.

• Do you like water​ rides​?​:​ oh yes!

• Ever been insid​e a windm​ill?​:​ no

X

• Have you ever had an x-​ray?​:​ yes, along with CAT scan and MRI

• Ever used a Xerox​ machi​ne?​:​ yeah, I don't live under a rock

Y

• Do you like the color​ yello​w?​ yes, I love it!

• What year were you born in?: 1979

• Do you yell when you'​re angry​?​:​ I have been known to, occasionally :)

Z

• Do you belie​ve in the zodia​c?​:​ I find it interesting, but I would never base my life on it

• What'​s your zodia​c sign?​:​ capricorn-which I have tatooed on myself. Parents were not happy.

Christopher Turns 6!

Christopher's 6th birthday was the talk of the house around here for the past few months. I worked really hard at getting Christopher to remember his birthday. What ended up working is that we told him that people won't be able to wish him a happy birthday or get him a present if he can't tell them when his birthday is. Worked like a charm...he remembered it in lickity split :) I fact, he went so far as to say his birthday this year is "September 16, 2008", which we thought was pretty cute.

On his actual birthday, I made an awesome Whipped cream-Cream cheese with Strawberries Cake for him. That is, in fact, the official name ;) I think he liked it, but that he thought it was a little rich because he didn't want any leftovers of the cake. Oh well, more fore everyone else! The cake was fun to make it and even more fun to perform "quality control". In case anyone is wondering, I prefer baking to cooking anytime.

His birthday party was extremely small. It was really last minute and so I only invited one other family with boys, The Verdon's. They have 3 boys, all around the same age of my 3 kids. Their names are Malik-5 years, Gabriel-4 years and Trey-20 months. It was a lot of fun, but I could kick myself for not being more "camera ready". I only got pictures of the very end, when he was opening his presents. The main things I would love pictures of are: 1.the kids hitting the life size Superman Pinata, 2. the "Party Animal" cupcakes from Cupcakes, which were heavenly, 3. It seems I got a picture of everyone except Javier, Papa, GiGi and Uncle Phil...geez, what is up with my complete lack of photography skills?...Bummer.

Christopher was so excited about one of his Transformer's toys, he didn't want to look at the camera.

Tearing into the presents.

Marley: trying to be helpful ;)

Malik
Gabe

Trey

Fran Verdon (mother of the 3 nice boys) and TiTi enjoying some adult time.

Grandma Merle.

Though she looks totally unhappy here, she was actually very pleased to be at our house around all of the family.

Christopher seemed to really enjoy himself. Happy 6th Birthday! OXOXO

*Sorry about the photos not being too great; I used the wrong camera which does not take good indoor-at-night pictures.*
**Special Thanks to Javi, my dad and sister for their help. We all appreciate it :)

Marley's New 'Do

I call this hairstyle Braided Headband. I got the idea from this blog for shorter hair styles and here is the original idea that I tweeked a little.

See how happy she is when I fix her hair?I started with an off center part and did the braided headband down both sides of her head. Unfortunately, I forgot to get a photo that showed her side part. In the top 2 photos, her side part is at the top of each picture and virtually impossible to see, but you get the idea, right?

I wasn't sure how I wanted to end the style, but I knew I didn't want to end it like the original does, with all the hair in the middle of hear head out and curled. Marley was going to school this day and I wanted it tight and neat. So, I parted the hair down the center of her head, from the top of the headband to the nape of her neck.
Then, I just did a low braid and wrapped it around the last pony/elastic of the headband on the same side. I secured it by just wrapping an elastic around the whole wrapped ponytail. Since she has naturally curly hair, I didn't need to take a curling iron to it, but I would have otherwise. The 3rd picture shows how I wrapped the braid around the last elastic of the braided headband a little better than this one.

Christopher and the Treasure Chest

In Christopher's Kindergarten class, his teacher, Ms. Wilson, has a system of acheiving stars throughtout the day. For instance, there are 4 main groups: followed directions, completed work, kept hands to self and worked and listened quietly. These main groups are on a grid on a paper that goes home every day so we can see if he got stars in all 4 of those groups. However, she also looks for other things throughout the day like: shared without being asked to, helped w/o being asked to, followed directions on the first request. All of which a student can accumulate stars for. At this point in the school year, a student can get 7 stars in one day (including the 4 from the main groups) and they will eventually build up to a total of 10 per day. Well, should any student on any day accumulate the maximum number of stars, he/she can pick any one item from the classroom Treasure Chest. So far, Christopher has gotten to chose something from the Treasure Chest 3 times in the last 2 weeks (she just implimented the plan 3 weeks ago). So, needless to say, we are pretty proud of him and he of himself as well! Score for everyone involved, especially Ms. Wilson!
Christopher, being such a goofy guy, picked out these sunglasses that happened to be from Old Navy (I know this because they came in an Old Navy pouch). We couldn't help but to laugh hysterically at his choice! Who knows what prompted him to pick out this pair of sunglasses, rather than a remote car or something I would guess would be his first choice, but he was very proud of his choice, nonetheless.
Once I told him I wanted to take a picture of him wearing the sunglasses he was game. He even thought that one of his poses should be lying on the ground!

"License and Registration, Please"....

Doesn't he look like a Police Officer from the early 90's?

Coming Soon: Wait until I scan the picture he drew of his family. You will be howling!

A super cool style

This is called Hair Net by the woman who's blog I learned this style from. I really like it, but it took me 1 hour and 20 minutes! Yikes! I can't believe Marley sat through it all, but she did and since it took me so long, I left it in for 2 days. The nice thing about Marley and me fixing her hair is that she is fairly patient with me because she knows that her hair will look pretty when I'm finished and she likes that! Thank goodness for that since I really enjoy fixing it :) Anyway, besides it being nice that it stays in place for a few days, all kiddos love this style and I was requested by my thick-haired neice, Mirella, to do her hair the same exact way. What a nice compliment!

Out with the Blonde, In with the Brunette

The new photos are finally revealed.

Please let me know your opinion, even if you don't like it. I contemplated dying my hair close to my natural hair color for 6 months before I finally got the guts up to do it. Almost every single one of my family members thinks of me as Blonde Ashley, rather than Brunette Ashley and I sort of always thought I looked better blonde. I have 2 main concerns about keeping it blonde:

1.It's just a major upkeep and I have a love/hate relationship with it when it's blonde. I love it when it's freshly done and hate it when I need it re-dyed because I don't want to pay for it too frequently. So, to put it simply: Cost.

2. I can tell that my hair has really been through some rough times and it's breakage is proof. I knew I had a fair amount of breakage. But the straw the broke the camels back was when my sister was flat ironing my hair a few weeks ago and she said "you can tell you dye your hair because of all the breakage". So, to put it simply: hair healthiness.

I haven't seen my true natural hair color, free of dyes, since I was in 7th grade! I don't even know what color it really is, except what you see on regrowth. And that's not enough to really get a good idea, I mean what about natural highlights from the sun and everything else that affects a hair's natural color?! So, the goal was to dye my hair close to my natural color and only get trimmings as needed for a while.

I want to see what a whole head of natural, healthy hair color is for me. So, it's darker than my natural color, but that's okay because my hair always fades when I go darker. Here we go:

Oh, yeah. I'm pretty chubby right now, so don't let the new hair color make you think it makes me look heavier. It's not the hair color, it's my poor eating habits. I need to get back on the ball with my diet and I plan on it immediately. Just wanted to say that incase you were thinking it ;)

Okay, there you have it. BTW...I wasn't trying to tease anyone or make you wait even this long. Javier has been totally hogging my computer and this was my first chance to post this. I actually shot these photos this past Tuesday, thinking I would put them up earlier. Sorry for the delay.

Have a great day!

I dyed my hair

And it's pretty dark brown...is anyone interested in seeing a picture? Lemme know :)

Beautiful Pinetop, AZ

We left Phoenix and it's 101F weather for beautiful Pinetop, Az on Friday August 15th. Yeah, we're all so accustomed to the hot, muggy weather Phoenix provides us during these L-O-N-G summer months. Granted, the best part of our hot, muggy weather is the Monsoon storms we hope for, but it's not until you arrive in much cooler weather that you realize you deal with quite a bit of heat. Though the total drive is around 3 hours and seemingly long with 3 kids in tow, traveling to the White Mountains brings with it some great scenery and tranquility. So, I decided to take a few pictures while my Love drove (okay, I may have been a little bored, but nonetheless, I got some fantastic photos!).This sunburst (though, not as cool a sunburst as Sara's pic on their way home from Durango) is what orginally prompted me to pick up my camera and from that moment on, we saw several beautiful things along the way.

A storm is a-brewin!

I'm not the most knowledable person when it comes to birds and their "tell-tales", however I do know why they fly in circles, as we saw a group of birds doing beneath these clouds (note: the bird where the two colors of clouds collide). They take advantage of the different thermals in the air and fly almost effortlessly, which makes sense that these birds were flying in this pattern while a storm was approaching. To us, it was a "tell-tale" that a storm was in fact on it's way.

Also, we noticed off in the distance was a hazy sky beneath the clouds, which almost always indicates rainfall (as you can see in the 1st photo). With those 2 indicators, we figured we definitely would have to drive through this storm.

"What fun!", I thought, "we get to drive through a rain storm!"

Luckily, the rain wasn't so bad that we had to pull over (although, it was raining 'cats and dogs,' as I grew up hearing), therefore it was indeed an extra fun drive. Have I mentioned I love monsoon storms?!

Here is one of our favorite views from the top of the Mogollon Rim...while driving. Majestic!

I'm sure I'm not enlightening anyone in regards to the Mogollon Rim and it's awesomeness. However, when I did a Yahoo! Search for it, I came across a Coconino County website referring to their campgrounds and info. On that website there were a couple of photos I thought were mighty nice so here they are:Javier told me the Mogollon Rim stretched pretty far, but I had no idea how far until I read this!

This is by far a better picture than anything I can take while doing a drive-by photo op...

Okay, getting back to our trip:

If you squint really hard, you can see a steeple of a LDS church to the left of the road. Here is another sunbeam, which appears to be shining right towards the church itself. Now, that is enlightening (these are the jokes people)! I thought this picture was pretty neat.We saw about 4 different rainbows on our way up to Pinetop...boy were they everywhere. It was difficult, however, to get a photo of one that you can see fairly well. This photo is the best one of the several rainbows we saw and photo'd. Hopefully you can see it behind the row of houses and vegetation.

Something I find pretty cute is I have had some interesting conversations with Marley reguarding rainbows (the 2nd one was for sure during this car trip). For example:

Marley: "Mommy, can we go to the pot o'gold at the end of the rainbow?!!!"

To which I replied: "Marley, I'm sorry, but that's just make believe, there's not really a pot o'gold at the end of any rainbow...trust me, I wish there was".

Sidenote: As a kid, I can remember going with my sister down the dirt road alongside the canal, in search for that magnificent pot o'gold. We ended up running out of energy before every finding the end of the rainbow...so I knew, for a fact, that there is no such thing as a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. (sigh)

Then, Marley asked: "Can we slide down the rainbow then?" I said: "I'm sorry, that's only on Mario Kart (one of the funnest games ever!); a rainbow would never be able to hold us, it's not solid".

Ahh, the innocence of childhood :)

In fact, it had begun to hail by the time we got to Pinetop. And can you believe the temperature dropped 47 degrees from the time we left Phoenix to our arrival in Pinetop?!!! I couldn't believe my eyes:

Home sweet Home er, Condo:)

Here is our view from the front door:

On our way home, I captured this view of the Mogollon Rim (yes, again). And low and behold, it rained again on our way home. Have I mentioned I like storms? :)

Back to Preschool

After many patient months, Marley's pleas were finally satisfied when she returned to Preschool this afternoon. I'm pretty confidant in assuming that she would be a happy clam to have year-round school. So, her teacher this year is Sara and Marley seems to like her...she gave Sara a hug the second she saw her. Sara was a teacher from last year, but she wasn't Marley's teacher until this year. Although Marley's teacher last year was Katie, Marley is so social that she gets to know everyone during the occasional integrated class with all 3 classes.
I just thought: "I wonder if any of the other kids gave any one of the teachers a greeting like that?" There's a saying Javier and I have: Marley is the spice in our family...when she is gone, things around here are just a little bland. She is a very funny and interesting little girl who has her parents busting at the seams left and right. Well, judging from her first encounter at school, she is the spice there as well.

Here are a few pictures of her when I randomly decided to put on a Janie & Jack outfit TiTi (my sister) gave her for her birthday this year. As you can see she is exhibiting a little flare:

Marley is such a girl. She just loves getting dressed up and me fixing her hair. So, when it comes time to show it off, she relishes the opportunity.

In Memory of My Mom...

Me and My Mom in San Diego on the Condo Patio Summer of 1979.

My mom's birthday was Sunday, August 10th and the 1-year anniversary of her death is today, August 14th. So, I have been reminicent of her quite a bit this week. I have so many happy thoughts of my mom. As most people know, she did battle alcoholism, which of course brings with it some difficult memories. However, that's not who she was to me...she was my happy, funny mom and I love her. So, I would like to list a few of the happy times I had with her...

1. She was always so easy for me to talk to. I could talk to her about anything and feel that she wouldn't judge.

2. She always cracked me up...she was known for her sarcasm and that was usually the manner in which she spoke.

3. She absolutely loved the Arizona Diamondbacks. She got into them the season we won the World Series, which was just a few months after 9-11, 2001. The thing that was so funny is that she believed that if she lit a candle, they would win. Well, since they were so good then, the candle thing seemed to work out well for my mom. Javier and I always got a good kick out of that.

4. My mom was an excellent R.N. and worked for Banner Health most of her career. She helped so many people with her nursing skills and would even receive numerous "thank-you cards" from patient's family members. Which brings me to my next point...

5. After my parents split and my mom realized she needed a degree to pay the bills, she went to Nursing School at the acredited Grand Canyon University. I have never seen anyone work or study that hard. She was a great example to me and my sister for being a hard worker and it paid off since she made the dean's list, semester after semester. I am very proud of her for what she accomplished.

6. I have so many different, happy memories of her during vacations. Some were up to Prescott, where we stayed in my great uncle's cabin. Other's were our usual vacations to San Diego. One time, we made an impromptu trip up to Sedona for one night and my mom let me and my sister play hooky from school.

Here she is in her Halloween 'Man' costume.

7. The last, funniest thing she did was Halloween of 2005, she dressed up like a man. Boy, did she do a great job of looking like a dude. She actually ended up looking like a trucker with her hat, flannel shirt and boots. She even fooled my dad and step mom who said "who is this man walking up here w/o any kids with him?". Turns out it was a great costume that recieved funny reactions from everyone. Aside from recognizing her voice, my kids (at that time it was just Christopher & Marley) were thoroughly confused by her gettup. What a silly mom I had!

8. The most recent happy memory I have of her are the lunches I would have with her, my grandma Merle and my 3 kiddos at any point during the week. I really enjoyed spending those relaxed, comfortable moments with her.

Javier, me and my mom at our 2001 Wedding.

Sure my mom had a few problems and I wish she was here with me still to see my kids grow up, but she was a great mom who left me with great memories. So, Thank You Mom for the fabulous memories. I will forever treasure them in my heart <3.>