it's so nice having her back home

i'm so happy she is back home with us.
we've been enjoying the rest of the summer together too.
we've been busy busy.
car appointments, ortho appointment tomorrow.
school clothes & supplies shopping done.
swimming at the sonic splash pool and a trip to drytown waterpark last weekend.
it's been fun.

and fun taking photos of her too.

here are the final days of my july photo-a-day joint:

dayz 21 thru 31...

(sorry for the rotations, still can't figure out why they're not posting here in the correct angle after editing them to rotate the right way...hmmmm....if you have any suggestions, please feel free to let me know)...

"9 o'clock" was zumba time every saturdays mornings!

 "upside" maiya home from WA

"mirror" school clothes shopping at old navy...

"stranger" in the background at the commissary...

"heart"...they are my 2 lovelies...

"sunshine" at the sonic splash pool by the slide...

"on the road"...taking a quick stroll together....

"cup" of my milk coffee...no selene you can't have any!  lol!

"last thing i bought"...running shoes for maiya...
for school and her 1st 3K...
(she wants to do the santa monica 5000 3K for kids this october!)

"calm" after a car appointment, school clothes & supplies shopping...
i bought her her 1st BOP & seventeen magazines at the bx...
she is so into "one direction" (the boy band) right now...

and lastly...
"toothbrush"...a finger toothbrush w/ some elmo toothpaste...
she knows the routine...
i tell her it's brush the teeth time
and she sits down by the mirror by our sink area...
yes...she bites sometimes.
ouchy!

you know what i just thought of and noticed about these photos?
well i have been using my iphone for them this whole month.
the one's i actually filter using my apps on my phone seem to post here the right way.
the one's i don't filter/edit using my apps did not angle out so great.
so my solution:  filter and edit using the aviary & filtermania 2 apps, then post.
voila!
a solution to every problemo!


tomorrow is august!
can u believe it?
and i'll be participating in the august photo-a-day challenge.
i'm getting the hang of it and it's become part of my routine & life.
here is the list:

are you gonna play too?
hope so!

these are signs of good things to come

day 16 thru 20....
some photos to share...
loving this months's photo-a-day thang....

"sign"...that she dances like her mama (sheez i don't know why this rotated, ah well!)

"my addiction"....running...getting closer to my goal of 6

"plate"...she keeps ours full on the daily!

"animal/insect/pet"...the goldfish cracker is close enough...(i'm getting irritated why my photos don't rotate right!)

"eyes"...right after my 5.33 mile run earlier this a.m.!!!

this a.m. was a good run!
i beat my 4.44 with a 5.33 mile one!
i coulda kept going too especially after having the energy gu!
i should have not turned that one corner too early.
should have kept going.
prob woulda reached 5.50 miles if i did.
oh well!
next time!
i'm definitely getting closer to my 10K goal...
way earlier than i anticipated of august 31st!
yey-yah!
must keep going, must keep going!

lil one is taking a nap while i type away while i watch reruns of laguna beach on mtv.
they finally put my mtv back on the line!
yey-yah!

after her nap, gonna head over to the dry cleaners...
then have her swim in her new pool we got her from toys r us last night.
she'll love it!

tomorrow i'll be checking into a nice hotel for some me weekend time.
my 1st time to do this.
i'm excited and a lil nervous.
but it's time needed and well-deserved.
may do some scrapping, watch a movie, etc.
we'll see.
then the next night gotta pick maiya from the airport.
double...yey-yah!

have a great friday and weekend!

places & thangz

day 11 thru 15...
some photos to share...

"letter"
the letter j of course...

"texture"
lil feet taking a nap on or comforter...

"open"
...the fridge mommy so i can grab some jars & bottles and then play with the light...
lol.

"building"
...in downtown LA before getting some lunch...

"finger"
...lickin' good...
homemade mexican street corn and beef tacos....
got the corn recipe from the runner's world august 2012 issue...

man that corn was extra yumm-o!
that spread is made from light mayo, chili powder, lime juice & zest, olive oil, cilantro & s & p, then rolled in crushed tortilla chips and mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
man...that shiznit was good!
lol!
the hubby loved it!
definitely will be making this in future meals & parties!

well this week it's just me, da hubby and selene.
ashley went home to idaho yesterday.
we miss her lotz.
but...
maiya will be coming home in 7 days!
the summer has not yet ended.
thank goodness.

saturday...
we drove almost 1 1/2 hours to check out a vietnamese restaurant, gingergrass.
and man!
it was worth the drive!
i love the location, the atmosphere, the service and most of all the food.

appetizer:  fresh summer rolls

i had the organic tofu vermicelli noodle bowl with the brown noodles.
and omigosh!
so yumm-o!

ingenious way of serving ice cold water: in a wine bottle

beautiful presentation....

but not that beautiful...coz i ate that shit up!

a definite "come-back to eat again place."
hubby had the chicken pho and ashley had the vietnamese chicken salad.

then something we didn't plan on doing the LA Zoo...

ashley's main attraction...the zebras...

hot weather called for some icy cold cherry icee for me...aaah that hit the spot!

finally taking a nap after her cranky episode...

some tired feet about to go home...

it was hot but fun...
next time we go may be winter time with maiya (she was in WA at the time) to avoid the heat.
and i would not mind that one bit.

big purple lunch

let's unscramble that...

day 8 "lunch"
at panera bread for ashley's 12th birthday...
i had the chicken noodle soup, tomato & mozzarella sandwich and an apple...
yumm-o!

day 9 "big"
she turned 15 months exactly this day...
boy!
she is growing fast!

day 10 "my favorite color"

purple of course!

this is my new gel case for my new iPhone....

have i told you how much i love my iPhone?
well....
this much:

i love my iPhone!!!

life is therapy with a bonus

...it's an ongoing thing ya know.
i'm glad that i've been keeping up doing this photo-a-day thing.
i do really good with a guide as opposed to doing it on my own like i tried last year.

so here's day 1 thru today...

"self-portrait"
i haven't done one in awhile.
i think it's because i've been wanting to lose weight and just felt icky trying to take one until this day.
i've been running 3-4x/wk, doing zumba 2x/wk, abs and other weight training stuff to tone up.
i don't know how much i've lost but i can tell the difference.
i can now wear a bikini.
bought one the day before 4th of july.
and got to wear it...good!

"busy"
we were busy sightseeing at the santa monica pier...
before we had lunch at bubba gump's...
before we went to the beach.
that was a fun day w/ family (my hubby's sis and her fam)....

"best part of my day"
date night with my hubby...
we had dinner at the yardhouse.
appetizers of buffalo wings and boy those were good and spice hot!
i had the peppered gorgonzola burger..
and he had the swordfish soft tacos
i drank a mango mojito
while hubby had the house pale ale brew.
everything was yumm-o!
then we headed of all places...
to verizon to check on new phones.
i got an iPhone and he the Razor.
then we pretty much played with our phones while we chilled and drank wine & beer at black angus.
sheez.
but at least we got to spend some time alone together.
no kiddos!

"fun"
hubby showing our niece kristin his skateboarding skillz...

"floor"
2 pairs of cutsies feetsies in the kitchen hallway...

"chair"
a beach chair at drytown waterpark in palmdale.
that was so much fun.
i went on one of the slides with our daughter ashley.
but i have to admit, my fave was the lazy pool.
i just like the current slowly carrying you thru and ya don't have to do too much work!
after the waterpark, we were all hungry for some souplantation.
that was definitely the right move.
yumm-o!

"garden"
i don't garden, i don't water plants...
i don't have a green thumb, plants die in this household.
but luckily i've got some lil gardners who water this money tree.
lol..

lovely lil gardeners, arent they doin a great job?
lol.

hoping to get some scrapping done or at least organizing photos this weekend.
we'll see.

oh i do have something scrappy to share...
just a sneak for now..
post it in whole laterz....
for someone special to us....

used the june cocoa daisy kit for this one.

i'm a playa...playaz!

i'm playin'....
are you gonna?

since familia is in town...
it's date nite for me & da hubz...
what you say?
i have no idea...
but we're doing it...
yey-yah!

we're off to the mall...
gonna get me a new bathing suit....

see ya!