where the "f" have i been

omigosh!
it's been almost a month since i blogged.
sheez.
i just have not been in the mood to do so.
plus i've just been busy body.
taking care of home life, love life, family life of course.
the bloggo just has not been a priority.

plus in a couple of weeks we'll be moving soon to alaska!
i'm excited about that and i'm ready to move out of this heat.
don't get me wrong i liked our stay here but, it's time to move on.

anyway...

i have been doing my photo-a-day.
i'm just too lazy to post it here.
but i do have it all on instagram, my facebook and twitter.
so if you're interested you can follow me there too.

but the point of blogging is to share right?
so here's what i think has been the highlights since i last posted...

selene had here surgery on her forehead.
it was successful and she was a tough cookie like the nurses and surgeon said.
she passed with flying colors.

maiya places 2nd in her poomse and 3rd in sparring for her 1st taekwondo competition in oceanside:

and it's summer vacation for these 3 lovez of ours...
took the 1st one myself and then they snuck in a few surprises on my iphone...

and getting wet at the sonic splash pool here on base:

a trip to santa monica with the whole family last sunday:

i love this place and will definitely miss it.

i think i've said this before but i am a zumba addict.

and guess what love it so much that i decided to take my 1st zumba instructor training class this coming sunday.
i was a bit hesitant before and scared but my hubby did a bit of nudging (which i am thankful for ) and persuaded me to go for it.
can hardly wait so excited!

i'm in the process of doing some project life.
i've finally got back into the groove of waking up early in the a.m., about 5-ish now, to get right into it.
it'll be awhile til i get to do more since we'll be pcs-ing soon to alaska (yey-yah!).
i'm thinking i'll pack a few PL stuff for our trip.
i'm afraid i'll go thru w/d.

gonna be a busy busy body in the next couple of weeks because of the move.
so posting may be minimal on my end again.
we'll see how it goes.

have a great weekend!

Project Life 2012 Week 11

oh my!
i kinda slacked off on my project life albums for 2012 & 2013.
i have done a few layouts & just haven't gotten around to post 'em.

here's 2012 week 11:

(sorry for the blurries, not sure wth was going on with my camera)...
(btw...wont be doing my usual format for PL, i just wanted to get these posted and done with...sorry no close-ups this time)...

and the layouts:

i used a cocoa daisy kit and the free download of the PL jade edition kit.
btw...i did purchase both the PL jade & blush kits when they were being sold on HSN.
so happy for those purchases!
i'm in the process of using the blush for maiya's album (boy...that thing is thick!!!!)
don't know when i'll share it.
the jade kit is still waiting for me to use it.....lol.

still doing my PL 2013.
finishing it up with my inserts.
will share it on a later post.

anyway this PL 2012, i did simple.
like i said, i just wanted to get it done, fast & simple!

i've gotta get crackin'!!!!

i'm debating this weekly layout thang now.
i have been thinking of just doing it on a "whatever time period i feel like doing" basis.
just kinda now feeling the weekly setting is a bit constricting for me.
plus...i'm freestyle anyway.
wtf!
i'm doing it my way and that's what so great about project life.
i love it!

what's your PL style?

happy mama'z day!

selene & my mom

thank you for being a loving, generous, thoughtful, caring mommy!

i love you.

resilient

def. resilient:  the ability to overcome, correct, to become better than

this is the word someone i love and am very close to had recently said to me.
and that person is my sis.
she is one of my besties in life, for life.

this word totally describes me as a parent.
i never ever thought of using that word for myself, actually for both me and my hubby.
why not?
here's the deal...to put it in a nutshell...
this is my 1st marriage, my hubby's 2nd.
we both have kids from previous relationships.
and we also have 1 with each other.
so a total = 3 lovingly kiddos.
we are categorized by society, and i'm proud of it...a "blended" family.
i don't want to go all into detail and shit like that because this blog post would end being like a thick book that would seem to go on forever.
all i can say is like all "normal" families, we have our ups & downs, not just with each other but also as far as "co-parenting" is concerned.
co-parenting is not easy even when parents from opposite ends are civil and get along.
it's hard work, emotional too.
it takes its toll.

but this is what also makes us stronger parents.
i never realized this but my sis really hit it on the dot...
me & my hubby as parents in this kind of situation:

• we are resilient parents
• we don't take our time with our kids for granted 
• we make every minute count
• we actually ask if our kids are happy 
• we say "i love you" everyday
• we really focus on them with the time we do have with them
• we ask them questions not usually asked in a "normal" family (like the other day, i asked maiya, as a mother, what i can do to improve myself? i also told her to completely be honest with me.  her answer with a lot of thought into it, "mom, could you take it easy about cleaning my room?  there are times i feel that it is clean after i did clean it but you just don't see it that way."  she had tears in eyes, she was really hurt.  that answer and especially those tears, i have to say really made me step back and say to myself, "yeah, you're being a bit hard on her about it. take it easy.")
• we just seem to be able to really realize what's more important when it comes to our kids, our family because of our situation.

i bet you're thinking well there's a lot of families like us who are not "blended" families who do all these things too.
yes there are.
but there are also "normal" families who take these things for granted or don't think about it or make assumptions that their kids are happy without even asking them straight up, "are you happy?"
what about asking your kids what can you do as parents to improve yourselves?
my sis just told me she never thought about asking her kiddos something like that and thought it was a great thing to ask.

my intention with this blog post is not to criticize anyone.
it is not to say we are better than anyone else in this world.
it is not saying all "blended" families are like ours.
it is to just let you know that "blended" families are "normal" families too.
i feel and didn't realize til my sis pointed this out...
we seem to be more aware of things, our time, our situation, where we are... when it comes to our kiddos, our family as a whole.

and that my friend makes us resilient.

and i'm proud of it, the ups...  and even the downs.

life keeps going

4.16.13...maiya's fave band right now, although she recently found out they broke up awhile back.
she is determined that they will get back together.

4.20.13...there's a bookworm in the house...well she loves to "re-organize" them from the bookshelf

- and -

just me & my girl

4.22.13...her 1st time to do a lil pee-pee in the potty...but since then she has been kinda resistant to sit on it, but does like to sit on the "big" potty...hopefully she'll get over that hump.

4.23.13...it's the 80's...well wearing the 80's look for maiya at school for spirit week, she even had braided hair.

4.24.13..."it's moments like these i don't want to ever forget" (see what i did in the top right corner? my 2nd try in doing some photoshop layering on a photo)

4.25.13...this was part of a series of events in the life of my 2 babies...

 4.27.13...early in the morning while everyone in this house is sleeping...movie time with my baby boo maiya, watched Scary Movie V...these 2 girlies love project life too!

4.28.13...just chillin' watching some shows...tried a new recipe from pinterest, taco pie...getting a little corky around here.

4.30.13...this is my 2nd time to join in on the fun on ali edwards' day in the life, still in the process of editing in photoshop.

out of touch out of mind

i have not been posting on my blog as much since i got back from vacay.
am i still trying to adjust?
i think so.
and maybe its coz i just want to take a break from blogging.
a break from blog surfing a lot.
the one i have been surfing quite a bit is the project life blog.
that vacay really threw me off.
threw me off on scrapping & doing my project life.
threw me off with my eating habits...i've been eating junk lately.
threw me off on my workout, especially running and zumba.
i just recently started back up running and doing weights.
zumba on the other hand...i miss so much.

my hubby has been gone for school the past couple of weeks.
so got no one to watch the girls.
and i miss him.

but he comes back home tonight!!!!
yey-yah!

4.12.13

love this photo.
the sunset was beautiful that night on our way back home from dinner.

3 more hours til he's home.

also, i have been thinking seriously of a change in my life.
while on vacay, i got to think what i wanted to do for the rest of my life especially career-wise.
i was doing accounting/budgeting work for over 15 years ever since i was in college.
i thought i loved it, but now, when i look back...i only liked it and really did not have a true passion for it.
my true passion has been with being creative - scrapbooking, documenting life - project life.
this hobby has made me really think about what i really want to do in my life and go after what makes me happy and passionate.
i have been seriously thinking about getting into graphic design.
i love arranging, designing, typography...just being creative, freestyle.
doing scrapbook layouts and cards for special occasions and now project life has always put a smile on my face, satisfaction.
i even dream about it and wake up thinking about it.
i just wish i knew this is what i wanted way back in my college years.
i have no regrets though getting that degree in accounting.
i'm really happy i stuck with it and made a career out of it.
i've learned so much from it...i started as a work study, then a temp, then permanent, was a lead worker and a supervisor.
went from accounting to budgeting, i worked my way up and built a great reputation for myself.
i take pride in knowing that my former co-workers and supervisors had confidence in me and always said "you can depend on her to do a great job and goes beyond it...etc."

but...it's time for a bit of change.
right now i want to relish on the thought of it, what direction i want to take it, then go for it.

we'll see where this journey will take me.