CA Girl

We are so excited to announce the 4th Annual Review Extravaganza!  This is getting bigger each year and we are so excited to have you all join in with us. What is the Review Extravaganza   -It is your way to look back over the year and each week recap three months at a time of what happened in your life, your favorite blog posts, favorite pictures- whatever you would like to share. (Here is an example of one of EmmyMom's recaps from last year ) We would like to introduce you to this year's 8 amazing hosts! From Left to Right:(Click on the names to get you to their blog) Emmy- Emmy Mom One Day At a Time Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest Shell- Things I Can't Say Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest   Janette- The Johanson Journey Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest   Lourie-CA Girl Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest   Natalie-From Corporate to Domestic Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest   Nicole-Life's a Beach Twitter ...

What made me smile LAST month?  Can you believe October is already over???  Well it is, but it's not to late to link up with my bestie, Emmy ! 1. This guy turned 8...he's funny, bright, and makes me smile. 2.  I bought a laser pointer for the cats...okay it was for me.  It's worlds of entertainment for me! hahaha. 3.  Seeing Kristin in her play...she was in Night of Living Dead....it's always fun.   Her death scene... 4.  Homework.  Yes, homework.  Homework made me smile because I used this guy... 5.  Remember that shutdown the government had?  It made us all very cranky.  We rely heavily on Rich's Veteran benefits and his school money.  It came through.  That was a happy relief. 6.   I lost a couple of pounds...hopefully I will lose some more! 7.   My hairdresser is awesome.  She is inappropriate to say the least, and I love her for it.  She is far from politicall...

Today I am pouring my heart out with Shell and her link up... Pour Your Heart Out.   I was bullied as a kid.  Now let me elaborate on that fact.  "I was bullied" is an all-encompassing statement.  I was called names like:  Casper the UGLY Ghost.  In fact, there is a tanning salon close by me that makes a reference to "ghosts" which I find thoroughly offensive.  I had mean girls touch my hair and sing, "My Dog has fleas!"  I had my backpack/purse moved from my seat to across the room.  I had mud thrown at me, I was spit at, I was called "pizza face" due to my acne.   This is me at 17.... Now, by age 17 most if not all of the teasing and bullying had finally ceased.  I was six feet tall.  I think kids were afraid I would beat the snot out of them. However, the damage was done.  Words leave horrible deep scars for years.  That girl smiling so nice in that picture felt ugly and fat.  Yep.    ...

Riding on the coattails of my bestie, Emmy , I am posting We Want To Know Wednesday on Thursday.  Why?  Why not?  It's fun, I rarely post and it's always a pleasant surprise to hear from yours truly!  :D  The link up is with Kenzie and Scriptor . 1.   Were you athletic as a child? Uh yeah you could say that!  I roller skated every chance I got.  I did fancy tricks, went to the rink every week.  Only broke my arms once.  But I did them at the same time!!! HA!  I have a picture...somewhere.  I also climbed trees, rode my bike, and played softball.  I was a power hitter. 2.   Did you play organized sports?   Only in the sense that I played softball with church.  We were undefeated two years in a row.  Then all the wimpy girls came in..."Oh I broke a nail!"  Girl, please before your wimpy butt came in we had a player with NAILS!  She rocked this game! 3.   Would you rath...

My life and family are not perfect! But look at that picture! I mean, it's beautiful.   Emmy takes remarkable pictures.  And this family looks perfect.  But no family is perfect.  Dad was out of work for over a year because this economy sucks.  We are still struggling.  It's okay.  He has a job now and we are all thrilled and thanking the Lord.   What about those kids?  All kids have struggles.  Middle school and high school are a force we all have to reckon with. It's brutal.  Life just sometimes sucks.  Families can be pains, but despite all that we still smile and support each other.  Just like in this picture.  Therefore, it is great to look back remember what it is we smiled about.... 1.  One Sunday in church, I saw a little guy literally strutting through the chapel.  It was a sight to behold. 2.  My birthday made me smile a lot.  We had the missionaries over.  ...

We all remember when Thumper was reminded by his mother what she always taught him, right?  "If you can't say something nice.  Don't say nothing at all."  Of course we have all been taught this simple rule haven't we?  Hopefully we also teach it to our own children as well.  It's not something that gets taught in every home.  If it were, there would be no bullying and kindness would abound the world over.   It just so happens that the Sunday before last, we were issued a challenge in our Relief Society class.  The challenge seemed simple at first:  to be nice for twenty-four hours.  But wait!  There's more.  This means, no criticism at all.  Which means you can't even criticize bad drivers!!  Oh did I mention you can't even use sarcasm!!!  I live and breathe sarcasm!!!  This was not going to be easy.  In fact, it was going to be hard, difficult, taxing, exhausting.   I will be honest, ...

A FaceBook friend of mine posted this little gem the other day and while most of the 36 are quite good, some of them had me questioning their sanity.   Here is the link, but don't worry...I will cover it here. 1.   Bathe your child in a laundry basket so their toys won't float away.   This one is a good idea especially when they are too big for sinks and too little for the tub. 2.   Avoid gender faux pas with other parents.   Don't you hate it when you can't guess the gender of the baby???  The suggestion is:   Lean down and ask the baby their name, the parent will likely say it if the baby doesn't talk.   Of course if the baby is named:  Jordan, Taylor, or Alex you may still be guessing. 3.   Teach your child to pick the juice box up by the side flaps~~this will prevent them from spilling juice all over themselves.   Wish I had that when mine were little!  Messes! 4.   Save old cell phones so your kids can use...