Ready for Life? Ready for Change? Are you Ready?

I came across a blog post by Abigail Green called, "The day I decided to stop listening to what everyone is saying I'm supposed to do and why I'm not ready to get married in 44 days". Although I may not be a blonde haired, blue eyed girl who who happens to loath dresses and heels, Abigail's description of herself growing up and having "distaste for conformity" is very much me. Not to mention the pressures of "what your supposed to do", if anyone knows me I happen to be somewhat the spokesperson of what your not supposed to do (except for finishing school, not as a lawyer, doctor, or dentist but heck I finished school). 

It's my wedding doggone it, and it will be my way. Somewhat non-traditional  but wonderful all around! The final thoughts of being ready are pure nuggets of wisdom and freedom. I absolutely love this and thought it was worth a share. Check out her whole post here.  

The thought of having to get married the way its supposed to be done.

"At first, this panicked me.

Then, I learned to let it excite me.

It is wildly exhilarating to declare yourself free from all that everybody is expecting you to do.

To decide to be barefoot when you walk down the aisle,

To not ask for trash cans & spatulas on your registry,

& to rest in the reverie,

that everything I am “supposed to do” is all just a big fat lie that I don’t have to listen to.

& maybe just maybe,

I was divinely designed to be exactly who I am,

& to fit a mold made by anybody besides my creative Father is to rob the world of all the things that make me, me.

So this is me charging you…

What are THEY telling you that you’re supposed to do?

& who is THEY anyway?

Is it the media, your advisor, your friends, your family,

Or perhaps,

Is it your own voice whispering lies so quietly you are unaware that you’re believing it?

Be free.

There is a God,

Who made you,

Who wants you to be free.

His Word even says it.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free”.

Ask him to help you be free,

From your past regrets,

Your present sins,

Your future worries.

God is always wanting to set you free.

Will you be ready to move to another country, switch your major, quit school, change jobs, or anything in between?

Probably not.

Am I ready to get married?

Oh gosh, no.

But was I ready…

For my dad to get lung cancer?

For Kyle to betray me?

For my loved ones to die?

Oh gosh, no.

Are we ever ready for anything?

Will I be ready…

To be a mom?

To say goodbye to my own mom one day?

To watch my one-day daughters become moms?

Oh gosh, no.

Ready is a lie

& it steals

all your hopes & dreams.

& it paralyzes

your feet from moving.

& it cripples 

your heart from believing life is most beautiful when living in the unknown. 

Don’t be ready,

Be free.

Ready is for people who trust in themselves,

Who want to live small & safe lives.

Freedom is for people who trust in the One who made them,

Who want to live lives too big to be ready for".

Let the Planning Begin!

As many of you may or may not know my husband and I haven't had a wedding. I am excited to announce we are finally planning!! We have a venue picked out and have started looking into catering, rentals etc. I must say, wedding planning is stressful even 6 months out!

     My wedding ideas have changed from when I started looking a few years ago. I have been having a hard time deciding what type of wedding we wanted to host. My family would prefer I have a formal, elegant wedding. I, on the other hand have always been more of a creative, non-traditional type of person and with that, so will be my wedding.

     I am currently working on my "will you be my bridesmaid" gift. So stay tuned for a DIY and lots of wedding ideas. I will most likely be including my wedding struggles and successes for you to do or not do. Subscribe for the latest!

Let me reintroduce myself

Lot's of new things happening in my life!
A little about me... I have a bachelors degree in Aviation Management, and two associates degrees in Aviation Science and Commercial flight. Pretty much an education to be a pilot, an air traffic controller or some sort of aviation related manager. I originally started wanting to be a pilot so I did start my flight training. I did earn my private pilots license before deciding that I wanted to pursue a career that was more stable when it came to living location and having a family.

I am legally married to a now medically retired Army Veteran. We got married 2 years ago before he deployed to Afghanistan so we didn't have a wedding. I lived near Fort Hood Texas for a little over a year. Now we are back home in Los Angeles and living with my parents house while we see what our next move will be.

I have applied to be come an air traffic controller once before this year. The hiring process is ridiculous I really don't want to get into it but if you google the process it is nuts. Anyway, I was denied last year, but this you I have passed the first phase of the hiring process. Next will be an ATSAT (skills test), and if I pass that then I will eventually be on my way to the Federal Aviation Administration Academy where I will go to school and hopefully pass in order to get to start professional training at a facility. If I go through this and pass I might have to move pretty much anywhere in the country. As of now I have a "green check" on my application status which is a good sign. I am waiting for an email from the FAA about where and when I will be taking the ATSAT. Thats all I know for now.

I am currently going to school for fashion because it is something I also enjoy and I have the time while I wait for the FAA to hire me. Wedding plans are happening and pretty much a lot of exciting and potentially disappointing things are in the works. For now I will stay busy crafting and pinning my little wedding planning heart away!

Remember to subscribe to stay in the loop!

California Birthday Adventures

Here are a few birthday ideas. Remember no one said birthday celebrating has to be only one day. My celebrating spans over a week or two. It used to last a month! All locations are linked so you can go check them out yourself.

My celebrating consists of lots of eating!

Go get a spa mani/pedi with your favorite person. I just might be their first time!

You can do dinner and a Movie. I opted for Cinderella, because if it wasn't my birthday he might not have considered it.

Try something new. In my case... the driving range. 

Other options. Race some go carts. Speed Zone in City of Industry.

Do brunch with your bestie! This place is delicious! Anepalco's Cafe in Orange.

Dinner with the family (Went with my parents). Amor Y Tacos in Cerritos, so good!!

Try wine tasting! We went to Temecula, had brunch at South Coast Winery and tasted.

Then to Wilson Creek.

Finally to Pointe Winery.

Be sure to have a designated driver because those sips do add up!!

We also had dinner at ChaCha's Latin Kitchen in Brea (this is the only photo I took, yes my gifts).

Final celebration has to be at a fancy restaurant. I was surprised with a trip to The Perch in LA.

All the places I went to I totally recommend for anyone to try for whatever occasion. Keep exploring. 

Getting Rid of Bugs in Your Garden

If you read my previous posts you know that I had pesky bugs, more specifically rollie pollies eating my plants. I didn't want to spray any chemicals on them to keep the organic element. So, after some googling I found an interesting method and decided to give it a try.
All you need is:

• A shallow container (Like yogurt cup, sour cream style containers are ideal)
• A can of any beer (I used Bud and it worked great!)

Yep, thats it! They are called beer traps. Bugs are attracted to the fermented yeast in the beer. You dig a hole in your problem area, large enough to fit the cup/your container. It needs to be deep enough so that the brim of the cup is even with the ground. Then just fill it with beer. The next day you will have some dead drunk slugs and rollie pollies with an occasional spider or cricket. 

The cup isn't full because I would water over it with a heavy spray
so a lot splashed out as the days  progressed. Bugs fell in anyway.

Clean out your containers every three days and "VOILA"! Problem solved.

Life and Turning 27

So my 27th birthday was a few weeks ago, and it came with a shocking revelation. It got me to thinking about all the seasons/lessons in my life that came with growing up.

     18- I looked forward to 18. It meant I was able to go to 18 & over clubs (yes that was exciting at the time now those places are just awkward) and I could buy lotto tickets. At that age I felt as though the world was mine and I was finally considered an adult. I pretty much did what I wanted without thinking of the possible dangers or repercussions. Oh yea, college!

     20- At 20 I just felt confused I was no longer a teen but not a "real" adult. Yet I had to make decisions about my future without totally knowing what the heck I wanted.

     21-Then I turned 21. You are allowed to drink legally and I guess the country thinks we are "mature" enough to drink. I often question that. When I was 21 I thought I was mature but some of my decisions were not.

     Early 20's - I went to concerts, parties, I traveled, hangout with friends (a lot) and still managed to graduate college. It's the time in your life when you have the time of your life and through that journey begin to see what is truly important in life. This was a time when I noticed that life is short, love hurts, true friendships are rare and God is real (how about I pay attention). A huge part of life where you begin to find yourself.

THE TURNING POINT
     25- At this point I had graduated college and still no career, stressed about what I was going to be when I grew up. Hahahaha. I got married and found that you naturally start taking your significant other into consideration, and know its not just about yourself.
     I also noticed I wasn't much of a dare devil anymore, not as willing to take risks and get into trouble. Being in bed by 9 on Friday or Saturday night became the norm. Having a nice relaxing day was just as fun as "going out".
     Along with priority changes came some physical changes. This is when I started realizing that I got tired faster. My knees started hurting if I stood too long, or if it was too cold or just because. I also became familiar with random white hairs and dreaded chin hairs! I should probably be embarrassed to admit this but thats life. I think if your 25 and haven't found chin hairs or at least one white hair on your head then your not looking hard enough!

     26- Learning to do life with my husband.

     27- Now I think, "I'M 27!!". I am rounded to the practically 30 age group. At 26 I still felt as though I could get away with things by claiming ignorance. That absolutely wont fly at 27. Most of my friends are either getting married or having kids. How did that happen?!
     I am much calmer. Don't get me wrong, I am still an adventurer but just with a different approach from when I was 18-24. I watch what I eat (most of the time) for health reasons. Life is about family, my few close friends, and enjoying life in a not YOLO kinda way. Oh yea still no career, just jobs, but I am enjoying the ride.

All the things I have listed are not complaints as much as they are refections. Refections of how life moves from one phase to the next providing God gifts us another day to live it. I still have quite a few phases of life to go, this is just a reminder for me to savor each moment because it comes and goes so quickly.

Celebrating turing 27 has been wonderful.  I will be sharing what I did to celebrate my birthday that might be good ideas for your next celebration.

Beerster Egg Hunt

My family has lots of young adults and Easter could become boring if we can't get involved. My previous Easter Sunday post shows all the activities us adult do along with the children's activities in order to make it fun for everyone. 

Here is an idea! Want to go easter egg hunting the adult way? Play this at your easter celebration, it will likely be added to your Easter traditions.

Rules:

1. Spin around 10 times before hunting. 
2. No bags or baskets to collect beers, must use your body to hold them.
3. If you set down or drop a beer, it's fair game to be stolen by another player
4. You MUST look at the bottom of each can you pick up. If it has an "X" marked on he bottom you MUST drink it before collecting any other beers.
5. Person with most beers wins. Then again, everyone wins!

Start my decorating your beer cans. You can either spray paint them, or just tape colorful construction paper around them. 

Scatter/hide the beers as if it were an Easter egg hunt. READY, SET, GO!

Easter Sunday Activities

This easter was one of my favorites so far. In 2012, I was baptized on Easter Sunday as a personal redevotion to my faith. This sunday my husband decided he wanted to do it as well. It was such a happy moment for me and him.

After church, we headed over to our lovely little park where my family was all set up.

We started with the kids activities. They had a potato sack race, played horse shoes, they pleyed a hula hoop game and then the easter egg hunt of course. It's not much of a hunt with us because there are so many eggs! Parents usually pitch in to put dollars in some of the eggs. Talk about motivation!

After the kids games we played the adult games. We have a hula hoop chain race, an egg toss and my cousin introduced the Beester egg hunt!

Girls vs Boys. Ladies won per usual. Next was the adult potato sack race, the girls decided to stay out of this one. It got competitive!

Then the egg toss. Same amount of people play as in the hula hoop game. We sell the raw eggs (usually painted) per team, this year it was $4 an egg, and the winners split the pot. Rules are simple. Toss the egg, once everyone on one side tosses, one side takes a step back. This goes on until there is only one team left with an unbroken egg.

My husband and I made it to the final 3, then I thew it too short and it broke in his hands. Two of my cousins won with a toss and a catch at the distance in the left photo. INCREDIBLE! Their egg was one of my emoji eggs! The teeth grinning one on the top. 

Then the new addition to easter tradition. BEERSTER EGG HUNT! Pretty much you wrap beers in pastel construction paper to make them look more festive. You scatter/hide the beer eggs. On the count of three everyone spins 10 times to get a good "buzz" going. Then you start collecting beers (no baskets, only with your hands). As you start collecting you must look at the bottom of your beer, if it has an "X" you can't keep collecting until you finish drinking that beer. Person with most Beerster eggs wins. I must say we had lots of fun with this one. (Specific Beerster egg hunt rules on seperate post).

I hope you had a great holiday with your family. And I also hope this sparked a few ideas for new traditions of your own.

Easter Egg DIY

I don't know about you guys, but as for my family we have some easter traditions that we have done for years. We always celebrate at a small park that our family has been going to since my cousins and I were a babies. Now some of us (not me but my cousins) have babies and we still continue to go there. We always grill,  someone makes easter bunny shaped rice krispies, we play volleyball, have an easter egg hunt, a potato sack race, a three legged race and our favorite an easter egg toss! 

Thank you to StudioDIY for the inspiration!

The eggs of course are raw, and every toss you take a step back. People start breaking eggs and it's hilarious! The last team to have an unbroken egg wins. We usually just use the eggs the kids decorate earlier in the day as toss eggs, but I decided to make a winning batch. Plus, it has been years since I've actually decorated eggs so why not now?! 

Whether it's just for egg decorating, maybe a family egg decorating competition or maybe you want to start an easter egg toss tradition for yourselves, these emoji eggs will be a hit!! 

What you need:

• Paint- yellow, red, blue, white
• Sharpie
• Thin brush
• Eggs- as many as you want to make

How to:

I used acrylic paint I had from previous projects. I layered 2 coats half of the egg at a time, letting it dry in between (I used a fan).   Then I used a pencil to make the faces, eraser only takes off a little of the pencil so do your best to get it right on the first try. I then used the color paint and a think paintbrush for the colors. I didn't have white so I just used whiteout (work with what you have). Then once the color portions was dry I just used a black sharpie for the outline. Give it a try!

Stay tuned for pictures from my families easter Sunday shenanigans!

Beginner Gardening Mistakes to Avoid

As you know I started a garden oh a whim, although most of my results were great there are a few things I learned through my first experience. Here are a few mistakes I made that you should avoid when starting your garden.

Mistake #1 - Sprinkling the seeds because they were so small. Read the label! Seeds need room to grow and depending on the type of plant. Spacing can be vital. Overcrowding leads to underdeveloped plants.

Mistake #2- You don't need the whole pack. I could have produced a lot more and better quality radishes if I had just used the amount of seeds needed based on my planter size.

Mistake #3- Don't forget there are bugs and animals out there! I wasn't too worried, then the rollie pollies started eating my radishes and where reproducing rapidly. I was told rollie pollies only eat stuff thats dead, but thats not true they liked my radishes and the green bean leaves. They pretty much killed most of my green bean sprouts. I also had a street cat jump down from the wall and into my planter so some seeds might have been dug out because nothing grew there.

Mistake #4- Letting weeds grow too big. I have these little vine weeds that grow between my plants, and I did not bother to take them out until there were lots! It was a lot of work when I did get to pulling them. The roots were long making it hard not to break and leave a part of the root underground.  I also read the weeds take nutrients your plants could be absorbing. So weed as you see them.

Mistake #5- Watering without a spray hose. I had quite a few seeds not grow and I think part of the reason is that I didn't use the spray hose.  Seeds are often planted very shallow and when using the water pressure and your thumb to spray, you risk uprooting the seeds. I think the softer spray would be more effective for freshly planted seeds.

Mistake #6- Avoiding sun exposure directions. Like I said before, I had quite a few seeds never sprout leaving me wondering what happened. Turns out some seeds don't grow in continuous direct sunlight. My garden gets sun all day making it difficult for seeds with less light requirements to grow.

Mistake #7- Not preparing the soil. This is the only thing I actually did do, but I'm including it because it is a mistake that is often made. Plants need loose dirt/soil to thrive, it allows them to establish a root system. Doing this will help up your chances in getting more seeds to sprout.

Mistake #8- Know harvesting times. I am growing carrots, sweet peas, and mixed lettuce among other things. You should research when is the right time to harvest. My mom saw a decent size stalk on one of my carrots and she decided to pull it. The carrot wasn't ready and replanting it does not make it keep growing. The left shows how my mom tried to replant it.

I hope these tips help! Don't make the same mistakes I did!!

Plant a Garden, It's Possible!

A month ago I decided to take on trying to grow my own vegetable garden without any real knowledge on how to go about it. I started by purchasing seeds with the shortest harvest time, in my case radishes and cilantro; I also got carrots which take longer. I then cleaned up the planter from all the weeds. I am lucky enough to have good dirt already there, except for some rocks. After I cleaned it out I loosened the dirt and I went ahead and just planted the seeds in rows. The seeds were so small I just took a pinch and sprinkled them all the way down each line. I used most of the seeds in the pack (don't do this).

After a few weeks plants started sprouting. I then decided I was going to plant more and use a larger portion of my raised planter. I went out to Costco and purchased a variety pack of vegetable seeds for only $20 (you don't need to buy this one, I'll admit it was an impulse buy). I was super excited about it!

I decided to get more organized so I built dividers and added small labels to know what was growing in each section. This time I actually read the directions and left the correct space between seeds no matter how big or small the seed was (I was noticing my radishes were crowded).

After a week or so, some of my new seeds started sprouting as well and of course I was ecstatic. There is something about planting seeds and watching them actually grow due to your care that feels so good!

I harvested all the radish, and have been using the other plants like cilantro and mixed lettuce as I need it.

Stay tuned for my next post Friday! Beginner gardening mistakes to avoid. AKA What I learned...

Unphotoshopped Disney Princess Hair

As of late I have noticed that celebrities have been getting called out for their social media photoshopping mishaps. If you haven't heard, here are a few.  Celebrity Instargram Fails!

It seems to me that this itty bitty body social norm gets away from no one! Even our celebrities feel the pressure to have even smaller waists as if small was not enough, or as if having one "imperfection" like touching thighs need to be perfected. We all know it's a lie so just own up to it already! Let us see you're human, I bet you we (audience) would like you better.

Noticing that celebrities are human just helps us see that we ALL fall for the fallacy of physical normalcy and perfection. My first exposure to this happened to be when I was a child watching Disney princesses give me a false hope on having perfect hair. So thanks to BuzzFeed here we have a more realistic and less "photoshopped" version of our princesses. 

You mean to tell me you live in the ocean and your hair is always this voluminous?! #REALOCEANHAIR

 Belle has a beautiful loose low pony going on, and it's pretty breezy in that field of dandelions. #REALBREEZEHAIR

 Why of course we all wake up with out hair perfectly in place every morning. #REALBEDHEAD #IWOKEUPLIKETHIS

 Perfect hair after all that cabin cleaning in woods? #REALFRIZZHAIR

 Straight hair girls know that perfectly straight hair doesn't happen ALL the time. #REALSTATICHAIR

 It looks like winter but Elsa likes her hair light. Who can blame her? #REALROOTSHAIR

 Real girls can accomplish having voluminous hair, but we all know it only lasts about an hour! #REALVOLUMEHAIR

 I don't care how in tune with nature you are, windy days never make for perfect hair. #REALWINDYHAIR #TANGLES

 Does this make you feel better? I know I do! #REALGIRLPROBLEMS