frustrated to the max.

so i just need to do a little venting. so let me start by saying, i paid $12,000 dollars to go to beauty school, to become a licensed professional. i worked for 5 years full time in a salon and learned and developed my skills. and now for some reason, because im a stay at home mom, people think they no longer should have to pay me to get their hair done. i have done some pretty large requests for hair transformations since ive stopped working at home, which is A LOT to expect from someone who's not in a fully stocked salon setting. i mean come on, i do it in my kitchen! however, even with doing it with limited resources in my kitchen, i still pull off miracles. i mean, "holy crap, i cant believe i did that" miracles. i amaze myself at how i have not lost my touch, not even a little bit. in fact, its like im some how getting even better. im not trying to toot my own horn, but after my devastating haircut last week, it really opened my eyes and made me realize how good i really am at hair. i apologize if this is sounding "big headed" but its just how i feel. and its my blog and i can say whatever i want. dont read it if you dont like it. anyway, why is it that i spend 3, 4, 5, even more hours sometimes on peoples hair and they only feel like they have to buy their hair products/color? really? like im ever going to ask you for money to pay me, but come on? where is your common sense? i worked hard to learn how to be able to do this, and A LOT of so called "stylists" working in all types of salons wouldnt even be able to pull it off or do nearly as good of a job as i do. and what? you think you should get it for FREE? its not like i dont need the money or anything right? or what, you just think i do this for fun? that i like to waste some of my own personal supply of product for your hair? oh and spend hours of my time with my daughter screaming, crying and throwing fits for my attention? and i cant stop to pick her up at all cuz im in the middle of a color and cant stop. oh yeah, thats what i LOVE to do. so after you leave with freshly cut and colored hair, i can sit on the couch and relax my tired legs and feet and clean up the mess left over? do people really believe that thats fun for me?

my husband really put it into prospective and helped me realize that i shouldnt be doing hair for free. he said if someone wants me to do their hair, they need to fork over the cash cuz we have bills and needs just like they do. they need their hair done, well i need my electricity bill paid.

so from now on, im not doing hair for anyone who cant pay up. if you cant pay me, then go pay someone else. and hope they can do at least half a good a job as i would.

....countdown....

i. cant. wait.

2009

i stole this off my friend Bina's blog and thought i would sum up my year as well...

1) Was 2009 a good year for you?
in some ways yes.


2) What was your favorite moment(s) of the year?
the day Kevin came home on R&R from Afghanistan and surprised me. that really was a pivotal moment for us.


3) What was your least favorite moment of the year?
all the goodbyes to Kevin. there were so many and it was emotionally exhausting.

4) Where were you when 2009 began?
2 minutes before midnight we (Kevin, me, Maeve, eric and diana) ran to Shelly's house to watch the strips fireworks. she has the best view, but the fireworks cuz they lit them on the street instead of the casino roof tops like they usually do.

ALSO
Favorite Album of 2009: Owl City- Ocean Eyes. they have won my heart.
Least Favorite Album of 2009: anything with Kayne West?
Favorite Show of 2009: new favorite- Eastwick. ohemgee!
Favorite Movie of 2009: new moon!
Favorite Color of 2009: blue. all blues. every single one.
Favorite Event of 2009: all the times Kevin came home. and Maeve's first birthday!
Favorite Record Purchase of 2009: i download as well, but its Owl City's.
Least Favorite Record Purchase of 2009: nothing.
Favorite Holiday of 2009: our 2nd wedding anniversary! he was actually home for it!
Favorite Drink of 2009: diet 7up.
Favorite Person of 2009: Kevin and Maeve.
Least Favorite Person of 2009: eh..
Biggest Regret: letting some people effect me.


5) Who were you with? Kevin, Maeve, Shelly, Adam, eric and diana.

6) Where will you be when 2009 ends? im not sure yet.

7) Who will you be with when 2009 ends? definitely Maeve.

8) Did you keep your new years resolution for 2009? yes, i got back down to my wedding weight like i promised!

New Years Resolution 2009: ...get back to my wedding weight.

9) Do you have a new years resolution for 2010? lose 15-20 more pounds and be a better mom.

10) Did you fall in love in 2009? i never fell out of love.

11) If yes, with who? obviously Kevin and Maeve.

12) If yes, do they know? duh.

14) You regret it? never.

15) Did you breakup with anyone in 2009? no.

16) Did you make any new friends in 2009? yes.

17) Who are your favorite new friends? Joni and Krystle.

18) What was your favorite month of 2009? October.

19) Did you travel outside of the US in 2009? nope.

20) How many different states did you travel to in 2009? Arizona and Utah.

21) Did you lose anybody close to you in 2009? thank heavens no.

22) Did you miss anybody in the past year? Kevin sooooo much.

23) What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2009? new moon!

24) What was your favorite song from 2009? Hello Seattle-Owl City.

25) What was your favorite record from 2009? i thought we went through this already.

26) How many concerts did you see in 2009? 2.

27) Did you have a favorite concert in 2009? Tiger Army i reckon.

28) Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2009? not a drop.

29) Did you do a lot of drugs in 2009? for sure. wait, no.

31) Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year? nope.

34) Did you break anything in 2009? a few dishes.

35) Did somebody treat you badly in 2009? yes, but she sucks anyway.

36) How much money did you spend in 2009? a lot.

37) What was your proudest moment of 2009? Kevin's deployment ceremony. i am so proud to be married to a REAL American hero.

38) What was your most embarrassing moment of 2009? when Kevin's dad poked fun at us when he came home and used the word "horny". definitely embarrassing, especially cuz it was in front of the entire family.

40) What are your plans for 2010? finishing getting skinny, KEVIN COMING HOME, our cruise to the Caribbean with our best friends and everyday that my little family is reunited.

update!

i am now 1, YES 1, pound away from my wedding weight! i cant believe!!! my clothes are fitting real loosely and im feeling fantastic. i am going to be at 120 in no time!!

oh and i got my haircut today. not at all what i expected/asked for. so i called my sister in law Pauline and she fixed it up. the layers are suuuuper short, but there was nothing she could do about that. so now i have a bob. it hits my shoulders so it's not like, that short. but i went from having long, luscious, thick hair, to a severely layered bob. did NOT expect that. but i am extremely grateful for Pauline coming to my rescue. hair grows back so its not the end of the world right? i will just be taking a TON of vitamins and folic acid, giving myself scalp massages and brushing my hair. and i probably wont touch it much so it doesnt get damaged and it can grow faster. and i'll do a lot of praying for it to grow too ;]

hellllllls yeah!

so im pretty freaking stoked with myself! i have been doing a diet for about a month now and have lost 12 pounds as of yesterday! i only have 4 more pounds to go til im back to my wedding weight!!!!! at first i thought it was going to be hard cuz you arent allowed any starchs or yummy carbs. you only get proteins, fruits and veggies and almonds basically. but i was determined to do it. Kevin's aunt Jamie did this diet too and lost a lot of weight and she looks fantastic now so i new it really works. so ive been going to the gym 3 times a week and doing this diet (ive had 2 cheat days but im going strong!) and i can feel my body burning the fat. i love it. my sister in laws Pauline and Annette are doing it too and they told me i needed to go get the ketone strips to find out if my body is in kintosis. so i got some at the pharmacy for like 6 bucks and you pee on it and it tells you whether or not your body is burning the stored up fat around your body as energy. and i am in kintosis!!! im so freaking happy i cant even explain it.

i have this image of what i want to look like when Kevin comes home and i KNOW i will look like that now. ive got a little less than 4 months to get to my goal weight but i think thats plenty of time. if i keep going at the rate that i am, i will be at my goal. i cant wait to see his face when he sees me in the blue fitted dress at his homecoming. i know hes gonna be blown away!

oh hey.

fall has finally hit. and im freeeeezing! i cant believe its already here actually. and that Thanksgiving is pretty much 9 days away. i feel like this year has flown by, and im grateful that it has but im also sad. im grateful because Kevin's deployed and the quicker time passes, the sooner he'll be home and we can have our little family whole again. but sad because my baby is growing up, and Kevin's missed out on most of it. she's literally gone from being a tiny little baby that needed me every moment of the day, to a big girl that waves bye bye to me. she started crawling around 7 months, she got her first tooth at a little more than 8 months, and walking at 9 months. and now she says: daddy, mommy, baby, Maybe (Maeve), poop, no, bye, hi, etc. and she's so smart. it amazes me. today i said, "go get your shoes on" and she ran over to her shoe and started putting it on. tonight i said "do you want to take your bath now?" and she ran and got the Nuk bottle cap that we use to plug the tub since the actual plug is MIA. it totally amazed me. she knew what was needed to make her bath possible. when i ask her "where's your nose?" she points right to it. as well as her belly button and foot. when i ask her where her ears are, she points to mine. so we are still working on that. but i am so proud of her for learning so much already. oh and i can ask her "are you hungry?" and she taps her mouth and says "eat?" i love that little girl so dang much.

i feel like i need to recap on a few other things too. about a month ago Kevin surprised me and showed up at our door. i had absolutely NO IDEA he was coming home, and my house (as well as my appearance) proved it. that's not the first time he's done this however...when i moved up to Vegas, he surprised me by getting back to Vegas a day earlier and walking into my apartment. both times i screamed and ran and hid. its instincts. but this time, was the best. because of my reaction, Maeve screamed and cried until i came back out and she realized that it was okay. i feel bad that i freaked her out so much. but he was able to come home for his R&R for 2 whole weeks. it was so wonderful to spend so much time together. Maeve loved him being home. she just ate him up and in no time she had her daddy wrapped around her little pinky. while Kevin was home we painted our kitchen cabinets black, and they look so much better. he was also home in time for our 2 year anniversary! we celebrated by going to the Bootlegger for dinner and then to our make out spot. we had a such a great time. him and his buddy Ryan got to have their "man tuesdays" a couple nights and they worked on Kevin's Ford and got a good amount accomplished on it. saying goodbye again was the hardest goodbye yet though. i was doing so good before he came home on his R&R. i was always busy, and worked out all the time. but now, im in this weird state of something. i don't want to say im depressed but im definitely blue. ive had some weird panic attacks that have made me realize that i need to get back to business. i have a few major goals that i have set for myself and i want to accomplish before Kevin comes home in April....


my biggest and the one im most focused on is getting into shape and losing at least 25 pounds. before he came home i worked out 5-6 days a week for 2 hours each day for 3 months and was kicking butt. i only lost about 7 pounds but i felt amazing. not only physically but emotionally. unfortunately, ive gained it all back and have only seen the gym a half dozen times since Kevin left. but its not because of a lack of motivation, its because im terrified. i am so scared of taking Maeve to the gyms child care while i workout because of this whole "swine flu" going around. she has some lung issues and gets sick really easily and there is no way i can risk putting her health in jeopardy for my own benefit. im trying to figure something out so i can go and not risk her getting sick. so for now im focusing more on my diet than exercise. there's no reason i cant go for a jog with her in the jogging stroller and for now that's enough exercise. i cant wait to lose this weight and feel confident and better about myself. i have 3 very big reasons for wanting to lose this weight so bad (besides for myself) though. 1. to surprise Kevin and to see his face when he see's me in the dress i bought for his homecoming. 2. for our cruise in May (which i'll tell more about in a minute). and 3. because i want to lose it before we make another baby!

when our best friends Keith and Kiri were in town for Stormye and Jeff's wedding, Kevin and Keith were talking about speedo's and they decided that they needed a reason to wear some seriously stylish speedo's. their brilliant idea? a cruise!! of course Kiri and I are on board with that. so Kiri and I have been planning it ever since. all the boys care about is to "get their party on". we definitely wanted Stormye and Jeff to come to since they are freaking awesome (Stormye is Kiri's niece but they are the same age), and they are coming too! we all booked our balcony rooms last week and we are right next to each other so we can open our balcony into one big balcony sometimes. we chose a 7 night "exotic" Western Caribbean cruise on Carnival and it leaves May 16th! we are all so excited for this. Kevin and Keith are both hitting the gym hard to get their speedo bodies in shape and Kiri and i are both working hard to get ourselves bikini ready and baby ready! and this cruise is not only for vacation/party/celebration purposes, but its also a baby making cruise for all of us! woo!!! needless to say, we are all so excited!! 180 days! and 140 til Kevin comes home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also have to write about how fortunate we were to receive a yard makeover from the Nevada State Contractors Board. a few months ago, i heard on the news about a "green yard makeover" that they were doing and it was the last day to enter in for it. so i thought "dang our yard needs something bad" so i went online and tried downloading the forms and it wasn't working so i called the number and the lady tried helping me but it still wouldn't work. so she said she would mail them out and since it was the last day to enter, she would write my name down as an exception. so i got the papers 2 days later and sent in the necessary info the same day. a few months went by and i forgot about it, then one day i remembered and was like "well i guess they picked someone else". but like a week later the lady called me and said we were chosen as finalists and they were sending out their team to come look at our yards. so i met with them, told them what we would like and then they came again 2 days later to do sketches. Kevin and i were both super stoked and anxious to find out if we won. a few days later they called and said we had won! and on Friday the 13th they made over our front AND back yard! in the front yard they put in 2 trees, a bunch of shrubs, and landscaped a rock riverbed in. it looks beautiful. then in the back yard they put in a good sized patch of fake grass and then the rest is rock and they planted 3 trees and a bunch of shrubs. they laid a cobble tile walkway in the front and back yard and it looks killer. they totally cleaned the backyard out and made it a played and enjoyable yard for all of us. i absolutely LOVE it and i cant wait for Kevin to come home and see it. we are both so grateful to receive this gift from the Nevada contractors board as well as from Courtney Landscaping who donated all their hard work for us. they did an amazing job.







anyway, that catches my blog up to speed for the most part. i will try to do better at updating from now on. i promise!


oh p.s. New Moon this friday with Joni!! i caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant wait!

Whippy Cake Giveaway!

My talented friend Becki has the cutest online boutique of "A delicious collection of unique clothing and accessories for baby, child and mom." and right now she is doing a giveaway to help promote her new page of facebook. If you would like to enter in to her giveaway go to her blog and see how! here is the link....
http://whippycake.blogspot.com/2009/10/giveaway.html