May 24, 2012

May Anniversaries

As you many of you know, I L-O-V-E a good wedding.  I enjoying seeing the love between two people, the family gathering together as one, friends old and new reuniting, laughter, flowers, fashion, and cake!

I also enjoy seeing the love grow and the life they share together.  May appears to be a popular month for birthdays, graduations and WEDDINGS.  Even Mark Zuckerburg recently got married.


Here are some special couples (my cousins & wives) in my life that just celebrated anniversaries in the month of May!  Happy Anniversary!  Ryan and I wish you many more happy years!


Alden & Ellen, May 23, 2004

Beautiful Hawaii

Francisco & Jamie, May 19, 2007



Bianca & Oscar Ray, May 16, 2009


May 22, 2012

Kayaking Adventure

As I said before, I went kayaking over the weekend with my husband, brother-in-law, aunt and uncle. Of course, Ryan was behind this trip because it's one of his favorite things to do when it gets hot in Arizona.   I've kayaked before but that was 6 or 7 years ago and it was only for 30 minutes.  

This kayaking trip was so much FUN!! We started at 8am so we could enjoy the cooler weather as long as possible.  After the first 30 minutes, I was starting to get hungry and somehow couldn't stop thinking about cheeseburgers.  For the next three hours, I couldn't stop talking about comfort foods. Something about being in the water always makes me HUNGRY!  It always happens when I go swimming.

The whole experience was amazing and I would do it again.  I did have a few moments where I totally crashed into trees and rocks but that's what makes the whole thing fun.  It's a learning experience.

I do have to mention that my last 30 minutes was HARD!  My hands felt like jello, I was hungry, sore, and exhausted.  When I reached the very end.....my husband informed me that I had rowed 13 miles.  I couldn't believe it!!  That made me feel so good!  "We are the Champions" came ringing in my head.  I know that sounds dramatic but it made me laugh.  4 hours & 13 miles of rowing!

If you decide to go Kayaking here are some tips:

1. Eat a good breakfast
2. Pack snacks
3. Wear gloves
4. Water shoes
5. HAT!
6. The most important.  SUN SCREEN.

As you see in this picture ---- my brother-in-law, Tom failed at #6!  OUCH!

We call him NeopoliTOM.  Looks like pink knee highs too!  








I don't have any pictures of our adventure because we didn't want to risk getting our phones wet.  Maybe next time I will buy a water proof cheapy camera to capture some shots. 

Here's a video I found on YouTube to give you a feel of what we did on Sunday. 


May 21, 2012

3 birthdays = 1 weekend

I have puppy fever!

Ugh.... it's MONDAY!  I swear I had the craziest weekend ever and now I'm literally exhausted!  I celebrated 3 family birthdays and went kayaking for 4 hours on Sunday morning (can we say SORE.)  I will have to tell you about my kayaking experience soon.  It was an adventure for sure!   Have you ever had a crazy weekend where you're dreading Monday morning??!  I think I passed out at 9pm last night. ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Saturday night, we celebrated my cousin Kirsten's birthday which was an "Alice in Wonderland Theme."





Sunday night we celebrated my cousin, Oscar Ray's birthday.



Happy Birthday to all!  I survived the weekend.  Time for another great week. 

May 19, 2012

Grandpa's birthday celebrations

The "blue"glasses were part of his birthday package!  


 What's great about having a big family is that a little gathering can lead to an instant party.  Today's my grandpa, Oscar's birthday and this morning many of us joined him for a breakfast feast at Mimi's Cafe.  As you can see from the pictures he was sporting a KOOL-AID smile all morning.


I forgot to mention that I invited my grandfather for breakfast but failed to tell him about everyone else joining us??! I did it as a SURPRISE! Yes, I know...I'm kind of sneaky at times.  He was so pleased to see everyone arriving one by one to his birthday breakfast.  Seeing my grandpa's face this morning was priceless and will always stay with me.  Happy Birthday Grandpa!  Love you.




May 18, 2012

Are you PLOPPING?

You're probably wondering what in the world is "ploppling??!"  I was asking the same thing when my sister told me about it last night.  I guess it's a new trend in the curly girl world which helps in styling and controlling curly hair.  My sister mentioned that she had tried it the night before and things turned out pretty well.  I knew  immediately  that I wanted to try it out!  Two hours after talking with my sister last night, I had forgottten the name of it so I started googling   " poolping curly hair", " pulping curly hair", "pumping curly hair" and thank goodness that led me to some "PLOPPING" videos/images.



It's a pretty simple concept if you  follow the pictures above.  Unfortunately, I fell asleep early last night so I wasn't able to try it over night.  Instead, I woke up super early to allow time to dry.  I felt like a NINJA in the head piece!  Ready for battle!  (Curly hair is my daily battle)  I think my husband thinks I'm a little crazy as I tried to mimic my inner ninja (sound effects included).  Maybe it was the coffee that gave me the energy as well.


This is my hair after plopping.  It still a FRO but the curls look nice.  Also, it made my hair shorter which I'm not sure is a good or bad thing.



Here's a you tube video on plopping!  Let me know if you try it!  You can also do it if you have straight hair and needing some volume.  GOOD LUCK!



May 17, 2012

Birthday Celebration: Mr. Blair

A week ago today was my father-in-law's birthday and over the weekend we gathered as a family to celebrate.   This time we met up at my sister-in-law's house and she had feast of appetizers waiting for us!  Of course, I arrived STARVING and ate everything in site! I ate so much I could barely eat dinner!  


Her house has a really nice pool table and I got to play a few games of pool with my brother-in-law, Tom. Ugh... I haven't played in 2 years so my game was rusty.......but I almost had him at the last game.


I just realize that we have celebrated a birthday every month with Ryan's family since September of last year.  There is a lot of us and a lot of partying/fun times.  The best part about celebrating a birthday every month is getting to see the family and also EATING CAKE!!


Speaking of cake...it appears it's tradition to always get "Nothing Bundt Cakes!"  They are seriously the best cake.  I think my favorite is the chocolate with chocolate chips.  Thanks to Nicole for reading my mind and buying that cake for Saturday's dessert!

May 16, 2012

Blogging Family

Need an excuse to read another blog?  

My sister decided to start a blog about life and her sewing adventures.  Enjoy!