Montego Bay In >24 Hours!! Shall return 8/5/08

Happy 12th Birthday Peanut! I LOVE YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL MOTHER! I LOVE YOU!

I sure wish I could be home with you to help you celebrate the best day ever. The day you were born. You are always in my heart and my prayers. I miss having you down the street from me but I know that we are always only a phone call away.

You have given me so much Strength and Courage in my life and you have made me the Woman and Mother that I am today. You are a wonderful Mother and an Awesome Grandmother!!

We love and miss you so much. Can't wait until your next visit.

Happy Birthday Momma Chach!

~XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX~

~From your Peanut & Angel-Puppy, Fishy & Eskimo kisses always~

COMING SOON: Fifteen Years

Under Construction!!!

The :-) Award

My dear friend Stephanie has granted me with this adorable SMILE AWARD! I just wanted to thank her very much for thinking of me upon passing this on to other bloggers/friends. I do see why she'd present this to me...I love my kids and this blogging has given me a place to brag a bit about all their/our doings (criteria #7)I do make a lot of mistakes (criteria #3) but I always have a cheerful attitude (criteria #1). I try my very best to learn from my mistakes(criteria #3)...sometimes that is why I make them. Just to prove my own theory right or wrong. (criteria #4)LOL It is just nice to know that others see me in a way that I see myself. I am so happy (criteria #6)that I met her and I have truly enjoyed getting to know her by Blogging, Emails and the occasional phone call to talk about all those things you shouldn't put on a web page! Thank you Steph! <3 Ya!(criteria #2)....and I now accept this award and pass this onto 5 other SMILING bloggers (criteria #5)!

These are the rules:

1. The recipient must link back the the award's creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)

2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.

3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself

4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.

5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.

6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.

7. You must thank your giver.

Characteristics for the Smile Award:

1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human)

2. Must love one another

3. Must make mistakes

4. Must learn from others

5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world

6. Must love life

7. Must love kids

1. Stephanie~A Little Bit of Sugar & A Whole Lot of Spice~Even though she gave this to me....tag...no tag backs. Stephanie has such a close relationship with her friends and family. She knows how to laugh at herself and I am sure others...hey, who doesn't. I know she loves kids and she has yet to meet my wonderful little darlings. One day soon she will. Thank you so much for this award darling.

2. Kendra~A Superhero Princess & Monkey~ I am sure she has gotten this award 10 times already. She has has positive and fun posts and they are usually about her adorable children. She has a great sense of humor and seems to truly enjoy her family. Why wouldn't she...they are fantastic.

3. Colleen~Mommy Always Wins~Has the cutest posts and is somewhat sarcastic about things, not in a bad way but in a Ha Ha way. Her children are just too funny and they seem to always say the cutest things at the not so cutest moments. She has a lot going on and always has positive posts that I enjoy reading.

4. Amanda~It's A Wonderful Worley Life~She is expecting her first child and she has always surrounded herself with others. She seems to truly enjoy all these little ones and I am so excited that she will be a Mommy soon. Her posts are all about her family and close friends. Those are things that seem to matter most to her.

5. April~Thoughts in my Tumultuous Brain~I've just started reading her blog and let me tell you, this woman is fun. She is so witty and loving and has the best stories. Whether she is talking about her weekend happenings or just the day to day items...like dealing with co-workers and their pranks. She seems to be very happy in her life now and it gives me a glimpse of hope that I too can find my BIG D. LOL ~ps~I am working on the post that you tagged me on like a MONTH AGO~sorry! *HUGS*

Weekend in Pictures: My Birthday

Yes, I arrived late.......I was born late, what did you expect!
I had to rock the B-Day hat!
The set up was so Awesome!
Yo & I
She is the Party Master! She did a wonderful job at putting the dinner together. It was very special. Thanks girlie!
Gigi and Mike (My P.I.C. & Rent a Hubby)
Love you guys!
Yolanda, Lisa & Susie

Sara & I ~aka Butter & Lalo/Linder!~

Lalo & Julia Goolia!

My First Family made it (minus Lil B)

The cake! Was so big & beautiful, until we set it on FIRE!

You have to admit I can pull this hat off! LOL

Later that evening, we went dancing! I thing Julia was pointing out some interesting folks here.

Just hanging in the 80's retro room! Hmm

Bartender Birthday love! Thank U Bootie!

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Saturday at the beach to rest and recover from a fun night!

Pretty day!

It's Lalo the Giant!

The kids splashed around in the San Jacinto River

Tia Tere found this cute little girl!

Don't I look thrilled!

Beach Patrol! Dant dant daun!

I cleaned his glasses for him....sucking up never hurt!

FRIDAY 30th! Nellie's Recap!

This girl has the craziest memory. This is Nellie's recap of my year @ 30 Years Old.

Well allow me to give you a Thursday 30:

1-wrecked cars

2- warrants!!

3- parking tickets

4- peering /prying eyes

5- cubical etiquette

6- lame bonus’

7- the laundry room

8-lost cell phones

9-lost camera cords

10-lost wallets

11-the plastic/makeup bag

12-goodbye to that boy that had a prob with Padre!

13-…if he only knew what happen in Padre!

14-goodbye to your last name!

15-goodbye to long hair-you obviously have taken this to a whole nother level

16-naughty cell phone pics-you’re lucky it’s not on the web!

17-learned the importance of “stop, drop & roll!”

18-the cell phone pouch-this is your year to rock it!

19-Pizza…without feeling guilty

20-a love pendant

21-a passport…and a couple of new licenses!

22-an alarm clock?! Obviously not.

23-Sharing the kiddos(even though it meant no girl scouts, and therefore no cookies for preggo me!)

24-apparently a haircut every 2 wks

25-learned how to "wink". That was a good 30 bday gift huh?

26-success at a new job

27-1st time hostess of a baby shower

28-a new friend—the traveling gnome

29-a blog (that if the girl ever reads it, you will get a lecture…I prob will too)

30-a wedding, a birth, and new beginnings all around for Lalo-cha. (I’ve decided to hyphenate your nickname now)

I HOPE YOU CONTINUE THE NEW BIGINNINGS & HAVE A GREAT BDAY WEEKEND!! YOUR #1 FAMILY IS ALWAYS HERE TO LOVE & SUPPORT YOU...AND YOUR EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES.

Thursday Thirteen: Events Since My Last Birthday

1. I celebrated my 30th Birthday! I was excited to be 30. My 20's were good to me but there was also a lot of times in my mid twenties that were really hard. It is funny how time just seems to pass you by. I was feeling good about things because I was finally over coming a heart break. I wasn't in a relationship for the sake of being in one and my kids and I had gotten really close and enjoyed doing many things together.
2. My friend Gina and I took our trip to Las Vegas, now in the past I have done many weekend get aways, but this trip was just different. We got a really nice room, spent 3 days and 4 nights sight seeing, eating, shopping and laughing together. This was our first trip together (just the two of us). I have found the perfect travel companion, or as we call each other P.I.C. (Partners In Crime). We seem to have the same moods and we are very go with the flow and also very agreeable on what to do with our time. When I am ready to relax by the pool, so is she. When I am ready to go have some drinks, she is too. We have become very close friends and I am blessed to have her in my life.
3. Darren & Lauren went to stay with their father in Washington-end of summer 2007 for the first school semester. Their father is in the Army and he had been stationed overseas 3 1/2 out of the past 4 years(Korea-2 years & Kuwait 1.5 years). That put Lauren at the age of just turning 5 years old when he left and Darren just at 8 years old. Their dad has not been a complete dead beat, I know others have it much worse than I do and it broke my heart that Lauren was no longer a "Daddy's Girl". So he asked if he could spend a YEAR with them and I agreed to half a school year. BLEH!! Something most of my friends and family couldn't understand. I questioned myself time and again if I was doing the right thing for them. I want them to know their father...I didn't want our divorce to mean that they would grow up wondering where he is or how he is doing. It was very hard to let them go, especially because Lauren would call me 4-5 times a day and tell me how much she missed me and she wasn't sure she wanted to stay with him. Anyhow, they returned early January and I can tell it made a world of difference in rebuilding their relationship with him and for the positive.
4. Well the boy and the girl were gone I simply spent a lot of time with my girlfriends. I tend to stay busy to try to block out what I am missing. I know this isn't good for me because eventually everything catches up to you. Anyhow, I started having special days with my friend Yolanda every Wednesday. On Wednesday her boys go with their father so we'd spend some good quality girl time together. People at my office caught on to these Wednesday events quickly. We had what we called *NEW SHIRT* Wednesdays, *Boudreaux's Wednesday* and once Stephanie talked me into Blogging I of course had *Wordless Wednesday*. I'd be walking down the hallway and a co-worker/friend of mine would be like, "Ohh, I love the new shirt Wednesday". LOL It was just something silly we did to make the week go by I guess.
5. Thursday evenings I would pack an overnight bag and go stay the evening with my friend Nellie and her husband. We would cook kabobs on the barbie, drink some wine and talk and talk and talk. We had so much fun. They really were my little family while the kids were gone. I think we drove her husband nuts because we usually sat around and "SHOP TALKED". Poor guy had to hear us go on and on about all the funny/irritating things that go on in an office full of women. One of these visits is when WE caught myself on FIRE! There was a blog about that too.
6. I moved from my apartment into my friend Yolanda's laundry room! No worries, it really isn't as bad as it sounds. LOL It was more of a patio room/utility room that we just converted into Lalo's space. It was cozy enough and close to downtown where I had worked at the time. Not to mention I saved a ton of moula on rent! This is how I managed to pay off 80% of my personal debt. Yay me!
7. In September over Labor Day weekend I went to Arizona to visit my sister for the first time since she has lived there. We had a blast. She had just bought a little house of her own with her girlfriend and they had a pool in the backyard so we were fish for the four day weekend. My tan had never looked better. I think this trip reconnected us as sisters and our relationship has just gotten better ever since my visit. My Mom was so excited about the fact that WE were so thrilled to be with each other. You see, it isn't that we weren't close growing up...it is just my sister left home after high school and attended college. A short few years later...I graduated and got married..shortly after that...had my son. Being a newly married gal and moving away from my home town we sort of just drifted a part. My trip to Arizona was a very memorable and fun experience.
8. In October I stayed so very busy with friends and birthday parties and showers and everything of the sort. I went to my very first adult Halloween party and it was so much fun. There were about 40 people that went and everyone dressed up. It makes me wonder why we stop doing such fun things as adults. It was during this month I think I had 5 birthday parties to attend and 1 to throw in one single week....talk about being exhausted...it was then that my crazy friend Nellie told me that I am going to kill myself trying to keep up with it all. One of the funniest things she has ever said to me was that my "FRIEND CUP WAS FULL" and "I COULD NO LONGER ACCEPT APPLICATIONS". I just feel blessed, but it was a very tiring time.
9. Then it was Holiday season. This was a very hard time for me with the kids being gone and all. I was very fortunate to have several invites for Thanksgiving and I decided to join my friend Crystal for the feast with her family in Brenham. It was so great to be with her family. I felt right at home. For Christmas I went home and was very excited because all three of us girls were going to be home. This is a rare occasion with me being a military wife for so long and my oldest sister moving around for her job. My Mom very excited. The last time all three of us were together for Christmas it was like a dream. Why you ask.....well basically I was able to go home (last minute and only for 2 days) and it was a very rushed trip. It was going to be my first Christmas as a divorced woman and my boyfriend at the time bought the kids and I tickets to fly home for the 2 days. Well, with my sisters job, she wasn't able to get to CO until Christmas Day, I returned home EARLY the day after Christmas. My point is, my Mom had us three girls home all together for about 15 hours(2 Years ago)....I did sleep for about 5 of those hours. Before that it had been well over 8 years since we were all together. It was have been the perfect holiday except my ex was suppose to send the kids home from their stay with him during this time and decided since I wasn't agreeing to let him keep them for the whole school year that he should keep them for Christmas. This was one of the very FEW times I felt extremely ANGRY with him.
10. After the Holidays the boy and the girl returned back home and things were pretty much back to normal. It was an experience for all of us that is for sure. My son had failing grades upon his return, my daughter had actually put on some weight (which was a good thing) and after a couple months I had things back to normal.
11. The kids did very well in school and will be advancing to their next prospective grade levels. My son had to work his tail off to pass and he was so very proud of himself. I think that is what felt the best, was the fact that he realized that he was capable of better work and getting good grades. That it felt much better to do good in school then to not care and do poorly. Lauren got straight A's again and like a dozen awards. I am very proud of both of them!
12. Summer came again and off the kids went to WA. I am really hoping their father gets stationed in Texas sometime soon. Having them half way across the nation is killing me. I don't know how I do it. I am a big believer that they do need him and I am happy that he isn't a deadbeat dad. I do think that the best thing a Mother can do for her children is to share them with their father....just not during the school year. LOL
13. Now it is birthday time again tomorrow and I just love birthdays. I can't wait to see what 31 will bring! Tomorrow night I am going out with my girlfriends for some dinner and drinks. Afterwards we may just dance my 30th away. Wow, time sure does fly. To be honest I should have made this a Thursday Thirty but I just don't have the time. Anything else that has happened to me you will find in this blog.

Thank you to all my friends and family who read and comment on my zany & crazy adventures. I truly enjoy reading them.

Wordless Wednesday: Birthday Bling!

HAIRS CUT!

I am obsessed...I can't stop cutting it! LOL

A few weeks ago! Seems lighter in color too?

Do you like the same shirt for comparison?!? lol

Lauren was able to donate her hair again!

10" to Locks of Love!

She has been waiting to do this for over a year...It is her 2nd Donation! Gotta love her!

As far as good deeds go...I have a blood donation coming up next week. I have been taking my vitamins so I should be able to give the blood bank some O+ blood!

THURSDAY THIRTEEN! My Crazy Week!

1. I am missing My Kids
2. I have been late to work the past 2 days
3. I had three dates this week (Mike-Ruggles, Mark-Sherlocks & Jeff-lunch date) (Johnny was sick so I didn't go out with him as planned for Monday night)
4. Stayed out way too late last night, now I am tired!!
5. I hope to be in bed by 9:30 tonight-we shall see.
6. I have another date Saturday (Comedy Club w/Mark)
7. I need an agent or an assistant~something~
8. I miss my Nellie
9. Looking forward to Drinks/Dinner for my Birthday next week!
10. I took my 2nd Salsa Class yesterday and it was so much FUN
11. I am the Instructor's Pet! ~GRINS~
12. My trainer Roy kicked my butt on Tuesday~I deserved it because I didn't do my homework-cardio-.
13. This Saturday I have a Personal Training Session with Roy @ 11:00 then he wants me to take his BOOT CAMP class @ noon. EEEKKKK! lol

(not so)WORDLESS WEDNESDAY! 4TH OF JULY WITH FRIENDS!

At the end of the weekend, don't I look tired!

Hanging out with some good friends!
Julia (Friend from my Army Wifey Days, Yolanda-Houston Friend & Holly-Friend from High School. I've known that girl 17 years! Wow!
JT is the sweetest guy I know!
Nature Picture! Or as close as it gets in Houston!

Why does someone always have to mess with me!?

MY BABY IS 9 YEARS OLD TODAY!

I LOVE YOU LAUREN RACHELLE!

HOPE YOU HAVE A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The GIRL is 9 Today! Happy Birthday Monkey!

New Lesson: How to Salsa!

Salsa, Salsa, Salsa!!

Yolanda and I have signed up for Salsa dance lessons. Our first class was last night and we had a lot of fun. I can't believe how tired I was and how much we learned in just one lesson.

Just 3 more lessons before I advance to the intermediate classes. Look out Salsa clubs across the nation, here comes Lalo.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: MY BABIES ENJOYING THEIR TIME IN WASHINGTON