Let the Christmas Parties Begin

Hello and Happy Sunday Lovely's,

Well Hello to you

Love my outfit Auntie Lisa

Another successful week has come and gone. Work is going fantastically. I had to take a "Mastery Test" on Friday, which I passed!!! All new ADA's have to take this test before we can even begin to chat with potential students. I was super excited to pass it on the first try. Now I just need to complete my final role play and then I will be changing lives. I cannot wait to tell you about my first day on the phones. :0)

The Monkey has been on a roller coaster of emotions this week. Tommy and I think she is going through a growth spurt and has been unusually cranky this week. Poor daddy had her in the bathroom at G-Grill before bowling on Tuesday and she was just screaming her little head off. Daddy could not comfort her in any way. He tried feeding her, changing her, rocking her and nothing worked. By the time they got to bowling she was her happy go lucky self. As daddy would say... She was a little psycho. We ended up winning 3 out of 4 games in bowling, not a bad bad night for the our team.

Up close and personal

Sleeping on the job

The week was pretty much the same old same old until we got to Friday. Friday was the first Christmas party of the season. It was at our friends Juliet and Henry Fortino's house. It was the annual Hanukkah/Christmas party. I was so looking forward to it, but Gwynnie was not about it. We are not sure why, but the minute we got in the door she went into psycho mode.

Finished Product

Juliet was super nice to let us use her bathroom and let Gwynnie scream it out. We were literally tag teaming with her for an hour and a half. We did not want to be those people at a party with a screaming baby so we just hung out until she stopped crying. It was not until G-ma Becky came in with the magic touch that got her to go to sleep. She was out for at least 20 minutes or so and daddy and I got to enjoy some of the party... There were potato pancakes I had to munch on!

This is for GG

The party was a blast and I was so excited to see friends that I have not seen in a while. Robert, Taryn, Jennifer, Sarah, Jill, Becky, Greg and of course the host's of the party Juliet and Henry. That is the only thing I do not like about my job is  that I do get to sweat with some of my favorite people on Monday mornings. I guess I am just going to have to have more coffee dates. :0)

Looking Good!

Saturday night was our annual white elephant party at the Sears house and what a party it was. The Monks and I spent the day with Auntie Sammie baking and prepping for all the shinnanigans. We were baking machines and had a huge help in with "The Fish" aka Haylee. She was the fastest stirrer, as she would say, and she taste tested everything to make sure it was ok for our guest to eat. Sammie did a great job in making GG's traditional pitzels. The Holiday's are not the same without her, but making those cookies makes it feel as if she was there with us. 

The Girls

 The party was an unbelievably good time. Spending time with friends and family is the only way to spend the holidays. My head was pounding by the time we left because I was laughing so hard. When you get our whole group together you cannot help but laugh. Sammie made yummy for our tummy pasta sauce and everyone else brought over tasty treats for all to enjoy. I must say what ever Nikhil brought was so tasty. It was a tiny little ball of goodness that you dipped in a mint-habanero sauce. It was cool and spicy all at the same time. I was totally stuffed with all the tasty goodness that was served.

The Boys

The fun really started when we started to open up presents. I knew it was going to be a fun/interesting night after Kyle opened the first gift. It was Manischewitz wine, tropical flavored condoms and Miller High Life... The good times were just getting started. Almost every gift that was opened wither had beer or wine in it. I do believe our friends enjoy having spirits :0). 

Loves Paper

Although the last gift opened at the end of the night was by far the best gift... It was adult footy pajama's complete with reindeer face on the feet. Kevin was the prize recipient of that gift. I am not even going to write anymore about the party, I am just going to let the pictures speak for it. As they say a picture is worth a 1,000 words.

Enjoy the Highlife

The weekend ended with Sammie and I having a girls they with our little nuggets. We left the boys at my house to watch football while we braved the stores to go shopping. for last minute Christmas shopping. I was actually surprised that Target and the mall were as mellow as they were. I was in out of the checkout with in 5 minutes. I did not wait in any line. The longest I waited was at the photo kiosk at Target for my prints in minutes. It was super nice to spend the weekend with my Twinnie. I cannot remember the last time we spent that much time together.

The weekend is coming to an end and I am looking forward to this coming week as well. I am making cake balls tomorrow for our bowling party on Tuesday, I get to complete my final role play and begin calling students and more importantly it is Gwynnie's first Christmas! I cannot wait for those pictures as well. Well I hope you all had just as fun of a weekend and I did. Here's to a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday! Until tomorrow keep loving, laughing and living life!

A little Crown never hurt anyone!

The gift that keeps on giving

Good Night Nurse!

Much Much Love,

Liz

Chrstimas lights, decorating the tree and running a half marathon

Hello and Happy Sunday Lovely's,

Look Out World

Well we have had one busy busy weekend. After working my first full week at The Art Institute of Tucson, which I absolutely loved, it was time to play. We started the weekend out by meeting up with my favorite momma for a walk around camps. Mrs. Cassie Wright is due in just 2 short weeks. We are all anxiously awaiting his arrival. After a brief walk we met up with the boys at 1702 for a beer and some pizza before they left for the U of A Basketball game. Tommy and Rick went to the game while Becky and I headed up to he El Conquistador to pick up our racing bids. 

 

 

After the game and our lil bid adventure Tommy and I headed to the Home Depot to pick out our tree and get some more home decor to get the house even more festive. It took us looking at 4 trees before we found the perfect one for the Monkey's first tree. It was actually pretty funny watching her look at the trees. She was not sure what to do with them. If she could get close enough she would try to put the pine needles in her mouth. 

Good Looking Tree

Daddy got the tree home and in the stand so we could let the leaves fall and decorate it. It is a really pretty tree. It is tall and full and filled the house immediately with the smell of Christmas. Once we got the tree in and ready I began to prep for the our race. We had to be up so early that the more I could have done the night before the better. So I made us an oatmeal breakfast by simple taking a 1/2 cup of oatmeal and 1 cup milk, put it in the fridge and allowed the oats to soak up the milk. It is a perfect quick breakfast and is the perfect consistency by morning. All we added were some granola and raisins. It is the best pre-race breakfast.... at least I think so. 

Snow Angel

 I then got my running pack ready that was made of an extra granola bar, cliff bar blocks, my ID and my headphones. You never know what you will need for a run. :0)  I ended up sleeping in Gwyn's room, since we still have a queen bed in there, so I would not wake her or Daddy up when I got up in the morning. I hit the sack around 10:30pm and had my alarm set for 3:10am. We had to be up at Venatna Medical Center by 5:00am to catch a bus to take us to the start line. It was a crazy early day!

My alarm went off way to early this morning, but since I had everything done the night before, all I had to do was get dressed. I picked up my partner in crime, Mrs. Becky Welp, and we were off to the races. We managed to pick a good bus that we did not have to get off of once we got the start line. We had an hour before the race started and did not want to hang outside in the 46 degree weather. They did have heaters all around, but they were not big enough to accommodate all the half marathoner's. So we hung out in the bus until they literally kicked us out. 

Here We Go!

It was a perfect day for a race. It was freezing cold at the starting line, but once we got going the temperature warmed up, it was perfect! The boys brought the little one's to meet us at the finish line. As I rounded the corner to cross the finish line I saw Tommy and Gwynnie cheering me on. It definitely made finishing the race totally worth it. This was my first race back since having my ACL replaced and giving birth to Gwyn. It was one hell of a Sunday for me I must say. It would not have been as much fun without Becky running with me and Tommy and Gwyn seeing me cross the finish-line. 

My Trophy

After the race we enjoyed some tasty Blue Willow breakfast. If you have not enjoyed there food I highly recommend that you do. Nothing hit the spot better then a chorizo burrito and a pumpkin doughnut. I know it is an odd combination, but is was a darn tasty one. After Breakfast we headed home to rest and decorate the house some more. I handled the tree while daddy added more lights out side. This is truly my favorite time of year. I love all the lights, the smells, the baking and the family time. Let me tell you running today made up for all the tasty treats I have been eating. :0)  Life needs a little indulgence. 

Well my weekend has come to an end and what a fun one it was. I got to spend it with people I love. You can never have a bad weekend when they are spent like that. I hope that you all had just as fun of a weekend as I did. Please share any fun stories, holiday events or just some tidbits to what you have been up to. I want to leave you with one of the best sounds in the world and that would be the sound of Gwynnie laughing as Daddy is tickling her. 

Until Tomorrow keep loving, laughing and living life!

Much Much Love,

Liz

Baker's Dozen

Hello and Happy Sunday Friends,

Hi Friends

I had a great day today. The Monkey and I headed over to Becky's to bake so the guys could have a day to just watch football and not worry about kidlets. Our baking plans included pumpkin bead, cinnamon pins, sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies and white chocolate/raspberry cookies. Which I totally had to try everyone, just had to make sure they were safe for everyone to eat of course.

Becky rocking out the cinnamon pin wheels

Martha Stewart Eat Your Heart Out

I had a special helper with me today. She really knew how to make some awesome pin wheels. The monkey literally hung out in her carrier all day while I made and baked cookies. It was a lot of fun to bake with Becky and Ryker. He was so cute. He saw me holding Gwyn so he wanted to be held. Once he was in Becky's arms he was trying to give Gwyn kisses. It was so sweet!

Becky and I had a solid baking plan in place. We started with the pumpkin bread, moved onto the cinnamon pin wheels, followed by the sugar cookies and ended with the peanut butter and white chocolate ones. I figured go from harder to easier ones and while the last patch of cookies were int he oven we would decorate our sugar cookie men and stars. It worked out perfect.

We ended up baking for almost 5 hours today, which in my eyes, is a perfect day. The Monkey and I came home to meet up with Tommy for some dinner. We had a groupon for Bamboo Club so we decided to head out for some tasty goodness. The groupon was for a 3 course meal that included a glass of wine... DO mind if I do. It was really nice to cap an awesome weekend off with dinner with my two favorite people.

I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings. It will be my first Monday at my new job. I am really liking what I am doing and cannot wait to change lives! I hope that you had just as fun of a weekend as I have. Until tomorrow keep loving laughing and living life.

She is all baked out!

 Much Love,

Liz

Very Interesting Saturday

Hello and Happy Sunday Lovely's,

I am so cute!

I hope you had a fun and warm Saturday. Mine was very interesting to say the least. It started out in its typical fashion, with a very happy Monkey. She was up early and mommy and daddy were not ready to get up so she hung out with us for a bit. After an hour or so she was ready to eat so we got up, daddy got us coffee, and I fed the Monkey. It was a pretty lazy Saturday morning. We literally watched almost an entire disk of Dexter. I absolutely love that show!!! We are season behind, but catching up, especially when we knock a disk out in one morning. 

After we got our Dexter fix we decorated the house for Christmas. I do not have as many decoration that I would like, so we headed out to Micheal's and Lowes to look for some more. We did not have a whole lot of time since I was going to meet Mrs. B for our 10 mile run. So we quickly ran into Micheal's and got cinnamon scented pine cones, garland to drape over the windows and a little joy statue. Once we get the tree decorated and I finish decorating the house I will post pictures. This is bar non my favorite time of year!!

Before the run

Becky and Rick came over so Becky and I could go for our run. Of course when we headed out it started to rain and the temperature dropped a bit. It was not to bad for the start, but I had a feeling it was only going to get worse. It was not our best run, to be honest it was the first run I have done all week. I have not been keeping up with my training to well. It is all good though because our race is next week and I figure I am not running for time, just simply to finish. As long as I have my running buddy we will rock it.

Well the run started out pretty good, then both of our trackers decided to stop working, so we do not even know how long we ran for, nor the pace time. Oh well! So we just put our heads down and ran. It was ok until the rain started to come in at a slant and the wind picked up. It got really cold and my muscle started to cramp up. I almost fell off of the over pass as we ran up to speedway because my hamstring tightened up I could not left my up over the ledge. That was my first near death experience in the run.Becky and I had a little laugh about it as we ran down Campbell to meet the boys. 

After the run

As we were running down Campbell the rain picked up even more and the temp dropped even further down. Our pace was definitely slowing down but we were determined to finish. We had less then a half mile to go when I had a second near death experience on the run. All of the sudden we heard a loud pop and then a crash. As I turned around to see a bumper coming right at my head. It was crazy!!!! We looked up the street and saw a truck driving down the street with his hood lifted completely blocking his view. It was unbelievable. After this run we definitely needed a beer.

We ended the run at 1702 pizza on speedway. The boys were waiting there with the kidlets and had a pie already for us when we got there. If you have not been to 1702 yet I highly recommend you try it out. Just check out there website for all the tasty deliciousness http://www.1702az.com/.  The food is pretty darn good, but the fact that they have 52 beers on tap! Austin, one of the owners, made a delicious mix of White Chocolate Ale and Outer Darkness Stout. It was the absolute perfect way to end the day! The fun is going to continue to rock today since the Monkey and I are going to meet up with Becky to bake some Holiday treats. Today is going to be a fun day! I hope you are having as great of a weekend as I am. Remember until tomorrow keep loving, laughing and living life!

Our Tasty Treat

Much Love, 

Liz

2nd Day... Done and Done

Hello and Happy Thursday Lovely's,

Hi Monkey

Today was another rocking day at the Art Institute. My day started out with a cute little Monkey waking me up with her smiley face. She was helping me pick out my outfit for today, she is such a big help. It is really interesting getting up in the morning and getting ready for a new job. I get to actually use all my wonderful make-up and do my hair all nice. I am sure I will get tired of it, but right now I am loving it! It was still very hard to be away from the Monkey all day today.

Just Hanging Out

Her and Daddy had a really fun day. He got her a new bouncy chair that, attaches to the door, that she can bounce all around in. She was a little unsure of it at first and did not really know what to grab. She just hung back and looked up at how the swing hung into the door jam. She is so cute, I cannot help myself. 

My Lil ELf

Tommy and the Monkey ran a couple of errands today to get out an bout around town. He read through our cookbooks and picked out a totally yummy dish with smashy peas, sausage and ricotta cheese. It was quite tasty and will most likely be taking it for lunch tomorrow. While he was out he also grab some tasty beverages from Bevmo. One item he got was Rogue Beer that is brewed with bacon and maple syrup. It actually smells just like breakfast, but has a smokey flavor to it with s strong after taste. It was not my favorite, so I stuck to a glass of wine. 

Night Cap

The honey and I spent the rest of the evening watching some of our Tivo shows. If you have not watched Prime Suspect, I highly recommend you give it w whirl. It is a good show that I look forward to every week. Well I had another great day and look forward to what tomorrow will bring. I hope you all had a wonderful and remember until tomorrow, keep loving, laughing and living life.

Much Love,

Liz

First Day on the Job

Hello and Happy Humpday Lovely's,

My Happy lil girl

Well today was my first day at the new job with the Art Institute of Tucson. I am one of 5 new team members to be trained as an Assistant Director of Admissions for the Art Institute. I was a very long, but fun day in a new field. Today we spent the day doing all of the HR paperwork and reviewing the company policies. It is generally all the same information that I have already known, however it is a bit different since now I will be working with potential students. It is incredible to help people realize that they can truly achieve their dream and get an education in their profession. It is all really exciting.

My first day outfit

Another thing that was new was my professional attire. I am so used to wearing either denim and t-shirts or luon everyday to work. Thank you to Aunt Eileen for all the awesome skirts and dresses. It got my new wardrobe off to a good start. I am definitely not used to wearing a skirt and heels, but I like the new look. I must say though, it was pretty rough leaving my lil Monkey today. I was away from her for 9 hours today and every chance I got I had to look at her precious little face from my collection of pictures on my phone. 

Gwynnie's first Serenade

It is going to be a change all around for me with this job. Not only do I have to say bye the monkey everyday, I have a new wardrobe and I am helping shape the future of Tucson... Ok the last part was a bit drastic, but it is still pretty exciting. I love the idea that I can help potential students reach there goals. It is sappy, but I am excited.

I hope that you all had an incredible day like I did. I promise to get back into blogging on a regular basis again. I am leaving you with some Gwynnie raspberries... They always bring a smile to my face. So until tomorrow remember to keep loving, laughing and living life!

Much much love,

Liz

Sorry I have been gone

Hello and Happy Monday Lovely's,

GG and Poppy

I am so sorry that I have been gone for the last week. Things have been a little busy and I needed some much needed family time. Tommy, Gwynnie and I headed back to So Cal to be with the family, not only for the holiday but to celebrate GG's life. We got in Tuesday evening and made some homemade pizza's with my mommy and Linda. It was really nice to just hang with her and let her be in the moment. I know how much I am going to miss GG I cannot begin to know how much my mommy is going to miss her. I know that my mommy will have a hard time keep a promise I had her made me (the promise that she cannot leave this world for a long long long time) but I know that she will do her best to be here as long as she can. I could not imagine my life without her in it. I love you mommy!

Me and GG

Malea and Haylee

Logan and Mason

The week has been an emotional one. I went to my GG house, with my mommy, so we could pick out GG final outfit. It was the first time that I have been in her home without her there and I was really not ready for the emotional rush I was going to get. I had to fight back the tears so I could help mommy find something nice for GG. We were definitely going to have her in her GG sweater. It is her sweater with all 8 of her grand kids and her 7 great grand kids on it. She was very proud of her family and loved to show us off. 

 We ended up picking out a red top, her nice jeans and her "GG" sweater. She looked perfect to meet back up with Poppy.  :0) GG's service was really nice. She was surrounded by all her family and friends, the people who loved her the most and those who could not make it definitely has her in their thoughts and hearts. It was really hard to say good bye, but I am comforted with the thought that I know it is not good bye, it is ta-ta for now. 

Truth and Scott

Pretty incredible women in my life!

We took the celebration back to Jim and Lisa's house where we all sat around with family and talked GG up as if she was sitting right next to us. I also made a slide show that was playing in the background at Jim and Lisa's house. I grabbed a ton of photo albums from GG house so that I could have all of GG's life available for people to see. She was an absolute Betty!!!

The day ended up being a celebration of life and truly what an incredible women she was. I have the fortunate opportunity of being apart of such an incredible family with so many unbelievable women in it. We can all be a pain in the ass, over whelming and stubborn, but everything we do is out of love. GG showed us how to be strong women and lead with our hearts and I hope that I can teach my daughter 1/2 of her strength and love.

Oh sisters!

The Monkey had a pretty busy week so far. She saw her cousin receive his Junior class ring, she went to her first Ducks game, and met new family members. She was such a good lil girl this week. Bitter Betty really did not make an appearance at all this week. She got a little cranky, but nothing to crazy. She loved seeing new faces and having new people talk to you her. She is getting more animated and trying to figure out how to control her arms and legs. I swear she is going to roll over from back to front any day now. I am convinced she is also going to pop a tooth out any day as well. She keep chewing on her fingers and is drooling a ton.

Sammie, Auntie and I

The trip home has been been filled with smiles, tears and the beginning of new memories. I am so thankful that GG got the opportunity to meet Gwynnie. She will know what kind of woman she was and how she always opened her home and her heart to all those around her. She has some pretty remarkable women around her as role models as well. To all the woman in my life thank you for being such a strong spirit for me and being a stand for greatness in yourselves and those around you. I cannot wait to see what the future brings.

Do not forget to hug those that mean the most to you and letting them know how much you love them. You never know what tomorrow will bring. So until tomorrow keep loving, laughing and living life!!!

Much Much Love,

Liz

This one is for Rose

Hello and Happy Monday lovely's

Me and the GG

Well my day did not start out the best today. I got a wake up call that no one should ever get. It is the call letting you know that someone you love is no longer with you. My GG, Rose Salucci, was an incredible woman who was a woman of character, strength and love. I would spend countless summers at her house playing dress up, pretend and becoming a sun goddess by her pool.

 She was one of 12 sister who grew up in Ida May West Virginia. She was a softball player. basketball player and worked on the family farm. She was an all round bad ass! She and my Poppy, Pietro Salucci, moved out to Southern California where they started a family and created a fabulous life for themselves. They lived, the majority of their lives, in Huntington Beach, Ca.

 

I would spend summers at there house just playing dress-up in the garage. My GG had a box old clothes and shoes that Sammie and I would just play with for hours. We would pretend that we owned a resturant and would make meals for my GG, Poppy and Auntie to eat. Even if they were not very good they would eat them any way to make us feel good. They would also watch our shows that we would put on in the garage as well. Summers were always a blast at the GG and Poppy's house. 

Me, Mommy and GG

 We would watch old movies like Tammy and the Bachelor, Singing in the Rain and County Fair until the wee hours of the morning with GG and Auntie. We would then wake up really early and crawl into bed with GG and Poppy to watch morning cartoons. We would then all get up have tea and donuts at the table. I loved staying the night at GG's house. At GG's house you could eat whatever you wanted and they would watch all your favorite movies, no matter how childish they were. :0)

GG and her Gwynnie

Sunday's were my absolute favorite day of the week growing up. That is because you knew you would be heading down to GG and Poppy's house for homemade pasta sauce for dinner. GG would have to buy at least 3 loaves of french bread because we would all come walking into the house, rip off chunks of bread and pour her amazing sauce all over the top of it. She made the best pasta sauce, Sundays were a little better because of her. 

Me and the GG

I would remember times when GG would come to our house to stay for a week to help out mommy and just hang with the family. I would ask her "GG, make me look like a princess!" It was nothing special at all... All she would is make small braids on the sides of my head and then wrap them over the top to make it look like a crown. It was something so small, but would bring the biggest smile to my face. I would walk around school like I was the Cats meow and it was all because of the GG.

One of my favorite pictures

She was an absolutely incredible woman who really showed me what it is like to be a strong woman. She has left an imprint on my life that I will pass on to my daughter. I am so thankful that GG was able to meet Gwyneth Marie. She was her 7th great grand baby, she has 8 grand kids (this include the ones who married into the family) and 2 daughters. All our hearts are a little broken today as we had to say our good byes, but I know that she is in a better place. My Poppy has his number one girl back with him. When I think of them together again I cannot help but smile. I love you GG and will miss you more then words can say. Thank you for all the great memories I have with you and Poppy. 

4 Generations!

To all you who are reading this... Do not take those around you for granted. Let them know what they mean to you. Create smiles and memories together so you can look back with fondness on those who have touched your life. Until tomorrow keep loving, laughing and most importantly live life!!!

Much Much Love, especially to my family,

Liz