• Seiuli, Tristan,  Alec and my dad are going to the Mavs/Laker game tonite. Tdog and my dad will be wearing Dirk jerseys while Alec and  Sei will have on their (*gag*) Kobe jerseys. I really hope the Mavs win!!!! This pic was taken at the American Airlines center after we went to the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert – which was rad!
• For Christmas I finally got what I have asked for since the 8th grade- Black Doc Marten boots. I originally asked for the 8-eye, but decided on getting the 6-eye. Sei (and by Sei I mean “I”) found them on eBay for $35. Can’t beat that!
• Tristan is ginormous.  That’s all there is to it. I mean, he ’s actually an average height- like 5′9″, but he is a SOLID kid. And considering he was shorter than me just 18 months ago… weird. His scout leaders told him he needed to wear his scout shirt. So, he tried it on… It’s a little small.
• Mary Kay is going well and I really enjoy it.  I never thought I’d do something with direct sales. But it’s been the coolest experience. Mary Kay is a company like no other. They are completely debt free and truly put God 1st, Family 2nd and career 3rd. It’s slowly helped pull me out of my “I am so depressed…” slump.
• We gave the kids a choice for family vacation this year: Sunny, Southern California or Utah. They all, in a matter of .00323184 seconds,  unanimously voted for Utah. They miss Utah a lot. I have to remember that they lived there more than 1/2 their lives. Texas isn’t “home” to them. Surprisingly I miss Utah a lot. I hate the weather and I never hiked or anything because I’m scared of mountain lions, but I miss my friends. I miss our awesome little neighborhood. I miss being 1400 miles away from certain people… Slowly but surely our home here is becoming the home to hang out at- like in Utah- with kids hanging out to play pool or air hockey or Playstation or football in the yard. Hopefully one day this will feel like home. I am thankful that Sei loves his job and that the kids have made good friends.
• It’s basketball season and I LOVE it!!! I love going to my kid’s games. My dad is coaching Isabel’s team this year- he coached Alec last year. Isabel is so much more confident this year and spunky. I knew it was in her!! No more pencil in the butt… Taj is signed up to play soccer which Sei is stoked about and Isabel wants to start gymnastics again. She was so rad, but got burnt out, not to mention we couldn’t afford it. But now she wants to try just tumbling- because that’s her fave event. There’s a tumbling/trampoline class/team here that I think she’d rock at!!
• I’ve lost 5 pounds in 9 days by cutting out sugar. It hasn’t really been that hard. Now if I can continue to lose 4-5 pounds every week that’d be awesome. I am an admitted carb-addict. I have horrible eating habits, so a very low carb diet is best for me because it helps me get my eating under control.

What’s been goin’ on with y’all???

Our Yukon was finished last week and what a thrill that was! It’s hard to be a family of 7 with only a 5 seater car to use. It took a little longer to fix because they were having trouble finding a new running board. They ended up changing both sides to make them match. They used parts when possible to lower the cost. (I’m sooo glad we were needing Ferrari parts or something like that!!) We also got a discount on our deductible, which was super nice. Thankfully I was able to pay for the rest of it with money I had earned at a Mary Kay party the week before, yo!

Idk if I can say I’m a quitter, but I worked so hard on my medical transcriptionist course until the summer. Then I had 11 kids here on a daily basis and it made it impossible for my brain to do. And ever since then I have had the hardest time getting motivated. I have until Feb. 15 to finish before I have to pay for an extension. I just feel like I have sooo much going on and my brain is having a hard time concentrating on any one thing. I’m an independent distributor for Advocare. I’m an independent beauty consultant for Mary Kay- which I’m really enjoying. I babysit. I email lawyers back and forth everyday. And I never miss a kiddo’s game! So…  yeah, for right now I don’t see any type of healthcare jobs, including transcribing, in my future. I feel lame for quitting, but I’m spreading  myself too thin. I just wish there was a way to get the money I paid for the course back. That’d be nice to have that money to put towards the stack of lawyer bills we’ve collected…. But anyway… I just made this decision. I mean, I can always pay to extend it, but right time, THIS time in my life, it’s just not gonna work- which sucks because I was excited.  But, I’ve gotta do what I feel is right, right?

I babysit kids as most of you know. And you know what???  It’s not cute or funny when kids that aren’t yours are sticking their fingers under the bathroom door when you’re trying to pee. It’s just not. It annoys me. It’s not cute when they discover they can push the kitchen chair across the floor and climb up on the counter. It’s not cute when they find the ice maker on the fridge and push it 13 times a day spilling ice all over the kitchen. It’s not cute when they figure out how to crawl out of the porta-crib. It’s not cute when they learn to crawl up the stairs or turn the tv on and off.  It’s not cute when they pull their diaper off when you think they are taking a nap. There’s so many things when YOUR kid does it you think it’s funny or cute or “Wow! Look what they learned.” You don’t think that way (or atleast I don’t) when it’s not your kid.

And another thing- all MY kids are potty trained, so why am I still changing 3-4 poopy diapers a day?

May 2010 = no more watching babies for me. That is the goal. Pray that I can make my Advocare and Mary Kay businesses successful. I believe in both of them… now if I can believe in myself enough.