i love you, jana b.

Today is a special day, because it is my beautiful Mother's birthday, and I can't let the day pass without telling her how much she means to me.

My Mom is amazing. She is the kind of person who makes everyone feel loved & accepted. She is caring, she is warm & kind. She is hilarious & goofy & silly, which I love. She is creative & beautiful. She knows how to throw a party, put together a fabulous dinner, sew a dress & she does it all with flair. My Mom is a good listener & a devoted friend. I am lucky because she is my best friend. We share the same face, the same brown eyes, the same passions. And I love it when anyone tells me I am like her.

My mother has taught me so many things. I owe so much of who I am to her. She taught me to be accepting, to make the best of every situation, to laugh at myself, to strive to make other's feel good, to give compliments, to smile & be happy, to make a big deal out of every occasion, to love my husband, to be good to my brothers, to be a good friend.

Mom, thank you for being who you are. Happy Birthday.

this is halloween. this is halloween!

I just uploaded over 350 pictures to my computer. I am a little bit nuts when it comes to photos, wouldn't you say? Among them, were pictures from our Halloween festivities last night. We had a blast this year. We went trick-or-treating with little Makayla, who was darling, of course & then stopped by to see our other loves, Lauren & Mya & hang out with Bryan & Kiersti for a while.
All in all it was a great night.

Here are some photos of our Halloween adventures & the littles we saw along the way...

Lo looking out the window at Jack & Daisy. Please notice Jack's Halloween scarf.

Mya, the ladybug. Holy cow that baby is darling.

And our little M as Abby.



I thought this one was funny.
I was making pumpkin cheesecake for Halloween & the pups were dying for a lick!

The weekend has been great, so far. Today was M's Nemo Party, which was a blast & then we headed to the Real game where we had the best box seats.
I can't believe Halloween is already over. It's a little sad.
Maybe next year, I will have a little trick-or-treater of my own! (hahaha)

and yes.

at work. the day i cut THE BANGS.

i did cut bangs.
after an awesome dance party in the living room with g.
at 1 in the morning.
2 friday nights ago.

i walked into the bathroom & saw scissors.
so i picked them up.
and cut bangs.
all by myself (well, g helped a little bit).

they weren't so bad.
i even wore them to church.

later, christy fixed them for me.

because g said

they were very crooked.

not sure how they look on me yet.
the verdict is still out.

thanks for noticing.
i love you.

pumpkins!

from her...
and him.
pumpkin carvers: the u helmet-ry, happy halloween-jess, evil clown-greg, cat- jon & scott
we hope it's a spooky one!

devil's potion.

Yesterday after work, I stopped in to the grocery store to grab a bottle of eye makeup remover. I had run out that morning & sad as it is, I can't live without the stuff. The mascara I use is as waterproof as can be & I literally cannot get it off my face without some sort of remover. Not wanting to come to work the next day looking like a dead person, I hurried & made the stop. Normally, I use Neutrogena eye makeup remover (I know, I know, you care so much. I promise I have a point) but this time, the store didn't carry any. Not wanting to make another trip, I grabbed this bottle of Covergirl Clean makeup remover & didn't think twice about it.

This morning, I went through my regular routine, but when I went to put this new potion under my eyes to remove last nights remnants, I was horrified at what it did to my face! As soon as I applied it, my eyes swelled up like balloons and my face lit on fire (not even kidding, flames). Horrified that the stuff was burning my flesh off, I quickly doused my face with cold water in an attempt to save myself. Nothing. I rubbed my face in a towel. Nothing. I quickly ran upstairs to retrieve the fire extinguisher....

Joking. What I really did was sit in bathroom for at least 5 minutes with a washcloth over my face and hoped for the flames to burn out. But alas, they never did.

I am spending the majority of today with huge red bags under my eyes & smoking flesh. I write this post only to warn you about the effects of this devil's potion. Don't use the stuff unless it's Halloween & your goal is to look like a zombie. I look like one today, but unfortunately Halloween is still a week away.

the past two days.

number of times Jacky B. has barfed on our bed: 2

number of times Jacky B. has barfed on his bed: 2

number of times Jacky B. has barfed on our carpet: 3

number of times Jacky B. has barfed in our tub: 1

number of times he had done other things that you seriously don't want to know about: 3

hours of sleep G & I got Monday night: 3

hours of sleep G & I got last night: 4

loads of laundry we've done at 3 in the morning: 2

number of hours Jack has cried & whined with discomfort: 48

number of times I wished I could stay home with him & rub his sick little belly all day: 8 million

get well soon, my little J.

I love you.

save bentley.

My friend, Liz, asked me to help spread the word about this sad story involving her close friend's dog, Bentley. Bentley escaped his owner's backyard once & animal control took hold of him & now wants to put him to death because he is a pitbull that "poses a threat to the community". As an animal owner myself, I can say that my pups have escaped my backyard once or twice, but luckily don't wander far from my house. It happens to the best of us & it doesn't mean we don't love our animals. Animal control is assuming that just because this dog is a pitbull, he is dangerous, but those who know & love him (including my friend) say that he is harmless. It is ridiculous that the authorities think this dog, that has never hurt a soul, should be killed.

Visit the site & sign the petition.

why hello there, lover.

Keely tagged me (thanks, girl) to post the 4th photo from the 4th folder in my pictures file. My pictures are organized by the date they were uploaded to the computer and the 4th folder is from about a week and a half ago, with the 4th picture being this one of my lover. Are you tired of me saying "4", yet? Me too.

I don't really know what to say about this picture, except that this is my husband and his name is Gregory John and I love him so much that sometimes I feel like I am going to burst.

This picture was taken right after he got home from work & I told him I wanted to capture him in his "cute outfit" before he changed. G hates dressing up & kind of hates wearing clothes (especially jeans) in general, although he does enjoy shopping for them. Anyways, the first thing he does when we get home is take off whatever he was wearing and put on a pair of basketball shorts & a t-shirt. This has always been bizarre to me, I guess because I am the complete opposite. I stay in what I am wearing all day long. He tried to say it was a guy thing, but I know that is a lie, because I grew up with 4 (there's that number again!) brothers and none of them stripped as soon as they got home. Granted, I can understand wanting to change out of dress pants & a tie, but G changes even if he is in shorts & a t-shirt and we just got back from the park. And it's noon.

Anyways, I captured him all dressed up for the day, but as you can see he is already un-tucking his shirt. You have to act fast if you want to see him in his work-day attire because he pretty much opens the front door & takes off his pants all in one fluid motion.

Pretty much, I really really love my husband.

Now, I would like to tag each and every one of you. And if you all don't follow through & accept my tag, my feelings will be severely hurt and I will think this equates to you hating me. And next time we see each other it will be unbearably awkward because we will both be thinking the same thing, "She didn't accept my tag." And you will have to apologize profusely for offending me, but most likely I won't accept your apology and our friendship will be destroyed forever. Ha! How's that for a guilt trip?

The End.

twinners.

70 bucks. 30 bucks.
100 bucks.
29 bucks.

i heart you target. let's be lovers.

xo.

j.

i almost always say the wrong thing.

almost always.

today, i went to lunch with jackson w. (grandpa) and his bff's. they meet at la cocina once a month for lunch for the past 20 years.

amazing to me. what incredible friendships.

back at work, i was telling dene about my lunch-time adventure. she offered me a cookie. i declined, saying, "i ate way too much mexican food for lunch."

"where did you go for lunch?" she asked.

"lean cuisine", i responded.

lean cuisine???