Bean

10 years ago, I was 19 years old. I was laying in a hospital bed. I was in pain.....well heck, I was having a baby, so I would be in some pain *wink*

Yes, my beloved Blog Stalkers, I became the proud mama of Joey, 10 years ago today. Here he is when I still lived at home with me moms (yes that was on purpose), when he would sleep in a crib (it didn't last long-as soon as he realized Daddy hugs you when you go to sleep in Mom and Dad's bed, he was hooked, he didn't leave until he was 3. I'm not sure how Abby came about...oh, sorry).

He had a Blue's Clues party for his 1st birthday. The one and only time we had it at a park. Yuck, September weather. James tried to make a pinata. He got paper-mache everywhere. Somehow he got it on his speakers, the one's next to the television. Weird...(Sorry about he pic sizes, they were scanned, they look horrible when re-sized)

When he was 3 he switched from home daycare to a Preschool where my mom worked (technically a daycare center, but he called it his school). They took pictures of the kids like they do in elementary school.

It's fun to look back at Joey when he was little, since most of you know, he is far from little. BTW, the title of this post comes from Joey's nickname. Bean is actually a shorter version of "Half a Bean." James made this up because he's half Mexican and half white. They also use "Honkycan" but I don't approve of this one.

Happy 10th Birthday Joey! Below are some random insights into Joe as well as some memories..

• Joey once smeared himself head-to-toe with peanut butter. Even his eyelashes were covered.
• He once woke his Dad up using a mini baseball bat (thanks Uncle Steve)
• When he was 2 years old he was able to ride every ride at Disneyland but Indiana Jones. He didn't like Space Mountain. It was too dark. This means he was over 40 inches tall. He is currently 5'3".
• Joey is a huge Austin Powers fan. He watched #2 as a toddler and would make air quotes whenever Dr. Evil did. Weird.
• He crawled for a can of Pepsi.
• When Joey walked for the first time, he had crawled behind me into the bathroom and then pulled up on the cabinet. When I walked out, he followed me. He scared the heck out of me, because I wasn't expecting a little person following me. I screamed, so he cried. Poor guy.
• When he was 3 he would sing "Joey to the World" I have this on video tape. Too cute.
• When I was pregnant with Abby he would tell the cashier's at Wal-Mart EXACTLY where the baby would be coming out. Yup, he was precise.
• When I was pregnant with Sophie, Joey would put lotion on my feet and rub them. He would bring me water and snacks. My husband didn't do this. He is going to be a wonderful husband.
• He can change a diaper, even a poopie one. Thought he prefers the #1's to the #2's, LOL. Who doesn't?
• When he was a baby, he had a wooden puzzle with handles to help little ones put the puzzle together. He used them as cymbals and would scoot around in his walker singing and banging them together.
• He loved Teletubbies.
• He would bark like Blue from Blue's clues when he was 1. He would also tell us how old he was (with his finger) do Home Alone (scream with his hands on his face) and be "Cold" (hold his hands frozen and face frozen then shake like he was cold). He was a comedian even then.
• He would rather hold a conversation with an adult then play with kids his age. Once you laugh, he'll never leave you alone.
• He has an incredible memory. He has been asked to perform whole George Lopez comedy acts and can deliver.
• He is an amazing artist. Sometimes it looks like he traced it, it's so perfect, but I watched him draw it, so I know he didn't. I hope he continues with it.
• And (From James) he's his dad's best buddy. (I seriously teared up on how cute that is)

Anyone else have any Joey memories or anything you want to share?

8 years ago...

I was a bride. Yup, today is my anniversary. Hey out there, don't bother doing the math, I'll tell you right now. My Joey was a gorgeous ring bearer. Adorable! I don't have a scanner to add any pics but let's take a look back...

Since my husband comes from a picture taking family, we opted for the Relief Society Room instead of the chapel so we could take pictures of it. My mom and aunt did a great job of making it pretty. Bishop Harris performed the ceremony. My friends Lisa, Cheryl and my Aunt Denise were my bridesmaids. Cheryl was the maid of honor. James' cousin Martin was the best man and my brother Steve and friend Richard were the groomsmen. My wedding colors were deep purple with lilac and gold accents. My dad walked me down the aisle. I was totally teary eyed.

Cheryl sang "Evergreen" by Barbra Streisand, since I thought it a bit tacky to sing during the actual wedding ceremony. Tacky for me, ya'll, maybe not for you that have done that. I did sing Celine Dion's "Power of Love" during the reception. My cousin Josh played the music on a CD player. Whatcha' we were like having a real wedding, eh (that was me impersonating my son, impersonating George Lopez). It actually was really elegant.

After we took a limo (my only time riding in one) to the reception, which was in Surprise at the Windmill Inn (that's behind the KFC on Bell Road, cute little hotel). The reception started at 2:00 and lasted until 10:00. We did have the reception at a hotel so James' family could consume mass quantities of alcohol. Don't worry, his family are cute drunks. They like to dance, with everyone!

Anyhoo, so I had karaoke at my reception, provided by a real DJ, not my primo on a boombox. We had mexican food prepared by James' Aunt Josefina (Josie) and it was amazing! My mom and I had made the decorations, though she did the majority. She made topiaries, large and small to decorate the tables. I went to every thrift shop in the valley and bought tea cups and saucers that we put candles in and placed them on the tables.

One of the most romantic things James ever did was pick out our wedding song. It's a Wynonna song, it's called "She is His Only Need." Look it up, it's about a cook and a waitress that fall in love and they live in Arizona. Totally us!

We stayed in a suite in the hotel (that was trashed by my brother and friends, but nothing I had to pay for) while my mom watched Joey. Just to let you know how trashed, when I sat down on the bed, the picture hanging above the bed hit me in the head. No damage. We went to her house the next morning, said goodbye to Joey before heading to Disneyland for our honeymoon.

It may not have been fancy, it may not have been perfect, but it was ours. It was an important step, although it was only "for the period of our mortal lives." But that's okay, we've done made it forever. Just like Bella and Edward ;)

Worst Week Ever *Updated*

I already know that this week in going to suck....

So, I'm minding my own bees-wax but not my driving and I get pulled over (with about 3 other cars) for speeding. My first ticket ever. I am the biggest wimp in the world and no matter what, I start shaking like a leaf when I deal with the Police. Not to mention the after crying. Seriously, I've never been on cops and I've never broken the law (until now, yikes) so I have no reason to fear the Po-Po, but there you are: me a weepy shaking criminal.

My only hopes for a better week are my gal Christine finding out if she's having a boy or a girl on Wednesday and maybe a nice crop to wipe away all of the junk I had to deal with during the week.

So, tell me out there, please, that some of you have been pulled over and ticketed, please? I'm not alone right?

*So, just to add to my worst week....I got stuck on an interview panel with a horrible person, my shoe broke (the strap around my ankle) and my hubbie's work trailer broke. AND I have to pay $145.00 for a driving school when I have about 160 bucks right now, and figure out when the heck I can go to it, possibly missing some work. YIKES!!! Tell me it's going to get better!?!

Tagged, tagged, tagged tagged!!!!

I was tagged by Toni, so here goes!

SCATTERGORIES...it's harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours, and post it.

*Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...
*They have to be real places, names,things...nothing made up!
*Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial.
*You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

*WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Christine

4 LETTER WORD: cake

*VEHICLE: Chevy

*CITY: Charleston

*BOY NAME: Christopher

*GIRL NAME: Calysta

*OCCUPATION: Cowboy

*SOMETHING YOU WEAR: cape (well, sometimes)

*FOOD: chocolate!!

*SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Curling iron (urgh couldn't think of one word)

*REASON FOR BEING LATE: children

*SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Crap!

I tag: Brooke, Aimee and Tatum

The Memory Game...

So, I'm putting this up even though hardly anyone leaves me comments (blog-stalkers!) so thanks Amie...... anyway...

Heres What you Do
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

And lastly....I can't wait for Friday night! I'm so stinkin' excited for Breaking Dawn I can't even read anything this week. I pick up a book and I just can't seem to get into it because I'm anticipating my new book. Urgh!! Hurry up!!!

Twilight Tag (Extremely Late)

Okay, so Amie tagged me awhile back, so I recorded a video response that came out horrible. I appear to be sitting behind Jabba the Hutt in a really dark room. So, I just couldn't do it. But, I have it to inspire me that I need to lose weight and install better lighting in the family room. Anyhoo, I decided this morning that I really needed to post this before Breaking Dawn comes out, so here we go:

Who is your favorite character?

Well, I have to admit, this sort of changes each time I read the series (or listen to it, I go to sleep w/my ipod playing sweet, sweet Twilight series). Right now, I would have to say Edward. I don't think I have to go into his positive attributes, but I just like that he plays with her hair, wants to know what she's thinking, listens to her (okay maybe because I'm lacking a bit of this right now in my life LOL).

Which character are you most like?

I don't have a character that I am most like, I just have little parts of many of them. I am a worrier, like Bella. No matter how much someone tells me not to worry, I do anyway. Not to mention the fact that I have weird dreams (but luckily, not always scary). I am like Renee in the fact that I pick up hobbies and quickly get bored w/them. Scrapping is one I've kept for awhile, so I'm proud of myself. Also, I can relate to her fear of Bella making the same mistake she did (or the mistake she thinks she made), and so inflicting a fear of marriage into Bella. I don't do that with my kids, just make sure they are fully aware that I will expect them to go to college, then get married and then have kids and not follow my path. I'm also a bit like Jacob (alright Amie, hold on, let me type LOL) because I can quickly morph into a wolf....okay, just kidding... I can quickly get angry or upset.

Team Edward or Team Jacob?

*sigh* Team Edward, but let me say this. I love Jacob. I understand him and haven't pushed him aside like many out there. It isn't his fault he fell for Bella, it's not his fault he can't control his emotions or temper. He's a stinkin' werewolf for heaven's sake. He is also really young and hasn't had the years of experience Edward has had to learn self control. But, that being said, even Edward fights with self control. When he is over 100 years old, he will behave better. He is also furry and warm like my husband LOL.

What are your predictions for Breaking Dawn?

I would really like for Jacob to imprint on someone, I think that we will definitely have some Italian visitors and I hope that Bella gets to take them on as a vampire. I think that we should get to experience Bella's change and education as a new vampire. I unfortunately do think that someone is not going to make it, and I don't like to dwell on that unfortunate thought, but heck, even Harry had to deal w/death and in Book 7 a whole lot of it!

What do you think Bella's powers will be?

Okay, this is not my idea, but one I read in a really interesting fanfic on Twilight Moms. I totally dug it and thought it would be interesting. So, let's go with it. Bella can use someone else's power when she is touching them and only when she is touching them. So, she can hear thoughts when touching Edward, see the future when touching Alice..get it? Also, her ability to not be influenced by peeps like the Volturi can also pass to someone when she touches them, so if Jane was trying to use her power on Edward, if Bella was touching him he would not feel it. (Jane is kinda like a Death Eater using the Cruciatus curse isn't she?)

So, there is my Twilight Tag....I am now going to tag Brooke and my Mom (Mom, do it on email to me please?!?) Amie, sorry it's so late and not on a vlog. Someday, when I'm not Jabba.....

Hey, let's also open this discussion up...where's the weirdest place you saw someone reading Twilight? I'll start.....foyer of the Temple on Saturday.....anyone else?

When you are torn...

So, yesterday I sang at the Variety Show here at my work. It's for the residents (remember I work in a Nursing Home) and for staff to just do skits or dance or sing or whatever. I sang "Evergreen" by Barbra Striesand since it's one I already know. I remembered all the words and everything LOL. When it was over the new Director of the agency I work for told me I did a good job and somehow everything twisted into them wanting me to perform at a Veteran's Fundraiser on Saturday. At a resturant.

Remember that old Saturday Night Live skit with the lounge singer.....

I was torn, I already had plans with my family on Saturday. I don't do performances like that. I don't have a repertoire I can just pull out of my...head...nor do I have the time to perfect it. I don't play and intrument (the kid they want me to sing w/ plays guitar and sings...literally think of a 17 year old Elvis, with the looks, the voice and even the southern accent, who is also the Director's son!). I would literally be doing karaoke. It's weird.

But, I can't help but feel bad about not doing it. Are they expecting me to? Am I ruining a chance to get in with the new director helping my career-a career I really don't want? I feel so, so I don't know. I've been so emotionally lately, that I can't help get teary just thinking about it. Yuck, I hate feeling this way.

So, should I feel bad turning them down? I did offer them my services in the future as long as I get some more planning. I just don't know. What do you think?