Quote

I feel the need to blog about a quote I heard yesterday b/c well, it deeply touched my soul and it got me thinking about a lot and you just can't let things like that go by without recognizing them, right?

"God determines who walks into your life....It's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go."

It seems like such a simple statement, so matter-of-fact. To me, it's anything but simple...
There is so much pain, loss, but most of all, joy written in between those words. I have had many people walk away from me. And I, too, have made that choice at times. Those times are gone and I have to trust that I am exactly where I am meant to be.

The people you let stay are a blessing to your life, the ones you look forward to seeing and spending time with and if they were gone, you would miss them greatly.

But then there are those that you fight for and you will never stop fighting for no matter what. Those you ache for, you pray for. Those you get excited for when the garage door opens. Those you can't wait for them to wake up so you can kiss their face and tell them good morning. Those you kiss goodnight and wish them sweet dreams. Those you dance crazy with and laugh with. Those you get angry with and make up with.
Those you cry with and they hold you and tell you that they love you and suddenly you can breathe again...

To my husband of 7 years....thank you for being all of these things and refusing to let go when I almost let go of you. I promise to hold on tight from now on. I love you in a way that I never knew I was capable of loving. Pure, forgiving and deep. Thank you for teaching me that.

To my baby boy of 18 months (I can't believe it!)...thank you for being the light in my everyday. Your laugh makes the world good again. Your hugs and kisses are the very essence of grace, of innocence and of love. Thank you for trusting me and loving me with all of your being.

My favorite boys in the whole world. I will forever "refuse to let go..."

YoYo!

My Mom was here last month and she brought Kaleb a bunch of books...his fave! One of the books is a counting book and the last page is 10 yoyos. Last night when I read that page, he belts out plain as day- "YOOOYOOO!!"

It was just the sweetest, most innocent voice I've ever heard, so today I had to go and find my baby boy a yoyo.
It was not just ANY yoyo though, it was a Spiderman yoyo. I even sang the Spiderman theme song when I gave it to him.
YAY! He LOVED it!

Then, he broke it in 10 minutes. (sigh)
Well, that's part of being a boy I guess.


I bet you all are dying to see some recent pics of our boy so here ya go! =D
They are a little blurry but you get the idea.

Here is a recent pic of him in his Tiger Woods hat his Daddy bought him.




Here he is in Daddy's cowboy boots...a little throw back to his Texas roots! ha!

My readers have spoken....what shakes their tail feathers and mine

I remember one time I forgot my iPod at the gym and I felt like I neglected to bring one of my legs. It was the worst workout of my life...why is that??
Because music makes you MOVE!! It makes you go another 5 minutes on the treadmill, do another rep of arm curls or another set of sit-ups. Well, it does me at least. And apparently it helps most of you, too!
Here are some musicians and/or music that gets you going:

Danaly loves to kick it old school with some 80s pop: Janet, Madonna but still keeps it real with some JT and worship music.

Krista wanted to answer but ate a chocolate chip cookie instead, but if I had to guess I would say 80s pop as well...you little Madonna lover, you!!

Janae gots to have some fast movin' hippity hop. JT for sure!!

Alf-just give him some Olivia Newton John "Let's get Physical" over and over and apparently he can run marathons on just that!

Ashley says Black Eyed Peas (Kaleb says YEAH! to that one...gotta get that BOOM BOOM BOOM), Kanye, Pink, Sean Kingston and Lady Gaga-no disco sticks though-ha!

Sara says hard rock gets her moving like nothing else. Hey-hip hop ain't for everybody, people.

Here it is...my MUST-HAVE music list:

Give It To Me Timbaland featuring JT and Nelly F
This Is Me Dream
Say It Right Nelly Furtado
Only You 112
Got 2 Be Down Robin Thicke featuring Faith Evans
Back in the Day Missy Elliot featuring Jay Z
I Hate this part Pussycat Dolls
Lose my Soul tobymac featuring Kirk Franklin
Migrate Mariah
Side Effects Mariah
Stronger Kanye
The Way I Are Timbaland
This is why I'm Hot Mims
Hush LL Cool J
Anything by JT....seriously LOVE him!
Last night Diddy
Basic Instructions Burlap To Cashmere
Boondocks Little Big Town

Cool Down Tunes:
Chasing Pavements ADELE
Alright Darius Rucker
Divine Romance Phil Wickham
Hold you in my arms Ray LaMontagne
Make you feel my love ADELE
Refine Me Jennifer Knapp

There it is folks.
So load up your iPod, hit the gym and let the music MOVE YOU!!

Creepy Tale for your Saturday

****Warning: This story is not for the squeamish****

Dedicated to my friend, Krista, who I am sure shares the same disdain for these creatures as I do.

A couple of weeks back I made a remark to Alf that went a little something like this..."Wow, honey-here it is almost August and we haven't had that many scorpions in the house." That's a little something in literature that writers like to refer to as foreshadowing. Well, the Scorpion King must've overheard my statement and last weekend, he made up for his absence.

For those of you that don't live in AZ or for those of you that do live here and just have never had the pleasure of seeing one these nasty creatures, you're probably thinking-where does this girl live? What is wrong with her house?? Well, let me tell ya...when the previous sellers put "Some scorpions" on the seller disclosure form they must've been talking about the neighbors house across the street. These disgusting pests come out EVERY summer from the open lot behind our house and they come out with a vengeance. Last weekend, they did just that.

Alf and I usually stay up later on the weekends b/c one of us gets up with Kaleb and lets the other one sleep in. So last Friday night about 11pm we were headed off to bed and of course as soon as I lay my head on the pillow, mother nature came a knockin'. I got up to go to the bathroom and usually I just turn on the closet light b/c it isn't as bright. But on that particular night I turn on the bathroom light so it's much brighter in the bathroom. Since I had already gotten into bed, I didn't have my glasses on so I could only see probably about 1 ft in front of me. I am sitting on the toilet and I look back on a shelf behind the toilet for the toilet paper. (We have to put the roll up high or else Kaleb can unroll the entire thing in about 30 seconds flat) The toilet paper wasn't there so I look beside me and see the roll sitting on top of the dispenser. As I go to grab the toilet paper I notice something moving on it. Since I can't see anything...I lean in to take a closer look and a scorpion is perched on the first sheet of paper with his stinger ready to strike!! (pause for gasps)
My first reaction was to scream but then for some strange reason I thought it would make it like leap out at me or something (scorpions can't leap by the way) but like I was thinking rationally at this point. So I just freeze. I call for Alf in a surprisingly calm voice and I tell him I need his help. I am sure he's thinking...help you, how? Off the toilet??
I quietly tell him there is a scoprion on the toilet paper and when I stand up I need him to take the paper and flush it down the toilet. In true Alf form, the scorpion killer that he is...he does just that and acts like it's as benign as blowing his nose. I, on the other hand, am a total wreck at this point and I start playing the "what if" game. What if I hadn't turned on the bright light? What if the toilet paper had never been taken off the dispenser? I probably would've never even LOOKED at it before I grabbed it. What if it didn't sting my hand, but stayed on the paper and ended up stinging me somewhere else?? Yeouch.
As I am asking Alf a million questions, I see him move his eyes toward the ceiling. "NO!" I scream as I run out of the bathroom. Yep, it's another one. Taunting us from up high, Alf leaves to get a broom to knock it down into our bathtub. As soon as it hits the tub, it starts crawling around like a crazy person. Alf smashes it and washes it down the drain never to be seen again.
I didn't sleep a wink that night. Every little movement felt like a scorpion crawling on me. I was so freaked out and disgusted. Then I started to get mad. REALLY mad!!
So I've decided to send this little message to the Scorpion King, wherever he may be:

How dare you come into MY house and make me feel this way. How dare you threaten me and my family with your venomous stinger and your freaky quickness.
You may have sent your little minions to start this battle, but you will never win the war. With black light and blow torch in hand, we WILL find you and we WILL burn you alive. Then we will take your ashes and spread them all around our property so that others will know if they try to breach our walls, they too, will meet the same fate.
The Garcias have SPOKEN!

(Ahem) Woah, got a little carried away there. Can you tell I don't like scorpions?
So tonight when you go to the bathroom, I hope you'll think of me.
And always, always make sure to look before you pee!!

Splish Splash Pad

Kaleb and I met my friend Ashley and her son Gavin today at the splash pad and they had a blast together. Even though it was supposed to be a high of 105 today, it was actually soo nice b/c the whole area was covered and get this-THE WIND was blowing a COOL breeze. I know! Kaleb would come to me to dry him off with goosebumps on his arms and his bottom lip quivering!! ha!

For those of you that have never been to a splash pad before, they usually have water spouts that shoot up water from the ground at various times. Whenever the water would disappear back into the ground Kaleb would yell, "UH OH!" and put his hands up like...where did it go? funny boy.
Here are some pics of the kiddos.

My BellaBows on Etsy

I first heard about Etsy a few months ago from my friend Krista. Now, I can't stop looking at all the great stuff people have created!! Everything is handmade and the talent is outstanding!
If you have never checked it out, you MUST!!
I just found out that one of my favorite sellers, My BellaBows is having a moving sale!!
She sells the most amazingly adorable bows and other items.
Check out some of her things!!




photos courtesy of My BellaBows

Also, they are doing a grand prize giveaway on the 31st!!
If you buy one item, you get 1 entry in the drawing, buy 2, you get two entries and so on.
If you blog about the sale and giveaway on your blog or twitter about them you also receive 2 entries for each!
Don't miss this sale and the opportunity to win the grandprize! I know I won't!!

New Layout Alert and Poll questions

So I got tired of our old blog because it had no character and just plain needed a change!! I'm curious...Whaddaya think??

I created a poll to the side, so vote yes if you likey and no if you no likey.

Since this is my blog and I can do want I wanna, I'm gonna toot my own horn for a second so please bear with me. ;-)

I am so proud of myself!! WHY you ask? Well, hold your britches (as they say in TX) I'm gonna tell ya!

I have been working out 3 days a week for the last month!!
ONE WHOLE MONTH!!
For some of you, this is NOT a big deal, but for me it is a VERY BIG DEAL!!
I'll be the first to admit...I am lazy. I LOVE to sleep, watch TV and just hang around doing nothing. It's really what I'm best at...but lately I have been inspired. I wanted to get back that feeling of taking care of every aspect of my being. Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Each piece is key to this girl's well-being and not one can be set aside. Since I've had Kaleb that is definitely one piece I have let slide.
And now, I feel great. I am starting to see some changes in my muscle tone and I also feel a lot less stressed overall b/c I am getting some of that energy out that I store up from being inside all day with a 17 month old.
Who wants to hang out outside when it's 115 degrees outside, really?

When I was at the gym today doing my thang on the eliptical, I started looking around at all the fellow gym-goers and I noticed something....EVERYONE had an iPod and I mean EVERYONE. Old, young, hefty and slim-they were all jammin' out to their own music.
It got me thinking: I wonder what they are all listening to?? I almost wanted to stop what I was doing and just poll the room.
So instead, I am going to ask all of you: What song/songs get you to move your feet??
Make a comment and leave me your MUST-HAVE MUSIC LIST.
Make it good b/c I will copy your comment and post it here (don't be shy!) along with my list on the next post.
So go through your iPod and tell, tell tell....this will be fun! Enjoy!

(oh and btw, I know some of you read my blog on a regular basis and you never leave comments-shame on you!) ;-)