Tonight My Heart is Heavy

Life is short. Boy is it ever so short. I talked on my blog a while back about my problems with my IUD and how I was going through hormone testing and the Nurse Practitioner that I was seeing was WONDERFUL. She was so nice, layed back, took the time to hear you out. I loved her! I just found out that in April she fell and slipped into a coma… and she never came out of it.  Just like that, a wonderful person gone from this world.  





Today is a little girl that will just melt your heart’s 2nd birthday.  However, she’s not here to celebrate it.  I’ve seen her pictures all over people’s blog and waited until today to finally head over to her mom’s blog and get to know sweet Maddie.  Oh my goodness….. I sat here tonight reading her mom’s letter to her today and cried and cried and hugged my babies.  One day she was here, the next day she was gone.  Life is so short.  And Maddie’s story really makes you stop, think and appreciate every moment that you are given with your babies.


To read all about Maddie… go {HERE} for her mama’s blog or {HERE} for her Daddy’s blog.  I waited a really, really long time to suck it up and cry with them… but I’m so happy I did.  I hope you too will go and become a friend of Maddie… she’ll melt your heart.

I have been so close to losing Ella, that stories like these crush me.  I’ve been there…. I’ve actually sat there hearing them call codes on my little girl.  At one point I thought she was gone… I know what it’s like to drop to your knees and pray that your baby won’t die…. and I’m so fortunate to still have her here.  I can’t imagine what not only Heather & Mike (Maddie’s Mama & Daddy) but all of the parents in this world that have had to suffer the heart wrenching loss of a child have had to go through… and still go through every, single day.

My heavy heart can go on and on.  I feel like I’m mourning a sister.  I haven’t unleashed the drama that’s been going on, but I’ve decided to break my silence and talk about how I feel.  My sister has turned into somebody that I do not like.  Somebody who talks disgustingly and someone that I am ashamed to say is my sister.  My sister wouldn’t act the way she’s been acting.  But in the end I think I’ve learned something that I’ve always known.  You turn into who you hang around.  So, it’s so vital that you choose to hang around people that inspire you, challenge you to grow, and have virtue, values & morals.  Because if you choose to hang out with anything less, unfortunately you will be less.  I am in mourning, because things that have been said can’t be taken back.  I have been challenging myself to personal growth, and during personal growth you need to ensure that you are not surrounded by people who hold you back, live negatively and have no virtue, values or morals, because the last thing you want to do is turn into them.  

Life is short though, and I’m sad to say that I’ve had to accept the fact that my sister and my brother are both individuals that will always be stuck in their rut.  Living a life that is not something to be proud of, and until they accept this and learn and grow from this they’ll never change.  They will continue to always be hustling their way through life.  A life without honesty, a life without morals…. it’s so unfortunate.  But I have to remember that in order for me to continue with my personal growth I have to stay away from them.  I have to look at the negativity they hold, the hate they hold, the evil they hold in them and pray for them.  My brother is not someone that has ever had good in him.  I’ve been through it all with him, and honestly feel quite secure in not being in his life.  Anybody who can walk away from their own flesh & blood child and deny them is evil.  My sister, however, I’ve always loved her.  It’s unfortunate what’s happened, but I’m okay with it now.  Yes, Jessica, I do check your myspace status, because I want to see how my niece and nephew are doing.  The things you put on there lets the ghetto and trash in you shine on.  I wish we could mend this crap we’re going through, but I’ve realized since it’s started that you are not a person that I want in my world… and fortunately I get to choose who’s in my world.  I choose class, virtue, morals, and people striving to better themselves, which are things you don’t hold.  I hope one day you learn how to.

My heart is heavy, but at the end of the day I have a wonderful husband that makes me happier than I ever thought possible.  A son that never fails to put a smile on my face and warm my heart and a daughter that is and always will be  my rainbow after the storm.  My heart is heavy, but I love every thing I have in my life.  I feel fortunate to have the blessings that continue to pour down on my family.  I will continue to keep my prayers with those in this world that truly need it….. and I will continue to send my balloons to the people in heaven like Mya, my precious daughter who will always have a huge piece of my heart with her, Maddie, who has touched a world of people with her beautiful eyes and smile, and Karen… my nurse who woke up one day and didn’t know it was going to be her last.
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A little edition of my kids say

I figured it was time for another little blog post about the things that my kids say…. the things that shock me and make me laugh and wonder WHERE DID THEY GET THAT FROM?!?!


Ella: The other night we were sitting down eating dinner and this little girl who just turned 2 in August told her dad “I don’t have to.” After he told her to eat her dinner. She said it with a little attitude on her face and Gino and I just looked at each other with this look like… Oh boy, we’re in for it!


Jayden: This one was hilarious! Where he got this is beyond me!! We were pulling into the Walmart parking lot when we saw a cop pulling someone over. Jayden says very softly, “Oh no… there’s a cop. Just drive slow and act natural!” Haha!!!!!

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Just a Motivating Monday – Success

If you’re just joining in:
-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others. 

-Please link back to Garibay Soup 

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other’s blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you 🙂 So, spread the comment love!

“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” ~Albert Schweitzer


Success… something that his been so strongly on my mind lately. But what is success? Success to me is something different than success to you, but in the end I think we all believe that we have reached our success once we are happy in our lives, happy with our situations.  Yet, I believe that we should continue on.

I am happy, and I feel that I have already met a great deal of success in my life to be at the point I am at today. But I know that there is so much more that I can achieve in life, and so much more happiness to be discovered. So, I continue on in my search for further success.

Life to me is such a journey and learning process. We should never cut ourselves short and settle in life for something that has just became comfortable…. we need to continue to challenge ourselves and be happy. Once you get stuck in a rut, well at least when I get stuck in a rut, I’m not happy. For us to continue to be successful in this life constantly challenge yourself for happiness, which will in turn lead to success.

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Just when I thought it was over….

Oh boy… if my neighbor only knew that I was sitting here blogging about his life.. UGH! That’s okay… he never needs to know! So here I go airing out more…

“Assistant” has my phone number.  When I first met her I really was clueless to what was going on next door and I had told her I do photography, she wanted me to do her daughter’s pictures so I handed her a business card.  She called…

She wanted to inform me that she called the cops, because “Jim” has some of her stuff and she has some of his, she wants to exchange property.  Well, she’s trying to get statements together from people to give to the cops showing him what “Jim” does.  Okay, what does this have to do with me??!?!?  I’m not a hooker… I’ve only talked to the man a few times.  Oh, right… one of those conversations was quite awkward.  

When I met “Assistant” she had just gotten her boob job.  That kinda spiked my curiosity of what in the world does he do?  I knew he was an artist, because I’ve seen him load his canvases in the car, but what kind of “Assistant” gets a boob job?  So I asked.  I asked him, “Jim”, what is it that you do?  It was a day I was loading my kids in the car as he was putting art in his.  He told me that he takes exotic pictures of women…. oh, so that explains the unusual traffic of women… whatever *rollseyes* Then came the kicker…. “I’m going to say this in the most respectable way I can.  If you ever want to do pictures for your husband I would love to do them.”  Yes, he really said that to me.  My thoughts… oh, yeah, I’m just going to have some random, old perv take my pictures!  Let me just take off my clothes for ya…. H TO THE N-O!

So, phone call today… she wants a statement about it and then told me that if I had allowed him to (um, never an option) that he would have made money off my pictures.  That’s great!  Could you imagine????  Not that I would EVER, EVER, EVER allow ANYBODY to take pictures of me…. could you imagine if I was clueless, had no self respect and wanted to go ahead with it… then one day when I became rich and famous (because we all know one day it will happen) the pictures came to haunt me… lovely.
I wonder what else is going to unfold.  I don’t like being the person they both talk to, however, I like to know what’s going on.  I’m a girl, and drama is my nature.  I don’t like being a part of drama, but I LOVE HEARING ABOUT IT!

Wow…. um, yeah…. Celeste, I know you’re reading this, my friend.  And I’d like you to give your Mother In-Law two thumbs up for me on the winner she chose to rent your old house… and while you’re at it… COME BACK!!!!  I FRICKING MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY!  Just think about the fun our girls can have together living next door to each other again.  And P.S. Saturday is going to be SO MUCH FUN!!!  I HAVE NEEDED A GIRLS NIGHT OUT SINCE MY BIRTHDAY!  That’s pathetic huh?  I owe you for your birthday so it’s going to be FUN!

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Neighbor Drama Continued

I got sick and couldn’t continue on with the neighbor saga, but here I am to continue for all of those who were calling/emailing/DMing LOL  Names are being changed to protect identity.

There was a knock on my door and I answer to find his “assistant” standing there, sunglasses on and not very happy.  “Do you know how to get ahold of “Jim”?”  She asked.  “Um, no.”  I’m sitting here thinking why would I know how to get ahold of him?  I’m just the neighbor that sits back and watches all the weirdness go on.

She tells me that he turned off her and her kids’ cell phones, changed his number, threatened to kill himself.  He’s in debt because he would spend between $300-$500 a day on escorts.  And that’s where I laughed and said oh… I thought he was a pimp.  She looked at me and said, “Oh, he makes money off of these girls too.”  WOW.  So he is a pimp!

“Assistant” continues to stop by wondering if he’s come home yet.  He actually has come home, cleaned out his garage so he can park his car in there, poured out all of his alcohol and disposed of the bottles in recycling, and is kinda hiding out from her.  I have no idea what in the world is going on.  I saw him yesterday and asked how he’s doing and he said that he’s doing better.  I asked if he has kids and he said yes, and his wife of 25 years passed away.  Then he jokingly said… “I don’t think that’s the reason for my actions this summer.”  I think he had a breakdown.  

So, “assistant’s” story is that he’s basically a pimp that sleeps with escorts.  His story is that him and “assistant” broke up.  Somebody is delusional, and my bet is on HIM.  Although he did buy “assistant” a boob job, and from my calculations, this happened towards the beginning of whatever relationship they were having.

My thoughts are, she was part of his “business” or whatever the heck it was, and he took their relationship a little more seriously.  I think he realized that he was drinking way too much, stopped drinking and realized what in the world he had been up to these last few months.  I think he decided to change everything and had to cut her out of the picture in order for this to work.  These are just my thoughts on it, who knows.  You can tell the man is lost in this world.  

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Just a Motivating Monday – Blueprint Your Days



If you’re just joining in:
-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others. 

-Please link back to Garibay Soup 

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other’s blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you 🙂 So, spread the comment love!

I’m one that wakes up and goes with the flow.  I don’t know why, but I haven’t been mapping out my days.  I know what things need to get done and kinda wing it.  Not a smart thing to do when I have a household to take care of, a job I do at home to stay on top of, and a company I am building so I can accomplish all of my dreams.

The logical thing to do is to make a blueprint of my day the night before.  I have weekly goals that I know need to be done, so I am looking at my week and decide which days I need to do what.  Tonight I sat down and did a blueprint for each day of this week so that I can wake up and know what needs to be done.

I know that this might be something that most people do, but I don’t. Working at home can sometimes be challenging and I need to find a new way to reach the goals I NEED to reach.  

It feels good when you accomplish something.  I’ve been reading this amazing book called The Power of Focus and received this idea from them.  We need to map out everything in our lives and focus on the blueprints that we make. If we aren’t making blue prints then how the heck to we intend to arrive on the ending result?

I’m starting this tomorrow, not only for my immediate goals, but my long term goals and dreams.  I hope that this will motivate you to do the same.   



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Probably the worst Halloween EVER… we survived though

Our Halloween DEFINITELY did not go as planned. It was just a straight up catastrophe from the get go. I woke up feeling absolutely HORRIBLE. That’s the first bad thing, then….


I got moody. Moody Amanda is no good. Especially on a holiday! Gino was scheduled to get off at 6, so my job was to get the kids ready. I couldn’t even do that right. Orginally Ella was going to be a lady bug, since she already had the ladybug fairy dress. Well, the in-laws bought her a really cute Witch outfit, so I figured I go with that. She wore that to Jayden’s school party, then for Halloween I couldn’t find where I put the dress. UGH! I had just seen it and btw, it’s still MIA. So, I thought… okay… she can go back to being the lady bug. NOPE! We could only find 1 ladybug boot… WHAT THE HECK?!?!??!?! I thought they were both in the car, but only one was there…. GREAT. So, I can’t believe I did this, but I grabbed leggings, a tutu & her wings that she wore for her 1st birthday and put glitter on her face and told her she was a butterfly. Problem SOLVED.

Weather sucked and was all rainy, so we decided to head over to the mall for some safe, warm trick or treating.  Ella caught on to Mommy’s nasty attitude of the day (honestly it was only because I FELT LIKE CRAP!) and decided to adopt it as her own attitude.  She was actually kicking people that were in front of us in line!  I couldn’t believe it my precious, cute little butterfly was going around kicking people.  She did say thank you after she got her candy though… made me so proud.


And for the record… we didn’t carve pumpkins, we didn’t decorate, and all in all it was a crappy Halloween…. next year I am promising myself and my kids that it will be a GOOD Halloween to remember 🙂


Life isn’t always about roses.

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And I was like…. wooooa!

I’m a girl… and girls LOVE a good soap opera story in real life to watch unfold. Well, maybe not so much a soap opera story, but in this case…. A REAL LIFE O.M.G THERE’S A PIMP NEXT DOOR STORY!


I’m gonna back it up here for a second to last week…. I think it was last week. I drop Gino off at work and pull up to the house to sit in my car talking on the phone to my friend Kandi while Ella watched Winnie the Pooh. I figured I’d just hang out in the car, wait for her to fall asleep then drive to pick up Jayden. Well, lo and behold, Mr. Mysterious that lives next door and leaves at all hours of the night and did I mention IS OLD is at his house with his “assistant”.  Next events happen quite quickly and entire time I’m in complete shock thinking I KNEW IT!!!!


– Trashy car pulls up, blonde bimbo w/tats gets out of car and walks up to house where “assistant” is standing. (Keep in mind I’m in my car, engine off & tinted windows) Trashy girl hands “assistant” a wad of money.


-Mr. Mysterious comes outside and “assistant” walks over to her car while trashy blonde bimbo w/tats goes in the house with Mr. Mysterious. “Assistant” waits outside. Then after a few minutes “assistant” walks over to house, lightly knocks and peeks in and then walks in.


-I’m giving a play by play of all actions right now to my friend Kandi and we’re completely just O.M.G CRAZINESS! So the saga continues…


-“Assistant” and blond bimbo w/tats come back outside and the Mr. Mysterious follows…. CRAP! This is where I get caught. Mr. Mysterious sees me in the car… I pretend like I’m not looking and am in just a complete serious conversation on my phone. Too late… girls leave and Mr. Mysterious approaches my vehicle.


His words: I’m in a complete love triangle mess! Did you see the girls?


Me: Yes I did!
Me in my head: and I also saw the wad of cash being exchanged


So, he ends up making this total story up to make me not realize that something completely illegal is going on. So, I come to the conclusion that he is indeed a pimp.  


The story doesn’t end here my friends… oh no… the saga continues tomorrow ~ and you’ll find out what exactly this Mr. Mysterious really does… and I’ll tell you this much it’s definitely an O.M.G kind of thing!

Tomorrow’s events will begin…. there was a knock on my door. (and the knock occurred TODAY!  See ya back here tomorrow for the conclusion.

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Aloha Friday – Friday Favorites

Aloha Friday!!!! And of course my Friday Favorites…. Let’s start w/the Friday Favorites:

New Blog that I LOVE: {Twin-Spiration}  LOVE IT! Kandi is an absolutely amazing girl and I love her to death, the fact that she now has a blog is AWESOME!

Ella ~ She’s my best little friend. I have got to say that one of my favorite things that I want to talk about this Friday is the fact that I’m home with her. I couldn’t FATHOM having to leave her with someone and go to work. Miss out on all of the fun we have together through the day. It baffles me that people actually only spend a couple of hours in the evening with their kids. That would CRUSH. MY. HEART.

Jayden ~ my little man. Oh my little man! We went to my inlaws this week and they for the firt time really got a chance to see what being a grandparent to our kids is all about. We actually left them for an entire day…. keep in mind I’ve NEVER left Ella for that long, but they did GREAT. My MIL told me how if Ella was out of the room that he was in he’d check on her and make sure that she’s okay. He’s so protective of her. I love that… and I love him.

My husband is totally awesome and this week I’ve seen his eyes light up and him grasp and understand my passion for my new mission in life to better our life.  I’m so excited to have him on board with me and brainstorming with me.  I really love this man.


Okay now for ALOHA FRIDAY!

What are you dreams, and what are you doing to achieve them?


Make sure you join in and answer the ?’s of many others over at  {Island Life}

700th Post – A Little Insight

This stands as lucky blog post #700.  My life has been busy lately!  Good busy though!  I have a lot on my plate, but feel so fortunate with everything going on with me.  Things in my life are changing, I’m changing and I couldn’t be more excited.  Ever since I read The Secret a few years ago I swear my life has gotten better and better.  I have learned how to focus on the positive things in life and  I just continue to attract positive things to me and my family.

I know that in life I’m not always 110% positive, but I try my hardest to look at the positive i ANY situation… even situations that downright just seem gloomy.  I feel like I have tried to focus a part of my blog on positivity and helping people to realize that if we focus on negative things we will receive negative results.  I believe that if you truly believe that everything in your life will work out, it will. I am going to sit here right now and tell you that it works.  

I read something in a book that I picked up yesterday called The Power of Focus.  I have only read the first chapter and am already seeing wonderful points… one in particular struck me today. 

If you keep doing what you’ve always done, then you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got.

Stop and read that… and then reread it again.  It is probably one of the most simple but truest statements out there.  Are you happy?  Are you struggling?  You are where you are at right now, at this very moment because of choices you have made in your past.  If you are happy with where you are at, then keep doing what you’re doing.  If you’re not happy, and know that there is so much more that you are worth and are capable of being, then change your life now.  Decide what your dreams are that you want and start mapping out your road to achieving them.  The only way to be greater than you are now is to step out of your comfort zone and get there. 

Hope that gives you a little insight for my 700th post ~ and hope to see you back here on Monday for Just a Motivating Monday… working on something special!

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