Author Archives: Amanda

Princess Fairy Dancer

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Today was a momentous day for me and my photography. My daughter went to her first dance class ever. I have waited for this day since the minute I found out she was a girl. I have always envisioned my daughter as being a little ballerina and knowing how to dance. I have so many ideas for the moments I can photograph of her. She is such an inspiration to my photography…. I present to you the Princess Fairy Dancer.
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The Moment I’ve Been Waiting For….

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I remember the moment I found out that Ella was a girl. I was so excited that I’d have my little ballerina, because let’s face it…. it’s almost every mother’s dream. To see her little girl be a girly girl.


Today the momentous day happened. Ella went to her first dance class ever. I find this one of the most important things to blog about right now, because one day when she’s grown and an elegant dancer, she’ll be able to look back and say…. 9/18/09 was the first day I started to dance, and my mom actually pranced and twirled around the dance floor with me. 


The class she’s in is a mom and tot class, so I get quite the workout and get to have fun right along with her. I love that I have my activities with her that are just her and me. I love that we have this quality time together as mother and daughter and hope that all throughout our lives we have this together.


The little princess, fairy dancer herself….

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Friday Favorites #1 ~ Aloha Friday Family Activites?

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I have one carnival going on, and sometimes people link up, and sometimes they don’t. That’s okay with me… it’s okay, because I started the carnival to guarantee my readers that once a week I will post something inspiring… and hopefully it will motivate their Mondays. Now, I’m starting up another. Do I hope to see people link up? ABSOLUTEY… but even if I don’t link ups, Friday Favorites will still be here.  If you want to skip all this Friday Favorites stuff and head straight over to the Aloha Friday question please scroll down 🙂


I love to do Friday Favorites, and I just usually ramble away with them. I thought about maybe structurizing it a bit this week and adding a linkup – you are more than welcome to link up your Friday Favorites.


Since I’m structurizing I figured I’d go ahead and add some topics below… the names are my kids’ names, you can do whatever subjects that you wish…. but these are the subjects I’m mainly going to stick with.  I may add some other weeks, but these are my main ones!

Accomplishments:  This week I accomplished my huge laundry pile… that by far is my favorite accomplishment.  I know, boring but a favorite of mine!  

Jayden: I overheard Jayden tell his friend not to say God, and to say Gosh instead. For the first time since starting Kindergarten Jayden has found a “real” friend that he really connects with. I see major differences and similarities between the two. I hope that Jayden continues to be the good example that he is. I can’t even express how proud I am of him.

Ella: Oh boy, this girl is TOO MUCH! She started swim lessons this week and we have had so much fun doing them!!  My favorite thing of this week is that she showed that she has a huge heart and loves to see the excitement of others.  I noticed this today at her swim lesson where she wasn’t throwing a fit when other’s were getting turns… instead she just showed excitement.

Marriage: I know that marriage is one of the hardest things, but I am a strong believer in fighting through it all. I feel fortunate that we are both at a very good point in our marriage. My favorite thing about this week to do with my marriage is that I personally am trying to do things to make my husband happy without expectations back.

Favorite Blog of the Week: Definitely 110% my fav new blog for this week is {A Place to Bloom}. It is definitely a place where you can bloom as a mother and wife. One of the writers of the blog is a dear friend of mine and I absolutely love what they are doing.

Favorite Blog Post of the Week (not my own): Believe it or not it’s also from A Place to Bloom. I found {this post} and instantly LOVED it. It’s about spending time together as a family and I believe it is a VERY important thing. This guest poster over at A Place to Bloom had this post very well written.

Photography:  Today, actually, I was referred to somebody to do their wedding.  I’m nervous, but figure I have to start somewhere right?  Another favorite is I finally printed my first 20×30 prints and they were of my beautiful children… I am absolutely in LOVE with the results.  I love walking into my home and seeing such huge displays of what I believe is the most beautiful thing on this planet.


Now for {Aloha Friday} 

What is your favorite thing to do as a family?  I’m talking simple, something that can be done on a weeknight type of a thing.


HERE’S THE LINKUP FOR YOU TO LINKUP YOUR FRIDAY FAVORITE’S POST

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Autism… I think it’s touching our family

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I don’t talk too often about Jayden and the fact that I believe he is autistic. It isn’t something that is so extreme that I feel the need to search for a support group, but it is something that is there. He’s a social boy, he’s sweet, loving and very smart.

Today while picking Jayden up from school his teacher approached me and mentioned to me that she notices that Jayden has a hard time….. and I cut her off with, “Focusing?” Yup, nailed it right on the nose. I get this. I get that Jayden is also different and do I expect special treatment? Absolutely not, but I expect extra understanding. Thankfully, Jayden got with what I think is going to be an amazing teacher! She has been teaching for 24 years, which means she has loads of experience and hopefully patience.

I finally decided to bring up the big “A” word. I explained that we think Jayden has a mild form of Autism, and she had this look of relief all over her face. It is the exact thing she was thinking, but didn’t want to be the first to come out and say it. I’m relieved that she thinks this! I’m relieved, because I have been told over and over again that Jayden is normal…. well, first off there is no normal, and second off I’m 110% that Jayden is Autistic. He has no extreme case here, in fact some people would never get it, but we get it.

I think I’m getting to the point where I need to read up, find a support group and find out what I as a parent can do to help him out. We have always treated Jayden differently and understood certain behaviors. My husband and I have ALWAYS been on board with each other on understanding why Jayden seems to be a bit different. Jayden’s “different” has always been Jayden. We have loved every bit of him and thanked God for his sweet, sweet soul.

The fact that Jayden might have a spectrum of autism really is making me think long and hard tonight.  It’s something I always have known is a possiblity, but it’s never been “confirmed”.  We had a referral to see a specialist in Eugene, OR, but something held me back.  A lady at school analyzed Jayden and said, there’s no way he’s autistic, because he’s too social.  Okay, I know he’s social, and I know he’s not this full blown autistic child, but there is something going on here.  This something, which I believe is autistic, is definitely something about Jayden that I love.  He is a soul that I love and everbody who comes in contact with him loves.

I love how my son is sweet to the core, how he thinks of others, how he is talented, how he is him.  Is it part of his autism?  I don’t believe so, but a part of me feels like he will never be tainted by the evil world I see around us.

Perfect example is he clings to good things.   He clings to good morals, and I cannot explain how wonderful that is to me.  Today he had a friend over and they were playing video games and I heard the boy say “God.” of course it was in a way that most humans say it, in a way they don’t realize that they are using it.  Jayden immediately picked up on it and corrected him.  That to me just shows what a sweet, moral, loving, precious soul he is…. and I don’t believe that has anything to do with autism.

I can’t put my finger on why it is that Jayden is different, and I just am thankful that he is who he is.  I think I am ready to put one foot in front of the other as I attempt to accept what it is that Jayden is, learn what I can do as a parent to help him grow, and be thankful that God blessed me with him, because he is wonderful.

If you are a parent of an autistic kid, please chime in and help to understand where I begin.  I know where to begin with Jayden, but I need support.. I need to know what I need to know, and if you are a parent of an autistic child you may be able to help me.  Jayden is extremely high functioning… a person probably would never be able to even tell, unless they really knew him.

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Couponizer & Giveaway

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Welcome to this week’s Works for Me Wednesday… Kristen over {We are THAT Family} is super awesome and I hope you head back over there for more things that work for others, but in the meantime… I introduce you to the………………

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a blog called {My Frugal Adventures} where I found an amazing deal on something I definitely could use. I then ventured a bit into her blog and discovered that there was this world whesre I could have been saving THOUSANDS of dollars in the past 9 years since I left my mother’s nest.


I could go on and on about coupons, but I won’t. If you’re interested in saving tons and tons of money head over to My Frugal Adventures. It’s a GREAT starting point!!


This review is all about the handy, dandy Couponizer that {Queen Mother Blog} introduced and SOLD to me!!! That’s right people, if you don’t win this giveaway I am going to highly suggest that you get in contact with her and order yours… the system ROCKS!  I’m doing this review IN PICTURES!  This way you will get to see exactly what you’d be getting.

You get your Shopping List!!  Once you write your items on your list you there is a check box that says Coupon, so if you have a coupon for that item you can check it
If you are a smart cookie, you will already have the above picture done before you walk into that store, and then you’ll have your coupons already in the pocket on the left below…. and then as you find your item you grab that coupon and put over in the pocket on the right.
So after you wrestle w/your children and fight your way to the checkout line, you finally have all of your rewards cards in ONE PLACE!!!!  Exciting… I know.  There’s also a handy pocket that says Coupons that will expire this month…. definitely something nice to know.
There are a handful of catagories to store your coupons in….. Including: Baby, Baking & Staples, Beverages, Bread & Bakery, Breakfast, Canned Goods, Condiments, Dressings, & Spices, Dairy, Frozen Foods, Healthy & Medicine, Household Celaning, Household Maintenance, Laundry, Meat, Paper & Plastic, Pasta & Quick Meals, Personal Hygiene & Beauty, Pet, Snacks, Entertainment & Travel, Fast Food & Restaurant, Services, Shops & Retail, Sweepstakes, Refunds, & Rebates, Rewards….. and under each catagory it gives you examples.  I LOVE these pockets and feel completely organized w/my coupons.
After you check out you put your receipt in the handy receipt coupon and IMMEDIATELY when you get home you go over to your Coupon Tracker pad and update your shopping trip.  You can see here that with 2 shopping trips since I’ve had my couponizer I have saved a total of $113.92 with searching for deals going on at stores and using a coupon .  I am so satisfied with my results!

So are you ready for the awesomeness of this entire review?  

 Not only did you learn that you can save money and be organzied while doing so, but you have the chance to win one yourself!!!!  How you ask?  Well let me just break it down for ya….



Simply leave a comment for an entry!


Want more than just one entry for this cool tool?  I don’t blame you… here’s how you can get them:


1)  {Subscribe} or follow my blog


2) Follow me on {Twitter}


3) Tweet about this giveaway (you can do this once a day and get an extra entry for every tweet you send)


4) Blog about this giveaway and link back here 


For every extra entry you earn be sure to leave an extra comment for each and every single one.  The winner will be chosen on  Monday, September 21, 2009.  The giveaway closes @ 12:01am PST on 9/21/09.

Also being submitted for Things I Love Thursday over at {Diaper Diaries}

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2 Month Old Paxton

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A little glimpse at such a beautiful little soul. This little precious baby boy is my nephew and I enjoy taking pictures of him all of the time.  I thought I’d share a couple of him, and one of him and his mama and one with my Ella and him.  Today Paxton turned 2 months old and we took him out for a fun little photo shoot.

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Just a Motivating Monday – Marriage

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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! 

Every week I do a post on something inspiring. Something that might touch your soul and inspire you in some way. Sometimes people link up with things that motivate them, and that’s okay. There’s no wrong way with this carnival and I just wanted to throw that out there. You can link up motivating or inspiring…. either way it will move us 🙂

With that little note said, I’m writing yet another piece on something that inspires me….
Greet one another with a kiss of love — 1 Peter 5:14

It’s the little things in life that matter. It’s the casual smile, the squeeze of the hand, the random phone call in the middle of the day that truly screams “I LOVE YOU!”

I’m hoping to inspire you to do something random and beautiful for your marriage today….. Choose one of the following ideas and do them! Yes, I’m totally stealing these ideas from the book Fireproof:

Call your husband at work and just ask how his day is going


Write a love letter and leave it inside of his pants/shirt pockets 
 
Don’t say anything negative to your spouse (this is hard, but well worth it!)
 
Do a random act of kindness


One thing I am starting to learn and try my hardest in practicing in my marriage is to wake up thinking what can I do to make his day happy. It’s hard, sometimes we as human beings tend to want to be selfish, but in a marriage you can’t be selfish. You will see that if you start living your life to make your husband happy, make his life easier, happier he will in turn want to do the same for you. So in the end it’s a win/win… and if he doesn’t in turn do that, that feeling of doing nice things for your husband are well worth it!

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The Two That Grasp My Heart

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Such an age of innocence. A precious age where a lolly pop is pure joy. A precious soul that has a smile that shows me what pure joy is all about.

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A young man that used to be my baby. Has a soul about him that would melt your heart and make you just want to grab and hug him. He is my little man… he will always be my baby.

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A Sign?

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Occasionally we hear of things that make our eyebrows raise. We don’t fully understand or believe until the unsight is seen. It’s hard to grasp the unnormal, or even to fully understand it. Last night the unseen happened to me.
I was in the bath last night, reading The Shack. Such a powerful book, even in the beginning… it just has this thing about it that really draws you in. While deep in my book my towel, which was perfectly hung over the towel rack started moving. I have never seen something move like that in my life. I have seen channels change, buttons on phones pushed, but those are electronics… there was definitely some explanation. I have had my Mya necklace go from the medicine cabinet to the Washing Machine with no explanation as to how, but then again I didn’t see it move by itself with my own eyes.
I quickly jumped out of the bath, feaked out, grabbed the towel that was just moving by itself and wrapped myself in it, dried off, got dressed and ran downstairs. I told Gino to pause his show and told him what had happened. The look on his face was different, and then he told me, “Okay, I was just sitting here and the wipes that were sitting on a box moved and fell off of the box onto the ground.
What are the odds? We could be freaked out, but I think we’re taking this as a sign from Mya. Mya telling us that she’s still here with us, and she knows the pain that we feel over here, especially with her anniversary being this month.
I feel fortunate to have that happen to the both of us. I feel fortunate to know that there is something bigger out there, and when we leave this life we still exist, we still love, and we still can come to visit our loved ones.



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Friday Favorites/ALOHA! ~ Reviews on Blogs?

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MY FRIDAY FAVORITES ~ **if you’re here for Aloha Friday and don’t care about my favs of the week scroll on down**
What a week! Actually, it was pretty uneventful for me. Jayden started 2nd Grade…. that gets its own post in its own, but the same day he also started soccer.
Ella has officially started her terrible 2 tantrums today. I in no way paid any mind to them and completely ignored them… hopefully she gets the hint that a) she won’t get her way and b) she’ll get no attention from it.
My son actually brought me a shook up soda… I can’t believe he actually did this.  
HUGE accomplishment for us…. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (and unfortunately we missed tonight) we had family scripture reading. I’m trying really hard on structurizing my evenings in this house from the time Jayden gets out of school to the time they go to bed. The past 2 nights are complete successes on both kids in bed by 9pm! Jayden hasn’t even been getting up to sneak down for water. I need this time. Gino and I need this time too. It’s nice that when he gets home from work it will just be us…. no kids!
I’ve talked about Katie and Ryan on my blog, and I just wanted to say that it sounds like she’s getting better every day, however, I know her heart is still aching for the loss of her husband. Please keep her and everyone who was touched by Ryan in your prayers for the healing of their hearts.
My friend Anne started a great new blog w/her friend. They post posts that moms and housewives can really use in their daily lives. Delicious recipes, sewing patterns, tips that we can all use. It’s called {A Place to Bloom} they chose such a beautiful name for it! It’s definitely worth the checking out!!
This week I discovered that I have been losing out on THOUSANDS of dollars. I have never been the bargain shopper, never paid any mind to coupons, and I’m actually sickened by it. {My Frugal Adventures} turned me on to this new adventure in my life and I am now proud to say that I AM A COUPON JUNKIE! And I’m PROUD OF IT!
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OKAY! Now for {Aloha Friday}!


How do you go about doing reviews on your blog? This is something I really interested in doing, but don’t know how to start. This is something I definitely want to get into. I have done reviews for people I know… never really just a random person.






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