Shoes

Who doesn't love shoes? I know I do. I was looking through a fellow blooger's website and found Karmaloop. What in the world is Karmaloop you ask? Well, they are an online re-seller of name brand underground streetwear & fashion and are located in Downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Anyway, back to the subject of shoes. I found these super cute Betsey Johnson shoes on their website.

I mean how cute are these?! You can check them out at the Karmaloop. If you're going to purchase anything enter my rep code SOMPATH and you'll receive 20% off your entire first purchase!

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Sigma Beauty - Miss Taylor Kabuki Brush

As some of you may know, I am an affiliate of Sigma Beauty. I was actually referred to them by one of my friends who's as in love with makeup as I am. She loves, loves their brushes, and recommended me to buy some from them. So when I can, I will be purchasing some Sigma Beauty Brushes, or I'll probably get one of the professional kits. Their pricing is descent, nothing to outrages which works well for me and I'm sure works well for a lot of you out there. Anyway, I recently did a giveaway, sponsored by Sigma Beauty for the Miss Taylor Kabuki Brush. Let me tell you, this brush is outstanding! I love the purple case it came in and the bristles are so soft! The brush easily retracts back into place, no bristles hanging out where they shouldn't be. Overall this brush is great and has many uses.

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Eye Kandy Cosmetics - Sprinkles Glitter

Since my twin boys were feeling better today, I had a chance to play with my new Eye Kandy Sprinkles Glitter. I went a little bold today and did what I call a "cotton candy" look because it reminds me of cotton candy =). The glitter colors I used were Hard Candy (blue), Tiny Tart (purple), and Double Bubble (pink). Along with my Sprinkles I also used some of my MAC pigments to help get some color under the glitter. I had a lot of fun playing with my new products and what I love most about the Eye Kandy Sprinkles Glitter is that it was super easy to use and it didn't flake into my eyes at all. Once you put the glitter on you just wait a few seconds for it to dry and voila! Perfect bright colors that glimmer and shine and doesn't flake or fade, it lasts pretty much all day until you wipe it off. I totally recommend Eye Kandy Cosmetics to everyone who loves glitter. They have awesome glitter products, not to mention their minerals are pretty fantastic as well. Check out my pictures below. I didn't do an actual tutorial on this one because I just wanted to play with the glitter a little bit first. So stay tuned for that!

::EDITED::
Check out the tutorial on how to get this look at [Tutorial] Eye Kandy Cosmetics - Cotton Candy

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Eye Kandy Cosmetics - Giveaway

So here it is girls, check out the pictures below to see what I will be giving away this time. After trying their products myself, I figured I could do a giveaway since this stuff is so awesome!

Giveaway:

What: Eye Kandy Cosmetics Bag with a value of $28.00.
          In the Bag:
          1 Liquid Sugar Base
          3 Sprinkles Glitter - Colors: Ginger Snap, Toffee and Double Bubble
          1 small brush

When: April 9, 2011 to April 30, 2011

How to enter:

1.) Like this giveaway link through the Beautiful Inside and Out Facebook group page, its open so anyone can join! You can like it as many times as I post it in one day, so be on the look out I might re-post this link a few times through out the day. One like on the link equals one entry.

2.) Become a follower to my blog, Breen Life, and you'll receive 5 entries. For those of you who are already on my subscribers list, you will automatically receive 5 entries unless you email me to notify me declining to be in this giveaway. (Note: This is a one time deal, you only get 5 entries once)


I will chose a winner via random.org on May 1, 2011. Once the winner has been chosen, they have 2 days to respond with their mailing address. If they do not respond within 2 days, I will then choose another winner. When we have a winner who has acknowledged that they won, I will post the winner in my Blog as well as in the Beautiful Inside and Out Facebook group page. Good luck to everyone!

If you have any questions, please email me at sammiesweeps@gmail.com (please do not spam my email). Good luck to everyone!

**Note: Unfortunately I cannot make this giveaway an international one due to shipping costs, I apologize for this inconvenience, but hopefully the next giveaway I can ship internationally. Open to all U.S.A. residents** 



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Eye Kandy Cosmetics - Review

 I recently ordered products from Eye Kandy Cosmetics, and they are quick to ship the products! I received them in 2 days! Really truly amazed at the fast shipping and awesome packaging. Nothing was out of place, nothing was broken so that is always a plus.

I have never really worked with this type of glitter before, but it wasn't very hard. I had no trouble applying the Sprinkles Glitter in Black Bart as an eye liner, which came out perfect! I loved the way it gave my eyeliner a little more shine than normal liquid eye liner. And no, the glitter didn't even flake into my eyes at all! I wear contacts so that is a big plus for me. They have tons of pretty Sprinkles Glitter colors so that you can create any look your little hear desires. I will have to play with the glitter a little more since I have never used this type of makeup before, but this will be tons of fun!


I absolutely positively love the Sprinkles Mineral colors. Usually I have to apply my make up with a damp brush because colors don't really like to show up on my eyes cause of my dark skin tone. But the Sprinkles Mineral colors are a-freaken-mazing! You don't have to pack on a ton of the minerals, which is another plus for me. I really wished I would have chosen and bought more mineral colors, but I always have time for that later =).

Overall, I really like the products, easy to work with, and you get a lot of color for your buck. I love the little pods, because now I can put like 10 different colors in my makeup bag and still have room for other stuff. Pricing is fairly descent, I think that's why I chose to try them out. At times I am a cheapo so this works pretty well for my budget. On that note, I am doing an Eye Kandy Bag giveaway, sponsored by me, so check it out under giveaway tab.

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Eye Shadow Tutorial

So, I am going to start doing more picture tutorials, but I just wanted to get everyone's thoughts. What colors/shades or styles should I do next? Or, more like, what would you guys like to see next? Times like these I really wish I had a better video camera! I know its so much easier to learn how to do makeup by watching a video, but a picture tutorial is the only thing that I can do for now, so bare with me. Anyway, let me know what your thoughts are on what I should do next! Thanks!


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Sigma Beauty Giveaway - Winner

I just want to thank everyone who participated in my Sigma Beauty Giveaway, but we now have a winner. I used the Random.org website and entered everyone manually. I did a test run before I did the real drawing to see if it really worked and it does because the test draw came up totally different from the real draw. Ok, anyway, The winner is Diane Chintharasy! Congratulations, you have won the Miss Taylor Kabuki Brush. I hope you enjoy your new brush! For those of you that didn't win, don't worry I will be having another give away soon!

 

I know its hard to see, but you get the idea!

Eye Kandy Cosmetics

I was looking through the exhibitors list for the I.M.A.T.S for the Los Angeles location and came across Eye Kandy Cosmetics:
                   
                             " Eye Kandy is a brand new company that offers the latest
                               breakthrough in glitter cosmetics. Our revolutionary liquid 
                               adhesive base, Liquid Sugar, sets us apart from all other
                               glitter cosmetics."

They have some pretty amazing products with fairly decent pricing and I'm really interested in becoming a reseller for them. So I ordered a few things and cannot wait for them to get here so I can play. Of course I will be doing another tutorial on their products. So, on that note, I ordered an extra Eye Kandy Bag from them which I will be doing a giveaway on, so please stay tuned for that giveaway! Here's a sneak peak at what the giveaway will be, valued at $28.
This Bag will include
        1 Bottle of the Liquid Sugar Base
        3 Eye Kandy Sprinkles (mineral colors TBD)
        1 Applicator Brush

I'll be sure to post better and up close pictures of the product once it is in. Don't for get to be on the look out for this giveaway!



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Beautiful Inside and Out

I have created a Facebook Group page, Beautiful Inside and Out. This group is there for everyone who needs help in the how to's in makeup and hair and everything else to make you feel beautiful on the inside and the outside. Anyone can join, male, female, it is open to the public. You can post about anything you've tried or heard about to beautify yourself from the inside and out. Anyone can post about deals and steals because who wouldn't love a good deal on makeup, hair, nail, and health products? Anyway, check it out and feel free to join!


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True Colors Original

 I remember when I was working at the local Mall when I was in High School, I know that was way too long ago, anyway, there was this kiosk there that had this makeup brand called True Colors. I wasn't into wearing a whole lot of makeup 10 years ago, but now I have a passion for it. I'm not too sure if True Colors has changed their formula from 10 years ago, but I'm thinking they might have. I used my friends stack before (along time ago) and I really liked the colors and how it came out because if you hadn't notice I am on the darker shade of the color scale and its hard to find make up that will show up on my darker toned skin. I think with any pigmented eye shadow it will of course flake a little if not a lot. The answer to that, is to use a makeup wipe and clear the flakes off your face. Anyway, check out the colors of some of the stacks I found. I think it is awesome that they color coordinate their stacks because frankly, some people do not know how to color blend or mix and match colors, the color coordination really helps those in need of color mixing.

So on that note, I'm kind of looking into doing a resale program or a home party program for this product. Let me know what you guys think!

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Matte Brown Eye Shadow

I was totally bored the other day and decided to do a picture tutorial on how I apply Matte Brown eye shadow. I don't have a video blog, mainly because I don't have a good enough video camera and the video camera on my phone doesn't upload to you tube clearly enough. Anyway, here goes!

Matte Brown Eye Shadow look

Step One:
Fill in your eye brows if you need to, here I used a mixture of the Caramel Ice and Charcoal. Next apply an eyelid primer, this helps your eye shadow to stick and last longer. I used an ELF Eyelid Primer, works great and is a pretty sheer color.

Step Two:
Apply the brown eye shadow to both eyes, I used Caramel ice from my Sheer Cover Sophisticate Palette. As you can see I just packed it on, in this step you will see a line between your brown eye shadow and the primer. No need to worry about this because the next step is to blend that line.

Step Three:
Now, blend the brown shadow. I always blend in a circular motion going from my outer eyelid to the inner eyelid. Repeat this process to your other eyelid. as you can see in the picture, on the right, my left eye is blended. I did this to show you what the difference looks like.

Step Four:
Apply the black to the outer corner of your eyelid. I used the Charcoal color from my Sheer Cover Sophisticate Palette. Again, pack it on because you will blend it out in the next step.

Step Five:
Blend the black into your crease. The crease is the contour of your eyelid (notice the line of my eyelid, that is what you want to aim for when blending the black). The picture on the right shows both eyes blended.

Step Six:
Apply a highlight color underneath your eye brow and blend into your brown. Here I like to blend downwards in a circular motion from the outer eyelid to the inner eyelid. I used the Ballerina color from my Sheer Cover Sophisticate Palette.

Step Seven:
Apply eye liner to the top eyelid and follow with mascara. I always do a thin line of eyeliner, because I like the thinner look better than the thick look. For the eyeliner I used Maybeline's Stilletto Liquid Eye Liner in Blackest Black. For my mascara I used L'Oreal's Voluminous in Carbon Black.

Step Eight:
Apply a pencil eye liner to your bottom eyes. I also like to apply eye shadow directly beneath my eye liner. Here I used Ballerina in the inner corner of my lower eye to probably about a third of the way, then I used the Caramel Ice another third of the way and lastly I used the Charcoal for the remainder third of my under eye. Be sure to blend a little bit as you go.

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I.M.A.T.S - International Make-Up Artist Trade Show

This is the first time I have ever heard of this show! I totally want to go, because I love make-up and would love to learn how to apply better too. Anyway, I think I will have to get a bunch of my girlfriends and plan a girls day to go to I.M.A.T.S.- International Make-Up Artist Trade Show.There are going to be so many exhibitors there, M.A.C., Sigma Beauty, Eye Kandy Cosmetics, Nyx, Make Up For Ever, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics... The list just keeps going on and on! So with that said, the details are below. Who wants to go??

What: I.M.A.T.S - International Make-up Artist Trade Show

When: Satuday, June 25, 2011
           Public Hours: 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
           Sunday, June 26, 2011
           Public Hours: 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

Where: Pasadena Convention Center
            300 E Green St, Pasadena, CA 91011

Price: Pre-sale tickets end May 23, 2011
          One day: $35.00
          Two day: $65.00
          Exhibit Floor Only: $20 USD
        Tickets at the door
          One day ticket    $45.00 USD
          Two day ticket    $75.00 USD
          Exhibit Floor Only    $30.00 USD
          Child ticket (under 12)    $20.00 USD

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Sigma Giveaway

Yes you read that right! I will be giving away a brand new Miss Taylor Kabuki Brush from Sigma Beauty.

Miss Taylor Kabuki Brush

The Miss Taylor Kabuki Brush is a retractable flat top kabuki. You can use it to apply powder products such as blush, bronzer, foundation and highlighter. It also features the SigMax fiber for high definition application.


Sigma Giveaway Information:
Prize: One Miss Taylor Kabuki Brush
When: April 4, 2011 to April 8, 2011

How to enter:
1.) You can "Like" my Facebook link of this Sigma giveaway that I will be posting once a day. (You can "like" it once a day, so be on the look out for the link to "like" because you can like it all week long and that will be more entries for you!)
 

2.) Share this Sigma Give-Away blog on your Facebook page, simply by "sharing" from my posts. (The more you "share" my link, the more entries you will receive.)
**If your friends "like" this link through your "sharing", you will receive another entry**
** If you are not my friend personally but "like" this link through one of my  friend's page, that will get you an entry to this give-away contest**

3.) Subscribe to my blog for an entry to this give-away contest. (all current subscribers will automatically be entered unless they email me personally to inform me that they are declining to be in this giveaway.)

** Contest will be over Friday, April 8th at 4:00 P.M.**


I will chose the winner at 7:00 p.m. pacific time on Friday, April 8th via Random.org. I will email the winner and notify them that they won. The winner will have 2 days to respond with their mailing address, and if the first winner chosen has not responded to me within 2 days I will choose another winner. Once I have chosen a winner and they have accepted, I will announce it on my blog as well as my Facebook page. Good luck to everyone!

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Sigma

So, a friend of mine referred me to Sigma because she just recently bought their makeup brushes. Denise, my friend, said that they were amazingly good brushes. She's also a makeup guru, as I like to think of myself as a guru, so she has all sorts of makeup, different brands and brushes, so when she tells me that these brushes are of great quality I believe her. I actually needed new brushes too so I cannot wait to test these ones out. Check out their website, Sigma, they have some really great brushes with pretty decent pricing.

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Disneyland

So, this past weekend, my husband and our friends took our kids to Disneyland. We were afraid it was going to rain but luckily it didn't, although it was pretty cold out, but there were still tons of people there! All of the kids had a lot of fun, we even stayed to watch the best show ever, Fantasmic. My husband and my oldest son had never seen the show, but overall I think they enjoyed it. It was a much needed mini vacation for us and the kids and I'm glad we got the chance to go and have some good family and close friends quality time together. Hope everyone else had a great weekend! Stay warm everyone.

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Anti-Asian

I really hate to give this girl publicity, but ever since I saw her video, it just stuns me how ignorant people are. Alexandra Wallace recently posted a video on You Tube ranting about being annoyed by an Asian person talking on their cell phone in the Library at UCLA. I totally understand that she has the freedom of speech, but she was totally being racist and inconsiderate. She rants about someone talking to their family member, who is in Japan after the devastation of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake followed by massive tsunamis that killed hundreds, probably even thousands of people.

I'm pretty sure that its not only Asian people that talk on the phone in the library, but she classified it as being only Asians, and then mocking their language. Clearly she doesn't know the difference from a Chinese person to a Japanese person. This one anti-Asian rant she let loose will follow her for the rest of her life and haunt her. People will know that she's racists. Obviously she isn't as smart as she thinks she is. Anyway, if you haven't seen the videos yet, check it out below.

Here is another video of a rebuttal from DavidsoComedy. His rebuttal is pretty funny.

Working out

So today I started back on my work outs after two weeks of not working out due to catching a cold. Feels good to be working out again. I would love to lose about 20lbs, if not then losing the inches would work too. If anyone has any advice on what type of exercises I can do at home I would really appreciate it. I have a treadmill at home so I use that a lot. I also do the p90x Yoga, which is super intense! Then the basic lunges and squats and sit ups and crunches, dumbbells for curls and what not as well. I need to stay motivated, because some how I always end up quitting after about a month =(. Anyway, I guess I should start a daily log of my exercises, maybe that would help? Hope everyone has a fabulous Tuesday!


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Weekend Things

So I know I haven't posted in a long time. Been very busy with the boys and so many Birthday's this past week!

For starters, I baked a cream cheese pound cake for my friend Jodine, who is expecting her first child in August yay. Anyway, I knew she loved Mrs. Field's cookies, so I wasn't going to bake cookies from scratch, just the pound cake. I layered the bottom with Mrs. Field's chocolate chip cookies, then a layer of pound cake, another layer of cookies and topped it off with a layer of pound cake. Of course adding home made butter-cream frosting in between. It was a lot of fun to make and decorate. It's not professional looking, but I'm getting some practice.

Side picture with nibblers for decoration.

Next, I baked a chocolate chip double layer cookie for our friend Ralphy's Birthday. This time I baked a cookie from scratch. I was in a bit of a hurry because it was decided last minute to make a cake, so I just grabbed the recipe from the bag of Nestle's chocolate chips. I didn't really think of how to decorate this one, but I just went with a color theme. Our friend, Ralphy, is a Raider's fan so I just went with the Raiders color theme. Then my husband came home and said, "You should have made it a Charger's color theme!" LOL. I totally blanked it would have been hilarious to make a Chargers's color theme cake for him. Anyway, this one is not professional either, but I'm working on it.

Last minute cookie cake.

I know the handwritting is a bit uneven and ugly, but keep in mind I was in a hurry. =)

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Baking - Cakes

So, today I am attempting to bake a cream cheese pound cake. What I intend to do it layer the bottom with cookies to make it like a cookie cake and then put the pound cake on top, then decorate it with more cookies! I am excited, and a little scared because I have the whole idea implanted in my head, but afraid it won't come out like the way I planned. Hopefully it does! It won't be anything extravagant, just a trial run. Wish me luck!






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Thing's are starting to look up

Some of you may or may not know the situation my husband and I are in. But I won't go into too much details about it. Ever since he was laid off from his old company, things just seemed to go down hill for us, especially since he was the only income we ever had. So it took a big toll on the both of us. We stressed a lot, had a lot of anger although not with each other, just in general. Now, three months later, things are starting to look up for us. After all that my husband has been through, he stayed strong for us and didn't quit. He is career driven, dedicated, and the most amazing person I know. What I love about him most is he's always been a positive person, even through hard times. I know we tell each other "I Love You" every morning and every night before we go to bed, but I just wanted to take this time and tell him why I love him so much. Everyone needs that kind of reassurance.

LittleHunnys

My very good friend, Linda, has just opened up her own shop for baby shower gifts. She has some awesomely amazing talent. LittleHunnys has some adorable and creative baby shower items all put together and packaged nicely, they are so beautiful that you don't even want to open the box! She puts a lot of love and hard work in making these baby shower gifts, so if you are going to a baby shower anytime soon, check out her website, LittleHunnys, and browse through the very darling and decorative items that she has come up with. Enjoy!

Baby Boy Cupcake Box set

Baby Girl Cupcake Box set

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February 17, 2011

Nine years ago today my then boyfriend, who is now my husband, decided to make it our official anniversary date. We met a few days before and just seem to hit it off right away. Our first date was on Valentines Day, even though we don't celebrate it anymore. Three years later, we decided to take it one step further and tied the knot on February 17, 2005. So we have our 9 years total together and 6 years married on the same date, which is awesome so that we don't forget =).

Even though we moved quickly in the beginning of our relationship, we've come a long way with a 9 year old son and 2 year old twin boys. We have the most beautiful little family any couple could ask for. We've been through all the fights that any normal couple would have and we still worked through it. For us, we knew that having kids would change everything. We've had to make sacrifices and compromises to make things work for us. Nine years later it still works for us. We have faith in our marriage and we never gave up on each other, even when we've felt ready to give up, we didn't.

My husband is my best friend, my rock and my heart. He is always there for me when I need him, to confide in him. His shoulder is always ready for me to cry on when I'm having a bad day. He hasn't always been the best listener, but I must say he's grown to become the best person I can talk to and he'll listen. He's a great father to our 3 beautiful children. He's the best provider for our little family, even though he's been burned before, it hasn't stopped him from achieving his career goals. With out him, I don't know what I would do. He's a strong man with dedication to his work and his family. I am so proud of him and will always be by his side holding his hand. I have to admit I am a happy girl to be married to the most amazing man I have ever known. Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband. I love you baby, and I am looking forward to many more anniversaries.

Sean and I... 9 years ago.

The most recent and descent family picture.

Sean and I... 9 years later =).

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**Stay tuned for next year. We will be renewing our vows! =)**

Relationships

I believe that it takes two to fight and it definitely takes two to make a relationship work. I know a lot of people out there that don't understand that it does take two to make things work and that not everyone is perfect. Every couple out there has their battles, I mean who doesn't? The key to a relationship is communication, trust and of course love. I know my husband and I have had our fights, but we come out of it stronger. It has taken a long time for us to be able to communicate on a level that we can both agree to. But we never gave up on each other, we never make empty threats to one another. We have faith in each other to work it out, not only for us but for our children. In relationships, especially when you have children involved, you have to learn to make sacrifices and compromises with each other to make things work.

We had our first son when we were young, I was 19 and he was 21. But we have never felt like we missed out on our lives. We still live our lives the way we want to and it works for us because we communicate and trust each other. I admit, having kids changes EVERYTHING, it truly does. But its a good thing, the kids keep us young at heart. With my husband and I, we don't feel the need to go out every single weekend with our friends, once a month maybe, or on a special occasion. We love spending time with the kids, especially the twins, they are hilarious especially at their age they are learning how to talk and mimic you. Who would want to miss out on their kids growing up? I sure don't.

I'm a stay at home mom so I know what it feels like to be left at home with the kids all day and night. I don't get to go to happy hour after work with co workers and friends, but I am okay with that. All I need from my other half is to know he's safe and he'll be home soon. I don't feel the need to know where he's at 24/7 because I'm keeping a gps tracker on him, not the case at all. For me, I just need to know that he's okay where ever he is at and that's all there is to it. When he has his guy time, I let him have his guy time and I hardly call him at all unless its an emergency. Why don't I call him 15 times to bug him when he's coming home? Because I don't want him to call me when I'm out with my girlfriends. Plain and simple. I don't want my husband to be a human backpack and I don't want to be a human backpack to him. We did live separate lives before getting married, and had other friends before meeting each other. So yeah we both do need our away time from each other. It gives us a chance to miss each other. You have to have trust in one another as well, if  you don't have trust in your relationship, then you don't have a relationship at all.

I love my husband for who he is. He doesn't treat me the way I don't want to be treated. He's not a human backpack, thank goodness lol. He loves me unconditionally and I feel the same way about him. We work through our issues, we talk about them and we listen to each other. We FORGIVE and FORGET about what's happened in the past. People who can't forget and forget, well they will never get over the past and will keep bringing it up and its like a never ending cycle. Why put yourself through that torture? If you aren't happy, then figure out what will make you happy in your relationship.

So for all of you that are looking for love in their relationship, let me tell you, it doesn't come knocking at your door when you want it to. Love doesn't come easy, love hurts and love is blind. But all in all, its worth falling in love. It's worth being with your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife and partner for life. Knowing that they will be there for you when you need them the most, is probably one of the best parts of being in a relationship. Having someone there for you, a shoulder to cry on, to love and care about you and knowing that this is the person you want to grow old with and reminisce about all the good times, is the best feeling ever.

So cherish what you have with your loved one, because you will never find the same love again. No one is the same and no one is perfect. Cherish the fact that you have someone that loves you deeply, because honestly, it could be worse. You think you might have it bad with your loved one now, but I am sure there are people out there that have it worse than you think. Be positive and act positive if you want a positive outcome. One can only take in so much pain and heart ache before they give up completely. Remember it takes TWO to fight and it takes TWO to make it work.

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Coronado Clammin'

My parents invited us to go clam digging with them on Saturday, so we got a bunch of our friends to go and took the kids with us. We went to Coronado Beach and of course the water was freezing since it is February. I think we were the only ones in the water and I honestly didn't think we would be waist high in the water. Next time we go we will go prepared with more towels and shovels and pitch forks. For some reason my parents and their friends, the OG's as we like to call them, always like to lie to us. They told us to just bring the kids' toy shovels and that we didn't really need to bring anything. When we get there the men were all in the water with pitch forks and regular shovels. I was like what the heck, how rude lol. Always lying to us!

Even though the water was freezing cold, it was fun and everyone had a great time, and I think we are going back this Saturday. When we got back to my parents house, we opened some up, cleaned them and barbecued them with some butter, fresh minced garlic, black pepper and my home made pepper ginger sauce. I chopped up the harder parts of the clam and my friend Rose made ceviche out of it and it was delicious! I totally forgot to take a picture of the ceviche =(. Anyway, pictures are below, I know they aren't the best pictures because I took them with my iphone. I swear when I get a new camera I will take better picture.

Some of the "younger" peeps

My first giant clam!

My giant clam isn't so giant compared to this beast.

I know what you guys are thinking LOL.
But this is what it looks like opened.

Cleaned and ready to be chopped up.

Close up with butter, fresh garlic and black pepper.

Ready to be put on the BBQ grill.

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Super Bowl XLV: Green Bay Packers v.s. Pittsburg Steelers

So we went to our friend Steve's house for Super Bowl Sunday. Had an amazing time with some good company. They had a lot of food, and of course alcohol. Steve has an awesome house, not to mention the backyard, which has the most amazing pool and landscaping.

Anyway, it was a good game. My husband and I were rooting for Green Bay to win and of course they took the Super Bowl. Not to mention I won the 3rd quarter pool! $75 bucks in my pocket, yippy!

Since I am a San Diego Charger fan, I didn't have any Green Bay things to wear. So I wore my green tank top and put yellow ribbons in my hair. Of course the guys were making fun of me asking me if I just came from cheer practice, lol, jerks. And I also did my makeup accordingly, see pictures below. They aren't great pictures because I was taking them while my husband was driving lol. Also, please don't mind my red eyes. I used this disinfecting cleanser for my contacts, which had to sit for more than 6 hours and they sat over night. For some reason when I went to put in my contacts, it stung the crap out of my eyes. I felt like my eyes were on fire =(. And of course they stayed red the whole day, so I ended up taking my contacts off and putting on my glasses. They feel a lot better today by the way. =)

You really can't tell that I actually used some yellows, partly because I am dark skinned and I also didn't take very good pictures of this look. When I get a better camera I will take better pictures.

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MacGyver

I'm sure a lot of you remember that television show MacGyver. Well today sure felt like him LOL. Anyway, the Twins were taking their routine daily shower downstairs. Usually I have my toothbrush and theirs in the shower along with some toys that they can play with. Well some how they figured out how to remove the drain cover and of course thought it was hilarious to toss down my toothbrush and theirs, along with one of those Gerber baby spoons. This drain, like any other drain, was not short or wide enough to where I can stick my hand in or use needle nose pliers and just grab these items. Luckily, my toothbrush and a red one was standing vertically in the drain. Unfortunately for me, the baby spoon and the blue toothbrush were wedged into the very bottom of the drain laying horizontally.

So, I'm thinking crap, am I going to have to call a plumber?! I really really didn't want to have to call a plumber. So my MacGyver instincts kicked in. First I was able to get my tooth brush and one of the twins' tooth brush out very easily. As for the other two, that was a little bit tougher. My husband said that he had some zip-ties in his tool box so I grabbed those because I needed something that would be able to clamp down on the baby spoon and other tooth brush, and that was also small enough to fit all the way down the drain. Next I needed something thin and long but also sturdy, which of course I didn't have, so I grabbed 2 chopsticks and tapped them together with packaging tape. Then I thought to myself how in the world am I going to pull the zip-tie tight when its all the way down the drain?? I grabbed some yarn, the biggest needle I could find and my Xacto knife. I proceeded to puncture a small hole into the zip-tie with my Xacto knife, then threaded the yarn through the needle and then the needle through the hole that I made in the zip-tie.

It took me about an hour to finally grab the last two items that were down at the bottom of the drain, laying horizontally of course. But I felt really good after I finally got the last two things. Markus was my light man, he had to hold the flash for me so that I could see down the drain. Thank goodness the Twins were sleeping through this. I swear these boys are getting way too smart and way too fast, but what can you do, gotta love the little boogers. At least I saved some money and didn't have to call a plumber. Below is a picture of my make-shift grabber and the items that were stuck in the shower drain.

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Brody and Chayse

Our morning routine is to wake up and get big brother Markus ready for school. Then the twins and I come home and they eat more breakfast if they feel like eating. I don't know why it's so hard to get these boys to eat. Some days they eat really good and then some days it's like "I don't want to eat day". A bit frustrating but oh well, as long as they snack and eat through out the day I am okay with that. The twins recently got introduced to Kung Fu Panda. Hilarious because Brody will come to me and say "Mommie, panda". Then when it's over Brody will bring me the play station 3 controller and say "Mommie, more panda". So cute! At least it keeps them busy for a few hours.

My Half Sleeve

I finally put my before and after pictures of my tattoo together. I love the way my artist, Jason, designed it. I went into the shop and told him what I wanted, which was the kids' birth month flowers and their birth signs. He drew up some Narcissus and Gladiolus flowers and intertwined the boys birth signs with vines. He did an amazing job on designing what I couldn't piece together.

I know its a little bit hard to see the whole design in one picture. But this shows the majority of what the tattoo looks like. There is also a pretty butterfly that you can't really see, I'll have to post that up another time. Some people love my tattoo and some people hate. For the haters, I really don't care what they say because I love it. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't hesitate to get a tattoo done that has so much meaning to me.


::Edited::

Here is the picture of my butterfly that's hidden in the other picture. I blurred out the surroundings so that you can see butterfly a little better.

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Life

Life... What is the meaning of life? Answer, the meaning of life is a period of existence. Life doesn't mean happiness, or love. It doesn't mean that you'll become a gazillionaire, or be healthy or make and chose the right paths. Life is what you make of it. If you want happiness, love, wealth, health and all of the above, then you have to make it happen. We all go through good times and bad times. We all complain about not having enough money or that you feel like you've missed out on a lot of your life because you took a different path than others. But in reality, life is what you make of it. YOU make the choices, YOU control your future. Take all of the experiences in life and use them as a lesson learned. People might think that they have it bad, but honestly, everything could be way worse than it already is.

As for myself, a lot of bad things have happened recently. When I say bad, they are bad to me, doesn't necessarily mean bad to anyone else out there, but at least I know that. I don't regret meeting the wrong people because, even though some of them have screwed us over, it's opened another door for me and for my family. I don't regret the decisions I've made in the past. My husband and I feel like we're struggling to make it through the next couple of weeks, maybe even months. But in the end I know that we'll always have each other and our boys. I know that things will get better for us even if they went down hill back in November. I know that I will always have family and friends to count on. I know that things will get better even with the present sticky situation we are in. We just have to stay positive and look forward to the goals we want to complete in the near future. So all of the little things that are going wrong right now will get better in time. We just have to stick out and dig ourselves out of this hole that we were pushed into.

I really am a firm believer in KARMA. So, treat the ones you love and hold dear to your heart with respect and they will treat you with respect in return.

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Burning Bridge Clothing

As a lot of you may know, I LOVE tattoo's! Although I don't have very many, I still love the art. I recently had a half sleeve done at my friend's shop in Escondido called The Ink Spot. Jason, my artist, did an amazing job and I love it. It has a lot of meaning to it and he designed it just perfect.

So on that note, my friend B just launched a clothing line, Burning Bridge Clothing. It's all hand drawn spectacular work done by him and his artists, no computer generated art, its pretty neat. These guys have a lot of talent so its worth checking out. Check out their website and also check out their Facebook page as well and if you could please "like" their Facebook page. Thanks a bunch!

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2012 Wedding

My husband and I didn't have a wedding when we got married, so we decided we were going to renew our vows for our 10 year anniversary. I haven't really started planning anything and I definitely need to redo our guest list because we need to get rid of a few negative people that we no longer want to join us. I don't think we'll be doing a Hotel or Restaurant wedding, those cost way too much! We are thinking of just renting out a ballroom/hall and get some catering. So far I've looked online and found the Marina Village Conference Center. It looks really cool, price is fairly inexpensive, which is great. The only thing is, our 10 year anniversary is in the middle of February and it will be COLD! Well I'm hoping it won't be cold but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

As for a color theme I am not too sure. I know that I want black to be incorporated because it is my favorite color of all time. I love lilies and calla lilies. I love shiny sparkly things so maybe we'll put some beading into the center pieces.

So much to do in a year! Other than that, we actually need to start saving for this wedding. So if anyone has any good ideas or places to check out in San Diego please let me know! I would greatly appreciate it!

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2011

So I know that I haven't been blogging as much. So many things have happened over the holidays but we won't get into that because it wasn't very good things. Anyway, everything is all better now. Its 2011 time to kick out the old and bring in the new.

My oldest son Markus, started school again. I really don't remember getting a whole 3 weeks off when I was in school for Christmas Break! But it was wonderful having all the kids home and him spending time with his younger twin brothers. Speaking of the twins, they are growing way too fast! They are starting to talk more and know what they want and try to ask for things. It is awesome, but my little babies won't be babies for much longer. All of our friends tell us to keep having more kids, but after having the boys, man am I exhausted! I think 3 boys are good enough for us =).

I hope everyone had a great Holidays and a great start to the New Year. I'll try to keep updating this a lot more this year.

Take care everyone! <3