It's That Time of Year!

It's December today and I already have that feeling I hate when the season seems to be going by so fast. But, it's just 24 days till' Christmas and I want to make the most of this time of year. It's wonderful and I am looking forward to all the festivities of this month :)
Merry Christmas! 

Happy Day of Thanks!

I just love thanksgiving. Setting aside a special day to give thanks to the Lord for all He has given to us. To sit around the table and cherish our families and friends. And, to enjoy all those things while we eat a wonderful, abundant meal. We are all so blessed! I hope today will be a special day for you all! Don't forget to count your blessings.

Fall Photos!

I finally got around to uploading all my pictures onto the computer. I can't believe I waited for so long!
These are just a few of the photos. Total, there is about 480 pictures I took during the week long trip. I won't torture you by uploading  ALL the photos! Like I have done in the past on here :) But I warn you...there's still a lot!

More to come.... :)

November!

Yay! It's November. Or, Noviembre, like I learned in Spanish class today.
I'm so heart broken that I haven't been keeping up with blogging. Especially during my favorite season of the year. Worst thing is: I haven't even uploaded my trip pictures of my Autumn adventure! I need to do that as soon as possible because I want to share those on here.
  I can hardly believe how fast time seems to be going by. Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is this month, and Christmas is NEXT month! How can it be??!! As much as I love the fun seasonal things at this time of the year, they go by too fast for me to thoroughly enjoy them. I need to make sure I take in the last bit of Fall this month.
So, I have been away from the blogging world for so long, I haven't even been checking my friend's blogs! I feel very behind here....
I hope you all had a happy Halloween on Sunday! We went to Calvary Chapel Downey to here The Bear Hug Band. (Braden, my sister's fiance is the drummer.) The band is so cute and fun! It was great!! :)

Autumn in New York. Why does it seem so inviting?

It's now been 4 days since we landed in Albany and it has been a blast! We have taken so many beautiful foliage drives through mountains on pretty, quiet country roads. We have had so much fun exploring Vermont, going to the Shelborne Country Store and dropping by the apple place with the fresh smell of apple cider lingering in the air.

Right now we have had so much fun spending time at Joanne's house and we spent the night last night. After our busy day yesterday, Aunt Linda, me, and my mom came for dinner. The rest of the night was filled with fun and long conversations. We even looked at my cousin's final wedding pictures! This morning, we talked and enjoyed Starbucks coffee in her cozy autumn home. We will be leaving shortly to head to Manchester, Vermont to seek out some cute stores and lunch at Zoey's. The Weston Country Store is also on the list for today.
It's going to be so great to spend the time with Joanne just laughing and enjoying friends. I'm so thankful that the Lord made it possible for this trip to happen.

Leaving...again.

Today is the day. It has finally come around.
Tonight, my mom and I are flying out to go back east once again. I am so thrilled to see the fall colors, take in all the sights and smells of the new season I have never experienced in California. I mean, I have to  a certain degree, but of course not like the east coast!
Tomorrow we get in and my aunt will pick us up and take us for a Autumn drive! She said this morning that the leaves are stunning up route 22, so that's our journey route :)
Although there will be many apples and apple barns, pumpkins and pumpkin ice cream, cider and cider donuts...I must say that there is a part of me that is just a tiny bit sad.
This is because I absolutely hate goodbyes (to family and kitties of course.) And finally, I won't be seeing my family like in August. I won't be surprised with seeing my cousin Kari walk through the door and ask if we want to go to Saratoga. Or any other cousin either. But, I have to remember that I was blessed then to have experienced what I experienced, and feel thankful that I have the memories.
I have a feeling this will still be an amazing trip. Though not all of my family will be there like before, I know I will see them again in the future.

Happy Fall and I hope to blog about our adventures!

Birthday Pictures.

Here are some of the photos from Branyn's birthday and my birthday :)

Branyn's birthday napkin hat. Made by Braden's mom, Cheryl.

Branyn and Braden. Branyn is ready to make a wish :)

On my birthday, I had to go to biology lab. When I got there, my friend Ariana ran up to me with a wrapped gift and this cute, homemade birthday girl pin! I loved it! And the teachers and class even sang :)

I could choose whatever place I wanted to have lunch with my family. I chose Boudin. I absolutely love their food and fresh San Fransisco sour dough bread. My favorite.

The day was full of surprises. I had no idea what we were doing for the day. After lunch, we headed to Debra's Cottage, one of our favorite home stores, and spent time in there window shopping. My sister was so sweet to get me these really neat old children's story books. They were only $2.50 each! They are in my room for now, but my plan is to add them to my nursery when I am married and have a baby :)

After, we went to Paris to the Moon. It's a little home shop as well, and really one-of-a-kind! Sadly, it's closing it's doors after about 15 years of fun. The only good thing about that is the fact that everything was on sale. I was fortunate to get 3 vintage looking, handmade pillow cases for all $1.00 a piece. I was super excited! But I'll miss Paris to the Moon...

Once we were done there, my sister and mom took me to Anthropologie for a little shopping fun! I just love that store and this was a real treat to go! We had a good time together.

I thought that was the end of all the fun and we would all go home for dinner and my birthday pumpkin cheesecake. But I was wrong! They had yet another surprise for me to discover!

My sister said that Braden and her were going to church, and wouldn't be back till' later. So my mom and I went back home after she was picked-up by Braden. My mom thought that Alta Coffee Shop in Newport Beach would be fun since she had never been before. I couldn't pass up that offer, so my dad, mom, and I headed to Alta for some chai lattes. When we arrived, I wanted to check the back patio because it is such a pleasant area to sit in. When I peeked over the side of the building, I spotted this huge balloon!

I was so surprised! And I looked over the fence only to find Branyn, Braden, Kristyn (Braden's sister) and her two kids Rider and Cade. It was so sweet!

Here we are! With my sweet sixteen balloon.

Also, our church friends Robby and Debby came and I opened the rest of my gifts while we talked and enjoyed each other's company with our Alta goodies.

It was such a great birthday week! I couldn't have asked for a better day of celebration. Branyn had an awesome golden birthday and I'm so happy we all got to be a part of it :)

So Long, Summer!

Today is the last day of Summer and I just had to blog about it! As much as I love summer and the free time, I just can't wait for Fall! It's just the best. Yesterday, I was in Target and they have all their fun and festive Autumn decorations out. I seem to find myself drawn to the yummy, seasonal candy! Which is no surprise If you know how much I love sweet things. I had to grab the candy corn dots that I loved so much last year. Another thing I want to try is the caramel apple Hershey kisses! Don't those sound good?! I think so. And I'll do a review when I get to try them :)

So I'm ready for Autumn. The sweaters, the scarves, the coats, the boots, the fluffy socks, the pretty pumpkins, and the honey crisp apples!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sister.

Today was my sister's birthday! She is now 20 years old and I can't believe it. We have so many great memories together, and I just love her so much! She has always been my buddy and the one I could run to with joy or tears. She has such an amazing sense of humor like no other, and that's just one of the many things that makes her unique. She is spunky, fun, energetic, loving, sensitive, giving, cheerful, and is always ready to have a good time with family and friends. It is so amazing to think that she is on her way to be married to a wonderful man of God and start her own sweet family one day.

Branyn, I am so thankful to have you as my sister and my friend. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for you in this coming year!

P.S. Birthday pictures on the way! (Of course..)

Remembering.

It's hard to believe that it has already been 9 years.

This morning I felt really compelled to watch some of the footage captured on September 11th. I guess I just really wanted to make sure I never forget the significance of this day, or how many lives were lost. What really got me was a tape of a woman who was a flight attendant named Betty Ong on flight 11. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to actually be in the midst of it all and trapped in a plane. It was even harder though to think that she didn't survive, and the pain that her family must have gone through.
Tonight, my family and I will be attending an amazing event at Calvary Chapel of Chino Hills. They are calling it a "9/11 Memorial" to remember this day and honor our service men for continuing to fight for our freedom. Brigitte Gabriel will be speaking also. She is a New York times best selling author of the book Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America. I think it will be fascinating to hear about her experiences and her views.

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Hopefully you also are not forgetting to remember today. It's too important to forget.

September Welcome.

I really can not believe that we are already into September. I'm really excited!! The best part about this month is the arrival of Autumn, my favorite season. I love it so much. I just wish I got more of a Fall-y feel here in California. Oh well.

Lately, my mom and I have been talking a lot about my future plans for after I get out of high school. I am so thrilled because my mom has such a wonderful idea...I don't know why I didn't think of it first. Let's just say that I'm going to start saving my money as soon as I get a job. I think I can raise enough in 3 years. That time is going to FLY by so fast.

When the time is right, I'll tell you the plans I have in mind... ;)

Wish I Was There...

o we are back from our wonderful trip to New York. It was so hard leaving and I didn't want to say goodbye as always. I just love the area and I'm missing it a lot since we have been gone. I must remember what Joanne told me the day before we left. "Don't be said because it's over, be happy because it happened." I think that is really encouraging. I seem to focus more on my sadness of having to leave and be away from the people that I love so much, rather than the beautiful fact that I was able to have an amazing trip full of blessings and fun times. I thought I would add some of the other pictures I took from this summer trip. Here they are!

Hawkin's House. Bennington, VT.

Bennington Pottery.

Moose!

Hendersen's Pizza! Yum!

                                                               

 Robert Frost Stone HouseMuseum.

We had a really fun slumber party at Joanne's house!

We had chicken catetori. So delicious. 

Their cat, Lasher on the porch.

coffee in the morning :)

And we spent the morning on the porch!

We took off to Ballston Spa, NY. for an adventure.

Lunch at the Whistling Kettle.

Joanne with her 'peach blossom white' tea.

All of us!

Tea from heaven! Angel's Dream...A heavenly maple sweetness, blackberry pungency, and a malty assam flavor.

Look at how adorable this Farmers Market sign is!! (sigh....)

Don't you just hate saying goodbye? This was so tough for all of us. We love Joanne!

We had to stop at Benson's before we left! Of course!

My new favorite that Kari recommended: black raspberry/coffe swirl with hot fudge!

Goodbye Albany! You will be missed. But I hope to see you in the Fall!

Upstate and Vermont Life.

Because of my grandma's wacko dial-up computer, I have been struggling to blog. It's more of a chore here, since it takes so long. Fortunately though, I am currently here at Joanne's house. Joanne is a long time friend of my mom's and we were invited to spend the night. It has been so much fun! We love Joanne dearly. I thought while I have the chance, I wanted to post some photos of this fun trip and catch you guys up!
First, and most importantly--Kari was a beautiful bride!!! No surprise there. The wedding was just breathtaking. I felt like I was in the midst of a magazine worthy wedding! Where's the Knot magazine people when you need them?! It was just so fun and so perfect. I am so excited for Mr. and Mrs. Higley!

Some pictures from our trip--

On Monday, we celebrated my mom's birthday by going to Joanne's house. She made a cheesecake and her husband, Billy made dinner for us. It was so fun! We enjoyed tea and time on the porch. What a blessing it is to have special friends and times like these.

Today: Scenic drive through Manchester and Shafsbury. Visited Robert Frost's stone house and stopped at Snow's Ice Cream on the way back home.