Deadline to LOWER your HO tax bill!!!

I was majorly excited when I received my lowered tax bill in the mail! I was (yeah, I'm a nerd). Well imagine my excitement when I learned that although I received a lowered tax bill, the assessment was completed months ago and our values have dropped considerably LOWER since then. Well here's GREAT news if you're in San Bernardino County. Most likely your values have dropped since your homes last assessment. Fill this out by NOV 30th and mail it to our tax assessors office (address on top of form) so you will be taxed on the current value of your home for the 08-09 years. It seriously takes 2 minutes to fill out. Just make sure to print out and include your ORIGINAL(not copied) signature. We don't want that to slow down processing ;)!.

I don't even want to post what my house values are right now, it's depressing... but I know this economy WILL pick up soon! B U T until then why not pay a lower bill??? (just passin' on the word!)

Crazed fan!!

One of my FAV trailors! I can't wait for our ladies night on the town to watch this highly anticipated flick!

Weekend to THAI for!

This past weekend I headed out to Utah for my nephews baptism. It was my first SOLO trip in a LONG time and I LOVED it! My lil' bro Henry picked me up from SLC airport and since we had time to kill before Trish came in we headed to Gateway for lunch and a little "people watching" (I love to check out all the trendy Utahns! LOL!). Hen took me to a lovely spot called ThaiFoon. It was really yummy (but GO BANKOK still tops!).



Then we had a GOOD laugh when we picked Trish up from SLC and she was dressed like this when everyone else was cozy warm in winterwear. Although it was blue sky BEAUTIFUL, it was FREEEEEEEZER cold!







Here's the reason I came out. All Jarom's family gathered from both sides to witness his baptism. It was so sweet and simple. I LOVE getting together with family for events like these!!!



All the fam headed to Soni's tailgate for Harvey at BYU... I wish I could've caught this image but I didn't. It was FREEZING cold and I wanted to be indoors watching under a WARM sipi. I know, I know!!! But I was cheering-- GO GOOGERS!!! (FOB STORY: Our Uncle came in from Hawaii to watch one of Harvey's games and saw the "G" on the mountain in Pleasant Grove and excitedly says "GO GOOGERS!" thinking that's what the "G" meant! Man...LMBO FOB!!!)



Afterwards my sweet cousins took Trish and I out for a night on the town. (Thanks Dem and Lav!!!) We were dying to find vintage treasures at the local DI and scored BIGTIME on mucho treasures!!! Then we headed to a local sushi bar, SUSHI YA! It was SO YUM YUMMY!!! Can't wait to hit up that spot once again! and of course before it closed I HAD to make my run to an LDS bookstore (So lucky, you Utahns, to have such great literature at your fingertips!). We spent the rest of the evening telling almost-pee-your-pants stories 'til the crack of dawn. Such a GREAT time!!! (Missed you Jane!)

I had a GREAT short trip. Almost TOO SHORT!!! Wish I could've had one more day... because when I got home this is what I got...



...Emi crying because she was DYING to go back to her grandma's house. I really would've taken her back but I had to give grandma a break since she had them ALL WEEKEND LONG!

AHHHH!!!! Such a GREAT breather! Although it was nice to have a little break, I did miss my little kiddos and their noise and craziness.

MoW and Ehm's Adbentur

Emi and Moe took off on a little adventure the other day.

To our friends & neighbors home, the Moala's. To ride their teeter toter... ALL BY THEMSELVES.

Imagine the HORROR I felt when Jenna called to inform me that my two babies were in HER front lawn, teetering away!!! After a million 'what ifs' ran through my head, and a swift rescue I sat down with ALL my monkey's to lay down the law -RUNNING AWAY PROHIBITED... or else!



So I was quite amused when they came up with an innovative way to teeter w/o breaking the rules. With the help of Lu and Salo they were able to build their own teeter toter out of dad's left over building materials. Way to go guys! Using daddy's know-how to get what you want. LOL! Atleast I have a great idea for x-mas!!

JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!! A GIVEAWAY!!!

Sorry guys... I had this posted earlier but needed to revise comment requirements for this giveaway to make it more user friendly. Hahaha!. I don't know if any of you were as BLUE as I when your name wasn't chosen for the BLUELILYPHOTOGRAPHY session.

Well wipe your tears, because I have a solution. I'm posting this in hopes that maybe SOMEONE might have a little faith in my new found obsession and WANT me to snap shots of their BEAUTIMOUS fams or selves. LOL!

SOOOO... if your one of the majorly disappointed that never gets their name pulled for a giveaway I would LOVE to help you!! I'm going to do MY VERY FIRST giveaway!!! (I LOVE giveaways even thought I NEVER get picked either).

First I'll need YOUR help to make this happen! If you're wanting a photo shoot you'll need to post:

Who you'd like photographed (baby, child, family, senior pic..)

An idea on the type of setting you'd like (e.g. casual, formal, green, desert, vintage look...) Also if you have a link of some inspiration photos that you want your pictures like. (helpful but not required)

If you're not sure what you'd like then give me a few decor ideas on ways to spice up my backyard for a BACKYARD BBQ CONCERT. (hahaha!)

I will include in this giveaway an 8X10 of your most fav image and a high-res CD/DVD of your session. Session will last 45 min to an hour and can only be a destination shoot within 15 miles of A-town (Would be willing to discuss a location further than that). If you don't live in Cali, then we could make other arrangements to make this happen.

GOOD LUCK!!! Giveaway ends Wednesday Oct 15th!!!

Conference and a little tradition...

So I thoroughly enjoyed this past weeks General Conference. I especially felt a sense of accomplishment, understanding and purpose when our beloved Prophet reminded us young mothers that ONE day we'll miss the laundry and the fingerprints-all-over and all the FUN stuff that comes with being the mother of a young growing family. How did he know that ALL DAY I had been BEGGING my children to behave long enough for me to enjoy an ENTIRE talk without interruption???



We also look forward to Conference because of the tradition that Jared started several years ago. During General Conference weekend we'll make a trip down to Redondo Pier and pick up some fresh crab and all the YUMMY that comes along with it (Clam Chowder in a hot sourdough bread bowl, grilled shrimp, garlic butter, lemon...). This time we were able to drop the kiddos off at Grandma's and head down. Just the two of us (a MAJOR treat). We enjoyed sweet oysters on a half shell while we waited for the crab to boil. The crabs were SO SWEET and SUCCULENT. It was HEAVEN for this Vava'u girl!...(yeah, yeah... don't hate. lol!). We had a good time getting together with Jared's parents grubbin' on this FAV seafood of ours.

Thanks Hun for the fun tradition... can't wait til April Conference rolls around!

Vegas? Coach? Shopping Spree?...OR

The end of the year is pretty busy for our little fam.

Everyone but Lu has a birthday this time of the year.... including moi (who- might I add- NEVER gets any birthday ANYTHING... not that I'm counting but it's just the way it happens to play out in my oh-so-considerate fam. lol!).

Sooooo... seeing that I'll be turning the B-I-G THREE OH this year, I got to thinking,

'Hey... I think it's about time I do SOMETHING for my birthday... like, seriously! It's ABOUT TIME!!! Right?!@ '

and I've kept this thought in my mind for a minute or so. Then last night I ran across this musical prodigy through the always enticing youtube.... AND FELL IN LUUVVVVVV!!!



WITH HIS MUSIC OF COURSE!!!

and then became INSANELY jealous of all my fellow Utahns that are privileged to take this musician home. Literally. He's humble enough to set up his skills in your BACKYARD and serenade you and all your buds with his delicious vocals and acoustics ALL NIGHT LONG (well I'm sure not that long... but LONG enough). To me.... PURE HEAVEN!!!! He's LDS and my little bro told me that he just recorded a new album of church hymns (rumor? I hope not!) I Can't WAIT to hear it!

Man...
Forget the Vegas 'girls trip' with my sis's
And the coveted designer bags
or the well deserved wardrobe shopping spree....

Just bring home a little KALAI (for a LIVE showing in MY BACKYARD) and I'll be happy for another THREE OH years!!!!

(*HINT*HINT*HINT*HINT*... Come on Jared!!!! I promise it'll be BETTER than Vegas!)

But hey, nice postlude to "Birthday on a budget" huh?!