Wordless Wednesday ~ A Sad Loss of Nostalgia

The house I grew up in, where I spent 18 years of my life and the house my father grew up in, was set on fire this weekend. Here is a couple of pics, everyone got out okay, it is just a very sad loss of nostalgia for me. The house will be repaired and sold, eventually.

I'm linked up @ http://angryjuliemonday.com/

Wordless Wednesday ~ Kindergarten Graduation

My little man graduated Kindergarten, it's bittersweet.

I'm linked up @ Angry Julie's , http://www.lifedownourlane.com and Valmg Wordless Wednesday Posts

I'm a Penny Pincher and I'm voting YES on Prop 100!

Okay here is my disclosure, I am in no way a political blogger. However, I feel I should encourage my fellow Arizonans to vote Yes on Prop 100 Tuesday May 18th (today).

What is Prop 100?
In short: A proposed 1 cent tax increase through 2013. The tax increase will raise state revenues for primary and secondary education, health and human services and public safety.

Go HERE for the full version.

Where do you vote? Click HERE to find out!

Why I am voting YES!
I am voting yes so my kids have a fair chance at a better education. Not only do they need a better education for their future, but for mine too! Our children will be the ones making the decisions in the world in our future, I want to make sure they also have the opportunity to have a good education.

Not only is this supporting education, it is supporting our public services such as the Police Dept. and Fire Dept. I like knowing that I am keeping our safety officers employed, helping keep me and my family safe!

So with that my friends, I encourage you to vote YES!

My argument for not voting no (or for voting yes):
*Voting no to go against Governor Brewer because of SB1070~ It doesn't make sense to punish our children because of the bills that she has approved.
*Voting no because it's a broken system ~ you know, that is right. It is a broken system and it is not an ideal solution, but a solution none the less that will benefit our kids.
*Voting no because it is a 1 cent tax increase ~ I'm a penny pincher, I understand the desire to not pay more money in taxes. It really comes down to voting yes for our state, we can all be effected in different ways. You may know someone personally that could be effected (either your child or a public service worker). I know a teacher who does not have a job next year if this does not pass.

Please, get out and vote today.Show your support on facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/yeson100

Wordless Wednesday: Flying the Worlds Smallest Kite

I'm linked up @ Angry Julies Wordless Wednesday

My Mothers Day in Photos

My family, we don't take photos can you tell?

We had a pretty nice Mothers Day ( I say we as we spent the entire weekend with my family).

We drove up to Flagstaff on Saturday and watched my little sister graduate from NAU.

Me Left ~ Sister Right

That evening after a celebratory dinner, fiance kids and I spent the night at the Radisson. I love my family, but I can only handle them in doses, small doses. After sleeping in for a bit, I woke up to

Here are the flowers my sweetie got me. My kids surprised me with a small Cross and many candles too along with homemade goodies!

We went on a hike on Mothers Day @ Walnut Canyon (East of Flagstaff)
Pretty easy and very minimal whining!

Ty Bear
That is not a real hampster, it was his treat from Grammy ;-)

Adrienne Rose @ Walnut Canyon (windy windy windy)

Me and Fiance B

Overall, a pretty great Mothers Day, I am truly blessed!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Hiking in Phoenix

See other photos @ http://angryjuliemonday.com/

My Day in Photos

Baby Ethan
Cute ain't he? Ya he's not mine, this is my nephew I help watch while my SIL works. So every day I start with a cute little snuggle before we spend our day together.

Coupons, no day of mine is really complete without them. Here is the coupons I cut before heading off to the grocery store.

Every Tues and Thursday is Swim Team Prep for my daughter Adrienne

Tyler and I hang out while Adrienne does her swimming

No this is not in the wrong place, I do in fact drink coffee in the evening. It's my second wind before blogging.

(Click on the image at the top to join in on the photo blog meme)

Bloggy Boot Camp ~ A Weekend of Awesomeness!

From Left to Right: Star @ http://star4laughs.blogspot.com/, Sara @ http://savingforsomeday.com/, Sugar (I absolutely loved her dress, helllooo sexy) @ http://blog.sugarjones.tv, Kadi (speaking of sexy, this women has 7 kids, ya I know, I am envious too) @ http://www.marketingbymoms.com, Ted Rubin, Me and Nicole @ http://www.myrealreview.ca
Photo taken by Julie @ http://angryjuliemonday.com/

This weekend I had the honor of attending Bloggy Bootcamp. This was my first “Blog” convention and I had no idea what it was going to be like. My expectations were pretty basic, I was hoping to learn a few blog tips and meet a few people and get re-motivated to work on my blog. Whoa, little did I know this was going to blow my mind.

I was on Twitter on Thursday and a special lady named Sara @Saving4Someday reached out to me, telling me she had to meet me. After exchanging a few tweets, we found out we weren’t too far from each other and I arranged to pick her up the next day on the way to Friday nights dinner(yes we had a blind date). When we got to dinner I felt like I was back in 6th grade attending summer camp, not knowing anyone and everyone had already formed their "cliques". Thank Goodness for Sara! I am a shy person when you first meet me and she just took me around and introduced me to people she knew, even people she didn’t. I guess you can say she took me under her wing!

At dinner our table was Nicole @ My Product Review, Kim @ learning to Sow, Kadi Prescott @ (hello we had a celeb at our table, Supernanny! ), Star @ Laughing Through Parenting, Sara @ Saving For Someday and Amy @ Dealusional (unfortunately Amy could not stay) We had a great dinner with some pretty in depth conversation. I think most of us found comfort in the people we chatted with. I know that I found a connection with Miss Kadi and our children. At the end of the night, we ended up chatting with Ted Rubin with Open Sky.

*My Handy Dandy Notebook
The next day was full of lots of learning and lots of networking and new friendships. The room was constantly buzzing with excitement. I sat next to some awesome women and listened to some even more awesome women speakers (and of course Ted Rubin).

Cathy @ Skip to my Lou and Kim @ Today's Creative Blog talked to us about SEO, essential blogging tips and Wordpress plugins. For first session, I sat next to Jess (she is freakin hilarious) and Chelsea.

Kadi Prescott and Sugar did a presentation on Vlogging. I didn’t think Vlogging could be for me but after seeing how easy and how exciting it could be, I have figured out a few ideas that I would like to do once I get a camera. Thanks for the fun presentation gals!

Amy taught us about branding our name/product. She inspired me to find my niche and really work on putting it out there. Thanks for encouraging us all to "Get a Pair" and reassuring glitter is still cool even if we're not in grade school.

@ Lunch I sat next to Mara @ Welcome to Adulthood, she is the sweetest gal.

That afternoon we listed to Ted Rubin, he is really passionate about Open Sky and I can't wait to work with them in the future.

More fabulous speakers include Kelly, Lauren and Laura ( I will try to link to them later)

That evening my fiancé and I joined Holly @ Bread Crumz (also Blog Frog), thanks for letting us crash your dinner. She’s one awesome lady! That night we also got to hang out with Star, Amy and their hubbys for the cocktail party. It was nice to get out kid free and go to an adult only event where I was not going to hear any children (hey moms need breaks too).

So here's what I took from Bloggy Boot Camp (in short because I am tired):
I am going to make every effort to publish blogs at least every weekday. I'm going to stay unique to myself for my readers.
I'm going to work on "branding" my image.
I'm going to make the switch to Wordpress eh, even if it kills me (if you have tips please please give them to me).
I am going to continue to build networks and help build tribes and communities!
If I go all the way home to get my DSLR, I better make sure I have the dang camera card.
AWESOMENESS!

**I used a Digital Voice Recorder to record the sessions, let me know if you attended and would like me to send you a copy.

I was so fortunate to meet such rockin bloggers this weekend! A couple more shoutouts:
Special thank you to Tiffany @ Sits girls (you’re awesome and ohhhh so pretty) and Heather @ SitsGirls for putting this together.
More special thanks to Xona Resort, Dole and iGo

Thanks Julie for taking all of those awesome pics.

I got goodies from: Becca @ http://ourcrazyboys.com Twist & Pout Lip Balm , Dee Dee @ TheDeeView gave us a lovely goodybag,
Heather @ KustomKissers gave us customizable lip balm, Dole gave us fruit gels (yum), iGo gave us powerless chargers (check them out, they rock), Sweet Baking Supply gave us cute little leopard print cupcake liners.
I bought a camera strap from http://www.sheyb.com/ It's here: (BTW I looooooove it, it's so comfy)
BTW, Tiffany, you better hide the next time I see you, the one you got is gorgeous and you know I will try to take it ;-)

Me on the left ( I look horribly exhausted) Next to Sara @ Saving4Someday

Amy, Me and Star (only a few drinks were had I swear)