Memorial Weekend Fun

Well this weekend has been busy so far, but very relaxing which has been much needed! Saturday I cleaned a bunch then went to the mall with my sister and did some summer shopping because I've lost a little over 10 pounds since last summer and none of my shorts or pants fit anymore so it was a good excuse to buy some new clothes...and let's face it ladies, we want any excuse to shop ;) I bought some shorts, pants a couple tops (because even most of my current tops are a size too big nowadays) and a couple adorable "statement" necklaces because I've become obsessed with them lately! Later in the evening I found I had the house to myself so I took a little "me time" and made a super delicious, quick and easy meal that a girl on youtube I watch suggested. It's a shrimp pasta salad with grape tomatoes, asparagus, feta cheese, shrimp and brown rice spiral pasta noodles (of course). Drizzle it with some greek feta dressing or whatever suits your fancy and voila! Yummy in the tummy!

Sooooo good! Anyway, I paired it with some red wine in my new wine glasses that I also bought at the mall from Anthropologie and had a nice quiet night in.

Today, Gabe and I had lunch with a couple friends of ours that live up in Murrieta at Sushi Deli. This was my OOTD (outfit of the day)...I wore some of the new clothes I bought yesterday. Everything is from Forever 21.

It was amazing getting to see them since we don't get the chance very often! They are the sweetest couple and I'm so thankful to have met them through Gabe. Afterward, Gabe and I went to Sunset Cliffs and walked around the beach, enjoying the beautiful afternoon with some froyo :)

Tomorrow the fam, Gabe and I are going to see the new X-Men movie so I'll post my thoughts about it in my next blog!

Farewell from the always sunny, beachy san diego (;

Never Settle

I know that's weird title, but I firmly believe in those two words. Whether it has to do with people, relationships, jobs, material items...you name it. However for me, those words have a significant meaning for something I'm going through in my own life right now...career searching.

I mentioned in one of my last blogs that I started working for the San Diego School District a little over a month ago. When I was offered the position I was initially really excited about getting the opportunity to work at a school (my old elementary school in fact) and help kids with their educational growth. Unfortunately, I learned pretty quickly after my first few days that it wasn't really that kind of job. Instead of working in the classroom all day with the students, I have become a babysitter/caregiver for 3 little girls that transferred to our room a week after my start date. They are such sweet girls and I don't want to come off sounding rude or ungrateful for having a job, but changing diapers all day wasn't what I signed up for.

I'm still working in this classroom because the school year ends in 3 weeks and I feel as though I need to finish what I committed to, but what I've decided is that I need to start looking into other interests of mine and maybe try out a different career path or two. I see so many people that start a job and get into a rut because they've worked there for so long and it's become comfortable to them, even though they don't enjoy it. I understand that with every job there are going to be faults, but I really want to strive for a career that I will wake up every morning to not dreading and hating. I know this may take a while and I may have to go through a lot of poopy diapers to get there, but I'm positive I will one day find a career that I love and am passionate about! It could be baking, working with kids or animals, event planning...oh the endless possibilities!

If anyone happens to see this blog and reads it, I hope it encourages you to strive for your dreams and to not let anything or anyone get in your way of doing what you want to do! And if you're like me and you're not really sure what you want to do yet, that's totally okay!! Take your time and don't rush into something you could regret down the road!

Happy Friday xoxoxo!

Disneyland, Fires and Graduation

Last week was pretty busy for me so I didn't get a whole lot of time to blog about what I was up to. The beginning of the week was fairly relaxed, mostly just working. Wednesday's at my school are half days which means I get off of work at 12...yay!! My sister (Maura) and I decided to take a trip up to Disneyland for the afternoon\evening because we're trying to go as much as we can before our passes become blocked out for the summer. Well we thought if we left around 1 we could be there by 3, but unfortunately a series of brush fires broke out up in carlsbad area so we got stuck in traffic and didn't make it to Disneyland until 5. We still had tons of fun in the short time we were there! We ate at my new DCA (Disney California Adventure) staple, The Cove Bar and had delicious drinks and lobster nachos (SO GOOD)!!! Then we headed over to Disneyland and had a mini photoshoot in front of the castle, walked around and went on Star Tours (because it's the best haha). We had to leave early because I was supposed to work the next morning, but on our way home I received a phone call from SDUSD explaining that due to the fires schools would be closed on Thursday. It was a terrible situation, but I was happy to stretch my 3 day weekend into a 4 day weekend.

(Disneyland Sister Trip!)

On Friday I had my commencement ceremony at SDSU in honor of receiving my Bachelor's degree back in December. It was a great day full of celebration with my family. My aunt and uncle from Texas came into town so we took them to breakfast and then headed over to campus. The ceremony was a couple hours long. The dean spoke, as well as, some other faculty members and then we all walked on stage where we were presented with the cases for our diplomas. I wasn't expecting to walk and honestly was pretty nervous when I found out, but after doing I am so thrilled I had the opportunity! I originally didn't want to participate in the ceremony because I felt like it was weird to celebrate something I accomplished 5 months ago, but now I see how important it was in feeling a sense of completion within my education. I definitely would encourage any college graduate to walk because it's a once in a lifetime experience you won't ever get back!

(Pictures after the ceremony)

We took a bunch of pictures afterward, then headed to Joe's Crab Shack where more family came out to celebrate! The food was great, seeing everyone was wonderful and I feel so blessed to have been showered with such amazing love!! The rest of my weekend was nice...spent time with friends, went to church, helped my love at a show he played and went to see CYT's production of Peter Pan...it was incredible!!

(Myself, Kaylee as an Ugg-A-Wugg and Gabe)

Now it's a new week full of working and....who knows what else!! ;)

2 Months Of Stuff

Wow. I honestly didn't realize the last time I posted a blog was 2 months ago (tomorrow). I don't even know where to begin with what's been happening...let's see...well, there's been some juicing going on, lots of beach trips, some more Disneyland trips, I went to Nashville for a week to visit my uncle, got to see my man perform at the House of Blues for the first time, participated in the National Brain Tumor Society Walk in honor of my mom, babysat my favorite little girl a ton, got a job with the San Diego Unified School District as a SEA (special education assistant) for the next couple months, lost one of my dogs (Ago) to a heart attack, went to my first free comic day fest, enjoyed May the 4th (star wars day) with friends and family, and finally that leaves us with today, Mother's Day.

So yeah. Been a little busy haha.

Writing that list above makes me realize how many things can happen in such a short amount of time. It's amazing, really. As we go through our daily lives and participate in events I don't feel like we take the time to reflect and say to ourselves, "Hey, look at all the cool stuff I do! My life is awesome and I'm actually so lucky to be given all of the opportunities that I have!" I mean granted, not everything that has happened the last couple months have been good things. There has been some heartache and disappointments, but when I look at the grand scheme of things I really don't have a lot to complain about. I am blessed to be able to get up everyday and live my life feeling happy and healthy.

I'm going to try my best to write a few blogs a week so that I can stay more up to date with what's going on. I love posting pictures and random things that I find joy in. That way someday I hope I can look back on this and read about my amazing life, or at least some of it (without too many empty gaps)!

But for now, it's late and I have a job to get up early for in the morning...yay. Haha.

Nighty night, sleep tight.