40 Years & Counting

I thought this was just so adorable!! Of course I get teary eyed. I'm going to tell Oscar to write me a song for our anniversary. lol, 2 years. :)

New Header

the above new header is my attempt at creativity. i used scrapblog.com
love the program, sad that I am soooo bad about that kind of stuff.

Alison

We found a name we both like. No, we aren't having a baby yet. Think 2-3 years from now. But, when do start to talk about potential baby names, we very rarely agree. They are actually fun conversations and we had a long one last night. This conversation centered on GIRL's names (you know, in case something went "wrong" and we ended up with a girl, lol).

I tend to like old fashioned names, while he likes more ostentatious names such as Delilah. (very pretty and we agreed a potential for a middle name, though I'm not crazy about it).

Anyways, today on Facebook I saw someone with the name Alison. I asked Oscar is he likes it. He does!! I do!!!

The little girl could be called Aly, Alice, maybe even Alisa (thought that's pushing it). So, she could choose, also Alison by itself is pretty. I could just imagine saying, "Hey Aly girl, why are you so BEAUTIFUL?!?!" Yes, because that's how I talk to my family members and even my kids at work. (Although at work, substitute words such as amazing, adorable, intelligent) I feel like I have to be careful with calling peoples kids beautiful, for unfortunate societal reasons.

Anyways it means a noble sort or noble kind. mmmm, so maybe one day we will have a very noble Alison Sanchez? We shall see.


***oh and the picture is totally for Cheski. My favorite baby store right now is oompa.com and my favorite brand is Haba. Although the above isn't my favorite toy, I think I will be buying it for a certain friend if she has a girl in the YEARS to come. It plays a lullaby when you pull its tail & can be machine washed :)

Sunlight

Sunlight by Frank Benson

Wish this were me?

Would love a copy of this for my house.

Summer

I know we can ponder time until we are blue in the face and still not understand it. I like pondering time though. I like knowing that I don't understand and that God does. There is a reason why time is racing by one day, yet another moment it goes by so slowly. It makes me warm to know that my Dad was my age once and my grandpa was my age once too. If God wills it, I will one day be his age too.

This picture, taken late 1920's, early 1930's is a treasure I found on Flickr. It is called Grandpa's Friends and posted by username FreeParking.

I love looking at the hairstyles, the genuine looking smiles, the background. Where were they? What were they laughing about? How, I wish I could look as carefree and natural, laughing on the beach with my friends. I wonder if childhood lasted a little longer back then or if you were expected to be an adult even sooner, or maybe there was a combination of the two.

Whenever I see little kids, I like to sing. It makes me sad when a 3 year old thinks he/she is too old for singing little kid songs. I am not too old at 22. Why do we want to grow up so fast anyhow? And why do we act so old when we are so young? I love life and I think this picture shows an innocence. I adore it.

Baby Laughter

I needed some baby laughter this morning, figured I would find something amazing on youtube. And I did. I think this will at least make you smile. :)



ok, I'm posting it on Facebook too, because laughter is contagious and this makes me happy.

Build your House upon the Rock

Found this on Flickr. Gorgeous Stone Portugal Home. Posted by Jsome1. I find it enchanting. It inspires me to sing the Sunday School song, "The Wise Man Built his House upon the Rock." My recommendation for viewing this includes pressing play on the Youtube video for background music and then scrolling down and imagining rain coming tumbling down. **That's how I like it best. :)

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time, some lovely people came to visit Oscar and me for a Newlywed Game. Excuse me, the "How Well do You Know your Significant Other Game," based on the Newlywed Game.

It was seriously so much fun. hmmm, let me say it again... SO much fun. I highly recommend it. We had a soft taco bar, which Oscar prepared and was absolutely delicious and low maintenance, inside out chocolate dipped strawberries which disappeared shortly after served (even with seconds and thirds) and a group of great couples.

I am so thankful these couples take the time to drive 1-2 hours to attend our events, sometimes on a moment's notice. Look out for Bungee Jumping pictures? perhaps.

Seriously?

My husband just wrote an article called, "How to be a sex machine" and asked me to edit it for him. I mean, seriously?........ It makes me laugh.




















Are you ready to be a sex machine?

Work is a Love/Hate Relationship

LOVE - my kids, therapy, job description, families

HATE - stress of paperwork, how it is assumed that I know everything, how I am always worried about getting fired

**PS, I currently, went out on a limb and told my supervisor all my doubts about a specific form of data collection. I mentioned all the things that didn't make sense to me and how it could be better. I just got the response back, I feel like I got reprimanded. Love/hate relationship!! Can't I just be my own boss, lol.

Pyramid of Champagne

I just saw this on Facebook, it is from the wedding of an old and amazing co-worker. But, can I just say this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I won't get a wedding again, but, maybe New Year's? Or at an engagement party for a friend.

hmmm, I have to research more, how exactly does this work, do the glasses get sticky? it sure would be fun to do regardless.

Stand By Me

Did I mention, this is one of my favorite songs. It makes me happy. Seriously, listen to it. I think it will make you happy too.


P.S. Oscar just made my night!! This morning I was asking him all these questions about dining room tables, yes boring, I know. And he wasn't really listening and wasn't being consistent on his answers, so I told him I was frustrated and I JUST wanted some help, right?

So, tonight (after he is asleep, I wander onto his computer, which I rarely do). And what do I see tabbed, pictures of furniture, that is weird. Then the next tab is Craigslist and he had typed in "dinning table." Yes, he's an adult and yes, this article is getting more mushy by the moment, but I thought it was adorable. 1) that he looked it up for me and 2) that he wasn't going to tell me that he looked it up and 3) that he spelled it wrong. :)

Popey the Sailor Man

Lately, I've been eating a LOT of spinach. Its my new favorite!

Thanks to the people who created Popeye, I feel pretty cool downing the green stuff.

Spinach is one of the top 2 best vegetables for you - check out nutrient info HERE

Good Morning Snail

I guess our enjoyment of yesterday's walk was mutual, because Oscar and I both woke up craving another stroll.

We open our door to find............. A snail. I haven't seen a snail in quite a while. It was so friendly. We put it out of the walking path so noone would step on it.
















Here are some pictures of our walk today. First, is our favorite house on the walk. We love the chimney and fairytale castle feel to it. It's soo creatively and uniquely put together.

Next is my favorite place. The library. I adore it.




















































Sending out love!!

Walking in the AM

So, hubby wakes me up at 6:20am with an eager desire to go for a walk. So, we walk to the local coffee shop which is closed, lol, and then end up at Starbucks. Back to the local coffee shop for hot chocolate and we make it home by 8:00am. Seriously, LOVED walking - we should do it every morning. Lots of cute houses, a random flock of parrots (yes, it's true) that roam our neighborhood. I love seeing people walking there dogs and just smiling and saying, "Good Morning."
















This picture was meant to show my current obsession for finding a new apartment.

As it turns out, I think I am over the constant scans for "For Rent" signs.



This was a picture I took last night. Oscar FINALLY finished his last overnight visit for a research study on V02 Max that he is doing for school, hence the lab sticky things on his chest (name, anyone?). Oh and he is TOTALLY flexing here. Even though he would be appalled that I put it online. I'm proud of my hubby.

The Chore Chart - week 1

Sooo, I created a chore chart. I adore this chart. I created it as motivation for me to do workout and do chores. Oscar does pretty much everything here AND that's not really fair. He hasn't seemed to notice yet, though, so that's good. :)

We get a certain amount of money for each thing we do and on we get to do WHATEVER we want with our money, spend it that weekend, save it, etc. Working out 60min a day earns you 5 dollars a day - so that's really where the money is.

This week, Oscar did pretty much everything and I did barely anything.......soo, he already told me he is buying In N' Out with his money, lol. If he's nice maybe he'll buy me something.

**Oh and your not allowed to spend what you don't have (except for food, gas, groceries). But, you can spend YOUR money on your spouse if you want to. I have lots of ideas what I will do with my money. Next week will be a big earner. Maybe I'll stay up till 12 cleaning, so I can have some more money for the weekend.

CHEERS!!! - Francine

New Official Life Post

So, once upon a time there was a blogging site called Xanga. All the cool kids were on it, j/k, but lots of us high schoolers had xanga accounts, until Myspace came out and replaced it and then Facebook and then Blogger? It's all very cyclical, right?

Anyways, I think I am the only one who stayed with Xanga. I felt very close to it through all these years and loved looking back through time. Even when I created a Blogger, I decided to not write anything personal on it.

Well, I've been looking through Blogger sites and I am finally over my hesitation. Blogger will be my new post about whatever site!

Here are my random "whatever's." :)

1) I found these Willow Tree Figurines on Amazon when searching for article pictures and I adore them. My figurine for today is "Happiness." Oscar seriously makes me happy and makes me thank God for having him. What did he do, ummm, just be his amazing self.













2) I not so secretly want to write thousands of articles for eHow and have residual income for rent, savings and baby fund.

3) Did I mention, I want a baby - but know realistically we are at LEAST two years away (unless God has different plans for us.) My cats will have to do for now.

4) My secret newfound joy is looking up available apartments in the area. I figure if we could get one in the area, which is closer to Oscar's school and for less money, we can do it and it makes sense. Oscar has expressed he doesn't feel the need to move, but he is pretty much up for anything - love that guy! He def. tolerates my fantasies. I want either a new apartment or an apartment makeover, I am ready for NEW. But, it's also cool if we stay here for the next couple years. I just like the thrill of apartment shopping, hmmm, weird, you may too, you never know.

The one I am calling TOMORROW - God willing.

Gated community - FIREPLACE, patio, kitty friendly, and right next to a golf course (that'll snag Oscar's attention!)

oh and $190 less than our current apartment. I want to look.







That's all for now - back to work!