Happy Sunday!
Today is a Happy and Blessed Sunday. Our blessing and prayers to all those who made their First Communion today! What a joyous and remembrance day this is.
This weekend was a great weekend with the family. Spent some time volunteering, which was a wonderful experience and a “lead by example” teaching to my young ones. It is great to be able to share stories and explain how important it is to do as you would want others to do for you. A life teaching in and of itself.
After volunteering, my husband and I took the girls to the circus. It was great to see them so into watching it. Cele did not want to leave. She kept saying ” We can’t leave, we need to go back. I want to see the clowns.” Her and Lia thought it was great to be able to take their picture with the clowns, see ponies, tigers, elephants, and etc. Next on the agenda for the family is the zoo and museum. The girls are excited and can’t wait! It is great having time together to grown, learn, and have fun.
On a final note for the night, School. Yes, I said school. I am heading back to finish up. I know, I know, it is taking me forever. This is one of my goals I have set out to accomplish, and I am going to do it. As long, as all goes smoothly I should graduate with my bachelor’s degree in February next year. So it will be just shy of 10 months to finish. I am looking forward to it, and just trying to remember to take it one day at a time. I tend to stress out with school, so I must say I have to give myself pep talks to keep it going. Like my father said, set goals and write them down. So, here I am still setting goals, writing them down, and marking them off! Thanks Dad, for a life lesson that may seem so easy but at times hard to do!
Mini Motivation Thursday-part 1
So I have added a widget to my blog to help me and hopefully others to, keep motivated to staying healthy and active. This is a passion of mine that I really want to dive into. I was on track to run a half marathon, and some how got side tracked. Made excuses for not finding the time to exercise. I am now on my way to conquer one of my worst enemies ”procrastination”. So I am dedicating my Thursday blogs to Mini Motivation. Ideas to keep motivated! It is important to to stay healthy and be active. Finding something you love doing and stick with it. Don’t get me wrong, it will take some time for it to become a habit. I am still working on it myself.
One thing I am doing is running. I am using my Nike+ and created my own MINI as you can see from my Widget on my blog. It is keeping me modivated as I like to be able to see how far I have run, how many miles I have put in, and calaries I have burned. I have currently started joining some “Challenges”. This is where you can challenge yourself along with others. I am doing challenges for 100-Mile Mileston challenge, April fun run, and 400kmPlus Challenge. Check it out, it is fascinating.
Check out also Nike Women, where you can find training by joining the training club. I joined today, and looking forward to my first training tomorrow! Working on the core baby:)
I hope others will join along in staring/continuing a more healthy and active lifestyle! Cheers!
As always, feel free to post a comment, maybe how you are staying Motivated:)
Traditions
It was a wonderful weekend, celebrating Easter with the family. It was great seeing both sides of the family and remembering why were are here on Earth. Easter is a time of celebration, a Holy Day, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we came together as a family as we do every year. Like most years, we miss those in our family who are unable to make it back, but pray for you and your family. Our Love and Smiles, come your way!
So as with every year we get together, we crack eggs(hard boiled eggs that is). Although, some individuals, who we will leave un-named, like to sneak in on of Mom’s glass eggs she has lying around the house in hopes to be a champion! It is a great feeling passing along traditions to your family, ones in which I have grown up with. It is amazing to watch them enjoy it as much as I do:)
Nothing like the Leah challenging Great-Grandma and Cele with Grandma! The girls also say don’t forget the cake that Lola made too:)
I thank the Lord everyday for the gifts He has given us and a loving family here on Earth. It was and will continue to be a day of remembrance.
With that, I leave you with this to ponder.
Life! Ya gotta Love it!
“Yes, I believe that the world and my life are not
the product of chance, but of eternal Reason and
eternal Love, they are created by Almighty God.
Yes, I believe that in Jesus Christ … the face of
God has been revealed; that in him, God is
present in our midst, he unites us and leads us
towards our goal, towards eternal Love.”
—Pope Benedict XVI, Homily at Easter Vigil Mass, March 22, 2008
The joys of Motherhood.
Children, they are a blessing! Anyone that has children, I am sure would agree. 
Each day I look at my girls and thank God they are part of my family. They always keep my on my toes and bring much laughter to our household. As I finally sit down tonight (or should I say morning now), I hear Leah crying as she is finding another cozy spot in her bed, and Cele coughing like there is no tomorrow.
It was a long week without the girls in the household. As both Rob and I missed them dearly, we also had some time to bond with each other. It was great spending some quality time together, focusing on each other.
As the weekend neared, I made plans to pick up the girls and planned some family time. It is the start of Spring! 
As you can see by the pictures we did some planting… 
Along with some much needed play time of riding bikes and taking walks.
It may not always be easy being a mother, I am sure I am still learning and growing, but I would not change it for the world. I am thankful for each moment I spend with my family. The joys. The sorrows. The good times and the bad. My path to the eternal Father was never said to be easy, but know I can always call out for help. I will not be handed anything I can not handle.
With that I leave you with this…
I Won’t Back Down- By Tom Petty Well I won’t back down, no I won’t back down You can stand me up at the gates of hell But I won’t back down Gonna stand my ground, won’t be turned around And I’ll keep this world from draggin’ me down Gonna stand my ground and I won’t back down Hey baby, there ain’t no easy way out Hey I will stand my ground And I won’t back down. Well I know what’s right, I got just one life In a world that keeps on pushin’ me around But I’ll stand my ground and I won’t back down Hey baby there ain’t no easy way out Hey I will stand my ground And I won’t back down No, I won’t back down
Friendship! You got to love it.
Do you ever feel like you don’t know where you are heading or what you want to do with your life? You try to live a life the way the good Lord wants you to. This is one things I truly struggle with. As my hubby puts it, for the 9 years he has know me! I have been thinking and reflecting a lot on what my calling is in life.
With that said, I wish I only knew. So the Lord must have been listening to me today. A great friend happened to stop by today. She is very honest and true. She always has great insight and never holds back. It is crazy to think how much we have in common. We can talk about anything big or small.
Today we talked about finding happiness in our life. How we try to control so much of our time and what we do. I tend to want to be in control with what I am doing and where I am going. Maybe that is why I may not be finding the happiness I am looking for, because I am trying to be in control.
So I think it is time to step back and take a moment to re-evaluate. Therefore, tonight I am reflecting on what she told me. “God is not in control until you have fully surrendered yourself to him.” How very true this statement is.
To Friendship!
“A friend is one who strengthens you with prayers, blesses you with love and encourages you with hope.”–Unknown author
Random- Stand up for what you believe in!
So was catching up on some reading (blogs, tweets, etc.) today, when I came across a blog. I was reading through some comments and came across one. From an Anonymous person stating…”Boy. You really are into this Jesus shit.” Me personally, Yes!
So it got me thinking, why be anonymous? If you have something to say, say it with dignity. Why not stand up for what you believe in? Strike up a conversation. Don’t be afraid.
Blogging gives people the opportunity to write. Share their stories. So if you are going to leave a commit, why be anonymous? Be who you are.
Making Sushi
Thanks to my mother-in-law, I now love making Sushi. It is much easier than what I expected. Here is how I did it.
Take 1 cup of sushi rice and mix a little less than 1 1/4 cup of water. I just eye balled it and made the rice in a rice cooker.
After rice is done and is warm mix a few teaspoons of Japanese rice vinegar.
I made two kinds. One mixture was: imitation crab, carrots, cucumber, and avocado. The other was: cream cheese, smoke salmon, cucumber, and carrots.
Take a bamboo rolling mat and line with wax paper. Spread a layer of rice and place a some nori (seaweed) on top of it. Fill with either of the mixutres above. Then roll.
Serve with mixture of wasabi and soy sauce.
Love every bit of it:)
The Unexpected…
It was an unexpected day in our household. As most people know, things usually do not go to plan:) The morning started off great. Thinking “wow” the girls got up early. Then decided we could make it to early mass and start off the day on the right foot. Got the girls showered and ready and though now my turn! Got finish getting ready when my hubby told me we would not make it on time. What?? I am ahead of schedule, but not ahead of daylights savings time. Totally forgot to set the clocks ahead. So decided to go to a different time at a different church then usual. What was I thinking? I guess I was not.
The girls thought it was then a great day to chat non-stop with one saying “Are we done yet”, “I want to go home” as loud as she could all through mass. After each song was sung she would ask “we done?” Then the hubby, who thinks he can whisper but can’t, is trying to tell the girls to be quite or trying to bribe them to get them to be quite. Yet he was being just as talkative. Do we not understand the concepts or reflection and prayer. I guess not today. Thank the good Lord, for being so understanding.
The readings and homily today where about change and how we need to embrace change. The priest spoke about how some do not want change, or say ”it can not get worst”. Then I caught myself saying it…
As a family we decided to go and have lunch together. Which for the most part was great. The girls settled down so after eating we thought we would go for a drive. Check out some new cars, which was not good as the hubby found one he wanted. As we talked about heading home, one of the girls stated “my tummy hurts”. I turned around and said it will be okay we are heading home. She kept saying my tummy hurts, and all of the sudden when I turned around i saw her vomiting with our home nowhere in sight. Another offering for the day.
Now as I set here reflecting on the day and remember how much it is a blessing and a joy to have a family. Just another Fabulous day in Mama J’s history books:)
Thank you God!
Start of a new chapter!
So I figured I better get to jotting things down, since I had a few comments already and no new post. Someone forward my address to my family, maybe hoping I get things rolling since I took over this site. I am going to use this as a place to talk about anything that comes to mind.
I work full time, but enjoy most being with my family. As you can see my youngest daughter thinks it is time to be an older sister. She enjoyed every chance she could get to hold her cousin, of which is # 17 grandchild on my parents side, with 2 more additions due this year:) Children are a wonderful blessing.
Isn’t it great being able to teach life lessons and someday hope you did everything right. That when they are in a difficult situation, they will think before acting. With the idea of everyone makes mistakes and that is how we learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually!
Opening The Doors
Alright Rob, I have officially started my first blog. Never thought I would get into this, but having a tech savvy hubby changed my mind. So, I am opening the doors to a new chapter in my life. One that I hope to share with my daughters, family, and friends. A good way to talk about anything in life!
