Merry Christmas!

~MERRY CHRISTMAS ~

I wanted to thank Bill and Le Rita for inviting me and my sisters to join them this year for Christmas!! We had so much fun with you all and we really appreciate you opening your arms and hearts to us over the holiday! We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to spend this Christmas with your beautiful family. Thank you so much for everything, you are all so lovely!!

I haven't had a lot of time to blog this month with everything that comes along with the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I do have a few pictures though and hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas :) Love you all so much and will try to update a little more often :)

Jessica after Christmas dinner...So cute Jess!! ha ha

We had a little Jam session after Christmas dinner, soo much fun...this hit close to home and reminded me so much of being with my family :)


(Christmas Morning)
It doesn't get better than this...Cutest pj's ever!! ;)



I love my girls!! Thank you for cleaning! I love you both so much! I love the one present from mom and dad! So cute!! :)


*~*Happy Holidays *~*

25!!

Tif, Jessica and I went to San Diego for my birthday and I wanted to get a few photos up from photobooth that we took. We had so much fun! Thank you Ariel and Josh for everything. You guys are the best!!

Fun Thanksgiving!! :)

I just wanted to quickly thank Andrew for such a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner!! Wow, how long you must have slaved over the stove, I can't imagine...Thank you so much! We loved spending the holiday with you and we are so lucky to have you in our lives!! You are such a good man :)


We had a lot of fun tonight with Andrew. Dinner was AMAZING! The company was great and poor little Tiffy was sick :( but we still love her!


Here are a few pics from our night of festivities ha ha...Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving...we love you :) Oh and I ended up drinking by myself..ha ha j/k, it didn't happen. It all ended up in the sink and/or back in the fridge!!  lol   After dinner there was no room for much of anything else but a little bit of Ricky Gervais ha ha

Thanksgiving and Happiness :)

"Most people would rather be certain they are miserable, than risk being happy." 

 Robert Anthony

"The best way to cheer yourself up, is to cheer someone else up."

Mark Twain

I love this quote because it is so true :)

I haven't had a lot of motivation to blog lately because I have been a little down so this post is mostly for my own resolve lol and it if happens to help you...then it was that much more worth it.

"The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy."

Jim Rohn

Let's break down the walls and figure out how to live...because we all have so much to give to others...xoxo

"The greatest thief of human happiness and abundance is ungratefulness.  Any lack in our lives - whether in money, health, or relationships - is simply the evidence of a lack of gratitude.  If you focus on lack you are not being grateful, and that will bring more lack into your life.  Yet the simple state of radiating gratitude summons everything to you.

No matter who you are or where you are, you can change your life with gratitude, but you must feel it with your whole heart and radiate it from every cell.  Gratitude is not a mental exercise, and in fact, if you simply use your mind for gratitude it will have little or no power.  True gratitude comes from your heart!  You must think gratitude through your heart, speak gratitude through your heart, and feel it intensely in your heart.

Then practice gratitude relentlessly.  As you practice gratitude you will attract more thoughts and feelings of gratitude.  In a short time your entire being will be saturated with it, and you will experience a happiness that is beyond what you can imagine.  This is what is ahead for you when you choose gratitude as your way of life.  And if you can really live in this highest state of gratitude, you will never have to ask for anything.  Everything you want will be given to you before you even ask, because gratitude is the magnetic substance that opens every single door in the Universe."

Try this...

Try saying thank you in as many ways as you can and for as many things you can think of every night...

And your normal activities during the day, how about instead of saying, "Traffic sucks," try giving thanks for the automobile you have that gets you to where you need and want to be.

Instead of saying, "I am sad,"  say, "Thank you for giving me a healthy body and a healthy mind so that I have the ability to think and live and love!!"

Instead of saying, "Why me," try saying, "Thank you for the opportunity to learn and grow from this experience."

Being thankful is powerful.  Love yourself, love one another and be thankful for what you do have :)

*I am thankful to all of those who have given me the opportunity to love them.  I have learned a lot from you all*

"Winter" in Los Angeles!!

Well, here's "winter" in Los Angeles for ya (Featuring Tiffany) lol!!  Ha ha, I thought this was amazing!  I've seen it rain here a ton before, but not like this!!   So fun!!

Miss you guys!  Love you all!  :)

Happy Holidays!

Okay here's the deal...Yes the holidays are coming up, but does that mean that those of us who don't have a lot of family around them need to feel sad or sorry for themselves.  Okay I'll give you the feeling sad part, but don't let it get you down.  How about donating your time instead to a homeless shelter or to another friend in need during this holiday season.  How about you get all of your friends who have no place to go together so you can spend it with the people you love, it's not family, but really does it matter?  As long as you are surrounded by those you care for and care for you, that alone should be something to be grateful for :)  A lot of people don't even have that.  Love you all...don't worry be happy!

Loving our mama!!

My mom came into town on Friday morning!!  We have had so much fun since she's been here.  We have been going nonstop from the second we picked her up at the airport, she wears us out lol...I believe she picked up that trait from my pops ha ha.  Love you dad!!  On Friday we picked her up from the airport and went straight to breakfast at The Village Coffee Shop.  I thought it was perfect since this neighborhood hot spot's atmosphere of old Hollywood dominates Beachwood Canyon.  This is the same neighborhood my sisters and I live in so I thought it would be appropriate.  This is also the street where you can visit the Hollywood sign.  The sign originally read "Hollywoodland," to promote a development opened in Beachwood Canyon in 1923...kind of a fun little fact ;)  Humphrey Bogart once lived here as well as Madonna who lives at the top of our street in a house with a yellow and red striped tower just to the left of the sign...and now I can't help but laugh when I think of Madonna in the plastic sack she wraps herself in every night before she goes to bed; according to Guy Ritchie lol.

There have been a few fires here in Cali lately (which is incredibly tragic), so Los Angeles looks like it has been engulfed in the debris from an atomic bomb :(  Not fun...We all decided to pack up and go to the beach, however, there was no escaping it.  It was everywhere!  It was almost eerie in a way looking at the sky which otherwise would have being completely blue.  And as the sun went down yesterday and today it was perfectly crimson, more so yesterday than today, but it was still amazing to be able to witness that...

We have had so much fun being together (for some reason some of my pictures are not downloading.  When I figure that out...there will be more to come :)

I Appreciate You!!

I wanted to thank a certain someone for all of their support through this nonessential time in my life ha ha!  My car was towed today and this angel of a person really helped me to not feel like such an imbecile and completely took my mind off of it tonight, so THANK YOU!!!  I would have been knee deep in my own humiliation had it not been for you :) Thank you, thank you, thank you!!  I love you so much!

 I also wanted to thank my sisters for being so helpful and sweet!!  I love you both and Jessica, thank you for waking up early with me tomorrow to figure everything out, you are a blessing :)

I just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate you!! :)

Happy Birthday Tiffany! / Welcome Home Jessy ;)

It was Tiffany's birthday on the 10th!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tif!! WE LOVE YOU!!

Jessica FINALLY came home!!! Yay! I'm so glad your back Jess! We decided to celebrate by going to the Grove and having dinner :) Nothing too crazy happened, I'm just glad that the drinks weren't strong enough to make us want to go dancing! We were so tired when we got home it was ridiculous!  Then Jess and I watched The Zohan...Lot's of fun catch phrases in this one, it was really dumb, but because of this I have to recommend it ha ha.

PS...I just put this picture up because I love how we look like we're each other's date to the prom!!  Lol...She cracks me up!

Holiday Blues...

Feeling a tad bit alone and a little heartbroken, Tif and I went to dinner tonight to try to lift our spirits.  Maybe it's the weather changing, maybe it's something in the air, who knows.  So we had a little "pre-birthday party" for Tiffany...We went pretty early actually.  It's getting dark really early so that kind of throws me off a little and we felt like having dinner a little earlier than usual.  We shared the chicken tacos...as always, but I wasn't up for eating so I wrapped mine up to go.  I had a couple glasses of wine to help subside the blues :/  Holiday blues are the worst and they are definitely starting to surface early this year.  Going to Birds tonight was nice though, for some reason the energy was different there.  It reminded me of home, something I REALLY needed :(

*I'm so glad you're coming to visit us mom, I'm getting so homesick for my family!

Another Adventure @ El Compadre!!!

Tiffany had another amazing show last night!!  I love listening to she and Nicholas play, it's so fun.  A neighbor of ours came to cheer her on, turns out he's a producer and wants to produce a few of her songs!  Yay!  How fun would that be?!?!

After their show, Nicholas, Tiffany and I went to El Compadre for dinner.  We had so much fun!! Nicholas and I went to put our names on the list to get a table.  I dared him to tell the hostess his name was "Consuelo" and he did it!!  Lol!  She just laughed and said, "Okay it will be just a few minutes."  So finally we were seated and by this time my phone had disappeared ha ha...yes I know...

If my parents were there, they'd be like, "Why do you ALWAYS do this??"  So typical lol!!  Right mom!!??  You and dad know what I'm talking about ha ha!

So Nicholas and I scoured the place trying to find it.  I knew I came in with it so it had to be somewhere!  We check outside where we were waiting for a table, we checked the car, and then we went inside and checked my bag again.  No luck!  I pretty much gave up.   So Tiffany and Nicholas were talking.  I was taking pictures of them and had the brilliant idea of checking underneath the table, and guess what was lying on the floor??  Yep... 

I was so excited!!  Seriously...

Tiffany kept telling me all night to, "Look sad that you lost your phone," and "Oh my goodness I found it face!!"  Lol she's hilarious!

As we walked out the door, some girl, (I'm assuming she worked there) looked at Nicholas and said, "Goodbye Consuelo!!"  Ha ha  I started cracking up.  I don't understand why they didn't believe that it was his real name ;) 

The next morning Nicholas brought us flowers with a card that read:  "To the cutest sisters ever, had so much fun last night.  Love Nicholas!!"  What a sweetheart...We love you Nicholas!!  We had a lot of fun with you.  Thank you for the flowers, they are beautiful!  :)

~We missed you JESSY!! xoxo~

We GET to Carry Each Other

One way I like to express myself is through my writing, but I also love to express myself through music and when I hear a song that makes me think or feel something, anything I can't help but learn how to play it on my guitar and sing it.  Of course it's a different story when people ask me to play for them.  I'm getting better at it, however I still could never compare to my sister Tiffany!!!  She is amazing!  

I have heard this song before.  Tiffany brought it to my attention today and I hope that when you read these words you will understand why I found it so compelling.

You Only Get One...

Is it getting better

Or do you feel the same

Will it make it easier on you now

Now you've got someone to blame

You say...

One love

One life

When it's one need

In the night

One love

We get to share it

It leaves you baby 

If you don't care for it

Did I disappoint you?

Or leave a bad taste in your mouth

You act like you never had love

And you want me to go without

Well it's...

Too late 

Tonight

To drag the past out into the light

We're one, but we're not the same

We get to 

Carry each other

Carry each other

One...

Have you come here for forgiveness

Have you come to raise the dead

Have you com here to play Jesus

To the lepers in your head

Did I ask too much

More than a lot

You gave me nothing

Now its all I got

We're one

But we're not the same

Well we

Hurt each other

Then we do it again

You say

Love is a temple

Love a higher law

Love is a temple

Love a higher law

You ask me to enter

But then you make me crawl

And I can't be holding on

To what you got

When all you got is hurt

One love

One blood

One life

You got to do what you should

One life

With each other

Sisters

Brothers

One life

But we're not the same

We get to

Carry each other

Carry each other

One...life

One

~We GET to carry each other~

Starting Your Day Right!

I've been reading this book called Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.  It gives you devotions for each day of the year, which I thought was quite intriguing.  I wanted to share a few of them with you as they have lifted my spirits in the past few days.

Control Your Temper

Have you ever regretted something you said as soon as the words were out of your mouth?  You can't take back the words you speak to others--and words can damage relationships.  If you can control your mouth, you can control your whole body.

Before you respond to people too quickly, stop and listen.  "Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to take offense and slow to get angry." 

Use words that speak HEALING to others...

Be Positive

Depart from evil and do good; seek, inquire for and crave peace and pursue (go after) it!  Do all things without grumbling, faultfinding, complaining, questioning and doubting (among yourselves.)

Be positive.  Get rid of gossiping and complaining.  Bring life and love to whatever situations you face :)

Initiate Solutions

Sometimes we complain about things that we CAN change if we would stop feeling sorry for ourselves long enough to do something about them.  For example, if we are lonely, we can make the effort to be a friend to someone else.  We can choose to be free or remain in bondage to self-pity.  We can choose to be pitiful or powerful!!

Control Your Moods

Moods can bring strange impulses that we dare not heed.  When we get moods we want to do weird things, or neglect our responsibilities.

"I don't feel like doing anything today.  I am in a bad mood.  Just leave me alone."

Disciplined people submit their emotions to wisdom.  They say, "These are my feelings, but I don't live by my feelings, I may have moods, but they don't dictate my actions.  I am going to do exactly what I would do if I felt better."  You will enjoy your day more when you discipline yourself to do what you believe, instead of what you feel.

All of these have helped me in the past.  I have read this book numerous times and I understand it's meaning more and more each time.  It also keeps me grounded and reminds me of the things that are all too soon forgotten in our day to day lives. :)

I went to Andrew's yesterday to celebrate his birthday with he and Jessica.  He skipped out early and went to bed (bless his little heart) so Jess and I were able to talk a little bit about a few things that we had been contemplating these past few weeks.  

We were talking about how a vast amount of individuals who move to Hollywood, tend to take on this facade; so to speak.  They trap their real identities inside of the exterior appearances and shut the world out. They shut people out.  I also know that this doesn't only happen in Hollywood, it's everywhere.  I find it so interesting that people really do this.  It makes me heartsick to think that they shut themselves out from the world and can still find happiness within themselves.  Some of them may and some may not, I can't say for sure, I am not one to judge, but the more I processed the thought the more interested I became in finding out why people do this, is it because of their insecurities?  Could it be because they feel it makes them more powerful, less breakable?  I have no idea.  

I feel that we were all put on this earth to support each other, to learn from each other and to love one another yet it is amazing to me that we still can't look each other in the eyes, smile and say, "hello" as you pass another human being on the street.  How many times have you stood in an elevator watching the numbers light up instead of saying, "Hello.  How are you?"  We still try to find something, anything to give our attention to when you happen to notice someone walking your way.  It is so sad, but makes me laugh sometimes.  Seriously you guys, I don't think you know how much just a smile can do for someone.  

Maybe try smiling at everyone you pass tomorrow...See how it makes you feel.  It can't hurt right??

Rock the Vote 2008! ;)

So, I couldn't wait to vote today, primarily because I am SO ready for this election to be over!  I was supposed to go early this morning, but didn't quite make it until later on this afternoon.  I was supposed to go with Tiffany, however she had an appointment at noon with her school advisor so, I walked to the bottom of my street where they had the election booths all set up and voted, alone lol.  Sorry Tif!!  I will still go with you when you get home if you want me to :)  Anyway, we'll see how it all ends up...this should be interesting huh....Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for good results!!!

Aimless Thoughts at 2AM :?

Usually I fall asleep right when my head hits the pillow, but tonight for some reason it wasn't going to happen so freely.  After an hour of lying there thinking about everything from how excited I am to see my mom in 2 weeks to how I am dreading cleaning my apartment from top to bottom tomorrow with Tiffany lol, finally I pulled myself out of bed and decided that I'd share with you some of my completely aimless thoughts of the evening.

(Please excuse typos and run on sentences, as it is 2:00 in the morning.)   ;) 

I'm thrilled for the election to be over!  I am becoming more and more agitated every day by the fact that it has been the topic of EVERY conversation for the past year!  Of course I think it's great that everyone's getting into the 2008 election, but seriously, it's getting so old lol :)  I will be watching the election this Tuesday and I will be sure to lock in my vote alongside my 2 favorite girls!!  Get ready kids, this should be interesting!

Not only is the election this Tuesday, but it's also Andrew's birthday!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY Andrew!!  We love you and hope you are feeling better, I will see you Tuesday!  Can't wait :)

I'm listening to Kenny G at the moment and I have to say, I will always love his music.  I am relentlessly teased for listening to "elevator music!!"   Ha ha, I will still always love it!  When I was living alone in Utah I used to listen to him all the time, more so in the winter.  It reminds me of home and the snow, so...I keep it close to my heart lol.  Please don't take it a way from me ;) 

I don't know why I can't sleep, my body is dragging, but my mind is moving a million miles a minute.  I am still recovering from working until 5AM on Halloween is all I can figure.  I've never seen anything like Halloween in Hollywood.  It's insane!  EVERYONE dresses up, well most of them, the other half of them hardly wear a thing lol...Ladies...ha ha it's all good, but I can guarantee that's why the majority of the fights broke out that night.  Yeah other men are going to stare at your girlfriend if she's not wearing anything, girls are going to look too, it's not rocket science, just human nature.

Okay, I'm going to try this again.  I hope you had fun reading my ridiculous thoughts of the night :) I'll try to keep you all updated more on what the girls and I are doing.  I've been super busy with work lately so I haven't had a lot of time, but I will have something soon...Promise!  I miss you all and hope you are doing well!

and..."ummmm I love you"  ;)

Sweet Dreams!!!

Judgemental?? I sure hope not...

I wanted to say that I am so thankful for every person that comes into my life. I am so blessed to learn a new lesson with each beautiful face I get the opportunity to meet. Some may not be so happy to meet me, but that's okay.

I was thinking today about how people are judged solely on a situation they are in or because of their family or relationship with someone. I realize more and more every day that everyone has their own problems so even though they are dealing with it differently than you might, they are doing their best. They may not have been blessed with a big heart like yours or a mind that can think as clearly and as strongly as yours does. They may have been backed up against a wall and don't know where to turn and so they do what they can with the skills they have received to get through to tomorrow. Sometimes you want to step in and tell them how they need to deal with their situation. I have learned the hard way that this (in most cases) does not work.

If you are not asked for advice try not offer it. However, you can be sympathetic. I have learned that the best way to deal in situations like these is to offer your time, your love and your assistance and hope that they come through to the other side. Give them encouragement!! Do small things for them that let them know you care and that you are there for them, always. When you get frustrated with them, offer them more of your love. Don't give up on them, they deserve someone to be with them through their time of need...are you that person??

Love is so hard to come by...

I dug these up for someone in particular...You know who you are :)  I hope in some way, any way this will help...I think that everyone can benefit from these!  Love you!

*"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

-Albert Einstein

**"Never apologize for showing feeling.  When you do so, you apologize for the truth."

-Benjamin Disraeli

*"A good heart is better than all the heads in the world!"

-Edward Bulwer-Lytton

***"When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it's bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast and limitless.  You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space."

-Pema Chodron

***"Today is not yesterday: we ourselves change; how can our works and thoughts, if they are always to be the fittest, continue always the same?  Change, indeed is painful; yet ever needful; and if memory have its force and worth, so also has hope."

-Thomas Carlyle

Have a Beautiful Day :)

Girls Night Out :)

We haven't done this in a very long time, but we felt the time had come again!  Tiffany, Jessica and I had a girls night out last night.  With the economy the way it is right now we have all been trying to save money, but we couldn't take it anymore so, Jessica picked us up and we went to Lucy's (Mexican).  The food was quite authentic and so was the service ;)  Nobody was really there, which was great!  I can't tell you how hard it is to go to a restaurant and have it be so incredibly crowded and loud.  Seems like that is what every restaurant owner in Los Angeles is going for these days and it drives me crazy, but I guess I understand.  After dinner we went to the patio and took some pictures...It was hilarious, you had to be there...

Thank you for going out with me ladies!  I had so much fun with you, love you both so much!  :)

Thank You...

I have never known the feeling of heartbreak

I have never really understood

Until not so long ago

Life helped me so I could

As I try to pick up the pieces of my heart

I'm reminded that I am lucky to have learned

You have given me something to strive for

To love another and to be loved in return

We are rarely given this precious blessing

The gift of another's unconditional love

When you are lucky enough to experience twice

You will know it was sent from God's hands above

I will wait for that unsuspecting day 

When I will give my heart away again

You have been my shining light 

My love and my best friend

Thank you for loving me...

Can't Wait!

I just found out a few days ago that my mom is coming into town to see me and my sisters!!!  I am so excited to see her, it has been way too long and she's never been to my apartment!  I wish she was bringing my pops too, however it will be fun to have a "girls weekend."  I hope she's ready to get crazy because we are going to have such a great time! ha ha!  Love you mom!!  Can't wait to see you :)

Time to Recycle!!

Tiffany, Jessica and I have been saving our plastic bottles for months so we could take them to a recycling center!  We have been stashing them everywhere!!  I am so happy that we are getting them out of my apartment!   I swear if I see another plastic bottle in here I might go off the deep end ha ha  totally kidding!    

Hope everyone is well!  I miss you guys!

Tiffany's Amazing!!!

Tiffany had another show last night at Genghis Cohen!  She was amazing as usual...I love her shows and enjoy them so much more than when she had a band, she and Nicholas do such a great job together, her voice is so incredibly strong and it's so fun listening to her play my favorite songs alongside the infamous Nicholas Gruter!  Thanks so much Tif!

Tiffany, Rocky, Jessica and I all went out for drinks after to celebrate how amazing she is, we had a lot of fun together, but every time I go to a bar I realize how much I don't like them lol. Especially The Dime, ha ha...  Here are some fun pics!  Wished you all were there!  We miss you!