Yummy Breakfast!

Check out my yummy breakfast from this morning...Im actually just really proud of the picture. I've never seen pancakes look so pretty :0) I posted it on my other blog that I never post on...dunno why?

Raspberry Compote-ish

It's almost Christmas!

I am so excited for Christmas! Were hopefully going to New Mexico and get to spend it with my family! Good food, Good company, and decent weather should make for a great trip!

We had Thanksgiving lunch with Garys dads family and then dinner with his mom and her family...I love my inlaws but nothing compares to a Barrera get together. There is always so much yummy food, and my family is all there...mom, brother, grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles are all there. There is always a great conversation happening somewhere, always someone laughing.

I might just be missing home a lot right now and thats why I am making it out to sound great, but I really do miss having a lot of family around. And I miss feeling like I belong to a family, does that sound weird? But I really dont feel like I fit in with my inlaws. I really do love them all dearly and enjoy most of them, but I always feel like an outsider.

Oh well, gotta make the best of it!

On Black Friday, I got a Cricut! Im so excited to use it, but since it's my bday present, I dont get to play with it until the end of December!

This was my random post about nothing really...I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!

A hard Sunday

Yesterday, I went to church with my mother-in-law. I am so thankful for her. It's super hard for me to go to church with out Gary, but he was working.

During RS someone asked me where my kids were...I wanted to say "In Heaven, waiting to come down" but I just said "I don't have any" she was certain I hadn't been to church in a while because I had a baby. I brushed it off and went on actually enjoying the lesson (weird for me cause I get bored pretty easy).

Sacrament meeting was the Primary Program, and they did an awesome job! But with every kid that went up to give his or her "talk" I wondered would I ever see my kids up there? By the end I was on the verge of tears and then they sang "Families Can Be Together Forever"...I lost it. I don't think anyone other than my mom-in-law saw though.

After sacrament an older gentleman asked me where my kids were (uh...again?) I told him I don't have any and then he said "You don't have any kids yet?" I had to tell him no, even though I wanted to say if I had a choice I would. He talked to me a little more then left. I thought my poor mom-in-law was gonna have a heart attack cause she didn't know what to say, but as always she made me laugh and I felt better.

I didn't think it would be this hard, I have actually been doing a good job convincing myself everything was just as it should be, and that I was ok with the fact that were not parents yet. Maybe I sort of am, but that was just too much for one day. I am so glad I went and in a way it really helped me see what I wanted out of life and that I need to get on a path and get there. I know that one day I'll be able to see my kid forget what he's supposed to say and sing off key over everyone else. But until that day, I just have to stay focused and trust that Heavenly Father will trust us to be parents one day, whatever way that may happen, it will happen.

Halloween-ish

Halloween came and went this year. Were kinda bummed we didn't get to do more. But for some reason we have been extremely busy! We had more trick-or-treaters this year. I became the Halloween Grinch about 8:30 pm though, kids kept reaching into the bucket to grab more candy! After I had already given them a huge handful! For some odd reason this made me mad and I turned off the lights! Sorry if you came by and the lights were off.

Gary put together the awesome hand-less, foot-less, pumpkin head man. It turned out way better than we expected. We wanted to buy him boots, but I couldn't find anything cheaper than $12 at the D.I. And that seemed too expensive to just sit on the porch full of leaves.

I love it! Oh, some random news...Were going to Florida in January. Southwest had this awesome 72 hour sale and we were able to get tickets for $100 each way per person!! That is amazing, since we were thinking it was gonna cost us around $900. The flights are kinda crappy (2 stops) but only about an hour longer than a direct flight. Either way, I am soo happy I get to see my Dad, my family, and my best friend!!

Camo Everywhere!

Duck hunting season is upon us and it shows! My house is constantly plagued by fake geese, ducks, and camo...anything. I wish Gary could get out and hunt more than he has been able too, he really enjoys it. I also wish I enjoyed it more... but he has all my love and support. Gary has had to work so much lately. I feel like I don't see him anymore, except to hand him his lunch in the morning and kiss him good night. He deserves some guy time. I hope he gets it soon.

On a related note: we belong to a trap shooting club! And I actually like it! I'm excited to learn more. The club meets on Thursdays and Sundays, we might have to switch to Thursdays cause in January we'll be back to afternoon sessions for church :(

The geese butts have heads, they are somewhere else in the house!

My favorite picture, the table at the door entrance has always been a catch-all for everything, but its taken on a new meaning lately... In case your wondering, that weird black thing is a duck call.

Soup please :0)

Since fall is here, it's soup and stew time! Problem is, we can only eat so much chicken soup and beef stew (those are the only recipes I know and trust) so if you have some yummy soup & stew recipes please share them!

Im done begging ;0)

Fall is here!

My favorite season is here!! I love the colors, the weather, the food, the activities...the only thing I do not like about fall is that it leads to winter, and it comes way to soon! We had snow this morning!! SNOW!! So I am asking Mother Nature to please keep winter away for a while and let us enjoy fall. After all, we were robbed of our summer by endless rain storms in May & June.

The cute blinkie thingy is courtesy of a great website called The Cutest Blog On The Block

Mom!!

My Mommy was here!

She got here on the 30th and left this evening :( I am so sad, I already miss her so much. She is so much fun to have around, I love having my mom around, she makes me feel like I can conquer the world. All my troubles disappear when she's near. Also, Ben was in heaven with his new buddy. He's been sulking all evening and keeps going downstairs to see if she is there. I hope we get to see each other soon...I really really miss her.

Salsa!

About 2 weeks ago we decided we should do something with all the vegetables in the garden...Salsa! So we started slaving over the cutting boards and stove.

About 8 jours later, with burning hands and watery eyes we managed to crank out about 20 pints and 7 quarts. It was really worth it cause the salsa is so yummy! We left 10 pints up stairs and 4 is all thats left. I don't think we made nearly enough to last till next summer.

A little beind...

Weekend Drive

Sometime in the beginning of September we decided to venture off a dirt road on the way up to Monte Cristo I think the road was called Curtis Road (maybe) I could be totally wrong though. Anyway, After going in about 3 miles we found this place and totally fell in love with it. I attempted to take some pictures but I really need to invest in a good camera!

Spetember Scent & Warmer!

Fall is just about here!

One of my favorite fall days is Halloween! Scentsy just came out with this adorable Jack O' Lantern warmer.

The scent of the month is Toasted Sugar Caramel...and it smells as good as it sounds!

Hurry and order yours, I'm sure the warmers will go fast!!

Click Here to check out my website.

Call or email anytime if you have questions, want to place an order, or have a party!

Having a home or basket party is a great way to earn free products.

The Warmer and Scent of the month are always 10% off!!

A day at the lake

Last Saturday we took Ben to the lake for a swim. The weather was perfect! Ben had fun, I enjoyed getting a tan, and Gary fished. He didnt catch anything, it was too early in the afternoon for the fish to be hungry. I love these little family outings we have.

Ben waiting to go get his toy

Swimming back!

His dirty, soggy toy

Gary walked out into the lake cause he didnt want to lose his lure...well it broke off in the water so he got all wet for nothing!

Yellowstone!

For our anniversary we went to Yellowstone! We stayed at a really nice hotel and they upgraded us to a suite...it was soo nice. I absolutely love it there! I want to move there and have a pet buffalo! We had a great time, took lots of pictures and learned a lot!!

Gary with Snaggletooth at the Yellowstone Museum.

Me in front of something steaming...I think this was part of the lower geyser trail.

My fancy anniversary dinner, it was yummy...wasn't worth $30 a plate though.

I love how the river runs through the geothermal stuff.

This was called Emerald pool (or lake?) anyway, it was so beautiful!

A pan of the lower geyser area.

My buffalo!

I named him "Jack". He was next to our truck!

Old Faithful

We were lucky we didn't have to wait long, maybe 5 minutes. But there were so many people there!!

An Elk herd near Mammoth Falls.

At our hotel in West Yellowstone, there was a section of the "Yellowstone Special" which used to service Yellowstone back in the day. It was really neat, they had the original bed with linens set up, original tables with the plates they used on the train! I wish I could post all the pictures.

Overall we had a great time and finally got to go on a vacation where it was just us. On the way home we went through part of Wyoming and I saw all these cute little towns. Makes me kinda miss home...a little lol.

FishFish swimming in heaven and other updates

So I have been awful at taking pictures lately, so Im just going to give a quick recap of whats been going on in our 'excititng' lives.

FishFish died and went to fishy heaven while I was in New Mexcio. Im sad, and feel somewhat guilty because I wasn't a very good fishy mom these last few months of his life. Maybe he died of neglect? We had him for 3 years though, I guess thats a long time to live for a Beta. Gary forgot about him while I was gone for 3 weeks, so I think the poor lil guy starved. FishFish...may you swim in peace :)

We sold the chickens! Not that we didnt enjoy the fresh eggs, but the hens stunk so bad! We had a wave of rainy weather that lasted about a month. And during that time it smelled like chicken doo all over the place, if we opened the window it would stink, if we were sitting in the front yard we could still smell them! Gary said the lady that bought them knew nothing about chickens, but I hope they are in good hands. It's a lot cheaper for me to pay $3 for a dozen organic eggs then to buy $16 worth of chicken feed. So Im ok with this.

Its almost our anniversary!! Were going to Yellowstone for 2 days and sightsee part of Wyoming the other two days! I know everyone goes camping at Yellowstone, but I will be camping at the Holiday Inn! Gary wants to take the tent and sleeping bags just incase...I have a feeling we will camp at least 1 night!!

I joined a gym! And got a trainer! I have never been a fan of the gym, mostly cause I get bored in them. But having a trainer has made everything a lot more fun! I havent lost any weight. But Im sure it will come off soon enough. Having PCOS makes it hard to lose weight, so I think once my body figures out whats going on, things will take off!

Thats all I can think of for now...

Gluten Free cake at Starbucks petition

I don't have a gluten intolerance, but I have a dear friend who does and it has changed the way she will eat for forever! So when I saw this, I thought it would be a good thing to sign and pass on for anyone who wants to have more options when going to a popular place like Starbucks, and maybe other places will catch on. Click here for more info on the petition. Here is some info on Celiac Disease. Thanks :0)

4th of July

On the 4th, Mom and I went to Ruidoso and had a blast! I lost $20 at the casino though!!! Its ok I had a great time walking through downtown and remembering all the fun I used to have with my cousins.

Mom and I watching the fireworks

My Mom made a friend in Ruidoso

My last day in NM, we went to lunch with Nana & Papo. I miss them so much!

New Mexico

I havent posted anything cause I was in NM! Ive been back about a week and I decided vacation time was over so I needed get some pictures posted! My moms cousin Chela had a surprise birthdya party and it turned out to be a blast!! The best part was seeing that nothing can slow my grandpa down! He just had shoulder surgery and he still got up to dance!

The Mariachis were great!

Victoria watching the Mariachis

Chela and her kids

My Papo and the birthday lady dancing!