Gooodddbyee February!

Gooodddbyee February!

Mar 1, 2017

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Has this been the longest month ever or is that just me? It has been one crazy month! February is my birthday month and I usually love it but this year, it seemed as though there was more stress and less fun than usual. My boss left the company I work for and that means a lot more work for myself and other co-workers, it's been a whirlwind and to be honest I have felt like a ghost these past couple of weeks...I mean I brought in over 20 hours of overtime in 2 weeks! Let's just say coffee has been my best friend lately. But besides the crazy shake up at work, my birthday was amazing, and spending time with family is always what I need to keep me from going insane. 

 We already ate half the cake before we remembered to take a pic! 

 Grandma turned 65! We took her to see the Motown Musical in LA at the Pantages Theater 

 Took these cuties on a hike...well we attempted to go on a hike, we weren't very prepared 

 My love and I on Valentine's Day (I got that pink sweater for $10 at Old Navy...sale racks rock! 

I am still working on those resolutions and my goal is to find more time in March to devote to making myself healthier! (no more late night bowls of cereal) 

I'm praying for more sleep, less work and more exercise. Here's to March and starting fresh with Spring on the way! 

January Reads

January Reads

Feb 9, 2017

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One of my goals is to read more this year is to read more books. I have decided that I am going to try to read two books a month for the next year...that's 24 books in one year, I think that's a fair amount considering I work full time and want to try to have a social life as well, even though I will admit I think becoming a cat lady sounds pretty appealing sometimes! The books I am currently reading are for fun, simply books for entertainment. I have to read books for school but I am not going to count those as a part of my goal because those are required of me. Since January is over I thought I'd share what I read this month. They were both quick reads and I loved them! Last year I really put my love for reading aside and picking up a book again (actually my iPad) felt super great and rewarding! I am mostly reading books on my iPad from iBooks because it's so much more convenient. I pretty much take my iPad with me everywhere and when I don't have my iPad, I have my iPhone and therefore the book is on there too (go Apple!). One thing I discovered is that books can be pretty expensive and with me being a broke college student and all, I decided to check out the free books on iBooks and let me tell you, there are some awesome reads, I definitely recommend taking a look. 

Here are my January reads: 

Diary of a Fat Girl by Moira Mugweni

I loved this book, it was such an entertaining quck read, it's a young adult novel, I would definitely say a romantic novel, and the best part about it, it was free on iBooks! 

P.S. There is a sequel to this book coming out this summer! (I already pre-ordered it...this one is not free) 

Tell me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

This book was my favorite of the two, it's again a young adult novel about a girl that moves to a new town and a new school and deals with all things "teenagery". It's another romantic novel but the way it was written was just amazing and the characters are so well thought out and written. I would recommend this book to everyone and I would give it a 10/10. 

(I have included the link if you click on the picture, but if you have an iPad or iPhone, you can get it for free on iBooks) 

Happy reading everyone! 

P.S. I can already tell you February's reads have at least 3 books involved!  ;) 

Stressing Out (Post Holiday Stress Disorder...PHSD)

Stressing Out (Post Holiday Stress Disorder...PHSD)

Jan 17, 2017

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I can't even....my exact sentiments towards January. I am pretty sure January is the worst month out of all the twelve months. Once the holiday's are over, it's back to reality for another 10 months and it's also a new year which means there are a lot of resolutions floating around and it can be stressful. The 2016 holiday season was probably the craziest one yet for me, I don't know if it's because I am getting older or because time literally goes faster from October-December (I think that's the reason). Because of the craziness that the 2016 holiday season brought, I feel more stressed than ever! I have so many goals for myself this year because I can tell that 2017 is going to be my year to be my best self yet, but I have to be honest...I am already struggling with most of my resolutions (insert sad face emoji). And with all of that being said there are some pretty big changes happening in my life...well more like Fabian's life but they are definitely going to take some adjusting to. But that's for another blog post when I have fully wrapped my mind around it! 

I am going to put an end to my PHSD today! I mean co'mon, it's the middle of January already! My birthday is in a couple of weeks and I have so much fun stuff planned this year already :) Time to get out of my funk, put on my pink Vans, get some Starbucks, walk around Target and tackle my goals...all in that order! 

New Year, New Beginning

New Year, New Beginning

Jan 3, 2017

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Well I think it's safe to say I failed with the whole blogging thing in 2016...but hey that's what the new year is for right? Resolutions and fresh starts!! I have so many big plans and hopes for 2017. I will say though, 2016 is going to be hard to beat, I learned so much and grew so much as a person, I established my relationship with Fabian, and then some things I wanted to change in 2016 didn't and that's okay.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am not a huge fan of the new year, it tends to give me a little bit of anxiety and it makes me a whole lotta sad! I don't know what it is, I myself can't pinpoint it to one certain reason but I think it has something to do with not wanting things to change and knowing that once the new year is here, the holiday's are officially over and I always suffer from PHD (post holiday depression) because seeing all of the lights come down and the trees in people's trash cans in their front yards is just plain sad! But even though I am not a fan of New Year's, it still comes around every 365 days and I can't do anything about it, so here's to achieving dreams and making new memories!

Happy New Year Friends

P.S. Today is exactly one month until my birthday! 

The Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon

Nov 29, 2016

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 I personally think we should be on the front of the Grand Canyon Brochure. I mean we got all the kids smiling and looking at the camera! When does that EVER happen!?

 Snapchatting! 

 I love adventuring with him

 Do you see them!? About 10 elk crossed the road on our way back from the Grand Canyon 

There are no words to describe the beauty of the Grand Canyon.  It was a major bucket list item for myself and I finally got to check it off the list. We went to the south rim because the north rim closes for the winter months. We only had a few hours to explore so we walked about 2.5 miles along the rim and took in every angle we could of it's beauty. My mom was freaking out the every time Fabian and I went close to the edge of the canyon's rim, but it was too exciting not to look down and see just how massive it is...although I would not recommend looking down if anyone has a fear of heights (like my dad). From the rim's edge you could see people that looked about the size of ants, hiking the canyon below, so of course now I am looking into planning a trip to hike the Grand Canyon. Like I said earlier, we only had a few hours to explore but I could have spent days exploring and taking in the beauty of God's amazing Earth. 

MIA - Life Update

MIA - Life Update

Nov 7, 2016

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Fun fact: I am OBSESSED with mac & cheese 

Well...I would say I am doing a pretty good job at failing at this whole blog thing. I had big plans to write a couple of posts in October because it was such a fun month, but life got busy. Oh well I guess! So since we are pretty much already one third of the way through November (I can't even handle it) I figured it was time for a quick life update. October was filled with a trip to Disneyland, a Mumford and Sons concert (which was AMAZING!), candy, and so many fun family outings. 

So far November has been a bit more calm, I am just getting things ready for the holiday's and Fabian's birthday on the 19th (there will be a blog post coming about that). I spent my weekend in Orange county and Fabian and I had a much needed date night. We ate at his favorite restaurant (Lucille's) and then he kicked my butt at mini golf. On Sunday We took a trip to Rancho Cucamonga to walk around Victoria Gardens, have lunch at The Melt (get the Mac Daddy if you ever go there!) and of course we had to stroll through Bass Pro Shops. All of the Christmas decor is up and Christmas music was playing, and even though it was sunny and 80 degrees outside, it made me get a little excited for the next couple of months.

I am so grateful to have weekends like this, when things aren't planned and they just happen. 

There's much more to come and I can't wait to share! 

Love, 

Justiene 

Let the Holiday Festivities Begin!

Let the Holiday Festivities Begin!

Oct 1, 2016

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I CANNOT believe October is here already, which means the holiday season officially begins, which also means I will have NO free time whatsoever until January...oh well, I guess it's a small price to pay for all the fun, right? I have some super fun things planned for the month of October including our annual family vacation. So here's to all things Pumpkin Spice to keep me going through the month! 

Love,

Justiene