Monthly Archives: August 2009

Just a Motivating Monday – Friendship

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If you’re just joining us:

-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others.

-Please link back to Garibay Soup

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other’s blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you 🙂 So, spread the comment love!

After the day I had to day I must say I was not in the mood to write anything inspiring for anybody, because I was just downright now inspired!

We’ve all had a day where it all just started going wrong, it was like bad events had a domino effect going on. That’s how I felt today was. Now, I sit here, with sleeping babies, peace in the house and the Kardashians on my TV….. needless to say I’m happy and ready to start writing.

This week my best friend in the entire world is up in Oregon visiting from my home town Sacramento. I find our friendship so inspiring and felt like sharing it with you, here on Just a Motivating Monday.

I have always been a different person when it comes to friends. I know people have tons of them, and I only hold a small few in my hands. Once you become my friend, you will always remain my friend, and I think that’s why I am so picky choosing them.

Jenise and I have been friends since as far back as I can remember, we started our first day of school together. I have moved many, many times (that’s a whole other post I need to write about!) But through it all, Jenise has always been there. Even when we were 12 and separated we kept in contact by letters, but I always returned back to that small town Jackson, California.

Jenise has always been the one I cry to, she is always the first person I think of when I have good news, bad news, or just need a friend to be there for me….. no matter where I live. It’s hard to find the right words to express the friendship that I feel so honored to have. Not everyone is blessed to have a friendship like we have, and I couldn’t be more thankful.

I am inspired by the unconditional love that we hold for each other. I believe that we should all hold this kind of love for our best friends. Don’t let the petty stuff EVER get in the way of your friendship, because it’s never worth it. Just remember that while you might not always agree with each other, you will always love each other.

Jenise has put up with so much crap from me, and I’m so lucky that she holds this unconditional love for me, because NOTHING could ever get in the way of our friendship, and since we are so close…. we would never do anything to each other to jeopardize it.

Neener, I love you to death and I am so grateful that you are my best friend. I would move mountains for you if I could, and I will always be here…. no matter what it is that you need.

Dear Ella, You’re 2… Oh my

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Dear Ella,

I will begin this letter to you letting you know that you are extremely special to me. You make my heart smile (actually grin!) all throughout the day and I’m so thankful for every moment that I have with you. From the day you were born I knew there was something special about your sweet, sweet soul. From the beginning you have been a little girl that turns heads, and puts smiles on people’s faces. There’s times where I just stop and stare at you and think to myself ‘Wow, what a beautiful girl.’

You definitely have not had the easiest 2 years that a normal little girl gets, but although you have faced death a couple of times, you are still here to continue making me want to be a better person. Ella, I couldn’t imagine my life without you, and I am thankful for every tear, every smile, every frustration, every moment that you give me.

This past year you’ve grown into this little girl with this strong personality. You are no longer a baby, although I still rock you to sleep almost every night. I treasure those moments, and hope I get many more! You love girl music, you love to dance, you love to sing, you love to order your brother around. You love babies, and act like a little mama. You talk more than I’ve ever heard a toddler your age talk before. And laughing lights up your eyes. You try to open your eyes as big as you possibly can and oh my, what an adorable sight.

You’ve become a little best friend of mine.

I can’t wait to see what this next year brings us, I pray it brings good health and lots of smiles. I love you my little princess, you hold a huge part of my heart in your tiny hands…. Happy Birthday!

Love, Mama

3 Days Old… now, that’s beauty!


10 1/2 months old
2 years old…. my little lady


I’m grateful that I am your mom. Thank you for choosing me ~ I love you my princess… now and forever.

A quick little run down

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I took a couple day break from blogging without announcing it ~ and I enjoyed it!

I’m working on a couple of special posts ~ one will be posted tomorrow for a very special birthday girl. I’m just jumping in to give a little update on US!

Our trip was wonderful! We spent 9 nights in hotels, one my absolute FAV Little American in Salt Lake City…. talk about gorgeous! We got scared to death by a scary thunder & lightening storm at Water World….. we were split up from each other taking cover, but we are still alive. We all got to go to a dinosaur museum for the first time ~ amazingly cool! We swam, we ate, we drove (a lot!) and almost finished the final book of the Twilight Saga on audio. We watched funny and scary movies, and laughed a lot. We got to visit family, see our possible future home, go see 2 gorgeous temples (including the SLC temple) and had a couple of hot dates with my oh so hot husband. And most importantly I got to see people from my past, people that mean the world to me.

The time away has helped me to clear my mind, refresh my soul, and be happy to get back into my routines. I discovered things I love about my husband, I enjoyed the constant together time, and realized that I am truly happy with my life. I got to be free for a while, and I definitely needed it!

I will be doing our vacation in pictures, but need to finish all of my editing first… so stay tuned!!! And in the meantime enjoy this shot I got of the SLC Temple… it’s is my favorite.

Just a Motivating Monday – I want the Lord to know that I REALLY LIVED!

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If you’re just joining us:

-Write a blog post about ANYTHING at all that inspires you, or something you feel will inspire others.

-Please link back to Garibay Soup

-Please snag my Just a Motivating button on your post.

-I hope that we can all go and visit each other’s blogs and read what everyone has linked up ~ I hope that this carnival can bring more traffic for you 🙂 So, spread the comment love!

This was originally posted on March 4, 2008 but it’s another of my favorites. Marjorie Hinckley who was President Hinckley’s wife of the LDS church once said….

“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”

I loved this, and I keep her words close to my heart. I hope this inspires you throughout your life as well.

Thanks for joining me!

The most BORING Garibay Soup post EVER!

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Photobucket

I’m just popping in to say hello… we’re doing quite well. If you don’t follow me on Twitter you might be wondering where the heck I’ve been. Well, I’ve been everywhere. Tonight I lay in the world’s most comfortable bed in Salt Lake City at Little America Hotel. I am planning on being home Tuesday night ~ don’t know how I feel about this yet. On one hand I can’t wait on the other hand reality sucks!

Tomorrow {Just a Motivating Monday} will be posted @ 8:00pm PST as usual. In the meantime I hope all is well with all of you. We’ve really been enjoying our vacation and have a million pictures to go through and upload… including pics of our maybe, possibly new home ~ We’re not rushing into this decision 😉 Above is a pic we took at the Salt Lake Temple today. Gorgeous… absolutely gorgeous.

So, thanks for bearing with me as tumbleweeds have been flying around these parts, but although I’ve wanted to blog… I’ve been having too much fun to blog. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for a safe travel home. I can’t wait to get back to my addiction. When I get home I’ll have so much to share!

I never knew you, but I love you

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I never heard you, but I hear you
I never held you, but I feel you
I never knew you, but I love you

I went tonight to watch probably the scariest movie I’ve seen in such a long time, The Orphan. The above poem was in the movie and a situation much like {mine} had happened to the main character. Her baby girl had died while she was still pregnant with her.

When we saw the stone with the poem on it Gino had reached over and grabbed my hand. It still hurts at times. I will admit that things have definitely gotten better and I am ever so thankful for the blessings that I have; for the children that I have. There is still, however, {Mya}. There is still is a baby girl in heaven that I miss so much, that I love so much…. and I don’t even know her. I have felt her inside of me though, and she has a huge part of my heart and my soul.

In exactly 1 month from today it will have been 3 years since I found out my baby girl had passed. The poem above is so real to me. I didn’t know her, but I love her just as much as I love my 2 babies that are alive and well with me here on earth. 3 years ago I could hardly breathe and didn’t know how in the world I was supposed to go on. I find it amazing how much time and Heavenly Father can heal a mother’s heart.

The thing that helps me out so much is that I know she lives in heaven. I keep her so close to my heart in a necklace. I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason, and sadly sometimes things happen that are traumatic. I know that Mya had a very wonderful purpose, and she served it. She saved my marriage. She brought Gino and I together in a way that can’t be explained. She came to a marriage that was on the verge of destruction and made it the strongest bond I’ve ever felt. I love Mya for that, and one day I’ll be able to hug her and thank her. She served her purpose, then gave her sister a chance to be born to happy family, a strong family. And I know that through all of Ella’s traumatic experiences with her heart that she’s right there with her, because she’s her angel.

I hope that when we smile and think of her that she feels it. I hope that when we’re sad because she’s not with us she feels our love. She will always be my first daughter. I will always love her, and I don’t even know her yet. I do, however, know that she came here and saved a family and built it strong. Thank you, Mya…. I love you.

School Already?!?!?

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This summer just FLEW right before my eyes. I feel like Jayden just got out of school and in 1 month he’ll be right back in it…. and in 2nd grade! Where oh where did my baby go?

Mornings suck for us. I have a hard time getting up early enough and without structure things for us do not go well. {Kristen}, who hosts Works for Me Wednesday suggested morning cards. My thoughts exactly! I’m big on morning cards and next week’s WFMW post will go into a little more detail about these cards, and not just for your kids ;). So first off I’m seconding what Kristen wrote regarding these nifty things.

My other advice for back to school is the following:

NEVER leave things til morning to prepare, no matter how tired you are, make sure things are set and ready for an easy morning.

2 weeks before school you should put your kids on their school schedule. Make sure that they are going to bed at school time bedtime hours

I suggest getting a workbook for the school year that they’re going into to prepare them for things they’ll be learning… that way they aren’t too lost ~ and even seem a little bit of a smarty pants

Most of all, spend lots and lots of fun times with them before sending them back to school. Plan special little surprises for them like picnics or trips to the zoo…. maybe a camp out in the yard… treasure your last few weeks with them, because this next year they’re going to grow so much. Treasure the time with them.

So, I’m sorry that my back to school tips aren’t the best, but I’m tired, traveling, but wouldn’t miss Works for Me Wednesday for the world. Join me next week to learn about how I have found the solution to organizing my housekeeping, my kids housekeeping and everything else in my home ~ it’s working and I can’t wait to tell you all about it! So make sure you are either following me on {Twitter} or my {RSS Feed} so you don’t miss out on the secret I found. And check back in with me on Monday for my inspirational carnival {Just a Motivating Monday}!