Watch Out Martha Stewart!

All that turkey I just consumed has me feeling tired, but I wanted to share our Thanksgiving meal that I made today. Yes, I know it's no longer Thanksgiving, but on the actual day we went with a few of our friends up North about 1.5 hours and celebrated the holiday with their families. We actually had two Thanksgiving that day  - so today makes three!  I really wanted to make our own just because last year Matt was deployed and also because I was given a free turkey at work.

 This is only my third time cooking a turkey! But my first time actually cooking a turkey larger than 6 lbs Haha. We both agree this was my best turkey to date.

 Matt starting to cut the turkey and take the legs off.

All of our sides

 Buttered corn, cinnamon brown sugar glazed carrots

 garlic mashed potatoes and regular mashed potatoes

Stuffing and crescent rolls

It all was so delicious. And we can't forget the homemade apple pie and chocolate ice cream for later!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that you were able to share it with family and friends. We cannot wait to see our family again soon - it's the little things that truly matter.

Now, it's time to go to the gym before Christmas rolls around, ha ha. 30 days left!

Deep Sea Fishing

Last Saturday, Matt and I went deep sea fishing off the coast near Dana Point, Long Beach and Catalina Island, CA.  I have always wanted to learn how to fish, and when I met Matt about 8.5 years ago, he said that he would teach me one day. Well, at least he can FINALLY say that he has taught me how to fish, Haha! Better late than never, right? And we also were able to cross it off our baby list!
Well, leading up to us going deep sea fishing, I had thought in my mind the entire time that the waves would be really rocky, there would be water coming overboard, fish everywhere, reeling in super big fish (maybe even shark!)  and less crowded… something like this

On Saturday morning, we woke up at 4 A.M., ate some breakfast, then headed out on the road. The place we went through, Davey's Locker, was about an hour drives away up north at Newport Beach.

When we got there, we received all of our gear that we would need for the entire 10-hour experience. 

We loaded up on the boat  (this is when my vision of what I thought was going to happen slowly started to go away) with about 91 other people. Matt started to put the line on our fishing rod and gave me a quick lesson.

 Hooking on bait

 My turn to hook on bait (squid)

While we were fishing, we saw TONS and TONS of dolphins swimming in packs. It was so cool. Some of them would jump so high out of the water and swim up close to the boat. We even saw whales , sea lion, and a shark (which I didn't get to my camera fast enough since I had squid hands!) 

 Matt catching a fish.

 My first fish that I have ever caught in my life. I was pretty excited since all day I wasn't catching anything but others around me were.  Some people were even catching HUGE fish and one even caught a shark.

All in all, we had a great time. It got a bit colder once the sun set and at that point, I was just ready to get off the boat and go home since we still had an hour drive back and I had work the next morning at 4am.  So, it was supposed to be a 10 hour experience, but it ended up being 12 hours because it took a bit longer to cut everyone's fish that they caught. Matt and I decided not to keep our fish (we only caught 3 Lol).  

Happy 237th Birthday Marines!

On Thursday, November 8, 2012, Hubby and I went to the Marine Corps ball to celebrate its birthday! The actual birthday was not until Saturday, November 10th.  I was so happy that this year we could go, but it was some-what sad due to the fact that the hubby is getting out so this was our last ball. I love getting all dolled up and seeing him in his uniform.   The ball was located in downtown San Diego this year so it wasn't a far drive (which I love!) I got my hair done prior and then we drove down to finish getting ready in our hotel room.. then it was time to enjoy the night! ….  or so we thought. The ceremony was fine, and dinner as well, but right after dinner - almost everyone left! I was so shocked.. The entire ballroom was empty except maybe two couples by 9pm. (the ball started at 7pm) I was disappointed because all the other years it wasn't like that, but like Matt had told me.. the Marine Corps is changing, it's not the same anymore.    It probably didn't help that the drinks at he hotel cost $7.50 - it could easily get expensive quick!
So after we realized how lame it was this year, we left and went downtown with a few friends.

Once I found my dress, I immediately fell in love with it and knew I wanted to do the classy vintage look. It worked out great especially with the length of my hair.

Look at how many medals he has now! 

Our professional photos we had done

 I dyed my hair back to dark brown, darker than my original hair color.. .I love it!

We met the most interesting man in the world while we were at a bar! Lol

Now, time to sell all my ball gowns from the previous years, haha! 

I also want to give a shout out to all the Veteran's to thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for us. Especially a big thank you to my incredible husband! I am so proud to be his wife  and for how far he has come. Of course we cannot forget all of the family members who wait patiently for their loved ones to come home.

Spread The Word & Feel The Love

This is my mom

By looking at that picture, you can assume there is NOTHING wrong with her and that she is perfectly fine. (well to me she is perfectly fine!!) But, by assuming that - you are wrong.  When she was younger, all throughout the end of middle school and all of high school, she was very sick. The doctors didn't understand why and no one else could figure it out either. She went on day after day struggling and always in and out of the hospital. She couldn't enjoy her childhood memories that everyone else was able to. Summers? All she was looking forward to was resting and not having to miss class to make up all the work for being in the hospital. 

Well, one day, my mom and grandma (her mother)  were watching a doctor T.V. show and the doctor was talking about brain tumors and the symptoms to look out for. My mom then realized she was having those symptoms, looked at my grandmother and said, "Mom, I think I have a brain tumor, what if I do?" So soon after, my grandparents took my mom to a hospital and had a brain scan done and there it was…. a brain tumor.  A couple hospitals later,  the brain tumor was gone. But it wasn't an easy process. It was very hard on her and the equipment was not as great as it is today, a drill was used to go into her skull, she had a tube placed in, and then had surgery done on her brain. With all this surgery, she also had to go through radiation and that is when her hair has not been able to grow back. Not only was her hair lost, but she had to re-learn everything. Her vision was poor, lost some hand coordination, not able to walk, slowed speech, and thinking was much slower. She had to go through a lot of therapy (physical, speech, and occupational) to regain these skills back that are natural to us each day such as, dressing yourself, walking, talking, writing, etc.

Today, she is capable of most to ALL things that we do on a daily basis. She still has difficulty with her balance (she has not been able to ride a bike since the surgery), she does have to wear glasses, she has an ear issue that causes her pain from time to time, and still no hair on the back of her head. From looking at the picture above, you would think that she does have a head full of hair, but really it is only on the top, and the sides. All underneath is bald. So, whenever she goes outside, she always has a hair tie on her just in case it's windy so she can tie it back that way no one will see. Also, she does the same thing for when she goes in the pool.  (picture below shows her hair in a ponytail) She has never been able to go to hair salon to get her hair cut or styled due to her insecurity of the loss of hair she has and lack of hair to work with. This is something she badly wants to do but cannot.

With all that being said, my mom is trying to raise money to get her hair restored at a doctor's office close to where she lives in Florida. She went for an evaluation and consultation with the doctor and he said it would cost $15,000 to have the entire process done. My parent's cannot afford that type of procedure on their own. She needs help with the funds. So, if you could please donate to my mom for this cause - I know she would greatly appreciate it and love you with all she can. This is her only wish (and basically has been since she realized she couldn't grow hair back there for close to 35 years now) - It means so much to her. And when it means that much to her, it means that much to me.

The donation page is right under my header on this blog. You can donate any amount from $5 + .  She has a giveaway going on and she does little incentives depending on the amounts donated.  Then when you are finished donating (or even if you're unable to make any contribution), can you please share it with your friends or anyone you may know so others can help donate.. it's all amount word of mouth and we could use extra voices.  So share it on twitter, facebook, pinterest, blogs, work, hair salons, school, church, gym, and social gatherings.

Here is the link to her blog that she writes on. You can find her entire story on there, pictures and a video of where her hair is missing on her head.  (It was really difficult for her to even put her photos up of her head and loss of hair for the world to see, but she knows that it is something that will help her get closer to her wish.  Even some of her family has never seen what it looks like from surgery)   http://mychildhoodream.blogspot.com/    Feel free to add her as friend too!

This is the link to her funding website just in case you didn't get it from my blog   http://www.gofundme.com/healinghair

And here is her facebook page   https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-non-profit-Healing-Hair/293642820736174


*** I would just like to add that she knows she is blessed for surviving those procedures and battling the brain tumor. She is grateful for a continuing good life, but this is just one of those things that she just really wished she did have, and now that she has taken care of her children and they are grown, she is now finally doing something for her that she has wanted for close to 35 years. ***