Best Concert of my LIFE!!!

Here he is at the end of the concert!!! :) My favorite of all time!!

The legends.... Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi.

Seriously, it doesn't get any better.

Here we are before the concert hanging out with the band. :) Lisa has really taken a liking to Richie!

Kathy, Allie, Lisa, & Me!!

The Bon Jovi concert was THE BEST EVER!! And I'm not even just saying that because I'm a die-hard Bon Jovi fan. It was amazing. We had a phenomenal time.

So... Enough about the concert. That was just a part of our wonderful little Girls' weekend. First of all I must thank our great husbands for taking over the homefront so that we could have some girl time. It was so relaxing and sooo fun. I love just laughing with the girls. I loved the concert, but I loved spending every minute with my friends as well. We had some great conversations, told some great stories (and what was said in Anaheim stays in Anaheim!!), laughed a lot, and spent loads of money did our part to stimulate the economy!!

Some of my favorite memories...

80's rockers at the concert

wet blanket

honking car!

mahi mahi (drunken of course)

the princess and the pea

$5 shuttle

disobeying the police (you go Lisa!! walk whenever you want!!)

scantily clad tramps getting kicked out of the concert

strawberry cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory

Nordstroms (How many bags were from there!!)

waitress who told us we looked like O.C. girls (of course we tipped her well)

my gold hair bling (showing everyone in the O.C. what is IN!)

mothers of 17 children

Bon Jovi lanyard

Bon Jovi poster

Bon Jovi program

Bon Jovi shirt!!

3 amazing, wonderful, virtuous, talented friends!

I can hardly wait for the next trip!!

A dream come true....

After seeing the movie "The Bucket List" I spent many days thinking about my own personal list. You know, all the things I want to do before I kick the bucket. It is not a list that is written in one sitting and never changes. My list definately changes over time. There is one thing however, that I've wanted to do since my young teenage days.

I am fortunate to have great taste in music. Music has always been a very important part of my life. Life pretty much stinks if there isn't music playing in the background. Or playing really loud in the stereo. I just love listening to music. I love singing along to music. Whether I'm good at it or not, I love it.

I was fortunate as a teenager to fall in love with an incredible musician. His band was not a maker of a "One Hit Wonder" like so many other bands of the 80's. His band would go on for years. They would continue to make incredible music that even my children would love! My great taste has really proven to be worthy of honor. Seriously. How many rockstars have Oscars? How many rockstars have a Master's Degree in Music??

I know how many.

One.

One incredible musician. One musician who is near the top of my bucket list.

I can hardly wait.

Friday night.

Its me + A few wonderful girlfriends. And Jon.

That's right. Jon Bon Jovi.

I'm nearly speechless. I'm counting down the hours. It is going to amazing.

Cupcake Time

Make a Smilebox free picture collage

We had lots of fun making these colorful, yummy cupcakes on Valentine's Day! To bad we ate them all ourselves and didn't share them! They were so good!

Options

Sometimes life doesn't give you the options you had planned for. Sometimes life makes you choose between things you don't want because what you did want didn't happen. Sometimes "life sucks," says Jacquie.

Recently Jacquie has had to make some hard decisions. She didn't get her #1 choice of college life. Then the choice she did get became harder. Some colleges are "so stupid!"

It is hard to grow up.

However, life gets easier when you realize that you have choices. Life gets easier when you choose to make lemonade out of lemons. Life is what you choose it to be. Life is better when you get encouraging texts from a big sister too!

We love you Jacquie! We know that you will make the right choices. You are an amazing girl!! We know that you will find happiness and fun wherever you choose to be. :)

This choice, by the way, ...... your dad DOES NOT want!!!

-- even though you rate it #1!!!

Some cinnamon roll love...

These are my yummy cinnamon rolls!! I must admit that they are nearly famous. Everyone loves them wherever we take them. The only bad part is when I make them and the kids at home don't get any! Whenever and wherever they are... they disappear quickly!!

Here's some good news: Jacquie is raising money for her choir trip! You can order unbaked delicious cinnamon rolls from her! They are $8 per dozen. We even deliver (locally only... sorry for those who don't reside in Bakersfield!) Give us a call. You won't regret it!

Here's Riley (interesting smile) with his lovely sisters-- Andrea and Jacquie!

Here's me with my 'living at home' children!! :) We are soooo ready to eat some cinnamon rolls!

I Declare a Winner

I've decided that Wagdogz are a little competitive. I have no idea where it has come from-- I'm sure my little wagdoggiez just came wired for competition. Even when they were very little, they were easily motivated by:

-Who can clean up their toys first?
-Who can get their shoes on first?
-Who can get up to their room before they get spanked hugged?
-The person who can find the lost library book gets $5....
-Last one to touch their nose does the dishes...

I'm sure I failed somewhere at teaching motivation and instead my kids learned to love competition. Perhaps this is why they are disappointed when they earn a title like "5th in the State of CALIFORNIA!!" If we lived in Wyoming or Montana, I could understand the disappointment... but California?? It's like a nation in itself!!

Anyway, before I ramble on this post is too long. Here is the first installment of a new Wagdogz series titled "I Declare a Winner"....

We the People- California State Competition

The California State We the People Competition was held on Feb. 4-5. 12 teams who placed high enough at their local competitions met in Sacramento to compete for the state championship. Centennial High School was one of those teams. Out of the 12, five teams win the honor of competing on Friday in the finals. We were thrilled when Centennial accomplished their goal of competing at the state capitol in the finals!

Here is the 2009-2010 Centennial High School We the People Team with their teacher/coach Mr. Ryan Coleman. (Jacquie is in the front row)

Here is Jacquie with her mom and dad after the final round. Jacquie's unit had a remarkable hearing. The judges were very impressed with their knowledge of Federalism. This was an especially great honor as they had one of the toughest judges ever!!

Jacquie, Mr. Coleman, and Kimmi are so relieved the hearings are done.

Here is Jacquie's unit with Mr. Coleman.

The CHS team placed 5th in the state. Perhaps not the results the team had wanted or anticipated after an awesome final day of hearings. Currently they are all severly disappointed. But like their teacher always says-- we didn't come for the trophy, we came for the journey! It has been a remarkable journey. The team has grown and learned in more ways than I can blog. They are changed. They are prepared. They are better citizens.

As a 3-time We the People parent I feel so proud of what this program offers not only my children but what it has offered and brought to me personally! It has been an amazing experience to watch my children work so hard and to become so passionate about our Constitution and our Country.

Jacquie was interviewed for a special upcoming TV program about We the People. We'll let you know when it will be broadcast!!

Congratulations Centennial. You were amazing!