I love Huntington Beach.

Huntington and all of the other beaches too.

I love watching the kids exit the car,

tossing off clothing, piece-by-piece

as they run for the water, get shocked by the cold

then throw caution to the wind and dive in!

This moment had to be one of my best mommy moments ever though:

Wave jumping. They grabbed hands and watched

the waves swell. Jump! Laugh! Run away!!

Burial at Huntington- 73 degrees, surfers, and relaxation.

Yea, I'm gonna ride this wave for a while-2/19/09.

Disney, here we come...

Steelers won the Superbowl,

I'm going to Disneyland!

Rob's favorite pro-football team IS the Steelers, and yes, we're going to Disneyland on Saturday, but these events are purely coincidental. The castle is Schloss Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, Germany- this is the castle Disney modeled Sleeping Beauty's castle after. It's amazing in the Fall and the grounds are *magical too*.

The kids think the trip is for them. Don't tell them it's really for me so I can finally ride the Mickey roller coaster in Cal Adventure and get out of a week of work while I'm at it! It's like being a kid again.

I love road-tripping, reading with the ipod, sunshine, Pacific Coast Hgwy, the beach and losing myself in the chunky, cartoony world of Dis- I love "It's a Small World" even. I remember wanting to live in that ride as a child. I could do without the whole character chasing, autograph thing, but anything for a little twinkle in the kids' eyes too.

See you guys on the 20th! Love, Jess

Woman of the Year!

Look at Rachel de Azevedo Coleman-

Wasatch Woman of the Year!

Emmy nominated star of award winning Signing Time:

She is an outspoken hero to many, especially her hunky Aaron

and two sweet girls, Leah and Lucy.

To me, just my travel companion, Slickrock Superior condition chick,

Bashaw extrordiaire, Lambchop,

concert hoppin, Monster Butt!

"Is that mountain jiggling?", " How much does a worm cost?", best friend.

Hey, Ray: Remember when the bikes were kissing my

window up at Dead Horse? Good times.

Remember Couga Springs? Fuh-reaky.

Spin Cycle trail, "We don't say 'honk' in our family!"

"What do you think of my mouth?"

VW Bus peace sign sportin' babes.

Here's to you, Beautiful.

Better than ever.

J

A Giant Slap in the Face!

I attended the internet safety assembly

today at school. Informative, yet mortifying!

A rep from the Attorney General's office taught about

what info never to give, sites to stay wary of and how to keep one safe

from people who want to victimize web users.

Now I know that because of my blog, the cherubic faces of the 3 children

in my charge are plastered all over the net for every

offender to salivate over. Perhaps

a bit extreme, but you should have been there. I have guilt.

I'm considering going private for that reason.

Did you know that once you put a picture on

the web, you can never get it off? This is the one tidbit that stuck with me.

People copy pics of innocent kids and pose as that

person to communicate to others. Hopefully it's just a friendly FYI today.

No family pictures today, ladies.

Love, Mama Bear. GRRR.

Something I like about today though:

Gel toes!

Sparkly, bronzy toes.

Think they're only for summer? Think again.

My last set lasted 12 weeks. (I just needed some clipping and a matching

polish for the regrowth).

At this rate, that's $100 for the whole year. Remember the

"What would you do with $100 post?:)

What do these things have to do with one another?
Today's Top Ten
Cami just had to mention Funyuns, didn't she? It seems I never go anywhere without them.
Also atop my list today are the chocolate Twizz. I used to think that Twizzlers were plastic, but these ones are just like the chocolate vines I lived on at Weber State. Did I mention they're made with real choc syrup? Pathetic, I know.

I also Love the Masterpiece Classics (PBS) and couldn't live without the Jane Austen series on my DVR. This is Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey a fave of mine.

Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion is my favorite magazine. Bright, colorful, chock-full of artists and ideas. Her home is always being redecorated and featured in her mag.

Next read: Silas Marner by George Elliot. FYI: George is a chick!

Happy New Year!

Hope 2009 is a great one for all of you, friends.

Love, Jess

Here's the Buzz:

Don't you LOVE it when one of your favorite books is made into a beautiful movie?

Mine was. The Secret Life of Bees is a beautiful story about mothers

and daughters, coming of age, discovering the healer

inside of you and yes, beekeeping.

Set in 1964, Civil Rights Movement in full-swing,

Lily is motherless and goes on a journey to find clues about why her mother is gone.

She finds healing and lessons from her 5 most unlikely mothers

and an abusive father who so loved her mother.

(be warned: lots of profanity)

Don't you just Love it when you HAVE to take time out for you?

Yes and no. But, necessary before a complete emotional

breakdown! This is where I am today.

And tomorrow.

I'm taking time off from blogging, socializing,

crafting, serving, running, doing, spinning, etc.

All things I tend to do so well until I'm a hormonal mess and I don't

know what more to do with myself. Work only amplifies this

situation for me. Did I mention that my husband works nights and sleeps

during the day? Oh, yeah, and I was sick for a month and a half.

All of these factors equal simplify.

I know it's a gift to get it figured out.

Don't you just love it when you have a break-through, share and care

more about what you think and feel than what others think?

(in a healthy way, I mean:)

Friends, this is history for me.

Thanks for listening.

"You are enough. We are enough."- August, Secret Life of Bees