Halloweeny

I don't know whats up with me this year. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays but I haven't gotten into the spirit yet. Usually by now my house would be decorated and I would at least have an idea of what I wanted to dress up as. I dont think I'll dress up this year :( That was something that was always so fun to do with my best friend. Now that we aren't friends anymore I don't think it will be quite the same. No trick or treating with Fiona this year either, she'll be with her dad. We did go to the pumpkin patch though while we were visiting some friends in California last weekend. It was fun to surprise my friend who had no idea we were coming. We got so many cute pictures of all the kids.
This was the look on Jen's face when I started walking up the driveway hehe

The first stop was at the park. (I had just gotten off a 15 hour train ride) Jennifer and I planned the whole thing for about a month.

Three amigas. Jennifer, Jennifer and I

We went apple picking first. That was fun and the kids had a blast.

Then we were off to the pumpkin patch. I took the older kids in the corn maze and they were more interested in picking the corn.

Hanging out with baby Lizzie. Shes such a cute little chunky monkey

These two are so cute together, I swear theyre gonna get married. Anyway, do you have plans for halloween?

Fiona the fashionista

The weather report says rain into next week, booo :( Fiona has so many cute outfits for summertime, it'll be sad to see them stuffed in the back of the closet. Most of them to never be worn again, by her anyway. We didn't buy a whole new wardrobe for school this year but I'm ok with that because she still has plenty of clothes that she can still wear. I've been trying to get pictures of her everyday since school started but you'll see, sometimes she is just not amused.
Here is the first day of school

The picture doesn't do this outfit justice, it's a really cute dress and it looks better with the cute flip flops she has but you aren't supposed to wear open toed shoes at school.

This is one of those times she didn't feel like taking a picture haha. She did actually sit up and smile for me but I thought this one was funny.I like this outfit and it was only $12 for both peices.

This outfit isn't anything special but I like the cute panda shirt and her Converse boots.

This one is about the hair, she likes the side pony. She also calls that shirt her "fancy" shirt (said in a fancy voice) it's covered in sequence.

Shes showing off the newest space she has from losing her tooth at school. Aren't those the coolest leggings tho? Who doesn't love unicorns?
Anyway, I didn't have much to write about so I thought I'd share some cuteness :)

Moving forward

I often think to myself, what is my life going to be like in a year, two years, five years? But today I'm looking back to see what I have done with myself. 2001 was the year I graduated high school and moved to San Diego. I had a lot of fun while I lived there and made some mistakes. Since then, I worked my way up in the hotel business to assistant general manager. Then got preganant and moved to Oregon, that is when I started massage school. I had Fiona in '06 and got my massage license excatly one year from the day she was born. A month later I was working at Massage Envy and I was proud of that. 5 years later I was really fed up with the company and the people I worked with but I have to say that I am greatful for the experience. It's where I got my start and I met some really great people too. Now here I am, my own boss (even though I was thrown into it.) I always wished and hoped I would have a place of my own someday but never imagined it would come true. And its so much harder than I expected. So it comes full circle and I wonder 'where things will go from here?'
In rememerance of 9-11. Although I wasn't affected personally, its the reason I reflect each year. I feel for everyone who lost a loved one that day.

Summer is over!

School is back in. It's been a long time since I've been able to post anything. First, I've been crazy busy with all the people coming in from groupon. Labor Day was my first day off in 2 whole weeks. The other thing is that I no longer have internet at home so staying later to blog at the salon is not on the priority list. I also need a new computer but that'll have to wait as well. So here are some of the things we did this summer:

We went to oaks park.

We had to stop this ride becuase it was a little bit too scary for her which is funny because she told me she wanted to go on it alone, and that she loooves the scary ones.

We went to the pool quite a bit.

Played balarina

Spent lots of time with the kitties.

Got some ouchies

Took a nature walk




Visited OMSI. I especially loved the mummy exhibit but Fiona wasn't that impressed. She wanted to PLAY (and she did, we were there for hours)

Visited the always lovely Krista and got some face paint.

Went to a concert.

Built a fort and had a sleep over with the neighbor boy.

Made some awesome cupcakes and played in the backyard. (Can ya tell I'm getting lazy here haha)

Whew, arent you just exaughsted from that?
We definatly did a lot, I hope your summer was just as great.

Summertime fun

This mama needs a massage. After having some time off and only doing a massage here and there, its hard to get used to having a busy schedule again. I only have 3 groupons left. I was hoping to sell out of them by today but really I'm just happy I got so close.

In other news, yesterday our neighbors decided to fish for some crawdads in the creek that's in our backyard area. I had no idea anything lived in that creek. We saw a bunch of tadpoles too. The kids had a lot of fun.

Shortly after releasing the crawfish, we decided to go swimming. About 6 kids in the neighborhood came. I'm so glad Fiona has kids to play with. The one person who has brought us all together is leaving though. Her husband got a job in Coos Bay area teaching middle school so it's all happening very quickly. I've never had an experience with a neighbor like this before so it's really sad to see her go.

Last school year I would take Fiona to the bus stop and send her off to school. Then Andi and I would get together for coffee one or two times a week and just hang out. I'll miss that. 

It's been difficult after losing a best friend and losing a job. There aren't many people to talk to. My coworkers drove me crazy most of the time but I have to admit that I miss having a few of them around to BS with every day.

We'll make the most of it though and hey, now that we know someone near the beach, we'll have somewhere to stay ;)

Busy Bee

I don't start work until the afternoon today but once I get started it's gonna be a busy day.

This morning I logged into my Groupon site to see how things were going. I'm up to 34 sold which is good. But I saw something disappointing. A client left some feedback that said they only got a 45 minute massage because it took 15 minutes to fill out the paperwork. I've been racking my brain to figure out who would have written that because honestly every person has gotten the full 60 minutes except for one client who was late and she only missed out on 5 minutes, not 15. The health history form is 2 pages now but it doesn't take 15 minutes. Writing your name and other contact info is what takes the longest. The rest is a checklist of health issues that might prevent me from doing certain things.

2 other clients said they would recommend me but didn't leave a comment. Because of that person my approval rating is only 64%. I guess I just have to let that one go. Maybe they're clock was off, who knows.

I must get this day started because I got another client as I'm writing this. I promise to share some pictures next time :)

Reconnecting

Happy hump day! For those who work traditional M-F anyway. I've been working almost everyday except I did take yesterday off because I didn't have any clients on the schedule. I spent the day being super lazy. Sometimes thats a good thing but this time it wasnt. I had plans to do a few things but couldn't get myself motivated.

My Groupon deal started on the 12th and since then I've sold 29 out of 50. I think thats pretty good for about a week and half. I've seen about 7 of those clients and there are a few more on the books for this month. I'm happy to be busier but its still pretty stressful. I saw a meme on FB the other day that said "I got 99 problems and money can solve 98 of them" haha that pretty much sums it up. I updated my resume, now I just need to start the search for a part time job.
Other than that not much has been happening. Fiona is about to finish up summer school this Friday. This week was spirit week where each day the kids come dressed in a theme. Yesterday was mismatch day, she wore a Mini Mouse red and black polkadot dress with a pair of pink addidas stretchy pants with the stripes going down the side underneath. Today was crazy hair day which she was really exicited about. I divided her hair into 3 parts and put it in ponytails, then split each one in half and tied them into seperate ponytails. To finish it,we put a bunch of different hair clips all over. I didn't get a picure but I will when she gets home today if its still intact.

This is the tip I got for the massage I did this morning. First time I've ever gotten an energy drink.
No other pics for today because I forgot my USB....until another day