Project Life - the app

Can't believe there's an app for that! Long gone are the days I could actually play with paper and scrapbook. I was never really consistent with it, but I learned not to feel guilty about it because whatever i could do was good enough. I really took a liking to the Project Life concept because I could not only document, but it also was a means for filing away things I wanted to keep (ticket stubs, the girls artwork, memorabilia). But  yet there is still a pile of papers that have yet to be input into an album. Could it be that now the next step will be to snap a photo of the memorabilia and upload to a digital scrapbook? Well let's see.....

What's happened the past 639 days?

Chain reaction? A reason for it? What led me back here after a 639 day hiatus from my blog which I looked at today with such fondness as I re-read past posts, fawned over old photos and just reveled in the memories captured, words written, feelings felt. 

Chain of events: Browsing Internet, thought about how to increase my real estate business, realized I need to build a basic website, thought about my hash tag I've been using #javawithjoce, registered that domain name, thought about my blog, wanted to re-visit it and here I am....

Did 180 weeks of Instagram kill my blog? Perhaps. Man, what memories have I forgotten by not logging them into my online diary?! 

Look how Facebook and IG have prime real estate on my phone and poor little Blogger is lost in a folder. Looks like I am going to have to put her back in the spotlight! 

December daily - day 2

Went to Omid's party and was so happy to see Uncle Gus and Auntie Ave as well as the rest of the family! Afterwards, we went to family fun night at church where we made advent candles, played Bingo, talked with other parishioners, and were reminded what this holiday season is all about

December daily

The holiday season is upon us! Another year of December daily as inspired by Ali Edwards. Last year i was unable to do it, but this year I'm determined to complete it! It's just a 4x6 album - nice and simple!

Day 1 - bar method, gymnastics, Costco, long long long nap. Later that night drove up to Huntington Beach to hang out with Gina and Leizl. We ate sushi to celebrate Gina taking her coding test! We caught up, laughed a lot.

Afterwards we did a quick trip to Nordyr Rack and even were able to drive through the buck star :)

10 things I am thankful for right now

1 - my parents. I am so grateful to have them so close, literally and figurative. They help us out tremendously with our kids and my sister's kids. They often have home-cooked meals ready for us and ask for nothing but for us to do our best and be our best. I don't tell them enough but I love them and am so thankful for their health and happiness.

2-music. It's thanks to lots of driving that I am listening to a lot more Pandora lately. Love popular music, but especially love my show tunes. I am counting the minutes until Les Miserables comes out! And thanks to Amazon Prime, I am catching up on all the Glee that I've missed over the years ever since I cut back watching TV. I love singing my heart out in the car and at home. Yes, my fantasy job is being on Broadway. Another cool thing is hearing the girls sing some of my faves. Just the other day I heard Ava belting out "five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes.". Fa la la la la.

3-opportunity. Huge believer that relationships have a great deal to do with the opportunities you are given. The people I have met in my life have brought me to where I am in life- personally and professionally. Real estate has really taken off for me and I am just thrilled to be helping so many people either get out of a bad and stressful situation but also others that are fulfilling a life goal.

4-Disneyland. It is our home away from home. I've been a Disney fan for as long as I can remember and I am so lucky to live so close that we can take the family there on a whim. As I am writing this, we are headed there now. Just love how carefree I feel when I'm there and I love seeing the joy and smiles on my daughters' faces when we are there.

5-coffee. It comforts me any time of day - sometimes even five times a day.

6-Jay. The past 20 years with him have flown by. I love waking up next to him every morning. I love how he makes me laugh and how much we love and support each other. He is going through some awesome life changes too -- and it makes me happy to see him grow. He is such a wonderful husband, father and friend.

7-church. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel has become a second family. It's been great seeing our faith grow. And although we have never been extremely religious (despite the fact that I went to Catholic school), it's never too late and being at church grounds us and makes us even more grateful and humbled.

8-friends. The tv show and the real ones. I'm so thankful for my friends - some old, some new, some renewed. Thanks to my lovely iPhone, it's so easy to send and receive a quick word of gratitude or a quick joke or words of inspiration to my friends. In the hustle and bustle of life, it's these little things that make each day fun.

9-Instagram. Pictures worth so much. It takes not even a second to look at each one, but I love feeling connected to family and friends this way.

10- Sofia and Ava. At 9 and 6, they are at such a fun age where they are so eager to learn and do. They have their share of fighting, but there are even more moments where they're laughing together and talking to each other like BFFs. I just love hugging and kissing them and telling them how much I love them. Sometimes I catch myself just staring at them in amazement, listening to their voices in awe and longing for just another hug from them both.

Family photos

The very talented Brent Haywood took our family photos again this year at Mission Trails. As we were driving there, it alternated between sunny and rainy....ended up being perfect weather. With so much going on, we didn't shop for the girls' outfits until the night before. I let them "pick" with some gentle persuasion. It's so great to see how much they grow each year and how their little personalities come out in the photos. Was a very easy shoot. When it comes down to it - doesn't matter the location or the outfits, just thrilled that we are smiling together and creating special moments. Let the holiday season begin!!

Black Beauty

I've been blessed to have a flexible enough schedule to allow me to spend a little bit of time in the morning to read with Ava. I did the same with Sofia for the past two years and now it's Ava's turn for "Morning Read" - which incidentally was developed by Ava's current teacher, Mrs. Graves . It's been great to see Ava choose books to read. She was especially proud to read and finish Black Beauty. She loves the story and was sad to see it end. Sofia and Ava both also asked if they could start a Goodreads account to track the books they've read - I think it's a great idea. Can you imagine having a history of the books you've read since your childhood? Very cool. Ill be working on that soon - will add to my long list of things to do.

PQ Pride

Perhaps many of you have noticed the new Rancho de los Penasquitos monuments throughout our community. They are definitely eye-catching. It was at the January 5, 2011 Penasquitos Town Council meeting that the monuments were approved to go up throughout 92129. They are located in the following areas: 12800 Rancho Penasquitos Blvd., 11114 Carmel Mountain Road (South of Penasquitos Drive), 8700 Carmel Mountain Road (North of Sedorus Street), 14500 Black Mountain Road, and 12500 Black Mountain Road.


They are beautiful reminders of the community that we live in and love and I always feel a renewed sense of pride about the area in which to raise my children.

Turn back the hands of time

Today being end of daylight savings time, I feel as though I have been given the gift of time (even if only an hour). And what better way to use that gift then by deciding how to, from this day on, best utilize my time. Reminded always that my family, our health, creating memories and preserving those memories is best way to utilize my time.

It was another glorious day in San Diego. Went to 8:30 mass and my parents as well as my sister and her family were there - whereas they both usually go later. It was a wonderful homily about the greatest commandment. Had great social time after mass. Spent time with Jays parents today too. There were a few tough spots in our day, mainly having to do with the girls' discipline. We even had a few tears. Made a few baby steps at getting house cleaned and organized. Getting prepped for holidays, upcoming December Daily album which I want so badly to do this year, and 2013's Project Life. Life is going by so fast lately that if I don't do a better job at documenting it, I'm going to miss it!

Reading a great book called "American Wife".... Great quote today. "We have to make mistakes. It's how we learn compassion for others." Wow how that one moved me today!

Girls are asleep with their new dolls. Jay is asleep next to me. Life is good.

(This picture was after mass and girls just had their donuts and were waiting under the tree which will soon be location of our new church)

Project Life 2011

Thoroughly enjoying Project Life by Becky Higgins I'm not the best scrapbooker, so this has been good for me. A picture, some journaling, call it a day....Jenny & Mei are also doing it, so it will be fun sneaking a peek into each other's lives. Started taking a few pictures of the pages....

Dec 18th

lovely day today..mom's birthday...happened to see her and my dad at panera bread this morning, so we hung out with them for a bit before heading over to mary's house....a new tradition..

And later that night, all my mom wanted was for us all to go eat at the buffet at Valley view Casino....spent most of the time waiting in line, but as long as mom was happy, we were happy to be all together....(pic from my sister's iPhone since I left the memory card for my camera in the computer...duh!)

Happy Birthday Mom, we love you!

Dec 14, 15, 16, 17

Okay...i don't know how the heck to get my landscape pics to show up landscape on blogger...

Dec 14th: a quick page about all of the fun holiday projects the kids do at school....

Dec 15th: Ode to Trader Joes :)

Dec 16th: Pages about shopping adventures.

Dec 17th: Had a great day volunteering at Ava's class...especially love her teacher Mrs. Lester, includes an excerpt from an email that she sent to the parents later that day...

Dec 13th

dec 12th

Dec 12: Sunday Funday. Church. Got to North County Fair right when it was opening. One of the first in line to see Santa. Shop, shop, shop...Oh, and the best part of the day....Chargers killed the Chiefs..."there is a Santa..."

dec 11th

Dec 11th: even though I was hurting a little bit from last night, leaped out of bed to get the day going. Breakfast at Pancake House, Carlsbad Outlets, and later that night, Jenny and I took our daughters to watch the Nutcracker. We had great seats (2nd row center) and it was just perfect. Sofia was getting a little "wiggly" but for the most part enjoyed it pretty well. We hope to make this a special tradition for us girls...Ava can join us in a few years to make even that much more speical. Afterwards, met up with the rest of the fam bam at China Fun. Then back to the pad for relaxation.

Good day.

dec 10th

dec 10th: after work, had a lovely evening with mary ellen, sonya and their daughters at KNB Wine Cellars. And while I was out enjoying "The Prisoner", Jay and the kids made cookies.