So I keep telling myself that I need to blog more, but that never seems to be what happens. Somehow time escapes me. I have been trying to figure out where it goes.

I am not sure if working 4- ten hour days, or 5- eight hour days is better for me. When I do only work four days a week, by the weekend I am exhausted and spend it trying to recuperate. When I work five days a week, well I guess I really am just lazy. And then the weekend comes, and 2/3 of the time I spend my Saturday nights/Sunday mornings at church (while I love...but none-the-less, get nothing done)!! Yet I know that I set myself up for this schedule, and love it more times than not. I hate having too much spare time, because then I really get nothing done because I am not motivated. Anyways, all that to say, it is a new year, so hopefully a new more motivated me (and not just some resolution).

Speaking of resolutions, I am not one to make one. Quite honestly, I know I will never keep with it, so I really just don't bother. But I do have a few goals that I would like to make some progress on.

*Paying off as much of my student loans as possible (speaking of which, Kim, can you send me that book??)

*With paying off student loans, that means less shopping, which I am sure my closet will thank me for.

*About every two-four months do a no-spend month (which brings me back to the book, pretty please Kim??)

*I would love to read at least one book a month, any good suggestions?

*If I say it now, maybe I will do it, but I know myself and my excuses, so do I dare? Exercise more? Or any would be a good start I guess!!

*Read my Bible much more often, and stay on top of all my Bible studies (which there are like three!)

*Eating healthier would be nice as well, but I am super picky (which all my family can attest to). Oh, by the way, I write this while I am eating a bag of chocolate covered pretzels! Pathetic, I know!

I think that about sums it up for now. But I am sure there is plenty of room for improvement on that list! I know better than to say I will do something everyday, because even if I do accomplish it for a few weeks, or even months, once I break it, it is nearly impossible to start again! I either feel guilty that I stopped which makes starting even harder, or that whole lazy/constantly tired thing kicks in again... NO GOOD!

I always do wonder how people have such self-disciple. I am constantly trying to teach myself to be better. I make deadlines for myself, have a planner, etc., but nothing really seems to be helping. Any suggestions?

Anyways, moving on. I just got back from another wonderful trip to Washington! I refer to it (more times than not) as the arctic. How I ever will survive there I do not know. People keep saying I will adapt. I sure hope so. Because I never left the house with less than two layers, not to mention a cat, boots and gloves! Today I sat in the sun, it was hovering in the high-70's to the low-80's, and it was gorgeous. I actually needed sunglasses on my drive to work! It was amazing. Oh, random side note (with my recent HORRIBLE luck with driving), I finally got a blue tooth. I had one a while back, but it didn't work properly, so my cousin graciously gave me one of the two she has yet does not use. Hopefully I will remember to use it so that this girl does not get any tickets for that. Oh yes, if you ever go to court, (even if you are innocent) plead guilty!! They are way nicer on traffic fines if you do. I faced some crazy like $1000 fine/bail when I plead not-guilty to cutting off a pedestrian. I had to pay that, then go back to court and go before a judge with the officer who pulled me over and hopefully win. If I did not win, I would have had to pay for the ticket and court fees. But I plead guilty and only paid a $200 fine. It really makes NO sense, I guess that is our court system for you. I won't even begin to talk about the interesting people I encountered while I was there. Needless to say, I will NEVER be going back to West Covina!

Oh yes, so before my wonderful trip to Washington, my sister Kim and the babies were in town for about two weeks before my brother-in-law Brandon joined them for another week. I will gladly give up sleep any day to have those two boys sleep at the end of my bed! I don't think it is possible to love them any more than I do! It is too late in this post for me to add pictures, so you will just have to look at past posts to see just how darn cute they are. Or really even easier is to just go to my sister's blog!!

This past month has been a bit of a whirlwind, with all the family in town and traveling and such, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world! Despite my crazy schedule, I love my life, family and friends and wouldn't want it any other way.

Yay for the HOLIDAYS!

So life has been non-stop lately.

Traveling to New York for work kept me pretty busy, in preparation before, while I was there, and finally recovering once I got home. I think I am mostly recovered although I began to get sick while I was there, and though it never culminated into a full blown cold, my body is still fighting off something.

The weekend after I returned from New York I took a much needed vacation to Washington. It was colder than I remember it EVER being, but I survived. I was pretty lucky that it hardly rained while I was there. There isn't much worse than being cold and wet! It was a short trip, but none-the-less rejuvenating and relaxing. There is just something about the people there!

I returned just in time for Thanksgiving. It was a great four day weekend! LOTS AND LOTS of food and desserts. Followed by the longest Black Friday of my life. It all started at 9pm on Thanksgiving night. My friends and I headed up an hour north to Los Angeles to go to the Citadell Outlets. We were there from 10pm-2:30 am. We shopped/waited in lines almost the whole time, but took a much needed rest stop at Ruby's before we headed home to get some caffeine and fries. Two or three sodas later I was hyped up for round 2! We arrived back home around 3:30 just in time to head out for the 4 am openings of stores. My friends and I parted ways for the time being and I headed to Kohls with my mom. We waited outside the store for about 20 minutes which wasn't bad at all. When we arrived people were lined up with shopping carts from the grocery store down the way. Apparently the so called carts at Kohls aren't very good. So out of laziness, my mother and I came up with an alternative (walking all that way was not an option at this time of the morning)... we went back to the car and got grandma's wheelchair. It did the trick, and one better, gave me a place to sit while we finished waiting in line! Once in it was stacked higher than eye level. But we found some great deals. I have never done Black Friday to this extent. It was crazy, but fun at the same time. I can see what all the hype is about. Who knows, maybe next year I will get even more into it! Anyways, after Kohls, the plan was to drive to the mall to shop a little more and meet up with my friends. So due to lack of sleep, I thought it would be a bad idea to drive, so my mother drove me out there and dropped me off. I arrived somewhere around 5:30 am. We stayed there till about 7am when we were all about to drop (and the mall didn't have ANY good sales)!! And somewhere around 7:15 am my head hit my pillow and I was out cold for the next 5 hours. And you ask what did I do once I woke up?!? You guessed it, I did some more shopping. Target was the main one, but Michaels, Ulta and Walmart are also on that list. Call me crazy, I partially agree! So Saturday was designated to be a day of rest and arts and crafts. Well of course I had to go to the mall to go to a paper store, but after that is was home sweet home until church at night.

My art prject of the day were inspired by my friend Katie's creativity. They are no where near as amazing as hers, but in my defense they were my first try. I am in love with the idea and can not wait to experiment further.

The background is a deep red decorative paper. The green paper is so unique, Katie used it for her wedding invitations, and was so kind to let me have some. The trunk of the tree is made out of raffia (sp?). And the gold leafs I found at Michaels were added as embellishment. These are some of my favorite colors. The first photo is probably my favorite design. There is also one more to come, but we are waiting to frame it first. It looks much better framed.

So now I believe you are caught up to date. I can't wait to see what this next month holds. Kim and the boys will be here in a little over a week, and Brandon in about three weeks. Christmas time holds lots of cookie making, and of course tamales! Two of my favorite things! Tis the season! Bring on the Christmas music!

FINALLY going home!

Well, tickets are finally bought for our return flight home! I will be arriving at 9:45, and I could not be more excited. Our original flight was scheduled for last Monday, but it got pushed out to an unofficial Thursday flight, but I was beginning to get a little scared since it is Wednesday night and nothing had been purchased.

Don't get my wrong, I am fond of New York, but trying to do anything in this city with a stroller and a toddler is nearly impossible. And I am just worn down. I have been working 16 hour days minimum. I can hardly wait to go home and be CHILDLESS! These trips always give me a new appreciation for all the work that moms actually do! And of course, thankful for cities that do NOT have stairs!

Halloween

So unlike Kim, I actually did the work myself. I think the fact that Chipotle gives away free burritos is possibly the greatest thing ever. So we wrapped ourselves in some foil, and enjoyed FREE Chipotle. Greatest thing ever!

After not being able to dress up in my childhood, these past few year I have started to embrace it. It is actually pretty fun. But I won't take the credit. My creativity still isn't very good, so I turn to friends for their ideas, and a bumblebee is what we came up with this year.

Overall, it was a fun night.

We wish you were here to share in these with us Kim! We miss you!

Two in one week!

You should be very proud of me Kim, this is my second blog in one week (at least I think it has been in the same week)!

So, Adrienne and I decided that we wanted to go see a movie tonight. In true cheap fashion, we check the dollar theater to see what is playing. All About Steve was suggested, so on our merry ways we went. But first, we HAD to stop for frozen yogurt. But of course not the place across the street from my house, but the one 10 miles down the road through "the ghetto" of Tustin. We pull up, park, but Anna decided she would just stay in the car. I was trying to be kind, so I left the car running. Adrienne and I go in, serve ourselves, pay and are walking back when I notice a car had parked next to us. There are a couple of guys in the car, and one young kid- by young I mean like 10- standing outside. We are already cutting it close to getting to the movie so we move along and climb in the car, the whole time being watched very closely. As we are backing out, Anna so kindly informs us that she actually thought they were going to climb in the car and drive off with her. A great way to start off poor Anna's night. But anyways, that was just a side story...

Now for the good stuff, the reason I am writing... to HIGHLY recommend seeing All About Steve. I did not expect it to be funny, but let me tell you, I laughed the entire two hours. Poor Anna got dragged along with Adrienne and I. After a long ay of work, usually pretty much the cheesiest thing can get me laughing. But I would say this was legitimately funny. I am really bad at summing up movies without ruining them though, so I won't even try. But, there were a few times during the movie that Anna hid her face (which was already in her hood out of fear or getting lice- I did it as well, you just never know with these sketchy dollar theaters). I will proudly admit that there were many times when Adrienne and I were laughing louder than anyone else, and even a few where I was doing it on my own. Poor poor Anna. And to top it off, there was a part where I almost lost it because I did not see it coming. In short, if you see the movie in the future, do NOT be frightened by the mine scene. It is not meant to be scary, and that was confirmed when I was the only person in the theater screaming from fear. My heart felt like it was going to shoot out of my chest. I just did not see that coming. Anyways, to sum it all up, in my opinion, it is a really good movie, and you can't beat the dollar theater price. Especially the one in the ghetto where all of my distant relatives decided to come after they got out of spanish church at 10 pm.

Oh, and side note, we found a Yogurt Land right off the freeway, about 5 minutes from my house on our way home. But Anna and I did enjoy our tour, thanks to Adrienne who had to have strawberries (to support her people who picked them, and because Golden Spoon so kindly does not offer them).

For you Kim

So I got reprimanded the other day for having a blog and not actually writing anything, so here goes nothing...

I actually only got the blog so that I could stalk my nephews. It has been working pretty well in case you were wondering. I don't view my life as very exciting, I am not married nor do I have kids, so that narrows down the topics to write about. But lately I have had the privilege of being insanely busy (by choice for the most part), in between some rather fun excursions.

Since so much time has lapsed since my last blog I will just sum up some of the more recent events.

I was in Seattle a little over a week ago. I had some vacation time that I needed to use up from work, so I planned a trip. It was a little last minute, but I almost prefer it that way. It was about 80 degrees when I left at 7 in the morning. When I landed it had to be 20 degrees cooler. So much for the shorts that I was wearing. I changed rather quickly. And added a layer or two of sweatshirts.

One of the smartest things I have ever done is be there for my birthday week, I have to admit that I was rather spoiled. I got pretty much anything that I asked for, it was wonderful.

That Sunday Peter took me to the Puyallup Fair (we met up with Karin, her husband Chris and Chris's brother). The fair in my opinion is famous for their scones. I wanted to at a dozen, but practiced self-control. I was rather impressed with myself. Although I think over the course of a week I ate at least half a dozen. The working out started last week after my vacation ended. Some of the other highlights from my week were seeing Shannon, Katie and Karin as often as possible. Bless their hearts, they made as much time for me as possible in between their working and social lives. I love my friends. I also had another tour of UW, which I had to admit, this time around it was much better than I remembered. I got to spend lots of time in Seattle which was also fun. I can't wait to go back around Christmas time and see all the lights. That is one thing California is lacking in, I have tried my hardest to find neighborhoods and cities that put up lights, I have yet to find them. A little disappointing, but I have yet to give up hope.

As for the being spoiled on my birthday, here are all of the glorious details. I woke up (after getting to sleep in) to get a phone call from my sister Renee telling me that SHE IS PREGNANT. For the 3 people who actually read this, I am sure you all already know that. But none the less, it was the highlight of my birthday (sorry Peter, I know you tried). After that, I was bouncing off the walls so my massage was canceled per my request, and instead we just walked around The Marina, one of my favorite places, and then headed up to Seattle. This is where I got my tour of UW, and due to dinner reservations sneaking up on us, we headed to the U District and played a rousing game of speed. I would like to announce that I won. After that we went to this cute restaurant called The Pink Door. And ate lots of garlic. Kim, you would have been soooo proud. And then off to a chocolate restaurant called The Dillitant (sp?). I really was very spoiled. And then we got to go see Katie and her husband Casey, and then my cousin Jordan. All in all it was one of the top birthdays. You have a lot to top next year Renee. Last year I got Carrie Underwood tickets, this year a new niece or nephew. You better start planning for next year.

Washington was a great vacation, as always.

I got to return to a full week of work and things to do, but I was blessed enough to get another vacation this weekend. I got to go to Palm Springs to see Peter who was down with his Aunt and Uncle watching his cousins. My mom and I drove down Friday night after I got off work. It was a great little get away. And of course seeing Peter just topped it off.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I flew back last weekend to go to Brooke and Jeff's wedding. It was a gorgeous wedding. And so much fun seeing old friends as well. And who can beat a wedding that is catered by In an Out and that has a photo booth? I will leave you all with these photos from the wedding (seeing as how I never take any myself).

I am going to Seattle!

I figured it had been a while since I last blogged, and what better way to break the silence than to announce that I was going on vacation! The family I nanny for is going on vacation, so I get a paid vacation without having to use any of my vacation time.  I am soo excited!

So my Aunt the other day was over, and almost instantly upon walking in announced that she had something to read about Washington.  Well, I am not the biggest fan of Washington, so I kind of blew it off.  Once we sat down to eat dinner she whipped it out and started reading it.  It is actually really funny.  I have no idea where she got it from, or even who wrote it, but it made me laugh.  Enjoy!

"So now we know how it all happened.

God was missing for six days, eventually, Michael the archangel found him resting on the seventh day. 

He inquired, “where have you been?” 

God smiled deeply and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, “look, Michael, look what I’ve made!” 

Archangel, Michael looked puzzled, and said, “what is it?” 

It’s a planet, “replied God, and I’ve put life on it.  I’m going to call it Earth and it’s going to be a place to test balance.” 

Balance? “inquired Michael, I’m still confused! 

God explained pointing to different parts of Earth.  “for example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor.”

Over here I’ve made a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people, balance in all things.  “God continued pointing to different countries, “This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.” 

The archangel, impressed by God’s work, then pointed to a land area and said, “what’s that one?” 

“That’s Washington State, one of the most glorious places on earth, there are beautiful mountains, rivers, and streams, lakes, forests, hills and plains.  The people from Washington State are going to be handsome modest intelligent, and humerous, and they are going to tavel the world.  They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, carriers of peace, and producers of software.”

Archangel gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, “but, what about balance, God?  You said there would be balance.” 

God smiled, there’s another Washington, wait till you see the idiots I put there!"

I hope you all get a kick out of it as much as I did!

Last week I had a flashback to my younger years.  Somewhere in my junior high years my parents purchased a basketball hoop for the pool.  It provided years of entertainment.  So much entertainment, that when we moved from California back to Washington we brought it with us.  A plastic pool toy!  I have no idea where it went after that, but it brought back many good memories.  

After having this flashback I went to every store imaginable looking for it.  No one sold it.  How sad!  So then I started to look online and I found it.  So exciting.  So this last Saturday we decided to break it out.  We had my Aunt, Uncle, two of my cousins, my sisters Anna and Renee, Jon, Brent, my mom and myself.  It was quite the physical game.  There were many fouls, many faces full of water, and a few scratches. We even scared one woman out of the pool who was trying to swim laps.  I mean seriously, what was she thinking?   Basketball so takes priority over swimming laps.  It didn't take long until we were all too tired to continue.  I am so excited for the rest of summer!  

Who else HATES April 15th?

I thought I had a dislike for it last year (when I worked in a tax office), but it hasn't gotten much better.  I am currently STILL waiting for a W-2 from one of my jobs last year.  Nothing quite like filing last minute!

Who would have thought...

Well, I am in New York AGAIN!  

I got to fly home last Friday so that I could welcome Jon home from Iraq on Saturday.  It was one of the craziest happiest feelings that I have ever had.  It is hard to explain the feeling, but it is this overwhelming joy.  The welcome home clips they show on the news are so accurate.  Seeing all the families just lined up and ecstatic, it is a great feeling.  So anyways, needless to say, Saturday was a great day.  And it was topped off with a trip to Downtown Disney!  Oh, and we can not forget the beignets.  Talk about a mouthful of amazingness.  

Sunday was also a great day.  Obviously it was Easter, which brought an amazing Easter service.  I also had the privilege of volunteering with the baptisms.  It was so powerful.  Worship was amazing, followed by a great message, where Mike (the pastor) taught baptism by doing one, and then opening it up to anyone and everyone.  I was back stage taking down information from all of the people.  Having them walk up to me crying, or with the biggest smile on their face, so moving and powerful.  

After that we headed home to enjoy an AMAZING Easter dinner.  We had steak, lamb, chicken, like 5 different vegetables, rice pilaf, potatoes, 3 different breads, fruit, and some amazing desserts to top it all off.  We also had like 15 people there (hence the insane amount of food).  It was a great time of hanging out, eating, relaxing, and of course sleeping.  It would not be an Ortiz event if there was no sleeping involved.  

And after Sunday comes Monday, which was quite dreaded.  I really did not want to travel again, but I did, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Minus the cold that I swear I get every time I travel, I am doing quite well for being back in the cold weather of New York.  It gets a bit depressing when I look at the weather reports for back home, and then for here, but when I think of it being in the mid 80's next weekend, I get a bit cheered up.  It will be a weekend full of tanning and relaxing.  And it is very much needed.  

Well, I should probably go to bed pretty soon, the morning comes very quickly over here.  

Oh New York...

Well another day has come and gone, and I am all the more ready to go home.  

I swear every person I have talked to from California has found the need to remind me that it has been hot there and that they are getting tan.  Meanwhile I am freezing over here wearing boots and a peacoat.  Don't get me wrong, it was a good reason to break out some cute fall/winter clothes again, but I am a flip-flops and shorts kind of girl!  I love hot weather!  Last weekend I was laying by the pool.  This week I have been planning my outings around the weather report.  No thank you!

Other than the cold weather, New York has been fun.  

I have actually gone out and done things this time.  Today I was really adventurous and took a taxi (with Dylan strapped to my side- you don't have to have a car seat in NY) down to the Museum of Natural History and Art.  Probably the best museum for taking a small child to yet.  Dylan loved it.  And I was especially fond of it because it was the museum in Nanny Diaries.  Call me cheesy, I don't care.  Anyways, the taxi ride there was so much work, with a stroller, diaper bag and child, that on the way home I decided to walk.  It was about 40 blocks.  It was a good walk.  We started out in Central Park.  Which I am partial to, because I love Law and Order.  I was really hoping to see them filming, but no suck luck.  Then I walked up 6th avenue to our hotel which is right next to Time Square.  Our living room is glowing right now with the lights from there.  

Oh, and side note/story.  Dylan is notorious for losing shoes in New York.  Always on the first day.  We didn't even make it out of the airport this time.  So anyways, I had to go to Toys-R-Us today in an attempt to replace the missing shoe.  Mistake number one was attempting to go into the one in Time Square.  It is like a circus.  Literally.  Mistake number two was pushing a stroller in there.  And to top it off, mistake number three, taking a sleeping baby into a circus.  He was no longer sleeping when we left.  Oh well, you live you learn.  

After reading this posting, and my last posting, I am beginning to realize how much my life revolves around my job.  I love my job, but when I post more stories from work than anything else, I begin to find it a bit depressing.  Oh well, it really won't stop me.  I am sure the next post will be the same!

Well... we finally made it!

It has been one long day!  It started off great.  I went to church before the airport, service was fantastic.  We are preparing for Easter next sunday, and we have something called Seek Week all this next week (which I am bummed to be missing), but service today was about working on preparing your heart.  

After that it was straight to the airport.  I had to meet the family I nanny for and begin preparing mentally for a very LONG week!  FYI, traveling with a baby is NOT easy!  That kid has more luggage than his mom and I combined.  5 checked bags later, we are still toting his stroller and 4 carry-ons.  Can we talk about a sore back?  Oh, and not to mention, our flight was delayed.  How I have yet to figure out, considering the airport had 4 terminals.  All of which shared a waiting room.  Anyways, it was a long but good flight.  Dylan is a great traveler. He is just so mobile now that he hates sitting still.  I guess it could be worse.

Once we landed stinking Jet Blue could not get their act together.  They had no idea what baggage claim had what flight.  Our flight attendants said baggage claim 3.  Baggage claim 2 had our information posted above it.  Some of the luggage was on both.  Who would have thought.  Oh well, the car service was nice enough to wait.  On our way out to the curb though, I caught a glance at the line for a taxi.  I thought the 20 people waiting when we were in Europe was bad.  OH NO!  Not even close.  Let's talk about 100+ people.  That is just plain nuts!  

But high note, our hotel is really nice.  It isn't your typical hotel though.  It is like an apartment.  It has a kitchen, living room, bathroom and separate bedroom.  Which is great considering Dylan and I will be spending a lot of time here this week.  And he does not know how to sit still.  At least there are no stairs for him to climb here.  

Well, it is getting late, and Dylan has no concept of sleeping through the night, let alone what time to wake up, so I better hit the hay.  PRAY FOR ME!  

And it is off to New York again...

Yesterday it was confirmed.  I fly out Sunday late morning for New York.  I go with the family I nanny for, it isn't all pleasure, but it isn't all work either.  Off and on for the past month or so I have known I could go any time.  This is only the second time though that I have actually had a ticket.  

I am really hoping to do a lot more sight seeing this time.  Seeing as how Dylan is a few months older, and well it isn't exactly the dead of winter there anymore, I hope this can come true.  I am really excited about seeing the Statue of Liberty.  I just hope it isn't too cold to take the boat over to the island rather than just staying on the mainland.  There are also a few museums on my itinerary.  

Luckily this trip is only about 5 days long.  I will be flying back on Friday night, hopefully in time to make it to Jon's homecoming.