Venice Beach & Santa Monica Pier

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Last Saturday was pretty much filled with tons of fun. Originally the plan was for my friend Erika and I to go hiking. Instead I hiked to her place and then we headed out to Venice Beach & Santa Monica Pier for a mini adventure. It was nice out that day, but the walking definitely kicked my ass.

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I noticed that since hanging out with Erika more often I feel like I have been living a more active lifestyle for the past three weeks. To be honest it feels great. I have been able to walk great lengths without having to stop because I was running out of breath. It's nice to be outside more and be able to appreciate it rather than being cooped up inside at home. I am glad that I have a friend who likes being outdoors more and who can pull me outside of my shell as far as going outside is concerned. She's pretty awesome you all should meet her!

Chicken Katsu (No Sauce) Recipe

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You're probably wondering why I made a recipe without the sauce. The evening I decided to make this I wasn't craving the savory sauce or dip it goes with. I promise that I will make the sauce soon and post the recipe soon. Chicken Katsu isn't complete with the original sauce that it comes with.

I have also added this to my recipe list. I am slowly trying to put together a bunch of recipes and hopefully in the near future I can think make an E-Book.

[gmc_recipe 575]

Fitspirational #02

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It's time for another round of Fitspirational Tuesday! I can't believe I lagged on this after I had just mentioned having a goal for my blog. I was pretty swamped yesterday and I just didn't have the time to sit down and just work on my blog. I'm making up for yesterday by posting today.

What's the big update with me? I have changed my eating and so far it has been 6 days of eating healthier. I have given up on beer and even though it sounds delicious by the time I am off work I drink water instead. To be honest I am still struggling with the eating, but it's not as difficult as it used to be like when I first started. The first few days were a killer and there were times when I wanted to just go to In N Out and grab a burger with animal style fries.

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I probably should be embarrassed that I posted this picture! Please excuse the mess in the background as well. I guess you can say that I'm not fat, but I do feel overweight since I've gained so much weight back. I have one straight shape and I need more curves than this and the good kind, haha. I have been resorting into doing my crazy walks over the weekend. I try to stay active at home by moving around often and cleaning. I may not working at the gym but I do what I can once I get home from work.  I have also been eating a lot healthier like I have mentioned and here are a few meals that I've been having on the daily.

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This is what I have been eating for lunch and dinner for the past week. Okay, similar meals but you catch my drift! I have been eating lots of either Ezekial or Whole Wheat bread. I have also cut down on the oil and have either been baking or steaming my veggies. I have been making sure that I do not overeat. I try to drink water before any meal that way I can get full faster. I am starting my journey slow, but at least I'm starting to work on my goal rather than having it just sit in the back of my mind hoping for a change. My goal is to lose 5-10 lbs. this month and I think I can do it!

Insta.Gram Monday

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Left to right

1. Waiting outside our office at 8:35 a.m on Memorial Day to work


2. Ryu's Brunch. Garlic bread and 3 pieces of "chick-un" nuggets with orange Gatorade.


3. Special K breakfast in the morning


4. Hanging out with the ladies at Santa Monica Pier on Saturday


5. Ms. Erika and I at Venice Beach


6. Awesome socks that I got from Journey's. I love funky socks!


7. Salad I made. Salad for a week is what it's going to be for me.


8. Ryu babe and I at the Dr. office. Poor little one has Pneumonia


9. In the waiting room to get checked by the most awesome pediatrician ever!


10. Homemade vegan chili made by Sean. Super delicious! I love when he cooks.


11. Ryu's temp slowly rising!


12. Ryu resting it up since he's so sick.

This is what I've been up to the past week. Mostly tending to Ryu since he's sick. He's doing better but of course I don't want him to be exposed to everything just yet. He's barely recovering. Here's to a safe recovery!

Goals For My Blog

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When I first started blogging I wanted my blog to have a reason to be online. For years I was blogging about my personal life and thoughts which is completely fine up until I had lost interest. Not only did I lose interest, but I lost motivation and content to write about. Since I started blogging I realized how many ideas and I had for this blog, but I also didn't want to lose my personal touch by writing about my life and experiences. Sure, not everyone or anyone would be interested in my personal life, but I write for myself and no other. At first I kept thinking to myself that I wanted to write to gain readers, but now I feel like as much as I appreciate the readership I want to continue writing for myself and something that I could look back on in the future.

I think until I really get a good schedule going for myself I'm going to be posting the same few things each week. I'll be doing my Instagram Mondays (I haven't started it yet, but I will for Memorial Day), Fitspirational Tuesday along side my Inspirational Tuesday, Recipe and Food talk on Wednesdays, Throwback Thursdays and Beauty Weekly Post, and on Fridays I'll end it with the wonderful Letters To.. Seems pretty reasonable right? I am starting to blog again, but I need to get myself organized as well as putting my camera back to good use. I have slowly been trying to learn how to use it again as well as Photoshop and I seriously have no idea what I'm doing. I also want to save up for a much better camera to use for my site. It's going to be a good while til I get the camera I want, but at least I can continue posting pictures with the camera I have now.

I'm actually very excited because I'm going to have a super busy next two weeks with having to go to the music festival in Pasadena and then my aunt and sister fly in next week. It's definitely going to go by quite quickly, but I'm hoping to get these posts scheduled that way I won't be bothered having to rush writing something!

Do any of you schedule posts or have a goal for your blog?

Friday's Letters

It has been a while since I have done anything like this. It's not like I'm a total stranger, but I definitely wanted to take part in it. So here's to me trying to be a part of these weekly blog topics! Thanks to TheSweetSeasonBlog.com

Dear Self

Sometimes you put yourself through the toughest situations whether it would be your chain of thought, your stress, your physical appearance; whatever it may be just stop it. You do not give yourself enough credit to realize that you are just one person and you can only do so much in a day. You try to take on so many different types of ideas, projects, and responsibilities even though you really can't do it by yourself. You need to remember that it's okay to ask for help and to take your time when doing something. Patience is a virtue and that's something you really need to remember! Not everything will be done in a day and you can't stress yourself about something that you do not have control over. You need to let yourself be okay with relying on others. If you must asking for help is an option. You are not alone.

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Poor Baby Has Pneumonia

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My poor baby has pneumonia! He's been sick since Sunday afternoon and I have no idea how it started. He was absolutely fine that whole morning and then he took a nap and after waking up that's when his fever decided to spike up. Seriously, has this happened to any of your children? I feel so bad and helpless because no matter what we do he's just not feeling good and there's not much we can do but have him rest and wait for the medication to work. He was rushed to the E.R by Monday morning and they told us to follow up with his pediatrician, but they said it was just a virus going around right now. Virus!?! he continued to be sick and his fever had been going up and down from 100.0 - 103.8!! That's fucking scary to think that my child could pass out at any minute because his fever was so high.

By the time it had reached Thursday and the lack of sleep that Sean and I had we definitely knew Ryu was just way too sick and had to go back to the Dr. However, this time we took him back to see his pediatrician. She listened to his chest and told me that he was wheezing and wasn't sure if that was a new symptom or if was already brewing since Sunday. We took him to get an x-ray and mind you I was a nervous wreck! I could not wrap my mind around Ryu being this sick. I was upset that the E.R didn't manage to take an x-ray from the beginning. When the results came in it was affirmative that Ryu's right lung was full of fluids and has pneumonia. He's back at home now resting and had to go back to the Dr today for a follow-up. He's on antibiotics and wasn't admitted but we have to keep an eye on him. We also shouldn't kiss him, share food, or drinks with him at this time. I even went all out and washed his sheets and clothes to make sure that it doesn't spread. I also decided to sweep and mop our floors at home just to make sure it's clean. I'm still on a cleaning spree to make sure that nothing spreads because we can't afford to be sick.

It's so scary having a kid this sick. Ryu's been sick before but never this intense. I almost fell into tears because I wasn't even sure what the fuck it was to begin with.

Of course I googled it like what some parents end up doing: Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs. The air sacs may fill with fluid or pus, causing cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills and difficulty breathing. A variety of organisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, can cause pneumonia.

Pneumonia can range in seriousness from mild to life-threatening. It is most serious for infants and young children, people older than age 65, and people with underlying health problems or weakened immune systems.

Antibiotics and antiviral medications can treat many common forms of pneumonia. - MayoClinic.com

I know that Ryu will be okay in no time, but as of right now I don't even want him going outside and getting worse. I just want my little man to feel better soon!

Eating Health-ier

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I am trying so hard to make healthier meals at home. Honestly it's a pain in the ass when you're struggling to eat something healthy even though it's so delicious. I love the healthy meals that I make, but sometimes I just want something super greasy and crispy.

Pasta dinner last week

This whole dish is vegan-friendly. I wanted to try a recipe that I found online, but I forgot to save it on my phone. If this is similar to your recipe please let me know so that I can give you credit for it.

This dish is mainly made with garlic, lime, and fettuccine. I added grilled asparagus and soy Italian sausage.

It was yummy and a much healthier alternative than having to go to Macaroni Grill and order something that was +900 calories. I can't even believe how many calories one dish is. It's insane! I want to start jotting down the food that I make and post it here. I think I want to do a weekly update on the meals that I eat throughout the week. I think I'll call it Abby's Good Eats and that's obviously off of Good Eats on Food Network. Except I would have to say that show is a lot more informative than what my future posts may entail. If anything I'll even add the actual recipe to my recipes once I get the chance to sit down and just write about it.

I wasn't sure if any of you knew that I have two recipe's on there right now. For some vegan Siopao and vegan Thai Iced Tea. You should check it out! I'm still looking on expanding my blog once I figure out what my main goal is with my site.

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I love eating healthy because it has a ton of benefit and whoever said that healthy food taste's like shit has not had real good healthy meals. I used to have that mentality that healthy food was going to taste disgusting, but I slowly learned to enjoy my veggies like an adult and I even want more! My favorite has got to be asparagus. It's delicious and so easy to cook.I prefer grilling them or just heating them up on a pan and drizzling it with lemon and a little pepper. They go great for almost any dish. I know I can't continue to eat pasta everyday, but I think that the next time I make pasta I'm going to substitute it with whole wheat or gluten-free.

A step into the right direction! Now I have to make sure to stick with it and not fall into eating crap again.

Four in July!

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No, no not fourth of July, but Ryu will be four in July!

I cannot believe that is going to be four. I can still remember it like it was just yesterday when he was born. I remember lugging around a giant belly and completely being over it. I wanted him to enter the world as soon as possible, but instead I went through 12 hours of labor and an emergency C-Section.

I remember blogging about his birthday each year and how much he has grown, but I cannot believe that he is already going to be four. It's been four years since Ryu became my son and it still feels surreal to me. I now have a little boy and not a little baby which makes me sad, but at the same time I am so proud of all the obstacles he has overcome. If you have followed my blog before you would know that Ryu went through a phase of not talking and at one point the Dr. told me that he may be autistic. He has been in the program for over a year and it is so refreshing to know that he has greatly improved in his speech. I have considered placing him in preschool, but it's really up to the provider at the school he currently attends. She has to let the school know if Ryu would need further speech therapy which would require him to have an IEP provider side by side with him. Honestly, I think I'll wait another year before placing him in preschool or kindergarten.

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This picture was taken by his Godfather Roland on his first birthday. Typically everyone thinks that a child's first birthday party needs to be big. To be honest we went big, but now that I think about it the party was mainly for the adults more than anything. I went with the Pixar movie UP as a theme. It was so much fun and extremely hot at the time. I rented a bouncer and cotton candy machine.

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We took him to Travel Town and this would be the first official birthday that Papa got to spend with us as a family. At the time Ryu loved trains and Sean suggested that Travel Town would be great for his second birthday. We even rode the little tram around and he had a blast!

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For his third birthday I found a mini deal on Groupon for a small animal reserve. It wasn't the greatest place, but it wasn't so bad either. He enjoyed seeing the animals there, but I quickly realized that we have to take him to a zoo! One year later and we still haven't done so. I'm still debating on what we should do for his birthday this year. I was thinking of maybe hosting a birthday party for him in our new home, but I'm still being indecisive about it. All I know is that I'm completely blessed for having this little man in my life. I am also blessed to continuously have Papa Sean in our lives helping us mold Ryu into this respectful young man. I do hope that our family will continue to learn and grow with each other as each year passes us by.

I only wish good things for my family and I can't wait to continue making new memories with Ryu. He has brought so much joy into my life that words can't even explain. I never thought in a million years that I would be a mom in my twenties. He's taught me so much and I only wish to return the favor and teach him morals and manners.  Thanks to the family we have I know that he will be loved and taught well from all corners of the world.

Mother's Day Celebration

I'm late posting these pictures, but I want to share them. I had a good time swarming shops with my little family on Sunday. I couldn't ask for a better day.

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My day started off beautifully as Sean made me breakfast! Seriously he's the best and I couldn't ask for a better day well spent. He made me guacamole with breakfast potatoes, and grilled tofu! Super yummy and filling enough to take a wake around Santa Monica's, 3rd St. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I wanted to. I guess I just wasn't in the mood to bust out the camera and act like my tourist self.

We went to Barney's for lunch since I didn't want to eat at any of the other restaurants there. For some reason nothing else was appealing to me. We bought Ryu some new clothes since he's outgrown most of his or is about to. Seriously it's crazy how fast he's growing! I can't believe he's going to be four in July!









I swear he's so silly! Before heading home we stopped by Sean's parents. We had a good time and it's nice just being able to spend quality time with your family. Ryu had a blast there and he didn't even want to go home, poor thing was sad. It's okay though cause I bought him a toy that he wanted to play with when we got home, haha.

Fitspirational Tuesday

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Instead of me writing about Inspirational Tuesdays life how I normally would on my previous blog I figure why not write about something I am completely struggling with as an inspiration to myself.

I would have to say that I've always struggled with weight my whole life except I never really cared about is as much until after I had Ryu. I love Ryu, but let's face it not every woman will be lucky enough to go back to the size that they used to be. I feel like every day becomes so much harder for me. Though I don't look fat I do look extremely thick and I just can't stand my clothes not fitting anymore. I can sit here continuously complaining about how much I dislike my body, but that won't do any good.

Instead I want to write about my journey into getting back on track with my healthy self. I keep telling myself that I'm going to start tomorrow and seriously that is the worst attitude to have. If you are serious about something you have to start that moment, that same day. Don't tell yourself tomorrow, tell yourself to start now!! I think my biggest problem is I absolutely love food to the point that I use it as my comfort blanket for everything.

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I mean who doesn't love food? Regardless whether it's something healthy or unhealthy we need it to survive and we love it. I am starting my diet, my routine, my journey today. I am going to hold my head up high and tell myself that I can do this. I know that I am going to hate myself for the next two weeks trying to eat healthier, but it will be all well worth it in the end. Once I can incorporate this to my lifestyle I can become a much more happier and healthier me.

What is my game plan? I want to start off by cutting off sugar and carbs out of my diet. This is going to be difficult, but I need to get a bit extreme if I want to train myself. This means no more soda for me. I stopped with the candy a few weeks ago and have not been craving it at all so that's a good thing.

I am going to start with my meal preps again because to be honest that really helped with making sure I don't overeat or go out to buy junk. I started eating like crap again after I quit my job. I felt depressed and lost and just wanted to sulk in the crappiest food. Now that I'm slowly regaining my confidence in my new position, my family, and home I want to just start all over. It's definitely never too late!

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These pictures were taken several weeks ago. Since then I've gained so much weight and I've never been skinny. However, it's nice to know and feel that you can fit into your clothes. It's the feeling of just knowing you look good and feeling good in general. I don't have any recent pictures, but that's because I'm so self conscious of how I look. However, since I'm starting my journey I am going to keep a tracker and update myself weekly on here.

Happy Mother's Day!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604"] My mother with Ryu after I delivered.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="604"] my grandmother with Ryu after I delivered[/caption]

I wanted to greet these two women in my life that I value the most. Without them I wouldn't be the person that I am today. Though we may bump heads, argue, disagree, and get frustrated each other I must say that over the course of 25 years of being around I have learned so much from them.

It is because of these two women that I have found courage to hold my head up high during the toughest and darkest times of my life. It is because of them that I have pushed myself to persevere for something greater. It is because of them that I have learned to be a compassionate, loving, and understanding mother to Ryu. If it wasn't for them I don't know where I would be today. I know that I should take more time to appreciate you both rather than just a phone call every other day or each week. I know that you both deserve more love, gifts, and hugs from your family all around. However, just know that on this end you are loved a lot.

Thank you to both of you for raising me to be the person I am today. I have never felt so much stronger and in charge of my own life up until now. I only wish to become a fraction of what you two women are combined. I want to be just as hardworking, caring, and strong for my family and for any other future children I may have.

I am not sure if you'll ever get on my blog to read this, but I love you both.

Questionaire From Reni's Blog

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*I got this questionaire from Reni's blog @ Livewhatyoulove1.com. You all should check her out because she has great reads on her site! She has always been one of the few bloggers that has inspired me to continue writing regardless what it is about.

 

What has been your biggest loss in life?
I think my biggest loss in my life is not having the chance to get to know my dad's side. I guess it's not really a big loss, but I do feel as if I also could have made an effort to know that side of my family. I never regretted not knowing my dad, but I know nothing about my dad's side. I have nothing to show Ryu as he gets older which is somewhat unfortunate. People say, "you can't miss what you never" had which is true to a certain extent.  Though I want Ryu to be cultured and to know where I came from and our heritage. All he will know is my mother's side which honestly perfectly enough for me. I know Ryu might have questions one day that I won't be able to answer, but I guess that's part of life.

If you could go back in time, what would you change?

It would be having to be constantly passive. Since having to see my therapist and being on medication I've learned to suppress my emotions. Sometimes it's been for a good cause, but there are times when I just feel extremely angry and I can't do anything about it. I end up holding in everything I feel which makes it worst in the end. I let so many things slide and I'm losing myself in the mix. I have let people walk all over me so many times just so that I don't end up raising my voice or getting extremely agitated. I need to find a balance to control my anger

 

How do you take criticism and why?

Not fairly well. I still need to learn how to take it in a healthy and effective manner. I'm not going to lie I get butt hurt easily. I always feel like its a personal attack against me.

 

What separates you from every one else and makes you unique?

Probably just the fact that I'm super weird. I mean everyone is weird in their own way. I like things that people wouldn't think that I'd be interested in.

 

How did you get into blogging?

I got into blogging years ago, actually seems like a decade if  not more! I originally got into blogging due to the design aspect of it. I was twelve when I started and just slowly started tinkering with coding and Photoshop. I then started to read people's blogs and figured, "Hey someone might actually care about my life, haha". It's so true though! When you think that no one cares or is reading your shit, they actually are. Beware of what you write cause how you think and feel and what you write won't usually be interpreted the way you meant it through another's eye.

 

How did we meet/ become blog friends?

I was browsing online and ran through Reni's blog. A lot of the posts she writes about or the videos she puts online have tons of meaning to it. I then started to comment on her blog and slowly got to know her via comments and emails.

 

What’s your most treasured possession and why.

My most treasured possession would be Ryu. He's the love of my life and there's no one or anything in this world that could replace him.

 

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?

I would love to be a professional make-up artist for special fx. I think that would be a fantastic experience and would be absolutely amazing.

 

If you were rich, what would you buy?

Well first thing I would buy is a house for my family. I never cared for a house before. Living in L.A it seems so unrealistic to buy a house because the market here is so high in price.

 

What’s one misconception people have about you?

That I hang out with a few ratchet people. Therefore, I MUST be the exact same way. Let's just say I've had my luck of choosing "friends" with flaws.

 

What’s one flaw about yourself that you dislike? what would you do to change it?

My attitude towards people. I have been disappointed time and time again. I always expect that people are going to disappoint me. I know that there are a few very good people in my life and I need to appreciate them much more.

Easy Pinterest Weekly Workout

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Courtesy of Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/219480181812689883/[/caption]

Check this out! I have always loved browsing through Pinterest. I also love to save pictures on my phone to check out later on, but this caught my eye for a weekly workout. It doesn't look like much and it's something you can do on your own time. I have always been a lover of home workouts and I think that's got to do with my experience with P90X. I guess I let myself go overtime, but I bet if I stayed true to the regimen I would have a bangin' body by now (hah, yea right). All I know is that it really works. In fact, I need to bug my sister about getting a copy from her.

I want to try this for a week and see how well I do. I'll keep a weekly update of what's going on with me regarding my fitness so I can keep track of everything I'm doing as well. I noticed that the only way I am able to truly stay motivated is if I actually write about my journey. Not sure why I need to write about it to stay motivated, but hey whatever works right?

Mama's Little Helper

[caption id="attachment_123" align="aligncenter" width="655"] Ryu Helps Mama[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_126" align="aligncenter" width="655"] Baking with Mama[/caption]



It amazes me how big Ryu is now. I see him throughout the week, but even then I feel as if every morning that I see him he's just a little bit different. A lot has happened in the past year and I'm extremely happy that he has progressed greatly with his speech problem. I can still remember the time when we started the process of getting him into a school program to help his speech and it's so crazy how he talks so much.

I was making Siopao today and decided to take pictures for my blog and he comes into the kitchen and asks me what I was doing. I responded that I was cooking. He insisted on helping me so I let him make a few pieces of bread with the remaining dough I had. He wanted to add cheese to it as if it was pizza. He enjoyed helping me roll out the dough and using a cookie cutter to get the shape he wanted. I was also quite surprised that he was getting down and dirty with me considering how he's against getting dirty. I also love how he allowed me to take a picture of him with his huge smile! I'm not only surprised, but thrilled that he's willing to help me out on his own. I learn something new about Ryu everyday and I'm so proud to be his mother.

Pending News of Moving

We had moved into our new place about a month ago. We still have a lot of furniture to purchase and decorative items to get before it can really feel like home. However, we have still managed to slowly put our personal touches up to the brand spanking new home that we have.

[caption id="attachment_56" align="aligncenter" width="562"] Our new kitchen[/caption]

Our kitchen now is not this bare, but looking back at this picture it was much cleaner (haha). When we first walked into this place the kitchen was the first room I fell in love with. It's not a super big kitchen, but it is a huge upgrade compared to our previous one. We seriously got lucky with this place because even if rent was a little bit above our budget, it was worth getting. We have seen another apartment prior to this one and even placed an application in, but we didn't snag it. I guess you can say that there was a real reason for not getting that other place.

I will add more pictures of our place once it slowly starts to come together. I also just started blogging again and I'm still trying to figure out and remember how to use Wordpress.
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These pictures were taken a good month ago before we got situated. I have to take pictures of how our place looks now. I want to take pictures of how our place will slowly evolve into what we call home. I also want to post the dining table that Sean made for our place. The table he made is absolutely awesome and we found a tutorial online. I'll post it all together once I get a picture of it so you can all see the process and the breakdown of what we spent. I am lucky that Sean is quite the handyman because the dining table that I originally wanted was $900.00 at World Market. He made me the same exact replica of the table and only cost us $120.00 in lumber and materials. I am in love with our dining table even though it's not 100% finished. The fact that I got my barn style dining table for a fraction of what it would have cost me to purchase it made makes me extremely happy. I'll post more about the DIY projects we do here at home once I get to it.

Thank You Charmaine

Thanks to Charmaine for helping me put together this theme for my blog! I absolutely appreciate it. She does great work and you all should check her out on http://plushdesign.org. Not only are her prices reasonable, but she's really easy to work with!