T.G.I.F.

I am so happy that the weekend is finally here... I'm very excited my buddy Erin is coming to spend the weekend with me...

I'm looking forward to some fun girl time with her. The last few times she has spent the weekend, it has been because of sad times...

So, this weekend we are going to just kick it old school...

Tonight we are going for pedicures, can't wait I need one so very bad!! Maybe we can talk Marty into sparking up the old firepit for us... Who knows... Shopping... We can always go shopping too...

HMMMMM...

We have set the date for our retreat... September 25th -28th.. A friend of mine is just starting a scrapbook retreat in Fountain Michigan - Outside of Ludington... We went last year and had a great time... She still needs a name for the retreat...

Any Suggestions??? It's on Bachelor Lake???

Name that RETREAT and if your suggestion wins there will be a prize involved!!!!

Melody Langworthy could be teaching at this retreat too!!! FUN TIMES!!!!

Life...

I know it's been quite a while since I have posted. Things have just been so crazy busy... I'm really going to try to get better at Blogging...

It's not like it's that hard... I just need to make an effort to update more often!

Let's see the Puppies are doing great! I will have to share pictures later our computer is currently in the process of getting updated.

I said goodbye to my Nikon SLR this week. I love Craig's list! I have always been a Canon girl, but my brother had me convinced that Nikon was a much better camera. So I took his advice and went on over. Not sure which one is better, but I know I'm forever a Canon girl...

Hopefully I will have some pretty fun shots to share with all of you real soon...

Marty had Hernia Surgery and his Tummy tuck last week. SO things have been a little rough, he is doing pretty good now though.

I'm so glad that is behind us. He looks AWESOME and he's feeling better every day.

July is just flying by... I can't believe it!

I think that's all I have for now.

Take Care

Birthday update...

I guess it's been a while since I have posted. I know that sometimes I'm a bad blogger... The truth is it just seems like everything has been non-stop lately!

June has been crazy busy for us. I'm so glad that it is almost over.

I did promise details about my 40th Birthday party... I'm so lucky to have a great husband and wonderful friends.

They had a surprise party for me that they totally out did themselves on. My mom and I spent the day at the spa.. and I came home to about 35 people yelling surprise!

All my girlfriends went in and bought me a Tiffany Charm Bracelet with charms.. I also received another charm and gift certificates. That was so sweet!!! I love it so much!!!

Marty bought me a new wedding band and I received numerous other thoughtful gifts from Friends and Family.

Despite everything that has been so hard on me these last 5 months. I am doing pretty well.

Fathers Day was a pretty hard day. But I made it through... I still feel empty more then not and I feel alone and angry.

Boomer is doing very well with out Brandi. He still misses her, as we all do. But he is adjusting. He is starting to get a long better with the puppies. Josie is such a little sassy girl that I can't help but smile when she does things!
Turbo is a little bit more puppy then I thought he was... Lucky he's just so darn cute, I think that's what helped him make the cut in the first place.

I will post some updated pictures of the kids next time. I still don't think Boomer will be ready to have his picture taking with them but I will try!

I sure do miss my girl, but these little puppies help ease that pain a little bit each day.

Carla

RIP B-dog...

Well as many of you already know Brandi had stage 5 cancer and her organs were already starting to shut down...

We chose to do the best thing for her and put her to rest last Thursday. WOW I can't even put into words how much Marty and I will miss her.

We both took this very hard, I mean to us, she was our first born... Boomer misses her also... We were/are all so lost...

So, what do you think we did to try and make it feel a little less lonely?

Was this you guess???

Meet the newest members of our family Josie and Turbo...

Yes, we are CRAZY!!! But more then that we are both very stubborn... He wanted a boy and I wasn't leaving without a girl...

Boomer is adjusting... He likes being top dog with these little guys... We still give him lots of special attention.

I still need to blog about my b-day. I will try to post a few pictures with that update tomorrow.

TTFN!

Happy Birthday to my peep Staci....

Happy birthday Staci... Lots of things have gone on that I want to share but today I feel very SAD...

Marty and My wonderful friends had a 40Th Birthday Surprise Party for me on Saturday. What a day! I will share the story and pictures later...

Today Marty and I found out that Brandi - our dog ( Oldest Child) has cancer... I really can't even put into words the devastation that I feel right now. Until tomorrow we don't know if we will have her 1 more day or 1 more month...

I feel Empty, Angry and Sad!

I promise to post about the party and my Birthday surprises later....

Family Day

Hannah on the slide... She is so funny..... I love this little one...

Ant and I met my mom over our cousins for a family get- together we had so much fun at the lake spending time with our cousins....

This guy is my heart... He is such a sweetheart!!!

I love being an Aunt... These days they call me Larla...

Hannah and Nana BFF's forever!!!

If one thing is for sure Hannah is crazy about Nana these days. She really loves her and wants to spend time with her.

Hannah is such a little Diva. You CANNOT make that little one do anything that she's not in the mood to do...
Mom and Hannah on Mothers Day

Hannah and Hunter came to my photography class on Tuesday to model for us... They were shy at first. But when I promised to take them to the DQ afterwards they were a little better!

I love this picture of Hunter. He is such an amazing little guy it melts my heart.

Here they are eating their very first DQ... Hannah wasn't sure about it... But Hunter, being the thoughtful guy that he is helped her out. He is a Martinez without a doubt.

Tonight we went and ordered our flower arrangements that we had preserved after my Dad's funeral. I'm so glad that we did it. Although it is a little pricey, it's well worth it.

I can't wait to see the finished project.

Ant was so cute trying to pick out the perfect one for Hannah knowing that she was such a papa's girl. He did a great job... Although he did tell the lady that he reserves the right to call and change the colors once he talks to Heather.

As the days go by I get closer and closer to the big 40... Hmmmm I wonder if I will have a breakdown like I did at 30?

Only time will tell 10 days until my Birthday week begins!!!!

National Scrapbook Day and Thomas....

I love NSD ( National Scrapbook Day) for all you non scrappers.... Although it always seems to fly by way faster then you want it to .... Dawn hosted a very nice day... We all had so much fun...

Dawn,Miki, Erin, Mom and I all got a little WILD....

Sunday I spent the day at Greenfield Village with My Mom, Heather, Jax, Kamron, Hannah, Hunter and Heathers Mom... We had a great time with Thomas!

My little diva in training!!

Craigslist

Well once again I hit Craig's list and found a typewriter... This one is the third one I have bought from there...

Isn't she pretty??? The first time I found a great deal I think it was $20 it works great... My mom uses it when she scraps at her house.

Then I found another one... But I made a big mistake and didn't try it out first.. The first time I actually plugged it in to use it was this weekend... Well it didn't work so well... SO I was back to the drawing board.

Once again Monday morning I went out to Craig's List - got pretty lucky!!! An Architect that works across the street from our office, had a BRAND new one listed that he only used once for sale. He listed it for $50 I told him I would give him $20 and we met in the middle... I love it...

I've been tagged!

1.Last music you listened to - No Air

2.Last thing you watched on TV - American Idol

3.Last movie you saw - Juno

4.Last book you read -Eat the Frog - Work related
5.Last person you spoke to - Ant

6.Last thing you ate - Protein Shake

7.Last time you laughed - Saturday night with my peeps...

8.Last place you visited - My sisters to see Kamron's school pictures....
9.Last website you visited - Staci's Blog

10.Last thing you scrapped/crafted - Saturday hanging with the Peeps. Mini book from Rusty Pickle.

Picklelicious....

My Mom, Dawn and I spent the day on Good Friday at Scrappy Chic with Mr Pickle, himself! We had so much fun... Lance was great and an AWESOME teacher...
Hailey was great also... She was such a big help.... It was so much fun getting to know her. For those of you that get the Paper and Glue e-mail, you know that name...

I've always been a fan of Rusty Pickle... I love their paper! The projects we did were great. We learned how to put a pop up in our book. Very cool stuff!

Marty went to Florida with some friends last Thursday. He thought about staying home to be with me and my family on Easter. But I told him that I would be fine... If he only knew...

Easter was very rough for all of us. It was My Dad's big holiday, the one that he enjoyed the most. Even over Christmas.
The hardest time of day for me was first thing in the morning and then at dinner time before prayer. It was so hard to look around the table and not see him....

My Brother ( Ant) said the prayer and that was very emotional. He did such a nice prayer, my dad would of been very proud of him.

The tears and the emptiness is still there, although I am getting stronger everyday. I miss him like crazy and I feel so sad for my mom.
It's like she doesn't know how to live life without him... Not in a OMG! she's going to die way. But in a little lost puppy dog way.

Sunday was my first day back on regular food... It's been weird but I'm doing it a few bites at a time.


I guess that's about it for now...
Carla

Bunnies

I met Ant and Heather with the kids at Heritage Park in Taylor today... I had a field trip there this afternoon for my photography class and so they met me there early so we could take the kids to the Petting Farm...

Banana- ( Hannah) wanted nothing to do with the Easter Bunnie... She didn't want it anywhere near her.
I love seeing them enjoy those moments of their youth. The Boys had such a wonderful time they really loves seeing all the animals.

Justin and Kamron were there also. I got a few good pictures... I will try to post them a little later.

After my class I went to Sandi's crop. We worked on a very fun project... I really enjoyed myself... Well I have an early day tomorrow. I better hit the hay!

Until next time.
Carla

Today...

I've been doing pretty well these last couple weeks... I can talk about my dad a little more without breaking down.... I can even look at a few pictures here and there...

But today once again, it hit me like a ton of bricks that he wasn't here anymore... I miss him so much and I'm still feeling so empty, although it is a little better. But not TODAY...

Today feels just like I felt a month ago, maybe it's because 2 of our friends each lost their mom this week???

Maybe I'm just hurting for what I know they are going through... I really don't know but today I hurt.

Tomorrow I will go to a visitation for my friend's mom, at the same funeral home that my dad was at... So please keep me in your prayers to have the strength to be a good friend and be strong!


TTFN
Carla

She is going home...

Well tomorrow my mom is returning to her home... She has only been there a few days here and there since my Dad passed away.

The rest of the time she has stayed with one of us kids. I'm not sure that I'm ready for her to go. I know that I need to let her go... She has been so depressed, I know that it will feel better for her to be back where she had her life with him and I know this is part of our healing process, But... I can't help but feel sad that she is leaving.

I just miss my dad so much, I think it feels like when she's here it's just like one of her visits when she comes and stays to scrapbook and he's at home...

But he's not at home... My Aunt and cousins have totally gutted her bedroom and made it "new" for her. She couldn't bare to be in their room without him. So now it's different and they took care of his clothes for her. I think that should help...

I know that time is the only thing that can make us all feel better... But I have to admit I'm so tired of feeling so empty!

Scrapbooking doesn't even really make me excited anymore... I want it to but I just can't get into it.... Maybe I just have to try a little harder... Maybe some of the new product will help get me there??? I don't know, I do know that he loved that I took so many pictures and he loved that I scrapbooked... Maybe that's why I'm having trouble with it... I got so much joy showing him my stuff....

I don't think I should blog at night anymore, that's when I think about him the most and it makes for some depressing blog entries...

Update on my Surgery:

I feeling good and getting stronger and stronger every day...I've lost 48 pounds since I got out of the hospital and I'm starting to incorporate pured-(sp?) foods... Of course I gained 18 pounds of liquid while in the hospital. But I'm very happy with my progress this far.

Until Next time...
Me

Tag i'm it...

Today My Mom, Dawn and I took a really cool class at Paper Tales. We had such a wonderful time! We sat with a lady named Margie that was just a blast... She was so much fun!

We made Pixies and a Fairy House... What a fun project! Who would of ever guessed that I could turn Brandi and Boomer into Pixies?

Tonight my Mom and I watched Broken Bridges with Toby Keith, I do have to admit that man is sexy... I mean HOT and Sexy... OUCH!

I know that since I'm getting stronger every day and soon it will be time for my Mom to go home... I know that she is ready and I need to be strong.
But I do have to admit it's hard. I know that it has to happen, but the thought of life moving on with my Daddy is just so heartbreaking!!
I know that we have to start finding our way it's just so sad... I know that she is sad too and wants to go home and be where they were together. But I'm gonna miss her like crazy!

Okay enough of that Staci tagged me so here it goes...

The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves's them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: I was still in my 20's having the time of my life being WILD and CRAZY!! I had 1 nephew Justin, that I loved and spoiled like crazy... I worked for Connie Kalitta as a user support manager for the Help Desk. I hung with the Hoochies and had dinner with my family every Sunday. I believe that was the year that I started Scrapbooking also...

Things on my to-do list today: Go with Dawn and my Mom to our class... Come home and spend time with my mom... Marty went out with his friends...

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: I would take care my Family and Marty's. We would build a custom home with a MIL Loft so my mom could live with us..
I would give all my close friends so money to make like easier. I would start in foundation in my Dad's name.

3 of my bad habits: smoking, not enough exercise and time management

3 places I have lived: Belleville Michigan, El Cajon Ca. and Westland Michigan

5 jobs that I have had: Cashier at Meijers, Proof operator at NBD, User support manager, Project Manager, Recruiter - Head Hunter

5 things people don't know about me: I was afraid of getting married for many years, despite the fact that my parents had an AWESOME marriage.
I baby my brother and sister and act like their second mother more then I should.
I'm afraid of heights
I'm a klutz
My parents spoil me rotten!

Alright there it is... I'm going to tag Heather, Jolene and Jen...

Carla

Gastric Bypass Surgery....

Yes, can you believe it... With everything else that has went on in my life latly I took a leap of faith and invested in myself.

I hope that everything continues to improve on a daily basis, like it has thus far. My Surgery was 2-12-2008 and I have to say I feel pretty good so far.

I mean the first couple days were a blur... I slept quite a bit... I never even watched my T.V. at the clinic. If I wasn't sleeping I was walking!

Wow I will say that I'm glad to feel like a person again... It's still a little slow moving and going but I feel good...
I'm so blessed with my friends... I know that it's truly unique to have such great girlfriends in your life... Hopefully I'm just as good to them!!

Thank you Erin for dropping everything and coming to this side of the state to spend time with me... I know that it isn't easy getting someone to be with the kiddo's... It meant so much to have you here.
Thank you Tesh for spending Friday with me... I love you!!
Thank you Miki for coming and spending last Saturday with me... I love me flowers... But the BOMB pops - Sugar Free of course were the best present ever.... I love you!!

My mom and Marty spent the whole first day with me while I slept... Dawn, Scott and the girls paid me a visit - again, I was sleeping... Ant brought the boys to visit me. I think Justin and Kamron felt a little better to see that I was okay.

Thank you Jeneice, Staci and Sandi - For the cards to let me know that I was on your mind. That means so much to me.

Thank you Heather for understanding that I needed to do this for me and being there for me...

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and calls and the check-ins...

Please keep me and my family in your prayers as we continue to learn how to go on without my Dad.

Feeling lost...

It's been a while I know!! Christmas has come and gone...and so many things have changed since my last post... I have an emptiness that I'm not sure will ever go away...

On Januaury 27, 2008 my Dad Joe V. Martinez passed away. It was very unexpected, then again are we really ever prepared to lose a person that we love and adore?

If you know anything about me, you know that I'm completely a Daddy's girl to the core and that my Mom is my Best Friend.

I'm very close to both of them and having a hard time with being me right now...

I know that there will be good days and bad...But it just seems like I miss him so much and that will never feel any better...

I look at my Mom and see the pain in her eyes , the pain that she doesn't share with anyone because she's so worried about being strong for all of us.

I know that my Dad was her whole world and that she is missing him like crazy but she doesn't show it to us... That's not who she is... She is Mama Bear that protects her cubs... Even though were all adults and supposed to be taking care of her.

I miss so many things about him... Even though I know he lives everyday in my heart I want him back!!!

So many people have been so kind and caring to us at this time. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people that have comforted!

The "Hoochies" My parent's little pet name for my close girlfriends, what would we have done without them???

They are still here for me and thank God because I still need them each and everyday!!

I know this is a sad post... But I have been told it helps to write about it.... let it out! So that's what I'm doing... Besides I don't think any one reads this thing besides Heather and Staci....

Tomorrow I will post about another big change in my life....

Until then...

Carla