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Okay, maybe not 3...just 2. I took the last of my 2 tests for state boards yesterday with a big, fat "PASS"! Yay! You are now reading the words of a licensed cosmetologist. Huzzah! Now I just have to wait for the piece of paper to come in the mail. The words "snail mail" never seemed so right...
Do you ever feel like this? I know I do...except I never look as put together as this lady!So, yesterday I woke up with some kind of stomach bug. I guess it's been going around...(I guess it was contagious Emily...) I'm feeling a lot better today except for one thing. I got up this morning and found my house to be in complete disarray. It looks like a laundry/garbage bomb went off! Ridiculous!!! Something had to be done. So me and my house had a little sit down:I says, "House, why are you so DIRTY?" And it's like, "Because you've littered me with children..." So, I'm like, "Awwww, I'm sorry......are we cool?" And it says "Yeah, if you clean me today...we'll be cool". And I says, "Clean your DANG self!"... and I ran away to my parents' house...Hmmm...looking back, I probably didn't handle it so well. So, here I am giving my house a formal apology and professing it to the world!House~I am sorry. I know I'm far from perfect, and I could probably be a better housekeeper. But we must share the blame here... You could stay clean a little longer. Let's work together and I know we can make things easier for the both of us! Here's to a more neat and organized future for everyone! I love you! (*cough* ...at least until a bigger and better house comes along...*cough*)Love~Clarissa
Where do I start?
We had a fun day the Saturday before Easter. First, we took the kids to Home Depot for their free kids workshop. The kids (or rather mom and dad) made butterfly houses.
Then we went to take the kids to Mother Nature's Farm for their Easter egg hunt. FAIL!!! They line was ridiculous! So, instead, we did an Easter Egg hunt at Nunu and Papa Stay's house. It was so much better than standing in line, scrambling amongst strangers, and the kids had a blast! I think we're going to make it tradition.
At the last second, I decided to go to my Aunt Mary's funeral in San Diego. I'm glad I did. The spirit was so incredibly strong there!!! What an AMAZING woman she is. She has blessed so many lives in her life time and will continue to do so on the other side. Jay said it was a good experience for him. He's only been to 2 funerals in his life, neither of which were LDS. There is a big difference. He was expecting everyone to be so quiet and mournful, but it was just the opposite. This was a celebration of life and family!!!...not a grieving of those who are gone. Yes, there were tears shed. We will always miss those who have gone on before. But what a blessing it is to know we will be together again someday! This life is so short and forever will come soon enough. Again, I am so grateful for the Savior and his sacrifice that made it possible to have forever families.
It was especially fun to be with all the family I get to see on such a rare occasion. Funerals were always more like family reunions for my kin. Family reunions here and "up there". How wonderful!
Cousins. :)
Siblings. (and Julia.)
Joe and Grandma Lorraine.
Brothers and Sisters.
Aunts, Uncles, Cousins.
On a less happy note, (way to be a Debbie Downer)... I missed my cosmetology theory exam so I could go to the funeral. When I got back, I got the run around from the state board. Due to a death in the family, I was supposed to reschedule the exam without paying the 85 bucks again. WRONG!! They withheld some key information to make that true. *Angry sounds* In the end, I am $85 poorer and 100% okay with that. I wouldn't have missed the (above) experience for the world!
Last night, our refrigerator decided to crap out on us. It runs but refuses to cool. I realized this when I walked into the kitchen to find the floor covered in wetness. After yelling at my kids for making a mess, I realized the freezer was defrosting. (Insert Mom of the Year award here...) Luckily, Jay's grandparents had a spare fridge they were trying to find a home for, and after some creative thinking and help from some family, we were able to save most of our food and some $$$ to boot. I think our fridge just needs some more freon or something.
So, does anyone know of a good refrigeration guy?
Also, last week I had great fun turning these:
Into a whole lot of this:
And even some of these:
Mmmmm.... I got a great deal on strawberries at the Superstition Ranch Market. Fifty cents a pound! I love it!!! Of course, 3 days later they went down to 3 lbs for a $1. Figures. But good deal none the less! Happy Day!
All these happenings and such got me thinking. Life is tough, and sometimes things don't go the way I hoped or planned. There is always some wrench in the works, but when all is said and done, I have a pretty good life. Family, friends and fun to top it all off!
♥ Who could ask for more? ♥
Last night my dad's youngest sister, Mary, passed away. She had been suffering for a while, and I'm glad she is now in a place of perfect peace without any pain.
As I sit here contemplating my thoughts on death and the resurrection, I am filled with gratitude for my Savior, the Atonement and the gospel. It is only through Him that we can return to our Heavenly Father and be with our families FOREVER!!!
I'll miss my Aunt Mary, but I'll see her again.
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength and I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud where the sea and sky come down to mingle with one another. Then someone at my side says, "She is gone..." Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large in mass and hull and spar as when she was by my side, and just as bit as able to bear her load of living weight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her; and just at that moment when someone at my side said, "She is gone", there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices to take the glad shout, "SHE IS COMING!"
And such is death...Death is temporary, life is Eternal.
I love you Aunt Mary. Until we meet again...Love, Clarissa
Since I was FINALLY done with school and both Jay and David were out of school for Spring Break, we decided to take a family vacation. This was literally a spur of the moment trip. We decided to go on Monday night and were gone by Wednesday. I tell ya, packing a family of 5 for a trip in less than one day, is not my idea of fun...but the trip was nice.
I really, really, REALLY love Southern California this time of year. The weather was perfect and I miss how GREEN it is! So beautiful!
We were able to stay with Jay's Aunt Cherie and family, which was nice and FREE! The first day we took a little trip to Oceanside Beach. It was still too chilly to get in the water, but the kids had fun collecting rocks and shells, playing in the sand, and running away from the surf. I soooo miss the sea air and the ocean!
On Friday we went to Disneyland! David had been wanting to go since our trip to Sea World last year. We bought him a Jedi cloak:
And he got to go to Jedi Training Camp. Unfortunately, he didn't get called up on stage to actually "train", but he still loved seeing a real live Jedi, Darth Vader, and Darth Maul. His favorite ride was Star Tours...does that surprise anyone? :D
OoooOOOoooo!! A real X-Wing Fighter!!! (Try to contain yourselves....)
Jay's cousin Danelle and her friends came and got us discounts on merchandise and even took the kids to Toon Town so Jay and I could ride some rides by ourselves and have some time "alone"...like you're ever alone at Disneyland....
Ahhh...No kids!!! (This was right after Splash Mountain...still a little wet...)
The kids especially liked meeting the characters and getting pictures and autographs:
It was an exhausting day!
The rest of the trip was spent relaxing and recouping from Disneyland. We spent it with Jay's family, sitting back and enjoying the time together. It was nice to get out of town and escape for a few days. Can't wait to do it again! Next time can't come soon enough!
Well, it took a little longer than anticipated, but I finally finished cosmetology school! It was a rough little while. Juggling school (for me, David, AND Jay), pregnancy, a new baby, church callings, potty training, etc., etc.... I don't know if I would ever want to do it again, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything! The girls at school put together a nice send off and some of us went out for some delicious sushi afterward.
My friend, Holly, made this funny cake:
They are some of those most fun and caring girls in the world and I'm going to miss them like crazy!
I have one last hurdle: taking the state board practical and written exams to get my license. Compared to the exams at school (which I scored a 95% on :D... ) it should be a piece of taco cake!
I will be looking for a job soon, so if anyone knows of anything (stylist, assisting, make-up artist, nail tech....) or has any ideas, please send them my way! So many possibilities for the future! I'm so excited!
Since I took a long hiatus from blogging, I never posted a tribute to my Little Ahnali for her birthday. She turned 3 on January 15th. As an added bonus, she potty trained just a couple weeks before. She was soooo easy! I can't believe it! She's growing up so fast and such an independent little girl. She wants to do everything by herself! Here is what I remember from the day she came into our lives:I woke up at 3am, Monday January 15th, 2007 to some hard (but not painful) contractions. I woke Jay up and said we may want to go to the hospital. So, we got up, packed my stuff and took David to my parents house.At about 5am we arrived at Banner Baywood. After filling out some paperwork and getting to triage, we awaited the nurse to hear the verdict. I was fully expecting for them to turn around and send me home because I wasn't hurting. She checked and informed us I was already at 7cm. Whoohoo! We were in a room by 6am, where they got an IV in me and began my first dose of antibiotics for GBS.At 7am, my sister-in-law, Amanda, showed up to be my doula. I had decided earlier that I was going to try and do this labor without any "assistance" for the pain. I remember working through the contractions with some coaching from Amanda. I also remember my poor Jay trying to comfort me by telling me "You're doing great honey" and me telling him to "Be quiet" because "I want you here, but I don't want to your his voice..." It's funny. I don't remember being like that with the birth of David, but I had an epidural right away with him. I guess you're allowed to be weird and irrational in labor. :D The pain and discomfort of having a baby began to accelerate and after laboring for about 2 1/2 hours (around 9:30am) my doctor told me that I was at 9cm. "Finally", I thought... "It's time!" To my chagrin, she told me because I was carrying so much extra fluid, my water wasn't breaking on it's own and they were not going to break it for me until they had the 2nd dose of antibiotics for the GBS. "What?" I thought,"that's not for another hour or so!" At this point I was in a lot of pain. If they thought I was going to sit for another hour or so at 9cm without helping me along they were CRAZY!!! I begged for the epidural and after asking 3 times, Amanda said it was okay. The anesthesiologist came and had the epidural tapped in less than 5 minutes! It was amazing and after watching, Amanda was horrified! I was finally able to rest and at 10:45am the doctor came back in to break my water. At 11:00, they allowed me to begin pushing and after 3-4 pushes at 11:11am little Ahnali Rose Stay was born into this world. She as 8lbs. 7oz. and 21 inches long. She was the most beautiful baby girl I had ever laid my eyes on. Perfect in every way! Here are 3 of the many, MANY reasons I love Ahnali:1) She is such a ham!
2) She is so sweet and a sweeter big sister.
3) She is one of the prettiest little girls I've ever seen! (but I'm a bit biased...)
~♥ I love you Ahnali!!! ♥~
Do you ever feel like this? I know I do...except I never look as put together as this lady!
It was especially fun to be with all the family I get to see on such a rare occasion. Funerals were always more like family reunions for my kin. Family reunions here and "up there". How wonderful!
Last night, our refrigerator decided to crap out on us. It runs but refuses to cool. I realized this when I walked into the kitchen to find the floor covered in wetness. After yelling at my kids for making a mess, I realized the freezer was defrosting. (Insert Mom of the Year award here...) Luckily, Jay's grandparents had a spare fridge they were trying to find a home for, and after some creative thinking and help from some family, we were able to save most of our food and some $$$ to boot. I think our fridge just needs some more freon or something.
Last night my dad's youngest sister, Mary, passed away. She had been suffering for a while, and I'm glad she is now in a place of perfect peace without any pain. 
