Was it a mirage????

No.... We really did head out to the desert last weekend and RIDE!!!! woo hoo!!!

Mark, Noah, Obi and I packed it up and headed out to a dry lake bed at a place called El Mirage with my friend Frankie, her hubby and their three kids!!! They have a toy hauler and a bunch of quads, so we got to camp out with them.... We got there Saturday morning and set up our spot.... We rode for a while, played baseball, and just enjoyed the beautiful day... Once it got dark we started gathering wood to build a bonfire... I must admit something.... I have never made a smore in my LIFE!!! I've roasted marshmallows.... I've had smores pop-tarts... but never actually made a smore in a fire outdoors!!! So it was my first time and I fell in love!!! I must have had 5 or 6!!!! Whatta pig!!! But they were so yummy!!!! So I considered that dinner... After we all filled up on smores, we hung out by the fire until it died out...Then we headed to bed, and started watching the movie CHAOS.... Mark fell asleep before it even started, the rest of us fell asleep half way through.... So we called it a night.... Obi slept in the back of my car.... and the kids slept up in the loft of the toy hauler!!! We had 8 people in there...comfy cozy!!!!

Me trying to hit the ball... I actually did a good job!!! Mark said I had some skills!!!

Mark riding the mini bike!!!! The top of this bike only came up to Marks knee!!!

Me riding the babies quad.... This is made for Noah sized kids...

Mark decided to join me on the baby quad!!!!

Obi enjoying the nature at night

Noah enjoying all the chocolate in the smores....

Frankie and I roasting marshmallows for all those yummy smores.

Sunday morning we woke up had some breakfast... and got back outside... Noah tried to take a quad by himself but wasn't feeling it... So I geared him up and took him for a spin with me... He said it was boring...so I took him back and Frankie and I went for a ride all the way across the lake bed, then back to our camp on all the side trails.... What a great ride!!! Lots of flat lake bed to go fast on, and some dips on the side trails to jump and catch some air on....

The loft where those cute kiddos slept...

Noah geared up for a ride with his momma...

Frankie showin off.... :)~

Me and the open road!!! Where are the hills??? I want to catch some air!!!

When we got back it was the boys turn to head out... So Mark, William and Isaac geared up and headed out for a while.... While they were out, we watched the movie Juno.. (I hadn't seen it before... I loved it!!!!) Obi was totally pooped out from all the nature and strangeness of where we were, so he just wanted to sleep!!!!

Mark ready to ride!!!!

Mark, William, and Isaac ready to go....

Obi natured out!!! Ready to go home!!!

When the boys got back, we had some lunch and finished watching that movie Chaos... It was alright... Then we started to clean up and get ready to go home... it was a great trip with some great company!!! I love my Espinozas!!!! They're awesome!!!

Luckily we didn't hit much traffic on the way back and made it home quicker than we thought... We were expecting to hit some traffic because of people heading back from Vegas... Well, we came home and all took showers, because we were all a gnarly shade of dirt and sand.... After that we decided to get some dinner, unpack our food stuff and RELAX!!!! What a fun time... Hopefully we will be doing that more often!!!

Today was work as usual... And for the most part the rest of this week should be uneventful... This Saturday is our Rock Band Party!!! I am so excited for this... We are expecting to have around 20 people over!!! Should be a good time!!!! I have to get shopping for this... I think I'll do a little bit each day so I don't get overwhelmed and stressed on Saturday since I work that morning...

K- till next time... B good or b good at it!!!! <3 Me.

In the meantime....

So last Friday after I woke up from the worst day in a long time.... Mark decided that we should get up and get out like we had planned on doing anyway..... So we headed out to Newport Beach with our little Obi.... It was his frist time at the beach....and just like his mom and dad.... he didn't like it very much!!! He loves to walk, but the water...he could do without... Anyway, it was relaxing to just get out of the norm and take a nice walk.... Here is our pup at the beach....

We even got brave and let him run without us holding the leash... He's been doing good at the park, so we tried it at the beach too... He did awesome!!!! he just walked right behind Mark and chased him when he ran!!! Too cute!!!

Sunday was Marks 32nd birthday... He wanted me to learn how to make a dish that my mom makes... So I got the recipe, bought him a couple of shirts and movies, made dinner and dessert, had my mom and little sis over and celebrated!!! He loved the food (said it tasted just like my moms) and the gifts too!!! He's so awesome!!! Here he is with his 2 layer fudge cake (with vanilla buttercream filling and fudge frosting) that I made from scratch!!! It was a special request!!!! It came out so yummy!!! But it was way too much, so I took some to work, and so did he....

Monday night was swing night at the Coffee Depot... and guess who was playing there!!! Hobo Jazz!! It was my friend from works daughters birthday (phew....did you follow that??? I'm confused myself!!!!) and she loves to swing dance.... So they invited me to join them.... Kimmy tagged along...and we had a great time!! I miss my Hobos... I didn't get to go to the Vault last Saturday....and I haven't seen them in a bit, so it was nice to say hi!!!!

You just gotta love Myspace for continuing to reinvent itself and for offering new fun free options!!!! The newest thing on there are these cool apps you can add to your page or use for other stuff... My little sister used this cartoonizer app first, and I've fallen in love with it since... It's awesome... Here are a few fun pics that I've cartoonized!!!

So before the accident (like the day before) I got some really great news... Unfortunatley I can't go into detail about it because I was sort of sworn to secrecy.... Sounds crazy, I know.... But it involves a trip to another state, and some awesome training.... I am so excited about this. It is something not a lot of people in my position get the opportunity to do... which makes it that much better!!! I can't wait...So I'll be gone on this trip from May 22nd to the 24th... And maybe after the trip, I'll be able to talk about it more... We'll see..... I'll definitely have some pics to share....

Well, it's about time for me to get to sleep... Tomorrow holds a lot of cases at the surgery center...

Take care.... I don't think I'll be blogging until next week.... Busy days ahead...

P.S.

A quick hello....

To let everyone know that I'm still alive an kickin!!!! It seems like my run of bad luck has continued for a few days, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel... So that's good... I'm still really bummed, and sad about the whole deal, but I know it's going to work out... So I just got to move along!!!!

I'll post more tomorrow, but for now the update with the whole car thing is:

The damages came out to $9548.75!!!!! We just have to pay our 1 grand deductible... which still sucks, but doesn't break the bank like 10 grand...

I got a rental car (a Pontiac G6) which is alright other than the gnarly tan interior and no mp3 jack!!! (I am spoiled....)

The body shop said it looked like it would be 3-4 weeks instead of the first projected 4-6 weeks.... Thank goodness because monthly car rentals are expensive!!!!

They already have the car dismantled and the parts ordered...It's just a waiting game on how long it takes to get them and put them on..... tick tock tick tock.....

So there we are.... That's the quick update.... I'll do a full post with some pics tomorrow.... I have some cute ones!!!!

Goodnight!

So you had a bad day.....

That was my theme song yesterday..... Ugh... You know I had a wierd feeling when I woke up that something was wrong...I thought well we will probably run late at work and Noah will not make it to his class on time... I wish that had been the worst of it, but no....

In the morning, I left for work and realized I had forgotten my 2 morning staples....my sunglasses and my rockstar drink.... So I was driving toward the freeway on the street and this truck in front of me decided he was going to stop for no reason... The light up ahead was green, there weren't any cars directly in front of him, just stopped..... I tried to brake in time to not hit him but his move was so sudden that his back end went up, and my front end went right under it... So as I look up in a daze, I realize this truck that I just collided with, left... He just left the scene... Upset that I hit him, upset even more that he left.... I try to turn the wheel to move the car off the road and I can't. I think it's non-drivable. So I put it in park, then drive again, and try again... I know the engine is jacked up because the power steering is gone... but I am able to move it off the road and into a school parking lot that I was next to. I call the police, and then the insurance... I called Mark and broke the news to him. I called work and said I'll see you on Monday.... I just sit there next to the car waiting for the police to come and the insurance to call, and Mark to show up... and I just watch as the fluids are draining out of the bottom of the car... and as people drive by and crush the bits and pieces that fell off the car in the road....

Just sitting there wonder why me??? I had just received some AMAZING news the day before...Noah had just tested and passed for his purple belt the night before...Everything was so great..... Did I mention I was driving the charger??? If you know me and Mark, you know this is his BABY!!!!! So that only added to my issues after the accident initially occurred. So the police came and took a report and measurements..... The insurance called for info..... And Mark came... OHHH the pain of it all.... Like someone ran over his dog, he was so upset. I knew he would be.... So we waited for the tow truck, and headed out to the body shop at the dealer. Sat there for a few hours because just to add insult to injury, the check engine light lit up on our other car. It ended up being nothing major at all, so thank goodness for that. We went home and I just slept all day. I was hoping that if I slept long enough, maybe I could do the day over, but it didn't work out for me...

Here are the pics of the car....

So here we are... Friday.... Just waiting to hear how long it will be until this car can get fixed... The body shop at the dealer said he thought it would be 3 to 4 weeks!!! (heavy sigh) I'm so bummed.

So thanks for the thoughts and prayers and messages from everyone... Just because I don't respond doesn't mean I don't care... I just don't know what to say other than thanks....

Good Morning!!!

Technically it is Tuesday morning.... so... Good morning!!!!

It's been a long day and I just can't get sleepy so I caught up on bills, emails, my evites, Myspace, and here I am blogging at 1220am!!!! Hahahah!!! Work is going to suck in a few hours!! Good thing I have some Rockstars in the fridge!!!

This last weekend was a lot of fun.
Friday I came home from work, dropped Noah off at sparring class while Obi and I took a walk, then headed out to the mall with Kimmy and out to dinner at Portillo's.... MMMMM... I just love their cheese fries!!!!
Saturday was work as usual, but we didn't have any cases, so I skipped out of there a bit early and headed home to get ready for our night out. Mark went to our nephews b-day party out in the OC, and we met at our friends house (Todd and Ann) We hung out and played RockBand for a while... We made a band up called The Inverted Culture... Be on the lookout because we were rockin solid 90 percentile scores on hard!!!! Woohoo!!! Mark was on drums, Todd was on lead guitar, Ann was on basss guitar and I was the singer!!! Ha...I didn't even have a ny drinks, and I actually sang loud enough for everyone to hear!!! That's right, loud and proud!!! I own my screeching!!! hahahaha!!! Can't wait to play with the band some more!! We were awesome!!!!
Then we headed out to a Peruvian restaurant called Inka Mommas (I think thats how you spell it?!?) It was delicious!!!! I hope to go there again!!!
After dinner it was time to head over to the Arts Theater to go see the Phantom of the Opera!!! Wow!!! It was really great!!! I love watching that play. I get goosebumps during certain songs, and even certain notes in a song.. What can I say... I've always said music speaks to me on such a deep level...this is a prime example.
After it was over we headed back over to Todd and Anns and continued our World Tour on RockBand. We played till nearly 2 in the morning!!! And then called it a night.... Mark and I headed home....



Sunday was a day of absolutely laziness!!! Sleeping in, taking naps, it was great!!!!

I tried a few workouts specifically for abs that use an excercize ball... I can officially say they work, because my tummy is sore!!! Gotta do those a couple times a week!! Mark washed the car, and went to the grocery store....

For dinner I made a sausage and bell pepper pizza with parmesan crust... with a green salad on the side... It was awesome!!! It wasn't delivery...It was DeMers!!!! Hahahah!!!

We did some laundry and dishes and headed off to bed.... What a great finish to a fun weekend....

Work was so busy on Monday. I don't think we stopped all day!!!! Just non-stop pain management cases for me all day. But I didn't mind one bit because I got to hang out with my favs, Mike, Dr. Kim, Pat and Sandy.... Good times!!!! Noah and I took Obi for a walk to the park where we let him run loose. He is so obedient... He actually comes back to us when we call him while he's running!!! I love my dog!!!! When we got home Mark, Noah and I went to the gym here at our complex. Mark did his free weights and I was glued to the treadmill. 2 miles running, 2 miles walking and some lunges to burn out at the end. My legs are hurting!!!!

I know I had mentioned before that Noah and I have been
exploring these nature trails around our town..

Here are a couple of pics of the beautiful scenery we encountered on some of the trails!!! Obi and Noah love walking through here. Noah loves to see what animals or lizards we can find...and Obi just loves to run and chase things....

The first pic is of the beginning of the trail. We happened to catch this pic while a hawk was flying by...probably thinking my dog was his snack!!!! Scary!!!

The second pic is of Noah and Obi hangin by some rocks we passed on the trail..... Noah loves to climb these rocks... and Obi just loves to eat the grass!!!!! Too cute!!!

Well, I better be going to at least try and get some sleep... Here are two quotes that I received via email that I thought were pretty great!!!

"Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention."
-- Greg Anderson



"It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere."
-- Agnes Repplier



And also a description of my astrology sign- TAURUS>>>>>The Enduring One... I think it does a great job of describing me..... Here it is....



TAURUS - The Enduring One (April 20 - May 20)
Charming but aggressive.
Can come off as boring, but they are not.
Hard workers.
Warm-hearted.
Strong, has endurance.
Solid beings that are stable and secure in their ways.
Not looking for shortcuts.
Take pride in their beauty.
Patient and reliable.
Make great friends and give good advice.
Loving and kind.
Loves hard - passionate.
Express themselves emotionally.
Prone to ferocious temper-tantrums.
Determined.
Indulge themselves often.
Very generous.