Happy 2012!

2012! The end of the world is coming....that's what I hear anyway. So There are a few things I need to do before this happens. Here are some Goals for this year.

• I'm not even going to talk about losing weight, because honestly, that stresses me out, we got rid of our scale because I obsess over that stupid number that shows up... so we are going to call it, living a healthier life. Rick and I decided to get an early start, we didn't wait till January first, we did it the day after Christmas, and by doing that we saved 5 dollars each on our memberships! SCORE! We signed up for Crossfit...5:30 am everyday Mon-Fri! KILL ME! But I need to have a good attitude about this, it is for my health!
• Temple attendance...I regret to admit that we have not been very good at this, so this year, we are committing to going to the Temple at LEAST once a month.
• Continue my studies. As much as I want to quit every semester, I have to keep going....I will be a Nurse....someday!
•  Early to bed, early to rise....this kind of goes along with having to get up at 5 am for Crossfit, but I have noticed that I can get so much done if I get up before my kids do! Go figure! I wish I would have done this a long time ago.
• I will do better with teaching my children the Gospel...this is very overwhelming to me, but if I stick with the basics I think everything else will fall into place.
• I will cook more 
• clean more, but relax if my house is not perfect
• play more
• laugh more
• cry less
• love more
• Read more
• Do more things that bring me joy
• be a better friend
• run a marathon with my husband (this will be a huge accomplishment for us)
• Let our kids get dirty....by doing this which will be so dang hard for me! But I think the kids will love it!
• do more things as a family
• Develop our talents 
• Give more Service to others

2012 will be a great year, we have many big things happening

our 5 year anniversary which we will be spending in Hawaii

my brother getting married in April

Summerlin will be baptized this year

Andres will get his Driver's license(EEKKK)

I'm excited for this year! So I refuse to let this whole "end of the world" hold me back from the things that I want to do and enjoy with my family and friends.

Happy 2012!!!

What do you remember?

This question was asked during our lesson in Relief Society this Sunday....What do you remember from past Christmases....toys or things that you received, or do you mostly have happy memories of family? I honestly cannot remember any gifts that I ever received before my first Christmas in the USA, which was when I was 10 years old.....but I have the best memories of Christmases spent in Casilda, Argentina in the home of my grandparents...my nono and nona (grandpa and grandma in Italian) I don't know why it is that those are the happiest memories I have. First you have to know that Christmas in Argentina is in the summer, so it is REALLY hot! So we would set our table outside in the long driveway they had. Mostly everyone did this, so you would go outside and sit down for dinner and you could see your neighbors and just hear and see friends and neighbors all around. Also we celebrate on the 24th, Christmas Eve. My grandmother would cook all day...homemade lasagna, made from scratch! Lots of food! Dinner was at 8pm and then everyone hangs out and waits till midnight, that's when the champagne comes out (or sparkling cider for us) and everyone cheers, hugs, fireworks go off, neighbors come over to wish you a Merry Christmas, it's a BIG celebration. After that, we would all go inside by the tree and open gifts! After gifts were opened the party does not end, usually you go visit more friends and neighbors, fireworks are still going off everywhere and you eat some more!  People don't go to sleep till 3 or 4 am if they even go to sleep! The 25th is usually spent relaxing and eating left overs. This is what I remember the most! I miss it! Every year when the Holidays come around, I miss them, my grandparents....they were amazing, my fondest memories of my childhood include them. I get a little sad on the 24th of December, but I cherish those memories, those Christmases spent with my family, and it wasn't about gifts at all, it was about family, joy and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.  

Merry Christmas to all!! 

Month full of Fails....

This month, I had big plans.

Baking, crafting, sewing, gifting, family pictures, Christmas cards sent out early, and so on...well

Family pictures have not been taken, which means no cute Christmas card from the Cromars for the first time in almost 5 years, I have crafters  block, everything I have tried has not been successful.

My baking skills are gone, disappeared, as if the Christmas Grinch has stolen them from me

EXAMPLE, 

i burned the caramel I was making for neighbor treats,  I burned the chocolate I was melting for neighbor treats, the bread that I've been baking for over a year tasted horrible, and here we are 5 days before Christmas and I have not baked any treats for the fear of what may happen. 

My sister's breastfeeding cover remains cut out pieces waiting to be sewn, and the gifts I was making for the ladies in the family was another fail that I would rather not even describe....

So I was feeling pretty down on myself, and stressed about gifts for people, and what will they think since I haven't made them anything, and how sad they sent us a Christmas card and we didn't send one to them, and it has been eating me up, along with other things when i start feeling insecure....so today I decided to STOP

I have 4 beautiful children that are so excited about Christmas, I have a man by my side that loves me unconditionally and I love him, we had a wonderful family vacation last month, we have decorated our tree together, we have made Christmas ornaments, we have made gingerbread houses together, we have a home, we have health, we have the Priesthood in our home, we have the Gospel, we have the knowledge of the true meaning of Christmas, we have amazing family and friends that love and support us, we have so much to be thankful for, so I'm done stressing about what we didn't do, or what to give, or spending money on things that are not important. So I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! I love everyone around me. No gifts. Just love, cheesy I know, but I don't want to worry anymore about 

things that are not important. I hope to serve, to be a good wife,  mother, friend and daughter, and to share my testimony with those around me. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I know he lives, I know he took our sins, and died on the cross for us, that he Resurrected and that he lives, I know that he loves and knows each and everyone of us, individually. He knows our struggles, our strengths, our needs, our joys, and he knows our hearts. This Christmas our families have decided to not do gifts for each other, we are having the kids exchange one gift with one another, and that's all. With this, we hope that our children remember what Christmas is all about, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. That's what matters to us, that's what matters most to me. I have no doubt in my mind where I would be in my life if I didn't have this knowledge, and it would not be a good place. i know that for sure!

So Merry Christmas from the Cromars! 

and a Happy New Year :)

It's DECEMBER

Much has happened since last post.
So here goes the update on our crazy life.

VACATION
THANKSGIVING
BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING(great deals found)
MY BABY SISTER GAVE BIRTH TO BABY GIANNA
CHRISTMAS TREE UP, PRESENTS ALL BOUGHT AND WRAPPED
I'M A PROUD STRAIGHT A STUDENT AS OF RIGHT NOW(one more final to take)
REGISTERED FOR NEXT SEMESTER OF SCHOOL(doing it again! I don't know what I'm thinking!)
So there's the short version of everything that has happened since last post, which was about a MONTH ago!

This is how I feel when I'm at the store, trying to shop with 3 kids.

Today

Ross

3 kids

this is how it went

Roman screaming because he didn't want to sit in the cart

Mic putting things in the shopping cart that she said "she needed"

Summer just disappearing somewhere in the store

So I let Roman down (big mistake)

He ran through the store, screaming, playing with the toys

the girls chased after him, telling me they were "helping" 

but really they just wanted to run around the store. 

So one of the Ross employees told my kids 

that if they didn't stop running

he would call the cops. 

Hey....it worked....

for like 2 MINS! 

UGH! 

I need to hire a nanny!

Gratitude day......

Ok so I know that I have not been keeping up my gratitude posts. 

It was a great thought,

but honestly, I've been so busy 

with school/homework

 being my dad's personal photographer

motherhood

housekeeping

being sick

kids

family get-togethers

starting another blog (fail)

that 

well.......I realized that as much as I love to write

and have so much to say,

I'm just not a good blogger at this point in my life.

So, right now I will just have to focus on the important

things that need to be done at this time in my life

and not add more stress by feeling like 

I have to be clever and post, post, post on

not just one blog but 2 blogs.

So.....this will be it. Just this blog

and when I can I will, and when

 I can't, I won't stress over it. 

There it is! And

Even though I'm not posting it everyday

I do have so many things to be thankful for. 

I love Thanksgiving

OH and 

3 more days till California!

Follow my new blog.....HERE 

CONTENT may not be appropriate for all ages.....haha I've always wanted to say that. 

But seriously I will post about reality and topics that maybe will offend some people. Just a warning. 

November 3rd 2011

Things I'm grateful for today

• My Girls... for being pretty independent every morning, but today especially since mom was laying in bed sick and couldn't do much other than get them to school.
• My in-laws for always being willing to help me when in need
• for school, I know I complain about school, but I'm thankful that I can get an education, and I'm thankful for everything that I'm learning.
• I'm thankful for the heat of my home
• for the food in my fridge
• and for herbal teas that are helping my throat not hurt so bad

So there it is....a few things, Oh and there is only 9 more days till our vacation, I'm very thankful for that!

    

      Things I'm thankful for on 2nd day of November:

• The fact that I realized that we only have 10 more days till we take off for our vacation
• Still thankful for my husband that works so hard for us
• for the baby girl that will soon be joining our family
• the Gospel in my life
• and for Nyquil....which saved my life, actually it saved my sleep last night.

NOVEMBER!!

It's finally here, NOVEMBER, and I want to post things I'm thankful for....AND our countdown to our family vacation because today UPS delivered these



Thank you UPS man!

 I'm so thankful for my husband, he has been working every week, for 13 weeks straight (he is only home for about 36 hours every week) Most weeks he can't even remember what city, or state he is in. I know this has been hard for him, but he's doing it for us to have a good time on our vacation and Christmas is just around the corner. So this post is for him! 12 more days till California.
The first thing I'm looking forward to, is to see Roman's face when he meets one of the Disney characters....that will be priceless!

This is my first pair of boots, it only took me 3 days to decide to get them. 

I have lived in Utah for more than five years and I have NEVER bought boots. 

They are on their way! 

Got them here

                                   

Catching up

My baby girl turned 10!! I cannot believe it. 

These pics I took when we woke up up to sing Happy Birthday to her and 

she opened her gifts. 

Her favorite was the Justin Beiber perfume set.

This was at Lagoon celebrating with the fam at Frightmares

We got a puppy!!! I finally convinced Rick to let us get one. We got him from a friend of ours from our ward.

BUSTER

And finally....my sister's baby shower preparations were extended for another week. She got really sick last week so we had to postpone her baby shower for this weekend. I'm excited!!

These are a couple of things I've been working on. 

tissue paper pom poms

Diaper wreath....(not finished yet)

                    Tonight I begin the baking of 50 cupcakes to be decorated tomorrow morning!

When I was 15

Here it is, I thought about this moment from the time I was 15 years old....the day that my son, the one I was pregnant with at 15 years old, would turn 15!
This is a bittersweet day for me. I got pregnant at 15...by the way, I don't recommend that, I would die if my girls got pregnant at 15 or if my sons got a girl pregnant at 15. I think back at how disappointed my parents were, yet they stuck by me, and helped me, I would not be where I am today without them. I look at my son today, and I cannot help but notice so many differences from when I was his age. He is so much smarter than I was or am for that matter, he is such a strong young man...to have gone through so much in his life, because of the choices I have made that directly affected him, and still do. As hard as it was to have a baby at 16 years old, I would not...I repeat, WOULD NOT change a thing! I cannot picture my life without him....I don't want to. I remember so clearly that night...
It was midnight on the dot! I was sleeping on the floor because I was so uncomfortable, and my dad and grandpa were watching the movie Braveheart, I felt a weird pain, so I sat up, looked around, looked at the screen and right as Mel Gibson yells "FREEDOOOMMM" at the end of the movie... my water broke..NO JOKE! So we went to the hospital, I was terrified! My mom, dad and a close friend of the family along with a couple of nurses were in the room, helping me, trying to get me to push because I was so tired I just wanted to sleep.  My dad cut the umbilical cord...I know CRAZY, but he did, and I'm thankful he was there with me. I still didn't have a name for him, but once I saw him, I knew I wanted to name him Andres (it's my dad's middle name) Once it was all done, and things calmed down, everyone left the room, my parents wanted to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat. I looked down at this tiny baby in my arms and it hit me that I was a mother, that this tiny baby boy was mine, and that I had to take care of him. That was the scariest moment in my life! I still cannot comprehend how this baby boy is now 15, and how incredible he is despite his mother being a teen mom. I have to share something that happened a couple of days ago. My sister got sick, she is pregnant, and had to go to the hospital. Later that night, my son asked if he could call his aunt...I thought he was going to call her to tell her what he wanted for his birthday, but instead he called to make sure she was ok, because he was worried about her and the baby. My sister later texted me this:
Raquel: "my nephew is awesome, I love him. Underneath that teenager, he really cares. He's so cute, he is such a sweetie, you raised him well :)"    My reply was "we all did"
and that's really the truth, my family raised him as well, because I had my ups and downs in life, but one thing that has always been constant in his life, are my parents, my brother and sister.
It has been a crazy 15 years, but I hope the next 15 go a lot smoother for us all! I'm so thankful for him, he changed my life for the better. Happy Birthday to the best teenage boy I know, Andres. Love you son!

And I'm back!

I haven't the slightest clue as to what happened to my blog for the past 5 days....but Google recovered it for me....I was very sad, I thought I would never see it again. I have put my thoughts into this for the past 2 years and there are pics that I would have lost. SO here's to you google support! It only cost me $1.30 to recover irreplaceable memories! SO WORTH IT!!!

We went to my in-laws for dinner today. My husband has been working every week, and we only get to spend about 35 hours with him, we get Saturday nights, Sunday and Monday mornings. My mother in law is an amazing cook, and anytime her son(my husband) wants something she will cook it for him. So last week he asked for her amazing mole (don't ask how to make it because I don't know, I only know that it has chicken, chocolate, peanut butter and some kind of mix that comes from mexico) anyway, it is really good so she made a big meal for us today, enchiladas, mole, rice and beans. We had a mexican feast, and it was YUMMY! While we were eating she asked me if I got to watch the General Relief Society meeting yesterday....and it hit me that I had completely forgotten about it! In my defense I have been sick, and yesterday I spent ALL day cleaning the house so that my husband would come home to a clean home.......foolish! Well I'm glad I did it, but because I was so concerned about cleaning I forgot to watch the Relief Society meeting. My mother in-law asked me to watch just one talk with her today, President Uchtdorf's talk on "Forget Not"
So we sat, and watched it. You can find it all the talks  here
I love General Conference time, it's always EXACTLY what I need to hear....this talk was so powerful for me today. Here are the 5 Forget Nots
1. Forget not to be patient with yourself
2. Forget not the difference between good sacrifice and foolish sacrifice (see foolish, that I was cleaning instead of watching Relief Society general meeting)
3. Forget not to be happy NOW
4. Forget not the "Why" of the Gospel
5. Forget not that the Lord loves you.

"You are not forgotten.

Sisters, wherever you are, whatever the circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love." Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Take this stress test.....this is what I had to do for one of my classes this week....write down the number next to each event you have experienced lately, and then add it up....the results will be at the bottom. 

HOLMES-RAHE LIFE STRESS INVENTORY   In the past 24 months, which of these have happened to you? Read each of the events listed below, and check the box next to any event which has occurred in your life in the last two years. There are no right or wrong answers. The aim is just to identify which of these events you have experienced lately. If taking this inventory online, the total should be automatically calculated by clicking on "Calculate Results" button. You may also click "Reset" to take the inventory again at any time. (You may want to consider extending the timeline (e.g. 5yrs, 10yrs), if you believe it might be more relevant to your current situation Life Events Life Changes Units Death of spouse 100 Divorce 73 Martial separation 65 Jail term 63 Death of close family member 63 Personal injury or illness 53 Marriage 50 Fired at work 47 Marital reconciliation 45 Retirement 45 Change in health of a family member 44 Pregnancy 40 Sex Difficulties 39 Gain of new family member 39 Business readjustment 39 Change in financial state 38 Death of close friend 37 Change to different line of work 36 Change in number of arguments with spouse 35 Mortgage over $100,000 31 Foreclosure of mortgage or loan 30 Change in responsibilities at work 29

Life Events Life Changes Units Son or daughter leaving home 29 Trouble with in-laws 29 Outstanding personal achievement 28 Wife begins or stops work 26 Begin or end school 26 Change in living conditions 25 Revision in personal habits 24 Trouble with boss 23 Change in work hours or conditions 20 Change in residence 20 Change in schools 20 Change in recreation 19 Change in church activities 19 Change in social activities 18 Mortgage or loan less than $30,000 17 Change in sleeping habits 16 Change in number of family get-togethers 15 Change in eating habits 15 Vacation 13 Christmas alone 12 Minor violations of the law 11

RESULTS

Under 150 points- Congrats! No serious problems for you.

               150-199 points-Mild life crisis, 33% chance of illness such as headaches, diabetes, fatigue, hypertension, chest & back pain, ulcers

                 200-299 points- Moderate life crisis, 50% chance of illness such as headaches, diabetes, fatigue, hypertension, chest & back pain, ulcers

Over 300 points-WARNING major life crisis, 80% chance of serious physical illness

So there it is....I got over 300 points, and this test did not make me feel better! Now the point of this stress test is to hopefully see what you can do to DE stress your life. I'm stressed just thinking about what to do to DE stress! I think I may fail this assignment! 

I have finally decided! Yesterday while spending all day in front of a computer getting caught up on my online class, which is Human Relations and Career Development I decided I'M GOING TO DO IT! The assignment I was working on was on short and long term goals, and I know that we are told from the time we are young to write down what our goals are.....like when I was in Young Women they asked us to write down our goals and what we want in a husband,  my list always went like this
                                                 -I want to get married in the Temple
                                                 -I want to have kids
                                                 -I want to be a stay home mom
                                                 - I want my husband to be nice, Tall and blonde with blue eyes(no joke)

This is what I always wrote down, and I got what I wanted, most of it, (other than the tall blonde and blue eyes) haha, but I got better than that I got Rick!) Ok, so it didn't happen in that order either, but what I'm trying to say is that I never really wrote down, or thought about a career (other than to be a model when I was a young teen) I know that being a mother, wife, stay at home mom is the greatest thing I will ever do...but I now understand the importance of an education, and I never took that seriously. I've always had pretty good jobs, working for the WIC program was great, I started that when I was 18 in 1998, the youngest employee in 3 counties of that Health Dept, and I continued with that until 2008, 10 years working for different Health Depts in Colorado and Utah. I know this is getting long....back to what I was saying about writing down my goals, it hit me as I was writing things down for this assignment, the power that writing things down has, when you take it seriously. So I will be an RN. I have been thinking about it for a few years, but never took the steps necessary to make it happen. What I want to do as a nurse is very specific, and may take a while, but I want to work in Labor and Delivery/Postpartum. I want to be around new mothers, I want to help them, I want to continue being a big breastfeeding advocate. So I changed my major yesterday at school,  there are only 4 pre-requisite classes that I need to have done before I can get into the Nursing program at SLCC. I'm am so excited. I know the road will be hard, but so so worth it.

                               I started my Herbalife program this week...I'm excited. In the beginning of the year I lost 10lbs in a month with it, and felt great. Seriously the best products. After all, I need to look good for                           February for the BIG event, that I cannot reveal yet.
                                                            AND....this is on it's way right now

Jillian Michaels scares me....but she knows her workout, so I'm going to give this a try since running is pretty much a big FAIL for me. Get me ripped Jillian Michaels!!

I had to add this picture...it's hilarious! I'm celebrating today because I got 100% on my first Algebra test....Ok well maybe it's Elementary Algebra, but you guys don't understand, I have NEVER scored 100% on an Algrebra test....so I'm pretty dang proud of myself! My high school years were HORRIBLE! I did not get good grades until my 11th and 12th grade year, and never in Math! I barely passed Math when I was in High School. SOOOO here's to me! Oh and this is my 70th blog post, so If I can hurry and get 30 more posts, I will do a giveaway....a good one, I may have to ask some blog giveaway experts, but I'm thinking MAKEUP, because it is my most favorite thing in the world....and math.....NOT!

Why on earth would I want to wish the fall season upon myself? Well these are the reasons...I have good ones:

-I would be almost done with fall semester

-It would mean only one more month till I get to meet my baby niece (she loves me already, I know it!)

-2 months from New Year (there are some exciting things happening early next year that I cannot speak of yet...(it's a surprise)

-November 18th this comes out

I know many are not fans...but I am...don't judge me! :)

-AND.....the dates are set.....November 13th through the 19th we will be taking our kids to.....drum roll please.......

Yay!!! I cannot even begin to say how excited I am. It will be the first time for Roman, and our first time spending more than one day at Disneyland as a family, it is also exciting because we will be joined by Rick's family, so we will have cousins there too. Alright, so my teenager is not that excited (he's crazy) but Disneyland is not his favorite place, so I told him we would also make a trip to Universal Studios, which I also LOVE!

But shhh don't tell our kids, because they still don't know we are going, it's a surprise! 

So there it is, some great things happening in November.....

can it please get here, like fast!