So Finesse and I had another Fun Mother / Daughter Day! Finesse has been wanting to go have tacos at Mona's Taco House, since we got here in May. So after we took a few photos at the RV Park, we headed over to Mona's...Nummy Num! Next Stop the Mall...WooHoo, Where we did alot of shopping! Shopping always makes us hungry, so we finished our Mother / Daughter Day at Olive Garden...where we enjoyed Soup and Salad and their Yummy Breadsticks ( once again Nummy Num...LOL that is what Finesse used to call Food when she was a baby).

After that we headed home and picked up the News Bulletin for Castroville, because at the park last Saturday or Sunday we noticed down at the Park that there were like 5-6 cop cars and 2-3 ambulances for about an hour, we were so curious, but to embarrassed to go see what it was all about...so we decided we'd get the News Bulletin and for sure it would be in there...since nothing happens in Castroville. Nope, No Mention At All! When I used to work at the News Bulletin one of my jobs was to type the Police Blotter and every week it mostly consisted of who took off without paying for gas at Citgo or So and So got arrested for DUIs...boring stuff. And finally something happens and NOTHING! We were thoroughly disappointed...we had waited all week for Wednesday's paper to come out.

So after that disappointment, we got ready to go to the Meeting...so that made for a very nice Ending to another Successfully, Awesome Mother / Daughter Day...Wow I can't Believe My Baby is 20!

Adam and I packed up my car and left for our roadtrip to Tx. on January 13th, we were gonna go see The Glama Girls for our Anniversary! This was not gonna be a hurried roadtrip, we were gonna take our time and visit family along the way. Once we got to Tx the plan was for Adam to stay there with me for a couple of weeks and celebrate our 6th Anniversary on January 17th. and I was gonna stay longer to visit a little more with the girls, I can't believe it I haven't seen my girls in 6 months...I miss them SO SO Much!

We took a 40 min. detour and headed to Gig Harbor where my sister Pauline lives, Finesse had some clothes that she was getting rid of that I wanted to give to Pauline, and also my nieces son had been wanting a Battleship Game...we had two of them so we also wanted to drop the extra one off and say goodbye to my Sis. They weren't home so we left them by the door on the porch...and we were on the road again, I left her a message to let her know I had left some stuff at her front door, couple minutes later she called and told us where she was and asked if we wanted to stop in and say goodbye, but Adam and I decided we didn't want to make another stop so we said our goodbyes on the phone.

Next stop was Oregon, we stopped in Portland and had a quick lunch with my Father-in-Law, Larry. He is an Awesome Man, we hadn't seen him since our wedding day ( I am so bummed I never got a recent pic of him and Adam ). So after a nice lunch and visit with Larry, we were on our way again.

We continued on the trip til late that night where we stopped in California somewhere half way thru the state, dont remember where...stayed at a motel for a much needed stretch, rest and sleep.

Then in the morning we fueled up and grabbed coffee and were on the road again by 7 or 7:30am. Later when we'd been driving a couple of hours we got hungry, so we got some McDonalds breakfast. And for lunch we were gonna stop at a Carls Jr. Adam Loves Carls Jr. So we drove on and checked out all the scenery ( California is almost as flat and dry looking as TX. ) and Finally We stopped for lunch and had some Yummy Burgers at Carls Jr. ( I just had to get a pic. of Adam and his Burger, he was as happy as ever like a little kid ) So after lunch we got more gas (Ha Ha that sounded funny) and headed out again. The plan was to make it to Az. where my sister Jolee (Yolanda) lives that night and stay at her place, and visit her and my neices (Hope and Zipporah) and their handsome lil boys the next day and then head out back on the road the following morning so we could be settled in Castroville on our anniversary the 17th. I Couldn't wait to see them...hadn't seen my sister in like 5 years and hadn't seen Hope in like 12 years, and had never met Zipporah (she is like 22 years old I think), couldn't wait!

So we got into their town late at night about 11pm or so, we tried to call them... no answer, then GPSd their home and knocked on her door, no answer...she was fast asleep, she hadn't been feeling good that day and had taken some medicine, so it knocked her out and she couldn't hear our phone call or knock, poor thing. So we went to a motel and slept. In the morning we got ready to go to my sisters house, I was dying for coffee, but wanted to wait to have my morning coffee with her : ) Before we headed over there we stopped and got flowers for both households My sisters place, where she and Zipporah and Pora's son, Raymond, lives ( They got Pink Calililies potted flowers )...and flowers for Hope at her home ( Hopes were yellow potted calililies ). So we got to Jolee's home and Pora came out to greet us, She is a beautiful young lady...I got tears in my eyes as we hugged for the first time. She is such a sweet and loving girl and a very good Mom, once in their home I met Pora's son Raymond, what a cutie. Then on to see Jolee, of course more tears were shed as I hugged and kissed my sister, it was a wonderful reunion!

Pora made us coffee and bagels as we visited and got acquanted and reacquanted with one another. After visiting for a bit, they got ready so we could go to another little town where Hope lives...so that I could visit with her and meet her husband Dwight and their boys Titus (12 or 13), Tyson (8 I think), and Q (5) Q is a nickname for Quentin. I couldn't wait to meet Hope again...we have gotten to know each other really well thru email, IMing and Texting. She had become more like a close girlfriend rather than a neice. It was great to meet her and her boys, they are such handsome little guys, and they all gave me hugs and stuff, how sweet is that. Dwight was very  nice and friendly and loving too, throughout the day he and Adam got to know each other and got along great. Tyson the middle boy is so cuddly...he sat near me for a big part of the day and evening. We had such a great time getting to know one another...about an hour into the visit, I cant believe it... I did my Swoozie impression, LOL that really broke the ice, and then everyone just kinda relaxed and probably thought 'okay if Tia can act that crazy I can be myself'...the boys were looking at me weird for awhile, found out later they thought I was pretty cool, I think they were surprised at how much they liked me...ha ha me too. (Hope says I was a big hit in McDaniel Household...Yay! and that the next day they were all in the back seat of their car doing a Tia Litsi "Swoozie" impression Ha ha). We all got hungry so Adam and Dwight went and got Pizza and stuff ( stuff to make margaritas: ) to bring back. We ate and watched Megamind, and then all the boys were playing...as us grownups visited. Then Adam made us all Margaritas and we had even more fun...WooHoo! Dwight went to play basketball with bros. from his hall so he missed most of the fun.  Titus danced for us...we cheered him on, it was such a blast! Somehow we all ended up upstairs on Hope and Dwights California Kingsized Bed...Literally all of us. Adam, my sister, Pora, Hope, me and the boys, talking laughing being Retarted. When Dwight got home, his eyes got big like... 'okay thats weird, everyones on my bed', but then he joined us. After a it of more visiting and fun...we left and went back to Jolee's home. They had all convinced us to not leave in the morning for our trip to TX. I didn't want to leave either, I was having a blast. So in the morning Adam and I went and found an awesome Mexican Restaurant, I think it was called Felibertos. Awesome Awesome Burritos...they were so tasty and Huge. I had Carne Asada, and we took some back for Pora and Jolee. Jolee was still sleeping when we had left. On our way back to their place we found this restaurant called "Garcia's" Cool...my maiden name! So we stopped and Adam took pictures of me near the sign and stuff. So we stayed and hung out with my sister all day, Weird once again...we all ended up on the bed in Jolee's room. I went in there to lay with her and take a little nap, cuz she still wasn't feeling good, then Adam came in and joined us...She and I never took a nap we just visited, but Ha Ha, Adam fell asleep. He woke up and Jolee and I were still talking and bonding. Then later in the evening Hope and her family came over to hangout and say goodbye to us cuz we were leaving the following morning the 17th ( which would be our anniversary, didn't want to be on the road on our anniversary cuz we wanted to be relaxed and exchange gifts but...) we would have been in Castroville, TX on the 16th if we hadn't stayed to visit a day longer in Az. But I would not trade that decision for anything...we had such a blast in AZ. It was like One Long Anniversary celebration. So anyway, that evening we visited and took pictures and stuff and then said our goodbyes to Hope and her family. The next morning we woke up about 5am and said our goodbyes to Pora and Jolee and I went and layed and hugged and kissed Raymond goodbye while he slept on his bed.

So on the road again...in Benson, AZ we got hungry and needed to fill the car up again, so we stopped at this really cool McDonalds with a cool Dinosaur in front, so after we got our food we went and took pics in front of it...that was so cool, I love the pics. then we were on the road again. We decided not to celebrate our anniversary that day, we were gonna wait til the next day. We got into Castroville, Tx. (our final destination, my hometown) about 9:30 or 10pm. I will blog about our anniversary and our visit together in Castroville before Adam left in my next blog. 'Til next time : ) Enjoy our little slideshow, it takes awhile for all the images to upload, there are someithing like 52 pics. Be patient, cuz there are some awesome dinosaur pics at the end : )

We are so very Proud of Finesse...Happy Graduation, Finesse! We let Finesse choose the restaurant of her choice to celebrate at, She chose Mizu's. We had never been there. I had no idea it was the kind of restaurant where they cook right in front of you, it was So So Much Fun! Finesse made an Excellent choice!

Daniel got Finesse a couple of cards, Finesse loves cards she collects them. Adam and I also got her 2 cards a Goofy Singing one and a nice serious card telling her how proud of her we are. We also got her two gifts, one of which we gave her at the restaurant, A gold heart/rose  necklace. Second gift to be given to her after we got home.

The chef (Gill) was so much fun he made us laugh all night. The way he rolled the egg and said " Chinese Egg Roll " then he lit the onions on fire and put it out with a little plastic guy that pees water out of his...pants! He chops and cooks so expertly. He made us Rice, shaped as a Heart...Aww! I was so excited to eat some, and then he serves me like a teaspoon size on my plate...ha ha! Then at one point he asked everyone that ordered steaks how they wanted it cooked, Daniel wanted Medium Rare...so he takes the raw steak and starts to put it on his plate...ha ha, Funny Guy!

Food was Excellent...Drinks too : ) I had a Long Island Iced Tea, Adam had a Japanese Slipper ( his drink was pretty, had to take a pic). After lots of food, pics, and video we went to Baskin Robbins for Ice Cream...Yum!

After desert, we went home and gave Finesse her second gift...her stereo went on the blitz a while back so we got a nice new one for graduation, Music is so important to Finesse. So we thought that would be a perfect gift for her. She loved it, Yay! This was one of the Best nights as a family that we've had in a really really long time...we did lots of joking, goofing around and laughing : ) Such a nice time, I am so glad we were able to do this before Adam and I left for TX.

Happy Graduation Finesse...

               We are so Proud of You!

Been trying something new to lose some stress weight that I've accumulated over the past 5 years, since moving here to Wa. And it is actually working for me...I'm excited. If anyone is interested in how I'm doing it here's a link http://www.hcgplatinum.com/  to the drops I am using. Adam and I found them at GNC. ( The picture below I took of myself, the day of my 2nd entry of 4 lbs. loss, cuz I was so excited: ) 

* Yay...2 1/2 lbs. down 23 more to go, and I've lost 1" in my waist!

* 4 lbs. down, 15-20 more to go!

* 7 lbs. down

* 11/15/10:  Down 9 lbs. and 3 and 1/4 inches on my waist, 10-15 lbs. to go, WooHoo no more jiggly tummy!

* 11/22/10: I cheated quite a bit this past weekend ( Cheeseburger kids meal, 2 pieces of pizza, and a mini blizzard and 2 small bags of Doritos :[ So delicious, I had been craving each of those things for a month now... didn't lose any weight but didn't gain either : ) So I am still at 110 lbs.

* 12/3/10: Yay...I'm in my Skinny Size 1 Jeans, I bought them last year as my Inspiration Jeans. I fit into them a couple of weeks ago, but with quite a bit of a "Muffin Top" (yuck). But today they fit and no more muffin top...so I am wearing them for the first time, WooHoo! So I've lost 11 pounds now and 3 1/2 inches on my waist. 

Finesse and I just returned from a much needed Mother/Daughter month long Journey. The time away was just what we needed to rekindle our friendship.  We are a great Mother/Daughter Team once again. Here are a few pictures from our trip to Texas. I got a few shades darker, Finesse turned 19 while there, and had lots of good times and made lots of memories!

This next Collage is of us with My Glama Girls...They both started wearing eyeglasses, while we were down there. Poor Babies, but they are still Adorable!

This next collage is of pictures that I took with my Droid phone on one of our many walks. I didn't get a chance to edit these images

This next collage was also taken with my Droid phone...so not the best pics. But I had to capture my Castroville Country Dream Home. It has a beautiful wrap around porch, 2 bdm., 2 ba., only 1,300 sq. ft home but it sits on an acre with about 30 pecan trees, and is river front property...I want it!

This is my Hometown...Castroville, it is an Alsation town. I miss it, I went to the movies as a kid in that theatre .50 a movie

Candid shots of Kasidy playing in the river. We stayed at my Cousin Bill's home, he lives right on the river. Danyel found a perfect heart-shaped rock...she was so proud of it! 

Staying here was unbelievably peaceful...we'd get up take our coffee down to the river and talk, think, feed the ducks, pray and meditate on life.

This next collage is of my Sister Laura (LuLu) and her husband Steve and my Brother Robert (Bobby) and his wife Rina and myself on our last night there. Lulu had me over for a Farewell Dinner. It was a lot of Fun. I left the next morning Friday at 6am and got home Saturday night at 10pm.

This next Collage is of our Welcome Home...Aww Adam really missed us. He even used my arts and crafts stuff and my glue gun to make this welcome home sign, Whata Guy! He had Orchid plants for each of us, and huge Godiva Chocolate bar for each of us, Dark Chocolate for Finesse (her favorite), milk chocolate for me (my favorite) and a dozen pink roses for me! He said I can never leave again : )

Yesterday, I took Finesse to school...I went shopping after I dropped her off. After picking her up, we went and had lunch. Later that evening we went to walmart to buy "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" Because the Glama Girls get here on Tuesday, and we will be featuring that movie for Theatre night that Saturday...I know they will love it! We also ate at Subway in Walmart, and then headed for the Auburn Regal Cinemas, Finesse was dying to see the new Miley Cyrus movie " The Last Song " Lyndsy met us there. It was a real tear jerker. Today just laying low.

This coming Saturday our Red Velvet Theatre is featuring "2012" a very, very good movie. We have 11 people signed up for the movie so far. I've already seen the movie twice...I'll enjoy watching it again tho.

In about a week or so, I will be doing Family Portraits in my Home Studio for a friend...that should be a lot of fun! 

So yesterday...I texted my sister Damiana, whom I had not spoken to in over 4 years, and she texted back and said that my timing could not have been better...So we proceeded to bond and talk about what was going on in our lives, and I invited her to come to my home and spend the night so we could catch up.

She had never been to my home so we met at the mall, we made it home had some pizza and wine and just caught up...it was so nice! To talk to someone who was cut from the same cloth...someone who grew up in the same dysfunctional home and who can empathize with all of my thoughts, struggles and fears. We have so much in common...I always felt like I didn't belong in my family, like I had been adopted into this family, which is weird...cuz my family always joked with me and told me that I was adopted or that I was found on the doorstep...they knew I was very sensitive, and they always tried to hurt me, and it worked they did. I was always made to feel like the black sheep of the family.

Well, my sister Damiana and I are so similiar...nonjudgemental and sensitive to others feelings as well as to our own. We talked and laughed and cried and told old stories...some funny, some sad. I am so glad to get to know my sister and friend.

There are 10 of us kids in my family, however, I felt as tho I grew up in a 2 kid family, because only my sister Sylvia who is 2 years older than me was in the house when I was growing up, cuz the other 8 children were grown and married. So I never got a chance to really know them. And Damiana is one of those siblings that I never got a chance to get to know...I always admired her beauty, and wanted to look just like her when I grew up...I would stand there at her dressing table as she fixed her hair and put her make up on and would just stare at her with Awww...wishing that I would grow up to be that beautiful someday.

So I am so glad to have her back in my life, she only lives an hour and a half away, in Stanwood, Wa. So we have plans to keep this friendship going, and to help each other out through our difficult times that we are both struggling with, as well as our difficult past that we have still got to learn to let go of.

So we stayed up talking late into the night, and then woke up and had coffee together, and shared more of our similiar interests. We then got dressed and went to the bank...She bought my mustang and I bought my dream car, a Gold 1997 Jaguar last night, so we went and took care of the monies and titles and everything. It was as tho I traded my poor mans dream car (the mustang) for my Real Dream Car ( the Gold Jag). So we went and took care of all of that, and then we went to lunch, and she came home and test drove her new Red 1998 Ford Mustang. She loves it! Then we said goodbye and made plans to see each other very soon.

Well, the Purse Party was a total success! Everyone had a great time, there were about 24 of us...It was alot of fun. Lots of us got gorgeous handbags. I had my eye on two handbags...but didn't want to pay for two, and surprisingly because enough people bought handbags I got a big enough discount that one of my handbags was FREE, WooHoo! Plus, just for hosting I had a choice of a pair of sunglasses or  a Coach wristlet purse, so I chose the wristlet.

My sister Pauline and her husband and a couple of her friends were able to make it from Gig Harbor. Also my niece Teri and her husband and son made it from Gig harbor, Teri and her family spent the night. So this morning we had our coffee and visited and then got dressed and we took them to The Bakery in Black Diamond for breakfast, and then walked the food off by taking a tour of the Black Diamond Museaum and jail and caboose, it was alot of fun.

I thought it would be a nice idea...to start an "Image of the Week" here on my blog. I will begin with the image below...Let me know what you think...I would love to hear your thoughts.

Mt. Rainier ~ taken in August of 2009

A wonderful place to eat that you just must simply try is Krains Corner in Enumclaw, Wa. They have the most fantastic food ever. It is like Good 'Ol Fashioned Home cooking! My family used to live in Enumclaw and we discovered this place...and although we have now moved to Covington, we still travel over to Krains Corner for Breakfast...we could go to a Denny's or a Shari's, in Kent which is closer, but Nope...we travel back to Enumclaw to eat at our Favorite Breakfast Restaurant. They serve lunch and dinner as well, and have a full bar.

Krains Corner also has an antique shop inside that you can shop at while you are waiting for your food, or you can eat and then walk off your food in the Antique shop.

The owner is a very lovely, sweet lady. You must go by there and try it and say Hi to her!

I will post the address and some pictures soon.