Do you suffer from "bitchy resting face?"

I know a lot of women who suffer from BRF, I never knew it was a phenomenon until now. I feel bad for the women who suffer from this, who knows maybe even I suffer from it, na I don't think so, I have never had anybody ever ask me if "something was wrong" or "are u ok?" before. I even asked my husband, he said, and I quote " only, sometimes, when that time of the month comes along, Ah, ok?! So I guess I do have it but only once a month, so I'm not that bad. Now for the women who suffer with permanent BRF, there is help, there is this surgical procedure called a "grin lift" and plastic surgeons actually do them. So here is the video that started it all.........

Bring a smile to my face

There are so many things that make me smile or chuckle, here are just a few:

smart ass quotes

crazy, insane moments

when I stop & remember where I live

when I think about going back to TX and where I wanna live

yes we will be there one day, some day....... until then

I'll enjoy our little adventures :)

Bon Jovi - Legendary Acoustic Performance at MTV VMA's 1989 [HD]

Photography

I love all things photography...........

My wonderful husband bought me my first dslr camera for our anniversary! I have been experimenting with it for a while now and I am in love. I still need a lot to learn but, will soon be taking a class on how to use it and hopefully become better. Living in Alaska lets you go just about anywhere and take photos of beautiful scenery and animals out in nature. I just wish I had more free time to do this and with winter coming soon I just won't be able to go out exploring as much. Still photography has become my hobby and I am really enjoying it.

Happiness.........

It dawned on me that on Nov 9th, less than a month away, will mark my one yr anniversary here in Alaska. It has flown by, I have to admit, I have enjoyed it much more than I thought I ever could. The things I have encountered, the things I have seen, the feelings I have felt, are priceless. There is still much more to see and can't wait to see them, I can't wait to see the whales in Seward, the glacier in Anchorage, the bears in Kodiak Island, just so much to see, and not to mention the beautiful and breathless views all around us here in the Last Frontier. Of course it has it's downfalls like the harsh winters, but there are more pros than cons for me. People save and save to be able to come here and visit and just get to see some of the things I take for granted everyday, so sometimes I have to remind myself that I am truly blessed to live here and see things that people only get to dream of or see on TV. When we lived in Colorado I was ok sometimes even depressed,nothing compared to how I feel here, even though there are no malls or large restaurant chains, I have found out what truly makes me happy, and that is my family and exploring the unknown. I have found my happiness and I don't want to let go, who knew Alaska would do that for me....

DIY distressed frame

All over Pintrest are these very, very expensive distressed frames. I love them, but don't want to spend $200 on just one! So I decided to make my very own and I made 3 all under $30! Now, that's what I'm talking about. First off you will need some wood boards, I got mine at Lowe's for under $6, paint (any color), spray paint, and a stencil of your choice.

I chose antique gold paint and vintage cream for the spray paint and a Moroccan stencil then outlined the shapes with a sharpie marker and bought a couple of black plain frames from Walmart and attached it to the frame with a small nail so I can change the pics whenever I want to. Final result.....

super easy, cheap, and fun, now to finish it off with my kid's black and white pics

You Who Never Arrived

You who never arrived
in my arms, Beloved, who were lost
from the start,
I don't even know what songs
would please you. I have given up trying
to recognize you in the surging wave of
the next moment. All the immense
images in me -- the far-off, deeply-felt
landscape, cities, towers, and bridges, and
unsuspected turns in the path,
and those powerful lands that were once
pulsing with the life of the gods--
all rise within me to mean
you, who forever elude me.

You, Beloved, who are all
the gardens I have ever gazed at,
longing. An open window
in a country house-- , and you almost
stepped out, pensive, to meet me.
Streets that I chanced upon,--
you had just walked down them and vanished.
And sometimes, in a shop, the mirrors
were still dizzy with your presence and,
startled, gave back my too-sudden image.
Who knows? Perhaps the same
bird echoed through both of us
yesterday, separate, in the evening... 

Rainer Maria Rilke

Back in Never Never Land

If someone could go back in time, and find the 17-18 yr old Vanessa (probably sitting at home flipping through fashion magazines, way before Facebook ) and tell her that she would one day be living in Alaska and majoring in psychology, I’m very, no, positively certain she would have laughed hysterically in your face! 

Me- the hater of cold weather and snow, live in Alaska  a place I would never even want to visit, yet alone LIVE in, ha, whatever!

Look at me now. never say never ( sigh).

For my Husband ~ A poet I found on Tumbler.....

Curbed and Biased

my eyes are for no other.

handsome forms and

charming words of strangers

fail to turn my head.

my tastes have been

curbed and biased.

reserved for the likes of

only you.

…or your prototype at least…

my heart is incapable of

resounding loudly for another [man].

the kindest gesture or

most intellectual exchange

cannot raise a single hair on my head

nor prickle one pore on my forearm.

I am dead to all of them:

Future suitors are merely a sea of

faceless Johns…

…and in their midst you've surpassed them all.

Tickled PINK!

Things that make "me" happy

Deus unus me iudicare potest (only God can judge me)

The 80's

Psycho Analysis 

Sleeping

Jon Bon Jovi

Cocktails

Day of the Dead Tattoos

Balloons

Whimsical Nights

The ocean

Flowers

Aurora Borealis'

theses are some things that make me happy :)

Chicken Fried Chicken

I had this incredible urge to eat the chicken fried chicken from Luby's and since there is only Luby's in TX and I'm in AK, I created my own....

Here is what you'll need:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 egg
• oil

Mix the flour, salt, garlic powder, onion powder together in a medium bowl, beat egg on a paper plate set aside. Butterfly the breast and then dip your chicken in the egg, coating each side, then coat in the flour mixture, then carefully place your coated chicken in skillet and cook for about 6-8 minutes each side, depending on thickness of chicken.  While they are frying, it the perfect opportunity to make some country gravy,  corn bread.  Also serve with your favorite sides, mine were corn and mashed potatoes. Happy cooking.

Weirdest dream yet

I always have weird dreams, but this has got to be the weirdest one yet.....

It starts off as a family reunion in old downtown McAllen, we are eating at some diner and I'm like super pregnant! This is my face in the dream-

Not again I think to myself, then a tour bus pulls up and it's Bon Jovi - out comes the band, I start yelling and my husband tells me to sit down, but of course I run to the door lol! He comes in and says" hey I can see you've been busy" and chuckles! Of course he looks gorgeous, like he does now..

wish he looked like in the 80's like this.....

anyways, he asks me what else I've been up to like if we know each other, by the way this happens in all the dreams  I have had about him, my husband thinks I'm crazy, I just tell him don't hate! So we chat then he orders food and goes to eat in the bus, then my ex boyfriend shows up and wants to talk, ok does he not see I'm preggo! Told u all this was the weirdest one yet, I go talk to him and I can see my husband looking around for me ....

I tell my ex I have to go, he tells me to bring him food, um NO! So I go back to my table and my family is still talking and eating didn't even miss me at all, I see the tour bus leave and I wake up like this...

WTH was that about! I lay there and ponder for a bit, smile, and start my day.

Juicing does the body good

So, I have been juicing for over a month now and so far it has been very satisfying. I haven't yet juiced any veggies, might try it in the near future. After every juice I feel clean, energetic, and healthy. It is so good and so good for you. I don't juice for weight loss, I do it to keep a balanced diet plus to get the antioxidants the fruits provide. You can also add in some protein powder or almond milk to get some protein in. Here are some of my fav recipes:

Drink 1                                                
- 1 apple                                              
- grapes                              
- blueberries

Drink 2
-1 apple
- 1 orange
- strawberries

Drink 3
- 1 orange
- pineapple
-strawberries



Happy Juicing :)

Faith + Hope + Love = God

Childhood

Childhood, childhood, what an awesome time it was for me. I very often catch myself reminiscing about it, I think too much at times. I think it's because those were the best times of my life, don't get me wrong, I love my kids and hubby, but let's face it, childhood was very good to me. According to my husband I was a spoiled child, birthday cakes bigger than I was, all the latest toys and technology, not to mention we had cable lol! I saw MTV more than any other channel, I had tons of cassettes, boom boxes, walk man, a bike, roller skates, man I was the sh*t in those days, this are my husbands words not mine. My room covered in hair band posters, my sis and I had all the latest dolls, Rainbow Brite, Jem, Barbies up the yin yang, the shiny violet barbie corvette car, Hugabunch doll, poggles, and my two favorite dolls Heather and Dancerella. Wow, memories come rushing back and it makes it pretty hard. My best memories of course all include my wonderful grandma, she WAS my childhood, she raised us and we practically lived at her house, I can still see her in that house cooking, yelling at my uncles and aunts, my grandpa getting home from work and turning the channel to TBS, his fav channel. Ah those were the days, I was such a happy child, and I owe it all to them, my family.

Army Wife

It all started in 2009, my life as I knew it would be changed forever. My life as I knew it then would never be the same, my children's lives would never be the same, and my parent's lives would never be the same. Was I going to be able to do it? Was I going to be strong enough for my kids and my husband who was now US government property? My world was spinning, I felt like I was walking into a whirlwind not knowing where I was going to land. Finally we got "orders" to Colorado Springs, CO- Fort Carson. I had never been away from home and here I was packing up all our belongings, my mother worried out of her mind telling me not to go. I have to support my husband who was now a soldier and flying in to get his family, I told her. She knew I couldn't stay, just afraid to admit it.
We drove all the way to CO and I have to admit it was fun even though I was driving behind my hubby who was in front of me driving the U-haul. Fort Carson was something else, we stayed at the hotel on post for 2 weeks then found the house we would stay in for 3 yrs. No family or friends close by, so when he told me he was deploying the following yr he wanted me to go home; I told him, I got this, and stayed in a strange place all by myself with 3 young boys. That yr was an adventure and found out a lot about myself. I was able to do it and I was proud of myself for doing it. Not being able to see my hubby and sometimes going days without hearing from him drove me crazy. That is just some of the things an army wife has to deal with, this is his 5th year in and hopefully his last tour. We are currently in Fort Wainwright, AK. Yeah Alaska, but that's a whole different story.

Busy Bees

There  are waaaayyyy too many kids in my house right now! lol I don't know whether to scream or just join in on the play.  There are an additional 5 kids in my house including my kids!!! Don't know how this happens, every time we get to a new duty station, my house becomes the party house for kids. Is it because my kids are way too popular? I'm to nice and can't say "no" when they ask to come in and play? Whatever it is, I'm glad my boys have friends to play with and get to know kids from other cultures. The Samoan brothers Tony and Alex are some of the nicest kids I have met in a while. Their mother has done a good job in teaching them manners, very respectful little boys. I'm here in my room eavesdropping  on their conversations, the things kids say , I just laugh to myself. To be their age again, wow, to go back in time to 1985, my grandma's house, eating her home made tortillas and watching Mtv with my uncle, ahh what I wouldn't give to go back. Wishful thinking I guess, but a girl can dream, oh yes, she can dream.

Land of the Midnight Sun

Well, (sigh), summer was good while it lasted,the whole month and a half of it O_0, it is now Autumn, there is a cool, crisp, chilly breeze blowing through my windows, the vertical blinds blowing in and out, the sky is overcast and the smell of winter is close by. The sun is starting to set at night now, and the trees are slowly changing color. The first snow will soon be here, October or so, give or take, and soon the sun will not come out. It's a magical place, Alaska, never thought I'd see the day when I would say, yeah, I've lived there, Fairbanks, land of the midnight sun.