Switzerland

Here are the pictures from Switzerland. Just click on the title.

Paris

Finally got the pictures from Paris uploaded to a Picasa web album. You have to copy and paste the link or I think if you click on the title of the post it will take you straight to them!



https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=112232368123559356429&target=ALBUM&id=5583073846574910657&locked=true&authkey=Gv1sRgCNXm7u-ziNOHXw&feat=email

Boots

I bought a pair of Ugg boots for my trip to Paris/Switzerland. After I got them, what an ordeal that was, I realized it was not the wisest choice of boot selection to make to take to a place that is very wet and snowy. First of all they are suede and anyone with a brain knows suede and water don't play nice with each other and I don't want to ruin a pair of Ugg boots. So my next bright idea is rain boots. So I've been scavenging ebay again ( after I swore off buying boots off ebay ever again.... hey, I guess I didn't learn my lesson) for some cute water proof boots that are still going to be comfortable, and by comfortable I mean cute too, to wear all day and walk around in in case it's raining. And VOILA! I found these cute boots that look really comfortable and warm and they are water proof. Now the only problem is if I can justify spending the money on them. Surely I could keep and wear these for a very long time and the style is classic enough to where they won't go out of style for a while. AND with the amount of rain we've had here lately I think I might just need a pair so I don't ruin all my other shoes. Yeah....I think I just justified them.

The Wonderful Wonderbar

Anyone heard of the Wonderful Wonderbar? Apparently it's an amazing bar of soap known to transform your skin. I'm a facial product junkie and always looking for a good soap, moisturizer, toner, exfoliator,eye cream...etc.etc.etc. I recently purchased a few items from the Kiehl's line hoping it would clear up these breakouts all over my face( I feel like a hormonal teenager) and I'm a little more than slightly unimpressed. And I had such high hopes too since it came recommended by a couple of people. I've given it a week so for me that's plenty of time to notice some sort of improvement. A brighter complexion, a few less lines, at least ONE less pimple. But no. This Wonderbar claims to give results in 3 minutes! I'm very intrigued. But at 40 dollars a bar ( which looks to be the size of a hotel bar of soap and it's cheapest one) I'm not sure I want to fall for yet another product who promises to clear my skin or make my skin look radiant and doesn't deliver. I want to unleash the majic on my skin.

Check it out for yourself.
http://www.wonderfulwonderbar.com/

Thanks God

Gary and I are continually amazed at the wonderful blessings in our life. Some people call it luck, some say it's just chance, or we make our own life happen. I choose to praise God for any good that comes our way. There is nothing too small to thank him for. I'm probably weird but Am I the only person who stops and really wants to question the good too? I mean I know it's easy to question God when bad things happen and play the "why me" card but I often wonder "why me"? Why us? What did we do to ever deserves such incredible blessings? I mean in the last year alone we have had such amazing blessings poured over us that it boggles my mind. We aren't even asking for these things! In my twisted way of thinking I start to wonder if it means that a lot of bad is going to come our way......but first,the good. Then I have to remind myself that God is only good and he does not send us good to then send us bad. I don't know. I do know that we surely can't out give God! And I know there is nothing we are doing to deserve it either so it has to be a blessing. Maybe it's like when we give gifts to our kids. When they are so thankful and appreciative it makes us want to give them more. Or even when they don't deserve it, we give it to them anyway because we just love them so much. God Loves us so much and sometimes that truth is almost too much to handle because I know we are sinful people. The truth is I will never understand or know so I will just continue to give God thanks for all these wonderful blessings in our life. Which brings me to why I even wrote this blog.......my hard working husband got another promotion at work. It's unbelievable because he is again one step closer to running his own dealership. He will be the GSM of Champion Toyota! That's the number 2 guy of the store. Not bad for someone who is 37. We give GOD all the glory and thanks and praise!

Pinkalicious

Or Fancy Nancy? Or Princess? Or no theme so as not to exclude boys? Agh.... who knew planning a 5 year birthday party could be so stressful! I don't usually throw parties for my girls. Not big ones anyway. They are usually pretty low key with just a few family members but this year for Bella's 5th I have decided to do it big! I did gave Hannah a big party with a clown and all her little friends when she turned 5 or 6 so I figured Bella needed one too. This one will include a petting zoo for sure. How fun would that be to have little baby animals running around our back yard for the kids to play with. I just don't know what to do for the "theme". If I do something too girly then it kind of eliminates inviting boys so I'm not sure. I think it could easily get out of hand with wanting to do this and that and then it's this big stressful production and I don't want it to be that either. I just want it to be nice and fun for the kids. We shall see. A few ideas.



Isn't this pretty

Everything can be nice and pink!

Fast/Cleanse

I decided to try this. I originally thought I would try the master cleanse but upon further reading it did not seem like the best choice for a 1 day fast. The master cleanse actually suggests 10 days! There is no way I would want to go 10 days with-out food. I love food too much! If I had like 30 pounds to lose maybe but I will be fine with just 2-3. Mostly though I just want to feel better. I feel yuck and I'm sure it has to do with eating lots of heavy,unhealthy food ( pf changs,chuy's, a whole package of chocolate chip cookie dough ) in just this last week. And you probably think I'm joking about eating a whole package of cookie dough .......but I'm not. Blech! So I'm thinking a good cleanse will do me some good. I started today and did not have any food until about lunch time when I read further into the master cleanse.....and read further into the one the naturopathic doctor,that I go to,suggests and it's different. Wohoo! I get to start over. Which meant I got to eat! It was so hard going grocery shopping this morning on an empty stomach. Hahaha..... Everything looked good! So I have to go buy the ingredients for this other cleanse which I hope tastes better than the master cleanse recipe because......ick......it made me nauseated. My doctor has a blog though if anyone is interested in reading what she has to say about taking care of your body.

http://excelonhealth.com/wordpress/


Ciao!

Does anyone still blog?

Or a better question might be does anyone still read blogs? Seems like the fad has passed a little and they aren't quite as popular as they used to be. I guess we have facebook to thank for that because it's kind of like mini blogging and you can post a picture with a title in an instant and catch up on every body's business while catching them all up on yours. All at once. I know there are people out there with very successful blogs but that usually seems to be tied to having a skill like cooking or decorating, or redoing furniture or something like that. All of which I dabble in ( okay fine redoing one desk in 35 years is not considered a dabble ) but I am no expert at anything by any means. I'm no expert at anything. Hmmm..... That's kind of depressing. I'm in my mid 30's, I should be good at something by now, right? Yet, I'm just kind of just not. I waited too long to decide what I wanted to do so I've just been trying to be a good mommy and wife. Unfortunately that does not stand for a lot in the real world. People look down on me because when I say, "I'm a stay home mom" they kind of just look at me like I'm all of a sudden irrelevant. But I really feel blessed to not have to work outside the home because I am my own boss ( well, for the most part ) and I do what I want and when I want ( okay...that's for the most part too ) but I can't imagine having to have some lame 9-5 job that at the end of the day has no real relevance in the grand scheme of things. Family, faith, friends..... that's what matters. Not a job! Thank God I have a husband who takes care of that for us. I get to take care of me and him and the girls. I can't imagine it any other way. So in a way I guess you could say I'm an expert at being a stay at home mom. I've done it for almost 5 years! And I'm alive! That says a lot because being a stay at home mom is a lot of work and it's not for everyone. And now that my little baby girls is going to be 5 and in pre school next year I get to indulge in some things that are all for me! And things that I have wanted to do for a long time and I am excited! I also have some new things that I'm interested in and one is TRAVEL! I hope we get to see more of the world. Travelling to Europe was one of the best experiences in my life. Life changing.

ANTS

I have not logged into this blog in a while now and I also have not read my friends blogs in a while. Looks like I have many things to catch up on! Not a lot of interesting things going on with the Cliftons. I've been trying to keep myself busy and occupied. I think I literally lost my mind recently. No worries.... I am on the right track to getting it back but it's a slow process. One that requires immense focus and a retraining of my thought patterns. Oh and a lot of pleading with God. And God is good! All the time. Yes, that's another thought I must replay in my head all day long. I had to say goodbye to the ANTS. ANTS stands for Automatic Negative Thoughts. I learned that, courtesy of Dr. Amen from his book regarding Anxiety and how to beat it. It's really interesting to learn that negative thoughts can really wreak havoc on you and your body. There is power to positive thinking and dwelling on truth and scriptures. I've just begun this mind transformation so it's still all new to me and I do have my good days and bad but I'm learning.

Way back when

In the spirit of Valentines I thought I would post a photo of Gary and me when we were dating. When we were first falling in love. Well actually we were already engaged when we took this photo. I believe it was November 03. It hardly even looks like him anymore...hahaha. I myself have aged a bit and put on a few pounds and marriage and kids must have really stressed him out because he's aged quite a bit! Sorry babe... we don't mean to stress you out.