Last Day of August

Today is the last day of August. 

I have been quite productive since we got back home from Miami...

Monday I had Abbey and then Ethan when he finished school mid-day. 

Abbey really kept me on my toes, ha ha. 

I posted these pics on Facebook with these captions:

"I guess she'd had enough."

"She's teeny tiny but she's a mighty force!"

                                   

Awww, our sweet Abigail! 

Then, once her brother got here and she was down for her nap

Ethan and I resumed our Monopoly game. I've been teaching him how to play. 

He bought up all the railroads which caused me to go bankrupt, hahaha.

He was pretty excited about winning!

Yesterday I tried getting caught  up around here.

I put some orders together that I delivered today, and I placed an order 

for a personalized  planner I'm going to use next year. It's by Erin Condren. 

I can't wait to get it! I was able to upload my own pictures for the front cover. 

There's a crazy storm sweeping across the State of Florida

so we are getting a lot of rain, and the sun has not shown up in days. 

I had to drive around in it some today - that was no fun.

But on a happier note, while I was updating my photos and some of my albums on Facebook

I realized that it was a year ago today that I paid off our car!

That was a BIG DEAL to me, because I earned that money myself with my Origami Owl Business

If I can do it, YOU CAN TOO!

Going Home Part 2

Today we are leaving the place where my hubby and I grew up, 

the place where we spent our childhood, met each other and got married. 

It will always be "home" to us even though we were both born elsewhere - 

my husband from Cuba and myself from Chicago,

but our lives are rooted in Miami and we will always carry special memories from this place.

It didn't look quite like this when we lived here.
There are a lot more people now, and way more overpasses, but still a beautiful sky!

We visited with Mima (my mother-in-law) most of yesterday.

She lives in Little Havana. 

In all honesty, it's a very congested, run-down area of Miami, 

but that is where she has chosen to live. 

She lives in a two-story apartment building on the second floor. 

There is no central air conditioning 

only a window unit in her bedroom. 

It's a tiny apartment and very congested, but she seems happy. 

She likes being in control of her life, and is very independent.

She has one daughter who still lives in Miami 

but about 30-40 minutes away depending on the traffic. 

The rest of the family moved to Central Florida years ago.

The remaining daughter, Noemi, visits Mima several times each week. 

She cleans for Mima, does laundry, and oversees Mima's medical care. 

She makes sure Mima has food and pays for hot meals to be delivered every day. 

It's a huge responsibility -believe me, I know!

Mima is blessed to have her daughter to take care of her, 

even though Noemi has her own family to take care of. 

Now we are heading back home to where we live.

A place we truly love. A place where we raised our boys, 

they met their wives and had their children. 

So it's with mixed emotions that I leave behind the remains of my parents

 and my father-in-law, too, but their real life is in Heaven now. 

They are happy and whole and more alive than they ever were on this earth. 

I look forward to seeing them again one day

and letting go of all the worries and struggles of this life 

but until that day comes I want to live life to the fullest, 

and share God's love wherever I go. 

My kids may not need me as much, but I think my grandkids do.

I love them so much!!!!!

😘😘😘😘

Still, Manny and I are always sad to leave this place, 

and to leave these loved ones behind, 

even though we would never want to live here again

(Uh-oh - they say never to say "never", lol).

But we truly love the town we live in - so quaint, and "hometown" like

and we long to see our children and the smiling faces of our grandchildren! 

But this morning, before we left, we visited one of our favorite eateries

We had breakfast there, along with my favorite Cuban Coffee

Cafe Con Leche 

AND we bought lots of yummy pastries to take home to our kids. 

I did pretty good on this trip, but I always joke about how much more I would weigh 

if I lived down here! 

Here are some reasons why:

Ay, mi madre!

Going Home

Today I took my momma home. 

We had to go to Miami for a Memorial Service

and it was time to place my momma's ashes in the spot she had secured 

39 years ago when my father passed away. 

It was hard taking my mom out of her little apartment 

The place where she lived the past 16 years. 

Of course, I believe with all my heart that the moment my mom's life ended on this earth

She was immediately in the presence of God

and reunited with my father 

as well as the other loved ones who had gone before her.
but placing her ashes today made it all seem so final again.
I have to remind myself of the beautiful reunion  that awaits
every soul that is Born-Again in Christ.
What a Glorious Day that will be!!!

Today has been an emotional day.

Mood-ology

Well, another week has quickly passed. 

They seem to go faster all the time!

Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't wait to grow up?

Now we wish we could slow down the hands of time...

but we can't!

We can only do our best to make the most of our days.

So, this past Tuesday was my last Weight Watcher's Meeting. 

I had enrolled for three months and got one month FREE.

They were sad that I was leaving but I told them I would probably be back some day.

Mostly because of the wonderful support that group had offered.

I didn't tell them that I had actually switched to using Slim Fast 

half way through my time there, 

but I truly valued the principles they taught me while I was there. 

They were lovely people. 

Since I started I had lost 7.4 pounds. 

I would still like to lose about 5 more, but at least now I feel back on track.

Funny thing happened the night before I left:

I received a package containing our new line of products at Origami Owl.

It's called Mood-ology. 

They are 4 different combinations of Essential oils

and the neatest part, is that you can put a few drops on a disc that goes inside 

our brand new Sentiments Lockets. 

Want to know more?

Here you go...

Once Upon A Time...

I am embarrassed by the fact that I've been back from my convention for nine days

and I'm just not getting around to writing here.

I (we) had a wonderful time at Convention! 

It was a bit different not having to get on a plane and  travel, 

but I was excited that more of my team members (who are local) were able to attend.

I had 22 team members attend convention with me this year

and it was so wonderful sharing the experience with all of them!

My hubby drove a few of us there in our bus.

The rest came either from opposite directions in Florida or from other states.

I've decided it would be more interesting for you if I just shared some of the pictures I took,

So here you go:

Manny  a.k.a. Bus Driver

Stacey, Theresa H, and Theresa P

(team members who I now call "dear friends")

Because we didn't have to fly, I think we may have overpacked.

We took up a whole bay.

We totally filled up that cart!

Hooking up with some other friends at the hotel.

Brenda and Jacque

We had a special slotted shopping hour in the Swag Store

and we took this cute picture!

Lesley joined us here (long pink dress).

Opening Ceremonies for our Convention was a Night at Epcot.

It took 70 buses to get us there, and I was extremely impressed with how smoothly 

this process worked transporting 5,000 Happy, Happy Ladies!

This was taken when we were done "Finding Nemo"

We had SO MUCH FUN! 

And, we had all you could eat ice cream novelties, cookies and old fashioned bread pudding.

YUM!!!!

Next day back at the Convention Center, they started with the 

General Sessions where we heard amazing speakers and they showed us new products for Fall.

Here were some of the speakers

Our theme at Convention was "Live Sparkly"

and it went along with a Fairy Tale theme.

Then they began some of the New Fall Product Reveal

After the General Session which ended around 1:00pm

we had Breakout Session Workshops.

I loved those! They offered so many classes. I took three that afternoon.

Later in the day I caught a picture with my mentor/sponsor Lori.

She lives in Illinois and I did not know her before joining Origami Owl. 

Even though we live miles apart, she has been a wonderful support to me!

Here are some pictures from the Gala Event Saturday Night

I especially love this picture! 

The three young ladies sitting down in front are called Owlettes

They are allowed to sign up as "Young Designers"

sponsored by a family member or guardian.

Our founder Bella was only 14 when she started this company.

She had no idea what it would evolve into -

she was just  trying to raise money to buy a car.

(You can see the image of Bella to the left on the screen behind us.)

And this picture has special meaning for me, 

because once I signed up with Origami Owl, I was able to pay for our KIA SOUL.

This charm was created to represent Bella's "car" - a Jeep she named "Alice"

but it looks just like my KIA Soul to me! 

It was a wonderful convention! 

God knew I would need this business and the precious ladies I am now surrounded by

for such a time as this! 

It is really helping me to deal with the loss of my mother, 

even though I have meltdowns every now and then

(more lately it seems)

but it gives me purpose and I have sweet friends lifting me  up in prayer

just because they care. 

God is SO GOOD! 

Just Breathe

I feel so badly that it has been a whole week since I wrote last.

My last post was a rather emotional one for me, 

and somehow the rest of the week just went so fast. 

Today was Weigh-In Day, and believe it or not, I'm down another .8 of a pound.

That is more than three-quarters of a pound and almost a whole pound!

Can you tell I'm pretty happy about that, LOL? 

I'm actually surprised, too, only because I felt like I was stuck there for a while.

Tomorrow I leave for the annual, national Origami Owl Convention.

This year it is being held in Orlando, Florida

which is practically my back yard...

so no traveling across the country for me, 

but I am excited that more of my gals will be able to attend...

about 22 of my team members will be attending with me this year.

I am very excited! It will be so much fun.

This is the motto this year

I love working from home and having the flexibility of being my own boss 

and setting my own schedule, so I am able to do the things that are most important to me

like spending time with my family! 

I know my own children are now grown, but I am available to watch my grandchildren

once a week or more often if needed. 

So, I probably won't be posing the rest of this week since we pull out of here tomorrow,

By the way, my husband will be driving some of us (who live near by) in our bus.

He would probably drive us all but some are coming from other cities.

Plus, we don't have that many seats, ha ha.

I know many of you are wrapping up your summer fun 

and getting your children ready for the new school year.

Man, this summer went FAST! 

I use to get so sad when my kids went back to school....I loved having them home. 

Ok so have a great week. Be safe, happy, and healthy.

Here's a new song I just love! Maybe you'll like it too...