Sunday Favorites - A Tribute to the one and only...my Mom!

Linking up to Sunday Favorites and wanting to share with you this very special post I first did on January 8, 2009 about my mom. Being that this Sunday is Mother's Day! Yay! I thought it would be very fitting. Please visit our lovely hostess, Chari from Happy to Design to see other Sunday Favorites! And a very Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful bloggy moms out there. Hope your day is filled with love and laughter!

A Favorite Post

from

January 8, 2009

It's been a while since I've done a Reflections from a Mother's Heart post, so let me bring you up to date on what this is about.

Several years ago, I found this really great journal and I bought it thinking how much fun it would be and how well I would use it. The journal was entitled "Reflections from a Mother's Heart" Your life Story in Your Own Words. Each page has a different question or idea to help you write. Sad to say I only wrote on the first page and never picked it up again. It's just been sitting here for years next to my PC.

I decided when I started this blog that Thursday's would be my "Reflections" day and I did do a few posts, but sadly, I didn't keep up with them.

The 1st one was about why I'm named Alicia and you can go here to read it.
The 2nd one was about describing my childhood bedroom, read all about it here.
The 3rd one was about being baptized as a child and can be found here.
The 4th one was about my first memories of going to church, and you can read it here.
The 5th and last one I've done has been about my dad and where he went to work and what he did and you can read that one here.

That last one was a really hard one to write, so many great memories and sadness in knowing my dad gets older and older every day and one day he won't be here anymore. I think thats why I haven't written anymore because the next one that's in the book is "How did your mother spend her day? Did she have a job or do volunteer work outside the home?

If it's hard to write about my dad and think of him someday not being a part of my everyday life, how much harder is it to write about my mom?

That brings me to my 2009 resolutions for the new year and gives me resolution #3:

#3 Faithfully do a Reflections from a Mother's Heart post on each Thursday in 2009.

So that's what this post is about, my mom. I had also put off doing this post because I wanted to have pictures of all the quilts she's done, but if I waited to put up pictures of all the wonderful things she's done and made, well there wouldn't be enough memory in all of Blogger.com to post it.

My mom didn't work outside the home, but she sure worked in it! My earliest memories of my mom revolve a lot around the Catholic Church and religion. My mom is the one that taught us our Catholic faith. She took us to church every Sunday and I very rarely remember my dad being there with us. I do remember that she would take us to her mom and dad's house and in one of the bedrooms there was a "ropero" that had a cabinet that would open and my aunt had a bunch of hats and bonnets in there and we would get to choose one to wear to church that Sunday because in those days you didn't enter the House of the Lord with a bare head if you were a female! And on those days when we were running late and we didn't have time to get a hat at Mama's house my mom would use a bobby-pin to pin a Kleenex on our head! I swear to God, she did that! I remember wishing I was all grown up so I could wear a veil like my mom did.

I can't smell the scent of Pine-Sol or beans boiling without thinking of my childhood and of my mother. Our home was always spotlessly clean and smelled great. She took a lot of pride in her home and in us her children. We were never rag-tag or dirty. She loved to sew and would make matching dresses for my sister and I and sometimes would even make a dress out of the same material for herself.

Whenever we went on vacation, my mom would spend weeks sewing new outfits for us girls and purchasing new clothes for the boys. I don't know how much money she and my dad had at the time, but we never felt poor, we always were well dressed and had new shoes and sweaters!

My mom was also the keeper of the records and not just the household records, but the record of our lives. She took lots of movie camera films of us and pictures. A lot of the memories that I have of my childhood I probably have because I've seen the film of it, not because it's an actual memory.

Mom was also very good at making any house our home. I've already written in reflection on my dad that we moved around a lot, but each home we lived in was our home and it was comfortable, clean and safe. I remember once when we lived in Yuma in a rental home that one of my brothers for some reason turned on an iron and left it on the carpet and it burned a hole in the exact shape of the iron. My mom being ever resourceful cut a piece the exact same shape out of the carpet in the very back of one of the closets and sewed it in. When we moved and the landlord came to inspect, she put a box on the patch (even though it was in no way noticeable) and sat my brother Jaime on top of it so the man wouldn't move it!

My mom was the disciplinarian in the family and the one that made the decisions about what we could and couldn't do and where we could and couldn't go, but for some reason I don't remember the No's she gave us. I only remember the Yes's.

I remember her immediately saying yes when I called her one day from school and told her I had forgotten we were having a potluck in our math class and I had forgotten to tell her and could she make some sandwiches and bring them to my class. My mom said YES. Now mind you, we lived 8 miles from the school and from the nearest grocery store. I don't know if she had the ingredients at home or if she went to the store, then back home, then back to the school, but I know that the lady at the office brought us a big tray filled with sandwiches, bologna, ham and tuna! I don't know how my mom even knew to make tuna sandwiches because it was something we never ate at home as she HATED fish and the SMELL of fish!

I remember telling her I wanted to be a cheerleader and that I would need money for uniforms, shoes, pom-poms and cheer leading camp...oh, and a ride home every day after school because of cheer leading practice. My mom said YES. I don't know how tight money might have been, but she made my wish come true and I went to cheer leading camp and had all the other cheer leading equipment all the other girls had!

I remember telling her that I had told all the other cheerleaders that my mom would make our uniforms for basketball season and that my mom would take us to El Centro shopping for the materials and thread and pattern we would use. And once again, my mom said YES. And she made us the most awesome cheerleader hot pants ever! And she made one for each of the girls and I believe there were 8 of us!

I remember during the awful parts of my marriage calling my mom in the middle of the night, or the middle of the day or whenever and telling her I wanted them to come and get me, that I was ready to leave my husband and would she come get me? And she always said YES.

I remember telling my mom that I wanted to go back to my marriage and try again for the sake of my kids or because I loved my husband or for whatever idiotic reason I felt I had to go back and she always said YES.

My mom is a miracle worker. I've always said that my mom was the brains in our family and my dad was the brawn. (I said that once in front of my dad and boy did he get mad, he thought he was the brains!)

There was nothing my mom couldn't do. She could sew and she still does. She taught us to embroider and crochet. She loved to do puzzles and arts and crafts. She make quilts, rosaries, bracelets and tons of other things. I remember one time, she made a peacock using Styrofoam egg cartons. It was a white peacock on black velvet and it was beautiful! I wish we still had it, but it was just like this one.

My mom crocheted a beautiful scene of the Last Supper that measures about 5' x 6' and is framed. It took her a long time to do this but my mom's hands were always busy. That's why we all have a quilt she had made us and each grandchild had a baby blanket my mom made for them.

Many years ago I took a bible study class and I came across a chapter in the bible, Proverbs 31 and when I read it, I read the story and life and love of my mother.

Proverbs 31:10-30 (NIV)
10 A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Sunday Favorites- Do You Cook Like Your Mother Did?

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you're all enjoying this weekend. Wanted to share with everyone for Sunday Favorites a post that I wrote on August 1, 2009 about cooking and mothers, especially my mother. Hope you enjoy it and have a great Sunday! Please go over to visit Chari at Happy to Design and see what other favorites posts you might have missed!

Sharing a Favorite Post

from

August 1, 2009

Had an interesting and thought provoking conversation with my mother this morning. We were watching the Food Network and one of the cooks was making a homemade pizza. She started out by rolling out a frozen, store bought pizza crust and forming it into the pan. Where by, my mom says, "That's not cooking! She's using store bought pizza crust!"


I've been thinking about this because I love the Food Network and I wondered if all our mothers feel that way about our cooking since many of us working, single or not single moms don't have a ton of time to spend in the kitchen making things from scratch.


About a month ago, I told my mom I was going to make some chili beans. My son and daughter love my home made chili beans and they're also a big hit with my son's friends during Super Bowl Sunday!



I was getting my ingredients together while my mom watched and she asked if I wanted her to make the chili for the beans. I told her, "Nope! It's easy mom, see this little packet? It's Taco Bell seasoning." She said, "What's that for?" I told her it was the seasoning for the meat. I then pulled out two big cans of canned beans, one pinto and also a can of white beans. Again she said, "What's that for?" So I told her those were the beans I use. "You don't cook your own beans???" my mom asked in shock! "No mom, I don't make my own beans. I don't have time to sit at home all day waiting for beans!"


Now I know that you can put beans on to cook in a crock pot all day. My sister does this. But we don't eat many beans. It's just my son and me. So opening a can of beans is good enough for us. So I made the chili beans and while they were stewing I pulled out a box mix of corn bread. Well I won't even tell you what my mom said then! But of course she was in shock! Corn bread from a box?


Once my homemade chili beans and corn bread were done, my mom tasted them and said they were good, for beans from a can with Taco Bell Seasoning and hamburger meat in them!


When my mom makes chili beans, she makes beans fresh in a pot. She cleans them and puts them to boil. Throughout the day she boils water and will only add boiling hot water when more water is needed so that the beans don't get dark and they stay light and pretty. I have to admit, it works. My mom's beans are beautiful. I can remember her making beans like this since I was a little girl and I remember always having to replace water in the bean pot with boiling water.


Mom also makes her own chili for the beans. She takes dried New Mexico Chile's. She likes those as she says the New Mexico ones are a bit more flavorful and a little more spicy than the others. She takes the dried Chile's and cuts off the stem, slits them down the middle, cleans out the seeds and puts them in a pot with boiling water and blanches them for a bit. Then she puts them in the blender with a few cloves of fresh garlic and various other spices. I have no clue what they are. She puts some of the hot water that is left from boiling the Chile's and grinds them all up into the sauce.


She then browns her ground beef, adds fresh beans and the Chile sauce she's ground up in the blender and adds more salt and other seasonings to taste and lets them boil so the flavors all come together. Let me tell you. . . they are mmmmmmmmmmmm, wonderful. I love my mom's beans and when she's invited to a potluck her beans are what people request that she bring.


And when she goes to all that trouble to make chili beans she also makes these small breads we grew up calling "panecitos". They're small round bread that's made like tortilla's except they are not rolled out flat like tortillas but are left about the size of a hamburger bun. When the weather gets cooler and my kitchen is not 140 degrees I will do a blog of my mom making panecitos. Remind me!


And that is why my mom says my chili beans are not home made! Hers, in her eyes are homemade! So I thought about this all for awhile and then asked my mom what her mom would have said if she had been invited to dinner and my mom had made homemade Chili Colorado and beans and then she had pulled out a package of store bought tortillas? Wouldn't her mom have commented on why my mom didn't make homemade tortillas and not store bought? And trust me, we know how to make homemade tortillas.

I then told my mom that someday, my daughter and my nieces will watch their daughters put a small pill into a bowl of water and it will automatically turn into chili beans and then I will make fun of them and talk on and on about my homemade chili beans with Taco Bell seasoning and canned beans!


I guess my point is that no one cooks like mom cooks. Homemade like moms made in the 40's, 50's or 60's or homemade like my sister and I cook now...to our children, it's mom's food and nothing tops that!


What do you make that your mom would tease you about if you called it homemade?

Sunday Favorites - Elephant Beach

For Sunday Favorites this week I'm sharing a little trip I took last year in March with my daughter. I was just telling a new friend about this place and it made me remember it. Hope you enjoy it and please travel over to visit Chari at Happy to Design for more Sunday Favorites!

 Favorite Post that was originally posted on 

March 28, 2010

Last weekend my daughter April and I and my grand-puppy Chorizo took a day trip to the coast, which is about 2 hours from Shafter. I've been to Pismo, Morro Bay, Cambria, Cayucos, Avila Beach, all those little coastal towns a million few times, but I'd never been to Elephant Seal Beach at Piedras Blancas in the southern range of Big Sur, near San Simeon. Count on April to show me something new, she loves to explore and visit new places.

She took me to a wonderful spot on scenic Hwy 1 to Elephant Seal Beach. Why I had never known this place existed is beyond me!

First off, the drive from Morro Bay to Elephant Seal Beach is gorgeous. Hwy 1 is known for it's beautiful ocean and mountain scenery. It seemed like the temperature changed every 5 miles. First it's foggy and overcast and cold then all of a sudden it's sunny and green and gorgeous. The drive alone was worth going.

But what was really amazing is that there is a small strip of beach known as a Rookery where these fascinating mammals come to birth, breed, molt and rest. Depending on the time of year that you are there you can watch  the males battle for breeding rights, you can watch seals give birth, and you can watch them sun themselves on the beach.

That's what we witnessed, the sunning on the beach, and it was awesome! I couldn't believe it when I first saw them. They looked like dead lumps of flesh that had washed up on the beach. But as we got closer we saw that they moved. The most hilarious part is while they lay there on the beach every once in a while they flip sand onto themselves with their flippers. There are several signs along the beach explaining facts about these seals and they say that while they don't know for sure why they flip sand it's probably to keep themselves cool from the sun blazing down upon them. (Click to enlarge)

It was so funny to watch them. When they moved they kind of just bounced around on the beach to get to where they wanted to go, not that they ever went very far. My daughter April said that other times when she has been there the beach is so packed with seals that you can't even see the sand!

If you ever get the chance, please visit this beach, it's worth it and if you have kids they will love it! We only had Chorizo and she loved it as you can tell in the mosaic below. If you would like more information I found a great website that gives lots of details and has an awesome slide show. It's from the Friends of the Elephant Seal and you can visit it here.  (click to enlarge)

And the view is awesome as you can see in the mosaic above. Chorizo just didn't know what to think. She would look at her momma and then back at the seals and you can tell she was just overwhelmed by all the different ocean smells. She loved it! She's a true water dog.

Sunday Favorites - Spring Thriftstore Treasures

I haven't joined in on a Sunday Favorite in a few weeks, it's just been too cold to sit at the computer. But today was super-delicious-gorgeous and I wanted to share a post I did in Spring of 2009 in which I went thrifting and found some treasures. I went thrifting again today with my mom but unfortunately I only found one treasure which I'll try to photograph tomorrow. So enjoy this blast from the past and be sure to go say hi to Chari at Happy to Design and see what other favorites you can find.

Sunday Favorite

from

March 23, 2009

Saturday I woke up and debated...should I spend the day cleaning house and doing laundry or should I go hit all the Goodwill's and some yard sales and see if I can find any treasures? Guess which idea won out?

If you guessed Goodwill and yard sales you win! So what do you win? Well the only thing I can offer is a peak at all the treasures I found and some pictures on what I did with them.

My first stop didn't prove to be too fruitful, but I did find these little gardening bunnies. All total they came out to $2.52 and the funny thing was that was exactly how much money I had in my purse!

After leaving that Goodwill and heading to the next one I kept an eye out for yard sales. I only found one on my way and almost didn't stop at that one...but I'm glad I did, look at what I scored:

When I got to the yard sale I saw a lady pick it up and ask the man how much he wanted for it and he told her $3.00. She walked around with it for a bit and then put it back down and I snatched it up and went and asked the man how much he wanted for it...and he told me $1.00!? Kind of weird huh? But I didn't ask any questions, just figured it was my lucky day and snatched it up.

Here's a picture of where I hung it in my bedroom. I love this wall because it's the one I look at when I first wake up in the morning. The picture that says "It's a Wonderful Life" was a gift from my sister in law Connie and family. It's just what I need to be reminded of every single morning. The little bunny picture was a thrift find which I found at the American Cancer Society Discovery Store.

At the next Goodwill I found a set of dishes with a grape design that I haven't photographed yet, but I will once I get them hung up in my kitchen and another bowl that I bought just because of the beautiful colors, but I also didn't photograph it. It's more autumn colors.
Then I went to my favorite Goodwill. This Goodwill has mostly books, but a few knick-knacks and pictures. I found a few more things for a Spring and Easter display.
First this aluminum bucket I guess is what it is. Here it is empty...

And here it is after I decorated it with some Easter grass and small colored eggs.

Then I found these beautiful nesting boxes. The all fit inside the big one and you can display just the big one, or all three of them. These are yours April...I remember how you once told me you wanted Russian Nesting Dolls and these are sort of the same thing, but different. But you can't have them yet :0)

I also found this little bunnies tree house decoration...


These bunnies I picked up on my lunch hour Friday at Dollar Tree. Their faces look a little big more like sheep than bunnies, but they have ears and sheep and bunnies are both for Easter so that makes the Easter Bunneeps or Sheennies.

And here's my Easter Mantle display. For less than $20.00 I was able to put this together. The Easter Bunny Garland in the background was purchased last year at an after Easter sale and this is the first time I've used it.

Tomorrow I'll show you my Easter Tablescape.

I love thrifting. These are all unique items that I will enjoy for years plus I spent a great day searching for them.

Oh, almost forgot. I also found these beautiful butterflies that match the colors in my bathroom which are baby blue and baby pink for some reason. I just hope they don't fall off the wall when we close the bathroom door...they seem so fragile.

Sunday Favorites - Books Read in 2009

I've really been trying to get my act together in 2011, but I've had a lot of distractions, mainly the cold and television :0(

I want to try to put together my list of books that I have read in 2010 so I thought it might motivate me to publish for my Sunday Favorites post an old post from January 4, 2010 in which I listed all the books I had read in 2009.

So here's my list and I hope to get my 2010 list done sometime this week. Please visit the lovely Chari of Happy to Design and see what other great "blasts from the past" others are sharing this Sunday!

A favorite post

originally posted on 

January 4, 2010

Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~Author Unknown

1. Faith of My Fathers ~ John McCain
2. Bitter Grounds ~ Sandra Benitez

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx

3. Twilight ~ Stephanie Meyer
4. New Moon ~ Stephanie Meyer
5. Eclipse ~ Stepanie Meyer
6. Breaking Dawn ~ Stephanie Meyer

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~Anna Quindlen, "Enough Bookshelves," New York Times, 7 August 1991

7. Odd Thomas ~ Dean Koontz
8. The Disappearance of Lyndsey Barratt ~ John Wilson
9. The Wedding ~ Nicholas Sparks

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. ~P.J. O'Rourke

10. A Day To Pick Your Own Cotton ~ Michael Phillips
11. The Color of Your Skin Ain't the Color of Your Heart ~ Michael Phillips

A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it. ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958

12. Mrs. Kimble ~ Jennifer Haigh
13. A Million Little Pieces ~ James Frey

My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. ~Thomas Helm

14. Good in Bed ~ Jennifer Weiner
15. At First Sight ~ Nicholas Sparks
16. rising ~ Darnella Ford

You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend. ~Paul Sweeney

17. Duplicate Keys ~ Jane Smiley
18. Icy Sparks ~ Gwyn Hyman Rubio

Lord! when you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book. ~Christopher Morley

19. The Nanny Diaries ~ Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
20. Promise Not To Tell ~ Jennifer McMahon
21. Lovely Bones ~ Alice Sebold

The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television. ~Andrew Ross

22. Lost and Found ~ Carolyn Parkhurst
23. Losing It ~ Valerie Bertinelli
24. I know this much is true ~ Wally Lamb

A house without books is like a room without windows. ~Heinrich Mann

I'm starting 2010 by reading a book my sweet daughter April gave me for Christmas.
It's Julie & Julia by Julie Powell.

What are you reading in the New Year?

Sunday Favorites - A Repeat of the Special Spoons

Had a great Saturday today. Went thrifting with my mom and then we did our grocery shopping. It's always fun spending time with my mom. I want to remind everyone to enter my giveaway for a $65.00 gift certificate to CSN Stores. Click HERE for details and good luck!

It's time for Sunday Favorites again. A day when we share a favorite post from the past. I hope you enjoy this post from March 6, 2009.

 A Favorite Post

from

March 6, 2009

The other day my daughter April and I went to dinner and shopping after work on a Friday. We went to one of our favorite places, Jake's Tex Mex. She had Tri-Tip and I had the Salad Lite, which is so Un-lite it's not even funny. You have to go through a cafeteria line at Jake's and you pick and choose what you want on your salad. I started out with their wonderful shredded chicken. They put this chicken which is all white meat into a bowl and it's a lot of chicken, let me tell you. Then you tell them what you want in your salad. You can have either Pasta salad or Broccoli salad plus the lettuce and stuff. I wanted Pasta. Their pasta is awesome, it's made with these little round noodles. So then you have chicken and pasta salad and lettuce in the bowl and I picked ranch dressing, sunflower seeds and tortilla strips. They hand toss them over and over and over again in a bowl til it's all mixed together and tasty and then they toss shredded Parmesan cheese in. It's totally enough to feed two people! I ate half and brought half home which my son devoured when he got home from work.


So then we went to Marshalls and we looked around and I picked up some stuff and then would put it back, then pick up something else, then put it back. Finally I picked up these spoons, and there is a story behind these spoons. (Oh, by the way...if you click on the spoons and wait for the picture to open up to normal size you will see ME reflected in the spoons...thats what the pink dot on the spoons is, it's me!)




So the story is that right after Christmas, my mom and I went shopping at TJ Maxx after getting our nails done. I found these spoons and fell in love with them. And my mom just didn't see what the big deal with these spoons was. She said they were totally impractical! And I told her, "But mom, look at how beautiful and precious they are. Don't you just want to get up every morning to have your morning coffee knowing you can stir it with these beautiful little spoons?" She just didn't see it. :o(


So I put them back and we wandered around some more. Then I thought, "No dammit, I deserve to have happy mornings! I ask for so little in life, just pretty little nothings!" So I told her I had to have those spoons and she laughed at me and I went back to go get them and THEY WERE GONE! I was devastated! I came back and told my mom and she said, "No way!" I think what she really meant was, "Is there someone else as ridiculous as you in this world that can't get through the morning without stirring their coffee with ridiculously jeweled spoons?" I guess there is someone like that out there and dammit! they took my spoons.

So that day that my daughter and I were at Marshalls and I found the spoons I knew it was "kismet"...it was meant to be! So I bought them and they came home with me. Along with this beautiful Jasmine scented Reed Diffuser...



and this lovely Butterfly plate

that I hung up on the empty wall on my bathroom.

My bathroom has sort of a butterfly motif thanks to this picture...
that I stole from my daughter and this shower curtain...
which I've had forever and I love cause when I take my shower in the morning it's like a spring rain in a field full of butterflies...(hey, whatever I need to make it through the day ok?)

And I wanted to show off one more "pretty". A salsa bowl that my daughter brought back from the beach for me. I love it! I can't wait til spring so we can sit out on the patio with some Margaritas and Chips & Salsa. Yummy!

Sunday Favorites - Getting to Know Me...Getting to Know all about Me!

Welcome to a Sunday Favorites post. Sunday Favorites is a meme hosted by Chari from Happy to Design. I love Sunday Favorites because as Chari says, "Sunday Favorites offers a solution for getting a post out on the weekend without having to spend a lot of time doing so...weekends are just a busy time for most of us! Copying and pasting a previous post is so quick and easy. Not only is this a quick and easy solution to the busy weekends, but it's also an opportunity to dig back into our blog archives and share a favorite "past" post once again! Many of us spend a lot of time and effort creating a post and it just seems a shame that it is viewed only once and then forgotten about!"

Totally agree with you Chari because I forgot I had ever posted the one I'm going to share today. I answered several questions that were floating around in 2008. Hope you enjoy my blast from the past today and that you learn just a wee bit more about me! Happy Sunday!

A Favorite Post

from

September 28, 2008

There's this little questionnaire going around right now on several of the blogs I read and it's a series of questions you have to answer about your husband. Well since I don't have one of those, and I didn't want to be left out of anything current going on in the blogosphere I thought I would address the questions to me and answer them. I mean who knows me better than me?

Ok, here we go.

1. Alicia is sitting in front of the tv, what is on the screen?
The truth is that it's off, just a blank screen. I don't have cable and there's nothing to watch on Sundays. I did just finish watching Monk on HULU.com though.

2. You're out to eat what kind of dressing does Alicia get on her salad?
I like ranch, but it does depend on what kind of salad. If it's like a Chinese chicken salad, then I like the Chinese chicken salad type of dressing. If it's like a taco salad, then usually salsa is the dressing, although sometimes you can get a really good cilantro-lime dressing as well.

3. What's one food Alicia doesn't like?
That would have to be mushrooms. I can't stand the way they smell or the texture. I've even tried stuffed mushrooms and you just can't hide that disgusting taste. The strange thing is that my mom who dislikes pretty much all veggies just loves mushrooms, go figure.

4. You go out to the bar, what does Alicia order?
Usually a Corona Beer with lime in a salted glass, kinda like a poor women's margarita. But it does depend on what I'm eating and/or doing. If I'm having Mexican food, I do enjoy a margarita, but if I need to get my rhythm going before dancing, then definitely a Long Island Ice tea with a shot!

5. Where did Alicia go to high school?
I went to Calipatria High School in Calipatria, California. Go HORNETS!

6. What size shoe does Alicia wear?
A size 6 1/2, really. But I love that line in Steel Magnolia's where Truvy says, "I usually wear a 6, but a 7 feels so good, I'll buy an 8."

7. If Alicia was to collect anything, what would it be?
A few years back I did start collecting bears, all kinds of bears, ceramic, cloth, pictures, dishes, etc. I'm just waiting for spring so I can have a huge yard sale. I really don't have one particular thing I want to collect because pretty much I just want EVERYTHING. In fact I have an "IWANNA" post coming up here in the near future.

8. What is Alicia's favorite type of sandwich?
I really love my fried ham sandwiches with avocado, but my tuna with minced jalapeno is pretty good too.

9. What would Alicia eat every day if she could?
What else? Chips and Salsa, Chips and Salsa!

10. What is Alicia's favorite cereal?
I'm a simple woman of simple tastes, I love Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, they're Grrrrreeeaaaatttttttt!!!!!!!!

11. What would Alicia never wear?
Probably a Halloween costume in the workplace. That one comes to mind because my current coworkers want to dress up this year and I've never dressed up and never wanted too.

12. What is Alicia's favorite sports team?
Dallas Cowboy's Baby!!! Oh Yeah! Even though they did lose today :-(

13. Who will Alicia vote for?
I'm a Republican and I am really for the McCain-Palin ticket! No one is perfect I know, but McCain's war record and love of his country speaks volumes to me.

14. Who is Alicia's best friend?
You've heard the saying, "You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family". Well the best thing is when your best friend is also family...my beautiful, wonderful, generous, loving, funny, bighearted sister Lisa!

15. What is something you do that you wish you wouldn't do?
I guess it would be speaking without thinking...and that's not really true because I do think about what I'm going to say, it's just that some things are better left unsaid, but by then I've already said them!

16. How many states has Alicia lived in?
Arizona and California only.

17. What is Alicia's heritage?
Mexican American, although I prefer American Mexican.

18. You bake Alicia a cake for her birthday; what kind of cake?
Again, I'm a simple woman with simple tastes. My fav cake is white with white frosting. But I do love me some Carrot cake, mmmmmmm.

19. Did Alicia play sports in high school?
Funny but I was just talking to my cousin Robert about this today. I played Volleyball, Softball and a little Tennis.

20. What could Alicia spend hours doing?
Besides talking? Just kidding. I guess it would either be sleeping or online reading blogs.

Sunday Favorites - Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Today I'm sharing a Favorite Post from a past Halloween. This is a post from October of 2008. Since tomorrow is Halloween I thought this would be a perfect post to share for Chari's from Happy to Design Sunday Favorites. Hope you all enjoy it and hopefully you won't be toooooo scared! BOO!

Favorite Post

from

October 30, 2008

Tomorrow we have a potluck at work. I'm taking my camera and I'll be posting pictures. I made broccoli salad and I have pics and the recipe coming up sometime this weekend. Watch out for the Llorona and enjoy her story.

The Weeping Woman(La Llorona)
by Joe Hayes

This is a story that the old ones have been telling to children for hundreds of years. It is a sad tale, but it lives strong in the memories of the people, and there are many who swear that it is true.
Long years ago in a humble little village there lived a fine looking girl named Maria Some say she was the most beautiful girl in the world! And because she was so beautiful, Maria thought she was better than everyone else.
As Maria grew older, her beauty increased And her pride in her beauty grew too When she was a young woman, she would not even look at the young men from her village. They weren't good enough for her! "When I marry," Maria would say, "I will marry the most handsome man in the world."
And then one day, into Maria's village rode a man who seemed to be just the one she had been talking about. He was a dashing young ranchero, the son of a wealthy rancher from the southern plains. He could ride like a Comanche! In fact, if he owned a horse, and it grew tame, he would give it away and go rope a wild horse from the plains. He thought it wasn't manly to ride a horse if it wasn't half wild.
He was handsome! And he could play the guitar and sing beautifully. Maria made up her mind-that was, the man for her! She knew just the tricks to win his attention.
If the ranchero spoke when they met on the pathway, she would turn her head away. When he came to her house in the evening to play his guitar and serenade her, she wouldn't even come to the window. She refused all his costly gifts. The young man fell for her tricks. "That haughty girl, Maria, Maria! " he said to himself. "I know I can win her heart. I swear I'll marry that girl."
And so everything turned out as Maria planned. Before long, she and the ranchero became engaged and soon they were married. At first, things were fine. They had two children and they seemed to be a happy family together. But after a few years, the ranchero went back to the wild life of the prairies. He would leave town and be gone for months at a time. And when he returned home, it was only to visit his children. He seemed to care nothing for the beautiful Maria. He even talked of setting Maria aside and marrying a woman of his own wealthy class.
As proud as Maria was, of course she became very angry with the ranchero. She also began to feel anger toward her children, because he paid attention to them, but just ignored her.
One evening, as Maria was strolling with her two children on the shady pathway near the river, the ranchero came by in a carriage. An elegant lady sat on the seat beside him. He stopped and spoke to his children, but he didn't even look at Maria. He whipped the horses on up the street.
When she saw that, a terrible rage filled Maria, and it all turned against her children. And although it is sad to tell, the story says that in her anger Maria seized her two children and threw them into the river! But as they disappeared down the stream, she realized what she had done! She ran down the bank of the river, reaching out her arms to them. But they were long gone.
The next morning, a traveler brought word to the villagers that a beautiful woman lay dead on the bank of the river. That is where they found Maria, and they laid her to rest where she had fallen.
But the first night Maria was in the grave, the villagers heard the sound of crying down by the river. It was not the wind, it was La Llorona crying. "Where are my children?" And they saw a woman walking up and down the bank of the river, dressed in a long white robe, the way they had dressed Maria for burial. On many a dark night they saw her walk the river bank and cry for her children. And so they no longer spoke of her as Maria. They called her La Llorona, the weeping woman. And by that name she is known to this day. Children are warned not to go out in the dark, for, La Llorona might snatch them and never return them.

Sunday Favorites - Thrift Store Shopping is like Disneyland

I mentioned in my previous post how busy my life has been this past week and also how my thrifting buddy, my mom Tomasa is sick so we wouldn't be going thrifting this week. And sure enough we didn't and she's in bed resting right now as we speak. So I did the next best thing. I found an old post about thrifting and once you read it you will understand how hard it was for me (and I'm sure for my mom) to stay home today and not hit our favorite thrift stores.

I hope you enjoy it and that you head over to visit the host for Sunday Favorites, Chari with Happy to Design.

One of my favorite posts from

March 5, 2009

My sister hates shopping.
HATES it!
Once in a while though, when she feels I need or deserve a special treat (like I'm her little pet dog) she will allow me the privilege of going thrift store shopping with her.
Did I mention she hates shopping? Well she especially hates thrift store shopping. She doesn't mind so much going into a store like JC Penneys or Walmart and going right to a certain department and getting the exact items she has on her list...but she doesn't have that "Thrill of the Hunt" that is inbred in me from the Tarango side of the family!

My Tia Leonor was the Queen of Thriftshopping the Queen of Yardsaling and the Queen of Antique Stores. You could not drive past a yard sale with Tia Nor and not know that you HAD to stop. And she could find treasures like no one else could. Her home was filled with her treasures and we all know about her "cuartito" that was filled with...um, well I don't know what it was filled with cause no one ever let us kids in there, but I'm sure it was filled with treasures.

Later as we all grew up Tia Nor filled the buses that Tio Tino and Tio Jesus had parked on her property with more treasures. And she knew what was in each of those buses and in the cuartito and if people needed something she knew just where to go and get it. She also had a pretty lucrative business selling clothing she picked up at yard sales for a song and selling it for a profit to migrant farm workers. She was my hero! heroine?...well you get the point.

I especially remember a plate that she had hanging in the kichen. The plate had John F. Kennedy on it. I loved that plate and always wished she would give it to me. I guess I should have asked, but I never did and I never knew what became of that plate. I hunt for it online, but although I've found others similar, it's not the plate I remember.

So thrifting is in my blood and I remember a few weeks ago for some reason on the way home Lisa suggested that we stop at one of my very favorite thrift stores, Goodwill on Rosedale Highway. I was thrilled and the closer we got the more excited I got. And when we were in the middle lane waiting for a pause in the traffic so I could turn left into the parking lot Lisa was laughing at me about how excited I was. And I told her that to me, going thrift store shopping is like a little kid going to Disneyland, you just get all excited and you can't wait and dad can't drive that car fast enough into the parking lot for you. Remember that feeling from being a kid whether it was going to Disneyland or to a County Fair or Circus? That's the feeling I get about thrift shopping, and I thought I was the only one until today when I read the blog Manic Thrift Store Shopper.

This guy Brian, is my spiritual Tarango twin and he speaks in a language that only true thrift store connoisseurs understand, just listen to him write about how he feels...

"When I drive past a thrift store, I often imagine that I feel a little pull to go inside. I think that something, some object, is calling out to me to be found and rescued from the shelves piled high with junk. I believe that if I look long enough and hard enough, that amazing object will be revealed and I will be rewarded for following my instinct, for turning from the street into the parking lot and getting out of my car."

Please go check out his site, he has so many "pretties" for you to see and he's one heck of a writer as well.

Sunday Favorites - One Year Ago

Today was such a busy fun day. I finally finished cleaning up after dinner. I made my kids favorite TacoBell Teriyaki Hamburgers. I take a packet of Taco Bell seasoning and mix it with the raw hamburger, shape the patties and then when they are almost done I brush on Kikoman Teriyaki Glaze. YUM! But one year ago, almost to the day I was visiting my daughter April in Turlock and we ate at a restaurant that became a favorite to all of us. So I'm going to share this past post because it's Sunday Favorites hosted by Chari over at Happy To Design. I hope you enjoy this post as much as I enjoyed living it!

Sunday Favorite 

from 

August 25, 2009

This weekend my mom, my sister and I went to go visit my daughter up in Turlock. We had a great time. We did a lot of thrifting and found some wonderful treasures which I will share with you later.

We found a wonderful restaurant called Mi Casa (My Home) and I want to share pictures of one of their specialties called a Molcajete. A Molcajete is a stone tool, the traditional Mexican version of the mortar and pestle tool. It looks like this. . .


I remember my mom and my aunts all having one of these and using it to grind up spices. I know my mom used to have one, not sure what happened to it.

In the picture above you can see that a Molcajete is made out of stone. At this restaurant we went to they take this stone and place it over an open flame and heat it up until it's red hot and they place whatever meat you've chosen along with broth and salsa in the molcajete and heat it up. When they are ready to bring it to your table they pile on shredded cheese. The molcajete arrives at the table still bubbling. It is pure ambrosia. It is served with beans, rice, pico de gallo, tortillas and guacamole. It's the most unique dish I've ever seen in a restaurant.

My daughter ordered one and I'm glad she did. I hope to try one next time! I took some photos, but they don't do it justice, but hopefully you get an idea. . .

The green stuff hanging out are green onions that have wilted due to the heat of the dish. When they place this in front of you - you feel it! It is boiling, sizzling hot!

The cheese gets all melty and gooey as it sits in front of you and it's a dish that doesn't get cold quickly. Here's the empty finished Molcajete. Looks like lava doesn't it? Well that's basically what it is, stone hot lava in a Molcajete. If you ever make it to Turlock you have to try it!!

Here's some photos of what the rest of us had, but trust me...after seeing and tasting the Molcajete we wished we had ordered one.

I had these Sopes, which actually were very delicious. I got them with carnitas...shredded pork.

My sister had these tacos, which I believe were Carne Asada, or maybe Carnitas, don't remember and a Mango & Jicama salad with Mango Dressing.

My mom ordered this humongous burrito filled with carnitas. She could barely eat 1/4th of this dish.


So if you ever get a chance to make it to this restaurant, don't be chicken like me...order this dish, it's wonderful!