Good Bye January!!!

So January will officially be over in a couple of hours. I know time goes fast but sometimes it feels like it just flies. January is over and in a blink of an eye the school year will be over, the boys will turn 7, my mom will turn 60, and the year will be over, NO NO NO NO time needs to s----l----o----w down, a lot!!!!!

January started nice and calm but then everyone got sick, two Dr visits (one with a new pediatrician as our regular Dr was sick as well) and two inhalers each boy and we are finally getting better. They missed 6 days of school, six, can you believe that. My poor boys, but they are back to normal fighting and playing none stop. 

We did make a trip to LA, the boys woke up so good that Friday morning, and then Matthew started with the cough and then we had no sleep for nightssssssss. But the LA trip was. I got to see Liz, Toni, and Naomi for lunch at Pollo Inka (yummy). We meet Joyce for ice cream. I got a manicure with Gabby, Penelope, and her BFF. My aunts wine tasting 70th birthday party was so much fun. It was great to see my family and hang out with them, I sure miss them. I felt like I did not get enough time with my brother, but we will be back in a couple of months and hope to see him more then.  

I also read some great books during this month lol.

So you know I love "A Shade of Vampire" by Bella Forest So now there are 9 of those and 3 of the stand alone series of "A Shade of Kiev" This is the order they should be read:

A Shade of Vampier 1-7

A Shade of Kiev 1-2

A Shade of Vampire 8

A Shade of Kiev 3

A Shade of Vampire 9 (Kiev appears in this one and the stories intertwine, which is fantastic)

book 10 will come out next month (cannot wait)

I also read "The Bane Chronicles" by Cassandra Clare, he was a character on the Mortal Instrument books. It took me a long time to get through it, and I think I just read it because I had bought them already. 

I am also in the process of reading The Maze Runner trilogy, the second part will come out as a movie later on this year. I watched the Maze Runner already, the movie was okay so of course the book is better. 

I also started reading Arena two by Morgan Rice, the first one was pretty good, but just like with the Maze Runner I got side track with my Vampire series and stopped to read something else. 

John Locke also had a new book out "This Means War: I cannot remember when exactly but as all his Donovan Creed books, it was amazing, I enjoyed the extra chapters at the end of the book and I was glad those were not part of the story. I do love the fact that he does not just fill pages with filler words, I don't get bored or feel like he writes things that are not necessary. He writes to the point which makes his books so easy to read and more enjoyable. 

Insurgent is coming put on March, this is the second part of the Divergent Series so of course I want to re read both Divergent and Insurgent before it comes out. And I would like to re read 50 Shades of Grey before the movie comes out. 

I love this saying from Erin Condren. I love ALL her stuff, if you haven't check it out, check it out, here is a link for $10 off https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/lorenamaldonadp0209

I cleaned out my desk drawer at work and hello note pads and cards, there are so many, but I do use them all, and I do enjoy having new note pads to match the theme of the month every month. Thank you Target $1 bin.

Now this was my desk at home. I now "WHAT HAPPENED???" well it is a closet that we made into an office and I do use it a lot (just not now, lol), But look at that mess. I think all of December I just threw everything on top of everything, you can't even see my laptop on the top (before) picture. It took me hours to organize, but it looks so nice now. Now if I could get a lamp and a chair (rather than taking a chair from the dinning room) I would enjoy lesson planning, blog writing, and planning much better than sitting in my bed.

We are going on a CRUISE!!!!! We decided not to do a summer vacation this year as we have a wedding and my sister in law and niece may come from Guate. So instead we are going on a 4 night 5 day cruise to Catalina and Ensenada during my Spring Break, which means the boys will miss another 4 days of school, but this time we are asking for the work ahead of time and working on it before we leave. Lucky boys they will have two weeks for Spring Break. Pablo and I have gone on cruises before and we are looking forward to share this experience with the boys.

We finally checked out the new Red Robbin by the house at the Great Mall, and we loved it. It has more natural light and it does feel more warm and cozy, but maybe is just because it is new. We actually went there today. I am sure they will get to know us very well, as it is the boys all time favorite place to eat. 

I have a new addiction, besides book. I just found out there is a world out there of  people that decorate their planners. I have done this for years, using stickers and post its and cut off, but nothing like them. Washi tape and all things cute have become an addiction for sure. I am still learning and finding what I like, definitely nothing too much, and what to do when I have decorated something but things change. But it is fun and it keep me busy when I do not feel like reading and want to watch TV. If you know me you know what just watching TV is just not enough. The above picture is of the stuff I got some Dashi everything was a $1.5 and a lot of the washi tape came in packs of two. The dollar bin at Target is also great for finding stuff. 

More Erin Condren stuff. I had some coupons that I had to use before the end of the year so...with the $15 off I got a new teacher lesson plan book for the 2015-2016 school year, at $59 a planner I couldn't let the coupon expire. Then I had three $10 off so I got some return labels, as one of my yearly goals was to write a letter to someone a month the labels come in hand and they look amazing and I got labels for my books at school "this book belongs to Lorena Maldonado" this ones I am almost out off. Now that I have an scholastic account and get points and free books, I have been using the labels none stop. I also got a new cover for my plumpaper planner, it gave it a new look. I actually just got another $10 off so I got some awesome stickers to decorate, will post when they come. Again here is the link in case you want to shop on her site https://www.erincondren.com/referral/invite/lorenamaldonadp0209

Hahahahah the boys and I love this lip balms. I think we are actually at 8 now. We added the green one, and the grapefruit one, the dark red one. But we still need the orange, the mint, and the coconut one (pink with stripes). These are just awesome.

First run of the year. Last year we did not run at all and with us cancelling the gym, I feel like we should do more fun runs. Thanks to Kelley for inviting us to join her to do this. I am excited and I am getting my butt up and running starting this week, not only to be able to run for this but to feel better, look better, and specially to be healthy.

The 19th we had a holiday, so of course we went to breakfast. We hadn't gone to the Bear dinner in a long time and it was so yummy. Mom and I shared which is good as the plates there are so big. The boys food looked really good and it was a perfect portion.

I made the frame with the string for my aunt. I took pictures with the Fiji Mini Polaroid during her party and placed all the pictures on the frame, they looked amazing. I may have to do one for me as well. The boys have a similar idea in their room, rather than taping all their art up, I put three rows of string, the top has pictures, and the two bottom have art. They are my little Picassos.

Here is me and my brother at my aunts party. It was great to see him and be able to chat for a long time. As the boys were coughing none stop they stayed up in the room and watched TV, which was good as we adults got to chat, but I did miss them and felt bad they were not feeling so good.

Got my nails done while in LA. The manicurist called them Princess nails haha. I knew I wanted french tips then it doesn't matter when my nail grows and the different colors doesn't show but I did not want them just white and I did not want to get a design so, here they are. I like them. I got some Jamberry wraps, will be trying those once I take these ones off.

Morning selfies. My boys love taking pictures. This was Saturday morning in LA just snuggling together laughing.........and coughing lol.

This is what the new planner cover looks like. Awesome right!!!! I do like my plumpaper planner, is great but the covers aren't laminated and they get dirty and falls off fast, plus I had a white one so just imagine. This one is great!

Here is what the frame looked like with all the pictures. It was a great pinterest DYI idea and it came out so cool.

I got my first birthday card!! Thanks Anthropology. It came with a 15% card inside yay!!! I also got a VS one but someone (I have an idea who) stole the card so I was fuming but oh well. We are getting a new mailbox with a key. Since then I got a coupon card from Joanns for 20% off (washi tape????) and a $5 off from DSW, I LOVE my birthday month!!!!

The Jambery nails came, I still have to learn how they suppose to be applied on my nails. I got some washi tape from an etsy shop each was $1, I got 10 and they send me 7 free woohoo. The stickers are also from an etsy shop, I love the Harry Potter ones I think I will save them and use them next year when they open Harry Potter at the Universal in Hollywood, the boys and I are totally gonna be there. 

More selfies with the boys!! I got to pick them up from school 3 days this week. I am really excited that they will get to go to my school next year then I can take them with me in the morning and we can come home together in the afternoon. Is so nice to heard all about their day and see how happy they are when I get them. 

My sweet boys made me Valentine day cards and they each gave me one of the neckless we got at NOLAs for our New Years lunch. They said they were so excited they couldn't wait until Valentine's to give it to me. They are so so so sweet!!!!

So January is over! I am excited for February to come. Happy hour with friends, birthday celebrations. I am so excited my mom gets to go to Florida and visit her sister and brother plus my cousins, she is going to have such a GREAT time. I am also looking forward to using all my birthday discounts and have a great Presidents week off, yeahhhhhh.