My Tree Roxy

The tree, I think we shall name her Roxy. I like to name things...

Adam & I bought this tree 2 years ago (yes, it's a fake). Up until 2 years ago I hadn't been decorating my apartment for Christmas. When Adam and I got married we figured we should at least have a tree. So we bought this one. It's pretty. It doesn't smell like "fresh pine", but it's easy to take care of (don't have to worry about it dying), helps the environment (Adam says this is the only thing we do for the environment that helps lol) & it's cheap (heck yes).

Last year Adam and I decided that we wanted to start our own family traditions for Christmas. We decided to start simple with the tree and as the years progress and as Noah gets older and we have more children we will add on more ornaments as we go. Right now the tree feels a little bare but I know in a couple of years, "Roxy" will be asking for help. We will probably have to get a fatter and bigger tree =)

This will be the first year we do stockings. We have a BEAUTIFUL fire place to hang them on. I found a zebra print stocking that I like. I've also found a stocking in the shape of a high heel. Decisions, decisions.

I look forward to letting Noah pick out his own stocking, ornaments, etc as the years go on. So many memories we will have. I feel blessed to have my family and am looking forward to starting these new traditions with them.

Now on to putting the lights up on the house! YAY. Thinking of doing colored lights. I usually go for white because I feel like it looks "classier" but I think colored lights are more fun and appropriate for homes with children. Hehe...

My Happy Journal

New Years is quickly approaching and with the new year always comes New Years Resolutions....

I'm not going to lie. I honestly do not remember any of my resolutions for this past year. I'm not even sure I had any. I was a new mommy with a baby only a couple of months old. I'm pretty sure all I was focusing on was breastfeeding, changing poopy diapers, trying to look decent and sleep when I could.

Once again I've been inspired. This time, I've been inspired to keep a "Positivity Journal" aka "Happy Journal". The goal: Everyday at the end of the day, write something down that I'm thankful for or write down a memory or moment of the day that I appreciated or made me happy. I need this! For one, I would like to remember all those great moments that take place on regular days. It seems so easy to forget the "little" things in life or not appreciate those quiet blessed moments of a clean house or being blessed with yummy food in the refrigerator, snuggling with my Noah or cuddling on the couch with the hubby. My goal these last couple of months and my goal in life is to really try to have positive thinking. I've always been quite the realist and am very bubbly and for the most part positive...but I've also been the kind of person to let things get to me. The smallest of things or the biggest. I want to live my life to the fullest. I want to appreciate every moment, the biggest moment and the smallest moment. So therefore, I'm keeping a "happy journal".

My happy moment of the day today: Noah coming and laying his head on my shoulder just to give me some extra love. With him being a toddler now and runnning all over the place, these snuggles are starting to be far and few between. So I'll take what I can get ;)

My other happy moment of the day: Getting Adam a Christmas present from Noah. I found some Darth Vader sleep pants and boxers. My hubby is a Star Wars fanatic. He will be very excited by this. I'm not even sure if he will wear them...might put them with all his collectors stuff. lol.

I encourage you all to think of your "happy" moment of the day!

I am a woman searching for a word..

I almost forgot I had a blog. That is until I finished the book, "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Yes, it has inspired me. Gosh, I hate to sound so cliche. It truly is a fantastic, life-changing, thought provoking book. In a different life I'd like to think that I would have had the balls to jump up and leave everything behind to travel the world for 1 year. I know that her journey wasn't always a pleasurable one. She went through a lot of struggles, self loathing, battles to get to the light at the end of her tunnel. I think that's the key...."her tunnel". Everyones life takes a different path. Every person has a different destiny. Liz and I are very different. However, I can relate to some of Elizabeth's feelings in many ways. I too wonder what this life and world has to offer. And I feel (and know) as if I haven't reached my full destination/destiny yet.

I don't want this blog to sound as if I'm not happy with where I'm at. I'm actually quite the opposite of that. I'm very happy & blessed. I love my husband and love being his wife. I've got a husband who is my partner, lover and best friend. And I love my son and love being his mommy. Those are two things I wouldn't trade for the universe. I love being a stay at home mom and taking care of our home and son. I am so appreciative of my life and so grateful to have a hard working, dedicated husband who enables me to be able to do these things. But, I also look forward to the unknown things that life has to offer. I look forward to adventures. I believe I am fulfilling PARTS of my destiny now but I believe there are many other parts of my destiny that are still to come. And I'm not sure what pieces of the puzzle I "need" or what God has in store for me. But, what I do know is whatever it is, I will have my family by my side. Adam and I started dating at a young age and got married at a young age, we both knew that we still had a lot of growing up to do (and still have a lot of growing up to do), but something we both decided and chose to do was to "grow up" together. I think that's the key sometimes with things in a marriage and in life...when you are in a committed relationship you have to be commited to eachother and the decisions that are made TOGETHER. You have to be one, stay one and work as a team. I never want to do anything in life without having Adam by my side doing it with me. I need his support when I decide to follow my dreams and I vow to support him as he chases his.

I've read the book & now seen the movie. The one quote that has stuck with me is this, "The only permanent thing in life is family". If that's not the truth I don't know what is.

ps: "I am a woman searching for a word" ;) I'll let you know when I figure that one out....it could take a while....like years.....

First Day

So today is the day I am on my own with Noah! And still...pretty proud of myself, I've found time to blog...it only took me an hour to start this blog because my precious little one wanted to be held =)

Today is the first day of my new job. I like to call myself now Queen of the Jus (Shortened for Jurado's)! I was just a Princess before, but now I feel like a Queen. I've got my King and my Prince and my Castle to take care of. I feel so blessed for this opportunity to be able to stay at home with my son and look forward to continuing to be able to stay at home.

When Adam and I got married in March 08, I never would have thought that I would be a mommy so soon. Adam and I were on the "five year plan"...hehe...well God had other plans for us. It's so neat to see where life takes you. It's like you can plan for this and plan for that, but a lot of times life throws you curves and those curves can be some of the most amazing unexpected experiences of all time. I now cannot imagine not being Noah's mommy. I'm so glad to have him here with us, now, in this time of our lives. It's amazing how faithful God is too. Even though this wasn't apart of "the plan", God has totally looked out for us. For the first time in my life I've submitted myself completely to God and that's why I truly believe there is such peace in our life. God takes care of his people =)

God knew what he was doing when he gave us Noah. When I was only a couple of months pregnant one of our favorite Pastors (Dano) prophesied over Noah in my belly. He said that Noah was going to bring FREEDOM. Noah was going to break the chains that bound people. That people would just hold Noah even as a baby, and chains would begin to be broken off of them. How amazing is that? Let me tell you...NOAH has brought FREEDOM. He has brought major freedom in my life. He has brought a peace, he has a brought a striving to be a better person, he has brought a greater knowledge of love and this is just the beginning. This baby is already ministering to my heart. I can't wait to see what his destiny and future holds. No matter what it is, I promise to strive to be the mommy that God has asked me to be and the mommy that Noah needs me to be. It may not always be, "by the book" but it will be by Gods grace and love. I also strive to be the wife that God has called me to be and the wife that my husband needs me to be. Because I do already realize that one of the best ways to show Noah love and respect, is to love and respect your spouse. I know that things in life are not always going to be easy, there's going to be some times that we cannot control and sometimes when we act ungodly. However, this I know...keeping God first will allow all to conquer anything.

Thanks Jesus for my precious gift of Noah. Thank you for taking good care of him up in heaven before you allowed us to meet him. <3

I Am Me

I Am Me.

Thanks to a friend I've gotten a little bit of encouragement here to officially start a blog. I've been journaling for some time, but let's face it...this is the techno stage! I'm pretty sure I won't throw out my journal, it's been too faithful! However, I type a lot faster than I write!

So here's to my first blog! Not sure if anyone will actually read it, but to be honest with you...it doesn't even matter. Sometimes it's just nice to talk (or type) from the heart.

Mom. That's what I am now. It's such an amazing experience. I actually don't think "amazing" or any other word for that matter could truly express right fully so the feelings and emotions I feel about being, "Noah's Mommy". As a little girl you always play house or with your baby dolls or barbies. You play out your "dream wedding" and already have your kids names picked out. I remember for the longest time I was going to name my little girl, "Maggie" and my little boy "Tristan". I have no clue where Maggie came from and I'm not even sure why I liked it (sorry to all the Maggie's out there lol) and Tristan came from Brad Pitt's character in the movie, "Legends of the Fall". As a little girl you always dream and imagine what your life is going to be like. You think about who you are going to marry, how many kids your going to have, what you want to be when you grow up, what your house is going to look like, etc. I've gone through so many career choices in my head from being a Marine Biologist to a Movie Star to a Lawyer and then to an FBI Agent, Teacher, Singer....
The one thing that has stayed constant is the dream of being a mommy. No matter what I have always wanted to be a wife and a mommy. I know this is the same dream that most little girls have.
Now I am living my dream. I am a wife to an amazing husband and I am a mommy to an amazing little boy. I am living that dream and fulfilling part of what I believe to be my destiny.
Now...with all of this said, I am still me. I am my husband's wife and Noah's mommy but I am also Paris. This is something that I want to make sure that I hold onto tight because even though much of my identity is found now in being a wife and a mom, I still owe myself the right to be me.
What I mean by this is that, I owe myself the right to not lose sight of the spunky, sassy, sarcastic, girly, high heel wearing, lover of lip gloss girl. My husband and my Noah are the two most important people and they will always be put first. But I also want to make sure that in this journey, I don't lose sight of me.
So if your my friend...remind me...I am Me and don't let me lose sight of that =)

ps: I'm a rambler...deal with it ;)