Memorial Day Weekend!

Here's a handful of pictures from this past holiday weekend. My parents and my two youngest brothers came up for a visit. It was fun having them here; I love spending time with the family. Nothing is better! I just wish they had been here longer. Saturday was my mom's birthday, so we all got to celebrate with her. I hope you enjoyed your birthday, Mom! That was also the evening we had our little retreat to a nearby park. We had fun roasting hot dogs, making s'mores, and driving Joey's remote controlled boat in the lake. When evening started to fall, the fireflies came out. I was so pretty; it looked like the trees were sparkling. I would have loved to go exploring some through the wooded areas, but there was an abundance of Poison Ivy there, so I decided against it. Thanks Holly and Joey for the wonderful weekend. Let's do this EVERY year. :)

Two crazies in Wal-Mart...armed with a camera

Since I moved up to North Texas, my sister and I have become closer. She's one of my best friends, if not my bestest friend (sorry Nicole). We share the same crazy sense of humor- I understand her, she understands me (most of the time, lol). Well, we did it again. We had yet another escapade at the local grocery store, this time Wal-Mart. It's kind of our thing now, if she needs to make a grocery run late at night and the kids are in bed, we grab the camera and go. Love it! Here's the masterpieces we created that night. I posted the photos in order that we shot them.

I thought I'd let the little dog take a break.

They could be twins!!!

She was a little thirsty, unfortunately, I don't think anything was in these containers.


Okay, so you know, this was not my idea. But a good one, none the less. Should I post this picture, I'm not so sure.


Clean up on Aisle 7. "Holly, grab the toilet seat and let's get outta here!!!"


SpongeBob and I are the best of friends...


...that is until I realized he's a freaking pinata. "Take this SpongeBoob!!!" (you can't see the weapon too clearly, but that is one heavy duty shovel I'm rockin')


In my sister's hand is an Indiana Jones whip. I think she was going for the seductive look, what do you think???


Yeah, I'm still trying to figure it out. Actually, she was laughing too hard at this point to get a serious picture out of her. These kind of pictures are the best, though.


When I showed this picture to my niece, Aubrey, she had the most horrified expression on her face. She asked,"You did that in Wal-Mart and you didn't get in trouble?!?". hee hee


Holly feeling the holiday spirit! Whoo

Coming soon

I know I've been slacking lately, and I just wanted to let you guys know I have lots of things to post, I just haven't done it yet. I'd post while at work, but I don't have access to all of the photos I'd like to use. Just be patient with me, I'll get to it eventually. :) Maybe tonight...

This is meant to be read sarcastically. If any of you have ever worked as a teller, you will understand all of this. These are phrases I mutter to myself pretty much all day long. People will never really learn.

51 Things I’ve Learned as a Teller
1. I know everyone in the world, so I never need to ask for ID.
2. "I'll be with you in one moment," means "Come right up here into my business and breathe your smokey breath in my face for a while."
3. Every credit union in the world steals money from its customers, particularly from the ones that don't keep a transaction register.
4. I'm always kidding when I tell people a check is not any good. I'm a good kidder.
5. I know the balance of every account at the credit union.
6. I am at the credit union just because I feel like it. My window isn't actually open when I say, "May I help you?"
7. I know everyone's account number.
8. I know everyone's address.
9. I don't understand how banking works.
10. I have to do whatever the person who gave my customer the check said.
11. I don't know how to count.
12. I don't know how to add.
13. I don't know what the date is.
14. I can read everyone's mind.
15. If I ask for your social, Im trying to steal your identity.
16. I know when every new coin will be arriving.
17. I know how much everyones bills are for the month.
18. We don't sell stamps.
19. We are just here for fun on most holidays, we're not really open. We love it when you rub it in.
20. When someone asks how you want your cash back, your suppose to wait until I have counted it back to you.
21. Apparently people have different definitions of commercial.
22. Your time is more important than mine. I have no life. When you show up 5 minutes before we close to make 10 deposits or open a new account, we don't mind.
23. Everyone with the credit union name tag is related.
24. I am also your secretary.
25. We love to place holds on your checks for fun. We are the only credit union that does it.
26. 13 hours and 10 minutes is not enough time for people to do their business.
27. I am in charge of the never ending popcorn, smarties, lollipops, and coffee.
28. It is polite to ignore someone when they say hello.
29. It is my fault when someone cuts you in line. I should have been paying attention to you and not your money.
30. I know what a checkingdepositwithdrawal for savings is.
31. Being rude should make me want to help you more.
32. I am not really human. I should never make mistakes.
33. It is okay to walk into someone's office when their door is shut.
34. I have a secret collection of licenses in my cubby.
35. I can't hear. I need you to ding the bell 5 times in a row.
36. The sign that says "Next Window Please" is just for decoration.
37. I make people wait on purpose. It's fun to make them mad.
38. I know everyone's PIN number to their ATM card.
39. Fraud doesn't really happen to anyone. Therefore, I should give everyone exactly what they want.
40. The coin machine is my favorite thing to do.
41. The credit union gives out free poinsettias at Christmas. We order them for you, not the bank. Display only means whatever you want it to mean.
42. Please and Thank You are forbidden words at the credit union. We hate to hear them.
43. Checking and Savings deposit slips are EXACTLY the same, we just like all the pretty colors and wanted to make them more colorful. Marking through the word savings changes the deposit slip completely!
44. When I tell someone the same thing over and over, I'm just doing it for fun. I like to waste my breath.
45. We will break the rules for anybody as long as you gripe for more than 10 minutes..
46. I am a professional coin counter. Even when the machine is broken, I will count the coin for you by hand!
47. I am psychic. When you call I can recognize your voice and pull up your information automatically. My computer is voice activated. It's all that fancy technology we have.
48. You don't have to tell me that you've been with the credit union for 50 years. I can tell.
49. Even after 5 years, I am a new teller to anyone who has never seen me before. If I've never met you, I have no idea what I'm doing.
50. I make the rules for the credit union industry. You can blame everything on me!
51. I'm an idiot.

Bored?

Okay, so there's this website that I, along with most of my co-workers, like to visit from time to time. It's called bored.com. It's full of games, pranks, stories, and more pranks. So the latest prank that we've found is the BEST one yet. Let me tell you what this involves. All you need is the telephone number of the person you want to prank, and bored.com does the prank for you. It's awesome! Just type in the telephone number of the victim, the number that you want to show up on their caller ID, and if you want a name to show up on their caller ID, you can type in a name, too. It allows you to choose whatever message you want said to the victim (up to 400 characters), and it's quite entertaining. I've sent many out already today, including my sister, and she definitely got a kick out of it. So, go on out there and create some silly phone calls for your friends and relatives. They'll love you for it! To get there, go to bored.com, click on the tab labeled Fun, and then click on Fun Calls. Enjoy!!!

Weekend with the Duenas Fam

Since it was my niece's recital this weekend, I decided to drive on up for a visit. She did such a good job. Her routine was to the song, Lollipop, too cute! Holly actually did a routine to this song when she was younger too. She even threw in a few smiles while doing her little routine. She was the cutest little girl out there! I'm not just saying that because she's my niece, either. Of course, it's always fun to hang out with my sister's family. I hadn't seen the girls in a while so it was a great chance to catch up. Cali was walking all over the place and isn't as shy as she was last time I saw her. Last time I visited it took a couple of days before she'd even smile at me. :( This visit was much different. Yay! I'm really looking forward to this coming weekend when the whole family will be here. Well, I think the whole family is coming; there could be a brother missing. Unfortunately, I only have a handful of pictures available right now to post, but I'll be posting more this evening.


Sorry Holly for the bow being all crazy, but this is still such a beautiful picture of Ella all dressed up for her recital. And check out the makeup, doesn't she look so grown up?!?


This is Ella after her performance. Notice the beautiful purple flowers she has; Joey got them for her. What a great daddy he is!

Ella being silly before the recital. I told her to make sure she didn't make any faces that involved a possible smudging of the lipstick. lol


Ella and me

I just love this picture of her. She just has this sparkle in her eyes. This one is my favorite of all the pictures I took that day.

Ella got to pick out where we went to eat that evening. So, McDonalds it was!!! Here's Cali enjoying a french fry.

Look at those dimples! She's such a cute baby!!!

And I just had to post this picture, sorry Holly. McDonalds really cheaped out on us and put the tiniest amount of chocolate fudge on Holly and Joey's ice cream sundaes. Here's Holly speaking to the manager about getting a little bit more. She didn't like the response. I think that was some poor customer service. Whatever happened to the saying, "The customer is always right."? C'mon now!!! Just give the girl some FUDGE!!!

Here's a shot of Aubrey. She's getting so big. Sorry for chopping the top of your head off Aub. I'm just starting to realize that I do that alot. Hmm, I guess I should pay better attention to detail. :)

Us at the casa being silly

Here's Ella's silly face. That's supposed to be a mustache(I think the stache may be upsidedown here).

Company Picnic

This past weekend was our company picnic. I didn't get to stay the whole time because of my hair appointment (which was my priority on Sat.), but I had a good time chatting with my co-workers. Here are some pictures of us and the festivities. :)


Here are the Grill Masters: Mr. Morgan, Vince, and the boss lady's husband


Rachel, myself, Chelsea and her boyfriend, Dixon


Left to right: Kenny, myself, Natasha, Natasha's husband, Chelsea's sister in law Marcy, Dixon, Chelsea, Pierre, and Rodney


This is a picture of Kenny and me. Kenny is a friend of Rodney's who just so happened to get signed with the NFL to play for the Arizona Cardinals. How cool is that!?! So, I have a picture of us together now for when he becomes all famous. I'll be looking out for him when he plays. :)


This is my friend Rachel's youngest boy (she has 2 boys), Casey. Isn't he the cutest?!? Look at that face. I love what she did to his hair.




This is my supervisor, Natasha, and her little family of three, soon to be four.




Natasha's little girl, Adriana, trying to get a better look at a little dog that someone brought. This picture was too cute not to post.


Most of the games were for the kids (or I guess I should say that none of the adults were up for any outdoor activities), but Rita decided to join in on the fun. :) Go Rita!!!


Here's another picture of the clothing relay that the kids participated in. This is Tanner, and he's doing a marvelous job. The clothes were waaayyy too big and kept falling off. It was funny to watch, as you can see from the reactions of those watching in the background. :)

August 21st!

Call me crazy, but I've scheduled my Rhinoplasty for the month of August. I think that should give me plenty of time to back out, if I so choose to. And though this is months away, it'll be here soon enough, and I am nervous about it. Nervous about everything really. I've never had any type of surgery before, so this is a first. Thanks to all who have been supportive! You have no idea how much I appreciate that. Just thought I'd share the news. And obviously, the consultation went well. I really like the surgeon, and he was able to answer all the questions and concerns I had regarding the procedure and recovery process. And though I don't like to talk money, I was quite relieved to find out the surgery would cost thousands less than I'd expected. Whew! Well, that's the news!!!

Don't touch that Forward Button!!!

This was something I stumbled upon while online last night. I thought I'd post it in case I have any forward addicts out there. I agree with most of it, but I do happen to like the cutesy and interesting forwards. I don't think ALL forwards are bad, just MOST of them. :)
3 Reasons Why You Should STOP Forwarding Those Emails
July 20, 2007

I’m not a fan of email forwards. There is so much junk flowing around these days and quite frankly I don’t have time for all that.
It can be addicting, I know. You may not realize it, but there are some very good reasons why you should control yourself from hitting the Forward button, piling in a ton of email addresses in the To field and hitting send.
Before I get to some reasons why email forwards are a bad idea I thought I’d offer some practical help breaking the chains of that particular addiction. Take a listen to this little motivational aid I recorded for just to help you.
Here’s a link for those of you reading this via feed: Stop Forwarding Those Emails!
You all motivated? Great!
Now onto the reasons why you should kick the email forwarding habit.

They are Annoying
First of all you are annoying most of your friends by passing all that junk on.
It’s true. We don’t care about the cute animated cartoon with the dancing baby singing some parody of “Tiny Bubbles” in the bathtub.
I’ve got to the point with some of my friends that every time I see their name pop up I know I’m just going to hit “Delete”.
Keep in mind that a whole bunch of people out there are still using dial up and slow internet connections. The last statistic I saw was about half of the folks in the US haven’t gotten high speed yet.
I can’t tell you how annoying it was to wait for a huge attachment to download only to find it was some nonsense when I still had dial-up.
There is enough spam out there already. Don’t add to it by sending junk to all your friends.

They’re Not True
So many of the “call to action” type email forwards are simply not true. There was a time when I would go to Snopes each time I got one of those, grab the link that explained the fallacy of whatever was being passed around by my friend, and emailed it back to them.
In my circle the classic one that would come around about every four or five months was the one about Madalyn Murry O’Hare petitioning the FCC to ban Religious Broadcasting. Usually it was sent under the name of some prominent religious leader and some of my friends would get all angry about it.
Trouble is it’s completely untrue.
And before you go trashing on my religious friends as being soft headed, think about all those emails that have been forwarded to test some email tracking program that folks have passed on. You know, the ones that promise you $100 if you just forward it to 10 or more people.
Not true either. I’m just saying.
Poking around researching this, I found Break the Chain. They’ve got a good take on why you shouldn’t be forwarding on petitions, virus warnings and such. Worth poking around over there.

Helping Spam Your Friends
One of the things I learned is that all the unnecessary email forwarding out there is helping spammers. In a big way.
If a spammer gets one of those forwards, they can add everyone of those email addresses to their mailing list because they are all right there for the world to see in the body of the email.
So by hitting forward, you might be causing your friends to get more spam.
The moral of that story is this. If you can’t overcome the compulsion to forward stuff to bunches of your friends, at the very least use the BCC function and Blind Carbon Copy them all. that way their email addresses are hidden and the only one the spammers will see is yours.
Which might even be considered by some to be a touch of justice. That way the person doing the unnecessary forwarding is the same one getting the spam in return!
There you have it. Three good reasons why you should STOP forwarding all those emails.


Written by Chris · Filed Under Personal Growth, Tech Tips

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!!

I just wanted to wish my mother and all the mother's out there a Happy Mother's Day, blogstyle. Of course, everyone thinks they have the best mother, but I truly couldn't imagine having a more loving, caring mother than the one Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I always thought I had the prettiest mother in grade school and still do. I know I've told you before, but I remember arguing with my friends in school when I was in like second grade, maybe first grade, that my mom was prettier than all the other kids' moms. That was the day the parents came to the classroom. When you showed up, I remember my friend saying that you really were very pretty. I was right! You really were the prettiest mom and still are. Mother, thank you for everything. I love you so much and miss you everyday. Happy Mother's Day!!!

"You did something with your hair."

Today I went to the salon to get highlights in my hair. Since summer is here, I needed to lighten it up a bit, maybe in a couple of months I'll go even lighter (to where I used to be). Here are some of my after photos, but it's hard to really see exactly how my hair looks unless you're standing in front of me. I really love it! I should've gotten highlights sooner for sure. Hope you like them, too. :)

I was trying to get a better shot of just the hair. I know, I look angry, but I wasn't trying to...lol

Face of the Future: Face Transformer

I'm always looking for fun things to do online and came across this website. It's called Face of the Future and it's quite entertaining. What this site does is takes a photo of yours, and morphs it into what you'd look like as a different race, age, painting, and even gender. My co-workers and I had loads of fun trying out each of our faces. Some looked rather scary, well, all of them look scary to be honest. If you've never done anything like this, you should; it's lots of fun!!! Here are some (not all) of Arthur and myself's pictures that we transformed.

Us as African American-Caribbeans

Arthur as a woman, and me as a nasty man


as apes, love it!

As babies. Reminds me of Chucky!


As a painting by artists Greco and Boticelli

East Asians

And last but not least West Asians