Fashion, Style & More

Moving into Teenager Land!!!

I can hardly believe that 13 years ago God gave us a beautiful 7lb 3oz baby boy.  This little guy was truly a gift from above.  As I sit here typing these words into my laptop, I can hardly believe that we are celebrating 13 years of his life today.  It seems like we just brought our little guy home from the hospital.  What a beautiful journey we parents embark when we have a child.  One of the funniest stories that always make me laugh when I think about it is when we were preparing for my sonogram appointment.    My husband and I had decided that we were not going to find out the sex of our child.  We would let it be a surprise.  Just like the days before sonograms were available.  As we were making decisions on the nursery we were selecting neutral colors.  I had selected hunter green and since my theme was Noah’s Ark it wouldn’t matter if a little boy or a little girl would be delivered.   The day came for my appointment and my hubby left the office to pick me up at our home.  We headed up the road to the doctor’s office.  As we sat in the waiting room we reiterated that we would let it be a surprise and we would be happy with whatever God sent us. In our hearts we were hoping for a little boy, but nonetheless we would be thankful for what God had planned for us.  Well, in the room we went and the sonogram process began.  I’ll never forget when the doctor looked over at Rodd and asked, “Would you like to know what you are having?”  My husband quickly replied before I could get a word in, “of course we do!” My mouth was opened so wide I could feel it hitting the floor.   I couldn’t believe that after all that discussion in one second we would now know what I would be delivering.  Oh but, you already know – it was a boy!!!

Watching our son go through the various stages of his life has been so enjoyable.  I loved the baby stage; I even loved the toddler stage.  Each stage was quite a celebration and we most certainly celebrated every milestone.  It seemed like every event has a picture to go with it.  I’m sure you know what I mean.  We always take lots and lots of pictures of our first born.    Today we have reached another milestone!  My little guy is no longer a little guy but a young man.  We celebrated his special day today just like he wanted.  After his Sports Jiu-Jitsu class we had a pizza party.  He loves chocolate cake and we had the best chocolate cake I’ve ever had.  It had fudge icing and it was Yum!!! 

Happy Birthday Son!!!

 

We continue to celebrate the milestone in our life with lots of laughter!

Smiles!

FashionStyle & Skin Fitness Coach,

                                         Karen

 

Drink More Water!

Water is a Source of Life and Good Health!

It is a proven fact!!

I’m inspired to take my undernourished, stressed out and perhaps overheated dermis and get it Beauti ready by becoming an H2O Fanatic! I think I’ll challenge myself to be consistent with my water intake for the next 30 days. Anyone want to join me?

 

 

Anyone want to join me?

 

We will have to drink at least eight glasses of water a day to insure healthy cleansing, inside and out. This is critical to maintain skin wellness. If you’re in drop me a line on my page I'll follow up with you and we can set a day of the week to report our successes to each other. Accountability is a good thing!!

 

 

 

 

Smiles!

FashionStyle & Skin Fitness Coach,

Karen

Helping you reach your Skin Fitness Goals in 2009!!

Don’t be shy….share your beauty questions with me at www.askbeautyquestions.com.

 

Need a starting point?

Whether you want to shed a few pounds or you want to take off unwanted pounds and remain slender forever you must begin somewhere. Why not start here?


1) Determine your goal weight.

2) Determine your goal date.

3) Write down 10 reasons you want to loose ___ pounds.

4) Be committed!


Start by learning more about your body. Begin to change your thoughts on how you deal with food. Forget diets! Diets often make you feel deprived and involved dramatic changes that lead the majority of people right back to their old ways. To reach and maintain your ideal size you must form new eating habits. Habits are a function of your subconscious mind. Therefore, replace you old habits with new ones! Keep a food journal to help you determine how much you are consuming. It’s going to take some time but by monitoring our changes you’ll l stay motivated and be on your way to a new you!

 

Smiles!

FashionStyle & Skin Fitness Coach,

Karen

 

Helping you reach your Skin Fitness Goals in 2009!!

Don’t be shy….share your beauty questions with me at www.askbeautyquestions.com.

Kiss in the New Year

Traditions!  I love some of the wonderful traditions that our family has for the Christmas season.  One of my favorite is how we bring in a New Year.  We welcome a New Year with love & affection.  Are you wondering?  Why with a Kiss of course.  After all a kiss is a wonderful expression of love.  Wouldn’t you agree?

Every since we had our first child we made a conscience decision to stay in for New Years.  Since 1996, when our first was born, we started our very own family tradition for New Year’s Eve.  We start with an Italian themed dinner.  My husband has some game on the TV going while I prefer music going in the kitchen.  I love whipping up all kind of snacks and goodies while coordinating all the yummy dishes that will go with my main Italian dish.  After dinner we typically play board games, cards or dominos and of course we catch Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.  Now that I have kids I really love to watch how excited everyone gets as the clock turns to 10 minutes to midnight.  Now it’s the last ten seconds that are the most exciting.  For us it seems like we all slowly edge to the end of our chairs and all of a sudden you start hearing 5, 4, 3, 2, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  Everyone is up on their feet quickly hugging each other with utter joy.

I can’t explain how good I feel inside in that instant.  Knowing that all is possible, after all it’s a brand New Year!  I’m sure you have a great New Years story or a family tradition to ring in the New Year.  Whatever it is hold them dear to your heart and remember you are making memories for your children!

Wishing you the Best in 2009!!!!

Smiles!

FashionStyleCoach,

Karen

A Recap of December

This year was a very simple Christmas.  With all that is going on around the world we felt it would be good to keep things low key.  In doing so we ended up with one of the most beautiful Christmas seasons ever! 

 

We started the month with a beautiful Dinner & Dance.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner with friends and we had such a great time dancing!  It had been a while since I saw adults playing musical chairs, but they did.  It was a treat to watch a few young couples show their talent on the dance floor with the Swing, Waltz and Salsa.  It was quite a treat. 

 

The next morning my best friend and I headed for a Gift Exchange.  This was the first time we had been to this event.  It was so much fun!  Women laughing and enjoying themselves.  All the gifts were so nice and it seemed like each lady walked out with just the right gift.  We even played charades, which was quite a hoot.  It was all Christmas words or sayings.  Talk about unity & competiveness.  We women Rock when we get together!! 

 

My husband & I were able to share in one of my girl friends great accomplishments:  graduating from a Master’s program.  After the graduation ceremony 17 of us went to enjoy dinner and celebrate such a milestone.  It was a very special night. 

 

Our next event this month was a Christmas Party at some very special friend’s home.  This is one we’ve been doing for about 5 years.  Each year we have the best time playing a game that involves selecting a gift from under the tree or stealing someone else’s.  I was the first to steal this year.  Darn…I really wanted that singing Snowman; especially since I collect snowmen, but to my dismay someone stole it from me. LOL!!!  It was a joyous evening!!

 

This was the year for reunions and I could not have had a more special Christmas than spending time with two very special people.  I have loved my sweet Charity & Christian since they were little.  Both were in our wedding.  Charity was one of my flower girls and Christian was our ring bearer.  I had lost track of them and it was a blessing when we connected a few months ago on FaceBook.  It was even a greater treat to be able to spend an evening with them.  All grown up but still the warm and beautiful people I remember!! My heart was filled with so much emotion when I saw them and it was a delightful evening!!

 

Now Christmas Eve has come and we met friends for an exquisite Christmas Eve service.  Everything about it made you realize the beauty of the birth of Christ!  How sad as a nation we have turned from our true roots.  How sad we’ve forgotten the true meaning of Christmas.  How beautiful when people come together and celebrate such a wonder!!!!

 

But our night did not end there….we headed out to my husband’s parents for a gathering.  The kids got to spend time with their cousins, we had a delicious dinner and the kids had a wonderful time exchanging and opening gifts.  It was great to spend time with my brother-in-law, his wife and their boys; as well as ma & pa!

 

Now we head to my parents for the night and we will wake up to Christmas Day!! This is our tradition which seems comical since we live 13 miles from each other.  But each year we enjoy “going home for Christmas”.  You’ve got to give me something since I don’t get a White Christmas.  LOL!!  Wakened by the voices of Teens we gathered ourselves together and headed to the living room.  This year Dad played Santa Claus.  He was quite strategic in handing out the gifts.  It was a great time.  We laughed so much!! My mom is an amazing cook and she had the kitchen under complete control.  We had a traditional Spanish meal as we do every year.  We save the Italian meal for New Years.

 

Yes, I had a wonderful month.  My soul was filled with the joy of knowing that I am incredibly blessed.  Blessed to have an amazing God that loves us and has the perfect plan for our lives.  Blessed to have a remarkable family.  A family that shares love and admiration for one another not just during the holidays but all year round.  Blessed to have incredible friends that share of themselves and show care and great warmth towards us.  Yes indeed we are blessed!  I hope you had some time to enjoy family, friends, reconnect or perhaps make new friends.  I hope that you experienced the true meaning of Christmas this year!!

God Bless You & Yours

Smiles!

FashionStyleCoach,

Karen

On Earth Peace to all Men

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you; You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.  Luke 2: 11-14

Wishing you & yours a very Merry Christmas!!

Smiles!

FashionStyleCoach,

Karen

 

 

 

Thoughts for my Girl Pal KJ!!

Special Congratulations to my very special girl pal KJ!! She will be graduating today with a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the

University of South Florida. As I think about her graduation I am honored to be a part of this exciting and rewarding time in her life. 

KJ as you begin your new adventure step out, use your talents an abilities and keep moving toward your goals.  Celebrate what you have accomplished!!  Think of what is important to you and pursue those thins.  Give yourself the chance to try new things – you can do anything!!!  Whatever you want to do, do it now!! I’m so proud of you and mostly I am thankful for our friendship!!

 

Smiles!

FashionStyleCoach,

Karen

Affecting Others

I love Christmas and all that comes with it.  I love spending time with family and very special friends.  Going to Christmas parties, gift exchanges, decorating, planning menus and reunion with friends & family make for special times & wonderful memories.  The part about the holidays that I don’t quite enjoy is the mayhem of shopping.  I love to shop, but as the years pass I find that people have less courtesy with one another.  Do we have to accept this or can we make a difference?

Reflections from the ♥

This journey called life is not only full of adventures, but it is an opportunity for us to touch the lives of others.  What an awesome responsibility. Sure we may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but each one of us as the ability to affect others.  Think back on how you’ve affected someone’s day.  How have you responded to someone that wasn’t the most congenial?  Was it the cashier at your local grocery store, maybe it was that day you were running super late and felt guilty for having to pickup fast food for dinner and the person behind the counter wasn’t very pleasant.  You get the point.  It has happened to all of.  We have complete control on how we handle ourselves.  We can react to the person or we can affect them in a positive way.  If we choose to do the latter we can actually make someone’s day brighter.  What a great way to affect another!  What a great model you will be and what a happy life you will live!!

Smiles!

FashionStyleCoach,

Karen

Click on Comments below to share your inner beauty secrets with us!!

Getting Started Today!

If you’re like our family you are still eating leftovers.  That is not necessarily a bad thing although after a while you do run out of ways to change up a turkey meal.  I hope you Thanksgiving was a great one and that you had a wonderful time with family and friends.  I can report that ours was wonderful!!!  It was a quite one this year, since we had no out of state visitors this year, but it was a great time with my parents and the kids wrote us each beautiful notes that expressed their gratitude.  That was really something – a beautiful project that my dear friend Selma Santos, Chief Child Honoring Leader with Dream Believe Inspire (www.dreambelieveinspire.com) had challenged them to do.  The impressive part wasn’t that they took the challenge, but all the beautiful things they wrote from their hearts and so eloquently expressed to us before we began our traditional feast.  It was a very fulfilling moment for this Momma whom will treasure these expressed thoughts in her heart!

 

Before Thanksgiving I posted an article about Staying Fit During the Holidays.  The reason I am following up on a posting is because this one is of a personal nature for me.  I will be running in the 2009 Publix Super Markets Gasparilla Distance.  I wasn’t able to run this last year due to a knee injury so I am very excited to be running it this coming year.  It gets even better since I’ll be running with my two very best girl pals.  Now one of them is an avid runner so needless to say I have to start training now if I have any plans to keep up with her.  My other girl pal, who is always gracious to run at my pace when we do these races, shared a wonderful training schedule that I would like to share with you.  If you are training for a future run and are new to running I believe you will find this information helpful.  If you are already a passionate runner, then please share with me some training tips!  I will pass them on to our readers.  I welcome learning from you!!

Whether you like to begin training for fitness, weight loss, and great race performances or just plain fun the more informed you are the better the results.

 

As a 40 something woman, I’m going to generalize for a moment, due to my age I have some pretty stubborn areas that I would like to work on.  I take a cardio kickboxing class during the week that is a fantastic workout.  Unfortunately, as I speak to women my age in the class the consensus is that, even going 3 times per week, we still need one more thing.  There are two ladies in my cardio kickboxing class that have had amazing results by just adding running to their workouts.  Hey if it works for them it has to work for me.  So this week my son and I began the journey of adding running to our schedule. 

Here’s this weeks schedule!

 

    

Start with a 5 minute walk at an easy pace to warm up.  Once you hit the 5 minute mark start intervals by jogging for 2 minutes and walking for 1 minute.  Do this sequence 6 times and complete your work out with a 5 minute cool down.

 

Anytime you begin a new exercise program you should see your family physician. Tell your doctor the details of your plan and have him/her assess your plan and any health concerns that might arise.  After you’ve checked in - Join us and let us know your results.  I’ll post mine periodically.  Stay motivated and best wishes for a healthy you!!

"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."
          - Juma Ikangaa, Tanzania

Smiles!

FashionStyleCoach,

Karen

So Very Thankful!!!

 

Today is Thanksgiving and before we head out for family time, fellowship and a yummy, yummy feast I thought I’d share a little with you from my heart.  This year, 2008, has been an interesting year thus far.  It has been filled with some disappointments, with adjustments, with celebrations and with plenty to be thankful for.  Although our main business has suffered greatly due to the housing crunch we have managed to keep things fairly “normal”.  I certainly have learned more about how resilient both my husband and I and our children are.  One thing I have grown to appreciate is to be thankful no matter my circumstance. Each year we go around the table and share at least one thing we are thankful for.  This is what I will be sharing with my beloved family:

        In the mist of all the inconveniences of the market and the disappointments that often come with having to make difficult and unwanted adjustments, this year I am most Thankful for my circumstance!  Life is a great journey and we are simply a work in progress.  As I look at what 2008 has brought I know that I am only a better person, a more understanding person and a more appreciative person than before.  I have learned to enjoy people and to recognize that those in my life are enriching it daily!  Today, I am most thankful for my personal relationship with my Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.  That without whom I would not be able to weather the storms of life and I am most thankful for knowing that He has the perfect plan!! I am thankful for my parents, whom have molded and shaped me and most importantly loved me unconditionally!!  For me beloved and best friend in the whole world – my husband whom I have grown deeper in love with throughout the years and whom keeps my life filled with laughter.  To my sweet hearted and beautiful children I am eternally grateful that God entrusted you to me.  It is a huge responsibility, but I am a more rounded person because of you both!!  My desire for you both is that your lives be complete and that you never let people limit you!! A song came to mind that I was listening to on the radio earlier today.  This particular verse and the chorus are what I long for you.  Thanks to Mark Harris and his beautiful song Find Your Wings I can share a piece of my heart with you!

May passion be the wind
That leads you through your days
And may conviction keep you strong
Guide you on your way
May there be many moments
That make your life so sweet
Oh, but more than memories

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage
To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings

With Great Love & Affection

A loving wife, mother & daughter!

Karen