Life is Beautiful

Motherhood, Sewing, Family

10 years later

~ Etc.

I’ve known these girlfriends of mine for over 10 years.  I’ve known them since my Senior year in High School and we all went to BYU together.  I always said to them, “Wouldn’t it be so great if we all got married later on and got pregnant at the same time? Our kids can be best friends and we can have play dates everyday!”

Well, guess what?  My dream has come true!  
when Jihae broke her foot and was high on drugs
this was after I had gained the Freshmen 35.  Yes, I gained not Freshmen 15, but Freshmen 35.  This was also when Jay and I met for the first time.
my wedding day with my friends Jihae, Carol & Susan.
and now 10 years later….
me at 9 months pregnant with my 3rd child, Susan & Jihae at 5 months with their 2nd child, and Carol at 4 months pregnant with her first baby!
I only wish we had a better camera other than our phones but my dream has come true nonetheless!  I couldn’t be any happier.

What I wore with Belly Dance Maternity + a $100 giveaway

~ Etc.

outfit 1: sunglasses: thanks to Chicnova | navy dress: Belly Dance Maternity | sandals: Oasap
outfit 2: dress: Belly Dance Maternity | wedges: target
photographs by Jessica Peterson
Today’s giveaway is for a $100 giftcard to the NOM selection from Belly Dance Maternity, a beautifully edited selection for expectant mothers at a wide range of price points.  They offer not only maternity wear, but also nursing, skin care and baby wear, lingerie, and swim.  I am wearing two dresses from the NOM collection and it is so soft and comfortable!  The fabric flows easily and the color block maxi dress I can wear when I’m not pregnant, which is always a huge bonus.  
To enter the giveaway, either like Belly Dance Maternity on Facebook or follow them on Twitter and leave a comment below.  Like/follow both for an extra entry! If you don’t have either of the accounts, complete the extra entries below. The giveaway ends on July 23rd.
For extra entries:
-leave a comment below telling me what your favorite item is from Belly Dance Maternity.
-leave a comment below telling me what your favorite item is from the NOM collection.
-leave a comment below telling me who you’re entering the giveaway for!

Best luck everyone!

My husband doesn’t like my outfits

~ Etc.


*Petunia Pickle Bottom giveaway winner announced!

Let’s get one thing straight.  My husband doesn’t really like the way I dress.  Once in a blue moon he’ll say to me, “I like your outfit today, you look cute!”  and I’m always like, “This? You think THIS outfit is cute?” and I look down at my outfit and it’s the times when I just threw on my blue jeans, a plain t-shirt, and flat sandals. No styling, no personality, just boring.  Same thing with make-up too.  “I like your make-up today.” he’ll say.  “I’m not wearing any make-up!  I’ll say.  “Oh.  Well, I like when you’re not wearing make-up.”

It’s the times when I actually do think my outfit is cute he’ll say to me, “You are wearing THAT?”, or “I didn’t know you raided your grandma’s closet recently.” among many other comments as such.  So awhile ago, I started taking pictures of my outfits whenever he made fun of it.

Here are some of the outfits I’ve worn in the past and his comments to the outfits below.

“Have you become the horse whisperer?  Neigh~!” -referring to my horse print socks. 
 And every time I passed by him throughout the day, he would neigh into the air.

 “Did Sesame Street ask you to try out for Big Bird?”

and the most recent, “Hey, I think NFL is having a try-out soon, you should try out!”  then he waited for me to walk into the living room and as soon as I entered, he turned on the song “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal on full blast and sings loudly to the part “Now that your rose is in bloom….” while pointing dramatically to the rose petals on my shoulders.  He continued to turn on the song and sing to me throughout the whole day every time I walked into the room he was in.
Now, my husband has a way of saying the most blunt things with tact and humor to anybody he pleases without them ever getting offended.  I honestly don’t know anyone else who can be so honest and gets away with saying anything he wants!  It’s truly a talent I tell ya.  So I don’t get offended at all, I just think it’s hilarious!  So stay tuned, I’m sure there will be more to come. 😉 

Can a mother have it all?

~ Etc.

One of the frequent questions I get from other women is how I balance my life out.  “How do you find the time to sew, to run a small business, to be a stay-at-home mother and a wife, do modeling, and keep a blog? You seem to have it all figured out and so well balanced!”  To that I tell them, what?  I apologize if I ever portrayed myself that way because the truth is, I don’t!  I’m not a successful business owner or a full-time blogger, I rarely do modeling(and I still have a hard time calling myself that, me a model? ha!) and I hardly sew.  My little headband store is definitely on the back burner, no one buys them and I could care less.  I can’t even remember the last time I checked out my own website!  I am very picky about the auditions I choose to go to for modeling jobs since it’s such a time commitment to commute back and forth for an audition that you’re not guaranteed to get, I blog when the kids are at their friends’ house playing or at school, or when they’re in bed, and never when it’s just me and the girls and it’s not my highest priority either.  I don’t do anything to promote my business or the blog, or make numerous contacts for sponsors.  
I believe people make time for things that are the utmost importance to them, and I make time to be a wife and a mother foremost.  Everything else can be put on a pause or on a back burner.  For now anyway, while the kids are young.  Once they’re all in school for most of the day, oh, I’m so excited to pursue my other dreams, education, and career on full force!  I don’t believe my way is the best way or the right way, I’m doing what is best for me and I believe other mothers do what’s best for them too, no matter how different it might be from mine.  So while I believe I can have it all eventually, I can’t have it all right now.  There are so many things I’d like to do such as start my own clothing line, take guitar & singing lessons, go to graduate school, just to name a few and I believe it’ll happen, just not all at once and not all right at this minute.  And I’m okay with that because right now my focus is on my little children.
How do you balance out your life?  What are some dreams and goals in your life that is put on hold for now?  

Radio Disney is where it’s at

~ Etc.

…………….that awkward moment when you step in Cafe Rio to grab some lunch with your daughters and as soon as you enter the restaurant, your 4 year old daughter starts singing out loud to the Katy Perry’s song Teenage Dream, and out of the whole song she chooses to sing this very specific verse and this very specific verse only, “Let’s go all the way tonight, no regrets, just LOVE!” before you stop her but it’s too late and everyone at the restaurant is looking at you and your daughter.  And instead of the mother scolding her daughter or getting really embarrassed by it, the mother just starts laughing and holds her daughter close.

Let’s just say from then on, we pretty much only listen to Radio Disney on the radio.  Oh, I mean, it didn’t happen to me or anything, it happened to a really good friend of mine….