Jump OVER!!!

When I was little I lived in the same till I was in 3rd grade. We moved to Sylmar CA while my parents rented the house we had in Arleta CA. When I was done with 6 grade we moved back to the Arleta house. Much had changed including the neighbors on both sides. To the right I had a neighbor named Jessica. She was still in elementary but we started hanging out all the time. She would always hop the fence to come over to my house. We would ride bikes, have sleep overs and talk shit. Yes though she was younger then me she would always shock me and my friends Judy and Queta by all the shit she knew. This kid never seemed like she was still the little girl that she was. I can honestly say I miss those day's so much. I wish she would have never moved. I wish we had never moved. Certain days it would great to just say "Jessica, just jump over and lets go ride bikes" It's the simple things we miss in life as we get older.

Them Rosas girls...

Meet the girls who will totally have my husband in tears once they need him to walk them down the isle. The little one will have him in tears at her Quinceanera when I put together a slide show like how my BFF Norma did for her girls. I am only the blood mother of Mia the little one. Wednesday is my oldest daughter though.


Let me give you a quick run down on these 2. They both know how to get their way with EL Rosas (daddy) and Wednesday can get my son Bryan to do what she wants and Mia can get her brother Zen to do as she says. They are both tough and have no problem saying "NO!".  Mia will punk her big brother Bryan who is 11 and Wednesday always tries to beat up her big brother Zen. Seriously she fights with him like she's a boy.


Like most girls Wednesday doesn't like when you tell her she can't do something. Example Sunday somebody told her she couldn't skate board and she went to prove them wrong got on the board and fell and broke her arm. She didn't cry till she got home. Strong, I know.  I don't know how Mia will be when she's bordering 10 years old. But from what I can tell she's alot like her sister. This one has been rockin a board since she was 2.

Who tattoos you???

Why do you like tattoos? Why do you have so many? Don't you think people will think bad of you? Omg how did it feel when you had the inside of your lip tattooed? Really Vanessa don't you think you should stop getting tattoos? Why are you wasting money on tattoos? They aren't going to look nice when your old....


These are the things I hear often. I am guilty of having tattoos with no real meaning other then "oh it's cute I want it". But along with that I have ones that do mean something and remind me of people in my life who make my life awesome and life would be sucky without. One piece I have is a drawing the artist made that I liked and said OK lets put that on my leg. Lots of tattoo ideas float through my brain daily but I'm pretty set on what I want next.


I'm writing this blog to list who are the great artist I have been able to collect work from. In it you will see who they are and some piece's they have done on me.


First off we have Joey Hamilton. I collected my sparrow and heart with my mom's name on it at Hart and Huntington over 5 years ago by him. It was a piece they had in their book which he just added my mom's name to. He was really nice and has done lots of great work. If you ever watched "Inked" he was on it.

Second we have Fever...Mr. JohnnyFever. Everything I have from him was drawn just for me. I just tell him what I want and he draws away then tattoo's me. My first tattoo was done by him in 07" and it was Valentines candy on my wrist. He is the only person I have work from on my right leg. He is a Vegas artist with lots of talent and always fun to get tattooed by. When he's not drawing on a wall or tattooing he's DJing. Coming to Vegas and want something done let me know so I can give you this man's number. Hehe... By the way Fever I'm still waiting on my hippo ballerina tattoo!!

My arm started getting done in 2007 at the Queen Mary convention. Jay'e Jones started it with a lollipop tattoo. First and only time I've gotten work from a girl. She's a cool girl from Cali who currently owns her own shop. She's had he work in magazines and won awards for her tattoo's.

The same day I got the lollipop a artist named Jesse Perrault who worked with Jay'e had a cupcake he had drawn for somebody who never came back to get it. He showed it to me and I totally fell in love with it so I go it done right under the lollipop that day. Jesse is a awesome artist who is responsible for over half of my upper left arm. He is a artist from Canada who is currently in Canada again kicking ass in the tattoo world out there. I totally wish he wasn't so far away. He had to go back home before he could complete my arm as planned =(. I will make it to Canada some day =). If you ever go to Calgary, Alberta and want a wonderful tattoo he is your man to go see.

A candy sleeve wouldn't be complete without having  my favorite chocolate on it mmmm Reese's. I have only trusted one other artist to work on my upper left arm since Jesse left, that has been Carlos Rojas. He kicks ass at portraits and black N grey, hates color cause he says it's messy but I managed to get him to finish some purple shading, fill in my hearts and add a gummy bear to my arm. He is a award winning artist who currently works at Black Anchor Collective in Cali, has designed shirts for Sullen and is making his way around the world by traveling more and more to cool places like England and Australia.

The last tattoo I had done was a Lego. My 11 year old lives in a Lego world . It was done by Mathew Hurtado. If you follow tattooers I'm sure the last name sounds familiar. He works at Black Anchor Collective with Carlos and has been tattooing for a little while. He is a amazing painter as well. At the young age of 21 his work looks like he's been doing it for longer then he really has. I hope I can collect another piece from him in the future.

Nothing is forever...

Some how this song always makes it better...


So long ago, I don't remember when
That's when they say I lost my only friend
Well they said she died easy of a broken heart disease
As I listened through the cemetery trees

I seen the sun comin' up at the funeral at dawn
The long broken arm of human law
Now it always seemed such a waste
She always had a pretty face
So I wondered how she hung around this place

Chorus:
Hey, come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There's got to be something better than
In the middle
But me & Cinderella,
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With one headlight

She said it's cold
It feels like Independence Day
And I can't break away from this parade
But there's got to be an opening
Somewhere here in front of me
Through this maze of ugliness and greed
And I seen the sun up ahead
At the county line bridge
Sayin' all there's good and nothingness is dead
We'll run until she's out of breath
She ran until there's nothin' left
She hit the end-it's just her window ledge

(chorus)

Well this place is old
It feels just like a beat up truck
I turn the engine, but the engine doesn't turn
Well it smells of cheap wine & cigarettes
This place is always such a mess
Sometimes I think I'd like to watch it burn
I'm so alone, and I feel just like somebody else
Man, I ain't changed, but I know I ain't the same
But somewhere here in between the city walls of dyin' dreams
I think her death it must be killin' me

We all need some Zappos in our life....Seriously she said "happy hour @3pm and dance party @4pm"

Yesterday I was lucky enough to get asked by one of our team leads at work to go on a Zappos tour with them. Yes Zappos.com the big online company that sells shoes and more. I had heard this place is one of the best places to work at. I didn't know much about it till today.

I'm a tattooed girl who would love to have more and have some piercings but due to the fact that I can only have a normal job at this moment I must follow dress code. So yes this means everyday I must wear pants because the pretty tattoo on the back of my leg can't be seen nor can my tattoos on my left arm. It kinda sucks to have to wear long sleeve's everyday. Some days I just wanna wear a regular shirt. I feel since I am in a office were the only contact I have with customers is over the phone dress code shouldn't even be a issue. But of course it is. *sigh* It's ok I knew this was going to come with choosing to have tattoos in those places.



We got to Zappos this morning and our tour guide was a pretty girl dressed in jeans with her tattoos showing on her arms and neck, rocking gauged ears. Clearly there is no dress code there. Heaven. We started our tour and got to see how they can all decorate their desk how ever they want. Awesomeness.
They have a goal coach who doesn't even coach them on work things if they don't want to she will coach them on just life issues. There is a work out room. Everyone says hi. The head honchos don't have a creepy private office, they sit out in the open with everyone else. Which I feel makes the environment less stress full. Every employee must serve 1 month in the call center no matter what position they are taking. Can you say SWEET! Their call center reps don't have a script which is great because I don't like call customer service places that have one. If my phone is broken I don't need you to tell me your sorry and you know how I must be feeling, I just want you to say ok I'll order your new. The only thing they do is ask the customer if they had the opportunity to hire them for their own business based off the call would they? The yes rate was 76%. Not bad. There are no stats which means they are not required to only be on a call for x amount of time and wrap it up fast once done. Benefits are wonderful, free medical rocks. Nap room's yes they have nap rooms. We could all use a nap at work don't you think? In their break room they have a free salad and sandwich bar, free can sodas, teas, and ice cream. You can buy things like prime rib or mahi mahi lunches for just $3. Their vending machine isn't a money sucker. Everything in their is 25 cents and all that money is donated to a cancer foundation. Love. They have a wheel of fortune which they can play to win gift cards or sometime off to do whatever they want for a hour and their boss will cover their spot for that hour. They are all about happy, positive, get the job done attitude. I don't drink much but one thing they do offer at 3pm is "happy hour" yes happy hour with alcohol!! They sell it right there for the employees to be able to enjoy a drink. Then at 4pm there is a dance party. What a amazing place to work at.



Dear Normal jobs,

You need to find ways to keep your employees happy and loving what they do to get the best results. It's not about paying them more but offering tiny perks. Free water in the break rooms, comfy chairs, coffee creamer? Just small little changes could get your employees to love work and wanna come in on Monday. Zappos is a great example. You should all take a tour and learn from the ones doing it right.

Sincerely,

the girl who fell in love with Zappos.

What he needs.

The boy needs a few things.

LOVE.




LEGOS.

And PIZZA.





 He also needs to see his father more often. You know that man who gave him his last name but just went a whole year with out seeing him while only living 4 hours away and who hasn't paid a dime in child support since the boy was about 4. Truth is I can work my ass off provide Love, Lego's and pizza but it's still not enough. He will always seek the love and acceptance from the one who gave him his last name and short chubby body frame. Question is will that man ever step up to do the job? My son is a priority not a option.

The important, the hopes and the wants.

My mom leaves for her home country tomorrow. She will be in Costa Rica for till February 9th enjoying some much needed time off with her favorite sisters. I haven't been in years. I wanna go. I do. But I haven't really had the chance to do so. The working full time doesn't really allow it nor do my 2 spawns. So I've lagged it and haven't renewed my passport. I haven't left the country since 2007. Wow it's been a while. Vacation and travel is a hope and a want. It's not really important. Maybe that's why I haven't made it a priority.

It's no secret.....

Atreyu makes me happy <3. It's raining out side and just one of those wanna stay in bed and mimis day's. Can I say I'm totally jealous my son got to go to my BFF Norma's house and I didn't. Instead I'm home about to hit the laundry room with a load of dark clothes and go stuff my crock pot with a whole chicken. But before I do I'm listening to the Best of Atreyu on Spotify. My Best of Atreyu is trapped in my mom's truck's CD changer. I may never see it again. Did I mention I'm beyond lazy because after working all week long getting yelled at by customers who don't know how to pay their assessments and trying to understand the new Canadian words so I can make sure my coworkers don't get lost when they hear homeowners say "sanction" and "Estoppel"  and "leak in the washroom" they don't mistake washroom for a laundry room.

Like the Canadian rep said yesterday during our conference call "it's going to be a PRO-Cess".  
Now if I could only get the PRO-Cess started on getting my ass to Canada to get tattooed by Jesse Perrault and see My Andrea!

Daddy Daycare

It's been daddy day care at our home since December 26. The left handed, stair falling, Rosas attitude filled man I married has been watching his little 3 yr old boss who doesn't have him on payroll. Our demanding, beautiful, loving daughter Mia. He's cooked, he's cleaned, walked the dog and played Disney princesses. He didn't actually achieve a full day of Manwifeness though. By that I mean he didn't do all the Manwife duties in one day. Some days he cooked others he cleaned but he never did all 4 task of cooking, fully cleaning , playing princess and walking the dog.  He's done rather well up tell yesterday. I noticed he had the look of lacking a social work life. There is only so much he could socialize with a 3 yr old and 11 yr old. But still I'm very thankful he got to spend some much needed time at home and spend quality time with our little spawn. Today he started work. Good thing is he has a nicer schedule now.

Donation? $5 or $50

Thanks to our lovely Cox Cable bundle we have a house phone. Do any of us know the number by heart nope. Only people who ever call is " Hi is John there?" " No you have the wrong number"  Seriously 80% of the calls are for nobody who lives here nor do we know. Today the police department foundation people called requesting a donation. I said no because we are on a tight every dollar counts budget this month. I did my donating last month to one of my favorite charities ST Jude. I prefer to donate to them because I have two childhood friends who each lost a sibling due to leukemia. My second favorite charity is the Make a Wish foundation. It's a great thing that Make a Wish can make a terminally ill child's wish come true by either helping them meet their favorite celeb or letting live out their wish or blowing something up.  Donating is important. We may not be able to donate all the time but when we can it's always a nice feeling.

Is this when it starts?

I don't feel old. Really I don't. But I just saw my son walk into my room using my Skull Candy headphones and felt old. I know he likes music but I've never seen him use my headphones to listen to music it's always just to watch netflix's on my Ipad. The kid is 11 and I'm 27. Some people older then me don't even have kids yet. I'm probably one of the youngest moms if you ID the mothers of other kids in his class. What the hell I'm here listening to Hole like when I was 13. Why does time go by so fast? I wonder if seeing the kid wear headphones makes me feel old because I know I can only legally boss him around for 7 more years and he's finding his own musical taste? Or is it because I know what I was like when I was 13? Hahaha.

 Soon he will be embarrassed by his tattooed mother who always tells him how cute he was when he was a toddler and wishes she could shrink him.

It's getting late

I've been sitting here for 30 minutes with my mind on blank. What to write about?? My friend suggested hippies. I don't know much about them. Like I told him, "free love, Woodstock and pot" is all I really know. I left out acid, Hendrix  and the Doors. That's all hippie right? Oh and protesting!

  It is MLK day today. Which I didn't have off boo! But came home early. MLK was always a big thing in school days. I remember always reading about him or having a school play about it.

 Mika also pointed out it's Betty White's birthday. I love Betty her and the other Golden Girls. Golden Girls will forever be one of my fave shows. Betty played Rose the dorky sweet not so bright one. Then you had Blanche the slut who still thought she had it going on. Dorothy the smart lonely tall teacher. Sophia, Dorothy's mom who didn't want to live at Shady Pines and was way out spoken. I watch that show when ever it's on. It never gets old. The older I get the more I understand the dirty inside jokes they had.  

Loca or schizophrenia?

Sometimes we come across people who are just plain down right loco. Other times they are actually sick. Schizophrenia is scary. The thought of not having control of your own mind is creepy. Hearing voices or seeing things that aren't really there is horrifying. Our brain is a mysterious beast. I wonder what makes people suffer from this? Sorry I was watching a show about this and started to think about it.

Beyond the budget.

Here's the thing. There is cheap, misspending, budget, and just making sure you have enough to survive should things get really bad. A long time ago when I made a good amount of money a year only had one child and my car was paid off I would buy lunch every single day at work. Spending 7 bucks on lunch was no issue. Once my work commission got cut over 4 years ago I cut that out and having my second child also contributed to it. People can see this as me becoming cheap fine but I will not spend $140 on lunch a month. I could take lunch everyday for less then $10 a week. Do I enjoy taking lunch everyday? Honestly no. I wanna go to Chipotle, Panda Express or Carl's Jr on my break for lunch. But now I have 2 children, more bills and don't make as much as I used to plus the child support I should get for my oldest son I don't and I'm losing hope that I ever will. All this is fine as long as you learn to budget everything. My problem I feel like I'm the only one who cares about the budget. I feel like others around me don't. I can't get my mom to see spending $40 at the casino is too much. I can't get my dad to realize he takes unnecessary trips to Sam's club. I can't get the hub to take lunch to work or eat at home more often to save a few dollars. Every time I say anything it's like I get the "oh your such a cheap ass" vibe for everyone. I'm I really a Cheap ass?? Is it bad to want to try to pay down my credit card bill I have from a rough point in 2008 that I needed emergency money to cover a unexpected expense which I'm still mad at my self for not having the entire amount in savings? Is it bad to never want to be short on rent or borrow money from people? Yes every dollar counts which is why I gave up Starbucks, getting my nails done along time ago, going to clubs, drinking at bars often and shopping just because I feel like it. My guilty pleasure is getting tattooed but I've even cut that back by having to put my right arm work hold till I totally have the money saved up for it. As much as I want to go to Canada, England and Australia all that will wait till the cash is saved. I cut coupons when I can thanks to extreme couponing I'm no longer ashamed to use them.  I will continue my cheapassness as long as I keep working 40 hours a week to survive.

Who you may know...

Look Fb I really don't care for your "people you might know" feed. It's pretty annoying to see some of those pictures on the side of my news feed. They are not on my friends list for a reason. Who cares if we have 24 mutual friends or 9 mutual friends. They are not my friend. 

My inner valley girl

This video just makes me laugh so much...lol

The win..

Yes!! I won the contest!!! I had over 300 "likes" on my photo!!!! So excited!!! Now I can do a photo shoot for free with Grasoso photography which will include free hair and make up!!! All I have to do now is decide if I want to go to California and shoot out there or if I should wait for them to come out here for Viva in April. Hmmmmmm... decisions...decisions. Thank you all who "like" the photo and thank you to all of you who also took the time to share and repost it!!!! I never win stuff so this is totally exciting!!

A million thanks!!!

Last weekend I told my husband a photographer was having a open contest were the girl with the most likes after the end of the week would win a photo shoot. He told me I should enter. I went ahead and did. Now the contest is almost done and I'm in the lead by a few likes. I'm in the lead by a little bit but you never know that could change before the end. Win or lose I want to thank my friends, family and and all their friends and family who have "liked" the photo. I'm also very thankful for those who have taken their time to repost and share the link on their fb page to help me get more "likes". You guys are all amazing!!!!!!! I'm very thankful for all your support! <3

Selling out??

No but I did sign up to have ad's on my blog... hehe... it's not like a pays much but every penny counts thats for sure. I don't have many followers but still I figured I'm at my 100th blog so lets give the ad thing a shot!

The Baby, my first baby

My baby who was born weighing 7lbs 12oz and now weighs well over a 100lbs will be turning 11...yup 11. Oh geez. Has it really been 11 years since I was a prego teenage mom?? I remember going to the hospital around 6:30 am 1/5/2001. My due date was the 9th. Trust me I was glad I got to pop early. I was strong enough to have him with out a epidural. I didn't sleep the first night he was born since he laid next to me the whole night and I was worried I would squish him. Thank God my mom came to stay with me the 1st night out of the hospital. I was so tired and was struggling with breastfeeding it was so hard to get him to latch. I still remember my Bff Norma teaching me how to give him his first bath because I was clueless and didn't know how to wash him up with out wetting his belly button. Amen for her. My little man is a life saver. I had him young but had I not had him who knows the kind of stuff I would have ended up doing in high school. I'm not a great mom but I try to raise him right. He's in 5th grade now and oh thank you Jesus I've never had to meet with his school principal or teacher due to him fighting or misbehaving. The kid is a great nerd. I'm super stoked he's learning how to make Lego videos. Bryan you are my little Gordo forever. I love you more then you will ever know. Here is your favorite song by Five Finger Death Punch. You are never Bad company.

Vote for me!!!!

Go to Grasoso Photography on Facebook "like" the page then go to their album "Contest #1" and like my photo please! It's the same photo as the one below.  Any questions ask me!!!

It's the New Year and this is what I want to tell anybody who acts like a baby...

Once we grow up we should do just that GROW UP.  We all bitch and complain but seriously there is a place and a time. If you call me at work I don't want to hear you tell me how upset you are over a $3.25 fee. But if you do I can't tell you to STFU and go suck on a tit like a baby. Thanks to our calls being recorded. So instead I will just pretend I told you to instead. Some people act like they never got off the tit.

I hope you step on a Lego.

I might say that to you if I don't really like you. My soon to be 11 year old has over a 2,000 tiny Legos in his room. Makes it a pain to vacuum his room. Every time I see a Lego I think of my Bryan. He's a mega Lego nerd. This week I had to take my step kids to meet with their mom so they could drive back to Texas. It just so happens the drop of spot was Hesperia home to one of the best tattoo shops ever. I decided to make a appointment with Mat Hurtado and collect a tattoo that will forever remind me of my sons absolute nerdyness, a bright red Lego on my forearm. I love it!