~Life As I Know It~

A Christmas Project

2012-02-12T16:04:00.001-06:00

Yes, I know we're almost half way through February, but I'm just came across the photos I took of a Christmas project I did. I had been looking for some type of a Christmas card holder that didn't include stringing them across a doorway or wall. A friend of mine gave me a Vera Wang Eau de Toilet set that came in a beautiful white box a couple of years ago and I never through the box away. I have a stash of things like this in one of our closets that I think I might do something crafty with.

I decided this book would be the perfect Christmas card holder, so I raided my scrapbooking stash and came up with a Jolee's Boutique Gingerbread House embellishment that I've had forever and some Christmas ribbon.

It worked perfectly for what I wanted and it didn't cost me anything but my time!

Thanks for peeking in and letting me share!

The Master

2012-01-30T20:41:00.000-06:00

It look me forever to find bedding that I liked. Everything that's been in style for the past few years just hasn't been what I wanted. Sure, if I could afford to spend thousands of dollars, I could probably find exactly what I want, but I don't have that kind of money to spend.

When we were at IKEA last September, I did purchase a plain white duvet insert because I liked being able to pick the thickness, but I didn't see any covers that I liked. A month or so later I was at Target when I came across THIS and I loved the color, so from that I was able to finish the room. I decided to pair the purple/plum with a sage green.

If you look close enough you'll see that our Tucker has staked his claim and this bedroom is HIS. It's his lair and unless the other cats have approval from him, he doesn't like them in HIS bedroom...lol He will chase them off.....especially Oreo!

All of the furniture we've had. We bought the oak bedroom set a few years ago and the bookcase on the side of the bed is actually a re-purposed pantry. That came from our old house and we used it as a pantry is our so very small kitchen. I needed a book case in our bedroom, so off came the book and hinges and ta-da......a bookcase.

This is where I store books I haven't read yet, or that I'm going to keep. The basket next to the bookcase came back with me from Negril, Jamaica and the hat box on the bottom shelf has eleventy billion buttons that I've kept from my clothing since forever. Both the lamp and the mirror were spray painted plum to coordinate with the room. The little heart shaped 3 tiered stand is for Fred's alarm and where he can put his nook, glasses and water.

We also have a large window seat within a large bay window with a palladium window above the bay window. I bought some nice window shades a couple of years ago in a very neutral color so they would blend with whatever I decided to do with the room.

I found pillows at both Target and Pier1 to line the window seat. I wanted different colors and textures in the pillows. I also found these cool vases at Target and filled them with some silk flowers from Pier 1.

This is my corner of the bedroom. I have a nightstand and a ladder bookshelf (re-purposed from the family room years ago). The nightstand is kind of a catch all for my stuff. I've told Fred that if I drop dead, he needs to go through the nightstand. :) The ladder bookshelf had more paper books that I haven't read yet. It also displays pictures of my mother and my maternal grandparents. Although you can't really see it, there is also a glass cat plate that my mother gave me for Christmas at least 20 years ago and I love it! She gave me two of them and the other one is in the family room on display.

I have baskets on top of my nightstand for my nook, the remotes and my reading glasses. Both lampshades on the lamps came from Target, but I wish I would have bought the other ones I had in my hand....too bad.....too late. :(

Thanks for letting me share a bit of where I hang out.

LOOKIE!

2012-01-21T13:25:00.000-06:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to post the "after" picture of our new foyer ceiling light. This is much more in tune with the rest of the house. We got it at Lowe's and it was super super reasonable in price. I love the design and how it looks where it is, but it doesn't throw off the same brightness of light that the other one did and that took some time to get used to. The hallway has another very plain dome light and we did replace that with virtually the same dome light only in brushed nickel rather than gold and if we need more light there, we can turn that on.

Last weekend I FINALLY painted our master bedroom. It's been contractor white for almost 8 years. I just had no clue what I wanted to do with it. When we moved, I didn't buy new bedding. We had a white, forest green and purple floral Waverly print that I liked, so I continued to use it because I wanted to focus on other areas of our new house for decorating. Our bedroom wasn't a big priority....I was just so happy to have more than one bathroom now...lol! A couple years later, the bedding was starting to look worn, so I did replace it was a nice set from JC Penney's and I went with a bronze, gold and teal (what was I thinking?) heavy tapestry look.......it was very rich looking but I got tired of it fast and it snagged and pilled something awful, but we lived with it for another 5 years. Last summer I decided I wanted to change it. I had finished what I wanted to do in the rest of the house as far as decorating went, and was ready to do some wall color.

I wasn't going to paint the whole room because the room has 18 foot high ceiling and it would be a PITA to paint and the Sherwin Williams Dover White isn't a bad white, so I decided to paint the biggest wall behind our bed a coordinating color once I found bedding........little did I know that would be easier said then done.

To be continued.........

Ugly Isn't It?

2012-01-09T22:06:00.001-06:00

Well, it's no longer there.........after almost 8 years in this house, we finally bought something nicer and not as ugly. I can't believe it took me this long to replace it. We've replaced almost every fixture in this house and this one is right at the front door.....

Stay tuned.....

Should I start this back up again?

2012-01-09T10:37:00.000-06:00

I quit blogging last year because I was finding it was become a chore, but I think I'm going about it wrong. Rather than viewing it as an obligation, I guess I should take the attitude of posting when I feel like it. Maybe some weeks it will be multiple times, maybe not.

So, we'll see how this goes for awhile.......again.....

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T10:19:00.000-05:00

From our home to yours....wishing you a wonderful holiday celebrating our nation's independence!

For us, it's a day at the pool and a family BBQ.

On the menu - Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Hot Dogs, Corn on the Cob, Cole Slaw, Cheesy Potato Casserole, Bacon/Crab Dip, Crudites and Watermelon.

The Bacon Crab Dip is fabulous! It's a Paula Deen recipe that I've never had and I made it the other day for a neighbor's party and it was great, so I'm making it again for the family BBQ.

I cheated a bit and used imitation crab and already cooked bacon, but the taste of the dip is still great. Here's a link to the recipe - Paula Deen's Bacon Crab Dip

Enjoy the day with your family and friends!

A Birthday Dinner

2011-06-26T23:43:00.000-05:00

Instead of going out for dinner this year, Fred requested that I make my homemade Chicken Enchiladas for him. I had the foresight to order his favorite Key Lime Pie from Village Inn online and picked it up at lunch time.

I roasted a couple of chicken breasts and shredded the meat in a large bowl. I mixed in a small can of green chiles and chopped black olive. In a skillet, I added a little bit of olive oil, onions and red pepper and cooked them until the onion was caramelized and the pepper was roasted and soft. I added the onion and peppers to the chicken mixture, and topped them with a bit of shredded cheese. I assembled the enchiladas in a baking dish.

Beside the pan of enchiladas I made, I also roasted some bacon wrapped, crab stuffed anaheim peppers and spanish rice with olives.

and for dessert.......key lime pie.

Fred loved everything and had a very good birthday!

Card Making

2011-05-29T23:30:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to get in the habit of whipping out some cards with the scraps that I have leftover from when I do a scrapbook page. Here's a few that I've done recently.

This is the card I made for my Mother In Law for Mother's Day

These I just put in my overflowing card basket so I can grab one when I need it.

Garden Diary - My Experimental Triangle Garden

2011-05-14T20:47:00.000-05:00

A few years after we moved in, I dug up and created this garden in a corner of our back yard. It's been a work in progress to say the least. Somethings have worked there, others have not. Currently, I have a flowering almond that doing well, some peonies that are FINALLY going to bloom, some gorgeous lupine and foxglove that comes up every year and a couple of knock out roses. Everything else is a crap shoot. So, each year, I usually throw some perennials in to see what's going to take and then fill in with zinnia and cosmos seeds.

Last Monday on my day off, I spent a couple of hours raking out most of the old mulch, planting a couple of new perennials and sowing the flower seeds. Then I covered it all in new cedar mulch.

Here's what the poor garden looked like without any attention. :(

Here's that gorgeous flowering almond. This is another plant along with Hydrangea and Rose of Sharon that I will ALWAYS have in my yards.

I also have some pieces of garden art in this bed. I bought the large obelisk at our local farmer's market from a local craftsman and the large flower and cat with wings are from a metal artist from southern Iowa that I bought at a local arts festival.

After a couple hours of attention, the garden looked much better and as the seasons progress, the garden will change and evolve too.

Thanks for letting me share one of my passions.

Garden Diary - Spring

2011-05-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

Since we really can't plant much here in Iowa until Mother's Day, early spring is spent cleaning up after winter. I've been wanting to replace the old landscape timbers we had fencing the vegie garden because they were starting to rot out, so last weekend we spent time replacing them with cedar fencing.

Here's our garden after tearing out the landscape timbers.

Here's the garden after fencing it in cedar. The top left corner of the garden is where I planted the asparagus.

I also planted some early vegetable last weekend too. I got both red onions and shallots planted and I also did 4 rows of red radishes and white icicle radishes.

This weekend, I got the rest of my vegetable planted. I planted cucumbers, red peppers, orange peppers, yellow peppers, eggplant and zucchini and a few plants of buttercrunch lettuce. I'm still waiting on my tomato shipment from Burpee's. I sure hope they get here this week. I've got Brandywine and Yellow Pear tomatoes on their way.

I'll get you updated on the garden's progress every few weeks or so.

I've got to start working on flowers next!

National Scrapbook Day

2011-05-08T19:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was National Scrapbook Day and I've celebrated every year for the last 15 years! I can't believe I've been doing this hobby for that long.

In celebration, I thought I would share some of the pages that I've done this calendar year. Some you may have seen and some you may not have. I'm definitely catching up with my pages because most of these are things that happened in either late 2009 or 2010.

Thanks for letting me share them!

(You can click on the image to make it bigger)

Here's a page I did of Connor's 14th.......he's already celebrated his 15th...lol

This is from last summer when I took Connor and Chloe to Adventure Bay after the water park expansion opened.

Chloe and I at Adventureland.

This photo was taken by Connor after Fred and I got home from my 35th class reunion. We both had a bit of a buzz. :)

Anniversary Flowers or Mother's Day? I couldn't remember when I did this page...lol

Another page from a photo the day of my 35th class reunion. This was before we left for the party.

I finally got the photos I took when we were in Georgia after Fred's sister passed away. I really liked that photo of Fred and his mother.

Another photo from our visit to Georgia. Connor and his Grandmother Ginna.

More photos of Fred's family....his mother, his step father and his sister.

Picture of Connor and the parrot Brianna at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville at Universal Studios CityWalk. It was my birthday and we had lunch there.

Gunner at age 8. Yea, I'm behind....Gunner just turned 9 last month.

Last fall, we made a trek downtown to see the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. There is just the coolest art there.

Connor's Bucket List. Why one would have a bucket list at 14 is anyone's guess, but hey, he's got goals..lol

Loved, loved, LOVED, these family photos especially the one with the "Connor face". It's priceless.

It took 5 years living here before I finally got a garden shed. We had the concrete pad poured for it a couple of years after moving in, but it took another 3 years to finally decide what I wanted. I love it.

This is one of the city parks that I walk, bike or drive by regularly. They've added more and more pieces of garden art over the years. The master gardeners do a really nice job with the gardens.

Hope you enjoyed my pages!

Cat Hurdle

2011-05-01T15:40:00.000-05:00

Not only is our staircase a good way to get daily cardio in, but once in a while you have the added challenge of a cat hurdle.

Here is Mr. Gizmo sunning himself on the stairs and never moves a muscle when either Fred, Connor or myself hurdle ourselves over him.

An Easter Project

2011-04-23T20:10:00.001-05:00

I got the instructions to this basket at my local scrapbook store Memory Bound. It was really fun and easy to do. Most of the materials are Doodlebug Designs and I just picked out a bunch of ribbon scraps to tie around the book ring at the top.

I'm using it to hold the Easter eggs I dyed all by myself. Notice I said, "all by myself". Our 15 year old son had no desire to dye Easter eggs with me anymore. That little shit. lol :)

A couple of favorite things lately........

2011-03-27T17:43:00.000-05:00

THIS -

I didn't think I would love it so much, but I do........love borrowing from the library.

AND THIS -

It was in my stocking at Christmas and I just finished up the other scrub I had, so I've just recently started using it. Heaven.

More Scrapbook Retreat Fun!

2011-02-26T13:31:00.000-06:00

I wanted to share some more of the pages I finished at the retreat last month.

I also wanted to share a photo of what greeted us on our beds when we checked into the retreat place. The gals that organized it had some goodies awaiting us.

Such a great gesture!

Here's more pages, sorry for the blurriness in some of them and you might not be able to read the journaling.

Scrapbook Retreat Weekend

2011-02-21T21:29:00.000-06:00

The first weekend of February I had the pleasure of attending the annual Nightowls Scrapbook Retreat. This is a retreat that I've been attending for at least 5 years if not longer and I always have such a good time. This year was no exception. I've been wanting to talk about it and share some of the pages I did while there, but time and life has gotten in the way.

This year the retreat was at Walnut Retreat Place and it was perfect for us! We had the place to ourselves from Friday at 11:00am through Sunday til noon!

I met a my friends Gina and Joan at Memory Bound Scrapbook Store Friday morning, but believe it or not, I only spent about $10 bucks. Since we could "check in" at 11:00, we headed that way after shopping so we could get our cars unpacked and get settled and then head to lunch.

Once we had our workplaces and sleeping arrangements all settled, a few of us headed up to the street to Taqueria Sonora for lunch. The food was great! I thought it was a bit pricey for the menu, but I can't fault the fish tacos that I had.

Kathy, Lori, Judy and Brenda do such a great job organizing and putting on this retreat every year. Friday night, they had two different soups and a big salad for us for dinner and we had tons of snacks too! I brought some pumpkin muffins, a Tuscan cheese dip and some tortilla vegie roll ups.

I stayed up until about 1:30 Friday night/Saturday morning before falling into bed....I was on a roll and I didn't want to quit...lol We had the alarm system go off on us Friday night and the owner of the facility had to come by and get it turned off. It was quite annoying for a while, but we all just took it in stride.

I was the first one up Saturday morning and I probably had two pages done before anyone else was up. The rest of the day was spent scrapbooking, eating and even a bit of shopping for me. I took a break and headed to Valley West Mall to use some Christmas gift certificates. Once back, the gals had all the fixing for walking tacos for lunch. We were going to call out for pizza Saturday night, but everyone was so full from just snacking that it was decided to nix it. I stayed up again until about 1:30 so that I could finish up the pages I was in the middle of working on. I felt good about how much I had accomplished, so I told myself to sleep in...

Which I did! Slept until about 9:00, came down, had a cup of coffee and some eggs for breakfast and then started to pack up my scrapbooking supplies. Normally I would have sat down and worked on more pages, but I finished everything that I had brought with me. Besides, it was Super Bowl Sunday and we were invited to a party that I needed to bring a dish with us, so the early I could get home, the more time I'd have to unpack the car, put things away before having to head to the party.

Here's some of the pages I completed during the retreat -

Later......

Just 2 More Weeks!

2011-02-09T20:29:00.000-06:00

In two short weeks, I'll finally have both ends of my body fixed...lol

On Monday, Feb. 21st, I go back to my podiatrist for the last time to see if I can go back in regular shoes (with my custom insole of course) and have my activity ban lifted. I getting a bit burned out on the bike riding and would like to either walk on the treadmill or use the elliptical again.

On Thursday, Feb. 24th, I go back to the dentist for the final seating of my permanent bridge and I CANNOT WAIT! My temporary has been a pain in the ass. I'm hoping that after today's appointment, that I have less problems with it than I've had in the last 6 weeks. Today, I had the final impression made of my mouth and I was NOT expecting the kind of appointment it ended up being. I had to have 6 shots of Novocaine and they did more prep work for the bridge. Next week, I'll go to the dental lab that is making the bridge to have the tech match my tooth color and then on the 24th, I'll get the permanent bridge seated. I'll get photos taken after I get my new smile. :)

I really have to give myself a BIG pat on the back for today. Even though I was numb up to my eyeballs, I actually went to the gym during my lunch time after my dental appointment and rode the recumbent bike for 50 minutes, 9.40 miles. I took a couple of magazines with me and the time flew by.

On the iPod playlist today:

Test for Echo - Rush
Natural - Rob Thomas
How You Remind Me - Nickelback
Bullet - Bon Jovi
Treat Me Right - Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Do Da - Journey
Sassafras Roots - Green Day
The Best Is Yet To Come - hinder
Hard to Say - Dan Fogelberg
Wasting My Time - Default
Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet
Just Another Night - Jude Cole
Hurting Each Other - The Carpenters

Later.....

Keep Your Fingers Crossed!

2011-01-30T17:29:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow morning I go back to my foot doctor and hopefully will be rid of the dreaded boot and can ease back into walking without it. I spend a bit of time this weekend without it and the foot feels good. I noticed the back of my heel was sore a bit, but I'm sure that's from now walking the way I'm suppose to and a muscle is getting used that hasn't been for 12 weeks, but I'll ask the doctor tomorrow.

I've been spending most of my free time, either preparing for my upcoming scrapbook retreat next weekend, but planning out what I'm going to take with me and what food I'm bringing and what clothes I'm packing.

It's an annual retreat I go to and look forward to the first weekend of February every year. It's at a different location this year and that's going to be fun!

Weighted in yesterday and was very frustrated to learn I had gained a pound! WTF?

I was on plan every day, had 20 activity points that I didn't even use.....the only thing we could come up with as a reason was the Mu Shu Chicken I had for dinner the night before. I really didn't eat very much of it, but maybe the sodium content in it was too much for me the night before a weigh in. I swear it is going to take me 10 freaking years to lose the 20 pounds I want to lose. Not happy! :(

But as one of my all time favorite character says "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming"...so I just keep pulling away.

I may share some scrapbook pages with all of you tomorrow if I get some time. It's my day off, but I have some appointments and errands I have to fun before I can putter and play around the house.

Later......

Sunday Routine

2011-01-23T11:20:00.000-06:00

I have a routine on Sundays that I rarely stray from and today is no exception. I usually start my Sundays with a early morning visit to the gym, followed by my weekly grocery shopping and then relaxing in front of the fireplace with my coffee and the Sunday paper.

Got to the gym around 7:30 this morning and there was only 2 other people. Rode for 40 minutes, 7.20 miles. Had a great song shuffle this morning -

Sweet Nadine - Arc Angels
Away From The Sun - 3 Doors Down
Blame It On Fate - Jude Cole
The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson
I Will - Ben Taylor
You Get What You Give - New Radicals
The Real Life - 3 Doors Down
Flash Tan Queen - REO Speedwagon
She Does - Collective Soul
Whipping Boy - Train

Weighted in at Weight Watchers yesterday morning and am proud to say that I lost 4 pounds! It's about time...it's been a up and down thing the last couple of weeks. I've decided to switch my meeting day to Saturday morning rather than after work on Tuesdays. Works better for me. So what did I do to celebrate? Went out to dinner with Fred and Paul to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Pleasant Hill and consumed more points that I even want to know. Another reason for the early morning workout today. :)

Fred and I went to Lowe's yesterday to look at faucets and we came home with this one -

Fred is, as I speak, installing it in our kitchen and I love it!

We decided against the touch technology because when I saw the faucet in person, I just wasn't feeling the design love and it was another $200 bucks and the faucet we chose was pretty pricey too, so we decided to go with this Moen and save a bit of money.

On my to-do list today:

Redo my hair color (the color I used last weekend did not take and my hair looks like shit)
Cut up a bunch of vegies for snacks throughout the week
Put together food for the football games
Continue to prepare for the scrapbook retreat

Faster, Further, Longer

2011-01-22T11:04:00.000-06:00

This morning at the gym, I went fast, further and longer than I ever had before. My foot is feeling really good and of course, I'm still wearing the boot when I bike, but I can definitely tell improvement. I did 55 minutes, 10.21 miles on the recumbent bike. I took a book along and alternated reading and then I would put the book down and go full boar for 5 minutes. Made the time go by pretty quickly.

Glad I went up to the gym when I did because withing 15 minutes of my workout, people started flooding in and there were no cardio machines to be had. Several people left because there were no machines left and I suppose they'll try back later. It seems to always be this way this time of the year. The crowds will die out by the end of February.

Going to putter around the house today and maybe later Fred and I are going to head to Lowe's to look at a new kitchen faucet. It's actually cheaper at Amazon, but I want to see it in person first.

Here's the one I'm interested in....it's the kind you can turn off and on with your wrist or forearm.

Have a great Saturday!

Rocking at the Gym!

2011-01-17T11:28:00.000-06:00

Day off * Early morning gym visit * 50 minutes, 8.95 miles on the bike * Great Tunes * Trip to Target for socks * Home for the rest of the day * Fireplace + Book = Me

On the iPod playlist today:

Running Out of Days - 3 Doors Down
Things Can Only Get Better - Howard Jones
That Smell - 3 Doors Down
Hopeless - Breaking Benjamin
The Impression that I Get - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters
Get to Me - Train
Animal - Def Leppard
All the Girls Love Alice - Elton John
Snowblind - Rob Thomas
Heart of the Night - Poco
Smooth - Santana featuring Rob Thomas
Goodnight, Goodnight - Maroon 5

I'm so happy I got my crafty mojo back........ :)

Progress

2011-01-16T14:45:00.000-06:00

Much better week this week than last. Felt much better, had more energy. Happy at Weight Watchers this week. Down 3 pounds! and I *think* I've done pretty good this week. Didn't drink as much water as I should, but that's always a struggle for me.

Got the bad news that the boot stays until the 31st, but starting tomorrow, I can go 50% of the time, so when I get home, I can shed it. I still have to wear it when I exercise and I can't do anything but biking and strength training, but I *might* be able to start walking without the boot on the 31st! That will be 3 MONTHS that I've had the damn thing!

Super crafty this weekend! YEA! I've been going great guns with my supply purge and organizing myself for my annual scrapbook retreat that is coming up the first weekend of February. I can't wait! This year it's at Walnut Retreat Place, someplace we've never been, so that's exciting and it looks like a fun place to hang with my scrapbook posse.

Yesterday, I finished 3 pages, made a little something, something to donate for our silent auction at the retreat who's proceeds each year go to a different charity. I had already made a couple of other things, but I wanted to get this done so it was out of the way.

It's been a nice weekend. Connor went to the movies to see with some of his pals Friday night, so Fred and I had an evening to ourselves......nice....

Yesterday, we were just chilling out, doing some chores and in between playing in my scraproom and doing our own thing....we all reconnected last night for some popcorn and to watch the movie "Salt" with Angelina Jolie & Liev Schreiber. I enjoyed it....decent action movie with a twist. There are worse ways to spend 2 hours....lol

This morning I got my butt out of bed at 8:30 and headed to the gym. I was surprised that once I got settled on the bike, how many people started coming in.....WTH? Sunday morning? I usually have the place to myself. Did 35 minutes, 6.70 miles, but no weights today, I'm still nursing my shoulder a bit.

On the iPod playlist today:

I Found Someone - Cher
Tumble In The Rough - Stone Temple Pilots
Precious Declaration - Collective Soul
I'll Never See Your Face Again - Maroon 5
Thought I Died and Gone to Heaven - Bryan Adams
Who Loves You - Franki Valli and The Four Seasons
Ain't It Heavy - Melissa Etheridge
Cool Change - Little River Bank

Meet my hubby at our local grocery store for breakfast afterward my workout. I do the grocery shopping then too because everyone else is a church and the grocery store is usually quiet. Had an excellent bowl of oatmeal, with blueberries and raisins, a couple strips of bacon and a slice of wheat toast.

Dinner tonight? Oven Baked Pork Chops with Mango Chutney, Baked Macaroni & Cheese, Chopped Lettuce and Vegie Salad.

Later.....

The First Week of the New Year (and some recent projects)

2011-01-09T15:45:00.000-06:00

I told you I probably wouldn't update this more than one a week and this week isn't an exception.

Went back to work on Tuesday after having the week between Christmas and New Year's off, worked two days and then promptly came down with some type of 24 hour stomach bug. I was sick to my stomach, chilled and zapped of any energy on Thursday, but by Friday morning, I felt better and was back to work.

Weighted in this weight at Weight Watchers and I was up .5 pounds, but since I hadn't weighted in since the Tuesday before Christmas, I felt better darn good about that. Hell, I fluctuate 2-3 per day, so I'm going to call it good for over the holidays! We'll see what the scale says this coming Tuesday.

Over the holidays I was a bit crafty1 I did six scrapbook pages, a couple of cards with some scraps and I made a holiday jewelry holder. I had been keeping my holiday jewelry in a tin and everything was getting tangled, so I repurposed a few of the boxes I still had from previous Silpada orders with some Basic Grey paper and viola......holiday jewelry storage.

Here's a couple of cards that I made with scraps of stuff. I'm trying to do that after I finish a scrapbook page, use the scraps for a card or two.

Been to the gym three days in a row! Yea me! Today it was a 50 minute, 9.10 mile bike ride, yesterday I did 20 minutes but then did 20 minutes of strength training and crunches. Friday after work, it was a 45 minute bike ride. I'm earning 4-5 activity points every time I go, so there is that motivation also. Fred is doing The Biggest Loser Kinect game and once I get this boot off, I may join him for some of the workouts.

On the iPod playlist today:

Oh Sherrie - Steve Perrty
Son of a Son of a Sailor - Jimmy Buffett
Her Strut - Bob Seger
I Keep Forgetting - Michael McDonald
I'm With You - Arvil Lavigne
No Souvenirs - Melissa Etheridge
Change - John Waite
Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5
Can We Still Be Friends? - Robert Palmer
Stranded - Heart
Black Cat - Janet Jackson

It was a fun set of songs to exercise to today!

Later......

A New Year and I'm back

2011-01-01T21:05:00.000-06:00

After a 3 month hiatus from blogging, I've decided that I'm going to start posting again. I don't know how frequent, but my goal is once or twice a week. Maybe I'm post more, maybe not, but I'm going to use the opportunity to make myself accountable for a couple of resolutions I'm making for myself. I like resolutions, I may not always succeed but I'm very goal oriented.

When I quit writing in October, I had hit a wall in my fitness journey. I suffered a stress fracture of the left foot that has been a (pardon my french) a son of a bitch to heal. I finally was correctly diagnosed and put in an immobilizing boot right before Thanksgiving and I'm still in it. I've had my doctor's approval to either ride a bike, outside or at the gym or utilize a pool (which I don't have this time of year) but nothing else. It's been very frustrating and disappointing, but I've continued to stay as active as I can and it's obviously helping because I haven't gained any weight. I've been up and down 3 pounds for 2 months. :(

I was set to start Kosama next week, but with the set back of my foot, I've had to postpone until March 14th. It was already paid for and the owners were more than happy to move me into a spot for the next 10-week class. Instead, I'm going to focus on biking and tomorrow, Fred and I are going to try the new Biggest Loser fitness game for the xbox Kinect that we got for Christmas. It looks pretty cool! I may not be able to the the jumping up and down aerobic stuff right now with this boot (well, maybe a modified version), but the strength training and stretching is right up my alley.

My sister and I also joined Weight Watchers before Christmas. She weighs in every week. I'm lifetime and I'm only going to weight in twice a month. They've introduced a whole new plan, the first time in 15 years and so far I really like it. Hoping to lose 20-25 pounds.....30-35 would be great, but if I really can work out, the 20-25 could look like 30-35 if I do it right.

So I will be accountable to my blog to stay on task in regards to getting fit and losing some weight. I'll be sharing what's working, what's not, maybe even some healthy good for you recipes. I'll probably throw in some scrapbooking, crafts, organizational and home decorating stuff too, since you all know I'm into that too. If you want, check in and see how I'm doing or drop me a note. I promise I read them.

Oh, and my teeth.......my wonderful teeth. If I don't do anything else in 2011, I am SO GLAD I decided to get my front teeth fixed. I won't have the permanent bridge until the middle of February, but I'm already thrilled and can't wait to have the work complete.

Later.....

Some Favorite Things.......

2010-10-10T19:30:00.000-05:00

Just a random post to remind myself of those small things in my life that make me happy and put a smile on my face.

Caribou Coffee has the BEST napkins! I smile whenever I see them and I keep a few on my work table.

One of my two favorite body washes. The other favorite is also Caress, just a different scent. This one is the Evenly Gorgeous and it smells like warm sugar. The other one I love is Tahitian Renewal and it's a tropical scent with pineapple and coconut.

My absolute favorite lip color that happens to be a lip balm also. Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer is to die for and their color rhubarb is the perfect color for my lips.

One of my favorite snacks. Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Reduced Fat Wheat Thins and Green Grapes = YUM!

I want someone to get me this cake for my birthday someday. I love it.

THIS is a new punch I bought last week to see if it would bring me out of the creative funk I've been in for the last couple of months. I've yet to use it.

Last but not least, my all time favorite internet clip and something that I can relate to wanting to do to someone on a daily basis.

Halloween Tree

2010-10-03T11:45:00.001-05:00

Spent yesterday decorating the house for fall and Halloween. I first have to pack away the things I have out for most of the year, but then it gives me a good chance to wipe and dust everything down. It's also helpful to get your husband and son involved in this project. :)

This morning it was so nice (cool and crisp) that I spent time outside, getting my outside fall decor out and weeding out the gardens. The vegetable garden was in dire need of attention and I harvested the last of the tomatoes (not a good year for those) :( but my acorn squash was still producing and so were the pepper plants. The herbs are still looking good too!

I promise that I'm going to post some photos from our Florida vacation, but it's taking me longer to edit them down and proof them all than I thought.....I'm almost there.

Later.....

Summer's End

2010-09-04T23:05:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I've updated my blog. It seems like the summer has raced past us. Only a couple more weeks and we'll be into Fall (which happens to be my favorite season).

We found out last week that we did NOT win or even place in the Hy-Vee Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge that we participated in for most of the summer. The family that did were a lot more hard core than we were. Fred said they worked out 2 hours a day EVERY day. Well, we couldn't do that even if we tried as Connor and I were gone for 7 days on vacation and I had a work trip to D.C.

Regardless of our placement in the challenge, we did change some things and created new habits. I'm most excited about re-discovering tennis and Frisbee. I also got to purchase a new bike this summer that I've been having a lot of fun riding. My Nike+ fitness systems is awesome and I truly believe it's helping me stay on track.

It's nice to have a holiday weekend. I've been gone again to Washington D.C. on a work trip, the second one there this summer, but my project is now over and I doubt I'll have to go back anymore. It almost felt like a second home for a while.

I think I'm going to take a break from blogging for a while. We've got some home projects that we want to get done before winter and I want to concentrate on finishing those.

Those of you on Facebook will see me regularly and if I get the whim to post, I will. I just don't want to feel that it's something that I HAVE to do.

In a couple of weeks, Fred, Connor and I will be leaving for a long weekend trip to Orlando to go see Universal Studios and Universal Studios Islands of Adventure that has the new Harry Potter Theme Park. It should be a lot of fun and when I get back, I'll definitely update my blog with some pictures.

I'll see ya then.......

These make me happy!

2010-08-21T13:54:00.000-05:00

My new favorite pens! Stabilo Point 88 pens that come in a rainbow of colors! I *think* I have one of all the colors and 4 of the black pens. They're perfect for journaling, detailed pen work, everything!

Thanks Gina!

San Diego Vacation - Final Chapter

2010-08-16T14:28:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, June 23rd had us getting up early to head toward the beach again. Connor was going to have another surf lesson and after that was over, we needed to head to Carlsbad to take the rental car back.

The weather wasn't as good for us that day as we finally experienced what Southern Californians call "June gloom". We met back up with Andy at Grandview Beach in Encinitas for the lesson. Kim's son Robbie decided to rent a board from them and go out also, Rob didn't have wet suit and the water wasn't warm, but it didn't stop him from heading out and having fun.

Connor was on the short board this time and impressed Andy with his ability to get up on the board again.

My personal favorite -

Although it was overcast, I could certainly tell that I got sun that day, maybe even more than our first day there when the sun was shining brightly.

After the lesson, back to Carlsbad with the rental car and then back to Fallbrook to get packed up and ready to go early the next morning. We headed to Fallbrook when we got caught in a pretty bad traffic jam due to a wild fire on the side of the Highway 76. It took us 2 hours to go 20 miles.....wowza!

It was a great vacation and we're hoping that we will come back out to San Diego county next summer!

Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge - The 8th & Final Week

2010-08-15T17:21:00.000-05:00

Today is the last day of our 8 week Makeover Challenge. We go have our post-assessment fitness tests on Wednesday and our biometrics a few days later. As of a few days ago, Fred was down 16 pounds and I was down 8, but I have a feeling some of it may come back on for me. I feel a bit bloated. I'm trying to pound down the water to help flush my system.

Don't know if we have done enough to win the challenge but we have made some really healthy changes that I know will stick. No more white bread in the house, what bread we do eat is always wheat or multi-grain. We developed a taste for brown rice rather than white rice and from now on our pasta is going to be 1/2 white pasta with 1/2 whole grain pasta. We're buying only low sodium products if we can and are avoiding high sodium grocery products. No more stocking up on diet soda, I don't care how cheap Hy-Vee is selling it for, I'm not going to buy it very often. I am going to drink it again, because I love Diet Pepsi and I miss it, but there won't be an unlimited supply. Fred asked me to continue to buy the light fruit juices for him, so if I can't get pieces of fruit down him, I'll have to settle for fruit juices.

It was such a beautiful morning that I decided to do my cardio outside rather than at the gym. I bought this water bottle a couple of months ago at the Farmers Market to take on my walks. It's perfect for that because it doesn't get heavy filled with water and when empty it rolls up very small. It holds 16 oz of water and my goal has been to drink one while working out and one after I get back home.

Tonight we're grilled out a nice piece of sirloin steak, baked potatoes and a big salad and since the weather is so good, family Frisbee for the last time we receive 50 points for it. We won't know the result until around Tuesday, August 31st. I'll be in Washington, DC on a work trip, but the guys will go out to the meeting and then they can call me with the results.

Wish us luck!

San Diego Vacation - Part Six

2010-08-14T18:20:00.000-05:00

Plans on Tuesday were to meet Dad, TJ, cousin Jennifer and her daughter Kendall at Seaport Village in downtown San Diego.

I thought it would be cool to let Connor see all of the naval ships that are in that area. Coronado Island is right about the harbor and there are usually some really big ships anchored there. Kim and I wanted to poke around the shops and see if there was anything we couldn't leave without....lol

There was also a lot of helicopter activity and Connor was excited because he wanted to film with his camera until he discovered that the battery was dead. I guess I left it on the day before and didn't know I had. He was very very upset. We couldn't buy another one, we found a camera store and they tried to charge it, but it didn't work. After a phone call back to Fred and a stern talking to, he calmed down.

We had a light lunch at Buster's Beach House & Longboard Bar and then spent a few hours walking around the village. Kendahl was having fun getting wet in the fountains.

Here is Kendahl and her beautiful mom -

Here's a shot of the Coronado Bridge -

Here's a shot of the hotel that Fred worked on when we lived out there. At the time it was going to open it was the Hotel Intercontinental, but it now a Marriott -

Since Jennifer and Kendahl wasn't going to be going to dinner with us, we took advantage of all of us being together and Kim took a photo of us. Of course, it's always hard to get everyone in the picture to cooperate and this is no exception.

After saying our goodbyes to Jennifer and Kendahl, we all headed up to Old Town San Diego for dinner. We all wanted Mexican at Cafe Coyote y Cantina. After dinner we walked around a bit. It brought back lots of memories because one of the places in Old Town was one of Fred and my favorite spots, O'Hungry's, where you can drink beer by the yard!

Once finished with a yummy dinner we had, we walked around for a while not only to walk off our dinner, but to avoid the rush hour traffic that was going on then. Found a t-shirt for Fred and a couple of fun chunky rings for me while shopping.

Wednesday, June 23rd is our last full day and we have another day at the beach/surfing lesson planned!

August

2010-08-08T00:08:00.001-05:00

Can't believe we're already in August! The month of the Iowa State Fair , school shopping and starting and another and hopefully last trip to DC for me.

Here's the kitchen for the August and September -

Thought I would also share some more flower pictures with you. Our hydrangea bushes just went to town this year. I've been bringing in countless bouquets of the blooms.

Here's a pot of petunias I planted (say that 10 times fast).....I had an old kettle that I was no longer using, so Fred drilled some drainage holes in the bottom and I planted it.

I love the way the purple/blue ceramic mushrooms nestle among the purple petunias in my IKEA stainless steel flower pot.

I also have a few other plants starting to bloom in my "triangle garden", but now I can't remember what the name of some of them are....lol

Our balloon flower is blooming again. I wish it was three times as big as it is....

Our Rose of Sharon is in full bloom. This was another of my mother's favorite flowering shrubs. I planted this one the year she died that I purchased with a gift certificate given to me by some dear friends. If we move, it's coming with me.

Here a shot from my deck looking at the hanging basket, then on to my Flowering Pear tree and then the triangle garden next to the bike trail.

Have a good weekend!

San Diego Vacation - Part Five

2010-08-06T18:52:00.000-05:00

We had no early plans on Monday so we slept in and took our time waking up and getting ready for our day. Today was the day my Dad and Step Mom were driving down from Las Vegas and heading to Harrah's Rincon, clear the hell out in the Pauma Valley. Our plans were to met up with them for dinner and then spend the whole next day with them, but since we decided that we were going to have dinner in Encinitas at Brett's BBQ, I really didn't want my Dad and Step Mom to have to drive in to the coast from where they were staying and back at night. It would have been at least a 3 hour commute round trip, so we decided that once they arrive, we would drive out to the desert to see them.

It was a beautiful scenic drive out to the resort but I didn't get any pictures because I was driving. The drive was over and around mountains and valley, very "twisty turney". Dad met us outside the resort and took us to the pool area where we camped out on these very cool lounge chairs that fix 2-3 people. They look like a big clam...lol!

We swam and talked for a few of hours, made plans to meet down at Seaport Village in the morning and we headed back west, as we needed to meet my cousin Jennifer and her daughter Kendahl at Brett's BBQ for dinner.

Brett's BBQ was FABULOUS! Honestly, some of the best BBQ I've had. The company was excellent also! Before we ordered dinner and were relaxing with some beer, Jennifer said she needed to "steal" Connor for just a bit. I think they were gone for about 45 minutes and when they came back, I found out that she took him to k5, the ultimate shop for surfing, skating and snowboarding. She bought him a new pair of swim trunks, a new pair of Reef sandals, another pair of flip flops and a couple of t-shirts. Let me tell you, this kids is going to be styling the wardrobe!

After dinner, back to Fallbrook we went. It had been a long day and we had a long day ahead of us, so the rest of the evening was another relaxing night of good company.

More later......(I can't believe how long it's taking me to share this...lol)

Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #6

2010-08-03T22:30:00.000-05:00

We've finished up Week 6 of the Challenge and can see the light at the end of the tunnel...lol

Not that we are going to immediately revert back to old ways and habits, but there are things that we miss.....going out to dinner once in a while, drinking a diet soda, not being so uber conscience of every fruit, vegetable and fiber going into our bodies. I really think that quite a few of the changes are going to stick.

I think we're going to sign Fred up at Anytime Fitness, either that, or we're going to by him a recumbent bike to exercise on at home. He doesn't like the treadmill, he doesn't like the elliptical...whine, whine, whine....lol

I think I'm going to have to take it easy on the jogging as my left heel started to hurt today when I was working out and I certainly don't want a flare up of plantar fasciitis. That would definitely derail my fitness routine. :(

Week #6 had us playing quite a bit of Frisbee together. We can all throw and catch the Frisbee pretty well! my niece joined us one night and even she can throw and catch it good for her age. I think we got 4 nights of family activity in and the other days we were all pretty active. Got the max points for that!

I was home part of the week, so it was easier to keep Connor and Fred on track with their fruit and vegie intake. I swear if I didn't say something to them, neither of them would even THINK about eating a single bite of fruit or vegie.

As of this morning, Fred is down about 12.5 pounds and I'm down 5.......and below a number I haven't seen for awhile. That's a good feeling. 2 more weeks!

San Diego Vacation - Part Four

2010-07-31T12:53:00.000-05:00

Sunday, June 20th, Father's Day found us missing Fred. When we planned this trip, the dates that would work best were either going to coincide with Father's Day or Fred's birthday, this year they are only a week apart, so we decided to go earlier and be back by his birthday, but we will miss Father's Day.

Before we leave, we had purchased a couple of giftcards, one to Be-Bops and one to Subway and put them in cards and then hid the cards. We figured we would call him first thing and tell him where to look. :)

We had to be up and at them that day as we were meeting up with my cousin Jennifer in Del Mar at 9:30. She arranged for a private surfing lesson for Connor at 11:00 and we were following her to where we were meeting Andy, the instructor.

Got to see where Jennifer, her daughter, Kendall live with Jennifer's mother, my Aunt Bette. Beautiful, beautiful home that Bette has owned for quite a while. It's just down the street from Tony Robbin's estate which used to be Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball's estate. We left there and headed up the PCH to Encinitas, or more specifically Leucadia to the Encinitas Surf Shop where Jennifer proceeded to spoil the shit out of Connor by buying him a new hoodie and a couple of t-shirts. We also stopped by the Leucadia Donut Shoppe for some freshly made donuts to take to the beach with us.

Jennifer led us to Grandview Beach where we met up with Andy, Connor's surfing instructor. It was so much fun watching Connor learn how to surf! He is a natural! He was up standing on the board in no time and was having a blast! The day was absolutely beautiful! Clear blue skies, warm breeze and the the pacific ocean just calling to us to play -

While we were at the beach, we noticed that a bunch of people with surf boards were coming down the beach toward where we were settled. Some were carrying flowers and most had there boards. My cousin said that it was a memorial service for someone that was obviously a surfer and loved within the surfer community. They conducted a short ceremony on the beach before a bunch of them took their boards and paddled out to past the point break and got into a big circle. One guy was on standing on a board paddling around them. They threw flowers into the middle of the circle and then paid their respects to the person who passed away, afterward they were done, they all went surfing for a while before heading back to the beach. It was a pretty cool thing to witness.

Later that day, I found this has washed up on the beach -

We also had to put up with commercials at the beach -

Here's my favorite photo from that day - My son begging to have another surfing lesson....LOL!

Three hours at the beach was plenty for all of us, so we packed up our gear and heading to Newton's son, Nick's house who lived right up the street. He was having his dad over for Father's Day and we went over so we could meet everyone. After that - back to Fallbrook, a trip to the grocery store for food and snacks and a nice relaxing evening with friends!

More later.....

San Diego Vacation - Part Three

2010-07-30T19:08:00.001-05:00

Day 3 of our vacation was so much fun! Got up at 8:30 and went and had breakfast at my friends Kim and Newton's favorite spot in Fallbrook called "The Garden Center Cafe". I had a poached egg, turkey bacon and potatoes...yum! After breakfast, we went back to the house and Kim showed me all the wonderful plants and trees that they have in their yard.

Neither Kim or I knew what type of flower this is, but it was beautiful!

Apricots

Grapefruit

Grapefruit Close Up

Oranges

Orange Close Up

More oranges

I wish I would have taken a picture of the Meier Lemon tree that they have in their front yard. We used one in the fresh guacamole we made.

The kids (theirs and mine) had been trying to convince us that it would be okay dokey for just the three of them (ages 20, 15 and 14) to drive themselves through LA county to go to Magic Mountain. Yea, right...like that's going to happen, so to ease the blow of being told "NO freaking way", we decided to go the San Diego County Fair that's held at the Del Mar Racetrack every June/July. Fred and I use to go when we lived out there, in fact, we saw the group "Mike and the Mechanics" at that fair one time. It is a great memory!

When we arrived, there was a ginormous crowd in line to get in, but we weathered the wait and line and once inside, the kids were given some cash and off they went to ride some rides. Kim and I took the time to go see some of the exhibits, our favorite being the flowers -

Our second favorite part of course, was the FOOD! FAIR FOOD!

There was lots to choose from and I was trying to stick with things that I don't normally see at our own Iowa State Fair . First up.....a HUGE creme puff. I glad that I didn't take a picture of it, because I wolfed it down and it was delicious and I didn't even feel guilty because of how much walking we were doing....yea, way to justify...LOL

This is something that I did NOT try -

We also rode the sky ride so I could get some photos of just how cool the location of this fair is. The racetrack sits right on the ocean and it's just beautiful.

We were hoping that there would be someone cool performing when we were there, but no bands or concerts that night which is kind of surprising considering it was a Saturday night. Guy Fieri from the Food Network was making a appearance but that was it.

Some of the other foods we tried were the gyros, potato chips on a stick, fried zucchini and some fabulous baklava. Sure glad we walked a lot, because none of those things were really on my "healthy choice" list..lol!

We met back up with the kids when they ran out of money, of course and decided it was time to head back to Fallbrook. A great time was had by all of us!

Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #5

2010-07-30T17:48:00.000-05:00

I was a bit apprehensive about this week knowing that I was traveling for work to Washington DC. No only because of how hard it is to eat healthy when traveling, but also because leaving my guys to their own devices usually does not equate to good choices.

I did pretty darn good while I was in DC. I didn't buy soda and their was only one meal where I really cheated, but it was worth it and to make up for it, I did some extra walking and a workout at the hotel fitness center.

My guys......no, they did not do what they were suppose and their daily logs reflected that. Even after I turned them in, our dietitian emailed me and said she could tell when I wasn't around by our logs....lol

The guys did go to the second of three cooking classes while I was gone. They made a couple different salads and showed a way to incorporation whey protein into a pudding dessert.

Here's hoping we get back on track.

San Diego Vacation - Part Two

2010-07-22T12:03:00.002-05:00

I *think* I left off where we were heading to Pacific Beach and Mission Beach to find a place to have some lunch. We headed down Mission Blvd. and everything was so familiar to me. Some things hadn't changed a bit since Fred and I left. Some of the neighborhoods looked exactly the same, yet there were areas that had big changes.

I took Connor by both of the places I lived when I was out there. My first apartment with a girlfriend before I met Fred and then the apartment we lived in after we moved in together. Connor was so mad that we lived out there before he was born and couldn't believe that we had moved. It's hard for a 14 year old to really understand how expensive things and places are and the motivation behind his father and I's decision to move back to the midwest.

After we cruised around Pacific Beach, we headed south to Mission Beach Park to park the car and get out and walk the boardwalk and find a place to eat. Belmont Park had certainly changed since we lived nearby....Wow! I don't even think the roller coaster was functional back then. Now there are rides and shops and places to eat. We decided to grab some lunch at Wave House right on the Mission Beach boardwalk.

Had some excellent chicken nachos and a Mai Tai and it was fun to watch the surfers on the Flowrider. After eating we did some walking and some shopping. There was a very cool surf and skate shop called Sun Diego where we did some financial damage buying Connor a new pair of DC Rod Dyrdek skate shoes, a t-shirt and a hat. My girlfriend Kim's daughter Marisa was looking for a new pair of Van's and couldn't find them at the beach, so after we walked the boardwalk for a while, we decided to head back to Fallbrook via I-15 so we could stop at Westfield Mall (formally known as North County Fair - it was brand new when we lived there) and check out Zume's and a shoe place Marisa knew about.

After a couple of hours of mall walking and spending more money, we headed back to Kim's for dinner and to chill out after a full day.

More later.......

Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge Week #4

2010-07-20T19:37:00.008-05:00

Week#4 ended with Fred and I going to see Jersey Boys Sunday night. What a great show! Although Fred doesn't really like Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, he did enjoy the show.

We did pretty good Week #4. We've made some changes that I'm pretty sure are going to stick with us even after the challenge is over. I finally have Connor eating wheat bread and liking it rather than white bread. Fred is really watching his portions and I've ramped up my exercise by starting to jog. I bought a Nike+iPod fitness system and I'm loving it! I like how it tracks my walks/runs and I tend to go further, longer and faster when I use it. The down side is it won't work for my elliptical workouts because it can't recognize my sensor when using the elliptical.

Last Saturday, Fred and I went to Fitness Sports and bought new athletic shoes. Fred got a pair of New Balance and I got these babies - they're so pretty! lol

and I must say that they make my feet feel like they are enveloped in puffy clouds.

We kept things pretty simple this week with our food. Mostly using the grill and having vegies and salads as sides. We did splurge and go to Subway Saturday while we were out doing some shopping, but made good choices there.

We also bought a Frisbee at Scheels while out shopping and plan on spending some time in our yard throwing the Frisbee around as a family activity.

Fred is down 12 pounds and I'm down 3 pounds since starting the challenge. I'd like to be down a few more, but I'll take what I can get.

Extreme Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #3

2010-07-11T23:34:00.003-05:00

Today is the last day of week #3 of our Nutrition Makeover Challenge. Fred weighed in today and he is down 8 pounds. I'll weigh in tomorrow morning. It was a pretty good week. Got lots of activity in and this week we were able to go on two family bike rides. One for an hour and the second for 35 minutes. I really need a new bike, or at the very least new gears put on mine. I may go talk the guys at the bike store next month. Fred and I both need new athletic shoes, so next Saturday, we're going to go get properly fitted.

We also went to the first of three healthy cooking classes that are required of us for the challenge. Elizabeth, our dietitian and the dietitian from the Ankeny store made a wonderful Caribbean Jerk marinated Pork Loin, Baked Sweet Potato Fries, a yummy Chicken and Hummus wrap and then showed us how to whip up a tasty and healthy trail mix made out of Kashi Go Lean Honey Almond Flax cereal, almonds, dried cranberries. I made some up this weekend and added raisins and banana chips.

I was at a scrapbook convention most of Friday and a good part of Saturday and tried to make good food choices, but I did snack on things I normally wouldn't. I had a couple Diet Pepsi's during the convention so I lost the points for not drinking soda, but it was worth it.

Tonight we made some excellent Chicken Fajitas, with chicken breast strips, green pepper, onion, tomato and used the La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Whole Wheat tortilla. We added some avocado and some jalapenos for some kick. We paired it with some Spanish rice made with brown rice and Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilles. Excellent dinner!

On the menu for this week is BALT's (made with Turkey Bacon and adding avocado), Grilled Boneless Pork Chops, Pan Seared Cod Fillet and a healthy version of Chicken Parmesan and Pasta.

Here's hoping for a successful weigh in tomorrow!

San Diego Vacation - Part One

2010-07-10T09:57:00.001-05:00

Well, we've been home almost 2 weeks and I'm just now able to sit down and get pictures proofed and to post about our wonderful vacation!

Connor and I left on Thursday, June 17th. We had to drive to Omaha, as we were flying Southwest to San Diego with layovers in Denver on our way out and Phoenix on our way back. Getting there was pretty uneventful. Flights were smooth and Connor and I spent our time in the air watching a movie on our DVD player. We didn't get into San Diego until 10:30 at night and we had a 45 minute drive ahead of us after arriving. I knew I would be tired, but excited to see Kim and Newton again.

Kim and Newton were there waiting for us as we came out of the gates and we went to the baggage claim area where we found that Connor's bag didn't make it to San Diego with us. We dealt with the paperwork we needed to in order to have the bag delivered to us as soon as it arrived, but poor Connor had no clothes.

Once we got to Fallbrook, we ended up staying up until about 1:00 before hitting the sack. We had a big day ahead of us.

Friday - June 18th

We needed to pick up our rental car at the Carlsbad airport by 11:00, so Newton, Kim and I took off to get it. We left the kids at home (Kim's kids are 20 and 15 respectively) and Connor was still sleeping (I knew it would catch up with him).

I ended up upgrading to the next level of car and got a really cute blue Toyota Camry to drive around. Back to Fallbrook we went to pick up the kids and head down to the San Diego beaches.

First stop was LaJolla. A little village I know well. Besides living just south of it in Pacific Beach, I also spent a year at school here and Fred and I used to spend time here as a couple......shopping, dining, walking around the cove, watching the sun set over the ocean at Scripp's.

We walked along Prospect Avenue looking at in all the shops before heading down to the water to see LaJolla Cove.

Ocean view from Prospect Avenue

La Valencia Hotel in LaJolla

My Kid and Kim's Kid

The Kid at the Cove

LaJolla Cove is world famous for it rocky outcroppings and the seals that like to call it home. Here's a few pictures.

I could watch the seals all day -

After playing in LaJolla for a few hours, we decided to head south to Pacific Beach/Mission Beach and find someplace to have lunch. Pacific Beach is where I lived both as a single girl and then once I had met Fred, he and I had an apartment just around the corner from Mission Bay.

More late.....

Hy-Vee Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #2

2010-07-06T20:35:00.005-05:00

Week #2 went pretty good......until Friday, when I caved and had a flour taco from Tasty Taco's......and then proceeded to get sick within a hour and a half after eating it. :(

I guess my stomach and body just couldn't handle it. I've been eating pretty "clean" the last few weeks and having that taco just gave my tummy fits.

Connor broke his toe in a bike accident last week, so we were only able to get in ONE family activity this week. We all went back up to Haines Park and played some tennis. We really have a good time when we do...well, Fred and I have a good time...Connor just bitches. :)

July 4th was a challenge. First off, the weather sucked! second, we were having a house full of people coming over for a BBQ and just like I thought, I overate.

So now....I am really really going to have to play it very close to the bone (so to speak) the rest of the week, or I could see a big increase on the scale. The next day wasn't too bad when I weighed in, only up a pound, but it may not appear for a couple of days, so I'm making sure to pound down the water and really really watch my portion sizes the next few days.

We have really taken advantage of all of the great fruit that is in season. Everything from fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.

I went to the Downtown Farmer's Market last Saturday morning and picked up new potatoes, corn on the cob and kale. We've never tried kale and the couple that were selling it told me to try kale chips! Tear the kale into bit size pieces, dip your fingers into olive oil and lightly coat all the pieces of kale, spread on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt and bake until the edges start to blacken. Eat like chips! Kale is chock full of good for you things!

I'll be back next week with another update on our challenge!

BTW - Here's the photo that we sent to our dietitian to use for the challenge.

But I rather like this one myself......lol

4th of July Rainbow

2010-07-04T22:21:00.003-05:00

For the second year in a row, the weather was gloomy with periods of rain, so everyone was stuck inside. We passed the time talking about books, music and politics (it's a good thing everyone there were Democrats..lol). On the menu, was traditional 4th of July fare; Grilled Hamburgers and Hot Dogs, potato salad, homemade baked beans (from a recipe I got from the Des Moines Register a couple of weeks ago (recipe to follow), sliced pickled cucumbers and for dessert, the choice of frosted brownies, 4th of July decorated sugar cookies, ice cream in waffle cones or watermelon.

After dinner, Paul, my sister and my nephew and I went on a walk. We were all stuffed and needed to walk some of our dinner off. Even though it was still drizzling a bit, we all decided to tough it out and do 30 minutes. Felt good to move around.

A bit later after our friend Paul left, he called back to our house and said "Look out at the sky from your deck, there's a huge rainbow".....and this is what greeted us -

It was too wet to do sparklers, so we had to settle for the rainbow instead, maybe we'll do sparklers some future weekend.

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-04T02:43:00.004-05:00

Extreme Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #1

2010-06-27T23:40:00.006-05:00

Our first week of the challenge was a challenge, as Connor and I were in Southern California on vacation. We weren't able to receive points for not eating out, nor did we receive any points as a family for cooking and eating dinner together. Although individually we got points for physical activity, we weren't able to score any for a family activity, but that's okay, we're going to make up for it now.

Friday night we grilled a lean piece of sirloin, sauteed mushrooms in beef broth, butter buds, garlic and parsley (they taste sinfully rich) and make a big lettuce and vegetable salad. After dinner we all went outside and did an hours worth of yard work together with Connor mowing and Fred and I weeding, weed-wacking and deadheading.

Our hydrangea are looking gorgeous so I had to cut some of the blooms and bring them inside to enjoy -

Saturday was Fred's birthday. We gave him his presents in the morning (a Best Buy gift card, a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker and an assortment of BBQ/Grilling items). He wanted to go see a movie and as hot and humid as it was on Saturday, a dark cool movie theater was the way to go. We decided to forgo scoring points for NOT drinking soda pop and indulged ourselves with soda and popcorn. It was worth it. His birthday choice was Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise, but the movie wasn't bad. It wasn't a totally waste of two hours and it's what my hubby wanted to see. Afterward we went to Walmart and bought each of us a cheap tennis racket and a couple of cans of balls. The Botts' are going to take up tennis as a family activity, or at least for the next eight weeks.

When we got home, we decided to make homemade pizza using Flatout Bread. I've bought Flatout quite a few times, but have only used it for wraps. Our Dietitian Elizabeth suggested using it as a pizza crust. We made our own individual pizzas - Connor's of course was cheese, but we did rope him in to trying a couple pieces of Canadian bacon (he didn't like it...surprise, surprise), Fred used Canadian bacon, pineapple and cheese and mine had cooked chicken, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and cheese. We did use a jarred pizza sauce, but only used a couple of tablespoons per pizza, so it can't be all that bad. The results? They were a pretty darn good alternative to take out pizza.

Sunday is weigh in day for Fred and I and I was pleased to see that I was down a pound! and Fred was down two pounds! Not bad for being on vacation and having to eat out a lot.

Slept in Sunday morning until 10:00am! I never do that, but it was lovely!

Took my niece and a friend of hers to our local aquatic center for a couple of hours and even Connor drug himself away from his film editing to join us. My sister and our friend Paul joined us for dinner. We had a pork stir fry made with lean pork loin, mushrooms, red and yellow peppers, cabbage and bean sprouts. I made the Lundberg's long grain brown rice that was given to us in our bag of groceries from Hy-Vee. I also had some more of the lettuce/vegie salad I had made the night before.

After dinner and after Paul and my sister went home, Fred, Connor and I went up to the tennis courts at Haines Park and hit some balls around for an hour. It was so much fun! and Fred and I aren't too damn bad. Connor had been talking smack since we bought the rackets on how he was going to kick our butts, but guess what? We showed that little smack talker...in fact, he was so surprised at our tennis abilities that he copped an attitude and started this whole "I'm bored, this isn't any fun, when can we go home" BS because we were kicking his butt....LOL! We made him stay.

I'm off tomorrow.....then back to work.....I'm not really bummed, it's inevitable, so there is no need to get depressed about the thought...it is what it is. I'm glad that I've scheduled my summer the way I have, I don't think I'm working a full 5 days in a week until after Labor Day. I like taking the bulk of my annual leave during the summer. It's just the way I like it.

Home

2010-06-26T01:03:00.005-05:00

We are home from vacation. Got back late Thursday afternoon and spent a good portion of today unpacking, doing laundry and getting birthday stuff ready for Fred. His birthday is today and we have presents. :)

Had so much fun on vacation and I fully plan on sharing lots of photos, I just have to get some time to edit and proof them. Lots of fun stories to share!

We have also started our Hy-Vee Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge! It started on Monday, the 21st. Connor and I did okay while in California, but now that we're home, we have to make up for lost points. Fred kept focused and stayed on track while we were gone.

Today, we all did really well, we were finally able to score points for cooking a meal together, eating together and doing a family activity for 30 minutes or more (in our case, yard work....Connor mowed, while Fred and I weeded, weedwacked and deadheaded). I also did not have ONE diet soda today.

Prior to leaving for California, we all had to go to meeting with all of the other families and the respective dietitians/YMCA Wellness Instructors to go over the rules and how the challenge works. Before we left, our dietitian, Elizabeth handed us a recyclable bag chock full of good for you food items to try...

Glad I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday. I have a list full of things that I want to accomplish over the next three days. Hope I have the energy to get it all done and if not, there is always next weekend (which BTW is another 3 day weekend). :)

Garden Glimpses

2010-06-13T20:29:00.005-05:00

It's been so stinking rainy the last 4 days that it's been hard to get outside. We've had some heavy rain come through. It's nice to have once in a while, but I know that after it moves through and the suns comes back, the weeds are going to be abundant. :(

Here's some recent shots from around my yard and deck -

Stone Crop

Primrose

Hosta on the north side of the house

Delphinium

Delphinium close up - I love that color of blue!

A basket of flowers and cats

Pansies and Mushrooms

The vegie garden has produced radishes and some spinach lettuce so far.

Our side garden bed filled with daylilies, grasses, hydrangea and iris

The wrought iron spire is a $3.00 dollar find of mine

A view from the yard looking up at the deck

We have an incredibly busy week. Connor and I are leaving on Thursday for San Diego and we have something going on every night before we go. I almost wish I would have just taken Monday and Tuesday off also....

Have a good week!

More House Projects

2010-06-05T12:27:00.007-05:00

Haven't had much to say lately on my blog. I find that I use Facebook more, but I don't want to quit because I know my long distance friends that aren't on facebook keep us with us this way. HINT HINT - you can leave a comment, it's okay. :)

The weekend of my nosebleed, my boys take the proverbial bull by the horns and painted our downstairs bathroom and switched out the fixtures for me. I had previously put up a chair rail and wallpaper which I still like, but I never did paint the walls and they were looking worse for wear. I chose a light brown/khaki that's pretty neutral. I also HATED the faucet and light fixture, but wasn't ready to commit to anything else until now.

I couldn't find a light fixture I liked that didn't cost a fortune, so I re-purposed what we had. It wasn't so much the style that I hated as it was the gold/brass finish, so I bought a can of metal paint and ta-da, a perfect fixture for $7 bucks.

We also changed the faucet from a cheap chrome that the builder had used, to a much nicer bronze finish faucet.

and since we did that, of course we need to change the toilet paper holder, hand towel holder and the electrical plates.

Even the guys liked the finished product and thought my choices were perfect.

Another project that I did the last couple of months is a fireplace cover. I ADORE having a fireplace, but when it's not in use, it rather ugly. It's just there. I had seen some ideas with using large framed prints and then attaching small shelf brackets to stand the framed print up in front of the fireplace, but I could never find a print I liked, then the idea hit me to use a mirror (which will also reflect to make space larger), so off to Hobby Lobby I went with a 40% off coupon knowing that they had a large selection of mirrors. I found the perfect one and then after couple of weeks of living with it hiding the fireplace, I decided it needed something. I thought about words or a quote, but when I went to one of my favorite wall art websites Vinyl Wall Art I found the PERFECT graphic.

Here's the finished project and it makes me smile every time I look at it.

Have a great weekend!

A Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-31T21:19:00.002-05:00

This is usually how our weekends end during the warm summer months. Pool towels drying on the deck.

It's been a weekend, that's for sure. First my nasal surgery last Thursday, off and recuperating on Friday, then a three day holiday weekend. The local aquatic center opened and we went all three days. Since I had to take it easy, I just loaded up on the SPF 50 and my magazines and books and relaxing poolside. I need to get a head start on my tan for when we're in California. 17 more days!

It only a 4 day work week this week......hurray!

Office Space

2010-05-23T20:35:00.004-05:00

Although I shared some photos on facebook, I never got a chance to talk about my new office space. I had been in the same location for 15 years, ever since we moved into the annex in February of 1995. In fact, just a few months, later, I discovered I was pregnant with Connor. In March of this year, my employer decided to hire some new employees and what that, those employees were going to need a place to call their own.

I had been wanting to make a location change for a while for a couple different reasons, but every time I broached the subject with the appropriate people, it didn't seem like it was going to happen. We had a space in other area of the office that I felt would be perfect for me, so again, determined female that I am, approached the boss and gave her my reasons why this move would benefit the office, asking her to hear my out before making a decision. My approach worked because she said yes this time. Because I was going to move, there was going to be some shuffling of people out in the case management area, so we all needed to coordinate with each other and our IT department so we could get computers, scanners and telephones moved.

Since moving, it's put a whole new perspective on my job. It's quieter, I can concentrate better and I like having a window. Hopefully I can stay here for the remainder of my career....7 years, 6 months and a smattering of days. :)

Garden Update

2010-05-19T19:55:00.005-05:00

Been getting my bedding plants and containers planted over the last few days. Even got Fred outside last night to help me weed the triangle garden...Yea!

My mother's peach iris are starting to bloom and every time I see them, I have to smile. Why? because they remind me of her and the circumstances surrounding how I got them is funny. Shortly before my mom's house went up for sale, my brother and I went over to the house and raided her yard. We dug up everything we could. Iris, rose bushes, hosta, you name, we raided it. Iris were one of my mother's favorite spring flowers and these peach iris are unusual.

I also have some traditional purple iris that are starting to bloom and the color is just so deep and gorgeous.

Someone else likes looking at the flower beds....

I also got the rest of our vegetable garden in last weekend. I planted a zucchini plant and 5 tomato plants, 4 Better Boys and 1 Grape tomato. I may throw a couple pepper plants in there also. I decided against cucumbers this year because they take up too much space and I can buy them at the Farmers Market for cheap. I decided to try the Topsy Turvy planter than my brother bought me for Christmas for one of the better boy plants. We'll see how it goes.

The vegie garden is looking good...

We'll see how this fella grows....

Just call me Farmer Kristina....lol!

Fitness Update

2010-05-19T18:27:00.003-05:00

I haven't been good about updating my blog lately and prior to a couple months ago, I was blogging about my fitness journey, but since starting my SparkPeople.com blog, that's where I do my blogging about my fitness.

I've been really proud of myself for staying consistent and I'm finally starting to see some results. I've ramped up my workout sessions to 45-50 minutes rather than 30-35 minutes. I've been going to the gym, walking or biking at least 4 times a week instead of the 3 times that I was doing.

I also just recently purchased a heart rate monitor and after two days of reading the how to manual, I wore it when I worked out today at lunchtime. It was awesome! It tells me what my heart rate is and what kind of calorie burn I'm getting.

I'm shooting for 2000 burned calories a week and on the days I do workout, I'm shooting for at least a 5K....3.1 miles or if biking, 10K....6.2 miles.

Still struggling with my water intake. I just don't like water unless I'm really really thirsty, so trying to drink 8 glasses is almost impossible for me.

Food choices are good. I have a cheat day and I also don't deprive myself on something that I want. If I over indulge one day, then I take it easy for the next couple of days.

I really need to get before and after pictures. :)

Damn that Basic Grey!

2010-05-14T08:16:00.003-05:00

I just get done buying the collection pack of Max & Whiskers and now they have to come out with Oliver!

There goes another 25 bucks.......

May, Mother's Day and Tulips

2010-05-09T23:40:00.007-05:00

I can't believe it's been since April 24th that I've updated my blog. I have things to share, but no time to share it. The month of May is uber busy between work, the garage sale I'm having next weekend, jury duty the week after and then my sinus surgery the week after that, I'm pretty well booked until Memorial Day.

My weekends are feeling like one big blur of activity. I can't say that they have been all work, just busy.

I did switch out the kitchen tree last weekend to a spring themed tree. I'm not altogether happy with it, but that's okay, I can always tweak it if I find cool things to use.

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. Mine actually started yesterday when we got up early and headed to Pella, Iowa for the annual Tulip Festival. It has been years since I've gone and neither Fred or Connor has ever been. Unfortunately, the weather didn't want to cooperate and it was pretty nasty when we first arrived, but as we walked around, it got a bit better. We would duck in the stores on the town square to warm up a bit and had plenty of hot coffee to warm us up. Here's a few photos from the day -

Tulip Toren

Schlote Tulip Garden

Beautiful ceramic tile work

More tulips - we were lucky that they all weren't gone, there were still some varieties blooming

Vermeer Windmill

Sunken Garden Park

On our way back home, we decided to stop in Prairie City for this, but more about that on a future blog post -

Have a good week!

Weather for ducks.......literally.......

2010-04-24T22:55:00.005-05:00

It rained pretty good here today and normally I would complain that it's raining on the weekend, but today I had a bunch of stuff to do errand and appointment wise, so I didn't care, plus I got to tool around in the new Prius!

At one point, Connor looked at the front window and said "Mom, Dad, there are ducks in our front yard". We live about a quarter mile to two ponds that lots of ducks and geese call home, but I've never seen them wander this far and this close to the house.

Those are Connor's feet in the background...lol

I think they got tired of having there photo taken, because soon after they took flight and went back toward the ponds.

Spring has sprung and other stuff

2010-04-21T19:32:00.008-05:00

Haven't been too motivated to update my blog lately. Been too busy at work and then by the time I get home, I have enough energy to exercise, eat dinner, watch a bit of tv or read a bit of my countless books and magazines I have on hand and then hit the sack.

I think a bit of a black cloud has been following me around lately. Two weeks ago I had the emergency bloody nose which has resulted in me having to schedule some corrective surgery for next month and then last night when I was returning home from the gym on my bicycle, I had a spill. :(

I was make a turn, took it too sharp, hit the curb and down I went. My left elbow, arm and wrist took the brunt of the fall, my left leg has bruises from calf to thigh and I'm generally sore all over. Thank goodness I didn't break anything, but today I was so sore that I had to take a leftover pain pill. I'm glad I was working from home.

On to happier more positive things....

My spring flowers and bushes are in full bloom and I love looking out my windows to see this -

Lilacs - my favorite floral scent and I have two bushes on each side of the deck staircase, so when they are in bloom and we're hanging out on the deck, the smell is heavenly

Tulips - my favorite bulb flower hands down. I try and plant some each fall. I'm especially fond of pinks, white, rose and purple colors

Grape Hyacinth - such a sweet flower and they look great among the tulips

More tulips at the side of the gardening shed

Flowering Almond - my absolute favorite flowering shrub. It was also my mother's favorite. I will always have one of these in my yard

Flowering Almond blooms - they are incredibly beautiful

The weather has been so nice that I even got motivated to get some early vegetable seeds planted. I planted four kinds of lettuce; Romaine, Arugula, Butter Crunch and Spinach and three rows of red radishes and three rows of white icicle radishes.

Here's a view of the gardening shed we built last spring. I still love it and when Fred bought me the new chaise lounge for the deck, the wooden garden bench that was my mom's was moved from the deck to next to the shed. I think it looks good there.

Thanks for letting me share and have a good rest of the week!

Family of Cousins

2010-04-17T19:29:00.001-05:00

Family of Cousins
Originally uploaded by bskts4ver

I took the photo of the kids last spring and just getting around to scrapping it. The layout is inspired by a PageMaps sketch.

Hmmm....I wonder how THIS happened?

2010-04-17T19:17:00.003-05:00

or maybe the better question is "Which one?".....I *think* I may know who the culprit is, but when you look at him and he looks back at you all innocent with those huge eyes, you just can't imagine he would be so naughty, but you know better.

Cards, Cards, Cards

2010-04-12T10:27:00.003-05:00

I'm really not a card maker. For some reason, card making throws me into a creative mental block. I think because of the small size. I enjoy making them, but I usually have to copy something that's already been done. I know some scrapbookers will knock out a couple of cards when working on pages with the leftovers that they have from the scrapbook page. I wish I could get into that mind set.

Last summer I bought Basic Grey's Lime Rickey card pack and a few weeks ago, I got it out and sat down and made all the cards while watching a movie. I was pretty proud of myself to get that project done.

Enjoy your day!

First Peek

2010-04-11T22:58:00.004-05:00

Finally got outside today to do the spring cleaning of the yard. Raking, pulling debris from fall, picking up bits of trash, repairing anything that needed it because of the harsh winter we had. We were outside about 3 hours before we finished. All of bulbs are up and I was please to see my lilacs, flowering almond, rose of sharon and others budding out.

Here's some peeks I got today of things to come....

New tulip bulbs planted last fall

Peeking out from the corner

Grape Hyanciths in our front bed with our boxwoods

It really was a lovely day. First day in 5 that I didn't wake up with a sinus headache. I had a bad day on Saturday and barely got out of bed all day, but we had company coming over and I had to "suck it up" and deal. Once up, showered and downstairs, we had a good time with Joe and Vicky. Fred did an excellent job of grillmaster and the conservation was excellent.

Sleep really really well last night and didn't force myself to get out of bed this morning, but once up, Fred and I went and had breakfast at Hy-Vee and then my husband bought me a new chaise lounge chair for our deck, so I can hang out on it when the weather is nice, reading or napping or whatever I want to do. I love it!

The blue shallow pot next to the chaise is what I plant herbs in and my Longaberger wrought iron table is a perfect fit

Tomorrow is my Monday off and I'm planning on riding my bike to the gym, getting a work out in and then spending the day at home taking it easy and doing some scrapbooking. Have a great week!

Another mini album project to share

2010-04-07T20:34:00.005-05:00

I actually finished this weeks ago, but between being busy and then my most recent health issue, I haven't had the time to post it. I started it at my good friend Cheri's monthly crop in March and had such fun with it that I finished it up the following week. I love using puff paint on my pages and projects and I think they were just the right touch for this.

The pictures I've saved since pre-school and I although I'm sure I have scrapbook pages for every one of them, I wanted a compilation mini album of all of them.

The cover (Cosmo Cricket Black Chipboard Album)

Embellishments are a bit of everything; Doodlebug, KI Memories, American Crafts and puff paints.

Preschool

K & 1st

2nd & 3rd

4th & 5th

6th & 7th

8th (photo is still in a frame in my office space, I'll add it next fall when I replace it with his 9th grade photo)

Thanks for letting me share my project!

April Fool's Day

2010-04-01T20:47:00.003-05:00

With the temperature going to 86 degrees today, one would never think that today is only the 1st of April. It must be nature's idea of an April Fools Day joke. The last couple of days have been unusually warm. I'm not going to complain yet, but I don't like really warm weather so I hope things go back to a normal temperature. I don't want us to skip over spring.

With the weather as nice as it's been, I've been taking advantage of going for two walks while at work, a 15 minute walk in the morning and a 15 minute walk in the afternoon and I've been either at the gym or walking the trails after work. I'm happy to say that I'm done a few pounds more, but it is SLOW.

Last weekend I changed out the decor of the kitchen tree. It is now festooned for Easter.

Today I really pushed myself at the gym. Decided to stick with the treadmill for 40 minutes but continued to change up the incline from a starting position of 1% to 6% and then back down. I was sweating like a pig...lol

On the iPod playlist today in shuffle mode:

Space Truckin - Telsa
Second Chance - Shinedown
Second Hand - Bachman Turner Overdrive
This Ain't Goodbye - Train
Through Glass - Stone Sour
Get A Leg Up - John Mellencamp
Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5
Thorn in My Side - Bon Jovi
Sin with A Grin - Shinedown
No Souvenirs - Melissa Etheridge
Amazed - LoneStar

Really glad to see Friday...it's been a long and busy week!

What a nice day to have off....

2010-03-29T20:48:00.003-05:00

Today was my Monday off and the weather was beautiful. Since I was up until 2:30am this morning (don't ask, but it had to do with me somehow corrupting my Microsoft Money backup file) {{rolling eyes}}, I slept in today and didn't get up until 9:00am. My plans included making homemade potato salad for Gunner's birthday celebration tonight and meeting my husband for lunch and so I can see his new place of employment.

Picked my hubby up at work and we went to Francie's on Fleur Drive for lunch. Afterwards, he gave me a tour of his new workplace and I met his boss. Since it was such a nice day and my Aunt and Uncle live really close to Fred's job, I called to see if my Aunt wanted to walk Gray's Lake with me and she said yes.

Gray's Lake is a beautiful place to get some exercise and when the weather is nice, I've been known to drive over there on my lunch hour and do the 2 mile walk.

You can just see the top of the gold dome of the state capital in this photo

The water is still pretty high and there were spots where the water was still over the trail, so you had to detour around

The bridge that is lighted at night.

The tree aren't in bloom yet and everything still has a bit of a blah cast to it, but it felt great to be out in the fresh air!

Random Things

2010-03-27T14:59:00.005-05:00

Been neglecting the blog lately as it's been a busy week at work and at home. I still have lots of projects both home and scrapbooking to share with you.

Last weekend we finished the upgrade of our downstairs guest bathroom and I still haven't taken picture of it yet. Maybe later tonight.

A few weeks ago on a sunny Sunday, I went to a arts and craft fair at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. I had my eyes looking for something that I had seen before at arts and craft shows but didn't know if I would find what I was looking for....I've also disliked having our waste basket out in the open in our kitchen. I can't go under the sink, there isn't enough room and I didn't have a pull out cabinet like we did in our old house. Currently it just sit next to one end of the kitchen island.

Well, I struck gold at the arts & crafts show..

I love it, it matches our cabinetry and it hides that damn waste basket.

I also re-purposed a lamp a couple of weeks ago for my scrapbook room. I've had the white base forever, so I just added a $8 lampshade from Target and then bought $1.50 worth of pink trim, got the handy dandy hot glue gun out and ta-da.....a lamp for my scrapbook room!

Had a pretty good day today. I got up way too early for a Saturday....around 7:30am...BOO! THAT'S not going to happen tomorrow. Finally went to the gym around lunch time and did 40 minutes on the elliptical. Fourth gym visit this week....feels good!

On the iPod playlist today (shuffle songs):

Got No Shame - Brother Cane
On My Sleeve - Creed
Don't Change - INXS
You Get What You Give - New Radicals
My Kinda Girl - Chickenfoot
It's About You - Train
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Don't Think I Don't Know About It - Darius Rucker
Cold Hearted Bitch - Jett
Stranded - Heart

This evening Fred and I went out to eat at a restaurant we have been wanting to try FOREVER. We've tried a couple of times, but it's so popular that there was a wait and both time we didn't feel like waiting. Today we made a point of going EARLY. The restaurant is over by the fairgrounds and it's called "Now or Later" on University. The owner was a chef at The Latin King before opening this place.

IT WAS FABULOUS! Fred ordered the Steak DeBurgo and I had Shrimp Scampi with spaghetti marinara. The red sauce was by far the best I've ever had and next time I'm going to order the Cavatelli. Fred's steak was excellent and even his baked potato was perfection. They have a wonderful creamy Parmesan dressing that is their house special and the 1/2 order of onion rings we had as an appetizer were some of the best we've had also. SO glad we decided to eat there and we will definitely be back!

Hope you're all having a nice weekend!

Another Mini Album Project Completed!

2010-03-19T18:08:00.005-05:00

While working on our Disney pages, I was also putting aside some fun photos to include in this mini album that I made in 2007 at a scrapbook convention that I attended.

The pages I had mostly finished and just needed to add photos and some journaling. It think it turned out cute.

Another project done!

Projects

2010-03-17T20:34:00.005-05:00

I've been really jazzed about getting a bunch of half finished projects finally completed over the last few weeks.

Some of these things have been on my project table for over a year. Bad scrapbooker, bad, bad, bad scrapbooker....lol

This mini album was of our awesome visit to Matchstick Marvels in Gladbrook, IA. We specifically went when we did to see the replica of Hogwarts Castle before it was shipped off to a museum in Spain. I've completed the album but had never done the journaling, so I finally took the time to do that and it now resides in a basket in our family room with other mini albums.

Another mini album that I had almost done was one I had done of our new house. Well, it's not so new anymore, it will be 6 years on April 1st that we have been here, but we had taken pictures of the place prior to moving in and then I took some after photos, but again, never did do the journaling in the album, but now I have. YEA!

Another project that I finally finished was a CD cover for Fred that holds a CD that his sister gave him when we were with his family last October. His sister put together a compilation of photos of Fred and his family growing up and set it to music. It's very cool!

I'll share more later.

Home

2010-03-13T08:38:00.005-06:00

Got back from Washington DC on Friday and brought a lovely chest cold home with me. :( I'm not feeling horrible but I just don't have any energy. I had big plans this weekend to paint the downstairs bathroom, but I don't think that's going to happen now. I think it's going to be a "get caught up on the movies and books I've been meaning to watch/start reading".

Did some reading while in DC this time. I bought and read two books in the last 5 days. The first one was Push, the novel the movie Precious is based on. One of the hardest books I've ever read. Hard in the subject matter is tough to imagine. The language is pretty raw and it's just such a horrific story. Brought tears to my eyes several times.

The second book was a recommend from one of people who was in Washington with me. We were at a bookstore and she said I had to read this book. The Glass Castle was one of those "can't put down" books and I read it until I was finished. What an interesting and unbelievable book. I think my mouth and jaw were hanging for most of the story. To think that a family could live the way the Walls did was hard to imagine. I highly recommend it to all of you.

I finally took the time to watch Slumdog Millionaire also. Very good movie!

I've got some projects that I've finished in the last couple of weeks that I'm going to share as soon as I'm feeling better. A couple of them have been in my "To-Do" pile for quite a while and I'm happy that they are finally finished.

March goals and another travel week

2010-03-06T20:41:00.004-06:00

Leave again on Monday for Washington DC. I'll be back Thursday night. This should be my last business travel week until July.

It was a busy week this week. Coming back from Phoenix (which I will share with you later in the post) and having to play catch up at work made the week go by very fast. I did get a bit of good news on Friday that after 14 years in the same desk location, I'm moving into a new space. It's not a cube, but not a full fledged office with a door..it kinda in between, but it's more private than what I've had. I'm going to start looking for a reasonable piece of art for one of the walls since I will be looking at it for the next 7 years.

My goals for March are as follows:

1. Lose 4 pounds
2. Start to organize the stuff I want to put on Craigslist
3. Paint the downstairs guest bathroom and update the faucet & hardware.

#1 and #2 are carryovers from February. I didn't lose 4 pounds in February, but I did lose 2 pounds, so each month I'm going to shoot for 4 pounds until I hit my goal. I did do quite well in getting to the gym. Now if I could get tape my mouth shut...LOL!

Had a really good time in Phoenix the week before last. The weather was super great, but it was nice to get out of the Iowa weather. I was there with a really fun group of people and we made a point of getting together after work a couple of times.

Our first night after a day of testing was spent at Alice's Cooperstown, a restaurant owned by the rock artist Alice Cooper. It's right across the street from the US Airways Center and the place ROCKS! The menu was wild and I decided I MUST order THE BIG UNIT. What can I say?

It's buns were toasted and I had sides of sauerkraut and baked beans and it also came with fries. It was actually a pretty good deal for $12.99. There was no way I could have eaten the whole thing. I *think* I may have finished a fourth of it without the bun and shared the rest with my friends.

I couldn't leave without purchasing a t-shirt for Fred and would have got myself one, but the one I liked they didn't have in my size.

Fred had a great first week at his new job. He thinks he's really going to like it and can't believe his good fortune. Connor attended a middle school dance Friday night but said he didn't dance with any of the girls, just "moshed" with his buddies...we're going to try and get to Shutter Island tomorrow. I've been wanting to see it since it came out, but I also have to get back to the gym, get some grocery shopping done and get ready to watch the Oscar's. I'm rooting for both Avatar and Up and I sure hope Jeff Bridges wins Best Actor. Best Actress is tough because I'd like to see both Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock win.

March

2010-03-02T21:46:00.003-06:00

March...the month of spring breaks, St. Paddy's Day and family birthdays. My mother would have been 71 on March 26th and my nephew Gunner will be 8 on March 24.

Here's the kitchen tree in honor of the month March -

Enjoy your week! Sun is in the forecast for ME!

It's DONE!!

2010-02-28T21:25:00.003-06:00

I'm DONE with the Disney album! Actually, I finished it last weekend before I left for Phoenix. I sat down this evening and put all the pages in the album. There ended up being 50 pages! Here's the pages I haven't shared yet, in particular order.

I kicked ass in February. Finished 30 pages this month.

Was that the Sun I Saw?

2010-02-27T18:56:00.010-06:00

Wow...had I not just come back from a bit of sun, I may not have remembered what that big orange/yellow thing is in the sky....LOL!

It felt great to sleep until 8:30 this morning and leisurely started my morning. Finished unpacking but left the bags out as next weekend I have to pack them again.

I have a mountain of laundry to get through and warned my guys that I was going to need help with it. I don't want to be spending my whole weekend doing laundry that could have been done during the week...if you catch my drift...wink.

Before I left last week, I completely went through our master bathrooms drawers, cabinets, baskets, and closet and purged. Got rid of a huge sack lot of stuff and then re-organized the rest. We had been having trouble with the plastic suction cup bins that hold our shower goodies. They kept falling off the wall, so off they came, everything was washed and I found this at Target. It makes me very happy.

If you look closer you'll see my obsession with vintage shampoo such as Pert and Prell. Do you remember those from the 70's? I don't spend a lot of money on my shampoo and conditioner. As long as it's PH balanced, I'm good. I spend a bit more on styling products, but those last me a long time.

Some other obsessions lately include this bottle of Caress body scrub.

It's the "Evenly Gorgeous" body scrub and it smells like warm burnt sugar...honestly it's heavenly. There's another Caress body scrub that's a tropical scent and I have a bottle of that just waiting for summer.

I've also been going through a lot of this lip balm-

It's the perfect color for me and it's 100% natural.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

I think our luck has changed

2010-02-26T19:46:00.005-06:00

I'm home from my work trip from Phoenix! It was a good trip, I was glad that I got to be involved in the testing of the new software and to see old friends from other courts who were down there testing also. The weather was good, not great, but definitely better than what's been going on in Iowa.

I honestly can't believe I made my connection. I only had a half hour between flights and had I not hopped a ride on one of those trams, I would not have made it. I came in at Terminal F and was going out at Terminal A and had I had to walk it, there was NO way I would have made it. I did have a Plan B, but I really wanted to get home on time.

It was so good to see Fred since the good news about his job. He had gone and got his hair cut and was looking good, he's also lost about 20 pounds. I think he was more stressed than he let on. Sure wish when I am stressed, I would lose weight. Me, I can watch every morsel I put in my mouth, exercise 3-4 times a week and can't lose a pound......it just doesn't seem fair.

It was also good to see my kitty boys and I spent some time giving them all some kitty love. My boy Tucker hasn't left my side since I've been home. He's such a good pal.

We need a bit of Good Luck!

2010-02-20T17:58:00.006-06:00

There are a couple things right that all of you can hope for a bit of good luck to come our way. One for my hubby and a possible job offer and for me to get to where I need to go this week.

I'm suppose to leave for Phoenix tomorrow for a work trip, but the weather forecast isn't looking too good and unless the storm misses us, I won't be surprised that my flight gets canceled. I'd be more upset if it was for vacation, but not for work. If it is canceled then hopefully I'll get out Monday instead and still be able to get there to do what I need to do.

I'm been a busy bee in my scrapbook....more purging, organizing, finishing Disney pages (I'm almost done), sorting, cleaning, etc. At last count I did 25 pages in February so I surpassed my the goal of 15 I set for myself.

Speaking of February goals, let's look back...

February Goals

1. Lose 4 pounds. Not sure, I haven't weighted myself yet.
2. Complete 15 scrapbook pages. Yep!
3. Get together for lunch with my girlfriends. Nope, we couldn't get it to happen...sickness, weather, etc...next month
4. Start to organize crap for Craigslist (anyone need a really cute student computer desk?). Nope, still in pile downstairs, too cold down there right now, move goal to March
5. Enjoy getting away from the weather with a work trip to Phoenix. We'll see....

I'm not doing so hot with those goals...I honestly think it's the weather...jesus...how much crappy weather can one state take? This is the worst winter in the 23 years that we have been back to Iowa.

Look at these piles and there is actually more because we have had more snow since I took these.

I call "Uncle" on the weather. We all need days of sunshine to improve our moods and motivation.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T17:35:00.003-06:00

My guys gave me the sweetest flower arrangement for Valentine's Day. I can't wait to use the little silver pot in my scrap room holding some type of scrapbook supply. :)

We decided to celebrate Valentine's Day together by seeing the movie Percy Jackson and The Olympians The Lightning Thief. What a fun movie! We thought it looked like it would be good and it didn't disappoint us.

I was pretty proud of myself for coming home from the movie and going up to the gym. I thought I was only going to do a 30 minute workout today, but once I got there, I got into the rhythm and I ended up doing 20 minutes of the elliptical and 20 minutes on the treadmill. Sweated my ass off! lol...

On the iPod playlist today:

Take It To The Limit - Hinder
Alright - Darius Rucker
Thank You - covered by Tesla
Crash - Cavo
Give It To Me - 3 Doors Down
I Am An Illusion - Rob Thomas
Bad Motor Scooter - Montrose
God Blessed Texas - Little Texas
Precious Declaration - Collective Soul
Cradlesong - Rob Thomas
She's on Fire - Train

Once home, Fred and I prepared Valentine's Day dinner. We had Roasted Chicken, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Lettuce and Vegetable Salad and crescent rolls, but the real treat was the lobster tail we broiled and shared. YUM!

Tomorrow is a federal holiday so I have the day off...Yippee! Have a few errands I have to run, kitties need food and my paper trimmer needs a new blade, thank goodness PetSmart and Michael's are right next door to one another. I'm hoping to get up around 8:00, head to the gym, run my errands and be back home by lunchtime. I'd like to be able to do some scrapbooking for maybe even watch a one of the movies in the stack I haven't seen tomorrow afternoon.

I've got a busy next few weeks. I leave for Phoenix next Sunday, home the following Friday, work the next week, then leave again the week of March 8th for Washington DC. Maybe by the time I'm finally back home, some of this snow will be gone and spring will feel like it's here. One can only hope.

Loving THIS!

2010-02-12T22:45:00.003-06:00

Just when I think I'm done buying Basic Grey paper collections, they SUCK me back in!

Must have some for my kitty pages.

Exercise Diary or another episode of "How I'm Wasting My Time Chasing my 25 year old body" or "My Fruitless Effort"

2010-02-10T13:59:00.006-06:00

After a 5 day break due to a scrapbook retreat I attended, weather and then just not feeling the love, I went back to the gym for a 35 minute cardio workout.

15 minutes on the elliptical at full speed hands free (the reason I do this is because it helps with my balance and engaging my core)
20 minutes of interval training on the treadmill going from 1% to 6% incline.

On the iPod playlist today:

The Flame - Cheap Trick
Energy - Shinedown
Give Me A Sign - Breaking Benjamin
Hate to Lose Your Loving - Little Feat
Everything Zen - Bush
Hollywood - Shooting Star
Music Man - REO Speedwagon
Remembered Well - Rob Thomas
Soap On A Rope - Chickenfoot

One day at a time.

Exercise Diary or another episode of "How I'm Wasting My Time Chasing my 25 year old body"

2010-02-03T13:49:00.004-06:00

Went to the gym during my lunch time today to avoid the after work crowd. Can't wait until THAT crowd thins out.

I just gave the treadmill a workout today. 35 minutes at graduated inclines of 2% to 6%. Walking at about 3.9. Honestly, there were a couple of times throughout the 35 minutes that I jumped off for a 10 sec break, but I have no problem doing that. Once I hit my stride again on this machine, I'll start doing interval training where I'm hitting an incline of 8 to 10% but going full on for 30 seconds, 15 rest, full on for 30 seconds, 15 seconds rest and so on. That burns major calories.

Chris (manager/trainer/Satan) and I sat down and planned our course over the next three months. After taking my measurements and scribbles all of his calculations, he's recommending that I concentrate completely on cardio for the next three months to see if we can get the scale to start moving down again. He's not concerned with my strength, "My god, you're as strong as a horse" (I *think* that was a compliment), so he wants to address my frustration with my scale not wanted to budge.

I guess I'm going to get to know Mr. Elliptical and Mr. Treadmill pretty good.

On the iPod playlist today:
Do it or Die - Atlanta Rhythm Section
StormTroppin' - Ted Nugent
When I'm Gone - 3 Doors Down
Mamma Mia - ABBA
Animals - Nickelback
Parachute - Train
Gasoline - Rob Thomas
Mr. Skin - Spirit
Fine Again - Seether

I'm going to try and ramp it up to 5 times a week.

That which does not kill us makes us stronger. :)

Exercise Diary or "How I'm wasting my time chasing my 25 year old body"

2010-02-02T18:46:00.002-06:00

Just back from the gym. Did 30 minutes on the elliptical HANDS FREE with 1 pound weights in my hands while boxing to get a total body workout. I AM A MACHINE...lol (that's what the gym manager calls me...his 52 year old machine who can outlast some of the 25 year olds). After the elliptical, I did another 10 minutes on the treadmill at a 3% incline. No strength training today, that's why I took my hand weights and made sure to move my upper body also today.

On the iPod playlist today:

Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters - Elton John
Jealous Man - Hinder
Tell the Truth - Jude Cole
Yellin at the Christmas Tree - Billy Idol
Use Me - Hootie & The Blowfish
Steve McQueen - Sheryl Crow
Wide Open Spaces - Dixie Chicks
Bread of Shame - Creed
Restless Heart Syndrome - Green Day
September - Earth, Wind & Fire

Boeuf Bourguignon

2010-02-01T10:47:00.000-06:00

Since I just finished reading "My Life In France" by Alex Pruhomme & Julia Child and to pay homage to my favorite movie of last year, I decided to try my hand at Boeuf or Beef Bourguignon from the "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" cookbook. It's one of Julia's most famous dishes and I wanted to try it make it.

Those that know me well know that cooking isn't something that I enjoy doing. I enjoy watching people cook, I certainly enjoy eating but cooking for the "Joy of Cooking"?

It's not that I can't cook, I can, and I'm a pretty good cook, but it's the process that I need to work on enjoying.

So, what do I do? Take on a labor intensive recipe of Julia's, but it could be worse...it could be aspic. YUCK!

Here goes -

The recipe threw me a bit right off the bat when it had me simmer bacon lardons in water.

Everything I need....

I can't even remember the last time I bought a real carrot and not a bag of baby carrot stumps.

Making sure to dry off the beef.

Into the dutch oven it goes to get a nice brown crust.

After the beef is properly browned, out it goes and in comes the onions and carrots.

Aren't they beautiful?

We can't forget the wine.

In goes the wine and beef broth and then into the oven it goes for about 3 hours.

In the meantime, I sauteed mushrooms in beef broth.

Once the mushroom were cooked, into the dutch oven then went for one last stir.

I served the Boeuf Bourguignon over egg noodles and it was a hit!

Yea Me!!!

Julia would be proud.

A Valentines Kitchen Tree

2010-01-31T17:31:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow will be the first of February and I promised that I would share a photo of my kitchen tree now all decorated for Valentine's Day. Each month, I'll be switching out the decorations to meet the season or holiday. It's been a lot of fun jotting down ideas. I made two different types of heart ornaments, one out of doilies and the others were inspired by Princess Lasertron.

I bought valentine ribbon, pink heart picks and a very cool silver and red garland at discount at Hobby Lobby. I'm pretty stoked with the way it turned out and will enjoy looking at it this month.

February Goals

1. Lose 4 pounds.
2. Complete 15 scrapbook pages.
3. Get together for lunch with my girlfriends.
4. Start to organize crap for Craigslist (anyone need a really cute student computer desk?).
5. Enjoy getting away from the weather with a work trip to Phoenix.

My Exercise Diary or "How I'm wasting my time chasing my 25 year old body" :)

2010-01-31T13:50:00.004-06:00

Got my butt out of bed this morning around 7:45 and headed to the gym. Did 35 minutes of cardio and 10 minutes of strength training concentrating on my upper body.

On the iPod Playlist today:

Holdin On To Yesterday - Ambrosia
Leader of Men - Nickelback
First Snow - TSO
Hard On You - Rob Thomas
Too Bad - Nickelback
Shadow On The Sun - Audioslave
I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow - AKUS (featuring Dan Timinsky)
Cracklin Rosie - Neil Diamond
You're Gonna Get What's Coming - Robert Palmer
Your Love - The Outfield

After my workout I treated myself to a couple of poached eggs and some wheat toast at my local grocery store. I always do my weekly grocery shopping on Sunday mornings and my routine for a long time was to get my workout in, then do the shopping. Once that was done and I was home, I could get a shower, a fresh cup of coffee and sit down to read the sunday paper. That's my perfect Sunday morning.

Back in the Saddle Again.......

2010-01-29T20:17:00.004-06:00

Started back to the gym today and it felt good! I did a 45 minute workout. 30 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of strength training. I split the 30 minutes of cardio up into 15 minute segments, 15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the treadmill. I'm hoping that my schedule will allow 2 nights a week at the gym, 1 night doing a fitness DVD at home and one night of either walking or biking (well, once we get rid of all the snow and it gets warmer), so for now it will be 3 nights at the gym and one night at home. Being a Friday, the gym wasn't busy at all, but I'm afraid that until everyone that started a fitness routine as a New Years resolution drops out (usually around the end of February), it's going to be a fight over the cardio machines at the time I go. That's the only drag about this time of year. By March, I'll have my run of the place...

On the iPod playlist today:

Take it to the Limit - Hinder
No Time To Lose - Tarney Spencer Bank
Should - Hinder
If I Had Wings - Darius Rucker
Fake It - Seether
See the Light - Green Day
New Tattoo - Saving Abel
Almost Honest - Megadeath
Sound of Madness - Shinedown
My Own Prison - Creed

I must say that when I looked in the full length mirrors in the gym, I could definitely tell that I've gotten smaller. The scale isn't registering what I would like, but I'm definitely building muscle and muscle takes up less space than fat.

No plans this weekend. I was hoping to get in the basement and get some crap I want to put on Craigslist organized, but it's too damn cold down there, so that is going to wait another month. I guess I'll just have to scrapbook....lol

STILL working on Disney pages.....

Disney Pages!!

2010-01-17T14:20:00.008-06:00

Since I'm doing them, I might as well show them to you.....still not done with the album, but I'm chipping away at the pile of photos. I may have already shared some of these and if I did, here they are again....

click the pages to enlarge

I have tomorrow off as it is a federal holiday and I'm heading to Sears to buy an elliptical! I'm so excited.....I've enjoyed working out at home, more than I thought I would. I've been doing a bunch of different fitness DVD's and I bought myself a new set of weights, so now I have 1 lb, 3 lb and 5 lb hand weights. I already had a stability ball and mats but I really want a some type of a cardio machine. I've decided against a treadmill because if my foot problems were to flare back up, I can't use a treadmill, the elliptical is more forgiving on my feet. I've saved a bit a money and I've decided my health and fitness is worth it!

This is the one I'm getting....

Having my sister and the kids over tonight to watch the Golden Globes award show. We're sucker for movie/tv awards shows and watch them all. I like looking at all the fashion. I'm making chicken and noodles and some crescent wrapped little smokies for an appetizer.

Enjoy your week!

Okay, I lied......

2010-01-10T19:50:00.003-06:00

I was chatting with my scrapbook peeps the other day when I proclaimed that there would be no scrapbooking shopping until our Winter Retreat in February. I lied....

I went to Memory Bound today and just had to purchase this.....

I had said in my email that in 2009, I spend less than I ever have since I started scrapbooking in 1996...that's 14 years. I probably spent less than $150-200 and I'm betting that most of that was on adhesive and cardstock. I really wanted to put a dent in my stash and I did a little. I still have more stuff that a human will use in one lifetime. I feel a purge coming on this spring.

I'm leaving for Washington DC again this week. I don't fly out until Tuesday and I'll be back Friday night. I'm staying at the JW Marriott right on Pennsylvania, not far from the White House. I love staying downtown!

What I am going to miss is a scrapbook night with a bunch of good friends. We aren't able to get together as often as we would like and I hate missing but I have no choice. I won't be home in time to go. I take solace in that I'll be going to our annual Night Owl Weekend Retreat the first weekend of February, so I'll get to see everybody then.

Have a good week!

A Very Cold Weekend

2010-01-09T21:07:00.005-06:00

The weather has been so bitter cold that you just don't want to plan anything that requires you to go outside. I didn't even leave the house today and aside from a trip to the grocery store and pet store tomorrow, I'm hibernating again.

Been working on our Disney World album....STILL....

I'm just burned out on it, but it needs to be done and I really don't want to put it aside, but I still have between 10-20 more pages to do and I'm afraid I'm going to have to because there are other things I want to work on.

Here's some of the more recent pages I've done - (click to bigify)

This is a 6 page layout, 2 double pages and a single

More to come.....

Off to a Fresh Start......

2010-01-04T14:55:00.003-06:00

FINALLY got over the head cold that I caught on New Year's Eve....just in time for my time off....figures....feeling better today and I'm glad it was my flex day off so I could at least have one day of feeling like doing something other than reading and watching tv/DVD's. The bad news, I think Connor is now coming down with it.

Happy to report that I did NOT gain any weight over the holidays, in fact, I lost 3 pounds. THAT's good news!

Even with the head cold I had to get all of the Christmas decor put away and my guys helped out a lot! They took care of the tree and I put away the rest of it. I decided that I was going to leave the small tree behind the sink and decorate it all year round. Right now it has a winter theme going, but will soon make way for Valentine's Day!

Now on to my New Year's resolutions. I know a lot of people think new year's resolutions are hokey, but I don't and I'm also very goal oriented so making new resolutions are right up my alley.

1. Start being consistent about taking a Multi-Vitamin, extra Vitamin D and Omega3.

2. Continue working out but upping it to 4 times a week rather than 3.

3. Curb the F-bombs...lol!

That's all I can handle this year.

The After Christmas Blahs and a Fresh Start

2009-12-30T16:29:00.004-06:00

I always feel a bit "down in the dumps" after Christmas. I'm not depressed, but I'm not very enegetic or motivated either. I do look forward to the new year though and the thought of a fresh start.

Last year my "word" was "Simplify" which I did in many aspects of my life. I've said that 2009 was my year of the purge. I got rid of a lot of stuff that had been cluttering our lives and I'm NOT a pack rat and I run an organized home, but I had been holding on to things that I really didn't need.

This year, I'm not sure what my "word" will be. With what my family has been through the last quarter of 2009, it probably should be "Hope". Hope that my husband finds a great job, hope that my job stays stable and a bit less stressful, hope that Connor continues to do well in school. Hope that I can continue to be fitness conscience and don't stop making exercise a priority.

One thing I did last year was keep track of how much money I saved by clipping grocery coupons. It's something I usually do when I'm watching a DVD, so I'm really not spending any additional time doing it. I do our weekly grocery shopping on Sunday mornings and Hy-Vee totals your coupon savings on their receipts, so I kept track and the grand total after doing our shopping last Sunday is $470.91, but I'll bet it was probably more than $500 because I'm sure I had used coupons for small trips and forgot to write it down. $500 just by clipping coupons. Not bad.

We spent today getting most of the Christmas decor taken down and put away. I usually leave it up until after the New Year, but this year I didn't want to wait. I'm really hoping to get some scrapbook mojo back and play in my scraproom. I don't have to go back to work until Tuesday, January 5th so I've got plenty of time.

Happy New Year to all of my family and friends! We, of course are staying in tonight. We'll probably watch Iowa State in the Insight Bowl and it looks like we're going to do the steak dinners at Hy-Vee for dinner....Yea!...no cooking!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

2009-12-24T21:19:00.007-06:00

Here we are....another year, another Christmas Eve.....

The weather isn't great so my Aunt and Uncle decided to postpone until Sunday which is fine since Sunday is the kidlet's birthday!

My brother came over and we had chili, stuffed mushrooms, artichoke-spinach dip, pesto with italian baquette bread and spritz cookies for dessert. We exchanged gifts and my brother gave me a gift certificate to a local nursery (which will come in handy this spring), a topsy-turvy tomato hanger (can't wait to try it next year) and our mother's copper boiler which he spent hours re-polishing.

Mom purchased that boiler back in the 70's at an antique store when we moved into the house on Woodmayr Circle. It was always a fixture in her home. Sometimes it housed magazines, sometimes flowers and I alway remember it holding a least two gorgeous poinsettias at Christmastime. I love it and can't wait to find it a place in our home.

Here's my Topsy-Turvy Tomato planter -

I've told BOTH of the guys I live with that neither of them better dare wake me until at least 7:00AM. They both groaned at that. BOTH of them are early Christmas morning risers, I would rather not, but I usually lose that battle.

Fred has got the timer on the coffee pot set and ready to make the first pot at 6:00am. He better save some for me. :)

Hope all of my friends that had to travel are safe in their journey and we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

December 20th

2009-12-20T15:08:00.006-06:00

The countdown has begun and everything I can do is DONE. Finished all of our wrapping late last night and this morning got all of the food shopping done. I even did some prep work this morning also.

I made a pan of lasagna for Christmas Day and I cooked the sausage to stuff the mushrooms with on Christmas Eve.

I got together with four of my oldest and dearest girlfriends yesterday for lunch at Palmer's Deli & Market. It was really good to see Dianne, Peggy and Laureen. Our lives are so busy that it's hard to get together, but we have made a New Year's resolution to meet once every two months for lunch on a Saturday.

Fred made eleventy billion dozen chocolate chip cookies last night and look who sat there and watched the whole time....

and this one likes to snatch the "throne of honor" from Tucker any chance he gets..

I have to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but only 8 hour days as flex/compressed time is suspended during the Christmas/New Year's weeks, so I think I'll work 7:30 to 4:00. It will be nice to get home a bit earlier.

Have a great week!

The Weekend Before Christmas......

2009-12-18T20:17:00.005-06:00

and all through the house......

I had today off and Fred and I spent some time together getting last minute things done. YEA!

Then once Connor got home from school, we took off for Copper Creek Theaters to see "Avatar", James Cameron's new movie. IT WAS AMAZING! We fooled Connor into thinking we were running errands (which he HATES with a passion) and was throwing a major almost 14 year old brat tantrum (he was even punching the air before getting into the car...LOL) and then even after he realized we were going to the movie, it took him a bit to cool down. All I could do was laugh at him which made him madder, but all is well...he got over it and he apologized for his behavior.

Still wrapping gifts and it's not that I have a buttload to wrap, it's that I'm dragging butt doing it. I still have a few of Connor's and all of Fred's, then I'm done.

Last weekend I finished up a Christmas decor project. I think it turned out nice and even Fred and Connor commented on it.

I used Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding, cut the letters with my Cricut (Alphalicious) and then found the cutest woven bows at Target that matched perfectly for the ends. The rest of the bows in the package went on the tree.

I've made quite a few Christmas presents this year, from photo books, to snack jars, to bookmarks and money banks. Most of the gifts I've altered and re purposed things that have caught my eye and it's been a lot of fun!

This weekend the to-do list is:

1. FINISH wrapping
2. Finalize menu
3. Finalize food shopping list
4. Grocery shopping
5. Bake some goodies
6. Make the lasagna to freeze

I don't have to go ANYWHERE this weekend except to the grocery store and that's exactly how I'm liking it. I don't have to fight any of the last weekend shopping frenzy. YEA!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Checking his list......

2009-12-13T11:05:00.004-06:00

or should I say countdown to Christmas.

What's left on my "To-Do" list?

Food shopping (but I won't do that until Sunday, the 20th)
Finish up the wrapping gifts.
Do a bit of holiday baking.

As you can see, NO shopping! That's done, done, done.....well, except for the one item that I bought a couple of weeks ago that has now gone on sale and so back to Target I go for that.

My family has talked me in to baking a ham along with the lasagna that I was planning on making, so that has been added to the menu along with a potato dish.

Next weekend, Fred and I are going to do some baking. He will make his famous fudge and I'm going to make some caramel apple bars, peanut butter blossoms and a new cookie I want to try, Pecan logs. I may give those a trial run later today to see if they are actually any good. They look good, I got the recipe from Real Simple and it seems fool proof enough.

I'm bumming that I can't find my most favorite holiday dish soap..lol! Dish soap, you say....well, it's Method's holiday fragrance dish soap and last year I found a ton of it. I loved Peppermint Vanilla, Spiced Pear and Holly Berry and stocked up BIG after Christmas. This year....nada....can't find a single bottle. :(

After feeling awful on Friday with a terrible sinus headache, I'm feeling better and need to put on my elf hat and finish up with some wrapping. Last night we watched the holiday movie Deck the Halls. I had never seen it before. It was pretty hokey, but I could appreciate the outdoor illumination theme of the movie...LOL!

Have a good week!

A Childhood Christmas Memory

2009-12-12T09:39:00.002-06:00

One of my most favorite Christmas's in my childhood was the Christmas that my sister was born (December 1st) and it was the Christmas that my brother and I received new stockings. Not just any stockings, but custom made for us stockings from a very exclusive children store in Des Moines, called The Gingerbread House. I know my mom splurged on these because we were not a wealthy family and I'm sure if my Dad had really known what they cost, he would not have been happy. Years later my mom told me that she paid $25 a piece for the stocking and in 1967 that was a lot of money for something like that. The next year, she had one made for my baby sister. Every Christmas after receiving them, we anxiously waited to unpack them and display them. We didn't have a fireplace, but every Christmas morning, those stockings were stuffed to the top marking our respective piles of presents.

Mom gave me my stocking after I got married and although I no longer use it as my Santa stocking, it always hangs in a prominent place in our home.

It's lost some of it's bling, the Santa's arm has been chewed off by something (kitties? maybe??, mice??), but I still love it and hang it with pride and smiles of the memories it brings.

Christmas Memories in my Mother's Gifts

2009-12-07T17:23:00.009-06:00

Christmas is now a bittersweet time at our house. This will be the fourth Christmas that we have celebrated without my mom. It was by far her favorite time of the year and she always made them special for all of us.

She also created fabulous things as gifts throughout the years and when I look at those things I experience both a sadness and joy. Sadness that she's not here with us and that we miss her very much and joy that I have these things that bring such fond memories to us.

The last Christmas she was alive, she gave me this fabulous tray that she had cross stitched. I use it on our kitchen island throughout the holiday season and it brings a smile to my face every time I look at it.

Some long time favorite gifts that my mother made us are these cross stitched Christmas stocking. Although we don't use them as our "official over the fireplace" stocking, they are always on display hanging from our staircase.

She gave Fred and I our stockings not long after we were married and had moved back to Iowa.

and then almost 10 years later, she created one for her first grandson.

The details in these stockings are incredible and they will alway be one of our most precious family heirlooms.

I've been a creating fool today on my day off.....it was fun!

Holidaze!

2009-12-06T21:37:00.007-06:00

Our Christmas gift shopping is done after Connor and I went out today for a couple of hours and finished buying Fred's gifts. It's a good thing we did as it has started to snow and last forecast I heard was calling for 2"-4" inches by morning....brrrr....and yuck!

Spent some time late last night starting to wrap gifts, but I didn't get very far. I took advantage of Connor being over at a buddies for a sleepover and got a couple of his done, but that's it. I'll probably do a couple each night over the next couple of weeks. My priority is to get my Dad and cousin's packages in the mail by the 10th.

The house decorating is done. I've scaled back this year to just the things that we truly love. Our collection of snow globes...

The Fitz & Floyd china that my mom gave us over the years...

and all of our favorite Christmas tree ornaments...

So just a little over two week before Christmas and the only thing I have left to do is wrap presents and get the food shopping and preparing done. Not bad.

Saturday at Home :)

2009-12-05T09:41:00.010-06:00

Got up early today. Not sure why because I was really really tired last night when I went to bed and I'm surprised I didn't slept in. I went to a scrapbook crop last night that my friend Cheri hosted. It was good to see everyone and be able to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I worked on Disney pages, I'm getting burned out on Disney pages, but I just want to get them done so I can move on to something else.

My guys are going Christmas shopping today and I am going to complete the Christmas decorating. I'm working on the den, foyer and staircase. Once I'm completely done I'll take some pictures.

Once I'm done decorating, I need to start on getting presents wrapped. Our tree looks so lonely and the presents act as blockage for the cats to stay away from the tree...LOL!

Took this picture on December 1st after putting up our outdoor illumination. It's just so strange to see Christmas lights and geraniums in full bloom together.

After the cold weather of the past few days, the flowers are now not looking so good, so that's another thing I need to do, is to get that all cleaned up and put away.

Have a good weekend!

Well, THAT's done!

2009-11-30T16:56:00.008-06:00

Had the day off and Fred and I spent it finishing up our Christmas gift shopping. We still have each other to do, but we need Connor with us separately for that, but everyone else is DONE....including Connor.

Now, I have to tackle the wrapping....my favorite part! :)

I love bows, but unfortunately so do our cats and they never stay on the packages, so I try and get a bit creative with my wrapping.

I've almost finalized the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day menus and am getting started with my food lists.

Christmas Eve
Italian Sausage stuffed Mushrooms
Artichoke and Roasted Red Pepper Dip with crispy rounds
Crescent Wrapped Little Smokies
Cold Shrimp with spicy sauce
Soup or Chili? (Still thinking about this)
Beer & Cocktails

Christmas Day
Bruschetta
Tossed Salad with various greens and chopped vegies
Lasagna with Italian Sausage and Portabello Mushrooms
Homemade Garlic Bread (will probably pick up a couple of loaves of South Union Bread)
My sister is handling dessert

We had a traditional Christmas dinner last year and I like to mix things up. Hubby isn't always happy about it, but he won't starve. Besides, I can make the lasagna the Sunday before and freeze it, so the only thing I'll have to do Christmas Day is make the bruschetta, salad, salad dressing and bread. Easy Peasey!

Once we got home from our shopping, the weather was nice, so I headed out for a brisk walk up to the new recreation area and back home. It's about a 40 minute round trip walk. I got a couple of my fitness DVD's out and I'm going to try those this week since it's already dark when I get home from work, so walking after dark is out. It's too damn dark!

On the iPod playlist today:
Salt in My Tears - Martin Briley
Work for the Working Man - Bon Jovi (NEW!)
Looking for a Stranger - Pat Benatar
The Flame - Cheap Trick
Heavy Metal - Sammy Hagar
Restless Heart Syndrome - Green Day
Thank You - Led Zepplin covered by Tesla
Oh Sherrie - Steve Perry
Lost in the Sun - Hinder
Space Truckin - Deep Purple covered by Tesla

Hope everyone has a good week! I got a busy busy day ahead of me tomorrow...hopefully the rest of the week will even out.

The Official Start of the Holidays!

2009-11-29T22:45:00.007-06:00

Had a really nice Thanksgiving with my sister, Chloe, Gunner, my brother and his best friend Craig. Spent the day hanging out and cooking. We ate around 3:30pm and then the L-trytophan kicked in and we napped for awhile.

I spent some time in my scraproom working on some Christmas projects. I'm not sure who's going to get these, but they were fun to make. I had seen a finished project at the cash register at Memory Bound and I knew I had the coasters, so I found a bunch of random paper I liked and started creating away!

I also like to re-purpose the Large Yankee Candle jars when I'm done burning the candle. I did a couple last year that turned out cute, so I did some more this year. I still have two more to finish, but I really liked the way these turned out.

I also decorated a couple of gift certificate holders with Basic Grey and raffia.

We got all 90% of our outdoor illumination done and I'm almost finished decorating the house. I still have the staircase and the foyer left to do.

Tomorrow Fred and I are going to finish up our gift shopping. Mostly just doing around and getting gift certificates, but there are a few things I need to find. We'll probably stop and have a nice lunch somewhere and plan on getting home around the time Connor will be home from school.

I'm right on the money with my Christmas organization and what I have left to do. Having a notebook to write it all down in helps tremendously!

I have a busy week this week, especially on Tuesday, but I'm hoping to get to attend a crop my friend Cheri is hosting Friday night in Ames. I really need to get this damn Disney World album DONE!

and before I close for the night, I have to give a big HUGE shout out to my friend Janalee for THIS:

It is the MOST heavenly smelling hand creme I've EVAH used. Janalee gifted me a tube of this and every time I use it, I want to eat my hands. They smell exactly like Lemon Meringue Pie. Seriously. I mean it.

Life is just busy right now.....

2009-11-24T18:31:00.003-06:00

and I haven't got much to say. Maybe after Thanksgiving, I'll get motivated enough to post Disney layouts and Christmas projects I've been working on.

I will add that I'm pretty damn proud of myself for finishing the flannel Minnesota Vikings blanket I made for my brother. The fabric was in our mother's sewing room and our Aunt Susie had taken it home, but she gave it to me this summer thinking that I could "maybe make something for Larry" out of it since that's probably why Mom had the fabric in the first place.

I'll leave you with some kitty love.

A Very Good Sunday..... :)

2009-11-15T12:24:00.006-06:00

Spent our Sunday doing some of our favorite things. Slept in until almost 9:00, went on a 45 minute walk/jog and then right after lunch we went and saw 2012. What a WILD RIDE! We love disaster flicks and this one did not disappoint! Even though it's 2 hours, 38 minutes long, it didn't seem like it. The first time I looked at the time, an hour and 45 minutes had already gone by. Fun way to spend the afternoon with my guys.

On today's iPod playlist:
Hero - Chad Kroeger
Stop and Stare - OneRepublic
When Your Minds Made Up - Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
The Static Age - Green Day
I Can't Hold Back - Survivor
No Matter What - Badfinger
Bring Me Some Water - Melissa Etheridge
Precious Declaration - Collective Soul
Tell The Truth - Jude Cole
Hold My Hand - Hootie & The Blowfish
Horseshoes & Handgrenades - Green Day

I also did a bit of Thanksgiving decorating....

The hallway table

Underneath the hallway table

A couple pictures of one of the new bookcases in the den

Well, I'm off to here.....

tomorrow morning at 7:45am. I'll be there until Thursday, fly home Thursday early evening and then I have Friday off. I'm looking forward to getting organized and getting the food shopping done for Thanksgiving. I bought the turkey today since Hy-Vee had their coupon, buy a ham for $19 and get a 12 pound turkey for FREE! I had the butcher cut the ham in half, one half for a ham roast and the other half he sliced into ham steaks and put them 4 to package and I got 4 packages of them for the freezer. Not bad for $20 bucks.

Hope everyone has a good week! and I'm hoping for nice weather in D.C.

A Busy Week!

2009-11-10T20:00:00.004-06:00

I've been so busy this week at work, I'm not sure which end is up. Lots of important projects that need to get done. One of them before Thanksgiving, one on December 1st and another after that. I swear, when it rains it pours there.....

Not sure I shared, but this Friday when I get paid, I'll have my promotion pay on this check and it sure will come in handy. Also, after all the drama of last week, I only had to change my work hours to 7:00 to 4:30pm from 6:30 to 4:00 which is not a problem at all, in fact the last two days, I've enjoyed sleeping that extra half hour, so that stress is over.

I have tomorrow off as it's a federal holiday (so remember, no mail!) and I think I may stay up late to watch The Ugly Truth with Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. I love me some Gerard Butler!

Went for a walk tonight when I got home from work and I actualy jogged quite a bit of it! I couldn't believe how far I went. Since it's getting dark by 5:45pm, I didn't want to be out too terrible long (although I only walk our bike trail which is pretty safe, but dark), so I thought I would ramp up the heart rate by jogging part of the way. My own version of interval training.

On the iPod playlist:
Give to Live - Sammy Hagar
I Am the Highway - Audioslave
Bright Lights - matchbox twenty
Nobody Told Me - Puddle of Mudd HIGHLY RECOMMENDED EXERCISE SONG
She - Green Day
If I Never See Your Face Again - Maroon5
The Crow & The Butterfly - Shinedown
Tall Cool One - Robert Plant

Have a great Veteran's Day!

~*Life As I Know It*~

A Christmas Project

The Master

LOOKIE!

Ugly Isn't It?

Should I start this back up again?

Happy 4th of July!

A Birthday Dinner

Card Making

Garden Diary - My Experimental Triangle Garden

Garden Diary - Spring

National Scrapbook Day

Cat Hurdle

An Easter Project

A couple of favorite things lately........

More Scrapbook Retreat Fun!

Scrapbook Retreat Weekend

Just 2 More Weeks!

Keep Your Fingers Crossed!

Sunday Routine

Faster, Further, Longer

Rocking at the Gym!

Progress

The First Week of the New Year (and some recent projects)

A New Year and I'm back

Some Favorite Things.......

Halloween Tree

Summer's End

These make me happy!

San Diego Vacation - Final Chapter

Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge - The 8th & Final Week

San Diego Vacation - Part Six

August

San Diego Vacation - Part Five

Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #6

San Diego Vacation - Part Four

San Diego Vacation - Part Three

Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #5

San Diego Vacation - Part Two

Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge Week #4

Extreme Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #3

San Diego Vacation - Part One

Hy-Vee Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #2

4th of July Rainbow

Happy 4th of July!

Extreme Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #1

Home

Garden Glimpses

More House Projects

A Memorial Day Weekend

Office Space

Garden Update

Fitness Update

Damn that Basic Grey!

May, Mother's Day and Tulips

Weather for ducks.......literally.......

Spring has sprung and other stuff

Family of Cousins

Hmmm....I wonder how THIS happened?

Cards, Cards, Cards

First Peek

Another mini album project to share

April Fool's Day

What a nice day to have off....

Random Things

Another Mini Album Project Completed!

Projects

Home

March goals and another travel week

March

It's DONE!!

Was that the Sun I Saw?

I think our luck has changed

We need a bit of Good Luck!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Loving THIS!

Exercise Diary or another episode of "How I'm Wasting My Time Chasing my 25 year old body" or "My Fruitless Effort"

Exercise Diary or another episode of "How I'm Wasting My Time Chasing my 25 year old body"

Exercise Diary or "How I'm wasting my time chasing my 25 year old body"

Boeuf Bourguignon

~Life As I Know It~