It's December already?!?!

Wow, it's been a while since my last post...so busy, it's a good kind of busy though. My family and I celebrated Thanksgiving by spending a week in Hawaii. It was a fun trip and the weather was very nice; 82-87 degrees everyday. My husband and I also did some work in the condo we own along with our friend. We will have our first renters in a couple of weeks and we are trying to add the finishing touches to the condo. We are having some wall paper installed and we interviewed a cleaning service as well as finished up some other last minute things that needed doing. So far we have it rented out for several months which is nice because we have not had to cover the house payment yet.

We got our tree today (went to a tree farm) and plan on decorating tomorrow. I love decorating for the holidays!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I have been so busy lately but wanted to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Layout~

I did this layout at a crop this weekend. It was a fun day as we got to visit, crop, eat, and most of all got some {girl} time.

Well gotta run I have much to do today.

Wowza...what a busy weekend!

Okay, it all started at 3:00 p.m. on Friday and ended, well it has not ended even though the weekend has. So I have a friend who owns an Italian Restaurant along with her husband in Morgan Hill and it was her birthday. It was a four of us going out to celebrate and we had a limo from 3 pm. until 1:00 a.m. Anthony the limo driver picked me up first and then proceeded to pick up the other three ladies. We were a little early to our dinner reservation at Blowfish (sushi place) in Santana Row so we decided to share a half bottle of champagne at the Left Bank also in Santana Row while we waited. It was a nice bottle of champagne!!!! I guess I should tell you that one of my friends is a wine connoisseur (sp?) and really knows how to pair wine/champagne/sake and food. She is a buyer for the restaurant and local liquor store. We ended up having some great sake with our sushi (I have a fear of drinking too much sake, read previous post). I have to say that I am totally in love with Blowfish!

We then headed over to the Flint center for an Italian concert featuring Pasquale the Italian tenor (who has played at my friends restaurant at a food and wine dinner that was held a month or so ago). Gigi D'Alessio and wife Anna were also singing and were so wonderful their voices are like that of angels. Even though I do not speak Italian I can understand some words as I speak Spanish and many of the words are similar; I really understood the feeling of the music. I think music is universal and that we can all enjoy and connect with music from all around the world. It was a little weird when we first arrived cause it felt like I was in a scene from The Sopranos...I don't mean to offend but really everyone there could have been cast in an episode of the above mentioned HBO show!!!! Oh and the best part we were in the second row and got to go back stage, I will get pictures from my friend as I was not feeling too well and did not hand them my camera.

On the way home from the concert we drank some wine and talked for a while then we headed to Jack In The Box for a breakfast ciabatta which probably has like 5000 calories in it!!

On Saturday my daughter had a soccer game 45 minutes away from home and on Sunday the same only local. I was exhausted, if you remember I have Mono and I get tired very easy. Monday I ended up at the Pediatrician as my older daughter has Mono as well and has since caught a virus and of course I'm not feeling to hot either now. I have a very full week ahead and am a little bummed that I'm behind on a couple of projects one at BPS and a Gratitude Journal that KathyM is doing over at SBA.

Well I hope you all had a great weekend!!

P.S. Did you notice my new banner?? It was designed by the one and only Chris Jenkins...love her blog, you should go check it out.

Wellness Journey Class @ BPS

I have been wanting to live a healthier lifestyle (more on the BPS class below). You know lose a few pounds, eat healthier, exercise, sleep more, don't sweat the small stuff, you get the picture. Well the other day someone from SBA (Scrapbook Addict) mentioned that she uses Sparkpeople to help her on her with her fitness/nutrition goals. I have signed up and let me tell you what a difference it makes when you journal and account for all of the calories you take in!! I had no real idea how many calories I would take in with out even thinking about it. For example, I would eat half a handful of Good & Plenty candies or I would take a bite of whatever sweet my daughter would be eating. Also, when my energy level was down midday (do to lack of exercise) I would order a grande latte (low-fat milk) several times a week. Even though I ordered a low-fat latte that is still 130 calories x's 3 coffee's a week that's an extra 1560 calories a month. I mean it adds up and that's just the coffee.









Okay, so BPS, I get an email for a class {Wellness Journey} being taught by Lisa Cohen, I love her blog and read it often. I have never taken an on-line class but this along with sparkpeople just seem to be the right combination for me. It seems like such a coincidence that I was informed of these two great ideas/sites in the same week. I get to create a cute album documenting my {Wellness Journey} and I love that I get to be creative and live a healthier life style. It starts Nov. 1st and ends on my birthday Jan. 23rd!!! Woo hoo, this is meant to be. I want to lose between 8-10 lbs. This is totally something I can accomplish; want to join me?

For my BFF

Don't know why this post is in this format; I tried but can't fix it, sorry...

Okay, Deb, this is for you. It's a really easy recipe that you can't mess up. For your Brady Bunch you will need to double the recipe.


2 chicken breast

1 cup garlic seasoned bread crumbs

1 egg + 1 tbsp. water

1/8 tsp. garlic salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/4 cup parmesan cheese (shredded)

Pound chicken breast until about 1/4 inch thick (your grocer can do this if you ask) only don't do what I did and ask as your handing them the chicken breast "can you pound my breast?" he just looked at me like what the.....okay you get the picture. So now I just pound my own breast at home. Anyways.....

Heat non-stick frying pan with 3 tbsp. of olive oil or as Rachael Ray would say E V O O...

In a rimmed plate or pie pan add the bread crumbs, garlic salt, pepper, and cheese.

In a bowl beat the egg and water together.

Dip the pounded breast into the egg mixture.

Then coat chicken in the bread mixture.

Fry for 3 minutes on each side or until cooked

Add more olive oil as needed

Don't over crowed the pan it's better to do this in batches if needed. If you want you can squeeze a little lemon juice over the chicken when finished cooking.

Asparagus:

Break or cut off the fibrous part of the asparagus. Clean and dry w/paper towels.

In a shallow pan lined w/foil add asparagus and season w/salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil on top.
Broil until just browning and then add shredded parmesan cheese and broil until melted.

Yummo, again what Rachael Ray would say. I added some pasta to go along with the meal. I would have added some cherry tomatoes to the pasta but my daughter doesn't like tomatoes.

Honestly, this recipe takes very little time from start to finish 20 minutes. Okay, add a few more minutes cause the pasta water has to come to a boil before you add the pasta.

Wow fast they grow up...

This is a picture of my oldest daughter. We recently went to visit a college that she is interested in going to. While we were there I remember thinking that it felt like just yesterday we were looking at pre-schools. My how time flies!!! Here's a picture of her after she got her make-up done for senior pictures. I love those freckles!!!!

Soccer & The Pumpkin Patch

Wow, this weekend was full of some of my all time favorite things. Two soccer games and spending time with my family picking out our pumpkins. Here are some photos of the weekend.

Blog Action Day and Sicko's

First off it's Blog Action Day see logo off to the right and click. I do my best to recycle and do my part. I'm not perfect but I'm better. I recycle everything I can. My daughter has even made some $$ by taking the bottles, cans, and plastics to the recycling center. I think she will have made close to $50.00 once we go and turn in our recycling this week. We use canvas bags and will be composting now that we have our garden/landscaping projects completed. So do what you can cause every little bit helps!

On a different note my oldest daughter and I have been diagnosed with Mono. Yucko! This is not what I want to have at this moment or ever wished on having at anytime but the virus is here to stay for a while. This does however explain a lot....tired, sore throat, ear problems, nausea, headaches to name a few. My poor daughter had the worst rash ever (something I have not had). I took her back to the doc's and she's now on her fourth medication. Mostly we are tired, drained, exhausted!!!! I think I need a nap as I type but really I'm not one to take naps. When ever I try to nap I'm always thinking I could be doing something, cleaning out the closet, organizing the home, baking some pumpkin bread, gosh I'd even scrub the toilets, all four of them if only I could have my energy back. Don't get me wrong several times now my body has failed me and I have taken naps as long as 2 hours. Mostly I do things and then sit for a while and read my email but who am I kidding I need a nap so bad right now. My body feels like a sack of cement...just heavy. I have to finish the laundry, pick up youngest daughter from school, stop by my business partners office and pick up the checkbook so that I can buy some furniture for our condo in Hawaii, homework, soccer practice, and dinner. Holy cow I'm going to bed early tonight for sure. Hope you all stay healthy as we head into the colder months.

I have been trying to organize my scrap space. Here's a picture of a table that used to be in our family room. My husband tried to bribe me into getting rid of it. He even said he would buy me a new one when I was ready. No, no, no, was my response to that request. So this table has been in our garage for almost a year and now I will use it for some of my scrapping supplies, it's perfect!!

This is what I've been doing

I have made a mess, remember my last post about being so tired?? Well I didn't finish my friends 40th b-day album gift. It was okay cause we got her a really nice group gift. I was sooo tired and just couldn't bring myself to focus and finish her album. I was barely able to do things around the house that needed to be done. Well, my doctor thinks I might have mono (my daughter has been diagnosed) I had a blood test today and will find out the results on Wednesday. If I don't have mono then I have sympathy mono. If mono is confirmed then it explains a lot. Well anyway this is the mess I made while trying to finish my friends album.

Wow!

What a weekend and now what a week. This is what I've been up to:

• Saturday
• ~ Soccer game @ 11:00 & 2:40 in a different town 45 minutes away
• ~ Help Host friends 40th b-day party
• ~ Make pasta dish, pick up balloons, remember cake, wine, mask supplies and gift. Pick up sister in law and head to party.
• ~Get home at 1:15 am
• ~ I fell flat on my back at my friends party (I think I slipped on a really fine feather that we were using for our masks we made) and was I laughing so hard. I was okay until my friends go to pick me up and instead I go in a circle sliding all the way into a wood bench and hit the back of my ear. So now it looks like I have a huge hickey (sp?) there so of course my husband thinks it's funny. It felt a little bit like I was trying to break dance while my friends were trying to pick me up. It's to bad we didn't record any of this cause I think we could have won some cash on America's Funniest Videos. Gosh, my friend must have just waxed those darn wood floors of hers.
• Sunday
• ~Wash soccer uniform from day before (cause the husband forgot to)
• ~ Soccer game at 9:30 again 45 minutes away have to be there an hour before game, yuck!
• ~Make dinner and clean up.
• ~Take nap cause I'm grouchy!!! (mind you I hardly ever take a nap) woke up then went to bed at 8:30
• Monday
• ~Older daughter wakes me up at 5:11 because she has a bump on her neck and also had another episode in which she turns as white as a sheet, sweats, feels like she is going to pass out and feels nauseous.
• ~Take her to the doctor; appointment is at 11:30 and we don't get home until 4:30. Has lots of blood work and antibiotics for her throat infection. Get blood test results on Thursday.
• ~Find out the pictures I took at the party are not showing up when I upload onto my computer!!! Argh....
• Tuesday
• ~Wake up at 4:30 a.m. cause the husband has to travel again was gone last week to Vegas on business. Of course I can't get back to bed cause I'm one of those once I wake up I can't fall asleep again.
• ~Pick up bike I had tuned up
• ~Grocery shopping
• ~Laundry
• ~Go through piles of paper, where does this paper come from? Geesh stop sending me crap people.
• Wednesday
• ~Zombie......doing house-work....trying not to fall asleep.....so much to do!!!!!
• ~My email is not working properly....Sh*t. Called no call back yet.
• ~Still need to figure out when I'm going to Hawaii to buy furniture etc. for the condo we purchased along with our friend. Oh, did I tell you I hate to fly??!!?? People are already starting to show an interest in renting over the holidays which is great but we have lots to do when the original owners move out (they have been living in the condo while waiting for their house to be built) at the end of the month.
• ~Well gotta go pick up youngest daughter from school then it's homework, tutoring, dinner, finish laundry, and if that wasn't enough the puppy (not so puppy she's 10 months old) peed on the floor and guess who walked in it?? Yea, me, what do you know....

I promise my next blog entry will be a happy one.

Busy as a bee!

Well this week and weekend are going to be busy!! This weekend we have a soccer Tournament about an hour drive from our home. We will have two games on Saturday one starts at 11:00 and the other at 2:40. Then I have to rush home and get ready for my friends 40th b-day which I am helping host and that's a 25 minute drive back the way I came. I still have no idea how I'm going to get a dish ready, me ready, and make sure that I finish her album by then, oh and then I need to make sure I wash both soccer uniforms as well as make sure the homework is being done. We are buying my friend a group gift so that has been ordered, geesh! Oh, and did I mention the husband is on a business trip all week?

Also, Sunday my daughter has a game at 9:30 a.m. and depending on how they place we may even have a fourth game on Sunday as well. Don't get me wrong I love to watch her play cause if I may say so myself she is pretty darn good!!! As a matter of fact one of the moms on another team mentioned last weekend how good she was out loud and of course she didn't know I was her mom cause the game had only been played for 5 minutes or so and I hadn't started cheering (yelling/shouting) go Lauren, go! I'm so very proud, can ya tell?

Okay, so this is as far as I have got on the b-day album. I still have a ways to go but I think I can get it done before Friday. I need to finish the title/front cover. I want the title to be Fabulous @ 40 but I guess I don't have the Heidi Swapp "Fabulous" acrylic stamp like I thought I did, so I ordered it and it should be here by Friday. If it's not here by then I have back up!!

The colors are so much brighter in real life, sorry the pics are so washed out! Well, gotta run to the dentist (yuck). Will post more as I finish up the album.

I Love coffee

Now that fall is approaching Starbucks has my favorite drink .....Pumpkin Spice Latte. Gotta love it when you're in line the and the Starbucks employee knows what you want before you ask. Okay, on occasion I switch it up a bit and order the Chai Tea Latte but for the most part they get it right when the say "Pumpkin Spice Latte?" Oh yeah, gotta love it! What's your favorite hot/cold drink from Starbucks or any coffee house?

Fall is in the air.....

Are you like me the minute the season starts to change you decorate accordingly? I love the long the hot days of summer but autumn is nice too. I love the fall colors and the smell of chimney smoke in the air in the cooler months. Officially the change will come on Sept. 23rd this year, please correct me if I'm wrong. Here are a couple of pics to show you what I mean about changing my decor etc. during the change of seasons, I even change the colors on the computer screen and change my image on my desktop. I will add to my decor as I love candles, wreaths, pumpkins, and all things FALL. {notice I even changed the colors of my blog} ;0)



I love the Sunshine's Cornucopia and Appalachian Trail Wreath maybe that this will be my next purchase!

More goodies....

Tell me what girl doesn't like to shop especially for new scrapbook goodies? My friend and I went to Youngplay Memories in Tracy, Ca. It was our first time there and the young ladies working were very nice and had a lot of patience with us (we kept on adding things to our purchases) lucky for us there was no one behind us in line. Although, we wouldn't keep adding if there was a line behind us. It's the stores fault that we kept on adding they always have the really cute items by the register, kwim?? Kinda like when you go to the store and they have the gum, candy, and magazines by the register??? I always end up throwing a pack of gum on the belt or even better a gossip magazine?!? Do you do the same??

Oh, and did I mention that Tracy was having their Tracy Dry Bean Festival? Kind of weird I thought. I guess they have a festival for pretty much everything these days. Well here's a picture of my goodies, did not buy to much as I had already made a trip to another scrapbook store the week before. Now it's off to vacuum and do some laundry........yuck!!!!

Layout & yet another purchase!

Today my younger daughter, husband and I went downtown and had lunch. We ate at a fabulous Mexican restaurant and had some yummy food and an excellent margarita!!! A couple of doors down from the restaurant there's this really cute store called Magpie and they have neatest stuff. Here is my latest purchase from the store.




Here are some layouts to get you in the Halloween spirit.

Shoes & kabobs....

My husband and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary this last weekend in Napa. We ate at an excellent restaurant, went wine tasting, relaxed by the pool, went shopping, and got a massage (not me though I didn't feel to good). Here's a pic of one of my purchases, I love me some shoes!

What do shoes and kabobs have in common? Nothing silly I just love me so kabobs too and we made some so I took a picture to tease all of your tummy's! :o) Have a good weekend all!

Happy Birthday Yvonne!

Here are some pic's of the birthday party (sleepover) and scrap night at my home. I didn't get many good ones as I was cooking, cleaning and well just trying to be a good host. We had some great appetizers, drinks, a chocolate fountain, and cake. Some of us took a dip in the spa, while others scrapped and some even stayed until the next day and scrapped until 9:30 p.m. Geesh, we had stayed up until 3:00 a.m and we still managed to scrap some more the next day!!!

A layout I did of our Disneyland trip this last July.