Low-key week...sort of 7/20/08

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is doing well. We had a pretty semi-busy week. We were lucky enough to be invited to go swimming at the community clubhouse a couple nights by Lisa. It was really nice to go and relax and swim and get some good aquatic exercise in with Lisa & Melanie. Daryl & Ryan are at Philmont Scout Ranch for the next week so we had Melanie & Lisa all to ourselves. =o) I did good with my walking, we walked everyday except Friday, we changed it up a bit and worked out with a new exercise DVD I bought. It's called Prevention Fitness: Shortcuts to Big Weight Loss by Prevention Magazine. It has 10 minutes of cardio, 10 minutes of pilates and 10 minutes of kickboxing. WOW, the kickboxing kicked our butts. LOL.

I did get some good news at a recent doctor's appt. I’ve been on thyroid medication for about a month now and my count has gone down since I’ve been taking it. It was at 5.87 and when I got retested for it a few days ago, it went down to 3.37. My doctor would still like to see it down below 2 but we’re working on it. She wants me to get retested in another month. That way I’ve been taking the medication for 2 months. I was pretty happy about that. I know I’ve lost weight but I don’t see it on the scale but can feel it in my body muscles and I can also tell because some of my clothes fit much looser. YAY =)

Friday we went over to the Pascoal's to hang out and we decided to play a little minature golf. We went to a place called Monster Mini Golf. It was really neat. The golf course and everything inside glows in the dark. While we played mini golf we walked around and it looked as if it were Halloween. So many neat scary goblins and ghouls. We had a great time.

Saturday night we watched Aiden (4) & Jeremy (2) for a few hours. The boys were fascinated by Jake's beard as I described in a short previous blog called The Beard... Instead of driving home we stayed the night.

Sunday we tried to think of something to do but we all had different ideas and were very indecisive so we opted to eat lunch, let the boys nap and we'd decide what to do afterwards. While the boys took naps we watched Mad Money. It was really good. Diane Keaton was the mastermind of this comedy. They set out to smuggle large amounts of $ from the Federal Reserve Bank. Don't worry, no one gets hurt or mangled in this hilarious film. This has some really great scenes. A MUST SEE! WOW, I sound like a movie critic and I'm not even getting paid. LOL =)

We met up with the Monick's at Celia's Mexican restaurant for dinner. I had an in cling for crab enchiladas but was disappointed that they weren't as tasty as they sounded so I sent them back. =( Jake was sweet enough to share his fajitas with me. Thanks honey! After dinner we all made our way back to the Pascoal's and they all played Ticket to Ride: Europe. It was a pretty good game. While they played the game I played Super Mario on the Wii and conquered and saved the Princess. We've all played the original one Ticket to Ride with the states and Evan & Stephanie had this new version so this was a nice change of pace. That's about it. See you next blog.

The beard....

Tonight we watched Aiden & Jeremy for a couple hours while Andrew & Maria went to their friends birthday party. As I was here on my computer, the boys were sitting on Jake's lap...they LOVE sitting with Jake and spending time with him. I saw the most perfect Kodak moment. Aiden and Jeremy were fascinated with Jake's beard and they were touching it. It was so cute I just had to share. I wanted to get the kids & Jake in the moment before they saw me taking pictures. Aiden was truly interested in knowing why Jake had a beard. He asked "Why do you have a beard?". He then says "My daddy doesn't have a beard.". It was so cute I couldn't resist posting about it.

Disney Maps

Jake and I are going to Disney World next month for 9 days. So Jake signed up online to the Disney World website to keep an itinerary of our trip. He added our favorite spots we liked and would like to do at each park, what we wanted to do while we're there. After he updated everything on the website, he requested Customized maps called Map Out the Magic! They came in the mail today and they are sooo cool. They are even printed with our last name on each one of them and it even has our Favorite things to do, the ones that we input on the system. They look awesome. Hopefully this slideshow comes out ok. =)

Week in review – 7/13

The weeks of July have been going pretty quickly. We seem to have something going all the time. This past week went by so fast. Wednesday Jake and his friend John drove to San Francisco for the SEMICON trade show convention. In Jake’s young 36 years he had never ridden the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) before so this was his first time and he really liked it a lot. “It was cool” were the words I believe how he described it. They collected gidgets, gadgets and gizmos galore. Jake described it as collecting a bunch of ‘crap’. Haha, he has a way with words. But he had a good time hanging out with John. He got home pretty late. But into my own findings of their website it is described as: {SEMICON West connects you to the innovations, ideas, and information driving the business and technology of microelectronics manufacturing—as well as exciting new and expanding opportunities in MEMS, photovoltaics, nano-electronics, solid state lighting, renewable energy, and more.} It’s all geek to me. LOL It is right up Jake’s alley. He loves computers, new technology and new ideas. This was perfect for him and he enjoys it. Me, not so much. As long as I have a computer, internet access and a printer then I’m good to go. While DH was away I spent the day with Lisa & Melanie at their pool swimming in their community clubhouse. We had so much fun. I’d say we got a lot of exercise and were able to spend quality time together.

Friday afternoon we drove over to Maria & Drew’s house. Maria & I were going to spend the evening scrapbooking at one of our local scrapbook stores; the store is open till 2 am every 3rd Friday so we stayed. I worked on some layouts, and a recipe swap. A recipe swap you ask??? There are 10 people in the swap and each person makes 10 pages of the same recipe then we turn them in to the store and we then in turn get 10 different recipes back. This month’s recipes were to be International foods so I did one for Stuffed Cabbage. I did a polish dish because I’m ½ Polish. I really enjoy doing the swaps and I like getting new recipes. I just have to get better at remembering to do them before the deadline. But next months I have a jumpstart already. I already know what kind of recipe it’s going to be and have an idea in mind. Whoo hoo. That’s just the beginning though.

Our 1st Christmas together page

Halloween 2007 layouts


While Maria & I were scrapbooking, Jake was at Drew & Maria’s and played board games. When Maria & I drove back to her house, they were still playing War on Terror game at 3am. Youzers. Jake took a picture of Angie as the Evil terrorist with his cell phone. Hilarious.

The boardgame


Drew's sister Angie as the EVIL terrorist from the War on Terror game

Saturday we spent the day anticipating the arrival of our cousin Amber who was driving from Fresno. She was coming to visit us for the weekend to ‘escape’ from her hectic past few weeks. YAY!!! She is 6 months pregnant with a little girl who she is going to name Allie Ann. Sorry Am I know that’s probably not the correct spelling of her first name. I’m pretty excited to know her middle name is the same as mine, Ann. Ahh, the little things in life. When Am arrived we visited for a bit then we took her to one of our favorite local restaurants, The UFood Grill for lunch. It’s a Feel Great, Eat Smart grill with good, nutritional meals. They have a great extensive menu. So far we haven’t had anything we didn’t like. My favorite is the brown rice and sweet potato mash. If you ever get a UFood grill in your neck of the woods, you HAVE to try it. I guarantee you’ll love the food. After our venture from UFood, we took Am over to the Nugget Market and picked up a few miscellaneous items. The fruits & vegetable selection are top notch. There are fruits & veggies I’ve never even heard of but they have it there. We don’t buy much there, only when we want something on a little bit of the highest quality. We did however buy prosciutto there once and it was absolutely delicious. Anyway, we went to Daryl & Lisa’s for a BBQ. Lisa’s sister Christina was visiting them. While the guys went to get charcoal for the BBQ, us ladies stayed behind and I taught Amber, Lisa & Christina how to play Phase 10. It was a long game. Christina finally got frustrated b/c she was still on a low phase and she dropped out. She was the party pooper of the game. LOL…j/k Christina. The game finally ended with me winning. I rarely ever win any games so this was a nice victory. We had an awesome dinner. Daryl made chicken fajitas and they were yummy. I seem to be using the word yummy a lot lately. Don’t know why. Hmm!

Sunday we spent the day lazing around the house watching Netflix on demand. Got Amber hooked on one of our favorite series on Showtime. We were supposed to go to the Marysville peach festival but didn’t wind up going. We drove up to Mom’s to have dinner with her. Taking Amber was a surprise for her. She didn’t know she was going to be here. Mom was pretty excited to see her. On our way home, we took her to our favorite fro yo spot Big Spoon

. She left this morning to visit her grandmother in Grass Valley and then she was heading home. Today we haven’t done much…well should I say I haven’t done much. Jake is working and I’m here blogging away. Anyway, that’s about all for now. Thanks for listening to me blog. Have a great week everyone and we’ll see you next blog.

Wedding weekend in Reno

WOW our weekend was jam packed with driving, eating and fun. Since it’s Monday and I missed blogging for 3 nights, I’ll put them all on one. Friday we headed up to Reno for a Wedding. Our friends Nicole and Mark were getting married on Saturday. Friday we met Nicole & Mark and the rest of their families at the Peppermill buffet for dinner. It was yummy and I actually made some good food choices as did DH except for the deep fried shrimp he had. =) Jake can’t pass up some good shrimp and me being the crab lover that I am couldn't pass it up.

While Jake slept in on Saturday morning, I actually got up @ 7:45am and made it down to the gym at the hotel for a 35 minute walk on the treadmill, then headed back up to the room to shower and change to meet the bride to help decorate the reception hall. Went to the wedding and reception which was really beautiful. She made a lovely bride. Mark made a handsome groom. They look so happy. Niki's daughter Arielle was junior bridesmaid and Mark's son Justin was a Groomsmen.

We stayed at the Peppermill Casino in Reno and it was really great. We got a suite in the Tuscany Tower. It’s a new wing at the casino. They are doing a lot of newly renovated rooms and adding new buildings on at the hotel. It’s getting bigger and bigger every time we’ve gone back. I being the scrapbooker, took lots of pics of the room. Here are a few. If you ever go to Reno and need a place to stay, this is the place for you. It’s absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We highly recommend it.

Our room




The view of the pool from our room


the jacuzzi hot tub


Ahh, must not forget to add in some pics of the Bride & Groom as well. They look so cute together. Congrats again Niki & Mark. We had a lovely time and thanks for inviting us.

The Bride & Groom


The wedding party


Sunday we slept in, had breakfast, did a little swimming in the pool @ the hotel, played a little bit in the casino and then headed to meet Nicole for lunch. We stayed in Reno till around 6 and headed home. It was such a busy weekend and we weren’t even the bride and groom. LOL! On our way out of Reno we stopped at Cabela's. It's a HUGE outdoor sports activities like fishing, hiking, boating, camping...the possibilities are endless store. It was like walking into a mall but instead of clothing, you had outdoor sporting equipment. You need it, they most likely will have it. Any person who likes outdoor activities, would like this store. You'll act as if you are a kid in a candy store. =)

Also on our little venture home, we found a new restaurant on the way home too and it was really yummy. It's called Sierra Grill, located in Auburn, CA. If you are ever up near or in Auburn, stop in and have breakfast, lunch or dinner. Prices are good and food is yummy.

Before I close for the blog for today, I found this interesting to pass on. I saw a segment on The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet. The segment was Superfoods That’ll Change Your Life! It was quite interesting. Here’s the link, these foods are said to be the top 10 foods we should be eating for a healthy life. Some of these foods I've never even heard of but thought it was neat. I like beets so nothing stops me from eating those. =) HAHA. Enjoy!!!

Superfoods That’ll Change Your Life! Part I
10) Quinoa
9) Ginger
8) Guava
7) Pistachios
6) Parsley

Superfoods That’ll Change Your Life! Part II
5) Beets
4) Swiss Chard
3) Flax Seed
2) Cinnamon
1) Acai

Later gators. Until next blog...

Random stuff - 7.10.08

Cats are such amusing creatures. Arial & Belle have such personality. Arial, the outgoing cat loves her some drinking from faucet water. Belle, she just lays around with her tongue sticking out. It’s such a weird thing.

Two cats, same Mother but completely different personalities. Belle…a.k.a Scare-d-cat as we affectionately call her disappears when someone comes over. Heck; some people probably question that she even exists cuz she disappears as soon as she hears the doorbell or hears an unfamiliar voice coming in. My theory is, she was Houdini in a past life. =) It’s so weird but yet so strangely cute and amusing. Arial on the other hand is the friendly one. She doesn’t care who walks in the door, if you have 2 handy dandy hands, she’ll be sure to get a petting from you…the VISITOR!!!

We always knew she had a drinking problem, we just didn't know how bad it was! :o)

I wonder if her tongue ever dries up...hmm...

Jake & I went camping with our friends Ray & Gail 2 weeks ago at Lake Berryessa. It was absolutely beautiful and a large lake with 6 marinas. We happen to be swimming and I look up and I see these two beady little eyes staring down at us from above. It was a deer watching us swim. He/she was so cute. It looked like a baby deer. It just sat there patiently just watching and waiting to see if we would do anything. Of course the cliff was steering us from going near it so I think it felt safe. Ray wanted to get a closer look so he swam toward the shore but didn’t get to far when it stood up and just watched Ray. Every so often it felt intimidated so he stomped his foot as if to scare Ray off. It was cute watching he and Ray just staring each other down. It was as if his stomping was going to make Ray go away. It was a stand-off, deer versus human! It was rather an amusing site to see. Oh did I mention that they had wild peacocks running around. There were male, female and babies. How cute were they??? It amazes me that the males are much more beautiful than the females. It figures, males always seem to want the attention more. Haha! Here’s a peak @ the peacocks and the baby deer.

The male peacock - isn't he beautiful...or should I say handsome?


Mama and babies


See it's beady little eyes!


Here he is trying to ward off Ray


Ah, anyway on to new news…well sort of. Went to see the baby doctor today. Ah, the infinite wisdom that I am needing some medications. LOL! I have more pills to take than I know what to do with. I got the ones for my thyroid, the ones that taste like fish oil and those darn little pills for hormones that I’ll be taking very soon. Oye vey, I don’t know how much I can take….oh wait, 3! Haha. Oh and then to find out the script my doc prescribed and paid $45 bucks for I can get over the counter. Hmph…go figure.

Everything at the doctor’s office just messed with my head. You got to do this, you got to do that. I’m doing my best with my weight issues and it just seems like I’m not accomplishing much. My cholesterol is high and yet I can’t go on medication for that because we are still trying to get pregnant. I know I’ve lost weight because some of my clothes are fitting looser which makes me feel good. For the past couple weeks I’ve been doing well with walking with my friend Lisa. But these past 4 days we haven’t been able to walk because of all the smoke in the air from the fires burning here in northern Cal. It really stinks. I know making excuses to not exercise is lame. On a funny note though, on Monday I suggested she and I go to the mall and walk inside. Oh yeah our walk didn’t exist. We walked in and while on our way we stopped by Payless bought some shoes, then we went by New York & Co…and bought an outfit…both of us. =) Oh and the best part, we both got manicures and pedicures. LOL! Oh yeah…very productive. Hey at least we did walk a little bit. Yeah, I keep telling myself that. I’m still trying to convince myself it was walking. * sigh *

Anyway, after leaving the doctor’s office today I was feeling a little down. I feel bad though I took it out on Jake. He’s so supportive when it comes to the way I’ve been feeling. He just kind of sits back and waits for me to talk. He doesn’t pressure me. I LOVE that about him. It makes me sad to know I hurt his feelings by snapping at him. I didn’t mean to and he knows that. I love him so much and I know when he hurts, I hurt and visa versa. He’s my rock in this itty bitty world. I love you honey!

I promise tomorrow's report will be more uplifting. :o) Till then, goodnight to all.

OH How Our Garden Grows

I have never blogged before so this is my first time. Jake says it’s kind of like a diary but here people can READ it instead of me keeping it hidden with a lock & key to open it and reading your most personal thoughts!!! LOL A friend gave me the idea and since I have family and friends that live in MI and other friends who live elsewhere too, I thought this would be a great way to keep them abreast of the happenings of us here in Sunny blazing too HOT Cali. So my first blog is a little boring...about our Garden. More blogs will hopefully be more interesting…LOL

We have had a garden for the past several years. And since we are renting and haven’t got any room in the yard to plant a garden in the ground we bought these ½ barrel wine barrels & work great. Although we noticed this year that some of our crop is overpowering the barrels. LOL! Every year we try to grow something new. So this year we did cantaloupe, zucchini and pickling cucumbers. HOLY COW, the cantaloupes are invading the barrel and overflowing. As you can see from the pic they are growing like…umm…cantaloupe.

Overflowing cantaloupes growing in the barrel


3 individual cantaloupes

As for the pickling cucumbers, of course I have NO idea how to pickle cucumbers so I guess that means I'll have to learn and buy a book. Wish me LUCK!!! So far we have gotten 4 rather large zucchini…much like the one you see here. So far we’ve used them in salads and on chicken kabobs for our 4th of July party. We gave one to our friend Michelle across the street and she made zucchini muffins and she said they turned out really YUMMY. Maybe she can share her recipe with me and I’ll post it! Thanks Michelle for the update.

Pickling cucumbers & zucchinis


Individual pickling cucumbers


Common size zucchinis we've been getting


We also went back to our tomatoes and this year we went with Celebrity (new variety) and Early Girls. NOTHING compares to homegrown tomatoes…and fresh too. I’m going to enjoy them very much. Jake isn’t fond of tomatoes so needless to say I get them ALL to myself. Who am I to argue??? Of course I might be inclined to share them with friends, neighbors and family. I’m also going to save some for tomato sauce. I wasn’t able to do that last year. I kept eating them before I had enough to make sauce. LOL

Tomato plants - Early Girls & Celebrity


Our first Celebrity red tomato


This year also on the veggie agenda are green beans and for the 2nd year potatoes. We planted red potatoes last year (got about 2 dozen) but this year we did white potatoes and layered them like it was suggested and I think our crop will be much more than 2 dozen this time around. They don’t look like much now but once the plants grow flowers and die off, then it will be time for diggin’em up. We bought already started plants for the beans. For whatever reason the snails seem to like the bean leaves we planted and I can’t figure out how to get rid of them aside from using chemicals which we DO NOT use on our fruit & veggie plants. We keep them all chemical free. This is the 2nd year we’ve planted Blue Lake beans and it’s the 2nd time I’m not happy with them. They don’t grow as tall as the ones we planted the first time around. I think next year we’ll just go back to starting beans from seed. That seems to work best. Well you know what they say, if something is working…why change it, right???

Blue Lake Beans

White potatoes - stage one


White potatoes...stage two, starting to grow flowers


We normally start the planting process in March but we got a later start than normal but our garden seems to be going strong and growing. I'll keep everyone posted about new things and post pics of the potatoes when they are finally dug up. Thanks for reading and keep checking back for more news from the Masons. Have a wonderful day!!