My Life So Far....

I did it...

2011-08-03T14:35:00.001-07:00

I did it! I did the elliptical at my gym for 45 minutes and burned 505 calories! I am so proud of myself. Now if I can just stay this motivated I will be on my way to more weightloss. I always feel so good when I workout. Almost like a high.

New favorite picture of my kids...

2011-08-03T11:05:00.001-07:00

Casino night and more...

2011-08-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

So my friend from work Cassie invited me to the Red Wind Casino last night see a singing impressionist. He was actually pretty good until he tried to do Prince. LOL! Anyways, I only tried gambling $5.00 and lost it in about 3 minutes. We had a fun time. I always like hanging out with Cassie. She makes me laugh and I have a lot in common with her.

I am going to the gym again today. My third time this week. I am anxious to get this weight off now. I can feel my body breaking down and getting tired again. My goal is to do 40-45 minutes on the elliptical today. I think I can..I think I can!

Kinect Exclusive: Rise of Nightmares

2011-08-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

This looks like so much fun!

Working out again...

2011-07-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

I started working out again today..it had been about 3 weeks since I last went to the gym. I got sick and then got unmotivated. I always feel so great when I finally get back in there. I worked out on the elliptical for 35 minutes on level 5 and burned 379 calories. I am so proud of myself! Now i also need to focus on my eating habits again. I really want to lose 30 pounds in the next 3 months. Wish me luck!

My kids...

2011-07-22T18:17:00.001-07:00

My new house...

2011-07-10T21:18:00.001-07:00

I just moved into a new cute house. Here are some pics of it.

Starting again..

2011-07-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Ok. I am going to try and start this blog up again. I need motivation to lose weight and get healthy again. Here is my first post towards that. :)

First day of school...

2007-09-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

Riley started Kindergarten today and Monica started Middle school yesterday. WOW! I can't believe how fast my kids are growing up. Here are some pictures from their first days.

Sorry it has been so long...

2007-06-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy lately with my new job and haven't had a lot of time for anything but my family lately. I am working 30 or so hours a week which is way more than I thought I would be, but my time off I have been spending with Matt and the kids. My job is so fun, but I am also so tired all the time.

Riley turned 5 years old today! I can hardly believe it! We are having a huge party for him at our house this week-end and it should be a lot of fun.

Matt and I are doing so much better lately and things are going so well for our family. We all took a family trip to Sequim for Memorial Day and went to the Olympic Game Farm which was a ton of fun.

I am happy to say that I have also lost 10 more pounds thanks to my new job. So I am officially down 115 pounds from my highest now. It feels so good. I still want to lose another 20 though.

I promise to update more often now that I have my routine down with my job and everything. I just wante dto let everyone know that I am still here and everything is great. Have a great week!

The new job...

2007-04-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

I am happy to say that I am starting my new job tomorrow. I get to do the fun and exciting orientation. Yeah! I am happy to be starting a new job and joining the workforce again, but I am also sad that I am losing the time that I spend with my kids every night and week-end. Hopefully everything will turn out ok and my kids will forgive me for being gone.

Matt and I have been going through a rough time lately and I know that I haven't written about it before, but I feel like it is something I should mention to my friends and family. I am really hopeful that things will work out, but I am also finally realizing that I can do things on my own as well. I am really scared of what might happen, but I truly believe that God has a plan for me and whatever happens will be what is best. I love Matt so much and I can only hope that God's plan is for us to work things out and be together. He is the only man that I have ever truly loved with all of my heart.

I got the job!!!!

2007-04-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

I am so happy! The manager has been gone since Tuesday and so when I called him today, he told me that he was sorry he hadn't called me back and that things had been really crazy around there since Easter is coming up. He said that he wants me to go in to do the drug test on Monday and if I pass then I will get the job. Of course that means that I got it! YEAH! Thanks for all of the well wishes and support.

Matt's Grandma's birthday...

2007-04-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time visiting Matt's family this past week-end for his Grandmother's 80th birthday. It was so nice to spend time with his family since we really don't do it as often as I would like to. Unfortunatley I did not get any pictures of any humans that day, but I got a lot of beautiful pictures of Matt's uncle's farm. There are some people that are growing some beautiful flowers on the farm and I also got some great pictures of some of the cows. There was one baby cow that was born on the 27th that was super cute. Here are the photos that I got.

another update on the Fred Meyer job...

2007-04-04T21:57:00.000-07:00

Well, the Operations manager Jay didn't call me back yesterday like he said he would so I called him today to let him know that I was still interested in the job. He was unfortunately not working today. I left a message with the assistant manager, but I will be calling back again tomorrow. I am a little annoyed that he has kept me waiting for this long. It is Fred Meyer for God's sake! I know that I am very well qualified for the job and I did a great job at the interview so I don't know what is going on! Keep your fingers crossed for me. I am still very hopeful. I will let you know what I find out tomorrow.

The latest news about the job interview...

2007-03-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

So I had my interview yesterday and it went really well. She said that she wanted me to do a second interview with the Operations Manager today at 2:15. So I had my interview with him today and basically he told me that the job just posted today and they had to leave the job posting up for 1 week before hiring anyone and that he would call me next Tuesday to let me know. I think that it went pretty well so I am feeling very confident, but who knows. I guess I will find out next week and post more news then. Wish me luck and pray hard for me. :)

I got a job interview!

2007-03-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

I applied online at our local Fred Meyer last week and someone called me today for an interview! I am so excited! My interview is today at 2:15 so wish me luck! I will update later on how it goes. :)

It has been a while...

2007-02-03T12:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated. We have a had a busy month. Riley has started pre-school finally, I have started exercising again and I am looking for a job.

Riley is finally potty trained and has finally started pre-school. We are all so excited for him and he is loving it so much. He has learned about the solar system and health and nutrition so far. It is great to see him interacting with other kids his age and learning so many new things.

I started to feel my depression creeping back this past month and I knew exactly why it was happening. It was because I had not been exercising. So I have started running. I had always hated running in the past, but I am really loving it now. It feels great to get outside rain or shine, put on my headphones and just run. I just started last week, but I am feeling better already.

I have been out searching for a job lately as well. Right now I am focusing on trying to get a job at our local Starbucks. I think it would be an ideal job for me for right now. If I could work in the mornings while the kids are in school then I will not have to miss any time with them in the evenings. The manager has been on vacation this week so I am hoping that he will call me in for an interview this coming week. Wish me luck!

Just a reminder...

2007-02-03T12:20:00.001-08:00

Prince live SuperBowl XLI Press Conference

2007-02-02T22:51:00.001-08:00

Are you all as excited as me?

Merry Christmas...

2006-12-26T21:45:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year in our new home. For the first time ever my whole family spent Christmas at my house. It was also the first time I have spent Christmas day with both my Mom and Dad at the same time. How cool is that?! They have always gotten along and everything, but for some reason we have never done a big family Christmas. Thanks to my sister-in-law Dora and my Mom for helping me out with all of the cooking. :) We had a great morning just the 4 of use opening presents and stockings. Then in the afternoon my family came over for more presents and food. My Mom and Step-Dad Larry came, and then my Dad, Step-Mom Sam and her Mom showed up, after that came my Uncle John, Brother Kenny, his wife Dora and son Anthony. We were also blessed to have our good friends Sean and Jennifer and their kids Ethan and Benny come over to celebrate with us. It was the best Christmas ever! We had ham, turkey, hashbrown casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, broccoli, salad, fruit salad, artichoke dip, artichoke and crap dip and rolls. Way too much food! I was so stuffed, but it was all oh so good!

Matt helped me get my scrapbook room all organized and I was finally able to complete my first 2 scrapbook pages in 8 months. Here they are:

Monica had a friend come over for the first time to our new house and Riley helped out with my cooking and baking over the week-end as well. Here are some photos from that:

Finally here are some pictures from Christmas day. I hope you all had a merry Christmas. I know that I sure did.

Music from the year I turned 18...

2006-12-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

I should be cleaning. Yeah. Instead I decided to do this music meme that Mimi posted the other day. The rules are as follows:Go to popculturemadness.com, click on the "Pop Music" box and select the year you turned 18. Paste the list of the top 75 songs. Bold the ones you liked; put in red the ones you disliked; and italicize the ones you know but don’t exactly like or dislike. The ones you don’t know will stay plain text.

1993 Greatest Hits
1. What Is Love - Haddaway
2. Come Baby Come - K7
3. Hero - Mariah Carey
4. In The Still Of The Night (I'll Remember) - Boyz II men
5. Have I Told You Lately - Rod Stewart
6. Can't Help Falling In Love - UB40
7. Dreamlover - Mariah Carey
8. Supermodel (You Better Work) - RuPaul
9. Nuthin' But A "G" Thang - Dr. Dre
10. Cryin' - Aerosmith
11. Murder She Wrote - Chaka Demus and Pliers
12. Shoop - Salt N Pepa
13. A Whole New World - Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle
14. Show Me Love - Robin S
15. I'm So Into You - SWV
16. Hip Hop Hooray - Naughty By Nature
17. Rhythm Is A Dancer - Snap!
18. All that She Wants - Ace Of Base
19. Hey Mr. D.J. - Zhane
20. Just Kickin' It - Xscape
21. That's The Way Love Goes - Janet Jackson
22. When I Fall In Love - Celine Dion & Clive Griffin
23. Please Forgive Me - Bryan Adams
24. No Ordinary Love - Sade ( I still love this one)
25. I Get Around - 2 Pac
26. Weak - SWV
27. Bad Boys - Inner Circle
28. Whoot, There It Is - 95 South
29. More and More - Captain Hollywood Project
30. Will You Be There - Michael Jackson
31. I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do that) - Meatloaf
32. T-R-O-U-B-L-E - Travis Tritt
33. I'm Gonna Be (500 miles) - the Proclaimers
34. Knockin Da Boots - H-Town
35.Connected - Stereo MCs
36. Passionate Kisses - Mary Chapin-Carpenter
37. Boom! Shake The Room - Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince
38. Baby I'm Yours - Shai
39. Love U More - Sunscreem
40. I'm Every Woman - Whitney Houston
41. Sweat (A La La La La Song) - Inner Circle
42. Freak Me - Silk
43. Reason To Believe - Rod Stewart & Ronnie Wood
44. Deeper and Deeper - Madonna
45. Another Sad Love Song - Toni Braxton
46. Hey Jealousy - Gin Blossoms
47. Can't Get Enough Of Your Love - Taylor Dayne
48. Ooh Child - Dino
49. Whoomp! There It Is - Tag Team
50. Two Princes - Spin Doctors
51. Informer - Snow
52. Slam - Onyx
53. Bed of Roses - Bon Jovi
54. Man On The Moon - REM
55. Cat's In The Cradle - Ugly Kid Joe
56. Creep - Radiohead
57. Insane In The Brain - Cypress Hill
58. I See Your Smile - Gloria Estefan
59. Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
60. Into Your Arms - The Lemonheads
61. I Got A Man - Postive K
62. Candy Everybody Wants - 10,000 Maniacs
63. Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.
64. Give It Up - The Goodmen
65. Dazzy Dukes - Duice
66. Jimmy Olson's Blues - Spin Doctors
67. What's Up - 4 non-Blondes
68. Kiss Of Life - Sade
69. River Of Dreams - Billy Joel
70. Rubberband Girl - Kate Bush
71. No Rain - Blind Melon
72. Feed The Tree - Belly
73. Sex Me - R Kelly
74. I'll Sleep When I'm Dead - Bon Jovi
75. Mr. Wendal - Arrested Developement

I am really embarrassed to say that I actually liked some of those songs.

Whatcha Reading?

2006-12-26T20:42:00.000-08:00

Sue tagged me with this fun meme. The rules are as follows:
Grab the book closest to you
Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence
Post the text of the next three sentences on your blog
Name of the book and the author
Tag three people of your own.

After all, no one thought he had a chance with the hospital administrator who virtually decapitated the bookkeeper who had apparently figured out he'd been embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars. ("The means and mere gruesomeness of the death suggested premeditation," Stephen told us the judge had remarked to him one evening when the trial was finished.) Everyone in the state knew a particular motel owner in Shelburne would be convicted of trafficking drugs, and the woman who left her infant twins to freese atop Camel's Hump would be found guilty of first degree murder.

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

I have never actually read this book. My friend Jennifer loaned it to me a few years ago and it has been sitting near my desk since then. Maybe I should get around to reading it?

Gingerbread houses, Christmas trees and cookies...

2006-12-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

Riley's gingerbread house

We have had one busy week around here. Last Saturday, December 2nd, we went to Safeway who was having a gingerbread house workshop to make gingerbread houses. We had a ton of fun and the kids each made great houses. Here are some pictures of their houses:

Riley's house

Monica's house
Monica's house

After we made the houses we went to a Christmas tree farm where you can cut your own Christmas tree. We have a tradition of doing this every year because it is so much more fun than going to a regular lot where they are already cut for you. After a lot of searching we finally found an 8 foot Norwegian Fir.

Tonight, the kids and I had a ton of fun making Christmas cookies. I bought a kit which made things a lot easier. I may be good at cooking, but baking is not something I enjoy very much. All you had to do was add water to the mix, roll out the dough and cut the cookies. It also came with frosting and sprinkles so we made a huge mess, but it was well worth it.

Last, but not least, Monica has become quite the photographer. She took these 3 pictures of Riley and I at the Christmas tree farm and they look great. I think I know what I am getting her for Christmas. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

Mom and Uncle John

Riley play fighting with Kenny and Anthony

Kappa hard at work doing Thanksgiving dishes

Dora and Mom hard at work in the kitchen

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. Matt the kids and I went to my Mom's house and enjoyed a relaxing time with family. We had a ton of food and I tried out a few new recipes including:

Pecan Pie Bars
Smothered Green Beans
and
Sweet Onion Tartlets

They were all very yummy! I feel very good about my diet and I didn't eat so much that I was stuffed. It is nice to not feel sick after Thanksgiving dinner for a change. :) I am down 106 pounds now! I would have liked to be down a few more than that by now, but at least I am still making some progress. Here is a picture of Monica and I on Thanksgiving this year and the second picture is one of Monica and I on Thanksgiving last year. WOW! What a difference a year makes.

This year

last year

I have never wanted to go to Vegas until now....

2006-11-10T18:48:00.000-08:00

I wish!

My celebrity look-a-likes

2006-11-06T14:47:00.000-08:00

http://www.myheritage.com

So proud of my kids...

2006-10-25T00:38:00.000-07:00

Monica has volunteered at her school to be a peer mediator and Riley has started his first season of indoor soccer. I am so proud of the both of them for everything that they do.

My 30th and 31st birthday pictures....

2006-10-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

(click on the picture to make it larger)

I have lost 101 pounds since my birthday last year and Matt has lost 50 pounds. Wow! What a difference a year makes! We look like totally different people!

My birthday...

2006-10-17T09:20:00.000-07:00

For my birhtday this year Matt and I went out with our best friends Sean and Jennifer. We went to Black Angus for dinner. Matt had prime rib, lobster tail and shrimp and I had prime rib with a salad and baked potato. We got my meal for free since it was my birthday. We also got a big brownie topped with ice cream and hot fudge for free and Sean and Jennifer bought a giant piece of chocolate cake that they shared with Matt.

After we went out to eat we decided to do a little late night bowling. None of us had bowled for a long time (like since high school) so we thought it would be fun. Sean beat us all of course and I did terrible. After 3 games I never broke 100.

The next day, my parents (all 4 of them) came over to celebrate with us and have cake and ice cream. It was great to see them all. So now I am 31...officially in my 30's! Holy cow! How did that happen? I am just happy that I am 101 pounds less this year than I was when I turned 30. :)

I did it! 100 pounds!

2006-10-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

WOW! I can hardly believe that I am down 100 pounds from where I was at this time last year. I still have 26 pounds left to go, but I am so proud of myself for actually coming this far. It was a hard year, but I did it with cutting my calories down to 1200-1500 per day and a lot of excersize. I hope to get down the last 26 by the beginning of the year. I fit into a size 12 pants this week and it was so exciting. I was a size 24 and now I can fit into a size 12! No more plus size stores for me! Woo hoo!

Down 95 pounds now...

2006-09-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

WOW! I can't believe that I have actually done this. A year ago I never would have believed that I would be down 95 pounds from where I was. It has seemed to get easier and easier the more I lose. I was a size 24 and I am now a 14. I can shop in normal clothing stores now! It feels so good! I have so much more energy and I actually feel good when I look in the mirror again. I still have about 30 more pounds to go to hit my weight loss goal, but only 5 more until I hit 100 pounds lost. Hopefully I can do it before the begining of November which will be a year since I started losing the weight. Wish me luck on the next 30. :)

Our New House...

2006-08-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

We had our home inspection and our walk-thru with the builder on Monday and the house finally looks all finished. There were a few monor things that they still had to finishe like a few touch ups on the trim and finishe the landscaping in the back yard, but for the most part it is all done. YEAH! We will most likely be signing the papers this coming Monday and getting the keys to the house on Wednesday. It will be so nice to get this whole move over with and be in our new house. We are all very excited. Here are the pictures of the house as it was on Monday:
(click on the pictures to see them larger)

front of the house showing the rock detail

the fireplace still has to be painted white (it will not be bare wood like it is in the picture)

kitchen

looking out of the scrapbook room into the dining room

looking from the family room into the entryway

More pictures of our new house...

2006-08-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

back yard (the landscaping is not quite finished yet)

this is what all of the bathroom sinks look like

front porch (I love the ceiling on it!)

vanity in master bathroom

master bathroom

bonus room

kitchen counter tops

dining room

Our trip to the zoo...

2006-08-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

The four of us went to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma last Sunday. We had not been there in a few years and they had done a lot of improvements to the zoo. It was a beautiful zoo and we got to see almost all of the animals. It was great to get out of my Mom's house and spend some time together as a family. Here are some pictures from our day:

Down 81 pounds now...

2006-08-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

WOW! I can't believe how far I have come with my weight loss. I never thought I would be able to do this, but I really am. It seems to be getting easier every month. We are living with my Mom right now while our house is being built and I am happy to report that I am still traveling 10 miles to the gym every night to get my work out. Our gym used to be 2 miles away from the house so going the extra 8 miles is a little harder since it now takes 20 minutes to drive there instead of less than 5. We hardly ever go out to eat anymore either so that is making things a lot easier as well. Hopefully I can still make my weight loss goal of 100 pounds in 1 year. I have 19 pounds to go and 2 and a half months left to do it. Hopefully I can find a gym soon after we move into our new house so I can keep up my work out routine. If not then I am sure that going up and down the stairs of our new house could be a new work out for me. :)

more new house pictures...

2006-08-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

Matt went to visit the house again today and said that they had just finished pouring the concrete for the driveway porch and back patio. He also said that they had just finished painting the inside trim (baseboards). Things are moving along very fast now. Here are the other two pictures from last week that I couldn't post then for some reason.

kitchen

chair rail in the dining room (everything inside of it will be painted white when it is done)

New house pictures...

2006-07-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

We went to visit our new house on Wednesday to see how everything was coming along and I took these pictures. They have finished:

1. putting in the cabinets in the kitchen and bathrooms
2. done all of the trim (baseboards)
3. started working on the chair rail in the dining room
4. finished all of the light fixtures
5. put in all of the appliances
6. finished the linoleum on the bathroom and kitchen floors
7. finished the formica on the bathroom counter tops
8. have started working on the tile work throughout the house.

There will be tile on the counter tops in the kitchen, on the front of the fireplace, on the floor in the entry way and the powder room and in the master bathroom around the tub and shower. They have laid all of the tile, but have not started grouting it yet.

kids bathroom

master bathroom

master bathroom again

tile entryway

powder room vanity

*more pictures to come, blogger is acting funny again. I have pictures of the kitchen and the chair rail in the dining room to show still. :)

We are all moved out...

2006-07-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a really difficult move for us. We had to put our dog Max to sleep, move in 95+ degree weather, get a root canal and leave our home.

Max had a lot of fun in his last few days of life. Matt took him swimming in the lake, took him for a few car rides and we even gave him his own ice cream cone on the last night. Matt said that putting him down was one of the hardest things that he has ever had to do. We will all miss Max very much.

We started moving our stuff at the end of last week and it just happened to be some of the hottest days here in Western Washington in years. It was so hard to move in hot weather when we don't have air conditioning. Luckily we had help from my Mom and Step-Dad and we got everything moved out of there yesterday. It looks so empty and sad in the house now. I will really miss it.

To top it all off, my tooth started bothering me right when we started moving as well. So I was hot and high from the pain medications that they gave me. Not a good combination! I got my root canal done on Tuesday and I am feeling much better now though. Thankfully that is over with.

So after one crazy week, our house is empty and we are now living with my Mom and Step-Dad. 6 people in a 1200 square foot house for 1 month. This should get interesting....I am sure I will have a lot to blog about in the upcoming month. Talk to you soon. :)

My car is fixed...

2006-07-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

$1,392.64 later and my car is back.

They had to fix and or replace the:

head gasket
thermostat
timing belt
water pump
drain plug seal
engine seal

Thank god my baby is back in working condition though. It is so hard to have 1 car for our entire family. Hopefully these things will help it last for long time now. They said that I should pass the emissions test with flying colors now as well. I can't believe how much I missed my baby. I have had my car for 9 years now and although it is very impractical for our family, I love it to death. It was the very first expensive thing that I paid for all by myself and when the time comes to give it up, I will be very sad. Thank you Greg's Japanese Auto for nursing my baby back to health!

More pictures of our new house...

2006-07-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

They finished painting the inside of the house and putting in the outlets this week. I took my Mom and Monica down to see it for the first time today and took some more pictures. We also finally got to go into one of the other houses with the same floor plan as ours that were a little bit more finished than ours so we could see some of the finish work. Here are the photos:

large storage closet under the stairs

Sold sign on our house

archway from the dining room to the entryway

Monica in my scrapbook room

light fixture in the formal dining room

light fixture in the entryway

*more photos to come...Blogger is acting weird right now.

more pictures of the house...

2006-07-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

This is the home that was almost finished (not ours), but this is what the kitchen layout and cabinets will look like. They don't have the knobs or anything put on yet though.
This is what we could possibley have for our counter tops. (tile) I actually would prefer darker ones, but we will see what our choices are on Tuesday when we go to the design center.

Master bathroom layout. I don't really like this darker tile that they had in this one, but at least you can see the shower and tub all finished.

Dining room with fake wainscoting. I am not sure if ours will have this, but I really liked the look of it in this house so hopefully ours will have this as well.
Where the sink will be in the laundry room. I love the idea of having a sink in the laundry room!

My new best friend...

2006-07-06T17:47:00.000-07:00

I always try new things at the gym because I tend to get bored doing just the elliptical for my cardio all the time. I don't feel like I get a good enough workout on the other machines though. The other day, I started doing the elliptical for 20 minutes and then the stair climber for 10 minutes and it felt so good to do 2 different things. So now I am doing 25 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the stair climber and I love it! I have done this once before and I am not sure why I stopped, but it is really helping me jump start my weight loss again. I am officially down 67 pounds now! WOW! So now the stair climber is my new best friend at the gym. I love it!

64 pounds down...

2006-07-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

It has been quite a while since I have updated everyone on my weight loss. What a journey it has been. My weight seems to be coming off a lot slower lately, but I am still down 64 pounds which I am very happy about.

For the first time ever I actually had something other than a burger from Red Robin. I am really trying to be good so I can get over this plateau that I seem to be on. Matt was shocked when we went to Red Robin tonight and I ordered the Ensenada Chicken Platter instead of my usual Red Robin Bacon Burger with cheese. Here is the description of the chicken platter that they use on their menu:

Two tender, juicy charbroiled chicken breasts
basted with a zesty Mexican blend of
seasonings, then charbroiled and bursting
with Baja-style flavor. Served with a side salad
and two dipping sauces: salsa & creamy lime.
Muy Delicioso!

It was surprisingly super filling and super yummy as well. I felt so good about eating that instead of the burger that when we got home I went on a 1 mile walk around the neighborhood. Yay me!

I am just hoping that making better food choices will help me get over this plateau. I am on my way to 100 pounds in 1 year which was my goal. I have 37 pounds to go and 4 months to do it. :)

My day from hell...

2006-06-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

So I decided that I was going to be really good today and go get my emission test for my car and my car tabs almost a month before they are due. I usually wait until the last minute to get that done, but I thought today would be a good day to just get it done and not have to worry about it.

So I drive down to Auburn to the emissions place and get my test done and the guy hands me the paper that says that I passed. I didn't really think my car wouldn't pass since it is only 12 years old and has 122,000 miles on it. It is still in very good shape. Anyway, while we were driving away, Monica looks at the paper and says to me that the paper says the test was for a Toyota pick-up truck. So I figure it will be easy enough to just go back and get the right paper since they gave me the wrong one. Boy was I wrong!

I go back to the place and tell them what happened and they tell me that I would have to test again. Ok, fine I was in a good mood and it really wasn't too hot outside yet so I was fine with it. Well, the manager of the place who happened to be a lady has to do it and as soon as she starts talking to me all I can smell is her disgusting alcohol breath. It smelled like she went to bar and had a few on her lunch break or something. DISGUSTING! Anyway, she does the test and hands me the paper and says that my car failed! What the hell! How could my car have failed an emissions test? It is a Honda Civic with very low miles!

So as a drive away and start contemplating what to do next, I realize that my car is not accelerating very well. I proceed to get on the highway and realize that it is VERY hard for me to even get up to 60 miles per hour. So I look at the temperature gauge on my car and it was all the way up to the H as in VERY FREAKIN HOT! So I start freaking out. I have never had car problems before and now it was happening to me on a hot day, while I was on the highway with 2 kids in the car with me.

I pull off the on the next exit since I knew that there was a park and ride at that one and pull into the parking lot. So I try calling Matt and he doesn't answer his phone, I call my Mom and she doesn't answer her cell phone, home phone or work phone. What the hell am I going to do? So there we sat in my black car with no air conditioning in 80 something degree weather. My kids are getting thirsty, hungry and downright irritating while I am just stunned, freaked out and downright hotter than hell!

I finally get a hold of Matt who of course works an hour away from where I am so I knew that we would have to sit there until he got there unless my Mom would finally answer one of her phones. After Matt starts driving home, I get a hold of my Mom and she comes to our rescue in about 30 minutes. We sat there for an hour and a half and by the time she showed up we were all very cranky, hot and thirsty. Matt showed up soon after she did and looked in my radiator to find it bone dry. It was leaking a while ago, but he thought that he had fixed it. Apparently not. That is why it was overheating. So we fill it up with water and get it home, but now I realize that when my car is sitting at a stop light idling, it feels like it is misfiring or something. I swear that none of this stuff was happening before I went to that damn emissions place!

Why does this stuff have to happen right when we are about to buy a house? I know that my car will be ok after a new radiator and a tune-up, but I swear that that is the last time I am ever going to get my tabs early! I love my car and I hope it last for at least a couple more years until I get a job and am able to buy a newer one that WILL have air conditioning!

It is a hot one today...

2006-06-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

Check out the thermometer on my front porch:

I had to take the kids to their dentist appointments today at 3:00 and my car is black and has no air conditioning. It was like an oven in there. I love hot weather, but I would much rather it be like 75-80 degrees. I am so hoping this hot weather will be over soon.

more new house pictures...

2006-06-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

entryway from the front door

entryway from the family room looking into the formal dining room and scrapbook room

what the fireplace will look like when finished

what the coved ceiling in the dining room and scrapbook room will look like

what the kitchen cabinets will look like

another picture of the kitchen cabinets

master bedroom

Better pictures of the new house...

2006-06-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

another finished house with the same floor plan as the one we want

front of the house

back of the house

back yard

my scrapbook room

family room

bonus room/loft

This may be it...

2006-06-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

We think we may have found the house that we are going to buy. Here is the rendering and floor plan of it from the builder:

Personally I think the rendering is extrememly ugly and looks like a barn. We do like the floor plan and the actual finished house looks much better than the rendering. Here is a photo that Matt took of the front of it with his camera phone:

It is only 60% finished so it obviously does not have the garage door on or anything yet, but at least you can see what it looks like a little bit. We will be making our final decision on whether to buy it yet by this week-end. Here are some more photos of the inside that Matt took with his camera phone today:

Looking at the stairs from the family room

Looking into the formal dining room and study

family room

future kitchen from the family room

bonus room

back yard

Here is the description of the house under the listing too:

Inviting craftsman style home presented by Sterling Master Homes in the new development of Bay Hill in ***. Come see all the exceptional standard features such as white painted millwork & 6 panel doors, tile entry, gas fireplace w/tile surround & white painted mantle, quality appliances, custom designed maple cabinets w/European hinges, brushed nickel door hardware, 5 piece mstr bth, Hardiplank siding, fully landscaped yards with sprinkler systems, back patio and much more!

Interior Features
Square Feet: 2,131
Bathroom Off Master Bedroom
Ceramic Tile Floor
Den/Library/Office
Dining Room
Double Pane/Storm Windows
Family Room/Great Room
Forced Air Heat
Pantry
Utility Room
Vinyl Floors
Walk-in Closet
Wall-to-Wall Carpet

We sold our house...

2006-06-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

It only took less than 5 days and it was gone. :( After rejecting the first offer for less than asking price we got another offer for asking price then the first lady who put in the original offer panicked and offered asking price plus $1,000.00. We thought that would be it until someone else came in and said that they would pay asking price plus no inspection which made Matt really happy because that means we would not have to do anything to "fix" the house at all. Well, the origial lady who put in the offer for $5,000.00 less than asking and then $1,000.00 over sking price hten said that she would pay asking price plus $1,000.00, plus no inspection. So we agreed on that and it was a done deal. She obviously really likes our house a lot, but I still feel kind of bad for her because if she would have just offered full price from the beginning we probably would have accepted that. Oh, well. I am glad that someone loves our house just as much as I do.

Now we need to find a house for us to live in. This has been a very painful thing for me. I do not want to "settle" on just any house because we need to find one, but there is absolutely nothing that I like in the area where we are moving to. They are all either too expensive or in a neighborhood that I don't like. We came close yesterday to finding some brand new houses that we liked, but it turns out that the neighborhood is having flooding and landslide problems which we do not want to have to deal with. I unfortunately got my hopes up to getting a brand new house too. :( How cool would that be? Living in a house that no one else has ever lived in?

We have six weeks until our houses closes so basically that means that we have 6 weeks to get out. :( I hope we find something within that time that we love or else I guess we will be living in an apartment for a while.

I found the coolest website ever...

2006-06-07T23:22:00.000-07:00

For you music lovers out there you have to try it out. It is totally free and everything so don't worry. It is called Pandora and you basically put in all of your favorite songs and it finds songs by the same artist or someone similar and plays music for you. I am totally into jazz right now so I am able to hear a lot of stuff that I never would have heard before. I love it! Pandora.com

We are selling our house...

2006-06-07T22:54:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it is actually happening, but yes, we are selling our house. We started showing it on Monday and just got an offer on it today for $5,000.00 less than asking price. I have never sold a house before so I have no idea what is standard for this kind of thing, but I was extremely offended by that offer. We have done so much to this house that I am having a hard time wanting to even sell it right now. I feel like people should want to pay more for it than we are asking because it is so nice. I have lived in this house for 7 years now and even though it is way too small for our family I really love it. I think that with all of the upgrades that we have done to it that someone else will love it just as much. We are going to reject this offer and hope that another one will come. After all, it has only been 3 days. I still haven't found a house where we are moving that I love yet. I just hope that it all works out. I hope that we will find a house that we love and someone will love our house enough to want to pay what we are asking for it as well. Hopefully it will happen soon too. :)

I'm bored...

2006-06-02T23:52:00.000-07:00

50 questions...

1. Name and Nickname (if you have one)? Real name is Hillary and most people call me that. Every once in a while people will call me Hill.

2. Are you named after someone? I don't think so.

3. Astrological Sign? Libra

4. Do you have a journal? Not a current one.

5. Do you still have your tonsils? yep

6. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Usually

7. First feature you notice on someone you are attracted to? Their eyes of course...

8. What is on your mouse pad? I don't have one...

9. Book you are reading right now? Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner

10. Do you collect anything? Elvis stuff and bunnies

11. Favorite TV Show Current show? Just one? Prison Break I guess...

12. Do you wear glasses or contacts Glasses? Nope

13. Last movie you saw Theater? Honestly I don't even remember.

14. Favorite vacation spot? Oregon coast

15. Shoe size? 8 and a half or 9

16. Do you eat breakfas? I try to

17. Favorite cereal? Cap'n Crunch or Honey Smacks

18. Favorite lunch meat? Salami and roast beef

19. Do you have any tattoos or piercings? Only my ears...no tattoos yet.

20. What color is your bedroom carpet? Dirty!!!

21. If you could have a $10,000 shopping spree to one store, what store would it be? Pottery Barn

22. What celebrity(dead or alive)would you like to have lunch with Right now? Prince...duh!

23. If you were given a round trip ticket anywhere in the world, where would you go? Either England or Australia.

24. What time do you go to bed? 12:00 or 1:00

25. Favorite fast food Right now? Wendy's

26. Dream car? I am really liking the Honda Suv's right now, but I would love a Suburban if it didn't sost so much for gas.

27. Do you wear a watch? Nope, I am allergic to most metal so I can't wear most watches.

28. Fabric softner or dryer sheets? Dryer Sheets

29. Dine in or carry out? Dine in

30. Mystery or romance novels? Romance

31. Early or late riser? When given the choice, late.

32. Mayo or Miracle whip? Mayo of course! Miracle Whip is gross!

33. Dill or sweet pickles? Dill

34. Chocolate or vanilla? vanilla!!!!

35. Cake or pie? pie

36. Steak or chicken? Steak for sure!

37. Gold or silver? Silver

38. Roses or carnations? Roses, but I do like that carnations last longer.

39. Croutons or bacon bits? croutons

40. Disney or Warner Brothers? Warner Brothers

41. Desk, messy or organized? messy!

42. Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi, but I only drink Diet Coke.

43. Summer or winter. Summer!

44. Chinese or Mexican food? Both!

45. Rolling Stones or The Beatles? Rolling Stones! I hate the Beatles

46. Baseball or Football? I like both, but if I had to choose then baseball of course.

47. White or wheat? White...I do not eat wheat!

48. Action or drama? Action

49. Dark or milk chocolate? I prefer white chocolate, but if I had to choose then I would choose milk because I hate dark.

50. MAC or PC? PC

Monica's photo in the newspaper...

2006-05-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

The local newspaper took a group photo of all of the girls who participated in the volleyball league this year. Here is a scanned picture of the newspaper. If you click on the photo then you can see it close up. Monica is the one with the arrow drawn to her head and yes, she is sticking out her tongue.

54 pounds down...

2006-05-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Holy cow! I cannot believe that I am finally losing the weight. Yes, I still have quite a ways to go, but I have lost 54 pounds since November of last year. I feel so much better about myself. I have way more energy, I am not embarrassed to get out of the house anymore and I am not depressed anymore. Hooray! Here are some before and after shots of myself.

Summer time fun...

2006-05-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

The sun was out today and the kids were playing in the sprinkler on the trampoline so I got out the camera and got these great shots of them that I wanted to share.

I am blonde again!

2006-05-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

I always feel so much happier when I am blonde so I decided to go back to it. I got it highlighted on Friday and I feel lighter and happier already.

Before After

My volleyball star...

2006-05-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

I took more pictures of Monica at volleyball practice yesterday. I can hardly believe how good she is. WOW! Her team is called te Spunky Spikers and they have turquoise colored t-shirts. It is so fun to watch her play a sport that I loved so much as a kid. Monica is the one in the bright blue shirt and the blonde pony tail.

New scrapbook pages...

2006-05-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Safeco Field...

2006-05-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

Last week-end we went to Safeco Field with our friends Shawn and Jennifer and had a great time. It was so nice to get out without the kids and have some adult time with our friends. We watched the Mariners play the Detroit Tigers who apparently are quite good this year. The Mariners lost, but we had a great time and great food anyways. Jennifer and I had foot long hot dogs (which were gross) and the guys had nachos when we first got to the game. Then later on we had garlic fries (yummy) and fruit skewers which were strawberries on skewers dipped in chocolate.

Shawn and Jennifer

Jennifer and I went to get a Detroit hat for my Step-Dad during the game and ended up wandering around for a while trying to find the main store that would actually be selling a Detroit hat. While we were wandering around we discovered that there were only 2 Starbucks in the whole place. I just don't get that!? You would think that since we are in Seattle we would be able to find Starbucks everywhere in Safeco field, but no. So we bought the hat (I got teased by the sales person for buying a Detroit hat at Safeco Field) and went to get a coffee, but ended up having to stand in line for like 20 minutes just to get one. I would think that more people would want coffee than beer in Seattle on a cold night.

After the game, we all went to Bellevue to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. I wasn't super hungry after the food we ate at the game, but Matt and I each got something and shared them with each other. I got the appetizer Caesar salad which was HUGE and Matt got the Romano crusted chicken with pasta. They were both really good! After dinner we shared a piece of Godiva chocolate cheesecake which was to die for. I was very full at this point, but hey, you can't go to The Cheesecake Factory and not eat cheesecake right? :)

We had a great time visiting with our friends and I really hope that we can do it again soon.

My volleyball girl...

2006-04-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

Monica started volleyball yesterday and she did so good. I am so excited that she wants to play volleyball since it was my favorite sport when I was in school too. I was surprised as to how well she did too. She did a 1 day volleyball camp at the high school back in October where they taught her basic skills and stuff. I guess she really learned a lot from that camp because she was very good yesterday. Here are some photos of her from yesterday. I hope to get some better ones as the season progresses.

My name was mentioned...

2006-04-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

Pink is the new blog is my favorite celebrity gossip blog that I read every day. The author of the blog is named Trent and he loves the movie Brokeback Mountain so when I saw the Peeps contest from the Seattle Times (see post below about Peeps) I knew I had to e-mail him to show him the one that someone made that spoofed Brokeback Mountain. I guess he liked it so much that he mentioned it and my name on his blog. How cool of him to do that! Those of you that read his blog will understand my excitement probably more than others. He is kind of a blog celebrity. :) Here is a screen shot of it:

(click on it to make it larger)

Our Easter...

2006-04-16T19:09:00.000-07:00

We had a great day today. Matt and I both went to the gym in the morning since we both knew that we would be eating a lot of "dangerous" food later in the day. I made prime rib, salad, butterflake rolls, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and deviled eggs. For dessert we had French silk pie. My parents came over and ate with us. It felt great to do all of the cooking myself for once. Usually my Mom and I help each other, but I wanted her to be able to just sit and relax without having to worry about doing anything for a change. The kids had a great time searching for eggs in the back yard and got some cute fun toys in their baskets. It was a very nice and relaxing day. Now I just have to worry about working off all of that food tomorrow at the gym. :) Here are some photos of the kids searching for eggs and eating their candy.

Happy Easter Peeps style...

2006-04-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Times had a challenge for their readers to make things out of Peeps and I thought the entries were awesome. Here is a link to the article with all of the photos online. Just click on the photos on the right side of the page that say Peeps, more Peeps and even more Peeps. They are really cute. Here are some of my favorites:

Monica and her kitty...

2006-04-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

Brace face...

2006-04-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

Well, she finally got them. Monica got her braces put on her top teeth today. I can't believe how old she looks with them on. She will be getting them on her bottom teeth in a few months, but for now she has them on just the top ones. She picked pink and yellow bands for them for Easter. Here are the pictures of my sweet beautiful tween and her braces.

Little Book of Big Ideas Scraplift CHALLENGE

2006-04-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

This is a layout that I did for The Little Book of Big Ideas Scraplift CHALLENGE on the KI Memories blog. I was so excited to find out about this challenge because I have so much KI Memories stuff that I have been hoarding forever and I guess I just needed a little push to use it. Here is the page that I scraplifted from Carrie Colbert.

Here is my page.

I didn't obviously copy the whole page, but I liked how she used the ice dots on the polka dot paper in the middle of the page and how she used the quote on the page as well. Thanks for looking. I can't wait for the next challenge.

More photos from our trip to Seattle...

2006-04-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

Our trip to the Seattle waterfront...

2006-04-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

Today we decided to take the kids to the Seattle Aquarium. Riley had never been there and Monica hadn't been there in quite a while so we thought it would be a fun adventure for all of us. We also went to eat at Ivar's on the waterfront and fed the seagulls there too. Of course while we were down there we had to stop by the Ye olde curiosity shop to get some little treasures as well. The weather ended up being perfect for our little adventure so I got some great pictures. Here they are:

A new scrapbook page that I made...

2006-03-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

I can wear my ring again...

2006-03-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

For the first time in 3 ½ years I tried on my engagement ring from Matt and it finally fits again. My wedding band is ½ a size bigger so I have never taken that one off, but when I got pregnant with Riley, I had to take my diamond off because it just got too small for my fingers. It hasn't fit since I was pregnant with Riley and now it does. I am so happy! It is like getting a new peice of jewelry. I can't believe I have finally lost the baby weight from Riley. I feel so happy. I am not going to say how much I have lost total this month until the 15th of April, but let's just say that I have made my goal for the month already. I still have quite a bit more to lose, but I finally feel like I have made a big dent in the total amount. :)

2 New scrapbook pages I made today...

2006-03-20T22:40:00.000-08:00

Spring blog challenge...

2006-03-18T10:57:00.000-08:00

Spring Fever!!!! 8 Questions about SPRING!
1. have you gone on spring break before? if so, where, and if not, why? I have never actually gone somewhere for spring break.
2. do you take a spring vacation? We usually go during the summer.
3. if you had (or have) a spring vacation, what would be your first choice to do? Go anywhere warm.
4. in your home/apartment, do you do spring cleaning? I try to.
5. in your area, what is your weather generally like in mid-march? Very rainy
6. spring is one of my favourite seasons ... do you share my sentiment, or do you prefer another season? I prefer summer.
7. do you do anything differently in spring than you do any other time of the year? (plant flowers/garden, take off the snow tires, etc.) Hopefully I will be planting the plants and trees that I bought at the end of last summer this spring. They lived through the winter. I am so happy!
8. what are your plans for this weekend? Cleaning!

My latest scrapbook page...

2006-03-18T10:36:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share the my latest scrapbook page with everyone. I used my very favorite photo of the kids together on it.

Our trip to Portland...

2006-03-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

All four of us went to Portland, Oregon on Wednesday to see Matt's Sister Jennie and meet her husband Jeramie. We all went to the Family Fun Center in Wilsonville, Oregon. and had a great time there. Matt hadn't seen his sister in about 16 years or so, so he had fun catching up with her. I think us adults had just as much fun there as the kids did. We rode go-karts, played lazer tag and played a ton of games for tickets which the kids cashed in for prizes. I had never played lazer tag before and I was surprised at how much fun it was. We played boys against girls and the girls won. Yay!

After we left there, we went to our hotel in Portland which was really nice. It was right across the street from the Lloyd Center mall which is where we had dinner that night. We wanted to try ice skating, but we had already spent so much money at the Family Fun Center that we decided not to.

I was hesitant about going at first since we had to take Monica out of school for 2 days, but I am glad that we went after all. The kids had a great time and it was really nice to have a little mini vacation for all of us. Here are some pictures from our fun time in Portland: (Click on the photos to make them bigger)
Riding the go-karts

Riding the go-karts Riley watching Rocky and Bullwinkle

Rocky and Bullwinkle

Jennie and Jeramie
Matt and Monica riding the go-karts
Jeramie and Riley on the go-karts

Jennie on the go-karts

Monica playing a game
Monica playing skee ball

Riley's new teeth
Riley's new whistle lips

The only photo taken of me for the day

10 on Tuesday

2006-03-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

10 Things You'd Tell Other People to Try

Philosophy body wash
Mountain Dew MDX (sugar free)
the stair climber
Prince's new album 3121
Nike Celso flip flops
Canon Digital Rebel camera
scrapbooking
Newport, Oregon
Hempz body lotion
cooking for your family

Down 36.5 pounds...

2006-03-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I didn't quite make my goal of 42 pounds by the 15th of this month, but I have been fighting this plateau I have been on. I had been really discouraged until I went shopping for new clothes this past week-end and realized that I am down 2 pant sizes from my highest. That gave me a little extra motivation. Then that night, my daughter proceeds to tell me that she was telling her friend about how we took her to Marble Slab to get ice cream once and one of her other friends said to her, "no wonder your Mom is so fat." So that put a little damper on my excitement of being down two pant sizes. I have decided to not let it get me down though. I have been amping up my work-outs by working in the stair climber along with the elliptical every time I go to the gym now. I do 35 minutes on the elliptical on level 8 and then I do 13 minutes on the stair climber at level 2. I am working up to do 20 minutes on the stair climber after the elliptical so I try to go up 1 minute every two days. I sure hope this wakes my body up from this slump and kicks my butt in gear. :)

Some great photos that I took this week-end...

2006-03-06T10:50:00.000-08:00

Matt and I went to visit his Grandma this week-end and I took some photos from her farm. The view of Mt. Ranier is unbelievable and the weather was perfect for taking pictures. Here are a few from this week-end. You can click on the images to see them larger. :)

Our week-end...

2006-02-20T12:57:00.000-08:00

This week-end we went over to our friends house for their son's birthday party. We hadn't seen them for a while so it was really nice to be able to visit them again. We also took Riley to McDonalds for dinner last night since Monica got to stay at her Grandparents house for the night. Matt played with him on the big toys since there were no other kids there to play with him. Today, Monica and Matt went up to Crystal mountain for another ski trip. It should be very exciting for them. Here are some pictures from our busy week-end.

Matt and Sean

The birthday boy Ben

Matt and Riley

Matt being a big kid at McDonalds

Riley at McDonalds

Good music makes a huge difference...

2006-02-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have been having a little trouble finding good music for my MP3 player lately. I love listening to music while I work out, but it needs to be really good music. I like stuff with a fast beat and something that really pumps me up. So, while watching the disappointing Superbowl game, I saw this awesome new Nike commercial that you can see here. The commercial is really good and the song is an oldie, but a goodie. It is Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution by AC/DC. So I downloaded the song for my MP3 player and took it to the gym and sure enough it worked. Just hearing the song and thinking about the commercial gets me pumped up and ready to work out harder than ever. I guess commercials are good for some things. :)

The best chicken recipe ever!

2006-02-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from the new Rachael Ray magazine. It is THE best chicken I have ever had and it is soooo easy too. I made it for dinner on Valentine's Day and everyone loved it including my picky little eater Monica. Here is the recipe:

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 ounces Philadelphia brand garlic and herb cream cheese spread
8 slices of bacon

Pound the chicken until thin. Spread each chicken breast with cream cheese and roll up, jelly-roll style. Wrap 2 pieces of bacon slices around each roll and secure with toothpicks. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Happy Wub Day...

2006-02-14T14:19:00.000-08:00

My son calls all hearts wubs (loves) so today is wub day for him. I just wanted to share this cute little thing he did today. He told me that he hurt his belly and that he had an invisible owie on it. I kissed it like I do all of his owies and he he said, "aahh much better." I love him so much!

Ok, so I am down 30 pounds now, but...

2006-02-08T15:59:00.000-08:00

I wasn't going to post again about my weight until the 14th, but I was looking through old pictures of myself and Matt and it started to make me kind of sad. I know that I should feel happy that I have lost 30 pounds since November, but I keep wondering to myself how I actually got to this point. I really hope that I can keep kicking ass at the gym so I can look as good as I did back in the day. Even in these pictures I was 66 pounds lighter. Ok, vent over! :)

about my age...

2006-02-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

You said your birthday is 10 / 14 / 1975 which means you are 30 years old and about:

58 years 11 months younger than Walter Cronkite, age 89

54 years 3 months younger than Nancy Reagan, age 84

51 years 4 months younger than George Herbert Bush, age 81

44 years 1 month younger than Barbara Walters, age 74

41 years 11 months younger than Larry King, age 72

35 years 8 months younger than Ted Koppel, age 66

32 years 3 months younger than Geraldo Rivera, age 62

29 years 3 months younger than George W. Bush, age 59

24 years 3 months younger than Jesse Ventura, age 54

20 years 0 months younger than Bill Gates, age 50

15 years 2 months younger than Cal Ripken Jr., age 45

9 years 3 months younger than Mike Tyson, age 39

5 years 3 months younger than Jennifer Lopez, age 35

0 years 3 months older than Tiger Woods, age 30

6 years 8 months older than Prince William, age 23

and that you were:

25 years old at the time of the 9-11 attack on America

24 years old on the first day of Y2K

21 years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash

19 years old at the time of Oklahoma City bombing

18 years old when O. J. Simpson was charged with murder

17 years old at the time of the 93 bombing of the World Trade Center

15 years old when Operation Desert Storm began

14 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall

10 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded

8 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh

7 years old during Sally Ride's travel in space

5 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.

4 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began

not yet 1 year old on the U.S.'s bicentennial Fourth of July

a fun little survey for Wednesday

2006-02-08T10:21:00.000-08:00

**~~* Top 10 ~~***
---10 Firsts---
First Best Friend:::	Erin
First Screenname:::	hbrooker75
First Pet Name:::	Charlie
First Piercing:::	ears
First Crush:::	Shawn VanGeystel
First CD:::	The Cure-Mixed Up
First School:::	West Seattle Christian
First House Location:::	West Seattle
First Kiss:::	I don't remember...
First Car:::	Dodge Shadow
---9 Lasts---
Last Time You Smoked:::	HHMMM...
Last Food You Ate:::	sugar free/fat free Schwans fudge bar last night
Last Car Ride:::	last night to the gym
Last Movie You Watched:::	Wedding Crashers
Last Phone Call:::	my Mom
Last CD You Listened To:::	INXS-Switch
Last Bubble Bath You Took:::	a couple of weeks ago
Last Song You Listened To:::	Who's Your Man-INXS
Last Words You Said:::	Riley
---8 Have-You-Evers---
Dated A Best Friend:::	yep
Been Arrested:::	yep
Been On TV:::	nope
Eaten Sushi:::	nope
Cheated On Your B/F or G/F:::	Not my husband
Been On A Blind Date:::	nope
Been Out Of The Country:::	yep...Canada and Mexico
Been In Love:::	of course
---7 Things You Are Wearing---
1:::	underwear
2:::	pajama pants
3:::	wedding band
4:::	t-shirt
5:::	rubberband in my hair
6:::
7:::
---6 Things You've Done Today---
1:::	checked my e-mail
2:::	changed a diaper
3:::	fixed breakfast for my son
4:::	watched tv
5:::	drank Diet Coke
6:::	prayed
---5 Favorite Things (not in any order)---
1:::	music
2:::	tv
3:::	my kids
4:::	my husband
5:::	working out
---4 People You Most Trust---
1:::	my husband
2:::	my Mom
3:::	Erin
4:::	my Dad
---3 Things You Want To Do Before You Die---
1:::	get skinny again
2:::	go to Europe
3:::	have a great job
---2 Choices---
Vanilla or Chocolate:::	vanilla
Hugs or Kisses:::	kisses
--1 Person You Want To See Right Now---
1:::	my husband
Take this survey \| Find more surveys You've been totally Bzoink*d

A new Prince song!

2006-02-04T15:22:00.000-08:00

I am so excited that Prince is coming out with a new album soon. He is going to be on Satuday Night Live tonight and has a awesome new song and video out right now. The song is called "Black Sweat" and reminds me so much of his older songs. I love it! I can't wait to get the CD and put the new song on my MP3 player for working out! Here is a link to the new video on MTV.
Black Sweat

Go Seahawks!

2006-02-04T15:14:00.000-08:00

I am so excited that our Seattle Seahawks have finally made it to the Superbowl! We are going to stay home and watch the game this year, but I have made lots of goodies for us to enjoy while we watch. It should be a very exciting game to watch! Finally I have a reason to actually watch the Superbowl for football and not just the commercials. :) Go Seahawks!

Some cute little comics that I read today...

2006-01-18T14:08:00.000-08:00

These 2 remind me of Riley...

This one reminds me of Monica...

and this one is how I feel sometimes...

Down 22 pounds...

2006-01-17T09:40:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that I am now down 22 pounds. I didn't quite make my goal of 10 pounds this last month, but with Christmas and New Years I am happy with 6 more pounds. I have been working really hard at the gym, but the food during the holidays was hard to resist. My goal is to be down 32 pounds by February 15th. :)

My Little Ski Bunny...

2006-01-09T10:07:00.000-08:00

Monica got a season pass to Crystal Mountain this year for Christmas from her Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Kenn. She was so excited to be able to learn how to ski finally. Matt took her up on January 2nd and she took her first lesson. She had a lot of fun and was really good according to Matt. She even went up on a ski lift by herself after her lesson. I am so proud of her! I was always so scared and she just seems to have no fear. Here is the scrapbook page that I made about it:

Christmas cards

2006-01-01T16:31:00.000-08:00

I got this idea from Ali Edwards to make a scrapbook page with all of my Christmas cards this year. I never know what to do with them year after year because I HATE to throw them away. I thought that this was a great way to preserve the memories. It is not prefectly straight and not all of the pictures are exactly the same size since I did not have a square punch big enough, but I kind of like it a little wonky like that. Not everything has to be prefect right? :)

My cute kids...

2005-12-30T20:11:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share this picture that I took of my kids today. They look so cute when they are getting along.

Nice and peaceful...

2005-12-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

We had a great no stress Christmas this year. I am so happy that everything turned out so well. The kids were very happy and we had a lot of fun spending time with our family. On Christmas morning, we woke up early and opened presents just the four of us.

I made a nice breakfast for all of us and then my Dad, Step-Mom and Step-Grandmother came over. They stayed for about an hour and a half or so and we had a great time visiting with them and playing with all of our new presents together.

When they left, the four of us went over to my Mom and Step-Dad's house for Christmas dinner at their house. My Uncle John and cousins Ashley and Zach were there as well. I helped my Mom make the best prime rib ever and we also had homemade biscuits, broccoli with cheese sauce, salad and roasted red potatoes with garlic and herbs. My Mom even made all of us fresh squeezed orange juice made with satsuma mandarins. It was soooo yummy!

It was great to be able to spend Christmas with so many people in my family this year. Hopefully next year, my Brother and his family will be home for Christmas too. I hope that every year we can have a nice peaceful Christmas like this one.

I am ready!

2005-12-20T11:24:00.000-08:00

I feel so good about Christmas this year. I have bought all of my gifts already, we have the tree up and there will be no stress this year. We already had our Christmas celebration with Matt's family last Sunday, my Dad and Step-Mom are coming over on Christmas morning and then we will head over to my Mom and Step-Dad's house for Christmas dinner. She is cooking prime rib this year and I can't wait!

I still haven't gained any weight even though I have been eating bad stuff all week. I guess working out at least 5 days a week really works. :) I even plan on going to the gym on Christmas Eve. I am so happy that my gym is open that day.

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday. :)

16 pounds down!

2005-12-15T08:52:00.000-08:00

I usually try not to get too excited and tell people when I lose weight, but I really feel like it is just falling off this time. I have lost 16 pounds since the beginning of November. My goal is to lose at least 10 pounds per month until I am done. :) Matt has helped motivate me quite a bit. He started going to the gym in September and has lost about 20 pounds since then. I on the other hand have been going to the gym for almost 3 years, but I started doing no less than 45 minutes on the elliptical at least 5 days a week and it has really helped. Eating less and has helped me as well. I really hope to be a healthier me by the time summer rolls around. :)

Monica's birthday

2005-12-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

Monica officially turned 10 yesterday. WOW! I cannot believe that I actually have a child that is 10 years old! I guess that means that I am really an adult now.

She had a birthday party for friends on Saturday and then on Sunday night we took her out to dinner at Billy McHales. Here are some photos of her party and of us at Billy's on Sunday night.

Weight discrimination...

2005-11-30T00:14:00.000-08:00

I have not always been a big girl. I was always "athletic", but not fat. I have been watching all of these shows like entertainment Tonight and Tyra where they wear a fat suit and see how people treat them. Well, I already know. These skinny girls can take off their fat suits and be fine, but I can't.

I have been going to a "regular" gym for almost 2 years now and have experienced a lot of weight discrimination. When I am on an elliptical trainer, people will go on one that is not near me, tonight was the worst. There are only 4 elliptical trainers at my gym with TV's. Well, I had been on mine for 35 minutes, the skinny girl next to me had been on for 45 and the two guys next to her had been on for at least 20 minutes. So this guy walks up behind all of us and checks out our times, he obviously wanted to find out who he thought would be done first so he could get on next. Well who does he put his stuff done next to? Me of course. I guess he figures that since I am the fat girl that I will be getting off my elliptical before anyone else. I wasn't! Not only did it piss me off that he did this, but it made me want to go even longer just to show him that fat girls can work out too. I did my usual 45 minutes and one extra just to make a point since he had gotten on one of the others already. It just makes me mad that people assume that since I am a big girl that I can't work out like the skinny ones. WTH! Sometimes I just want to tell these people to go screw themselves.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2005-11-24T23:14:00.000-08:00

We had a great day today. Our family went to my Mom's house for Thanksgiving as we do almost every year. I helped cook some of the little things like the mashed potatoes (Martha Stewart garlic mashed potatoes), biscuits, corn on the cob and the appetizers. We had a lots of yummy food and a great time visiting. Uncle John, Kenny, Dora and Anthony were also there. I am glad that we have a small family so we can all get together for holidays like this. Here are some photos from today.

I want to see this movie so bad!

2005-11-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

Walk The Line

Ok, so I am not a big country music fan or anything, but obviously I have heard of Johnny Cash. My Mom loves Willie Nelson and they were in the Highway Men together so I heard a lot of Johnny Cash when I was younger. I hate to say this, but the reason I want to see it the most is because of Joaquin Phoenix.
I mean does he not look just like Johnny Cash here?

I grew up loving his brother River, but when he died I fell in love with Joaquin. He has become such a great actor and I really hope that he wins an Oscar for this movie. He was nominated before for Gladiator and I loved him in that movie. For those of you that don't recognize his name, here are some of his movies:

Walk the Line (2005) .... Johnny Cash
Ladder 49 (2004) .... Jack Morrison
Hotel Rwanda (2004) .... Jack Daglish
The Village (2004) .... Lucius Hunt
Brother Bear (2003) (voice) .... Kenai
It's All About Love (2003) .... John
Signs (2002) .... Merrill Hess
Buffalo Soldiers (2001) .... Ray Elwood
Quills (2000) .... The Abbe du Coulmier
Gladiator (2000) .... Commodus
The Yards (2000) .... Willie Gutierrez
8MM (1999) .... Max California
Clay Pigeons (1998) .... Clay Bidwell
Return to Paradise (1998) .... Lewis McBride
U Turn (1997) .... Toby N. Tucker a.k.a. TNT
Inventing the Abbotts (1997) .... Doug Holt
To Die For (1995) .... Jimmy Emmett
Walking the Dog (1991)
Parenthood (1989) (as Leaf Phoenix) .... Garry Buckman-Lampkin
Secret Witness (1988) (TV) (as Leaf Phoenix)
Russkies (1987) (as Leaf Phoenix) .... Danny
SpaceCamp (1986) (as Leaf Phoenix) .... Max
"Morningstar/Eveningstar" (1986) TV Series (as Leaf Phoenix) .... Doug Roberts
Kids Don't Tell (1985) (TV) (as Leaf Phoenix) .... Frankie
Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia (1984) (TV) (as Leaf Phoenix) .... Robby Ellsworth

This is amazing!

2005-11-21T16:23:00.000-08:00

Someone on a scrapbook website showed this to me today and I was so amazed that I just had to share it. It is an amazing Christmas light show and I think that you have to have Windows Media Player to see it. Watch the whole thing because it is amazing! Oh and Dad, if you are reading this, this is what I expect your Christmas display to be like this year. I think you could do it. :)
Christmas light show.

Our 5th wedding anniversary...

2005-11-07T09:44:00.000-08:00

Matt and I had a great time on our 5th wedding anniversary on Saturday (actually it was on Friday, but we went out on Saturday night.) We went to our favorite restaurant on the waterfront Ivars Acres of Clams on Pier 54.

They have the best fish in the world there. We both had halibut, but made in different ways. Mine was the rede wine bacon beurre rouge and Matt's had a holondaise sauce on it. Both were very yummy!

Next we went to the Market Theatre to see Theatre Sports. I had been to Theatre Sports twice before with my church youth group when I was younger and loved it so I knew that Matt would too. It is similar to the show Who's Line is it Anyway for those of you that don't know what it is. Improv comedy is the best. Before the show we walked around Pike Place which was closed, but saw a lot fun things that I hadn't seen in a long time.

We saw tha famous Pike Place newstand which carries every magazine and newspaper known to man and was feautured in the movie Singles. We saw the The Pink Door which was a place that my friend Andy took me for dinner once before our high school homecoming dance. I really wish I would have brought my camera, but I was a little afraid of taking it since it was raining and I don't have a bag for it yet (hint hint). We walked behind the famous Pike Place sign which would have been an awesome photo. We even stuck gum on the famous Gum Wall in front of the Market Theatre.

All in all, we had a great time. Every time I go downtown I feel so proud to be from Seattle. I truly believe that it is one of the greatest cities in the country. There are so many fun things to do and see and it is so clean and beautiful.

The photos of Seattle were taken by a local photographer named Chuck Pefley. You can see his photos here.