baby steps

I worked out today (yay me) and will continue working 5 days a week (see I have to be positive that I *will* do it, and not just say I *plan* to). It felt good, made me tired in a good way. And then since the sun was shining(!) I walked to meet my friends for lunch, and since the sun was still shining after dinner the kids & I took Roxy on a walk. Fun times! It was a productive day :).

I have been thinking about maybe joining a 365 photo group on flickr. But then I question whether I'd take any good shots. I still use the auto setting on my camera. I try and try to read the manual and many online "schools", but I don't learn by reading. I need someone to show me what is what. I'm trying to figure it out just by doing, but even if a picture turns out good, I don't know what I did to make it that way.
Anyway, since my flickr is all of our family pictures and stuff that our families look at I don't really want to put the 365 photos on there. So I made a new profile specifically for that (not that I plan to take any "risque" pictures, but in case I do I wouldn't want my Grandma to see ;)).

Back home

We've been home for a few days now from our Super Vacation in California. The kids are happy to be back to school and settling in nicely. And I'm in the process of unpacking (and we all know how fun that can be, right?).

So today the kids wanted to play Wii and I decided before I let them play I wanted to check my weight on the Wii Fit...not such a good idea. When I came back home for a week in August to visit Jeff before he had to get underway I checked it and had lost almost 2 lbs. since June (not so good in 2 months, but we were on vacation!) Fast forward to today - about a month later - and I have gained 5.5 lbs! Shocking! I guess all that Starbucks wasn't so good to me (but it felt so good going down...).

So now I've got to get back to working out, and besides just using the elliptical and Wii Fit, I've got to take Roxy on more walks (rain or shine) because the vet said she needs to lose 4-5 lbs. My mom is doing Weight Watchers and is doing well with her weekly weight loss (and that's without working out) so I was contemplating signing up for that but we'll see. I'm just going to try to keep better track of my portions and not eat so much junk, and if that doesn't work then maybe I'll sign up for WW.

I'll try to keep this blog updated on my progress, but really I'm not very good at blog updates...

3 weeks and counting

We have 3 weeks until we leave to go home back to Alaska. We're seriously enjoying the families, the sun, and having some great times, but it will be nice to get back to our own house, our own routines, and definitely our own beds.

Some pictures (click to make them bigger):
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 1.Brett boogie boarding 2.Disneyland with cousins from Missouri 3.Downtown Riverside with my Dad 4.piece of the Berlin Wall at the Reagan Library 5. Central Perk (from Friends, do I really need tosay that?) at the WB studios tour 6. Girls Day Out at the American Girl Place 7.Brett at Santa Cruz Island with Grandpa for Boys Day Out



We went bowling, roller skating, to the Santa Barbara Zoo, a kids museum. The kids had a karaoke night, "So You Think You Can Dance" night, water wars (squirt guns and water balloons), backwards dinner night (dessert first, not breakfast for dinner). We've visited with friends and family we haven't seen in a while, taken family photos (hopefully I'll post them soon).

So we've had fun and there's still more fun to be had. But I do have to start getting these kids to bed earlier and waking them up earlier, or we're all gonna be in for a rude awakenning when we get home.

Hello from California!

We're enjoying the sun, the warmth & the civilization in California. We've been here almlost a week and we've had tons of fun so far with much more to come. I've taken some pictures with my camera, but all the Disneyland pictures were taken with the kids' cameras. And I haven't found the cords for them yet, so that's sad I can't share those pictures yet.


something I can't do in Alaska - stand in the surf


Hope you had a nice Independence Day!

so exhausted

I had planned on blogging about my new little workout regimen that I started today, but it's been a long afternoon/evening.

The day started out great - relaxing in the sun with friends and the dogs (I'm dogsitting 2 dogs - Maddy & Jake), a walk down to get lunch with said friends. Then the clouds started rolling in & the wind picked up, so we all went our seperate ways.

I went to the grocery store and when I came home and brought the bags in, Jake jumped the fence & took off running. How he did it I do not know, he's a corgi with little legs and the tip of his nose barely reaches the top of the fence when he's standing on his hind legs. But he did, and he did not want to come back to me. So I chased him down, finally caught him after 5 minutes of running (and I am so not a runner).

At about 8:45 I said "Come on, guys, we're taking the dogs out." Because the dogs are crazy & I either have to walk them 1 at a time or with the kids help. Ashley's friend wanted to walk Maddy (she's a husky, she does not jog, she runs!), and after telling the girls to stay near me so if the dogs pulled too much I could help them, her friend said "I have to go where the dog tells me to". And I told her that that is not right, she has to be in control of the dog, but still she ran with Maddy - even I can not do that because she will pull you down - so she let go of the leash & away Maddy runs. ETA: I would like to add that Ashley did a good job of holding onto Jake's leash (because he can pull!) while I went running down the street chasing Maddy, and she got him safely home.

*sigh* Needless to say my legs hurt, my lungs hurt & my throat hurts, all from running after & calling the dogs. Seriously I am NOT a runner. Maddy is fast asleep on the porch, and Jake & Roxy are playing (Jake does not believe in sleep I think, he only does it because the other dogs do it), and I just want to go lay down & pass out with some Tylenol PM.

Maybe I'll tell you about my workout tomorrow...

Spring Cleaning?

I have been wanting to really get my house more organized and cleaned (clutter free. we really do have so much clutter). I had hoped to do it last week since we had a garage sale on Sat., but besides getting some old and too small clothes cleaned out I didn't get much done. I made $30 at the garage sale so I call it a success (there was only a couple things I really cared about selling, the rest I was just going to donate to the Salvation Army).

Today Jeff and I got the garage all cleaned & rearranged (that happens twice a year - each time we have to change to/from snow tires on the truck LOL), so that feels nice. And then we cleaned & washed the truck so it sparkles :). Tomorrow we're probably doing the car (have to take advantage of the sunshine-y weather).

A lot of the cleaning I need to do is a few boxes of junk in the mud room/entry (and 1 or 2 from the garage), as well as several boxes in the storage unit. I think once I get that stuff cleaned out I'll be better prepared to organize the rooms. As much as I love moving and living someplace new, it's hard because you have stuff that fits in one house but then not the next, so I don't want to get rid of things because it might work again.

Question: What do you do with your kids artwork from school? the random art, not the Christmas gift stuff...
We have so much! And I know my mom kept my stuff, but when she moved she gave a lot of it to me and I threw it away, so then what was the point? Do I keep it or do I toss it?

whoops

I've been busy making baby stuffs lately - there's so many babies due this summer! I got one gift all done and then Ashley & I delivered it this afternoon (I wanted to get her stuff done first since they're moving this month) and a couple hours later I realized that in my rush to give it to her I hadn't taken any pictures of the stuff! Dangit! Anyway, it was a super soft wool (but machine washable!) hat, washcloth & bib. Maybe she'll take pictures of it & post them on her flickr (I can hope lol).

Anyway, there's more baby stuff I'm working on, but won't post it until it's been gifted (and hopefully remember to take pictures)