San Diego Vacation - Part One

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

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

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

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

Friday - June 18th

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

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

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

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

Ocean view from Prospect Avenue



La Valencia Hotel in LaJolla


My Kid and Kim's Kid




The Kid at the Cove


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







I could watch the seals all day -







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

More late.....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

4th of July Rainbow

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

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

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









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

Happy 4th of July!

Extreme Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #1

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

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

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







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

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

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

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

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

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











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

Home

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

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

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

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

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



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

Garden Glimpses

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

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

Stone Crop


Primrose


Hosta on the north side of the house


Delphinium


Delphinium close up - I love that color of blue!


A basket of flowers and cats


Pansies and Mushrooms


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


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


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


A view from the yard looking up at the deck


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

Have a good week!

More House Projects

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

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

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



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



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





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











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

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



Have a great weekend!