Busy Busy

I feel like a blog delinquent as of late because I haven't had as much time to check blogs and to blog myself. We've had some rearrangements at work which have made things a bit busier, which is actually a good thing, but an adjustment none-the-less. The weather has also been pretty nice (off and on), so we've been spending more time outside.
So here is some randomness...

Have you ever remembered something your parents told you when you were a child, that stuck with you throughout your life. Well, this is nothing profound, but I've always remembered it. I have always liked hot drinks like coffee/tea. My Mom has always been an avid tea drinker, and I grew up enjoying tea as well. When I was a teenager an espresso business started in my home town (Dutch. Bros), and I loved getting the really sweet espresso drinks like caramel mochas, or some other sugary drink. Well around that time I remember my Dad telling me that someday I would be drinking black coffee, and I thought, nah...gross! Well Dad, you were right. It's been a slow progression over the years, going from sugary coffee, to just cream in my coffee, to Americanos with cream, to just Americanos. Now for all you non coffee drinkers, and Americano is basically very strong coffee. For about the last year I've been making Americanos with a splash of 1/2 and 1/2 with our espresso machine. One day I made my regular coffee (3 shots, then hot water, and the cream) except I accidentally omitted the cream. Well when you make espresso right you get a nice layer of caramel colored crema at the top, plus when I add the hot water it creates another layer of bubbles on the top. I started drinking the coffee and thought it tasted a little different, but still thought it was good. It was only when I was half way finished with it that I could see that it was black coffee. Ever since then I've just made it black ...saves me a step in my pre-coffee grogginess!!

Cell phone adventures

My birthday is coming up, and I had hinted to DH that I would really like a new cell phone. My current one had a crack in the face, and since I have a job where I work from my computer, I thought it would be oh so handy to be able to check my email and work even when away from my desk. Of course, the thing that is getting all the rave right now is the i*phone, so I had initially mentioned my interest in that. I knew that DH had done some research on the i*phone, so I wanted to make sure that it was actually the thing I wanted. Well, to make a long story short, I found through much research that the i*phone is really cool, and great as an i*pod, but not so great as a phone and not as great with the features I was looking for. So, basically I found the best deal on a family plan (what the DH had been researching), and basically handed the paperwork to my DH for him to order :)

I got my new phone (my birthday present)...I picked the AT*T Tilt...

Initially,I spent about 2 hours working on my contact list. You connect your phone to your computer and it downloads all your contacts from your email system. Well I had a ton of duplicate contacts.....contacts I didn't even recognize, and contacts I would never need on my phone. I also discovered a whole article on things you should do to your phone to make it more user friendly.... remove unwanted "bloatware" aka...software on the phone that you don't need...like trials of games etc, software you should add to your phone in order to modify some of the settings, etc. Well, turns out in order to get rid of all the "bloatware" you have to do a hard reset of the phone which gets rid of anything you've saved to the phone :) So all my contacts that I had modified were lost.
Yesterday DH and I spent most of the day working on the phone...not because it was hard...but it was slightly technically challenging to add/remove/modify programs and software, and I'm sure we did everything the hard way because neither of us completely understood what we were doing (I'm sure DH will disagree). Anyway, today, everything is working smoothly, and I'm really enjoying the phone. Being able to receive emails while I'm out and about is just so fun. Also having the ability to check the ratings on Ama*zon before buying a book at Target will relieve a great deal of anxiety!! Last week I had to call my dear sister from Target and ask her if she could look some books up for me on Amazon because I just couldn't buy a book without knowing what it rated...or how well other people liked it. (as a side note, I'm the same with recipes...I almost exclusively use allrecipes because people rate the recipes after they make them...so I only make recipes rated 5 stars). Anyway, I can think of so many things that this phone is going to be useful for when I'm out and about.....maps/directions, movie times, amazon ratings and prices, phone numbers for restaurants, and a myriad of other things.

Yes, I am addicted to the internet. I don't know how people live without it!!

Delicious new discovery

Tonight after work I had to drag the kids and myself to the grocery store for some much needed supplies. The kids had eaten dinner while I finished working, which left me hungry....never good while grocery shopping right. So I'm perusing the health food section, and came across this cooler thing full of these TV dinners. The pictures looked much more interesting that the regular TV dinners so I took a closer look. The had the word "health" listed on the front as well as "USDA organic", which made me even more interested. So I bought a couple because the nutritional data looked pretty good, and sometimes it's just nice to have a quick meal on hand. So I get home and pop the thing in the microwave per directions, and pull it out and take the plastic cover off. Well, it definitely did NOT look like the picture, in fact it didn't look all that appetizing at all. I let it cool down a bit while I finished unloading groceries. OH.MY.GOODNESS...this thing was downright tasty, delicious....best "TV dinner" I've ever had, bar none.

They are called "Helen's Kitchen", and the flavor I had was Thai Yellow Curry. Seriously it was delicious, and not in the ..well it's okay for a TV dinner type of way. It is made with tofu, which in my book is a better way to go then frozen reheated chicken. You so cannot tell it's tofu...it just tastes yummy.
Here are the nutrition facts:
Calories: 280
Total fat: 4.8g
Sodium: 390
Total Carbs: 30
Fiber: 2gm
Sugar 1gm
Protein 12g
Vitamin A: 40%
Calcium: 30%
Vitamin C: 25%
Iron: 15%

It is a pretty small portion, but perfect size if you are aiming for 5-6 meals a day. They were only $2.99 where I bought them, and I'm seriously considering going down tomorrow to buy all of them because I've never seen them anywhere else, and this is not a grocery store I frequent regularly. I also bought a hearty bean chili with veggies and tofu, so I'll let you know if it's as good as the Thai Yellow Curry.
Also, I had 5 things on my grocery list and came out with $105 worth of groceries...how does this happen?!? :)

I'm a loser!

Drum role please......I didn't work out today. I know I know, I was all set to do it (well maybe not mentally). The problem is that I'm not terribly unhappy with my body at this point, so I'm having a hard time committing to a 90 day intense regimen. I did however have a great clean eating day, so I'm happy about that, because for me, the eating is more difficult than the working out. I put the video in early this morning and when I saw the first video is 53 minutes long, I just didn't have time to do the whole thing, so then I thought I would do it this afternoon after work, but I have a huge headache and no desire to workout whatsoever.....

I'm still undecided as to whether I will combine all my great Beachbody videos, or stick to one program like P90x.

What to do what to do....


OH, and guess what I just discovered....my beloved Steamfresh veggies...well they have a delicious Asian medley that is "specially seasoned"....so I look at the ingredients and nutritional info just for fun and guess what goodie it has in it...
wait for it............partially hydrogenated soybean oil........aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh. That's Trans fat people....in my steamed veggies. I'm so irritated!!

Tomorrow I'm serious!

So after my expected 1+ month hiatus from working out and eating right, I'm planning on getting back on track tomorrow. I will be doing P90x for 90 days to see what this body can accomplish. Really it just depends on how dedicated I can be, and how clean I can keep my diet, which is where my real struggle is.
So, I need to double check the P90x program, but I'm pretty sure it's 6 days of working out, which will be good because I plan on having 6 clean eating days followed by a free day.



I know of some other people who are starting up fresh tomorrow too, but if there is anyone else out there that needs some accountability and support in their weight loss endeavors, please let me know. I think having a support system is crucial when trying to lose weight or develop healthier eating and exercising habits.

At the beach...with SNOW

We're currently on our 4th annual Oregon coast trip with my in-laws and sister-in-law. We always stay at a house at Bella beach. We've loved every house we've stayed in.
We woke up this morning to SNOW!!!! Yesterday when we arrived it was 51 degrees and partly cloudy..pretty nice for the Oregon coast. Now we have snow that is sticking. Uh, weird!!! The fire is going and the view from the couch is lovely!!

I'm just hoping this doesn't effect my plans to go shopping at the outlet mall!!

Easter

Have you ever been given a gift you didn't deserve in any way, shape, or form? Today, as we celebrate Easter, I am reminded that I was given a gift. Actually, everyone has been given this gift, but there are those who choose not to accept it. The gift is that of eternal salvation, of redemption, forgiveness, and hope. Today, I thank my Lord and Savior for dying on the cross for my sins, and for rising again so that I could be saved. What an amazing gift!!

HE IS RISEN!!