Friday Favorites!

For this Friday's favorites, I am choosing something that I found on a friend's blog.   I think it is such fun idea!!

Wahoo Wednesday!

It's Wahoo Wednesday again!! 

 I actually said Wahoo out loud this morning after stepping on the scale.  I'm down 5.5 LBS since Saturday!!  We started eating a bit more healthy this past Saturday & I have done a little bit of exercise here & there.  We are following the South Beach diet mostly, which was actually recommended to me by a doctor a few years ago.  They had said a higher protein & low carb food plan would be best for me.  The foods have been good & we get quite a bit, since it's a lot of vegetables & salads.  I very much enjoy the meats & cheese that I still get to eat too.  Drinking a lot of water through out the day is a bit of a challenge, because what goes in, must come out & I don't appreciate the frequency of that part LOL.

I am feeling pretty good & I am very happy about the loss.  I'm glad that it is being done in a healthy way & I know that it won't always be a large number lost on the scale, but for today it makes me say Wahoo!

Two Cents Tuesday!

Texting while driving.....Just Don't Do It!  It amazes me how many people I see driving & texting.  Just this past Friday, we were driving in prime time traffic & there was a girl texting in a car next to us.  Not only was she texting, but both hands were on her phone...not on the steering wheel, but on her phone. She was paying attention to what she was doing on her phone & not the road.  She did the typical speed up & slow down routine that most of them do as well.   This went on for a really long time.  All it would take is hitting one pot hole in the road and she could have been out of control crashing into us or any other random car near her.  People need to understand that they CAN kill someone, by texting & driving.  Can you even imagine living with the fact that you have killed someone over a silly phone conversation that could have just waited a few minutes?  If it's important, pull off the road and park.   I have heard people say how they have no problem doing it & it doesn't impair their driving etc....  I'm sorry, but I don't care how great you think you are at texting & driving, why would you even take a chance?  Is it really worth the consequences?  How about don't be so selfish & think of the others out there that could be a victim of yours someday?    That's my Two Cents!

Meal Time Monday!

This weeks Meal Time Monday dish is Salmon, asparagus, & a salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

This was our dinner this past Saturday night.  I took some salmon & placed it skin side down on some aluminum foil.  Then remembered I should spray the foil, so that the fish doesn't stick LOL.  So I sprayed the foil & then placed the salmon back down.   I made a marinade of sorts with 2 tbls olive oil, 2 tbls fresh squeezed lemon juice, about a tsp of fresh crushed garlic, 1/4 tsp of salt, & a pinch of black pepper.  I mixed all of that together and then brushed it all over the top of the salmon.  I then took some lemon slices and placed them on top of the salmon and then  I folded the tin foil over the fish closing it up.

I took some fresh asparagus spears and placed them on the same pan as the salmon.  I drizzled some olive oil on top & also put on some sea salt.  I cooked them both together on 350 for about 20 minutes.

For the salad dressing, I mixed 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar,  1/3 cup olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt, & 1/8 tsp pepper.  I put it in a container with a lid and shook it all up.  I used 2 tbls of the dressing for each salad.  The salad was just a prepackaged bag of mixed lettuce & I added on some grape tomatoes.

The salmon was delicious!!!  The asparagus was tasty, but I think I learned a lesson....I need to cut a part of the ends off, because they are very unpleasant to eat & are very chewy LOL.  Other that that the taste of the asparagus was great.   The salad dressing we didn't love at all.  It was ok, but I don't think it's something I would want to have again unless I had no other choice ROFL.

Sunday Show & Tell

This is my first Sunday show & tell post.  I thought I would post about things I have made or things that I might like to share.  Today I wanted to share a quilt that I made for one of my oldest daughter's favorite teachers.  She was her science teacher in 7th grade & left a wonderful impression on my daughter.  Because this teacher was so special to my daughter Trina, she asked me if I would make her teacher a quilt.  We decided to go with a Go Green/Conserve type theme, which is something that represented her teacher.  Here is final result of the quilt:

Saturday Snap Shots!

Last night after dinner, we drove over to La Jolla shores to take a little walk.  We went to see the seals on the beach & it was really fun to watch them.  There were quite a few baby seals & they were all so cute.  I've started carrying my camera around with me more lately & here are some snap shots that I took while we were there.

♥ My Family ♥

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!

There are 2 videos that I just love this week!  They are from a site called Today's Big Thing.  I first saw the videos posted on facebook by some friends.

1. This dog just cracks me up.   Guilty Dog

2. This one also makes me laugh & smile.  Baby

Some other favorite things this week are:

Corned beef & cabbage......YUM!  I made it for the first time yesterday & it was so delicious!

American Idol...I used to watch the show & loved it the first few years, but then it just got to be boring.  I would still watch most of the time, but I wasn't bummed if I ever missed a show.  This season I am loving it again!  I love the new judges.  I think Jennifer Lopez & Steven Tyler are a great addition to the show & I still enjoy Randy Jackson as a judge too.

 I am actually looking forward to watching it again each week.  I'm not even sure which person is my favorite to win yet, because there are so many good contestants.  My top 6 right now are (in no particular order):

Casey Abrams

James Durbin       Pia Toscano

Paul McDonald  

                                            
                                                        




Stefano Langone  
                              Scotty McCreery
                                                            



Another show I am really liking again this season is Survivor.  Just like American Idol, I had watched & really liked Survivor the first few years.  In the last couple of years I have only watched a season here & there & again if I missed a show it wasn't a big deal to me.  This Season I am really enjoying it again.

What are some of your favorite things this week?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

 "Wherever you go & whatever you do, may the luck of the Irish be there with you" 

For St. Patty's day today, I am making for the very first time some Corned Beef & Cabbage.  I have read that this isn't actually a traditional Irish meal, but I did find this about it online:

Each year, thousands of Irish Americans gather with their loved ones on St. Patrick's Day to share a "traditional" meal of corned beef and cabbage.

Though cabbage has long been an Irish food, corned beef only began to be associated with St. Patrick's Day at the turn of the century.

Irish immigrants living on New York City's lower East Side substituted corned beef for their traditional dish of Irish bacon to save money. They learned about the cheaper alternative from their Jewish neighbors.

I put my corned beef into the crock pot this morning, added in some potatoes, carrots, & instead of water I used chicken broth to cover the meat with for cooking.  I will make the cabbage right before we actually eat, since it doesn't take very long for the cabbage to cook.


A few fun facts about clovers:


According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the most leaves ever found on a clover is 14.


One estimate suggests that there are about 10,000 regular three-leaf clovers for every lucky four-leaf clover.


Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: The first leaf is for hope, the second leaf is for faith, the third leaf is for love, & the fourth leaf is for luck.

I actually found a four-leaf clover about 5 years ago in our backyard.

While I looking through my photos trying to find the four-leaf clover picture, I also came across this project my son & I made for his Kindergarten class.  It was a Leprechaun trap LOL.

Wahoo Wednesday!

This is my first Wahoo Wednesday post. For Wahoo Wednesday's, I am going to post about something fun, positive, or just something that makes me happy.

Today I am super happy about my new blog layout.  A huge thank you to my sister Jenifer, from The Perpetual Dreamer, for designing it all for me.  I absolutely love it!  I love it because it symbolizes me, my family, & even our pets.  I love all of the colors & it just gives me a happy vibe.

Meal Time Monday

Today has been a beautiful day!  Beautiful sky & fantastic weather.  Since the time changed this weekend & we have sunlight much longer, we decided to BBQ for dinner.  Tonight we had BBQ baby back ribs, french bread, & some fresh fruit.  I bought some already sliced up apples, grapes, & melons & then I also bought a pineapple & some strawberries that I sliced up to have too.  The pineapple was so sweet, juicy, & delicious!!  It felt like a wonderful summer day, minus the horrible heat that summer usually brings hahahhaa.

Corvette Diner

 

What a fun place!  We went out to eat tonight at Corvette Diner in San Diego.  It's a 50's throw-back type restaurant & the waitresses/waiters dress up in 50's attire including poodle skirts, bouffant & bee hive hair do's etc...  They had loud 50's music playing which was great to sing along to & at certain points through out the time we were there, the waitresses would come together and sing & dance to certain songs.  It was a lot of fun to clap & sing along.


It's a pretty busy place for a Saturday night & we did end up waiting for a little over an hour before being seated at a table.  The place was packed & there were tons of people outside waiting too.  They came out & gave my kids game cards to play a couple of games each in the game room they have, which was really nice!  It helped to pass a little bit of the wait time.


Our waitress was awesome!  She was super nice, fun, & great with the kids.  She used straws to make cute/fun hair designs for my girls & they thought it was great.  She also recommended for me an awesome milk shake!!  OMG it was sooooo good!  It was chocolate, banana, & peanut butter, & it was fantastic!  I couldn't stop drinking it LOL.

The menu had quite a bit of different food, but we decided to try out burgers tonight.  Well Megan actually had grilled cheese & Joshua had spaghetti with meatballs, but My husband, my oldest daughter Trina, & I all had burgers.  We all actually got the same burger LOL.  We decided to try something a little different....they have a burger called the Rory burger.  The description for the Rory Burger is: our money back guaranteed to please burger with peanut butter, bacon, lettuce & mayo (Elvis would love this one). 

Yes, Peanut butter LOL.  It was a good burger, & it was neat to try something new & different.  I don't know if I would ever order one again, but I was glad that I did try it.  The burger also came with fries & it was really a lot of food.  

It was just a really fun place to be & it was hard to not be happy & smile there.  Corvette Diner is definitely a place we would like to go to from time to time or special occasions.

Herb-Crusted Pork Loin

I am making an Herb-Crusted Pork Loin for dinner tonight.  It has become a favorite dinner for my kids & I.  I'm still not sure if my husband really likes it or not yet  LOL.   I got the recipe from watching food network on tv one day.  My kids call it cinnamon pork, because part of the rub that goes on the pork loin has cinnamon in it and you can smell it while it's cooking in the oven.  You can find the recipe here:

 www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/herb-crusted-pork-loin-recipe/index.html

I don't follow the recipe exactly.  I don't use onions ( I hate onions) & I don't use the mustard.  

Here is mine cooking in the oven:

Go Take a Hike!

That's what I have to say about hiking...go take a hike (in a sarcastic way of course).  I really hate hiking.  It's just not fun to me.  I don't mind going for a walk here and there on flat areas or paved roads etc... but hiking up hills and on uneven ground is just not my cup of tea.

 Here is why hiking is not fun to me....


I am not the most coordinated person & I end up staring at the ground as I walk.   Looking at the ground the entire time we are hiking can become boring really fast.  I miss out on all of the scenery that I am sure everyone else loves to see as they are hiking, but I'm stuck looking at the ground trying not to step on large rocks, in holes, or on the occasional dog poop that someone has let their dog leave behind with out picking up after them.  Trust me, if I am hiking and not looking at the ground you can bet I will find that one random poop out there and be the one to step right in it.


Bugs.  Don't care for them.  I really don't like taking a breath & having one fly into my mouth, hit the back of my throat and cause me to choke, let alone feeling grossed out about the fact that I just ate a bug.  The random bug that comes up and bites or stings me can also be a bit unpleasant too.


Gotta pee.  Every single time we go for a hike I have to pee about 5 minutes after we start.  So, now I have the urge to pee & have to hike thinking about the fact that I have to pee for the rest of the hike.




Yeah, Hiking.........I would much rather take a nap.