Tuesday, May 31, 2011

First day at my new job!! And a 10K!?

Well first of all yesterday when we went to National Harbor, Brandy and I went into the Peeps store and found this shirt:


I thought it was really cute, and sent a good message.

Today was my first day at my new job!!! It was super exciting. I woke up this morning and went to the gym. I only did 1.6 miles on the elliptical, but ran a mile on the treadmill. I realized I need to get there a bit earlier in order to do 3 miles on the elliptical and a mile on the treadmill and Abs. But it was really nice to workout in the morning and then go into work. I think it helped me get through a crazy first day.

My day consisted of lots of listening. Which wad fine because I know there is a lot of stuff I need to learn. It was just a tad overwhelming. I know I will be able to pick up on it, I just need to be patient, confident and keep asking questions.*happy face*

On a completely random and unrelated note, Erik and I are going to be running the Marine Corps 10k this year! We are really excited. I really want to be able to run a half marathon, but I think a 10k is a good place to start. Sean, Brandy and Luke are also going to be running it with us!!!

Alright folks its time for bed! Gotta get up early and hit the gym! Have a great night!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Happy Memorial Day!

Hello blog friends! It is super hot outside!  We wanted to go to the pool, but well we just didn’t.  I am not ready to be in a bathing suit yet, but I think after a few gym sessions I will be ok.  Speaking of the gym, Erik and I joined Gold Gym again, yay # 64 on my 101 in 1001!


Ella has had a very very busy past couple of days, last night at Erik’s party we had 3 other dogs here playing with Ella.  This is what she is currently doing and has been doing all day:





Today at the gym I jogged on the elliptical for 30 min, 3 miles, then hopped onto the treadmill and ran for .8 miles.  I wanted to run a full mile but I was so pooped, lame excuse I know.  I have decided to go to the gym before work instead of doing P90x. I think I need more of a cardio workout, than the ones that are a part of the P90x workout.  So as of now, cardio at the gym is the way to go.  I will throw in a few P90x workouts here and there just to mix it up.  I missed the gym, I can’t wait to take a few of the classes at Gold’s!
For dinner tonight we went to a place called Ketchup at National Harbor with Hyojon.  The food was okay, I got a giant salad, and Erik got a BBQ chicken sandwich. After dinner we walked around National Harbor for a while before heading over to Top Golf for a game of mini golf.


It was a lot of fun, and I WON! I hit a hole in one on the last hole which sealed my win!  I think mini golf is a nice summer low key summer activity.

Well folks its late and I start my new job tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Happy Birthday ERIK!


Happy birthday to my hubby!  Today is the day of his party! We cannot wait to eat our yummy smelling pulled pork!

I hope everyone has a great day! I am off to get ready for the party!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Crazy storm and Pulled Pork

Hello blog friends! How is everyone doing, well I hope! We have been quite busy today, last night there was a crazy wind storm while we were sleeping and when we woke up this is what we found in our backyard:






Ella likes sticks as you can see, she was trying to help us clean up! Tomorrow is Erik’s birthday and we are having a big BBQ J.  For our BBQ we are making homemade pulled pork.  It is a recipe we got from one of Erik’s Coworkers and I hope it turns out as good as when we last tasted it.  With this particular recipe we made our own chili rub, which required us to buy dried chilies and bake them in the oven.  This is what the pork shoulder looked like after I applied the rub:




And this is what my hands looked like after the pork rub:


Haha, the rub smelled so good, I can’t wait to eat it.  We have to let it cook for 11 hours in the slow cooker, so this will require us to cook it overnight.   Tonight we are headed to Hyojon’s house for dinner and an outdoor movie.

I hope everyone has a great night!

Friday, May 27, 2011

They took my baby car :(

Hello blog friends!  Today was my last Friday off. I start my new job on Tuesday and I will be working everyday, I am ok with that :).  This morning I threw in the laundry, we had tons of it, and then took Ella for a run.  Today I did about 1.33 miles, not a great improvement from yesterday but I am still making progress. After my run  I had a 15 minute Ab Ripper X date with Tony Horton and his friends:



While Ella took a little nap:



I then had a dentist appointment, ew, and headed home to wait for the tow truck people to come pick up my baby car.  They got to our house a little after 1 *SADFACE*, and they took my car away.  This was a very bittersweet moment for me, because I know I donated it to a good cause, and someone will get use out of it, but it was my very first car.  My parents bought it for me on my 16th birthday, and my dad was so happy to give it to me, it is and always will be a very special car.  This knocks off # 24 of my 101 in 1001.




I went shopping with my mother in law for a little while to get stuff for our BBQ, then came home and did some work until Erik came home.  We left to visit our friends, who just had a baby, and held the baby and played with their other 2 boys while they ate dinner.  We were very happy we could do that for them :).

Diana invited us over for a little wine and cheese dinner:





It was supper yummy :).  I can't wait to do it again, I think it is a really nice summer-y thing to do. loooves it!  After dinner we finally watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.  I really liked it, I didn't like how it ended, but I won't discuss it here in case other people have not seen it yet.  I can't wait for part 2 to come out!

Well folks its time for me to go, I hope everyone had a great Friday night!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Last Day of Work!!!!

Hello my wonderful blog friends! This is it, today is the day, my last day at work.  There have been a lot of ups and downs with this company, but I have made some extraordinary friends.  I went to lunch with my best lady friends, Jamie, Sylwia, and Kirstie, and we had a great time.  Unfortunately Kirstie had to go back to work after lunch but Jamie and Sylwia and I went to get our nails done, and chatted a while before I had to head home.  I know I will go back up there for Jamie's kid's birthday parties, and I know we will all get together again, but it was still very sad to leave them.

Jamie is one of my very best friends, we have only know each other for a little over 2 years now, but I feel like we have known each other all our lives. She is what I call, " my sister from another mister".  In those two years we have gone through a lot together, and have truly become best friends.  Here is the card she got me, which pretty much sums up our relationship. I love this card!



hehe.  She wrote me a very sweet note on the inside of the card.  In it she said that I was the one that inspired her to change her lifestyle to a healthier one.  I think that one goes both ways.  Yes I did help her get the ball rolling and now she has lost about 30 lbs, and ran a half marathon!  I am so proud of her, she continues to inspire me to stay healthy.  Everytime I see her, or talk to her it makes me want to get outside and run.  So in a sense we both accomplished #95 of my 101 in 1001, to motivate others to live a healthier lifestyle.  In keeping with that theme, when I got home today after a craaazy couponing adventure, more on that later, I took Ella for a nice run with my new Runtone shoes!



I only ran 1.09 miles, before I stopped, but it was a start and its better than nothing.  Tomorrow I plan on going for another run with Ella.

Couponing

oh goodness, I don't know why I get so flustered when I go couponing.  I didn't take a picture of all the stuff I got this week, because when I got home I just wanted to put it all away and go running, but it was a good deal week.  I think the best deal I got was $5 for 2 spray bottles of coppertone  sunblock at CVS, which are originally $12 each. So back to my crazy story, I went over my my in-law's house and we sat and chatted for a while, before I took my mother-in-law to CVS with me.  I had asked her earlier which deodorant she uses and she said Degree, and I had told her I could get those for $1 each.  Well when we got to CVS we headed straight for the degree and pick 4 of them up.  We continued our shopping and once I dropped her off at home and headed over to Rite Aid I looked at my coupons and realized the degree deal was at Rite aid. UGH.  I got the degree at Rite Aid, ( I got 4 deodorants for $4), and went to my mother-in-law's house to pick up the cvs ones to return.  It was such a better deal because at CVS they were 4 for $10.  Anyway, I guess you had to be there to see how flustered I was, but in the end it was worth it.  Moral of this lesson is that I cannot go couponing with anyone else, I must go by myself.  I just get too excited with I go with other people, I need to stay in the zone and focus. Whew.

Tonight for dinner, we went over to my mom's house! YUMMY. No pictures sorry, but trust me when I say it was amazing.

Alright friends, I am off to bed! Tomorrow is my last Friday off, and I must make the most of it!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Outdoor Movies!

Hello blog friends! I am going to keep this one short and sweet, because we have to head over to our friend Hyojon's house soon.

Nothing really exciting happening at work lately since this is my last week.  We haven't gone couponing all week, because I had no time this weekend to get my deals together. Two more days of work, then a nice long weekend and I start my new job on Tuesday! I can't wait until tomorrow, I am going to lunch at Aka Friscos with my wonderful lady friends at work.

Today for lunch I had the usual yummy turkey sandwich, on my new bread, which I want to mention is so good!



I was going to make some Mediterranean calzones but Luke is in town for a few more hours so we are going to get Pho with him for dinner. YUM! After dinner we are going to go to Hyojon's house to watch a movie in his backyard.  I think I can count this as #63 on my list of 101 in 1001!  He has set up an outdoor theater, complete with a big screen, a projector and surround sound speakers! Woot I can't wait.

Well folks that is all I have time for today, we are off to get our Pho on!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Overnight Oats!

Hello blog friends! Last night’s House season finalie was AWESOME. Man I love that show. Right before bed last night I made this wonderful concoction:



Overnight Oats, a recipe I found from reading Colleen’s blog. When you get to the bottom of a peanut butter jar instead of getting messy trying to get the last bits of peanut butter out, make this: 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup milk, 1/3 cup water (and you can add nuts, bananas, raisins, really whatever else you want, I didn’t have anything else to add this time) and leave it in the fridge overnight and enjoy in the morning! It was really good, but very very filling. I only ate half this morning for breakfast and finished the rest of it with my lunch. Don’t worry, I did in fact finish it:



Good thing I had it too because we ran out of bread and I only had a half sandwich:


But don’t worry I went to Costco today and got more bread!

Traffic was a NIGHTMARE today, it took me two hours to get home! TWO HOURS?! really?! I just keep thinking to myself two more days, two more days! Unfortunately, my husband still has to commute that way, so I am hoping traffic starts dying down soon. I am hoping my new commute will be mostly traffic free, my mom says she doesn’t hit any traffic so that is good news!
On the Menu tonight was another Clean Eating recipe, Honey Ginger Chicken, it was not a do it again meal. It was super easy to cook, but it just didn’t have enough flavor.



The recipe was just for the chicken, and I added the veggies and noodles to make it a more complete meal. It was just an ok meal, I think it needed something else but I couldn’t really figure out what.

Well folks its time for the Glee season finale!!!!! I hope everyone has a great night!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Jimmy John’s saves the day!

Last week my friend Sundeep texted me on my drive home to inform me that the new Red Robin was open in Frederick. So we had decided to go today for lunch, so all weekend I was looking forward to a delish burger, bottomless fries, and a tower of onion rings. Well folks, the healthy food Gods had a different plan because as we walked up to RR there was a sign that said that it wouldn’t be open until Monday May 30. WHATTTT?!?! You can imagine our disappointment! After I picked my jaw up from the ground we decided we would go to Jimmy John’s, surely the giant pickle will make us happier.



And it did, just look at that pickle, YUM! Oh man thank you food Gods for making us go to Jimmy John’s. I had a beach club (Fresh baked turkey breast, provolone cheese, avocado spread, sliced cucumber, sprouts, lettuce, tomato, and mayo.


I think they went a little crazy with the sprouts but it was so good, next time I will ask them to hold the mayo to make the sandwich healthier. I am a sucker for avocados and cucumbers on my sandwich, they make it taste so crispy and fresh. I think I will buy some sprouts and cucumbers this week at Giant for my sandwiches next week.

Dinner tonight was supposed to be Honey Ginger Chicken, but neither of us were in the mood to cook so we were really really bad and went to McDonald’s. The worst part was that the food was not even good, that is what we get for being bad. We need to get back into the swing of healthier living, or this could get bad real quick.

Well folks, there are some big finalies on tv tonight so we must go watch! I can’t wait to see how this season of House ends!!

Have a great night!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Counting our Blessings!

Oh man what a crazy afternoon and evening.  First off, I was at home cleaning the house like a mad woman because I knew we had a full night ahead of us.  We had planned on visiting our friend in the hospital, so we were getting ready to go drop Ella off at my mom’s house. Erik walks in and I take one look at him and I knew something was wrong, his face was completely pale.  He said that something had fallen off of the pedestrian bridge near our house onto the hood of his car, and that if it had gone through the windshield it could have hurt him quite badly!  I was terrified, but also relieved that he was ok. 
 
I walked out to his car to see the damage, and wow, Thank you Lord for watching over Erik!



Needless to say, I was hugging him and wouldn’t let him go.  He said the more he thinks about it he realizes that it might have been something that had come off of a truck that was in front of him.  Either way, the only thing that matters is that he is safe, but I am ready for all of this construction around our house to be complete!  After he got off the phone with the insurance company, which I am happy to say was painless *happy face*, we packed up Ella’s stuff and headed over to my mom’s house. 

After dinner, we were getting ready to head out to see our friend let’s call him “Jack”, and our other friend, we will call her “Mary”,  called us and said, “So I don’t know if you guys want to head up here tonight, because Jack’s wife, (we will call her “Sally”), is in labor!.”  Oh yea I failed to mention that Sally was pregnant and due to be induced on Monday.  We decided we were going to stay at my mom’s and wait to see what was going on. 

Long story short Sally thought she was have Braxton Hicks contractions, so she wasn’t really concerned, but as it turns out, she barely made it up to the hospital bed before their baby was born. CRAZY!  I called Mary back and she said, “I can’t really talk right now, Sally just had her baby!”, WHHAATTT? Insanity! Mary later called back and asked if we could pick up Sally’s sister and bring her to the hospital.  So we did and we got to see our friends and hold the baby.  Her sister had driven Sally to the hospital, and said that if they had hit one more red light, they would have been pulled over on the side of the road having a baby.


It was a crazy night but everything turned out well, my husband is safe and a new baby was born :) 

I hope everyone had a great night :)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Target-1, Us-0

Well we talked a big game yesterday about the deals at Target but alas we lost.  I guess it wasn’t a complete loss because I did manage to save a bit of money, but the crazy coupon people had already basically cleaned out all of the good deals.  Seriously, it is getting ridiculous, is it necessary to clean out a store of all of their Neiva Body lotion?!  I think NOT. ugh! I did manage to snag a few good deals:



I got around $14 worth of stuff for $6, not too shabby, ugh but it could have been grand!  I did get a coupon related injury while at Target:

 

I don’t know what it was from, but in our frantic dashing through Target I scratched my arm on something, oh yea and it was pouring down rain when we walked out, awesome.  Target you win this round!!!

Dinner was the thing that turned my day around! Tonight on the menu was a classic and Erik’s favorite, breakfast for dinner!  mmm mmm mm we both love it so much. Erik had the waffles, and I of course had the egg sandwich!

 



Yum, I think if we could we would eat breakfast for dinner every night.

Well folks that is all for today! I hope everyone had a great night.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Watch out Target... We are coming for you!

Oh boy, Kirstie and I had wonderful success at Rite Aid and CVS today! Let’s set up the scene a bit, we had decided last night that we needed to hit up both Rite Aid and CVS today, in order to get the deals before the crazies get them all. But in order to do both in our limited 45 minute lunch break, we needed to be ON POINT with our Rite Aid deals; you see we only wanted the Neutrogena sun block from CVS, so we knew that would be quick. So last night when I got home I sat behind my computer and watched some Rite Aid videos and printed out coupons so I would be ready.

Lunchtime rolls around and we head out to Rite Aid, and we head straight to the detergent section first (after you coupon a few times you will realize which deals will sell out the quickest so you run to those first, its an art form people).  We are kneeling to look on the bottom shelf at the Finish gel packs for the dishwasher, when I don’t know how it happened but I slipped and fell over, haha, this created a slight 10 minute distraction as we couldn’t seem to stop laughing.  With tears in our eyes we grab the gel packs and head to finish up our deals, we scored big time at Rite Aid this week. 

 

I got $45.49 worth of stuff for $13.13!  Unreal! GREAT SUCCESS! Next we headed over to CVS and grabbed our bottles of sun block and headed back to the office.



Each bottle was originally around $14, they were on sale for around $11, I had a $3 off $15 health product purchase, a rare 30% my total purchase, and two $1 off coupons.  I spend $12 for both of these, AND I got $10 CVS extra care bucks back, aka I paid $2 for both sun blocks.  I know that there will be some free sun block deals coming as we move into the summer months, so I will definitely keep my eyes out for those, because you can never have too much sun screen. (Oh yes I also failed to mention that as I was walking out of CVS I ran into the door, I don’t know what is wrong with me, haha).  So tomorrow we hit up Target, and boy are there some excellent deals at target this week! Better be ready for us Target, because here we come!

On the Menu tonight was yet another clean eating recipe. 

 

Deconstructed Lasagna!  I absolutely love lasagna to begin with so when I saw this I knew I just HAD to try it. And wow it was really good. Here is the recipe:


Deconstructed Lasagna - Clean Eating

Ingredients

1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1/2 cup yellow onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 cups eggplant, unpeeled and cubed
1/4 cup carrots, peeled and diced
1 cup no-salt added tomato sauce, divided
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup spinach, chopped
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat fusilli
1 cup whole wheat elbow macaroni
1 cup part-skim ricotta
1/2 cup tomato, diced
10 fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

Directions

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute beef, onion, garlic, eggplant and carrots until meat is cooked thouroughly. about 10 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup sauce, oregano and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 5 mins. Then uncover and stir in spinach until just beginning to wilt.

Cook fusilli according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Cook macaroni. Drain and add to fusilli.

In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, tomato, basil and oil.

In a large bowl, add beef mixture, pasta, remaining sauce and mozzarella, stirring until well-combined. Then stir in ricotta mixture, until all contents are combined.

Number of Servings: 6


Well folks, it’s time to watch Glee and Raising Hope! I hope everyone has a great night!!!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Mango-licious

Yay, I am back into the swing of dinner making.  It has been a while since I tried a new recipe, mainly because I was trying to grocery shop on a very tight budget, I did really well with that budget but I couldn’t create a lot of diversity in our meals. 

I am also really excited to start my new job asap, because now that I don’t have to drive 50 miles to and from work and I don’t have to get into work before the sun rises, I can start my P90x workouts.  I plan on starting the full 90 days on May 30!  I am hoping that my hamstring will be completely healed by then, but who knows.  I also don’t know if I should try the P90x meal plan or stick with weight watchers? Any suggestions?? 

Today Kirstie and I went to cvs for our weekly couponing, and came out of it with a big FAIL sign on our foreheads.  Fail because #1 we couldn’t decide if the Neutrogena sun block was a good deal or not (which we later decided it was a good deal and are going to go back tomorrow and get them), and #2 because we walked out of there with 8 bags of M&M’s and 4 Dove XL candy bars! REALLY?! Did we really need all that candy, did I not just talk about a diet?! I have reserved the chocolate as “emergency, I am having a bad day and if I don’t get some chocolate right now I am going to explode” chocolate.  And I took some home for Erik :).  oh well, tomorrow we are going to hit up Rite Aid and back to CVS to get the sun block.


Tonight on the menu was Spicy Thai Chicken with Mango-Citrus salsa! It was very different, we loved it.  It was interesting to mix cold fruit with a baked chicken.  I found the recipe online, at cleaneatingmag.com. It was coated with oats and spices, then put in the oven.  Here is the recipe:

Spicy Thai Chicken with Mango-Citrus Salsa

Serves: 4
Hands-on time: 15 minutes.
Total time: 30 minutes. 

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup natural quick-cooking oatmeal
5 tsp lime zest, divided
2 tsp ginger, finely chopped, divided
1 tbsp unsweetened coconut, shredded
1 tbsp roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg white
16 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into 4 4-oz pieces and pounded thin with a meat mallet or bottom of a flat pan
Olive oil cooking spray
1 mango
2 navel or Valencia oranges, peeled and sectioned
2 tbsp lime juice or juice 1 lime
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup Thai or regular basil, shredded
1/8 tsp sea salt (optional)
1/8 tsp ground black pepper

 
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.  Preheat oven to 425°F. Put oatmeal, 2 tsp lime zest, 1 tsp ginger, coconut, peanuts, cayenne, oil and garlic in a food processor. Pulse 5 or 6 times until finely mixed.

2.  In a large, wide bowl, beat egg white with 1 tbsp water. Pat chicken dry with paper towel, dip in egg white and then oatmeal mixture. Place chicken on cookie sheet misted with cooking spray. Then lightly spray chicken breasts with cooking spray and bake for 7 minutes. Turn down oven to 375°F and continue cooking for 10 to 12 minutes.

3.  While chicken is cooking, peel and slice mango into 1/2-inch pieces. In large bowl, place mango, oranges, remaining 3 tsp lime zest, remaining 1 tsp ginger, lime juice, red pepper, basil, salt and black pepper. Toss well. Serve 1 chicken breast with 3/4 cup mango salsa.

Nutrients per serving (4 oz chicken and 3/4 cup salsa): Calories: 360, Total Fat: 10 g, Sat. Fat: 2.5 g, Carbs: 27 g, Fiber: 5 g, Sugars: 15 g, Protein: 39 g, Sodium: 105 mg, Cholesterol: 95 mg


Well folks that is all for today! I hope everyone had a great Monday!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

I heart Outlet Malls!

We woke up this morning and had our usual Sunday morning egg sandwich breakfast, which I will tell you this week was the most amazing one we have had!

 
 
Everything was done at the same time, so everything was warm and delish, I think we finally got our timing down to a T.  While we were cooking breakfast, I gave Ella a little ice cream treat.  She has never had one of these before, and I honestly didn’t know they existed until my friend Kirstie told me about them.



I love this picture, because her tongue is sticking out, haha it was perfect.  After we cleaned the house and Erik’s mowed the lawn, Sunny and Diana came over and we headed to Leesburg to go to the outlets! 
 

Erik wanted a pair of ZigTech shoes (shown above), and we wanted to see what they had at the Reebok outlet.  They had a pretty sweet deal, buy 1 pair get the second 50% off, or you could buy 2 pairs and get the third one for free.  We decided we didn’t need three new pairs of shoes, so we did the first deal.  I was going to get a pair of ZigTech shoes as well, but decided I wanted to try the RunTone  shoes that Reebok makes (also shown above).  They are supposed to tone key muscles in your legs, so we will see if they really work, I am excited to try them out.  It might have to wait a while, because it is supposed to rain everyday this week, ugh.  I will let you know how they work out.

We also went to Ann Taylor, and Banana Republic, and both Diana and I got a work shirt at both locations.  Oh ya we also got these sweet zip up hoodies from Under Armor, which were originally $70, we got them for $20!  Diana and I got the same white one, Erik got a blue one, and Sunny got a off white hoodie.  I call this outlet adventure a GREAT SUCCESS!  

Well its raining and our softball games are cancelled *boo*, so we are going to stay in and watch some tv! 

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Happy Birthday to the best mother in law!




Today is my mother in law’s birthday! YAY! I am so lucky to have such a great mother in law, really I am. We had our football game this afternoon, and we WON, aannnd I got to play!  I did pop my hamstring again in one of the first plays of the game, but I went back in and played.  I even caught a touchdown, I was so happy, although I could have had two, if my hamstring would have cooperated.  I have 2 weeks to rest it, so hopefully it will be 100% in June. 

After our game, we headed to Front Page in Arlington (the football league sponsor bar) for a free pitcher.  We hung around with our team for a little while before heading home to get ready for birthday dinner!  We went over to my in-law’s house where Sunny and Diana made a really yummy Korean dinner, consisting of Chop Che and Spicy Pork! YUM. 

Anya got a yummy little pastry for the birthday lady!

 
Oh man it was so fantastic, it was some sort of raspberry, cheesecakey thing.  yum yum yum.  We were going to go out with a few friends to celebrate my new job, but it started storming so we decided to stay in and watch home movies.  I love seeing Erik, Lauren, Diana, and Anya as little kids/babies.  *super happyface*.  Some of the things they did were so hilarious, I loved it.  We finished watched two of the 6 DVDs before we decided to call it a night, good times.

Well I am off to bed now, I hope everyone had a great Saturday!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Only 1 more Friday off.. eeek...




This picture was from yesterday’s lunch.  The engineering group supervisor was in town all week and he took us all out to Tendo Chinese Buffet for lunch.  First of all I would like someone to please stop me from ever going into a buffet again, seriously, as if I don’t have enough self control issues, you put an unlimited supply of yummy Chinese food in front of me and expect me to moderate?!  Well I guess there really isn’t a second of all, but you get the idea, buffets are delicious but deadly.

This morning I did all of the laundry while I studied some Java and Mandarax, for my new job.  I know I have a lot to learn and I want to do everything I can to prepare for my first day of work!  After the laundry was done, I decided to run a few errands, the first of which being grocery shopping at Giant.  I got my coupons and my list together and I headed out to the store.  Side note: if you remember we are trying to train Ella so that we can leave her outside of her crate while we are at work, well we have started to leave her out of her crate when we run quick errands, so I did that this time.  When I got back this is what I came home to:


 
I clearly did not properly Ella-proof the house, because she found the pen I left on the dinning room table while I was studying, and chewed it up on our rug!  Oh boy did she get in trouble.  I yelled at her and made her go outside while I cleaned up the pen stain.  With the stain all cleaned up, I started to make my pasta salad for our friend Hyojon’s birthday party.  I forgot to take a picture of it, it didn’t look that yummy, but it was ok, not my best work *sadface*.  I put the pasta salad in the fridge, and headed out to DSW to get myself a new pair of Sperry’s. I have had the same pair for about 4 or 5 years so it was really time to get new ones, and I had a coupon!

 

Aren’t they cute?!  I love them!  The rule in our house is, if you buy a pair of shoes you have to throw an old pair away, this was easy because I just threw away my old pair.  It works the same way with clothes, but we donate our clothes to good will, so we have a bag we put our clothes in. 

Later, after Erik got home from work, we headed over to our friend Hyojon’s house for his party!  We had a great time!  Well that is all for tonight, I hope everyday had a great Friday!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

I have been waiting a few years...

but it finally happened!! I GOT A NEW JOB! yay yay yay! And it couldn’t have come at a better time, with gas prices rising everyday, I have managed to successfully accomplish # 1 on my 101 in 1001 list. I have reduced my commute from 100 miles a day to 30!

I also want to take this time to thank all my family and friends for their support! And mostly to my amazing hubby who has supported me so much through this time, and well everyday since the day I met him. :) I love you! Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart!
This is going to be a major professional shift for me, as I go from a design engineering position to a software engineering position. I have a lot to learn, but I know I have a lot of people in my life who have the ability to help me. I can’t wait to start this adventure! Thank you again to everyone, I am truly blessed!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yay its my birthday! I have the most amazing friends and family :) I mean I already knew that but I just wanted everyone else to know too. My lady friends at work took me out to lunch today :) We went to Mimi’s, Jamie and I love that place!  I had the Turkey Pesto Ciabatta and fries:



This picture was taken after I had already eaten half of the sandwich and all of my fries.  I saved this half for Erik...maybe...if it makes it home :) For dessert we had Mimi’s famous chocolate mousse:



mmm mmm mm delish. I had to wait until I got back into the office to eat it, because we only have 45 minutes for lunch, I will leave that one alone.

Also today is the 10 year anniversary of my owning my baby car, yes I know I still haven’t donated it yet.  I just can’t let it go :(.  It will probably be one of the hardest things on my 101 in 1001 days list. *sad*

Sandwich update, this is what was left of the earlier mentioned sandwich when I got home, do not judge me!



I had a lovely dinner with my closest friends tonight! We went and got Pho, Vietnamese noodle soup, delish!  While at dinner, I received some wonderful news, I will wait until tomorrow to blog about it though, I have to keep you guessing! 

After dinner we went over to Erik’s family’s house for cake! Anya bought be a really yummy carrot cake from The Swiss Bakery, where she works:


I am not the biggest fan of carrot cake, but this cake was so good!  It was a great day/night! We will go out an celebrate this weekend again :) Here is a picture of a few things my friends got me for my birthday, I love it!:



I hope everyone had a great day!!!!!!!!!!