Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Wednesday Ramblings...


  • Had my another appt today. KLM is measuring over 2 and a 1/2 lbs and ahead of schedule! Looking healthy as can be! Less than three months to go now! I can't wait to meet her!

  • Still watching the hubby work on the side patio. I wish I could help but boo to chemicals! We hope to get the paint off by the weekend so he can finally stain it.

  • I talked him into buying more patio furniture. More as in we already are buying a dining set outside for the back area, now I want an outdoor living furniture. I know, I'm crazy!

  • What's my lunch for today? Honeycomb cereal in Light Vanilla Soy Milk. Paired with a gala apple and string cheese! I bet that left you just drooling over your keyboard didn't it! :P

  • Not looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow means a new quarter and a new month. It also translates to I will be swamped at work till April 9. Uggh!

  • Not sure if I mentioned it but we've been dealing with some disciplinary problems at home with the puppies, AKA accidents. On the downside, two of our rooms smell like vinegar (to help deter the dogs) but on upside, we haven't had an accident in 5 days.

  • I kinda feel guilty for not putting up any Easter decorations this year. I bought some daffodils and they are in a vase on the table but that's it. Oh well, it isn't like I'm ever home anyway.

  • So the stalker in me found out where the Biggest Loser house is. I kinda want to go snoop around there considering it's just 15 minutes from our house.

  • I got my other shower invite the other day. I'm just super excited with both of the themes, one is ladybugs, and the other is storybooks! Too cute for words!

  • The closer I get to my due date, the more I think about summer afternoons at Malibu Winery when I can finally drink again!

Project 12 - March update #4 final update

Wow, this month is already over? 25% of the year has slipped away!

  • Start Pilate classes Gone about 6 times and am going tonight. Also going to book our first one on one session for next week!

  • Keep training for upcoming 5k (March 27) Finished it and have the medal to prove it!!!

  • Do yoga once a week Been going and just LOVE LOVE LVOE my instructor!

  • Take 2-3 walks during work Keeping this up! In fact, I have a pair of tennis shoes under my desk right now for later! :)

  • Do one fun exercise a week Well, it wasn't fun but instead of doing the treadmill at the gym, I opted for the stair master. PHEW, what a workout!



  • How did you fare this month? Did you keep up the workout routine? Add new things to the mix?

    Tuesday, March 30, 2010

    If I were...

    yes, I totally stole this from Silly little Mischief!!!

    If I were a month, I’d be November.
    If I were a day of the week, I’d be Saturday.
    If I were a time of day, I’d be the afternoon.
    If I were a planet, I’d be Mars.
    If I were a sea animal, I’d be a turtle.
    If I were a direction, I’d be "turn left."
    If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a table.
    If I were a liquid, I’d be water.
    If I were a gemstone, I’d be a ruby.
    If I were a tree, I’d be an oak tree.
    If I were a tool, I’d be a drill.
    If I were a flower, I’d be a sunflower.
    If I were a kind of weather, I’d be fog.
    If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a guitar.
    If I were a color, I’d be blue.
    If I were an emotion, I’d be happy.
    If I were a fruit, I’d be an orange.
    If I were an element, I’d be earth.
    If I were a car, I’d be SUV.
    If I were a food, I’d be pizza.
    If I were a place, I’d be the Gold Coast.
    If I were a material, I’d be cotton.
    If I were a scent, I’d be strawberry.
    If I were an animal, I’d be a cat.
    If I were a facial expression, I’d be a smile.
    If I were a song, I’d be Satellite by DMB.
    If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be flip flops.

    Monday, March 29, 2010

    Baking out of my element...


    So this week I decided to try something new and am going to try to make macarons! I was reading a while on Bakerella about how she learned to make them and it seems way too easy. It's such a beautiful little delight that I figured, what they hay, I can do this too...

    Now according to the recipe I need to get the egg whites sitting out first so tonight I shall do this part. If all goes well, tomorrow I will be doing the rest and popping these bad boys into the oven and then into my tummy! This should be an interesting little project and am so happy to finally try to tackle it!

    Has there ever been a recipe or a dish you were always afraid to make?

    Photo Source

    Friday, March 26, 2010

    So what does 100 cloth wipes look like?

    Well, it looks like this fancy picture I snapped with my iphone last night!


    I'm SOOOO happy I finished this project but now it's left a void in my life. What else am I going to do to bide my time? Well this weekend I'm cleaning the garage. Yes, I know, I'm psycho. :)


    cloth

    This concludes the challenge!

    Happy Friday!!!!

    Thursday, March 25, 2010

    What am I getting myself into?

    With all the running I've done in my past, you'd think that I wouldn't be scared with the thought of signing up for a race. Well, I am. Maybe it's because I'm not sure how my body will be after KLM is born. Maybe because I haven't even jogged 10 feet since September. But here I am, ready to pull the trigger on not one, but TWO half marathons in the fall! TWO!!! Am I that crazy to think I can get in somewhat good shape to be able to finish them? You know, a year and a half ago, I did two races in two weeks. Now, the concept just blows my mind. Granted these are month apart from each other but still.

    So which two races am I thinking about torturing myself with? First is the Santa Barbara 1/2 Marathon on November 6, 2010. I guess they race the same time as the marathon does so it makes me feel better that I don't have to rush. It also makes me feel better that I can get at least one race in before my next birthday! :)


    The next race is L.A. County Half Marathon on December 12, 2010. At first I was thinking of doing Rock-n-Roll Vegas but don't think it's worth all the money and time spent. I like this since it's a bit scenic-y and the time limit is pretty easy to do. I could walk the whole thing and still finish!


    So, should I do it and throw my running shoes into the ring... even if my running shoes are sitting in the closet, collect dust? While I'm asking random questions, I have another one, why do I think signing up for these races will make me work out post KLM? Do I really need to have deadlines to do something? Okay, don't answer the last one, I can honestly say, that the answer is a resounding yes.


    Photo Sources 1 & 2

    Wednesday, March 24, 2010

    Wednesday Ramblings...


    • I have surpassed the hubby by leaps and bounds but now want to raise more money than my coworkers... I'm only 10$ away from catching up to the top gun! Please help me raise money for the Ronald McDonald House! Here's the LINK!!!

    • I have this nasty obsession with projects. I really hate things not done so this weekend I'm tackling the garage while the hubby works on the patio.

    • Speaking of the patio, there are a million paint chips all over the place. I think he's starting to get frustrated with it. Oh, and it looks like it WAS already stained red. At least we think it's stain, and not another layer of paint.

    • I'm on day 14 on continuous blogging. This is by far the most days I've blogged in a row! (weekends don't count) I think I'm going to make it a goal for myself to post Monday - Friday all month in April. If I can do this, I have to do reward myself with something. What? I'll save that for another post! :)

    • One of my friends is getting married this weekend in Hawaii! I think she is going to make such a gorgeous bride and where it's being held, it's going to be one of the most beautiful weddings too! I'm just so happy for her and her man! Congrats Kimmy!!!

    • So on top of knowing a million people (okay, 10) having little rugrats this summer, there seems to be another little wave of them being born in Sept/Oct. I have 5 more friends of mine who are pg now. Congrats to y'all!!!

    • Is it wrong I already placed my Pumpkin Carving Party on my calendar? Yes, we are still doing it this year! Might be a little more low key food wise, but decoration wise, we might go a little more big.

    • Little known fact: I eat a minimum of two oranges a day. My fruit basket on my desk at work is FILLED to the brim with them right now.

    • Anyone ever been to St. Louis? We're going in September for a mini vacation and not sure what to do there other than see a baseball game.

    • I've gotten better about reading my Google reader. I only have 120 items to read today! Okay, some I skim through! :)

    Tuesday, March 23, 2010

    requisite post to say I posted.

    Almost forgot to post today. I don't know what's gotten to me that I
    feel the need to post so often. I've been doing alot of reasearch on
    things for next month's project and can't wait to share it all with you.
    Today though I've been a bit more tired than usual. I think I'm
    still recovering from a massively chaotic weekend.

    Ok, short lame post but hey, I posted. Right?

    Sent from my iPhone

    Monday, March 22, 2010

    Project 12 - March update #3

    Let's just get down to the nitty-gritty!

  • Start Pilate classes Really enjoying this!!!

  • Keep training for upcoming 5k (March 27) Been walking more but still... scared!

  • Do yoga once a week Started Yoga last week and LOVE IT! Wish I could find another night prenatal yoga class but apparently only pregnant women don't work and they offer them just during the day. LAME!

  • Take 2-3 walks during work So happy for my friend who drags me out to do this!!!

  • Do one fun exercise a week "played" tennis. Okay we just hit balls around but that still counts, right?




  • How are you doing working up a sweat?

    Friday, March 19, 2010

    Happy Friday!!!


    Oh what a beautiful weekend do we have ahead of ourselves. We're going to spend the weekend working on the patio, finishing up the door job, shopping for clothes cause nothing feels good, laughing with family, bbqing outdoors and just enjoying the beautiful weather we are having! How are you spending your weekend? Hope you will enjoy it as much as us!

    Thursday, March 18, 2010

    Wednesday Ramblings... just a day late


    • The time change really kicked my butt. I'm trying my best to go to bed and wake up early but at the moment I'm not winning the battle.

    • I finally finished my portion of touch ups in KLM's room and the hallway. Now all that's left is the ceiling. I have a feeling I might be doing that part too.

    • I want to learn how to make a swaddle blanket. I found a site online to buy organic fabric for it. Now it's a matter of getting a hold of a pattern. Hopefully my mom can fix my sewing machine (AGAIN) so I can attempt making it.

    • I already raised my share for the Ronald McDonald Walk I signed up for. Thank you Apryl, Robyn and Frank for donating! I'm still accepting donations! :)

    • At the moment, I'm really enjoying work. I know all I do is play with data and it's utterly geeky but for some reason it's so much fun! Shhh, don't tell my boss I'm having fun at work!

    • We finally put in the garden. I have the sun burn to prove it. Now all I have to do is write about it on Learning to Sow.

    • We have the sofa people coming out to clean our new sofa. Apparently one of the puppies had an accident on it. Well, we tried to clean it but didn't work. Now it's time for the professionals to do it. Fingers crossed they do a good job and get rid of the problem.

    • I went to my first prenatal yoga class this week. Can you say killer? It was soo good that I even felt sore after! YEA!!!

    • I need to start walking more.

    • I can't wait to BBQ this weekend. I keep going back and forth what the first meal will be outside. Must be a big one since we have family coming over. Off to surf the nets for ideas!

    Wednesday, March 17, 2010

    Yet another excuse to decorate...

    So, you know us, when one project is on the verge of being done, I'm always thinking up what is next. Well, the next one is our sorry excuse for a side patio. It can be a lovely area with tons of prospect but, it's fallen to the wayside.

    What made us really want to do something in here was the floor. There is ugly "carpet" was from the previous owners. I think they were covering up their horrible paint job that was here. AND IT'S PEELING!!! UGGH! Not something I want my kids picking up and eating. They can eat dirt and bugs, just not chips. :) Anywho, we decided it was time to take care of this so are going to redo this area. We want to keep this place a casual play area, so the basketball game, bar table and stools will stay, but it just needs more. Here is our color palate we're using:



    The house is already painted, and the white accent color is actually really refreshing in this shaded area. The dark concrete color is what the hubby will be staining the floor and the dark green will be pillows or other accents. Now, planning all this, it's kinda hard to see think of what else it needs. This is what we are feeling like doing:



    Let's go over this... The white rocks on top will fill go on top of the dirt area where the shrubs come from. Chairs, because we need two chairs, some type of artwork, baskets to put outdoor toys in, small shelf unit (darker wood preferably) to put baskets and weights, side table for chairs, and maybe a outdoor plant to liven it up.

    The goal is do all the decorating and staying within 100$ budget. I think it's possible but it's going to take some work on my part. We'll reuse things we have, others I'll just have to hunt down. I'm really excited about this project. It's going to be fun!

    Tuesday, March 16, 2010

    Project 12 - March update #2

    Let's just get down to the nitty-gritty!

  • Start Pilate classes Really enjoying this!!!

  • Keep training for upcoming 5k (March 27) I haven't been to the gym in the last week... this scares me.

  • Do yoga once a week Found a great prenatal yoga class I'm going to tonight.

  • Take 2-3 walks during work Feeling much better and went on a few walks last week.

  • Do one fun exercise a week Gardening... yes, I spent 4 hours in the garden pulling weeds out. It was fun!!! :)




  • How are you doing working up a sweat?

    Monday, March 15, 2010

    Where to find deals for babies and kids...

    So, I hate spending more money then we should and when we can find a good deal, I'm just all over it. I decided to compile a list of sites that are great for finding steals on great quality kids stuff from bedding to diapers.

    BTrendie - It's like Gilt Groupe for little ones! You also get 10$ credit when you sign up!!!

    ZuLily AMAZING DEALS!!! Must sign up just to check it out!

    Mama Bargains It's like Woot but with better stuff! Once something sells out, another item will go on sale!

    Baby Steals One deal, One day!

    Diapers.com Out of ALL the places I looked, this place had the best diapers prices and the selection is INCOMPARABLE to any other store or site I've seen! On your first purchase, you can get 10$ by using this referral code: LMP2010. Shipping only takes two days and if you spend more than 50, it's free! LOVE IT! I love it so much that I even did one of my registries here! :)

    These are just a few of my favorite websites to go surf and find bargains... what's yours?

    Friday, March 12, 2010

    The weekend breakdown...

    Now I couldn't just not post today... I mean come on, I posted 4 days straight and if I didn't post today it'd be like eating a Almond Joy, without eating the almond (wait... wouldn't that be like eating Mounds instead?). Anyhow, we have another busy weekend ahead of us. It's filled with a house warming party for one of the hubby's old friends (and groomsman), paint, decluttering another closet, lots of dirt, seeds, flowers, seeing the hubby's parents, shopping, cooking, massages, and last but definitely not least, mornings without the alarm. If that isn't heaven, I don't know what is!!!

    How are you spending your weekend? Hopefully doing lots of fun stuff and getting into trouble!

    Now to leave you to your weekend, here is one of my favorite songs at the moment.

    Thursday, March 11, 2010

    25 Weeks down, 15 more to go ...

    ...give or take some days. :)

    I've noticed I never really talked about how this pregnancy is going. I think when we found out we were so strict on who we told, we didn't even tell my siblings until 12 weeks. Everything seemed to good to be true and just didn't want the other shoe to drop. It was easy to hide the first trimester. I never got sick (aside from the toothbrush incident) and while I did get tired a lot that was it. I lucked out. The second trimester I got my energy back and while some things were hard to do, I still pushed through them. But now I'm getting close to the third, I've realized that I have to start sitting back and letting others lift that box, or put away the groceries. My belly is FINALLY looking like a little baby belly, not just a week long beer binge. So I think it's finally time to make a list of things why I love being pregnant.

    1. Apparently I'm glowing. Just last week, I had 8 people (EIGHT!!!) people tell me I have the most amazing glowing skin. Two of which were asking if I switched skin cream and had no clue I was pregnant.

    2. I've never been a fan of close fitting clothing but now, all I want (when I leave the house that is) is to wear something that fits nicely around my body to show off my little bump.

    3. You know that wive's tale of carrying high for a girl? Well, it isn't true in my case, KLM is very low...to the point I know in about a month I'm going to get something to help carry her.

    4. I only had one moment of a true craving. It was 7pm and the hubby was out of town and I was in DIRE NEED of a Hersey bar. I got my Hersey bar the next day and to be honest, I can't remember if I even opened it or just ate the whole thing, wrapper and all. (My guess is that I tore into that sucker and the wrapper just fell to the way side)

    5. My theory is that since I didn't morning sickness I'm paying the price with ligament pain. No one ever tells you how BAD it hurts.

    6. I can't even begin to tell you the impact KLM has already had on our families. Just on the hubby's side, she's really lightened up the room and brought us into a new time of happiness.

    7. We have an album full of photos of KLM. She's not even born and we have TONS of ultrasound photos.

    8. I love when the puppies rest their head on the belly, I wonder if they are listening to her swish around in there.

    9. When she moves, she makes me smile, and nowadays I'm smiling all day long.

    10. My favorite thing is nighttime when we get ready for bed and the hubby talks to his little daughter. When she hears his voice, she starts moving and kicking for him so he knows she's listening. If this was the only thing on my list, I'd still be the happiest person in the world.

    Wednesday, March 10, 2010

    Wednesday Ramblings

  • I'm OVER 50% complete with my little wipes. I totally took a week break and forgot about them.

  • I found out last weekend it is getting harder to swing a golf club past a little belly, I think I need to watch some beer bellied men and see how they do it.

  • Everyone is telling me I'm nesting because I'm cleaning or doing house projects, I don't think they truly know me because I am always this way, regardless if there is a little soccer player practicing inside me.

  • Speaking of cleaning, is it normal to feel relieved when you clean out closet or drawer space? Like a weight of bricks were lifted off your shoulders?

  • I'm so looking forward to the weekend because I can finally garden!!!

  • Reminds me I need to weed...or more like, boss the hubby around to weed.

  • I have yet to go to Coffee Bean all Lent. So far, I think I've saved myself 21$. Need to find a random charity to donate my CB money to after Easter.

  • Finally did my glucose test today... no one ever told me it was going to kick my butt! I'm soo tired! Drinking decaf coffee and ate a bagel to celebrate it was over. Probably not the healthiest of things but hey, i'm allowed to have one off morning while pregnant.!

  • Have you noticed I blogged 3 days this week? I wonder if this is a record for me. :P

  • I really want to take a cake decorating class in April but afraid I might get too flustered and toss my cake across the room. You think I might be able to handle a 4 week class without pulling my hair out cause I can't make a rose?
  • Tuesday, March 9, 2010

    The case of the ever-changing hallway

    In the middle of all the changes going on in our lives, we decided to throw another ball in the air. This weekend we did some work on the house, adding a door to the garage from our media room (will post later about that), but also finally changing our hallway color.

    When we bought the house, every room was painted a different color. Some okay, others, just too loud for our tastes. After two + years in the house, we are finally kicking out those colors. Case in point: our hallway. This before photo doesn't even do it justice how BRIGHT this burnt orange it really was. When the lights were out and doors were closed, it was like a cave in there. So dark. Now, I don't mind dark, but seriously... this was DARK! So, a week while on our date night we decided to mozy over to the paint supply store and picked up this lovely lighter orange tone... or at least we thought it was. The next day, armed with tape and paint brushes we took over the hallway and painted it. The next day we woke up to a PINK/MAUVE hallway. Ummm... no. After three days of deliberating to see if we liked it, we realized we were just trying to like to cause we didn't want to paint anymore. Well, this weekend, my loving family came over and helped us repaint it. During this repainting time, we figured out a way to totally screw up how to primer something and had to wipe it off... Hense in the before photo all the mess on the orange walls.
    Before


    We color we ended with was a creme tone. OMG... did I LOVE IT!!!! We added some little art pieces to it liven it all up and just totally pleased with the outcome. (Yes, that's our little werewolf Ringo... I think he just woke up.)

    After


    OH DROOL!!! I love finished areas!!!

    Monday, March 8, 2010

    Project 12 - March update #1

    Let's just get down to the nitty-gritty!

  • Start Pilate classes Started last week, already had 3 classes! LOVE IT!

  • Keep training for upcoming 5k (March 27) So far only walked 1.65 miles but going to the gym tonight

  • Do yoga once a week Will do it tonight... promise!

  • Take 2-3 walks during work Last week I was suffering for major ligament pain. I think KLM was going through a growth spurt. Finally feeling better

  • Do one fun exercise a week hit golf balls yesterday.




  • How are you doing working up a sweat?

    Friday, March 5, 2010

    You make me smile Mr. Simon!

    One of my fondest memories growing up was being in the car with my mom. Just me and her. Coming from a big family, this wasn't an easy feat to get some alone time with her. One of "our things" was singing in the car. She always had 60's tapes and even a few other random ones we'd go through rotation but there was one tape in particular that I always gravitated to, that was Graceland by Paul Simon.

    Paul Simon had this voice you'd find on Sesame Street dancing around with all the muppets. Not one of the songs on that beloved tape was a bad one. Within a month, I memorized them all and could sing along with the best of them. I think what capivated me the most was how he intertwined this folk sound with an African sound. It made me happy, even to this day, I hear that album and I fall back to that 8 year old, bopping my head and smiling from ear to ear.

    So where did this all come from? My last.FM channel of course! It really is the highlight of my day when he comes into rotation. Now because I can't place every song on this post I love (it'd be the entire album) I will just place one. Enjoy!



    Happy Friday!!!

    Thursday, March 4, 2010

    The adventures of Pilates... while pregnant

    Let's talk about this thing called Pilates. I heard a while ago that Pilates is suppose to be great for you, regardless of your uterine status. :) I've done mat Pilates at the gym but was always intrigued by the all machine that looked like torture devices. Last week the hubby saw an ad in our weekly local newspaper about some special at one of studios in our area. When we walked in the employees were just beyond kind and gave us the run down on it all. Now, I'm one of those people who if you are nice to, chances are I will buy what you are selling (at a reasonable rate of course). It was an easy sell and before I knew it my credit card was on the table and I was signing my life away for 2 years. Yes, 2 years.

    Fast forward to our evaluation. Basically it was a orientation to the machines and to try to sell you on one on one instructions (something I knew I would do anyway since I'll need all the help trying to bend around this little bump of mine). Nice and easy and got permission to start taking intro classes. Yea! (I did wonder what if I didn't get the go ahead to take the intro class, what can they do? Is there something more remedial than intro?) The next day we took our first class and well, can I say how FUN are the MACHINES! Only me could find the joy in torture machines. The class was only 30 minutes and there were only 3 of us in there with the instructor. He was so nice and helpful, making sure I didn't overdo it or squish KLM. I think the best part was watching the hubby struggle to get in some the positions while I just jumped straight into them without any issue. Yea for being bendy! :) Time flew and our 30 minutes were up and back home we went. If this is what Pilates is all about, I'm just all over this!

    How often will I be going? Twice a week right now. I'm going to try my best to just enjoy this until I can no longer see my feet, and they I'm going, I have till May.

    Have you tried Pilates? If so, did you like it?

    Monday, March 1, 2010

    Project 12 - March

    Happy March! Can you believe we are already into the third month of this year?

    This month I thought it would be good to just focus on getting our hearts pumping and break a little sweat. Everyone's goals are different but in the end, we all just want to feel healthy. These are my goals for this month:

  • Start Pilate classes more on this later

  • Keep training for upcoming 5k (March 27) Want to walk 45 miles this month

  • Do yoga once a week

  • Take 2-3 walks during work

  • Do one fun exercise a week could be hitting golf balls, tennis, hitting the punching bag...etc


  • There you have it, my new goals for Project 12. I know they aren't as huge as I used to put infront of me but I'm finally being realistic, maybe it's knowing I just won't do a million miles in a month, or that I'm almost 6 months pregnant! :)

    What are your goals for this month?