It Takes A Vaca-Village....

Where did January Go?!?!

2012-02-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

::Looks around::

Wow. January flew by. I can't believe it's already February. So many wonderful things happening this month, starting with Super Bowl Sunday this weekend. I'm also looking forward to visit from my best friend, the lovely Amanda, whom I miss like whoa! And February birthdays! My tiny man turns 3 (whatttttttt?) on the 22nd, and my beautiful baby sis Nikki turns 25 (even bigger whattttttt) on the 23rd. All in all, it's going to be awesome, and I can't wait to see my loved ones and celebrate awesome occasions :)

I broke down this week and tried the quinoa that I picked up at Trader Joes. I'll be honest, it scared me a little. But everyone and their mom (including my mom) sings the praises of quinoa, so I decided I'd give it a shot. I cooked in in chicken broth, seasoned it with a tiny bit of salt, pepper, and garlic. I added black beans, cooked chicken breast, and a teeny bit of light sour cream and shredded part skim mozerella. Tasted like a yummy burrito bowl, and was packed with fiber and protein. And I was able to stretch it for like four meals. Good thing it was so tasty! I will definitely do the quinoa thing again. I've seen some other recipes with it that I'd like to try.

Things I accomplished in January:
-Lost 8.5 lbs (!)
-Cooked dinner *almost* every night... the times we ate out were completely planned, and I chose healthy options. As such- I have not had french fries, cheese fries, chicken nuggets, or Sausage McMuffins in over a month. And you know what? I don't miss it that much. :) I set a goal for no fast food in February... we'll see how that goes :)
-Drank enough water every day.
-Tried at least 1 new recipe every week. This was super fun, and I plan to continue this thanks to the awesomeness that is Pinterst.
-Worked out at least 3x a week. I <3 Zumba, both the class and the XBox game.
-Jack is potty trained. This was a group effort, but I feel accomplished. And relieved!

So here's to surviving the first month of the year! And here's to February being even better!
Cheers, ya'll :)

Adventures in my kitchen...

2012-01-21T00:13:00.000-08:00

2 posts in 1 week... wow! Go me!

One of my goals for 2012 was to try one new recipe a week. So far, Pinterest (one of my new obsessions) has made this possible. A few hits, a few misses (sweet potato fries tasted good, but I completely botched texture wise). But there is 1 dish that I absolutely have to rave about.

Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole. Recipe here.

I cannot say enough good things about the EmilyBites website, first of all. I've made a few of the recipes, and so many more or on my to-make list. But this just jumped out at me. It looked SO good. And can easily be tweaked to include more (olives, veggies, jalapenos, etc) ingredients. Or you can omit the beans if you're like my bro-in-law and deathly allergic. Or perhaps try different meat. I went with the recipe as written, and served with sour cream.

I put the whole casserole together the night before, the most time spent was browning the ground turkey. Such an easy (and pretty healthy) meal, and one that we devoured like it was going out of style. I highly highly recommend. It will be making a regular appearance on my menu rotation.

2012 is shaping up nicely :)

2012-01-19T21:02:00.000-08:00

The first two concerts of 2012 are a few days behind me now, and let's be honest: I'm already having withdrawals. They were the perfect way to start the year! Two nights of awesome music and good friends. Can't ask for much more than that!

Sunday night was night number one for us! We traversed to Great American Music Hall in San Francisco with my sister, and met our friends Melanie and Raymond for the show. Super excited to see some of our concert friends, Megan, Kayla, and Kevin. And of course, we were excited to talk to Ryan, Dallin, and Serena too! Since the line was forever long to get in, we couldn't get up front, which was fine since in that venue, the sound isn't very good in the very front. We were happy where we were, and the sound quality was good too.

Rachel Platten opened the show, and she won me over in about two seconds flat. She is ADORABLE. She has a wonderful voice and plays the piano beautifully. And she beatboxes. Her drummer is awesome too! She played my favorite of her songs, "53 Steps," and in one of my favorite moments of the night, covered "Gin and Juice." Yes, that "Gin and Juice." It was amazing. She is an absolute sweetheart, as well, and Chris and I loved meeting her. She exudes happiness and positivity. I love it.

Then it was time for Ryan Star!!! I had been looking forward to this show since the day after the cruise ended. As soon as "Brand New Day" started, it felt like everything in my little world was perfect. "Last Train Home" was gorgeous. Ryan was in fine form, bantering with the audience, making fun of Rachel (all in good fun of course!) and sounding phenomenal. I love love love the passion when he sings, how much of himself he puts into his songs. It gives me chills. He recently put out The America EP, which consists of four songs. Three original songs, and a cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down." In my (very humble) opinion, this is some of his best work. "Somebody's Son" and "Orphans" are ridiculously awesome. "Orphans" is going to be AMAZING live. Unfortunately, we didn't get to hear any of these songs either night, but as both Ryan and Dallin said, these songs need a full band to sound the way they're supposed to. We did hear one new song, "Stay Awhile." I love this song. I need him to record his album so I can have this song to listen to all the time.

Dallin sounded (and looked) beautiful, as usual. Would never expect anything less than greatness from her. She is insanely talented, and it's always wonderful to see her. Hope that one day we get to see her do her solo stuff, or her work with Dan Tirer, out here. She plays in New York, but as much as I'd like to go, it's a little far for a date night :)

Andy Grammer was... happy. Like seriously. The guy did not stop smiling for a single second. His music was upbeat too. I'm not really familiar with his music, other than "Keep Your Head Up," because every single radio station I know of plays it constantly. Hard to miss! But I had a good time. He was entertaining, and the crowd adored him. Good stuff! Chris and Nikki and I stayed at the venue pretty much until we got politely nudged out, talking to friends and having fun. We made it home late, but it was worth it!

*****

Monday was night number two! Since Nikki deserted Cali for her home in the land of snow (which actually had snow when she drove home, thank God she's safe!), she was not able to come to the show at Harlow's with us. But Melanie came, and brought her friend Rachel. We were sneaky, and bought Andy Grammer fan club presale tickets, so we got early entry with meet and greet! We heard (and watched through the window) Ryan's soundcheck from the line outside, which just made me more excited for the show. As much as I love this venue, there was some disorganization, but we finally made it in, did our m&g, and planted ourselves firmly front and center. Good choice. Rachel was amazing and Ryan was on fire. We were so happy to get to see Rachel again, and be able to sing along much more tonight, from the front. Good stuff. We bought her album, and are looking forward to more people hearing about her. People need to hear her music. I want to see this girl go places!

Ryan played almost the same set as the previous night, minus "Right Now" with the addition of "Take A Ride." And I got hear "Stay Awhile" again, with the mashup of "Don't Stop Believing" (which he also did in SF). There was a tambourine-off somewhere in there too, with two girls vying for the tambourine queen title. And a cover of "Rolling In The Deep" which was pretty awesome as well. After Ryan's set was over, we moved back so some Andy Grammer fans could have our prime real estate.

Again, we hung out in the venue until the bitter end. And when the bitter end came, we moved to the bar next door. It was sad to say goodbye when we don't know when Ryan will be out this way again. But it was SO good to see him and Dallin and Serena. All we can do is hope that our paths cross again soon. It was a great couple of days, and Chris and I were so happy that we got to be at both NorCal stops.

Next up: ...nothing music wise. Jack will be three next month (wait, what?!?!), "Hunger Games" comes out in March, and we're going to Colorado in May. Yay!

yeah... so I failed at concert blogging

2012-01-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

I just couldn't keep up!!
Went to lots of amazing shows post cruise 2011... I couldn't review them all. There was no way. There are definitely shows that are being left out, but these were the highlights :)

U2: June 2011, O.Co Coliseum, Oakland, CA
I could stop here. The fact that I went to U2 fulfilled a bucket list item. U2 recorded is incredible, but U2 live is beyond what I could have imagined. Even with the drama to get there (Bono causes traffic jams, my 1.25 hour drive ended up being 4.5 hours) it was easily the best rock show I've ever seen. The stage, the crowd, the energy, the music... it all melded together into sheer awesomeness. The highlight of the night for me was hearing "Where The Streets Have No Name." Best song I have ever heard live. I was compelled to just throw my arms up and close my eyes and let the music consume me. And it definitely wasn't just me- I saw the same look on a lot of people!! Also, 70,000+ people singing "With Or Without You" is something I will NEVER forget. It was the show of a lifetime, and I am SO glad I went.

Jimmy Eat World: September 26, 2011, The Fillmore, San Francisco CA
Bleed American from beginning to end. One of the best crowds I've ever been a part of. What a night. We took my cousin Sofia, since she has awesome musical taste for a teenager, and she was the youngest one there! But she held her own, and was singing as loud as the rest of us! Let me tell you- hearing "Hear You Me" live was a super emotional experience. I called Nikki and held the phone up so she could share in it with me. I was a sobbing mess. It was perfect. Hearing "Sweetness" and "If You Don't, Don't" was also awesome. Oh college, how I miss thee. Especially driving around with Manda listening to music like this and Yellowcard, etc (and the Fiddler On The Roof Soundtrack....). I'm so happy we got to see this particular show, and hear all of one of my favorite records!

Yellowcard: October 2011, Slims, San Francisco CA
After a 5 year hiatus (and 8 years since I last saw them live), YC is BACK with a vengeance. Chris had never seen them live, and I promised him it would be awesome. So we went to Slims, where I saw YC years ago with Amanda, and had such an amazing time. Their new stuff is cool, but hearing the old stuff, from Ocean Avenue and before, that was the best. I love love love hearing "Believe" live. And "Ocean Avenue" and "Breathing" and "Only One" and...and...and... yeah. I love YC. They played "October Nights" and I swear my face hurt from the smile I had. Sean Mackin is ridiculous, in the best possible way. Watching him play violin is a treat, and getting to hang after the show was so fun! We had a blast.

Switchfoot: October 2011, The Warfield, San Francisco CA
The night after YC, Chris and I found ourselves back in the City By The Bay for another night of rock music. My favorite band, Switchfoot, was playing The Warfield. No brainer, we were there. But we were lucky enough to get to bring a couple of new friends with us, who love SF and had never seen them live! Jessica and Cindy are AWESOME girls and I had such fun getting to know them on the way to the city. All 4 of us rocked out! My favorite moment of the night was "Where I Belong." That song gives me chills. It's my favorite song on Vice Verses! After the show, we headed for the buses. I was determined to see my boys, and for Jessica & Cindy to get to meet them for the first time. Success. The looks on their faces made the whole night worth it. I probably looked the same way the first time I met Jon Foreman! :) We took pictures and such, and headed back to Vacaville, a happy group indeed. Dear Switchfoot: If you keep making music, I'll keep buying it, spreading the word, and going to your shows. Deal? Love, Sandi.

David Cook & Gavin DeGraw (with Carolina Liar) - October 20 & 21
Went to 2 nights of "This Loud Tour" : One night with Chris, in Santa Rosa, and one night in Reno, with Ki and Mel. I'm crazy. It was 48 crazy hours. Mel watched J so Chris and I could go Thursday night. Chris had never seen Dave, neither of us had ever seen Gavin. Show was really fun! Went to work at 8am, worked for a half day on Friday, hopped in the car with Mel, drove to Reno, met up with Nikki, saw the show again!! I had much better seats in Reno, and we had a fun girls night! Did the meet and greet after the Reno show, got cute pictures with cute rock stars, and Mel and I drove home, arriving sometime in the 3am hour. Then I got up and was at work by 8. Again, I'm crazy. I don't think I could survive that again, let's be honest. But it was SO worth it.

Foo Fighters: November 2011, Power Balance Pavilion, Sacramento CA
This was a rock show. No other way to describe it. One of the opening bands, Mariachi El Bronx, confused me, but entertained me too. Cage The Elephant was pure fun. Loved it. And Foo... man oh man. Dave Grohl is a machine. They played for 2 HOURS AND 45 MINUTES. True story. With a mini acoustic set in the middle, that included "Best of You" and "Wheels". Got to hear "My Hero" and "Learn to Fly"! And my favorite, "Everlong." This was another dream-come-true show, for both Chris and I, so we're happy we got to go!

And so it goes. 2012 is here, and while we don't have a cruise to look forward to, we are building the framework for a few really fun vacations. One to Colorado, in May, to see our best friends, and one to Washington in August for my cousin's wedding.

And of course, a rock show or two along the way....

Our first rock show of the year is coming up fast... only a few more weeks!! 2 nights of one of our favorite artists... Ryan Star, we're coming for you! Be ready.

Until next time :)

Spring Cleaning and such...

2011-06-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

We've done a bit more around the house, which is always fun. We've owned our home for nearly a year now... I can't even believe it! Since we bought the house, we've been improving/decorating it little by little. This round, it was Jack's room that got the makeover!

When we moved in, his room still looked like a baby room, complete with rocking chair and crib. When he turned two, we exchanged the rocker for a little toy kitchen, and now, we've exchanged the crib for the most adorable little toddler bed (courtesy of Auntie Nikki and Uncle Aaron). We did some rearranging of furniture and toys, and now, his room looks like a little boy's room. We're keeping the pirate theme (because how could I not...). He also acquired a TV and DVD player. Chris found a Mickey Mouse TV at a garage sale for $10. It's super cute, small, and he can now watch movies in his room. He no longer has toys in the living room, they all fit in his room! Can we say Hallelujah? He knows that he can play with them in the living room, but they all get put away at night! Thanks to Etsy, I found a wall decal of a pirate ship to put on the wall above his bed. I have a few more things I want to do in his room, but the bulk of it is DONE for a long time!

The bookshelf in my room is now in Jack's room, to house his ever-growing book collection (the kid is mine!) and his TV. As such, the number of books in my room is drastically reduced. I took the little cabinet we had as an end table in the living room and put it in my room, I also rescued the microwave cart from the garage and it's in my room too! The wood matches the wood in my room, and it just looks like shelving, not like misplaced kitchen furniture.

Our living room is now home to 2 new chairs, thanks to a trip to IKEA. Our chair is SO comfy, and they had a kid sized version, so away went the perpetually stained blue gingham mini recliner! As cute as it was, keeping it clean was a joke. The new chair has machine washable upholstery, perfect for a family with a rambunctious two year old with a fondness for grape juice.

We've talked a bit about future projects we'd like to accomplish, large and small. We want to do some work on our front yard. I would love a little herb garden. We want to put stepping stones between the front and back yards, and possibly a small gate. We have some major weeding and pruning to do too. We want to get to the point where this summer, we're spending time entertaining outdoors. We have great space outside, it would be nice to use it! When we go over to visit our friends Jon and Tim, we spend all of our time outside, grilling and eating. I love it. It screams summer.

Eventually, we'd like to do something with our backyard too, but what we will do remains a mystery. I love the fruit trees back there, so those stay. Chris keeps mentioning a hot tub, but I'm not convinced that the increased utility costs and maintenance costs are worth it. I guess we shall see!

In other news, our next trip that's in the works is a trip to Disneyland in November. It's time for Jack to observe this VERY IMPORTANT rite of passage for his mommy's side of the family. I'm so excited I can barely stand it!

And now off to work on dinner. Have a lovely day everyone!

BCE: Our Epic Adventure.

2011-05-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

So… this is the blog I’ve been dying to write since October, since we booked our cabin on VH1’s Best Cruise Ever… the recap. This will go down as being the best vacation of my life so far. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. At. All.

Seriously though. For those of you who know Chris and me, you know that combining a cruise with concerts is pretty much the best thing you can do vacation wise. We are concert people. We are that couple among our friends, the ones who go to more shows than people understand. So the day that Ryan Star announced he was performing on the cruise, we booked. Not that Ryan was the only good act on the cruise, not by a longshot. Lifehouse, The Script, Train, Mat Kearney…there were lots of great acts on board that we loved. We decided to familiarize ourselves with the other bands after we booked, and I must say, I fell head over heels in love with The Daylights when I bought their album in November. We were lucky enough to catch them a few times before the cruise, which was pretty fantastic. Needless to say, there was not going to be a shortage of good music for us onboard. Now all we needed was for April to hurry up and get here.

For clarification purposes: I was with my husband Chris, my sister Nikki (who I call Ki) and her best friend Noelle (who I’ve known since she was like 4). I did not personally know anyone else going, but we sure as heck made a lot of friends onboard thanks to the Facebook group, and the other diehard RStar fans who we met that first night.

Some of this is taken directly from my journals, for better or worse. Some of it is what I recalled later on. All photos were taken by me or Chris, save for a few I stole from my sister. Those are noted.

Also, we caught snippets of a lot of shows that I didn't mention here, such as Deck of Jack, Yacht Rock Review, Ben Rector, and Crowfield. I just didn't feel like I saw enough to really form an opinion. We also managed to miss Alpha Rev and OneEskimo due to scheduling conflicts. No disrespect to these bands at all. I heard amazing things about all of them! I did hear part of the U2 cover night, which I'm pretty sure was Yacht Rock Revue, and that was pretty awesome.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011 (written on Thursday, April 28)

We made it to Tampa alive. Planes still amaze me. How I can wake up on one coast, and in a few hours, be completely on the other side of the country. Florida looked really pretty from the sky, like people built houses and bridges over a series of puddles. Then we got off the plane, and I remembered that Florida has this little thing called humidity…

We met up with Noelle and Ki, once her plane finally landed after a short delay. There was a pretty cool mall nearby, with food, and stores I can’t afford. Seriously… Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Coach, etc. It reminded me a bit of my favorite mall, the Spectrum in Irvine. Without the pet store and puppies. Anyway, we saw celebrity chef Robert Irvine at Cheesecake Factory. Chris went and said hi to him, and apparently he was very nice. I opted against it because I’ve seen how mean he can be on TV :) We hung in the hotel pool, then Chris and I decided to turn on SportsCenter and chill for a bit. I completely passed out. Waking up at 3am is not my favorite.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

IHOP began the day… then Chris and I hiked a mile to get soda to take with us. We repacked our suitcases, jumped on our shuttle, and got to the Port. My excitement level was off the freaking charts at this point. I’m pretty sure I had perma-smile for the rest of the day. We got through security (rum and all) and were shepherded to a little waiting area waiting for our zone to be called. I was antsy. But luckily, we didn’t wait long. Before I knew what was happening, we were at a table on the Lido deck, getting ready to grab lunch. And so it begins. Within 20 minutes of boarding, we get Jason Wade sighting #1. The man is EVERYWHERE, I found out. I think he probably has clones all over the place. But it was a great reminder of exactly where I was. I ordered a drink pretty much immediately. It was tropical and tasty!

As soon as the rooms were ready, we ran down to put away our carry-ons. Our luggage hadn’t arrived yet, but Sixthman left us some pretty sweet little gifts in our room. More reminders of where we were. The TVs in our room played a VH1 loop with artists from the cruise too! In addition to the Carnival channel, the Lido deck cam, and a few CNN channels. We ran into Svend and Ran from The Daylights on our floor, we were so looking forward to their show later that night! We met up with Ki and Noelle back on the Lido deck, and I walked into heaven. Lifehouse was soundchecking “Take Me Away.” They played the entire song a few times, I got up to Lido just before the last time. I’m pretty sure my jaw was somewhere on the ground… I love everything about that song. And I’ve never heard it live until today. And it was everything I hoped for.

Somewhere in the middle of Lido deck madness, we ran into Ryan. Hugs were exchanged, we did some minor catching up, and I got to show him my tattoo. Then I held my leg up very awkwardly while he gleefully took a picture of it with his phone. I then informed him that since I got the tattoo, he damn well better since the song [The song is 11:59. I have “11:59” tattooed on the inside of my left leg, just above my ankle]. We made plans to hang later.

Lifehouse played the first show of the cruise, on Lido, as we left Tampa. It was a great show. Got to hear some of my fave songs from Stanley Climbfall (besides “Take Me Away”) like “Spin” and “Wash.” Also continued drinking, so my buzz was pretty decent at this point.

Jason kicks off the Cruise!

Ki and Noelle enjoying some drinks

The girls: Nikki, Noelle, and me

My hubby and I

We decided to go to formal dining. Yeah… it took so long that we actually left before the entrees arrived to make it to Ryan’s show at the Promenade stage, which I absolutely was NOT missing. We got there in time! We met a guy named Zach who saw Chris' A's shirt, and struck up a conversation with us. He's from Oakland originally! We had a great time getting to know him over the course of the cruise, as we kept seeing him everywhere. Hopefully we'll cross paths with him again, he was awesome! The show started soon after we arrived, and I was in my happy place. It was a weird lighting situation photo wise, with the room itself being dark, but having huge, bright windows behind Ryan and Dallin… but the pictures came out. The show was great! Chris even ended up onstage playing tambourine! After the show, hung out to talk to Ryan. Talked to Dallin in the meantime, it was so good to see her again. I love her. Talked to Ryan for a bit, and he and Chris did a shot together.

The one and only Ryan Star

An abundance of good looking men on stage! Chris' rock star debut.

Dallin, in silhouette.

We ran back down to our room, decorated our door, then headed to the Atrium to see my boys in The Daylights.

Our door. It was awesome.

The Atrium is a strange venue. It’s multilevel, the bottom floor being the Empress deck, the 7^th floor. The stage is actually on the 8^th floor on this tiny little landing between the glass elevators, with a flight of stairs on each side, flanking the bar, which is on the 7^th floor and directly below the stage. Got it? Yeah. A weird spot for a rock show, you feel pretty disconnected from the band. They guys did great, but I couldn’t wait for their Lido deck show. I got a little worried for Ryan, since he and Dallin were playing the Atrium Sunday night. Dallin had assured me that they were going to rock the place, and that they were looking forward to it. I figured if anyone had a shot at blowing the roof off of the Atrium, it was Ryan and Dallin… Talked to Ran for a little while at the bar, which was awesome! Please note, he does not like Bud Light with lime.

The Daylights (Ran and Ricky). Photo credit: Nicole Glass

We split up with Ki and Noelle, who were going to see The Script. We decided to see Train. But to be honest, I got bored after only a few songs. The venue wasn’t my favorite, and we were crammed in the back, so we left and headed to the Lido deck to meet up with Ki and Noelle. Luckily, we had only missed a few songs. The Script was AMAZING live!! Danny is so passionate and has so much energy! You can tell he loves what he’s doing, and that he is exactly where he wants to be. We danced, sang, screamed, and had a rollicking good time with our boys from Dublin :)

Danny, singing his heart out!

We were rocking out too!

Ended up at the Lido buffet [please note that I spent ridiculous amounts of time here. The sandwiches were awesome, and there was soft serve ice cream and frozen yogurt 24 hours a day]. Grabbed some pizza and settled in to get some nourishment before joining the party on Promenade. Ended up eating with Svend and having a great conversation. Dinner with rock stars? Yes please!

We partied for a bit in the Promenade, but were back in our cabin at a respectable 2:30 am. This was our earliest bedtime the whole cruise. As I had an early morning planned, I wanted to get to bed “early.” Ha.

April 29, 2011

Happy Wedding Day to William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!

I was up at 5:30 to watch the wedding at 6 (because I'm crazy. I'm aware that very few people understand, but it's okay). It was beautiful. Kate’s dress was stunning… then again, Kate herself is stunning anyway. Seriously one of the most beautiful women in the world. But she looked like a princess, and it was perfect for a Westminster Abbey wedding. I’ll admit that I cried, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone since I’m a hopeless romantic. Between the time that the newlyweds arrived at Buckingham and the balcony kiss, I ran up to grab breakfast. I enjoyed my bagel and coffee alone on the deck, quietly, looking out at the water. It was the most peaceful breakfast I’ve ever had! Watched the balcony kiss, then returned to my room, where my husband greeted me with the following quote: “I saw the dress. It was gorgeous.” I love him!

We decided to take a stroll around the deck, then he spent the morning playing on the waterslides while I stretched out on a lounge chair with my iPod staring at the water. Perfection. We watched the men’s wet t-shirt contest, had some lunch, and spent some time on the Serenity Deck with Ki and Noelle, and our new friends Evynne and Susan. Found out that Ki met Jason, and was happy to hear that it was everything she dreamed it would be :) I also “officially” met Serena, as I had been twitter stalking her for months!

Chris and I. One of my favorite pictures from this trip.

I was a big fan of this relaxation thing.

Chris and the waterslides!

Next on the agenda was our vow renewal. Ricky from The Daylights was officiating… yeah. It can’t get any better. I put on my pretty new dress and put a flower in my hair! “Father Daylight” led us in the cheesiest vows, and I loved every second. Despite the cheesiness, we truly were taking time out of our day to recommit our lives to each other (and rock and roll). So it counts as a legit vow renewal in my book ! We re-exchanged rings and of course, had our “first” kiss. Or, as the good reverend said, “now everyone make out!” We even got a “wedding certificate” delivered to our cabin later.

Our "wedding" picture

Us and our awesome officiant, Father Daylight :) Photo Credit: Nicole Glass

I fulfilled my dream of watching a concert from a swimming pool shortly thereafter, as we jumped into the Lido pool for Mat Kearney’s set. We jumped out relatively quickly to go grab a photo with Pat from Train, then jumped back into the pool for the rest of the set.

Pat and me!!

We watched The Daylights rock Lido!

Ran

Ricky

Svend

Then we got all dressed up for Royal Wedding night, had dinner, and headed to Paris Lounge to watch the beginning of Lifehouse before ending up at the Lido stage for Train’s performance.

Noelle, Nikki, me, and Chris in Paris Lounge.

Train on the Lido deck. Man. As gimmicky as Train can be, this was a fun performance. It’s impossible not to smile through a Train show. I got all of my favorites from over the years… my favorite though was getting to hear “Drops of Jupiter” outside on a perfect night. It was a moment that I’ll remember well! Hearing “Hey Soul Sister” and “Save Me San Francisco” was super fun, though it made me miss Jackson. All in all, they put on a fun show. And I totally watched a Train show, on a cruise ship, in a fabulous wrap dress and red high heels. Hot.

Again with the Promenade and the partying, and another late night for the Adys! And I met a few rock stars along the way. It was fun getting to tell Jason that I've been listening to Lifehouse since No Name Face came out. I remember the first time I listened to that album, and I STILL listen to it all the time!

Me with Danny from The Script

Me with Jason Wade!!

Saturday, April 30, 2011

COZUMEL!!!

It was time for a day in paradise. I wore shorts, breaking my streak of nothing but dresses (but rest assured, I was back in dresses that night, and stayed that way until pajama night!). We packed for our excursion, disembarked, and walked the pier to our ferry that would take us to Playa Del Carmen.

Yep. From one boat to another. We were serenaded by our Mexican superstar Francisco, who sang us a variety of songs ranging from Jason Mraz to Dave Matthews to Train. Yes, Train. Not quite the version of “Hey Soul Sister” that we heard on the Lido deck the night before, but not bad at all. He laughed when he found out we were on VH1’s cruise, and asked if he did the song justice.

Playa del Carmen was beautiful, the little bit of it that we saw.

We went from ferry to bus for our 45 minute drive to Tulum. Once we got to Tulum, it was a ½ mile walk to the entrance. The city was walled in, so you have to walk to the original entrance (which is very low. Ancient Mayans must have been short). Once we got in, I was stunned. The buildings and foundations were remarkably well preserved, and you get a really good idea of what the city must have looked like in its heyday. Our tour guide, Raul (who kicked major butt. I loved him) gave us a few quick lectures on what we were seeing, then walked us to a point where we could see the Temple of the Sun God really well for some awesome photo ops. The temple rendered me speechless. Now, you might think it’s just old rocks. But I don’t… to me, it’s absolutely beautiful (and we wonder why I became a history major). It got even more beautiful, as we hiked around looking at the buildings, then walked behind the temple to see the white sand beach with the bluest water I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t help it, I had to dip my feet in. And who knows? Maybe I got a blessing out of it, as Raul explained that the proximity to the temple leads them to believe it’s holy water.

Temple of the Sun God

Close up of the temple and altar stone

Standing directly behind the temple.

Paradise.

After ruins, Chris and I walked the ½ mile back to the parking lot, through a little marketplace type area, and had lunch at a little restaurant that our tour guide assured us was good.. Now, I’m very proud of this. Those of you who know me know that I’m a super picky eater. This restaurant had no menu, the waiter just informs you what they serve. I ordered my lunch without asking what was in it, and without customizing it at all. I was determined, for once in my life, to not be picky. It paid off. I was given the most delicious Mexican food I’ve ever eaten, and loved every bite.

We made the trip back on the bus, then the ferry, then spent about forty minutes walking around the shopping center at the pier before heading back onboard. We boarded the ship and went through security with the guys from The Script! We tracked down Nikki and Noelle, and went up to Lido to catch Colbie Callait’s show. She’s not my type of music, for the most part, but she wasn’t bad. And I love the song she sings with Jason Mraz, “Lucky,” which she sang with her guitarist (and I think boyfriend?) Justin. He sounded really good! We didn’t stay for her whole show, opting to go for dinner in formal dining before Ryan’s show that night. After dinner, readied ourselves for music video night. I went as a Robert Palmer girl (from the “Addicted to Love” music video), Nikki went as Beyonce (“Single Ladies”) and Noelle as Lady Gaga, blonde wig and all. We looked awesome. Nikki and Noelle were ready first, and came down to wait while I finished my makeup. I was doing the smoky eyes and bright red lips, and we had a fun conversation with Ran from The Daylights that involved me busting out an off key rendition of “Dancing In The Dark” with my makeup half on. Rock on.

Left to right: Charlotte (a friend from our Facebook group), and Nikki. the Single Ladies, Noelle as Lady Gaga, and me as a Robert Palmer girl

Ryan’s show was in Candlelight Lounge tonight, a GREAT venue for him. We ordered drinks, and I got an Long Island in his honor. Great way to start my night! Ryan was ON IT tonight . My moment of the night? "11:59." He played it tonight [and it was the only night he played it] and it was PERFECT. I loved his cover of “Rolling In The Deep” that he threw into the middle of “Take a Ride.” Also, his mash up that he does during “Back Of Your Car” was super special tonight… “My Heart Will Go On.” Please go find video of this, stat. It was an amazing cruise moment for me. After the show, we hung out with the RStar gang for a bit… Nikki and Ryan bantered back and forth, which cracks me up every time. Took pics with Ryan and Dallin, which was fun. Chatted with Serena for a hot second. Chris got drafted into the crew, so he helped haul equipment while I hung out in Candlelight waiting. Not that I minded, I got to catch Hope’s show in the meantime. I love her. She’s adorable, and has a great voice.

Ryan and Ki's first pic together. They wanted it to be memorable.

Me, Ryan, and Chris. This pic is on my mantle now. Haha.

The beautiful Dallin and me. She's awesome!

Hope during her show at Candlelight

Back to the Lido deck buffet, where Nikki lectured Ryan about his eating habits (before we arrived), I had a sandwich and some ice cream, and Ryan ended up at our table for a little bit where Nikki lectured him about his eating habits again (you had to be there). He’s fun to hang with! I hope to get to do that again some day.

We ended up going to the costume contest. There were a few Madonnas, like 6 Katy Perrys, a handful of Gagas, a few Single Ladies, a Michael Jackson, and an MC Hammer. One of the Katy Perrys actually looked like Katy Perry, which was a bit freaky. Hammer won! After, it was back to regular clothing before heading to see Civil Twilight in Candlelight. Now, I just saw Civil Twilight in March, and I have to say, I enjoyed them more the second time. They’re pretty cool. Not a band I would listen to all the time, but they have an interesting sound and the lead singer has a great voice. Chris and I brought out wine to the show, and we enjoyed it from one of the high backed round booths. It was a pretty cool way to watch a show, different from my usual vantage point somewhere in the sea of people near the stage. After Civil Twilight, we said good night to Ki and Noelle. We hung out in the lounge a bit longer, met Anita from our Facebook group, and even got a chance to say hi to Jimmy, the guitarist from Train! He’s amazing. I love that he gets a chance to show off during the live shows, the albums really don’t give you a good idea of his talent. Made it to bed sometime in the 3:00 hour.

It seemed very appropriate to take a picture with Jimmy from train while drinking some Napa Valley wine. :)

Sunday, May 1^st, 2011

Let me start with this. Today was the Race For Hope in Washington DC, and I was originally going to be there. However, for a variety of reasons, we decided to do the cruise instead. However, that did not stop me from joining David Cook’s team as a virtual runner, even if it meant completing a 5k on a cruise ship. This is a cause that I support 100% and I plan on participating in some way or another every year. So that was my first order of the day: run a 5k.

This may very well be one of the most interesting 5k’s I’ve ever run. I couldn’t find the gym, so I opted for the track on the top deck of the ship. In one direction, I could barely run due to the win, and in the other direction, the wind made me run! But I can safely say that it’s the only 5k that I’ve completed that involved a shirtless Jason Wade. I used him to pace myself. The game was to not let Jason lap me, which I was successful at. He finally lapped me during my cool down, and smiled (I won’t lie, the man has a killer smile) as he passed.

After getting cleaned up, it was time for Flip Cup. Sadly, the Flaming Dr. Peppers did not make it past the first round, but we had fun anyway. Then it was off to Lido for the acoustic afternoon: Colbie, The Script, Lifehouse, and Train. We missed Colbie’s show, but totally rocked out for The Scripts. For Lifehouse, the girls found spots poolside, so I had my feet in the water. I LOVED hearing old stuff, like “Breathing.” It was sad knowing this was the last Lifehouse show of the trip. We watched part of Train’s show, but knew that we needed to rush to be able to squeeze dinner in before The Daylights. After dinner, we donned our jammies (and robes, since Jason declared a robe party) and headed for promenade to see our boys!

Time for Ryan’s show! As Ryan requested, we parked ourselves on the second level of the atrium above the piano. Behind the scenes, there was a lot going on, but let’s not dwell on that. Instead, let’s dwell on the fact that it was WITHOUT A DOUBT my favorite show on the cruise. And my favorite Ryan show ever. This was my favorite “Last Train Home” [my favorite Ryan Star song] of the cruise, for starters. Also, he played his cover of “Head Like a Hole.” It was amazing. Then he went down to the piano and proceeded to blow my mind, and everyone else’s. First, he played “Losing Your Memory.” This is one of my favorite songs, and I’d never heard it live. It’s now my favorite Ryan live performance. The best way to describe the song is hauntingly beautiful. It’s chill inducing. When Ryan got to the bridge, and subsequent chorus, time stopped. People stopped walking, the bartenders stopped mixing. The only thing that existed in that moment was Ryan, and his voice soaring through the atrium. Then he moved on to “Sink or Swim,” then “Losing My Religion.” Glorious. It killed me. The piano set did me in. He went back up on stage to finish out the show. We heard “Take A Ride” with “Rolling In The Deep” again, as well as “Back of Your Car” and “My Heart Will Go On.” The atrium was really and truly rocked that night, and it will live on in the hearts and minds of children everywhere… or at least the minds of those fortunate enough to be present. I will NEVER forget this night, for more than just this show…

For the sake of scale... Ryan and Dallin are on the far left.

The multi-level audience in the Atrium

"We Might Fall"

Dallin, looking rather fierce

Best show of the cruise.

We saw Mat Kearney in Candlelight that night, then Chris and I went up to Lido for a late night snack. Then everything went crazy. Nikki and Noelle come running to find us. This is how the conversation pretty much went:

Ki & Noelle: “DUDE!!! OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD!!”

Chris & Sandi: “WTF?!?! DID WE TAKE HIM OUT??”

Ki & Noelle: “YES! SECRET MILITARY OPERATION! GET DOWNSTAIRS NOW!”

I kid you not, I ran, ice cream cone in hand, in my pajamas, down to Chopin Lounge (which is by Candlelight) and gathered around one of the TVs. They had CNN on, and we were waiting for President Obama’s address. When he finally came on, everything quieted down so we could hear. It was surreal. When he announced that Bin Laden was dead, the room erupted. It quieted again, and when the President said that there were no U.S. casualties, there was more cheering. After his speech, more cheering. It was awesome. We went down to promenade, and not everyone had heard. I had the fun of getting to tell Evynne and Susan, and see their faces! When Trailer Park Ninjas announced it, everyone started chanting “USA! USA! USA!”

Later, we partied it up. I had the…. we’ll call it “unique pleasure” of seeing Ben Carey’s robe party attire. Again, you had to be there. We saw Ran again, and took pictures and hung out.

Me, Ran, and Chris

Ki in her robe :)

We had our second bottle of wine too, so I was in a great mood! Ki and Noelle stayed up with us until a respectable one in the morning before calling it a night. Chris and I went back to the buffet (hey. It was my last shot at 24 hour ice cream!) and then back down to Promenade. I got to meet Hope, who is a sweetheart.

Hope and me

We ran into Serena and Ryan in the casino, and ended up hanging with Serena until we went to bed. She’s totally awesome. I ‘m so happy I got to get to know her a bit on this trip. Of course, we couldn’t leave without saying good bye to our boy Ryan. I’m pretty sure Chris wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if we didn’t say good bye. (Man crush. Bromance. Whatever you want to call it, it’s hysterical.) But seriously, we love the guy, and are so happy that he was on this cruise and got new fans! It was a sad good bye, as we didn’t know when we’d get to see Ryan next. It’s the first time in a year that I haven’t known when my next Ryan show would be. Hopefully soon (hint, hint).

It was 5 in the morning before we made it to bed. Somehow we woke up and got to the airport, but had to wait a zillion years before our flight left. I was already in concert withdrawal, but I was keeping my eye on the prize… kisses from my favorite little boy! And many many hours later, after way too long on airplanes, we were home. Coming down the escalator at Sacramento Airport, I saw my son, running to meet us. We scooped him up into a hug, complete with wet kisses and tears. I missed him so much!

And thus ended the journey. It truly was the Best Cruise Ever. At least, until they announce the lineup for BCE 2012, which hopefully will be even better!

25.1 Down!

2011-03-03T00:31:00.000-08:00

Still a looooooong ways to go (58.4 lbs, to be exact), but It feels SO GOOD right now. I'm officially down 2 sizes and very soon I will no longer be able to shop Lane Bryant (though they do have some really cute stuff there). I have a new dress and a new swimsuit to rock on the cruise, and I'm very excited to get to wear them!

Under the guidance of my awesome husband, I've started doing upper body strength training. It HURTS because I have no upper arm strength. He has a pull-up bar that fits into one of our doorways, and while he can actually do pull-ups, my goal is to see how long I can hang. Right now, it's pretty pathetic. I've also gotten aggressive with ab work, so my midsection has been sore for a few days along with my arms.

I've found that I have fun doing workouts on exercise tv on demand. They have so much stuff I can play with. Crunch Gym does some really fun ones, including a dance series that has latin, hip hop, and world rhythms. Fun cardio! There are some fun Bollywood dance workouts, a couple of burlesque workouts (super fun!) and some Billy Blanks Jr. I have also very much enjoyed Jillian Michaels' Yoga Meltdown workout. It's intense, but awesome. I have definitely seen results.

In other news:

My baby boy is 2. INSANE. Wasn't I pregnant like a minute ago? It feels that way. He's so big now, and so smart. When I went to pick him up from daycare today he and his teacher were practicing ABC flashcards. He knows most of his letters now! I've been working hard with him on recognizing letters, and while it's not perfect all the time, he is getting really really good at them. He amazes me every day.

He got into the car today and I had it on Alice Radio, which was playing Lady Gaga. He scrunched up his nose and said "no Mommy, I want Ryan." I asked him what song, and he told me "fall." And proceeded to hum me the first few bars of "We Might Fall." Yeah, I'm an awesome parent. Then we got home and rocked out to a Foo Fighters concert, and played our respective guitars. His is a ukulele that our good friends the Wise family got him for his birthday. He calls it his guitar and rocks out on it. I love it. He randomly yells "I WANNA ROCK!" which makes me giggle every time. He is the happiest, most loving kid ever (bias alert), and I love him more every second.
::end bragging::

Hope everyone is doing well in whatever state you happen to be in. May the sun warm you and the snow avoid you. :)

2010 was a good year.

2011-01-24T19:06:00.000-08:00

I can't even believe how awesome last year was.

Jack turned one, started walking and talking, and became more adorable with every passing minute. I'm severely biased though. He does the funniest things. I swear I love this kid more every day.

My sister in law Lesley married a great guy named Jesse, and Chris and I got to go to Missouri to help celebrate! So fun to see all our family over there.

My best friend Amanda married the love of her life, Stephen. It was a beautiful wedding that I was so honored to be a part of. Chris and I love the Rabons and miss them like whoa!

We bought a house. I still can't believe this. But we did it. We're the proud owners of our own little piece of California. It's beautiful, perfect for us, and has the most kick-ass dining room ever. Rock.

Our best friends moved away. Aaron got a job in Nevada, so he left in August to start training. Nikki was a trooper, living in two places from August to December while she finished school. And at the end of July, Stephen and Amanda left to go back to Stephen's home state of Colorado. Saying goodbye to Amanda just plain sucked. I cried like a baby, then came home and cried some more. Then cried some more while watching TV, eating Ben and Jerry's, and drinking wine. I miss her.

But in August, I went to visit! I spent the weekend in Denver with Manda, and had a fabulous time. I can't wait to go back. Hopefully we can make it work to where all three of us can go visit.

Fast forward to November- Chris went to Denver to visit Stephen and Amanda and got to go to a Broncos game! Then, Chris' parents came to spend a week with us for Thanksgiving. I have never had so much fun with my in-laws. We had a BLAST. Aaron got to come home, so it was awesome. And Amanda and Stephen came home, so we got to see them!!!!!! (no, I'm not excited).

December: Nikki graduated from Sac State with her BA in English Lit. I am so proud of her. She's amazing, and I can't wait to read her newest novel! Christmas with the fam was pretty awesome as well. Good times.

And on top of all of that, there was Mother's Day, when Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game! And of course, the 16 concerts that I attended: (Please note, the artist listed is the person I went to see, not necessarily the headliner)

Switchfoot (Paper Tongues)
Ryan Star (Serena Ryder)
Muse (Silversun Pickups)
Jennifer Knapp (Pawnshop Kings and Amy Courts)
GRO (Angel Taylor and Matt Hires)
Daughtry (Cavo and Lifehouse)
Ryan Star (Thriving Ivory)
Ryan Star (Thriving Ivory)
Goo Goo Dolls (GRO, Switchfoot)
Ryan Star (Five for Fighting, Natasha Beddingfield, Plain White T's, Sara Bareilles)
Muse (Passion Pit)
Matt Hires (Drew & Ellie Holcomb)
Mae (Windsor, Terrible Things)
Ryan Star (Lee DeWyze, Justin Furstenfeld, Steven Page)
Lee DeWyze
Need2Breathe (The Daylights)

And we're starting 2011 off the right way with tickets to the following shows already lined up:

The Daylights (Civil Twilight)
My Chemical Romance
U2

And in April, it's on: VH1's BEST CRUISE EVER!!!

I love my life.

Last concert update of 2010!!

2010-12-31T21:53:00.001-08:00

And just when I thought I was done doing concert reviews... I end up at a bunch of shows.

I already wrote about Mae, so I won't cover that again except to say that that was one of the best nights of music in my life. Period. And now on to December:

I'll preface this by saying that I love Twitter. And I love music. These two things have resulted in making "friends" online that I've never met before, but are completely amazing. Of the last 3 shows I went to in 2010, 2 of them were made possible by the kindness of virtual strangers.

December 2, 2010: Ryan Star, Lee DeWyze, Justin Furstenfeld, and Steven Page (Acoustic Christmas, Modesto)

Went with Chris, Nikki, and Mel. It was Mel's first RStar show!

I hated that I sat through a Ryan Star show. HATED IT. But that was the type of show this was. But Ryan was amazing as usual. My surprise of the set... he played "Losing My Religion." I sat there for the duration of the song with my jaw on the floor. I LOVE the way he covers this song. I love REM, and I love this song. Blown. Away. And he did "Last Train Home" my favorite way... stripped down to keyboard and acoustic guitar. Makes me cry every time.

Also, I love how he can make "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" sound completely dirty by throwing it into "Back of Your Car." I laughed my butt off. After, there was an autograph line that really wasn't handled that well by the venue staff. Ryan didn't have enough time to get through everyone, but toward the end he came out from behind the table and started signing as quickly as possible. I took the opportunity to give him the Hanukkah cookies that I painstakingly decorated (I kid you not. The Hanukkah cookies were an adventure in and of themselves). He was excited. It was hysterical.

We slipped back in for Lee's set, and I was thrilled to find out that he sounds awesome live! It was the first time I'd seen him live, so I had my fingers crossed. I loved it. I love him. "Hallelujah" slayed me, and "Brooklyn Bridge" made me cry. So freaking fantastic. I can't wait for tour.

Justin Furstenfeld is the lead singer of Blue October. I am a casual Blue October fan. I know a lot of their music, but I'm not die hard, and I've never seen them live. HOLY CRAP. This was the surprise of the night. He was absolutely incredible. The first song he sang was completely acapella and left us all stunned. He did 2 of my favorite Blue October songs too.. "Calling You" and "Hate Me." I thoroughly enjoyed his set. I would see him, or Blue October, again in heartbeat.

And finally, Steven Page. I was really looking forward to this. I really was. I wanted to hear "One Week" and "It's All Been Done." Well, I got "It's All Been Done." He didn't play "One Week." I think I'm still upset about that. We turned it on in the car as soon as we left, and sang it out. Good stuff.

All in all, it was worth it. A long drive, but y'all know the lengths I go to for Ryan... and Lee was my bonus. So happy that Justin was amazing as well, made it even more worth it!

And that was it for the year. Or so I thought. Until the next week. Through the magic of Twitter and the efforts of "friends" to whom I'm eternally grateful, I went to 2 more shows.

December 8, 2o10: Lee DeWyze (Santa Rosa, CA)

It was a private radio show. One that I didn't win tickets for. But when a few of my Twitter friends, Shelley and Francie got the hookup, I found myself with 2 spots on the list. So I took my sister with me. Time was tight- I got out of work and we hit the road through the pouring rain to Santa Rosa, and got there JUST IN TIME. The venue was pretty cool, and we were able to be right at the stage. Another amazing acoustic set with Lee and Lincoln. He did a similar set as the previous week, with a few additions. My favorite of these additions: "Annabelle". I love that song. And he killed it. One of my favorite moments of the night. We heard "Hallelujah" again, and "Sweet Serendipity," "Live It Up," and more. And of course, my favorite, "Brooklyn Bridge." I want to marry Chris all over again so that we can dance to that song at our reception. Didn't get to formally meet Lee, but talked to him as he was leaving the venue in his van. LOL. Such a good night, and a great girls night with my sis before she moved out of California. I'm happy she got to share it with me!

December 9, 2010: The Daylights and NeedToBreathe (The Fillmore)
I guess I have a few people to thank for this. Lee DeWyze, for playing a show in Campbell. The radio station hosting the show for picking my girl Kayla as a winner, and Kayla and her hubby for giving Chris and me her tix to the Daylights/NeedToBreathe show! I was floored this week by the kindness and generosity of the amazing people I've met in the music scene.

The Daylights are going to be on the Best Cruise Ever, so I bought their album awhile back and loved it. My favorite song on it is "Alive," though I think the whole album is pretty awesome. We got to the Fillmore (one of my favorite places on earth) early enough for us to be in the very front, at the stage. Score! The Daylights were AMAZING live. I sang along to all the songs, danced like whoa, and had a fantastic time. They played "Alive," and I went nuts! They didn't play "Terra Firma," but there's always the cruise! Then came NeedToBreathe.

I've been loving NeedToBreathe for awhile. "Something Beautiful" is such a great song, one of my favorites of the year. Their new album is fantastic, so I knew the show would be great. Little did I know that I completely underestimated it. They don't put on a show, they host a party. I had so much fun during their set! When they played "Something Beautiful" I called my sister so she could sing along too, since she had gone to her new home in Nevada earlier that day. They came out and did "Valley of Tomorrow" completely acoustic. Completely. It was one of the best individual song performances I've ever seen. Chris loved it too!

After the show we wandered out to see if we could find posters (which they didn't have) and to find the guys from The Daylights. Found them! They actually spotted us and called us over because of my shirt. I was rockin my Mae shirt, and apparently they're big Mae fans! We chatted with Svend and Ricky for a bit. We all excitedly made plans to see each other on the cruise! Talked to Rand also, and decided that he and I would start a petition to keep Mae making music! Supposedly we'll be grabbing a drink together on the ship too :) They were cool dudes, and I was happy that they sound so good live. Makes me look that much more forward to the cruise!

And that my friends, ends my concert going in 2010 for real. I was so blessed to get to go to so many shows (17!!) this year. And I'm so blessed to have great concert buddies in my friends and family. I hope that 2011 brings more amazing shows and the opportunity to meet some of my twitter peeps in person!

2011: Best Cruise Ever, U2, and Lee DeWyze (when tour dates are announced) and if I get my wish(es): Switchfoot and David Cook!

Motivation!

2010-12-06T20:15:00.000-08:00

So I've now been doing WW since the beginning of August, and I'm SO CLOSE to hitting the 20 lbs mark. So I totally recommitted to being on points (OP), working out, and trying to resist temptation. So far, so good. Had a great weigh in last week. But I decided a little more motivation wouldn't hurt.

I started reading the 20's board on the WW website, and posting. It's fun getting to know people, especially people my age who are struggling with weight issues. One of the girls had an idea last night that we should friend each other on facebook and exchange phone numbers so we can text each other motivation during the day. I decided I'd play too, and am LOVING it. Hopefully my new friends can help keep me on the straight and narrow :)

I have faith in myself that I'll be able to make it through the holidays in one piece. Just gotta keep working hard. It's paying off, and I feel SO GOOD.

"So be here by my side and watch the stars. They're ours..."

2010-11-11T01:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Chris and I went to bid goodbye and goodnight to a band that we've become rather attached to over the course of our relationship. I own every single album Mae has released. It makes me feel old when bands that I've listened to for nearly a decade are breaking up, but I guess all good things eventually come to an end.

Mae live was incredible. The albums don't do them justice at all. I was blown away by how perfectly everything fit together. Musically, it was unbelievable. It was amazing to be part of a crowd that loves this band as much as I do. Where we don't even have to be prompted to sing, everyone's singing along anyway, to every song. Where between songs, they're begging the band not to call it quits yet, and requesting song after song. Because they knew, and I knew, that this was it. There was no "I'll hear it next time."

On the upside- that wasn't at all an issue for me. Mae played EVERY song that was on my (lengthy) "must-hear" list for the evening. And a few that I wasn't expecting, that totally caught me by surprise ("We're So Far Away"... live...wow). As predicted, I did indeed get teary during "Soundtrack For Our Movie." It will forever be one of my favorite songs.

But even though they're parting ways as a band, I'll still have all their albums to play. Mae has been an integral part of the soundtrack of my life (especially college). Each album is special to me, especially Destination Beautiful, because just hearing that album reminds me of falling in love with Chris. I was happy to get the opportunity to meet the band and let them know how much their music has meant to me over the years, and how incredible their show was tonight.

So, to the guys in Mae- thank you for the music, thank you for the memories. I wish you all the best that life has for you in the future. You will always hold a special place in my iPod and in my heart.

2010 Concerts part deux

2010-10-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

So I left off at Daughtry in May. Well, we've been busy little bees since then!

Sadly, Bono had to have back surgery, so U2 has been postponed until June 2011. So our tale picks up in July :)

July 14, 2010: Ryan Star & Thriving Ivory (Harlows, Sacramento)
Cool little venue, easy parking. We were pretty frightened when everyone was sitting down, but Ryan VERY quickly remedied the situation, and before long we were rocking out front and center. It was a fantastic set, but the highlight was Start A Fire. My heart = thud. Dead. Killed by the hotness that was that song/performance. Grabbed some drinks to await Thriving Ivory. Then quickly realized that no amount of drinks would make their set pleasant. To each his own, I guess, but I found the lead singer's voice to be sort of headache inducing. Survived that set, spent a little time talking to Ryan. Took some awesome pictures :) Great night!

The Rock Star.

Ryan wanted to take this one. 2 of my favorite boys :)

One of my favorite voices/people. Love this guy.

August 25, 2010: Ryan Star & Thriving Ivory, with special guest Entice (Great American Music Hall, San Francisco)

Last night of tour :) Another night having to listen to Thriving Ivory :(. Seriously- I've never paid twice to see a band I don't like. Until now. And technically, since I'm going on the Best Cruise Ever, I'm paying to see them for the third time. I can't avoid them! LOL. Entice was AWESOME. Was totally surprised, and had a good time hanging out with them and taking silly pictures later. Check out "This City" and "The Watchman" and "Who's Got Your Money?"

Ryan was up next, and we had a great time rocking out. Dallin was lovely, like always. It was Nikki's first RStar show, and she loved it. Especially "Breathe." But the moment for me- we were all going nuts during Back of Your Car, and Ryan looked me dead in the eye while he sang the bridge. Loved the "Bulletproof" and "Airplanes" mashup in there too :) Got to introduce Nikki to Ryan and watch his reaction to seeing his name in her "Special Thanks" in the book she wrote (and hopefully will be published sooner than later!). At first, he was so floored that Nikki wrote a book that he totally missed seeing his name. But his face when he saw her note to him was priceless. He signed her copy of the book and promised he'd buy it when it was published. So funny. Also- drunk cougars. Hysterical. Great night, overall.

August 26, 2010: Green River Ordinance, Switchfoot and Goo Goo Dolls (Concord Pavillion)
This concert is proof that God loves me and wants me to be happy. And Melanie was happy to be my date for the evening :) I love my GRO boys. Made them brownies and everything. Mel and I had a great time singing along with them and saying hi afterward. Such cool guys.

Then came Switchfoot. In case you didn't catch it the million times I've mentioned it before, this is HANDS DOWN my favorite band of all time. Jon Foreman's voice is a gift. He is my hero, and one of the greatest songwriters and nicest guys out there. Therefore, ANY chance I get to see them, I take it. I've been to tons of Switchfoot shows, and this one was amazing as usual. I prefer seeing them in smaller venues, being up close, being part of the synergy. But Jon's voice echoing through the amphitheater was pretty awesome too :)

Goo Goo Dolls. To this day, I have a crush on Johnny Rzeznik. <3 <3 (fangirl hearts!) I've never gotten to see them before. But my "A Boy Named Goo" and "Dizzy Up The Girl" albums were high school staples. I think of high school, I think of Goo Goo Dolls. They were the soundtrack of my life back then :) So hearing songs like "Slide" live.... yeah, amazing. They hit my favorite, "Black Balloon." And "Name." "Iris" was a fantastic singalong! They played pretty much everything from "Dizzy Up The Girl," which was fine by me. Including, to my absolute shock, "Acoustic #3." It made me cry. So absolutely beautiful. Another highlight- "Better Days." I cried then too. Melanie and I danced and sang and screamed everytime Johnny R looked our way. They played new songs off the new album, and all were wonderful. It was SUCH a good time, and I was so thrilled to have a fellow Goo fan (with Johnny crush) with me. My high school self was beyond happy with my adult self. And my adult self is thrilled that my high school self had good musical taste! A night to remember, and a dream come true. <3 <3 (more fangirl hearts)

September 26, 2010: Ryan Star, Five For Fighting, Natasha Beddingfield, Plain White T's, and Sara Bareilles @ Alice's Now and Zen fest (Golden Gate Park, San Francisco)

Free show in Golden Gate park with Ryan Star? Yes please! It was a great day. Ryan was first up, his set was FAR too short. I need to see this boy headline or I'm going to scream. Watched Five For Fighting, heard "Superman." Awesome :) Went over to Ryan's merch to chat for a few. He gave me several options for my 11:59 tat, which was fun. Nikki gave him back his stolen sharpie. He then gifted it to her. FINALLY got a chance to talk to the lovely Ms. Dallin Applebaum. I love her. She's got a great voice, she's uber talented, and she's gorgeous. Her solo work is pretty awesome as well. She's a total sweetheart too :) Natasha Beddingfield was my surprise of the day. Her music is overplayed on the radio, so I tend to just tune it out. Live, she's something else. Her voice is HUGE and incredible. I'm so happy that I got to experience her live, it made me appreciate her music in a whole new way. Plain White T's were adorable. I knew they would be. They have a new song coming out called "Irrational Anthem," which sounds a bit Green Day-ish, but is hysterical. And finally, Sara Bareilles. She sounds different live too. Really talented, and swears like a sailor, which was funny.

And did I mention this was all free? Alice Radio = awesome for putting this on.

This show was pretty special to me. When I was growing up, my dad used to tell me about going to concerts in Golden Gate Park and seeing people like Sonny and Cher, Janis Joplin, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. And when he would take his guitar and my uncles would take their instruments and they'd just go jam in the park with the likes of Santana. Just being in the park, enjoying the music, and knowing that my dad used to do the same thing in the same place was cool. It was like being connected to him in a weird time warp kind of way. Thinking about it made me miss him more, but I like to think he approved of my choice of how to spend the day!

9/28/10: Muse (Arco Arena)
Freaking. Epic. This time, Nikki and I brought people to the awesomeness that is Muse. After last concert, we had to see them again. We took Chris, Melanie, and Dustin with us. None of whom had seen Muse in concert before. Again, it blew my mind. Being on the floor was 348u4328479234 times better than being on the second level. Being in the middle of it is exciting, and made me feel alive. Nikki, Mel and I each had "our song" that we were waiting for, and we'd all rock out and get crazy excited when one of them started. Nikki's was "Time Is Running Out", Mel's was "Feeling Good" and mine was "Starlight." 3 of my faves. But every song was awesome. "Uprising" was crazy. "Undisclosed Desires" was hot. I love hearing "Supermassive Black Hole" live. We screamed, danced, sang, and had a jolly good time. The stage show is fantastic- the set, the video feed, everything about it is awesome. Muse is an experience not to be missed. If you like them recorded, you'll LOVE them live. I still say that Muse is the best live show I've ever seen. Even though I feel like I'm cheating on Switchfoot when I say that. It's like comparing apples and oranges though... love them both, very differently :)

10/8/10 Matt Hires with Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors (Bottom of the Hill, SF)
Another date night with Melanie. The girl likes good music, what can I say? Bottom of the Hill is a great little venue. If it's crowded, I'd imagine it can be pretty claustrophobic, but it wasn't that night. First band was a little punk band that was alright, nothing special. But Drew and Ellie Holcomb were incredible. We had seen their merch before the show and figured if their shirts were so cool, they must be cool. We had never heard them, or heard of them. I was blown away. They both have beautiful voices. The first song they played, "Fire and Dynamite," is my favorite of theirs. I should know- we bought all of their music after the show. Ellie sang a song called "Hung the Moon" that made me cry and wish that I could marry Chris all over again so that I could dance to it at my wedding. Mel plans to dance to it at her wedding, when she gets married. Suffice it to say that the show could have ended there, and my $10 would have been well spent. But alas, Matt Hires was yet to come...

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the same Matt Hires who opened for GRO when I saw them earlier this year. I mentioned that I was loving his sound then, well, I still am. I LOVE his voice. I love the way he sings "honey" and "darlin'." I love his songwriting. I love his whistling. And he's easy on the eyes too :) We had a fantastic time singing along with him, and doing an epic barroom singalong to my favorite Beatles song "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away." He played all the songs I wanted him to, and the show went until 12:30 am. So much fun. Talked to him a bit after, told him about Jack trying to whistle along to "Out of the Dark." He thought it was funny. Said hi to Drew and Ellie as well. Listened to Drew and Ellie the whole way home, got home at 2am. Had to work at 8am. Still worth it. I can't believe the show was only $10.

And that brings us up to date. Next up: Mae @ Bottom of the Hill on November 10. Then, nothing until Best Cruise Ever, which will be all concerts all the time :) Unless of course David Cook (or MWK) decides to do a NYE show somewhere I can get to it easily.

And at the top of the concerts I really want to see list: Our Lady Peace. Raine, you should get on that.

Words

2010-10-19T22:09:00.001-07:00

Been thinking a lot lately about words, and the tremendous power they have. The things that we say to people can have such an impact, both for the good and the bad. And I've definitely had days where someone has said something to me that left me upset for hours. It's not easy to let stuff like that roll off of you. But I've also had days where someone has said something that has me smiling days later.

This is definitely something I need to be more cognizant of. Not that I'm an angry and bitter person, or that I make people cry on a daily basis (I hope!), but I need to work harder to make sure that the words that I say count in a good way.

Just a random thought for a Tuesday night :)

In other news- going on a cruise to Cozumel in April. VH1's Best Cruise Ever. With Lifehouse, Train, The Script, Ryan Star, Mat Kearney and more. Talk about amazing vacation!

We're Gonna Start A Fire...

2010-10-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

So... if you've been anywhere near me in 2010, you'll know that I've fallen in love with the music of an amazing artist named Ryan Star. Some might remember him from Rock Star: Supernova, or know his band Stage, but he has just released his solo record 11:59. I discovered Ryan via Twitter, and listened to less than 1 minute of Last Train Home before going to iTunes and buying everything of his they had. His voice impressed me that much. But that’s not the whole story.

As I listened to Ryan’s music, I made some realizations. I was in an interesting place in my life… I was so happy, and so thankful for what I had, but at the same time, I had grown complacent with my life and situation. I had given up on some of my dreams, and convinced myself that it was okay. I wanted so desperately to break out of that place, but scared myself into thinking that the risk wasn’t worth the reward. Then I heard songs like “So Ordinary,” “Brand New Day,” “Right Now,” and “This Could Be The Year.” They made me get out of my own head and start living. And I did. I started to change my thinking, and I’m a better person for it. I believe in myself more, and I’m happier. Definitely NOT what I was expecting when I bought all that music! And there are no words for what the song “Breathe” means to me… it has become my therapy, my mantra, my prayer. And one of the most played songs in my music library. Seeing him live is a must. Chris and I will be at every Nor Cal show (he won over my husband, and that’s saying a lot). He's a great performer, and a great guy. I love that he takes the time to say hi to everyone who wants to talk to him. If he has the lovely Dallin Applebaum with him, it's going to be special. She has a killer voice, and makes the show even more awesome.

So, here are my very brief thoughts on 11:59:

1." Brand New Day": I love this song. In fact, it was the first song played in our new house when we moved in in July. Some of my favorite lyrics from the record are on this song: "They say we're flying too high, well get used to looking up." To me, the song is not only about the longing to be a part of something bigger, but the hope that we can. It's a fun song, musically too. I love the vocals on it, especially live.

2. "Right Now": Jack (my 20 month old son) loves this song. Mainly because he can sing along to it (go go go go!). I, on the other hand, love this chorus. I've challenged myself to remember these lyrics when life gets crazy, which is pretty much all the time.

Yesterday is history,
Tomorrow may not come.
I'm gonna run to the horizon,
We are strong,
We are young.
I'm gonna lay on the ground,
Feel the rain that's coming down.
And there's nothing anyone,
could do or say to bring me down.
Right now.

3. "Last Train Home": This was the first of Ryan's songs that I ever heard. And like I said, it took me less than a minute to realize that I needed to own everything I could get my hand on. The vocals on the chorus blew my mind. Also, lyrically, it's so sweet... the type of song that makes me melt. In concert, Ryan sometimes plays it stripped down, piano and acoustic guitar. More melt. Because we know that I'm a sucker for anything acoustic... :) (Yes, it’s a Brand New reference. "Mixtape" is a freaking awesome song.)

4. "Breathe": This is the song that everyone has heard, and for good reason! It's become my mantra in many ways, as my job (or life in general) is fairly stressful. Listening to it calms me down, helps me remember that everything is going to be okay in the end. The video, and the concept behind it area amazing. The people in the video are real people who need jobs, and there is a website, breathe4jobs.com to help hook them up with people who want to hire them. Thanks to the video, whenever I hear the song, I take a second to be grateful for the fact that I have a job, which is more than so many people have.

5. "We Might Fall": This was one of the first songs of Ryan's I heard, when I went on my downloading spree. It left me in tears the first time I heard it. When I heard it live, I cried more. Yes, I'm a sap. But this song is... just listen to it. I wanted to change my name to Hallie after hearing it. Between
the lyrics, and Ryan's voice, I was a very sappy mess.

6. "This Could Be the Year": This was one of the songs that really spoke to me when I first heard it. You never know what choice, what moment could change your entire life. I don’t want to miss my moment.

7." Unbreak": Wow. This was a surprise, as it was one of the few songs that I hadn't heard already in some form or another. But it was a pleasant surprise... this one definitely has single potential. I can see it being very radio friendly. It's catchy and the lyrics are awesome.

8. "Start a Fire": I was lucky enough to be in the Sacramento audience the first time this song was performed live. Ryan joked about not knowing it yet, but we never would have guessed. This was one of my coveted concert moments. I was really and truly dumbstruck watching it. It's hard to hear new songs at concerts because no one really can sing along, but it didn't matter for this song. I'm not going to lie- it was hot. The song is hot. The performance was hot. As soon as the set was over, Chris and I were like "that better have made it onto the album!" And we told Ryan that too. He told us he had a great time performing it, and it showed. I am THRILLED that it’s the next single from the album.

9. "Losing Your Memory": This song is heartbreaking, haunting, and beautiful. And the bagpipes make it even more so. Nothing I could say here would really do it justice, so I’m going to leave it at that and urge everyone to go listen to it.

10. "11:59" : The title track. The concept behind "11:59" is living in that moment, your moment of greatness. This song is about that moment, that possibility. The chorus is pleading "Please, don't leave/this could be the best time of our lives, tonight" and "don't let the moment pass by/put the windows down and drive away."

When I hear it, I think about all the moments, memories, in my life that were completely unexpected and spontaneous, and how those moments have impacted me.

You never know when those moments are going to happen.

The example that came to mind right away was the last time I went to my uncle's ranch. Nikki and I and the boys had all been invited, and all of us turned down the invite. We had to work, we had things to do, we'd go next time... our family was sad, but they understood. Well, the day of, we got out of work and decided we wanted to go after all. We piled in the car, drove to Chris' work. We convinced him that he needed to go home early, piled him in the car, and drove the hour plus out to the ranch. At one point, my uncle gathered everyone together, and gave a speech. It was about he loved and appreciated every single one of us and was so glad that we had come out. He talked about my dear uncles that we’ve lost in the last few years, Mario and Alberto, and how we never know whether tomorrow is going to come. But that today, we were all together, and we should appreciate that. To be
able to share that moment with my family (there are a lot of us) was incredible. And to think, if
I had decided to stick with my original plan, I would have missed it.

And while we’re talking about my Uncle’s ranch and random spontaneous moments, I have to throw in “Hey Jude.” That is truly one of the most unforgettable memories I have. On my deathbed I’ll still be telling that story to my great grandkids.

All that to say, the song is wonderful. Clearly thought provoking :) And musically... there's a moment
after the bridge where Ryan sings "Please, don't leave," and it gives me chills every time I hear it.

I’m not going to go too far into the bonus tracks (iTunes version), but they’re fantastic. I will say that “Back Of Your Car” is another that is on Songs From The Eye Of The Elephant. Now with full band. It’s hot. Very very hot. Another one that I love seeing live.

So the bottom line: The album is amazing. Go buy it now. Especially the iTunes version, so you get the bonus tracks. And thank you thank you thank you to Ryan for writing music that has touched me so profoundly. I will never be able to thank you enough for that.

12 Years...

2010-09-03T23:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Daddy,

I can't believe you've been gone for 12 years. It seems like just yesterday, but forever ago all at the same time. I miss you so much. Last Christmas was tough. It was Jack's first Christmas, and I wished so much that you were with us. I know you were there though, watching. I wish Jack could meet you, he would love you so much. I can't wait until he's old enough to hear all of the stories, not just from me, but from the rest of the family too. I promised Aunt Sarah I would keep your story alive, and I will. You were an amazing man, Dad. I knew it when you were alive, but the older I get, the more stories I hear about you, and the more I experience, the more I realize just how lucky I was to be your daughter.

I love you so much, and miss you every day. I know you're here though- I swear I can feel you around me. I'll see you again one day.

Love you,

#3

Reflecting

2010-08-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend in Colorado with my best friend Amanda, who recently moved there. It was absolutely beautiful. Perfect weather, gorgeous mountains, and a day spent at Garden of the Gods which was absolutely breathtaking.

Sunday we decided to venture to the Columbine memorial in Clement Park. It was something I really wanted to do, strangely enough. I have no real connection to the event or anyone involved in it, but I almost feel like I do. Perhaps it's the fact that I was a freshman in high school at the time, so the kids who died were my age. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm a Christian, and some of the kids who died were killed because of it. Perhaps it's because I had the opportunity to hear Rachel Scott's father speak on a few occasion, and was so moved that I wanted to pay my respects to not only his daughter but the others who died. I'm not really sure, but in any case, I wanted to go.

The memorial is beautiful. It's nestled in the back corner of Clement Park, a quiet spot surrounded by flowers and trees. There's a fountain on one side, and the two rings. The inner ring was a place for the thirteen families to write something honoring their loved one who died. Reading those memories, the things they chose to immortalize about their children, siblings, parents was heartbreaking. I was in tears at the first one, and could not stop them until we had left the memorial entirely. It struck me how if these teens had survived, we'd be about the same age now. They would have gone to college, joined the military, gotten married, had careers, had kids... but no. Their lives were ended in a totally senseless act of violence through no fault of their own. Some of the families included what their child/sibling wanted to be when they grew up. Those were tough to read... dreams that will forever be unfulfilled.

The other thing that struck me was what was written for Rachel Scott, Cassie Bernall, and Lauren Townsend. All three girls had had premonitions that they understood as God telling them they would be leaving this earth to join Him soon. The fact that God was already working in their hearts was so amazing to me. And even in their deaths, God is using them to strengthen the faith of others, myself included.

The outer ring was heartbreaking as well. There were quotes from students regarding the shooting and the aftermath that just broke me.

Finally, we drove around the corner to Columbine High School. I recognized it right away. It was strange to see it so peaceful and quiet on a Sunday afternoon when in my mind's eye, I remember the news reports, the police cars, the kids running out, the SWAT team... just a bizarre feeling.

It brought back the memories I have from that day in 1999. Nobody expected something like that to happen in a place like that... a sleepy suburb, in a residential area surrounded by a park, some houses, and a view of the Rockies. Exactly the type of high school I went to. Could it happen to us? It was scary, the fact that people around my age could kill others in cold blood.

It also brought back memories of 9/11, which was the other defining "event" that happened during high school (Not counting our classmates who died senior year, which is another story entirely). Again, it was downright frightening, that terrorists could take American lives and destroy buildings on American soil. The world was at war, and if they could hijack several planes, what else are they capable of?

It's hard to even hope that Jack will never have to deal with stuff like that. It seems like a pipe dream, but a mom can dream, right? For now, that's pretty much all I can do: hope and pray that my son will see a better world.

August is almost over!

2010-08-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

How did that happen? That went by really quick! I'm glad though- because this week is shaping up to be seriously epic.

Last night a group of us went to see Melanie's pole dancing competition. Never in my life did I think I'd ever want to attend one, let alone try it myself, but lo and behold I'm seriously considering taking a class. It looks SO fun. And it's an excellent workout. Went to Mel's afterward and I was so proud of my willpower! I stayed within my points and everything!

Which leads me to the next point- I rejoined Weight Watchers. I'm doing really well- the app makes everything so easy, I have no excuses for not tracking things. And it's working. I've lost 4 lbs. in 2 weeks. Go team! Moving was catastrophic for my eating and exercise habits. We ate out so much and were so busy that I couldn't find time to work out. Now, I'm eating healthy and finding time in my day to work out even if it's not hardcore. I'm going to start running again too... I'll ease back into it but I should be back to full form pretty quickly. Have that 5k in DC in May that I want to kick ass in.

So, this week's activities:

Wednesday Night: Ryan Star at the Great American Music Hall in SF. Going with Chris and Ki. Should be a great time, we love seeing Ryan.

Thursday Night: Green River Ordinance, Switchfoot, and Goo Goo Dolls. Whoever came up with this tour rules. Seriously? 3 or my favorite bands. GRO is one of my newer musical loves. Switchfoot is my all time favorite, and Goo Goo Dolls are amazing. Finally get to see my rock star crush Johnny Rzeznik :) Hoping for a Jon Foreman aftershow, that's the only way that night could get any better! I'll be with Mel, and it's going to rule!

and finally... THE BEST PART OF THE WEEK! Friday, I get to fly out to the great state of Colorado and spend the weekend with my best friend Amanda, who I miss like whoa. God knows what kinds of shenanigans we'll get ourselves into, but it doesn't matter. It'll be amazing. I'm so excited for my vacation!

Homeowner :)

2010-08-02T00:03:00.001-07:00

It was official on July 19, 2010, after approximately 30 days and 100+ signatures and a crazy emotional rollercoaster. We are the VERY proud owners of our little house :) A few people that need to be thanked:

1. Our Realtor, Sandy Rainsbarger. She was amazing. Helps that she's known me literally my entire life. She helped us find the perfect house, and walked us through escrow step by step, beside us the entire way. And took us out for burritos and margaritas to celebrate signing loan docs.

2. Our loan officer, Dawn Palestini of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. She came highly recommended by Sandy, and for good reason. She was really helpful explaining the entire process and keeping us in the loop. She even called me in the evening to calm me down and break everything down for me when I freaked out about the whole process and was ready to give up.

3. My mom. Could not have done this without her. She's amazing.

4. Ki and Aaron, for putting up with us and Tiny for the last year+ and helping us move and cleaning the old house and being excited with us about the new house. And for surprising us with the "extreme makeover home edition" surprise. We're so excited for their journey too, and the things that await them in Nevada.

5. Manda and Stephen. They were not only a huge encouragement through the whole process, they helped with moving, and even painted our room with us the day we closed escrow, snacks and mountain dew in tow. I am SO bummed that they've relocated to Colorado, I'm going to miss them a lot.

6. Mel, for helping pack, move, and extreme makeover home edition. That was seriously one of the best surprises ever.

7. Matt, for fixing everything. And moving a ton. He's one of my favorite people ever.

8. Luke, for being so available and willing to help us move and do other random things around the house. We feel the love :)

9. The various people in our lives who have served as cheerleaders in our lives and who have prayed for favor for us through this whole crazy thing. On behalf of Chris and Jack and myself, THANK YOU. For everything. We truly could not have achieved this without the support of our amazing family and friends.

We're having fun (if you can call it that) unpacking and making this place our own. The kitchen was finally unpacked and deemed functional yesterday at approximately 1:30 am. Next on the agenda is the dining room/living room. Then Jack's room, which is mostly done. We just need to move the rocking chair in and clean up, and hang the clothes in the closet. I finally got around to buying a hanging rod for it.

Our room is a work in progress. It looks pretty good, but some of our furniture is still in the garage, and the vast majority of our clothes is in laundry baskets. But we're working on that a little at a time.

The last thing that will be done is the spare room. Since we don't really NEED to use it, I forsee it being the Isle of Misfit stuff. But I'll get it all done eventually. Right now I'm just pleased to be sitting on my couch in my living room and seeing that it's not as chaotic as it was even just 48 hours ago. Go team Ady!

Oh, and we have a washer and dryer. I was way too excited for that. :) Hopefully I'll get pics of all the rooms up soon.

Ryan Star lyrics to live by today...

2010-06-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

"Yesterday is history,
Tomorrow may not come.
I'm gonna run to the horizon,
We are strong,
We are young.
I'm gonna lay on the ground
Feel the rain that's coming down.
And there's nothing anyone
Can do or say to bring me down
Right now"
~ Ryan Star "Right Now"

Thank you, Mr. Star. That pretty much sums it up today. I'm on top of the world. I'm not going to dwell on the emotional rollercoaster that led to today, and I'm not going to focus on all the things that might go wrong. I'm not in denial, I know full well that nothing is guaranteed, but I'm not going to think about it right this second. I'm going to give myself permission to ENJOY the fact that we're on our way! We're actually doing it.

We're buying a house. Once the sticker shock wears off, escrow closes, and keys are in hand, I'll be able to breathe a little easier. But we're under contract. The offer has been signed by all parties, the inspections have been scheduled, we're meeting with the lender Thursday. So pretty much, if everything goes as planned, Dawn (our awesome lender) will get started pushing our loan through underwriting, Sandy (our real estate agent sent from heaven) will oversee all the inspections, and in 30 days, Chris and I spend an hour signing our life away at the title company. The funds will be wired, escrow will close, and we get keys. And a mortgage payment.

And then, it's ours. Our own little piece of California. A place where we can raise our son, give him stability, put down roots. It's so amazing to me, still. Like I'm dreaming... but I'm not. All we can do at this point is pray that the loan process goes through smoothly and quickly, and that escrow closes on time.

Baseball game pictures (2010)

2010-06-10T22:36:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post some pictures. Brooke White just posted a really cute pic of her and other Idols finalists at a Dodgers game. Which made me want to post my own amazing baseball game pics :) And lo and behold, I've been to 2 really awesome games in the past month!

Mother's Day: Jack's first (of many) baseball game, Dallas Braden's perfect game!

My family. Oh how I love them.

Yes, this cutie is mine.

My boys. Chris was such a proud daddy that day.

Fireworks game with a bunch of friends, 6/4/10 @ Sweet Home Coliseum (where the A's are #1)

The girls: Vannah, Nikki, me, Karen, and Manda

Nikki and Vannah. Love these girls :)

My best friend Amanda and me

Chris and me :)

The Adys and the Rabons

Such fun times with wonderful people. Great memories from both games! (PS: Thanks Brooke, for the inspiration)

Rambling...

2010-06-05T00:42:00.000-07:00

Got into a conversation with my sister and my husband on the way home from tonight's (awesome, though we lost) A's game about our identities, what the world perceives about us, and how we perceive ourselves. It was a great conversation that made me realize just how thankful I am that I am, well, me. We were talking about people we know that base their identity on something other than themselves, be it a spouse or significant other, children, or something similar. Even a hobby or something that dominates that person's time to the point where people are like "Sandi? That's the Trekkie chick, right?" (By the way- that was an example. ONLY an example. I know nothing about Star Trek). I don't want to be one of those people. Yes, I am Mrs. Ady. Yes, I am Jack's mommy. But I don't base my entire identity around that. I am so much more than that, though those things are very important to me.

And so, over the past five years that I've been married, and the past 16 months that I've been a mom, I've been learning constant lessons in balance. It's something that has been tough to achieve, but something that I feel is INCREDIBLY important, especially when you have a family. Lesson 1: God comes first. Somehow, things always work out better when I remember that :) Beyond that, I've had to learn to balance my role as a wife, my role as a mom, and still having time to be my own person. And I feel like I've done a darn good job. It's not always perfect, but I try.

Chris and I still have date nights. They're not as regular as they once were, but at least once or twice a month we end up going out sans baby, and we have a great time. Special props to my awesome sister for always stepping in to keep her nephew :) I watch sports with Chris, even play fantasy sports, and he goes to concerts with me to see bands that may not necessarily be his favorites, but he does it because he loves me and wants to invest in our relationship. Marriage is give and take, and I feel like both of us do a great job with this.

I love being a mom, more than I could have ever fathomed. If you know me, you know that this was my dream. And Jack is my dream come true. I love that kid so much it's ridiculous. I'm so proud of how adorable he is, how smart he is, and how fun loving and sweet he is. Every time I look at him I'm amazed all over again that he's mine, that God has entrusted Chris and I with something so absolutely perfect and precious. It staggers me. The time I spend with him, and the time we spend with Chris as a family is absolutely priceless.

But just as important- I'm still Sandi. I still love to go rock out at concerts, be it an arena or a tiny little hole-in-the-wall bar. I have to have music constantly. I still know how to get lost in a good book. I belong to a fantastic book club. I love running. I love baking. I love Girls Nights. I love the occasional party with my awesome friends. I still have dreams, aspirations, goals that I would love to accomplish. I have my own thoughts and opinions on things, and I don't always agree with my husband. Basically- I have my own interests that don't necessarily revolve around my husband and/or child. And you know what? That's okay with me. In fact, for me personally, it's necessary. And it's just as necessary for Chris to have his own friends, his own interests, hobbies, and opinions.

I love that I've chosen to surround myself with people who love and encourage me in all of these areas of my life. God didn't create me to be single-faceted by any stretch of the imagination. I love that I've learned to incorporate my many "roles" into who I am rather than letting any one of them swallow me up.

Concert Rundown 2010

2010-05-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

So, it's been an awesome year in music for me. Y'all who know me know that music is a HUGE passion of mine, and that I have to have it pretty much all the time. I feel like my life should have a soundtrack, and I often think about what song would be playing right now in the movie of my life. Nerdy, I know, but it's the truth.

I've gotten to go see so many shows this year! It's been so exciting for me, the feeling of being at a live show is euphoric. I've been really delving in and discovering new music. It's been like falling in love all over again. You'll also notice I like to meet artists. There's a reason for that, and not just because they're good looking (though that's a plus). For one, I like getting the opportunity to tell someone that they've made an impact on my life somehow. Secondly, it's cool getting to know the people behind the music, if I have to opportunity to chat a bit. I've been blessed, for sure. So I figure I'll chronicle my year in concerts so far.

January 9 2010: Switchfoot with Paper Tongues (Regency Ballroom, San Francisco)
My favorite band of all time. Switchfoot played their newest album, "Hello Hurricane" in it's entirety, from beginning to end. Every song on that record is amazing, and this just solidified that in my mind. I left loving the album even more than I did when I walked in. "Needle and Haystack Life" is now my favorite song on the album because of that show. It was also cool hearing "Always," since the first time I heard it, it blew my mind. Just as good live. I loved every single minute of the first half. The second half of the show was all of the old favorites, including "Only Hope," among other songs I love. It was incredible, as per usual. The icing on the cake was getting to see the guys after the show. I adore these guys, and love getting to say hi. Jon Foreman is one of my heroes and a brilliant songwriter, so it's always awesome to get to talk to him. Definitely a night to remember. Oh, and Paper Tongues were cool too. "Ride To California" is now a staple song on my iPod.

April 11, 2010: Ryan Star and Serena Ryder (Cafe du Nord, San Francisco)
So I started listening to Ryan Star late last year, he was recommended by someone I follow on Twitter (one of the Cook brothers, probably. I can't remember) and I listened to about 20 seconds of the song "Last Train Home" and immediately went and bought the whole EP that it's on. Later on, I bought his album "Songs From the Eye of an Elephant" which was musical gold. I fell in love with Ryan's voice more and more, it was insane. There was something about it, that I just couldn't get enough of. As I started to follow Ryan himself a little more, I realized that he's a cool guy as well as a great artist. I love the concept behind his "Breathe" music video, and even now, when I hear it, it's a reminder to be grateful for the things I have in my life. The breathe4jobs website is amazing as well, and I love that Ryan cares about the world at large. So when the concert tickets went on sale, I begged my husband for a date night to the city :) He said yes, thankfully.

We walked in to the venue, which is super awesome, and Ryan was soundchecking like 6 feet away from me. Chris and I got some drinks, and hung out till the show started. Ryan opened with "We Might Fall," on the keyboard, and I was immediately caught up. Tears in my eyes, right off the bat. The emotion and passion in his voice astounded me. I'm always nervous when hearing someone for the first time, that I might be disappointed by the live vs. recorded voice. Yeah, not this time. His voice soared through that venue. He went through pretty much every one of my favorite songs, goofed around with the crowd a bit, and performed this amazing stripped down version of "Last Train Home." It was a seriously awesome show. My husband, who had pretty much just come along for the ride, ended up singing along, and admitting to me later that he thought Ryan was awesome and had a great voice. And, in true Sandi style, I hung around and got to meet Ryan after. He was a sweetheart, and it's so obvious that he loves his fans and loves what he does. His passion is contagious. That night made me even more of a fan, and I can't wait for the next time I get to see him live. I want to see him go all the way.

Serena was cool too. I'd never heard of her before, but definitely enjoyed her set, and even bought some of her music.

April 14, 2010: Muse with Silversun Pickups (Oracle Arena, Oakland)
Nikki's birthday present. We knew it would be awesome. I'd watched YouTube videos of Muse shows, and they were pretty epic. Then we got there (missed the opening band, Silversun Pickups) and I learned the true meaning of face-melting. Holy freaking Lord, Matt Bellamy is... there just aren't words. From the first moments of the intro, to the first song, Uprising, to hearing my favorite song, Starlight, to the truly incredible encore, every single song had the entire place going nuts. We were screaming lyrics, cheering, dancing, basically having the time of our lives. The eyeball balloons with confetti were a nice touch too, for crowd-surfing purposes. But the encore... "Stockholm Syndrome" and "Knights of Cydonia." Matt Bellamy was doing things with that guitar that I'm pretty sure are illegal. I'm not going to lie- it was hot. "Stockholm Syndrome" has some of the best guitar work I've ever seen/heard in my life, and "Knights" is just epic. It was truly a great concert moment, and dare I say, this was the best show I've ever been to. So much so that we bought tickets to see Muse again in Sacramento in September. Worth every single penny, and so much more.

April 25, 2010: Jennifer Knapp with Pawnshop Kings and Amy Courts (Red Devil Lounge, San Francisco)
I have been waiting for this show for the last seven years, no lie. When Jenn disappeared off the face of the planet, I wanted to cry. I love her voice and her music so much, and there just wasn't anyone who even came close. I listened to the albums I had, but it was killing me that she was just gone. And then, she came back, and it was a happy day in the Ady family. I preordered her record and bought tickets for her show ASAP. Fast forward to the show. Pawn Shop Kings and Amy Courts were great- bought both of their albums. Jenn came out and started "A Little More," and I'm not ashamed to admit I teared up. I had been dying to hear that voice for so long, and it was even better than I remembered. She's better than ever. She's still the same, wonderful, funny Jenn that I remember, having fun on stage, pouring herself into her music. She played her old stuff, and some of her new stuff. The new songs were fantastic. The album dropped today, and I'm already addicted.

May 3, 2010 Green River Ordinance with Angel Taylor and Matt Hires (Cafe du Nord, San Francisco)
I wanted to go to this show so bad, and it didn't look like I was going to be able to go. No one to go with, and if Chris went, no one to watch Jack. Well, it all worked itself out. The wonderful guys of GRO answered my twitter question asking what time they would actually take the stage, and and they answered 9:30. It was 7:30 at this point. Nikki graciously offered to make sure the baby stayed asleep while we were gone, and Chris and I left on our impromptu date night. The show was at Cafe du Nord, which we LOVED when we saw Ryan Star there, so we were excited for another show there. We missed Angel Taylor entirely, but saw Matt Hires (who I had never heard of) and was impressed, especially by the whistling. Haha. He has a great sound, one that I'm enjoying greatly. Ended up buying his music. GRO was so awesome. I heard about them through Twitter as well (via Ryan Star and the Cook boys), and bought the album earlier this year, and have had a BLAST listening to it. It's so easy to listen to, and I listen to it often. So awesome. The show was fun, especially watching Jamey, the lead guitarist. He had this huge smile on his face the entire time, it literally made me smile seeing his joy. I loved hearing "Endlessly" live, and my favorite GRO song "Learning." Then they did something really cool and came down on the floor and did "On Your Own" completely unplugged. That was a cool moment. After the show, Jamey was gracious enough to let me check out his guitar and chat with Chris and me for a bit. He's a sweetheart, as was Josh, the lead singer. SUCH a good band, and I would love to see them again!

May 7, 2010 Lifehouse and Daughtry with Cavo (Arco Arena, Sacramento)
Missed most of Cavo. What we heard was good though. Lifehouse was as good as I remember them. The new album is great, and it was cool getting to hear those songs live. "Halfway Gone" was really fun to sing along to, just as I imagined. Bryce sang lead on "Wrecking Ball," which was rather impressive! "First Time" was my feel-good moment of the night, my face hurt from smiling. That song makes me so happy it's ridiculous. Then Daughtry came out and totally rocked! He puts on a great show. Loved hearing "Life After You" and "September," as well as "Over You." Midway through his show, he came out and did "In The Air Tonight" which made me squeal (yes, I did). He also did "Rebel Yell" during his encore, and ended with a mashup of "Home" and "You And Me" in a duet with Jason Wade that caused my sister to be momentarily paralyzed with joy. Met Chris Daughtry after the show, he was totally gracious and awesome, and smelled really good (Nikki actually said it out loud, and he heard her. Haha). Met his bassist and his drummer. Robin, his drummer, is one of the most personable artists I've ever met. I hope he sticks around, meeting him was one of the highlights of the night. Saw Bryce from Lifehouse too. Another really good night in the life of Sandi and concerts.

To come: U2 with The Fray on June 16
Muse on September 26th

Highs and lows

2010-02-09T23:39:00.000-08:00

Why does it always seem like there's a low right after a week of constant highs? I mean, it makes sense, but it's still frustrating. Last night's run sucked. I was a full minute slower per mile on average, and I seriously had to fight and push myself to get that last half mile done. I wanted to cry at the end. My legs felt like lead, I felt like I was moving so slow, and I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that I was doing so poorly. There was no groove. At all.

I only felt better about it after talking to a coworker of mine who also runs, and reminded me that the fact that I finished such a difficult run is an accomplishment. I didn't give up, I didn't quit. Yes, I did consider these things last night when I was thinking about it, but it definitely feels good to have the affirmation from someone else. Hopefully tomorrow's run goes more smoothly.

In other news, I'm dying to go to a concert. After having gone to a few concerts in the last six months or so (David Cook in September and Switchfoot in January) I'm realizing just how much I miss concertgoing. When I was in college, I felt like I was always going to concerts of some kind. Either it was a Christian music thing through Chris' dad, or Amanda and I were going to concerts. Of course, when we got married and started paying more bills and student loans and all that jazz, there just wasn't money to keep up the habit. But splurging and going to something every now and again is totally doable. And it's good for my soul. I don't know if I connect with music differently than most people do, but to me, one of the best feelings in the entire world is being at a live show of a band I love and letting the music wash over me. It's like it's part of me. I can sing, scream, jump up and down, or just listen. And for that little while, everything is absolutely right in the world. The everyday stresses of life disappear.

Now I realize that living in my musical fantasy world on a regular basis would be unhealthy. Of course, I realize that I have responsibilities to myself, my husband and son, and to my job. But the more I do this whole "mom" thing, the more I realize that it's important for me to still go after the things I care about. Granted, I won't be reliving my concertgoing ways of years past. But I definitely haven't grown out of this concert thing, and probably never will :) Hence, I am SUPER excited for mine and Chris' fifth wedding anniversary this year... U2!! It's something we're both looking so forward to, and a concert experience I think will be incredible.

So many wonderful memories I have of moments in concerts that I will never forget.
-Jon Foreman singing "Only Hope" with an acoustic guitar and cello at SWC in 2007.
-Celine Dion singing "To Love You More" when I saw her in 2008.
-The first time I heard Yellowcard perform "Believe"... no words to describe that.
-Hearing Dropkick Murphys perform "Barroom Hero" at Warped Tour
-Chris Tomlin "How Great Is Our God" tour- Seriously amazing. I will remember this concert forever.
-Switchfoot's "Hello Hurricane" Tour 2010- whole album from start to finish. Holy. Cow.
-Jennifer Knapp in Rocklin, CA on 3/28/01. One of the greatest nights of my life.
-Jars of Clay (with Jennifer Knapp opening)- great lineup. And I got to hear both "Flood" and "Love Song for a Savior" live. 2 of my favorite songs ever.
-The Ataris/Further Seems Forever/Juliana Theory/Yellowcard- because it was Nikki's first concert ever, and every single band was amazing.
-Third Day at Spirit West Coast. I was already in my tent, getting ready to go to sleep, and I could hear the echo from the main stage of "Agnus Dei" both Mac singing, and the crowd singing along - it was seriously one of the most beautiful things. A Mac Powell lullaby.
-Every time TSO plays "Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24." I still get teary eyed and get goosebumps whenever I hear the cello at the beginning.
-Seeing Lifehouse. I can't pick one single moment from that concert. Between the pure joy of getting to be with Nikki as she watched her favorite band in the world and the fact that Lifehouse is just awesome, the whole thing is just one big happy memory for me. Plus Matt Nathanson opened, and I heard "Come On Get Higher."

So those are just a few. Lots of concerts, lots of memories. Hoping for a lifetime more, and hoping that Jack loves music just as much as Chris and I do.

Great week

2010-02-05T23:25:00.001-08:00

It's been a good week, as far as my runs go. This week, I did something I never thought I'd ever want to do, let alone be able to. Every one of my runs was 5K+. I ran 10.3 miles in one week. Holy. Freaking. Cow. And you know what? It felt fantastic. My average mile time is improving even more, my endurance is improving, and I'm still having a great time with it.

I couldn't have done it without my trusty playlist. So a few thank yous to some bands/artists that helped make this week possible:

Switchfoot- My favorite band in the entire world. "Awakening", "Needle In A Haystack Life", "The Sound"and "Chem 6A" are on my current running mix. And whenever I switch up the mix, there's always at least one song of theirs :)

Muse- "Uprising" and "Starlight" have been on every running mix I've ever had. Thanks :)

David Cook- "Heroes" has also been on every running mix. I love it.

Our Lady Peace- "Starseed" is one of my favorite running songs.

Paper Tongues- "Ride To California" is amazing. So glad we randomly saw you in SF!

Paramore- "Brick By Boring Brick" and "Ignorance" are fun :)

A plethora of rap/hip hop stuff that I don't usually listen to, but is fantastic to run to. Thanks Chris :)

And finally- my thanks to my PowerSong for getting me through those tough spots: Skillet's "Hero"

Definitely a week to remember.

Total miles run (since October 1st, 2009): 116.03

I did it!!!

2010-01-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

Sunday, I reached my 100 mile milestone. Never in my entire life did I ever believe I would ever run by choice (rather than P.E. teacher mandate, and even then...I walked. haha) and CERTAINLY never 2-3 miles at a time, multiple times a week. It's a testament to willpower for sure. I wanted to give up a few different times, but now I'm SO glad that I stuck with it. I feel like a superhero.

Today's run was 3.27 miles. I ran a 5k tonight, just because I felt like it. The fact that I want to, and can do it absolutely staggers me. I'm pumped, stoked, etc. There are not words for the excitement. I am however bummed, because I learned that Nike+ has decided to discontinue the milestone certificates. They recently migrated to a whole new platform and lost some of the "classic" capabilities. According to the Nike representative in the forums, they're not coming back either. LAME.

In other news: In my Across America challenge, I crossed the border from Oregon into Washington!! In the Healthiest County challenge, I've decided that Amanda and I can totally take Alameda County down. I need to figure out where on Route 66 I am. For my 210 in 2010 challenge, I'm at just under 3o miles. So far, so good. Set some new frequency/distance goals, hope I can stick with them.

49 miles until GREEN!
105.72 total miles!

2010!

2010-01-02T22:47:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's here! Last year went by so fast it's amazing! But I am looking forward to this year. Lots of cool stuff coming up in the near future: Jack's first birthday, sister-in-law's wedding, best friend's wedding, a few more weddings, Nikki's graduation, etc. It's going to be a great year.

I have lots of goals for this year. More like hopes, really. I've learned that making resolutions pretty much sets you up for failure, so I like to think of things that would be nice to accomplish this year. If I do, I do, if I don't, there's always next year. Chris and I have a notebook where we wrote our hopes and dreams, both short term goals and long term wishful thinking. That's what I'm going to concentrate on this year. Most of it pertains to self-betterment and improving our (already awesome) marriage. What I love about it is that we came up with this list together, and while we do have some individual stuff listed, there's a lot we can work for together.

I'm going to try really hard to get back on track with menu planning as well! For this week:

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner (pancakes, turkey bacon, eggs)
Monday: Hamburgers and garlic fries
Tuesday: Trader Joe's orange chicken and rice
Wednesday: Frito Pies
Thursday: Pasta
Friday: Italian chicken and scalloped potatoes
Saturday: SWITCHFOOT CONCERT (eating out)

...and so we'll see if I stick to the plan.

I've also decided that I want to live more simply, with less unnecessary stuff. Less stuff means less clutter and better organization. I've already done this to some degree with my clothes and shoes I got rid of a ton of stuff when we moved, so my wardrobe is less than half the size it was prior to Jack's birth. The garage is next on my anti-clutter crusade. We have a ton of stuff that never got unpacked or moved inside, and if I haven't needed it since April, I should re-think how much I really need it at all.

Earlier this week I went through Jack's room and put away all the too small clothes and outgrown stuff. It's much more user-friendly now. I do, however, need another storage bin or two for his stuff. For now, we're keeping his old stuff just in case the next baby is a boy too. Today, I attacked the pantry, refrigerator and freezer. All three are now to my standards. Muahahaha.

This week I hope to start the garage, and spend some time cleaning my bedroom (more than the cursory tidying it gets daily). We're hosting Anto's baby shower next weekend, so the house has to be more or less in order by then.

And amidst all the madness, I'll find time to run. I've missed it so much it's ridiculous. I pulled my right quad doing Wii Fit (lame, right?) and the one run I did manage to get through hurt like crazy. I took Wednesday and Friday off from running, but I made sure I spent time doing low impact exercises on those days so that I wasn't completely lazy, but I am so excited that the quad is healed up enough for me to run again. YAY!

Oh, and I'm going to have a chat with a friend who is a realtor- there are three properties Chris and I are curious about. They're not glamorous by any means, but depending on how things line up, it might be a good financial move. I'm not wanting to jump into anything crazy right now- but some interesting opportunities are coming up and I want to know my options just in case everything works out in our favor.

Okay. I've rambled for long enough now. Wii Fit, then bed!

Happy New Year!

Joy to the World!

2009-12-25T18:02:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas today, and I sit here watching my son stare at wonder at the bright assortment of colorful and noisy toys that now reside on my living room floor. This Christmas is pretty much everything that I could have imagined and more. Because Jack is now 10 months old, he's big enough to have fun opening and playing with his presents, and it's SO FUN to watch the joy on his face. It is truly better to give than receive, and this year has proven that in a BIG way having a little one around! I can't wait until he's old enough to understand the true meaning of Christmas, but for now, playing with his new toys, crying through the Christmas Eve service at church and trying to eat the Baby Jesus from his Fisher Price nativity will suffice!

In other news- The Reindeer Run that we were going to do turned into the Prancer PowerWalk. As a Christmas gift to ourselves, we decided that we could walk our workout today. We still got in the mileage, we just took a break on intensity. Still had a great time, and got to spend the workout talking to my best friend which was reminiscent of the gym periods we would spend walking around the blacktop or gym. Jack had fun "playing" basketball with Daddy and Uncle Stephen while Mommy and Auntie Manda walked, then he and Uncle Stephen played with the blades of grass. So cute! And I got to wear my new gear that my mom got me for Christmas. (PS: Never did I imagine I would actually be asking for running clothes for Christmas. NEVER.)

Thanks to my amazing husband, we're going to see Switchfoot on January 9th in San Francisco. So excited- Switchfoot has been my favorite band for like a decade. I walked down the aisle at my wedding to "Only Hope." Their music has touched me so much. We've had the opportunity to meet the guys on several occasions, and they're all wonderful people. We even met Jon and Tim's dad at a county fair Switchfoot played several years back before The Beautiful Letdown dropped. Ah, memories. But I get to see them in just a few weeks, and that's awesome! Chris also got me a gorgeous NOTW shirt from c28.

I'm now the proud owner of a Wii Fit, also! That should be interesting, to say the least.

Okay, off to feed the boys! Merry Christmas everyone!

How is this year almost gone??

2009-12-17T00:05:00.000-08:00

Wow- it's halfway through December. I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by! So many changes, so many blessings, so many challenges. It's been the best year of my life so far.

I finished 5k for the first time last week, in just under 40 minutes. I was shocked I did it, but pleased! My average mile time is where it should be again. I've been slowly increasing time and distance, and it feels so good! I can see my body changing, and it's incredible. I love running (except when I don't. LOL!).

I'm almost done with the book Manda gave me for my birthday- Running For Mortals. I'm loving it. It's funny and insightful and is full of awesome running knowledge and tips, as well as training programs. It's inspiring to read that people who started out in worse shape than me are running marathons. And that being a runner doesn't mean having the stereotypical "runner's body," it's more your perception of yourself as an athlete. I'm going to be honest- it's tough to think of myself as an athlete of any sort. However, I'm working hard on changing my thinking too, and I KNOW I have a lot to work on there. I'm the queen of faulty self-perception, but at least I'm aware of that fact and can work to improve it.

So suffice it to say I'm working hard, both mentally and physically. Just taking things one day at a time, and looking forward to my first 5k race early next year. Maybe one day I'll run a marathon. That would rule all.

Total miles run: 66.10

Running (and other randomness) Update

2009-12-02T22:52:00.000-08:00

It's been a rough week in the world of running, for me anyway. The main challenge this week has been being sick. I've been fighting a cold for about a week now, but I was in denial until about Monday night. As a result, my workouts have felt like a joke. Friday I tried to work out at the gym at work, but only made it about 12 minutes before switching to the elliptical machine for the remainder of my workout. Forgot how much that thing kicks your butt. Not even my music was getting me through that one! Ended up having a nice conversation with Jojo which was cool because I never really get to see him anymore since my department relocated to the 4th floor. But I digress...

I guess the important part is that I actually got through the workouts with some semblance of forward motion. I've tried really hard to push myself without PUSHING myself, and I think I've done okay. All in all, it hasn't been bad. My average mile time, which had been steadily improving, declined a bit. But not too bad, all things considered. I think today's run actually made me feel better, believe it or not. Hopefully today was the end of the sub-par workouts and Friday's run will feel more normal. In anticipation, I'll switch up my running playlist. Should be fun. :)

But anyway- on to the main reason for updating today. As of today, I have completed a grand total of 51.65 miles!! HUGE milestone for me. I feel fantastic (save for this cold I'm getting over) and am looking forward to more major milestones. Still hoping I can complete a 5k sometime in January. Not sure if I'll be ready or not, but I'm sure going to try. Doing pretty good on all of the challenges I'm currently part of. In my Run Across America challenge, I'm just past Timber, Oregon. Go team. I joined the Healthiest County in CA challenge representing Solano. LOL. I like that Solano County's perceived health depends on the efforts of Amanda and myself. Literally, we are the only people on team Solano. We're currently in 11th place. I find the whole situation quite funny, but also motivating. We've gotta represent!!

In other news, my son has learned how to walk with a walking toy. It resembles a lawnmower, really. He still isn't walking completely on his own, but he's having fun toddling about with his toy and causing mischief and mayhem. So cute. I love him. Also, he saw the doctor today for a rash. It turned out to be nothing, but he ended up with medicine for his belly button which is STILL giving us trouble. He has scar tissue from the huge granuloma he had and needs some sort of ointment to get it to go away. Yuck. But on the upside, Dr. M has cleared him for regular, plain ol' cows milk. SO excited. Formula is crazy expensive, even if we didn't have to buy much of it, it still saves us a significant amount to not have to buy it at all. SWEET!

Finally, my dress for Manda's wedding arrived last weekend and Jack and I went on a field trip to Roseville to pick it up on Monday. It's absolutely perfect. I'm looking so forward to getting to wear such a gorgeous dress! And of course, looking forward to my best friend getting married to a wondeful guy(but that was totally a given)!

Gratitude.

2009-11-26T01:26:00.001-08:00

I'm definitely a subscriber to the idea that we should be counting our blessings and thanking God for the gifts He has given us everyday. That doesn't stop me from loving Thanksgiving though, and the reminder that it is of just how fortunate I am compared to so many other people.

Being a listmaker by nature, every year I compile a list of what I'm thankful for. This year is no exception- it's been such an amazing year.

I am thankful for:

-God's love. It's amazing to me that the Creator of the universe loves me unconditionally and forever. He bestows his grace, mercy and forgiveness even when I don't think I'm deserving of it.

-My amazing husband. Chris and I have been together for more than 8 and a half years, and married for 4 and a half. He's stuck by me through the good, the bad, and the ugly. He survived my pregnancy (!) and stood by my side as our son came into the world. I couldn't think of any other person on this planet that I'd rather have standing next to me through it all. He's the best husband I could ever want or imagine, and he's the best daddy our little boy could have.

-My sweet baby Jack. No one can fully explain what happens to your heart when you have a child. I've never loved anyone or anything on this earth like I love Jack. He is my joy. Seeing him smile and hearing him laugh- even just seeing him- makes every sacrifice Chris and I have made worth it. He is the most precious gift I've been entrusted with. I'm also thankful that he was born healthy and has stayed that way for the most part.

-My family. They're the best. My mom is freaking amazing. No one is luckier than I in the mom department. My siblings (both natural and acquired) are the greatest, and my extended family is so fun. I'm also thankful that I've been able to connect with my amazing cousins in Texas this year, and hope I get to see them in the not-so-distant future.

-My friends. Old, new, whatever. I love you guys.

-All the people who helped us out in any way after Jack was born. We appreciated it more than you will ever know.

-My job. It may not be glamorous, but it allows me to help provide for my family. In today's world, I am beyond fortunate.

-The men and women keeping us safe at home and overseas. I love this country, and I'm glad that we have such dedicated people serving to protect us.

-My newfound love of running. May it always be so.

-The resolutions to some decidedly "un-awesome" situations. I'm so very thankful for favorable endings, forgiveness, and restoration.

-Music. May I never have to live without it.

-A multitude of other mundane things like del taco chili fries, sonic cherry limeades, sophie the giraffe, books, Love Actually, sausage mcmuffins, mountain dew, etc.

Quick Update

2009-11-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

This last week has been AMAZING as far as running goes.

Friday night I feel like I had my "breakthrough" workout. The one where the heavens open, the light shines down, and suddenly, I can run. I found my groove, happy place, whatever you want to call it. I got to the place where it seems like I'm hypnotized by my music and my stride, and I'm not constantly thinking about when this interval will end. I'm actually covering up the display on the treadmill so that I'm not obsessing over it. And it works. My runs have gotten exponentially better, and I feel fantastic.

When I started this journey, running for 1 minute was tough on me. I got winded, I got tired, my legs hurt, etc. I knew that if I stuck with it, my endurance would improve, but it was such a big leap! Friday night, I ran for 10 straight minutes, took a 2 minute walking break, and then ran another 8 minute stretch before I cooled down. Tonight, I ran for 13 minutes, took a 2 minute break, and continued to run for 9 minutes. My average mile time dropped down to 12:23, definitely a personal best.

All that to say is that I feel pretty unstoppable right now, and THAT feeling is made of awesome.

Total Miles Run: 37.19
Total Weight Lost (since October 5, 2009): 7.5 lbs.

Updates!

2009-11-12T22:13:00.000-08:00

3 major running milestones this week (for me anyway):
-Passed my "marathon mark" (26.2 miles) total miles run
-Graduated to Nike Level Orange (30 miles run)
-Got my lowest average mile time so far (13 minutes even)

I can't believe I love this so much. Yeah, it's hard work and the workouts are challenging, but I feel so good afterward and I love watching my miles add up. It's addicting.

I had my 25th birthday last week, and used my birthday money and giftcards to buy myself an Ipod touch. And even with birthday money, I have to find a great deal. So I ended up spending $260 for the new 32 gig Ipod touch which thanks to Target last week, also came with a $25 gift card that I used to buy a pair of skullcandy headphones. It felt victorious- I now have $10 leftover on my giftcard to use for whatever. Thanks everyone for contributing to my awesome new ipod! And now I'll probably sell the old one on Craigslist unless I find better use for it.

And thanks to Manda and Stephen, I have awesome new music for the aforementioned Ipod. Switchfoot's new album, Hello Hurricane, dropped on the 10th and it's amazing. Totally reminded me WHY they've been my favorite band for pretty much ever.

Bought my dress for Manda's wedding, and it's freaking gorgeous. It's so new, in fact, that there's not even a picture of it on David's Bridal's website. But for the record, it's short, cotton sateen with a y neck (interesting neckline, very cool). I'm excited about my choice of dress. Now I just need to find some killer shoes and I'll be one hot maid of honor. My dress is supposed to arrive at the end of December, so I'll be antsy until I can try it on! We had such fun yesterday in Roseville, and on our run after.

Planned the menu SO WELL this week. Haven't had to deviate/get fast food yet. Love it. Weeks like this thrill me because it cuts spending. On the downside, I bought tickets to see U2. While it didn't destroy the budget, it wasn't exactly "frugal" of me. Oh well. It's U2, therefore worth it. I had enough willpower to pass up a pair of shoes at Kohls, which was also exciting. I went on a crazy coupon clipping spree as well which will help matters. PS: Manda, if you need Michael's coupons let me know and I'll save mine for you.

Jack has learned to scale the stairs, and now has enough endurance to crawl around the entire downstairs (that we refert to as "the racetrack" due to the layout), so we really can't take our eyes off of him for a split second. Kid's gonna be walking any day now. He's so cute- I love him love him love him.

More Running Stuff

2009-10-31T22:51:00.001-07:00

Joined 2 challenges on NikePlus. One is the 210 in 2010 challenge, which should be fun to try. The other is Run Across America, which I saw on Manda's blog and it looked pretty cool so I joined and reposting the info. Long story short, the miles you run are translated into the route that Paul Staso ran in 2006. You start in Oregon and if you actually get around to finishing, you end up in Delaware. Full route can be seen here: http://www.pacetrek.com/usa/run_across_america_route.htm

I wonder how far I'll actually make it. It's kind of fun to see progress in terms of landmarks though.

In other news, I'll pass 20 miles on my next run, which is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8am with Manda. I didn't think I'd make it to 10 without quitting, much less 20, so I'm incredibly proud of my small victories. Per the incentives I promised myself for sticking with it, I get new clothes when I finish 50 miles, so I'm almost halfway there!

Also, as it is after Halloween I can officially start listening to TSO. Just kidding- the non Christmas stuff anway. Night Castle is amazing, and I'm so excited to finally get to hear Carmina Burana. It's one of the songs I look forward to hearing every year at the show. Chris' quote of the night (while listening to Carmina Burana with me): "They're even hot when I picture them in my head singing this!" Hahahaha.

Running stuff

2009-10-30T23:05:00.000-07:00

Weekly total: 6.94 miles
Grand total: 19.86 miles

Might try and squeeze in a run this weekend sometime, if I have time. If not, Monday for sure, and I'll definitely pass the 20 mile mark this week! This morning's run was the best yet, endurance wise. I made it through the longer intervals, and next week I'll work on tacking on more running time to each interval. Eventually it'll be time to decrease the walking breaks. Yikes. I'm pleased though, with my progress and pleased that I'm loving it as much as I am.

Follow up to last post

2009-10-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Went to the gym last night (it was too dark to run outside), and it was fantastic. Not only did I finish my run with no knee pain, but the speed consistency of being on a treadmill resulted in my longest run to date. I was so excited and encouraged.

Will be back in the gym tomorrow morning at 6:30 for the second run this week. According to NikePlus.com, I will still make one of my goals (12 runs in 4 weeks), but the 25 miles by 11/10 will be a little tougher. I'll have to see how it goes. But man it feels good to be back.

In other news, my birthday is a week from today. 25. Good Lord.

YAY!! Recovered!!

2009-10-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a week since the disastrous run where I hurt my knee. It's completely back to normal (as far as I can tell... I haven't tried to run yet) so I'm going to for my first run tonight!! I'm so excited to get back on track. It was a very discouraging week for me though. Nothing like getting all gung-ho about something and then having it crash down around you so soon after beginning. Well, as far as I can see, it's over now and I can just jump back in (albeit carefully).

Menu Plan:
Monday: Orange Chicken and rice
Tuesday: mac and cheese casserole
Wednesday: Lemon pepper chicken and rice-a-roni
Thursday: pork chops and mashed potatoes
Friday: Country Faire @ VCS- eat out
Saturday: Hamburger Helper

In other news, Jack is going to be the cuteset aviator ever on Halloween. My child is adorable.

Baby food was on sale at Target today, so I picked a few jars up of stuff that either I can't make myself or would be too much trouble to make myself. He will have chicken, beef, turkey, lasagna, and various fruit medleys. I made a batch of squash last week for him as well. I also bought regular and peach applesauce for him (from the regular, non-baby aisle, wayyyy cheaper that way). My plan is to make some green beans and spinach for him this week at some point. I love that I can make baby food so cheaply, then I can actually be patient and wait for the good sales on the pre-made stuff.

Just made the holiday budget, and I'm thrilled to say we will be able to do Christmas without a credit card again this year. Chris and I are horrible at sticking to gift budgets. We love buying things for people and in the past have definitely gone pretty high over our intended spending to get "nice" gifts. This year, we're going with creativity.

There are two splurges coming up though. One is that we're going to buy tickets to see U2 in June in Oakland. The concert is on June 16, which is just before our anniversary. We thought it would be a really fun way to spend our 5th anniversary. The tickets go on sale next Monday, so as long as they're not insanely expensive, that's a plan.

The second is that we go see the Tran-Siberian Orchestra every year for Christmas, and we're going to try to go again this year. No nice seats though, nosebleed is fine. We've been going for years so we know it's not about the view, it's about the music. And we're very excited for that as well.

frustrated.

2009-10-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

So after my happy post about how much I love running from last week, I find myself laying on the couch nursing my poor knee that I managed to hurt on my Monday run. It's a million times better than it was on Monday night though, so I'm sure I'm well on the road to healing. I think I'm going to repeat last week's intervals though, just to be on the safe side.

Also, I rejoined the gym. We canceled our membership last month when trying to save money since we had to put Jack in daycare, but really, it's not that expensive for just me to go. And I know that when winter rears its ugly head and it's too dark to run both in the morning and evening, or it's cold and rainy, I'll have somewhere to go so I'm not just making excuses. Also, there is an elliptical machine which is an amazing way to work out with low impact to the knees, if for some reason mine decides to give out again. I would really prefer to run outside, but this is definitely a good backup plan.

Anyway, I'm still planning on trying to run my first 5k in January. Gotta keep that goal in mind.

The menu plan pretty much went out the window this week. Due to the knee injury, I didn't feel like cooking one night, so my chicken and rice became Digiorno pizza. Luckily, my sis and bro-in-law are amazing and Nikki made lasagna one night and Aaron grilled tri-tip one night. Tonight we went out to dinner with our best friends, tomorrow Chris is going to dinner with one of the kids from the youth group, and Saturday we're going out with our friend Melanie. Have tentative plans to see Zombieland on Sunday... we'll see. It looks to be a busy weekend. I'll have to put something together for next week and see how I do.

We're almost to the end of the month and my checkbook is in pretty good shape. Love the months with an extra paycheck, especially when they show up right before Christmas. We're in better shape than I expected to be, which is a pleasant surprise. The prospect of buying a house next year is looking like less of a pipe dream and more of a reality, if all goes well. I've been pricing houses and condos in the area, and if I am doing my math right (and we all know it's been awhile) I can buy a condo and my monthly payment AND HOA dues would be less than the rent on an apartment (that is much smaller than said condo). Something to think about.

Jack turned eight months old today, which is nuts. I can't believe how fast time has flown by, it seems like I was pregnant a second ago. I took the time today to write his birth story and remember what a crazy, awesome, and amazing day February 22, 2009 was. My little boy is growing up so fast on me! He's such a sweet and delightful baby, we were so blessed to get an "easy" kid. I love him more than I ever thought possible.

And that's about it for this week. Hopefully football goes my way... GO MIGHTY PUPPIES!

Finished 2nd week of running!

2009-10-17T21:41:00.001-07:00

So I'm actually sticking with this whole running thing. I've completed my 6th run today, and the second week of my 5k training program. I want to celebrate finishing the program by actually participating in a 5k, and I want it to be epic :)

After some research, I found a running club in San Francisco that hosts a run practically every Sunday and they're in cool places in SF- Crissy Field, Golden Gate Park, Lake Merced, etc. So I have selected my race... there is a 5k through the concourse of the Arts and Sciences Museums and the Conservatory of Flowers. Beautiful area, midway through January. Depending on how my training is going, I'd really like to do the race the week before...a 4.5 mile run around Lake Merced. The reason I want to do this one is because my mom told me that she and my Dad and my uncle would run and ride their bikes there, and I thought it would be really cool to do a race in the same place my parents did. We'll see though... 4.5 miles is unimaginable right now. There are several races at Lake Merced, so I'll get to one eventually!! These runs are nice and cheap too... only $5 a run.

So I'm totally addicted :) I love the high I feel after, even if it feels like I'm going to die, I feel fantastic. It's sad when you start looking into exercise to compliment your exercise... I want to start doing Pilates again on my off days to help boost my core strength for my runs. I'm such a nerd.

Meanwhile, we've managed to stick to the menu plan for most of the week!! I deviated twice... once because we had dinner with my mom, so that meal got skipped and will be making an appearance this week. Second, we went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner on a whim. Totally worth it.

I'm so happy right now. Life is grand.

Wow. I suck at blogging. But anywa..

2009-10-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

I guess being the mommy of a very energetic little boy leaves me with not enough time in the day to do all the things that I need to get done. And then when he's sleeping, it's so tempting to skip all the chores and things I have to do to watch tv, veg out, surf the internet, or any of the things I WANT to do. Blogging is one of these things. But my time management is getting better, as Jack gets more self sufficient and I learn how to do things faster and more efficiently.

So I'd like to take this little opportunity to thank the people in my life who help me get things done, be a better person, and retain my sanity!! First, Chris is the best husband and father imaginable. Period. I could not do this without him. Secondly, my amazing and awesome sister Nikki. The one willing to give up every single day off she had this summer (when she wasn't sick) to babysit so I wouldn't have to part with any hard earned money. The one who volunteers to watch him so that I can have a date night, or a night out with friends, or a half hour to go for a run. She's the best. Also, thanks to my brother (in-law, but whatever) Aaron, who is more than willing to give me a break and play with his nephew. Jack loves his Uncle Aaron, so it's a win-win for all parties involved. To my mom, who has committed her Saturdays to her grandbaby. Thanks to her, Chris and I were able to shift our schedules around enough to only have to have Jack in daycare 2 days a week. Amazing. Finally, to my friends and family who have given advice and been sounding boards, who have given us clothes, toys, food, etc., who have watched Jack (or volunteered to), and to everyone who just loves us- Thanks. There are not words to describe how blessed we are to have the family and friends that we do.

And now on to other stuff. I went to Once Upon a Child today, spent a measly $31, and got 2 sleep sacks (one long sleeved fleece, one short sleeved fleece), 2 plain white long sleeved onesies, a polo long sleeved striped onesie, a brown long sleeved onesie with a guitar on it, a pair of super cute little jeans, and two pairs of blanket jammies. At Babies R Us or Target, even in the best of situations, this same bag of clothes would have cost at least $60, and that's being conservative. Yes, the stuff is used. But you know what? This child is growing so fast it's ridiculous, who cares if it's used as long as it's in good shape. I love that store so much. We find the best deals on stuff, and we can sell things back to them as well, if we decide we need a little extra money.

I also have been working on my menu planning. I'm resolving to do better with this. We save so much money and waste so much less food when I actually plan our meals.
Sunday: garlic herb marinated chicken and rice
Monday: Fend For Yourself (I was in SF with my mom, Jack, and Nikki)
Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner
Wednesday: Tacos, rice and beans
Thursday: Frito Chili Pies
Friday: Mac and Cheese casserole
Saturday: Potato latkes with sour cream and applesauce

Next week I really want to make a pot of stew. We'll see how it goes. And now, to do some more chores before Mr. J wakes up... :)

YAY for Ebates :)

2009-05-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

So, in my quest to frugality, I've been spending tons of time on frugal living blogs, couponing message boards and the like. I've become a coupon fiend. And I found out about this super cool site called Ebates, which is a shopping portal. You get cash back for shopping online as long as you link to the retailer through ebates. So Chris finally got the jean shorts he wanted (through Kohl's, with free shipping and 10% off coupon code) ordered Chris' dad's father's day gift (with 10% off coupon code) and ordered pictures of Jack through Snapfish (10% off coupon code and 20 free prints) and I got 2% cash back on the Kohl's order and 10% back on the other 2 orders, and in August I get a check for all the cash back I earned. Not bad, eh? I just have to remember to order stuff online. Usually you can get coupon codes for 10% off or free shipping or the like. It's awesome... I'm thrilled. When it comes time to buy Jack some 6-9 month and 12 month clothes, I'm using my baby gap gift cards via Ebates and coming out ahead. YAY!!!

So like 3 weeks later...

2009-05-13T00:17:00.001-07:00

We are all moved in to the new house!! Not completely unpacked, but both families have all of their belongings here, both old apartments are vacated! It feels awesome! We are saving so much money and gaining so much as far as fun goes. We love it. Currently, I'm sitting in the game room with Chris and my bro-in-law watching them play X-Box. Jack is sleeping peacefully, and even though it's been a crazy week, I'm looking forward to my date with my hubby tomorrow.

Mother's Day was fantastic as well, I thoroughly enjoyed my first one and Jack and Chris got me a beautiful Willow Tree figurine of a mother holding her baby, called "Angel of Mine" which is what I call Jack. So sweet. Didn't really get the menu plan done this week... trying to get better at it. Since Ki cooks too, we're figuring out a system where we see how many nights all of us are home for dinner and then splitting the cooking. It's worked really well so far.

Anyway, I'm heading for bed. It's hot tonight and I want to take a shower and crash.
YAY!

Looking forward to next week....

2009-04-18T22:16:00.000-07:00

It's crazy packing time here in the Ady household... the living room is currently a weird conglomeration of stuff including a chest freezer, storage tubs, packed boxes, baby toys (swing, activity gym, and bouncer), a pile of stuff to shred, trash, and a mini fridge. I'm going to go nuts trying to get this all done. Luckily we were able to get ahold of a good number of strong boxes so we can get a good start. I don't want to have my kitchen in shambles, and I want to get as much of it packed as possible without ruining my efficiency. Also, with the moving expenses coming up, I have to do everything I can to use what's in my pantry so that I won't have to do much grocery shopping. That in mind, I'm trying to put together my menu for the week:

Sunday: Chicken strips breaded in panko with potato cheddar pierogis
Monday: Chicken raviolis with alfredo sauce and garlic bread
Tuesday: Vodka cream pasta with leftover garlic bread
Wednesday: Fend for yourself
Thursday: Hamburgers and oven fries
Friday: Breakfast for dinner (pancakes, eggs, bacon)
Saturday: Eating out (since the kitchen will be packed up at this point)

Of course, this is subject to change. Luckily the shopping list will be short and cheap at this point. And because I'm using things I have in the freezer/pantry, there will be less I need to move to the new place. Hopefully I can hold off on buying staples until we move too.

Well, Jack is being fussy and Chris has been with him for the last 4o minutes to give me a break, bless his heart. It's about time for that car ride, hopefully it will work.
Ciao!

Not quite sure what to do with my blog...

2009-04-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

It seems like I could go a few directions with this blog, I'll probably end up combining all of it somehow! It's served me for menu planning for a few weeks now, but I'd also like to focus a bit on personal finance type stuff and of course, life with an infant. Hopefully it'll stay cohesive and not jump all over the place like crazy! But if it does, oh well. That's my life. I don't necessarily *want* a topical blog, but I'd like to have a few areas of focus.

I'm excited to be moving into the house with Ki and Aaron next week, not only will it save us quite a bit of money every month, but it will be really fun. I took out Martha Stewart's book (if you could call something this gigantic a book) on housekeeping from the library, so hopefully it will transform me into a perfect housewife. Haha. Right now we're lucky if the house is picked up and the baby isn't crying! Jack has a little cold today, his first cold, so that's too bad. He's sneezing and coughing and is congested. It's so sad, poor little guy. Hopefully the doctor will tell us how to make him better faster so he won't be so uncomfortable.

Happy Easter (and menu planning and other randomness)

2009-04-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!! It was Jack's first Easter, so that was really fun. We dressed him up in a little outfit that had a bunny on it and said "My First Easter" and had bunnies on the feet, and a bunny tail on the butt. SO CUTE. Went to church, went for an Easter egg hunt at Mom's, then went to Olivia's for the rest of the day.

Today is officially the last day of Chris' bonding leave, so he goes back to work tomorrow. He's so ready to be back to work... 7 weeks is a long time for him to be away from his beloved tires. It'll be tough for me since I've had him here constantly to help, but I'll be fine.

Anyways, the meal plan for the week. Last week's crockpot beef stroganoff was fantastic. I was thrilled, and Chris loved it. Go team!

Sunday: Easter Dinner
Monday: Crock pot apples and pork chops with mashed potatoes
Tuesday: Tacos, rice, and beans
Wednesday: FFY
Thursday: Orange chicken, white rice and stir fry veggies
Friday: Fish 'n' chips
Saturday: Panko breaded chicken tenders and potato cheddar pierogis

A few of this week's menu items came courtesy of my Trader Joe's shopping trip last week. I'm excited to try the orange chicken from there. The apple and pork chop dinner is something I found on a food blog (can't remember whose!) and is my one new recipe for the week, and also my one crock pot recipe (as I swore I'd try one new recipe a week, and that I would use my crock pot once a week). We'll see how it goes, I'm thinking it's pretty hard to mess up.

Ciao!

Weekly Menu Plan

2009-04-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

It's Monday today, but I'll go ahead and post my menu plan which runs from Sunday to Saturday. I'm trying this new thing where instead of grocery shopping once a month for everything I think I'll need, I stocked up on staples and shop once a week for only what I'll use. This works well, as I don't end up with unnecessary items in the fridge and pantry. Things don't expire. And I look at what I have in the fridge and what's on sale and plan my menu around that. I also pick up staples I'm running low on or that are on sale, and lunch/breakfast items. It's proving to be money saving for the most part. Some weeks will be more expensive than others, like when I have to buy a bag of chicken or the 5 lbs. of ground beef or pork that I buy in bulk at Costco and portion out. But for the most part, it's fabulous. For this week's menu, I spent only $45.

Sunday: Italian Style Mini Meatloaves and mashed potatoes.
Monday: Hamburgers on the foreman grill and oven fries (tried putting grill seasoning and worcestershire sauce in the meat, and it was awesome!)
Tuesday: Estofado de Pollo (it's a Peruvian chicken and potato stew) with rice
Wednesday: FFY if we're home by dinnertime
Thursday: Crock pot beef stroganoff with egg noodles
Friday: Mac and cheese casserole
Saturday: Tacos with Mexican rice and refried beans

So far, so good. I'm trying to attempt one new recipe per week, and if Chris approves, it goes on the active roster. This week's new recipe is crock pot beef stroganoff. I shall let you know how it goes.

Praying the end is near...

2009-02-21T00:51:00.000-08:00

Seriously. I'm not sure how much longer I can hang in there... these last few weeks make the rest of my pregnancy look like a walk in the park.

It probably doesn't help that I'm irritated about a variety of things that I really can't do anything about. LAME.

OK. Rant over.

Are we seeing a pattern here?

2009-02-18T03:51:00.000-08:00

Love how all my blog updates are at in the middle of the night/early in the morning. I was actually up late enough to watch Fox and Friends today... PATHETIC. Finished going through all the food blogs I had bookmarked and put all of the recipes into a word document so I can try them. If they work out, I'll print the recipe and put it in the binder. And add it to the word document where I have a list of my tried and true recipes for easy use while menu planning. I feel productive :)
I need to clean the kitchen a bit tonight, but don't feel like it. I have a nagging fear that I'll go into labor and leave the house a filthy mess, so that keeps me on my toes with the cleaning. Currently, there are 2 laundry baskets by my feet that need folding. That's next on the list, since it involves me remaining on my butt on the couch :)

Chris and I were having fun watching Jack move around. My stomach looked so weird but it was so totally cool. As much as I want him out (anytime after 10am tomorrow is fine with everyone apparently), I think I'll miss feeling him. It's the most amazing thing. I don't know if I'll miss being pregnant, though. I'm looking forward to sleeping on my tummy, drinking, and going in hot tubs again. LOL. Speaking of hot tubs, I miss Jon and Tim. I should call them.

Book rec: Stephen Colbert's I Am America and So Can You. This is seriously the funniest book I have ever read. I can't read it at night if I'm in bed because I wake Chris up with my laughing.

And now, I shall (hopefully) clean!!

...sudden urge to start reading cooking blogs...

2009-02-17T02:13:00.000-08:00

Even though I feel NOTHING like cooking. Standing up in the kitchen hurts after awhile, so I can't make anything that requires me to babysit it constantly. Yet in the last few days I've decided that I must start reading all these cooking blogs and bookmarking recipes and telling myself that I will make them. And some of them I will. I found a recipe for teriyaki chicken that looks doable... the sauce is easily put together with stuff I have on hand, and we always have chicken in the freezer. And teriyaki chicken is easily paired with one of my favorite carbs... rice!! I also found a doable recipe for sweet and sour chicken that, again, is easily made with stuff I have. No need to go out and get pre-made marinades.

I decided to give up my ambition of freezer cooking... I realized there are other shortcuts I can take to make my life easier. One of these is to dice my chicken and bag it either in bags of 2 or 4 chicken breasts per freezer bag, so when I'm making chicken soup/estofado de pollo/chicken helper/any other recipe requiring diced chicken, I can just grab a bag of pre-diced chicken and defrost. It will take some extra work when we bring the chicken home, but I'd rather do it all at once than do it every time. Saves me time and washing a cutting board. Also, I have 2 large jars of my homemade vodka cream sauce (so enough for 4 dinners) already frozen. There's a lasagna too. And Chris is not terrible in the kitchen... he may complain, and he may say that he's not good at cooking, but he is quite good at following recipes and can pull together dinner with minimal interference on my part. For this I am grateful. My crock pot is also turning out to be an amazing investment.

I'm trying to get my menu planning consistent also. I admit I'm not very good at this at all. I have the best of intentions, but then dinner rolls around and suddenly I'm craving steak burritos from Baja Fresh. Imagine that. I need to learn to stick to my guns apparently. Oh well. The burritos tasted fantastic.

On the upside, I've been doing a fabulous job keeping the house clean. The kitchen stays clean pretty much all the time now, and since I have made room for everything in all of our cabinets, there's nothing laying around homeless on the counters. I'm very proud of that! My desk is no longer a mess either. I cleaned it, organized it, went through all of the receipts and shred shred shred! I cleaned the corner of the living room where our DVD storage is, putting all of the orphaned wires and video game paraphanalia in the appropriate baskets. It looks SO much better now. Our room is staying clean... or at least my portion of it is. I cleaned out my closet entirely and got rid of probably 10-15 pairs of shoes and a ton of clothes. There's laundry to fold so I'll do that tomorrow. Chris is sleeping and I don't want to wake him up. Our kitchen table needs some work, I'll have to tackle that soon. Jack's room looks great. The only stuff that needs a home is the boppy... I'm pretty sure I'm going to put it in the storage under the bassinet since I'll primarily be feeding him in my room. I'm going to stock the bassinet with some diapes and wipes and stuff too. Then it needs to move to my room and wait for it's occupant! We need to put the carseat in the car and have it inspected as well.

And special thanks to the world's most amazing husband for cleaning both bathrooms spotlessly from top to bottom. They look absolutely fantastic, and I'm no longer paranoid about going into labor and leaving a messy house to come home to. Is it sad that THAT is my source of paranoia?

I need to go to Target tomorrow and pick up a few things. Hopefully I'm feeling up to it. I guess we'll find out, won't we??

Are you considered nocturnal if you don't sleep at all?

2009-02-15T04:29:00.000-08:00

It's 4:30 am and I'm awake. And this is nothing new. The sad part is that I don't sleep during the day... eventually (probably in an hour or so) I'll stumble into bed, maybe fall asleep, maybe not, and catch a few hours. Maybe I'll catch an hour or so nap later. Is this just God's way of preparing me for Jack being here? It sucks though. I would LOVE to sleep, but it's just not that comfortable. Getting up to go to the bathroom is an event (trying to get enough momentum to launch myself out of bed is HARD!), my hips hurt from sleeping on my side, but flipping from one side to another to alleviate the hip pain is a joke. And of course, back and tummy sleeping are off limits. Plus Chris snores. Loudly. And if he's snoring, I CAN'T go back to sleep. If I happen to catch one of the lulls in his snoring, then maybe I'll drift off.

Anyway, Billy Mays and I are going to be BFF, and I'm finding that there are shows on Food Network in the middle of the night that no longer air during the day, so that's nice. Leave it to me to find the upside to this. I SHOULD be taking this time to do useful stuff, but nah, I'll just laze on the couch and hope that sleepiness overtakes me soon.

In these last few days (hopefully) of pregnancy...

2009-02-13T02:19:00.000-08:00

I've come to appreciate just how happy I am. Maybe it's all the hours in the day (and night!) that I can now devote to reflecting and all that jazz, but seriously. Even though I'm exhausted, enormous, and emotional (note the use of alliteration), I'm in bliss. I've always been a happy person. Yes, I have a tendency to worry, and can be very much a control freak, but always happily so. But with Jackson coming, I feel like I'm stepping into what I'm meant to do, and what I've always wanted to do, and that thrills me to no end. Looking back, I see that I'm very lucky. I married the most amazing man I know at 20 years old. We've been together almost 8 years, and married for nearly 4. I graduated from a great university, with honors, with a major that I LOVE. I have a good job for a good company that I'm happy with. I've traveled internationally. I have amazing friends and family. And soon, I'll have a son. And I'm only 24 years old. The best part of it all is that I have no regrets. I'm so thankful that life has worked out the way it has.

So... months later....

2008-10-01T20:38:00.001-07:00

Not that I'm doing well keeping this blog up, but since there is already much baby-related goodness here, I figured I'd go ahead and post that our little munchkin is a boy :)

and one more... cuz I'm so excited!

2008-06-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! THE BABY DUST WORKED!!!

2008-06-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

randomness

2008-04-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

"Crash And Burn" ~Savage Garden

When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold
When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take anymore

Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone

When you feel all alone
And a loyal friend is hard to find
You're caught in a one way street
With the monsters in your head
When hopes and dreams are far away and
You feel like you can't face the day

Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone

'Cause there has always been heartache and pain
And when it's over you'll breathe again
You'll breath again

When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please
To tame your wild wild heart

Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone

************************************************

Savage Garden. Wow. Those were the days indeed. I had totally forgotten about this song, but suddenly remembered it and was compelled to buy it. I love this song so much, and realized that this is truly my desire. I want to be this person. I try to be this person. This song gives me goosebumps because it feels like it was written for me. Not just in a romantic way, but I feel like this is the kind of friend and sister and daughter etc. that I want to be.

Also, it my deepest desire to be loved like this. So totally and completely rescued and wanted. And not just by my husband, but to have friends who I can turn to when I truly need them, and I am truly blessed to say that I have these people in my life. This makes me smile like nothing else.