My Honduras trip is getting close...

SO CLOSE! Oh my... i'm not ready! Today we assembled all of the crafts for the VBS we will be doing... I am so looking forward to this trip. Work is so hectic right now so it will be great to get away from everything -

1000 reasons

So as you may remember one of the VPs at work made a casual gesture in an attempt to get me to quit smoking - $1000 after a year quit; I imagine he never thought I would take him up on it...

Yesterday, Thursday the 26th, completed one year since I quit smoking. I am about 15 pounds heavier but happy to not be enslaved to an addition as detrimental as smoking. Since I have not been drinking for the last 3 months I feel very addiction free right now (pretty liberating) Hmmm if only I could stick to eating better... I am sitting in the Tucson Airport with a rumbly stomach from the huevos rancheros I just ate at the airport cafe... I have a feeling I will be sorry for that meal later...

Anyway... 1 year down and the rest of my life to go as a non-smoker...

Vegas Vacation...

So this weekend most of the gang from church took off for a weekend of fun in Las Vegas. There was six of us in total and we had a blast.

We stayed at the Tropicana; hmmm... There was very interesting mirrors over the bed (very decorative) and the AC in our room did not work very well.

We spent the morning out by the pool. What the Tropicana lacks in rooms they totally make up for in pool area. The party atmosphere was awesome: loud music, lots of fun people, in-pool volley ball, poolside blackjack, BBQ and waterfalls - we all had fun; even Michael who napped the whole time.

Carley had never been to Vegas before so we had to show her all the sights; we walked from one end of the strip to the other and peeked in almost all of the fancy hotels. I got lots of craps playing in and actually came out a few hundred ahead which is always nice...

We ate well too, both the MGM and Luxor buffets were totally yummy.

After staying out till 3am each night we were pretty beat when we left on Saturday afternoon. I was sleepy, but I did make it to church this morning.... (barely)

After church Nicole, Micah and Kaitlyn came over fun lunch and we had BBQ ribs, chicken, salad and chocolate cake. What a great weekend!

I hop on a plane for Tucson in an about an hour... not looking forward to a week away for work...

Highway to Heaven...

I was working out in the field this week and had to drive up to the high desert. The sky was beautiful and from this angle it looked like the road went right up to heaven... (I wish)

Standing Room Only...

Ugg with the recent surge in gas prices the Metrolink Train has been packed. Since my train originates at my departure station, it is empty when I board and I go right to sleep. By the time we reach my arrival station it's a struggle to push through the people to get off the train...

Namaste...

So I took a yoga class last night and I was really surprised how much I remembered. Gosh it has been YEARS... Nicole and I took a Cardio Boot Camp class a long long time ago and we did yoga as part of that class.

Because I have been pretty active lately the class was just what my joints and muscles needed... It was also a great way to unwind after my spin class...

I think I still need more practice; I couldn't quite get into the crow position:

Dinner and a show...

So last night Dad had tickets to see A Chorus Line at the Ahmanson Downtown... It was an awesome show! Gosh I love the theater...

Mimi and I drove up from work and Doug, Lisa, & Dad met us at Phillipe's for dinner.

While we were waiting for the others to arrive, Mimi and I split a piece of heavenly coconut cream pie and Phillipe's signature 9c cup of coffee.

Once dad and Lisa arrived we totally pigged out on french dip sandwiches; we had a chicken, a pork, a ham, two beef, and two turkeys, macaroni salad and coleslaw.

We were satisfyingly stuffed as we headed over to the theater.

The show was awesome, so clever, so real. Honestly we laughed, cried, and cheered... Truly an enjoyable night.

The best Jack in the Box Commercial EVER!

More fond jello memories...

A while back I was reminiscing about the Hollander Cafeteria and their green jello with whipped cream; which led me and Holly to make these cute multi layered jello cups the other night...

Asian Food

I was thinking other day about how easy it must be to make Asian food so I decided to give it whirl. I went to the market and bought some of my favorite vegetables (green beans, green onion, bell pepper, chiles, carrots and bean sprouts), some boneless chicken thighs and teriyaki sauce.

Seriously this has to be one of the easiest things I have ever made, I just chopped up the chicken and cooked it on the grill with a little oil, then added the chopped veggies and threw them over the top.

Here is a little clip of the sizzling action:

Once it was all cooked I tossed some teriyaki over the whole thing. Simple and delicious...

New Look

So I changed the look of the blog... what do you guys think?

So that's what you do with them...

My dear friend Nicole has shared more of her baby wisdom with me...

Roller Skating

So on Sunday night I went to hang out with my friends the J family. We all went roller skating! It had been years, probably a decade (or two?!?) since I had been to a roller skating rink, but Roller City + in the next town over was a pretty cool place...

Being the kid's first time they did great!

Catherine picked it up after just a little while, I held her hand but she really didn't need me to, she was a pro.

Bryce was a little more sceptical! I took him around a couple times, down to the snack bar and back and he was ready to sit out and watch... He cracks me up!

Paige just looked cute in her skates...

Dad and Uncle Ron came down for a bit to watch the kids, it was a fun night!

Happy Birthday Shel!

Last week was Shelly's Birthday, she is an ancient 28 now. So to celebrate I made her pink and purple cupcakes (her favorite colors) to take to the girls at work... of course I gobbled one down before I went to bed, they were so moist and fluffy...

Guacamole Chicken Sandwich

I make the pretty darn good guacamole; its called guacamole de guetto...

so I put some in a chicken sandwich; and it was awesome