I Need Spring!!

This morning it is 22 degrees outside.  I think when March hits, I start to get really impatient for warm weather to kick in.  I want 60s and 70s every day for a few months and then I will gladly welcome the 90 degree weather for a couple months.  I'm just tired of being cold all the time.  I think it is supposed to be 50 tomorrow, but then cold again this weekend.  Which is just another weekend that we probably won't be working in the garden because it is cold.  We'll see though - maybe it will turn out to be nicer than we expected!

I haven't decided on a photo yet for the contest.  I think I might go with the waterfall picture because it might be different from other people.  I really like the beach one, but feel like so many people have shots of the beach.  I need to pick though, I think I have to enter this weekend.

I had to go to our kickboxing class last night by myself.  :(  Mat's back is hurting and his work sent him to the chiropractor yesterday and he has to go back again this afternoon.  I guess he thought that it wouldn't be a great idea to jump and twist and turn?  It is interesting wearing my heart rate monitor.  Our class ended up being about 48 minutes long and my average heart rate was 142 and my peak was 168.  So my monitor says I burned 673 calories.  I don't know how accurate that is.  They always say the machines aren't accurate at the gym, so who knows if I actually burned that many calories.  But at least I know I am getting a darn good workout.  I'm trying to remember now what my monitor said after our walk on Tuesday night.  I think it said I burned 275 calories on our hour long walk.  It was interesting on our walk because Mat's heart rate going up this hill was 108 and my was like 130.  He said that my heart rate is higher because I'm a girl and smaller than him.  I think maybe I'm just not in as good shape as him!  And I am older.  :)

I think it will be interesting to see if my heart rate changes as I improve in the class.  I already can tell I'm getting better because I don't have to stop as many times as I used to.  So I know my fitness level is improving.  I wish I would have had my heart rate monitor when we started.  

Guess that's enough of that.  It's Thursday!  Almost time for the weekend...

Help!

I need opinions please! Travelocity and Snapfish are doing a "Where would you rather be?" photo contest and you are supposed to submit your favorite winter getaway. The official rules state: JUDGING: Qualified Entries will be judged, in the judges’ sole discretion, on the quality, creativity and how well the Entry fits with the theme of the Contest. At the end of the Contest Entry Period, judges will review all eligible Entries to determine the Grand, First and Runner-Up Prize entries (“Finalist Entries”). Selection of the winning Entries will be based on the following judging criteria (“Judging Criteria”): (a) 40% Creativity, (b) 30% Photo and (c) 30% Composition. In the event of a tie, the tie will be broken based on the highest score in the “Creativity” Judging Criteria, continuing thereafter to Quality of Photo Judging Criteria, as needed to break the tie.

So I was thinking about entering a photo, but I can't decide which one I like. So I want to know what everyone thinks. It did say submit your favorite winter getaway, but it didn't specify anything else except that you can't include any identifiable people. Which is pretty funny because I looked at some of the entries already and there are a ton with people as the subject. Another mention - 80% are beach photos. So I only included one and it was a sunrise and not just a beach. So what does everyone think??

Mexico #1

Mexico #2

Mexico #3

San Diego Zoo

Waterfalls Outside of Portland

Yuck

Snow in March!  It's all melted now, but when I woke up the ground was a sparkling white.  It kind of made me want to go back to bed!  But at least it is Friday and I have the whole weekend to look forward to and enjoy!  Tonight Mat and I will go to kickboxing and then head home for a little relaxation.  I think we've decided to pick something up on the way home for dinner, but I don't know what yet.  

Tomorrow we'll be at Cory and Christina's house to celebrate Cory's birthday.  Probably play some games and have dinner.  I don't know what we'll do during the day.  I usually just find little things to do around the house that take up most of the day.  Sometimes I don't know how I do it!  I've been thinking about a little Spring Cleaning/Organization, so I might start on that.  We'll just have to see!

So that's us.  Exciting stuff!  

Still Kickin'

Here I am!  I know, I know.  It has been forever and ever since I blogged last.  My last post was after Thanksgiving!  Can you even believe that?  So I don't have many good excuses.  My main excuse is that December came and went in a matter of seconds.  With shopping, holiday parties, celebrating Christmas, it was like there wasn't even time to sleep!  And then I think it was just that I hadn't blogged in so long that it would take forever to catch up on the last month, so I kept putting it off.  So after some encouragement from a fellow blogger, I decided to get back into the game!

So here I am!  Mat and I have become devout kick boxers.  We started in the fall, but just went once a week for a month or two.  Then December came and the gym was basically abandoned for a good three weeks.  So starting the first of January, we made a commitment to our kickboxing class and have attended 3 days a week (with the exception of a couple missed days here and there) for the last 2 months.  We are so dedicated to our class that we bought our own gloves and we even bought heart rate monitors!  It's the hardest I've ever worked out before, but it is really getting me in shape!  Our heart rate monitors just came in the mail today, so I haven't even seen mine.  I do love toys!

So this morning I woke up around 4:30 to a strange clicking noise.  So I got out of bed to investigate and could hear something, but didn't know what it was.  So I got back in bed and kept hearing the noise.  It sounded almost like a drip, so I got back up to investigate.  I put my hand on the wall and sure enough, the wall was wet.  DANG!  So I woke Mat up and I felt bad because it was his sleep in day - he didn't have to work until 6am.  But he got up in the attic and looked around and couldn't see that the roof was leaking.  So now he is at home waiting for his dad to come check it out and see if he is missing something.  We're pretty sure it is not a pipe since it rained all night last night.  So I am keeping my fingers crossed that it isn't anything that is too hard to fix or requires us hiring someone to fix it.

So for all of you out there that enjoy recipes - Mat and I made one of our favorites last night: Quick Chicken Corn Chowder.  I found it on the cooking light website, which is where I get most of my recipes.  It really is a fast recipe, especially if you get a rotisserie chicken from the store and you don't have to cook the chicken.  I've been working on my personal cookbook, which is basically a collection of our favorite recipes.  This one is in there and we've made it quite a few times this winter.  

So that's about what we're up to.  I wish it was more exciting, like we were on a secret mission.  We did both have birthdays!  Mat threw me a kind of surprise party and it was the best Mexican Fiesta in the world.  There were chips and queso and salsa, tacos, taquitos, margaritas, mexican beer, and on and on.  I even had a pinata.  It was definitely the best birthday ever and Mat put so much time and effort into it.  He really is the best husband in the universe.

I hope everyone is wonderful!  I'll try to get back on here more often than the last few months.  :)

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this year. We had a great day and you can see a sampling of the food we had above. My sister and her husband have tried their best to give Violet as much organic and unprocessed food as possible, so we tried to do our best to stick with that for Thanksgiving. There were, of course, several things that snuck in that didn't fit the bill (like my parmesan artichoke dip or Grandma's chocolate pie!). The stuffing that Mat and I made came from organic whole wheat bread and we used organic celery, onions and parsley. The carrots were organic and the turkey was straight from a farm where he lived his days roaming freely. Overall, I think we did pretty good. I think we all ate too much, but what a great day we had. It was fun to celebrate our first Thanksgiving as a married couple with the people we're so thankful for everyday.

Salt Lake City

Last weekend Mat and I took a little drive down to Salt Lake City. Not only did we get to see our cousin on his birthday, we also got to spend a good part of the weekend with one of my oldest friends and her family.

Friday night we spent with Jeff since it was his birthday. His mom and dad came down for the occasion and we all went to his favorite sushi place. We had such a great time catching up and they dined on what looked to be delicious sushi! I had some tasty chicken and was quite pleased with my choice. I'm not much of a sushi girl. :)

The next morning we woke up and made our way to the Armstrongs by lunch time. My favorite - eating time! We went to El Taco Nazo - delicious! The kids seem to have grown so much since we saw them at the wedding this summer. Gracie is just running around everywhere and Sean is becoming quite the big boy. After lunch, Mat and I headed to IKEA while the kids napped and Sarah and Matt probably did too! We were desparately trying to find some cheap window coverings since we have several windows with nothing on it since our new windows were put in. We had a successful trip to IKEA and now we have some great Roman Shades.

That afternoon, Mat and Matt took a few trips around the block on a bicycle built for two. It was one of the best sites I've ever seen!
That night Sarah made us some delicious lasagna and Matt made some not so delicious OSU punch to drink as we watched the OSU game. Mat and I each had a glass of the punch and switched to beer after that! Some of their friends came over with their kids, so we had a houseful. The ladies of the bunch played SingStar and the men watched the game. We ended up singing until the wee hours of the night and noticed Matt was missing. It's hard work being a dad. :)

The next morning Sarah, Gracie and I headed out to do some shopping at the Park City Outlet Mall. She had a lot more luck than I did finding some Christmas gifts for family members. I ended up with nothing, but it was sure fun to look. Us girls had lunch at a bagel shop that was yummy! Mat went to meet up with Jeff and they went to a swap meet. I'm not sure what they were looking for, but I don't think they found it!

When we got back to town, it was time for a little ice skating. I haven't skated since I was probably in junior high, so it was basically like my first time. Mat had never skated before and neither had Sean. Sarah and Gracie cheered us on from the sidelines. Here I am on my one and only lap around the rink.
Mat did great and caught on pretty fast. He definitely wasn't as good as Matt who is a great skater. The two of them went around the rink many times holding Sean's hands as he got used to skating on the ice. By the end of our time there, Sarah had signed Sean up for lessons. He had his first lesson last week and loved it!


That night Sarah made us Fettucini Alfredo and again, dinner was delicious! We really appreciated the meals they made for us. We also got fresh lettuce from their garden that was yummy.

There are a few more pictures if you click on the picture above of Sarah and Gracie.

The next day we had to head out. But not before we had a quick lunch at a delicious burger place - Five Guys Burgers - or something like that. YUM! The fries were to die for.

We're already thinking about when we can come back. It's so great to see everyone and we had the best time! Thanks again for spending the weekend with us!

Saturday!

I'm so happy for Saturdays! I slept in today and now just did a little a laundry. I think I might make up a grocery list and then play with Photoshop a bit. I'm still learning the ins and outs of it - my sister loaned me Photoshop Elements to see if I like it. I haven't really done anything but start trying to organize my pictures.

So that's my plan! Mat is taking a much deserved nap and when he gets up, we'll probably go clean my work and then my family for some delicious mexican food. I've been looking forward to this all week!

I think I might run over to Linens and Things to see what they have left. They are going out of business (I think everywhere) and had marked down a lot of stuff. I found some great shades for our windows, but I only bought two because I wanted to test them out at home and see how I really liked them. So I might go back. It's not really something I want to spend money on, but I am kind of tired of not having blinds or curtains on most of our windows. I do like to have some privacy!

First things first, I better shower. Have a great weekend!