Busy as a Bee

So I realize I haven't blogged in a while, but I feel like Sean and I have been so so busy with many random things. This week was a pretty busy one. It started out with a full house- our friends were having their place tented so we offered for them to stay here with us with their dogs instead of having to front the expensive boarding fees. It was a blast and hilarious. They have two dogs, one little Pomeranian, and then a big guy- some type of mix they're thinking with pit, Rhodesian ridgeback, and who knows. Both are the sweetest dogs ever. Ace LOVED having Reef here- finally someone his own size to play with. Summer liked it sometimes, and Meeko was happy that they had each other to mess with. Tristan and Sean were working together one of the days at the same station, so Amanda and I played the good fire wife role and brought a yummy nectarine blueberry cobbler to all the guys at the station along with some vanilla ice cream- there were no leftovers which is nice because then we probably would have eaten too much. Amanda was kind enough to cook a delicious meal on Tuesday- shrimp tacos, with homemade Mexican rice, and homemade refried beans. Although Ace misses his friends, they were exhausted after everyone left. It was fun, and nice to know that all the dogs get a long if anyone is traveling and needs to leave the pups behind for a little bit, and was great to get to spend some good quality time with our friends.

Yummy Nectarine Blueberry Cobbler

Just a moment of stillness

We of course had more going on during the week, but now it is Labor Day weekend, and I'm looking forward to enjoying the 3 day weekend in the sun!

Happiness

A few girlfriends and I recently started a book club. We just had our first meeting a couple weeks ago, and read The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

The book was very different than expected- I'm not sure exactly what I expected but I think I thought it would read more like a novel- but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing! The book was about the authors attempt at a year of finding happiness through focusing on different areas of her life each month. I really enjoyed the book and found a lot of what she did was applicable to things in my life. Although I haven't dedicated myself to laying out a plan and setting measurable goals, I have tackled a few things that she suggested. One thing was to de-clutter. In the book Gretchen de-cluttered her home, and was enthusiastic about helping others to de-clutter theirs. The weekend after I finished the book, Sean was in Havasu for a bachelor party, and so I decided I was going to de-clutter, spring clean, organize, whatever you want to call it! I moved from room to room, putting things in bags to donate, throw away, or in a couple instances, to put away in a box to hold onto, but that I didn't necessarily need hanging out in my drawers/shelves, etc. I went through my closet, my clothes drawers, the office, my bathroom (I had expired medicine, half used products, etc), the guest room, and our electronic cords and things. I still have more I want to go through - the kitchen, Sean's clothes (I'll have him do that so I don't get rid of anything he wants), the movie drawers, and the hallway closet)- but so far I've filled 4 large trash bags full of things to donate, and a couple trash bags full of things to throw away. At the same time, I've made more of an effort to put things away and maintain a clean house rather than having to do a huge cleaning because of things we left out. I must say that I am happier with the cleanliness and tidiness of our home, and that I actually know where things are now!

Also, like Gretchen did in her book, I tackled a nagging task. I finally hung up a picture my parents gave us, cleaned the microwave (it was pretty bad), hung my diploma in my home office, got an entry table for our home, filed away some papers, unpacked from Alaska, ordered some wedding photos to frame and put up in the house, make a CD for my mother-in-law with the photos (I know I'm only a year behind), and fixed a couple things like a broken ornament. I have a couple more tasks that I want to do like get some pictures framed and hung, but all in all, it feels good to have that done, and not have things laying around ready to get done.

One more thing that I thought about and made a conscious effort to make time for things I enjoy doing, but that are easy to overlook. One of these things is reading. I LOVE to read. I think that being in a book group will help motivate me. Another thing is doing the crossword puzzle. When I lived at home with my parents after college, my mom and I would do the LA Times crossword puzzle every morning together. I loved that! Getting up and working on it while having my morning coffee and breakfast. Sean and I don't have a newspaper subscription, but my mom had bought me a couple crossword books after I moved out (I think for Christmas), that have just been sitting on the shelf! When thinking about how I spend my time, I realized I watch a lot of TV. Shows that don't really mean anything in a meaningful way, except for entertainment, so I decided I would watch less and read and do the crossword more. That same weekend that I de-cluttered, I didn't turn the TV on once. 4 whole days! It was great, although I realized I had no idea what was going on in the real world. Since then, I've finished our next book club book (The Help, definitely a must read!), and have completed a handful of crossword puzzles in the mornings. Sean and I still enjoy watching TV and spending that time together, but it feels good to do these other things I like as well.

There are other principles from the book that I can apply to my life. I am very happy with my life and feel very blessed. Focusing on things that make you happy, can only make you happier! So..... what makes you happy?

The Last Frontier

Last week we went on our first family trip since the addition of two family members- Sean and Nicki!! I am so excited for Josh and Nicki, I think I've already said that in an earlier post, but I'll probably say it so many more times. Anyway, our trip started in flight. We made the trek up to LA early that morning to meet at my parents house and catch our flight out of LAX. Mimosas were flowing before we left for the airport. The plane flight was nice and short. We flew over CA, OR, and WA, seeing sights such as Yosemite on the way.

Look closely toward the center- there's half dome!

We spent half a day in Seattle seeing sights such as the Public Market looking at all the fish, flower, and craft vendors and then starting our active week off right walking to the Space needle.

Friday morning we embarked on our journey to Alaska. Alaska started out with a couple days of cruising up the Pacific coast past the US/Canadian border to the wonderful state of Alaska. We absolutely loved our time there- what an amazing place, so much nature and wildlife and what an amazing display of God's handy work. The air was clean and crisp... OK it was a bit cold, but the sights were absolutely breathtaking.

Our first port was in Juneau. All bundled up, we set up on our first excursion - a bike and brew. Now apparently the week before Alaska was sunny and warm, however when we came into town it was overcast and rainy. We all dressed appropriately in layers- none of which we removed. The guides gave us some not so flattering rain gear- waterproof pants and of coarse a rain jacket. Prepared for the weather we set on our way with some road bikes and looking like yellow blobs. The ride, although rainy, was still very beautiful. We stopped to get a view of the Mendenhall glacier. Can I tell you- you can see my pictures, and see pictures in magazines, but pictures don't quite do it justice.

We then rode our bikes around to be right by the glacier. I wish I could draw an arrow on the picture above. See the right side of the glacier? Insert arrow there. We saw our first glimpse of icebergs too!

We then rode our bikes back to the bike shop and they drove us to town where we tasted a little beer, tried reindeer sausage at a funny saloon, and then made a slightly tipsy ;) trek back to the boat. 

Now I cant remember actually what day it was while we were cruising, but the captain said that if we got up early we could see whales. I will admit I reverted back to a child waiting for Santa to come, and woke up at 5:45 am, bundled up, and went out to our balcony to hopefully spot Shamu or Free Willy. Now, we didn't see either of those two, but we did see Humpback whales. It was amazing, I think we saw something like at least six whales just from the side of the boat. As we kept cruising we'd see one here and there- needless to say, I was not disappointed.

Our next stop was Skagway. In Skagway we did a Wildlife Safari... what's that you ask? Well first we got on a enclosed catamaran boat, and traveled about an hour to glacier bay. We saw eagles, waterfalls. and another whale!

We went on a short bus ride up into the rain forest (yes rain forest, but not quite like Costa Rica, it was a temperate rain forest), learned a bit about some of the local plants and went to a small camp where we geared up for our canoe ride. Now we were to compare the bike outfits and the canoe outfits, the canoe outfits won... 

From there we got into a large canoe- fit probably 10 people or so, and canoed our way up to the Sawyer glacier. On this trek we saw Eagles, Gulls, Gulls chasing and attacking the Eagles (true story), fresh glacier ice, and even a Blonde Brown Bear- Winnie the Pooh? The glacier was amazing and looked like meringue through the binoculars.

Tired, Sean and I napped most of the way back to the cruise boat. After we got back into the small town of Skagway, we walked around, visited the local volunteer fire station, Sean even got to find Sarah Palin's house- can you tell he's excited, and he got to try some fresh Alaskan King Crab Legs- my mom and I split some clam chowder- delish!

Our next "stop" on the cruise boat was into the Tracy Arm Fjord. Where we were surrounded by ice and got to see the glacier break off or fracture. We even spotted a seal friend! It was truly breathtaking, and beautiful. 

Our last stop was Victoria British Columbia. Although not as amazing on the wildlife front. It is truly a beautiful city, with flower pots and gardens everywhere- probably why it's called the garden city? We stopped by the Empress Hotel, had fish and chips at a local pub for some beer and cider, went to the Craigdarroch Castle, and walked around. 

We were sad to step off the boat, but our bodies still were rockin' a few days after! In Seattle before we set foot on the plane back home, we had a mellow day in the city, and even went to the movies to see Captain America! That night we met with some of our family on my dad's side for a nice little reunion at Buca-Di-Beppo. Five of my dads siblings were there, along with many cousins, and even the pope! We had such a great time, drank a lot of wine, ate a lot of food, and had a lot of laughs. It was great to see my family that we don't get to see often enough, and what a great way to end the trip!

nice hair Josh!

We are still recovering from our trip- I walked away with a little cold but all in all, it was amazing. There was so much more that happened on the trip, but this post would go on forever, and so many more pictures- but I think I've bombarded you with enough! I wish we could have spent more time in the amazing state of Alaska... I'm sure we'll go back some day! 

All You Need is Love

This has to by far be one of my favorite posts so far because I get to announce that my brother and his girlfriend got engaged over the weekend - which would technically now make her his fiance! I am so incredibly excited for both of them, and could not have imagined a better match for Josh. Nicki is his perfect match, and I could not be happier to be able to call her my sister very very soon - at least officially because she is already a part of my family! If you want the story, you'll have to ask one of them because I don't think I could really do it justice- I will say it was very romantic, and did involve a duffy boat ride in Long Beach.

Somehow I am a bad sister and don't have any photos of them... so I stole this from their facebook :) I will take plenty of pictures of them in Alaska though - watch out!

Congrats you too, and I wish you both a lifetime of love and happiness! Can't wait for all the celebrations!

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Turkey Chili Stew...

Wow that title is a mouthful! Last night I went to dinner with my friend Lindsay at Zimzala in downtown HB, and we had such a great time chatting and catching up, that we were an hour over on the parking meter, but thankfully there wasn't a ticket when we got back. Sean's on a 72 (working 3 days straight), so I happily took home our delicious leftovers- a pork chop and some skirt steak. Lindsay and I were talking about how when the boys aren't home, it's hard to cook a lavish meal for one person so we often find ourselves with a random assortment for dinner. There was enough leftovers to last me a couple days - Score!

Well today when I went to make lunch, I looked in the fridge, and what did I find? Nothing.... I left them in the car all night, and as it was already noon on a hot summer day, there was of course no salvaging it. Lunch was easy to figure out but then I though... what am I going to do for dinner. I really need to go to the market which means we had nothing really but some random veggies. We had quite a few that if I didn't use some of them, they would go bad, and I hate wasting such good food.... but I didn't want to eat just a random assortment of veggies. So, although I'm not really good at "winging it" when it comes to making meals, I thought. What do I have to lose. So I threw a bunch of veggies in there, garlic, some left over beef stalk, some canned corn, Italian Style Stewed tomatoes, green chilies, salt, pepper, oregano, onion powder (since I didn't have any onions), and oh yeah, some trader Joes Turkey Chili, all topped with a little Parmesan cheese. It actually turned out really good. I think it would be work throwing it all in the crock pot on low all day and would make a really easy, yummy dinner. I'm very proud of my impromptu dinner, and am now sitting watching So You Think You Can Dance and sipping on a glass of red wine.

Ingredients:

2 large carrots chopped

1 large celery stalk chopped

about half pint of cherry tomatoes (I had a mixture of orange and red)

Broccoli chopped in the food processor (I'm not a big broccoli fan so chopping it in the food processor allows it to blend in the sauce, and gives you all the yummy nutrients. you could put the florets in whole if you prefer)

1 clove garlic minced

1 can of corn (drained)

1 can of Italian Style stewed tomatoes

1 small can of diced green chilies

Beef broth (I probably put in about 1 -1.5 cups)

1 can Trader Joes Turkey Chili

Salt and Pepper to taste

onion powder (probably about 1/2 teaspoon)

dried oregano (probably about 1 teaspoon or so)

I put pretty much everything in a large pot, minus the turkey chili along with some water (I honestly don't know how much, I rinsed the tomato can - probably about half the can - and also added a small mug full), and let it reach a boil. My carrots and celery were still a little crunchy, which was yummy, but if you want them more tender, you can let it cook longer. Then I added the can of turkey chili, stirred, and let it simmer for a while longer until the chili was well incorporated. I put it in a bowl, added some Parmesan cheese on top, and voila! I think it would be yummy with almost any veggie you have - kale, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, zucchini, yellow squash... whatever you have! Also, I think it would make a really yummy minestrone type soup, so tomorrow when I have some leftovers, I think I may add some little bow tie pasta (I'll probably precook them to save some time) to make it like a minestrone. It would be good with some more beans too- like kidney, cannelloni, black... whatever! My favorite bites are the fresh tomatoes that get so delish when cooked with some melted cheese on top. Maybe I'll go back for seconds!

4th of July

I hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July. Our weekend was very busy, and yet I didn't take 1 picture. I really need to get better at that! Friday afternoon some friends came over and hung out by the pool and then we rode our bikes to a nearby Sushi restaurant for dinner. Any of you who know me know that I'm not a fan of raw fish, but I do like a crunchy roll, or something where everything is cooked- at this restaurant I get a tiger roll, which is like a California roll but with avocado and cooked shrimp on top with eel sauce- YUM! 

Saturday day we went to Home Depot, went to the local gun range, and then hung outside by the pool- it was a beautiful day! That night our friend's Kevin and Karla came over for dinner then we met up with Chris and Courtney at Brix wine bar in sunset beach. It was fun- Kevin and Karla live in San Diego so we don't get to see them that often- it was great to get together! 

Sunday we went to church in the morning and then went to my brother's now house in Long Beach for dinner. It was delish- he BBQ'd turkey burgers, and I made some of our family's Bossanova Beans (ironically these were a 4th of July Staple for years- how appropriate!). 

Monday, Sean had to work unfortunately. I went to brunch at our friend Brandi's house and got to spend some time with two of my favorite little guys, Noah and Dean, as well as their wonderful mom Lindsay! Then I somehow managed to lift my beach cruiser into the back of Sean's truck (hello muscles!) and went to Josh's house. Josh, Nicki and I rode our bikes to 2nd street, walked around, had some Lebanese food at Open Sesame (now I have the desire to try to make some pistachio Baklava - it was delish!) and I even bought some Garlic Olive Oil from We Olive (Sean and I had some that we used when cooking veggies and were so sad when we ran out. The cool thing about We Olive is that you can buy a bottle, and when you're done with the oil you take it back and refill it!). Then I stopped by the station for some yummy pulled pork sandwiches and to switch Sean's truck for my car. I picked my friend Heather up from the airport, but had to take the dogs with me (hence the car switch) because Ace is terrified of the fireworks. I think the 30 or so minutes we spent in the car the way to and from the airport was the only time that he had relaxed all night. Heather and I got to catch up, drink some wine, eat some cake, and watch TV. All in all it was a great 4th of July weekend! Sorry for no pictures, I promise to get better at it!

Feel the Burn Fridays

So this week was super busy.  Two of our best friends got married on Saturday. Sean was one of the groomsmen so we were able to celebrate with them all weekend with a lovely rehearsal dinner at the Cannery, ceremony and reception at the Mesa Verde Country Club, and celebratory brunch on Sunday morning. We had such a good time dancing the night away.

This week I went golfing for the charity golf tournament Sean's Department puts on every year. No it wasn't going to a fitness class or the gym, BUT I would say that golf is definitely a work out! Luckily since I'm pretty active, I'm not super sore or anything, but it works a lot of your core muscles in ways you're not used to. I don't golf very often at all, but I must say I did pretty well for myself. I was driving the ball really well off the tee, but the rest of my game needs a little work. One thing that I started thinking about purposefully was the way I breathed while swinging. It's amazing how something so simple changed my game. I don't know if it relaxes me or how exactly it helped, but definitely paying attention to my breathing improved my game.

Breath is so important while you work out for many reasons (sure to keep you alive), but I would tell you that the next time you're taking a class, going for a walk, or even on the golf course, pay attention to your breath. I can't tell you how many times I've been in some sort of workout class, or doing something else that I find myself holding my breath- not only do I get red in the face, but my balance seems to be off, I get lightheaded, and I can't push through the workout as I can when I remember to breath. Such a silly concept that you have to remember your breath, but when you do, you'd be amazed at how different your abilities can be!