WiW.... Not Enough Equals Too Much

 

Ugg…I knew it wasn't going to be good, but seriously. 

  I'm up 2.8 this week.

It doesn't help that it's that time of month, could also be why I had such a hard time saying no to all those yummy treats I got for the girls why Ash was here.

Pizza and sundae making…

S'mores by the pool

I was really hoping to jump right back on track full force but it's taking all I have latley.  I am getting some activity in (because come on exercise doesn't always have to mean the gym, it can be fun too)  but not nearly as much as I have wanted (it's just so damn hot).  But I at least getting in my steps, getting the garden (yard) up to par,  and swimming ok splashing a lot in the pool with DQ, but it's definitely not enough. 

This weekend is Carrie's birthday and we are doing dinner and drinks in Huntington Beach but at least it will be followed by paddle boarding the next morning.  I'm so excited!! We found a Groupon for it so decided to try, I have heard it's a great core workout!  We will see, and since we will be heading to the beach early that should keep most of the "drinking" in check. I'm not sure how hang-overs and paddle boarding would go, and I'm honestly getting to old to find out.

I haven't made any goals in a while so this week I will and it will be to make it to the gym at least twice this week and do one at home "fun" activity. Also really watch what I an eating and track everything.

Linking up with WiW, Liz, and Shanna.

Back to Normal

Life is somewhat going back to normal this week.  It's no less busy but at least I know what's coming.

This weekend we had to take Ash back home to Arizona.  This is actually only the second time we have had her for more than a few hours (in the early years the hubs and his ex did not get along at all, but in the last few years things are so much better.  Everyone seems to be in a happier place in their lives and getting along which is great.  It makes me so happy to work on becoming one big happy family and the ex is actually pretty ok).

So we started off early Saturday. As you all know I'm the morning person, and the commuter so of course I drove while they all slept.

Shh don't tell but I actually like it that way, it was a nice quiet drive with my thoughts and the radio.

After dropping Ash off we headed to our friends Amy and Jason it was great to see them and the girls and DQ had so much fun playing with them I really wish we could have stayed longer, next time for sure!

I shoved everyone in the car early again on Sunday to head home.  We hit a ton of thunder and lighting storms on the way home.  It was so neat to watch (we have very little "real" weather in Southern California). It even broke up enough to get a rainbow.

After sitting all that time I really need to move around, I thought about going to the gym but there was so much that needed to be done around the house, and DQ has been asking to plant the garden again, (obviously we are very late in our summer planting this year) and I just watched Food Inc..  (more on that later) so I went full force on the garden and that was my work out. When I was done I was dripping sweat and smelled like rosemary better than manure I guess but that rosemary bush was a bitch to get out!  It looks so pretty now though and hopefully we will have some melons, squash,peppers and a pumpkin or two (that was what DQ really wanted)  in a few months. 

One last but awesome thing Tia over at Hand On Pants Off is hosting a giveaway for a $25 Target gift card, so why not head on over and enter!

Linking up with Katie,  Leann, and the Motivation Monday girls.

Oh Hey Friday

It's (almost) the freakin weekend!!

So that means it's time to link up with Kari from September Farm for

{one}

This week started out well enough.  I always started out feel enough with good food choices for breakfast and lunch.

{two}

Then dinner came and all that good planning went right out the window.  

not dinner so much as dessert.  I made this cool little pinterest project for a homemade s'mores station.

Ya it was a hit with the kids and a danger for me! I love me some charcoal marshmallows.

{three}

Even though I was off for a week I had to take off Thursday for a doctors appt. It was time for my 6 month check up (after surgery).  Nothing like rocking a hospital gown :0)

{four}
Since Ashleigh was here for just this week I made sure to get everyone (aka TaTa)  all together for a quick family photos shoot.  I don't want to totally give it away but this year's Christmas card is going to be epic!

{five}

Finally tomorrow we will be heading out to Phoenix to drop Ash off back home I will miss her.  We do not see her nearly enough, I really hope now that she is older that will change a bit.  She is just the most polite and sweet girl.  She is as quite as Syd is crazy the seriously are total opposites.  But I love them both and it's fun to watch their relationship blossom.

also linking up with Paula and Jennie

WiW… No Rest for the Wicked

After a week of no workouts and no calorie counting….

So as I expected I am up 2.6 pounds.  I honestly thought I would be more seeing as I only got in one good workout while on vacation. Not to mention all the sitting we did while traveling all over.  Also all the fantastic Mexican food we ate!!  So I'm ok with it and like Desiree from Skinny Geek Within told me Monday "now time to get back to work!" and that's what I'm doing.

Of course it's still not easy, because I'm really not back to my regular routine.  As soon as I got home from Mexico the next day we drove 3 hours to the  Arizona/California border to pick up my step-daughter Ash and turned right back around to go home (she is staying the week).  Which meant more sitting, but at least there were restaurants with salad (and milkshakes but I refrained except for one or two bites)

I may be turning into a rabbit.  And this weekend we are driving her all the way back to Phoenix (5hrs) but at least we will be making it an overnighter and staying with our  friends Amy & Jason. It's been forever since we saw them last.

Though this week is crazy trying to figure out where the girls will be, or who will stay home with them, it's all working out!  I've even managed to get in some work outs.  I got a 3 mile run in on Saturday

then sunday I went for a 5 mile hike with Claudia and her sis in law Debbie.

Followed by all day at Knott's Berry Farm.

 Holy crap I don't know what I was thinking, my legs are still quivering, and my fitbit said I had walked over 24,000 steps and climbed 175 flights of stairs!

My goal was to hit up the gym on Monday & Tuesday but I was so tired that I 've been asleep  7:30pm.  So today I will make it to Aqua cause I LOVE the class and I gotta lose those 2.6 pounds.

Linking up with Liz, Shanna, and WiW girls.

I NEED Veggies!!

Holla Amigos, I'm back!!

Whew that was one busy but fun week, I do not know how people who travel a lot do it.  I am exhausted!!  It truly was a trip and not a "vacation".  I saw lots of family that I haven't seen in almost twenty years (all who do not speak a lick of English) so needless to say my Spanish got very good there towards the end. So much so that I swear I started to dream in Spanish lol.

As well as having lots of family time we also did A LOT of sight seeing. My dad is very big on exploring and not staying in one place for to long. and making sure we see every freaking stature in the state and a mummy museum to boot, true story!

So while I was gone I learned a few things.

1. There are a few places in this world where it is just not safe to run.  My Dad's hometown was a great place and everyone was super friendly as long as they were NOT in a car! I swear they drive like maniacs seriously they play chicken for sport. And the sidewalks were pretty non-existent. But I did climb a butt load of stairs sight seeing!

Just one of the many flight of stairs we climbed. This is the Guanajuato University

2. There are no veggies in Central Mexico!  Ok that's not really true, but it felt that way. There seriously was not a salad in 99% of the places we went, and no veggies with your meal.  I'm not really sure why and my dad couldn't say either it's just the way it is I guess.

but the tacos were Ah-Mazing!

 

 

3.  Going "off the grid" was way harder that I thought is was going to be. I guess I never really though about how much I/we are on our phones, tablets, just technology in general.  By the 3rd day I was ready to sell DQ begging for some wi-fi.

So that pretty much was my trip in a nutshell I don't want to bore you with a play by play, but I'm sure I will be peppering my next few posts with a story here and there of our trip.  And I'll finish this post with a few pics.

Last but not least I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to my bestie Carrie for throwing in a guest post last Wednesday for you all.  Not going to lie I am a bit jelly of all the fun those girls had! Looks like we might need to plan another so I can go :)

We had to sit through two Catholic masses in one day! Holy Crap I forgot how long those babies are..

 

Daniella the Birthday girl.

 

The city of Guanajuato

Checking out the mines...so many stairs...

 

Having lunch al fresco.

 

The Famous Juarez Theater

Me and my Pops

 

 

Linking up with Katie and Leeann.

WiW.....guest staring Me.......bestie Carrie

Happy Wednesday all.  I've never Blogged before and I'm going to try my best to make Alma proud. That's Alma for you, always the motivator and the gal who gets you to try new things!

I figured I would keep her WiW tradition alive. Granted I'm a little scared  because I'm coming off a girls weekend in San Diego to celebrate one of our friends, who turned the big 3-0! I do my weekly weigh-in's on Fridays, so I normally get 2 more days to recover. 😁

Woo hoo only up .5lbs! 🎉 It was a great weekend, the only thing missing was Alma! She made it safe and sound to Mexico!  I got this gem of a text "made it safe, it's pouring rain, found food for DQ so she won't starve lol! She's already playing with cousins even though they don't understand each other! Lol!

So, for a little recap of the fun times she missed out on. A group of us gal pals headed down to San Diego, to relax by the pool and dance the night away in the gas lamp district! I was super proud of myself because I made each of the girls a "weekend survival bag" I put in a bunch of goodies like a cup, cocktails, snacks,  gum, Advil, band aids, sunscreen, Chapstick, fans, and safety pins. They were a huge success!

We stayed at the Marriott Marquee and Marina, it was beautiful! A little Pricey, but worth it! Oh, and  it was $28 a day to self-park! 😳 Somehow we scored because all of our parking got comped! 🎉 I channeled my inner Alma a went for a run along the marina Saturday morning! The girls thought I was crazy! I also tried a new bootcamp style class with our friend Barbie (you've seen her here before). The pool was very relaxing, and my tan was greatly improved. 

Now for the fun stuff! Drinks, dancing, and shots of Adios mother f-ers to help Michelle say "adios" to her 20's! Haha I'm so clever! 

A little back story..........I am really good at taking really bad pictures, but I love this picture! It's my favorite from the weekend. Do you think Alma is jealous yet???? Not until she reads about my experience in "Man Diego" I experienced first hand how this little nickname rings very true! More back story.....I'm the eternally single friend who they are always trying to hook up. ☺️ These gals suckered me into trying out Tinder (a dating app based on your location) OMG! They had more fun playing on it and pimping me out all night to all the beautiful men with perfect arms out and about. Pure torture I tell you! 😂 Good times, I kept wishing Alma was there! I truly missed her! 

Fridays Five... Quicke

Just wanted to drop in for a quick Fridays five, travel edition before I cross the border. We are actually flying out of Tijuana (yup I'm a bad ass like that... just kidding it saved about $300 a ticket and a 13 hour layover and that was how my aunt was doing it).  

One

Thank god for rolling suitcases!! Traveling with a little and trying to keep track of her, hauling 2 suitcases, two carry ons and a purse. It's brutal! 

Two

Expiedia, my aunt didn't think it was necessary to book a hotel in advance it was Thursday after all (we stayed in a hotel in San Diego last night so we weren't late for our flight).  Yup not so much after two tries finally found a motel 6 that had a room. 

Three

Motel 6 has bumped up their stock a bit!

 Pretty comfy, and clean, I won't complain! 

Four

Not a travel thing really but I bought this just before I left because my pencil was almost out... I can't wait to try it 

Five

Happy Friday and happy vacation.  Hope you all have a great weekend, and a great week.  I talked to Carrie and she maybe stopping by :). Make sure to show her some bloggy love!! 

WiW...Pack It Up, Pack It In

Holy crap I only have one more day to finish packing before I leave on my trip. 

 I've been trying to squeeze it in here and there but it's been pretty hectic around here in general and it's also the first week of some new kiddos in my class.  We basically stagger enrollment for the new year into 3 parts July, Aug., and Sept. so they don't all start at once. But that also means I need to get my last years kids ready to move up too.  I'm talking assessments (kinda like a report card) and portfolios (a toned down scrapbook) that would be easier to do if I actually used glue and not sunscreen. 

 I was about 80% done when I realized that this was not a glue stick...no wonder the pictures weren't sticking!!  So I have been exhausted and the last thing I want to do is pack.  

Then the Hubs asked how much it was going to  be to call or text him so I looked into international roaming charges...umm ya that shit is expensive.  So I have decided to be off the grid for the week. No email, no Facebook, instagram, or twitter.  I'm actually ok with it.  It will be interesting to see how much I do or do not miss it.

The bummer is though that also means no blogging.  I was hoping to have a post or two done and set it to publish while I was gone, but honestly I don't think that is going to happen, (but I am going to try and talk my bestie Carrie into doing a guest post for me  but we'll see.)

So I'm sorry in advance if not much happens, don't miss me too much lol.
 That just means I'll have a ton of stuff to tell you when I get back!

So lastly it is Wednesday so here it is...

174 lost one pound, I'll take it especially after the holiday, and not much activity since those weekend runs unless I can count laundry and packing, it really should be considered an olympic sport.  

Linking up with Liz, Shanna, and the WIW girls.

Weekend Recap....That Stung

Hi all!  Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. 

Here we did what most did,just relaxed by the pool with great friends,

 good food.

  I did make sure to start out the day with a run, Carrie stayed over and we were supposed to do the 5 mile hike by my house but she was a little tired and by the time she woke up I was just finishing my run.  I did try waking her but it was not happening and I really did not want to wait it was already pretty warm and I can not stand exercising in the heat!  That is actually how I ended up with a gym membership,  It was so I could run in air conditioning lol! 

Saturday I was nursing a bit of a hangover.  Those darn vodka and fizzy waters just go down to easy.  But I spent the day shopping for shoes, a dress for DQ and browsing for myself.  We are actually going to my dad's hometown in Mexico for a big family reunion/baptism/quinceanera (that last one is like a sweet 16 on steroids) all rolled in to one.  I'm super excited to be going I haven't been to Fresnillo (that's my dad's hometown) since I was 22 and I have a buttload of relatives there that I haven't seen in years. 

I am a little nervous flying on my own with DQ there.  It's not a tourist town/airport and my Spanish is just ok.  I can get by with it here but there I'm not so sure. I'm just praying all goes smooth and Dad will be waiting at the airport as planned (he is going a few days ahead).

  Then we wrapped up the weekend by having this guy show up

turns out it wasn't just my lemon tree that was attracting all the bees to our yard or my milkshake  lol  but an actual nest inside the cinderblock wall.  Last week  I actually got stung on my hip while laying by the pool. then this morning this was on the wall. 

 By the time the bee guy came it was triple the size.  so he removed them and sealed up the wall so hopefully no more bees. 

So what fun stuff did you do on America's 238th birthday??

Linking up with Katie, Leeann, and Wendy.

WIW...Out of My Comfort Zone

   

I'm down another pound 175.  It may not be much but this makes two weeks with a loss which is more than it's been in a while.  Slow and steady that's just he way it is for me.  

This week has been pretty good Sunday I did a 5k run before the hubs went to work,

and Monday I was planning on going to the gym, but when I got home it was so darn hot and as I looked out the sliding glass door to the backyard I yelled at DQ to get her suit on and we played in the pool for almost two hours, and I mean play,  no lounging in the sun that day. I did a lot of stuff we do in aqua like running, wall explosions, jack and what ever elseI could remember.

 Yesterday I totally stepped out of my comfort zone and hit up a Pilates class at my gym.  I met the teacher at a body pump class I took and I loved her teaching style (turns out she's a math teacher by day maybe that's why) she really took the time to make sure we were doing the lifts right and giving the more advanced class goers some hints on how to improve or tweak it to really get the most out of the class.
She and mentioned she also teaches Pilates I've always wanted to try it so I went.   I  really want to say I loved it, but I don't think it's for me.  Maybe before surgery I would have enjoyed it or could do it  but it is all core work and some moves it felt like my abs were going to rip apart... So I won't be doing that again  Maybe I'll try yoga?  Though Pilates wasn't for me I was happy I did a little something to step out of my comfort zone. 

 Another thing I did this weekend that was WAY out of my comfort zone was to put on an actual bikini!! Yes you heard that right.  I was a little nervous which was funny because it was on Sunday when it was just the Hubs and DQ.  But I haven't worn a bikini in over 15 years. I just thought,  I have worked hard to lose  weight,  Carrie had given me one as a hand me down and damn my belly is white.   So in all my whitness and imperfections here it is.

wow look at the difference my poor belly needs to see the sun!

What have you done to step out of your comfort zone??

Linking up with Shanna