Super Long Post - Three in One

I know it has been a while since I put up a new post. I never have time to do extra things right now. Since I have this week off, I decided to do an update post.

First, Cameron's Birthday. He turned 30! Crazy! Weird! We celebrated with a night of his favorites:

Figurines of Mickey Mouse statues that we had taken pictures next to at Disney's California Adventure Park.

His Favorite Dinner: My own recipe Chicken Thyme Turnovers
(I posted this recipe a while ago).

Pouring his favorite drink (Root Beer) into his favorite mug.

His favorite frozen dessert: Frozen Lemon Pie with a secret ingredient in the crust!

Happy Birthday, Boski! I love you!



My sister and I went to Disney on Ice Princess Classics.

We had fun! Thanks, Mel.



Here are some of my favorite shots of Crystal and Richard's Wedding so far.

Crystal's Day

Crystal and Richard got sealed on Nov. 7, 2009. The day was incredible. The spirit was so strong and it was just a beautiful event. Everybody wants to see the pictures. These are unfinished images and only a small portion of the pictures we took. When they are finished, they will be even more stunning! What a fun day! So happy to share that with them. Enjoy.
Here they are as they exited the doors.

Doesn't she look like a real princess?

I was so happy to do her hair. She looked amazing!

Congratulations, Crystal and Richard!

The most disgusting bug ever!

Imagine 20 6/7 year old children, 1 teacher (horribly grossed out and afraid of bugs), and a potato bug!

All of the students were sitting so nicely on the carpet while the teacher was engaging whole class instruction. One female student started not paying attention and it was contagious to the students around her. The teacher told them to settle down or they would need to pull a behavior card. The student promptly told the teacher, "But there's a bug." The teacher rolled her eyes as the rest of the class turned to see the bug. Then, in a mad rush and less then one second, all 20 students were screaming and running to the perimeter of the rug - just like oil spreads when a drop of dish washing liquid is dropped in the middle.

Then the teacher saw the bug! This wasn't a bug, it was a monster! Why are they so ugly? Why are they transparent? Why do they move so fast? Why does it only want to move toward me? Why is it in my classroom? Where did it come from? How am I going to get rid of it?

Luckily, there are some plastic cups in the classroom used for painting projects. The teacher grabbed one of the cups, all while the students were watching relentlessly, and covered the bug after trying to get behind it because it just kept turning and coming after her. She asked a student to get a piece of paper for her. She slid the paper underneath the cup and flipped it over. Heart rate pounding as she prayed it would not crawl out onto her, she took the cup outside and tossed it in the garbage. As she went back into the classroom, another student told the rest, "She threw it in the garbage!"

Well, what else was she going to do with it?!?

Then, the students began making up stories about where it came from including from a hole in one of the ceiling tiles. It was chaos! The teacher gathered her students and told them that it was over. She told them that she was nervous and scared because she does not like bugs, but that she was brave for the students. Now she needed them to get back on task. Luckily, they like her enough that they complied while their brains still thought about this disgusting bug!

The teacher? Me.
The bug? Uglier and more gross than ever.
Me? Glad it is over.

When I told my sister a few days later over the phone, we were both crying because it was so funny! It wasn't funny at the time, but the whole scene was hilarious later.

Weekend in Mendocino

My dad moved to Mendocino and lives minutes from the coast. You can hear the waves crashing from his house. A little while ago, we stayed there over the weekend. We had a great time and the place is gorgeous. Here are some pictures of our time. The day was beautiful; the sky and water were SO blue! I love it!
There were old chains all along the coast where freight ships would dock in the bay to unload. Of course I had to make my trainer proud and get a workout while I was visiting my dad.

My dad found this rock and we had to take a picture! Love you, dad!
We were so lucky to see this cutie surface for about 1 minute. Then he got shy and dove under; we never saw him again.

My Mom, the Fitness Trainer

Check out my mom's new blog! Start your "After" today!
She will be giving tips and monthly specials! Super cool!

"Coupon"-ing

Cameron and I want to start coupon-ing. Any advice?

Chicken Thyme Turnovers

Mom and Cameron wanted me to enter this recipe contest. I was going to, but they wanted a 100 word limit for the directions. I couldn't cut it down enough. Here is my recipe. It came from not going shopping and wondering what to have for dinner. I grabbed some stuff from the pantry. Cameron said, "What are you making." I said, "Chicken turnover thingys; hopefully. It may be a pizza night." He laughed and said ok. Long story short and lots of creativity later, these came out of the oven. He LOVED them! Sorry, no picture. Hope you enjoy.

Chicken Thyme Turnovers

Entrée

Serves 4

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 20-25 minutes at 425 degrees F

For the dough:

1 ½ C. all purpose flour

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. ground thyme

½ tsp. baking powder

3 TBS. shortening or butter

½ C. cool water

For the chicken:

½ TBS. extra virgin olive oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast tenders, thawed

To taste: salt, pepper, and thyme

For the sauce:

1 can low fat cream of mushroom soup

Milk – fill the soup can half way

½ tsp. each of the following: ground thyme, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder

½ TBS. chili powder

½ TBS Dijon style mustard

¼ C. low fat Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven.

Dough:

1. Mix dry ingredients together, cut in shortening, and slowly stir in water. Dough should not be sticky.
2. Roll out 1/8 inch thick; cut into four squares.

Sauce:

3. Place soup and milk in 2-qt. saucepan over low heat.
4. Stir in spices, mustard, cheese.

Chicken:

Heat olive oil in 10 – inch skillet over med. heat.

1. Season chicken with salt, pepper, thyme to taste.
2. Place seasoned side down in skillet; season other side.
3. Cook chicken for 7-10 minutes each side; shred.

Assemble:

1. Place 2 TBS. sauce, 1/8 chicken on each square.
2. Fold square over and press edges to seal.

Bake and Enjoy:

1. Spray 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.
2. Place turnovers in baking pan.
3. Bake turnovers for 20 – 25 minutes, until dough is golden brown.
4. Place 1/8 shredded chicken on each serving plate.
5. Place cooked turnover on top of shredded chicken.
6. Pour 1/4C. Sauce over the turnover.
7. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of turnovers.

"New" Car

A long time ago, I said that I needed to post about our new car. That was four months ago. I finally had time to get to it. Here is our "new" car. It is a 2004 BMW 325i and I LOVE it!!!!

This is Beautiful!

To all my family and friends: I LOVE YOU!

Finally

Has it really been 2 weeks since my last post! Craziness! As you can tell, I have no time. Between commute time, work, working out, eating, and getting enough sleep, there is NO time left.

Anyway, I got on the scale this morning. I lost 5 pounds! I have been working with Ariel for 12 weeks and working on getting healthy for 15 weeks. My mom said that it takes 12 weeks for the body to regulate and stop freaking out about the changes and that I should start seeing increased differences. Well, today I got some serious results!!!! WAHOO!

So, in 15 weeks I have lost 12 pounds, over 10 inches, and about a percent of body fat! It pays off to keep going even when you don't want to continue.

Other Stuff

My brother went to Alaska on Sept. 8. He arrived safely and we miss him like crazy! We love you, David.

I just finished my third week of teaching first grade. I LOVE it! There are moments that I wish did not happen, but overall, it is amazing. I just got this new kid who did not attend kindergarten, though! This student cannot even hold a pencil! It has been frustrating.

Fitness progress - I am thrilled! I weighed, measured, and tested body fat % last Saturday. I had previously done all of this 6 weeks ago. Well, I did not loose ANY weight! UG! But, then I measured....I took 6 measurements. Chest, waist, hips, left bicep, left thigh, and left calf. Total inches lost from those 6 places is 10 1/4 inches!!!!! WAHOO!!! If I end up with a 28 inch waist, but don't loose weight, I'll still be happy. Fitness isn't only about weight. I also lost 0.4% body fat! Yes! Yes! Yes! Pretty soon, my body will realize that it doesn't need to hold onto that weight any more and it will start to come off so fast (so they say). Anyway, super excited and revved up for the next set of training sessions.

It's Been too Long

I have not had time to blog lately, but I hope the four of you who read (or at least who comment) don't mind. School started for me and I am commuting. That makes for VERY long days and EARLY bedtime. Anyway, I have so much to blog about. Here is the list:

Disneyland 5k
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
David goes to Alaska
School started
Fitness progress

Today - The 5k and Ruth's Chris. We (my husband, mom, sister, brother, Sean, Sean's sister, Sean's niece, and I) ran/walked the annual Disneyland 5k. See copyright images here: http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=47941&BIB=245&S=230&PWD=

I walked and Cameron stayed with me this time. I did not think I was going to make it, because before mile 1 my back spasmed really bad. The medic came over to check on me and told me that if I needed emergency they would be there very quick. I stretched and decided I was not going to quit. Even if I crawled across the finish. I made it though. Without crawling. I came in, with my sweet husband, an 1 hr. and 6 min. I know, slow. But, I did it.

That night we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. The atmosphere was great and the service was amazing! Cameron ordered the fillet, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. I ordered steamed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, and potatoes. My meal was WAY over priced, but I did take a small bite of Cameron's steak and it was INCREDIBLE! I don't even like meat (all that much) and it was GOOD. We also ordered cheesecake for dessert and it, too was AWESOME! Maybe the best cheesecake we have had. We liked the decorations on the ceiling.