White Chocolate Fruit Tart

I may be one of the few people that takes pictures of the food that they make, but how could you not be proud of this...

27 years old!

Age is really one of those things that totally sneaks up on you. I remember telling my parents that I still feel to young to have two kids, and then I remember that I'm actually not 22 anymore, I'm 27. Where did the time go?!



Anyway, I had a good birthday. It was weird in the fact that it was kind of spread out among two and a half weeks. The day of my birthday, I was invited to my new favorite restaurant in Pocatello, Red Hot Roasters, with my brother Kendall, and his wife Deanna. Jackie came along too. It was a lot of fun, and honestly the best lunch I've ever had. Seriously, if you haven't been to Roasters yet, you've got to go!





Anyway, later that night, Glenn made me a chocolate, almond cake that was so good I could have buried myself in it. He also gave me an itunes card, which is kind of a traditional gift that comes with every holiday, birthday etc, and an itunes armband for working out. Notice the Christmas wrapping paper and the half eaten cake with the candles in it. Hey, it's my dang birthday, if I want to eat half my cake before blowing out the candles, I'm gonna!





Throughout the week, I was taken to lunch by other good friends. I went to Pizza Hut with my long time friend/"big sister" Misty. I went to Red Hot again with one of my favorite co-workers Heidi, and I went to Texas Roadhouse with my good friend Suzanne. Unfortunately, the only picture I got was Heidi and I standing outside of Red Hot Roasters, but I had a blast with all of them!



About two weeks later, we got together with my family to celebrate the birthday. The favorite thing about my birthday is that I get to celebrate it with on of my favorite people of all time, my dad. I was born on his birthday, and it was just the beginning of our similarities! I love you dad, happy birthday!

More Rambling...

*Have you ever just been kind of stressed for no real reason. That's kind of how I've been today. It almost feels like I have become more easily overwhelmed now that I'm not working. I don't have a busy week this week, at all, but the small things that I do have coming suddenly feel much more monumental then they ever would have felt when I was working. How weird, and kind of sad! I almost think a lot of this new found anxiety is coming from still trying to find my place as a stay-at-home mom. I have gotten a lot better at it these last few weeks, but I hope that with just a little more time, I can really start to own it.

*Today was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! It was sunny and warm, so much that we actually had to open our windows and turn on our ceiling fans. It was so nice and rejuvinating. A good friend of mine told me about a nice walking path along the Portneuf River downtown, so we went to check it out. LOVED IT. It took us about forty five minutes and we easily could have gone longer if we didn't have a daughter that has to go potty! Very quiet, peaceful, pretty. I highly recommend it.

You know, that's really all I got! Needless neurosis and a relaxing walk! Don't you wish you were me? I really do have pics so share, and I was supposed to have them tonight, but there was a little mix up in communication between my man and me! Ah, the drama with the pictures. Anyway, sorry about my spice-less life right now, but as I mentioned before, it's really okay with me! Peace!

Update

I realize that it's been a while since I've blogged anything. To be honest, my life has been pretty neat and tidy lately (knocking on wood), and we've been busy, but nothing huge to report.

Still going to the gym and exercising as much as I can. I'm getting excited because my endurance and strength have really increased. I'm starting to feel kind of strong. The scales still haven't moved, but I've just decided to not think about it in terms of weight, and I do it for health's sake alone. It's made me much happier and willing to work hard when I think of it in those terms.

I get together with friends when I can. It's always nice to have that time with the girls, even if it's just sitting around watching a reality show. You can't replace good girlfriends!

I've been working hard to de-junk, get organized, and simplify our lives. Moving to Philly has been at the forefront of my brain lately, and I'm starting to feel the reality of it sink in more and more everyday. We just recently recieved a nav unit as a gift, which is going to be really nice to have in a big city! We're also starting to apply for the apartment we plan to live in when we get there, gosh, it's coming so fast!

I've been summoned for jury duty, GOSH! This is what I get for voting! I guess it's not so bad. Last time I had to do it, I called everyday, but I never actually had to go in and serve. I'm kind of hoping it will be the same situation this time. Last time I was kind of hoping to get called in to get a break from work! This time I'd just like to stay home so I can keep my comfy clothes on.

I'm also getting ready to have another Lia Sophia party, because as most of you know by now, I'm obsessed! It's going to be April 17th a Thursday, 700, at my dad's office. Everyone is invited, so come, and bring your friends! I love a good party.

My kids are growing, Jayda is talking, so well that it's actually kind of scary sometimes. Skyler is starting to say words like mama, although I'm not exactly sure if he really knows what he is saying. They are so fun and being a stay-at-home mom these last few months has been really good for all of us. I feel like I've become a lot more comfortable being home alone with the kids, where before it was really intimidating and used to kind of freak me out! I'm glad that I will at least have that routine down before moving.

Glenn is doing well and enjoys working at the gym. He is looking very forward to not working graves anymore, and I don't blame him. In a way, going to dental school is going to be a break simply because he'll get a (semi) normal sleeping pattern again. Although, I have heard that dental students spend some late nights studying.

As my darling friend Andrea mentioned in her last blog, reading has become my absolute new ADDICTION. When I was younger I read so many books and I was always looking forward to starting a new one. After I had Jayda, I pretty much just assumed that my life was over and that I'd never read again. Well, my life wasn't really over, I was just really busy, and juggling a full-time job, plus a family, made it difficult to finish a book. Plus, I think the instant gratification of audio and visual stimulation from the TV quickly replaced reading for a while. But, with an odd combination of losing my job, and being introduced to Twilight, I was able to rediscover my passion for reading all over again. Now I'm in a book club, goodreads.com and amazon.com are my favorite websites, and I have my nose in a book every chance I get. It's been so nice to get back to the details, thought processes, and intricate plots that books offer. You just can't get that from TV. I'm reading The Atonement right now. I'm about a fifth of the way into it, but I'm really enjoying it. The writing style took a bit to get used to, but I'm enjoying the story and the characters.

Anyway, there's my long, unconsequential update. Sorry that it doesn't get much more interesting then that, but sometimes it's nice to report that there is just not a lot going on. I will be able to give more of an update once my camera is full. Hope you're all doing well and Happy Spring!

That's Some Good Bonding Right There!

So last week my sister moved back to town! It's a long story, and this probably isn't the forum to discuss it, but I am SO HAPPY to have her back! Jackie and I have become so close these last few years, and having her back in Pocatello has been a blast.



Since I'm an old lady with two kids now, we can't exactly go our partying or hitting all the hot clubs anymore (yeah, cuz that's totally what we used to do...NOT), so our together time has become a lot more low key. She does go to the gym with us, but lately our obsession has been


AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL
Thanks to the miracle of DVR, I now have more episodes of this show, then I do hours to watch it! The funny thing is that when I first started watching this show, I thought it would create more of a contempt for models (not to say I disliked models to begin with, but I do believe there is a stigma attached to their profession), but I ended up with more of a sympathy for models and the criticism and difficulty that comes with the job. It's also such a short lived profession, someone who comes into modeling at 22 is usually considered too old to start. Anyway, we have a lot of fun watching the show, picking our favorites, and loving/hating Tyra at the same time. Of course, it wouldn't be the same watching it without my sister, that's what makes it so fun!

The Perfect World

~IS A PLACE WHERE MONEY AND WEIGHT ARE NOT AN ISSUE~

Warning: This blog may contain late night griping, and complaining!



Aaagh. I am so sick of STRESSING about my weight and our money (or lack of). Lately, it feels like the first thing that hits me in the morning are:

1. "I wonder if I am any lighter today then I was yesterday."

2. "I really hope that we can pay our bills this month."



Addressing the first issue is becoming more and more of a sore subject because I am really starting to feel like I DESERVE to see the number on the scales go down. I spend an hour and a half and the gym almost everyday. I am watching what I eat. I am seeing NO results. I know that it takes time and I know muscle weighs more then fat yada yada yada. But seriously.



I exercise and eat and healthy as possible because it's the right LIFESTYLE and it's what you should do regardless of if you're a size 2 or a size 20. But to continue to go to the gym, deprive myself of the food I want to eat, and still be stuck in the same size I've been for over three years is SO demoralizing. My only hope is that my insides are healthier, which is the ultimate goal anyway, and that after time my hard work will pay off.



Addressing issue two almost seems a little moot right now, because the reality of it is, we've just begun our lives of poverty! Dental school living is going to be tight, and not only will we not be MAKING any money, we will be living off of borrowed money. I think what frustrates me about money isn't that we can't afford the expenses that we've budgeted, it's the surprises around the corner that aren't in the budget...like cancer, and broken computers, and home repairs. You throw those in and suddenly the fifty forgotten packages of ramen in your storage closet are looking pretty tasty (hence, leading us right back to issue one!)



So anyway, those are my rants for the evening. I normally don't like to complain, but it feels good every once and a while. And I know that we're not the only ones dealing with these issues. In fact, if you have any tips for how you handle these things, please share! At this point any advice would be helpful. Life is good, it really is, but sometimes the obstacles can really get ya!

GoodReads.com

For most of you, I am probably singing to the choir, but I was introduced to this cool website a few weeks ago. It's kind of a "myspace, for readers." You get on, set up a profile, and post all of the books you have read, are reading, and plan to read, including your reviews. It's a really fun way to share what you have read with others, as well as find out what everyone else is reading. So get on, share your reviews and I'll see you there!