just one more 'thank you' on the oldie ...

Just one more post on the oldie blog. 


Dear leftover steak and veggies -

You were so delish for lunch today. So mush so in fact
that I did not go out to eat. This was very hard since
I was craving nachos! Oh, my waste thanks you too. :o)

Love, Liz

Discovered new things ...

This fine bloggety blog is getting

a makeover people!

Yes! Finally! Wahoo! Woot woot!

Can you tell I am kind of excited?

Sooo ... what does this mean to you?

Well your most awesome daily reading pleasure will

be down for the rest of the week.

Please check back on Monday to get

a first glimpse of the goodness!

If I am up earlier I will post on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you!

Make healthy food LOOK Fun to eat!

Do you want your kids to eat healthier

but don't know how to get them

to munch down that fruit or veggie?

Or, get them to drink water with crystal light

instead of sugary juice or soda?

I know I always do!

Luckily daughter already loves fruits

and veggies {phew!}

and she has taken a liking to water.

Thank goodness!

So why not get creative anyway?

Whether you child likes to eat the good stuff

or not you should still incorporate

some of this fun-ness on to your kid's plate.

Mom of the year? Absolutely!

So here we go ...

Do you think your little kiddo

might eat this before munching down just a

plain old pear?

I'm thinking so!

Let's see.  Give it a try.

Check out the instructions here.

How about that plain, boring water?

We all know water is good for us. All of us.

But kids want the sweet stuff.

How about making the water look fun & tasty?

Add some fun straws ...

And add some fresh fruit to the glass.

Does the fruit give lot's of flavor?

Umm ... probably not unless you

squeeze it a little.

But it sure does make that glass of water

look so much cooler.

And more fun for sure!

Give it a try.  These things have worked for me.

And I am confident that they will work for you too!

Good luck and enjoy!

Some Friday Fun ... For smiles only

Just some fun in hopes to

make you smile.

I sure did!

Remember earlier in the week when

I mentioned my car was broken

in to?

Well, one of the things they took

was my favorite pair of sunglasses.

Ya. I know. Sheesh.

I mean they were my favorite pair.

Good thing 1) everything happens for a reason

and 2) we happen to be going to San Francisco

that very next day.

WAHOOO!

So I found these!

I love them more then my

previous favorite pair.

daughter modeling the fave shades

Cute huh? Ya, I think so too.

Oh! Hey! Check out this site for

some crafty fun.

I hope your weekend is filled with

bubble blowing excitement!

 photo credit

photo credit

I know ours sure will be!

Got lots on the mind today ...

So much on my mind ...

The wheels are definitely spinning ...

Lots of ideas ...

I sense an opportunity ...

WE just have to reach out and grab it ...

(in deep thought)

On a side note ~

That pesky undiagnosed insomnia is

really driving me batty.

Well not really but ...

Some days you wouldn't know I had 3-4 hours

of sleep and other days

I won't take the office stairs

because I don't feel the energy to lift my

feet high enough to climb them. hee tee

Today is an elevator day.

Butterfly Inspiration

Why? Do you ask.

It's simple.

{in my opinion} butterflies are peaceful.

So dainty. So Graceful. So colorful.

They won't hurt you.

Unless you are in some kind of

weird movie or something. HA!

This is what inspires me today ...

Nice design. I would do

something like this over

our bathtub. I need something like

this over our tub. Now.

My favorite picture.

I want to go home. Immediately.

To make some cute displays. 

I look at this and think * stationary.

I want to write a special someone

a special note. ASAP. 

Ahhh ... sweet dreams tonight.

I sure hope so anyway! 

Time to go home. Get pretty

in a ruffled skirt and put

these in my hair. If only I had these.

I must find similar hair clips. STAT! 

So cute for a girl's bedroom

or a playroom.  I have ideas for 

daughter's playroom. I need to

gather more picture frames like

... yesterday so I can get

that room done. I want to

get that room done. 

photo credits

I am smiling right now.

Butterflies make me happy.

Well butterflies and daisies if you

must know. :o)

Weekend Wrap-Up - It's Random Ramblings

The weekend started out fantastically

on Friday night.

Even though my car got broken in to at

the restaurant.

Yes, you read correctly.

Car. Broken. In to.

It's cool though. Not a lot of damage

and they didn't get much.

So no big deal after all. Could have been

worse. Right?

Prior to the break-in I was

having dinner with some old friends.

Not old like in age old but old

like in long time friendships.

Jen, Heather and Charlene.

I see Jen often & Heather a lot.

Not so much of Charlene though so it

was fun that we could all get together

for a nice dinner on Friday night. 

I brought these silly gumball machine rings

for us. Aren't they cute? Well the idea was cute. :o)

We laughed. Talked. Laughed some more.

All of the memories from when we were

younger.  Back when we just knew we

we THE coolest girls walking the earth.

I am sure you all know that feeling.  :o)

Then Saturday was a big day.

Daughter was done with Art Camp on

Friday and went to San Francisco with

her grandparents, her Aunt Staci (from PA)

and Kim (Aunt Staci's friend) to see Peter Pan.

They stayed close to the city that night

then met us back there Saturday morning.

We spent all day there.

{more detailed blog post to come}

It was so fun. The weather was beautiful!

Had lunch at a dim sum place.

Not a huge fan of the ambiance.  My husband's reference,

"this looks like a place in a Jackie Chan movie.

I keep waiting for him to come running from the back

doing a fight scene."

It was funny.  Seriously, we ate in a banquet room

but it was the restaurant.

the desert. daughter liked it. I didn't try it.

We walked. And walked. And walked. 

Until the end of the day when we took a cable car

from the warf back to China Town.

We were so excited to see daughter.

It had been two weeks!

I LOVE our peek-a-book picture ...

as I call it.

p.s. I am really liking all of the things

I have learned to do on photobucket.

Oh my gosh. This is so funny {in my opinion} ...

My girlfriend pulled her lint roller

out of her desk drawer and all of this

stuff was stuck to it!

I mean it makes sense that stuff would

stick but dang her desk is a mess!

ha ha ha

See for yourself!

Anyhoo ...

Sunday was a fantastic day too.

Well the day was. Not so much the evening.

I got up nice and early for my

one hour fitness class.

Then I came home to a house of friends.

Our out-of-town friends were passing through town

on their way home and stopped for lunch. YAY!

Unfortunately my camera was dead from

Saturday but the kids have made my blog before.

See! Aren't they cute!

They left and daughter's softball practice resumed.

Yep, winter ball is back people!

She was out there for 2 1/2 hours.

I on the other hand was visiting

a dear family friend who recently had 2 heart attacks.

She is looking marvelous of course but she still

needs to relax.

Scary enough, her daughter, Heather

(friend from Friday night's dinner) was

taken to the hospital with back pain and

shortness of breath before I got there.

I hung out, visited, played with Heather's kids

and was kept well informed by Steve, her hubby.

This is their youngest, Jacob.

Yep, I am in love.

This is big brother Gabriel taking good care

of little Jacob. Ahhh ...

Luckily Heather was able to go home last

night.  She had more tests scheduled

for today.  I am glad they are taking every

precaution. 

Phew ... Here's to the week ahead!

Summer Spruce up - What's in your fridge?

And just in time for the weekend.

Do you know what is in your fridge?

I mean all the way in the very very back?

You know that tupperware container

you have been ignoring because the

leftovers in it have grown a blanket?

Ya, you know what I mean.

I recently went through every shelf.

one by one.

Picked. Cleared. Cleaned. Organized.

I wanted to make room for all of the

fresh, healthy and refreshing

fruits and veggies we just bought.

One reason why I love summer -

the cold foods taste so much better.

{in my opinion}

see what I mean?

breakfast this morning

I like wiping down the shelves

about once a month.

I do this because I would be mortified if

a guest went to my fridge and

tried to grab a jar of something

that was stuck to the shelf because

of something else.  Yes, this has happened

once. Only once.

It is a good idea to use your

grocery shopping day as a

fridge organizing day.

It makes total sense.

You do need to make room for

your new goodies, right?!

My fridge is set so I have other plans

for the weekend.

Dinner with the girls ... San Fran ... Fitness class ... Relax

Until Monday! Enjoy!

Baby it's H.O.T out here!

Yowza!

It's sizzlin' out here today!

The sun is definitely shining. down. bringing the heat. 

I am a summer girl. I enjoy the heat.

I really do. I think ...

However, I AM beginning to realize that I like

the heat a lot more when I am not running

around in it. Yep. I definitely

like it better when I have water to dip into.

Pool, Ocean (preferred), lake.

You know what I mean?

Is this too much to ask?

I've got some tips for you if you share

my same experience today:

If you are working (like me) then

take cover! Find some shade such as ...

umbrellas are a nice portable

kind of shade

Or ...

sitting under a tree in the

grass with a nice breeze

is the diggety

If you aren't working hopefully

you have access to one of these ...

Pool

Ocean

Lake

Either could work. Don't be picky.

Again, I don't think this is too much to ask.

heeeee heeeee

And when it's blistering whether you

are enjoying the water or taking cover under

shade during your work day you

should always stay hydrated and

eat healthy, refreshing snacks such as ...

That is my advice for the day.

Stay cool. Stay hydrated. Stay healthy.

Have a great one!

photo credits: weheartit.com

Well the apple is mine. Can't you tell?

It's not as fancy as some of the others.

:o)

A Bike Ride ... Funtabulous!

It’s no surprise that our family {Hubber, Daughter and I}

have been focusing on a healthier lifestyle.

Healthy eating habits and lots of exercise/activity.

It’s not just thinking we are eating better

it’s knowing what we are eating and why it’s better.

And to come up with different activities to do often.

We have had our bikes since before Daughter

was born. It’s true. We used to ride along the

American River.  Since having daughter and, well,

the stories you hear about people getting attacked

by mountain lions and such,

we haven’t really done any riding at the river.

We do have a big circle in our neighborhood.

The street is almost two miles.

A good ride for daughter.

But as you can imagine we got bored with

looking at the same houses, elementary school

and park time and time again.

So while Daughter is away at camp weep weep we have

been scoping out local trails to take her on & we

report in to her to share the new ride finds.

She IS excited to see them.

It’s nice that we are lucky enough to have really

nice bike trails right in our town.

They are very pretty too.

This one is about 5 miles and has so much scenery.

Lots of ducks.  Although none pictured here.

Please note; this photo is the beginning of our ride.

Prior to Hubber calling me slow poke and saying, "you know you

are slow when a jogger passes you." Gosh I love him! :o) 

only issue is you have to dodge duck poop until you

get out of the first park.

There are even some small inclines. Nothing

huge but enough for you me to feel it in the legs.

Check out this site to see if you have trails close to you.

My guess is you will be suprised at what you find.

P.S. That jogger was fast! I swear he was

training for a double marathon or something.

Friends on the Fence

Aren't they so very adorable?

I sure do think so!

I purchased them at Joann Fabrics

oh probably 4 years ago.

Back then I had every intention of

hanging them in the then backyard.

Eventually they got shuffled to the garage and were

never hung.

Then we moved. YAY!

I like our new backyard so much more then

the then backyard.

There are more plants, bushes and flowers.

We were inspired to dig out the yard decor

and get to work and cutesifying our yard.

Front and back.

FYI, we have the cutest turtle

stepping stones in the front yard.

Ohhh future post to come on those. YEP!

I have yard stakes placed in various spots

and a mini flag stand.

We have a little patch of grass that

I could even mow.

oh and the pool.

This piece of fence has no plants.

not even under our friends on the fence.

So of course we thought this was

THE perfect spot.

I think they look cute here.

It's Our yard is so pretty. I love sitting in the hot tub

and just staring around.

It's pretty cute ... in my opinion.

{www} What a Wonderful Weekend

We had a busy but very wonderful weekend.

Let's see, it started with a 6:30 wake-up call

(thank you alarm clock) on Saturday.

This was necessary actually becasue we had

to be at Elk Grove Park by 8:00am to start our

shifts at the snack bar during the All Star

softball tournament.  I heard there were

something like 55 teams there. WOW!

That explains why we were busy.

Busy busy. All. Day. Long.

Hubber worked the grill and I worked inside.

We were there from 8:00am until about 7:00pm.

I know. Long day right?

But oh so worth it.  We love helping out

whenever we can.

Sunday, we got to sleep in until about 8:00.

Well, actually I woke up sporadically during the

night so I am not sure I would call it

sleeping in. Would you? Opinions please.

Anyhoo ... I had a 1 hour fitness class at 10:00

then a meeting from noon until about 3:30pm.

Both in Roseville.  By the time we got home

I was pretty tired. Just wanted to veg and watch

movies. Independence Day and then

Remember the Titans.

I love when good movies are on channels like

TNT and E. 

Especially since we don't have movie channels!

That was our {www} ... in a nut shell.

Undiagnosed insomnia update:

for a while I was doing great!

Getting 5 hours of unbroken sleep.

Pretty impressive eh? Well lately

my lovely undiagnosed insomnia has returned.

Now I am waking up 2 to 3 times a night

and wide open peepers at 4:33am.

Seriously? errrr

I like to tell myself this is because

I have so many ideas. So many plans to put in

motion that I am constantly thinking about

so it wakes me up at night.

Yep, that's it.  That's the reason.

I'll keep you posted ...

Good day and good night y'all!

dear late lunch ... very late

-dear late lunch ... very late,

thank you for being available for me after 3:00pm. 

you were so important today because I 

realized that after fitness class and a

meeting that I had not yet eaten for the day. 

nope.  not at all.

not even a coffee. not even a mocha. wha!?! 

I already know.  no need to tell me how crazy this was.  

only thing now is I don't think

I will be hungry for your friend ... dinner. 

I won't eat past 8:00pm so I'm pretty sure

dinner is not happening tonight.  oooh actually,

I will have some blueberries in about an hour.  yum! 

yep that is my new plan.  just decided.

thanks again.
love,
liz :o)

As Promised ... The Recipe

I didn't realized that when I mentioned

I would post the recipe for the yumm-o pasta salad
later this week in my last post that

it was already later this week. HA!

Sooo ... here ya go!

Please note: the goodness you are about to prepare in

your kitchen is straight from this fantabulicious cookbook!

Thank you mother-in-law!

And it goes a little something like this: Ok
it's typed exact. Word for Word from the pages.
Well, kind of.  :o)

ROTINI with CHICKEN, ASPARAGUS & TOMATOES
Prep time: 7 minutes / Cook time: 8 minutes YES!

You will need to gather:

~ 8 ounces uncooked rotini (corkscrew pasta)

~ Cooking spray

~ 1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast

  cut into 1/4-inch strips

~ 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (!we skipped this)

~ 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

~ 1 cup (1-inch) slices asparagus (!add more if desired)

~ 2 cups cherry tomatoes-halved (!add more if desired)

~ 2 garlic cloves-minced (!add more if desired)

~ 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

~ 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

~ 1 tablespoon estra-virgin olive oil

~ 1/4 cup (1 oz) crumbled goat cheese

Then you do this:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

2. While pasta cooks, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat: coat with cooking spray.  Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken & asparagus to pan; saute 5 minutes.  Add tomatoes & garlic to pan; saute 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in pasta, basil, vinegar and oil to chicken mixture in pan. Top with cheese. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 cups).

Calories 419; Fat 9.5g(sat 3.2g, mono 4.1g, poly 1.6g); Protein 33.9g; Carb 48.5g; Fiber 3.4g;

Chol 70mg; Iron 3.2mg; Sodium 324mg; Calc 105mg

FYI: We seasoned & grilled the chicken and asparagus. Saute'd everything else but the tomatoes.  Cooled/Chilled everything then mixed pasta. We ate it cold and it was DELISH. In our opinion.

I hope you enjoy yours!

Celebrated Independence ALL weekend. YAY!

***Warning - there are A LOT of photos***
 This 4th of July weekend was so amazing.

Saturday we had the Run 4 Independence

in Elk Grove Park and the bike parade at Van Doren Park.

As Mrs. Northern Valley and my fight against

childhood obesity I thought it would

be fantastic to get a group of kids together to

participate in the Run 4 Independence. 

(The kid's runs were 1/4 mile for under 6 and

1/2 mile for 10 and under)

We had 6 kids including daughter!

They all loved it and are looking forward

to next year. YAY!

Our kids were sponsored by Mikuni. YUM

It was so great to see the Mikuni runners

get excited when they saw the kids.

They LOVED our customized shorts too.

Yep, we are lifers at Mikuni. For sure!

The kids of Team Mikuni & I

The entire team Mikuni

The big girls waiting for Cate to run the 1/4 mile

The big girls run the 1/2 mile

And they all finished ... ahhh

After the run we headed to the bike parade.

(all 6 kids went too! WOOT!)

The kids even decorated their bikes and helmets.

Yep, they were stoked! And they looked adorable!

P.S. Jen & I walked the parade with Jeff

Saturday was fabulous! to say the least.

Sunday, the 4th, we were low key.  

Headed to a good friend's house for dinner

and fireworks.

For dinner we all wanted something light & somewhat healthy.

After going through the new cookbook my mother-in-law

gave us we came up with a pasta salad that had

chicken, garlic, tomatoes & asparagus.

It was delish!

(recipe will be posted this week)

For desert we had frozen yogurt with fresh fruit.

It was the healthiest 4th of July meal we

have ever had! True story.

The fireworks were pretty and

the company was super.

 

It was a great night!

A GREAT WEEKEND!