Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Decade!!!!!!

I know I'm a bit early, but it's already New Year's 2011 somewhere around the globe, so I say, pretty much semantics. We are a global society right?

I was just sitting here working on my latest blog entry and had to stop and post this because it literally made me laugh out loud...something I needed today.

Where I'm At Right Now...

Happiness is a state of mind & you can continually choose to be happy. The best way to live in happiness is to live in gratitude because when you focus on all you have & all that you are right now, that is where happiness is born. Once it is born you can nurture it further by discovering other experiences that bring you increased joy, happiness & exhilaration. Spend your time CHOOSING to be happy!

I'm not sure why I'm intrigued by this recipe

 

 

White Castle Thanksgiving Day Stuffing

Serves: 9

Ingredients

10 White Castle hamburgers, pickle removed
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1 1/4 teaspoon each ground thyme and ground sage
1 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth

Instructions

Tear burgers into small pieces into a large mixing bowl. Add celery and seasonings.

Toss and add chicken broth and toss ingredients together again. Stuff cavity of turkey just before roasting.

The recipe makes about nine cups, enough for a 10 to 12 pound turkey.

Note from White Castle:  Allow one hamburger for each pound of turkey, which will be the equivalent of 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/food/2010/11/22/2010-11-22_white_castle_thanksgiving_day_stuffing.html#ixzz17U7BEeQ8

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

You Won't Believe it's Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Original Recipe Site 

1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower* (recipe below)
1 egg
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp fennel
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp parsley
**pizza or alfredo sauce
toppings (make sure meats are cooked)
mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Farenheit.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
In a medium bowl, combine cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Press evenly on the pan. Sprinkle evenly with fennel, oregano and parsley.
Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes (15-20 minutes if you double the recipe).
Remove the pan from the oven. To the crust, add sauce, then toppings and cheese.
Place under a broiler (grill for the Europeans) at high heat just until cheese is melted

Notes:
*I use frozen cauliflower prepared according to package directions. After cooked and slightly cooled, I shred cauliflower with a cheese grater, and then measure for the recipe. (Don't pack down the cup with cauliflower. Just fill it with a spoon or the cup itself.)
** The pizza sauce I use is Great Value Pizza sauce from Wal-Mart. At only 3 net carbs per quarter cup, you get a lot of punch for little carbohydrate pow.

Nutritional Information for the entire crust:
calories: 434, fat: 25 g, carbohydrates: 8 (net), 13 if counting all, fiber: 5 g, protein: 41 g.

 

Nutritional Information for one serving: 109 calories, 7 grams fat, 2 net carbs, 1.5 grams fiber, 10 grams protein.

Riced Cauliflower

1- 16 ounce bag frozen cauliflower florets

I use a 2-qt covered dish and microwave the cauliflower (Don't add water) until it is cooked, 8 minutes. Using mitts, carefully pour water from the cauliflower. Allow to cool with lid removed.

Cauliflower can be riced in several ways. 1. Food processor
2. Santoku knife
3. Using a cheese grater
4. Using a ricer
Store covered and refrigerated until use.
Note: You can use a head of raw cauliflower to make your riced cauliflower. Simply process/rice the head prior to cooking in the microwave.
Makes approximately 3 cups riced.
Serves 6.
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 20, Carbohydrates: 3.5 g, Fiber: >1g, Net Carbohydrates: 2.5 g, Protein: >1 g, Fat: 0 g

A Few of My Favorite Things - Autumn Edition

Fall Leaves

 Cinnamon-Spicy-Pumpkin Scented Candles

 Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars

Pumpkin Bread

Candy Corn

Boy has this month gone by fast. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is almost here! I’m really excited to be going home to visit my family and of course to eat some turkey and stuffing. Since home is in the boonies, I always miss the black Friday sales but being with my family is worth it; plus I shop throughout the year. One of my favorite bargain sites is www.dealnews.com. I’ve gotten some really great deals though them including my $49 iPhone last Christmas. I always get my magazines through their links. I haven’t spent over $5 for a magazine subscription is probably 2 years. 

 
My workshop and creating my business site(s) has been keeping me really busy but in a good way. I’m stretching myself in new directions; which is a good thing. Stagnation never benefits anyone. It’s really easy to get comfortable and just go with the flow and never do anything to improve yourself. I was really proud of myself earlier this week. I was having some technical problems on my site and couldn’t figure them out and it was affecting my site traffic- wise. I emailed a friend and asked him to take a look. Funny, in our exchange he said something that triggered what might be the problem. When I went back I investigated I found the problem (ME!!!) and fixed it. Thanks Dan for making me think on a more technical level. I’m usually really bad about just saying “fix it” so being able to fix it myself was a huge confidence builder. I’ve got some really great ideas for some upcoming sites that will stretch me even further in the new year and I can’t wait. Bring on that passive income!! Lyn needs some new cute shoes!!!

Last week of October

I can't believe there are only 2 more months left in 2010!! I'm really happy to see fall finally arrive. Fall and spring are my two favorite seasons. I really don't care for the hot and cold extremes of winter and summer. I can't wait until the fall leaves are at their peak. Seeing lots of pretty leaves is one of the few things I miss about living so close to the Smokey Mountains of TN. I'm sure the north Georgia mountains are pretty too, but I don't live as close to them. Another one of my favorite things about this season is pumpkin. I'm burning a pumpkin scented candle right now, along with an orange cranberry scented one. My home smells fantastic. I hate that this time of year is often rushed through or skipped over in general on the way to Christmas. I love Christmas, but I have no desire to start preparing for it in August (are you listening Hobby Lobby??).

I had a good week this week. I'm still working hard on building up my business sites and learning how to generating traffic. The ladies in my workshop are phenomenal. It's really nice to see women work together as a team and support each other. The genuine desire to see others succeed is so rare these days. Once I get my sites a bit more "developed" as far as content, I'll post the links.

A few posts back I mentioned that vanity is what is keeping me at the gym and on my diet (most of the time) along with the chance to win one of the 4 $10,000 prizes at work. Well, after a few months of slogging along, I was getting a little bored, in essence, my candle was starting to dim and the routine was getting kind of tiring. I need a boost. Well out of nowhere this week...Boom...Boom...Pow.... I got the boost I needed to get back on track. I got a little flirty, flirt-flirt from "Mr. Receipt that Launched 1000 Workouts!!" Oh course I was a grinning idiot for the rest of the week, but hey, whatever it takes right?!?!

Friday night was Noel and Elizabeth's annual Halloween party!! It was so much fun. I love seeing all of the costumes and of course all of the yummies. I think my favorite yummy was the candy corn cupcakes the Noel made. I had at least 3. Mmmmm!!! Elizabeth's Rotel Dip was Mmmmmmmm too!!!! Everything was delicious.

This is me! I went as Elin (Mrs. Tiger Woods). I'm holding a golf club in one hand and a picture of me and Tiger in happier times in the other.

I had to stop and get gas on my way to Noel's house. Some dude at the gas pump gave me a once over, licked his lips and said, "mmmmm-mmmmm-mmmm". I'm trying not to be too offended that I get more play in an $8 Target synthetic wig than I do on a normal day.

Oh and this is Scott's hat after I accidently pushed it into a candle. From what I understand, the look on my face was priceless as I was standing there holding the smoldering hat.

This Right Here......

I think I might need these shoes in my life.

I am not a fan of urban apparel at all but I do like Damon John's message and work ethic. I love hearing about people who start out with very little in life and through hard work and perseverance create great things for themselves.

Adwords, Spiders, Bots, Keywords, SEO and STUFF

Wow! I can’t even begin to say how glad I am that it’s Friday. This week as been incredibly, incredibly busy, both in good ways and in not so good ways. Work has been very busy. My company is smack in the middle of a huge merger and my boss is spearheading the entire project which means when she’s busy, I’m busy. We had onsite meetings most of the week which means I get to play hostess all day. The people are very nice and very appreciative but it does mess with my schedule; not to mention all of the extra catering and treats that I’m responsible for bringing in and setting up. My diet and training have been way off this week, mainly training. I’ve missed several workouts this week due to the 10-12 hrs days I’ve been putting in. I’m glad everything is over (for this month) and I’m getting back to my normal routine.

I mention a few posts back that some new opportunities have come my way and I’m really excited about it. A month or so ago, I was fortunate enough to come in contact with a group of women who niche blog for a living. After some networking and submitting a few writing samples, I was invited to join their workshop. These women are very very successful in what they do. All of them earn several thousand dollars a month niche blogging/affiliate marketing and a few of them are headed towards 6 figure yearly incomes. I am learning so much from them. I was really intimidated at first, but they are all so nice and so helpful. I’m settling in nicely and working really hard. My goal is to learn as much as I can and emulate their success. My goal is to be in 6 figures myself within the next 2 years so I can move away from the corporate grind and from the uncertainty of the insurance industry. Right now with health care reform in the works, a lot changes are happening and I don’t want to be caught by any surprises. Plus, I’ve always loved the idea of working from home, being able to travel, volunteer etc and this seems like the perfect opportunity to start making some of that happen. I’ve already purchased a few domains in what I hope to be profitable niches and am working on developing content at the moment. The research and writing are definitely my favorite parts. The set up and back end stuff, not so much. I’ve learned more than I ever thought possible about Google Spiders, Bots, Adwords, Adsense, Keywords, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), indexing, analytics, etc. One interesting thing though is this has made me pay more attention to the traffic to this blog. I also monetized it just to see what type of ads would pop up based on the current content. It’s kind of all over the place, just like my blog, but that’s exactly what I want, since most times, I’m all over the place. Hahaha!!!

I did find this little tidbit funny/interesting, especially since I’m all over keywords and SEO.

This is a screen shot from the feed that shows the traffic to my blog and how they get here. As you can see, someone from Hamilton, Ontario Canada (hmmmm) arrived by searching “Cookbook Amy Perez”.





Now if you search “Cookbook Amy Perez” on Google, as you can see below, my blog entry referring to her as Amy “Cuntface” Perez is the first Google link.






Hahahahahahahaha!! Sorry, but yeah, I find that fucking hysterical. Who knew that if you search a certain person's name and the word cookbook, you'd come up with Cuntface. What a hoot!!!! Google keywords are definitely a gift that keeps on giving.


What I find funnier is that “someone” from Hamilton, Ontario Canada would actually search that particular combination of words. Again HMMMMMMM.

TOP TEN!!!!

7 Week Prep - F Class - 9th Place!! Woohooo!!! Way to crack that Top 10 Noel!!!

Random Stuff

Happy Wednesday! This week started out kinda of yucky at work (which seems to be a pattern these days) but after staff meeting and dept meetings (my company loves to meet), things are making a turn around. Hopefully things will remain on the upswing for a while. I was assigned a fantastic new research project. Research is one of my favorite things to do. I'm also working on a business opportunity that will hopefully in a year to a year and a half will exceed my current salary and allow me to work from home doing something that I love to do and am good at. I'm really fortunate to have found the opportunity and the great group of women who are currently coaching and mentoring me. I am working really hard to develop it and get things moving. I have always envied entrepreneurs and nothing is exciting me more than to have the possibility of one day soon joining that group.

The diet and training are still going well. I've dropped another 5lbs even though I haven't been as strict with the diet as I have been over the past few months. It's definitely time to tighten back up so I can see more numbers drop, faster. I really really really wish my gym would stop it already with the $10 a month memberships. The place is getting way too crowded. I miss the good old days when it first opened and the place was pretty much empty. I understand though, empty doesn't pay the rent, but how about investing in some more equipment? 3 upright bikes? Really?

This weekend is Nationals!! I'm looking forward to it. I love shows and while I've been to 2 or 3 local shows in the past year or so, nothing beats the national level shows and I haven't been to one since Nationals 2008. A good friend of mine, Noel Clark will be competing. She looks phenomenal; best she's ever looked!! Her class (F) is pretty big but not the biggest. In figure it definitely does NOT pay to be of average height. Noel is definitely bringing the package that best represents her to the stage this weekend. Anyway, we will all be doing the normal fun competition stuff, dinners, get togethers after the show, baked goods, etc. Our normal Atlanta group is going as well as another friend who's coming up from Florida, some of Noel's other friends and of course her family. There is going to be a bunch of us and we are going to be LOUD!! Hmm, I wonder if I have time to make a TEAM CLARK sign? I'm all about the glitter. I'm also looking forward to seeing some other people from some other boards I belong to and some other blogs that I follow.

At some point I need to figure out my Halloween costume. I'm going to a party in a couple of weeks and I have no idea what my costume will be. I really need to get on that. I may keep it simple and get some scrubs and a stethescope and go as a nurse so I can rock my Crocs. It's so sad, my poor Crocs get absolutely no love anymore.

What Connects Us....

Things like this just stand as a reminder that the world really isn't that big of a place; that we are more alike than different.

Baby, you need to sweep off your own porch first…….

This is was one of the gazillion sayings that I remember my maternal grandmother using when I was a child. Some of the ones she used make no more sense today than they did 30 years ago when I first heard them, but this one, I think of often. Basically it means, take a look at yourself before you criticize or have something to say about others. As a child, I remember her using it on either me or my brother when we were in that annoying tattletale mode. I can remember rolling my eyes in annoyance because of course I wanted her to take my side and slap the taste out of my little brother’s mouth. After all, HE was the pest, not me!!! No, seriously, he really was.

Most recently I was reminded of this saying during an exchange regarding diet/training/adherence etc. For the most part when it comes to diet and exercise, I’m not very helpful. I don’t offer a lot of specific information about what I eat, how I train etc. I don’t do this for a multitude of reasons. It’s not that don’t want people to succeed or that what I’m doing is top secret, it’s mainly because like my Nanny said, “I haven’t sweep off my own porch yet.” I think it’s easy after dropping a few pounds and sticking to whatever program you’re doing for a few months, to start feeling like you are qualified to give advice to others when you feel as if they aren’t “serious” about making changes, are whining, just don’t want it as badly as you think they should or you feel that their methods are just plain stupid. This behavior reminds me of the behavior of a “born-again Christian” who just found “religion” a few months ago and now thinks they are qualified to point out all of your “sins” when in fact they were the same sins they were doing even to a higher extent and sometimes still falls back into the “sinful” pattern more than they'd ever admit. I feel strongly that everyone must find out what works for them regardless of the number of times they slip up or the method they choose .There are many paths to this goal and yes some of them are stupid, but that’s why we have the power of choice and the ability to research. I may not choose to starve myself on one meal a day and 2 hrs of cardio, but it’s not my place to criticize either, being that some days I’m a hot fudge sundae away from eating enough to bust through the seams of my pants. If asked directly what my methods are, I will direct someone to certain websites so they can do their own research or I will give a brief overview of what I’m doing. Sometimes my information is of benefit to them, sometimes it’s not and that’s ok. I choose to share information, not advice because I still have way too much dirt on my own porch for that. A 20lb weight loss and a few months dietary adherence does not an expert make.

Share all the love you can today, for tomorrow isn't promised to any of us.

Friday - Sept. 10 Milestone

This is a picture of my newest toy. It's weight matches the number of pounds I've lost as of today.

Getting in touch with my creative side

I swear I have one somewhere. I used to use it all the time. Grrrr!!!

I've been thinking a lot lately about getting back into some old hobbies and also starting some new ones. I've been spending some time on Etsy and came across this girl's store. She has some really cool accessories all made from recycled items. Here are 2 of my favorites.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FeltSewGood

The brooches are made from recycled sweaters. I think this is a great idea for old sweaters that have stains or holes in them.









The cosmetic bag is made from a recycled blazer and sweater for the bottom. I swear I have the matching skirt somewhere in my closet amongst the variety of different sizes.





This weekend I'm going to hit some yard sales in search of some goodies for Ebay. The weather is supposed to be nice so hopefully I can hit several before all of the good stuff gets away.

I'm thinking that my Christmas present to myself this year is going to be a sewing machine and some sewing classes. It's been a long time since high school Home Ec. I've seen some really interesting things at places like World Market and Etsy that I know I can make with some practice and I've seen lots and lots of cool fabrics and patterns on my yard sale treks. Who knows, this time next year I might be running my own Etsy store. One can never have too many accessories.

When the Cheater Feels Cheated

OMG, I had the WORST cheat ever on Friday!! Don't you hate when that happens? I didn't overeat, but the cheat meal I chose was HORRIBLE. What a waste!!! Isn't it funny how your perception of what's "Good" changes when you limit yourself to eating certain things. Probably a few months ago, I wouldn't have even noticed how crappy my cheat was because I was eating that sort of thing all of the time.

For the past few months, I've been using Chipotle as my cheat as well as a piece of strawberry cake with strawberry/cream cheese frosting from a local bakery. I decided to do a change up on Friday because I was in the mood for french fries, or just something fried. My original thoughts were to go with a cheeseburger and fries from 5 Guys Burgers and Fries, but at the last minute I changed to fried butterfly shrimp, fries and coleslaw from a local chain. Bleech!! What a waste. I ate half of it and left the other half in digust. I definitely felt cheated. Next time, I will definitely go with my cheeseburger and fries or back to Chipolte. I'm really sad because the strawberry cake was only around until Labor Day and I missed my last opportunity until Valentine's Day for a piece. I'm going to try and find a good copy-cat recipe online in hopes that I can replicate it in cupcake form and freeze or bring to work the left overs.

In other news, I should be cruising into the -20lb mark on my next weigh-in on Friday. I was at -18 at the end of last week and I'm tightening up my diet in some areas so I should hit the mark without any problems. I've also changed up my training program. I did the last one for 3 months because I liked it and didn't want to mess up my 5-6 sessions per week stride. I started my new one last week and really like it. I'm finding that routines suit me, so I'll probably do this one until the end of the year and then ping Noel for some new ideas come January 1st.

At some point this month at work, we will be having our first quarter weigh-ins for the wellness program my company has implemented. I can't remember if I ever went into great detail in the blog because I so over everyone talking about it at work. Anyway, my company is giving away 4 $10,000 prizes next July for the people who have met the quarterly weight loss requirements throughout the year. I cannot tell you how good it feels to have met my requirements a month ago. I can honestly say that is the first time that's happened EVER. Unfortunately the contest isn't about who loses the most, but every quarter that you reach the set goal, your name goes into the hat for a chance to win one of four $10,000 prizes. 4 quarters = 4 chances. The odds will improve over time because if you are disqualified the first time you don't reach the goal. I will be really annoyed though if someone qualifies once and then never qualifies again and they win one of the prizes, but oh well, what can you do? It's a lottery. I can only control me and make sure I do everything I need to do in order to qualify all 4 times.

The Truth to Success

Thelma and Louise Go'in For Teh Tone - 155lb Deadlifts

What an awesome week this has been. One of my nearest and dearest friends came down from Canada-land to pay me a visit. The visit went so fast, but not to fear, we'll be doing it again shortly and then hopefully in the not so far future, I can pay her a visit and see what kind of mischief we can get into up north. Luckily her hubby is a cop, so maybe we'll get a pass if we get into too much trouble. Anyway, I'll post more about her visit later, but just wanted to post some videos of one of the high points of her visit...going to the gym together. We went with Noel, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's sister Rachael. Ana also tanned, but I passed on that part.

Anyhoo, here is yours truly (Louise) Sumo-Deadlifting 155 lbs!!

My lifting style is as follows:

(1) Wear a shirt that is just loose enough to get caught behind your elbows and show not one but all three rolls of your belly fat.

(2) Don't breathe until the very last rep, effectively making your eyes look like they're going to pop out AND you're suffering from a thyroid condition. Hey, I was focused and besides, breathing is for sissies!!




Next is Thelma's turn. Thelma's a wee one, but she's lifting those 155lbs like nobody's business. Her lifting style includes looking constipated on the last rep but hey, at least she remembered to breathe unlike me.



Again, had a fantastic time and learned a lot. Noel is very generous with her training knowledge. I can't wait until we all get together again!

Found an Awesome Blog

I love this blog!! It makes me really wish I had paid more attention in high school Home Economics. It's never too late to learn though. I love creativity and this girl's creativity is through the roof.

http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/

Waaaaaaaa!!!!!

Ughhhh, what an annoying day this has been.

As soon as I get to work, I walk into this from one of my coworkers.



Supposedly I don't speak to her enough. I stop and chat with everybody around her but not with her.

First of all, "Bitch please, we aren't in kindergarten. Who does this? We are coworkers, not friends. I am nice to you because we have to work together and because I don't want anything negativo on my evaluation. I am nothing if not professional, but again, that does not equate me wanting to be your friend."

She's really lucky she didn't catch me before my EC kicked in or I would have shared these thoughts with her; evaluation be damned, I have a whole year to recover from any minor slip-ups. Fortunately, I had already "eased" into my morning when I got this little confrontation and spiel.

Second, she's exactly right. I don't talk to her other than the customary greetings. I've tried the idle chit-chat, but 9 times out of 10, I'd get forced into having a 20 minute conversation about the constant streams of drama she has swirling around her at any given point. Trust me, it's better to have me ignore you than you have this look:



See, the thing is, in addition to constantly being involved in some kind of personal/work-related drama, she's one of those people who need constant reinforcement that they are liked and are doing a good job. A few years ago, I probably would have indulged her, but these days, I am sooooo not the one. I have been around a person in the past who constantly needed validation and proof that you were a good friend. Nothing was ever good enough. You could never show enough that you were a friend all the while you got nothing in return. These types of people suck the very lifeblood out of you and drain away any joy you might have. No thanks, been there, done that, don't need another T-shirt. Luckily for me and unfortunately for her, I can now see those familiar red flags a mile away and make it a point to distance myself. I guess she picked up on it, but I really don't care because until my job description says that I have to be everyone's friend, my treatment of her will not change. In fact she may get less since she made it an issue today.

Ok, rant over. Other than that and a few minor but correctable annoyances that actually were in my job description today was overall a pretty decent day. I give it a C+/B-. My boss has been on vacation so I've had a pretty laid back week. I also had a fantastic cheat meal today. I went to Chipotle's and had a



Now it's time to kick back, relax and watch the Braves play. Go Braves!!!!

Winding Down with Week 8

Week 8 is coming to a close and I have settled nicely into my routine. Earlier this week I was sick and missed training on Monday and Tuesday. Normally, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but I found myself in addition to feeling sick, feeling “off”, like something was missing. It then hit me that my “new” routine had officially become my “now” routine. I used to resent routines because I saw them as tedious and smothering, something that suburban soccer moms and middle aged men did. Remember the Dunkin Doughnuts commercials…”Time to Make the Doughnuts”. I enjoyed “living in the moment”, “flying by the seat of my pants” etc. What I’ve now learned is that anything negative can be changed to positive with a shift in mindset. I really think this key point is what has been missing in all of my other failed attempts. Well, that I wasn’t on a man-hunt all those other times. LOL. Anyway, I digress. Now, I view the time spent prepping food, packing my gym bag, going to the gym, etc. as the small daily goals that I need to meet in order to reach the big goal. I no longer have to worry that Facebook, Maximum Fitness Consulting (www.maximumfitnessconsulting.com), Ebay, and all of the other places I used to spend my nights hours with will crumble and implode if I’m not around. Most nights I don’t get home before 7pm and I’m perfectly OK with it. I remember a few months ago complaining in another blog post about how much crap I have to carry into and out of my home each day (purse, lunch tote, gym bag, water bottle, etc.) Now I’m like the momma duck with all of her baby duckies lined up at the front door. I know what goes where, (purse over left shoulder, lunch tote on left wrist, water bottle in left hand, gym bag on right wrist, keys in right hand). It actually feels weird on the weekends when I just have my purse). Funny the things we (I) find to bitch about. I have definitely been guilty of letting the small things get in the way of the bigger and better things. I’m actually still fine tuning my weekend routine. For me weekends = sleeping late/multiple naps, but after all of these years I’m finally coming to the conclusion that this is no longer working for me. I’ve really starting developing an interest in yardsaling, mainly in search of vintage items. FYI: Vintage items are HUGE sellers on Ebay. Although I don’t make it out every Saturday morning, I am increasing the number of times per month that I do get out.

Coming Up:
One of my closest girlfriends, Ana H. will be coming down for a visit at the end of the month. We haven’t seen each other since several of us made a trek up to Canada in 2007. My goal is to lose another 10lbs before she gets here. I’m really looking forward to her visit. I know we’re all going to have tons of laughs. We have so many old stories that no matter how many times they get retold are still sooooo funny. I know there will be lots of treats and cheats too. I can’t wait!!!

The ABC's of Me

A
- Available: Depends on who’s asking.
- Age: 41
- Annoyance: arrogance and liars
- Animal: Dogs are my favorite but I don’t own one yet.

B
- Birthday: July 1
- Body part on opposite sex: Chest and butt
- Best weather: 80 – 85 degrees, breezy and no humidity
- Burial or Cremation: Cremation

C
- Candy: Hershey’s Cookies and Creme
- Color: Pink (all shades)
- Chinese/Mexican: Mexican
- Cake or pie: Cake! I hate pie!
- Cheese: Cheddar, mozzarella, provolone, American – nothing too pungent

D
- Day or Night: Night
- Dance in the rain?: yes
- Dog/Cat – Dogs!! Love all of their little sweet faces.

E
- Eggs: scrambled and hard-boiled
- Ever failed a class?: oh yeah

F
- First crush: Erik Estrada and Mr. Smith – my 7th grade history teacher
- First thoughts waking up: I need more sleep
- Food: a love/hate relationship

G
- Greatest fear: stalkers, being buried alive, someone I care about being wrongly accused and then convicted of a crime.
- Goals: to be the best me possible and live the best life possible
- Gum: Bubble Gum, Cinnamon, Mint (in that order)
- Get along with your parents: Mother: Yes!! Father: It’s a work in progress
- Good luck charm: don't believe in them. I create my own luck.

H
- Hair color: Dark brown. I’m doing wigs as protective styling right now until I can grow and thicken up my own. Talk about a work in progress!! Whew, it’s never-ending.
- Height: 5’2
- Happy: most of the time
- Holiday: Christmas
- How do you want to die: I prefer not to.

I
- Ice cream: Ben and Jerry’s Strawberry Cheesecake, Chubby Hubby, and Chocolate Fudge Brownie (In that order)
- Instrument: Does the recorder in 2nd grade count? If not, then none
-Icing: Buttercream
-Iphone or Blackberry: Love my iphone!

J
- Jewelry: I’m really into making my own right now. I’m not very good at it, but getting better
- Job: Insurance (Vision) – Strategic Planning
-Juice: Tropicana Orange with Extra Pulp

K
- Kids: I’ll just enjoy a select few that belong to others. I don’t see them in my future.
- Keep a journal: I have 2 blogs, one public and one private. The private one is my journal

L
- Love at first sight?: I think it’s possible, but I’ve never experienced it.
- Laughed so hard you cried: many times

M
- Milk flavor: Chocolate
- Movie: Not a huge movie fan. I watch more TV
- Marriage: Some day
- Motion sickness: Nope

N
- Number of siblings: 1 younger brother: Marc
- Number of piercings: 2 holes in each ear

O
- Overused Phrases: too many clichés out there to even begin to mention
- Onions/Garlic: Love them both!

P
- Place you’d like to live: Anywhere near the beach or NYC
- Perfect Pizza: Lots of cheese, meat and veggies. No ham or pineapple
- Pepsi/Coke: Diet Pepsi
-Pedi or Mani: Mani

Q
- Questionnaires: don’t mind answering if I have the time

R
- Reason to cry: I don’t cry much, but hearing about animals and the elderly being mistreated will make me cry in a heartbeat
- Reality T.V.: hate it!
- Radio station: Prefer satellite radio
- Roll your tongue in a circle: no can do
- Ring Size: 8 – I have fat fingers

S
- Shoe size: 8.5
- Salad dressing: Ranch
- Sushi: Bleech!
- Shower daily?: Definitely
- Sing well?: Can’t carry a tune in a bucket
- Strawberries/Blueberries: Strawberries

T
- Time for bed: During the week, shoot for 11-ish, weekends: whenever I get sleepy
- Thunderstorms: indifferent as long as my power doesn’t go out
- TV: probably watch too much, but love CSI and Law and Order
- Touch your tongue to your nose: No can do

U
- Unpredictable: sometimes
- Umbrella: Always have one close. I’m not a fan of getting soaked

V
- Vegetable you hate: Cooked cabbage and squash
- Vacation spot: anywhere tropical

W
- Weakness: sleep
- Wanted to be a model: that dream ended when I stopped growing at 5’2
- Which one of your friends acts the most like you: None. I am an original
- Worst weather: Sleet and cold rain.

X
-Xtreme Sports: Not really interested in them.

Y
- Year it is now: 2010
- Yellow: like the darker variations like deep gold. Pastels are my favorite.
-Yelling or Whispering: I prefer quiet, but each one has it’s time and place.

Z
- Zoo animal: Lions and Gorillas
- Zodiac sign: Cancer

It only took one.....

I went to my first "real" professional baseball game last weekend and I am officially hooked AGAIN. I used to be a fan, but somehow I got disinterested in the game. Now I'm officially back. GO BRAVES!! It was a fun day. Things started off a little wet. When we all arrived, we were smack in the middle of a downpour. After a 35 minute rain delay, the game started and the temps cooled off considerably to make the majority of the game quite pleasant. The temps started rising again around the 7th inning but was still tolerable. We had great seats; 2 rows behind the right hand batter's box. I'm officially spoiled.







Braves Dugout



My man Martin Prado at bat!! Yummy!!



Catcher - Brian McCann - My quads would be on FIYAH if I had to squat for that long. Hmm..I wonder how much he squats in the gym.



Jason Heyward - what an amazing rookie season he's having. So young and so talented.



Loud,unattractive, obnoxious drunk lady who insisted on harassing one of the opposing team members.



Another of the loud, obnoxious drunk lady. Someone needs to tell her how to sit in a skirt. She was showing her goods "I use the term 'goods' lightly" to anyone unfortunate enough to walk by. Yes, a skirt, not a skort. Trust me when I say I posted the non-retina burning photos of how she was looking.

Week 7 coming to an end....

This was me yesterday










after I weighed and saw I had lost




Actually, this morning I was down 1 more pound but I'm only counting the 10 since it was my official weigh in day. I refuse to get into the habit of weighing myself every day and letting the number determine what type of day it will be; that's my yahoo co-workers' job. Hahaha!!