Holiday flash

Wow! I can't believe it's been months since I've posted anything... Sorry!

We survived Christmas, but somehow forgot to take any pics this year. NONE!

I can't believe how much stuff has happened since my last post.

I've survived the first few months as a co-leader for the Daisy troop! The parents in my troop are awesome and I wouldnt be able to manage without Carolyn, the other co-leader. She's very crafty and was a leader last year, so she has experience and enthusiasm.

I haven't posted much about myself on this blog, but I've had one hell of time over the past 4 months or so. At the end of August I was in significant pain with my back. I started on some serious meds with no improvement. Actually, there was a little improvement until I covered a football game, then I lost sensation and motor function of my lower leg and foot.

Basically, I was limping around pretending that I was ok, until I noticed a visible deficit in girth (the muscle in my lower leg was shrinking "atrophying" because it wasn't being stimulated by the nerve, because the nerve was being compressed, because I severely herniated a disc... Phew!

So, I had surgery in the beginning of October. I was able to return to kenpo the very end of November AND I started to help coaching winter track. It's cool because I'm only helping which allows me to go to appointments and not feel guilty if there's a day I can't make it.

I'm back at kenpo, almost full. I have to wear an ankle brace because of the loss of function, strength, and i still have nerve tension. That means that without the brace, when I kick, my foot gets the same feeling you get when you hit your funny bone... NOT COOL! But no pain with the brace, so I'll be using that for a while :)

We also just adopted a 3yr old American Lab, named Cuttyhunk... Cutty for short. She's awesome. Rebel is finally warming up to her :) I gotta tell ya, though. I really am dreaming of a single family home where we can let her run in the yard and give her access through a doggy door. It's a dream I hope we can make come sooner than later!

Speaking of having more room... We are preparing for our annual Open House and I've been baking for a couple of days now. I'm looking forward to it. I will be posting pics of the goodies and links to recipes :)

Hope you all have a happy safe holiday!!

Oh, if you want to read more about my workout antics and the struggles over the past few months  check out the other blog... Www.onewiththescale.blogspot.com

Girl scouts!!

Holy crap... In a few minutes, me and the girls are headed to the very first meeting of the year for brownies and daisies!!! And I'm the coleader for the troops. There are actually four of us who will be sharing the responsibilities for the troops... Very excited and terrified at the same time:) lol

Wish me luck!!!

Have you ever been a girl scout? What was your favorite memory, experience, craft??

The most requested recipe...

I decided to post my Monkey Bread recipe again since it's been much requested lately.

It started with a basic recipe for the bread and I've evolved it into a cinnamon explosion! lol

Monkey Bread

3-4 cans of refrigerated cinnamon rolls 

(I prefer the store brands that are rolled instead of the "buns")
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
cooking spray

Grease a bunt pan well. Preheat your over to 350 degrees. Then open all of the cinnamon rolls and cut each roll  into about 8 pieces (depends how big you want the bites). Mix the cinnamon and granulated sugar and roll the pieces in it. They don't have to be balls; they bake up all squeezed together anyway.

Stack all of the pieces into the bunt pan. Cut the butter into pieces and add the brown sugar.  Microwave this for approximately 1 minute. All the sugar should be melted into the butter... whisk it up to a creamy, smooth caramel sauce. You may need to mix then zap for another 15 secs. Mix until completely combined then slowly pour over the goodness inside the pan, being sure to cover as much as you can.

Place in the oven for 45 mins. The top looks like it gets dried out, but once you flip it onto a plate all the sugars and syrups run down and coat it. It's fabulous... and very hot initially! You may want to use a fork to take pieces off, at least initially. Enjoy!!!

Now... 

To make it even MORE cinnamon-ny and ooey-gooey. Melt a stick of butter and roll the pieces of cinnamon roll into that BEFORE rolling them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Crazy, I know, but totally, insanely YUMMY!!!!

AND 

You can make an icing for this by adding a couple of drops of vanilla or milk to a half to a cup of confectioners sugar!

Been Distracted...

I know I haven't written much here, but I've been writing up a storm on One with the Scale. I've been trying to take control and get my life back on track. I know it seems like just weight and numbers, but when I don't feel like I'm in control, everything tends to spiral.

Last year was a serious transition and I'm looking forward to starting my second year of teaching strong!

I'm ready for the ups and the downs.

Most of all... I just feel ready to do my best!

So now I'm getting my body more in line with my mind :) Come and see how I'm doing...

Disney... "The happiest place on earth".

Hmmm....

Yeah, no!!

We went to Orlando for vacation for a week.

Now, let's set this up for you...

On Friday, I was in a Wedding. Thursday was the rehearsal and I headed up to the Bride's house 45mins North to spend the night and get ready with her and the Maid of Honor in the morning. The weather was awesome, especially since this summer has been pretty oppressive, but sweat was still going where it shouldn't be and the AC in the limo was not keeping up.

Here I am walking in with the tallest guy in the wedding...

Thank goodness for my 4 1/4" heels :)  Yes, this was after the ceremony and about 2hrs of pictures. The shoes that felt like sneakers in the store were starting to hurt...

 

But we all looked pretty cute :)

The reception was at 6pm and we had to leave the next day. 

So, we packed up the car, picked up the babysitter, met our friends at the park and jumped on the highway to head to Orlando, FL! Oh, did I forget to mention that we drove? Yup.

We arrived at our house about 7:30pm on Sunday. Yay!! Monday we stayed home and swam... but when we went outside, we realized that someone had left some goodies and a note...

The kids were actually more excited about jumping in the pool than they were to find out that they were going to Disney the next day, but I think that because they had pretty much figured it out. Oh well.

We finally made it to the Magic Kingdom...

This was after we drove to the parking lot, got on a tram, got dropped at the Main gate, got our tickets, found out the Monorail was broken so EVERYONE had to use the Ferry to get to the Magic Kindom, waited in line for about 45mins before boarding, finding out they lost our reservation for Bippidy, Boppidy Boutique, rescheduling, finally arriving at MK and getting through the bag checks... uh huh. Fun, right?

It was hot. There were a LOT of people and I was still tired from our travels.

The next day we went to Hollywood Studios...

It rained a LOT that day and I called it quits for my family about 2pm. I needed a nap and we were supposed to head to Downtown Disney for our rescheduled appointments at the Boutique...

Phoebe chose to be Tinkerbell...

Payton was Cinderella...

We got the complete package, which also included a photo shoot...

The next 2 days were spent in Universal! Yes, that was fun. I had napped and we decided to go to the park after lunch so the kids slept in. There was far less moaning from all of us. Oh, and Universal sells DRINKS! Adult beverages... even in line :) This place rocked!

We let the kids keep their princess hair since they got it done the night before and weren't actually able to show it off yet. This is our family on the streets of Universal.

On Saturday, we packed up again and headed up to Washington, DC. This picture is taken behind the White House. It was really cool to see all of the monuments, but we want to go back so we can visit all of the museums.

One memorial that really struck a cord was the Vietnam Memorial. Henry's cousin was lost in the conflict and he wanted to find his name. The artistry of this and all of the monuments is amazing...

Now, we took the trolley tour and it was well worth it, but when we got to this final stop it was about 1:05. The stop included the Korean Memorial, the Lincoln Monument and the Vietnam Memorial. We had til 1:30. Remember, hot July day with 2 kids that we've been dragging around for a full week! It was 1:17 and we had still only seen the Lincoln Monument. We raced back in the direction of the trolley and what I thought was the Vietnam Memorial, but realized it was the Korean Memorial...

I said a prayer for the soldiers lost and families effected and we raced to the trolley to let them know we still hadn't seen the Vietnam Memorial. It was 1:28 and they told us to run.

Now, we had to run past the Lincoln Monument now and down the OTHER side. When we got to the wall, we realized it's not in alphabetical order. How in the world are we going to find this name?? The wall is huge!! There are so many names. Henry raced to the reference sheets to try to find it and within minutes, I had found the name! I can tell you that I had to have had help. But there it was... Charles A Gaudreau.

 We somehow managed to make it back to the trolley at 1:46, before it left without us. They were even gracious enough to take us to the Rayburn Building to tour the office of our Congressman, Barney Frank.

We finished the day with a trip to Good Stuff Eatery and the Capitol Building, before heading back to the hotel. We all napped and the girls and our sitter went to the pool while Chef Hubby and I went to Georgetown cupcakes (DC Cupcakes people... from TLC). Gotta admit, not so great :(

We headed out after breakfast and got home pretty late that night, thanks to New York traffic. 

It was a good time overall, but Disney as the happiest place on earth? I can think of a few others :)

I LOVE this song...

 

It's been FOREVER since I've last posted, but I have a really good excuse... I've been VERY busy!

Honest!
I'm not making it up...

This year I started a new job, remember? Now, I'm a Physical Education Instructor at the regional high school in my area. I've settled into it and I'm having fun.

Then in March I was told that there was a Track Coach position open. I was told that I should apply and had an excellent chance of getting job, I just needed to make the decision by the next day... lol

Anyway, I talked to the hubby since we have the kids and I'd been picking them up after school. He also works at the high school and he's a Kitchen Manager for an area bar (but it has really good food... hehe) AND he's a city councilor.  So I can't just go messing up our juggling act without a serious consult.

Have I ever mentioned how amazing my husband is? Well, if not... he's pretty amazing! He didn't even blink. He told me, "Babe, this is what you've been talking about since I met you. You should do it. Everything will work out. We always figure out a way."

So, I applied and "poof" and I got the job.

The season was awesome!! More than I could have hoped. I loved being a coach. I told them that I will put in as much time and energy as they do, and they worked hard people :)

Also, this year Phoebe is doing girl scouts (and loving it) and both the girls started soccer. I felt that it's time to get them involved. While I was an Athletic Trainer, we never had the time and I always held a lot of guilt that they were missing out. Now, they have "things" they play... I feel better.

My last BIG excuse was that I was once again, the Committee Chairperson for the HFHN Get Fit Health Fair.  It was awesome this year!! After all the hard work, time and energy. I really think that the people enjoyed it to the max!! Vendors and parents were incredibly happy with what we had pulled together and I was really excited about that :)

I am going to try to be more of presence again, but we have the summer off and lots of things to accomplish! Keep checking in though... I think we're going to have lots of fun :)

Chef of the Year Dinner

Have I mentioned that my husband is a chef? It's a great thing when it comes to food... hehe. We were invited to go the American Culinary Federation Chef of the Year Dinner this weekend. Well, with a room full of chefs you can guarantee that the food is going to be beyond amazing!

We had the best food ever!!! Now, I have a little disclaimer... I didn't take a picture of every course because I ate them before I thought about it. Also, the pictures were taken with my phone, so they aren't perfect, but I promise... they were awesome!!!

This was the salad... yes, yummy!

 This was dessert...

BUT... as all chefs know, presentation is the key since people eat with their eyes first.

      Well, I had to laugh out loud when the 3rd entree came out.
           Yes, the 3rd!
                The first was a seared Bay Scallop.
                     The second was an amazing Duck 2 ways dish. I don't even like duck and I inhaled it!!


As I was saying... presentation is key! So when the server placed my plate down I laughed out loud and showed my husband! Then I quickly commented on Laura's blog because I KNEW she'd totally appreciate this... I mean SERIOUSLY!!!

   Just look at the meat... well, then I noticed the potatoes... do you see it?? 

OK, maybe I'm just sick!
Or, I could just need a night without kids... 
           
Uh huh... dirty minds have fun with that! An entire room of chefs were chowing down on some vagina shaped short ribs!! lmao

Yup, I'm sick.

Hope you had a good laugh :)

Friendship and Heaven...

I don't know about you, but I always leave church feeling just a little bit better. The priest at my church is amazing. He has a way of breaking down the gospel and making it something you can really relate with somehow.

Today's gospel was about friends who carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus, to be healed. They weren't able to get near the house because there were too many people. So they climbed the roof, created a hole and dropped the man down to Jesus to be saved. It was because of their faith and commitment to God and their friend, that He healed the man.

I got it. I have to say, though, I'm usually kind of a simpleton with these bible stories and passages. It's usually Father Bob's stories that make it click.

Well, today's story was awesome. It made me even more thankful for my friends and family. It makes me think that we are doing things "the right way" and it helps secure my faith.

This is the story:
A man passed and was being shown around by an angel. He was being shown both Heaven and Hell. So the angel brought him to Hell first.

They entered a huge, ornate mansion, with marble and lights and everything you could imagine. They came to a set of pearly doors that opened to the banquet hall, and upon entering he saw that there was food from all around. Anything you would ever want. On both sides were people seated with HUGE forks... 6ft long. BUT they were all starving, because how can you feed yourself with a 6ft fork??

So then he was shown Heaven.

Once again, it was a beautiful mansion with everything you could imagine and again, they came to a set of pearly doors that opened to a banquet hall. There was food from all over and you would want for nothing. Both sides were lined with people and they all had HUGE 6ft forks... BUT they were happy! They were enjoying the food and celebrating the feast, because THEY were feeding EACH OTHER!

Wow... that's all you need, right?


You can get through anything.
You can DO anything... if you have the support of your friends.

If you know you are not alone... which I'm learning, you will never be, if you have Faith.

I don't think that you need to be religious to believe... and I think for the most part, people do believe... in something anyway. Even if you don't admit (even to yourself). And this story shows that as long as you are not alone, you will never be hungry. You will survive :)

I love my friends. I love my family... and I believe I will never be alone :)

half the story

It occurred to me today that I've telling my little story on both blogs, but with the lack of motivation I was having, I only told a little each. lol.

Anyway, for anyone who wants to know what the deal was with the past 5-6months check out my other blog. Sorry about that!

Kicking Ass and Taking Names!!

Hi!!!

How the heck have you been? I know, I know... I've been missing. I haven't actually been a very good companion lately (you know, the past 6months or so) and not just here.

I am sooooo thankful for having the absolute most amazing husband EVER!!

He works 3 jobs, is a great Dad AND still loves me when he still has to do the dishes, wash the laundry, and take care of dinner.

Yup, I am one very lucky woman :)

Anyway, I'm feeling much better! I'm back into a workout routine. I'm eating better again. I'm actually sleeping! Holy crap... what's that??

Wow... I'm running with this and hoping that it never goes away!!

Now, I need to go put the kids to bed, work on my committee stuff, watch The Biggest Loser with my mom and actually still be up to hubby when he gets home from his meetings... hehe

Thanks for hanging in there with me. Just wanted to let you know I'm back!

I know... having the religious quote and a song by pink is kind of an oxymoron... but I love them both!
Sue me!!!