Ouch, Everything Hurts!!

*first of all, i LOVE this picture of Marily Monroe working out!*

If you follow me on Twitter, you will know that I have not been keeping up with my exercise routine over the summer as well as I should have. No... I won't give you excuses (although I have some real good ones!) because I was just being lazy. As a result to my fat butted laziness I have put on 4 pounds. YIKES, not good for a girl who was on a losing streak for months.

Well, gaining scared me, I have worked SO HARD to get to where I am. I still have about 30 pounds to go, and it was time once again to kick booty at the gym. Here's how my week went down:

Monday: Running/Walking 3 miles on treadmill
Tuesday: Running 2 miles on treadmill, Stregth Training
Wednesday: Running/Walking 2 miles on treadmill, Yoga
Thursday: Kickboxing class, Walking 2 Miles, Zumba class
Friday: Running/Walking 3 miles on treadmill

How do I feel? Every part of my body is in pain! My new kickboxing class sure put a hurtin' on me. This weeks worth of workouts wasn't too bad. I am out of shape though. I am amazed at how fast my body lost all muscle endurance, very scary. It shows me that in order to lose weight and keep it off I am going to have to work out forever!

Well there is my update. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Pay Day Mixed With A Bit of Sexy

Today is pay day around our house, which also means it is bill paying day... Which in turn means that I FREAK OUT!

How are we going to pay for everything?
How are we going to survive?
Where does all the money go?
Why is the power bill so much?
How will we eat?

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

I'm hyperventilating!
What's that James McAvoy? You want to help make me feel better? Well, I'm willing to try. BUT OH MY GOSH times are hard!

OK, That's helping me feel a little better, but I am still feeling a bit over-whelmed. Got any thing else?

How about just one more!!!

I'm feeling a bit dizzy now...
And I'm all giggly!
What were we talking about?

Oh thank you James for helping me chill out, and for being so absolutely fun to look at :)

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

August Featured Blogger: Letters from Valentine

Do you like to laugh? Do you enjoy smiling? Do you think getting a chuckle out of others stupidity can be fun sometimes? Then I have the blog for you! Valentine & Demosthenes over at Letters from Valentine are 2 very witty chicks you MUST meet :)

Very few people could write a post about why Twilight sucked and get away with it!! (chill out ladies, they are just as obsessed as we all are, don't get your undies in a bunch!)

Oh hey, need some sexy eye candy? Go HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE (I'm sensing a pattern...)

I love this blog, can't get enough of it actually. And who could? I mean really don't we all wanna know what kind of boss Martha Stewart is? (read this, you'll pee your pants laughing, seriously!)

OK, I could list all of my favorite posts from these crazy cats but that would be pointless... that would be all of them. Head on over and meet Valentine & Demosthenes for yourself and tell them Lizzie sent you!!

Yo girls don't forget to grab your super awesome featured award ;)

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Others Who Chatter... Storm Trooper Wine Bar

There are times when I am reading blogs that I stumble upon a post I just HAVE TO SHARE. Do you ever have those moments? "Wow, this is such a great idea (or tip, or advice, or whatever) I wish it was on my blog!" Well, I am going to put some of them on here from time to time. *with permission of course*

My good friend Rosie at Vino Bodega had a post the other day I HAD TO SHARE! Nothing fancy, just a simple picture:




Aww, nothing like a bit of Star Wars geeky goodness mixed with a good Cabernet :) Thanks Rosie for sharing this great picture with us.

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Location, Location, Location...

A little while back I had mentioned that my hubby is not particularly happy with his new job out here in Arizona. We are committed to a 2 year contract which I think is nice because we'll have a better idea if we do or don't like it here when that time is up. With that said... this lady has never been patient! So I thought I would do some research on where we might go next.

My hubby's job is very location specific so it does make the "where to's" a bit easier. Here are a few places we could go and I NEED YOUR HELP! Any information you have on any of these spots would be SO helpful, and much appreciated! I am trying to narrow this list down a bit. Click the location name for a map:

Portsmouth, NH
Plymouth, MA
New London, CT
Wilmington, DE
Berwick, PA
Philadelphia, PA
Annapolis, MD
South Haven, MI
Benton Harbor, MI
Chattanooga, TN
Richmond, VA
Crystal River, FL
Clemson, SC

I truly value your opinions more than you all know, I look forward to your advice! I hope you all have fabulous weekend!!

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

That Darn Puppy, Ice Baths, & More

So I get home from my fabulous vacation and what do I find? A super sick puppy :(

Jackson has a very bad bacterial infection throughout his large intestines and colon. Guess how he got it? From being over stressed at the doggy kennel! I was shocked, and also felt terribly guilty. After all, I put him there so I could go on vacation! He is quickly getting better and is enjoying all the medication (since I give it to him in bites of cheese, ha ha)

Everything is falling back into place, well everything except my workout routine. It is so hard to have a system that works then summer break comes and messes it all up. Throw in a few family vacations and BAM! You lose focus. I am determined to keep the weight loss going, I am half way to my goal. Still sitting pretty at 183. School will begin August 3rd and all will go back to normal.

Here's an interesting thing I've learned about summers in the desert. NO COLD WATER!! None, zip, nada...

Each night when I give the munchkins their baths I have to add ice cubes just so they can stand it! How crazy is this?? The cold water pipes are hot from being exposed to the warm temperatures so no cold comes out, meaning Scolding hot water no matter what. Yup, that's my mini-munchkin playing with Ice in the tub!

I hope you all are enjoying the sun and heat, if you need some let me know and I'll send some of ours your way :)

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

When Bloggers Collide

I had the chance to spend some time with 2 wonderful women, who happen to also be bloggers you might now. (and if you don't know them, you should!)

*A day at the water park with Kate from Kate's Musings*

Our kids had such a great time splashing, sliding, and giggling at a cute little county water park. Can you imagine four kids ages 2, 4, 5, and 6 running around and us without our hubby's?? The day turned out to be a great success with a few margaritas thrown in for good measure :) Thank you Kate for driving down to visit and for the wonderful conversation. Let's for sure do it again.

*Myrtle Beach with Stacey from Mom Taxi*

My munchkins were so excited to meet up with their old buddies from school last year. It was wonderful to see them all so easily fall right back into being best friends. While us mommies chatted and caught up, the kids went on rides, fed fish, and laughed... a lot! Thank you Stacey for staying at the beach a bit longer, I had such a good time. Miss you already.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...





Today I am going to have a
virtual Girls Night Out!
wanna come? click below!

Cooking with Lala

The mini-munchkin sure enjoyed cooking with her grandma (affectionately called "Lala") while we were back in South Carolina. My mom loved having a cooking buddy. One evening they cooked us all Mushroom and Spinach Quiche with Potato Crust. It was SO yummy!




Do you have any fun memories cooking with your grandma or mom as a child?

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Back Home! Nature Camp Edition

Each summer my munchkins go to Nature Camp at Blackbeard's Cove Family Fun Park. They have a blast learning about insects, protecting our planet, various vegetation, and all sorts of animals. Last summer I posted about their week of learning and this time around I have more pictures!

Both kids did things I didn't know them capable of. My son went hunting for "good snakes," while my daughter actually enjoyed holding bugs! It is really amazing how spending time out in nature can help a child grow.

A wonderful woman named Nana Butterfly runs the program. Since my kids had been to this camp before it was very cute to watch them run into her arms yelling "Nana! Look how big we got this year!"

I grew up going to many summer camps... wilderness camps, Girl Scout camps, Church camps, every kind of camp! I am glad to see that my kids enjoy this as much as I did :)



Thank you all for your wonderful comments while I was on a little break. I feel fully refreshed and ready for whatever life can dish out.

Life is back in full swing around our place, especially with school starting August 3rd. (Is that not the most ridiculously early date for school to go back?!) I have a bunch more fun vacation moments to share so stay tuned!

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Lowcountry Rest

The munchkins and I are on a little vacation in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. A much needed time to relax, sip on some sweet tea and listen to Jimmy Buffett...

The history here is amazing, one could spend years and never see everything. I appreciate this part of American history so much more now that I've moved away from it...

The slower pace of life is interwoven into everything here, people even walk slower. It makes you enjoy things you would have otherwise missed going too fast...

The ocean breezes always bring a smile to my face. I love watching the shrimp boats and sailing ships coming up the waterways...

As you can see I am spending time relaxing and enjoying my family. I will be taking a little summer time break from my blog to "take it all in." I wish you all a wonderful sunny season!

*I will still be twittering, so feel free to follow along and say HI!*

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Bike Parade

This morning the kids participated in a fun 4th of July bike parade, hope you enjoy the video :)



au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

A Blast From Independence Day Past

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!

I redirect you all here "Independence Day? Mommy What's That?" to a post I wrote last year to explain this great holiday to my kids.

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...

Photo Challenge

Leslie over at JAM's Own Reality tagged me for a photo challenge. I am not very good at organizing my pictures on my computer, they are all in one big folder. I wasn't quite sure how to randomly select 2 photos, so I let my kids help! They each picked a number and I counted the pictures, ta-da! Here's what we came up with:

This picture was taken March 2009 on my sons birthday. My cousin Mike bought the munchkin a squirt gun and chased him outside to show him how well it worked!



This was taken October of 2005, the mini-munchkin has always loved books, and this may be where it all began :)



Thank you Leslie, that was fun! If you would like to play along, feel free and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I will be getting ready for our vacation back east, I can't wait!

au revoir, adieu, ciao, till next time...