Did I ever tell you I LOVE my Vitamix???

Monday, April 30, 2012....

Vitamix use #1: cantaloupe & romaine lettuce smoothie (my amazing daughter found some lime that I didn't even know we had!!)

Vitamix use #2: Protein shake with kefir milk, strawberries, blueberries, spinach, honey and flax seed.

Vitamix use #3: Vegetable smoothie with carrots, tomato, cucumber, broccoli, sm. pepper and an orange.

Vitamix use #4: bringing my artichoke, pepper, garlic, garbanzo bean soup I made last night to work tonight!

Just sayin'....

And I ran 9 miles today. I am feeling really good! But the pounds just don't seem to want to budge. Lame, but I am feeling great so I am going with that for now!

Weekend happenings...

OK, so Jeromy busted out his old car race track thing. This toy is 29 years old and it still works!!! Here's Jeromy and Aurora setting it up and getting ready to race...

Some live action- hold on to your seats- it's pretty intense LOL...

 Here's Aurora working on some of her science homework- she wasn't really feelin' it. Can you tell? Jeromy was trying to help teach her some study habits- he has alot of tools that help him study!

 We also went to Costco cause we had to stock up on more fruits and vegetables... YUM!

Then I tried that smoothie from your blog Mary! But I forgot the lime, and I added half an apple that was left from Aurora's smoothie I made. So this has half a cantaloupe, a head of romaine lettuce, the half apple and then the ice... of course I thought it was delicious! And of course Jeromy... not so much. He did drink the whole drink but doesn't want another one! I can't believe he doesn't like it, it tastes so delicious and refreshing! I got 3 cantaloupes from Costco and the big bag of about 5-6 heads of romaine lettuce- so I'll be enjoying this drink all week long- and Jade loves cantaloupe so I'm sure she'll enjoy it with me!

 This afternoon, after church, we headed over to Jeromy's side of the family. They have potluck/birthday parties every 2 months cause they have so many people and it's hard to get together all the time. Today they were celebrating March/April birthdays. When we got there, alot of the little kids were out playing.... so cute...

 Here's Joanne with Hailee and baby Anthony- who is 8 months old but looks like he's 2!!

JL (Johnnalynn) is opening a card and all the other kids are hovering over her! She turned 12!

 Then it was Jeromy's turn to open his birthday cards... he had alot of helpers...

 Here's all the birthday people. I got in there, too, cause we missed the January/February potluck, so I got a special cupcake, along with Joanne, JL, Jeromy and his brother Adam...

So now I'm making some yummy artichoke, roasted peppers, onions, garbanzo beans and garlic soup in my vitamix to go over some ground turkey and brown rice for my work lunches- Jade and I really like this soup!

Different Opinions.

Well, I think the broccoli in the fruit smoothie tasted pretty good.

I made one for Jeromy, but didn't tell him about the broccoli. Later when he drank it, I was at work and he called and said it just didn't taste right. So I told him about the broccoli.

His exact words: Don't ever do that again.

LOL, ok maybe not broccoli for him, but I'm going to keep sneaking veggies in there, cause they are good for him!

I think I'm going to try that melon/romaine lettuce/ lime green smoothie that you had on your blog auntie Mary- that looked really good!

Another vegetable...

Today, in my fruit smoothie, I tried- BROCCOLI!!! Can you believe that? And it tasted pretty good. Spinach is definitely great cause you can't taste it, but the broccoli was pretty good, too!

I listen to a little vitamix tip on my auntie Mary's blog about mixing up your greens cause there are small amounts of toxins in most greens and if you're eating the same one constantly then you're building up that toxin. But if you MIX IT UP, then the levels stay low enough that your body can handle them easy-peasy. Plus it just makes sense to have a well rounded amount of different vegetables.

OK, the end.

Continuing Jeromy's Birthday Month Celebrations...

 Jeromy has been wanting his gluten-free German chocolate cake for a while now. So we left early before church this morning we were able to stop by Fred Meyer on the way and pick up the cake mix, they don't sell it everywhere ya know!

I had to get out in the sun as soon as we got home, my daughter totally understood so she made the cake... cause Jeromy couldn't wait till dinner.

He REALLY wanted a piece of that cake. It's amazing how good a gluten-free cake is. And no worries about it upsetting Jeromy's stomach... I don't know about that frosting tho...

 He's so cute, I just love him!

 OK, now that dessert is out of the way... seriously, we all had a piece of cake, then we started dinner. Jeromy wanted steak. That is a big ol' piece of steak- had to cut it in half...

 Shrinks down alot. After taking it out we had to cut it into smaller pieces and cook it some more...

 Got so smoky in the house the sun shine is shining in on the smoke...

 Pretty spring flowers from Jeromy!

I'm glad I had the weekend off. Over time is supposed to pick back up tomorrow from what I hear... waahhhhhhh

Saturday- And I don't have to work!!!

So I made a coffee drink again in my vitamix... maybe it's not really meant for coffee- at least the kind I want to make. I know if I put a ton of sugar in it, it will make anything taste good, but I don't want to do that. I try to make my food in the vitamix as natural as possible- I don't even like to use the agave, which I know tastes great, but it has a higher level of "hidden" high fructose corn syrup than other fake sugars. 

 Ok, so I got Kent's graduation announcements and stuff! So exciting! His are slightly different than Jade's were 2 years ago.

 I also got his senior pictures back a couple of days ago! So adorable!!! He looks so handsome! Love that boy... cannot believe he is almost 18 and about to be finished with high school. So glad. Even though he's a full time running start college student, we're still tied to the high school and have to meet certain requirements to make sure he's eligible to graduate thur the school district. Will be so nice in June when I can delete the high school and off-campus numbers from my cell phone!

 Taking pictures of his senior pictures doesn't do them justice! But most of you reading this will get your very own when we mail them out. What a handsome boy...

 Here's the big one I got that matches Jade's... how cool is that? It's hard to see, but with-in the black matte each of their names are spelled out and their graduating year. Love these pictures... in 6 years we will get Aurora's done. And what's great is the photo guy has everything he does saved, so 6 years from now he'll be able to look up Jade and Kent's and make sure they match, fonts and everything. I have a love/hate relationship with technology... right now I'm loving it.

 Jeromy finished his first paper for his college class on-line, that's he's taking thru the Tyndale Theological Seminary and Bible College, this is his 4th class. So to reward himself, he's playin' around in the garage working on another puppet. Eventually he wants to make short videos of Bible stories... so creative.

Now you will not believe this next story... so I had an appointment for my car friday afternoon to get some things looked at. Namely: the engine light was on (for several months-woops!) and then all last week the triangle light with the exclamation point came on- might be serious now. Also it has been getting hard to just start the car up, and it seems to be burning thur oil very fast! And now my cruise control is having issues- I love my cruise control!! So my car is a 2005 Honda CRV and I got it when it was only a few months old. I loved that car, but I did not take care of it. When the mechanic came back and said it would cost over $2000- that's right that was three zeros after that 2! And I just put over 2 grand in it a few months ago for maintenance. I told him "thought Hondas lasted forever!" and he said they do when you take care of them. Guilty. I was not a happy camper, not to mention I didn't have that kind of money. So the guys said I should just trade it in a start over. Well, they must have saw me coming, cause that's just what I did... but I need a reliable car people- you understand right?

So Jeromy met me at the car lot. I felt kind of bad cause it was his turn for the next car upgrade, his truck is holding on for dear life as well. I was not even thinking I would be leaving the car lot with a new car. But I did. I got a 2012 Honda Fit- I think that name is perfect for me, cause I'm always working at trying to be fit! So after 5+ hours at the dealership (lame) I left with this cute little car. I will miss my sunroof, but I'm excited to have a car that works and better gas mileage- woo-hoo!

 It's so tiny, but still 4 door.

 Inside, it has gps- I'm so excited about this cause my sense of direction is horrible, I can easily get lost out side of our county so I'm going to love this feature!

Ok, tried a new recipe in the ol' Vitamix. It's  called "Artichoke and Roasted Red Pepper Soup"- doesn't that just sound delicous? It has the above ingredients plus, whole garlic cloves, onions, chichpeas-yum, chicken broth and milk. This recipe was a little more involved, I oven roasted the peppers and garlic. Then I sauted half a chopped onion. These 2 steps alone made the kitchen smell delicious! Then after all that, it all went into my Vitamix.

 I poured it over yummy brown rice, Jeromy cheated and used some left over rice that already had chichen and some vegetables mixed in. Over all I'd say 3-4 stars. It was kind of bland tasting even with all that yummy stuff in it surprisingly. But it still was pretty good and great for us. Nobody hated it. Jade said it needed meat, Jeromy was the only one who got the chicken/rice mixture. But I am typically a bland eater, so I was able to make 3 more work dinners out of this- awesome!

Also going to make the tortilla soup again to get a few more dinners for the end of the work week. Like I've said before I'm not really a fan of soups, but pouring it over a bed of rice makes it alot more heartier! YUM! After making that dinner, I will have used my Vitamix 5 times today:

1. Fruit Smoothie

2. Vegetable Smoothie

3. Coffee Drink

4. Artichoke and Pepper dinner

5. Tortilla Soup

Happy Birthday to Jeromy!!!

Today Jeromy is 34 years old!

Ohhhh so serious!
Love that man!

He's so much fun to have around!

He loves his family and we love him!

Happy birthday Jeromy-

I LOVE YOU!

Get some coffee peeps...

So this is what's been happening this last week or so, besides Jeromy and I BOTH working tons of over time...

There's so much stuff, and I was too tired to make sure it was exactly all in order, but it is in order for the most part.

First off, my fab husband knows I love rainbows. So he saw this one and snapped a picture of it with his new iPhone- looks pretty good for a camera phone... love rainbows...

So during last week, Kent wanted to participate in a video game tournament at the college campus. It was his first one ever, he's always wanted to go to the ones held at game stop but I always felt funny about him going there... all kinds of creepies... middle aged men with greasy hair playing video games living with their parents. Is that horrible to say? I'm not judging (I think) I just didn't want my son around that environment. Anyway, he really wanted to go, he showed me his $2.50 admission he'd been saving to go. Sooo adorkable. Well, it was at the college campus and his almost 18- alright he can go!

So, Jade was there (gave me a little more peace of mind) she also enjoys her share of video gaming. She didn't want to compete she just wanted to watch. So she sent me texts while he played. There were 4 different rounds, with 17 people competing total. Jade text me and said Kent one the first round. Then she sent me another text saying he won the second round. Go Kent. Jade said he was having so much fun! Then she said he won the third round. Then finally she text me saying he won the championship! YAY KENTON!! How cool is that?? So he won the $25 game stop gift card! He said it was more fun playing then winning- but still nice to win. That was so cool for him!

Here he is playing against another person- look at that huge screen they were playing on! This was taken with Jade's cell phone!

Last Sunday was Resurrection Sunday, and Jeromy and I were teaching back in Sunday school. I remember I only had 3 hours of sleep the night before... yuk... anyway, Jeromy is the teacher and I'm the assistant. So I got to draw what he was teaching while the kiddos follow along and draw on their paper- I would have taken pictures of them but some parents don't want there pictures posted.... I get it.

I'm drawing the tomb where Jesus was laid after his crucifixion. Then the stone being rolled away after the 3rd day- just like He said. The angels telling Mary- not his mother- to not cry... for He is risen- just like He said!!!

I did get this adorable picture of Natalie last Sunday- just love that sweet adorable girl- but I think she likes my husband more than me- how did that happen?? I think cause I'm so gentle with her and Jeromy throws her up in the air- she's so adorable but she's a tough kid- just like her big sister Hannah- I don't even mess with her! So cute!

We didn't have Aurora last weekend, but she sent this picture of her all dressed up on Easter... such a cutie-pie...

Ok- this weekend... look mom our 2 white flowered trees were already blooming before I even knew it! I guess I should open the curtains once in a while... Jade checking out the flowers...

It was such a nice weekend. Aurora had 2 baseball games to start off her new season. Jeromy went to both of them- while I stayed home and ran 10 miles! Afterwards they came home and they fed the chickens...

I also thought we all could use a new pair of jeans- all 5 of us. The next time that I think it will be all easy-peasy to go shopping for 5 people at once... somebody stop me! What was I thinking??? Oh well, we all got our jeans and nobody got hurt...

See? All smiles...

Ok, these are out of order... these pictures are back from last week. Aurora had a choir concert Tuesday night. So of course Jeromy went. See Aurora, second from bottom on the left?

Even surprised she looks so cute...

This is the latest puppet Jeromy has been working on. Aurora wanted him to make a butterfly- cool! I think Jeromy said it's name was "Butters". Jeromy really needs a creative outlet, with all his working and studying all the time, so he's been enjoying making puppets...

So Jeromy is getting the idea of a "Birthday month", so since we had Aurora this weekend we were going to celebrate all-weekend-long! We went out to Applebees last night. It was alright. I think the food should be better for the price you pay... just sayin'....

At church this morning- guess who was there???? Julia Trig! Here is me, Jade, Aurora, Julia and Hannah! It was so great to see you Julia! We love and miss you so much! It just makes me miss you guys all over again when I see you. Tessa- how are you??? I can't believe you're almost 16!!! I think you were 12 when I first met you almost turning 13... Tae' and Nadia- already 13... unbelievable! And Beriah you need to stop growing up so fast! And Alex and Iana, too! Love all you kids!

Ok- so what Jeromy really wanted for his birthday was to go out to the Old Spaghetti Factory in Tacoma. So before we dropped off Aurora back at home, we all went out to dinner. Jade and Kent...

Jeromy, Aurora and I....

Oh my goodness could they be any cuter???

So here they singing happy birthday to him, I thought it would embarrass him but NOOOO- he sang happy birthday to himself louder than the rest of us were singing to him- can't take him anywhere LOL!

Since all their desserts were either ice-cream based or cheesy, they had to make up something to put the candle in... so he got a tub of butter... so lame! LOL

Now I'm just finishing cooking for the night. I made Jeromy's healthy carrot muffins. And I used my vitamix to grate the carrots- and can I just say- I fell in love all over again with this machine! It grated the carrots perfectly and the cleanup took seconds compared to using my food processor that has multiple parts, a chore to clean and large slivers of carrots always get thru. Then while making the mix, I realized I forgot to get apple sauce! No problem, I thru a whole apple in the vitamix and made wonderfully perfect apple sauce with no additives or preservatives.... I totally HEART my vitamix people! Oh I also used baby carrots so I cut out the step of having to peel the top dirty layer of the carrots... too much goodness...

I also tried the spinach chicken potato soup, in the vitamix, as well tonight for my work lunches. I modified the ingredients a little. So I was tired and didn't feel like cooking up some chicken so I just took a can of chicken from Costco- the kind that is canned like tuna fish. And I thought to myself: GENIUS!!! I also put a TON more spinach than it called for. It only said 1 tablespoon- really? One tablespoon to spread over 3 servings?? Well, I know why they said that, it's so the potato soup looks like potato soup. Well, mine looks like pea soup in color- but I'm ok with that cause it still tastes like delicious potato soup with a healthy dose of spinach- I love the shredded chicken in it, too!

So that's all folks...