Busy people... just plain busy....

I have so much to blog but so little time. Pictures from Resurrection Sunday (Easter)-

He is Risen! Jesus!

I have pictures of several other things also but have been working 10 hour shifts for a while now, and it's hard enough to get my workouts in let alone blog. And I have a real motivation to keep up my running cause my cousin, Laura, and I are running in the Rock N Roll Half Marathon again this June in Seattle!

I've been doing well on my lengths of runs- I run 9-10 miles every time I run, but with the overtime I've been running an average of 2-3 times a week with no cardio, my goal is to run 4 days a week with 2 days of cardio... see what I'm saying? Last night at work I was really wishing I could just walk out of the shipyard for good... leave all the BS, politics, long hours, the craziness of the workload and how people- management- manages their/my time. Just so tired of it all...

Anyway, so I'm also focusing on my health with the foods I eat- always a struggle. But I'm still loving my vitamix. I've been having a fruit and vegetable smoothie everyday, along with my homemade soup that I've frozen into several servings and take to work for dinner.... now if I could just stop with the candy bars, donuts, french fries, eating after 1 am when I get off work.... ahhhh it's so hard! It's an ongoing challenge...

Anyway I've found a vegetable smoothie that I really like. Here it is... I put a whole Roma tomato, several baby carrots, a small pepper, a ton of kale (my new favorite vegetable) and here's the secret: an orange and a chunk of cucumber! I rarely eat tomatoes and I never eat cucumbers and now I've had alot over the last week. It's awesome! The reason I say the orange and the cucumber are the secret is cause otherwise it just tastes toooo much like a vegetable and the orange totally sweetens it up and the cucumber gives it a real cool refreshing taste- I've never eaten cucumbers before this cause I didn't like them, this machine pulverizes it and just leaves a cool refreshing taste! I love it!

All ready to blend- I add about half a cup of water at the bottom then a ton of ice at the top- my cousin Kimmy said I was being kinda skimpy on my greens so I have really been loading up the kale in my vegetable smoothies and the spinach in my fruit smoothies- spinach is one of the 5 magic vegetables that don't change the taste of the fruit smoothie- so the kids and Jeromy get lots of spinach in their fruit drinks!

This makes 2 large servings. I drink one at home just before work, and the other later while at work. Still haven't convinced the rest of the family on the vegetable smoothies but I am sold. They say they like to chew their vegetables, but for someone like me who hates cooked vegetables this is a miracle!

Yum! My poor tired eyes... but I did run 9 miles today and got all my fruits and vegetables in for the day! Just need prayers to stay away from the vending machine lol!

Over 300

Went over 300 miles run for the year today... sweeeet!!

GOD IS SO GOOD!

We had a couple major things come up in the last couple of days that really put some stress on us.

First of all before you get worried- everything turned out perfectly- hence the title:

GOD IS SO GOOD!

I just felt compelled to share!

So the first issue was with Jade. As you may know she is scheduled to graduate from college with her 2 year degree in early childhood education this June. She has had quarterly advisor appt with her advisor who also happens to be the director of the the department of early childhood ed. for OC. Anyways... the the last 3 quarters Jade and her advisor have made sure she is taking all the required classes for this degree to make sure she's able to graduate in June. Every quarter she has been told she's doing great and on track for graduation.

So this last quarter-tuesday- she had her final appt. and what we thought would be the appt where she finalizes stuff, starts ordering the cap/gown getting her name spelling in her diploma and all that fun stuff. But- the advisor tells Jade that she is actually 2 classes short and will not be graduating... WHAT???? WAIT- WHAT? I was not at that meeting cause Jade is taking care of stuff on her own now- I'm trying to (slowly) cut that umbilical cord ya know... Jade said it was probably good I wasn't there cause she knows I would have been freaking out. All day- Tuesday- I was upset about it. The lady said she could take the classes during the summer- because it's too late this quarter to jump in, and get her diploma then go thru the ceremony next summer-HOW LAME IS THAT??

Anyway- trying to make a long story short- I emailed the lady late Tuesday night after I got off work- like 1:30 in the morning. I made sure I was professional but I let her know how disappointed I was that we thought we were doing everything on our end to make sure Jade was on target, and how could this happen??? And how I was so excited at watching my oldest child graduate and the celebration we were planning- I was laying it on thick- but it all was true.

Anyway, I forgot- woops- that Jade is a legal adult and the lady cannot talk to me about Jade cause there is privacy laws and all that- even thought my name is on the check paying for everything- details I say.

Anyway the good news is that the lady did call Jade the next day and said- since she is the director and can pull some strings- that she is able to pull Jade out of one her classes now and put her into the other... just like that... I don't even have to pay for anything. Also they found out that the other class she needs, she actually had taken a class a while ago that they said would fulfill that requirement. Jade said she said a little prayer before meeting with the advisor again, that things would go smoothly- and they did.

Done. Just like that. Jade WILL graduate this June. It still hasn't really sunk in yet. I started getting mad- again- about how inept they are and wondering how did they not see that that other class could be used to fulfill that requirement the first time- then I stopped my self. Instead of getting mad it dawned on me that maybe God just did a little miracle and I should be thankful. No matter how it played out I should be thankful that it all worked out and she will be graduating this June. God is Good!

So the other thing that happened- this was more devastating for Jeromy, he dropped his mac laptop computer on the treadmil yesterday morning... and it would not turn on. It is his only computer. He was so bummed... I mean bummed. Everything he had was on that. His papers for college, several Bible studies, just everything. He was so upset. He called the apple people and they wanted $50 just to talk to them. Completely unbelievable. We were starting to try to figure out how we would pay for a new computer... with 2 graduations coming up... I just don't know...

So later in the day he went to the computer store and explained to the tech what happened. The tech thought he might have an idea that maybe the ram- I think that's what he said- might have dislodged so he took it in back for about 5 minutes and brought it back and it turned on and worked perfectly fine. I think Jeromy had to hold back tears! Jeromy asked what he owed the guy and he said nothing- God is so Good!

Then to top it off... we got a reimbursement check from the oral surgeon- for Kent's wisdom teeth being pulled several months ago for over $400. Wait- what? I had to call them to make sure there wasn't some weird insurance crossover mix up and they said, no, the money was mine.

So the day started with thinking we had to pay for extra schooling for Jade- not a phone call I wanted to make to Josh, possibly having to get another computer for Jeromy... several hundreds of dollars that we don't have- into everything turning out wonderfully and and extra $400- which is going straight into savings!

We all were thanking and praising God for His hand in all this. What an amazing ending to the start of a crappy day.

Some photos. Jeromy spent several days of with Aurora during her spring break- I think she enjoyed having so much one-on-one time with her dad! Let's just say there was alot of UNO games being played over the last several days!

Are they cute or what?

We have such cute daughters!

Adios!

Tried a veggie smoothie today...

Still learning the techniques of my vitamix. I wanted to try a vegetable smoothie. I've done alot of fruit smoothies with some spinach thrown in, but now I'm going to make a straight up vegetable one.

I watched the video and they make it look so easy so I thought I just could throw in what I wanted not really paying attention to quantity... well, I put some onion in it, carrots, a whole tomato, celery and a pepper. The recipe also called for some Worcestershire sauce so I put a dab of that in there, too.

I thought it would taste kind of like a V8. But it tastes even more vegetably! I like it.... Jeromy not so much. I kept telling him he just needed to keep drinking it to get used to the taste. After about 3 drinks he almost vomited. LOL, I guess I'll have to follow the quantities more closely. I thought it tasted pretty good. It is different, but just knowing how GOOD it is for me makes me want to drink it... Jeromy dumped his down the drain :o( oh well, still love this machine!

Jeromy and Aurora go to the Olympic Game Farm!

So Jeromy and Aurora headed out (sorta) early Monday morning to the Olympic Game Farm. As I'm blogging this Aurora is sitting next to me and will help me name the animals cause I do NOT know my animals very well... she DOES!!!

The first one here is a goat. It is a unicorn goat cause it only has one horn... so cute!
These 2 are also goats and Aurora thinks they are Nigerian Dwarf Goats- she is so smart!

A seagull decided to tag along for a free ride... I thought this picture was funny!

Here are 2 Prairie Dogs... they seem big in this picture but Aurora said they zoomed in on them and they are actually the size of baby cats! Amazing!

Jeromy says he loves being with me all the time BUT he said he was glad I was not with them yesterday at the Game Farm cause I would have been freaking out... he is right... I would have freaked out if I saw this creature in my window.

Aurora says it is a Bison- often mistaken for a buffalo. Aurora and her dad looked it up on line and learned the difference between the 2. Most Americans call them buffalo- but it is a Bison. Yup- I would definitely been freaking out... this picture is not zoomed in... he was inches from the camera ahhhhhhh.....

Jeromy trying to feed an uncooperative Llama. Every time he would try to pet it, the animal would jerk its head back. Funny. Aurora said her dad was trying to pet all the animals. Another reason he was happy I wasn't there cause I would have been saying every 5 seconds "stop touching them I have allergies!"

ZEBRA! These are amazing creatures. Sometimes I like to think that maybe God got tired of all the browns/tans/ light brown/gray colors and decided to get a little crazy when creating the Zebra.... amazing...

Beautiful. Aurora said their coat was really soft.

This picture is awesome. Aurora was teasing the zebra with the food to get this funny picture. Love the picture but glad I was not with-in inches of this face... creepy- but in a cute way- no just creepy...

Da bears! Aurora said this was the cutest bear... he looks so relaxed... I bet he's not thinking about having to go to work or anything like that... just chillaxin'....

This looked toooooo close, but Aurora and Jeromy said they did zoom in on this picture. Their fur looks so fluffy. "It's soooo fluffy" (A "Despicable Me" quote!)

Here is a white deer that kept following on Aurora's side of the car and was trying to put his head in her window... those horns are amazing....

These 2 deer were fighting over the bread that fell on the ground... kids...

Up close and personal with a bison... that is one big head.... wonder what he's thinking...

He looks hungry...watch those fingers Jeromy! This was one of the small ones.

Here is a pack of bison eating....

The weather has been kind of iffy lately. The forecast was calling for rain, but Jeromy and Aurora took a chance and look at this beautiful sky.... it was actually warm for part of the day.

I told Jeromy to make sure they got some pictures of him and Aurora together with the animals, but he forgot getting so many amazing picture of just the animals. But he got Aurora this cute bison stuffed animal so they posed with that. His name is Edgar. What a fun day they had- and it was really good for everyone that I wasn't there! LOL

So cute!

Yet another monday....

So we have Aurora till Wednesday this week cause she's on Spring Break! Jeromy was lucky enough to get the 3 days off Mon-Wed since bug season is ramping up! So today, while Jade, Kent and I have work and school, they took off to have some fun father/daughter time at the Olympic Game Farm- the place that a little over an hour away where the buffalo can come right up to your window and the bears are just feet away from you! Too close for my comfort.

They were so cute this morning getting all packed for their trip. Aurora loves animals so this is just her kind of fun activity to do! Jeromy said they took alot of pictures today so I will blog them later!

Before work today, but after the Jade and Kent got back from school, all 3 of us were together so I thought what a perfect time to make smoothies for all of us!

I wanted to try this grapes one. It called for grapes, strawberries and bananas... I added spinach cause you can't taste it! Why not?? Then the ice of course...
All into the blender! You can see the strawberries still have their green stems on them. Still kind of hard to just throw the whole thing in there but I know it's all good for me...

Doesn't that just look delicious??? IT IS!!!

Scroll down and read my blog post from last night if you want to!! I used my vitamix 4 times yesterday- including making kale ice-cream!

I love this machine! And even better- so do my kids!

Excitement Overload!!!

Ok... where do I begin????

Well, Misty and I got Easter pictures for our parents. Is this the cutest picture or WHAT??? In height order Kent 17, Denny 14, Jade 19, Mason 10, Aurora 12 & Kelsey 3!!!! The last time we did this Kelsey was only a few months old... now she's one of the big kids, and she's standing on a box- so cute- even her socks tie all the colors together...

This picture is adorbs also, except the photographer kind of cut Mason and Jade a little on the ends... (remember these pics are all a little distorted being a picture of a picture) I got one of just my kids: Kent, Aurora and Jade... (Misty got one of just her kids but she has that one!)

I got one of just Jade and Kent to send to their dad....

Ok, just for fun... we happened to have cousin Kyle with us cause his parents were out of town, and we- ok... I- couldn't leave him out of the pictures! Get in there Kyle! Both boys at 17... Kyle is now 18 tho...

Now this one is really just for fun- the boys were doing some kind of karate move or something...

NOW- onto my vitamix.... this morning before church, I made a strawberry and banana smoothie, and I remembered to add flax seed!

Sooo yummy....

Jade didn't go to church with us today cause she had a one time, all day "First Aid" class for college. It was 8 hours. It wasn't the same with her gone. Missed you Jade! So did the Sunday school class!

I've just been so thankful to God for all the fun things we've been doing lately and things we've been blessed with. I've just been so excited about this vitamix! I also got another neat kitchen thing but that will come later in this post! God has been so good to us. I'm so excited to be eating whole/raw foods!

Here's the dinner recipe I was trying tonight. Tortilla soup- but I like to leave the chips out till the end. Look at all those fresh vegetables. Tomatoes, onions, peppers, celery, fresh garlic clove, a chunk of cabbage, and carrots. I got this yummy stuff that the vitamix demo guy recommended and my mom liked- it called "Better than Bullion" and it's delicious. I throw all that in the blender with a few cups of organic chicken broth and let it go for 5-6 minutes. And during that time the blender is actually making the soup HOT! All those ingredients get pulverized to liquid, then the last 20 second or so I turn the blender down and add some black beans and cooked- it's gotta be cooked- chicken!

It's kinda weird cause the broth is kind of orange, but I have to remind myself that most foods have food coloring added to make them look like we want them to look, or how we think it should look, but when it's all natural- that's the color you get! Do you see in the back ground how the vitamix cookbook props up like an easel??? How cool is that?

It was kind of weird at first. But after a few bites, everyone thought it tasted pretty good. Everyone gave it about 3 stars, and the chips to scoop it out made it a 4 star for everyone- definitely liked the scoop chips!

A nice little close up of all the fresh vegetables I got today at Costco/Albertsons...

Ready to blend... remember that's organic chicken broth making it that smoky color... looks like dirty water...

Pretty good and spicy- I like spicy! It was almost like the consistency of melted cheese for the chips but there was no cheese...

Next, after our stomach's settled I wanted to make the Kale Ice-cream... you read that right- KALE ICE-CREAM! Actually it's more like a sorbet. First a little bit of frozen lemonade concentrate, a handful of kale and then a handful of ice... Look at that! You CANNOT taste the Kale in this. I think I might have over powered it with a little too much lemonade concentrate- kinda tart but still yummy and it's kale!

The kids weren't sure about it, but after a few bites they ate it all.

Jeromy wasn't too sure about it either...

I loved it... I think the kale ice-cream brings out the green in my eyes LOL...

Jeromy got a new iphone for his birthday- it's not his birthday yet, but he's learned from me that it is now his birthday MONTH: April!

Ok, back to me, I got a new coffee machine- my other one was kind of broken. This serves individual cups of coffee! I love it!

The coffee is actively brewing here- can you see it?

After brewing the coffee I had to let it chill to try yet another vitamix creation... those are white chocolate chips and dark cocoa powder.... let's just say this vitamix will occasionally see an unhealthy food item. But not often- and it's dark chocolate! Ya know- all those antioxidants that are good for you!

Well, I have to say the picture looks better than it tastes, I didn't really follow a recipe I just looked at several and than just picked what I wanted to put in it... oh well, it's a learning process!

Such a fun day! God bless you all out there!