Happy Wednesday!
   
     We're back from Redding.  10 hours drive later...  Daniel had to stay in Chico for work so me and the boys drove back with my parents.  Saturday night Dylan got a fever and Sunday Jack started too.  No fun.  Despite them not feeling great we still had a good time.  The boys went swimming in the creek behind my Grandpa's house with their dog Justice.  She's a Border Collie and such a sweetheart.

Hey guys, wait for me!

She wanted in on the fun. :)
This trip confirmed to me and Daniel that we want land.  A simple life with a crick in the backyard where the boys can run amok.  It was so nice, and so beautiful. 

Daniel and Dylan <3

We saw a real live beaver dam too! It was pretty darn cool, and so sophisticated! Jo Ann (she's my step grandmother btw and she's awesome) said that last year some poachers killed a beaver, skinned it and left the carcass.  Messed. UP. 

Look at that bad boy!

Apparently they build the dams to create a little pond for themselves, not to mention they live in the dam itself.  I think it's fascinating!  How anyone could hurt one is beyond me.  I understand hunting animals for food but just to get the pelt? Disgusting. 

It was pretty neat too to see all the birds that came around their backyard.  My favorite was the Quail. I love the way they run.  Their feet move at a furious pace.  All that moves is their feet and their little boppy head feather.  It's cute.


Well that pretty much sums it up.  Can't wait to go back, hopefully soon.  The drive sucks but it's so worth it.

Have a great day!
Holly

 P.S. My good pal Tracy was nice enough to make me a present the other day for my ottoman.  I love it!

She got a plain wood tray at Michaels craft store and painted it. :)

Happy Hump Day!

Ouchy is because my wrists are killing me.  It turns out "Week 2" of Jillian's "Ripped in 30" is mostly plank position doing various exercises.  I have weak wrists and this week is just torture on them.  2 days of it down and 4 more to go. :'( 

I'm getting frustrated, I have to say.  Daniel is irritated with me because he says I always do this and get depressed when we try to exercise.  I'm not losing weight! I know, I know, "You're gaining muscle..." (said in the same voice Taylor Swift uses in We are Never Getting Back Together, "I still love you...")  But I say that's bull honky! LOL  I'm going to stick with it but after 2 weeks of exercise and eating a million times better I am frustrated.  I want to see results, damn it.  Just sayin'. ;) 

On a less frustrated note... We're going up North this weekend to visit my grandfather and his wife, Jo Ann.  It's been awhile since we've gotten to see them, since they live so far.  It's a 10 hour drive... They live in Redding, which is almost up to Oregon.  I'm excited though.  It's so beautiful up there and like I said, it's been awhile.  Daniel and I are leaving Thursday after work and heading to Visalia to drop off a trailer for his work.  We're staying the night there and proceeding North the next morning.  My parents will head up early Friday morning with the boys.  The other good news about this trip is that I get new tires! Yay!  They are long overdue... I'm told.  I have no idea what bad tires look like but I guess mine are.

Well, that's all for now.  Boring, I know... ;)

I'll probably post next Tuesday with the deets and some pics from our trip.
Peace out!
Holly

Happy Friday!!!

Thank goodness, I'm so ready for the weekend.

Well, Daniel had his procedure done yesterday and all went well.  He iced his person last night for some slight swelling but other than that he's good.  No pain, no medication even.  He even joined me for our walk around the block this morning.  I'm feeling better now that it's actually over with, so that's good. :) 

Don't worry, this picture was Dan approved. lol

We have no shame.  I love that about us. ;) 

I actually got up this morning and did our Jillian Michaels DVD by myself!  I'm so proud of me.  Then I took a jog around the block too.  I'm feeling really great!  My weigh-in this morning was 137.6 lbs.  Slight progress but progress none the less.  It's so motivating when I see the numbers on the scale go down.  I'm re-determined to shed.  I now would like to get to 120.  Imma get into those size 4 jeans, darn it! :)

Speaking of having no shame.... Here's an official before pic.  I took it this morning.

Yikes.  Must lose muffin top. Don't I look thrilled? lol

Have a great weekend!
Holly

Soooo, yeah.  This is happening.  Daniel is going in for a vasectomy today.  I am having very mixed emotions about this.  The rational part of my brain knows that this is a good idea.  I mean, financially?  No doubt.  And we're working out and trying to get in shape.  We want to go on a grand vacation next summer for our ten year wedding anniversary.  The boys are at a great, much easier than babies age, and the new baby would be so many years apart from them,etc... So many good, solid reasons NOT to have a baby.

But my heart?  She's not on board, yet.  I know it's irrational to want another child, but I just do.  For many reasons, some of which aren't good reasons, at all. Our boys are so adorable (this is not an opinion) that I imagine a little girl would just melt our hearts.  We had Jack and Dylan at a young age so now all my friends are finally catching up and it seems there's a million adorable babies and prego's all over Facebook and Instagram.  I never got to show off my adorable babies (this is on the list of horrible reasons to have a baby)!  Not to mention all the amazing  Pinterest baby ideas and photo op ideas!!!  Also, and here's what I think is, the most selfish reason.  I want a third chance at being a new mom.  I did okay with Jack but when Dylan came around I all but checked out.  I was soooo lazy!  Daniel had to get up with them 9 times out of 10 and had to force me to bathe them for goodness sake!  All I wanted to do was hang out with our friends and drink wine and smoke cigarettes.  The kids got in the way of that.  I'm not proud, in fact it makes me so incredibly SAD  that this is my story.  This happened.  That... was me.  And you know what? It sucks.  It really does.  So yeah, that's my selfish reason.  I want to prove to Daniel and to myself that I can be a rockstar mom, and get up with the baby, bathe the baby everyday, and be happy about it.  Do it with a smile on my face and a song in my heart.  I make myself feel better by guessing that I had postpartum depression.  But who knows, it could just be that I was a lazy, selfish, brat.

Anyway, this post really took a turn to sad town, didn't it? LOL Sorry! I guess I was doing that stream of consciousness writing thing.  It got away from me... ;)

Don't worry.  I'll be okay, and we'll be okay, just had to get my thoughts/feelings out I think.  Like I said, I really do know that it's for the best and that my reasons are not good reasons to create new life.  It may be comforting to know that I learned my lesson and am not the lazy mom of 4 years ago.  That's not  me anymore.  I think I'm doing a bang up job now and I think Daniel would agree.  I hope! ;)  I love my boys more than life itself and I would wrestle tigers for them.

Have a great Thursday guys!
Holly

Oh wait, hey! Admire these pics of my adorable babies! ;)

Baby Jack

Baby Dylan with Daddy

Happy Tuesday, y'all!

    So our plan to work out last night didn't... work out. ;)  By the time we got home we were pooped.  Both Daniel and I have come down with a cold which Dylan started on Saturday. Booo!  We're hoping to get back in gear tomorrow morning as we're both feeling a bit better.

I made a Pinterest recipe for dinner last night.  We were both craving soup because of our colds plus yesterday was so cold and super  windy.  The recipe was for Beer Cheese Soup.  Here's the link to that.

http://pinterest.com/pin/30047522486364552/

However, I can't say we loved it.  I think it needs more cheese or something.  It was just kind of blah.  It was a lot of work too so I don't think the juice was worth the squeeze, if ya know what I mean.  But if you are going to try it, I suggest measuring and preparing everything in advance before you actually start cooking.  And you'll need a good blender.  Daniel said it was a good "base" for a soup, but that it just needed something else like maybe some seasoned potatoes or something.

But enough about my Pinterest fail.... I'm going to be rich! I hope.... someday... maybe....  Haha.  Two of my coworkers and I have decided to start pooling our resources and playing the new Powerball lottery.  $4 each for 3 Powerball tickets per week.  Hey, it's worth a shot! You can't win if you don't play. ;)

Wish us luck!
Holly :)

P.S. Daniel and I went for a walk this morning around the block and saw this "meeting of the minds" on the Jr. High track field...

Seagull conference! LOL

Good Monday to you!
    
     I had a severe lack of project motivation this weekend.  I think the dining set stole all my will to paint furniture for a while.  At the very least until next weekend.  We had great family time though. :)  Saturday we went for a nice hike as planned.  It was a beautiful day out!  After the dog park we took the boys to a barbeque cook off in Wildomar.  It was pretty cool, got to sample some pretty good barbeque.  The highlight though was probably the free folding chairs we got for being some of the first ones there. You know I love free stuff! lol 

Sunday we went to church, which was really great.  Great service, lot of people having a real connection with God.  Truthfully it's been awhile since I've really felt the service.  Sad to say but true, so it was nice to re-connect. 

After church we went to a carnival at Dos Lagos shopping center.  It turns out I have developed a fear of heights and carnival rides. lol  Not cool.  We went on the Ferris Wheel and I was holding on for dear life!  After the first go-round I felt better though.  It's mostly the going up part that gets me, once I'm up I feel okay.  Same thing happened on Supreme Scream at Knotts Berry Farm the last time we went.  I went on it with my nephew, Sam, and the going up part was the  WORST! lol 

Me and Jack, see I was okay once we got up there. ;)

Ferris wheel fun. Daddy and Dylan.

 The boys first ride was the swing.  You know, that thing that spins the swings around in the air.  That was my favorite ride when I was young.  Dylan had a blast, Jack kept his eyes closed most of the time but he enjoyed it too.  However, I  was having an anxiety attack the whole time they were on it!  I don't know what my problem was.  At one point I had to just walk away and not watch, I was acting like a crazy person! haha  I know it's just because kids have no fear and now that I'm a grown-up I can appreciate just how rickety and dangerous those rides are. 

That slide is way too high for me. lol

Dylan :)

The great thing was that we got to do all the rides for FREE.  My younger brother is a security guard at Dos Lagos so he got the hookups with tickets.  He got us 100 free tickets. Score! 

So, I didn't get any projects done but we had a lovely family weekend and stayed very active.  I didn't gain any weight back either, which is nice.  I'm still at 139 lbs this morning.  We didn't work out yet but we're going to make up for it tonight. *fingers crossed* ;)

Have a great Monday! (or try at least) ;)
Holly

Good day to you all!

I'm overtired and hopped up on coffee at the moment.  That's what happens when you wake up at 5:45am and get up and work out!  I am, quite literally, sore all over.  From the neck down, I hurt.  But it hurts so good!   Day 3 on our new workout regime and it's going well so far.  Day 3 weigh in: 139 lbs.  Slow and steady...?  I know it's doing something though, hence all the sore.  My new goal, as I made mention of on Facebook, is to lose 10 lbs before my June 29th birthday.  I say that in 3 months that's totally doable.  I want to go into my 30's under 130 lbs.  I took some "before" pictures today, which I will NOT be posting. lol  Maybe if I have an amazing transformation first...  We'll see.  I'd like to have a rockin' "after" pic to go along side the "before" pic. 

This weekend is resty time but not lazy time.  We're planning to take the boys and Presley (the lab) on a nice hike to the dog park up the street tomorrow.  We found an awesome walking trail through the housing development behind ours that leads to McVicker park.  It's pretty cool.  Lots of stairs/hills though. Meh...  Other than that, I'd like to refinish the banister on our stairs this weekend too.  We shall see.  I'll be sure to post pics if we do.

I almost forgot! Last Sunday I mentioned that my in-laws and my parents and brother came over for Easter linner.  Well after they left I was rinsing something in the sink when I happened to glance up at the blinds above the sink (we have a garden window behind the sink with blinds in between) and GASP! OMG they were disgusting!!! Covered in cob webs and dust. Jack asked me what was wrong and I told him and he said, "Oh yeah, I noticed that before."  I said, "Why didn't you tell me??!!" lol

This doesn't even do it justice really... Yuck.

Enter the lifesaver! All purpose cleaner with bleach, and an old kitchen towel.

Voila! Clean blinds. Cue sigh of relief.

I cleaned them in sections and just sprayed a couple of them at a time then covered each blind with the towel and swiped it down to the end.  Bye bye gross-ness.  Sidebar: I mentioned this discovery of filthy blinds to my mother and she said, "Oh yeah, I noticed but I didn't wanna say anything." Oh man, so embarrassing, but at least they're clean now. Phew!

Well, that's all for now, have a great weekend!
Love
Holly

Happy Hump Day!

     I'm so tired.  Daniel and I got up at quarter of 6 this morning to do a new workout video.  Each workout is no more than 30 minutes long so that's nice.  Wait till you get to the running man's... don't seem that bad but they kicked my butt!

I originally posted the wrong DVD! Duh, we're doing this one not the 30 Day Shred.

So far so good though... for day one. LOL  The embarrassing part is this, my weigh-in.  Day One: 140.6 lbs.  I'm coming clean so I can hopefully be kept accountable.  Daniel looked up what we should weigh based on our heights and mine said I should be at 133 but I think that's still a little high for me.  I'm short (5'4") so any weight goes a long way on me.  I have 2 pair of size 4 jeans hanging in my closet from 4 years ago that I barely got to wear and I miss them.  I'm an 8, borderline 10 now and I'm just not satisfied with that.  At a size 4 I weighed between 116 and 120, so that's a minimum of 20lbs I need to lose if I wanna get back there.  Honestly tho, as much as I don't want to buy new jeans I'd be so happy in a size 6.  Been awhile since I was in those too.

Besides working out (and hopefully sticking with it), we're going to attempt to eat healthier.  After the workout I had a banana, then at work I've had an orange and some raisins.  I have leftover Chinese food for lunch which isn't great but it's a pretty small portion.  It's broccoli beef, no rice.  I'm not going to waste food that I have...  Daniel is making white chicken chili for dinner, YUM!  I'll have to post the recipe tomorrow.  It's in the Crockpot at home and it smells divine already.  We have plain Greek yogurt to go on top instead of sour cream (they taste almost identical in my opinion).

So, trying to fight the bulge!  Wish us luck!

Have a great week!
Holly

Howdy!
    Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!  I'm a might tired but I had a pretty great weekend.  I took yesterday off work to spend some quality time with my man who finally made it home from a work trip.  He was gone Good Friday till yesterday. :(  While he was gone I was pretty busy tho...

First of all, well it's actually the second project I did but it's a finally finished kinda thing, I did the tufting on the ottoman!!! It's completely done and I'm in love.



Eeek! I'm so excited and it was really quite simple.  I laid under the ottoman and poked the upholstery needle with the wax lined thread (nice and thick so it doesn't snap with the tension) up through the hole that we pre-drilled in the table before we covered it with the batting/fabric.  Tracy grabbed it once it was through and put the needle through the button and then poked the needle back down and searched and searched for the hole lol put it back through the hole to me.  I pulled it through, cut the needle off, knotted the thread and staple gunned it to the table.  Tracy indicated to me how tight to pull the thread so it was just the right amount of tension.  The ottoman didn't need the tufting per say but I think it gives it a more finished and professional look.

My big, time consuming project of the weekend was refinishing my dining set!  It was Daniel's grandmothers before us so I had never considered actually refinishing it because of that.  My co-worker pushed me in the right direction though.  She said, "Is it your dining set or not?!"  Which made me realize that you know what? yeah it IS mine! lol

Here's a before pic of the table.  I didn't take detailed during transformation pics, sorry, I was just too involved. All I did was a light sand, I did not try to take all the finish off, then painted white paint/primer in one (one coat), let it dry then I painted 2 coats of my free grey paint. I got the free paint at my local Habitat for Humanity RE-Store.  They have a little pile outside of free stuff sometimes and I found a quart of grey paint the other day when I drove by. Yay free!

I'm in love with the modern look of it.

I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of the chair seats "before" because they were truly disgusting and the transformation is quite dramatic.  The fabric before was a light cream colored stripe which over the years had become very stained and just gross.  I had these ugly celery green seat covers for about a year now just to cover up the yuck.

Got to use the last of my chevron fabric too, bonus!

 I sanded the chairs and spray painted them black.  There was also an embossed seashell on each of the chairs which Tracy and I filled with wood filler and then sanded smooth.  You can still see a hint of them but now that they're black they don't bother me nearly as much.  Daniel was happy with the results too. *hugging self*

So I didn't get everything that I had originally wanted to get done but I'm so happy with what I did do that I don't care. ;)


Have a great week!
Love
Holly

P.S. I almost forgot my bunny butt pancakes for Easter! Pinterest idea of course...  I made these for the boys on Sunday morning.  They loved em.  My mother in law gave me some pink pancake mix then I just added some tiny marshmallows for the tail and some frosting/sprinkles for the paw marks.