Fave Summer Treat

Well here it is, our favorite summer treat. Cheap, cold and yummy...did I mention cheap.

WOO Hoo its Friday...

Happy Dance Day! I don't have to work for 9 days!!! Yep I am off on V_A_C_A_T_I_O_N!
OH & ITS FRIDAY! PAY DAY TOO! um I'm happy. Work was good today. Things went smoothly...my desk is all cleared off and my schedule is all scheduled! The things I was all stress over and upset about yesterday got worked out.
Today was just a fabulous day.




Ok so plans this weekend I think I'll workout and get ready for my trip...I need to wash clothes, pack and print out my boarding pass hehehe :D
Steve and I will probably go to the Temple tomorrow to. Who knows. Its vacation time....Relax :) Thats my plan

Hard day @ the office

Yep this is what I wanted to do a few times today. Frustrating! My job, can be so frustrating at times. I schedule jobs to be done for customers. I want them to get done for customers. I like to have good customer service. I like being there for both the crew & the customer. I don't like it when there is this total disconnect between the system. I don't want to be the missing link I want to be a fluid system. Maybe thats my problem I care too much. I always have. When I worked as cashier taking payments I stressed when we had long lines and I tried to speed up and go faster because I myself waiting in line would want a cashier to do that. I always try to put myself in the customers shoes. I think sometimes people in the business I work in think they've been there for sooooo long that it doesn't matter they have a job, they can do whatever.



So I've had a hard day. Stressful I feel like pulling my hair out at some of the responses I've heard from the people I with today. But its all part of the job. Don't get me wrong not all jobs are peachy every day. Can't complain. It pays the bills plus some...

Going on vacation soon, only have 1 day left of work then I have 9 days work free!!!! Get to go see my Lil' Sis and the beautiful city of Seattle which it shouldn't be raining now. hehehehe :D
I am then going down southern CA to visit some WOW friends. My sis and I have some plans. Well I have want to get my nails done. Pedis & manis! I want to go to this restaurant I seen on food network. On Diners, Drive-ins & Dives.
So the place I want to go is Voula's Offshore Cafe
www.voulasoffshore.com

I also want to check out Bainbridge island you have to take a ferry across to get there. I have tried to go there twice now. This time I am going to make it. REALLY!

Lost again...

I believe my hike on Sunday had something to do with it! Or at least helped. I lost another 3 pounds. Boy am I loving WW's. Why did I never do this sooner. Well I guess there is always a time a place for everything...right? I mean you have to come to a realization in your life and its different for everyone, if its a addiction to food or drugs or alcohol.
Well I am done. I am so done with being unhealthy and I am on this path of healthy living. I have chosen this lifestyle. Its kind of hard though, not saying by any means its easy. You can slip up & beat yourself up over eating and be back gaining again all over.
It all psychological. Or at least for me a big part of it is. Its not always about the food.
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE some foods. But there are so many games I play with myself. Its ridiculous at times. Its a struggle. I wonder if other people go through this too. I wonder do other people think about these dang choices this much too?

I have so much to do before I leave I feel like I will never get it done. Its crazy at work! UGH :)

The Yucatan

The Yucatan was amazing!! We stayed at this place called Xpu-Ha Palace which is a 5 diamond resort placed in the middle of an animal sanctuary. It was set right on the beach. It was the exact definition of paradise. We stayed in a bungalo style hut that was separated in. Even though everything was outdoors, we definitely were not roughing it. The resort sits ocean side but is shielded from seeing anything outside its walls with thick brush and trees. We had to search our way to the beach but loved every minute of it.

This a our bungalo. Amazing huh? These pictures do it no justice. It had to be just like Adam & Eve, except there were other people around serving us all day. I guess Adam & Eve could not say that. We also ate a lot of forbidden fruit. When we ordered fruit from room service, we expected kind of like a plate of cut fruit. No, it was whole gigantic grapes, mangoes, and papaya on steroids. We ate so many of them for breaky, lunch, & dinner. This was all inclusive which made the forbidden fruit taste even better.

Ok, so snorkeling story. There was this tiny reef inlet at the resort that people could canoe or snorkel in. It had this huge tree in the middle of it. The roots from this tree took up so much space and made the water really dark and mysterious. Avery jumped in without me and took off around this huge tree under the water. I waited until I could see him again before I jumped in. When he came back to see me, he told me that behind the tree seemed really creepy and dark and that I should go check it out. (so protective of me isn't he.) So I blew it off and told him he was just afraid. I started to search and explore around this reef and tree when all of the sudden this HUGE fish was starring me in the face. I am not kidding. He was about the size of a cow with now legs and his face was literally 2 feet from mine. I screamed in my mask and proceeded to swim backwards faster than I have ever swam in my life. By the time I got turned around I was almost walking on water. Avery was up on the dock laughing so hard. He said he has never seen anyone swim that fast in their life. I think I flew up on the dock instead of climbing up. I told him about this fish by holding my arms out as far as I could to show him the size of the beast. He totally cracked up and said I was exaggerating and there was no such thing. He was waving his hands as if to blow me off while laughing still histerically at my olympic style swimming. I told him that I was not making it up, that this thing was seriously as big as me if not bigger. My heart was still pounding from the look in the fish's eye as he swam up to me almost as if to say "Hey, what's up!" He didn't look mean but still just his mere size and stare was enough to make me pee my swimming suit and now here was Avery so beside himself with the vision of this fiasco and fictional fish story. I was just starring at him like how was I going to convince him of this thing. I told him to go in there and check it out. He said he was done but I think deep down inside he was just afraid. Just then, this guy comes around the corner and asks "Hey. did you see the Manitee in there?". I looked at Avery as his moking came to an abrupt stop. His eyes went wide and his gaze went from me to the reef. I told him I could not believe that he would believe a complete stranger over his own wife. Even though the guy informed us that they were docile and didn't mind people, Avery never got in that water again the whole trip. I still see this fish's eyes in my sleep. I was like both of us were just minding our own business and just happen to bump into each other in the dark. It was pretty funny.

The hairy legs are mine. So sexy.

This pic was taken at Xel-Ha (shell ha). It was pretty much a massively huge reef made into a snorkel, scuba dive park just behind Talum (old mayan ruins). I have never seen anything like this place in my life. It was about 10 miles in circumference and so much to do. There was cliff jumping, snuba, scuba, rope swings, tubing, swim with the dolphins, etc. I mostly just loved the beauty of it as you will never see anything this beautiful in the states. There are more pics in the album below.

We also visited one of the seven wonders of the world, Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza is a mayan ruin city. It was very educational and seeing things like this helps us whity american's gain a better appreciation for Mexico and the Mayan (Which actually is vastly different). Anyway, I can not even explain all that we visited here because there was so much of it. So if you are interested in learning more, click on this link: http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/chichen/chichen_index.html

We also went to a place called Coba, which is a mayan ruin as well, just not a city such as Chichen Itza. However, Coba has the tallest tower in the world and we actually got to climb that one. It was just like the stairmaster only hotter. Too bad my camera died. The only regret about our visit to these cities was that there were Mormon tours for each of them and we did not know. Apparently there is quite a bit of LDS history with the ancient cities of the Yucatan.

Check out our album

Been awhile...

Since its been like a week I have a lot to talk about. First I spent the day at a convention for Homeowner Associations. I know weird huh? I am on the board here @ the townhouse Steve and I live in. There are so many interesting things you can learn by going to those meetings. I just learned all these new laws and about amendments just passed previous on laws. Its crazy about all this stuff you need to know or should know being on a HOA board. Wow the insurance needs to be covered for lawsuits alone is just nuts!!! At 1st I was upset I wasted a Saturday to go this convention but I guess it was a good idea for us to go. I mean having as many board members certified is in the best interest for the HOA as whole. If I wasn't on the board and just lived here I would think it was a wise way for my dues to be spent. Knowing that my HOA members were update on what was going on with CA law.


Anyway work is going pretty great! I am totally loving my job. I love most the people I work with...or for I guess I would say. I schedule the gas & electric crews. I think I said that before. The small 2 man crews only. Its fun in a challenging aspect because I feel like I am needed and people value me. Its nice to be busy but not tied to a cash register in front of customers...does that make sense...I am busy in such a different way!

I am going to go visit my sister in 1 week. I am so excited. I am going to see her from Sunday - Friday so June 29/July 4 then fly to Burbank and stay down there for 4th of July weekend and drive home on the 6th. Steve will probably drive down on the 3rd to visit Bryan and Chandra earlier. We haven't seen them in so long. I think almost a year. I think their going to freak when they see me. Well with me losing so much weight.


That reminds me the lady at the Mongolian BBQ restaurant said " Oh my what happened to you" - refering to my weight loss. Its rather nice to have soooo many people noticing all the time now. It kind of makes me blush.

I know I need to post some need pictures. I will I will I need to get some taken when I am up visiting my sister.


OH in other news my walk is super close only 21 days away now...
If you feel like you would like to make a donation to my walk since I am still a little short on my fundraising!
Please Click on the link below to make a donation. No donation is too small!!!


My Avon Walk For Breast Cancer

When the Bough Breaks....

The kids and I were off to the pool at about 11:20 this morning. As we are driving it got pretty dark and ominous outside and really windy. This is what we saw when we got home...

The picture doesn't show that the tree is basically bare in the middle or that it took 2 really big, strong guys to get the branch out of the road. I am just glad a car wasn't parked there.

"Friends & Family are Nature's Masterpiece"

I can not forget the most important people in my life. I owe so much to all of these and more. My family is amazing and I just want to tell them all how much I love them. The times we spend together have given my so much....anxiety? Ok, so not all the time. I actually treasure all the memories that have been freely given to me over our lifetime together. I look forward to the rest of my life and building more memories with each you. Its been an amazing journey. I love you all.

The Most Beautiful Sound

I have small, faint recollections somewhere in my childhood of Daddy singing and playing his guitar. Whether he is performing or just tinkering around at home, my mind goes back to those days and I hear him singing or strumming in my memories . There really are no images with these memories, but somewhere back there is a place of music & passion as I sat and listened to him with my sisters. He sung the most beautiful song at our wedding. It was all I could do to try to hold the tears back. Actually I have a hard time even watching it now. However, he hardly sings anymore so I am glad I got it recorded even though its with an amateur camera. I thought I would share it with those of you that did not get to hear him. Bare with the sideways shot. It only lasts the first 30 seconds.

(turn it up)

The Essence of Life

(Click on Sound bite in bottom left corner to hear the song)

Um who knew

That changing all this blog stuff took so much time and effort.

All I wanted to do was change the background because I was getting bored with my old one. Well When you go and get a background from somewhere they mark it all up with their logos. Which I get. Yeah they want credit. After all they worked hard on it. That being said since I never went to school for computers or html I just had to pick random stuff. I think I'm getting a better grasp at what you can and can't erase or it won't work. I changed some of things on my blog.
Thats why mine is purple & pink. I like to be funky and um yea!

If this came in purple it would have been ideal but you know.
Anyway. I can't figure out if I can change the graphic to purple yet. Anyway I changed some of the colors of the other things too.

But once you change the layout then I had to go back and re-enter all my add in stuff again which seems a little ridiculous. Why isn't that all just saved on to the sides and stuff. Its kind of stupid. Well since I had to go change it anyway. I added some new songs and changed my music player a little its kind of cute. It has a picture in it now.

Yea I am a dork so what.
Still working on this blog which is crazy. Its just journal of my life not suppose to be so important, right?
Oh well its almost done now.

...And the Greatest of these is Love.

April 23, 2008. This was the best day of my life. It could not have been more perfect. Avery & I are so happy and life just keeps getting better. God sure knew what He was doing when He sent Avery to me, or maybe He sent me to Avery. Avery and I met in a restaurant we were both managing. I was his assistant. It was not until over a year later that we even realized how much we anticipated the time we would spend together. Whether is was a glance across the office, a shy smile and looking away, or a short undemanding brush of our hands as Avery tried to comfort me in a time of frustration. I guess dating your boss is not exactly the smartest thing for the career. But it definitely paid off. Its like a secret romance and its exactly as the books describe it. Its everything you could feel wrapped up in one package. Romantic, mysterious, clandestine, and fascinating. Its almost fictitious. So here is to the beginning of an almost puerile love affair...and a story of two lives coming together for all eternity.

The Temple...

So, I guess you are suppose to read from the bottom of this blog page and scroll up as you follow the vedding story. I had so many pics, that I had to pack them into 3 videos and I still didn't even get half of them into the videos. But if you want any pic you see, just let me know which ones and I will email them to you. Michael did a great job being my professional photographer. Bargain!! Anywho, the whole wedding was amazing. Enjoy & luvs.

The Celebration of NOT BEING SINGLE ANYMORE...

Ok, so this one is really short because I didn't have that many pics of the boat party. But it was super fun anyway. Thanks Michael for being so rad and gettin us all the str8-hook-up for the day before and to all that helped celebrate my tenure as a married person-wanna-be. Yep, I said it! You know bachelor & bachelorette parties are not really celebrating being single. NO ONE Celebrates that. Sure its fun and independent, and liberating at times, but...well- this is what life is all about...the next few videos. But for the time being, just check out my first one. (Don't forget to turn up the sound!)