What Do You Know For Sure?

I know for sure that giving is so much better than receiving.

This year our office decided to skip giving little gifts to each other at the Christmas party and adopt a family in need. MultiCare has an employees helping employees program so we were assigned a single mom with two children and she just so happens to be a fellow employee.

I can't tell you how much fun Mark and I had shopping for the 14 year old boy who is a Steelers fan! We totally hooked him up!

She emailed us and thanked us for providing for her and her children. She was especially thankful that she didn't have to have the "no Christmas" talk with them this year.

I know that Christmas it is not about the gifts, but it is in part about reaching out and helping those around you, and I'm truly thankful I had the opportunity to make a small difference in someones life this holiday season.

L.A.M.B.

I have had a long standing love affair with Gwen Stefani's music and style. In particular I love her L.A.M.B. handbags! I am one of those girls that would be happy with a new purse every week, and while I may admire the designer purses I won't spend the money on them. It just seems too frivolous to me even though L.A.M.B. bags tend to be much less than a lot of the designer lines out there.

Mark got me a L.A.M.B. handbag several years ago that is the perfect size for lipstick, cell phone and small wallet for going out with the girls, and I love it. The quality of the hardware fascinates me every time I use it. Many times I thought I would like to have a L.A.M.B. handbag that was big enough to use on a daily basis.

Well thanks to Dad sending me Christmas money I was finally able to order the bag I have had my eye on for over a year now, and I got an amazing deal on it. Sure it may be last season's design, but I don't care...it is THE ONE I wanted and I am so happy with it!

The back side of the purse has the M B so it spells LAMB. I love the red accents against the white and black, and while I'm not a huge fan of showing off labels or the brand name of what I'm wearing or carrying, I even like the L.A.M.B. tag that is attached to the front of it. It is pretty subtle compared to some other designer lines out there.

The best part is that all my "essential" stuff fits perfect inside! I just want to carry it around with me all day, even while I'm home just walking around the house. I know I'm being a silly girl. :)

Thank you Dad!!!

Favorite Time of Year

This is my favorite time of year!!! Yes, I love the Holiday Season in general, but specifically I love it when all the gifts are purchased, everything is wrapped, and anything that needed shipping has been shipped. Now we get to sit back and relax with family, friends, and movies you only get to watch this time of year.

It is also a great football time of year. There is playoff buzz in the air for the NFL. Teams are either gearing up to secure their spot, or are admitting defeat and looking to the draft and next year. As if the NFL is not enough all the College Bowl Games have been set and starting this weekend it is one bowl game after another until January 10th...and I predict the Ducks will win it all on the 10th!

Yes, I do love this time of year!

Recipe of the Week

This is a recipe I got from the Sunset Wine Club to go along with one of the bottles of wine they sent us. The wine and the steak were PERFECT together!

South American Flank Steak
2 oranges (8oz each)
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups lightly packed cilantro, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup (half a 7 oz can) chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp each ground cumin and ground coriander
about 1/2 tsp salt
1 beef flank steak (about 1 1/2 lbs) rinsed and patted dry, fat trimmed

1. Squeeze juice from 1 orange and pour into a food processor or blender. Add garlic, cilantro, chiles and their sauce, oil, vinegar, cumin, coriander, and 1/2 tsp salt. Whirl until finely pureed.

2. Place steak in a 1 gal. resealable plastic bag. Pour cilantro-chipotle mixture over steak and seal bag. Chill at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

3. Prepare charcoal or gas grill for direct, medium-high heat (you can hold your hand 5 in. above cooking grate only 4 to 5 seconds); oil cooking grate well. Lift steak from marinade (discard marinade) and lay on cooking grate; close lid if using a gas grill. Cook steak, turning every 4 to 5 minutes, until browned on both sides and done to your liking in center of thickest part (cut to test), about 12 minutes total for medium-rare. Transfer steak to a rimmed board or a platter. Let rest 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Thinly slice meat across the grain. Also slice remaining orange. Serve steak with orange slices to squeeze over servings, and add salt to taste.

Hawks Game

I have been waiting and waiting for the pics that go with this post, but I don’t have them yet, and I don’t like being almost a week behind. So I’m finally accepting the fact that this blog will never contain a ton of photos with the posts, or any at all for that matter.

Anyway, I did manage to have some fun last weekend after my self defense class. Mark and I had free tickets to the Hawks game, and ended up with two extra, so that Bob and Michelle could go with us!

A big Thank You to Val for the tickets! Because she did such an awesome job helping someone rehab from some injuries that opened the door for Dad to work on her son, who just so happens to be a lineman for the Carolina Panthers! So because of the connection and great work that Val did on his Mom Val and Dad ended up with 4 tickets. Two for them and two for Mark and I. But, because Dad couldn’t get the time off from work and Val didn’t want to drive the pass alone Mark and I ended up with all 4 tickets.

Even though we are not Hawk fans, and in fact were Panther fans for the day, we were still really excited to see an NFL game live! We were with about 125 Panther fans all there to see their friend/family member play, he grew up in Richland, so there were a lot of people from E WA there! We had so much fun chatting with his Mom, meeting his sisters and brother and seeing him make some key tackles during the game. Bob and Michelle were happy because the Hawks won, and Mark and I were happy because we got to see a game!

I have to say catching the Sounder is the ONLY way to go to sporting events in Seattle!! We got up there early enough to hit a bar and have some drinks/lunch, roam around the stadium, look around all the booths in the event center and still get drinks and food before the game started. And, after the game we walked to the station and hopped on the first train back to T town that came along. It was really nice to know we could all have beer/drinks and not worry about driving home right away!

It does make me with though that I lived in my teams town. While I have no desire to move to Pittsburgh I would love to be a home town fan for a season!

Thank you Val for doing such awesome work and scoring us tickets!!!

Self Defense Class

I had an emotionally intense and physically draining weekend. I took an adrenal response based self defense class this weekend. I have always had the attitude of I won’t go down without a fight, but realize most attackers would be stronger than me and would probably do me more harm than I would them. Therefore I loved the idea of gaining the skills to go along with the attitude.

The whole idea behind adrenal based training is to scare and intimidate you to the point that your body does an adrenal dump giving you the focus, strength and determination to effectively fight for your life.

There are two reasons for this, one is that when you learn something new under that kind of stress it imprints into your memory deeper (both in the conscious and subconscious mind) and is easier to recall the next time your body does an adrenal dump, and second is that when you are faced with a life and death fight your conscious mind is too slow to make the decisions needed to save yourself so you need to rely on the subconscious mind.

I can’t go into a lot of detail, it is just too graphic for this blog and revealing too much would make it less effective for anyone who takes the class in the future, but I will say that the instructor made it very clear that we would be in distress all day. Once class started the doors were locked and we were not allowed to leave. Why lock the doors? Because they had “bad guys” that were so vile and allowed to say, and do whatever they needed to in order to convince you they were going to do every single nasty horrible thing possible to you. And it was relentless, the bad guys repeatedly were allowed to yell at us, whisper in our ears (that was the worst as they were the most graphic when they were able to be close and touching you), make fun of us if we cried, or let us know that if we were “too” strong they would break us. It was relentless mental and emotional battery all day.

We were taught a handful of basic, yet very effective, techniques to defend ourselves and had 5 fights/scenarios that were full on attacks/fights allowing us to use what we had learned. The goal is 4 seconds and the guy is on his back, because the average attack on the street last 4 seconds. If you can’t defend yourself in 4 seconds it is over for you. By the 3rd fight I was at the 4 second mark every time.

I learned that while the bad guys terrified me I was more angry than scared. I’m not a crier; I was the one who looked each attacker right in the eyes to let him know I was going to kill him. It made me a target, they repeatedly let me know they would break me, but they didn’t. I took a deep breath before each fight to focus and do what needed to be done, and it worked. The whole point of the training is that you may be a mess inside, but that won’t stop you from doing what needs to be done, the subconscious brain knows exactly what to do and the body follows…the beautiful thing about adrenaline!

It has taken a toll though; I have been exhausted, dealing with headaches and am really sensitive to certain language/jokes right now. I’m sure I will be back to normal in a few days. Even though I felt emotionally wrecked after the class I also felt such a sense of accomplishment and am really proud of what I accomplished. I feel strong and able to defend myself and my family if needed. The distress I went through was totally worth it for the pay off!

Dodgeball Playoffs

Playoffs were last night and we had a blast! It was single elimination format and our first game was against Wonderballs. A very streaky team full of people that we have come to know during the various sport seasons and we really enjoy playing them. We really enjoyed it last night as we pretty much annihilated them!

We are for sure a playoff team, we played our best dodgeball matches last year in playoffs and we did the same again this year. Even in the game we lost, we played some of our best dodgeball against a very good team.

We moved on to the semi-final match against New Directions. Oh what to say about ND? Well they are young, about 20 to 24 ish with the exception of Steve, who played softball with us, who is 31. Every single one of them is a recent serious athlete or currently playing college sports. They can throw, they catch anything that comes their way, and were a thorn in our side all season. Let's just say that being a team in our 30's some of the shenanigans of the 24 ish crowd did not always go over well and there were some very heated games between our two teams during the season.

It does not help that they are hands down the best team in the league. They only lost 2 or 3 games the whole season and beat us every time we played them, including last night. We started out on fire, and they were getting frustrated that we were playing them so well, but they pulled it together and ended up winning the game by 1 or 2 matches, I forget now.

They went on to the championship game and it was not even close they won it 6 to 3, and deservedly so. Even if they were punks at times it does not bother me to lose to a team that is clearly more athletic and talented, and see them win it all.

And, off the court I actually like everyone on the team, it is just frustrating to see so much young talent acting silly and goofing off and not taking it serious and still beat us when we are serious and playing our asses off. It is just so much easier for them and I think they take it for granted. But then when I was 24 ish I took a lot of things for granted as well and when they are playing sports in their 30's they are going to have to work harder as well.

Dodgie Style did win most Team Spirit which got us a $50 gift certificate to use at The Office, the sponsoring bar. We made good use of it with shots, snacks, beer and good times with friends!

Fun, times for sure! I can't wait for winter dodgeball to start in January. Until then I will enjoy being able to get back to Zumba on Wednesday nights!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Our long weekend started with Turkey Bowl. Mark didn't play because he was leaving for hunting the next day and didn't want to risk being sore, but I played. And, like another football playing Mansfield I was the center for all but a few downs. Turns out I'm better at tackling people than scoring TD's! It was two-hand touch with "soft" tackles and having snow made the take-downs a little softer. I had a ton of fun and can't wait for Santa Bowl the day after Christmas!

Nolan about to tackle Josh and me on the ground behind them. I think I slipped trying to get to Josh.

The whole gang...thank you Mark for taking photos!!

After Turkey Bowl we headed to the parents for Thanksgiving dinner with all of the local family. Lot's of good food, wine and fun!

Mark was up at 2 something in the morning Friday to get ready to leave for hunting and since I was awake anyway I decided to go wait in line at Target for the 4 am opening, to only end up getting $32 worth of stuff. Totally not worth standing in line for! I was home by 6 and went back to bed before spending the day/night with Michelle and the girls. We had decided that while the boys were hunting we would decorate her house for Christmas and have a slumber party. Love Hot Butter Rum, watching some great college football, and hangin with the girls.

Saturday I spent most of the day grocery shopping and running errands. I kind of forgot how much longer everything takes this time of year, and had a wicked headache by the time I got home. I spent the rest of the day chillen on the couch watching football and movies. Actually I did manage to get all the laundry done and the house cleaned even though my head hurt. I was motivated though because I wanted to be able to do nothing but watch football on Sunday. Usually I'm trying to clean up and fold cloths etc during commercials, but there are no commercials with the Red Zone and I really wanted to be lazy for a whole day.

Josh, Meka and Peanut came over to watch the Hawks game and flip over to the Red Zone now and then to catch the Vick action.

Mark is now home safe and we are waiting for the Sunday night game to start. :-)

We Have Snow

It started snowing Sunday night...and did not stop until Monday night. Mark and made it to work Monday, my office sent us home early, so we headed up to snuggle up, drink champagne, eat meatballs, and watch MNF. I was so glad the power didn't go out!!!

We again made it in Tuesday, but were sent home early before the afternoon freeze set in. The roads were slick today, but not too bad.

I actually really like the snow and I know that even if I don't think driving in it is smart Mark has the truck and we can pretty much get wherever we need to.

No more snow today, just cold, REALLY, REALLY COLD!!! Keeping the heat turned up and staying inside.

Good Football Weekend

It was a good weekend in general but made so much better when my teams win! ND pulled out a win and the Steelers rocked the Raiders!

Mark and Bob took Grace hunting Saturday so I spent the day cleaning up the house, making guacamole, and getting the crock pot meal for Sunday ready so I could just turn it on Sunday morning, and of course watching football! I headed over to Bob and Michelle's so Michelle and I could watch the ND game together and I made tacos for us all once the boys got back. BTW tacos are so much better with homemade guacamole!!!

ND has had so many injuries this year that I sort of gave up hope that they would have many wins, but they have pulled together as a team and looked pretty good. The only game that didn't go how we wanted was the Mississippi State game, but they put up a good fight against Arkansas and lost in OT.

Sunday we watched the Steelers vs Raiders at Nolan and Michelle's house. Thankfully they are pretty mellow people for being Raiders fans and took the loss pretty well. So many interesting calls in that game...I will leave it at that.

Looks like I have two FFB wins this week as well!

Thursday Night Football

I love it that I can watch football Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday! Well, I could always watch college ball on Thursday, but now I can pick between college or NFL depending on who is playing. Tonight I want to watch both, so will be flipping back and forth. Really I want to watch the Bears as Knox is one of my fantasy WR, but I have enough friends that are UW fans that I feel compelled to pay attention to that game as well.

I can't wait to go home, put on my pj's and chill on the couch watching football. Dinner is already done (gotta love the crock pot!) so aside from a few dishes I can totally relax tonight!!!

I love Thursday nights!

No Power

I love a good storm! It is the perfect excuse to put flannel pj’s on, drink tea or better yet hot spiced wine, and curl up on the couch with a good book/movie/or sporting event. But last night was CRAZY!

To start with I was not happy that the power flicked on and off during MNF! Not that there was any doubt as to the outcome of the game after the first 6 minutes, but don’t mess with MNF!

Given that the power was flickering on and off I should have known to get the candles out before the power went out for good, but I didn’t. And, do we have a single flashlight in the house? Um no, ok yes one little one, but really for as much as we camp you would think we would have a few in the house. I seriously could have used a camping lantern last night, but at least with EVERY candle it the house lit we have ambiance and competing smells of cinnamon, sugar cookies, and apple pie with a little basil cucumber thrown in…all a bit sickening after a while!

The one sound I really didn’t want to hear…the transformer blowing up! We know that means we may be without power for a few days the way things go in Lakewood. (Last time it blew we were out for 3 days I think).

Then the bombardment on the house really started...branches crashing into the roof, windows and deck. It literally sounded like we were under attack. Mark and I looked at each other a few times thinking this was the branch that would knock a hole in the roof. The yard (and pretty much all of Lakewood for that matter) looks like a war zone! It is going to take a while to clean it all up, but thankfully we survived with not trees coming down on the house and no significant damage…just a few little things to clean up/fix.

Oh to be a kid again when a storm meant the power going out and having the entire dark house to play hide and go seek in!

Wine of the Month

Mark and I joined the Sunset wine club and received our first two bottles of wine for the month. What I love about this wine club is that they send a recipe to go with each bottle, and being that I LOVE to cook I was so excited to get wine and new recipes to try!

Both bottles of wine were amazingly good! The first one we tried was the red we were sent:
Soquel Vineyards
04 Pyramid Meritage
One of the most flavorful wines I have ever had. It was earthy and strong with really bold flavor.

The recipe that goes with the Meritage was a South American Flank Steak and it was great!! The wine and the steak were PERFECT together! (I will share the recipe in a later post).

The second bottle was a Chardonnay. Normally I don't like Chardonnay, so I kind of put off opening this bottle and giving it a try, but once we opened it was gone in no time. We both loved it.
Kearney 07 Monterey County Chardonnay
It had a strong butter taste and was so smooth it felt like silk on my tongue. I was not really all that interested in the recipe that went with it so we had the wine alone without food.

I can't wait to see what wine we get next!

Never Say Never

One of my personal philosophies in life is not use terms like Never or Always. Very few things in life are absolute and life throws stuff at you that sometimes results in decisions or actions that you never thought you would make or do.

One of the few things I still say I will never do is become a runner. I HATE running!

Well I may have to eat those words. Michelle and I have signed up for a 5K race in January. Now I know that one little 5K does not a runner make, but still running a 5K, or any race for that matter, is something I never ever thought I would do or have wanted to do until now.

So, why am I doing it? Well it is a fundraiser for the scholarship fund in Tina Griswold's name, she is one of the fallen Lakewood officers. The race is taking place in Ft. Steilacoom park, which is pretty much my back-yard. And, Tina responded to one of our calls when a driver crashed through our fence. She was nice, helpful and followed up with us to make sure we received the info/support we needed to get our fence fixed. Maybe most important of all is that Michelle is supportive and doing the race with me. It will make a huge difference having someone to train with and run the race with.

Combine that with the fact that my 6 and 8 year old nieces have completed 5K's and I could not think of a reason, other than the fact that I hate to run, not to do it. Michelle and I will start training on Saturday mornings so that we can be prepared and actually try to enjoy our run on the 29th. My #1 concern is shin splints. I can run for 2 minutes or 2 hours and get shin splints every time, but I am determined to do this and hope that with the running involved in playing dodgeball/kickball/and softball (even though I didn't play I ran my but off the last few practices helping the team practice fielding) my body will respond a bit better to running than it has in the past.

It is kind of fun to have a goal to work towards. I'm really going to focus on my workouts so that my cardio and strength are where they need to be and am looking forward to knowing Michelle and I have a weekly date to spend time together doing something healthy and supporting our community at the same time.

Weekend Fun

Mark's official birthday was yesterday, so we decided to celebrate on Saturday with a few close friends. Mark decided he wanted foot massages, sushi, and drinks at a new bar downtown. Joey and Katie were the only two that were brave enough to join us for the foot massages which turned out to be a good thing because it was sketchy! We walked in stayed for maybe 10 minutes and left with none of our feet having been massaged. So the 4 of us headed to Two Koi for drinks until our table was ready and the rest of our party joined us.

Yummy rolls and sushi!

Mark, Katie, Joey at the bar.

Not sure what he is expecting to pop out of the box, but Michelle looks really excited about it!

After dinner we headed to Blues and Brews where Amy and Ivan joined us. We didn't stay long, and while everyone else left Amy, Ivan, Mark and I headed to The Office, our usual post-dodgeball hang out, for some beer and shuffleboard. Mark and I dominated!

Thank goodness we gained an extra hour because I was at Bob and Michelle's at 9am Sunday morning to spend the day with Grace and Kiera while they went to the Hawks game. Mark found a free Day of the Dead festival at the Tacoma Art Museum so we decided to pack up the girls and check it out.

Grace, very patiently, waited in line for a hour to get her Day of the Dead face painting. She loved it. Every window or mirror that she could see her reflection in she would stop and look and make different faces...it was so cute!

Looking down at the main floor of the museum from the 3rd floor.

There were a ton of arts and craft and Day of the Dead displays. I was surprised at how in to the art Grace was, even the regular art exhibits at the museum held her interest. And, Kiera has to be the easiest baby/toddler every. She is so content to be held and snuggle and just look around and take it all in. We had so much fun spending the day with them!

No Home Town Loyalty!

Anyone who knows me knows I love sports and also knows I’m not much of home town fan. Given the fact that I have lived in W WA from day one I get asked all the time how I can forsake the home town teams.

Before I go any further remember I have been watching sports since I was a little girl and formed my likes and dislikes when I was young so some of my reasoning may seem a bit silly but when I was 7ish it made perfect sense to me!

Yes I have lived in W WA my entire life but I grew up in SW WA and the “local” TV stations were Portland based. I never saw Seattle based TV programming until I was 20 and moved to Tacoma. Because of that I grew up watching Oregon teams. The Portland Trail Blazers were the only pro team in any sport that got regular play in my house. I didn’t even really know the Sonics existed back then and now that they are gone I’m glad I still have my Blazers! I have also been known to be a Celtics fan because I liked the parquet floor and a Spurs fan because they have had individual players that I liked. And I went through the bandwagon Jordan/Bulls fan stage like everyone else, but ultimately it still comes back to the Blazers being my favorite NBA team.

I actually prefer college basketball to the NBA and have been a Duke fan since I was a freshman in HS. The first time I saw a Duke game I was shocked to see a short white guy playing point and he was really good! Blame it on Bobby Hurley. Over the years I have come to admire the attitude of the team and have a lot of respect for coach K and how he runs the program. Even though Duke is my team I will watch almost any college basketball game for the simple fact that I take my March Madness brackets VERY serious and I like to do my homework. Sometimes I like the Zags and the Huskies, but never pick them to go far in the tourney and am not loyal to them.

The whole Oregon thing does not work for the NFL as there in no NFL team in Oregon, so why not be a Hawks fan? Well when you grow up with a family member who played for the Steelers and won 2 SB’s with them no other football team stands a chance! I did go through a teenage rebellion stage where I thought it was fun to piss my Dad off by being a Raiders fan. Deep down I have always been a Steelers fan though. I love their style of hard hitting, play in the mud, grind it out and fight for every single yard style of football. That is not to say that I don’t appreciate and even enjoy watching teams like the Colts. Peyton’s ability to run a complex offense and pull off intricately designed plays is fun to watch! I can appreciate a faster, cleaner (translation indoors/fake grass) finesse type of game. What I don’t appreciate is a team that never seems to be able to pull out the win when it counts and the fact that I’m still hearing about how unfair the SB was. For that reason alone I will never be a Hawks fan.

As for college football I don’t remember the Ducks or Beavers being all that great as a kid, nor do I remember hearing much about the Huskies, Cougars, or the Pac 10 in general. What I do remember is Notre Dame being on TV every Saturday. Three things I loved about ND: 1 - they play the style of football I love. 2 – they don’t have their names on their jerseys which made me feel like it was more about the team than individual stars. 3 – they were non-conference so only teams that knew they could beat them would play them…they never have an easy schedule. Combine those 3 things with the fact that they were/are on TV EVERY SATURDAY and how could I not like them?!

Over the years not much has changed…ND football is still ND football and I love it! With all other college teams I’m totally a bandwagon fan. I watch if they are winning or are exciting, but as soon as they have a bad season I move on. This year I have been influenced by a few blogs/co-workers/friends and have given the Pac 10 a bit more consideration. I’m pretty excited about the Ducks and have been paying attention to the big matchups, but ND is really the only college team I can be considered a true fan of.

As for soccer, baseball, hockey, golf, tennis I’m pretty indifferent. I don’t have any favorites in any of these sports and as long as the game/match is a good one I don’t really care who is playing. I will say I could easily add soccer to my sports viewing obsession as I love the strategy and it is a lot of fun to watch in HD on our big screen.

My disclaimer to all of this is I love sports in general and especially when it comes to football I would rather watch a team I can’t stand than not watch football at all. Also, I have never turned down free tickets and am going to a Hawks game next month as a football fan, NOT as a Hawks fan. :)

Flag Football Anyone

James Harrison has been fined $20,000 for a late hit to Drew Brees.

While I respect that fact that the NFL is trying to make the game safer by avoiding helmet to helmet hits I do not agree with this fine in the least.

It is not the NFL's place to attach monetary fines for penalties during the game unless there is helmet to helmet hitting or an extreme case of unnecessary roughness, or fighting...basically has to be pretty blatant in order to be fined.

I watched the game and while it was a late hit on Brees it did not look like a helmet to helmet hit or an unnecessarily hard hit, just late. And, believe me I have seen enough re-plays as all anyone can talk about is how Harrison has struck again and no matter how many times I see the late hit I don't see anything that warrants a fine.

Players are not fined for holding, roughing the kicker, blocks in the back, intentional grounding etc. and unless the NFL is going to start fining every player who gets flagged during a game no matter the nature of the penalty then they should not be fining Harrison in this instance.

I know this sounds like a Steelers fan defending a Steelers player, but really my #1 concern is the direction the NFL is going and the potential changes that will bring to the game. Pretty soon they will be wearing flags and there will not be any tackling at all.

I realized the other day one of the reasons I have enjoyed college football so much this year, there is very little talk about how dangerous the game is or fines to players or helmet to helmet hits. I'm sick of it and just want to watch some good football games.

Adoption Update

I have not posted much about the adoption in a while. Mostly because there is not much to tell. The only “action” we have had as of late is updating some of the home study paperwork that is only good for a year.

It is hard to believe we have been waiting for a year already. The last year has had its share of adoption related ups and downs for sure, most of which you all have gone through with us. I actually don’t post much about how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking because honestly it is hard sometimes. I get asked 2 to 3 times a day from various people what is going on with the adoption and honestly I just get tired of talking about it.

I am a pretty self aware person and I am constantly analyzing how I’m feeling or what I’m thinking about things varying in importance from how I’m doing in fantasy football to my marriage and everything in between. The adoption process has given me ample opportunity to analyze what I’m thinking and feeling.

When the process first started I was so excited, ready to jump through any and all hoops and convinced we would find the perfect situation within months. Every email we would get regarding a potential baby would make me start thinking this is the one, this will be the baby for us. A year later and 4 or 5 “close calls” later and I don’t get all that excited anymore. We still get those emails, but I just don’t get worked up about it. I’m at the point that until a birth mom says “You are the couple” I just can’t allow myself to get that excited. I would rather be sort of flat line about it than have the highs of excitement and lows of disappointment. Emotional self preservation I guess.

I have also found that some of my coping techniques may be working too well. My adoption party line has been that Mark and I are taking advantage of what child-free time we have left and enjoying how easy things are right now. Well that has worked so well that the thought of our easy life changing has started to freak me out a little bit. Please nobody worry, I’m not changing my mind or backing out and I’m still so excited to be a mom at some point, but I will be honest and say that I’m a little freaked out!

It’s almost like we have too much time to think about it and prepare. Too much time to think about the good things: first smiles/words/teeth/steps and the stressful things: lack of sleep/dirty diapers/spit up. I know the rewards will far, far outweigh any stress I just wish I could turn my brain off and stop thinking about it sometimes.

Football

I am pretty excited about FFB this week! I won in two leagues and tied in the other one. Best week I have had in all three leagues all season!

In my Battle of the Sexas League I won again and have worked my up to 6th. If I can keep winning and break the top 4 I still have a chance at playoffs. With a few key people losing and me continuing to win it could happen...maybe. :) I am now 4-4.

Work league I tied in this week. I hate ties, but it is better than nothing. I am 2-5-1

Jock and Jill Straps - I finally won! I am now 1-7. I can't believe I am that bad in my main league, but it is what it is.

As for real football I don't even know what to say about the Steelers. They looked terrible. We have one major issue...we don't have a deep threat, go to receiver. Not yet anyway. There are a few guys who can turn into that, but they are not there yet, or maybe Ben's timing with them is not there yet? I don't know what was missing but they had better figure it out quick if they want to make it into the playoffs!

Halloween Bash 2010

Bob and Michelle always go all out for Halloween! The house is completely decorated inside and out! It is always fun and festive! We had a great time and were thankful they let us spend the night in the trailer so we could enjoy ourselves and not worry about driving. Was a good thing too because I discovered that I LOVE Plum Vodka. No I didn't get sick, but I did enjoy myself!

Group shot back row: Mark, Alex, Bob Ben, Kev, Vanilla Ice :), Josh, Tina

front row: Larissa, me, Kaleena, Michelle. Funny thing we were supposed to be acting out our costume so I thought I would pretend to elbow Bob in the balls, only I really did elbow him. SORRY!

Katie, Grace, Alli, Abi

Michelle and Bob...they looked great together as Greek Gods!


Having fun with the decorations. I LOVE my Roller Derby outfit!

Mark the Samurai Warrior

Mark and I...no we didn't coordinate, but we had a lot of fun!

Quote of the night..."You have to wiggle it a little and then pull it out." Those involved will remain anonymous however I will say this had nothing to do with what it sounds like it may have had to do with.

End of the Month...

...but not the end of regular posting.

My goal this month was to blog every day. (I have heard from a few people that I love, but have little contact with that they appreciate more frequent posts.) I missed 3 days this month. Yesterday being one of those days. (I was so caught up in party prep for Bob and Michelle's 3rd annual Halloween bash that I totally forgot.)

I made my most requested party dish, guacamole, and Witches Fingers cookies that took a lot of work on Mark's part as he had to shape them for me. He has way more artistic ability than I do! I also did all the prep work for tonight's dinner as, from past experience, I knew I was not going to fell great today after last night.

Turns out that yea I was tired today, and felt completely dehydrated with a touch of a headache, but I actually felt pretty good all things considered. It was really nice though to not have to do much for dinner.

We had a lot of fun last night! Mark and I totally did not coordinate our costumes I went Roller Derby and he went Samari, next year we will be on track with each other again. I LOVED my costume! So much so that I may put it on every few days and do a little twirl in the mirror. :) I found an actual Roller Derby clothing site and got the perfect skirt, top and accessories.

There are pics, but as usual are on Mark's camera and I have to wait for him to edit and upload before I can post any of them.

One of my other goals this month was to take more pics for my posts...well that just didn't happen. I have not ever been great about keeping my camera with me and until I find the charger that is not going to change. Dead camera does not take pics very well!!

Even though the month is over I am still going to try and post every day. It seems the more I post the more things I find to spout off about. :)

My Hunter

Mark got a deer today! His first kill. Not bad considering this is only his second season! We are going to have a ton of meat on hand! I am so excited for him.

I love it that he will decide to take on something new, spend time learning/training/doing whatever he needs to to be good, and then goes out and does it. And he does it well!

I love you babe! Good job!!!

Working Out

Sometimes an important part of a good workout program is knowing when you need to skip a workout. Being sick for two weeks, trying to shake what is left of the cough, sore from working out earlier in the week...wanting to spend time with Mark...skipping was just needed tonight.

Why do I Work Out?

I get asked this questions a lot it seems. Why do I work out, and what do I want to get out of it.
For a lot of people it is about being a certain weight or size, or wanting a flat tummy, or thighs that don’t rub together, etc…

For me it is a bit different. Don’t get me wrong I love feeling like I look good and that my tummy at least looks flat in my clothing, and I like being able to purchase smaller sizes, but that is not at all what drives me. (I honestly don't even know how much I weigh and clothing size depends on what store/brand I'm shopping so I don't put a lot of stock in it.)

What drives me is knowing that I am healthy and strong enough to enjoy my recreation such as mountain biking, playing sports, hiking, or whatever else I decide to take on.

I feel my best ie. Healthiest, sexiest, strongest, most confident when I’m working out, pushing my body and it is responding and able to handle what I’m throwing at it. I love knowing that if I decide to try something my body can handle it!

I want to be as healthy and active as possible for as long as possible… I want to still be enjoying life when I’m 90!

These are the things that drive me and keep me motivated in my workouts!

What Do You Know For Sure?

I know that every person that is part of my life if part of my life for a reason.

No matter how seemingly superficial or insignificant the connection is, or how deep, meaningful and life altering the connection they are all important to me.

Maybe we take long walks together and I fall asleep with you every night, or:

-we only ever IM on Facebook and post funny comments on each other's wall, or smack-talk on ffb message boards

-you are who I call when I need a night out, want to go to an Usher concert, or I need a shoulder to cry on

-you have gone through all the ups and downs of the adoption process with us and never fail to offer your love and support

-you trust me to babysit your children

-we only talk once a year and see each other even less than that

-we vacation together and see each other several times a week

-you have hot soup waiting for me when I come home at 11 pm from the ER

-we only see each other once a week to play sports

-we will only ever talk to each other when we are at work

-I read your posts on your blog and you may never even realize it

-we send each other random texts or emails out of the blue for no particular reason

-you have been part of my life since the day I was born

-I have been part of your life since the day you were born

...whatever the connection is it means something to me and I treasure it.

I forgot to post yesterday...Oops!!!

I started out early in the morning to have breakfast with my good friend Lesley and her fiance Trevor. I’m so excited for their wedding this summer!!! As always it was really nice to visit with them and catch up a bit.

I made it home in time for the Steelers game at 10, and then watched the Hawks game so I could get a good look at Lynch since I have him in two leagues but had not felt confident in starting him yet.

After that I got a quick 30 min workout in, did laundry, dishes, and cooked dinner all before Mark got home around 6:30 or 7. I spent the rest of the evening watching Sunday night football, reading a book, and chatting with Mark and completely forgot about blogging!

A few thoughts from yesterday’s games:
-STEELERS WON!!!! It was ugly, but it is a win!!!

-Commentators say the dumbest things! A few quotes that made me wonder what the heck they were thinking, “This would be the time you really want to shove it in” and maybe my favorite of the day “No one gets deep penetration like he does.” Maybe I’m immature, but really guys, that was the best you could come up with?! Sounds more like porn than football!

-Don’t even get me started on Favre. I have zero respect for a player that has so much pride that he won’t sit out when he is obviously hurt and can’t make throws like he should! And, the commentators kiss his a$$ saying what a hero he is to play hurt and what an iron man he is, and what focus he has to not let the whole Jenn Sterger thing distract him on the field. How about you don’t leave suggestive voice mails and send pics of your junk to female employees…ever heard of sexual harassment?

-Fines and Fees for hits…I saw several tackles that weren’t yesterday because the guys were too scared they would get a flag, fined or suspended…blatant tackles that should have been made that weren’t. I won’t even get started as I have already made me feelings pretty clear.

Fantasy Football Update:
BOTS – 3-4…getting close to .500 and it seems I am really good at beating the #1 team, but no one else. Just call me the spoiler. I did have a great day yesterday in this league despite having McFadden on the bench and he had a 40 some odd point day!

Jock and Jill Straps – 0-7, can’t win…Cuttler is my QB…enough said.

PS Grid Iron Gang – 2-5, Cuttler was my QB because my starter was on a bye…he killed any hope I had of winning, that and I had Denver’s D at home against Oakland…who knew Oakland would score 30+ points in the first quarter!

Recipe of the Week

Mark did the grocery shopping at Costco last time, and I love it when he goes without me. He always comes home with the most interesting stuff...stuff I would not think to buy, but usually end up loving.

Among the many new and different things this time he came home with a Costco sized bag of Quinoa. I have NEVER cooked with Quinoa, nor can I even pronounce it. But, Mark knows I love to cook, and love to try new things, so this was a fun challenge.

My first recipe was a hit!

Quinoa with Asian Flavors

Ingredients
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 clove garlic
2 green onions, chopped

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in quinoa and allow to toast for 2 to 3 minutes, then add chicken broth, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until all liquid has been absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes. Fluff quinoa with fork and top with green onions before serving.

Conversation of the week

I overheard this conversation between two of my co-workers:

Co-worker #1 – (talking about her daughter) “I don’t know why she wears a thong…you would have to search for days to find it once she puts it on.” (kind of mean I thought, but I kept my mouth shut)

Co-worker #2 – “my underwear look like a parachute, you could jump out of a plane and land safely.” (made me almost spit juice on my computer)

Co-worker #1 – “I bet Jen is shaking her head in disgust.” (more like shaking with laughter)

Co-worker #2 – “Jen probably wears a thong.” (Blushing!)

I find it a bit troubling that they would even care to speculate about my underwear!

What Do You Know For Sure?

I know that my happiness and satisfaction in life is my responsibility! Sure others can have a huge impact for better or for worse. Ultimately though, it is up to me to determine how I’m going to view things, respond to situations, and if I’m going to dwell on the negative or look at the positive. It is up to me to take responsibility for being happy and satisfied!

Proud Aunt!!!

I am such the proud Aunt! My 6 and 8 year old nieces ran a 5K trail run this past weekend and did awesome!!! Emma, the 8 year old, has run a few races before, but this was Sophie’s first trail run, and I think her first 5K as well.

These little ladies have so much determination and support from my sister and her husband that they can’t help but be successful! They both finished top of their age division and Emma finished 57th out of 127th overall! My sister said that once the race started Emma took off and she didn’t see her again until the finish. She was out there running with the adults by herself like it was nothing.

I am not a runner, never have been and never will be so it amazes me that my sister and brother-in-law run marathons, but it amazes me even more that the kids love running as well!
So proud of them all!

Pics are out of order...this is Sohpie, my sister, and Emma after the race.

Sophie...looks like she is having a rough time. Beth said Soph was not happy to find the downhill was harder than the uphill...her little legs were shot!

Emma off and running with a smile!

Sophie and Beth on the trail.

NFL Fines and Suspensions

I have been asked several times the last few days how I feel about some of the hard hits in the NFL (and college) that happened over the weekend. And, honestly I have mixed feelings about it.

First let me say that my well wishes go out to Rutgers player Eric LeGrand and his family. I hate to see someone get hurt, especially when it is as life altering as being paralyzed from the neck down.

Before I proceed with my opinion about fines and possible suspension let me state again that I HATE to see players at any level get hurt on the field.

I have given the whole concussion concern in the NFL a lot of thought this year, mostly because I spent a month and a half this summer recovering from a serious concussion. (No I’m not trying to compare my concussion to those that football players receive as there is no way for me to do that until I have the opportunity to play at that level and get hit like they do.) It amazes me that players come back as soon as they do after a concussion, especially since I know how out of it I was, how bad I felt, and how hard it was for me to think straight for weeks on end after my concussion. I didn’t feel “normal” for 6 weeks and I didn’t have to come back to the fast pace of a game and make split second decisions that impact my team, fans, community, and ffb managers all over the world.

Having been through a concussion myself I would love to find a way for the game to be played so that no one is hurt like that or worse paralyzed! However, I’m not so sure that fines and suspension are the answer. The NFL handed out $175,000.00 worth of fines to three players today and is informing teams as of tomorrow that suspensions will be handed out in the future for vicious hits. I can’t say I’m totally on board with this strategy.

I would be all for fines and suspensions if I thought the hits were intentional and the players making the hits are purposely trying to seriously hurt people, but I just don’t think that is the case. I think the days of purposely “head hunting” or trying to “take people out” are/have been pretty much over in the NFL. For one if you are blatant about it you get penalized during the game, there are already fines handed out for “dirty” hits, and no one wants to risk hurting themselves so badly while purposely trying to hurt another player that they will miss games due to injury.

By nature football is a violent sport. You have 22 grown men on the field and their job is to tackle each other and stop each other from scoring. 22 full grown men running at each other as fast as they can with the intent to tackle each other to the ground…yep injuries are going to happen, but that does not mean the tackles are “dirty”.

The pace of the game is so fast, plays happen so quickly and opposing players shift and move so fast that some hits can’t be controlled at all. I see it time and time again…a player commits to a course of action and the person they are trying to tackle shifts or moves and all of a sudden you are missing the tackle completely or grabbing a shoe string when you were actually going for a tackle around the waste, or you aim for the chest/waist and they lower their head and now it is head to head.

Are there acceptations…absolutely! There are some players that get pissed off or don’t like someone and they want to make them hurt, and there are some long-standing nasty rivalries out there, and in those games they really do want to hurt each other and they put a little extra on each hit. In those rare cases fines and/or suspensions may be appropriate. But the true “dirty” player and/or “dirty” hits are few and far between in my opinion.

I will be the first to admit I like dirty, hard-hitting, grind it in the dirt football! I grew up on it and love it and would be sad to see that style of football fade away…so yes my opinion may be clouded by that. There has to be a way to balance letting the guys play and making sure it is as safe as possible. I just don’t want to see so many rules and penalties that guys are not able to, or are too scared to make plays for fear of losing money or being suspended.

Steelers Post Game Thoughts

And that is a STEELERS WIN folks!

Ben looked great I thought. Yes he threw an INT, but most QB’s do at one point or another. And, after that INT he was spot on the rest of the game. He could have gone either way…totally rusty and off, or totally on and ready to prove himself. I’m glad he was totally on. Can’t wait to see how the rest of the season goes. I won’t even start thinking SB yet…ok maybe I will think it a little…I think they could do it this year again.

How did I do with my predictions…

My Predictions: What Really Happened:
2 Passing TD’s 3 Passing TD’s
1 Defensive TD 0 Defensive TD’s
1 (maybe 2) Rushing TD’s 1 Rushing TD

Not too shabby considering that is the first time I have EVER tried to predict what would happen in a game, at least I got the total number of TD’s right if you don’t count the maybe on the rushing td prediction. I’m still no good at predicting final scores though.

I was every so happy the Red Zone showed a lot of the Steelers game. There were just as interested in seeing what Ben and Colt McCoy would do as I was apparently. I got to see more of the game than I thought I would.

My only regret…dropping Mike Wallace from two of my Fantasy teams! Now that Ben is back I think his numbers are going to be great, but I just didn’t have room on my bench to hang onto him until Ben came back. Maybe I should have re-thought that, but oh well, he has been picked up by other managers already so what’s done is done. However, I do have Ward still and think his numbers will jump considerable now that Ben is back in the game.

As for FFB…too soon to say how this week will end up. I still have players going tonight and am in some really close match-ups, would like to at least pull out a win in the Battle Of The Sexes league so I can have a 3 game winning streak, but it will be close. Funny thing is I’m up against Michelle in that league so even if I lose I’m losing to my best friend, which makes it less frustrating for me. Oddly that same reasoning does not work when I lose to Mark…HMMM.

Work Out Update for last week:
Tuesday – Chambers Bay with Bishop
Wednesday – Dodgeball
Thursday – Tracy Anderson
Sunday – Tracy Anderson (fit it in between the afternoon game and the evening game.

So once again met my goal of 4 workouts a week.

Steelers Pre-Game Thoughts

Ben is back today! I was all set to not like him and hope he would end up going away at some point, but I will admit I'm excited he is back and after seeing multiple interview with him...I really want to believe him. So for now he gets a pass from me. However, one more tiny little mess-up and I'm done with him...I may resort to letter writing and phone calls to the head office to share my feelings if he screws up one more time.

Now for the game...I think Ben is lucky he is making his come-back against the Browns! Colt McCoy is the unluckiest rookie starting a game ever! I predict Ben comes out on fire...throwing like crazy, setting the run game up for a huge day and as always the D will crushing! I'm going out on a limb here...2 passing TD's, 1 defensive TD, 1 (maybe 2) rushing TD.

I was going to go to Hooters to watch the game, but don't really want to go alone (Mark is hunting) and I'm in the most comfy shirt, boxers, and knee highs...my couch and the red zone (I will at least see every Steelers scoring play) sound really good today!

Busy Friday Night

Friday Night happened to be Joey's B-Day party at Doyles, Mt. Tahoma's homecoming, and the grand opening of a bar in Tacoma. All of which we had been invited to. So Mark and I hit Doyles for long enough to have a drink and eat dinner and chill with Joey for a bit. Then, even though neither one of us went to Mt. Tahoma we ended up at the game with a bunch of our friends that did go to Mt. Tahoma. I was really looking forward to watching a live football game, but what a bust...game was crap...Mt. T was getting annihilated, so we left after the half-time show (what a joke that was!) and went to Fever a new bar that Bob's sister and husband are managing. You get a free burger basket with the purchase of any drink and let me tell you the fries are the BOMB!!! We did all that and somehow managed to be home around 10pm!

Mark and I at the game.

Mark being silly!

Mark, Dave, Alex...Dave and Alex are Mt. Tahoma alum along with Bob and Josh. I think there were more alum at the game than current student body! No wonder considering the football team stinks! (Sorry guys!)

Friday Plans

So glad it is Friday! I am feeling so much better today than I did at the beginning of the week.

Tonight we have a B-Day party, a football game, and a bar grand opening to go to. Busy night for us, but will be fun!

Sorry...no funny quote or conversation to share...was kind of out of it all week with the cold.

Fun with the Nieces

Tuesday night Mark had Rebekah and Emily for a few hours while their Mom was busy and decided it was time for the girls to carve their first Jack-O-Lanterns. He took them to H&L produce and got them each some nice big pumpkins to carve.

I came home to find pumpkin guts all over the dining room table, but I didn’t mind because it meant roasted pumpkin seeds! Which also brings me to my recipe of the week…

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse all the pumpkin pulp off the seeds, pat dry and spread on a cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil and Worcestershire sauce over seeds and sprinkle with Sea Salt. Use hands to mix up and make sure all seeds are coated. Roast until golden brown, I think it took about 20 to 30 minutes. Use a spatula to turn during roasting.

The verdict? Mark and the girls loved it and I would rather snack on that then popcorn!

Pumpkin Guts!

Carving the eyes.

The girls with their Jack-O-Lanterns.

I hate being sick!!!

I hate colds, especially when they are on the verge of being more than a cold! I have had a wicked sore throat, sinuses that are killing me, and have been coughing stuff up for days! I went to the Dr. Monday, you know it is bad when I go in to the Dr as I like to let my body work through things on it's own, only to find it is viral and there is nothing they can do. Mostly I wanted to make sure I didn't need antibiotics in case it was strep, that is how bad my throat hurt!

So for the last 4 days I have skipped workouts, (ok I did do Chambers Bay with Bishop last night and at a faster pace than usual because it was dark before I finished, but it did help get the crud in my chest moving!) been drinking hot tea and eating chicken noodle soup (or plain white rice with butter because it is the only thing that sounds good), lounging in my pj's a lot in the evenings, and taking NyQuil every night. While I despise having to take any form of medication, I would rather use natural remedies or just let my immune system do it's thing, I am ever so thankful for NyQuil otherwise I would be up coughing all night and would be exhausted on top of being sick.

Thankfully it seems to be working because I feel a lot better today. Sore throat is pretty much gone and my sinuses have calmed down. What has not gone away is the cough and the rattle in my chest. We have Dogeball tonight, and I'm playing at full speed like I usually do...I will sound like a dying sea lion, but oh well.

I will say being sick as an adult really sucks! As a kid you could stay home with a cold and lounge in pj's, watch movies, and my favorite part...play with new paper dolls! But as an adult I have to be pretty sick to stay home from work and stop functioning in every day life.

What Do You Know For Sure?

Be content with who you are, while always realizing there is room for improvement. I am not perfect by any means, but I am pretty happy with who I am. At the same time my improvement list is long and that is ok. I don’t beat myself up about it. Keep enjoying life, enjoying who I am, and taking time to reflect and improve.

FFB Update

This season is making me crazy! The one league that I have an amazing team in and I can’t put together back-to-back wins, the league I was responsible for starting I can’t win in at all, and the new league that I’m in is now starting to get interesting and frustrating due abandonment issues with one of the teams.

Jock & Jill Straps – Another lose…I am now 0-5. At this point I think I’m going to start throwing games just to see if I can score in single digits. I was up against Mark this weekend and much to his delight he annihilated me! And, as if totally grinding me into the carpet was not enough he wanted to score even more points to move up in the league. Bad, bad, bad!

Work League – Another lose drops me to 2-3. It was my special privilege to lose to the 10 year old this weekend! Well in truth we are tied right at this moment, but he has two players going tonight, and I am done, so he will beat me easily.

BOTS – This is the only league I won in, convincingly I might add, and against someone who is supposed to be REALLY GOOD at FFB! My QB has not even played yet and I’m so far ahead that I don’t even need him to play in order to win. Best part is this was one of the wins I really wanted and it should pull out of last place! 2-3 in the league and I’m beginning to think this league is my best chance at a .500 or maybe even a winning season. It will depend on how I survive the next few bye weeks.

Overall I’m 4-11…not great by any means.

Did anyone watch the Raiders game? That was way more exciting than I thought it would be and they won!!! For once I was a Raiders fan…I can’t stand Philip Rivers and was glad to see the Chargers lose!

Football Sunday

Today I got up showered, put real cloths on, did the whole hair/make-up thing and met Michelle at The Office, a new sports bar downtown, to watch football and drink some beer. The first couple of hours we had the place to ourselves and the bar tender was the best. My laptop would not connect to their Wi-Fi, so she let us use her laptop so we could check our stats while we were there.

A few beers, good food, watching football on multiple TV's, Kaleena popping in for a bit all makes for a great Football Sunday!

Now...home in pj's on the couch watching Sunday night football and Mark is cooking. Life is good!

Work Out Update

I did pretty well this week:
Monday - Zumba
Tuesday - Massage so no work out
Wednesday - Dodgeball (that is enough of a work out!)
Thursday - Tracy Anderson
Friday - No work out
Saturday - Zumba warm up then walked a 5K (more on that later...once the pics are ready)
Sunday - Is football day...no work out will be happening!

My goal is 4 work outs per week and I feel like I did that. No work outs do not mean I'm always in the gym lifting weights, but really to me it means I'm doing something active that makes me sweat and I feel it the next day...so mission accomplished!

Total side note...ND won their game today!!! So Happy!!!

Something is up!

I don't know what the problem is but I'm making posts and they are showing up all out of order and with wrong dates. Sorry for the technical glitch! I really am posting every day...they are just showing up as older posts and out of order for some reason.

First Dodgeball Game!

Dodgie Style had its first two games tonight. Our first game was against Trainwreck, which a spin-off of our team from last year. Andy decided he and his friends wanted to have their own team. We managed to schedule two practices before our first game and Andy's team joined us at both practices. During practice the games were pretty even, so I was wondering how we would do against them...guess what...we did great! Our first win of the night and it set us up to head into the second game of our doubleheader.

Bring on the Wonderballs! Of all the teams we have played in Dodgeball, Kickball, and Softball they are our favorite team! Always competitive, but always really nice and fun to hang out with after the games. They are a pretty decent test of our skill set as a team and we beat them 7 games to 1 in a 20 minute match!

Pretty much we owned both teams tonight and it felt great!!!

Shout out to Kev and Kaleena for being MVP'S, Kev for game one and Kaleena for game two. Good job guys!

Can't wait to see what next week brings!

Recipe of the Week

So I totally stole this recipe from my sister and her husband...props to Beth and Brian for creating such a odd yet yummy mix for healthy enchiladas! Actually we ate them more like a soft taco than an enchilada, but I guess when you are the one cooking it you can call it what you want.

Yummy Enchiladas or Soft Tacos...take your pick. :)

Corn Tortillas
Kidney Beans - drained
Pineapple chunks - drained
Green Enchilada sauce
Cilantro
Onion
Chicken - I added that on my own...I don't think chicken was part of the original recipe, but I could be wrong about that.

Put all in a crock pot and cook for a few hours (I cooked mine on low for 4 hours because the chicken was cold and I wanted it good and hot!)

Warm tortillas and fill with mixture from crock pot.

I suppose you could add sour cream and cheese on top with a little more enchilada sauce on top if you wanted to make enchiladas, but we went plain with the tortillas and the mixture from the crock pot.

Sorry there are not measurements on how much of each...I just did it until it looked like there was enough of each thing to taste good. If you are a structured cook (sort of like me) embrace the lack of measuring and just eyeballing it...it was sort of freeing!

Conversation of the Week!

(First let me just say I did make a post yesterday, but due to technical difficulties it is not showing. I really didn't miss a day!)

Happened in Zubma class. A little background - there are a few Mom's that bring their 7 to 10 year old boys to class and let them sit in the back of the class. I am not a fan of this as it is a class full of women shaking everything they have to songs like "Put Your Back Into It"! Needless to say they sit there with grins on their faces the entire class.



Monday night one of the boys says, "Hey babe, I want to see you drop it low." My response, "In 10 years I would slap you for that comment."



I hope that by the time he is old enough to buy a girl a drink he has better lines than that!

What Do You Know For Sure?

One of my favorite Oprah questions is What Do You Know For Sure? Every time she asks someone that it makes me think about what I know for sure for me and my life. One thing I know for sure is...

Life is just too complicated, messy, and challenging to judge others. I truly believe the majority of people are not malicious and don’t plot and plan to be hurtful or mean, and are trying to live their life the best way they can. Sure they will make mistakes and do hurtful things and sometimes do flat out mean things. But, I try to give people the benefit of the doubt and not judge lest I be judged myself.

Does that mean I will roll over and be hurt again and again…not at all! I have ended friendships/relationships that were not healthy, but I do realize those involved have a life path that I have not walked and I believe they are doing the best they can with what they have to work with both externally and internally. Sometimes I just can’t be part of their life journey.

BTW - Stay tuned for further What Do You Know For Sure? posts this month, along with a quote or conversation of the week post every week as well. All part of helping me blog every day!

Fantasy Football Update

I did better this week! Won in two leagues and lost in one and tonight's game will not help or hurt me in any way.

Work League (Made up of co-workers and the 10 year old son of a co-worker, 6 teams total) - No surprises there…I was pretty much going to win no matter what. BTW – the 10 year old won last year and is off and running again this year…makes me sick!

BOTS (Battle of the Sexes league) (made up of 6 guys & 6 girls I only know 4 of the 12 people in this league, Michelle being one of the girls) - I have been really bad in this league! Struggling with QB issues, having 3 of 4 bench spots with injured players sitting in them, and having one or two starters that are off to really slow starts this season. It has all lead to me being in last place sitting at 0-3 and this week I was up against the number one team in the league. He was undefeated and looking pretty good! That is until I beat him this week! Let’s hope I can keep up the winning streak for a few weeks and at least get to 500!

Jock and Jill Straps league (made up of friends ie. Bob & Michelle, Mark, Nolan, Josh and several others 12 teams total.) – I am 0-4 and don’t really see any light at the end of the losing tunnel. This week I managed to only score 22 points…mind you to win you need to be around 120 in this league! My QB is Jay Cutler who was sacked 9 times in the first half and didn’t come back out of the locker room after halftime. I don’t blame him though…if I had been knocked on my butt that many times in a half I would hide out in the locker room as well! Ok to be fair to him the report is he suffered a concussion during one of the sacks and that is why he did not come back out.

Overall I’m 3-12 between all three leagues…not good! I have made all the roster changes I can or probably should. Now it is time to wait and see what happens.

Football Sunday

Steelers post-game analysis - Batch was off...way off in his passing game. And, Reed missed critical field goal attempts...he needs to practice at the windy end more often! I will be sure to call the Steelers office and tell them that! All in all I'm feeling pretty good about 3-1 without Ben. Will be interesting to see if Ben comes back on fire or if he needs a few games to get on track.

Yesterday Michelle and I both had hair appointments. She got a new hair cut and I got a cut and color touch up. Our plan was to get our hair done, swing by one of the many sports bars around and catch the ND game and call it a day. However, Michelle was feeling so sassy with her new hair we decided to do an impromptu girls night out and go dancing so she could have fun with the new cut. We picked up Kaleen along the way, but she ended up not feeling so hot, so Michelle and I boogied until closing! After leaving the house at 9:15 am I finally made it home at 2 am, and had so much fun all day hanging with Michelle!

Michelle getting the new cut styled and dried.

A friend recommend a sports bar in Puyallup we could go to and watch the ND game...on our way there we drove past a Dr's office with a giant heart on a pole outside...very odd!