Everyday Epiphanies

Handler, Zero Bunnies, Kebabs, and Dumb Aliens.

The clouds are rolling out.. well so the weather-man says. Looking forward to some sunshine.

Although these past few days I've been stuck at home, well the "stuck at home" part is the norm for me. But I've been under the weather and my voice is (poof) gone. I've been sounding like a cross between Demi Moore and an old woman whose been smoking for half of her life. The only part I'm bummed about is "exercise" has come to a complete halt. I don't think I could enjoy a good run or Kickboxing class with a hacking cough.

And of course, the weekend.. came and swiftly left. 

I kickstarted my weekend, well more like "cough-started" our weekend with a double photoshoot. And then scrambling to dinner and a comedy show after.

Yup. Chelsea stopped here.. Who would've thunk?
Funny? Yes.
Raunchy? Very.
It's right up my alley of pure wickedness.
I spent the night "silent" laughing.. I could barely speak one word. :0

*****

So I don't know how old everyone else's kids are.. but my teenagers have totally outgrown the Easter Bunny. Forget the basket full of chocolates.. instead give them a shopping bag filled with clothes and new shoes and call it a day. And don't even mention Easter Egg Hunt, more like a night of playing Black Ops online. But my little girl.. I haven't given up on her yet. She did get an Easter Bag, 1 candy and a shirt :) That made her day. All she wanted to do was decorate eggs. Well this mama was out all day Saturday and remembered Sunday morning that I did not have any eggs in the fridge. (oops) So while on our way out on Sunday, we did our errands to. So my sweet girl (who called me every 15 minutes asking where I was) stayed home while hubby and I went out. Not her idea of "Mommy + Izzy" time for sure.

No traditional Easter dinner here.. it was Kebabs on the grill.

 

 We did color egss.

He was on Black Ops.
If there was a Black Ops Marathon.. he'd kick y'all butts :)
I'm totally banking on the idea that all this video game playing will turn him into some software engineer, where he'll create games that will sell and make millions! (you never know)

Funny Quote of the week, comes to you from the one and only Ethan: (that Rudy conveniently put on his FB wall)

Ronalyn: don't make me mad Ethan I'm on my period!
Ethan: oh, I thought you have that everyday?
Rudy: BWAHAHAHAHA!

Oh look.. it's my son! Home on a Sunday afternoon.
And he's baking?

One of Izzy's favorite shows is Bake Wars and those cupcake shows..
She was totally channeling her inner baker here.

 

We spent the night laughing at the movie "Skyline".  No it wasn't a comedy, rather an Alien movie. It was basically a dumb-alien movie. Where we predicted whose head was gonna get chopped off or what the alien would do. I'm so glad I watched "Tron" the night before.. It completely made up for the lack of entertainment.

The clouds are rolling in.. and I made sure I enjoyed the sun all week long. 

Breakfast seems to look like this.. oatmeal with Snow City's granolas and my fave, French Press coffee.

 

Mornings.. are getting tougher. Kids don't want to wake up! Blame it on the sun that sets at almost 10pm. Of course, my bad too.. I let them play all night long. But hey, they have been hibernating all winter.

 

He's always anxious to get outside too. He watches the boys walk to the bus stop and practically "begs" to go with them.

*****

I've been feeling a little tickle in my throat.. but I'm still going strong with my training. But nothing a good order of Kang Ped from Mama-San's (Paula's Mom) Restaurant, Thai Villiage couldn't fix. I can't even tell you how many times a week.. we go here!

Not looking forward to the rain/snow tomorrow.. of course, I picked tomorrow out of all (sunnier) days to run my errands.

Monday...

... whooped my butt.
I must be coming down with a little sumethin' sumethin'.. My throat's been bothering me.. could be allergies? Not sure. Then I woke up at 2 am, dying of thirst, dry throat and all.. I felt like I gulped 20oz in a minute. Now hubby claims I don't drink enough during the day therefore, dehydrated. Yeah, he's right.

Then Monday morning came.. all to soon. I felt like I was rushing in everything I did. Then as I drove home from dropping Izzy off, this a-hole in a grey Honda CRV license plate "IDIOT" was tailing my behind on a 35mph zone! He swerved around me as if there were other lanes around me that I didn't know about! So I dropped a few S-Bombs, F-Bombs, Idiot-Bombs through my left rear view mirror. And I know that "moron" could see me. Then he tried to pass me when we finally got 2 lanes.. and "Ha-Ha" another car cut in front of him and slowed his A$$ down. He didn't want to go on my lane cause I was going the speed limit too. I beat his A$$ to the commissary where I totally flipped him off, okay, more like gave him "evil looks".

Regardless.. not a good way to start my Monday. The mood was all wrong.

And throughout the day, I just wasn't feeling it.. I felt overwhelmed, irritated, and the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of the computer. But I did.. I got through the hardest part in editing.. which is combing through "all" those photos and deciding which to keep or delete. And today, the Delete Button was my friend.

*****

The last thing I wanted to do was get out and exercise. I'm not sure what I signed up for when I said I would train for the half marathon. But today was a "lift" day. So hubby calls all cheery and says he's coming home so we can do some weight training. I tried every angle to dodge today's exercise regime.. but it didn't work. We ended up at the gym an hour before class to run a few laps to warm up and then do some weight training. Rudy kept pushing me to do more. And then just when I thought I could relax, he says "Let's do some lunges".. And I replied like a 10 year old, "I don't like you right now.." After that, we did Turbo-kick.. all of a sudden I had this burst of energy.. I guess that's a good thing. And just when I thought the day was over, we went for a late night bike ride with the kids and dog around 8pm!

Yup.. still nice and bright out there at 8pm.. why not?
Now.. it's 10pm and I'm hitting the haystack.. there's is this part of me that wants to go back downstairs and edit more photos.. but that's just the obsessive-worker in me. I know sleep is more important.

Till then.. 35 more days till I'm sitting on a beach in Hawaii :)

Just What I Needed.

Today.. was just what I needed... and a reminder of how life should be...After a busy Saturday with our back to back mini sessions from 10am to 5pm with people coming in at every half an hour.. I just needed some time to enjoy the sunshine and the great outdoors.

We started our morning with a 4 mile run.
And ended our day with a 6 mile bike ride.
Not to mention a good book in between:

Another interesting read in the scientific approach to what is going on behind my four legged pup :) Although, I think I still insist (as his human mother) I know what he's thinking and feeling :) Like, the blanket and pillow he needs in order to sleep comfortably.

*****

Nice to know my job as a photographer can buy me an Audi .. well stand next to one.

 *****
It's back to the grind on Monday.
There's a house that I need to keep in order.
Tons of photo editing to do.
Errands to run.
The dog to walk/run twice a day.
Kids who have never ending "needs + wants".
And of course.. taking care of me while I attempt to train for the Half Marathon in 10 weeks.

Glimpses of my day.

I've been enjoying the sunshine...
It's been gorgeous these past few days and I've been outside... running with Kai. It's actually more challenging to stay in the house. I've also been quite addicted to our ABC (All Body Conditioning) Instructor who just kicks our boot-tay every single week. She does something new every time and it always works parts of our bodies, I never thought I had. I really wish I could take a photo during her class.. cause she is crazy! Today she got us lifting weights on bosu balls! Right after that, she gets us hopping on one foot over a row of bosu balls. And it's this constant rotation. Hubby and I love it!

This is pretty much how he looks like every day so far :)

I've been trying to cook dinner early in the day so I can make some of the gym classes in the afternoon with the hubby.  I love this photo (below) cause that is where Kai is whenever I'm cooking. Begging.

Cornish Hens :)

And this is what lunch looks like.. A protein shake :)

And then it's back to this.. good ol' desk and computer. Where I'm equipped with my protein bar, protein shake, and water.. oh and my iPhone :)

I know it's only Tuesday... but so far so good. I've noticed, making a visual list helps. Most importantly planning ahead is the key.

Once I get home from the gym in the later part of the afternoon, we are ready for dinner by 5 or 6 and we head out again for a walk with the family.  Along with the rest of the neighborhood. Spring is definitely in the air, not only does it smell bad.. but the kids are out playing till 8pm, hearing the sound of bikes pedaling by, and families walking around the neighborhood. Ah.. dare I say, winter is officially over?

Skinny Jeans + Flats Kinda Day...

After a busy Saturday.. and night as well. What was I thinking about having a sleepover after they were all strung up on Pizza, Coke, and Monkey Bread (yeah, no birthday cake.. bad, bad, mom).  I didn't plan the sleepover but the girls were playing so well, and I.. kinda liked that quiet time.  Hubby had plans to hang out with his friends (man time) so needless to say, the girls "partied" till they dropped, literally. I picked up hubby around 2 am, he got  a little tipsy I guess.. and I finished Season 3 of Dexter.. so it was a good night.

Sunday we took the kids (all of them +3) to the mall. And I get those same "are those all her kids" look and they all look alike :) Well, except for Mason, but he could be the adopted one :) Izzy had some money to burn from her birthday gifts and first stop was Claires. It's funny how she's a lot more frugal when it's her money. She literally wanted to buy the entire store, but as she added up things in her mind.. she walked away with one thing, a bag to hold her wallet.

My son was the driver for the day, he took Rudy and I to run our errands that afternoon..  You can tell how bad he wanted to drive, because he rarely makes trips to the grocery store with us. But if it meant he could drive there.. he was on it :0  On the other hand, I was in the backseat pretending I had breaks on :)

Today.. Monday. (right now it's 2:14pm)
And so far.. so good. I'm not cooking dinner at the moment.. decided to wait after I drop off my son to his study group... that way I don't have to leave the stove on..

The sun is out..
The laundry is folded.
I'm uploading the photos from today's session.
The dog is tired from our 3 mile run.
Adele is blasting through my computer speakers.
I got my skinny jeans on.
I'm sipping on my iced americano.
..and I'm blogging.

So much better, live.

Adele. Oh, Adele,..I am seriously  in LOVE with her.. You'd think after a month with this album, the playing time would slow down? Nope. This has now become a part of my "cool down" when exercising too.. along with what blares in editing, in cooking, cleaning, on walks..

One of my faves.. but Rolling in the deep, is up there too :)

Adele |Adele Lyrics |Adele Unplugged |Unplugged

 

Birthday Weekend.

Sitting here on a Saturday night, with my melted Iced Americano...
The girls have calmed down upstairs from all that dancing, screaching, and jumping around..

Isabel is officially, EIGHT.
Yeah, I know her birthday was on Wednesday.. but it's not offical till we celbrate it right?

So today.. was a busy one for us..
She really wanted to go to Arianna's Birthday party across town just hours before her very own.. And so we made mad dashes across town to get to her own party..

 This was her first time on ice.. and she liked it! She took off :)

Now it was time for her bowling party.

 

Here are her classmates :)

 And our forever friend, Brynn :)

 

 Gotta love Ms. Kylie there too :)

 An the highlight of my day :) Hubby loving on Baby Maddie :)
Look at him, a natural :) We could throw in a few more? Ha! Not!

It was a good day of family fun.. I didn't go all crazy on taking pictures :(
Just wanted to enjoy the moment :)

 

A Loungin' Kinda Day

Today was the day, my body screamed "Will you just lay down!" No more running at 100mph, I literally took it down a few notches and took a good nap. Although only a couple hours.. it was what I needed. Not to mention the weather, sucked. It was windy, drizzly, grey, cloudy, bleh, bleh...

And now it's 12:45am.. and here I am, finishing up the rest of the weeks work! Cheers to taking Saturday & Sunday off :)

Blink. She's Eight.

Seriously.. right? Where does time go?  Mom's hug them extra tight!!

I still gawk at my soon to be college student! Somedays I can't believe we are having conversations about if he wants to come with us to our next duty station or stay college here :0  And here she is.. humming her birthday song, telling everyone it's her birthday, another year older.. another year just passed me by. (insert tears). Water works coming.. and Kenny Chesney's song, Don't Blink is not helping!

 

Nowadays, She...

• Is Feisty. She's all girl, I tell you... and somedays not the sweet like honey type, either.. she can spice things up with her at-tee-tude.
• loves to read.
• loves to draw even more!! I love her creative side..
• can sing and shake her boo-tay for HOURS. Move over Lady Gaga, here comes Lady Izzy... she'll tell you what way she was born.. born to dance and sing!
• is my permanent hip-hugger and cling-on. Now I do complain about this from time to time.. but i know these moments will not last forever. Well scratch that, my boys still love cuddles, but they won't admit it.
• will not eat any sauce.. no ketchup, no BBQ sauce, not even sweet and sour!
• fights with Ethan all the time.. still.. I call those two "Oil + Water"
• adores Caelan, though :0
• is feisty.. oh I did say that.. well she is.
• does not like to be reprimanded, no one does really.. but she will turn on the water works!
• has the sweetest, chirpiest voice.. still.
• loves her puppy, more than... Ethan?
• keeps her room, quite messy..
• is a fashiionista! That girl got style... I call it the Izzy Style.
• watches everything I watch.. (Jersey Shore, Biggest Loser, all those make over shows on TLC, and Kimora!)
• refuses to be athletic.. I know she can, she just needs some positive reinforcement!
• loves to sleep in my bed.. I think she was more disappointed that daddy has a regular day job.
• is not a baby anymore :(

 

I hung out with her in class. the kids are singing to her and she's "shy".

She picked Sushi for dinner :)

Blowing out her cupcake :)

And these two, practically sisters.. sad to say, this is their LAST birthday together.. Jazzy's got orders :( Military life.. sucks, well saying good-bye sucks..

Kenny Chesney said it best:

Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink...

Birthdays, they are filled with celebration.. and quite a bit of reflection on my part..

Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
You can't flip it over and start again
Take every breathe God gives you for what it's worth

 

Alright I'll stop copying and pasting Kenny Chesney.. may as well ask him to write my entry for today.
I need to get to bed...