Ahh, the payoffs of a little hard work

Just a couple good things to share today. Had a pretty productive weekend.

Yesterday, John, the kids and I volunteered at a Sacramento elementary school to help with some cleaning, planting and just plain sprucing up of the school. John and the kids shoveled bark all morning. I planted vegetable and flowers. It was fun! The mayor even showed up! The kids were on the KOVR 13 news yesterday. That was pretty cool.

Today while Zach visited a friend and John and his kids visited his mom, I set out to tackle what has turned into a jungle in my backyard.
After a lot of sweat it is looking good. I had to stop because I overfilled my garden waste can and then I couldn't move it!
1 $5.oo container of begonias (Wal-Mart) is enough to adequately fill a large planter!!! Great deal! So I filled 2.

With a lot of trimming I tamed the jungle!!! I am ready to BBQ!!!!

And since I was on a roll with the sweat thing going on, I tried out my new Leslie Sansone dvd in my garage. I love it!!! Maybe my broken vcr was a blessing in disguise, because this dvd is much better than the one I had. It is a great bargain as well. I got it at Target.com. It comes with the dvd and the resistance band for $14.99. I highly recommend it!!! I hope you had a wonderful weekend!!! I better go take a shower now! :)

By the way, my daughter said it is 70 degrees in Monterey today!!! Wow!

What a great weekend!!!!

Paper Roses

If you love paper roses, then you must head over to Kay Sha's Blog.
I had previously gotten directions on her site on how to make tissue paper flowers. Love them!
She has several different flower tutorials. My friend Julia was kind enough to send me some supplies to try a few of these roses. Mine don't look quite as nice as Kay's yet, but I will work on it. These were pretty simple. I used hot glue for quick drying. It worked.

Kay has paper cake slice boxes with these roses on top on a cake plate for a birthday gift. I love this idea! My goal is to make one for Mother's day for my Mom!!! (thanks for the idea Julia)
Check out Kay's cake and come back soon to see how mine turns out!!!

Still trying to be the best I can be

A few weeks ago I posted about my commitment to myself to get in the best shape I can be before I turn 50 in just over 1 and 1/2 years.

Well, let me tell you, after an entire adult life of hit or miss on diet and exercise, I have realized this journey is not an easy one for me. However, I have learned a few things over the last few weeks that I would like to share.

1. Even when I get home from work and feel dead tired and just want to eat and lay on the couch, I have to force myself to exercise FIRST!!! Once I do that I have the energy to get through the rest of the evening. This one is tough for me, because I truly do come home many nights just exhausted from work and exercise is the last thing I want to do.

2. Vegetarians can eat fish and fowl. I did not know this. I think I can do this!!!!
Two of my favorite veggie dishes right now: a bean tostada with Parmesan cheese, diced tomato and avocado. YUMMY!!! The tomato sandwich I wrote about last post will also be a new favorite!!
I must eat much MORE of this:
I must each much LESS of this! :) 3. Keep up the journal. It is good to look back and learn about your habits, your pitfalls and your strengths. It kind of keeps you honest somehow?? I have slacked off a little here.


I still need to work on portion control and my sweet cravings.

No excuses, but my old vcr finally broke down with my Leslie Sansone 3 mile ab walk stuck in it. So no Leslie for a couple of weeks. I did find a DVD replacement at Target. com. Yea! Should be here any day!!!!

Still loving my Lotte Berk Muscle Eats fat. I will admit that I don't do it everyday, but I still feel the results in my thighs.

So there it is, the good and the bad of my quest to be the best me I can be. I guess I will be a work in progress for the rest of my life. :)

A little vegetarian cooking

A couple of weeks ago my very dear friend Terry had a mini stroke. She is ok and on the mend. It was a real wake up call for her and she has had to make a huge change in her diet. Her Dr. has her on a vegetarian diet.
I wanted to make lunch for her today, so I did a little research and found a couple of yummy looking dishes on the internet.

This is Minestrone with Sun Dried Tomatoes and White Beans. I found the recipe at Vegetarian Times.
Lots of nice crispy veggies, garlic, onion and seasonings. We topped this soup with some parmesan cheese and it was dee-lish!!! I will make it again. I may try diced tomatoes rather than sun dried tomatoes next time.

I found a recipe for Mama's Best Broiled Tomato Sandwich at allrecipes.com. I used light mayo rather than regular in this recipe. Didn't matter, these too were dee-lish!!! Here they are before broiling.

Here they are after broiling!!!! Terry, Sherry and I all agreed that they were delicious!!!! I will make them again!
This was a great lunch!! It was nice that I was off today and could take my time and enjoy cooking! I should do it more often! :)

Have a great weekend!

Easter Decorations---Finally!

Easter is only a week away and I finally got the decorations out. Pretty minimal but at least it looks like spring around the house. The items on the mantle are my favorite from my little collection, especially that sweet bunny! Not much on this table and Holly decided to get in the pic. See the tole painted bunny basket on your right? Well I made that over 25 years ago! I didn't take to tole painting so well, but the bunny was worth keeping. This bunny table runner and glass bowl were both great garage sale finds and the speckled eggs I have used in my jars and in the bowl were purchased at Joannes last year.
I think I found this little bunny at the $ store and the little hanger on the door knob is from Avon.I replaced the candle on this candleholder with a plastic easter egg. Just a few items on my vintage record cabinet.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend and that you are ready for Easter too!

The Happiest Place on Earth!!!!

Call me silly, but once you step onto Main Street in Disneyland, you have to be happy!!! The fun music playing, the atmosphere, you can't help but smile and wonder what ride you are going to run off to first for a Fastpass!!!!
My parents, neices, my children and I just got back from 4 days of Disneyland and California Adventure. We all had a wonderful time!!! Don't know why this photo is so small but here is our little groupHere is my son being his silly self! He wore this hat everyday! So I guess he got his moneys worth!
Here is the whole group of kids ready to go onto Toy Story Mania in California Adventure. A very fun ride! You play virtual arcade games in 3D!

Just gotta love Tigger and Pooh!!

I have never sat directly in front of the Castle at night for fireworks. If you have never seen it, it is a definite must! It was beautiful!!!!


OK, back to reality. Hmmm, what crafts do I need to make for Easter?

Hope you are all doing well! Have a great evening!

Easter is on the Way!!!

These are the easiest boxes I have put together yet. You can go HERE for the tutorial.
You need heavy cardstock, adhesive, a scoring tool (remember Martha Stewart has an inexpensive one at Michael's) a couple of brads and some embellishments.

Three Cadbury type eggs fit perfectly in these, but you could fill them with any Easter candy.
I made several of these in a short amount of time.

More different style boxes to come for Easter!!! So come back soon!!!!