Since the Walmart in Lakewood opened a few years back, I have seen my share of interesting things...people...mullets... And now, LOOK! There's a blog about it! What a giggle I've just had...
People of Walmart
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Holy crap!
On a whim I decided to whip out my wedding dress today since I weigh about the same as I did when I got married six years ago. I figured that I would probably be able to get it on but that it wouldn't fit the same way or something.
Lo and behold - it FITS - and is BIG on me! AND...Emma got to see it for the first time. She loved it - played with the beads and touched the satin. She didn't seem too impressed when I told her it would be hers someday, but I figure that will be a better conversation for later. :-)
Woohoo - I fit back into my wedding dress!
Lo and behold - it FITS - and is BIG on me! AND...Emma got to see it for the first time. She loved it - played with the beads and touched the satin. She didn't seem too impressed when I told her it would be hers someday, but I figure that will be a better conversation for later. :-)
Woohoo - I fit back into my wedding dress!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
9 minutes
I had to friggin' brag - I just ran a 9 minute mile. After a very brisk 45 minutes of walking. And while it's certainly not record breaking or anything, it's a big deal for ME. Because I was in high school the last time I ran a mile, much less ran it in less than 12 minutes.
Woohoo! Go me!
Oh, and I've been using a pedometer to track my steps, hoping to reach a goal of 10,000 steps a day, which I've done every day since I started tracking. Today, with my 9-minute mile, I hit 14,972 steps, which apparently totals to about 7 miles for the whole day. I like this pedometer thing, it makes me feel like I've accomplished something.
We'll hit that goal weight yet! :-)
Oh, and the Sound to Narrows 12k run/walk takes place in Pt. Defiance Park next June. I think that's a good goal, don't you?
Woohoo! Go me!
Oh, and I've been using a pedometer to track my steps, hoping to reach a goal of 10,000 steps a day, which I've done every day since I started tracking. Today, with my 9-minute mile, I hit 14,972 steps, which apparently totals to about 7 miles for the whole day. I like this pedometer thing, it makes me feel like I've accomplished something.
We'll hit that goal weight yet! :-)
Oh, and the Sound to Narrows 12k run/walk takes place in Pt. Defiance Park next June. I think that's a good goal, don't you?
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Taco-fu and marshmallows, too
So in an effort to get more lean protein in my diet I've totally jumped on the tofu bandwagon, and wow, do I love that stuff. Could eat it all day. Last week Scott wanted tacos for dinner but I didn't want all the calories and fat from ground beef, so I made my own version - taco-fu. It was actually good, assuming you like tofu.
Taco-fu Recipe:
Extra firm tofu
Cooking oil (the lighter the better - you can actually just cook the tofu in the taco seasoning, but I wanted to try the texture of the fried tofu tonight.)
Taco seasoning mix
Tortillas/chips
Fixin's (tomatoes, olives, cheese, lettuce, etc.)
Cut tofu into one-inch (or smaller) cubes. Fill a pan with enough oil to half-cover the tofu cubes, then lightly fry to a light golden color. Pour out the oil. Mix the taco seasoning and put the tofu cubes in - simmer for 5 minutes. Place tofu cubes in tortillas or crumble onto chips, then cover with the fixin's. Enjoy! (If you like tofu. If not, be like everyone else in my family and turn your nose up at it. The dog won't even eat it.)
One other thing I've actually made lately is my friend Breezi's wedding cake. I found a recipe for fondant (the icing-like stuff that smoothly covers a cake - you usually find it on wedding cakes). This stuff is to DIE for and it's SO much fun to make.
Marshmallow Fondant
1 two-pound bag of powdered sugar (C&H works best, but you should sift any brand you use)
2 tbsp water
1 one-pound bag of mini marshmallows
1 cup Crisco shortening (the white kind - the yellow butter-flavor kind makes the color off-white)
Dump the marshmallows and water into a large bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted - stir between each interval. When completely melted, pour 3/4ths of the sugar on top and cover the whole top of the marshmallows (this is so that you have a powdery coating when you dump it onto your kneading surface). Coat your kneading surface with a LOT of Crisco so the marshmallow doesn't stick, then dump the marshmallow/sugar mixture onto the surface. (I use a "Fondant Fun" mat by Wilton, but any flat surface will do.)
This is the messy (and fun!) part. Dig your hands into the Crisco and coat them with it - front, sides, backs, in between fingers, everywhere. Wrists too - this stuff sticks to everything. Squish the stuff over and over between your fingers until you get all the sugar squished in with the marshmallow. Once you have something you can actually manipulate (as opposed to squish) then sprinkle a LOT of powdered sugar on the greased surface and begin kneading it like bread dough. You have to keep lifting it off of the surface and adding powdered sugar or it will stick. Keep kneading until you have a ball that, when rolled out, doesn't tear easily and is smooth. (Sometimes you'll need to add a drop or two of water if you have powdered sugar balls stuck in the fondant - just keep kneading. And don't add too much water - a drop or two should be enough.)
If you aren't ready to put the fondant on the cake right away, coat the ball of fondant with Crisco and wrap it in plastic wrap, then put it in a zip bag. It will stay fresh in the fridge for at least a few weeks. If your cake is cooled and ready, frost it with about a quarter to an eighth of an inch of frosting (I usually use white since it won't change the color of the fondant) so the fondant will stick to the cake. Roll out the fondant to about an eighth of an inch thick. Measure two sides and the top of your cake and add those together, which will tell you how wide to roll the fondant. (Example: an 8 inch wide by 2 inch high cake would be 8 + 2 + 2 or 12 inches wide.) Then place the rolling pin on top of the fondant and pull the fondant on top of it, rolling it as you go along the measured amount. Make sure the side you want ON THE CAKE is the side on which you place the rolling pin. Place the fondant over the cake (can I say "roll" once more? I think I can!) and roll it out so it completely covers the cake.
At this point, use your hands to gently push, pull and prod the fondant into the shape of the cake, using a pizza cutter to remove the excess. Store the excess in your plastic wrap/zip bag combo, and voila! You have a cake that is to DIE for - trust me, this fondant is amazing, and it will NOT be left on the side of the plate like some other fondants.
Here's Breezi's cake:
Taco-fu Recipe:
Extra firm tofu
Cooking oil (the lighter the better - you can actually just cook the tofu in the taco seasoning, but I wanted to try the texture of the fried tofu tonight.)
Taco seasoning mix
Tortillas/chips
Fixin's (tomatoes, olives, cheese, lettuce, etc.)
Cut tofu into one-inch (or smaller) cubes. Fill a pan with enough oil to half-cover the tofu cubes, then lightly fry to a light golden color. Pour out the oil. Mix the taco seasoning and put the tofu cubes in - simmer for 5 minutes. Place tofu cubes in tortillas or crumble onto chips, then cover with the fixin's. Enjoy! (If you like tofu. If not, be like everyone else in my family and turn your nose up at it. The dog won't even eat it.)
One other thing I've actually made lately is my friend Breezi's wedding cake. I found a recipe for fondant (the icing-like stuff that smoothly covers a cake - you usually find it on wedding cakes). This stuff is to DIE for and it's SO much fun to make.
Marshmallow Fondant
1 two-pound bag of powdered sugar (C&H works best, but you should sift any brand you use)
2 tbsp water
1 one-pound bag of mini marshmallows
1 cup Crisco shortening (the white kind - the yellow butter-flavor kind makes the color off-white)
Dump the marshmallows and water into a large bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted - stir between each interval. When completely melted, pour 3/4ths of the sugar on top and cover the whole top of the marshmallows (this is so that you have a powdery coating when you dump it onto your kneading surface). Coat your kneading surface with a LOT of Crisco so the marshmallow doesn't stick, then dump the marshmallow/sugar mixture onto the surface. (I use a "Fondant Fun" mat by Wilton, but any flat surface will do.)
This is the messy (and fun!) part. Dig your hands into the Crisco and coat them with it - front, sides, backs, in between fingers, everywhere. Wrists too - this stuff sticks to everything. Squish the stuff over and over between your fingers until you get all the sugar squished in with the marshmallow. Once you have something you can actually manipulate (as opposed to squish) then sprinkle a LOT of powdered sugar on the greased surface and begin kneading it like bread dough. You have to keep lifting it off of the surface and adding powdered sugar or it will stick. Keep kneading until you have a ball that, when rolled out, doesn't tear easily and is smooth. (Sometimes you'll need to add a drop or two of water if you have powdered sugar balls stuck in the fondant - just keep kneading. And don't add too much water - a drop or two should be enough.)
If you aren't ready to put the fondant on the cake right away, coat the ball of fondant with Crisco and wrap it in plastic wrap, then put it in a zip bag. It will stay fresh in the fridge for at least a few weeks. If your cake is cooled and ready, frost it with about a quarter to an eighth of an inch of frosting (I usually use white since it won't change the color of the fondant) so the fondant will stick to the cake. Roll out the fondant to about an eighth of an inch thick. Measure two sides and the top of your cake and add those together, which will tell you how wide to roll the fondant. (Example: an 8 inch wide by 2 inch high cake would be 8 + 2 + 2 or 12 inches wide.) Then place the rolling pin on top of the fondant and pull the fondant on top of it, rolling it as you go along the measured amount. Make sure the side you want ON THE CAKE is the side on which you place the rolling pin. Place the fondant over the cake (can I say "roll" once more? I think I can!) and roll it out so it completely covers the cake.
At this point, use your hands to gently push, pull and prod the fondant into the shape of the cake, using a pizza cutter to remove the excess. Store the excess in your plastic wrap/zip bag combo, and voila! You have a cake that is to DIE for - trust me, this fondant is amazing, and it will NOT be left on the side of the plate like some other fondants.
Here's Breezi's cake:
Monday, August 17, 2009
The blog post that wasn't.
So, we had a great camping weekend at MarDon resort in Eastern Washington - almost 4 whole days away from kids and responsibilities. And this year I did NOT come away pregnant. 2 years ago, not so much, but this year I refused to let MarDon work it's charms on me. Of course when I got there, all of our friends had to make comments alluding to the fact that Emma was a MarDon baby (I can't be sure, but the timing is pretty damned close). Anyway, I'm NOT pregnant.
But oh god...what if something is in the water?
But oh god...what if something is in the water?
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Me!
Here's a before pic. This was taken at the beginning of April, right after I decided to embark upon this journey of life-changing proportion. And yes, I actually attempted to find the worst pic I could. I figured it would make the difference more obvious, you know? :-)
I like that better. :-)
And here's me, 60 pounds lighter:
I like that better. :-)
60
FINALLY! So after a month of plateau, my good friend Dawn Facebooked me (who knew that could be a verb?) and said that after reading my blog, she wanted to let me know to eat more protein. And holy god, was she ever right. So I ate more protein. For 2 days. And dropped 5 pounds in those two days. After that it's been steadily downhill, and I've lost another 10 pounds in about a week. I'm thinking my body was just waiting to get a little more nourishment before it could let go of the pounds it was holding on to. The last couple of days it has slowed down considerably, so I'm thinking I just needed that jumpstart to get back on track.
In other news, I went to a bachelorette party on Saturday night. Wow, was that fun - not only the party itself (drunken debauchery - including a scavenger hunt that involved us being required to catcall at every guy we drove by on the street - is not something I get to partake in very often). But the most fun part was shopping for new clothes, getting dressed, putting on makeup, and LIKING the way I looked! No, let's be honest here - after probably 5+ years of not feeling at all attractive, I LOVED the way I looked. And after I finish baking my friend's wedding cake over the next couple of days, I'm going to be totally narcissistic and post an entry of nothing but pictures of ME. Because I've actually LIKED pictures of me lately! (You have no idea how excited I am about this.)
And in a last bit of news - about 5 minutes ago I read on BOTH Facebook and Myspace that my sister-in-law Alyssia (and of course her hubby, my buddy and bro-in-law Ryan) is pregnant. Now, unfortunately, she has pulled the "I'm pregnant!" crap with us several times - one time she even posted an ultrasound pic to HER blog that she STOLE from MY blog. So even though I saw her in a pic WITH the actual pee stick, I really don't think I can get all excited about this one. In fact, since they just left here for Japan a few weeks ago (which means she probably conceived this child while they were here, ew) and won't be back for TWO YEARS, I'm really just gonna sit back and wait until I see actual belly pics. OR a kid. You hear that Alyssia? You've ruined me. You have managed to make the one person who gets all excited about EVERYONE getting pregnant NOT excited for you. You happy now? You suck. And if it's a girl, you better at least have an M in it's name somewhere, for all the heartache you've caused me.
(I'm kidding, I'm kidding...I'm jumping up and down right now. Inside. Where no one can see it.)
In other news, I went to a bachelorette party on Saturday night. Wow, was that fun - not only the party itself (drunken debauchery - including a scavenger hunt that involved us being required to catcall at every guy we drove by on the street - is not something I get to partake in very often). But the most fun part was shopping for new clothes, getting dressed, putting on makeup, and LIKING the way I looked! No, let's be honest here - after probably 5+ years of not feeling at all attractive, I LOVED the way I looked. And after I finish baking my friend's wedding cake over the next couple of days, I'm going to be totally narcissistic and post an entry of nothing but pictures of ME. Because I've actually LIKED pictures of me lately! (You have no idea how excited I am about this.)
And in a last bit of news - about 5 minutes ago I read on BOTH Facebook and Myspace that my sister-in-law Alyssia (and of course her hubby, my buddy and bro-in-law Ryan) is pregnant. Now, unfortunately, she has pulled the "I'm pregnant!" crap with us several times - one time she even posted an ultrasound pic to HER blog that she STOLE from MY blog. So even though I saw her in a pic WITH the actual pee stick, I really don't think I can get all excited about this one. In fact, since they just left here for Japan a few weeks ago (which means she probably conceived this child while they were here, ew) and won't be back for TWO YEARS, I'm really just gonna sit back and wait until I see actual belly pics. OR a kid. You hear that Alyssia? You've ruined me. You have managed to make the one person who gets all excited about EVERYONE getting pregnant NOT excited for you. You happy now? You suck. And if it's a girl, you better at least have an M in it's name somewhere, for all the heartache you've caused me.
(I'm kidding, I'm kidding...I'm jumping up and down right now. Inside. Where no one can see it.)
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