Comic Con

I finally went to my first Comic con and it was SO effin awesome!! I loved it! We only went sunday and had a totally great time. My two besties where there and like i said it was rad. Unfortunately we got there late so I didn't see the Stan Lee q & a but it was still awesome to finally check it out. Got 4 pieces from Billy Tucci and he SIGNED THEM!! :~D Super excited about that. They are going to be in our basement once it's finished gonna frame them and everything they are sooo beautiful! I totally love them!

totally have to admit to having a nerd moment, There where two zombies from resident evil and I saw them a little part of me was like holy crap what if the bite me lol i mean they where that good. It was so awesome!!! Their eyes where whited out and they where just really good zombies lol I didn't even ask them for a picture in case on some off chance they where actually zombies lol Hopefully next year i can dress up like Poison Ivy {always been one of my goals for halloween too}

Getting healthy; Chapter 702

It has been a very long time since I was “happy” with my body, and I don’t know how many times I’ve done a blog about that I’m trying to get healthy and work out and all that jazz. But again its come a time where I just want to feel good and live a healthy and happy life.

Before I got pregnant with Lil Dude I was seeing a person trainer Joe {Fitness Optimist; laurel MD www.fitnessoptimist.com} and I felt great and I lost 10 lbs seeing him. Well since then it has been a battle with myself to get healthy. The summer after I had Lil dude I did Joe’s boot camp and again lost weight and was fluctuating between 175 & 180 which usually my weight does. Well after Mama was diagnosed with Gilablastoma multiforme brain tumor on Oct 22 2009 I pretty much stopped everything to do whatever I could for her; which I loved doing and miss horribly. I used to chase lil dude around her house and run her stairs to get cardio in lol Since her passing on Jan 19 2011 I haven’t done too much with my weight lost bedsides work out really well for a week to a month and then totally fall off the wagon. Which is just horrible!?! I just started going to spin class a few weeks ago and was LOVING it and then we had a bunch of things planned and unplanned and lots of thing keeping me from the gym,  We’re now down to almost 6 weeks till Disney and I haven’t lost the 10 lbs I’d like to.

Hopefully the “plan in my head” will work. I’m gonna start working out every day at least 20 min and hopefully not eat a lot of sweets or food in general, I tend to eat A LOT of food, I just love food I really do. Joe used to always tell me to keep a food journal. So defiantly portion control. Food journal. Strengthen Training. Cardio. Abs. Is that too much, especially with two kids under 3?? Who am I kidding probably but I’m gonna give it a shot and keep at it until it is a regular in my every day to day life.

~This is coming for the chick who has always wanted to run and can bleary power walk! Here we go!~

Mama & I ~ FL 2000
Would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be this fit again!!

Yay for Home made baby food!!

So I've been making my own baby food since lil dude was ready to eat solids and I love it. {only issue is I purchase food mills and processors that don't seem to quite stand the test of time but  I digress} Well tonight I made couscous for dinner and lil karen is going crazy wanting some couscous so I got to get her some and remember that I pureed a peach last night and put too much liquid in it so it was runnier that I would have liked so I pour half of it over LK's couscous and she LOVED it, I mean i can never really feed her fast enough and tonight was no different.

So I guess the long and the short of it is Mama 1 - Factory made baby food 0 lol! #winning!!

Side note: Thinking of getting the baby bullet; anyone know if it does what it says it does? Thanks!

Thank God for KitchenAid Mixers!

So since my ASL showed me how freaking easy it is to make bread, with a KitchenAid mixer,  I have been making our own bread, I absolutely love it; I don’t see myself going back to store bought. The whole reason I started to make my own bread was because of Lil Karen dairy allergy. Since she was about one month old I cut out dairy from my diet because it was making her sick. Since I cut dairy she has been doing wonderfully, no more epic throw ups!! Yay! So finding bread that didn’t have dairy was necessary hard there are about 3 brand names that don’t use milk but nevertheless it was a pain. And since it was so easy and I'm a huge supporter of home made everything :)  here is her recipe. Enjoy!!

My first ever attempt at bread making :) not bad!

3 ¼ hours | 30 min prep

Serves 24, 2 Loaves

2 ¾ Cups hot water

1/3 cup olive oil, any oil is fine, I use coconut oil a lot

1 tablespoon salt, sea salt is best

7 ½ cups of 100% whole grain wheat flour

2 tablespoons dry active yeast

1.       Place first four ingredients in bowl and mix.

2.       Add 2 cups of flour (to cool the water so you end up with warm dough)

3.       Add 2 tbs of dry active yeast

4.       Add 4 cups of flour

5.       Mix until consistency is somewhat even. Then continue to slowly add flour ½ cup at a time till dough quits sticking to the bowl. It should be tacky to the touch. The trick is to have enough consistency to stand up with the least amount of flour; this makes it fluffy. It will mostly likely take about 6 ½ cups but never the less do not exceed 7 ½ cups. Do not over mix, this will make the bread tough.

6.       When dough is finished leave in mixer and cover with a towel and let it rise for 30-40 min. Dough will be larger but doesn’t need to double.

7.       Grease two   bread pans; I use coconut oil for that too.

8.       Mix the dough to knock it back down close to its original size

9.       Drop the dough onto a floured surface so you can work and shape the dough. Shape dough intp a ball getting enough flour so its no longer sticky.

10.   Divide dough in half and shape into 2 loaves. Shape loaves but turning the dough under its self over and over again, this gives you a oblong shaped loaf with smooth sides and top.

11.   Drop the loaves in bread pans and let them rise until they are almost doubled. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 36 minutes.

12.   When finished turn the bread out of the pans onto a cooling rack.  

You can eat right away. I LOVE warm fresh bread! Wait until bread is completely cool before wrapping. I usually store mine in a gallon size zip lock bag. Do not store in the fridge it will turn your bread into a brick. Another thing I have done is make one loaf and use the other half of the dough for pepperoni rolls; dinner rolls, ect so let your imagination move you!

Eight Weeks To Go!!

Eight weeks to go!

So one of my girlfriends started her blog today so I figured I should finally start writing in mine lol. I’m going to try to be completely honest and not hold anything back with my blogs lol nothing really new there.  So here goes!!

We have eight weeks till out big vaca and I’m super excited and absolutely terrified. I’m also starting to stress about my work outs (or lack thereof is probably better) the fact that I haven’t lost the 10lbs yet and I’m already freaking about packing lol. {Yup def a mom}

It’s obvious why I’m super excited; I mean it is Disney world for pete sake!! Second time my hubby will be going and first for the kiddies (my ninth I think). I’m really excited to see the kids there especially Lil Dude; I have been molding him into a Disney nut like I since before he was born (as with Lil Karen).

So I’m sure your asking why I’m terrified, well the fact is, I’ve NEVER EVER EVER been to Disney without my mother, The whole reason I planned this trip was in memory of her and now the idea of her not being there is really starting to get to me. I’m sure it doesn’t help that I haven’t really grieved yet either.  I just keep pushing it away hoping and praying that one day the pain will just be gone or I’ll finally wake up from this nightmare and it will all have been just another bad dream. Now I’m not delusional I know that will never happen, at least not until I see those pearly gates and meet her again in heaven standing there with all my loved ones who have gone before me.  All of my memories of Disney are with my mother; if I wasn’t there with her I was there with my Grandparents but I don’t have any memories of that, just pictures. I guess what I’m really terrified about is I’m gonna get to Disney and not be able to stop crying, I have pretty much refused to cry since her death; a little bit will squeeze out from time to time and I just suck all back down deep inside, which I think is finally getting harder and harder to do. Starting to read my bible more, I know God will guide me out of this black hole…

Mama

I just want to walk in the back door of her office & go to lunch;
I just want to have girl days & shopping trips;
I just want her to show off her grandbabies to anyone and everyone who will listen;
I just want to go to Rehoboth walking the boardwalk and eating at cassapolas;
I just want to go see The Phanotom one last time;
I just want my therete buddy;
I just want her to be us at Disney world;
I just want to be able to go all the places we said we would;
I just want her to hold me & tell me she loves me & that everything will be ok;
I just want her to lead me out of this black hole;
I just want her to fix everything like she always did;
I just wanna hear "Hello my daughter" & "I love you my daughter"
I just want my mama back!
I will never understand why God takes the best so soon but I guess if I where God I'd wanna be surroded by the best too;
I can't believe it's been 6 months my heart breaks a little more each day. I don't know how I'm suppose to do this with out her; I miss & love you soo much mama!! Always and Forever!