Feliz Cumple Mami!

Today is my Mommy's 72nd Birthday!

She is such an amazing person and mommy and I am lucky that she is mine! 

I am lucky that I live near her and she and I rarely go a day without seeing each other and even less rarely without speaking with each other. 

I get to go shopping with her and on long walks where we can just chit chat. 

I'm wishing my mommy a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY and MANY MANY MORE! 

He Drives Me Crazy, But I Still Love My Puppy

I'm so excited that Christine reached out to write about our doggies! Don't forget to check out her post over at: So-Called Homemaker! We both have dogs that we love but that sometimes drive us crazy, so we wanted to share our frustrations and the reasons why we love our babies so much! 

I’m new to having pets. I thought I was prepared for a dog… but after having Lance for a few months I realized that there are things I wasn’t ready for and that drive me crazy!

O N E – Potty training. I have not been able to potty train him to save my life. Maybe half the time he goes number two on our balcony, but pee is generally on our carpet. He will not use a pad. I even got him one of those fake grass things and he won’t use it. I’ll give him credit, though, he is good at going outside when I take him. I just can only take him in the evenings and that does not seem to be enough for him.

T W O – Chewing things. At first he seemed perfect, he kept to his toys. But it has gotten out of hand. He has chewed up the carpet and pulled it up from the wall and gotten to the stuff under the carpet.  He will also grab anything off our coffee table and start trying to eat it – including my husbands’ antibiotics (don’t worry, it was Keflex which dogs use, so he was fine!). I know this is probably our fault, but it’s so frustrating!

T H R E E – Biting/nipping. This is probably a puppy thing, and he’s still working on dropping his last baby tooth, but I am tired of it. Putting on pants, sitting on the cough, petting him… he wants to nip at your hands and feet.

All of these things have made my husband and I consider that maybe he is not the right dog for us and that we are not the right humans for him. He might need a yard or someone that can take him out more than once a day. We got a Chihuahua because it was recommended for condos… but he is one big Chihuahua.

HOWEVER I really do not want to give up on him or us. When I started to really think about giving him away (to a good home, not a pound or anywhere that he won’t be loved) it made me very sad. I have definitely grown to love him and so has my husband (much more than either of us expected, I think).

Lance is VERY loving. In the morning his favorite thing to do is to come and lay on my lap for an extended morning sleep. When I come home he jumps up on me, letting me know much he loves me. When I take him for walks and we meet up with my mom, niece, and nephew he can spot them from a block away and suddenly his tail begins to wag and he butt shakes and his ears go down, showing them that he is happy to see them!

Lately he has taken to put his head under my chin in burrowing into my shoulder and just staying there - it feels like it's his way of hugging me. It's the sweetest most amazing feeling. 

So even though he can drive us crazy and we'll have to change our carpets sometime soon, the love he provides us is more than enough to keep him around. 

Learn About Me - From A to Z

A.   Attached or single?

I am… attached (duh!). We have been together 3 ½ years and married almost 1 whole year (on 4/2).

B.   Best friend?

This is a hard one. I don’t know if I have a best friend. I want one, but no one seems to be mine. I have a few friends that I talk to often, mostly at work though.

C.   Cake or pie?

Hmm, this really depends on the kind. Peanut Butter pie by Claim Jumper is AMAZING. Costco Pumpkin pie? And the Trader Joe’s Pear Tart (that counts)!! Ok… yea, I have to go with pie.

D.   Day of choice?

I’ve never really thought of having a favorite day. I guess I’ll go with Saturday. Just because.

E.   Essential item?

        My phone. I seem to now be attached to it. Mostly due to blogging. And             Instagram. 

F.    Favorite color?

Blues. Different hues. I love them.

G.   Gummy bears or worms?

I think I’ll go with worms because they take longer to eat – and I prefer the sour ones!

H.   Home town?

Los Angeles. Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley (aka “The” Valley). But my family is from La Plata, Argentina and it feels like home to me, too.

I.    Favorite indulgence?

Desserts probably, although I can’t pick just one. I love getting Cinnabon every once in a while. Or Trader Joe’s Pear Tart (seriously, try it, it’s amazing!).

J.    January or July?

I almost instinctively said July because that’s summer vacation and I was on that type of schedule for so long – but I will say January. It’s too hot in July (ie: 100+). January has perfect temps.

K.   Kids?

Not yet but we will definitely have at least 2, maybe 3. We have not decided that yet.

L.    Life isn’t complete without?

Family! Family is super duper important to me and my husband. Most weekends are spent either with his or mine or split between both.

M.  Memory you cherish

The first one that came to mind was Christmas 1991 when I was in Argentina with my mom, brother, and a ton of cousins, aunts, and uncles and my grandma. It was the first time that I met all of them (well, except my mom, brother, one aunt, and grandma – but I met her when I was a newborn so it doesn’t really count). It was an amazing time and I remember it like it was yesterday!

N.   Number of brothers/sisters?

I have (had) 2 sisters and a brother. My eldest sister, Margarita is 45 and blogs over at I Say!. She is 15 years older than me. My brother is 44, 14 years older than me. Gabriela was the youngest of the three of them, she passed away on May 21, 2014 after a lifetime of medical problems. She was 42 at the time and 12 ½ years (to the day) older than me.

O.   Oranges or Apples?

Neither? I prefer peaches and plums. I guess I eat Granny Smith apples more than I eat oranges – but as far as juice, orange wins (but only freshly squeezed).

P.   Pet Peeves?

        The first thing that came to mind was hair on clothing. Right after I shower         I shed a ton and there is hair all over my clothing. I can’t stand it and am           constantly looking around to pull it off. Slow drivers as well. I cannot stand         it. If you are slow, get in the right lane and let others drive. People who             talk with their mouth full – the person who sits next to me at work does             this while talking to clients. Uggg!

Q.   Quotes?

My mom taught me this one... "it's better to lose a minute in your life, than to lose your life in a minute". Very true. 

R.   Reasons to smile?

       Waking up! I’ve always been a smiler. I smile constantly and to everyone          who crosses my path. I don’t need a reason to smile other than being alive.

S.   Season of choice?

Living in Southern California I don’t really have a choice. But I would say everything but summer. Summer has become too hot for me, but the rest of the year is great!

T.   Tea or coffee?

Tea. I don’t like coffee at all. I love Teavana and having tea time with my parents.

U.   Unknown fact about me?
I'm an open book so it's hard to figure something out for this question. I'll let you know when I find one!

V.   Vegetable?

Cooked carrots. I love them, but they are not as low in calories as, say, broccoli so I eat more of that.

W. Worst habit?

Picking my nose. JUST KIDDING! That’s not the worst. JUST KIDDING! I don’t pick my nose. Hmm. It used to be biting my nails – I grew out of that one. Not folding clothes immediately out of the dryer? Is that a habit?

X.   X-Ray or ultrasound?

Hmm. Either? I’ve only really dealt with x-rays, cool enough. Although once we are pregnant I will LOVE the ultrasounds!

Y.   Your favorite trip?

My honeymoon to Argentina. I got to have a beautiful trip with my husband to places I hadn’t been before. I got to introduce him to my home country and my family. It was amazing. I want to do it again!

Z.   Zodiac sign?

Libra! I was born on October 1^st but I was supposed to fall into the Scorpio category. Most of my horoscopes are pretty correct – but I’m not big into it.

When Puppy Love Drives You Crazy

I'll be the first to admit that being a fur mom is not always easy - I've definitely learned that in the past few months. 

But the love that pets bring to a household is more than enough to make up for it. I'll go into detail about it with Christine later this month, but I wanted to share this video today. 

I'm grateful for the love that my little pooch brings to me. 

You gotta love the way this still looks! 

Linking up with Emily and Ember Gray...

Snow Trouble

As most of you already know, I live in Sunny Southern California (not trying to make you guys jealous or anything!) but I have had local snow experience. 

A few years ago (maybe 4 years now) after my nieces visited my parents and I in LA I had to drive them up the I-5 to hand them back to their parents at a midway point between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It was January 1st and it was raining at my house. This can mean that it is snowing in the surrounding mountains. 

I looked up the weather report for the mountain range I had to cross, the Grapevine (named for the way the mountains are laid out around the freeway). No snow yet. I thought about buying chains for my '09 corolla, but a stop at a couple of stores gave me a price of $80 for NON RETURNABLE (even if never opened) chains. Since this was the only time I was expecting to use them (and even then I might not need them) I was not ready to fork over that kind of money. 

Well. Umm. It snowed. It snowed A LOT. 

So much snow that the Grapevine was closed. The thing is... they didn't close it until AFTER I got in it. So I had to trudge my car through the mountain range. The 5 lane freeway was down to one lane and cars were trying to stay behind each other in order to not drown in the accumulating snow. 

I was on the phone with my brother the entire time because, quite honestly, I was scared to death. I had NEVER drive in even a little bit of snow before and this was a full out storm. That freeway closure I mentioned? It ended up lasting 3 days! I wasn't sure if I should get off the freeway and wait it out or keep going. The only advise my brother could give me was that I needed to do what felt safe to me. 

I ended up staying on the freeway and made it out on the other side. As soon as we went down to the desert below the snow stopped but it was raining fiercely. 

After what seemed forever I made it to the restaurant in Kettleman City, CA where I was meeting my sister and her husband. We had an early dinner (we had left at 11am and I didn't get to the restaurant until past 4pm, over twice as long as it should have taken) and then I stopped at Starbucks for a Venti something or other to keep me awake for the trip back. 

Remember me mentioning that the freeway had been closed? Ya, well, the only way back to LA was to take a freeway that would take me across another set of mountains all the way to Pacific Coast Highway and then take that down the coast and back home. This, of course, wasn't perfect either since it was still pouring rain and now it was super dark. That side freeway? The 41. It is a one lane each direction sort of road. Since everyone else going south was blocked from going through the Grapevine it was packet. 

I ended up getting home past 11pm, so over 12 hours round trip what should have been 5 hours. The worst part was that my phone died and I blew the spark plug in the car so I couldn't charge it. 

My Truths - Gratefully

I am borrowing this idea from Stephanie at Life According to Steph.

As she mentioned in her post there are some truths that are scientifically proven and then there are truths that may be true to one person but not to the next.

These are my truths.

/ / Twitter is hard. It moves too fast and I am always behind. Rather, when I can catch up nothing is happening, but when I’m too busy to follow along the best conversations are happening.

/ / Blogging is an amazing way to get your voice out and even get over anxiety.

/ / Kettle corn popcorn is the best kind of popcorn ever. Especially the farmer market’s one that’s around from April to October every year.

/ / Rude people will typically always be rude and they won’t typically realize they are doing it – even if they are told so all the time.

/ / Coloring with pencils, crayons, or markers will always be a stress reliever no matter how old you are.

/ / Saving money is good, but living life is also good – you have time find a balance between the two. A mani/pedi every couple of months won’t affect your savings too much.

/ / Purses must be changed every few months.

/ / Family always comes first and is always there.

/ / Puppies are good inspirations, along with FitBits, to walk a lot – specifically 10,000 steps a day.

What are YOUR truths?

I am grateful today for a nice, restful weekend. After being on the go go go the weekend before it was nice to have some time to sit and relax this weekend. 

Stand Up Sunday - Week 8

1. How many pounds did you gain or lose? 

I started the week at 158 lbs. I ended at 158 lbs. I broke even.

2. How many inches did you gain or lose?

I still haven’t measured myself… so nothing to add here!

3. Your weekly exercise or step goal, and did you meet it?

So far the FitBit is working. I walked a total of 80,266 steps (as of 8:30pm on Saturday) this week! I try my hardest to make my step goal each day. I take my puppy for walks in the evenings to get to 10,000 and don't come home until I do! 

4. What was your biggest challenge this week?

I went to be on a TV show on Thursday so I couldn't control my eating there, but I was pretty good this week. I did, however, go out to lunch twice and then on Friday a co-worker brought cupcakes for her birthday and OMG it was amazing. 

It was raspberry filled! 

5. What is your favorite healthy snack or meal?

Well... I don't know if this is really healthy but it's been keeping my occupied. I was introduced to Starbucks' Very Berry Hibiscus. It is delicious! Best of all the calories are relatively low. 130 calories for the Trenta size (31oz). 

6. Do you have any advice or tips for the rest of us?

Don't deprive yourself of things you like - you'll end up eating more of it! 

An InLinkz Link-up

My Work Ethic

I had never really thought about my work ethic. I grew up in a house where my dad went to work every day – and well into his 70s (he retired at 77). He only took time off when he needed it for his health or when one of us needed him to go to the doctor or anything of the sort.

My mom stayed at home, but she was as hard working as my dad. Maybe even more so. Managing our house was never easy, but she did it lovingly. My parents, who came to the US in their late 30’s and 40’s with only savings in order to get my sister a transplant were able to prosper because of their hard work. My mom scrimped and saved to have enough savings to live off now that my dad retired (he is getting a retirement but it’s half of what he was making while working).

I started working when I was 15. For a month or two at an amusement park.  Then in college I started working retail for a year or two. Then as a teachers’ assistant, then a substitute teacher, then a receptionist, and finally now as an eligibility worker. What I’ve noticed as I look back through all my years of working I’ve kept up a good work ethic.

I don’t call out just for the sake of calling out. I’ve gone to work even when I’ve been sick (yes, I know, not the best idea…) and when I do have an appointment or something to do I take the least amount of possible and not the whole day.

There were jobs that this was more difficult to do than in others. I love my current job so much that when my husband asks me to stay home I just can’t bring myself to do it. Of course I might of missed a day or two in the past (in other jobs) because I couldn’t take it, but it wasn’t often and it was definitely the exception to the rule.

I guess these are signs of growing up, right?

Stand Up Sunday - Week 7

(I'm sorry for the bad formatting today. It is Saturday night and I've slept 1.5 hours in the last 24, so I'm too tired to figure out how to fix it! I'll update the weight in the morning!)

1.      How many pounds did you gain or lose?

I started the week at 158.6lbs. I ended at __________. A total loss/gain of ______.

2.      How many inches did you gain or lose?

I still haven’t measured myself… so nothing to add here!

3.      Your weekly exercise or step goal, and did you meet it?

I forgot my Fit Bit at home on Monday (I didn’t put it back on after my shower) so my steps are bad for that day. Then on Thursday I went out after work so I didn’t end up getting to my 10k steps. However I stuck to it the rest of the week.

4.      What was your biggest challenge this week?

The question is really what WASN’T a challenge. Once again the weekends mess me up. I end up eating things I shouldn’t and I don’t count the calories because they are not an easy to count (like pasta, I ate some noodles and I didn’t measure it out). I want to say I will be better this weekend (I’m writing this on Friday) but I have a an all-day thing I’m doing on Saturday and I don’t have a choice as to what I’m eating and on Sunday I have a baby shower.

5.      What is your favorite healthy snack or meal?

I discovered the Very Berry Hibiscus. I don’t know how healthy it is, but it’s not that high in calories (100 for a Venti) and it is delicious. I’ve been snacking on that this week.

6.      Do you have any advice or tips for the rest of us?

I cannot come up with anything this week because I haven’t been following any of my advise lately.

Ten Awesome Things.... About Rain

As you may know I live in a non-rainy place – Los Angeles.  Which is unfortunate for me because I love the rain (although not enough to want to move anywhere else) so when it does rain I get super excited. For some reason, though, it only seems to rain at night time so I don’t get to appreciate it as much as I could.

This weekend  we had a couple of storms come through which let me enjoy daytime rain. In honor of these storms today’s post is all about rain!

O N E – It’s great for our dried up reserves. It’s no secret the California is in a drought (we usually are) and that this winter has been SUPER dry (hey East Coast, send some of that snow this way!) so getting these storms is helpful – we still need a lot more, though!

T W O – It makes us appreciate the sun more. There is that saying that you can’t know what happiness is unless you know what sadness is. The same goes for rain and sunshine. Without the rain would you appreciate the sun? (And the sun all the freaking time makes me appreciate the rain more).

T H R E E – It smells good! You know what I’m talking about! The smell of the concrete becoming wet. The fresh air. It’s all great, or is it just me? (maybe this is because it doesn’t happen often)

F O U R – Splashing in puddles! I love wearing my tall rain boots and walking in the puddles (as long as I don’t splash myself, that is). I also love going a good speed through big accumulations of water. There are lots of these here when it rains because our gutters are all clogged up. There is one street near me that for a good 3 miles gets so backed up with rain water that small cars cannot use the right lane. So much fun!

F I V E – The sound of it on the windows. As I’m typing this on Monday afternoon at work, I can hear (on and off) the pitter patter of the droplets on the window. I also love this at home. We have a skylight in our bedroom and at night the rain is loud against the skylight. It annoys Thomas, but I love it! Surround sound rain! (the window is on the opposite side of the room from the skylight).

S I X – An excuse to cuddle up and watch a movie. Not that we really need an excuse, but it does make it easier to want to do this. I love sitting on the couch, the sliding glass door open and a blanket pulled up around me watching something. Bliss.

S E V E N – Hail/Thunderstorm - even more rare than rain around here is hail and thunderstorms. This past storm had both. I didn't get to experience the hail myself but my niece and nephew got pelted on it on Sunday when they went to the Griffith Observatory and on Monday on the way home from school. Jealous!

E I G H T - Snow! No, it doesn't snow where I live. At least not on the ground. But within an hours' drive there can be plenty. Unfortunately this has not happened in a couple of years. Rather, it has snowed but it hasn't stuck around more than a few hours making snow play not really an option. 

N I N E - Rainbows! Without rain there can't be rainbows!! 

T E N - Walking in the rain. Beyond splashing in puddles - it's fun to just walk in the rain, even if with an umbrella. There is something nice about enjoying the storms all around you. 

Hubby's Conversation With A Nurse

As I mentioned on here last week my husband had his tonsils removed as well as his deviated septum fixed on Thursday. I had my camera ready when he came out of sedation. 

As you guys have probably figured out by now my husband is a character... so I wasn't really surprised at what I caught on video.

Although this wasn't MY conversation, I knew I needed to share it with you guys! 

Enjoy!

If you can't see the video click here!

My Grateful Heart today is for my mother-in-law. She came to the hospital and waited with me and then did grocery shopping for Thomas and spent Friday with him while I was at work. I love my husband... but I knew that I needed the day at work. My mother-in-law is great at helping out when we need her and doing it willingly. She rocks! No evil in-law stories in my marriage! 

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Stand Up Sunday - Week 6

1. How many pounds did you gain or lose? 

I started the week at 158.8lbs. I ended at 158.6lbs. A total loss of .2 ounces.

2. How many inches did you gain or lose?

I still haven’t measured myself… so nothing to add here!

3. Your weekly exercise or step goal, and did you meet it?

So far the FitBit is working. I walked a total of 82,785 steps (as of 8:30pm on Saturday) this week! I try my hardest to make my step goal each day. Those of you who are friends with me on FitBit you might see hat I didn't reach 10k steps on Monday or Friday, but as you can see by my total number of steps I made up for it on other days.

4. What was your biggest challenge this week?

The weekends are becoming my hardest challenge. When I'm home or, worse, when I'm out doing things on the weekends I can get off track. This week because Thomas had surgery at the hospital I had a hard time. There was a farmer's market there that day and I bought some not-so-good things. They are all gone now, but the damage was done.

5. What is your favorite healthy snack or meal?

A week ago I went picked grapefruit and oranges, so I was loving grapefruit this week! Delicious!! 

6. Do you have any advice or tips for the rest of us?

My issues with weekends then to be that I go out and don't bring anything to eat with me and then when I get home my blood sugar is low and I just need to eat and don't have the energy to make myself anything. So plan your weekends out as you do your weekdays would be my advice - at least for myself.