The hubby has returned!

So D is back from his vacation with his family. Not only was I overjoyed to have him back, and being able to sleep next to someone again.....Shelby didn't recognize him as he walked in the door. She barked until she realized it was daddy! Then she was all over him. He came home with a tan, a tank top for me and a ton of photos. Above is a preview of what he shot. We will pick through and get the best ones sorted out.....maybe even print a few.

Today is going to be a day of rest for both of us, hanging out by the pool....working on our pre-tans for Labor Day. Tomorrow we are going on a hike with our neighbors and hopefully getting some more cool shots! The crazy photographer people are BACK! :-) Have a great weekend!

While the cats away the mouse.....eats clean?

So D is out of town with his family in Lake Tahoe. Now you'd think that because I am alone that I will fall into the habits of eating junk food and vegging on the couch to watch all the t.v. that I want, or monopolizing the computer to do various photo editing, blogging, facebooking, etc. However, this hasn't been the case, per-Se. I have done my face share of lounging and computer wandering. Mostly though I have been coming home from work, cleaning a little and then making a healthy dinner and working out. I promise you I bought some junk food, but it wasn't ice cream or cookies. It was Cheeze-Its and salami and crackers. Not the best foods, but not so bad either....I bought low fat salami! I did find a great lunch staple that I have been trying to incorporate into my routine....

Its a veggie pack, a type of fruit, and a protein. The first day I ate this I was hungry at 3PM, but I mix it up on various days with Tuna or other healthy alternatives and it seems to be curbing my hunger more. Trying to stay away from carbs is hard for me, but I am working towards it!

The other day, of course on Pinterest I found an amazing recipe for Edamame salad. You can find the recipe here. The only thing I did different is I didn't have white balsamic vinegar so I used regular and I substituted the regular salt with garlic salt. Was so yummy and I had enough for lunch the next day too! Hope you try some clean eating too!

Note: Try to find edamame that has already been shelled, otherwise your stuck shelling them. The store I shopped at didn't have them pre shelled, but I found them after the fact at Target!

Cherry Picking in Leona Valley

Last month D's coworker invited us to go cherry picking in Leona Valley with them. Since we had gone apple picking one fall and had a blast, we thought that cherry picking would be equally as fun, and we were right! We met up with his co-worker at her mother's house and waited for their family to all show up. Once their we did a caravan into the hills (where there is no cell reception, and D was VERY happy) on the hottest day in June. Triple digits were reached if I recall. When we parked and made our way to the front gate we saw the gigantic line to get into Villa del Sol orchard. We went opening weekend, just like everyone else. We stood in the line and while there I got sunburned on my shoulders, cause I was wearing a tank and forgot to put on sunscreen....oops.

Once it was finally our turn, we went in to hear the "Orchard Rules"....no climbing on the trees, no eating the berries before you pay, watch for rattlesnakes, and you have to spend $5 per person, which equates to about a pound and a half of fruit each. So we set off looking to pick no more than 3 pounds. Once under those trees, something came over us and we were on a picking frenzy. Each berry looked better than the last, and it needed to go in our bucket! We had so much fun taking photos and picking that we realized that we had a LOT of cherries. We took our bucket and went to pay. D saw the fresh honey and wanted that too! When the checker rung us up we had spent over $20 on cherries and honey! Whoops! It was so worth it though! Ripe cherries were the perfect summer snack after work, and they didn't last very long!

It was a fun afternoon and another check off our bucket list!

The orchard and flags

The deceiving buckets

D plucking a ripe berry

Love that face!

D and his co-worker

<3

Me picking

So ripe!

The Man Bouquet

I find numerous ideas on Pinterest, and no avail I tryout a handful of them. Yesterday was the hubbs birthday and I made some yummy cupcakes with Nerds candy in them as a pseudo funfetti cake. Then I topped them with green vanilla icing and some more Nerds and Sour Patch Kids. The candy in the mix made the vanilla cake taste a little tart, like a lemon cake. It was very interesting. Our friend Mr. P came over with hamburgers and we layed out by the pool for most of the afternoon. D and I got a little pink but nothing we can handle! Around 3 we went up to the apartment to get ready for dinner. D wanted to go to a local restaurant called The Tilted Kilt where the servers dress in revealing type kilts and bras. A Scottish Hooters if you would. Many friends and family came to celebrate him and it was filled with love and laughter. Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate him!

The hubbs with his cupcakes and the servers

Another thing I found on the site is something I am dubbing as a "Man Bouquet." It's essentially all his favorite items to drink and snacks stuck on skewers and displayed in a pot like a bouquet of flowers. It was so much fun to make and D smiled when I put it on the table. Makes me feel wonderful when I can get my man something he likes.

There you have it

Happy Birthday to my Love!

Today the love of my life turns another year older. We are officially the same age again. This is the 10th birthday that I have celebrated with him I every year they are more and more special, however harder and harder to buy for....anyone tell me what to get the guy that wants everything technology! I have something sneaky up my sleeve! We are heading out to a local pub tonight with his closest friends and family to eat good food and toast his day!

I want to wish you all the happiness on your birthday and know that I will always love you for the person that you are and for all the things that you do and continue to do. You keep our family grounded and I appreciate your silly side. You know that I let you win when we roughhouse, and when I don't it's cause you CHEAT! J/K I love that we can giggle and laugh about everything, including things that we have laughed about for 10 years. That's what makes us special. I love you so, and I hope you have an amazing birthday!

P.S. Congrats on getting your Notary License! Have fun at the lake!

Love your Babie!

Tuna Pasta Salad

Since its the hubbs b-day on Saturday I decided to make a couple of his favorite dishes. One of those is tuna pasta salad. So easy and the perfect summer dinner.

Tuna Pasta Salad

My family cook book!

Ingredients:
Shell Noodles
(2) cans Tuna
Mayonnaise (To taste)
Corn
Celery (Finely Chopped)
Green Onion (Finely Chopped)
Shredded Carrots
Salt and Pepper (To Taste)

Directions:
Cook shell noodles according to package directions. Fold all ingredients together. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Simple and quick. Perfect for those late nights, or lunches!

Flower Balls and Gunslinging Frenzy

So it seems like I never have any free time anymore! We are always off and running on new projects or new sights to see and whatnot. This weekend was no exception. Saturday, even though the hubbs had the weekend off, I had made plans to go out to Simi and help my mom's dear friend prepare for her daughter's wedding next month. We went over layouts, and then went into tying ribbons, stamping thank yous and helped her with her flower balls....all while out of the corner's of our eyes watching the 3 boxer pups out back playing it a hilarious manner. Back flips, in and out of the pool, and loud grunting noises kept our eyes and ears thoroughly entertained. D had an eventful afternoon as well. On the 4th, because of the fireworks that spooked our beloved pup we had to fix some unsightly damage to our door frame (she was desperately trying to get into our apartment.) His mom came over and they patched and painted. When he went to rinse off the patio, our hose exploded unexpectedly. So they made their 3rd trip to the home improvement store then settled in for a cold beer. When I got home I admired their work and set to make dinner. We watched 21 Jump Street after finally getting our cable box working properly and called it an early night.

Gracie, Lucy and Harley

Pretty flower balls for ceremony

Sunday was our relaxation day. We moseyed out of bed late, took a leisurely walk to get lunch with the pup and then went and sunbathed until it was time to head over to a local park for a friends church picnic. We met up with him early to hear about his 4th of July lake trip. We carpooled over to the park and sat with his parents and members of their church and had a wonderful dinner of Cajun Sausages (SO SPICY but YUMMY!) and I had potato salad, D had coleslaw. It was a perfect summer picnic including a presentation from rope twirler and gunslinger. He was hokey with his jokes, but his skills were pretty impressive. After that we went and played some pool and then headed home to crash out for work the next day.

I guess this is what summer is all about. Enjoying life, packing it full to the brim and enjoying the company that you choose. Looking forward to next weekend. D turns 29! :)

PS - Finished going through the photos from the A.O.P and the Queen Mary. Stayed tuned for that post coming this week!