Popin' it

This is how Mabel and I spent a good part of Monday night. 

Apparently I don't know how to take a video but you get the idea. :)  Also, yes she's naked.  She prefers it.  I consider it a win if she's got her diaper on.

Little Recap

Camping and Independence Day!  So I should have taken more pictures but it was a busy week. We were camping with my family till Friday.  I poured rain Wednesday and Thursday night so it was an adventure but I am happiest in the mountains regardless.


 When we got back from camping, we spent the rest of Friday playing Just Dance 4 on the PlayStation and watching movies.  Eric's mom came and stayed with us on Friday night and then on Saturday she took Mabel up to a reunion and Eric and I got to play tennis!  It was so great to get out!  Here are the few pictures I did take.



Tess and Maggie.  Maggie is one of Tess' favorite humans.

Her little pink camping chair!  I want a pink on too.

She just wanted to throw rocks into the creek all day

 

This week is crazy busy at work.  We are gearing up for the summer party and so I'm spending a lot of time hot gluing, glittering and painting.  I will put up pictures of the event so you can see all of the amazing work and planning that goes into this!    

A Name Plate and a Horse

So I will be working at reception more this summer than I had previously thought.  One of the regular receptionists is taking personal leave till September so I'm working Tuesdays and Thursdays and every other Friday at reception.  It's nice to do something different every other day.   And look!  I'm official!

On Sunday we went to Mona, UT (just North of Nephi) to visit with some of Eric's family.  We played some softball and I helped Mabel to feed a horse.

 

This horse was so sweet!  If I'm ever rich, I will have a horse and teach my kids to ride, although, I haven't been on one in years.  

 

Mabel feeding the horse.  She wasn't even scared to stick her hand under there to feed it!  I get a little nervous but they always just use their monster, big lips and this one even used it's tongue.  That was a little gross though.

 

 

Uncle Jared and Aunt Adree come on their motorcycle and Mabel wanted to take a ride.

 

Of course, I didn't let her and she was pretty mad when we made her get off.  Maybe when she's older.... 

 

 



A Hot Friday and Elise's Bridal Shower

Friday started with another jog with my mom but we decided to take Mabel and the jogging stroller.  Boy, that was not as fun as I thought it would be.  I was feeling week and Mabel was throwing a fit because she didn't want to be in the stroller.  We went 2 miles before I gave up and let her out.  Then she walked a mile with us and after I wouldn't hold her anymore, she was okay to get back into the stoller and watch Netflix on my phone.  (I should have thought of that sooner.) We did get to jog the last mile back but I didn't get that sense of freedom I usually go for.  The good news is that it was a beautiful trail and it is always to great to hang out with my mom and Mabel.  She's cute even when she's a stinker. 

Eric went to some meetings Friday so we went grocery shopping and then when to hang out at my parents house.  It was HOT so we let Mabelmoo get naked and play in the water.

Snacking on some peanuts and watching Mabel from the shade

 

 

Mabel wanted to still be in the pool even after it was emptied.  Naked time is the best. Then we watched an episode of Super Natural.  I'm getting my mom hooked on it. :)

 

Saturday was Elise's bridal shower!  I was incharge of the Sangria (Elisa loves that stuff).  It was apple juice concentrate, grape juice, sparkling water, lemons, limes, oranges and apples.  It was pretty strong stuff but she liked it so I was happy.  Check out all of the fruit in that!

 

 

My sister-in-law, Jenn, hosted and made awesome sugar cookies for little fruit pizzas.  They were amazing and I really struggled with not eating more than one!

 Ha this is Elise with a huge wad of bubble gum.  Jenn asked Aziz questions and for everyone Elise answered wrong, she had to eat a piece of gum and for everyone she got right, she got a dollar. In the end, Jenn gave her all of the ones anyway but I thought it was a cute idea to reward the correct answers!



In Elise's words "a pretty good haul!" Elise was so grateful and we can't wait for the wedding in August!

 

This week, Eric's mom is coming into town so we are meeting her for lunch on Wednesday and then we are going camping with my family up American Fork Canyon.  I'm SO excited.  Stay tuned for camping picutes and the 4th of July!

 

 

 

Anyone doing anything fun for the 4th?  

Jogging, Shopping, Carnival, and a Movie

Yesterday was a pretty busy day for us and one of the best I've had in a long time!  I started out my day with a 5 mile run on the Jordan Parkway behind Thanksgiving Point with my mom and her Rhodesian Ridgeback, Tess. 

When I got back, we got ready and went up to the outlets at Traverse Mountain and I scored some awesome deals!  Then it was on to the Strawberry Days Carnival in Pleasant Grove! We got there right when it opened so there was hardly anybody there yet.  That is best time to go for sure.  This was Mabel's first time on any rides and she LOVED it.

Her very first ride!  

 

Look at that cute face!

On the lady bug.  She was a bit nervous when it lifted up high but she liked it!

On the train.  Couldn't quite reach the steering wheel...

Flying Saucers! 

On the carousel. This was her favorite!  I had to pry her off the horse at the end.   Please excuse the awful angle and my fat looking arm...

Stawberries and cream!  So good!

Watching the carousel and asking to get back on!

 

 



Strawberry Days in PG is the highlight of every June!  I'm missing living there right now but hopefully we will go to the rodeo again.   She did NOT want to leave at the end and she was disappointed she couldn't ride the Ferris wheel.  I think she will be a thrill seeker when she's older.  Next we took some naps (I got a long one while Eric took Mabel out to eat and then to the park.  Bless that husband of mine!) and then went to Monster's University with my company.  She liked Monsters and everyone around us thought she was the cutest dancing in the isle and laughing at everything.  I wish we had more days like that! 

A Father's Day Jaunt

Father's Day was a good one this year!  I made Eric a very hearty breakfast burrito with eggs whites, cottage cheese, black beans, tomato, sweet onion and salsa with multi grain wraps.  They were pretty good! 

In the afternoon, we went up American Fork Canyon.  We thought the drive through the canyon would be nice and that Mabel would enjoy walking around Cascade Springs. Well, it was a nice drive but Mabel slept through the entire walk.

 

 

Once she's out, she's out for 2 hours come
hell or high water.

The pictures really don't do it justice but it was beautiful and we enjoyed our little walk.  Mostly, it got me itching to do some real hiking.  It's hard to get out when you have a toddler!

Once we got home, we made a spaghetti with sauce made from fresh tomatoes, fresh mushrooms, fresh basil, fresh onion and olive oil.  It was fantastic and good for us!   We have really enjoyed spending time in the kitchen together lately.  I guess cooking yummy healthy meals can be our one thing we have in common.

After dinner, Eric went to work and Mabel and I went to see my daddy!  We just hung out on the patio and Adam made us dutch oven apple cobbler.  YUM.  That was the first sugar I've had since Thursday and it was worth it. Mabel has lots of fun playing with her cousins so I love when we get together. 

In short, I love dads, mountains, food, summer and  family so it was a wonderful day!

An experiment in juicing

 Eric and I watched a few documentaries this last week that motivated us to be more careful about what we eat.  The first one was Hungry for Change.  That one was by far my favorite and then we watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  You can watch both on Netflix and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is on Hulu and Hungry for Change is at www.hungryforchange.tv.

Hungry for Change is just about what is in processed foods and why we should eat natural products with nutrients and the second was about a guy who used a juicer to make juice solely from fruits and veggies and he only drank those for 60 days and lost a ton of weight. 

So, of course, we bought a juicer and TONS of veggies and some fruit!  My goal was to do a 3-Day Cleanse.  Eric's original goal was 60 days, then 30, then 10.  He made it 2 days and I made it a day and a half.  Eric thought they tasted good but he was getting sick (apparently it takes 4 days for your system to adjust and be running on the juice) and didn't care to continue. 

I will still juice fruit sometimes and maybe do a Green Machine once in a while for the nutrients but I thought the green one was nasty.  I might have liked them better if I didn't have a canker sore in my mouth that would sting with every acidic sip.  Eric likes them and he will probably keep replacing one meal a day with it. 

The Green Machine:

I used a straw to help suck it down as fast as
possible.

This is is half of the following recipe:

2 Green apples
1/2 of a lemon, peeled
4 celery sticks
1 Cucumber
2 big handfuls of kale
1 piece of ginger, peeled the size of a thumb.

I did run hills for 4 miles the second day so I was okay on energy but I think that is more due to the fact that I drank some almond milk with protein powder.  I think that is cheating... 

Anyway, now that we were unsuccessful with the juice diet/cleanse we went back to Winco (best for produce, by the way) and bought a ton more of veggies and fruit with some whole grains like short grain brown rice and wild rice.

  I'm using a cookbook I borrowed from my mom called The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook: Great-Tasting Recipes That Keep You Lean.  Since we know how hard it is to live on only juice, eating with out processed food seems like a breeze so it ended up being a good thing.