More stress... less blog

Wow... do you ever notice that, the more stress you have in your life, the less you remember to blog??? Well, I am definitely seeing a pattern for me! It has been a LONG few weeks!!! I had started looking for a part time job because we have been financially tight with me going to school full-time and not working.

THEN, on the 19th of this month, my husband was laid off from his job! So, I became overwhelmed with trying to find a job. I have been applying everywhere (including places that we would have to MOVE to), sent out over 50 resumes, and have only had 2 job interviews. In the mean time... I had neglected my homework and am now royally paying for it! I am in my last week of classes thinking that I have the usual 7 days to catch up... NOPE!!!!!!! This week is only 3 days long! I am now on my last day and still have 4 papers due! Yikes!!!!

The nice thing is that I am currently in CALIFORNIA! My mom and I have had this trip planned for a while and, since I haven't gotten a job yet, I decided that I could still go. So, I am studying and typing away while sitting next to the pool! LOL Is there any better way to do homework?!!?

Well... I have to run (homework, you know) but, I will write soon and post some pictures from the Sunshine State!! BYE!

Mmmmmm.... Samples!

So.... my brother-in-law, Devin, is going to the Art Institute for a Culinary Arts degree and will be done this December. Right now he is going through some finals and in preperation for that, the head chef had split up the class into three groups and each had to come up with a variety of foods that they will be cooking for their families!!

Well, the "taste off," as I like to call it, was Tuesday and I was lucky enough to be in town and able to attend! It was amazing!! I felt like I was at some hoity toity appetizer party! LOL Here are some of the pictures of me, Devin, and his parents:

Now... of course, the photographer in me HAD to get some creative shots of Devin's team's masterpieces! Unfortunately, my camera and I were not communitcating on the same level that day, but her are some of the shots I got:

Birthday Celebrations!

On Saturday we went down to Utah County to visit with family and have a HUGE birthday BBQ! My mom's birthday was May 28th, my birthday and Kenny's Aunt Anne's birthday was on May 31st, and Kenny's mom's birthday is June 11th. So... we planned a fun BBQ at the park with a big cake!! We really had a great time!!! We were also able to have some pictures taken of us in my in-law's back yard. Here is our latest family portrait:

We reserved a pavilion at a park near my in-laws and had all the families meet there. My mother-in-law had premade some BBQ spare ribs that we kept warm on the grill at the park. She also made baked potaoes, other family members brought salad, fruit, soda, and we bought the cake!

Kenny went to Costco and picked out an enormous cake! It was so beautiful!! Tasted good too!!! White cake with cheese cake filling and buttercream frosting! My mother-in-law combined the ages of all the birthdays and got one candle for every 10 years! LOL

We played all kinds of games... this is Kenny's cousins playing a game called Ninja. It was so funny to watch them all!!

And, of course... there were presents!! This is me getting a new game called Bocce! It is a lot of fun!!!

We had a really great time and just wished that we could have stayed longer!

We have hit the 10 lb mark!!!

Alright!! As of this morning I have officially lost 10 lbs!!!! (This includes the 4 lbs I gained over my birthday and had to lose again!) I am so proud! I am doing really good on this "life change," as I like to call it. My daily routine Monday - Friday is swimming laps from 6:30am - 7:30am and then a 3 mile walk at 8:30am. I try to keep my calories between 1200-1500, but I always make sure that I burn more than I eat (except when it's my birthday!) LOL

My mom was here visiting on Sunday (her birthday was last week) and we celebrated together. This ended up working out great because Ken got called into work over night and I spent my birthday with my mom and friendly neighbors... so, at least I wasn't alone.

Here is a picture of my mom and me celebrating our birthdays alone together... wow! What an oxymoron! LOL By the way.... GREAT cake!!!!!