Hey OC...we have arrived!

Driving across the Bay BridgeDDriving 

So today is day 2 of the road trip to Sessions by the Sea.

We drove from Hagerstown, MD to Ocean City through torrential downpours! This is actually exactly what happened last year at this time too! But it was all good.

After about four hours in the car we made it here to the beach.

Our hotel room in the Holiday Inn is amazing! We have a beach view suite that is nothing short of pure awesomeness! We ate at Captains Galley in the Marriott and it was majorly delish!

I have yet to figure how to to scroll down and add labels to pictures on this iPad so I will have to add them later....for now....the following pictures include the OC magazine cover, driving across the Bay Bridge, different angles of our suite here and the patio looking out onto the ocean.  Last but not least, there is a picture of fudge and chocolate covered strawberries (while my friend hung in the bubble bath....I went for a little jog....and brought back fudge and chocolate covered strawberries from the Candy Kitchen...I successfully added back on any calories I lost from my jog!!!HA!!!

Hope everyone has an amazing Friday!! Maybe I will have some pretty weather to report...

Forever Cheesecake

Last night I met up two of my best girlfriends and we went out for a nice dinner! We met up in the Walmart parking lot and then drove together down to Southside Works in Pittsburgh. This is a cute little part of town that has recently been redeveloped with shopping, a splash area for kids, a river walk and a ton of great restaurants!

This is a picture from my cell phone of the Southside Works sign across the street from Cheesecake Factory!

This is from left to right me, Donna and Rosemarie. I love these girls - they are my biggest champions and they give the best advise ever and also are the best listeners ever!!!! And, they are gorgeous to boot!!

This is us after dinner! YUM!!! Cheesecake to go!!! I ate mine as soon as I walked in the door last night!!! HA! So yummy! If you have never go here and there is one near you - I promise - you will love it!!! Great food, unbelievable variety!! You have to try the wasabi encrusted tuna (I get it every time) and we all shared the lettuce wraps appetizer....well worth it if you get a chance to try it! YUM!

Back to school...

Well, it's back to school time here in PA and OH!  I have been getting emails with all my nieces and nephews back to school pictures and it just makes me sooo happy to see all these cuties getting ready for another year of new friends, old friends and lots of learning!!!

This is my little sisters twins that will be hitting up the Preschool for the first time this year! How cute are they?!?!?!?!

And this is their big sister (and my godchild) who is heading to Kindergarten this year...

Then we have these two beautiful girls - this is my older sisters oldest child (on the right) and her roomate - she is headed back to college for her second year (Yes, I changed her diapers)! She is the one on the right and she is in her second year at Villanova.

This is my older sisters other two kids....my niece and nephew - this is my nephews first year on high school and my niece is headed back to high school for her senior year!!!

And, not to leave anyone out, this is my brothers daughter who is not yet headed to school....but, I am sure of this is anything like the others - I will blink and she will be in high school!!!

And this is my brothers son, he is the youngest of all my nieces and nephews.....stay little forever!!!! HA!!

I wish for all of YOUR children a happy year filled with adventures in learning for life!!!!

She's alive!

Wow! That was a looooong blog break!
Thanks to all of you that checked in with me to make sure I was alive!
Life has gotten a little stressful and crazy.

One of my closest friends lost her daughter (I wrote about this in one of my last posts) and I have been spending a lot of time trying to be there for her and also work and take care of me. Well, after the death of her daughter she realized that her husband was a big lump of nothingness! He is a drug addicted piece of crap that does nothing and does not think he has a problem. It seems that for years she has been so focused on saving her daughter from drugs that she did not even notice what her husband was doing. So, to make a long story shorter, she has kicked him out (after a DUI) and now her entire world seems to be falling apart.

Any of you that pray, your prayers for Kimmy are appreciated. She seriously needs them!!!

I have been taking care of myself too though and have gotten in exercise everyday for the past two weeks! Yeah me! I am not weighing myself until Monday but have been making a lot of healthy choices lately!!! This afternoon (wednesday) I went for a four mile jog/walk on the montour trail-it was a beautiful day here in Pittsburgh.

Last night I took a little break from helping others and was invited to go to the Pittsburgh Pirates game with one of my best buddies Glenn and his family!!! It was a great game and soooo much fun! We had perfect weather and Pirates won 5-0!!!! Yeah! The first picture below is Glenn and I; the second is the pierogi race during a game break; the third is my favorite ballpark food-peanuts; and the fourth is a view of our city from PNC ballpark!

Thanks all for your patience during my lack of blogging....I promise I am back and I never stopped reading all of your updates!

Eating for an Army?!

OKAY!!! Enough of this already!!!

I am sick of this plateau I am on!!

I am working out like a maniac every night and burning over 1000 calories a day and NOT losing any weight!!

HELP!!

Is it possible that I am eating enough calories to defeat working out that much?!?!?!

This is my workouts this week so far:

Monday: 

1 hour Zumba

1 hour eliptical

Tuesday:

1/2 hour jogging

1 hour eliptical

Wednesday:

1/2 hour jogging

1 hour eliptical

Thursday:

1 hour step aerobics w/ abs and toning (w/ weights)

 1 hour eliptical

Friday:

Tonight will be 1 hour of Zumba

 

Oh well, I have been tracking exercise on my fitness pal and it is now time to add tracking food!!!

I am done with this PLATEAU!!!

Good bye weight!!!!!!!

Any ideas?!?!??!?! HELP!??!?!?!

 

RIP Becca July 14, 2012

 

Oh WOW! Where to start.  This beautiful (inside and out), young girl, Becca (21), lost her life this past weekend tragically. She was a passenger in a car that was driven by her 24 year old boyfriend. The boyfriend was suspected to be driving under the influence of cocaine and alcohol. He was speeding and could not navigate a turn and the Jeep he was driving flipped over into a utility pole and Becca was killed instantly. He lived...

This is the poster story for why people should never get into the car when someone else is driving intoxicated.  This is also the poster story for why we need to fight for our children's lives. Becca should still be here - it was not her time!! 

Don't get me wrong, I do not put full blame on the driver (although I will be in the front row cheering when he is convicted and sentenced for her death) but I think he has the majority of the responsibility here. Yes, she should not have been doing the things she was doing and yes, she could have and should have chosen to hang with a much higher level of people in society. But we all know what happens when we choose addiction over our families-it takes us to scary places and scary levels.

I have been friends with Becca's mother for many years now and I will always remember Becca as the caring, sweet, loving and respectful person she was when she was not loaded. Her and her sister would always come over and hang out in my papsan chair while their mother and I hung out - I have sooooo many fond memories of Becca and her sister growing up-I have know them since Becca was 7! She will be missed by all who knew her. She leaves behind many family and friends that will feel a huge void for many years to come but especially her son, Jaden, that is only two.  He may never remember her when he gets older...how sad for him to miss out on knowing that beautiful, loving young woman that was his mother!

 This is Becca and Jaden about a year ago....

 This is Becca about two weeks prior to her death....she just turned 21 and in this picture just purchased her first legal alcohol...

And this is Becca about two weeks prior to her death also - she is celebrating her 21st birthday with her son Jaden (2 here) and her family.

I will keep you posted on what happens to the boyfriend after toxicology reports come back. If you are a parent, hug your child very tight tonight and tell them you love them as I know Kimmy and George wish they still could!

Inspired

Today I am going to join up with Jamie for What I am Lovin' Wednesday! I am so excited to get moving on updating this blog everyday again!!! Let's do this!

I am lovin' that my exercise is back on track! After I switched from running (jogging that is) to Zumba and spin classes for a long period of time; it took me forever to be able to jog again! It was seriously like torture to run on the treadmill and I could hardly breath!!! But, after persevering for a few weeks, I am again able to run non-stop and breath!!! YEAH!!!!  My times are getting better too!!!! (11.26; 11.03 and even a 10.22 mile in there - that is AMAZING for me!) When I ran the Great Race in Pittsburgh about five years ago I had a pace of 12.55 and I thought that was fast! HA!!!  Thanks Sara for the inspiration!!!

I am lovin' that I have these two cuties to make me smile everyday! If they are not following me around and snuggling on me; they are sleeping alike....how stinkin' cute is that?!?!?! Love these two darlings!

I am lovin' both Chipotle burrito bowl and Chipotle guac!!! I am officially obsessed with guacamole - I LOVE IT!!!!!

I am lovin' these precious yummy delights from Trader Joes!!!!!! They have HUGE chunks of strawberries, pineapple, mango, passion fruit, and coconut flakes and they are only 80 calories each! Seriously amazing!!!!! Try them and I promise you will LOVE ME for this recommendation!!!!!!!!

I am lovin' that the my parents got me a new patio set for my birthday! I love it!! No more plastic green chairs and table!!!! Soooo cute and I also am lovin' that my flowers are growing amazing this year!!!! Love sitting out here!!!

And finally, I am lovin' a little fiber in my life! This is my go to snack (taking a break from Pop Chips) when I need a little crunch and quick take along snack. These are soooo yummy!!! Try em and you will like them!!! And no, I do not work for Trader Joes - I guess they just have lots of stuff to love!!!!!!!!! :-)

Happy Wednesday!!! Can't wait to see what everyone else is lovin'!!!!!!