Category Archives: Friends

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

Chunky Dunkers is a weekly weight loss/get fit support group that meet here online every Wednesday evening to get the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

As always, everyone and anyone is welcome to join us, or you may feel free to just quietly follow along. I look forward to hearing about all of your successes!

This week I have had my proverbial ear to the railroad tracks all week looking for some creative hints, tips and ideas to help us in our weight loss/get fit journey this week, and I think I found 4 really JUICY ones, that I just couldn’t WAIT to share with you tonight!!!

  1. When you get to your first 5 pound loss, or even 10 pound for that matter, and you feel like you still have SOOOOO MUCH to lose, go purchase a 5 or a 10 pound bag of potatoes and carry them around in a backpack all day. You will realize, soon enough, what great progress you are making!! Those 5 pound increments really add up!!
  2. Too embarrased to work out in front of anyone else, or more like my current complaint “It’s too hot!” Try jogging in place! That counts toward burning those calories too! and if that is too much try marching in place, or just stand instead of sit to watch the tele!!
  3. I stumbled across someone’s idea of charting a destination on a map, and seeing if you could “walk” to that location in a certain time-frame. For example could I walk to, say..Portland, Oregon (45 miles) in a month, and start tracking your progress on a map. Once you get to your first destination, choose the next, and so forth. How long do you think it would take to walk across the US??
  4. and finally, my Sweetie did this tonight at dinner, take a chicken breast and slice it in half horizontally, so it looks like you are eating two small chicken breast instead of one cut in half ! TOTALLY FOOLED ME!! That man is a genius!!! 😉

Do you have any ideas you would like to share?? Please do so in the comment section above.

Now, before I join you in the comments section for our weekly get-together, I wanted to make sure that I share my 5 Gratitudes with you for the day!

  1. I am thankful to have a husband who is happy in his new job – that is so REFRESHING to come home to!! 😉
  2. I am thankful for Kelly Rae Robert’s online class, “Flying Lessons” – it is re-awakening my sense of hope!
  3. I am still so thankful for my girlfriends at work!! Seriously, they can make ANYTHING fun!!
  4. I am thankful for my daddy! I have been thinking about him a lot lately, and I have to confess just the thought of him makes me smile with giddyness!! I love you, Daddy!! 😉
  5. I am thankful that God is helping me find work/life balance! Life is waaaay  more fun when you aren’t swimming in the mire of trying to please the whole-wide-world!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

Scandavian Festival!

Good evening!

I am very happy to share with you pictures from the second half of our outing with Amy and Leif yesterday at the Scandinavian Festival in Junction City, Oregon.

They had the cutest little shops buildings set up!

Here is Amy and Leif waiting patiently for Jason and I to catch up to them!

Here is Jason and I – we were really having such a very good time!

I can’t remember what this is called, but it is a Scandinavian wedding cake, if I remember correctly.

Isn’t this little windmill just adorable!! I ended up with tons of pictures of this cute little building. This was the min information desk.

I could have sat and watched these dancers all day. The announcer said that they had actually just arrived from Sweden the previous day – AMAZING!

OMG! I have to tell you about these little donuts. Jason discovered them, of course! These are the size of a quarter, and they had the coolest machine making these. From dropping the hoops of dough, to cooking the dough on side one, to flipping the donuts, to pulling them out of the machine. It was the size of a little toaster!! Jason not only wanted to eat these donuts, he wanted to take the donut-making-machine home. HAHAHA! Too funny!! 😉

Oh, and Jason had fun playing with the little wooden toys for children. He could’ve played with this little hen-pecking toy for hours. I mean, just look at the contentment on his face – SO OBVIOUS!! He is my big kiddo! I just LOVE this man!! 😉

They had some amazing hand woven rugs! I particularly LOVE this design, and the colors of this one!

There were a lot of people walking around in costume – it was a very fun and festive atmosphere!!

This painting was around the windows of one of the buildings. It was so cute, and I was just so impressed. It made me think about our little farm! I wonder if I could do a look like this on our little shed that I know we will have in the back! I can’t wait!!

All-in-all, Jason and I had the most memorable time with Amy and Leif, and I know we are already looking forward to the next opportunity to get together and make some more memories!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

A Day at the Farmer’s Market!

Good evening!
My sweetie and I had the best kind of day today – we got to spend the day with our friends, Amy and Leif, which we hadn’t seen in almost a year. After finally getting to their place, we had gotten lost a few times, we started our day together by heading out to a lovely little cafe for a delectable breakfast. We spent the morning just catching up, and filling each other in on what has been going on with ourselves since we’ve last seen each other.
 
After breakfast, we headed over to the local farmer’s market. The Lane Country farmers market, completely blows ours in Salem away. It is more the 3 times as large, and it has such a bigger variety of booths, farmers, entertainment, and just more of EVERYTHING to see!!

 
Aren’t Leif and Amy just adorable?? They are so much fun to hang out with, they are so in love, and optimistic that it is just contagious!! I am sure that Jason felt that too!
 
My sweetie and I had so much fun walking around, playing, looking for treasures, and all sorts of lovely things to take pictures of!

 
There was so many delicious looking vegetables! It really gave us so many ideas for our little raised garden that we are planning on building for next Spring’s planting season.

 
Plus the many varieties of fresh, and colorful fruit and berries!!! Oh, makes me want to get a batch of freezer jam going!!

 
There was all kinds of honey, but this one in this little corked jar, was just the cutest!

 
And this artisan bread was hard to resist, and isn’t it just picture perfect? Smelled divine too!!

 
and let’s not forget all of the lovely flowers that the vendors had for sale. They were such a great value. Amy bought a large bouquet, and when she got it home, she was able to split it among 4 vases! Such a great deal, and they add such a personal touch to anyone’s home!
I ended up getting a simple pair of sparkly earrings, that were just too perfect to pass up, some  fresh cucumbers, and a small lavender plant – one of my FAVORITE plants!! I can’t wait to get it potted and watch it grow!! After going to the farmer’s market, Jason, Leif, Amy, and myself all headed across town to visit the Scandinavian Festival. I was able to get a lot of pictures of that too that I will be able to share with you tomorrow!

So, as I go finish my night out with my sweetie…

Have a FABULOUS evening!!  😉

Day at the Farmer’s Market!

Good evening!

My sweetie and I had the best kind of day today – we got to spend the day with our friends, Amy and Leif, which we hadn’t seen in almost a year. After finally getting to their place, we had gotten lost a few times, we started our day together by heading out to a lovely little cafe for a delectable breakfast. We spent the morning just catching up, and filling each other in on what has been going on with ourselves since we’ve last seen each other.

After breakfast, we headed over to the local farmer’s market. The Lane Country farmers market, completely blows ours in Salem away. It is more the 3 times as large, and it has such a bigger variety of booths, farmers, entertainment, and just more of EVERYTHING to see!!

Aren’t Leif and Amy just adorable?? They are so much fun to hang out with, they are so in love, and optimistic that it is just contagious!! I am sure that Jason felt that too!

My sweetie and I had so much fun walking around, playing, looking for treasures, and all sorts of lovely things to take pictures of!

There was so many delicious looking vegetables! It really gave us so many ideas for our little raised garden that we are planning on building for next Spring’s planting season.

Plus the many varieties of fresh, and colorful fruit and berries!!! Oh, makes me want to get a batch of freezer jam going!!

There was all kinds of honey, but this one in this little corked jar, was just the cutest!

And this artisan bread was hard to resist, and isn’t it just picture perfect? Smelled divine too!!

and let’s not forget all of the lovely flowers that the vendors had for sale. They were such a great value. Amy bought a large bouquet, and when she got it home, she was able to split it among 4 vases! Such a great deal, and they add such a personal touch to anyone’s home!

I ended up getting a simple pair of sparkly earrings, that were just too perfect to pass up, some  fresh cucumbers, and a small lavender plant – one of my FAVORITE plants!! I can’t wait to get it potted and watch it grow!! After going to the farmer’s market, Jason, Leif, Amy, and myself all headed across town to visit the Scandinavian Festival. I was able to get a lot of pictures of that too that I will be able to share with you tomorrow!

So, as I go finish my night out with my sweetie…

Have a FABULOUS evening!!  😉

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

Chunky Dunkers is a weekly weight loss/get fit support group that meet here online every Wednesday evening to get the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

As always, everyone and anyone is welcome to join us, or you may feel free to just quietly follow along. I look forward to hearing about all of your successes!

Let me give you a quick progress of my week! I have lost the pound and a half that I had put on last week – YEAH!! It is amazing how that small number seems to make such a big difference in how I feel about what I am doing. Besides walking, and one night of swimming, I really haven’t done much of my regualr exercise routines! I skipped belly dancing and Zumba so far this week. I have been nursing some knee pain, and then twisted my ankle so am working through that! Jason has been doing a great job at cooking some really delicious and healthy food! It has made our week of healthy eating much easier!!

Anyway, the topic for conversation this evening:

What 5 things would you do if you knew that you could not fail???

Give that some thought, I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section above!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Monday Night Date Night!

Good evening!

Jason and I have been having some trouble getting some quality time together, so to make up for it, we decided that we would do a Monday night date, and man did we ever have fun!!

First thing we did was head over to the Wild Pear downtown to have some dinner. Jason introduced me to their French Dipped sandwich, and OOH-WEE!!! That was soooo good!! The au jus was SIMPLY LIP-SMACKINGLY GOOD!!!

Jason was patient enough to let me stop and take a bunch of pictures of this bank, which just also happens to be my favorite building downtown. I will make sure to share those pictures tomorrow. What I do want to make sure I point out today is just how LOVELY this purse is that Jason is carrying – it just brings out his eyes!! HAHAHAHA!! What a good hubbie!! 😉

There are so many beautiful little hidey-holes downtown that are absolutely PERFECT for taking a nice picture in!! Jason is standing next to a gigantic vine arbor that grows inside one of the alleyways downtown! I just LOVE how beautiful it is, and isn’t my sweetie so adorable?? Man, I really love that man!! 😉

After walking a little ways, we ran across Jason’s FAVORITE coffee shop. Unfortunately it has closed, and Jason is still really blue about it!! It really was a cool little place, it is a shame that it closed!! 🙁

Oh, but onto brighter news!!! Jason and I happened to be walking by the Pentacle Theatre’s ticket office, and we decided to go inside and see what was playing this Friday.

We saw that it was “The Underpants” written by Steve Martin, one of our favorite funny men, so Jason and I picked up tickets for this Friday night! We both are SOOOO EXCITED, and just CAN’T WAIT!! 😉

Next Jason and I stopped to get something cool to drink together and while we were just chatting it up, I realized that I had lost his attention. “UHMM… helllooooo! I am up here!”

Oh, yes! That is right Mr. Man – you have SOOOO TOTALLY been caught!! LOL!!

We had such a nice time this evening – we really needed that! We both have been spending so much time taking care of others that we somehow forgot that we both need to be tending to each other too!! So, we are making a concerted effort to make sure that we are doing just that – and man, what a GREAT TIME we are having too!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

He’s Still Got It!

Good evening!

Jason and I had some lovely visitors yesterday while we were having our garage sale, and I had just happened to capture a few of the cutest pics that I wanted to share with you.

This is my nephew Morgan, and my niece Megan. I really miss these two cuties – we haven’t spent too much time together recently – their family has been SUPER-BUSY!! 😉

Here is our nephew, John. I took 5 pictures of him, and he was frozen like a statue – EVERY single picture was IDENTICAL!! TOO FUNNY!! 😉

This is our adopted free-spirited little sister, Cicily!! She is taking a break from helping with our garage sale to enjoy some rare Oregon sun.

Now, when these two get with their Uncle Jay-Jay hilarity ensues!! What you can’t see is that Uncle Jay-Jay is tickling them!! 😉

and here is little Miss Megan acting shy peeking out behind her mamma!! I definitely need to get some Auntie Time scheduled!! We need to go get some serious pampering time in!!!

I hope you enjoyed these pictures! Even though their visit was short, we made a swim date to get together again on Tuesday – I REALLY can’t wait!!! 😉

Until tomorrow…

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Gratitude!

Good evening!

Jason and I had a long garage sale today, on a day that was much too hot to be standing in the sun all day, and with not much foot traffic. We are both very tired and ready to close the house down for the evening! So, I am going to try and keep this post nice and short.

First, I thought I would start with an update from yesterday’s post. I am happy to say that Jason and I are doing much better today. One of our friends said to me, “17 years is a lot of one-day-at-a-times”.

It was what I needed to hear.

Somehow Jason and I had forgotten that every relationship is about dealing with the one-day-at-a-times, and not clumping all of the would-a, should-a, could-a’s and lobbing them at each other.

With that reminder, the decision has been made. We are going to do our best and work it out. At the end of the day, the scale tips much heavier towards good days than bad, and we are going to chalk yesterday up to one of the not so pleasant days. I know that we will both be missing out on A LOT of happy tomorrows together, if either one of us give up now. So, for us, we decided that we weren’t going to let walking away from each other be an option – we have been through too much to let all of this go because, in a moment of exhaustion, we argued about something petty! (and in all honesty, I don’t even remember what started it!)

Before I leave you this evening, I wanted to say “thank you”. Truly. The outpouring of love, prayer, and support that Jason and I have received has been overwhelming. I am so thankful that we have the kind of support group that seems to just come from everywhere to stand by us, laugh with us, cry with us, pray with us, and simply love us. For all of the words of encouragement we have received from friends, and family within the last 24 hours, I am truly grateful! I truly hope that we can return the favor some day when you are needing a pick me up!!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Tonight, I can HONESTLY say…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Chunky Dunker Night!

Good evening!

I am the type of person that has always been on the lookout for signs. I am a firm believer that there are signs all over the place telling you what direction to go next, you just have to know how to spot them. Well, today, I have been noticing signs all over the place about not giving up on your goals. I really needed to hear that today! Today I recommit myself to focusing on my top 4 goals, one of which is getting fit and healthy, which is why I bring this up tonight – on Chunky Dunker night!

Chunky Dunker, for those of you who may not know is a weekly weight loss/get fit support group that meet here online every Wednesday evening to get the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! We will discuss hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!!

As always, everyone and anyone is welcome to join us, or you may feel free to just quietly follow along. I look forward to hearing about all of your successes!

As for my week, I have done alright – not as good as I did last week, but I have been nursing a slight knee injury that seems to have knocked me for a little bit of a loop. Not to worry, I am going to get back into the swing of things by hitting the pool a couple of more times this week, especially since the thermostat is rising, and ANY way to keep cool, is good enough reason for me!! I haven’t actually lost any more weight, but I am dropping inches; and besides occasionally burning my candle at both ends, so to speak, I am feeling pretty peppy!! 😉

Well, that is enough about me this evening! I can’t wait to hear how all of you are doing! I will meet you in the comments section!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Aaaaaah Hope!

Good evening!

You know what I’ve received as a gift today??

HOPE!!!

HOPE that things will get better, HOPE that I am not stuck in my job, HOPE that I am not stuck in my condo, and HOPE that I will get the opportunity to make my dreams come true! Someone gifted that to me today, and she may not even have known it! That someone was my realtor Nicole Shuba!! She was the same person who helped us find out condo, way back when – can you believe that we have been here 5 years????

I met with her after work today to find out if we had any kind of options, housing-wise,  in this market, or if we are just going to have to be a little more patient and wait it out! Her answer surprised me!!! She did say that we may have to just be patient and ride it out, but she also gave me a few ideas on things that I could do in the meantime, which was a breathe of fresh air!!

Not only that, she shared with me some of her goals that she has already accomplished – some goals that I also have on my list, mind you!! She showed me that if I just remain diligent, then I will be able to accomplish some of my goals too!!! Owning my little farm, traveling to Paris, and Italy, owning my own little business on the side, while I am waiting for the market to turn around, or at least for me to get my nest egg to where I want it to be so that I have some breathing room.

My meeting with her just reminded me that I am truly blessed, and that not only is God watching out for both my sweetie and myself, but He has bigger plans for us than we could have ever imagined, and they are on their way to us!!

Thank you, Nicole!! You truly did make my week!! I needed to hear everything you said, and to see your smiling face really put me at ease!! I can’t wait until I am able to have you sell this place, and help us purchase the next place – won’t that be an amazing day???

For all of the rest of us. I challenge us to go out of your way reach out to someone in your circle and share with them some words of encouragement! You may not know it, but maybe you will be making someone’s week too!

Have  a FABULOUS evening!! 😉