Weekend Wrap Up

I know it’s already Tuesday of the new week, but I was pretty beat yesterday after work so I’m only getting around to it now.

Friday:  Kevin and I got off work early because we were attending the Crown Royal Tasting at the California Rodeo in Salinas this night. I worked at the California Rodeo for a little over five years throughout high school and some of college. I absolutely LOVED that job! I was very good at what I did (which was part office manager/part admin assistant/part committees manager/part everything else) and not only did the job come with great perks, but the people who are a part of this association as such a fun group of people; I pretty much grew up with them. Anyways, even though I don’t live in Salinas anymore, I still like to take part in some of the events the Rodeo puts on throughout the year. Crown Royal is the sponsor for the Rodeo again this year, and this event was pretty fun. There were five different versions of Crown that we tasted. Even though the shots were itty bitty, they still hit you pretty hard! Whoa! Everyone really started feeling them after about the second taste (I may have forgot to mention that there was also an open bar, ha!)! I went a little overboard with the picture-taking, but I’m glad I made sure to document it all. I wish I would’ve thought to take a picture of the tables and presentation of the tasting – it turned out really nice.

Alison and her boyfriend, Ken

Kevin and me

Dad and Mom

Mom and my brother, Jared.

Me and Margie 

Margie is literally like my second mom. She’s the one who hired me when I got the job at the Rodeo. She is probably one of the funniest people I know. She has a great sense of humor, is such a positive person, and has the most patience of anyone I’ve ever met. Margie and my mom are really close friends as well, so it’s always fun when we get together. She will definitely be among the few to come with me when I go wedding dress shopping (if Kevin ever pops the question!). She has two boys who are about my age, so she won’t get to really experience the whole dress shopping thing (unless one of her sons gets married and the bride invites Margie, but you get the point!) and I value her opinion and I think she’d enjoy the experience.

Kevin won this Crown Royal hat in the raffle! He said it looked too much like Lakers colors, so he gave it to my dad (Kevin is a Kings fan).

Jared in the hat (no he wasn’t drunk! lol)

Mom and Margie

Jared and Margie

Dad and me (it’s very rare that he smiles in pictures – I think the shots of Crown have hit him at this point!)

Us ladies!

Mom and Alison

Me and brother

Me and Sheri (Sheri is another good friend I worked with at the Rodeo)

Dad and Kevin

Saturday:  Well, needless to say, thanks to the previous night’s festivities, everyone in the household was moving a little slow this day and pretty much hungover. Not me, though! :) I made sure not to overdue it the night before and I felt just fine come Saturday morning. However, I was extremely tired because I didn’t sleep well at all the night before, but eventually Kevin and I made it out of the house and walked Kahlua and one of my parents’ dog, Cleo. We jogged a little too. Boy do those dogs love walks! Afterwards, Kevin and I headed over to the driving range. It was such a beautiful day that I didn’t just want to sit inside all day, so I’m glad we managed to do that. Considering it was the first time I’ve hit any balls in about a year, I wasn’t too shabby! It sure makes me excited to begin golfing again when it gets warmer. Luckily we have a couple courses nearby so it’s not such an effort to get out on there.

Kevin getting in position!

After the driving range we were famished (I love that word) so we headed over to Rosita’s in Oldtown Salinas for lunch. If any of you are ever in Salinas, you MUST try Rosita’s Armory Cafe. It is seriously the best Mexican food I have ever had. Now, my Grandma Hank is 100% Mexican, and she would always make her Mexican food from scratch, but I must admit that this is better than my Grandma Hank’s cooking (shhh…don’t tell her I said that ;)). It’s on Salinas Street right near where Hullaballoo’s used to be.

From there we headed home, showered and I went to the grocery store with Mom so we could get stuff for dinner that night. Dad smoked salmon and we had some pasta and salad. It was delicious! We watched some MMA fighting that night because Kevin was friends with one of the guys who fought (and also won), hot tubbed then headed to bed.

Sunday:  I had a much better sleep Saturday night and it felt good to sleep in this morning. Dad made eggs, chorizo and fried potatoes and we had fruit. Boy was it good! Kevin and I headed home about 12 and were able to spend the rest of the day relaxing.

I headed over to Home Depot to try and find some plants because the ones in our front yard died during the freeze this Winter. Of course, the two Home Depots I went to didn’t have the plant I was looking for. I don’t know the name of the plant but it’s a green/maroon-ish color, the leaves are more like blades, it has a soft look about it, and it sprouts these random furry things at the end. I’ve been trying to look online for it and this is the closest I could come to finding a picture of it:

I think it’s some form of a Miscanthus sinensis (I Googled it – I’m not that smart!). So next weekend I’m going to try Orchard Supply and also Lowes. A store around here has to have it! It looks really good near our red front door, and I love the soft effect it has.

Monday:  Since it’s now almost Wednesday, I might as well document Monday too…I had two doctor appointments scheduled for this day. My ‘lady’ appointment ;) and an appointment to get some moles (or as I like to call them beauty marks) checked out to make sure none looked cancerous and to see about getting a couple removed. For some reason I thought my first appointment was at 4:00 on this day, but once I got to work I saw that it was definitely at 2:30. During this time my second appointment was cancelled, so while I got to leave work at 1, I had to waste probably two hours of PTO because of the cancelled appointment (I could’ve scheduled my first appointment later had I known I wasn’t going to have a second appointment).

Anyways, my appointment went well – which is always good. I got put on a different pill because the one I was on (Yaz) has a propensity to cause blood clots, and my doctor was kind of concerned about that. Hopefully this new one doesn’t make me have any weird side effects. I’m pretty sensitive to any type of medication so we’ll see how it goes. While I was in the waiting room I saw pregnant women who were coming in for their appointments. I love pregnant women! I always wonder about their circumstances: if theirs was a planned pregnancy, if they had any difficulties getting pregnant, if they are happy, scared, worried or dreading becoming a mommy. I want to be a mommy SO BAD and I cannot wait until the day I find out we’re pregnant. I pray all the time that we won’t have any problems conceiving and that we’ll have a healthy baby. Kind of crazy considering we’re not even engaged yet! But, it’s definitely something I think about all the time and I envy these moms-to-be and what they get to experience.

Okay…enough of that. After my appointment and waiting what seemed like forever in the pharmacy I went grocery shopping and was home before 5:00! I started on dinner right away and made Swedish meatballs, salad and bread. It all turned out so good! I didn’t screw up dinner for once!

And that pretty much sums up the past five days! Hope you all had a good one!

Don't Make Me Hide You!

Kevin likes Southpark and he was watching an episode last night and they were making fun of Facebook. It was actually really funny. I'm not really a Southpark fan but I stuck around for this episode. I'd post a clip from it but I'm not that bloggy-saavy so I'll just leave it to you to go search for it if you so choose.

Anyhoo! The episode got me thinking about my FB "friends." I have a tendency to hide "friends." I can't quite delete them because I'd feel bad, but for those "friends" that continually make negative posts day in and day out - HIDDEN! For those "friends" that like to let the world know about their political beliefs - HIDDEN! For those "friends" that have horrible (and I mean horrible) spelling and grammar - HIDDEN! For those "friends" that constantly post about their Farming - HIDDEN! For those "friends" that are judgemental - HIDDEN! I like to read uplifting things on FB. I don't need to hear about your political views and if you like or dislike Obama. I don't really care, so I'd just rather not read them at all. I don't even know what the Farming thing is and it really just takes up space on my screen, so I feel so much better not having to see those things all the time. Those with the horrible grammar, I just can't even concentrate on the post because I'm so wrapped up in trying to decipher what they're trying to spell or make a sentence out of, I'd just rather not take the effort and be done with them. I know everyone has difficulties in life, and I understand the need to vent...no biggy. But there are some "friends" who feel the need to expel their negativity throughout every post and I just don't need that in my FB life. ;)

'Why don't you just not be on FB altogether, Kaysie?' you ask. Well, I don't think I'd survive. LOL. Oh of course I'd survive, but I love FB for the fact that it's reconnected me with some high school girlfriends that I've lost touch with over the past eight or nine years and I LOVE being able to reconnect with them! Even though most live throughout the U.S., I'm still able to feel connected to them and celebrate with them during the happy times, and be sad with them during the bad times.

So if you don't want to be hidden: no constant complaining, no Farming, no politics, good grammar and no judgements. If you'd like to be hidden...then please proceed.

PS: This was all in good fun. I'm bored today and felt like posting a little bloggy-blog ;)

Frustrated

So I'm feeling a little frustrated today. I've been working out hard for the past three weeks, five to six time per week, sometimes twice a day. I haven't weighed myself in the past three weeks until this morning and our stupid scale has not even budged for me! What's with that!? Either our scale is broken, or there's something internally wrong with me (most likely not), but I can't believe that I haven't even lost one measly pound!! It just makes me want to stop and just sleep in every day.

Granted, my clothes are fitting better and I can tell that the flab on my stomach and butt is getting tighter, but I want to see definitive results on a scale! I've been eating smaller portions and staying below or at my daily calorie goal, so I don't know what the deal is. I really think it's our scale, so I'm just going to keep telling myself that until I can weigh myself on my parent's scale this weekend while I'm visiting them.

Really, this is such an insignificant thing to be frustrated or feel defeated about, because in the grand scheme of things there are people in this world who are dealing with FAR more important and life-threatening things than my stupid weight loss set-back. So don't think I don't realize this. But it's my blog, and I just felt like doing a little venting today.

By the way, please keep this family and little 7-year-old boy in your prayers. I found this blog through Margaux's blog, and I can't believe the strength these parents have, as well as their children who have to suffer through it all. It really puts things in perspective for me when I feel like complaining about the above menial issues in my life.

God bless.

La La Land

My friend, Maygan, FINALLY sent me the videos that I’ve been waiting on to make this post. It really isn’t that big of a deal, but I like putting videos into my blog now, so I chose to wait. It only took forever! LOL! J/K Maygan!!! ;)

I took this trip almost a month ago, so I’ll try to remember the best I can. It’s probably better that I am posting this so long afterwards, that way I won’t feel the need to include every single detail and make this post unnecessarily long.

So I left on a Thursday night and flew out of SFO. Luckily, SFO is only about a 35 minute BART ride from my work, so I packed up everything that morning, headed to work, and then left early and was on my way! The flight took about an hour and Maygan and Alana picked me up in Long Beach. Boy was I glad to see them! I miss my girls so much (I really don’t have any GF’s here where I live). We went back to their place and had chicken tacos (ooohhhh so good) and had a couple of very LARGE glasses of Bacardi Limon and Diet Pepsi (the diet is important right?!). And pretty much that night we just talked, and talked, and talked, and talked some more. It was so nice to catch up with everyone and gossip and talk about life in general.

The next day Alana had class (she’s getting her degree in interior design!), so Maygan and I got up and headed on over to the tanning salon. I haven’t been in forever and I don’t usually like being the first one to use a tanning bed because it’s usually cold and the bulbs don’t get hot enough to give me any color. Unfortunately, this is what happened this time, so the tanning trip was pretty much useless for me. But Maygan got a lot of color so at least one of us did! :) Afterwards, we went back to her place and got ready and headed over to where her sister works so we could have lunch with her. I can’t remember the town her sister works in, but we drove all the way down PCH (Pacific Coast Highway, in case anyone outside of California reads this blog) in her Mustang convertible and it was so beautiful out! I definitely got some sun from that car ride. Here’s a picture of the ocean side that I took on the way…

And here’s a picture of Maygan looking hot in her convertible!

Here are some more picture’s from lunch…

Maygan’s mom Margaret, Maygan’s cousin Kaylynn, Maygan and Maygan’s prego :) sister Michelle.

Maygan and Me

After lunch (we had Panera Bread btw, and that is so yummy!) we headed back to Maygan’s, got our stuff together (Alana was home by this time) and the three of us headed out and on our way to Anaheim. We stayed at the Sheraton on Friday and Saturday night. We wanted to do something different this time during my visit, and we knew we wanted to go to Disneyland, so Maygan had the idea that we just stay in a hotel – it was a great idea too! We got there and vegged out for a little by eating layered bean dip and some cocktails.

Maygan and Alana vegging out!

Then we decided to get ready for a night on the town!

Maygan likes how I do her hair. This was in the process. The final result turned out good :)

Here’s a self picture I tried to get of us in our room after we got all gussied up.

We weren’t quite sure where we were going and just kind of settled on going to Downtown Disney and see where the night took us. While we were waiting for the shuttle, we sat at the hotel bar and there was this really cool lady bartender there. She was a hoot! She suggested that since we were all prettied up for the night, that we should head on over to Downtown Fullerton because it’s a “college town” and there are a lot of bars down there. So we decided to do that instead. Thank you lady bartender – we had so much fun thanks to your suggestion! :) Here are some pictures of us as we were having a cocktail in the hotel bar…

We got a cab to Downtown Fullerton and the cab driver was something else!!  His name was John, and he was probably 250 pounds, had this really long gray beard, and looked like he walked straight out of the 70s. He pretty much told us his whole life story of how he has seven kids (only two have the same mother) and that a few of the kids mothers’ died and he ended up getting custody of his kids that way, and on and on. He was quite entertaining. He also told us he’s been to over 3,000 concerts in his lifetime. Crazy! Anyways, he took us to a bar and I gave him a $10 tip because I was really into his storytelling and he was a nice man. LOL!

So we bar-hopped pretty much the whole night. There really are a ton of bars in Downtown Fullerton. I was pretty disappointed in the music quality of these establishments though, because not one was playing Lady Gaga! I *heart* Lady Gaga BIG TIME, so that was a let-down for me; but other than that it was an excellent night! I only managed to get two pictures while we were out.

Me and Alana

My attempt at an “artsy” photo. Ha!

At the end of the night we got a cab back to our hotel. Bless the poor cab driver’s heart – we made him go through the Jack in the Box drive thru on our way back to the hotel. Boy were we a bunch of lushes! I somehow managed to lose control of the curly fries on our way up to the room and these grease stains on the sidewalk that you see below, were the result of the runaway curly fries.

Apparently after Maygan and Alana passed out, I proceeded to clean up the entire hotel room. Did I not tell you I’m a neat freak?! Maygan woke up the next morning and thought the maid had come in during the night and cleaned our room. LOL! I tend to do that after a night of drinking.

Saturday morning we took our sweet little time to get ready for the day (aka recover from the night before) and we headed over to Downtown Disney for lunch at the ESPN Zone. They have the most amazing chicken wraps btw! Afterwards, we headed on over to Disneyland and spent the rest of the day/night at the park.

Let me interject here and just inform you all that I’m not really a fan of amusement parks or roller coasters. There are just far too many people at these venues and I get motion sickness really easily so the rides just don’t do anything for me. But! I really wanted to be there with Maygan and Alana and spend time with them and get joy out of the fun they have on the rides and around all those god-forsaken people roaming that park! It’s INSANE how many people go to Disneyland! Here are some pictures I was able to get of us during our time at the park…

My favorite picture of the weekend! 

The (dreaded) Teacup ride! Maygan and Alana

 Alana and me BEFORE the ride started.

Me and Maygan BEFORE the ride started.

Now, what possessed me to get on the Teacup Ride? I. DO. NOT. KNOW! I’m convinced that ride was invented by the devil. But, I didn’t want to be a poor sport, so I agreed to go on it with Maygan and Alana. Alana loves to spin it as fast as she possibly can. Meanwhile I’m trying not to barf and Maygan is laughing her head off while shooting these videos…

Teacup Ride1 from Kaysie Herrera on Vimeo.

Teacup Ride2 from Kaysie Herrera on Vimeo.

For some reason I thought it’d be better to keep my eyes closed during this ride, but it actually made it worse. Once the ride was over and my eyes were still closed I thought we were still spinning – when in fact it was my head that kept spinning!

By the way, the camera totally adds 10 pounds, just so you know! ;)

At the end of the night we stayed to watch the fireworks show, which was really cool. I wasn’t able to get a very good shot of it, so this was the best that I could do…

Sunday morning the girls drove me back to the airport and I was off to the Bay Area :(. It was such a great trip though, and I can’t wait to see them again! I think they’ll be making a trip to see me soon, and Maygan’s sister Michelle will have her baby girl in July, so I’ll be making another trip to L.A. to see the new baby in August.

I love my girls!

Rockin' and Rollin'

Sooooo....since the earthquake hit last weekend in Southern Cali and Baja Mexico, I just wanted to share with you all my intense fear of earthquakes (Breanna, I know you can appreciate this ;) ).

Back in 1989, when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit, I was about seven years old. My dad picked me up after school and we were at one of his friend's house working on this old boat my dad bought (we couldn't store the boat at our house because we were living in a condo at the time). He's in the garage working on the boat, and I'm at the front of the house playing on some steps in front of a plate-glass window. All the sudden the rumbling starts and I see the streets moving like waves. (No, the plate-glass window didn't break - I just mentioned it for the drama of it LOL!) I scream, try my best to run around the corner to the garage where my dad is. In my dad's words when he tells the story, he says I jumped from probably four feet away into his arms and clung to him for dear life. Meanwhile, he got us to the ground, sat with his legs sprawled out to remain stable, and huddled over me while we waited for the quake to stop. I was TERRIFIED! I would not leave my dad's side after that.

Back then there were no cell phones, and from what I can remember I don't think the regular land lines were working either so we couldn't get a hold of my mom. Luckily, my brother was at day care and safe, and my mom was already on her way to get him when it hit. So both of us were with our parents. We met up at our condo in Los Olivos and my parents went into survival mode. Back then, our family was really big camping gurus. So my parents pulled out all of our camping gear and set up shop in our backyard. My dad had all his BBQ's out (he has a little obsession with BBQ's - he's got like four now) he had his lanterns out, a fire pit, the Coleman stove and a whole bunch of other stuff. Boy were they prepared! Because of this, most of the neighborhood ended up in our backyard for meals and to just be together during that time.

During that time, and for about two weeks afterwards I wouldn't let either of my parents out of my sight. For some reason I thought that if I couldn't see them, or be near them that another earthquake would hit. So, for about two weeks all four of us were required (by me) to sleep in the living room on our mattresses. LOL! I still laugh about that to this day. But back then I was a mess. I think what added to that too was that my dad had stuck a metal pole in the ground in the backyard and it had a ring or pin on it or something. So whenever an aftershock would hit the ring would tap against the pole and we could tell when one was hitting. Talk about torture! Not really, but I still remember that.

Anyways, since this most recent earthquake I've been thinking a lot about when (not if) one is going to hit the Bay Area; because it's bound to happen. If you don't already know, I work in the heart of San Francisco in the Financial District, in a 33-story sky-scraper. So here are some of my fears:

1) The quake is going to hit while I'm at work in this building.
2) The quake is going to hit while I'm outside amongst the other buildings.
3) The quake is going to hit while I'm in one of the tunnels on BART.

Obviously, worrying about this incessantly isn't going to help anything, but they're still going to be worries. During the 1989 earthquake the BART system and tunnels actually had no damage - which is a relief. Since the Bay Bridge had severe damage to it, no one could really get out of the city except by BART, so that's encouraging. But to be prepared I've decided I'm going to pack myself a backpack and include in it the following items:

- A change of clothes (preferably sweats since they're comfy ;))
- Cash
- Some bottled waters
- Some non-perishable food like granola bars and stuff
- Flashlight

Okay, okay! I know this is probably overkill and you think I'm a dork, but I'd rather be safe than sorry! Considering I spend nine ours of my day in this building, it's likely one will hit while I'm sitting her all comfy in front of my computer screen. So I'm going to keep this backpack here at work, just in case. If an earthquake hits, it's likely I won't be able to get out of the city and back home for a day or two, if not more (if I'm even alive - kidding!). With the bridges and BART system, there's no guarantee that there's any way to leave this place during a natural disaster like that.

So that's a great fear of mine. I tend to get very anxious about natural disasters and things I can't control, and if I let myself think about them too much I become a freak. But I just wanted to put this out there so you're all aware of my plan -- because I know you care ;) LOL!

PS: I think I got this advice in an email or something, and it said that when an earthquake hits, it's NOT safe to get under a desk or table or under a doorway. The reason is that if the roof or the floor above you collapses, it collapses on those things, with you underneath! So instead, lie next to a desk, or a bed, or a table in the fetal position. That way if the roof or the floor above you collapses, the debris is likely to lean against the desk, bed or table and you'll have room under that debris and won't be pinned to the ground. Makes sense to me! So when one hits, you'll find me huddled in a little ball next to my desk waiting for my debris to nicely make it's way around me and lean against my desk (wishful thinking! ;))

Wordless Wednesday

Kahlua's Eating Habits from Kaysie Herrera on Vimeo.

This is our little dog, Kahlua. I wanted to post a video of her eating because she has such odd eating habits (and because my friend Rachel just posted the cutest video of her baby girl eating, and since I don’t have a child yet, the next best thing you’re going to get is a video of my dog chowing down  - real exciting stuff ;) ). LOL!

For some reason Chihuahua’s generally have long tongues, and they don’t always fit into their mouths. Often times we’ll catch Kahlua chilling with her tongue sticking out. Since her tongue is too big for her, she eats quite funny, as you can see. Since the dog food pieces are too big for her she has to roll them around in her mouth, get a good crunch out of them, drop them on the floor, then proceed to pick up the pieces. Strange! Normally, we feed her dog food that has small pieces for small dogs, but her tummy has had some issues with her regular food, so I’ve started her on this other dog food that is supposed to be for sensitive stomachs and they don’t sell it in small pieces.

A little side-story…the first week I had Kahlua, she was eating her food (regular-sized pieces) and she started choking on a piece of dog food! I FA-REAKED out, and was hitting her back and massaging her neck trying to get it down, and she was just choking and choking and not breathing. I was so scared she was just going to die right there. She was barely a pound, and I had just spent a fortune on her, and I wasn’t about to lose her after only having her for less than a week! So I dropped everything, got in my car and rushed her to the pet emergency that was a 25 minute highway drive away. Of course on our way, the food went down and I paid $75 once I got there for them to tell me how cute and tiny she was and that everything was fine. Moral of the story is, I’d rather have her with these strange eating habits that she has now than her choking all the time and scaring me half to death ;)

So, this really wasn’t much of a “Wordless” Wednesday, was it? And by the time most of you read this it’ll probably be Thursday, so I guess I defeated the whole point. Oh well. It’s still enjoyable (to me at least) :)

Happy Easter!

I just wanted to make a quick post and wish everyone a blessed Easter! Today is my Grandma Ruth's 77th birthday! So my brother, mom, dad and I are all celebrating with her today at my parent's house. I'm excited to see if she likes the gift I made her (I'm sure she will).

HAPPY EASTER!