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Good Bye 20’s!

Nov12

Yep! I turned the Big 3-0! It still seems unreal to me though. lol. I remember when I was a teenager I thought 30 was old and it seemed so far away. When I got into my 20’s, I swore that I would never admit I was 30 to anyone and be forever 29. Silly huh? But that’s changed. I am very proud to be 30 years young(as my mother would say).

I realized I wasn’t as young as I use to be a while ago. Guess kids will do that to you? Hahaha. But I really don’t feel that different. I guess getting healthy and in shape has a lot to do with it. I am probably in better shape now than I’ve ever been. Yes, including high school. I weighed less back then, but trust me, I was far from healthy. I was young and I could put my body through a lot (all nighters, junk food, tons of candy, injuries from sports and other activities, and lots of alcohol) and bounce right back…. so not the case now. And I’m ok with that. Now I’m taking good care of my body.

So what can I say about my 30 years of Life? Well, it has definitely been a journey. I’ve made mistakes. Some big, some small. I’ve learned from most of them. Looking back at it all, it’s been a good 30 years despite the hard times. What’s stand out for me is Not any big acomplishment or trip. It’s the people :-) I am lucky to have had so many great and wonderful people in my life.

My dad who took care of the 5 of us on his own – when he didn’t have to. I don’t agree with everything he did, but I am grateful for all that he’s done for me and my brothers. My Grandpa who I admire and look up to. He’s taught me so much about life.
My friend, Chris Quenga who took me under her wing and treated me like her daughter. She helped me so much in high school. My teachers. Yes, teachers. I had some really great ones who taught me more than just a subject in school. My love for learning is because of them.
My friends. I am very lucky to have such wonderful friends. I still care about all the friends I had in high school and still close to a lot of them :-) I can never forget my friends in Florida who were the best part of my 3 years there.
Ben. How many can say that they got the man of their dreams (since I was 13)? Me!!! I have spent over half my life in love with him and I am so happy to be spending the rest of my life with him.
Last but definitely not least – my sons. They have truly given my life meaning and purpose. I may not be super successful by some standards, but I am pretty damn proud to be a stay at home mom to Gio and Seppe. They are my world. They may have not been planned but I am a true believer that Everything Happens for a Reason. To me, all that I’ve gone through was to prepare me for where I am now.

On my birthday (the 28th) I asked myself if I was Happy with where I am now and who I am? The answer…. Yes! Life might not be glamorous and a little tough, but I Love My Life.
I am looking forward to my 30’s. I plan on doing a lot with my life and I know that I’m Not too old to follow my dreams. I’m living a healthier lifestyle and loving it. I’m training for races that I never even considered when I was younger. I’m excited to watch my sons grow up – even though I am also a little sad about it. I know there is still so much to learn and do. And I plan on learning and doing as much as I can :-)

I didn’t do anything special on my birthday but Ben and the boys made me cards and got me my favorite, Roses :-) But that doesnt mean I’m Not doing something…I will be celebrated in Vegas the week after with Ben and my friends :-) I am definitely Not too old to party!

So Good Bye to my 20’s and Hello to my 30’s and the rest of my Life :-)

Cards and Roses from Ben, Gio and Seppe

From My Ninja (well Samurai Power Ranger)

Gio told Ben what to type :-)

My Cool Looking Seppe

From My Seppe Rooo

My Favorite - Roses :-)

Slim Down Day 3

Oct27

Day 3 Done! Today went great. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get up for my bootycall because my 4yr. old crawled in bed with us last night. I was so tired that I didn’t even realize he was in bed with us until before my alarm went off.  He had taken the blankets and I woke up because I was cold.  I got up when the alarm went off and got dressed. Drank some water and headed out for a run as soon as it was light enough outside.

My run went great. Did 3 miles at my usual pace.  It’s definitely getting colder out.  Going to need some running gloves soon.  My original plan was to do the Shredmill for my second cardio session but I’ve been really wanting to try out TIU’s new workouts so I did the Ghost Buster Cardio at the gym. OMG! That was a workout!! The 2 minute sprint interval was killer.

Did the spooky workout when I got home. The Black Widow was really tough for me but I got through it. 20 reps each for 3 sets. I planned on doing One Day Fat Blast workout 1 and almost skipped it since I did the Spooky workout, but I didn’t :-)  I ended my night with NTC Ab Burner workout. Yes I am tired! But I feel great.

Meals:

M1: Slim Down Protein Pancake – This one came out bigger and a little messier but it still tasted good. I topped it with a little almond butter, truvia, and cinnamon.

Protein Pancake topped with Almond Butter, Truvia, and Cinnamon

M2: Half an Grapefruit with Stevia. Again, shared with my son. He loves grapefruit.

M3: Salad with tempeh, spinach, cucumbers, snap peas, and carrots. Balsamic Vinegar dressing. Mango on the side. I love Mangos and I could eat it every day :-) I didn’t finish it all. It was very filling.

Tempeh Salad with Cucumbers, Snap peas, and carrots. Mango on the side.

M4: Veggies and Hummus. Celery and cucumbers with Eggplant Hummus. I would have had some carrots too but I foot I had them in the fridge. I wasn’t really hungry during this time either so I didn’t have a lot.

M5: Chicken Breast with green beans and zucchini. I marinated the chicken in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Seasoned it with sea salt and mrs. dash garlic herb seasoning.

Chicken, Green Beans, and zucchini.

I’m feeling great and on track with all my goals. Another 110 oz. of water :-) And a Zico. That Zico was a great pick me up :-)  So bring on Day 4!

PreRace Thoughts

Oct14

Tomorrow I run my first 5k!! I’m excited and also nervous. I honestly can say that I never thought I’d be doing a race. I have 2 brothers who are runners and I pale in comparison to them. I resisted running. I don’t really have a reason.

If it weren’t for Karena, Katrina and the whole Tone It Up Team/Community I wouldn’t have even considered running a race. In the last 3 months of joining the team and truly committing to my new Lifestyle, I’ve gained the physical and emotional strength to do a race. Most importantly I have the confidence :-) I am not the fastest and I have no delusions of winning or even placing.

My goal: Complete my first 5K without stopping :-) And have fun!

Since it is a race, I am a little nervous. It’s hard to not have a competitive mind set. I have no idea how many people will be there. I don’t have a running partner so it’ll just be lil ole me. I want to do well but not sure if I’ve trained enough. So many thoughts and worries…. I have to get there early to pick up my race packet. Race starts at 8:15a.

Luckily I will have one supporter there to cheer me on – even if he is not thrilled that he can’t sleep in on a Saturday. Lol.

Got my clothes and gear ready. Music for my phone is all set. Hopefully I can fall asleep so I can get enough rest for tomorrow :-)

Your Baby Can Read Update

May20

I’ve been super busy lately, so I’m not sure exactly what week I’m on with the boys on their Your Baby Can Read. I think I’m on week 5 now. Before I continue with the update on how my boys are doing, I just wanted to point something out ——-> Popping this video on once in a while as background noise while your kids play with toys is not going to get you results. Also, you can NOT expect your child to miraculously start reading after doing the video for one week, a month, or a few months down the road. Every kid is different and  learns at different rates in different ways. My boys are prime examples.

With Gio, I have moved him up the different levels with his Your Child Can Read videos every two weeks. He’s older and could read a few words already.  He is learning phonics in school so it’s a little bit easier for him to pick up the words and learn them.  He is also a very quick learner.  Keeping him on a lower video for too long would only bore him and he needs the challenge.  He is on Level 3 now and will start Level 4 next week. I do show him the previous levels once a week just to help refresh his memory and to help keep it from being too boring for him. He can read quite a few words and can now read most of his own stories for story time. Now, these stories aren’t super complicated, but the fact that he can read them on his own with very little help from me, is great news for us.

Seppe, is the complete opposite. I am going at a slower pace for him.  He is still on Level 2. I show him Level 1 once a week. I combine the Level 1 and Level 2 books and flash cards and try to go over them once a day. Level 2 is a little bit longer than Level 1 so he is having difficulty sitting still for the entire time. Luckily this level has two songs that get him to stand up and dance that he really enjoys. He now knows almost all the words from level 1 and about 3 words from level 2. I can honestly say that he’s learned the new words more quickly. His progress isn’t as quick as Gio’s but for Seppe, it’s very big progress :-) I have to constantly remind myself that he is different from Gio and that I have to work hard to help him learn HIS way.

I’m not perfect. There are days when I don’t have them watch their videos – especially when we travel(something I have to work  on). I make it an effort to make it a part of our daily routine. The key is making sure that I am involved.  I can’t just put it on and walk away – especially for Seppe. I also make sure Ben is involved and helps when he is home. It really helps that we are working together to help give our boys the best.

Tuesday Tunes: Long Live the King

May3

It’s a shame that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson is gone. But Thanks to my 4 yr. old son and the millions of fans out there, he will never be forgotten. At 3 yrs. old my son discovered Michael Jackson while playing with YouTube on my phone.  He was fascinated with werewolves and came across the Thriller music video.  Needless to say, he was hooked. The scary werewolf, the zombies, and the music captivated him. He would watch it over and over again. He even started to mimic the dance moves.

Because of his fascination, I have been reintroduced to MJ. I was a fan, but didn’t know much more than beyond his most popular songs. Blame it on a super strict dad who didn’t approve of MJ’s music. I sat down with him and watched “This Is It”.  I was truly impressed by how amazing Michael was.  We watched the new Thriller music video over and over again. We also got him the “Michael Jackson Experience” game for the Wii. He can play that game all day. Again, I was blown away by MJ’s talent.  There is no way, I could ever come close to dancing like he did.  My son will do the dance moves anywhere he is – without any music. He doesn’t have the moves down yet, but he’s working on it.

Now at 4 yrs. old, my son is completely obsessed with all things Michael Jackson. He rolls his sleeves and leaves his jackets or sweaters open so he can be like MJ in Beat It and Thriller.  He even has a MJ action figure. Thriller is his favorite song, but he loves listening to all of MJ’s music. The ones that we listen to Every day:

Thriller

Beat It

Bad

Smooth Criminal

Leave Me Alone

Black or White

Ghosts

Rolled up his sleeves to look like MJ

Dancing at his brother's T-ball game.

Sep with his Favorite MJ Thriller

He doesn’t understand that MJ has passed away. It’s sad that he will never get to see him live, but I know that he will be influenced by MJ’s music for the rest of his life.

Throwback Thursdays: Honors and AP

Apr28

Throwback Thursdays are all about the good old days. Who knows how far back I’ll go. This week, I’m taking it back to my high school days. I wasn’t a picture whore until junior and senior year so that’s when most of the pics are from. As you can guess by the title, I was in Honors and AP classes – Yes, I was one of those girls. And I’m damn proud of it too. Yeah, they were tough, but I had fun. Thanks mostly to the great friends that I had. It makes me smile to look at these pics and think about the projects and tests we all had to endure. We’re all grown up now and have drifted out of each other’s lives, but there are few that will always be in my heart and will always be dear friends to me.

Healthy Hump Day: ToneItUp!

Apr27

Wednesday are going to be about being Healthy. I’ll be sharing my journey to Healthy living. I don’t consider myself to be unhealthy, but I am prone to weakness (candy and rice). There is always room for improvement. One of the hardest things for me was getting exercise.

As a mom, it’s easy to use my kids and my busy schedule as excuses to avoid exercising. But I’ll be 30 this year and I wanted to get active! I know that it will only get harder as I get even older. I’ve been trying different exercise programs and diets over the last couple years, but nothing really worked for me. I’m not a fan of diets anyways. I want something I can incorporate into my life, not just for a few months. Plus, I’m not concerned with losing weight.

My main focus is to tone up and I finally found something that works for me: Tone It Up! Two ladies. Katrina and Karena based out of L.A. who are trainers that focus on toning, strengthening, and living healthy.  I found them through Twitter and was instantly impressed by their YouTube channel(ToneItUpcom). Free workouts!! I decided to sign up for their Bikini Challenge Series to get 8 weeks of  workouts, tips, and motivation.

Karena and Katrina for Tone It Up!

I have been doing their workouts for the last 3 weeks.  They are challenging but fun. What I love about the Bikini Challenge is that there are new workouts every week – keeps it interesting. The emails are motivating and I’ve learned so much from my trainers. What stands out is that foods can claim to be “natural” or “healthy” but really aren’t.  The key is to read the Ingredients. I make sure that I can pronounce what’s on the label and keep chemicals out.

They also have a Nutrition Plan for a reasonable price.  It’s a one time fee for a Life time membership to the Tone It Up Team and there are so many amazing perks to becoming part of the team.  For details check them out: toneitup.com. I’ve tried the LarBars and ChoBan Greek yogurt as alternatives to my Fiber One Bars and Activia. It’s different, but not bad. In fact, they taste pretty good.  The biggest difference is the sweetness. You wouldn’t believe how much sugar is in a lot of  health foods. I plan on joining the Tone It Up team very soon.

My favorite tip from my awesome trainers: Get in tune with your body and listen to your body. Tone It Up works for me.  Find what works for you and get Healthy!

Tuesday Tunes: “All Eyez On Me”

Apr26

So Tuesdays are going to be dedicated to Tunes.  If you haven’t noticed, Music is big part of my life.  I love all kinds of Music. I love how a song or album can just change my mood, relax me, energize me, take me back to those carefree days, or get me on my feet and dancing.

For those of you who have read my Radio rant, you know that I’m not fond of listening to music via Radio. Love my iPhone with all my music and lately, I’ve been listening to  2Pac’s “All Eyez on Me.” It has to be my favorite Tupac album. It was one of the first CD’s me and my brothers had. We snuck it on a camping trip and fought over who got to listen to it at night. lol. Good times. It makes me laugh to remember the days when rocking baggy jeans and acting tough was the cool thing to do. No I wasn’t from the streets and No I couldn’t relate to what Tupac rapped about, but his music spoke to my rebellious teenage side. He was a true poet with his lyrics. I appreciated his talent and I still do.

Your Baby Can Read: Week 2 and 3

Apr25

We’ve done three weeks of the Your Baby Can Read Program. For the Second week of the program, I had the boys watching their videos twice a day.  Once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. Both stayed on their first level.  Seppe worked with his cards and books a couple times a day.  I also had Gio go over all the cards and books for Seppe’s level once a day.  There were no cards or books that came with the Your Child Can Read set. But I figure it wouldn’t hurt to have him learn the words from Seppe’s set too.  He knows all of them.

At the beginning of Week 3, I started Gio on Level 2 of his set.  Seppe is still on Level 1 and I will keep him on that until he’s done it for a month (as suggested.) I have no idea how it works, but there is something definitely going on in their little brains.  Gio has greatly improved with his reading.  Before, it was a pain to get him to a read a very simple book.  He was very bad a correcting himself and easily forgot a word that he just read.  Now, he can correct himself and figures words out more quickly.  He remembers the words and he knows more words just from looking at them.  He is not afraid to try and read new words.  He really likes his Level 2 video.  He talks about it every time he’s done watching it.

Seppe is on a slower pace.  He has added a couple more words that he knows. The problem with him is getting him to sit still and focus.  I had him in my room watching it laying down, but he would just get up.  I have to hold him in my lap and do everything he does for him to sit still.  It’s a little more work, but it helps him.  He’s so much more interested in words.  He wants to know what Everything says. I think it’s also helping him learn other things as well.  I’ve started him on his shapes and he is doing very well.

We missed a few days during Easter but we jumped right back into it as soon as we got home. The important thing is to keep at it. The boys don’t complain about having to watch their videos. It’s now become part of our daily routine.

Movie Monday: Musicals

Apr25

I’m trying something new to help me focus on my blog: Daily Themes. Today is Movie Monday! This is when I’ll have movie reviews or talk about great movies that I’ve watched, like these:

The Wizard of Oz

The Sound of Music

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Mary Poppins

Remember these great classics?? I do! I loved watching these Movie Musicals when I was growing up.  They just don’t make them the same anymore.  The actors were all so talented and the music was great. Now a days, the focus is on those big theatrical movies with the latest and greatest special effects.  Not saying I don’t enjoy those too, but it’s hard to find Good movies that aren’t animated to take your kids to. Most of the good Movies that had singing were mainly for adults (Chicago and Nine) and most of the Musicals these days don’t really turn out that well.

But who doesn’t love Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz?” And I’m sure we all thought that “.. a spoon full of sugar…” with medicine was a great idea! And how about that awesome word: supercalafragilisticexpalidous(close enough!) There was no going wrong with a movie about candy in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” OK, granted, Johnny Depp’s version turned it from sweet to weird. Some things should just be left as it is. I learned “do re me fa so la ti do” from “Sound of Music.” Besides the great songs, it was based on a true story.

These movies remind me of simpler, happy times with my brothers and sister growing up. We’d laugh and sing along. I wanted to share that happiness with my boys.  They’ve seen all of these movies and Love them all. Willy Wonka is at the top of the list, but they watched Mary Poppins over and over again too. Their favorite characters are Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion. They laugh at all the tricks the kids play in Sound of Music and love that my name is in the movie. I hope these movies will stay with them, as they’ve stayed with me.