My camera is definitely my passport to wander and explore and I share it with you.
From my little corner to yours...Have a great week everybody!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Monday Motivations...
My camera is definitely my passport to wander and explore and I share it with you.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Running 4 Danny & Friends...(year 2)
So as some of you know, this past Sunday was not just Father's day for us but also the day we ran the Culver City 5/10K for Autism. Its the second year that Christian and I have ran it and it looks like it might be a tradition in the making for our family.
Last year we had a small team under the name- Running 4 Danny and Friends, in honor of our Daniel and the many friends we have that are special needs children. I once again wore my team shirt that I had made for last year and ran for all kids listed on my back and many more.
Unfortunately our team got smaller this year as it was just Christian and I, but that's ok because my dear husband Jerry decided to join us and make this run his official first 5K! I was soo excited for him to be part of our team and to be able to say that we did this together for our baby.
He's been going on his own journey, and I have to say that he trained a lot harder than I did this year and I am sooo proud of him for accomplishing this goal for himself.
He's come such a long way.
As for myself, this year has been extremely busy for me and I can't say I took the training as seriously as I did last year. I was alittle bit more lax than I should have been, but I put myself through as many practices as I could. Training consisted more of finding a jogging pace I could handle with some fast walking to make sure that I could finish in a decent time. My goal this year was not so much beating my time as it was just to complete it. Honestly I was more excited about the fact that my hubby was running with me and my son and that meant more to me than anything.
So because Chris truly hadn't trained much at all either (being the very busy and "tired" teenager that he is) he decided he was going to keep to my pace during the race. A very slow pace at that. However, we had all agreed that we knew that at some point we were all going to go at different paces which is exactly what happened. Jerry started the strongest out of the 3 of us and led the way, but Chris about 1/3 way into the race decided his body was kicking in with a second wind and took off. I trailed both of them most of the way, catching up to Jerry when I could, but he still came in before me.
This year I was much more into taking things in, enjoying my music and watching the other runners especially the 10k runners who started about 1/2 an hour later than we did and yet they seemed to be already catching up to me as I was barely trying to finish.
A highlight for me this year was actually catching a glimpse of a fellow blogger I follow. Jen Levine from Finding My Inner Bombshell. She has no idea who I am, but I "knew" of her and knew she'd be at that race. So when I saw her, in a fleeting second, I made the decision to make a fool of myself and call out her name..."Jen!" I said. She turned around looking VERY schocked, and I went up to her, shook her hand and said as I jogged and huffed at the same time, said "You don't know me, but I follow your blog. Just wanted to say Hi!" She said "Ok, hi" and I took off again, smiling from ear to ear and giggling to myself. I regret not getting a picture with her, but I took the look of shock on her face to mean that maybe I had gone to far already, Lol. Anyway, that was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I took the chance to do that- we only live once for moments like that! And I found out that It apparently made her day because she mentioned the "unknown woman who said hello" in her blog post. Love it! I have since written to her and let her know that my name is Sandy, and that I wasn't just some crazy person...if you beg to differ, please keep that to yourself. Ha!
The biggest highlight for me though was actually watching Jerry cross the finish line ahead of me. I was soooo proud of him! I was a mix of emotions as I came in close behind, knowing just how much it means to cross that finish line for the first time. Jerry is a modest guy and he was very tired and sweaty of course, so he made no fuss about any of it, but I know it had to have meant a lot. He did say though "I did it for our Danny Boy!" That said it all!
Our official times were as follows:
Chris had come in before the two of us at 37.01
Jerry came in just 90 seconds over his goal time at 41.14.
I think that's pretty amazing for his first 5K!
My official time was 41.34. I was over last year's time by 3 minutes or so, but considering the training I did and/or didn't do, I felt pretty good about it anyway. It really was about doing this together this year.
Once again, it was an amazing way to start of Father's day especially for Jerry this time around. He's an amazing Dad and he works so hard for us and deserved a great day! We went back to my mom's house to make him his favorite home made breakfast. He took a swim in her pool to relax and then we went to see his wonderful Dad (my father as well in so many ways) for a nice BBQ and trip to the movies with his family.
It was a wonderful day, and we're hoping to be able to do this again next year together again.
Will some of you join our team next year??? I really hope so...
I hope you all had a wonderful Father's day as well.
From my corner to yours...Thanks for stopping by!
Last year we had a small team under the name- Running 4 Danny and Friends, in honor of our Daniel and the many friends we have that are special needs children. I once again wore my team shirt that I had made for last year and ran for all kids listed on my back and many more.
Unfortunately our team got smaller this year as it was just Christian and I, but that's ok because my dear husband Jerry decided to join us and make this run his official first 5K! I was soo excited for him to be part of our team and to be able to say that we did this together for our baby.He's been going on his own journey, and I have to say that he trained a lot harder than I did this year and I am sooo proud of him for accomplishing this goal for himself.
He's come such a long way.
As for myself, this year has been extremely busy for me and I can't say I took the training as seriously as I did last year. I was a
So because Chris truly hadn't trained much at all either (being the very busy and "tired" teenager that he is) he decided he was going to keep to my pace during the race. A very slow pace at that. However, we had all agreed that we knew that at some point we were all going to go at different paces which is exactly what happened. Jerry started the strongest out of the 3 of us and led the way, but Chris about 1/3 way into the race decided his body was kicking in with a second wind and took off. I trailed both of them most of the way, catching up to Jerry when I could, but he still came in before me.
This year I was much more into taking things in, enjoying my music and watching the other runners especially the 10k runners who started about 1/2 an hour later than we did and yet they seemed to be already catching up to me as I was barely trying to finish.
A highlight for me this year was actually catching a glimpse of a fellow blogger I follow. Jen Levine from Finding My Inner Bombshell. She has no idea who I am, but I "knew" of her and knew she'd be at that race. So when I saw her, in a fleeting second, I made the decision to make a fool of myself and call out her name..."Jen!" I said. She turned around looking VERY schocked, and I went up to her, shook her hand and said as I jogged and huffed at the same time, said "You don't know me, but I follow your blog. Just wanted to say Hi!" She said "Ok, hi" and I took off again, smiling from ear to ear and giggling to myself. I regret not getting a picture with her, but I took the look of shock on her face to mean that maybe I had gone to far already, Lol. Anyway, that was a lot of fun, and I'm glad I took the chance to do that- we only live once for moments like that! And I found out that It apparently made her day because she mentioned the "unknown woman who said hello" in her blog post. Love it! I have since written to her and let her know that my name is Sandy, and that I wasn't just some crazy person...if you beg to differ, please keep that to yourself. Ha!
The biggest highlight for me though was actually watching Jerry cross the finish line ahead of me. I was soooo proud of him! I was a mix of emotions as I came in close behind, knowing just how much it means to cross that finish line for the first time. Jerry is a modest guy and he was very tired and sweaty of course, so he made no fuss about any of it, but I know it had to have meant a lot. He did say though "I did it for our Danny Boy!" That said it all!Our official times were as follows:
Chris had come in before the two of us at 37.01
Jerry came in just 90 seconds over his goal time at 41.14.
I think that's pretty amazing for his first 5K!
Once again, it was an amazing way to start of Father's day especially for Jerry this time around. He's an amazing Dad and he works so hard for us and deserved a great day! We went back to my mom's house to make him his favorite home made breakfast. He took a swim in her pool to relax and then we went to see his wonderful Dad (my father as well in so many ways) for a nice BBQ and trip to the movies with his family.
It was a wonderful day, and we're hoping to be able to do this again next year together again.
Will some of you join our team next year??? I really hope so...
I hope you all had a wonderful Father's day as well.
From my corner to yours...Thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Weight Watcher Wednesday...Lifetime baby!!!
Its time for another Weight Watcher Wednesday update from me and its been a long time since the last one. I had promised myself the next update would be a good one and it is. Its been 3+ years in the making and the time has come...
Well in Weight Watcher terms this means that I finally got down to my goal weight and once I did that I went through an additional 6 weeks of maintaining that goal weight at no more than +/- 2lbs during that time frame. Once I successfully did that then you make it to what WW considers to be Lifetime Member Status- a permanent member of the WW family!
So I completed all of this 2 weeks ago and my leader Char made a very sweet presentation and gave me the honors in front of my meeting group. I didn't really expect to get emotional about it, but I did. This was a HUGE moment for me! Something I have been working as most of you know for a very long time...A 'lifetime' as a matter of fact! (lol, I won't apologize for the pun there because it actually fits the description pretty well in my case.)
Having a great leader like Char has been key for me as well. She has been a wonderful support. This isn't the first time she's been my leader, but I found her again at the Encino office when I needed someone the most. She was the one who most helped me to get through this last leg of this goal. She kept me accountable and honest all the time. She has helped keep me motivated when I was most discouraged and she gave me new things to try along the way.
I have also yet to miss a weekly weigh in in the 3+ years since I joined and I have to say that has been the absolute thing that I am the proudest of and its been the cornerstone of my success. This little lady, Margie, is the one who weighs me in most of the time, and I wanted to thank her as well for making me laugh, for celebrating my good weeks and for commiserating with me those weeks when I needed to vent. Thank you Margie!
One exciting advantage to this special recognition is also a continued incentive for me. Being a lifetime member now also means that as long as I stay at my goal weight (+/- 2lbs) I get free membership to their online tools and unlimited unpaid meetings. Yes! Soo now I can weigh in for FREEEEEE!!!! Wooohooo!!!
Like I mentioned I have been a paid member for 3+ years now, paying a fee month after month, and I don't even dare calculate the numbers to know what my total investment in myself has been. (investment being the operative word) It just doesn't matter really. It has been been worth every total penny!!!
So in no way does this mean that I have that my weight journey is over...Absolutely not! If anything the work continues now more than ever because this is when most Weight Watchers tend let it go and tend to gain their weight back. I just can't let that happen. The fact that it took this long to get here makes me appreciate my accomplishment that much more. I've worked to hard to let go of this now so I need to work harder now more than ever because I just can't go back! I just can't!
One thing I hope to transmit through my story for those of you who have been following my journey and those of you who are on your own journey at the moment is that you see that its really has taken me over 3 years to get here. I hope you keep that in mind for your own journeys. Weight loss is not an overnight thing! Its not necessarily a 3 year process...it truly is a lifetime process. It may be different for everyone and amongst every struggle you may come across its about keeping the big picture and your ultimate goal in the forefront of your mind. It can happen and it will but it does take some time and work- there is now way around it. But just remember...You are worth it!
So this also will now lead me to my next goal which is to become a Weight Watcher Leader, and I'm working on that as we speak. I would love to be able to help others achieve their goal like my leaders did for me. My next update will hopefully be about that happening sometime soon.
I finally made it to Lifetime!!
Well first off let me explain that this happened about 2 weeks ago, but with Danny and Mikey culminations being our priority I hadn't had a chance to say anything really until now.
So what does making it to Lifetime mean exactly?
Well in Weight Watcher terms this means that I finally got down to my goal weight and once I did that I went through an additional 6 weeks of maintaining that goal weight at no more than +/- 2lbs during that time frame. Once I successfully did that then you make it to what WW considers to be Lifetime Member Status- a permanent member of the WW family!
So I completed all of this 2 weeks ago and my leader Char made a very sweet presentation and gave me the honors in front of my meeting group. I didn't really expect to get emotional about it, but I did. This was a HUGE moment for me! Something I have been working as most of you know for a very long time...A 'lifetime' as a matter of fact! (lol, I won't apologize for the pun there because it actually fits the description pretty well in my case.)Having a great leader like Char has been key for me as well. She has been a wonderful support. This isn't the first time she's been my leader, but I found her again at the Encino office when I needed someone the most. She was the one who most helped me to get through this last leg of this goal. She kept me accountable and honest all the time. She has helped keep me motivated when I was most discouraged and she gave me new things to try along the way.
THANK YOU CHAR!!
I have also yet to miss a weekly weigh in in the 3+ years since I joined and I have to say that has been the absolute thing that I am the proudest of and its been the cornerstone of my success. This little lady, Margie, is the one who weighs me in most of the time, and I wanted to thank her as well for making me laugh, for celebrating my good weeks and for commiserating with me those weeks when I needed to vent. Thank you Margie!
Like I mentioned I have been a paid member for 3+ years now, paying a fee month after month, and I don't even dare calculate the numbers to know what my total investment in myself has been. (investment being the operative word) It just doesn't matter really. It has been been worth every total penny!!!
So in no way does this mean that I have that my weight journey is over...Absolutely not! If anything the work continues now more than ever because this is when most Weight Watchers tend let it go and tend to gain their weight back. I just can't let that happen. The fact that it took this long to get here makes me appreciate my accomplishment that much more. I've worked to hard to let go of this now so I need to work harder now more than ever because I just can't go back! I just can't!
One thing I hope to transmit through my story for those of you who have been following my journey and those of you who are on your own journey at the moment is that you see that its really has taken me over 3 years to get here. I hope you keep that in mind for your own journeys. Weight loss is not an overnight thing! Its not necessarily a 3 year process...it truly is a lifetime process. It may be different for everyone and amongst every struggle you may come across its about keeping the big picture and your ultimate goal in the forefront of your mind. It can happen and it will but it does take some time and work- there is now way around it. But just remember...You are worth it!
So this also will now lead me to my next goal which is to become a Weight Watcher Leader, and I'm working on that as we speak. I would love to be able to help others achieve their goal like my leaders did for me. My next update will hopefully be about that happening sometime soon.
From my corner to yours...Thank you for stopping by!
Friday, June 13, 2014
Foto Friday...catching the light
Hi there! Its Friday and its been a crazy, wonderful week and I have a lot to catch you up on. So I just wanted to share something fun today, and I'm looking forward to sharing more with you next week.
I have been doing a lot of searching for a new lens for some upcoming getaways. I needed a lens first off that I could afford and next, one that could be versatile for me, that would make it easy to carry around on vacation, and not be super bulky. So I recently purchased a new 40mm f/2.8 STM "pancake" lens for my Canon 40D, and I'm been loving it! For the price and its little lens body its proving to be pretty powerful, and I'm having fun experimenting with it.
This is one of those experiments. Mikey happened to see this light stream coming in through the laundry room and decided to play a little optical illusion with it and called me to take a look. So of course I took the opportunity to take these shots including one of him 'catching the light.'
I'm going to be experimenting with this lens in a variety of environments so I'm looking forward to sharing more as they come along.
I have been doing a lot of searching for a new lens for some upcoming getaways. I needed a lens first off that I could afford and next, one that could be versatile for me, that would make it easy to carry around on vacation, and not be super bulky. So I recently purchased a new 40mm f/2.8 STM "pancake" lens for my Canon 40D, and I'm been loving it! For the price and its little lens body its proving to be pretty powerful, and I'm having fun experimenting with it.
This is one of those experiments. Mikey happened to see this light stream coming in through the laundry room and decided to play a little optical illusion with it and called me to take a look. So of course I took the opportunity to take these shots including one of him 'catching the light.'
40mm, f/2.8 (1/50) ISO 1000
Pretty cool right?I'm going to be experimenting with this lens in a variety of environments so I'm looking forward to sharing more as they come along.
From my little corner to yours...
Happy Foto Friday
and have a wonderful Fathers Day Weekend!!!
Monday, June 9, 2014
How to Train a Dragon 2...
On Saturday, Jerry went on a Dad/son afternoon with Danny and Mikey and took them to the movie preview of How to Train Your Dragon 2. This is the second adventure of the book series written by Cressida Cowell and is written and directed by Dean DeBlois. The first movie took you through Hiccup's (Jay Baruchel), a not so trained Viking teenager, on a self discovery adventure of finding and training a wild dragon named Toothless, and leads his village of dragon slayers of Berk to find peace with the dragons who allow them to see their world from a different point of view.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 that takes place 5 years after the first movie that features Hiccup and his friends as young adults. Now that the Vikings have the dragons on their side, they have been able to discover uncharted territories. However, the curious Hiccup and Astrid (America Herrera) decide to go a little farther and find a cave that opens themselves up to a new adventure. They find themselves in the middle of a more wild dragons, a mysterious dragon trainer, and an ensuing larger conflict between humans and dragons.
Jerry is not usually one for animated movies, but he said he actually enjoyed it, and being that he was his boys he was happy to see it with them.
Danny and Mikey really liked it as well. Danny loves dragons so they apparently get an upgrade in powers in this film which he really enjoyed seeing.
Both Mikey and Danny said they definitely liked this sequel better than the first movie. They said there was more adventure, cooler armor, way cooler dragons, a wonderful surprise for Hiccup, some even sad moments, and an ending I won't mention so as not spoil the movie for all of you.
All in all, they recommend everyone to go see it, especially their brother, Christian who didn't get to go with them and who loved the first movie. So it looks like we may be going out to see again ourselves.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 is being released this Friday, June 13th at a theater near you.
From my little corner to yours...See at the movies!
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
The Hollywood Bowl 2014
I had never been to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl until last year when we went to see Juanes, but I loved it and can't wait to go back this year. I just thought I'd share this year's schedule and information with you because they have some really good shows coming up. Check them out!
• Leave the driving to us! (Link to Getting to the Bowl) Arrive at your concert refreshed with our Park & Ride or Bowl Shuttle services. Park for free and let us do the rest!
From my corner to yours...See you at the Bowl!
The 2014 Hollywood Bowl season promises to be another memorable summer under the stars:
Family Concerts and Weekend Spectacular
- July 4th Fireworks Spectacular with Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell on July 2-4
·
Grease Sing-A-Long
July 13
Latin Concerts
·
American & American Concerts: (Gilberto Santa Rosa, Gloria Estefan, Ruben Blades,
Gustavo Dudamel) More Info
- Gilberto Santa Rosa · Sheila E. on July 23, 2014
- Gloria Estefan on July 25-26
- Rubén Blades, Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil July 29
- Noche de Cine, Gustavo Santaolalla (Amores Perros, Motorcycle Diaries) July 31
- Caetano Veloso Sep 21
•
Bring your own food and wine! (Información en Español Page) Picnicking before your concert is a time-honored Hollywood Bowl tradition. Make your night underneath the starts unforgettable
with a picnic in one of our designated areas, or enjoy a picnic at your seat.
• Leave the driving to us! (Link to Getting to the Bowl) Arrive at your concert refreshed with our Park & Ride or Bowl Shuttle services. Park for free and let us do the rest!
•
Make it a family affair! (Link to Group Sales)
Gather a group of family and friends of 10 or more and get discounted
tickets and other benefits. Ask for details when placing your order.
Tickets available as lows as $20!**
Order today by calling 323.850.2000 or visit HollywoodBowl.comFrom my corner to yours...See you at the Bowl!
Mickey Mouse Around the Clubhouse World...
So I've been trying to see this DVD with my baby niece for weeks, and for various reasons it just hasn't happened. I've been wanting to see it with Mikey at least but the kid has been really busy himself so guess what I did this morning? Yup, I watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...Around the Clubhouse World all by myself
Silly you say? Maybe, but I took advantage while I was working on some baking and frosting of cakes and it gave me something cute to watch as I worked. It was actually quite nostalgic and it brought me back to watching this show with Mikey when he was a baby boy.
Oh, those were the days! And its still super fun to watch....yes, even on my own.
This new DVD (which came out May 20 btw) has 5 great episodes total you can watch back to back. I watched as Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Daisy made their way around the Clubhouse world, gathering stamps for their passports from France, Egypt, Italy and China. Ooh, let me not forget to mention that there's a passport that comes inside the DVD for your kiddo's too! Then I watched 4 more episodes of everything from Mickey and the gang escaping the clutches of the giant as they try to get Donald's BooBooChicken back, to having themselves some good ol' Carnival fun.
I can't wait to give this to Katarina because she loves
Mickey already and she loves this show. My SIL will appreciate it keeping her
well entertained for a long time. I honestly feel that you can't go wrong with
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for your kids. The stories are entertaining,
educational, relevant and the music is super catchy! I have to say that I found
myself even doing the "Hot Dog Dance" at the end of the
episodes...too much fun I say!!
From my corner to yours...Tootles!!
Mickey Mouse Around the Clubhouse World Its available now on Amazon.
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