One Year Blogiversary

I can't believe I wrote my first blog post one year ago today, it feels like just yesterday!! Time really is flying by.

I have had a good year getting to know many readers and have even won a few things along the way!!!

Thanks for your support over the last year.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!! Hope you have a fun, but safe weekend!!

Pic from Google Images (and is now making me crave cake)

Twas the night before Christmas...

What a wonderful weekend!!

Thursday night my sister and I took a yoga class which was such a nice way to kick off the busy weekend. Afterwards, we met us with some girlfriends for some drinks and dinner. Always a good time.

Then it was to bed to rest up before the celebrating began!!!

I can remember spending Christmas Eve at my Grandpa's house almost every year since I was young. He used to have around 60 people over and we all ate, drank and were merry. The presents would take HOURS to open and wrapping paper would cover the living room floor. Times have changed a bit, but we still had Christmas Eve at my Grandpa's house this year. He loves having people over at his house; he lives for entertaining.

Before everyone arrived, my sister and I gave the doggies their gift. They had so much fun opening the package!!!

At first Hula wasn't interested, but then she realized there was something good in there

Koa was more interested in licking the package

Puka (in his Christmas PJs) got down to business

They all enjoyed their Christmas bones

Mr. Pickle and my sister's boyfriend were in charge of cooking dinner and they did a wonderful job. My sister and I were in charge of cleaning up and decorating all while keeping my grandpa busy. Everyone showed up around 6:00, including two surprise guests... Mr. Pickle's sister and her adorable baby girl (we didn't know they were going to make the trip on Christmas Eve, but were so happy to see them).

Too cute

Mr. Pickle and his precious neice

After dinner we gathered around the tree and opened presents.



It was great to catch up with family!!!

My sister, grandpa and me


Cousins


More family

We had a wonderful night, but had to get home to get some rest so we could get up early and drive to Mr. Pickle's parent's house for Christmas Day.

Happy Holidays!!

Wishing you all Happy Holidays!!

PS. Today marks Puka's 5 year anniversary as a member of the Pickle family!!! He's the best Christmas present I got myself!

30 by 30 Thursday

I am beginning to wonder if I should take a break from running. After embarrassingly tripping and falling not once, but twice and getting hit by a car all while running (over the past couple of months) is what brings about this question!! I will be happy when my gym opens again after the holidays so I can switch up the workouts a bit. Hopefully my clumsy self won't fall while using the elliptical machine or treadmill.

I screwed up my hip pretty bad (possibly because of the car hitting me) so I have been running/walking but I end up feeling it later. Plus my knee is still acting up. I am starting to get frustrated. I know I need to exercise, but I feel like my body is rebelling.

How do you modify your exercise routine when injured?

Stuff My Stocking

I know most people have finished shopping for Christmas gifts, but have you gotten stocking stuffers??

Here is a list of stocking stuffers I wouldn't mind finding in my stocking Christmas morning...

OPI Nail Polish

Sweaty Band

Scarf

Jewlery

Lip Stick/Lipgloss

Eyeshadow

Mini Tripod

Of course gift cards to any of my favorite stores are good too!!

Click on the links for pic credit

Weekend Review

This weekend was full of Holiday celebrations!!

I was off work on Friday and did some much needed cleaning at the house in the morning. We have been so busy with Christmas shopping, decorating and attending events we kinda let the house get messy. We couldn't take it any longer so I got to work and it looks a lot better. Friday afternoon, my friend and I met my sister in San Francisco and did some shopping. After a little shopping and a quick stop by my sister's apartment we were off to meet some more friends and attend The Nutcracker put on by the SF Ballet. This has become a yearly tradition amongst our girl friends and is always so much fun. After the performance, we head across the street to a swanky little restaurant/bar and get a few drinks. Such a great way to spend a Friday night during the holiday season!!

My bestie and I

My sis and I

Beautiful decorations

Champagne

Most of the girls after The Nutcracker

Saturday morning I ran some errands and then came home to take a nap. Once I woke up I got ready to go to Sacramento for the night to have another girls night/ornament exchange/birthday celebration. It was so great to catch up with a bunch of the gals (all sorority sisters from college). We planned on going bowling but ended up staying in because we were all so chatty!!

The girls with our new ornaments

We spoiled the Birthday Girl with 3 different cakes

Sunday I slept in until 10:45!!! I must have been really sleepy. I assisted my sister with a photo shoot for one of my friend's and her family in Sacramento and then we went to my favorite sushi restaurant in Sacramento. Once I got home, I wrapped all the presents, decorated our Christmas tree (finally!!) and got ready for the upcoming week!! (Sunday night I realized on Saturday night I accidentally took a pill my doctor gave me to help get rid of migraines and knocks you out instead of the pill I needed to take...that explains why I slept so late!!)

Welcome To Our Home

Mr. Pickle and I welcomed this beauty to our home last night...



(yes this is us after a loooong day)

We FINALLY got our Christmas tree!!!

We usually get our tree at the end of November/beginning of December, but this year we were unsure if we were going to be moving or not. Since we have decided to stay put during the holidays, we were able to get our tree. She is smaller than usual (I am afraid of having a tree on the ground for fear that the dog will pee on it), but she is perfect and will go great on a table in the family room.

I can't wait to make her all pretty with decorations!!

Weekend Review

What a wonderful and busy weekend!!

Friday I had lunch with my sis and even go our picture taken with Santa...yes, we are still children at heart. At lunch she told me she was doing a maternity shoot for my best friend from middle school (we had lost touch but found each other on FB). My boss was kind enough to give me the rest of the afternoon off to crash their photo session. It was great catching up and seeing her cute little baby bump. After a few location changes, we all headed to dinner. I had an appointment later that evening so we parted ways. After my appointment, my sis and I ended up at the mall until 11 o'clock!!! We didn't even pay attention to the time, I couldn't believe it was that late.

SANTA....I know him

Saturday my sis and I headed to Santa Cruz for our great uncle's memorial service. It was great seeing family and being able to sit down and talk to everyone. Can't wait for our family reunion in 2012...I have the funniest family ever! On our way home we stopped for some snacks and more shopping. Once we finally made it home, I did some crafts and went to bed early.

Sunday Mr. Pickle and I went to breakfast and I went to do more shopping. I wish I could say all the shopping was xmas shopping, but I def got myself some things as well. When I got home we got ready to head to San Francisco for my sister's boyfriend's birthday celebration. We got there a little early to give him his gifts and enjoy some wine, then hit up Milano's pizza for some yummy pizza and great friends. While we headed back home early, the rest of the bunch went to Pub Quiz at a local bar.

Sisters

Sis and Her BF/Birthday Boy

Mr. Pickle and I

What's a celebration without cupcakes and cake?

Love his shirt!!

The gang

Weekend=Sucess

30 by 30 Thursday

Since the gym down the street from my work is closed for the month of December (are they trying to help people gain weight during the holidays?), I am back to running outside and am continuing with my yoga. I love both of these activities, just wish running didn't hurt my knees so much!! Yesterday I even ran in the rain, which wasn't too horrible except then I got cold sitting through work a tab bit wet.

In an effort to cut back our spending our hard earned money on food while dining out, Mr. Pickle and I are trying to eat out as little as possible. I even cooked dinner one night this week!! I know this will help with not only the amount of calories I consume, but also the amount of sodium (which my doctor advised I need to stay away from).

Some snacks I am enjoying this time of year are Granny Smith apples with RF peanut butter or Laughing Cow cheese, Persimmons, Healthy Pop Kettle Corn - 100 calorie bag, blueberry Special K bars and raw almonds.

Anyone have any good recipe for some low fat treats to celebrate the holiday?

I Guess I'm Loved

I think my dog loves me/us too much!!! Every time I/we leave he gets all anxious and freaks out. Either he tears stuff up or he paces around the house panting (I can tell because of all the wet droplet spots all over the floors).



I feel so bad for him because his separation anxiety has gotten so bad again. He was adopted from the Hawaiian Humane Society almost 5 years ago. He did good for the first couple months and then he started shaking when I would leave him. Since I worked with my mom out of her house, I was allowed to bring him to work with me. He continued to shake but it didn't get too bad until a few years later.



One day he was in my grandpa's backyard when we went to lunch and we came home to find an empty yard. It took two long, miserable days before he eventually came back home because he was so hungry. Ever since his separation anxiety has been worse.



Eventually we put him on medication that had an adverse affect, so we had to take him off of it. We worked with a trainer for a while and put him on puppy Prozac and he was doing okay. That was until he escaped from our yard in July and hasn't been the same since.



We used to be able to leave the doggie door in for the dogs and there wasn't a problem and now he immediately goes to the gate (where he gets out) when we are just getting ready to leave. We now keep the dogs locked inside and I go home every day at lunch to let them out. One day he unlocked the sliding glass door and got out of the yard.



He has destroyed several things and would rather come to work with me and sit in my car than be left alone. I guess it is time to shell out the money to go back to working with a trainer.



Poor pup, he loves us so much he can't stand for us to leave him. Lucky for him, we love him just as much and will do whatever it takes to work this out!! Let's just hope he doesn't ruin everything or hurt himself in the process.



Photo by Marcie Lynn Photography

Weekend in Tahoe

I just realized I never posted about a fun little weekend we had in Tahoe a month or so ago. Nothing too exciting, just went up to our family cabin with another couple and relaxed! Here are the pics from a little fun we had our last day there (the other couple had already headed home)...

Puka in his new 49er shirt Satch HATES getting his picture taken

Photo op with the scarecrow

Photo op on the lake

And on the way home we saw a sandwich place...

I love Tahoe!

Weekend Review - Sans Pictures

A very productive weekend, but not in the picture taking department!

Friday night Mr. Pickle made a lovely meal. We ate and enjoyed some vino while catching up on some DVR flicks and headed to bed early!

Saturday morning I woke up waaaaay to early for a Saturday (5:00 am) and stayed in bed relaxing for a few hours. Mr. Pickle and I went for a quick breakfast and then I went to spend some time with my grandpa. Gramps and I ran some errands and he took me to a nice lunch. Afterwards I joined one of my friend's while she tried on her wedding gown that just came in. Her wedding is in May and she has given me the honor of being one of her bridesmaids. She looks STUNNING in the dress, but there was never really a doubt in my mind that she wouldn't (I have pics of her in the dress but figured I shouldn't share just in case). Later that night we had dinner with Mr. Pickle's parents and watched Grown Ups. Funny movie!!!

Sunday we had a nice breakfast followed by a lot of running around and some cleaning/laundry. It was POURING, so we didn't go get our tree as planned. Hopefully this week. We did watch Home Alone and Elf to get in the Christmas spirit. We watch Christmas Vacation while decorating the tree. One of the best movies ever!!

Are you in the Christmas spirit?

Rough Patch

I know it isn't ideal to blog about the drama your going through on the internet however, like most people, this is my 'journal' so here it goes (feel free to skip this post, I won't be offended).....

I am going through a rough patch in my life and I am a ball of all sorts of emotions; anger, hurt, sadness, fear, confusion, the list goes on. Now before some people jump to conclusions, this has NOTHING to do with my marriage/husband. I prefer not to mention specific details, but worry not, my marriage couldn't be better.

I have been struggling with issues around this situation for some time and although my attempt has been to handle in a civil manner, things are getting out of control and I fear I am losing a loved one over it.

I have always been the type of person who has strived to keep other people happy and have recently been working with a counselor to put my happiness first (in a self care way, not selfish way). Apparently some people are not liking the changes I am making and that I am setting boundaries for myself because I have since been accused of being disrespectful and unappreciative. The last thing I want people to think is that I am doing these things to be mean, spiteful and selfish, but I have to do what is best for ME, I have to put my happiness before theirs.

I am so confused and am simply at a loss as to what to do. Do I simply back down and do what other people want of me even though it is not what I want for myself or what I think will make me happy or do I risk losing someone I NEVER thought I would lose? Why can't their be some compromise amongst us adults? Why does it have to be all or nothing? How am I being blamed for the way things have gone down?

What confuses me even more are the mixed signals I have been getting. One minute everything seems fine, the next minute it is finger pointing and hurtful words. One second we are enjoying conversations over the phone, the next second I am getting an email blaming me for being disrespectful and unappreciative.

All I know is I can't imagine my life without this person. At this point I am willing to do what it takes to make this situation better, but only within my boundaries (which I have expressed before). I don't think it is fair to be put in an uncomfortable situation just because it is what is best for someone else.

I hope and pray this will work out for all parties involved because I don't know if I can live without them in my life.

To be continued.....

On a lighter note, Happy Friday everyone. Hope you all enjoy the weekend!