Where have I been?

That is the question.

Here are the top 10 things that have kept me from blogging.

10. The temperature. I'm cold. It's cold here. It's cold inside my apartment, we have a tiny heater. And my fingers are way too cold to type anything resembling sentences. Here is evidence. We took the kids out the other day. And yes, I realize it's June. But still, Brrr......

9. I'm teaching my cat some new tricks. Like how to stay off the kitchen table, how to hide from a preschooler and a toddler and how not to sleep at the foot of the toddlers bed. It's slow going.

8. I've been reading. Unlimited Power by Anthony Robbins. Excellent book by the way.

7. I've also been listening to CDs. Not just music, but "Get the Edge" CDs by Anthony Robbins. Highly recommend. If you have never heard Anthony Robbins speak or read anything by him, I suggest you go immediately to the store and buy something. Go now. I can't wait for you. Just do it. You won't be sorry.

6. I have not been drinking cokes, or eating crappy foods. Well, except for my birthday (June 16) I did have some food that would fall into the crappy category. It was good though.

5. I've been visualizing the beach. We are getting ready to return to the United States. First up, Florida.

4. I have been coloring, painting, cutting, pasting, reading, running, and practicing writing letters with my kids.

3. I have been on Twitter.

2. I have been working on my cardiovascular health.

And the number one reason I have been unable to create a blog post:

1. Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. She has shredded my muscles down to the very bone. I could not lift my fingers to even type the word hello. I invite you to get the shred dvd and hop to it. This chic is hard core. And I am totally not lying to you when I admit that the second day, after trying her workout, I could not walk. I could not sit. And yes, I whinced, in pain for most of the day.

But now that I am 17 days into it, I LOVE her. Anyway. I just wanted to let you know where I was. And also one more teeny tiny thing. I need a break. I've been blogging for quite some time. And right now, I just need to take a little blog vacation. So I thought I'd let you all know that too.

I'm sure you guys may have been there before. Ever? Anyone? Bueller? Well, that's where I'm at. Please feel free to follow me on Twitter. I have an account there, and I check in often. I have a link there on my sidebar to the right. Feel free to give me a shout hello. :) :)

Hope to see you all again soon. Ciao~~~

WW, Confession and a shelf.

So, yesterday was my birthday. And I 'claimed' that I would not eat cake. I need to confess. Though I told my husband not to buy me a birthday cake, I did allow him to buy me a slice of cake. This came from the bakery down the road, it's ONE slice of black forest cake. And though it was still cake, it wasn't a WHOLE cake, which would equate to me eating a piece of it every single day until it was gone. This one is already gone, and was enjoyed very much!

And I may or may not have posted this picture here before, but I know I've talked about IKEA stores and their stuff. Well, about 31 days ago, we received some items that I ordered from them. And as I was putting together the shelf, I noticed that the very last piece was broken. I called them up, and thankfully they have an excellent customer service department. They immediately sent out the broken piece. It did take a while, as we are in another country, and the address I had it sent to was kind of a "back door" way for us to get things here.

Here is the finished product. I received the piece and was able to finish it up in about 5 minutes from the point where it was in the above picture. The kids absolutely LOVE it! And so do I! Way to go IKEA for having such good service and awesome products!

For more WW posts please visit 5 Minutes for Mom, Seven Clown Circus, and the Mostly Wordless Wednesday H.Q.

Happy Birthday to Me.

Today is June 16, it's my birthday. And I am thirty-hmphshh *cough* years old today. I will not be eating cake. I told my husband not to buy me one. So I'm posting a picture so I can enjoy it. Besides, the cakes that I could buy and eat here, are not that good. Trust me, I've tried.

We don't have any special plans for the day. And I'm actually going to wait until I return to the US to buy myself something nice. Yes, I buy my own gifts. My dh actually did get me something too. He gave it to me already. It is a 100 pesos coin mounted in a setting, to wear on a chain. I have been asking for that for a while. So kudos to him for buying it for me! Yay!

OK, I've got nothing else. So if you would please, join in with me while I sing to myself:

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday dear Leslie, Happy Birthday to me~~~~~~

New Day.

I've got nothing exciting to share. I'm down 4.5 lbs since I started working out on June 7. I guess that's pretty good. Considering it has only been 8 days. I keep expecting the numbers to be bigger. I think I've watched too many episodes of Biggest Loser. I don't think I'm going to drop weight like that. Not to mention, they are in the crazy camp of losing weight. And they do the treadmill while they sleep.

The kids are getting excited. Why, you ask? Well I don't think I've officially announced it yet. But we are heading back to the states! I couldn't be happier.

It's technically summer time for the US, and that means that Devon and Alyssa are out of school. So we want to get back there to visit them. Amazingly enough, my husband was able to swing the time off from work. He is only going to be staying for 2 weeks. We are all flying to Miami in July.

I can't even tell you how much I miss Florida. We haven't been back there since when I was still pregnant with Eddie in early 2005. We are staying at The Westin, right on the beach. And I am even more thrilled that we waited to make our hotel reservations. The price has dropped! So that's a bonus.

We are even able to rent a mini-van now to cart around all of these kids. 4 kids, plus 2 car seats won't fit too well into a small economy car. So with the price drop, it allows us to get the bigger car. I'm really looking forward to this trip.

We are staying for 4 days to visit with my husband's family there in S. Florida, and then we will be flying on to Tucson.

So, since I'm heading to the beach, I will be pushing hard with my workouts. Also, I just wanted to let you know, that I will not be eating cake tomorrow. (it's my birthday) I have been very good with my food choices lately, and for that I am really proud. OK, so though I will not be eating cake. I'll probably be thinking about it a lot. I love BIRTHDAY CAKE. Like, in a big way.

Oh and since I am thinking about it, today is June 15. One year ago today, we first arrived here in Santiago. Wow! It's been a year already. I can't believe it. Also, technically we now have less than one year left to go until we can move back to the US. DH says that we can leave out of here on June 1. Trust me, I'm counting down.

If you care to take a trip down memory lane with me, here is my first post from Chile.
We've Arrived!

Eviction Notice.

(5 lb representation)

Dear Fat,

I am writing this letter to inform you that you are no longer welcome here in and on my body. Your soft and fluffy nature is no longer comforting. Instead, your presence is more of an annoyance. I cannot fit into most of my jeans without discomfort. I am unable to wear those cute clothes that I bought before I became pregnant.

You made me think that you cared about me. First it was just one extra pound of you. And then you invited a friend. They in turn asked their entire family to come. And what's more, they have no intentions of leaving, ever. You crowd around my legs and midsection and mock me every single day as I try to figure out what to wear.

It does not soothe me to know that you have made me into one giant pillow for my children to lay on, moosh, or play with as a toy. It is not amusing. My patience has gone. I tried to be nice. I thought if I cut down on eating so many cookies, you would get the hint and just leave.

It is obvious that you, your friends and their family have decided to stay for the long haul. Well I want you to know that I am not OK with that. You see, it's going to cost me a lot of money to replace my entire wardrobe. And frankly, I'm just not in the mood.

I have nice clothes. And I have made a decision. I will be wearing them again. I just wanted you to know, it's time. I also want you to know what's coming. You see, I feel stronger now. I know I can take you on. You don't scare me anymore. Nor does a little hard work. I am going to defeat you. When I say these things to you, I want you to know that I am very serious.

Cardio. Exercise. Jillian Michael's. 30 Day Shred. Be very afraid. I know cardio is your ultimate enemy. I don't feel sorry for you. You have overstayed your welcome.

Please take this letter as formal notification of your eviction. You must vacate the body within 30 days. There will be no negotiations. I'm done with you. Please say your goodbyes. Pack your things. It's time you go.

Wordful Wednesday, time flies.

I'm not sure if I remember the year this picture was taken, so I am going to guess 2000 or 2001. It's a photo not of Alexa, but my step-daughter Alyssa. I know. I know their names are similar. And for the record I had the name Alex picked out for my daughter back in the late 80's.(For those of you who don't know me well, and wonder about it.)

She was so little. I met her in 1999, at just 13 months old. And she had only 4 teeth.


I do know that these pictures were taken at my mother's house in Tampa. This one was dated 2001. Here is Devon too. I met him just 2 weeks after his 6th birthday. Seems crazy to me.

This one was taken at Seaside (I think it was called) down in Miami.

All I want to say is that time flies. This next picture was taken December 31, 2008 at my mom's house in Tucson, AZ.

Alyssa is now going to be starting the 5th grade. She turns 11 at the end of the year. Devon likes to ride dirt bikes, motor bikes, is quite enamored with the young ladies and loves talking on his cell phone. He turns 16 (*gasp*gasp*cough*choke*) at the end of this year. Wow.

For more WW posts please stop by 5 Minutes for Mom, Seven Clown Circus, & Mostly Wordless Wednesdays HQ.

My new best friend, and the bachelorette.

OK, so take a look at this woman. How amazing does she look?


Yeah. Well, if you don't know who this is, her name is Jillian Michaels. And she is one of the coaches on tv's hit show, The Biggest Loser. It's a pretty cool show. I've seen it. But not religiously since we are out of the country. But I have watched it in the past. This chic is one hard core coach. She has a DVD out called the 30 Day Shred. I just started it.

All I want to say is, OMG will someone please help to get me up off of the floor! She ain't lying. If you can keep your butt in gear and do this amazing yet short workout, you WILL see results! I am so sore. But I am doing it. Loving her. I highly recommend this DVD if you are thinking about working out, or are too lazy to get to the gym. (that was my excuse)

Jillian is cool. Not to be confused with another Jillian from the tv show The Bachelorette. Yes, I'm watching this one. Look at how cute she is. And petite! You could put her in your pocket! I don't know how I got sucked in, or why, as I haven't watched the bachelor version of the show in a while. But there is something likable about her, and I just want to see her end up with one of the good guys from the show.

My favorites so far are Kiptyn, Jake, and Edward. I think the foot fetish guy is a bit weird for my taste (I think it's Tanner). Also the guitar guy Wes, I think that they should both leave next. I'm not into either one of them. Though I'm glad to see Dave leave last night. He deserved it. What was his deal?

For you Chic Fil A lovers.....

OK, so I totally stole this video. My lovely friend Casey over at The Ever Changing Life of a Military Wife had posted this video today. And well, if you are in the mall or live near a Chic Fil A today, oh well. Sorry you can't have any. (It's Sunday) But on Monday, feel free to grab a sandwich and some waffle fries. At least you have the option to. I can't.

I love them, and I too can't wait to get back to the states to have some of their yummy goodness. Nom Nom.

After this weekend, I will never do____ again.

Last night we were invited over to a co-worker of my husband's home for dinner. That all sounds innocent enough. Well, it was. The couple was absolutely lovely, their kids were respectful and polite. One of them, even knew very good English. So we had nice conversation, good food, err.. sort of. Our wonderful hostess made Paella. For those of you who do not know what this dish is, here is a picture.


It mainly consists of seafood ingredients. Clams, mussels, shrimp, sausage, and rice. It can vary a little, but those are almost always present. Sometimes more seafood can be thrown in as well. I used to like Paella. But after this weekend, I swear I will never EVER eat mussels, or clams again.

Here is how I spent a large portion of my night last night.

Today, I am feeling better. And this actually happened to me 8 months ago. Shortly after eating mussels. But never again. I can not, will not even take a remote chance, ever again.

I weighed myself yesterday, because I am starting Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. Well, from yesterday to today, I lost 3 lbs from this episode. And I have some broken blood vessels around my eyes. So yeah, it was a really rough ending to my night. I am forever scarred. I will never look at shell fish the same way again. Period.

Will they ever stop making messes?

I just want to know. It seems to me that my kids make messes every day. Some of them are bigger than others. And if you read yesterday's post, some are certainly more costly.

Today is no different. I only left them alone to take the clothes out back. Yes, here in Chile, we hang our clothes out on a rack outside. So anyway, I came back inside to hear laughter and squealing. I walk in to see this:


Both of the kids had chocolate milk drenched shirts and socks. You might not be able to see it clearly in the pictures, but the substance on the floor and walls, is actually the milk. Of course I took pictures. What kind of mommy blogger would I be if I didn't at least do that?

And on an unrelated note, here is a video of some fellow bloggers, put together by Toni at A Daily Dose of Toni. Yours truly is also featured in this montage, and besides, I absolutely love this song. I think I always will. She wanted to put together a "faces behind the blog" type thing. I like the idea. So here is the video. Please take note of the web addresses, because the links in the video are not functional. Just a heads up there. :) Enjoy~

Blog Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Linkathon from Toni Patton on Vimeo.

New Challenges.

Often times things in life do not go as we had planned. It is up to us how we perceive the obstacles in our paths. We can give them a much larger meaning, by getting very upset, and letting it take over a large portion of our time. We can spend a great deal of energy worrying over the event. Or we can choose to just accept the things that happen in stride and let it go.

No matter what you do, you cannot prevent those things from happening. The only thing that is within your grasp, is how you choose to handle it. And remember that the little people are watching you. They look to us, to see how they should react when things go bad. So if I yell and scream and lose my temper. There is a good chance that they too will do the same.

Here is our latest challenge. The wallpaper in our (rented) apartment keeps mysteriously disappearing. {When taking this photo, Alexa says to me "Mommy, it looks like a penguin!" and well yeah, I can kind of see that!}

Here is a spot in the living room.

And this is in the dining room.

Here is the culprit.

For more A Thousand Word Thursday posts, please head over to see Jen at Cheaper Than Therapy.

Wordful Wednesday and a tag.

So last week was it? I posted my very first Wordless Wednesday post. And well, I came across this other blog, that does "Wordful Wednesday" posts. I loved that idea! How nifty is she? Her name is Angie, and her blog is Seven Clown Circus. Please stop by and take a peek.

Also, I was tagged by my dear friend Stephanie at Serenity Now! to participate in this meme. I was told to go to my 6th folder and pick out the 6th picture in it. Pretty random right? Well here it is, Mr. Cutie himself. Baby Eddie. I don't remember his exact age here, but I'm thinking 5 months?


My "baby Eddie" as I used to refer to him, is now 4 years old. He was DIFFICULT to potty train. He is a Star Wars lovin', rambunctious, bird portion eating, fireball. He runs at HIGH speed nearly all day long. He has a big heart, and he gives lots of hugs. This morning he told me that he wants to be a gun-fighter and a fireman when he grows up. I'm so proud of him. He's thinking of the future. lol~

OK, now I'm supposed to tag some people to play along. Don't feel like you have to, it's ok if you don't. And if I don't tag you and you would like to play along, feel free to tag yourself and come back here and let me know. I would love to take a look!

Patrice
Alicia

OK, sorry. I have to go make pancakes now. Baby Eddie is bringing me the pots. Have to run. Have a great day~


Here are the rules:
1) Go to your photo files
2) Pick the sixth folder (open)
3) Pick the 6th photo
4) Write a story about the photo
5) Tag six people (don’t forget to tell them that they have been tagged!)

Recap. MTV Movie Awards.

As a heads up to my fellow Twilight fans and friends, the New Moon trailer is out and you can watch it over and over and over again. Until November 20, that is. (or is that just me?) I did not watch it 10 times already.
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD


I would just like to say that Andy Sambert was a great host, I think he did a excellent job. I love him on Saturday Night Live too.

If you didn't watch the show, it's worth catching it again, MTV always plays it over and over if you missed it!

Twilight really mopped the floors with the awards. They won quite a few. I love them, and all things Twilight, so you won't hear any complaining from me. Speaking of Twilight, can anyone tell me what is up with K-stew? Anyone?

Let's start with, what was she wearing? And why can't she smile just a little bit more? It's not as if her job is actually difficult. She gets to work with Rob Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. Come on. Really? If I got to kiss them and get paid for it, I don't think you'd be able to wipe the smile off of my face. Ever. Get out of town people, please!

Oh yeah, and here she is accepting her award for best female something or other. I actually think she didn't hold a candle to those that she was up against. (Angelina Jolie and Kate Winslet) In my opinion, she is just not even in the same class. The funny part about this clip is that she drops her award. Kind of makes you speculate as to if she may be on something. Maybe?? What do you think?


And then I had to roll out laughing at the WTF award. And I think it's perfect that Amy Poehler won it. She's freaking funny as ever. For those of you, and my mom who might not know what WTF means, it's "What the F#@!" OK? Got it?

You see, the thing about this award show, that I really enjoy is that it makes you laugh. You can't help it. And I was trying not to laugh so hard that I woke up my kids. It was really pretty funny.

I don't know what the plan was for that Bruno guy(Sasha Baron Cohen). But it ended up where he was naked butt up in Eminem's face! OMG OMG, can Slim Shady actually go to an awards show where he is not involved in some drama? Can he? That was awesome, and so wrong, all at the same time. Eminem steamed out of there. What a riot.

And one finaly funny, Jim Carey had a voice over of himself, and what he is thinking. It had me crying when he said he wished someone would overturn Prop #8 as he was talking about the good looking kid from Twilight (Rob Pattinson). OMG, classic.

OK, it's late. And sooner than I know it, my kids will be up and jumping on me, begging for pancakes. Or strawberry cookies. That's all I can think of. But like I said, worth a watch.