These are some pictures of our trip to Greer, Arizona. We left last Tuesday (the 24th) and drove about 6 hours with Macy. She was such a good baby on the drive! She only got fussy the last half hour-she was just sick of the car seat (and tired). My parents were with us-they flew down on the Saturday before we left. We went shopping, ate out, and caught up on news. On our trip, we stayed at the Antler Ridge Cabins. They were ok-I wouldn't stay there again though because they were right on the road-not secluded at all. They were also on a residential drive, so we were hearing people drive up and down the road all the time.

The cabin was cozy though-it had a fire place-although it was dark and there weren't enough lights to read well at night. When we got there, we unpacked and rested. At night we read, and the last night we were there, we had a fire. It rained every night, with thunder and lightening showers, so it was cozy. We also had some hot cocoa to round out the feel of a wilderness cabin. Dad, Chris and I took fly fishing lessons at the Greer Lodge. It was fun to learn! Dad and I didn't catch any fish, but Chris did. After that, we fished some of the Little Colorado. Chris caught enough trout to have for breakfast-and dad caught one fish from the stream-not bad, considering he doesn't like to fish from a stream. We went for hikes with Macy-and we even took her fishing. She seemed to enjoy the walks-she takes in all the views. We went out to dinner at the Greer Lodge-it was pretty tasty-although pricey for being in the middle of nowhere. The rest of the time, we ate, napped, and read. It was nice to relax and finally get away from the heat (and the house)!

SSD Blog Challenge!

Your Nail Polish Color is Pink

How you're unique: You're girly without being high maintenance Why your style rocks: You're the perfect blend of stylish, preppy, and cute What this color says about you: "I am secure enough not to follow every trend"

http://www.blogthings.com/whatcolornailpolishbestfitsyouquiz/">What Color Nail Polish Best Fits You?

SSD Challenge-Cool off Summer Recipe!

Here is the LO I did for my 31st birthday party over at John and Linda's (with my template that you can download here).

Not much has happened this past week. Chris had to work alot, so as usual, it was me and Macy. We ended up doing some shopping-I think that is what I do when I am depressed a bit-shop-it always makes me feel better for a bit. We bought some toys and books of course. I bought a skirt, tanktop and a top using the Land's End gift card that we had. Still not quite down to a size 10 yet-size 12 is roomy though still. Speaking of which, I am off Jenny Craig this week because my parents are flying into town today. They can't wait to see Macy, and we can't wait to see them! We are going to go shopping for a high chair among other things I am sure. Then Tuesday we are headed to Greer, AZ to cool off at a cabin and go fishing (and read).

Potter came out last night and I missed the big party. At first I was bummed, because I have never missed a midnight madness, but I am glad I did now. All I would have done was wait hours in line at the bookstore for the book, then come home and read it without going to sleep. Add that to caring for a baby by myself and then entertaining my parents=exhaustion. So I decided not to do it. I am going to pick up the book instead on the way to the airport today. I am going to savor it as I read this time, since I know it is the last one.

For the SSD challenge, I will be posting one of my favorite summer treats to cool off!

Avocado Soup/Shake-(depending on your mood)!

1 8z container of lowfat plain yogurt

1 ripe avocado

1 can chicken broth

2-3 lemons or lemon substitute-about 3T-1/8 cup depending on how much lemon you like.

red pepper

salt/pepper

In a blender, put in all of the yogurt, the juice from the lemons-the more tart you like it, the more lemons you use. I start with two lemons and go from there depending on my taste. Add 1/2 can of chicken broth. Add 1/2 avocado. Add pinch of red pepper. Blend to mix. Add broth and blend until you get the texture you want (this soup tastes best with thin shake consistency). Add more lemon for tartness. Add more red pepper for spice. Of course, you can add entire avocado and broth and continue to mix and blend until you get the perfect combo.

**good snack if you are looking for protein, dairy, vegetable (with good fats), and fruit.

Well, it is Friday night, and I am home by myself again with Macy. /sigh. Chris is out with his boss. He said he would be home around 6:30 and it is now 9pm. I hate it when he tells me a time and then doesn't call to say he will be late or even come home when he says he will. It is annoying. I can't figure out what to do with myself. I could scrapbook, but I don't feel like it. There really isn't anything on T.V., and I don't want to watch any movies. Looks like I am going to be reading my books. Hopefully I can fall asleep early tonight and catch up on my rest.

Well, the countertops are in and they look GREAT! Fortunately Linda, my mother in law, is paying the bill-and she has been having to deal with the contract. Thankfully, I didn't have to do this. We also had a new faucet and garbage disposal installed. Looks really good.

I worked on some unit plans this week for school. Not really into it though. The district hired a new principal, so hopefully he will be good.

Lost another pound at Jenny Craig, for a total of 6 pounds there-it seemed I gained my workout weight loss back-I think because I am not drinking enough water. Again, not confident about this week because we have eaten out once -although I didn't gorge myself, and I had some potato chips today that were left over from Chris's camping trip.

My parents are coming next weekend-thank god. Hopefully, then can give me some small space with Macy since Chris hasn't. I miss my parents-I think that is why I have gained all this weight. I have lived in Arizona for four years, and I have gained 25 pounds since moving down here-how sad is that. I would like to move back to Washington, but it is so expensive to live there now-we wouldn't be any better off. I looked for some jobs up in the northwest that Chris could apply for, but he hasn't done it (like he said he would). I would apply for him, but that isn't really realistic. I am tired of nagging him about it too, so I am just going to whine and complain in my blog.

Nina puked tonight. Not sure what that is all about. But, she is nagging me for some love, so she must be feeling better. She isn't peeing on the bed anymore (I think Lily was harrassing her in the middle of the night by not letting her go to her litterbox or eat her food) so that is a relief.

Alright, I have decided which book I am going to read. Adios!

Here I am with Macy at my birthday party that my in-laws had for me. Well, 4th of July went well. We went over to Linda and John's house for some barbeque-I gorged myself on bratwurst and potato salad. Not sure how I am going to do at Jenny Craig today (I weigh in). We shall see. On Wednesday we are going to have new Hi-Macs countertops installed, so Chris and I have to clean out the bottom cabinets this weekend to get ready for that. We also have to buy a new garbage disposal and a new faucet. We keep forgetting that. We are going out tonight to Richardson's, which is a New Mexican restaurant in Scottsdale. Her birthday was yesterday, so we are all going to take time away from the kids to go enjoy a good meal.

Chris leaves for camping on Monday. He is going to be gone AGAIN, leaving me with Macy. It is starting to get annoying really. He is taking four vacations this year-and he is only spending one of them with me. I feel I should get at least 2/4 vacations at least. What irks me is that he will be going to Spain in early October for about 10 days or so. Not only do I not get to go to Spain, but I will be by myself with the baby again. I have already decided that while he is gone, I am going to go by some clothes for myself and some accessories. Maybe some new make-up shades. I should hopefully be in size 8 by then (or darn close).

Not much else is going on. I can't wait for my parents to come down here in about 2 weeks. They haven't seen Macy since she was born-she will be so different! Here is the Star Wars quiz I took from my blog to yours from the Sweet Shoppe-I took it twice and still came up with this-very depressing.

I ended up being C-3PO, but having difficulty displaying the image. Here is my test page.

Link

Here is Macy in the pool at Mimi's house. We will be going over again today for her annual 4th of July get together. We are going to have barbeque sausages for dinner and the usual-potato salad, baked beans, and a cold dessert of some type. I am sure we will also get into the pool again, since it will probably get to be over 110 degrees today (yucky). Then, Macy and I will head home. Chris has to work at the Tempe Town Lake 4th of July Festival to oversee the operations of the clean-up, so we won't see him until tomorrow midday. He is totally dreading it too. The rest of the week should be pretty low key. Chris is taking the rest of the week off, so hopefully on Friday, Linda can babysit Macy and he and I can have a day to ourselves-I want to go see a movie SO BAD! Not sure which one-maybe Spiderman or the new John Cusack. I weighed myself at the gym yesterday, and I lost another three pounds-which makes it a total of 8lbs for the month of June (pretty much). YEAH! I tried on some size 10's and I am uncomfortable in them, but if they were the only clothes I could wear, they could work! Finally heading back to my pre-pregnancy size 8. I should be that by the end of August (that is the goal anyway). I want to hit my goal weight-which I think is going to be somewhere between 135-140 by the end of the year!