Thursday, February 28, 2013

Thinner Thursday

I am exactly the same weight as last Thursday! I have zero problem with that as I went to Los Angeles for four days and ate things like this:

I only ate one, but had a hard time choosing which flavor.

Mine is the eclair down front. It was called a cream filled, so I was picturing a round Boston Cream- nope. It was the best donut I've ever had. No regrets.

We did make great choices when possible. I ate a few yummy salads here and there, but when you eat dinner at the basketball arena and In N Out fast food, you are limited. We did some walking as well. Specifically, we did some walking on Saturday when we couldn't remember what side street we parked our rental van. It was awful and hilarious all at once. Dan thought it was one way and the girls disagreed, so we split up by gender. GIRLS WON! Then we had to wait at the van for a while for the guys to get there because they had the keys. Laughable now.

Back to thinner Thursday.....Starting on Monday we went back to the world of Atkins and it is working for us. Rob thinks it makes breath smell bad, but I haven't noticed it yet. We have gum to save us! On Wednesday night he snacked on Pork Rinds which was gross to me! We are sticking to eggs, grilled chicken, big salads, and cheese. I'm afraid we will get tired of our options faster than we should, so I'm going to need some chicken ideas that don't involve carbs!

Here we go Atkins!

Do you have a fantastic low carb meal to suggest for us?


Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Wife Wednesday

Sometimes I try to figure out how I got so lucky with Rob, then I am reminded that it is all about God's grace and mercy because I don't deserve it, yet I got it anyway. I hear other "spouse" stories and I am thankful for Rob. I see other "spouse" interactions and I am thankful for Rob. I watch and hear about single friends' stories and I am thankful for Rob. I am thankful, not in a prideful way, but in a humble way because that could be us. Every relationship is one step away from failure. Rob & I aren't above what we see happen in other relationships. Thankfully, with our eyes on Jesus, we have made it another day because of God's grace and mercy in our relationship. I'm praying we make it a lot more days.

One of my favorite moments from our trip to California was Friday night. We were walking around the Staples Center at the game by ourselves, holding hands, and just being thankful for one another. I cherish those moments and anxiously await the next one.

Love you, babe!



Have you told your significant other how thankful you are for them lately?

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Twin Tuesday

While we were living it up in California, the twins were living it up in Yorktown at the Froyen's house. The Froyens are a very special family to us, and outside of our family, they are the only people we'd leave our kids with for more than one night. My kids had more fun there than they do with me on an average day at home! Stacy's house offers- Stacy & Eric, Dean & Joel (9th and 5th grader), and Max the dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Dog. Reese and Hayden lovingly call him Mac. That silly x sound is elusive for them.

Aside from two little colds, the kids behaved, slept great, and ate well.  They always eat better for Stacy than us! Apparently, Reese loved green olives and hummus while on vacation! Ha. Here are a few of my favorite pictures Stacy sent me. We were also able to Facetime with the kids twice a day which was so sweet. Yay for technology!

Shopping for new toys- spoiled!

Playing with new toys!

They love looking out the windows there!

At Dean's basketball game!

Cheering on Dean!

Playing with Joel!

Loves her Stacy!

Coloring with Eric on their first trip to Red Robin!

They wore him out!

Sweet girl!


Max!

Bath time! 

After the kids left, Stacy said they all went to Chipotle to drown their sorrows!

Love!


Talking to mommy!


Staring at our picture!

Eating like champs!

Love this picture!

I love how Hayden is just lounging here.

Joy!


Visit with the Macks!


They've finally started saying Eric in the last few months & it's cute!

I missed them as any mom would, but had such a peace while gone. Eric and Stacy are kind and generous people who have blessed our lives way more than this week with the kids. We are better for knowing them, and I am thankful our kids have them in their lives. I love that Reese and Hayden have asked for Joel and Dean each day since we've  been home. I love that the kids can communicate enough with us these days to tell us they had fun at Stacy's. I love that the Froyens are our people. 

What's your favorite vacation?



Monday, February 25, 2013

Manic Monday

Much like robshep.com's Mind Dumps, Manic Monday is a snapshot of all the random excitement inside my head.
  • Back to the real world! We got home yesterday afternoon, played with our babies, watched some Oscar footage & Walking Dead, and tried to go to bed as soon as physically possible.
  • Here's how we got home- Left LAX at 11:04 pm Saturday night. Landed in Chicago at 5 am. Stayed there for 3 hours and 45 minutes. Left for Philadelphia at 8:45 am and landed at 11:45 am. Stayed there for one hour and 49 minutes. Flew to Newport News at 2:41 pm. 
  • VOMIT! I thought it was going to be horrible, but it wasn't too bad. I was ready to be home and squeeze those babies, take a shower, and go to sleep! And sleep in my own bed by the way.
  • Our trip was fantastic. Here are some highlights in case you missed my incessant Facebook posts.
  • Amazing donuts at Randy's Donuts. Best cream filled I've ever had.
  • Lakers vs Celtics on Wednesday night with a Laker win and oodles of celebrities!

  • Warner Bros lot tour Thursday morning was so fun, followed by the taping of Ellen! Definitely checked one more thing off my bucket list. 
The set of Friends- my favorite show!

This is a picture of the TV from our episode "on" Ellen. Loved it!
  • On Friday morning, we went to the Grove and stumbled upon Mario Lopez filming Extra which was awesome. At lunch that day, we bumped into one of our favorite's from The Office and he was super chill and nice.
Mario Lopez! Rob shows up great on the episode and you can catch glimpses of the girls.


Earlier in the day, I said, "If we could just casually bump into a famous person that we all like, that would be awesome!" Here's Toby from The Office!
  • Shima also took us to some Hollywood hot spots like where the OJ Simpson murders occurred & the house Marilyn Monroe died. Plus, we had a fantastic cupcake!
  •  Friday night me and Rob went to another Laker game with Shima and Eddie. We saw Denzel Washington which was really cool! Plus, the Lakers won!
Besties since middle school!
  • Saturday was our last day & it was really chill. We had a lazy breakfast in Santa Monica and then explored the pier and beach there.
  • We drove up to Van Nuys to find the set of The Office and it was amazing!



Dwight's car!

This might be the only photo of all five of us, but what a perfect place for it!
  • We ended the day by going out to dinner with Shima, Eddie, and one of her dear friends in Culver City at Rush Street. It was delicious. Here's the best part & one of my favorite moments from the trip!
  • As you know, I love Ellen! We were eating outside, and up walks DJ Tony from the Ellen Show! He overheard me say, "It's DJ Tony!", turned and waved to me. I told him that I loved him and he covered his heart with his hand and bowed to me to say thanks. It was the best & made my heart happy!!
  • It was one of my favorite vacations ever, and it really could not have gone better. I am so thankful to have had time with Shima and Eddie, and we so appreciate that they opened their home to all of us! We loved time with Dan, Danielle, and Courtney, and we made memories we'll never forget. 
  • It was so nice knowing our kids were having so much fun and being so, so loved while we were gone. Pics of their "vacation" tomorrow! Ha! 
What celebrity would you like a photo with?


Friday, February 22, 2013

The Pampered Shepherd

The new Spring catalog is here! Yippee! I love so many of the new products! There are 47 to be exact. If you host a show in March, you get to be the first to use the Spring Catalog! I've got one home show on the schedule and one Facebook show lined up. I'd love to double that!


If you'd like to host a show in March, check out the host specials above! I love the manual food processor and the food chopper. I just got the simple slicer in January, and I use it about 3-4 times a week for potatoes, onions, and cucumbers. (Well, no more potatoes because of Atkins!)


Guests will love the guest special with $60 purchase. I'm obsessed with the flexible cutting mats and you get three! The bar board is also the perfect size for apples and quick jobs. 

In other news, I used my skillet to make my first pineapple upside down cake. It was tasty! Here is the recipe~ click here for yummy goodness!

Here are my pics~


You get the butter and brown sugar all yummy in the skillet, place the pineapple and cherries next, and then pour the cake on top as prepared in the recipe above. Once you get it out of the oven (the skillet goes straight in the oven- how cool is that?!), flip it onto a platter. We think it would be best cooled and topped with a touch of cool whip. Everyone really enjoyed it and it was so pretty! The skillet barely needed cleaning afterwards- love our executive skillets!

A few weeks ago I did a chicken enchilada bake in the same skillet for dinner!

Love using this skillet!

You have six days left to throw together $150 in orders from friends and family for a February show. When you do that you can get this skillet above for 60% off! Instead of $155.00, it is $62.00. 

Interested in hosting a party in March? Pretty please?




Thursday, February 21, 2013

Thinner Thursday

Down 3.5 pounds since last week! Whoop, whoop!

Rob woke up one morning last week and decided we are doing Atkins. For us, it's a modified version of Atkins from last Friday until next Monday. I'm not doing that junk in California! Ha. I'll still be careful, and keep close to it, don't you worry. We'll go full in on Tuesday of next week.

Here's why I love it. Rob is super into it and that helps so much. I'm pretty sure wheat gives me headaches, and I've been wanting to test this theory. I haven't had a headache all week. It makes grocery shopping easier and specific. All my new Pampered Chef rubs and spices make chicken way more fun. It's like a challenge to stay in the carb zone for phase 1, and who doesn't like a challenge? Good thing I've got a sweet new stone egg cooker from Pampered Chef that goes in the microwave and does scrambled, fried, or poached eggs perfectly! My ridge baker does bacon in the microwave in 5 minutes, so breakfast is still speedy with the twins running around. (Sales pitch!)

Two gross things so far- Rob had us buy beef jerky and pork rinds. They smell horrible and I can't eat them, but if it works for him, so be it.

Have you ever tried Atkins? Any tips?

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Wife Wednesday

Have you ever adopted one of your spouse's hobbies?

I  have and it's the most fun! If you know Rob at all, you know what he is passionate about. One of those passions is the LA Lakers!

Rob has been a HUGE Laker fan since he was in elementary school. In college, I quickly learned to cheer for the Lakers and wear purple and yellow whenever possible! I learned the starting line up, I bought him his first jersey, and took him to his first game! (Side note- what kind of fan was he- no jersey and no game before me?! Ha.) I surprised him with his first trip to LA when he graduated from seminary. We've now been to 4 games in LA, and tonight we go to our 5th!

In Boston in 2010 at game 4 of the Finals!

Our friends even play along! I'm pretty sure this when the Lakers won the Finals in 2010.

Jamey might be more hard core than I am! HA!


Sometimes you have to buy Laker balloons. 

And have yellow and purple themed parties!

And order these just because!

I've watched his eyes light up and dreams come true over the years! It was so fun to be a part of that. I love it because he loves it. It never gets old. A few weeks ago, someone asked me if I felt jipped that most of our vacations revolve around the Lakers and/or the NBA schedule. I love it! It's always an adventure, and it's become my hobby too! I own two of my own jerseys- I'm hardcore! In fact, last week, Laker owner Jerry Buss died. I watched some specials on SportsCenter that day all by myself and teared up.

Rob loves that I love what he loves. I think it helps keep some magic in the relationship! I mean, how can he resist me jumping up and down in a Laker jersey cheering on OUR team. Ha.

The game is on ESPN tonight- look for me, Rob, Dan, Danielle, and Courtney! Three of us will be in Laker jerseys!

What is something you've adopted from your spouse?