60 pounds later, I was back to my starting weight… and my drive was non-existent.

However, I did mean it when I said enough was enough. I weighed myself in last Friday morning and found I had lost 2.4 pounds. I plan on keeping them off.

So here I am – spouting the “try, try again” mantra. Really, it works.

And if you are trying to find the motivation to try it one more time, here is a video just for you:

Are you struggling to try again?

Remember these? I was so excited to get them and just *knew* they would work well for bridal pieces. Never really got around to making much of them. Hopefully someone else will benefit from these lovelies.

I also listed the following rutilated quartz coins. On the smaller side (approximately 7mm), but they make lovely drop earrings or dainty necklaces:

In the meantime, click on the images to go directly to the Rockstash shop page!

Seems I’m spending more and more time sitting around playing with the girl. These days, it’s not as simple as plopping the girl in front of a toy. (Yes, I won’t lie. I work from home and am that kind of parent so I can continue to work from home.)

It’s really true what they say – your child doesn’t need special toys and fancy gadgets – they just want you.

So it’s me and the girl. Sitting around on the couch snuggling. Playing cooking on the kitchen floor. Outside watering the plants. Getting plenty of free kisses and hugs. I love those.

It’s nice and I want more time like this. Makes me wish I would win the lottery… have to play first, though. lol

But I’m tired of this weight. I don’t wear it like I used to. I look frumpy, sloppy, messy.

I’m tired of looking at clothing and walking right by. Tired of wishing I could get in on $8 dress deals from Old Navy. Tired of wishing I could just buy something off the rack and know it fits.

This is where I’m drawing the line. And I’m making it known to you. This is my personal intervention. I’m hoping the shame of showing you my starting number becomes a motivator for me.

Have you staged any personal interventions of your own lately?

Remember my 12 for 2012? I know, I know… it’s been so long that it seems like a mere memory, the beginning of the year, resolutions and all that junk…

Well, I haven’t forgotten it. I do plan on being successful. And I already am!

During our trip to California in February (I didn’t mention that either, huh?), I had some down time and decided it was the perfect time to learn how to play Sudoku. Surprisingly, I found it very easy. Or maybe it’s just the way, or the app, I was playing.

Tell me, does anyone else play Sudoku? What do you use – pen and paper, a browser program or an app? Do you find it hard or easy?

Until this week. Somehow, I got sick. And it attacked me over night. Went to sleep fine. Woke up with cotton throat. By that afternoon, I must have sounded horrible since Jason offered to stay home this morning with the girl so I could go to Saturday doctor hours early this morning.

Glad I asked him to stay, as later last night my on-again off-again acid reflux and my stomach was less than happy with me and my food choices for the evening. So off to the doctor I went this morning…

And they gave me an antibiotic. (Boo.)

And they gave me some anti-nausea medication. (Double boo.)

That’s what I get for giving in.

Turquoise / Howlite Oval Beads

Gold Potato Pearls

Crystal Quartz Lanterns

Ruby Faceted Twists

Looking at all the supplies really makes me want to create, but earning a living building client websites is a responsibility permanently looming on my shoulder…

Another weekend perhaps.

In the meantime, click on the images to go directly to the Rockstash shop page!

I’m shooting for finishing them tonight. Are you finished?

El sábado pasado, me encontré en Barnes and Nobles otra vez. Después de almorzar con la nena y mi amiga, Daniela, paramos en la tienda un momentito. ¡Afortunadamente, encontré un libro nuevo!

"I Like It When..." book / libro "Me gusta cuando..."

“I like it when… / Me gusta cuando…” es un cuento lindo de las cosas que un guardián y un niño hacen en pasar el día. Hae acciones que tu puedes hacer con tus nenes como abrazar, ayudar, cosquillar y besar. Cuando llegamos a esa parte del libro, Fiona ya sabe que es lo que tiene que hacer.

Ni que decir tiene que a Fiona le gusta a libro mucho. Que le guste a ella tanto me gusta mucho también.

—————–

Last Saturday, I found myself at Barnes and Nobles again. After having lunch with my girl and my friend Danielle, we stopped at the store for a moment. Fortunately, I found a new book!

“I like it when… / Me gusta cuando…“ is a cute story about the things a caretaker and a child do during the day. There are motions you can do with your kids like hugging, tickling or kissing. When we get to those parts in the book, Fiona already knows what she needs to do.

It goes without saying that Fiona likes the book a lot. That she likes it so much makes me like it a lot, too.

Of course, if I come anywhere near a cupcake stand, I’m all in for taking a few home. While I love to bake, I’ve come to realize I cannot be trusted to bake cupcakes and have them last longer than 2 days. I have no discipline. None whatsoever. Hence, I just don’t bake them… or anything like them, for that matter.

So, when we went to the Taste of Forsyth today, you best believe I made a bee-line to the booth of a local bakery I’ve been dying to visit – Creations Bakery.

There, I managed to pickup no less than 4 cupcakes and as I tried to escape, a praline sandie jumped into my bag. Needless to say, I *have* finished off all 4 cupcakes with the help of the family – this time – and am crashing into a sugar coma as I write this post.

All I need is a foot massage and I would doze right off to sleep…

Who else out there is brave enough to say they have no eating control and are part of the camp that shovel french fries in their mouth when no one is looking? You know what I’m talking about…

—————–

Monday before last, we went to Barnes and Nobles in search of books in Spanish for the girl. In particular, board books. When I look on Amazon, the same books always come to the top. I went hoping to find different books.

Sadly, I only found one in Spanish calling my attention. However, we left there with three books:

All Creatures Great and Small - It seems this book is old, but this edition comes with modern illustrations… and I love it! This is the girl’s favorite page – all of the creatures are sleeping… ssshh! (And the little girl in the book looks like her! She points at the little girl then at herself when we’re done reading the book and naming all the animals on the last page.)

Gossie / Gansita - A lovely story of a goose whose name is Gossie… and who uses bright red boots… every day. This is the only bilingual book out of these three.

Hand Hand Fingers Thumb - Who doesn’t like the rhymes of Dr. Seuss? The girl always laughs at the ”Dum Ditty Dum Ditty Dum Dum Dum!” part.

I’m still looking for Spanish or bilingual board books. Have any recommendations?

Oval Shaped Green/Teal Pearls

Copper/Bronze Potato Pearls

Red/Copper/Orange Rice/Oval Pearls

Dusty Pink Rice/Oval Pearls

White Coin Pearls

I have more photos in queue, so I expect to list a few more items at the end of the week!

I’ve been slighting my other half. He says I always make desserts appealing mainly to me. (Personally, I don’t see much of a problem with that. After all, I *am* the one making the dessert.) ;)

So this past weekend, I thought I’d surprise him with a dessert completely geared towards him: Banana Pudding. Since I’ve never made a banana pudding in my entire life, I had to search for a recipe.

Most seemed ho-hum… the one exception being this recipe by cooking queen Paula Dean. With a name like “Not Yo Mama’s Banana Pudding”, much is expected… and the recipe certainly does not disappoint:

What I loved about this recipe:

• Easy and quick for everyday desserts – could easily be made into smaller portioned out ramekins
• The lightness added by the COOL WHIP to the condensed milk and cream cheese mixture

What I disliked about this recipe:

• The amount it makes – next time, I would definitely halve the recipe. It’s just a lot for a family of two and a midget. Banana pudding, anyone?

I’m wondering if I can freeze banana pudding. (Anyone know the answer to that?) Would be nice for a quick treat later in the week.

And if you make this recipe, I dare you to tell me it is not one of the best banana puddings you have ever tasted! Really!

Sponsored posts are purely editorial content that we are pleased to have presented by a participating sponsor. Advertisers do not produce the content. I was compensated for this post as a member of Clever Girls Collective, but the content is all my own. ]]> http://www.aprettyrock.com/blog/in-my-kitchen/definitely-not-yo-mamas-banana-pudding/feed/ 0 http://www.aprettyrock.com/blog/52-weeks-of-me/52-of-me-my-baby-is-back/ http://www.aprettyrock.com/blog/52-weeks-of-me/52-of-me-my-baby-is-back/#comments Sun, 01 Apr 2012 03:31:13 +0000 Yazmin http://www.aprettyrock.com/?p=5161 Continue reading →]]> I didn’t mention it, but a few weeks back, I think the girl dropped my camera or I banged it somehow in the diaper bag and my 50mm lens jammed. You can imagine how sad I was to have that happen.

Finding a local place to repair the lens was a pain in the butt (and after the fact, one of my friends mentioned a mutual friend of ours works with a local company that repairs lenses. Saved in my mental Rolodex for next time.) With no luck, I shipped the camera off to the Canon repair center.

They state it might take 7 – 10 days to repair a lens once they receive it. My lens was actually received and returned within that 7 day period, so I am more than pleased with the $100 I paid to repair the jammed lens.

So now, I’m on the hunt for a camera bag. However, I’m not interested in a traditional camera bag. I want something girlie. I know of Epiphanie Bags and Brandi introduced me to Jo Totes. I’ve also considered converting a bag by simply creating a camera protector insert like in this post, but I’m interested in what other options are out there. Does anyone know of any other ready-to-wear camera bags for women?

This is one of the few times I will ever admit I’d like to be a traditional stay-at-home mom with no outside job to call my attention.

So this afternoon, we sat about to do a little play time. I laid on the floor while baby girl jumped on top of me. This is her poking my eyes out while she named what they were.

I’m seeing stars now… :)

She was in need of a good cover shot, as the one she was looking at on foodstock.com was going to cost her an arm and a leg. So in a barter, she offered to make us dinner in exchange for a few photos of her food.

I never pass up payment in the form of a meal. It’s how I keep my girlish figure. *insert sarcasm here*

So while she prepped the plates, I styled and snapped away. It was quite fun.

You might notice my chili pepper plates are absent from the table. It was clear they were not going to cut it for the shoot, so I found myself at Target earlier today. I found these great plates and bowls I simply love. It was so hard to not walk out of the store with a full set.

Regardless, they worked great for the shoot. Here are a few of my favorite photos:

And yes, the salad was delish!

I’ve been doing so good following this workout program I ran across on my friend Ginger‘s Pinterest feed and then I made bread the other day. Sweet potato bread with pumpkin seeds, to be exact. I got a lot of flack from the husband for that.

Why you ask? Because he feels I never make any breaded goodness that he likes. For example, he says if it starts with the word “Banana” and doesn’t end in “Cream Pie”, it’s too healthy and therefore, not made with him in mind. Clearly, I’m such a bad wifey for thinking of our health so much. *Insert eye roll here*

Yesterday, I told him today I would make something not healthy at all, just for him. Well, after starting the day with a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond (’cause little bit seems to want all of my attention these days), then to the vet to have Snicker’s stitches removed, lunch with the hubby, back to the house for a quick nap for the girl, back out for a 30 minute walk, then to the consignment shop, BJ’s and finally the last stop of the day being the pizza joint, I was beat.

The thought came to me while I was at BJ’s to just buy a box of chocolate chip cookies – something I could easily throw together for the hubby lest he think I’m simply not thinking of him yet again.

So here I am, throwing away all the progress I made this past week with that kick butt workout I found (thanks Ginger!). But at least the hubby is happy and around here, when he’s happy, we’re all happy…

It’s been almost 20 years since that turning point and I think this period is coming to an end. I would even go as far as saying the beginning of this end started when I found out I was pregnant.

Honestly, who can resist all the girliness that comes with finding out you’re giving birth to a baby girl? A BABY GIRL! They fill the minds with images of cute little dresses, frilly socks, ruffled bloomers and of course, sweet little bows.

Oh, how I love the sight of a little girl with a bow or a headband in her hair. The cuteness is hard to resist. So you can imagine my dismay when I finally started trying to put bows in baby girl’s hair… just to have her scream and rip them out seconds later.

Bows. Headbands. Barrettes. It doesn’t matter. If it’s in her hair, she wants it out.

So I’ve resorted to finding my inner girliness and flaunting it at her. More headbands and flower accessories in my future. Even when we’re home for the day and I haven’t come close to styling my hair, I just wear her barrettes. Whatever gets the idea across.

Hopefully, one day I’ll put them and and she will just leave them alone. Here’s wishing!

I’ll have you know, I never get sick on an airplane, so this was a new experience for me. Remember when you were a little kid and you ran around and around and around, forgetting to drink anything for hours and then all of a sudden you would break out in a sweat and want to collapse to stop from throwing up? That’s exactly how I felt 20 minutes into our 5 hour flight.

Sweating bullets and stripping all the clothing possible, I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. A few glasses of ginger ale later, I was feeling much better, but the rest of my flight was tainted with the possibility of potentially lurching that felt just around the corner. It sucked, to say the least.

The thing is, I’m no stranger to flying. I’ve at least taken as many flights as I am old, if not close to double that amount. So I find it extremely odd I got sick and it didn’t stop there, with chills hitting me later that evening while I slept under two super heavy blankets. I was not feeling much better in the evening. The only thing we could attribute it to was possible dehydration.

Days following, I was still not feeling 100%. Upset stomach, false alarm on a sore throat, nothing settling well, it hasn’t been the best of trips food-wise. If anything I feel old.

And baby girl? She did just fine.

As far as all the traveling, I’ve spent the majority of my time in the back seat of a Scion with baby girl. Fortunately, they’re quite roomy, so I only experienced the claustrophobic-ness I felt while on the plane once.

Hoping the trip back to Georgia is much less eventful.

Haven’t forgotten I *did* say I would sew an outfit for baby girl. Just right now is not the time…