Weekend Story

Friday

Friday Tony and I went to my Mom's house to make Mac and Cheese and after finishing up the Mac and Cheese my brother asked us if we wanted to join him at the local billiards for some beers. We tagged along, Tony doesn't drink but I had a couple beers.

Saturday

Saturday we woke up late. Like 9 AM late, CRAZY! I immediately when into domestic mode and put some clothes to wash. I also cleaned up our room and cleaned our bathroom. Tony helped his Dad take some old furniture to the dump and later in the afternoon we headed to my Momma's house again. I brought a Digiorno's Pizza, Trader Joe's Chow Mein and some Chicken breasts. So random I know, I wanted to get my cooking fix in and boy did I! I made the Digiorno and Chow Mein for lunch and later on for dinner I used the chicken breasts and some Carne Asada meat my Mom had to whip up some Tacos. They were good! I made the salsa from scratch and it was tasty. I also whipped up a batch of my Chocolate Chip Cookies for the kids and my nephew, my sister, Tony and I played for a while. My nephew loves playing Football with Tony, he sees him and all he wants to do is play Football or Baseball. We took some silly pics of our shennanigery.

 

 

These were supposed to be our sexy faces but they ended up being our gangsta faces

 

 

 

My sister made her favorite (only) Brother in Law Tony a jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookie



 

 

PS: Here is a quick and easy way to make a Salsa for Tacos or anything your heart desires. This packs on the flavor and you can make it as spicy as you'd like.

 

Grab 4-5 tomatoes (any kind will do)

Some Onion

2 cloves of Garlic

a little handful of Cilantro

2 Jalapenos

Salt

 

Now throw some foil and Olive oil on a pan and you cook those Tomatoes and Jalapenos with a generous amount of salt for a good 25 minutes until they've almost turned to mush.

 

 

Mushy like this

 

 

Trust me on this one...

 

Now you go ahead and throw those garlic cloves, onion and small hand full of cilantro in a blender...

 

 

And add that Tomato mush with all it's gloriousness including the browned tomato skin into the blender

 



 

Now blend and pour that delicious Salsa on some grilled Chicken breast or Carne Asada for Tacos along with diced onion, cilantro and a squeeze of lime....

 

 

 

You're welcome.

 

Sunday

Sunday we went with my Mom to Howarth Park for a nice hike. Afterwards my Mom insisted on taking us to breakfast so went to our favorite restaurant Black Bear Diner and I got Chicken Fried Steak and Tony got the Grizz (which comes with pretty much everything you could imagine). It was superb as always. After breakfast we came home and took a long nap and naps on weekends are a rarity for me, I told Tony to soak it all in. Usually he will nap and I will bug him to wake up and do something because weekends are too short and so much fun must be had! I woke up and snuck out to the grocery store and when I got back I watched him play Grand Theft Auto V, I find it so entertaining to watch. We also watched some Netflix for a few hours and I whipped up some grilled Ham and Cheeses on Sourdough with Gouda, Fontina, Cheddar and Virginia Ham. Yum.

 

 

Partially consumed breakfast at Black Bear. I gave my Momma my toast, eggs and half my potatoes. I managed to down 1/2 my Chicken Fried Stead, 1/4 of my potatoes and 1/4 of a pancake. That's a lot for a Bariatric patient!

 

Later on we went to Baskin Robbins for my favorite sweat treat - a mini Oreo Cappuccino Blast. SO GOOD!

 

I promise I don't make awful dietary choices all of the time ;) We came home, hung out a little longer and went to sleep late.

 

PS... Yosemite is less than 4 days away!!! 

~Mely

Summer Time

Wanted to do a post on all the fun I've been having this summer. This is our first summer as newlyweds and it's been anything but boring. Since we haven't lived together prior to marriage we have been adjusting to life and learning a little more about each other. What I do know, I was made for marriage. I love the stuff. I love having somebody to cook for who will eat virtually anything I make him. (Bless his heart, he is the most non picky man I've ever met). I love going on adventures yet still being able to relax at home and do whatever. It's the little things in life. I advise... I am awful about taking pictures and my husband isn't too fond of selfies so you will rarely see selfies of him and I but I try! But seriously, I am trying to take more pictures of our adventures. I don't have a fancy camera... all my pictures are taken with my dinasour iPhone 4s. Here is the randomness...

1. Netflix (what we are watching)

 

Orange is the New Black

 

Warning: There is nudity and there is lesbian and straight sex scenes but the show is ridiculously good. If you can get past the nudity and sex and see why this show is awesome, please watch it. Now. The show has a rich diversity of women and it is based on a suburban, privileged white woman that is serving time in jail for drug related charges. If this show has kept me hooked (if you know me personally, you know that I have the attention span of a toddler) then I guarantee it is good stuff. I am the one that mostly watches this show as Tony feels like "it's a girl show."

 

Wicked Attractions (and basically any show on Investigation Discovery)

 

 

 

We love this show because we love any show documents true life cases. Although at times, it is a bit depressing because you watch about rapes and murders we love this show in small doses.

 

It's a Girl

  

 

Such an intense and powerful documentary about the gendercide occuring in India and China. Eye-opening... a must watch if you get the chance.

 

The Queen of Versailles

 

 

Just gaudy and entertaining to watch. A classic example that not everyone with money has good style and class.

There's many more other shows and good documentaries we have been watching but those will have to wait for another post ;)

 

 

2. Tijuana and SoCal (A visit across the border to the motherland)

Tony and I went with his family (about 16 of us total) to Tijuana to visit his Aunt, Uncle and cousin that live down there. I jokingly say it's the motherland but Tony and I were born in good old Santa Rosa, CA. Both our sets of parents are from the state of Michoacan, Mexico. Personally, my claim to fame is my Mom and Dad are from Cotija were the smelly cheese is from. Mmmhmm me gusta mucho el Queso Cotija! Tijuana is about 10 hours down south in car of where we are in California. Let me tell you, I was one grumpy girl the second half of our way there and the whole time in Tijuana. When I am in a bad mood, I'm in a bad mood. Tony has me figured out pretty well by now! We left Thursday night and I was running on no sleep, was cold, hungry and had heartburn by the time we got there. My body also yearned for a Starbucks, the struggle is real you guys.

 

We spent Friday in Tijuna to come back Friday night from Tijuana and arrive at Tony's cousin's house in Indio close to Coachella in Southern California at about 2AM Saturday. We went straight to sleep and the next morning after a good night's sleep and a shower, I was as good as new. I love love love going to Tony's cousin's house in Indio. The weather is hot and Tony's cousin and her husband are such cool people, it's great to just hang out and sit by the pool. Tony went to the store to pick up some stuff with his cousin's husband Cruz and he came back with this.

 

This is the thing about my husband, he knows so well what makes me happy. He even knows how much cream to put in my coffee to make it the perfect shade of brown. I am convinced I could not have married a better man. Heck, I even got the man started on iced coffees from Starbucks. I love my Tony :)

 

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out and BBQing at the house and I went to the Swap Meet with Tony's aunts and his parents. We came home Sunday around noon and minus the no AC in Tony's car and the sticky/sweaty, hot central valley we had to pass through, the trip back went well.

 

3. Armstrong Woods

Tony and I have visited Armstrong Woods twice this summer. The giant Redwood  trees are absolutely majestic and the trails are really nice. This is definitely a favorite of mine for hiking. If you are ever in Northern California you need to come to Armstrong Woods in Guerneville. Just a couple of neat things to see (courtesy of http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=450)

 

FEATURES OF THE GROVE:

The Tallest Tree
The Parson Jones Tree is the tallest tree in the grove, measuring more than 310 feet in height. This is longer than the length of a football field. An easy 0.1 mile walk from the park entrance.

The Oldest Tree
The Colonel Armstrong Tree is the oldest tree in the grove, estimated to be over 1,400 years old. It is named after a lumberman who chose to preserve this portion of the park in the 1870s. This magnificent tree is located a half-mile walk from the park entrance.

The Icicle Tree
This tree shows the unusual burl formations often found on redwood trees. Burls can weigh many tons and grow hundreds of feet above the forest floor. Why these growths occur remains a mystery.

 

Here are some pics from our hiking adventures!
 

 

  

4. Yosemite (Round 2!)

We are heading to Yosemite the beginning of August! Last time we went to Yosemite, he had only been dating for a month and went with 4 friends. This time around we are married and we are coming with our family! I am especially excited to take my Momma and my sister this time around. And Tony's family knows how to CAMP! They cook good food and always have a great time. Super excited! Stay tuned for pics of Yosemite Round 2.

 

 

5. Fair Time (Sonoma County REPRESENTIN'!)

This year the theme at the Sonoma County Fair is "Peace, Love and Fair." I already bought our tickets presale and I can't wait to go later this month! Stay tuned for pics of the Fair later this month.

 

That is all for know. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you stick around :)

~Mely H

Yosemite

I have no further weight loss to report. I would be lying if I said I don't know why I haven't lost more weight. I stopped drinking my protein shakes and kept up my carb intake which is not good. I am not eating enough protein and I don't exercise enough. I find I lack motivation to keep going and my body really liked this weight because this is the LONGEST I have stalled for. I plan on attending the bariatric support groups again and touching base with my surgeon's office to get back on track. It's all about back to the basics! I have 30 more pounds I want to lose before I am "done" I think I can make it happen slowly. I focus on the positive things and I have to remind myself why I had this surgery in the first place.

In other news, life is so awesome. I recently went to Yosemite and it was the most amazing place ever. I will share some pics below ;) My new job is treating me good and I have the most awesome man in my life that makes me happy every single day. Somebody I have known for all my life because his mom is really good friends with my mom. I saw him in July after not seeing him for about 15 years or so (since we were kids!) and it all made sense and clicked. It's so nice being with somebody that loves you for exactly who you are and doesn't ever try to change you. He balances me out and makes me feel at ease and safe.

We went to Yosemite late August. We were only there for 3 days and 2 nights (not long enough!) The second day we were there we made this brutal up mountain hike to the top of Vernal Falls. Sadly, Yosemite falls was dried out! Bummer! Even though the hike was brutal, I know that I probably wouldn't have made it had I been at my heaviest weight.
 

Here is a pic of the hike up... How beautiful is this? That's a rainbow!

 

 

Here is a picture of me at the top of Vernal Falls.

 

 Here is another one of our way up!

 

I saved the best for last, here is my boyfriend and I in front of "El Capitan"! We make a good looking couple don't we? This is my favorite picture and memory of Yosemite.

 

Until next time,

Melissa