Times They Are A Changin'

I must write more.  I must write more.  I must write more.

I can't believe it has been two months!  I am so ashamed of myself.  Especially since I have had so much to blog about. 

I started a post a while back but I obviously got distracted.  Of course I had to talk about the awesome Black Keys and the show I went to.  This time I was at Frank Erwin Center, a good size arena.  I was fortunate enough to have Mr. G's tour buddy hook me up with awesome seats so I took my friend Y.  We got to sit nice and close to the stage so the show was extra loud.  Nothing beats a deafening concert in my book.  I wasn't too familiar with The Black Keys before the show, just what I have heard on the radio.  All in all I loved all of their stuff and it prompted me to get on the hunt for all of their music.  If I haven't mentioned before, i can become quite obsessed with a band and their music.  Not the stalker, psycho fan that goes to all of their shows and waits for them at hotel rooms.  No thanks.  But I get very into songs and lyrics and like to expose myself to an entire body of work, even if it was only one song that atrracted me to them in the first place.  An education as I like to call it.  We didn't stay for the finale, but the main part of the show was well worth it. 

Other than that, life has been pretty hectic.  Mr. G has been out on tour quite a bit so far this year.  He is on a tad bit of a break now but we are adjusting to life with my family just having moved down to Texas.  It's an adjustment as we are not used to having people around all the time, especially an almost 3 year old.  I must say though, Little S and Miss O have certainly taken a liking to each other.  It's hilarious to see my 10 month old just crack up and her 3 year old cousin.  Mr. G will be back on the road soon so my priority right now is trying to spend as much quailty time with him and my girl as possible. 

I've also started writing down some monthly short term goals, mostly related to nutrition and fitness.  I am really trying to make this a priority in my life.  I recerntly had a checkup with my primary and I was amazed at how much my blood work has improved since a few years ago.  I have such a bad family health history and I am turning 30 this year.  I told myself that my 20's were my time of indulgence.  Now that I am turning 30 this year, I need to get my act together.  I'm going to take it one month at a time and change my goals monthly and create new challenges for myself.  As hectic as my life may be juggling a 10 month old, a husband that tours for a living, family members being around, and working full time, I need to do this for myself and for my daughter.  I'll keep you posted on my journey. 

In the summer time...

It has come to my attention that as soon as I think of something to write about I need to stop what I am doing and just write. Regardless of where I am. If I don't, I completely lose my train of thought when I do have the opportunity to write. Like now. Perfect example. Good thing I do jot down ideas as they come to me. Travel is on the brain today.

Mr. G has invited Sophie and I out to Los Angeles for a Memorial Day weekend getaway. Normally, I would immediately get on the computer and start looking at flights. Now, I panicked. Me, take an 8 month old baby on a plane? By myself? No effing way man. I started having visions of my very particular baby having a complete fit having to stay on my lap for a 3 hour flight. A baby that wants to move constantly. A baby that doesn't want to sleep anywhere but her crib. So needless to say, I convinced Mr. G to come home that weekend. As much as I love traveling and felt the need for a weekend getaway, I am just not ready to venture out with my little one by myself just yet. It worked out quite beautifully though, since Mr. G's work friend will be in town that same weekend. Ah, but I would have loved to have taken a trip to California, a place I have yet to visit.

What I do have planned is a lovely little vacation in Surfside Beach, Texas at some point this summer. Whenever Mr. G has the time really. Luckily, in Texas, we have an extended summer.  He is home right now for a week and I know the time is going to fly.  We did, however, make it through the long part of him being away, which was about 5 weeks.  It must have been crazy for him to come home to an older baby that now has teeth and is starting to crawl.  My mission is to keep him involved in as much as possible, even while on tour.  Thank goodness for email, cameras, and SKYPE.  Don't know what we would do without modern technology.  Until next time. 

Lunatic Fringe

Wow, I am actually sitting at the computer right now typing. It's been awhile, and as you can tell by my lack of posting, I have been busy. Work, my 7 month old, and trying to squeeze in some daily me time has left me exhausted and only wanting sleep. But not tonight. I am here to tell you about the latest.

1. My darling little Sophie just turned 7 months and has cut her first tooth. The whole teething thing has completely freaked me out. Just the mere thought of a tooth coming up through my little ones gum is quite weird. As far as I can tell, she has not experienced much discomfort. Thank goodness, because a cranky baby equals a cranky mommy and we don't need any of that now do we?

2. Mr. G, being the great hubby that he is, let me make a rather substantial purchase recently. I have been wanting a new camera for a while and I finally took the plunge and bought a DSLR. So far it has been amazing and even with my lack of knowledge of this new beast, I'm taking decent pictures. I can only imagine what I will be able to do once I get some real schooling on the thing.

3. Adjusting. Again. To life with Mr. G on the road and me adapting to life without him for a few weeks. It's been two weeks and so far so good. I have been so busy going to work all day and then coming home to a busy baby that I don't have time to worry about much else. It's been a nice break knowing that everything is going well on the home front and on the road. I have to admit that being in a relationship with someone who travels for a living has had its rough moments. In the end, I am so proud of the two of us and how much we have overcome. It takes special people to do what we do, and actually make it work. Kudos to us.

4. Work, work, work. It's consuming my life. As much as I love the fact that I can provide for my family financially, I feel there is something missing. All I can think about throughout the day is: I wonder what Sophie is doing. I can't wait to get some sleep tonight. I wish I could spend all day reading my favorite online blogs. I wish I could take some pictures. I wish I was home cooking/baking. I wish I was doing anything but sitting here at my desk at work. I can't wait to get the hell out of work. It's a shame really. Allowing something you don't necessarily enjoy, completely control your life. I try not to be too negative because I do not want it to come back and bite me is the bum, but you get what I'm saying. I know, I know...If I don't like something then change it. I'm really trying to figure out myself and what I'd like to do with my time. I'll keep you updated on how that's going.

Of course there has been some fun stuff in there, but I will save that for another post...Until then!

In Need of a Chocolate Fix?

Even since I became pregnant, I have enjoyed chocolate more than I probably should. So if you are like me, try these awesome vegan chocolate cookies! I have made them twice now because they are both delicious and addicting. I have even added shredded coconut which is a nice addition. Added bonus: they are super easy to make. Even the non vegans will love them. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tsp ground falx seeds (just realized I've been using TBS not tsp and they come out just fine)
1/2 cup non dairy milk (So Delicious brand coconut milk is my favorite)
1 tbs vanilla
3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
3/4 cup shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together oil, sugar, flax seeds and non dairy milk
Add flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt
Mix until just combined.
Add chips and other additions until just combined.
Dough will be slighly oily but thats ok.
Using a small melon baller, roll dough into balls and place on greased cookie sheet. On a small sheet I can fit 12 cookies.
Bake 10 min exactly so use a timer!
Let cool for 5 min and enjoy :)

So This Is The New Year....

...and i don't feel any different. Ok, so that is from a song and not entirely true. I do feel different. Time to get down to business.

Ahh 2012. Is the world going to end? I think not, so let's talk about New Year's resolutions. This is a hot topic every year for many people, but how many actually follow through with their own resolutions? I know I'm guilty of not doing so. I decided to switch it up a bit and instead of going along with the most popular choices such as exercisinig more, eating better, quitting smoking, etc. I wanted it to be more personal and this is what I have come up with.

Resolution #1: Be more creative
In my opinion, I don't have a creative bone in my body. One thing that I would love to do with little miss when she is older is to do lots of fun arts and crafts. With a growing child, you can never think of too many things to keep them entertained. Even though I say this every year, I really want to start making homemade gifts. This is the year I promise to do it. I also started to teach myself how to crochet and my goal is to make at least 1 item this year, start to finish.

Resolution # 2: Start a vegetable garden and keep it up
Mr G has started them before and some crops actually did quite well. Then he would go on tour and I would forget about it and it would all die. Same with flowers we planted and any other plant that needed water to live. So come spring, I want to clean up the beds and start planting. Luckily, my family loves vegetables so why not save some money and grow them ourselves. Plus, it will be something new I can research and learn more about. Little miss will start to experiment with different foods soon and I would love to make her food myself. The more fresh veggies I have access to the better.

Resolution # 3: Read more books
This one is simple. I have so many books to read at home. I would like to try and read one book, once a month, then pass it on. Not only will I be exercising my brain, but I will also be recycling and freeing up some much needed space in my home.

This is all I have so far, but I'll be sure to post about other as I think of them. So tell me, what are your New year's resolutions?

Fat Bottomed Girls

I've been thinking a lot lately about how women who have had babies get a bad rep when it comes to post baby bodies. I think this is a load of crap. I feel and look better now than I did before I got pregnant. I loved my body when I was pregnant and I was surprised by how fast I lost weight after my girl came. That could have been a result of the lack of eating time I had when she first came though. Nonetheless, I feel great. I hope women stop thinking that a baby will ruin them and just enjoy the whole process.

So this brings me to a comment my doc said to me a week or so ago and it has stuck with me. I had a CT scan done of my mid section and my oh so wonderful back muscles, or lack there of, showed up on the scan. The doctor literally said my muscles were puny and that they looked like the muscles of a 60 year old woman rather than a 29 year old woman. I was totally embarrassed. I was informed I should exercise and make sure I include lots of back and abdominal exercises. So I immediately started researching fitness centers in my area and decided I needed to be a body builder. That thought didn't last more than 5 minutes though because I truly do not see how paying a monthly fee to exercise is worth it. All I need is a good pair of sneakers and a pair of weights and I'm good to go. I'd like to start with walking and condition myself enough to run and maybe do a 5K in the near future. That's my goal as of right now. Who's with me?

Diamonds On The Souls Of Her Shoes

Last Saturday I had the MIL watch Sophie and I ventured out with Mr. G and a couple other family members to see Paul Simon perform. I must be honest here and say that I really don't know too much of his solo stuff. Simon & Garfunkel songs sure, but Paul on his own, not so much. Some songs I did know were Rhythym of the Saints, Only Living Boy in New York, Graceland, S&G's Sound of Silence, and the amazing George Harrison's Here Comes the Sun. The only disappointments were that he didn't play that You Can Call Me Al song during one of his two encores and he ended on a slow song. I don't understand why anyone would end on a slow note. I'd rather go out with a bang. Despite my lack of sing along abilities, I though it was a good show. It was good just to get out and bring my family along as well.

And speaking of shows, guess who is coming to town in March???!!! Radiohead! Finally! One of my absolute favorite bands is coming to Austin and I can't wait. I just hope I can get tickets and it doesn't sell out in 2.5 seconds. I'm sure it will but I will be ready at 10am sharp to make my purchase. Another show coming in May is Roger Waters performing The Wall Live. I saw this show last year in Dallas and it was amazing. I hope to make it again this year since it will be coming to Austin. This will be the closest I will ever get to seeing Pink Floyd perform so I will take what I can get. The Wall is a fantastic album and it is the album of choice for my car right now.

Also hoping to go see Morrissey and The Kills in the coming months, but we will see. Hope you enjoyed the sneak peak into my musical calendar!