Pinterest Project #1: Potatoes & Crunchy Chicken Dinner

I started my day snuggling with my bud Nico and enjoyed his adorable face. I can honestly look at that kid all day long and not even feel bad that that's the only thing I've done. I feel my time has been well used. Melissa was doing all feedings in person, which meant she had to stay at the hospital all day to be there every 3 hours to feed Nico.

I offered to cook dinner because well that;s one less thing Monico & Melissa have to worry about. I decided to try this recipe for red potatoes because it had good comments and it was very easy. The recipe was simple: Red Potatoes, 1 cup of melted butter, and 1 packet of Italian dressing. You melt the butter and mix Italian dressing ingredients and pour over potatoes and bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees.

The potatoes looked and smelled wonderful! The downside, they tasted plain :-( I tasted one and it was very plain and had no flavor. I was very disappointed about it. Everyone ended up using ketchup on the potatoes, so sad.

 



 

The main dish was baked crunchy onion chicken made with French Onions. Again the recipe was simple enough and this one actually came out really good. I for the most part eat a vegetarian diet but I also happen to live with carnivores, who if they could eat meat all three meals a day, they would. So I made enough just for them. Here is the recipe link Crunchy Onion Chicken The only change I made was that I added the 1 egg AND the 1/4 cup of Honey Mustard and that made the onions stick better to the chicken breast. It smelled awesome and there were no left overs, so I'm not sure if it was because people were starving or it was good. I'd like to think it was good. I will definitely make this again, minus the potatoes.

 

 

 



My obsession with Pinterest

When you say Google or Facebook everyone knows exactly what you are talking about. And if they don't, what rock have they been living under?! First we worried that our time was wasted via IM with our friends or what we called "chatting" back in the day of AOL, then we became addicted to Farmville on Facebook and now the latest addiction is Pinterest.

I will admit I am addicted to Pinterest and all those creative people! There's so many things to look at and next thing you know one hour has gone by and you've pinned away your day :-/ that's the only downside but on the plus side there are some awesome ideas and projects to be made.

Since the birth of my nephew Nico and being currently unemployed I've been looking at Pinterest a little too much. In my defence I have been looking for dinner ideas and fun little ideas to make the house prettier. One of the enticing things about Pinterest is that everything seems so simple that you feel like you can cook, bake, sew like a pro just because it looks so easy. Well not all pins are created equal that's for sure.

I do believe we should look for way to self improve and one of the things I have always wanted to do was sew and cook. I make OK food and know VERY basic sewing stuff but I really want to be able to do more.

The goal I have decided is to do 90 Pinterest Projects I have pinned by the end of the year. One of the downfalls I think of having so much information handy is that we take it for granted and I am famous for the "I'll do it later" and never do. I guess the main thing is that if i want to be able to justify my time on Pinterest I better be doing some of those projects.

 

If you have any ideas or pins you have enjoyed doing let me know. I'll keep you posted on mine.

My Love of Letters and Books

 

Anyone that knows me will tell you that I have a HUGE love for books, good books I might add (Ok I did read and own all the Twilight Books, so please don't judge me) and I absolutely love handwritten letters. When I get a handwritten letter I feel like a child on Christmas morning. Why you ask? It's simple, someone thought enough of me that they took time out of their busy day to write me a letter. I think in this day an age technology has made our communication instant, but at the same time we are so disconnected at the same time. I know I myself take the people in my life for granted and think because I wrote on their "Wall" on Facebook or send them a text that I have talked to them. In reality I haven't and a lot of the times I'm surprised to hear about big events or changes in their lives and that's usually when I pick up the phone and catch up.

So today I went to Kohl's and they had some really cute Dr. Seuss cards so I bought some and figured I would send them to my nephew Billy who is in Boot Camp right now and can only get handwritten letters. As I saw the Dr. Seuss note cards it reminded me of my second love, BOOKS! I enjoy reading many types of books, Romance (not the trashy ones), History, Biographies, Self-help, Cooking, Travel, Friendship, Religion, and I can't live without my Classics. It was through books that I feel in love with travel and knew that the world was a big place and i wanted to see it all! I also found the great love of my life, Mr. Darcy. As I sat there waiting to pay for my things I thought about the man who taught me this love, my father. I have to say I am so thankful for his example for reading. My father didn't learn to read nor write until late in his life and once he did he went crazy reading as much as he could. When I asked him why he read so much he said " I spend so many years not being able to read i have to catch up." How many of us take that simple ability for granted? When was the last time we read a good book? I have a goal of reading at least 2 books per month and I enjoy that time very much.

How will I connect these two random things together you ask? With a simple challenge, write a letter to someone who has given you a love for something. It could be a coach who taught you the love of running, your mom for teaching you to love to cook, or a simple note to say "I was thinking of you." I know I'll be writting my father.

Hello, My name is Monico Ernesto De Leon

 

I'm an auntie again! YAY Baby Monico Ernesto arrival was earlier than expected but very much welcomed none the less. I know I'm biased but he is seriously one handsome devil! He had stoped growing at 28 weeks and was not getting enough oxygen so the doctor decided to do an emergency C-section at 33 weeks. Mommy and baby are doing great.

 

Everything happened so fast that I don't think we had time to react because it was over before we knew it. For me it was after that I thought of all the things that could've gone wrong or that could go wrong but when I saw that 3lbs bundle my heart melted. I don't know what it is about a new born that makes you realize your heart is no longer yours because this tiny human who you've just met has captured it. I just cried because I felt I was looking at the most beautiful creation Heavenly Father had ever made, and here I was getting a private tour of one of His master pieces. And if that's what I felt  I could only imagine what his parents were feeling at that time.

 

As you can imagine you will see plenty of post on baby Ernie and our adventures as I spoil him rotten and get to enjoy him.

Happy New Year!!

 

I bid 2012 adieu and welcomed 2013 with open arms. Here are a few highlights of 2012. Family: Well 2012 has been a very challenging year for the De Leon Family to say the least. Many health scares and many blessings of health at the same time. Miguel entered the MTC to serve a mission and Billy went into boot camp for the US Marines. On a side note let me just say that most of the time I feel young but it's until I have my nephews going off to college, missions, military service that I feel like "Old Man River" here. And after 13 plus years of waiting, Monico and Melissa are expecting their 1st baby! We are all very exited for the new addition to the family. Health: 2012 was the start of getting healthy and back in shape year. In March I joined Weight Watchers and made the goal of doing one 5K each month as a way to stay motivated to be active. It was a rough start as all things are, but as the year has progressed it's been so fun and nice to be able to be back doing the thing I love the most, running. As of December I had lost 20 plus pounds! Work: As I mentioned before on my last post there were some changes going on at work. Changes that I was not a fan of and so when the offer of taking a lay off came along I was very excited. I felt bad because I know I should be grateful for having employment in this economy but work was really taking a toll on me emotionally and physically. In short, I just couldn't work for a man I didn't respect, so my last day of employment was 12/31/12. So what does 2013 hold in store? I have absolutely no idea! And anyone that knows me knows that I ALWAYS have a plan, I must always have a plan. The only set plan I really have is to go back to school and be a full time student. I feel I have finally figured out what i want to do when i grow up and I'm looking forward to this new adventure. I'm also very excited to be completing my one year of 5K's in March and ready to start 10K's in April. I hope Heavenly Father continues to bless our family with much needed health as I know we will need it. I look forward to seeing what great things my nieces and nephews will accomplish. I can't wait to meet my new nephew and enjoy every minute of being an aunt. I am extremely thankful that my Heavenly Father has a plan for all His children and even if at times we feel completely lost its a wonderful feeling knowing that He knows who we are, what we need, and when we need it. Ever since I moved to WA nothing has gone according to plan, but I have never doubted that my Heavenly father brought me here for a reason and I've just been enjoying the ride.

Christmas 2012

 

I am having a hard time falling asleep so I figured I would update my blog since I have not done so in quite some time. I'm quite excited I finally made it to my Christmas post, YAY!!! But then I thought "Ummm what did I do for Christmas?" Well Christmas was very quiet. My friend Jessica who I met in Monterey, CA came to visit and it was so much fun seeing her again. She is getting married this year so I was very excited her fiance was able to part from her for a week so I could hang out with her :o) Many changes were going on at work so I decided to use my vacation while Jessica was here and stay in town for the Holidays. My big Christmas dinner was awesome pizza and apple cider, it was delicious. Another fun thing I did was go see the movie Les Miserables. Oh my heavens what an amazing movie! I feel like FINALLY there is a movie that has done justice to the musical & book. I was crying the whole time, the music was beautiful. There is a scene when Ann Hathaway is signing and she has just hit rock bottom, she realizes that she will never recover from it and her voice just pierces your soul. You feel her desperation in her voice, ahhh simply amazing.

Thanksgiving 2012

This Thanksgiving was a special one for a few reasons, one we had the whole family together and we were saying goodbye to Mikey as he left for his mission in Bolivia. I went home a week earlier to spend time with my family and enjoy my nieces and nephews. As part of the holiday we ran a 5K benefiting the Burbank YMCA. I was so excited to do this 5K mainly because it was with most of my nephews and nieces and we dressed in costume. We figured that since it was Thanksgiving Day it was very fitting to have Indians, a Turkey and a Pilgrim. Unfortunetly our Pilgrim had to work that day so he was not able to go. But Joel was a real sport and was the turkey and even wore the tutu to go with his hat. Although, I have to admit he was a little too fond of that tutu and kept wearing it even AFTER the race :o). 2012 was a year of many trials for my family but it was a wonderful time to be able to be there together enjoying eachothers company, well as much as we could stand it before punching each other like the loving siblings we are. For one night we put our differences aside and left our troubles at the door. That night we celebrated our crazy love for each other, we celebrated my Fathers health, reminiced at how Mikey was now young man getting ready to leave home to serve the Lord, and celebrated the excitement of a new future member of the family. Overall it was a wonderful holiday!

Running and Its Lessons

For the past few weeks I have been working really hard on my training for my 5K’s. For the last few weeks my times improved and I have been taking 2-3 minutes off my time. A minute may not seem like a lot but believe me when you’re crossing that finish line even a second less is pure glory! So on Saturday I was very excited and ready to do my September 5K which was the 9/11 Heroes Run benefiting the Travis Manion Foundation. I had done it last year and let’s just say that it was pathetic how awful I did, but in my defense I had not trained at all and I was in horrible shape. So this year with my running time improving and having been running for a while I was ready to conquer this race. I got to the park and thought it would be all flat and well it wasn’t, it was more of a trail run which was something I was not expecting nor prepared for. My main problem while running is controlling my breathing but I was doing great and was on a roll but half way through it I looked back and it was all downhill from there. Everything that could come into my head came; “You’re way behind everyone; you’re going to be last, Just walk.” I knew I wasn’t tired and my breathing was great but for some reason I could not get my body to go. I thankfully got my second wind and finished the race. My time was better than last year for sure but I did not improve my time as I had expected. Well if you thought I was having negative thoughts during the race you should’ve heard everything that poured into my head all at once then. Today I was just trying to figure out what I could do to improve and really “What happened?” type of conversation, and then I read an article by Lauren Fleshman. One, I was not too excited to hear what she had to say since Lauren is the ultimate love of my ex, the “I want to marry her and have her babies” kind of love. I was like “Really? Pour salt on my wound why don’t you!” haha But she talked about how not only is it important for a runner to prepare themselves physically but mentally too. Lauren talked about how in 2007 she was training for her 4th USA Championship in the 5K as a professional runner and she just froze. She talked about how she became so consumed by fear and even though she was doing great and was in the lead she stopped and walked the half mile she had left. Lauren goes on to explain how we must prepare mentally because even if we are in our best shape if we are not in our best shape mentally we will not improve. I have to admit I was so glad I read that article because even though I am nowhere near Laurens level I felt the same way on Saturday, I was scared. It also made me think how we carry the same mentality into our personal lives too. Getting back in shape and eating healthier has truly been a journey and it continues to be and there are days when you slip and you eat that piece of pie when an apple would’ve been a better choice instead. But then you feel like “Oh my whole diet is ruined! I might as well just have that ice-cream while I’m at it.” And heaven help us if this happens mid-week because for some reason we think we can only start a diet on a Monday. As if any other day of the week is not as good to do so. I was reminded that I did not gain my weight overnight but that it was something that took time as well. The lesson I learned is that it will also take time for me to retrain my mind just like my body to be healthy and think positive.

So yes, I froze on Saturday and didn’t do as well as I hoped but I am better for it today. I now have the challenge to continue to improve my times and do better on my race for October. This race is done and there is nothing I can do about it anymore, my time will remain the same and no matter what I say or do. What I can do is learn from it. The lesson I learned from Saturday’s race was “Never look back” whether it’s in a race or in life. We will all make mistakes and wish there were things we did different or wonder “Am I the last one?” But our focus should be the finish line. We weren’t sent here to fail, we will fall and sometime come in last but we will finish and be better for it.

The wait is over; I’m going to be an aunt again!

Anyone that knows me well you know that I am always bragging about my amazing and most beautiful nieces and nephews in the world. As the years pass, it’s been amazing to see them grow from babies to young men and young women. All of my siblings have kids except my brother Monico and his wife Melissa. They had been trying to conceive for quite some time and after 13 years they have been blessed with the gift of parenthood. I am very excited for them because they will make amazing parents, and not to brag but that kid is going to be so cute since both parents are quite the lookers as babies. Plus I also told them I refuse to have an ugly niece or nephew, so they better deliver a super cute one preferably with blue eyes. With this news it has been very fun talking stories about the shenanigans those two did when they were kids. Melissa liked to run away from home and she was a climber. Monico well let’s just say my parents had a marked parking space at the doctor’s office from all the visits they made to get him stitched up. So it will be very fun to see them with their mini me. Now the only thing we are waiting for is what the sex of the baby is. Oh how much fun shopping will be if it’s a girl because they do have way cuter clothes but boys have the best toys ever! So we shall see.

Visiting Big Sky Country

A few weeks ago Monico and Melissa came back to Seattle to pick up the last of their things that couldn’t fit in their car during the move. Memorial Day weekend was coming up and they invited me to go on a road trip with them. Originally we had planned to go to Victoria, Canada because Monico and I haven’t been there but hotels & ferry were very pricey. So we joked about visiting Montana but then realized how it was pretty close to us and none of us had ever been there. So it was settled, road trip to Montana. Going through Eastern WA is not the most scenic drive but once we got to Idaho the drive was nice. Unfortunately there was a fire so we had a lot of smoke blocking our view on the drive through Montana. In a way it reminded me of driving in Monterey, CA because the smoke felt like fog at times. There were some areas where the river and the backdrop was breath taking that Melissa said she expected Brad Pitt to pop out any minute like in The River Runs through It. We finally made it to Missoula, Montana late at night and we were ready to head to bed and start our exploration in the morning. Missoula is a small town but with a lot of potential. The University of Montana is there and we happened to come on game day, so everywhere we looked there was Grisly Fans. I have to admit I really enjoyed that part because everyone showed love for the school that day. In the morning after breakfast we hit the Farmers Market in town and let me tell you, those vegetables looked like they were on steroids! I have never seen such HUGE produce and the price was awesome. The pictures really don’t do them justice. I only wished I had a cooler so I could have brought some home. After the farmers market we headed to a ghost town. Once there, Melissa pointed out how there were many rattle snakes because she could hear their rattle. Well you have to know this about me, I am TERRIFIED of snakes, any type and size so her pointing that out made it a very unpleasant trip walking down to the town. Once we made it there one of the park rangers asked me if I had any questions and I asked “Do you have a lot of rattle snakes?” To which thank heavens she said “No their numbers are low this season.” You have no idea how relieved I was to hear that, so with that new information I got a pep in my step and was ready to explore the town. This place is welled preserved and people can even rent some cabins to stay there if they want. I love visiting ghost towns and learning the history of what brought them there and what happened to the town. I was not disappointed by the town, very fun. On our way back we got some pictures but I think the view would have been more amazing if there wasn’t so much smoke. The next day we went mining for sapphires. Monico can be a nerd about certain things and I have to admit it cracked me up seeing him so excited about this. So we made it to the ranch and were given Sapphire mining 101. We actually found quite a few and I have to admit I had a lot of fun doing it. I wanted to take a picture of our treasure so I emptied the container in my hand and Melissa said “Be careful you don’t drop them.” And just as I was saying “Geesh I am not that clumsy” I dropped one of them. Insert foot in mouth! I was terrified of losing any more of them so I passed them on to Melissa and Monico as soon as possible. They had them appraised and we had quite a few that could actually be cut! They asked me if I wanted to keep any and well lets just say I figured they would be in safer hands if they kept them. Overall it was a great trip and great company. I hope to visit again.