Good Manners

This past week has been ridiculously hot here in Tulsa! *SIGH* We have been seeing temperatures above 100°F/40°C for the past few days... And it's only July! August is going to be crazy around these parts, I know it. Because of the heat, Anton and I have spent a lot of time at home, relaxing and watching television. Since we don't have cable, we make very good use of Netflix here at our house! ;) Anton is totally hooked on this old cartoon from 1987 called BraveStarr... He loves that show. The same thing with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe from 1983. I think it is so funny that he prefers those shows to some of the newer ones out there. Sometimes he will even sit on the couch or stand in front of the television and sing the theme songs as the shows come on. *LOL* Too cute, I tell you! ;)


We are getting really excited about our little getaway. We have been taking care of some last minute business... Running errands, doing laundry, and getting all sexified for the trip. ;) *HEHEHE* Anton had his first professional haircut last week. Up until now, we have always cut his hair at home. He does not enjoy that whole experience at all and, therefore, I have not done it as often as I should have. I like for him to have short hair because I think it makes him look so handsome but he won't ever sit still for a haircut so I don't get to cut him very often. The hairdresser had a pretty rough time with him, too. *LOL* A couple of days ago I got my eyebrows done. I've been getting my eyebrows shaped by threading now and find that it works fairly well. It is cheaper than the wax that I have been getting and it does not hurt my sensitive skin as much as the wax does. I have also redyed my hair and gotten my nails filled. Ooh, la, la... :) Oh, yeah, baby! I am looking good by now. ;) *HAHA* :P


Lose It! hasn't been working on my computer for a couple of days and it is beginning to annoy me bunches! I have had to log through my phone's web browser, which I don't really like doing, and I'm afraid this is going to throw me off my game... :( But in spite of that I have good news. I have lost almost five pounds, or about half of the weight that I had gained back in the past month or so. :P *YAY*


Last night I took my son to Walmart to pick up a few things and sneak in a little walking exercise. As we were roaming the aisles, Anton began talking to a lady by the candy section. They got to talking a bit and she was so impressed with his good manners that she gave him a whole dollar! She said that being nice in this world really paid off and rewarded him with his own dollar bill. :) How sweet! I was so proud of my little man! ♥ ♥ ♥ Then as we were getting ready to leave, he met another lady out front by those claw type machines... She thought that he was so cute that she pulled out her wallet and started handing him coins to play the machine. *HAHAHA* But before she left to go meet with the rest of her party out front, she turned to me and told me that I was really pretty. *BLUSHING* Honestly, I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. *HEHE* Good stuff. ;)


I think I will go sit down on the couch now and relax with my little lovebug, have a beer, and head to bed early. ;) Here's to another beautiful evening... *SIPS HER CORONA*


Enjoy your weekend! Lots of love... :)


-Gigi

Party Time

Happy, happy, happy 4th of July to Americans everywhere! I hope that everyone has had a great day of celebrating with their friends and families. 235 years! What a great number. ;) Anton and I have had a wonderful fun filled weekend with friends. We went to a party on Friday evening as well as last night. We met with great people, enjoyed good food, and admired the beautiful fireworks! Personally, I love fireworks but my son is a bit frightened by them. Then again, he is only three years old. In a few years time, I am sure that he is going to be the one wanting to blow up everything! *HEHEHE* ;) Once Anton finally fell asleep on the couch watching a movie tonight, I decided to go have a seat outside on the patio and noticed that the MeadowBrook Country Club right across the street from us was putting on a fireworks show. Many of our neighbors had gotten comfortable out on the lawn with chairs and such. I thought that was pretty funny. ;)


Today we had a lazy day spent at home with one another in our pajamas. :) Don't you just love days like that?! I sure do. ;) We played games on the PS3 and watched movies. We even made time for a little exercise. We danced around to music, did a few situps, and messed around with Mommy's weights. I am even considering a little yoga before I head to bed tonight. That would be nice. I also found a zumba video on YouTube that I've been wanting to try out... Just curious to see if I can follow along with all of those crazy movements. *LOL* :P


I have a busy week ahead of me and so many things to do! I need to run around town and get some documents taken care of and I also need to prepare for a little getaway. :) *YAY* Not to forget the preparations for my applications to graduate programs for the fall of next year. Yup... Next spring I should have officially completed my BA in Psychology - Mental Health, and can move on to the next step along the educational ladder! I am extremely excited to start on a graduate degree where I can get more in depth information about the field that I am considering. :) There are good times ahead, I can feel it! *HEHEHE* ;)


My biggest motivator is seeing change in whatever it is that I am doing. Some sort of progress towards my ultimate goal, smaller milestones along the way, and acknowledgment for a job well done. Not to forget my family, of course. I owe them the world for all of their love and patience. :) What are your biggest motivators?! What is it in your life that keeps you ticking? What is it that makes you go? I would love to hear your thoughts.


Have an awesome rest of your evening and be happy always!


-Gigi

Greenopolis

Hello again! I hope that your weekend has been as good as mine. :) And to think... Next weekend is going to be a holiday weekend! Yup, the 4th of July is already here. Can you believe it? This year has just flown by. It's unbelievable how fast time passes... Especially when you're having fun, right?! ;) *HEHE*


On Thursday I took Anton to buy tickets to go see Disney Pixar's Cars 2 the following evening and he was so excited to go watch a movie in the theater that I ended up taking him to the dollar theater that night, too. :P So on Thursday night we ended up seeing this movie called Rio in 3D about a bird called Blu and his adventures in Rio de Janeiro. The bird movie was surprisingly good in my opinion and Anton seemed to enjoy it, as well. :) Then on Friday we went to go see Lightning McQueen in Cars 2 in 3D. The original Cars movie has got to be one of our all-time favorites and this second one is mighty good, too! Although the story line is completely different from the original film about the cars in Radiator Springs, it still captures the viewers' attention and glues you to the screen for the entire duration of the film. This new movie is a lot more action packed than the old one and I believe it could even have stood on its own as a completely different film, something other than a Cars sequel.


Another wonderful thing happened on Friday. My parents had their 33rd wedding anniversary on Friday! Many congratulations to my mom and dad! ♥ ♥ ♥ I also hope to someday get married and to remain so happy and completely in love with my partner for as long as my parents have. :) *MUAH* Loads of hugs and kisses to the both of you! 


My exercise has been slacking and I am feeling completely guilty! :( This crazy heat and humidity is driving me nuts. Every day when we come home from the park I feel absolutely disgusting! So sticky and yucky... *UGH* And this is on the days that I haven't been walking or running very much. :( I think we need to start hitting up the pool more often... Maybe that way we will stay a bit cooler.


In spite of my lack of exercise lately, I have been productive in other ways. Yesterday we made a trip to one of the recycling depots here in Tulsa where we dropped off a few bags of bottles and cans that I had saved up and sorted. I was also able to get a hold of this awesome little booklet out there that lists all of the drop off areas around here and which items you can take to each one of these sites. That is exactly what I was looking for online but couldn't seem to find anywhere. Apparently, the site that we went to is run by The Metropolitan Environmental Trust, also known as The Met. The Met lists sites for recycling anything from antifreeze and appliances to grease and gun powder, even pianos and styrofoam. Now that's what I'm talking about! :) 


I also learned about this cool program called Greenopolis where you can earn points on the items that you recycle on the go and then later redeem your points for rewards through their website. That is pretty awesome if you ask me! ;) So now I have signed up for a Greenopolis account and plan to use that as much as I can. I believe that some of the rewards in my area include discounted hotel rooms as well as dining and beauty services.


Be good and love life, friends! Have a great day. :)


-Gigi

Be Green

I think that there should be a program for people like me where I can go and meet others with the same problem... Like Walkoholics Anonymous or something. :P This has clearly become an addiction for me! I walk all the time, or at least about three miles each day. Today I walked almost seven miles including my C25K activity! Ever since I downloaded this super cool application for my phone called RunKeeper I just want to keep on walking and running all the time! Once you have downloaded the application to your phone, you create a profile including your weight and BMI and the program counts your workout calories based on the information that you have entered. I love seeing the burned calories add up during each activity and can't wait to log them on Lose It! when I'm done. :) 

I don't know what it is but I have been having the hardest time losing weight lately... *FRUSTRATION* I keep on losing and then gaining back the same ten pounds. I am currently down 47.6 pounds from the time I signed up for Lose It! but about a month ago I was already down 52.9 pounds! This is getting so extremely frustrating! *GRR* :( Maybe I misunderstood something there... I thought that the green bar on my profile meant that it was alright to keep on eating that day! :P Green means go... Right?! *SCRATCHES HEAD* Maybe not. Hopefully things will start to change for me soon. Or at least that's what I'm going to continue to tell myself. ;)

I have been trying to figure out what to do with all of my recyclables and can't seem to find any good information on that topic for my area. *HMM* Maybe it's not that I can't find any good information but rather that I'm not seeing what I was hoping for. :( Seemingly, the state of Oklahoma is not very good at handling residential recyclables. Although, I did find out that I can recycle some of the plastic containers, aluminum cans, and paper items that I have gathered! *YIPPEE* :) There are a few drop-off depots here in the Tulsa area where one can take these things after they have been sorted. And that, my friends, is exactly what I will be doing. All of the excessive packaging and plastic that comes with everything is beyond me! I hope that others, too, will try their best to help save this planet since we don't really have anywhere else to go... Yet. Maybe someday people will be living on the moon or Mars but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Unfortunately. :P

On a happier note... *RUBS HER CRYSTAL BALL* I see ice cream and brownies and maybe a little bit of iced coffee in my near future. *YUM* :) Yup, I can't wait to see if my attempt at making my own iced coffee is a success! Wish me luck. ;)

Have a wonderful night, friends! :)

-Gigi

Iced Coffee

The grass is green, the flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, my son is smiling... Happiness is all around and life is beautiful! What a wonderful morning this is. *BIG WIDE SMILE* :) I hope that your day turns out to be as great as mine. Today is one of those days where I just want to lay on a blanket in the grass outside and listen to the leaves on the trees as they move in the wind and breathe in the fresh scent of nature. *AHH* :)

So... I was on Facebook last night... *HEHE* Yes, I am on Facebook quite a lot, I'll admit it. :P Anyway, so I was on Facebook last night and noticed this new post in my news feed from Mrs. Ree Drummond, also known as The Pioneer Woman. She was sharing this unbelievably yummy looking recipe for iced coffee accompanied by photos of the process and I could literally feel my mouth beginning to water! *DROOL* Of course I had to try it so I took my son out to the grocery store sometime after dinner last night to get the supplies that I needed to brew up some of this awesomeness. My coffee is still brewing in a big bowl in the kitchen right now and I can't wait to taste it tomorrow morning... Or tonight as a late night snack... Whichever. :P

For some reason, I have been extremely lazy here during the past couple of weeks. I can't seem to talk myself into leaving the house in the morning to go out and do something. But then again, it's been pretty hot down here lately. Summer came early to us here in Tulsa and it doesn't look as if the heat or the humidity will be leaving us anytime soon. So far we have been seeing temperatures as high as a whopping 101°F/38°C, not including the heat index, and it's only June! I am seriously dreading the rest of the summer...  *UGH*

I think I will go ahead and pack a cooler full of drinks and snacks for a little trip to the park today and head on out of here. We might even go to Pretty Water Lake and do some fishing or check out the trails. :)

Have a beautiful day filled with laughter and love, y'all!

-Gigi

Hello World

Note: This is a continuation of my previous blog on Cozi.com.

So... I have now decided to continue my blog here on Blogger.com because it seems to be easier to follow the blogs that are posted on this site. I will still continue to work on my recipe site and would greatly appreciate any recipes of yours that you would like to share. 

I know that I'm a day late but I hope that all of the wonderful fathers of the world had a good Father's Day yesterday! *BIG HUGS* to my Daddy all the way in Iceland! ♥ Anton and I missed you on your special day and send you lots of love from here in Oklahoma. *MUAH* :) 

Anton and I went on a road trip to the great state of Texas last month and I have not yet blogged about all of the fun things that we did and the places that we visited. I will do that soon, though. I promise! :))

Last week I decided to start the C25K program, also known as Couch to 5K. I have never been able to run before and made the decision to at least give this thing a try since I have heard so many great things about it. The program takes nine weeks to complete and requires about 30 minutes three times each week. Yesterday I finally made it to Day 3 of the first week. I already feel like I'm failing and all it's been so far is an alternation between 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking... *LMAO* I'm horrible, I know. :P My original plan was to go out and run every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning but that hasn't quite gone according to plan so far. Maybe this week I will get back on schedule. If only I could give myself a kick in the ass for motivation... *HEHE* ;)

As some of you already know, I have been using the Lose It! social network for weight loss for the last year and a half and am thrilled with the progress that I have made since I began the program. During my regular check-in on Lose It! this morning I was saddened by the news that one of my dear friends on the site has decided to close his account and leave the network. This man has been an inspiration to so many people involved with Lose It! and has brought great words of encouragement to us all. His great sense of humor and love for life itself make it easier to tackle the difficult task of weight loss. Mad Dog will be missed by many and I wish him the best of luck in all that he does in the future. I am truly happy that I had a chance to cross paths with you and I thank you for being a great friend, Joel. *HUGS* :))

Here's to another great day, y'all!

-Gigi