Photo Challenges

I love taking photos.  I sometimes forget my camera and that is when I have the urge to take more photos.  I've started reminding myself that pictures are always worth it.

There are many photo challenges that I've come across that start tomorrow.  I've tried the 365 photo challenge and didn't make it til the end. 

I've noticed two that actually caught my attention and might try to do them simultaneously.  The first one is from Undomestic Diva (she's a hoot on Twitter)
It's a Friend Photo a day Challenge.  I love Friends.  I just don't/can't quote Friends as well as others.

And the other one has been floating around Pinterest and Twitter-my fear with the next one is that my view sometimes never changes as I'm working part time out of the house and always staring at the computer screen :)

I'll probably tweet these and then make an album on facebook once the challenge is over.  I need to print these so I know what my challenge is each day.

Anyone with me?

Chili

I love my slow cooker.  I use about any excuse to use it.  The only problem is that it makes a lot of food and I don't do leftovers well.  So I don't use it as much as I could.  Though the one thing I love making in the slow cooker is chili.  I don't have a standard recipe, I pick the meat, beans, canned tomatoes and then use whatever spices I feel like need to be in the chili.  The weekend between the NFC/AFC Championships and the Superbowl we've been going to a friend's chili cook off.  Last year was my first year and I had no idea what to expect.  There was Turducken chili, short rib chili, vegetarian chili and of course, my favorite category, spiciest.  I love spice in my meals so I attempted at spiciest.  After taste testing all the chilis, mine was mild.  Yes mild, not even medium.  So this year in order to hope for a win, I had to pull out all the stops.

Here's what went into my chili:

And in case you missed it, my secret ingredient.

We picked up this Ghost Pepper infused olive oil while in New Orleans.  I didn't taste it at the time but I made sure to taste before adding it to the chili. 

And I, of course, used our own mix of crushed red pepper.

I was feeling pretty confident with my chili.  There were only 10 chilis entered into the event this year.  The timing just didn't work for a lot of people as last year I think we tried at least 15-18 different chilis.  And there were only 3 chilis in the spicy category. 

Until we were tasting.  Joel's Maui chili was the talk of the event.  He listed it as medium spicy and yet others were afraid to try it as they heard it was too spicy.  I felt like his chili had great flavor and came off spicier in smaller doses.  Though if you ate a bowl of mine, you'd feel the spiciness later on and not right away.  And we were tasting in little dixie cups so no one was eating a whole bowl of any of the chilis.  I got nervous.  I was anxious for the ballots to be counted and the awards to be given away. 

They gave away the write in categories first and Joel won The Chili with the Most Cloves.  I'm not sure who wrote that in but it was very clove heavy.  And then Joel got 2nd in the Rookie category.  I'm surprised that he didn't get first b/c everyone was talking about his chili.  And then we got to the spiciest.  I was very nervous.  I even pulled the camera out to take a picture of Joel as he was accepting his award. And then they read his chili name for runner up.  I was so happy.  I got Spiciest Chili of 2012.  And I kind of tuned out the rest of the categories for my chili b/c that was the one I was aiming for.  And somehow, I got 2nd for Best Overall Chili.  I thought for sure Joel would have won that category, the category of the night.  And his chili fell short.  I'm not sure what happened, I did vote for it-just not for spiciest :)

My chili as we arrived

Joel's chili

What's left of my chili at the end

Know when to fold

One of the things I was looking forward to the most when we moved was getting a new bed.  A brand new King bed.  For some reason, I'd always wanted a king sized bed to roll around (and not fall off).

So once we knew we were moving, Joel obliged and said we could get a king.  Since we're in California, the next question was Eastern King or Cal King.  (so many choices)  So we spent a Saturday in December laying on beds....laying on beds that sucked (cough, cough I don't like memory foam) and then laying on beds that felt great for the 2 minutes I laid on them.  We went to the 2 bigger chains in the area and laid on numerous beds.  We finally decided on one from each store but also decided since we were heading home from Christmas to New Year's, we should wait until we get back to make the purchase.

So this Saturday we went to purchase the new bed.  We knew what bed we wanted and we knew we needed a new bed frame-complete with headboard and footboard.  And some new night stands.  It's like we're adults now! So we laid on a few more beds to make sure we had decided and the sales lady even mentioned (like the first sales guy) to not get softest one b/c as time goes on it'll only get softer.  So we made the decision of getting the next one.  And then to discuss color of the furniture.  We decided pretty quickly that I like the sleigh bed and we should get one.  Joel mentioned wanting drawers in the frame but a sleigh bed without the foot sleigh just didn't look right to us.  The sleigh bed was in stock and had night stands to go with it.  Easy, right?  We went with the Eastern King as the extra length on the Cal King isn't that beneficial for us.  And extra room on the sides appealed to me at the time. Joel ended up bargaining with her and we got 2 free bean bag chairs for our loft area at the same time.  That room's furniture is done!! 

So we set up delivery for Sunday, during the Niners/Giants championship game.  What were we thinking?  Joel was going to the game and since I had practice I just asked that they get here before 4pm so I could get to practice on time.  During the game I got a phone call, yippee I thought-they are thirty minutes away.  Nope, the truck blew a tire and wouldn't be able to deliver until tonight.  Well we all know that's not going to work.  Who knows what time Joel would be home from the game and I'd be at practice.  So we set something up for Monday morning and I couldn't wait.  We only had one more night with our mattress, one that Joel has had since college. 

On Monday when they arrived, I couldn't wait to have the new bed in place.  I'd prop my laptop on my lap and I'd never leave the room.  And then I noticed, the bed and sleigh frame took up the whole room.  And I mean the whole room.  I told Joel I was a little worried about it and I'd wait until he got home to figure out our options.  I felt sad.  All I really wanted was a king size bed.  Once we were both home on Monday night, we decided it was too big and we'd need to downsize the frame and possibly the mattress.  I knew it was the right decision to downsize the mattress as we barely had any room to walk in the room. 

On Tuesday I went back to the store to figure out our options and get a replacement ASAP.  And they worked with me as they have heard it before, show room beds look smaller and our room looked bigger.  Lesson learned-always measure before buying furniture.  So the new frame we were getting isn't in stock and can take up to 2 weeks to be in stock and then they'd have to call to set up delivery.  And we downsized to a queen.  On the plus side, we're keeping the original night stands.  They have 3 drawers and the top one has 4 plugs in it to charge things and a night light on the bottom of it.  I like having the 4 plugs without having to use a power strip though one will be needed when i get a lamp and an alarm clock on my night stand as there is a separate plug for the light on the bottom of the nightstand.  So now we wait for our new bed.

My love of RedBull

Redbull has been in my life for a few years now.  It's crazy how it came to become an everyday thing as seeing as I was never a coffee drinker or that into caffeine.

When we first moved to California I was known as the girl who put coffee in her Bailey's.  I hated the taste of coffee.  This came about during my first trip to Tahoe, it was a girl's weekend to Tahoe before I knew how to snowboard. It was a weekend right after I found out I'd been laid off (the first time) and a time to meet some new people and just enjoy the weekend in the snow.  We spent the day at the mountain checking everything out, snowball fights, cooking, playing games and enjoying the hot tub.  One night we went to Harrah's to go to the club.  We spent the night dancing, chatting and having an all around good time.  It's been a few years now but I'm pretty sure we shut the club down that night.  We had already decided the next morning we'd go tubing at the mountain.  And we already knew you had to be in line early, or you only get two trips down as the line gets long quickly.  So this means a 3am night at the club plus being up at 6am for the ride to the mountain means we will all need caffeine come wake up time.  So not liking coffee and not having tried red bull yet, I did what any other 20 something would do, fill my cup up with Bailey's and add coffee.  It got the job done.  We had a blast at tubing and I'm sure I was filled with the tired sillies all day.

My first introduction to redbull.  I remember a girls' outing for the Sex and the City premiere.  We all met up before hand for some pre-gaming the movie theater.  We made drinks to put in water bottles for the movie-cosmos-what else do you drink while watching Sex and the City?  While we were pre-gaming, my friend offered me redbull and vodka.  Seeing as I had never tried redbull, I was a little iffy about trying it but did it anyway.  (peer pressure)  And I loved it.  It tasted like sweet tarts.  I had fallen in love right there.  So I would occasionally order redbull and vodka while out and about (I wasn't a big drinker and rarely knew what to order while out if I wasn't ordering beer).  Redbull and vodka was my new staple.  Then I would buy redbull at the grocery store.  I can't remember how the switch to sugar free went but know that I will drink either, I just prefer sugar free.  I remember one trip to Tahoe (after learning to snowboard) and we were staying at a casino and I order the redbull + vodka all night.  I soon realized that I shouldn't be drinking this much of it in a day (hey-casinos are handing out free drinks like no one's business and after so many, a girl comes with wise decisions) and decided I would cut back on redbull and nix the redbull + vodka drinks while out at night.   I'll order it every now and then while out (to get wings to make it home at like 2am) and then I'll only order a sugar free redbull. 

And now my addiction is under control, I drink one (maybe two) almost every day.  And not surprising anyone at all, I'm drinking one as I type this now :) 

Crossfit vs P90x

In 2010, Joel and I decided we should try P90x.  We'd wake up each morning, get our workout in and we'd be on our way to work or an enjoyable Saturday.  Joel was also training for a half ironman and I was getting in a rhythm with roller derby.  I think we stuck with it for about 80 of the 90 days.  Life got in the way and the DVDs were just not as exciting as they started out. 

P90x was everything to me when we first started.  I was excited to get started and to lift weights with Joel.  We even bought the pull up bar, and I was never able to actually execute a pull up.  I have always been focused on cardio when going to the gym so to pick up dumbbells was new to me.  So we started and I felt accomplished for getting up each morning, sweating in the living room with Joel, inviting friends over for YogaX and just keeping with a program.  The DVDs got repetitive and annoying-we would start skipping the stretch at the end.  Ab Ripper is the only one I'd consider putting in the DVD player.  The actual commentary is annoying but it was very effective in ripping your abs. I started using 8lb dumbbells for everything.  I think I finally upped the weight to 10lb dumbbells, maybe 15lb dumbbells but that seems like nothing now.  We took pictures when we started and measurements and I think we took them halfway through as well but since we never actually completed it, we didn't take follow up pictures after 90 days.  I need to take photos now and compare them as me in 2010 and me in 2012.   


Last year, we decided to do the new hotness, Crossfit.  Joel found a box near his office and we went to a class to try it out.  And we signed up.  And I love it.  August til now, I don't really see an end in sight.

I personally enjoy Crossfit more.  You have a coach there, encouraging you to try heavier weights.  It's an hour though the WOD (workout of the day) usually is no more than 15 mins.  Our particular box, does warmup, strength training, and WOD.  We started in August and during our Elements class (learn everything and proper ways) we started establishing our one rep max.  This is the amount of weight you can lift without falling over and you could only lift it for one rep.  I even started to track my weights and the times I get on the workouts.  A sample of a workout is 3 RFT (rounds for time): 40 sledgehammer alternating, 20 squats and run 400m.  In November, I retested my deadlift.  This was the first strength move that we did.  In August, I lifted 108#.  I'm thinking this is a combo of being low as I didn't know what a one rep max was and I was probably nervous and wasn't prepared for anything.  In November, I got 213#.  I was blown away by this.  I would never have imagined that I could lift that much and that my body was actually capable of this.  It's done wonders for my self confidence and is toning up my body.  I may not have lost a lot of weight in the first couple of months, I have lost 2 jean sizes which is a total win in my bok.


I felt like P90x taught me great things about being a beginner in weight lifting, but it wasn't as beneficial for me as Crossfit has been. Having a coach with you while you are working out, is priceless.  You know right away what you are doing wrong, less injuries and having a different workout every workout is very beneficial to my body. I've read multiple success stories from P90x, and while I was hoping to be some sort of success story, that wasn't what happened. I do think that I trimmed up a little and was motivated to work out as seeing as both Joel and I were committed to working out together each morning.  And I realize that some things work better for others and I'm very glad that I was able to try both of these workout styles.

Pinterest

So like many other ladies (and some guys) I've become obsessed with Pinterest.  I think it has a lot to do with just having moved into a bigger place and just the overall, I want to be crafty.  So I've started pinning things here and there with hopes one day, I'd get around to making it.  To my surprise, I accomplished 3 of these pins this past weekend.  I'm starting small so I actually accomplish it, and I'll eventually tackle the bigger pins that I've been coming across.

The first one was this one- http://pinterest.com/pin/210754457531874419/

I didn't have a large enough mason jar so I used what I had on hand as I cleaned out all of my purses.  I have a really bad habit when I switch purses to put the stuff I don't need into another purse and then back in the box.  So I've accumulated lots of receipts and other random stuff so I went through all of it and put all of the tickets I found in a jar we had from making our own fruit vokda.  So until I get a large jar-this will have to do for now.

And then I decided this was a great idea to always have green onions on hand (already chopped)- http://pinterest.com/pin/210754457531896633/

When Joel and I make recipes, they sometimes call for green onions, and it's usually not the whole bunch we buy.  We end up storing it in the fridge, forgetting we have it or not cooking the rest of the week and it's in the trash as it goes bad.  So this weekend while Joel was making soup and hamachi shooters last night for dinner, I thought this was a great time to put this pin to use.  I had been saving this water bottle from earlier in the week for this pin.  Little did I know, I would use it so soon.  He did use more green onion than we normally do so the bottle didn't fill up.  It was easy to do as long as you have a bottle around, and I'm sure you can use anything but this seems so perfect.

And I'm in love with infinity scarves, so I decided to check my closet and make my own- http://pinterest.com/pin/210754457531905487/

This is as easy as it sounds and looks.  I've had this scarf for a long time and don't wear it as often b/c it's on the longer side so I was so glad to find this tutorial.  I love the color as pink will go with anything that I wear and I think putting a scarf with an outfit completes it.  And as I go through the rest of my closet I hope to find a few more to make.

Hamachi Shooters

While we were in Memphis in July, we got together with Ellen (Joel's mom) to cook.  We had done these hamachi shooters before and loved them so much, we wanted to share them with her. These are an inspiration from Alexander's Steakhouse in Cupertino, Ca.  We also did porkchops over quinoa and a broccoli slaw on top of the porkchop.  The broccoli slaw was pre-made from Whole Foods and we added some cilantro and scallions to it.

We started with a nice glass of wine prior to cooking anything.  Then we got to work on the hamachi shots.

(Side note from posting food posts: take one photo with all ingredients)

chopping the cilantro

avocado and scallions

seasame seeds

carrots-shredded

yummy jalapenos

ponzu sauce

2 shooters per person...we didn't have shot glasses

pork chops ready to go in oven, with scallions, butter and salt and pepper on top

broccoli slaw with our additions

finished dish-so yummy

close up of the hamachi shooter-delicious

Here is the recipe we used to get an idea for ours....Joel and I hate truffle oil so we left it out.

Hamachi/Salmon Shooters

Serve in porcelain spoons or shot glasses
1/2 pound sashimi grade hamachi (yellow tail tuna) or Sake (salmon);
1 scallion (green onion) cut thinly on the bias - only the white part;
1 jalapeno, cut cross-wise;
1 knob of fresh ginger, sliced thinly (use vegetable peeler) and cut in to 3mm-wide pieces then fried until crispy in vegetable oil (or some other neutral-flavoured oil)
1 cup yuzu ponzu sauce;
Sea salt;
Truffle oil
1 small bunch of micro-greens (preferably Mizuna)
Place 1 tsp of yuzu ponzu in each serving spoons;
Add a small pinch of mizuna (or other micro-green);
Add slices of sashimi fish (cut at angle, against the grain of the fish);
add one slice of Jalapeno;
add one piece of fried ginger;
add sprinkle of sea salt;
add two to three drops of truffle oil
Serve immediately.