Taking a load off.

I am writing today, with no clue when I wrote last. I know it has been a while. So here's what's going on....

* I have not ran for a month, until this last Tuesday and boy am I sore. Oh and out of breath.

* The Family went to San Diego for a little vacation tagged onto a softball tournament. That is how we do things in our house. Only for another YEAR though!!!!

* Softball has taken over our lives. More my Husbands life than mine. I have taken a huge step back. It is just not for me. Averie and I like our time together anyways. Brian will be leaving on the 27th for a SJSU Camp, then he will leave again on the 28th for Las Vegas. He will be back from that trip on Sunday, only to have a day break, and leave again on Tuesday the 2nd of July for Colorado. Man I am glad that I am not him. He is a very Dedicated Daddy, there is no one else that would do what he does for his daughter. I hold down the fort here at home. Someone has to right.

* My Best Friend has a secret! Bet that you want to know now!

* I have a trip to New Brighton Beach in my future and a trip to Disneyland for my Aunts 50th birthday. I am so excited for both.

Here's what you missed. It's a lot! I turned 30! I know. I still don't feel right. We traveled to San Diego, and stayed at 6 hotels. Don't ask. It is a lot to explain without complaining. The Summer has been great so far and it is only getting better. Averie is doing so well, and learning more and more each day. She is definitely growing into her little personality. Anessa is a teenager. She will be a senior this year and I am looking forward to graduation. Wink, wink.  She is going to have a wonderful at college, and I will have a wonderful time here. I am really looking forward to seeing her dorm this fall and buying all sorts of stuff for it. Brian is working hard. Always working hard.

Any plans for the WEEKEND?

This weekend is going to be busy, but aren't they all. It is Friday, and I really think today is going to be great. It is the end of the work week, and the start of the weekend. I have friends coming over tomorrow, I plan on visiting the Farmer's Market Saturday morning, and taking my munchkin to My Gym. Love that place! Sunday will be full of shopping. Averie and I are going to make a trip to Target (my fav store), and maybe Toys 'r us. I think she needs a new toy, don't you? This weekend is the start of Travel ball season for Nessa and Brian, which means lots of traveling (Translation: Driving!!). I am staying home for this one, if that's not already obvious. I just cant do the 7 hour drive there and back. Strike Force is the name of the team she is on this season and they are based out of Huntington Beach. Unfortunately because they are from SoCal they get later games on Sunday. The tournament directors figure that giving the NorCal teams the early games makes more sense, and it does. We just had to complicate things for ourselves that's all. Which is totally out of the norm for us *hysterically laughing*. Brian is dreading the 5:00pm game that they have on Sunday. With the game being late in the day, they probably wont get back until 1:00am. I can't possibly get home at that time and make it to work the next day. Not realistic at all for me, or Averie. Averie has been fighting something these last couple of weeks, and I don't want to travel with her all runny nosed.

Now for the fun part, the photo purge. I am cleaning out the ole' Camera Roll on my IPHONE. 

From the top right, Brian and Anessa eating a rack of ribs each, my new fav yogurt, traffic on Wednesday (sucked), Love me some Izze's, New Necklace that I wore to dinner in Napa, "Gelato makes you smarter (enough said), My parents, the best parents ever, Wine tasting, The weather for this weekend, bare down y'all, My splurge for Averie, Daddy and his mini me, The best new cheap snack! Wheew! I think that's it. Well I will do my best to take lots of pictures this weekend, and report back.

A Great Birthday trip, and Memorial Day

This past weekend was one for the books. Saturday was pretty uneventful, but Sunday was terrific. My parents took Brian and I to Napa for my birthday. My birthday is not until June, but this was one of the only weekends that we both had free this summer. Thank you SOFTBALL!

We left on Sunday, and made our way to Wine Country. Of course we made a quick stop at Starbucks. I tried this Raw granola bar, and it was so yummy. It had pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, goji berries, barley, and dried apples. Totally recommend.

Our first stop was in Calistoga. Summers is our favorite winery. It never disappoints when we visit. We always manage to buy the most wine there. Our next stop was a new winery for Brian and I. Benessere. What a beautiful name right. This winery had snacks for us to munch on while we tasted. That is always a winner in my book.

Onward....

Next was lunch at Tra Vinge in St. Helena, then Oxbow market, and Dean and Deluca. Man that is a classy string of stops. Oxbow has so much to offer. If you have never been it is totally worth it. It has great shops and Kara's Cupcakes. Enough said!

Next on the itinerary was dinner. Oh wait... I took a nap. At will. I could not believe that I was able to just lay my head down ans rest. I didn't have to worry about a little one killing herself while I dozed. I could nap peacefully. We went to a restaurant called La Strada for dinner. You will notice that there are no food pictures. That is because I ate it. *laughs* It did not last very long. I ate so well on this trip. I was amazed at how full I got, but could still eat. It was all just way to yummy.

Then we retired for the evening. The hotel that we stayed at was very pretty. I was impressed with how nice it was. The courtyard was breathtaking. It is a little paradise in American Canyon.

Sunday, where to begin. It was another long day. We drove out to Sonoma. Some of the best view in wine country I would say. Even better than Napa. The rolling hills were hard to photograph with an IPHONE, but I did the best I could.

MORE FOOD!!!!!!

Like promised, here is my attempt to photograph the rolling hills. I have to say Thank You to my parents, they do everything in there power to make sure that I am happy, and taken care of. I know that sometimes things are not easy, and they do their very best to take the pressure off. I love you guys, and could not ask for better parents. You are more than just parents to me you are my best friends. They truly broke the mold when they made you both.

Vox Box Review

I received my first Influenster Vox Box! 

I have only used a couple of the products so far, but I am loving all the goodies. I can't give a review on the TASTYKAKE because Brian ate it. He said it was delicious.

Secret Outlast completely clean: Great, especially with dark clothes. I decided to try it out last week with one of my Navy work shirts. No stains or weird powdery marks anywhere. Definitely would recommend.

Osis Dust It: Have not tired yet. I actually might give it to my step-daughter. I don't use product in my hair very often.

imPRESS Press on Manicure: I actually gave these to my step daughter, and she put them on immediately, she even wore them through her softball game. IF you want a strong press on nail these are it.

NYC lip balm: Not a fan of fruit flavored lip balms, they remind me of lip smackers. I might give it an attempt this weekend. 

That was it. I love getting free stuff and giving reviews, but I was hoping for things that I would actually enjoy using.

Not an everyday thing.

I am realizing that blogging may not be an everyday thing for me. Work is becoming a lot busier, and so are the weekends. I can barely make enough time to breathe. Which, i have notices lately is how I like things. So. even though I may complain, I would complain just as much if I were bored. Oh how ironic.

This week started off very busy. The AC broke, and like always there was drama trying to make sure someone was home for the repair man. I ended up taking 4 hours off to be there. Only for him to show up 4 hours late. What a waste. I got a ton of cleaning done in the mean time. But people who know me, know that cleaning my house is never done.The plan is to clean more tonight and tomorrow. Then after all the cleaning, packing for our trip to Napa! My parents are taking Brian and I on Sunday as my Birthday present. I will be, cough, cough, thirty. Moving on....

Tuesday was Brian and my 3 year anniversary. I made him a nice dinner, and he brought home some pretty flowers. I love flowers. They make me so happy. I can have a terrible day, and walk into my house and see flowers and that all goes away. It is amazing the power they have. I made him a yummy chicken pesto with garlic bread, and for dessert cheesecake. The evening was pretty laid back and not too eventful.

Playoff update: Sheldon was eliminated on Saturday in the first game. they played tough though. 12 innings, for those of you that don't know softball it usually only goes 7 innings. It was an awesome and long game. It was 3 1/2 hours long. The were the epitome of the phrase, "played their hearts out."

The end of the year party was on Thursday, and went off without a hitch. It was a little hectic but no major bumps. Everyone got their awards, and Mary Jo got her Quilt. Thanks again Grammy for all the hard work that you put into it. She is an amazing woman. Needless to say, Mary Jo loved it. After the party, all the coaches, and a few of the board members went out to have a couple of drinks. That was probably the best part of the evening for me. Brian and I do not have much of a social life, so this was much needed.

I had the best lunch yesterday, I know so random right. I just need en excuse to post this yummy picture. That's my mozzarella, tomato, and arugula sandwich. The best sandwich to date. 

Whew, I think I touched on everything. My mind is cloudy with excitement for this weekend. I cannot wait to get away with my parents and husband.I will leave everyone with this little chicka dee eating her crunchies. I think that I am going to do a little research on getting my Nikon fixed. Man I need that thing back.

Things are looking GOOD

Last night was so wonderful. Well aside from the huge mess in the living room created by the one and only Averie Lynn, everything was wonderful.

I did a quick sweep of the house, you know get it to a livable point. Then we started on dinner. The Hubs was home so he took care of the meat and I worked on the sides. I love it when our dynamic works this well. For dinner we broke out the grill. We will be doing a lot of grilling this Summer. It is only Spring, and it is in the upper 80's low 90's already. We are in for a HOT Summer. Strap on your floaties boys and girls, there is a lot of swimming in our future.

Tri-Tip

The Hubs, prepping the grill.

While we were all outside grilling, I decided to admire my garden a little. Look at how it has grown.

Isn't it amazing. I am blown away at how fast it has grown. I used some of the cilantro in my Pico de Gallo just a couple of nights ago. It was so fresh and wonderful.

In addition to this wonderful evening, I received my VOXBOX, more on that tomorrow. I plan on using a  bunch of the items over the weekend, so if I post on Sunday don't hate me.

This weekend is pretty busy. Playoffs have started but we get into the grit of it tomorrow. Then on Sunday Anessa gets her award for making All-City, and after the awards ceremony there is a Rivercats game.  It is going to be a fun weekend, and these two are ready for it.

Oh My, Oh My what a week

It has been a crazy week in the life of the Kaylor Family. I have been MIA due to being overworked. At home and at work. Where is my MILLION dollars so I can stay home?! I wish.

Breakdown, the best I know how.

Saturday, May 11th. Race for the Cure 5K. Shelly and I ran it together, and she ran the whole thing. I am super proud of her. I cannot believe that she made it all 3 miles, I am so ready to do another one with her. We had a blast! Our time was a little slow, but it was a sacrafice I was willing to make so that she would run all 3 miles with me. The water stations were perfectly placed, and after the race they had an amazing selection of goodies. Now I am on a mission to find another race, that works well with this Summer's softball schedule of course.

Onward....



Sunday was Mother's Day, in the morning we went to the Farmer's Market downtown, then to my parents for a BBQ. They are so good to me. I am so lucky to have such amazing parents. They made Mother's Day GREAT!



Monday was eh. Tuesday was game day! Sheldon vs. Napa. We took the win. 9-7, the seven runs scored by Napa came in the last inning, they had me a little frightened. We closed it out though. Wheew. Below is a picture of our Playoff T-shirt. Thanks to Coach Truesdale we had a great saying. I hope it brought all the girls together.

Wednesday, well Wednesday was a result of Tuesday evening. The Hubs and I got into a spat, yes another one. Over something super ridiculous too. Should not have even been an argument. I will spare the details, considering when I talk about it out loud it sounds pretty silly. So I am sure in writing it sounds just as silly. Then Averie, at 2am woke up and didn't want to go back to sleep until 4:30am. I woke up so exhausted and drained that I could barely make a phone call. The call into work that is. I was not going to be productive so why bother. I had a runny nosed little girl at home. I had the morning free because Averie and Grammy had a few appointments, so in the time that they ran around so did I. Jamba Juice, a little healthy breakfast. No COFFEE all day. Hard to believe I know. Then to Target. LOVE TARGET! Didn't get a lot, but I got this cute outfit for Averie, and a new wallet. Mine is pretty ugly and old, replacing it was overdue. That place is so addicting, as soon as I left I was ready to go back. Then to the Grocery store, we are a little short on funds this month, so I had to be practical with my purchasing. I still managed to spend a little fortune. Grocery shopping is like my therapy. Well any shopping is therapy to me.

  

That brings us to today. It is Thursday and that means Farmers Market at the Capital. I don't really need anything, but the fresh air will be good for me.  I am drinking lot's of coffee today, and trying to catch up on a few things at work that I was not able to work on yesterday. Oopsy Daisy. I am feeling a little overwhelmed today actually. I need to run, but it has been so hot when I get home. I think I need to find a way to run in the morning, but I am not a morning person at all. Suggestions on how to become one is appreciated. I have no plans for dinner, and did not take anything out to thaw. I am going to have to visit Dinner a Love Story and see what I can find. Lastly, there are a bunch of dishes in my kitchen right now that need to be washed, and I am not optimistic that they will be, while I am at work. Oh well right. I will have to find a way to juggle it all AGAIN. Not complaining just venting folks. I love my life and family, but it is days like today that I wish all my chores would magically be done when I get home. 

Weekend Wrap-up, and a whole bunch of other stuff.....

Here is the weekend in a nutshell. Jamba for Breakfast in the morning right before taking Averie to my Mom's. Then Anessa, Brian, and I went to San Jose to watch the Softball team play New Mexico. They sweeped the series, all three games, BEAT! Tada! On the way home we stopped at Ghiradeli. Delish! Sunday, Averie, Anessa and I went shopping. The norm, Target, Safeway, and Michael's. This whole week has been about being organized, I have been writing lists for myself daily and really sticking to them. So proud, so proud.

This week, Nessa's team made playoffs. Exciting right. We just finished designing the playoff t-shirts. They are going to look amazing. Good luck girls. I am doing everything in my power to pump them up. They need the mental power if they are going to win. This is last years win. Yep the goofy looking one is mine.

Today is Thursday, MY FRIDAY BABY! I have a very long day tomorrow. Averie has to get her blood drawn, thyroid check. Then I have to go to Target and get my Mom's Mother's Day gift. I actually know what I want to get her this year. Amazeballs. Then I have to grab 2 cards. Easy peasy. Then I have to go all the way out to Arden to pick up my Race packet. I hate that mall. I wish they would just send them in the mail. Geesh.

Today the plan is to hit up the Farmer's Market in front of the Capital and then maybe sneak in a trip to Hallmark later. We will see. This weekend should be pretty laid back, being Mother's Day and all. Again we will see I hate the waiting game. Ugh! Well here are a could of foodie photos from my week. I tried a new wine a couple of days ago and it was really good. St Supery Sauvignon Blanc. Yummy. Amber turned me onto a new yogurt. I added Mango passion fruit granola too it and it was so tasty.

See ya tomorrow. When the chaos begins......