McFatty Friday: Snow Dance, Snow Dance

Weekly McFatty Friday post is coming at ya. I've been going to the gym for 17 days now. (not the weekends). Although, I'm giving up my hour lunch everyday, I'm so happy that I'm going everyday, and I'm not taking any time away from my family in the evenings. So, its like win, win for me. 

Everyday before and after my workout I walk by the scale. It's right in front the frackn bathroom. I always look at it, but never get on the damn devilish thing. Is that weird...

Here is why... first of all I'm just stoked for myself that I've been going to the gym every week day for the last 3 weeks. I don't want to get discouraged that I haven't lost any poundage. I'm going to the gym to get in shape, be healthier and loose some pounds. However, I'm not going to be down on myself because the scale isn't moving. 

Sooooo... I will not go near that damn digital butt face. :)

I feel better with more energy. I'm not as sluggish in the morning and I feel like I can go forever and that is my goal for going to the gym to have a healthier lifestyle that I've lost track of the last 2 years. Kids do that I guess. ; )

On another note... we are expected to get a huge storm today. 3-4 feet in the sierra mountains and greater Lake Tahoe Basin. I'm jumping and typing at the same time. Snow brings a smile to my face. I love to run outside with Mackenna and stand in the dumping snow. I like to be inside working on a craft project or coloring with her or even reading and watching the snow fall outside the windows. It's just a happy content feeling. Also, with the snow we at least have one day together, just me and Mack, while the hubs goes out and snowmobiles. These are also some of my favorite weekend days when it's just us girls. 

See the purple spot by reno. I'm right at the point. We are in purple zone baby.
12" + tonight! Winter Storm warning in effect from Today-Sunday 4pm PST

I mean I love Ian, but sometimes we just need some time for just the girls right!!?! Did I mention that I would rather him go on Sunday's so I don't have to watch football. ha!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend. I will upload some photos of the dump progress this weekend, if we still have power!!!

Thankful Thursday - Relatives meet USA

My Aunt Dayna and Uncle Jeremy

This christmas is going to be the best one yet of my existence. Ok, as far as I can remember them back. My Aunt (dayna) and Uncle (Jeremy) and Cousin (Jade) are coming to the United States for the first time ever from New Zealand. 

This is me in New Zealand 2005 in Queenstown. Price William was
there at the same time as me. 

Lil Background or reference my previous post Parents from Different Countries. Anyway for the purposes of this post I will tell you all again. My dad is American and My Mom is Kiwi (from New Zealand). So, I have family on each half of the world basically. 

Anyway, my mom's sister, my aunt. (are you confused yet... sorry!) They are coming to America for the first time ever this Christmas. Plus, they get to come to the most beautiful part of this country in my opinion Lake Tahoe, California and see snow in masses of amounts for the first time.

Scratching your head... Yes, New Zealand has snow in the South Island. I have snowboarded at every single of their 3 resorts. : ) However, this might sound silly, but it is more costly to fly to the South Island then to fly to Australia, which is like 4.5 hours away. Weird huh! Plus I'm sure you have all seen snow in the movies Lord Of The Rings... Ahh ha! I got the image in your head now. The entire movies were filmed in New Zealand and majority of it in the South Island. 

Sorry I went off on a tangent for a moment. My Aunt and Uncle live in the North Island on North Shore. 40 Minutes from Auckland, New Zealand. They have a lovely home right next to the beach in a highly nice area... (bitches!) Sorry. 

This is me and my mom is New Zealand, where my great grandma lived and
I visited as a little girl. (Please excuse the pajama pants, yes they have sheep on them.)

They will be coming to visit December for around 2 weeks, a week with us and a week in So Cal. You know the DisneyLand thing. My cousin Jadey will love it. This is so funny to me, but I will make fun of them just a little bit. They wanted to rent a car and drive the California coast. First of all, ya its a nice drive and its pretty but HELLO they live in New Zealand, where the entire country is boarded by Ocean. Why in the Hell would they want to drive the coast of California, go see something you haven't seen, because they have seen oceanthere entire life. (sorry aunty and uncle I'm just sayin).

I'm beyond excited to get on the piss (get drunk) on rum and egg nog with the family and watch my aunty get on a snowmobile for the first time and scream her head off. (It will be fun aunty don't be a baby.)

I am way more than Thankful that they are coming to visit my neck the world. I will post photos of their visit in December sometime. :)

Del Monte Fresh Giveaway Winners!

The winner's the Del Monte Fresh $25 

Gift certificates are....

#3 Lilmissrysmama

and 

#18 Mandy W.

Congrats to the winners. I will be sending out an

email to you. You have 48 hours to respond, or a new

winner will be chosen. Thanks to all for entering. 

Del Monte Fresh Giveaway- $25 Dollar Gift Certificates

DEL MONTE FRESH SUPPORTS TEACHERS WITH CASH & FRESH FRUIT IN
"TEACHER MONDAY: CASH FOR CLASSROOMS"

Del Monte Fresh Produce, North America, Inc. announced today that it is launching a program to help support kindergarten thru 12th grade public school teachers across North and Central America with cash to purchase school supplies and fresh fruit in the “Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms” campaign. One hundred prizes totaling $1,000 each will be awarded to teachers who get the most votes in the “Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms” online contest at www.fruits.com.

“Monday’s can be difficult for all of us, but public school teachers face even bigger challenges these days with the largest budget cuts in 30 years expected this academic year,” said Dennis Christou, Vice President, Marketing, North America for Del Monte Fresh Produce. “Larger classrooms and far less supplies are putting enormous pressure on our teachers. The “Teacher Monday” program was designed to take some of the burden off teachers, many who pay for school supplies out of their own pockets. It will also provide teachers with tools and incentives to incorporate healthy eating messages into their curriculums, giving us an opportunity to help school children eat and live healthier,” Christou added.

To be eligible to win, teachers must register for the “Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms” online contest at www.fruits.com. After teachers register their name and school, they can get all their fans -- from parents to students, to friends and family -- to vote for them. Ten winners will be selected each Monday for five consecutive weeks in October/November, 2010, for a total of 50 winning teachers North American teachers. Winners are based solely on the number of votes they receive. Winning teachers will receive $750 in cash to purchase school supplies and $250 in Del Monte fresh fruit coupons for classroom snacks and to use in fruit educational activities.

In an effort to support schools in less developed countries where many Del Monte products are grown, and where classrooms are also experiencing economic disadvantages, the “Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms” program will link winning U.S. classrooms with a school in Guatemala or Costa Rica. The 50 selected Central American schools will also receive $1,000 each for school supplies.

“By linking U.S. and Central American schools, we want to help further the education of students by introducing them to another culture. Our hope is that sister schools will communicate with each other about fun physical activities and their favorite fruit dishes,” said Christou.

Beginning early Fall, consumers can expect to see “Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms” stickers on Del Monte Fresh Produce such as pineapples, bananas, melons, grapes, tomatoes and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables, as well as colorful posters and other materials in produce departments.

Finally, each week of promotion, Del Monte will distribute $25 gift certificate booklets for Del Monte Fresh Produce to consumers in major markets across the U.S. and Canada. Consumers will be notified about the giveaways via Twitter, Facebook, and radio promotions.

Along side with the Cash for Teacher's contest, they were nice enough to send me two gift certificates with a value of $25 a piece to my readers. The Giveaway is two $25 dollar gift certificates for Del Monte Fresh Fruits and Veggies. It's a manufacturers gift certificate, so you can use it at any grocery store. The two winner's will be announced Tuesday November 16th. So get your entries in fast. 




**** Make sure you leave a comment for each entry, otherwise it won't be counted : ) ****


** Mandatory Entry ** : You Must Follow me Via Google Connect ( On my right side bar) 

** Other Entries ** 
1. " Like " Del Monte Fruits and veggies on Facebook. (feel free to leave them a message and say Mountain Mum sent you. +1 Entry

2. Follow me Del Monte Fresh on Twitter +1 Entry

3. Follow Mountain Mum on Twitter +2 Entries

4. " Like " Me on Facebook +1 Entry

5. Enter the cash for teacher's contest for your local school. Del Monte Fresh - Cash for Teacher's Contest +3 Entries

6. Tweet this Daily - + 1 Entry Each
Del Monte Fresh Giveaway. 2 $25 dollar gift certificates, and two winners. www.mountainmum.com @Mountain_Mum #giveaway

** I wasn't paid or given any kind of money to form my opinion on the product. I was given gift certificates to give to my bloggers to spread the awareness of Support your Teacher's with Cash, Fruit and Veggies. ** 

Thankful Thursday - I clean too much

A while back I proposed an hour a day cleaning schedule for myself. Well I've failed miserably. It always turned into more than an hour, no matter what. Maybe because I'm compulsive cleaning disorder would come out and I wouldn't stop myself, is the real reason. I've been finding that I clean as soon as I get home, I mean literally as soon as I get home from work. I would go, go, go and squeeze dinner in, or make the hubs do it. I would clean like mad until I realized that it was time for Mack's bedtime.

I missed out an entire evening with her. Granted I get to spend the whole morning with her now, but this is just not going to work for me. 

Here is my idea. 

1. Pick one Major Cleaning item a night... (laundry, bathroom, living room, marital room, Mack's room, guest room/office) and stick with just one item. 

2. Clean kitchen and do dished every night after dinner. 

3. Vacuum 1 room a night. 

4. Do 1 load of laundry a night and fold it after Mack goes to bed while watching the usual TV shows and hubs and I watch after Mack goes to bed. 

5. 1 sweep of the living room before bed of items that are out of place. 

Then in between I might have more time with the hubs and Mack. So, where does the Thankful part tie into all of this. I guess I'm just thankful that I know when enough is enough and I need to make a change that will help me more available to my family. Whether it's work, me cleaning too much.. etc. These are the years of our children's lives where we don't want to miss out for any reason, and I'm not going to let my compulsive cleaning take time away from Mack. 

78. My first Red Cup of the 2010 Holiday Season

79. Egg Nog

80. Mack's face with our first snow

81. Snow 

82. My Family

83. Still Cruising the gym

84. Yoga classes

85. Cold Nights (19 degrees) I like to wear fuzzy socks


365 Days in Pictures

Wordless Wednesday - Snow!

There were taken this morning before we headed off to preschool. Mack was so happy that there was snow.

Also... Happy Birthday to my Dad today. Happy Birthday Dad! 

365 Days in Pictures

Daddy almost fainted...

It seems like yesterday I was told I was going to be induced a couple days after my last visit with the doctor. 

It was July 22nd when I went to see the doctor for the last time. He told me that if I wanted since I had family members coming into town that I could be induced that Thursday July 24th. Oh course I did what any pregnant woman would do at full term and said please, please I will take that date. I was so excited to have a date and also nervous because all I could think is that OMG I'm going to have a baby by at least friday. I called the hubs on the way home and told him, "so the doctor wants to induce me, and ummm I'm going to be induced on thursday." Dead silence on the other end. He just told me ok and then an awkward hang up. I went home and cleaned like mad and made sure everything was perfect. 

I'm not going to bore you to death about the nasty details, because if you are a mom or dad you know how it goes, and what everything looks like. I'm more interested in telling you all about my hubbs and how hysterical and nervous he was during the whole 48 hours of before, during and after my induction and labor. 

Ok, back to the story, my hubs and was kinda beside himself. He was not expecting to be dad that week. (I mean my water could have broke right then and there), but the fact we had a date scheduled freaked him out. Anyway, we both didn't sleep a wink that night, and in the morning it was kinda of weird just walking to the maternity ward and signing in. I was admitted and the hooked up on the IV's and the potossin was pumping through me. Ian was pacing and kinda just annoying me. (if you are ever induced it's a lot of sitting and waiting).

Hours passed and the pain started to intensify. I was induced at 6am and by 9pm that night I was begging for the epidural. (FYI the hubs does not do well with needles... at all). He was standing next to me holding my hand while the doctor administered the numbing stuff in my back. My hubs to urn and see what he was doing and he saw the doc putting in the cathader in my spine. The hubs almost dropped to the floor. The nurse made him sit down since he is like 6'3" and no one was big enough in that room to catch his fall. 

After I started to feel numbly and good, we decided to watch a movie. The Father-in-law brought the hubs a 6 pack and it was gone pretty fast... and hour later I was starting to feel the urge to push. After an hour of pushing the nurse asked the hubs nicley if he wanted to be the first one to see his baby's head... of course out of it he took a look and went weak in the knees again. By this time I was just hysterical to the way he was acting. 

A few more hours later, I couldn't get Mackenna out on my own, so we had to use the vaccume to get her out. Finally after just 15 more minutes she was finally out. When the hubs saw her head he asked the doctor if her head would stay a cone shape. He was freaking out. The doctor assured him that her head would return to normal. I think after the night, he was ready to leave the hospital for a minute. I think before he headed home for the shower, he hit up the bar. : ) It was a crazy time for him but he made it through.


365 Days in Pictures: November 9th