1 Month No Takeout

The title sums up the post but I’ll elaborate! Please note I’ll use restaurant, takeout and fast-food all referring to food we didn’t cook at home.

My husband and I had a terrible fast-food/ takeout/ restaurant habit. It was so bad that I would meal prep then we’d get takeout and have lots of food waste as we wouldn’t double back to eat what I cooked. I kept watching my weight balloon because I ordered whatever sounded good at the moment. My new peak was/is 251lbs; I’m only 5’6″… As the horror of this new depressing milestone set in, my husband pitched the no fast food idea to me. I quickly agreed but was worried he’d have to be my strength due to my sugary coffee addiction. Little did I know I was going to do great!

Week 1: The biggest challenge was finding a coffee alternative to my Starbucks addiction. In case you need an idea of what I mean, I’d go to Starbucks and buy 2 drinks (grande and venti) usually with extra espresso or a syrup and a pastry (chocolate croissant). It was expensive and not the best choice for me. The alternative I found was La Colombe available at some Target and Costco locations. I have tried the four flavors available near me but they have more (listed by preference): Mocha, Triple Shot, Vanilla with regular milk and with oat milk. Though the month is over I continue to buy these or brew coffee at home instead of going out.

Purchased at Costco in Northern California

Week 2: I really started missing the convenience of fast food. The ease of going through the drive-thru or waiting until night before eating because I could. Around this time I realized I could meal prep without it being boring. I decided to start planning my meals a day or two before we went grocery shopping. I thought of what I used to order and simply switched the drive-thru for the grocery store. I even went back to finding quick flavorful meals on Pinterest. I can’t decide if I want to write about the things I’ve tried on Pinterest or not but here’s a picture of one meal we loved. My husband ate it with his steak on “fancy” days when he didn’t feel like eating his regular meal.

Week 3: We went to the grocery store way too much. This was a strange issue. We were eating at home like we planned but we weren’t sticking to our normal food. We made lots of unnecessary trips to the grocery store for wine, sake, sushi, pastries and frozen pizza. Needless to say I was eating at home but my extras were eating up the money we were saving. Again I had to take a look at what I was eating, when and why. I knew I was an emotional eater but the detailed answers to those questions became clear during this month. Once I started addressing them, I was able to make a more realistic meal plan.

Week 4: I was doing well and even preferred cooking all of my meals. It was a different form of self care. I was choosing to put my health first with every meal I cooked. I had to plan, commit and cook. I would listen to music, think about fun things to do with the kids or just have random internal conversations with myself. I could keep this up no problem. At the end, I knew I’d go back to eating out especially sushi as nothing compares to the actual sushi bar but this time it would be rare versus regular. Plus we like to support local and try new restaurants.

Week 5: The month ended and I had my first take-out in over 32 days! I was excited since I was armed with this new resolve to only eat out occasionally. I opened it up, took a bite and immediately thought “that’s it, right back to old habits” then something cool happened. I felt GROSS. My stomach was bloated and upset, my feet and hands started to swell and I couldn’t finish it. I COULDN’T FINISH IT!!!! That might sound awful to some but for me it was great. It was proof my choices really were having a negative effect on my health. At home, I controlled all of the ingredients and the amounts but when someone else does the cooking you can’t control it. Sure you can order healthy alternatives, eat at certain places, etc but at the end someone else is still in control.

Conclusion: If you want to try something different or challenge yourself, go for it. You might be shocked at what you discover. Did I lose a bunch of weight? No. Did I save a ton more by eating at home? No because experimenting with food can be pricey. I didn’t expect what I did get. We did start eating all meals at the table. I started being more aware of what I was eating as well as the snacks my kids were eating. My oldest tried kale. I’ve started to take better care of myself; no more quarantine slump. Overall I feel better, am more aware of what I’m doing and am more present with my kids. I also have a schedule and am starting to get active. I would definitely consider this experiment a success. I’ve even moving on to a new challenge but that’ll be for a separate post 🙂

The Ride Along of a Lifetime

Did you read my Highwater Jamboree post? If you didn’t, here’s the link https://jtm2015.wordpress.com/2019/11/05/highwater-jamboree/ The first picture for that post was a helicopter. I didn’t elaborate on it because I wanted to keep the experience as a memory for myself however it is now relevant.

After making our way through the large vehicles at the jamboree, I spotted the police helicopter. Once I saw the pilot, I bombarded him with most of my big questions. He graciously answered all of them as well as providing encouragement to get my pilot license. I was beaming from ear to ear after our conversation and it made me even happier that I attended the Highwater Jamboree. What I didn’t know was that my husband spoke with the sergeant while I was talking to the pilot. Hubby jokingly asked about a ride along in the helicopter and the sergeant gave him his card and told him how to schedule the ride along. The sergeant let him know the wait could be a while but it could be possible to get in on a cancellation if there were any.

A few days later, hubby gets a call asking if we could make it and he jumped at the chance. All he told me was to be ready by 4:00pm and wear comfortable shoes. I thought he was taking me to a fun dinner so I did my makeup (rare), got dressed and put my wig on. Later on he told me my sister would be watching the kids so I got really excited thinking he was taking me a little farther than I anticipated. Finally he comes home, my sister arrives then we take off. I spent the entire drive trying to figure out where we were going. We chatted, made a few jokes then reached the area. I was still confused as the location didn’t really reveal much. Okay I might have been too excited to see the obvious. But once I saw the pilot I lost it!

We followed the pilot to his office, saw the inside, asked questions, signed paperwork and took a golf cart to the helicopter. We got a quick lesson on helicopter safety, I asked more questions then the water works started… I couldn’t contain my excitement. I should mention I don’t cry easily but fulfilling a bucket list item made me burst with emotions. As we were in flight, he showed us all kinds of cool things in our city including our house! We headed towards a neighboring city and he began to go over the controls. I was wondering why he kept going over the controls then he asked me the most amazing question. Would you like to fly? Needless to say I lost my mind and agreed possibly before he even finished. I confirmed the controls and proceeded to have the experience of a lifetime. I followed a river, looked at an amazingly perfect sunset and flew over beautiful homes.

These of course are just highlights but I had to share. Not only did I learn you can have a ride along in a police helicopter but I got the spark I needed to ignite my imagination and show me what was possible. I can be a pilot if I figure out how to pay for school while being a stay at home parent. I don’t know how but I’m sure I’ll eventually figure it out. What the future holds I don’t know but what I do know is thanks to my husband I enjoyed the ride along of a lifetime ❤

Highwater Jamboree

After having our second child, I felt the need to update our emergency plan. We’ve had a plan since finding out our neighbor’s house burned down; this happened years before we bought our home. It helped us see the urgency in having a plan because you never know when an emergency will occur. The first thing we did was get food that was easy to carry but would provide what we needed. Then we tasted it to see if we’d actually want to eat it; totally unnecessary but it definitely wasn’t something you’d overindulge in. Next we packed dog food, rain smocks, flash lights, batteries, etc. We never bought the water we needed nor did we get a few other essentials but we felt it was a good start. Plus we weren’t entirely sure where to go from there. So we researched, made a plan then did absolutely nothing until…

I receive an email from the City of Sacramento about the second annual Highwater Jamboree – Flood Prep Exposition. This seemed like perfect timing but I was surprised as I didn’t realize there was a first. Anyways I read the email, clicked on the link and decided we definitely needed to attend. While I went for information regarding how to prepare for natural disasters common in our area, I knew my toddler would love all of the emergency vehicles.

The morning of the event I told my son we had a surprise for him. He was excited but didn’t really know what was going on as we didn’t give him much information. As we drove to the event, I explained a little about what he could expect. I let him know we’d be going to an event to show us how to be prepared for emergencies. I compared it to popular shows he watches then let him know we would be seeing similar things. Finally, we arrived but there was little to be excited about because we parked far away. After walking for a bit, he saw the vehicles.

Truck used for maintaining the city drains and sewer systems; don’t remember the name…
Fire Truck!

Each vehicle had an attendant. The one above showed him how they use a camera, on what looked like a remote controlled car, to see inside the pipes. The attendant/ operator also explained how another item (looked like a small space rover) worked as well as giving a brief kid friendly explanation of the pipes on display. He went on to tell him the importance of keeping the drains clear of leaves and trash so water can enter the drains and be safely transported away from the streets.

My son’s favorite was a toss up between the bulldozer and the excavator. My favorite was the M.I.C. I was able to speak with the officer inside to get details on what this is used for, where it goes and why it is important. I’ll post two views from interior and one video showing the exterior to my YouTube channel Journey to Mommy (links at end of post). I do state in the video that I don’t mention names or show people because I’m a firm believer in privacy. Please note no one asked me not to show them or mention names; this was a choice I made. Once we finished viewing all the vehicles, we went to the tents. All the tents had different information on various agencies that help before, during and after an emergency.

The City of Sacramento Office of Emergency Services tent stood out the most. It was a one stop shop for preparation. The attendants asked about who was in my home and what elevation I was at. These questions are important as having a pet, small children and/or elderly would change your preparation needs. The elevation is important because flood zone versus non flood zone dictates whether or not you should plan to stay in your home or leave. Both require different planning. These were things I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. Below are all the pamphlets I received. If you don’t have a plan acquiring these would be a good way to start as well as checking out your city website to see how they operate in case of emergency.

Help Wanted

The picture above was only edited to include a modesty paint splatter because I chose to put it there. Besides that nothing has been done to the photo. Why do I have such an honest picture? Well I had an experience a few months ago that I thought should be accompanied by a picture for context. I was going to make this a pity party post but after having time to think about it decided to make it a teaching moment.

A few months ago I gave birth to a healthy baby. While everything turned out okay, I hadn’t been feeling myself due to things out of my control namely hormones. It had been a while since I had gotten out of the house without my little ones so hubby took me out for a midweek date. Everything started off great. Dinner, adult conversation and planning for the future. Then we decided to extend our evening by going to the mall. First I went to a makeup store to buy a liquid concealer along with two impulse buys. I was on a high because I really wanted the concealer but couldn’t justify buying it as I don’t wear makeup regularly. However my hubby is awesome and he was trying to spoil me per usual. The second store WAS my favorite. Just to clarify I am intentionally leaving out the name but I will say it was not Bath and Body Works. Now the story…

I was really excited to go to my store as I usually get to spend a decent amount on fun but completely unnecessary bath products. I went in with the intention to replace a skincare item and to get a few new bath balls. I walk in (see image above) with a huge smile on my face and no spending cap! Now I would never go too crazy but I was happy with the dollar amount I set for myself. I walk in the store but for the first time no one offers to help. Please note the store was in no way busy; there was maybe three customers not including ourselves. I figured someone would get to me when they were done however no one approached us. Then an additional associate walks out from the back and still nothing. I thought maybe they are changing places with the cashier but again wrong. I decided to say what I was looking for just in case they all assumed the other associate helped me but again nothing and one associate even avoided me. To reiterate small store, not busy and I am very hard to miss as I was dressed in a bright color. Right as I see an associate headed my way I smile and begin to form the words for the description of the items I’m looking for when she continues walking to help the customers that just walked in. At this point I am crushed because I have no other reasoning as to why I haven’t received assistance. Even my husband was annoyed to the point of wanting to complain.

So we go to the candy store next door in an effort to pick me up so I could work up the nerve to go back and give them a second try. The candy store was equally empty and the associate immediately greeted us and asked to let them know if we needed any help or had questions. This is all I wanted but didn’t receive at the previous store. We were greeted so nicely in the candy store I nearly cried. I was hormonal, still dealing with post delivery things and happy to be out of the house and that gutted me. I eventually walked to the back of the candy store so no one could see the tears forming. Now my husband was upset because I don’t cry easily. I explained to him that I haven’t dealt with that much profiling in YEARS. I thought “that stuff doesn’t happen where I live” because it is so diverse. Well I was wrong. Once I got it together, we brought our purchases to the front, made a few impulse buys, thanked them for their great customer service and left.

As we left and passed the offending store, my husband asked if I wanted to go back to complain. I declined. I was so sad that the thought of doing anything else gutted me. What if I went for dessert and the same thing happened? What if the way I looked put people off and that is why I wasn’t helped? Maybe my attitude seemed XYZ? Well by the time I arrived home I was still emotional but I started thinking. I didn’t do anything wrong. I am the same person I always am when around others. I smile at the very least and speak when at my best. I could have looked better but I was dressed the way I felt comfortable and in what could fit my post baby body.

The lesson I learned was to treat every customer like they matter. Don’t pick and choose who you will help. If you are at work in the customer service business and said customer has not been rude, violent, etc then you should give them the same customer service you want to receive. Or at the bare minimum ask if they need help. I don’t expect anyone to bend over backwards or go out of their way to help me. But what I do expect is common industry standard courtesy whether or not you think I have the money to be there. Because your actions might not have direct consequences but knowing you changed a persons day should matter. I consider myself a decent human trying to raise decent humans. I hope my children’s actions never cause anyone to feel the way I did that night at the bath store when Help was indeed Wanted…

Salad Appreciation

I finally found a vegetable that agrees with myself and baby. It is the Ready Pac Bistro Santa Fe Style salad sold at Costco. It contains romaine lettuce, white meat chicken breast, roasted corn, four cheese blend, tortilla chips and salsa ranch dressing. Occasionally I throw away the chips but the salad is delicious. However the delicious salad is not actually what I appreciate. It’s the man who bought the salad that I appreciate.

Well as you’ve read above this salad has worked out very well for me. I have had trouble this pregnancy making sure I get enough calories. I’m overweight/ technically obese so I wasn’t too worried about it. My OB was persistent about reminding me to get enough calories so I tried to start making my calories count in the way of being nutrient packed and this salad seemed like a convenient way to make that happen. Well Monday was Costco day and that salad was at the top of the list! We arrived and immediately set about getting everything on our list including 2 fans that we bought because they were on sale. Finally we get to the salad section. We both looked everywhere and hubby even checked behind things in case someone dropped one. But nothing… All the other salads were there just not the one I wanted. We finished our shopping and went to checkout. The whole time I was trying to figure out how to get my salad while holding back very irrational tears. We got to the front and I flat out asked when the next shipment was expected only to be told they’ll be unpacking it tomorrow. Without missing a beat, hubby says we’ll be back tomorrow.

The entire ride home I was sad and trying not to cry because seriously it’s a salad not an organ or vital medicine. As I tried to talk myself out of crying, hubby assured me he felt my pain and would understand if I cried. Finally, we’re home and he tells me he’ll unload the car so I can go inside. He finishes up and asks if I want ice cream which I found odd since I was too full at dinner to have dessert. I said no but he could check for creamer if he liked. He took off to the store and I didn’t give it much thought as I knew he just wanted to make me feel better. A while passed and I started to get worried. I figured maybe he stopped somewhere and would refrain from harassing him for a few more minutes. Right as I was checking my phone, he shows up with TWO packages of salad bowls which makes a total of 8 bowls!! I couldn’t contain my excitement. I immediately turned off my show and gave him the remote so he could game.

As most people, especially pregnant people, know this is not about the salad. This is another thing that shows me he loves me in a very physical way. He didn’t have to get off work, go to dinner (his food didn’t defrost at all because it was a frozen ball of chicken), go grocery shopping, unload the car then turn around and drive to two different Costco locations just to get the salad I wanted. ALL RIGHT AFTER WORK on a Monday!! His level of appreciation and love is, in my opinion, the kind I wish for everyone especially hormonal pregnant people. He could have let it go, bought the ingredients for the salad or just waited but he didn’t. He actively went out of his way to make me happy and for that I was extremely grateful. I don’t usually post on our anniversary and I don’t need a holiday to tell me when to appreciate him because everyday can be a special day. Every day can be an opportunity to show love, respect and appreciation for the man I love. And this is one of those days.

Car Shopping

I bought my dream vehicle on 12/31/18!

Let’s back up a little. My old car still worked and I had no plans of buying a car until my Chevy was dead. I’m not the type to upgrade simply because I want to or can afford it. I only upgrade when I’m forced to (breaks or isn’t worth fixing). However we were in a car accident and the insurance company totaled it. We had a feeling it was going to happen so we started seriously looking up vehicles that were both practical and orange.

The search was narrowed down to Ford Edge, Ford Escape or Toyota Rav4. As soon as we physically looked at the vehicles, we knew the Escape was out because it was a little too small for our needs. Then the battle began. Ford or Toyota? This was one of many questions on my mind for weeks with no clear answer. I agonized over the decision because I knew this would be the car I kept for hopefully the next 10 years. Finally we found it. An orange Ford Edge with lift gate, power everything and an amazing sound system (allegedly). But by the time we wanted to check it out, it was gone… The search continued.

Fast forward a few weeks and I left it all up to my husband. My reasoning was he enjoyed haggling and is into cars anyways so I might as well let him do his thing. We took a test drive for both so I knew the color would be the deciding factor. Well he came through. We had to travel almost an hour but he found it. It was orange, power everything and it had a sunroof. I would’ve been happy with the first two but the sunroof sent me over the edge and I knew I was in love. We left our son with my mom and headed to the dealership. It started off strange because no one was there. We eventually found a wonderful salesperson who was great and did everything he could to help us unfortunately no deal. We even went back but it was over what we wanted to spend by $500…

I was heartbroken and the only thing that could fix it was tasty food! We headed to a restaurant so I could talk and eat my feelings. I told my husband, while also telling myself, that it was okay and I trusted his judgement especially since he was right about the flooring (that’s another story). As I tried my best to eat my feelings and not cry, my husband smiled and said I already have a replacement I just didn’t want to drive that far. My eyes lite up as he showed me the pictures. He asked if I wanted him to call and I said yes! Everything was worked out before we went so the next day everything went smooth. I couldn’t believe I was getting my dream car at a price we could afford. I was in total shock when, after hours of waiting, I was handed the keys. It was late and we had an over 2 hour drive ahead but I was determined to get a picture with the giant bow. With pictures taken, I was off to drive my dream car home all by myself with husband and son following behind.

The drive home was the most emotional ride I’ve taken next to bringing my son home from the hospital. I laughed, cried and felt incredibly grateful. I realized a new level of trust and appreciation for my husband and the life we’ve built together. After the honeymoon glow, vacations, first child, first home, job changes, financial ups and downs and car accidents, it was the car buying experience that has taught me the most about love and trust. Leaving the first dealership felt gut wrenching but trusting my husband and proving it by following his lead turned out way better than I imagined and solidified what I already knew… My husband is amazingly perfect for me.

San Diego Trip

I finally decided to live and stop trying to take all of the pictures. I don’t have any pictures from the beginning of our trip but below is a snap shot of our date night, the zoo and the baseball game. We had a blast and my son was able to hang out with his uncle, aunt and fur cousins 🙂

Date Day

Looking at Hotel del Coronado
Wondering around Waterfront Park Area
Werewolf in Gaslamp District

San Diego Zoo

Petco Park – Padres vs Reds

My sister-in-law said it best: You can capture the image but you’ll never be able to share the feelings you experienced so enjoy the moment!

Day Trip – Monterey, CA

Hubby surprised us with a day trip to Monterey! It was a complete mystery until we were about 1/3 of the way there. Then I found out while navigating. Even though I was getting over a bad virus and hubby felt awful, we had a great time. Here’s what the view looked like 🙂

PS – I might continue to update with pictures because I don’t have all of them

Movie Date

Thursday I talk to my mom who tells me they want the mini for the weekend. We happily agree and make arrangements. We knew we were going to see Black Panther but decided the mini was too young to attend based on what others were saying so this was the perfect opportunity to see it.

Friday we buy our tickets in advance in order to get decent seats; YAY seat selector!

Saturday is finally here. It’s cheat, movie and kid-free day!! Yes I only count Saturday as kid-free because we dropped him off Friday and would be picking him up Sunday. I’m thinking what could go wrong?! We already bought our tickets, my hair was pre-poo’ed and we had snacks ready to eat. All was going as planned. While hubby relaxed and snacked I started on my hair. This is when it all went down hill. I was getting ready to dry my hair when the plug to my dryer fell in water (no worries I’m fine). I started to panic because this is the only dryer that is both fast and straightens. I could either find an alternate or panic. Well I multi-tasked and did both.

I panicked, decided my hair couldn’t be fought and came up with a plan B. Plan B was detangling, moisturizing, braiding in 4 big braids and covering it with a knit hat. I was only a quarter of the way done when I saw the time and knew I had to go so we weren’t late. I put all the items above in my backpack purse, picked out my knit hat and ran out the door. I had to finish my hair and put on makeup while in the car and before anyone else could see me. First I set up all the products then realized it was horribly unsafe to put all the products out as one could roll under the brake and prevent us from being able to stop. After re-positioning everything I got to work. Right as I was parting my hair, I look up to see a homeless man staring directly at me either wondering what I’m doing or thinking I’m insane. Light is green and we’re off. I’m now in a showdown with my edges and finally success! I win 🙂 As we enter the parking garage, I’m freaking out because my brows already struggle under normal conditions and I could only imagine what horror the light would reveal once I entered the theater. Turns out I did a decent job but I put on my sunglasses just in case.

Finally we sit down to enjoy the movie; EARLY might I add. The movie was both visually appealing and spoke to me in a way I didn’t expect. Even hubby thought the story line was one of Marvel’s best. I’m torn whether or not to do a full on movie review as I am sure there are tons out there but I might do a His/Her review anyways. All in all this was a very amusing yet emotional movie date.

Ikea Date

Not all dates are created equal but ALL dates can be fun! We relaxed, ate, measured the bathroom then went to Ikea. I like to call this a working date because we gathered a lot of ideas and created a plan for updating/ remodeling our house.

The food: Ethiopian deliciousness!!

Below are a bunch of things we found/ are budget friendly. We have no idea which ones will make the cut but the pictures below reflect what we liked.

All in all these are just ideas and inspiration which I am sure will change as we get to the research/development phase. But this was a lovely date with my man. It helped me get back to being a wife and not just mom all the time. It also reminded me why I chose this man and why he chose me. He’s amazing and the perfect balance to my brand of crazy 😉

I don’t really have a good reason for this video as we have no plans of buying the light but we both love playing with it!

April's Universe

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