Random Pics I

I've been trying really hard to take pictures of our more day-to-day going-ons...just trying to capture the moments that comprise our lives.  Here's round one--it's not highly exciting but it is our lives.

We ate at Kincaid's last weekend in Fort Worth with Aubrey.  Kincaid's has good old-fashioned greasy burgers and fries.  Not something we eat every day or that we should eat every day, but it's really, really good stuff.  Let's be thankful we don't have a Kincaid's near us! Mental note: next time share an order of fries...one order is big enough!

We ate dinner last week with some of our favorite kids at Chik-fil-a.  (It seems like we eat alot, doesn't it?) It was a crazy evening, but the best part was probably watching Jadyn dig into her dish of Ice Dream. She loved it! 

As we were driving home from practice last week, we saw that there was a Chocolate Festival in downtown Grapevine. After paying a admission fee, we could choose 10 booths from which to get a chocolate goodie.  It was hard to choose but we got some amazing treats! My personal favorite was a flourless, lavender-infused chocolate cake with a mousse type-thing on top. Yummy!

Celina saw this restaurant in Arlington the other day. It was a bit whole-in-the-wall-ish, but Papi thought we should check it out.  Why? Because Papi has called me Danielita my whole life and very rarely do you see anything even remotely resembling my name on anything...let alone a restaurant. We ended up eating there and had a pretty decent batch of fajitas.  Go Danielita's!

Yes, that is people with microphones with Britney Spears. Team in Training practice last week was rock 'n roll themed in honor of the 1st Rock 'n' Roll Dallas Marathon. Pictured is our amazing Coach Sue and super Mentor Ken. Apparently no one can resist taking a picture with a Britney cut-out!

So, there you go...a slice of life! Enjoy warm with a scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream.

American Idol Top 20

Tonight four people left Idol, but only two were important...the two on our lists. First, Michelle Delamor went home. She was one of the last two people on my personal list. (Who thought it was a good idea to let her sing CREED?!)  I have only one person left on my list.  All my hopes to win this contest lie in Todrick Hall.  It's not looking good.  Is it bad to even consider voting for Todrick just because he's the last one on my list?  That's something to think about...

The second person who went home was little Haeley Vaughn. Honestly, we didn't really like her, but from her first week, we thought she would make the top 12. Who knew she could butcher Miley Cyrus the way she did? We're not really sad about losing Haeley, especially since she was on both our lists!

As for the boys who were eliminated, neither one made either of our lists, so we weren't expecting much out of them anyway. Is that bad to say?

Daniela's Final Score after second elimination: 9 out of 12 still on my list. (VOTE FOR TODRICK!)
Celina's Final Score after second elimination 10 out of 12 still on her list.

I've Got a Conundrum

A conundrum is defined as "a paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma" or more simply "anything that puzzles".  I looked it up to make sure...and yep, I've got one.  We're gong on a cruise in November and I thought that sometime on the cruise I might want to wear a swimsuit. This means I need to lose weight.  And it's not just because of the swimsuit, my Wii Fit doesn't say nice things about my weight, either.

My general theory when it comes to weight loss is to start by cutting out the really bad stuff and get more active.  That means no more McDonald's for breakfast, at least 30 minutes on the Wii Fit every night and only one Dr Pepper a day for starters. But I also wanted to do more, so I've been looking for other ways to eat healthier. But here's where the conundrum comes in.  During my research, I've come across a few ideas that I buy, but they're not jiving with each other.  Here's what I mean:

I could cut out processed foods.  I grew up on things like Velveeta and I realize now that I'd rather spend my calories on food that is...well, purer.  I love foods that have less than four ingredients.  We've got a beautiful mozzarella in the fridge that is simply made from pasteurized milk, vinegar, salt and enzymes. I like that.  I also have personal issues with unnatural food colors and less processed foods usually aren't filled with artificial colors.  Yippee! But having very few ingredients and no artificial colors doesn't mean a food is good for you.  It can still be high in fat, sugar and salt. What's a girl to do?

I could only eat organic foods.  I see the value in organic foods, I like the lack of chemicals and the sustainable way in which their grown, but just because a food is organic doesn't mean it's healthier. It still has the same amounts of fat, sugar and calories. So, even if I eat organic foods, doesn't necessarily mean I'll get skinnier. I enjoyed this article on the Mayo Clinic website about organic foods.

I could cut out sugar and other white foods from my diet.  My first problem with this is I hate artificial sweeteners.  I'll drink water before I drink diet soda and I'm still not convinced that artificial sweeteners won't be shown to be a problem in a few years.  I could be wrong and if I am, you can rub it in later. I can do whole grain breads and brown rice but don't ask me to eat sugar free foods.  I will look for foods without corn syrup and watch the sugar count on what I eat, but if my choice is sugar or something fake, sugar will always win.

I could cut down on the meat in my diet and eat more veggies and fruit.  I'm doing pretty good on the fruit...I like fruit.  I'm not fond of vegetables, so finding ways to get them in my diet has been a challenge.  We've recently discovered that we like Gardenburgers and Morning Star "Chicken" Patties.  Both are meatless versions of food we enjoy and they help with our quest for more veggies.  But my problem is...do you realize how much processing goes in to make a bunch of vegetables (don't tell me which ones, or else I'll never be able to eat them again) look and taste like a breaded chicken patty? They definitely do NOT go in the four ingredient category!

That's not everything, but that's the highlights. So, I'm sure everyone has a thought about food...can anyone help me out with my conundrum? I'm open to opinions, but I can't promise that I'll follow all suggestions. :)

Daniela's Top Nine (not really important , but completely fun) Moments of 2009

As most of you know, Celina and I are list-makers.  We spend tons of time (mostly while in cars) making lists of our favorite things and then ranking them...it's second nature now!  So, when Celina suggested we start our blog with a Top Nine Moments of 2009, I said "Why not?"

So here goes (in no particular order):

1. Meeting Maleficent
We had the amazing privilege of being able to go to Walt Disney World for Halloween.  Number One on my personal priority list was meeting Maleficent.  It's not easy...she's only at a ticketed Halloween party.  You have to watch a special villains show in front of Cinderella's castle and then know where she's going to come out.  Once you beat off the other Maleficent fans to get in line, there she is! It was an amazing experience and yes, she is as scary as she looks!

 2. Seeing Winston the Impersonating Turtle Live!
Winston and his sidekick, Terry Fator won America's Got Talent and now have a show in Vegas.  We went to see Winston at the Mirage in the Terry Fator Theater (I don't know why it's called that).  Winston sang my favorite, "What a Wonderful World" as my other favorite, Kermit the Frog.  It doesn't get any better than that! Here's Winston on America's Got Talent

3. Being in the Presence of Elvis' White Suit from the '68 Special
Some of my favorite Elvis performances are from the '68 Special and nothing is more iconic than Elvis in that white suit in front of the red light bulbs spelling out ELVIS.  So cool.  As it turns out, I think seeing the white suit was more exciting than seeing the rest of Graceland...and that's saying alot...I LOVE Graceland!

4. Experiencing Jersey Boys
We got to see Jersey Boys in Nashville.  It was mom and dad's second time to see Jersey Boys, but the first time for me and Celina.  It was amazing...I loved the music, the staging and the story.  Making it more special, we were at a performance with Bob Crewe, one of the original Four Seasons.  He did a question and answer segment after the show with the cast. It was an amazing experience!
Check out the Jersey Boys on David Letterman

5. Brad Paisley's "American Saturday Night"
I love Brad Paisley...I'll admit it.  I buy whatever he comes out with.  But, I love this album.  I just love that Brad has kids now so we add cute kid songs to add to his amazing love songs.  It just makes him that much more real in his writing.  Add in a good dose of old fashioned American pride and you've got a great album.  My favorites are: "I Hope That's Me" (a sweet love song), "Anything Like Me" (a sweet song about his sons, with a cameo by Huck, his oldest) and "American Saturday Night" (Americana at its best). Here's Brad's Welcome to the Future Video

6. "The End In The Beginning", Bones
This was the season finale for Season 4 of Bones. I'm a big fan of Bones but I really enjoyed this episode.  It got a lot of press because Brennan and Bones (the two main characters) sleep together.  The whole episode takes place in an alternate universe type thing, so they didn't really sleep together (not in this universe, anyway) but that's not why I liked it so much.  Virtually every character, past and present was in the episode.  They were all the same characters that they are in our universe, but they had different jobs, roles and relationships.  I thought it was delightful!

7. Lunar Moon Landing Anniversary
On July 16, 1969 man landed on the moon.  I wasn't around then, but I am so intrigued by anything to do with space.  Therefore, the moon landing--big deal!  It was so fun to see interviews with astronauts and hear the stories first hand. Wanna see some of the fun? Check out "In the Shadow of the Moon" on DVD!

8. Discovering Mooyah
I haven't talked about food yet, so here goes.  Mooyah is a burger joint.  They only have burgers and hand cut fries with sodas and milkshakes. It's fun because they'll fix your burger any way you want.  I like mine with barbecue sauce, ranch dressing, tomatoes, cheese and bacon. I'm pretty sure that's not really good for me, but it's enjoyable when I have one. Yummy!

9. Muppets Everywhere!
Disney has finally brought Muppets to the front of their character arsenal.  Muppets are in commercials explaining Disney's 2010 promotion, they are showing all over television (they were singing with Andrea Boccelli over Christmas) and they have a new movie coming out!  I am of the Sesame Street/Muppet generation and all these muppets are just heavenly! Here's a Disney Muppets commercial with Taye Diggs!

So that's my list...comments, anyone?