Random Ramblings – Eighteenth Edition

Welcome to Random Ramblings #18!  My post where I catch you up on life lately and share some fun pictures taken throughout the month.  So much to catch up on!  Work….family….life.  Where to start?!  Oh and a few of our professional family pictures are included in this post too!

Whew.  Can I just say I am happy last week is finally over??  #CookoutWeek 2017 was fun, but last week was busy with work (at my actual job that pays me money) and then coming home to work on the blog, making for a looooooong day.  So, I’m happy we are back to normal.  Well as normal as I can be anyway 😉  What’s everyone doing for the 4th?!  No plans here yet….I have been dealing with some major back issues and just haven’t been feeling the best.  Ugh.

So life lately!  My dad is part of his local VFW Post (he’s a Navy veteran), so he walks in some of the local parades with the other veterans, carrying the flags.  I went to Livermore for their annual Rodeo Parade to watch my dad walk in the parade, and hung out with my family AND my best friend that I have had since middle school!

Okay, hopefully Jessie doesn’t kill me, but lets have some fun and look at some pictures of us throughout the years.  Next up….1997 (???) getting ready to go to a high school dance.  It’s okay to laugh.  I’m laughing while looking at this picture.  I mean how can you not?  Those bangs…those eye brows!

And then this picture circa 2004…that time I flew down to Huntington Beach (Southern California) to spend the weekend with Jessie.  Oh and what a weekend it was…..

Hehehe….crazy how we change over the years huh?  But no matter what, Jessie and I have been best friends and always will be.  Love that girl!

Ok…on to some yummies in your tummies.  If you are looking for an easy-to-make 4th of July dessert, you gotta check out my Chocolate Peanut Butter Blondies!

Or just go take the kids to get an ice cream 🙂  The laws of gravity are not defied here…Wendy ended up buying Miss A another ice cream cone after that one ended up on the ground.

FEELING:  Happy.  I FINALLY finished the Field Training Patrol book I have been writing for the past few months.  You guys.  This book is probably 1,000 pages.  Now I am just waiting to get my proof back so I can make corrections.  So now I have transitioned into the Real Time Crime Center at MPD and am working on getting our cameras all dialed in so we can utilize them better.  And when I am not busy with that, I pull up calls holding for service and try to handle them over the phone.  We have no less than 30 calls holding at any time.  It’s crazy.

Oh and I can’t go back to patrol until my doctor and a city doctor clears me.  Whamp.  Wha.  I tried to persuade my Captain, but to no avail.  But I know they are just looking out for me.

WANTING:  The illegal fireworks to stop.  Who are you, and why do you think it’s okay to light that shit off at 11PM when people are sleeping?!?!  For the past few days, and until the 4th, it sounds like Modesto is in a war zone.  I love celebrating the 4th, and I am all for the legal fireworks, but it’s the illegal fireworks and the gunshots that annoy me.

WATCHING:  Finally getting around to watching Orange is the New Black.  I am still on the fence about this season, but I am only a few episodes in.  And my favorite television show is back on!!!  The Great British Baking Show on PBS.  For a fleeting second I thought about trying to recreate one of their baking challenges each week here on the blog, and then I remembered how busy I am.  But that still sounds like fun, no?

CRAVING: Fried chicken.  And my poor tummy can’t handle fried chicken, but I am craving it nonetheless.  James is trying to challenge me to some Chicken Barn.  I’ll keep ya posted 😉

BAKING:  I have some new recipes I am working on, using the granola that My Favorite Indulgence recently sent me, as well as some more recipes using toffee from B. toffee.  If you have any ideas for me, leave a comment below!  I already used the entire bag of the Maple Cinnamon Granola.  Recipe coming soon!

I still keep in contact with my stepdaughter from my previous marriage.  I just can’t even believe that she turned 21-years old last month.  Really?!?!  She is such an amazing, beautiful and smart woman.  So proud of her.  James and I took Brooke and Raul (her boyfriend), out to a fancy dinner at Galletto’s Ristorante to celebrate her birthday last week.  We had such a nice evening, even though I had to fight back tears when reminiscing about watching her grow up.  I am lucky that I still get to be a part of my step kids lives, and that their mom is supportive of our relationship.

James sent this to me, and I was dying….because this is so me.  Except I probably got the television taken away as a kid, and if you did that to me now, I would throw a tantrum.  Just kidding (not really though).

For Father’s Day, my mom had the great idea for the three of us girls to go into thirds to pay for a professional photographer to take pictures of my dad’s show truck.  My dad has had this truck since he was a teenager, but has never had professional pictures taken of it!  So we figured some family pictures with the truck would be fun.  Plus we haven’t had family pictures taken since Miss G was 1-years old!

My dad built this truck himself (he’s a mechanic)….and it is BADASS.  He takes it to all the Good Guys Car Shows, which got me thinking of a theme for our family pictures!  Rockabilly!  So fun!  I came up with the clothes for the boys, but us girls all bought our own dresses separately.  And we all ended up with black and white polka dot dresses.  Hehehe.

I spent the photoshoot chasing after the girls and playing tag.  In wedges.  It was a fun time, even though taking pictures with a 2-year old and 4-year old is like herding kittens.

My eating disorder recovery is going well.  I have been trying to be better about my diet (i.e.: eat differently).  James and I have been hitting the weight room regularly, lifting heavy, so I can gain more strength.  Which means I need to fuel my body properly.  I’m still trying to figure it all out.  I’m a work in progress y’all 😉  But the carrot dangling in front of me is a thing called “back to work full-time, on patrol.”  Yup!

And this month marks the 7th anniversary of a life changing event in my life.  I don’t speak of it here on the blog, but if you know me, then you know what I am referring to.  I saw this and thought it pretty much summed up how I feel right now:

And I hate to leave it on that note, but that’s it from me!  I need to go bake some cookies for the boys.  James just showed me some store-bought cookies he got at the grocery store, and then spent 5-minutes trying to justify store-bought cookies to me.  Not sure why he thinks he can win that argument with me.

Have a great 4th of July and leave me a comment below!  I love hearing from you guys 🙂

XOXO,

Kelly

PS- If you are grilling this weekend, don’t forget to check out my Healthy Seasoned Grilled Chicken marinade recipe.  It’s the marinade recipe that I use on all the chicken I grill for my food prep every week!

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