Random Ramblings – Seventeenth Edition

Happy Weekend!  It has been a month since my last Random Ramblings post, so I have lots to catch you up on!  Read on to see what I did to myself on Mother’s Day, what I have been up to in the kitchen, what I am excited about, tons of pictures and some good news (that was way overdue in my life)!

I hope all the moms out there had a great Mother’s Day!  I spent Mother’s Day with my mom (of course!) and with my sister, and two nieces.  We decided to go shopping to look for outfits for our upcoming family pictures we are taking.  Of course as soon as we got to the mall, I came up with an idea on what to wear, and it was not anything we would find where we were shopping at!  But that’s the beauty of online shopping!!

Miss G (just a month shy of turning 4-years old!) had asked Wendy about getting her ears pierced, so that became one of our stops while at the mall.  Wendy told Miss G straight up what to expect and G was still all about doing it.  ((Pay no attention to the make-up stains on Miss G’s face….someone got into Gramma’s “lip stain” before we left to go shopping hahaha))

And then…..

Once that ear piercing gun got close to her ear, Miss G wasn’t so sure anymore.  So I volunteered to get a second whole pierced in each of my ears, to show Miss G it didn’t hurt.  I’m such a great Auntie, huh?!  Sooooo totally not planned…so I got my ears pierced for the second time…and with a smile on my face too 🙂

Miss G was a brave girl and ended up getting her ears pierced…but not without tears and screaming.  But Miss G got over it and is super excited about her pierced ears.  I had such a fun day with my favorite girls!!

Check out the present we gave my mom for Mother’s Day too:

Isn’t that cool?!  I found it HERE.  I thought it was a fun way of showing mom that her girls really aren’t that far away from her.  This could be a great Father’s Day present too, if you are looking for a unique Father’s Day gift idea!

And of course, I made my mom her favorite cookies!  Macadamia Nut White Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

FEELING:  Excited!!  Have you seen that Roseanne is coming back to ABC?!?!?!?!  This was probably one of my most favorite shows to watch growing up.  Maybe because John Goodman totally reminds me of my Dad hehehehe.  The show just reminds me of my childhood and watching television as a family (with some freshly popped popcorn made by Dad of course).

Also excited that the next season of Orange is the New Black is releasing in a few days!  Yay!  I see a weekend of Netflix binge watching in my future!  Can you tell that the introverted me REALLY loves television shows?  Yeah….I am not a go-out-and-party kind of person.  Pajamas and television are my idea of the perfect evening 😉

WANTING: More knowledge on how to better utilize all of my social media for the blog.  The Book of Faces confuses me, Pinterest is equally as confusing (except I know how to pin stuff finally and make boards)…Instagram I know the best out of them all (pictures, hashtags, duh), and I try with Twitter, but I am completely lost on that too.  I mean how do I get more followers and people to see my posts??  Kim from The Baking ChocolaTess has been sweet enough to help me try to understand some of it…but I am still lost AF. If anyone has tips, recommendations for online courses on the subject or knows someone I can hire, drop me a comment below!!

WATCHING:  Have you seen Downward Dog on ABC yet??  It just started…but it is hilarious.  The dog talks and gives his point of view on everything.  All I can do is sit and look at Jack while I watch this show, and be like “what’s really going on in your head?”  Hahaha….I don’t want to know.

CRAVING: Cookie dough.  Any kind of cookie dough.  Just raw cookie dough, to eat late at night, in the dark, in a corner of the kitchen with no witnesses 🙂

BAKING:  I made some police-themed desserts for a Daddy-Daughter Policeman’s Ball held for the officers and their daughters at MPD.  The desserts turned out super cute and I have a post coming up soon showing how to make all the goodies!  The cool thing is you can take my ideas I used and adapt them to fit any theme, so if you have a party coming up or need some “themed” desserts, be sure to check out that post!

I developed a recipe for a copycat Girl Scout cookie, but made without wheat, dairy, soy, gluten, fruit, sugar, nuts or seeds.  I tried to work my magic around these food allergies to come up with a yummy cookie, and I think it turned out pretty good!  It’s for a project I am working on with another blogger who I totally adore…so stay tuned for that recipe coming to the blog in the next few weeks.

Totally proud of Ethan!  This kid played baseball on his school team again this year, and they won the Championship game for their league!  It’s crazy how much better the kids have gotten at playing, just over the last few years.  My whole family came to Ethan’s Championship game to cheer him on to victory too hehehe.

Ethan was one of three kids from his Lakewood team, chosen to play baseball on the All Stars team too.  It was just one game and Ethan’s team won that too!

My nieces graduated from their respective preschool classes, and were part of a mini graduation that the school holds for the kids that graduated to Kindergarten.  I spent some time trying to wear the girls out at the park before the ceremony started.

Abi was all about her little song they performed (hitting sticks together to music)…but Gwen had a major melt down when it was time to sing her song with her class.  I think she was tired.  Or hot.  Or hungry.  Or all three.  Oh well!  It melts my heart to see my sister with Miss G…I just love watching her be mommy.  She’s such a good mom!

I can’t believe how big Miss A is getting!  She points to me and says, “KK” or “Aunt KK.”  It’s super cute.

If you are grilling this weekend, keep it healthy and clean eating by making my Healthy Grilled Pork Tenderloin!  In that post are the links to my Healthy Baked Garlic Bread, Healthier Caesar Salad and Baked Sweet Potato Fries so you have everything you need to make a complete healthy meal. #yourewelcome

If you need a quick and easy dessert that will please a crowd of adults and kids alike, then look no further than my Golden Grahams S’Mores Marshmallow Bars!

My good news!!  I saw Dr. Knight this week and after much back-and-forth, I was able to get her to agree to increase my work hours to 30-hours a week now.  She wasn’t going for my 40-hour request, but hopefully at the next appointment I can change her mind.  The plan is to work three 10-hour days, so I have four days off in the week, to allow me to go to appointments.  My team of doctors are all in the Bay Area, so going to appointments is like an all day process with the wonderful California traffic we have at every hour of the day.  It’s crazy!  It sucks.  I just want it to all be done so I can just work and get back to normal.

I am still working on the FTP book, which has taken me WAY longer than I thought.  But the last chapter I just finished was 90 pages long.  So yeah.  I am determined to get that book knocked out within the next couple weeks though.  Lofty goals y’all….lofty goals.  I should be done with the book around the same time I transition back to patrol.  Just in time for the summer heat!  Because who doesn’t love wearing 30-pounds of gear and working in 100+ degree heat??

The eating disorder stuff is still an everyday battle.  Some days I am happy with myself and some days I am not.  I get frustrated that “the voice” is still in my head yelling at me.  I just figured it would have softened or gone away by now.  It feels like a hopeless battle, and the stress of getting back to work full time and the pressure to be back to patrol (whether or not that is the best idea for my health is up for debate), is getting to me.  But I just have to take it day by day.  I think people see me after gaining weight finally, and assume all is good now.  I wish.  Ohhhhhhh how I wish that was the case.

If you are bored this weekend and are looking for a craft to do, make sure you check out my tutorial on How to Make a Deco Mesh Wreath!  Make the wreath any color or theme you like….but this patriotic one will be on my door all summer (it covers Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July and EVERYDAY….because #merica).

So I am trying to be more consistent with my posts on the blog and would love your thoughts and feedback.  I know these Random Ramblings posts seem to get read a lot, so I was thinking of posting this every Sunday (obviously when I wait a month, it’s a LONG post because I have so much to say!).  So a weekly Random Ramblings post would kind of be a blog weekly recap, along with my random thoughts and what I am Feeling, Wanting, Watching, Craving and Baking.  Plus pictures from the week.  Thoughts???

Then I would post recipes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and then on Fridays I post our Friday Frenzy Link Party (which is getting revamped and will be way more awesome, starting next Friday!).  Is it too much???  Let me know.  I don’t want you guys to get sick of me!  Leave me some honest feedback!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend my friends!  Bake up something yummy in the kitchen.  Leave me a comment below and tell me what you are up to!

XOXO,

Kelly

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