Likes & Dislikes

Posted on August 30, 2011 by sjcstidham

I am happy about these two being a couple because I love them both. Seriously. Love.

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They’re both so beautiful! I hope they stay together. I can’t even believe they’re together in the first place since Leo usually only dates models. But Blake is better than a model so ha! Smile

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Ahh, I get the warm fuzzies when I think about them as a couple and Blake holding his hand! So cute together! Seriously, how aren’t they the perfect couple?!

Okay enough bizarre celebrity stuff Smile

I am sick of these two:

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Despite how they may look in these pictures, they hate each other and I’m sick of witnessing it. It’s exhausting. I don’t blame Mike for slamming his head into the cement wall. (Oh and Jersey Shore haters—don’t take life so seriously! Winking smile)

I like this picture because 1. I like Jason Segel and for 2. Well, I have no idea. I mean, the doll is weird but I still like the picture somehow.

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And after seeing this:

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I want two kittens! Sad smile Aren’t they so cute? But I am not sure the dogs would allow it.

Off to relax tonight.. no photo editing. Need a break Smile I’ll leave you guys with a wedding photo:

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Have a good Tuesday night!

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Tea Love

Posted on August 29, 2011 by sjcstidham

I drink a lot of iced tea on a daily basis. It’s how I meet my necessary water intake most days. The problem is, though, my pitcher at home is only 12 cups and since I’m into making iced coffee now, I had no means to make it. Until last week. Enter 3 gallon pitcher thingy from Bed, Bath & Beyond.

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I can’t imagine being able to consume 3 gallons of lemonade but I know for a fact it will only take Matt and I a day and a half to finish 3 gallons of tea. Anyway, aside from having to hand clean it, this thing is amazing.

First I boiled water and steeped about 10 tea bags. I made it super dark anticipating needing to add lots of water to cool it down enough to go into the jug. I’m always thinking one step ahead… like a carpenter who builds stairs Winking smile (The Office.. gotta love it!)

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One hand holding the bags, the other hand trying to steady the camera. I’m a one man show, people. Winking smile

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Tell me that doesn’t rock? IT DOES! NO MATTER WHAT YOU THINK I KNOW IT ROCKS AND THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS!! Open-mouthed smile Sorry for getting nuts there for a minute. All that tea is making me go crazy! (Kidding!) Open-mouthed smile

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Pull the “tap” up and it dispenses freely until you push the tap back down. Push the tap down and hold it down for streaming as well. The whole thing was $30 plus tax. Worth it, especially if I ever make jungle juice or porch crawler…which I don’t plan on doing since last Halloween I wanted to die from the jungle juice. But still, a good party item I think!

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Now I’m off to edit wedding photos and drink tea. Okay, okay… I did make 3 gallons of tea this afternoon after work but right now I’m hitting the Rossi Chablis. It just tastes better tonight Open-mouthed smile

Do you like iced tea?

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Tahoe Teaser

Posted on August 24, 2011 by sjcstidham

Oh goodness, I’ve been busy!

First, yesterday was our 3 year wedding anniversary Smile (If you are my friend on Facebook, you can click my “Vegas 2008” album to see more wedding photos!)

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Matt and I celebrated by working 8 hours at our jobs. Woo! Just kidding Smile  I mean, we did work but after work he surprised me with 2 dozen beautiful pink roses and then we went to our favorite Italian restaurant for dinner. It was a really great night, to say the least Winking smile

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(And they smell sooo good, too!)

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We sat out on the terrace area at the restaurant because it’s so beautifully decorated and such an amazing atmosphere. It was a little warm but definitely worth the view! I ordered angel hair pasta tossed in garlic & olive oil (pomodoro) and Matt got filet mignon with vegetables and potatoes. We each got a green salad to start and I got a glass of Riesling and he had Stella. Yum, yum, yum! Open-mouthed smile

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While at dinner, we did some “networking”… I know, I know, it’s rude to use your cell phone at the dinner table but on our way to the restaurant we passed a huge accident on the freeway and curiosity got the best of us. It turned out that no one was killed (thank goodness) but it was still very scary looking!

After dinner we played it low key at the house. We thought about going to the movies but after a long day we were ready to just relax. The dogs were glad we came home, too! Winking smile

This morning I let the dogs out to go potty and when I sat down with my coffee, I noticed that someone was not going to let me get off that easy. Oh no.

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He used his amazing ability to stare endlessly without blinking to wear me down and let him back in. Have you ever been around an animal who can literally stare at you (seriously, he makes eye contact) for hours without blinking? Because Leon really can.. No lie! Open-mouthed smile

Since we opted to sleep in the morning we had to jet to the gym after work today, which sucked because the gym was busy but good because I got a nice 4 mile jog in, in addition to a killa booty work out Smile Win.

Now I’m going to work on editing some photos Matt took at a Baptism a few weeks ago and when I’m through with those, I’ll start on the wedding photos I took in Lake Tahoe last weekend. Here’s one for a sneak peak: (thus the title, Tahoe Teaser! Winking smile)

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This is one of my favorites, but that isn’t saying much considering I have about 35 favorites. Hey, when you have a beautiful beach as your setting, and two good looking people, it’s not hard to create beautiful photos. (I’ve reduced the quality of this photo so it wouldn’t be 1,890,576,324 GB for one picture!)

I shot the photos in raw mode, which means each photo is REALLY big but it makes everything much more crisp and gives you more options when it comes to touching up/editing.

ANYWAY!

Gotta get back to business… hope everyone is having a good Wednesday!

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TGIM: Smoothies & Flowers

Posted on August 22, 2011 by sjcstidham

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What to do with old bananas… hum… take pictures of them and try to not feel weird posing fruit alone in your kitchen. The only thing worse would be if I was a cat lady, too.

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Well you can make banana bread. Or you can have a base to a smoothie locked away safe in you freezer Smile I love banana bread but since I can’t make a loaf without eating the entire think, I think I will go for the smoothie base!

So I cut all these sad, sad ‘naners up and put them in a ziploc bag in my freezer. You can freeze a banana with a peel. I do it both ways. Some people say the peel is hard to take off a banana when frozen but oddly, I’ve never had a problem.

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And, ironically, the only time I do ever cut them up and put them into bags is if I think I’ll only be making a smoothie for one person in the future. I always just use double amounts since I make one for myself and one for my husband.

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Anyway, since I’ve got to make room in myfreezer for the above goodies, I had to take out two frozen bananas. Guess what I did with ‘em? Made Chocolate Peanut Butter & Banana smoothies Smile 

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I started off with two frozen bananas in the blender, along with a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter and 1 cup of chocolate whey protein. I also added a cup or so of ice and about 1/4 cup of FF milk. Maybe less.

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After mixing it with a spoon inside the mixer to make sure all the ice had been adequately beaten to smithereens, I had a little taste test, you know… to make sure it was “okay” Winking smile

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Guess what? It was perrrfect! Planning a hot and tiring workout in the morning so I thought I’d pre make a cold, easy breakfast for the morning! I’m thinking ahead here people so watch out!! Open-mouthed smile

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After tucking it away in the freezer I had dinner: a sandwich. Turkey & pepper jack on wheat with lettuce, pepperoncinis, bell pepper, cucumber, black olives, red onion and jalapenos. It also had a little bit of light mayo. Yum. I had a PM workout out (9 miles on the bike, 10 minutes stair climber & 1 mile walk) so I was especially hungry at dinner. Normally I’m really hungry for breakfast because I work out in the morning. But not today, folks. I switched ‘er up.

Guess what else I got a today? A surprise visit from my adorable, amazing, and beautiful best friend Mandy.

She brought me flowers! Smile

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Aren’t they beautiful? She is such a good friend! Thank you again, Mandy! (Yes, I took the plastic off. I just liked that California Grown sticker Winking smile)

They also came with a card, but of course:

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Such a cute card, too! Love it! Smile Bad times don’t seem so bad when you have great friends!

Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

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Old Lady Shelby

Posted on August 16, 2011 by sjcstidham

Today I had two friends named Pills and Rule.

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I woke up pretty sore from my 5 mile run yesterday. I know, I know. 5 miles is really not that hardcore but keep in mind, I’m weak sauce Winking smile Not only did I wake up with the normal sore right knee, but my left hip was also pretty sore. I’m officially 26 going on 89 years old. Great.

Needless to say, I did some icing:

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And even though I was sore, I still managed to get in 2 miles of walking. Don’t know if that was smart or stupid? But my soreness got better towards the afternoon and by the time I was home from running errands after work, it felt fine. Then it was time for CARDIO at the gym! Awesome! NOT! But since it was a short session (40 minutes) I drug myself there and rode 7.80 miles on the bike after a light warm up on the arc trainer.

Afterwards I was glad I went and glad I pushed myself and blah, blah. To be honest, I just wanted to be done so I could EAT. I was absolutely starving! I ran home and made a turkey & feta wrap on a whole wheat tortilla. SO MONEY.

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I was excited to eat something cool and fresh since I was hot and sweaty after the cardio. It was perfect. (Although my lunch was not so great. I got the Chicken Enchilada Suiza meal from Lean Cuisine and it used to be so good! This time I opened the box to find the creamy sour cream sauce was replaced with green sauce and the chicken got mushy Sad smile They overdid it on spices on this one, too, and yet it’s not even “spicy”, oddly enough. Anyway, I was disappointed. I mean, it was okay but not nearly as good as it used to be.

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Oh! And something else that really sucked about this meal? The cooking times have dramatically changed! It used to be like, 3-5 minutes in the microwave on high and now look!

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9 freakin’ minutes. And I realize that you probably think, damn, can’t she wait to eat? But no, it’s not even about that. It’s about the fact that in 9 minutes you could make pasta or something better than a Lean Cuisine. They’re supposed to be faster than that, at least. And some of us only have 30 minutes for lunch! Smile with tongue out

Okay anyway. After dinner I cleaned house. Since we’re going away this weekend and I will be busy tomorrow night, I figured I’d get a jump start. I had help:

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And they were so not helpful. I vacuumed then they shredded the crap out of a stuffed raccoon they have and I had to vacuum again, after pulling cotton batting out of the wool rug Annoyed

But while I folded laundry I watched Louis C.K.’s “Chewed Up” on Netflix for the umpteenth time. It’s hilarious, no pun intended (<—“Hilarious” is the name of his other stand up show! Ha!). It’s kind of anti-baby fever, though, listening him talk about parenthood.

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It helped take the horribleness out of folding laundry.. which is hard to do! After a long shower and a snack, I’m ready for bed! Hopefully I don’t wake up with a sore hip and need a walker! Winking smile

Hope Tuesday was good for everyone Smile

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