Being Good and Garlic!

10 years ago I was very overweight. I was over 200 lbs and not at all living even a hint of a healthy lifestyle. We were driving up to Oregon for a family reunion and I was wearing shorts. I got out of the car and my sisters ever so kindly said, "Mmm... I feel like eating some cottage cheese." They were referring to my legs. Everything changed after that.

My mom had been mentioning the Atkins Diet and I thought it sounded crazy, restrictive, and not healthy (as do most people when they hear about what it entails). I kind of brushed it off initially, but after my sisters so gently made clear just how fat I had gotten, something clicked and I was willing to try anything. So we started the Atkins Diet and the weight literally began to melt off... 50 lbs of it to be exact. It changed my life.

Ever since then I have been living a lower-carb lifestyle and try to exercise regularly, which has allowed me to maintain the same size for the last 10 years. I have my ups and then my downs, but I generally stay at around a size 10. Well, I want to be smaller! So I've decided to step it up and go back to the very low-carb lifestyle.

I figure my body has now been accustomed to this size for so long that I could get away with losing lot of weight before plateauing. I'm hoping for 20 to 30 lbs and hopefully down to a size 7 if not smaller. I also am starting a new exercise routine with a friend to help the process out. Hopefully in a few months I'll be a whole new person. I'm already seeing results in only a week and a half. That's what I love about low-carb. The fat literally melts off.

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Yesterday was my good friend Mandy's birthday. I surprised her with dinner at The Stinking Rose. I've been wanting to go there forever and let me tell you it was WORTH the wait. Big time. The food was absolutely amazing. Everything is infused with garlic and Mandy and I are both garlic lovers. It was perfect.

The only downsize: I'm still burping up garlic as I type this. LOL.

Whatever. Like I said, totally worth it. If you're in the Beverly Hills or San Francisco area, please check this place out. It's pricey (I literally dropped $100 on food for both of us and valet), but you won't regret it...

And yes, if you are wondering, I did cheat and have some of their ciabatta bread with Bagna Calda. lol

The Drive-in isn't dead...

I just read this great column on Brietbart.com where the auther relives his times at the Drive-in. It's so sad that most of the Drive-ins in Southern California are dead and gone. We used to go every weekend when I was a kid. If it wasn't the Van Nuys theater, it was the Winnetka. EVERY weekend during the summer.

THANKFULLY, some do still exist. We regularly go to the Mission Tiki Drive-in in Pomona. If you are nearby, check it out. $7 gets you a double-feature and the movies are new releases.

Anyway, we did (and do) things a little differently than others. Back in the days, we usually brought my dad's truck and loaded up with blankets. There would be 5 or 6 of us kids (my sisters and I, plus neighborhood friends) laying in the back of the truck and a couple in the front seat with Dad. Yes, we drove to the movies that way. Dangerous right? We loved it. We would make a game of trying to stay as flat as possible while trying to make sure the blankets didn't fly away.

I remember watching La Bamba and mom crying when he sang "Oh Donna," because her name is Donna. lol. I remember watching Jurrasic Park and telling my little cousin George to wake up because they were about to pass Barney on the screen. I remember watching Hocus Pocus and getting in trouble because my friend dared me to flip my sister off and I did. (Tattle-tell! lol) I remember watching The Lion King and getting angry because right when they started singing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" the train decided to come by and last through the whole song so we couldn't hear any of it. (Is it me, or is/was every drive-in near a train track?)

Ah. Fun times! So many memories!

Now, we fill up the trunk with a ba-zillion old and new blankets and plenty of pillows. The old ones are used to make a mattress-like padding that is laid over the gravel. The new blankets we use to cover ourselves and stay warm. We lay out in the cool night air and enjoy our movie and we love it. You can talk, laugh, pass snacks around, and never bother anyone. You can't beat it.

I hope the Drive-in never completely dies because it will kill me if my kids never get to experience it...


Here's an excerpt from Mr. Nolte's ode to his drive-in days:

The price of admission wasn’t five dollars per person, it was five dollars per carload, and that admission wasn’t for one movie, it was for two and sometimes three. We would always arrive early so there would be no competition for a parking slot that no small amount of experimenting had proven to be the very best: a spot just off center but built a little higher than the others where the front wheels sat. As hours of movie-watching passed, this small advantage proved easier on the neck.

To avoid the cost of concessions there was the Styrofoam cooler, always packed with a beer or two for him, a wine cooler or two for her, and hot dogs wrapped in tinfoil that we would warm up between shows on the Riv’s mighty engine block.

In the dusk, children would take advantage of the broken-down playground that sat directly in front of the giant screen, and the sounds of their pleasure would then blend with the even sweeter sounds of tires crunching gravel, car doors slamming, and far-off adult voices and laughter all set to the tinny music that played through those deceptively heavy speakers before the show began. The sounds were timeless, and if you closed your eyes and took a moment, you could transport yourself back to when your parents were young. For all the many wonders available for only five-dollars a carload just off of Highway 145, the Starlight Drive-In was also a perfectly-kept time capsule of the year of its construction.

Before it got dark enough to justify doing so, the projectionist would always stubbornly start the first feature anyway, usually a second-run film. Still, we would all honk our horns and flash our headlights to mark the occasion. And what an occasion Hollywood delivered.

Read full article...

Francis Chan and me?

Why did I have a dream last night that I was prego out of wedlock and Francis Chan and I were in love with each other? Hahaha!!!

In the dream, Francis' wife had died and I think he took pity on me because of my "situation." So somehow we just fall in love. (I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I'm pretty sure we made out in the dream too... LOL)

Hysterical and random.... and WEIRD. Weird because who sees religious leaders in a romantic way? I normall don't, I can tell you that. Plus, I don't think I've ever even been attracted to an Asian man before. Not that I have anything against them, I'm just more inclined toward the "browner" men (my daddy's Mexican; what do you want?). =)

But anyway.... Thought I would share and jot it down for posterity.

Too funny.....

On and off my nerves...

One day I'm fine. One day everything and everone is getting on my nerves.

I don't know what the deal is. I'm sure it has to do with a combo of my ovarian cyst issues and stress, but some of it is just plain other people being ridiculous and propelling me into annoyance.

I think I've resolved in my mind that I am going to try my best to get myself moved back to the Pomona-ish area by this time next year. In the meantime, I have to "wait it out" in the Valley. I think I have subconciously opened up a window in my mind that allows me to be extra annoyed with everything in the Valley and in the house because I know I won't be there forever. I know that's wrong and I need to get it under control because I don't want to drive the people around me crazy. It's hard though because the people around me are also sometimes getting on my nerves. lol.

I also think that I'm just not cut out for living with a sibling. Because of our established roles in the family, things don't change. Translation: My little sister thinks she can come in my room and mess with my stuff the way she did when we were little. Uh no. We are adults now. You can't just take my stuff, especially because there is no Mom and Dad to protect you. =)

I know it's all just little things. I shouldn't sweat the small things. It's just that the small things can all add up to one big ball of frustration.


Lord, help me out. Calm my spirit. Help me to be content and to not allow little things to break my positive stride. Help me to be happy in all situations and circumstances. Help me to address things in a way that is not offensive or mean. Help me to lower my expectations. Help me to live You at all times... in my waking, in my sleeping, in my working, in my driving, in my speaking. In everything. Thank you, Lord.

Heart-bursting love...

There is nothing like my niece wrapping her little 2-(almost 3-)year-old arms around me and pronouncing to the world, "Dis is mi tia." Translation: This is MY tia (aunt).

There is nothing like her coming up to me, giving me a big hug around the thighs, and then slapping my butt. Hahaha! (I know that sounds bad, but--right or wrong--it's her way of showing she likes you. We're gonna have to break her of that habit though.... lol)

There's nothing like her turning to me and saying, "Kitina, you silly." To which I reply, "You're silly!" To which she replies, "You silly too!" Brings a smile to my face every time.

I love my nieces. Both of them... actually ALL, since I also have a step-niece, Maddy. But Kaylita just has a very special little nook all to herself in my heart. It amazes me how much she gravitates to me. I think something in her heart responds to the something in my heart that loves her so very much.

Man, I can't wait to have my own little ones, because there's definitely enough love in here to go around!

I imagine this is how God feels toward each and every one of us.... times a billion.

Die-hard Anne Fan

I admit it. I'm obsessed. It started with Anne of Green Gables, and now, 4 books later, I'm completely attached... simultaneously looking forward to and greiving over the last two books in the serious. It's almost over! No!

I've been so engrossed that I literally asked my Mom for nothing more than the whole series for my birthday. It's that bad.

Why did I never read these as a child? If I have daughters, they are so getting to know Anne as early as possible. What little girl--or even big girl, as I can attest to--wouldn't fall in love with Anne (with an "e") Shirley? =)

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?" Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables)

Finding my place in the world...

I've been away from Pomona/the Inland Empire and living with my sister and her BFF in my Mom's old house for a little over 2 months and one things' for sure: I detest the Valley and I want to go back to Pomona/the I.E. as soon as possible.

The problem: I don't want to live with my parents and I know that the Lord has put me where I am for a reason (don't know what that is yet), as well as to help my sister.

I've tried to settle in and, to be honest, as long as I don't have to leave my house or be in the general vicinity of my house when not inside (a.k.a. in the neighborhood), I've been fine, but I just don't like it. It's worse when I go to Pomona for Dentist appointments and such. The minute I set food in my parents' house, I feel right at home and remember just how convenient and much calmer the whole area is.

I haven't been to church since I moved, save for Father's Day at Calvary Chapel Chino Valley and this last Sunday, when I house-sat for my parents, which also meant a trip to CCCV. Other than that, I haven't even attended the church I used to go to before I moved to Pomona. I'm just not interested. I can't help but feel like my church home is CCCV and no where else. And I miss it DESPERATELY!

All this to say, I think when my cousin returns from her mission trip to Peru in exactly one year (she left this last weekend... so proud of her!!), I'm going to ask her if she wants to get an apartment together in maybe the Covina area.

I'm going to pray on it, but I already feel like it's a good idea. I can come back to the area I've grown to love, but I won't have to live with my parents and I'll still be independant. Plus, it would be great to live with someone who loves the Lord so much and who I can trust (like I do now), and BONUS: who won't mess with my stuff. lol

We'll see. Check back in a year and we'll see what God brings into my life from now until then. =)

(Almost) Best Birthday Ever! (Part 2)

So the second thing I did for my birthday was also Disney-related: Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure! The main reason we (Mandy, Baby, Mom, Dad, and I) went, beside it being my birthday, was to see World of Color. It was SO worth it. That show was AMAZING and it definitely tugged at my heartstrings. If you can, make sure you go see it.

Aside from World of Color, the highlights were:

- The Blue Bayou for dinner. Love that place. Another thing you must do if you haven't... and have the Monte Cristo. It's a heart attack on a plate, but so worth it. lol.

- The Mark Twain (the big river boat). I seriously haven't done that since I was a kid and it was pretty cool. Especially since they've had some changes to the things you see when you take a cruise on the Rivers of America. Pretty cool.

Overall, as I said in the previous birthday post, this was one of the best birthdays I've EVER had. Thank you, Lord, for another blessed year of life. =)


Below are some shots from my phone for your enjoyment.

Yes! Happy Birthday to me!

The Wonder Wheel at DCA. Later on this will light up nice and pretty like.

Mom and Dad had a blast on Toy Story Mania... it was the first time for both.

Mandy, Baby, and Me on Thunder Mountain

World of Color about to start.

Ooooooo. Pretty.

Fire!

Lady and the Tramp. =)