Snow, snow and more Snow

When we lived in CA we would go to Lake Tahoe for Spring Break while the snow was still fresh.  We would rent a cabin and go to the snow covered mountains.  Theo and Tobie learned how to snowboard while I would sit by with nursing babies watching their fun.  I always thought, "If we ever live near snow again I am totally going to learn how to ski."  I was told when we moved here to NJ that snow never happens, then 2 winters in a row, it's snowed!  The bad thing is, since it isn't a normal occurrence here they don't have any snow activities that are close by.  Not even any cool hills to slide down close to us.  We did get to go to Camelback and do some snow tubing which was super fun, but that's like a 3 hr drive!  Not something you can pick up and do in one afternoon.  So even though I got the first part of my wish, to live somewhere where it snowed; there's nothing to do, and I certainly can't learn to ski on this. 

But something I've discovered about myself is that...I DO NOT like cold weather.  I'm so cold, all the time!  This house isn't helping any, with drafty windows and doors.  Good thing we are in housing because this heating bill would be CRAZY!  I'm hearing the South calling my name.  I miss the flip flops, sitting in the sun...being able to walk outside without having to don long sleeves, long pants, jacket, long socks, scarf, hat, gloves, snow shoes.  I'm sure once the summer heat rolls in I'll be dreaming of white winters, but until then, enough already!!  Come on summer!!

Jersey-isms Pt. 5

One of the enjoyable perks here in Jersey, is being so close to the Boardwalk.  It's historical, scenic and very convenient to run on without having to worry about drudging through the sand.  I love running by the beach, without having to run ON the beach.  We finally got some sun last week after what seemed like weeks of snow and rain!  Charlotte and I had a lovely stroll, and then when we were done we decided to enjoy a sweet park.  That lasted about 5 minutes before Charlotte, who is newly potty trained, peed all over the playground.  Well, at least some of it, most of the pee ended up in her very absorbent Ugg boots.  It was my own fault, I should have had her go to the bathroom first.  But that ended up cutting our play date a little short.  I still got my run in, and soaked up the sun!  Sometimes I think, living in New Jersey really isn't all that bad! ;)

Girl Scout Safety Day

This past Monday I got to go with my girls to a Girl Scout activity called Safety Day.  I wasn't sure what it was about, but it was an activity and other than their bi-weekly meetings and cookie booths, they don't really get to hang out with the other girls.  I thought it might be fun so we went.  It wasn't bad, they had more girls than they planned for, so it was a bit crowded, but there were some perks.

 Here are the girls with some friends from the troop.  I can't even believe that Hannah is old enough to be in Girl Scouts, so much so that I didn't even sign her up until that day!  She's been going to Emma's troop, but will be joining her own soon, we are both excited for that.

I just had to get a picture of this guy. This was the first station we were at and this guy is a meteorologist who actually flew through a CAT 5 hurricane!  He's a rock star in my book!  I wanted to get his autograph. LOL!  I've always wanted to be a meteorologist, a storm chaser to be more precise.  It's so weird how excited I get about weather.  I'm not even kidding how serious I am about that.  I remember when I was in elementary school, I think 3rd grade, I checked out a book about weather from the library and wrote a letter to the weather station that helped write the book. They sent me a reply letter and books about weather.  I was so happy, you would have thought I got a letter from some famous person!  That's how big a dork for weather I am, LOL!  It would be a dream of mine to go back to school and actually become a meteorologist....maybe one day.  This part of the presentation was all for the adults, the kids were not interested in watching hurricane patterns as I much as I was.

 At this station the girls got this little pouch to use as a First Aid kit.  They got to decorate it and got band aids and gloves to put in them.  Although I'm pretty sure all those gloves have been turned into balloons by now.

 

 I didn't get pictures of the traveling animal shelter, but they have this trailer set up with kennels inside to hold animals in case you have to go to a shelter during an emergency evacuation.  It was a pretty sweet set up.  The girls then went to another station where they got to make cat and dog toys to donate to the trailer.  It was a good idea, in theory, but the girls are just too young to really figure out how to make them.  Once the ladies called time, and they had to move on I had several meltdowns I had to make better, and I ended up making at least 2 complete toys myself in the name of the girls.

 This guy was the highlight of the day.  He brought out the animals, so obviously the kids absolutely loved this part.  He had a box turtle, snake and a frog.  And if you ask the girls what their favorite part of the day was, they will definitely tell you the animals.

 The snow came and visited us yesterday.  They said it was going to start snowing around 9am and snow all day.  I thought the schools would close down, but they decided to just do a partial day.  Well, the weeny mom that I am, I was afraid that if I sent them to school and the snow started to fall then they could get stuck at the school, so I kept them home.  It didn't start to really snow until around 1 or 1:30, the same time the kids would have gotten out of school.  I should have totally sent them, all they did was fight with each other, but that's just how they show their love, right? Ha...
The picture above is what we woke up to this morning.  I'd say we got between 4 and 5 inches.  Just enough to play in, and dangerous enough when you drive.  Although I did have to drive in it today. 

I got an order for a cookie cake!  I was really happy that I got to do this, it was for a Coastie friend's husband.  This is actually his guitar in cookie form, sort of. ;)  I'm really happy about that chocolate disc in the middle.  I actually hollowed a little out of the cookie and used a cookie cutter to mold the chocolate.  Then when it hardened I just popped it in the cookie.  I delivered it in the snow covered roads, but I have to say, for an L.A. (Lower Alabama) native, I sure do get a thrill when driving in snow.  It can be scary, but it can be such a mad adrenaline rush!  I know, I know...I ain't right. ;) The cookie was fun to make, and I really liked the way it turned out.

Jersey-isms Part 4

You see this?  I thought I had gotten myself pretty acclimated around here, but it's stuff like this that really throws me off!  Two Tilton Rd.'s right by each other!  This is actually a mistake that I took when we first got here. Luckily I was meeting a friend to go running and she was very forgiving when I showed up late because I turned down the WRONG Tilton. 

But today it actually got the better of me.  I had a doctor's appointment on a road called Black Horse Pike.  I had never been to this doctors office before so I looked up the address and typed it in my Google maps app, building number and all!  Remember that, it's important.  So I'm coming up on the place it tells me my destination is, but as I pull into the parking lot I see a sign for Spencer's, like the risque store in the mall.  Maybe it's their outlet store, this place was big, but definitely NOT where my doctor's appointment was.  So I plug the address in maps again and notice two options pop up under the same building number, same street, just different towns!  It's on the same road!  How can they have the same building number???  I had to call the doctors and tell them I was across town, but I'll be there in 12 minutes, more like 15...nuance...

Seriously? What is that about?  I just thought it was a fluke thing when I came across two Tilton's but I'm finding other streets that have the same names.  This definitely took the cake though, having the same building number on the same street.  Is that even legal?  Oh well, I got it figured out and I have learned my lesson, check the town!!

Snow and a Report

 Wednesday to much of our surprise it began to snow!  Theo didn't think it would stick, but by the end of the day it was starting to look like a Winter Wonderland.  That night I had to take Tobie and Miriam to their piano lesson, a little over 10 minutes away.  The lesson was under 2 hours, but when we left that night the place was completely covered!  I had to scrap snow off my windshield so I could see, and the tires were having a hard time gripping the road.  I got really nervous and saw cars in the ditch, or some that had just slid over to the other side of the road.  I took it super slow, and thankfully made it home...it may have taken 30 minutes, but at least we were all safe!  That was probably the scariest drive I have ever been a part in.

 By morning, the ground had already warmed most of the snow so there wasn't any difficulty in Theo getting out in the morning to work.  Although I was hoping for a bit more just so we could snuggle a little longer, sorry for the TMI. ;)

 The girls were out the door, dressed by 8:30.  They were so stoked to build their snowmen they didn't bother sleeping in on a day that they didn't have to go to school!

 This is Charlotte's first experience with snow, and she loved it!  She was all over the place, but when she discovered the snow melted water puddles and started digging in them with her bare hands, I decided it was time for her to come inside.

 Miriam's snowman creation.

 Emma's snowman creation.

Hannah was the warmest of them all.  She was all decked out in the left over winter clothes we have accumulated from our winters at Lake Tahoe.

 Charlotte looking idly on from the front window, while her sisters use her for snowball practice.

 Isn't she just too cute!  We keep being told this was a complete fluke that it was snowing and that this NEVER happens, but other than the car ride of death I was so happy we got to experience this!

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Ok, so here is my first report of what I ate today and my exercise routine:

Pre-breakfast:

1 cup warm water, with lemon juice and 1 tbsp. honey

1 cup water with White Flood energy powder

Breakfast:

Apple

Activia

Post-Workout:

1 cup coconut milk with 1 scoop Whey protein

Lunch:

Weight Watchers Vegetable Soup

Grapes

Diet Soda

Snack:

1/2 cup Kefir mixed with 1 cup Coconut Milk

Dinner:

Baked asparagus with a little olive oil, salt and pepper

Turkey pattie

Mashed cauliflower with light sour cream

Sauteed mushrooms and onions in coconut oil

Workout:

6 mile run, then upper body workout

So that's it.  I didn't include my water intake, but I did drink at least 7 cups worth of water today.  I know I'm hydrated, so drinking enough water is not an issue for me.  Maybe I'll have to write a post about my hydration situation (did you like that? heehee...) tomorrow.  In fact, that is going to be the post title!  Hydration Situation....okay, back to this post.  Tell me what you think, what can I tweak, but be gentle with me. :)  I think I did really good, but I'm always on my game on Monday, it's just when I get further on in the week you may see my menu tend to wane.

Also, I think I need a name for this experiment.  I got nothing, any ideas? 

Jersey-isms Pt. 3

I'm slowly starting to make my way around this large city.  But there is a little issue that makes getting lost even extra annoying...

For some reason, the people around here are against left turns!  What is up with that?  You're going along knowing that your road is coming up on the left, so you get in the left hand lane in preparation for your turn, but as you get to the light you see that cursed sign!  WHY!!??  They actually have turn arounds where you have to get in the right hand lane, turn onto this side road that curves back around and then you have to wait at the light to go straight, when you could have just turned left in the first place!  We have missed so many turns because of this.  Talk about frustrating!  And I wish I could say that it's just a few intersections that are like this, but it's very common.  I mean seriously, who thought of this idea?  You would think in a Blue state (meaning mostly Democrat) they wouldn't be so against lefts!  Ha!  I just had to end it on some political humor...heehee...

Adjustments

I came across these pictures the other day:

My Alabama kitchen.  I know beggers can't be choosers and living here in NJ we have been blessed to get into Coast Guard housing which is completely free...including utilities and water.  But it sure is hard to keep a positive perspective when you are cooking and baking in this:

I literally can put the dishes away from the dishwasher without having to leave the same spot.  Two people can't be in this kitchen without it being overcrowded. 

It's not that I'm miserable because of this kitchen, I may feel the little pin pricks to my heart when I see my old kitchen,  I just need to make some major adjustments.  I know it will be worth it.  Living here will allow us to become debt free, which is our goal by the time we leave NJ in 4 years. 

So of course I don't regret moving here, the little inconveniences don't compare to the experience we will gain from living in the New England area. 

But man, I sure do miss my Alabama kitchen.

Jersey-isms Pt. 2

I am loving all the friends I am making here, because they always fill me in on all the cool things going on around town.  But it has caused some anxiety because what I have found out is that NJ loves their tolls!  

I am no good at tolls because I never have any money.  In fact we already had to blow through one that we weren't prepared for.  I hope they see our AL license plate and chalk it up to ignorant tourists.

When we were coming into NJ I swear Theo's GPS took us through every single toll on the way to our house.  We were driving separate cars and I was freaking out because I didn't have any money.  Theo paid for his and mine, but I was stressing out that I needed to be right behind him so the toll attendant didn't accidentally let the car behind Theo through and then expect me to pay.  So of course when it comes to tolls I get nervous always worried if I have enough, or any at all!  And you never know what the amounts are going to be, some are $1.50 and some have been $3.

Just today I got on the Parkway, counted my change and thought I would be okay that I can handle $1.50.  But as I was driving down I started thinking, what if it's $3.50?  Then I started to panic.  Luckily I must have gone on a stretch that didn't require me to go through tolls, so all that worry for nothing!

I do have an answer for it though:

 
When I got home I told Theo to order this ASAP so I wouldn't have to panic anymore.  It will put my mind at ease once I get this on my car, then this Jersery-ism won't be a problem anymore.

Jersey-isms

Living in New Jersey is like learning a new culture, without having to deal with a language barrier.  I'm loving it here, but there are a few Jersey-isms that is going to take some getting used to. 

For example, we have been promising the kids that we were going to take them to the beach ever since we got here and it just hasn't happened yet.  So we decided to use this past FHE as a family night out at the beach.  As soon as Theo got home from work we headed out.  A few friends told us about Margate Beach and how nice it was so that was where we went.

It really is a beautiful beach!  The sand was soft, the water was warm.  We set up camp about 80 yards away from the Lifeguards.  Hannah never gets in the water right away, she being my only child that shows fear of the water.  So I got to work with her building a sand castle while Theo and the rest of the kids headed straight for the water.  It was a nice calm day with green flags, so I had no worries about them being in the water, especially with Theo being with them.  But the next thing I know Theo is telling me that they have to walk down to the part of the water that is directly in front of the Lifeguards.  Apparently while I was busy playing engineer in the sand a lifeguard came to Theo and told him that they have to move in front of them or stay out of the water.

Now Theo and I have to juggle to kids going back and forth from our spot and what seemed like a 10 foot area in front of the Lifeguards that is 80 yards away.  I was really irritated by that, nowhere have we lived (and we have lived on every coast) have we been denied getting in the water because there wasn't a lifeguard sitting right in front of us.  And what I just found out today is that all the beaches are like that here.  Unless you get there early, like before 10 or really late, like 6, there is no free swim. 

It was a great beach, but I'm not sure how much I am going to like these rules.  And I know I am going to get into trouble by my friend Kara, because I have called it a 'beach' this whole time instead of the proper Jersey name for it, the 'shore'.  Sorry Kara, habits are hard to break, but I'm working on it!!!  Love you's! LOL!