Florida 2007

I'm still trying to post some back pictures. Here are a few from our trip to Walt Disney World. This was in December 2007. James, my parents Tony and Lola, and James at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

Steve's Second Tattoo

They say once you get one, it's non-stop. We'll they are right. This is my second tattoo. It is on my left calf. I had the outline done first. I had the color done when I got back from Florida in December. It is the sun and moon by the way!

Happyp Birthday Chyrisa!!

Today is my cousin Chyrisa's birthday! This is a picture of her with her mom, Laura. Happy Birthday I Love You!! I hope you have a great day. You have fianlly caught up to me, feels sooooo good, doesn't it??

Alligator Farm

When we were in Florida, we went to the alligator farm in St. Augustine. I was really cool. We got to see reptiles from all over the world. One of the best was the swamp were there were hundreds of alligators right under the bridge we were walking on, can anyone say lunch?

This is the view from on top of the bridge over the swamp. You could buy food to feed the alligators. They would swarm around the feeder, though there were many others who were just waiting for us to fall in!

Us and my parents at the farm. They had a nice time, they like to take people here.

This is Gomek. He is the most famous alligator at the farm. He was stuffed upon his recent death. He was HUGE!!

Steve gets a Tattoo

This is my first tattoo. I got this before I went Florida in November. These are pictures of the actual process. The artist name is Shaugn, he works at High Rank Tattoo in Barstow, CA. He has done most of our work; he is a great artist. This is on my right calf. It is a Greenman (google it if you are unsure; wikipedia scroll down to Wicca!) And yes it hurt like HELL!

Update

So sorry for the state of my blog, I have no good excuses. But instead of dwelling, I am just going to pick it up again. School started last week and I love it. My classes are everyday at 8:00 am. It is nice to get up an go in the morning again. I really like my Microbiology classes, it is fun working in the lab. This picture is from our Florida trip. This is the two of us at the alligator farm in St. Augustine, it was great.

Happy Birthday James

January 20th James celebrated his birthday. We went to our favorite Korean restaurant and stuffed ourselves with the all you can BBQ! Soo good!

Happy Birthday Tarra!!

Today is my niece Tarra's Birthday! Here she is silly stringing her uncle Steve. Have a great day and I'll see ya soon!

Trip To Laughlin

We took an overnight trip to Laughlin Nevada a few days ago. We stayed at the Riverside Resort. The hotel is on the Colorado river and we had a nice room with a great view of the river rushing by. James shopped and I played a little craps. Over all it was fun but cold and windy outside!

Still Here!

I have not posted in a while, sorry. My back pay finally came through and we have been busy making up for 3 years of poverty! This is a shot with our new camera, a Canon Powershot SD950 IS. We bought it at Costco and it is a great camera. Here we are at the pistachio festival in Newberry Springs, 30 miles east of Barstow.

College Bound

James and I are now enrolled in Barstow Community College (home of the Vikings!). We have both registered for our Spring 2008 classes. I took 13 units and James signed up for 12. We start January 14th. I have often talked about going back to school; that's usually as far as it went - talk. This time I did it. I want my nursing degree and I am going to get it! I transferred in (have already completed) 52 units, and James has his Associate Of Arts degree. He is going for his second and a transfer to a 4 year; I just want my Associate Of Science in Nursing (for now, maybe a bachelor's degree later?). I have several classes I need, so I will have to go Summer and Fall before I can apply to the program at Victor Valley College (Barstow's sister college 30 miles away). In January I am taking Microbiology (5 units), Developmental Psychology (3 units), Elementary Algebra (4 units), and an Adaptive PE class (they teach you how to strengthen a disabled body!) (1 unit). Wow! I was not sure about going full time, but oh well. I can't remember James' classes, I will post them later. Wish us luck!

Happy Birthday Bela!

Today is the 125th birthday of Bela Lugosi. I am an ardent vampire fan and Bela was a childhood idol. He was immensely proud of his roles as Dracula. He even requested to be buried in his vampire cape! Happy Birthday Bela, the undead can keep celebrating year after year!

Our New Car!!

We did it! We bought a new car yesterday. This is our new 2006 Mustang! We love it. We had been searching for several months for the exact car we wanted. We had already allowed two cars to be sold out from underneath us. I wanted a large down payment, but thanks to the government, I have not received my back pay yet. I wanted specific things on the car (Grey, blue, light green or black color, v6, manual transmission, leather interior, Shaker 500 stereo system, an MP3 player jack, low mileage and a reasonable price) Over the last two months, I have found 2 cars that have had all or most of these things within Southern California. I had already been approved for a loan, but I wanted to put something down. Well, those other two cars came and went. When I found this one (It has all the things I wanted except the mp3 jack) I could not wait any longer. So we bought it! We got it for almost $4,000 less than they wanted and it is great. We are very happy. I have always wanted a Mustang and here it is!!

One Month Report

It has been a little over one month since we started this new eating habit. I started out at 216 (one week before my first post, I started to diet), and James started out at 223. The results are in! Steve weighed in at 196 this morning. That's a cool 20 lbs. James weighed in at 205, a very respectable 18 pounds. We owe it all to the South Beach Diet and our new love of walking (Thanx Laura and Gordon!). We have reached a happy medium on the walks, twice a day 2.0 and 1 1/2 miles respectively. I did not have time to do a third. My goal is 31 more pounds, I know I can do it.

Carolyn & Kristin Visit

Our dear friends from San Francisco, Carolyn and Kristin paid us a visit. They were on their way to Las Vegas last week and were travelling through Barstow. Luckily for us, they arraigned to meet us. We were so happy they were coming! We had such a great visit. I had not seen them in almost 10 years. We had actually lost touch until I saw Carolyn's email address on a piece of mail someone else sent me! I took a chance and asked if the owner of the address was her, and bingo! I found my friend.

They stayed a week in Vegas, having a great time I'm sure! When they were here in Barstow I was telling them how hard it was to get specialty items for our diet. We do not like fish so we substitute tofu for any seafood. Well, you just can't get many soy products in Bartstow! Anyway, they were so sweet, they took it upon themselves to pick up some of these products in Vegas and deliver them to us on their way back through. I could not believe it! How nice is that? Now we are eating soy daily, even shelling those wonderful Edamame. Thanks CAROLYN & KRISTIN!! We also got to spend several more hours talking over dinner before they had to leave for the 7 hour trip back to San
Francisco. We really enjoyed our visit and can't wait to see them again!

Happy Birhtday Joe!

Today is my brother in law Joe's Birthday. We wish him all the best and many happy returns. Take it easy today Joe, you deserve it!! Have a great day!

Diet: Week 3 ish

A lot has changed for James and I during the last 3 weeks. We did weigh ourselves after 2 weeks was up; only to be shocked by the results. I had lost only 1 pound, down to 203; James actually gained 1 pound, up to 214. I was shocked and a little disheartened. We followed the eating plan to the tee. The only difference is that we became addicted to walking. And when I say addicted, I mean ADDICTED! We decided we had put on the weight through the build up of muscle mass. We now walk 2 times daily. We walk 2 miles in the morning and 1 1/2 miles in the afternoon. James wants to start walking a third time after dinner, that would be another 1 1/2 miles for us. I am hesitant, I think we should take it slower but he is raring to go. This new found love of walking was inspired by Uncle Gordon and Aunt Laura on one of their visits to Barstow, thanks so much for the inspiration. I have never seen James like this. All of a sudden he is a diet and exercise fanatic. I know I am loosing fat though, my clothes fit much better. Shorts I stopped wearing because I could not button them are now loose on me! Here we go......