Randomness...

I had some free time today so I thought I'd just post about some randoms stuff. And it's Tuesday, not Wednesday, so I'll be doing another post tomorrow!

I've posted before about my disgruntled-ness with my old camera. Don't get me wrong, it's a great camera, I'm just not happy with some of the pictures it  has taken. I entertained ideas of getting a DSLR, but after looking into it, they seem to be more work than I'm willing to take on. So after asking my friend Katie for ideas, she pointed me towards the Sony line of Cybershots. After doing a little more searching I found this option:

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX100 16.2 MP Exmor R CMOS Digital Still Camera with Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 30x Optical Zoom Lens, 3D Sweep Panorama and Full HD 1080 Video


It gives a lot of the same options as a DSLR, but in more of a point & shoot platform. It's actually considered a "bridge" camera, bridging the gap between a point & shoot and a DSLR. I think this will be the perfect camera for me and it got really great reviews. I'm *hoping* to get it for Christmas *hint hint*. Or maybe an early Christmas present so I can use it for Clara's first birthday party. :)

Speaking of Clara's first birthday party, after careful review we've decided to do 2 parties: one for my family and one for Adam's...mostly because my parents are going to be in HAWAII for her actual birthday. :) I wasn't sure how I was going to pull off a "theme" for her birthday if I have 2 parties, but there's really no reason that we can't do the same theme for both. In the pictures it'll actually look like everyone was at the same party then! lol We're going with a polka-dot cupcake theme. I found some really cute invitations but haven't narrowed it down yet. Here's some ideas:


I also thought instead of doing a cake, we'd do cupcakes. Then we don't have to worry about making a separate smaller "smash" cake for Clara. She can just have her own cupcake with a candle and we can also accommodate the gluten allergy issues that we have in our family.

And as a parting gift, here's a couple pictures of my little person. :)



Mama, give me that camera!







Who is this little person playing in my living room???



Weight Watchers...Thursday?

Ugh! I know it's terrible that I keep missing Wednesday! lol

So for my quick WW update this week, I'm once again down. I know only have .2lbs left to lose to hit my goal! Yay me! I've been doing really well at not eating when I'm just bored, which is a huge deal for me. I used to be able to do it all the time, but not so much anymore. I'd also like to try to get my midsection back into shape. I have a lot of extra skin/fat hanging out from when I was pregnant. It doesn't make me feel real fantastic about how I look, but I DID get into a size 4 pair of jeans this week, and even  had a little room to spare!

I found a really delish recipe last week that I've been dying to try. Ok, well we tried the onions on our beef tenderloin last week. They were to die for! We're already thinking of other ways to use them! Here's the recipe. It's also from the Weight Watcher's website.

Flank Steak with Triple-Grilled Onions

3 Tbsp unpacked brown sugar


4 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

3 medium onion(s), yellow, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1 large vidalia onion(s), cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

2 medium red onion(s), cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1 tsp table salt, divided

1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

1 1/4 pound(s) raw lean flank steak



Instructions

Preheat grill to medium.

In a small bowl, combine sugar and vinegar; brush over onions and then sprinkle onions with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Either skewer onions on metal skewers or place in a grill basket; grill onions until soft and caramelized, turning occasionally, about 45 minutes.

Sprinkle steak with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper; place on grill 30 minutes after onions. Cook 15 minutes, turning once, until medium rare, or longer for desired degree of doneness. Let steak rest for 10 minutes before thinly slicing against the grain. Yields about 4 ounces of steak and 2/3 cup of onions per serving.
Each serving is only 7 points so pair this with some delicious seasonal vegetables and you've got yourself a healthy dinner!

It's been a little nuts around the Mueller household lately, but I do plan on gathering all the information for Clara's 8-month survey soon. That's right, she's 8 months old already! My how time flies. We're starting to think about ideas for her 1st birthday. I've already found some really cute invitations. We just need to sit down with a calendar and figure out some dates and locations. I also really need to get some recent pictures of her. I've been so bad about it, mostly because she's crawling now and into EVERYTHING (ok, and I hate my camera, lol).

Just a couple more weeks and I'll be done with school. Fall semester starts in September and goes until Christmas. After that I'll be done with school for a couple years. I need to be available to help out around the house more once Adam starts at Bellin in January and can't count on getting my school work done while I'm at work. I just don't always have the time and don't deserve to just rush through it and get barely passing grades just to graduate sooner.

I'm looking forward to seeing Harry Potter this weekend. Adam and I are going to have a sushi date and then see the last Harry Potter movie while Clara hangs out with Grandma. :) I know they'll both have a good time. Our first anniversary is also coming up in 2 weeks!! We're planning (right now anyway) on getting our tattoos done finally! We're both getting something for Clara, but thought it would be fun to go together as an anniversary thing. We'll see what happens. :)

Weight Watchers Wednesday....and other stuff.

Ok, well I'm sad to say I'm up around a pound, but that's pretty good considering I wasn't tracking any of my foods over our vacation weekend.

Speaking of our vacation weekend, we left for parts of southern Wisconsin on Friday morning...around an hour later than we wanted, but it was fine. It was our first long trip on the motorcycle. At the end of the weekend we realized we needed more butt training!! We were sore! But the weather was gorgeous, and the scenery was gorgeous and it was really nice to be alone with just my husband for a day or two. :) We found a couple towns that we'd like to further explore, too! I'm glad that we have a lot of time before we need to seriously think about moving so we can explore some more. :)

We got back Saturday afternoon and then on Sunday evening we packed up and went to our friends The Simons' for our annual 3rd of July picnic. The food was great, the company was great, but we opted to skip the fireworks this year. It would have been really late for Clara to stay up to see them and she probably wouldn't like them anyway. Maybe next year. :)

Anyway, Clara's screaming from her crib so I've got to cut this short this week. For anyone interested, you can now follow me on twitter! You can find me under @angiemueller81

Weight Watchers Wednesday

Yep, it's already Wednesday again. I've been so busy lately that it seems the only posts I have are about my weight loss! 

I jumped on the scale this morning and it told me I lost again this week! My total weight loss so far is now -6.8lbs. I'm this |<-->| close to my goal!!

It's not great, but I've been so busy that I haven't been very snacky or haven't had much time to eat much of a meal, so that's helped some. Plus I've been parking at the very end of  our parking lot at work and I've been toting around a ton of school books (around, up a thousand flights of stairs, etc).

Let me know if you are a WeightWatchers online participant and if you would like to follow me. I'll give you my information so you can find me! :)

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In other news, the holiday weekend is coming up. Adam and I are going away for the weekend on the motorcycle. We're heading down towards Madison to visit some small towns since we'll likely be moving down there in a few years. We're staying at the Naeset-Roe Inn Bed & Breakfast in Stoughton, WI. We'll also be visiting other towns such as: Oregon, Lake Mills, Cambridge, Deerfield, and possibly Sun Prairie. We're leaving Friday morning and coming back sometime Saturday afternoon. It'll be a lot of fun! The munchkin will be staying with Grammy while we're gone.

On Sunday evening we'll be making our way to Kellnersville, WI for our annual July 4th picnic at Simons' house. It's always a good time with good people and good food. This year we'll be skipping the fireworks as I'm pretty sure Clara won't enjoy them and it'll be way past her bedtime anyway. Adam doesn't particularly care for fireworks, either. Not a big deal. :)

I'm working Monday, which is great news since it'll be triple-time and I'll be making like $60/hour. Not too bad considering it'll be pretty dead quiet around here. :)

Other things coming up: Clara's 8-month birthday, my mid-terms for my 2 classes, my final appointment with the oral surgeon for my implant, and our first wedding anniversary!! That'll round out July! Not too busy of a summer, but certainly busy enough!

Weight-Watchers Wednesday

Today was my weigh-in for the week. I wasn't feeling overly confident that I'd lost much weight, but looking back at my points tracker, there were a few days I didn't use all my points. I've also been trying to snack less and I've been more active at work.


SO I jumped on the scale this morning. The first time it said ERROR. Nice. Ok, try again. It said 131.2!! That's 3.4lbs less than last week!! YES!! I'm .8lbs away from my goal weight. I can't be more excited! It makes me feel fantastic. :)

7-month survey

Monthly Survey

1. How old is baby? 7 months (7 months, 2 weeks & 6 days actually)
   
2. Stats:
   1. Weight: 19lbs 13oz
   2. Height: not sure
   3. Clothes size: 9-12 months. 12 months for pants.
   4. Diaper size: Still 3's
   5. Hair color: Blond-ish brown
   6. Eye color: Blue
   7. Anything else?
3. Milestones:
   1. Teething: Still just the bottom 2, but working on the top ones. Dr saw them today.
   2. Talking: Babbling a lot! Says MAMAMAMA!!!
   3. Rolling: Both ways still
   4. Walking: Not yet
   5. Crawling: Yes!! Started on 6/16/11
   6. Anything else? She's pulling herself up on everything as well as standing in her crib. She also learned how to wave at people and if you say "bye-bye" she'll wave. She also claps a lot!
4. Things she likes:
   1. Toys: Musical blocks shape sorter, her lotsa links, Scooter.
   2. Books: She's been more into books lately. She'll sit still while you read her a book.
      Usually only one, though.
   3. Songs:
   4. Other activities: She loves to take walks in the stroller and she loves swimming class.
5. Things she dislikes: Napping!
6. Sleeping: Better at night, but naps are getting tougher. She will still nap in her crib, though.
7. Eating: She's getting solids 3x/day as well as formula. I'll occasionally give her some of what I'm eating, too.
8. Nicknames: Mobile baby, munchkin. Nothing really new yet.
9. Things we're looking forward to next month: Our first Independence Day and picnic at Simons' in Kellnersville. Not sure if we'll stay for fireworks, though.
10. How I like motherhood: I'll like it a lot more when I can stay home with her full-time.
    1. Likes: Watching her learn things and teaching her things.

Dislikes: Not being home with her more. And when I'm home I have a lot of homework.

Weight-Loss Wednesday

Ok, I know it's Thursday, but I was busy doing algebra all day yesterday!

I don't remember if I did one last week, but last Wednesday I was down .2lbs and yesterday I was down another .6! So far since joining Weight Watchers I've lost 3lbs! I don't consider 3lbs in 4 weeks all that bad! I'm now just 4.5lbs short of my goal. I'm really excited and proud of myself!

I'm really in love with the Weight Watchers food products. The price isn't too bad and with their new bagged meals you get 30% more than the regular microwave meals. Yesterday I had the Ziti with Meatballs & Cheese and it was DELICIOUS! Right now they have an online coupon for $1 off. They also have ice cream cups and treats. I'm a sucker for ice cream so it's nice to know I've got options and they've got the points printed right on the package so no figuring involved!!