Lovely lovely kids

I thought I would try a different format and see how I like it. What do you think? Pictures first and words second. I find the transition from words to pictures difficult sometimes, so I thought why not pictures first. Everyone likes pictures anyway. Ashleigh likes to help Rian with his homework, but sometimes she takes over for him and then I have to intervene. She is a good big sister though and they both really love eachother most of the time. We had some spaghetti earlier this week or "Pusgetti" as Rian calls it. That is one of their favorite meals and it was a rare just me and the kids night. There has also been a lot of lounging going on. My energy levels have been pretty low this week, so the kids and I have been enjoying "Wild China" on the nights when I don't have school. That is our dog, Molly, lounging on our bed and Rian in his favorite position watching some TV. Oh I do love that position, he is just so stinkin cute. I promised Rian that we would make muffins together...he always asks to do this when I am home at night, it doesn't always happen though, so he got really excited that we could do this tonight. I have been seriously craving banana chocolate smoothies recently, so I thought why not make a Banana Choc Chip Muffin. I even ate one after I made them. They are super duper yummy and just a recipe that I got from AllRecipes.com. I just modified it by adding chocolate chips. Delicious. I cherish these moments in the kitchen, creating together. Both of the kids love to be in the kitchen...I guess that is normal since we as culinary professionals spend so much time in the kitchen.
I hope you guys are creating yummy things in the kitchen too.
Night, Yasmin

Busy busy life

Yep, so I think on the last post I talked about how time was flying by so quickly and how it had been a while since I had been on this here blog. Well the same thing happened again and I know I had said I was going to post pictures of birthday fun and whatnot, but now that it has been quite a bit of time since "her" birthday, I think I may just post some pictures on facebook for friends and family. So what have I been up to? I am taking care of myself...I know it is a bit selfish, but I have to take care of me first. Year after year, I am getting older and it is time to get a handle on my health...especially after the nasty health year I had last year, or I guess nasty unhealthy year would be the more appropriate thing to say. Towards the end of last year I purchased a groupon for 5 weeks of 5 days a week bootcamp fitness. I started last week Monday and it has been tough. I am so out of shape, boo. I should also mention that I go to the bootcamp at 5:50am. Phew. It has been a bit tough waking up so early in the morning, but I love love love getting the hard workout done and over with first thing in the morning. It really is quite a lovely way to start the day...even with the frigid cold air we have been having recently. I have also been really really busy with school. This semester is in full swing now and taking quite a bit of my time and attention, but this is going to be all good for the future (our future). Sometimes I do think that maybe this is all too much and that I am not giving enough of me to my kids and husband, but the reality is that if I wasn't going to school I would be working like a dog to keep up with our bills. This schooling and change of career will give me a better work/ life balance and that is what is really important. So I keep trudging along, I just wish it would go a bit faster. Other than that, my time is filled with work and spending as much time as possible with my family. Oh I do have some exciting news...I signed up for the Asheville Citizen Times Marathon which is in September of this year. One of my resolutions was to sign up for an event and so I thought that might be fun. I have never run a half marathon or full marathon, so this is going to be a new one for me, but I was on the cross-country team in high school and have run many 5Ks during and since high school. I am pretty stoked to have something to motivate me. When it comes to exercise, I like to have a goal to keep me motivated. So thats it, that is all the news I have to share with you today. I have no photos to share and I can't promise that I won't take another hiatus from this blog, but I will try to check in a bit more to share what is going on in our lives. Ok back to homework now.
Peace, Yasmin