Soon...

The Red Plate

Growing up getting the "Red You Are Special" plate was the BEST ever. We'd get it for good grades, nice comments from a teacher or sometimes just because! I'll never forget coming into the kitchen for dinner and seeing the Red Plate at MY spot - it was a great feeling! Last Christmas my parents gave Geoff and I a Red Plate to start the tradition with our family and tonight we used it for the first time. Geoff was recently asked to be an Honor Escort for the seniors at Graduation this year! The senior class nominates a handful of teachers that have made an impact on their year and that they want standing up with them at graduation. I'm so proud of my husband for becoming such a great teacher and making a positive impact on so many kids! Good job Mr. Beckstrom!

(It's important to note this delicious meal that I prepared... Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce with rice and steamed broccoli. Yummmmy!)

Spring break

We just got back from our week in Seattle.  We had a great trip and seemed to fit in a ton between family, friends and sightseeing. 

Played with Porter man

Read/kissed books with Sitti (grandma)

Took a boat and bike ride to West Seattle

Visited our friend Patrice and her newborn, Colton.

Stopped at the Tulip Festival in La Connor

Relaxed for a few days at Whidbey with great friends.

 A beautiful place and amazing people... a great way to spend our spring break!

I brought it back old school....

Yum!

I'm a sucker for anything that pretends to be healthy, such as these vegetable root chips from Trader Joe's. Have you had them? Oh heaven....

Or what about these yummy chips: Soy and Flaxseed... couldn't be too bad, right?!

Hmmmm.... not so much. When you REALLY look at the nutritional ingredients of these "healthy" snacks they aren't all they are cut out to be. I guess they aren't so bad if you only eat SEVEN of them. Ha. Ya right.

They sure are delicious.

First

First of many stops at the bar with her Auntie....

4 years!

St. Patrick's Day party 2006. The first night we met - everyone kept introducing us that night! Our friend Gregg made us get close for a photo.... I guess he knew!

Seattle 2007 (I can't find a St. Patrick's Day picture!)

St. Patrick's Day party 2008

St. Patrick's Day party 2009

St. Patrick's Day party 2010!


Happy Anniversary My Love!

Welcome back Spring!

Spring is back! What a great time of year...

First BBQ of the year!

Planted our first 'garden'!

Started our indoor 'garden' (the most random indoor atrium ever)

A typical Sunday at the Beckstrom's - now outside!

And of course many play dates with Kaira

Teatro ZinZanni

Geoff surprised me with the best little getaway for our 4 year dating anniversary! We went up to San Francisco on Saturday, enjoyed the city, did some costume shopping for the evening, and went to see Teatro ZinZanni! I highly recommend checking it out... it's a dinner theater show the kept us laughing and we even left full! The drinks were good (strong) and the company... couldn't have been better :-) We stayed the night at a hotel right near the Embarcadero which was really convenient to the show and the SF Pier. On Sunday we spent the entire day enjoying the city and met up with our friend, Nicole. (Another post on that later.)

What a great way to spend a weekend!

Google calendar surprise...

Geoff put on our google calendar for this Saturday "Pack a bag - Fancy going out stuff." Could it be a night on the town!? Can't wait ~ I'll keep you posted!

It has been too long

Seattle

We're booking our flight to Seattle tonight for April to see this little bugger.....

And of course we'll make some time to kiss some prego bellies (you know who you are) and cuddle some newborn babies.

Yeaaaaaa!

Homemade
Carrot Ginger Soup + Family =

LOVE

What's a trip without a few adventures....

We love an adventure....

We (aaahem... Geoff) accidentally left our keys in the ignition of our cute little rental while we were at a cafe having a coffee. So.... a coffee turned into a few hours and a few beers while we waited for help. Our "help" was the cafes owner's friend from the nearby town who brakes into cars for a living - PERFECT! Just what we needed. So for the price of his cab (which, it seemed as though his friend drove him so that $ was pocketed!) and a tip we were in our car and on the road... everyone left happy!

Here is our amigo breaking into our car. Aaahhhh thievery....

Here are our soda's "para llevar" (To Go). Buy a bottled soda, pour into plastic baggy, insert straw.... you're on your way!

Ok, friends... turn up the volume and enjoy this one! This was called the "tarzan swing". All you have to do is jump off the platform (or get pushed, like me) and hope that your fall turns into a swing. I was scared... can you tell? (Sorry, can't figure out how to rotate the video.)

And to end the trip Geoff had Pinto Gallo from the Burger King in the airport - at 5am! Mmmmmmm~

Pinto Gallo is rice and beans mixed with spices, cilantro, onion and sometimes peppers. This is the traditional dish of Costa Rica, and Geoff's favorite.

Our Costa Rica trip!

Geoff and I liked to refer to our trip as "honeymoon #2" and it really was spectacular! We had a great time, went NON stop and really made the most out of our time there. We found Costa Rica to be an absolutely beautiful country and the "ticos" (Costa Rican people) to be playful and caring.

We flew into San Jose for just a quick stop before we headed out the next morning to La Fortuna to enjoy Arenal Volcano and Tabacon Hot Springs. We splurged and stayed at a very nice resort and even lucked out to be upgraded to a suite!

The view from our room!

Tabacon Hot Springs (Geoff's in there somewhere!)
It was pretty cool to be looking at the Volcano while it was heating the springs!

We hiked to a beautiful waterfall and swam in the crystal clear water!

Our next stop was Monteverde to spend some time in the cloud forest! The drive up was a bit hair raising but it was worth it once we got there! We stayed in a cute little cottage that sat on the edge of a valley with gave us an INCREDIBLE view of the cloud forest.

Enjoying morning coffee in the cottage!

We took a tour of the cloud forest and saw amazing birds, including the Quetzal (not pictured) which is a very rare bird that bird watchers travel long distances to see!

The strangler fig tree - our favorite! This tree is really just a collection of vines which begin at the top of the host tree and then grow down to get the water, eventually strangling the host tree which rots away and leaves the strangler fig hollow! Cool, huh!?

We also did a canopy zipline tour through the rainforest - We had never done it and it was a really fun thrill ride!

After Monteverde we packed up and headed to Manuel Antonio where we were looking forward to sunny weather and more exploration. We spent a morning hiking around the state park and saw a TON of wildlife (toucans, sloths, monkeys, crabs, birds...!) and then rested on a beach for the afternoon. We had a great hotel room with an amazing view of the park and ocean and the best part.... a few family of monkeys lived in the tree out front of our balcony!

Squirrel Monkey outside of our room. Look carefully.... see the baby on her back!! Precious!

Manuel Antonio state park - the view as we hiked into the beach.

Beautiful toucan birds in the park.

White Faced Capuchin Monkey enjoying breakfast outside of our room!

Unfortunately we do not have pictures of our last two activities since they were water based! (We REALLY want to buy a nice waterproof camera.) We rented jet ski's for a few hours and enjoyed the coastline of Manuel Antonio and stopped at a nice place for some snorkeling. We also went White Water Rafting on the Pacuare River which was an exciting adventure of Class 2, 3 and 4 rapids and beautiful lush surroundings! Geoff had a brief moment where he nearly "saw the light" but thankfully he lives to tell!

It was a WONDERFUL honeymoon #2 and we got home Saturday night and found ourselves already planning our next adventure; SE Asia in June!

Pura Vida!

We're getting super excited for our trip to Costa Rica! We leave this Thursday (which means only TWO more days of work) and are going for 10 adventurous days! We're both looking forward to exploring volcanoes, cloud forests and the beaches.... and of course playing with monkeys!

Not sure how much posting we'll do while we are there, but I'll definitely do some good updating when we get back.

Pictured is Manuel Antonio an "impressive combination of tropical rainforest, abundant wildlife and two idyllic beaches."

Yes, please.... we'll see you soon.

ADIOS AMIGOS!

Bathing suit shopping

I just got back from bathing suit shopping. Geoff has always complained that I buy my suits too big which makes me have "dump butt", as he calls it. So after 4 years of hearing him complain about my dump butt I made him come with me to bathing suit shop. Happily, I found 3 bathing suits at Ross for a small price of $40 total! Whoohooo! Of course this was after a painstaking hour (at least) in Nordstrom's Rack and Old Navy looking for the perfect suit.
Anyways, today's adventure got me thinking a lot about WHY bathing suits don't fit well. For the most part I'd say my body is pretty average for my size - meaning, I'm pretty proportional (okay, my girls are a little on the larger side) and finding clothes isn't too difficult. So, why in the world do I have such a hard time shopping for bathing suits? Is it because my body is just SO different, or is it because the suits out there are not made for REAL woman??
Also, is there something with the lighting in the dressing rooms? It seemed like every stretch mark and fat over hang was WAY more visible then normal. Ross stores do not let you try on bathing suits in the store. At first I was super annoyed by this and almost left with nothing. I decided to get the three suits and figured I'd return whichever didn't work out. It ended up being a blessing that I couldn't try on the suits because I could try them on in my own room with natural lighting!
Whew... what a day... I need a glass of wine.

Crock pot heaven

I thought I'd post the Crock pot menu that I tried last week - it was a real gem and we'll definitely be making it again!


Chicken Stew

(Makes 5 servings, ideal slow cooker size is 4 quarts)

1 lb uncooked boneless, chicken breasts, cubed (The chicken did get a bit dry so next time we may do bone in)
14 oz can low sodium Italian Diced Tomatoes, undrained
2 potatoes (I used one and it was plenty for my liking), peeled and cubed.
5 carrots, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped (I used more!)
1 onion, chopped
2 4oz cans mushroom stems and pieces, drained (I prefer fresh mushies)
3 Chicken bouillon cubes
2 tsp sugar (I used less!)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dill weed
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 Cup water

1. Combine all ingredients except cornstarch and water in slow cooker.
2. Combine water and cornstarch. Stir in slow cooker.
3. Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours until veggies are tender.

Easy, hardy, delicious and makes plenty for leftovers the next day! Enjoy!

Up this week for us in the crock-pot: San Antonio Style Tortilla Soup. I'll let you know how it goes!

Also, a little shout out to my friend Andie for getting me the cookbook "Fix it and Forget it, Lightly" waaaay back when!

Did it...

I made it to the exercise class and it was.... well, a little rough. I really feel like it wouldn't have been THAT bad except EVERYONE in that class had been doing that routine for years. I'd say 90% of the ladies in there could have taught that class! I must say I was ATLEAST one step behind on every move and it seemed like just as I was figuring out the move, they'd move on to the next! Haha! It was a good time and good exercise so I've decided that I'm not going to give up quite yet and that I'll go next Tuesday. As for making it to the gym in the later evening... what saved me was having a crock-pot meal ready and waiting for us when we got home. I made Chicken Stew and it was DEELISH - I'll be sure to post the recipe soon!

Should be fun...

"Pre-designed Kickboxing interval class using no equipment. Cardio section uses intensity drills and increased energy sprints followed by work recovery segments."

Sounds intense, huh!

I'm going to try this class at my gym today - it's called Turbo Kick... should be interesting! It's a bit of a challenge for me because 1, it is not until 5:30 and it's OH SO HARD to get off the couch once I'm there (well, here) after work and 2, I have no coordination ;-) I'll let you know how it goes!