Nine Years

I realize I have not blogged in a REALLY long time. No excuse really- I've just been super busy lately with traveling and work and just haven't felt inspired in my spare time to spend more time on the computer. I'd like to keep this blog up, so I hope I still have my few loyal followers! :)

While having a very quiet and relaxed Friday evening (hubby's in Vegas), glass of wine in hand, I started to think about about tomorrow. Nine years ago tomorrow, the world as we all knew it changed forever. On September 11th, 2001, we all watched in shock as terrorism hit our homeland like we'd never seen it before. I'll always distinctly remember that day with utmost clarity, as I'm sure most people do. As a first semester freshman at the time- I remember being in shock, with all my dorm mates, not really knowing for sure what all of this meant. It took years for it to really hit me. In a sense, a lot of people my age, and I suppose of all ages, lost a lot of innocence that day. I had no idea such a thing could happen. Although it is important to remember that day, I always find it difficult to watch the footage. It was a day that far too many people lost their lives for no other fact than for simply being American. It was also a day where we all came together and ordinary people did extraordinary things to save each other's lives.

As I drove home from work today, I cruised along La Jolla Blvd noticing many more American flags out than normal. I thought of my husband, family and friends that I'm so blessed to have. I thought of the brave servicemen and women who put themselves in harms way to defend freedom.

I know I am grateful and proud to be an American everyday, but I will especially feel that pride tomorrow.

Baking with Kara

Tonight I thought I'd try something a little different....I decided to bake! We had a ton of bananas left that we needed to be eaten before they went bad, so banana bread it was! I wanted to try a healthy recipe so I found one that looked healthy AND yummy. It turned out GREAT! Here's the recipe if you want to try it out:

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup SPLENDA® Sugar Blend
• 3/4 cup flax seed meal
• 5 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
• 2 teaspoons egg whites
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar blend, flax meal, bananas, milk, sour cream and egg whites until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the banana mixture until moistened. Spoon into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the crown of the loaf comes out clean.

I also added in some walnuts, but not too many!

Baking was pretty fun, I especially liked using my big Kitchen Aid mixer! Don't worry, I don't forsee this turning into a recipe blog.

Off to the Races!

Happy Sunday to all! Mike and I had a great weekend, trying something new we have not yet done since we moved here to San Diego- going up to the Del Mar Races. We went with our neighbor and his girlfriend and a couple of their friends that were in town. It was a fun time!

As most know, I'm not much of a gambler (or one at all) so I haven't spent too much time at horse racing tracks. But from what I can tell, this was one of the nicer ones! It has a beautiful showing area, where they showed each of the horses before the race so you could see which on to bet on. I had a pretty good feel on this and actually picked the winning horse one round, named Laura Beasely, just from looking at it! Unfortunately we had not placed any bets that round, but if we had, we would have won.

Later, Mike followed Albert's lead and placed some bets and I must say, the races were pretty exciting when you had money on the winner. I can ALMOST see how some people could get addicted to that kind of thing. It was a fun experience and I'm so glad we went but I'm not sure if I'm going to be spending a lot of time there. We didn't end up winning any money and I couldn't help but feel sorry for the horses. Everyone was cheering and yelling as they ran their hearts out.

I forgot to bring my camera and I'm bummed because I could have gotten some cute pictures! Plus, Mario Lopez was there (yes, AC Slater) and I was like 10 feet from him and his girlfriend! I wish I had gotten a picture. I love celebrity sightings!

After a long day at the races we spent the night in. I slept in pretty late this morning and I woke to a clean kitchen and living room (which was TRASHED the night before) and flowers on the table. I have such a sweet husband....

A Snapshot of Our First Year

I'm no multimedia whiz, this I know. It took me freaking forever to put this slideshow together and it isn't terribly impressive. It does, however, show a great representation of mine and Mike's first year as husband and wife. I plan to do this each year (and I hope I really do!) for our anniversary, so we can always have a fun, concise documentation of our adventures and how we've grown together.

For some reason it looks a little blurry on YouTube...but it doesn't look like that on my computer, I swear. Hopefully I'll get better at this over the years.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbNLmzlwa1c

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Wow. I really can't believe it has been a full year since our amazing wedding day. I feel like I blinked my eyes and the first year our marriage had gone whizzing by. What a year it has been- full of love, laughter, exploring, traveling, fun times, perhaps a few minor arguments and adjustments.... yes, lots of adjustments! We've grown a lot together this past year and I'm grateful for Mike being my support system all along the way.

I've definitely learned a lot in this past year on how to be a good wife and partner. I've learned to be more patient. I've learned that little gestures go a long way. I've learned that it is ok to argue as long as you can to some compromise and end with a kiss. I've learned what it is like to be a family of two.

I couldn't ask for a better husband than Mike. He never fails to make me laugh or smile, he has a way of calming me down like no one else can, he takes time every day to make me feel beautiful and he's my bestest friend in the world.

Happy anniversary to us!

I'm finishing up a slideshow of our first year as the McDermotts...finishing it up tomorrow, hopefully!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Wow. I really can't believe it has been a full year since our amazing wedding day. I feel like I blinked my eyes and the first year our marriage had gone whizzing by. What a year it has been- full of love, laughter, exploring, traveling, fun times, perhaps a few minor arguments and adjustments.... yes, lots of adjustments! We've grown a lot together this past year and I'm grateful for Mike being my support system all along the way.

I've definitely learned a lot in this past year on how to be a good wife and partner. I've learned to be more patient. I've learned that little gestures go a long way. I've learned that it is ok to argue as long as you can to some compromise and end with a kiss. I've learned what it is like to be a family of two.

I couldn't ask for a better husband than Mike. He never fails to make me laugh or smile, he has a way of calming me down like no one else can, he takes time every day to make me feel beautiful and he's my bestest friend in the world.

Happy anniversary to us!

A slideshow of our first year as the McDermotts to come...finishing it up tomorrow, hopefully!

And I'm Back...

...From a wonderful vacation to Bermuda! We had so much fun with the whole Valluzzo clan (minus a couple of the little ones)!! It was so fun hanging with all of my brothers and sisters and needless to say there were many laughs shared this special week.

Bermuda is my parent’s favorite place in the world. They went there on their honeymoon and have been coming back steadily for 40 years. My dad, in particular, is a Bermuda nutcase. He truly believes for that one week a year he is a Bermuda native, loving “his” island for all its glory. He loves the beaches, the clear water, the drinks, the family time but most of all he loves to ride his scooter (i.e. mopad). I’m quite certain that “Born to be Wild” is playing on repeat in his head as flies like the wind around the curvy, narrow roads of the island for hours at a time, each year clocking his mileage and keeping a record to try to beat every visit. This year, early Sunday morning a bunch of us took off to navigate the WHOLE island, a feat that takes about 3 hours to complete. My butt was numb and I was a little sunburned by the end, but I loved to see my Dad so happy! His love for Bermuda is contagious and has obviously been passed on to me.

There were too many funny stories and happy times to share in a blog post so I'll keep it short. Mike and I couldn’t thank my parents enough for sharing with us this beautiful island experience. It was an amazing time with family!

While being at home before and after the Bermuda trip, it was also such a pleasure to hang with the McDermott family, especially for the 4^th of July. In true McDermott fashion, they were able to throw together an amazing spread of food and drinks the morning of deciding to host a BBQ as if it was nothing. If that was me, I’d be so stressed out hosting people with such short notice or planning!

It was also nice to enjoy the top layer of our wedding cake about two weeks early at their house, remembering our amazing wedding day that took place almost a year ago. I can’t believe on Sunday Mike will be my husband of ONE YEAR…but that is a post for another time …