8th Annual Bed Race Rally-2011

The themes were groovy, the costumes were slick, and the music was electrifying!


This year's Bed Race Rally was a nail-biter. Good Samaritan, roared their way to victory and took home the Golden Bed Pan Trophy. Dressed as the Lion King, they proved themselves as the fastest team with lion-like speed and determination.

 Mary Bridge, clicked their ruby-red slippers as theWizard of Oz and took home second place. While last year's champtions, MMA, dressed as the Book of Mormon, came in third place.

 Each team raced their Broadway-themed gurney with one main character riding on board through three different obstacles: The crowd favorite Hula Hoop challenge, the MultiCare Values Puzzle and the extreme Bean Bag Toss.


The following teams also took home prizes for:

                                           Best Costume Design - Gig Harbor as Spider Man

That's me doing my spidey pose in the front.

                                         
                                           Best Performance - Fawcett as Hairspray

 Best Broadway Pizzaz - Good Samaritan Physical Medicine/Rehab as Rocky Horror Picture Show

                                            Best Gurney Decorations - Allenmore as Grease

 All of our teams deserve a round of applause for providing Tony Award winning entertainment:

                                           Environmental Services as Saturday Night Fever

                                          
                                            Good Samaritan Cardiac Care as Cats

                                             Information Services as Little Shop of Horrors

                                               Materials Management as Mary Poppins

                                             MHS Leadership as the Phantom of the Opera

                                                         South King County as Annie

I am so glad I got to be apart of the rally. We cannot wait to find out what next year's theme will be. By the way our team made it to the smei-finals and we took 4th place. Not bad for the only ALL female team. GIRLS ROCK!

Its time to give Plan B a whirl...

Oh yeah about the detox "lemonade" Diet (Master Cleanse) I lasted a day (24hrs). Yup! I have come to the conclusion that I have MUST have food in my life. Why did I ever think drinking a nothing but  fresh squeezed lemon juice, Organic maple syrup and cayenne pepper... I couldn't stand the taste of it! Have you ever drank cayenne pepper mixed with sweet lemonade? Try it and then get back to me on that one... To think that my master plan was to consume nothing but that for 10 days straight?
Fact of the matter is I FAILED that one big time.
Today my co-worker gave me another detox diet that sounds more like my style... Cause there is actual FOOD involved.
Plan B: The CABBAGE SOUP detox "diet"
So many things I already like about it and I haven't even started... So I figured I would share the recipe and my experience in making it all happen this evening.

CABBAGE SOUP RECIPE goes a little something like this-
 Shopping list:
*6 large green onions
*2 green peppers
*1 or 2 cans/jars of tomatoes (diced or whole)
*3 carrots
*1 container (10oz. or so) mushrooms 
*1 bunch of celery
*half a head of cabbage
*1 package spice only soup mix (liptons is a good choice)
*Season to taste with pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc. (Little to NO SALT)


Directions:
Slice green onions, put in a HUGE pot on medium heat and start to saute' with cooking  spray. Do this until the onions are whiter/clearer in color (about 4-6 minutes).

Saute' green onions... Yum!

Cut the green pepper into bite size pieces.

Green Bell Peppers fresh from my local Albertsons.lol

and add to pot.

Saute' onions and peppers.

 As you can see I used a whole cabbage... I heart cabbage, so I wanted extra in my soup.

I used a whole cabbage fresh from the produce at Albertsons too.

Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.

Cabbage added... Yum!

Clean carrots (duh), mushrooms, and celery, cut into bite size pieces and toss them in.  Add tomatoes now, too.

Added carrots,mushrooms, celery and canned tomatoes.

If you would like a spicy soup, add a small amount of curry or cayenne pepper now. *I like a lil spice in my food life so I totally added the cayenne pepper*

Add the package spice only soup mix (liptons)

Use about 12 cups of water, cover and put heat on low. Let soup simmer for a long time- about 2 hours or until veggies are tender.

Cabbage soup smelling wonderful as it simmers.

I put the soup in containers so I can just grab and go in the mornings... This will be what I plan to eat for the next 7 days.

My lunch/dinner for the next 7 days.

I am way more excited and ready for this detox diet then the other one I attempted. I am still drinking the lemonade (minus the cayenne pepper) and drinking my "special" tea. Plan to drink these between eating the soups.

My beverages for the my everyday life.

Wish me luck ya'll, but I am thinking this is thee one I will stick with and I am excited to see the results.

Click here for more details on the cabbage-soup-diet

Starting over=New begininnings

I feel like I haven't blogged in a while... wait I haven't! I went one whole week with out blogging and I have numerous excuses why. Last week a lot of changes in my life happened... T started working the night shift last Monday, so I had tons of alone time since my kiddo's were with their dad for the week.   I have kept myself busy packing up the house and preparing to move. I also finally had sometime to catch up with a few friends.
This week won't be as lonely since I have my babes with me... Now I have little helpers to get the downstairs room cleaned and packed up and get stuff ready for a garage sale. I don't plan to take the junk awesome stuff that I can and have been living with out the past few years.
To top it off soccer started for Ryder two weeks ago, he has practices every Monday and Wednesday evenings. Mazie is playing soccer too, she hasn't started yet and I am a bit nervous to see what her practice schedule is. I am praying its on the opposite day as Ryder's or at least the same field on the same day. *Fingers crossed*

Okay enough rambling about some of the "changes" in my life. Lets get to what this post is really about...
A few months back I mentioned in a few posts that I was going to be doing the P90Z program. Welp I tried and I failed! I hate the way failure feels and I really wanted to stick with the 90day plan, but it became to time consuming and didn't work well with my schedule at the time.

The past 6 months I have been having some health issues (I had mentioned some in past posts), but one I wasn't bringing up was my tummy issues. I noticed back in June that I was getting a belly... Not just a little one either, I look as if I am 4 months pregnant. I even started to question how well my Merna (IUD) was working. After every meal my belly would get big and I would feel major discomfort. No matter what I ate or how much I cut back on eating I just can't get the nice tummy I use to have back in my 20's. Is it my age? Is it my metabolism? Either way my healthy way of life took a turn for the worse in the last 3 years. I am ready and willing to fight back and get healthy again.... So I discovered I should try a detox diet. I think if I detox all the crud I have been putting in my body I could just start all over again, eating better, feeling better and working out more often. Getting rid of all the bad toxins in my almost 31 year body sounds like a great plan to boost my health. I found one called the "lemonade Diet" or the "Master Cleanse".  Its basically a detox diet where you drink nothing but this special lemonade drink everyday for 10 days strait. Today was my first day giving it a go...
All day at work I was completely fine drinking my liquid "food". It was when I got off work and had to feed my children.... real food, yummy good smelling food. My mouth was literally watering as I watched my 5 year old devour her huge slice of pizza... It was complete torture...One day down and 9 more to go.
Do I even have the will power to go on with this? Is it going to be well worth it in the end? Will I break down and have some real food? Ugh! The self discipline I use to rock at when it came to my health has dwindled away and I am trying my best to get it back. I am ready to feel healthy again and start over by eating and cooking all the wright foods that will help me and my family all around.
Here goes nothing people... The only thing I ask from you dear  friends and family is a little support.
I can do this and its going to be well worth part of my "new beginning".
Wish me luck!
Btw... I am trying to avoid all food blogs until I can get my discipline back in action. Unless they are super healthy ones. ;)
To be continued....

PS. Getting old is hard work... I embraced 30, but as 31 is approaching real soon I am taking it hard.

1st Bed Race Rally!

This year I was asked to join the Gig Harbor Multicare Bed Race team. I was honored to except, and happy to help win the Golden Bed Pan and make my fellow co-workers proud. Plus its always fun to dress-up, play a character, run and WIN.

Get ready to wave your rally fan and cheer for your favorite team at MultiCare’s eighth annual Bed Race Rally on Friday, Aug. 12, at MMC’s 5th Street Garage, lower level.

On the morning of the Bed Race, click the link below. The Bed Race will be streaming live from the 5th Street Parking Garage. Watch the Bed Race Live

Schedule of Events
11:30am – Raffle ticket sales begin
Noon – Parade of Gurneys
12:15pm – Race begins
1pm Awards Ceremony

The Bed Race Rally teams have released their Broadway themes and are now in full-on training mode for this week’s big race. This year’s teams include:

*Allenmore as Grease


*Environmental Services as Saturday Night Fever


*Fawcett as Hairspray


**Gig Harbor as Spiderman (my team)


*Good Samaritan as Lion King


*Good Samaritan Cardiac Care as Cats


*Good Samaritan Physical Medicine and Rehab as Rocky Horror Picture Show


*Information Services as Little Shop of Horrors


*Mary Bridge as Wizard of Oz


*Materials Management as Mary Poppins


*MHS Leadership as the Phantom of the Opera


*South King County as Annie


*MMA as the Book of Mormon


*Tacoma General as West Side Story


“Gig Harbor is ready for these bed races,” said Dorothy Cozakos, Gig Harbor (Spiderman) team captain. “We are wrapping that bedpan trophy up in our web and bringing it back across the bridge, so watch out!”

“It will be a jolly holiday when Materials Management takes the prize home,” said Alex Walters, Materials Management (Mary Poppins) team member. “They’re going to need a spoon full of sugar to make their loss go down.”

Each team will race their Broadway-themed hospital gurney with one main character riding on board through three different obstacles: The crowd favorite Hula Hoop challenge, the extreme Bean Bag Toss, and a secret event that will be revealed to the teams on race day.

Supporters can purchase raffle tickets for their favorite team for $5 each. The winning team’s raffle tickets will be drawn for a prize – two tickets to any show in the 2011-2012 season at the Broadway Center for Performing Arts in Tacoma. All the proceeds will go towards the MultiCare Gives fund.



***Hope ya'll can tune in and watch the race and see all the costume and just how much fun it is to work for Multicare.***

Africa....

My baby brother Greg set off last Sunday (7/24/11) on a trip of a lifetime to Accra, Ghana Africa. He is with a group from his school (University of Washington). I plan to write more in the near future, but I just had to share some pictures and just say a little about how much this man means to me.

My brother and his group of UW peeps at the beach~Ghana, Africa

 My brother just celebrated his 22nd birthday on Monday (8/1). I can't even begin to describe how proud I am of him. The bond we share as siblings and friends is one of the best relationships I have ever had with anyone. We are so much a like in so many ways and yes we look very much a like too. So I am sure just by looking at the pictures you can tell which one is my brother... Hint I am tall girl so its a given my bro is the tall boy. *wink*


Gregory in Ghana, Africa~8/2011

  He is spending a month in Africa and will be back to Washington the end of this month. I did get a chance to spend time with him before he left on his big journey... Him, Mazie and I went out for dinner and had a great time.

 I am so glad my brother is living his life to the fullest.... Not only does he get to travel and go on exciting adventures, (this time last year he was in Argentina for a month) but he is also going into his senior year at UW and is going for his MBA. He is a smarty pants!lol

My handsome bro living the good life in Africa

Happy 22nd belated birthday to my brother... Its so exciting to see you fulfill your dreams!

More pictures and interviews from the traveler to come! stay tuned my people....

Road Trippin...

A last minute camping trip was added to the kids agenda for the end of July. Ryder and Mazie's grandparents invited all three kiddos to join them for some camping and boating at Lake Roosevelt  (Eastern Wa.). Last Sunday we packed up the boys and sent them on their way with the Grandparents. Mazie stayed with T and I since she was suppose to attend a Kindergarten Readiness class for a few days. After she did 3 out of the 4 days of class the plan was to take her to the Lake and pick up Isaiah... Do the ol' kiddo switch-a-roo! Since it was his last week with us before he went back to TN, we wanted him to come back early. 

The class for Mazie only worked out for one day... Long story!

A view of  Soap Lake... From the road.

Mazie and I woke up bright and early and hit the road to Eastern WA. It was a beautiful five hour drive! I was very excited to go, I hadn't been to Lake Roosevelt since 2006 (Mazie was 5wks old).
We left early cause we were trying to make it to the campground before they all headed out on the boat for the day. Due to my many years of previous experience at Lake Roosevelt the day goes something like this... Get up eat breakfast, pack a lunch, load up the boat and head out for the day and come back to camp for dinner.
Mazie and I were cruising!

This is pretty much all we saw after we passed over the Mountains.

We had so much fun on our mini road trip. Just me and my girl! All the questions she had, all the wonderful conversations we shared and both jammin to some classic Rock/Country tunes. Once you get to Eastern Wa that is about all they play on their radio stations. I loved it! Mazie not so much... She is more of a hip hop girl!

Not liking the country music so much.lol

She is a great road tripper... Eeek does that sound wrong or do you guys get it?
I love driving through Eastern Washington and seeing all the crop fields, cattle ranches and canyons. Its hard to believe we were still in the same evergreen state.lol

My favorite view of Lake Roosevelt from the top of the hill.

Keller Ferry Campground. Lake Roosevelt-2011

When we finally made it to the Lake it was 11:00am.  They already left on the boat for the day so Mazie and I were stuck lucky to spend a day at the lake together playing in the water and sun.

A veiw of the camp site from the beach/play area.

We waited and played for almost 6 hours for them to return back to camp. Note: Cell phones do not work at the lake... There was no way I could call and let them know we were coming to camp early or that we were even there. We made the best of the situation and the long drive and had more fun together.

Mazie's fence building skills in action.

Mazie loves the sand and building things... She made an awesome fence out of sticks. I tried to help pick out some cool sticks, but they had to be approved by the contractor first. She is going to make a great leader/boss someday. *I am just sayin*

Mazie and Mommy working on our tan and painting our nails.

Laid in the sun, painted our nails and had a nice little picnic. Awww just writing this is making me miss that day so much. I hope she remembers it always cause it was a very special time with my girl.

Isaiah and Ryder~ Lake Roosevelt~2011

 Finally the boys got back to camp... One of them was not too happy to see me. Isaiah knew it was time to hit the road. He was having so much fun at the Lake he was trying to stay one more day.
After the boys showed me their swimming skills (they swam to the dock) it was time to gather Isaiah things. It was a hard good bye since the kids weren't going to see each other until DECEMBER... Ryder and Isaiah have a special bond... They are best friends and can't wait to someday be step-brothers... That is another subject these two and Mazie like to talk about with T and I.lol
*See I am not the only one ready for the next step in the adventure of life.*

On the road again....

After leaving and then making a few trips back to camp... Some things were "forgotten" *wink*. It was now time for Isaiah and I to take a road trip back home together. It was nice to hear about all the fun times he had on the camp trip to Roosevelt. We talked about all kinds of stuff, Isaiah is such a cool smart interesting kid to hang out with. We were both looking forward to going back to Lake Roosevelt next summer for our family camp trip.
I am so happy we got to spend that special time together and I will treasure it dearly for always.

We made it back home after another five hour drive... In one day I managed to drive a total of 10 hours, and went through two tanks of gas in the Jeep. Mazie and Isaiah were worth it and I would do it all over again in a heart beat. As long as they had fun and made good memories, I am always down for a road trip.

We had a jam packed busy fun schedule for the month of July and I am sad to see it come to an end.