the rhythm is gonna get you

if you wanna read more about exactly what Zumba is,go here:
Zumba

videos of Gabby(my instructor) and actual songs we do in my class. my fave dances to do are the ones on july 4th, july 15th, and the lalalala song. (i'm pretty sure you can view these without being an actual fb member)
Zumba videos

where you can find me 2-3 times a week!
Emerald City Zumba

tis the season...

for strawberries!! my most favorite fruit of all time is in season and i can't get enough. this year i've found so many good deals on strawberries i've been buying them by the truckload! usually i enjoy eating them plain, straight out of the fridge, but i decided this year i was going to actually cook with the strawberries. here are two of my favorite strawberry recipes that have gotten rave reviews, and are guarenteed to make you the most popular girl(or boy!)on your block.

easy as pie strawberry cheesecake
(ok,so you aren't actually cooking anything, and there aren't any strawberries IN the cheesecake, but there are strawberries involved, so it counts :)

you need:
1 box of jello no bake cheesecake
about 10 strawberries, sliced lengthwise

*make the cheesecake and graham cracker crust according to box instructions. add sliced strawberries on top in a decorative manner, and voila! instant popularity.

here's what mine looks like:


(for this cake i used a premade oreo cookie crust, but, being a traditional kind of girl, i actually preferred the graham cracker crust that comes with the cheesecake mix)

there are of course TONS of things you can add to dress up the cheesecake from adding more fruit to the inside, to using more/different kinds of toppings. i mainly chose to post this recipe because i posted the above picture on facebook a few weeks ago and got a few requests for a recipe...so...there it is! it looks all fancy shmancy, but it's literally "easy as pie"! you're welcome.

next up...my newest and current favorite cooking discovery...strawberry muffins!

i found the recipe on the site allrecipes.com. a tip: when searching for recipes online, make SURE and read the reviews that people have posted about that specific recipe. they will tell you whether it tastes good/bad as well as suggest things to add/take away from the original recipe posted that will actually make it taste better! which is what i came across when reading the reviews for these strawberry muffins. apparently the original recipe is too dry, so i made the "reviewer suggested" strawberry muffins and they turned out A-MA-zing! without further adieu...

spectacular spectacular strawberry muffins

1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup chopped strawberries
1/2 tsp cinnamon

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oil an 8 cup muffin tin, or use paper liners.
*In a small bowl, combine oil, vanilla, milk, and egg. Beat lightly. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt,cinnamon, baking powder and brown and white sugar. Toss in chopped strawberries and stir to coat with flour. Pour in milk mixture and stir together.
*Fill muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 minutes, or until the tops bounce back from the touch. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans.

the instructions say to bake for 25 minutes, but i didn't have mine in for any longer than 23 and they came out perfect, so just make sure you check them after about 20 or so.

also, this is the most basic form of the recipe. i think these would taste delicious with some kind of citrus-y glaze on top, or even a light layer of cream cheese frosting. if you have any other ideas on how to spice up my cheesecake and muffins, or recipes you'd like to share please feel free to email me, i'd love to try them out! bonamie21@gmail.com

a first time and a loser update

9 weeks in...a little less than 4 months to go.

in about 9 weeks i've lost a total of 21.5 lbs. i've been 1st place in the biggest loser competition every week except for one. it has become less of a competition of me vs. my coworkers because so many have dropped out, or just aren't doing well, or don't have the time to devote to this. the 2nd place person is about 6% behind me. since i can (currently) no longer count on the competition with other people aspect to drive me to work hard, it has now totally come to just me vs. myself. one week i gained a pound and a half and it KILLED me to admit it or tell people when they asked. i refuse to let that happen again. i really do hope some of my competitors can commit more soon,though, because i like hearing about everyone else's successes and the whole competition felt more like a team effort than individual-everyone cheering on and supporting each other. i love that kind of stuff.

i've worked HARD for every single pound i've lost. the tennis shoes i wear i've owned for at least 5 years and they've seen more miles in these past couple of months than they have in the whole time i've owned them. i don't know if i've previously mentioned, but i HATED jogging and running, i would much rather walk 20 miles than jog 1. now,there are parts of my workout route that i can't imagine NOT jogging because it's so easy to me now. i just discovered there is a zumba class right down the street from where i work. i have been dying to try this and am going to start next week...i CAN'T wait! also, there's a warrior dash in oregon in september. this baby would kick my ass for SURE, but it looks fun and i would be so excited to be able to say i competed in it. it would be my first relay type of race ever..i dunno,we'll see. i have until august to decide...i'll let you know as soon as i know for sure!

i realize that 21.5 lbs is a lot to have lost, and i am proud of myself for those, but i am disappointed in myself because at this point, i know it could have been more. i had a couple of bad weeks where i either made poor food choices, or didn't work out as much as i should have-but the only thing i can really do is concentrate on the present, and think about what can i do NOW to make sure i keep up my loss.

anyway...that's about it on that for now!

guess what i did for the first time EVER on the 4th of july???


i GRILLED!! the boys/men were preoccupied with other things and us ladies were hungry so i decided to take matters into my own hands and put on some hamburger patties, hot dogs and all the buns and cooked them all myself. i pretty much got them all perfect on the first try which basically means i have natural talent and should definitely grill more in the future.

PROOF! (yes, i know having a red eye is totally 1998. no, i have no idea why my photo editing program wouldn't completely remove the red eye. i swear i'm not possessed by satan.)

(wo)men vs. food

(disclaimer: i'm not gonna lie, this is a long post and includes lots of pictures. if you hate pictures and things that are long stop reading RIGHT NOW)

you probably could guess this about me, but if you gave me one thing to watch on television every day for the rest of my life it would definitely be anything food related. i could watch cakes being baked,a cook off where chefs need to make a main course using papaya, squid tentacles, and a gallon of chocolate syrup, learn how to make a meal in 30 minutes or less, grill the perfect steak, and find out who the next start of the channel will be, among tons of other food-related things,all day,every day if you let me.

one of my favorite shows is called man vs. food. in case you are not familiar with the show, this is how the show's website describes it:

Food fanatic Adam Richman has held every job in the restaurant business, and now he's on a journey to explore the biggest and best eats our nation has to offer, including some of the craziest eating challenges around. In Man v. Food, Adam travels coast-to-coast from Richmond, VA, to San Diego, CA, and more.

Adam will attempt to conquer a massive grilled cheese sandwich in Cleveland, OH, a 7-lb. seafood feast in Long Island, NY, and race to finish 50 wings in 30 minutes in Boulder, CO.

Whether it's a gigantic omelet packed with toppings, a diabolical plate of hot wings, or a monstrous mountain of nachos, Adam will square off against the best of the best.

speaking of gigantic omelet, when adam stopped by seattle, he ate at beth's cafe, home of the TWELVE EGG OMELET challenge.

my coworker, government name-patricia gilson, and i were both discussing our mutual love for this show one day. pattie, being absolutely insane, decided she wanted to attempt the omelet challenge. i, being a good, supportive friend, told her i would attend, but not participate. we picked a date, invited some other friends, and thus started our egg-y outing! i'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to let me have the camera (ok,it was me), but i captured every yolk-tastic moment in all its glory.

introducing, our carpool:

pattie, as "i put on mascara while driving ALL THE TIME" girl:


estelle, as pattie's accomplice/ partner in crime:


and me and katie as the "because i got high" girls (for the record, we do not ACTUALLY get high, we just made up awesome lyrics and sang a fantastic duet to that song):


the four of us met after work, piled into patties beetle, turned on eminem's latest(cause that's how gangstas roll) and drove to beth's...

when we walked in, we were greeted by a hostess and this white board. i breathed a HUGE sigh of relief upon reading that there ARE actually CLAMS in their clam chowdah (phew!):


we were seated. we ordered food. the food came. let the challenge begin.

the beth's crew-obviously before the food came because everyone is smiling:


juuuuuuuuuuuust kidding, here we are!

josh(who was attempting a 12 egg omelet on his own), willie, and pattie:


estelle, moi,katie and sev:


just to give you an idea on how big this omelet actually is, let's compare,shall we??

my normal human sized breakfast,served on a normal human sized plate:


the twelve egg omelet, hashbrowns and toast breakfast, served on a pizza pan and weighing more than a human head:


good luck guys!!

the three omelet eaters started off strong and made a good sized dent in their omelettes within a few minutes:

yea! we are sooooo happy to be eating lots and lots of eggs!



about 20 minutes have gone by...let's see how everyone is doing!

pattie? estelle? still smiliing??(you can't really tell, but the answer is definitely a big, fat NO)


josh?? how about you??



two thumbs up and an eyebrow raise??...he's doing good!

at this point i think i should introduce the (other) entertainment of the evening. i present to you...jude!



jude is, quite possibly, the cutest 2 year old ever invented in the universe. (i can safely say this because connor will not be 2 until the end of september)

he did tons of cool things while the competition was going on including,

help himself to some coffee:


dipping french fries into water,and then eating them(most likely practicing for a future food eating competition of his own):


eating ice in a very cute manner:


and showing off his muscles for the ladies:


now...let's check back in with everyone and see how they're doing!

almost done guys,just a few last bites!! can you do it???






after an hour of sweat,tears,laughing,and eating let's check the final results:

girls:


josh:


in the challenge of (wo)men vs. food the winner is FOOD!! no one finished their plate, though i give all of them mad props for trying, they definitely ate more than i ever could have.

thanks to everyone who came!i had a GREAT time. see you in a few weeks for the women vs.food:spaghetti edition. stay tuned...




see you next time!!

pomp and circumstance

i think i speak for a lot of teachers when i say this time of year is the WORST for us. the students that we have taught lessons to,whether it be life or academic, for the past 9 months are moving on to bigger, better things. for some students they're promoted to the next grade, others they're moving to completely different schools, and then there's the ones who are graduating college and going into the "real world".

as a first year preschool teacher last year, i only got to experience watching the children in my class transition up to prek which is, quite literally, across the hall from my classroom. sure, i see my old class every day, but it's not the same. they have their new teachers and new lessons to prepare them for kindergarten, and i had my new class of bright and ready-to-learn 3 year olds to focus on.

this year i get to experience something i didn't experience last year...graduation. my very first class of preschoolers are now prek graduates and will be moving to kindergarten in the fall. i'm so so proud of them because i know they worked hard and will be the best kindergartners they can be, but it makes me so so sad because i know once they leave the center it is quite possible that i will never ever see them ever again. not only that, but the chances of them ACTUALLY remembering us teachers when they're older are pretty slim. apparently i was in preschool, but i don't remember that at all, let alone any details about my teachers.

fortunately i was able to attend one of the two prek class graduations. my heart swelled and my eyes welled up with tears (yes, i know that doesn't take much) as each student came up and accepted their prek diploma. i thought back to how these children helped to build the foundation of what kind of preschool teacher i wanted to be, what i wanted my students to know, how i wanted my classroom ran, and taught me how to love 20 little hearts, all at the same time.

every 6 months we take a class picture. every six months i write the first and last name of every child on the back of those pictures, because i don't want to forget a single one. my hope is they continue to want to learn, and soak up knowledge like sponges, and want to share, whether it's stories, snack, or a hug. but most of all i hope they continue to want to be "big helpers" as productive members of society who do good things for other people. and if they don't... i will find out! cause in 13 years i'm totally looking them up on facebook.

adventures in tacomaland

i'm pretty convinced that preschool teachers are undoubtedly the most fun people on the planet. i mean, it's our JOB to be creative/imaginative/exciting/entertaining/fun for 40 hours a week...and that's just in preschool-land! imagine how creative we could get in grown up-land...

my saturday morning started bright and early-830 am sharp! my good(looking) friend/co worker kasey was coming to tacoma to workout with me! we're both total beach bums, and i had just discovered a beach right down the street from where i live(how i took me two years to discover this i have NO IDEA), so once she arrived we promptly headed to owen beach in point defiance to work on our fitness.

there was obviously no elliptical, weights, treadmills or personal trainers on the beach so we made up our own workout routine as we explored.

the first thing we did(our warm-up,if you will) was what i can only describe as knee lift arm thrust things...which kasey very successfully is demonstrating here:



we would make up goofy chants/songs to go along with our movements. which i am successfully demonstrating here:



after a few minutes of that we decided that we should probably work our arms, so that if someone decides to attack us,we could defend ourselves. as i previously mentioned, there are no weights, so we had to improvise. what did we use? ROCKS! (which were "hard", as described by kasey)

kasey,demonstrating one of our rock arm lift moves(kasey, i think we are on to something-we should start our own beach workout class on the weekends!):



those first two routines were fun, but we were looking for something a little more challenging. i suggested we go swimming, but then kas pointed out that there were about 4987987234 jellyfish within a 2 ft radius of the edge of the water.

lots and lots of jellyfish:



luckily, there was a sand dune ahead that had some writing on it that was just BEGGING for us to climb it. so, climb it, we did!(it doesn't look hard at all, but there was literally nothing to grip your feet on to, the sand wasn't packed at all. to get to the top i had to find things to grab and pull myself up)

on my way to the top...



almost there...



yea, i made it!! i then had to slide down the loose sand.



all that climbing made us a tad bit tired. what do you do when you're on the beach and wore out? build a fort, of course!

slaving away,putting on the finishing touches:



c'est fini!



now, kasey can go inside and meditate:



11 hours later, she was fresh and ready to finish our adventure!



we started to head back to civilization and saw a few neat-o things along the way:

the biggest starfish to ever exist in the whole entire universe of starfish ever:



a pretty view of the tacoma narrows bridge:



and washed ashore jellyfish:



highlights of the rest of day include:

*receiving terrible service/food from a corner restaurant that i'd always wanted to go to. my bagel had more cream cheese than bagel, and the waitress who helped us pronounced tomato like to-MAH-to. and not in a cute way. in a condescending "i'm walking around using a fake british accent so that i feel superior to you" kind of way. when i told her i had asked for no toMAYto on my bagel she informed me that she would (imagine this in a terrible fake british accent)"rectify the situation immediately". really,who talks like that besides queens from mid-evil times? gimme a break.

*stopping at the taste of tacoma and visually eating food from every booth we walked by.

*bargaining with a mexican man selling fruit on the corner of 30th and orchard to sell us his $12 dollar strawberries for $10.(that's safe,right?)

*meeting the nesquick bunny

*searching for kasey's dream house-then finding it

*searching for the 10 things i hate about you house-and finding it

*fresh baked peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie from previously mentioned terrible restaurant

and last,but certainly not least, a few straggler pictures from our afternoon(i know they're your favorite part):

beautiful rose garden at the taste of tacoma:



random deer and peacock, just chillin outside the zoo:




i was SO excited to see a cupcake booth at the taste...however i was a tad disappointed to see these were not edible cupcakes, they were cupcake bath bombs. not as tasty, but just as cute:



i haven't blogged in almost 2 weeks, which is a super long time for me...which means i have a lot of posts built up inside of me! this week, look for an explosion of posts coming your way (and by explosion, i mean, maybe 3 more, haha)

talk to you all soon!! <3

my favorite

i'd like to introduce you all to my most favorite person in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD...




my dad.

tomorrow is my dad's 50th birthday. he's leaving for houston tomorrow so i got to celebrate his birthday with him today. this was a totally special treat for me. i cannot remember the last time me and my dad went out to dinner, just the two of us. it's been YEARS, at least. we talked about everything under the sun from our current favorite beers, whether or not "lesser" is an actual word (according to websters online dictionary, it is. score one point for ME!), to life in general. it was the best.

i can't pinpoint one thing that makes my dad my favorite. we are opposite in almost every way. he's the WoW playing, syfy channel watching, church going conservative republican (is conservative republican redundant??anyway...). i am...not. but i can talk to him about almost anything without feeling judged or looked down on. he's always there for me when i need him, which is one of, if not THE most important thing to me. even when i would be angry at him because i didn't think he understood what i needed/wanted and thought he was turning his back on me, i see now he only did what he did in order to help make me a stronger, more independent person. sneaky, sneaky how parents teach you those lessons and you don't even notice until years later. they have no doubt helped shaped me into the person i am today, who i think is a pretty decent,well-adjusted adult. but i'm a little biased.

so, to my dad i just wanted to say thank you for all those sneaky lessons. you are the best dad a girl could ever ask for. happy birthday/father's day!!


(dad and i out for his bday dinner at famous daves)