I'm alive...sort of

So you may have noticed I've been absent (if you didn't shame on you, I could be dead) so just as an FYI I'm completely incommunicado. The cable is down, except in our bedroom (what the???), our house phone is VOIP connected to the net, therefore phone is down, AND we don't have cell phones :) IT HAS BEEN FUN!! SO ANYWAYS, that's where I've been, doing lots of walking with the kiddo, cooking tons, doing my nails that took me 4 months to recoup from my gel nails (a deep post on this must be done). Loving the rainy weather today, prepping for the little guy's Third Birthday (REALLY?) and for family coming over next week. I hope to be back soon... I do I miss stalking some of you :) Over & out

I feel so tired today, it was a busy weekend, a busy Monday and things are just all that right to me. I spent all week driving, that when the weekend comes I just want to veg out at home, but I decided for the last two weekends to go out with the little guy and show some of the Easter spirit. I am not a huge fan of the tradition since where I come from, as Catholics, we have a mourning week, we go to church, we visit seven churches, we don't eat meat...so to me bunnies do not mean Easter at all; but I don't want Aiden to be the only kid who does not hunt for eggs. So we did that, and lots of cooking. I made Fish Friday (Parmesan encrusted tilapia), Burgers on Saturday, and since my Sis was doing Easter Dinner I made our traditional dessert "Habichuelas con dulce" Here are some pics:

My Sis made cupcakes (24 of them, but I did not try them :)


My Dominican Habichuelas (is a sweet dessert) and this I did try :)

He rather pick sticks than eggs, that kid.

Fake smile to get me away from him


Trust me they where good. My oldest was bugging me to make them.


I got to speak to my eldest brother, who has Colon cancer, and it does not seem that things are not going well. He wont tell us much but I know things are getting worst...I wont bore you with that. So lets jump into this weeks FMM:

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Friend Makin’ Mondays: Trigger Foods

1. Are there foods in your life that always seem to trigger overeating? Yes
2. If so, what are they? Chinese Food and sweets
   
3. When are you most likely to give into strong cravings? That time of the month for sure; I go from craving sweets to wanting Chinese like crazy.
   
4. Are you more likely to be triggered by salty foods or sugary foods? Sugar, is a family thing.
   
5. How do you get back on track after overeating? I try to get back to more healthy foods and throw away the rest of the junk.
   
6. Are there any foods that you allow yourself to eat without limits? no, and to be honest I don't eat that much. Seems crazy for someone who is over weight but I have never been one to finish more that 2 slices of pizza, I cannot eat a pint of ice cream, and when I do order Chinese I choose their dinner combo which is smaller.Is just that I rather eat cake than dinner, and bread is part of my life.
   
7. Do you notice a change in your emotions while eating trigger foods? If I eat Chinese I feel happy, but I think is mostly because I had a day off from the Kitchen :) .
8. Do you have a strategy to keep yourself from overeating trigger foods? I don't get them! I have been craving Chinese like crazy for the past 8 weeks but have not gotten it. Since I love Sushi I plan on getting some maybe this weekend so it should not be too bad.
   

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions! Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments! Happy Monday!

Dominican Life: Decor

I figure I would start making some post so you guys are more familiar to my little piece of Heaven The Dominican Republic. Yes, we are a third world country in the Caribbean, but we have so much culture to offer.

Yes, we have very poor areas, but we also have very beautiful cities that show our Spanish and French influences. We are known for beautiful beaches and our amazing tasty food.

Hopefully you get to experience some of it thru these series of post. Lets start with decor. Although we do love or tropical colors, we are not too keen on really bright furniture, such as in Jamaica per say. We do tend to like things like dark woods and wicker, and of course some traditional style furniture. Most places have their own artisans that carve and make these pieces. Usually you can find someone to make any kind of furniture for you or even design it yourself since it's a fraction of the cost than the US.

I remember growing up seeing some painted furniture on my grandpa's home, then the trend went away, and like all good things is back in style again.

I'm showing some examples of the decor from Casa Cuesta, one of the most popular design stores in our country (you can find them on FB and go thru their albums)





We kind sort of love to decorate with greenery and fruits/vegetables.







We also like using simple things we find in our home, such as twigs. Can this be more simple and cuter?
I think I am going to copy this one with the corks




Love this look too



I wanted to include some of my family homes, but all of them include people in it...so I may add it at a later time. The next post would be about food (with recipes), then travel information and destinations. So what do you think?

If you have any questions or ideas, let me know.

Over & out

Adventures of pee pee and things of the sorts

I'm sure my boys, specially the little guy, are super happy our camera is broken right now. Pictures from my home today would be hysterical and would have all sorts of toddler nakedness around. That and several pairs of peed train underwear, wet cushions, and things of the sort.

I've been trying to Potty train Aiden FOREVER and it was two steps forward, 411 backwards. Why are boys so difficult? My Sister had it good since her daycare takes care of her kids and she would just follow up at home.

I would put the timer for every 15-20 minutes, take him and nothing would happen. Sure, he did pee pee must days but then would still pee in his pull ups. So today I put underwear on him. And already our couch and one dinning chair (oh, and my back) have been peed on.
Still I put him in the toilet, ask him where we pee (he knows) then show him the couch cushion, which he says "sowwwwy". But still he pees all over.

Now I decided to put this little gem in the middle of the living room

and keep trying all day. We may have to deep clean the carpet this weekend.
Did I mentioned that I also woke up with a major migraine and that my neighbors where making so much noise it sounded like elephants where humping? But that is not the focus today...pee is.
So I'm looking forward to tonight, to the Hubs coming home and me locking myself in the bathroom and relaxing. I think I'm going to paint my nails a pretty light blue.



Oh, and I have an interview Thursday, lets see what happens.

Over & out

Friend Makin' Mondays- when I was a kid

Here we are again another Monday and I do not know how I am going to function today. Mr. Aiden woke up at 3am and didn't go back to sleep until 7am...by 6am I woke up the Hubs and told him I needed help. The little guy was not sick so I do not know what was going on but I am so supper dupper tired that there is no cleaning happening today at all. I'm gonna sit on my ass, watch tons of TV, and veg out. Seriously.

So on to:

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

When I was a kid…

1. My parents told me…that I was bad ALL THE TIME
   
2. I wanted to grow up to be a…Doctor. Up until I was 16 that was my dream.
   
3. I refused to eat…mondongo (tripe) UGH, and rice pudding. I still wont eat either.
   
4. My favorite thing to do outside was…play with my friends, climb the trees, ride my bicycle.
   
5. I broke my…nothing. I have never broken a bone. I did get stitches in my upper left eye from a fall on table (thanks Brother)
   
6. I liked to wear…anything funky. I wore different colored socks, a hat a la Debbie Gibson, anything that was odd I liked.
   
7. My parents always…took care of us. I seriously had a good life growing up (except for my Mom fights)
   
8. I thought that Santa was…real! up until my Mom started including letters from Santa telling to behave.
   
9. My favorite cartoon was... Candy - an anime cartoon about an orphan that gets adopted by a rich family.
   

   

10. I was the…second to the youngest (we are Six siblings)
    
11. I got in trouble when…all the time. I dated way too young, lie often, got in fights- defending my younger Sister, etc.
    
12. My bedroom was…pink and had posters EVERYWHERE, I loved New Kids on the Block.
    
13. My favorite food was…Stuffed cabbage (still is) and Pizza.
    
14. My parents always made me…go to church and follow religious Holidays.
    
15. My first crush was…Crush? I don't remember, I think it was a boy from my school named Jhonny (he spelled his name differently)
    
16. My favorite toy was…a talking doll.
    
17. I thought school was… horrid at first, but then I really got into reading and did pretty well.
    
18. My biggest fear was…my Mom, I seriously was terrified of her, it was like living with "Mommy Dearest" and you never knew when she was going to explode.
    
19. My favorite story was…"El Principito" (the Little Prince)
    
20. My favorite memories…are of our vacations, they really try hard to give us a lot and we love going for a week to the beach, have family time, dancing, playing with the cousins. I also loved going to grandma's because all the cousins got together there.
    

Now it’s your turn! Don’t forget to answer the questions on your blog and come back to link up in the comments! Happy Monday!