Hearts and Roses
Ever the two shall be together
Ever my heart
Ever the sweet flower
Evermore my Love
Maria :)
I'm back with more on the Diet!
Since it is currently working pretty well I thought I would share what I had for breakfast. If you like artichokes this is a great one. Basically it's art!
(Hmm, never noticed that art was actually in the word before)
After cutting off the stem and setting the artichoke upright in a boiling pot of salted water for about 30 minutes you take it out and set it in a dish...just open the leaves and scoop out the center fuzzy part along with the smaller inside leaves...add a slice of heated canadian bacon, a poached egg and a little hollandaise and voila...Artichokes benedict...it's magic.
Maria :)
The Brightest star in the sky doesn't hold a candle to you, my Jasmine! What makes me really smile is my daughter, Jasmine. She is working hard and going to college while playing on the soccer team. This entry is a tribute to her and her dedication and strong spirit.....
This photo collage below was made by one of the player's relatives. Her company is called Action Options. I loved what she did to capture some of the moments from my daughter's experiences last year on the soccer team so I purchased the picture and enjoy it every inch.
Maria
Like a magical pegasus the South Beach diet is unbelievable. It seems to be working very well. We are ending the third week. I've lost about 11 lbs and my husband has lost over 20lbs and 8 inches off his waist. It's a good thing we are doing it because I've learned so much about food and how it works in your body. The diet is intensive and yes it helps if you like to eat seafood and lots of greens. I feel like I suddenly grew some wings and could fly.......:)
It never seems too early for a valentine poem:
VALENTINE, I WISH YOU ENOUGH
I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final goodbye.
But most of all I wish you all the love in the world, my Valentine.
Author anonymous...:)
Flowers are so wonderful. I was just up on 1-800-flower.com and saw so many wonderful flower bouquets. I couldn't resist making some copies of them and posting them here even if it means a plug for them. Wish they weren't so pricy...I would order them every couple of days....
Hello!
SOUTH BEACH DIET........
Thoughts on South Beach Diet are always on my mind. Seems like I didn't worry about food until the last minute before I started this diet but with the constant attention to how I eat as well as when and what has taken up a lot of time! I think this diet is an exercise in Project Planning. The menus are prescribed in advance and the ingredients are unusual for someone who just used to snack on potato chips and diet pepsi. None of that now.
Sometimes I wish we didn't have to worry about eating. It is so time consuming. Sounds funny, ha, ha. When something like a diet consumes my mind it is hard to think of other things at times. It's also tiring. I do think it's made me into a better person as far as working with my husband on this. I usually do breakfast, we do lunch on our own and then he and I split doing the dinners. It does help to have two to work together.
The success going into our third week has been good, although we are both a bit in a holding pattern. I've lost a good 7 1/2 pounds and he's lost over 10 pounds. This may not seem like a lot but it is amazing to me. I am hoping to break 10 pounds soon but it isn't happening over night. Then another 10 pounds and then decide if I need to lose more. I think it affects my attitude a little. Good for the accomplishment but it also can make me a little grouchy for the constant futtzing (how do you spell that word?).
He wants to do the Atkins diet for awhile sincehefelt he lost faster on that diet. It didn't work too long though. The South Beach Diet gives you foods that are much more varied and includes fruits and some whole grains in the 3rd phase. The Atkins diet just doesn't pay attention to fat in meat and I don't like that. I didn't lose much with the Atkins diet...nothing likethis one.
Having breakfast is good too. It does help to get the day started with some good energy. Just haven't rearranged my habits yet with processing the mail and doing the bills. I don't have time to do them in the morning anymore. That's still needs work.
If they ever do find a way to just have breakfast and lunch in a pill and satisfy the hunger I would probably do it. I guess I'm just daydreaming. However, I do like to eat and would still want to taste those flavors I love at dinnertime!
Here are some Dream Roses to get you to daydreaming too about whatever you like!
Bye, now....Maria
Red Hat! Who’s That?
Peering in to say Hello! I got this wonderful red hat gif from Donna! She is a multi talented journalist who keeps me in awe whenever I read her entries and look at her amazing moving gifs.
Please check her site out at: http://journals.aol.com/mydsdesigns/DsDesigns/
Imagining myself in this red hat….I feel as if Humphrey Bogart is looking at me and saying..”Here’s looking at you kid”…(smile). Something about that whole exotic, a little on the shady side but really a good guy theme is so appealing somehow. Talk about dreams. If anyone hasn’t seen Casablanca I highly recommend the movie. It may be a black and white movie and old as the hills but the screenwriter did such an excellent job and there are so many clichés in that movie which we still use. It's timeless.
Getting back to the hat. I do think hats are great. I think they can be functional as well as decorative. I have tons of baseball caps which have shielded my eyes from the penetrating sun at many a soccer game. Although these days the only feathered or fancy hats you see are in parades, Vegas type shows and on the occasional Halloween costume of, say, the Three Musketeers, just a few decades ago women wore some pretty fancy headgear.
I had a fun time at a mother/daughter tea last year where we also had a hat contest…the most outrageous hat prize went to me! Here’s a quick link to that entry if you are curious to see:
http://journals.aol.com/gotomaria/TheLittleThings/entries/429
In any case, that could be you in that red hat!
Baseball hats count too!
So then, hats off to all!
The Froggy and the Nutcracker have a lot in common, at least in fairytales. Over the holidays, (yes, I know they are over and I have to take my tree down this weekend, sigh), I went to the Rainforest Cafe and took this photo of a little froggy over their signboard. I thought it was charming. Also, over the holiday I bought another nutcracker to add to my collection. This one looked like a prince with a little froggy wearing a crown at his feet. It dawned on me that the froggy in the fairytale who gets kissed by the princess and becomes a prince is a lot like the nutcracker in the Christmas Nutcracker Suite Ballet who comes to life for the little girl. They are both about dreams that come true. My New Year's wish for all who read this journal, and for all those who don't (smile), is for all your Dreams to come true...no matter how impossible they seem. Like the princess and the little girl we all have the power do extraordinary things, to impact and help others make wonderful transformations. May you all experience the wonder of your dreams! Happy New Year 2006!
Dream a little dream.... Maria :)
Just Peeking in to say Hello! I got this Darling Pink Panther gif from Roxy Mama! ..here is her Journal, please check it out: http://journals.aol.com/xxroxymamaxx/XXRoxyMamaXX/ I've been a little preoccupied with a new diet I started... It's the infamous South Beach Diet. I didn't know what I was getting into that's for sure. I don't think I have eaten so many vegetables in a long time. No white flour or any kind of bread the first two weeks, no sugar and (this one is tough) no ALCOHOL. My husband is definitely losing lots of pounds and this is just day 9. I on the other hand am slowly seeing some progress. I've learned a lot and never have I had so much work to do to get dinner on the table. OK, sometimes my husband does it. In any case, lots of chopping and what he likes to call rabbit food. I never knew how to make a frittata before..but now I do. Vegetable miniquiches? What are those you ask? I now know how to make them...for breakfast. I never used to eat breafast. On the postive side it seems to be working. I just don't have as much time to journal as I'd like. I do try to check in with some of my favorites. The funny thing is that I'm not hungry for those sweets and breads. That's a surprise. I would not have believed it. So far I've lost about 5 pounds and he's lost about 10. Actually, I don't mind the diet food it's all the prep work and last minute running to the store to pick up things like part-skim Ricotta cheese, fresh herbs, fresh veggies, some obsure ingredients I never have on hand or something. The food is good. My favorite is mashed cauliflower..tastes just like mashed potatoes if done right...oh yes, can't have any potatoes either. Ta, Ta for now!
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