Enjoying Life

 Gary and I are both enjoying life over here. Our family is so blessed and I am just so grateful for everything I have. So, some updates!

Thanksgiving:

 We spent Thanksgiving with  my folks in Bakersfield. It was a lot of fun being around so much family. The shopping the next day was insane, but definitely fun- and we got some good deals! Anyway, here are a few pictures:

Cute Andrew being silly as usual

Family pic!

James and Andrew were SO excited to play 3DS with Uncle Gary

 Anyway, I am so blessed to have my family! I'm so glad to see everyone striving to make healthier choices, and I am definitely blessed to have been raised in the gospel with such awesome parents!

 The food was delicious (those deviled eggs and ham- oh my!) It was all fantastic. I ate way too much, but oh, well. Totally worth it.

 Next on the agenda (trying to not overwhelm you with a large post):

New York:

To read details about why I was in New York and live on the Today, head on over to my fitness blog.

My limo picked me up from JFK and took me to my hotel room, right in the heart of Manhattan and across the street from the Radio City Music Hall. It was a cute Eco-friendly room and so comfortable. And yes, surprisingly quiet despite my location. My room was on the 16th floor and back away from the main streets anyway, so that helped.

Anyway, I spent a chunk of the night until doing some shopping (roasted chestnuts from a vendor- yum!) and enjoying the beautiful Christmas decorations around Rockefeller- and did a little Times Square shopping too.

Come morning, after my show appearance (again, fitness blog), I spent the rest of the day shopping! I bought cute boots, a new shirt, and lots of little things for fun. I had a fun time and was totally exhausted by the time I got home late Monday night (like midnight). But totally worth it. Picture time!

Rockefeller Christmas tree

That's how some NYPD roll around here

M&M Store. Yum! Yes, I sure did buy some bulk.

Ornaments- Rockefeller

I'm standing at my hotel entrance (Club Quarters Hotel)

Some Times Square

My cute room- I liked the walk-in shower

More Times Squre

Best Toys R Us Store Ever- 3 stories and a Ferris wheel inside

See? Awesome.

Pretty Christmas

  Anyway, I really enjoyed having that time to myself!

 As for the upcoming holiday season, I still need to decorate! Looking forward to the new seasons!

Halloween and Other Randoms

 Gary and I have been doing really well lately. Nothing big and special, but we're just well and happy.

 We were able to do a little bit of Halloween celebrating too. Some friends of ours invited us to their Halloween zombie bash, so Gary and I decided to be a part of it Friday night. We were dressed as survivors from the video game Left 4 Dead. Gary dressed as Francis while I dressed as Zoey. We didn't have all the apparel of course since we decided on our costumes the night before, but still. It worked well enough. Anyway, there were a lot of people there and we had a blast. We played some games, sat around and chatted, and I ate lots of sweets. I already made a decision earlier I get to eat what I want when I attend a party. I had a 10-mile run scheduled for the next day anyway, so I enjoyed myself.

There were so many beautiful and spooky decorations! I definitely could tell this family loves Halloween. I got to know a few people in our ward better too with all the socializing. It was definitely worth going to. So, here are some pictures of the night.

Pill bottle and first aid strapped to me (though you can't see it). I love how I'm posing all cool and stuff (our actual 1911 gun) and there's a sweet family message and picture in the background. 

Awesome husband with our actual shotgun

 Obviously we didn't bring our real guns- so we went with Nerf instead. I mean, who doesn't love Nerf??

Mmm, brains

Zombie!!

How can you NOT eat that stuff??

Dead fish screensaver on television

How cool is that?

We're cool like that

Now a bit less serious

The after party. Figures, right? Haha. That's Gary with Luke, the host. Smashing it up with Super Smash Brothers.

 We got back semi-late, stayed up by ourselves for a bit, then finally crashed. As for my run the next morning? I guess you can say eating chocolate the night before isn't exactly the best fuel, but you can read about my workout stuff in my health blog :) .

Saturday, after my run and grocery shopping, Gary and I got to work on our weekly deep cleaning. We missed a couple of weeks due to being out of town and such, but we were prepared for this day. It took 3 hours! We cleaned out all of our filing cabinets, went through all of our documents, and even went through all of our electronic cables and such. Let's just say we put our shredder to good use (minus the electronic equipment, of course). We were drained by the time we were done, but Gary wanted to take me out to dinner. So we walked over to our Olive Garden and had a nice filling dinner. It was nice not being able to cook. I was pretty wiped from the distant run earlier plus the shopping. Since we had fuel back in our systems after dinner, we strolled around our neighborhood shopping center a bit and made plans on how to decorate and reorganize our home now that we're getting rid of so much crap. Here's the result of that cleaning (and yes, a couple of the bags are just shredded paper!). 

 So, it's getting better and cleaner around here. Plus, our weather has been beautiful. So beautiful that Gary and I also took a stroll around Bridgeport. 

 Okay, that's it for now! Time to get ready for a nice day at church. Later, folks!

Keeping Warm and Quality Time

 Ah, the cooler weather, which I have a love/hate relationship with. While the skies are gorgeous and the rain is nice, the sunshine still wins. I'm always happy when the sun peaks through the clouds. I'd be happier without the clouds at all, but this is still nice. A part of me is looking forward to colder weathers ahead, but a part of me is dreading it. I've been prepared beauty and health wise, so I'm pretty sure I'll survive. We're both scheduled for our flu shots this month as well as our routine physicals. But besides that, it's nice being able to snuggle up with blankets and hot cider (and live with a lower electricity bill).

This is actually what we've been doing- keeping warm with hot cider and blankets. Since I pretty much got rid of my fall/winter wardrobe due to my smaller body size, I've been able to purchase sweaters and new clothes lately, which is definitely fun. I also purchased new workout clothes meant for the colder weather.

Meals around here have been more hearty and filling too. Gary and I made some really delicious butternut squash soup in the crock pot, and I also made some yummy potato soup. So, soups are a hit right now.

As for our schedules, they've been great. I'm not working nights anymore and I'm back to days (except Friday nights). Gary and I have made a schedule for ourselves in the evening, so we don't just sit at the computer or television after dinner and kind of zone out on entertainment and such. After dinner and catching up on a couple of shows together, we break off and do our own thing around 6. I spend an hour sewing/attempting to sew, and Gary will generally play a game or work on his game programming. Around 7, we play a card or board game together (or go out), then around 8 or 9, we sit outside on the patio and drink hot cider. In order to help with the colder weather, we purchased a tabletop patio heater from Target. It's SO WARM! We love it. It's our version of sitting around a fire pit (there is a flame, too). We spend the next hour or so just chatting.

Before putting it on an actual table

During our last camping trip, we realized the blessing of just spending quality time together without a screen in front of us. We always spent the evenings watching the stars and chatting away. Gary mentioned how nice it was and how we should do it more often, thus the reason we made this new schedule for ourselves. It's as if we're having a date night every night- no electronics. We still have our weekly nice dinner out somewhere, but this is amazing as well. It's also a nice way to get rid of the stresses of the day since we both work all day and come home around the same time. I encourage you married people to just take a night/evening without electronics- family and kids included- and just sit around and talk. Such a blessing.

Anyway, that's the update for now. Nothing big or special, but an update indeed. Now time to get back to those blankets. If I can get them back...

Busy! Projects! Sewing!

 So, what have the Pollocks been up to?

 Besides work, which is going just fine, we've been pretty busy!

 I've had the past couple of Friday nights off, so we spent last weekend camping. The weather was perfect for camping and just right at night- no freezing this time.

This weekend was nice of course as well- because of General Conference! It was so nice being able to listen to the prophet and receive council from the many speakers.

We've also been involved in projects around the home, which has definitely been keeping us busy- with awesome results! As you know, we've been in this place for a few years- and over time, things start to build up. Sure, I tidy up and do my best to clean, but stuff happens. Gary has his full-time job and I have my part-time, a little under full-time job. Gary has been a tremendous help when it comes to chores and keeping the place clean. He vacuums and mops the floors daily, cleans and scrubs the bathroom most days, and does a lot of the smaller deep-cleaning areas around here (he's scrubbing the tub right now- I told him to stop and take a break!). I can't tell you how awesome it is to have help like that. I do the main laundry, dishes, keeping the place tidy, dusting, etc.  And Gary, being a perfectionist, does a really good job and spends way more time on cleaning things than I ever do; unless I actually plan to devote that much time (which I don't).

So, what projects have we been doing? Well, Gary suggested every Saturday we deep clean an area of the apartment. Two Saturdays ago we cleaned out our walk-in closet. I mean, we really deep cleaned and reorganized the whole thing, clothes included. This included 4 black lawn bags and 3 normal trash bags to Goodwill- not to mention the many things we threw away. It's like another world in there. Yesterday, for another project, we focused on the deck and storage closet outside. We cleaned out our entire storage and reorganized (another Goodwill trip there), and deep cleaned the patio. Now there's so much space out there! Gary even swept and mopped the patio floor. We dusted down everything out there, cleaned and shined up the grill, and trashed items as well. Next week? We're cleaning out the front inside hallway closet and reorganizing and going through all of our documents. This includes our filing cabinets and other documents we have sitting around. We're going to get ourselves a new filing cabinet since this one is old and the handles have broken off. Another Saturday will include the bookshelf in the bedroom, the bookshelf in the living room- you get my drift. Not only is our place looking so much better, it's enjoyable to be doing such teamwork together. It's really bonding and nice. Plus, when we do decide to move out, it will be way less stressful.

Speaking of projects, we're also starting up something new together- sewing. This might be rather sad, but Gary knows way more about sewing than I do (probably because his mom does a lot of it). My knowledge? I can kind of sew a button- at least it stays on, right? I really didn't know what I was getting into, but I agreed it would be a smart decision. It really is a valuable thing to learn- something that can save us lots of money. So, yesterday, we purchased our first sewing machine and materials. We took the little desk we had sitting out on the patio and put it in an empty corner of our bedroom- that's our sewing area. Gary doesn't just want me to learn, but he wants to learn it all as well (probably more so than me- but I just need to convince myself I'm capable of learning something so foreign to me).

Husqvarna E20 Viking. We got a good deal which comes with a 10 year warranty. So if anything malfunctions for any reason, we get it fixed at no cost. Not from the manufacturer, either, but from the store we bought it from (a little sewing place here in Valencia). There were too many good reviews from those around town and online, so we went for it.

And here is our sewing corner in the bedroom.

Mr. Handsome working away

 Anyway, we'll see how it goes! Hopefully my skills will improve with time and practice.

But, that's about it for now! Enjoy the next week!

I Love...

 Having time to spend with my husband! We had a great weekend.

 Despite feeling like being run over by a bus on Friday, I felt fantastic Saturday. After a beautiful run in the cloudy morning, Gary and I got ready and headed over to the LA temple to do a session. We decided to spend half an hour or so on temple grounds since the weather was so nice.

 It was definitely a fantastic way to spend our Saturday. The session took much longer than usual due to a few factors, so by the time it was over, Gary and I were starving. It was after 3pm- I had only eaten a power bar before my run early that day while Gary had a banana. So, yes, food was on our mind. We hit up California Pizza Kitchen where I had my favorite roasted vegetable salad and Gary a Greek pizza.

After our meal, we spent time walking around the Woodland Hills mall, hit a couple of other places, then finally headed home for the night.

Sunday was just nice in general- being able to go to church, spending time with the missionaries at our place, and having husband and wife peace time. Also, I made some healthy homemade strawberry fudge- yum!

Weekends are definitely valuable to us since we're both working a lot. I'm a little under 40 hours per week (all of my shifts ending at 6pm or later), so any time we can find with each other is perfect. But, the job is still going well and I'm happy with my families and clients.

Anyway, that's our update!

Coastal Awesomeness

 Gary and I had the opportunity and pleasure to spend time with my family last week in Catalina. Although Catalina had its own heatwave, it was much nicer and better than the 100° + weather we have been getting here (yes, even in Santa Clarita the temperatures have been over 100°-yuck).

   We both decided to take the entire week off (it was bliss). First of all, we spent the weekend before in Bakersfield for my nephew's baptism. I am still not believing that boy is 8 years old! Crazy. But it was so spiritual and sweet to see him make such a big decision and even bear his testimony in church the next day: "I knew I wanted to get baptized ever since I knew what immersion is". Everyone in my immediate family, my nephew, and my sister-in-law bore their testimony. I know, I was getting looks for not joining the club. But um, I was respecting the time for others in the ward to bear theirs. So there. The entire meeting definitely brought the spirit (and a few tears).

 Anyway, after that awesome weekend, Gary and I were picked up early Tuesday morning where we headed toward Newport Beach to catch the Catalina Flyer to the island. The boat was PACKED. Luckily Gary, Quinn and I all found a good seat on the very top of the boat- so we were able to get a nice breeze the entire trip.

Waiting at the terminal in the massive line

 We arrived on the island around 11am. I had called our hotel manager, who said our room should be ready shortly. However, shortly turned into almost 4 hours. Our luggage had been already stored in the hotel, but we didn't bring our sunblock and burned a little. I turned into a tan, but Gary- not so much. Luckily it wasn't all that bad.

Overlooking the ocean/casino

Us

And again

 Finally, close to 3pm, our room was ready. We noticed later that the owner is selling the place, so he was apologetic with all that was going on in getting things ready. 

Our bed

It was a cute room- good sized bed, fireplace, and even a Jacuzzi spa. We spent the rest of the day relaxing, enjoying a dinner with my family at Antonio's Pizzeria, taking an evening stroll around the island, and chilling on our rooftop patio where we met a nice couple and chatted away while watching the sunset.

On the roof

Roof view

 Early the next morning, around 6am, I got up and ready for a run- until I realized I left my running shoes behind. So, instead I went on a beautiful scenic walk on the 22-scenic route. It was up past the bell tower, up the top of the mountain where the zip line tour was, and around the mountain and down the other side- and boy was it gorgeous with the rising sun. The best part was seeing the non-Avalon side of the ocean. I swear the ocean looked absolutely endless. It was breathtaking and overwhelming since I had never been on that path before (pictures don't do it justice). 

Making my way up

On top on the other side

Avalon

And again

Bell tower

 After my walk, coming back to the hotel and getting ready for the day, Gary and I headed out where we enjoyed a yummy lunch, rented some peddle boats on the ocean, and hit Lover's Cove where we met with the family to go snorkeling. The water was 69°, so it was nice. We had a blast feeding all the fish- especially when my mom accidentally threw some food right near Jazmine's face just as she was going underwater. Yeah, she came up screaming, LOL. 

Gary having fun

Me

 After snorkeling, showering and resting back at the hotel, we all met at my parents' hotel where we had a nice BBQ. That evening,  I took Gary on the same scenic route I took that morning. On the way up and while crossing some gorgeous house property, we saw a deer on a front lawn. Thinking it was a lawn ornament, I walked closer to it suspiciously when it blinked and twitched its head, causing me to say in a loud whisper, "It's real!" It was dark, so my attempted pictures didn't work. But anyway, the walk was nice.

Good enough- night Avalon

 So, we checked out Thursday morning and did a heck-load of walking until we caught our boat that evening. Our hotel experience wasn't all that great this year. The maid threw away our snacks in the hotel ( I mean, who does that??), and the hot water was a hit and miss. Apparently the tank-less water heater (I know, right?) was busted. However, in apology when we checked out, the manager gave us $100 off our stay- so that was nice of him.

 It was definitely a nice getaway filled with ice cream, walks, relaxation and fun. Mmm, ice cream...