Towards the end of 2012 ... almost there!

So we haven't had the best of luck this past month but we won't let it get to us. God continues to bless us on a daily basis. It's only a bump in our path and we will overcome it soon. It's nothing too major but it has definitely added stress to our lives.

Other than that, everything else has been fine. My family and I had a chance to be a part of the Step Out Diabetes Walk/Run about a week ago. This is our second year participating. Diabetes is well known in both my family and my husband's side of the family, it means a lot to be a part of this event. It was held in Downtown and the weather was beautiful. This is my family.

Oh and Thanksgiving just passed, it was great. We spent time with both of our families and ate like no tomorrow. We had a Part 2 with our Damage Inc family (husband's truck club) and ate even more turkey but we sure didn't complain. The rest of our four day weekend was relaxing. We are truly bless with all that God has given us although none of us deserve it. It's amazing how great and forgiving our God is.

On another note, we are now pet owners. Yay! My husband finally let me convince him to get a dog. We got lucky! I found out that someone in our neighborhood was trying to find homes for two of her dogs that she could not take care of anymore. We took in one of her dogs and her name is Cali. She is a female Boxer mix and is about 18 months. She is a loving and active dog. We've only had her for about a week and a half. She's been adapting but I think she was definitely experiencing some home sickness the first few days. She managed to escape from her crate during the day while we were at work and tore up two of our window blinds. She is a smart and strong dog! She figured out how to get out of it. We found a solution but I've decided to keep her out of the crate while we are at work. Her last owner told us Cali loved her crate and was use to staying in it through out the day but for some reason she is not liking it anymore. We found a solution for now but I hope she will get the hang that this is now her home and maybe we will be able to get her back to her daily routine of staying in it while we are away. Don't get me wrong, she stays in her crate at night without a problem and tends to go in it during the day while we are at home. She just doesn't like to stay in it while we are away for so long. Here she is, meet Cali.

Thats all for now. Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays with their loved ones. 

Love, 

Jeddie 8a

Tutu Runners go to New York

I am back from my New York trip with my Tutu Runners and all I have to say is WOW. It will definitely be an unforgettable event. We went to New York to run at the Diva Half Marathon in Long Island, NY. Many have been training for the half marathon but I can't say the same for myself. After my knee problems, I became lazy and stopped training. The trip had been planned for awhile back and I just never got on the program. The day arrived quick and I was out of time to train. I had mixed emotions. I was excited to know I was finally going to visit New York but at the same time I was nervous and scared because I wasn't physically prepared to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) but I had no choice but to face my fears.

I originally signed up for the 5k run (3 miles) but once it got closer, I wanted to push myself as much as I could. I decided to upgrade to a half marathon but kept telling myself that I would not be disappointed if I wasn't able to finish 13.1 miles. I knew I could do more than 3 miles but I wanted to challenge myself and curious to see how far I could go.

Here are a few pictures from our New York trip.

Tutu Runners arrive to New York (at La Guardia Airport)

Our Texas Tutu shirt for the Diva Run in New York *Dedicated to our Tutu Yayita who has recently been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer* We love you friend!! 

 Our first train station experience. This was our daily transportation from Long Island to NYC.

On the bus tour cruising through NYC streets.

On top of Empire State Building

 

Tutus in Times Square

Saturday morning picking up our packets for the Diva Run.

Walking through NYC

Then the day had arrived. It was time to rise and shine and get ready to run 13.1 miles. Was I nervous? Of course! The most I had ever ran was 4 miles. What was I thinking? I hadn't trained like I was suppose to. Did I think I could finish the 13 miles? Not exactly. I had told myself that I wouldn't be disappointed in myself if I couldn't complete it. I had originally signed up for the 5k (3 miles) but I wanted to see how far I could push myself. I knew I could do 3 miles but I would never know how many miles I would be capable of completing if I didn't try. So I pass the 3 mile marker and I knew anything after that I would be proud for pushing myself. Then I passed up 6 miles and I told myself my next goal is 8 miles, let's do it. I tried running to keep up with my other Tutus but I felt a horrible pain on both legs. It was like a cramp. A HORRIBLE cramp that stiffened up my legs and I could bearly walk. I got scared! I had to stop and try to massage my legs. One of the staff people from the run saw me and asked if I needed medical assistance. I told them I was ok and kept trying to walk but I could bearly move. I took a break and tried to fight the pain. After awhile it went away and after some time, I was coming up to the 10 mile marker. I told myself that was it for me, I couldn't go any longer. I couldn't run to try and better my time and I knew if I kept walking as slow as I was, I wouldn't make it on time. I started to doubt myself and was proud that I reached 10 miles, so I kept telling myself I'm done but how would I get back to the finish line? I couldn't call someone to pick me up. I was far away from where the rest of the Tutus were waiting for us. They had a few staff people driving around and was told there was a van driving around picking up those who couldn't finish but I would have to wait until they returned. I continued to walk and reach 11 miles, luckily the van came around and I was able to hope on. I finished 11 miles!!! WOW! I was only 2 miles away but it was started to sprinkle, mentally I felt like I couldn't go any longer and physically my body was tired. Could I have continued for the next 2 miles? Maybe. I was happy with how far I got. That's what matter to me! Not what everyone else thought. It was a challenge for me, for someone who hadn't trained and hadn't ran in months. I felt like I did my best. It only pumped me up even more when I saw our Tutus cross the finish line and made me want to run another one. I just need to train and work on my time to be able to finish the 13.1 miles before the time is up. Since I knew I wouldn't beat the time, I gave up. No one will rain on my parade!! I did 11 miles, many can't say that. Here is a picture of us after the run. Proud Tutus! Great job!!!

XoXo,
Tutu Love
Judy 8A

So many new things in a short period of time

I have been slacking on blogging but I'm finally back. I have so much to talk about of what has happened in the last couple of months.

My last post I spoke about starting a photography business. I have been working little by little with a few clients and so far it's been so much fun. I'm hoping to continue and get more business as time goes by. I will be shooting at my first wedding and probably my only for a good while. I'm doing it for someone who is like family and I couldn't say no. It's an awesome feeling to know that someone trust you to take photographs at their wedding. Here are a few pictures I am very proud of. I hope to share more in the future.

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I attended our 10 year high school reunion last month. It was fun! I saw many faces I hadn't seen in years. Well other than Facebook. It was great catching up with everyone and chatting after so long. So many enjoyed themselves that they were asking for us to have a get together every year. We shall see. I'm glad I had a chance to attend our reunion. It's a once in a life time experience. I just can't believe ten years have gone by since I graduated high school. Time flies. I felt so old just thinking about our reunion. I don't regret going though.

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I had a little scare back in August. I was having a bad pain in my knee that was getting hard for me to make any kind of movement. It was difficult doing my daily routines like going up and down the stairs, getting in and out of the car, even walking. After a couple of weeks with the pain, I finally decided to make an appointment with an Orthopedic doctor to have it checked. It was a difficult two weeks. I had a check up with a general doctor the year before but I didn't get x-rays because I financially couldn't afford it. With time the pain went away until August but the pain was worse than I had ever felt. I was scared because I had done some research and I kept reading possible arthritis. Which freaked me out! I couldn't wait to see the Dr. to confirm whether it was arthritis or not. My appointment finally arrived, I was so nervous to get the news from the Dr. I expected the worse. Once the results came in, the Dr. walked in and the first thing that came out of his mouth was "Well it's not arthritis". I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I was almost in tears. It was great to hear those words. I can't remember the exact words he said but it was something regarding my muscles were weak and it was causing the pain. They had me do therapy for a month. It felt better after some time. So far I'm good but it's taken me some time to get back on track to training for my Tutu runs. I became extremely lazy after not jogging for about a month. No excuses, I am healthy and need to get back on it.

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I still can't believe this but I have decided to return to college. I have been talking about returning but never made the first step until recently. Since I decided to look into it a bit late, classes had already started but I had a chance to sign up for a second start class. I spoke to a counselor and found out that I had quite a few credits from back when I went from 2002-2005. I have about 17 credits left to finish my Associates Degree. I hope to get it over with in a year or so and then move on to bigger things. I signed up for a Philosophy class and just turned in my first assignment. I haven't done homework in years! I'm so nervous but it's time for me to finish what I started years ago.

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This past weekend I planned a surprise party for my husband's 30th birthday. It was a great outcome. My main concern obviously was my husband finding out but he tells me he had no clue. A few people slipped a few hints but I played along with it so well and threw him off. It worked! The day of the party I was going crazy because I couldn't shop for decorations until he left. I planned out an afternoon for him with one of our good friends. He took him out to the shooting range and did a few things after which helped with stalling him for a few hours. The weather wasn't the best, we had a lot of rain that day which didn't make it any easier. Luckily, I had great friends and family who helped me and made it happen. He was shocked when he got home. It was priceless! You only turn 30 once, right? I had to make it special for him. He enjoyed himself! Mission accomplished!

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Now last but not least, I have an upcoming trip this weekend. I'm ubberly stoked and can not wait! I am going to NEW YORK!! Tutu Runners are going to their first half marathon out of state. I am excited to blog about my trip once I return. Wish me luck!

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That is all for now. So much has happened these last two months, from good to bad. God is good!

XoXo

Open for business

I have decided to take my photography a little more serious and start promoting myself to get more business. I started with photography as a hobby years ago and as time went by I became more interested in portrait photography and interested in making some extra money doing what I enjoyed.

I constantly struggled and went back and forth from being pumped up about taking pictures for friends and family to losing interest after some time. Until recently, I was asked to take a friends maternity pictures. I was happy with the outcome and decided to leap into it by promoting myself more and stop being afraid of it not working out. I've had the same customers (my close friends) for the last few years and had others who would contact me after they saw my work but I had no interest.

I have nothing to lose, is what I kept telling myself. I created a Facebook page to get the word out. So far, so good. It's only been a week or so and many have shown interest. I decided to start off with a last minute deal and will be having my first mini sessions this weekend. I'm excited.

Can't wait to continue to post blogs of my business. I have a lot to learn, but I can only improve with time & lots of practice. Cheers to a new beginning for Judy Ochoa Photography.

Taco Soup recipe

My husband has been in a cooking mood lately and today he was sweet enough to cook since he knew I wasn't feeling so good. I had found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to finally try it with a few modifications. My husband used this recipe and it was delicious. This week he wanted to try it again but I wanted to blog it this time. I almost forgot and we almost got rid of all the ingredients he had used. I was able to capture a picture to give you all an idea of what we used.

This recipe can be modified in many ways. This is very similar to the usual preparations and ingredients for Mexican tacos but added with stew tomato to make it into soup. Feel free to experiment and add your own toppings. This is also said to be very healthy and the recipe I found named it the "Weight Watchers Taco soup recipe"

Ingredients:
1 lb lean Ground Beef or Turkey
1 large onion (chopped)
1 pkg of Taco Seasoning
1 pkg of Ranch Dressing mix
1 (15oz) can of Stew tomato (any flavor)
1 (15oz) can of Mexican flavored Stew tomato
1 (8oz) can of Tomato sauce
1 (15oz) can of kernel corn (undrained)
Optional:
Sour cream, cheese, avocado, hot chili beans, pinto beans, tostadas/nacho chips.


Directions: Cook meat together with onions on a skillet, until meat is browned. Add taco seasoning and ranch dressing mix into meat. Then mix in both cans of tomato and corn. We also added Mexican cheese (kraft) and avocado on top. We forgot the sour cream this time, but tried it last week and it adds a great flavor to the soup.

We did not use beans in our recipe, as many of you know my husband is allergic to beans. Yes BEANS!! :p

I hope you all get a chance to try this recipe. I would love to hear any feedback or recommendations on other toppings or modifications you did with your recipe.

Half Bathroom Makeover- Part 1 (Painting)

We have lived in our house for about 6 months. Our house hasn't changed much, it changed from the empty look when we first moved in to having furniture and a few wall decorations. Yup, that is it! Our walls are plain white through out the whole house. I've been itching to paint but was unsure of what colors and afraid since we've never painted before. I told Eddie I wanted to start painting and we decided to aim for one of the smaller rooms in the house, our downstairs half bathroom.


I was searching through bathroom ideas online and ran into a picture that gave me the idea of doing a two tone color wall with a border all around to divide the colors. I mentioned it to Eddie and he liked the idea. That night we originally went to Walmart for book shopping and ended up in the paint section, which led us to Lowe's and purchasing a border and paint for our project. We didn't buy two colors after all but we might go back for the other color some other time. Maybe I'll keep it in one color, we will see.


We came home and I was so excited to get started. Although Eddie wasn't looking forward to start that night since it was close to bed time, I still convinced him to paint one wall. I was nervous about taping the borders and corners because if you mess up with the tape then it can ruin the project. Our first attempt was okay. The hubby was not careful and maybe too excited that his hand slipped a bit. No big deal though, it will be covered once we place the border. 


Here it is, plain jane:

Before

 Starting to paint our first wall.

Today (Saturday) I decided to not be lazy and woke up to finish off the rest of the walls. Eddie had to work but I didn't want to wait on him so I started taping and painting all by myself. I sent him a picture to show him while he was at work. He was so proud of me! :) Once he got home from work, he started working on the border. The below is our finished project, for now that is. 

After:

I'm thinking of changing the mirror. It was already in the restroom when we moved in. Since it's only a mirror with no frame, I'm wanting to do a DIY remodel or just buy a new mirror. Oh and also the light fixture has got to go. For now, this is how it came out. I'm liking it. I'm hoping to fully finish this project soon. Part 2 coming soon. Let me know your thoughts! 

Forgot to mention: Check this website out, it's a virtual painter where you can upload your own picture of the room you want to paint and you can get an idea of what your room will look like in ANY color. Pretty neat!!! http://www.valsparpaint.com/en/explore-colors/color-selector/index.html?screen=painterScreen

Love, Jeddie 8A

Turkey Meatloaf - Delicious!

Tonight my husband decided to cook and he was really looking forward to it. He found this new turkey recipe and tried it last week. It was delicious! Since we had some more ground turkey in the freezer, he decided he would make turkey meatloaf again since we both enjoyed it so much last time. I wanted to share this great recipe with you all, so here it is with a couple of pictures. 


Here is the simple recipe:
1 lb of lean ground turkey
1/2 cup Breadcrumbs
1/3 cup of Italian dressing
1/4 cup of any kind of BBQ sauce
1 egg
1/2 cup 2% shredded Monterey Jack cheese





In bowl combine all ingredients and blend together. Place 90% of turkey in bread loaf pan and make an indention across (long ways) down the center with a spoon. Then pour the shredded cheese in the indention. Place the remaining turkey on top. Bake in oven at 350°F for one hour.


Note: You can also add onions, green peppers, carrots, sweet pickles, seasoning etc.


My husband is a meatloaf lover and when he found this recipe with turkey, he HAD to try it. We are trying to eat a little healthier and had added turkey to our grocery list. Now I don't know how healthy this recipe really is but I assumed it couldn't be that bad. We also made mashed potatoes (small moderation) and corn on the side. We hadn't made it out to the grocery for the week and decided to cook dinner with what we already had in the house. I would of had a side salad with it to make it healthier.


Here is a quick picture of our dinner meal before we tore it up. Left overs will be taken to lunch. Yum! 

If you get a chance to try this recipe, let me know your thoughts. I hope someone tries it. Can't wait to hear your responses. 


Love, 
Judy 8A

One Year Anniversary- On the road to Florida

I am a couple of months late in posting this but it took me awhile because it was a lot of information and I had to remember a few things. hehe! I finally finished this blog posting. Enjoy. 


We wanted to take a trip for our one year anniversary but time flew by so quick. Next thing I knew, we were a few months away from our anniversary and started throwing ideas of where we could go. Somewhere affordable! So we decided on........ *drum roll please* Beautiful DESTIN, FLORIDA!!!! *I mentioned it on my last post* We had heard many good things about this location, we wanted to see for ourself.


Eddie really wanted to drive to Florida. I was NOT looking forward to it but I agreed to it. It was a 9 hour drive but it took us a little longer because I wanted to hit up two restaurants that were featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives w/Guy Fieri.


Our first stop was Louie and the Red Head Lady in Mandeville, Louisiana. It was delicious! We arrive around brunch time & decided to eat breakfast. I ordered the Bayou Benedict and Eddie ordered Grits & Grillades. They had a map on the wall where all out of town visitors marked their spot. It was a cute idea! Ever since they were featured on the show, they started having visitors from ALL over the world.

Our waitress was sweet enough to run outside to take a picture of us both by the sign.

Delicious but Im just not a fan of grits though.

Even visitors from out of the country!

Our second stop was at Manci's Antique Club in Daphne, Alabama. Eddie ordered the signature dish Shrimp Po-Boy and I ordered their delicious Jazzy Burger. Yum Yum!!!

Then we finally made it to Destin, Florida..... Gorgeous blue water, white sand, great weather and relaxation! Our first night we wanted to rest after our long drive. We drove around the area and called it a night.


Friday we took a stroll on the beach. I was amazed at how soft the sand was and how clear and blue the water looked.

We hung out most of the day at the beach and finally decided to go back to the hotel and get ready for dinner. We were told to try out Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co., so that's where we headed for dinner. Eddie ordered Lt. Dan's Drunken Shrimp, I ordered their Scampi Linguini and their Frizzled Onion Rings as an appetizer. Oh my god! It was delicious! We were so full! Our waitress had a few Forrest Gump trivia every time she visited our table. Here are a couple I remember, try to answer them if you think you can without google. 1) What war did Forrest Gump fight in? 2) What was Forrest's favorite part of being in the hospital? 3) Name at least two people he Forrest saved in the war? 4) What was Forrest's favorite soda pop? 5) What color shoes did Jenny wear at their wedding?  

After dinner, we decided to take a drive over to Ft. Walton which isn't too far from Destin. We stopped at a beach which had a big outdoors building with shops and restaurants. They also had "Howl at the Moon" and we decided to return later that evening once they opened. We had a good time although we were a little disappointed that our song request was not sung correctly by the performers. Since we were celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary, we asked them to sing our first song which is "I cross my heart" by George Strait. They sang the first couple of lyrics and after that they ruined the whole song & didn't even finish it. They went on to the next one. Other than that, the night was fun but I have to admit Pete's Piano here in Houston is a whole lot better. We weren't too impressed with their performers. 

At Howl at the Moon

Saturday, we were driving around and found many places that kept advertising dolphin tours, parasailing, jet ski rentals, pontoon rentals etc. I've done parasailing before & I felt a bit nauseous right after we got down. I didn't want to ruin our day and we decided to keep it safe by taking their Dolphin Tour. We enjoyed ourselves so much! We got a chance to ride on a big boat and saw many dolphins. Every time we saw their heads peak up out of the water, we all ran to the side with our cameras like little children. I was able to capture pictures of them. They were so cute! After our boat ride, we took a walk through their shops (I can't remember the name of the place) and took a few photos. We later got hungry & made a stop at Fudpucker's. The food was ok, I wasn't crazy about it. Afterwards, we walked outside and they had small alligators in a pond and a few reptiles. We later called it a night. 

                                                                      Dolphins!!

                                                     This looked like so much fun.

I believe this was called Turtle Beach (I think). Everyone with their boats hung out in this area. The water was not deep at all.

Polly want a cracker??

                                             @ Fudpucker's

                                 Writing was all over their walls. I had to do the same! ;)

 Sunday, we took it easy & went by the beach our last day to hang out. It was a windy day so it wasn't as enjoyable as the first few days. For lunch we ate at McGuire's Irish Pub. I had their Philly Cheesesteak and Eddie had the Reuben sandwich. They were both so tasty!! This place looked pretty neat inside, they had dollar bills ALL over the restaurant. I had to make sure to leave our dollar with our names on it in case we ever returned. I believe their website mentioned they have about a million dollars from all the dollars their guests have hung. WOW!!  

The bus behind us was a little scary looking LoL

 

 We truly had a relaxing weekend in Destin, FL and would love to return. My family has mentioned they would like to plan a family trip and Destin is definitely on the list. Destin, it was fun and hope to visit again!! Thank you for a great weekend! I'd recommend this place to everyone. 

Love, Judy 8A