our family, our food, our fun

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Friday, January 20, 2012

Moving to Wordpress

Our new blog address will be: www.vivaallgood.wordpress.com

Stop on by for a visit at the new address on Wordpress or for real stop by in California.

Fave Choc. Chip Cookies

I have received several requests for this recipe so here ya go. This is it!1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs (room temp if possible)
2 teaspoon pure vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar together in a mixer (mix for atleast 3 minutes). Then add the eggs, one at a time. Beat until creamy. Add the vanilla.

In another bowl mix the dry ingredients together before slowly adding them to the creamed mixture. When combined, stop the mixer and add the semi-sweet chips. Mix up. For the mini cookies, use a slightly rounded teaspoonful of dough and bake for appx. 7 minutes at 350 degrees. Use fingers if necessary to mold the dough into a sphere. For regular cookies, use a level tablespoon of dough and bake for appx. 8 minutes. Remove from pans and let sit on pans for a minute or 2.

Place on wire rack to cool.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Last post about how cool this place is

Okay, that is not a promise. But on Martin Luther King day, I took the kids row-boating with my friend and her kids on the lakes by her house. It was 59 degrees, gorgeous and sunny and perfect for an afternoon boating trip. In January.

And now the real fun begins as it is supposed to rain for the next 2 weeks here in the Bay Area. Can't wait! Never thought I'd say it but if it didn't cost 2 million dollars for a house that would cost half million Seattle, (and 230,000 in Utah County) the San Francisco area may take home the trophy for best place to live, ever.

P.S. - Rebecca is obsessed with wearing those lens-less sunglasses everywhere!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Resolve!

Christmas has come and gone.And it is Resolution time! I feel like New Years Resolutions have become a thing of the past for most. Almost poisonous. Nobody likes to talk about them or set them. It is like we pretend they don't exist. My feelings on the issue....embrace the week after the first of January! Set all your goals with every intention of keeping them and let yourself have one amazing week! Having one great week a year is better than having Christmas turn to Valentines, turn to Presidents Day, turn to Easter turn to Mother's then Father's day- and so on.

Use the first week of January to re-set. To avoid the ten pound train wreck every year. Lose your Christmas weight the first week of January, write in your journal the first week of January, cut out sugar, workout everyday the first week of January, commit to be kinder to your kids this week, to be kinder to your spouse, to be a better friend. Even if it is only one week, you will be better for it.

Here are mine...
Read with my kids everyday!
Walk everyday, weather permitting. (a foggy day does not give me a pass)
No treats on weekdays
Work before play, everyday!
4 homemade healthy dinners each week (leftovers the other three nights)
Journal or blog once per week
Go on a weekly adventure with the kiddos to the Golden Gate Bridge OR
Tree climbing at Laurelwood Park
Or to the Ocean
Ah, adventures.

Monday, December 26, 2011

94002

For starters, we hope this Christmas season has found you all healthy, happy, and well. We were glad to welcome Jared's parents and his two little brothers for the holidays in our new home in California. I never thought I would like Christmas in a place with perfect temperatures but I proved myself wrong, I do.
Living in the 94002 (Belmont, CA) has it's perks. Some of them include, but are not limited to:


1. Spending Christmas Eve on the beach
2. It is a place where people want to come and visit
3. It is a place that closely resembles the place of my birth- Seattle, WA
4. We have blueberry plants in our back yard
5. We can drive 20 minutes and be on the Golden Gate Bridge- very cool.
6. We can drive 15 minutes and be at "Taste in Mediterranean", a restaurant in Burlingame
7. My skin isn't cracked

There is a downside. Only one downside but it is still a downside. We miss you friends in Utah! Please come and visit.

Jared asked me if I thought I would feel lonely when we moved here. I don't feel lonely yet but I do miss my people. Having people that you know and love and trust and count on- is priceless. Thanks to all of you who helped us in preparation for our move and those of you who helped us move. We love you and mean it when we say, Please visit!