My Morning in Pictures

I woke up this morning in time to take a nice walk. Brad went looking for Zoey and found her under Laura's bed by the sound of her tail thumping the ground. That dog loves/lives to go for a walk. I wish I had taken my camera, but I didn't. I'll have to do that the next time.



Today we did two laps around the flat part of our development and then ended with the hill. The last leg of the hill is STEEP. Brad cheated and had Zoey help pull him up - lol. It was a beautiful morning for a walk and I was surprised that we were the only ones out today.



We got home and Brad started preparing the coffee. Since I talked about our coffee yesterday I thought I would show some pictures today. We order this coffee online because we like it the very best in the Dutch style coffee that we make. Maybe we like it because this is the brand that a lot of places used when we were in The Netherlands last year. We have tried some other types of coffee but we find we keep coming back to the Douwe Egberts.









When we were in The Netherlands we did a lot of walking around whatever town we were in and in Haarlem we were walking one morning and found this great coffee place that had all kinds of equipment, as well as a little coffee bar. We saw that they carried Silvia, the same espresso maker that we have, and so we asked them to show us how to make Dutch-style coffee. The guys who ran the place very patiently told Brad exactly how to prepare Dutch-style coffee. Before leaving the shop we bought a couple of their cups just to make it that much more authentic at home.







As Brad was getting the coffee made I was starting up the oatmeal. This is a picture of the steel cut oatmeal that we used and that I talked about yesterday.




As soon as the oatmeal is in the simmer stage the coffee is ready.

I think I mentioned before that we like to have our coffee with a small square of cold pressed dark chocolate. Oh yeah!

The morning was so beautiful that we took our coffee and chocolate outside to enjoy before getting ready to go to the office.

While we were sitting outside Brad showed me one of our tomatoes. A while ago we planted four nice tomato plants - a couple of heirloom beefsteak tomato plants and an Early Girl and a fourth plant, along with some herbs. Apparently Zoey likes her tomatoes green... I'm not sure what we are going to do about this.

Once we heard the clock chime 7:00 we went in and started getting ready. I'm not one to like to hang out in the shower very long but I have to say that I enjoy "putting on my happy". A year or so ago, as a gift for some occasion, Brad gve me a bottle Clinique Happy shower gel. I love it. I like the way it feels and I like the way it smells. In fact, if I am feeling down as soon as I reach for the bottle I tell myself that it is time to get happy and it works every time. And, I'll tell you, Brad makes sure I don't run out of my happy...

Once out of the shower I slather myself with lotion. I used to use Australian Gold because I liked the way it felt and smelled, but I realized it wasn't really moisturizing that well. I've tried a few products and I find I like this Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion. When you live in the desert like we do, moisturizing is a must.


Once that is done it is time to get the oatmeal. This morning Brad got to the pan first and dished out the cereal and put the blueberries and milk on. You may notice that these aren't my happy bowls - but they work just the same. I have to admit that I eat my breakfast in our bathroom as I am getting ready. At least the toilet is in its own separate stall...

A number of years ago we were introduced to the Sonicare toothbrush and we have never looked back. In fact, this is my 3rd Sonicare. This one has the ultrasonic cleaner attached to it. My husband recommends this toothbrush all day long -- and we don't even sell them at the office. In fact one of the hygienists made up a button for him that said "You should get a Sonicare". She says he must say that at least 10 times a day.

I've been trying out a number of "systems" to help my skin. My daughter, Lindsay, got the
"Hope In a Jar" for me for Christmas and I liked it a lot -- especially the vitamin C liquid that you used by the dropperful. I was going to get some more when I saw an Infomercial (I know, I know) for the Murad system. Since it is supposed to address "hormonal aging" I thought I'd give it a try.

So currently I am using the Murad cleanser and serum along with StriVectin in the morning. It's got to be better than just soap and water... We'll see. Murad has a money back guarantee, so I guess if I don't look like Cindy Crawford in a couple of weeks I'll send it back --lol.

Then it is on to the face painting part of my morning. A little foundation, blusher, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, and lip gloss and I am ready to go -- whether or not Brad is standing by the door tapping his toes.

I am so glad that I have a hair appointment this evening. It is at the point where if I don't get it professionally done I need to touch up the roots.

Not too pretty, is it... A couple weeks ago I saw an article in O that talked about good hair styles for different hair types. I was surprised to find one of the hair types was mine -- thick and straight(ish). So I copied the article and I am taking it with me when I go and see Marq this evening. Hopefully I'll look just like the girl in the article -- yeah right!! I just need some color and some shape in my hair!!

See ya--