The Sondgeroths

Under Construction

2012-02-05T12:48:00.006-03:00

It's been really quiet around here lately, just how we have been wanting it. We pretty much spent the month of January laying low and getting some R & R on the weekends. We planned on jumping in to our next house project but some unexpected truck expenses and new car tires had me hold off for a while. After evaluating the financial situation we are good to go and are starting our kitchen remodel. This will be our biggest and most expensive undertaking which is why we are doing it last. It will take several weeks as it will happen in phases. The cabinets are up first. I know they look fine in the below photo but they are very worn and starting to show their age. This will not be a major overhaul that involves redesigning, just a kitchen update. The appliances will stay for a while longer because they work perfectly fine. Although they do not match I don't plan on buying new ones until we put this house up for sale. Oh besides the fridge seen below. We did have to buy a new fridge last fall because our old one was on the outs.

Good-bye kitchen. Please come back to me soon!

Viva Las Vegas

2012-01-07T13:52:00.005-03:00

My best friend turned 30 this week and she wanted to celebrate by going to Las Vegas. We discussed this trip a year ago and I'm glad we were still able to go and embrace 30 with a big party. We walked around and saw the sights, lost our money gambling, but most importantly had a great time visiting with each other. I went to Vegas when I was 14 but wasn't able to do much and only have small memories of it. I had a blast playing the slots with Sara and laughing at each other when we got excited about winning a couple dollars. The boys played the tables but were unsuccessful in making us rich :(

The Strip

Our Hotel

Inside the Venetian

I was amazed at all of the different hotels and how they represented different places like New York New York, Paris, Ceaser's Palace, or my favorite, The Venetian.

The Venetian did a great job of reproducing Venice, Italy. The outside architecture was great, the ambiance inside with the Grand Canal and gondolas was romantic, and the italian food and gelato was delicious.

Ceaser's Palace

The Stratosphere

View from the Stratopshere

Happy 30th Birthday!

29 and Holding!

2011-12-10T13:25:00.001-03:00

Ok people this is as far as the B-days go for me. For some reason I am dreading going into the next decade of my life and this birthday makes me realize it is creeping up. I did so much in my 20's and I don't want them to end. I hope to live this last year to the fullest and hopefully there is a lot planned for me.

This week was really a great week of B-day celebrations though. I got a free lunch 4 days out of 5. Plus breakfast for 2 days. Not too shabby.

We finally joined modern technology and I bought this laptop as a B-day gift. It's been 10 years since I've bought a pc and I have been using old goods since. This one is fantastic and hopefully it lasts for a long time.

I have the most loving husband who aims to please his wife on her birthday. I didn't just get one homeade cake for my birthday.....I got 3! There were three because he likes to experiment. I was pretty specific on my dessert request this year asking for whipped topping and caramel filling. Turns out homemade whipped topping is pretty challenging so the store bought stuff won.

Here's to living every day like it's your last..................(of your 20's)!

Globe Trotter

2011-11-22T12:29:00.006-03:00

Yes I have that itch and to give myself a temporary "fix" instead of booking a European Vacation through Globus because they have an amazing offer that expires in 6 days......................................
I will write about it!
It's one of those times when you try to put something far out of your mind and reminders pop up everywhere! Literally I had an Outlook reminder scheduled for this Globus deal. I know I have issues.

I heard this wonderful quote on Amazing Race Sunday night.

"To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote: To travel is to live."

-Hans Christian Anderson

Found some other quotes that I just love. They make me feel at peace.

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.” –Lawrence Block

“Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go; this is my station” –Lisa St. Aubin de Teran

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” –Susan Sontag

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and safe travels!

Fall.

2011-10-17T09:57:00.003-03:00

Fall=perfect hiking weather for the Sondgeroths.

I love everything about hiking in the fall. The sound of the leaves crunching under your feet, the smell of the changing leaves in the air and the cool temperature makes for perfect conditions. Also the thought of dying poison ivy makes for a happy and worry free husband!

I LOVE going to Brown County every year just to be there. However it is very crowded so we have found that we enjoy the State Forests much more. This year we went to the Morgan-Monroe State Forest, a new one for us. This place was beautiful.....once we found it! We did a moderate 3 mile hike. There was a great breeze in the air that helped keep us cool and made the trees rain leaves.

After hiking we did drive through Brown County and Nashville just to get it out of my system but seeing the crowds made for an easy decision to keep driving.

I would like to get in another Fall hike this year but it sounds like the weather is going to turn cold quickly as it always does. Fall doesn't last long enough for me which is why I have such a hard time accepting that it is here. I need to live somewhere that is 70-75 degrees year round!

Cam @ the Zoo

2011-10-10T20:53:00.004-03:00

This past weekend was suppose to be our annual campout but none of the other wives could make it so I stayed home too and let it be a guys weekend. So what's a girl to do with a free weekend on her hands.....act like a kid of course. Luckily it worked out that my mom was free this weekend and we were able to take Cameron to the Indy Zoo. It was perfect weather and we had a blast. An almost 3 year old has a ton of energy! Afterwards they came to my house and spent the night. Let's just say round two of him sleeping over at my house went perfectly because he had is Grandmama with him this time.

Yep I spoiled him like Aunt's do. Ice cream twice at the zoo and pizza for dinner. Even a choo choo ride. Pretty sure I am his favorite aunt now.

Waiting to buy his Spongebob Ice Cream

This topped the cake for him. I hope he remembers the trip to the zoo over the Spongebob Ice Cream!

Italy Highlights

2011-09-30T10:33:00.005-03:00

Our trip to Italy was wonderful and our first time traveling to Europe was very smooth. As always I come back from vacation feeling that our pictures do not do justice for what we actually experienced. As we drove through this small country the scenery would change within the hour.

There are so many beautiful and different things to talk about but I will try to sum it up.

The first stop was Rome where we visited the Vatican and Colosseum. There are no words to describe how beautiful Vatican City was and we were just in awe as we walked around. The highlight for me in Rome was probably the Colosseum because I cannot wrap my head around how this was built in 80 A.D.

(The Colosseum)

We then drove North into Tuscany to visit our first little Italian village called Orvieto. Part of my desire to visit Italy was to experience the very old towns with small streets and the countryside and Orvieto delivered. It is atop a mountain and we had to ride a funicular to get up there.

We had a quick side trip to Pisa and saw the leaning tower, which is the only thing to do in Pisa. We then spent a full day in Florence and went to the Art Museum to see the original statue of David. Florence is beautiful but there really wasn't much to do but walk around and see the sights. We spent the night in a beautiful, quite little town called Montecatini. I loved just walking around this place.

(Leaning Tower of Pisa)

Then we drove to the city I was most excited to visit, Venice! Venice was just as expected. A magical little place that you are suppose to get lost in. It is amazing that they built this city on water.

(Arriving in Venice)

(Beautiful Venice)

The we started to drive to Southern Italy and stopped in Assisi. I know I've said this about every place but this town was beautiful and very picturesque.

(Countryside of Assisi)

(Assisi)

We finally made it to Southern Italy to the Naples and Sorrento region. We visited Pompeii which was destroyed in 79 AD by the volcano Vesuvius. It was amazing to see how so much is still preserved from that town.

(Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius luring over)

Then we hopped on a jetfoil boat and rode to the Island of Capri. This place actually made me feel like we had left Italy and were at a very nice resort. The water was blue and all the buildings were white. We are torn between Venice and Capri being our favorite city.

(Boat Ride to Island of Capri)

(Capri)

On our journey back to Rome our whole group chose to add an excursion to drive the Amalfi coast which is an experience in itself. It is beautiful but the roads and very small and winding so it was more fun to watch your driver then to look at the view.

(Amalfi Coast)

I knew I would come back loving Italy but I didn't realize I would have the desire to now see more of Europe. I fell in love with how everything is older and different over there. I feel another trip in my future, besides that's where it all started right...before Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue.

(If anyone wants to see all of my photos leave me a comment and I will e-mail you the album)

Arrivederci America!

2011-09-12T10:02:00.002-03:00

So did I forget to mention that we will be leaving for this wonderful place tomorrow?!? (photo credit:http://venicedailyphoto.blogspot.com/)

This trip really snuck up on us. 8 months ago I booked my dream vacation to Italia and then time started creeping by. We tried not to think about it for a while so time would go faster and than "wham" here it is!

Are we ready?
Mentally and emotionally, yes!
Physically, no!
We have a ton to do tonight and tomorrow but luckily our flight will depart late tomorrow.

We are both so ready for a vacation. Although we will be on the move a lot to see most of Italy in 12 days we are really going to try to act like Italians and not Americans. Slowing down and enjoying life, enjoying food, and enjoying vino.

Cheers to a beautiful country and a memorable vacation!

Sold on Soap Nuts

2011-08-23T10:24:00.008-03:00

I have been reading about these little laundry nuts for a while on different blogs. As I have gradually been trying to reduce some of the chemicals in our household these little guys seemed like an easy transition. I really couldn't find any bad reviews on them. You just add 4-6 of the nuts in the little provided laundry pouch and toss it in the laundry. That's it!

When I first added them to the washer I was skeptical and was pretty sure I would have to re-wash my clothes. Soap nuts do not provide all the suds and foam that you are use to. The chemicals in commerical detergents are providing the foam but that's really not what cleans your clothes. I kept checking the laundry during the wash cycle and it was working. Eventhough the water did not look like I was use to, my clothes were getting clean. After running the cycle through the dryer with no bounce sheets my clothes came out clean and soft. They smelled clean but they didn't smell fragrant b/c that is also another added chemical to traditional laundry detergent. They did suggest that if you like to have fragant clothes that you could add some essential oils to the water.

These can also be used to make your own dish soap, wash your car, soap for washing pets and several other things. We will be adding them to our compost pile when they are "all suds out".

The instructions said that you can reuse the soap nuts on multiple loads. I did the test they recommended by putting the nuts in a jar of water and shaking it. If you see suds than it is still working and you can use them again. I used 5 soap nuts on 3 loads of laundry and tested them in between and they were still providing suds.

I had to order mine online but some Whole Foods Stores carry them. I called the Indy store and they said they stopped carrying them because of low sales. I can see how people are hesitant to use these when you don't visually see the washer producing the suds and foam you are use to but they worked for me!

I went to Green Virgin Products to buy mine and used the Promo Code 10off for 10% off. They arrived 2 days later just in time for laundry day.

Here is the breakdown on the cost per load:

Tide: 120 loads powder for $20.47.........17 cents a load

Soap Nuts: 330 loads for $24 + $8(shipping) = $32..........9.5 cents per load

Successful Foodie Week

2011-08-21T13:49:00.005-03:00

We try a lot of new recipes for dinner and most of them don't pass our "we have to make this again list" but this past week every single one that we tried was awesome. They were very tasty and vegetarian. Some were healthy and some were not due to a lot of cheese. I realized we had a very cheesy week so this next week I will try to be cheese free.......a very tough thing for me.

If you are looking for new dinner ideas these are perfect and yummy.

Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms
3 ounces softened cream cheese (fat free)
1/4 cup mayo
1 jar (6.5oz) marinated artichoke hearts, finely chopped(save the marinade in the jar)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
several small portabella mushroom caps or 2-4 large portabella caps
1/4 cup bread crumbs

In a bowl beat cream cheese and mayo until smooth. Stir in artichokes and cheese. Spoon mixture into mushrooms caps. Combine bread crumbs and 2 teaspoons of marinade from artichoke jar; sprinkle over mushrooms. Bake for 10-15 minutes until mushrooms are tender. You can also grill these.

Stuffed Zucchini with Tomatoes and Mozzarella
(thanks to Pam Peercy for this recipe)
2 medium zucchini, cut length wise and scrape out seeds
2 plum tomatoes, diced small
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 tespoon white wine vinegar
5 oz mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Brush a shallow baking dish with olive oil. Place zucchini, cut side up, in dish. Season with salt and pepper. In small bowl combine 2 diced tomatoes, oregano and white wine vinegar. Stir and season with salt and pepper. Place mixture on top of zucchini. Bake about 20 minutes until zucchini is tender. Remove from oven and turn oven to Broil. Place mozzarella cheese on top of zucchini and broil for 1-2 minutes until cheese is browned.

Eggplant Parmigiana
1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch slices lengthwise
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup flour ina small bowl
2 tblsp cooking oil
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup spaghetti sauce
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Combine egg and 1 tblsp water. Dip eggplant slices into egg mixture and then into flour, coating both sides. In a skillet heat cooking oil and cook eggplant on both sides until golden. Drain on paper towels. Place eggplant in a 2 qt square baking dish. Sprinkle with parmesan and top with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

Squash, Pear, and Onion au Gratin
1 medium size butternut squash, cut in half, discard seeds and then cut into 1/2 slices lengthwise
1 large onion, sliced and separated into rings
1 tblsp butter
1 medium pear, thinly sliced
3 tblsp bread crumbs
2 tblsp chopped walnuts
1 tblsp parmesan cheese
1 tblsp melted butter

Cook onion rings in a skillet in the 1 tblsp butter until tender. Arrange half the squash slices in a rectangular baking dish. Top with half the pear slices. Repeat layers. Cover with cooked onions. Bake covered with foil at 350 for 45 minutes until tender.
In a small bowl combine bread crumbs, walnuts, cheese and melted butter. Sprinkle over vegetables. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.

Ok now that I just planned your meals for the week I need to go find new ones for us!

He's a Warrior

2011-08-14T12:46:00.006-03:00

Matt participated in his first ever race this weekend called the Warrior Dash. It is 3.01 miles of running and completing challenging obstacles like climbing walls, walking planks and spiderwebs, fire jumping, and crawling through mud pits. For a first time warrior he did great finishing at 32 mins and 50 secs. He finished 558th out of 6,746 participants and 125th for his age group. Me and my mom had a great time watching all these crazy people participate. We were really excited at the beginning and talking about trying it next year....and then we saw the people at the finish line and weren't so interested anymore. There was a variety of participants there wearing costumes or crazy body paint. Some groups were even in full business suits. Matt said it was a tough course but he had a blast.

Waiting to start with his group.

Ready, set, go!

After he started we walked around and checked out some of the obstacles. We were not able to see all of the race but this mudd pit was the finish line.

Fire jumping!

Here he comes approaching the finish line. At this point he said he was ready to be done and maybe the mudd would be refreshing but it was one of the tougher obstacles. The mudd was really thick and tough to swim through.

My mudd man. Yep he chose to go under and live up the full experience of swimming through mudd. It was on his teeth, in his ears, and lots of other places.

This is where they all went to get cleaned off.

My warrior.

Today I am nursing his battle wound. Wouldn't be a true warrior without it. One of the courses was a blackened out cave like thing they had to crawl through. His knee met up with a tree stump and took a nice chunk out of it. It's deep enough to constitute stitches but we will see.

Hawaiian Luau

2011-08-01T15:08:00.003-03:00

My Aunt Memare and Uncle Jeff have been to Hawaii several times and they wanted to share some of it with us. My grandmother hosted the Luau party at her house this weekend. It was good food and good times with family.

Here are some pre-party pics.

Mom and all her kids.

Mom and her two kids.

Me and my bro.

Little miss Carmen Marie and Papa.

Did I mention we have the best dog ever.....he is so tolerant of the things I do to him.

And it's always a blast playing with Cameron!

Veggie Burger- Accomplished!

2011-07-17T10:44:00.002-03:00

I have tried several veggie burger recipes over the past year and I finally found one we both love. I was trying to copy one that we had at a restaurant so I threw some things together and it worked on the first try! Since this one is so dense it is pretty comparable to a real hamburger with hardly any fat since I didn't need to add eggs. Served up on these pretzel buns from the Zionsville Farmer's Market this was the best one yet.

I will try to share the recipe although I didn't keep track of my measurements but you can just have fun with it.

1 cup of cooked wild rice

~ 1 cup of black beans, drained and rinsed

shredded carrot

shredded kale

1/2 tespoon chia seeds (optional)

bread crumbs

choice of seasonings for flavor

Roughly mash up beans in bowl. Add rice, carrot, kale or any other veggies you choose. Mix well. Add enough bread crumbs so the mixture stays together to form patties. I fried mine in a skillet because I think that helped them stay together better but you can also try baking/ broiling them. Cook with any option until slightly crispy on both sides.

So some of my favorite weeks are when we get to spend quality time with our little kiddos and it's even better when we get to see more than one of them in the same week.

Last Sunday we spent the day in TH and had such a great time with Cameron playing outside and in his pool. It's the best feeling when they are old enough to run up to you when you arrive yelling Uncle Matt, Aunt Manda.

Friday night we got to babysit Gracie. She kept us on our toes showing off how well she can crawl now and she loved playing in the grass with Uncle Matt.

In the Shadows

2011-06-28T20:53:00.004-03:00

So this is the latest look for our pergola. We added four angled pieces to give it more of a mediterranean look. The new pieces also made a perfect spot to hang flower baskets off of. Sorry for the shadows but I only seem to remember to take photos at this time of day.

And finally after weeks of waiting for this puppy to go on sale we have our patio set.

To celebrate the ownership of my first ever patio table I made yummy Vegan Zucchini Bread......well not so much to celebrate but because the zucchini was starting to go bad :) Bad zucchini is great for baking though!

Love the You that God Made

2011-06-26T19:30:00.004-03:00

Every year around this time I try to be all summery and do my hair in that wet beachy crunchy style......it always fails. For some reason I thought this year would be different because I bought a new blow dryer and it came with one of those diffuser attachments. What was I thinking. It always looks like either I just got out of bed or a bird's nest.

So even though I learned at a young age to accept the long legs I would have to shop for the rest of my life, it took me 20 years to accept that my hair will always be straight! Don't get me wrong I love my straight hair b/c it is so easy to manage but sometimes a girl wants to mix it up. And by the way "perm" is not a word that we talk about. My mother probably learned when I was 8 that a perm would only happen once on my hair.

So straight it is 4-ev-ver!

This is what Cody thought of all my bathroom photo taking nonsense........

Concert of the year...so far!

2011-06-21T10:14:00.003-03:00

So even though I had every intention of going to several great concerts this year I just couldn't manage to swallow the price of tickets. It's getting ridiculous. But I couldn't pass on going to see Mr. Brad Paisley and I am so glad I didn't. This is the 6th time I have seen him and it gets better every time. I joined the fan club this year just to see if I could get better seats and these turned out to be the best seats we have ever had! I mean look at them.....you can't get any closer. He did a great show and I felt like we were the only ones there because we were in the second row from the runway. I am definitely renewing the fan club membership next year.

(By the way I did not use the zoom for these photos!)

Memorial weekend with a project on the "side".

2011-05-31T18:18:00.007-03:00

Maybe I should say our whole holiday weekend consisted of a project but I'll start with Friday before all the madness kicked in. Although Friday night was cold and drizzling rain I was determined to grill out! So I put on my jacket and fired up the grill. This dinner was delicious! I marinated everything in caribbean jerk seasoning.

Grilled Veggies! Yum!

Ok on to the craziness. The heat really kicked up this weekend and we were outside the whole 3 days building our pergola which we finished thank you very much! We did notice that we were the only crazy people in our neighborhood who were outside yesterday in the 90 degrees...but we are young right??

Here is our plain old yard before:

Ta da!

Yep we did that. Mostly just the two of us but we did have to call in some extra muscle for some of the pieces. Our backyard transformation will probably happen in phases. This was phase 1 and we are not quite done. We are going to add some other "architectural feature" boards hopefully this week. Phase 2 will be purchasing a nice patio set which I have never done before. Super excited about that! I can't wait to eat breakfast outside. Phases 3, 4 and so on I want to spruce up our patio by maybe expanding it or building a deck off to the side. We are not sure what we want to do but we are happy with what we have finished so far.

We've made it to 4!

2011-05-21T11:07:00.005-03:00

Thursday was our 4th wedding anniversary and although the weather tried to be similar to our wedding day I don't think we will ever be able to reproduce how awesome that day was for us. This milestone is a fun little one because we've been together twice as long as we've been married, we will never get to say that again. We officially became a couple in May so this is a special month for us. I think I celebrated our 8 years together more than our wedding anniversary......I want credit for the 4 years before marriage....don't those count for something too? It's where you are really feeling out the person to see if they are the one you want for your whole life. It's where you can walk away at any time with no strings attached.......I think it's a critical time in a relationship. Lucky for us I have to say that our whole time together has been pretty easy and the big reason why..........I could go on and on about the things we truly love about each other but I will make it plain and simple.........we both want to live a drama free life together! There can be drama around us all day long but we refuse to let it into our relationship. Plus we just make a really good team.

On thursday night we made homemade gnocchi together and went for a bike ride. Tonight we are going to our favorite Italian restaurant in Zionsville to celebrate more. This restaurant is also special to us because it is the place we went the night we got engaged.

Roses for me is always a nice touch!

For breakfast I made some "anniversary" muffins. My own special recipe.

Loaded Blueberry Streusel Muffins(makes 12)
1 3/4 cups flour, I used whole wheat
1/3 cup sugar or brown rice syrup
2 teasp baking powder
1/4 teasp salt
1 teasp vanilla
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk of choice
1/3 cooking oil
~ 1 cup blueberries

Streusel topping:
3 tblsp flour
3 tblsp brown sugar
1/2 teasp cinnamon
2 tblsp butter

Grease muffin cups. Preheat oven to 400. Combine all muffin ingrediants in a bowl and mix well. Spoon into muffin tins. To prepare topping placing ingrediants in a small bowl and cut the butter into dry ingrediants until it makes a crumble mix. Sprinke topping over each muffin. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool before removing.

Missing Husband

2011-05-13T20:48:00.005-03:00

Has anyone seen my husband? He's tall dark and handsome and tends to disappear when the weather is nice.

Oh wait I found him!

This is called "hammock time" and it is what I have lost my husband to. The first day he had it set-up I realized that the time we would spend together would be shorter and shorter each week......just kidding. It's actually really relaxing to be in the hammock under our willow tree and next to the pond. It's a great reading spot.

Also a little update on my second week of saving money at the grocery store.....this visit I only spent $37 so I'm still staying on track!

Gardens, Coupons, and Homeade Stuff

2011-05-03T10:01:00.004-03:00

So where do I start to bring you up speed on the past 8 weeks. I can't believe it's been that long since I've blogged but I haven't been wanting to be on the computer or telephone since Spring weather has been flirting with us. We've been trying to work outdoors when it's not RAINING! Matt has prepped our garden soil and the vegetable sprout trays have taken over the inside of my house! I can't wait to put them in the ground very soon. Our garden is much larger this year and full of our "homeade" compost. Our thumbs seem to get a little greener each year so we'll see if we are good at this. Planting seeds is way cheaper than buying veggies at the grocery or even buying veggie plants somewhere else. We are also looking into a rain barrel to conserve water.

So speaking of cheaper....that's brings me to the next thing I have been burying my nose in. Couponing! Everyone likes to save money, right? I have always used just a couple coupons here and there when I had them but I caught some episodes of the show on TLC and those people are nuts! It did teach me a couple things although most of the coupon items I will never buy. I will not become that crazy coupon chick in the store but I have proposed a little challenge to myself to see how much I can save. I have heard of a lot of people who gave up eating meat to save money but since we gave up meat and are trying to eat healthier we are spending a ton of money on groceries. So I am trying to spend $200 on groceries for the month of May. So that is essentially $50 a week for us. This past Sunday was my first attempt to shop for the week so I researched the sales flyer to make my menu and found my coupons and I only spent $36!!! That bought us food for the entire week and it is all healthy. So far so good.

The next thing that I am kind of getting obsessed with is making my own anything at home. There is so much "junk" in a lot of things today that I started researching ways to make things myself for stuff that I use a lot. So far I have made my own deodorant, jam, peanut butter, almond butter, and granola. Matt made hummus which I think the recipe needs tweaked before I am a fan... it's pretty hard to top my red pepper store bought stuff. I was going to make my own lip balm but I found the organic stuff at Whole Foods to be a pretty good deal. I was also going to make my own soap but one of our Chemists at work makes her own so I have trusted her formula and will buy from her for now. I have found a lot more that I want try but I don't want to over-indulge, like last night when I was baking at 9:30, which is partly because I had today off as a Holiday and because Matt was getting me hyped up about starting my own side business. The first day I took my granola in to work I had people offering to buy it.....I had no response for them because I hadn't even thought about selling it. So we shall see.......

Last month I had the vacation itch so luckily we made a trip to Florida. A big thanks to John, Kel and kids for taking us to the beach. We really needed the sand in our toes and a dip in the ocean......oh and the sand that was still in my bathing suit when we got home :) I love going to visit those little kiddos, we are both always very sad to leave them.

So you all know that spring usually equals some kind of project for us. We are finally building our pergola in the back yard for some much needed shade. Matt has worked up the plan and we started buying supplies. This will probably be completed at the end of May only if the rain stays away. We are going to build the pergola first and then probably fancy-up the patio.

Veg Out Recipes II

2011-03-12T10:55:00.002-03:00

Barley Hoppin' John (so delicious & filling)
1 tblsp olive oil
1 onion , chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
14 oz vegetable broth
1 cup quick cooking barley
2 teasp lemon juice
1/4 teasp crushed red pepper
2 15 oz can black-eyed peas, rinsed

Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion, bell pepper and celery. Cook until softened. Add garlic, cook 1 minute. Add broth, barley, lemon juice, crushed red pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until barley is done, about 15-20 mins. Remove from heat and add black eyed peas. Cover and let stand 5 mins and then serve.

Veggie Chowder
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups potatoes, cubed
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 can cream-style corn
12 oz can fat free evaporated milk
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
pepper to taste
shredded cheese (optional)

In a large saucepan, combine broth, potatoes, carrots, and onion. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 mins until veggies tender. Add corn, milk, cheese, mushrooms, and pepper. Cook and stir 5 mins and serve.

Winter's Best Bean Soup
10 cups vegetable broth
3 cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package (10 oz) frozen sliced carrots, or use fresh
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teasp dried rosemary
black pepper

To a crock pot add all of the ingrediants. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
As an option place pieces of toasted italian bread in bottom of serving bowls and cover with soup.

Three Bean Chili
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili beans, undrained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup veg broth
2 teasp ground cumin
2 teasp chili powder
2 cloves garlice, minced

In a crock pot add all of the ingrediants. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 2 hours. Serve and top with crushed tortilla chips or cheese if desired.

Veg Out Recipes

2011-03-07T19:40:00.003-03:00

Vegetable Dumpling Soup(Serves 4)
2 tblsp EVOO
4 tblsp butter
2 onions, diced
2 ribs celery, chopped
4 carrots, diced
1 potato, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 fresh bay leaf
2 qts veg broth
4 tblsp flour
1 teasp Dijon Mustard
1 box of Jiffy Mix(dumplings, prepare to box instructions)
1 cup of frozen peas
2tblsp parsley

Heat EVOO in pot. Add celery, onions, carrots, potato, zucchini, bay leaf. Stir and cook covered for 10 min, Add veg stock, raise heat to boil. Meanwhile melt butter in a bowl, add flour and mustard. Whisk mixture into soup. In another bowl prepare the dumpling mix and add parsley. Stir peas into soup. Drop by teaspoons the dumpling mix into the pot. Cover and cook 6 mins. Serve.

Greek Goddess Salad
3 tblsp fresh parsley leaves, minced
4 pitted kalamata olives, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
5 tblsp lemon juice
medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
medium red pepper, chopped
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup red onion, finely chopped
crumbled reduced fat feta cheese
pita bread

In a bowl combine parsley, olives, and garlic. Whisk in lemon juice. Add cucumber, bell pepper, tomato, red onion, and feta cheese. Toss together. Eat with pita bread.

Veggie Burgers
2 tsp oil
1/4 cup minced onion, green pepper, carrot, celery
2/3 cup drained canned white kidney(cannellini) beans
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cups seasoned dried bread crumbs

In a skillet heat 1 tsp oil. Add onion, green pepper, carrot, celery; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until veggies are soft. Set aside to cool.
Using a fork in a medium bowl mash beans, stir in egg. Add bread crumbs and veggies. Mix throughly. Shape into 4 patties. In same skillet heat 1 tsp oil. Cook patties over medium heat until brown on both sides.

Brushetta Eggplant
1 lb eggplant, cut into cubes
3 medium plum tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tblsp fresh basil, chopped
pepper, salt, and garlic powder to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Mist a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place eggplant in a single layer on sheet. Bake for 7 to 10 min. Flip and bake 7 to 10 min more until tender.
In a large bowl combine tomatoes, garlic, basil, and eggplant. Season with salt and pepper. Toss and serve. Serve with bread or chicken if you desire.

Meat Free for a Year

2011-03-05T09:45:00.006-03:00

For anyone who doesn't know already, I challenged myself last March to give up meat for 30 days. I completed the 30 days better than I thought I would and kept going and going and going. Now it has been 1 year this weekend! It started as something I've always wanted to try and I finally picked a start date and told myself to try it for 30 days. During those 30 days of researching recipes and trying to meet my dietary needs I learned so much about our food industry and what meat does to our body that I made the choice to try as long as I could. So as the year passed on I really lost the desire to eat meat and cooking without it was really simple. Sure I miss some things but usually only when I'm really hungry. Matt has also been on board with the diet. He did it for 30 days with me and then would eat meat only when something really good came along. Now he has been 100% meat free since September. We experienced all of the changes they said we would in the beginning. You feel better overall, your gut feels light as a feather and digestion is way quicker! Did you know that meat can hang around in your intestines for up to 3 days! It's hard for me to feel the changes now because it has been so long but in that first 30-90 days I felt great! We also tried the vegan thing for 1 week, where you eat no animal products, milk, cheese, etc. That is way harder to do and I have respect for anyone who does it. We still have vegan days but I really don't think that's for me.

So now to some of the common remarks I get from someone.

Have I lost weight from it?
Actually no. We both gained just a few pounds in about a 9 month period. I think this is because we ate a lot of carbs in the beginning and we had the mind set that if it wasn't meat we could eat it. I also noticed that I started craving a lot more junk food to make up for the fat I wasn't getting anymore. Plus we weren't exercising much during that time. Now we have all that under control. I do believe that someone could lose a lot of weight from it if they watch their carbs from the get go.

Be careful that you get your protein!
In the beginning this was something that I was very cautious of. People had me so freaked out at work that I was afraid I would just fall over because my muscles were so weak! I have learned that this is the biggest concern with people trying it. I have also learned that people think we need a lot more protein than our body really does need. It's something we still need to watch but if you have a good diet you will get plenty of protein! I've actually been working out a lot lately for a weight loss competition and my muscles are doing great!

So what happens if you want to eat meat again?
This is actully interesting. I've heard stories from several other people that didn't eat meat for a while that when they tried it again they threw up. How can that be good for you? I'm pretty sure if you didn't eat lettuce for 6 months and then tried it that you wouldn't throw up....unless it was tainted with salmonella :) Matt actually had a bad effect from meat after not eating it for about 4 months. So if we start eating meat again we will have to slowly phase it back in to our body.

So to celebrate my success that I never thought I would have I'm going to share some of our favorite meat free recipes through this month. If you are afraid you won't get full off of some of these than just make more of it or have a little salad also.

Southwest Pileup
whole wheat flat pitas
hummus, preferably red-pepper flavor
black beans, drained
red onion, cut into small strips
red bell pepper, diced
tomato, diced
fresh cilantro, chopped
shredded cheddar cheese
guacamole (optional)

Preheat oven to 450. Place pitas on cookie sheet. Spread hummus on pitas. Top each pita with all the other toppings. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes until cheese is melted. Slice pita into 4 wedges and eat.

Black Bean Lettuce Bundles(makes 4)
1 can black beans, drained
1 avocado, mashed
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tblsp lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup salsa
8 large romaine lettuce leaves

Mash beans and avocado together. Mix in all other ingrediants except lettuce. Place about 1/4 cup of filling into center of each lettuce leaf and roll like a tortilla.

More to come!

Trending Now

2011-02-19T11:26:00.008-03:00

So I am way behind on blogging about us.....

Right before Christmas we drove down to Nashville, TN to see Garth Brooks in concert. We have a short list of people we must see in concert before we die and Garth Brooks was on the list. He also holds a sweet spot in our hearts because our wedding song was one of his. When we heard he was doing a charity concert for the Nashville floods their was no debate on if we would go. Besides Nashville is one of our favorite cities! We are "concert-goers" and we both agree this is the best one we've been to! Also on our short list was John Mellencamp and we got to see him in November. (It's kind of freaking me out that we keep checking things off our list.)

I will admit I am very addicted to going to concerts. It's my hobby and choice of entertainment and I don't feel bad about it. I don't have a shopping or shoe problem like other women, I just like to spend my money on concerts.....and of course traveling. So concert season is approaching again this year and I already have my list that I must attend! I'm trying to tame it down this year due to another big event we have coming up.

We finally booked our trip to Italy!!!!

I have been researching, planning, and saving for Italy for a while so it finally came time to make it definite. If we booked and paid in full by March 1st we saved a ton of money so I couldn't pass it up. We are going in September when the crowds are a little better and the weather is great. We are doing 12 days of just Italy. There is already so much that we will be missing that I couldn't imagine doing anymore countries than just Italy. We will visit all of the main cities like Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Pompeii. We are also going to spend a lot of time in the smaller countryside areas like Tuscany, Umbria, Naples, Sorrento, and the beautiful island of Capri. I'm looking forward to just "being Italian" for a week, eating pasta, drinking wine, and being in the country of amore(love).

So most recently I had the honor of being present while my newest little niece was born. Carmen Marie Groza was born on February 17th. It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad my brother asked me to be in the room. She makes our 6th niece/nephew. We have 3 nieces and 3 nephews. I wonder who will break the tie for us...........???

The Meaning

2010-12-06T11:33:00.009-03:00

Every year around this time I tend to feel a little "Bah Humbug". It just takes me a little longer to get in the spirit. I always consider not putting up our Christmas tree or decorations. (As I write this blog I hear my my co-workers playing Christmas music that has set the mood for this post, very appropriate for the spirit I now have :)

Anyway every year I consider "skipping" Christmas in our house but I always end up decorating. Granted my tree stays up for a short time but I still do it. [Start Rant] I just don't understand the people who go all out with decor like this house that I have to drive by every day that has a yard full of plastic figures and enough lights for the whole town of Lebanon. Not to mention the milk jugs they have lined around their yard full of lights, resourceful yes.....attractive no! They put all this stuff up at the start of November and it stays up through April....not kidding on this! [End Rant]

This year thanks to our efforts to be more minimal we question everything we are doing? What is the meaning behind why we do this? Do we really need this? Last night we asked each other "what's the point of putting up this tree and all the stuff that comes with it"?
I have never known the meaning behind all the other stuff that comes with Christmas except that is the day we celebrate Jesus' birthday.
After doing some internet searching(hopefully accurate) I now know a little bit more. Every country has its own beliefs but this is what I took from it. Here are the things that we were questioning:

Christmas Tree- The tree is symbolic of the everlasting life we will have through Jesus

Lights- Symbolizes Christ and the "light of the world"

Colors Green and Red- Green is life and Red is Jesus' blood

Gifts- 3 gifts were given to Jesus when he was born.....I think it's important to note that 3 gifts were given not a flood of presents like many children today are expecting!

The whole Santa deal- I read up on the St. Nick story which was too long to blog about and I find it interesting how Santa became the hype of Christmas. I have not yet decided if I will do the Santa thing with my children but if I do it won't be the center of Christmas.

So I will probably still put up a tree every year but at least I won't need reminded why I am doing it.

Cali-forn-i-a!

2010-11-22T12:10:00.009-03:00

Last week we went to California for a friend's wedding. The wedding was in Orange County so I was excited to see calmer areas of Cali. Matt had never been to California so the whole traffic-smog experience was new to him. For the first part of our mini-vaca we did the touristy stuff in LA before heading south for the wedding. We cruised up and down Pacific Coast Highway and tried to stop at most of the beaches(my favorite part). The weather in California was perfect the whole trip. I could live out there again!

This is Venice beach. We must have been there on a quiet day because usually there are weird people and street performs lurking all over this beach.

We had to take advantage of perfect weather in November and ride in style in Cali so this Jeep did the job!

I did some blog stalking before we left and found out that the Biggest Loser Ranch is on public property near Malibu where we would be so we made a visit! The show is not currently filming but some producers were there I'm guessing to prep for the finale so we could not go inside the building but they let me snap a photo real quick.

This is Beverly Hills. We scoped out some of the huge homes and I felt like we were on forbidden property the whole time even though they were public streets.

We did a short hike to a photo spot for the Hollywood sign. This was in a park where apparently a lot of the celebs take their kids to play but none were playing that day. I am 99% positive that we saw Tito Jackson in Hollywood. (We went all the way to Cali and just saw Tito). You can usually spot when a celeb is around because of all the paparazzi.

This is the location where they filmed the original Batman movies from way back when. We found this while Matt was knocking off some geocaches.

Since the word is out now I can release these pictures of Matt skydiving. I could only get so close to his drop spot but I was glad I could at least pick him out of a large group jumping.

Here the video link if you haven't seen it yet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNE2V3Y1mcw

I Get It Now

2010-10-29T10:40:00.002-03:00

I've always had a desire to travel and have been so fortunate lately to see many new places. I am so glad that Matt has been on board with me and has also learned how much he loves to travel. For years now I have tried to figure out where this need to "go and see" comes from but I can't narrow it down. I wasn't too deprived as a child. I didn't go many places, but I did go places. My mom did always encourage me to leave Terre Haute and do as much as possible so maybe she can take the credit.
I always remind myself to be very thankful to God for providing the means to travel but our recent trips have made us think there is more to it.
Vacations from this year have not sent us back home feeling rested and rejuvenated but instead we felt very insignificant and small. We felt like we weren't doing anything that mattered. We felt like we have a different purpose in life and we weren't living up to it. Matt can narrow down his moment of realization to this photo. This is when he felt that the world didn't revolve around us and we were just a small piece in the puzzle. I don't really have a defining moment but they have probably been gathering for a year now.

Maybe it's us maturing and growing out of our arrogant 20's but I think this is a good realization and a message I have been missing. All this time I thought that I could go on these trips because I was extremely thankful but now I know that these were not vacations but a test to see if we were getting the message and seeing the bigger picture.....so that is why I say " I Get It Now".

Forensics in Africa

2010-10-27T08:54:00.008-03:00

So some changes have been happening to the Sondgeroths......for a while now really......most of which are too deep to discuss on here. In a nutshell we have a growing inclination to do things differently and for different reasons. Without confusing blog readers too much I will sum it up with something they said in church on Sunday. "Do Something, Say Something".

Here is me "saying something".........

I promise this won't be a geeky boring post about science but rather about an organization I just learned about that is using Forensics to help a country already with great needs. The latest issue of Forensic Magazine had an article in it titled "DNA 4 Africa". This is an organization that is using the power of DNA analysis to help orphaned children find their families, prevent illegal adoptions and child trafficking, and fight sexual violence. In America we have the luxury to have a justice system that will investigate a crime against us, perform scientific analysis, and prosecute the accused. Where poverty is high, crime is high, so I can only imagine the conditions in Africa.
In a country where the people are fighting to survive, the incidence of mass rape is high and the support to fight it was non-existent.
I can only believe that if they begin to bring justice to mass rapists in Africa that this will also help decrease the number of HIV cases and reduce unplanned pregnancies.

If you are looking for a cause to donate to visit this website to learn more:
http://www.dna4africa.org/

Best Friend + 1st baby + I love to travel = Trip to Seattle

2010-09-01T09:01:00.004-03:00

I went to Seattle over this past weekend to visit my best friend Sara who had her first baby in May. She has lived there for 3 years and this was my first visit out there. We had such a great time together and I miss her already :( They did a great job of showing me around Seattle. It is a well-rounded place that was close to mountains, beach/water, and a big city. One day when Harrison is older I can tell him that Aunt Amanda was on his first hike with him! Needless to say we ate a lot of seafood and visited coffee shops every day which I loved! Thanks for a great visit Sara and Bill!

Arizona Vacation

2010-08-12T11:39:00.012-03:00

My work sent me to a conference in Arizona last week so we planned to make a mini-vacation out of it since at least I was going for free. Matt flew to Phoenix at the end of my conference and we headed up to the Grand Canyon. I was so glad to get away from the heat. It reached 114 degrees in Phoenix and the weather in northern Arizona was much more mild.

The Grand Canyon was the first stop and it is as breath-taking as people describe it. We had to make sure to stop several times and just take it all in. It is mind blowing to think of how that was all created way back when.

Our next stop was Monument Valley. This is located on a very large Indian Reservation at the Arizona/ Utah state line. They let you drive your own vehicle on a very rugged red dirt road path that circles around all of the monuments. This was a fun experience while driving around in our Cobalt rental. Matt treated the little car like it was a Jeep, which probably should have been required for some of these roads. (After the whole trip we were pretty sure we were going to have to tell the rental place that the car needed new tires, shocks, and a muffler.)

Our last stop was Sedona and this is by far the most beautiful place I have seen. I wish we would have prepared better for Sedona because there was a lot of hiking available and we only got one day in. The red rock country side is so amazing and spiritual to look at. It is very much a Hippie/New Age town. Many people have claimed to have a spiritual connection with this area and I understand that now. Apparently there are numerous vortexes throughout Sedona which are "high energy hot spots". The energy is masculine or feminine and not always felt by every one. We didn't really understand this concept but we would at least give it a shot. (read below)

Below is Cathedral Monument. This is one of the vortex spots that we hiked. They say there is no defined spot of energy, that it could happen anywhere along this area. We did not experience any energy spots probably because we were distracted by the intensity of this hike. I can officially say this was our first "unexpected" rock climbing experience. There is a trail at the base of this monument that we thought was the trail and that they made us stop at the base of the monument...........nope........ once we saw people at the top we realized you can climb straight up it and that's what we did! It was beautiful once we were at the top but of course the sun decided to come out full force and make the hike harder.

Terre Haute Family Cookout

2010-07-27T15:04:00.010-03:00

This last weekend we had my family up for a cookout. Most of them haven't been to our house in almost two years and this seemed like the way to get them up here (all you Hautians reading....don't wait so long next time!!) Our little nephew and little cousin also came up and the boys had a great time running in our backyard. It was a great time with great food and great peeps.

Grandkids

(I hope we all look as great as G-ma when we are older)

Cousins

Siblings

Daddy & Son

The Chef

Mommy & Son

Yellowstone

2010-07-13T17:08:00.006-03:00

Our vacation to Yellowstone was amazing and even though I have already e-mailed out my 500+ photos I felt this trip deserved a little narrative. We hiked a lot....I was shocked to learn that only 5% of the people who visit Yellowstone actually hike. I guess it's because there is so much to see on the ground level but I think the views from the mountain tops were the best.

Sepulcher Mountain
This is our first hike attempt. I call it an attempt because we weren't sure of the exact mileage starting out and before we reached the top we were already at 5 miles and we had to turn around and still go back 5 miles, so we didn't make it to the top of this one. (Day 1, we were just warming up)

This is a photo of the Grand Tetons which we were lucky enough to have time to drive down to these massive mountains. This park was just south of Yellowstone. We wished we would have allowed more time to hike the Tetons.

Bunsen Peak

This is the view from the top of Bunsen Peak. The elevation on this one was 8500ft. Can you see the itty bitty road with the parking lot.....that's where we started from.

Mt. Washburn

This hike is one of the most popular because it has an active fire tower at the top. It was 10, 200 ft.

Our tallest and most strenuous hike was Avalanche Peak which was 10,566 ft and straight up the mountain. It was very cloudy on that day and the pics weren't great enough to share but at least I can say we did it!

Yellowstone has it's own version of the Grand Canyon running through it with a huge waterfall. I could have stood here all day and watched it. This photo is used on many of the post cards for the park.

Also there are hot springs and geysers all over the place but here are just a few pics.

We saw an abundance of Bison and Elk. It was so nice to watch the animals in their natural habitat and not think of humans as their predators. I felt like we were just visiting in their world and as long as we kept our distance they didn't care. We also saw black bears, grizzlies, and a couple of wolves trying to attack the Bison.

We feel like we conquered Yellowstone and drove every square inch of it so we are glad to have this one down in our memories.

Built with Love

2010-06-20T21:01:00.006-03:00

I came home from shopping and lunch with some girlfriends today and Matt said "I built you something". I now have a cute little flower box on our shed! It' s the little things in life that make me smile! Now I just need to think of some other things before the "handyman" wears off :)

Spring Project

2010-05-28T09:22:00.008-03:00

Over the past two weekends we have been building a shed together. I'm sure our neighbors were thinking. "What the hell are those kids up to now?" One asked if we were building a boat house but I'm sure they were happy to see that we weren't "letting the neighborhood go". We've been wanting to do this for a while to clear some room in the garage. We had the perfect spot that we never utilized outside of our fence by the pond so it doesn't take away from our yard space. In 2 days we had the whole structure up and the 1st coat of paint on. I was a painting fool because we were racing against the rain. Now it is completely done and someone can't stop admiring his work. I am amazed at how fast we built this but it has been easier than our previous projects. It is an 8 x 12 and according to Matt we saved about $1500 by doing it ourselves so I'm satisfied.

The Man Cave

We are probably done with projects for this year because our summer trips are going to suck some money out of us. We leave for Yellowstone in 5 weeks and I can't wait to detach from society and explore a beautiful place with my favorite person!

Master Bath Remodel

2010-03-23T08:56:00.009-03:00

So after 8 weeks we are done with our bathroom remodel. This has been our winter project and one heck of a learning experience. We gutted the whole bathroom, which only took 2 hours between the two of us. So now we have tile floors, a tile shower, new vanity and fixtures, double sinks and a glass shower door. I can take credit for the design and labor but Matt did all the great tile work and plumbing which was the tedious stuff. I'm so glad we can work well together in such a small space :)

Before

After Before After Before After Before

After
Before

After

Recently we needed a break from our construction zone so we went hiking to Whitewater State Park near Richmond, IN. Since Cody has been such a good sport with us taking over his "bedroom" during the remodel we wanted to spend some QT with him so he got to go hiking too.

Cody and Me after lunchtime.

My teddy bear being lazy while we slave away in the bathroom.

Road Trip!

2010-01-09T13:39:00.003-03:00

So we road tripped it down to Florida recently when everyone thought we were flying. We have had that planned since August but just thought it would be fun to keep it a secret. We showed up at Kel's 3 hours before she thought she had to pick us up at the airport. I have to say that is the longest we have been stuck in a car with each other and we survived it. :)
The trip was nice with no major problems except for Georgia! Ugh! I would be happy to never drive through that state again. I've never been there and I think it's tainted for me now. There was so much holiday traffic and construction that it probably added 2 hours to our trip. We decided to stop for the night on the way down and back. I got awesome Hotel deals on Priceline by bidding my own price. It's a great idea if your not picky on your hotel by the way. They were both really nice hotels that I probably would have spent double on otherwise. We had such a great time having a low key week just hanging out and having Lucy entertain us! She has changed so much. I now say "oh my" all the time because she rubbed off on me. It was nice to have a week of no work, warmer weather, good food by Chef Mikolajczyk, cuddling with Bryan, playing with Lucy, and bonding with family.
On the way back we stopped in Chattanooga, TN and stayed in an older hotel in downtown. The hotel was really neat and the views around there were beautiful. We arrived very late that night because of the Georgia traffic that we didn't get to do anything in Chattanooga so we may have to make a trip back there one day.

Here Lucy is telling Uncle Matt "Oh my" because there are leaves on her slide. She tried cleaning them off herself.

Best Buddies!

2 Months.....No Post!!

2009-12-23T11:20:00.005-03:00

Wow it's been a while since I've blogged so to bring you up to speed on us since October......November was full of deer hunting with the outcome of 1 Doe. In December we celebrated Cameron's 1st B-day and the birth of a new nephew. We are leaving for Florida in a few days to meet him and we are super excited. This month we also reserved everything for our trip to Yellowstone. We were planning on going this year but with the economy we thought it would be smart to wait. Now we feel comfortable enough with everything that we are going next July. We will both be so glad to finally go, I feel like we've been planning this for 2 years now. We will be hiking mountains every day so I think next month I should start doing that thing they call "incline training" so I don't get my butt kicked.
It usually takes me a while to get in the Christmas spirit but with all the snow we've had lately it's here and I'm excited to see my little nephew open gifts on X-mas morning. After today we have 12 days off from work and I need all of them. Matt must be excited too because he felt the need to shout "Honey we're on vacation" when I was still asleep this morning.

So what's in store for the Sondgeroths in 2010......
I love love love to travel but I think next year has a lot of traveling in store for me for work and I hope to take Matt with me. Since my promotion at work this year I have been learning a lot of computer/IT things which I love and they are sending me to Baltimore, St. Louis, and Arizona next year to learn more. I can't go to Arizona and not see the Grand Canyon.
Also my bestest friend is having a baby so Seattle is on the list and then quick trips to California and New Orleans may also be in the works! Whew!

Fall in Brown County

2009-10-25T16:08:00.006-03:00

Last fall we went to Brown County, Indiana for the first time and we loved it so much we wanted to go back this year. This time we went to Yellowwood State Forest and hiked about 8 miles. It was perfect hiking weather yesterday. I liked this location so much more than Brown County State Park. It's not as populated with hikers and it seemed more like we were hiking in the woods than a man-made trail. This hiking spot probably ranks #2 for me.
Eventhough we were pretty beat after hiking we still managed to walk through little Nashville and have lunch. I love southern Indiana in the fall.

Update

2009-10-11T17:51:00.005-03:00

So I haven't blogged about the Biggest Loser at all. We are coming up on week 4 and it's going pretty good. We are both losing weight just at a slower pace than last time which was expected. Something that we did not do last time is allow any slip ups and this time we have because this is about a lifestyle change and in reality we will never give up ice cream for example so we just do the moderation thing. It's still working though. I was in the lead for the first couple of weeks and then Lana snuck up and took over. I've gotta watch out for her because I am determined to win this time.

Last weekend we went to Terre Haute to celebrate my brother's 18th B-day. We had a surprise party for him and he had no idea.( My family was actually able to keep a secret for a few weeks !!) We got to spend a lot of time with Cameron who is changing so fast. We babysat him Sunday morning for a while so he kept me and Uncle Matt very busy. He is very close to crawling but right now he just goes in circles on the floor. It's very funny to watch, he's not quite strong enough to get up on his knees. His new thing is jumping. His legs are very strong so he jumps pretty high off the ground while you are holding him.

Here is a sideways video of him jumping.

So this picture you will only understand and think is funny if you are a fan of "The Office". This week there was a wedding on the show that everyone has been waiting to happen since the show started. Kelly came up with the idea to have our own Office wedding party and dress up in wedding clothes. So here I am sporting a Bridesmaid dress. (So Kel we are looking forward to seeing pictures from your wedding party too since we couldn't make it to yours.)

This weekend we went to Turkey Run to do some hiking and enjoy the fall changes. These are the only pictures I could take before the camera died on me. Oops.

Sand Dunes and Pearl Jam

2009-08-25T15:42:00.007-03:00

This weekend we went to Indiana Dunes to do some hiking. The weather was perfect and the sand dunes kicked our butts. Of course we started with the most rugged trail that had several tall dunes that you have to hike up but the views of Lake Michigan at the top were worth it. (I need to figure out a way to rig up a sand dune in our workout room or the backyard if I didn't mind the stares from the neighbors)
The water was freezing but due to the current they wouldn't let us swim anyway. So when we walked the beach I kept telling myself we were in Florida.

Sunday we drove to Chicago from the dunes to see.....you guessed it....Pearl Jam in concert. We both love going to Chicago. This time we stayed in Greektown since we did downtown last time. Our hotel room had a balcony and we had a pretty good view of about half of downtown. I loved our hotel room, it was a nice upgrade from the hotel the night before.

The concert was awesome and we had great seats thanks to Matt's seniority in the fan club. It was a great weekend and if we wouldn't mind giving up money, a backyard, and peace and quiet, we could move there so it looks like that's out.

In the weeks to come we are going to start another Biggest Loser competition so be prepared for me to express many frustrations and a little bit of progress on the blog. Although we have kept off most of the weight from the last one we need motivation to keep going from there. Wish me luck since Matt has been doing a lot of strength training I think I can beat him this time.

Paradise in my backyard

2009-06-28T20:14:00.003-03:00

This evening I went on a quick trip to the beach........in my head. I was relaxing in our lounge chair out back and trying to get a little bit of sun when I started to feel like I was in paradise. The wind blowing through the willow trees could have passed as palms trees. The sun was hot and our pond was bright blue(granted our neighbor just treated it but oh well). If I squinted my eyes to only see the water in our pond I could pass that off for at least a lake. It was wonderful to not have to go that far for paradise. The only thing missing was white sand and a fruity drink with an umbrella! Hey if you don't have your dreams, than you have nothing right? Even Cody was enjoying the relaxation.

Summer Storms

2009-06-25T22:47:00.006-03:00

So believe it or not every once in a while I like to take a break away from being a Forensic Photographer and capture life. We had a storm front coming over our house tonight and it truley looked like the heavens above so I had to capture it. Eventhough I hate storms they are amazing to watch. I hope these photos make you feel as peaceful as they made me.

Nashville Vaca

2009-06-21T20:41:00.004-03:00

We just returned from our mini-vacation to Nashville, Tennessee and I would love to go back. We went there for a concert and did all the touristy Honky Tonk things. The weather was very hot and humid averaging about 96. The first day we stopped at this park that has a re-creation of the Parthenon in Greece. I have no idea why they built this in Nashville but it was really neat to see. Unfortunately these are the only pics we took while on our trip. We saw Eddie Vedder in concert and it was great. It was a very small theater and we were in the 8th row so you felt like he was singing directly to you. Nashville is known for their nightlife and they have several blocks of a variety of bars, most of them being country. We spent both of our evenings in the bars. I loved that you could go into 1 of probably 50 bars at any given time and hear live music at any time of the day. I would love to go back just for that. We were also able to tour the country music hall of fame and check out Opryland. It was a great vacation. I found a pic online of the main drag downtown.

Front Porch Refresh

2009-06-14T19:20:00.007-03:00

I have been wanting a screen door for the front for a very long time. I am a windows wide open, fresh breeze in the house kind of girl. We finally bought a very nice storm door with the help of my friend Jennifer.(Thanks again Jennifer for the anniversary gift card!) There were some other things I wanted to do to the entry but we were going to put them off and just install the storm door. Well during the process we realized that our old lock would hit the new handle on the storm door so we decided to go ahead and replace the lock on the front door. It was old and lose anyway but man those things are expensive. Then we decided to go ahead and do everything we wanted to do originally so quickly the prices started adding up. I painted the door a darker red and painted the trim. Everything looks so much better and I love having my front door open now. Of course we ran into problems along the way and it ended up being a two day project but it just wouldn't be a Sondgeroth remodel if we didn't have problems. I don't really have before pics but you can see the front door in our Landscape Remodel post.

Last weekend we were in Terre Haute helping my aunt move and then my brother move so I got some cute pics of Cameron. He is a very strong and happy little boy.

Landscape Complete

2009-05-02T17:56:00.005-03:00

We have completed our landscape project and it practically looks like a new house. The mulch makes all of our plants stand out now and I'm so glad we did it. We also decided to carry the edging and mulch into the back and that's what the last pic is of. I think we will have to take a little break from projects for a while.

Before

After

Garage Re-model

2009-04-26T21:19:00.004-03:00

So I know.....long time.....no post. I feel like we haven't been up to too much lately but with the weather warming up I'm sure we will be doing more. This weekend it felt like we were outside from sun-up to sun-down. Matt has been working on a project for a long time in the garage. He calls it "finishing" the garage eventhough it looked finished to me. According to him there was a crappy job done on the drywall tape when it was built so he ripped all that down and re-did it. He also added an outlet to a wall that had none and we did some major re-organization. Our garage does not always look as clean as the pics show, all of our stuff was in the driveway and we are considering getting a shed sooner than later. I helped him paint the walls and ceiling this weekend. It took several coats of paint and seriously took all day Friday and Saturday. We are both content not painting for a very long time. It looks great and like a brand new garage.

Before

After

So you would think that we would just have a lazy Sunday but we have already dug into our next major project....literally. We are updating our landscaping. Our house had a lot of really great existing landscaping when we bought it but a lot of the edging was worn and the mulch is pretty much non-existent. So those are the two things we are working on now. Today we have ripped up everything old, made a trip to Menards, and started laying down new landscape fabric. Considering how much area we have to cover we have made a big dent and will probably be finished next weekend. I will post pics then.

Guest Bath Re-model

2009-02-25T09:50:00.010-03:00

So our first re-model attempt is complete and it was a success. We are so glad that we picked a small room to tackle first. We did everything ourselves and it was a major learning experience. There were a lot of issues that came up and of course we went over budget but it is a new and bright bathroom so it was worth it. The cabinets and fixtures were outdated, the floor was ugly, and the toilet was small and ran all the time. We replaced everything except the cabinets. I wanted to attempt to save the cabinets so I painted them and put hardware on them and I think they turned out ok. We layed down a tile floor, well I should say Matt because that was his major project and it looks great! New toilet, new light fixture, new sink and faucet, and we painted. The flash on my camera changes the color of everything but the room is painted a light yellow. I have to say the pictures don't do the room justice but I guess you will just have to come over and see it.......and by the way we are for hire if anyone wants to re-model :) The first pic is the before.
(Does anyone know if I can use my swiffer wet jet on tile????)

New Addition

2009-02-17T13:42:00.004-03:00

After a lot of recent struggles with my Grand Am I finally bought a new car. I knew it would happen sometime this year but the issues with the Grand Am were costing more than the car was worth so it was time. And it got to the point where I would say a little prayer on my way to work each morning. I have been doing a lot of research on cars and decided that the Honda Accord was best for me and my daily commute. I found one that fits all my criteria and bought it on Valentine's Day. I love it and I know it will be a great car for me. It is a 2008 and is the fanciest car I have owned so I am still trying to adjust to it but once I get the windows tinted it will feel more like my own. And yes Mom and Wanda there are 4 doors because I was planning for the way way distant future :) We have been remodeling our bathroom and the car issues have postponed the completion date because of all the time it has taken from our weekends so I hope to post pictures next weekend.

Biggest Loser Update

2009-01-11T13:23:00.000-03:00

So I haven't updated on the losing weight thing in a while. We are continuing to stick to the changes we made during the Biggest Loser competition. I am still tracking my weight with the women and Matt is tracking his mileage ran for the year to see how far he can go. After taking some time off during the holidays we are back on track and back to our end of competition weight. I have a goal I would like to meet at the beginning of February so we'll see if I can do it. Matt is around the weight he needs to be so he is focusing on running and strength training. I posted some pics to show our before and current progress. The first one is the most current picture of us and the second one was taken in September right before we started the contest.

My work and his work both just started a Biggest Loser contest and we were glad to say that we would not be participating because at this point we couldn't win.

Oh and here are the latest pictures received from Terre Haute that I had to share :)

Year of Babies

2009-01-02T21:56:00.014-03:00

So in 2008 my life was blessed with more babies than I was use to being around. I went from no baby experience to doing any silly thing possible to make a baby laugh. I had three additions in my life and I wanted to share some photos of these precious little ones because I can't believe how fast they are changing. I love all three of them very much.

First born was my niece, Lucy Sky, born on April 18th. She is a wonderful baby and I hope I can be blessed with a baby just as pleasant as she is. She is my doll baby.

Lucy when she was born and the 2nd one is her at 8 months. It's amazing how they change.

Born next is my 2nd cousin, but he can call me Aunt Manna too if he wants. Kiyren Michael was born on June 30th at a whopping 10 lbs. He is very sweet and likes to snuggle and flirt. I can't believe how big he is.

The 1st pic is Kiyren at 4 weeks and the 2nd one is him at 5 months. He's probably 3 times the size of my little Lucy.

The third addition is still just a little guy and was born on December 16th, my nephew, Cameron Michael. He is precious and I could just hold him all day. He seems to like it when you sing to him and I noticed that he hums a lot. I can't wait to see more of his personality come out. My brother is doing great as a young dad and I am proud of him, but lucky for him (or unlucky)he has these two women to keep his butt in line.

More Baby Pics

2008-12-23T23:59:00.005-03:00

I haven't been very good at taking pictures of Cameron but I hate disturbing him when he looks so cozy snuggled up in blankets. Hopefully I will get a lot more over Christmas. He is doing very well and is such a good baby. He is just so precious that I might try and bring him home with me :) Matt says that he is the new man in my life and I can't argue.

Cameron Michael Groza

2008-12-16T21:14:00.006-03:00

My nephew has finally arrived. He was born at 4:52pm December 16th. He was 7lbs 5oz, eventhough he looks tinier to me. Mom and baby are doing fine. Debra had a really hard time and pushed for 1 hour and 10 minutes but she was a trooper. He is adorable and was wide awake for a while after being born. He looks so much like his mama and like my brother in his eyes. I will post more pics later!

Dylan and Debra after being up all night and waiting for the fun to begin.

Back from the dead.

2008-12-12T16:18:00.004-03:00

Let me tell you that fastest way to lose weight is to get the little bug that I had swimming around in my stomach the last couple days. I just recovered from what I think was stomach flu. I've never had it before and it was the sickest I've ever been. Several people have been sick at work and I have been trying my hardest not to get it but it didn't work. My body wanted to get everything out as fast as possible that I dropped 6 lbs in one night.
It started the night of my birthday when Matt made me Lasagna and dessert. I had felt fine all day but as soon as I was done eating dessert my tummy started making the craziest noises. I won't go into details but I was sick all night and missed two days of work. It wasn't food poisoning...believe me I wish I would have recovered that quickly. Matt was a good doctor though, running to the store early in the morning to get me 7up. I'm still stuck to eating toast and chicken noodle soup but at least I'm able to eat something. (Wanda this parts for you) The first night when Matt was pouring me some 7up I heard him stirring it with a spoon so I asked him why he was stirring my 7up and he said that's how my mom use to do it to get some of the bubbles out. It was very cute. So now when he is sick I'm guessing he's going to request me to stir his 7up.
So I am back to work and though I am not fully energized because I am still down those 6 lbs, I am feeling a ton better. Just no one plan on me coming over for Lasagna and cheesecake anytime soon.

I've been tagged - 10 things that make me happy

2008-12-05T12:15:00.002-03:00

10 things that make me happy (in random order)
1. Quite time with the Lord
2. Vacations/Traveling
3. Spending time with my awesome hubby
4. Time with my family
5. Time with my friends
6. Reading a good book
7. Shopping
8. Saving money
9. A clean house
10. Holidays

The Biggest Loser Is.....

2008-11-26T10:49:00.002-03:00

Matt! After 10 weeks of hard work our competition is over. Everyone did great and it was a lot of fun seeing how everyone did each week. Matt lost 32 lbs and I lost 17. We both exceeded the goals we set for ourselves for the duration of the competition. I never imagined that we would lose that much but I'm so glad we did it. I really learned what the human body was capable of doing when you put your mind to it. We are both hoping to continue with exercising since we are already in the routine and hopefully we won't need to do another comeptition when the next season starts.

Fall and Thanks

2008-10-19T09:46:00.006-03:00

Yesterday we went to Brown County Indiana to enjoy the fall views. We walked around downtown Nashville for a while and I couldn't believe how crowded it was but the weather was wonderful. Then we went to Brown County State Park and did some hiking. The trees there have turned a lot more than up here but we still have a ways to go. (I posted some pics for you Kel so you can see what to look forward to).
On the way home we stopped in Edinburgh that has a huge outlet mall and did some shopping. I bought some baby stuff for my nephew on the way and Matt bought some much needed new running shoes.

The "thanks" part of this post has to do with the Biggest Loser Competition. Matt and I were just saying the other night that we couldn't believe how far we have come in 5 weeks and we owe a big thanks to Kel. If she never would have thought of the idea we would still be sitting on the couch thinking about it. This competition is just what I needed, even if I don't win it. Thanks Kel!

I also owe a big thanks to Matt's cousin Megan. I have been jogging while listening to the radio for a while now and all the commercials and talking distract me when I'm running. I remembered that I had a little MP3 Player that Megan helped me snatch up last year at a X-mas party. It has been the greatest thing for me! I stay so focused and have increased everything this past week. Thanks Megan for helping me scheme to get that!

I also need to give thanks to Brooke for all of her advice to get me through my week of exhaustion. It has been better and I learned to listen to my body more and change things up if need be.

Week 4 Exhaustion

2008-10-09T09:02:00.002-03:00

They say when you are dieting/exercising that you are suppose to keep a journal so I've decided this will be it.
There isn't really too much to say about week 3 of the biggest loser, it was pretty steady and I was able to jog at least 30 minutes without stopping for every workout. Week 4 is another story. I thought this was suppose to be easier with time but a major case of exhaustion has kicked in. Sunday started out ok. We hiked a 6 mile trail in Terre Haute and I even ran a little of it. But every workout this week I have had to force myself to jog the 30 minutes that I did all last week. I think my body is telling me that I need a day off since I workout 6 days a week but I'm mentally not ready for that. I can't figure out what's going on. I've tried drinking more water and stretching more but I am still very tired. Friday will be my rest day and I am looking forward to it.
This past weekend was our first chance to test ourselves while visiting family in Terre Haute. For three weeks we have been in our routine at home and been able to still eat healthy on the weekends. We did pretty good this weekend and there wasn't an increase on the scale from it.
This next weekend is an even bigger test when we go to Fowler where there's a lot of good food and we usually stay there longer. Fowler in the fall at my mother-in-laws could be trouble, but luckily she's in the competition too.

Week 2 Frustrations

2008-09-28T09:06:00.008-03:00

Week 2 of the Biggest Loser Contest has been everything that they said it would be for me.....frustrating. I thought I was doing well by keeping up with Matt the first week but now what they say about men and women losing weight is kicking in. I ate the same as I did the first week and I increased my workouts and I'm seeing nothing like I did. I am going to blame it on muscle gain because I've being doing a lot more besides cardio which I probably should have waited to do. I can feel the results I just can't see them on the scale anymore. We even did a long workout this weekend together and I saw no change from that. We hiked an 8.5 mile trail yesterday in Zionsville. I looked at the calories that we burned and it was a ridiculous amount yet no change on the scale. We went out to eat for the first time in two weeks to our favorite restaurant in town and both had salads. That was tough for us considering they just got a new menu but we wanted to test ourselves. Matt on the other hand is still doing awesome. I am very proud of him and I admire his willpower. The only downside is we just bought him some new clothes that we will probably have to replace at the end of this thing if not sooner. He hit 5 miles on the treadmill this week, I dont think I will ever pull that off. So anyway I personally am ready to get this week overwith and start week 3.

Biggest Loser & Strategy

2008-09-22T09:50:00.002-03:00

For those of you who don't know, Matt and I are participating in a family biggest loser competition. It has been a lot of work but we have been really supportive of each other this first week and I think our hard work has shown. I lost 6.6 lbs and him 7.2 lbs in the first week. And yes we did it the healthy way. No starving, puking, or diet pills. When I was hungry I ate, but instead of chips or a candy bar I had fruit. I don't think it will be like this in the next 9 weeks but I could surprise myself.
We both put on a few pounds before the competition started on purpose to get our weight up and then I think we put our bodies into shock when we started working out so much. A lot of the weight lost is from sweating so much. We have been eating a lot better too. I cut out pop and a lot of extra calories and we are both watching our portions. I don't think I have drank so much water and ate so many fruits and veggies in my whole life. But we both feel great and I hope to stick with this. That's pretty much our strategy, getting our butts moving and eating a whole lot better. He's been running more distance wise and I got to the point where I can start jogging for part of my workout. It all seems to be working for us.

Chi-ca-go

2008-08-25T21:32:00.015-03:00

This past weekend we went to Chicago to see Eddie Vedder in concert and we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it. I didn't realize how big Chicago was and we walked almost everywhere. We went to Navy Pier, Buckingham Fountain( from Married with Children), Millenium Park, Sears Tower, and we took an architectural boat tour. We had a great time!

Eddie Vedder Concert. It's hard to see but if you look at the back up singers, the one on the right is Sean Penn. He directed the movie, "Into the Wild" which Eddie Vedder did the soundtrack for, which most of the songs from this concert were from that movie.

I tried to take some video at the concert but I felt like one of those jerks who distracts everyone else with their camera so at least here is some audio of the last song he played.

New Stadium Tour

2008-08-16T17:42:00.011-03:00

Today we went with friends to tour the new Lucas Oil Stadium for the Colts. I have been driving past the construction almost every day while at work and I kind of wanted to see the finished product, I also wanted to see where my tax money went. It was very busy and most of the time we felt like a herd of cattle but it was nice to get to see it all. We did get to go down to the field and walk around but we couldn't see the locker rooms like they said we could. I don't know if I would do it over again considering how much we had to go through. I do think the Colts deserve a new stadium, the RCA dome looks very outdated next to it, I just hate whenever they tear something down, it seems like a waste of materials.

Also here are some fun pics of Cody's new thing. He likes to sit up on his butt and give his Manna hugs. It's very sweet. He's becoming more and more snuggly the older he gets.

Busy Week followed by a busy weekend

2008-07-29T22:21:00.006-03:00

Last week I was in training all week for some new equipment that our lab will be receiving. The equipment is used on the A&E tv show Crime 360. The tv show is actually in Indy right now and for the next 8 months filming our crime scenes for their show. It's all pretty exciting but I am hoping to dodge the tv cameras. The equipment is like a camera that scans the whole room and lets you view it on a computer. It's really more advanced than I can explain it, you would need to watch the show to see an example. I had to miss the end of the training due to sad news that my great grandmother passed away. She lived a wonderful life but her 88 years was starting to wear on her and she will be very missed.
http://www.tribstar.com/obituaries/local_story_205221241.html

While I was home for the funeral I got to spend a lot of time with my cousin and her new baby boy. It was so much fun to snuggle with him while she took a nap :) The whole family enjoyed having a baby around. They even started to put a little pressue on me.

Saturday we went to a Sondgeroth Reunion/B-day party at Racoon lake. It was a lot of fun and I wish I had pictures from the day. Matt was really excited to hang out with this side of his family that he doesn't get to see as much. We spent most of the day on the lake and only came back to eat. There were a lot of little funny happenings that ended up just being bonding experiences with his family. The food was wonderful, the people were wonderful, and I'm really glad that we went.

First Post

2008-07-19T23:33:00.006-03:00

So we finally caved and started a blog so we could stay in touch with family and they could see what we have been up to. I don't know how good I will be at keeping it current because I am also part of the Myspace and Facebook craze so I can keep in touch with my distant friends. Matt isn't into blogging so this may be just about me but I will try to keep him included :)

This summer we have been pretty active around Lebanon for once and trying to get involved in the town that we have lived in for three years. We went to the 2 week long 4th of July Festival here in town and enjoyed the activites and now the Boone County Fair is going on. We use to say that we were hanging out with the "locals" and now I think it hit us that we are the "locals".
With the summer heat kicking in we tried to do some indoor stuff today. We went to the Indianapolis Musuem of Art to see the Exhibit from Egypt. It had mummy tombs and art and a lot of really amazing things. Egypt is one of the places I would love to visit but I was hoping to get a little taste of it just in case I never make it there. Matt was a good sport eventhough he doesn't have as much of an appreciation for art but I do think he appreciated the history of all of it. Besides he got to go to Rock Bottom Brewery afterwards. We love that place. We also went to see the new batman movie tonight. It was excellent eventhough it was long.
Tomorrow will probably be a wonderful lazy Sunday since we were gone all day!