Las Vegas!!!

Our family are big time reality television junkies and one of our family's favorite shows is American Ninja Warrior. In April, Steven, Hannah, and I went to the Los Angeles taping and loved it. So when the tickets became available for the National Finals in Las Vegas, I jumped at the chance for tickets!! 

I have lived my entire life in Southern California, about 3 1/2 hours from Las Vegas, and HAD never been until this last June!! I've half jokingly suggested Vegas as a get away for Steven and I over the years and he's never liked that idea because he hates Vegas, or he did over 20 years ago when he last went. I've always wanted to go.

It happened that Steven would be in London for business the week of the Finals and would not be able to go, but that didn't stop us girls! I love road trips and had no problem going just the three of us.

Our tickets were for 8:00pm on a Thursday night. Because I wanted to make the most of our time and see all I could see, we left our house at 6:00am. We made it to Vegas by 9:30am and for the next 6 hours, we walked half the strip, in and out of all the big hotels and shops and malls.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! I love Vegas, I love the glitz, the lights, the big hotels, the big gaming tables in the casinos, all of it. I would go back in a heart beat!!!

Mind you, I know that this is "Sin City" and there is a lot of improper stuff going on around there. I was warned about literature that we'd see or try to be handed and I was warned of the street walkers. But I gave my girls the lecture ahead of time about staying close, not accepting ANYTHING from anyone, and to listen to me. And let me tell you, our experience was absolutely pleasant!! We saw nothing inappropriate, was given nothing, and were not bothered in any shape or form. It might have helped that we did not walk The Strip after dark, but we had no problems in broad daylight. 

We checked into our hotel about 4:00 and freshened up before heading out to where we needed to be for American Ninja Warrior. The ANW experience itself wasn't successful, we stood in a line for over two hours before obtaining a wristband that sat us where we absolutely could not see anything. And because so few of people had made it past Stage 1 (the night before) there was a slim chance that anyone would even make it to where we were seated (Stage 4). So we left shortly after 11:00pm. We went back to our hotel and got Starbucks at one of the three locations in our hotel, and then went for a drive down The Strip to see the lights and glitz of the night!

The next day we got up and did the other half of The Strip, exploring some more hotels and shops, etc. before heading for home mid afternoon. While I wouldn't try for tickets for ANW Finals again, I would definitely go back to Vegas without any hesitation! It was a great start to our summer vacation adventures for the girls and I!

Hellllooooo from Disneyland!!!

The girls have been in school 3 weeks now and with a longer time frame between dropping them off and picking them up, today was a perfect day for working out of my Anaheim office! 

It's a beautiful day! Crowds aren't too bad, nice breeze, but really, I'm just happy to be here! And yes, I am here alone. 

As I was walking through the parking structure to get to the tram, there were so many moms strapping their kids into the stroller, loading it up for a fun Disney day ahead, just as I did for many years! I was never afraid to come to Disneyland by myself with the girls like so many moms I do know. It's hard to believe that one of those girls could technically and legally drive herself to Disneyland!! 

Today, there are a lot of summer day camps in the park. I imagine the majority of these kids are in summer camp as a result of both parents working. How neat that they get to have such Dave tired during the summer break! And at the same time, I am so very grateful to be a Stay at Home mom who is able to take her girls on summer time adventures! 

A New Way of Eating

For years, I've suffered from chronic headaches. It wasn't uncommon for me to have a headache 6-7 days out of the week, ranging from migraines, to sinus headaches, to hormonal headaches.  Over the counter medicines absolutely did nothing for my headaches and I did not want to go to the doctor and get put on some heavy medication.

Wanting to try the homeopathic route,  I went to to an essential oils party last Fall. I learned which oils worked for headaches, and I purchased some outside of that party at a local health food store. They worked a little, but not a whole lot.

For months a friend kept telling me I should go see her chiropractor for my headaches. And for months, I kept saying I was going to go, I should go, etc. The first week in February I did it. I saw this chiropractor who also specialized in wellness and nutrition. My life has been forever changed since seeing Dr. Brian.

The first month, I was put on a special diet, whereas I ate foods off an approved food list. It was free of sugars, preservatives, artificial foods, processed foods, etc, etc. I was clean / whole eating, taking a variety of supplements as well. Dr. Brian diagnosed me with a fungus (candida) in my intestines and the new diet and supplements would ail that from my body. A month later, I was fungus free, but most importantly..... I was HEADACHE FREE!!!!!

Through my new way of eating, and with Dr. Brian's help, it was discovered that I have a sensitivity to soy!!!! I also have a dairy sensitivity, which I kinda new I had.

From there, I did a 10 day liver detox and had other supplements added. I lost 25lbs in about 7 weeks!!

From the start, I became an avid label reader! I never knew how much crap was in our food. All the preservatives, added fillers, etc, are not good for our bodies! I am astonished at how much better I feel and I didn't even realize how crappy I felt!!

It was sometime during the second month of my new way of eating, that I took away all the breakfast processed foods my girls ate. Our mornings are crazy and early and convenience foods (frozen waffles, frozen pancakes, french toast sticks, breakfast corn dogs, etc) were always readily available in the mornings. I stopped buying it all together, and now the girls have Cheerios, egg burritos, homemade waffles, homemade french toast. Since then, I've also slowly started getting away from the processed lunchbox snacks and replacing them with homemade cookies, although it's been hard the last month with it being so hot and not wanting to turn the oven on!


It was also at the end of February, that Steven and I started working out on our Bowflex three times a week for strength training. When I started out, my total weight volume was 3,900 lbs spreadout in 7 exercises.  And now, my total weight volume is 21,300 lbs!! Tonights workout is my 75th workout! I'm stronger, I can feel definition in my biceps and triceps.

I continue to clean/whole eat with very little refined sugar in my diet. Once a Milk Chocolate Girl, I am now a lover of dark chocolate!!!! I also stay away from processed foods.

Unfortunately, I've been experiencing a plateau in my weight loss for the last 4 months. But Dr. Brian keeps giving me tips and advice and I'm currently working on getting in 10 servings of vegetables a day and really boosting up my protein intake. It is a challenge to say nonetheless!!

But I feel better, I only suffer from headaches if I accidentally eat something with soy in it (soy is literally in EVERYTHING!!! Soybean oil, protein, etc). Choosing and watching what I eat now a days isn't only about wanting to loose weight, but it boils down to not wanting to feel crappy as a result of eating certain foods!

Hello, My Name is Darcy...

Hello, my name is Darcy and I used to be an avid blogger on all three of my blogs.

And then, well, a busy life set in, but I'm not really sure that's a good excuse. I was a ton better at blogging when my girls were little!

I've not really been "Mommy Busy" for a few years. Oh I've still been busy - playing taxi driver to two different schools with two different start and dismissal times, etc. But our girls are now 16 and almost 12, they are pretty self sufficient at this age.

At any rate, it's my goal to get back to blogging. I know, I know, I've said it before, but I'm really going to try and follow through!