Getting All Caught Up!

Hello and welcome back to Simply Maren, all maintenanced and ready to go! It was a little touch and go there for a little bit, I was really worried. But all I needed to do was deactivate all my plug-ins and activate them one at a time to figure out where the problem was. Darn ?ShareThis? button! Grr!

I have about a million pictures from yesterday and today, so this is promising to be a long post. Get ready.

Yesterday all started with some breakfast with my dad, brother, grandmother? and surprise! My uncle was in town from San Diego. So cool! We went to Sang?s, a local diner. I?ve been learning about my new camera, and this was my first picture of food with the Canon 20D!

It?s not great, but at least it?s not blurry ! I need to learn how to manually adjust the white balance ASAP!

I ordered a ?Light Breakfast?. Can you believe this was a light breakfast? I chose a whole wheat pancake rather than buttermilk, or blueberry. Maybe next time I?ll be a problem customer and attempt to get a whole wheat blueberry! The whole wheat was really good, and the waitress was nice enough to give me two eggs since I didn?t want bacon, sausage or ham. It also came with some slightly pitiful fruit, but it was still tasty.

After breakfast I raced home to shower because my uncle, grandma, dad and I were going to a church group reunion. My dad and uncle?s church group had a get together with people who came from all over the country, so I was brought along to represent the next generation of Kennedy?s.

We stopped for some sandwiches at the San Juan Bautista Mission, but we didn?t have time for a tour . I did find some fun new friends to picture though?

Yes, that is a rooster, and yes it is a whopping 5 feet from me and my lunch! I was slightly worried, even before this happened!

Bad Chicken! They were surprisingly bold, must be used to people feeding them. That?s my uncle, innocently enjoying his burrito? with an eager onlooker !

There was even a momma with about five baby chicks. They were so cute, and they really do follow their mom like a shadow. They were like a little cluster always circling in around her no matter how far away she got.

This was my lunch. I ordered a vegetarian sandwich on a sourdough roll, which was holy delish! It had mustard, lettuce, tomato, pepper jack cheese, and red onion. I ate the whole thing , I planned on just eating half. But it ended up being perfect because I didn?t get to have dinner until 10pm! I also added about a third of a bag of salt & pepper POP Chips, which I love and some unsweetened tea, so perfect for summer and sitting outside eating on a picnic table.

Back off chicken, that?s MY lunch!

I mingled with my parents and grandparent?s friends all afternoon then rushed back over to the theater to dress the kids for the closing show of Peter Pan. I?m so sad it?s over. I?ve seen so many shows at the children?s theater and they are all good, but some are better than others and this season?s Peter Pan definitely tops the charts for me .

I enjoyed an iced latte with soy on my way in, for some filling factor!

Still working on my picture taking skills? this one needed ton?s of help in Adobe Lightroom . Looks pretty good now though, doesn’t it?!?!

Once home I was all about this left over veggie pizza (complete with creamy garlic sauce) from Papa Murphy?s! Veggie with the garlic sauce? the only way to go, seriously! Then I was off to sleep because I was exhausted!

I revived one of my most favorite breakfasts, and I tried my MaraNatha peanut butter for the first time .

How was it? How was it? So worth the wait and price and ?hell with it moment? that?s for sure.

I really like this picture. Probably my favorite one from these two days of frustrated experimenting. I toasted a sandwich thin then topped both halves with peanut butter. On one side I added some raisins; on the other side I added a drizzle of agave so good! And of course I washed it all down with some Seattle?s Best Coffee with milk and a tiny bit of sugar.

It was a family lunch day, a ritual one? it?s every Sunday, and if you?re not on board yet you better get there because Sunday will always be family lunch day!

My Dad chose today so we went to Applebee?s. I ordered this.

It?s a lunch pair! The tomato basil soup, which is killer good, and the shrimp and spinach salad. Which came with bacon . I tried to pick it off but it was eventually decided that it wasn?t going to happen. I?m actually pretty sad because the few leaves I did get down tasted really good.

After lunch my grandmother decided we absolutely had to have some dessert so we opted for Main Street Treats, aka froyo, instead of one of the desserts from the restaurant. I was key in this decision, but I did it ever so sneakily so?shhh!

I tried the Cinnabon flavor, which was amazing, but I knew it was too rich and I wouldn?t be able to finish a whole one so I opted for the Pomegranate Blueberry Tart (yes, again) with some slivered almonds on top. One word: Delish!

Complete with a pink spoon! Can?t get any better. Well now that my OCD can move on to the next task since I finally have a post in the books today, and all the pictures from yesterday off the memory card I?m off and running. I?m almost one up in the never ending battle against Laundry!

Have a great afternoon friends!