Day 5 Of My Cleanse

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Well, as it turns out coffee is the hardest thing. I did anticipate it being hard, but it ends up to be really challenging when I am making coffee for my husband (yes, I am a sweet wife) and it smells so good. Instead I opt for green tea, which has some caffine in it so the coffee withdrawl headache has not really set in. What this is helping with is getting me to eat a real breakfast, before I would just have a cup of coffee which would fill me up, now I need to have something a little heartier, so I guess that is a good thing. Another aspect that has been challenging is the clutter clean out, I know it needs to be done but I just haven’t done it. I am not always thinking of it and over the last few days we have had a bunch of snow days and our schedules have been all turned around. In any event, as I mentioned in my last post, this is really about self control and taking out things that are not good for me. Which is why I am contemplating bringing coffee back. The last two days I have taken the bus into work and stopped at Starbucks. Yesterday was a decaf latte, today was a Vanilla Rooibos Tea Latte – both very good, both without sugar or sweetner. The question is, which is better for me, a cup of coffee at home or stopping and spending money for a warm treat?  In the long run, its probably better just to have the coffee at home. I am considering bringing the coffee back on Monday, after one whole week without it. The idea for the cleanse was mainly self control, but also I was hoping to feel better too, possibly lose some weight, etc. For the most part I feel the same, I have lost maybe 1 pound, but I am proud of myself for resisting the urge to drink or eat sweets. Even with my husband’s birthday and all the snow days, lots of time on our hands and not one treat or indulgence. That’s pretty good self control. For next week and moving forward I am going to try my best to incorporate the clean out of the clutter and if I decide to bring coffee back, I will limit it to one cup a day and possibly take something else out, maybe white flour or carbs after noon. We will see how it goes. Until Next Time – thanks for reading, kg

Starting My Cleanse Today

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Yesterday was not my favorite day. Between driving in the snow in Seattle and outlying areas, which made all our plans for the day fail. We would have had a much better day if we had just stayed home and relaxed, but who knew. The roads were fine in Ballard, but that was about it. So after a few hours on snowy roads, white knuckle driving for a mom not used to or comfortable driving in the snow, I was happy when we were finally safe at home. But then the sick stomach set in, not sure if was the sushi from Factoria mall (although everyone else was fine), or settling stress nerves making me sick or a bout of the flu. But as I write now, I feel a bit better, but still nervous about eating. In any event as I held my head over the toilet I decided, maybe it was the break I took that set this in motion, and then I figured it was time to start my cleanse. The things I plan on eliminating for a month don’t sound good when you are sick, so starting today I am giving up alcohol, drugs, coffee and added sugar and sweets. Another couple aspects of the cleanse is the clutter clean out. I will also take 10-20 minutes (minimum) to clear the clutter from somewhere in my house each day. 10 minutes is the minimum, but hopefully it can spark bigger projects. Andrew would also like to include a challenge of less meat and less processed food which are also good changes that we can strive for.

We will see how it goes, I am going to try my best, I may go for decaf coffee since I love the taste, but the goal will to be just take these things out of the mix to see if I can have the self control to last. I am prepared for the no coffee headache and I am sure the others will be easier. And now I will also promise my family and those around me that I will not complain, as this all self induced.

Holiday On the Road

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As we settle into the new year, I wanted to jot down some of the highlights of the holidays. This year for Christmas my family hit the road and headed South to California. The idea was a fun, family vacation with my parents, my sisters, their families and my little brother. We planned to start the holidays at my aunts in Camarillo, CA and spend the rest of the trip in the quaint beach town, Huntington Beach, CA. My husband and I decided to mix up the trip (and save some money) by driving down. I think this was one of our best choices of the trip. It was very relaxing driving down the 101 through the Redwood Forest, along the Pacific Coast, seeing all the beauty that is out there. During the trip through the Red Woods we discovered another traveling company, 7cees.org (looks like a very cool organizaiton). We made a detour into San Francisco so our girls could see the Golden Gate Bridge and met a friend in Palo Alto (thanks for the cookies April!). We took our time and enjoyed the ride. And of course, as I promised my girls we made sure to drive through a tree!

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On Christmas Eve, we started our day by watching the surfers and playing at Pismo Beach. Then we arrived at our hotel to swim and freshen up before we enjoyed the Seven Fishes Dinner with my extended Sicilian Family. There was plenty to eat and drink and lots of songs sung and laughs had. It is always a treat to meet new cousins and connect with the ones we don’t see very often.

Christmas in a hotel room is an interesting adventure, with 2 little girls that still believe, the story of how Santa finds us in our hotel room, gets in and puts out presents is actually a little creepy. I am pretty sure my 8 year old knows whats going on but she doesn’t want to let on. On Christmas morning the presents appeared and we tore them apart and then enjoyed some complimentary breakfast at the hotel! Christmas in California is another interesting experience, the sun was shining, it was warm and I was able to take a walk with no coat – what a concept. I do enjoy the snow on Christmas, but if there is no snow, I will take the sun!

The next day we headed South again, on to Huntington with a stop in LA to visit with the cousins. We visited Kermit the Frog’s house (a neighbor of cousin S & H), the Hollywood walk of Stars, met Shrek and ton of other crazy characters, we took an awesome walk in the hills and had some delicious Mexican food on Hollywood Blvd. When we arrived in Huntington Beach, we were the last ones, which means we got last pick on the rooms. Of course, I don’t like to complain but unfortunately our room had 2 doors and was basically a breezeway to both sides of the house. Needless to say, not much privacy. But of course that didn’t stop us from having fun. We completely enjoyed the Beach, we took runs & walks on the beach trail, Andrew and I ran almost 7 miles barefoot on the beach. The girls had a fun day splashing in the water. I spent that afternoon paranoid they were going to get pulled into the riptide. I figure if I lived in CA near a beach, that is something I would have to get over.

Of course when in So Cal, you can’t miss Disneyland! We started by fueling up at IHOP, which included another cousin visit! Then we hit the park. My sister Chrissy took charge and we all followed. I tried to make sure all kids were accounted for and then just followed along. Even though the park reached maximum capacity (80,000 people) at 10:30am, we still got on all the great rides, we learned the 5 year old twin cousins both love roller coasters and we had a super, fun time.

During the entire trip we had tons of amazing dinners and lots of lively conversations. And still fit in plenty of downtime. We did smores on the beach with our big bon fire which is so cool in December. And we watched lots of surfers catch some amazing waves. It is such an amazing culture – the Beach Life – get up, go surfing, head to work. Or take a run on the beach, pop into the ocean, then on to real life. I definitely think I could get used to it. To finish the year and the end of our trip, we spent New Year’s Eve day exploring Marina Del Ray by sailboat, another side trip to visit cousins S&H. The evening of NYE was mellow as we had to pack up and travel home the next day.

Overall the week was great. I was happy to spend time with my family that I don’t see very often. Since my sister and her family live in Virgina and my brother is in Montana, these vacations are the only chance we get to spend time together. I am grateful we had the opportunity to have this trip. I had some great talks and walks with my family and I am happy for that. As for the romantic, quiet vacation with my husband, well, that we will have to plan another time. This was not that trip. This was about the larger family, cousins hanging out together, family dinners and tons of chaos. After this trip, I am ready for another, the trip down the coast is a fun adventure that I hope we get to try again. Maybe another trip to Disneyland or just a week to hang out on a new beach! We will just have to wait and see, until next time. — kg

Sorry Friends No Christmas Cards This Year

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Sorry Friends No Christmas Cards This Year. It’s true, I decided that this year we will be skipping the tradition of holiday cards. Although I truly love December mail – especially when I open the mail to find only catalogs and holiday cards! I really do love getting cards from friends and seeing photos of their family and their craftiness, but this year I decided to skip it. My new year’s resolution for 2011 was to consume less. True story. I wrote it down. It seems reasonable that with that as a resolution even if I didn’t hold true to it all year-long, I should try to finish strong at the end of the year. I decided that an electronic message would help in my efforts to consume less and could be a bit more personal this year. So, instead of a card I am posting my first public blog to my friends and family.

Here is a recap of our 2011 – overall it was a great year. I started a new job at Phillips Real Estate Services, after working in property management for almost 5 years, I took on a new role and I am now in charge of all the marketing for the company, while still keeping my sales license, so I can help any friends in need of buying or selling their homes. Andrew has been plugging along at UW and is enjoying all the perks of a government employee. Siena is in 2nd grade, loves her teacher and her friends and is always looking to learn new things. This year in her class she dissected owl pellets and she reconstructed the bones of a mouse … so cool. Nadia is just about to turn 5 and can not wait for her birthday. She goes to all day preschool and also enjoys her friends. She is looking forward to kindergarten next year. She loves music and most days you can find her turning up the CD player and dancing in the mirror!

The early winter months you will generally find this Gorohoff crew shredding the slopes at Alpental. 2011 was the first year that Nadia was able to take lessons and she loved it. Siena also turned the corner for skiing and is now going down double black diamonds, I am certain by the end of this season she will be better than me – but that really won’t take much, she already is more adventurous than me!

In March of 2011, Andrew and I ran the National Marathon in Washington DC. We had a great race, we ran the whole time together. We were thankful that my sister, Debbie, and her family (with our kids too) were able meet us on the race course to cheer us on. I was literally texting her while running so we knew where they would be and I still beat my Portland Marathon time (from 10.10.10) by 30 minutes! After the marathon, both our families spent the rest of the week in Shenandoah National Park and exploring Virginia and DC, we visited both Thomas Jefferson’s and George Washington’s estates – pretty amazing places. Here are some photos from that trip. Please excuse the crazy cavemen photos, Andrew downloaded a random app from the Museum of Natural History, which turned all our faces into cavemen, its kind of creepy!

The spring and summer months we did a lot of running (Seattle Rock & Roll 1/2 marathon and my annual Ragnar Relay with my sister Chrissy and great friends). Andrew spent 3 long days running/hiking around Mt. Rainier’s Wonderland Trail. Although you couldn’t tell by his feet, he did say he had a good time and surprisingly, he said would do it again – not sure his teammates would agree. Since Andrew and I are always about fairness, since he did his man-cation (hiking Rainier), I decided I needed my own little get away, so I got to go on the Yoga Momma Retreat at Sleeping Lady retreat in Leavenworth, WA. An amazing weekend with friends, yoga and relaxation. So wonderful, I can’t wait for next year!

The highlight of the summer and possibly the year was our road trip to the Southwest, we took almost 2 weeks of vacation, packed the car up and headed East, then South.

Our first stop was to visit my little brother, Danny, in Bozeman, MT. We left Seattle at 3am and headed East, when we arrived we were greeted with a party in the streets. After Bozeman we headed to Yellowstone where we camped and visited Old Faithful. We stopped at cool camping spots along the way in Colorado near Steamboat Springs and stumbled upon another cool resort, Three Forks Ranch – I am still trying to figure how and when I can go back there! Our final destination for the trip was the Gorohoff Family Cabin in Eagle Nest, New Mexico. We made it there for Fourth of July. We loved seeing our cousins and having some quality Cabin time. Then we headed back north and got to visit friends from Seattle that recently moved to Boise, which was wonderful – Thanks again to the Glancey’s for letting us camp in your back yard!

In addition to our big vacations, we did sneak in a few day trips and weekend trips throughout the year. On Presidents Day, we took a day trip to Whidbey Island to visit Ft. Casey. Fun times on the bunker and the beach. We were also lucky enough to spend a sunny weekend in Seaside, Oregon with Andrew’s brother Alex, his wife Anna and our friends Ella & Grady and their kids, the highlight of that trip was playing on the beach and riding on the 9 person bike through town.

Another highlight of the summer was the Rosellini Family Reunion, tons of cousins, games, food and photos with our extended family. It was a great time to get together with the family, this was especially great because our great Uncle Al Rosellini was able to make it. We were very sad when Uncle Al passed away in October, but very fortunate to have that great summer celebration with him.

In June, Andrew and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary. What better way to celebrate 12 years of marriage other than running in a crazy Mud Run with 12 of our good friends. Thanks Team 12!

At the end of the summer, Andrew decided he needed to get another marathon in, since we had so much fun running the Portland marathon in 2010, he talked our friends Sabrina & Tom into running it with him, for their first marathons. The whole crew Sabrina and Brandon (our adopted older children), Siena, Nadia, Andrew, Tom and I hopped on the train and headed down to Portland for the race. While Tom, Sabrina and Andrew ran the marathon, Brandon and the girls and I ran around the city trying to find the racers. We all had fun and then headed home on the train.

(Tom is missing from this photo cause he was in a different hotel at the time).

The months between November – January are always crazy, as we have tons of birthdays in our family including myself, all my nieces and Andrew. Not to mention the usual Thanksgiving and Christmas, so needless to say we have been busy. And this Christmas we are excited that we are taking another road trip, this time to California. We get to spend Christmas Eve with the extended Lo Presti Family (my mom’s family), then the whole Micheli crew (all 17 of us) will spend some quality beach time in Huntington Beach with a stop in Disneyland to celebrate Nadia & Micheli turning 5.

That’s our year in a nut shell (or a single blog post!). Overall, we have had a pretty awesome year, everyone is healthy & happy! We have packed it full of fun and adventures. We have been trying our best to just enjoy our time together with wonderful friends and our amazing family that we are so truly blessed to have. I hope that this holiday season you are able to spend some quality time with your family and friends. Sorry that you didn’t get a card from us this year to post on the wall or put in your basket, but now you know what we have been up to and if you want to continue to hear about our adventures, check in again, I hope to keep this blog going.

Happy Holidays to All and to All a Good Time! With much love from the Gorohoff Family – Kathy, Andrew, Siena & Nadia

Until Next Time,

-kg