Cali or Bust!!

The Ingrams have relocated to Monterey, Ca. So far its been great and I hope to be able to blog more while Im here. The hubby and I have had a lot of adventures so far and cant wait to share them with the kids once they get here. The trip was long but flew bye because I was with great company!! My best friend in the world, my man.
We started the first leg of our trip in Mississippi and stopped in Texas, we left the kids there with their grandparents and headed to the wild wild west..lol.

Wichita Falls

Our first upon leaving East Tx was Wichita Falls,Tx (we stopped to stretch and fill up every four hours).  We went to take a look at what this little town was named for, the man made falls.


Prarie Dogs (Amarillo, Tx)

 Our last stop for the night was in Amarillo,Tx where we woke up to these little prarie dogs who, bid us farewell as we left the hotel parking lot.

We drove for about 4 hours and stopped for lunch in New Mexico at this place called Holy Cow that awesome burgers and homemade fries. The fries were the best, they were really homemade they tasted just like the fries I cut up at home. We also started to notice the prices were getting higher and higher the further west we got..lol. I think for a two combos and a side salad we payed close to 24 buck..yep whew for two people and we drank water..lol.

Our next stop for the night was Williams, Arizona, also known as the gateway to the Grand Canyon. We spent the next day at the Canyon but unfortanely all my pictures were lost so you see any of the fabulous breathtaking views we saw :(. The good thing is that we will stop again when we bring the kids home.

We left the canyon that afternoon and headed for Vegas!! We took a quick detour tho and went to look at this massive dam. OMG..talk about a thrill, if you are afraid of height then be warned this stop is not for the faint of heart. I was scared out of my mind!! I hope the kids can handle it , cause I know Dad will bring them here.

We stopped for the night in Vegas, after walking all day at the Canyon, this place wore us out. It was so much going on and so much to do we didnt do anything but walk around and look at the light and water show at the Belagio. This spot is definitly for grown ups, if we stop here , we probaly wont bring the kids to the strip..lol. The city was so busy and this was a week night. But we did it, just to say we did.

We left Vegas the next morning and drove what would seem like forever. We were worn out from the road and just wanted to chill for a bit, so you can imagine our relief when finally arrived to the Bay which would be our home for the next few years.



This is the view from our run one morning while living here on the coast. The views all around this area are amazing but the only thing is its COOOLD. The weather here has been in the high to low  60s and its June, so thats gonna take some getting used to. So far we have traveled around this area quite a bit and visited the Santa Cruz boardwalk and San Jose. We spent last weekend in San Francisco and took a boat tour around Alcatraz. Its been great and we cant wait for the kids to get here and enjoy it with us.



Bowling Nite

We had a great time bowling last nite at Island Strikz. The kids had been saying they wanting to go cosmic bowling for a while so we decided we better hurry and do it before the hustle and bustle of school and work picks back up. We had an amazing time and I just want to let everyone that I am still the QUEEN of Ingram Family Bowling Nites...yes...as well as the undefeated Ping Pong Champ..Just thought I would remind everyone....Luv Ya God Bless and Happy New Year..

Violation of Rights!!

One of the things I dread hearing my husband say is, "I'm taking your car to work today"....whaaaaaaaaat...gasp. The moment that sentence leaves his lips its like my little perfect world comes crashing down. I absolutely positvely HATE driving his truck. Its really manly and bulky and just hard for me to manuever. I am pretty short so I have to use a pillow to see over the dashboard (thats so demeaning)..lol. I feel like Im in a booster seat. I think another reason I dont like it is because I have had an incident in it before..just a tiny one. I scraped another truck JUST LIKE HIS..lol while backing up at the library. To my defense I am so use to driving my own car which has a sensor that comes on when you back up, so when you get to close to something or someone it comes on. I admit I am sort of handicapped by this device, so when backing up at the library I didnt look as thoroughly as I should because I was use to the beep beep beeeeeping of my OWN car. Anywho..thats was last summer sometime and the wound has slowly healed but everytime I have to drive it, I always have flashbacks.
When left with THE TRUCK, I tend to stay at home, and Im wondering if this may be a tactic my husband is using to keep me from shopping. He knows how much I dread driving his truck so when I mentioned shopping last night I should known something , because he was too agreeable..lol.Thats ok, tho, the stores will be still open when he gets home with my car, and it better have GAS, which is another issue. Having to adjust my seats and mirrors and fill my tank BACK up is a whole other post, but until then I guess Im stuck like Chuck cause I aint drivng that truck...

luv ya more than my british dramas (thats a lot of lovin)

the 4casters wife

On A Vampire Kick..

After watching part one of the last installment of the Twilight series I have been on this Vampire kick. I have started reading the acutal books,whaaat, yes I am appalled at myself but in spite of my judgemental feelings towards myself, I am still reading them..lol. I have acutally borrowed the whole series from a friend and plan on finishing them over my little break from school. I have also started watching this series called Vampire Diaries.its not bad either..my hubby and daughter started watching it too and they have actually taken over and have watched it without me. They have actually finished all the ones on netflix and my daughter is so hooked that she found the newest one online and was watching it last night. Well I dont know why I am so fascinated by this I have just heard that there are so may things that I am missing that are in the book and to get a better understanding of the the movie I am taking this time to read. I know some will judge me...lol.but just know that I am judging myself as well..lol. I should just delete this post..lol..but I know I will look back on this day and LOL..

Jingle Bell 5k Run

A few weeks ago I ran my second competitive race. I really enjoyed it and I had a great time. I actually ran it at the beginning of this month but since I have been in school it has been hard to blog anything. I really wish I had more time to write and maintain this blog but hopefully on this break I can post a few more things.

Ok back to the race....I didnt really train for it I had just been running every other day so to keep my "girlish figure"..lol. A friend told me about the race so I decided to run it last minute and signed up on race day. I ended up doing pretty well. I ran a 27:34 which a marked improvement from my first race which was a 30:38. I really am pround of myself I shaved of a few minutes and I ran it all by myself. My hubby ran the first race with me. I actually ended up placing 3rd in my age category and recieved a nice little metal!!

My next goal is to run a 10k..I have been running 5 miles three times a week for the past two weeks and plan on taking it up to 6 miles next week. There is a 10k race coming up on January 21 and I am thinking about doing it so..wish me luck.

Representing

OMG...Imagine the shock of driving down the interstate and seeing your face on a BILLBOARD....wow..amazing.

I know in this picture it looks as though I am representing the University of Southern Miss, and thats not entirely false, but I want to let you know that I represent so much more. I represent Christ and what his love and grace can do. When you look at this picture you see a woman who is an overcomer. A woman who despite the odds that were stacked against her, found herself doing and accomplishing things that others thought could never be, all by the grace and the love of God.

When I look at that woman smiling on that billboard, I tear up when I think about all the things that she had to go through to be there. When you see her you think wow, she is in college, she is doing big things etc., but oh if you only knew!!  The enemy had other plans for her but he must've forgot that God had plans of his own that were written even before she was formed in her mothers womb , so no matter what the devil threw her way GOD always had her back. The smile you see in the pic and the smile she wears everyday has been attacked since she was born. The enemy has used every thing possible, from molestation, neglect, poverty, teenage pregnancy to stop her from fulfilling her purpose but can somebody say BUT GOD!!!  (*insert praise break here)

USM is using the slogan "Stay Here Go Far" to encourage students to get there degree here at USM and go out into the world and do great things with it, while representing their alma mater, but, I want to encourage you from another angle.

I want to let you know that the only way to "GO FAR" is to to "Stay with GOD". Only in him can you speak to mountains and they MOVE , Only in HIM can walk through doors that have been closed in your face, and ONLY in HIM can you have ETERNAL LIFE. Be blessed and Stay with GOd....

Do you do Breakfast at Tiffany's?

Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that'd make me feel like Tiffany's, then - then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name!
     - Holly Golightly


I just finished watching one of my all time favorites, Breakfast At Tiffanys. While watching this I started to think about my own personal breakfast at Tiffany's. For those of you have never seen this movie, (it's now streaming on netflix if you have that), Audrey Hepburn plays Holly Golightly and she loves Tiffany's the famous jewlery store with the cute little blue turquoise boxes. She can't afford to buy anything out of there but just walking around the store or even looking through the window while eating a crossiant and coffee, soothes her. There is a lot of other stuff going on in this movie as well. If you like good ole classic movies then you should definitely check this one out.

Now, back to my original thought..

What is that I do to decompress, what makes me happy on those days when it's hard to find things to smile about. I use to use food as a coping tool, but as I have gotten older and the weight gets harder and harder to lose, I have found healthier ways to deal with those stressful times. I go for a run , walk the dog, call a friend and vent, but most importantly I pray. I pray and ask God to give me the strength to make it through what ever is going on, and to help to deal with it in a non self-destructive manner, i.e eating or shopping.
How do you handle stress?