A few Pictures from Alaskan / Victoria Vacation!
Here are a few pics from our recent vacation to Alaska and Victoria BC – we had a great time and OMG what a beautiful place… Heaven on Earth

Beauty as far as the eye can see!

Salmon everywhere in this little river trying to get upstream

Skagway - White Pass Railroad

Tracy Arm's Fjord

Creek Street - Ketchikan - Creek was loaded with Salmon

Butchart Gardens - Victoria BC

Fish Toss - Pikes Market (Seattle)
Alaskan Salmon Bake.. Liarsville style!
I had to share this with you all!! Just back from vacationing on a cruise to Alaska and still cannot get out of my mind the incredible Salmon Bake in Skagway at Liarsville Camp. Liarsville is the place where all the press would congregate and report all the happenings of those coming and going from the Klondike looking for gold! Liarsville got its name because the press NEVER actually went to the Klondike to see for themselves what was really going on they just took the word of those who had been there and back and twisted them so that the “story” would be compelling, newsworthy and well not necessarily factual.. Hence Liarsville was born!!
Here are some photos of the Salmon bake as well as the recipe for what was the best sauce I have ever had on Salmon!! OMG this was amazing and it must be popular as the cook kept copies of the recipe in his pocket for anyone who asked… Many of us did


Master Cook
Salmon Sauce Recipe – So simple and SO DAMN good!!
In a Double Boiler Melt:
1/2 Lb Butter – stirring while melting
2 – 3 Cups Brown sugar added to melted butter
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice **
1/4 Cup Pineapple juice **
** Add juice after butter and brown sugar is combined
Alternate uses Pork Chop or Ham same as above just add 1/4 cup soy sauce and some garlic salt to taste
The first thing I learned to bake when I was 4
When I was little I had a wonderful kitchen mentor, My Aunt Jackie. Aunt Jackie taught me to love cooking from the ripe young age of 4. Most of my early childhood memories are of her and I in the kitchen!! I am so grateful that she taught me how to make so many family recipes. One of the things that I love the most is that she is still passing them down to my neice and nephew to this day!!
Banana Bread – Recipe is at least 40 + years old!!
Separate bowl (WET Ingredients)
1 Cup Crisco – Not liquid
2 Cups Sugar (add sugar slowly)
** stop and cream these together for about 10 or so minutes
7 – 9 Very Very ripe (black) bananas
4 Eggs well beaten
** stop and mix these 2 together
Separate Bowl (Dry Ingredients)
2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour (Sift flour first 2 – 3 times then add salt and baking soda)
1 Tea Salt
2 Tea Baking Soda
Slowly blend together all the wet and dry ingredients be careful not to over mix
Grease pans lightly and bake for approx 50 minutes
I decided to mix things up this time and I made 5 mini loafs… Some had Pecans and some had chocolate chips and one was plain!! All variations were incredible!!
Also side note the bread freezes great.. Perfect grab and go in the morning!


The tale of two brains …
I came across this video clip on Twitter last week and I can’t even remember who’s site I saw it on, but I laughed so hard because it’s SO true. Mark Gungor hit the nail on the head here.
Then, last night our friends Chris and Lisa were over and the conversation of how different men and women are came up and I told them about it too … so since it’s come to mind a couple times since I saw it, I thought I should share it. Worth the time to check it out
“The Letter” and open Letter to our Nations Leadership
When I read this I was instantly moved and afraid all at the same time! The points she makes are incredible and we all better wake up and work together to make some changes or we are all in trouble. Our generation has the ability to “clean up” the mess so that the legacy left for those too come is one of hope and security.
An Open Letter to Our Nation’s Leadership
By Janet Contreras of Arizona.
I am Janet Contreras, a concerned, home-grown American citizen. I am 53, and I have been a registered Democrat all of my adult life. Before the last Presidential election, I registered Republican because I no longer feel the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. I now no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me.
There must be someone, please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me you are there and are willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please do it now.
You might ask yourselves what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me? These are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:
* Illegal Immigration-I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S. I am not a racist. This is not to be confused with legal immigration.
* TARP Bill-I want it repealed and no further funding supplied to it. We told you “NO!” but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze! Repeal!
* Czars-I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the Czars. No more Czars. Government officials answer to the process not the President. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.
* Cap & Trade-the debate on global warming is NOT over, there IS more to say.
* Universal Health Care-I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don’t you dare pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!
* Growing Government Control-I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Please mind your own business; you have enough to do with your REAL obligations. Let’s start there.
* ACORN-I do not want ACORN or its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them on every real estate deal that closes. Stop all funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audit and investigation. I do not trust them with the taking of the census or with taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before the taxpayers get any further involved with them. It walks like a duck and talks like a duck-hello… stop protecting political buddies. You work for the people. Investigate.
* Redistribution of Wealth-No. If I work for it, it is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth I support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? What do your have against shareholders making a profit?
* Charitable Contributions-although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities where we know our needs best and can use local talent and resources. Butt out, please. We want to do this ourselves.
* Corporate Bail Outs-knock it off! Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we will be better off just getting to it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful, like ripping off a band aid. We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us a chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
* Transparency and Accountability-how about it? No really, let’s have it. Let’s say we give the “buzz” words a rest and have some straight, honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with cleaver wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
* Unprecedented Quick Spending-stop it, now. Take a breath. Listen to “The People.”
Let’s just slow down and get some more input from some “non-politicians” on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law.
I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant nor a violent person. I am a mother and grandmother. I am a working woman. I am busy, busy, busy and tired, tired, tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawns and wash our cars on weekends, and be responsible, contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same, all the while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding our Constitution and believed in the checks and balances to keep you from getting too far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think that I find humor in hiring a speed reader to unintelligibly ramble through a bill you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not! It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face! I am not laughing-the arrogance!
Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it, but you expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children? We did not want that TARP bill. We said “NO!” We would repeal it if we could. I am not sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all the recent spending. From my perspective, it seems that you have all gone insane.
I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back!
You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington.
************************************************************************************************************************
Here is my DAMN question? Is she right? What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree?
Ready for Reality?
I don’t know about you … but this summer has been a lot of work. I love our son, but let me tell ya, trying to run My Little Pretty and RKN Studio is very hard to do when you are also (not being paid to be) a taxi cab driver. Summer was a time of getting Zac in tip top shape. What I mean by that is that we dealt with oral surgery, treating food allergies with laser treatments and of course … basketball and golf.
Yesterday was my first official day back at work without all the distractions and I’ve been feeling a little … off.
Where do I start? I mean, I have so much work to do … and the house is a mess still … I need to unpack our bags from the beach house last week, the laundry needs to be done … and … and … and …
So it’s time to brush off my business brain and focus again.
Usually, my first step in doing that is to create a list of things to start chipping away at. Once I have that, I can get cracking on them one at a time. I think I need to get a bigger pad to write my list on … this is nuts. Especially since we got another client to do a website for yesterday – Eeek!!
What do YOU do to get back on track once the kid(s) go back to school?
Seven Deadly Sins
We’ve all heard of the Seven Deadly Sins, right?
I have seen these before, however, recently someone reposted a link to them on twitter and I thought I would share…
Check out these wine glasses, depicting the 7 Deadly Sins…
Designer Kacper Hamilton, based in London, will sell these to you as a whole set of 7 in a mahoghny box or set of 4 or 6 (in one sin design) of your choice! Super cool.

What sin are you? I would have to say I like Pride…too cool
Light Up Sheep Art
Upon first seeing this, I thought “No way.”
But this is really clever…and really kind of cool.
Enjoy your Saturday!
I Am Being “Challenged” Like Never Before

XBM “LIVE THE CHALLENGE”
www.xbmfitness.com or www.xbmchallenge.com
Welcome to my new Hell AKA “Boot Camp” or ass kicking compliments of XBM Fitness located in the “661″ I signed up for this experience while under pressure and extreme duress from a couple of girlfriends that I was hanging with at a recent party. DAMN I knew I should have stayed home that night.
Actually this could not have come at a better time. As many of you know weight has been a struggle for me since birth and for the last 5 years I have had a pretty good handle on it. I had lost about 65 ish lbs and have managed to keep most of it off. {{This link is a preview of the “previous me” HERE }} Did you catch the word “most” seems that around 15 of them have managed to creep back in – Yeah “foodies” I am talking to you!
All these kick ass “foodies” in blog world with their off the charts amazing recipes are responsible for these 15 lbs… Come on I need to blame someone other than myself.
In all reality, I am the guilty party and realized that while the clothes fit they were tighter than I would like… So therefore XBM was born in my world… Tony is amazing and is responsible for major and incredible transformations. I personally know 2 ladies who have lost lots of weight and actually won their respective sessions challenge. Not only did they lose the weight but they won $1,000.00.
So here we are week one of the 8 week session and well truth be told I am dying. OMG the pain in my legs, stomach, arms and other body parts that I was not aware that could hurt – do. Gone are the days when I could walk up the stairs without wincing. I get my ass out of bed 3 days a week at 5:30 AM and LOVE IT… Do you hear me LOVE IT. I can honestly say that I have not felt this good in a very long time and look forward to this abuse. This is one hardcore group of dedicated fitness fans. What I really love is that everyone comes in all different shapes and sizes. Sure their are the superstars with rock hard kick ass bodies and well then there are the “normal” people like me. I feel so comfortable in the group and everyone really works to encourage each other. Tony is great about pushing you while still making sure you are not going to “die” on him. Puking though is perfectly acceptable! Luckily I have not done that…. {{yet}}
So here’s the drill: 3 days a week, 1 day at the gym, 1 day at the local college stadium that is filled with lots of stairs (get my drift) and the 3rd day is a field trip day (aka another place for him to draw sweat out of every pore in our bodies). The main session lasts for 8 weeks in which time it is pretty much “game on”. Everyone is working to meet their goals or in some cases maintain. There is no slacking in this group of about 20. In other words, if you cannot take the heat get out of the kitchen.
I say the hotter the better!!
I may not be able to do everything (bad knees from softball) but I will do a modified version as hard and as strong as I can and honestly I would never be able to do this on my own. I had no clue what “boot camp” was all about until now. I am so glad that the girls talked me into this one and I look forward to reporting to you all my success. That is of course depending on how I do… HA HA
“Pipe Dream” Goal: To be the same weight that my” drivers license says ::ya right::
Realistic Goal: Weight: Drop 15 lbs
Body fat: Drop 8 – 10%
Stay tuned….
For more information about the program or the man with the million dollar smile & body to match
go to www.xbmfitness.com
** Please note that he flashes that smile while kicking your ASS!!










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