10 Day Challenge - 2!

I had a lot of fun doing my first 10 day challenge and keeping myself in check that I thought I'd go for another 10! There is still a lot of food I want to try, exercises I need to push myself to do and just activities that I'm lazy and don't do haha this makes it written in stone and more of necessity to complete. 

Check out my new 10 day challenge, I hope some of you are trying this!



26. Try 10 new wines COMPLETE

This was one of my favorite goals because I really didn't have to try haha wine is a custom in my life now that all of my friends drink wine and everywhere I go I am usually able to try a sip of something new. 

I have officially tried 11 that I have kept track of since beginning this goal. Eight of them I have previously posted about and I'm here to finish the last two necessary to finish this goal - but I have three to share!

9. Turning Leaf

Merlot

You may have remembered me posting about another Turning Leaf wine, it was a white wine that I tried with my sisters and the boys that was yummers.. this one was also very tasty! I brought it to contribute to dinner with Lauren and we loved it!! It has a bit of a stronger taste, but not so much that you can barely drink it.  We had a couple glasses and then I share with David last night and we finished it off and he liked it as well!

10. Blue Fin

Viognier

Jessie served this at our dinner together the other night and it was very good.  We dusted this in one night between us so it must've been pretty good! I didn't really pull anything exotic or super fierce out of this wine other than that I really liked it.  It was an easy drink that had flavor to it but wasn't taking over my tastebuds.  I'd purchase again!

11. Macaron

Moscato

Last but not least.. Macaron! Erin purchased this at our last get-together and was excited for me to try it to add to my list!! This was a favorite at the party, I'd say.  It was very light, easy to drink and was a good party, mingling drink.  We had pasta that night and it didn't clash with the food necessarily but could do without any!

DONE!! 78% COMPLETE!

Challenge #10 - Make a healthy dinner for D and I

Earlier this week my great friend Jessie made me dinner as we hung out and relaxed together.  It was FABULOUS! I loved the food and I knew that it was one to save because David would like it as well.

She made Trader Joes Orange Chicken, broccoli and brown rice.

[OK, David would not have liked the brown rice]

So, I decided that for this challenge I would bring Jessie's dinner into my own home and try it out!

I didn't have time to get to a Trader Joe's so I tried Sprouts instead and sure enough they had their own brand of Orange Chicken for $7.49!  It was really easy to make too!

Bring oven to 400 degrees, place chicken on a cooking sheet so that the chicken is spread out, put in oven for 20 minutes and top with the flavored sauce and TIME! You're done!

I steamed a bit of broccoli and made rice in a bag to complete our meal.  I'd say it was a success and David really liked it too!

We decided that we'd save this one as a favorite!



Challenge #9 - Try Body Pump at 24

Trying Body Pump has been a goal of mine for some time and I finally put my mind to trying it and then..... class was cancelled :(

Boooo!!

I was really bummed and relieved at the same time.

Finally I thought I'd get my ass into this class and was pumped to actually do it so I was upset that I couldn't try it, but at the same time that class scares the crap out of me and I would be lying to say I didn't feel a fresh of breath air learning that I didn't have to do the class.

I'm lame, I know.

I WILL be putting this on my next 10 day challenge that I will be starting tomorrow.  I will post my new calendar!

Even though this challenge wasn't met, I did have a surprise challenge that day that I was actually very excited about.  I've always wanted to try Quinoa and I finally did!! I had an impromptu visit to my BFF's house and she is a HEALHTY eater!! I wish I could be as strong of an eater as she is.  She was making asparagus, zucchini and quinoa for dinner.  I supplied the wine and we had a feast!!

I wish I took a picture of it, but here is what it looks like in seed form and cooked:

It's a little seed and is made the same as rice.  It is cooked in a pot, two cups of water for every one cup of quinoa.  It looks pretty interesting - some pictures I've researched makes it look very thick, almost like oatmeal, but when we had it it wasn't thick at all.  It had the same texture as rice and wasn't too watery or dry at all.  You just have to watch it while it cooks.  Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat to medium/low for about 15 minutes until there is no water left.

Challenge #8 - Try a new form of cardio!

My go-to cardio is ALWAYS the elliptical.  It's easy for me, but I can make it challenging and I always push for 200 calories to burn.  So if I'm being lazy, it doesn't mean I get off the machine at 20 minutes, I wait and push myself until 200 calories - that is my own personal trick to get me to

PUMP IT!  

But yesterday I challenged myself indeed.  I used to do the stair master with my BFF Lauren, she is a master at this thing, but when I wasn't with her I would usually give up on it half way through a workout or just not do it at all because it's hard! Naturally, I just didn't want to do it!

I challenged myself yesterday and succeeded! I ended up burning about 120 calories, but I can feel it today that it worked muscles! Either way, I was pleased.  I was sweating like a pig when I got off of it and felt really good.  I will probably try to work it into my workouts a couple times a week for the extra little push :).

[My new frienemy!]

Oh ya! 77% DONE!

For a while there I was having trouble logging on to my DZP account and therefore didn't really know what percentage I was at.  Although I could have guessed, this pretty little image below is priceless!!! 77% done and still moving along! I have big plans for a few of my goals that I am very excited about and can't wait to update!

Challenge #7 - Try for 5 more pounds/reps

Goal #7 - Try for 5 more pounds/reps at the gym

When I used to go to the gym I would always try for 20/25 reps of ANYTHING.  And then I learned that the number of reps isn't as important as using the right weight and doing the exercise correctly.  Then I became more aware of what I was doing, how my body felt doing it and if I was reaching the 20 reps then I should probably up my weights a bit and do less reps.

This has worked well for my upper body routines but since I rarely work my legs, I haven't applied this theory to my lower body routines.  Therefore, I took challenge #7 and applied it to my lower body routine, now that I am beginning to get back on board with working out my legs.

I did four different exercises, 3 on machines, and upped the weight on all of them and did as many reps as I could - mostly topping out at 15 reps.  Since I was using machines, I couldn't necessarily go for only 5 pounds more than usual since the weight increases at about 15 pounds per weight. And since I was working my legs, I know that I could go more than 5 pounds more than usual.

1. Leg Press - 100lbs
[I usually do this at 60/80lbs]

2. I'm not sure what to call these, but I'll explain the exercise!

Stand with legs hip-width apart.  With a weight in one hand, bend forward at the waist while lifting the same leg backwards so that you touch the ground with the weight.  For example, put the weight in your right hand, bend forward to touch the weight to the ground and as you bend forward lift your right leg backwards so that you're balancing on your left foot.

With this one I usually hold about 5-7.5 lbs - this time I held a 12.5lb weight.

3. Leg extension - 55lbs

[I usually do 40lbs]

I don't have a picture of this one because the machine was stolen from me mid-workout and I had to hurry to get it back and finish my workout as the gym got busier.. but here is a sample picture :)

haha, kind of a funny picture.  But anyway! These are pretty killer for me, especially with the added weight.  I did 12 reps of these and made sure my form was correct and I did these slowly and kept control of my legs.

4. Leg Curl - 55lbs

[I usually do 40lbs]

With these, I did 15 reps and, again, made sure I did these correctly.  Generally with these and the leg extensions I just try to do them fast and jump off the machine or I lift my butt up from the seat to gain momentum and taking the weight off my legs - which is pointless! Therefore, I made sure to keep correct form and only do what I could without losing the form and hurting myself.

I went through these exercises 3 times and had a tall glass of a protein shake to follow :)

Challenge #6 - Take a HIKE!

Goal #6 - go on a hike!

This was a bite challenging because we had quite a few bumps in the road before we actually made it on our hike.  I have a book of hikes, but I have already gone on the local ones and the others are about 45 minutes to over an hour away.  Therefore, David and I thought we'd go to Irvine Great Lake and hike around there... we drove down just to find out that the hiking trails aren't built yet.

BUMMER!

Then we decided to conquer the 1,000 steps in Laguna Beach.. and on our way there traffic was so terribly bad that David and I are now in an awful mood and this isn't fun anymore.  I turned my little car around and headed home.  We laid on my bed for about 5 minutes and then said ok lets go! and we set off to Santiago Canyon.

I have done this hike in the past, but that didn't stop the fun because there are so many different routes that there was no way that we went on the same exact trails as I had previously done.  We had so much fun! It took us about an hour or so to hike around the entire loop that we chose to follow.  It was definitely cardio for the day and we got a nice little tan while we were at it!

Challenge #5 - Meatless for a day!

Goal #5 - go meatless for the day

Well.  I thought this one would be easy, even though I was going to the fair.  I was convinced that staying away from meat would be no big.  But then my darling Mackenzie got herself a foot and a half long corn dog and with the hilarious-ness of it all, I had a bite. And then another. And then realized what I just did and was so annoyed with myself! But you know what, I am doing a "challenge" and thats exactly what I was faced with.  I didn't want to get myself down and ruin the day, so I decided that I would "Charge it to the game," as David and I would say, and let it go and pick up on this challenge the next day.

and I did! Sunday was a great day full of YUMMY meals that didn't involve meat AT ALL! I made David and I eggs and toast for breakfast, we had an early dinner at Olive Garden where I had minestrone soup and Linguine alla Marinara, and we had homemade cheese pizza for dinner! Challenge accepted!

[No pictures for this goal as I was very focused on getting through the hike that I missed a photo session with my breakfast food, I was too hungry at lunch to remember to pose for a shot with my Linguine and David served me my pizza just as I was waking up from a nap that I wasn't even thinking straight to even know what I was eating haha]

Challenge #4 - Try a new tea

Goal #4 - replace soda with a new tea

This may be hard to believe, but I have never tried Green Tea before Friday.  And Friday may have been the worst day for this challenge.  I fell asleep at 8pm the night before, but still woke up with a SLAMMING headache.  I'm not sure why but it cursed me and took me through the entire day.  On top of being insanely busy at work and not being able to eat a full meal until dinner time.  By the time David and I sat down at Thai Cuisine for dinner, all I wanted was a soda because I've always known a tall class of Coke-a-Cola to take away my head pounding.  But I really wanted to complete my challenge and go the healthy route.. and then David orders himself a gorgeous looking class of soda! Needless to say, I almost gave up, but stuck it out and had my green tea.

IT WAS DELICIOUS! It tasted like flowers and smelled amazing!!!

Here is a picture of my adorable little setting of green tea and my teapot!  Next, I want to try the green tea from Starbucks that has been raved about! Courtney has told me that they have a green tea-lemonade that is just like an Arnold Palmer, but green tea instead!  Pumped to continue this challenge!

Weekend Challenges Update

This weekend was definitely a challenge to say the least! Being around other people, having BBQs, going to the fair, drinking and all the pizazz is just a lot to take in when you're trying to be healthier and not everyone is on the same boat!

Not that all my friends are fat cows that don't want to be healthy, but when you have a specific goal in mind and you're the only one on board, it is VERY difficult to stick to your guns.

My challenges for the weekend were:

#5 - Replace soda with a new tea

#6 - Go meatless for the day

#7 - Go on a hike!

Keep reading my posts to see how I did!!!

Challenge #3 - Create NEW Playlist

Challenge #3:

Create a new playlist!

Unfortunately, I failed this challenge :(

As soon as I got home and had dinner my eyelids got heavy and I was fast asleep by 8PM!! I hadn't been feeling the best and clearly my body was trying to tell me something and had me at rest incredibly early!!!

Today I will be doubling up on my challenges and pulling a kick ass new playlist that I will share next week with my weekend update AND I will be trying a new tea instead of my kicks of soda for the day.

I think that I'm going to try out Green Tea.. FINALLY! I have been told to get on this tea and I just haven't, but today this is going to be my challenge :)

To be truthful, I don't drink a TON of soda, but if David has it or it's just available I will have some.  BUT I do drink hot chocolate, not enough water, and probably too many sugary drinks.  Hopefully this will kick me into place to have a healthier drink to replace those that aren't good for me and when I'm not drinking that I'll be guzzling water!

Although this goal seems so easy, it's hard for me! I can have a full water bottle sitting in front of me all day long and I just don't drink it, not on purpose, but because I don't think about it and then I end up dehydrated and feeling weak and "ugh" by the end of the day.  I'm hoping this will change it around for me!

Oh WOW!!

Guess what I just realized...

The comment section.. on my own blog.

YEP! That's right ladies and gentleman! I was looking at my main page with all the stats and goodies about my blog and saw that I had comments on some of my pages that I never realized were there!!

Therefore, if you've left a comment on one of my pages and I never responded I'M SORRY!!!!!

:)

Just another moment for Alex DeHart!

10 Day Challenge

Lately I have been talking to a good friend from high school, Courtney Bently, about fitness and eating healthy.  Let me just tell you, this girl is AMAZING!! She has given me workouts, food suggestions, recipes and of course tons, and tons, of motivation!

She has her own blog that you can access, here, to read all about her, what motivated her to become fit and how she has changed peoples lives!

Recently, she posted on Facebook about a 10 day challenge.  Immediately I wanted to try it!

What you do is you pick a challenge a day, for the next 10 days and stick to it!! By the end of the 10 days are you going to lose 50 pounds or have a flat tummy? No. BUT you will gain motivation and realize that bad habits are easy to overcome!

I wanted to share my calendar to show some examples of challenges:

Yesterday, my challenge was to try a new gym and a new workout routine.  On my way home from work I realized there is a 24 hour fitness that is literally right off the freeway and so easy to get to and is en route to my house.  I don't know why I didn't pick this up before, but HELLO ALEX!!! Before I was going to a gym that I was comfortable with but it is past my house, out of the way and doesn't have the best equipment.  But because I'm generally hesitant to try new things, I always stayed there.

Well this 10 day challenge gave me an opportunity to explore and when I did I was so pleased and felt much better!  The gym was much more up-to-date, has a pool and a massive weight section!! 

On top of trying a new facility, I also took up the challenge to try a new workout routine.  I HATE working my legs, hate it hate it hate it! I have terrible knees and I'm just always afraid that I'll feel more pain after the workout then necessary so I've always strayed away.  But, I did it! And it felt GOOD!! I went though 4 moves working out my hamstrings, calves, quads AND gluts! It was a pretty awesome feeling.

Today my challenge is to create a new workout playlist! I've been putting this off for some time and dealing with what I already have, but David and I have collected quite a few AMAZING CDs and I am going to pull them together and make a kick-ass playlist including Sublime, Linkin Park and Travis Barker! Great new CDs from these guys that are upbeat and get you in that workout mood :))

If you're interested in Courtney's 10 Day Challenge check out her post and get started!!!

26. Try 10 new wines

This goal is not complete yet, but it is definitely underway!

Out of the 10 wines I set out for myself to try, I am pleased to say that I have currently tasted 7 new wines (plus "Bitch" from my last post)!!!!

Shannon and I set this goal together and meant to just hit up Total Wine, buy 5 bottles of wine neither of us have tatsed and have ourselves a little wine night.  With busy schedules and such we have yet to have this night.  But in the mean time I have been trying new wines quite often and figured I shoudl add them to my list :)

(Shan, we should still have our wine night!)

Here we go...
[In no particular order]

1. Flip Flop - Merlot

Actually tried this one last night at Shannon and Alex's house with spaghetti dinner.  It was YUMMY!!! Shannon literally poured us only as much wine as shown in the picture and after I was finished I was feeling it!! We checked the acohol % and it was 13%!  The boys beer was less than 1/3 of that! Strong, but very tasty!

2. Frontera, Chile - Cab/Merlot

 David and I received this at our engagement party from Milo and Kyle.  It has a very strong taste and was a little much for Lauren and I to take in Vegas.  We each probably had one glass and called it quits.  It just wasn't a good taste for our palate.

3. 1 <3 CA- Pinot

This one was very interesting.  Another one that Lauren and I tried in Vegas.  I think it would have been better with a sweet food, maybe some strawberries or other fruit.  We drank it plain with nothing and the taste was a little harsh at the moment.  I did like it, could have drank the whole bottle if that was the only one, but I'd rather pair it with some light, sweet food.

4. Turning Leaf - Riesling

My baby sister, Danielle, and her boyfriend Tom introduced Erin, David and I to this one.  We really enjoyed it!! We drank it alone and with dinner and thought it was very tasty!  It has a light, sweet taste that makes it easy to down! I would definitely recommend this!

5. Goats Trail - Zinfandel

Apparently I'm the only crazy one.  This is another that was brought along to us from Danielle & Tom.  I'm not sure if they had tried it before or if it was a random purchase, but no one seemed to have a taste for it.  Therefore, when I ended up with the last glass of Turning Leaf and David didn't want Goats Trail I had to switch him! Which was fine since I enjoyed both.  This one has a heavier, stronger taste and goes great with meat!

6. Cupcake

Just as it sounds! A very dessert flavored wine, almost a little tart!! Marisol, David's sister, had this at our engagement party and some liked it and some thought it was too much.  I enjoyed it for the party.  I probably wouldn't pour this at home with dinner or while I was snacking away but it was a fun wine to have at the party where we weren't there to get sloshed.

7. Sweet - Moscato

Our dear friend Rosie gave this to David and I at our engagement party.  No one had popped it open, as we had many, many bottles of many, many different alcohols, but eventually we got to it in Vegas and this one was by far Lauren and my favorite! David really liked it too.  Again, it's just as the name states.  It was very sweet, light and really easy to drink!!

Tonight, I will be trying another one I'll be able to add to the list.  It is a Barefoot - Sweet Red (I think).  I cannot remember what the actual name of the wine is but it's for David and my anniversary and he really likes sweet and fruity, so I can imagine that's the name.

I'll keep you posted!

26. Try 10 New Wines

One wine down, nine to go!!!

1.  Bitch - I bought this wine for my sister some time ago thinking that it would be a fun bottle to share on a girls night that we could laugh about!! It definitely was all I hoped, but the taste was not one that I would recommend.  The bottle was so fun to keep around and is totally adorable.  But we probably won't be buying this for ourselves in the future.



97. Try making a new recipe every month

This is an ongoing goal throughout the 1001 days for Day Zero Project.

At the beginning I was posting each month of the new foods, recpies and goodies I was making.  More recently, I haven't posted any of my delicious findings and new creations!! I thought I would give an update of all the recipes that I have been making :)

Lets see...

- Pesto, Avocado Pasta

I made this with my friend Mackenzie.. it was definitely different and was an awkwardly cool dish as oppose to a hot dish you would expect with spaghetti noodles.  It was a good expereince :)

- 5 Minute Chili (Trader Joes Recipe) 

This was my first recipe out of my NEW Trader Joes cookbook from Mackenzie.  It was pretty easy! Not 5 minutes easy, but didn't require much and was very tasty!

-Stuffed Peppers (Trader Joes Recipe)

I made this one with my BFF Lauren.  We were starving and a little impatient as we did not cook the rice fully, not knowing how long it took to make rice, and so it was a bit harder than it should've been.  But the peppers were fabulous!

- Mini Strawberry Pies, Davids FAVORITE!

I recently made these for David and my engagement party as a request from my fiance.  SUPER easy!! But still a new recipe :))

- Chicken breasts in bulk

To be honest, I have never actually cooked chicken.  David usually does it for us if we have chicken with dinner.  My mama taught me how to cook chicken in general, but I also learned how to cook it in bulk and perserve it to eat throughout the week.

-Homemade Apple Sauce

This was not as bad as it looks.  When all said and done it was warm, which was a bit weird, and it didn't have much taste.  You boil apples and then peel the skin off, mush it together and top it with a little cinnamon. Not difficult at all!

- Salsa

I have learned how to make salsa in a variety of ways in the past but my sister makes a fabulously amazing salsa by boiling the ingredients and then dropping them in the blender.  It is so easy and even I can do it!!!! I LOVE her salsa that I had to learn how to make it! And it was well worth it :)

- Baked Breaded Avocado Slices (I'm sure there's a better name for these)

This was interesting!! You basically take slices of avocado, dip them in eggs and bread crumbles and bake them.  Sounds fabulous!! But were lacking in taste.  We doused them in hot sauce and ate a few of them, but over all we need to figure out how to add a little more flavor next time.

- Panini Sandwiches

I really enjoy a good panini sandwich, but I have always thought they took a ton of effort and we're more than I would bargain for.  But, yet again, Erin whiped out the ingredients for an array of different paninis and away we went.  We made them on the George Foreman grill and put everything from ham/turkey in them to avocados and grilled veggies.  SOOO easy and a lot of fun to make!

-Homemade Ice Cream!

This was a MESS!! hahaha Erin had a goal to make homemade ice cream.  While at Target I saw a mini ice cream machine on sale and bought it.  This thing was so small and the directions were so vauge that although we made ice cream it was super watery! It never fully thickened like ice cream should, but still tasted really good!

- Icing a cupcake!

A little random, but I learned how to make the concoction and beautifully ice some fabulous cupcakes for my godsons first birthday.  OK Shannon did most of the work, but I still learned how to do it!!!  It's super easy! You just need a plastic funnel, a tip to go in the funnel that the icing will come out of, food coloring and vanilla icing and WA-LA! Goregous cupcakes with very little effort!

- Hard Boiled Eggs :))

Haha this one is kind of pathetic, but I never knew how and as Shannon, Erin and I were making Easter eggs we all learned how to boil an egg! Which will come in handy with deviled eggs, salads, or for a good snack!

- Alcoholic Infused Gummi Bears

Shannon taught me this one! They were strong!!! It was pretty basic, but needed time to sit and soak.  The result was quite a show...

- Chocolate Dipped Cookies

These were WAYYY easier than expected!! I thought I was going to have to dye the chocolate and make a major mess and none of the happened.  I bought the colored chocolate from Michaels, melted them down and dipped sugar cookies into them half way.  Stick these puppies in the fridge so the chocolate will harden and DONE!

- Deviled Eggs

This one is a little premature as I will not be learning to make these until this weekend, but I am very excited as my mom as an AMAZING recipe that my sister will be using to make goodies for my bridesmaid get together on Sunday... Check back for the results of these littl babies!

TIME!

15 recipes and still counting!!!!



ANOTHER Mud Run!

After the last mud run I instantly said that I would do it again and as the year went on I regretted that decision fully! Even the day before, David and I were trying to find reasons not to go, but couldn't think of anything that was good enough to give up $60+ race... so we went. 

In the end we were happy we did.  David beat his time from last year coming in at 1 hour 15 minutes (Last year 1 hour 31 minutes).  I was right around my time last year coming in at 1 hour 34 minutes (Last year 1 hour 34 minutes).  We were happy! And this time we stuck around for a little bit to get a bite to eat and feel a bit of the sun.

Alex, Shannon, Madalyn, Lauren and Jenn did well and we all were proud of our times! It's always a good time, but we will not be signing up again next year! It was too difficult to build up enough steam to want to do it AND we'll be getting married around that time and DO NOT want to think about this race. :)

Here are our Before and After pictures..

31. Go wine tasting

I have been wine tasting a few times, but this one will be PUBLISHED, what what!

Groupon had a great wine tasting deal where you could go wine tasting for two and take your favorite wine home in a personalized bottle.  I took Erin on this trip with me and we had an absolute blast.  The winery was not too far from home at all, we could have actually walked (but we didn't).

We tried 6 wines, 4 of which the winery creates themselves.  *OH and I would love to tell you the name of the winery, but since going they've changed it and I can't remember either names because they're drastically different.

But anyway, we took home a dessert wine that was really good and we thought would be great at home for a little girls night in at some point in the future.  As it turns out, we get it home and didn't like it as much as we did the first time.  It's a fabulous wine, but the atmosphere, or the other tastings we already had, influenced this one and it just wasn't the same.  Regardless, it was a great time!



Riding over with the top down!

 

 

34. Another concert :))

This is total a double wammy for this goal because I did already complete it long ago, but I also posted about Woodstock and that I was going! So I wanted to put a little update up wtih pictures.  Now, We 've been going for two years now.. These pictures are from our first trip!

This concert is so much fun! It's all cover bands from the Woodstock days.  We lay on a big lawn with our camping chairs and blankets, drink beer, try food and just chill.  It is a really good time.  Usually, we soak up A LOT of sun while we're at it! It's generally in August and it is scorching! But so worth it :)

My woodstock look :) PEACE

Erin and I getting a hold of a beach ball being popped around up by the stage.

The boys... enough said.



4. Go on a double date with David, Erin & Smelly

Although we hang out on a pretty regular basis, Erin and I rarely get a double date with our boys.  One night we were sitting around and mentioned wanting to go see a movie and I screamed out "DZP Double Date!!!" and Erin was SOLD! We convinced the boys and off we went!

We ate at Alcapulo Restaurant, where they didn't have rice for some insane reason! This was a major topic of conversation during dinner...

And then saw The Hunger Games at Century Theater.

We had a blast and the movie was fabulous! (It was my second time seeing it :))

Here are some pictures..

I went all out and bought a ton of munchies for us to enjoy during the movie (after dinner, contradictory - I know:))

Erin and I, SUPER excited that we're actually completing a goal, unexpectedly!

The four of us.. as you can tell the boys cannot take a real picture.  I think this was our third try at a group shot and.. well.. yaaaaaaa