The Family Trifecta

The Family Trifecta

Secretariat, Triple Crown Winner

Over the years, we have paid a little bit of attention to horse racing.  It is one of my favorite sports to watch live or on tv.  Yet, we don’t make it a priority.  We keep talking about taking our girls to the horse races, and hopefully next summer we will make it happen.

While we lived in Louisville, we tried to learn as much about the sport as possible.  We went to the Derby.  We went to Oaks.  We’d take little Jade to races during the week so she could feed the race horses mints as they walked past.  We went to the Museum at Churchill Downs and studied all about the winners of the Triple Crown.  We embraced the horse racing culture and loved it.

When we saw the coming attraction for Secretariat, we were counting it as a “must see” and to actually see in the theater instead of through Netflix or Redbox.  To our surprise, the girls both paid attention to the coming attractions and requested the family see Secretariat together.

About a week ago, I got an email that really excited me.  I had received an invitation to a pre-screening of Disney’s Secretariat.  The email said only 2 tickets but when I reserved my 2 tickets, it asked if I needed any more.  Yes please.  4 total.

I hadn’t heard back from them so we got a sitter for the girls.  Jade was sooo bummed.  But then, I got an email saying I had all 4 tickets under my name at the theater and to ask for the Disney representative.

The girls were so excited.

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We found our seats, right next to a very nice gentlemen.  He introduced himself as Tony Toscano (YES, the Tony Toscano of Talking Pictures fame).  I played it cool and was thinking “how cool is that?  I’m at the same showing for this movie as a movie critic.”  When Scott returned to his seat, I introduced him to my now long time friend, Tony Toscano (knowing that Scott would always get his movie know how from Tony on the “Chunga Show”).  We visited until the show started.  He has been doing this for 30 years and edits his own footage.  I’m impressed with him more now than I was before.  And I really enjoyed him before.

***For those of you in Utah that may miss him on the morning radio show, you can still find him on TV!  Yes, all of you outside of Utah can also find him on TV.  He’s broadcast in several countries.

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The movie started.  Ivy kept asking when the baby horse was going to stand up.  I hushed her and had her move to my lap.

My thoughts on the film?  LOVED it.  I cried.  I laughed.  I was nervous.  (I even knew the ending and I was still on the edge of my seat).

Disney does such a wonderful job of making movies out of real life events.  I loved the story of the owner and her family.  I felt her pain while she was on the road, missing her children’s activities but feeling the need to be doing what she was doing.  The story was told beautifully.  The cinematography was spectacular.  I loved racing from the jockey’s view and hearing the horses pound the dirt up close.

Jade loved it.  Ivy thought it was really good but long.  (She fell asleep with a half hour left of the movie).

This is a movie we will own.  It is one that I could easily be convinced to see in the theater for a second time.

***I received 4 free tickets to this screening.  But my opinions are completely my own.

Kroger Gift Card giveaway

According to Random Number Generator, the winner of the #30 gift card was Julie from Julie Topham.  Email me your mailing address and it will get sent to you in a few short days.

CURRENT GIVEAWAY-  $30 gift card to Kroger

Every year, or so it seems, Scott and I decide that we need to eat better, have less treats in the house and work out some.  (I'm being honest here - "some" is A LOT more than we normally do).  Scott will start going to the gym.  I'll start swimming.  We'll both start eating better and helping each other look better in our swimsuits.

Some of our favorite meals, when we are eating healthy, are fast and easy to make.  We eat a lot of tilapia, turkey breasts and chicken breasts.  When we're being "healthy" we tend to eat less red meat and less pork.  Mostly because it feels like both of those meats stay with you for so long.   But my favorite meal, and one the girls love as well is easy and pretty.  (Pretty matters when you are fixing dinner.  Really it does.  Ask my mom.)  Here it is...

Doesn't it look delicious and pretty?  Let me tell you how easy it is...

2 lemons, for juice

1 cup grape tomatoes, slice in half

2 cups spinach, cut in pieces

1/2 onion, chopped

3-4 tilapia (I do 3, because the girls split one)

Cajun seasoning

First, saute the onions in the juice of 1 lemon. Once the onions are clear, place the tilapia on top of the onions. Sprinkle with the Cajun seasoning, then do the other side. Grill the fish until golden brown on both sides. Dump the tomatoes and the spinach over the fish. Add the juice of the second lemon and cover. Check it after 5 minutes, but you might need to leave it on as long as 10. Don't go beyond the 10 or the color starts to brown.  Then we serve it with Pillsbury Crescent Rolls.

As part of the Biggest Loser Pound for Pound Challenge, I have pledged to lose 10 lbs.  For every pound that is pledged, they are going to donate money to Feeding America.  So far there has been over 6 million pounds pledged.  That means a lot of people are going to get healthier and live better.  I'm excited to be part of this movement to lose the extra weight and be healthier while helping those that need help just getting food.

If you go over and make a pledge, come back and let me know how much you are going to lose and you will be entered to WIN a $30 gift card from Kroger.  We have an awesome Smith's Marketplace right near our house.  They have the best produce and all of the seasonings you could possibly need.

So, go enter your pledge and let me know you've done it and you'll be entered to win.   You have until Tuesday night the 18th of June at midnight to enter.  Then I'll announce the winner on Wednesday morning.

*** Kroger Family of Stores gift card, information, and giveaway were all provided by the Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.