The Red-Cup That Followed Me Home

I have just recently become a regular Strabucks drinker.  I am loyal to my Dutch Bros Coffee and frankly, Starbucks is still a bit strong for my taste buds.  However, traveling meals not finding a Dutch Bros anywhere east of Idaho so….you gotta do what you gotta do.

I spotted the new Starbucks red-cup coffee mug on Shay’s blog (she loves her Starbucks) and had the desire to join the “cool crowd.”  Since I we got our new K-cup coffee pot I have been drinking coffee out of our regular coffee mugs again.  I stopped at Starbucks on my way to work and this followed me home.

 

I love my Starbucks red-cup.  It feels so festive and I feel so cool drinking from it, even if it is just at home.  

 

I love this time of year where I can curl up on the couch and watch a Hallmark Christmas movie while drinking my coffee and sitting under my electric throw blanket.  

 

Man I have a tough life.

The Coolest Surprise

A few months ago when Dawny was coming for a visit I asked her to pick me up some 12-Week WW paper trackers.  This was her “fee” for staying at my house – HA! 

I have started in on my first tracker and while I was flipping through it to find my current week I spotted a small yellow sticky note.

It isn’t uncommon to have sticky notes in my tracker.  I use them a lot for pre-planning. 

 

I just wasn’t sure why I would have put a sticky note on a future week in my tracker.  I was on the hunt to find the note I spotted and I finally found it.

 

Hmmmm.  I started an email to Dawny telling her I found a note and that I assumed she placed it there.  How fun.  Then I spotted another one.

 

Wow.  Just two tiny notes (yes, I have now flipped through the whole book ruining the surprise of waiting to find it on a future week) made my day.  What a thoughtful way to boost my mood and put a smile on my face.

Thanks Dawny.  This was a really fun treat.

Happy Turkey Day!!!

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

My nieces were crafty.  Here is your Thanksgiving turkey

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I hope it is filled with family time, food, and love.

If you are trottin’ this weekend, enjoy the activity.

If you are travelin’ this weekend, drive safe.

I went out to my Mom’s house before work.  I enjoyed my time with family and also seeing my nieces.

 

 

 

 

Take 1 of photo bomb

Take 2 of photo bomb

After dinner Brandon got out the Christmas tree and the girls helped decorate.  This is actually a tree that my Grandma and Grandpa Amos put up in their Melba house years ago.

 

I enjoyed the yummy Thanksgiving dinner, with all the traditional dishes.  Dessert was unpictured.  I went for some cherry crumble with whip cream.  I packed some leftover turkey and saved my dinner roll for work tonight. Turkey sandwich here I come!

 

Navigating Eating Out At On The Border

I promised I’d share with you more my tricks and tips for eating out.  I feel I navigate eating out well, but I also know everybody considers success differently.  I am always happy with my eating out ventures, even when I have gone overboard.  As long as I have had what I REALLY wanted then it is a success.

Kenyon let me know earlier in the week of the new Hatch green chile fajitas at On The Border.  I was pretty sure we would be eating out at least one this weekend.  I pre-planned by looking up the PPVs of the different items I might order so I had a rough idea and some food choices.  I have been to On The Border many times and the last time we visited Kenyon had the endless enchiladas and I thought the chicken enchilada was really good.  While it is made with sour cream sauce, and you can reduce the PPVs by asking for the red sauce, I really liked the cream sauce better.  One enchilada was 6 PPVs.  I knew I would be getting the combo with a side salad and the fat-free mango dressing on the side.  I also knew I would be getting black beans and no rice.  That was all pre-planned and built into my DPA.  I wasn’t sure if we would be having any chips.  Kenyon is currently eating low-carb but will often have something of a carb meal once a week.  I pre-planned some chips as well, just in case.  Seven chips are 4 PPVs (On The Border chips are about half a small thin corn tortilla so that is still a good portion of chips).

We discussed ahead of time we would not ask for the chip basket.  We didn’t need the extra points/calories/carbs so that eliminated 4 PPVs right away, assuming I would have eating just seven chips.  I also changed my mind last minute on my entrée order.  While the enchilada sounded good since I wasn’t having any chips I wanted a tostada instead.  I did a quick look-up of the chicken tostada on the WW app and it was only 3 PPVs.  So by ordering one chicken tostada instead of one chicken enchilada I would be shaving off another 3 PPVs.

 

The tostada was tiny.  I was sort of feeling the “oh my, that isn’t much” when she delivered the plate of food.  As with most Mexican restaurants you eat your meal in chips BEFORE your meal so now this didn’t look like much.  However, I had a good portion of black beans and my salad.  I also had Kenyon get black beans on the side with his fajitas knowing I would take them home.

Obviously, this was plenty of food.  And while I do like having extra veggies with my entrée and I do like their salad I think next time I think I’d rather have two tostadas.  While tiny, they were mighty tasty!

 

 

Fun Facts About Me

Tina had Fun Facts About Me posted on her blog and although she was tagged by a friend, I just thought it would be fun.

I’d love for you to comment your Fun Facts About You!

Four names that people call me other than my real name:

·        Linds

·        Lou

·        Leslie (yes, I get this A LOT)

·        Hun (I call Kenyon lots of fun names)

Four jobs I’ve had:

·        Cashier at ShopKo

·        Customer Service Representative at various offices at BSU

·        Correctional Officer

·        I worked banquets at a hotel for a short few months

Four movies you’ve watched more than once: (this was tough…here a few)

·        Fast & The Furious movies

·        Mighty Ducks

·        Newsies

·        While You Were Sleeping

Four books I’d recommend: (author’s I love and would read any of their books)

·        Sue Civil-Brown

·        Stef Ann Holmes

·        Marina Adair

·        Terri Osburn

·        Tracy Brogan (had to add a 5^th.  Seriously good books in this list)

Four places I’ve lived: All in Idaho

·        Caldwell

·        Nampa

·        Boise

·        Meridian

Four Places you have visited:

·        Eureka Springs, AR

·        Alaksa

·        Hawaiian Islands

·        Canada – eh?

Four places I’d rather be right now:

·        On vacation with Kenyon

·        Vegging on my couch with Kenyon

·        Snuggling in a warm bed with Kenyon

·        With Kenyon (do you sense a theme?)

Four things I don’t eat:

·        Fish

·        Onions

·        Bitter Leafy Greens

·        Jalapeños (the actual item not the restaurant)

Four of my favorite foods:

·        Pizza

·        Ice Cream

·        Dessert

·        Mashed Potatoes

Four TV shows I watch: (just four??)

·        Grey’s Anatomy

·        Chicago PD

·        Chicago Fire

·        Law & Order SVU

Four things I’m looking forward to in 2015:

·        Celebrating my seventh wedding anniversary

·        Seeing my Missouri family

·        Other travels/trips

·        My birthday

Four things I’m always saying:

·        “The other day”

·        “Whatever”

·        “@#$%&@” (I have a potty mouth)

·        “Love me some coffee”

A Busy Week Ahead

This is going to be a BUSY week ahead.  I wish I had one of those jobs that gave you the week off for Thanksgiving.  But I don’t.  I am also slated to work on Thanksgiving this year.  I’ll be spending my extra holiday money at the Coach Outlet in Vegas in two weeks. 

 

I need to do some serious pre-planning if I want my week to go smoothly and also to stay within my allotted points.  Pretty much every day before I go to work there is something planned.  This will mean less sleep than usual since I get off work at 6am everyday and need to be awake around 1pm.  I am not sure if I can squeeze in a nap before I start work at 8pm either.  Oh boy.

Although my week is busy I only have two actual meals “out”.  Monday I am meeting extended family for reunion planning at a restaurant in Nampa.  Thursday is the Thanksgiving meal at my Mom’s house.  I have control over all my other days and meals.  I suspect this week might end up being a lot of SmartOnes as I can keep them in the freezer here at work for easy re-heat.  I think I’ll also cook up some chicken breasts in the crockpot so I have an easy go-to protein item. 

While the pre-planning is still vague, I am trying to think ahead.  This alone will assist me in staying on track this week. 

Raising Awareness About Multiple Sclerosis

Over the past year I have been attending seminars learning more about Multiple Sclerosis (MS).  My very good friend Jamie was diagnosed with MS in October of 2013 forever changing the course of her life. 

This was taken October 2013 at my birthday party.  Jamie was still living in silence.

What is MS? According to the MS Society website: “MS is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body.”

When I learned about Jamie’s diagnosis, I had heard of MS but I had not personally met anybody that was living with this autoimmune disease.  Since December of 2013 I have met so many wonderful people, some living with MS and some taking on the role of care giver, who continue to navigate their way through everyday life.  I have learned so much about MS since I started attending free seminars provided in our area.  Those living with MS have good days and bad days.  Some may show symptoms and some may not.  Some have come to accept their new way of life while others might still be in denial or in a bad state of depression.  We will never know why bad stuff happens to good people.

Like with any disease, early diagnosis is important.  I have heard stories of patients that did not seek medical attention for ten years.  When their MS symptoms finally got bad enough it was too late to slow the progression.  Pay attention to the warning signs.  This is a very common disease among women and onset is often between the ages of 30-50.  Men tend to progress at a more rapid pace than women.  I am not trying to scare you.  It is important that when you seek any type of medical help that you push for the type of care you need. 

The seminars I have been attending are very informative.  While some cities around the country have an actual MS Center, Boise does not.  Yet we have a large concentration of MS patients.  I have been able to meet wonderful doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical representatives, and MS Ambassadors at these seminars. 

Funny story:  I attended three seminars over the last three weeks and Dr. Green has spoken at all of them.  When we walked in on Wednesday he announced, “these are my groupies.”  It made me laugh.  Like I said before, I’ve met such wonderful people!

The food at the seminars is also delicious.  I have been to a variety of restaurants and each offer different types of meal options.  Who doesn’t love a free lunch or dinner?  We went to a presentation at Cottonwood Grille in Boise.  I have been a few times and the food is always wonderful.

Wednesday the seminar was at Brick 29 in Nampa.  This is my second time at this restaurant and again I ate such wonderful food.

The MRI Institute may be able to help with the cost of an MRI and for patients living with MS it might be at no cost.  Learn more about the program by clicking here.

The Multiple Sclerosis Association of America offers programs and services including a free helpline. 1-800-532-7667. Click here for their website

The National MS Society and the MS Navigator is a wonderful resource.You can find their brochure by clicking here.

If you know somebody who has been diagnosed with MS and you haven’t checked in on them in a while, I encourage you to do so.  Everybody wants to know that somebody cares.  Ask them how they are doing and if there is anything you can do to help.  Often people don’t know how to ask for help.  Lend an ear and provide support.

I just found a great web series by Jack Osbourne, “You Don’t Know Jack About MS.”  You can really great information about MS by watching Web Episode 6: The MS Feud. 

PSA: Eat Your Power Foods

Remember to eat your Power Foods.

You don’t want to end up like this.

I found some yummy new oatmeal packets at Albertson’s.  They were on sale for $4.99 each and there are six packets of oatmeal in each box.  This is sort of premium price for oats that I wouldn’t normally buy since I usually cook my oats at home.  However, for those times I want oatmeal on the go or at work this is perfect.

Of the three kids, the coconut is my favorite.

I really like the texture of these oats and I also added more chia seeds.  They are all very low in sugar (zero – 1 grams) and very high in fiber (4-5 grams).  They all have 6 grams of protein and with the addition of peanut butter that increases the protein a bit more. 

Who doesn’t love a good Superfood?