Going To Try Calorie Counting Again

Hello. I'm checking in late as I headed back to work today and my day started at 3:30am. I didn't have much time to blog. It was a pretty slow and quiet day today with not much in the way for fire training calls. This training phase is going well.

I decided today to try counting calories on the My Fitness Pal app. Dawny shared with me Katie's recent blog on how calorie counting helped her get back to her goal weight. She has some really great points in her blog post and it got me thinking. While calorie counting feels monotonous, I'm going to really stick to it this week. I'm also taking Katie's lead and trying not to focus on the daily calorie goal or other nutritional goals. I am just putting in the foods I eat this week to see what it looks like.

Today went pretty well. I like how tracking helps me stay on track. I don't really care to weigh and measure my fruit and veggies but for now I am going to. I don't eat an over abundance of what WW called 0 PPV fruits and veggies. However, right now I'll make a good effort to track it all. As Katie did, I also tracked my coffee, creamer, and Stevia. I know I drink a lot of coffee in a day. The cold weather makes me want to drink coffee even more. This evening I decided to have a glass of wine after I got home from work.

There is one more day in the month of November to meet my goal of all 30 days of getting my Apple Watch circles filled. I'm ready for this goal to be complete. I've been really tired the last few days so getting my goals met was tough. Not sure yet what I'll strive for in December.

Well, that is about all I got for right now.  

Thanksgiving Celebration & Holiday Card Photos

Good Morning. At least it is still morning here in Idaho. I have been super lazy today and enjoyed it immensely!

I had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house yesterday. We were all in attendance except for one of my uncles who drives long haul semi. It is rare to have all of my siblings together so it was really nice. Kenyon was able to come as well as my sister Jenny's husband Will. Katie had her new boyfriend Kevin. There were 16 people total and even though my siblings and I are all in our mid-late thirties, the kids table is still the best seat in the house!

I didn't take any photos and my mom wished we had since we were all together. I think we will all be together for Christmas and I suspect Uncle Burke will be there too. We will have to make sure we get some photos. I love the holiday season and family time. It is my favorite.

I had my sister Katie take photos of Kenyon and I for me to use in our holiday photo card. I don't usually share the photos until after the cards have gone out. If you are on my photo card list and reading this blog, I guess you get a preview! My Mom had the fun idea to have the gnome “photo bomb” us. We had Hailey holding the gnome behind us. I'll admit, this was a fun idea. We also took some silly photos with mustaches from this game the girls have called Moustache Smash. It is a really fun game.

Emma was in a bit of a bad mood for part of the afternoon and was feeling left out that Hailey got to be in the photo holding the gnome but Emma didn't. Since I was planning to crop her out and use the top half of us on our holiday photo card I told Katie Emma could be in the photo. It wasn't until after we were done that Katie pointed out how Emma didn't even smile in the first few. This is a typical Katie face from years ago when Katie was younger.

Boy that Emma is a stinker but she is so darn cute.

I think Kenyon and I will go to Festival of Trees tonight. I got our Christmas tree set up last night but we will need to decorate it. I also got the living room decorations up. I'll start listening to the 24/7 Christmas song radio channel when I am in my car. I love this time of year.

Happy Turkey Day

I am lucky to be on a schedule that has Thanksgiving off of work this year. I am not sure if that will be the same next year so I am sure to enjoy it. We will be headed to my Mom and Dad's house for an early dinner/lunch around 1pm. I am looking forward to time with my family and some yummy turkey with all the fixings. Don't forget the wine!

I am thankful for my wonder husband, family, and friends that are always supportive and in my corner. Changing jobs at the age of 36 has been challenging and I've cried many tears to my loved ones. That support means the world to me.

I am also thinking about the loved ones that are no longer with us and those of my friends whose parents have passed away. I remember the days of being a kid anticipating the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that we would watch in the living room while Mom and Dad prepared the afternoon feast in the kitchen. The smells, sights, and sounds are all etched in my memories. As I watch the parade drinking my coffee at my own home this morning it just isn't the same. Sometimes I miss being a kid!

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and I hope you have lots to be thankful for. Enjoy your time spent with family and friends.

Las Vegas Part Three

I forgot to tell you that on the flight from Boise to Vegas we got stuck on our plane for TWO HOURS!!! Just as we were about to take off we suddenly made a turn back towards the gate. There was an issue with the engine and they had to call a mechanic. We ended up sitting at the gate on our place for two hours. It was a total bummer but much more enjoyable than we we were stuck on the tarmac in Phoenix during the July heat. So really we can't complain. The gal next to me ordered a drink but they never took her money. We were guessing it was because they felt bad. I wished I'd ordered a drink! I made Kenyon pose for a photo to show was it was like sitting on a plane for two hours.

We did a TON of walking in Vegas. I wanted to make sure I got my three Apple Watch circles filled and Kenyon had a goal to meet his 10,000 step requirement for his work fitness program. Here was our walking totals:

Wednesday: 18,464 steps and 9.05 miles, Thursday: 19.549 steps and 9.23 miles, Friday: 15,231 steps and 7.31 miles, and Saturday: 10,928 steps and 5.26 mies. That is a total of 30.82 miles! Crazy. Where did our feet take us?

We visited the Wynn for the first time and actually saw a more impressive display made with flowers than that of Bellagio. We also went into the Ferrari gift shop.

Don't worry we still went to the Bellagio to check out their display. It wasn't as good as it has been in the past. (sorry the photos are a bit dark because we visited at night).

We walked to Mandalay Bay where I found this fun hat store in the shops section.

 I also found a fun holiday hat at the H&M store in the Miracle Mile Shops.

On this trip we also did a little gambling. We decided to take $200 with us for the sole purpose of slot machines. Kenyon ended up doing well while I just brought down our overall average with all my losing. We walked to the Luxor and Kenyon put money into the Flinstone's penny machine. He won $123 on his FIRST SPIN! Jerk.

I lost most of my money and decided to drown my sorrows in free drinks. Are the drinks still free when you lose $20 in the slot machine waiting for the waitress to come around?

After all the wins and losses were totaled up we actually ended up spending all but about $50 of our gambling money. Not too bad. Would have been nice to come home with enough to quit our job. Maybe next time.

Well, that is about it for this trip to Vegas. You know we will be back sooner rather than later.

Las Vegas Part Two

I never get tired of the views of Vegas. I call it The City Of Lights for a reason and Vegas at dark is one of my favorite times.

We booked our room at the Excalibur with a strip view and made sure to pick the side that looked out at the New York New York roller coaster. I love looking out the window and seeing the Vegas strip.

We also like the Excalibur because it is really easy to get where you need to go using the bus system. We took the bus to both outlet malls. I scored a new Coach purse and also a Vera Bradley purse. They now have VB at the outlet malls and the prices are really cheap. I was impressed.

Kenyon has been playing this online game called My Vegas Rewards and was able to earn us some 2 for 1 deals. We saw Tournament of Kings and Zumanity. Tournament of Kings was really fun but I'm not sure we would have done it at the full price of the show as two tickets normally cost $168. Yikes! It did include dinner and we were served a cornish game hen, roasted potato, broccoli, and a biscuit. It came with a non-alcoholic drink and an apple turnover for dessert. You eat the whole meal with your hands. It was quite interesting. We were seated in the Norway section and our guy got eliminated in the first round. That was a bummer. You aren't allowed to take photos so I obeyed and didn't snap any. However, at the end the new King came out to take photos.

I'll be back with one more re-cap.

Las Vegas Part One

Good Morning. Sorry to leave you hanging for several days. We enjoyed our time in Vegas so much that I never carved out some time to blogged. Don't worry though, I have photos to share with you.

I quickly realized when we were on our bus ride from the airport to the strip all the yummy places I wanted to eat during our time in Vegas. We have our usual places we love to visit and had plans for the buffet at least once since we had a 2 for 1 deal to use. I am a true foodie when the most exciting thing in Vegas is the food! The sad part is often I wasn't actually hungry for our next meal. Don't worry though, I still managed to eat plenty on this trip.

I didn't take photos of much food though. We redeemed some coupon deals at Beppo de Bucca, an Italian place in our hotel Excalibur that we first tried a couple trips prior. It is definitely a go-to and we ate there as soon as we landed. We also usually hit up Cheesecake Factory in the Forum Shops, a tradition we started several trips ago. We ate there after our Zumanity show at New York New York. The pumpkin cheesecake is still available and was a delicious desert. We ended up at two buffets. The buffet at Exacalibur for dinner was terrible. I am glad we had a 2 for 1 coupon so we didn't waste tons of our money. We also decided to have the breakfast buffet on our last morning in Vegas at the Luxor. Since it was the weekend it also came with all-you-can-drink mimosas. I had two and they were delicious.

Lunch one day was a Mexican restaurant in the Miracle Mile Shops. We actually made two trips to the MMS as I was on the hunt for Garrett's Popcorn. Danielle and I found Garrett's Popcorn on our girls weekend to Vegas when we stayed in Planet Hollywood. I got the cheese and caramel corn mix. I thought the small bag for $4.50 was an excellent deal. The popcorn is so rich a little goes a long way. I am so glad we got this popcorn. It is to dye for!

Another to-dye-for food is the Wisconsin cheese curds at Tap, a sports bar inside the MGM. Kenyon and I first found this place last year when we met up with my friend Christine and her husband Bland who was visiting Vegas at the same time we were. I knew we had to get back over there for curds so we had lunch there after a day of shopping at the outlet malls. We also shared some hamburger sliders and some buffalo chicken sliders. The chicken was SPICY. I much preferred the burger ones to the chicken.

I'll be back to fill you in on more of our Vegas trip.

Trading In Cold Weather For Warm Weather

I see on FB that the northwest is having some crazy wind storms that have knocked out power and caused downed trees and what not. For those of you in that area, stay safe! I hope the storms will pass soon with little destruction to those in its path.

I'm awake earlier than planned but still need to get packed and ready to go. We are headed to Vegas today!!! You know how much I love Vegas. I'm most excited for time with Kenyon. We have been on opposite shifts/days off for a few weeks now and we will still be on opposite shifts for another few weeks. At least we will have days off together again so that is better than nothing. For the next four days I'm looking forward to spending uninterrupted time with Kenyon.

In a few hours I'll be trading in Idaho cold/winter weather for Vegas warm/spring-like weather. I'm super excited for 70 degrees and sunshine.

I'll try and check-in when I can.

I Tell Firefighters Where To Go

I had my first full day running the radio and answering phones. It was a blast! I am really liking the start of Phase 3. There is some comfort in knowing the days of having my calls evaluated and nitpicked behind me. I still make a lot of mistakes, forget to ask some questions, and still understand what the heck the caller is wanting to know. However, I'm still plugging along building those new skills.

There is a lot to be said about organization and routine and Fire Dispatching is very routine. You click on this channel and say this. You click on this button to page these pagers and then click here to sent an alert tone to the firemen. Then you once again click on this channel and say this. Once they say they are on their way you are good to go. I dispatched the fire trucks to seven calls yesterday. Five were medical calls, one was a trauma call, and one was a “man down” call meaning somebody was found lying on the ground. I didn't have any actual fire calls and when there is an actual fire, not just an alarm, things get busy fast. So more learning will come my way. In the meantime I'm going to soak it all in and continue to do my best. I know I am a solid dispatcher. I know I can build my skills to be that way again it just takes time and practice.

On a side note, I get to do my ride-a-long with the fire department next Wednesday. To say I am a little bit excited is an understatement. I am REALLY excited. I hope to be able to go on a call and ride in the fire truck.

In other news, I'm really sore from my activity yesterday. I raked leaves at 6am since that is the only time I had available. It was my late start yesterday and I wasn't to be to work until 9am. With my seven day stretch and then our Vegas trip there was just no time to tackle the many leaves that have fallen from our huge tree. There are still many more leaves to follow. Thankfully Kenyon got home from work and we were able to tag team it. We filled 12 bags of leaves in 68 minutes. Boy am I sore today and my back is a bit uncomfortable.

By 7:30am I had filled two of my three Apple Watch circles and it was telling me I had burned over 500 calories raking leaves. I still had my planned hour workout time at work so I did a leisurely walk on the treadmill while I watched a movie on my iPad. By the end of the day I had gotten the notification that I doubled my activity burning over 800 calories yesterday.

There is awards given to you for various things and there was an award for doubling your activity goal in a single. There is also triple and quadruple awards to be won. I'm wondering if we walk a lot of Vegas if I can earn that triple award. We shall see. I'm not in the shape I one was for walking all day and then walking for several days in a row. But since we both have Apple Watches it might be fun to rack up the activity.

Okay. I had better get myself ready for work. I have a 12-hour work day followed by a MS talk in Boise. It is going to be a long day but at the end of it...VEGAS! I have not even made my packing list yet. I think I'll just “wing it” and relax. After all, it's vacation.

Seven Day Stretch

Just a quick stop by to say hello.

I officially passed Phase 2, 911 Emergency Call Taking, after seven days of prescription training. I am glad it went well and am moving onto Phase 3. I started Fire Dispatch Training today with a “limbo” day where I just watch and listen with my trainer. It was nice to have a break from the phones. I forgot that moving to another training phase means different criteria for my evacuations. It was a nice relief to see that I'm not being graded on my phone calls anymore. I still have a lot to learn and build my skills.  I am on a seven day stretch as I moved from one trainer on one end of the week onto another trainer on a different end of the week.

 

It is now the 15^th of the month and I've been filling my Apple Watch circles all three days. Yippie! My food intake isn't as stellar. My plan right now is to clean it up after we get back from Vegas. I know that is a bad plan and can mean more damage along the way, however, that is my plan.

I'm counting down until our Vegas trip. We leave town on Wednesday. Just a few more days to go.

Skinny, Fat, Used To Be Skinny, or Used To Be Fat

I put together some comparison photos after my birthday celebration last month. Since I started my WW journey I've tried to get a photo of me and my birthday cake as that is the starting photo I typically share when I'm talking about WW.

I've been thinking a lot about how I would introduce myself to somebody that didn't really know me. Since starting my new job, my coworkers don't know 300 pound Lindsay. They also don't know 175 pound Lindsay. They really only know 200 pound Lindsay unless I share with them the journey I've been on over the last (almost) ten years. Wow, ten years. I can't believe I've been on this journey for ten years.

My first thought is to introduce myself as “I once was skinny, but now I am not.” Odd that this is my first thought but appropriate for how realistic it is to continue to strive to love the body you have. Now that I look at my before photo I suppose I could introduce myself as, “I once was fat, but now I am less fat.” Less fat? Hmmmmm....let's ponder that one a moment.

I've shared many times within this blog space about living in the “middle weight” and positive self talk. I put on a brave face but some days not being at my goal weight is tough. It weighs heavy on my mind and is easy to beat myself up over it. I know I can always do better, try harder, and strive for more. I'm not sure anymore if I can actually get back down to my goal weight. I've been above goal for three years now. I had such wonderful support when I posted both of my birthday photos, taken 10 years apart.

(Clearly I have downsized my cake over the last 10 years)

I'm still hanging on. Skinny, fat, used-to-be-skinny, or used-to-be-fat. Why do these words make me feel happy and sad both at the same time? I'm happy I am used to be fat but now I am less fat. I am sad I used to be skinny but now I am not. These are just words that we often give way too much power to.  

Thursday Musings

My work week started yesterday and so far it is off to a good start. I am working hard to make this week another successful week. I learned yesterday that I will be moving onto my new trainer and starting Phase 3, fire dispatching, on Sunday. This makes me happy because I am ready to continue on with my training and because this mean Kenyon and I can still take our Vegas trip next week as well.

We knew starting a new job would mean having to put travel on the back burner for the remainder of this year and most of next year. It isn't a good idea to be taking lots of time off when you are brand new and still in training. Plus, I just don't have a big “bank” of time off to take either. I've got to work hard to build up some time off for future travel and just in case anything else happens. Kenyon has been on night shift now for two back-to-back rotations so he is getting pretty restless. I was really sad thinking I might have to postpone our trip again or worse have to cancel all together. If all goes well that won't be the case.

My activity this week has been solid and despite not being able to take any rest days with my goal of getting all three Apple Watch circles filled. I was able to take it somewhat easy on Tuesday after being out and about all day running errands. I only had to walk a mile on the treadmill and it was an easy mile. I had wanted to get out for a walk at work on Wednesday but it was a bit cold. I'm okay with walking outside in the colder months but I'm not a fan of wind, rain, or snow. I ended up using the treadmill and the elliptical at work. When you day starts at 3am it was easy to get all three circles filled by 3pm.

I hope your week is going well.

When Negative Self-Talk Occurs

I'm not usually one to talk negatively to myself. I'm human so it still happens but I try not to put myself down. I caught myself doing it on Monday.

I was at the outlet mall (or what is left of our really tiny outlet mall) at Eddie Bauer spending my free $10 certificate I found in my email inbox. On my way out of the complex I spotted the Lee's Outlet and wanted to see if I could find the slacks I like in the tall size. Side note: I'm not tall but the average seem to be a bit short when I'm wearing my Dansko clogs. Anyway, I didn't have much luck in the slack department but I spotted the intimates department. It is hard to find lingerie of a sexy variety in some stores and for a decent price. At the outlet mall they had a nice section for a really great price.

I thought I might see if I could find something sexy and pretty to wear for Kenyon to spice things up. I started looking at the tags, S, M, L, and thought to myself, “don't they have the size FAT.” Whoa. There it was. That negative self-talk that didn't need to be said but was exactly what I was thinking at that moment. Don't we all wish we looked like a Victoria Secret model? It sure would make shopping for clothes 10x easier.

I finally found the XL size and went to try it on. Good thing I did because I have no idea whose size that XL was for. Clearly it was not the same XL that I needed and no way did it look sexy. That was enough for me to scrap trying on anything else. I think if I had to go bigger than an XL, I might have started crying.

The one thing I did find that fit was a tiny Santa hat. Thank goodness something tiny still fits me.

What Eating Off Plan Really Looks Like

So what does the ugly side of eating off plan look like? Warning: things are about to get gross up in this blog today!

I've been really off plan for a couple of weeks now and everyday I say I'll do better. Then that day comes to an end and I am miserably overstuffed as I'm trying to get to sleep. I keep thinking to myself, why do you do this? You feel so much better when you are eating healthy and managing your sweets. This doesn't feel very good so why keep it up?

So far myself hasn't answered back and the cycle continues.

Here is what eating off plan really looks like for me:

• I get canker sores on my tongue really easily when I am eating off plan. I'm not sure if it the excess sugar or what but it is one of the first signs
• The gums at the back of my mouth start to hurt. I know this happens when I eat a lot of hard foods such as chips and crusty breads. I think there is also a connection to sugar as well
• I start getting lazy with my teeth brushing. I know this goes hand-in-hand with my gums hurting but when I'm eating off plan, in the evening I'm usually stuffed, uncomfortable, and tired which is a bad combo for teeth brushing at night. I just move from the couch to the bed minus the brushing
• I feel bloated and uncomfortable in my jeans. That one doesn't really need any further explanation
• My rings are tighter. Part of it is weight gain and part of it is eating off plan and excess sodium
• Loose bowels. That one also doesn't need any further explanation. Other than I get more Facebook time the longer I'm on the toilet. Kidding. Maybe.

Okay. There you have it. The unpleasant signs that I've been eating off plan and need to give myself a good ass-kicking.

The part that really irks me is that as humans we know that when something doesn't feel good to stop. If you put your hand on a hot surface and get burned, you pull your hand back. If you are applying pressure to an area of your body that starts to ache, you release the pressure. So why is it with addictions such as food, alcohol, and drugs that we don't stop when things become unpleasant?

Something I'll need to ponder. If you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

Today Is A New Day

When I posted last week that I was On Track And Feeling Good, you can tell it was right after my WW meeting. I usually feel more energy to eat healthy and exercise after my WW meeting. It is such a great dose of motivation. I'm looking forward to my Tuesday meeting tomorrow morning. I know I don't have to wait until Tuesday morning to start making better eating choices but I seem to continue to miss the memo.

I hear a lot of people say, “your job is stressful” and it is stressful but I'm not sure that is the culprit of what I expect to be another gain this week. My food tracking dropped off early last week. I was eating out often and not counting the PPVs since it doesn't really count unless you track it. Since what you eat doesn't really count if you don't write it down, I was having dessert each day. I was also going really far overboard on the meals out I was eating. It is easy to see the downward spiral and how quickly once falls back into old habits.

Knowing I was going into this downward spiral didn't seem to make me re-think my food choices. It is almost as if you see a huge wreck about to occur right in front of you and yet you can't look away. Instead you continue towards the event knowing the outcome isn't going to be good. I'm not sure I can fully say this is due to work stress but rather pure laziness.

If I wasn't so lazy in my meal planning maybe eating out wouldn't sound so appealing. If I'd not tucked my food tracker out of sight maybe I'd have made better food choices. When eating out if I'd splurged less maybe I wouldn't have been so uncomfortable the remainder of the evening and into bedtime. If I make weight loss more of a priority maybe I'll actually get back under 200 pounds again.

There is a lot of maybe in the paragraph above. It really comes down to priorities. I've not let weight loss and healthy eating be in the forefront of my mind for a while now. That needs to change. I'm reminding myself it doesn't have to be a drastic change but instead small steps to yield different results. Today is just as good a day as tomorrow to start fresh. The changes I make today will impact tomorrow and if I want that impact to be a positive one that starts with positive changes today.

Sunday Funday

Good Morning. I hope your Sunday is off to a good start. I've just finished breakfast and will be headed to walk the mall here shortly. I'm meeting a friend later to visit while her kids play in the park if we can get some sunshine!

When I got home from work last night I stopped by Rosauer's to pick up a cold bottle of sweet wine. I watched TV and toasted myself to a very positive week at work. 

I needed a great week at work under my belt as I work on my confidence and trusting my dispatching/call taking abilities. I've got a wonderful trainer and am on a very positive team so these last three days went really well. I'm staying focused on next week.

I also had a great week of activity. We are seven days into the month of November and I've gotten my circles filled everyday. I'm planning to keep this streak going and have some exercise meet-ups scheduled on my days off.

No other plans this weekend. I need to combat some house deep-cleaning!

Have a great weekend.

Quick Fly By

I'm just checking in really quick before I get myself ready for work. The transition to waking up early for work has been tough and I'm feeling very tired today. Thankfully today is my shorter day so that is a plus.

Day One of prescription training went well as I expected it to. I've got a lot of great support on this shift and with these trainers. We had to shift trainers a bit so I am with Stacie again and we get along really well. Both Stacie and Rosa are very supportive and want both me and my trainee partner Pam to make it. That is very encouraging and helpful. So we will both continue to do our best.

I have to show that I can do well and do it consistantly. So I hope to build on yesterday making today just as good as well as Saturday too.

I don't have much in the way for weekend plans but I am making some “walking dates” so I can meet up with people for activity and chatting. My food has been pretty terrible lately so I need to re-focus and get that back into check. No tracking = BIG trouble for Lindsay.

Sorry I have been MIA. Just feeling a bit busy with the new work hours and the early wake up call.

On Track And Feeling Good

Oh the joys of turning your sleep schedule around from night shift to day shift. I am yet to sleep for a full night as of yet. Due to a shift in the scheduling I now don't return to work until Thursday. I hope I remember how to answer 911 phone calls! If I had known I was having so much time off I would have planned it better. Nothing like trying to wing it eh?

I'll be able to attend my favorite WW meeting today so I am looking forward to that. I knew I would show a gain and it appears I'm up three pounds from when I last logged my weight in the Happy Scale app on Oct 16^th. Yikes. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see the average totals when I entered in my weight. Despite a three pound gain my moving average is stable for the last 7 days and I've only gained 0.4 pounds in the last 30 days. Of course the all time gain has gone up. That is based on the weight that I first entered into the Happy Scale app. Looking at that number depresses me.

I also very slightly dipped into the green on my graph.

Up until the week of my birthday I was doing pretty well with weight loss. I felt I combated the birthday weekend well, however, didn't get back to clean eating the following week. That is what can always hurt you most. I also had a few days of stress eating last week.

I am back on track this week. Yesterday I had a super hungry day. I hate when that happens. I didn't do too much damage and had my full WPPAs to use had I gotten really crazy. Thankfully that didn't happen.

I've also made a goal to get all three of my Apple Watch circles filled for the entire month of November. I'm off to a good start but having to resort to squats, high knee lifts, and walking around the house to get the last of my activity calories or exercise minutes completed for the day. With my sleep schedule really wonky I'm meeting my 12-hours of standing goal.

I have a training today at work for 5 hours so I hope I can stand up a time or two and keep my streak going.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

Good Morning. I hope you enjoyed your extra hour of sleep. It is currently 1:38am (the new 1am) and I have not yet gone to bed to collect my extra hour of sleep.

Thursday

On Thursday evening I met up with my sister and my nieces for Disney on Ice Frozen. When tickets were announced back in January I jumped on the chance to get some. Little Emma (5 years old) loves Frozen. However, I felt Hailey (11 years old) enjoyed it more. It kept to the story line and had lots of the same words and all of the songs. They had to cut some stuff out but overall it was enjoyable. Hailey loved the real snow and I thought it was pretty cool how they had fireworks for when Elsa used her magic.

Friday

Kenyon and I had massaged already booked and also decided to book a night at The Anniversary Inn. We wren't able to get in on the $99 sale but we decided the extra money was well spent. We chose the Carriage Suite. The bed was really hard to get in and out of. But other than that, it was a nice room. We had cookies at check-in, cheesecake waiting in the mini fridge, and a full breakfast in the morning. We booked a “bounce back” deal where we can pick any room on our next stay for the one price. It will end up being a $100 savings off the highest priced rooms. The company owns hotels in UT as well so we might extend our stay at a different location as there are some pretty neat rooms in UT.

Saturday

I planned small group meet-up for pizza and beer in downtown Nampa. The pizza place was packed with lots of trick-or-treaters but we managed to get there before it was too busy. I didn't take any group photos but we had just the right amount. We ordered a 24' pizza and once again it was fabulous. I plan to take my parents for pizza after my dad heals from his knee surgery. After pizza and beer I came home and took a nap! Being on the graveyard shift and staying in a hotel don't mesh well. We stayed up late and woke up early. Since we didn't pass out any Halloween candy this year I was bummed that I didn't get to eat a bunch of it. I guess that is just one more reason I am needing to clean up my diet!

I wore my candy corn leggings

It has been a very enjoyable Halloween weekend and I get a few extra days off due to the change of trainers/shifts at work.