Built Bar Addiction Is On Point

Have you tried Built Bars yet?

They are so good and most are 3 points. A few of the new releases that have nuts are 4 points. They are a low sugar high protein candy bar. Or that’s what it tastes like to me. I love eating my Built Bars for dessert.

On my last order of Built Bars, I realized I made an epic mistake and accidentally ordered the Coconut (not bad) instead of the Coconut Almond (amaz-balls). I was so sad and yet they cost so much I told myself I had to eat these Coconut ones before I could order again. Well...Built Bar enticed me into ordering when the release of three new flavors and the ability to put ANY bar in a build-your-own box. That way, I’m not having to order an 18-pack of just one variety. 

So, I sold (tried to gift but that never works) the Coconut to my Mom and bought two build-your-own-box varieties. Hey, I like choices in my life.

The three new release flavors are: S’mores, Cashew Carmel With Coconut, and Oatmeal Cookie With Walnuts.

Don’t those sound amazing?

My other box is Coconut Almond (amaz-balls), Peanut Butter (really good), and Toffee Almond. I’ve not tried the Toffee Almond but I hear they are good.

My order is on its way.  I still have some of my Peanut Butter Brownie so I didn’t order anymore of those. I do like this flavor.

I’ll report back as I try them out. 

If you are interested in trying Built Bars, I have a referral code that will get you $10 off a mixed box (they have the assortment already selected) or any of the non-nut varieties.  See below:

http://i.refs.cc/oZwxP2nc?smile_ref=eyJzbWlsZV9zb3VyY2UiOiJzbWlsZV91aSIsInNtaWxlX21lZGl1bSI6IiIsInNtaWxlX2NhbXBhaWduIjoicmVmZXJyYWxfcHJvZ3JhbSIsInNtaWxlX2N1c3RvbWVyX2lkIjpudWxsfQ%3D%3D

Mid-Week Check-In

I had an enjoyable day yesterday visiting with my Mom, Dad, and Aunt Barb on our trip to Jackpot to visit my sister Jenny.  We met early…which meant for little sleep but I managed to push through.  We had breakfast at Sunrise Cafe, grabbed some coffee at Human Bean, and arrived in Jackpot just after 11 a.m.

I wanted to sign up for the players club since Kenyon and I spending the night at Cactus Pete’s in March as a mini anniversary trip.  They were offered $5 in free play for joining and then after I joined, Barb noticed a sign that had a refer a friend $10 promotion.  So, one-by-one, Mom, Dad, and Barb were my friend referral and I earned $30 more dollars in free play. 

Now, I wish I could say I came home a winner.  I had a bit win and then go over confident expecting to win again so I lost.  BOOOO!  The downside to gambling!  We had lunch in the Desert Room.  My Mom got the Ruben sandwich which was amazing.  I wished I had got that instead of the burger.

On our trip home, I noticed I still had a cash voucher in my purse.  Whoops!  Good thing we are headed back in March.

We planned to stop by a winery in Glenns Ferry on our drive home but it was closed on Tuesdays.  We also didn’t have any alcoholic beverages at Cactus Pete’s since it was a turn-around trip.  The WW Gods were looking our for us!  Mom packed some zero point snacks too.  So, all in all, a high point day but pretty low key on the splurging.

As for the rest of today, I have a hair appointment and am in desperate need to cut this bulky hair back and then I think I’ll go into my parent’s house this evening for dinner.  I got my workout in this morning so that is checked off the list.  I’m nearing the end of February and working hard to earn my Apple Watch Award.

Have a great Wednesday.

Weekly WI: On The Down One Again

Good Morning!  Happy Monday to those starting the work week and Happy Friday to Lindsay, who is starting her weekend.  Ha!  Plus, with Aunt Barb in town, there is fun on the agenda.

I did my weigh-in this morning since I won’t be able to attend my meeting tomorrow.  I was hoping for the scale to be back down and happy to report I’m back on the downward trend.

I had a gain for the monthly total of 2.8 pounds.  That is the all thanks to February.  With pre-vacation and post-vacation gains minus what I lost today…2.8 pounds.  Thanks a lot February!  

When I think back to my previous weight trackers, I don’t think this is a surprise.  And, if I am remembering correctly, March is usually a month where I come in lowest.  Now, with that being said…I don’t want to push pressure on myself.

I plan to stay focused on my goals and continuing to meal plan, track, and earn those blue dots along with activity and water intake.  With Vegas Girls Weekend just four weeks away, of course I am nervous.  I am trying to find the balance between working hard at weight loss but also remembering there is more to live than the number on the scale.

And with that, I’ll sign off for now.  I’m sure you’ll see more reflections when I have time to sit down and look over my weight tracker.   

Triple Booked Saturday

I had a Triple Booked Saturday and a lot of fun.

I had switched with a coworker to have Saturday night off to see Jay Mohr, who was coming to Liquid Laughs Comedy Club a second time.  Once I had switched shifts, that freed up my day to attend a baby shower for my childhood neighbor who is welcoming her first, a baby boy, in April.  When Phoenix and I were chatting earlier in the week about our Vegas plans, she invited me to attend a Beer Bootcamp Saturday morning.  So, a Triple Booked Saturday occurred!

This was my first time attending a Beer Bootcamp-type event.  It was a blast!  The only negative is that the event took place on the floor of the brewery, which is also concrete.  Oh my knees!  I was feeling it the rest of the night and I am sore this morning from the bootcamp.  So, a good workout indeed.

After the 20 minute workout, we put the tables back in place enjoyed our included pint of beer with the registration fee.  I would definitely do this again.

I was home with enough time to shower and change to head to the baby shower.  The party was a huge success with so many people and so many gifts.  We had a great time showering the Momma-To-Be.

My Aunt Barb is in town from New Mexico and after a short visit with her at my parent’s house, I raced home to give Kenyon and few kisses before I headed out again.  I met Kelsey downtown for a comedy show with Jay Mohr.

He was fabulous.  I loved seeing him his first time in Boise and I felt he was even better this visit.  The first time he told a lot of stories about this SNL days and was super engaging.  This time he told a ton of jokes.  He also had a great opening comic from LA and we got to meet his son, who he brought on stage when the show started.

Phoenix was downtown volunteering the hockey game so we made plans to meet up after for a night on the town since she was kid-free for the night.  We enjoyed some adult cocktails and girl talk.  It is always so nice to spend time with my friends.

Now, it is time to be responsible again as I am back to work tonight and tomorrow.

Florida Vacation: Universal Studios, Universal Island Of Adventures, Capone's Dinner Show, and Disney Magic Kingdom,

If you didn’t read the first part of our Florida Vacation recap, you can read it here: Florida Vacation: Kennedy Space Center, Disney Hollywood Studios, and Disney Epcot

Despite feeling really tired from our evening at Epcot, we decided to start our day early and arrive at Universal Studios & Universal Island of Adventure when they opened the park.  We were hoping for cooler temps, shorter lines, and an early evening.

On our last trip to Florida, we only visited Island of Adventure, which at that time had the only Harry Potter attractions.  Since then, they have also built some Harry Potter at Universal Studios along with the Hogwarts Express, but you have to purchase the park hopper pass to ride the train.  So, we navigate two parks.

I loved Universal Studios.  It is movie magic and was super adorable.  Plus, it has significant shorter lines, some as low as 10-20 minutes.  That was a nice break.  

We rode the Hogwarts Express to Universal Island of Adventure and walked around the Harry Potter area.  We had lunch at one of the restaurants and then rode the Jurassic Park ride, which we didn’t do last time.  I also rode one of the Harry Potter rides as the newest ride to open had a wait time of over 120 minutes all day.  No way!  

Since had been to Island of Adventure before and didn’t really want to wonder around all day, we rode the train back to Universal Studios and I rode some rides while Kenyon sat out.  We loved the new addition of Harry Potter Diagon Alley and I rode one of the new rides.  Harry Potter magic is always so neat to see.

We visited Chocolate Emporium outside the park before we left and enjoyed a very yummy dessert.

Part of deciding to wrap up early was so we could go to this local dinner show called Capone’s.  I am so glad we did.  We had the best time and I even got on stage (by accident).

The show has a full buffet and drinks, alcohol too, are included in the ticket price.  The staff are in character all evening and when you arrive early, you can play blackjack our roulette in the bar area for a prize.  I didn’t win but our ticket also included two shot glasses as a souvenir.  We also took a photo upon our arrival and purchased the magnet.

The show was set during prohibition and we were supposed to be part of the Italian Opera Society Group when the cops showed up.  We were given family names, our group the Marinara Family.  When the cop was talking to audience members I introduced myself as Lindsay Marinara, which got a few laughs and ended up with me and other lady on stage to join the performance number.  

I suppose I could blame it on the alcohol.

Our final park was Disney Magic Kingdom.  By this point we were flat out exhausted.  We went for another early day and got there when it opened so we could have cooler temps.  The lines weren’t shorter though and the one ride I really wanted to go on had a wait of over 120 minutes all day.  There was another ride I’d been wanting to go on that was over 90 minutes all day.  I just didn’t have it in me.  

We still had a good time but after all the park days strung together, it was a lot.  We ended walking a ton of steps over our days in Florida.

I am thankful for WW, my weight loss journey, and the ability to be able to push through this much activity.

We had an early flight the next morning and left the 85 degree temps in Florida arriving to 35 degree temps in Dallas.  You can read about our Dallas adventures here: I CAN. I WILL. WATCH ME.

Florida Vacation: Kennedy Space Center, Disney Hollywood Studios, and Disney Epcot

I am going to split our Florida Vacation Recap into two posts since I have a lot of photos to share with you.  Our last trip to Orlando was in 2012 and quite a bit has changed in eight years.  It was also really, really, really hot.  We just happened to visit during an “unseasonably warm” week.  It was 85 degrees with 65% humidity so it made being out in the heat on our feet a bit rough.  But, we survived and we still had some fun.  Here we go:

We landed in Florida very late on Saturday night so we stayed at the Hyatt attached to the Orlando Airport so we wouldn’t have to deal with navigating a new city in the dark.  It was pretty neat to have a hotel where the view from your room was the gates to the airport.  

We got our rental car on Sunday and went to Kennedy Space Center for the day since we wouldn’t be a able to check into the hotel we were staying for the week just yet.  We stopped for breakfast along the way and I spotted this sign.

I’m not sure what concerns me more…that feeding alligators is as much of an epidemic as molesting them that you need a sign.  Okay Florida…odd.  We also got to see a life armadillo.

We weren’t able to visit Kennedy Space Center on our last visit and since then, they acquired the Space Shuttle Atlantis.  This was the highlight of the trip for sure.  This makes three of the four of the space shuttles able to visit that we have seen in person.  We will have to make it to Washington D.C. soon to see Space Shuttle Discovery.

Kenyon booked us a behind the scenes tour that took us out on the military side of Cape Canaveral.  We got to see where the rocket launches happen and heard a lot of stories of the astronauts that have come before.  Did anybody watch The Astronaut Wives Club?  It was really cool hearing stories of the Mercury Seven crew and seeing where the actual launch took place all those years ago.  

There was a rocket launch at 11pm that evening and it was tempting to return and watch but it was late and an hour drive back from Orlando.  So we decided not to.  We were able to get a close up photo when our bus driver stopped between some trees.  The tour guide said, “you know this is a big deal when your tour guide gets his camera out.”  The Atlas 5 Rocket launch was a success that evening.

We said our goodbyes to NASA and headed to our hotel in Orlando.  

We were booked at Serilago Inn & Suites, which is close to Disney and ran shuttles to the parks.  OH MY GOD!  It was the most run down, sketchy, and flat out scary hotel after dark.  We almost didn’t want to stay the night.  We booked this trip on our “free travel” through our time share purchase.  Thanks a lot Casablanca for putting us up in a less-than-stellar location.  We felt better about it during the daytime and the staff was nice.  but, in the future, I wouldn’t stay there again.  It isn’t worth the free shuttle and the cheap rates.

Moving on…

Our first day at the park was Disney Hollywood Studio, which we didn’t visit on our last trip.  I love all the movie magic and we had a great time walking around.  This was also where the new Star Wars additions is at.

The lines for the Star Wars rides were long, 90 minutes for one and the other had special passes only.  We were going to stand in line but decided to try the single rider line and split up.  It was a fun ride but I’m not sure worth a  90 minute wait so we made the right decision.

There were only a few rides at Hollywood Studios and the lines were long.  We had a Fast Pass for Tower of Terror, which I loved.  Had the line been shorter, I’d have ridden it over and over again.  I wanted to ride the Aerosmith Rocking Rollercoaster but the wait was over 120 minutes all day with no Fast Passes.  No Thank You.

I was pleasantly surprised that Disney had some chicken sandwich options for our lunch/dinner meals and they have carrot or apples as a side offering.  That made staying on track a little easier.

Our send day was a late start because we needed to take advantage of the laundry facilities at the hotel.  We caught the late shuttle to Disney Epcot and planned to stay later in the evening for hopes of cooler temps.  

The later in the day the lines got shorter but the one ride that didn't ever get shorter was the Frozen ride, in Norway.  We stood in line for 55 minutes so I could ride this.  It was great but so difficult to stand for so long.

We also ended up walking the most of all the days at the park, 20,000 steps, so it was definitely tough on us to continue to navigate a different park a day afterwards.

We made our way back to Hollywood Studios on the cable car tram and caught the shuttle back to the hotel.  It was a long day and we were exhausted.

Still three parks and a dinner show to go.  I’ll be back tomorrow with more.