Weekly WI: Birthday Edition

 Yesterday I turned 43.

It has been a fabulous time thus far and I look forward to more celebrating with friend this weekend.  Yesterday I had some unexpected overtime at work which started my birthday very early.  I also worked at my WW Workshop.  Before I left the house, I checked in with the home scale but opted to skip the “official” scale since I had been awake for many hours and had already eaten and drank my coffee.  I was very happy to be down 1.8 pounds.

This week will be a challenge as it is birthday two-for-one week and also social time with family and friends.  I am planning to skip the scale next week but I will work on balance this week and stick to my points where I can but enjoy the indulges when they arise.  

For my actual birthday, we meet my parents and my brother at Dos Caminos for Mexican food.  Just as we lit the candles on the cake, staff came to sing to me.  It was so sweet.  Afterwards, we met up with Phoenix and Stacey for a beer (okay, two beers) at Cresent Brewery.  I love their pumpkin beer!

We arrived to live music from The L+J Experience along with Lee Brice on the trumpet.  There was a small group of patrons and a lively group at that.  Coming in the door after the show started caused some of the rowdy to act up and make the night even more fun.  I even got my own trumpet birthday solo by Lee Rice.  Such a great guy.

My sister Jenny had flowers delivered to my front door from 1-800-flowers.  It was a beautiful fall bouquet that went well with the flowers Kenyon got me so I mixed and matched them. 

In the box with the flowers was also this sun catcher.  I love it!

More fun to come this weekend.

Cruise Life: 99 Days To Go

After booking a cruise with over 500 days to go on the countdown…

…we are OFFICIALLY 99 days to go!

 

WhooooHoooo!

 

This group cruise is going to be epic and I can hardly contain myself.  After having to cancel our October cruises and not really being able to travel with Kenyon, I am looking forward this trip.  Having a couple of my best gal pals and their significant others come along is going to make the trip so much more fun.

 

The Vlogger Group Cruise is quite large, and I’ve been interacting with people on the FB page that I am looking forward to meeting in person.  As part of the group, we have a few schedule events planned but other than that, it is all on your own.  My group of six (Phoneix & Stacey, Wanda & Michael, and Kenyon & I) will be planning some dinners on the ship together, taking in some shows, and just enjoying our time together.  The group cruise travel agents created a shirt for order, and I really love the logo.

 

Our shirts, I got the hoodie instead of the sweatshirt, did not come correctly and need to be re-printed.  I’m still waiting to hear from the company.  Bummer!

 

Waiting is the hardest and so I’ve been researching ship stuff, restaurants, drinks, and port stops.  Oh man, I am so excited.  These 99 days cannot come fast enough!

Weekly WI: A One Pound Loss

 

A whole week has come and gone and I have not checked into this little piece of the World Wide Web.  It has been busy with a lots and lots and lots of work shifts!  But, alas, we will get through.

 

My Weekly WI was on track for my one pound per week goal.

 

We have 14 weeks until vacation and next week will be a difficult one to pull out a loss.  As in typical fashion, my birthday freebies seem to all come in at once and with the abundance of overtime, we’ve not had time to use those that came in earlier.  Now it is a race to try and get them all used up in time.  Most are buy-one-get-one so I’ve been waiting for a day off with Kenyon to use them.  Next week is THE week.

 

I found this funny on Facebook and though it was appropriate for a weekly weigh-in post.

 

I never sat down to write a full blogpost celebrating one year since I started working for the company that changed my life.

 

This has year has been hard and stressful juggling the WW schedule with my regular work schedule and a lofty overtime hours.  But, we survived!  I will be moving to day shift at work and thus, will no longer be able to be with my favorite Monday morning WW members.  Alas, we will be opening up an evening workshop on Monday night where I will try and build up the membership.  I am looking forward to this new opportunity.  It has felt like the right decision and also like going “home” as Monday nights in Nampa is where I started my WW journey almost 16 years ago.    

Speaking of memories, I had a FB memory from 13 years ago pop up.  I was about to celebrate my 30^th birthday and been working so hard to be at WW’s goal of 155.  While I didn’t make it, I sure had a lot of celebrate.

 

I continue to have a lot to celebrate.  Yes, the struggle with the scale is a daily occurrence and I am once again working off vacation weight.  But, staying grounded to this program that has brought me so much success and so many wonderful people into my life is key.

Here’s to another week!

Weekly WI: A Small Gain

 It has been a week.

I ended up with a small gain, which I am thankful for.  I really struggled this week mentally and kept turning to extra points/sugar/food that was available but not necessary.  I gave into stress emotional eating and engaged in some social eating and drinking.  

This week I will re-commit to getting my head back in the game and work towards weight loss progress.  We are 15 weeks until our group cruise vacation so I’ve got a lot of time to make a lot of progress.  It comes down to me and my commitment.

One success this last week was finishing my October Apple Watch Activity Challenge in rapid time.  

Last Monday and Tuesday were 200% movement days and I logged extra activity minutes yesterday to get my third 200% movement needed for the monthly challenge.  Success!!

I am on a long stretch at work, day five of day eight tonight.  I was able to get a trade with one of my coworkers so I can attend my cousin’s wedding on Saturday.  I love spending time with family and I really love weddings so I am looking forward to the reward at the end of the long week.

Adding An Apple Air Tag As Part Of Your Travel Packing System

 With all the chaos involved with airlines over the summer months, I was a) relieved we were not traveling anytime soon and b) thinking I should prepare myself for future travel while I have the time.

Enter the Apple Air Tag.

Since I watch a ton of You Tube travel videos, the Apple Air Tag frequently popped up as a suggestion for how to track your bags while on vacation.  Or at the very least, know if your bag is not with you at the airport when you arrive.  We typically are carry-on only and while I do love the lighter travel lifestyle, I occasionally enjoy checking backs for a few reasons. 

• It is nice to not have to trek your bags with you and traveling through multiple airports/flight can feel more carefree.
• You can pack a larger variety of clothes/shoes.

That second one sort of reverses the whole reason for carry-on travel…pack less, use less, re-wear clothes, etc.  But you know when you are on a cruise it is nice to have some different (i.e fancier) evening wear options.

So, back to the Apple Air Tag.  I went into our local Apple Store and purchased a four pack in preparation for your upcoming Vlogger Group Cruise in January 2023.  My “test” for using the air tag was my trip to Spokane a few weeks ago.  I decided I would check my bag on the flight home, which routed through Seattle and test out how the air tag held up. 

My results: So far, I am impressed.

I don’t 100% know how they work but from what I’ve read and what my husband has told me, they need a GPS/Wi-Fi/Data signal to transmit their location.  So, as long as you have data and the air tag has some sort of data, you should be able to see the tracking.  If for some reason, your bag is lost, you go into the app and turn on “lost mode.”  When somebody’s phone/device comes into signal with your air tag, it will give them my basic contact info, similar to an actually luggage tag.  Pretty neat right?

I put the air tag into my suitcase and followed the tracking app.  

Here is my suitcase at the Spokane Airport.

And at the Seattle Airport.

And finally in Boise before it got to me at baggage claim.

Wow…technology!  I am thinking I’ll check a bag when we cruise in January, because of all the reasons above!  And I did buy the air tags for this reason.  I just get super worried about my clothes being lost while on vacation.  Which, has actually never happened to me.

Have you experienced a travel nightmare with lost luggage?

Here are some other Items That Make Traveling Easier.

Weekly WI: Three Times The Activity

 Good Morning and Happy Thursday!

I am about to start a long stretch at work so I’m meeting up with some friends today for some social fun and so looking forward to it.

This week is WW Walking Week and on Tuesday there were three group walks scheduled.  Since I didn’t have to work after my morning WW workshop, I decided I’d hit up all three walks.  This not only gave me an activity boost but it also helped me earn my 200% movement with my Apple Watch as part of my October Activity Challenge.  

On top of all of that, I got to mingle with our amazing members!  One walk was at 11am and then I raced to the second walk across town at noon.  The third walk was at 4pm.  It was all so much fun and we had beautiful weather.

My weekly WI was a loss on my home scale (still working off the vacation weight) but a gain at the official WW scale (vacation weight).  I have 16 weeks until our group cruise so my goal is one pound a week.  Let’s do this!

After a full day of activity, I was exhausted.  

I fixed The Hubs and I an easy taco dinner and then relaxed on the couch with a beer.  It as much earned and much needed.

Girls Weekend Portland: Days 3 & 4

The recap for Girls Weekend Portland: Days 1 & 2 can be found here ß

Girls Weekend Portland Day 3:

Our morning started with a visit to Pittock Mansion.

 

This is where you go to find the best views of Portland.  We also planned the 3 mile “easy” hike around the property.  Eh…not so easy of a hike.  Turns out the path we picked took us straight down and as you know, what goes down must come back up.  We powered through like a champ and felt victorious having completed the harder than expected hike.

 

We headed back to the townhouse where we gussied up and had a few shots since we secured a DD for the remainder of the night.  Patty’s husband Adam drove us to Prost! for some German beer and BBQ from Matt’s, an amazing food truck in the area.  There was an IPA beer truck also set up, which was perfect for our mixed-beer-loving group.

 

We were then dropped off at Darcelle’s a local drag show.  The star of the show is Darcelle, a 92-year-old drag queen, the oldest in the Guinness Book Of World Records.  Darcelle should really think about retirement but overall, we enjoyed the show. 

 

We called and Uber to take us back to the townhouse and called it a night.

 

Girls Weekend Portland Day 4:

Our final full day in Portland started with a visit to the Saturday Market, a tradition when in Portland.

 

We didn’t stop into Voodoo Donuts because the like was too long, but I can at least say I saw it!

 

One of the reasons for choosing Portland as our destination was to drive to the town of St. Helen’s, known as Halloweentown.

This was the location where where the first movie was filmed.  We arrived just in time to see the Pirate cannon ball and firearms demonstration.

 

We found a nearby brewery before venturing into down for some lunch at a pizza food truck.

 

Before we left St. Helen’s, we stopped at Bella’s house, the house used in the filming of the Twilight movie.  The current owners of the house were outside sharing stories they heard from the owner about filming.  I’ve never seen Twilight, but it was neat.

 

For our last night, we ventured into Vancouver, Washington for a wine flight at Vallo Cellars and a beer at Waterfront Taphouse where we also had a bite to eat along the waterfront and a stop at the Ilani Resort & Casino.  I ended up winning some money, which luck followed me to Spokane (more on that trip soon).

 

Along our drive home, we stopped in LaGrande to sample one final brewery, Side A Brewing.    

 

That wraps up Girls Weekend 2022.  I will be back to share my Spokane Girls Weekend with Dawny.