Alaska!

If you're here on a regular basis you know that Dean is in Alaska this week on a fishing trip. Being alone has been interesting to say the least. Also exhausting because I'm not sleeping well.  They arrived in Alaska Saturday night & spent all day Sunday sightseeing.

These are pictures that Dean took on their day trip to Seward, AK which is about 2.5 hours from Anchorage. These are all from his iPhone that he texted me. He's taken lots of pics with our camera  but I'll have to wait until he gets home to post those.

I'm just amazed at how pretty it is! I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures. Right now there's about 17 hours of daylight in Alaska with a high around 55-60 degrees but it's also the rainy season. They've had showers everyday but nothing too bad. The only complaint they've had so far is that since it's so cool the hotel they stayed at the first 2 nights in Anchorage doesn't have the A/C on & the room is stuffy. They fixed that after the first night. This is what Dean calls "Alaska A/C".

Monday morning they had to fly on one of those sea planes to get to the fishing lodge where they'll be staying the remainder of the week. This is Dean on the plane. All the passengers get to wear headphones & ask the pilot questions as they fly. I, personally think the pilot needs to be concentrating on the flight & landing but that's just me.

There's no cell service at the lodge but they do have WiFi. It's a little sketchy but we've been able to use Facetime on our iPhones every night which is really cool.

I'm linking up to Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer.

Toodles!

Busy Busy!

I made it through the first weekend alone! Dean left bright & early Sat. morning for Alaska. Allison & I headed to the lakes to do our 4 mile walk & day 1 of C25K. I'm so excited that I was able to do it. I know I'm just beginning but I did it & it wasn't too hard. I do wish I could do something about the way I look when I finish. I get soooo red in the face. It's awful. If anyone knows of a sweat proof makeup please let me know! Once we were done we needed a refreshing drink. You guessed it, ice green tea please! Then it was back to my house. I was hosting "the worst book club ever". I made pasta salad & everyone else brought stuff. We had a sandwich tray from Subway, fruit, leftover wedding cake & chips. Not great for the diet but it was fun. We ate & hung out in the pool.

After book club, Vicki & I were going out to dinner & to see Crazy, Stupid, Love. We went to La Caretta & then to the theater. Our plan was to see the 7:15 feature. Yeh, well, we couldn't even get in the parking lot so we decided to go down the street for the 7:40 feature. EPIC FAIL. The line was a mile long & it was very close to 7:40. We weren't too worried because you know they show 20 mins. of previews. It's FINALLY our turn. SOLD OUT. Seriously? How hard is it to make an announcement as to which movies are sold out or mark it on the sign. Who knows how much time we would've saved. We tried to get tickets to The Help. Also, sold out. So annoying. We went to Starbucks. This is becoming a serious problem I think. At this point it was 3 days in a row & twice in one day. We went to Borders & picked up a couple of books. We also went to Ulta. I've heard a lot about the Macadamia Hair Mask & I wanted to try it. They were sold out of the big container so I got a sample size.

I also bought this conditioner.

I've heard some people talk about how much they like it. I'll try both & decide which one I like the best.

Sunday, Allison & I were supposed to walk the lakes again but Allison had a late night Sat. so we didn't. I'd set my clock to make sure I didn't oversleep before I knew we weren't walking. I woke up & the clock said 8:15. We were meeting at 8:00. I jumped out of bed & grabbed my phone so I could let her know what was going on. That's when I saw her text & noticed that it was 4:15 AM. Apparently, I did something wrong!! HA! Needless to say it was difficult to get back to sleep.

Since we didn't get to see the movie Saturday night we decided to try again Sunday. Allison met Vicki & I & we were able to get tickets & being that there is a Starbuck's right there I got a green tea to bring in the movie. 

It was really good. I liked it a lot. It was funnier than I was expecting.

Today, I'm exhausted. I didn't sleep good at all last night. I don't know if it's nerves from being home alone or my subconscious thinking about screwing up the alarm clock & being late for work or what. I was awake a zillion times last night so that leads to waking up with a headache. Today is day 2 of C25K. I expect to be in bed EARLY tonight. Surely, as exhausted as I am, combined with the run I'll be able to sleep.

Toodles!

A Discovery

My friend Wendy frequents Starbucks. I've never been. Yes, I know it's weird but I don't drink coffee, any type.  I don't know the difference between iced coffee, lattes or mocha whatevers & the ordering process intimidates me. Again, I know it's stupid but I have a ridiculous fear of looking stupid in public. Huge character flaw I know, I can't help it, I care about what people think.  Anywho, Wendy has been talking about the green tea & how good it is. I've only tried green tea once & it was one of those pre-made ones in a bottle & it was disgusting. With all the working out & trying to eat healthy that I'm doing, I keep seeing how great green tea is for you so I decided to try it. Wendy agreed with me that the stuff in the bottle is gross & that this is different. I was ready early this morning so I stopped at Starbucks on the way to work. Wendy told me exactly how to order. I had a Venti Iced Green Tea Unsweetened.

I added Truvia. It's sooooo good!!! There's a hint of mint which makes it very refreshing. I think it would be great after a workout or just on a really hot day which incidentally, is every day here. The best part is 0 calories & it's good for me!

While I was looking for a picture on Starbucks website I discovered all sorts of greatness. It's been said that I live under a rock. This would be another example of that. I thought all they sold was a million different types of coffee but they have several fruity lemonade concoctions too!!! Kind of like a healthy version of Sonic.

I'm off to enjoy my new discovery. Have a great day!

Toodles!

Weigh In Wednesday

This week I'm down a pound. I'm so happy to see that even when I have a weekend of eating I'm able to reign it in & get back on track enough to still lose. That's where I've gone wrong in the past. If I didn't do well one day I'd just blow off the whole diet. That's certainly a recipe for failure.

I haven't been to Yogalates since Sunday. Monday was a rest day & yesterday I had a dentist appt. I'll be back today & tomorrow & then I have a 8:00 am date with Allison at the lakes. We'll do our regular 4 mi. walk but during the walk we're going to do day 1 of C25K. I was very excited about it but the closer it gets the more scared I get. I really want to be able to do it!

I can't remember if I mentioned it earlier but Dean is going to Alaska! He has a friend that invited him to go to a fishing lodge for a week. They leave Saturday & won't be back until the next Sunday. Since the day we started dating (13 years ago) we've never been apart for that long. There's no cell service at the lodge so we're really not sure if we'll even be able to talk. I told him if that's the case to watch out when he gets home! I'll have soooo much to tell him. I told him I was going to keep a list so I wouldn't forget anything. HA! I've got lots of plans for the 2 weekends he'll be gone & during the week I'll be catching up on all the mindless TV I DVR that he has no interest in watching.

Toodles!

BLECH.......

It's Monday. Yuck.

I've been buying a lot of Groupon, Living Social & Bargain Bee deals since we like to eat out. Lately, that's how we decide where we're going. Friday night Dean & I had dinner at Couyons BBQ. I had a loaded baked potato stuffed with pulled pork. It was delish!!! I hadn't been to Couyons before but I'll definitely go back.

Saturday, my parents, Dean's parents & our niece Camille came over to swim. Dean grilled hot dogs & we had all the fixings & chips. The whole alien invading my body concept is looking more & more real everyday. That was the 2nd time last week that I had a hot dog!! We had a nice afternoon with everyone.

Our plan was to go to Mass Saturday afternoon but we'd also talked about going to the movie. The times didn't really work for us if we went to Mass too so we decided on the movie & went to Mass Sunday morning. We went & saw

It was funny! I've always really liked Jason Bateman & Ryan Reynolds was funny too. I did like Friends With Benefits better though. After the movie we headed over to Borders to check out their going out of business sale. I found several books in their bargain book area which is a good deal in itself but then they were an additional 25% off. I got a couple of hardback books for $3.00. We ended up with 7 or 8 books for $33 with tax. I thought it was a good deal. Of course we had to have dinner. We were having a hard time deciding what we wanted so we ended up at our old faithful, La Caretta. For those of you that know me in real life, I've never liked Mexican. This is another one of those times where our tastes change. For the last couple of years I've really started eating it. I had Flautas for the first time Sat. night & I think they may be my new Mexican fave. Soooo good!!!

Sunday I spent some time in the pool & I read. Has anyone read this book?

I've been wanting to read it & Borders had it on sale. I read it yesterday. It was very interesting & I really enjoyed it.  

Yesterday afternoon I decided that instead of lounging around in the pool or lounging around on the sofa I'd go to Yogalates. I'm so glad I did. Sometimes it's hard to make myself go but I'm always really glad afterwards. How was everyone's weekend?

Toodles! 

Weigh In Wednesday

I'm back on track!! This week I'm down 2.6 lbs. I'm very excited!! I'm also excited because today I'm wearing a pair of capri's that I bought on vacation that are a size 4. I need to measure myself. I haven't done that since April. I'll be back at Yogalates today. I didn't go yesterday because I had a Dr's appt. I found a lump thingy under my chin so I went & had it checked out. He said it was a swollen lymph node from being so sick the last month. It should be gone in a week.

I went & had my nails done yesterday. I had the Shellac polish put on my fake nails last time I went. I meant to take a picture of what they looked like yesterday but I forgot. It had been 3 weeks since I had them done & they were just starting to show signs of wear. They'd grown out quite a bit so I needed a refill.  I did Shellac again but I got the French Manicure.

Last night I actually cooked something. Well, some people won't consider it cooking but I used the oven so it's cooking to me. My friend Allison's aunt told us about how she's been making these little individual size pizzas out of pitas.  Depending on what you put on them they can be really low cal. I used a whole wheat pita which was 150 calories. I bought the Great Value brand pizza sauce. It was something like 30 calories for 2 tbsp. My favorite pizzas are full of veggies so I used mushrooms, red onions, black olives & red & yellow bell peppers. Of course as usual when I'm cooking I messed up. It wasn't anything major. I forgot to put the cheese on so I had to add it on top of all the veggies. I used mozzarella. It was really good. I think it would've been better though if you put sauce, then cheese, then veggies. Anyway, before you put anything on the pitas you need to put them in the oven for a few minutes at 400 & flip them until they get firm but not hard. Then put all your stuff on the pita & put it back in the oven until the cheese melts. This is the finished product. 

Not the greatest picture in the world but you get the idea. I'll definitely do this again. Something else I've discovered that I really like is Greek yogurt. BUT only a certain kind.

I've tried a zillion brands & a zillion flavors. Everytime I say "I'm done" because I HATE it but then I read about how great it is for you & I buy more. I love the one above. I absolutely cannot stand the Honey & I don't like Plain BUT Vanilla & Strawberry are sooooo good!!!

I mentioned that I'm going to attempt my first 5K in November. Well, in the first step towards that goal, I downloaded the C25K app on my phone. I was happy to see that the program is just 30 mins., 3 times a week for 9 weeks. I think I can do it. Of course it would be nice if the 110 degree heat index days would leave us. My plan is to start the training on August 13th (I have to work myself up to this). That will give me the 9 weeks I need to complete the program & 2 weeks to practice running the full 3 miles. We'll see what happens.

Toodles!

Weekend Fun

Considering we didn't have any plans this weekend we ended up being kinda busy. We did our usual Friday night dinner out. This week it was Mike Anderson's. This has always been my favorite seafood restaurant in town. I was disappointed & so was Dean. Everything was good just not great like it normally is. When we got home we bought this on pay per view.

I wanted to see it when it was at the movies but we never got around to it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE McConaughey & this movie was great!! Dean really liked it too. I highly recommend it.

I've mentioned how much it's been raining at out house. Saturday morning the sun was out so we were out too. Dean finally got the grass cut & I pulled weeds.  Between being on vacation & it raining everyday since they were a little out of control. It was soooo HOT!!! The heat index was 101 but it felt hotter than that. We ended up going to Mass & then to the movies to see

Again, I LOVED this movie. I'm NOT a fan of Justin Timberlake but he was really good in the movie. It had a lot of really funny parts too. I'm not giving anything away but there was one scene at the end that I thought was GREATNESS & is, in my opinion, one of the greatest movie scenes ever!  Now I want to see Crazy Stupid Love. Has anyone seen it? After the movie we had dinner at Portobello's. It was so good. I had lasagna.

Yesterday was our low key day. We went to Fresh Market for the first time. We wanted to get some blue cheese stuffed burgers that our neighbors told us about. We're going to cook them tonight. I was surprised at the store because I was expecting it to be big like Whole Foods but it reminded me more of just a small, local market. Then it was home to do laundry. I ironed & caught up on all my shows on the DVR. Seriously, I can't believe I'm still watching RHONY. Those women drive me crazy. Thankfully, the season's over.

Last night we went to our neighbors for dinner. They grilled burgers & hot dogs. It was to celebrate their daughter, Anna  & our other neighbor, Suzy for completing their first triathlons. Suzy won her age group. I was talked into doing a 5K. I mentioned that Lydia talked me into one in Dec. Well, my neighbor Sheri talked me into one in Nov. She's been doing C25K & is very excited about it. I'm waiting on the date so I can figure out when I need to start training. I really can't believe I'm doing this. Wendy & I were talking about it this morning. She says she wants to do a 5K & finish but she doesn't care how long it takes her. I want to finish but if it looks like I'm going to be last I'm baling! She says that's an epic fail. I see it as keeping myself from being totally embarrassed.

Toodles!