Weight Loss Wednesday

 

Dear Friends, Last week's weight loss Wednesday was lackluster. I did not inspire you to eat healthy and I did not post my weight. I managed to lose 0.6 pounds in two weeks but what I'm really excited about is the shorts. At 121, the shorts fit great but at 134.4 the shorts fit just as great. This must mean my quest for trim and fit is coming to fruition. I am so excited and looking forward to more shorts days. This week, I have a treat for you, courtesy of Pinterest. Its mug cake! I found a super simple recipe and healthy'd it up for you and me. 1 egg 1 banana (or 1/3 cup of powdered sugar) 1 or 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder Mash the banana until smooth and mix in the egg. Mix the cocoa powder completely and then microwave in the mug. The powdered sugar version only needs a minute but the banana needs more time. I think 1:45 to maybe 2 minutes depending on your microwave. Clearly the banana version is much healthier but I can attest that both taste fantastic!  

Original Mug Cake

Banana Mug Cake

I got more cake out of the banana than the powdered sugar. Please stay tuned to Thankful Thursday, a new link up! If you are interested in guest posting, blog swapping, or co-hosting a linkup, please let me know. I'm linking up with Erin for Weigh - in Wenesday.

Travel Tuesday - Blog Hop Edition

Dear Friends, It was with great trepidation, I drove to work this morning. I am further north from the destruction but my heart still aches. The dark storm clouds covered the sunrise and there was lightening. I know God has brought me here but my finite wisdom can't see the bigger picture. I will continue to pray for those hurting and I expecting healing will come.   Welcome to Travel Tuesday! This is a link up that was originally started by Helene and she needed to take a break. I am not done sharing my travel stories and wanted to keep the blog hop/linky fun going on. Please be kind to link your story below, visit a new blogger, and grab my little button for your post.   I am looking for co-hosts to join me with Travel Tuesdays. Please comment below if you're interested.   The Egyptian adventure continues. When in Egypt, all tourist must visit the pyramids. It was easy to book a trip with the concierge. We were warned in advance that the tour guides would take us to "schools" where children learned to make rugs and sell said rugs. There were also the essential oils, papayrus art, and other knicknacks. The pyramids were impressive and massive!  

These were the early step pyramids.

In the background, you may be able to notice the city of Cairo. These are the huge famous pyramids, built with blocks bigger than camels. Seriously, its a climb to get to the first level. We got to go inside one of these pyramids but photos were not allowed and certainly all the artifacts had been moved to the Egyptian Museum.  The sphinx was much smaller than I had anticipated.

I thought for sure it was pyramid sized but in reality its about a third the size of a pyramid. Impressive but not as much so. Oddly enough, there was a Pizza Hut/KFC directly across the parking lot and street from the sphinx. Perhaps you can see it in the photo below.

There is more to share of Egypt including the dinner cruise, hanging out with bedoins, and Alexandria. The adventure continues next week. Please link up your travel stories below and stay tuned for weight loss wednesday.

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Make A Difference Monday

 
 

 How would you like to help save three people's lives? It's possible if you give blood. Personally, I hate blood and needles. Any sort of subject including death, hospitals, and blood makes me very queasy. My mom dreamed of my career as a nurse but it never happened. I couldn't get over the queasiness that overtakes me.

How do I give blood? I always have the entire arm covered. My eyes are closed tightly when inserting and removing the needle. I get a little grossed out when I see the blood. I squeeze the heart (or whatever is handed to me) as much as I can. I want the donation process over. My reward is cookies. I can eat 1000 calories in cookies and not gain weight. The cookies replace the blood. The true reward is saving lives but ultimately I'm more excited about the cookies. Giving back is a selfish venture, no matter what people say.

I've given blood in Colorado with Bonfils. Here in Oklahoma, The Oklahoma Blood Institute has me down as a donor. Apparently, my B Positive blood is on demand. I'm going to give them a call and see if there's time at lunch. 

How do you give back? Do you know giving back can be anything that you want to do? Please stay tuned for Travel Tuesday the link up edition!

 

Thankful Thursday

It's thankful Thursday and I'm working towards my goal of documenting 1000

things I'm thankful for without repeats. There's so many good things in my life. What are you thankful for?

11-job, that I actually like doing

12-blogging friends

13-rain

14-cloudy days

15-fruit

16-good dreams

17-music

18-iPhone 

19-sunshine

20-beer

Weight Loss Wednesday

Dear friends,

Over the past few months, you have encouraged and supported me. I can't thank you enough. I will be getting on the scale this Saturday. If the scale is nice, I will tweet. Today, I completed day 11 of the abs challenge. It's not getting easier and I assume my abs are getting really strong. Sit-ups are no joke! Yesterday, I enjoyed a sundae, with a friend, called chocolate nirvana at Kaiser's. It was heavenly and I planned ahead for the splurge. Waking up this morning, I felt fine, instead of a beached whale. I've gotten that feeling before and it does not suit me. Please stay tuned to Thankful Thursday, which is a count down of 1000 thankful thoughts (ten a week.) Linking up with Erin.

 

 

 

 

Travel Tuesday: Egyptian Adventure

After exploring the mall attached to the Hilton, I discovered it was not my kind of mall. If you're from Portland Oregon, Mall 205 comes to mind, Anchorage, Alaska: Sears mall, Westminster Colorado: Westminster mall. Perhaps, you get my drift. The stores were all local merchants selling perfumes, essential oils, and things I was not interested in. We were invited into one store to sip tea and listen to the merchant tell us stories of harvesting the flowers for the essential oils. No thanks. 

Our next trek was to the Egyptian Museum. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside the museum and i followed the rules as usual. I'm not a rule breaker. This museum is busting at the seams with artifacts. Laid out in the grass in front, melting in the sun (not really but it was May and warm), strewn across the floor, and piled high. Most items were not in cases for display, except for the mummy exhibit (ew gross, I did not check that out) and King Tutankhamen, which was ostentatious and seriously cool. That exhibit is traveling and if it comes to your town, check it out. I missed it when we lived in Denver but I figured that's ok since I saw in Cairo. For food, we enjoyed good food at Hard Rock Cafe. It was fantastic and American. Sometimes the comforts of home help one to enjoy a wildly exotic vacation. The Egyptian beers were not memorable in flavor but the recipe is ancient and is made with sand (maybe that's an urban legend.) The price of beer was, at the time, marvelously cheap at bars and even the Hilton. Our adventure continues with the tour of the pyramids, next week. Linking up with Helene for Travel Tuesdays. Please stay tuned for Weight Loss Wednesday. 

 

 

 

 

Make A Difference Monday

I love it when having fun and helping the community combine in one amazing experience. This weekend I ran the color me rad race, which sponsored the cystic fibrosis - sooner chapter (Cystic Fibrosis - Sooner Chapter). This is a well organized race and always supports a local non-profit. I had a lot of fun trying to get covered in color. 

I think everyone had fun and one of my tweeps at Leslie at a Body Won't Break told me about the color run in October. I'm planning on getting a team together. Please stay tuned for Travel Tuesday: Egyptian Adventure.

Thankful Thursday

Welcome to Thankful Thursday. I've decided to come up with a new challenge. I will find 1000 things to be thankful for in my life. I know I'm blessed and this project will make me see it more clearly. I'll do ten a week until I reach my goal. I've also considered starting a Thankful Thursday link up. Would you be interested in joining me?

I am thankful for...

1-God

2-husband

3-kitty cats: Chomps and Kirby 

4-roof

5-food

6-friends

7-sister

8-parents

9-good in-laws

10-car.

Weight Loss Wednesday

I haven't been on the scale for over a week and I don't plan to weigh in until May 18. This last weekend was indulgent. I was in Texas drinking Texas drinks and eating unhealthy food. Portions were large but smaller than before. I snacked less than usual.

I drank a large quantity of calories from Straw-ber-Rita's from Bud Light. The only workouts were playing the piano. I checked out the hotel gym and it was a disgrace. A stationary bike and weight training machine. I tried to do some weight training but I was uninspired.

On the way back I stocked up on Bud Light Lime-a-Rita's. My last meal should have been a salad but instead I ate a burger on a wheat bun with sweet potato fries. I'm a sucker for sweet potatoes.

I'm on day 3 of this 30 day ab challenge. It's gonna be a long tough month.

Finally, I'm finding myfitnesspal is helping me plan my calories. There's control and I can plan treats. I don't feel deprived. Please join me at esthernorine. I'm looking for guest posters, blog swaps, guest posting for other blogs for weight loss Wednesday. 

Linking up with Erin.

Travel Tuesday: Egyptian Adventure

We stayed at the Hilton next to the Egyptian museum in Cairo. It's a gorgeous property uniquely located to the museum and a mall. The mall was very Egyptian and no chain stores. On several occasions we were invited into stores to sip tea and see what they were selling. The Hilton had several restaurants. We started in the main restaurant and ate chicken shawermas. There was a pizza restaurant and a hookah bar. Up on the roof was another restaurant/bar and we enjoyed just the bar. We tried the breakfast buffet and it was too much food and too much money. Our room had a patio with a nice view and there was a nice pool too. The staff was wonderful and everyone spoke English. The food and water was overpriced. We quickly learned about a convenience shop across the street. With the help of Egyptians, we were able to get water when we needed it. Crossing the street is a life threatening proposition but Egyptians are pros at it. The adventure continues next week.

Please stay tuned to weight loss Wednesday. I'm linking up with Helene.