March – August 2020 Favs
Pinterest Recipes

Yearly Organizer/ Calendar

Books📚

Ikea (desk n nightstand)


La Colombe canned coffee

My journey through life
Pinterest Recipes
Yearly Organizer/ Calendar
Books📚
Ikea (desk n nightstand)
La Colombe canned coffee
I DID IT!!!! Yes, all the caps and all the exclamations because I’m proud of myself! I had to fight to finish this challenge. I struggled with self doubt, poor food choices, exhaustion, angry kids, asthma issues due to the fires as well as a bunch of LIFE. I was originally thinking this would be easy compared to the Chloe Ting 2 Week Shred and I was right however as this was longer it presented different challenges. I regret nothing and would encourage everyone to try it as long as your doctor says it is okay.
It took me 1 hour 11 minutes and 8 seconds (1:11:08) to complete this 5k but I did it. It was past 9pm but I finished. I was shaking and crying but I finished. I was having breathing problems but I finished. My knees hurt but I finished. Now my feet are swollen (need different shoes), my hair smells, my kids are crying and the dog feels ignored but I finished. I am currently writing this right after finishing and as tired as I am I feel amazing.
I’m thinking about my next fitness challenge as they seem to keep me motivated and active while inside. I have a vague idea but I know whatever it is, I’ll complete it. I know the scale won’t magically go down a ton without steady healthy eating habits but it is a start and it is contributing to improving my mental health which is extremely fragile. Any little thing I can do to feel amazing, especially if it is free, I’ll do because feeling amazing right now is an accomplishment by itself. With everything going on in the world, I think everyone should find something big or small that makes them feel amazing! Please pick your version of amazing safely ❤
My son loves dinosaurs and most all prehistoric creatures. He wants to be a paleontologist thanks to YouTube and Jurassic Park; yes, I know it is a questionable movie for his age but he loves it. I went exploring online a few months ago to find the right excavation kit for his age. Spoiler I didn’t find one. What I did find was one kit on Amazon and one at Target.
I found Dinosaur Eggs on Amazon for $22.85 in March 2020; it’s $19.99 as of date of posting. The box says it is not for 0-3 years old at all. The recommended age is 6+ years old. This kit includes 12 eggs with dinosaurs inside, 12 chisels, 4 brushes and 12 dinosaur information cards.
Pros:
Cons:
The National Geographic Dino Fossil Dig Kit was found at Target but I do not recall the price. I did find the same kit on Amazon for $9.97 as of date of posting. This is not for children under 3 years old. The box recommends ages 8+ years old. The kit includes on T. Rex shaped brick with dino poop, mosasaur tooth and generic dino bone, 1 chisel, 1 brush, 1 magnifying glass and a learning guide.
Pros:
Cons:
Overall both kits are great considering the price and contain learning guides/ cards for later reference. The Dinosaur Eggs kit is good for multiple kids and continued play since the eggs contain small dinosaur toys. The Nat Geo kit is good for a more dig like experience and has a magnifying glass that will definitely be fun to use for other experiments.
The title sums up the post but I’ll elaborate! Please note I’ll use restaurant, takeout and fast-food all referring to food we didn’t cook at home.
My husband and I had a terrible fast-food/ takeout/ restaurant habit. It was so bad that I would meal prep then we’d get takeout and have lots of food waste as we wouldn’t double back to eat what I cooked. I kept watching my weight balloon because I ordered whatever sounded good at the moment. My new peak was/is 251lbs; I’m only 5’6″… As the horror of this new depressing milestone set in, my husband pitched the no fast food idea to me. I quickly agreed but was worried he’d have to be my strength due to my sugary coffee addiction. Little did I know I was going to do great!
Week 1: The biggest challenge was finding a coffee alternative to my Starbucks addiction. In case you need an idea of what I mean, I’d go to Starbucks and buy 2 drinks (grande and venti) usually with extra espresso or a syrup and a pastry (chocolate croissant). It was expensive and not the best choice for me. The alternative I found was La Colombe available at some Target and Costco locations. I have tried the four flavors available near me but they have more (listed by preference): Mocha, Triple Shot, Vanilla with regular milk and with oat milk. Though the month is over I continue to buy these or brew coffee at home instead of going out.
Week 2: I really started missing the convenience of fast food. The ease of going through the drive-thru or waiting until night before eating because I could. Around this time I realized I could meal prep without it being boring. I decided to start planning my meals a day or two before we went grocery shopping. I thought of what I used to order and simply switched the drive-thru for the grocery store. I even went back to finding quick flavorful meals on Pinterest. I can’t decide if I want to write about the things I’ve tried on Pinterest or not but here’s a picture of one meal we loved. My husband ate it with his steak on “fancy” days when he didn’t feel like eating his regular meal.
Week 3: We went to the grocery store way too much. This was a strange issue. We were eating at home like we planned but we weren’t sticking to our normal food. We made lots of unnecessary trips to the grocery store for wine, sake, sushi, pastries and frozen pizza. Needless to say I was eating at home but my extras were eating up the money we were saving. Again I had to take a look at what I was eating, when and why. I knew I was an emotional eater but the detailed answers to those questions became clear during this month. Once I started addressing them, I was able to make a more realistic meal plan.
Week 4: I was doing well and even preferred cooking all of my meals. It was a different form of self care. I was choosing to put my health first with every meal I cooked. I had to plan, commit and cook. I would listen to music, think about fun things to do with the kids or just have random internal conversations with myself. I could keep this up no problem. At the end, I knew I’d go back to eating out especially sushi as nothing compares to the actual sushi bar but this time it would be rare versus regular. Plus we like to support local and try new restaurants.
Week 5: The month ended and I had my first take-out in over 32 days! I was excited since I was armed with this new resolve to only eat out occasionally. I opened it up, took a bite and immediately thought “that’s it, right back to old habits” then something cool happened. I felt GROSS. My stomach was bloated and upset, my feet and hands started to swell and I couldn’t finish it. I COULDN’T FINISH IT!!!! That might sound awful to some but for me it was great. It was proof my choices really were having a negative effect on my health. At home, I controlled all of the ingredients and the amounts but when someone else does the cooking you can’t control it. Sure you can order healthy alternatives, eat at certain places, etc but at the end someone else is still in control.
Conclusion: If you want to try something different or challenge yourself, go for it. You might be shocked at what you discover. Did I lose a bunch of weight? No. Did I save a ton more by eating at home? No because experimenting with food can be pricey. I didn’t expect what I did get. We did start eating all meals at the table. I started being more aware of what I was eating as well as the snacks my kids were eating. My oldest tried kale. I’ve started to take better care of myself; no more quarantine slump. Overall I feel better, am more aware of what I’m doing and am more present with my kids. I also have a schedule and am starting to get active. I would definitely consider this experiment a success. I’ve even moving on to a new challenge but that’ll be for a separate post 🙂
I forgot to actually post the individual blogs so I’m combining three months worth! Going forward, I will include recipes I love if I have one for the month. I will try not to repeat anything but if I like it then it’ll more than likely show up again.
Pillowcases from YugTex and Alpha Home
Canvas Wall Art – Green Leaf
Hairstyle
Espresso Metro
Dansama Passion Twist Hair 18″ (7pks) T/BUG
Self-care is all I hear about nowadays. I thought I was doing it accordingly until I realized it started to feel like everything else on my To-Do List. Then it got lost in the day-to-day. Once I was feeling good and burned out, I started to think about self-care again. What is it? How do I set aside enough time for it? What should I do during this self-care? And what’s the difference between self-care and hiding in the bathroom with a book and/or a snack?
Well thanks to my husband forcing me to have alone time, I discovered solo dates!
At first, I didn’t know what to do. I grew increasingly annoyed trying to make a plan. Then I remembered seeing a trailer for The Photograph. I knew hubby didn’t want to see it so I decided I’d go see it by myself. Normally I’m not a romantic movie kind of person but this looked interesting and I liked both actors. On Saturday, I got dressed and ran out the house like a little kid leaving on the last day of school before summer vacation (do they still have that?).
I decided to treat my city as a day trip. I took pictures as I normally would while in a new city. I intended on taking pictures of my movie ticket, food and beverage as well as of myself but I was too busy enjoying myself and only took pictures afterwards. The movie theater only had six other people and they were all couples. Everyone was spread out so I was in the row by myself which felt like having a giant home movie room. The movie was good and I’d recommend it if you want a romantic movie that doesn’t feel too cheesy or painful to watch. Next on my solo day trip was exploring the city; yes still my own city. I Googled nearby introvert friendly places but nothing seemed to catch my attention. I drove around aimlessly until it hit me. The LIBRARY!! It was quiet, introvert friendly and best of all free. I looked for the book I started reading during our cruise; it came from the cruise ship library. Once I got a new library card and asked some questions, I ordered the book and looked for two more. With books in hand and renewed energy, I went to a local chain restaurant, ate then headed home.
My second solo date was easier to plan and a little fancier. I knew I’d be going to an early movie because the ticket is cheaper and the theater is usually 90% empty. I got slightly dressed up, threw my stuff into my purse (no diaper bag for me) and left. I was running late so still no pictures before the movie. This time The Call of the Wild was my movie of choice. It was better than expected and focused on the dog so for me it was perfect. Since I skipped breakfast and popcorn doesn’t fill me up, I decided to go eat. I continued the tourist theme and looked for small independent looking places to go. The first was a restaurant I wanted to go to for a while but they didn’t have any parking available. I defaulted to a small coffee shop instead.
Espresso Metro is the cafe I ended up at. I’d driven by it many times before but never stopped as I was usually looking for something. This time I decided it would be my last stop on my solo date. I went in, told the barista it was my first time there. She recommended food (chicken tamale) and a beverage (custom latte) based on my preferences. The place was quiet but not empty like the theater. I took out my book and began reading. After a few minutes, which turned out to actually be over an hour, I noticed the customers coming and going. It had a pleasant buzz of noise but not too much that I couldn’t ignore. I continued reading until I wanted another drink. This is when I realized the actual time elapsed was a few hours so I concluded it was only right to make another purchase.
I purchased a chai and made small talk with the new barista as the previous one was done for the day. We chatted, I picked up my drink, went back to my table and continued reading. After another hour, I decided to head home. Upon my return, we were able to go out to dinner with just the two of us so it turned into a date night. Dinner and hanging out was the perfect way to end my solo date.
My solo self-care dates won’t always be the same but for now leaving the house with a book, phone charger and an explorers mindset has worked out great<3
I like things that go but my son loves them! As soon as I found out Monster Jam was coming to our city, I knew we had to go. Thanks to Blippi via YouTube he knows all about monster trucks especially Grave Digger. So I knew this would be a great surprise especially since he’d been keeping his room clean and being a great big brother.
Once the day came, I casually mentioned to him that we had a surprise for him later on in the day. He was curious but quickly let it go because toddler… Soon it was nap time and I finally told him so he could rest before his late night. This didn’t work and tears followed. After he finally calmed down, he passed out. By the time we woke him up, it was time to go.
We prepaid for parking so we were walking to the place along with lots of other excited kids. There were a few rowdy young adults but they didn’t bother anyone just generally loud and possibly intoxicated. Upon walking inside, the crowds were packed around every booth that was setup with merchandise and food. Our seats were way at the top but I didn’t mind as the view was better and seats were affordable. Below are a few moments he is still talking about so I felt the need to include them. I will also post clips on my YouTube channel but be warned they were shot on my mobile as professional equipment or any type of decent camera setup were prohibited.
Tips
Final thoughts: The prices were on par for a special event but the small toy monster trucks seemed very affordable ($10/ truck). I would like to thank the mom next to me for letting me have her new earplugs as I forgot to bring the pair I had. She didn’t hesitate or make any judgmental faces; she just leaned over asked if he’d use them and handed them over ❤ Due to this act of kindness, I’ll bring a spare pair to the next event I go to. Well feel free to ask me any questions as I did enjoy the event and so did my son and husband!
Did you read my Highwater Jamboree post? If you didn’t, here’s the link https://jtm2015.wordpress.com/2019/11/05/highwater-jamboree/ The first picture for that post was a helicopter. I didn’t elaborate on it because I wanted to keep the experience as a memory for myself however it is now relevant.
After making our way through the large vehicles at the jamboree, I spotted the police helicopter. Once I saw the pilot, I bombarded him with most of my big questions. He graciously answered all of them as well as providing encouragement to get my pilot license. I was beaming from ear to ear after our conversation and it made me even happier that I attended the Highwater Jamboree. What I didn’t know was that my husband spoke with the sergeant while I was talking to the pilot. Hubby jokingly asked about a ride along in the helicopter and the sergeant gave him his card and told him how to schedule the ride along. The sergeant let him know the wait could be a while but it could be possible to get in on a cancellation if there were any.
A few days later, hubby gets a call asking if we could make it and he jumped at the chance. All he told me was to be ready by 4:00pm and wear comfortable shoes. I thought he was taking me to a fun dinner so I did my makeup (rare), got dressed and put my wig on. Later on he told me my sister would be watching the kids so I got really excited thinking he was taking me a little farther than I anticipated. Finally he comes home, my sister arrives then we take off. I spent the entire drive trying to figure out where we were going. We chatted, made a few jokes then reached the area. I was still confused as the location didn’t really reveal much. Okay I might have been too excited to see the obvious. But once I saw the pilot I lost it!
We followed the pilot to his office, saw the inside, asked questions, signed paperwork and took a golf cart to the helicopter. We got a quick lesson on helicopter safety, I asked more questions then the water works started… I couldn’t contain my excitement. I should mention I don’t cry easily but fulfilling a bucket list item made me burst with emotions. As we were in flight, he showed us all kinds of cool things in our city including our house! We headed towards a neighboring city and he began to go over the controls. I was wondering why he kept going over the controls then he asked me the most amazing question. Would you like to fly? Needless to say I lost my mind and agreed possibly before he even finished. I confirmed the controls and proceeded to have the experience of a lifetime. I followed a river, looked at an amazingly perfect sunset and flew over beautiful homes.
These of course are just highlights but I had to share. Not only did I learn you can have a ride along in a police helicopter but I got the spark I needed to ignite my imagination and show me what was possible. I can be a pilot if I figure out how to pay for school while being a stay at home parent. I don’t know how but I’m sure I’ll eventually figure it out. What the future holds I don’t know but what I do know is thanks to my husband I enjoyed the ride along of a lifetime ❤