Birthday Beach Weekend

Just got in from a wonderful weekend at the beach. I also had a birthday while I as there. No party, No presents, No caked Just me and my Husband enjoy time together at our camper by the sea. I could not ask for anything else I'd rather have.

It was so nice. The weather was perfect. It was a short trip. I only had Friday off so we left early that morning. We want to get in every bit of sunshine and sand that we can in the short time we have. We didn't go out far on the highway while were there because it was Bike Week at the beach this weekend and honestly, all those motorcycles scare the crap out of me. Im always afraid they will get hurt. I become a nervous wreck. The traffic was terrible at times with rumbling motorcycles as far as you can see, so we stayed close to the camp site.

We spent Friday afternoon relaxing on the beach and a nice little dinner that night. Saturday morning we were up with the sunrise, ate a small breakfast and had coffee. After we had our coffee we ventured out for a morning walk around the campground.

As we walked further into the permanent home neighborhoods, we could see families having breakfast together and smell bacon in the air. Everyone we passed would give us a friendly smile and a "good morning" wave. We ended up walking four miles before we headed back to the camper, slipped our shoes off and took another walk down the beach for another two miles or so.

The beach walk was more relaxing as we skimmed the beaches and tide pools for sand dollars and sea life.
 

 

I learned that most of the l the pretty shells, no matter how small, have renters in them. Some of the tiniest shells had little crabs curled up inside. We found sea urchins and even an eel. Yes, I learned that just because it looks like a stick, does not mean it is. My husband spotted it first. About three inches of it was sticking out of the sand and water in the tide pool. He said, " This thing is breathing and moving".  I couldn't get to my camera fast enough before it shot back into its hole under the sand.

There are also so many creatures that look like the sand and you will never see them until they move. The beach was full of sea life that morning. I also found several big shells and sand dollars. I love finding sand dollars. They just lay on the sand like rare flower or gem.

After lunch we grabbed our chairs and headed out to the beach to catch some sun shine. It was so warm and beautiful but cool enough that we didn't have to put up the umbrella.

After I packed up to go home, I walked over to the open air shelter to the Sunday church service while my husband finished with unhooking the camper and making sure everything was complete. The ride home was nice and my daughter came over that afternoon with me a birthday surprise of a new pair of shoes and an angel food cake with strawberries and whip cream. That's my favorite and goes light on my diet. 

Now its back to the office. I hate going back to work after getting spoiled by the beach life.  I just need to hang on a few more weeks and we will be going back to the beach for the third time this year so far. Meanwhile , I plan to make some little sail boat crafts with the small pieces of driftwood I found.

Happy May

I bet you all wonder where I am. Well, I'm here, I'm on here every day reading other blogs. The only thing is, I just cant seem to find anything to blog about myself, so my blog has been sorta stagnant. I could blog about world things but we see and hear enough about that. Plus it would just be controversial.  I have written a few blogs on my feelings but I end up deleting those after I vent to the computer screen. I just like happy post and even though I'm happy as can be, I still have sad days and mad days that go away and aren't worth writing about.

But Its May, so maybe I will have more to talk about since May is full of things for me to share. For starters, today is my a 21st wedding anniversary. I love being being married and it seems that our love for each other grows stronger every day. I woke up this morning to a lovely gift from my husband. It was another bangle to add to my Alex & Ani collection. That's not all, I came home for lunch and he had me another one!

Tonight we will have dinner and probably take a walk. We like to walk and talk about our day. Just enjoying each other. We don't need to do anything special for today. We make everyday special.

May is also my birthday month. My Mom has a dinner planned for the family. Because.....
I have two siblings and my Dad all with birthdays in May and three out of four of us are within three days apart. So, she just throws one big dinner for us all. Yes, and four cakes.

We will also take a weekend trip to the beach again in a few weeks. There are also friends and family that will be graduating this Month and I'm sure we will be celebrating that too.
Not to forget, there is Mothers Day and we have a family reunion I should attend at the end of the month.

Wheeeew!

With all that being said, I am also gonna have to be strong as far as not to over eat since I'm still on a diet. Wish me luck. I hope to start blogging regularly again soon!

Nutrisystem- Slowing Down

Just finished my 16th week on Nutrisystem. I feel great! Its been a fun journey and I've lost several pounds and inches now.

The weight is now coming off slowly. Its only about a pound a week. I guess that is better than a pound gained but I wish to loose more. I'm just 15lbs away from reaching my goal. Hopefully the pounds will start dropping faster soon. They suggest I make sure to get all my foods in for the day. Other than NS foods, I'm suppose to have recommended snacks in between. I'm suppose to eat something every 3 hours, 6 times a day and 4 servings of veggies. Seems like a lot of food huh? Well not really because the snacks are things like a tablespoon of almonds, a slice of bread, cheese, or yogurt, etc. Small healthy things.

Nutrisystem- Ravioli

I'm still loving the foods and its gotten a lot easier to say no to other foods I shouldn't be eating.
I went on a beach trip the other weekend and was able to turn down the good smelling foods that were tempted everywhere we went. I did however, eat a dozen oysters one night and Mexican food the next . I also snacked on pop corn, carrots and almonds while laying on the beach all day. I over ate on those snacks but Its was all good. It didn't cause me to gain any weight. I didn't loose any either but no gain was a blessing.

Despite all the rain we have had these past couple weeks I have been able to get in my walks. One day we walked in the rain. Its was rather nice.

           

 

Here I am after that long wet walk, showing off my Dancing With The Stars, "Raise The Barre" tank that Nutrisystem sent me. What a surprise it was for me.

Its been a slow journey lately with my weight loss but I have thought about it and I plan to keep going on this diet. Its so easy to follow. With the discounts I have been collecting, It's gotten to a reasonable cost for me. I still have a few more pounds to shed to be ready for my August Vacation. I hope the pounds start dropping more and more.

Beginning weight- 168 lbs.
Weight after 16 weeks- 142 lbs.
That's 26 lbs. lost!

Frozen Yogurt Sandwich

Do you like Ice cream sandwiches but your diet says no?
Well then how about a yogurt sandwich instead?

Since being on Nutrisystem I have learned to make healthier choices in what I eat.

These little frozen goodies are healthy, delicious and less than 100 calories each. They are easy to make and fit right into your diet without any guilt. If your not on a diet, then you can just eat all you want and not regret it.

Frozen Yogurt Sandwich

8- Low fat graham cracker sheets (note: each cracker sheet has 4 triangles).
1- Low fat, 80 calorie yogurt (flavor of your choice).
1/3 cup- Sugar free cool whip ( taste better than fat free and you will never know its sugar free)

Mix the yogurt and cool whip together.
Lay 4 crackers sheets in a single layer in a shallow dish.
Pour mixture over crackers.
Top with 4 cracker sheets..
Freeze for at least 4 hours
Cut into squares (each cracker makes 2 squares when cut in half)
Enjoy

Only 92 Calories per square.

Go ahead and experiment with different flavors. I think lemon would be good.
You can add nuts or spinach. Yes spinach. Just like you would a smoothie. It may turn a pretty green but you will not taste it in there. Really.

PS: After freezing overnight, they got really hard so you may want to cut and separate after about 4 hours. Wrap each individual sandwich in foil and place back into the freezer to enjoy anytime.

Ive shared this at:
full-plate-thursday at mizhelenscountrycottage
thursday-favorite-things at katherinescorner
link-and-share-wednesday at oombawkadesigncrochet
weekend-bloggy-reading-link-up at serenitynowblog
dare-to-share at pamspartyandpracticaltips

Nutrisystem- The Reveal

I finally found a "fat" picture so I could show off my reveal. Like most of us, we get rid of the "bad" pictures. I found a photo that I could not get rid of because it was from my Daughters college graduation and it was a good one of her. I made a copy to crop so I can use it for my reveal photo.

This is me after loosing 21 lbs.

I survived Easter weekend with all the fun foods and family dinners. I controlled myself and eat light. I did however, Eat a cookie, a piece of cheese cake and a peep. I did not gain a pound but instead, I actually lost some more ounces.

I step on the scales every morning. I know, they say not to do that but do. It will move up or down a couple ounces each day but mostly down. This gives me the motivation either way, to continue.

I actually cleaned out my closet last weekend and give away my size 12s. My 10's are loose and I can wear an 8. woohoo! I feel good about that. I do struggle with feeling bad when I'm around others that think they are overweight. I shouldn't. Even though I do not think they need to diet, they can if they choose too. Nobody can take the weight off except the person wanting too. I also know how a size 8 or 10 can feel big if you spent most of your life under 100 lbs. which I did. I remember an 8 being a large! Now I'm happy to just be back in an 8. So, everyone is different.

I have lost a couple more pounds this past week and hope to loose 15 more. I plan to continue with the Nutrisystem Diet through May. I have not decided to keep on or postpone my shipments for a couple months. It sort of scares me to think of eating my own things again. But I may try it a month or more to see if I can keep the weight down myself.

I'm still loving the foods I get from Nutrisystem and the program is fun to keep up with.  I could never think of this many foods to eat each day. It never gets boring.

Baked Garbanzo Beans

Are you looking for a healthy veggie to snack on?
Try baking  can of Garbanzo beans. AKA chick peas.

For some reason every time I hear the word Garbanzo I think of the Muppet character Gonzo. I just do.

Garbanzo beans are loaded with fiber and satisfies hunger. You can find more about one of the most healthiest foods here.

If you don't like the taste of these peas, then don't give up on them just yet. Once you bake some and turn them into crispy snacks, you may just change your mind. The pea taste disappears and has more of a nutty flavor.

You will need:

• 2 cans of Garbanzo beans.
• olive oil
• seasoning.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Rinse the peas with cool water really good to get rid of the starchy stuff.
2. Drain really well and pat dry. Make sure you get them as dry as you can. I poured mine on to paper towels and patted them dry over and over.
3. You will see skins come off the peas. This is ok. Pick out what you can but don't worry about the rest. There is no way to get them all and they will not hurt a thing. They are just not pretty.
4. Pour onto a foil lined cookie sheet.
5. Place in oven for 15 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and spray or drizzle with olive oil.
7. Add seasoning. I did two flavors. I did half in cinnamon sugar and the other was salt and pepper.
8. Place back in oven in oven for additional 15 minutes.
9. Turn off oven and leave the oven door open to help them get crispy as they cool. But its not necessary. 

Go ahead and eat them all because they don't keep well and will turn soft within a day or two.

ENJOY.

 

 

Iv'e shared this at:
mix-it-up-monday-blog-party at flourmewithlove
be-inspired at elizabethandcovintage
 

 



Happy Easter

Hope everyone is having a happy Easter.

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. First, its symbolize how Christ sacrificed for us all. Its meant to be a new beginning. Its the beginning of spring. The flowers and dogwoods are blooming. The birds are singing and rushing around to get their nest built. I just love it.

Our church had a Good Friday service. Then Easter egg hunt was on Saturday and Easter morning we went to sunrise service and breakfast then attended church service a few hours later. We are now on our way to have lunch with family.

My daughter came home to spend the weekend. She will never outgrow the Easter tradition of dying eggs and baking some Easter goodies and yes, she still gets an Easter basket full of goodies. Did I mention, shes 23 years old? Yep still our baby.

We dyed eggs

 

 

and tried to make some bunny tails. AKA "Lemon Coconut Bliss". .You can find the recipe here. I couldnt get the recipe to work for me but the mess of mush it made was tasty.

This year, my husband was the Easter bunny.  He wanted to do her Easter basket this time. I sat back and let him. He has been staying on her to keep her car clean since shes moved out. Shes said she doesn't have things to do it with... 

She does now. This year, her basket was a car wash bucket instead of a pocket book. It was filled with sponges, soaps, shiners and sprayers instead of beauty products, clothes and games. The look on her face when she got it was priceless. Sort of confused and surprised. Ok, mom had to add some candy, cookies and makeup to the mix but it was still wash bucket.

I think my Husband did a good job. I believe Ill let him do her next birthday and Christmas

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE.