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.

Make A Difference Monday

Laughter is good medicine and hopefully this little story will get you to smile and chuckle.

We finished our dinner of hot wings and put the plates on the floor in front of the couch. Kirby was chasing Chomps and clumsily rolled through the plate with hotter wing sauce. After getting up he quickly realized that he was covered in a sticky substance. The first lick was a shock to his system. He tried to shake his head to cool it down. That's how each lick went: lick and head shake, until he was done. We laughed at him heartily and sure he did not enjoy the hot sauce. He did develop a taste for hot Cheetos sometime after. It is pretty funny to watch Kirby hold the cheeto down with one paw and lick all the dust off it.

I hope this story gave you a smile. Please stay tuned for Travel Tuesday: Egyptian Adventure.

Linking up with Julie from This Gal Cooks.

High Five For Friday

Who's high fiving with me?

Today I am excited about:
1- I'm out in the field job shadowing! Fun, cold!
2- I'm off early! Woohoo!
3- I'm road tripping three hours to Frisco and Plano Texas!
4- There will be a massive parrothead tailgate!
5- The COPA Reefers (aka the band) has three gigs this weekend and two of them are paid!

Please high five with me and stay tuned for Make A Difference Monday!

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth!