Here I was thinking that you looked good in the pictures you've posted. I hate getting my picture taken, so there aren't very many of me.
I hope Josh's car gets fixed soon. It must be horrible stuck at home even if you can find stuff to do.
I finally got my crown put on my tooth. It took a couple trips because the first on didn't fit right. that was about the most exciting thing to happen lately.
I hope you do get to go to Disney in 20018. that's when we're planning to go again. We usually go the beginning of September. It down't seem to be as crowded. Hopefully we get to go to Night of Joy again.
Good luck with the Whole 30 program. Hopefully it resets everything for you.
My tree is down and put away. The outside decorations are up but buried under the snow.
Enjoy you weekend
Liz
Thank you - trust me, I used to not enjoy having my pictures taken, though in the last few years since I've lost so much size - I don't mind it as much anymore... However - the last several months, I notice that I don't really like how I look - so being in pictures isn't all that fun. LOL
Thanks! It's a bummer about his truck - but we are making do... We are fortunate that we have a few vehicles.
I am glad you were able to get your crown done... I need to get one done this year as well. I hope it was relatively painless.
I sure hope your 2018 Disney trip happens - September is such a good time to go... With weather and with crowds!
Thanks - it's going pretty well.
Yay for the Christmas decor put away - it's always such a huge stress to get it done. I know that I am enjoying my house being "clean" - even if it is a little bare, considering I havent' put up my regular decor yet.
Have a great weekend!
Great trip updates! I am happy you were able to meet up with Santos and Athene. Did you know that, until your TR, I didn't even know there was a location for PhotoPass pictures at Disney Springs??? Can't believe I haven't known that! Such fun pictures.
You look great -- you really do. You are such an example and inspiration to me of working hard and never giving up. Thank you!
That Star Wars shirt is fabulous but I wouldn't have been able to pay that price, either. How frustrating Sephora wouldn't refund your money or send a new bottle of nail polish for what was clearly a defective product. Grrrr.... Poor customer service is one of my pet peeves. I'm glad the store finally agreed to refund V's money for the ears, but it shouldn't have been such an issue for them to do that to start with. :-(
As a result of doing W30 and completely changing his eating habits, my husband has lost 40 pounds! I didn't realize that his highest weight right before we did W30 was 246. He's now down to 204 and looks great. He has almost entirely cut out snacking and when he does snack it's mostly fresh fruit (he keeps a bunch of fresh fruit in the mini fridge in his classroom). He doesn't eat ice cream anymore (he used to eat ice cream every single night) and instead makes a fresh/frozen fruit smoothie with coconut milk or coconut cream and no sweeteners. He completely cut out sodas and now drinks only water (we love the various flavored sparkling waters) or, occasionally, fruit juice. It's been amazing to see the complete transformation in his eating habits and his determination to stick to the changes he's made. We didn't do fabulously over the holidays, but we actually did pretty well. While Alyssa was home I cooked a lot of her favorite meals which are definitely NOT compliant, but we're doing ok and are getting back on the wagon. We didn't have as many treats and sweets in the house over the holidays as we usually do and, for the most part, we didn't pretty good at not going overboard. But now that Alyssa is back at school, all of the remaining candies and sweets will be thrown out today. I'm in the process of planning the menus and grocery list for next week and we're going to try some recipes from Real Plans. I love that you can customize the options so I can choose fully compliant W30 (making modifications as needed for things like allergies, dislikes, etc.), Paleo, Primal, or a customized profile. And it makes the grocery list for me! I love that. I made a compliant roast chicken in my Instant Pot last night and it was SO good -- so that's definitely going to be my go-to for chickens from now on instead of buying rotisserie chickens which usually have sugar in them. It took about an hour to do a 6.3 pound chicken -- so I can easily do one in the evenings and then package up the meat and put it in the fridge for salads, lettuce wraps, etc. Yum!
I head back to work on Monday...I'm dreading it. It's been nice to have so much time off (although I worked several half days from home over the break), but I'm ready to get back to my normal routine.
It's a very quiet house now that Alyssa is gone and Mark and Brie are back to school...I did have a melancholy evening by myself last night but I think that was to be expected. It was so sweet of my neighbor to bring those flowers over. And so unexpected. She is a sweetheart.
Brie is my napper. It's funny -- when she was a baby/toddler she NEVER napped -- it was awful -- and now she naps pretty much every day after school if she isn't working. Alyssa, on the other hand, needed the naps until she was well into elementary school but now she can't nap to save her life, unless she's in a car or bus, or on the metro. LOL!
Hugs to you -- have a great day!
I think the Photopass photographers in DS is a new thing with the expansion?
I dont' think they have always been there- if they have, it's been very few and far between.
THank you... We are our own worst critics right? I just keep on keepin' on.
Yes - we had a lot of returns this trip - sadly... I usually have 1 or 2... I remember - on our last day, we had to return something too, though hopefully I wrote it down, as I can't remember what it was. LOL
I am so happy that the W30 was so good for your DH too - I sometimes wish that Josh would just give it a try... It seems to me, like he doesn't do it, just to prove that he doesn't have to - if that makes any sense. I think he would be amazed at the difference. Ahhh - but you can lead a horse to water, right? LOL
That is really awesome that the menu items can be altered and modified to any eating lifestyle!
How cool! I know - I need to start planning my grocery shopping trip for this coming week too... I did super well on last week's, so far, I haven't forgotten anything - which is good. I do wish - still - that the family would give me more input on meals they'd like to eat... I get tired of trying to make things new and different and keeping the variation in our menu - I tend to gravitate towards 10-12 meals that are easy to prepare and items we normally have on hand, and I know - after a while - they start to complain that "we just had this"... Grrrr... Then give me some ideas! LOL
I agree - I actually took comfort in going back to work - it was nice to get back to my normal routine. I hope your first week back goes well.
That was so sweet of your neighbor to bring flowers - truly it was. I cannot imagine how hard it was to have your girls leave... One day - I will be in the same boat too.
Victoria is my napper - however - she could lay down at 4pm for a nap, sleep through dinner and all night long and STILL be difficult to wake up in the morning. LOL Allison is my girl who can't stay awake past 8pm... LOL... She's been better lately at staying up later and sleeping in later, but her clock has always been this way - since the day she was born... Therefore the reason I cannot sleep past 6am. LOL You all have her to thank for my early morning updates.
Thanks! Same to you - enjoy your Sunday!
Hopefully your trip in 2018 will happen. At least it's a possibility.
Quick question - We have never attended any holiday party and can possibly attend MNSSHP if it is offered on the Friday we disembark from our
Disney cruise. Would you recommend it? I am really on the fence. A part of me wants to go because they seem like a lot of fun and I like the added bonus of the parade and the possibility of meeting some different characters. The other part of me is hesitant because I keep on reading how crowded the parties can be. I will add our main point of the party would be to get into the MK to ride some of our favorite rides at a lower price point for the tickets vs. full day admission. I am really torn on what we should do.
Your time in DS looks fun. I enjoyed all your pictures!
I hope so too... I was talking to the girls about it the other day and I just told them to mentally block off that time frame. I was thinking of doing a week, but both of them still want to stick to our 10 day trips. I was talking to Allison a little more about it, ans as much as I would love to stay at FQ again (if there is a good discount offered) - I would LOVE to do the 3 of us at Shades of Green, as a "test" - the rooms are so much bigger and I would love to see if it would work out any better having a bigger room. We'll see... Like I said - many things have to fall into place first.
I would definitely recommend it - especially if you have never gone before - it really is a fun event.
And a good way to get a partial MK day in without spending as much $$ as a day pass would cost. The party crowds really depend - Fridays are the worst typically - so you have that against you... But if you are going earlier in the season - Sept or even the beginning of Oct - it isn't nearly as bad - typically - as it gets busier at the parties the closer you get to the holiday. And honestly - the parade... Swoon!!! I love it!
Thanks! I am glad you enjoyed them - it was a really nice and relaxing day.
What a great start to day 7 of your trip.
Crossing my fingers that the repair of Josh truck won't cost too much. Hopefully you will be able to have a new Disney trip in 2018.
I got a board game called 7 Wonders Duel for Christmas. It's a 2 players game so it's perfect to play only for 2 people. There is a board game called 7 Wonders, but that game isn't fun playing when you're only 2 people. This Duel game I got is a spin off from the bigger game 7 Wonders. Well Ulf and I tried to play the game I got for Christmas for the first time today. It says on the box that it should take 30 minutes to play. Well it took us over 1 1\2 hours to play it because first we had to read the rules. Then we started to play, but then we had to read the rules several times during the games because none of us remembered the rules. The game is really not that difficult to learn so I think the box is right that it will only take 30 minutes to play as soon as we learn the rules by heart. We have decided to play it again tomorrow because we both think that if we don't play it again soon we will forget everything we learned today and then we will have to start all over again learning the game from scratch.
Thanks! It was a nice and relaxing day for us!
I sure hope so - I am hopeful that it's something easy... And it sure would make a trip to Disney so much easier to plan if this repair was fairly inexpensive.
This sounds like a fun game! I hope you can play it again soon so that you can remember the rules.
I hope you had a nice weekend Lillian!
Truth! I made my DS buy his first Gameboy when he was 7. He had to save up a long time. He still has it, even though the sound no longer works. This is my son who loses everything!
I went in Late Oct/Early Nov, then Late May then late July. Who know July would be the least crowded! We ran into huge crowds at the end of May--it was worse than Oct/Nov. I'd like to see how January is, although I'd rather sweat then freeze!
I usually go bag free in the parks, but I guess that will have to change for my next trip!
Disney=comfortable feet, all ideas of fashion come second or you will be sorry and miss out on things due to blisters and unhappy feet.
Yep, but in our defense, we don't have the preparation of roads or plows that places with more snow do. We try to avoid driving, because it just gets crazy. Last year I had to sleep at a friend's house because we had a surprise ice/snow event and either there were hills blocked by sliding cars, roads blocked by non-moving cars, or the police had shut down the road so I had no way to get home from work. Sure was glad I could crash with them rather than return to work and sleep there!
Love the patios and balconies at SoG--one of their best features!
HOW did I miss this??? Note to self--don't miss pecan honey butter next time.
You are going to have to photo them individually so we can see their cuteness!
Yikes! Maybe ebay will be your friend on that one.
We are always our own worst critics. You look great in shorts!
OMG, so cute. I'm secretly hoping for a granddaughter some day because I've never gotten to shop for cute little girl clothes!!! (We are a family of boys--I only have one niece).
If this is your goal, you will love the party. We went with the same idea. We rode lots of rides, the kids (I'm talking 18 year olds) and adults did a bit of trick or treating when the lines were low, and we saw the parade which is awesome!
Hope you get your truck fixed soon. That light snow that we get teased about has hit us today (about an inch or a bit more) so I know our roads are crazy. DS's GF is coming to visit on the metro, but we still have to pick her up--I told DH we'd take my jeep, since it has 4WD. That was my #1 requirement in a new car, since as I stated above--it gets crazy here when it snows!!! You have real snow, so I know you need that truck!
I sure hope that it's the same with these phones! It's not as if they were inexpensive at all.
I am shocked that July was the least crowded! You would think it would be the worst, due to summer vacations and crowds...
Yes, yes it will... You may enjoy being bag free more than carrying a bag though?
At least you'll be able to accurately compare the difference. LOL
I agree - completely - comfy foot wear must be worn at all times!
That is very true - I totally get that you all don't have the proper equipment to maintain frozen or snowy roads - and that is huge too... Though, most often, during storms - since we live so far out - we are the last to be cleared, so many times - we are driving on roads that can't be cleared either. LOL
I totally agree - I love that every room at SoG has a balcony! It is one of my favorite parts too! It's so nice to be able to just sit there and enjoy the view!
They have stopped putting the pecan honey butter out on the buffet!! I was horrified!!! I found out, you have to specifically ask for the "pecan honey butter"... As the first time we ate there this trip - I asked where the butter was for the sweet potato pancakes and the chef told me that they took it off - but she would bring me a plate of it... I assumed she brought the pecan honey butter - she didn't though - she just brought me regular butter.
This time - I specifically asked for the pecan honey butter and they brought it out to me... I took pictures of both and they are definitely different. So, when you ask - make sure you specifically name it, or you'll just get regular butter. Hopefully, by then - they will have it back on the buffet - as they will be sick of bringing butter out to everyone. LOL
I will - I finally had to call Disney about my Believe bracelet... The CM I talked to was none too friendly... I have to send my bracelet back in order to get them to send me a new one... I told the CM that I was worried they would run out of them before I had a chance to mail mine back, since they were discontinued - I was hoping that, at least, maybe they could send one to me while mine was en-route to them... But nope. Soooo hopefully they don't run out before mine arrives.
Thanks!!! I sure hope we can fix it soon too... I hope you all don't think I am complaining too much about it? LOL It's inconvenient - yes - but so far, all things considered, it's not too terrible. Hopefully all of you were able to get where you needed to go safely yesterday.
Have a great remainder to your weekend!
Sorry I thought I had replied to this much earlier but I guess I didn't.
The country bears (there were four in the area) were walking around and entertaining people near their Jamboree in Frontierland while waiting for the parade to start during the Christmas party. My daughter and I had staked out our spot along the parade route while my husband went in search of hot dogs (he had a craving and had wanted one all day). While we waited she got to dance with the two bears that were near us. Plenty of hugs and had lots of fun (no lines etc wasn't a formal meet n greet). Suddenly there is laughter and calls of "oh no!" "look out!" and "he's gonna get you" coming down the sidewalk.
I can hear my husband laughing and shouting "stay away" "no siree" "Help! Help!"
I look up and he is weaving in and out and around the crowd while carrying a tray of hot dogs being chased by Liverlips! They get to me after many shenanigans and Pat starts doing a quick trot in a circle around me (the crowd parted for them) with the bear is still chasing him. Everyone is laughing and taking pictures til my daughter said "aww Daddy he is hungry can't we share?". So Liverlips stopped and gave her a big hug and his handler gave her some stickers and assured her that he would make sure all the bears got something to eat when they went inside. Everyone congratulated Pat for evading the hungry bear. Of course none of the photos I tried to take turned out (it was night and I was enjoying the moment too much take many anyway) but we'll never forget.
I just realized we never did go in to see the Country Bear Jamboree show and now I feel guilty lol.
Anyway I am really enjoying your trip report and am all caught up now. We never got to Disney Springs either. Disney World seems to be one of those places that no matter how many things you do and how cram packed your day is there are so many more things you didn't do! I guess that is one of the reasons you need to keep going back.
What a SUPER fun character experience! Thanks for sharing it with me!
It's things like that, that keep us going back - right? And now you need to go back because you didn't get to see the CBJ! LOL
I am glad you are enjoying my TR... I am coming into the final days of our trip.
What a fun trip! Mother-Daughter trips are the best--my mom and I have taken 2 by ourselves, and those trips are some of my favorite memories in WDW. We're taking an all-girls trip this summer for my graduation trip, so I've really enjoyed reading about yours!
They are the best!!!! Some of our favorite memories together! Congrats on your trip this summer - you are going to have so much fun with your mom! It sounds like more people are going than just you and her? I'd love to hear about where you are staying and some of your plans!
Great updates! Your park day off sounded like it was pretty relaxing but still fun. My next trip (probably Sept) I want to build in a non park day which I've never done before. I think my DH would love it. Funny you mention your shorts! As I was looking at the pictures, I noticed right away you had on shorts. I was thinking how good you looked - I'm glad you did too!
Thanks! It was nice and relaxing - not too much walking and very "go with the flow"... It was nice.
I love non-park days, I try to do them several times during our trips - otherwise we just get too tired when we are there for that long. One day - I will do a non-park day with a non-adr day too... Though I don't think I could skip The Wave. LOL
Thank you.
It's been such a difficult year for my self-confidence, so changing my perspective has really helped me see myself in a different light... I have to remember that I am in my 40's and not in my 20's anymore, I need to adjust my expectations a little bit for age. LOL
Have a great weekend!
Day 7 looks fun and relaxing. I am sure it was faster paced when you were actually are. It seems really disappointing that you had to return so many items and then couldn't return the nail polish. I am glad you got to meet up with Athene and Santos as well! Yay for DisMeets. I absolutely love the outfits you got for Laura!Duffy and Shellie May are huge here in Japan. There is also a cat, I think? It's name is Gelatoni. I am interested to see what different kind of merchandise they have when we go to Tokyo Disney. The photopass pictures are a hoot: I love them! And I think you look great in your shorts! You are right, your legs are so muscular- I am glad you can see it, too!
We are on Day 7 of W30 now. YOu are so right about the cooking and clean up. I have done so much of it the past week. Today, I made some egg muffins for breakfasts and a big batch of tomato sauce that I put in the crockpot & I'll freeze some of the rest. Emma thought today was a good time to make the last batch of Oreo truffles that was leftover from the holidays. Grrr. Of course, I had to help her with a little of it, and it was SO hard not to just lick my fingers or something! But I did it. Anyway, it's been a LONG week, but I am determined to keep going. I went to the library to see if they had any workout dvds and they had 30 day shred. I am going to try it out, although, I don't expect to make it through a whole one on the first try, LOL. I had a mishap with a Japanese sweet potato that wanted to post a pic of, but I can't figure out how to do it here, so I will maybe send it to you on Facebook.
I hope you are having a good weekend- Prayers and pixie dust that you get your truck fixed quickly and cheaply!
It was a nice day! It was so nice just to be able to take our time and enjoy the day.
It was a bummer that we had to return so much - it's very unfortunate.
I am anxious to hear what sort of stuff they have in Japan too... If you have extra luggage space and $$, and they happen to have a Tokyo Disney Starbucks mug - would you pick it up for me? I would gladly send you funds to pay for it.
I don't know many people in that area of the world...
Thank you... I tend to focus on the things I don't like about myself - so it really took a lot for me to see the good that day. I am just glad I did, it's done a lot for my self confidence since then.
Oh gosh - making Oreo truffles during a W30 - I bow down to you my friend!!! That takes a massive amount of will power and I don't know that I would have survived that one! That is amazing! Great job! I would have had to go take a nap or something after that experience - as I'd probably be shaking from the denial. LOL
Have fun with the 30 Day Shred - that is one killer work out - IMO! I do that one when I really feel like I need a hard workout in my life - granted the changes I see in my body are always pretty dramatic after the 30 days - it's still tough! Remember to take it slow - and modify everything, you will likely be sore for the next day or two (hello DOMS) and you don't want that soreness to prevent you from working out in the following days - so just be sure to not push yourself too hard the first few times.
Thanks - same to you!!!
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Ahhh - I had the best of intentions yesterday - truly I did.
I was going to do my updates here... And then I was going to go upstairs and work on some extra projects in my sewing room... And then laziness took over... LOL
I started planning our bathroom remodel - which needs to be done before V's grad party in June... I know everything I want to do to it - I know where we are getting all of our supplies from... I am truly trying to talk Josh into doing a clawfoot tub in there - I found this picture on Pinterest and it is exactly how our downstairs bathroom is set up... Ahhh, but Josh, the man who loves everything new and modern - isn't going for my clawfoot tub idea... Sigh. I still have a month or two to try to talk him into it... We'll see - if it's even in the budget at that time? Clawfoot tubs are incredibly expensive new... And since we have a cast iron tub at the moment - which has been chemically brutalized over the years, all of the enamel is GONE, and can no longer be cleaned by me (I just don't have the strength it requires to be scrubbed - so Josh has to do it) - I am fairly certain I want to go the new route, so we don't have this issue with a vintage one.
Anyways - what started all of this, I happened to be on the Pier1 website the other night, and I noticed that they had the shower curtain (on sale no less) that I have been searching for, for at least a year, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere... Well - they had it and I still had that giant GC I've been hoarding. So, I ordered the shower curtain in white yesterday, which didn't cost me a thing (I still have $$ left on it) and now I am all excited to get to work on our bathroom.
I seriously debated on the turquoise one too (and the purple, and the coral, and the mushroom...) - I loved them all - quite honestly!
I also picked out the sink, and both of the faucets (shower and sink), the wall colors and the tile... We plan to do this with gray grout...
It's going to be a huge project - as our bathroom needs to be entirely gutted... The only thing we plan to keep is the toilet (it's new and high end) and we want to keep the sink base cabinets - but put in new counter tops and more storage... Everything - floor to ceiling - including the ceiling itself and the sheet rock in the room is gone.... Down to the studs.
Anyways... The truck comes first... Then the bathroom... Then Disney.
Oh - I read my book too... Machteld started me on a new book series for Christmas - and I am enjoying it very much... It's the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon... I am 2/3 of the way through book #2 - I have book #3 waiting in the wings and I think there are 2 or 3 more books after that - plus several smaller books to fill in the gaps in the novels. This has also been super helpful with my snacking - as i get so wrapped up in the book that I forget to eat.
Whatever works right?
So - that was my day yesterday... I was a total sloth. It was nice.
I did actually get up off of my couch to take a picture of our living room - a friend of mine on FB was looking for window treatment ideas... I thought I would share the picture here, since it's from a vantage point I don't often show... Kitchen is just outside the frame on the left...
Today will likely be the same... I think Josh is planning to do some smoking on the grill - which is nice, as that gives me leftovers to eat all week, and usually a few dinners that I don't have to cook as well.
I might try to do another quick TR update?
I may also try to sneak upstairs for a little while this afternoon - we will see how ambitious I am?
I hope you all have a wonderful day - sending prayers and Pixie Dust out to all of you!
D~