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2013 in Review

January 1, 2014January 22, 2014by SymoneFLeave a Comment

I sat and typed a long post on 2013 but I’m going to scratch that and condense it because even though I thought it was exciting, I don’t want you to get bored and start skimming. So here’s my 2013 recap in pictures and bullet points 🙂 basically TLDR format with pics.

In 2013 I:

♣ Visited 3 new countries: Dominica, Norway, France

2013 in Review — Dancing by the river in Dominica

♣ Took trips throughout the year: Orlando (wedding/January), San Francisco (birthday getaway/February), Dominica, Barbados, Norway (3.5 wks// 2 weddings and a conference in that order/ May-June), England and France (conference// Paris for fun 😉 / November/December), Barbados (surprised family for Christmas/ December)

♣ Had a few new experiences: first awful hangover 😦 (like pass out before the night’s end), took public transport alone in a different country, had traditional high tea in England

Snapshots of Tea at the Chesterfield Mayfair

♣ I played host for 8 weeks straight in July and August for family and friends

♣ Got delayed on almost every flight I took using American Airlines. I’ve already sent a letter to them.

♣ We saw Rihanna, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and J Cole in Concert and Dave Chapelle’s comedy show

♣ I baked two firsts: coconut bread/sweet bread as we call it back home, and my first cake. Got an A for effort and flavor on the cake but need to tweak the recipe so it’s not so dry. The coconut bread was a hit apparently :).

Sandwich cake with Guava Jelly in the middle as my husband doesn't eat berry anything. — Sandwich cake with Guava Jelly in the middle as my husband doesn’t eat berry anything.

WordPress sent me my annual blog report that you can view here. I want to thank you very much for visiting and I hope to do a better job on blogging this year as I spent so much time focusing on my other blog last year. I had tons of drafts that I never got around to publishing, but as I said I’ll try to get better at working on both.

For 2014:

♦ Now that my parents have Fitbits and passed me in the first week due to salsa and walking in the morning, I’m more inspired to workout, they’re over 50!!!

♦ I’m looking forward to visiting a new country, no plans yet but spontaneous trips are the best

Have a wonderful new year. I’ll leave you with a few quotes to help you get through with your direction for this new year in case you were a little lost or need a push.

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Christmas Cards

December 20, 2013by SymoneFLeave a Comment

I have a blog post on my trip to London and Paris saved in my drafts but I have to write this quickly.

I was just writing up a few more Christmas cards (I’m late with everything this year) and this feeling came over me. My husband doesn’t understand Christmas cards – why do I write them, why are people so obsessed with sending them out, why do families take pics and put them on cards – he just doesn’t get it.

I get it. A bit too much… I was writing a card for my hairdresser – I want her to know how much I appreciate her and what a year it’s been with me being miserable with my hair lol.

But Christmas cards are all about showing family (near and far) how much everyone has grown since the last year especially if you haven’t seen them in a year. They’re about expressing your gratitude to others and just spreading a little cheer.

We haven’t gotten to the family photo Christmas card level yet because who wants to see a picture of two adults on a card for Christmas? Even I think it’s weird.

But it’s also the end of the year and why not end it on a good note?

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Where’s the bathroom?

November 6, 2013November 6, 2013by SymoneF4 Comments

On Monday night, I read this article that someone posted on Facebook. The gist of the article is this: a lady attempted to drink 5 pints/80oz of water a day hoping to solve her headaches and poor digestion issues. So I told my husband we should try this… My reasons are for improving my skin and I’m hoping that the excess water will curb my sweet tooth a bit while I try to lose a few pounds. He’s just trying to drink more water (not necessarily 80oz/day) because he needs to drink more water. Men.

Drinking more water than you’re used to is hard – in more ways than one. I feel like I need to purchase Depends adult diapers… constantly using the bathroom is driving me nuts. And it’s only Day 1!!! I’m going to push and see how I look and feel at the end of the day. I’m hoping to make this part of my lifestyle. I used to drink a lot of water but it tends to slow down during the colder months because I go for warmer drinks. From the article I learned that tea can be included because it acts like a diuretic. I drink a lot of green tea blends and Earl Grey tea but I go for Chai tea lattes during this time of the year. I will cut back and make some changes there.

The other hard part is not eating like you want to. You have a delicious meal in front of you, but when you’re drinking more water than usual, you can’t enjoy as much as you want. I like food so I had to insert that line. Today, Day 1, I couldn’t stand to eat as many sweets as I’d like. Bummer.

The constant bathroom usage.

Holding yourself accountable for how much water you’re drinking is interesting for beginners, especially when it comes to this much water. We have some tall glasses and I made sure I measured how much was in each glass that I can know how much I’ve had or need to have throughout the day. I’ve got water bottles for when I leave home. I’ve also been using my Fitbit app to help me by logging how much water I’ve had per glass. I just fill the glass and finish it (it’s about 23oz per glass) before adding more.

As of 11.59am on Tuesday I consumed 83oz of water and it was not hard. This is doable. I’ll come around to the bathroom aspect in a bit but I’m looking forward to seeing what I can achieve over the next few weeks. I’m also reducing my flour intake and trying to work out two extra days outside of training with our Trainer.

Cheers to be healthy!