Detox Day 3 - 25 to go

This thing is getting easier every day. You sort of get in a groove so I'm hoping that's how it will continue. Paul and I weighed this morning and we're both down again. Even if it's half a pound to me that's progress. I'm looking forward to the health benefits but let's face it, I wanna see some pounds and inches go away! 

Today I tried making my shakes with water and I liked them just fine. The choc is still my fave. I added some raspberries and enjoyed those flavors together. Mal is sticking with chocolate. Paul likes either. 

For supper I made the veggie packed marinara which was really good. 

You sauté all these veggies and add them to the homemade marinara which is basically crushed tomatoes, onion and garlic. 

The sauce was very flavorful. Loved it. The brown rice spaghetti noodles? Not so much. Just as soon eat the sauce by itself. But hey, you like some you don't like some😉

Those noodles just weren't my thing. But we all, including Michael, ate our serving and are better for it:)

Proud of Mallory again today. She sticks to this thing and never asks for anything off the plan. I offer her little snacks here and there like carrots and hummus or a handful of nuts and she enjoys the healthy items. Tonight the kids at church were going to be watching a movie while we had a VBS planning meeting. I knew there'd be a snack so I packed her a little cashews and a green apple and she took a water with a fizz stick in it. Gives her something to munch while the others are eating. I think that makes it more doable. 

No headache for me today. Thankful for that. I drink the detox tea when I get hungry during the day and that helps fill my tummy. 

On to day four...

Detox day 2 -26 to go

We just finished dinner and it was so good y'all! Typically I would pooh pooh turkey burgers. Gimme the real thing and load it up. 

Tonight's menu was turkey burgers, no bun of course, but you can put it between a couple of iceberg lettuce leaves or with tomato and onion and pick it up like a burger. Or just eat it with the fork like I did. Turkey burgers have almost zero fat as you can see here. 

We also had sweet potato fries. I cut up four raw sweet potatoes and tossed them in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. 

Baked them at a high temp for a half hour and they were very tasty. 

Today's shakes were about the same as yesterday although Paul made one with the vanilla powder and some frozen berries. Mallory and I stuck to the chocolate with the almond milk and almond butter. I added the digestion powder and couldn't really taste it so that's good. It has probiotics etc and is supposed to help your body digest better among other things. You're supposed to take one packet of those per day. 

Today is Michael's birthday and the kids and I went up to Cape for a few hours today. It was through the lunch time and I offered to get Mallory a turkey burger somewhere in Cape but she said no, she'd rather have her shake for lunch and the meal for dinner. So proud of her again. We went through the drive thru at Chik Fil A for Michael and Mal was fine. We snacked on a couple of strawberries and some more of those beanito chips since it was lunch time. Then when we got home I made our shakes. 

I didn't have a headache today from the coffee withdrawal so I was thankful for that. So far and yes it's only been two day, this detox really isn't bad at all👍🏼😄

Oh and though you're only supposed to weigh on Mondays we all got on the scales this morning and we were all down...me- half a pound, Paul- 1.5 and Mallory -2lbs. 

On to day 3...

28 day detox...here we go

We were major sleepy heads today after a busy weekend so we didn't even get up til 9. The kids and I are off for the summer and Paul takes off on Mondays so we had planned to sleep in. My first thought was "hey great, it won't be long between the breakfast and lunch shakes:)"

First thing we did was weigh and take our 'before ' pictures. I love before and after pix and if you just google 28 day detox before and after pictures you get a lot of hits with good results. This plan is not all about losing weight but we are hoping to enjoy that as one of the benefits of the detox. 

I'll wait on the pictures. More dramatic that way:)

So we started with a cup of the detox tea. Supposed to help start flushing the toxins out of your system. I liked it just fine. Paul did too. It has a minty taste which Mallory doesn't care for so she didn't drink hers. 

About 15 minutes later we made our first protein shakes. We made chocolate ones using the chocolate protein powder, almond milk and a tsp of almond butter. You also add a half scoop of fiber boost which makes you feel more full and keeps ya moving if you know what I mean.  Mal and I made ours with ice. Paul didn't want ice in his. I like the ice. Makes it colder. 

For lunch we tried the vanilla protein powder with some strawberries and spinach and the almond milk. You can't taste the spinach but it's good for you so I threw some in. Also put some almond butter. Mal and I were not big fans of this shake. Paul liked his. We basically held our nose and got it down. There are tons of shake recipes out there so we'll keep trying different ones til we find our faves. 

Our Arbonne products arrived this afternoon. We had borrowed some that we will replace with ours in order to start today. Granted we ordered quite a bit since three of us are doing the detox but I was really surprised by the amount of boxes the UPS lady brought!

For supper I made a turkey chili using a recipe provided for the first week. There's tons of support including a private Facebook group. A few days ago we got a shopping list and 7 menu items to make for the week's dinners. 

The recipes serve four which works perfectly for our family of four so I decided just to use the list and make the food. It all looks good to me and we did enjoy the chili. We put a cut up avocado and ate a few beanito chips with it. Even Michael liked it and he's pretty picky. We were all satisfied. 

As far as snacks go today Paul had some almonds (10) and a green apple. Mallory had some carrots with hummus and I had some pistachios and a few bean chips. 

You're supposed to eat/drink 1200 calories a day. Totally doable. I am a major coffee drinker and really didn't miss it. I usually have a four cup pot in the morning and afternoons. I love coffee  but I guess you just have to psych yourself up and having the tea to drink helps. 

 I did get a headache from the caffeine withdrawal  but I read to mix in a green tea bag with the detox tea in the morning if you're replacing coffee so I'll try that tomorrow. 

We drank lots of water and Paul and Mallory used the fizz sticks which are part of the detox. You drop them in water for some flavor and fizz and they provide other benefits. 

All in all the day was fine and I am so proud of Mallory for jumping in and taking part in this venture. She's a trooper. Michael had a ballgame tonight and she usually is wanting stuff from the concession stand. I told her to grab a bott of water and a green apple to take with her to the park and she did and did great! 

One day down...27 to go😉

Cruisin'...life on board

We cruised on the Carnival Triumph out of New Orleans. This was the ship that had a fire on board a few years ago and was stranded in the gulf with no air or hot food for a couple of days. But alas, they fixed all that and we were not impacted by any of those mishaps.

We LOVED the Triumph. The crew was fabulous. These people are all so great. Most of the workers apart from the entertainment staff are from countries like India, the Phillipines, Thailand, Singapore, etc. They work 8 months straight without a day off and then are home for two months. You may be like me and be thinking, "What about the other two months of the year?" Well, they actually work eight months, are off two and then go back to the eight months working.

We splurged and got a balcony. My other two experiences cruising I was in an inside stateroom and honestly that type room is just fine. We did enjoy the windows and balcony but for the cost difference I would take an inside room to be able to cruise again in a heartbeat.




This was when we were leaving New Orleans. They have a big fun sail away party with music and line dancing etc. It's a very festive environment as everyone is so excited to be on the way!

Mother and I had fun doing some line dancing. She's better than I am for sure!

The ship had three pools and five hot tubs. There are no lifeguards and part of your cruise agreement is that you are at your own risk basically. There is absolutely no one walking around telling kids to not run or not jump from the hot tub deck in to the pool below. It sort of caught me off guard as a school employee who is constantly saying "walk your feet" or "don't bite that sucker" :)


Here are the kids in the room. We had a king bed and the they had a couch bed and trundle.


There are always lots of things going on on the ship especially on sea days. Here the kids are playing trivia in the main lobby area.


There was an arcade on board with a cool air hockey game that let out like 20 pucks at a time...



The kids spent some time in the ship's library playing games and reading.




Of course everyone talks about all the good eats and amount of food you have at your disposal on cruises. It's true! We enjoyed sitting down and getting waited on for the most part but you can just eat from the buffet if that's your thing. We went to afternoon tea on the two sea days and enjoyed finger foods and cakes at this activity. Lothar liked the smoked salmon but most of us went for the pastries!



Mallory was very adventerous in her trying all kinds of things on the ship that she had never had. She ate mussels, rabbit, duck, frog legs, etc. We were proud of her for trying these interesting items. Again, it's all included so there's no reason not to order something out of the ordinary.



Our server was Raj and he was so great. The first night he asked our names and from then on he knew them and would use them when asking us our order each night. Such a nice touch.



This was our table, number 311, where we ate dinner each night.


Carnival ships are known as the "fun ships" and the servers dance and sing and perform a little show a couple of nights of the cruise. They sang a rendition of of 'leaving on a jet plane' the last night and it made me cry. They changed the words up and it was so touching. They were basically saying goodbye.



They get up on these tables throughout the dining room that are usually used to put the trays on when serving the plates.


Here's Paul having some fun!


Raj brought me a little cake to celebrate my birthday.


In my next post I'll talk about our special dining experience, The Chef's Table, and also our fun Cat in the Hat breakfast.

One last photo. They take pictures constantly on the ship. They actually print them all and have them on display for you to purchase. This was our embarkation picture. Embarkation is just a fancy word for gettin' on the ship'!

 

Big Cruise and Big Birthday...part one

Our vacation adventure started Sunday May 22. The kids and I had worn our Dominican shirts to support the team that had just returned and would be sharing their stories that morning. After church we got Paul to put his on so we'd all match for the drive to New Orleans:)

We stopped at Starbucks in Memphis for a quick pick me up for the rest of the drive and hit the road again. 

We got to our friends' house around 915 and Michelle had made us a tasty snack of nachos and cookies. We love the Cullisons and have been good friends since we lived in New Orleans. 

The next morning we were up bright and early for our 8:00 date with beignets at the Cafe du Monde. We've taken the kids there thru the years but it had been a while and they really didn't remember it. We went to the one in Metairie so the Cullisons could all join us!

We had fun doing a recreation pic of Mallory and Daniel. The first one was taken 10 years ago and then now. So cute!

Michelle and I did our own version. We had stayed with them on my 40th bday when we were in town for our nephew's wedding. Below, Michelle and me when I was 40, then 50! Yikes!

We were so glad Claire and her two boys Carson and Cameron joined us as well as Candis and Daniel!

We had worn our shirts from the day before to eat beignets because you always get covered with powdered sugar when you eat those things! Here we are all changed and ready for the cruise!! We got these shirts to celebrate Mother turning 75. We had had shirts when she turned 70 and we went to the beach so I had these done for the cruise this time. We were celebrating both our birthdays on this trip. 

We had about an hour in the French Qtr before Mother and Lothar would be there so we walked around a bit. Michael wanted to go see the river. Our ship is way off in the background of this picture. 

Here we are getting on the ship!

So excited!!!

This is a screenshot of the countdown clock I had been keeping on my phone. The kids loved checking it leading up to the trip!

Next up...crusin' in to my 50's!

I love you like a rock

Mother's Day and Mommy gets to pick what we do. We usually just go out to eat at the place of my choosing but I wanted to do a little outing since we just got out of school and it was Mother's Day too. I can always find a reason to celebrate. We took off after church for southern Illinois or more specifically the Shawnee National Forest. Ever heard of it? Me either...until I went to look up some fun day trips from where we live and hapt upon this destination. It was only about 100 miles from where we live but with the late start we decided to stay overnight. 

I found a neat looking place called Timber Ridge Cabins and Treehouses. I would love to have gotten one of the Treehouses (Treehouse Masters is one of my favorite shows!) but they were booked so we went with a cabin.  We were in  Sassafras Ridge. It was really cute.

 

It was also pet friendly so we got to take Peach which was great because it would have been too much trouble to board him and it was also too late since we decided to do this late Saturdat afternoon. 

Upstairs there were two double beds, a day bed and a trundle. The couch downstairs also slept two but we all camped out upstairs. 

 There was a nice big bathroom and a kitchen downstairs which is just our kind of camping. 

 

We got there around 330 and unpacked the car before heading out. 

The first place we went was called Garden of the Gods. The info says the rocks are 320 million years old. I don't know if I believe all that but they were really cool rocks. 

The kids loved climbing on the rocks. There were 100 ft cliffs so it was pretty scary in places. I have no doubt people have fallen to their death at this place. But we were very careful and didn't take any chances. 

Here Mallory is pointing at Camel Rock which is one of the most famous sights in this part of the forest. There is even a special Illinois quarter with this rock on it. We got one when we checked in:)

 

After this we headed to a place called Rim Rock to check out another trail the gal at the cabin place recommended. 

Unfortunately we got about 5 minutes down the trail and saw a green snake slither across the path. That wouldn't have been so bad but about the same time we looked over just off the path and there was a copperhead. So we retreated. On the way to the car we saw some people coming off one of the other pathways and asked if they had seen any snakes. The guy held up two fingers. So with that we got in the car and headed to the next place the lady  had mentioned...Cave-in-Rock IL. 

When we got to the town we saw the Ohio River and the entrance to the car ferry over to KY. She had mentioned it was free and the ferry was there on that side about to load so we drove on. 

It was fun being on the Ohio for the short five minute ride to the other side. When we exited the ferry we just turned around and got on and rode back across. Again, it was free so we did it just for the fun of it. 

I love this pic of the kids. I caught them laughing after they both had gone to put up bunny ears on each other when I asked them to pose for a pic:)

After the ride we drove over to the Cave in Rock state park which was just down from the ferry on the river. We didn't know if there was really a cave but we saw some people sitting at the playground and asked them and sure enough, there is a cave in rock there! Ha ha

First a spin on the vintage merry go round. You don't see this old fun playground equipment any more. 

After that we walked up to the place which was just over the hill up from the parking lot. 

And here's the cave...

 It was sort of damp and very cool.

This is a pretty good shot of the cave. 

We thought this pic looked like Paul is at the empty tomb on Easter!

After a very quick stint at spelunking we headed back to the cabin. 

Paul built a fire and we had hot dogs and s'mores. It was a very nice night and we all enjoyed sitting around the campfire. The place provided the chairs and free wood so that was a nice touch. 

This morning we had coffee and cereal and took Peach out for a little trek around the grounds. Then we packed up and  headed out to try and find a couple more trails and sights. 

We looked for Burden Falls and due to poor signage we don't know of this was it or not but this is all we found. Mallory said it was a burden trying to find the place. :)

We did spot Big Foot though...

On the way home we went through Metropolis  IL so we could see the big Superman statue. That was pretty neat. 

We all got a pic with him of course. And notice the concrete superman logo at the base. Neat. 

There is a superman museum and store right near by but we just took a couple more pix and headed home across the river to Paducah and got a sandwich at Kirchoff's Deli downtown. It was very good. 

I had a wonderful Mother's Day and fantastic time exploring with the kids and Paul. So thankful for my children and Paul and the memories made.