When I lived in Louisiana, I walked everyday with a group of ladies in the neighborhood. We would walk for a little less than an hour and would walk about 3 miles. We were referred to as "The Walkers."

We enjoyed walking every morning and catching up with each other's activities.

Before we moved to Louisiana, I had lost 30 lbs; AND! I kept it off for a couple of years. It didn't take me long to gain it all back after our move. At first everyone was saying I was gaining muscle. RIGHT! That was so not true. Looking back, I do believe it was me going through menopause, at least partly. 

After being in Louisiana for a few years, I started working real hard to loose that weight. I was pretty successful and lost 15 lbs. That is until I had my blood clot issue and was put on Coumadin. It wasn't long before I packed that 15 lbs right back on. All my green leafy veggies that I loved so much had to go. I was allowed a 1/2 cup a day. Right! I also was old to not do ANY form of exercise for awhile.

I was on Coumadin for about six months. Once I was off that, I went back to my diet of spinach salad, salads with Romaine lettuce, and other green stuff I love so much. I also went back to my walking. None of the weight came off.

Fast forward to this past summer. By the end of August, we were pretty much settled, and everyone was in school. I joined the YMCA and started myself on a exercise program, and started eating much healthier. I have now lost 15 lbs. and have about 15 to go! I am hoping to have at least another five off before the first of the year. If it was not for all the holidays, I could probably get more off, but I am being realistic. 

I just got back from a cruise, and I did real well. I gained ZERO!!!! Yeah me! Now, I am back to my schedule. On Monday and Wednesday, I head to the pool and swim some laps before my one hour water walking class. Did you know you burn more calories water walking for 30 minutes than you would land walking for TWO HOURS!? Now that's what I'm talking about! Anyway, Tuesday and Thursday, I have an hour of Pilates and then an hour of Water aerobics. Friday, is my light day. Just 30 minutes of spinning. I think I might try to make the land aerobic class that meets after the spinning class.

Hopefully by summer, I will be back into a size six! That is my goal. Not only a size six, but also a toned size six! And this time, I better keep it off!!!!!!

Gift Giving Preparations 

I know many of you don't want to think about it, but it is that time of year again. Not sure I am ready to get the Christmas decorations out, but I have been doing some of my gift giving stuff out of the way. I love it when I get something handmade. 

One of the things I love to make is jewelry. One can only use so much, and to give so much, that it comes to the point of, "Maybe I should start a small business." Not sure, though how to get that started.

I do know of some craft fairs coming up, and might look into that.

One that's coming up in a few weeks looks like a good one to start with. The library is hosting it and will provide you a table. They will set you up a place in the mall. That. Is. NICE! Don't have to worry about the weather.

Do you have a bucket list? I do. It's not that long, but I'm not sure I will be able to do it all. One thing I'd like to do is go to Australia. I've always thought that would be a neat place to visit. Seems like a beautiful place. Not sure I will get that marked off the list.

Something else on my bucket list is horseback riding on the beach. I might get that marked off someday. I almost was able to recently, but instead I decided to mark something else off.

Yoga on the beach!!!

Yep, that's me. The one in the middle wearing all black with my pointed toe up in the air. My daughter teased me about having such a nice point. Being a certified yoga instructor, she told me she can always tell a dancer. They always point their toes. lol

Before this class, I had only taken two other classes, so I'm not that knowledgeable about yoga. From what my daughter tells me, though, one should have full concentration on what YOU are doing.  Nothing else should matter. That is pretty hard for me anyway, but here on this beautiful island, that was impossible.

Right next to where we were having our class were these petty catamarans. During our trip, I had been taking pictures of "tropical letters" for my Letter Pics project. From my point of view, these sails made a "W." My sister was taking pictures, and I tried to get her attention. She finally got the message, but from her point of view, they were not "W's" at all, but it did make a nice picture.

Another distraction in front of us were the parasailers. As fun as this looks, I'm not sure I would EVER be able to do this. I REALLY want to, but, well, not sure I could handle being waaaaaay up there.

Notice behind us you see what looks like a ship. It was; a big pirate ship! It was also a bar. There were a few individuals watching us and being very impatient. 

They would crank up the music,and our instructor would give them the look....you know, the "turn that music off!" look. We were the first ones on the island and our class was only 45 minutes long. By the time they got to the bar, we only had about 20 minutes left in our class. Not sure why they couldn't be a little more patient. 

Anyway, I'm glad I took this class. Not only was I able to mark this off my bucket list, I also felt good the rest of the day.

Actually, I wouldn't mind doing this again. Maybe I will, someday...

It's that time again...Foto Friday!!!!
                            UP IN THE AIR
                                                              is this weeks theme

I had the opportunity to visit with my family for a couple of weeks, and if I don't do ANYTHING else, I HAVE to go to the beach. My mom and I headed out to Jetty Park on a gorgeous day. There were actually people in the water. Aaaaa bit too cool for me, but I sure enjoyed all the birds hovered together.

 I especially love it when someone comes up on them and they start to fly away.

I've always like to watch the seagulls  Yes, they can be a bit annoying, but they sure are a beautiful sight to behold! 

On our way back from the beach, we noticed another fun thing that would make a good UP IN THE AIR picture.

Kite surfers! 

Now doesn't this look like A LOT of fun!? We had stopped to get a good picture of them, but by the time we parked and got out of the car, they were gone. So, I snapped this photo as we were heading down the causeway.

Fun, fun, fun!

I love Florida!!!

Happy 18th!

Life has been so busy lately. It's that time of year! And this year, is especially busy. Our family really has A LOT going on.

I had a wonderful couple of weeks visiting with my family, and I'm sure I will blog about it soon. But right now, I would like to share with you a fun little project. 

My husband and I got back Friday, the day before our youngest son's 18th birthday. I knew I wanted to go visit with family, but I HAD to get back in time for the big day! Ben had plans with his friends, but we were able to take him out for breakfast that day. Later on we had our little family celebration.

Ben had asked for a cookie cake, so that's what I made him...German Chocolate-chip cookie with chocolate icing, mmmm!

I can't believe my baby is 18! Where did the time go!?

Tried to get him to smile....got a hint of one here. I guess it's just not cool to smile in pictures.

Anyway, today, we are having the youth over from church. There is another girl in the youth at church that turned 18 on the same day Ben did, so we are celebrating both birthdays tonight. We have gobs of games and a pool table, so that should keep them busy. I also am having some snacks; pizza, pretzels, peanuts, popcorn, and these:

Ok, well, these are suppose to be witches hats. They did not come out as well as the ones on Pinterest. Maybe it was because I could not find all the ingredients.

It calls for candy kisses, unwrapped; orange icing; and zebra cookies. I could not find zebra cookies, so the closest thing I could find were chocolate covered mint cookies, you know, like the Girl Scout cookies?

I am also dealing with warm, humid weather. The icing is not hardening like it says it will. I love the South, but when it comes to baking, sometimes it is a pain in the bahooka!

Anyway, they taste good!!!!!

I tried to post a picture of what they should look like, but for some reason blogger is not allowing me to post it. So, go here to see how to make these fun cookies.

Just a short note to let you know that I will not be posting for about a week. Fun things will be going on, but I will be back for sure! Thanks for reading!

Visiting

Been having a nice time visiting with my mom, dad, sister's and my sister's boys. We've been keeping busy going to the gym, shopping and going to the beach. I've also been able to visit with some of my old friends.

One of the nice things I was able to do was visit with one of my old roomates from BYU. We took a trip over to Orlando and went to the temple. That is one BE-U-teeful place.

It's nice to visit with old friends!

CRUISIN'

In one week, I will be off on one of my favorite things to do....a cruise!!!!!!!!!!! And boy, do I NEED it!

I will have to say, cruising is one of the best and most cost efficient vacations there is. Many think it is very $$$. But that is really not the case. It' not hard to stay at or under $100 a day. That includes you motel, food, entertainment, and someone to "drive" you to different countries.

Of course, you can rack up the bill if you drink a lot of alcohol, do a lot of pricey shopping, and go on expensive excursions. But if you want a nice relaxing vacation, you don't need to do any of that.

Our first few cruises we did the excursions at every port thing, but I have learned that just walking around the different ports of calls and exploring the boat is just as nice, and a lot of the times, better than the excursions. 

Being one that likes to take pictures, I enjoy the ports of calls. I love the culture, and I like to do small shopping. When shopping, though, I really don't like to buy stuff from China. I can do that at home. I like to look for people sitting on the beach hand crafting jewelry or carving an animal from a piece of wood; and of course I do like to buy me a t-shirt or two.

So, the next time you want to go on a really nice vacation, and not spend a lot of moola, think about a cruise. The cruise that we are going on is a five day to the Bahamas, and it is costing right around $70 a day. Yes, I do have to get there, but if you shop around, you can get a pretty good rate on flights, or if you don't mind driving, you can do that too. A lot of you probably live pretty close to a port anyway. We always leave out of my "home" port, which is just minutes from where I grew up; and my family still lives there. So, that makes it really nice for me.

Better yet, never mind. Don't take a cruise. Then there will be more room on the boat for me. Just kidding, really, though, check it out!

Foto Friday 28 Sept 2012

This week's Foto Friday's theme was WATER.

There are a couple of pictures I have taken that I love for the water theme.

This one of my daughter and her husband's wedding rings among the rain droplets on here daddy's black Celica

and....

This picture of the Washington DC Temple reflecting in the reflecting pond.

I love this picture!

IT'S A SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something happened to me the other day, and I feel I need to share it. I had a phone call on my land line. We have caller ID, but this time nothing came up to give me a hint as to who it was. My sister and some of my other friends tell me not to answer these things, but having kids away at college, and in high school, etc. I felt I needed to answer this call. You never know when it might have been an emergency, and not everyone leaves a message. In fact, I have found A LOT do not leave messages.

Anyway, I answered the phone. I almost hung up, because at first no one seemed to be there. Just as I was about to hang up, a voice came through. This voice was that of a male, and was speaking broken English. I thought, "Well, crap, I should not have answered it." This is how the conversation went:

"Hello, this is Microsoft calling to let you know that your computer is sending information to our company telling us that you have bad software and your computer is infected, and, blah, blah, blah."

He told me all kinds of weird things. I continued to listen, as I knew this was a scam, but thought how many people would believe this character. I'm sure if I let him go on, he would have asked for some of my personal info.

I finally interrupted him and asked how he got my phone number.  He told me that when we registered this computer we had given our phone number. He continued on, but I interruped him, "Hmmmm, that can't be true. You see, our one and only computer is like, well five years old, and our phone number is less than two months old."

*CLICK!*

You got it, he hung up on me. Why am I blogging about this? Well, I had a few of my Facebook friends tell me that I need to report this to the police. Not sure they can do anything, but I felt maybe if I blog about this on my Tappingflamingo blog and my Vibrant Nation Blog, that the word will get out. I was also told that many of my Facebook friends had experienced the same type thing recently.

So, to all my readers, BEWARE!!!! Do NOT give our ANY info over the phone unless you are FOR SURE as to who you are talking to. And even then, be careful. My in laws  who are very careful, and who use the computer to do business very LITTLE, and who know not to share their info over the phone have gotten their identity stolen, not once, but TWICE! After seeing what they have gone through, I am doubly cautious about using the internet for business, and also about trashing my stuff. I shred everything! If you get your identity stolen, you are the one that has to prove you are YOU! And believe it or not, that is not the easiest thing to do. Seems like they treat you as the villain.

So, anyway, heads ups! The only reason these people continue to do these type things is because, apparently, we are not careful enough, and it is quite easy to get people's personal information. So let us all band together and make it hard for these people, then maybe it won't be so prevalent. 

Here is a good link and here is another link to go to for info on how to keep your identity safe. Personally, I have never felt comfortable giving my info online. I know most of you do this without thinking. Online banking is something I feel very uncomfortable about. Once these Bozo's get your bank info, then you are in really bad trouble! They can wipe out your bank account in nothing flat, and you probably won't know about it for several days.

The computer can be a wonderful thing, but it can also be a nightmare in many ways, and identity theft is one of those nightmares.

Foto Friday..............

SHADOWS

I waited to post this today, as I used it for our contest picture at our photography club which met last night.

This past month our photography club had shadows as our theme. I was really excited about it, yet kept putting it off. September was so busy, and pretty soon October was here. I had ran out of time. The day of our club meeting we had cloudy rainy weather, so needless to say, NO SHADOWS! 

I turned to my computer and googled shadow photography and found this great idea. I really don't know how I ever went without seeing this. I have researched all kinds of wedding photography in the past, but never came across this. From what I saw, it seems to be very popular; too popular in fact. But I decided to do it anyway. 

This is the original picture I took. Nice, but I really didn't want you to be able to notice the scripture being highlighted. I wanted the heart and ring to be the focal, and the scripture to be a side note. So I went in and edited it a bit.

What do you think?

I like it!

Oh give me a home.......

                                              Where the deer and the antelope play.

This is actually a nightly ritual.

                                  I'm not sure if I'll ever get tired of it.

Sox doesn't say much at all. She actually likes sitting out on the lawn watching them.

The neighbor's dog doesn't like them too much though. He scared them off. Sox was not too happy when they ran off. She started to whimper.

This poor little guy, though was pretty clueless...."Where'd everyone go?"

After looking around and realizing everyone took off without him, he decided to head on home. Good thing he wasn't in the wild, he probably would have been someone's dinner.