Odds and Ends

Good Sunday to everyone!  So, we are now at the under four week countdown to the uncontrolled food environment of Vegas.  I can't wait to go!! This is a girlfriends trip to go out for five nights including the night of the ACM (Academy of Country Music) awards.  My friend Deb found a great blog for me:  The Vegas Vegan.  This makes me feel better! I can't wait to go because it will be fun to get away with my friends, and I can't wait to go because I am ready to be gone for five days.  The pools will be open and the sun will be out.  The sun is out in Kansas today and this morning I noticed the arrival of chirping birds -- spring is in the air!  I hate winter, so this is fabulous news!

I realized this week is full of motivation for me.  First of all, I set up the Facebook group page for my 25 year high school reunion. I actually am going to two 25 year high school reunions.  I got invited to one that I did not graduate from but went to school with a lot of those folks from K-8. The second is the reunion of the school I actually graduated from.  This is very motivating for me.  Can I tell you how lucky I am not to be the 4th from my class to be on the deceased list?  I am very grateful for that. So, now I am out to be what weight I want to be at so that I can shop cute for the reunions!

This is me on the far left circa 1987:

That is my friend Deb just to the right of me.  She is the Vegas Vegan blog finder!

I also have motivation because I am going to Florida in July.  I love the Gulf Coast of Florida!  We took all five kids, daughter-in-law and grand baby last summer and stayed in a beach front condo.  In retrospect, I really did not feel well last summer.  I am excited to go back this summer and be there while I feel good.  I am taking the two youngest and staying at my mom and dad's.  I'll be thinner and feeling better.  I enrolled the youngest in Dolphin Camp.  How fun will that be for the girl from Kansas who loves Dolphins?  She will have a blast with the "what I did this summer" assignment in August.

So, this is March, June, July and August motivation for me.  By August I hope to be at my goal weight which will not only make me as cute as I can be at 43 but as healthy as I can be too.

I have found some things this week that make my nutrition journey better.  First are these great vegan crackers:

These are awesome and I am so in love!

The other thing I found was some dairy free dark chocolate and it is really good although a little on the expensive side so I won't eat it too often:

I do not use Soy butter because it has some oil in it, but had bought some and it was in the fridge.  My husband has to run up the street to the grocery store on a regular basis when he decides he wants something really unhealthy.  This morning he wanted french toast so he went and bought syrup and frozen french toast.  He pulls out a tub of what he thinks is margarine and asks if he can use the butter I have.  I almost said that is soy, but  kept my mouth shut.  Had I said it was soy, he would have gone back up to the store to buy regular margarine.  I kept my mouth shut and he used it and didn't know the difference;)!  The moral to this story?  Just because it sounds different doesn't mean it is going to be that different.  I have had to keep an open mind as navigate my way through the vegan world.  What I have found is that I have a whole new appreciation for what tastes good--for the natural taste of things.