Living Better One Day At A Time: April 2018

Monday, April 30, 2018

Mole Music with the boys

Last Tuesday night, we had the opportunity to see the boys in their Spring Musical, "Mole Music."

This is the first year that their school has done a Spring Musical for grades K-2.

Jacob and Ben did a great job and it was fun to see them shine!

Sunday, April 29, 2018

Nature Scenes for April 29, 2018

Happy Sunday! Sunday is meant to be a day of rest and relaxation and one of the ways that I rest is to spend time in nature. I try to spend a least a little bit of time in nature each week. I have decided that I will use Sundays to share the photos of my nature adventures each week just as a way to relax and share the beauty that is God's creation with all. I hope you enjoy!

Photos from April 23, 2018---Indianfield Bluffs Park

April 25, 2018-- Kokosing Gap Trail

April 26, 2018--- Ariel-Foundation Park

Another beautiful day. Bill and I saw 25 turtles in/around the lakes.

April 27, 2018--- Columbus Zoo

For more nature scenes you can check out my other nature posts:

I hope everyone is having a good Sunday and if you get a chance check out the nature scenes around you!

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Weigh In Wednesday #17 of 2018

SOURCE

I love this quote that I found online. It really is something that I have told myself over and over in the last month or so. I just needed to start.

This week was once again full of a crazy busy schedule. Unfortunately that meant eating out several times as we were consistently on the go. So, I wasn't sure what the scale was going to say when I stepped on it this morning.....

Photo Source

So let's see what it did say::

Official Starting Weight (1/3/18): 241.0

My weight last week: 238.8

My weight this week: 240.0

Weight loss from last week: +1.2 pounds!!

Total weight loss for 2018: -1.0 pounds!

So a gain. I understand what I did and I know why I gained. My diet pretty much has stunk to the high heavens. It could have been much of a bigger gain though if I didn't exercise at all. That leads me to my fitness level last week.

Source

On the exercise front: I mentioned in my 2018 goals post that I wanted to walk 3 days a week. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, that means my goal is to walk 156 times over the course of the year.

Well since I last posted a Weigh In Wednesday post, I did the following walks:

April 18, 2018: 0.99 miles

April 19, 2018: 4.17 miles

April 23, 2018: 1.15 mile hike on steep inclines
April 25, 2018: 4.09 miles

So that means I am now at 30 out of 156 workout walks completed for the year!

I also have continued with the Jillian Michaels "Beginner Shred" DVD. I did day #30 today! Let me tell you, it was really hard, but it was worth every molecule of sweat that I had. I feel stronger and I do have more energy. I am so proud of myself for doing this. I have never finished a workout program and I did 30 days! You don't know how proud I am of doing this! I am already trying to figure out what my next 30 days challenge is going to be. I know that I am going to not only focus on exercising, but incorporating diet into it as well.

If you are trying to lose weight or get healthier, how is your journey going so far?

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Camp-In at the Columbus Zoo

Friday afternoon found me driving to Columbus with Rebecca so that she and I could attend a special activity with her American Heritage Girls troop. We got to spend the night at the Columbus Zoo, learning about animal adaptations. However, before we got there we stopped off at Wendy's for dinner. We left almost 2.5 hours before she had to be at the zoo due to traffic. We live over an hour away and then add in rush hour traffic and it was a good idea.

Upon arrival, the split the girls up into their troops. Our troop sent 6 girls.

Other troops had sent upwards of 15 girls. There was over 100 people registered for this camp-in.

After a group introduction, the groups split up and headed out to explore the "Asia Quest" area of the zoo and to talk about animal adaptations. It was neat as we were walking around at dusk and many of the animals were very active and loud. I have never seen the red pandas active and they were walking around.

After our evening hike, we headed back to our classroom for a snack.

Then it was time for animal encounters. The zoologist brought in an American rabbit, a ferret, an opossum, an armadillo, a tortoise, a snake, a bearded dragon, and a legless lizard.

Funny story, one of the animals that the kids were introduced to on the night hike was Hannah the python. Well I have a fear of snakes. I wouldn't even go near the glass that separated Hannah from the kids. So when the zoologist brought out the snake during the animal visitor encounters, the girls really wanted me to touch it. And I proud to say that I did. It was really weird to touch and after my fingertips almost felt "sparky"...it is hard to describe. When I told Bill about that he wonders if maybe I am allergic to snake skin as he has touched snakes before and never had that reaction.

After the animal encounters, the girls got to make a picture frame craft to remember their experiences.

Then it was time for bed...which was sleeping on a small, very thin mat on the classroom floor. It wasn't too bad, except the little girl next to Rebecca kept talking and would not go to sleep.

In the morning, wake up call was around 6:30. After we were up and dressed, we took all of our things out to our cars, then came back in for breakfast. As we were eating breakfast we realized that outside of our classroom window, we could see wolves walking around in their enclosure.

After breakfast, we went out on our morning hike, which took place in the North American, African and Polar areas of the zoo. The girls got to see the wolves who were very active. They also got to see polar bears, lions, cheetahs, and bald eagles.

After seeing the bald eagles, it was time to head out so that we could come back home so that Bill could head out to work. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I am so glad that I was able to have the opportunity to go with Rebecca. Great Mother-Daughter bonding experience.