Looking My Best

Looking My Best

Hi, I took the plunge and joined Weight Watchers. For the past year I have tried cutting back on calories and walking. Not much success. A friend, Linda, returned to the program. She had fabulous results and then waivered from the program. It was during one of our virtual walks she had mentioned her return.

Saturday I went to my first meeting and signed up with Weight Watchers. With Linda doing the program and our virtual walking, I feel like I have the needed support and accountability to be successful. I do want to mention that I am not being compensated, endorsed for this post. I am merely explaining what I am trying to do to meet a few of my 101 in 1001 goals, #’s 66, 68 and 69.

weight watchers Counting calories wasn’t working. One day using the tracking method with weight watchers I discovered is more convenient. The Weight Watchers app is very user friendly. The foods I thought I was eating that were ‘good’ was not. For example, I would eat yogurt with granola for breakfast (and still be hungry) for a calorie count of 300. On a 2000 calorie diet this isn’t bad. But that’s 8 points with Weight Watchers. My daily point count is 29. Even with tracking calories, the point method brings more light on weight loss. Most of what I was eating were high points. As long as I can stick with my daily points, I should see 1-2 pounds loss each week.

One thing I will need to do more of, drink water. I do not like the taste of water. Kind of funny, does water have a taste? 🙂
I do have a plan to conquer my dislike of water taste.flavor water

After my first Weight Watcher’s meeting, I did my grocery shopping. Kevin went with me and he did not complain about the time it was taking me to scan each item I placed into the cart. And I did, scan each item. Quite a few items I used to get, I had to choose an alternative. I expressed my concerns about the water with Kevin. We went to the water isle and it was here that Kevin pointed out the flavors. Some of the guys Kevin works with uses flavors in their water. I thought I’d give it a try. Water is 0 points and the flavor is 0 too! I selected the berry flavor this time.

One of my main concerns is how my diet for Crohn’s will work within my 29 daily points. I remember telling my doctor I could not be diabetic. All I can eat is potatoes, pasta and meat! I’ll give an update on what I discover for meals that work for me.

I’m embarrassed with my current weight. So I will not share. But, what I will share is my weight progress with you here. Another accountability measure to help keep me on track.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Father’s Day.

Hi, Happy Father’s Day to all dad’s, step-dad’s and grand dad’s!

I spent Father’s Day with my dad yesterday. It was a wonderful day. He requested Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. My son, daughter and her family joined us at my folks house.

father's day
Four generations!

Some fun facts about Father’s Day.

A. There are 1.5 billion fathers worldwide. 66.3 million of those father’s are in the United States.
B. Father’s Day is the fifth-largest card-sending occasion in America with almost 100 million Father’s Day cards sent each year.
C. Only 50% of all Father’s Day cards are purchased for dads

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

Friendly Selfies!

Friendly Selfies!

Hi, I just had a rough day at work. Are you familiar with tough work days? Now I need to have some fun. I am now on a mission to find a way to create slideshow video’s. My selfie folder makes me smile when I look at these images. Needing a pick me up, I have decided to create a slideshow for my week’s post.

It has taken me a bit of time to figure out which software program would be best. Then I had to conquer how to use said software! The software I have chosen is Movavi. It is available for either Windows or Mac.

There are several different programs available for making slideshows. Some are free, with limits and options to upgrade to a paid version without limits. I selected the personal license for Movavi which comes with plenty of basic elements, transitions and such. Comment if you have any questions about my selected slideshow maker.

The pictures were taken by not only myself, but family and friends have shared with me some they took. Please enjoy the show!!



MacBook viewers: If the video does not appear, switch from Safari browser to Google.
The video will then appear.

In my prior post, ‘Selfies, Take Part in Pictures, I had mentioned we are our own self critics. Practicing taking our own pictures give us the opportunity to see what angle our head needs to be at, where to look when taking the photo and just getting used to seeing ourself in pictures. The more you see yourself, the more comfortable you will be each time seeing yourself in your selfies!

friendly selfies
Briella took this selfie!

Slideshows are wonderful for special occasion celebrations- graduation, weddings, birthday, anniversaries and even end of life services. Slideshows add life to photo’s! My goal is to provide different formats when I share my photo’s.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo.

Better Phone Pictures

Better Phone Pictures

Hi, a friend asked me, “how to take a good picture? Where should the main subject be placed in the image?” These are good questions. Using the rule of thirds will be your go to resource. The rule of thirds is a tool to create visual pleasing images.

As I have said before, taking better phone pictures begin with taking the shot. Once you have taken the shot, take it again. When you take it again, play with the composition. Change where the main subject is placed.

rule of thirds grid

To enable the rule of thirds grid on your phone, open settings. Scroll down and select camera. Open camera and scroll down to composition and turn on the grid.
better phone pictures grid

When taking landscape photography an example would be placing the horizon not in the middle but instead align on the bottom horizontal line or the top. Giving either the sky or land more space in the composition.

The next two images have special meaning to me. The first, is when I joined my daughter and her family to Florida. Briella was sitting on the beach as the waves were coming in. I just really like this image.

better phone pictures at beach

My next example is while me, my mom and daughter went back to Illinois to my Great Aunt’s funeral.

going to heaven

A powerful image. My Great Aunt driving off into heaven. With the leading lines in the road and on the side rail, they draw your eyes into the field of clouds. Very special image for me.

A single object like a person or pet, place one of their eyes on one of the intersecting lines.

One of our usual weekend routine is eating breakfast out and getting groceries. This weekend we went to the Waffle House. While waiting for our breakfast I took the opportunity of taking a picture of the salt and pepper shakers!

salt pepper
Salt & Pepper Shakers Centered

Looks good. But then I applied the rule of thirds.

salt pepper left
Rule of Thirds
There is no one right way or wrong. It is what you like and what is visual appealing.

Waffle House better phone pictures
Waffle House

The two waffle signs look nice. For the collage I prefer the left image with the sign centered. But if I was just taking the picture of sign by itself with no other images to go with it, I like this shot.

better phone pictures

This is why I recommend taking the shot and take it again. It’s much easier to take the image the way you want to start, but there is post editing. In the post editing the image can be cropped, applying the rule of thirds. The post editing can be another post!

my selfie
Practicing my selfie!

Think of the rule of thirds while taking your picture. Consequently, this will become second nature, automatic. You won’t even be thinking of the rule, you’ll just do it.

Most importantly, have fun taking pictures, and taking them again!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo.

Fun at the Kansas City Zoo

Kansas City zoo

Fun at the Kansas City Zoo.

Hi, I had a fun birthday weekend with my family at the Kansas City Zoo. Happy birthday to me!

#14 Go the the Kansas City Zoo
and #38 visit the grand girls once a month

fun at the Kansas City zoo
Click image to see the images taken at the KC Zoo!

The morning began with eating breakfast out. I ordered a two egg omelet with cheese, bacon, green onion and tomato. After breakfast my daughter and her family picked me up to go to the zoo. It was for sure a fun birthday. It did make me realize a few things.

Firstly, I want to do better of taking pictures through out my adventures. There were things the grand girls did that I never took a picture. For example when they slid down the slide instead of using the stairs. I never took images of our lunch, what we ordered and the menu to show the high cost of ordering on zoo grounds. The thought of bringing a picnic lunch didn’t even come to mind until I saw the prices. One bottle of water was $5.00. Ouch, a family of 4 would be 20 bucks.

Secondly, my weight. My age, working from home, not getting out among other things I have been telling myself when I look in the mirror. This adventure to the zoo made me realize how my weight is affecting me. And it is not good. From this day forward, I will take more responsibility to do something for myself to improve my health. I want to be like my Aunt Phyllis was. When she was 80 she could keep up with my dancing when I was 50. She looked amazing. That is how I want to be when I am 80.

favorit aunt Phyllis
My inspiration in aging, my Aunt Phyllis.

#52 Walk two miles 3x a week.
#53 Do nightly excersizes 3x a week. Opposite nights from above walking goal.

These two will be a work in progress. And to keep a journal of progress, I will include a selfie of me each post. And hopefully this will show the change/progress of my efforts.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo
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Fun at the Kansas City Zoo

Chicago the Windy City

Chicago the Windy City.

Hi, I decided to take a trip on a whim! Wanted to eat the famous Chicago deep dish pizza.

Chicago the Windy City
Chicago’s deep dish pizza

Once upon a time I worked for our family business. I met Linda, a valued customer who would come into the store with her family. Over time I became friends with her. We since sold the store and we lost contact. One day I was in Walmart and she approached me. We exchanged phone numbers. I reached out to her and we began to make dates to meet for brunch to visit.

#95, Meet up with an old friend and catch up.

During one of our brunches I mentioned to her I would like to eat Chicago deep dish pizza and asked if she would be interested in going with me. Our adventure was going to happen.

Back in March we decided to go the first Tuesday in May. We spent one evening in the Windy City. When we went to check into the Congress Hotel, the desk clerk, Jasmine upgraded our room. She did a wonderful kindness for us. The view was absolutely beautiful, night lights and the sunrise were gorgeous.

chicago congress hotel
The Congress Hotel

We walked a lot, 23,298 steps Tuesday! Walked to Millennium Park, Navy Pier and took the bus back to the hotel. Next we went to Lou Malnatis for our pizza. Then off to Wallis Tower, formally known as Sears Tower. The tallest building in Chicago.

Wednesday we reserved our Wendella Lake & River Architecture Tour. We enjoyed this. After walking down the streets it was neat to see the buildings by boat. Here are just a few of the images taken. Too many to share all of them.

Chicago the windy city
Millenium Park, Navy Pier, Lake & River Architecture Tour
On the left side of the collage there is a picture that has a green circle on it. That was the floor our room was on.

train travel
#28 on 101 in 1001 list- Travel in a train
K9 dog statues
Click this image for more K9 statue information.

Once back home and reflecting on the trip, never did I notice trash or litter on the streets and in the alley ways. Even while looking thru all of the images I had taken, no evidence of trash/litter. Secondly, both of us returned safe and unharmed. Now keep in mind we stayed in the downtown area and was back in our hotel room by 10 pm. We had a good time!

Have you been to Chicago? What was your favorite experience while there?

I have already asked Linda if she would like to go again next year. Gotta have me that Chicago deep dish pizza again!

To see more images from this trip, click here!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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