March | One Line a Day

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one line a day

March One Line a Day

Hi, I am so ready for spring. During the cold months, I fall victim to the blues. Working from home has presented a new level to the blues. The thought of requesting a higher dose of meds does not sound appealing to me. After giving this some thought, I want to work on habits.

Working at home, I have created some bad habits. The biggest bad habit I have gotten into, staying in my pajamas all day, every day through the week. Weekends I do leave the house, regular clothes and makeup are a must. To start my new positive habits, I will use a journal. My Weight Watchers teacher inspired me with hers. Planning to incorporate her style with a monthly post of one line a day. And, this will knock off my #58 on my 101 in 1001 list!

March got off to a late start. Beginning with Saturday, March 9, 2024.

weight watcher teacher
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09. My WW instructor’s suggestion of a journal style book already has brightened my day. The journal supplies I purchased are shown in the post feature image above.

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10. Amazing animals that touched my heart.
cute calves

11. Monday, a typical day of working remote. After work watching Wheel of Fortune with Kevin, I keep telling him he should try out. He always figures out the puzzle.

12. This was a fun day. I took personal time from work and had to run an errand for my son. Which took me to Topeka, our state capitol. The grand girls were on spring break and they went with me.
state capitol

13. Thankful for indoor plumbing, especially at nighttime.

14. Each day my feet touch the floor is a good day. I choose to be positive.

15. Had a fun movie night with Adam. We had Mac and Cheese with little smokies and watched the movie, Damsel on Netflix.

16. First went to my WW meeting. After, went to Best Buy. I had purchased the Zagg screen protector and paid the fee for Geek Squad to apply the protector. Both are a bit pricey when you think of it as a one time purchase. However, I had dropped my phone and the protector cracked. Well, Best Buy will exchange the broken protector with new and even apply again at no charge. This is the second time I needed to have a replacement.

17. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. The shamrock green is not a color in my wardrobe. However, I love to accessorize!

shamrock green
This is how I wore my green today!

18. My new favorite Weight Watchers friendly dessert is frozen bananas.

19. Spent a fun evening with Adam. Our weekly movie and dinner night. This week the movie pick was Unthinkable. Definitely not family friendly. Rather a dark movie. If you have seen it, would be interested in knowing what you thought of it.

20. Not too much to say, regular work day and did a virtual walk with my friend, Linda. We meet in the evenings at 7:30 pm and FaceTime while we walk on our treadmills.

21. Cut up several bunches of bananas to freeze.

cutting bananas to freeze
From bunches to freezer!

22. It’s Friday, the best part of the weekend. The beginning!

23. The local grocery store has a wonderful deli. The food is good and very reasonably priced. Kevin and I each got a chicken dinner. Kevin got the white and dark meal and I ordered the 2 piece tender meal. Our total was 15 and some change.

24. Had breakfast with Kevin, Erika, Shaune and the grand girls. The grand girls wanted to come back to the house and see the calves!

twin calves
Twins!

25. Linda was not able to walk this evening, so I ate some cookies instead!

26. Drank 3 cups of hot chocolate. It’s still cold in Kansas. Walked with Linda tonight. Needed to walk off the hot chocolate and cookies!

27. A rollercoaster ride with my website disaster. Oh my, I was working on my website (this one) just Monday evening. All was fine when I went to sleep for the night. The next day I went to update a post and my site was gone. Vanished. I panicked. Today all seems to be back and working. Thank goodness! If you were wondering- I did pay the bill……. This was not the issue. I had to call the tech department and they were able to fix.

28. Had movie night with Adam. We had ham and cheese quesadillas. He chose the movie, Blood & Gold. This is not a family friendly movie. I think Adam will not be selecting next week’s movie night movie!

29. Sometimes I just like drinking my water from a glass jar instead of my insulated cup.

strawberry infused water
Absolutely the best way to drink water!

30. Kevin wanted to go shopping. This is a rare experience! Actually, our dear neighbor is not in the best health. Kevin wanted to shop for a jacket.

thrift store shopping
Kevin’s shopping spree!

31. Happy Easter.

crucifix
Peace be with you!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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My Journey Update Default ThumbnailMy Journey follow up postFollow Up Post Practicing Gratitude 7 of 31Practicing Gratitude 7 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Bible Study | #50 of 101 in 1001

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bible study

Bible Study | #50 of 101 in 1001

Hi, Happy New Year to you!! My New Year’s resolution is not the typical ‘need to loose some weight’, which I have done in previous years. This year I have chosen to strengthen my Faith. Number 50 on my 101 in 1001 is to go to church once a week.

I had created this 101 in 1001 list back in February 2023. Since doing so, I have decided to tweak my going to church once a week to going to Bible study once a week. Have you heard of Joel Osteen? Some people like him and other’s not so much. My father is one who is with the not so much group. That can be a different story! 🙂 Today is about how I decided to strengthen my Faith.

#50 goal of going to church every Sunday was really on my mind for the whole month of December. It was on one Sunday that Joel Osteen’s program came onto the TV I had been watching. Joel, in my opinion, is an excellent presenter. I enjoy his uplifting words. At the end of his program he says to get into a good Bible based church. What I heard, Bible study. That is when I decided to change the going to church to bible study (Sunday School).

As I was preparing for my ‘Bible study’ group, I realized the only Bible I had was this beautiful, huge Bible my husband’s brother and his wife gave to me and Kevin as a wedding gift. I was on a mission :), find a Bible!!

I just didn’t realize how many different Bibles there are. One recommendation I would like to share, go to a Christian book store when you are searching for your Bible. At the store, you can actually compare the verses in one book to another. Genesis 9:4,5 was the one I used for comparisons. I bought two of mine from Amazon. It took 5 purchases before I found the one for me. Consider the print size and the age group. One suggestion for the retail marketers, change the age 6-12 to beginner. One of my preferred Bible that I have, is the kids’ version and it would be nice if it said beginner. And, I had to literally go to the kids’ section to find it.

This Bible needed to be more of a personal size book. I had gone to the Christian store, Mardel. There, the sales lady, assisted me with selecting the version I was more comfortable reading and understanding. I had selected the NKJV, New King James. It was my second visit to the Christian store that I had gone over to the kids’ section for the right Bible for me 🙂

Later, I was in Wal-Mart and happened to check their book section. And guess what, they sell Bible’s too! They had a super sized Bible, the font was much bigger. All the better for me to see! So I bought it. Well, later I was speaking with a friend and she was telling me she had gotten her (now grown) boys a children Bible and that is what she takes to her Bible study group. As you may have already thought, yes- I bought a kids’ Bible too 🙂

For anyone who is just beginning to read the Bible, I recommend the kids’ version. In the below image it shows what resources the kids’ book provides. The super size Bible is good too. As I began reading the Bible, there have been so many words I need help with. Webster wasn’t cutting it for me. This is when I ordered the Student Bible Dictionary.

I must say, I am eager to begin my studies! 🙂

bible study

In summary, the Christian book store is a one stop shop. Plan on spending a long time in the store. Look at more than one Bible version. There are large print, comfort print, and the age level options to consider. A reference book should be included for studying. Bible book tabs are good too.

bible book tabs

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -28.6 lbs

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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Default ThumbnailMy Journey follow up postFollow Up Post My Journey Update Practicing Gratitude 7 of 31Practicing Gratitude 7 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 24 of 31 | 101 in 1001

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Practicing Gratitude 24 of 31 frozen bananas

Practicing Gratitude 24 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Hi, I am amazed at how many new foods I have tried. Not all new, but new ways of preparing foods. This is all because of Weight Watchers. One example is the simple banana.🍌 NEVER did it occur to me to eat frozen bananas until I was introduced to delicious smoothies! For sure, today I am grateful for discovering how delicious frozen bananas taste.

Freezing bananas is really simple.


My freezer is not large so I used a regular dinner plate. Peeled the bananas and cut into chunks. Stood the chunks on end on the plate. Set the plate in the freezer for 1 – 2 hours. Placed the banana chunks into a zip lock baggie. As I was sealing the bag shut, pushed as much air from the bag as possible. These will not last long in the freezer!!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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October in review:


Practicing Gratitude 23 of 31 | 101 in 1001

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Practicing Gratitude 23 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 23 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Hi, my day began great. I made a chocolate banana smoothie and it was delicious. This set the day off to a wonderful start. For this being a Monday, this small delight was greatly welcomed! For this, I am very grateful.

I had heard of smoothies, but I have never had one. Imagine that! Well, I went to Amazon and bought the Nutribullet Personal Blender. Looked up a Weight Watchers recipe and decided next time my grand daughters came over, I’d have them show me how to use the blender. They have smoothies quite often at their house and I knew Brie would be able to show me!

Did you notice I said chocolate banana smoothie? Chocolate and Weight Watchers do not play well with each other point wise. The recipe called for Whey (protein) and specifically chocolate whey. I had no idea what this was. Let alone if I would like it. And the kicker was, it is expensive, yikes! 😲

Yesterday while Brie was following the recipe, she advised me that you don’t need a recipe, ‘Just add what ever you want, Grandma.’ 😂 Well, this morning I altered the recipe. It called for water 6 oz and then 6 oz milk. Today I did not add the water instead used 12 oz milk. I enjoyed the flavor this morning more so than yesterday’s smoothie.

Here is the altered recipe I used to make my delicious chocolate banana smoothie.

In order shown add the following:

1 percent milk
First add 12 oz milk.
chocolate whey
Next add one scoop of the chocolate whey.
bananas
Last add 1/2 of medium banana.

The next time I make a smoothie, I will try adding frozen fruit. Per my Google search, the frozen fruit will thicken the drink. I will be doing more searches for smoothies. This new found favorite has me excited to try different variations!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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October in review:



Practicing Gratitude 23 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 13 of 31 | 101 in 1001

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Practicing Gratitude 13 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 13 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Hi, it’s my Day 13 of practicing gratitude. Today I am grateful for a freshly brushed set of teeth! I feel so much better after doing this morning ritual. Love how my breath feels cool.

crest cinnamon tooth paste
Grateful for the feeling of freshly brushed teeth!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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October in review:

Practicing Gratitude 8 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Posted on by GmasPhoto 2 Comments
practicing gratitude 8 of 31

Practicing Gratitude 8 of 31 | 101 in 1001

My beautiful blond hair!
Hi, today I am grateful for the cancer I experienced. Wait, did I really say that?! Would I ever want to experience cancer again? Absolutely not! However, good things did happen because of the cancer. Let me explain.

My children were in daycare at 6 weeks old. Both me and my husband worked full time. His income paid for the house, utilities and all property taxes. My income paid for groceries, daycare and health insurance. We never had the newest home nor vehicles. Kevin worked then and still does in construction. The possibility of Kevin getting laid off was great. If Kevin was laid off, he would have the kids and the daycare payment would then be applied to the house payment. Fast forward to June 2003.

I was working for our family business my father started, mom and pop restaurant. Dad was taking more time off. Many evenings I worked late because some 16 year old kid did not show for work. Our children were in 9th grade and Senior year. I had just turned 39. With activities I was winded. Just thought I was getting older and out of shape was the reason.

I had an immense amount of pressure on my chest. My asthma began to bother me. I had woke up one Tuesday morning with chest pain. I made an appointment to go to the doctor. The appointment was for the next day, Wednesday. Tuesday late afternoon I had called Kevin and asked him to come straight home. Once he got home I asked him to take me to the hospital. That was the beginning of my cancer journey.

My parents and I sold the business. I worked but went to being a receptionist part time. And it was a Monday thru Friday job, 8am to noon, holidays off. I was up at the school house every afternoon to attend the school activities the kids were involved with. Did not miss a single one!

So the reason I am grateful for my cancer, I spent the whole school year and the following summer with my kids. Something I would not have done if I was working full time like my whole adult life until that June 2003.

About the doll: I lost all of my hair during chemo. My hair dresser, Nancy, told me when it was time to let her know. She had me come in before hours, locked the door and shut the blinds. We cut all my hair off. My mom was with me and she requested to keep my hair. Later mom found someone who stitched my hair onto this doll. Mom later said she wished she got a doll with blue eyes to match me!

I did not like the doll for the longest time. Brought too many negative thoughts to my mind. It represented pain. Well fast forward to about 3 months ago. Mom has gotten in the mood to get rid of many of her things. The doll came up. She was going to get rid of her. I told mom I was ready to take her. Yes, I still remember the pain, but I have so many wonderful memories with my kids I would not have had if it were not for the cancer.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra
Gma’s photo

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October in review: