Wamego Tulip Festival | 101 in 1001

April 24, 2024 by GmasPhoto 3 Comments

Wamego Tulip Festival | 101 in 1001

Hi, I am so excited. Two of my 101 in 1001 I can mark completed, #21 and #44.

#21 Drive to Wamego for the Tulip Festival.

Saturday, April 13, 2024 after my Weight Watchers meeting I met up with Linda and we drove to the tulip festival.

linda and deb — On our way to the Wamego Tulip Festival!

Meeting people is fun. While visiting Wamego, Jim was the person who greeted us as we went into the ‘Old Town’ area. He was in front of the communication building featuring the telephones. To see images of the antique telephones and other festival images, click here.

Ten years ago, there were just a few vendors, mainly informational. This year it was packed, vendors, food vendors and visitors! The main entrance took you thru the food court. Many different foods to pick. We arrived right at lunch time. For lunch we went to the tent where the Knights of Columbus grilled hamburgers, right side in picture. And on the way out we went to the Stumpy’s Smoked Cheese food truck on the left in the image. Oh my, the Mac and Cheese with bacon was delicious!

food trucks — #44, 101 in 1001. Eat at a food truck!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

Practicing Gratitude 15 of 31 | 101 in 1001

October 15, 2023 by GmasPhoto 13 Comments

Practicing Gratitude 15 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Hi, it’s my Day 15 in 31. Today I am grateful for a girls day out! Linda and I went to Powell Gardens.

This is an absolutely beautiful place. The collage above features the chapel that is part of Powell Gardens. The day we were there, the chapel was going to close to the public at 3pm for a wedding. And what a lovely, perfect day for the wedding and wedding pictures. Not too hot for the bride and groom/wedding party for outdoor pictures. And certainly warm enough for the guests to mingle outside for the reception. If I were not with Linda, I would truly have been a wedding crasher that evening! 🙂

Once we arrived, parked and bought our admission tickets, we headed to the chapel first. This was a good walk. Beautiful things to see the whole way. We came upon a young lady having her senior pictures taken. Unlike the bride and groom who more than likely would have many layers on, this high school senior had on a short summer dress. A cold day for that dress!

powell gardens senior picture — High School Senior Pictures

As we were walking, a maintenance worker was driving a golf course coming towards us. Well, I stuck my thumb out like a hitch hiker. He stopped. We asked for a ride back to the visitor building. He did better than that. He gave us a guided tour of the 45 acre botanical gardens!

To see more pictures taken click the link. More Images.

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

October in review:

Practicing Gratitude 31 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 30 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 29 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 28 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 27 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 26 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Gratitude 25 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 24 of 31 frozen bananas

Practicing Gratitude 24 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 23 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 22 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 21 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 20 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 19 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 18 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 17 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 16 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 15 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 14 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 13 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 12 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 11 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 10 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 9 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 8 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 7 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 6 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 5 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 4 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 3 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 2 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Practicing Gratitude 1 of 31 | 101 in 1001

Fun Weekend with Grand-Girls!

July 17, 2023 by GmasPhoto 15 Comments

Fun Weekend with Grand-Girls!

Hi, what a fun weekend I experienced with my grand-girls. My daughter and son-in-law went out of town with friends for a float trip. Which translates to me getting to spend the entire weekend with the girls, YES!!

I took the day Friday away from my work to do my weekend errands in the morning so I could drive to Topeka and get the girls picked up from summer camp by 4pm. That evening we went back to their house to take care of the pups, get dinner ready and then movie time. Grandma let the girls stay up later than their bedtime. Saturday morning Kevin came out to sat with the girls while I went to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting. While I was away, Kevin took the girls to the Farmer’s Market. Upon my return the girls were excited to tell me, they got some honey sticks and already ate them. After Kevin left, we ate our lunch and decided to go to the Topeka Zoo.

After the zoo we stopped by the girls choice restaurant, McDonald’s. Brynlee likes the playground. We ate and then I watched the girls play for a bit. Then back to their house. Once back to the house we let the doggies out and fed them. By this time the weather had cooled down some. We went outside for some fun activities, hula hoop and jump rope. Here is a fun video of the girls trying to teach me how to hula hoop!

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

The best part of the day for me was when the girls were getting ready for bed. Briella told me she had a fun day. This warmed my heart. My husband always asks me what memories did we make after I am with the grand girls. This is certainly a memory I will treasure.

Sunday was my last day to spend with the girls. The plan was to meet Shaune’s parents for them to take the girls to Branson. Our hand off was a success!

This weekend the grand girls and I completed two of my 101 in 1001. #13 Go to the Topeka Zoo and #89 Learn How to Hula Hoop. At least I tried! 🙂

WW Update:
Since Start Date; -8.8lbs 🙂

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra

Looking My Best

June 19, 2023 by GmasPhoto 6 Comments

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.

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

Chicago the Windy City

May 22, 2023 by GmasPhoto 10 Comments

Chicago the Windy City.

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

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

The Wishing Bench 2023

March 13, 2023 by GmasPhoto 14 Comments

Revisiting the wishing bench in 2023

Saturday I was not motivated. I had slid back into my funk. It could have been due to me not taking my happy pills the last two days. Needed to get them refilled. Or because my CPAP mask broke. Had to order a new one, took five days to arrive. Whatever the reason, I made myself get out of the house yesterday. Made a list of my to do’s while in Lawrence. It’s more difficult to remember things when I am in this funky mood.

My list included filling Adam’s pillbox, picking up Kevin’s and my prescriptions, picking up grocery order, having lunch with my mom and finally contributing to this week’s blog post. While making my list, the wishing bench popped into mind. It has been more than a couple years since I visited. I wondered if it was still even there. To my surprise, yes!

Below are close up images of this dreamy, happy bench!

Wishing bench 2023 2

If you would like to see the changes over the years, I have included links below to follow my previous visits.

The wishing bench in 2017.

The wishing bench in 2015.

Have you ever seen a bench like this before today, this post? I have not actually sat on the bench to make a wish. My next visit I will plan on making an addition to the set and make my own wish!

Take Care. Best wishes, Debra