Week 2

Week 2 weigh in result and I lost 3.6lbs taking my total loss to 8.6lbs, which I'm super happy with.

Ive discovered this week that I like vegetables more than I thought!! Ive also been cooking a lot of meals from recipes in my WW book and that I have found online. I do need to increase my water intake, as Ive been slacking a bit this week. Ive been using my Nike+ app on my phone lots and enjoy tracking my walks and playing tag with friends, although so far Ive been IT both times!!

I'm even thinking about joining my local gym so I can start swimming again.

On my donation page I have received a total of $105 so far, thank you to everyone who has donated, and to everyone who has said they will donate at some point between now and the race.

For those of you looking to donate now, you can donate via my fundraising page.

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2012/General?px=6463345&pg=personal&fr_id=1768

Don't really have any photo to go with this post today, so here is a random cute pic of my dogs :)

Photo Challenge

I've been spending a lot of time on Twitter recently, and came across this blog

http://www.fatmumslim.com.au/  Chantelle is the blog owner and her blog makes very interesting reading.

The post that caught my attention and took me to her blog in the first place was this:

http://www.fatmumslim.com.au/2012/01/february-photo-day-challenge.html

The February photo a day challenge, it sounds like a lot of fun, so I plan to participate. Each day has a different category and you can post the photos anyway you wish. For those of you not following me on twitter, my twitter name is SarahLou1976  I plan to post the photo there daily and then once a week post them to my blog.

Here is the challenge category list.

Thanks again Chantelle for the challenge

January BarkBox

Our second BarkBox arrived today and it was another great selection of items.

The treats had fallen out of the package during shipping, so I think this made the box extra interesting for Bluey!

This month we had a strange selection of things, items I would never have thought of. The first one being a Happy Paws Dog Massager from www.stickypaws.com Just wanted to say an extra thanks for including the battery :) I've had a quick try with this and both dogs seemed unphased when I used it on them, so will try again tonight, it's nice and quiet which is a plus as I think the noise would have made them nervous of it. They both enjoy being brushed so think they will enjoy this when they are more relaxed.

The second item is something that I have been thinking about getting but wasn't sure what was out there. It was a tin of Heal My Paws from www.healmyhands.com  It is basically a moisturizer for their paws to help with cracked pads in extreme temperatures. Jess often has cracked pads, so this is going to be great for her, and the tin was just the right size to rub their paws directly in it. I rubbed some on the paws of both dogs and they seem to quite enjoy it, so will definitely make this a regular thing to use on them.

The third item I think is the dogs favorite so far, and has gone completely!! It was some organic Charlie chews treats from www.charliechews.com My two can be fussy over treats, but ate these with no hesitation.

Fourth item was something rather strange (I think so anyway!) called Puppy Dust from www.puppydust.com and is basically something you sprinkle on dry food to encourage your dogs to eat, my two never need extra encouragement to eat, so may use this as an added treat on their food, the one I got is peanut butter flavor.

Last but not least we got two bully sticks from www.bestbullysticks.com My two love bully sticks and they are great for their teeth and gums, although occasionally not great for the smell that comes from their butts later on in the evening!! These ones are sourced from free-range grass fed cattle. Will be letting the pups try them in a few days, don't want them eating too many new things in one day.

Thanks again BarkBox for another great box of goodies, I also love the little hand written message in the box and the blue tissue paper. We look forward to another great box next month.

Week 1

So today I had my first weigh in after signing up to weight watchers online, and it was a very pleasing result - a loss of 5lbs :) Still got a long way to go, but baby steps and eventually I will get there (hopefully).

I purchased a cool app on my iPhone yesterday it is Nike+ GPS, it was only $1.99, you can use it with or without your headphones, Ive used it for the last two days when walking the dogs, I did 2.12 miles yesterday and 3.09 miles today, the only disadvantage of tracking whilst walking the dogs is you are constantly stopping and starting. I hope to use it over the weekend when I'm walking on my own, so it will be more of a constant speed, although saying that the long overdue rain is due to reach the Bay Area tomorrow and last the weekend, so I might have to wait till next week.

Got round to booking Disney for October, we are going to be there for Halloween so get to go to 'Mickeys not so scary Halloween party' I went to this at WDW and it was fun, but will be much more fun with two kids in tow. I decided to book a non Disney hotel and chose one across the street from Disney so we don't have far to walk, and near i hop too which is always a plus. It's called the Park Vue Inn. The reviews looked good, so hopefully it is a nice place, although most of the time we won't be in the rooms as we will be at Disney.

On the donation front, so far I have received donations to the value of $50 - thank you to the people who have already donated. 33 weeks this Friday until the 3 day walk, so fingers crossed I can reach my $2300 goal.

Here is the link if you do wish to donate.

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2012/General?px=6463345&pg=personal&fr_id=1768

Thanks xxx

I must be crazy

First of all a belated Happy New Year to all of my readers (I'm only 2 weeks late).

So this year is looking like it's going to be busy. I have my sister visiting from England in May with her husband, and we are planning a 3 day trip to Vegas - we booked to stay in the new Vdara hotel, and turns out its the only non gaming hotel on the strip!! I think it must be because it is non smoking. The hotel links to Aria and Bellagio so we won't have far to go in order to gamble. 

Then in October my sister in law Lisa is coming to visit with her daughter's Paige and Ebbie who will be 11 and 4, and we are planning a trip to Disneyland. I've been to Walt Disney World in Orlando a few times, but it will be my first time to Disneyland. It will also be the girl's first time to America, so they are super excited already - its going to be a long 9 month wait for them :( I'm looking at hotels at the moment and trying to decide if it's worth paying the extra to stay at a Disney hotel. I will keep you posted when I book. Our local radio station Koit is also giving away a family pack of 4 tickets to Disney each Friday, so I'm also attempting to win them.

I've booked tickets to go and see Mamma Mia at the Orpheum Theater next month with a friend, which I am really looking forward to. I've seen it twice in London and once in New York, and multiple times on DVD and at the cinema!!

So as per the title of my blog post 'I must be crazy'. I'm one of those people who makes a decision and then has to do it there and then, as if I think about it too long I will over analyze the whole thing and change my mind!! Anyway I've signed up for a 3 day 60 mile walk (OK stop the laughing!!) to raise money for breast cancer research, I've also convinced Dave to take part with me (OK, enough of the laughing!). Each year I hear them talk about the event on the radio and think how cool it would be to take part - well this is the year it happens! The walk takes place Sept 7 thru Sept 9 2012 in San Francisco (so will involve hill walking), so I have plenty of time to train, as you probably know I'm not in great physical shape, so it's a good motivation boost to help me lose weight, as walking 60 miles won't be an easy feat at my current weight.  I was tracking calories on my phone using a free app called my fitness pal, but I'm not convinced the calories are 100% accurate on there, so I started looking into doing weight watchers online, as it turns out through our health insurance provider I get discounted membership, so I've signed up for 12 months - so I have no excuse. My next weigh in will be Wednesday so I plan on doing a weekly weigh in update and a donation update on my blog - so watch this space.

I want to say a special thank you to my Mum for my first donation of $15 and to Lisa for my second donation of $35. When you sign up for the walk you have to agree to raise a minimum of $2300, so I have a long way to go - hence starting early.

If anyone would like to donate, any amount however small would be greatly appreciated. If you don't want to pay online you can pay me by cash or check, or I can send you a form so you can pay directly by check. Whatever is easier let me know.

Here is the link to my fundraising page

 http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2012/General?px=6463345&pg=personal&fr_id=1768

Thank-you so much in advance xxx