Travel Tuesday

Places I've been to this year:

Antigua for Sandals reunion week. 

Dallas for the Rolling Stones concert. 

Alaska for a wedding and hanging out with family. 

Places I will be visiting later this year: 

The Bahamas for my private island and a little separate jaunt to Atlantis on Paradise Island. 

Paris for Christmas! I don't have any pics of that yet. 

Inquiring minds want to know where have you been and or where will you be headed this year. (I'm the inquiring mind in case you were wondering.)

Sandals Grande Antigua

This was our fifth trip to Sandals and our second reunion week. Sandals does such a great job of rewarding repeat guests and this trip was no exception.

We arrived a couple of days before reunion week got started. Monday was the welcome parade. Tuesday was the Sandals Select dinner with managers cocktails. That was when we realized we were one day shy of our silver sandals. That will be our reward next year. 

After 35 nights paid, you are rewarded with silver sandals (I think they're plastic but the recognition is most important.) After 70 paid nights the reward is a free week. That will be a sweet day when we get there.

While we were there, there were several light rains. It was nothing too big and didn't spoil the trip in any way. Once we did have to duck into a pool cabana to keep dry. The rain never lasted longer than 15 minutes. 

Wednesday was the offsite excursion. Antigua by land and sea. The trip took us to this gorgeous beach. Apparently Antigua has more than 365 beaches. Nobody has been to them all, not even the Antiguans. (I asked.)

Thursday was the tree planting ceremony for Sandals Foundation. Friday was the final farewell party. The food at the party was spectacular and I wish we had known what was to be served. I'd also like to have known about some of the themed parties. They did the usual black and white but the last night was a retro party. I didn't have the right outfit packed for it.

Blue used this trip as an excuse to get PADI certified. He had to do 8 hours of online work at the hotel business center. Then there was pool work for about 5 hours on Monday. Then after that there were 4 dives over the course of 5 hours on Tuesday and Thursday. I used these days to my advantage at the spa. I used all my spa credit on massages. Now I need another massage!

There were tons of animals there. The resort kitties were well cared for and didn't seem to care about anything. Sampson and Delilah (the two parrots are both guys) would get annoyed at each other and squack loudly. They are adorable and approximately 35 years old. Since they live to about 80, I am sure to see them again. 

The final full day was Friday and we opted to rent a cabana for the day. It was fantastic. The cabana came stocked with drinks and furniture. We lounged, ate, drank, napped and got in and out of the pool all day. It was definitely worth the money. We missed the vow renewal because of the cabana. Next year, we will renew our vows because it's included in the reunion week activities. After all, at Sandals, all you need is love.

**P.S. I have not been compensated in any way for this post. I would recommend going back. Since I am such a huge fan of Sandals, I am going to research how I can be a travel agent for Sandals. I'm hopeful that I can earn extra discounts for selling. Sandals can be an expensive trip but you can trust me that it is worth the money.

*** P.S.S. The next post will be on the food at Sandals Grande Antigua.

The vacation is over...

The vacation is over, let the blues begin. Haha! Just kidding, a little. We went to Sandals Grande Antigua. I need to post a full review but after spending an hour and a half at the tax office on an amended return, I've lost most of my motivation for today.  Here are a few iPhone pics to enjoy for now.

The Antiguan beer is not brewed in Antigua because it's cheaper to brew in St. Lucia. Weird, right?

Another Caribbean beer, I'm sure you're not surprised.

Oh how those white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters call to me daily! I wish both our jobs could just pick up and move there. 

My delicious lobster dinner. I ate and drank like a queen for a full week. It was glorious but the scale may not agree. Tomorrow, I'll post my weight and how I tried to keep nutrition from going out of control. I did stay away from certain delicious foods.

 

Travel Tuesday

In 10 days, I will be here. I will be in a pool at Sandals Antigua. I will have wifi and I might decide to post photos. 

I ordered these sandals for the trip. I wore them as a kid. These cuties are waterproof and meant to be in the water. I recall they were quite durable. They only come in kids sizes, which is no problem for my feet. I'm a women's 6 or big kid's 4. I don't buy kids running shoes though. Those don't handle the beating I pound into the pavement. 

I can't wait to make new friends, relax, and have fun! My difficult decisions will include, where to eat for dinner, what drink to enjoy, which spa treatment do I need, and what extra activities can't be missed. Have you been to Sandals?

Weigh in Wednesday

 

I thought it would be a good idea to link up with my friends Erin at She's a big star and Heather at Pretty Strong Medicine. Last week I weighed in and managed to maintain my weight. I wanted a loss but I wasn't too upset. This week, I weighed in and lost exactly one pound. Yay!

 

I will be in Antigua in 30 days and I would like to lose 3 or 4 more pounds. I'm not going to hold my breath though. I can't wait to enjoy a nice vacation. I'm trying to figure out my nutrition plan while I'm there. I think I will have to focus on the protein and not worry about the calories. This may be ambitious but I hope to run 3 miles every day. I will have another half marathon to run at the end of April. I'll want to keep the mileage coming.

Weigh in Thursday - Half Marathon training update

 

 

I am late to the weigh in wednesday crowd but I still want in! I'm linking up with Erin at She's A Big Star, Ashley at Ash's Right Direction, and Heather at Pretty Strong Medicine.

 

 

Not sure if that is visible or not but I did lose 2.2 pounds since my last weigh in of over a month ago! I'll take that loss as a win! The half marathon is moving along smoothly and today I ran 5 miles in the morning. And at lunch, I stuffed myself on BBQ meat, BBQ sauce, and the berry cobbler. The win here is that I didn't eat any of the other sides (holla at ya mac and cheese, I missed ya!). It was tough but it wasn't that bad.

 

 

Just a little reminder to myself, that it is only 71 days until I head off to Sandals Reunion week and Antigua. I can't wait! And I was over the moon excited when my bloggy bff, Kristin at Kristin's kNook took my suggestion and tried a pizza place in Denver. I'm sorry the service wasn't there but the crust is delicious right? You have to go to her blog to check out her pics. Its been too long since I've been in Denver.

 

 

Finally, the Go Girl half marathon is before my Antigua trip and I'm logging more miles. Saturday will be 7 miles and the ramping up will continue until March 22nd. Woot! Woot!

Linking also with Kristin at Kristin's kNook and Joey at Hodges Podges for Stuff and things.

Weigh in Wednesday and Half Marathon Training

This is my second attempt at blogging today. My first attempt was spoiled by my copying and pasting from Facebook. It looked so horrible, I had to just delete it. I'm blogging online to link up with Heather, Ash, and Erin. I usually blog on the trusty iPhone but the blogger app does not allow for any HTML. (Shouldn't that be an option?)

 

Here I am after the Spirit of Survival, my very first half marathon. I was in good shape. Today, not so much. I have gained those pesky 10 pounds again. This is possibly the fourth time I've had to shed those same pounds, which is rather annoying. I have 79 days until my trip to Sandals and I want to be comfortable in a bikini.

 

 

I need to make progress! This will happen with my current half marathon training and the race is before the trip! Tomorrow, I'll be running 5 miles. I have been focusing on nutrition and specifically trying to keep to the recommended ratios on Myfitnesspal: 55% carbohydrates, 30% fat, 15 % protien and net calories of 1290.

 

 

Me, before the Route 66 half marathon. I know with all this training for half marathons, the weight and inches will be where I need them. The clothes shouldn't feel so tight. I'll be ready for the beach before I get there. I haven't actually weighed in but I'll get around to the scale later. Is anyone else running the Go Girl half in OKC? Do you want to friend me on Myfitnesspal (username: esthernorine) or the Nike app? Sorry for the old photos and going link crazy but all my photos are on my phone and since I'm on the website, I might as well make my links.

Half marathon training

1 - Yesterday, I tried to run 4 miles. Instead, I barely ran/walked 2.5 miles in 38 minutes. I didn't have a lot of time and my body was dehydrated. I do that to myself a lot on the weekends. 

2 - 

This is how I find myself dehydrated. My favorite beer was in tap at the bar with my mug. I couldn't resist having two mugs. 

3 - 

Everyone is cold around here. With the tempuratures barely in the 20s and whipping winds, we are all wrapped up in blankets. 

4 - 

I had delicious pizza. Yum!

5 - I'm considering making cookies to warm up. Chocolate chip cookies sound good.

6 - This week, I'm going to try turkey sandwich wraps for lunch. I've been noticing a pattern of not getting enough protein. This should solve that problem. 

7 - We bought our plane tickets for Antigua and they were the wrong dates. Fortunately, my hubby got the dates changed at sandals. 

8 - Only 89 days until sandals!

9 - I didn't win the powerball or the megamillions. Fortunately, there's another drawing.

10 - I'm gong to put away the laundry so I can feel like something was accomplished today. I had to work yesterday and that always throws off my weekend routine.