My health journey

This post is hard to write and will be very honest. As of today, 1/8/19, I'm up about 7 pounds from my lowest weight that I reached in June of 2018. Yep. The end of 2018 was bad. Everything was very stressful. In late June/early July, Memaw, my grandmother, suffered a stroke, so our family was having to adjust to caring for her. Adjusting to that life change made weight loss somewhat difficult. Then, at the end of the year, my grandmother passed away and we had the holidays. I had been so successful with the holidays in 2017, but, of course, I went into those with a plan. That wasn't the case in 2018. I'm hoping that writing this post will be cathartic. I'm hoping my resolve with my health and well-being will keep growing. To start off this new year, I am going to the gym before work each day and I'm trying to do as good of a job as I can with meal-prepping. I'm certain that 2019 will bring great things. P.S. For full transparency, I started the new gym routine on 12/15/18. I didn't just start the routine with others on January 1. I will post my routine another time. I will tell you that Fridays are the most difficult because I balance weight training with legs and 30-45 minutes on the treadmill. It's hard.

Europe trip 2018

It's hard to believe that it's the new year. The end of 2018 was a blur and I'm glad to be in 2019. One of the best things about 2018 was the trip that I took to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Stockholm in September. I absolutely loved the Netherlands.

The weather in the Zaanse Schans area was fantastic and the Dutch people are amazing and welcoming. Being an American, I found the Dutch to be some of the most gregarious and easiest people to meet. Navigating the transportation in the Netherlands (really, the entire trip) was very easy. Amsterdam was very interesting, but I found myself drawn to the Dutch countryside. Here's a pic of Dad in Hoorn:

Then, there was Copenhagen. Beautiful, beautiful Copenhagen! The weather was still good during that part of the trip. It's funny looking back now, but the weather really DID have an impact on this particular trip. Here are a couple of my views in Copenhagen:

It's no secret, but, as you can tell from the pictures above, Nyhavn and Rosenborg Palace were highlights. Of course, as far as food goes, your girl had to try smorrebrod.

The weather wasn't as cooperative when we got to Stockholm, but there were some pretty cool sites.

The last picture, of course, was of the ABBA museum. It looks very non-descript, right? There was no way that I was going to be in Stockholm and not pay my respects to the group. The museum was interactive and fun. Anyone going to Stockholm needs to visit the ABBA Museum and the Vasa Museum. But be aware, tours around the city start a little later than in other cities (10 AM) and end earlier (4 PM).