Five on Friday

I am so ready for the weekend!!! It has been a long week with not nearly enough sleep. Anyone else feeling this way? Weekend can you be here now?

I started getting serious about my health this week. For some extra accountability, I decided to log it all on here every Wednesday. Only the beginning of day three and I am already fully aware of how out of shape I am. This is going to be a tough battle for the first few weeks. Thankfully though today is my last gym day till Monday. I'm so excited. 

Healthy Life Diary: The Beginning

The Biggest Loser, has been added to shows I am so into right now. I started watching it this weekend and I am hooked. How can you not get so invested in the lives of these people? Almost every episode I am crying at some point. It's so hard seeing someone go home. I want them all to win. The best though is seeing how they fare outside of The Ranch and seeing the succeed that way.

Last week's linkup helped me find Life as the Coats. I just love her blog. So many neat things I have to try. And her cleaning schedule? Perfect!!! I am pretty sure it has EVERYTHING. If not it is super close. This is going up in my laundry room this weekend. For sure going to cruise her page for some fun crafty things to do this summer. 

Looking around on my favorite website ever (Pinterest) I found these wonderful cupcakes!!! Nothing like trying to get healthier and maybe loose a few pounds, like pinning cupcake recipes right? Either way this WILL be made in the very near future. How many calories can on little cupcake really have?

I have been slaking all week on importing my old blog posts this week. It's for real going to happen this weekend though. Hopefully by Monday I can have 10 more moved over. I really need to work on my daily schedule some more so I can set aside time for this blog.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I cannot wait to hop around reading everyone's Friday Post.

See you soon,

A Little Bit of Everything

A. Liz Adventures

Cup of Tea

The Farmer's Wife

Life in Leggings

Meet at the Barre

Healthy Life Diary: The Beginning

On Sunday, a friend and I had a marathon Harry Potter marathon session - nerd love right there. We ate so much junk, we both were in stomach pains the rest of the night. This opened the gate for a lifestyle change in me. For some extra accountability, I thought it would be a good idea to log my journey on here every week. I am not over weight nor am I fit, I am not unhealthy but I do love more than my fair share of sweets, chips, and Dr Pepper. It became clear a few things needed to change after half a meat lover's pizza and a whole bag of cheddar and sour cream chips. Monday and Tuesday were a test run for me to work out any kinks before I started, and already I feel better. Let's see where this takes me? For the next twelve weeks everything will be laid out for y'all: weight, measurements, food log, and exercise plan. Let the journey begin.

Pinterest

My plan is to have a limit of 1,500 calories per day and to take my multi vitamins everyday.


I am horrible at following a diet plan. The idea of no-go foods, automatically makes me resent whatever the plan is and want to quit before I even start. No carbs? No go. No white rice? Sorry move along. Enter my calorie counting. I decided to keep a full log of what I eat, when, and the portion size tracking each calorie. With 1,500 calories a day as my limit it really makes me pause to decide do I want to use 150 to have a second can of soda today? Since I love my Dr. Pepper, I know giving it up won't happen, but keeping track and thinking, "huh 150 calories now or a snack later in the evening," is already helping me cut my intake back.

In addition to diet, I started on multi vitamins for all around health and to help me curb any cravings later. After all there has to be some truth in the statement that food cravings for chips and sweets means you are lacking a nutrient. Hopefully it'll also help with growing my hair, nails, and keeping my skin free of breakouts.

Burn 500 calories of cardio five days a week and muscle toning three days a week.

Exercise and nutrition go hand in hand. Unfortunately, because this girl would so rather sit on the couch and read. I will tell you all right now, I do not like to workout at all. It's actually rather awful to me. By far the worst part of the day. I don't even have that happy I did it after feeling. It's like doing the dishes. You have to do it, but we all know no one enjoys it. I think what makes it worse is no variation in the routine. My workout plans will for sure be changing on here every few weeks to keep the boredom away. For at least the next two weeks though this is the plan I will follow for cardio and muscle toning:

I only did half of this the past two days to try it out and it is pretty awesome since you are pretty much just walking at a faster pace. At 30 minutes you burn about 400 calories, so this should be 800 calories burned!!! Do you know what that means? 300 extra food calories if you want OR instead of eating 1, 500 a day you just ate 1, 200. Every calorie counts, especially when you want some extra food. On a side note that is what I love about counting my calories instead of a diet plan. If I'm feeling tired and can't make to 500 calories then I cut down my food intake. On the flip side, if you want some ice cream and sprinkles but it'll go over, you add a bit extra to your workout and BAM!!! Ice cream as a reward.

Pinterest

As for my muscles I wanted something to work everything out in one session. I knew if I did arm day, leg day, and so on I would slip very quickly and start slacking. This here will hopefully prove to be great since every single muscle group gets targeted at least twice during the eleven workouts. Lean muscle tone here I come.

Here we go the numbers game of it all:

Height 5 ft 5.5 in

Starting weight: 144 pounds

Starting measurements: 35 in around the bust; 31.5 in around the waist; 39.5 in around the hip

Parker wanted in on the picture too.

Here's to getting healthy this summer. May the odds be ever in my favor.

I hope to see y'all during next week's entry!

Day Trip Packing Guide

It is no secret I love to travel. It is pretty much an obsession for me. Of of the things I do a lot of here is take these 24 - 30 hour bus trips around Europe. It couldn't get much easier to plan a trip: central meeting point, sleep on the bus (admittedly not always the most comfortable), and when you wake up you are some wonderful place like Prague or Milan. After having done so many of these excursions I have become rather adept at packing my little Vera Bradley weekender for such things. I have also come to realize this the perfect carry on packing list, because let's face it I am not the kind of girl that can get by with EVERYTHING in her carry-on. That is a skill I may never master.

For this post I will use everything from my most recent trip: Milan.

My first rule to live by when traveling is having travel clothes and "let's get ready to sight see clothes." As someone who has trouble getting any sleep unless I am 100% laying out, comfort is a premium to me.

On the bus I wore a black tank top and black knitted pedal pushers (my favorite pair of workout pants ever). To get around the town I decided on my favorite pair of T-strap sandals, a white lace peplum top, and adorable black shorts.

Rule two centers around sleepy time. Again comfort is a premium and I try to get as much of it as possible.

A blanket is a must for me. Nothing beats having the soft plushy feel surround you as you try to sleep; and of course it is Vera Bradley. I have a problem and James is my enabler. I also bring little booties, an eye mask (for when the sun rises which lately has been at around 5:30 AM - 6AM), and my favorite memory foam pillow. These are wonderful because you can manipulate the shape and they don't go flat afterwards.

Rule three is all about the beauty essentials. This is without a doubt the most meticulous part for me. I double and triple check everything. 

It is a lot but, with each trip I have found there is something else essential to my packing. The number one thing to always bring is a toothbrush and toothpaste. I am teeth crazy. I get excited by new toothbrush day, opening a new tube of toothpaste, and yes the dentist is where it is at. Another big thing for me is the glasses/contact travel kit. Anyone else know the struggle? I pack odds and ends for my hair and of course something for sore muscles, because after eleven miles around a city who wouldn't want an Aleve? 

Oh and the makeup... I love makeup. It is so much fun to play with. I bring my Naked 3 pallet on any trip I take because you can create a hundred or more looks from it. It is perfect. Not to mention the colors go wonderful with my hazel eyes. An all around makeup must have though, is my Urban Decay setting spray. I use All Nighter. Y'all if you are in the market and even if you aren't go buy this. I can do a full workout and my makeup stays perfectly applied with this. I may just have to do a post all about my makeup love. I could talk for ever about it.

Rule four is of course entertainment. If you can't sleep you have to pass the time somehow.

I bring my iPad for games, music, and movies; a book to nourish my inner bookworm; and as touristy as it may seem, I love my travel guides. I bring them with me on all my trips. I love the maps provided and the info you can find. Most trips they stay within my bag, but it's always handy to have around if a sight is closed or you have more time than you thought. I love a good back up plan.

And finally everything that make your handbag complete.

I travel with a smaller bag most days, one I can easily keep close to me and that won't have me digging around it on a street corner. The travel musts: passport (always number one), local currency, sunglasses in case Mr. Sun decides to grace you with his presence, and a phone that if need be, works internationally. Also not pictured is my wonderful camera. I mean if you are going to travel all this way you gotta have a good quality camera.

There we go; five things to help you pack and plan for an excellent day trip or to be fully prepared in your carry - on.

Until next time,

Five on Friday: Welcome to For Love and Travel

It's Friday and that means it might as well be the weekend!!! Who is as excited as I am? However this has been an exciting week. I've been so ready for Number One to happen so...

Welcome to For Love and Travel (formally Our life Overseas)
As you may have noticed, I am no longer at Our Life Overseas. This week I finally made the choice to switch from WordPress to Blogger, and I couldn't be happier. I am currently in the process of moving all my posts from Our Life Overseas to For Love and Travel. Let me tell you, it has been a very long process. I've been at it for four days now and it feels like it will never get done. I guess that happens with 100 posts to transfer. So, be sure to join the fun and not miss a moment of the fun and from now on you can find me on the Friday Link Up under my new blog title:
For Love and Travel

Facebook
Instagram 
Pinterest 

I had the most wonderful time in Milan. Though it rained pretty much the whole day. It was so much fun. I was with the most amazing and hilarious group of people. We laughed so much while seeing the city. The next day my abs were felt like I did a hundred sit ups, they were so sore from the laughter. Despite the rain, it couldn't have been much better.

Who else is excited about this movie? My Friday night plans will be spent at the theater seeing this movie and most likely crying my eyes out. I haven't read the book, but I do have high hopes for this movie based on the trailers and what people have said about the book. One day I may read the book, but I'm always scared to read the book after the movie in fear the movie will be forever ruined for me.

Pinterest

I saw this while cruising Pinterest the other night and now it is a must do for James and I. It looks like it'll be so much fun and such an awesome piece to hang in our home. A conversation starter for sure.

Who watches this show? I started binge watching this about two weeks ago. I started off semi interested in the show then things started getting really good around episode 6 or 7 and now here I am about to finish season 2 on Netflix. To be sure things get done around the house this has become my reward. I allow my self one episode for every room that gets cleaned and every chore complete. This show is too good. I have so many questions and you can bet this weekend will be a PJs on the couch with delivery kinda weekend so I can watch more.

  I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday and weekend!!!

For more Friday fun check out:

A Little Bit of Everything

A. Liz Adventures

Cup of Tea

The Farmer's Wife

Life in Leggings

Meet at the Barre

Second First Post

Say goodbye to...

 

and welcome to...

It's funny how even though this is only my first post (not imported) for, "For Love and Travel" I'm still just as nervous as when I joined the blogging world in October. So, here we go with launching a blog for a second time:

In October, I created Our Life Overseas. It was a way to easily include everyone in our family on how life was living in Germany. Until James, received his orders to be stationed here, neither of us had ever left the United States. We each carried our own dreams of seeing the world and experiencing travel beyond the United States. However no passport, no travel, too bad. So, Uncle SAM giving us the chance to not only visit but LIVE, in another country was huge for us both.

Exciting?  

YES!!!

Scary?

Most defiantly.

Were we ready?

Didn't matter, we were going.

Anyways, my arrival in October saw the start of my blogging journey. Like I said, I knew it would be a fantastic way for everyone to stay connected at once. It proved to be a great way to capture every memory of everyday. None too slowly did my blog become my passion (of course tied for first with reading; bibliophile for life).

I love the most that my dedication to writing, led me to talk about each experience within days of it happening. Keeping everything fresh in my mind. As I have gone back and read through each post as I try to get them imported over here (slow going to say the least) all the feelings come back and memories in vivid detail. Just the other night, I was rolling with laughter as I was adding a post about that time I set my favorite pan on fire in the kitchen. The fresh new excitement I felt when we went on our very first day trip together. My blog has been great for preserving and reminding me of all of that.

Now obviously the big question, "Why would I leave Our life Overseas if it means the world to me?" Well as time went on, my host sight was changing and as it changed it became harder and harder to use. I went with though like I do with most things. Learn from the situation, adapt, and move on. Well the day came when I started running out of storage. Which as y'all read my posts you will see that is a HUGE problem for me. Of course I looked into upgrading (every hobby and passion incurs some costs after all) and was floored by the annual pricing. So it came time to make a decision. As you can tell, I decided to not pay.

Blogger allows my about 93% of what I wanted to happen for free, 2% for the small fee of $15 one time, and the other 5% was maintaining my URL and title which sacrificing wasn't that big of a thing for me. I had started looking into blogging beyond our time here and new a name change would be needed at some point.

So here is to my new home, I couldn't be happier with my experience so far and how things are turning out!

Everything from Our life Overseas, will eventually be added here so please stick with me on that. Everything I did over there will continue on here at For Love and Travel. Everything we love and live for in life will be document here. From our trips around  Germany and Europe, to my triumphs and utter failures in the kitchen, to everything else we love and adore: movies, books, date night, whatever it is may be will be found here.

To those of you that have followed me over, thank you so much for your support.

To those of you how are new, I hope to see you around here regularly. 

So please do follow and keep in touch. I love reading and replying to every single comment that comes my way.

Say Hello to Summer and a New Blog

I cannot believe that it is June already. I honestly do not know where the time goes. We will blink and the month will be over, taking half of 2016 with it.

Summer is the time of year I have always looked forward to. Consistently great weather, wonderful clothes, and so many things to do. Like many things about Europe, I am excited and curious about summer time here. Coming from Texas it is hot, hot, HOT as our weather options, so hot in fact some days you would rather stay inside with the AC on full blast. Though I miss Texas a lot I am ready to see a summer without 100+ degree weather everyday.