Sun Kissed Thanksgiving

Our Kauai Thanksgiving

As the cold winds of Colorado started to freeze us, we escaped to the tropics for Thanksgiving celebrations. We basked in the Hawaiian sun. We are grateful for the warmth and breathtaking views.

1. Gratitude Blog: Sharing my tropical Thanksgiving with a gratitude blog allows me to reflect on the blessings in my life. While looking at the incredible water views of nature, I think about many things, events, and people I am thankful for.
2. Thanksgiving Food: The turkey fixings, chicken (because the whole turkey is too big for two), and guava cheesecake gave us the holiday cheer while enjoying the sun, water, and sand on our feet.
3. Sun, water, and photography: We capture the beauty of Hawaiian water waves, which are too dangerous to surf in but very pretty to watch. It is like a never-ending show with no beginning and no end. We just take a few minutes to capture the waves, but the show itself is infinite.
4. E-Reader: We are grateful for the gift of relaxation by diving into good books that are so portable while close to the water views. All the while, we felt lucky to experience such a unique Thanksgiving. 

Happy Thanksgiving from paradise.

Where is your paradise this year?

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Overdue Gratitude

Hello, hello. I am here after two months. I have been meaning to write my gratitude but did not get myself to sit down and actually type and post it. My daughter turned 21, an adult but still young at heart and spirit. She is my forever baby and youngest and smallest. 

We celebrated 2020 style, just me and her in Estes. We stayed in a condo with a nice view. The place was by the stream and the water was not all frozen yet. We could hear the water flowing with its relaxing nature sound. We walked outdoors in with the cold breeze. Surprise, surprise, we were the only ones outdoors. The masks, I must admit, felt good to wear as our breath, at least, bouncing back on our face felt warm.

Paul and I celebrated our two-months anniversary in a neighboring state and ordered takes-outs. We hang out (in?) ate, drank, and talked. The drive was beautiful passing by packs of rams unsuspecting of the cars passing by.

We finally got our professional wedding (and video) shots. They are all beautiful in my eyes. The memories are even more beautiful and the photos are great reminders.

I got my first of two COVID-19 vaccines. I have never been so excited about a shot in my life for myself. But here I am, forced to sit down a day after. I have chills, fatigue, and left arm pain worse than after getting a flu shot. Whatever I am feeling, it is still better than getting sick from the gruesome COVID like my patients suffer from. 

Productivity Tips from the Master (Yet Successful) Procrastinator

I may be a procrastinator but I did accomplish a lot. This is my bragging moment. So please let me.

This week, I went over my tools for sanity and productivity. So I decided to write my gratitude on the productivity and lifestyle apps I used to get by last year and this year, 2020. How about some productivity tips from your very own master of procrastination who accomplished a lot from my goals list last year? Here I go.

• I am grateful (again) about my phone camera that is very accessible to take quick pictures. Snapping shots of happy moments are so much fun. I don't always have time to write, but a few seconds of taking pictures, I have time for.

• I am grateful for my grandson, who makes me smile. I “put him to sleep” in my arms. But as soon as I put him to bed, he quickly removed the blanket, got up, and laughed at me. The little stinker! What can I say? Babies can be so much fun, especially that I can just borrow occasionally and not take full responsibility.

• The $10 reward I got from Dick’s store. I was debating about Yeti and Hydro Flask. I picked Yeti on sale and dishwasher safe. Since I got it, I feel motivated to drink more for some reason. A hydrated body is an energized body ready to conquer routine-boring-work.
• I track my steps through Fitbit and earn points with it to Dick’s store. $10 is not enough for the Yeti bottle, but I still had to pay less because of it. The reward alone motivates me to move my feet and get going.

• I began to track my activities (steps, weight-checks, tracking food, reading mindfulness, productivity, stress relievers) that I already earned $150 so far. I can potentially earn around $800 this year. I thank my employer for sponsoring this. Hey, a less-stressed employee is a productive employee. This year we are using the Virgin Pulse app. So far, so good. Hey, who does not want to get rewarded for doing healthy activities?
• I thank my gym, Planet Fitness. It is affordable and my black card membership includes the use of massage machines. Love them.

• Some of the motivation apps I used right on my phone.

• HabitBull paid subscription to track my routines, Achievement where I also earn money to Paypal for tracking healthy activities, the Calm app from work, 1-year premium subscription I use for meditation. 
• Swarm is where I check in to healthy places and earn points that link to Achievement. 
• Donate is where I donate pictures for $1, each applicable to organizations of my choice. Save the Children is my favorite cause. I donate some digital images and Johnson & Johnson match each for a dollar. Giving is good for my soul. It makes me feel good. 
• The Insight Timer is another meditation app I use. I vary my meditation apps to eliminate boredom. 
• The Lotus Yoga app is one of the paid apps I purchase on Yoga. I like the clear videos that go with it. Oh, yeah, we know that yoga is good for stretching and physical and emotional stress.

• I used Google calendar and Dream Book Planner to log my daily reasons to be thankful and to plan my days so I get to concentrate on the most important tasks.
• And last but not the least, I thank this blog and the Ttot team for a chance to share my gratitude for the week. Both systems inspire me!

What are my accomplishments in 2019?  Here are some:

1. I purposely lost weight thru careful food choices and tracking my steps. I succeeded.
2. I made time for a Hawaii vacation without other families except for Paul. We had such a great time with no drama. The beaches are the best I have seen in my life.
3. I passed Statistics with a B. For a subject that is super hard for me; I say I had an excellent grade.
4. I earned my Cardiac Surgery Certification for work. I am the only one in my unit to have the CSC title.
5. I took and passed five advanced nursing courses while working full-time.
6. I earned excellent reviews at work and got a raise.
7. I bumped up the monthly retirement contribution that I was dreaming about for many years. I finally did it to my goal.
8. I got to do a weekend visit in Oregon and Washington while doing schoolwork with my Laptop in between.
9. I got to visit friends and family over the summer and had time to bond in California.
10. I got to visit Omaha, Nebraska exactly a year ago and got to eat in excellent restaurants.
11. I got to visit Florida for a nursing convention combined with pleasure visiting Coco beach.
12. I earned my bachelor's degree in nursing. (I had an associate for a while). This is my 3rd degree.
I had a good 2019 — productive and exciting many times. Life was good.

There is always room for improvement. Among other things, this year, 2020, I plan to make punctuality a habit and do more self-care to build up my resiliency. I also plan to read at least 30 books this year. This does not include the nursing books I need to read for Masters. Have you viewed my sidebar and footer?

Do Not Feed the Wildlife

The San Francisco Bay
where water was greenish but we were glad to stay
(for just two days in the area)

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