My Journey

Week 46: It Has Been A While

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Finally back from vacation. And yes, I mean finally!!! I need a vacation from my vacation. Or maybe I just need a new job that can motivate me and get me out the door in the morning without thinking “so what is my new career going to be”. Well, there are so many things to talk about since it has been such a long time but let’s start with the numbers first, as they are most important.

I gained weight but honestly, I did not think I had as my clothes fit me better now than when I left. I, also, just gained 1.6 pounds so not overwhelmingly lot. I am now 220lb even. Because my clothes is fitting better, yet I gained weight, I want to start keeping track of my measurements. I will report these on a monthly basis. I will measure hips, waist and bust. This time around I measured 42inches around my bust (107cm), 36inches around my waist (91cm) and 51inches around my hip (130cm).

I keep sticking around the 220lb and I really want to push for the next 10lb before my first year is over. This means I need some support as I only have 6 weeks left before my first year is up. 10lb is 6 weeks does not seem to be a lot but as I have only lost 22lb since I started and that is over the course of almost a year, I think it is a challenge.

As I alluded too in the beginning of my post, so much has happened since my last post. Mainly due to my travels but also because the trip gave me a chance to realize that I am not happy with the job I currently have. Don’t get me wrong. It is a great company and I honestly think it would be hard to find a company that would treat me better and a job that is willing to pay me as well and I like my colleagues. However, it is the job itself that is not really giving me any joy. I am all about giving back, doing something for good and I am very much a minimalist by heart and being in marketing is pretty much the opposite. It is all about getting more money and selling more for huge companies and there is not any giving back or thinking about humanity or the planet for the future. I, therefore, have decided that I need to start thinking about what I would like to do next. I need to figure out what I really want to do and then just go for it. I have the best support system around me and so many people believing in me that I do not have any excuse. So stay tuned while I will probably talk about my options and what I want to do for the future… A LOT! And please feel free to send support, thoughts, ideas etc.

I, therefore, have decided that I need to start thinking about what I would like to do next.

Now to the fun part. My vacation! One of the reasons why I do work for a kick ass company is I was away from the office for 5 Weeks and they did not complain once. This meant that my husband and I were able to go to London, Porto, Lisbon, Paris and Denmark during that time.

London: I love Mike’s family. They are so welcoming and we attended the most beautiful wedding of Adrian and Jenny. Thank you for inviting us! We went to see 2 plays because you have to see plays in London (and musicals in New York) and both were awesome. The first one “Chinglish” was with Mike’s cousin and her husband and my in-laws. The second one was with Imelda Staunton (Professor Umbridge in Harry Potter) in “Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Wolff?”. She is an amazing actress. Love her! As much as I loved the wedding and the plays, my favorite part was “touristing” in London for once and getting a bit lost and finding some amazing gems we would not have otherwise. I, love getting lost.

As much as I loved the wedding and the plays, my favorite part was “touristing” in London for once and getting a bit lost and finding some amazing gems we would not have otherwise. I, love getting lost.

Porto: The most amazing Couchsurfing hosts.. ever (except for my husband of course ;)! The city is beautiful and there is so much history. I know everyone raves about Paris being the romantic city of Europe but obviously they have not been to Porto. It has couples everywhere… EVERYWHERE…. As beautiful as it is, I doubt I would go back. I feel like we saw everything we wanted and experienced what we needed to.

It has couples everywhere… EVERYWHERE….

Lisbon: I fell in love.. This city is beautiful, people are incredibly nice and Ana is there with her amazing wife… If the pace was not so slow, I would move there tomorrow. But it might be a town we would consider for retirement. Lisbon has history, culture, amazing nature and the food… the food… is amazing and amazingly cheap. Go now before Europe discovers their own hidden gem!

Go now before Europe discovers their own hidden gem!

Paris: As much as I love art, museums, history and cheese, I just did not love it. Perhaps, it was just me being already filled with impressions from Portugal that I had a hard time digesting the ones in Paris or if it is the number of snobbish people being on average so much higher than anywhere else in the world, or maybe a combination of the two that I had a hard time really enjoying Paris. We did meet a lot of family, we had not had the chance to meet until now which was amazing.

Denmark: I always wish that I had more time. There is never enough time, yet I do not want to live there either. It is a dilemma. I have been considering whether or not I need to live part time in Denmark and part time in New York but not sure if that could even work. Maybe one day or if I become ridiculously rich (which will never happen). Well, until then, I will just have to live with a few days each year. At least I came back to New York with family already in town. I loved having my sister in New York and my nephews. Did I mention how much I love my nephews and nieces? And how proud I am of them? My sisters are doing a kick-ass job with their kids and they will be just as beautiful on the inside when they grow up as they are now.

 

I always wish that I had more time. There is never enough time, yet I do not want to live there either. It is a dilemma.

Well, I think that was it for now. Stay tuned for the next post and hopefully 2-3 pounds lighter. Fingers crossed.

 

XoXo

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My Journey

Week 39: Things Are Starting To Come Together

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I got my extension to my extension! This means that I have an additional 10 months in the US legally, while waiting for my more permanent green card (10 year Green Card, as they are no longer permanent).

I did not want my blog to become too political but it is too hard to ignore the new administration that is completely void of integrity, moral and ethics. As someone who is going through the Green Card process legally, I am telling you, it is not easy. I am one of the fortunate ones. I am Danish, white and married to someone that is American and looks white (although half Venezuelan) and I have the option to legally find a way to stay in the US. Sometimes, I think, what if I was not Danish and white but Muslim and from Iran? What if I was staying in this country illegally because I had nowhere else to call home. Even though I feel the anxiety from waiting to see if I get my permanent Green Card and whether or not Trump is going to change the law/rules while I am out on vacation, I know that is nothing in comparison to what other people in this country is currently going through. My heart weeps for them and I am crossing my fingers that we all will get through these times unscathed and not too much damage to the foundation of what is the US (and quite possibly the world).

Even though I feel the anxiety from waiting to see if I get my permanent Green Card and whether or not Trump is going to change the law/rules while I am out on vacation, I know that is nothing in comparison to what other people in this country is currently going through.

With that said, and all of my anxiety, I am still excited that Mike and I are finally going on trip together. When I got my extension we finally agreed upon the destinations while in Europe. London, Porto, Lisbon, Paris, Denmark and back to London for a family wedding. I love to travel, learn, discover and go on adventures (hence the name of the blog). I know it will be a challenge to not gain too much weight while I am on vacation especially as it will be for 34 days. I will not have my scale with me but I will stay on track with the help of my measuring tape. It should tell me if I am going out of control, staying within my weight or perhaps even loosing weight. The Monday before take off I will make sure to list my dimension before I leave so we can all keep track of my progress while traveling.

I love to travel, learn, discover and go on adventures (hence the name of the blog).

I have never measured or kept track of my weight while traveling for this amount of time so this should be a first and I am sort of excited to see how all the walking, climbing, eating, drinking etc etc will effect my weight. There are definitely lessons to be learned and I can’t wait to see what I can do differently, better or all together stop doing while traveling. I am, also, excited to write about my trip, the adventures, the places and hopefully you will be inspired to go yourselves.

At the moment I have my head buried into several books Mike took out from the library about Portugal, Paris and England. I am trying to figure out my schedule in Denmark and I wanted to plan a few things to do and see there as well. I, usually, have more plans than I can actually do, especially, as I have to work from London and Denmark but the benefit of working New York hours is that there is room for adventure in the morning (before 1PM local time). I was thinking of doing “KattegatCentret” in Grenaa while visiting my dad, Aros when going to Aarhus and something else in or around Viborg, Herning or Holstebro when going there. Then at least Mike will not go insane from boredom. To my Danish readers, I would love some input and ideas of what could be fun to do or see in those areas while there. And for people who have been to Portugal and Paris let me know if there is something that we should check out that would not necessarily be in all the tourist books.

I, usually, have more plans than I can actually do, especially, as I have to work from London and Denmark but the benefit of working New York hours is that there is room for adventure in the morning (before 1PM local time).

I hope you can all help me stay on track and perhaps even drag me out for a workout while in London and Denmark.

About the past week. As you can tell from the image. I actually lost weight! I am super excited about that. Although, only 1.4lb from the past 2 weeks, I have been stuck in the 20’s for a while so it was good to see a 1 for a change. The past 2 weeks I have been staying on track with the gym, went to the Oyster and Beer Festival, played in the snow, took at stroll down the Highline after the show had fallen and baked the most delicous chocolate cake. I know I should not but I tried to make a more healthy version and it paid off. It is the best chocolate cake I have ever made (and that is counting my sisters wedding cake, which was amazing). Luckily, Mike ate most of it which is probably why I managed to loose a bit of weight. Check out the images below from the past week.

XoXo

 

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My Journey

Week 37: Nerve Racking Time

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Just to get the numbers out of the way. I gained 3.6lb from two weeks ago. I can’t say I am disappointed. I let myself have a wild night Saturday and I am pretty confident that alcohol is the culprit. I have been good with my diet otherwise and I am back in a good routine with my workouts. So if I can stick to my diet and my workouts I should be back in no time. Much of it is probably water weight. Alcohol messes with my system EVERY time. So stay tuned for next week.

As for my headline. As most of you know, I am in the middle of applying for a Green Card. We have a family wedding in London coming up in April but my extension is running out on March 17th. So I have been trying for over a month to get an appointment as I need an extension to my extension. Crazy, I know but apparently it takes between 1 and 2 years to get the condition off of the temporary Green Card.

With the Trump news, I have been an even more nervous wreck, even though I should not have anything to worry about. But the thought of traveling and then knowing that you have no idea what this man might come up with next and I might be the one in the airport not allowed back in is truly scary.

At my meeting today, I got to ask all of my questions. Questions such as, if they call me in for an interview while I am out of the country and I am unaware of my appointment. Then what? Technically, they could throw out my case, and I have to start over, but if I am traveling there are some leniency and I should be able to apply for a new appointment. If I get my permanent Green Card (permanent in the sense that I will have it for 10 years) while I am out of the country will my temporary one be invalid and not usable once I get back into the country? No, it will still be valid as long as I have my extension.

So with all of my questions answered and our minds put at ease, we have decided to go ahead with our travel plans. I am super excited. I should get thumbs up from my job tomorrow and we can go ahead and plan. The only downside is my sister, my nephews and her boyfriend and his kids are coming on April 1st while I will still be out of the country. I am hoping to be back early April 3rd though to be here with them for their last 4 days in New York. A bit of a bummer that things are falling around the same time but I think we can make it work.

If everything else falls in place, flights, job and the like we are most likely headed to Paris and Portugal this time around (besides our usual stop to London and Denmark of course). Super exited. Never been to Portugal and I have only been to Paris for 1 day (and a long time ago) so it will be great visiting places I have never been.

Let the planning commence and soon there will be blog posts about trying to loose weight while being on vacation. That is always a challenge. So should be good.

Most of all, I am happy for Mike. He has not had a vacation since Christmas of 2015. So about time he takes some time off.

If anyone of you have been to Portugal or Paris (or lives there) please send some recommendations our way.

So exited!

Xoxo

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My Journey

Week 34: A Little Late but Fitting To Write On My Birthday

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For some reason, I have been putting off writing the post. Yes, I gained a little but not overwhelmingly so that was no excuse. I think, I simply needed a break from talking, dealing and associating myself with the scale.

I love the support my readers give and the comments that are sent my way but sometimes focusing every second of every day around can or should I eat this food and did I exercise enough today and if so did it warrant a treat? At times you just need a break to just not go insane.

It was great with some time without having to think about EVERY little choice and I am sure it made my holidays a little merrier. I had a great time celebrating with family and treating myself, and as usual it is one of the few times a year I see Mike in a nice suit and he looks so handsome in those things.

New Year’s Eve was as always great but I feel like the entire earth is on edge with what is to come. I must admit that I do not have many Trump supporter friends out there but I know the people exist since he will become the president of the United States in a few days. It is going to be a tumultuous, emotional and frighting time for me and I know a lot of my friends feel the same but we all have different reasons. Trump is all about the unexpected, so we are all holding our breaths to see what will happen next and crossing our fingers that the world won’t crash and burn.

As always, I have been looking forward to my birthday but with the exchange of power happening and to a man that scares so many people, it is one that has a lot of anticipation, hesitation and a need to just focus on what makes me happy in the moment and surrounding myself with good people. This fear that has slowly crept up in me since the election is definitely a huge trigger for me so any support my way if you have the extra energy and capacity would be much appreciated.

On a more happy note. I only gained 3 pounds from last time so that I can take care of easily 😀 And as I posted on Facebook a couple of days ago, Mike, finally, went through his last boxes from California and I can now get started on the next phase of nesting (yes, that is a thing! Mike did not know the term, nesting and thought I was REALLY ODD). Talking about odd… there were some odd things in those boxes. Old box of mix for Creme Brulee, a diamond ring (for a little girl, not that kind of ring… yes, I know what you were thinking), a whole box of VHS tapes. Yes, that is right, now he has to spend the next 10 years going through the tapes god forbid there is something on them that he want to watch or keep. Did I mention we do not have a VHS player and I was thinking, if you had forgotten about the VHS tapes and haven’t looked at them for 10 years, they are probably not that important. Suffice to say – Mike and I do not think a like when it comes to stuff. But going through the boxes was like second Christmas. It was a present to just get rid of the boxes but also to open them. They were like little mystery boxes and you are sorta excited to know what is inside. I have been wondering for 7 years, so think the anticipation time was a bit long.

We, also, took advantage of the holidays and we got to go to 3 museums, a play, several food related events, hang out with friends and simply just having time to be silly. I love the compilation of pictures this time.

Well, until next time…

XOXO

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