How Can It Be?

I want to discuss with everyone a very important issue at hand. It is something near and dear to many peoples hearts.... I give you the dounut. Not just any old donut but an apple cider donut!! These little guys are absolutely delicious. I mean melt in your mouth yummyness in every bite. My favorite are the ones from the local pumpkin patch but when I went to Costco the other day I saw a display of Apple Cider donuts just sitting there calling my name. "Buy me.. Buy me.." they proclaim. I being a week person did just that. I bought those little guys with not a second thought. The first one I had was not quite as splendid as the fresh ones but hey for something from a store they weren't too bad. 

That was before I looked. Looked at what you might ask? I will tell you!!!

I looked.... at the calorie count!! DUNH DUNH DUNH!!!!! Oh yes the dreaded calorie count and let me tel you for this particular donut it really was. My brother was the one who initially asked me what it was. I figured it would be between 200-300 calories per donut. This is where I was greatly wrong. It was 200 calories but not for a whole donut. Oh no... it was 200 calories for 1/2 a donut, making it a whopping 400 calories for the entire donut! I don't know about you but I find this ridiculous. How is it possible for such a small piece of dough to be 400 calories? Here is my question.

Why are companies aloud to make such silly serving sizes? Obviously we're going to eat the whole donut and usually wouldn't think twice about it. At a quick glance the calorie count says 200 per serving, thinking that the serving was one donut. Just tell me how many calories are in the freakin' donut. Just be honest! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? That is all.

Happy Travels!

-Becca

October Goals

Taking a look back at my September goals I realize that I was a little bit over zealous in the goals department. I wanted to do too much and as a side effect didn't get very far on any of my goals. Let's take a look.

- Continue job searching (hopefully I'll find one soon)
- Plan a plausible vacation to go on while job searching 
- Stick with my Dopey Running Plan
- Simplify my life starting with my room
- Try to keep my life more organized
- Set mini goals to help achieve my monthly goals
- Pay it forward
- Read 3 Books
- Blog more regularly 

I really only accomplished one goal to the fullest that I wanted to. All the others I made a good effort at but never full finished. For October I am making fewer goals so that I have a better chance of succeeding at them.

Here are my new goals for October.

- Dopey Training Plan!! (This needs to happen and regularly)
- Run 100 miles in the month of October
- Stay on top of all of my classes
- Continue being organized and using my planner
- Read 3 books that are not romance novels

There you have it folks. My goals for October in all of their goal making glory. I am hoping to accomplish all of them with full force! 

Have a Happy October!

-Becca

Interesting Reads: Night Road

This book came as a slight surprise to me. My mom had borrowed the book from one of her friends and devoured it. I was lacking a book to take to work one day and my mom handed me Night Road. It was brilliant. It read like a young adult novel but dealt with adult feelings and decisions. 

For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach—are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.
Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way. It has always been easy-- until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them.
On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive.
Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, Night Road raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love.

- Book Description

I enjoyed the writing style of this author and plan to read some of her other books in the future. I also enjoyed that it was set in Washington state. This made it very easy to identify with the setting and even, to some extent, with the characters themselves. The fact that the story spanned such a long period of time also made it easy to grow with the characters and their m8tivation behind some of their decisions. There were a few plot points towards the middle/end that I did not agree with but the author made them work with her storytelling.

Any new books you recommend? I'm always looking for an interesting read. 

Happy Travels!
-B 

Blogger Book Club: Me Before You

I had never heard of Me Before You by before Kay at The Best of Intentions named it the first read of the Blogger Book Club (BBC) read.  I am really glad I came across this when I did because it enabled me enough time to read the book as well as digest what had happened in it and think it through before writing out my thoughts. 

This was not a book I would have usually picked out to read but I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed the dialogue that Moyes wrote and the depth that the characters had. The story was a little slow to start but it was beautiful. It showed just how much one decision and knowing one person can change our lives for the better or for the worse. 

I identified the most with the main character Louisa or Lou. She had become comfortable with her life and then was given a life change that she did not expect when the business she worked for closed. This left her floundering to find her calling in life. This was really the part of Lou that I liked most. She took what life gave her and made the most of it. 

The end of this book was slightly unexpected and throughout the story I required an occasional tissue. I am glad that I read this book which is out of my usual reading box. 

Bottom line: I recommend this book to everyone who wants a good read that requires them to think. What would you do in this situation?

 

As always... Happy Travels!

-Becca 

A Love Letter to My Grandma

Blogtember topic for the day: Write a public love letter to someone in your life. (It doesn't necessarily need to be romantic.)

Dear Grandma,

I know it has been a good long while since you have been gone and I miss you every day. You were always there for me when I was young. You were my best friend. I can't eat ramen noodles without thinking about you and there usually has to be cheese on top just so I can think about the many times we ate it the exact same way. My love of books and fairy tales is as strong as ever thanks to the books that you read me. One-Eye, Two-Eyes, Three-Eyes is still one of my favorite Brothers Grimm stories. I can still remember going to the library with you to pick out a new Faerie Tale Theater to watch as a special treat. (I now own the whole series on DVD and watch them when I'm feeling blue.) The same goes for Anne of Green Gables. I always can turn to Anne for advice and you're the one who first introduced her to me. There are so many things that you gave me that have influenced me into who I am today.

I wish you could have been there to see me graduate from High School and then graduate from College. I wish you were here so I could tell you about my life and see what you thought I should be doing. There is so much I wish we could do together but will never be able to do. 

I think you would be proud of me and everything I have accomplished. I would give almost anything to have just one more day with you. But I know you are in a better place and I know that you have given me strength over the years to better myself and to be a better person. I wish you could see me now. I know you can.

Grandma I will always love you. Now and forever. 

xoxo
-Becca

September Goals

Alright! I am going to take a whack at posting my monthly goals. I always operate better when I have goals but I always seem to forget about that fact. I'm ridiculous I know.

- Continue job searching (hopefully I'll find one soon)
- Plan a plausible vacation to go on while job searching 
- Stick with my Dopey Running Plan
- Simplify my life starting with my room
- Try to keep my life more organized
- Set mini goals to help achieve my monthly goals
- Pay it forward
- Read 3 Books
- Blog more regularly 

I think that is all for this month but we'll see how that goes. I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend and is starting to enjoy the fall like weather that seems to be wide spread. 

Happy Travels!
-B

Being Afraid

Prompt: A story about a time you were very afraid.

Blogtember

Afraid: (adjective) feeling fear or anxiety; frightened

Fear: (verb) be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening 

Being afraid is a really human response to many different situations. It is our fear that makes us aware and reactive. I find that when ever I am entering into a new situation that I find myself to be afraid or experience anxiety. Most recently I felt this when I picked up my life and moved to Florida. I went knowing only a few people and very little else. Having graduated last June I decided to apply for the Disney College Program. This had always been a dream of mine and to my excitement I was accepted and picked a move in date of August 29th. On August 28th I board a plan and flew to Orlando, Florida to wait in an airport for my future roommate. A girl I had only met online a few months before. It was the longest few hours of my life so far. I was sitting thinking about all the crazy stuff people tell you about meeting people online and about meeting them in person etc etc. Her plane finally got in and we officially met. (FYI: She wasn't a crazy person.) We then got on a shuttle to our hotel where we would continue to meet people we had met online and would be spending the next couple of months with. The next few days were filled with many new and exciting adventures but I was terrified. I was so scared that at any point someone would turn to me and say that I wasn't really meant to be there that I was a fraud and there had clearly been a mistake. (Yes I realize this is nonsense.) This moment never happened and I slowly realized that this is real life. Great reward comes with great risk (or great fear).

Great Reward Comes With Great Risk. 

Don't fear the future embrace it.

Happy Travels!
-B