Monday, January 16, 2023

Getting ready for Christmas

 



Last year I knew going into the Holidays that we needed a new Christmas Tree and some decorations. Our old tree got moldy from a leak in our basement and most of our ornaments didn't make our last move. We decided on a red, white, and silver theme and went with that. I ordered a 7.5 foot tree with lights that could be either white or colored depending on how you feel each day. This tree was originally like 300.00 and I got it for I believe 43.13. I have to say it is the best tree we have had so far. Easy to set up and take down. We are very happy with it. 


I also bought new garland, penguin ornaments, gingerbread man decorations, and white, silver, and white decorations to go with everything. We even made a few decorations from crafts I had stashed for years. I also ordered a star in red. It isn't quite what we were looking for so I will be looking at new toppers for next year. The star goes well with the multi-colored lights but not so well with the white so we just left the star off when we had the white lights on. We live on a strict budget so buying things on sale is a must. I also ordered one of those glass trees with multi-colored lights because they remind me of my grandmother and aunts. It was also something my mom always wanted but never got. For a splurge, I bought a family of Moose decorations for our home. They are so cute. 


This year I would like to add a tree skirt (ours went missing) or tree box, a lighted wreath, some lighted pine garland, and some of those deer sets that light up for our porch. If I had to splurge I would buy those lamps that look like the lamps out of Narnia. I also want to get letters for each of the stockings so it is easier to keep track of whose stocking is whose. 

I showed my husband several ideas for how I want to hang the stockings this year and with a little thinking outside the box we are going to be able to make what I would like with things we already have on hand. Can't wait to show you all later in the year. Anyways those are my goals for Christmas this year. 

Saturday, January 14, 2023

Great Gift Idea for mulitple people

One of the best things we did this year for Christmas that I would like to share with you was buying an assortment of candles. We got a great deal during the candle deal from Yankee Candle. The best part is that they were all shipped to my home. We still do most of our shopping from home. 

We placed them all on the desk in our living room and each of my children's family chose two scents they would like to take home with them as a gift and the rest we would use throughout the year to come. I think this went over well and I am going to do this again.

I did have a little insight into the scents they liked so I chose around those and then ordered some new to us scents. I loved a few that were chosen so we will be ordering those scents again. I know this is late but an early idea for next year for those who have multiple families to gift to. 

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Reading Log 2022 for MarksvilleandMe


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This year was really hard on our family. Where I thought I would have all the time in the world to read I found myself instead fighting for my life. Stage 3 Colon Cancer really gave me a hard time. We did get in a few books though and I will share them below. One of my bucket list items is reading the whole set of Nancy Drew books. I have read many over the years some more then once but wanted to do them in order.  


Saturday, November 26, 2022

Thanksgiving

 I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Last year this time I was still in the hospital not being able to eat anything due to having and NG tube in from complications after my surgery to remove my Cancer in my colon. 

Since I finished my Chemotherapy back in July I have been getting really excited for the Holidays. My oncologist office adopted our family for Thanksgiving which was really nice they provided pretty much everything we could need for dinner. With prices they way they are on food I also got a free turkey from our local Shop Rite from spending so much money on food during a set period of time. I tried to gift the turkey but no one ever responded so we ended up cooking 2 turkeys. 

Cooking the turkeys was a nightmare. When we moved here my Turkey roaster never made it so we bought one of those counter top roasters that everyone raves about. Well ours never cooked the turkey so when we should have been eating we were just putting it into our oven. I think we just got a damaged turkey roaster and I am not sure when we bought it so I couldn't return it to the store so we just had to throw it away. 

Once the turkey was done the feast was ready to be eaten, and boy did we eat. I had a little bit of everything and enjoyed every bite. So very different from last year. When we were done, and getting ready for dessert my daughter Nesie came with her boyfriend Paul to drop Bean off for the weekend. I get Bean (our nickname for my granddaughter Lillyann) most vacations and holidays so they can work without worrying about her. 

They had thanksgiving with Paul's parents this year and his mom decided to just do a turkey breast. Nesie's favorite part of the turkey is the drumstick and oddly enough it is also Paul's favorite too. Since we made two turkeys they took three legs and left one here for Dorothy to pick at since it is her favorite part too. It was awesome to see the joy on their faces when they were wrapping up their turkey legs to enjoy later at their home. 

I was so excited to have most of my girls home at some point during thanksgiving and just overly thankful to be alive and enjoying time with my family. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. 


Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Stepping it up in the world

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Shopping for exercise equipment can be really hard when you are trying to stay within a budget, making sure it will fit in your home, will be low impact, can be moved or stored easily, as well as finding something that fits your weight range. I have fought with weight since I was 11 years old and became very ill. At my highest weight, I was 460 something pounds and at my lowest when I met my husband I was 190 pounds. Last year I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Colon Cancer and had several surgeries, and chemotherapy treatments after having gotten more ill over the past few years to the point that I was sleeping pretty much the whole day away. 

I am now done with treatments, my first set of tests as well as scans have come back and I am getting stronger every day. Instead of using a wheelchair pretty much all of the time I am now using my rollator much more often. I had a physical therapist for a while after each operation and then again after everything because I have Neuropathy (for me that is nonstop pins and needles in both my hands, feet, and legs). I am considered a high risk to fall so I have to be really careful. Between the Neuropathy and other health issues, I have to stick to a low-impact exercise routine. 

I have exercises I do most days for my legs, I added in arm, shoulder, and neck exercises as well once my abdomen was healed. Being in bed I wanted to make sure my muscles did not atrophy, so I have been doing bed exercises since day 2 after the first operation. Most days I am still upset with where I am but if I honestly look back I am in much better shape than I was at the beginning, so I am moving forward. 

I have been wanting to add an elliptical to my routine but sticking to an exercise routine has always been really hard for me. I found that most ellipticals would take up way too much real estate in my home.  Then I found out about desk exercise equipment and my choices greatly expanded. The Cubii is what I decided on. To be honest I have been looking at this particular under-dek elliptical for a while and had it on my wishlist. I was recently contacted by a company to give it a whirl and I almost literally jumped at the chance since it was on the top of my desk exercise equipment list. 

The only pieces of exercise equipment that we had before were a set of aerobic steps (which I can't use presently), one-pound weights, exercise bands (which have gone missing), an exercise ball, a pilates ring, and a recumbent exercise bike which I have yet to get back on to. I have added a Summers Gym MagicFITNATION Rock N Fit, and now an under-desk elliptical. 

When you get to the Cubii Site you can take a Quiz to see which Cubii is right for you. My Quiz results said that the Cubii Go would be best for me. The Cubii Go has a retractable handle so you can move it and store it easily. Our couches are raised because we are tall so we keep the Cubii right under our couch so it is easy to pull out and use. For me, if it is easy to move and store I am more apt to use it and keep using it. There are blue tooth models but mine is not so I have to manually add my workouts into the app which is free with your Cubii. 



This is how your box will come so if it is a gift make sure you are able to get it wrapped or put it away for later gift-giving. I am very happy with the way it was shipped and packed.



When you take all of the pieces out of the box this is what you should have. Instructions were clear to understand and made it super easy to assemble the Cubii Go. It took under 5 minutes total to put together although my husband said it was more like 2 minutes. It took me longer to download the app and set my profile up than it did to unbox and put the Cubii Go together. The app is included with the purchase. 







Once I was set up with my profile I noticed they have a Gratitude is the Attitude November Wellness Journi which I joined right away. Today's challenge was pretty easy. I had to use the Cubii for 20 minutes while reading, watching, or listening to something informative. After 20 minutes I added in my time and my first workout was logged in graph form and I got an achievement. Tomorrow's challenge is to drink 80oz of water. I am always struggling with getting enough water in. With challenges, I am more apt to keep doing things because it is more like a game. 



Before getting this I was a little skeptical about the foot surface size but as you can see in my picture at the top of this post, there is plenty of room for your feet both bare or with shoes on. I wear a size 9.5 women's USA and there is plenty of room for a much larger foot to fit onto it comfortably.




If you are in your office and are using this under-desk elliptical you can stick your chair wheel into this pull-out slot which is also the expandable handle so that you aren't rolling backward while trying to those steps in for the day. 








Cubii even has free classes that will step up your workout routine. I will be trying these in the next few days. I am so excited to find something that is so easy to use and fits into our home as well as something I can use that my body is actually capable of doing. I love that the Cubii Go comes with a retractable handle and wheels for easy portability, an easy-to-read digital display, and 8 resistance settings. At the Cubii website, you can even order other accessories like weights, mats, foot straps, etc. If you are interested you can get 30.00 off your first order here.

Our family can use this under-desk elliptical at a desk, on the couch, on the edge of a bed, or even on the porch while enjoying nice weather outside. I am so excited to start this new journey with Cubii and my readers. Here is to stepping up in the world.