A Day at Miami Zoo in Florida

March 8, 2013 By Sheila Thomas 7 Comments

We’re Going to the Zoo Zoo Zoo, How about You You You. Well actually we already went, but I think that little jingle in catchy.

One of the first places hubby and I went on our Florida vacation was the Miami Zoo. I love animals, love going to the zoo and I had been to the Miami Zoo on one of my previous trips to Florida so just had to take hubby to show him how awesome it was.

We took off from Lauderdale by the Sea about 11am thinking we would make it to the zoo by noon. Well, that didn’t happen. The traffic was horrible, my iphone was being a pain as far as directions go and there was road construction everywhere. Us not being from a big city, and hubby not liking to drive in this kind of traffic it was a challenge to say the least. But, we finally made it, about 1:30pm. We figured that was plenty of time to see all the animals without having to hurry. Well, it was not. We ended up sorta being shooed out of there at 5:30 when it was closing time. The couple things I really wanted to show hubby, we didn’t get to see or do because of the time we had. I wanted to feed the Giraffe’s and also wanted to walk thru the area where all the birds are and you walk thru a net bridge area. Didn’t get to do those, but still had fun, got to see lots of animals and enjoyed out day.

Here are some pics of the animals we really liked. A Toucan, some Otters, a Gorilla, the Giraffe, Flamingo’s and Chimps.

If you ever get to Miami I highly recommend you find time and visit the Miami Metro Zoo.

Hubby enjoyed his visit to the zoo, as did I even though it was my 2nd time there. We even took some time out and had a hamburger along the way at a cute little spot where they had a water fountain thing that kids (and adults) can play on. This is a fun zoo, with many different things to see.

I know if I lived in Miami, I would be working at the zoo. I just could spend hours and days watching the animals. Hubby said I should have been a vet or zoo owner. I am always torn at zoo’s because I love to see the animals but also feel bad that they are not in their natural habitat. I know at most zoo’s they are well cared for and it seemed like they were here, but I also know that there are many places they are not and that saddens me. If I was rich, I would rescue all the poorly treated animals and take care of them. But, I am not so I do what I can to support places that can try to take care of animals. The Miami Zoo accepts and appreciates all the help they get. So, donate to a zoo today and help feed and care for these animals.

First Lag of our Vacation

February 5, 2013 By Sheila Thomas 11 Comments

Well, after a few long days of driving, one night stay in a really bad motel in Tennessee, we finally made it to our first destination which was Orlando to meet some other Minnesota friends who were flying in to stay in their condo for a week. We used some Marriott points and found a nice Marriott close to the airport. Checked in, and then headed across the street to a TGI Friday’s. Time to relax and have a drink. Strawberry Margarita and Long Island Ice Tea… boy did they hit the spot!!

The next morning we spent some much needed time with our friends and then headed out. We finally made it to Ft Lauderdale and found our resort. When we pulled into our resort we looked at each other and kinda did the.. um… what is this? It was not like in pictures.. at all!! Run down, all the plants and stuff were dead, and all over the place. Just looked really shady. So, go to the office.. well nobody is in it. Had to call a number to get the girl to come check us in. We paid, got to our room and when we walked inside I wanted to cry. But, we hauled our stuff in and headed right to the beach to check it out since it was about 5 pm and we didn’t have much light left. All I wanted at that point was my feet in the sand and ocean.

After about an hour on the beach we then went back to the resort and were going to unpack. NOT.. after looking at the room even closer I was in tears, grossed, out, scared, and just wanted out of there. But, by this time it was 7pm, we were hungry and tired so went for dinner (which was another downer) and then just went to bed. I couldn’t sleep, was just grossed out. The whole place was so dirty and slimy. I had to wash the bathroom sink to just be able to brush my teeth and wash my face. I had to wash the kitchen sink just to use that and the counter. As for the stove.. that needed to be drug out and burned. The bathroom shower had mold in it. I took pics it was so bad I needed proof.

The next day hubby and I walked up and down the street looking for a new place to stay. There was either nothing in our price range or for the time we needed. Finally.. we found a nice one a bit more money than we wanted to spend but really didn’t have much choice or a lot of time to find something.

So, I got a refund, but we had to pay for the one night. A refund is good, but we still had to pay for the first night. I need to do some calling as I don’t think we should of had to pay for the first night since it was obviously misrepresented online and verbally.

But, we are in a nice place, Coral Key Inn, clean and nice people. Laid on the beach today for a bit, got a little red, have been eating out, walking, stopping here and there.

So…This is the first lag of our trip. Hubby has been able to apply for a few jobs along our trip, and we have been looking at rentals and housing. One never knows how this trip will turn out, but you can be sure I will be blogging about it when I get a break in the action.

Proud to be a Nature Made Ambassador

January 23, 2013 By Sheila Thomas 47 Comments

Proud to be a Nature Made Ambassador

And inviting you all to join me over the next 3 months as I bring my Nature Made experience to you.

First, I have to say that I am very thankful to Nature Made, and all the people involved in making my trip (and everyone’s) a ton of fun and a great learning experience. I am excited to share what I learned with you all. I am taking a 2013 Healthy Pledge and I am asking you all to do it along with me. Look at your life, and see what you can do to make a change for the better. Goal ~ Setting higher standards in your life. Maybe you need to eat healthier, exercise more, get better sleep, take vitamins, or just take some over due “me” (you) time. Regardless, it is time to take the pledge.

I was so excited for my trip to L.A. and to learn about Nature Made, and the new VitaMelts. #VitaMelts

Here I am in the car all excited on my way to the airport on Jan 16th. My plane didn’t leave till 3pm. but I had to head out early as I was on the way to see a doctor for my bunions. Yup.. I have them but won’t for long. I scheduled surgery for March. Tired of living life with feet that hurt, so that is also part of my 2013 Healthy Pledge ~ Take care of my feet!

See my smile ~ I was a happy girl for many reasons. One, I have never been to L.A. Two, I was getting out of the Minnesota cold. And three (but the most important) I was going to learn all about Nature Made.

Well, as life would have it my plane was delayed, so I had to change my 2nd flight which put me into L.A. really late. I finally got to my hotel room at about 11:15 pm and was so tired. But, I was happy to see such a nice room and that king bed all for me.

I unpacked my clothes, did a bit of ironing and then went to bed. The next morning was fun as all of us gathered for breakfast and it was the first time for most of us ever meeting. The trip consisted of 10 bloggers so it was fun to see all the different girls and learn about them all. After a great breakfast we all piled into a couple vehicles and headed to the Nature Made office where we all gathered into a conference room to meet with a couple people from Nature Made to learn about the new VitaMelts and ask questions that we may of had. That was a lot of fun, and we all learned a lot. No lack of questions or answers.

We started out talking with Erin O’Malia Gehan ~
Vice President, Marketing. She explained how they plan to market VitaMelts and asked for feedback and questions from us.

As you can see everyone is taking notes so no detail is forgotten.

This is Louis I. Ndife DVM PhD. ~
Director, Medical and Scientific Affairs. Louis answered many of the questions we had about the science behind VitaMelts.

We also spoke with John Welk ~ Director of Insights.
He talked with us about the packaging, displays, and presentation in stores about VitaMelts. There are many aspects that go into launching a new product or products that one might never think of so this was very interesting to learn how a company goes about their product launch to appeal to consumers like us.

After a few hours talking about the company and the new VitaMelts we headed to the packing facility where we got to see how things are packaged and also speak with Jones Chan ~ Director of Research and Development. He was fun to listen to and had good information pertaining to all vitamins. I learned things I didn’t know, and I have been writing about vitamins for a while now so that I really enjoyed. It was great to learn all about VitaMelts, and how they came about.

There are 6 different VitaMelts ~ Zinc, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Relax, Energy, and Sleep.
Adding these six new, easy to take vitamins will help consumers get what their bodies are lacking in daily nutrients. Even though many of us eat healthy, or at least try to it isn’t always easy to get all that our body needs. Using vitamins like the VitaMelts helps to bridge the nutrition gap. Plus, these taste so good you don’t feel like you are taking vitamins. Easy to take, easy to tote, and good for every body’s body. I keep the Energy in my purse, and the Sleep next to my bed. I tossed an Energy in my husbands lunch pail and my son has the Vitamin C and the Energy in his car. It puts my mind at ease to know that I can now offer my family an easier way to get their vitamins because I know they are not always on top their game when it comes to eating healthy when they are not at home.

Friday was another full but fun day. It was a video shoot for Nature Made and VitaMelts. We were divided into groups to talk about what we learned the day before and then also on camera alone as well as photo shoots. It was like being the cast of the View, all sitting around a table talking and sharing things we know and learned. That all was fun, and to boot it was a beautiful day out so when we were not shooting the video’s we all relaxed outside in the sun.

I had made a connection with one of the bloggers (Diane) before our trip and so it was fun to meet her.

Aside from all the fun parts of the trip I learned so much and am excited to be able to now share what I have learned with you all. So, in my 2013 Healthy Pledge I am going to start taking better care of myself. I tend to worry about everyone around me while putting myself on the back burner. No more! I will make time to fit my exercise in, along with making healthier food choices and taking my vitamins with my food instead of all at night like I have always done. That was one of the things I learned from Jones.

While I know how busy everyone is, I know that there are many little things we all can do to lead healthier lives. So, who is with me in the 2013 Healthy Pledge? What do you pledge to do to live healthier?

Nature Made® VitaMelts™ are a new “one of a kind”, enjoyable way to take your vitamins because they melt in your mouth and taste great. Discover how new Nature Made® VitaMelts™ can transform your vitamin taking experience by making it enjoyable. Visit us on Facebook (hyperlink the word “Facebook” to this URL: https://www.facebook.com/naturemade) to get a coupon.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Nature Made via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Nature Made.

Football Fun #Vikings vs #Packers

January 2, 2013 By Sheila Thomas 5 Comments

Football Fun #Vikings vs #Packers

Do you like football? Well, I have never liked, nor disliked it. Just never really gave much time or thought into it. My only thought was that the guys who play get paid way to much money!! LOL!

Well, hubby loves football! Really only watches our home team ~ Minnesota Vikings.

Me, I have always considered myself a Vikings fan, just never paid much attention to the games.

On my quest for a better marriage we decided there were things we needed to do for each other. Me, I choose to watch football with hubby and try to learn and enjoy the game. I have been doing pretty good. There are a few times I watch the game from my desk as I am working but I am a woman and can multi task. So, I am learning and getting to like football.

We decided the a great Christmas gift to each other would be to get tickets to our last home game. Which was a huge deal because we were playing Green Bay Packers. Huge rival team!! Tickets were not cheap, but damn so worth every penny!
What am awesome game! We won 37 – 34. Yeah Vikings!

I have to say, being at a game is so different than watching from home. It has good and bad points. I love all the live action, all the stuff that goes on live, while those at home are seeing commercials, and the feel of love that the fans have for our team. When a touchdown is made and you are at home you might clap or smile, but at the game you jump up and down, scream, high five people around ya. So cool! The main downfall is waiting in line to go potty! Hahaha..

I now have a new love for football and we are actually looking at getting season tickets.

Check out some of my pics from the game.

Travel Safe This Holiday Season #LifeLock

December 6, 2012 By Sheila Thomas 1 Comment

Travel Safe This Holiday Season #LifeLock

The Holiday’s are here and that means there will be lots of people traveling to and from their families to celebrate the holiday’s. When planning travel there are many things one has to think about. What to pack, who will take care of the pets or the house. Where to stay and more. The holidays bring on a lot of stress and what if’s so if you are like me, you make lists.

This year we are hosting the Christmas get together so my list is all about what foods I need to buy, and what I am making. And since we don’t exchange gifts, I don’t have to worry about that so my holiday is fairly stress free. We do a dice game where we all bring $10 worth of $$ store items, wrapped and just have fun with that.

But, after we are done with our Holiday gathering, which is on December 22nd due to family members actually working on the 24th and 25th, hubby and I are looking at taking off for Vegas for a weekend. This will be our gift to each other. So, knowing that we are going to be heading to sin city I am so glad I have LifeLock! When you are traveling it is nice to know that my money and personal accounts are protected and if anything should arise I will be notified. When traveling, no matter where it is nice to know that you can be protected.

LifeLock offers some great benefits to being a member. 24/7 phone support, monitoring of your account and activity, wallet remediation services and much more. Check them out and start protecting yourself against identity theft.

For more great tips ~ click here

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Making Memories on the Road #kiasocialclub

November 21, 2012 By Sheila Thomas Leave a Comment

Hubby and I have talked about taking a road trip to Yellowstone for years now and this past summer we finally did it. Not sure why we didn’t do it before, except maybe that we just can’t seem to pull ourselves away from our house for that long in the summer because there is always so much to do around home.

Well, we packed up the vehicle and headed down the road. We are in Duluth, Mn., so it was not just a couple day trip. We headed thru South Dakota, stayed one night with friends, then headed to Sturgis for the bike rally for 2 nights. From there we headed to Cody, Wyoming where we stayed one night and then off to Yellowstone the next morning. We found a cool place to stay just 1 mile or so before the Yellowstone entrance. When I say found, I mean… we didn’t have reservations anywhere because we didn’t know what our timeline was going to be like. We did bring a tent just in case, but I didn’t want to stay in that! We stayed at a place called Pahaska. It was a very neat, old, lots of history type of place.

After unpacking our stuff in our cabin, we unloaded our Harley and headed to Yellowstone. Never being here before we had no idea what to expect and let me say.. it gets chilly very fast in the mountains. Yikes, I didn’t have enough clothing on for our trip back to Pahaska that evening. But, it was an amazing ride on the bike thru the winding roads.

The next day we took off in the car this time because we knew it was going to be a full day and I didn’t think by butt would take being on the bike that much. What an amazing trip thru Yellowstone. We saw many things on our bucket list. Stopped and took some neat pics too.

We had a very nice trip, and even though we were together for about 10 days non stop, we came home both alive I am sure if you are married you know what I mean.