Author: TLC Postcards

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Jumping For the Sky

My bonus daughter, Carlie (she’s 10), suggested I publish a post based on our “trip” to SkyZone.  Here it is.
We decided to check out Sky Zone one week night before dinner.  Carlie, Rylan (who’s soon turning 13), Rylan’s friend and myself went. If you don’t know about SkyZone, it’s a franchised, indoor trampoline park.  Our town recently had one open, and while we’d been there before, tonight was the night I was going to get to jump too!
Upon arriving, you must sign a waiver that basically says if you get hurt, you can’t sue them. You then are assigned a jump group based on how long you are jumping and what time you plan to start.  (Thank goodness, we only went for an hour.) You are also issued these stylish SkySocks to wear while you are jumping. They are orange and have rubber grips on the bottoms so you don’t slip off certain pieces of equipment.


SkyZone has lots of options to try, most of which involve a trampoline.  There’s the Freestyle Jump Zone which is a large room of wall-to-wall trampolines. You can jump pretty much however you want, even into the walls, as long as you aren’t doing multiple flips. This was where I spent most of my time–it was pretty easy to just jump up and down.
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You can opt to play Ultimate Dodgeball (I did not) on the trampoline dodgeball court or you can Skyslam, which allows you to attempt dunking into a basketball hoop from a trampoline. The hoops are different heights, so all jumpers have a chance to make a dunk–even me–on the short hoop.
We all had fun with SkyJoust. Up to 4 can joust at a time, using cushy jousts while each contestant stands on a bosu ball on top of a pedestal. It’s hard enough to keep your balance while up there, but then the goal is to knock your opponents off their pedestal. Hard work! IMG_1620The Skyladder was pretty hard too, and I’ve determined it’s impossible for anyone to get to the top of it. Especially since no one can seem to get past the first rung…IMG_1606My favorite was the Warrior Course, which allowed you to go through a series of obstacles to test your speed, strength, and agility. You could race the person on the course next to you or simply go for your own personal best. I was doing pretty well on one of them, before my arms decided enough was enough. It was a great challenge requiring a lot of upper body strength. But we had a great time on the obstacle course.
Cozumel Sunset, Cozumel, MX

All in all, it was a really fun evening. It was a great family activity that could be done in a small window of time (I don’t recommend anyone my age going for more than 1 hour unless you are looking for a MAJOR workout) while getting some exercise as well.

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Travel Music Tuesday–The Proclaimers

The Proclaimers–I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
I’m not sure I could walk 500 miles, not even sure I would want to.  But if I did, it would be a low-cost way to travel!

https://tools.applemusic.com/embed/v1/song/693789044?country=us&itscg=30200&itsct=afftoolset_1&at=1000lJE9&ct=1000IJE9“>Get I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) on iTunes.

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Not Using Your Vacation Time?

pexels-photo-256219.jpegRecently, I came across a news report that says Americans are not using their vacation time.  42% take no vacation time off at all, and a large number leave at least 5 days per year on the table. Furthermore, 46% of bosses take a pile of work on vacation with them. Why? Why would you leave vacation time behind or take a pile of work with you?


Of those surveyed for this report, here are the reasons why workers leave vacation time on the books:

  • Too much work piles up while they are on vacay
  • They believe no one else can do their job
  • They don’t have the funds to go anywhere
  • They don’t want to appear to be replaceable
  • They believe they are showing more loyalty and worth to their company and job

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Really? Work will be there every, single day.  It’s not going anywhere. Does it matter that some tasks may be delayed a bit? Probably not. Do you think you are THAT irreplaceable? Do you think your company would simply shut down if they had to let you go? No! Everyone is expendable, and in today’s world, a lot of businesses can find someone to learn your job and do it for probably less than they paid you. You are no more loyal or worthy to your company than your co-workers who use their earned time off to re-set and refresh.
Here are the reasons I believe it’s imperative to use up ALL of my vacation time:

  • To unwind from the stress of work
  • To re-charge from drab winter weather
  • To rebound from fatigue that results in diminished attentiveness
  • To replenish the energy reservoir
  • To experience new people and places, which refreshes the mind-set

pexels-photo-313690.jpegAnd I believe some of these reasons are even more valid than they appear. Where I live, winter means cold temperatures, shorter days (sometimes it’s already dark when I walk out of work), and sometimes blustery, snowy, icy days. These all can take a toll on the energy levels, so getting away to somewhere warm and sunny can really help alleviate that.
So what can you do to get the most of your vacation days and make it less stressful to take a week or two away?

  • plan in advance–commit and get your trip planned and booked
  • inform work as soon as you know what days you will be out
  • start organizing the job duties and prioritize those that have deadlines
  • be sure you have a co-worker (or two) who can be cross-trained to cover for you
  • communicate and delegate tasks that may not be finalized before you leave
  • line up who will be house-sitting, watching the kids, feeding the pets, etc. in advance
  • don’t wait until the last minute to pack, try packing a few items a day during the week before
  • set your “out of office” messages, unplug, AND
  • get to the airport, train station, port, bus station (or wherever you are departing from) in plenty of time so you can get the heck out of town and begin having a relaxing, fun time


Please don’t be one of the ranks who leaves their vacation days sitting on the table. Get out of the office and re-charge your batteries.  However, if you are going to have unused time off, please don’t hesitate to contact my employer and offer to donate them to TLC Postcards! Well, time for me to go pack a few items–I’m leaving soon for my mid-winter re-charge!

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Our Day at the St. Louis Fox Theatre

We started off our day last weekend at Sweetie Pie’s Upper Crust. You order your food cafeteria style and then they carry it to your table. If you haven’t been, you might want to try it. It’s some good soul food. I did have the pork steak in gravy and let me tell you, I didn’t even need a knife to cut it, it just fell apart using my fork. It was so tender and the flavor of the gravy just added to it. The macaroni and cheese was pretty tasty, and even the green beans were good. They had chunks of potatoes in them as well, which was an added bonus! Some of the fam had the fried chicken which looked very good, but I didn’t try it. Oh, and don’t let me forget the cornbread which was served warm and just sweet enough.IMG_1599After lunch, we headed over to the theatre. We had a great time at the Fox Theatre, seeing School of Rock. If you have kids or teens you’d like to take there, it’s a show they would really enjoy. The most impressive part was when the young actors were “performing” in the band onstage. We could see the orchestra put their instruments aside and applaud each performance. These youngsters were actually playing their own instruments in the play and doing an incredible job! They got a standing ovation at the end.IMG_1600After all this fun, we headed back for home in Columbia, MO and dropped the kids off at their various activities for the evening. Once that was done, we had time to drop into one of my favorite sushi places, Sake Japanese Bistro and Bar, and have some dinner. They were running a special for Restaurant Week, and it was a hit with us.IMG_1601All in all, it was a busy day, but we crammed in a lot of activity. I’m looking forward to next weekend, when we only have to spend an hour on the road to get to the Lake condo! It should be a little more relaxing.

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Riviera Nayarit It Is!

I’m cold. It’s winter and I’m cold. Yesterday, we saw the temperature hover between 2 (-16C) and 12 (-11C) degrees Fahrenheit with wind chill factors of -10F (-23C.) For those of you who live in warmer climes, you have no idea how cold that is. When you walk outside even for a brief moment, you lose your breath!winter-3088579_1920

Thinking warm thoughts and listening to the reggae station are not warding off the cold. There’s not enough hot cocoa. We’re just going to have to head to the beach for a brief respite and to rejuvenate enough to get through the rest of winter.

I found a really good deal to Dreams Villamagna Nuevo Vallarta in Mexico. I know it seems like we spend a lot of time going to Mexico, but we can be there non-stop from St. Louis in 4 hours. Nuevo Vallarta is in the Mexican state of Nayarit, which is on the Pacific side and is a part of the country we’ve not yet visited before. The closest we’ve been on that coast is Huatulco which is 547 miles away, so not even very close.

I don’t yet know much about Nuevo Vallarta but I plan to do some research before we get there. It seems to be an up and coming area located between Puerto Vallarta and Bucerias, that is attracting the crowd that’s not interested in the hustle and bustle of Puerto Vallarta, but would like all the luxuries of a resort area.

It looks like there’s a lot to do in the area on land or in the sea. There are numerous small villages to be explored and shopped all within a 30 minute drive, and there are a lot of beach areas in Banderas Bay. Whether we want to spend the day on a secluded beach, check out some of the “walking beaches”, or even try our hand at surfing, there’s a beach for it. I’m also hoping that we can see some of the humpback whales who winter there, frolicking with their babies. (I just loved seeing the whales in Alaska, check out Juneau, Alaska.)

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Whale in Alaska

While the resort touts itself as an unlimited luxury all inclusive, which to me usually means great food, some of their Trip Advisor reviews beg to differ. Even though I only take the reviews with a  grain of salt, there is usually a bit of truth to them. I’m trying to keep in mind that the people who did not have a great experience tend to write reviews more frequently, and I’m hopeful the resort has worked out whatever kinks were getting in the way.

Would we cancel the trip or change resorts because of negative reviews? Probably not. Maybe if this were an important wedding, anniversary, or group trip I would reconsider going there. But this is just a mid-winter vacay for hubby and I. We’re pretty laid back and will roll with whatever we find at the resort.

If you have ever stayed at this Dreams and have anything negative to say, please post a review on Trip Advisor, don’t comment on this post. I’d rather go in as uninfluenced as possible and form my own opinion based on what we experience. If you have anything positive to say, feel free to do so in the comments.

Regardless, I’m cold. All I am really worried about is getting out of this cold and taking a break on the beach and seeing some of that side of Mexico. After that, winter won’t seem quite as long and I’ll be able to get through it better upon our return.

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Foxy Weekend

We’re headed into St. Louis, MO this weekend. We’re taking the kids, along with my parents, to see a show at the Fox Theatre. This will only be a day trip, but we plan on packing as much into it as possible.

We’ll hopefully get to St. Louis early enough to visit for a while at my parent’s house. They live about 20 minutes from the Fox and the restaurant we would like to lunch at. My goal is to get on the road in time to enjoy a leisurely lunch at Sweetie Pie’s Upper Crust. You may have heard of the place since they now have a reality show on the OWNnetwork. The show, “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s“,  focuses on the loud, loving, musical Montgomery family and their work to expand their collection of the soul food restaurants.

I’ve already researched the menu and am looking forward to ordering the Pork Steak – Smothered in Gravy dinner. It comes with 2 sides, which I already know will be green beans and macaroni and cheese. When it comes to any kind of soul food or diner type food, I always judge the time based on their green beans and mac and cheese. (I know, it’s a real official way to “judge”. I just believe if they can make the green beans taste good and have a good mac and cheese recipe, they can pretty much demand repeat business from me.  I know the rest will be good!) You can order their cookbook here:

After lunch, we should be able to walk over to the fabulous Fox Theatre and arrive in plenty of time to look around and take some pics of the décor before our matinee. If you really want a touch of history, you can take a tour of the Fox every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings for $7-$10/per person. We did this a couple of years ago and found the 90-minute tour to be very interesting. The kids particulary enjoyed the presentation of Big Mo, one of two Wurlitzer organs located in the theatre, which takes place on the Saturday tours.

We’re looking forward to seeing School of Rock–the Musical.

Entertainment Weekly calls it “an inspiring jolt of energy, joy and mad skillz!” I just hope it lives up to the expectations of my family.

We may or may not stick around after the show ends. We’ll probably be ready for dinner before heading back up the highway to home, so maybe it can be a kids choice dinner. Regardless, I’m looking forward to our time at the Fox in St. Louis and hoping we all create a fun memory of it.

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Beginning 2018

When I first started this endeavor called blogging, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I just knew it made sense to write about something I knew something about that would (hopefully) interest others. After 7 months of blogging, and learning, and learning, and blogging, and learning some more, while I don’t feel like I have this mastered, I do feel like I’m accomplishing some goals and am now striving towards even loftier ones.

Based on what I thought were solid growth numbers, I was hopeful I would grow my blog followers to 200 by the end of 2017. (And I thought that was setting the goal bar pretty high). Thanks to fellow bloggers, my followers, and never-ending research I’ve actually went over 1,000 by the beginning of this year. For 2018, I hope to surpass that number. Since I know 1,000 is possible in less than a year, I should probably attempt 3,000 to keep me on my toes.

I’ve also begun learning more about SEO and affiliate marketing. This allows me to (potentially) earn cashola from blogging. While I have watched those numbers grow and can see some patterns as to what works and what doesn’t, but still haven’t earned anything of substance yet, for 2018 I will attempt to generate more clicks/views/sales which will hopefully come along with increased traffic. If nothing else, I would just like to earn enough to actually receive a check for one month. (Most affiliates don’t cut you a check until you’ve earned at least $100.)

Finally, I am committed to continuing to publish quality content. It’s hard to look at other travel blogs and see all the wonderful locations they write about and realize I have a lot of ground to cover. I’m hoping time will allow me to broaden my wings and check out some of the more exotic and cultural places. Now, if I can just learn to develop the patience to take a flight longer than 4 hours that should be easy to do, right?

Above all else, I’d like to send a thank you to my blog followers. I know in today’s time-crunched world it’s sometimes difficult to commit to reading anything. I just hope that I can continue to hold your attention in this ever-speedy world long enough for you to get a bit of enjoyment out of it.

For 2018, onward and upward really will be my mantra!