June Walking Challenge

Ok. So. What a crappy month May was. I gained back everything I lost in April on the 17 Day Diet, and maybe some more. I've been avoiding the scale, but I know I have to step on it tomorrow.

My plan is to start my second favourite month (birthday month!) off on the right foot. Now, I know that might be hard because it is my birthday soon, and that means birthday cake, and a birthday dinner, but I figure if I have a couple of smaller indulgences (because I really don't eat much cake, and if I go out for dinner, I'll stick to something more healthy) that might help me stick to my goals.

So, what are my goals?

First, I want to be in the 170s by July. I'm going to a friend's wedding this summer, and I want to look awesome! Right now, I think that means like 20 pounds in June. Might be a big goal, but I think with the 17 Day Diet, I'll be able to get close at least. I lost 8 pounds the last time of the first cycle, and I didn't exercise, and I cheated a lot. So, if I stick to it a bit better, and exercise every day, I should be ok, I think.

That brings me to my second goal. The June Walking Challenge.

Go to Facebook, and like 2011 - The year of fit, healthy and slim. She asked us a couple of weeks ago if we'd like to do a walking challenge. I suggested that we do something where we have a certain amount of minutes to walk each day, but have it as a weekly total so that if we can't do it one day, we can make it up on another.

And! She used my suggestion! Here's what it looks like:

Week 1 - 210 minutes (June 1-8) 30 minutes a day
Week 2 - 280 minutes (June 9-15) 40 minutes a day
Week 3 - 315 minutes (June 16-22) 45 minutes a day
Week 4 - 350 minutes (June 23-29) 50 minutes a day
Total - 1155 minutes!

Seems attainable, right? Yesterday I did 45 minutes, and I enjoyed it! My goal for this it to be OVER the total. I'm going to put a tracker on my page so that you can keep up with me! I definitely thought we should do something a bit bigger, but maybe that can be July!

Now, I should get going. I want to have a shower and then go for a nice walk. At least for 30 minutes, but maybe more! Gotta update my iPod first though.

Have a good day everyone!

Books of 2011 - #14

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson


What an amazing book! I had a bit of a tough time getting into the book because it took me quite a while to see where everything fit together, but once it did, it was nearly impossible to put down! It's one of those rare books where I can't figure out what's happening until it actually happens. I could not solve this mystery, but once it was revealed, it was so obvious. But I like that. I'd rather have it be hard to figure out. I can't wait to read the other books!

Sundays

I wish Sundays never ended, and that every day was a Sunday! John usually doesn't work, and we actually get to relax together.

Oh well. I just hate that it's almost over for another week!

Better go enjoy it with him!

Top News Today

It's been a long time since I've watched the news or read it. Usually, I watch Global BC, and read www.cbc.ca/news but I haven't been for a while. Not sure why, but now I'm reading it and I feel very behind.

So, since I feel so far behind, quite a few things caught my eye this morning:

-The town of Smithers in northwest BC has had some residents evacuated because of flood risk, along with Cranbrook, Merritt and Cache Creek. Mother Natures is sure messing with us this year. First the Slave Lake fire, now flooding? We're in for one hell of a year.

-The Canadian troops in Libya? When did that happen? I am out of the loop if it happened in March and I didn't know about it. I didn't even know there was a G8 summit going on in France! Yup, I'm out of the loop. Personally, I wish that we didn't need to use force to solve problems, but apparently that isn't going to change anytime soon. Maybe I should jump onto the military bandwagon and start supporting my troops. I've had a hard time doing so in the past because I think a lot of the missions are senseless, but I guess they really aren't.

-A man convicted of killing women by infecting them with HIV is contesting the ruling because he thought that the jury was racist. Seriously? He infected 7 women, 2 of which died of AIDS related cancers. Personally, I think he deserves to be in jail. He knew that he had HIV and he had unprotected sex with these women without telling them. Who in their right mind would have unprotected sex with a man who has HIV? He ruined 7 people's lives, and he thinks that the ruling was too harsh because the jury was racist. Once again: Seriously??

And, while we're talking news, I forgot to mention this from Oil Wives. The Oil Wives club of Slave Lake has 25 members, and all 25 members lost their houses. It's so sad. I don't know any of the members of the club, but I feel for them. It's such a tragedy. So hard to believe.

Anyway, I should get going. Just thought I would share some thoughts from the news this morning!

Elections, Secret Sisters & Carbs

Funny title, I know! But, that's what I'm going with today!

So, Oil Wives elections last night. I ended up with secretary again for next year. I really did want vice-president, but that can wait for another year, I guess. It's nice to know that our treasurer, who has been on the executive for many, many years thinks I'm a great secretary and that I would be hard to replace. So, secretary for another year!

And, secret sisters! That's another OW thing. Each November, we can choose to participate in secret sisters, and basically, it started out with something small to let another woman know that you're thinking about them. Last year got a bit messy because a well-to-do OW was spending around $100 each month on her secret sister, and somehow, it ended up that her secret sister was HER secret sister, and she stopped coming to meetings, so the gifts stopped coming, and the well-to-do OW got mad, and clouded the whole thing. This year hasn't been too bad. I definitely started to get worried because mine hadn't given me anything (no card or anything!) in a couple of months, and I started to get a little pissy. I mean, I don't want much. A card, flowers, something cheap, because I know that I can't spend a lot on mine, so I don't expect a lot from mine. Last night they made up for it! I got a great gift, and it looks like they spent quite a bit of money, which is nice, but not expected at all - I'm not complaining though cuz I'll take it! Made me feel special anyways!

Then there's carbs. For some reason, today was a carb filled day! All I wanted to was eat carbs! I ate a bagel, some chips, cereal...Ugh. What a crappy day. I'm making some good turkey soup to put in the freezer to have on hand for when I don't want to cook something good. Hopefully I can get back on track - starting tomorrow! 17 Day Diet starting again!

But I should go. Check on the soup. John's working late because of inventory, so it's going to be a long night for me (cuz I have to go and pick him up!).

Have a good weekend all!

Election Night

Tonight is election night at Oil Wives. From what I can gather, it shouldn't be too bed, drama wise, but some of us might end up doing 2 jobs. Oh well. I put my name forward for secretary (which I already am) and vice-president. I'm hoping for the vice-president, but if I have to take both, I will. We shall see. I'll keep you posted!

Today I went our for sushi with a friend of mine from Grande Prairie. It was so nice to see her. I don't get much chance to see friends these days, and I'm glad it was her that I got to see. She's just very down to earth, and easy to be with, and even though we only talk once every couple of months, it's great every time I see her. It makes me very happy that I did get a chance to see her.

Other than that, I've been working on some crochet projects, and just chilling out. My computer is running RIDICULOUSLY slow, and it's making me mad! And, something's going wrong with my screen, and it's got some kind of shadow. I guess it's off to warranty for this computer. I'm hoping to wait until John's iPad comes in, so that I still get to use a Mac. If not, I'll just use his laptop or my PC.

Anyway, I better see if I can figure out how to make this stupid computer run a little quicker. Have a good Thursday all!

Marriage & Love

First of all, before I get into the topic of the day, I'd just like to say that I'm so excited that my boy Bieksa scored the winning goal in double overtime to send the Canucks to the Stanley Cup finals! What an intense game! I was so nervous the whole time! And then for Kesler to score with 13.something seconds on the clock in regulation time to keep us going...OMG. So stoked!

And, congrats to Olivia for winning the Biggest Loser season 11! All girl final, which was awesome, but I pegged Olivia to win early on, and she did! What a transformation of those 3 girls! So great! So great! Yay for purple! (I'm wearing purple today in honour of them!)

Ok, now to the topic of discussion. It's not about my marriage, which is pretty damn fine, despite me not working and money becoming a small issue.

No, this is about a phone call I got from an old friend yesterday. It actually has been on my mind quite a bit.

Here's a little background on this friend. I've known her since elementary school, making her my oldest friend (since I only talk to 1 or 2 people from elementary school) - she's practically family. She's very religious, which is part of the problem here. She's devout to her religion like no other friend I know, but she's made mistakes too, which I know she struggles with. This is probably the hardest part for her. She's been married for 5 years to a really great guy (even she admits how great he is - I figured it out within seconds of meeting him).

So, what's the issue? She has discovered that she is madly in love with another man that she's known all her life, and this guy is madly in love with her, and wants to marry her and have kids. And she is so torn. She's fighting her feelings and her religion. She loves her husband, but she loves this other guy. She knows that if she gets a divorce, she will be effectively shunned from her church and some of her family may never speak to her again.

So, of course, the biggest question is: what should she do?

And of course, she asked me that question. And I have no answer. We talked and talked and talked. I just have no answer for her. Absolutely no answer for her. I asked if they've thought to see a counsellor, and I think she wants to, but her husband isn't necessarily being supportive of it. I think he hopes that she will figure it out on her own, and in the meantime he's doing everything he can to remind her of how great of a husband he is, which is only making her feel more guilty.

I can only hope that talking it out with me has helped her. I don't think I had much advice for her, but I let her talk it out, and hopefully it helped.

I had another chat with a friend yesterday morning, and I seemed to help her out without knowing it, so that's good too. Maybe without knowing it, I helped my friend with her marriage woes.

The chat I had with my other friend, well, it was quite different. I won't get into it, but it's complicated. Love between women always is, I think. But we talked it out, and she talked to the other woman, and they worked things out. I feel pretty good that I was able to help, at least a little bit. I think I just made my friend see who she is through the other woman's eyes, and that helped.

At least I helped someone...

Books of 2011 - #13

Lucky number 13!

Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert (same author of "Eat Pray Love")


I love love love this book! I think that Elizabeth Gilbert is now one of my favourite authors. In this book, the follow up to "Eat Pray Love" she talks about her struggle with marriage, with the idea of it, the rules of it, when she and her lover Felipe are forced to marry so that he can live in the US. They are stopped at a border flying into the US where Felipe is detained and they must start the immigration process for him to even be allowed back into the country. They travel around southeast Asia, and she researches marriage to find something that would suit them. You definitely learn a lot about the history of marriage, and about some of the traditions across the globe. I think that's one of the things that I find fascinating about Elizabeth Gilbert's writing - you learn a lot about topics that you wouldn't normally research. Like, I would have never thought to research marriage before I got married - I knew it was right for me, and that's it. But, in reading her book, I see now that my marriage is exactly what I need, but that the definition of marriage is different for everyone. It's just amazing. Love love love love love. That's really the review of this book. LOVE.

Back From Camping!

So glad to be back home! What a great weekend of camping!

We went with one of the guys John works with, his wife and 2 kids (under the age of 3 - can you just imagine my terror?!?) and it was great. We reserved sites, and let me tell you, when we drove up I wondered how in the hell 2 travel trailers were going to fit into them! Unfortunately when I reserved there were only 2 double sites available and no single sites available for our size, so there wasn't a lot to choose from. We get there and not only is it tiny, there's a steep little hill we have to climb to back the trailers into! It took so long to figure out how to get 2 trailers in, but they boys made it happen. After that, it was smooth sailing.

I have to say, though I fought John really hard about getting the trailer, I'm glad we did. It was so convenient. We just put the awning out, and when it rained (which it did quite a bit while we were out) we just sat under it. And at night, we could turn on the furnace and not worry about rain pouring in on us in a tent, or freezing to death. We especially liked it last night because it started raining just after dinner and didn't stop until we were hooked up this morning. It was nice to be able to hang around the fire until it burned down and then go in and relax. We played Yahtzee, and let me tell you, it was entertaining.

So basically, what I'm saying, is that I'm a trailer convert.

I even got to wash my hair! I didn't have to go from Thursday to now without washing it! Best part EVER!

And you might think I'm crazy for saying that, but you try having REALLY thick hair that's a bit on the greasy side, and sweating in it (because when the sun was out, it was out - more burns for Kara!) and then cooling off. It was DISGUSTING. But I got to wash it! Yay!

And, even spending the weekend with kids was pretty fun. The oldest will be 3 in August, and she's hilarious. One of those talkers. She played shy for a bit, but then we made rock dinner together and then we were friends. I don't think she stopped talking for a minute, which was cute. She's a bit of a mumbler still, so I did a lot of head nodding and "yeahs" but she didn't mind. As long as she had some attention! The smaller one just turned 2 in February and she's pretty fun too. She just wants to move and get into all the things she shouldn't, so it was a challenge trying to keep her in the campsite (though she wanted to go running down the road) and away from the fire. The best part ever is that she loves dogs and just watching how excited she gets when she sees one is awesome. She's just picking up on talking, and most of her words don't make any sense to me (someone who isn't around kids enough to even be close to understanding what they're saying) but I could make out quite a few words. I wish I could imitate it because it's so funny! She's close with saying my name - it's just "Ara" to her, which is pretty close for a 2 year old, I think. All in all, it was pretty fun. Kids still freak me out a bit, but once I got used to these ones, it was fun!

John and I also went geocaching! First time finding anything since last time it was much too cold (and snowy and icey). Took us quite a while to find it because I read the hint wrong, and was looking into the trees instead of watching out from trolls. John finally found it hidden under a bridge. It was fun though! I wish there had been more there, but that's ok. Not bad for our first time.

And, since it's playoff time, and the Canucks had 2 games while we were out, John found us a way to "watch" the games. XM Satellite radio has a NHL channel, so we turned it on in the truck nice and loud,  and opened all the windows. Friday night's game sucked (loss against San Jose) but yesterday afternoon they won. Now the series is 3-1 for Vancouver, and we could take the series and be onto the Stanley Cup final tomorrow night. Hopefully it works out, then we see who we're going to be playing against in the final - Boston or Tampa Bay who are tied 2-2 right now.

But, now we're back home, and it feels pretty nice. I've been gone since Thursday, so it's been a while for me. My kitties were sure happy to see us come through the door! I had quite a migraine when we got home, but my Organo Gold coffee seemed to kick that right out! Now to get myself organized for the rest of the week. It's kind of a blessing sometimes that I don't have to work - so much easier to get stuff done. I don't have to rush around as soon as I come home from the weekend! I do feel like I might be getting a cold of some sort, so I better take something for it. I'd hate to be sick!

Anyway, hope you all had a great long weekend (if you got it off) - Happy Victoria Day!

I'll definitely be posting some photos in the next few days! I think we got some pretty good ones! Just gotta get them on my computer first! Now, enough with the super long post (longest in a while, I think) and time to enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Grandpa's birthday!

He's 71 years young today!

Happy Birthday Gramps!

Future Projects

I thought I'd share some future crochet projects with you. I have so many ideas. So so so many. Here are a couple.

I've done sketches of them to get them figured out in my mind. Just need to get started! (Once my other projects are finished, of course!)

I love this pattern. I found inspiration here. I think that I would change the colours, but follow the same idea. I hope that the woman who originally posted the photo has a pattern for it - I get the granny squares, but not the borders throughout.

And then there's this:

Yup. The hubby has requested a Vancouver Canucks blanket. It took me quite a while to think it out, but I think I've got it figured. I'll make a filet blanket for him, in the awful blue/white/green colour scheme. Maybe that'll be his Christmas present! I'm going to wait to start this one until the fall when it gets cooler again. It's much too hard to work on a project of that size when it's hot! Not to mention that I have to find the right colours for it! Time to do some online shopping, I think!

Have a great long weekend everyone!

My Favourite Blogs - #1 - Coco Rose Diaries

I think I would like to start highlighting some of my favourite blogs 

- and let me tell you, I have a lot.

Today I thought I would introduce you to 

Coco Rose Diaries

I am in love this this blog.

Vanessa is a very funny woman, as far as I can tell.

A woman who loves crafts,

and is very good at it!

I hope you don't mind me sharing your lovely blog!

If you don't already check out this blog, make sure you start!

Weather Forecast = Bad Camping Omen

Yup, this is what this weekend is looking like. Not so good for camping! I know we need the rain to  keep the forest fires at bay, but we're camping at Moberly Lake and it's already at a flood risk, so it could be fun. It's so chilly here today, I can just imagine that it's going to be awfully chilly there. I better pack an extra book, a crochet project or 2 and some hot chocolate - thank goodness for the trailer! It might be a pretty miserable weekend otherwise!

7-3

What a joke of a game! 7-3 for the CANUCKS. I would just like to say to all the haters "naner-naner-naner" but they wouldn't get it. Canucks on FIRE tonight.

Anyway, that's all I've got. Heading out camping tomorrow! Yay!

Smoke, Smoke, and More Smoke

Yup, forest fire season is upon us. I wish I had taken a picture outside tonight. There aren't any fires close to us, but it sure looks like there's one on our doorstep.

BUT! We finally figured out our camping situation. John came home and said that the place we were going to go to was about 60% booked, so now we're off to Moberly Lake.

And now it's time for beddie-bye.

Camping Woes

Ugh. I don't know why we bother to try to make plans to camp with other couples. We are going where they want, whether we like it or not. It's like we started out making plans together, then it became them making plans and if we want to come we can. We're not making plans, they are and we're lucky enough to get to come with them. John won't stand up for what we want at all, so we're going to have one hell of a weekend, possibly not getting to have a camp fire, sitting in smoke from wild fires, in a place where the damn kids can be happy. I don't get these parents that let the kids control their lives. It's all about the kids. Kids kids kids. I just don't get it. You have kids and then your life isn't your own? If that's what it's like, I don't think I want to have them! Everyone I know lets their children control every move they make. I'll be damned if that happens with me.

Ugh.

Ugh.

Can't even say anything else other than the fact that I am so annoyed.

Back Home

Seems like forever since I've been home, but it's only been since Friday afternoon!

I had an awesome time camping. I relaxed, ate some delicious food, and got extremely sunburnt.

It hurts to make facial expressions involving my eyebrows. So lame.

And it kind of hurts to move my arms.

That's what you get when you don't pay attention to the sun. I always forget how crappy the UV rating is up here.

And I love coming home to many lovely blog posts! I spent some time catching up, and I love seeing all of the progress ladies make on their crochet projects while I'm away, neglecting mine. It's getting too warm to be doing much now, so maybe I'll have to curb it for a while.

And I love getting random comments from people that read the blog. I tend to forget that other people maybe read my blog! Nice to have comments show up, that's for sure!

Anyway. Game 1 of the Canucks vs. San Jose. Right now, Lu gave a damn goal to Thorton, and it's lame but...

#nowayjose

'Night all!

Camping

Still camping...catch up with you tomorrow!

Off To The Campground

Yup, another weekend at the campground! Just getting stuff ready to go! Can't wait to get out there and enjoy the weekend! John's big 27 this weekend, so should be fun! Can't believe it's only 3 years until he's in his 30s! And we all know how quickly time flies by!

Anywho - have a good weekend!

Blogger Down

Not sure if this'll even post, Blogger's been down all afternoon! Shouldda posted this morning like I was going to! Oh well. Off to bed!
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Ok, Maybe Not Totally Off...

Ok, things aren't as bad as I thought yesterday. I gained back 4 pounds, which is less than I thought. Still lame though.

But, I'm back on track, I think.

And this little guy is keeping me company:

Night all!

Right Back Up There

You know, I shouldn't be surprised. I haven't been working out, I've been eating whatever I want, and I've gained back all the weight I lost in my first 17 days on the diet. EFF! So mad at myself. I knew what I was doing, but I did it anyways. So stupid. And, I can't really afford to go to the gym, so I'm back to doing things alone again. Mom has gone back to the gym, so she doesn't really have time to workout with me, which is fine, but it's frustrating too. And John's so busy all the time, it's hard for him to want to work out once he gets home. Obviously I need to start using my Biggest Loser workout, and going for more walks during the day, and doing an afternoon workout too maybe. And getting back on track with food! I'm still in cycle 2, so I'll keep eating the red meats and maybe a bit of carbs, but then Sunday I'm heading back to the Accelerate Cycle, hopefully I can get this weight off quickly! Damn. Still so mad!

Ok, time to get back on the road to weight loss. Workout time! Then walk, then clean the house and truck, then to town to buy food to get me back on track! This is it people, I'm ashamed of myself for letting myself gain everything back, and I have no excuse! Time to go! GO! GO!

Bored

So bored today. I'm just not feeling like doing anything, but I know that I need to get my ass in gear and clean my house. I didn't do a whole lot last week, so I better get something done this week to make up for it!

I do have plans for once I'm done, so maybe I should get going. Wanna know what my plans are??

Yes, that is Time Magazine, and Snow White on Blu-Ray. I'm going to to watch a cartoon from my childhood while checking out Time. Pretty cool, huh? Yeah!

Anyway, better get something done. Laundry needs to be put into the dryer!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mommies out there! I hope you got spoiled and felt a lot of love today!

I know a lot of very wonderful moms, and I can only hope to one day be a part of that club!

Our New Camping Accessory

So, here's a few photos of our new trailer!

Have a fun weekend all!

Epicure

So, I'm starting a business with Epicure - my stuff came in yesterday! Kind of exciting! Even if I'm not a huge success, I'm going to be able to get great spices for a decent price! And make a little bit of money on the side.

I feel like I have so much to do right now. I've been slacking off the past few days, and now my house seems like a mess, we're going camping this weekend, and I'm not going to get everything done! Maybe I should get off of my ass and get stuff done. I think I still have a lot to pack into the trailer, but we'll see. We're not going too far from home, so if I forget something that is important, I'll be able to go back and get it.

Anyway. Off to get some shit done then go to town and get groceries and go for a walk.

And...

...he scores!

Yes, I am talking about hockey.

Yes, I am talking about Henrik Sedin.

16 games without scoring and he does it in the last couple of minutes.

Yes, it was an empty netter.

BUT! It could be the ice breaker for him.

Watch out Nashville!

#NashClash

That is all.

Taylor Challenge Hill

Today, we climbed the Taylor Challenge Hill. Yup, the one from Village On A Diet. So hard! I can barely walk now! So, I spent the rest of the day on the couch with Private Practice on the TV. Yup, fun day!

Tomorrow I have another interview. I'm bound to get something with all of these interviews! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Toodles!

(Yes, I just said "toodles.")

Walking In the Sunshine!

Good Morning World!

This morning I took a walk. I figured, you know, I'm not working, the weather is getting better, I should go outside! So, after doing this workout, I headed out of the house and to a local golf course. I was able to capture this image on the first try!

This was taken at the same spot - so beautiful! I'm so so so glad that the snow is all gone. Time to get outside and see this kind of beauty!

A view of the golf course - so nice!

My last photo of the day. This is the hill down to the back part of the trail. I almost didn't go because I was alone and there is a chance of bears down there, but I braved it anyways! It was so nice in there!

While I was walking, I listened to Jillian Michael's Podcasts. You can download them if you have iTunes here. I think that you should download these, even if you're not losing weight. She goes over everything in life, and you can definitely learn a lot. I'm catching up on them today! 

I have another interview today. I'm not sure what happened with yesterday's, so I called the guy back. He said that he wanted whoever he hired to start today, and I didn't hear anything. I thought maybe I should call back and see what happened. I had to leave a message, so we'll see. I want to work so bad! I got into a pretty bad head space yesterday after I didn't hear back on this last job, and was pretty down last night. This morning I woke up refreshed and started my day off right! I've got to stay within that positive headspace!

Now off to shower and get ready for my day! Hope you all have a chance to go out and enjoy it!

Election

As you might know, I'm not one for showing my beliefs, so I'll just say my vote was not wasted tonight. The person I voted for won in our riding! Whoo hoo!

Now to see how the rest of the country does...Looking ok in my opinion!

May 1

Can't believe it's May 1! And I've been off of work since FEBRUARY! It's ridiculous! Hate it!

But, since it's May, the weather has improved. John and I went for a walk around the golf course, and have already started talking about hiking! Can't wait!

Anyway, movie watching time!