On the down low

These are pictures I have taken in the last little bit of from ground level....so really I dedicate this post to my sister who made fun of me and my "crazy" shots....I think they look "artsy" lol

Vancouver Sea wall Dec 26, 2012...nice and rainy!

Vancouver Sea Wall...center line of bike & pedestrian lane

Willowbrook Mall in Langley Dec 2012

Vancouver Sea Wall Dec 25, 2012

105 Mile House Dec 30, 2012

Stewart Road in Yarrow Dec 27,2012

Good times

Well the holidays are over.....well for us they are anyways....we had a week off and now in a day we are back to working reality.
We had a chance to go to the coast for the holidays with family and friends. I can't even put into words how much fun I had.
Here's a small run down of events....Christmas at my parents, Christmas night I spent the night at my one and only Uncle Nicks apartment ( something I have been waiting 41 yrs to do) he lives downtown Vancouver practically right on Robson Street and it was AWESOME, boxing day spent running the sea wall in Vancouver with him as he photographed me running,  followed with shopping at the Running Room and Whole Foods ( which was crazy since my eyes were fluttering to the back of my head with excitement and over stimulation from being in the "big city" ), spending the next day at my best friend Carla's house and getting my hair curled by her and having another great friend Daphne over, the day after that having dinner with ANOTHER best friend Judy and her husband at a AWESOME Greek restaurant, oh yeah, and in between all that....MORE SHOPPING lol...also seeing my second brother and his family...whom I have not seen in two yrs as well, along with having my one and only sister there with her husband too.
So you can imagine the amount of fun and craziness that took place this week. Here is ONE picture that can give you a small glimpse into the insanity of my family. This is my Mom and Dad....I bought this apron in my small town and brought it to my Mom for Christmas....well....all I can say is that they got "out of control" and they can NEVER blame me for they way I turned out when this is how THEY behaved LOL.

Yes....that is my Dad grabbing my Mom's boob....and yes....that is my Mom saying "wooh, that's going right through the apron".
There should never be another question to me wondering why I turned out to be who I am after one sees a small example like this LOL.

Change

I find the above statement to be very true for me. It's really is amazing what running has done for me. It's so great all the things that can get accomplished on a run for me....such as.....planing wedding speeches for friends, organizing and planning ideas, mind and spirit calming, sometimes just zoning out and feeling the earth beneath my feet....and the list goes on and on.....there is never a run that is the same as the one before, no matter if I do the same route over and over...my body is always reacting and feeling different, and for this I am grateful.
I love that it's just me and the road and my thoughts...some people write journals....I run....to me running is the same as putting a pen to paper, except I am "running" those thoughts into the ground and working them all out.
Running is not for everyone, but it has become something for me, and this I never would have thought would be so powerful.

My gym is a little white!

On my run yesterday I snapped a couple of pics....the run it self was wonderful, on top of the snow feels like fluffy clouds but also at the same time a little bit like squishy sand too, makes for foot placement while running a challenge, but hey, I figure that means I am working different muscles in my legs by doing so.
The days are much shorter now, so makes running difficult to fit in....last week I went a whole week without running....I got my self into a bit of a funk so to speak. I have been working graveyards, day shift, afternoon shifts..alllll over the place, so it have been a huge challenge to get any type of routine down, yet alone stay sane. So last week I finally had my mental snapping moment, I broke.
I did not run, I just about quite my job, and I ate a lot of sugar crap. NOT GOOD LAST WEEK AT ALL.
However, the important things is that I got my self out of my slump and I am back on track....no need to give up at all, just get back on the bus and keep going, that is the most important advice I can give. I no longer beat my self up over missing one run, or eating a handful of choc covered blueberries. I just start again with the next RIGHT decision.

Quilters unite....errr...ummm maybe not

 My sister is the quilter of the family....I AM NOT. Some people have certain skills in certain areas and this is one area that I do NOT have skills. I went to Walmart and bought my self a quilting cutting board thing, and then bought a rotary cutting thing. As you can read...I also have NO quilting lingo skills either....all things quilting will be regarded as "thingy", so if you don't know what I am speaking of then to bad, contact my sister for a interpretation lol.
So last night I started on the "pile" in the dining room. This pile has been growing for a few months. It is the jeans pile that has been collected by me from various share sheds. Why buy used ones when I can get them for free!!!! So I don't have one of those special square quilting thingies, so I used a square like bowl that my husband found in the cupboard here for me lol....yes, he too has now become involved in this...and by involved I mean he gives his two cents worth on what he thinks I am doing wrong! Interesting right!!!! Yeah...that did NOT last long as I gave him the "look". It's funny how he becomes an expert on ALL things I try even though he has NEVER done them lol. As he likes to say "but I'm must trying to help you hun". LOL.
So anyways, back to the "pile", I started on this journey smiling.....this is how it looked after 10 minutes...

Guess what I'm thinking LMAO...
I'm thinking "who does this for fun?" No really.....is this fun? At what point does this become fun? Is this also relaxing...like yoga? Is this yoga for quilters? HELP ME UNDERSTAND THIS INSANITY LMAO.
So, I ended up cutting out approx 80 squares....are they all perfect squares...HELL NO...sheesh...I really have no idea what to do with the next step either, cause this first step was so exhausting I can't imagine this fun getting any better....I will mention that I did get through that process with out any profanity, so for this I should get a special quilting award just for that.
So this is what I have decided.....my sister shall have no fear of me want to take over her quilting retreats EVER...in fact I will only attend one if I can become the entertainment factor of it, where I can sit and mock the happy quilters....seriously, someone needs to do some stand up comedy routine on this stuff, cause I really do think it would be endless.
The other thing I have decided is this....I will complete this ONE quilt, my own jean quilt to cuddle with, it may take a LONG time, but I will get it done, it may look like a MAN did it, but I don't care.
Wish me luck!

The results are in!

Went to the doctor yesterday for a full physical and to get the results from some blood work I had done last week. A co worker of mine suggested that I get my fasting glucose and cholesterol done....so I did and here are the results:
Glu Fast          3.9     The average range is 4.1-5.6 ( I am wonderfully healthy in the sugar dept)
Triglyceride    1.19    The average range for this one is 1.70 (again, I am in great condition in this area)
HDL              0.98    The average range is 1.30 (this is were I am a wee low...this means I have to eat more oils or things like avocados and walnuts, or take a fish oil supplement....which won't be happening since I am now vegan lol.
I have made an appointment with a local nutritionist now through the doctor and have to write down everything I eat for the next three weeks so the nutritionist has a starting point to work with as well.
So some exciting results and exciting changes in the future!

Love is........

Being kidnapped by your husband after working and 8 night stretch of graveyard shifts and taken to a town where I can really shop!!!
This is what my husband did for me a few weeks ago. So sweet of him.

Even better was that he picked a hotel right downtown so I could just walk right out the door and spend all the time I wanted at a used book store five doors down. AND....the book store is closing out so I left with with HUGE bag of books and it was AWESOME.

You know it's true love when you get excited by TWO beds for sleeping LMAO....yes..we did sleep separately....it was sooooooooooooooooooo great! Yes I love my husband, but we love sleep too lol.

It was so weird to be in the "big city" lol, looking out the window and seeing more then 4 cars LOL...how can you tell I have turned into a country girl :-)
Anyways...it was a wonderful whirlwind 24 hr trip of escape from our small town, but it's always nice to get back to the slower pace that's for sure!