Sunday, May 26, 2013

dust bowl dance

so I have a revolving list.  a list of people I'd like to coffee with, you know, in my dreamland of an imagination because we all know the likelihood for most of these names meeting me for coffee is slim to none.  sigh.  but a girl can dream, right?  it changes frequently, but here's my list as of right now.

1.  dave grohl
2.  ben harper
3.  chris hadfield
4.  romeo dallaire
5.  the keyboard player from mumford & sons, ben lovett
6.  RDJ
7.  connie britton, y'all.
8.  my friend emily, in england
9.  clinton kelly
10.  tim hughes
11.  pete wilson
12.  kathy reichs
13.  bryce courtenay - bryce passed away last fall and I am saving his last book for summer vacation.  I'll drink a lot of coffee when I read it and raise a glass to this phenomenal author.

I could probably do a top 20, if I really thought about it.  lots of musicians on my list.  some actors.  some writers.  some pretty interesting canadians.  a good friend, that I've never met in real life.  and the ever fabulous clinton kelly.  it's a good list.  john's #1 is mohammed ali.  good choice, john fraser.

who is on your list?

Thursday, May 23, 2013

ghosts that we knew

it's been an interesting week.  I've been off work since last week friday.  the kids and I had a four day weekend.  yeah queen victoria!  so glad we could honour you every may!  then I had some time coming so I took four days off this week.  it's not really like me to pull a full-stop mid year, but I did.  and wow.  I've needed it more than I knew.  it's been refreshing.  and timely.  I am grateful for it.  so I've been busy!  I love puttering around the house, finishing projects.  tomorrow I'm on laundry room re-sort duty.  fun, I know!  okay, and I apologize...these are out of order.

{so nate's room has been unfinished for almost 3 years.  finally I painted a big chalkboard scoreboard on his wall.  I moved his bed and I finished up with all his sports words.  it went from being 60% finished to 95% finished.  I can't wait to actually use some chalk on it tomorrow.}

{new shelf, and all the words that I put up...}

{now ty's room, on the other hand, has been at the 80% done for almost 3 years.  he's been collecting corks for a long time now and I had told him that I'd make a cork wall for him.  well then, thanks to pintrest, I got the bright idea to do a shape out of corks and since he loves music and his room has a music theme going on, I traced a guitar on the wall and got the glue gun out.  good times!!}

{and then there was the mumford & sons concert last night.  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.}

{this pictured doesn't do it justice.  they moved to a back stage for two songs at the end of the show and it was right in front of us.  yeah for us!  I love mumford & sons and this concert did not disappoint.  and I loved the keyboard player.  holy rock star keys, batman.  I want to grow up and be a rockstar.}

{okay, back to the cork guitar.  finished.  I love it.  LOVE.  and ty was sooooo happy.}

{then today, imagine dragons did a free, two song session at the mall.  my boys are big fans so I pulled them out of school for the afternoon and we parked our asses at the mall and waited over an hour for a 10 minute set.  totally worth it.  we had a great spot and the boys loved it.}

{and now we're listening to a ton of imagine dragons in the car and they sing along to all the songs with the liner notes in hand so that they actually sing the correct words.  love that too.}

{love.}

{love.}

man, I'm loving a lot of things.

but tomorrow.  tomorrow the crazy begins.  change is stirring.  moving.  blowing in with the wind.  and I need to embrace, and not fear.  I am not in control.  yet in control of my reactions.  the person in me that despises change wants to each chocolate and drink bourbon.  and not feel the anxiety building in my worried head.  yet that has never worked for me.  so today, and especially tomorrow, I am choosing to do something different.  I'm choosing to be grateful.  I am choosing to celebrate.  I am choosing to be different.  and I'm going to punch that bossy, little jillian michaels in the effin' face while I'm taking it to the mat with her for the next 30 days.  bring it on, missy.  the 30 day shred beat me when I did it in January, but it's not going to beat me this time.  and all that anxiety, and stress that this time of year brings is going to get taken down.  I am choosing a different path.  it's time to lead from the front.

Friday, May 17, 2013

nothing left to say

yeah.  that's how I feel.  I'm tired.  and worn out.  okay, so I'm sick, so there's a legit reason for why I'm feeling so crummy!  that said, I'm doing something about it.  yep.  I took next week off work.  that combined with a 4 day weekend that started today and next weekend [which has "usual" weekend status], I've managed 10 days off.  IN.A.ROW.  yep.  I rock.  so of course I'm sick.  and the kids are driving me crazy.  they also have a 4 day weekend.  yippie.  ha!

that said, I do have a couple of things in the works:

1.  mumford and sons.  wednesday night.  I am sooooo super excited!
2.  I'm going to clean out my laundry room AND the garage next week.
3.  the sun is shining and the leaves have made an appearance.  it's time to sneaker up and get my walking on.  the half marathon is only 16? weeks away?
4.  6 more weeks of school.  which means 6 weeks + 1 sleep until we leave for disneyland.  super exciting.
5.  and if it's 6 weeks until disneyland, then it's 7 weeks + 1 sleep until john and I are driving to vegas.
6.  today marks the end of my second, yet highly unofficial whole30.  I actually don't think it belongs in the whole30 category.  the last four weeks have been me eating about 95% in whole30/paleo fashion and I've been choosing 1 meal a week as a cheat/treat meal.  and in that time, I finally broke up with my scale.  it's been almost two weeks since we hung out.  on the first of every month we have a standing date, but other than that, we're done.  through.  finished.
7.  I'm scheduled to do a hard-core, no cheats or treats, whole30 starting on May 24th.  anyone wanna do it with me?
8.  I'm suppose to walk 9k on sunday.  sigh.  I haven't been walking enough.  I've been throwing around the idea of doing the jillian michael's 30 day shred along side my next whole30.  I need to do something.  fun stuff.

so what's new with y'all?  any summer plans?

Sunday, May 05, 2013

round and round

so, still nothing profound to say.  HOWEVER, I made a super yummy dinner tonight and a couple of people want the recipe.  if you could call it that...

my thai inspired turkey lettuce wraps.  {inspired by this post}



1.  saute some shredded carrots and some green onions {I did 4 stalks of green onions and 2 cups of carrots} in olive oil.

2.  cook some ground turkey.  {I used a big pot to do my veg in, and then added my ground turkey.  two of the costco packages.}

3.  season it with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and coconut aminos {or in the case of all you non-paleo eaters, soy sauce!}

4.  add a can of drained water chestnuts.

5.  prep your lettuce.  you need to get the old fashioned head of lettuce and break the pieces off, ever so gently.  wash & dry.

6.  make some kick-ass sauce.  1 part regular olive oil, 1 part chipotle infused olive oil, 1 part coconut aminos {or soy sauce}, 2 parts almond butter {or peanut butter} and some garlic.  shake the heck out of  it.  and add more olive oil if it's too chunky or thick.  and if you don't have any of my special olive oil, just add some red pepper flakes or something like that!!

7.  assemble.  and pack some for tomorrow's lunch.

seriously, THAT easy.  and now you understand why I'll never be a food/recipe blogger!!!

my biggest eating issue right now is that I'm getting bored of some of my usual flavours.  and the seasons are changing so I'm craving lighter foods.  these totally cut it.  plus, I have some salmon in my fridge and tomorrow I'm going to create a fish taco using lettuce.  'cause I can.  this whole eating plan has been going well, over all.  I have one treat meal a week and the rest of the time I'm following mainly whole30 guidelines.  but my brain and my taste buds are telling me to switch it up a bit, so I'm gonna listen!

and then I started walking this weekend.  yesterday's 2.95k was pretty decent.  today's 7k was awful.  the heat and the sun just about killed me.  and apparently, starting off a week with almost 10k on my shoes...WHEN I HAVEN'T LOGGED A WALK IN A YEAR...is stupid.  I nearly puked.  and fainted.  yeah.  good thing my mom is such a supportive walking partner!  I have my work cut out for me.  there's a half marathon with my name on it in August and I'm out for a PR.  I almost look happy in this picture - that's because it was last night and NOT today!!


anyways, that's what I'm up to these days.  how are y'all doing?

Saturday, May 04, 2013

hear me

oh, my poor neglected blog.  I'm sure my readership has been cut in half.  ha!  good thing I do this writing thing for me and not really for anyone else.  sorry to burst your bubble.  on the other side, I kinda needed the month off.  we've not had any sports or major commitments in the last few weeks and apparently I've needed the rest.  who knew?  I'm not wonder woman!

even right now, I haven't a clue what to write.  and you know?  that's okay.  I just wanted all four of you to know that I'm good.  super good.  and I pinky promise that I'll do a proper update tomorrow, k?

xo