Cali's Birthday Party

Me and the birthday girl! Look at that smile! I think she was having a super fun time.

Two party princesses with the Princess & the Frog Cake... Lilah is so smart, she even told me there was a Princess & the Frog movie out!

Declan enjoying Cali's new Iggle Piggle doll.

The party papparatzi!! Cali and Lilah were in front of them!!

Happy Birthday's!

I just realized it has been quite the busy week and I have missed blogging on a few things... I will blame my really bad cold (its almost gone now thankfully)!

Happy 30th birthday Julie... welcome to the best years of your life... so far I am enjoying them and I think you will too! I was too sick to come out and make a cake or cupcakes on Wednesday night, so I will have to make that up sometime soon!

Happy 2nd birthday to Cali! She is growing up so quickly and I feel lucky to see it all happen, she is such a sweet little thing. I didnt see her on her actual birthday as I was busy getting the cake ready for the party the next moring (took me 5 hours that night and then another 1/2hr the next moring to finish up the details).

End of Week 6...

I finished week 6 of Sun Run training tonight with the head cold! Why am I doing this to myself? Haha... dont know! I got a fun shin cramp for the 2nd time, worked through it and kept going. I found a great area close to home to go running, its a sand/gravel soccer field. It was great as I was able to keep a tally as I was running on my rotations!! I am soooo scared of Wednesday! I start Week 7 which means run 4min, walk 2min rotations!!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day & Happy 1st Birthday Declan

Happy 1st Birthday to my youngest nephew Declan! I would go see him today but unfortunately I got hit with a cold after freezing for an hour in the rain to see the torch last Thursday!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!
Brian was off to Saskatchewan first thing this morning and will be back Wednesday (he was not happy about leaving me on V-day) so currently I am watching the Notebook and then will be off to lunch and shopping with a friend and then I am going to come back and allow myself to try and get over this head cold!

The Torch

The girls from the office and I went to see the torch today for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics just before lunch time down the street from work! We did pre plan wearing all our Olympic gear!To my surprise, I actually recognized one of the officer's directing traffic!! It's Bob! (I tried to get a better picture but it was difficult with the rain!)

There were tonnes of kids and people everywhere (there are a few schools in the area), it was quite the turn out! We actually stood in the middle of an intersection on the crosswalk blocking traffic, these kids were across the street on the other crosswalk!

Crowd control... instead of telling people to move back, they just drove through forcing people back revving engines and honking horns (kind of unnecessary I thought)

An hour in the rain for a few seconds of torch time! Anyone know who she is?? Anyhow, it was a cool experience and fun to see a piece of Canadian history!

Go Canada Go!

Week 6 Session 1

Nadia and I completed W6S1 last night... wow! 65 minutes of run 3, walk 2! So we just did another huge jump in running time. 39 minutes running and 26 walking... other than a super sore hip, I feel fine this morning. Mostly I am just astonished at how far we have come!

Houston Trail Footrace 5km

We did it! Our first 5km race and we came in at 39min 20 seconds! Much better than we anticipated. We agreed to push our run anytime we could and we sure did... I have to admit though, having all these hard core runners at your heel will motivate anyone to keep going!

Waiting for the run to start.... (pretending to run)

It was soooo cool actually getting to wear a number!! Really made you feel like part of the race!

The race started at 9am.... lots of cones every where to show the way!

Here is the group of 5km runners waiting to get going... we were seconds away at this point!

Running on the trail... this old guy in the red kicked our butts... and the girl in black came in just behind us!

The halfway marker to turn back! Whoo Hoo!

Nadia just past the halfway marker!

We are sooooo proud we made it to the end! Brian came to cheer us on at the end and has a bunch of fun pictures of us running up to the finish line... once he gives them to me I will post them.

Special thanks again to Brian for being there to cheer us on and then treating us to a super yummy and well deserved breakfast at ABC after!! (Seriously Brian has been amazingly supportive, its been so nice... can't wait to have him join us on the trails!)

Happy (Early) 1st Birthday Declan!

Happy birthday to little Delcan! I hope he enjoyed his duckie cake... I sure had fun making it!

Happy (Early) 30th Birthday Julie

We had Julie's surprise birthday party today... Mom and I successfully surprised Julie for most of the day with numerous events!

After getting eyebrows done at Arvi's

Lunch at Coza's... Julie with her birthday drink... it was some sort of wine with an edible flower, pretty neat looking!

Julie's flat bread pizza... looks yummy!

My steak and wild mushroom sandwich (no sauce)... yes those are pine nuts on my salad and yes I did try them! Surprised??

Our waiter took a very blurry picture of us all...

I have no idea why we have no more pictures... but... we did go to the spa, Julie had an hour long massage (Mom and I got pedicures). Then we shop shop shopped and then headed off to dinner at Phoenix in Abby with friends and family. It was a fun day!

Week 5 Session 1

So I cheated for the first time last night... let me explain and maybe I will be forgiven! W5 S1 is 2 min 30 sec walk and 2 min 30 sec run, repeat 12 times which works out to 60 min of half running half walking. On my 2nd run my left shin cramped up, at first I thought it was a shin splint then I realized it was a cramp (probably due to lack of stretching and the cold). I almost thought I was going to have to call it quits right then and there because I could barely lift my foot... I kept telling myself mind over matter and I pushed right through that cramp and finished the entire session! (except for the last 30 seconds of my last run as I was exhausted... that was my cheat, I think its ok!!) I still can't believe I have gotten as far as I have... another 4 more days until my first 5km run with Nadia this Sunday!!

Week 4 All Done!

So Nadia and I finished up Week 4 of training this afternoon. We ended up trying a new trail that was very hilly and it was quite a challenge for our running as we normally do flat trails! It was awesome! We are planning on doing a 5km race at the same trail next weekend which will be our first but we are confident we will do well!

Part of starting all this was to loose some weight. While the weight isn't coming off as quick as I'd like, I have realized that the muscle is being built at the same time and kind of counteracting the numbers on the scale. My belly is starting to tone up (YAY!!) and Brian said my butt is looking not so bumpy anymore (haha, thanks!) and over all I am feeling healthier.

Running with Tag

 

While I was in Abbotsford on Friday I needed to do my Week 4 Session 2 Run and I thought it would be alot of fun to take Tag along. He had such a good time! This picture is him exhausted on the car ride back!

Friday

I took the day off work for a 'brain break' and headed out to Abbotsford to hang out!

 

Pushing Cali on the Swings... I asked if she wanted the big kids or the little kids swing and she wanted to feel safe in the little kids swing! She was scared of everything that day! "Scared!"

 

Cali's new tricycle from Dad and Jeanie... really cool!

 

Yes Cali is hanging on all by herself! Wow... she told us when she was "All Done" and wanted to come down!

 

Julie treated me and Cali to Sushi so Cali gave the chop sticks a try!

Wish Me Luck!

Tonight Nadia and I start Week 4 Session 1 of Sun Run Training...Run 2 min, walk 3, repeat 11 times!!! So we are jumping from 13 min of running in a session to 22 minutes! Wow... hope I survive this (and its cold out today!!)

Week 3 Session 2

Ouch! Never thought my hip could hurt so much! I did my session 2 for week 3 of Sun Run training tonight and it hurt... hope it feels better by Sunday morning because session 3 is Sunday afternoon!!

Cupcakes for Cali (again!)

 

I have to stress that Cali really doesn't eat ALL of the cupcakes I bring her! Just a few bites mainly... we don't want to sugar her up too much now! I was doing a cupcake photo shoot again (check out the cupcake blog & website) so of course I have to give away my 'props' after I am done with them! Funny how my two hobbies right now are sooo contradictory! Running and Cupcake making! Last session for week 2 training tomorrow for sun run! Lets hope I make it!

Started Week 2!

So I survived the first week of Sun Run training! I started week 2 tonight and it was alot harder... maybe it was because I was running around in the rain, in the dark... really, how can that be fun!?! No shin splints yet, I just need to stretch my calf muscles more!

A Quick Visit

 

Yesterday we got a quick visit in with Auntie Betty and Uncle Donald on their way to the airport (2 weeks in Mexico! Lucky).

Puddles in the Park

 

Cali playing in the puddles at the park... I did join her at one point! ugh... wet feet!

 

 

Nana carrying Cali as the boots were just a little bit to big and after all the running around, little Cali was a little tired!

 

Cali trying out Auntie Holly's Rainbow Cake! Yummy

The Sun Run

So Nadia and I registered for the Sun Run in May! We are both feeling intimidated but we hope to do well... I am feeling even more intimidated after finding that picture above!! At least I know I will be starting some where in the back... just ahead of the walkers!! Haha... Anyhow, just got back from session 2 of training and am looking forward to the run ahead!

Special Thank You

Special thank you to Mom and Elliott who dropped everything on Monday night to drive out to Burnaby and pick up me and Brian's new couch!!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!

I have a nice picture of Mom, Elliott and Brian on the couch together enjoying how comfortable it is... but, with my new laptop, it isnt compatible with my little sony camera! Ack! Anyhow, I will figure it out and upload the pictures soon...

Thanks again Mom and Elliott!!!!

New Cookware!!!

So after years of having aweful, cheap cookware, I finally was able to buy a really nice set! Don't get me wrong, the 3 pots for 12.99 at Ikea really earned their keep but I have no reservations about turning them in for my new shiney set! Today Brian and I went to Canadian Tire to look for more hunting gear to go along with his fun Christmas present and we noticed all these good deals on pots and pans. Mom ended up meeting us there as well as she was in the area and she helped me look at the new cookware. I got an amazing deal and I am so excited to try them out for the first time. They are the T-fal Pro Series recommended by Jamie Oliver (they must be good then right?)