Wednesday 27 February 2013

Random Wednesday

I feel like I often have so many things that I want to talk about on this blog but I never have enough time, so today I thought I would address a few different topics so bear with me!

1. I have officially purchased a new blog design/installation which will be ready to go come April! I am very excited about this because lately I have been thinking about why I blog, what the point of it is, and how I could potentially grow my blog. I believe that once I get the new design, I will feel a lot better about promoting my blog and branching out a bit more! Come summer, I hope to post some furniture re-do's and DIY projects that I don't necessarily have time for while I'm a full time student.

2. I signed up for the Color Me Rad Race that is coming to Winnipeg on July 20th. I won't be living in the city this summer but I signed up anyways. I wanted a fitness goal to work towards and this provides me something to train and prepare for! I am not a huge runner so I know this will be a struggle for me but it'll be worth it. My boyfriend, sister, and lots of my friends will be running with me too so it'll be a great time :)
 

3. School. I officially only have 26 days of class left and then 4 exams before my summer break begins, which is just plain crazy to think about. It's so hard to believe that I am almost done 3 years of university! I am currently struggling with a lack of motivation and I have a lot of projects/papers to work on, but I know it'll be over before I know it. 

4. Brandon bought his first ever car on Monday! He had been thinking about it for a long time because he has been using my car for the last 7-8 months to get to and from work but he knew that he wanted his own car eventually. I met up with him after my morning class on Monday and by about 2 p.m. he was driving his brand new car off the dealership lot. I am so excited for him! I am also super jealous because this bad boy has heated seats, command start, sunroof, XM radio, On Star, etc which is a huge upgrade from my 2002 Focus with power nothing haha.

2012 Chevy Sonic fully loaded
 I think that is enough mish-mash for one day, so make sure to check back in on Friday for another Fit Friday!

Have a great Wednesday :)

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Reading Week Photo Update

I spent last week at home on my farm with my family and all our animals. I cuddled with my animals, read, relaxed, watched curling, shopped with Steph, and welcomed my other sister Ashley home from Europe! After 5 months without her around, it was a very wonderful weekend spent sharing stories, having drinks, eating way too much, and playing games. Overall, I got back to the city and felt refreshed and ready to tackle the next 1.5 months of school. I have a lot on my plate over the next few weeks but it is exciting to know that spring is just around the corner! Instead of boring you with more rambling on, I will now post pictures. Prepare yourself for major cuteness overload... I took way too many pictures of my sweet animals.

 I couldn't stop taking pictures of their sweet faces. The lab rottweiler cross, is my cousins dog Scout that my parents were dog sitting while they are in Mexico. He is big, full of energy, and always ready to cuddle. Every time I looked, he was sleeping in some funny or cute way and I always had to snap a picture. Missy (border collie) and Jinx (kitty) are also extremely spoiled and they loveeeee cuddles. I definitely missed my Maggie though, so I'll be sure to never leave her behind again!

 Some shots from around my farm and when we took the dogs on walks everyday. The picture of the red angus cow at the top, is Roxy my sisters heifer back in her early 4-H years and she still loves people and getting attention :)

 Mom & Dad/ Beer stein my sister got my dad in Europe/ Rainbow chip cake/ Ashley opening presents/ Missy giving dad kisses/ Ash & Andy with her b-day cake/ Dad / My mexican bowl my parents bought me/ I won the game dumbass/ My new dress :) / Wine/ Settlers of Catan/ Mom, Dad & Ash/ Selfie/ Puzzle my dad and sister completed/ My outfit for a day of shopping :)

Overall, it was a wonderful week. It's hard to believe that I will be moving back home in 1.5 months... but it'll be a great way to save money too :)


 

Monday 18 February 2013

Break from Technology


Sometimes all you need is a break from technology. From constant internet access to check facebook, twitter, blogger, and email. When I'm in the city, I feel like I am constantly connected to technology and it's hard to get away from it. I like to know what is happening at all times but I never really realized just how much time there is in a day when you put your phone down and don't open up your computer. 

So far, it has been a great start to my week at home. I have bundled up for long walks with the dogs, cuddled my pets, played board games, worked out, had drinks, enjoyed delicious food, slept in, and read for pleasure, not for school. It has been really nice to not be focused on technology but rather enjoy things I love to do, spend time away from school/homework, spend time in the country, and visit and catch up with my family. I miss my sweet Maggie and Brandon already but am looking forward to seeing them on Sunday!

Sometimes it is best to unwind, disconnect, de-stress, and do whatever the heck I want to for a week straight! I vow to take as many bubble baths as a I please and not feel bad about it, I vow to have a few drinks on any given night just because I can, and I vow to feel refreshed by the end of this week away.

Here's to a relaxing and fun reading week! Ashley comes home in 4 days!!!

Friday 15 February 2013

V-Day Recap & Fit Friday #5

all my gifts/ cute plant/ dark chocolate pomegranates & book/ heart nails
 
Valentine's Day is a rather cliche holiday however, that doesn't stop me from enjoying it. I don't mind an excuse to love on my man. We exchanged gifts on Wednesday night because we were both too excited to wait. Brandon bought me beautiful flowers, a cute plant, a Jodi Picoult book, lots of chocolate and he made me chocolate covered strawberries :) He definitely knows the way to my heart, those are all my favourite things! I made him a card and Reese peanut butter cup cookies (his favourite) and bought him some other treats. It is really hard to think of creative ideas for male presents but I think he enjoyed all his treats none the less. I had 2 midterms yesterday and Brandon worked until 5, so when he got home from work we decided to go out for sushi and then went to the movies and saw Identity Theft. Usually I make Brandon go to the newest chick flick with me on v-day (this year it would be of been Safe Haven) but I decided it was his turn to choose the movie! It was hilarious and I definitely wasn't upset over changing things up. We then came home and were in bed by 10:30, we are 20 going on 80 over here.

Fitness Update
This past weekend, I hit the workouts hard and amped up my biggest loser workouts to level 2. I must admit I have never tried level 2, so it was exciting to know that I could complete it successfully. However, this week I actually had a bit of a social life and I also had 2 midterms to study for so I haven't worked out since Monday. Tuesday Brandon and I went to Rumour's Comedy Club and treated ourselves to a drink and dessert. Mmm, turtles cheesecake and creme brulee! It was delicious and fun. Then Wednesday I was cramming for my exams and Thursday was Valentine's Day. I admit I consumed way too many treats and chocolates this week and I can definitely tell. I feel more sluggish and have had a headache since yesterday. Also I have had a toothache/sore jaw all week, so I think I better hit up the dentist sometime soon. Pretty sure it's been over 2 years ha. I will get back on track starting now! I am motivated to keep going because my fitness has been improving. For example, I can now hold a plank for 30+ seconds, I can do 100+ jumping jacks compared to around 30 when I first started, and I switched from 5 lb weights to 8 lb weights. The changes excite and motivate me to keep going! :)


Reading Week
As of today, I am on reading week! I am heading home today to spend the week with my family. My sister Stephanie is coming home from Saskatoon today too and then my other sister Ashley is coming home from Europe next Friday! I haven't seen her in 5+ months so to say I am excited is an understatement!! I also plan to cuddle my animals, have some drinks, get back on the fitness train, enjoy some non-school related reading, and catch up with my family. I just wish that Brandon and Maggie could come home with me and everything would be perfect. I told Brandon he has to take good care of our baby and send me lots of pictures of her & them. Haha it's true, I am an obsessive fur mama! I will miss my loves but I know it will be a fun week at home and a good way to get out of the city and unwind for a bit!

Have a fabulous, fit weekend everyone! :)  



Monday 11 February 2013

Life lately...

loving: that I only have 4 days left of classes before reading week, that my sister will be home in 10 days & that 2013 is treating me really well so far :)
watching: I am finally caught up on Heartland (yes, I watched 3 seasons in a couple weeks) and I am also enjoying Hart of Dixie, The Bachelor, and Biggest Loser.
wishing:  for my happiness & health to keep improving everyday. So far in 2013, I feel much more content and satisfied with my life. I think this is simply because I am enjoying working out again, I'm eating healthy, Brandon and I are working on improving our relationship, and I am remembering to do things that make me happy every single day!
eating: I'm not currently eating but I ate a tuna melt for lunch and we're having shrimp linguine for supper :) Side note: I am loving London Fogs lately.
reading:just finished reading Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult. I love all her books! Now I need to focus on reading more novels that are assigned for my classes. These include Love Medicine, The Princess Bride, and Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs... all very good books, so I'm not complaining.
looking forward to: I have so much to look forward to right now. This week Brandon and I are going on 2 dates... tomorrow we are going to Rumour's Comedy Club and for Valentine's day we are hitting up the movies. I am also looking forward to only having 2 midterms (down from the usual 6), having a week off school, seeing my sister Ashley for the 1st time in 5 months, and having my whole family home together for a few days. 

I really hope my optimistic attitude stays around for a long time because currently life is so great. I guess I wasn't lying when I said that 2013 was going to be my year... so far, so good!

Here's to a great week! 

Friday 8 February 2013

Fit Friday #4

I am so glad that I decided to document my fitness & health journey. I believe it really has helped to keep me on track so far! This week wasn't necessarily my best week in terms of the number of workouts and my eating habits but my good intentions are definitely still kicking around. I love how much more energy I have and how much better I feel about myself. This week, I had a few moments of self doubt. Moments when I simply felt like it wasn't worth all the effort, sacrifices and sweat and I caught myself thinking "I will never be as fit as _____" or "My body will never look how I want it to". After spending some time thinking negatively, I told my brain to shut up and told my butt to get in gear. It doesn't matter if I don't measure up to others or if I don't look or perform like others.... all that matters is that exercise is making me feel better, it's increasing my energy, it's helping me get my self confidence back, and it's improving my overall health. After each workout I do, I am shocked by what my body is capable of doing... so I will continue to push and continue to see great improvements.

Now enough blabbering on. I thought this week I would post a couple workouts I have been doing as well as a few healthy recipes I am hoping to try.

Workouts
 I found this AMAZING new blog run by nicole called pumpsandiron which has tons of challenging workouts, healthy recipes, DIY projects, and fashion posts. Exactly my cup of tea! I decided to try 2 of her workouts Saturday and I honestly thought I was going to pass out, but I made it through. I highly recommend checking it out for some inspiration.

I also did Jillian Michael's Banish Fat Boost Metabolism workout and a couple biggest loser workouts like Cardio Max Weight-Loss, At-Home Challenge, and Calorie Knockout. Also, I managed to coerce Brandon in to working out with my twice this week ;). We made up out own workouts both times combining cardio and strength exercises in a circuit format.

Food
Lately, I have been thinking about how many projects, recipes, crafts, etc that I have pinned on Pinterest and then never thought about it again. So I thought I would look back through my recipes and find a few that I would like to try in the new week or two! So here it goes.

 Quinoa & Black Bean Lettuce Wraps

 Spinach, Mushroom & Feta Quiche
 Healthy Quinoa Recipes
Honestly if you haven't tried quinoa, get on it. It's a great substitute for rice and it packs a huge protein punch! I really want to try the strawberry and mandarin salads, the black bean burgers, and the apple cinnamon breakfast quinoa.

Granola Energy Bars 
I love the idea of putting dried fruit in granola bars.
 
 I will hopefully be trying these recipes in the next little bit and I will be sure to document it and share with you as soon as I can. 

Until next Friday, get off your butt, move a little more each day, try new healthy foods (you may be surprised), and find a way to make these healthy habits FUN! Trust me, if I can do it so can you. Make small changes and see the difference it makes!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Friendships.

Ever since I graduated from high school, friendships haven't necessarily come easily to me. I mean I still talk to my high school friends and we get together a few times a year when we all have time but it's definitely not how I pictured it would be. I always thought that after high school, I would still be super close with my friends from high school. However sadly, this isn't true at all. I love my high school friends and I appreciate the time I do get to spend with them but it's not the same.

Me, Jen, Dallas, Kendra
Kendra, Dallas, Sarah, Jen, Me.
Back: Mike, Megan, Kendra, Sarah, Me, Brandon Front: Laurel and Brendan
I've been thinking lately about how I crave new friendships and finding people I can become close with again and spend lots of time with. I miss having girl nights with my friends from high school where we painted our nails, watched movies, talked about boys, ate lots of junk food, and laughed a lot! I miss having people I text daily or friends I can confide my deepest, darkest secrets in.

Right now, you may be thinking "awh poor Kerri, she has no friends" but this simply isn't the case. Obviously I have figured out along the way who actually cares about me and who deserves my time and attention and this means that my friends have slowly dwindled. I know that this is normal in life and that I will start to acquire new friendships... but I crave that in my life now. Through University and moving to Winnipeg, I have met a lot of new people and I have a lot of people in my life I care about but I hope this pool of people continues to grow. I really desire a close knit group of friends, possibly even a group of couple friends that Brandon and I can hang out with and double date with. It would also be nice to have people in my life that I can go for coffee with or go shopping or catch a movie or even just hang out and talk.

With this being said, I have one friend in particular who I have been close with for many many years. Her name is Jenna and I met her through my best friend in high school. She lives in Winnipeg which is a bonus and I could easily call her my best friend. We have had a lot of great times together and she holds a dear place in my heart. One downfall, she works full time and she also has a serious boyfriend so that means we see each other A LOT less than I would like. I know we will be best friends for a long time, but that doesn't mean I can't expand my group of friends.

Jenna and I being goofy per usual!
Terrible picture but it shows out height difference
Whitney, Me, and Jenna
 I just thought I would get that off my chest and hopefully it will help ease my mind. I feel like it is super hard to make new friendships when you're in the "real world"... it almost feels like a job. But I know that it will happen when it's supposed to and in the mean time, I am so thankful for all of those other relationships I have. Whether they are new friends (I'm talking to you Danielle and Brittany) or people I am simply acquaintances with, I really do cherish these relationships deeply. I just hope that one day, I can have a handful of close friends that I can be my self around and who I confide everything in. Please tell me this will happen eventually or am I doomed to spending every spare second (that Brandon isn't around) by myself? Does anyone else feel the same way as I do? Please tell me I'm not alone!

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Scatter Brained

I feel like I have so much going on in my life and a lot to look forward to in 2013 and it is making me a little anxious. Not necessarily in a bad way but definitely in a way that distracts from anything school related. I dread writing papers (nothing new there) because I can't focus my attention for very long. I also find myself skimming over my favourite blogs instead of soaking them in and I find it difficult to focus on a particular show for too long. I also feel like my bog doesn't really have a clear direction right now and most days I am lacking in solid content to post. I'm sure this will change but I don't want to find myself posting too much random, pointless stuff on here either.

I thought sharing some of these thoughts might help me clear my mind. So here they are:

  • Last week a great job opportunity popped up for Brandon with the Government doing Property Assessment (exactly what he is taking courses for), so we are eagerly waiting on more information and to see if he will get the position. It's a 1 year position and it's in Brandon so it would kind of shift our future "plans" but it's a super exciting opportunity!
  • Even though I don't have many followers (yet), I have always wanted to grow this blog, do more link-ups, get to know more bloggers, and maybe even some day buy a specialized blog design. I seriously check out different blog designs almost daily but I know it would be a waste at this stage of the game. I guess I'll keep dreaming...
  • I also really wish that I could start taking more and better pictures. The only way I usually take pictures is with my blackberry because I rarely carry my camera around, so I can't wait until my contract is up and I can get a new phone (that takes nice pictures). I also can't wait because then I can finally get instagram!
  • I am SUPER jealous of my parents who left for Mexico today for 10 days. While they are in +30 weather drinking lots of margaritas and having a blast, I will be writing midterms and freezing my little bum off!
  • I am pumped that reading week is so soon. I actually can't believe that it is only 8 more school days until we are halfway done this semester... it almost seems surreal! I can't wait to go home and spend time with my family :)
  • I officially found out that my sister is coming home from Europe on February 21st!!!!! She has been gone since the beginning of October and it seriously seems like it's been forever. We have had limited contact because of poor internet on her part, so it will be super exciting to see her and take in all her stories and adventures!
  • I got my first A+ on a paper today in Sport Ethics! I was totally not expecting that high of a mark and I almost asked my professor if he had made a mistake... I'll just say my dreaded Tuesday quickly turned into a great day! :)
I told you it was going to be random and scattered (exactly how my brain always functions). I guess it's time to go and be productive. I have a paper due Thursday that I haven't even started (procrastination at its finest!)

My beautiful sister and I!

Have a great Tuesday everyone! :

Friday 1 February 2013

Fit Friday #3

Let me just say, I can't believe it's already February! What the heck happened to January?!

So I wish I had lots to report on for my 3rd "Fit Friday", however this which has kind of been a dud. I went home last weekend and although I didn't workout, I did go for a long walk each day with my family and dog. Monday-Wednesday was a different story though. I felt lazy and unmotivated which was a change from the previous 2-3 weeks where I would be looking forward to my workouts. Last night, I talked Brandon in to working out with me (he only does this with lots of bribing) and we decided to combine a couple workouts and do them while watching tv.

We did these 2 workouts:






I can honestly say that we only did 1 round of the 2nd workout instead of 4 rounds, but we definitely still felt the burn. The hardest moves for me are always pushups and burpees (because of my arm) and wall sits are also killer. They remind me of rugby because my coach would make us do wall sits for an insane amount of time... I remember holding it for 5 minutes one time. Trust me, going up stairs killed me for a week after that! Follow me on pinterest for more

Since there isn't much to report on the fitness/diet front, I thought I would write down a few goals I hope to achieve in February. I know I  wrote a post on New Years resolutions but I am hoping to actually stick with them and by tracking my goals each month, it will help me stay focused. 

1. Workout at least 4 times per week.
2. Make more time to read for fun. Whether it be before bed or between classes.
3. Think of something cute/simple/cheap to make for Brandon for v-day!
4. Drink more water everyday. This will help keep away headaches and will increase my energy.
5. Find the joy in volunteering again. I volunteer with WUSC at my university and lately it has felt like a chore. We have some super awesome events coming up, so I am ready to start enjoying it again!
6. Find/make awesome presents for my sister Ashley. She has been in Europe for the past 5 months, so she missed Christmas. We are having a mini Christmas when she arrives home and it's also her birthday Feb 24th, so I have to get my creative juices flowing!

I think setting 6 mini goals is an attainable amount for February. Usually February is crazy with exams and papers at school but this semester for me is fairly chill... so I should have plenty of time to reach these goals. I will report in March on how I did :)

Have a great weekend everyone! :)