Weekend Round Up – A day late

This weekend/ Monday really just got away from me. Last week I had the opportunity to sub in some other teacher’s yoga classes, as well as teach my two classes per week. It was really great to have such and opportunity and it also kind of three my regular weekend schedule of meal prep, studying and maxin’ and relaxin’ out the window.

This weekend I kind of resembled the Flash. Zooming from one place to the next.

Besides my zooming back and forth and not actually sitting down until Sunday evening I had a pretty great weekend. Lots of yoga (teaching and for myself), lots of reading, and starting to get ready for a deep and dirty spring clean!

Oh my goodness I know this is super weird and maybe a little sad but I just can’t wait to do a huge spring clean through the house. Open the windows amp up the air purifiers and wash EVERYTHING.

It is just something about cleaning away the winter that makes me feel so happy, light, relaxed and peaceful. Also seeing how for the past month I have been cleaning up my insides and digestion it only feel fitting for my home to follow the same process.

Am I the only one that goes bananas for spring cleaning? Is anyone else excited to give their home a good scrub down?

Happy Tuesday!

Weekend Round Up

This weekend marked my 30th birthday. If you had asked me a year ago what I wanted to do for my 30th I would have said “travel somewhere and celebrate on my own”. I was not looking forward to it. But oddly enough as it got closer I really started to care less about the number and started to just get more excited about celebrating the milestone year with a bunch of people I love.

So a while back myself, my husband and a couple friends started planning and preparing all the crafts, food and decorations for the party. I had picked a lumberjack glitz and glam theme and it couldn’t have been more fun (in my opinion at least).

My husband took some time off to start cleaning and preparing all the food so I wouldn’t have to worry about it and everything turned out so delicious. Only problem was we definitely made more food than was needed but that isn’t such a bad problem to have.

We had also set up a photo booth so I wouldn’t have to remember to be taking pictures of the party and it is always fun for people to get their creativity on.

At the end of the evening we all celebrated with some delicious cake, some dancing, and more chatting.

I had such an amazing time and want to thank everyone who was there in person and in spirit to celebrate with me. I had such a blast and couldn’t have thought of a better way to turn 30.

Sunday as a result was an extremely lazy day. I watched some bad TV, took some naps and just let it all sink in. Then I started this week off right with an early morning workout session with my personal trainer and some grocery shopping gearing up for some clean eating over the next 101 days (more on that later).

Anyways, Happy Monday everyone I hope you are all having a wonderful start to your week.

Weekend RoundUp

This weekend started off with a vet visit. My poor little ginger cat Morris has been having some skin issues, which looked like scratches so naturally I have been blaming the sores his little sister.  However as it turns out this cat is one of my soul-mates in that the sores weren’t caused by fighting but rather by what he was ingesting, my cat has eczema.   Turns out just like his “mom” this ginger cat has some food intolerance.  So now the fun begins, and I don’t just mean getting to give him his medicine, now we get to find out what is causing the reaction, what fun.   I think moments like these all pet owners wish their pets could speak, it would just make things so much easier.

Once things cooled down from Morris coming home from the vet, his sister was back to cuddling him and making sure he was okay.

After all the commotion that was caused because of the vet visit it was back to a regularly scheduled weekend. Although because of my back it wasn’t exactly the “usual” I was still able to be there for a client’s personal training session and then it was on to Rock N’ Roll yoga in the afternoon. I found teaching the yoga class slightly challenging, seeing how I am still pretty green as a yoga teacher I do still find it easier at times to “say as I do” style teach, so it was definitely an excellent opportunity for me to work on my verbal instruction, which is always a good thing.

Saturday evening, trying to keep things on the healthier side because of my lack of exercise during the week, my husband made up a tasty, clean eating, whole wheat pasta dish for supper.  I have Tosca Reno Eat Clean Cookbook 2, and in it there are several pesto recipes all of which have a little less oil than a normal recipe and they are normally topped up extra herbs, extra veggies and other things to spice up the regular “pesto” flavours.  There is one that my husband and I just can’t get enough of, there are four or five different herbs and then the regular players (although I take out the nuts for allergy reasons).   The herbed pesto is so fresh and bright in flavour it is a nice pick me up in the middle of the last month or two of winter.

After supper my husband and I enjoyed a nice quiet evening of Mario Party. Nothing says super fun exciting night like a little Mario Party competition.   I always find it so funny how fast time seems to pass when you play games.  Before we knew it it was way past our bed times and it was time to pack it in.

When Sunday rolled around I had a couple more errands to run, some cleaning, meal prep, menu planning and all the normal things I would do to close off my weekend, followed by reading and cuddles with my sick little kitten.

The weekend was way less physically involved then a normal weekend, but my back definitely needed it and my body I am sure appreciated getting a bit of a break.  Now I am attempting to move forward and to find some exercises that will help my back out instead of slow down its progress, so should be interesting.

Looking forward to the week ahead.  Happy Monday everyone.

Weekend Round Up

This weekend was a bit more laid back than normal because of my knee blues, so instead of my regular Saturday morning workout I slept in a little before heading over to my client’s house for her early morning session, before heading back home to go over my notes for Rock n’ Roll yoga that afternoon.

My yoga class this week was a bit smaller than the previous week but it was great because it gave me the chance to be a little more hands on with the students.  It is great how each class is different and how I am starting to feel more and more like I am in my own skin while I help to guide the students through their practice.

After yoga I headed home to relax before getting ready to head out and see some girlfriends.  It had been a while since we had had the chance to hang out together.  It was a fun group of women some of which knew each others others who were meeting again for the first time.  I always have such a blast getting to meet new people.   After a fun filled evening with some wonderful women I headed home to unwind and say hello to some of the boys that were hanging out at my place having their own style of evening hang outs.

Sunday I was up early and heading off to the grocery store to get ready for the food prep of the day.  I am going to be honest I got a little lazy with food prep yesterday, leaving a lot of it for today, but with the help of my wonderful husband we were able to get our lunches prepared for the week, we just have to make breakfasts and snacks which should only take about 30 minutes once I put my mind to it.

All in all it was a pretty great weekend.  I am looking forward to this week, learning how to workout without agitating my knees and getting ready for my next yoga class.

I hope everyone in the Ottawa area bundled up today because it is getting chilly out there again.

Happy Monday!

Weekend Round Up – Hello Monday

Hello Monday! Although I would much rather be lazy snuggled up in my ridiculously comfortable bed I did have to get up and head on down to work. It seems that the longer the summer goes on the more challenging my 5 A.M. wake up call becomes.

This weekend started for me last Friday, I work a compressed schedule and I get every second Friday off, which normally ends up being reserved for running errands and getting things done around the house, but this Friday I decided to relax a bit. So after heading over to the gym for an early workout i started preparing lunch.

Last week it was a dear friend’s birthday and we hadn’t been able to celebrate so we schedule a lunch date and I went to visit her at her office with a little picnic.

I made us some salad with the organic baby kale I finally managed to find in the store and we sat outside and chatted for a bit.

After lunch I headed home and opened up some course books that arrived, my course (more on the course later) doesn’t start until the end of September but I am a nerd like that and like to get started early. Then I finished my afternoon off with a long chat with one of my sisters. It felt like a great Friday and I felt so rested by the end of it.

Saturday morning started pretty early for our house as we were having an old unsafe chimney removed. To get out the house and move around for a bit I went on a short bike ride and ran some errands. Once I got home I parked myself on the deck and was back in my books.

Sunday I woke up bright and early and got myself ready for the farmers market and a nice little 7k tempo run. This weekend had been so perfect temperature wise and I had the chance to run my favorite path on the south side of town.

After my run and grocery shopping my husband and I did a little quick gardening and running of errands before deciding that it was time to relax and enjoy the rest of our weekend. We decided to watch some classics like “the man in the iron mask” and “not without my daughter” before sitting down to a delicious meal of BBQ chicken and zuchinni with roasted potatoes. All in all a pretty great weekend and the best part is now it is less than a week before my sister comes to visit and before gingersneezes run club’s first 10k race!!!

Happy Monday!

Weekend Update – A day late

Yesterday was technically a part of my weekend, and I had decided I would give myself the day off of blogging to just relax, clean, bike, and relax before revving up to start the week again.

This weekend was great! It started off with my husband and I heading over to MEC to get my a massive backpack for my upcoming trip to Costa Rica for yoga teacher training. I have been eyeballing this bag for a while now, and just finally caved and went and got it. I am so in love with it. It is massive so more than enough room for all of my things, plus it has a cute little day bag that I can pack up and bring with me to the beach. It was definitely a great purchase.

Then on Saturday we wrangled up a group of friends and I went over to my parent’s place for the afternoon. The weather was friendly and held out so we could all go for a dip in the pool. Once we were all pooled out we started up our potluck style BBQ and began getting ready for a late night bonfire. It was so nice and relaxing and the rain held off so we could all have a great time too.

 

Sunday was spent driving back to the city, a visit to the farmer’s market to fill up on some fruit, veggies and meat for the week, and some movie watching. Then we were lucky enough for it to be a long weekend so I got an extra day of sleeping in and it was glorious.

Instead of having our regular run club in the evening, we shifted the time to get our run in nice and early. This week Susan and I introduced the group to some sprint intervals and as brutal as they can be to run, once everyone had a chance to catch the breath I think they were all pretty happy with how it turned out, and the fact that the whole workout only took 25 minutes. I will definitely be introducing some more sprint training into our regular program.

Now I am hooked back into the office, and ready to work a super short week before another exciting adventure of a weekend, but those stories are for next Monday.

I hope you have all had a great weekend! Happy Tuesday.

Weekend Round Up – Cottage Edition

This past weekend my husband and I head up to the mountains for some cottage time with a group of friends. Friends of friends of ours organized a trip to a gigantic log cabin in the hills of Tremblant.  The cottage was amazing and complete with more than enough sitting, a hot tub and a kitchen that anyone that likes to cook would want.

My husband went golfing with some of the other men that came up for the weekend, where as I did my best to fill my days with reading, taking in the country air and just overall relaxing.  Also at some point in there I became the baby whisperer and got a cutie to fall asleep on me. (I am actually by no means a baby whisperer the little one had just had a big day and happened to pass out in my arms)

Our second day there we decided to head down to the lake and sit on the dock for a bit, however the weather had different plans.  After a few minutes of saving our things (not so successfully) from being blown into the lake we decided that maybe we should head over to the pool for a bit more shelter from the wind.

During the weekend we also had the opportunity to celebrate a birthday (with this delicious homemade gluten free cake) and some ridiculous firework like candles.   We also each were able to enjoy delicious BBQ’ed meals, roasted veggies, and a tasty mix of salads.

.

So all in all I would say the weekend was pretty great, even if I didn’t lace up my shoes and head out on a mountain run. I am happy that I had the chance to get caught up on some reading, brainstorming, and relaxation.

Sunday my husband and I woke up early to head back into town before the farmer’s market closed for the day.  It had been a while since I have actually been able to get to the farmer’s market with all the visiting, camping and being out of town on the weekend, so I was happy to wake up a bit earlier so I could enjoy my outdoor grocery shopping.

All-in-all I would say this weekend was pretty successful.

I hope you all had great weekends filled with wonderful weather, smiling friends, and a touch of rest. 

Happy Monday everyone! 

A Weekend in Rest

After a week of being sick and feeling extremely weak I figured it would be best to lay low and regain some of that healthy energy. So much of this weekend was just resting, but I did make sure to head out to the gym on Saturday to push myself a little seeing how I had been recovering and napping on the couch for a week.

Saturday was my second time at the gym without Alannah. At first I was worried that I would be intimidated faced with having to remember my form, push myself for the last couple reps, etc. but when it came down to it, it was all actually a heck of a lot of fun. Showing up when I want to and keeping to my own schedule is kind of an amazing thing, so I am going to ride off of this self-motivation for as long as I can and worry about possible roadblocks when/if they present themselves.

After the gym it was time for some shopping. After my most recent closet purge I am in serious need of pants and tops. Unfortunately I had some troubles finding some basic building pieces. Although it is exciting to have lost weight it can get a little frustrating trying to figure out what your size is again. Even though I was a bit frustrated I was lucky enough to find a couple nice pieces that will last me a while. Now if anyone has hints as to where I can get a nice pair of black jeans I am all ears!

We finished the weekend off by being a part of a very special little guys birthday. My good friends Monika and Kris were proud parents Sunday and put on a heck of a one year old’s birthday party! It is so crazy to think that a year has already passed since he came into the world and it has been amazing to see him grow and turn into the little guy he is now. And I mean treating yourself with some cake never hurts.  There was an amazing cake provided courtesy of Sprinkle of Crumbs.

After the birthday it was back home for some resting to get ready for a hectic week after so much time away from the office. All in all it was a pretty great weekend.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Happy Monday.

Long Weekends

Today marks the last day of my long weekend. Wanting to relish every moment I have left I work up nice and early at 7:45am, put an easy breakfast of left over ham and eggs into my.

Followed by some very stimulating and exciting cleaning. With the things I needed to do out of the way I settled in for a nice short 30minute NTC workout. The original plan was to do my long slow run today but it was chilly out and I completely despise running in the cold.

Now that all my cleaning and all of my working was done I was about ready to settle in for a nice relaxing day of movie watching. So far today has been extremely relaxing filled with bad movies and lots of cuddling with my kittens.

I hope everyone who had today off was able to enjoy it in the most perfect way for you.

Easter Eggs

Just a quick post to say hope everyone is having a long weekend and having a chance to enjoy it as they choose, whether with family, with movies, with chocolate bunnies and eggs, or just some quality relax time. Hope it is has so far been a wonderful weekend for everyone.