June Highlights, July Intentions

Wow, did June ever just fly right on by. The year is half over! I’m not ready for this yet! Honestly, this month wasn’t the best, but let’s get to it:

June Highlights:

• I hiked up Grouse Mountain (my personal Mount Everest, thankyouverymuch) for the first time this season. Let’s not discuss my time, ever. Or the fact that I lost my way and had to bush-whack my way through a swampy, mosquito-ey, overgrown mess to get back to the trail. Let’s blame my time on that, ok? Yes, let’s go with that.
• I had a couple of friends over to my new apartment. I’ve been really resistant to this; I miss my old place something fierce, but I’m slowly getting there. I think a new sectional couch and rug for the living room would help matters immensely.
• Won a gift certificate to a sports clothing sample sale and discovered a great new-to-me brand, Tonic.
• Had a blast brunching and pitch ‘n putting with my dad & the rest of my family for Father’s Day.
  

  The parents, waiting to tee off at the pitch ‘n putt golf course

• Tried dark dining – what a great experience!
• I made a cake from scratch for my sister’s birthday using Joy the Baker’s White Chocolate Rose Cake recipe, and it was a huge hit!
  

  White chocolate strawberry rose cake with real rose petals

• Went on one horribly boring first date and one fun one with a super guy that I unfortunately had no chemistry with.
• Spent half the month unable to hike or do yoga due to my neck & shoulder going out. This is related to my back injury and the type of flare-up that really gets me down because it throws me off my exercise schedule.

How did I do on my June intentions?

• Go live with the custom blog header that Karlyn made for me – YUP! Click through to check out the new look if you haven’t already!
• Participate in Nicole‘s 30 Day Sugar Detox program. – I participated in this, lost about 2 pounds (not as much as I would have liked), finally kicked my daily sugar cravings, but didn’t fully complete the detox. I detailed my experience with it here.
• I WILL NOT BAIL ON MY BOOK CLUB THIS MONTH. I WILL NOT BAIL ON MY BOOK CLUB THIS MONTH. I WILL NOT BAIL ON MY BOOK CLUB THIS MONTH. – I didn’t bail! But book club ended up being cancelled this month because literally everyone else bailed, so let’s call that a wash.
• Celebrate my sister’s birthday this month without breaking my resolve to avoid sugary treats. I can celebrate with her without eating cake. – I made the cake myself, and I totally ate a piece. But I didn’t take any home with me, and I decided a couple weeks into the detox that I still want to enjoy sugar for special occasions, so this was in line with the way I want to eat.
• Complete the Grouse Grind hike up Grouse Mountain this month. – Sure did!

July Intentions:

• Finish unpacking the moving boxes in the spare room
• Put artwork up on the walls in my apartment
• Put some money towards paying off my line of credit
• Go paddle-boarding
• See Before Midnight in theatre as a solo date night
• Go to a yoga class at the top of Grouse Mountain. My favourite yoga studio is doing a free class there every Sunday morning for the summer!
• Go on at least a couple more dates that do not involve sitting at a cafe and interviewing each other for the position of boyfriend/girlfriend over a caffeinated beverage. I AM SO SICK OF THE FIRST DATE COFFEE-INTERVIEW.

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May Highlights, June Intentions

It’s been a good, rather eventful month. I’m enjoying the pace of 2013 so far. We’re almost halfway through and I want to keep the momentum up.

May Highlights:

May means lots of hiking in the woods. Source: Grouse Mountain

• Found out one of my closest friends is pregnant with her second. I’m so excited for her.
• Got a pedicure with a fun glittery colour for my vacation.
• Took my mum out to a brunch spot she’s been wanting to try for ages with my family for Mother’s Day
• Took a week and a half vacation from work and went down to Las Vegas to party with 64 other bloggers and knock an item off my life list – I saw Shania Twain perform!
• Hit up Trader Joe’s in Bellingham, WA for some American grocery shopping action on the way home from my trip.
• Attended the rehearsal dinner and wedding of a wonderful friend, Julia
• Enjoyed quite the whirlwind romance that was over before I’d had a chance to absorb what was going on, after months of utter boredom on the love life front. It’s been… interesting!
• Read two more books that I really enjoyed this month: I loved Requiem, which wrapped up the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver and was very pleased with the way it all ended. And I finally picked up Roomby Emma Donoghue after hearing about it for months, and devoured the entire story in one weekend. Definitely worth a read.

How did I do on my May intentions?

• Let loose and enjoy lots of new friend time in Vegas! – Check!
• Related: do not let TOO loose. Have 3 meals of whatever I want; make smart food choices the rest of the time. 3 alcoholic drinks per day. -I didn’t really track it, but I did alright on this front. I only gained 1 pound over my 6 day trip and lost it (plus more) quickly upon returning home.
• Spend no more than $600 in Vegas on things that haven’t already been paid for. – Check!
• Back on track healthwise when I return from Vegas: eliminate sweets from your diet for the rest of May. -I have had a few cookies but have mostly been eating well. Half check?
• Complete a hike longer than my usual 1.5 hour hike before month end. -Oh, so close! It has been pouring rain since I’ve been back almost relentlessly, so I haven’t been out on the trails much. Finally the sunshine returned today so I met this goal two days late!

June Intentions:

• My fabulous Vegas roommate Karlyn has made a custom blog header for me, so stay tuned to see that go live this month!
• I’m participating in Nicole‘s 30 Day Sugar Detox program. I’m avoiding all sugar-laden snacks for this month and expecting to make some weight loss progress and some changes to the way I eat.
• I WILL NOT BAIL ON MY BOOK CLUB THIS MONTH. I WILL NOT BAIL ON MY BOOK CLUB THIS MONTH. I WILL NOT BAIL ON MY BOOK CLUB THIS MONTH.
• Celebrate my sister’s birthday this month without breaking my resolve to avoid sugary treats. I can celebrate with her without eating cake.
• Complete the Grouse Grind hike up Grouse Mountain this month. I use this hike as a gauge of my fitness level because it’s technically very difficult and intense, and I have had to turn back without finishing it several times because if I don’t pace myself carefully I become dizzy. I’m hoping to finish in an hour and a half for my first run at it this season.

April Highlights, May Intentions

Wow, what a great month! Summer has arrived in Vancouver, and everyone is running around in shorts & tshirts. It feels like the beginning of something fresh and new, as though the sunshine holds the promise of adventure and happiness. Wouldn’t that be nice?

April Highlights:

• 

  Perfect gold sandals. Source: RW & Co.

  I discovered Homeland and have subsequently fallen down that rabbit hole in an obsessive way. No but seriously, I must know what’s going to happen in Season 3!

• I found the perfect gold sandals. The impetus for this purchase was my upcoming trip to Vegas, but I’ve been wearing them nonstop and I’ll be lucky if I haven’t worn them to shreds before the summer is out.
• Attended a good friend’s bridal shower. It was neat to see how it washandled, because she lives far away and didn’t want to ship all the gifts home at great expense. Most people bought off a registry, had the gift shipped to her home address, and included a picture of the gift in her card. Great way to handle gift showers far from home!
• Gave away a bunch of stuff I didn’t need following the apartment move. I feel good knowing my duplicate stuff that I don’t use is going to people that really need it.
• Made these delicious cookies and tried my hand at homemade potstickers – success!
• Celebrated the birthdays of a couple of great friends – one of which was a 40th birthday! *GASP* I can’t believe MY OWN friends are starting to turn 40. It doesn’t seem so long ago that it was my parents’ friends celebrating this milestone.
• Fell back in love with hiking and have been hitting up the local trails several times a week.
• Had a strategy chat with a career mentor.

How did I do on my April intentions?

• One short weeknight hike and one longer weekend hike per week – success!
• Yoga 1 time per week – Nope! It seemed sacreligious to go inside the yoga studio when the weather has been so incredible.
• Sign up for ballet flow yoga – My friend and I tried a trial class and jointly decided it wasn’t worth the fee for the full 8 sessions. We’ve been hiking lots instead.
• Unpack and get the new place feeling like home. – Mostly done! Putting up artwork feels like cheating on my old house. But everything else is unpacked.
• Take Magdalena for a real spin! (I have named the new car Magdalena) – Yup!
• Do a lil’ shopping for this lil’ vacation I have coming up in May – Success! Have most of my outfits planned.

April showers bring May flowers… Source: John-Morgan on Flickr

May Intentions:

• Let loose and enjoy lots of new friend time in Vegas!
• Related: do not let TOO loose. Have 3 meals of whatever you want; make smart food choices the rest of the time. 3 alcoholic drinks per day (holy crap that sounds like a lot of alcohol to me. That’s 15 drinks in 1 week, for a girl who’s used to 1 or 2!) and drink lots of water.
• Spend no more than $600 in Vegas on things that haven’t already been paid for.
• Back on track healthwise when you return from Vegas: eliminate sweets from your diet for the rest of May.
• Complete a hike longer than my usual 1.5 hour hike before month end.

March Highlights, April Intentions

Blink and you’ll miss it, right? That was March. It seems to have passed in a blur. Here’s the scoop this month:

March Highlights

In like a lion… Source: Sergey Yeliseev on Flickr

• I bought myself a 2012 Mazda 3 hatchback, a car I’ve been dreaming about for five years. And knocked that one off my bucket list. I did the whole purchase alone… yup, this means the whole haggling game with the salesmen. It was intimidating.
• Attended a good friend’s southern-themed bachelorette party and participated in a hella fun scavenger hunt, chauffeured by limousine.
• Enjoyed the baby shower for one of my oldest friend who’s about to have her first baby any minute now. And by oldest, I mean the girl I’ve been friends with the longest, not the actual oldest age of any of my friends. Geez, wouldn’t out a new mama like that!!
• Discovered a new favourite music group: Of Monsters and Men. They’re a great indie folk/pop band from Iceland, you should give them a listen!
• Spent two weeks packing and kept the stress & panic about it to a minimum.
• Said farewell to my roommate and began solo living for the first time in a few years.
• Got the keys to my new place!

How did I do on my March intentions?

…and out like a lamb. Source: A Roger Davies on Flickr

• Get movers booked. -Success!
• Green smoothie habit. -Turns out that it’s far more important to execute Mission: Eat What’s Already In Your House than it is to start a green smoothie habit during the month that you’re moving. Not one green smoothie was consumed. Not even a Happy Planet one. FAIL!
• Yoga 2-3 times a week, although I will let myself off the hook for this one in the last week of March because I think packing will rule my life at that point. -I averaged 1.5 classes/week. Not terrible considering the amount of time spent on packing.
• DO NOT ACTIVELY LOOK AT CARS FOR SALE. -Whoa, HUGE FAIL! Totally bought a new car!
• Have my friend Niki over for dinner. -Seriously, what was I thinking? Entertain guests in the middle of frantic car shopping which fell in the middle of moving month? HAHAHAHAHAA. Ha. No.
• Enjoy this month’s bachelorette and baby shower festivities, celebrate my friends with frugal gifts and an open heart, and get excited to meet the new little baby that’s coming in the next month! -Yup! And friend baby #1 has made her debut into the world. Still on Babywatch High Alert for baby #2.
• Move into my new place! -Success!

April Intentions:

• Hiking season has begun. I’m shooting for one short weeknight hike and one longer weekend hike per week.
• Yoga 1 time per week
• Sign up for ballet flow yoga with my friend Ashley
• Unpack and get the new place feeling like home.
• Take Magdalena for a real spin! I’ve been too busy to do so yet. (I have named the new car Magdalena)
• Do a lil’ shopping for this lil’ vacation I have coming up in May

January Highlights & February Intentions

I remember looking back over 2012 at the end of the year and having a hard time remembering some of the small but still important things that happened over the course of the year, particularly the earlier months. So I’d like to start doing recaps of what transpired each month so that I’ll have a record of how I’ve spent my time, both the big and small moments. I would also love to set intentions for the coming month. Now that we’re well into February, it’s high time I get this posted!

Source: January Photography Contest at pxleyes.com

January Highlights

• While I did not stick to all my Clean January rules all the time, I succeeded in breaking below the 180-lb plateau and reframing the way I think about food. I find myself really thinking of pasta and sweets as treats now rather than everyday fare, and I actually want to keep eating mostly vegetables and healthy stuff for my meals.
• I had a really magical dinner experience: I was invited to have traditional Malaysian-style hotpot dinner, cooked by Malaysian friends, in a floating home at a marina. We couldn’t have been luckier with the weather and we were treated to the most incredible sunset view out the window over the water.
• I had a really wonderful month in my relationship with my mum. I’m quite close with her but we often don’t see eye to eye on many issues and tend to get under each other’s skin. We argue quite a bit, but not this month. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun with my mum.
• Saw Life of Pi 3D in theatre. What an incredible, beautifully made film. Is this a story you love?
• Went snowshoeing! What a blast. It’s a nice winter alternative to my preferred summer “sport” of hiking.
• Got a small raise and increased my contributions to my TFSA, RRSP, and loan repayment.
• Bought an ankle brace and finally feel secure that I won’t sprain my ankle while hiking.
• No cavities at my last dentist appointment!
• Bought a ticket to Bloggers in Sin City and to see Shania Twain live in concert while I’m there in May. Shania was the driving force behind the decision to attend BiSC… seeing her perform live has been on my bucket list for over a decade and I’m so thrilled this is finally happening!
• Read three books: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker, and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. My favourite of these was Code Name Verity – review to follow.

Source: Everybody Likes Sandwiches

February Intentions

• Host an Oscars viewing party
• Book my flight to Vegas in May
• Declutter my bedroom – do a big sweep of my stuff and cull anything that needs to be donated, sold or put in the trash. Get it out of the house.
• Replace my black cardigan and buy some new lingerie
• Get into a green smoothie habit – that is, if I can find any good spinach and kale!
• Do yoga 2-3 times a week

Well, there you have it! Cheers to a happy February.

2012 Recap

Happy New Year! And thanks to Amy Estes for this lovely quote: “May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

2012 was a year of recovery for me. I wouldn’t say I made progress forward so much as undid some of the backsliding of the prior three years, which were painful and awful and had started to seem never-ending. I’m glad that finally, finally, I feel that things have turned around and I’ve experienced some big moments and experiences this year. Some of the more memorable ones:

• A great karaoke birthday party with my closest friends to ring in 32 in February.
• My sister moved out of my apartment, forcing me to either get a new roommate or move, neither of which I wanted to do. But I found a fantastic new roommate and now friend, Kate, who moved into my place in June with her two dogs and reminded me through her friendship that I’m still capable of a wonderful and rewarding experience living with another person (something I’d begun to question after so many failed romantic relationships! And although my relationship with Kate is in no way romantic, it brought back my confidence that some people think I’m pretty fun to have around.)
• I learned that when someone’s words and actions don’t tell you the same thing, you should believe their actions. This led to me breaking up with Mike, which was devastating but necessary. He kept telling me what I wanted to hear but wasn’t treating me well.
• I took a solo trip to Hawaii. I’d been wanting to go on a tropical vacation for years and decided to stop putting it off just because I didn’t have a boyfriend to join me. I tried paddle-boarding for the first time, ate strawberry guavas and kukui nuts straight from the tree and enjoyed the heck out of fresh local pineapple. It was a blast and I hope to return one day.
• I finally found a workout that I love, that really gets my heart rate up and burns some calories, and isn’t a problem for my herniated disc: hiking Vancouver trails! I even lost a little weight this summer after plenty of pounding the trails. I’m trying to replicate it as best I can during the winter with snowshoeing.
• I joined a book club with one of my best friends, and have been reading much more ever since.
• I made a few new friendships that I consider already to be significant and am so happy to grow my social circle to include these lovely new people!
• I stopped working independently in finance and joined the family practice. This has been a much better fit for me doing similar work, and allowed me to finally start making some good strides in my own personal finances.
• I discovered that my right ankle is extremely prone to sprains and have spent 3 of 12 months in 2012 with an inflamed ankle. I will be buying a high quality ankle brace to reduce the recurrence of future sprains, which has a very negative effect on my exercise schedule!
• A friend lost her child to cancer. I was honoured to be able to help her by fundraising and creating an online platform for her to share her story at such a difficult time in her life.

Here’s to great new things in 2013! What was your biggest moment in 2012?