Last day of my 20s

Dear 20’s,
Thank you! As I sit here with this delicious Little Jane I have time to reminisce about the last 10 years of my life! It’s been a blast! A lot of amazing experiences and lots of things learned.

I’m grateful for everything but here are some of the highlights:
Making it to 30
Graduating college
Landing a great career
Maintaining a strong family bond
Buying my first car
Starting my steeped tea business
Helping my sister celebrate her 19th birthday
Traveling to NYC 3 times
Heartbreak
Meeting Ben
Winning a trip to Washington
Getting engaged in Bahamas
Buying our dream house
Welcoming 2 fur babies into our family
Sharing in many wedding, birthday and baby celebrations
Running my first half marathon

What I have to look forward to in my 30s:
Getting married
Joining another great family
Starting my own family
Furthering my career
A few friends weddings
More babies I’m sure
Running a half marathon with my mom
Running my first full marathon

Farewell 20’s you will bring happiness and good judgement to my 30’s 40’s and beyond!

Pre-birthday #selfie

Surgery…exciting, scary and rewarding!

It’s been just over 2 weeks since I was waiting in a hospital all day for surgery. Being in the hospital doesn’t bother me but every time I turned around someone wanted to poke me with a needle and that scares the heck outta me! I’ve been terrified of needles since I was a kid, it’s gotten easier as I get older but I still try to avoid it at all costs.

As I sat there waiting for 4 hours I had a lot of time to reflect and think about why I was there. My surgery wasn’t life or death it was a choice, a choice I made to improve my quality of life. There were definitely some risks in having the surgery but I felt the risks were worth the reward. Having experienced a surgery a few years ago, which was brutal for pain and a 3-4 week recovery, I was expecting a similar feeling when I woke up. This made me feel both scared and ready, scared because I didn’t want to feel like that but ready because I knew what it felt like. I figured it couldn’t be any worse than the last time so I could take it. I woke up super groggy from the anesthetics but otherwise I felt pretty good which was a nice surprise.

This surgery also boosted my confidence! It was the first time I didn’t cry like a little girl when I got a needle, I didn’t even have a panic attack! I stayed calm had a conversation with everyone in the room before I got knocked out and when I woke up I didn’t freak out about the IV that was still in my arm. This is a HUGE milestone for me; one I thought would never happen! I still can’t believe that I was able to do it without my usual reaction and really all by myself!

I’m so thankful for my doctor and all the amazing staff at the hospital that took such good care of me and hopefully this is the last time they will see me 🙂

Feeling pretty good

Someone forgot to take this off me! It was over 12 hrs before I noticed lol

Lawn bowling….possibly a new fav sport

Two weeks ago I went to a team building event at the local lawn bowling club.  So much FUN and I was on fire!  It combines 2 things I love to do curling and bowling.  You throw the ball like a bowling ball but it curls and has similar rules to curling.  I was scoring points like crazy and my team won!  It was an awesome event to do as a team.  There was lots of competition and everyone had a blast.

I had so much fun I looked up the closest club to my house and I’ll definitely be checking it out next year!!!!  I can’t wait 🙂

National Dog Day

Love my dogs and I couldn’t imagine life without them! They run with me, love me and snuggle me…in return I treat them like royalty! Happy National Dog Day to all the pups out there!!!!

What the Heck is Bloglovin’, and Do I Need It?

Thinking about getting on blog love. Is anyone else on there?

5ks and tees

What a day yesterday! So much fun, exercise, family and friends. I started the day off with a 5km run with 2 ladies from town. It was a race to raise money and awareness for POGO an organization that helps children with cancer and their families. The race raised over $15,000 which is incredible for the first year. It was the perfect day for a run too – sunny but not hot, a nice cool breeze and I got to help someone complete their first 5k run! Plus it had awesome prizes, swag, food and we got a medal!

After that it was home to freshen up and off to the course! I played in Tavistock with my fiancée and parents! What a great little course. It’s only a 60 par but the holes are challenging! Lots of water, brush and dog legs. The best part was I was killing my irons! I didn’t hit a bad iron shot all round! I was crushing my 5 iron like 160+ yards!!!!

After that it was home for a BBQ, with corn on the cob, a glass of wine and the ALS ice bucket challenge, thanks Meg! All in all a great Sunday!

Scratches and wet dogs

Last week when the weather was HOT I took the pups swimming. I don’t know if they liked it or were absolutely terrified! They really wanted to go in but couldn’t seem to take the plunge. I took them in to try and show them it’s ok! Well all that got me was arms covered in scratches and 2 wet dogs! Maybe next time will be better….maybe not time will tell!

Ouch!

Double ouch!

Killah

Ivy

Bye bye birdie

I feel sick! I’m a huge animal lover, despite my fear of raccoons, and I hate to see animals get hurt. I was driving into work today and it was sunny and gorgeous so I was enjoying the country scenery. A cute little bird was flying in front of me but higher than my car and then all of a sudden he got low and I hit him 😦 Now I’m not sure if that killed him or just stunned him because I wasn’t driving very fast. I looked behind me to see if he was ok only to see the car behind me drive over him. Horrible!!!!

I know this is all part of the circle of life but I still don’t like it!

Cinema for the senses

Hunger, curiosity and passion! This is what I feel after walking out of the movie theatre tonight. A movie about food, amazing flavourful food, has left me starving and wanting something better than movie popcorn, although I do love it! A movie about passion for cooking and flavours has left me curious about how food and spices blend together to make magic!

I think of myself as a decent cook, I experiment with some spices but only those I know very well, but where I lack is knowing what spices and flavours compliment each other. The Hundred Foot Journey has ignited my curiosity and left me wanting to learn more! The talk of food evoking feelings and memories makes me want to be a better cook! I think it’s time I find myself a class to teach me the basics of spices. Then after that it’s all up to me to make my taste buds dance!

Sunday Rockout!

It was hard waking up Monday and not because I had to be at work…no no I was off…woohoo! I was up super late Sunday rocking out to some 80’s music in Toronto! Alice Cooper and Motley Crue all in one night! Talk about a stellar line up…2nd time seeing Alice and 3rd seeing Motley. Awesome music, great landscape (Toronto lighting up as the night went on!) and fun hanging out with my cuz. Oh and who could forget the street meat 🙂

I seriously should have been a teenager in the 80’s!