Addicted to the Gym

Good morning lovelies!

The new year is off to an interesting start. I have to say, I hate winter. It seems to drag me down and bum me out, and I become a bit of a hermit during this cold, dark time. I stay at home, I eat too much because I have nothing to do, and then I feel gross. I'm really, REALLY trying to break this habit, and all I can do is keep trying, right? RIGHT!

One great thing that I've started doing is that I've signed up with a personal trainer. This has forced me to start weight training again. I got out of the habit, and to be honest, I always felt like I really didn't know what I was doing. I have been going to the gym for years, and yet I still felt like I had no clue. Leah is teaching me how to do full-body workouts where I'm maximizing my time. I am going to try to record what do at the gym on here, so I remember the workouts, because the day will come when I no longer have a trainer, so I want to remember all this awesomeness!




Last week, she designed a program that I do myself twice a week. I did that. Then I see her once. That's my weight training for the week. On top of all that, I can do as much cardio as I choose and my body can handle. I counted, and I went to the gym 10 times last week! I go to the gym at lunch too, as I have an hour mandatory lunch and what else do I do? So...

Monday- morning-cardio (1 hr on elliptical). Lunch-cardio (30 min on elliptical)
Tuesday-morning-Trainer. Lunch-cardio (30 min on elliptical)
Wednesday-morning-swimming. Lunch cardio (30 min, 3 km walk)
Thursday morning-weights (workout from trainer). Lunch-cardio (30 min. interval cardio on elliptical)
Friday-morning-break. Lunch-cardio (30 min. interval cardio on elliptical)
Saturday-Day off
Sunday-30 min cario and workout from trainer


Sounds amazing right?! So the way I figure it, if I can JUST get my eating under control, I'll be an all-star! So I'll keep trying, plugging away, to do my best, and to remember to...eat how I want to feel!


Yesterday,
Monday-Morning-break. Lunch-30 min cardio (interval on elliptical)
Tuesday-Morning-Trainer. Lunch-30 min cardio (elliptical)

My other goal is to get back into running. I really dont know if it can happen, as my ankle was twinging as I was sprinting on the track this morning, but I'm going to try. Maybe it just needs to build in strength again. I'm thinking a 10 km will by my limit.


This post is getting crazy long, so I'll be back with my workout from this morning.

Muah!
Shauna

HaPpY nEw YeAr!

Hello friends! Happy new year! Welcome to 2010. A new year, a new decade, a fresh new start!

My holidays started out very busy. Gareth and I hosted Christmas day for the first time so our holidays were very busy to start out with. After christmas things calmed down, and we relaxed, slept, visited with friends, and just enjoyed our time. It was great! During that time I had the chance to think about my life right now, where it is, where it's heading, and where I want it to head. I thought of some key things I can work on, update, think about, to make my life a little better. You could say they are New Year's resolutions, but since I do this from time to time anyway, you could just call them improvements ;)

Work

1. Be at work 10 minutes early every day. This will give me time to get my breakfast ready, my tea poured and brewed, and for me to be sitting in my desk ready to go for 8 am.

2. Dress professionally Monday-Thursday. Jeans on Fridays only, and even on jeans' day remember I'm going to work, not to a football game. It's really easy for me to start wearing jeans and hoodies to work every day as a lot of people dress like that. But their jobs are different than mine, and I am in a role that I should be portraying a professional image.

3. Be thankful I have a job. I have an income. I have stability. Stop complaining about how crappy it is, because some people are a lot worse off than me. Think of the positives.

Health

1. Eat how I want to feel. I want to feel good, so I need to eat good. When I eat junk, I feel like junk.

2. Workout to make my body strong, able & capable. Start thinking first and foremost about making my body healthy, not just thin.

3. Workout on a regular basis. Out of bed and to the gym 3 mornings a week, minamum. This makes me strong, makes me healthy, and wakes me up.

House

1. Put my laundry away!

2. Keep my stuff tidy always, instead of once a week. It's easy to put the mess away as we go.

Number 1 Goal

Save for New Zealand! When I want a new top, new shoes, new whatever, think of New Zealand. It's so worh it. When I was there before, these are the views I experienced (just in case you're wondering why this is so important):

Our goal is to get work visas and be there for a year. So this year will be prep for next year! It will also be to have a great year.

We have some exciting things coming up. My sister in law and her husband are having a two week holiday in Banff comin up (they're English) so we're heading to Banff next weekend. That's the most exciting!

I am going to sort through some photos from the past little bit and I will share some with you soon.

Oh ya, and I'm going back to my original goals on here, so I'll be blogging more!

xox Shauna

Back for the Holidays!

Hello my friends!

If you're still with me, I thank you. I know I havent been keeping up with this blog, and I dont have much of an excuse. Except for the fact that for a little while I really felt like life was kicking my butt, and sometimes I feel like people don't need to hear a lot of negative stuff. People like to hear positives, and that's usually what I try to project. But every once in a while life gets you down and that's just the way it is.

I am happy to report that the long line of unexpected disasters has come to a close, and we are levelling off right now. Gareth is back to work (yay!) with the promise of news on his residency application 3 months away. It's exhausting to constantly hear that I'm blowing things out of proportion, and he should automatically be accepted into the country now that we're married. Guess what folks, life's not like that! The process is working in his favor so that's all that matters right now.

I am now driving a new/old car, as I got my parents old vehicle from them. I am back driving the car that they had when I got my liscence at 16. It's has 4x4 and a car starter, so that should have been a "gimme, gimme!" kinda deal, right? But let me tell you, when you're struggling as much as I have been, giving up one more piece of independence (my very first car) and feeling like you're regressing (going back to the car you drove before you couldn't even legally drink) is a tough one. I really struggled with that. Finally swallowed my pride and exchanged the two (I hope gracefully). So that bug got worked out. Then Gareth was given a work truck, so there's another worry off our shoulders.

THEN to top it all off, we bought a new oven! Gareth searched and found a crazy sale, and it finally came in last week. Just in time for Christmas! Four months without an oven is NOT fun, but we got through, and now it's all over!

Luckily I seem to be coming out of my funk just in time for the best time of the year. Christmas is my favorite holiday as it's all about friends, family, and QT. I'm all about a little QT. My tree is up, our stockings are hung, and now we're just waiting for Santa to come!

We spent Saturday night with some great friends. We hosted a potluck and it was a great night! I am forever reminded of how lucky I am to have great friends in my life, who are wonderful. I feel so lucky right now!


Christmas is going to be a relaxing time this year. I shall return tomorrow with our plans.

I know I have neglected this for a while, but a new year's resolution is to keep up with it.

Back tomorrow!

Love and kisses,
Shauna xox

It's Been a While...

Hello faithful followers,

I bet you have been better at checking in than I have been at writing! Things have been crazy busy with me. Things haven't been too much fun, and I haven't felt like dumping on you all!

Alas, there have still been things to update you on, which I will slowly do the next week.

Gareth and I shared our 5th year together on October 30. We usually go for a nice, romantic dinner to celebrate. This year I planned things just a little different.

First off, we went and played black light mini golf. The decorations are fantastic! We had a blast.



Gareth won this round...so as of right now he's in the lead. But I will fight back!

After our rousing game, we headed over to the Fulton Burger Company for dinner. It's a gourmet, New York style hamburger joint.

Dinner was so good! We stuffed our faces and it was worth it!

Gareth enjoyed his :)

Happy 5 years babe. Here's to always having fun together.

I'm off to another work event, so that's all for today. I promise I will be back soon for more updates

Shauna xoxo

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Happy Friday everyone!

I have a busy day at work today, as we are carving pumpkins and having a pizza lunch. I said busy, not productive!

This day means a lot more to me than just the day before halloween though. It's mine and Gareth's 5 year anniversary! I know, I know, we're married now, so why am I still counting this one? Because it's special! And it's a milestone! And it's an excuse to go on a date ;)...as if we need an excuse :P

Anyway, I thought it might be fun for us...okay for me, to have a little walk through memory lane, photo style.

This is either the very first, or one of the first photos we have with each other. Adelaide, Australia, at the Grace Emily pub. 2004


Back in Canada, going to Bar None, a yearly party put on by the Agriculture students at the U of A.

New Year's eve! I'm going to say 2006.

My trip to the UK to meet the family!! We did some sightseeing as well ;)

Stonehenge

The night before I ran my first half marathon! 2008

And of course...

Wedding day!! August 8, 2009

And our honeymoon xx

So there you have it! We've done tons, we've been a lot of places and changed a bit I think!

Happy anniversary babe, love you lots!

Shauna xoxox

Vino!

Hello my friends!

Remember yesterday I said that I was doing something last night that was on my "Makes me Happy" list? Welllll...I went to a wine tasting! And yes, wine makes me happy!

Most of you know this, but my dad makes wine. The store that he buys the kits from hosted a wine tasting night, and it was fabulous!

There was a little slideshow telling us about the different kinds of wine they were offering, and which foods went best with what. Then we got to taste some of the wine! The best part (other than actually drinking the wine) was that they paired a little nibbly food to every wine to have with it. For example, there was a beautiful Blanca Quartet (white wine made from 4 different grapes). They paired it with hummus and a pita, and it was delish!

We also got to taste a Shiraz with dark chocolate. My fam with that tasting!

I had so much fun at this event! The crazy thing is that they paired some reds with sausage, and some with chocolate. I would have no idea which should go with a dessert and which should go with a meat! I don't know very much at all about reds. I've taken the time to get to know my whites, but not my reds. So I have NO idea how to pair reds up with foods. And if I'm going to be totally honest, I don't know how to pair whites up either. I just buy what I like, and that's that. This wine & food tasting helped me realize how much food can change the taste of the wine. I think this is fascinating! Okay, yes, I'm a geek. But it is! Think about it...you probably shouldn't be drinking the same white wine when you have salmon for dinner compared to when you have, say, hummus. But I don't know which one goes with which!

I have decided I am going to read up on this, get to know my wines better, and then start pairing them accordingly. If I can make my meals better with my wine, why wouldn't I?

This is my empty glass from last night. Doesn't it look lonely? I think I filled it back up soon after this shot ;)

So have a glass of wine tonight and think of me!

Shauna xoxo

The Grump is Gone!

Hello my friends!

First off I would like to apologize for my absense last week. To be very honest with you, I just didn't have anything good to say! I pretty much felt like this guy:

I was just having a bad week! I was grumpy, I was moody, and there was no pulling me out of it. I tried talking to people about it, I tried talking to myself, I tried working out, but nothing worked. I was just grumpy! Gareth was ready to make me this t-shirt:

BUT I have decided that grumpy time is OVER! There is no need to be miserable all the time, regardless of the situation. Right?! And there's no need making things worse than what they are. Right?! I have to make the best of the situation, make the best of our current set of cirumstances, and make the best of my life!

So to everyone who had to put with me last week, I'm sorry! To all of you who didn't come in contact with me, consider yourself lucky

Weekend

We had a fun weekend! Friday night I went on a haunted hike with my friend and her sons, it was awesome! Saturday night we celebrated a friend's birthday, which Gareth blogged about his presents:

Who wouldn't want homemade oreos as a birthday gift?! Yep, homemade oreos! The recipe is an old one from my Grandma, but you can't have it! Ok...I'll share it if you ask!

Here is Justin's birthday cake!

And that was the gist of the weekend! Oh, we finally finished off our bedroom suite with the final missing dresser. This one is mine to use, and I LOVE it! The drawers are fantastic. Perhaps I'll snap a photo and show you guys!

I've been reading over my "Things that Make me Happy" list, and I am going to make sure that I do something everyday to make me happy! I have a plan for tonight, that falls into my list. Wanna know what it was? Come back tomorrow!

Muah!

Shauna