Not a glamour shot!

I realized the other day, while skimming through pictures I have taken over the past month and a half, that there are zero pictures of me. So, tonight I took a couple unflattering shots of myself. When I say unflattering it is due to the fact that I had just finished putting my daughter back to sleep 7 times, scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees, washing a mountain of dishes, and chasing my chickens into their pen. NOT a glamour shot.

Hmmmm right now I am sitting her eating the most delicious strawberry rhubarb muffin slathered with apricot jam. Oh, and did I mention I just polished off the fantastic Norwegian chocolate bar I received in the mail. So, yes, I am a little off track.... or a lot off track, but tomorrow evening I will be lacing up my shoes and going for a good run. It just so happens that I am thoroughly enjoying running. Often when I work out I wear headphones to keep myself pumped and /or distract me what I am actually doing.. ie: brutalizing my body. However, when am running in the meadow I don;t want noise in my ears. I find myself relishing the silence as well as the simple sounds..... the wind rustling though the aspen and the mountain blue birds calling to each other. The soft earth feels good under my feet and the sun is warm on the thirsty skin. And so, I plod along huffing and puffing but smiling all the while. One day I will be in shape again, but until then I will just enjoy being outdoors and breathing the mountain air.... and eating muffins at 10pm at night.



Aside from the above mentioned household "duties" I managed to squeeze in some time to:

.......put my daughter's favorite butterfly into a shadow box so she doesn't maul it more than she already has - (note the missing part of the wing)



.... make a card for my friend Cristina




..... bake the muffins I am now scarfing down




And now I am off to bed. Adios!

Feeling a little blue .....

I woke up feeling a little sad today. The sun is shinning, I had a yummy breakfast of cereal, strawberries and peaches, my baby is snoozing peacefully..... but I still feel a little sad. Perhaps it is because one of my husband's troop mates died earlier this week and he will be flying to Alberta to attend her funeral. It has been a hard week for him and a sobering week for me. When the detachment commander called to let me know that she had died, I felt shaky all morning. Only 7 months ago I watched her graduate depot with all the other cadets, hopeful and looking forward to her hard earned career with the RCMP. She was only 25 and newly married. Such a sad loss. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to loose Nathaniel, and yet I can't let myself dwell on the "maybes and "what.ifs". I am determined to not let fear dictate or hinder my life. I have done, and will continue to do things that others may deem "dangerous" because I believe that life is meant to be a great adventure or nothing at all.

I am proud of my husband and supportive of his choice to be an officer, despite the fact that he is in dangerous situations on a regular basis. I would rather have a happy husband who feels challenged in his work than one who is bored out of his mind at a "safe" job. I know what kind of man I married.... the kind that jumps out of the trees that grow on cliffs, picks up scary bugs, heli logs, eats bizarre things, hunts wild animals, and lets himself get pummled by waves.....

Some scenery

The other day when i was driving home from Williams Lake I couldn't help but be captivated by the beauty around me. This is one of the bridges I drive over on our haul into town for groceries every week or so.



When we first arrive everything was brilliant white and sparkly. Once the snow melted I was a little depressed at how brown and dead everything looked. Now that the rains have arrived the hills have exploded with flowers and lush greenery. My eyes can't get enough of it. I am humbled by the beauty of God's creation, awed by his heart and inspired.



I didn't take any of these photos, but I wanted to show you a little bit more of what my world looks like. One of these days I will remember to lug my camera along with me and capture some more scenery. I am looking forward to taking pictures while horseback riding.

Chilco Ranch

The other day we visited Chilco Ranch, which belongs to a new friend of Nathaniel's. It covers over a million and a half acres.Being able to visit ranches is still a bit of a novelty for me. Where I grew up the only thing I was accustomed to seeing was fish farms on . I love seeing all the farming equipment, watching the hay bales formed, seeing the cows grazing, peeking up into the hay loft..........





I find barns particularly intriguing. I think it may have something to do with all those years of watching the Road to Avonlea as a child. I also love the shape of barns and hope that one day Nathaniel and I can build a barn style home.

I still get tremendously excited when I see cowboys herding wayward cattle along the highways. There is going to be a rodeo this summer in Williams Lake and I am super excited to go. I'm looking forward to seeing the cowboys ride the bucking broncos.

Inconsistent.....

I was thinking today about how terribly inconsistent I am. I begin many things, but rarely do I see them through. I always have great intentions, and yet somewhere along the way I get distracted and sidetracked. Below is a list of some of the things I struggle with:

1. Exercise. Dah! I am incredibly inconsistent in this area. I will work out straight for a week and then not again for a couple of weeks. The only time I am consistent is when I am part of a running group or when I am signed up for a race. The fear of failing miserably on race day motivates me to train, but I shouldn't always be motivated by fear.

2. Eating healthy. For the most part I eat healthy but I know I still have areas of improvement. I find I eat really well when I am tracking my food/caloric intake on spark people.com but I rarely keep it up for more than two weeks.




3. Staying in touch with friends. (I am slowly getting better at this. I recently started a "card a month club" in which I make handmade cards and send out over a dozen to friends and family.




4. Keeping and Following a budget. I used to be REALLY good at this but over the years I have gotten lazy. I find that I tend to be more budget orientated when there is not much money or when I am saving up for something big that requires sacrifice.

Come to think of it though......there ARE a few things I have stuck through and they all happen be things that really matter to me.

1. Two years of selling books door to door to pay for my University Education. It has an intense, challenging job and I wanted to quit a million times but choose not to. When I graduated I was debt free!

2. Training for and completing a half iron man triathlon. I often had to train up to three hours outside in pouring rain. Not really my idea of a good time, but in the end, it was worth it.

3. Having a drug free birth. It was no cake walk and I could see how it would be easy to opt for pain relief if I was in a hospital, but I stuck it out and felt so good about it. In the process I learned how strong I was.

4. Marriage. I have been married for 6 years now. I have consistently done my best to be the best friend and wife to Nathaniel that I can be.



I am sure, or rather, I hope there are more things but those were the ones that came to mind today. What about you? What things are you consistent about and what things do you struggle with?

Routine

These days I have thinking a lot about our daily routine. What I like about it, what I want to change and so on... this is how our day unfolds:

5:00am - Amelia wakes up for a nurse and then goes back to sleep

6:30am - Amelia wakes up and I bring her into bed with me for half an hour for a cuddle and some more nursing.

7:00am - Get out of bed and make some tea (preferably peppermint or chamomile).

7:30am - Change a very soggy and usually poopy diaper and get Amelia dressed.

7:45am - Breakfast. Usually oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon. While Amelia is pre- occupied with her food I sneak into our bedroom (where Nathaniel is catching up on his sleep after a night shift) and put on my "workout gear".

8:00 - Eat breakfast and warm up the tea that I made much earlier in the day but have not yet finished. Clean up discarded oatmeal off the floor and Amelia.

8:15am - Go outside and collect eggs from our chickens. This happens to be a picture my friend Julie took. I was showing Eli how to pet "Priscilla".




9:00am - Nap time. Once Amelia has conked out I jump on my wind trainer and workout for about 30 minutes. Afterwards I do sit-ups, push-ups and my least favorite - squats. Blah! If Amelia is still sleeping when I am finished I usually tidy up my craft room and plan what I am going to work on in the evening...... or I just go and check facebook and some of my favorite blogs.

10:15 - Amelia wakes up and we usually go outside for a walk in the meadow near our house.



We feed the horses, check the mail. When we get back we usually wake up Nathaniel. Once he is awake Amelia follows him around the house. If he leaves her line of sight she yells "dadda" until he reappears.



1:30 - Second nap. I usually tidy up the house a bit, do some sewing and plan what we will be having for dinner.



2:30 - Awake. Another walk or playtime outside.

5:30pm - Dinnertime ie: BIG MESS

6:00pm - A bath or a shower followed by lots of cuddles, some nursing,and rough play with daddy. (I usually try to get the dishes done and put dinner away during this time.



7:15pm - Bedtime

7:30pm - MY TIME! ( I like to sew, scrapbook, read, hang out with my chickens, go horseback riding, watch a movie with Nathaniel, have some yogurt and frozen blueberries, read blogs, organize my house,

10:30pm -Bedtime for me (although I sometimes don't get to bed until sometimes 11:30 if I'm having too much fun.

What is your daily routine like.......

How I spent my birthday

I turned 28 yesterday.

I started the day with french toast and some fruit (blueberries and raspberries) drizzled with syrup. SO delicious. It makes me toes curl just thinking about it.



Afterwards I gave Amelia a box of Q-tips to destroy while I took a nice long hot shower.



Nathaniel made some food for himself and Amelia so that I could go out for lunch with some girlfriends. (I forgot to bring my camera). I had a chocolate cupcake afterwards insteatd of cake.



When I got home Amelia was napping and Nathaniel was writing me a card. The dishes were done and the house had been tidied up. Hmmm it is amazing how the simple things can make me so happy.

Later that afternoon I went for a long (mostly uphill) walk with a friend and fed some of the local horses. We made plans to do some riding and scrap booking later this week, which I am looking forward to.



We ate a low key dinner of spaghetti with lentils. I tend to cook vegetarian meals when Nathaniel is working evenings. After Amelia went to bed I watched "the hills". I am embarrassed to admit that I am slightly addicted to the drama. Their world is so different from my own and although I have no desire for such a lifestyle, I find it interesting to observe.

I played dress up in my room for the first time in a long time. I used to do it more often after a stressful day at work, but now I find I would rather do other things with my downtime. I took the opportunity to get ride of some items I have not worn in years.

For the love of felt.....

I have been a little crafty crazy over here for the past couple of days. I think it may have something to do with the fact that it has been raining and I have been indoors a lot more. As much as I love the rain, it has been nice to snuggle up with a good book, do some organizing, watch a movie or two and play in my studio. These are a couple little rose barrettes I made the other night.



Here is a close-up:



A little inspiration from a sweet daisy barrette my fried Heidi gave me when I visited her in Norway.



I'm toying with the idea of selling some of my little creations at our local craft/consignment store.



Here is a pin cushion I also made. I was delighted to finally figure out to do a blanket stitch. I am really interested in hand stitching these days.



Before the rains came Nathaniel and I planted our much anticipated garden(s). My husband deserves most of the credit as he is the one that did nearly ALL the work (ie: sifting the soil, turning it, building the garden beds, shoveling manure, planting and watering seeds in our basement, transplanting, putting fencing around the garden beds and fertilizing. Whew! I strongly doubt I would have any garden to speak of if it were not for all his hard work. My hubby may not be the most romantic, thoughtful creature in the world, but he builds and creates nearly anything I ask him to. I appreciate that about him :0)



I planted a few sunflowers, some sweet peas and a lot of potatoes. We didn't need to grow potatoes - we just used the ones that were sprouting in our pantry.



Here are a few things we hope to reap this summer: corn, leeks, golden potatoes, yams, peas, beans, zucchini, loads of cherry tomatoes, pumpkins, and some other squashes. In the meantime Amelia has been keen on eating the cow manure we recently added.