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I just spent the last two hours working on a blog post. As a mom that's precious time to find. It felt like magic to carve that time out. I saved the post. I schedule it to be published tomorrow. I hit publish and I made sure to hit save again. AND still somehow blogger has ruined everything and deleted the post. So there's that. Thanks blogger.
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Monday: Corn Chowder
Tuesday: Sweet Bourbon Chicken, baked sweet potatoes, zucchini pizza bites & pot stickers
Wednesday: Potato & Cheddar Soup with baguette
Thursday: Gnocchi with sausage & veggies
Friday: Garlic Marinaded Chicken with veggies & rice
Saturday: YOYO
Sunday: Leftovers
Sticking with my healthy eating goals, I make extra sauteed peppers and zucchini that I eat in place of the carbs served - no pot stickers, gnocchi or rice for me! Thankfully I love the way that tastes instead. I have two eggs scrambled with some egg white for breakfast every morning and a salad every day for lunch. I love my food routine.
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I often miss Island life. I LOVED living in
Port Alberni and Nanaimo. I liked living in Victoria, but LOVED Port Alberni
and Nanaimo. Mostly because of the island around it – the location is amazing.
There’s something about rivers, lakes, trees and Tim Hortons that makes me so
happy. It’s green here. Not the lawns, BC has a water shortage, but the trees
and the mountains…green. There’s blue. Sproat Lake, Cameron Lake, the Pacific
Ocean, rivers, etc. It’s fabulous. This is for sure my happy place. On top of
the people and topography I love the restaurants and shopping. In Port there are so many options
(considering the town is only 20,000 population): german, “chinese”, swale
rock, clam bucket, Pescadores, etc. In Nanaimo (population 109,000) there are
even more; Pipers Pub, Acme, Modern Café, etc. It’s fabulous. I love the food,
the people, the land. The Island is my home. The island is my happy place.
Vancouver has my life, my friends, my
community, my family but the island will always be my home, my happy
place. If the ferry weren’t so expensive to go on I’d be over far more often.
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This weekend I visited my home town – it is
a small town, not overly remarkable on it’s own but the people and the location
make it wonderful. Just 20 minutes from town is the best lake ever….like in the
world. I’m pretty sure that’s a scientific fact. It’s big enough to rarely feel
crowded and yet despite how big it is it’s warm! In fact it is the only lake
that Paul is allowed to throw me into – which he does every time we come. I was
visiting this time with my sister so there was no danger of me being thrown in.
There was a danger though, of me not making it over. Ferries are a tricky thing
– I grew up on an island. This teaches you something. The expression “hurry up
and wait” is used often. I tried to make reservations a month before coming but
they were all booked up (they only reserve a certain section of the boat in
advance). Thankfully there are extra
sailings on a holiday weekend so I planned to be at the boat with Avelynn by
8:30am (I arrived by 8:40am – pretty decent for travelling with baby) so that I
could arrive just after the second ferry of the day, but before the extra
9:55am sailing, and the regular 10:40 sailing, so that even if there was a wait
I could get on the 10:40 or the 12:40…wow this is scintillating, eh? Anyways I
made it on the 10:40am ferry, arriving in Nanaimo at 12:30pm.
You know what was fun though? I waited at
the terminal for 2 hours (not bad at all) but ended up with some big
poop-splosions. Avelynn pooped, and it was EVERYWHERE. I was in a line, not
knowing when I’d need to move again, trying to change her diaper and deal with
the poop that was on her, on her arms, legs, on her carrier insert, on her
clothes….poop all over the place. I managed to get her clean, pack away all the
poop clothes and pack her back into her carseat all before the line moved
again. Phew. Oh poop.
The trip has been so wonderful, poop aside.
Relaxation, lake time, small town life. Time with my sister and baby and so
many friends from my past. Lovely. We attended the church I was a baby in, attended a party with family friends, and had two lake days, sister and sister plus baby. Plus we stayed with Jenna's friend Tonielle and her house is rad, plus she is rad, and she's a wonderful host. It was a wonderful time.
Dinner at Gina's! So happy.
Catching up with my friend Lisa - friends since 13! That's a total 19 years!
Our first lake stop is at the provincial park. A lack of shade had us camped out near the water with a makeshift shelter for Avelynn to stay cool in.
Shade + fan = napping baby
Next lake stop - Taylor Arm Provincial Park
We met up with a super famous internet baby...or really the adorable baby who our friend from high school has and is super cute on facebook. Not only did we get to hang out with them briefly but they passed us onto their super shadey spot, perfect for babies.
The spot was perfect - tent for baby, shade for us all, water just steps away
Avelynn was enjoying the time, I'm sure.
Auntie & Avelynn take to the water
My college friend Crystal joined us - so lovely.
Last but not least I got to have breakfast with my two best junior high friends - I've known Jenny since we were in grade 5 - that's 22 years!
I've known Amy since we were 12 - that's 20 years!
Amy & Jenny were my friends through junior high, high school and college. We spent hours laying on Amy's trampoline looking up at the stars while talking and dreaming. Band trips, adventures, walks home from school - they were some of my first real friends and I'm so glad we're still connected! Plus Jenny's sister Stephanie was able to join us, and Amy's daughter Kenzie came too!
Also....after we left the restaurant I moved a bib. Under the bib....next to my baby's carseat. A mouse. A dead mouse. A gift from the cat where we stayed. Sooooo gross.
All in all, a super great weekend.
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Also noteworthy, Avelynn is a super cutey.
First time in the bumbo!
Avelynn & Mom - adventure time for mom and baby
Adorable sleeping baby. A little deer.
First time in a high chair
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Speaking of cute things, my friend Jodi is in town for the week. We got to have lunch with her and Stefany and it was great. Avelynn loved finding a red headed friend and hanging out with Stef (and the two babies in her belly!).
Stef, Tara, Jodi & Avelynn
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I mentioned last week that after 2 and a half weeks cracking down on my health and getting to the gym and adding in regular exercise I had lost 5 pounds and a few inches and was feeling fabulous. In the past week I haven't gained but I haven't lost. I'm thankful for the support of friends and family on this quest for health and the reminder that I can keep going even when the results aren't exactly as quick or major as I'd hoped. There have been easy days and hard days but at the end of it, the days I make healthy choices are the days that my body feels the best. The days that I eat crap (like today with 2 pieces of pizza over lunch) I feel like crap. I needed a nap and my stomach felt not great. A big reminder that it's not about weight but about actually feeling great.
