Finding your happiness

Last night I was in bed reading one of those Chicken Soup For The Soul books. As I finished reading a truly inspiring story about a dying girl with a truly remarkably positive outlook on life, I closed the pages and fell asleep thinking about how I'm going to cherish each day and enjoy living every moment while I still get them.
And then today happened...

1. I slept in
2. I realized I forgot to take chicken out of the freezer for dinner last night
3. The coffee I bought was not right
4. I had a frustrating day at work (I'm not blogging the details)
5. I bought a quilt block ruler on my way home only to get home and discover it was broken
6. The chicken didn't thaw out in the fridge
7. I overcooked the meatballs I cooked instead
8. I realized I didn't have any tomato paste left so my sauce was too runny
9. We are out of decaf coffee

Ok, so I realize that some people in this world have real problems and that mine are so minuscule that they shouldn't even register... But SERIOUSLY... Come ON universe.... Please... Not so much in one day!

I'd like to say that I'm going to start tomorrow off on a more positive note, but I have a dentist appointment. At 8am. I'll start the day after with a smile.

Good night moon.

Posted with Blogsy

OMG I'm a grown up!

I'm going to be 30 in a couple weeks. Turning 30 has me starting to reflect a lot more on what I want, what makes me happy, and what I'm spending my TIME on.  In my smash book, I created a list of 30 things I want to do the year I turn 30.  Some of the things are bigger to-do's, and some of them are just simple things that can be done in an afternoon... things I always say I'm going to do but never get around to doing. Some things I've done before and I know they make me happy so I know I want to make a point of doing them again.

1. Go to where the palm trees are (Will be doing this both in October AND March!)
2. Throw an awesome party
3. Get another tattoo
4. Take a circus class
5. Pay off debt (If all goes as planned, should be around November!)
6. Bake a rainbow cake
7. Go on a road trip (Running out of vacation time for next year, so it might be a short one!)
8. Plant a garden (I can not wait to eat all those vegetables!)
9. Take a crafty workshop (Stained glass, glass blowing, pottery, etc.)
10. Make a quilt (Already chosen a pattern!)
11. Host a girly margarita day (To enjoy my back yard)
12. Go to BodyBlitz 4 times to max out my RMT benefits
13. Make an awesome Halloween costume (I'm always so last minute on this one.)
14. Print our wedding photos (It's been a year and a half...)
15. Take a hoola hoop class (I just signed up for a 4 week class starting in a few weeks!)
16. Blog at least once per week (Lucky you reader! Lucky you!)
17. Roller skate at least 250KM OUTDOORS. (So regular indoor practices don't count!)
18. Go to the beach (locally).
19. Try a new type of food
20. Make Sourdough (See here)
21. Watch a sunset (This is a reminder to myself to slow down and enjoy every day.)
22. Get really good at eyeshadow
23. Make creme brule
24. Surprize a friend with dinner and drinks
25. Ride a roller coaster
26. Finally go on a Niagara wine tour.
27. Make ice cream
28. Be REALLY good at my job.
29. Write more letters to people
30. Surprize myself.

That last one is a reminder to myself to push my own limits. I play it safe too often. I'm not looking for one particular moment that I think will count for that. But when I turn 31 I want to look back and say "Wow, what  great year, I did so much I didn't think I could do."

Merry Ho Ho Ho!

I've been trying to think about something to write about for the last couple days. I'm coming up dry.  I have nothing to rant about, no funny stories to share right now, life is busy getting ready for Christmas.  We have a lot of driving around to do over the next two weeks as we go back and forth between family visits and home.  So I'll just say
Merry Christmas!


Please binge drink responsibly.


And here is a picture of my favourit Christmas show.

Damn it's cold here. But not that bad.

I've just spent the last 3 nights in Whitehorse on a work trip. I was not feeling very optimistic coming up here. Of course I was confident that the work part of the trip would be ok (and it was), but I was not sure how I would cope with being in a small town so far north in the winter.

So I packed my warmest sweaters. I bought new winter boots. And I brought mittens that are good to -30. The temperatures while i was here fluctuated between -26 and -30. Now keep in mind that I spent most of my time indoors. Outside time was limited to smoke breaks and a bit of time outdoors in the evenings shopping downtown.

It is dry here. Which actually made the cold a little more bearable. In Toronto, when it goes cold it is damp. You feel it deep in your bones and you can not get warm no matter how man layers you wear. Here, as long as I bundled up I was fine. The exposed skin on my face hurt a little bit after about 5-10 minutes outside, but I was never outdoors any longer then that.

In the end, I'm actually really happy I got to come here and see this northern part of our country. It is beautiful. And the people are so friendly.

I don't have too many photos, but here are a few to share:

From my hotel lobby. I stayed at the Best Western Gold Rush Inn. I'm not going to write a whole review on it, but let's just say it is exactly what you would expect from a Best Western. A clean bed and a clean bathroom, and friendly staff. Nothing else.

Main Street at night is beautiful. The trees are coated in ice and when they hang the lights off of them it is stunning. I would never be able to capture it with any sort of justice using my iPhone. But I tried.

And I got myself a gift! Earrings made from the ivory of wooly mammoth tusks! My understanding is that when the mammoths died they were preserved under the permafrost and are found during mining.

I would love to come back To Whitehorse in the summer time and see the midnight sun. I was a little disappointed that I did not get to see the northern lights while I was here. Activity was low this week and it was cloudy at night.

So all that is left to do now is pack up my suitcase and head to the airport. Happy to have insisted but certainly ready to go back to Toronto where he forecast for this weekend says plus 10 degrees!

Posted with Blogsy