Lazy Days

I pre apologize to all of you reading this whom are not currently on vacation.

Have you ever noticed how everything is a bit sweeter when you take a much needed break. 8 hour sleeps feel that much more luxurious. Showers are more energizing. Coffee is that much more delicious. Books are more exciting. Time ticks to a more pleasant beat. Salads are that much crisper and yogurt that much richer.The smaller most mundane items are rejeuvenated to being special again.

I am some number of days in -  less than 5 - have already lost count - to my vacation. Did a little work on the plane and logged into email twice to send that work back to the office and grab a couple more docs from Kai. I have not read any other emails - even the subject - and my phone email is completely disconnected. If they are desperate they know how to text me - and so i turn my phone on to receive texts once a day.

I miss Jimmy like crazy and wish he could have joined me. But I know we will come back here together one day.

In the meantime - I am drinking in every minute of this time away. Time to read and to lounge poolside, soak in that vitamin D, my workouts are now swimming and water aerobics style, I have that second cup of coffee, walk at a leisurely pace (well not so much yesterday but you can read about that here), eat meals on the patio, chat with a dear friend and just be whole in every moment.

At home in my daily work life - I am rarely ever whole in that moment. I am always performing tasks thinking about what is next, what this impacts, what this adds to my to do list, how to utilize this to our advantage. So to sit here wholly in the moment is such a refreshing delight.

And on that thought - it is time to update the travel blog and then head to the pool. My coffree is half way done so I know the timing will be perfect. Oh and for those of you wondering - jet lag is nill now - yay!

Sorry for the quasi sappy post but it is kinda true today. Wish you all could have joined me here - it really is such a treat.

Counting Down to 40

Jimmy turned 39 this year so we had to celebrate his last year in his 30's in style. A helicopter ride, a hike on a mountain top followed by a delicous dinner all with great friends seemed like the perfect way to do it.

 
The views were incredible. We had never seen the mountain tops from this vantage point before.

Flying over the mountains felt a little bit like a crazy roller coaster when we hit the wind channels that curve over the top.

We landed at broken lakes and went for a little hike.

You will notice I cropped out my 'flood' ski pants. I even have boys ski pants and they still aren't long enough for these legs!

 We finished our day at the Iron Goat Pub & Grill in Canmore. The food was delicious and the mountain view incredible. Would certainly recommend it! You can check out their website here. Tim, Tanya and I all went with the Kobe 'Oscar' Burger (house-made with kobe beef, lobster, blue crab, provolone, tomato, tarragon mayo, ciabatta) and were not disappointed!

Mirror mirror on the pillar . . .

Keely, the beautiful daughter of my dear friend Shannon got her braces off this week. I was so excited for her as it instantly took me back to a fabulous day in Regina when I experienced the very same thing.

I don't remember how old I was, I don't remember if it was summer or winter but I do remember standing in the Army and Navy looking in the mirrored pillars while mom and dad shopped for something (probably work jeans) for Dad in the men's department.

You see braces are awkward. They cut up the inside of your lip, it is hard to play sports, you have constant canker sores, you can't eat a bunch of foods and you truly feel like you have ball bearings in your mouth. You face structure looks so different - your nose is flattened weirdly, your lips puff out, your cheeks are fuller - all in all you have a totally different profile. And as a female teen/tween it's a hard time. You don't have the confidence in yourself, you can't always see beyond the present and you have no idea what you 'should' look like since your development years have included these big icky metal braces.

So the day I got them off - all i could do was stare in the mirror. Look at my profile. Check out my smile. Run my tongue over my smooth teeth. Smile again. Dad could have shopped for hours and I would have been happy to just stare at that mirrored pillar. It was at the back of Army and Navy - with that distinct smell in the air. In the old store off Dewdney. The store may no longer exist in Regina. And you don't see mirrored pillars very often anymore - but that memory is still so vibrant in my mind.

Shan said Keely did the same thing. Of course it wasn't Army and Navy but rather the orthodontist office. But I am sure she was filled with the same emotion, same excitement, same relief to find that your nose and puffy lips don't stay that way.

Congrats Keely - you are a gorgeous girl and one day will look back at this memory and grin like a fool. You might even still run your tongue along your teeth - I find that I still do whenever I am reminded of that moment.

Coyote hunting they say?.

Jimmy and I got a little bonus Flames game in on Thursday. And what a treat it was - it was the most fun game of the season. Complete with a little Iggy dance:



The Coyotes were in town but Calgary was't backing down.

And of course we got some ice cream. A game at the dome isn't complete without a little ice cream for the third period!!

Sitting on the couch with my husband of almost a year (eep) drinking hot chocolate watching the flames.

The floor needs to be washed.
My hair could be blow dried.
Taxes are waiting.
Shirts to iron.

But tonight . . . it isn't a priority.

Tonight, I choose spending time with you my love!

When Life Seems Busy

I read a  great post this week on being 'too busy'. The author suggests that to understand where your time is being spent you should start cataloguing your days. People often work less than they think they do, cutting back on Facebook would allow them to fit in their gym time, swap a little fluffy TV time for reading that book that they are dying to get to.

You can read it in full here.

The paragraph that stood out the most was the last one:

Change your language. Instead of saying "I don't have time" try saying "it's not a priority," and see how that feels. (Are you as busy as you think? By Laura Vanderkam)

Hmmm, how different would my days look if I evaluated my time more purposefully. What if I  didn't clean the bathroom this weekend because it was not a priority? (I kinda didn't) What if I chose to spend time with Sarah and her beautiful babies because it is a priority? (I kinda did)

It feels like Jimmy and I have spent a lot of energy since Christmas trying to prioritize better: vitamins, working out, healthier meals, flossing. LOL - baby steps we know - but cut us some slack. It hasn't been easy since work has been crazier than I would have liked (and I can't exaggerate this one).

However, after reading this article, I have found myself pondering my choices. I am a queen of multi-tasking so I can check Facebook and read the blogs I follow while commuting to work. I can clean the living room and bake muffins while catching up on a show. (That is why commercials were invented).

But what else can I do to ensure I don't miss those work outs? To be a better long distance friend? To enjoy our second year of marriage even more than we did our first?

When life is busy . . . I will choose what is my priority.

You might wonder

Where have I been? What is new? Why did I drop off the blog world for so long? When am I going to return?  Who has captured the priority of  my time over keeping all you lovely firends updated?

Well let me tell you - I have returned. I dropped off due to work commitments that kept me hopping day and night. I wasn't far - in fact sitting in this exact same spot and often times typing on this exact same keyboard - just not on the same links. My fabulous clients and colleagues have heard from me a lot - I am sure they would say too much. And as for what is new? Well let me share:

• I had my first helicopter ride
• Achieved a HUGE project milestone at work (thanks to a wonderful team)
• Met a couple new little snuggle bugs that God has blessed my friends with
• Hung out in the beautiful town of Fernie
• Made it home for Christmas
• Got a new camera lens - a zoooooom lens - eep
• Superbowl parties, birthday parties and quiet evenings in with friends
• Enjoyed a weekend away with Jimmy in Banff
• Planned a girls get away with Kim (meeting up with her in Singapore and then heading out from there)

I will do my best to highlight a few of these excitements in subsequent posts. It isn't much for 5 months and I am hoping to turn that around for the next 5 months. Oh well - sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

Happy Hump Day!!!