Week 7 Day 1

Today was a miserable day. We had to wake all too early, my girls didn’t even want to get up. The kids were tired from playing the night before, and yet games started at 9:00 a.m. with breakfast at 7:30 a.m. The poor kids. And to make it completely make it terrible the temperature was completely freezing, and it snowed, wet snow. The kids were tired, soaked, freezing, and the wind made it the worst it could get.

Our students actually made it to semi-finals. But we assured them that if they decided to quit, they would not be letting us down. I mean the weather condition was about the worst it could get. But our kids were troopers, playing through injuries, sliding on the ground, and shivering all the while. Until it got to a point that two of our good players couldn’t run anymore, and they finally understood they would not be letting us down if they quit. So they forfeited, and came inside. Some of the kids even had skin that was turning purple. I sent them immediately to warm up in sauna that was in the locker rooms. The kids were completely done and it wasn’t worth it anymore.

After the kids finished packing up and left, I actually ended up staying at a friend’s house because our staff had meetings in the same location the next day, so it wasn’t worth driving home for the night then driving back. Of course, this was just another day I didn’t see my husband, but we both rather I be safe, especially with the snow on the road.

I had an excellent night with my friend. Of course, those handy meals were still super helpful. But I did splurge and went out for supper with my friend to a restaurant I had never been to before. I had a salad and some Greek appetizers that I split with her. It was very, very good. But I did notice how full I felt afterwards. A little too full.

My friend had not been at the gym in quite awhile, and so I volunteered to go and train her. I didn’t get much of my own workout done, unfortunately, but I was able to show her many exercises for the different body parts so that she could know of some things to do while I was gone. I had so much fun training her!

I thought I had gone to bed at a fairly decent time, until her husband came home. I’ve known them both since high school, so of course I had to say hello to him. I didn’t quite expect it to turn into a few hours of talking about football, but it did. And so it was another very late night.

Week 5 Day 3

What a way to wake up this morning – sore as could be! My quads hurt. My glutes hurt. My back muscles were tight. Oh boy! But I knew it was for a good reason, and for that I smiled.

Today was the kind of day where I thought everything was going superb, but it ended up being not quite what I thought. I felt so good doing laundry, taking care of the animals, got some grading done, as well as some computer work. While I’m in the full work mode, I began to notice the time go a little quicker. In fact, it went way too quick and I all of a sudden was in a rush to get ready for work. In fact, it was so much of a rush, I didn’t realize until 2 minutes before I had to leave that today was picture retakes day. Oh no… I was supposed to get retakes done today. So I did the best I could in two minutes (mainly changed my top and tried to fix my hair) and ran out the door.

The rest of the day went pretty good, minus a student doing something utterly ridiculous. But honestly today was a good teaching day. I was quite satisfied with it.

After work, I had a dentist consultation. I had been moulded for Invisalign, and this was my consultation to see how long it would take, how much it would cost, etc. I think it’s almost always safe to say that it’s going to be more than what I would like to pay, but they are honestly treating me so well, charging me for the minimum and taking some discounts out. I’m going ahead with it. It’ll start in November and will take 10 months. Have you ever seen the technology they have to figure these things out? It’s incredible! I got to watch my teeth’s movements and progress ahead of time for the whole ten months! Check it out sometime. It’s amazing.

After that, I came home. I spent some time talking with my husband until he was too hungry to talk. He needed food and decided to go out.

Now here’s a tip if you want to go with a person but you don’t want to get off track. Look up the nutrition for the menu before you go AND eat something! I grabbed a banana knowing I’d need to eat one later so might as well fill myself some with it now.

At the restaurant I had a side garden salad with a chicken breast. I also had already assessed my macros and found I had just enough room for a tiny sundae! Oh how that made me happy. This was definitely my treat for the week and it fit right in my macros!

Following the restaurant, we came home and got ready for the gym. I was so sore that I debated whether I should actually go or not, but decided since I had already eaten my banana (a workout food, not eaten on non-workout days) then I needed to go. So I did 25 minutes of steady state cardio on the recumbent bike and rolled a lot afterwards.

Now for the exciting part, pictures of my meals for the day!

Meal 1

Chicken and egg burrito. Absolutely delicious!

Meal 2

Never had one of these before! So good!

A sneak peak of what they look like. So much different than normal!

Meal 3

Super filling! Rice/quinoa dish with broccoli and chicken. I think I may have over microwaved the chicken… it got a little dry!

Meal 4

(Oops… I may have eaten this one too. I have to get better at this picture taking business! This meal was homemade hummus with rice crackers, celery and carrots.)

Meal 5

Greek and Chicken Chop Salad. Yum!

Week 4 Day 7

It was so nice to be able to sleep in today! Especially after the events in the middle of the night.

I have moved 20+ times. I’m more accustomed to living in small towns or out in the country. However, since moving to the large city and living in buildings where crimes were committed, I feel a little “less safe”. I am very thankful to have dogs for this reason. They are a first warning, a first defence for any strangers trying to break in to my house. And when my dogs bark at around 1:30 in the morning? You better believe I think something is going on. My husband was in such a deep sleep he was answering my questions, but not really being awake. So I had to go downstairs to see what was going on. The problem was, I didn’t see anything. So either someone had been outside (it was a weekend night, so quite easy for someone drunk to be walking around) or something.

Now, the problem is I like to watch shows like CSI or Murdoch Mysteries. So many scenarios started playing in my head and I totally freaked myself out. I couldn’t sleep. I watched the clock until after 4 in the morning, praying the whole time that we would be safe from everything. And it is surely by God’s good grace that I was able to fall asleep sometime after 4. I am so thankful for a God that is willing to protect me and give me peace, even over such things as my own made-up fears.

After I spent a long time sleeping in, I got up and ate, did some more cleaning, In the afternoon, I started getting ready for the big show that evening. I was going to the Muscle Beach Fall Classic and going to see Dennis Wolf! How exciting!

So when evening came, my husband and I got ready, and headed out. We spent a little bit of time going to few booths they had there: Cellucor, My Muscle Meals, Bio X, Mutant, Muscle Beach, Xaocai, and a couple others. I waited until intermission to purchase these new protein cookies hand made and produced at some protein cafe that I hadn’t heard of before. Man, they were good! And to think they were made with cottage cheese… Normally I can’t stand cottage cheese with anything sweet, but you couldn’t even tell it was in there. It was so good!

After intermission, I was so happy! It was time for Mr. Dennis Wolf to grace the stage! Ah! I cannot tell you my excitement! He is probably my favourite male bodybuilder. I love his attitude, his dedication, and just everything. And after watching him in the movie Generation Iron, then watching him online compete at Olympia and seeing his awesome attitude of dancing in the confetti blast on stage, and actually being able to see him in person and get my picture with him? It was amazing!

He posed to the first song completely on stage. They gave him a break, then he posed to a second song while walking up and down the middle aisles of our venue. My husband was second away from the aisle, and I was third. How massive he was in person! And then getting my picture with him; he’s just pure muscle. That man is huge. It was such a good night!

Following that, my husband and I stopped at Boston Pizza for a quick bite to eat. No, after being so motivated by all the competitors on stage and knowing that is my goal, to be on that stage, it was not the greatest choice of places. But I was still able to make a good choice by getting a salad with chicken. You just gotta learn how to make the best of every situation!

I’m looking forward to my workouts this week and pushing as hard as I can. My 21 days of meals from Fresh Fit Foods starts tomorrow, and I’m just pumped for making the best of every minute. Motivation levels are higher than ever, here I go!

I Had A Decision To Make

Start with a previous night of lack of sleep.

Fall into hours of intense stress over a situation at work.

Follow with a husband who does not feel well and needs to nap.

Leading up to a very late hour to see if he will go to the gym with me.

That all ended up after 11:00 p.m., almost midnight, and finally got word from my husband that he won’t be going to the gym. So what do I do?

I start thinking that there is absolutely NO WAY because I’m so tired. I think about how I never feel safe out on the city streets during the night on my own. But then I start thinking differently.

I start thinking about whether I want to be dedicated or not. I think about the fact that I’ve had this goal body for so long and yet this could be just another chance for me to abandon that goal, even if just for the night. I think how I don’t really have work tomorrow (although I have things to do) so this late night could be made up for. And I think to Rob Bailey’s latest video, basically a tribute to my biggest fitness inspiration: Dana Linn Bailey. That’s the passion I want to have. I want to love fitness so much that I work as hard as I can for it. I would be happy if my life was fitness. Our dream is actually to own our own gym. And that video reminded me that to get where she wanted to go, she didn’t skip a workout. She may have cried, she may have been in extreme pain with extreme fatigue, but she still gave it every ounce of what she had.

(Watch the video here)

My mind was made up. I packed up and went to the gym.

Now, as I’m sitting home eating the remainder of my food, I’m so glad I made the decision to go to the gym. Yes, it’s after 3 in the morning now, but I feel good. I feel better that I made a good decision. I feel better that I stayed dedicated to what I want. I’m on track for my competition, and that’s the way I want it to stay!

Sad Gym Events: Prayers Requested

Tonight as I was walking into the women’s washroom, I noticed a printed poster on the wall. It was a picture of a woman’s hand with a ring on it. Some poor lady had lost her engagement ring at the gym. My stomach sank.

You see, a little over a year ago, I had stupidly put my wedding ring and engagement ring in my pocket and thought they would be safe while I worked out. You cannot imagine my horror to realize they were no longer in my pocket. Not only that, but to know that my husband was unable to work, and he had worked MONTHS at his last and final job to pay for those rings. I was ready to freak out.

Fortunately enough, I found one of them. It must have rolled out of my pocket and stopped over by another machine where I found it. But I still was missing one of them, and that’s when I told my husband what happened.

To say he was upset would be an underestimate. He was quite devastated. Especially looking upon the fact that my rings were worth several thousands of dollars and there were many people at the gym. How easy would it be for someone to pick it up and put it in their pockets? Way too easy.

I went and notified the front desk, notified the custodians, and continued to look many times over the gym, praying the entire time.

I cannot begin to tell you how blessed I was. A man came over and asked what I was looking for. I told him I had lost my ring. He asked me to describe it, and so I did. And lo’ and behold, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out my ring. Talk about a huge sigh of relief. How easy would it have been for someone to walk out the door with my ring in their pocket. I can tell you that I’ve never made that mistake again.

So seeing this poster hits home really closely. I feel for this woman. And to know the feelings that come with losing your ring; awful. So I’m going to pray and ask for extra prayer for this woman to find her engagement ring. The power of prayer can do extraordinary things!

We Finally Got It… And He’s Happy!

I never knew looking for a truck could be so stressful. It’s been 3 weeks. Two down payments and cancellations. And endless online and offline searching. I cannot even begin to tell you the amount of sleep we’ve lost and the amount of frustration we’ve endured. Truly endless. Or so it seemed.

One thing about trucks is they cost a lot, especially where we live. So the decision either came to 0% interest on a new truck that cost much more money, or be charged some interest on a used vehicle that may not cost as much money, but usually had a fair amount of mileage on it.

To add to the frustration, my husband has owned 3 trucks before and therefore was not willing to settle for something ridiculous. We also deal with a mad amount of winter (snowed the first week of September…) so having 4WD and other features was important. He also wanted a diesel which automatically lifts the price. Oh boy…

Slowly throughout the weeks, we whittled down a few things. One, that he didn’t want brand new because the price was so high. Two, that we were sticking with lower kms on a used truck. Three, that it had to be diesel. Four and almost decided from the beginning, it had to be a Dodge.

The problem came that we had to find a Dodge with low kms that was a diesel and not out of our price range and that was the true struggle. Prices for trucks are simply outrageous. And then one caught his eye online.

There was a silver Dodge, lifted (he likes lifted), rugged brand new tires, nice looking wheels, diesel, 15 000 km, only 2 years old, still covered by all the factory warranties, some cool features, and a very fraction of the price it would have been new. It’s still at the high end of our price range, but doable.

So we went to look at it to make sure it wasn’t just one of those circumstances where the vehicle looks awesome online, but there are tonnes of things wrong with it when we get there. Truth be told, it was exactly as it looked.

The dealer man met us, was incredibly nice, gave us the keys, told us to have fun, and was very friendly and easy to sit with to discuss the truck. It was a small used dealership, very family friendly. I mean seriously, the men were sitting around chewing Double Bubble. Not much more friendly than that!

The truck was great, and made my husband feel so happy. I of course venture on the thoughts of pricing and what it means to dedicate our finances to this vehicle for the next several years, but again, it is doable, and most importantly, it made him happy.

Don’t get me wrong, the truck is nice. Aside from a couple dings in the bed, and the absolutely tiniest bump in the door (the dealership agreed to pay for this), the truck is incredibly unused. My assumption would be that the person who previously owned it could no longer afford it. I mean this truck probably cost upwards of $60000-70000 brand new. But it runs nicely, it looks nice, and it’s huge. Oh my word is it huge! The thing’s a beast! But at least I know my husband will be safe driving around this soon-to-be-frozen-place we call home. It’s his new baby and he loves it and that’s what makes me happy.

Not the best picture, but it was taken late at night when we finally took it home. Makes the Challenger look tiny!

Have you ever experienced extreme stress trying to find a new vehicle? What obstacles did you face?

The New “Classroom Facebook”

This is for all of my fellow-educators! I have been introduced to the greatest program in the world. It’s free and all of your students will love it. It’s called: EDMODO.

Edmodo is designed like a Facebook. The difference being that the teacher is the creator of the group, and there are no private messages that can be sent between students. All messages are placed on the wall so that the teacher and all students can see it. Another difference is that it is totally safe! Nobody can join your group unless they have your specific group code, which I gave out to my students and their parents. This allows parents to be involved, and be alert of what is going on.

Using Edmodo, the teacher is able to do so many things! First of all, you can post assignments. How great is that! No child can say they didn’t know about an assignment anymore because it will be online! You can also post a quiz on there. Pop-quiz at home! How cool is that? You can also fill in a calendar so that your students will have an online reminder of all the events and important dates that are coming up. Of course since parents have access as well (if you give them the code), it serves as a great reminder for parents too! You can post polls, you can post alerts for important things, you can set up educational apps for your students to be able to select from and use to further their learning, and you can even post pictures of field trips. No more trying to send e-mails to the parents. Everyone can get them at once 🙂

Now one of my most favourite things I have noticed, is that students who do not understand their homework are now able to get in contact with me online. And if I’m not “on” at the time, any other student that may be on and does understand that part of homework can jump in and help. For parents who can’t help, now they can connect with people who can. This has served extremely well!

I don’t know if you can tell by now, but I am thoroughly excited about this program. I’ve only been using it in my class for a week, but it has already been so helpful with my students. And the best part is, it’s almost a guarantee that students will be logged on when they get home because, well, it’s just like a Facebook! They may just be too curious about what their classmates are posting to be able to avoid it 🙂

If you are a teacher, or could use this site for any other reason, I strongly recommend it. Go to: http://www.edmodo.com and watch the demo video. It is so good and shows you what Edmodo can do. I hope you begin using it and fall in love with it like I did!