Yoga Love

I've giving yoga a try a few times over the past five years. 

Most often from the comfort of my own living room watching this amazing local yoga program. Sadly when I moved to Ottawa I lost that show. Jay & I tried a few hot yoga classes and they were ok, but I'm a little too cheap to commit to enough yoga classes to have any benefit. 

We've been trying to eat better and exercise daily. Our nightly routine consists of at least an hour long walk, rain or shine at a brisk pace.

I wanted a little more, and unlike Jay I'm really not open to sports (years of getting balls kicked in my face or gut have scarred me for life). Re-enter yoga. 

Where is this going? 

Well, I was just about to get to my point. 

I found this beautiful yoga program on YouTube. Adriene, the instructor, is fun and doesn't make me feel judged or like I'm a complete fool for even trying (possibly because I'm watching her on my computer). But seriously, having loved a yoga TV show previously, these videos live up to my high expectations. 

I find yoga helps me find some peace and calm down, especially after a particularly busy day. I am easily wound up and stressed out so yoga definitely helps me relax. I also sometimes get a feeling that my body just needs a little stretch. 

If you have been looking for a way to incorporate some yoga into your daily routine I highly recommend these videos. She is just delightful! 

Watching a video on YouTube is also the most flexible source of exercise inspiration, I can literally do it anytime of day and no supplies are needed! It is wonderful because I am easily discouraged. 

Have you ever worked out to an internet video? What's your favourite? How do you balance your life schedule and fit in exercise? 

Keep Smiling :) 

Being Optimistic

This week has been rife with trials for me and my family. Almost every day there was something new and unpleasant to conquer. Somehow though (*fingers crossed*) it appears we've made it through with just a few battle scars. It is the tough times that really remind me how important it is to be optimistic and think positively. These times of course also remind me of how difficult it is to do just that. 

It's not secret I struggle with managing my stress levels sometimes but with Jay's help I've been trying to focus on the day we're living rather than worrying about the previous or next day. It's a challenge but when I do that I am much happier. 

Anyway, that's enough philosophy and deep thinking for a Saturday night. It's time to curl up on the couch and relax! But first, some pictures of some happy moments. 

Me, just before I wrote a final exam with a package from the lovely Flippy. It absolutely made my day! She has a blog of her own you can read here.

Jay and I went on a fancy dinner date to celebrate life, courtesy of a gift card from K-Fran. It was lots of fun to dress up and act like grown ups! This picture really doesn't do our fancy looks justice but you get the idea. 

I've finished my first week of placement, five more to go. The kids are great (as always!) and I am learning a lot from both teachers in the program. I am leading activities on worms and ants (yep, I am picking up ants! Shocking, right?) So I made these life cycle velcro puzzles for the kiddos to practice the life cycle. Next week were creating ant farms and I'm helping the kids create a camping dramatic play environment! Exciting :) 

Lastly, Jay and I have been trying to get out more often and do fun things so we've been going to the park to play football and frisbee, we have a soccer ball too! Surprisingly I am not terrible at throwing a football, I should have tried out for the SMU team hahah. 

Hope your days have been lovely and that you are able to find the happiness in every day (I'm like a freakin' hallmark card.) 

Peace Out. 

Keep Smiling :) 

Kimberley 

The Week Life Kicked My Butt

So, this Sunday update is *again* a few days late. My excuse this time might be the best one yet though. I have been home sick with the dreaded flu and then a sore tailbone (story below), so it has not been the funnest week of my life. 

Although being home all day gave me lots of time to watch wonderful shows on Netflix, especially those Jay and K-Fran don't think are wonderful for example: High School Musical, The Suite Life on Deck, Wizards of Waverly Place, Hannah Montana and The Secret Life of The American Teenager.

Before I got sick it was the busiest week I've had in 2013 thus far. I finished a toy organizing project for my babysitting family that turned out great. Worked a full day at the Kindergarten program where I did my placement, and attended a total of three classes. Awesome. 

Then I sat at home sick in my pyjamas (I'll spare you the details!) for two days, leaving only for McDonalds and a visit to Wal-Mart. 

When I was feeling mostly better the three of us decided to get our skate on down at the Rideau Canal. It just opened on Friday and last year it wasn't open very long and we didn't want to miss our chance! Plus it was a gorgeous day so how could we pass it up. 

Practicing my figure skating moves.

I looked this fashionable under all the  layers. 

When I finally skated on my own (it took about 20 minutes!) 

At least Kathryn looks fly right? 

After my *first* fall, I thought this one was funny! 

"Jay, what do you mean you ate all my Doritios?" This is seriously what I was saying. 

BeaverTails! 

Yum! 

All bundled up. 

 Ok, so as indicated in the pictures I fell once and found it hilarious. The second time I fell I landed on my tailbone,  lets just say less laughter that time. Oh, and a few dramatic tears for effect. I'm high maintenance. 

The only other particularly noteworthy thing that happened this week was that we attempted to start making button bouquets. I've been considering them for the wedding (that still isn't planned!) but to order them pre-made online would cost as much as real flowers. This is our first of what will be many attempts. 

Once we master a technique and figure out all the tricks I will share my methods with you! It's pretty simple though if you aren't looking for perfection. A little floral wire, and some buttons. Fold the wire in half, slide on buttons, twist wire. Repeat. It's trickier when you add floral tape which is our next step. It's not like regular sticky tape. I'm not pleased. 

Anyway, it's time to get back to real life and do some homework. Have a fabulous week, and wash your hands so you don't get sick!! 

Keep Smiling :) 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Greetings on this wonderful second day of a three day weekend. Is there anything better than a long weekend? 

I had another great week at school, I'm on top of my assignments and starting to learn pretty useful stuff. I like the feeling of accomplishment being in school gives me, it's been a while since I have worked at something I took pride in. Five of the ten weeks of class this semester are completed now, only five more stand between me and my field placement. I cannot wait to get that started, though I am a little nervous about meeting all the requirements! 

Jay had another busy week at work and played another chilly game of frisbee under the lights with his team. He has less than one week left until he turns the big 2-5. Crazy. I'm working hard to come up with a plan for the big day, he really upped the ante with my birthday this year. We do have plans to celebrate with yet another Joel Plaskett concert which we are majorly pumped about. 

This weekend has so far been spent enjoying homemade nachoes, watching Netflix, doing homework and relaxing. Today we went apple picking with one of my friends and her boyfriend. It's a little late in the season so pickings were slim but it was a gorgeous day in the fall sunshine. 

I felt like I hadn't taken any pictures recently but when I started looking I realized there are actually quite a few and lucky you I'm feeling like sharing! 

Delicious nachoes. 

Apple Orchard

Picking apples out of boxes since the trees were bare.

Apple crisp and apple sauce in the making. 

Apple Crisp. Yummier than it looks :) 

While out running errands yesterday my lovely man-friend snuck off and bought me a present. It was a "grill" from a vending machine. It is awesome and totally fits with my personal style. Sadly I couldn't get any good pictures but Jay was apparently made to wear a grill. He looks seriously supa-fly. haha. 

Jay was listening to Cremation of Sam McGee on the interwebs tonight, made me think of you, Dad. We used to recite this all the time when I was just a youngin'.

Enjoy what is left of your holiday long weekend and have a most fabulous week! Remember you can always chose your attitude, so chose to be happy!

Keep Smiling :) 

Quest for Happiness [Day 16]

Since I left work and became a stay-at-home-lazy-pants I have become acutely aware of the patience and care Jay offers me. As many of you know I am a little high strung shall we say, not always easy to live with. 

I am also a bit of a control freak, so generally I make plans and hope Jay will go along with them. This works because he is laid back and tunes me out when I get too ridiculous. 

This weekend though I decided for a change I wasn't going to be a bossy bessie and would let him call the shots. We mostly like doing the same things anyway but I felt like it was time I asked him how he wanted to spend his weekend since currently everyday is weekend for me. 

We spent a lovely day wandering downtown Ottawa and hanging out by the Rideau Canal. Then I tried my best to not be a total pest while he read for a while before a game of frisbee in the park. 

The last time we played frisbee Julia was was here and I was not very cooperative or focused. Tonight I tried to make up for that by paying attention and actually trying to play along. 

In summation, what makes me happy today is making an extra effort to be kinder to Jay. We tend to take those we care about the most for granted and forget to acknowledge just how awesome they are. 

Since we spent the whole day walking I am very sleepy, so I am going to wrap this up and get started on something else that makes me happy: SLEEPING! 

Keep Smiling :)

Quest for Happiness [Day 13]

This afternoon I started a post that essentially argued that I had every right to be cranky and spend the whole day pouting. I even tried to photograph it for your entertainment but of course when you are cranky nothing works and my computer's camera was broken.

In a shocking turn of events however I am in a 110% better mood this evening and glad I didn't actually post an entire blog about why it's ok to act like a brat when you are an adult.

What busted me out of my bad mood? A lovely walk, baking cookies and home renovation shows on the TV. Sadly I think a great deal of my happiness is tied into what happens on the TV (and I watch way less now than I used to!)

I often forget how much good a walk can do for my mood. Tonight I headed out on my own with my headphones blaring (ok, at a reasonable volume to not damage my hearing) and enjoyed the lovely sunshine which for the first time in a while wasn't accompanied by intense heat. 

There is nothing like my "2012 Best Beats" playlist (no joke, that is what I named it) to perk me up. It's got a little bit of all the music that drives Jason crazy on it and brings me great joy. I mean seriously how can Jay-Z and Spice Girls not improve my night?!?! 

As I mentioned I did give baking another go, this time the avocados were ripe so I figured why not substitute them for butter in my chocolate chip cookie recipe. I will tell you why not: they taste and smell terrible. That was a huge disappointment but it was fun to bake them at least! 

I also got this crazy idea to add avocado to my frozen berry smoothie this afternoon. Again, not something I would suggest in the future in a berry smoothie at least! 

They look delicious but they are far from it!

If you'd asked me this afternoon what I was happy about I probably would have rolled my eyes and stuck my bottom lip out further. Thinking about it from a more adult perspective I can see that it was actually a pretty good and productive day and going for a walk definitely gave me something to be happy about.

An old picture, but it makes me happy  :) 

Keep Smiling :)

Quest for Happiness [Day 6]

My yoga mat on the grass at Parliament Hill!

Today's goal I kept a secret because I was pretty sure I was going to chicken out. Even though I hadn't shared it with y'all I still felt obligated to toughen up and go for it today.

What exactly did I go for?? Yoga on Parliament Hill! 

I know it seems bizarre that yoga was big challenge, but I don't really dig trying new things, particularly alone. I was worried it would be an intense class, last time I did outdoor yoga they had us climbing on peoples feet to "fly." I had fears that would happen again! 

I really love the grass at Parliament Hill and the fact that I can venture there whenever I please so I couldn't pass up the chance to do yoga on it. 

 

I marched my butt the 45 minutes to the Hill and stayed for the whole hour and tried really hard to get the poses right!

Us 'Yogis' were off to the left near the hedge, all 598 of us!

Needless to say, I am feeling quite accomplished today. I challenged myself to go to yoga and continued my "active" streak by walking there and back. 

Starting this happiness quest, I didn't really factor in how I would track my happiness throughout the month or what I would do when it started to get redundant. Since I didn't come up with a method to track my progress I'm just going to go with what I feel right now. 

So, how's the quest going so far? AWESOME! I feel happy and generally pretty relaxed. I know walking and baking cookies haven't changed my life but I'm more aware of how nice it is when I have the chance to do those things. 

I'm going to keep blogging because I'm enjoying it and that's really what this project is all about. Tomorrow I haven't decided what challenge to set out for myself but when I figure it out I'll let you know! 

Before I wrap this up, just a quick plug for Tim Horton's Camp Day- It's not too late to stop by a Tim Horton's for a coffee or to text a $5 donation. I can't even begin to explain how amazing the Children's Foundation is. It completely changed my life by giving me the opportunity to do things I would never have had the chance to do otherwise. Most of all though, it taught me to believe in myself. Six years of camp and a year as a counsellor has firmly entrenched the Foundation in my heart! 

If you missed the camp day festivities just drop a little change in the donation bin the next time you pop by your closest Tims!

Keep Smiling :)

Quest for Happiness [Day 3]

Today's goal: Get Active!

Despite the fact it was a nasty rainy day we laced up our sneakers and went on a two hour walk down the River Parkway to Parliament! 

The first half of the walk was great the cloudy dampness helped cut through the usual humidity of Ottawa.  The second half of the walk was, well wet. It rained. HARD. 

Sometimes it's fun to get caught in the rain though, especially knowing you are getting close to home and can curl up with a cup of tea in your sweats. It was the perfect way to wrap up the weekend.

It's only day three of my project, but I am realizing some of these goals will need to progress rather than be one offs. Walking 8K in the rain is pretty good motivation for walking at least that in the sunshine. 

In addition to whatever crazy goals I set for the rest of the month, I am going to make a point to walk (outside) for at least an hour a day. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

In addition to the happy endorphins I was feeling from the physical exertion we also got to enjoy the cuteness of the baby geese on our walk. Every little family we walk by I stop and coo at the babies! It's a little ridiculous. 

Cute Cuddles! I'm a sap- I know!

Seriously..how cute are they?

We're working on another goal for the month now, watching a whole TV series on Netflix. Currently we're watching episode five of My Boys, which I always wanted to watch back in the day. It's pretty good! The selection on Netflix has much improved in the past month!

Three days into my Happiness Quest I've got to admit I'm feeling pretty jolly. I think blogging about the happy parts of the day make it a lot easier to notice them. If nothing else I'm definitely becoming a bit mushy about happy life.

Part of today's happiness is also stemming from the great seat sales for summer flights. It's official I'm coming home for a while and it is going to be outstanding! 

Tomorrow's goal: Go for another power walk and de-clutter and clean this apartment! For the first time in a few months I'm not off to work on Monday so I'll have plenty of time to catch up on months worth of clutter and hopefully get this place sparkling! 

I'll leave you with these two pictures of Jay and I after our rainy day adventure! One of us is clearly a bigger fan of the rain! Haha.

Sidenote: Although it may appear differently in these photos we do not have identical jackets, they aren't even the same colour! 

As always, if you've got any ideas for my Quest or if you did something awesome today that you want to share, leave it in the comments! 

Keep Smiling :)

Quest For Happiness [Day 2]

Today's goal was simple: Do Nothing. 

Often easier said than done, with that nagging list of chores and errands. Today I forgot about all of that laid back on the couch, watched TV (Kardashians of course!) and read a book.

There is something so blissful about ignoring the To-Do list for a day, letting the dishes pile up, skipping the laundry and truly doing nothing. In the every day hustle and bustle we can sometimes forget the importance of taking time to relax. After a day of doing as I please and ignoring all chores (Sorry Jay!) I feel energized and ready to take on the challenges of another week with ease!

Granted there are times you can't spend the whole day ignoring your real life responsibilities, when you get the chance even for an hour or two take advantage of it! Everyone needs a little time to recharge once and a while. 

Considering this is really the first full day of my Happiness Quest I am feeling quite accomplished. Re-reading that sentence it sounds a little odd to feel accomplished after a day of doing literally nothing but it was definitely what my body and mind was yearning for. 

Tomorrows Goal: Get Active! After a day of sitting on my butt relaxing, tomorrow I need to sweat and push my limits doing something physical (ideally outside). I'm hoping by sharing this goal with you that will be enough motivation to drag my butt off the couch! 

As I mentioned yesterday I am still looking for ideas of other ways to get happy so feel free to share a few thoughts or ideas in the comments! 

Until tomorrow,

Keep Smiling :) [and relax!]

My Quest For Happiness

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I'm turning 24 (Holy Cow!) in just a few short weeks and I'm sad to say I've fallen into a rut. It's not that life isn't good, or that I'm not surrounded with friends and people I love, I've just lost some of my sparkle I think. My quest for the next month is to take control of my life again and find that sparkle I used to have in my life.

I realize sparkle is an ambiguous term, but it seems fitting. To elaborate, when I say sparkle I mean the silly happiness that used to fill my life. I remember being much more optimistic and positive until about the time I graduated in 2010 and then real life kicked my butt! I want to laugh more, not sweat the small stuff and enjoy even the simplest things in life.

My plan is to use June to get my life back on track and find my happy place. Below are a few of the ideas I have to improve my mood and my life. As you can see they encompass both my mental and physical well-being.

I know a month isn't enough to completely change my life, and I'm not looking to change everything just to inject my already good life with more passion and excitement! I'm trying to incorporate some old ideas, with some new things I've thought about trying but never committed to.

I'd love to hear how you keep life exciting and am open to any ideas to help break out of my rut. Feel free to leave ideas in the comments as my list is not quite long enough to get me through the month!

Go Camping

Reflect on my past

Dream about the future

Set Goals

Have a solo dance party

Bake something new and exciting.

Watch An Entire TV Series on Netflix

Connect with an old friend

Clean and purge the clutter from my life

Read more books

Colour

Be nicer to Jay

Random Acts of Kindness

Write Letters Home

Laugh ridiculously
Get Outside

Exercise Daily

Do Yoga on Parliament Hill 

Volunteer

Keep Smiling :) 

Some photos to start my Quest for Happiness

I stopped in the rain to take a picture of the Momma & Baby

Happy Pizza! Happy Face!