Fitgirl Chronicles

Christmas 2009

Oh, how I love this time of year!  Christmas this year was a great time.  To me it is a time to be with family and relax and catch up with friends and a time to be grateful for all the blessings we have in our life.  It is not about perfection (notice our crooked star!) but rather being present (and I don't mean presents!). 

Here are some of our moments this Christmas.

One of our traditions is to make a sugar cube house each year.

  

 

Basic Royal Icing holds it all together.

 

 

 

A castle.....

 

And Gummy Bucks with a drive through....After the kids finished their houses, we put them on display and went out only to come back and find out that our puppy had helped herself to a wall or two of each of the creations.....
 
  

This year I cut back on baking and did one recipe of gingersnaps.
 
  

I got this amazing gift of a milk frother/milk heater up thing....it has changed my life! LOVE it!

 

Lots of outside time frolicking in the snow!
 

Beautiful frost ....

 

Christmas and being with family and friends has been awesome. I appreciate the people in my life and the beauty around me. I do have to say that as of yet I have not been successful in meeting my goals to lose the weight I need to lose.  Christmas and this holiday season has been one of overindulgence in the food department for me.  For some reason I seem to equate all of those childhood memories of joy with food and love and baking and eating to excess with a more is better attitude, stuffing myself.  I have been eating so much and throwing all caution to the wind.  Cheese, chocolate, carbs, carbs, carbs, chips, gravy, stuffing, wine, and more cheese..... But I know I can change this and it is up to me... Hence this post. I am not waiting until January - this is my reality check... So here it is that I go forward yet once again.  What choice do I have.  I am going to do one positive step each day.  Moving, good choices with food, and stay here blogging.  All the while I am going to figure out the big picture with this struggle for me so that this weight lose will be permanent.   I will be honest and accountable and no matter what keep pressing on; this is my promise to me.

 

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.
Walter Elliott

Happy holidays everyone!!
 

   
 
 
 

Daydreaming of Diners, Summer Sun and some Amazing Coffee

More of our summer travels into Saskatchewan and back into Alberta.  So many great things to see right in one's own back yard. Visiting family in Regina Beach we were greeted with these amazing flowers.

McGraw....what a face...

The Blue Bird Cafe in Regina Beach (formerly Butler's fish and Chips). A very quaint cafe that has been in operation since 1928, noted for it's fish and chips.  We had milkshakes this trip which were very good; fish and chips next trip.

My favorite - sunflowers. Found these in a random drive by of some older neighbourhoods in Medicine Hat.

We made our way to Calgary and visited the Zoo there. Well worth it. 

Ah, the hippos, my favortite. Chunky....

I took this for my friend Diane.

We found this little gem in Calgary on Kensington Street, "The Lido Cafe."

Your basic diner from a simpler time. Vintage without trying to be vintage.

The breakfast special was excellent and reasonable for $6.38 + gst. Not something I would eat everyday due to the calories etc.... but a great weekend treat. The poached eggs were perfect and I am picky about my poached eggs.

The kids had french toast, just how they like it.

Another great stop in Calgary was "The Roasterie" also in Kensington. The coffee is outstanding. Everything is roasted on site - you can't beat the smells..... This coffee shop is authentic and all about the coffee.

Finally, a stop in the country. More great veggies from my mom's garden. My mom gardener extroidenaire.

I so appreciate the home grown veggies.

From that to this roasted pot of goodness. I made a pot roast with roasted veggies on the bottom.

We paired it with this new wine I had in Banff, Bonterra Syrah. Love this wine!

Well, that is it for our travels for awhile. Trying to get back to the familiar routine at home and find my way in my own kitchen again.  

Have a great day everyone.

Summer in Saskatchewan

Every year we make a trek to visit family in Saskatchewan and every year I am blown away by the generosity we receive and the sharing and caring that takes place. To me, material things in life aren't important it is the kindness, fellowship, and generosity of spirit that matter. Picnics, laughs, cooking together, talking, happy hour, sharing and caring; as corny as it sounds this is what matters.

My sister in law is a cook extraordinaire.

Her lasagna.

Recipe please...

If you can believe it this is my sister and brother in-law's view from their house in the city where they live. I have said it before and I will say it again...I love the prairies!

A picnic with a prairie view.

There is nothing better than a really good sandwich outside on a summer day.

Saskatchewan Landing.

Another of the amazing meals we had.  Chicken purchased from the Hutterites and the best mashed potatoes ever.

More cartwheels.

More skateboarding.

I had to take a picture of this trailer we ran across. Only in Saskatchewan would you find this "Pilsner Homage".  Pilsner and The Roughriders are definitely all the rage in this province.

A portrait of me drawn by my daughter.  Fairly representative except for the ponytail sticking straight up on the side of my head; I haven't done that since the eighties.

PJ hanging out on the patio and looking adorable.

Mark's Margaritas (we ran out of sugar for the rim) but they were just as good as last summer. 

The bittersweet goodbye with the puppies saying adieu.

Until we meet again.....

Recharging is so important....

And that is exactly what I did on the weekend with some amazing girlfriends.  We had a whole day of just spending some downtime with each other.  Yes, we did maybe eat a bit more than normal and have one too many glasses of wine but it was a VERY enjoyable weekend!  Thank you Stacey, Tracy, Penny and Diane.  I love you guys!

We tried to keep it healthy and have some good choices.

Nice muffins Penny.

We managed to go for a good long walk and hit a garage sale along the way. Some of our finds.

Stacey love your yard! You are the gardener extraordinaire!

Good times......

Had a few cocktails to celebrate our day together.

A bit of a splurge, was very yummy.

Tracy keeping us in stitches, as usual.

Veggies, veggies, veggies.... 

So happy to see you D., you are the best girlfriend EVER!!!!!

The ribs were great.

A very pretty cheesecake, dessert was nice but not a big cheesecake fan.

Thanks for the patio and hospitality miss Stacey!  Very much appreciated!

Fruit for breakfast was a big hit.

This weekend really made me realize how important it is to keep those close friendships going and how important they really are.  Balance in life is something I am always trying to get right. This get together made the "scales" tip a little bit in the right direction. Thanks guys!

Happy Father's Day Dad!

This post is dedicated to my dad.

Hey Dad, I really wish we could all be there to share this day with you.  I just wanted to take a minute to tell you that you are the Best Dad Ever! 

Thank you for being a strong, confident, positive influence in my life.  Thank you for being the one to encourage me to play sports and be active by teaching us sports and setting a great example of being fit and active.  Because of you I can throw a baseball and play basketball.  But most importantly thank you for loving us in your own unique way.  I love that you taught all of us kids to be competitive, but kind, and you taught us to stand up for ourselves and be counted and to get involved in life.  

You are the guy who never gives up and keeps trying new things and having new adventures.  I am very proud to call you my Dad.

Walking me down the isle....

Being a fun grandpa.

Collecting bugs with the kids.

Competing in the Canadian Challenge in February.

I love you Dad!

 

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!!

This post is dedicated to my Mom.

To the best Mom in the World!  I wish I could be there to hang out with you today and help you plant your potatoes!  And the kids really wanted to see you too.  I just wanted to let you know that you mean the world to me and I love you very much!  I appreciate your kindness, patience and understanding.  I love how you don't get bored of me calling you to talk about the boring details of my day (at least you don't show me if you are bored).  I love that you are take time out of your day to see how we are doing and you genuinely care about all of our lives.

Thank you for staying home with us as kids and raising us to be productive caring individuals.  And thank you for doing, planning, arranging, organizing, caring about, and just being there for  all the countless birthday parties, meals, sleepover, sports events, breakups, friend get togethers, camp outs, trips, regular days, down days, up days, graduations, marriages, births, Everything!!!  Thanks for being you and loving us!  

You are the glue that holds  us all together - I love you Mom!