Principal

Okay I'm going on a banking rant.

We got our yearly mortgage statement in the mail

yesterday which normally I would just file away.

Instead, I decided to actually take a look and be proud

of our progress. Well then I noticed that indeed we did pay

$22,000 off last year, to then realize that

60% of that was interest and only 40%

was principal. Ummmm WHAT!

I knew that mortgages paid a ton of interest to the

bank but I was hoping it was even closer to 

50/50 or 60/40 in our favour! 

Well then I looked into my student loan.

SAME THING!

That's it! I don't want to let our

earned money go straight into the banks pockets!

Time to smarten up!

Bacon and Eggs

There is nothing I love more than going out

for breakfast. Okay maybe I do love things

more than that... But it is one of the things I love.

If I have the choice between a bfast date or a dinner

date, I will ALWAYS choose breakfast.

I love eggs, I love coffee, I love a good chat.

I met Paige for breakfast today at the 

Wildernest Cafe in Inglewood.

I love Inglewood.

I also love Paige.

But now I'm home, and bored...

and I hate to admit but I'm ready to go back to 

work. 

Back to it

Well I have had a very lazy week at home!

We are saving for a few trips coming up so I 

can't be off gallivanting around spending our cashola.

Rats.

But that also means I have had more time to

just think. Think about all the things

that I want for our life. Think about the

short and long term goals. Think about

what I feel are going to be the 

best choices to get where we need to go.

I love when I get together with Amie because 

she kind of just lets you talk. She is a good 

listener but also had good thoughts. Ones that

don't "tell" you, her thoughts often get me thinking

about other things and give me perspective.

We also did a bit of cooking while she was here. 

We made a big batch of energy balls. They turned 

out to be the best ones yet. 

We also whipped up some Cauliflower pizza 

that turned out DELICIOUS! I was 

wanting to try it for a while but was sceptical.

I mean come on you are never going to get cauliflower

to taste like gooey pizza dough. Luckily I prefer thin

crust and this pizza had TONS of flavor.

We made up a batch and used lots of cheese on the top.

I made another batch the next night but went light on the

cheese and it turned out just as good.

I'm bad for measuring things out... I kinda just

mix until it looks like the right consistency.

Cauliflower Greek Pizza

1/2 head cauliflower {riced}

Pesto {classico}

Parm

Mozza

Red bell pepper

Garlic stuffed green olives

Feta

Onion

 1 large egg

I riced the cauliflower in the food processor then

popped it in the microwave for 4 minutes.

Let it cool, then add the egg and some parm.

USE A NON STICK BAKING MAT

Spread out on mat very thin. Place paper towel over top and

blot out as much moisture as you can. Pop in and broil

for 10ish min {until top and sides are going crispy}

take out and put on desired toppings.

We cut the veggies really fine, sprinkled the feta.

Top with light mozza and bake for 15ish. Then 

broil until cheese is brown.

YUM YUM YUM

Waiting

I'm anxiously waiting for the arrival of my

Amie! She is coming up for a visit this weekend 

and could not be more excited! 

We haven't had company in quite some time and 

i'm looking forward to hanging out with a friend 

in my jammies sipping tea on the couch instead

of a noisy coffee shop or sushi place.

Pete is just the kind of person that you can have

a chill out, walk the dogs, and cook at home kind

of weekend. Perfect!

EWWWW

Our dogs were CRAZY tonight. So at 830

we decided to take them for a big play down

by the river. It was going swell until Millie got 

distracted by something. After calling her a few 

times she decided to leave whatever was

so intriguing and come play again....

Until Eddie decided something 

was fun in the same darn spot. 

So off I went to investigate.

Well we discovered something NASTY!

It was some sort of carcass that 

someone was trying to hide the identity of.

It was wrapped up in a orange plastic bag. 

The rest of the details I won't share but 

it was gross. 

So of course I immediately text both my 

mom and dad.... 

and then call fish and wildlife.

Anyways, hopefully they clean that up by tomorrow

because I've been a major slacker and haven't 

gone for a run in 3 days.

Call me "the crank"

I was going to ramble about how sucky my day

was yesterday and tell you all about it

BUT deciding to be more positive today,

I will tell you the one thing that made me giggle 

yesterday. And yes, only one thing

could crack a smile on me. 

I pulled into to policeman's flats for my

morning jog and noticed there was a small car in the

parking lot. Not unusual considering there is lots

of fisherman down there {even in -15}.

What was unusual was that the man sitting in

the front seat did not appear to be getting his gear ready. 

Strange I thought to myself. 

Now being the crazy person I am I automatically think,

well even if there is a crazy man down here, surely 

more people are bound to come along so I think

I'm still safe but man I wish I brought Millie instead of 

Eddie today {not that she is the tough pup, she is just bigger}.

So I throw on my mitts, set my watch, lock my keys and wallet 

in the glove box and glance over to see if buddy has made a

move when all of a sudden a girls head pops up from

misters lap. Yup, that was what got me to smile 

yesterday at 10am. 

Sick. 

I sharted

Last night at work was such a treat. It has been a 

very busy week saving lives. {kidding} {not about the busy part}

Last night was actually such a delight. I caught up on 

pinterest and everything!

I love eves like that!

Eves are a hit and miss shift. When they are busy,

they are disgustingly busy, and when they

are slow, you are glad you have a book!

On my dinner break I was texting Rhys and not

getting a response from him... And knowing 

that he was home not doing anything 

{except playing video games}

I decided to play a trick on him...

 It went something like this....

That got his attention! Haha

Sleepless Nights

Once again, I'm stuck in insomnia land.

This week has been a bad sleep week for me, not

sure what gives! I've completely cut the

caffeine out of my life {sad I know}. 

I was having weird heart flutters and it seems like

they have gone away. No more red bull or coffee

for me. I know it's better for me so I'm trying

to not feel to sorry for myself. 

My legs feel tired tonight which actually feels good.

I had a long hot bath tonight hoping sleep would 

find me around 930... finally at 2am I 

decided to get up and make some tea.

I was hoping tomorrow would by a gym day, but

if I'm sleepy tomorrow I will take an off day. 

I have already done 4 days of workouts this week and 

I still have Saturday's run so I'm not going to worry

about it. Rhys and I made Salmon filet's and greek

salad for supper. He is totally hooked! 

It always amazes me at how well he

does when he runs with me. I have been following the

run schedule and making sure I get out every second day. 

He can STILL run laps around me. We are both

super competitive so while I find it annoying I'm 

just so impressed. I'm glad that we are finding fitness 

together and creating good habits that will last a lifetime. 

I've dieted and worked out before and success

but it doesn't last and I fall back into bad habits. 

For some reason I just feel like this is the time.

I feel good.

At least if sleep won't find me I have a good snuggle buddy

Good eats

I was feeling a bit discouraged with the scale 

yesterday. It felt like I was eating well and still getting

all my run days in but the scale was not reflecting the

work. So I skipped the cereal and opted for

my smoothie, same lunch {veggie soup}, had

a big cup of yogurt with bran buds around 4, then

went to the gym and went on the bike for 45 min

and then home for quinoa greek salad {YUM}.

Down another 2 this morning. 

I can get away with eating less on non work days

it's the work days that kill me. I felt really good 

heading to bed last night. The last thing I wanted to

do at 7pm last night was go to the gym

but it felt good. And it was a good way to realize

how many more calories you burn running!

In 40 min on the bike I burned 300

calories {and sweating buckets}  where as 40 min of 

run/walk burns 450. Kinda crazy!

Greek Quinoa Salad

1 serving quinoa

cucumber

grape tomatoes {I chop them}

orange bell pepper

purple onion

light feta

kalmata olives 

 

dressing: 3 parts olive oil to 1 part red wine vinegar

and lots of club house greek seasoning

*I didn't measure the veggie parts. Add what looks tasty to you!

Switch it up

I'm so glad that I have 2 days off. Back to work

for 5 and then off for 7! What kind of job gives you

7 days off in a row twice a month?!?!?! MINE!

I can't wait! 

I'm sore from running yesterday which is odd 

because I did the exact same run 2 days ago and 

felt fine. My hips hurt mostly {which is my Achilles heel}

So I need to stretch!!!!

Any good ideas for hip flexor stretches???

I need to step up the workouts on non running

days so, I'm actually going back to the gym tonight with

Rhys and I'm looking forward to it. 

Both of us were going religiously from Oct-Dec but

then I started this run business outside and haven't been

back! Rhys still goes at least 5x per week and 

it always felt good to go together so here we go!

I'm also giving up the cereal for breakfast. I'm finding 

my morning routine isn't giving me the energy I need 

for the rest of my day. I'm going to make a batch

of energy balls for run mornings {normally I fast}

and then have a smoothie instead of cereal. 

I made a yummy smoothie this morning and it 

could be a contender for best one yet!

250ml coconut water

8-10 blueberries

1 orange

1/3 cup Greek yogurt

8 ice cubes

Yum Yum Yum

I skipped the spinach {but don't tell}

Gossip

I have to admit that I am guilty of a juicy 

gossip session {more often than I like to admit}.

And I have been thinking over the month that it is

something I don't feel good about. I don't feel 

any better about myself and it certainly wouldn't 

feel good for the people to hear these snippy

little comments coming out of my mouth.

Anyways, I have officially gotten a taste of my own

medicine and it doesn't feel good! 

It's not as though it came from my bestie or 

someone who's friendship I truly value but even then

it still feels like a little jab. One that I don't feel was 

warranted and the things said I don't feel 

truly represent who I am. 

I chose to go forward and try my best to 

watch my tongue and take careful 

notice of who's feelings would be hurt

by my careless words. 

Something to work on. 

Soup

I used to make a big pot of veggie soup every

week. I always have guilt because I am just 

like my gramma. I don't love fruit and veggies.

It is a forced effort to get those pesky 

things in during the day. I have been eating

fairly healthy since returning from holidays and 

you can even make a healthy food plan 

but not get the essential greens in per day.

example: cereal for breakfast, coffee, 

yogurt and berries with bran for snack, perhaps

a salad with chicken for lunch, smoothie for snack,

grilled chicken, veggies and quinoa for supper.

That is a fairly healthy day BUT is it enough

veggies?!?!?! Nope.

About 2 years ago I bought a blendtec blender. It was

an investment for sure. It rang in around $550 and it was

worth every penny. I have used it at least 3 times per

week {on slacker weeks} and when I'm really 

aiming for those veggies I blend at least once a day.

My favourite always has some orange in it. I find citrus

cuts the "earth" out of the veggies. 

Anyways, I've been writing out a food log similar to 

what they use at herbal magic {yup, been there} and 

Bernstein {been there too}

They had sheets to record your daily food log.

On those sheets of paper they have little circles with 

the type of food eg. veggies has 4 circles, starch has 2, 

protein has 2, dairy has 1.

Well I'm certainly not being that restrictive but I've 

started to do the same thing for myself. That way it

is easy the night before to write down what your

intentions of eating the next day and if you

are getting the essentials in. It has been helping

because although it's always nice to go for the 

orange or apple which is still healthy, perhaps the

bag of veggies is what you actually need.

I made a big pot of veggie soup the other day with a 

can of spicy diced tomatoes which adds just the right

amount of zing to make it super tasty!

Here goes a week of veggie obsession {and

hopefully not too many runs to the bathroom!} 

 

Cassis Bistro

Yesterday I had a list up to my armpit with all the

things I wanted to get done with Rhys this

weekend. Not all of them were chores 

or errands, mostly just fun things to do 

together. Well, nothing on the list got done

because we decided to spend a lazy day 

at home together. It was glorious. 

We took the pups for a play in the morning.

Then came home and I made a big pot of veggie

soup {turned out delish!}

Then we crawled back into bed, I read my book, 

Rhys slept. I can't really call it a nap. A nap is 

up to an hour... 3 hours is a sleep. :)

Then I had to get ready for dinner. I was meeting

my bestie Paige and her mom at Cassis Bistro.

Well the food did not disappoint! It was sooooo good.

We all started with the Cassis cocktail which was 

"grapey' and delicious. I ordered the scallops for 

my first and they were to die for! My mouth is watering

just thinking about them. They were cut like 

sashimi {still cooked though}and then had ginger

lime and olive oil with watercress on top.

YUM

For my second I ordered the salmon with zucchini gratin,

arugula salad, and a reduced veggie mix.

And of course Creme Brulee for dessert.

I have to say between the food, the company, and the

wine I was a great evening out.

Not exactly diet friendly but overall it was worth it!

I will definitely be going back. 

Review: If you are looking for fine dining and

drool worthy food, GO HERE!

Rhys and I tend to spend every waking minute together

when we have the chance. One of my goals for this 

year was to put more of an effort in with my 

girlfriends. I always hate leaving him, thinking that

we could have the night together, but in the end

I ALWAYS have a great time out and then 

have stories to tell when I get home. 

 

No Excuses

When I woke up this morning {after a HORRIBLE nights sleep}

I looked the weather report.... MINUS 19.

They are kidding right?!?!?! Barf

Anyways I messaged my voice of reason {Deena}

and asked if -19 was too cold to run... 

Her response "It's never too cold"

UGH. 

Needless to say I got my tush outta bed, 

packed up my little monster {Eddie} 

and hit the road. 

Lemme tell you, it was cold. Like really really cold.

I didn't stick to the run program, {mostly because

even Eddie thought it was too cold to be out}

So I ran as much as I could and got it done as quickly 

as possible. I normally have to do 3.8km to

 get through the program run but I only went 2.8 km today. 

Poor little Eddie was laying down in the snow and shaking his 

frozen little paws. Time to call it a day. Next time 

I think it will be a solo mission to get out

on these really cold days... OR Animal rights might

be knocking on my door! It still felt good

to get out even though I didn't get through 

the entire routine. I also ran my fastest 1km,

so I guess there is advantages to running in the cold. 

It was a beautiful day by the river even if we were

both frozen.

Snowy

I was walking to my car after work tonight

thinking to myself "why the heck do we CHOOSE to 

live with this snow!"

In the past I loved the snow, it meant SKI season! 

I haven't been skiing in a few years and the appeal

is starting to wear off. 

The drive home was slippery so when I pulled into

the garage, I could feel myself breathe a sigh of

relief tonight. I was even more delighted when

I opened the garage door and our

backyard looked like a little 

Winter Wonderland. 

The trees were coated, and there was a swept

pathway up the steps, onto the deck and 

into the house. 

What a treat. 

The Vint house was a free for all.

No gender roles there whatsoever. 

The little feminist in me says "ummmm girls

can shovel too!" while almost the 

WHOLE rest of me is so thankful

that Rhys likes to do "blue jobs".

.... plus the house was mopped and vacuumed too...

I guess he likes to do the "pink jobs" too! 

I'm not complaining!!!!!!

Hello Again

I received a text last night around 9:30pm from my mom

stating "I'm waiting for the next blog instalment!"

So I am back!

It has been a VERY long week. I was still struggling to

find energy from this rotten cold I caught over the 

holidays. To top it off we came home and it was

right back to work, so the routine has been 

hard to find this week. I allowed myself the

luxury to sleep in as much as my body felt

necessary, FINALLY I woke up feeling much 

better today. I hate that nagging exhaustion that

illness brings on. Rhys was lucky enough 

not to catch the cold but on Saturday he

was still asleep when I woke up {which is VERY odd}.

I thought perhaps he was sick so I tip toed out of our

bedroom and puttered around all day. Finally at 3pm 

when I was leaving for work, he woke up. 

His body must have been fighting something and needed

the R&R. We had so much fun on our little holiday

but it wasn't a restful one. There was so much to see and

do and lots of visiting to catch up on. I guess we didn't do 

ourselves any favours by coming home sleep deprived.

Lesson learned. 

I was supposed to come back and work 5 shifts and then

off but that pesky OT call came in so I ended up working 6.

Then I was to be off for 1 and back but luckily my

fantastic opposite {Hi Deena} traded me today for 

Friday. 2 days off feels like bliss right now!

Another good thing for the day was waking up,

jumping on the scale and seeing I was down 4.4lbs since 

last Wednesday. Small steps but they are 

at least in the right direction!

I also finished my first book of my new years goals. 

It was called "bird in hand".

Not the best book but not the worst either. It seemed

like it would make a better movie plot than a book.

{I didn't realize there was such a book until this one}

It followed the life of 2 couples. The women were childhood

friends. Then one of the women starts having an affair with the

other ones husband... blah blah blah... You get the point.

Anyways, not one on the recommend list so kindly ignore 

my 1st choice of the year!

 

Mission back on track

So far, day 2 has success. Yesterday I headed out

and filled our fridge with healthy choices for the

week to come. I decided to stick a very routine

plan. Lots of chicken, veggies, and 

mango salsa.

I know everyone says that 

variety is key, and while I agree...

It's also so hard to make 7 different meals for each

night when I'm working, getting a daily workout in,

walking the dogs, and still maintaining the house.

Rhys is on board which is really helpful too. 

He has a physical job so he doesn't have any 

weight issues but he still needs to eat

foods that are nutritious. While I'm working, his

go to meal is pasta... So I switched it up on him

and cooked up some ground chicken and also

blended some spinach and fresh tomatoes into

his favourite sauce... We will see how that goes.

As for me, it's yogurt, berries, bran buds, chicken

chicken, chicken, and chicken. Haha.

I decided to start the running plan over again 

after a few weeks of not really doing it the way it's

intended. Today was 10min warm up, 12 intervals of 

1 run/1walk and then a 10min cool down. It was a 

breeze... maybe starting over wasn't necessary but I'm

going to just keep sticking to that and see how she 

goes. 

A New Year

New Years rang in the way I hope most of the

 year continues, getting lots

of sleep, and being surrounded by the ones

we love most. 2012 although was a great year, it was

also and exhausting one and one that created a major 

lack of sleep for the both of us. 

We found ourselves cuddled up in bed, lights out, quietly

wishing our good friends a great New Year to come.

At the stroke of midnight, we got our New Years

kiss and sleep found us.

Both Rhys and I decided that this year we would 

do goals, actually goals, ones we can reach. No Resolutions.

1. A month of no fast food or takeout {we are doing that now}

2. A month of only home cooked meals {no dinner date nights}

3. To be credit card debt free {lofty}

4. To sign up and take the fur babies for training

5. To spend more time with the girlies

6. To finally take our trip to Victoria {hopefully fall}

7. To RUN the moonlight run together March 9th

8. To read at least 1 book per month

9. To plan 1 monthly adventure and go have FUN!

Mostly we wanted our list to include ways to stay

connected, find health together, but most 

important to have FUN together. 

Our trip made us realize that we are on our life

journey with our besties at our sides, and we need to enjoy

each day, each adventure, each challenge,
because we really do have
The best little life