White Rabbit Snowshoe Race

Today Chris and I took part in our first snowshoe race at Crystal Mountain resort up in West Kelowna. We signed up for the 5km option (after seeing that the first half of the 10km route was all uphill!). Even our 5km route wasn't all plain sailing I have to say. We took the chairlift to the top of the mountain (So far, so good though it was helluva cold!) and gradually wound our way back down the mountain from there (with a little ravine crossing giving us a cheeky slog uphill in the middle somewhere) I haven't felt burn like this. Perhaps I don't run so hard, or have such cold air whipping through my lungs or even this nice lil' cold I have going on at the moment but man it was hard!! We managed a sprint away from the start line (there were TV cameras so we had to make the effort right?!) and then it was mostly a brisk walk. I have probably wrecked Chris's knees for life by making him run down a couple of downhill sections (the only bits I could manage but probably his last choice for a spot of jogging!) And of course the obligatory sprint to the finish line just over an hour after setting off!

It was a small race, but fantastically organised and everyone was so friendly. The sponsors outdid themselves too. After all the top placed winners picked prizes from an enormous pile from top-of-the-line snowshoes, bags, poles, gaitors and outdoor clothing to vouchers for house-cleaning, Curves gym and ski lift tickets all the other finishers got drawn randomly to pick up prizes too. We both won something! I picked a starlit snowshoe tour with fondue dinner for 2, and Chris scooped a $50 voucher for a local Italian restaurant. Incredible and so generous - way more than we paid for the entry fees and a fantastic (if exhausting!) way to start off our weekend!

2011 Manifesto of my life

Happy New Year!

I'm not in the habit of making resolutions, nor am I into choosing 'One Little Word' but I did want to do 'something' and so I made a list. Things I want to do, learn, make and accomplish during this year. This year I will be 37 and so I have got my list of 37 things to do in my 37th year. And so, here it is. Public. Just so you all can hold me to it!

1. Make chocolate chip cookies from scratch
2. Log 600 miles running
3. Paint a wall
4. Visit a new country
5. Blog at least once a month
6. Take a ski lesson
7. Make wall art (and actually display it!)
8. Go on a picnic
9. Learn something new
10. Grow vegetables
11. Play mini golf
12. Go for a bike ride (the type with pedals and hard graft!)
13. Rent a boat
14. Bake a loaf of bread
15. Relax in a candlelit bubble-bath
16. Go to a hockey game
17. Take a yoga class
18. Make business cards
19. Visit a national park
20. Go camping
21. Ice-skate outside
22. Give 3 handmade gifts
23. Sew something
24. Stay in Harvey
25. Make gazpacho
26. Try a new restaurant
27. Go to a live comedy show
28. Run a sub 56' 10km
29. Read 2 non-fiction books
30. Spray paint something
31. Feed the ducks
32. Do a scrapbook page every month (month-in-review)
33. Make money from my new business venture
34. Give to charity
35. Listen to live music
36. Cook and master 12 new recipes
37. Complete a Gratitude journal

And there it is. And as far as #5 goes - I guess I'll see you back here next month for a progress report!

Halloween Hanging

I love Halloween (although with no kids we don't get terribly involved with it - apart from the candy of course!) I did make this hanging thing though. It started with some Teresa Collins paper I bought at Inspiration Unlimited that was on sale for just 25 cents a sheet - and for this hanging I only used the 1 sheet. The paper was pre-printed with all the circle accents so all I had to do was punch them out and ink round the edges. As for the pumpkins, bats and spiders I cut them using my Silhouette machine. Once everything was cut out and ready to go I simply stuck the shapes back to back on some green/white twist twine and screwed the tiniest of hooks in the ceiling to hang it. Love it! (and I might have to do a variation of the same thing for all the seasons now I have a hook in my ceiling!)

My 1/2 Marathon debut!

Still on a high that I did it! And in a time I was super pleased with. Back when I first thought about it I figured that I just 'wanted to finish it', then 2.5hours would be acceptable. During training I figured a 10 min/mile pace was reasonable so a time of 2hrs 11mins would be pretty sweet. My SECRET hope was that I would actually run in my 10km race average pace of past which was a 6min/km which would give my a finish time of 2hrs 6 mins. So Whoopee!! Beat that! Seriously thrilled with my first 1/2 Marathon time. And yes, I fully intend to say 'first'. Honestly I loved it, and yes - I see more 1/2 Marathons in my future.

Things I remember.....

• Saying to Chris in the car on the way downtown that I didn't want it to start off raining - I didn't care if it started raining once we'd set off but not for the start
• As we turned the corner into City Park we heard the gun go off for the full marathon - meaning it was 1/2 hour till my start
• In 30 minutes I had to go pee twice and whilst waiting in the (mammoth) queue the second time it started POURING
• that running in the rain is sweet......it means that no-one knows that your nose is running and you're dribbling :-)

I felt strong and steady throughout. The course was super flat which makes it easy to pace but I didn't overly push it since I wasn't sure what to expect - just got into my rhythm and went. Chris kept popping up in various spots to cheer me on and take photos :-) Never quite sure where it was going to be but kept me eager to see him. Miles 5-7 were along the lakeshore and it reminds me how blessed and happy I am to be living in such a beautiful place (rain and all!) At around mile 5.5 Chris's boss shouted out and cheered me on - quite unexpected! At mile 6 we passed the turning in for the finish of the 10km (and to think that's what I'd originally signed up to do!). The second half I zoned out a bit. My Nike+ device stuttered then stopped recording my time and distance so I had to reset (disappointing as I no longer had a total distance or pace being tracked for posterity) My right knee was complaining at me by mile 10 (in a subtle way which I was happy to mostly ignore). I saw Chris one final time at around mile 11 and then I knew it was the final stretch to the finish line. A short blast back along the beach to turn in for the finish. I knew the clock time was somewhere in the 2hr 6mins (knowing that I could knock a bit off for my actual chipped time). I even managed a sprint to the line! Though when the guy just handed me my finishers medal rather than placing it over my head it was probably a good thing as I was quite likely to throw up over him (always get a really nauseous feeling after even just a short sprint!). Even though I'd looked up to see the time I'd read it without 'reading' it so wasn't exactly sure what I'd ended on - just knew it was 2hrs 6mins-something.

End stats;
Clock time - 2.06.42
Chip time - 2.04.39 which gave me an average pace of 5:55/km

Happy with that!

(and for the record, no this does not mean a full marathon is next. I seriously admire the committment and training required for that. Just training for the 1/2 gave me an insight into that much...but I will never say never.....;-)

Smiley Faces!

Finally Saturday was the day! After months of waiting we got the call first thing in the morning to say the weather was co-operating! And that was the understatement - it was a beautiful autumn morning - we really couldn't have asked for any better! The Hot Air Balloon trip with Okanagan Ballooning was a gift from my Mum & Dad for Christmas so a somewhat belated celebration! But oh so worth the wait!

You couldn't help but be happy when you look up and see the great big smiley face!!

I expected it to have been cold and we were ready to wrap up to the elements but there's no chance of that with a bloomin' great furnace blasting over your head. I'm sure I could smell singed hair! But as John the balloon pilot reminded us - fire is our friend!

I also think I imagined a less than dignified bouncy landing. As if....we just plopped down right next to the Air Traffic Control Tower at the airport - much to the excitement of the traffic controllers and us both! (and after we were all unloaded we got a special visit up to the top of the tower for a little looksie!)

And polished off the outing with a glass of local bubbly, pastries and fresh strawberries.

Thank you M&D - a fabulous gift we thoroughly enjoyed!

Camping in our backyard!

Well almost. Friday night we legged it up the hill at the back of the house - 'Spion Kop', for a spot of overnight camping - just for fun! At around 2880 feet it's about 1000ft up from where we live and quite a tough slog to get there! Took us around an hour of 2 steps forward, 1 big slide back down in the very dusty, loose paths. For a moment there I was forgetting that it was supposed to be fun!

Unfortunately after a delay in escaping from work (typical Friday thing eh?!) We didn't quite make it in time for sunset proper (haven't the nights started getting earlier so much quicker this last couple of weeks?) but we still caught the wonderful warm dusky light. This was the view at the top just as we got there.

And here is the reward; Cuba Libres and total peace and tranquility. Also though not quite a full moon it was so bright we had shadows - fabulous!

And this campsite sucks - no?!

We like this place we call home. Hiking and camping from the front door - is good :-)

A month of food

I think maybe we eat out more often than we gave ourselves credit for - oopps. A month of evening meal journalling certainly opened a few eyes around here. In our defence we spent several weekends away (and enjoyed our beloved and much missed Olive Garden experience on an overnighter in Spokane!). Another weekend we biked so hard and so far that we arrived in town in Kaslo, BC & Grand Coulee, WA after all the restaurants and closed or stopped serving food so had 2 nights in a row subsisting on bags of potato chips and Bloody Mary's (it's spicy, cold tomato soup right - so it's kinda food!)

But whatever our excuses here is July in Food, in all it's glory...

(not all meals shown....you probably didn't need to see a bag of Miss Vickies chips right?!)

It's always great to try out a new recipie and find out it was great and it's gonna be a keeper. It doesn't happen too often (we love our regular favs) but this month I added a new dish to the list - Hummus Crusted Halibut. It was so simple too - and here's my first ever recipe share on this blog;

Hummus Crusted Halibut
- Halibut fillets
- Hummus (we used a spicy variety for some added kick!)
- Coarse breadcrumbs (I always chop up those last couple of grotty slices and crusts left in the bag of sliced bread and pop them in the freezer in a ziplock so I always have breadcrumbs on hand)
- Freshly chopped herbs (Whatever takes your fancy - I plucked some oregano and parsley from my herb planter this time)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt & Pepper

Directions;
Spread the hummus onto the fillets of fish, Mix the herbs and S&P with the breadcrumbs then pat into the hummus paste, then drizzle with olive oil. I loosely wrapped them in foil and baked on the BBQ at around 375-400 degrees. When the fish is nearly cooked open up the foil so the breadcrumbs can crisp up a bit! Great with a salad or roasted veg (that's what we had this particular time)


Digital scrap page designed using papers & elements from 'Sisters at heart' digi kit by Tami Miller