Bonne Fete Canada!

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians. Hope you get a chance to do something Canadian today!

I <3 Mom!

To all you wonderful moms out there. I have been so blessed to be surrounded by wonderful mothers in my life. My own is incredible, and I certainly would be nothing without her, but every single mom that I am close to I consider a angel living on earth. Please give your mom a hug today!

Here is a photo of my family, we went out to celebrate that gal in the back and had a lovely time!

He is risen!

Be Mine

Hey all, just wanted to wish you and yours a very Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope that you get to spend at least some of the day with those that are important to you.

I also wanted to say thank you for your continued interest in my blog, I appreciate so much your comments, and even more your time, it warms my heart!

XO!

Mele Kalikimaka!

As the Hawaiians would say, or for the rest of us, Merry Christmas! I hope you are yours are having a wonderful day, my family and I sure are. We got up this morning to head up the Haleakala Volcano to watch the sunrise (6:54 am), although we had to be waiting for the pick-up at 340 am! After the beautiful sunrise we headed back down a little ways, hopped on some bikes and biked down the rest of the volcano. It was incredible! What a super memorable Christmas morning!

WIP Wednesday XX

Aloha! My family and I safely landed on Maui, made it to our condo in Kihei, and have spent our first full day in the sun, in the sand, and in the water. This is my WIP for this week and next! Mahalo for stopping by, check out the other WIPWs here, XO!

 

V is for…

Vancouver.

I thought I would share with you some photos about where I live, in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (technically I live in Burnaby, a suburb, but whatevs).

Me in front of the Vancouver Olympic Rings

Aerial View of Downtown Vancouver

Vancouver Canucks Fans

BC Lions Fans

Beautiful Kitsalino Beach

Lord Stanley Park

Beautiful Vancouver Sunset

There’s my ABCs for this week, hope you all have a great week, XO!

R is for…

RUNNING.

I love it. I really do. It’s such a high for me. I love the challenge of pushing myself ‘just a little further’. I sleep better and night and have way higher self confidence. I took up an old job at a gym recently and now I have access to it anytime I want. Hopefully I make use of the time and run, run run! 

This is something I think might help. A cute water bottle that says exactly what I’m thinking. It’s pink and lovely and might just do the trick. I hope. I’m hoping this fall I can get off my lazy bum and git`r`done. Go me! 

On a less cheery note, my time with Chico and Tia has come to an end. I had such a great time with them and had to let go last night. I got a little teary eyed on my drive home. They are seriously the cutest and most well behaved animals I have ever spent a serious amount of time with. I know itss not goodbye forever, merely see you soon. *sniff. It was nice to see them be happy that momma and poppa had returned, and to see the feeling returned. Made it easy to walk away. And I`ll always have the copious amounts of photos I took 🙂

So there`s my ABCs this week, hopefully I`ll have something for WIPW, XO.

Q is for…

QUINOA!

Hey all, hope you’ve been well, I still have not got my crojo back but September is soon upon us which means the start of new swaps. 3 so far 🙂 

Anyways, onto this week’s ABCs. I love love love quinoa (keen-wah). It’s a seed and it’s yummy! High in protein, it has a really cool texture and takes no time to cook. It’s so versatile too. I usually have it as a side, or in a salad, but it can be used to make pudding or hot cereal or to crust meat, et cetera, et cetera!! 

When I discovered it, it was still not mainstream, I introduced it to my family and BF and now they love it too! On top of it, quinoa has exploded as a new popular food and can be found everywhere. Here is my favourite way to have it:

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad

1 cup dry quinoa

2 cups water

Combine the above, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

1 zucchini

2 bell peppers (any colour)

1 red onion

Chop the above into bit size pieces, place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast in a 375 F degree oven until vegetables are browned (~10 minutes). Feel free to cut into larger pieces and BBQ instead.

Combine cooked quinoa and vegetables in bowl. You can either dress it with lemon juice and oil, or balsamic vinegar and oil, any combo that you like or even your favourite store brand salad dressing. Feel free to add fresh basil, cilantro or parsley, salt and pepper to taste, and maybe some dried cranberries, feta or bocconcinni cheese, pumpkin seeds, orange segments, use your imagination!

Have a great day, XO!

O is for…

Om.

I have found that I can get stressed out easily, and need activities to keep me relaxed and calm. While laying on the couch watching TV and eating popcorn is an easy way to be calm, it’s not very healthy. That’s why I absolutely love to do yoga. I fell head over heels for it a few years ago and haven’t stopped. I love that it can be challenging and calming at the same time. I love that it’s personal but connected to others.

There a million and 1 different poses and each have their allure. Some are balance oriented (like dancer, on the right), others are stretch oriented. I love the feeling after a class of being sweaty but calm-minded, it makes for a great day!

What does this have to do with crochet, you ask? Well, a lot of the appeal of yoga can also be found in crochet. It can be challenging but calming, it can be done anywhere, it’s personal yet very connected to others. 

So there is my ABCs for this week, check out the others here, XO.