Day 1

Well I have gone through my first day on the diet fairly successfully. I ate only the foods that are on my menu plan, and didn't feel overly hungry throughout the day. When I did feel hungry I ate one of my meals or one of the listed snacks. Plus it never hurt anyone to eat unlimited amounts of vegetables.

Overall I'm impressed with myself. I hope and pray I can keep up my motivation and determination to change my life, not just my body but my life.

On the plus side, I got Brad to do this with me. We took our measurements last night (I'm not sharing the initial results, WAY too embarassing but a good motivator). He has decided to join me but it will most likely be easier for him when he is on a normal schedule since he slept through 2 of his 3 meals today! Still he has only eaten what is on his plan for the day and I'm proud of him too.

Well wish us luck!

17 days isn't that long right?!

So I have decided to turn a new leaf. My weight is an ever increasing issue in my life and it's a number that only seems to grow larger instead of shrinking. Let me tell you, if one more person tells me that it's just my "happy weight" I may punch them in the face.

Anyways, I have decided to make a difference. As of Monday October 17, I will be starting the 17 day diet. I plan on blogging through it to update my status and emotions towards this process. Now for those of you reading who are thinking "big deal, 17 days is nothing." Let me tell you a little bit about this diet. It is 4 cycles of 17 days. Count it, that is 68 days.

Over the next 68 days I will be trying different foods, a different workout regime, and lowering my sugar, carb, and starch intake. I plan on taking before and after measurements, but at this juncture I'm not willing to share my weight or my measurements (that is how bad it has gotten).

Wish me luck in this difficult endeavor!

Stolen from a cousin...

So after reading a bunch of mushy, gushy, lovey stuff on Mandi's blog... I decided to steal her idea and do an entire post about my amazing husband. It is Thanksgiving after all and I am definitely most thanksful that this amazing man is in my life.

It doesn't seem like 3 years since we were married. Time has flown by and every second is precious to me. So here are a few things I wanted to share (like I said stolen from Mandi).

First time seeing Brad: I went into the store on campus at RDC every day to visit my roomie Kathleen. Brad worked for her and I would not so casually check him out every now and then!

First time talking to Brad: at said RDC store, Brad and I would talk over the free slushies he gave me and we would take turns mocking Kathleen. Not too long after that we discovered we were in the same psych class and he just came and sat next to me. After that we never stopped talking whether it was in person or on MSN!

First present from Brad: He got me The Killers "Hot Fuss" album for my birthday. Pretty sweet gift and I listened to it constantly.

First time he told me he wanted to take me on a real date: I'm not sure if he ever said it in so many words. I had told him that I liked him, he moved away for a few months, when he came back he pursued me.

First date with Brad: It was only a couple days after he came back to Red Deer and we went to see "You, Me, and Dupree" at the movie theater and then went to "The Firm" for drinks and some chatting. Then he came back to the apartment and we hung out for a bit.

First kiss: Around Brad's birthday in early December we went and saw "The Holiday" in the theater. After the movie we just kinda sat there. He had his arm around me and we were talking. Then I looked up at him and he just kissed me,. It was the PERFECT kiss and he hasn't stopped since then! I love his kisses.

First time saying I love you: We had gone on a date and he came back to the apartment. When he was getting ready to leave I was cuddled into him at the front door and he said "I think I'm falling in love with you" and I told him I didn't think I was, I knew I was!

First time being engaged: On our first anniversary, Brad took me to a fancy restaurant (he even had them put roses and a candle on the table to dress it up), then he blind folded me, took me on a drive to this park where we had first held hands. He took the blindfold off and there was this path of candles and tiki torches to the little park bench we had sat on. There was a bunch of white roses and he got down on one knee and popped the big question.

First house: Well we're still renting but our first place together was our crappy little apartment in Red Deer. We had awful carpet in our kitchen, people who yelled and threw stuff off the balcony above us, and had to call the cops several times. But it was our space.

First pet: We don't have any yet, unless you count the stuff that grows in our fridge!

Anyways, that was all!

Who knew...

Babysitting a two and a half year old would be so much fun!

Seriously! Tonight I babysat my bosses son Dylan and I had such a blast. I picked him up at about 4:30, we went to McDonalds for dinner where he played in the play place, ate dinner, and gave lots of giggles and kisses. After dinner we came back to the house and watched half of Toy Story and ate Smarties. Then we went swimming for over an hour! Then we came home, finished the movie and I read him a story and he fell asleep!

Brad came with us for dinner and it was just fun thinking about what the (distant) future may hold for us when we decide to have kids of our own. We sat and chatted and helped take care of Dylan, it was like a glimpse of a family. So cute. Plus Dylan took to Brad almost instantly. It was awesome.

In other news, I don't believe I have posted since Christmas and a lot has happened since then. After much deliberation I changed jobs. I'm still in the same center and with the YMCA, but I am now the Assistant Director of the Out of School Care program. It's crazy fun, I went from having 12 toddlers to having 56 kids from kingerdarten to grade 6! It's very busy and more than a little scary but I'm loving it more than I ever thought I could. In my first week there, my boss Anglea told me they were going to train me over the next year to be able to do the Director position and then they expect me to apply for a Director position in the next year and a half or so. SCARY! In the meantime I am enjoying myself and I am away from aggrivating co-workers.

Well, I'm exhausted now that I have used all my energy chasing a little one so I'm off to relax until Angela picks Dylan up and then off to bed for me. I don't care if it's early on a Friday night!!!

Musings on Music

So being on holidays has definitely had some decent perks. I have managed to sleep quite a bit, imcluding naps yesterday afternoon and sleeping in until nearly 11:30 this morning! But besides that I just had some time to explore my musical interests. Most recently my love of the Beatles.

Now I've always been a fan of the Beatles but I downloaded the entire box set today, and as I sit here listening to all the songs I love and some I've never even heard before I'm struck by how much I truly adore much of the music that came out of the 50's, 60's, and 70's. It was just such a different time. In any case, since I have nothing better to do I thought I would share the lyrics to one of my all time favourite Beatles songs.

Blackbird

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life you were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly
Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

Blackbird fly
Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life you were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

I just listen to this song and I fall in love with the Beatles all over again. The list of songs I love by them is long and it's been very interesting sitting here and simply enjoying the music.

Anyways, must be off.

So this is Christmas...

And we have done not much! It's been blissful!

Except for today of course which involved Brad and I getting up at 5:30 to drive in to Red Deer to do some Boxing Day shopping. Let me tell you we got some great deals and none of the stores we went in to were really busy or packed. I got a new laptop, Brad got a nice surroundsound system, and between the two of us we got a few other things.

Overall though the holidays have been rather jolly so far. We came down to Three Hills on Christmas Eve Day and went straight over to Uncle Phil's for dinner and some family time. It was crazy fun and we played this amazing game called "Catch Phrase". Christmas Day saw us sleeping in more than we normally do when we celebrate with the Cottell side of the board. But we opened all our presents and were satisfied just before noon. Shortly thereafter we went over and spent Christmas night dinner with the Mackenzies. Brad attempted to teach me a little Rook and I may just play it again. It's got lots of confusing rules though.

I got several items I had been wanting for a while. Mainly I got IKEA gift cards (which may go toward the purchase of the matching dresser to our bedroom set) and some books. The most special of these being "Always Looking Up" which is the latest by Michael J. Fox who is my hero. I also got a very special gift from my amazing husband. He got me my very own Kitchen Aid! I just about fell off my chair. I had told him I wanted one when we were shopping a while back and I promised that if he got it for me I would make him cookies. So last night I mixed up a batch of Sugar cookies and I can't wait to play with the machine some more and create all sorts of wonderful goodies and meals!

I'd like to send a huge hug to all my family I couldn't be with over the holidays. It's been tough being away this year but we've still had a wonderful holiday.

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year everyone. I love you!

Escape into the night, everybody run now break into another time...

I suppose I should start with an update of general life. My last post was about problems with my co-worker. I must admit that things on that front are going not too bad. She just returned from a three week holiday in India and I have to admit that I was ready for her to come back. It's nothing like someone going away for you to really appreciate what they do.

It's not to say all the problems are gone but, I've learned there are worse co-workers! The one I was with was hired November 1st and fired by November 22nd! Who texts when they are supposed to be working with children?! SERIOUSLY!? Anyways, all in all I am glad she's back and I am going to try really hard to work things out with her so we can be a team. Not only for the two of us but for the children that we care for everyday.

Brad is doing well. He's been off for a while. Some poor grades in one of his classes meant he had to withdraw from the class as well as his six week field placement. Needless to say it was a very heavy blow. We've had time to adjust and he has now registered to re-take the class and his field placement in next semester. This means pushing all his other classes into next year, but we knew that this was a possibility when we moved to Edmonton. This means, however, that for the last few weeks he's been at home. This has given us a chance to bring his brother up and for him to make some money which is really nice, especially with the holidays coming.

Which brings me to my next topic. Christmas! I can't begin to explain how ecstatic I am that the holiday season is just around the corner. And it's not even that I am looking forward to presents and food or anything else. I am looking forward to SLEEPING! I don't know what it is but the last couple months have brought many difficulties having a decent nights sleep. I've also been warding off (feebly) a terrible cold/flu. I've been nauseous everyday, and before anyone goes down THAT road... I'm NOT pregnant! And yes, I've checked! Needless to say, sleep is a very exciting prospect. Also, I'm going to have a complete work-up done with my family doctor which is lovely.

We had Christmas with dad this past weekend... it was usual. I was very impressed with dad though. He has given both Amy and I money towards our trip next spring which I thought was very nice. It was a fairly generous amount too.... oh wait I forgot to tell everyone...

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD IN MAY!!!! Yep, it's actually booked. We are going to Florida for 10 glorious day at the beginning of May. I finally get to fulfill my dream of meeting the princesses. Plus we get to spend a few days at Universal Studios and I am PSYCHED for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! (Yes I know I'm a geek!)

Well all, I must fly. I've been trying to get my butt in gear and do a few activities each week that get my lazy duff off the couch. Tonight's adventure is once again lane swim. I've really rediscovered my love of swimming in the last couple weeks and it helps that I have a free membership to the Y! I'm hoping to get my weight down and tone up before our trip so I don't shudder when I think about wearing a bathing suit.

Love to all that I won't see over the holidays. I miss you guys.