Am I crazy?

I think I may be crazy for deciding to start a Couch to 5k plan in the middle of November...in Canada...when I live in the snow belt...

I used to run long distance competitively in elementary school until I got hit with bronchitis and pneumonia within the same running season in Grade 8. I tried picking it back up in university but I soon discovered that I sort of hated running on a treadmill, and I didn't love running in the city either. Now that I'm outside it, I'm going to try to fall back in love with running again. It won't be easy, but I remember how rewarding a run can feel. I plan to post every week about my progress so I can relate how it's going to anyone out there who's interested. I'm not good at staying accountable to these sorts of things, so I'm hoping blogging about the next few weeks of my life will keep me on track as well as give me something to blog about. Plus, this is on my 101 in 1001 list and I need to get stuff accomplished! I'm looking forward to continually creating a healthier life for myself as the weeks pass by!

Tomorrow I start running...wish me luck!

Let me assure you, I do not look this good when I run

My First 101 Update!

I know it hasn't been a full month yet but I just couldn't wait to get started! Plus, I haven't blogged in a really long time. One of the goals on my list is to blog every day for a week...that's going to be much more challenging than I originally thought! I thought I'd write a monthly post regarding the progress of my 101 things in 1001 days checklist and keep up-to-date on my progress that way. Otherwise, I know I'd lose track of the fact that I'd started or completed certain tasks on my list. That's something I'm hoping to work on. I'm really good about starting new tasks, but I have a hard time following through on some of them. The state of my photo and scrapbook albums are a perfect example of that. (Plus, these updates will give me something definitive to blog about every month, which makes me happy!) What I've discovered this past month is that some of my goals are going to be extremely hard to keep track of, but I'll give it my best shot!

With that said, I made some great progress this month on my list. I'm not sure all months will progress as this one has, but whatever, I'm happy with my progress right now. There's just a certain satisfaction in crossing things off a long list! 

Completed Goals: 

16. Write a letter to myself, to be opened when the 1001 days are over 

62. Pick a venue - woo! This is the first legitimate thing we have done so far to plan our wedding!

79. Put in an island in the kitchen - I'm going to do a whole blog post detailing how we were able to save a lot of money and still get amazing results! 

Goals I Have Started Working On: 

2. Get my hair cut and highlighted twice (1/2) 

6. Go for a run once every week, weather permitting (2/143) - ugh, behind already 

26. Grow and use three varieties of herbs (1/3) - I grew trailing rosemary this summer, which smelled wonderful

48. Go on one date night a month (1/32) - Jeff made me a candlelit dinner at home, which totally counts I think!

49. Take a picture of Jeff and I once a month (1/32) - we had engagement pictures done on Thanksgiving weekend, a post on this will follow 

53. Do something nice for Jeff every week (4/143) - this is going to be so hard to keep track of! I don't know if I'll share every week what I've done, but so far I've cooked him special meals, made him hot chocolate, and watched one of his favorite movies with him. 

69. Get engagement shots done (1/2) - As I said, I'll blog about this experience in a separate post :) 

72. Figure out what music will be playing during the ceremony - I found two really cool songs, not sure if I'll share yet or if I'll keep them a surprise! 

I also added two goals this month:
100. Take a yoga class
101. Write my name in wet cement

Completed: 3/101 

101 in 1001

Am I crazy? Maybe. I've thought about doing one of these ever since Jamie S started one, but I didn't really have a lot going on in my life at the time. Now I'm planning this big event that's going to happen in two years, maybe you've heard of it, it's kind of going to be a pivotal moment in my life. I just thought that doing a 101 things in 1001 days challenge was such a cool thing to do - to challenge yourself to achieve your goals. Hopefully she won't mind me doing one too! I'm really excited about doing the things on my list over the next 1001 days.

You can check out my full list here.

Home Update #2

Unbelievably, Jeff and I have lived in our house for exactly two months now, so I thought it would be fitting to blog about the progress we've been making, just as I did a month ago. I have some pictures of the master bedroom and the basement to share here today. Just two rooms, which may seem so inconsequential, but completing jobs like this seems to take forever!

Still to do on my list is to finally paint the hallways (I keep putting that one off), finish painting the stair railings, decorate and organize the office and the guest bedroom, and to finish hanging up our artwork throughout the house. Our list of outside jobs is much longer - we have to do some things to our deck, seal up some bricks, clean out the eaves-troughs, plant some bulbs, and re-silicone the windows and doors. We did complete a major project in our side yard - we dug out a trench leading from the side of the house out through the garden in an attempt to drain water away from our house, since we had a small leak in our basement a few weeks ago. It was a LOT of work, and I want to say thanks to Jeff's dad and to Jeff's friend Jay for helping us dig!! We couldn't have done it without your help!

As usual, I'll provide before and after pictures of the progress made. The biggest thing we've really done besides paint is to re-drywall one of the walls in the bedroom, so I'll include a picture which should explain why we decided to do that. Jeff also built me a custom closet organizer, which I'm extremely happy with, so I will share a photo of that as well. I'm loving home ownership so far, even though it's a lot of work!

In other news, Jeff and I have set a wedding date. :) We have decided to 'make it official' on August 2, 2014! It's probably the most concrete wedding-planning type of thing we have done thus far, other than me nailing down my bridal party. A lot of people have asked me why we're waiting so long, and the answer to that question is both really simple and also a very long story to tell. We're taking two years to reduce stress, be ok financially (since we sort of made a really big purchase already this year haha), be sentimental, and to give ourselves lots of time to plan. The planning part sort of goes hand-in-hand with reducing stress. And so far it's true - the wedding hasn't stressed me out at all so far! Sentimentally, the date is really important to us. Because that day will mark exactly five years that Jeff and I have been together! We had our first date on August 2, 2009 and I'm super excited to marry him exactly five years from that amazing first date!

Bedroom - before

Textured wall - this wall was to the right of the window, and it was the only one  textured like this, so we fixed it 

During renovations

After - my finished closet! I have two bars, and plenty of shelves to  use! Good job Jeff!

After - textured wall

After - we painted, dry-walled, and decorated this space, and I still have a little decorating to do!

Basement - before 

Basement - after: we painted the walls and window trim (it was wood-colored), put up new blinds, and decorated.

My new wall collage :) 

  I still have a little more decorating to do!

Wanderlust

I know I'm supposed to be taking pictures of the progress that Jeff and I have been making on our house, progress I believe I promised to capture a few weeks ago, but today I felt like posting something totally different. Something that encapsulates my desire to see everything. Does anyone else ever feel like this? Does anyone else feel like one day they might pick up and move to another country? Pack your most treasured belongings in a backpack and roam the world? Because I do. I'm not saying that it's something I'd do in reality; I mean, I've just spent the last few months putting down roots, but I definitely have that wanderlust inside me to just go places.

There are so many places I want to see in my lifetime, so many things I want to try. I joke around with Jeff when we're watching a show like House Hunters International and it's set someplace I want to go that it's now on 'the list'. Jeff is a little leery of the infamous 'list' because he knows it will mean spending some money getting there, he is ever the Dutchman in that regard. One of the things I love most about Jeff is that he's not afraid to let me dream - he doesn't mind (not too much anyways) that I have this pull deep down inside me that wants to see the world. He loves to travel. He makes for a rather excellent travelling companion for me, because when I start to drift off into a daydream he keeps me rooted on solid ground with words and phrases like; map, directions, and, my personal favorite, 'what did that last sign say?' I feel like travelling today, so I went on Pinterest and went a little overboard pinning places I want to see. It was so fun to travel around the world in my office for a little while today, it so enjoyable that I thought I'd write about it. I also thought that I would write down some of the places that I want to go here in my blog. For now, I'll just share my top five places on my list.

First up on my list is Ireland and Scotland. Yes, I'm aware that I've listed two places, but I want to see them both in one trip. Jeff and I recently decided that we want to honeymoon for one week in Ireland and one week in Scotland. It's always been a dream of mine to go to both places, one reason being my Irish heritage, and another being my obsession with anything Celtic. I know a lot of people opt to go to a beach for their honeymoon, and I totally see why, but after the trip Jeff and I had in Europe, I realized that we needed an adventure. I love exploring old towns, hiking through castles, and snapping pictures of beautiful and mystic landscapes. Just looking at that picture makes me want to hop on a plane, camera in hand, but I can wait two years... hopefully...

After Ireland and Scotland, my list of places to go is less defined, but I'm pretty sure next on my list would be New Zealand. There is something about the green mountains and beautiful beaches that is really intriguing.  The diversity is incredible. It's a place I've always wanted to go after listening to my Dad tell me stories of adventures he and my grandfather had in Australia and New Zealand during the year they spent living there. And by the way, how cool would spending a year in Australia have been?

Not surprisingly, Australia is next on my list. I'm dying to see koala bears, kangaroos, the Outback, and the beaches of Australia, The Great Barrier Reef, as well as the Opera House, and the church that my parents were married in. They recently took a trip to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, and I have to admit I would have loved to go too!

Another place on my ever-expanding 'list' is Italy. The food, coastline, gelato, gondola rides, as well as the old towns and architecture place it high up on my list. You don't forget a trip like that. :) What could be more romantic?

It's really hard for me to pinpoint the last place I want to mention here today. I think about places like China, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Iceland, and Bora Bora, but I keep settling on British Columbia. It's a place Jeff's never been before, and a place that I've been before and loved. I happen to be a believer that there are many wonderful places in Canada to see, and British Columbia is, of course, at the top of the list. I think it's pretty clear that I have a thing for cliffs and mountains. :)

The world is a book, 

and those who do not 

travel read only a page. 

- St. Augustine

One Month In...

It has been exactly one month since Jeff and I have moved into our house!! (And also exactly one month since we got engaged, I'm not sure which event is more exciting.) With that said, I thought it was about time that I posted a few pictures of the progress we've been making. I'm only going to post pictures of the first floor and the exterior today though. I was hoping to post some photos of the basement, the bathroom, and master bedroom as well, but a minor flood in the basement, some funky bathroom wiring, and a mostly (but not completely) finished closet customization job in the master bedroom are preventing me from fully completing these rooms.  I'm hoping these jobs will be finished this week, so I'll try and have some pictures of these rooms up soon. I'll share some of my 'before' pictures today too, which I took the day we moved in so I can look back and compare what was originally here to the changes we have made and will make in the future.

We have made amazing progress in four weeks - as mentioned in the last post, we've painted almost the entire house, mudded, taped, and dry-walled in the bedroom, Jeff built me some custom storage in the closet in the master bedroom, and we have now cleaned out all our downspouts. I still have to paint the hallways and some trim, both of which will hopefully be completed this week as well!

With that said, let me introduce you to our house!

Our house :) 

Living Room - before

Kitchen/Dining Room - before

Kitchen - before

Backyard

Kitchen/Dining Room - after - we painted, hung a photo, and added new curtains 

Kitchen - after - we painted, and changed out the light fixture

Wall across from kitchen window - we added these cool dragonflies

Living room - after - we painted, put up a wall sticker, and put up new curtains (still have more art to hang)

Living Room - we decorated the built-ins (still have to hang the photo that's on the bookcase)

Dinner Parties

We're finally making progress on our house! After almost three weeks, we have finished the entire main floor, and are just about finished in the basement. By finished I mean painted, trim up, all outlets on the walls, decorated, and not a cardboard box in sight!! I still have to decorate the basement and put up the trim I painted, so it's almost there. It's truly a wonderful feeling to just look around and know that you put your own work into a room, and watch it evolve from a concept in your mind to a put-together space.

We're working on finishing the master bedroom, which has taken a lot longer than the other spaces. There was one textured wall, which neither Jeff or I was very fond of, so we removed it and had to drywall, tape, mud, sand, prime, and now paint it. Whew! We are just about finished painting, and I'm so excited to see how it looks when it's done. I also have to finish the bathroom and the hallways, and some of the trim needs to be painted still. I will be posting pictures soon so I can proudly share what I've been spending so much time and effort on in these past few weeks, I'm just not sure when that will be.

So far, being engaged has been a lot of work!!!

Now that we have our 'grown-up' table all set up, we've been having a lot of people over to share some food and conversation. Which I love :) I LOVE to cook and entertain, and since the table at our apartment barely fit just the two of us, it's really nice to have space where people can comfortably enjoy a meal I've prepared.

That being said, I'm going to do something here that I've never done before - and that's share a few of my treasured recipes. I've been pretty adventurous lately in the kitchen, and I'm excited to share my latest creations here!

Recently, I've made pulled pork, waffle brownies with homemade caramel sauce, crab dip, peach crisp, homemade lemonade, and grilled pineapple.

The recipe for my much-loved pulled pork is extremely simple and amazingly delicious. I got it from Jeff's dad and stepmother, so I can't take credit! :) I did make some modifications based on what I tend to carry in my spice cabinet to reduce the cost. This recipe is a true crowd-pleaser and I'm always surprised when there's rarely any left for later, even though I always make it thinking "well, Jeff can always easily take it to work and eat the rest for lunch".

Slow-Cooked BBQ Pulled Pork:

1 boneless pork shoulder
1 and 1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 small/medium onion, chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
3 to 4 cups of water
BBQ sauce, use as much as desired

Directions -

1. First you need to mix the dry spices (paprika, thyme, etc.) together in a small bowl. Unwrap the pork shoulder, remove any strings, and cut off any excess fat from it. Place it on a cutting board, take the bowl of dry spices, and evenly rub them on every side of the pork shoulder. After it's been evenly coated with all of the spice mixture, place the shoulder in the slow-cooker.

2. Chop the onion, mince the garlic, and add these ingredients with the water to the slow-cooker, and set it on low heat.

3. Cover with lid, and allow to cook for 6 hours, or until the meat will fall apart with a fork. I like to turn mine over at least once if I'm able to, and on days when I'm really ambitious, I turn it every hour to ensure that the pork gets cooked evenly and that the top doesn't dry out (as the water doesn't quite cover a larger shoulder).

4. After 6 hours, remove pork from the slow cooker, cut off any fat, and shred it with a fork. Pour out the water and onion mixture from the slow-cooker. You can keep the onions if you want to eat them with the pork, but I choose not to.

5. Place shredded pork back into the slow cooker and mix in as much bbq sauce as desired. When I'm feeling particularly motivated, I'll make my own bbq sauce, but that usually doesn't happen (oh well!). Set slow-cooker to warm, and serve!

I meant to take a picture, but I've been so busy I forgot! Oops!