Happy Canada Day!

It's that time of year - Canada Day weekend!   And for our American friends, Independence Day is right around the corner.

Extra time this long weekend to spend with friends and family, taking it easy or as we are doing this fine weekend, working around the house.

I think I've mentioned this before, but we bought an old Victorian fixer-upper 6 years ago; some days the fixer-upper part feels more front and centre than others - the plaster wall repairs, the roof replacement, the duct work, the electrical repairs, the soft pine floors that are ripped apart by the dogs and the wacky ways we've discovered that previous owners carried out "repairs" or "renovations" (cue the heaving tiles in my kitchen floor...)

But I love our home.  I love the creaks, the scratches, the imperfections.  They tell a story; that it's been a lived-in house.  For a loooong time.  You see, she was built in or around 1890 by a local merchant named Jonathon Gile.  The house has changed hands numerous times over the course of the past 123 years and every generation has left an lasting imprint.  It is a heritage designated home, recognized for the style of construction, particularly the 2 turrets, the front porch and the style of windows (which are still wood, by the way - yes, more to add to the fixer-upper list).

And it's home.  Our home.  It's comfortable and comforting; cozy and spacious; situated just perfectly to take in the morning sun in the front room and then in the dining room in the afternoon.  And we've been making it ours, slowly but surely.  The artwork is anything but Victorian, though some of our furniture is.  A good mix of old and new.

Here's a few snapshots of the old girl as we've been restoring her to her grandeur - no small feat but SO rewarding and fulfilling.

Top Left: The "Library" as we've termed it; also where we eat dinner and watch TV. Top Right: at night after installing landscape lighting. Bottom Left: the front yard after tearing out all grass and laying flagstone.  Bottom Right: the mantel, Christmas 2012.

And now, off I go to do some yard work on this oh-so-gorgeous summer day!  Whatever you're up to this long weekend or for Independence Day enjoy it fully, have fun and take some time to relax :-) 

my fitness trifecta

I've discovered the magic.  The perfect combination.  My ultimate fitness trifecta.

Yoga - running/cycling - crossfit.

The missing part?   It was crossfit.

I've enjoyed running since I was a kid running in grade school; cycling was something we did as a family - ESPECIALLY on Sundays when they closed the parkway to traffic for a few hours; yoga was something I started 16 years ago (I can't even remember now why I tried it) and was hooked.

All of these physical fitness activities I have participated in or practiced sporadically.   I got bored, so I stopped.  For a while.  Then I started again.  I hired personal trainers and worked with them for the 8 week package I paid for.  Then I stopped.  Then I started again.  Then I was bored again.  I had the list of exercises, I knew how much weight to lift, on which machines, blah, blah, blah.   Bored.  Again.

Enter crossfit.  You've seen the commercials, you've seen the youtube videos.  There is a degree of extreme in crossfit that I found mesmerizing.  And while I thought "nope, not for me!" I was intrigued by it all.  Then I tried it because the owner of the studio I teach at got her level 1 certification.  And that was it.  Fitness was fun again.

I'm not even sure what the difference is; most if not all of the exercises are ones I've done over the years.  Deadlifts - check; squats - check; pushups - check; sit ups - check and the list goes on and on.  But there is something about crossfit that just connects for me; maybe it's the applicability of the things we do in class to every day stuff, like picking up a box (oh, that's a squat!) or that it is modifiable and therefore accessible for everyone.  There is the team aspect of it, the challenge of it, the friendly competition, the support, the community, the absence of judgment.  THE VARIATION! I'm not bored.  I'm excited.  I can do it at home.  Like yoga, crossfit asks me to dig deep.  To practice with awareness.  And I do.  Every time.

All of a sudden and for a while now, I'm regularly engaging in all 3 disciplines.  Yoga practice daily, even if it's for 15 minutes in the morning before I go to work; running or cycling a few days a week; and crossfit a few days a week either in a class at CrossFit Conexus or at home.  I am sleeping better, eating better, feeling stronger.  I feel better.  I feel great, actually.  And that's the key indicator for me that I've struck gold.

I've not felt this excited or inspired about fitness.  Ever.   I'm curious to see where this leads.

What's your favourite fitness activity?  How do you get or stay inspired?

make your own almond milk - here's how!

Dairy is a big one on my list of no-no's and not because I don't love a nice tall glass of fresh, cold milk!  It does a heck of a number on me - think sinus cold to the max, massive headaches and breakouts.   Yeah, fun.  Doesn't mean I don't indulge from time to time (especially for ice cream in the summer), but my go to replacement is homemade almond milk.   It's quick and easy to make and tastes SO much better than the store bought stuff.   There's lots of discussion, particularly from a nutritional perspective around whether or not you should soak the almonds beforehand.  If you can find raw almonds, soaking kicks off the germination process which is believed to release additional nutrients and result in a product that is more easily digestible.   I've made almond milk with soaked almonds and with unsoaked and I personally haven't found a difference, except in how readily the almonds are ground up.  The soaked almonds are obviously softer which seems to result in less waste.   Note that soaking benefits are only achieved if you are using raw almonds (cooked ones won't germinate).

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup of raw almonds, soaked for 4+ hours, then rinsed
3 - 4 cups of water (depending on how creamy you like your almond milk)
3-5 dates, soaked for 30 mins (optional)
vanilla to taste (optional)
cinnamon to taste (optional)

Throw it all in a blender, whiz it up and you've got almond milk!  I love adding the vanilla and cinnamon for the chai-type flavour it adds, but if you prefer plane jane, just leave them out.  Dates are for sweetness, so again, depending on your palate, you may want to leave them out or add more.

Strain the mixture through cheesecloth, a nut milk bag or a jelly bag (the latter is what I use as I have them on hand).  Transfer to an airtight container - mason jars are always an awesome choice and cost effective.  The almond milk will store well for 3 - 4 days, though mine never lasts that long!   Use the leftover almond meal in oatmeal, sprinkled over fruit with some honey, in some homemade protein bars - the options are endless!  If I'm not going to use the almond meal within a couple of days, I just pop it in the freezer to use another day.

Here's to healthy choices and ones you can create at home!

time flies...

It's true, it really does fly by when you're having fun!  And the last few weeks for me has been FULL of fun.  

First off was Bryan's birthday - 50th to be exact!  I had been told no party or anything elaborate, but oh well... a party it was!  Nothing fancy, just a BBQ with friends bringing tons of food.   The highlight though?  The cake.  You see, Bryan works for a company that does work with Google, and he's just fascinated by the magic that Google produces.  So this was his cake, produced by a local cake designer, RMC Cake Creations (thank you Rachael!) and it was AMAZING!   Such amazing talent.  

The next few days was spent with family in from Winnipeg and it was fantastic.  Great weather, great meals and most of all, precious time with my sister-cousin (she really is the sister I never had), her baby boy and my Auntie.   We had a blast and I was reminded just how fortunate we are to get to spend time together, even if it's just for a few days once a year.

Fast forward to last weekend spent in Picton, Ontario with great friends (she, also celebrating her birthday) at the Great Canadian Cheese Festival!   Great location to stay if you're looking to make your way around one of the most beautiful areas in Ontario overlooking Lake Ontario.  Lots of cycling, lots of wineries (my personal favourite, Sandbanks Estate Winery - the baco noir is delightful as is the rose.  I mean, why try and decide?!  Another favourite, Buddha Dog for the most amazing gourmet hot dogs with the toppings to match.  Oh and homemade basil blueberry lemonade - YUM!  B and I each got the flight of 3 - the server picks the toppings for 3 hot dogs - one sweet, one savoury, one spicy.   They've got a good thing going here - we will definitely be back. 

And this weekend, a great fundraiser BBQ for the not-for-profit I volunteer for The Hub, a recreation association aimed at making fitness accessible to everyone in the surrounding communities.  Our first objective is re-opening a pool and the BBQ fundraiser was held today as part of Doors Open to educate people on what we're doing and give them tours of the facilities.

Pretty cool 3 weeks and though it definitely has flown by, I've truly enjoyed every busy, exhausting moment of it all!

Namaste