joys of january

I've been slacking on blogging lately, mostly to spare you all from my boring day to day life. Because really, who wants to read about how I spent the morning washing my hardwood floors by hand, only to decide to bake and end up with flour all over the floors an hour later? Yeah, that's what I thought.

What the heck have I been up to lately? I've been baking. I've been cleaning. I've attempted a few home cooked meals. I've spent every evening at the gym, torturing my body as it begs me to stop. Despite the routine, I've managed to sneak a little bit of fun in the mix too.

Like last weekend. Our friend Rachel isn't able to attend our wedding, so she got us an awesome gift to make up for it. We were the proud ticket holders of the Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oiler's hockey game. It was my very first NHL game, and to make it better, it was my team vs. Ryan's... or the infamous "Battle of Alberta". I proudly donned my pink jersey and headed to the game with my fiancé who cheers for the wrong team.

We arrived super early, planning to make the most of the evening. As we'd parked the car and began walking to the arena, it dawned on Ryan that his car keys were in the ignition of his now locked car. I thought for a brief moment that maybe he was joking, but my hope dwindled as reached the car. It was one of the coldest nights of the year, and being outside for more than 2 minutes was too much for me to bear. We called roadside assistance, only to be told that there would be a 5 hour wait. That was unacceptable. Our new plan was to break into his vehicle, providing that we were able to find a coat hanger. He's locked himself out enough times that he is now an expert on getting into his car. We walked to the nearest home and knocked on the door. We waited anxiously in the cold, and I saw a face peek in the window and then disappear. Clearly they were not looking for visitors. We knocked again, before finally giving up and walking away. As we did, the door opened and the lady apologized, explaining that she doesn't usually open the door to strangers. We begged her for a coat hanger, stood inside her tiny entryway, heard a small portion of her life story, and eventually left with the hanger in hand. After a few minutes of persistence, the car door was open and the keys were safely tucked into Ryan's pocket. I was freezing. So cold that my toes hurt and nose felt like it might just turn into ice and snap right off. I hadn't been this cold in years, and it was a great reminder of why I left Canada not once, but twice. We made it to the arena to find that the doors weren't even open yet. We'd planned on being early, but apparently we were far earlier than we'd anticipated. We killed time and warmed up by walking to grab dinner at Subway. Finally, it was game time. Back to the arena we went. I bought hot mochas to warm us up and give us a necessary jolt of caffeine. We found our seats, and watched the game. Believe you me, it was an awesome game. The place was quiet as my team won 6-2 over the home team. I gave Ryan a sympathetic pat on the back with an evil grin. If the roles had been reversed, I'd have never heard the end of it.

The next week carried on slowly as usual. A lot of gym, sore muscles, and healthy food. The highlight of the week was when Ryan reached his goal weight and we treated ourselves to sushi. We base our goals on his weight since mine hasn't fluctuated much since I was 16.

I spent Friday afternoon baking delicious chocolate peanut butter cupcakes that were strictly banned from our diet, planning to force them upon my friends come Saturday.

Saturday finally rolled along, and it was a very busy day. Ryan had signed us up to be volunteers for the trial of the new terminal at the Edmonton airport. I needed a good dose of airport, as it's now been a month since I've gone anywhere. We were issued fake boarding passes and sent on our way through customs and security. The terminal was swarming with fake passengers, media... and food. We'd long established that this would be a cheat from the diet day, and we took full advantage, loading up plates of free samples from the restaurants and Starbucks. Our tastebuds were overloaded with salt and sugar, things we'd been deprived of for the entire year so far. Regret and satisfaction hit at the same time. Despite being full, we were sent home with a boxed lunch.

It was time to get ready for our evening. We rarely have plans or a social life at all, so this was very exciting. It was the first official party in our new home, and I had a chocolate fountain for the occasion! Our friends arrived, and the drinks and chocolate were flowing. We ate so much amazing food.. Swedish meatballs, pizza, candy, and everything imaginable dipped in chocolate. All together, it set up back about a week in our healthy eating and exercising, forcing us to consider if such binges are in fact worth the short term happiness. Such thoughts make me question the person that I've become. Food used to define me!

The next morning, our house was a mess. We slowly made our way out of bed, and the few overnight guests proceeded home until it was just Ryan, Davey, and myself. We cooked some delicious pancakes using the macadamia nut mix I'd bought in Maui, topping them with coconut syrup. It was a great breakfast, and our last unhealthy treat for quite some time.

Monday rolled around and my Grandma and her husband Gary were in town. Gary had an appointment at the hospital, so my grandma and I hit the mall for some retail therapy. It was a good day and a nice break from spending an entire afternoon at home!

That's my life, and all of the excitement that it has had lately. Can you believe that I'll be married in 72 days? Because I certainly can't. On that note, it's time for the gym!