Here today...

Gone to Maui!

Tomorrow, after school, I'm outta here! Off to Edmonton for the night and then I fly out Thursday morning!

Maui wedding! Shannon's getting married!

So many exclamation points!!!

Lovely, lovely, lovely summer.

Just pictures today! Some of my summer adventures.

Too busy to blog...

too busy relaxing! Happy summer!

Time is ticking away, tick-tick-ticking away!

That title is a throwback for all you old school DC Talk Fans like me.


Anyway, time. Yes. I remember posting this and how I felt. Just under 2 years ago, I was freaking out and feeling very surreal about my first day of school as a teacher. Now, I'm a week away from the end of my second year of teaching! Wow. I will always love my job, but I am SO looking forward to summer!

I had a wonderful summer last year, but it was SO busy. This year, apart from working a day and a half a week for fun (I mean, I'm still getting paid) at the flower shop I used to work at, I am taking it very easy. I'll be living at my favourite house on Baker Road (the Day house) and enjoying summer fun in Saskatoon. I'm going to catch up on my big pile of books and catch up with friends and just have fun. SO EXCITED.

Oh, and I might go to a couple of short courses offered by the STF in Saskatoon. Learning where I don't have to do any work? Sign me up!

Good eats.

I got to my 50 pound goal a couple of weeks ago! I thought it would be a good time to share some of the foods that have helped me get here!

DELICIOUS Pork Kabobs. So much flavour and so juicy!

CheeCha Puffs are probably my favourite new discovery. They're like chips in a fun pretzel shape!

Best popsicles ever. I think it's funny that they advertise things like this as fat-free. Ya...it's fruit!

I love squash. Butternut, Zucchini, and Spaghetti!

If you haven't tried these yet, DO. They're like pop-tarts only better!

New Old!

Today I was super excited to wear my "new" jeans to school--they're actually old jeans from when I worked at GAP. They haven't fit me in about 3 years! And, if I do say so myself, (and obviously I am) my bum looked GREAT!

On another note, isn't it weird how you can get so tired of eating one thing and yet eat another all the time and never get sick of it? I LOVE green beans. I have been eating green beans 2 or 3 nights a week every week since September and even still, when they're cooking, I can't WAIT for them to be done so I can eat them!

That's all I've got for today. Have a great weekend!

Almost there!

So, when I started my journey back in September, one of the first goals I set was to lose 50 pounds by my birthday.

Well, my birthday is in less than 3 weeks and I've lost 46 pounds so far. It's looking like I'm going to make it!

Time to get a little personal

I don't usually get very personal on here. I'm not quite sure why, since it's a pretty small group of people who read my blog. In any case, I haven't in the past, but now I'm going to share something that I'm rather proud about.

I've been on a weight loss journey this year. One of my EA's and I joined Weight Watchers and 5 months later, I've lost 40 pounds! I've still got a ways to go, but it's awfully motivating to know that I can actually do it now!


Here's a picture of me from this summer, before I started losing weight.




Here's a picture from a few days ago, 40 pounds lighter!

Back to school

Yikes! It's almost been 2 months since I blogged last! What can I say? It was my first summer vacation as a teacher.

It was wonderful.

And busy! When school was done, I spent a few days here in the Village tidying up my apartment and my classroom. Then I went to Saskatoon to pick up my sister Shannon and we went home to my parents' house for mom's birthday. We stayed for a couple days and went back to Saskatoon. I spent a couple nights there before leaving on my big trip.

It was wonderful.

I took my time getting out to Vancouver. I stayed a night catching up with Lynnie C in Edmonton, then I spent a day and night in Jasper (where I did my part in supporting their economy!) and then I crossed the border into BC. I spent a night with some friends who just moved from SK to BC, and then I finally got to Vancouver!

I spent about 10 days in Vancouver and it was so great. I was staying with one of my best friends, Emma, who worked during the day while I did my shopping and shopping and sightseeing, (yes, I know I said shopping twice...I really did a lot of it!) and then we kicked around together in the evenings.

I left Van. on the 17th of July and drove to Calgary and then back to my parents' house. We drove to Moose Jaw the next day to meet my sister and Arizona Grandparents, where we spent the weekend doing the tunnels and drinking milkshakes and yes, more shopping. My parents and Grandparents went back to my parent's house for the rest of the week.

It was wonderful.

I was so enjoying relaxing that I stayed for a few days longer than I was planning! I think I would have stayed another week, but I had a meeting in Saskatoon.

So I went to Saskatoon for a few days, and then I was off with my friend Colleen to Pioneer Girls' Camp for a week!

It was wonderful.

We had such great weather and it was SUCH a lovely group of girls this year. Other than our furry friend who kept visiting (think Winnie the Pooh) (but that's a whole other blog for later), it was a seamless, fun week.

Then I was back in Saskatoon for a few days, where I squeezed in some last visits with friends, and then I was back to the Village by the 15th of August! I spent the last week planning for the school year and working on my classroom and now we're back at it! We started on the 24th and students started on the 25th, so we've already had 4 days of school!

So overall, my summer was...wonderful.

Facial Accessory

No, I didn't get my nose pierced, if that's what you're thinking. Although, I want to.

So, I've wanted glasses my whole life. I was always jealous of people who had glasses because every couple of years, they got a new accessory for their face! But, I've always had really good eyesight, so I've always been out of luck.



Well, I went the other day for my first eye appointment in probably 5 years*. I've always been a little bit farsighted and now because I do so much close-up work like marking and reading and computer work, I've been getting a bit of eye strain. So the optometrist said I could get glasses to reduce the strain!!! Hooray! Finally!




*Okay, maybe it's been 10 years. I know, I know.

Auto excitement

I BOUGHT A CAR!!!


It's a 2005 Pontiac Wave, 5 speed manual, and it's so cute!

Now I just need the perfect name. My friend Tanys suggested Ginger. Any other suggestions?