__________________________
Thank you for subscribing! This post is from A Byootaful Life and is copyrighted © 2011.

A part of me is a little excited because winter coming means…

…hello Starbucks Creme Brulee Latte! Which could, actually, also be a bad thing because I am completely addicted to them. If they weren’t so bad for me, I’d have them every day! Last year I got one on my birthday and the barista sprinkled double toffee bits on top… mmmm, it’s sooo good! Plus, served in a colourful Christmas cup, it’s just delightful.

Of course, they’re not out yet, so I’ve got to be patient.

Sigh… it’s so hard to be patient!

__________________________
Thank you for subscribing! This post is from A Byootaful Life and is copyrighted © 2011.

I’m not exactly overweight, but I could definitely stand to lose some kilos and recent events in my life have inspired me to get off my butt and get active. We’ve got a free gym in our building for heaven’s sake, and today Phill and I decided to use it. We’ve been saying we were going to use the gyms in our buildings since we first moved here in September (three apartments ago) but it turned out that exercising was exactly the opposite of what we wanted to do when we stumbled through the door after a long hard day at work.

I was at the gym for about an hour and used the treadmill first and then finished up on the bike machine (the bike made my legs burrrrn!). After a 20 minute jog at 4.3mph with a slowly increasing incline, I figured out how to set it to a pre-programmed workout called the “hill”, which is pretty self-explanatory I guess. I was halfway up the “hill” when I remembered one of my favourite bloggers, Kristin from Iowa Girl Eats, has documented her workout routines on her blog, so as soon as I got upstairs (after a shower of course!) I bookmarked her Workouts page and I’m determined to complete each and every one!

I was honestly expecting the experience at the gym to be horrible; that I’d be sweating and gasping for air while buff shirtless men and skinny girls in yoga pants pointed and laughed at me, but other than getting off the treadmill and almost stacking it because my legs were a little wobbly (slightly embarrassing) it was pretty much a positive experience. Only one other person came in while I was there and although initially I was a little self-conscious, I quickly realised that she was listening to music with headphones on and didn’t so much as glance in my direction (does that mean I successfully passed as a regular at the gym?)

I’m going back again tomorrow and I’m actually excited about it. Of course, exercise goes hand-in-hand with healthy eating, so I’m going to making some changes there too (some of which are going to be hard to stick to!) but I’m pretty determined to make it work.

So, a toast… to new beginnings! I hope you don’t mind if I bring you along for the ride!

__________________________
Thank you for subscribing! This post is from A Byootaful Life and is copyrighted © 2011.

I’ve been conscious that I’ve been neglecting my blog, but I just haven’t had anything to say.

I’ll be back soon, I just need a little more time.

xx

__________________________
Thank you for subscribing! This post is from A Byootaful Life and is copyrighted © 2011.

Last year I made a Simpsons cake for Phill. It took pretty much all day in the kitchen and while it was fun, it was pretty hard work. This time around, I decided to make an ice-cream cake for Phill, which I’ve never made before. It also marked my first time using Cool Whip (I always pronounce it the way Stewie Griffin does, accenting the “h” for some reason), which I tinted blue and covered with chocolate sprinkles. The ice-cream itself was a nice vanilla bean ice-cream and I’d mixed crushed Oreos into it. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo with my camera because, well, I was a tad stressed getting everything ready and I forgot. However, I just realised we have left-over cake in the freezer so heck, it’s late and it’s a crappy iPhone pic, but it’s still a photo, right?

There may or may not have been a third Oreo on the side of the cake that I nibbled. And that is absolutely not my fingerprint in the Cool Whip. Just sayin’.

We’ve been relaxing today so far, recovering from last night. The apartment didn’t look too disastrous this morning because it turns out that drunk Kate likes to clean (who’d have thunk it?) and my friends gave me a hand putting on the dishwasher and putting away some pots and pans. It definitely made clean-up this morning easier! Just a quick vacuum, a rubbish run and a mop of the floors and the place is looking pretty good. The best thing about the day after a BBQ is leftovers, so I won’t have to cook dinner tonight – we’ve got a few burgers and a plate of sausages left, plus salads, so it’s going to be another BBQ for dinner (minus the actual BBQ-ing!) We’re probably going to have an early one tonight before back to work tomorrow.

So how was your weekend? Did you do anything special?

__________________________
Thank you for subscribing! This post is from A Byootaful Life and is copyrighted © 2011.

I’ll be glad to only have one place again – two apartments at the same time is not as fun as you’d imagine. Our new place is now decked out with all the furniture it needs (except for outdoor stuff – we want to get an outdoor table and chairs, plus a BBQ) and we’re really comfortable over here, loving it. It took a while for the internet and cable to get hooked up but now we’re back online – it’s funny how quickly I missed the internet. I got used to being able to jump online on my iPhone whenever I wanted. Gone are the days of dial-up internet – it seems like a lifetime ago I’d be in Dad’s office at home, coughing loudly to cover the noise of the modem dialing so I could get on the internet to chat on msn, which was the height of weeknight entertainment for thirteen-year-olds.

It’s raining today and looking quite miserable so I’m not sure what our “touristy” plans will be. Luckily we’ve managed to do a lot of the outdoor activities on the few days where the sun came out, so I think we’ve planned our time quite well. Maybe today we’ll put on our wellies and go for a walk along the seawall. Mental note: buy wellies. Then we’ll have a lazy night watching the hockey game with a beer or three. Sounds perfect.

What will you be doing today?

__________________________
Thank you for subscribing! This post is from A Byootaful Life and is copyrighted © 2011.

Mum is visiting us for a little holiday, so it’s been great having her around. We hired a car last weekend and did the touristy thing, going to Lynn Canyon and Deep Cove on Sunday, then heading to Whistler on Monday. Whistler was great, but unfortunately the Peak to Peak was closed for maintenance, which was really disappointing. We were looking forward to taking Mum on it because the view is amazing. Last time we rode it with a bunch of our friends, we saw four bears (including a cub!) and even though it’s not the right time of year to see bears now, we were hoping there would be one stumbling around somewhere… or at least it would have been fun to try to spot one! Always the optimists…

We had lunch at Whistler, then drove further up north to Nairn falls which was really lovely. Be warned, it’s a bit of a hike to get to the waterfalls though, from memory about 1.5kms, but it was well worth it. At the end of the hike you’ve got to walk up a slippery rocks that are quite steep in areas – even with some helpful railings around it was challenging in parts. An easier waterfall to get to is Shannon Falls, which we stopped to see on the way back to Vancouver – it’s just a short walk to the waterfall. I thought Shannon Falls was actually more impressive than Nairn falls, but maybe that was just because I hadn’t had to walk so far to see it (haha). We also stopped off at the Cypress Bowl lookout since we’d stopped there a couple days before while the weather was wet, cold and miserable which obstructed the view for Mum. This time around, it was much clearer and nicer (but colder!) and we were able to take in the view of downtown and Stanley Park without the fog and clouds.

Mum’s here for two weeks in total and we’ve managed to get a little bit of time off while she’s here – a couple four day weekends which is a good amount of time to hire a car and do some sightseeing. We went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge this morning (more about that later) and then Granville Island and now we’re home, exhausted and ready for a relaxing evening.

So much to do, so little time!

__________________________
Thank you for subscribing! This post is from A Byootaful Life and is copyrighted © 2011.

* Phill got a job, which is really good news because of course, we were getting a little worried about him not finding work and two wages is always better than one. Also, he was going slightly crazy being home all day. So the great news is that he’s now working full-time in a job he’s enjoying. The bad news is, now that both of us are working, the housework doesn’t get done as regularly. So, yeah. I enjoyed having a house-wifey, but alas, he’s a house-wifey no longer and now I actually have to do the dishes sometimes.

* Two of our friends who came over with us unfortunately went home to Oz. They traveled around Cuba for a week and then popped into Vancouver again on their way home to say their final goodbyes. I was really sad to see them go – they are great friends and I’m going to miss having them around. They are just kind, genuine people. I was super disappointed that it didn’t work out for them, but their Visas are still valid for another year and a half, so I’m hoping they’ll come back!

* We’re looking to move out at the end of the month, so we’ve been apartment hunting like crazy. I hate the whole process (it’s fun for about a week, then becomes frustrating) so I’m hoping it’ll be sorted soon. I’m going to see about six places this afternoon, which means I’m going to be running like a crazy person all over Vancouver, but hopefully one of them will be right for us. There always seems to be something that we don’t like about the place – it’s too low in a noisy area, no balcony, tiny apartment, too expensive. I find that I can talk myself into living in pretty much any place, whereas Phill is a little more picky. I’d see a massive hole in a wall and figure, hey, I can work with that! Anyone got a poster and some tape? whereas Phill would be outta there.

* My work is going really well. I’m enjoying it and am actually considering applying for one of their permanent positions that has just been advertised. A couple of my colleagues cornered me near the photocopier and strongly suggested I apply. They said they would put in a good word for me with management. I thought that was really nice, especially after coming from a dead-end job in Australia where nobody cared about anyone else. I love feeling like I matter and being able to work with people who genuinely care. I am a different person now and much, much happier.

* My Mum is coming over to visit in about three weeks! I’m excited about seeing her and being able to show her some of Vancouver’s sights. I haven’t really been too “touristy” since moving here, so it’s going to be fun. I’ve managed to get a few days off work while she’s here so there’s going to be a couple 4-day weekends that I’m planning on jam-packing full of activities. Look out Mum, no rest allowed!

* The weather here is getting really nice. The sun is out more often than the rain now and even though the shady areas are friggin’ freezing, you can feel the warmth of the sun when you’re in its sights. It’s feeling a lot like BBQ weather, hence why we want our new place to have a balcony. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to sit outside and enjoy the warm weather, so bring it on!

Okay well it’s time to go look at apartments. Fingers crossed one of these is “the one”!

__________________________
Thank you for subscribing! This post is from A Byootaful Life and is copyrighted © 2011.

He promised to call us if it turned up, which I am sure he won’t do since we never heard from him last time, and we headed home, frustrated. We’re hoping he’ll call tomorrow (since our reservation is for 24 hours). In the meantime, we’re stuck with no car and now we’re not sure what to do tomorrow.

We had planned to drive up to Lynn Canyon and have a look around. I’ve heard it’s just as good as the Capilano Suspension Bridge – and doesn’t cost $30 to visit. There’s also some hiking trails up there, which sound like fun. We’re not huge nature people but we have enjoyed a hike or two and it would be nice to get out into the fresh air and do some exercise together. There’s also a swimming area but as Phill pointed out, it’s winter – we’ll have to save the swimming for warmer weather.

Speaking of which – it’s Spring tomorrow! I didn’t realise until my work sent out a bulletin telling everyone that this year, our spring flowers would be daffodils to support cancer research. Apparently every spring, we get flowers in the office to celebrate the end of winter. This is pretty much unheard of in Australia, since winter doesn’t feel that much different to spring.  But I guess when winter’s as cold as it is over here, you look forward to the warmer seasons. I am excited about warmer weather – the sun was out today and it was nice to feel it on our faces as we walked. It’s still cold but not unbearable – I wore my hoodie, 3/4 jeans and a pair of thongs (flip-flops). I did notice a couple of locals staring at my bare toes. They probably thought I was crazy!

Anyway, we’re at home now waiting for my parents to come online so we can Skype them. We’re also waiting for the car rental guy to phone us. I wonder which will happen first? I know we can take public transport to Lynn Canyon tomorrow but we were really keen on driving. I guess we’ll have to see what happens. Needless to say, if we don’t hear from rental guy tomorrow, we won’t be using this rental place again.

Think positive car-returning thoughts!

__________________________
Thank you for subscribing! This post is from A Byootaful Life and is copyrighted © 2011.

Getting up in the morning is a little harder too, since it’s darker and colder. One hour in the morning makes a big difference and when my alarm goes off saying it’s 7:15am, my body screams internally that it’s not fooled and that it is in fact 6:15am – ie. an Ungodly Hour. This morning I hit snooze about three times and then continued to lie in bed until I couldn’t possibly put off getting up any more. Unfortunately, Phill had the same idea at the same time and it ended up with a traffic jam in the bathroom. There’s nothing less romantic than sharing a bathroom in the morning when you’re tired, grumpy and running late. Ugh.

Hopefully we’ll get into the swing of it by the end of this week!

__________________________
Thank you for subscribing! This post is from A Byootaful Life and is copyrighted © 2011.