The Last Day

I tried to make it feel like it lasted a long time, but I suppose it was inevitable that my holiday come to an end.

Exercise:

I ended up just walking with Brenda this morning as it was just the two of us. I was okay with this because I made my goal yesterday and ended March with 300.7km ran. In March I did:

2km-1 run

3km- 8 runs

4km- 11 runs

5km- 4 runs

6km- 3 runs

7km- 1 run

I would like to shift the majority of my runs in April to 4 and 5km runs rather than 3 and 4km like they were in March, but we shall see. Most of the time I am just happy to get out!

I did get 100 squats done this evening and a short run to the park and back. I felt like I was bouncing along and when I went to turn off my app, it said I was doing a 5:46/km😀

Knitting:

After having coffee with Brenda, I went home and got a bit more done on the April Tank. I am much happier with the colour choice this time, but am a little worried that the neck opening will end up being too small. I probably should have added on when I had the chance, but oh well.

Products:

I had a new product to try – Blueberry Muffins from The President’s Choice line. I have to admit I wouldn’t recommend these. While they look good they were very dry and so light! It was like eating air:( It might just be my personal preference but when I bite into a muffin, I want dense, moist yumminess!

Reading:

I yet again spent a lot of today reading. I finished Getting Hot with the Scot by Melonie Johnson last night.

I just couldn’t put down this story! The story of Cassie and Logan. Cassie is on her dream holiday with friends when she fulfills her mission to have a fling, however, one night was just not enough with the Scot.

I liked how the characters were multi-faceted and it was focused on them. There wasn’t a ton of information on the family or friends to distract from the main storyline. I also liked how both characters were flawed.

I was also satisfied when the story continued after Cassie got back home. I would have been sorely disappointed to have it end in London! It’s neat seeing how regular life is for Cassie and Logan.

Finally the teaser about Bonnie and Theo is making me chomp at the bit for the next book!!

I also managed to finish listening to Great Expectations by Charles Dickens on LibriVox. I am happy I listened to it though it is definitely not my favourite Dickens book! I just found it dragged a lot through the middle and then finished up in a rush.

I have spent the day alternating between knitting the April Tank (I’ve joined in the round and have a lot of stockinette to go now) and reading Smitten With the Brit. It has been wonderful.

Prep:

Of course I have also had to do my hand washing, get outfits ready for the weekend prep my food. I managed to mix cherry basil bruschetta mix with my yogurt and granola instead of berries, so we’ll see how this week goes🙄🤪

I’m going back to my book now!

Have fun!

AJ

Truly Quiet

I have a theory that a day spent at home lasts longer than a day spent out. Today I tested that theory out.

Exercise:

I won the contest again this week and chose a nice little spin around Sasamat Lake. It was gorgeous out and while my running buddy had a tough run we still did better than we would have in the past!

Reading:

I have to admit to lazing on couch reading almost the entire day; I did have a two hour nap midafternoon to break up the reading🤣

I finished Pride and Prejudice and Passports which was a NetGalley book that I actually requested after it had already been published.

A modern retelling of the classic Pride and Prejudice story. Elisa is from an immigrant family that has struggled through life while Darcy has inherited power and influence. Can they find common ground?

A very well-done retelling set in present political times and with appropriate social issues. I loved the characters; well at the beginning I really didn’t like either of them but that just means they were really well written! I liked how they came together and how the story stayed true to the original while still making it relevant in the 21st century.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have also almost made it through my next NetGalley book called Getting Hot With the Scot. 🤣 it’s been cute so far.

Well that’s all I’ve done today!

Have fun!

AJ

Not Quiet As Planned

I had thought to have a quiet day at home, but it definitely didn’t end up being that!

Exercise:

For the first time this entire holiday, I slept in! Of course, this meant I had to hit the ground running to get my 6km in before all the obligations of the day started. My run was slightly better than yesterday and I came in just under a 7min/km average. I definitely need to be doing some longer runs though so my body doesn’t get used to just doing 3-4km!!!

I also got my 200 squats and 100 crunches done this afternoon:)

Socializing:

I spent the day socializing! I headed out to Costco for gas this morning, but once again the lineup was too long so I went straight to meet my colleague for coffee (and to give her the kids Bookclub book). It was a lovely catch-up as she’s been off recovering from surgery for 7 weeks. We tried our best not to talk about work!

Knitting:

From there I grabbed gas and then hit the knitting store. The owner was back from the Edinburgh Fibre Festival and was super helpful. I had been trying to avoid a solid colour for the tank because the front and back are quite plain, but she pointed out that the lace on the bottom and back would show up much better in a solid. I went with Cascade Heritage in the colour Anis. I tried to break out of my comfort zone with lavender, but just couldn’t do it. I have spent the evening restarting with the blue and it’s going well, except I just got to a mistake, so have to wait for an answer back before moving on.

Socializing:

From the yarn store I headed up to visit my friend Anna and her two little boys. I am so happy to have Anna back in town as she is definitely the friend I see the most! I try to get their regularly so she gets some adult interaction! Her boys are so adorable- 2.5 and 1.2 and so smart! Sammy, the younger was obsessed with the skid steer that was fixing the field by the playground. I don’t think he said anything but the word “digger” for over an hour.

He is also quite good about helping to clean up🤣 Of course he made the mess in the first place with his big brother!

After coming home, I met up with my friend Corianne at the library because she had a copy of the kids Bookclub book. I had to return my colleague’s copy even though I hadn’t finished it, though I have managed to finish it this evening.

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser was a lovely read. It’s about a family that is being evicted at the end of the year, which is in just a few days. The five children come up with ways to try and convince their landlord to let them stay. While most of these are failures, they learn a lot about friendship and human nature along the way. I loved the camaraderie in this book. It paints the picture of a lovely neighborhood with amazing social relationships. I think that boys and girls of age 9-11 would enjoy this book. It could also be a fun read aloud for a class.

Well that’s it for me. Being a social butterfly has worn me out so I’m off to bed!

Have fun!

AJ

Umaluma Ice Cream✅ Wander Vancouver✅

It was another lovely holiday day!

Exercise:

My 7km this morning was painfully slow. My whole body just wasn’t into it. It got done though and I am that much closer to being on track for my yearly goal. I just hope the 6km tomorrow morning go better!

I also got my 200 squats done this evening. I realized it had been a while, so figured I’d better get on that!

Socializing:

I went and met up with my friend Liane again today and we went to Granville Island and wandered around. It was a gorgeous day so the place was packed! We both agreed it was nice to go when there were no time constraints though! I checked out both knitting stores and didn’t find a thing. I actually only bought a book for my classroom. It is really neat as it explains the traditions around the world that surround loose teeth. My students are obsessed with loose teeth so I think this will be popular:)

We had lunch, but mine wasn’t anything to write home about.

Shopping:

On my way home from Liane’s I stopped at Pomme and got myself a container of Umaluma ice cream (since I seem to have real trouble getting to their store!). I got salted caramel sea foam and it was okay. Maybe I’m just in a mood, but it didn’t seem as good as it did when I had it in the ice cream shop:(

Oh well, at least I can take it off my list now.

Knitting/ Reading:

I have spent the evening knitting on my current project, the April Tank Top, but I’m really not liking how the yarn is working up. I need to find an alternative quickly!

As I’ve been muddling along on my knitting, I’ve been listening to Great Expectations and thankfully, I’m almost done!

Hopefully tomorrow I can solve the yarn problem and finish the book, but for now, I’m heading to bed!

Have fun!

AJ

Bike Ride✅ New Restaurant✅ Bookstore✅

It was an absolutely awesome day!

Exercise:

I got out this morning for my run but was so focused on making the 4km I needed to do for my yearly goal that I forgot the Squad Runner mission was 45 minutes. I did do another forty five minutes later on, but grrrrr!

I also got out for a bike ride along the Pitt River Greenway with my co-teacher Liane. We must really be friends to spend time on our holidays together!

It was an absolutely beautiful day for a ride, though I have to admit I really need to look into a new bike seat!!

After biking we headed to a cute little bookstore and gift shop called Tomes and Tales. I hadn’t been back since I went with Liane last summer, and it was just as lovely. I managed to restrain myself and only bought a cookbook🤣

Everything in this book looks good! I want to make it all!!!!

Eating:

After this it was off to find lunch. We went to a restaurant I’ve been wanting to go to for a while called The Big Feast. It was so good and so many options for me that I just couldn’t make up my mind! I ended up having the lamb sausage hash. I was supposed to only eat half of it and bring the other half home, but I ate it all😳

Knitting:

Since coming home I have spent the evening knitting. My sweater has finished blocking.

I am super happy with it and it is a completely recycled sweater. The yarn used to be my grandma’s penguin sweater and the pattern was from my grandma as well. It is a red heart label pattern and I did the kids size 6 and it fits great! I like the length as it will be good with skinny jeans in the winter.

I have started my newest project which is a test knit for Carolyn Day for the April Tank Top. I had bought Cascade Heritage Prints yarn to do it in, but am not super happy with it. I really wanted a cream or white background with flecks of pink, purple or turquoise. If anyone can suggest a yarn, I’d love to hear it!!

Well I’m going to go curl into bed and read.

Have fun!

AJ

Indecision

I drove a lot today, but don’t feel like I got much done.

Exercise:

I was doing a little better than the past couple of days so I got 4.5km in, but they were again quite slow. I am done my 100km for this month, but now want to catch up on the 20km I missed in previous months. I know I could leave them for summer, but what if I miss more? Better to get caught up now!

Shopping:

I started the day by heading to Van Gogh furniture in Langley. It is a gigantic warehouse of furniture, and I didn’t fall in love with any couch:( I thought for sure this would be the place to find one!

From there I was heading to 88 stitches, but took a small detour to check out Maria’s Gelato in Fort Langley. My RMT has told me that it had good vegan, gluten free items. My mom and I split a grilled cheese sandwich and a Blue Moon nut milk. They were both really good! It is definitely not the place to go if you are on a budget though!

Sorry for the picture- I think we were both very hungry by the time we got there!

Finally it was back to yarn shopping. At 88 Stitches I found some Cascade Heritage Prints. I love the colouring of the yarn, but am worried that striping would look odd (the circumference of a short being so much bigger than that of a sock) and take away from the lace of the tank I’ll be making with it. I also found the Tin Can Knits Pattern for Boardwalk here so I was super happy! Sale yarn and a good pattern!

I carried onto Valley Yarn as maybe they had the perfect yarn. They didn’t and I spent way too much time hemming and hawing. They have beautiful yarn, but just not the right one for this project:(

From here it was a quick stop at Costco where I considered a Soda Stream, but ended up with only cucumbers. Then home for a cup of tea!

Cooking:

I spent some time with my dad since my parents are leaving in the morning, but I had to get home as I wanted to knit. First though I needed to make my newest recipe from The Best of Clean Eating 2 called Mediterranean Vegetable, White Bean and Feta Penne. This went together quite quickly and used up the white beans I had in the cupboard (and that I had soaking). The only changes I made were to use shell pasta and chili flakes rather than penne and red pepper flakes as I had these items. My dish is definitely more beans, less pasta than what was called for. I was impressed that this dish had more flavoring included through garlic, rosemary, basil, chili flakes, etc and in the end it was tasty. I think it would make an awesome summer dinner or potluck contribution.

Knitting:

With dinner made and eaten, I finally got to sit down to knit and I finished my sweater. It is blocking right now to try and get the yoke to not pucker, but I am super happy with the sweater and will share a picture tomorrow.

A pretty good day as I got see Maria’s Gelato in Fort Langley off my bucket list and I have definitely spent time with my mom and dad✅✅

Have fun!

AJ

Friend Time

It was a lovely day and a better than expected evening.

Exercise:

Once again, I really didn’t want to run this morning, but I also really want to get caught up on my goal! I did finally get 4.25km done again after sleeping in for almost an hour. That is unfortunately the only exercise I got today:(

Socializing:

I hopped in the car and headed downtown to spend the day window shopping with one of my oldest friends. It was a lot of fun and I managed to buy nothing:)🤣

Eating:

We tried a new restaurant for lunch. It has been open on West 4th for about 8 months and is called Gobble. It has a great clean, fresh atmosphere! I really like the concept of build your own bowl. You choose a protein, two bases and a sauce and they put it together for you. They had lots of options of protein, including vegan and some interesting sounding bases and sauces. My friend got a lentil and a potato base with pork and then Smokey honey mustard sauce. It looked great and she said it tasted good too. I thought the bowl might be too much food for me so I went with a vegan, gluten free savory tart. It was very yummy!!! It was great because the woman made the tarts herself so she could tell me exactly what was in them:) I need to make some of these!

I will definitely have to go back as the woman said they are going to start having vegan, gluten free strawberry cheesecake next week!

We also stopped at a new coffee shop called Their There later in the afternoon. I had a chai latte that was kind of powdery and my friend had an ice mocha and a cronut. She said the ice mocha wasn’t great, but the cronut was delicious. I’ll have to take her word for it:)

Family:

Throughout the day we had visited a few different bakeries as I was looking for a lemon meringue pie for my dad for his birthday. I can’t believe no one had a lemon meringue pie! I finally ended up with silly bars for him. I did stop on my way home and deliver the dolly bars and a hug. He was off for fish and chips with my aunt and uncle.

Home:

This evening I had to attend my Strata AGM. It wasn’t as horrible as I expected, but my least favourite resolution won. I think I live with a lot of short-sighted people!!!

I had to giggle to myself how quickly I can make a judgement about a person. When we were electing the new council a woman nominated herself and I immediately thought – “nope, she’d be a pain to have on council”. When she later spoke, it really did cement my initial judgement. I just hope others felt the same!!!

Knitting:

While I was at the meeting all I really wanted to be doing was knitting. I am more than halfway through the yoke of my sweater and am determined to finish it tonight!!!

I must go and knit!

Have fun!

AJ

Yesterday

I got home late last night and just went straight to bed, but it was a good day!

Exercise:

I went to meet up with the Sunday morning run group and it was just Brenda and I. She was limping so I cancelled the run and we went for coffee instead. I did come home and get 4.28km in. I’m trying to balance meeting my goals with not killing myself while I have this cold!

Knitting:

I went back to my local yarn store and they definitely don’t have the yarn I want for my next project so I will need to go further afield.

Instead I spent lots of time working on my current project and am 1/3 of the way through the yoke. It’s fun now that I’m at the pattern! I will hopefully be done and sharing it soon!

Socializing:

For a friend’s birthday we went to dinner and the hockey game downtown. It was fun even though our hockey team played horribly!!!

That was my entire day and I guess I better get started on today!

Have fun!

AJ

Crafty

It was a pretty crafty day for me:)

Exercise:

I won this week and got to name the location of our Saturday run. We ended up with a nice little 5km around Coquitlam River. Someone was looking out for me cause it rained on my way over and on my way home, but not while I was raining! That’s pretty amazing for my area! My new run jacket from Icebreaker also passed its first run with flying colours!

This evening I did a deck of cards workout. I love these workouts because they seem to go fast and I can customize them completely. Tonight:

♣️=curtsy lunge

❤️=sit ups

♦️=pushups

♠️=squats

I definitely was a little shakey by the end!

Reading:

Last night I finished the book, Playing For Keeps by Jill Shalvis. This is the latest Heartbreaker Bay novel. It was a great read like the others, though I found the overall mood much more serious. There was also a lot more angst, but it seemed to go with the character. It’s a beach read:)

Furniture Hunt:

My furniture hunt continued today at two more stores. Unfortunately I yet again came home without a couch, however, I did get a recommendation for a place to go look, so I will do that next week:)

Crafting:

After checking out Fabricland and not getting inspired for a boy baby blanket, I headed home. In December I had had the good idea of making felt Christmas ornaments for my friends this year (I always make them a Christmas decoration of some kind). Then I started to doubt I’d be able to do the ones I picked out since I’m not particularly artistic. Today, before I loaded the felt back into my car to take to work, I took one last look on Pinterest and found an ornament I thought I could do from Fun Thrifty Mom.

The top is the example and the bottom is my attempt. As I look at it, I realize I may have stuffed it too much🤣 So I’d love an honest opinion:)

I also spent a lot of time knitting on my sweater as my mom organized the sewing stuff. I have finished one sleeve and am almost done the second as well. I am so close to the fun stuff, I can almost taste it!

I went to buy yarn for my next project, thanks mom for encouraging that! The pattern suggested Peepaloo Fields Twisted Sock, but unfortunately that would cost me about $100:(. So I am looking for a comparable yarn:)

Cooking:

For lunch I tried another recipe out of The Best of Clean Eating 2. I made the mushroom melts for my mom and I. I made ours open-faced and used button mushrooms and red onion instead of what was called for in the recipe.

My mom said they were delicious and she liked how the broccoli was in big chunks. I liked how they had basil and thyme in them so they had some taste:)

I also found out that I have made the

Beef Stir Fry

All my note said was:

Bland!

I’ll keep trying more recipes before I decide if I’ll keep the book. I may have to test several and then get rid of the cookbook I like the least from.

Well I’m on a mission to finish my sleeve tonight (I can at least do that while I sneeze and sniffle!)

Have fun!

AJ

A Busy Vacation Day

It seemed quite busy but that may have been just because I was dead tired all day. This cold isn’t doing much other than making me tired and sneezy; it can go away any time now!

Exercise:

The first thing I did was to get out for my run this morning. I did the 6km I needed to for the Squad Runner mission, but it was definitely slow as I had to stop for sniffles.

I also got my 200 squats and 100 crunches done this evening. I needed something after dinner since tomorrow’s weigh in decides if I get to pick the run route or not!

Shopping:

I was heading to a furniture consignment store with my mom this morning when I realized I needed gas, so it was a change of direction out to Costco to get gas.

I stopped on the way back to buy some unmentionables:). I can’t remember when I last bought anything new so it was time to do so!

I spent more time looking at Soda Stream machines. I often enjoy a carbonated water, however, I don’t enjoy dealing with all the cans! My mom mentioned this machine to me the other day so we had a look today. There are four different kinds!! If anyone knows anything about these or can offer an opinion, please do so!

Organization:

The quest for organization continued today and I got my lounge wear sorted and organized and a lot given away and my spare room re-organized. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep all these organized spots this way!

Shopping Again:

I went to drop the lounge wear off at charity immediately before it made its way back into my wardrobe!! So easily done when two of the hoodies had sentimental value for me.

I took three garbage bags into charity and only came out with two items, so I consider that a win! Especially as one item was a new pair of pants for work as pants are my least favourite item to shop for!

Knitting:

I have finally picked up my sleeve again. I’m not loving how the stitches were added and may try a different way on the second sleeve, but I’m just not willing to frog this sleeve. I don’t think anyone but me will ever notice if the two sleeves are slightly different.

I think I was spurred on because I’ve already chosen my next project and can’t wait to start!

Cooking:

Fellow blogger Abbey has been exploring one cookbook a month for a few months now. I have really enjoyed her posts about this and decided to give it a try. If nothing else it will force me to pick up and use each of my cookbooks!

I was having a very difficult time choosing the first cookbook so I chose based on which one had a recipe that used ground beef as I had some that desperately needed to be cooked up!

The Best or Clean Eating 2 has been on my shelf for about 8 years! Today I made the Spaghetti and Meatball Casserole. I had a few of the ingredients, but had to buy some so the recipe cost me $15 to make.

This recipe had a lot of steps to it, which I have to admit is not my favourite for a casserole, though it was neat to make my own pesto! I also had to alter the recipe to gluten free and dairy free. I found the pesto was good, but as it was really the only item with taste, the overall dish was bland and the meatballs didn’t stay together well:(

Looking through the book, I have made other recipes (my notes are the quotes) including:

Turkey Pasta Casserole

Very yummy! Needs salt and pepper. I didn’t put the almonds on top and used Daisy cheese.

Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

Made it with water instead of veggie broth. Very good and easy, but definitely needs salt, pepper and the yogurt in top.

Tex-Mex Morning Pizzas

Good, must toast the English muffins first!

Pear-Cheese Quesadilla

Yummy and super easy, quite sweet so definitely a breakfast food. Could use some sort of spice.

I have a few more recipes picked out to try. I have to admit I’ve chosen them based on what needs to be used in my cupboard🤣 but going by the comments so far and tonight’s meal- the recipes in this book are quite bland:(

Reading:

I’m still reading Playing For Keeps by Jill Shalvis, but am so close to done! I’ll just go alternate reading and knitting and see how much I get accomplished:)

Have fun!

AJ