I think it will be hard to top our 2011. Seriously, it has been a year of big changes. If someone were to tell me last new years eve how awesome this coming year would be I probably would have put in the effort and stayed up until midnight to ring it in; instead of passing out with Ben at 10:30 pm.
In fact, we have done 9 life changing things this year starting with getting engaged in March, then moving back to Calgary in June and Ben starting a new career, then competing in and finishing the Ironman in August, followed by our amazing wedding and honeymoon in September, the day after getting back from our honeymoon I started a new career… and just because we didn’t think that was enough for the year we bought a house, and I got my mutual fund license. WOW. It has been a good one. I have no idea how 2012 plans on topping this past year, but it is starting big with us moving on January 12th! woot!
Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
The week of the wedding..
Ok, life has been busy the last couple of weeks while I have gotten used to being back at work, and hanging out with friends and family (who we have neglected for the most part of the year while we trained). Anyways, back to the long awaited post... the wedding!... well almost, the week of the wedding at least.
Well, if i can say one thing about our wedding, the planning process was anything but smooth. Pretty much anything that could have gone wrong through out the planning process went wrong, however, our wedding turned out amazing... incredible... I wish I could go back a month (and 2 days) and do it all over again!
So anyways, the tuesday before the wedding I was exhausted, sore, and realized that maybe everyone the last few months was right; maybe I am crazy getting married 6 days after doing the ironman. I could barely think about moving, let alone think about all the wedding stuff. My brain was mush, my legs were sore, and as for tuesday I laid on the couch for the most part of the day. It was the only day that week that I knew I wouldn't have to do anything, so i savored it. Well that is until my brother called to babysit... Of course I babysat my nephew in a pinch when my brother was pressed for a sitter (i love chilling with that little dude), but I wasn't too impressed with my newphew when all he wanted to do was walk, and walk, and then when we were a mile from home didn't want to walk anymore and I got to carry his 30 lb self. But I think in the end that was the best thing for me, my legs were feeling much better by wednesday.
On wednesday, Ben's brother, the best man arrived from London Ontario, along with my father's family from London ontario as well. And from then on in it was all about the wedding. I was supposed to go out with ben and his brother on wednesday night but I was tired and still not feeling 100% so they went out and I enjoyed a relaxing night at home.
On thursday, ben, his brother, my brother, and my cousin went out for a "bachelor day." Yes aparently they don't just do bachelor party's anymore, but entire days.. and they went golfing in Kananaskis. Since they were out, me and my sister decided to have a bachelorette day which included mani and pedi's, lunch, quick last minute errands, and then a quick nap at my house before another bridesmaid came over, ben and his beother came home and we started getting ready for our joint bachelor/bachelorette party . We had a great night. We went to a piano bar which is only a few blocks away, and it was sooo fun. The best part was it was pretty much just our family that was there, and the place was dead except for 3 other bachelorette party's. I loved that my 80 year old oma was the last one on the dance floor, and we partied until they turned the lights on and kicked us out.
On friday morning, we packed up all the stuff we needed, picked up my 2 bridesmaids and drove to fernie..Yep your math is correct; all 5 of us packed in to our little mazda 3 for 3 hours, with hangovers. We got to the lodge in the early afternoon, and started unpacking. However, there were some curveballs that included staind table cloths, no toilet paper or soap in the bathrooms,and lack of staff. I'm not sure if you remember, but a month before our wedding the owner of the lodge went out of business, so the new owner stepped up but had only taken possesion of the lodge 2 days before our wedding. Stuff was missing, I was stressed, overwhelmed, and just not a very happy camper. But, the lodge was beautiful, nothing could deny that. We headed over to my mother in law's house in fernie for the rehesal dinner and we had a great time. I had the honour of meeting a bunch of ben's aunt's and uncles who I had never met before, and my family got to meet ben's family. It was a great night.
After the "rehersal dinner," I have it in qutotation marks since we didn't actually do a wedding rehersal, we headed back to the lodge. The people who were staying at the lodge stayed up having some drinks, excitedly talking about the day to come. Nerves got the best of me, and I wound up falling asleep in my mom's room around 12. The last night before I would become Mrs Jen Rendle.
Anyways, that's a long enough post for tonight. I promise there won't be such a long delay before I finish posting about the wedding and the honeymoon.
Well, if i can say one thing about our wedding, the planning process was anything but smooth. Pretty much anything that could have gone wrong through out the planning process went wrong, however, our wedding turned out amazing... incredible... I wish I could go back a month (and 2 days) and do it all over again!
So anyways, the tuesday before the wedding I was exhausted, sore, and realized that maybe everyone the last few months was right; maybe I am crazy getting married 6 days after doing the ironman. I could barely think about moving, let alone think about all the wedding stuff. My brain was mush, my legs were sore, and as for tuesday I laid on the couch for the most part of the day. It was the only day that week that I knew I wouldn't have to do anything, so i savored it. Well that is until my brother called to babysit... Of course I babysat my nephew in a pinch when my brother was pressed for a sitter (i love chilling with that little dude), but I wasn't too impressed with my newphew when all he wanted to do was walk, and walk, and then when we were a mile from home didn't want to walk anymore and I got to carry his 30 lb self. But I think in the end that was the best thing for me, my legs were feeling much better by wednesday.
On wednesday, Ben's brother, the best man arrived from London Ontario, along with my father's family from London ontario as well. And from then on in it was all about the wedding. I was supposed to go out with ben and his brother on wednesday night but I was tired and still not feeling 100% so they went out and I enjoyed a relaxing night at home.
On thursday, ben, his brother, my brother, and my cousin went out for a "bachelor day." Yes aparently they don't just do bachelor party's anymore, but entire days.. and they went golfing in Kananaskis. Since they were out, me and my sister decided to have a bachelorette day which included mani and pedi's, lunch, quick last minute errands, and then a quick nap at my house before another bridesmaid came over, ben and his beother came home and we started getting ready for our joint bachelor/bachelorette party . We had a great night. We went to a piano bar which is only a few blocks away, and it was sooo fun. The best part was it was pretty much just our family that was there, and the place was dead except for 3 other bachelorette party's. I loved that my 80 year old oma was the last one on the dance floor, and we partied until they turned the lights on and kicked us out.
On friday morning, we packed up all the stuff we needed, picked up my 2 bridesmaids and drove to fernie..Yep your math is correct; all 5 of us packed in to our little mazda 3 for 3 hours, with hangovers. We got to the lodge in the early afternoon, and started unpacking. However, there were some curveballs that included staind table cloths, no toilet paper or soap in the bathrooms,and lack of staff. I'm not sure if you remember, but a month before our wedding the owner of the lodge went out of business, so the new owner stepped up but had only taken possesion of the lodge 2 days before our wedding. Stuff was missing, I was stressed, overwhelmed, and just not a very happy camper. But, the lodge was beautiful, nothing could deny that. We headed over to my mother in law's house in fernie for the rehesal dinner and we had a great time. I had the honour of meeting a bunch of ben's aunt's and uncles who I had never met before, and my family got to meet ben's family. It was a great night.
After the "rehersal dinner," I have it in qutotation marks since we didn't actually do a wedding rehersal, we headed back to the lodge. The people who were staying at the lodge stayed up having some drinks, excitedly talking about the day to come. Nerves got the best of me, and I wound up falling asleep in my mom's room around 12. The last night before I would become Mrs Jen Rendle.
Anyways, that's a long enough post for tonight. I promise there won't be such a long delay before I finish posting about the wedding and the honeymoon.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Next Week!?!
So, I had to book an appointment for next week to get some new makeup. At shoppers they do a makeover type thing and show you how to do your make up as long as you buy some, so I called to book an appointment for before the wedding (since I am clueless with makeup and all mine is pretty much from the free gifts that you get when you buy foundation at clinique during bonus days). So I called and tried to make an appointment for Sept 1st, and the girl goes "so i'll see you next thursday," and I replied "OMG I'm getting married next week!" It has oficially hit me, I am going to become Mrs Rendle next week. MRS! seriously, that makes me seem sooo ooold! I remember called all my friends parents Mrs ____ when I was little.
Anways, 2 posts in one day, I'm on a roll. But now back to getting everything ready for ironman and the wedding!
Anways, 2 posts in one day, I'm on a roll. But now back to getting everything ready for ironman and the wedding!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Final Push
Well this past week has been the last push before the 2 week taper before our race. Last weekend we were in fernie to meet some of our vendors for our wedding. On Saturday we planned on riding for 5.5 hours on highway 3 from fernie to cranbrook. The ride went really well, or as well as 182 kms can go. I can`t really explain what it is like being on a bike for that long, but it really messes with your head. On our way out, I was feeling really good, and at 2 hours and 45 minutes we hit a sign that said 10 kms to cranbrook (and in fernie we started at a sign that said cranbrook 101 kms). I felt really good having biked 91 kms in 2 hours and 45 minutes! We finally bought salt tablets and those really helped the leg cramps on thew ay out. Then things took a turn on the way home, I realized that we had had a strong tail wind going out and now we were facing a strong head wind. It was miserable. Even going down hill we had to pedal because we were barely moving. When the wind gusted it would throw us around. Cars passing would throw us around. I was getting frustrated. And it was hot. 30 degrees hot. We also only had 1.5 liters of water/gatorade for the fist 4.5 hours which was not the smartest thing. As I started getting tired and dehydrated, we approached a major hill, and as I neared the top I proceeded to have an asthma attack. I was scared, nothing is worse than not being able to breathe. But thankfully I had my emergency inhaler on me. Once I calmed down and got my breathing under control we kept going, and I proceeded to have another small asthma attack but got it under control without my inhaler. We stopped in Jaffry for more liquids and inhaled a bag of lays regular potato chips (seriously the best thing for endurance events). Feeling a little bit better we pushed the rest of the way home. In the end, our ride turned into 6.5 hours. We were hungry and exhausted, but we were pretty pumped to have gotten the ironman distance in! We proceeded to fall asleep at 9 pm that night and slept 11 hours. But we woke up surprisingly fine and not sore!
The rest of this week we have been pushing. My legs have felt like lead, but I keep reminding myself that this is it. This is the last effort. Come Sunday we have to rely on all the hours and effort we put into training. There is nothing more we can do, except fuel our bodies and try to focus on this race. In 2 weeks from tomorrow, the 8 months of training will be worth it. We will {hopefully} be crossing that finish line. All the training, sickness, exhaustion, will be worth it!
As for the wedding, I cannot believe that it is only 3 weeks away! I am getting very excited for our big day. Hopefully the weather is nice so we can be outside. I can't wait to marry the love of my life. My training partner, my best friend, my everything. And with all the craziness of the last few months, we cannot wait to go away to mexico for a week! I've never been to an all inclusive, and I think after the ironman and the wedding we definitely deserve it!
I think the next 3 weeks are going to zoom by! Next week I'm headed on a road trip with my mom and sister to montana. They haven't seen the lodge so they wanted to head to fernie to see it, and fernie is only a stones throw from the boarder so we're going down for some shopping. I definitely need some fancy work clothes for when I start my new job on Sept. 12! It will be a great time! and i can`t wait for my mom to see the lodge. It is soo beautiful! She`s going to love it. Then it`s the week before ironman, then it`s the week before the wedding! Lots to keep me preoccupied (and perhaps a little stressed).
Anyways, have a great weekend! It`s going to be a busy one for us. We`ve got our last loooooooong bike before the race on saturday, and a looooong run on sunday. Then we have my cousin`s 18th birthday party, and my bridal shower thanks to my mom and sister!
The rest of this week we have been pushing. My legs have felt like lead, but I keep reminding myself that this is it. This is the last effort. Come Sunday we have to rely on all the hours and effort we put into training. There is nothing more we can do, except fuel our bodies and try to focus on this race. In 2 weeks from tomorrow, the 8 months of training will be worth it. We will {hopefully} be crossing that finish line. All the training, sickness, exhaustion, will be worth it!
As for the wedding, I cannot believe that it is only 3 weeks away! I am getting very excited for our big day. Hopefully the weather is nice so we can be outside. I can't wait to marry the love of my life. My training partner, my best friend, my everything. And with all the craziness of the last few months, we cannot wait to go away to mexico for a week! I've never been to an all inclusive, and I think after the ironman and the wedding we definitely deserve it!
I think the next 3 weeks are going to zoom by! Next week I'm headed on a road trip with my mom and sister to montana. They haven't seen the lodge so they wanted to head to fernie to see it, and fernie is only a stones throw from the boarder so we're going down for some shopping. I definitely need some fancy work clothes for when I start my new job on Sept. 12! It will be a great time! and i can`t wait for my mom to see the lodge. It is soo beautiful! She`s going to love it. Then it`s the week before ironman, then it`s the week before the wedding! Lots to keep me preoccupied (and perhaps a little stressed).
Anyways, have a great weekend! It`s going to be a busy one for us. We`ve got our last loooooooong bike before the race on saturday, and a looooong run on sunday. Then we have my cousin`s 18th birthday party, and my bridal shower thanks to my mom and sister!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Goodsoil
The past 5 days I have been in goodsoil saskatchewan. For those of you who are not my family (however limited that may be) you may be asking where the heck is goodsoil saskatchewan. Well :
It's pretty much a very small farming town up in northern saskatchewan... and it is a long ways from calgary. You may ask why the heck we go to such a place in the middle of now where? well because:
there is an amazing lake there... and because when my great grandfather immigrated from germany, he was given land there and was one of the founding fathers of this small piece of paradise Canada. We have been going there since I can remember, and my mom has been going there since she can remember.
We had a great time, but, sadly, I had to leave Ben behind. Since he is working and it is a 7 hour drive he couldn't even come up for just the weekend. So I got to be the 7th wheel all weekend with my mom and murray, my sister and her boyfriend, and my brother and his girlfriend. Actually we had a great time. I went for a longish run on saturday morning. The day day started out promising with not a cloud in the sky which lead to a very hot run. But, by the end of my 2 hour (22 km) run, the sky had started to cloud over and it proceeded to be a cloudy/windy day. So we set up the campsite, made pie irons for lunch on the fire and just relaxed. That night we had a couple of surprise visitors in the middle of the night, as a mama black bear and her two cubs decided to visit our campsite. It was quite the excitement at 6 am, but murray managed to scare them off before my siblings in the tents had a heart attack.
Sunday we were going to head to church, but after the bear excitement we wound up sleeping in. I was planning on going for a long bike, but I had forgotten about how TERRIBLE the roads are in saskatchewan. Like seriously, there are parts of the highway that are just gravel. In fact, 2 years ago I broke the suspension on my old car when I crossed from Alberta to Saskatchewan. SO, the bike stayed parked all weekend. It was a beautiful day, and we maneged to get a few hours down at the beach. However, the drama did not end with the bears. When we launched my mom's old boat it died in the middle of the lake. Like seriously its completely dead. Paul had to paddle the boat ashore. I was planning on swimming the 3 miles across the lake, but I needed a boat to follow me, so thankfully some relatives (thank you to chelsea, cassidy, feron, lisa, and michelle) followed me in their pontoon boat with my mom and murray tagging along for the ride. I have swam the lake before 10 years ago when I in grade 9 and it took me over 2 hours. However, that was kind of a sput of the moment thing. I thought, I could swim across there... so I did. Then we tired 2 years ago, because ben and my brother wanted to try but the water was tooo cold. This year I came prepared. I brought my wetsuit, and after squeeezing into it I was ready to rock. I made it in 1 hour and 25 minutes! I guess this ironman training thing is paying off. I spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach. Monday morning we woke up to pouring rain. But by the time we finished breakfast it had cleared up and turned into another hot beautiful day. I got a quick 10k run in then headed down to the beach to enjoy our last full day at the lake. My brother, his girlfriend, and I had to leave the hot weather and started the long trip home on tuesday.
Since Ben couldn't come to goodsoil, he headed to fernie for some training and a visit with his mom. He biked 160 kms on saturday! I was so impressed. The furthest we had gone previously was 140 kms. Then Ben had a chance to go over and see the lodge where we are getting married and it is beautiful!
Despite some of the drama that happened, it is going to be beautiful and perfect.
In other news, I have a final interview with scotia bank today. This could be an amazing opportunity for me so hopefully everything works out. Actually, I have already turned down one job just because I really want this one. So with me luck!
We had a great time, but, sadly, I had to leave Ben behind. Since he is working and it is a 7 hour drive he couldn't even come up for just the weekend. So I got to be the 7th wheel all weekend with my mom and murray, my sister and her boyfriend, and my brother and his girlfriend. Actually we had a great time. I went for a longish run on saturday morning. The day day started out promising with not a cloud in the sky which lead to a very hot run. But, by the end of my 2 hour (22 km) run, the sky had started to cloud over and it proceeded to be a cloudy/windy day. So we set up the campsite, made pie irons for lunch on the fire and just relaxed. That night we had a couple of surprise visitors in the middle of the night, as a mama black bear and her two cubs decided to visit our campsite. It was quite the excitement at 6 am, but murray managed to scare them off before my siblings in the tents had a heart attack.
Sunday we were going to head to church, but after the bear excitement we wound up sleeping in. I was planning on going for a long bike, but I had forgotten about how TERRIBLE the roads are in saskatchewan. Like seriously, there are parts of the highway that are just gravel. In fact, 2 years ago I broke the suspension on my old car when I crossed from Alberta to Saskatchewan. SO, the bike stayed parked all weekend. It was a beautiful day, and we maneged to get a few hours down at the beach. However, the drama did not end with the bears. When we launched my mom's old boat it died in the middle of the lake. Like seriously its completely dead. Paul had to paddle the boat ashore. I was planning on swimming the 3 miles across the lake, but I needed a boat to follow me, so thankfully some relatives (thank you to chelsea, cassidy, feron, lisa, and michelle) followed me in their pontoon boat with my mom and murray tagging along for the ride. I have swam the lake before 10 years ago when I in grade 9 and it took me over 2 hours. However, that was kind of a sput of the moment thing. I thought, I could swim across there... so I did. Then we tired 2 years ago, because ben and my brother wanted to try but the water was tooo cold. This year I came prepared. I brought my wetsuit, and after squeeezing into it I was ready to rock. I made it in 1 hour and 25 minutes! I guess this ironman training thing is paying off. I spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach. Monday morning we woke up to pouring rain. But by the time we finished breakfast it had cleared up and turned into another hot beautiful day. I got a quick 10k run in then headed down to the beach to enjoy our last full day at the lake. My brother, his girlfriend, and I had to leave the hot weather and started the long trip home on tuesday.
Since Ben couldn't come to goodsoil, he headed to fernie for some training and a visit with his mom. He biked 160 kms on saturday! I was so impressed. The furthest we had gone previously was 140 kms. Then Ben had a chance to go over and see the lodge where we are getting married and it is beautiful!
Despite some of the drama that happened, it is going to be beautiful and perfect.
In other news, I have a final interview with scotia bank today. This could be an amazing opportunity for me so hopefully everything works out. Actually, I have already turned down one job just because I really want this one. So with me luck!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
A normal weekend?
Time just seems to be slipping away from me. How is it already the middle of July! We moved a month ago and I have no idea where the time has gone.
Our training is coming along really well. We are up to 12 workouts a week and 15-18 hours a week of training. This is really the last push before 2 weeks of tapering before the race. Two weeks ago we maneged to get a 140 km bike ride in, that's only 40 kms short of the ironman distance! That definitely raised our confidence! I felt really good until the last 45 minute when my feet started to ache. My biking shoes did not have a good insole, but we have put some new, more supportive, insoles in and so far they seem to be helping. However, last weekend we took a major step back. Both of us were feeling really burnt out and tired. So we eased off on the training and just enjoyed ourselves and lived a "normal life". Saturday we went hiking with my sister and her boyfriend. We had alot of fun, my sister is so funny and I love hanging out with her! The weather didn't look promising, but the rain held off and it was actually nice that it was overcast since it didn't get to hot. We hiked up lady macdonald, but didn't make it all the way to the top since it got soo windy it was too dangerous , but it was the first mountain my sister had ever climbed!
That night, we met up with my sister and her boyfriend again and we had some pizza and beers then headed down to the stampede. We were planning on going to Nashville north but the lineup was UNBELIEVEABLE!... like seroiusly 4 hours.. and there were people waiting in line that long! wow! we just went to the beer gardens, drank for a while, met up with my brother and his friends then went to a bar on 17th ave. Since ben and I are old we wound up catching a cab at midnight and headed home... it was past our bedtime.
Sunday morning we decided to walk the hour downtown to get our car. It was a gorgeous morning, and we stopped at nellies for some brunch (mmmm our favorite breakfast spot). We picked up the car then headed out to cochrane to help my mom and murray with their fence building. Now, I worked construction for a summer so I know how to use my power tools! It was actually a lot of fun, I love building stuff! We got a good dent on the fence building and even planted a few trees.
We didn't get home until 8 pm that night, and we were tired. We pretty much just went straight to bed. Even though we didn't really train, we still had a jam packed weekend!
This week has been busy, despite not working. I've just been busy running errands, and trying to pick up the pieces of our wedding explosion of last week. It seems as though everything is coming together. But it is also very different then we had origionally had planned, but I think this is actually going to be better!
I am headed up to Goodsoil SK with on Friday with my family. We've been going there every year since I can remember. It is a beautiful lake in just a little town in northern saskatchewan. Ben can't come since it is a 7 hour drive and he only has the weekend off. But I'm headed up for some serious training, lounging on the beach, and camping! woot! I'll be coming home on tuesday with my little brother! Can't wait!
Our training is coming along really well. We are up to 12 workouts a week and 15-18 hours a week of training. This is really the last push before 2 weeks of tapering before the race. Two weeks ago we maneged to get a 140 km bike ride in, that's only 40 kms short of the ironman distance! That definitely raised our confidence! I felt really good until the last 45 minute when my feet started to ache. My biking shoes did not have a good insole, but we have put some new, more supportive, insoles in and so far they seem to be helping. However, last weekend we took a major step back. Both of us were feeling really burnt out and tired. So we eased off on the training and just enjoyed ourselves and lived a "normal life". Saturday we went hiking with my sister and her boyfriend. We had alot of fun, my sister is so funny and I love hanging out with her! The weather didn't look promising, but the rain held off and it was actually nice that it was overcast since it didn't get to hot. We hiked up lady macdonald, but didn't make it all the way to the top since it got soo windy it was too dangerous , but it was the first mountain my sister had ever climbed!
That night, we met up with my sister and her boyfriend again and we had some pizza and beers then headed down to the stampede. We were planning on going to Nashville north but the lineup was UNBELIEVEABLE!... like seroiusly 4 hours.. and there were people waiting in line that long! wow! we just went to the beer gardens, drank for a while, met up with my brother and his friends then went to a bar on 17th ave. Since ben and I are old we wound up catching a cab at midnight and headed home... it was past our bedtime.
Sunday morning we decided to walk the hour downtown to get our car. It was a gorgeous morning, and we stopped at nellies for some brunch (mmmm our favorite breakfast spot). We picked up the car then headed out to cochrane to help my mom and murray with their fence building. Now, I worked construction for a summer so I know how to use my power tools! It was actually a lot of fun, I love building stuff! We got a good dent on the fence building and even planted a few trees.
We didn't get home until 8 pm that night, and we were tired. We pretty much just went straight to bed. Even though we didn't really train, we still had a jam packed weekend!
This week has been busy, despite not working. I've just been busy running errands, and trying to pick up the pieces of our wedding explosion of last week. It seems as though everything is coming together. But it is also very different then we had origionally had planned, but I think this is actually going to be better!
I am headed up to Goodsoil SK with on Friday with my family. We've been going there every year since I can remember. It is a beautiful lake in just a little town in northern saskatchewan. Ben can't come since it is a 7 hour drive and he only has the weekend off. But I'm headed up for some serious training, lounging on the beach, and camping! woot! I'll be coming home on tuesday with my little brother! Can't wait!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Time Flies When You're Having Fun
Where to begin. I cannot believe that it is ALREADY JULY 8th! That means there is 6 weeks and 2 days until Ironman, and 7 weeks and 1 day until our Wedding!
Today, however, is also a special day. 4 years ago Ben and I each had a moment. A moment where we realized that we had met someone very special. Ben's moment was when he finished his first marathon and felt an urge to text me and tell me how he did. Despite the fact we had only known eachother for less than a month, and there were plenty of other people he could have informed first. The moment for me was when I woke up next to him the next day, and the first thing I thought was "you're going to wake up forever next this this person." Completely illogical, but it was true. 4 years ago, Ben and I both realized that we had met our soulmate, and it has been the most incredible 4 years of my life. Ben is my best friend, my training partner, my cheer leader, my strength, my confidant, my champ, and my everything. I am so lucky to have him in my life, and I cannot wait until I can call him my husband! So tonight in celebration Ben is taking me out on a date, and I have no idea where we are going! I'm pretty excited!
On another note, we had a little hiccup with the wedding planning, when I found out that the lady that runs the lodge and was doing all the organizing and catering was going out of business. Lets just say the stress level rose to an uncomfortably high level. Thankfully, however, it all seems to be sorted out now and the guy who is buying out her share is actually going to just employ her staff and it will be identitcal to what we had originally planned. PHEW. Other than that, everything seems to be coming together nicely! Infact, we JUST booked our honeymoon this afternoon! How about a week in the Mayan Riviera in a 5 star all inclusive resort. And the best part is we have gotten an AMAZING deal on it. We cannot wait! I've never been to an all inclusive relaxing vacation in my life. It will be a blast, and just what we need after ironman and then the wedding.
Today, however, is also a special day. 4 years ago Ben and I each had a moment. A moment where we realized that we had met someone very special. Ben's moment was when he finished his first marathon and felt an urge to text me and tell me how he did. Despite the fact we had only known eachother for less than a month, and there were plenty of other people he could have informed first. The moment for me was when I woke up next to him the next day, and the first thing I thought was "you're going to wake up forever next this this person." Completely illogical, but it was true. 4 years ago, Ben and I both realized that we had met our soulmate, and it has been the most incredible 4 years of my life. Ben is my best friend, my training partner, my cheer leader, my strength, my confidant, my champ, and my everything. I am so lucky to have him in my life, and I cannot wait until I can call him my husband! So tonight in celebration Ben is taking me out on a date, and I have no idea where we are going! I'm pretty excited!
On another note, we had a little hiccup with the wedding planning, when I found out that the lady that runs the lodge and was doing all the organizing and catering was going out of business. Lets just say the stress level rose to an uncomfortably high level. Thankfully, however, it all seems to be sorted out now and the guy who is buying out her share is actually going to just employ her staff and it will be identitcal to what we had originally planned. PHEW. Other than that, everything seems to be coming together nicely! Infact, we JUST booked our honeymoon this afternoon! How about a week in the Mayan Riviera in a 5 star all inclusive resort. And the best part is we have gotten an AMAZING deal on it. We cannot wait! I've never been to an all inclusive relaxing vacation in my life. It will be a blast, and just what we need after ironman and then the wedding.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Wednesday Wishes
I'm linking up again with Brooke for her weekly wednesday wishes. I have seemed to have pretty good luck the last few weeks with getting my wishes as I finished the race, Ben got the job, and we got the great apartment that we wanted. So this week, I thought I'd throw in some big wishes and see what happens!
1) A smoooth move back to Calgary. We're doing the Uhaul thing, and its a little stressful but I think we'll be fine.
2) This duvet cover... we need new sheets since we have worn through ours.. literally, there is a gaping hole in our sheets. We're not even going to pack em, just toss them come saturday morning. So while looking for new sheets I stumbled apon this duvet and I love it.
at bed, bath, and beyond
3)During my race, there was this guy who I named "Yellow" as he was on a yellow bike and wearing a yellow shirt (he called me blue for the same reason). I would pass him going up the hills, but he would fly by me on the downhills. We played leapfrog like that for the majority of the race. At one point he turned to me and said "You are a way better biker than me... I just have a better bike. If you had a bike like mine you'd be way ahead of me." so with that... I would LOVE a cervelo p3.. although I would settle for a p2 :). Maybe one day.
4) A honeymoon somewhere tropical and all inclusive where we don't have to worry about anything... or any honeymoon. With getting new jobs we're not even sure we will get time off for a honeymoon right after our wedding. If not, I'm sure we'll go on one eventually. Perhaps for Ironman Florida in 2012?.. although that is the oposit of an all inclusive relaxing vacation ha!
via
5)The athletes plate cookbook! and time to cook from it! Ben and I eat, for the most part, super healthy. However, we're often eating the same things every week. Also, with our busy training/work schedules we often rely on frozen/quick foods (although of the healthy variety.. low fat, low sodium) or leftovers during the week. With some planning, and an aresnal of healthy recipes geared towards atheltes I think we may be able to change out habits!
from amazon
1) A smoooth move back to Calgary. We're doing the Uhaul thing, and its a little stressful but I think we'll be fine.
2) This duvet cover... we need new sheets since we have worn through ours.. literally, there is a gaping hole in our sheets. We're not even going to pack em, just toss them come saturday morning. So while looking for new sheets I stumbled apon this duvet and I love it.
3)During my race, there was this guy who I named "Yellow" as he was on a yellow bike and wearing a yellow shirt (he called me blue for the same reason). I would pass him going up the hills, but he would fly by me on the downhills. We played leapfrog like that for the majority of the race. At one point he turned to me and said "You are a way better biker than me... I just have a better bike. If you had a bike like mine you'd be way ahead of me." so with that... I would LOVE a cervelo p3.. although I would settle for a p2 :). Maybe one day.
4) A honeymoon somewhere tropical and all inclusive where we don't have to worry about anything... or any honeymoon. With getting new jobs we're not even sure we will get time off for a honeymoon right after our wedding. If not, I'm sure we'll go on one eventually. Perhaps for Ironman Florida in 2012?.. although that is the oposit of an all inclusive relaxing vacation ha!
5)The athletes plate cookbook! and time to cook from it! Ben and I eat, for the most part, super healthy. However, we're often eating the same things every week. Also, with our busy training/work schedules we often rely on frozen/quick foods (although of the healthy variety.. low fat, low sodium) or leftovers during the week. With some planning, and an aresnal of healthy recipes geared towards atheltes I think we may be able to change out habits!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Recovery week
This week I have been totally taking it easy. Although my muscles are no longer sore, they feel fatigued, as though there is no energy left in them. So I don't want to push it and get burnt out.
Monday was my birthday! My dad had stayed sunday night before heading back to calgary, so we went out for a birthday breakfast and we had some yummy eggs benedicts! We packed up his truck with a load of stuff, and he hit the road by 10 am. I had the day off, I was super tired and sore so I laid on the couch pretty much all day. I napped and watched half a movie until the power went out.... for over 3 hours! It was super hot outside, and after being in the sun all day on sunday during the race i did not feel like going outside and enjoying it. So what did I do for those powerless 3 hours? I have absalutly no idea! At one point I unpacked the car which took maybe 20 minites. Other than that, I just laid exhausted on the couch. By the time I picked ben up from work at 5:30 the power had JUST come on. I picked ben up from work and we had tacos for dinner with strawberry rhubarb pie topped with cool whip for desert mmm! Followed by a nice walk outside to start moving my legs. All in all it was a great birthday despite being so exhausted and sore.
By tuesday I was feeling much better, so after work I went to the gym for a super light bike for 30 minutes and then a good stretch. Yesterday, I went for an easy 750m swim, and today I am taking off before I gear up to get back to training this weekend.
My Boss is heading to boston this weekend and isn't going to be back until the sunday after Ben and I leave, so he took me and my coworker out for lunch yesterday which was super awesome. I am so excited for his trip (perhaps even more excited then he is) since I LOVE Boston! I think it is my favorite city. I have been rhyming off all the different places that they have to visit. Ben and I would love to go back there someday. Perhaps when I qualify for Boston? ha! That will take some serious speed training since running is not my strong suit.
I have tomorow off and we were going to go to calgary this weekend because of a career fair, but it turns out the career fair was on wed/thurs so I missed it (I thought it was thurs/fri). We were also going to borrow my dad's truck but we decided to rent a U-haul instead. So we are not going to Calgary anymore and we are just going to enjoy our last weekend in Revelstoke. It will mostly involve training, relaxing, and packing. I can't believe it only 9 more sleeps!
We also FINALLY got our wedding invitations out despite the postal strike, which is awesome. For the most part everyone should have recieved them so that takes a stress off. I can't blieve that it's already less than 3 months away! I haven't really been in wedding planning mode lately with everything else going on, but I guess I'll be getting back into it soon. I think the next 3 months are going to fly by!
Monday was my birthday! My dad had stayed sunday night before heading back to calgary, so we went out for a birthday breakfast and we had some yummy eggs benedicts! We packed up his truck with a load of stuff, and he hit the road by 10 am. I had the day off, I was super tired and sore so I laid on the couch pretty much all day. I napped and watched half a movie until the power went out.... for over 3 hours! It was super hot outside, and after being in the sun all day on sunday during the race i did not feel like going outside and enjoying it. So what did I do for those powerless 3 hours? I have absalutly no idea! At one point I unpacked the car which took maybe 20 minites. Other than that, I just laid exhausted on the couch. By the time I picked ben up from work at 5:30 the power had JUST come on. I picked ben up from work and we had tacos for dinner with strawberry rhubarb pie topped with cool whip for desert mmm! Followed by a nice walk outside to start moving my legs. All in all it was a great birthday despite being so exhausted and sore.
By tuesday I was feeling much better, so after work I went to the gym for a super light bike for 30 minutes and then a good stretch. Yesterday, I went for an easy 750m swim, and today I am taking off before I gear up to get back to training this weekend.
My Boss is heading to boston this weekend and isn't going to be back until the sunday after Ben and I leave, so he took me and my coworker out for lunch yesterday which was super awesome. I am so excited for his trip (perhaps even more excited then he is) since I LOVE Boston! I think it is my favorite city. I have been rhyming off all the different places that they have to visit. Ben and I would love to go back there someday. Perhaps when I qualify for Boston? ha! That will take some serious speed training since running is not my strong suit.
I have tomorow off and we were going to go to calgary this weekend because of a career fair, but it turns out the career fair was on wed/thurs so I missed it (I thought it was thurs/fri). We were also going to borrow my dad's truck but we decided to rent a U-haul instead. So we are not going to Calgary anymore and we are just going to enjoy our last weekend in Revelstoke. It will mostly involve training, relaxing, and packing. I can't believe it only 9 more sleeps!
We also FINALLY got our wedding invitations out despite the postal strike, which is awesome. For the most part everyone should have recieved them so that takes a stress off. I can't blieve that it's already less than 3 months away! I haven't really been in wedding planning mode lately with everything else going on, but I guess I'll be getting back into it soon. I think the next 3 months are going to fly by!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Purple it is!
So, this week with all the allergy issues going on I haven't trained since tuesday. Ugh. Maybe I do actually have a cold? but that's the thing with hay fever you get allll the syptoms of a cold plus itchy eyes and ears (which I have both)... so I guess it's definitely allergies... or maybe both? Although I did just get over a terrible cold. Who knows, all I know is that tomorrow morning I have a 2 hour and 50 minute bike, followed by a 40 minute run, then a 40 minute swim. The race is coming up fast and I better start feeling better!
The one good thing that has come out of it is I decided that I cannot have real flowers at my wedding. I do now want to take a chance that I'll be this ill. So, I was looking online and I found an amazing website that most people in the blog world know about called etsy. If you haven't been there you should definitely check it out. It is basically an online market of a whole bunch of different people with various hobbies. Trust me you will thank me, although your credit card may not since there is sooo much cool stuff on there! anyways, I ended up finding the perfect flowers for our wedding:
Aren't they so pretty! And it was a total steal, way way way cheaper than real flowers. So my sinus' and our bank account are both happy with this decision. I'm thinking black bridesmaids dresses would look pretty awesome with them. I have been up in the air about colors for the wedding, but with the purchase of those flowers I guess it has been decided with purple!
Hope everyone has a great weekend! Ben is just about home from his interview and we're going to hang out tonight. I guess it went really well, so now we'll just wait and see if it's meant to be! If it is he could start as soon as June 23rd!
The one good thing that has come out of it is I decided that I cannot have real flowers at my wedding. I do now want to take a chance that I'll be this ill. So, I was looking online and I found an amazing website that most people in the blog world know about called etsy. If you haven't been there you should definitely check it out. It is basically an online market of a whole bunch of different people with various hobbies. Trust me you will thank me, although your credit card may not since there is sooo much cool stuff on there! anyways, I ended up finding the perfect flowers for our wedding:
Hope everyone has a great weekend! Ben is just about home from his interview and we're going to hang out tonight. I guess it went really well, so now we'll just wait and see if it's meant to be! If it is he could start as soon as June 23rd!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Said "Yes" To The Dress
This weekend was a very busy, but very sucessful trip to Calgary. We didn't get to my mom's house until after 7pm but we were greeted with a delicious roast beef dinner (a treat since I have yet to learn how to cook meat in the oven.. such as chicken, roast beef, ham.. ect) Then my Mom and I talked excitedly about wedding planning until way past our bedtime.
Saturday we left the house early for a day full of errands. First we headed to the forzanis mother's day sale where we all got some awesome deals. Then Ben went to meet up with my brother and my nephew at the zoo. We laughed because they probably looked like a gay couple at the zoo together with Jack. While Ben was preoccupied, I went dress shopping with my mom and Beccy. We hit up one store, and found the perfect dress within an hour! It's a simple, A-Line, no train, dress in white with a little bit of bling and the best part... it was under $500! So, I bought it! I was debating buying a dress online from lightinthebox.com, but since this one wasn't that much more expensive and I know that I like it we figured it was less risky. So, now it is hanging in my mom's house hidden from Ben. I dont have any pictures, since my mom doesn't trust that I won't show ben, so you'll just have to wait like Ben to see it. After the excitement we went out for lunch, then hit up the mall and I bought my shoes and a garter, so I'm done! My wedding day atire is bought and its all perfect and was quite a bargain. Now we just have to find Ben a suit.
We also decided on the invitations which we'll order this week, booked a photographer, and got mini mason jars that we're using for our favors. So all in all it was a sucessful trip for wedding planning.
Saterday night we had yummy burgers at my dad's house to celebrate my little brothers birthday, then Ben and I passed out at around 10. I guess we're not used to all the excitement of the city. On Sunday for mothers day we went for brunch with my mom and my grandma then drove home to a sunny Revelstoke.
This morning we woke up to a gorgeous day here, and I have the afternoon off today, so I plan on getting outside for a short run, then a bike with Ben after he gets off from work. Hope you have a great week! It's supposed to be nice all week, so we're hoping to get lots of training in... only 15 weeks until Ironman, and 16 weeks until we get married! eek!
Saturday we left the house early for a day full of errands. First we headed to the forzanis mother's day sale where we all got some awesome deals. Then Ben went to meet up with my brother and my nephew at the zoo. We laughed because they probably looked like a gay couple at the zoo together with Jack. While Ben was preoccupied, I went dress shopping with my mom and Beccy. We hit up one store, and found the perfect dress within an hour! It's a simple, A-Line, no train, dress in white with a little bit of bling and the best part... it was under $500! So, I bought it! I was debating buying a dress online from lightinthebox.com, but since this one wasn't that much more expensive and I know that I like it we figured it was less risky. So, now it is hanging in my mom's house hidden from Ben. I dont have any pictures, since my mom doesn't trust that I won't show ben, so you'll just have to wait like Ben to see it. After the excitement we went out for lunch, then hit up the mall and I bought my shoes and a garter, so I'm done! My wedding day atire is bought and its all perfect and was quite a bargain. Now we just have to find Ben a suit.
We also decided on the invitations which we'll order this week, booked a photographer, and got mini mason jars that we're using for our favors. So all in all it was a sucessful trip for wedding planning.
Saterday night we had yummy burgers at my dad's house to celebrate my little brothers birthday, then Ben and I passed out at around 10. I guess we're not used to all the excitement of the city. On Sunday for mothers day we went for brunch with my mom and my grandma then drove home to a sunny Revelstoke.
This morning we woke up to a gorgeous day here, and I have the afternoon off today, so I plan on getting outside for a short run, then a bike with Ben after he gets off from work. Hope you have a great week! It's supposed to be nice all week, so we're hoping to get lots of training in... only 15 weeks until Ironman, and 16 weeks until we get married! eek!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Slow and Steady
So this week I have slowly been trying to get back into training. Tuesday I attemped to run in the morning, and well... it didn't go great. I pretty much felt like a asthmatic smoker who was trying to race a 10k without any training. Seriously, I did a small loop that I can typically do in roughly 25 mins and tuesday morning it took me over 30.. ugh. But, I did it that's all that matters. Tuesday evening Ben and I decided to go do some weights at the gym, I didn't have much energy so after a short warm up bike I did a quick circuit. Wednesday I headed out on the bike since it was sunny, and my lungs felt alot better and was feeling pretty good, even thought about attempting to run after. But by the time I got home I was freezing and ben was already home, so motivation to run waned quickly. Thursday we were supposed to swim, but the pool has changed their hours and they aren't open after work anymore until 7:15 so we took a rest day. This morning we got up early and I hit the pool for a swim at 6:30. I was feeling a bit run down and could feel my lungs so I only lasted 25 minutes. But, that was the first swim in 2 weeks and it felt good to get in the water. As you can see this week I haven't done much but it's more than the last 2 weeks and I don't want to jump right back in and end up way sicker. However, I do have the half ironman in a month from tomorrow, so I better ramp this up quick and get back at it. The longest bike I have done to date it 60 km, the longest run was 18 kms, and the longest swim was well over 2000m. So I only need 20 more kms biking and 3 more kms run to complete the half ironman... piece of cake. Last year I was training really hard for a sub 6 hour half ironman, but this year since it's not my main race I'll be happy with more like 7.
This weekend we are headed to Calgary. We were planning on bringing our bikes out and biking the 70 kms from my Mom's house in Cochrane to my Dad's hous in far SW calgary on saterday for dinner and then bike back on sunday for brunch, but it's supposed to be pouring rain so we're just bringing our running shoes. Hopefully we'll get a couple good runs in on our old stomping grounds.
I'm also going dress shopping with my mom and my cousin this weekend! I have a dress that I've been eyeing online, but I want to try some on and make sure that I like the style before I go getting it custom sized and shipped! So that's exciting. While I'm off doing that, ben's got a list of errands such as FINALLY putting some summer tires on the stealth fighter (our car) and then hes hoping to hit up the Zoo with our adorable nephew and my brother.
Have a great weekend! and make sure you spoil your mommy! because mom's awesome! don't know what I would do without mine!
This weekend we are headed to Calgary. We were planning on bringing our bikes out and biking the 70 kms from my Mom's house in Cochrane to my Dad's hous in far SW calgary on saterday for dinner and then bike back on sunday for brunch, but it's supposed to be pouring rain so we're just bringing our running shoes. Hopefully we'll get a couple good runs in on our old stomping grounds.
I'm also going dress shopping with my mom and my cousin this weekend! I have a dress that I've been eyeing online, but I want to try some on and make sure that I like the style before I go getting it custom sized and shipped! So that's exciting. While I'm off doing that, ben's got a list of errands such as FINALLY putting some summer tires on the stealth fighter (our car) and then hes hoping to hit up the Zoo with our adorable nephew and my brother.
Have a great weekend! and make sure you spoil your mommy! because mom's awesome! don't know what I would do without mine!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Fate: Be destined to happen, turn out, or act in a particular way
Do you believe in fate? I do. And we had a taste of it this week.
In the last couple of days Ben and I have been frantically trying to make a decision on the wedding venue and it was just not working. The backyard wasn't going to work, but it was the only option on the long weekend in September. We wanted a place outside, but with the option of indoors incase the weather doesn't cooperate, an intimate venue since it will be a very small wedding compared to most, the september long weekend, and a place with views of the mountains. We thought maybe we were just being picky and we were ready to compromise. Then the other day I hunkered down and went crazy on the internet going through all our options again. There was this gorgeous place in Fernie that we hadn't really even considered because of the cost. But, I figured that was no harm in calling. So I did. Turns out they JUST had a party cancel for the September long weekend last week. And guess what! she is giving us a MEGA deal and so it now fits in our budget! It is a gorgeous place with amazing views of the mountains. It's everything we wanted, and we are SO excited. The lady that runs the lodge, Robyn, is so so nice and she seems just as excited as we are. So that's it. We paid our deposit, and we didn't have to compromise anything, we managed to get it all! So now we can move on and get started on all the other details of planning the wedding! Such as getting invitations out since it's only 4 months away too!
Oh and I stopped by the thrift shop in revelstoke here, and guess what! I got 40 mason jars for 9 dollars! I was planning on having mason jars with candles in them for the tables! I mean how simple and beautiful is this:
So that is the newest progress on the wedding planning thing. In other news, I am still batteling this terrible cold. I seem to have the worst cough ever. Cough medicine, double my asthma inhaler twice a day, and cough drops don't seem to be helping. Like most coughs it gets worse at night time, and so I have not been getting much sleep lately. Ugh. Hopefully it gets better soon because I am starting to get ansy to train! Ben on the other hand has definitely gotten back into training and has been up early nearly every day this week.
This weekend we're excited to have some time together at home. Then next weekend we're headed to Calgary! woot! Have a great weekend!
--Jen
In the last couple of days Ben and I have been frantically trying to make a decision on the wedding venue and it was just not working. The backyard wasn't going to work, but it was the only option on the long weekend in September. We wanted a place outside, but with the option of indoors incase the weather doesn't cooperate, an intimate venue since it will be a very small wedding compared to most, the september long weekend, and a place with views of the mountains. We thought maybe we were just being picky and we were ready to compromise. Then the other day I hunkered down and went crazy on the internet going through all our options again. There was this gorgeous place in Fernie that we hadn't really even considered because of the cost. But, I figured that was no harm in calling. So I did. Turns out they JUST had a party cancel for the September long weekend last week. And guess what! she is giving us a MEGA deal and so it now fits in our budget! It is a gorgeous place with amazing views of the mountains. It's everything we wanted, and we are SO excited. The lady that runs the lodge, Robyn, is so so nice and she seems just as excited as we are. So that's it. We paid our deposit, and we didn't have to compromise anything, we managed to get it all! So now we can move on and get started on all the other details of planning the wedding! Such as getting invitations out since it's only 4 months away too!
Oh and I stopped by the thrift shop in revelstoke here, and guess what! I got 40 mason jars for 9 dollars! I was planning on having mason jars with candles in them for the tables! I mean how simple and beautiful is this:
So that is the newest progress on the wedding planning thing. In other news, I am still batteling this terrible cold. I seem to have the worst cough ever. Cough medicine, double my asthma inhaler twice a day, and cough drops don't seem to be helping. Like most coughs it gets worse at night time, and so I have not been getting much sleep lately. Ugh. Hopefully it gets better soon because I am starting to get ansy to train! Ben on the other hand has definitely gotten back into training and has been up early nearly every day this week.
This weekend we're excited to have some time together at home. Then next weekend we're headed to Calgary! woot! Have a great weekend!
--Jen
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday Update
Lately I have been lacking inspiration to write, although we have not been without news. Everytime I write something it seems just so boring and all over the place. I think there has just been TOO MUCH and it seems it would be all over the map if I wrote it in one post. But Here I go, I'll put it in sub-headings to organize myself.
Training
Training hasn't really been going for me. Infact I have not trained since my last post (that's 12 days ago). After my last post the weirdest thing happend, my foot (that I broke last year) started aching. Then it swelled, and was really painful. Getting nervous I called Ben to drop by with some ice and advil. Within an hour I couldn't walk, so we decided to get checked out by the doctor. Well she was convinced I had a stress fracture and insisted I go back on my crutches and into my boot, and wait for a bone scan. UGH. Well that lasted a day. I blame it on my grandfather, I'm pretty sure the doctor had to threated a cast to make him rest a sprained ankle. It started feeling better and now it's fine so I have nod idea what happened. Then, not 2 days later I caught a real bad cold while my brothers were visiting. I haven't had a cold this bad in a loooong time, and I dont want to drag it out with training so I am relaxing and resting. Which is probably also good for my foot. But I am finally starting to feel better so I am hoping to get back to it hopefully tomorrow.
This weekend marks the 4 months mark! ahh!! that's only 3.5 months of intense training and 2 weeks of tapering. SO Ben and I need to get our buts in gear, stay healthy and really dedicate the next few months to training. Now that the ski hill is closed, and the snow is nearly melted I think this should be easier to do.
Wedding
Ben and I want to get married this September, so we have started trying to navigate through this wedding planning thing. We want September because we will be finished the Ironman and we normally aren't training for anything in the fall. Originally we looked into ALL the options, I mean everything from in Calgary to renting out a lodge in lake louise for the weekend. And after some consideration we decided two things were the most important to us 1) that it was in the mountains because that is where our souls are and 2) it doens't cost a small fortune. And thus we decided on Fernie, BC. Ben's mom lives there and we have spent alot of time in Fernie, plus it is GORGEOUS and much less expensive than Canmore and Banff area. So when we were down in Fernie last weekend visiting Ben's mom for Easter we looked at a couple of venues and are toiling with either a more causual backyard reception since Ben's mom generously offered their beaufitul backyard to us or a reception at the Best Western. Both have pros and cons that we're considering, but I think either would be great. Hopefully we have that figured out this week. But I think we have decided on a ceremony location:
That's us practicing. I think it looks like a pretty awesome spot. Obviously things wouldn't look quite so dead and brown in September. Rather all those trees in the background will have yellow and green leaves!
Moving
I think it's time to oficially announce that we have decided that we are moving back to Calgary! It's just a matter of when. We're thinking possibly as early as June, and by August at the latest. We realize that we moved to the mountains for a reason and it was our dream, but over the last year we have learned that there are things that we miss in Calgary. Such as my family, a career, and the convenience of having all the stores that you need right there. Although we love the mountains, I have stopped noticing them as much. We used to make plans every weekend, and look forward to going to the mountains and getting away every weekend. Planning all week kept us going. But now that we're in the moutnains all the time, we don't have that anymore, it's not a big adventure since they're right there. Also, the training facilities here in the winter are.... well.. not great. We dread going to the gym becasue it is hot and gross. The pool is typically INSANELY busy in the evenings because they only have one single lane for all the lap swimmers and there is this one guy that just KICKS for half an hour and doesn't wait at the end to let you pass him if you're right on his butt (so so so anoying!). Finally,the hours that the pool and the gym have been a struggle since they open late on the weekends. I think every place that you live has it's pros and cons, and Revelstoke just doens't seem to be working for us. Although the mountains are important, and the skiing was amazing, we're at a point in our lives where our Careers and family are just more important. So I am on the job search in Calgary. I've started casually applying for jobs, but I think it's hard to do when you're not physically in Calgary. If anyone knows of any potential employers in Calgary let me know!
So that's probably the biggest news. Wedding, moving and training. Phew. There we go trying to do everything at once. But I think it will all be worth it.
This weekend the rain is supposed to clear up and we're going to train hard and have some quality champ time. Even have a date night planned for friday night. Then next weekend we're headed to Calgary! Forzani puts on the mother's day race every year, and with that is a HUGE sale on running shoes so every year we stock up. So that was the main reason but we're also excited to see everyone, and talk wedding stuff with my mom!I haven't been to calgary since January, and Ben hasn't been since Christmas, I think that's the longest stretch yet! perhaps that is why we are getting homesick! -
-Jen
ps.. just thought I'd leave you with a picture of my adorable nephew.. incase you needed a pick-me up to get through the rest of the week.
I mean how cute is he!
Training
Training hasn't really been going for me. Infact I have not trained since my last post (that's 12 days ago). After my last post the weirdest thing happend, my foot (that I broke last year) started aching. Then it swelled, and was really painful. Getting nervous I called Ben to drop by with some ice and advil. Within an hour I couldn't walk, so we decided to get checked out by the doctor. Well she was convinced I had a stress fracture and insisted I go back on my crutches and into my boot, and wait for a bone scan. UGH. Well that lasted a day. I blame it on my grandfather, I'm pretty sure the doctor had to threated a cast to make him rest a sprained ankle. It started feeling better and now it's fine so I have nod idea what happened. Then, not 2 days later I caught a real bad cold while my brothers were visiting. I haven't had a cold this bad in a loooong time, and I dont want to drag it out with training so I am relaxing and resting. Which is probably also good for my foot. But I am finally starting to feel better so I am hoping to get back to it hopefully tomorrow.
This weekend marks the 4 months mark! ahh!! that's only 3.5 months of intense training and 2 weeks of tapering. SO Ben and I need to get our buts in gear, stay healthy and really dedicate the next few months to training. Now that the ski hill is closed, and the snow is nearly melted I think this should be easier to do.
Wedding
Ben and I want to get married this September, so we have started trying to navigate through this wedding planning thing. We want September because we will be finished the Ironman and we normally aren't training for anything in the fall. Originally we looked into ALL the options, I mean everything from in Calgary to renting out a lodge in lake louise for the weekend. And after some consideration we decided two things were the most important to us 1) that it was in the mountains because that is where our souls are and 2) it doens't cost a small fortune. And thus we decided on Fernie, BC. Ben's mom lives there and we have spent alot of time in Fernie, plus it is GORGEOUS and much less expensive than Canmore and Banff area. So when we were down in Fernie last weekend visiting Ben's mom for Easter we looked at a couple of venues and are toiling with either a more causual backyard reception since Ben's mom generously offered their beaufitul backyard to us or a reception at the Best Western. Both have pros and cons that we're considering, but I think either would be great. Hopefully we have that figured out this week. But I think we have decided on a ceremony location:
That's us practicing. I think it looks like a pretty awesome spot. Obviously things wouldn't look quite so dead and brown in September. Rather all those trees in the background will have yellow and green leaves!
Moving
I think it's time to oficially announce that we have decided that we are moving back to Calgary! It's just a matter of when. We're thinking possibly as early as June, and by August at the latest. We realize that we moved to the mountains for a reason and it was our dream, but over the last year we have learned that there are things that we miss in Calgary. Such as my family, a career, and the convenience of having all the stores that you need right there. Although we love the mountains, I have stopped noticing them as much. We used to make plans every weekend, and look forward to going to the mountains and getting away every weekend. Planning all week kept us going. But now that we're in the moutnains all the time, we don't have that anymore, it's not a big adventure since they're right there. Also, the training facilities here in the winter are.... well.. not great. We dread going to the gym becasue it is hot and gross. The pool is typically INSANELY busy in the evenings because they only have one single lane for all the lap swimmers and there is this one guy that just KICKS for half an hour and doesn't wait at the end to let you pass him if you're right on his butt (so so so anoying!). Finally,the hours that the pool and the gym have been a struggle since they open late on the weekends. I think every place that you live has it's pros and cons, and Revelstoke just doens't seem to be working for us. Although the mountains are important, and the skiing was amazing, we're at a point in our lives where our Careers and family are just more important. So I am on the job search in Calgary. I've started casually applying for jobs, but I think it's hard to do when you're not physically in Calgary. If anyone knows of any potential employers in Calgary let me know!
So that's probably the biggest news. Wedding, moving and training. Phew. There we go trying to do everything at once. But I think it will all be worth it.
This weekend the rain is supposed to clear up and we're going to train hard and have some quality champ time. Even have a date night planned for friday night. Then next weekend we're headed to Calgary! Forzani puts on the mother's day race every year, and with that is a HUGE sale on running shoes so every year we stock up. So that was the main reason but we're also excited to see everyone, and talk wedding stuff with my mom!I haven't been to calgary since January, and Ben hasn't been since Christmas, I think that's the longest stretch yet! perhaps that is why we are getting homesick! -
-Jen
ps.. just thought I'd leave you with a picture of my adorable nephew.. incase you needed a pick-me up to get through the rest of the week.
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