Sunshine & Love

With the weather getting warmer and less rainy (gotta love Vancouver!) I have been doing my yoga in the park behind my house. At first I was a little nervous to just go out and throw down my mat and practice, but after deciding to just be bold and do what I love, I have fallen in love with it! It is crazy how something as simple as the sun shining on your face, the birds chirping, and the sounds of nature can completely relax you. Yes I love my yoga videos and following an instructor, but taking the lead and letting my body control what I do and doing what I feel like is refreshing. I went with how my body was feeling and let that guide my practice. I took all that I have learned from classes and videos and made it my own. I'm sure if an actual instructor saw me they would wonder what I was doing, but it just felt good. There was no time limit or anything. Just me enjoying the sun and fresh air. I know I had some weird looks from the old lady sitting on her porch, but I just laughed it off. I can tell that I have grown as a person with that one. If that had happened even a few months ago I would have stopped and gone inside. I am glad my job allows me to enjoy the morning outside. Even though the split shift will be the death of me, it is nice to be up early, go to work, come home, get to enjoy the morning sun when it's still coolish outside and do my yoga, then go back to work in the afternoon. 
It's crazy how often we take the beauty of nature for granted. I have found, through doing my yoga outside, an appreciation for nature that I had when I was a child, but lost. As a kid I spent almost everyday outside whether playing or helping with chores. I came in when the yard light came on or mom called me in for dinner. I grew up on a farm so there was room to run around and ride my bike. Somewhere in growing up I lost that love of being outside, might have something to do with my great dislike of bugs, but I am so happy to be getting back to nature. It is definitely something I took for granted and now want to be able to enjoy and not let the my schedule get in the way of. I may be busy, but there is always time to stop and go outside.

Have a great weekend!

Song of the Day: Bright by Echosmith

Festival and Food

I went to the Vaisakhi Festival in Vancouver this weekend. It is a Sikh festival celebrating the harvest time. There was a parade and people serving vegetarian food along the street. It was super cool to see. It was all Indian food and so good. I went with my family and we ate so much food! I didn't even eat supper tonight I was still full. It was great to get out and with my family and go explore a bit. The festival is open to anyone though we felt like the only white people there. We also felt a little under dressed. All the woman were in their colourful dress and the men were in their traditional dress or in suits. The weather was awesome too! It was a little overcast but still warm. The cloud cover kept me from turning into a lobster. It was a great way to spend a Saturday. I love learning about other cultures and I love that I live in a city that has so many to learn about first hand. There a tons of other festivals and such for other cultures and I love getting to go to them! Especially when there is food. I am a super picky eater, but I love trying different foods. I got to try different things today that I had no idea what they were, but they were delicious. I enjoyed the sticky orange sugar treat that I got. If you know me, you know that I love sweets and this was almost too sweet for me.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great week!

Song of the Day: Way Back When by Kodaline

Motivation Comes From Everywhere!

My Motivational Wall

Finding motivation is one of the hardest things to do sometimes. I know I have days where I am like yeah I'm going to go out for a walk, do my yoga, clean all in one day and then when it comes to it I don't get out of bed. Sometimes the motivation isn't about being active or working out. Sometimes it is about being happy or looking at the positives. 
I used to think that positive affirmations were lame and only people who read self help books and ate grass used them. Don't know what grass has to do with anything, but sure. But I was so wrong about them. They don't have to be affirmations, they can be a lyric from your favourite song or a bible verse. Anything that you hear or see that makes you really think or makes you smile. For me I found ones that I could relate to or that reminded me that it's okay to feel sad, but not to stay there. Or happy, funny, inspirational quotes and sayings.
I saw on Pinterest one day about making a Motivational Wall and putting it somewhere that you see first thing in the morning. I kept going back and forth on it. At first thinking yes that's so cool and no that's lame. After going through a bit of a rough patch I decided to make one. I had tons of sayings saved on my phone and everywhere that putting them on my wall just made sense. So I went and got a bunch of different coloured and sizes of sticky notes and made my own Motivational Wall. It started out as just quotes based on working out. I was getting into going to the gym and working out and focused on that. Over the years it has evolved into a wall of happiness. It has reminders to look at the positive, enjoy life and be happy. I have a few that aren't really anything but things that friends wrote and stuck up. I made it colourful and I love it. It makes me happy just looking at it. I still saves quotes on my phone so I can look at them when I'm not at home if I need a boost in the day. Having moved to a new province away from family and friends I started to add pictures of friends to my wall. My friends have been there for me through good and bad times and they are part of my motivation. 
This life is a crazy, beautiful journey and all I want to do is enjoy it! There are days when I don't get out of bed, but there are others that I am super productive. It's all about balance and not getting down on myself for having a bad or lazy day. My wall is a daily reminder of this. So go out and enjoy life!! Create a wall! Make a digital version. Whatever suits you. Just live and love.
Have a wonderful week!

This is totally me.

Song of the Day: Joy Parade by Lennon and Maisy Stella

Easter with the Family

I had a great weekend home in Alberta with my family. It was a fairly short trip but I still got to see some of my friends and family. I may be to old for the Easter bunny, but my mom still had tons of chocolate in the house, from mini eggs to marshmallow bunnies. All the good stuff that only comes out at this time of year. I got to spend a whole day with one of my best friends and her little family baking cupcakes and decorating eggs. I have never dyed eggs before so it was tons of fun to get to do. We ate at least 3 cupcakes each after decorating them and it was so nice to just get to catch up with her. I haven't seen her since her wedding day in July!!! Living far away I miss out on my niece growing up a bit but we try to make time to Skype and text as much as possible. It was great to see them and see how much she has grown up since I saw her last. 

Dying eggs!!

I also spent a day with my cousin aka my minitwin. So excited for her to come visit me out here in Vancouver in June!! We will go on grand adventures! I got my hair done and got to just spend time relaxing on the couch watching movies. 
I was hopeful while flying home that there would be snow. It is so strange to me not having snow in the winter time. I'm used to cold, snowy winters and that's not what happens here. I got my snow. Not only one day but 2 days of snow. Luckily it wasn't super cold. 
The only downside to my little holiday was getting sick. I was battling a cold before I left and it got so much worse when I got home. I ended up having to go to the doctor before I flew out to get antibiotics. So not how I wanted to spend my day, but not much I could do. Flying with an ear infection is the worst thing. Even worse then the kid that was constantly being yelled at on my flight back to Vancouver. We all knew the kids name while we were waiting in the airport and then heard it even more on the flight. He wasn't even being that bad in the airport. He was being cute, but mom was having none of it. I don't have kids, but expecting a 4 year old to sit and be quiet for 2 hours is not realistic. He wanted to see the plane thing that spins (if you've been in the Calgary airport you probably know what I'm talking about). She wouldn't let him see it. Our gate was right in front of it. I felt so bad for the kid. 
But other than that it was a great trip. Ate way too much junk and turkey. Also need to try making banana bread french toast. I had some at a restaurant it was the greatest thing ever. Super sweet, but delicious. 

Song of the day: Heist by Lindsey Stirling

Cupcakes are my weakness.

Don't usually take plane pictures but the
mountains were so beautiful!!