Are you a wimp?

"Running is a BIG question mark that is there each and every single day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be wimp or are you going to be stong today' "? ~ Unknown
I came across this quote on: http://running.about.com/ There was a link that directed me to some motivational quotes. I also have found the site and it's links to be a great resource in this new adventure. Below is a photo that my Hubby took of Stacey and I just after we ran just over 1 Km and walked back the same distance. For those of you know me, know that I haven't been much of a runner. EVER. So this was a HUGE deal for me and I am so pumped at how far I've come since starting a Walk/Run clinic on April 13 in Wiarton. I'm proud of Stacey too and am stoked that we have eachother to motivate when we feel like being wimps. The iPod helps a tonne as well, especially when you come across the right beats. It's amazing how your body reacts to great music.

Stacey, thanks for being there beside me when I feel like I can't go much farther, and for ever gently pushing me and encouraging me with high fives and 'WE ROCK"'s along the way.

Below is the route that we have chosen to start at. There's not too many 'blocks' in hepworth to choose from. It's amazing how many other walkers and runners we have met a long the way. This is the 'IT' route. From my door, around, and back to my door, is give or take a 5 km trek. Tonight we ran the better part of the first km, then the 1.4 km on spring creek rd., walked the 1.1 on the Legion rd., then ran the 1.1 on Bruce rd. 8, then walked from the lights home again. That is the most I've run ever, ever, in my entire life. GO ME. GO US! My goal was to run 5 km by June 21 - my 28th Birthday - but am thinking we will be running this in 2 more weeks.

I have purchased some new shoes, the Mizuno Wave Creation 12. My feet, legs, and body are in L O V E with them. Investment very much worth it. I've been schin splint free for 4 runs now and that is AMAZING. I have also rewarded myself with a HOT PINK Nike Dri-Fit hat, I am convinced it has super powers.

I also want to thank my supportive Husband, Jason. He never complains when I take the 'me' time to run and he tells me he's proud of me. That feels awesome. XO

The Ke$ha love is now out of the bag

Ok, we'll see how this treats me tomorrow. I'm new at this, so please if you have any songs that pump you up and get you motivated, please so share - leave in comments. So here's the list I've compiled:

Hey, Soul Sister - Train

Don't Turn Out the Lights - NKOTBSB (ok, really I couldn't resist - not sure if it's the song or the thought of all these 'boys' to keep me going)

Born this Way - Lady Gaga (didn't love this song until I heard it a billion times one night)

Crazy Beautiful Life - Ke$ha (secretly LOVE her, although not so secret now)

Back from Cali - Slash feat. Myles Kennedy

Shameless - Ani DiFranco (some serious ass kicking notes)

Boom Boom Pow - B.E.P. (anything B.E.P. would get any BODY moving)

So much to Say - DMB

Whoa is Me - Down with Webster (just something about this song)

Love the Way you Lie - Eminem feat. Rhianna

Crazy - Gnarls Barley (need I say more)

Wind it Up - Gwen Stefani (she just kicks ass is all)

Let's get Loud - J.LO (the louder the better)

Stronger - Kanye West (totally love this song)

Blah Blah Blah - Ke$ha (love)

Take it off - Ke$ha

Cotton Eyed Joe - Rednex (didn't know there was an original to this wayyyyy back)

Cherry Pie - Warrant (brings me right back to the 6am BodyPump classes at GoodLife)

DJ gotta us fallin' in love again - Usher (logan loves this - Eyes, Eyes, Eyes)

Alright, if I'm getting my ass out of bed tomorrow, er, in a few hours and take advantage of Logan having a sleepover at Grams, I gotta hit the sheets....after I read some more of this awesome book I'm reading: Rumor has it - Jill Mansell - this will lead to another post, another day....

Damn you iTunes.....oh nevermind

Man oh Man, was I ever ready to chuck my iPod up against the wall and was cursing iTunes up to the moon and back ~ then I figured out what the problem was..... .....it was me, not my laptop, iPod, or iTunes. I thought I had lost all of the songs that I had purchased, they weren't on iTunes or on the iPod to be transfered....but I did find them in a file that I was just about to delete...whew, good thing I checked. Anyways, I got the whole thing worked out and all of the songs transfered that I wanted. Man I'm in love with Slash and Myles Kennedy - Back to Cali - that should give me some motivation for my first ever on my own walk/run. Which leads to..... The start to my new GOAL. I don't set goals for myself very often. Maybe in fear of deep down knowing that I won't reach them or I'll just give up. This time NO - No giving up. Not with the support or my ever supportive Husband or my P.I.C. (Partner in Crime) Stace who will be by my side. My P.I.C. and I have joined a Walk to Run Clinic in Wiarton. I have tried running in the past, but then became pregnant with Logan, and decided it wasn't the best time to keep it up. I really feel this time is different. My goal is to be able to Run, not walk, 5kms by my 28th Birthday. We have the perfect route in our small little Village - it's 5kms from our houses around some back roads and back. Perfect! Stace and I have walked it casually a few times, and it takes just under an hour - not bad - if we stepped it up a notch, I think we could kill it. Well, off I go to make my 'Make Me WANNA RUN' playlist....I should add that in the next post. I should take a photo next week as well of the Beautiful Park that we get to run around....amazingly beautiful Bluewater Park on Georgian Bay. Well stay tuned.... And T, by the way, CONGRATS on the loss of 20 friggin pounds....amazing!!

Sweet, Sweet Sunshine

The blankets are hung on the line soaking up the sunshine and fresh air and I am taking in some solitude while my Little Brother, Hubby, and Logan, with Marley, are out on a nature walk in the 'wood's' behind our house. It's been a pretty good day, although Logan seems to be taken over by the snot monster again. I spent the earlier part of the afternoon in the backyard with my Dad, Brother, Jaker, Logan and Marley. Nothing in particular happend to make me smile, but I did just that, Smile. It's nice when the simple things bring a smile to your face. I've also been thinking about 8 years ago, today, that Jaker made his way to London. I met him up at the Silvercity parking lot at Masonville Mall. I was so nervous that I broke out in Hives the night before, all over and up my right arm. I even remember what I wore: American Eagle khakis', a black t-shirt, and my favourite Gap Jean Jacket. We spent the day just chatting, shopping, eating lots of Yogen Fruz - maybe 3 stops that day. We took a huge walk at Springbank Park in Byron. I remember driving in his truck listening to songs that I have never heard before, but when I hear them to this day, I am taken right back to that first date. WE went to T.J.'s for some deep fried pickles and I remember eating a super big messy burger too. I never imagined back then on April 12, 2003 that we would be what we are today. From neighbours, to ex-neighbours (jake would call me that every time he seen me), to MSN friends, then to dating, becoming engaged, getting Married, and having the most beautiful son in the world. We have our ups and downs, and there are some days that he drives me wildy insane as I am sure that there are days he feels the same about me. Just as some days he makes me want to scream and shout, there are more days that I love him to pieces and most days I feel as though my heart is going to burst with Love. I wouldn't change the past 8 years for anything, Jaker, I love you and this beautful little family we have created. Happy 8 Years together, although you don't really count it as an anniversary anymore ;)

Wow - time flies

It's been a long while since my last post - I can hardly believe where the time goes. So much has happend since my last entry: Logan's Birthday Dinner on the 18th and Birthday Party on the 20th, Valentines Day, me going back to work, hot yoga, trying yoga at home, St. Paddy's Day, Logan walking then not walking, playing outside for the first time, Logan's first sickness - an ear infection, first big scrape on his face, first faceplant wipeout outside, the tales of Logan hitting and kicking me....whew....there's a lot that I haven't wrote about. I hopefully, next week, will get caught up on writing more about these fun things - and what's coming up: Learn to Run program starting on the 13th, 'shooting' and album cover for a local band.....

Truth be told, I have been slacking after reading two blogs by two amazing girlfriends : http://dawningofjanuary.blogspot.com and http://littleblackorreddress.blogspot.com

January's blog keeps me in stitches. Guaranteed, if you have or have been in the company of small children, her posts will make you smile, maybe even laugh out loud a little (or in my case, a lot). Maybe it's knowing her for such a long time, and really knowing her personality and loving her to bits makes me a bit more biased on her blog, but I really feel January really shines through in all ways January and I love her for doing this. Tanya's blog on the other hand, inspires me (it's you T who has inspired me to do this walk to run program, and at least be able to run 5km by the summer time). I love this woman to pieces as well. I love her brutal honesty, and I love how much she cares for everyone in her life. Her blog does make me laugh, maybe through reading her words, I can really 'hear' how she intends to be saying things, and I love her use the 'F' word - oh T, 'F' this and 'F' that. I love to read of her achievements (yay, 18lbs down) but feel her sadness and frustration when things don't always go the way she wants them (T, tostitos aren't that bad). Anyways, I don't think my writing skills are as up to par as thiers, but that's ok, this is my life, Life as I know it.

Logan's Smash Cake

Ooooook, I know, he's not quite ONE! But close enough.

Logan's FIRST Birthday is in 9 more days and today was the best day

before his Big Day to get this Smash Shoot done!

Having Jaker here this weekend made this very do-able.

I LOVED EVERYTHING about this shoot today:

1) I got to photograph THE cutest baby

2) The Cake was amazing

(Becki, it hurt me to just put this in front of him, but we still ate some)

3) The lighting is awesome

4) I am in love with the outcome

(and can't wait to book up some more sessions)

Hope you enjoyed your shoot today Logan. Oh the memories!

My Incredible boy

Some of the many faces of Logan (and his cute little toes).

These were taken this morning during breakfast.....he is so sweet, even when he's screaming at me!! It's been a bit of a long week, but mostly a good week. My Hubby comes home tomorrow, can't wait. I think Logan misses him. I miss him too.

A Date with an 'old' Friend

Tonight made me feel good.

I met up with a friend that I haven't talked to in 4 1/2 years!

There's no need to get into why we haven't talked in so long, we just both have agreed that what has happened is in the past, what's done is done, and it's a NEW year.

Cheers to 2011.

Lots has happened in the past few years, we both have gotten Married and both have BEAUTIFUL Babies. I wasn't so much nervous to see this Friend, but more anxious to see her. Once I got Logan down and out of his Winter clothes, She and I had a huge hug... I felt so much better after that. We didn't exchange I'm sorry's or dwell on the past, we just both took a step forward and shared stories of our babies and what we're doing now.

It's true:

'They say true friends can go long periods of time without speaking and never question their friendship. These friends pick up like they just spoke yesterday regardless of how long it has been or how far away they live and don’t hold grudges. They understand that life is busy, but that you will always love them'.

Whoo's Turning ONE.....

WHOO'S turning ONE?

Well, I can't believe our little 'baby' boy is turning ONE in 19 DAYS!!!

Wow, time flies. I have always heard that when you have kids, time goes even faster, and well, I didn't believe it until Logan came into our lives. Its so hard to believe that I'm going to have a ONE year old. It's amazing. He is amazing. Everyday he makes me smile and warms my heart. Being Logan's mom has been an amazing journey so far, and it's just beginning. I can't wait to wake up in the morning and see his smiling face and get those amazing snuggles. Today we were eating Lunch and I went to get him some more CRACKERS and he looked at me and let out this huge burp (just like mom), and we both started laughing. After we stopped laughing, he looked at me, and let out a pretend burp with this huge squinty eyed smile....what a little ham we have on our hands. Anyways, this owl photo is what I have decided to go with for Logan's party, I just thought it was super cute. Jason, comes home tomorrow after a looooooong week away. I can't wait to see Logan's excitement when he gets here! I think the word of the day is AMAZING...lol

Hot Yoga

(I don't think I'll ever get to this point)

Whew, that was AMAZING. There were only 5 of us in Hot Yoga tonight, but man, it was awesome. I now will look forward to every Wednesday night. After I dropped Logan off with Jeff, Gavin, Liam, and Ash, Stacey and I took off to the Complete Wellness Center. We were both a bit nervous as neither of us has been to Hot Yoga before. I have some friends in Kitchener that are hooked, and I was interested and wanted to check it out. I quickly found out that our little yoga room doesn't get as hot as some of the studios in the city (was 28 when we got there and 34 when we left), but next week, I'm taking a spot right beside the heater. I left feeling calm and relaxed, and had a nice cup of green tea with Stace to end the evening.

Home Sweet Home

(big sigh)

We're finally home.

I do not miss Kitchener, but I miss my friends, which I knew I would.

But on the upside, I have been spending time with Family and Friends that I have been away from for so long. It's so nice to have my Nanny and Pops, Mom and Mike, Ma and Pa B, just pop on over, instead of running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. We've been here 4 nights and already have been out for dinner visits for 3 of these nights. The house is coming along nicely. I really should have taken photos of the monstrosity (is that even a word) of a mess that was here on Friday. I really thought it would take FOREVER to accomplish putting away everything, but 4 nights later and there's just a few boxes of 'junk' to sift through. Everything has a place and I really feel that we were meant to be here. Logan is crawling around and pulling himself up on everything like crazy. He even crawled all the way to his own room this morning to play with his toys. He didn't really have the room in the old place. It feels good to be able to 'just breathe' in this big open space. It's really been too cold to play outside, but Marley's having the time of her life running around in the snow without being tied up. We got Satellite today - wahoo. I have been taking the odd photo, but once the 'mess' is cleaned up, I'll post some photos of the new digs. Another thing that is super exciting, we finally have a washer and dryer at home, the first time in 4 1/2 years, and I LOVE it. Stacey (who used to live here) has been a super huge help with cleaning and unpacking and directing me to which light switch is to what set of lights, and with some other things as well. I owe a HUGE thank you to my Mom, Mike, Brian, and Laurie with allllll of thier help: 2 trips to Kitchener, packing and loading up the truck , unloading at the new house twice; once without us, and getting us hooked up with some (new to us) goods. It really means so much when we can count on some great people to help out when we need it. Stacey assures me that's what friends and family are for. Anyways, time to hit the sheets. Good Night!

Oh the memories....

Our First Christmas here at this old house - December 2006

Marley very much wanted to go out and play in the snow - I think she was there for an hour

Bringing Logan home for the first time - February 11, 2010

Hanging out in the backyard on a hot May afternoon

I never knew I would feel like this: Sad that we're leaving this house. This 100 year old house has been 'home' for the past 4 1/2 years. It's in need of some much needed TLC. I first fell in love with the character and charm of this old house, the living room is in the attic, I just loved that. Oak and Maple original woodwork is all throughout this place and it's so pretty. The outside, is less desirable, but it's been 'home'. Driving with Jason to work at 6:15am, I stared out the window and got a little teary on the dark drive. I started to think about all of the memories that we have here. There was a time we had friends over every weeked, some that slept here every weekend too, having too much fun to go home. Jason proposed to me in the (then) living room (which we turned into our bedroom), our Nephew Sam used to come and hang out with me when he was little on my days off and we'd snuggle and have the best naps with Marley and Lucy Loo, and getting locked out of the house with T-Dot and having to climb up the side of the house and break in through the window. We brought Logan home from the Hospital to his freshly painted and decorated room. Even though we're right between Weber St. and the noisy Expressway, Logan and I hung out lots in the shaded backyard where he'd fall asleep under the tree and I'd just stare at him in amazement and take a billion photos. I used to love to lay in the hammock and watch Jaker cut the grass or playing with Marley. These memories make me smile. These memories aren't going to stay at the house, I know that. They are apart of me, and I will take these memories where ever we go. I just feel at the moment that I'm leaving them behind. There's the many friends that I'm going to miss as well. Friends come and go, the ones that really matter never go to far away and are always there when you need them. I'm just going to miss so many people that I think I'm kind of avoiding the goodbyes, hoping they will just be so longs, and see you laters. Tonight is our last night in this old house. I am super excited to get to our new place and I know it will just be a matter of time that I have so many new memories to tuck away with the old ones and I'll be just fine.

New Year, New place

Well, Here's to 2011! A new Year brings with it new hopes, dreams, resolutions, and for a us, a new place to live. We will be moving to this Beautiful house in 3 MORE SLEEPS!! I have been away for 9 1/2 years and I am so looking forward to being home. For Jason and I, our hearts have always been 'back home'. We've been in Kitchener for 5 1/2 years. WE have made some amazing friends and memories down here and we brought to this world an AMAZING little boy while we were down here, but we are so excited to be coming home. It will be so nice to be close to all families and some old friends. I can't wait for Logan to be able to run around with Marley in this awesome backyard too. I can't wait to make some more amazing memories surrounded by friends and family. Stay posted for new pics once we get things a bit settled.

~ The Front and Back yards ~

Logan James Barber

Well, here is the first post of many to play catch up.

Logan is almost ONE YEAR OLD, but here are some photos from his Birth day. Logan was born via C-Section on February 8, 2010 at 1:25pm, 8lbs 7oz and 20 inches, at Grand River Hospital, Kitchener. I can't believe almost a year has gone by. I remember this day like it was yesterday. I never knew that I could LOVE so much and could feel so much happiness.