My First Book Club

So basically I am a super nerd and it has always been a dream of mine to be part of a book club.  But I didn't really know how you go about finding and joining a book club.  So I started my own.

I threw it out there on Facebook that I wanted to start a book club and thought I would just wait and see if there were any responses.  And there were!  About 8 other girls responded and said that they were interested.  So I set up a Facebook group, we chose a book and set a date for our first meeting, which was this past Tuesday night.

Now unfortunately, things came up for a few people, and so this first meeting was rather small.  But that's ok!  There were three of us there and we still were able to discuss the book and have some other good conversation.

Our first book was Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.  I thought it was a really good book and it kept me interested from the very beginning.  It was a good book to start with because it was fairly easy to discuss.  The neat thing about book club is that other people notice things that you might not in the book, so you get some different perspectives.  If you are a non-reader, you probably won't understand why you would care to have different perspectives, but as a reader I loved this aspect of it.    

So my advice to you today, is that if you want to try something new, go for it!  This is what social networks are great for these days.  They can bring people together and get the word out there in ways that would have been impossible 15 years ago.  

There's one more item off the 30 before 30 list!

Gold Medal Game

On Sunday, Canada played against Sweden in the Olympic Gold Medal Game.  It started at 7am but that didn't stop us!  We had a party anyways!

Even the dog was cheering on Canada!

To be honest, I'm not a hockey lover.  (So un-Canadian of me!)  But I can enjoy the patriotism and the coming together of friends and family that hockey can bring, so of course I was there!

To be honest again, I didn't watch a lot of the game...and I missed all of the goals.  That's typical for me though, I swear I'm better luck when I'm not paying attention.

We had so much food...

And we won!  3-0.  But if the Women's gold medal game taught us anything, it was to not get too confident that we were going to win.  Anything can happen!  
 

The moment we won

We had a bunch of family there and a few friends and it was nice to be with people for this important event in Canadian history!

And just like that the Olympics are over.  Although not on top of the medal count, Canada did come in 3rd place (when counting by number of golds) or 4th place if you want to go by over all medals.  But for this little country with a population of 35 million people I think that's pretty impressive!  (You know what's more impressive, Norway came in second and have a population of 5 million people, wow!)  I love the olympics because they bring not only the entire country together, but the whole world.  

But the Olympics are about more than just medals.  We had some amazing stories come out of them that show who our Canadians really are and remind us of why we love our country.  

Oh well, at least now I can maybe get some stuff done on weekends again.

My Family

This past weekend was Family Day.  My family gets together pretty much every Sunday anyways, but we called this Sunday our "Family Day Sunday Funday"  Which means that we had a campfire out on the pond.  Which I did not take a picture of.... But I do have this picture.

Yes that is a 1979 snowmobile.  Yes my Dad and Ryan did spend all day Satuday getting it working properly as my brother had ran it into a tree in our yard 10 years ago.  Yes that is a little ride behind sled and in that sled is my brother and the dog.

The best moment was when we were all in side and we see my dad drive by with Ryan in the sled.  Oh I wish I had a picture of that.  Boys and their toys...

This isn't typically what we do on Sunday's, but it doesn't surprise me in the least.

Literary Junkies

It's Literary Junkies time of the month, which couldn't have come at a better time!  Because despite the fact that I had a long weekend and actually left my house multiple times, I had no other blog posts prepared for today!  So let's get to this month's questions.

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it!
I recently started up a book club (more on that later!) and our first book was Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.  I finished it yesterday after basically lying on my couch and reading it all day.  I thought it was really good.  Much better than Sharp Objects, maybe slightly worse than Gone Girl.  The Goodreads description is too long so here is my summary:

Libby Day's family was murdered when she was 7, but she got away.  Her brother was charged with the crimes and has now been in jail for about 25 years.  Even Libby thinks he did it and testifyed against him as she said that she heard him and his mom arguing.

Now, something called a "Kill Club," which is a bunch of people fascinated with researching and talking about murders has approached her and pushed her to look into the murders furthur as they don't think that Libby's brother commited the crimes.

The book jumps between Libby today, and her brother Ben and mother on the day of the murders.  Going back and forth like this actually kept me very intrigued.  I can't wait to talk about this book at the first book club meeting and I'm also excited for the movie to come out later this year!

2. What books are on your bedside table at the moment?
Because I finished Dark Places yesterday, Nicholas Sparks The Longest Ride is now on my bedside table.  (The real book version, not my Kobo!)  But I am only one chapter into it.

3. Amazon recently released the 100 books to read in a lifetime. What did they miss that you would add?
All of my favourites an some that I would like to read are on there, so I don't really have any to add to this list!

4. Are there any books being published in 2014 that you are anxiously awaiting? If so, what are they?
Nothing that I can think of.  I need to find a new dystopian series, so if you have any recommendations, let me know!

5. Name the next 3 books in your To Be Read List (the ones you will be reading next on your list.)
The Longest Ride - Nicholas Sparks
The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)
Where We Belong - Emily Giffin (I can't believe I haven't read it yet)

I Don't Really Do Valentines

Valentine's Day has never been a special holiday too me.  Back in the days when I was single, it was a depressing day that just reminded me of that.  So then whenever I had a boyfriend, I kind of felt guilty for celebrating a holiday that makes so many people feel bad.

I also am rather thrifty.  So the thought of spending more than you usually would on gifts, dinners, chocolate and flowers drives me nuts.  Plus Ryan has enough expectations put on him.  He needs to do things for my birthday, our anniversary and Christmas.  He doesn't need another day!  

I think that you should be reminded every day about why you love someone, and you should tell them and show them every day.  There isn't just one day a year where you decide to show your appreciation for your significant other.  Plus, I don't think being told by society that he has to do something to show me that he loves me really shows me anything, because guys are basically told that this is a special day and you have to do this and this and this to make sure your wife or girlfriend is happy.  And then said wife or girl friend judges what they have done to determine whether or not it lived up to their expectations.

Last week, after I passed my exam, Ryan told me we were going out for dinner to celebrate.  That was him showing me that he cared, and that's all that I need.

To be honest, a few weeks ago Ryan did say that for Valentine's we would be having a nice steak dinner at home.  I think he forgot that we don't usually do anything for Valentine's.  But we will be having a nice Valentine's day dinner despite my dislike for this holiday.  Any reason to eat some delicious steak and I'm all for it!

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Why We Work

We work because because Ryan likes to do activities (also known as chores), and is generally ok with the fact that I don't.

We work because we both had similar upbringings and so we want the same things out of life.

We work because we support each other with our dreams and ambitions.

We work because I don't mind that Ryan needs his Wednesday nights with the guys.  And I actually really enjoy the time to myself.

We work because neither of us really like to fight.  So we don't.  But also there rarely seems to be anything worth fighting over.

We work because Ryan gets up early on Saturday mornings and makes me coffee and cleans the kitchen. 

We work because we're honest with each other and don't keep secrets.

We work because we both like going out and seeing new things, and travelling and trying new foods.  And we love to do it together.  

We work because Ryan tells me that The Real Housewives is stupid, and I tell him that Swamp Loggers (or insert weird guy show here) is stupid, but we don't really mind that the other person is watching it.

But mostly I guess we work because we care, we care about each other and our marriage and so we work hard to make sure that the other person is happy.  And that's what marriage is all about.

Linking up with Bonnie & Taylor for this Why We Work post.

When You're Uninspired

I've been feeling particularly uninspired lately when it comes to this blog.  So Jenny's post with questions relating to this exact situation couldn't have come at a better time.  Prompts like this are great, because they give you something to post about and allow people to learn a bit more about me!

1) What is your favorite thing to have for dinner when you are only feeding yourself?

Every Wednesday, Ryan goes out for Wing night with his friends.  This leaves me to fend for myself and I love it.  Most often I make up a stir fry on Wednesday nights with chicken, peppers and zuchini.  It's delicious!

2) What do you do when your mind needs a break-either to relax or inspire you?

I watch mindless TV.  Like The Real Housewives.

3) What is a word that you are very glad exists?

This is a weird question.  I guess I choose phenomenal.  Because you know that something is truly phenomenal when that word is used to describe it.

4) What is a subject you are interested in right now?

I take a lot of interest in fitness and healthy living.  I don't always follow what I learn because let's face it, life is to be enjoyed.  But I like having knowledge in this area so that I can make better choices.

5) How ready are you for spring?

I don't remember a year when I was more ready.  I think that usually we don't really get lasting snow until January.  This year it snowed in November and we haven't seen grass since.  I really wish a sunny vacation had of been in the plans.

6) What is the most random thing on your mind presently?

I've come to the realization that I'm fairly good at knowing when people are pregnant.  It's not really an intuition actually, it's more that I notice things, like small weight changes (sorry I'm that person), combined with sickness, absence due to doctor's appointments.  So now I'm guessing that people are pregnant without even seeing them, I just have this feeling.  Yes I'm crazy.  I guess I will wait a few months and find out if I was right about any of them.

And this picture has nothing to do with this post, but is this not an excellent use of the giant piles of snow on our streets? Next to it, it say: "We were made for this." and "True north strong and free".  And this made me happy this morning.

Snow and Olympics

This weekend basically consisted of me watching the Olympics.  And I don't regret it.  Because of the time difference, the only time we can watch live action is on weekends. So until the Olympics are over, that's where I will be on Saturdays and Sundays.

Saturday consisted of team figure skating short programs and women's moguls.  

The moguls were very nerve wracking because they changed the format and so instead of combining scores or taking best scores or however they did it last time, each run counted on it's own.  So one screw up and you  might not make it on to the next final.

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Two of our Canadian girls had amazing runs, and Hannah Kearney didn't.  Which was actually shocking, because apparently she's very consistent.  But I'm not going to complain about it!  When we got the gold and silver it was totally unexpected for me and I may have screamed!  And then cried.....just a little bit.

Sunday morning Ryan and I went out for a snow shoe to a park near by.  We had never actually snowshoed through this park, so it was a nice change of scenery.  It always baffles me how quickly snow shoeing tires me out though, and Ryan could go for hours!  Clearly my endurance needs some work!

The park was beautiful and quiet.  Only us and a few cross country skiiers there.

Then we came home to watch the last of the Figure Skating Team competition.  It turns out that going into Ice Dance, gold and silver were already decided.  So this portion didn't really matter for us, but it did give Tessa and Scott an opportunity to see where they were against Meryl and Charlie.  I couldn't believe that there was a 7 point difference!  

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Let's hope that Tessa and Scott can tighten up that gap a little bit and that the rest of our Canadians continue to do amazing!

On Being Done School

On Wednesday I got my mark back for my final exam for my accounting designation.  And I passed.  

As my mom said, I have said that I have failed every exam that I have ever taken, and in reality I have passed them all except for one.  This one was no different, I was positive I had failed.  But I didn't.  And I'm kind of still surprised by it.

So now it's a waiting game.  I'm just waiting for the organization to officially deem me a Certified General Accountant.  And to be honest, it hasn't hit me yet.

I've been in school since I was 5.  I have done 5 years of post-secondary education followed by about 3 years of courses working towards this accounting designation.  That's 8 years of post-secondary!  And I'm done.  It's a weird feeling, that's for sure.  

After 8 years of work, it seems like it should be never ending.  Like I should continue to have courses that I have to be constantly working on and stressing about.  My stress level just dropped dramatically.  I have so many feelings at the moment.  I'm happy, I'm relieved, I'm proud of myself.  I pride myself on not quiting anything and I didn't quit, despite wanting to on multiple occasions.  I'm pretty sure that this calls for a glass of wine.

The Most Wonderful Day of the (every 4) Year(s)!

Guess what day it is!  No it's not hump daaaaaay, it's Olympic Day!

Today is the day that the Olympic games officially kick off.  But I'm going to be honest because technically some of the events started yesterday and I was already totally enthralled in them.  I kept hitting refresh on my browser to be updated on the most recent figure skating and women's moguls scores!

I don't know what it is about the winter olympics, but I love pretty much everything about them.  The winter olympics are definitely Canada's olympics, Vancouver proved that, and I'm hoping that we do just as well this time.

My most significant memory of the Vancouver games is Alex Bilodeau winning the first ever gold medal on Canadian soil.

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I had never watched moguls before, but my sister was visiting me at school and I'm pretty sure it was on a Friday night.  We didn't know that Canada has amazing moguls skiiers so it was really a great experience to watch it all unfold.  I've been hooked ever since.  So I'm super excited to actually watch women's moguls in real time on Saturday.  (Instead of having to tape everything while I'm at work and knowing the results before I watch it.)

I'm also very excited to watch Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir as they go for the gold again in ice dance.  This year Meryl Davis and Charlie White from the states are favoured to win, but this is the olympics, anything can happen!

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But the winter olympics also give you an opportunity to watch sports that you normally wouldn't.  Bobsled, luge, skeleton, snowboard cross, ski jumping.  I hope to watch it all, and I hope that my country does amazing as I feel like the olympics are our time to shine.

And although I may not actually watch most of the hockey games, I'm really rooting for both of our teams to win the gold again!

So for the next 17 days in my spare time, you'll know where to find me.
 

I Hate Working Out

I try to work out most days.  So on average I probably do some sort of workout 5 or 6 days a week.  But that doesn't mean I really enjoy it.

If I could have all of the benefits of working out without actually doing it, I absolutely would.  However, that's not really how it works.  While I'm in the middle of working out, all I really want to do is stop an sit own.  But I don't, I keep going, and here's why.

I like to look good and feel good about my body.  And this happens when I am toned.

I like to eat.  If I would cut down on delicious foods I could probably have a killer body, but I really love to eat, and I don't like depriving myself.  So much enjoyment comes from food!  So by working out, I can allow myself to eat a bit more than I otherwise could.

Endorphins.  Despite the fact that I may hate it when I'm doing it, exercise does result in increases happiness.  

I like to be in shape.  Someday I may have children, I want to be happy and healthy for them and have the energy and endurance to run around with them.  

So there is why I hate working out but I do it anyways.  I have never regretted a workout.  I feel awesome after a workout and am so glad that I took the time to put effort into looking good and feeling great.  Try it and you too will see what I mean.

Ploptastic

If you have been a long time reader of this blog, or know me personally, you may have heard of the Plunger Plop.

Every year, my town has this ridiculous event.  It's kind of like curling or horseshoes, but it takes place on an outdoor rink, and we throw plungers at toilets, hoping to get a "ringer" which means that the plunger has actually landed in the toilet.

That's a lot of plungers

If may sound crazy to some, but it's a day that we all look forward to.  We had 8 teams of people coming back to our house in between games and once the festivities were over.  There was of course a lot of food and the odd adult beverage.  Everyone throws plungers better after a few beers.  (Even me, and this is probably the one and only time this year that I will actually drink.)

The She-Wolves

Honestly we have so much fun at this event every year.  I'm not going to lie, I'm fairly competitive and my dream is to win it.  As Coach Jim said on CTV news, you want to win this and "gain worldwide recognition."  Ok so maybe this isn't the olympics, and maybe the recognition isn't worldwide, but it's definitely something that you would never forget.