My Baby Is Like A Drunk And I Love Him But ... Link Up

 Today I wanted to explain why my baby daughter, who is eleven months old is exactly like a drunk..

A drunk (and this comes from my own personal drunk binging experiences) is always ravenous when he comes home from drinking. Anything and everything looks so good to eat. A drunk will eat like it's his first meal in days and his last meal ever. Sloppy, careless and out of control.

 It always seems like Alina is starving when I feed her. I will usually have a plate of chicken, some veggies and some kind of fruit for her to eat. If she sees the food or gets an idea that food is on the way; she turns into a belligerent drunk at a hockey game, yelling obscene baby gibberish at me. She mows down like it's her last meal and when she feeds herself it is exactly like a drunk at the end of a long night of drinking. It gets up her nose, in her hair- it gets everywhere!

The first time we gave her anything to eat on her own...

Once a drunk is home, from whatever fun they left it is expected that at any moment he will pass out. Typically it happens when watching t.v. or while on the phone waiting for an answer to a drunk dial. When it came to my sister (back in her glory days of drinking) she would often fall asleep with mouthfuls of food. (Imagine my mother's horror when she found her with cheeks full of pizza one night.)

 This is often the case with babies. This hasn't happened with Alina yet, but it happens more with toddlers. It's funny that I mentioned my sister falling asleep with food in her mouth because over the summer, her daughter did just that when they were visiting!

Like mother, like daughter.

 A drunk gets louder and more obnoxious as the night wears on. Alina has no sense of volume control and is extremely obnoxious when it's an hour before her bedtime.

 A drunk has the confidence of a thousand Kim Kardashians. Dancing can be a daunting task to an overweight man with zero rhythm. Give him a few drinks and he's the first one on the dance floor. Alina hears a song she likes and she starts bobbing her head up and down and does this weird little shoulder shrug, like she can't help it... she's just feeling the music. I've seen toddlers dance and it always reminds me of a drunk, fat guy dancing at a night club.

 A drunk will arrive from the bar and not know how he got home. He often will wake up in random places. I've heard stories of people waking up on the couch of the neighbour's house (true story), or waking up in your roommate's bed (oops, wrong room) or even waking up in the bathtub.

Don't ask how she got there folks... But guaranteed if you asked her she wouldn't know what the hell you were talking about!

  Finally, drinking leads to confidence in areas where it normally does not exist. For example; Alina does not know how to drive. She can't stand without the assistance of a coffee table or couch. So I have no idea, why, months ago,she decided to go behind the wheel and attempt driving our Westfalia Vanagon. But, just like bad decisions while drinking, this little incident just so happened to land her in jail ... baby jail.

 It is Wednesday, which means it's another edition of "I Love Him But ... Link Up!" I decided to make it a recurring thing for the month of February. Hopefully more ladies have more dirt to dish out on their significant others!

  Rob is a very involved dad. If he's home and Alina is too, he wants to be with her. If there is a choice between going somewhere with or without her, he will always, always choose to bring her along with him. It's actually quite sweet. I love how much he loves her and I love him but ...

 It makes me c-razy when he forgets that he's a dad. He gets distracted by something on his phone; a text, an e-mail, CTV Breaking News App, hockey games, phone calls, work, studying, fixing this or that etc. The list goes on and on. He's a busy, busy guy. But sometimes he forgets that he's watching Alina.. Sometimes he puts things down that he's using that I know Alina might get into pretty quickly. It's challenging enough keeping her out of things that she can easily get into but having to keep an extra eye out for a forgotten pick left on the couch or a sewing needle on the coffee table is just too much! Sometimes he just gets too into something that all of a sudden he looks up and ' oh shit!' Alina's into something again...!

Two picture texts he sent me when I was away for a couple of hours! Oh my...

 Alright, that is all for this week! Poor Rob is probably on his best behaviour knowing that I'm on the look out for good post material...

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1,2,3,4 ...!

 February 09, 1964 ... what does that date mean to you?  At first, I wouldn't be too sure myself. It was the day that the Beatles made their first American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. A day to remember, or look back on for any true Beatles' fan. Oh, did I mention that I'm a big Beatles' fan? .. because I sure am!

Via

 My sister introduced the Beatles to my brother and I years ago when she bought the Beatles Anthology c.d and we all fell in love with them, in our own ways. My brother's favourite album is Abby Road, my sister loves Magical Mystery Tour and I really loved Sergent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band but my all time favourite would have to be Rubber Soul. It was the only album I owned personally and so I listened to it front to back over and over again, until I knew every song.

 On Sunday CBS hosted the Grammy's Beatles Tribute. They aired it the exact hour that the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show fifty years ago. I wasn't completely sure what to expect but I was not disappointed. It was quite the show! Adam Levine and Maroon 5 opened with "All My Loving" followed by "Ticket To Ride." Oh my goodness. Adam Levine was meant to sing those tunes. He did those classics justice and in front of Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr himself. I was impressed.

Via

 Ed Sheeran's version of "In My Life" was absolutely remarkable. He moved me and made me shiver and want to cry all at once. That is all.




 I was completely moved by George Harrison's son, playing along to "Something." That is by far one of my favourite Beatles' songs and I thought it was so incredibly special that his son was able to be a part of that. I can imagine George would have been a proud papa watching his son on stage like that...

Via

 Katy Perry hushed the entire audience with her rendition of "Yesterday." Her voice was so raw and I think that she did Paul McCartney proud. I mean, yeah, I don't know him or anything. BUT- I feel like she did so well that he would be proud of how she sang that special song.




 Imagine Dragons killed "Revoloution" (in a good way) and Amy Lennox sang a song that I have adored for years; "Fool On The Hill." I love me some Beatles and being able to enjoy a special honouring all of them, was an ideal way for me to spend two and a half hours on Sunday evening!

 Other than enjoying the hell out of the Beatles Tribute, I had a fun filled weekend with my husband, daughter and sister in law.

 Rob and I ended up going out for an hour to listen to some live music. The overall experience was a bust, as we knew it would be. There isn't a whole lot of night life nearby, where we live. So we went out just for the sake of going out. I dressed up in Erin's sweet boots and black top. I was proud of my outfit, so there it is. Erin and I went to Value Village to do some shopping. I never shop there but this time, I went for it. I ended up getting three new tops that I really like. We had to take a picture in some very gorgeous VV Boutique Specials; Erin's Sister Wife Dress and my 90's New Year's Dress! On Sunday evening we visited some family for dinner and we had a really nice time. Alina was introduced to the dessert "Sex In A Pan" and oh boy, did she enjoy the pudding and whipped cream...

Do you have a band that you are incredibly proud of being a fan of!? 

Please promise me right here, right now; that the next time you and a friend go to a thrift store to shop- you will both try on awful dresses and take pictures...! It's really fun.

MHB- Week Eleven- Bipolar

 Another week! I called this week Bipolar because I was up, then I was down. I felt really down and grumpy at some points in the week and then others I felt fantastic. So I'm just going to keep riding the Happy Wave and know that it will encourage me to keep it up and push through those gloomy moods!

MONDAY-

 Day 1- Strength and Endurance Workout.  I am showing three exercises from this workout. The top photo is a tough one to hold for the full minute. The second is an ISO squat. You literally just stay in that position for a minute and boy does it burn! The last photo is part of this workout and every warm up routine that I do every day. It's probably how I have real muscle in my arms now.
Goals: FOCUS! I need to maintain focus while I'm doing these workouts. This was truly a Monday because the first three rounds I wasn't totally into what I was doing. Next week must be better!
Improvements: I improved in the last round. I went into the closed guard position and did something called the twisting press. My form was great and my tummy felt the burn afterwards.

TUESDAY-

A sad picture of me 'running' because that's usually the only picture I can take on my own of myself in the gym. My calories burned and then a picture of the sun coming up!

 Day 2- Cardio. Usually Tuesday's I go to my Happy Fit Stroller Class out of town. But, Lisa is in Hawaii for the month. Us ladies agreed to get together anyways and do our exercises in the trail like we did last week. Unfortunately one of the moms was out for her own reasons and I had to cancel late Monday evening because Rob saw how badly it snowed in the city where he goes to school during the week. So, he took our Jeep to school and I was left with our truck. (Alina technically can ride in the front seat with the air bags off in her little rear facing car seat but it's an awful lot of work to put it in there.) SO! I went to the gym instead.

1. Sprint for 30 seconds at a speed of 6 and an incline of 7. Walk 30 seconds. Repeat for a total of 3 rounds.
 2. Do 10 push-ups.
3. Do a wall handstand for about 30 seconds.

 I had to hurry through this workout again because Rob was pressed for time. During the second round I increased my speed to 6.5 and my incline to 7.5. I did wall push-ups and in the third round I did girl push-ups. It was magical and fast and I am looking forward to doing my trail workout next week.

WEDNESDAY-

 Day 3- Fight Conditioning Workout. Yes, the hard one. The picture on the left is just an example of a 'jab' one of the many punching techniques in this workout. The top picture is part of my warm up that I do everyday. The bottom shot is the ground work in round four that I always had a hard time doing. This is actually really hard to do for a solid minute. You go back and fourth from right to left foot and you have to keep your shoulders off of the ground. It totally burns those abs!
Goals: Make those punches REAL.. like I'm punching an opponent. I didn't do this the whole time through and I noticed that George St. Pierre- the man behind RushFit always punches like he means it. My goal; to punch like GSP!
Improvements: I have improved on the 'Standing Guard Pass with Two Punches' in the last round. It's explained that going from vertical to horizontal is what really tuckers out most fighters because it's not something you always practice when you exercise.

THURSDAY-

 Day 4- Abdominal and Core Conditioning. This turned out to be my best workout. I was really into every exercise that I did. I was taking it all seriously and feeling very determined to complete all of the routines properly. Top photo I'm doing a Mountain Climber- which is really tough and the very last exercise I do in this workout. The left shot is of me completing a V-Up. I can't remember what the last exercise I'm doing is called but it is incredibly challenging to hold that pose for more than five seconds before switching to the opposite side. (Don't believe me- give it a try!)
Goals: Increase my speed in which I complete each exercise. I increase how many repetitions I do, the better the outcome!
Improvements: I completed round five with excellence. The best I've ever done it, in fact. I used to transition into each position the 'easy' way and now I'm doing it the way it is done on the video. It's a much more fluid way to complete it.

FRIDAY-

 Day 5- Cardio.  I even feel a bit douche baggy for posting a picture of me flexing, but I took it early in the week and didn't want to waste a perfectly flexed bicep. Besides, I'm proud of the muscles I recently discovered in my arms! I had Rob snap a couple of shots of me doing the wall handstands before he left for school. I wanted to see what my form was like. I think my arms could be under my body a bit more...

 At the gym-
 1. Sprint for 30 seconds at a speed of 6 and an incline of 7. Speed walk for 30 seconds.
2. Do 10 push-ups.
3. Do a wall handstand for 10 seconds. Push off with one foot on both sides for each 10 seconds. Total of 30 seconds.
-Repeat this twice for a total of 3 rounds.
 Only in the second round I increase my incline to 7.5 and my speed to 6.5. (It certainly helps me in that third round. Everything is a bit slower!)
(This Cardio Machine Workout was created by - Lisa at HappyFit Group Fitness.)

 Goals: To improve my wall handstand form. Get those arms under and create that L shape a bit better.
Improvements: My push-up quality has definitely improved. Rob gave me a helpful tip the other day and it has really improved my push-up!

 My baby is crying, so I have to rush off but I wanted to say Happy Friday to all and I'm leaving you with a classic song that Rob reminded me of the other day! He has a great ear for a fantastic tune! We watch American Idol and he always gets inspired to play something and this something he was fiddling with while we watched...Better Than Ezra "King of New Orleans".. Such a classic!!

I Love Him But ... Link Up!

 The name of my blog is Truth Be Told. So from time to time, I'm going to be posting some truths, many truths on here... One of them being that my husband is a wonderful man that I adore. He works hard, provides above and beyond for our family but he is so, so, so very good at leaving his shit out everywhere. I mean, everywhere. When we first started dating it was a nightmare. I had to train a twenty one year old guy from scratch, how to pick up after himself. It wasn't pretty folks and I can honestly say, we had quite a few spats in the beginning of our relationship. Obviously he's not the only one to blame for those fights, but that's not the point. The point is; my man has his faults, like you and me. He has his faults like all of our men..

 Which leads me to my first ever link up post; "I Love Him But ..." I mentioned before that Rob leaves his socks out almost every single night. I cringe every time I see those two black socks crumpled up or a lot of the time, neatly folded incognito, like they're clean, wedged in between the cushions of the couch or even better, underneath the couch collecting dust and hairballs all around them.

I found these on Monday evening and just had to take a picture to prove my point...

 But this is not the only thing that Rob leaves out. Oh no, he leaves out his entire wardrobe. My husband likes to be comfortable. So as soon as he gets home, he will change out of his jeans into his joggers and into an 'at home' t-shirt. I should also mention he treats his clothes incredibly well. He never gets stains on his good clothes because he simply does not wear his good clothes around the house. Remember being a kid and in school you wore your indoor shoes and outside you wore your outdoor shoes? Yes, that's right, he has that but with clothes, basically. Whenever he changes, many times he'll just take his shirt off while on the couch watching t.v. and drop it beside him, he'll also shimmy his jeans off and get into his joggers. His hat comes off and of course, those damn socks are next. Before I know it, I'm turning the lights off and locking the door before bed and I see the evidence that Rob existed in the living room and I get to see exactly what he wore that day. Oh the joys of being married and cleaning up after your 'big' kid.

Here's just a little example of what was left behind on Monday night. I will admit, this isn't bad.. Crumpled t-shirt on the ottoman, slippers left in the middle of the floor and his hat on the toy trunk, all things I will pick up and put away. (Minus the shirt, I think he ended up putting it back on...)

  I forgot to mention that Rob's messes don't always have to include his clothes. It can be anything he touches, really. Whether that be a bottle of Frank's Red Hot Sauce he uses as a condiment with dinner to a screwdriver or butter knife. These last few days have been really fun because Rob started to notice that I was taking pictures of his messes. When I took Tuesday night's photo he said, "Oh shit! No!" and tried to grab his mess before I could take the picture. Luckily I'm too fast for him. (It's also a really great way to have him pick up after himself without the usual nagging!)

 I'd like to take a minute and thank my husband for being him because without Rob being exactly who he is, I wouldn't have all of this incredibly great material for my blog. To see more crazy things that Rob has done in the past, check out my series titled; Crazy Shit Rob Does!

Chapter One, Chapter Two and Chapter Three.

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What Sesame Street Character Are You?

 I am a mom, that has been home with my baby daughter since she was born in March. It has become a bit of a routine for us to snuggle on the couch as soon as she wakes up, while watching a bit of Sesame Street. I watch along with her and I am actually entertained. I love Sesame Street because I watched it as a kid myself. Obviously things have changed, but for the most part; the message remains the same. Be kind. Be fair. Listen and learn. I now know all of the theme songs to different segments. "Elmo The Musical", "Abby's Flying Fairy School" and  "Elmo's World." Which means, I am now a total mom. Since I am watching Sesame Street every morning, it got me thinking... If I was a Sesame Street monster, who would I be?

I have created a short quiz to find out which Sesame Street character you would be, so please enjoy and share your results...

//1.  Your friend bursts through the front door and invites you to go on a road trip to your favourite concert and you...

A.  Say, "Me love to go! But do you have something for me when me get there!?"
B.  Agree immediately and then instantly ask if all of your friends can come.. it's the right thing to do, to include everyone.
C. Agree to go and immediately pack your cape. You never know what kind of trouble you will need to sort out along the way.
D. Agree, but make sure your best friend can come. You go everywhere with him. It may take some convincing, but he'll join you.
E. Sigh heavily. Why is everyone always interrupting you while you're reading? 
F. Yell, "Go away! I'm busy. And NO, I don't want to go anywhere."



//2.   You arrive at a birthday party, what is the first thing you do when you get there?

A. Scour the snack tables for your favourite treat...
B. Look for your friends and sing a song with them!
C. Seek out someone that may need your help and then assist them immediately!
D. Play a trick on your best friend. (Which usually includes interrupting whatever it is that he's doing. He hates that!)
E. Find a quiet area where you can read your magazine, there was a pretty interesting article about pigeons in it.
F. Why are you at a stupid party anyways?! Gag. Leave immediately before someone tries to talk to you.


//3.  What is your favourite movie?

A. "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." You're a big fan of the sweet stuff.
B. "Highschool Musical!"
C. Hmmm.. that is super easy. "Superman", "Batman", "Iron Man"... basically anything to do with a SUPERhero.
D. "The Mighty Ducks"!!
E. You love the documentary "Pigeons In The City." It's veeeery interesting.
F. "Dirty Harry", "Mud" was good too.


//4.  What do you want to be when you grow up!?

A. A baker!
B. Singing on broadway! I love singing.
C. A doctor! A nurse! A therapist! A teacher's aid! It doesn't matter. You just like to help.
D. You'd like to work at the zoo. You love animals, especially ducks!
E. You would be a librarian. So you could be surrounded by books and have some peace and quiet.
F. A garbage man is your dream job.

//5. If you were stuck on a deserted island and you could only bring one thing what would it be?

A. Cookie!!!
B. Dorothy, your goldfish.
C. You would bring your cape and that way you could save yourself because you are SUPER when you wear it!
D. Your rubber ducky.
E. You would bring your bottle cap collection.
F. You would bring Slimey.

 Alright! The results are in ...

If you answered mostly A's you are ...

Mostly B's you are ...

Mostly C's you are ...

Mostly D's you are Ernie.. E's you are Bert...

 

  Mostly F's you are ...

  To be fair, it was a bit of a difficult quiz to choose answers for. BUT! I was a combination of Bert and Ernie! I like to read and would rather do that than a lot of fun things, but I always want my best bud (Rob) to join me in a lot of the activities that I do. I know, I know.. lame. But it's the truth!

 So- which character did you end up being!?

Who is your all time favourite Sesame Street character? (My fav. is Grover!) 

Aaaand- out of all of the characters with their qualities listed- who would you say you are most like? (At first I thought I was Grover but I'm totally Bert.. should I be embarrassed!?!)

 I did get some of my facts about each of these characters from Muppet Wiki. I didn't just make it all up!! Which makes the results totally valid....?! 

 Oh and remember, my first ever link up is THIS Wednesday! To find out what it's all about-- check out my post about "I Love Him But ... Link Up" HERE!

 

Join My First Link Up This Wednesday ...

The first picture of me ever posted on my blog. (With my dog Dixie, who now belongs to my sister!)

 I've been blogging since 2005. But I haven't been a full time blogger for that entire time. I just started in June of 2013. It's been a little while and I have my few followers and it's not a ton in comparison to a lot of my fellow bloggers. But, I'm okay with that because I have the blogging friends I've made along the way that loyally comment every post. I am grateful for all of you, you make me feel special and you give me a purpose to keep writing.

 

 I also have my Facebook followers and those consist of a lot of my family, close friends and acquaintances. Every time you mention that you read my blog, I may not say anything, but inside I am completely delighted that you read.. I love to hear that people enjoy what I am blabbing about. As a young lady that has always loved writing, this means so much to me.

 Truth Be Told

Promote Your Page Too

  I feel like I have enough blogging pals that I may be successful in this. I've decided to start a Link Up of my very own for the month of February. I'm a little nervous about doing it because it's like inviting a bunch of people to your birthday party and only a couple of people show up. I'm putting myself out there, fully knowing that it could completely bomb and fail miserably. BUT- no one ever got anywhere by fearing the what ifs.. so I'm not going to do that!

 I've decided to host a very simple link up. Each Wednesday ( I was going to do Friday but I didn't want to compete with Yoga Pants' #BackThatAzzUp, Venus' Fan Friday or the popular 5 On Friday) please continue to write whatever you wish to write about, but at the end of that post- mention one thing that your significant other does to make you crazy. Examples? Why, I thought you'd never ask! Rob leaves his dirty socks out every single evening. He takes them off, folds them like they're clean and either leaves them on the floor, in the couch cushions, on the coffee table and sometimes he'll toss them over by the hall as a reminder (that never works) to put them away. It makes me insane every time I see them only because I am the one that ends up putting them away. Whew!  Rob's feelings won't be hurt, because I Still Love Him BUT ... this is just something that I needed to GET OUT. I feel much better. So, please set your reminders to join me this Wednesday and every one after that, if you would like- in my very first link up:

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 This is just a simple link up for fun, for all of you out there that have significant others that you sometimes want to suffocate when they're snoring. (See how much fun this is going to be!?) For those of you without significant others, feel free to link up anyways and vent about a friend, parent or sibling! Remember- it is just for fun, so try to keep it light!

 Also, if any of my Facebook followers want to add their own 'vent' in the comments, that would be just fine. Air out some of that dirty laundry and make me feel better about my sock littering husband!!

 Grab a button and join me this Wednesday, February 5th! I'll be sure to tweet out a reminder!

MHB- Week Ten- Results

 Week ten has come and gone with another blink of the eye. I have given this week the title; Results. I really feel like I am seeing and feeling the results of consistently working out for ten weeks. I feel incredible, like I have lots of energy and my body has really tightened up. Hallelujah! I feel like I'm really reaching my goals but I want to really focus on maintaining what I have and challenging myself. Once I finish week twelve, I'd like to change from "Beginner" and move up to "Intermediate". I'll get into the details when that times comes.

MONDAY-

 Day one was my Strength and Endurance Workout and it was amazing. I was seriously huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf himself after only the first round! Rob was getting ready for work and he had to stop and ask me which round I was in. I am a noisy exerciser, I can't deny it!
Goals: I tried to do a workout with real push ups throughout the entire workout. I came close, but I couldn't do the full minute, so I switched to 'girl' push ups. (I totally resent that we are naturally weaker and have a push up named after us because of it!)
Improvements: Oh, I would say even though I was huffing and puffing during round one, I worked that much harder on myself- so the workout was more difficult and I think that's an improvement!

TUESDAY-

 Day two was my cardio and my very last Happy Fit Stroller Fitness Class with Lisa. We changed it up a little bit and did our exercise outside in a trail nearby. It was a great workout, I was sweating and out of breath. My legs were soar and we only succumbed a few injuries! I slipped doing a squat and bonked my ankle, then I was hit from behind on two occasions, one resulted in the tossing of a certain three year old. We were all okay in the end! Us moms have decided to keep the Happy Fit attitude going and we are going to continue to meet up at this trail, weather pending and we're going to do the same exercises that we did on Tuesday. Lisa even wrote a blog post of exactly what we did so we can follow it for the future. Phew! It's not over, we'll just be missing our pal, Lisa!

WEDNESDAY- 

 Day three was Abdominal Strength and Core Conditioning Workout. Last week Rob mentioned to me that my abs should be sore after this workout. To be honest, last week they weren't. On Wednesday I was sweeping the floors hours after my workout and I felt soreness when I swept. I was really pumped that I was finally doing it right!
Goals: My v-ups in the third round could improve. There's a more difficult way to do the v-ups and that's to let your hands meet your feet up in the air instead of bringing your legs to your hands.. It's not easy to imagine, but I'll work on it for next week.
Improvements: I suppose my improvement is that my abs were sore afterwards! That was my goal from last week and I feel like I've accomplished it!

THURSDAY-


(For more of these kinds of great videos you can follow Lisa on Bloglovin' HERE or 'like' her Facebook page HERE.)

 Day four was my cardio day. I went to the gym at the fire hall and did the same cardio machine workout that Lisa posted on her blog last week.

1. Sprint for 30 seconds at a speed of 6 and an incline of 7. Walk for 1 minute. Repeat twice.
2. Do 10 push-ups on the ground.
3. Do a wall handstand for about 30 seconds.

Repeat two more times for a total of three rounds.  In the second round I brought my speed up to 6.5. and I did wall push-ups. When I went into my third round I went back down to a speed of 6 and I only walked for 30 seconds in between sprints. I did wall push-ups again and instead of the wall handstand I used the exercise ball at the gym to hold three thirty second planks.

 Here is a video I requested from Lisa. Some of my fellow bloggers showed some interest in the wall handstand and I wanted to demonstrate how simple it really is to do. So my good friend Lisa from Happy Fit hooked me up with a great video to share on my blog. Thank you Lisa!

FRIDAY-

 Day five was the Fight Conditioning Workout, the one that always makes me sweat really good. I didn't get a chance to ask Rob to take any pictures of me this morning. So you get awful mirror selfies instead. I am demonstrating a level change in the large picture because it is really difficult to take any action shots with a camera phone. I tried.. all blurry. I noticed the other day that I'm developing some pipes! That's right, I have muscles in my arms and I didn't even know it! This is very exciting to me! I also wanted to show off my bruise from one of my incidents at my last Happy Fit class the other day. I had no idea I hit my leg that hard until that bruise appeared!
 Goals: I started out the workout in a pissed off mood (never mind the details) and I wasn't totally giving it 100% but half way through I perked up and got over my bad mood. Next week, real, full punches and kicks like I'm actually striking an opponent!
 Improvements: I mentioned last week that I wanted to improve on my ground work and I did! I finally have the form figured out and it really works the core muscles. I loved it, once I figured it out!

 I'm looking forward to stepping up the workout, although it does look challenging! I'm also excited to show my comparison picture on week twelve. That's right, the picture of me when I first started on week one to a picture of me on week twelve. I'll admit, I cheat and look back all of the time and there is a difference! Yah!

 It's Friday everyone, and that means we get to #BackThatAzzUp with Yoga Pants with a song that I know has been heard lately. I usually like to post old tunes or songs that aren't super mainstream. But, I just really enjoy this song and the lyrics. Take a minute of your day to just close your eyes and liiiiisten.. really listen.  Enjoy, "Ain't No Reason" by Brett Dennen

That's All

 I can't help but feel like this is the beginning of goodbyes, or the beginning of all of the endings... That sounds so dramatic.. But, I was at my Happy Fit Stroller Fitness Class yesterday and one of the moms I know mentioned being sad because her friends are moving today. I know the family a lot less than she does, so it didn't affect me as closely. But I can understand and sympathize with how sad that would be... The line of work that they're in, relocates them every few years and I can't imagine how hard that would be on everyone. You would just get comfortable with all of your friendships you've established and get all of your routines in place and then, it's time to move again. Well my friend's sadness was a bit contagious. I already had a bit of a heavy heart driving to my class today because it just so happened to be our last class. Lisa is going to Maui for a  yoga instructor course and then she and her husband are off on their next adventure. To where, no one knows just yet. So mysterious, so cool. Another ending.

 The stroller class fit so well into my routine. We have a group of friends that would try to get together once a week for a walk at the beach, a play date at someone's home or a short walk to a coffee shop. It didn't matter what the activity, we just liked getting ourselves out of the house. But, one by one, people drifted away from the group get togethers for whatever reason; going back to work, life getting busy, moving, etc. Then, I met Lisa and she mentioned her stroller fit classes. I mentioned it to my friends and all of a sudden we had a place to go, something new and something to get us fit. Win, win, win! I will proudly brag that I ended up going to every single one of Lisa's stroller classes. There were some ladies that came and went, but there was always the same handful of us throughout. Now that Lisa is going, we've decided to keep up with the classes on our own. Obviously we won't have the gym to work in, but we will try to go to the trails nearby and do the workout routine we did on Tuesday. (More details to come on the MHB post on Friday.)

World's Best Mom; Alina is under my mittens.....

  I couldn't help but feel slightly emotional about the class ending, Lisa leaving. But I know it's more than just that. I think I'm really beginning to feel that my maternity leave is coming to an end. My days of snuggling on the couch with Alina are coming to an end. Our breakfast dance parties, our leisure walks to and from the grocery store and our one on one bonding time throughout the day is all coming to an end and I feel s.a.d. I'll be doing the dishes and I will just look over at her stuffing as many banana chunks into her mouth and I'll feel the impulse to burst into tears. I haven't yet, but I'm really, really good at avoiding my feelings. I am really, really good at directing my thoughts on other things.

Alina and I from the very beginning...

  That's all, really. I'm feeling down because I'm afraid of how bad it's going to feel to have someone else essentially raise my daughter. I know I'll get used to it because everyone does. But, for right now.. I don't feel like knowing better, I just feel like feeling sad about it. That's all.

Randomness That Was The Grammy's

Normally I don't post about award shows but I did watch the Grammy's last night. I was left feeling.. well, a few different things. In case you missed it, I have taken the time to highlight some of my favourite good, not so good and just down right confusing moments.

//1  Taylor Swift. Insert giant sigh here. Yes, she is very pretty, she is insanely fashionable and she does sing some pretty catchy tunes. But, she just annoys me. She's young, I'm not as young and I think that's why. Every time I see Taylor dancing to every song performed like she's a sixteen year old at a New Kids concert, I want to throw objects at my t.v.

Funny!

Gah- sit down!

 //2  Okay so normally when a song or artist is nominated for an award, they are introduced with a clip from their video and the song that they sang. But a lot of the nominations were being introduced with videos of other people singing their songs. I was totally confused by it!

//3  Macklemore sings "Same Love" and it's moving and all of the things that I expected it to be. Then Queen Latifah comes out and starts to explain that thirty three couples are in the audience and they're all getting married at that moment. Apparently QL is a marriage officiant. Who knew! It is kind of touching to see so many couples out there, tattooed couples, same sex couples, you name it.. But then when Madonna busts out in an all white cowboy get-up and badly sings "Open Your Heart To Me" it became all too much. Rob and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. He's like, "What just happened here? Weren't we just watching Metallica sing at the Grammy's!?" Too much random!

Via

//3  Speaking of Metallica... I am not a huge Metallica fan but I think that they're pretty bad ass and that they are total musical legends. My all time favourite song is "One" and they just so happened to perform it live with a classical pianist. It was pretty incredible and I can't imagine how it must have sounded to the people there! Good one Grammy's.. It almost makes up for Madonna...

//4  Pink! I seriously love this woman. She could do no wrong in my eyes. I love her hair, her tattoos, her kick ass attitude, her pretty face and her AMAZING voice. That woman can sing!! She did a really cool acrobatic act while singing and it was really impressive. She wasn't attached to a harness and she was pretty high up in the air. I thought her butt looked damn good too. Oh! Well, if I'm talking about butts I should mention Beyonce's butt. It was looking very, very nice as well. Just saying! (Too bad her performance wasn't as nice.. No offense to any Beyonce' lovers out there. That surf board line killed me! Ack.)

Beyonce' Wins!

  //5  I already acknowledge Blake Shelton for being a major country music star and that was solidified when I saw him perform with country music legends, like my all time favourite; Willie Nelson. I absolutely adored "Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys"..!! They were showing everyone in the crowd and it looked like it was being enjoyed by everyone. I don't care what anyone says- classic country, is the best country!



//6  Pharrell you are insanely talented, richer than I could ever dream of being. I believe he won four Grammy's and every song that man leans up against turns into a hit!  So, having said all of that- I just can't get over the hat he wore! Ugh, he looked like a Canadian Mountie! It's okay because he's so cool that he makes everything alright. But still.. I couldn't stop gawking at it!

Via

 I am 100% going to be tuning in on Sunday, February 9th for the Grammy's Beatles Special!! I can't wait and hope to post about them soon after.

 My mom's birthday was on Saturday and I spent the day with her. We watched a movie at her place and I brought her some goodies over.. (Corn chips, Zero Alcohol Beer, Licorice, etc.) Then I brought her back to my house to have lasagna and to present her with the very first birthday cake (shaped) that I've ever made. I was pretty excited about it.

I used a great tutorial on how to make the star shaped cake without a star pan and it turned out better than I expected! You can check out the blog post HERE.

Alina's close up snarky face is to show how many teeth she's getting in! Wowzers! The other is her in her Baby Bjorn with Rob.. 'playing guitar all by herself'..!

  "When You Wish Upon A Star..." is a saying from Pinocchio. My mom's favourite character of all time is and always has been, Jiminy Cricket. So the saying was relevant plus, I wished for something to do with my mom months ago and my wish came true.

Did you see the Grammy's and what did you think of it!? 

If someone was going to make you a special birthday cake.. what would it be of!?