A look at 2011

*On my computer, there are random hyperlinks that are linked to ads in my post... I didn't put those there and I have no idea how to get rid of them.  So don't click on them.*

2011 was a big year for me!  At the end of January I found out I was pregnant.  I stopped flying and got a placement in our corporate office working for an event planning team.  This also meant that I was home all the time, which was new for Matt and me.  We had a little adjustment period but we soon found that we enjoyed having each other around all the time.

I struggled to get in with a midwife but after a little coaxing I got a team of 5 midwives for my entire pregnancy care until 6 weeks post pardom.  I was thrilled.

I took a quick little trip to Vancouver with my sis. That was very fun since that marked the start of my second trimester and I got to be really excited about having a baby.

I ran a 10 km and a half marathon in slippery snowy weather.  They were my slowest races, but I will definitely remember them!

I had to stop running in May, which led to a severe lack of motivation to exercise.  I sort of found my mojo again, but I really just wished I could run.

I learned that I was carrying a little furnace and was perpetually hot from June onwards.  That wasn't too fun for me.

Matt and I travelled to Ontario in the summer and spent some time at a lake and watched a Blue Jays game.

As my third trimester began, I really felt the physical effects of pregnancy.  I suffered some terrible heartburn, and was pretty much uncomfortable all the time.  In the grand scheme of things, my pregnancy was pretty easy (no morning sickness), but it was hard to remember that during the last couple of months.

Matt and I celebrated our first anniversary on October 15th.  We had expected to have a baby by then, but the little one held off so that we got to have our day to ourselves.

I worked right up until my due date, which was good in the end since I ended up being 12 days overdue.  Those last 12 days were doozies, but in the end, I was granted a VERY fast labour and had baby Zoey at home and without any major complications on October 17th.

Life with Zoey has been an adventure.  She is really starting to have a personality and it's so fun to watch her interact with various people and things.  I didn't feel like an "instant" mother, since at first I felt more like a machine than a lovey dovey oogling pile of mush, but as the days and weeks progress, I find myself just staring at her in amazement.  I miss her when I am somewhere without her, and I eagerly wait my turn to give her hugs and kisses when other people are holding her.  I didn't know what to expect before I had her, but I am having fun every day and can't wait to see her every morning.  I can't wait for this year to see her learn more things and grow more and more into her own person.

This year I hope to get back into exercise with a vengeance, to keep my relationship strong with Matt, to teach Zoey new things and to appreciate every day I get to spend at home with her.

Bring on 2012!

Update

I have been absent again!

I don't really have an excuse this time... I didn't get married again or go on another honeymoon.  Ooops.

I've been running a little more than I was before, I've been yogaing a little more too, which I'm enjoying.

I've been living with my husband AND his brother, which is interesting in a small condo.

I've been flying, sometimes to Maui, which is a great escape from the cold weather.

I also bought a new winter jacket, which I love.

What else?  I took Matt to Vancouver for his birthday, and we went to the Vancouver Aquarium.  We also ate some delicious sushi for a lot less money than Calgary's sushi.

Soon, it will be Christmas and Kristen and Jordan will be here!  Hurray!

The hills are aliiiiiive...

Last night the Sound of Music was on (and of course I sang along), and the night before, Matt put on the Sound of Music record that he bought me (and of course I sang along to that) so I'm in Sound of Music heaven! There's just something about it that makes me so happy. I don't really know what exactly it is, but on the whole it's great and it makes me think of my mum and my sister and makes me smile!

Christmas came and went. Matt and I flew to Toronto on the 18th, which worked out flawlessly! We were really worried, since there were huge storms, flight cancellations, and all the flights to Toronto were sold out for about days. We decided to just go for it, so we packed an all day picnic, brought all sorts of things to amuse ourselves, and baked treats for the staff, and were mentally prepared for a full day at the airport. We got there around 4:30 am and by 7 we were boarded and ready to go on the first flight of the day! I had to sit up in the flight deck while Matt got some person stuck in the line-up's seat, and we were so relieved. As we were walking down the gate thing we were giggling and smiling and so happy! Anyway we got to Toronto and went straight to his little brother's hockey game, and then the Christmas festivities began. Christmas dinner here, there, at this Aunt's house and this other person's house. It was a lot but it was great. His parents were SO great about the whole gluten free thing. They were so careful, they'd watch every person and make sure they didn't use the same knife in two things, make sure no one touched this or that, it was awesome. Matt said we should take a page out of their book because I don't think we're even that careful. They even bought me a new toaster to keep at their place!

Christmas was fun at their place. His little brother got rock band, so we had fun playing on that for a while. Matt's parents got us a GPS for the car, which is really cool. We've already used it a few times and now Matt wants to take a road trip so we can use it more! My stocking was way bigger than any of theirs, and they all made fun of it, but Christmas came around and theirs were overflowing and basically had the same amount as mine. Anyway I got lots of nice presies and I had a great first Christmas away from home.

We made it home without a problem either, so all in all, standby travel at Christmas worked out really well. I thought it would be so much worse, and it really wasn't! Yay for us!

Now we're home, getting ready for Christmas number two with my family. We have new year's fondue, then on Friday we're doing Christmas with everyone here. It will be fun.

On a side note, I got a new coffee maker with my giftcard from futureshop. I would never have spent this much on a coffee maker, but since it was a gift, I decided to be frivalous. It's a kitchenaid coffee maker with a timer, a re-usable filter, a thermos pot, and a built in grinder. It's incredible. Our old coffee maker and grinder were the cause of much chagrin between the two of us. Matt hated the grinder, which really was terrible and would put grinds EVERYWHERE, and I was defensive over this poor grinder for no reason whatsoever. The coffee maker was once awesome, but the coffee started tasting really bad, and brewing all funny, and we tried a lot of things to make it taste better, but nothing worked. I still haven't gotten rid of it because it has an espresso maker attached and a frother, and I like making espresso drinks. I do have a stovetop espresso maker but no frother, so until I get something else, I'll keep it and pull it out when I need it. Last night we set the timer, put in the water, whole beans, and this morning at 5:30 I woke up to "burrrrrrrrrrrrrrwhirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgrinddddddddddddd drip drip drip" which made me giggle. Yay for new appliances!

I hope everyone has a good new year!

Stampeeeeeeede.

So Stampede is (almost) over, and this year wasn't too bad! Matt and I went down one afternoon and walked around, saw the sights, watched some superdogs, chucks and had some free food (provided by Mum). Friday was our "big day" at the Stampede, where Matt and I, joined by Tyler from Montreal, Jess and Vanessa watched some rodeo, which I haven't done in a while, and went to Nashville North. Between the two events, Matt and I snuck off and rode the big ride you have to pay for, I think it's called the Sky Scraper? The big one that spins around with you in little things on the end that spin too. It was kind of pricey, but totally worth it. I giggled the whole time, and Matt just kept saying "wow!". It was awesome. Nashville North was a good time, but it was SO HOT. The tent was like a sauna, and I was just hot the whole day. It was kind of intense.

The rest of the week wasn't too bad, but I have never wanted a fan more in my entire life. It's hot in my room.

I've realized that my trip is coming up really quickly, so I need to start getting ready. I should head down to MEC soon and get a couple of things, and make sure I have some kind of plan for the first couple of days at least. I'm getting really excited. A little nervous too. But excited.

Life Update

I have been a terrible blogger. Sorry.

The last half of the month has been very interesting. I've been working a lot, I went out to a friends cabin in Vernon for a few days, and I've been "getting in" my last few days with Matt. Working has been super fun for the most part, since I've had pretty good crews, and Matt even came on an overnight to Abbottsford with me, which was pretty cool. We went to the batting cages at Castle Fun Land, and walked around the highway... And he even saw me working twice, which was interesting. He sat right up front and saw everything I did, it was pretty weird to know he was watching me!

Vernon was great, aside from the fact that my sunglasses ended up at the bottom of the lake (which wasn't even my fault), but I rode on a boat lots, sea-dooed once, tubed, and drank the whole time.

This last little while has been just trying to figure out my love life, not that there's much to figure out, more like trying not to think about the fact that Matt was leaving. We have had the greatest time together lately, and it's pretty sad that it's pretty much over. Oh well, if we are supposed to be together, it will happen. Enough about that.

I'm trying to get organized for my trip, though it isn't happening. I don't know why, I'm just in limbo. Maybe I should get my ass into gear. I'm excited for Kristen to go to Paris, though I'm super jealous since I've never been. I can't wait to hear all about it.

Yesterday I spoke with a tattoo artist for the second time, and I finally have enough ideas so that he can start to draw something up. How stoked am I?? Next Friday I'm supposed to go see what he has, and then we book an appointment for the real tattoo or another viewing if we need to morph a few things in the drawing. Eeeeeeeeeee!

I'm working today until Wednesday, and after that I don't work until the twenty somethingth of July. I have ALL my days off in a row, so I get to Stampede it up, and then chill out and have fun. I might make a little trip out to Ontario (I know I know, not a healthy move, but it seems only fair since Matt's coming for Stampede, I should go see him ONE MORE TIME and then say see ya), and then I guess I need to get ready for my trip to South America!

That's it for now, hopefully I'll be a little more regular with the posting.

I'm sick of looking at you, flood post.

No more floods. (Well I hope not, but since there was a rain fall warning for Calgary last night, I might not be so lucky.)

I just got into Toronto from Vancouver and it's 7:36 in the morning here. What is the first thing I should do when walking into my hotel room after working for 8 hours overnight? Turn on my computer, of course! I'm lame.

A few things are floating through my mind in this sleepy stupor;

• I need to get shots soon (read: NOW) if I'm travelling in South America in two months. I didn't really think about that until now.
• I should probably find some kind of backpack and supplies. Sandra, I'm looking at you when I say this.
• My boyfriend moves back to Ontario in two weeks, for good. That's kind of lame. Back to being single I guess... maybe I should re-read those posts from six months ago about how I didn't want a boyfriend.
• I'm going to Vernon on Tuesday to party at a cabin mansion with friends. I'm very excited. I think I'm going to ride a sea-doo for the first time. Fun!

That's all, I should sleep. (The first time I wrote "sleep" I wrote "slepp". Somehow, that's hysterical.