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26 Years Young

I didn't even see my birthday coming this year! The craziness of wedding planning and house-buying made this whole year a bit of a blur. So I was shocked at the thought and effort that others put into celebrating my birthday for me :)

Other then the fact that I had to work (which I still hope never to do again on a birthday!), it was a fantastic birthday. My man started it off right by setting the timer on the coffee maker so I'd have fresh coffee in the morning. When I got home he was already busy preparing a wonderful home-cooked meal for me! And there was a huge box on the table :)

What did he get me you ask?? A new DSLR camera!!!! It's amazing. I was shocked. We had talked about buying one together at Christmas one year or something. But he said he wanted me to have it when my family was here, and for our honeymoon, and for all the other exciting things coming up. It was an amazing gift. I won't have much time to use it until after the wedding, but I'm sure I'll start learning soon enough :)

My camera

My delicious meal: bacon wrapped steaks (marinated over night!), scallops, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, wine, and treatza pizza for dessert!

Also... the candle sticks and candles were another special gift for our candle-lit dinner :)

On a birthday walk with the puppies, my cowgirl boots, and the fall leaves.

Then, the next day I had a package in the mail from my parents! It included a card that was actually written in by my dad! I've only seen him write about 2 cards in his whole life, so this is kind of a big deal to me! It also included this lovely bracelet (below) which I love! And I've already worn out and about. It's from both of my parents, but I know dad was the driving force behind this purchase: a special gift for his only girl's last birthday as a single woman.

Thank you to everyone for making my birthday so special! And for remembering my birthday even when I forgot, lol. I'm thinking 26 is gonna be a good year :)

Run a 5K Race: Check!

I did it!!! Sept. 22, 2012 marks the first time that I completed a real road race. The 5K began at muskoseepi park in Grande Prairie. I originally wanted to run in the Press Run once (which is a run in the spring in GP), but I was never quite dedicated enough to train for it. Over the spring and summer this year, I've gradually been increasing my running distance and speed. I still consider myself quite a running amateur because I'm quite slow, but I'm getting better all the time :)

My goal was simple: finish. My secondary goal was to run the race in 35 minutes. Results.... 35:07!!!! I was so pleased! My personal record before this was 37:26. Cutting two whole minutes off your time doesn't sound like much, but it really was quite hard! I think I was pushed a bit by some of the faster runners beside me during the race. I'm definitely feeling the pain in my legs hours later at home too - am obvious sign that I worked harder than normal.

It was a great day though - perfect temperature in GP! I'm thrilled that I completed the race in one place. Hopefully now I'll have the motivation to try again!

Here are some pictures that my amazing supportive fiancé took of me before, during, and after the race. It felt so great to have someone meet me at the end and tell me they were proud of me :)

Love you Mr. A!

I'm in the brown shirt in the middle - getting ready!

The pack of 170ish people that ran

Starting the race!

YAY! I did it!!!

Hot, sweaty, thirsty mess after the race ;)

Thanks for everyone's support as I was preparing! Special shout out to my bestie in Ontario, who supported me from far away and always continued to encourage me.

Labels: active life, GP, running

5 Reasons I am grateful today

I'm sitting in bed, wide awake because I had coffee too late at night. My bad... So anyway, I was thinking about how lucky I am and I decided to make a little list.

5 Reasons I am Grateful Today:

1. I have amazing friends and family members that are flying to GP in 3 weeks :)

2. I'm gaining a whole new family (brother, sisters, niece, nephew, parents) who are all outstanding.

3. My fiance is the greatest, most patient man. He somehow makes me feel better no matter what's bothering me.

4. My wedding dress is ready :)

5. I'm getting married in 26 days!!

I've actually been feeling my first ever pangs of anxiety over the wedding planning in this last week. I feel like me head is spinning with details that I have to take care of, and I can't get any rest for my brain. Including right now, being awake at 1am. This is why it's a good idea to write down the things that are making me happy :) Helps me relieve my stress... just have to keep thinking happy thoughts :)

Learning to Swim

I wanted to share some videos of the dogs swimming at the river. We went down to O'Brien park with Mr. T and Baby Fafa (niece and nephew!) when they were here and we took the puppies into the water. It was actually hilarious. I think there's another video floating around of daisy swimming, but I couldn't find it. This is mostly just daisy chasing rocks, and then Joop learning to swim. They both did a great job though! You just have to take Daisy out way further than Joop cause her legs are so much bigger, lol.

Another fun day at O'Brien Park :) Remind me next time you're in town and maybe I can take you there! Enjoy....

Labels: dogs, GP, outdoors

Camping 2012

I LOVE camping weekends :) It was so nice to get out of town and enjoy the outdoors for a bit. I definitely had the urge all summer long. Luckily our niece and nephew came to visit us, otherwise I don't know if we would've gone at all! I'll just tell the story of our fun through pictures...