Oh hello, blog. Nice to see you again!
Let's go back to October. The Vancouver Rock n Roll Half Marathon was a lot of fun! It was a little hilly but it just reminded me that I really have to work on hill training more often. My official time was 2:34:37, which is less than a minute slower than my personal best. Considering the hills and how my training slowed down as I was gearing up for our trip to Australia, I was perfectly satisfied with that! It was also nice to have my husband, Kendrick and my cousin Julia cheering me on at the finish line. The only weird thing is my Nike Running app went a little wonky during the run! I'm not sure if it was because of the sea level changes, but my app's GPS had me running a good 2KM farther than the 21.1KM when I finished. I'd like to think that the 1/2 marathon route was measured properly so I'm not sure why there was this issue. It makes me wonder how accurate the GPS actually is even when I'm running in Edmonton? It was off when I did the Canada Day 15KM race too.
After running the race at 8AM, that night at 11:30PM we left for Australia to visit my sister in law and brother in law! Kendrick did pretty awesome considering it was a 16 hour flight to Sydney. He's now been on 12 planes so far in his almost 10 month life, and for the most part he's been an absolute rock star! I'm so very happy that he seems to love travelling as much as his Mommy.
Spending a month in another country with an eight month old is definitely an adventure! While we were there he got three more teeth, and learned to army crawl, crawl, pull himself to standing and go from his tummy to sitting up! Although hitting all these milestones was awesome, it made the flight home a little challenging because our little love bug didn't want to sit still! In the future if I was travelling with a baby I would definitely go before they are mobile or when they are old enough to be entertained by a movie or iPad. Overall though the trip was amazing. We got to spend some quality time with family, and Kendrick got to do some amazing things! My highlight was taking a giant boat out for a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef and going snorkelling. I bought medication to help with sea sickness (which I didn't know I had until our trip to Jamaica in 2013) which made the boat ride fantastic! I look forward to going back one day - maybe if/when there is a baby #2!
We've now entered winter (which is my favourite season), but unfortunately winter means I become a little bit of a lazy-bug. Running is my jam, but as soon as the snow and ice come I stop. I don't want to take the chance of falling or injuring myself, and well let's face it: I'm a whimp. I've hit a little bit of a winter rut. I have just over two months left of maternity leave and I'd like to take one more class with Kendrick before I go back to work, so that will be nice. I decided that next week I'm going to try out Blitz Conditioning. They have a 6AM HIIT class (High Intensity Interval Training) that may work perfect as Brian can be home with Kendrick and I'll be home on time for him to get ready for work. The only problem is, 6AM is EARLY! I'm still not sleeping that great (and I still don't have an answer as to why) so I'd have to try my best to go to bed as soon as Kendrick goes to bed to maximize my sleep so I'm not a zombie at the work out. I'm a measly two pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight and seven away from my goal weight so ideally I'd like to hit that goal before I go back to work in March! I still have some passes to Moksha Yoga too that I need to use up. It's been years since I've gone and I miss it!
Speaking of back to work, I'm getting a little anxious when I think about it. I am looking forward to spending time with my co-workers and going back into the work world but it's hard for me to imagine being away from my little dude for 8-9 hours a day, five days a week! I feel like there will be tears. Does it get easier?
Looking ahead, it's hard to believe it will be 2016 by the end of this week! I usually make some sort of resolutions but I find that I don't always keep them. To be honest I don't even remember what mine were from last year! In my blog post from December 28 last year, I talked about planning some vacations and we ended up going on 3/4 I had planned. Likely in 2016 there won't be as much travel as Australia was expensive (but so worth it), but I still have some ideas on how to get out of town for at least a mini get away every once and awhile. I'm going to write my goals for 2016 down so I can hold myself accountable!
2016 Goals
~ Hit my goal weight and maintain it (give or take five pounds)
~ Pay down debt and be in a better position to start 2017
~ Date night once a month where Kendrick goes on a sleepover
~ Save $2000 towards a 2017 vacation
~ Start #365DaysOfGratitude & post at least one thing every day that I'm grateful for
~ Take up a new hobby
~ Blog at least three times a month
~ Run all 7 MEC runs (you can buy the value pack by clicking here) and complete at least one half marathon - obtain a new personal best!
I feel like if I can accomplish all of these I'll be not only a better person, but I'll go into 2017 with a fresh, positive outlook! What are your goals for 2016?
xo
-Dianne
PS: I need to do some baking! We went to State & Main for brunch this past weekend and Brian had banana bread french toast. It was amazing, and definitely do-able. Now I'm inspired and want to try it... Kendrick is starting to eat more finger foods and he already likes bananas so I think this would go well! Now to scour Pinterest for the perfect recipe...
PPS: Stella & Dot is having a fabulous sale! Check it out - www.stelladot.com/DianneCK. If you find you like everything, consider hosting a trunk show in January so you can earn some bling for free. :)
