2 hours of quiet.....

Emma (Meaghan & Luke's little lady) is down for her daily two-hour nap and I have a couple of quiet hours ahead of me - ahhhhhhhhh..so nice! Winston is snuggled into my side and the living room floor is visible because Dora and all her Dora like accessories have gone into a bag for the next couple of hours.

We've had a really fun couple of days - a walk to the park, playtime at Jess, Kylie & Allie's, a bath, a delicious dinner that Emma LOVED, a trip to Dollarama for some crafts, a poop in the Superstore, both of us trying on the pregnant belly at Thyme Maternity (wish I had a camera), lunch at a McDonald's with a Playland (a big deal apparently); and oh - enough Dora the Explorer to last me a lifetime. She is OBSESSED with that show and anything else that has to do with it. If I never see Boots, the Map or the Backpack again I'll be more than ok with it.

Lastnight after I put Emma to bed, Alex and I took a quick break and laid down in our room before we went back downstairs for the rest of the night. We noticed that my belly has actually popped! Before when I was laying down my belly would retreat behind my ribs but not anymore!! Even when I tried to suck it in it wasn't going anywhere. WAHOO!! Super exciting - the belly has begun!

Still feeling great - no kicks or anything from the wee one but man my gas is BRUUUUUTAL!! You'd think I'd been eating a diet that strictly contained soft cheeses. LOL. Mmmm....

Thursday morning rant..

So this morning I am really annoyed that I am not showing really. I am damn sick of this "thick in the middle" stage (this is what all the preggo books and websites call it) and am SO ready for a little basketball belly.

Do you know how much it sucks just looking like you've gained a bunch of weight for no reason?

Granted, as soon as people find out I'm pregnant it'll be a different storey but I am so wondering what my co-workers think when they see how big my midsection has gotten. I went and got a haircut yesterday and my hairdresser said it would be obvious to anyone who had been pregnant before what was going on because my boobs are huge and she said you can see by the way that my stomach is expanding that it's for a baby and not filled with fat.

When I look down the center of my belly (through the center of my ginormous chesticles) I can blatantly see my belly protruding from my ribs down to my pubic bone about 2 inches out from either side of my belly button. It's not by a ton but it's definitely not what I would normally see when I look down. So I guess it's starting. I hope I'm not one of those people who carry evenly in the center because you don't look pregnant for quite a while if that's the case (apparently you can carry high, mid or low then center or wide). Centre and mid is the worst for showing early but is great later on.

Anywho...next thing. My dreams. My dreams are NUTS! Not last night but the night before I had a dream that I gave birth to the baby but that it was so small that instead of putting it in one of those warm incubation beds they put the baby in a water bottle (with a small amount of water in it like it was in the womb) and then they had screwed off the top of the bottle almost fully (just one little notch left holding the lid on) and every time the baby took a breath the lid would open and close. Alex was holding the bottle baby in his hand like "no big deal" and I was absolutely freaking out in the hospital bed. "Why is my baby in a bottle" "Why is their water in the bottle" "How did you get my baby in that bottle!?!?". FKUCED.

Oh ya! Then last night I had a dream that one day I woke up and overnight all my hip stretch marks from puberty had turned purple again and climbed up my belly to meet in the center. Sounds beautiful eh?

As you can see I'm not getting much sleep lately. To top it all off Winston is like a leech on me lately and he's been creeping up onto the bed and sleeping in whatever crevice I have available at the time so I can't really move for the rest of the night. I don't want to kick him out though because he's obviously chilly on the floor and that's why he wants to snuggle.

Ok, rant complete. Have a nice day!

PS - if you're bored check out this lady's blog, hilarious: http://www.pregnantchicken.com/pregnant-chicken-blog/2010/12/10/awkward-pregnancy-photos.html

The cool stuff is happening!!

I am so EXCIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITED!!

On Thursday December 2 I had my first midwife appointment. My uterus is up over the pubic bone (a good thing) and she used this doppler thing to see if she could find the heartbeat. She told me to not get my hopes up because it's still early and as soon as she put the thingy on my belly we heard the bebe!! Her/his rate is 155 bpm (which is somewhat fast).
There are old wives tales that say if the heart rate is over 140 bpm then you're having a girl, if under, then a boy.

This seems like a good time to say I would love to have a little Miss Olivia Powell or a little mister Keaton Powell or William Powell - Alex likes both but isn't 100% sure. Olivia is a done deal because that's been my fav. name for a good 5 years. Middle names will likely be family members, I'm thinking either Elizabeth or Vivian for girls and Thomas for a boy.
WAHOOO!

Lastly, I had my 12 week ultrasound on December 6th and I've attached pictures. The wee one was about 5.5 cm long (head to rump - so not including arms and legs). It was so cool. The in person pictures are much better but I'm sure up top you saw the scanned copies which don't do the originals justice.

3 months!

I'm almost 3 months (will be on Friday) and I'm eagerly awaiting posting my "held" blogs now that I'll be out of the woods in terms of miscarriage likelihood.

I'm still pretty tired but not half as much as I was in the super early stages of pregnancy. Friday's are my worst nights - I have a hard time staying up past 8 p.m. This past Friday we had Jo and Rob over for dinner (Alex's idea) and my eyes were literally burning they were so sleepy by 9:00 p.m.

Still no morning sickness which is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G however, it's allowing me to be one hungry girl!

The last time I went to the doctors (Nov. 18) I'd only gained 3 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight (133 lbs) but I definitely felt thicker in the middle and I 100% was because I can't do my top button up on my jeans anymore. I bought a white bella band and Tara gave me a black one so I've been wearing those over my pants with the top button and some of the fly undone so it's more comfy. My favourite foods are: anything that isn't healthy. This includes: pizza, ice cream, chocolate, fries, chicken fingers etc. Can you say gross? I am guessing I'm probably up about 5 lbs since my last appointment. Last night my Mom and I stopped at Baskin Robbins for some ice cream...I highly recommend the feature flavour "Gingerbread" MMMmmmm....

I have to admit it's really hard at this stage when you just look fatter than normal and definitely do not look pregnant. The worst part is that you are just fatter and it's not the baby since the baby is only the size of a thumb right now. It's got EVERY single part of it's body that it needs right now at this size and really is only getting stronger bones, growing and putting on meat until birth. Isn't that crazy!??! My whole life I've been small-ish to normal size and now I'm packing it on. Even though I know it's pregnancy related it's still hard to bear when you can't do your pants up!

My dreams are 1) insane and 2) extremely vivid. So far, I've dated the counsellor from Newlywed Nearly Dead, fought a warthog for my picnic items, lost my wedding rings and found them again and umm...I can't remember the others but they're ridiculous (I wake up Alex to tell him about them so if you would like to know more I'd suggest talking to him since my preggo brain is in full effect).

On Saturday afternoon (11 weeks, 1 day pregnant) after being out all afternoon I came home and laid in bed for a couple of hours and couldn't fall asleep. I laid their with my hands on my lower abdomen just above my pubic bone and slightly pushed into my tummy. After about 1/2 an hour I felt a little "thump" which I think was a body roll or something. It definetly wasn't gas because I could feel that for most of the half hour and it was bubbly and grumbly (as gas usually is!) It was SO exciting and totally made my day.

What else? Mom & Dad have been doting on me which is really nice! My Dad calls every couple of days to see how I'm feeling and my Mom, well she's being the awesome Mom that she always is. Alex has been a dream for the most part. I did get in trouble for spazzing and then not apologizing which I promised to work on and other than that's he's been great. He is definetly taking advantage of my bad food cravings though and I'm afraid he might end up looking 9 months pregnant at the end of my pregnancy too. LOL.

Ok, that's all for now!

xo Jenn

sleepy and moody

Holla!

I have been ever so blessed not having any sickness during the first 6 weeks of my pregnancy (fingers crossed that continues). I think I would have a melt down if I felt nauseous constantly - you all know this girl loves to eat!

What I have been dealt is EXTREME tiredness and I'm a little moodier than normal.
The extreme tiredness probably has something to do with teaching Pilates and working, but the tough part is Pilates gives me energy after I'm doing it, just not inbetween.
I've been so pooped that I've been getting into bed as soon as I get home (usually between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m.) and reading until I pass out. I then sleep through my alarm and wake up at 7:45 a.m. and have 30 minutes to get out of the house. GOOD TIMES!! LOL. I also left work early one day to go home and nap. I just couldn't bare another 5 hours at work! It also helped that Alex had that day off and we'd gone to get an ultrasound that morning (we saw the heart beat and a bunch of weird sacks like the yolk sac - creepy).

The moodiness thankfully has mostly been aimed at my co-workers and more specifically in team meetings when everyone is bantering back and forth about something that is easily fixed. Let me tell you - pregnant women do not like nonsense - get to the point and get to it NOW!!!!!

I had a bit of an outburst at my last team meeting where after 10 minutes of people yacking I finally said something along the lines of "So to get back to the point of the conversation, wouldn't everything be fixed if we just all did this (no need to explain the issue) rather than complaining about it for 10 minute and not getting anywhere?" my boss then said "is everyone ok with that?" and everyone else said "umm..ya, that would work" and shut-up.
HA!

I felt great as soon as I released the beast that had been boiling up inside me but when I looked up I could see some hurt/puzzled faces amongst the group.

Did I care at the time? Not at all.
Did I care a little later on? Yes.
Did I apologize? Hell, no.

I figure once I tell people that I'm expecting they'll all go "ohhhhhh" about my recent behaviour.
I hope so anyways..or they're going to think I turned into so bia-tch.

xo
Jenn

It's official....we're pregnant!

Creepy picture eh? I sure hope the teeth don't look like that - all knarled and what not.
But mostly, YAY!

So here's how it went down:

For about a two weeks I'd been getting cramps but no period. I thought I was getting my period and it was late. No one ever told me that your uterus hurts and that the first signs of pregnancy are pretty much the same as the ones that you get just before your period i.e. - sore boobs, hungry, cramps, sleepy.

My Gramma Viv gave me a dollar store pregnancy test that her girlfriends bought her as a gag for her 75th birthday. On Thursday, October 14 in the a.m. before I left for my school visits Alex and I pulled out that test and followed the directions. It was supposed to take 1-3 minutes for the second line to show up on the test if it was "positive". After about 5 minutes it showed up, so Alex and I took it as a maybe and decided to try again on Monday, October 18 before work.
Alex was convinced I was pregnant but I just thought I'd know and that I'd be able to feel it somehow because I'd heard that people who are in tune with their bodies "just know" when they are and I thought I'd be one of those people.

Anywho, on Saturday we had an engagement party for Scotty and Jenna in London, ON and while the boys were in picking up beer Jolene and I decided that when we went into Loblaws to get their congratulations on your engagement cards, that we should also pick up an official test so that if it was negative I could still participate in the party and if it was positive I wouldn't be torn on how to behave that night.

So long storey short after a quick pee in the London Loblaws washroom it was official! When Jo and I got back into the car I pulled the test out and passed it to Alex in the back of the car acting like it was the card for him to sign - he got a huge grin on his face and was super excited and so was I.

Note: In the future I will not be peeing on sticks in Loblaws...I will do it at home with Alex because it wasn't very nice that he found out after Jo.

So now it's Monday, October 18 and I've called and made an appointment to have the first blood work done and then I guess I'll find out what happens next. I think the first day of my last period was September 9 so that would mean I'll be due at the end of June 2011. Anything born before June 19 is a Gemini and anything after a Cancer. So that means I'm about 5 weeks pregnant (or in my 6th week)!

I've also been hunting on the internet and know the following about the baby:

• It is the size of an orange seed and mostly resembles a tad pole (including a tail)


• There are "buds" where the arms and legs will be;


• The major organs are being developed;


• Facial features could already be forming;


• The heart will start to beat this week but won't be detectable for another 2 or so;


• It is 75% likely the baby will have green eyes and 25% likely it'll have blue ones;


• The next 5 weeks are the most critical in the babies development; and


• I can't do too many of my Pilates moves and I'm going to have to start cueing and walking around rather than demonstrating.

Lastly, Alex and I talked about it and we're not finding out what we're having until he or she pops out it's way more fun to have a surprise!!

Don't worry - I won't be having a shower until after the baby is born so everything won't be yellow and green. :-)

xo Jenn

17 days til Christmas!

Can you believe it?

On Sunday morning we got most of our Chirstmas shopping done and only have a few straggling gifts to buy.

We put our tree up on Saturday afternoon and I decorated for a couple of hours and it looked (yes, past tense) FABULOUS! Luckily my side of the family came over for dinner and they got to see it in all it's beautiful, full & twinkling glory. On Monday afternoon that all came to a "crashing" halt.

Sir Winston Stanley Powell was left out for 1 hour (TOPS) while Alex and I went to an appointment. As we were walking back home I mentioned something about wondering the stauts of the tree and Alex doubled his pace and I had to basically run to keep up with him. When we walked up to the house Alex said "the tree is down" I said "Noooooooooooo....." and sure enough, we walked into see a tree on the ground, smashed glass ornaments, a few chewed non-glass ones & a big bright red stain in the middle of the carpet right on top of a white flower and a very, very shameful looking puppy who was cowering and shaking knowing that he was dead meat.

Let's just say I didn't look at him or talk to him for the rest of the night. BRAT!! I do get it though - why play with his boring toys when he can attack a big sparkling stick?

So the tree is a little more bare than I'd like (Alex likes it better) and it's back to the best it can be without starting over from scratch which I was tempted to do. I'm going to try to pick up the last few prezzies this week and start wrapping this weekend and then we're alllll ready!! I think this is a record for me.

1,2,3,4,5,6 - SWITCH!

I'm not going to bore anyone with the details of why I've been bored at work the last couple of weeks (the obvious is lack of work).

My question is, what can I do?

In terms of real work, I've made up projects for myself at work that I've already completed. I've packed for a building move that is 3 weeks away, I've emailed my co-workers to see if anyone has any work they'd like me to do for them and NOTHING.

I can't check my emails when they're already checked, I can't spend my day on Facebook or I'll get fired (I assume), I don't feel like researching anything imparticular on the internet.

I just emailed my boss to see if I could take some lieu time this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon because I'm so bored. What a waste but I honestly can't sit here for much longer twiddling my thumbs.

HELP! Ideas? Anything?!?!?!?!

......

I'm so excited....

And I have to hide it!

You know, you know, you know, you know - I want to tell you, tell you!

I'M SO EXCITED....AND I HAVE TO HIDE IT!

YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW - I WANT TO TELL YOU, TELL YOU!

I love it when the world aligns!

Long time no write!

On Wednesday night after an especially long day at work I snuggled up to Alex before getting ready to go to Pilates and said "How in the world am I going to keep this up until Christmas?". He said "Just quit one place" and I said "I've made a commitment and I'm sticking to it" then I proceeded to get in a huff and go get ready for my class (knowing that's exactly what I'd like to do but also being extremely stubborn as usual).

On Thursday morning when I got into work I had an email from the girl I teach semi-privates to regarding her last session (that night). She told me that she's been sick for 3 days and didn't think she could sit up for an hour let alone get through an hour session. She then went on to say that since I'd made so many accommodations for her schedule in the past to not worry about making up our last session. I of course responded it was no problem and that we could reschedule but she was insistent. One night down - YES!

Then, on Thursday afternoon around 2:00 p.m. I open up my personal email to find this:

Hi Jenn,
As of today we offered Lindy the whole house and she accepted. I will close the studio asap and freelance between traveling to Florida.I want to thank you for all you work in trying to make the studio a success.To grow the business I would have to focus on spending money and time and with the recent change in my personal home life this couldn't be done. Thinking you should contact Lindy to see if Pilates can still be available under Eternal hot yoga. I will notify the clients and refund were needed.
Thanks
Gwen

Can you say...ummmm - WOW?!

Now, I'm not saying I wanted Your Pilates Place to close down by any means - what I wanted to do was teach 1 night a week vs. 3 times a week. I'm most surprised on Gwen's delivery, I mean she was the one who said she didn't want the business to grow rapidly and I thought she was happy. Pretty much everyone we taught bought a package and kept coming..we at least had a good retention rate!

So, now I'm down to teaching 2 times a week until Christmas and then back up to 3 times a week after that...two times over lunch and one evening. Now that's PERFECT! It'll keep me in shape, keep my teaching skills up and not make me so exhausted that I don't even want to get up in the middle of the night to pee!!

WA-FRICKIN'-HOO!!

frost-schmost

Seriously, frost?

The past 2 mornings I've come out of the house gone to get into my car and realized that I'm going to have to sit in my car for at least 5 minutes before I can actually go anywhere because every one of the my windows in the car are completely covered in frost.

Last year, Alex and I commuted together so he went out and started the car 5 minutes before we were going to leave, shoveled the snow off and scraped the windshield. He then waited at the window to make sure a sneaky little high school student on their way to school didn't steal our vehicle while it was warming up.

So now I've got to a) do that on my own - I am seriously dreading it or b) well there is no b.

Which in a nutshell means I need to get up at least 10 minutes earlier (boo!) and also know when I'm going to leave (usually it's an "ooops, it's 8:15 - better run!) and then have the patience to sit at the window and watch the car.

Bah.

the agenda is starting to clear up.

Thank the dear sweet Lord (if there is one) that our agenda seems to have slowed down.

This weekend I'm getting my hair did tonight (I'm going darker), we have Joan and Steve's 60th bday party on Saturday and then Sunday is FREEEEEEEEEE!!

Next weekend we have a tentative Euchre date with Shelby and Anthony on Friday, I teach Pilates on Saturday morning (9:30 so I can sleep in) and then we're FREEEEEEEEEE!!

The following weekend is the best weekend so far because guess what? There's NOTHING on! WAHOOO.

So, I've been thinking a bit (wink, wink) and it's pretty ridiculous how I constrained I feel by my own calendar (which is my own doing, I know).

I've looked into the rest of November and December and so far, most weekends are open. I plan to keep them that way and do things as they come up rather than the pre-plan which I'm famous for.

So, if you want to hangout - call me - but do it the day before or the day of!

xo Jenn

exposed brick & java = cozy

I'm sitting in Dream of Beans a cute little coffee shop on Hunter Street in Peterborough, ON. My table is in the front of the cafe and I'm facing an exposed brick wall. Radiohead is playing and there a sweet girl serving customers behind the counter. I'm sipping on a Mocha Java coffee and it's raining outside. I don't want to leave....all I need is a couch and book. :-)

on the road again...

I'm heading off tomorrow a.m. at about 7:30 a.m. for a tour of Ontario.

I'm starting my day off in Peterborough visiting two high schools and then I'm headed over to lovely Keswick for an evening event in their local high school gym where I get to convince prospective students and their families 1) why to choose college and 2) why to choose my college. I've never been to Keswick but I haven't heard many positive things about the place. Most of the things I've heard about are incest and kiteboarding...a weird combo I know.

I am finishing my day off in Barrie at approximately 10 p.m. at the lovely Comfort Inn for an overnight. Oh how I miss the days of CCGD where we were booked into the Westin, the Intercontinental and the Hilton with a King size bed to boot!

Friday morning I'm then driving up to Minden for one more presentation before booting it back to Oshawa to teach Pilates at 12:10 p.m. at school.

I am going to be one tired lady!! The bonus is that I am driving a beautiful Mitsubishi SUV so I feel like a total dudette and for the same price as one of those macho Dodge muscle head cars.

xo
Jenn

sometimes - all you need is a day off.

You know those days when you wake up achy, sleepy, and plain old yucky? Well yesterday I had one of those days.

So, rather than going to work and being a whiny baby all day I decided to take a "me day" (with Alex of course) and what a lovely "me/us day" it was. In the morning I made a nice breakfast, had some coffee and watched a little boob tube.

Then around 9:30 a.m. I started cleaning. I dusted, swept, vacuumed, did laundry and then I cleaned the kitchen and the washroom from top to bottom. Not much of a rest, right? To top it off Mom and I went to IKEA and I got a lovely new shower curtain and Mom bought me a couple new planter pots for some shoots she's been growing me from her mother plants. See links for pics:

Wandering Jew (oh so politically correct): http://www.denverplants.com/foliage/images/JewZebrina.jpg
Hoya (from my great grandma's original plant - how awesome is that?): http://www.gflora.com/zen-cart/images/hoya_rubra.jpg

Well it turns out it was exactly what I needed. I came into work today feeling so much better about the state of my home that everything else just felt nice a calm. I taught a great Pilates class today at lunch and had a ton of good feedback from my students.

I CANNOT wait for this weekend when we engulf as much turkey as humanly possible and then lay around like lards for an hour afterwards. Let the holiday of gluttony begin!

the tipping point

I almost threw myself overboard today. That's about all I have to say about that.

I'm getting sleeeeeepy!

Good morning!

It's been 5 weeks since I started teaching Pilates and I have to say that it's been challenging.

What's been great is that I've really started to hone my skills as a teacher and I've had the opportunity to teach in a ton of different formats. I personally feel a lot more toned and I'm pretty happy with my current shape. I've also met a bunch of lovely new people and brought in some dolla bills (which I've saved over half and we're getting a new chimney because of them.)

I've learned that if you're going to teach semi-privates that you should make sure the people you're teaching have similar abilities (not the case in my classes so far) otherwise you'll be underwhelming one and overwhelming the other or busting your own butt to teach two exercises (when you're teaching 5 days a week it's really hard to come up with two lesson plans).

What's been the downfall is that I haven't seen my Mom, most of my family or really any of my friends in 5 weeks. What I have seen of Alex is sometimes good but sometimes I'm Crusty Mcrustertins. This part, is not for me. I've found that on the weekends I'm trying to jam in as much as possible in so that I can dedicate all my weekday evenings to Pilates. I've been having a hard time getting up for work in the morning (read: snooze 5 times, get up at 7:20 a.m. and leave at 8:00 a.m.) and the only thing I can think about is that sweet caffeine buzz. My house isn't looking the way I like it to, I've eaten Kraft Dinner for dinner (GROSS!) and I just don't feel like doing much of anything when I'm home. Oh and I've been having ridiculous cravings like a chocolate cake muffin with chocolate chips infused within and chocolate betty crocker icing on top.

So, once my predetermined teaching times run out I will commit to doing the following at a MAXIMUM in terms of teaching. I will teach 3 nights from Mon-Fri and a maximum of 3 day time classes a week (meaning before work, on my lunch hour or on weekends at a studio). I think teaching during the day is a better route if possible because then I'm not taking "me" time up which I like to spend with my friends, family & pet!

:-) Jenn

Now that I know, I can't live without...

1. H&M (enough said)
2. Joe Fresh (ditto)
3. Pur Minerals - http://www.purminerals.com/Pur-Mineral-Makeup-Starter-Kit
4. Kiss My Face - Early to Rise http://kissmyfacewebstore.com/detail/KMF+1401622
5. Lululemon - astro pant (w/complimentary hemming!) http://shop.lululemon.com/Astro_Pant/pd/c/560/np/560/p/2187.html
6. Hemming in general
7. Nail polish topcoat (it really does stay on for a week!)

Has it really been THAT long?

On September 18, Alex and I will have been married for two years. Most people would say "on one hand it feels like yesterday, but on the other hand it feels like so long ago". Not me, to me it feels like so long ago - and I like it that way.

Alex is:

• my rock;
• my voice of reason;
• my "I know you better than you know yourself" guy;
• my "you better slow down so you don't burn yourself out" guy;
• my pain in the ass; and
• most importantly, my love.

I feel truly and completely blessed to have someone like him for a husband. Sure, he drives me NUTS some days and I think "who is this guy?" but those days are usually about a week before Aunt Flo comes to town and I'll be honest, I tend to be a little irrational even when I'm trying my damnedest not to be.

Of course, there are those days no where near my time of the month when he drives me crazy but I'm 1000% sure that I drive him around the bend here and there too.

Would I like it if he did more around the house? Yes. Would he like it if I mowed the lawn here and there? Yes. In fact, we just had that conversation just last night when he asked if I'd unloaded the dishwasher yet (he'd be home all night and I'd been in Port Perry teaching Pilates 30 minutes before). Those are the times though that when he comes back with a remark "did you mow the lawn and whipper snip last night?" that make me think, riiiiight - it's not a one way street and we both do things around the house, just different things.

When it comes down to it though, I'd give us a 90% (I'm into percentages today) in the happiness department which takes into account pet peeves, button pushing & Aunt Flo. That, to me is pretty damn awesome.

I also think we are very lucky to have been together for so long prior to being married. We knew each other pretty darn well before getting married and had been through highs and lows and already know that pushing through the lows is more than well worth the highs.

In the spirit of TSN, I'd like to give my highlights of our last 2 years together:

• Our housewarming (ok, that was before the wedding, but it was still amazing)
• Our wedding
• Our wedding morning (waking up realizing all we had was our wedding wear)
• Our honeymoon, which was about 6 months after our wedding and SO well deserved
• Sunday drives to Bond Head
• Any drive to any cottage with the windows down and the music loud
• Our trip to Montreal with Em & Andrew
• Sunday afternoons on the couch watching movies followed by delicious takeout
• Alex's surprise trip to Québec City (so thoughtful)
• Our 1st anniversary (MAN we loved that spiced banana cake with a butter cream filling)
• Sir Winston Stanley Powell's arrival into our life
• Our completely beautiful home (starring the following): complete spare room, level and grass filled backyard, almost finished kitchen & new driveway
• Our new nieces and nephews who we are also guardians for
• And for me, the most important part - a countless number of times where I laughed so hard I cried when Alex said things that got me right in the funny bone. A great example is "Koskinen tagged me as a monkey on Facebook. Here let me show you (log onto facebook - picture comes up). Do I look like a monkey?" Umm.....Hahahaha (insert crying, rolling, belly aching laugh).

Wow, do we ever have a lot to be grateful for. I have everything possible on my body crossed that life keeps on the way it's been because we are on one great ride.

xo
Jenn

the benefits of set backs

After watching a particularly meaningful "Being Erica" that focused on how what we believe are set backs at the time they are occurring are actually gifts and if we let them they will reveal something about ourselves that we never would've discovered had everything run smoothly with no bumps in the road (that's right, instead of getting ready for work I furiously fast-forwarded our PVR to watch a t.v. episode as quickly as possible and came to work with dirty hair!).

Being somewhat of a perfectionist, setbacks are not something I normally ponder (they happen and I plow through them like they never happened) but after watching the show instead of showering, ironing, getting my lunch together or doing anything else remotely productive I sat on the couch and reflected back on all the perceived setbacks I've encountered over the past few years and the benefits they've provided for me. The ones that stuck out most in my mind are:

1) SETBACK: not having a baby a couple of years ago as per the "plan". BENEFIT: I never would've had the guts or opportunity to take a contract job with a little one to take care of and I'd be living in Oshawa, communting to Toronto on a daily basis and hating every minute of it (not to mention missing so much of our childs life).

2) SETBACK: not taking my Pilates certification a year and a half ago. BENEFIT: Your Pilates Place wasn't open, I didn't work at Durham College so I wouldn't have been hired to work at their fitness centre and my certification probably would've sat dormant until I forgot what I'd learned and I would've been so overwhelmed with starting a new job and getting the house renovations done I would've probably had a mental breakdown.

3) SETBACK: My boss not seeing my vision to combine 2 positions at my old job to give me a new challenging job and keep me at the company for a couple more years. BENEFIT: Even if I didn't love the job I would've felt that I owed them my time and stayed there unhappy.

So the moral of the storey is although you might feel it's bad to take 2 steps backward you're actually doing yourself a favour because you can look at the situation from a few feet back and re-assess if the path you were taking was really the right one!

Looking back at my "3 big ones" I am so glad they worked out the way they did.

xo
Jenn

1st class complete - 900 to go!

Hello, hello!

Sooooooooo yesterday I taught my first semi-private class and guess what?? It was a success. The two girls I taught were both very sweet beginners who were perfect to ease me into teaching. They were both very happy at the end of the session and so was I.

CHEERS - to my first class complete and the first and last 90210 we'll ever have!

xo
Jenn

Pilates, pilates - PILATES!

My oh my oh my.....lordy, lordy Jenn - what have you gotten yourself into?

Pilates update:

• Monday 6-7 (indefinitely)
• Tuesday 5:10-6:00 (until December)
• Wednesday 7-8 (indefinitely)
• Thursday 6-7 (until mid-October)
• Friday 12:10-1:00 (until December)

Who thinks they're Wonder woman? I DO! I DO! In order to keep my sanity and keep my blood pressure from skyrocketing through my body, through the ceiling and eventually to the sky I'm putting together a pro's and con's list.

PRO's

• I'm finally jumping in with two feet rather than one in and one out;
• I am putting my Certificate to good use;
• I'm going to see what I'm really made of;
• I'm going to find out if I enjoy teaching;
• I'm forced to learn every posture and master it;
• I'll get lots of experience in different locations (gym, studio, in-home lessons);
• Physical proof that their is a need for Pilates in the region;
• 3 of the classes are not indefinite and there is an end time;
• We'll have extra $ for trips and home renos (with no extra time to spend it on crap); and
• I'm gonna be buff, oh so buff.

CON's

• I feel like I'm over my head and I'm nervous about teaching in general;
• I'm afraid I won't be able to balance my job and home life;
• I don't know every posture by heart; and
• I'm worried that I'm not knowledgeable enough to teach to advanced students.

Based on the list above I have some to do's to help me feel good about my decisions to date:

• I know I'll be a good teacher once I feel more confident in myself and the only way to feel more confident is to practice, practice and practice.
• I will have to ask Alex to be patient with me during the next few months and let him know he might need to pick-up some slack around the house.
• I have to let my bosses know that I am comfortable teaching beginner and intermediate classes and that I am not comfortable teaching advanced classes yet - BE ASSERTIVE.
• I need to make sure that I'm taking it easy on my off days and really give myself time to recoupe from the hectic week.

Anything else you can think of?

xo
Jenn

speedy mcspeedertons is back.

As mentioned in prior posts I'm a busy beaver attempting to be not so busy (and failing miserably).

Going against everything I've been trying to do in terms of slowing down, I started applying to teach Pilates in a few different places in hopes of ONE of them working out.

I did this because became a teacher recently, really enjoy the form of exercise and thought it would be a good way to force myself to stay in shape, get better speaking in front of groups of people (for my current jobs benefit) and lastly, to earn a little extra dough.

On Wednesday I received an email from a co-worker asking if I could come up to her home to teach her and a couple of friends once a week and I agreed. On Thursday morning, I met the new fitness co-ordinator at the College who asked me to teach on Tuesday evenings and on Friday afternoons and of course, I eagerly agreed. Today, I received a call from the owner of a local Pilates studio asking if I could meet her this Sunday at 4 p.m. to discuss my available teaching times! Guess what I did? You got it - AGREED!

Can you believe it? I put it out there in hope of ONE and now I've got THREE. I am super excited to build up my Pilates teaching resume but also a little nervous about the amount I have on my plate.

On another note, I went to Winners today and got three awesome workout tops with built in slightly padded bras which I am super pumped about. I have an awful time finding tops that work for me and of course I'd find some this week because EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!!

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

xo Jenn

my personal vows.

Monday was my 28th birthday. It was a GREAT day (although I worked for the majority of it) filled with family, friends and PRESENTS!! My hubby arranged for all my local family and friends to meet at a new little Thai restaurant downtown and totally surprised me - it was fabulous.

On the way into work on Tuesday feeling great about myself and everyone in my life I made a few vows to myself of things I will and will not do over the next 30 days in hopes of breaking bad habits and starting new good habits.

1) I will not smoke anymore cigarettes. I don't smoke regularly by any means but when I'm in a group of smokers and I've had a wobbly pop or two I get an insatiable need to smoke at least one cigarette if not five. I don't feel good about it the next day, my breath reeks and most importantly if I'm getting my body ready for a baby it does not need any second hand smoke.

2) I will start taking my vitamins again. I have a new family doctor who prescribed me calcium-mag (lactose intolerant), a multi-vit, vit D, vit C and now Materna = a lot of pills. However, she said in order for me to be the most "hospitable" for a bebe I've got to get my levels up in all of these areas.

3) I will committ to a 30-day, 30-minute Pilates challenge. This includes bringing my mat to the cottage or to a friends home if I stay the night. It seems when I don't exercise I get in a funk and when I'm in a funk I don't want to exercise (surprise, surprise huh?).

Last night I started the ball rolling by doing 45 minutes of Pilates, refraining from cigarettes while Alex sucked a couple back on the back deck and took my viatmins in the a.m.

1 day down and 29 to go!

PS - don't worry this blog isn't going to become me talking about these challenges constantly. I just needed to put the word on the street so people hold me accountable.

xo
Jenn

it's baby time.

For the past 2 years Alex and I have been all over the map about when to start a family (actually, it's just been me). A few months before we got married Alex suggested we wait for a year after our wedding and I agreed. A year didn't seem that long to me and only a few of our good friends were in long term relationships let alone ready for or thinking about having a child. I'd also heard from tons of people that it's best to be pregnant and have children when others in your life is so the transition from two to three isn't so isolating.

After about six months of being married I started to change my tune. I wasn't happy in my job, lots was going on at home (on my side of the family) and I decided I needed something to keep my spirits up. Guess what that was? A baby!! Alex, being the level-headed, process oriented creature that he is said no way jose you agreed to a year and we're sticking to it. Looking back now I realize he was right and that he likely would've agreed had I been in a better head space and not as overwhelmed as I was at that point in life. He's a keeper. I will also admit I was suffering from baby fever as people we knew started to get pregnant and I felt like I was missing out.

Shortly after this baby episode I decided I wasn't happy in my job and that getting a job closer to home that allowed me to have a better quality of life was more important. I took a leap and looked at my new endeavour as a "what is meant to be will be" perspective and I took a one year contract job that was 5 minutes from home versus an hour in hopes of it turning into full time.

Fast forward to about two months ago (nine months after my contract started) and you'd find me sitting in HR signing a full time contract! I was (and am) ecstatic.

So, for the past month and a half or so Alex and I have been discussing what the appropriate length of time is to be on full time before getting pregnant. I've been polling my girlfriends to find out there point of view. After about 2 weeks of agonizing (because we are both ready) we decided that we're going to try right away because we shouldn't be concerned with what the correct protocol is but what feels right for us.

I'm so excited for this next chapter of life and to have a big old belly filled with a beautiful human being that the love of my life and I created together.

For anyone that has any pull out there, please bless this child that we will soon create.

xo
Jenn

alone on the range...

My husband has been away since Saturday and I won't be home until this coming Wednesday (in total 11 days). This is the LONGEST I've ever been on my own in my life.

About a year ago I would've been terrified to spend this much time on my own.

This isn't because I didn't like spending time by myself here and there (i.e. - one day to read, relax, clean, catch-up on sleep etc.) but because for one, I love talking and for two, I honestly didn't think I could occupy myself for a long period of time. My husband always made fun of me when I had a "me" day and asked "how many people did you talk to today?" because he knew I'd get bored and call my Mom, Dad, friends or anyone else I could think of to keep me busy. The worst part is that it was true! By noon I'd be getting antsy and needed someone to talk to. I guess that means I wasn't so comfortable in my own skin.

Over the past year or so since I've been working locally and coming home for lunch then spending a couple of hours on my own before my hubby gets home from his commute, I've come to love my personal time. I read, I take the dog for a walk, I clean up the house a bit and then I start dinner. It's a beautiful thing! Nice and relaxing and the perfect way to wind down from a busy day at work.

So, I'm 6 days in and doing great! Last night was a bit of a gongshow - I went to volleyball until about 8:30 p.m. and didn't eat dinner and was so hungry when I got home that I ate an ENTIRE Little Ceasar's hot'n'ready pizza to myself and I have wicked gas today to prove it (too much information?). What was I thinking?

I've taken Winston (our 9 month old boxer pup) for a walk most nights, done Pilates a few times, ironed umm...11 elephant shirts (my husbands massive work shirts), watched a couple of movies and kept the house nice and tidy. The laundry is done, the floors are clean, the beds are made, the dishes are done....oh, so nice.

The things I don't like: 1) cooking for one, 2) having the dog by myself...I feel a little chained to the house since it's so warm and I can't leave him in the car when I want to do a few little errands, 3) bedtime - it's freaky going to bed alone in a big house...I check and double check the locks and 4) when my cellphone dies due to lack of charging (my own fault) and I have no method of communication if a burglarer tries to steal me.

Although I am liking my time to myself I can't wait for my lovebug to come home.

xo Jenn

oh my aching head...

I've had a headache for 6 days straight, I've been taking 2 extra strength Tylonel's twice a day and all they did was make it manageable to go to work and function. I finally went to the doctor today and she said Advil liquid gels are where it's at along with getting an eye exam, rest and plenty of water.

An eye exam you say? No thanks. I've already spent my early years resembling a pirate and I have no intention of wearing glasses that make me look like I have one googly eye.

To give you background, I had a lazy eye that was operated on at a very young age (maybe 1 and a 1/2 or so) and I wore a skin coloured eye patch until grade 1 along with glasses. Can you even imagine how cool I was? The one eyed child.

My Mom was also famous for the buy one, get one deals so I had two lovely pairs of glasses that not only magnified my eyes but also my cheeks. I think her philosphy was the bigger the better. I'm also fairly certain she thought the more colourful the better. I can remember denim, pink and purple glasses.

Then in about grade 7 I noticed that I could see the same with or without glasses so I decided to stop wearing them at school. Well, Mom found out (thanks to my lovely brother) and then started policing me and doing "pop-in's" to make sure I was wearing them. That wasn't embarassing at all. I spent the next two years fighting my Mom tooth and nail to not wear them and eventually she agreed to take me to a different optometrist who agreed with me and told my Mom I didn't need them anymore and that my eyes had corrected themselves. HA!


So, do I want to get an eye exam and hear I need to wear glasses all the time again? No, not so much. Mind you, the 6 day headache is making me think twice about choosing vanity over some not so pretty glasses and they do have some pretty cool ones now....

hello!

Soooo.....I'm not quite sure where this blog will be about.

At this point, I feel it will likely include a lot of me rambling on about where life is taking me and the process of getting where I'm going.

To start, I'm going to explain me and my quirkiness and hope that helps me to iron out what I'm going to write about.

I run physically and I run mentally.

I'm sure running physically makes sense to most (putting one foot in front of the other quickly while bending your knees and swinging your arms). However, you might think when I say I "run" that I run marathons and I don't. Sometimes jog but more often then not I run to the car, to the grocery store from the car, run-walk the dog, from my office to the car, to the washroom...I just plain old run, wherever I can and whenever I can. I don't THINK I run to the point of looking like a crazy person but I don't much see the point in walking, especially if I have somewhere to be and let's face it - running burns more calories then walking does!

What I mean by running mentally is that I do everything at warp speed. Basically this means I run through life; I generally bite off more than I can chew. Some regular examples of my daily life: I double book myself, I do a million things over my one hour lunch, for example: I drive home, let the dog out, make the bed, make and eat lunch, tidy-up the house, put on a load of laundry, take something out for dinner, water the plants and play with the dog - then drive back to work. PHEW!

It doesn't bother me that I tend to run to most places but more and more often it's bothering me that I run through life. I truly do try to make a conscience effort to slow down and take things slowly (especially with my husbands help who is much more balanced then I) but inevitably I pick-up speed and before I know it I'm back running through life again. For example, in the past two weeks I have:

1. Started a new job;
2. Finished a Pilates certification and started teaching out of my house;
3. Applied at three places to teach Pilates part-time in the evenings; and
4. Begun researching the best way for me to go back to school (while in a new job) to obtain a bachelor in something....(business, communications, marketing - something along those lines).

....and that's just the NEW stuff.

I also have a husband who commutes to work 3 hours a day, a 100 year old house that needs loads of attention, 3 gardens, a dog, a kitchen, front yard and backyard under renovations, 80% of our family within a 5 minute drive, a bunch of new nieces and nephews, friends in Toronto, Bowmanville, Oshawa, Cambridge and Bobcaygeon, a million people getting married and well....I could go on and on - but I won't.

So, now that you know about me you'll see that this blog will be varied.....whatever floats my boat (or sinks my boat for that matter) will be the topic of the day.

I'm looking forward to a place to share, muse, discuss and of course, talk outloud without actually doing so.

xo Jenn