VACATION // CANADA'S WONDERLAND

Last week, Jesse and I went on a little vacation to celebrate our anniversary. I know Toronto doesn't seem like much of a vacation to most people but it's something we enjoy doing and it was still close enough to go home if it got to the point where I needed to go back to Josie (and trust me, I hit that point a lot on our trip). I had a whole week of posts about our trip planned out, but unfortunately, the motor in my kit lens decided to die after a day into it. So my posts won't be as good as I had hoped they'd be, but I did have my pocket camera and my phone for photos.

On our day of arrival, we went to Wonderland with our good friends Josh and Mel. This is kind of a silly thing for us to do considering I HATE roller coasters. Scratch that - I'm terrified. Scared beyond belief. I'm like Jay Baruchel in Knocked Up. Luckily for me, Jesse is pretty compliant with just kicking around looking at stuff. The best part of it all, is that there was a big dinosaur exhibit - and we both love dinosaurs.




It was actually pretty neat and the photos don't even really do it justice. Each dinosaur was life size and had an interesting fact sheet. When I was little my first dream career was a paleontologist so it was cool to read all the awesome facts and get to look at what some of their bone structure was like, in life size. And Jesse is just a boy and has a huge thing for Jurassic Park.





After the dinosaur exhibit we walked around and watched Josh and Mel go on rides, picked out some gourmet salt water taffy for my Mom, enjoyed some ice cream and then for some crazy reason, I agreed to go on a roller coaster. "It's not that fast" they said. "Everything will be fine" they said. No. No. No. It was HORRIBLE. I hated every minute of it. 45 minutes in line contemplating running away and 3 minutes of absolute torture. I hate roller coasters for a REASON. The only good thing about this experience was that I can cross off another thing on my 25 things list.

We were so pooped after Wonderland that we went straight downtown, checked into our hotel, had a late dinner with Josh and Mel and then crashed. So exhausted!

25 Things Before I'm 25

In my earlier posts I made a list of 25 things I hoped to accomplish before I turned 25 in September. Here, I thought I'd recap the list and what I have worked on or already crossed off since April.

Lose 40lbs

Be a good mom

Finish a decor project on my own

Start running at least twice a week

Quit drinking pop

Wear clothes that aren't black

Go somewhere I've never been

See Pearl Jam and Queens Of The Stone Age live

Visit my grandparents more often

Start a vegetable garden

Purchase a large item

Learn at least 3 new patterns to sew

Get my wisdom teeth pulled

Face a fear

Buy flowers just because

Go on a road trip

Straighten out my credit

Broaden my musical taste 

Learn to knit

Commit to blogging daily

Have my first garage sale

Change my hair

Make a new friend

Eat healthier

Get another tattoo

There are some that I've really tried and haven't crossed off yet because I haven't fully accomplished, such as being a good mom and sewing new patterns. I have learned new things for sewing but I want to keep pushing myself. 

Finish A Decor Project On My Own I have done this! The bathroom was a horrible cream yellow and clay red and I've painted it shades of purple and after I've done the finishing touches I will definitely show everyone.

Start A Vegetable Garden :: While I haven't started a veggie garden (we're waiting until next year to do that) I have started over 3 flower gardens with my mom! We've done basically nothing since we moved here except clean up the yards and plant, plant, plant, weed, weed, weed and plant some more.

Purchase A Large Item :: We did this as soon as we moved in. For Jesse's birthday we finally purchased a big screen tv. We've been wanting one for awhile and it was our first major purchase as a couple (after 6 years!) I'm pretty proud of it even though I don't think we really needed a 50" but Jesse insisted...

Commit To Blogging Daily :: I feel like I've done a pretty good job at this. Aside from Sundays, I always make sure I have a good post for every day and will continue to do so even after I turn 25.

Change My Hair :: Before we moved, I went and got my roots touched up and decided to get bangs again. It's not a drastic change by any means, but it's a lot different for me, considering I've always had long straight, boring hair. 

I'll be honest, I haven't been working really hard towards most of these goals, but I have been thinking about the list and what I can set out as realistic goals, easy goals, and which ones I may not accomplish, but at least I can try and say I did. There's no saying whether or not I'll lose weight, or be the best mom ever, but at least if I'm trying, I can grow and learn to feel better about myself. 

What have your goals been this year, and have you accomplished any yet?

Photos :: The Garden

A few posts back I showed you some photos of the backyard and how awful the garden was (see post here). This weekend my mom and I bought a whole lot of new flowers and if it weren't for the storm we had last night, we would've had everything transplanted by now.

I was going to do a weekly nail post because it's been a couple weeks since I've done so, but I've been too busy to care for my nails because of the garden. I was testing the light outside during different times of the day, different shading etc. and the flowers were a great subject. Some of the photos turned out great, while some didn't (the sun was too bright for the gerber daisy photos).

We bought colourful mixes of our favourite flowers: Gerber Daisies, Verbena, Dahlias, Portulacas, Celosia, Petunias, Pixie Lillies, Merigolds and my very favourite, Shasta Daisies. There's a couple things we love in the front gardens already like tulips, lillies, hostas, pansies and peonies but we're still going to plant some things out there too. I'm so excited to show you guys the end result!

It started to down pour as we were turning the soil up and clearing out the weeds and it hasn't let up today either! Guess there's no gardening for me today! How is your flower garden coming along?

25 Things Before I'm 25

So, early in my blog I posted a list of 25 things I would like to accomplish before I turn 25 in September. The number one thing I've been struggling with post baby (or actually my entire life), is losing weight. When I first had Josie though, I immediately lost 35lbs. I was like wow - this is going to be a breeze!

It's taken me two months to lose 8 more pounds and it's been the hardest obstacle ever. I've proportioned my meals, I try to eat better things, I exercise when I can and I take at least one long walk a day. And still, nothing. I'm stuck in between 3lbs and I just seem to be hopping back and forth. Never going anywhere.

This is less of a post and more of just a question: Does anyone have any tips for weight loss?

25 Things Before I'm 25

I really like this blog challenge and I'm going to try very hard to accomplish these 25 things before my birthday, September 18th. There are a couple things I feel like I'm already going to fail but if I can at least say that I tried I will be proud of myself.

1. Lose 40lbs
2. Be a good mom
3. Finish a decor project on my own
4. Start running at least twice a week
5. Quit drinking pop
6. Wear clothes that aren't black
7. Go somewhere I've never been
8. See Pearl Jam and Queens Of The Stone Age live
9. Visit my grandparents more often
10. Start a vegetable garden
11. Purchase a large item (like that tv we've been eyeing)
12. Learn at least 3 new bag patterns to sew
13. Get my wisdom teeth pulled
14. Face a fear
15. Buy flowers just because
16. Go on a road trip
17. Straighten out my credit
18. Broaden my musical taste 
19. Learn to knit
20. Commit to blogging daily
21. Have my first garage sale
22. Change my hair
23. Make a new friend
24. Eat healthier
25. Get another tattoo