One Of My Favourite Places

For a while now I’ve been wanting to show you one of my favourite places in the entire world. When we went for a leisurely walk on the Musquodoboit Trailways this past Sunday with Holly & her hubby, I was sure to snap tons of pictures to share! I’ve been using this trail for at least 12 years, even before it was officially part of the Trans-Canada trail system.

This post is very picture heavy.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day… Group shot just starting out.

For all you Nova Scotian’s out there, the Musquodoboit Trail is only a 40 min drive from Halifax and is 13km of beautiful scenery. It crosses the river and passes by a gorgeous lake. Plus there are a few “rugged” trails that lead to magnificent looks offs.


As you can see, the trail is very pedestrian friendly. It’s great for running, biking and I’ve seen tons of families with strollers and doggies.

One time we actually saw a doggie in a stroller, which I thought was hilarious! :)



Fun Fact: Nine years ago (OMG doesn’t seem that long ago!) I had a summer job working for the trail – website design and weekly on-site trail maintenance. Maintenance=cleaning the outhouses. ;) At the time I was close to 300 lbs and it took absolutely EVERYTHING out of me to bike the 2.5km to do the maintenance. Now when I walk by it, I just have to smile because it’s SOOO different. My how life is changed.


I’m trying to convince the Halibloggers to come out her sometime for a group hike, maybe one of the rugged ones? Would make for a fun day! AND I know all kinds of random fun facts about the trail that I could entertain you with!

Isn’t this little foot bridge so cute?


The lake was choppy but still so peaceful.

Sometimes I will just come up here to get away from life. This is one of the most relaxing places in the world and I’m so lucky that it’s only a 20 minute drive away.

Was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Quinoa For Breakie

Hubby recently picked up my copy of Jillian’s Master Your Metabolism and has really taken a great interest in the foods we’re eating. It’s been fun to see him open the fridge and critically look at nutrition info/ingredient list. He’s also been telling me about everything he’s learned ….Yoplait yogurt cups were BOGO this week so I picked a couple; apparently that was a no-no. ;

Anyways, he mentioned that we hadn’t had the quinoa in a long time, so with that in mind, I made a pot this morning for breakfast. The recipe can be found on Green Light Bites.

My base ingredients: 1 cup UVAB (Thanks Jaime, love the abbreviation!) 1/2 cup BRM Quinoa, 2 tbsp cocoa and a splash of vanilla extract.


Whisked together and brought to a boil over medium heat. Then simmer for 10-12 minutes until liquid is absorbed.


For those wondering what the heck quinoa is, here’s a bit of info:
Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is considered by many to be a superfood because it contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.

The 1/4c (dry) serving I had this morning contained 170 cals, 2.5g fat, 30g carbs,3g of fiber and 7g of protein.


For me, the best part about hot breakfast cereal is the toppings – crunchy peanut butter and 1/2 ‘naner + a bit of finely grated chocolate.



Of course no breakie in this house is complete without a steamy cup of java. I love weekend mornings – savouring coffee w/ the sunshine in pouring in the windows and country tunes on the radio. Plans for today include: cleaning, cooking a big chicken dinner for my fam, 3K run and a trip to the gymbo for some strength.

Moncton Weekend

Moncton was fun!! We ended up making a weekend of it, the only problem was there was an antique car show and a huge soccer tournament so we couldn't find a decent a hotel. We ended up getting a family suite at the Coastal Inn. Was the WORST place I've ever stayed. Gross and smelled like stale smoke; service was horrible.

We spent a few hours at the zoo, which was awesome - all kinds of exotic anmials and tons of fun stuff if you're a kid! Checked into the hotel and then headed over to Champlain Place to browse the shops. Had supper at Swiss Chalet and then back to the hotel for a swim and some time in the sauna. Yesturday morning we had a disgusting breakfast in the hotel's restaurant (shoulda went up the road to Smittys or Coras) and headed back to NS. We ended up taking a detour over to Parrsboro where our friend Matt's parents camp seasonally. Had a quick visit and were back in the city by 6:00.

Foodwise did the best w/ the options available, am way up on the scale this morning but think a week of good eating and h20 will balance eveything out. We probably spent a good 3-4 hours walking around Saturday so I'm not that worried.

Overall was a great weekend w/ lots of laughs! I did end up w/ a really bad sunburn though and a bit of a dip into the credit cards.... a well such is life!

I took the day off b/c I'm not really feeling well, think I got too much sun. Been laying in bed w/ my lap top and just chatting on the phone.

A few pics...

Awesome Weekend!

This weekend flew by but it was really great.

We spent all day Saturday at Victoria Park. Started off w/ a healthy picnic lunch and walked around tons of the trails, saw a few waterfalls and just enjoyed the day together. It was really hot too so it was quite a work out especially going up Jacob's Ladder - 185 steps, which we did not once but twice!! I swear going up that thing reminded me of the kind of challenges they have on biggest loser! It felt good to be out and so active. The huge amount of energy I have still amazes me! We decided not to stay over in Truro (we'd rather be in our own bed) and ended up stopping in and having supper w/ my Mom (my Dad's currently away.) Got home to find a new lawnmower in the backyard from bossman. Earlier in the week I had been complaining that our's died... and now I can mow the lawn again. Which I'm going to do in a few. How nice of him though! I've been trying to get ahold of him to thank him but no luck.

This morning my friend called around 9am and asked if I wanted to hit up the playground w/ her and her toddler daughter. It was so much fun running around after her, got to go on a few slides and swings!! heheh I'm kinda getting that baby fever feeling again too :)

This afternoon Jas & I watched the movie "Untraceable" which was pretty good, kinda gross but overall good. It was still really hot today so I forced him to come to the lake with me, where I had a really quick but so refreshing swim! We had a a yummy treat of fish & chips for supper and now I'm just working on my budget for a bit then going out to get the lawn done!

Back to work tomorrow!

A few pics...

Me w/ Madison at the playground this AMVICTORIA PARK
Jas climbing Jacob's Ladder... the railing you see at the top of the pic is a resting point, there's still more stairs to go, you just can't see them in the pic!

Us w/ one of the falls in the background

Better pic of the falls!
Me by the falls
View from one of the trails - we were so high up! Such a gorgeous hike though.
Random deer that I was able to get superclose to.

Week Half Over!!

Love the fact that it's Wednesday already! I'm making some fun plans for the weekend - hiking/waterfalls!

Yesterday was great. The weather turned out to be pretty nice too, which was good since we had my Fam over for a BBQ. I ate as planned, except for a few mussels and half a glass of wine. Jason and I had been playing Guitar Hero (new Aerosmith one!) when everyone arrived and my Mom (of all people) decided she wanted to try it out. She LOVED it and spent a good part of the afternoon dancing around my living room to the game :) hehe.

Last night Jason and I gathered up 7 bags of used clothing that had been sitting in our spare room. 5 of the bags were full of my old clothes. I FINALLY got rid of all the 24,22,20 and 18's and it FELT FANTASTIC to drop them in the bin for the Diabetes Association. I think part of me was hanging on to them 'incase' but ***drumroll*** I AM NO LONGER AFRAID OF THAT!!!! I will never fit into those sizes again! I looked over them all before I bagged them and it was quite empowering! Size 14 here I come!!!

I just realized that this weekend will mark one full year of me living the "healthy lifestyle." I can't believe I did it and really made the change. I'm so proud of myself!!

A few pics from yesterday!

Me, boozin' it up :) lol

Mom & I playing Guitar Hero!

The Mini Black Forest Cakes that made.... Approx 320cals per cake.

Feeling a Bit More Like Me

I feel hot today. I'm wearing one of my new shirts and my patent leather heels. I'm starting to feel girly finally, I like it! (Excuse the blurryness of the pic)
The past few days have been okay. I had pizza last night for supper though but we did get out for a nice walk on the local trail, plus the rest of my day was fruits & veggies and loads of h20. I haven't really been too off w/ my calories, there was just a lot of convenience food over the past several weeks. I feel like I've got the exercise routine back too, which is a relief - a run is in order for tonight

In other exciting news, I ordered a new toy that should be arriving next week:
My new pink laptop & mouse, lol.

A Little Retail Therapy....

What started off as a simple trip to find silver heels (for my friend's wedding this August) turned into a full day of browsing the malls solo. Was great actually; I wandered as I pleased. I went to 6 shoe stores and have yet to find a decent pair of silver heels/sandals. The dress is navy blue not sure why I can't wear a black heel but... bride's decision. Such a pain though :-p

Me... after a hard day of shopping :) HOLY BAGS UNDER THE EYES. Wow those long days are apparently getting to me. Yesterday was brutal, I left work at 6pm (got in at 7am) and went back over around 9pm to check on things - we have a big job going out today. I have been working my ass off though and it feels good but I'm exhausted, Obviously.
A few new shirts, really love the one in the middle w/ the belt!
Some pants, all size 16. Still amazes me that a year ago I was a in tight 24's :)
Finally got the new Sophie Kinsella book and a few others, plus some cheapo sunglasses from Retitmans! I can't wait to relax with the books!

I Remembed Why I Don't Drink

Yup, I'm totally fine without having alcohol in my life (minus the occasional glass of wine or two.) The evening started off great but I got caught up in the "all you can drink for 2 hours" and ended up drinking waaaay too much in that time. Yesterday was the first time I've been hung-over since I was 17. It was not pleasant. It also may have involved 2 McDonald's cheeseburgers. I ended up canceling lunch w/ my grandmother and my training session, Yes it really was that bad.

Anyways got lots of sleep and am feeling mostly better today. Pouring the h2o and coffee into the system. For breakfast I had a salad and a banana. I'm going to attempt to go out for a run this afternoon if I'm not napping. I guess I'm getting too old to party :)

Oh and this morning I officially signed up for the Natal Day Road Race. It's only a 2 miler so it will be pretty easy. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!!

GOOD LUCK TODAY AMY!!!!

Here's a few pics from the night -

Me and my best friend Lori getting ready!

Jason & I outside the brewery.
Lori, Me & my SIL Lisa
Lori & I Again

Crossed That Finish Line!!!!

So the run was fantastic! In all I really honestly can't tell you gals how happy I am; I can't believe how far I've come in less than a year. I thought I was gonna to cry when I made it through the finish line....instead I ended up up-chucking the small amount of Gatorade I drank a km back.:-S No, really, I crossed the finish line and about 5 seconds later.... But I got my medal and that's all the matters :) My time was a tad slow b/c I haven't been running on pavement just the side of the road/subdivision. I completed the run in 41:24, which I'm fine with. I'm going to continue to train over the summer and hope to see an improvement for the Run For The Cure 5K in the fall.

I got to meet up with lovely Angie and Tash before hand! I felt a bit nervous earlier that morning but once we meet it was like we already knew each other. As most of you know this was both Angie's and my first run and I was so excited and giddy, the waiting was so slow too. But we DID it!!

Angie and I meeting for the first time!
Us again!
My bib (thanks Tash?! -pic)
Getting ready to line up for the start of the run!
Rounding the first corner ...(thanks Angie - pic)Me after crossing the finish line

No actual pics of me crossing the finish line yet, but I should be able to buy them online soon! All in all an AWESOME day!!!