Joanne Bee | BLOG

my heart speaks

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 23:07:00 +0000

what do you do when you think you know something and then find out it's not what you thought it was?

what do you do when life throws you what feels like the biggest curviest ball ever?

what do you do when you feel so much hopelessness?

what do you do when you feel so much uncertainty?

what do you do when you question the past, present and future?

what do you do when life feels like the biggest disappointment?

I pray.

for a miracle.

Doing THIS!

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:39:00 +0000

THIS is the reason why I started running. I am training for Vancouver's Bank of Montreal Half Marathon, which will be on May 5. Only 3 months away!!!

I don't know what made me do this but I'm doing it whether I like it or not because I've already signed up and there's no backing out coz.... well, there's no refund! & I really hate seeing money go to waste & it also wasn't cheap to sign up. I guess this is a good thing coz it's forcing me to train for it. I've already pictured myself being last & I really really don't want that so I'm pushing myself to go to the gym and run like I've never ran before. Coz really before signing up for this, I've never really ran on a regular basis. Day 1 of training was horrible! I couldn't even run 5 minutes straight! I was in the worst shape EVER! But it's been a few weeks of training now and I can run 30 minutes straight without stopping! Can I please get a woooohooo?

I've only trained/ran on a treadmill and people have told me that I should really run outside coz it's different. I do plan on doing that in March & I'm really hoping the weather gets better by then. For now, my goal for this month is to run 30 minutes without stopping and I may increase the time or distance each week if I feel I can push myself (& I usually do @ least once a week)

Before I started training, hubs suggested I run on an incline. It's to prepare me for when I run outside. So I've been running on an incline of 2 since day 1. I really don't know what the numbers on the treadmill mean. All I know is I run on a Cybex machine at speed 4.5 & incline of 2. The machine also tells me that I run a total distance of about 2.5 in 30 minutes. I don't know if that's in miles or kilometres. I've been assuming it's in miles. If you can tell me what any of these means, please do. I'm just hoping it'll prepare me for my race come May 5.

I should mention that I'm running this race with my sisters. That's one of the reasons why I'm doing this. One of my sisters, Miss S* ran this race last year and she decided to do it again with us newbies. My other sister, Miss F* & I have been texting each other, sharing how our training went - good and bad so we can motivate each other. It's been super helpful so far. I'm glad I'm not doing this alone and that my sisters and I have each other for encouragement and support. Hubs has also been supportive with my training and encourages me to push myself when I can.

Another reason why I signed up is because I really want to be more active and stay active by exercising regularly. Last year, exercising was an on/off thing. I'd start but I couldn't keep myself going after making a goal of doing it for 4 weeks. I always fell off the wagon. Training for this race is making me go to the gym regularly until at least the race, which since I started will make it a total of 16 weeks. That's assuming, I don't get sick or injure myself while training (knock on wood). That's more than I've ever done in my entire lifetime! I'm hoping by the end of the race, it'll become a habit that I'd want to keep going and going and crave the feeling of exercise that it will be part of my lifestyle. That would be pretty awesome! For now, I'm taking it one day at a time, trying to enjoy each training session and hopefully I'll learn to love running.

Running & finishing this race is going to be

A HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT!!

Weekly Currents 4.0

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:16:00 +0000

This week was a bit on the rough side.

I ate like garbage since Monday! But it was a rough week so I wasn't so hard on myself. Planning to get back to healthy eating again on Monday.

My sister and mom are finally home safe from the Philippines. My mom was away for two months and my sister was away for 5 weeks. So happy they're home now. My dad's retired so he stayed behind but he'll be back home soon. We miss him alot!

Started doing crossword puzzles and I'm kind of enjoying it. I'm terrible at it but maybe eventually I'll get better.

I found out blogshop is coming to Vancouver in April! I really want to sign up but the only thing that's keeping me from doing so is there's a conflict on the Sunday they're here. Just for the first couple hours though. What do I do?

I think I may be officially a tea drinker (is that what you call it?) I've been drinking tea everyday, every morning and before bed & I love it! So far, green tea is my go-to flavour. I've tried a couple different flavours from David's Tea and really enjoyed it. I'm planning to make a visit again and picking up a few more different flavours. If you have a favourite, please do share!

How has your week been?

Goal #2 - Check!

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:27:00 +0000

Another goal I got to check off my list was to unplug from social media for a week. On the first week of January I took a social media vacation from facebook, instagram and twitter. I have to say it was an amazing week to stay offline. I was productive and I felt free (if that makes sense).

I made this a goal because I knew I was spending way too much of my time on these apps/sites that it became habitual. I checked it when I woke up, on the way to work, during work, after work, on the way home from work. You get the idea. It was part of my routine like it was something I had to do to complete my day. It was getting to be too much. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy these social media platforms. But after going on a vacation from it, I've limited my time on them as much as possible. Not gonna lie, it's hard to completely stay away coz I do enjoy the online world and there's tons of information out there that are useful and fun. It's also a good way to stay in touch with friends near & far and meet new ones as well. But to be honest, for me, there were times when it felt overwhelming. So the vacation was good for me.

I'm really glad I did this and I think I may take social media vacations throughout the year. I think it's healthy. It's exactly like needing some time off from work and our daily routine. With all the social media platforms out there, it's sometimes easy to forget about real life. It's kind of like one of those things when too much of a good thing isn't always so good.

Have you gone on a social media vacation?

Weekly Currents 3.0

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:51:00 +0000

Once again, TGIF! I love Fridays! When Monday comes, I always look forward to Fridays. It really is the bestest day of the week! :)

This week felt slow and long for me. I was always thinking a day ahead. It started on Tuesday, when I thought it was Wednesday. When Wednesday came, I thought it was Thursday. You get the idea. It was long. So I'm grateful the weekend is finally here.

Sometime last year, I developed a habit of weighing myself almost every morning. The scale was in my bathroom so as I got ready, it was so easy to just get on it and weigh myself. I wouldn't say I was obsessed with the number but I was probably close. About a week or 2 ago, I decided to move the scale to the other bathroom and I haven't weighed myself since. I want to shift my focus from the number on that scale to focusing on body measurements and body fat.

I've been able to knit this week! yay! So thankful I had the time to. I find it so therapeutic I wish I could do it more often. (Did I really just say that? I sound like a grandma! lol)

I'm still trying to make time to read. But I've been doing a lot - going to the gym and preparing my lunches for work the night before, shower and do a bit of chores, that all I can do in the evening is knit. My attention span to read before bed is short, which is why I knit instead. Maybe I'll knit during the week & make time to read on weekends. That sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?

I've gone to the gym twice to run on the treadmill. Hoping I can squeeze in at least a third & maybe a fourth visit (if I really want to) during the weekend.

Daydreaming about visiting New York one day.

How has your week been?

Weekly Currents 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:01:00 +0000

Still trying to figure out a workout schedule. I've been running on a treadmill at the gym once a week so far and I'm trying to go every other day but I don't know why I can't make myself go. I'm hoping next week I'll be able to go regularly.

Been preparing my lunches & snacks for work this week & I'm finding it to be alot of work. It's probably because I'm not used to it plus I'm learning new healthy recipes. I'm hoping I'll get the hang of it soon so I can always have healthy meals at work for the rest of the year.

Popped my zit this morning so now I have a red dot on my face! =( I've been breaking out quite a bit lately, which is weird coz I never did when I was a teenager. I thought I was lucky to have never gone through it but no... I'm going through it now, as an adult! I think I need to change my skin care products to Neutrogena acne control or something.

Craving knitting & reading time. Preparing lunches the day before takes up a lot of my time & then there's also dinner for that night & then cleaning up the kitchen and before you know it, I look at the clock & it's time to get ready for bed. I'm thinking I need to make bigger meal portions so I can have some leftovers for a day or two & hopefully I'll be able to have some knitting/reading time.

As always - looking forward to the weekend. Is it just me or is the weekend always too short?

Goal #1 - Check!

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:39:00 +0000

Kin's Farm Market - where I like to shop for all my fruits & veggies

One of my goals for 2013 was to do a clean & healthy type of cleanse/reboot. I saw a documentary - Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead sometime in December and was inspired to do a similar diet. I made a plan to do a 7-day reboot first week of January. I went on the website and was led to Reboot with Joe. I browsed around and found different reboot plans they had. I read through them & decided I'd do a one week plan & since they didn't have one specifically for 7 days, I chose to follow the 10 day reboot lite plan & made a few tweaks along the way.

Tweak 1 - some of the recipes had big servings so I had leftovers for 2-3 days.

Tweak 2 - I didn't make every single juice they suggested coz again, lots of leftovers. I got full on half a recipe sometimes so I'd save them for the next day. I only made juices when I ran out & just a note: juicing is a lot of work. There's a lot of prep and clean-up.

Tweak 3 - I didn't have juice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They were usually mid-mornings or afternoon snacks.

Tweak 4 - I repeated some recipes coz they were yummy.

Tweak 5 - On the day I was out at the mall, I ordered fresh juice from the food court. So thankful there's a few juicing places out there now.

My purpose for doing this was to get into the habit of eating clean, healthy, fresh meals so following the plan to the tee wasn't so important (for me). Not once did I feel like I was starving or depriving myself. Most of the recipes were pretty tasty and satisfying. Just to name a few recipes I really liked were - ginger honey soy dressing, cherry cinnamon apple bake, steamed snow peas, green beans and broccoli.

From doing this reboot, I learned a quite few new yummy plant-based recipes & as a bonus I (unexpectedly) lost a few extra pounds. My view on food is now different. I'm cautious about what I eat, although the week after the reboot, I did indulge a tinnyyy bit. My diet is mostly plant-based with few exceptions once in a while. I try to limit eating processed, packaged foods & also trying with all my might to avoid anything with sugar. In addition to eating healthy, I am trying to get into the habit of exercising regularly. I try to go for a run every other day & on the days I don't run, I follow a workout dvd.

I am SO glad I did this reboot! I felt great doing it. I learnt new eating habits & am incorporating it into my daily meals. Since this was my first goal that I got to do & checked off, I'm hoping it'll set the tone for the rest of the year with healthy eating

Have you done a cleanse before?

Weekly Currents 1.0

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Writing this post on the train to work. It's below zero outside!! freeeeezingggg

Happy the weekend is here. This week was my first full week back at work after the holidays & it felt slightly torturous.

Feeling kinda tired. I'm still trying to get use to the routine of back to work. The holidays were made up of late nights & sleeping in, which I loved!

Trying to eat less processed foods

Figuring out a workout schedule

Feeling like I need a makeover

Thinking 2013 is going to be a good year!

Have an awesome weekend!

Holiday Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 04:06:00 +0000

This holiday season was different for me coz my side of the family was incomplete. I've gotten used to always having my parents around that not having them around really didn't feel like christmas. But there were parties and things to do that kept me busy & I have pictures that will help tell the story.

I seriously LOVE bellinis. I had this bellini at my husband's work christmas party. It was good!

My friend's son's actual birthday is on christmas eve so she decided to throw a party for him a couple days early. It was held at an indoor beach! I wish I took a picture of the beach but I completely forgot. I had never been to an indoor beach before so seeing it was pretty cool. There were a few other birthday parties going on for kids so I guess it must be a popular venue for kids whose birthdays fall during the winter months. The party was fun with good food & of course yummy cake.

The night before christmas eve, my husband & I joined friends for dinner. We went on a christmas carol dinner boat cruise. I had a migraine early that afternoon but I had a nice long nap before we had to leave, so that helped a little bit. We docked at Granville Island & cruised around the island for a couple of hours, as we ate dinner. The food was okay. Better than I had expected. It was nice to do something different so I enjoyed it.

Christmas day, my inlaws & my sisters all came over for lunch. Everyone brought in something to share. My sisters made four different types of salads. I made meatless meatballs spaghetti & my mother in law made poppy seed cake. Everything was delicious and pretty healthy. This was our first christmas with no turkey & no ham since I changed my diet in the summer & I'm not the only one that changed their diet. My sisters & my brother in law don't eat meat too! They changed their eating habits after I did & watching a couple documentaries I had recommended. So everyone was happy with christmas lunch. :)

Boxing day (day after christmas) - one of my sisters, Miss S* left for the Philippines. She's going island hopping for 5 weeks! So my other sister, Miss F* & I sent her off to the airport. After dropping off Miss S*, Miss F* & I went to the mall. We mostly window shopped. The mall was pretty packed and I got tired & dizzy after a couple of hours so we headed home.

Miss F* & I went to see a Cirque du Soleil show. It was Miss F*'s first time & my second. We both really enjoyed it. I especially just loved watching it in a tent instead of a stadium, which we where I watched my first cirque show. It was different in a good way.

Hubs & I watched this documentary. It was very interesting & made me change my views on food (again). I have made small changes to the way I eat because of this documentary. If you get the chance to, I do recommend watching this.

Weekend - I could feel it in my throat that I was getting sick & I tried so hard to beat it but I lost. miserably. I was sick pretty much first week of the new year.

Here's me w/ Miss S*'s son, Cooper on new years eve. I was in comfy clothes coz I felt like crap. Although I did manage to put on a smile for this picture.

Although this holiday season felt different for me, it was still a good holiday. I enjoyed spending my time with family & friends.

Was this holiday season different for you?

What made it different?

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 08:00:00 +0000

The Meaning of Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 18:11:00 +0000

Snowman Cake Pops

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 04:12:00 +0000

If you follow me on instagram, you would have already known about this. But I thought I'd blog about it as well.

Sometime in mid-November, I started making cake pops. The first batch of cake pops I made were for my friend's baby shower. Then the weekend after, I made a batch for my friend's engagement party. By then I was in cake pop mode that I was looking for a reason to make more cake pops. There were no other events coming up for me so I asked my sister if there were any small type of events coming up for her & she mentioned her work christmas luncheon. I thought that was the perfect event to make cake pops so I offered to make them for her. Since it was themed, I turned to the one & only pinterest for ideas & there were a lot of them! I decided to go with the snowman cake pops because I thought they were the easiest to put together & they were also so cute.

Thanks to Stephanie of 52 Kitchen Adventures for sharing and giving awesome instructions on how to make these.

The luncheon was a couple days ago & my sister sent me a text that day to tell me that it was a hit. Her co-workers enjoyed them & had some nice things about them. I was so pleased to hear that they enjoyed it. I hope I was able to help add extra doses of christmas spirit in them. :)

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Rogers Santa Claus Parade

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 05:25:00 +0000

This past Sunday, my sisters and I, along with some friends went to downtown Vancouver to watch the Rogers Santa Claus parade. We didn't get to see all of the floats that were in the parade but we did wait for the MOST important part of it & of course that was to see Mr. Santa Claus himself. I'm so glad he waved at me! That just made my day & added some extra doses of christmas spirit in me. :)

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Happy December! & Top 5: Favourite Christmas Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 22:14:00 +0000

WOW! & just like that it's already December. The last month of 2012! The best month of the year!

With this new month & the holiday season already upon us, I'd like to share with you some christmas songs that are my absolute favourites. These songs put me in the holiday spirit & if you're not quite there yet, I hope these songs can spark a little spirit in you. :)

1. Bing Crosby - It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas

2. Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock

3. Nat King Cole - Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire

4. Jackson 5 - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

5. Mariah Carey - All I want for Christmas is You

& last but not least - N Sync - Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. I realize adding this last song to the list won't make it a top 5 but I'm okay with that. I just had to include it in my list of favourite christmas songs. ;P

What are your favourite Christmas songs?

Big 2!

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Photographer: Butterfly Photography

Happy Anniversary to my best friend, my husband!

You light up my life! :)

First Meal

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 20:03:00 +0000

Quinoa Salad - cherry tomatoes, orange segments, nuts and tahini vinaigrette

The first weekend I decided to change my diet, my friend had her birthday dinner at Bridges. To prepare myself I googled them to see if they had a website coz you never know. There are some restaurants out there that still don't have a website. Weird, right? But anyways, I was so happy that they did and so I clicked on their menu to see if they had any vegan options & they did! I got to the restaurant and ordered my salad. I have to say salads at any restaurant is quite pricey and it almost doesn't seem worth ordering it. But I was sticking to my choice. When our food started coming, I saw everyone's yummy dishes, some had steaks, fish, prawns, and then my salad came. I saw it and honestly, my mouth wasn't watering at all. I think everyone felt sorry for me coz they started offering to share some of their meal with me. But I said no and said I'm sticking to my salad. :) When I had the first bite, I thought ok, I can do this. A couple more bites and I thought it was pretty tasty. Definitely not the same as steak but still tasty. Surprisingly... this is the end result.

A clean plate!

I was really surprised I finished it. There were times when I wanted to stop eating it but I thought to myself, I paid too much money for a plate of salad not to finish it. So I made myself eat it all until there was nothing left. I also wanted to get use to eating salads. Being a carnivore for pretty much all my life, the texture of vegetables isn't what I'm use to at all. My friends were surprised I finished it too! But I'm not kidding when I said that it was tasty. I felt good about finishing it. I didn't feel bloated at the end of the night like what I was use to before. I thought to myself - "hhmmm maybe I can get use to this"

It's been 3 weeks since I started and so far, it's going better than I expected. :)

One BIG change

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 04:42:00 +0000

Just before father's day, I started reading The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone. The reason I read it was because I was curious about the vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. I had no intentions of ever transitioning or even considered changing the way I ate. But while reading it, I learned more about the foods I was eating and became more aware of what I was putting in my mouth and before I knew it, I was making the switch.

To friends who have known me the longest, they know I am the last person in this universe to ever make this kind of change. Especially since vegetables were never ever part of any of my meals. My parents (and a couple friends) have made concerned comments about me not including any vegetables to my diet for pretty much all of my life (until recently). Their words went in one ear and out the other. As far as I was concern, meat was the one and only food group I needed. I was a dedicated carnivore. I don't know what it was but something in this book spoke to me and made me want to make the switch.

July 4 was the day I stopped eating any meat, dairy, eggs, even seafood. I wasn't expecting to go cold turkey at all. I actually wrote down a plan of eliminating one animal at a time but for some strange reason, I was able to tell myself that if I could find an alternative, I should choose that instead & so far that's been working well. I also used some tips from the book, which were pretty simple to follow.

Since I just started changing my way of eating, I'm not very strict with myself. On weekends, I allow myself to go vegetarian, which means I can eat anything with eggs or dairy. But whenever I can, if a vegan option is available, I'll definitely go for that. It's been two weeks since I started and it's going quite well, better than I expected. Surprisingly, I don't miss eating meat as much as I thought I would. I've been able to prepare some tasty salads from reading different recipes and I've tried some meat alternatives and they're pretty good. Coming from a meat-eater, that says a lot, don't you think? :)

I know this is going to be one interesting and challenging journey but I'm doing it for my health & I think it's worth it. I still have a lot to learn and I'm learning as I go along while reading some books about it and making weekly weekend visits to Whole Foods, which is always fun for me. :)

What's your most recent BIG change?

Growing my own veggies

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Just a little over a week ago I planted my first two vegetables in my backyard. I've never grown any plants in my entire life, not even flowers. But I was inspired to grow my own after joining the Green Thumb committee at work. They said it wasn't too hard to do so I thought I might as well try it.

The first two vegetables I planted are zucchini and radicchio. I picked them up from a nursery not too far from where I live. I wanted to grow mostly salad greens, ie. lettuce but they ran out of them. Radicchio was what they had left. I've actually never heard of radicchio until I went to the nursery. I've never even seen them at the produce aisle. So after I planted them, I googled the vegetable and found some pretty easy recipes with radicchio.

I asked the lady in charge of the nursery some questions about growing my first vegetables and she said the veggies I chose were easy to grow and all I needed was some mushroom manure to mix in with the soil I already had. So I bought a sack of that and my vegetables. Everything came out to less than $10! I thought that was a pretty good deal. When I got home it was still sunny so I went straight to the backyard and planted my babies.

They haven't changed much since I planted them. I've watered them everyday to keep the soil moist and just last night I added organic fertilizer so I'm hoping it'll help. I watched some youtube videos on how to take care of them and what to expect and I think I've done what I can. So all I need to do is be patient and wait a few more weeks. I'm excited! I'm actually thinking of planting more veggies. Maybe a tomato plant and a couple more salad greens.

If you have your own vegetable garden, please do share some tips. It's my first time so I'm learning as I go along. :)

left side: front view of radicchio (top) and zucchini (bottom)
right side: bird's eye view of radicchio (top) and zucchini (bottom)

where my veggies live & the mushroom manure it ate

Weekend Flashback

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 04:14:00 +0000

This past weekend felt short but it was good.

Friday - I didn't really do much except paint my nails while watching a movie.

Saturday - It was my friend's wedding. I spent pretty much the whole day getting ready. I wanted to get my hair and makeup done but I didn't want to pay for it so instead I watched youtube videos. Curling my own hair was a challenge but I did the best I could and I think it turned out alright. Same w/ my makeup.

The wedding was great! The ceremony and reception was beautiful. The speeches by her dad and sister were very touching. I teared up. The food was delicious & open bar, well I don't think I have to say too much about that ;). When the program for the reception was done, we danced the night away! It was a pretty fun night.

A couple weekends ago, I shared with you in a blog post a few dresses I tried on. You might have also seen it if you follow me on instagram & twitter. You'll see in the pictures my winning dress. :)

Sunday - We went to Walmart for some grocery shopping. I bought my first tube of Revlon's LipButter in Raspberry Pie. It's kind of a bright colour but I think it's perfect for the summer season.

Here's some pictures to share with you. In case you're wondering, that's my younger sister & of course you know my hubs. :)

Hope you had a great weekend!

Food Love

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 03:27:00 +0000

This was one of the many many dishes I had for brunch at the Paris hotel in Las Vegas. YUMMY crepe! As you can see it has bananas and nutella, my favourite toppings. They were really sooo GOOD! I didn't just have one of these. I had TWO! Coz it was THAT good. I was in crepe heaven while eating them. :)

Have you had something yummy while on vacation?

Summer Solstice

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 06:15:00 +0000

With the first day of summer, I thought I'd share with you my bucket list for the summer.
I got the inspiration from one of the bloggers I just recently discovered, Ana from a+m.

1. Do the Grouse Grind

2. Go on a photo walk

3. Learn about growing my own vegetables

4. Cocktails with girlfriends on a patio

5. Go to the beach

7. Read as many books as I can

8. Visit as many food trucks as I can

9. Learn to make a tasty mojito
10. Spa day

I'm really looking forward to this! Putting the list together got me pretty excited for summer. I'm hoping the weather will co-operate. As much as I don't mind the rain, sunshine during the summer season would be pretty awesome.

What's on your list of things to do this summer?

Image Credit : 1

Weekend Flashback

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 05:54:00 +0000

This past weekend went rather well. It wasn't as tiring of a weekend as last week.

Friday - Went to La Bodega for dinner for a friends birthday.

Saturday - It was a rainy day so I stayed home most of the day and started reading Alicia Silverstone's book - The Kind Diet. I'm learning a lot about vegans. I'm finding it really interesting and will have to admit that there's a chance I may be s.l.o.w.l.y converting. We'll see if I still feel the same way after reading her book.

In the evening, hubs & I went to our pastor's house for an indoor BBQ. They have a covered deck so having a bbq worked out even if it rained. It was fun! The rain had stopped from earlier when we got there, so after we ate, we played a game of bocce. It was my first time playing it & my team won! That was pretty exciting.

Sunday - Father's Day - We celebrated hanging out with my dad! :)

Surprisingly, I didn't take any pictures from the weekend so I thought I'd share with you a video of how to play bocce.

Under the Sea

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 02:55:00 +0000

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, Oahu was amazing! It was my first time snorkeling & I had a lot of fun. It took me a while to get use to breathing through my mouth but eventually I got the hang of it. After a couple gulps of salt water. :) I was actually surprise I saw quite the variety of salt water fishes. They were beautiful! I was hoping to see a Nemo or a Dory but we didn't see any. I was also hoping to see sea turtles but hubs & I forgot to swim out to the buoy. We were told that was the area the sea turtles tend to hang around. We bought a disposable underwater camera & took quite a few pictures but not enough to get it developed yet. I think I'll finish that off taking random pictures so we can develop it soon. I'm actually curious as to how the photos turn out.

The weather was of course perfect. The sand was too hot too walk on & the water was cold but you got use to the temperature once you get in.

We were snorkeling for quite a while. When we got back to shore we realized we were snorkeling for almost an hour. I guess we enjoyed it a lot.

If you haven't tried snorkeling yet, I highly recommend it! It's pretty fun. :)

A Favourite Photo

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 02:06:00 +0000

This photo was taken January 2010 at a wedding show I won tickets to. It was the first wedding show we had ever been to & we both enjoyed it. The food was good. The band playing was good. All the vendors that were there were good. From what I can remember, there were a few photographers at the show offering some free shoots or photobooth-like photos. Of course we took advantage of every single one of them. But this one was my favourite. It captures a bit of what our relationship is about. We love to make jokes, laugh, tease, & annoy the heck out of each other, all for good fun. One of the many things I love about my husband is his sense of humour. This guy definitely knows how to make me laugh & I mean laugh like there's no sound coming out of me & my shoulders are shaking up and down. Now that is LOVE! my kind of love. :)

I don't know why but this photo isn't printed and in a frame. That will need to be fixed soon. :)

Do you have a favourite photo?

Weekend Flashback

noreply@blogger.com (Joanne) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 19:32:00 +0000

This past weekend was pretty eventful.

Saturday - I finished knitting project #3 aka GAP-tastic cowl! I'm just about ready to start a new project. It'll be another scarf. I just love making scarves right now & I'm just practicing too using different size needles and different yarn. Plus you just can't have enough knitted scarves, right? It's really useful when the cold weather comes back. it's so nice & warm, it feels like you're under a blanket. :)

Just after lunch, hubs & I went for a run around the track. Then we went biking around the dyke. My thighs were pretty sore after that and they still are today! I haven't gone bike riding or running in quite some time so I guess my muscles have been asleep all this time coz now they're wide awake, eyes wide open. Also known as pain. :)

In the evening, we went to my in-laws place, had yummy dinner and watched the boxing match, Pacquiao "PacMan" vs Bradley on paperview. It was a family event; my side of the family were there too. If you saw the fight, you would have wondered as to which fight the judges were watching coz it was clear that PacMan won the fight but for some strange, out of this universe reason they thought Bradley won. It was a jaw dropping, mind boggling type of decision.

Sunday - We went to church, had lunch at Whole Foods then we went our separate ways. Hubs went to hang out with a friend while I went shopping downtown all afternoon. If you follow me on instagram, you'll have already seen the dresses I tried on. I haven't shared the dress I actually bought coz I'm still not sure about it. I'm still looking for the "perfect" dress. Perfect meaning the right price and the right fit/look for me. Plus it's always fun to try on different dresses. :)

Here's a few pics I took from the weekend & shared on instagram.

It was a great weekend for me but it was also a tiring one. It felt like the weekend was too short & I needed another day off to re-energize as waking up Monday morning was a kind of a drag.

How was your weekend?