It's hard not to think about what our summer is going to be like.  Therefore I had to post this



Obviously it's still cold, yucky and blah here, but we're headed to Dominican on Saturday.  I won't be around all next week for obvious reasons but I'll have plenty of pictures to post when I get back.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention, I took my measurements the other night and have lost about 5 inches total!  I measure my bust, waist, hips, thighs, and arms.   I don't have the exact measurements since I'm at work but I can post them later.

I've got a funny story though, as I was measuring my thigh, I thought WOW 6.5 inches!!! That's amazing, but wait! Why don't my jeans fit different and how the hell did I start with a 35.5 inch thigh!!!  I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote the numbers down the initial time but obviously I got it wrong.  So I don't have an accurate measurement of my thigh but none the less, I think 5 inches is pretty darn good so far! :)

I mentioned in my post yesterday that I worked all weekend at painting my bedroom. Well it was more like a couple hours here and there and I'm still not complete because  we choose one of the worst colours to actually paint on the wall and needs at least 8 hours in between each coat, and the first coat goes on really bad - blah, it sucked...but anyway the reason for this post..

I've had a huge pouring in of e-mail asking about the colours we choose, I'm totally kidding not a single person e-mailed me, but it sounded good right?

Anyway, just for the record here are the colour's and their names

Sensible Hue - it's actually a bit more creamy than it is white like the picture shows.  It'll be the the 3 walls around the bed
Red Brick - this colour is the colour behind our bed.  It was the colour that was such a pain to paint on and still might actually need a 3rd coat!
Belgian Sweet - the brownish colour is actually going to be the en suite, we haven't bought the paint yet which is why I didn't cross that off my list of 101 things to do.  Once the bedroom is complete the en suite is next! :)


Anyway, have a great Tuesday and I'll be back later to update my weight and add a new weekly picture to the slide show on the right.

I'm quite happy with my progress of this list so far.  I'm pretty sure there are a few on there that won't be complete just because I wasn't really thinking about dates as I was actually writing it, but I'll continue working away on it.

Since my last update I've been able to complete 2 things of my list

#32 Paint my bedroom - This still isn't completely complete, I still have a couple more walls to do but I have purchased the paint, and painted  the one wall.  Which by the way was a dark red/rust colour.  What a pain that was to paint.  I think I'll still have a few touch up's to do to make sure everything is covered.

#35 Drink 8 glasses of water a day for a week - This was really easy for me once I started on this weight loss adventure.  Drinking the water really helps me not eat as much as I would normally so it's been super easy for me to complete and keep doing.

That's it for now.

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And I'm excited!!! Here in - is it an Ontario thing or a Canada thing?  Humm...okay well here, right here where I live there's a day called Family Day.  It's on Monday and I'm really looking forward to it.  I love to have the extra day on the weekend to stay at home with my little girl and get extra snuggles in bed in the morning and lots of playing. It's just great!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to Monday off, I'm looking forward to a short week, and I'm looking forward to Saturday of next week.  Why you may ask?  Well because we are headed to the bright bright bright sunshiny Dominican Republic! Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes!!!  (My original post about our trip is here)

It'll be a great time!  I can't wait to go swimming, sand castle building, sun tanning, and exploring!  It'll be a blast!  Hannah of course has no idea what's ging on but she's really enjoyed helping me pack/unpack, go sandal shopping and trying on all of her summer clothes to make sure they fit.

Did I mention that I can't wait until Hannah is a little older and we can spend all of Daddy's money at the mall shop and get our hair, nails, and toes done!  She is such a little girl...I mean girly girl.  She LOVES to dress up, get her nails painted, try on shoes, buy shoes, try on clothes, etc.  It's amazing!  she's a lot like her mommy in that sense!  Daddy better hang on to those credit cards because this could be trouble!

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to both Family day (Monday) and our trip.  We're hoping that Monday we can find something fun to do as a family.  I'm thinking maybe a local children's museum might be fun.  That way she can run around and explore and we can still be together.

I've been still working my butt off at the gym.  I'm still doing the run/walk program from Women's health.  I probably haven't been doing it as much as I should be sometimes it's only 2 times a week I make it to the gym but I'm trying.

My last run/walk was (I think this is it, and I can't access my training program online for some reason, I'll get that straightened out then I'll re-post if it is incorrect)

2 minutes walk at incline 1.0% speed 3.5
1 minute run at incline 1.0% speed 4.5
1 minute walk at incline 1.0% speed 3.3
1 minute run at incline 1.0% speed 4.5
2 minutes walk at incline 1.0% speed 3.5
1 minute run at incline 1.0% speed 4.5
1 minute walk at incline 1.0% speed 3.3
1 minute run at incline 1.0% speed 4.5
2 minutes walk at incline 1.0% speed 3.5
1 minute run at incline 1.0% speed 4.5
2 minute walk at incline 1.0% speed 3.3

I wanted to leave you with a picture my mom took the other day at the house of Hannah and just how much of a girly girl she is..

Check out The Mommy Blog: MOmMy bRaIn.  She's giving away a Green Beaver Jr. gift set!

What is Green Beaver you ask?  Well here, check it out for yourself!  They are a Canadian company started by a mommy and daddy just like us! :)  They sell all natural products - skin care, baby care, hair care, you name it they have it!

I was really excited about this giveaway because not very often do we find giveaways that are open to Canadian Residents only - this one is.  So be sure to check it out and leave her a little comment love while you're at it!

BTW - I was SUPER excited when I checked the store listings and found out they sell the product right next door to my chiropractor!  I'm going to check it out tonight after work! :)

Watch this and learn it all!  This is exactly what I've been missing! :)

It's me, it's not the most flattering picture and yes, I'm in my pj's - mis matched pj's at that! :)  This is the only time I remember to get hubby to take a picture of me so I'll go with it!

I really wanted to post some pictures of the shower I helped host on Sunday.  Here they are! Enjoy!

Just so you know I got feature blogger on the Health & Fitness section of topmommyblogs today!  I'm pretty excited about that!  I didn't really expect it and to see my name as the feature blog was kind of cool! :)



It's silly really but I like the idea that maybe a few more people will stop by my little area of the interweb today!  If you're here from topmommyblogs.com please leave a comment and say Hi!  I love hearing from people.  It always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside! :)

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Thanks!

Kandice

What a busy week it's been!  Sorry I haven't been around much!

We've been busy getting ready for our trip on the 20th!  We're headed to the Dominican Republic (Puerto Plata).  It's a family trip that includes, Chris, Hannah and I.  Chris's parents, My sister, BIL, and niece, as well as Chris's aunt and uncle.  It should be a blast and we're all really looking forward to it!  We're spending the week at a resort called Gran Ventana, it looks really nice and of course it's all inclusive!  I promise I will continue to watch what I eat and take it easy on all the sugary frozen drinks! (those are killer) :)

What else have I been up to?

I helped host a baby shower yesterday for Chris's younger cousin - she just had a beautiful little girl, Haley.  So cute!  The shower was very nice.  We had a great time and it was held in such a beautiful place - her grandmothers barn.  Sounds weird but it was amazing, this isn't your typical barn.  It's filled with antiques and collectibles, it's heated (so are the floors) and it's just gorgeous!  I took a ton of pictures so maybe I'll post a few on here.

Speaking of pictures ---- I still haven't gotten Chris to get a picture of me to post on here.  I really need to make a note somewhere to make sure we do that.  I promise I'll try to remember tonight! :)  My weekly picture will soon thrive and I'll have pictures in there weekly I promise!!!

I've been doing well with my eating habits and attending the gym.  I'm really starting to enjoy "running" and actually crave it on my days off.  I never thought that would happen to me! I  really hope that I can keep it up and one day run a race.  That would be really cool but I've got a long way to go before I do that so I'm just taking it one day at a time and one foot in front of the other.  I don't want to set myself up for failure with big huge goals so I'm just starting out itty bitty! :)

I've found some great blogs along the way and I've posted some of them in the "Blogs I follow" section.  If you've got time take a look around them they have some great content!  Be sure to leave a comment and let others know you're there.  Comments are a great way to feel connected with others that are dealing with the same stuff as you, interested in your story, whatever it may be us bloggers love comments.  So if you're poking around here - and I encourge you to do so put a comment saying Hi.  I'd love to hear from you!  and of course if you've got a blog leave a link and I'll leave you some comment love! :)

This was e-mailed to me this morning from one of the many Women's Health newsletters I get in my inbox each day (sometimes they are a little excessive!).

Lazy-Day Calorie Goal
(use on days when you're taking it easy/not exercising):
A. Your weight, in pounds: ____
B. A x 15 = _____
C. B - 500 = _____

Busy-Day Calorie Goal
(use on days when you're active/exercising):
A. Your weight, in pounds: ____
B. A x 18 = ____
C. B - 500 = ____

At first I was really excited.  This seems totally easy!  I put in my wight 229lbs multiple that by 18 (for the busy-day calorie goal) =  4122 - 500 = 3622.   WHAT!!!!!

I should be eating 3600 calories a day!!!! Wait a minute this seems crazy to me! 3600 calories!?!?!

As I've mentioned before I enter all my nutrition/food into the SparkPeoples nutrition tracker and I find it hard each day to meet that goal! and it's only 1500 -1900 calories a day!



So here's the problem!  If I'm suppose to be eating double the calories I actually do, then why the hell don't I loose any weight?!?!?  This doesn't make sense to me and I am beginning to hate these "simple" ways to loose weight that get sent to my inbox each morning.  If it was really that easy, I'd be a toothpick and wouldn't have anything to write about each day.

Help me out?!  Does eating double the calories really somehow make it easier to loose weight???

This is the article if you'd like to read it! 

I found this from a blog that I've just started reading and thought it would be a fun thing to partake in. This isn't going to be all photography related although some things will be. I'll try to keep an updated list of things that I've completed as I do this 101 things in 1001 days.
Starting today - Thursday, December 3rd 2009
Ending date - Thursday, August 30th, 2012

1. Try to find time for at least 1 page of Hannah's first year scrapbook, I'm only on month 4 :(  (Seriously, I'm not sure I'll find time)
2. Find a photography mentor
3. Buy a new car (I hope this is one of the first I can check off)
4. Calibrate my monitor
5. Send a homemade card to someone just because
6. Make my own family Christmas cards
7. and actually send them out at Christmas (rather than just sitting on the computer or in a pile next to my computer)
8. Fill in the rest of Hannah's baby book
9. Take Hannah to her first dentist appointment (I called to make the appointment and they told me that she doesn't need to have a check up until she's 3.  I guess that means this will be one of the last on my list to be checked off!)
10. Make business cards
11. Decide on an official business name
12. Teach Hannah how to ice skate
13. Take Hannah tobogganing
14. Have a girls night out with my girlfriends
15. Have a date night with Chris
16. Loose at least 15 lbs but 25 or so would be lovely
17. Go on another cruise (This probably won't be happening now that I'm pregnant - I was really hoping to take a cruise in September but I guess cruising companies won't allow anyone on the ship after they've reached 24 weeks.  How much does that suck!!!)
18. Update my resume
19. Attend EVERY GRIPS meeting for the year
20. Have Hannah in a daycare at least part time
21. Start getting paying clients
22. Blog every day for an entire week with a new photo in each post (not from the same session) (0/7)
23. Buy a boat
24. Catch a big fish
25. Leave Hannah with my parents for a sleepover
26. Leave Hannah with Chris's parents for a sleepover
27. Plan a trip for just Chris and I
28. Potty train Hannah
29. Redo my front garden
30. Come to work at least one day and not be VERY frustrated by the noise (Haha, I probably setting myself up for failure now, because I find this VERY unlikely to happen)
31. Paint my en-suite
32. Paint my bedroom
33. Paint my upstairs hallway (maybe all the painting should be under one?)
34. Change Hannah over to her "Big Girl" room
35. Drink 8 glasses of water a day for a week (56/56)
36. Clean my scrap booking room
37. Help my sister and her family move into their first house
38. Buy a new comfy computer chair
39. Decide what I want to be when I grow up
40. Read at least 25 of the books on this list (3/25) *I took this right off the list of the other blog - I love some of the movies on this list and I always love reading the books that inspired them.  Plus I've already read a few of them - but that probably doesn't count does it :(  In progress
41. Start a K.Shiell photography fan page on Facebook
42. Stop biting my finger nails!
43. For an entire week keep my finger nails painted and DON'T pick it off (0/7)
44. Nail down my exposure each and every time I take a picture
45. Have a family photo taken (isn't it sad, we've never had this done :()
46. Attend a birth as a birth photographer - this would be amazing!!!
47. Watch the sunrise on a beach
48. Take Hannah swimming in the lake
49. Start Hannah in swimming lessons
50. Host a dinner party
51. Have a games night
52. Keep this list updated until August 30th 2012
53. Watch 10 "classic" movies I haven't seen before (0/10)
54. Buy a new mattress for my bed
55. Get 1 massage a month for 4 months (0/4)
56. Read all of Scott Kelbys books from his trio of Digital Photography books (2.5/3)
57. Get my wedding dress dry cleaned and preserved (yes - it's been over 3 years)
58. Donate all of my unused old clothes to the Salvation Army - this also means cleaning out my closest...maybe this should be two In progress
59. Clean out my closet
60. Ask 10 complete strangers on the street if I can take their picture (0/10)
61. Write up a model release form
62. Bring lunch to work everyday for a week (0/5)
63. Ride my bike to work for a week (0/5)
64. Take a photo walk around Stratford
65. Attend a KWLT production
66. Stop drinking pop for 1 month (0/30)
67. Take Hannah to a park to fly a kite
68. Shave my legs everyday for 2 weeks (14 12/14)
69. Take Hannah on a picnic
70. Attend a yoga class
71. Plant a veggie garden
72. Train the dog to not dig up previous list item (How sucky is it that after about 3 weeks of the garden being planted, my stupid dog jumped in and started to dig up the stuff that was already sprouting!!  Sometimes I hate my dog!!!  We now have increased the height of the fence by double, so she hasn't been in since!)
73. Go to the doctor for my annual checkup
74. Mentor a new photographer
75. Meet the women on my birth board
76. Call someone I haven't talked to in a while
77. Play golf (I've never done this before)
78. For 1 entire month - no Starbucks in the morning (30/30)
79. Print my favorite pictures - frame them
80. Create a couple of sample coffee table books for showing clients
81. Try snowboarding
82. Buy a new lens
83. Use the video camera more
84. Eat an apple a day for 2 weeks (0/14)
85. Attempt to make Indian food one night for dinner
86. Watch an entire football game :S (I dread this)
87. Start tanning again
88. Start working on my professional website
89. Start working on my portfolio
90. Apply for PrePro
91. Get accepted to PrePro
92. Win something from the many blog contests I enter each and every day
93. Do not check my Facebook account at all in an entire day
94. Start a second 101 things to do in 1001 days list
95. Take a few night courses
96. In one day get over 175 people (my current record) to my blog
97. Have coffee with someone I haven't seen in a while
98. Give money to a charity
99. Help a homeless person
100. Take my grandparents out for an evening
101. Do another boudoir photo shoot

There it's done...now lets see how well I can actually do!

FITNESS

Today was a no gym day. It was a much deserved break although I did feel a little bad about not going.  I've been doing really well at going and making sure that am working really hard to get a fantastic workout.  I have trust me, my legs and butt tell me I have been!

I've been doing Women's health - loose 10lbs (or more) in 6 weeks. run/walk program. (here)  Although I will admit I haven't really been doing the exercises it says.  I've just been doing the run/walk thing on the treadmill and then my own strength training at the gym using the circuit.

I've already noticed a difference from the first time I ran, I can do it longer and without loosing my breath as much.  It's great!  I plan to be running for the full 20 minutes in no time!

Oh yeah and the whole writing my food down in my blog everyday wasn't doing it for me.  I found it a little boring and who the heck really cares what I'm eating each and every day.  I use SparkPeople to track my nutrition so it seemed silly to post it here and I wasn't even including calories and stuff so it just seemed silly.


OTHER STUFF

I think I'm going to bring my 101 list from my photography blog over here.  It doesn't really make sense to keep it there because I really want to focus that on just my photography.  A place that clients can get sneak peaks, What to wear Wednesdays and tips for photography.

So this will become my "Weight loss, family, personal" blogging thing! :)  Stay tuned for updates and videos and all the things that make a blog!  I'm excited!  Maybe one day I'll be a super popular mommy blogger just like all the other mom blogs I read and get totally jealous of! :)

Stay tuned!