Let's Recap Feb-April

Wow, it's been four to five  months since I last updated this blog. Life has been in the fast lane since we got back from Christmas vacation. I don't know where to start, but chronological order seems to be a good place.

February: Chinese New Year - the Year of the Snake

I love February, for more than one reason. My birthday falls just before Valentine's Day and our anniversary is somewhere in there as well. We don't necessarily celebrate the actual day of our anniversary, rather the event. Alex and I were set up by a mutual friend and our first date was the Paardeberg Ball, which is a bi-annual event. Generally, we celebrate by going to the ball.

During this month, I also tried ice climbing for the first time. It was a ton of fun. I can definitely see why people are addicted to the thrill of the sport. I was comfortable top roping ice, but I doubt I will ever lead climb ice. Next winter, this is definitely on the list of things to do again!

I also started training for my new job with the Kinesiology Faculty at UNB. A mat leave opportunity opened up with the Take HEART Program as the coordinator/research assistant. I always thought I would go back to school to do my Masters, but I'm not entirely convinced that I like research, data entry and data analysis. The hardest part is being sedentary for hours a day. I didn't realize sitting behind a computer would be so exhausting. Regardless of all the sitting, it's a great experience and can't hurt my resume.


March: New Hampshire & Getting Certified 
The weekend before March Break, we made a trip to New Hampshire with friends of ours (Joel and Tara). As couples, we drove in our respective vehicles, with the intention that Tara and I would head back to Fredericton together on the Sunday because we have jobs that don't allow as much time off. The boys stayed down for an extra day and half to get more technical ice climbing in. Before we left NH, we did some hiking, a little shopping and lots of eating.

March was also a busy month getting certified to become a personal trainer. I audited KIN 4282, as it was the only class I was missing to become nationally certified through CSEP. Throughout the month I conducted several fitness assessments, completed the practical exam and passed the written exam. I thought the written exam was a bit tricky, but I only needed a 70% to get certified. Typically, I would cringe at a 70%, but because I was auditing the course, I knew it wouldn't affect my official transcript. Thankfully, I passed with a 92% and now I'm waiting for my certificate in the mail. I don't intend to make a living training people, but this certification also has includes insurance, and allows me to practice independently of an organization. It's a transportable certification and valuable in my field of study/practice.

April: Easter Chocolate, Frisbee Throwing and Posting Messages
Before I knew it, Easter was here and another long weekend to look forward to. Alex's parents sent us more than enough sweets to get us through the weekend. I think this was the first long weekend we stayed in Fredericton. We've been doing so much travel lately that I was definitely burnt out.

A good friend of mine, Heather, came from Ottawa to visit for a weekend. We played in an ultimate tournament together. It was so great to catch up with this girl. Another great experience about that weekend was meeting her brother, Tim. He is cycling across Canada and playing Ultimate along the way! His story is unique and very interesting. I would recommend taking
a read through his blog.

 To cap off the month, Alex was promoted and posted within 7 days of each other, while he was in the field. The next adventure will be Wainwright, Alberta. Stay tuned for an update on this!

Christmas 2012: Gilmore/Lam & Buck

Time has flown by! It's about time to do a little recap of the holidays. It is inevitable that I won't be home every Christmas, but 2012 marked my first Christmas away from home.

I worked until Dec 17th then made my way home that day. We decided to surprise my mom by flying Kevin home from Germany. This would have been her first Christmas sans children, which to be honest, had me feeling a little sad. All three of us were expected to be away on Christmas day. To make up for our absences, I thought it would be great to send her to Myrtle Beach for NYE. For a few weeks, this was the plan, until plans changed. I arranged to have Kevin fly into Ottawa, where Chris picked him up, and they drove through the night. I told mom that I felt terrible that her trip to South Carolina had been 'canceled', so to make it up to her I had Chris pick up a rather large gift in Ottawa. I told her it was too big to wrap and that she was getting her present early. She immediately thought it was something from IKEA (she loves that place). When the boys, and Steph, arrived the morning of the 18th, she had no idea what was going on. She was thrilled to see Chris and Steph and KEVIN... KEVIN, she began to cry. A reaction like that was worth the secrecy and small fibs.

I can't describe to you how happy she was to have us all home. I left December 21st, Chris stayed until Christmas Eve and Kevin came to the rescue on Christmas day. 

Getting to Norfolk proved to be more difficult than anticipated. I left Moncton at 6:15am, landed in Newark at 8:00am, where I was surprised to find out that my connecting flight was canceled, due to weather conditions. After waiting in the customer service line for nearly 2 hours, I was put on standby. This was useless because several flights were canceled, and the planes were full. After several phone calls with Wayne, a plan was created. I rented a car, drove to Philly and dropped the car off at the airport there. I then took a cab to a hotel and waited (...slept) for Alex to arrive. He drove from VA to pick me up - what a great boyfriend. We made it back to Norfolk the following day, just in time to decorate the Christmas tree. An added surprise was seeing a "Lam" added to the herd of Bucks on the front lawn!

The next day was filled with things to do and people to see. It was the Buck Christmas Cookie Party! Carol made 12 different types of cookies and Wayne the eggnog. I did give it a taste, but due to my nonexistent tolerance to alcohol, and lactose issues, I steered clear of the rum concoction. People were flowing in and out of the house all afternoon. I think I heard someone say 125 people came through the house that day. I was surprised that I ate only a few cookies. Sometimes I wish I had more self-control because the leftover cookies taunted me for the remainder of my stay. By the end of the night, I was zonked, and I slept like a baby.

As I said earlier, this was my first Christmas away from home and the Bucks did everything right - I felt like I was at home. They spoiled me rotten and showered me with everything Hello Kitty. I think my Asian side screams "I love Hello Kitty", but in reality I've never even seen the show. Nonetheless, I loved it! I am currently growing my Hello Kitty Chia Pet :) Her hair is thinning, but that is because I couldn't keep a plant alive if my life depended on it. The rest of our stay in VA was spent installing (Alex and Wayne, mostly) new hardwood floors, relaxing in the hot tub and seeing the sights at Busch Gardens. Christmas with the Bucks can only be described as wonderful. I am greatly appreciative of the time and energy put in to make me feel like I was part of their incredible family. 

Mom, if you're reading this, you should know that I did miss you over the holidays, but I knew Kevin would keep the traditions alive and strong - xo.

We left Norfolk and headed North, to Ottawa, for NYE!

I'm C.O.R.E. Certified!

In October, I took an indoor cycling certification, and after writing a theory exam and submitting two 20 minute videos, I finally have my certification. The next step is to co-teach for a few weeks, followed by (fingers crossed) teaching my own class in January. I'm away for the latter part of December so I have a few weeks to get it together. I'm required by URec policy to co-teach and I'm pretty excited for it; the instructors I'm learning from are fantastic. The next goal: obtaining my CSEP-CPT. I'm realizing these certifications are getting expensive so I better get my butt in gear and start applying them.

In other news, Alex is back from Afghanistan - yahoo!! Currently, he's in Argentina, climbing tall mountains, doing his thing. Although he was back in Fredericton for only a short time, it was a great having him home. We will link back up, in Norfolk, where I'll be spending the holidays with him and the rest of the Buck family. I think NYE will be spent in Ottawa, so loads of things to look forward to. I'm definitely excited to have a few weeks off work so I can spend time with friends and family.

Sprained Ankle = Kitchen Adventures!

I love coming across a new recipe that is delicious and super easy to make. I bookmarked this recipe for future use and it was perfect timing because I had a massive apple waiting to be eaten. Have I mentioned that I am slightly obsessed with the blog Oh She Glows? This is where I got the Baked Apples Stuffed with Date Pecan Oatmeal recipe from. It's one that I will use often for all meals: breakfast, snack, or dessert. I didn't have any pecans so I used sunflower seeds instead, and it came out tasting great. A scoop of vanilla ice cream and this dish is irresistable.

In other news, I signed up to play intramural basketball with some co-workers. I thought it would be a great way to have fun and be active. Unfortunately, it was just that, a thought; I heard a crunch and realized I rolled my ankle over my toes. This was in the first 10 minutes of the game too.

The result: My ankle disappeared under swollen tissue. 

I am hopeful that it won't hinder me too long. I can already walk without too much of a limp, especially when I wrap the darn thing. Ibuprofen helps with the swelling and pain. Positive though and applying RICE should get me back in working order soon. To help pass the time, I am experimenting in the kitchen. 

Sometimes I bake things that look delicious but don't taste great, and today was one of those days. I attempted black bean brownies. Looks can be deceiving. The brownies were ooey gooey to the eye, but bitter and pasty to the palate. I think I failed on this recipe because I cut out too much sugar. I like the idea of using beans instead of flour, and it did produce a moist brownie. It lacked sweetness and that 'melt in your mouth' sensation. I will definitely try it again, altering the recipe, but overall this trial was a failure. 

On the bright side, I was successful in making a huge pot of vegetarian chili. I had a bag of lentils and half a can of black beans (leftover from the brownies) to use up and this seemed like a logical dish. I was happy something with the beans turned out. I was also able to get started on Halloween baking. Since I am working 10 hours on Halloween, I thought I'd make some delicious treats for everyone. Gluten-free cake balls were a success and looking rather festive. If I have some time tomorrow, I will attempt some more baking.

A Rainy Saturday = Pretzels & Muffins

I've been back in Fredericton for over a month now, and I think my busy schedule has finally caught up to me. I have been pretty tired lately and drained of energy. Thank goodness for great friends though; I hit up the market with Heather A. this morning, followed by an amazing brunch at the Kaempffer's. The rest of my day consisted of me locking myself in my apartment and not leaving (except to see Jen). I was able to catch up on laundry, and with inspiration from Sarah's previous meal, made delicious pretzels.

I am sometimes amazed by the incredible support system I have here. It's a relief to know that I am surrounded by people who are caring and genuine, especially while Alex is away. So, a big thank you to my friends and family :) You are the best!

Pumpkin Quinoa Muffins

To prep for the day of rock climbing I have scheduled for tomorrow, I made pumpkin quinoa muffins - nom nom. If I make it viral that I'm to go climbing, I feel more obligated to actually go. I am having a hard time mustering up enough motivation to leave my warm duvet. Unfortunately, I'm not feeling that great, which isn't helping my motivation levels. Here's to positive forward thinking and a little less complaining :)