I started jogging again!

I first went jogging years ago, shortly after I officially quit smoking. It was my big "hurrah" after
over 10 years of smoking, I wanted to jog. My sister in law was jogging at the time, so we decided to go together. I found it hard. If i went to hard, I would start to hyperventilate and wouldn't be able to breath. We slowly stopped jogging and even though it didn't last long, it was a start.
Then we started crossfit. I would still hyperventilate when I did any running or just went to hard. I was told it would go away so I just slowed down and paced myself better. Then I started running at the local track with a friend once a week. We tried to aim for 5k every week. We mixed a lap of walking and then running. I had to, mostly with my hyperventilating. Seem to keep coming even though I tried to pace myself. Then once WOD at the gym was a 3x 800m run. It was scary but I did it, without hyperventilating. I didn't get a good time by far but it was a huge defeat.
A little bit later my friend was unable to continue jogging. Then with hunting season here we decided not to renew our gym membership until things have slowed down. So I was getting an itch. Then my friend was posting about starting jogging and using an app. called couch to 5k. So i checked it out and seemed good. I am on my 4th day and without any issues with breathing. It tells you when to run and walk. So you get a good 1 min run then about 1 min of walking. So it works well with me and I am seeing progress everyday. Plus I go running with my dog, which is great. She also gets some exercise with me.

Saturday hunt with the family: 10/18/14

I may have not been able to keeping up with the hunting diary but I have not been able to get out as much. After my hubby being away for 12 days on his big moose trip, I was at home sick, with the kids. Even though they got lucky and did not get sick, it was just poor mama.
So this weekend we planned a weekend of hunting, one big trip and one small one with the kids.

Saturday morning we woke up at our normal 7am time and got ready, as well as the kids and waited for our friend to show up. We had a friend come with us. He kids moved out of town and came back for a visit and he is also a beginner hunter, so some extra company was nice. We stayed close to home and just went up the mountain and just did a drive around. Which we usually do with the kids and they love helping out with looking for deer and they love using the binoculars.
It was pretty quiet out and we only saw a few other hunters. We spotted one deer down along in a clearing but quit far from the road.  So we stopped and my hubby pulled out the binoculars to take a better look and it was a dead doe. We are not sure if it was attacked, natural but we just hope someone didn't shoot it and leave it. Finding her was a bit sad.


 I also got the chance to miss out on my first buck. We were coming down a road and up a head there were two trucks stopped and the guys were talking to each other. They noticed us and the guy ahead of us drove away. Then a few feet up from them we look over to the slash (a area of forest that has been logged) and there was a deer bedded down. The guys didn't even notice, so hubby jumps out again and starts looking at it, and it was a buck. Since it is my first year he wants me to try for my first. So he told me to grab my gun. I do and get out and it was a bit far, so he told me to climb down to this stump. Then as I was climbing down, it got up and walked away. So missed out on my first but that is ok.
Then we stopped for a bit and did some chanterelle mushroom picking. We didn't find a lot but the kids had fun running around looking for them. We found about a grocery bag full but it was fun. Good experience for the kids.
 

After, we decided to drive around a bit more. We went exploring around a few roads and found a new area. My hubby loved it and it was just gorgeous to.As we drove around we stopped one of the hunters we saw earlier and we stopped and chatted with him. He was very chatty and swore every other word, i don't think he saw the kids in the back. He was going on about he saw 50 does the other day, down by the main road and he has been hunting here since he was 4 years old and things like that. We said goodbye and my hubby turns and said "Someone doesn't want us here, must be a good stop."
So we decided to call it a day after that and slowly made our way back down. No deer but we found some mushrooms and a new spot and will be goign back soon.

Canning Salmon ... a lot of salmon

Living on Vancouver Island we get lots of perks. Not only is it paradise here (when it is not raining,) we have a bountiful supply of local recourses. One major one is fish. When fishing season is around we stock up. We are lucky enough to get enough fish to last the family for a hole year, if not more.
We keep hole fish and steak some up for meals, we fillet them for smoking, we can a lot and we can some of the smoked fish. There are endless possibilities with salmon.

I have never used the pressure canner alone before, actually this is only my second time canning salmon but I had success! I preplanned and studies the pressure canning book and called my mom and law and my grandma just for extra reassurance.

We got all the fish during the summer, so we precut and froze it all and I planned to do it all when my hubby was on his hunting trip. I got half done but I came down with a nasty cold while he was gone, so I did it in two.
The first day I canned 2.5 batches of pints and then I continued a week later with 3 batches of pints. I ran out of the pints but the bigger jars are nice for full meals. For a total of 61 jars of canned salmon!

A Couple Months of Crazy

Things are now slowing down and after a while of go go go, I am happy things are quiet now. Which means I am able to get back to a regular schedule.

First my mom came for a visit. She made the visit worth it, after not being able to see each other for 4 years. The last time she came for a visit was for my daughters 1st birthday and she was just a week shy of her 5th birthday this year. She lives out in Saskatchewan and it is hard to see each other often.

Then after a long strike with the teachers and government, the teachers went back to work and the kids back in school, so my baby girl started kindergarten. 

Then after she left, my hubby left for a big hunting trip up north. He was gone for 12 days, which was a fun time but I am so thankful all 3 kids are now in school or it would of made for one stressful 12 days.

I will post more about these but I am back and have lots to write!

Menu Plan Monday for Sept. 8-14

This week I am trying a few new things. I am going to attempt a full breakfast, lunch and dinner meal plan. With our fitness routine getting a bit more important and diet is such a big part of fitness. I do want to start doing full meal plans more around what we need rather then what I just feel like making. Doing fitness mealing planning is intense but doing a week worth in a day is possible also. I also think with the all 3 kids now in school, I may be more inclined to do this also, just to take out some of the meal prep with a 5 person family.
I am also making a few days of the week for spesific meals like the typical meatless Mondays for example.
Everything I planned for the week is just out of foods I do have in the house, so this is a grocery shopping free meal plan.

Also my mom is coming to visit! So things may change to depending if we have enough for everyone, or we may make random plans to eat out, so things are subject to change - as usual.

Meatless Monday 
Breakfast - Apple Pie Oatmeal
Lunch - Kale and swiss chard sauté
Dinner -  chickpea and potato stew  My mom treated the family to Chinese food. 

Tuesday 
Breakfast - 10 grain cereal with fruit and a hard boiled egg (boil up a dozen for the week)
Lunch - Egg salad sandwiches
Dinner - Korean beef

Wheatless Wednesday 
Breakfast - Peaches and cream oatmeal
Lunch - attempted homemade salmon sushi 
Dinner - Shepherds pie 

Thursday 
Breakfast - Pancakes 
Lunch - Omelets
Dinner -  Left Overs (start 2 chickens in the crockpot for next day)

Friday
Breakfast - Egsg and toast 
Lunch - Fruity breakfast smoothies Blackberry Muffins (make extra to freeze)
Dinner - Pulled BBQ Chicken

Soupy Saturday
Breakfast - Cream of wheat and toast with protein shake
Lunch - Scrambled Eggs with onion and zucchini
Dinner -Chicken Rice soup

Sunday ~ Mommies day off 
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Make your own Sandwiches
Dinner - Whatever day

HAVOC FC 6: Michael vs Jesse Arnett

 

Tonight my brother Michael fights for HAVOC FC 6 against Jesse Arnett at 135lbs. I have always been my brothers' biggest fan along with the family. Before we moved back to BC, I never missed one of either of my brothers fights.

A day of firsts

Yesterday was a big day of firsts for me. Not once, not twice but three firsts with 3 different workouts.

A little while ago I ordered my hubby and I our own adjustable wire skipping ropes for class. I am SUPER short and all the ropes were always to long. So I need my own that I can customize.
They arrived in the mail a few days ago. Then even though they were customizable, it was still too long and had to cut mine. Then after I finished customizing mine, I tackled  my hubby's and surprised him with a camo set!
Then I tried to play around with my double unders (DU's), which I have never even attempted before. Then surprising enough, I got a few. I was so happy. I was able to get a DU then a few singles then anther DU.Today I will be practicing a bit more. Lets see how many I can get today.

30 Day Ab Challange - September

So this month I decided to do another ab challenge. As much as I wanted to work on another area, I find its my weakest area, or the area I want to work on more, like any girl. I wouldn't mind a flat stomach of course. So ab's again it is.

31 day ab challange - August

I actually completed a full 30 day fitness challenge. I started a 31 day ab challenge I found on sisterhood of the shrinking jeans.net, which is a really neat communal website with lots of great tips and monthly challenges. So I tried the ab challenge they hosted last month. I did not take any before or after pictures but I did complete it.

Menu Plan Sept. 1st - 7th

So this month is going to be a tight one. With 3 truck payments and my hubby leaving for a 2 week hunting trip at the end of the month, money will be tight. Thankfully we have enough food in our freezer and pantry I can keep digging. Plus my mom will be here in a few days and I better feed her food!

Clean and Split Jerk PR

As I sit here jealous my hubby went to the Saturday morning CrossFit class, I thought I would reminisce about yesterdays class because I have found my new favorite move! We did clean and split jerks. It was a first for me, I have done clean and jerks before but never a split jerk.
We started out with the normal warm up, stretching and skipping then a few rounds of sit ups, push ups, goblet squats and pull ups. Then worked on ring dips. Which I cannot even do yet, so i do a scaled version.

The beginning is near

The time has come again. Hunting season is here. At the moment it is only bow allowed and we do not do bow but some of our hunting friends are already out, so it has begun! Plan have already started with trips but this year will be my first year in the bush. 

At the end of last year I went with my sister in law and a friend and we are got our C.O.R.E: The Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education program in British Columbia's which is a hunter education program. Which is basically a hunters license and what you need to hunt. 

I have not been hunting before, besides day trips with the family. It will be an interesting year for sure, thats if I do get out. 

Freezing Banana Muffins for Lunches

Making big bates of banana muffins and freezing them for lunches is something I did last year and after saving up all my banana, I decided to do it again.

Banana muffins and breads freeze so well and it being a bread, it thaws quite fast making it GREAT for lunches for kids and even the hubby. So it can be a pre-made lunch item thats easy and versatile.

My little baby is 5!

Today is one of those days I kind of wanna bury my head. I think I am just in denial but my last little baby turns 5 today. It was fine with the boys but it is different with the baby hitting these little milestones. She will also be starting kindergarten this year. Oh how times flies. She has grown such a huge personality, she lights up every room she walks in and definitely not shy at all. Lets see what another year brings!

Life Vest Inside - Kindness Boomerang

This was shared by an amazing person I follow Amanda Palmer. This is a crows funding fund -- for no funding, only kindness. A few years back a wonderful video started to go viral. I don't remember seeing it until around the last year or so but it too amazing not to share again mostly now that they are starting a kindness revolution with the #kindnessboomerang. They are simply asking people to spread some love and kindness and that is all.

Menu Plan for August 25th - 31st

After a crazy weekend the thought of cooking and cleaning makes me wanna crawl back in bed. To make matters worse, we barley went grocery shopping this week and I am not sure when we will have time to finish since it is such a crazy week with birthdays, gym and maybe some canning. So this week I am digging to the bottom of the freezer. So lets see what we can do this week!

A Recipe From My Childhood I still Make Today: Chicken Rice Soup

I grew up with a single mom and siblings, so things were always tight and mom my knew how to

make a penny stretch. One recipe she would always make and I would eat it for lunch and dinner for as long as I could sometimes is her chicken/turkey rice soup.

She would always make it after she made a big turkey or chicken using the leftovers and I still do it to this day. I will also freeze batches just to save it for later.

Basic Moose Meatball Recipe - Also for freezer meals!

Our family has only recently become a "hunting" family in the last 4 years, or since we moved to BC. I never grew up on game meat, so adjusting has taken some time and I have now figuring out what works and what doesn't with certain meat . We mainly have moose and deer in the house.

Prepping for my first winter vegetable garden

I love to garden. I have been working on my garden for years. Slowly building and adding, however it has been slow. One thing I hate the most about gardening is the sun. I cannot handle to much, which really cuts down my time for the garden. So I am looking forward to my very first winter garden. We finally got a green house that I can use, plus I have been doing a lot of research on what I can plant for my zone. We do not get bad winters here, so looks like I have a lot of possibilities. Although the search has been harder then ever. Every website says something different but a lot of the same.

Menu Plan Monday: Aug 18 - 24

This week is a bit of a crazy one with lots planned. Still a question mark on this meal plan but last week didn't go as planned so I think I will bring a few things over from there. I really like to try and do up a few freezer meals, which I did plan but that didn't work out. So hopefully this week I can get back on track. Summer can be so random, it can be hard to plan. Sometimes the heat is just to much and we just find something small because no one is hungry or I am to scared to turn on the oven.

One of those nights I learn from my mistakes.

Being new at something usually means you will go through a lot of firsts. Which I got to experience today at the gym and I cannot stop beating myself up over it. We are still new to the CrossFit world, so I know we are still learning.

Friday Night Lights Podcast with my brother Micheal

In every family, you never know how siblings with turn out. It is such a love hate relationship usually.

My brothers and I went through a pretty crazy childhood and looking back to it I would guess that we would have all grown to hate each other. Except all the craziness actually brought up closer, mostly as we are growing up and we don't see each other as much as I would like. 

BLOG Revamping

I haven't been around so much due to some crazyniess going on. I went back to school, which i will update on. Kids home from summer and everything else.

I went back and deleted a ton of content because I am changing things up. Even with recipes, we are going a more healthier paleo way, so recipes will be changing.
My husband and I started crossfit, so I may blog about that now. We are still newbies but it is interesting and I would love to do updates on that.
Plus the usual homestead, gardening, recipes, menu planning and of course my new chickens!

Things have changed around here for sure but we still have the same old household but new hobbies!
I also now have my grade 12 English, upgraded, so maybe my punctuation and everything may be better. =P

So stay tuned!!

Menu Plan Monday - Aug.11 - 17

 In our house we only go grocery shopping 2 times a month. One big one in the middle of the month and a little trip at the beginning of the month. I try to plan trips around meal plans but sometimes it doesn't always work out. Usually we do the route around the grocery store and avoid the middle isles as much as possible. So we do bring more fresh produce home. So a lot of my meals usually are made up using whats in the house. Right now we are a bit low of food with payday coming up, so here is my meal plan with digging through what we have.

Teaching the kids how to shoot

 We are a; I guess what you would call a hunter/ gatherer kind of family. We hunt and garden; what we are hoping for, a lot of our own food. My husband has been hunting for us for a few years now and I recently took my CORE course for hunting and passed with 93% (YAY me).
So we of course want to teach our kids the same skills so we got them their first BB gun for christmas. This is just to help teach gun safety and ways to use it and start on some target practice.

100 Things to Do in 2014

I am not one for new years resolutions. I have made them in the past and watched others do the same and just to find that we all give up or .... forget about them a week later. I was playing around on Facebook and I saw a friend write about how she was doing a 100 things to do in 2014 list and it was inspiring and I decided to do the same!

Happy New Year!