Untitled

My last set of photos from my walk in the park!
Hope you enjoyed them :)

Around the New Neighborhood

I told you I was going to snap photos soon!
Today I decided to take a walk throughout the new neighborhood and snap some photos. I know, I know.. way overdue.
It was SUCH a beautiful day today so I felt super inspired by all of my surroundings. Even that little dude in the last photo ;). I even saw a butterfly today! But.. it flew away before I could photograph it. Damn!

I joined the "Tone It Up" community recently and started their Bikini Challenge in order to add more structure to my workouts. I really enjoy it but I almost feel frustrated being told when I have to workout and what I have to do.. I usually just really enjoy going for a run or heading to the gym on my own terms.. But I still need that structure? I'm so torn! Does anyone have any recommendations for ways that I can work out when I want (3-4 times a week) but provide me with specific exercises I can do in order to slim down in target areas such as thighs and tummy?

I will say though with Tone it Up, I love their recipe ideas! I'm not a part of the nutrition guide but I tried the salsa chicken the other day and it was so good. I'm definitely interested in cooking only lean foods with lots of protein and vegetables. I've actually been doing super well with that. I used to have a piece of toast every morning when I woke up and usually white or red potatoes with dinner. I've cut out the toast and opt for cereal, a smoothie, or some greek yogurt instead and when I crave potatoes I make sweet potatoes or brown rice!

Hope you all have a great day. Hopefully I'll continue to go and snap photos. I actually have more to show you from this shoot later!

Things Making Me Happy Right Now:

Sorry for the silence around these parts. I'm experiencing a serious case of Cabin Fever. The snow doesn't seem to stop coming down on us in Northern Ontario and it's awful! Everytime we have a nice Spring-like day, the next day we have a snow storm. People! I need sunshine!!!

Because my life is so uninspired lately, I figured I'd try and appreciate the small things. Here's what's making me happy lately:

1. Country music! Holy moly, the new country line up lately is killin' it!! Pirate Flag by Kenny Chesney?! Yes, please. I Do by Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift or Back Road by Rodney Atkins!! All so good.

2. Speaking of music, I've been a total gym-rat lately staying for way longer than what is healthy.. but I just don't want to stop running on that treadmill (I run after weight training so I tend to be at the gym for 1.5 hours... oops)  I think what makes me love running so much is the music I've been listening to. I love running to Breakin' Dishes by Rihanna or Monster by Kanye West, Jay-Z & Nikki Minaj..makes me feel like a total bad-ass.

3. Candles! It really makes me our crappy basement apartment feel warmer.

4. While we are on the topic of crappy basement apartment, we are moving into a house in 3 weeks! I seriously can't wait. Things haven't been the happiest around here because when you have a family with toddlers and babies living above you, there's never any peace.

5. Having a glass of vino while reading magazines like Rachel Ray or Canadian Living :)

6. Getting back into the spirit of cooking!! I roasted a chicken last night and now I'm just trying to find something healthy to make for tonight!

7. Bad reality TV (Real Housewives, anyone?!) & HBO's Girls. I'm obsessed with these shows lately.. It's embarrasing. Obsessed enough to be bored of all my other shows like Greys & Vampire Diaries. Girls is justified but Real Housewives? I need to take a good, long hard look at myself.

Goodbye! I promise I'll have photos soon... I just need the sun to come out.

Five Senses

Seeing

Snow that is finally starting to melt!! I see grass again, people! Let's celebrate!

Tasting

Morning coffee that I've been savoring oh, so much lately! Also, lots of healthy chicken dishes that I've been whipping up!

Hearing

Pink & Fun-Give Me a Reason -- Such a beautiful song that I find myself rockin' out to at the top of my lungs everytime I hear it play.

Smelling

Summer candles such as "Beachside" from Bath & Body Works. The scent smells like sunscreen and fresh water and I find myself aching for the summer months everytime I light that baby!

Touching

My camera everytime I cook food! I've been so good at snapping a quick photo on my whiteboard of whatever dish it is that I've whipped up!

*originally inspired by Angela Hardison

Unedited: Day to Day

After some back & forth decision making, I finally decided to incorporate a little personality into my blog. I'm going to do my best to take my good camera with me almost any time I leave the house capturing moments I would normally snap from my I-phone (which is often). I want to show my readers a small tidbit into my life while also practicing my photography. :) I like this idea because normally I only post photos when I schedule a set time to go out and take photos but I'm only sticking to one theme usually (nature). There's so many other things to take photos of!!! Which means, more practice :)

Unfortunately, I just came up with this idea yesterday and while I have snapped a few photos from my professional camera, here are a few tidbits from the past week courtesy of my I-phone (if you follow on instagram, sorry if you've already seen these):

The most beautiful sunrise that I see when the sky is clear on my morning drive to work! I always say I'm gonna take a photo through my window and this time, I finally did! Yay!

I'm serious when I say I'm obsessed with our kitten, Minni. John and I often talk about bringing a puppy into our family, but I just don't know if I can. How would Minni feel? Ugh! Serious problem, guys.

I ran my first 5k on St. Patty's Day! I've just recently taken up running and I'm so proud to say I ran the whole 5k race in 33 minutes and only walked about 3 minutes of it! This is a major accomplishment for someone who always shyed away from running because I found it waaaay too difficult.

Following the last photo, I'm now training for a 10k! I'm addicted to races now (after 1, haha). My ultimate goal is to be able to run the 1/2 marathon come September! Wish me luck!

I read on one of my fave health websites (Women's Health) about a challenge where you have to cook for 31 days! I loved this challenge because I have a bad habit of always wanting take out or restaurant food on Friday nights. Ugh. So John & I accepted the challenge.......

....until Friday rolled around and we decided to get Thai. Challenge=Fail! But we started over and now we are on day 4 of cooking! Yay us! P.S. Just discovered Pad Thai (amazing!)

Me hangin' in John's hat cuddling with Minni. This happens on a nightly basis. I was also watching the Spring Finale of Pretty Little Liars. Anyone else watch? So amazing. What do you guys think of Red Coat?

Me taking a random outfit post today at work. I kinda liked my outfit today, I felt super preppy! Ha.

Hope you enjoyed taking a peep into the life of Little Maple Leaf :)