Mind-bending, mind-opening reads...

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan: A plant based diet has been proven to be healthier and better for the environment than a diet with meat.

Food Rules by Michael Pollan: Eat real, actual food. Avoid foods that have chemicals!

Cosmos by Carl Sagan: How the universe came to be, how humans evolved, and how we should and can stop self-destructing our planet.

The New Good Life by John Robbins: The different ways people interact with money, how you can change your diet, housing, and transportation choices to help keep the Earth safe for the next generation.

The Soul of Leadership by Deepak Chopra: How to develop your spiritual soul to be able to lead at home, at work, and in your relationships.

4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss: This guy has done it all, and he wants to help you maximize your time on Earth - how to work smarter and spend your time doing what you love!

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell: The author encourages us to see the big picture of those one in a million success stories (Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg) and how to think critically about what we see and hear in the news.

If you are interested in having an extraordinary life and making a difference in the current messed up state of affairs, you should read these books!

there! I said it out loud...

Lately I have been feeling rather trapped in my nine to five job as an Occupational Therapist - during our 1-2 year wait for a Green Card (from your friendly neighbours to the north), I am relegated to working strictly as a therapist.

I found out recently that this even applies to extra work on movies and television - on a whim I setup a profile at www.extrasonly.com and was shocked to receive a text and email five days later. I was offered the chance to audition for the role as a featured extra on the film "Gone" with Amanda Seyfried, which is slated to start filming in May here in Portland. I would be paid $250/day and even potentially get a credit in the titles! After hemming and hawing for a few hours I managed to get ahold of an attorney who told me without a shadow of a doubt that I would be deported if I was caught taking a job from an American worker, even if I donated my pay to charity or declined to be paid!

So that was that. Sadly this news only served to deepen the feeling of entrapment I've been having the past few months now that the wedding is over and I am still working in various nursing homes, more than a year after I quit in search for greener pastures!



My husband was very sweet however, and put it into perspective that if I was offered work so quickly I would probably be able to jump into that type of work again once I was legal here in the U.S.

So for now, I am going to try to do more yoga, take more walks, get back in shape...and cross my fingers/toes that our freedom to work as we please is on the horizon!

the wonders of HD

For those of you who haven't tried it yet...HD television is absolutely worth it!

Last night we sat down to watch the Galapagos: the Islands that changed the world (thanks to Netflix) and it was fabulous!
It was probably one of the most visually stunning documentaries I've ever seen - sea lions, turtles, albatrosses...etc. I definitely recommend it!

It only costs $2127.48 to take a return flight from Portland to Isla Baltra and the best part is it only takes 24 hours (plus a stop in Ecuador!).

What an adventure...maybe one day when I have no obligations (no doxie) and lots of money to see the world I'll make it happen!

Has anyone out there been to the Galapagos?
Cheers!

i love Bob the dog!

Sometimes the only thing to do after a frustrating day at the nursing home is to look at pictures of your doxie and marvel at how amazing, loyal, cute and feisty he is, all at the same time. Here are some pictures of him from over the years - they are guaranteed to make you smile!

Looking up at my husband with a tiny smile

Bob in his favorite blanket for the day

Bob snuggled up on the couch with me

Here he is showing off at the dog park

Burning Man on my mind...

Upon moving to Portland we didn't imagine we would ever find ourselves attending the infamous Burning Man Festival - after all, there aren't that many hippies in Northern Alberta and they sure don't travel that far to party!

After hearing about it from trusted friends and doing a little research on the interwebs, we decided to take a chance and go in 2008 - little did we know it would turn out to be one of our best adventures yet! It was so good that we went back for more, in September 2010!

The thing about Burning Man is that it is quite an effort to go - you have to get yourself and all your gear to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, andbring all your own food, water, toiletries and fun - only porta potties are supplied (and you can purchase ice).

So we like to take a year off between "burns" to recover and to go to the beach or mountain...but lately Burning Man has been on my mind.

It is a dream of mine to take a few like-minded friends from the Great White North to a Burn...this manifested itself in a dream recently - somehow we convinced my husband's brother and my sister to come, and it was amazing to see everything through their eyes.

I mentioned this to Tyler and we talked about how great it would be to see this years theme is "Rites of Passage", but that we already had plans to go to Hawaii, Shuswap Lake in B.C., California...etc.

Then I bought two tickets to see Phutureprimitive (a dear friend of ours) play at the Beloved Festival, at Refuge on April 9th. Saturday night arrived and so we found ourselves stumbling down the train tracks towards the venue. Despite the late hour (2 a.m.) we managed to get our tickets through will-call, and headed in to find our friend (who didn't go on until 3:15 a.m.). It was a mini Burning Man, with strong body odor, strange outfits, grungy hippies, and the smell of pot wafting in the air. It was the perfect ending to a great Saturday - surrounded by tripping hippies and friends, we watched Phutureprimitive perform an amazing set of music.

Giving up the Ghost...

I haven't posted for awhile...wedding madness set in after the Christmas holidays and then we were in Costa Rica, then Cabo San Lucas for our wedding on February 18th.

Now its April 10th, and I am sad to say I am giving up the ghost - during a recent bout with a nasty cold I passed out in the evening and did not give my man a massage of any kind...which he was happy to remind me about the next day. So I had to concede defeat. I know he imagined I would be disappointed and maybe even a little angry about the losing the bet and thus relinquishing my hope of getting another dachshund this year. But to be honest, I was a little relieved to be done with the whole thing. I enjoyed putting time aside each evening to reconnect over a neck or hand massage but I can still do that anytime I want!

As for the dachshund situation, now that its (hopefully) almost spring, I know we will have enough going on that I will gladly wait a little longer before welcoming another dog into the family.

Better than You?

After a few weeks of doing the Jillian Michael's workout DVD's after work (and twice over the weekend) I am finally starting to see some results.

I have been working hard at the 40 minute Trouble Zone DVD, trying to make it through the whole routine, and then mixing it up every other day with the 30 Day Shred (level 1 of course). The one DVD I had neglected was the Yoga workout, which I thought sounded really relaxing after a hard day at work...

I was wrapping up what felt like the 50th sun salutation of the workout when Jillian introduced a new pose, the Dolphin. And I was able to complete it, with fairly good form and only some mild cursing. The reason I didn't remember it? Before today I had yet to finish the damn thing! As Jillian led me through the cooldown part of the workout I felt so energized and so happy that I was seeing some results!

And how does this relate to my 365 day challenge? Well, all that extra shoulder strength and endurance can only mean more massages for T and for me...another Dachshund!

Thank you Jillian!