Well, I've been told a few times lately that we haven't updated our blog lately. I'm sorry for that. We have been so busy these last couple of months. And now all of a sudden it is 3 more sleeps till we leave on our trip and 6 days until the actual marathon. We will be away for almost 23 days!! Can't believe it. We have raised just over $25,000 over the past 2 years. Thank you to all of you who have been able to donate to us and help out this important cause. If you wanted to donate, and just haven't had a chance yet, we are still able to collect donations for 2 months after the event, so it's not too late. And if you donate before the end of December, you'll get a tax receipt good for 2007 tax year.
I just finished teaching my second walking clinic for the Poco Running Room. It was a smaller group this time around, but still very rewarding. It was great to see all my participants meet their goal. One of my members completed her first Full Marathon on Oct 7th in Kelowna. It was her goal to complete one at age 60; and she did it! Way to go Carol. Brenda walked her 2nd Half Marathon (ever and in just over a month apart) in Bellingham that same day and beat her first Half Marathon time by almost 10 minutes. Way to go Brenda!! Neil completed his first Half Marathon in Victoria and had a great walk and finished in great time. Way to go speedy.
I walked the Victoria Half Marathon with Sue (Mike's mom) and we had a good time. Mike ran the same event and managed to cross the finish line before the rain really started. Sue & I weren't quite so lucky, but we didn't let the rain dampen our spirits. We finished with smiles on our faces! It was a good walk and I used it as a training day for Dublin, so did Mike. And we even got a nice medal each for our efforts.
Well, our household has been busy with me going to various doctors appointments -- I'm currently 4 months pregnant!! We are so thrilled....we are going to be parents in April. We sold our condo (in 1 1/2 days) and a week later found a house and bought it. We are moving from Burnaby to Poco and are looking forward to our new home. It is almost a 40 yr old house, but has been recently updated and nicely done--so it feels very new to us! When we get home from our trip, we have 10 days to pack up our condo and get ready to move.
Lots of exciting things going on with us. Big Trip; Marathon, travelling around amazing places (Ireland, Scotland, London & Paris); moving into a house; having our first baby!!! 2007 sure has been an amazing year, starting off with getting married!! Life has been pretty amazing though since I met Mike!!
Well that's it for today's post. I went to answer the phone and got tangled up in some cords under the desk here, and tripped on my way out of the den. My knee is sore and I think maybe I should go put some ice on it! What a klutz....at least I protected my belly during the fall!
Hope everyone is well and enjoying the fall and getting ready for halloween.
Take care and we'll try to update a bit while we are on our trip.
Cheers,
Waleah (momma to be)
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
only 2 1/2 more months to go & $2500 more to raise!
Wow!! I cannot believe how long it's been since our last entry!!
Life just flies by when you are busy and having fun. Since Mike's Scotia Half, we have just been busy training and connecting with friends and family. We are getting back on track with our fundraising. I just received almost $600 in donations in the last 2 weeks. Mike received close to $400. We still need aprox $2500 more to go to hit our target!!! So please got to www.teamdiabetes.ca and click on pledge a participant -- type in either Waleah Blais or Michael Blais & Burnaby and make a donation!! You will help support a good cause and receive a tax receipt for your donation. No donation is too big or small!!
We recently got certified as Open Water Scuba Divers. Also just did our Advanced course too. It's a lot of fun!! We are having a blast diving together and have a couple of other friends who dive too. It's a whole different world down there and so much to see!! It's beautiful and amazing!!
Okay, I just got off the phone with Mike's step-brother who is going to Dublin to do the marathon with us and according to the Dublin Marathon web page, it is only 80 days away!! Oh my!! We better get busy on our fundraising!
This weekend we have Brent (our best man) and Bless' wedding. Should be a great time on Saturday. I hope the day goes smoothly for them and they have as much fun on their special day as we had on ours. Sunday we have a big training day. 29km!! Whew...that makes me tired just thinking about it.
I'm still instructing the walking clinic at the Poco Running Room. I have a great group of walkers -- some training for a Half Marathon in the fall and one currently training for a Full Marathon in the fall. It is fun to have some people to train with. Helps those long walks go by faster!! Mike is heading downtown on Sunday to meet his running group for a field trip for their long run! I hope it's a good one for them. Stephen, their instructor, has been coming up with some hard and challenging routes for them! I think he's determined to make them all better & stronger runners!
Well, I'm going to sign off for now. We'll try harder to keep these posts happening now. :)
Hope you are enjoying your summer.
Life just flies by when you are busy and having fun. Since Mike's Scotia Half, we have just been busy training and connecting with friends and family. We are getting back on track with our fundraising. I just received almost $600 in donations in the last 2 weeks. Mike received close to $400. We still need aprox $2500 more to go to hit our target!!! So please got to www.teamdiabetes.ca and click on pledge a participant -- type in either Waleah Blais or Michael Blais & Burnaby and make a donation!! You will help support a good cause and receive a tax receipt for your donation. No donation is too big or small!!
We recently got certified as Open Water Scuba Divers. Also just did our Advanced course too. It's a lot of fun!! We are having a blast diving together and have a couple of other friends who dive too. It's a whole different world down there and so much to see!! It's beautiful and amazing!!
Okay, I just got off the phone with Mike's step-brother who is going to Dublin to do the marathon with us and according to the Dublin Marathon web page, it is only 80 days away!! Oh my!! We better get busy on our fundraising!
This weekend we have Brent (our best man) and Bless' wedding. Should be a great time on Saturday. I hope the day goes smoothly for them and they have as much fun on their special day as we had on ours. Sunday we have a big training day. 29km!! Whew...that makes me tired just thinking about it.
I'm still instructing the walking clinic at the Poco Running Room. I have a great group of walkers -- some training for a Half Marathon in the fall and one currently training for a Full Marathon in the fall. It is fun to have some people to train with. Helps those long walks go by faster!! Mike is heading downtown on Sunday to meet his running group for a field trip for their long run! I hope it's a good one for them. Stephen, their instructor, has been coming up with some hard and challenging routes for them! I think he's determined to make them all better & stronger runners!
Well, I'm going to sign off for now. We'll try harder to keep these posts happening now. :)
Hope you are enjoying your summer.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Mike & the Scotia Half Marathon
Today started off really early as Mike's alarm went off at 5:20am!! Ugh....it's our day off and we are waking at the crack of dawn....what is that about...oh yes, my hubby is running his first half marathon today....and I am giving him and his friend Tamara a lift to the start line and sending them off with a big "good luck you guys, you'll do great!", before I have to jump in the car and head back to Port Coquitlam to lead my walking clinic. We make it out to UBC nice and early for Mike & Tamara this morning and get them organized. I see them off at the start line just as it's drizzling slightly. Wish them both a great run and tell them I know they'll do great. I take a quick photo on my phone to record it for prosperity. I'm about to walk away and figure I have a few minutes, so I pop up to the start line and get a photo of Mike crossing the start line of his First Half Marathon. I'm very proud of him. He's done so well since we embarked on him learning to run last spring. He's accomplished his first Full Marathon, his first 8km race, and now his first Half Marathon...he's a bit backwards though and started with the biggest distance first....but that's my guy...."go big or go home"!!
I got the phone call while I was trudging through my 13km walk in the pouring rain this morning that both Mike & Tamara finished their race and were doing great. Mike finished in 2:14:57 and Tamara in 2:18. Way to go guys. You both rock and I'm really proud of you. Its tough to do a race in the rain.
Mike's goal today was 2:10 to 2:15, and he totally made it!! That's so awesome. I'm glad he had such a good run and was able to meet his goal that he set out for himself.
My training walk was good today, all be it very wet!! 2 1/2 hours in the pouring rain. I swear they said that summer started this past week, but apparently not really yet! :)
Well Mike just finished soaking his muscles in the tub, and now it's my turn! I think after I'm done I'll join him for an afternoon snooze before we go out for dinner with Grandpa.
It's too bad tomorrow is Monday already....these weekends just seem to fly by at lightening speed.
Well until next time.....
take care.
Waleah
I got the phone call while I was trudging through my 13km walk in the pouring rain this morning that both Mike & Tamara finished their race and were doing great. Mike finished in 2:14:57 and Tamara in 2:18. Way to go guys. You both rock and I'm really proud of you. Its tough to do a race in the rain.
Mike's goal today was 2:10 to 2:15, and he totally made it!! That's so awesome. I'm glad he had such a good run and was able to meet his goal that he set out for himself.
My training walk was good today, all be it very wet!! 2 1/2 hours in the pouring rain. I swear they said that summer started this past week, but apparently not really yet! :)
Well Mike just finished soaking his muscles in the tub, and now it's my turn! I think after I'm done I'll join him for an afternoon snooze before we go out for dinner with Grandpa.
It's too bad tomorrow is Monday already....these weekends just seem to fly by at lightening speed.
Well until next time.....
take care.
Waleah
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Training has officially begun......
Well, we've been busy since I completed the Vancouver International Marathon and there never seems to be a dull moment. I've enjoyed a break from training and Mike is getting ready to run the Scotia Half on June 24th.
This past week has found both of us starting our Marathon clinics. I'm teaching the Half & Full Marathon Walking clinic for the Poco Running Room once again. Should be fun. So far I have a good group of people signed up. Mike has started his Full Marathon Clinic at the Poco Running Room too this week. Although he was sick earlier this week so he was off to a slow start. Today he did a 20km run and even though it was raining, he had a good run. I think he's ready for his event in 2 weeks. This week is week 2 of training, Mike has ball and I'm hoping to do some stuff around home while he's at ball. Today we went and watched our friend's daughter, Charrissa at her dance recital. It was a lot of fun and a great way to spend our Sunday afternoon. She was adorable and probably had one of THE biggest smiles on stage. :)
We'll be starting to do more fundraising soon.....so be prepared...we'll be asking you for a donation over the next while for the Canadian Diabetes Association....remember that all donations will receive a tax receipt. It's a great cause and funds raised go to help further research and educate people on the disease.
Well, I'm a little under the weather...think I'm catching that cold that's been going around...so I'm signing off for now. Sorry this is such a short post...but I realized it's been a while since either of us has put on one here.
Take care and keep checking in on us to see how we are progressing.
Waleah
This past week has found both of us starting our Marathon clinics. I'm teaching the Half & Full Marathon Walking clinic for the Poco Running Room once again. Should be fun. So far I have a good group of people signed up. Mike has started his Full Marathon Clinic at the Poco Running Room too this week. Although he was sick earlier this week so he was off to a slow start. Today he did a 20km run and even though it was raining, he had a good run. I think he's ready for his event in 2 weeks. This week is week 2 of training, Mike has ball and I'm hoping to do some stuff around home while he's at ball. Today we went and watched our friend's daughter, Charrissa at her dance recital. It was a lot of fun and a great way to spend our Sunday afternoon. She was adorable and probably had one of THE biggest smiles on stage. :)
We'll be starting to do more fundraising soon.....so be prepared...we'll be asking you for a donation over the next while for the Canadian Diabetes Association....remember that all donations will receive a tax receipt. It's a great cause and funds raised go to help further research and educate people on the disease.
Well, I'm a little under the weather...think I'm catching that cold that's been going around...so I'm signing off for now. Sorry this is such a short post...but I realized it's been a while since either of us has put on one here.
Take care and keep checking in on us to see how we are progressing.
Waleah
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Inspiration
Last Sunday Waleah did the Vancouver Marathon (see her post below) and my parents and I were waiting at the finish line for our friend Kari to cheer her across the line. At the same time as this the full marathoners were also starting to finish. These were the people who are natural runners who are running a full marathon in less than 3.5 hours which is pretty amazing. We came back a couple of hours later to wait for Waleah and had a chance to watch the "regular" people finish, though many of these people were far from regular. Anybody who can commit to the training and completion of the marathon has my respect but some people just wowed me.
A 75 year old man was completing his 403rd marathon (this sentence is NOT a typo).
Tsutomu Shimabukuro, a japanese man with 2 prosthetic legs finished in 8:03:49
A man with a white shirt with BRAIN TUMOUR SURVIVOR written across the front
A 15! year old kid (who also did it last year)
and many more.
Watching these people do something that challenges even the most fit person in truly inspiring. I would recommend if you want to see amazing people do an amazing thing, show up at a marathon finish line at the 4:30 hour mark, listen to the announcer and cheer these people on, because they deserve it.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Completed 2nd Full Marathon - VIM
Hello....it's been a while since I've written a post. Life has been very busy.
The past few months I've been leading a walking clinic for the Poco Running Room. It has been a great experience and I had a great group of people out. I led 2 clinics simultaneously--the Half Marathon clinic and the Full Marathon clinic. I started out with 11 people (lost 2 to injuries early on and a 3rd to physical limitations in the later half). I had 8 people in total who walked either the Half or the Full on Sunday besides myself. Awesome!! 6 of my participants successfully completed the Half Marathon. All did so in under 4 hours and all were happy with their time and their achievement. I had 2 participants successfully complete the Full Marathon. I know one would have liked to finish quicker, but I think was still happy with her success. Way to go you guys. I finished in 7:05:13. I have some pretty bad blisters happening with all the rain...and some sore muscles still...but feeling pretty good. Happy about the accomplishment and enjoyed the experience. It was great to have people to walk with on this marathon and I had some supporters come out as well at different points along the route, as did my 2 gals. So it helped pass our time. My loving husband saw us twice on the route and gave me a kiss and encouragement to us 3 ladies at about 7km and 19km. A friend from work, Tracy and her daughter, came out and walked with me for a few minutes around the 35km mark and my good friend Christy & her boyfriend, Darwin came and walked with me for a bit at about 37km. It was so great to see everyone and they were an awesome pick me up. Mike came and met me about 300 metres out before the finish line and walked with me in. It was so awesome to see him at that point. I was sore and tired and my feet were done. I even had a pebble in my shoe at the end, and I had no energy to remove it, so it stayed till after I crossed the finish line.
My friend Kari did the Half that day and I'm so proud of her. She did a great job and this was her first event. She had so much fun, she's willing to do another one. Yeah!! Mike's mom & step dad came out to cheer Kari on to the finish line and to also cheer me on to the finish line. It was good. Mike and myself met up with Sue & Graham and Grandpa for dinner that night at our favourite burger joint in New West....Burger Heaven!! It was an awesome victory dinner and I enjoyed absolutely every bite of it!!!
Well I'll take a few weeks off of the distance walking till my blisters heal and I recoup. Mid June I will be leading my second walking clinic for the Poco Running Room. I'm looking forward to that. I hope to have some of my participants back out to join me again. This clinic will not only allow me the opportunity of helping other people achieve their goal again, but also help me train for my next big event....Dublin, Ireland --- Full Marathon on October 29, 2007. This is our next Team Diabetes event. After that it will be walking just for fun and fitness for a while. We are enjoying being part of Team Diabetes, but fundraising and training is hard work and takes a lot of time and commitment and we have so many other things we'd like to accomplish in life...so 2008 will hopefully bring some other new exciting things our way.
I'm going to enjoy the break before the next clinic, reconnect with some friends I haven't seen much of, and also get ready to re-write my exam in the next month or so. Studying recently was tough. I plan to take a bit more time to prep for my next exam but still want to get it out of the way before we get into the full swing of summer.
I think this month or next, Mike & I will get away for a weekend for some R & R. Mike has been so great about my ignoring him between my clinic and my studying that I need to reconnect with my sweetie and let him know how awesome he is and how much I appreciate his support and encouragement. We are thinking maybe a weekend escape the Victoria and play tourist for a weekend.
Well, got to go for now. We'll try to update this more regularly. Next accomplishment on our list is for Mike to do the Scotia Half in June and me to pass my darn course!! We'll keep you posted on our challenges and our victories.
Cheers,
Waleah
The past few months I've been leading a walking clinic for the Poco Running Room. It has been a great experience and I had a great group of people out. I led 2 clinics simultaneously--the Half Marathon clinic and the Full Marathon clinic. I started out with 11 people (lost 2 to injuries early on and a 3rd to physical limitations in the later half). I had 8 people in total who walked either the Half or the Full on Sunday besides myself. Awesome!! 6 of my participants successfully completed the Half Marathon. All did so in under 4 hours and all were happy with their time and their achievement. I had 2 participants successfully complete the Full Marathon. I know one would have liked to finish quicker, but I think was still happy with her success. Way to go you guys. I finished in 7:05:13. I have some pretty bad blisters happening with all the rain...and some sore muscles still...but feeling pretty good. Happy about the accomplishment and enjoyed the experience. It was great to have people to walk with on this marathon and I had some supporters come out as well at different points along the route, as did my 2 gals. So it helped pass our time. My loving husband saw us twice on the route and gave me a kiss and encouragement to us 3 ladies at about 7km and 19km. A friend from work, Tracy and her daughter, came out and walked with me for a few minutes around the 35km mark and my good friend Christy & her boyfriend, Darwin came and walked with me for a bit at about 37km. It was so great to see everyone and they were an awesome pick me up. Mike came and met me about 300 metres out before the finish line and walked with me in. It was so awesome to see him at that point. I was sore and tired and my feet were done. I even had a pebble in my shoe at the end, and I had no energy to remove it, so it stayed till after I crossed the finish line.
My friend Kari did the Half that day and I'm so proud of her. She did a great job and this was her first event. She had so much fun, she's willing to do another one. Yeah!! Mike's mom & step dad came out to cheer Kari on to the finish line and to also cheer me on to the finish line. It was good. Mike and myself met up with Sue & Graham and Grandpa for dinner that night at our favourite burger joint in New West....Burger Heaven!! It was an awesome victory dinner and I enjoyed absolutely every bite of it!!!
Well I'll take a few weeks off of the distance walking till my blisters heal and I recoup. Mid June I will be leading my second walking clinic for the Poco Running Room. I'm looking forward to that. I hope to have some of my participants back out to join me again. This clinic will not only allow me the opportunity of helping other people achieve their goal again, but also help me train for my next big event....Dublin, Ireland --- Full Marathon on October 29, 2007. This is our next Team Diabetes event. After that it will be walking just for fun and fitness for a while. We are enjoying being part of Team Diabetes, but fundraising and training is hard work and takes a lot of time and commitment and we have so many other things we'd like to accomplish in life...so 2008 will hopefully bring some other new exciting things our way.
I'm going to enjoy the break before the next clinic, reconnect with some friends I haven't seen much of, and also get ready to re-write my exam in the next month or so. Studying recently was tough. I plan to take a bit more time to prep for my next exam but still want to get it out of the way before we get into the full swing of summer.
I think this month or next, Mike & I will get away for a weekend for some R & R. Mike has been so great about my ignoring him between my clinic and my studying that I need to reconnect with my sweetie and let him know how awesome he is and how much I appreciate his support and encouragement. We are thinking maybe a weekend escape the Victoria and play tourist for a weekend.
Well, got to go for now. We'll try to update this more regularly. Next accomplishment on our list is for Mike to do the Scotia Half in June and me to pass my darn course!! We'll keep you posted on our challenges and our victories.
Cheers,
Waleah
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Vancouver Internation Marathon Weekend!!!!
Again a long delay between updates. Waleah will be participation in the Vancouver International Marathon on Sunday. Since January she has been the group leader at the Running Room in Poco for both the Full and Half-Marathon walking groups. Finally the end is here (until June when we start training for Dublin), and it is likely that she will be the group leader again. I know she has had a good time with it and it's so much easier to walk with a group as opposed to alone (like last year).
I will be cheering Waleah and the rest of the Poco groups on, I have had a hell of a time getting into a routine, I am aiming to do the Scotia Half Marathon but I am having a rough time motivating myself right now, I am supposed to do 16k this Sunday but so far my longest run has been only 10 (I've missed a couple of weeks of running). We'll see how it goes since Sunday I'll be seeing Waleah off at 6:30 for the Full Marathon and then Kari and the rest for the Half @ 7:00am. I'll do my best to get a run in and be back in time to cheer them on at the finish line.
We also had our 2nd Annual Boardgaming for Diabetes last weekend and it was another success! We raised approx $1200 dollars and even though there we about 10 people less than last year we still had a blast. Thank you to all who came and we will be doing it again next year even though we will not be doing another Team D marathon (we need to take a break :) )
That's it for now, I promise Waleah will post how the Marathon went.
Mike
I will be cheering Waleah and the rest of the Poco groups on, I have had a hell of a time getting into a routine, I am aiming to do the Scotia Half Marathon but I am having a rough time motivating myself right now, I am supposed to do 16k this Sunday but so far my longest run has been only 10 (I've missed a couple of weeks of running). We'll see how it goes since Sunday I'll be seeing Waleah off at 6:30 for the Full Marathon and then Kari and the rest for the Half @ 7:00am. I'll do my best to get a run in and be back in time to cheer them on at the finish line.
We also had our 2nd Annual Boardgaming for Diabetes last weekend and it was another success! We raised approx $1200 dollars and even though there we about 10 people less than last year we still had a blast. Thank you to all who came and we will be doing it again next year even though we will not be doing another Team D marathon (we need to take a break :) )
That's it for now, I promise Waleah will post how the Marathon went.
Mike
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
.......
Ok, so I did get some flack for the miserable day/wedding photo but that's why you read what I write right?
As usual life is busy, Waleah is studying hard for her insurance exam that is coming up, unfortunately she's been forced to take a break from the walking clinic, somehow she injured her foot and those long 20km+ walks are not a great thing. I am in the middle of curling playoffs and so far we are still on the winning side of the 'A' draw.
I am also in the midst of organizing our first fundraiser for 2007, the 2nd Annual Boardgaming for Diabetes Weekend. April 28th & 29th at the Marpole Curling Club. For tickets and more info please e-mail me. Once again the local game stores are coming through with their support of donations and helping to spread the word. We are truly lucky here in the lower mainland to really have Friendly Local Game Stores that help support our hobby.
Not much else to report, I have a bonspiel the Easter weekend which should be a blast and then a bit of rest before the marathon training and softball start up again for me.
Cheers!
Mike
As usual life is busy, Waleah is studying hard for her insurance exam that is coming up, unfortunately she's been forced to take a break from the walking clinic, somehow she injured her foot and those long 20km+ walks are not a great thing. I am in the middle of curling playoffs and so far we are still on the winning side of the 'A' draw.
I am also in the midst of organizing our first fundraiser for 2007, the 2nd Annual Boardgaming for Diabetes Weekend. April 28th & 29th at the Marpole Curling Club. For tickets and more info please e-mail me. Once again the local game stores are coming through with their support of donations and helping to spread the word. We are truly lucky here in the lower mainland to really have Friendly Local Game Stores that help support our hobby.
Not much else to report, I have a bonspiel the Easter weekend which should be a blast and then a bit of rest before the marathon training and softball start up again for me.
Cheers!
Mike
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Miserable Day!!!!
What a horrible day to train in, as I write this Waleah is finishing her 29km workout this morning. The rain is torrential here and pretty miserable. While Waleah is doing her long distance I had a leisurely 8km run. Our friend Lia works for Hugo Boss and entered a team into the Harry's Spring Run Off for Prostate Cancer. Very wet but fun, it was interesting for me to run my first race where I had a time goal. My goal was under 1:00 but I managed just under 52 minutes! A nice boost to my confidence that I can push myself to run faster!
Here are our honeymoon photos!
We received our wedding photos last week and they turned out awesome! Thanks Ellen and Lance!!!! The snow really made for some nice shots as well as the inside of the Burnaby Art Gallery. Now that we have our photos we'll be able to send out our thank you cards.
Time to go and run a hot bath for myself before Waleah gets home.
Cheers!
Mike
Friday, February 23, 2007
Stayin Alive!!!
Helloooo everybody,
The reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. We're sorry for not checking in sooner, married life has been hectic, not that that's any different than our pre-married life, so here's a recap of the last month.
The wedding was AWESOME, even the breaking down of the limo provided some great memories (and only a little stress), Waleah was just absolutely beautiful, you'll get to see for yourselves once we finally get our wedding pictures and we post a few. Our photographers Lance and Ellen were also great and took a few more photos than they normally do so they are still sorting through them.
Again, Wedding = Awesome
Off to our honeymoon in Canmore Alberta, Sunday morning we left and stopped in Kamloops for the night where we just dropped in to the Sheraton and managed to get the honeymoon suite. A nice big jacuzzi tub waited for us to relax and play in :). Off to Canmore the next day where we stayed at Aunt Barb's place (THANK YOU!) it was amazing, the view from the kitchen/living/dining room looked out a huge window that almost perfectly framed a mountain. The weather for the week was clear and cold; perfect. We did a couple of ice hikes, snowshoeing, and a helicopter tour through the Rockies. Photos to come. :) Unfortunately the honeymoon had to end so we headed home to continue our pretty busy life.
Honeymoon = Awesome
Waleah and I have had a bunch of firsts since we have met. The Marathon, learning to curl, buying a home, Waleah's first roller coaster and trip to Disneyland and since we have been married we have already; gone on our first helicopter ride, our first curling bonspiel and scuba diving.
Once we got back from the honeymoon, Waleah started instructing the half/full marathon walking clinic for the running room, we entered our first bonspiel with Janet and Martin (friends from our friday night curling league) in which I skipped for the first time (and we won 2 games!), and we have started our scuba diving lessons (which finish tomorrow), so as you can see life is busy!
Married Life = Awesome (and did I say busy?)
Gotta go, updates will come more regularly (we promise), our first fundraiser of the year is scheduled for April 28&29th which will be the 2nd Annual Boardgaming for Diabetes weekend.
Thanks for continuing to check in with us,
Mike & Waleah
The reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. We're sorry for not checking in sooner, married life has been hectic, not that that's any different than our pre-married life, so here's a recap of the last month.
The wedding was AWESOME, even the breaking down of the limo provided some great memories (and only a little stress), Waleah was just absolutely beautiful, you'll get to see for yourselves once we finally get our wedding pictures and we post a few. Our photographers Lance and Ellen were also great and took a few more photos than they normally do so they are still sorting through them.
Again, Wedding = Awesome
Off to our honeymoon in Canmore Alberta, Sunday morning we left and stopped in Kamloops for the night where we just dropped in to the Sheraton and managed to get the honeymoon suite. A nice big jacuzzi tub waited for us to relax and play in :). Off to Canmore the next day where we stayed at Aunt Barb's place (THANK YOU!) it was amazing, the view from the kitchen/living/dining room looked out a huge window that almost perfectly framed a mountain. The weather for the week was clear and cold; perfect. We did a couple of ice hikes, snowshoeing, and a helicopter tour through the Rockies. Photos to come. :) Unfortunately the honeymoon had to end so we headed home to continue our pretty busy life.
Honeymoon = Awesome
Waleah and I have had a bunch of firsts since we have met. The Marathon, learning to curl, buying a home, Waleah's first roller coaster and trip to Disneyland and since we have been married we have already; gone on our first helicopter ride, our first curling bonspiel and scuba diving.
Once we got back from the honeymoon, Waleah started instructing the half/full marathon walking clinic for the running room, we entered our first bonspiel with Janet and Martin (friends from our friday night curling league) in which I skipped for the first time (and we won 2 games!), and we have started our scuba diving lessons (which finish tomorrow), so as you can see life is busy!
Married Life = Awesome (and did I say busy?)
Gotta go, updates will come more regularly (we promise), our first fundraiser of the year is scheduled for April 28&29th which will be the 2nd Annual Boardgaming for Diabetes weekend.
Thanks for continuing to check in with us,
Mike & Waleah
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Only 2 more to go.....
Tonight was the rehearsal & dinner and gifts to our bridal party. A busy and fun night. Was good to have everyone together and getting pumped for the big day. Yesterday I took some time out of wedding preparations and spent a relaxing day with my mom at the Fairmont Airport Spa and then a really yummy dinner at the Fairmont's dinning room "Global @ YVR". Great meal and a great visit with mom. This morning was busy greeting some of our out of towners and a quick breakfast with Auntie Leona, Janet, Brian & Monique. Also got to see my step-sister, Lori at the airport and get a few hugs. Rest of the day was running around, phone calls a dozen and working on wedding favours. Tomorrow will be another busy and full day and my girls will be over late in the day to work on the flowers (centre pieces, bouquets, boutinieres & coursages). Hopefully they turn out!!
Well it's time for bed as it's a full day ahead and then it will be one more sleep till a really full day!! The day I marry by best friend and soul mate. I can't wait!
Waleah
Well it's time for bed as it's a full day ahead and then it will be one more sleep till a really full day!! The day I marry by best friend and soul mate. I can't wait!
Waleah
Monday, January 08, 2007
5 more sleeps till we say "I Do"
A really quick post for today. It's been a week since I last put one on here.
Only 5 more sleeps till we are wed. The weekend was busy with last minute preparations and little details. I have a few things to take care of this week but everything is falling into place quite nicely.
We are both very excited about our big day. We are looking forward to sharing it with our family & friends and having a big celebration with them. Should be fun. And I think the day is supposed to be sunny & cloudy and hopefully not too cold.
We will post another entry when we are back from our honeymoon in Canmore, Alberta where we hope to ski/snow board & snowshoe, relax and spend quality time together. We'll also be sure to post some of our photos for you to see once we are back and settled into our routine.
Have a great week and send sunny thoughts our way for Saturday, please!
Waleah
Only 5 more sleeps till we are wed. The weekend was busy with last minute preparations and little details. I have a few things to take care of this week but everything is falling into place quite nicely.
We are both very excited about our big day. We are looking forward to sharing it with our family & friends and having a big celebration with them. Should be fun. And I think the day is supposed to be sunny & cloudy and hopefully not too cold.
We will post another entry when we are back from our honeymoon in Canmore, Alberta where we hope to ski/snow board & snowshoe, relax and spend quality time together. We'll also be sure to post some of our photos for you to see once we are back and settled into our routine.
Have a great week and send sunny thoughts our way for Saturday, please!
Waleah
Sunday, December 31, 2006
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! + 12 days to go!
Happy New Year everyone. I hope that you all had a great Christmas and spent it with your loved ones. We were sick with colds and slept a lot, but we also managed to visit with family & friends, and also managed to keep it low keyed. Mike did spoil me this Christmas....he gave me Scuba Diving Lessons! How cool is that! I was super surprised and thrilled. He got his family to give him money for his Christmas gifts this year to help him pay for his lessons. It will be so much fun to do this together. I've wanted to learn to Scuba Dive for quite some time now and I've mentioned it to Mike a few times that it is on my list of things to do in life. I love that he listens and he makes our goals and dreams come true. I've already crossed off completing a marathon (and will be getting ready to do another in 2007 -- maybe even 2 depending on how things go). The other cool gift he gave me was a board game I fell in love with last May at our fundraiser...it's called Ubongo. It's a german game and virtually impossible to get in Canada, but he managed to get one our friendly game store owners to round up a copy for him (thank you Buck!)....we are both having fun playing it and Mike quickly found out why I loved it so much and is now in love with the game too. We've introduced it to some different people recently, and they had a great time with it too. I think it will get played a lot. Our game collection is still growing and we are even registered at Drexoll Games for our wedding...hint hint...if anyone wants to help us add to our game collection, Darcy & Tamara can help you out with some games we'd love to own. We are also registered at the Bay & Home Outfitters. New Year's eve was a good day...Mike got to play some games at Drexoll while I worked on some wedding stuff. We then stopped off at Safeway and picked up some munchies for the evening (cheese, pate, bread, crackers, etc) and came home to settle in for the night. Watched "Da Vinci Code" on pay per view and had a yummy feast and a bottle of wine. Was a nice way to spend the evening saying farewell to 2006.
What a great year 2006 was. I got settled into my new home, with the help of Michael, especially after I broke my wrist....(okay that part -- broken wrist--was not so great). Especially because my curling year got cut short. We signed up for the Marathon and Fundraising as part of Team Diabetes Canada at the end of January. Went to visit my parents in Palm Desert in February and drove to Disneyland and Magic Mountain Six Flags park. That was my first trip to Disneyland....what a blast we had. Also my first time to Magic Mountain and on roller coasters.....I was nervous at first, but I had a blast and quickly got to see why Mike loves roller coasters....in fact I think one of my favourites even freaked him out! :)
When we came home it was time to start training and fundraising. That kept us pretty busy all spring and summer. In May we hosted our first fundraising event ever...it went really well, and we raised about $1500; the same weekend Mike's dad hosted a golf tournament as a fundraiser to help us out and he raised about $1200 -- what a successful weekend raising $2700 towards our $12,000 goal. Mike was keeping busy with his ball teams and training and me with cheering him on and training too. In late June, Mike surprised me and proposed to me at Burnaby Lake...making me one very happy lady!! In July we managed to get out on my parents boat with them for a weekend and had a great time. We also did a 20km hike around Stewart Island. A very pretty spot. That was how we celebrated my birthday. 2 weeks later is was Mike's big 30th birthday and we started the day by doing a 30km workout from our house to his mom's house out in Maple Ridge. After both of us soaking in the tub and getting refreshed, we had a bunch of our friends over to help celebrate. Sue hosted a great barbeque! Our friends, Colin & Lindsay managed to stop by with their son Shameus and their brand new daughter Brielle. We both got to hold her, and she was such a little doll. August had us gearing up for the last 2 weeks of training for our big marathon in Reykjavik, Iceland. Then off we went with Mike's mom & stepdad along for the experience to Iceland. Mike and I both successfully completed our first marathon. What an exhilarating feeling and even more so knowing that our group from Canada which existed of approx 180 people raised over $1,000,000. That added to the emotions of the experience. We as a couple raised just over $19,000. We were very proud of each other and our amazing accomplishments. We stayed in Iceland for a few days after the race and toured around with Mike's mom & stepdad. The four of us had a great time and loved Iceland. It's an amazingly beautiful country and we can't wait to go back again some day and see more of it. Also before we left for Iceland we managed to set our wedding date, book a hall and I found and ordered my dress. September seemed to come and go quite quickly as we recouped from the trip and marathon and started planning our wedding. Mike wound up his ball teams with a few tournaments one of which was at Nat Bailey Stadium. I'm not really sure where Oct, Nov & Dec have gone...but they have. End of September found us back at curling at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster. We have a lot of fun at our Friday night league. Mike has also joined the Men's Curling league this year and is having a lot of fun with that. The 2 nights a week that he is out, I'm trying to get some studying done for a course for work. October we had a farewell dinner with my folks and my step-sisters and their husbands, and our folks would leave for Palm Desert for the winter...lucky snow birds. First weekend of November found me at my best friend Rachel's for my bridal shower. My matron of honour and 2 bridesmaids, Rachel, Christy & Donni hosted a great shower. And in spite of the Pitt River Bridge being partially closed due to a horrific accident the turn out was still great. I got thoroughly spoiled at the shower and it was great to spend an afternoon with so many great ladies. Mid November I had my 3 girls over for Thai food and an invitation assembly party. We had a good time and managed to get a lot done and still gab & visit. The invitations went out shortly after and we received a lot of nice feed back on them. They turned out really nice if I do say so myself. It was fun being so creative and was great to have the help making it happen. Late November was my stagette hosted by my 3 awesome ladies. They did a great job and surprised me all day long. Picked me up in the morning for a spa day -- I got to have a pedicure and body massage. Heavenly. The four of us ladies had fun being pampered and then stopped for a bite of lunch afterwards. Was a great way to start off the day. I was then dropped back at home with the promise of being picked up between 5:30 and 6:00 and not to be too attached to the shirt I was wearing....well girls showed up to pick me up and gave me my attire for the evening....a graffiti shirt to wear and some other accessories. Off we headed in Rachel's mini van to dinner....Milestones...Yummy food, good drinks, and great women. Was a fun time. Then half of us had to head off to other commitments but half of us hopped back in Rach's van and off we went to.....The Foggy Dew in Coquitlam. We had a great night and the girls had a great list of "dare to do" stuff for me, and I managed to complete every single one of my tasks...much to I think their surprise and mine. It was a blast and I had a fabulous time. Drank lots, but not too much, if you know what I mean. I even got to dance on a table and then got handcuffed by the same bouncer and had a shooter bought for me. December was about working on some more wedding plans, and watching the reply cards come in. Got ready for Christmas too in there somehow. Over the course of the year we also managed to get together with our friends and family to share good times, and also with our game group fairly regularly -- which is always a good time.
Now here we are it's officially 2007 and only 12 days till we get married. I'm excited and can't wait to marry Michael. He's a great guy and we have so much fun together. Life with him is go-go-go and one big adventure after another. We have a lot we want to accomplish this coming year; we are going to enter our first bonspiel--wish us luck; wedding & honeymoon; scuba diving lessons and hopefully get out for a few dives over the course of the year; I have to finish my course for work by the end of April and I'm also instructing a walking clinic at the Running Room in Port Coquitlam for the Half Marathon and the Full Marathon; we have more fundraising to do as we prepare for our next Marathon in October, in Dublin, Ireland; and we hope to work on starting family. I'm sure there are other things we'll end up doing, just because that seems to be the way it is...but it's all good and I can't wait.
Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of Michael and Waleah.....
Can't wait for our big day and to share it with our family and friends.
Best Wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to each and everyone of you. And may all your goals and dreams come true.
My favourite quote.... "you miss 100% of the shots you do not take" by Wayne Gretzky.
So if you have a goal or a dream that you are contemplating....go for it!! If you don't, you'll be missing out, and just believe in yourself and you'll make anything you set out to do a reality.
Cheers,
Waleah (& Mike)
What a great year 2006 was. I got settled into my new home, with the help of Michael, especially after I broke my wrist....(okay that part -- broken wrist--was not so great). Especially because my curling year got cut short. We signed up for the Marathon and Fundraising as part of Team Diabetes Canada at the end of January. Went to visit my parents in Palm Desert in February and drove to Disneyland and Magic Mountain Six Flags park. That was my first trip to Disneyland....what a blast we had. Also my first time to Magic Mountain and on roller coasters.....I was nervous at first, but I had a blast and quickly got to see why Mike loves roller coasters....in fact I think one of my favourites even freaked him out! :)
When we came home it was time to start training and fundraising. That kept us pretty busy all spring and summer. In May we hosted our first fundraising event ever...it went really well, and we raised about $1500; the same weekend Mike's dad hosted a golf tournament as a fundraiser to help us out and he raised about $1200 -- what a successful weekend raising $2700 towards our $12,000 goal. Mike was keeping busy with his ball teams and training and me with cheering him on and training too. In late June, Mike surprised me and proposed to me at Burnaby Lake...making me one very happy lady!! In July we managed to get out on my parents boat with them for a weekend and had a great time. We also did a 20km hike around Stewart Island. A very pretty spot. That was how we celebrated my birthday. 2 weeks later is was Mike's big 30th birthday and we started the day by doing a 30km workout from our house to his mom's house out in Maple Ridge. After both of us soaking in the tub and getting refreshed, we had a bunch of our friends over to help celebrate. Sue hosted a great barbeque! Our friends, Colin & Lindsay managed to stop by with their son Shameus and their brand new daughter Brielle. We both got to hold her, and she was such a little doll. August had us gearing up for the last 2 weeks of training for our big marathon in Reykjavik, Iceland. Then off we went with Mike's mom & stepdad along for the experience to Iceland. Mike and I both successfully completed our first marathon. What an exhilarating feeling and even more so knowing that our group from Canada which existed of approx 180 people raised over $1,000,000. That added to the emotions of the experience. We as a couple raised just over $19,000. We were very proud of each other and our amazing accomplishments. We stayed in Iceland for a few days after the race and toured around with Mike's mom & stepdad. The four of us had a great time and loved Iceland. It's an amazingly beautiful country and we can't wait to go back again some day and see more of it. Also before we left for Iceland we managed to set our wedding date, book a hall and I found and ordered my dress. September seemed to come and go quite quickly as we recouped from the trip and marathon and started planning our wedding. Mike wound up his ball teams with a few tournaments one of which was at Nat Bailey Stadium. I'm not really sure where Oct, Nov & Dec have gone...but they have. End of September found us back at curling at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster. We have a lot of fun at our Friday night league. Mike has also joined the Men's Curling league this year and is having a lot of fun with that. The 2 nights a week that he is out, I'm trying to get some studying done for a course for work. October we had a farewell dinner with my folks and my step-sisters and their husbands, and our folks would leave for Palm Desert for the winter...lucky snow birds. First weekend of November found me at my best friend Rachel's for my bridal shower. My matron of honour and 2 bridesmaids, Rachel, Christy & Donni hosted a great shower. And in spite of the Pitt River Bridge being partially closed due to a horrific accident the turn out was still great. I got thoroughly spoiled at the shower and it was great to spend an afternoon with so many great ladies. Mid November I had my 3 girls over for Thai food and an invitation assembly party. We had a good time and managed to get a lot done and still gab & visit. The invitations went out shortly after and we received a lot of nice feed back on them. They turned out really nice if I do say so myself. It was fun being so creative and was great to have the help making it happen. Late November was my stagette hosted by my 3 awesome ladies. They did a great job and surprised me all day long. Picked me up in the morning for a spa day -- I got to have a pedicure and body massage. Heavenly. The four of us ladies had fun being pampered and then stopped for a bite of lunch afterwards. Was a great way to start off the day. I was then dropped back at home with the promise of being picked up between 5:30 and 6:00 and not to be too attached to the shirt I was wearing....well girls showed up to pick me up and gave me my attire for the evening....a graffiti shirt to wear and some other accessories. Off we headed in Rachel's mini van to dinner....Milestones...Yummy food, good drinks, and great women. Was a fun time. Then half of us had to head off to other commitments but half of us hopped back in Rach's van and off we went to.....The Foggy Dew in Coquitlam. We had a great night and the girls had a great list of "dare to do" stuff for me, and I managed to complete every single one of my tasks...much to I think their surprise and mine. It was a blast and I had a fabulous time. Drank lots, but not too much, if you know what I mean. I even got to dance on a table and then got handcuffed by the same bouncer and had a shooter bought for me. December was about working on some more wedding plans, and watching the reply cards come in. Got ready for Christmas too in there somehow. Over the course of the year we also managed to get together with our friends and family to share good times, and also with our game group fairly regularly -- which is always a good time.
Now here we are it's officially 2007 and only 12 days till we get married. I'm excited and can't wait to marry Michael. He's a great guy and we have so much fun together. Life with him is go-go-go and one big adventure after another. We have a lot we want to accomplish this coming year; we are going to enter our first bonspiel--wish us luck; wedding & honeymoon; scuba diving lessons and hopefully get out for a few dives over the course of the year; I have to finish my course for work by the end of April and I'm also instructing a walking clinic at the Running Room in Port Coquitlam for the Half Marathon and the Full Marathon; we have more fundraising to do as we prepare for our next Marathon in October, in Dublin, Ireland; and we hope to work on starting family. I'm sure there are other things we'll end up doing, just because that seems to be the way it is...but it's all good and I can't wait.
Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of Michael and Waleah.....
Can't wait for our big day and to share it with our family and friends.
Best Wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to each and everyone of you. And may all your goals and dreams come true.
My favourite quote.... "you miss 100% of the shots you do not take" by Wayne Gretzky.
So if you have a goal or a dream that you are contemplating....go for it!! If you don't, you'll be missing out, and just believe in yourself and you'll make anything you set out to do a reality.
Cheers,
Waleah (& Mike)
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Only 39 days till our BIG day!!
Life has been so incredibly busy lately and it just came to my attention that it's been a while since we updated our blog!! Our apologies to those who are so kind to stop by here regularly and check to see what we are up to.
I cannot believe it's only 20 days till Christmas and only 39 till the Wedding. Seems like time is flying by at warp speed. Now the Christmas parties are all starting up. Still have to figure out what to get the people on my list this year for Christmas. And of course continue to deal with Wedding preparations. I will say that things are falling into place nicely though. Mike has already taken the guys to the Tux shop (Debonair Formal Wear) -- so they are set for the big day. (Guys truly have it easy on that front!--show up, get measured and then a few days before the wedding, pick up Tuxes....now how easy is that!!). The bridesmaid dresses are in the works. My fabulous seamstress, Irina (Loma Couture) is hard at work creating 3 lovely dresses to match my 3 lovely ladies. They will be wearing black dresses created with a satin shell and a chiffon overlay. Cocktail length -- skirts will be the same but the tops of the dresses will be tailored to the individual. I like that there will be a flow to the dresses, but they will also be unique....Just like my friends who will be wearing them.
Speaking of dresses....Mine has finally arrived at the Bridal Gallery. Going to try it on this Thursday evening and get shoes and any other accessories I need. Making the trip with Mike's mom....Should be a fun evening!! I'm looking forward to sharing it with her, as my mom is out of town till the wedding.
We've ordered our "cake" (we went with something fun and a little less traditional!)-- Can't wait to see how it turns out....We know it will be yummy!! That's for sure. Already taste tested.
Invitations have been sent out and reply cards are trickling in. Almost half have been returned so far.
Going to apply for our marriage license this week and our liquor license too! We are having fun with the wedding plans. As I said things are falling into place with less than 6 weeks to go.
We will try to update our blog a little more often over the next while.
My girls hosted my stagette on Saturday, November 25th -- It was a great night!! They surprised me and took me to a spa in the morning for a massage & pedicure and then out for lunch to visit. I was then returned home to relax before I was picked up for the evenings festivities. The girls returned to my place just before 6pm to dress me up -- had to wear a graffiti shirt that everyone got to write on later on. Also ended up wearing a dollar store large engagement ring...very cute... also a tiera and a leigh (sp?) and a banner that said "Bride to Be". After a yummy dinner at Milestones and a good visit with some of the ladies...we party girls (only 6) piled into Rachel's mini van and off we drove through the snow to the Foggy Dew in Coquitlam. The bar was lots of fun and the girls had a "Dare to Do" list for me.....I managed to complete each and every task and even a couple of extras too!! Thanks to the bouncer who let me dance on the table and who later handcuffed me and bought me a shot at the bar. He added to the fun of the evening. The girls took great care of me and made sure that I had fun, but didn't make a complete fool of myself. I also didn't get too drunk! Felt great, happy & giddy and crazy enough to do all my dare to do tasks....including removing my bra without leaving the room; and getting a pair of guys boxers....well....actually I managed to get 2 pairs....Thanks Mark & Liam.....Rugby guys are wild & crazy!! Good times had by all. Thank you Rachel, Christy & Donni!! You girls rock.
Well I'm sure I could ramble on about more.....but I'll stop for now. Save something to add later in the week or next week.
Stay tuned for the new year as our fundraising will start up again and we'll start training in the new year for Dublin 2007! I will also be instructing a walking clinic at the Coquitlam Running room for Half/Full Marathon Walkers. Looking forward to the experience and the opportunity.
Take care and wishing you & yours all the best of the holiday season.
Waleah (& Mike)
I cannot believe it's only 20 days till Christmas and only 39 till the Wedding. Seems like time is flying by at warp speed. Now the Christmas parties are all starting up. Still have to figure out what to get the people on my list this year for Christmas. And of course continue to deal with Wedding preparations. I will say that things are falling into place nicely though. Mike has already taken the guys to the Tux shop (Debonair Formal Wear) -- so they are set for the big day. (Guys truly have it easy on that front!--show up, get measured and then a few days before the wedding, pick up Tuxes....now how easy is that!!). The bridesmaid dresses are in the works. My fabulous seamstress, Irina (Loma Couture) is hard at work creating 3 lovely dresses to match my 3 lovely ladies. They will be wearing black dresses created with a satin shell and a chiffon overlay. Cocktail length -- skirts will be the same but the tops of the dresses will be tailored to the individual. I like that there will be a flow to the dresses, but they will also be unique....Just like my friends who will be wearing them.
Speaking of dresses....Mine has finally arrived at the Bridal Gallery. Going to try it on this Thursday evening and get shoes and any other accessories I need. Making the trip with Mike's mom....Should be a fun evening!! I'm looking forward to sharing it with her, as my mom is out of town till the wedding.
We've ordered our "cake" (we went with something fun and a little less traditional!)-- Can't wait to see how it turns out....We know it will be yummy!! That's for sure. Already taste tested.
Invitations have been sent out and reply cards are trickling in. Almost half have been returned so far.
Going to apply for our marriage license this week and our liquor license too! We are having fun with the wedding plans. As I said things are falling into place with less than 6 weeks to go.
We will try to update our blog a little more often over the next while.
My girls hosted my stagette on Saturday, November 25th -- It was a great night!! They surprised me and took me to a spa in the morning for a massage & pedicure and then out for lunch to visit. I was then returned home to relax before I was picked up for the evenings festivities. The girls returned to my place just before 6pm to dress me up -- had to wear a graffiti shirt that everyone got to write on later on. Also ended up wearing a dollar store large engagement ring...very cute... also a tiera and a leigh (sp?) and a banner that said "Bride to Be". After a yummy dinner at Milestones and a good visit with some of the ladies...we party girls (only 6) piled into Rachel's mini van and off we drove through the snow to the Foggy Dew in Coquitlam. The bar was lots of fun and the girls had a "Dare to Do" list for me.....I managed to complete each and every task and even a couple of extras too!! Thanks to the bouncer who let me dance on the table and who later handcuffed me and bought me a shot at the bar. He added to the fun of the evening. The girls took great care of me and made sure that I had fun, but didn't make a complete fool of myself. I also didn't get too drunk! Felt great, happy & giddy and crazy enough to do all my dare to do tasks....including removing my bra without leaving the room; and getting a pair of guys boxers....well....actually I managed to get 2 pairs....Thanks Mark & Liam.....Rugby guys are wild & crazy!! Good times had by all. Thank you Rachel, Christy & Donni!! You girls rock.
Well I'm sure I could ramble on about more.....but I'll stop for now. Save something to add later in the week or next week.
Stay tuned for the new year as our fundraising will start up again and we'll start training in the new year for Dublin 2007! I will also be instructing a walking clinic at the Coquitlam Running room for Half/Full Marathon Walkers. Looking forward to the experience and the opportunity.
Take care and wishing you & yours all the best of the holiday season.
Waleah (& Mike)
Saturday, October 21, 2006
83 days till the wedding.....
A little under 3 months to go. Life is keeping us busy. Wedding plans are all falling into place. There are still a few key things to take care of over the next little while, but things are going good. Invitations should be going out in the next week or 2 at the most. I am making our wedding invitations and got our stationary from The Paper Poet on Columbia Street in New West. Tanya & Stacey there are awesome. Very helpful and filled with lots of great tips, especially if you are trying to save $ by doing the printing and work yourself. They also do beautiful designs in store if you have the budget for it. www.paperpoet.ca
My bridal shower is taking place on Sunday, Nov 5th and is being hosted by my awesome Matron of Honour, Rachel. She's a trooper as she's hosting the one and only shower for me and it's a large list of women!! Thanks again Rachel. I'm looking forward to the 5th and sharing an afternoon with some great ladies. Thanks to Christy & Donni too, my bridesmaids.
Pretty soon we'll have to start dealing with the bridesmaid dresses--we are having them made. Mike and I also need to figure out where to get our wedding cake from and make time to do an afternoon of tasting. Yummy...I hear this is one of the really fun things to do.
We recently did a bridal registery....we are registered at both The Bay and Home Outfitters. We basically registered for things we would either like to upgrade/update or things we'd love to have, but haven't gotten around to getting for ourselves yet. It was fun registering, even though we feel that we don't really need lots of stuff. This way people will have an option of gift, gift card or cash. Any money we get as gifts we'll put towards our next home.
The fall has been quite busy so far. Not much in the way of running/walking on our parts. I'm back to studying for a course for work. Canadian Insurance Course and the LLQP Exam (Life Licence Qualifying Program). It's self directed, so it takes time and discipline to work on it. Mike and I are curling again on Friday nights and I picked up a fancy pair of new curling shoes this year (got them on sale!--even better) and so far they seem to be helping out a bit. The first few times we went to curling I was really nervous as I had not been on the ice since I broke my wrist last January. But now 3rd week into it and I'm starting to get more comfortable and hopefully a few more weeks in and with some practice I'll be back to where I was last year before my injury and break from curling. Mike is now curling twice a week in addition to our Firday nights. He was recently invited to play in the Men's league and join three guys we now from our Friday nights. I told him to go for it, as this will help give me some time for studying.
I'm hoping to get back to either the gym or swimming in the near future. Need to get back to regular exercise....seems since we got home from the trip that has taken a back seat.
Well we just got home from the BC Lions game tonight. Was a fun evening. We stopped at the Boathouse and had a quick dinner with our friend Donni and some other people -- we helped Donni celebrate her big.....40....I still can't believe she's 40....you'd never believe it if no one told you.....She rocks. Then off to the game. We arrived a bit late, and BC was actually losing to Hamilton.....um hello guys!.....but we came back in the second half and played better and won 23 to 10. Next weekend is BC vs Winnipeg....Should be a great game and we are bringing some friends with us to the game.
Well time to sign off for now.
My bridal shower is taking place on Sunday, Nov 5th and is being hosted by my awesome Matron of Honour, Rachel. She's a trooper as she's hosting the one and only shower for me and it's a large list of women!! Thanks again Rachel. I'm looking forward to the 5th and sharing an afternoon with some great ladies. Thanks to Christy & Donni too, my bridesmaids.
Pretty soon we'll have to start dealing with the bridesmaid dresses--we are having them made. Mike and I also need to figure out where to get our wedding cake from and make time to do an afternoon of tasting. Yummy...I hear this is one of the really fun things to do.
We recently did a bridal registery....we are registered at both The Bay and Home Outfitters. We basically registered for things we would either like to upgrade/update or things we'd love to have, but haven't gotten around to getting for ourselves yet. It was fun registering, even though we feel that we don't really need lots of stuff. This way people will have an option of gift, gift card or cash. Any money we get as gifts we'll put towards our next home.
The fall has been quite busy so far. Not much in the way of running/walking on our parts. I'm back to studying for a course for work. Canadian Insurance Course and the LLQP Exam (Life Licence Qualifying Program). It's self directed, so it takes time and discipline to work on it. Mike and I are curling again on Friday nights and I picked up a fancy pair of new curling shoes this year (got them on sale!--even better) and so far they seem to be helping out a bit. The first few times we went to curling I was really nervous as I had not been on the ice since I broke my wrist last January. But now 3rd week into it and I'm starting to get more comfortable and hopefully a few more weeks in and with some practice I'll be back to where I was last year before my injury and break from curling. Mike is now curling twice a week in addition to our Firday nights. He was recently invited to play in the Men's league and join three guys we now from our Friday nights. I told him to go for it, as this will help give me some time for studying.
I'm hoping to get back to either the gym or swimming in the near future. Need to get back to regular exercise....seems since we got home from the trip that has taken a back seat.
Well we just got home from the BC Lions game tonight. Was a fun evening. We stopped at the Boathouse and had a quick dinner with our friend Donni and some other people -- we helped Donni celebrate her big.....40....I still can't believe she's 40....you'd never believe it if no one told you.....She rocks. Then off to the game. We arrived a bit late, and BC was actually losing to Hamilton.....um hello guys!.....but we came back in the second half and played better and won 23 to 10. Next weekend is BC vs Winnipeg....Should be a great game and we are bringing some friends with us to the game.
Well time to sign off for now.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Only 4 months till our Wedding Day
We just got home from meeting with Rev. Brent Sheppard. He will be officiating our wedding ceremony. What a great guy. We had a good time chatting with him and getting to know a bit about him while letting him get to know us. Our wedding day is going to be a lot fun and very special. I'm glad we've chosen Brent!! He's one of those people you like instantly. He's got the same easy going style and good sense of humour that we do. He's a good fit for us. You can find out a bit more about him at www.heyrev.com
Last night I met with the decorator who will help beautify the firefighters hall. I'm looking forward to working with her. Great lady -- Patricia Rosselli at Sweet Beginnings. www.asweetbeginning.com.
We booked our DJ this week and also a Solo Harpist to play at the ceremony. I've been playing around with wedding invitation ideas and will get working on those shortly. Our wedding plans are coming together one by one. Next on the list is a photographer. We have a meeting for this Friday and we'll see how that goes.
Can't believe it's only 4 months till we get married. We've chosen our vows already and they are fitting to us. Also are in the process of choosing our wedding bands.
Well that's enough wedding babbling....stay tuned for the adventures of Waleah & Mike as we approach the start of curling season (hopefully my bones stay in tact this year!), our wedding and a new year of fundraising and training for Dublin 2007 (our SECOND marathon!). Life is grand and one big adventure. Hold on tight and enjoy the ride.
Last night I met with the decorator who will help beautify the firefighters hall. I'm looking forward to working with her. Great lady -- Patricia Rosselli at Sweet Beginnings. www.asweetbeginning.com.
We booked our DJ this week and also a Solo Harpist to play at the ceremony. I've been playing around with wedding invitation ideas and will get working on those shortly. Our wedding plans are coming together one by one. Next on the list is a photographer. We have a meeting for this Friday and we'll see how that goes.
Can't believe it's only 4 months till we get married. We've chosen our vows already and they are fitting to us. Also are in the process of choosing our wedding bands.
Well that's enough wedding babbling....stay tuned for the adventures of Waleah & Mike as we approach the start of curling season (hopefully my bones stay in tact this year!), our wedding and a new year of fundraising and training for Dublin 2007 (our SECOND marathon!). Life is grand and one big adventure. Hold on tight and enjoy the ride.
Hello again!
Lots of stuff to let you all know about.
Well, we've take some time to chill and relax after the long haul of training for the Marathon. We've (ok mostly Waleah) been busy trying to get everything booked for the wedding. We haven't done any running since the marathon (bad us), but I've set my sights on the Fall Classic Half-Marathon in November. Time to start training again! I've looked over the training schedule and compared to the full marathon it seems so much easier, it's a good thing I really didn't think committing to the marathon very thoroughly because I probably would never have done it.
We'll be out at the Poco Rivers and Trail half marathon on September 24th as volunteers and to cheer everyone else on, it seems like a good way to spend a Sunday morning and to get involved in the running community.
There is also this amazing website at http://www.blurb.com . What it allows you to do is download software and put a book together, you upload it back and the will print a copy of the book for you. The quality of the book is pretty amazing, almost like a coffee table book that you would purchase from the store. I ordered a single copy as a gift for Waleah and needless to say she was VERY surprised. Here is the link for our book
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/20288
Our next goal? Well besides finishing wedding plans? We have conquered 42km of Reykjavik and raised a whopping $19,000, but there are 42km of Dublin streets that have not seen our feet, and over a million dollars was raised by the Iceland Team Diabetes, we think that we'll just have to be a part of another million dollars to the Canadian Diabetes Association raised by Team Diabetes. The thermometer is to be reset soon, and again, we thank all who donated. If you are looking for a cause to contribute to on a regular basis, please consider the Canadian Diabetes Association, we'll be training and fundraising hard for this cause that is so important to us.
Cheers!
Mike and Waleah
Team Diabetes Dublin 2007
Team Diabetes Iceland 2006
Well, we've take some time to chill and relax after the long haul of training for the Marathon. We've (ok mostly Waleah) been busy trying to get everything booked for the wedding. We haven't done any running since the marathon (bad us), but I've set my sights on the Fall Classic Half-Marathon in November. Time to start training again! I've looked over the training schedule and compared to the full marathon it seems so much easier, it's a good thing I really didn't think committing to the marathon very thoroughly because I probably would never have done it.
We'll be out at the Poco Rivers and Trail half marathon on September 24th as volunteers and to cheer everyone else on, it seems like a good way to spend a Sunday morning and to get involved in the running community.
There is also this amazing website at http://www.blurb.com . What it allows you to do is download software and put a book together, you upload it back and the will print a copy of the book for you. The quality of the book is pretty amazing, almost like a coffee table book that you would purchase from the store. I ordered a single copy as a gift for Waleah and needless to say she was VERY surprised. Here is the link for our book
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/20288
Our next goal? Well besides finishing wedding plans? We have conquered 42km of Reykjavik and raised a whopping $19,000, but there are 42km of Dublin streets that have not seen our feet, and over a million dollars was raised by the Iceland Team Diabetes, we think that we'll just have to be a part of another million dollars to the Canadian Diabetes Association raised by Team Diabetes. The thermometer is to be reset soon, and again, we thank all who donated. If you are looking for a cause to contribute to on a regular basis, please consider the Canadian Diabetes Association, we'll be training and fundraising hard for this cause that is so important to us.
Cheers!
Mike and Waleah
Team Diabetes Dublin 2007
Team Diabetes Iceland 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
One Week later.
Wow, here I am Monday afternoon at work (and now monday night at home) reflecting on our trip after being asked a gazillion times how the trip was.
Iceland is amazingly beautiful, Waleah mentioned earlier that we would love to go back someday soon and I cannot wait.
The scenery was so diverse it was unlike anywhere I have ever been. I would highly recommend to anyone to make the trip (as expensive as it is, totally worth it if you love nature.)
Culture night in Reykjavik was a total gong show, it reminded me of seeing the downtown's on TV when Edmonton and Calgary were making their playoff runs in the Stanley Cup, people on the streets drinking and partying until 6:00am. The cops just stood on the sidelines letting it all happen and only moved to break up trouble (which doesn't happen as much as I would expect), walking around our hotels at 2:00am was kinda surreal to be honest.
Natalie from work mentioned to me today she has a friend with a poster that says,
"A Marathon Runner has one less thing to complete in life"
The feeling of just finishing the marathon was amazing, when Waleah and I crossed that line in front of strangers, team-mates and my parents it made these last 8 months of training and fund-raising all worth-while. I was saying before the marathon that I didn't think I would ever do another, but now I'd be surprised if I didn't. The run itself was very tough, even though the first 18km went really well, I started off at a good pace and joined a couple of other Team D runners, Ryan and Paul. At about the 2km mark there was someone cheering us on that had a sign "Race your Pace", it was a great reminder not to get too caught up in the excitement and thank god for my GPS which gives me an instant pace, there were a couple of times we really started to speed up after running past people cheering us on and I was able to slow down. Paul pulled away from us at about the 8km mark and when we crossed the 10km marker at 1:07 I was very happy.
10k in I was feeling strong and ready to conquer. We passed my Mom and Graham at about 11km and got another boost of energy. By this time there was a small group of us and Ryan and I were being drafted since the wind was so strong. It didn't seem to matter which way we were running there always seemed to be a strong headwind, never a tailwind. Everything was going well until the 18km mark. My calves started to cramp something fierce, it happened in a pretty long hill and some doubt started to creep in. From there I started to walk quite a bit more. I was able to keep a good walking pace of about an 8-9 minute km but whenever I started to run the cramps came back after a couple of minutes. I crossed the halfway mark at 2:28 and was quite happy to get in under the 2:30 mark. At this point of the run it became very lonely, there was a guy from Winnipeg and another lady within sight of me but we were running in a park and there were very few people to cheer us on, one particularly fond memory was coming out of an underpass, turning a corner and seeing a wonderful waterfall. This was about the time the quads started to cramp, every water station I was taking a couple of PowerAde's and refilling my water bottle to try to rehydrate my legs so I could run some more. I did this until I caught up with Waleah.
When I saw her I ran about half a km to catch up and when I did slow down I could barely walk. From there Waleah and I walked (and ran for short 1-2 minute intervals) at varying paces fast and slow until the end. Mom and Graham met us at about 30km and told us they would meet us at the finish line, I'm glad that we were able to spend the last part of the race together, not letting the other give up or slow down too much. John (a running room trainer) met us at about 38km to make sure we were ok and didn't need anything, with some words of encouragement he sent us along and proceeded to keep going back to make sure all of us Team D members were accounted for and "brought in". I will mention that John started at 8:00am with the charity start and backtracked who knows how many times to check in on all of us Team D members, in the end I'd guess he did over 50km that day. As hard as the last 4km were there were Team D people there to cheer us on and make it a little more bearable, Steve (another Running Room trainer) met us at 41km and told us what to expect at the finish line, when Waleah told him we were going to run that last bit I think he was surprised. Once we came around the corner and saw the finish line and that 42km cone, we took off and ran that last 200 meters, I honestly did not think I was going to be able to do it since my legs cramped almost immediately, the main thing that kept me going was fear of failure in front of all those people watching and cheering us on. When that medal was put over my head it was a pretty damn good feeling and when Waleah and I were able to stop and say "we just did a marathon together " it was even better.
I am very glad that I took a chance and asked Waleah if she thought we could do this, I wouldn't trade the last 8 months for anything, spending time with Waleah for a great cause, and completing a couple of our life goals has given me that feeling that we can and will do anything. The seeds of a half-marathon have been planted for the end of september and even further down the road Mike and Waleah may be a part of Team Diabetes Dublin 2007. Who knows? We met so many wonderful people online and in Iceland it will be well worth the hard work all over again.
Even though the marathon and Iceland are now in the past, we do still plan to post about our upcoming wedding and future runs and crazy ideas that I have, so all of you Team D members keep checking in and we'll keep an eye on you too, and if you are in Vancouver for a stay, we're more than willing to head out for dinner and a couple of drinks.
Cheers!
Mike
PS: yes, pics will be coming, it takes a while to sort and upload 600+ photos.....
Iceland is amazingly beautiful, Waleah mentioned earlier that we would love to go back someday soon and I cannot wait.
The scenery was so diverse it was unlike anywhere I have ever been. I would highly recommend to anyone to make the trip (as expensive as it is, totally worth it if you love nature.)
Culture night in Reykjavik was a total gong show, it reminded me of seeing the downtown's on TV when Edmonton and Calgary were making their playoff runs in the Stanley Cup, people on the streets drinking and partying until 6:00am. The cops just stood on the sidelines letting it all happen and only moved to break up trouble (which doesn't happen as much as I would expect), walking around our hotels at 2:00am was kinda surreal to be honest.
Natalie from work mentioned to me today she has a friend with a poster that says,
"A Marathon Runner has one less thing to complete in life"
The feeling of just finishing the marathon was amazing, when Waleah and I crossed that line in front of strangers, team-mates and my parents it made these last 8 months of training and fund-raising all worth-while. I was saying before the marathon that I didn't think I would ever do another, but now I'd be surprised if I didn't. The run itself was very tough, even though the first 18km went really well, I started off at a good pace and joined a couple of other Team D runners, Ryan and Paul. At about the 2km mark there was someone cheering us on that had a sign "Race your Pace", it was a great reminder not to get too caught up in the excitement and thank god for my GPS which gives me an instant pace, there were a couple of times we really started to speed up after running past people cheering us on and I was able to slow down. Paul pulled away from us at about the 8km mark and when we crossed the 10km marker at 1:07 I was very happy.
10k in I was feeling strong and ready to conquer. We passed my Mom and Graham at about 11km and got another boost of energy. By this time there was a small group of us and Ryan and I were being drafted since the wind was so strong. It didn't seem to matter which way we were running there always seemed to be a strong headwind, never a tailwind. Everything was going well until the 18km mark. My calves started to cramp something fierce, it happened in a pretty long hill and some doubt started to creep in. From there I started to walk quite a bit more. I was able to keep a good walking pace of about an 8-9 minute km but whenever I started to run the cramps came back after a couple of minutes. I crossed the halfway mark at 2:28 and was quite happy to get in under the 2:30 mark. At this point of the run it became very lonely, there was a guy from Winnipeg and another lady within sight of me but we were running in a park and there were very few people to cheer us on, one particularly fond memory was coming out of an underpass, turning a corner and seeing a wonderful waterfall. This was about the time the quads started to cramp, every water station I was taking a couple of PowerAde's and refilling my water bottle to try to rehydrate my legs so I could run some more. I did this until I caught up with Waleah.
When I saw her I ran about half a km to catch up and when I did slow down I could barely walk. From there Waleah and I walked (and ran for short 1-2 minute intervals) at varying paces fast and slow until the end. Mom and Graham met us at about 30km and told us they would meet us at the finish line, I'm glad that we were able to spend the last part of the race together, not letting the other give up or slow down too much. John (a running room trainer) met us at about 38km to make sure we were ok and didn't need anything, with some words of encouragement he sent us along and proceeded to keep going back to make sure all of us Team D members were accounted for and "brought in". I will mention that John started at 8:00am with the charity start and backtracked who knows how many times to check in on all of us Team D members, in the end I'd guess he did over 50km that day. As hard as the last 4km were there were Team D people there to cheer us on and make it a little more bearable, Steve (another Running Room trainer) met us at 41km and told us what to expect at the finish line, when Waleah told him we were going to run that last bit I think he was surprised. Once we came around the corner and saw the finish line and that 42km cone, we took off and ran that last 200 meters, I honestly did not think I was going to be able to do it since my legs cramped almost immediately, the main thing that kept me going was fear of failure in front of all those people watching and cheering us on. When that medal was put over my head it was a pretty damn good feeling and when Waleah and I were able to stop and say "we just did a marathon together " it was even better.
I am very glad that I took a chance and asked Waleah if she thought we could do this, I wouldn't trade the last 8 months for anything, spending time with Waleah for a great cause, and completing a couple of our life goals has given me that feeling that we can and will do anything. The seeds of a half-marathon have been planted for the end of september and even further down the road Mike and Waleah may be a part of Team Diabetes Dublin 2007. Who knows? We met so many wonderful people online and in Iceland it will be well worth the hard work all over again.
Even though the marathon and Iceland are now in the past, we do still plan to post about our upcoming wedding and future runs and crazy ideas that I have, so all of you Team D members keep checking in and we'll keep an eye on you too, and if you are in Vancouver for a stay, we're more than willing to head out for dinner and a couple of drinks.
Cheers!
Mike
PS: yes, pics will be coming, it takes a while to sort and upload 600+ photos.....
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Marathon Finishers!!!
Here's a photo of us on Saturday, August 19, 2006 after we crossed the finish line of our first Full Marathon. We were both still smiling!! It was a tough course with lots (and I mean LOTS) of wind!! There were 40% rolling hills throughout and 60% flat. Even though it took a long time to complete the marathon, we both felt pretty good and very proud of ourselves and eachother for completing the event. The best part was when Mike caught up to me and we finished the race together and even managed to jog across the finsih line holding hands. What a great day and what a great experience.Thanks to everyone again for their support and encouragement these past few months, and a special thanks to Mom and Graham for accompanying us on the trip and for being such a great cheering section! It was great seeing them at the 10.5 km marker and the 30km marker and again at the finish line cheering us across. It was an emotional day for us all and an exhilerating one. One we won't soon forget.
Cheers,
Waleah & Mike
PS: Pics to come soon!!!
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