Making Some Changes

As a personal trainer and one time competitor, I have always had my fair share of "fake" stuff in my diet. I try to eat a diet of lean protein and veggies (which I seriously struggle with on account of a mostly hate relationship with meat) but there's a lot of fake stuff around. I've had sugar free gum in my diet, diet pop, diet this, diet that. And then there's Splenda.

You guys, I have a Splenda problem. I'm dead serious. I have never been able to quit Splenda. I tried a few times. To paint you a picture, I only have Splenda in my coffee really (although it is added into other products that I have, more on that later in this post) BUT the problem is I LOVE Splenda. It's the only thing I like in my coffee and I love my coffee. But it's not real and so the time has come where it needs to go.

September is going to be a Splenda free month. I will use only Stevia in my coffee.

I'm putting it on here so I can be accountable. I will update and tell you guys how it's going. In an effort to reduce toxins in my body and home, I've also replaced my laundry detergent, shampoo, and conditioner with organic/natural versions. I also bought all natural vanilla protein powder for smoothies. I also plan to buy organic coffee so if anyone has any recommendations on a good one let me know!

September is going to be a detoxifying month so I'll be posting on different ways I'm doing that. There really are so many toxins in everything and I've always gotten overwhelmed at the thought of trying to go cold turkey on everything. So I've decided to just slowly change over. As I run out of things in my house, I will try to replace them with greener, less toxic versions. I find that these things are becoming more readily available for not much more than the regular stuff.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Fall Clothes and States Finds

I know, I know, it's still August, and there's still three weeks left of summer. Whoever decided summer ended for adults when kids go back to school is NOT my friend. I love summer, every last September day of it. I have more things planned to soak it all up.

Buuut...today is all rainy and I'm all cozy wearing my warm slippers, listening to the rain and it put me in the mood to write this post. 

I just cleaned out my closet and got rid of a TON of stuff. It has taken me a long time to get rid of all the "office wear" in my closet. Some things I kept because I thought that I may wear them one day. Yeah, no. Anything remotely office-ey gets donated to people who need it, cause I sure don't. On the downside, my closet was super empty in the "fall/winter" section until now.

I got a few great buys in the States this past weekend:

LC Lauren Conrad Sweater, Kohls

I've wanted cognac coloured boots forever, and although these aren't the exact color I was looking for, I loved them on sight! And then confirmed again at home when I tried on every possible outfit that would go with them.

G by Guess boots

My second ever pair of Converse because they are comfy and cute and half price.

I got some other cute things that I can't find pictures of but they're basics like a cream sweater (super soft) and black off the shoulder top (will never get sick of off the shoulder, ever) so I'll just post them when I wear them.

Everything that I bought looks great with my favourite jeans ever, jeggings from American Eagle. I resisted jeggings for the longest time (as well as leggings) and I was missing out. They look great, they're comfy, and they're perfect with boots! Next time they have a big sale, I'm going to buy them in black because I wear mine allll the time.

I feel like I talk about shopping all the time on here, but the reality is I only shop in the states because I rarely find anything here that I love. My policy for shopping is I can buy whatever I want as long as I really, really love it. I also have adapted my husband's view on shopping: Only buy good quality stuff. I'm glad I listened to him on these babies, which I saved my Christmas money for: 

Since it's raining today, I already wore these this morning, but I'm looking forward to wearing them this fall, especially to the Pumpkin Patch! 

Most Random Post Ever

Hmm, I have been pretty quiet here on my little blog and I'm not really sure why. The last couple weeks have been crazy with lots of events and after they were all done I was seriously exhausted. Being so tired made me take a look at how I was doing things. Sometimes you have to take a step back and look at what your doing and see if it makes sense or if you're just making life harder on yourself.

So my main focus this week has been clear out the clutter in my brain and in my house. Mostly in my house. Holy cow, does this ever make a huge difference. My house has been more sparkly than ever (not of the glitter variety, sadly) and it is so relaxing to have less clutter. I find myself much less stressed. Very interesting.

Last week, I didn't do anything really aaand I kinda loved it. Ohh I did do one thing, I picked up my bridesmaid dress for my besties wedding. It is probably one of the nicest dresses I've ever owned. Too bad 3 other girls will be wearing the same one...hahah totally kidding, I love all the bridesmaids and we're going to look amazing and make the beautiful bride proud! She is so gorgeous, I can't wait to see her all done up as a bride, I will probably cry. Can't show you yet, but the wedding will be here super soon and my favourite photog will be there to capture it all.

Ohh, something exciting you may have seen if we're Facebook friends: I have been working away on my website and I have it up live now! You can see it at www.tarenevans.com! This is basically my training website but will have recipes and anything to do with healthy living as well. I put it up before it was done just so my contact info for personal training is available to people. I have had several inquiries about training already! I absolutely adore working with people on their fitness goals, it is a true passion of mine.

Here's a little preview for you:

On the weekend, my mom, sis, and I did a last minute trip to the states for shopping.

slumber party in the hotel

Oh man, did we shop. My sister is like a little energizer bunny when it comes to shopping. She does NOT get tired. It was fun to shop with her because I don't really get tired either. We walked so much, I lost 3 pounds while I was away. Score!

waiting for sis at her favourite store Nordstrom rack

It's actually really entertaining when Jenn and I shop together. We shop really well together but we have such different tastes. People overhear us and laugh at the way we talk to each other. She's asking me if I like these like...bootie things. I like everything she wears on HER, she always looks great, but I don't like individual items. If you see me wearing ankle booties, aliens have taken over my body. Run.

Also got to try Panera while in the states. Super yummy, thank goodness we don't have one here. I can't handle all that carb goodness.

I got amazing deals from the states, it makes me think maybe I should post all my shopping tips in one post hmmm, coming soon maybe?

Have a great Monday! (If not, well, it's almost Tuesday!)

Ruben's Shoes

On Friday night, I went to a fundraiser for Ruben's shoes. If you haven't heard of them it's a pretty amazing story:

Kelly Strongitharm, co-founder of Three Sixty Financial Group, had the honour and privilege of meeting Ruben, the boy she had been sponsoring through World Vision for 7yrs, in December 2012.

Upon meeting Ruben and his family, Kelly felt an immediate connection, and although they had to communicate through a translator, the language of love is universal and was felt by all. Seeing how radically different life in the Dominican is, Kelly felt compelled to do something to give back to the community that affected her life so profoundly and thus Ruben’s Shoes was born.

The part that really tugged at my heartstrings is that if these kids don't have shoes, they can't go to school.  It's crazy that something so small that we take for granted (I definitely have way too many pairs of shoes) can completely change someone's life. A kid who gets shoes can go to school, get an education, and make a better life for himself.

Anyways, they have collected so many shoes that it became an issue trying to figure out how they were going to get all the shoes over there. One of my favourite clients turned friend and her best friend got involved and threw this fundraiser at the Townhall Public House in Surrey. 

So Friday night, I headed out to meet them (Sidenote, what the heck is up with google maps lately? They keep sending me to completely the wrong place!!) and after calling my Dad, I finally found the place. Sadly, my GPS completely drained my battery on the way over so I have zero pics of this fun event.  The girls had organized a few different games and fun raffles, one of them being a balloon pop. They sold tickets to pop a ballon, and each balloon had a 1/3 chance of having a prize in it. I donated some personal training sessions to encourage people to buy tickets, because who wouldn't want to win free training sessions? I met the girl that won my sessions and I can't wait to train her, she seems super nice and fun. I'm really lucky, I have so much fun with all my clients! 

To find out more about Ruben's shoes, please click here to read more info on this amazing charity and join their Facebook page here. There is a really great video on their Facebook page you can watch to find out what they're up to.

On a completely different note, this is kinda all I got for weekend update. Saturday I worked allll day, then my sis and I headed out to help the same girls from the fundraiser with another event they were throwing in this amazing house. I had to snap a picture on one of my dream list items from this post.

After we were done, we met up with our husbands at Cactus Club for a nice dinner on the patio. Unfortunately, I think I've worked myself ragged because I woke up Sunday morning feeling like complete ass and didn't get out of bed all day. Feeling much better today and ready to tackle the week!

Dresses, Dogs & Photoshoots

I haven't had a random post in awhile so here we go -

First of all, I have been making some changes to my blog, I honestly love blogging probably just as much as I love training. Someday it may be even part of my career, I think. Either way it's a super fun part of my life and thank you all so much for reading!

You may have noticed my super cute new pic on the side over there ----> 

These pics I had taken recently for my personal training business, my amazing photographer, Carol-Ann of Carol-Ann Photography suggested I bring my dog for some fun pics. This is why I love her.  She also took this pic which I can't get enough of. That face!

I also have a Facebook page where I do updates with my new posts. Click here to join!

Last night I had a dress swap with some friends. It started in Penticton, Hilary and I were exclaiming that we loved each others dresses. We somehow came up with the genius idea that we would swap a bunch of dresses so that we had fun new-to-us dresses to wear in the last few weeks of August. Such a great idea, right? So we exchanged dresses last night. Don't be surprised if you see me on the blog wearing a bunch of super cute dresses, I didn't go on a shopping spree!

I did, however, buy these.

It's been kinda rainy lately, and sometimes a bit cold which makes me think of fall. I try not to think about fall too much but then I saw these slippers at Costco. My mom has them and I always steal hers when I'm at her house. They're hard on the outside but very cozy on the inside. I didn't want to buy slippers in August but I didn't want to risk them getting sold out, so into my cart they went!

I have a crazy busy weekend so off I go, I will update you as soon as I have something fun to tell you.

Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner

I never did end up making a "summer bucket list" this summer like I did last year but one thing I never got to do last year is watch a movie in the park. I always saw this in movies and never realised they actually did it, but in Vancouver this has become a huge thing. The one movie I definitely wanted to see was Dirty Dancing. Not only did the idea of watching a movie outside totally appeal to me, it's one of my favourites and I haven't watched it in years. So Hilary and I decided it was worth doing, even though she went last summer.

Although getting to the park in Vancouver and finding a parking spot was near impossible and Hilary and I nearly gave up and went to dinner instead, I'm so glad we went because it was a really cool experience. There's something so peaceful about being cuddled up in a big blanket (this particular blanket had Beauty and the Beast characters all over it courtesy of Hilary) under the stars watching a great movie.

I have never been able to get Leigh to watch this movie. He thinks it's lame and also I think he thinks it's a musical. It occurred to me that movies these days just try so darn hard. This movie might not be academy award worthy but it's simple and fun and I loved watching it in the park.

Some tips for outdoor movie watching:

• get there ridiculously early. Like hours. We arrived an hour before the movie started and thankfully we got a decent spot but parking was insane.
• bring chairs. It's so much more comfy and everyone else has chairs so you can't see over them if you don't have them. Side note, the people behind us got super pissed that we sat in front of them with chairs, but literally everyone around us had chairs so I tried not to let it bother me, thankfully they left us alone once the movie started.
• bring a big ass blanky you can wrap around yourself, because it gets cold! No mosquito though which was awesome.
• don't be an asshat like me and charge your phone so you have something to do while you wait and also so you can take pictures!
• bring snacks unless you want to pay movie theatre prices for ok food. Next time Hilary and I are bringing a gourment picnic basket with brie and stuff because we're fancy.

All in all, even though it can be a giant pain, it's still such fun and summery activity, you should definitely try it at least once if you haven't already!

Pencticton Girls Weekend Shennanigans

I have so much to blog about right now, but lets start with my girl's trip to Penticton! Somehow we ended up going again on Peachfest weekend. We always go every year, and this year Hilary joined us as well! On Friday morning, we all piled into our Tuscon and drove off to Pentiction. I never drive on trips but I actually enjoyed it. It went by really fast, and I made a really fun CD to listen to. K, everyone laughed at me when I took it out but people still burn CD's right? I've had my phone for two years and I don't know how to put a playlist on it.

We got to Penticton and our room was ready, so we grabbed some lunch at this little place right on the beach.

We hung out on the beach after, which for some reason I have no photos of except for this one.

I grabbed these photos when we were waiting for our table at Salty's, our favourite Penticton restaurant. 

We asked this guy to take our pic, which he kindly agreed and then proceeded to get down on one knee to take the picture. Why? I have no clue. 

Celebratory shots because we have a lot to celebrate!

Celebratory big dogs/mexican bulldog/beergarita. Either way this one was not my fave.

Next morning, Hilary and I hanging out waiting for our turn at Paddleboarding!

Yes, we all tried it out, it was fun. I didn't' feel like doing it for longer than like ten minutes though.

Which is how this happened.

Way more my cup of tea.

We went back to Salty's for lunch, our favourite Wedge Salads (yeah, we went 4 times total. We're just loyal customers)

After that, we went down the channel. Nicole and J have long since nailed down the perfect channel set up. It has become the envy of other channel floating people. They comment on how it's set up to which I replied "This ain't our first rodeo" because I love saying that and I never get the chance. We always have our most random hilarious conversations on the channel.

Pretty Hilary!

 Me with my cup of choice. 

 Out for dinner at the Barking Parrot, a really fun big patio that turns into a bar later. We opted for staying there for most of the night rather than going out. I must be getting old because this was way more fun.

 Me and Hilary!

Margarita. Not the best one I've had though!

 Hilary and Nicole went Parasailing!

 J and I got a free boat ride out of it, which was awesome.

Looooove Pentiction.

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3 Years

Today is Leigh and I's third wedding anniversary. Earlier this summer we celebrated being together for 5 years. Half a decade! Where does time go? I'm so glad I married this guy! I won't get all mushy but no matter what's going on in our lives, he is my rock, my love and my best friend! I can't wait to celebrate tonight at our favourite restaurant!

The other day I found myself looking at pics from when we first got together and we've definitely grown up a little!

                                     

This pic is from the Summer of 2008.

I also remembered my favourite photographer (7 photo sessions and counting!) ever made us a photo slideshow for our wedding! Thank you for always capturing our memories Carol-Ann!

                      click below to view slideshow

www.carol-annphotography.com