I am one of the luckiest people in the world and I didn’t realize it until these past two years. Over the last year I have really determined what is important in my life and who I share that life with. And so I would like to tell you a little about the extra special ones that don’t seem to get the recognition they deserve.
My friend Tiffany is such a strong woman going thru one of the more horrible diagnoses ever, Multiple Sclerosis (MS). She was diagnosed a year or so after her mom died and doesn’t have too much family behind her except her sister. She lives alone through her struggles but has recently been with a really nice guy, and she deserves everything he has to offer her, finally. I’ve seen and heard the struggles and think that she is one of the strongest women I know and for that I am proud to be her friend. I am hoping she will conquer her fear of writing and will write something for us in our feature blog because I think you will find it inspiring and uplifting. See my pledge page for MS in the Average Way.
My friend Rebecca & Wanda, Rebecca is 10 years old and her mother is Wanda. They have lived with Cerebral Palsy for Rebecca’s whole life and they roll with the punches. Just last year they remodeled their home to accommodate Rebecca’s wheelchair and to give her some freedom by adding an elevator directly into her room with access to the other floors in the house. Recently Rebecca has undergone surgery on her hips and she has blogged about the experience on her own personal blog (http://bernardfamily.ca/blog.html). She still has another month and a bit to go in Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital but she is always smiling and Wanda and her husband Peter are there every step of the way. This Family has really opened my eyes and inspired me through their positive outlook on life. See my pledge page for Easter Seals in the Average Way.
My cousin Elizabeth and Janet, Elizabeth is 8 years old and her mother is Janet. They say that when Elizabeth was in the womb she had a seizure so when she was born the seizures never stopped and she had limited function in her left side. A couple of years ago, Janet and David (her dad, my uncle) had to make a risky decision when doctors approached them with an experimental surgery to take out the left side of Lizzy’s brain. Their thought was to avoid the storms in the right brain from disturbing the left brain and that it would stop the seizures. They went ahead and Lizzy has made progress by leaps and bounds, she is a joy to be around and full of life. Janet and David are so proud of her and the progress she has made, it has been a tough 8 years but they are starting to see some light.
Last but not least, Kenadie Jourdin Bromley. You will hear a lot from Brianne but I wanted to talk about my experiences with Kenadie. She doesn’t ever stop amazing me, you see I have known Brianne and Courtney since before Kenadie was born and therefore had the wonderful experience of knowing Kenadie before the whole world did. I saw her for the first time when they all came over one New Years and she was the tiniest most delicate thing I have ever seen. Brianne and Courtney as resilient as they are were so positive and doting on their daughter it was heart warming to see. Through the years I have watched her grow, welcome a baby brother into her life and persevere. She is constantly smiling that goofy grin, and has been so brave and fearless when you would think that no one that size could be. She has endured, made the most of her
Life thus far and seen the world all in a short 7 and a half years of her life. Kenadie and Brianne give me life everytime I see them, and the sunshine that beams from Kenadie’s smiles are priceless. See Kenadies website at www.littlekenadie.com
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Goodbye Cellulite! By Nivea
What words come to mind when we think of cellulite? Gross, dimples, annoying….most of us women have this totally unnecessary and self conscious body flaw. We will all spend money on treatments and products to try and get rid of the dreaded “cottage cheese”, but do they really work?
I have tried a few things in the past to get rid of this pesky flaw and was always so skeptical. One day I was watching the Tyra show http://www.tyra.com/ right before her last show and I love what she has done for females as far as lifestyle changes and body image. She even fully admits that she herself has cellulite but that she embraces it. So, this show was about cellulite and how they had partnered with Nivea Worldwide - NIVEA to market their new product called “goodbye cellulite”. It is a new serum they have concocted to combat the dimples on our skin. Along with some nutritional advice, exercise advice and a 14 day challenge the results that some of the women had were amazing.
Unfortunately for us Canadians (unless I am completely blind) we can’t get access to the 14 day challenge to find out what the nutritional and exercise advice is, but we can buy the product for approx $12 in local stores.
Since I watch what I eat and exercise on a daily basis (or try anywayz lol) I decided to pick me up a bottle and do my own 14 day challenge. I am at day 8 using it once a day and I am already seeing a difference, the gel has a nice smell to it, it goes on smoothly and is not sticky. I will start to use it twice a day and see if I can get even better results,
I give this product thumbs up and if you have cellulite you should definitely try this product!
I have tried a few things in the past to get rid of this pesky flaw and was always so skeptical. One day I was watching the Tyra show http://www.tyra.com/ right before her last show and I love what she has done for females as far as lifestyle changes and body image. She even fully admits that she herself has cellulite but that she embraces it. So, this show was about cellulite and how they had partnered with Nivea Worldwide - NIVEA to market their new product called “goodbye cellulite”. It is a new serum they have concocted to combat the dimples on our skin. Along with some nutritional advice, exercise advice and a 14 day challenge the results that some of the women had were amazing.
Unfortunately for us Canadians (unless I am completely blind) we can’t get access to the 14 day challenge to find out what the nutritional and exercise advice is, but we can buy the product for approx $12 in local stores.
Since I watch what I eat and exercise on a daily basis (or try anywayz lol) I decided to pick me up a bottle and do my own 14 day challenge. I am at day 8 using it once a day and I am already seeing a difference, the gel has a nice smell to it, it goes on smoothly and is not sticky. I will start to use it twice a day and see if I can get even better results,
I give this product thumbs up and if you have cellulite you should definitely try this product!
Before my boyfriend part I: When he breaks all the rules and gets your number from the records at work
As mentioned in my bio, I am currently with my boyfriend of several years and am very happy but I wanted to write about my single days and some of the horrific dates I went on just a few years ago.
My first story is about my car. I was driving down a country road at night and drove over what I thought was just a paper bag. When I rolled over it doing 80kmh the crushing sound of denting metal was all you could hear. There was no way I was going to pull over on this dark dank road by myself so I cursed the whole way home and to my dismay whatever was in that retched bag had scratched the passenger side of my car and put a huge dent in my rear wheel well. One week later I was up early to go to a volleyball tournament and lo and behold I run over a metal “thingy” in the middle of the highway and make matters worse. In the end I saved up some money and took the car to a local body shop that was recommended to me.
I honestly don’t remember too much of the experience except that the staff was very nice, the reception area was clean and orderly and they did a fantastic job on my car. A couple of days later I get this call from the guy (who apparently) I dealt with at the body shop; he got my number from the records and wonders if I would like to meet up for some dinner. Well, I thought this was a really sweet thing to do and agreed to go out with him the following Saturday.
Saturday rolls around and he picks me up. On the drive he asks if I golf so I said that I like the driving range, and that was perfect because we were going to his golf club for dinner. During the drive he begins to tell me a lot about the business problems he and his dad were going through and that he doesn’t have a car currently so the car he picked me up in is a loaner.
Business man? Check, Cute? Check Owns his own car? No check.
So we pull up and get out onto the driving range and I start cranking the ball (my previous baseball experience may have helped a little), well doesn’t he start complaining about how I sure knew how to take the romance out of a date….Seriously buddy if you thought you were going to come in behind and show me how to swing a golf club he had another thing coming. So, we proceed to dinner and have a great time. Despite his earlier tantrum we make arrangements for another date the following Saturday.
Fast Forward to the following Saturday at 8pm and I have called his cell a couple of times and I’m wondering what to do because of course there are other places I could be on a Saturday night! He finally calls to say that he is at a golf tournament in Pickering and he completely forgot our date (how important WAS I??) so he was going to have to cancel….well I NEVER! I told him to enjoy his tourney and off I went to party with some friends of mine.
Doesn’t he call me the next day tells me he has a surprise for me and he will pick me up in an hour….so I told him no, pick me up in 2 hours.
He shows up in this red prowler sports car, no flowers no nothing, says HI to my parents who gave him the jab about forgetting about our date the night before and we get in. Before we even pull out from the driveway he says to me that if I even think he is going to beg for my forgiveness about last night then I am sadly mistaken (who is this guy!). Then, if I thought it couldn’t get any worse he then tells me that he needs to find a wife (hello second date!) that is religious and goes to church on Sundays because golf is his religion and she needs something to do while he golf’s. After I subdue the shocking look on my face, I casually turn to him and tell him that shopping is my religion and as long as he gives me his credit card I would have no problem shopping while he golf’s.
His answer? As long as I came home with something for him. I WAS FURIOUS!
He then proceeds to take me to another golf club for dinner where the dining room is closed and we had to sit in the clubhouse to eat. I am not so prissy as to have this affect me but there was golf showing on the big screen TV and he was in heaven knowing he could watch golf on our date!
BORING!
I ordered what turned out to be my burnt grilled cheese and left for the bathroom. As I am pacing back and forth trying desperately for my phone to work (oh yes absolutely no cell service to boot!) trying to figure out what to do I head back to the table. At this point he really had been sulking the whole time so when I sat down I shoved my finger in his face and told him that if he didn’t stop sulking he would be taking me home because I was sick of it. He THEN started to apologize about everything but I told him I didn’t want to hear it. So, he took me for ice cream to make up for it.
It is 7pm, on a Sunday and we are sitting there eating our ice cream and he gets a phone call…..
FROM THE PERSON WHO OWNS THE SPORTS CAR
He needs to return it as they have to go out! I was floored, first of all who thinks that a car for a girl is a surprise and the fact that he didn’t spend any money to rent it for me was sooo unclassy. I mean, does this guy spend his money on anything other then golf?!?!?
Oh yeah, it’s not over yet…..
When he dropped me off I casually told him he wasn’t going to hear from me for awhile (if ever!) because I had all sorts of playoffs coming up for volleyball and baseball. Wouldn’t you know he calls and leaves a message (after I refused to answer my phone) about how he and the guys at the shop would take coffees if I am in the area (as if! Who says that anywayz?). Then calls again the following weekend, He starts laying into me about the fact that he doesn’t understand why he hasn’t heard from me and that when he likes someone he goes out of his way to make contact and who do I think I am. Do I think that he is going to sit there and read a newspaper and wait for me? I basically told him that I wouldn’t suggest doing that because he would be waiting a long time and that I would call him when I felt like it. Needless to say that night he kept calling my cell and I just cursed at it the first few times but then ignored his sorry ass.
My first story is about my car. I was driving down a country road at night and drove over what I thought was just a paper bag. When I rolled over it doing 80kmh the crushing sound of denting metal was all you could hear. There was no way I was going to pull over on this dark dank road by myself so I cursed the whole way home and to my dismay whatever was in that retched bag had scratched the passenger side of my car and put a huge dent in my rear wheel well. One week later I was up early to go to a volleyball tournament and lo and behold I run over a metal “thingy” in the middle of the highway and make matters worse. In the end I saved up some money and took the car to a local body shop that was recommended to me.
I honestly don’t remember too much of the experience except that the staff was very nice, the reception area was clean and orderly and they did a fantastic job on my car. A couple of days later I get this call from the guy (who apparently) I dealt with at the body shop; he got my number from the records and wonders if I would like to meet up for some dinner. Well, I thought this was a really sweet thing to do and agreed to go out with him the following Saturday.
Saturday rolls around and he picks me up. On the drive he asks if I golf so I said that I like the driving range, and that was perfect because we were going to his golf club for dinner. During the drive he begins to tell me a lot about the business problems he and his dad were going through and that he doesn’t have a car currently so the car he picked me up in is a loaner.
Business man? Check, Cute? Check Owns his own car? No check.
So we pull up and get out onto the driving range and I start cranking the ball (my previous baseball experience may have helped a little), well doesn’t he start complaining about how I sure knew how to take the romance out of a date….Seriously buddy if you thought you were going to come in behind and show me how to swing a golf club he had another thing coming. So, we proceed to dinner and have a great time. Despite his earlier tantrum we make arrangements for another date the following Saturday.
Fast Forward to the following Saturday at 8pm and I have called his cell a couple of times and I’m wondering what to do because of course there are other places I could be on a Saturday night! He finally calls to say that he is at a golf tournament in Pickering and he completely forgot our date (how important WAS I??) so he was going to have to cancel….well I NEVER! I told him to enjoy his tourney and off I went to party with some friends of mine.
Doesn’t he call me the next day tells me he has a surprise for me and he will pick me up in an hour….so I told him no, pick me up in 2 hours.
He shows up in this red prowler sports car, no flowers no nothing, says HI to my parents who gave him the jab about forgetting about our date the night before and we get in. Before we even pull out from the driveway he says to me that if I even think he is going to beg for my forgiveness about last night then I am sadly mistaken (who is this guy!). Then, if I thought it couldn’t get any worse he then tells me that he needs to find a wife (hello second date!) that is religious and goes to church on Sundays because golf is his religion and she needs something to do while he golf’s. After I subdue the shocking look on my face, I casually turn to him and tell him that shopping is my religion and as long as he gives me his credit card I would have no problem shopping while he golf’s.
His answer? As long as I came home with something for him. I WAS FURIOUS!
He then proceeds to take me to another golf club for dinner where the dining room is closed and we had to sit in the clubhouse to eat. I am not so prissy as to have this affect me but there was golf showing on the big screen TV and he was in heaven knowing he could watch golf on our date!
BORING!
I ordered what turned out to be my burnt grilled cheese and left for the bathroom. As I am pacing back and forth trying desperately for my phone to work (oh yes absolutely no cell service to boot!) trying to figure out what to do I head back to the table. At this point he really had been sulking the whole time so when I sat down I shoved my finger in his face and told him that if he didn’t stop sulking he would be taking me home because I was sick of it. He THEN started to apologize about everything but I told him I didn’t want to hear it. So, he took me for ice cream to make up for it.
It is 7pm, on a Sunday and we are sitting there eating our ice cream and he gets a phone call…..
FROM THE PERSON WHO OWNS THE SPORTS CAR
He needs to return it as they have to go out! I was floored, first of all who thinks that a car for a girl is a surprise and the fact that he didn’t spend any money to rent it for me was sooo unclassy. I mean, does this guy spend his money on anything other then golf?!?!?
Oh yeah, it’s not over yet…..
When he dropped me off I casually told him he wasn’t going to hear from me for awhile (if ever!) because I had all sorts of playoffs coming up for volleyball and baseball. Wouldn’t you know he calls and leaves a message (after I refused to answer my phone) about how he and the guys at the shop would take coffees if I am in the area (as if! Who says that anywayz?). Then calls again the following weekend, He starts laying into me about the fact that he doesn’t understand why he hasn’t heard from me and that when he likes someone he goes out of his way to make contact and who do I think I am. Do I think that he is going to sit there and read a newspaper and wait for me? I basically told him that I wouldn’t suggest doing that because he would be waiting a long time and that I would call him when I felt like it. Needless to say that night he kept calling my cell and I just cursed at it the first few times but then ignored his sorry ass.
All u Can Eat: to be healthy or not so healthy
My boyfriend loves this concept because he says that he always goes for quantity over quality.
Such a GUY response, don’t you think?
There are so many to choose from; Chinese buffet, All u can Eat Sushi, All u can eat seafood. Now I must say that ours are not as bad as the USA because not everything is fried, however it is still the concept of eating until you are so full that you have to undo a button….or two.
For someone who is trying to maintain or lose weight these places can be torture! It’s a great place to go with the family because of the variety and everyone will like something, but there is so much grease, msg, carbs, sodium and not to mention those delicious desserts that come in all shapes and sizes.
Where do you begin?
I don’t know about you but if I start with salad everyone at the table looks at me like i'm crazy because and I quote “you don’t go to a buffet to eat SA-AH-LAD” who needs that kind of pressure?!?! So, I scour the menu or the buffet tables for some vegetables, non-saturated meat or fish and then I’ll complete my plate with a little bit of naughtiness. I usually only have one plate plus salad and a dessert and I keep telling myself that as long as I am not going to buffet everyday…..oh who am I kidding I will be catching up at the gym all week anywayz!
All u can eat sushi is a little better, I try to have the low sodium soya sauce (yes it’s the one with the green lid…I was sooo happy when I figured that one out!), the white rice is a killer but I don’t think we are going to have that changed anytime soon but the rest is usually raw fish which is enriched with omega 3 and vitamin B. I will also indulge in some shrimp and veggie tempura because you have to have SOMETHING fried right?!?!?
Next time you are out at a buffet or all u can eat pick wisely, go a little overboard and stop fretting about the gym in moderation because life is about living and we all have our limitations so just respect them.
Such a GUY response, don’t you think?
There are so many to choose from; Chinese buffet, All u can Eat Sushi, All u can eat seafood. Now I must say that ours are not as bad as the USA because not everything is fried, however it is still the concept of eating until you are so full that you have to undo a button….or two.
For someone who is trying to maintain or lose weight these places can be torture! It’s a great place to go with the family because of the variety and everyone will like something, but there is so much grease, msg, carbs, sodium and not to mention those delicious desserts that come in all shapes and sizes.
Where do you begin?
I don’t know about you but if I start with salad everyone at the table looks at me like i'm crazy because and I quote “you don’t go to a buffet to eat SA-AH-LAD” who needs that kind of pressure?!?! So, I scour the menu or the buffet tables for some vegetables, non-saturated meat or fish and then I’ll complete my plate with a little bit of naughtiness. I usually only have one plate plus salad and a dessert and I keep telling myself that as long as I am not going to buffet everyday…..oh who am I kidding I will be catching up at the gym all week anywayz!
All u can eat sushi is a little better, I try to have the low sodium soya sauce (yes it’s the one with the green lid…I was sooo happy when I figured that one out!), the white rice is a killer but I don’t think we are going to have that changed anytime soon but the rest is usually raw fish which is enriched with omega 3 and vitamin B. I will also indulge in some shrimp and veggie tempura because you have to have SOMETHING fried right?!?!?
Next time you are out at a buffet or all u can eat pick wisely, go a little overboard and stop fretting about the gym in moderation because life is about living and we all have our limitations so just respect them.
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