Long absence

So things in my life have been a little tumultuous for the last little bit. Work's been hectic, my personal life has been in some yo yo rollercoaster and my ambition has been, to say the least, in the toilet.

I have been taking pictures for my 52 week challenge, but getting them from my camera to the computer has been a hit or miss type activity.  I am still enjoying doing all these things that I was blogging about but I've not felt the urge to blog, and when I have felt the urge to blog, an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion would overtake me and I would say,  "I'll just do it later."  Then later would come and well here we are almost two months of silence on my blog, I want to kick myself because I was doing so well, and then all of a sudden a brick wall.

The feeling of exhaustion reached to all parts of my life.  There were projects I wanted to get working on at work, but for awhile the thought of beginning any of those projects was just daunting so I put them off.  I knew I was due for a holiday and the holiday has done me very well. But prior to the vacation I was literally just a body with a heartbeat going through the daily motions I needed to accomplish.

Now that I am back from vacation I have lots to share with you, and I will begin from where I left off, prepare to be flooded with blogs from me, I do hope you find them entertaining and if you feel so inclined leave a comment.  Give me a couple days and my next new blog will be posted, I just need some time to come up with the blogs, write them and edit them before I post!!!

Talk soon!!

Skating in the Afternoons

Uncle Nellie came by with Aunti Rhi this afternoon!!! It's really nice to have them come visit!!  The boys always enjoy having Uncle and Aunti over, and it gives the other adults in the house a break from being the only entertainment on the block.

Today Uncle and Aunti took Chan out for lunch, they tired to take him to get his hair cut but the place was closed.  So after lunch they returned and had a visit with little man. After much cajoling we took Lil Man out for a short skate.

Lil Man is still pretty uncertain on his feet in skates.  He would much rather have his boots on to play hockey on the ice then his skates.  But he is willing to try if you are persuasive enough with him.

We took out two mini sticks, a soft puck, his skates, helmet and a red chair to do the skating today.  Lil Man had a little anxiety about putting the skates on, but he put them on and was out skating for ten minutes before he began to want to call it quits.

First he skated around with Uncle's help

Second he skated using the red chair.

Third, he sat on the chair and Uncle zipped him around the skating rink.  He looked terrified as Uncle took him around corners.  Lil Man was frozen stiff on his chair, and when that ride was done, so was he with skating.

We took his skates off and put his boots back on and Lil man went to play hockey on the ice.  He played for five minutes then we left and came back home.  I think next time we go skating it will be earlier in the day as Lil Man was a little cranky guts the whole time we were out there.

Provost and Back

Yesterday I had the pleasure of traveling some Alberta highways to pick up Chan from Provost, where his father and I meet when Chan goes to visit Greg.  It is a 2 1/2 hour drive with no stops, but since it was just me driving yesterday, I loaded up my camera, ipad and iphone so I could take pictures along the route.  It took me 3 hours and 15 minutes to get to Provost and I was still early.

I loved this rearview mirror shot, I pulled over on the highway and took some pictures.  Some guy was walking his dog and asked if I was ok, that's when it became apparent that this was not something people regularly do.

Here's an old school site

I stopped a few times and was able to capture some really unique pictures.  I really like being able to get creative with my camera, and when you have kids this can be really easy, but sometimes it can be difficult.  Lil man is way more interested in seeing what the picture looks like then in actually posing for the picture.  Half the time Lil Man wants to take the pictures, he even has his own Fisher Price digital camera that he will carry around and take pictures of everyone. So this break where it was just me was a lot of fun, I was able to stop when I wanted and take pictures of the things I wanted an no one was in the car complaining of the stops!!


There are always deer and stuff on the road, but this trip displayed the animals in plenty.  I saw like three different herds of animals.  They were all out in the fields but it was fun capturing these pictures.




Alberta is known for it's oil field when you drive to Provost there are all kinds of Pump Jacks and other oil field paraphernalia that it's hard to miss, but Alberta also have Windmills, I was trying to find a place to take a picture of a pump jack with a windmill in the background but those pictures never presented.  I thought the juxtaposition would have made a really neat photo.

Lil Man may become a photographer when he grows up, or it may just be a hobby for him, but I encourage him to take pictures and to have fun while doing it.  Chan has no interest in being behind the camera, and he's at the awkward stage of being a teenager where he doesn't really want to be in front of the camera either.

CATCA and Fifth Avenue Collection

Last week was the Central Alberta Teachers Conference put on by the Central Alberta Teachers Conference Association.  It was held on Thursday and Friday during Red Deer College's reading week.  I actually think it was reading week everywhere, but only a the college had the whole week off in Red Deer, school was in session for Tuesday and Wednesday.  

I had signed up to have a booth at the conference where I sold my Fifth Avenue Collection.  It was a busy two days.  I was able to visit with a lot of people that I hadn't seen in a long time and I met some great new people as well.  I enjoy doing the CATCA event because it allows me to be in contact with some great people and it's a great networking opportunity for me.  

I didn't have as many sales as I would have liked, but I did have a lot of lookers and many people filled in forms to win my draw, it was a great two days.  Here are some of the items I had for sale, if you are interested in any of these items you can go here to look at my website.  You can order online, or you can email me at jennlacourse@facmail.com and place your order that way!!!

Have a sparkling day!!!

Update!!!!

So awhile ago I posted how I was making lifestyle changes in order to become a healthy weight again, and I was saying how I wanted to get back into my size ten jeans.  Does everyone remember that??  Here's a link to that post.new me

So here is my update, as of last Friday when I stepped on the god Forsaken scale, the numbers were 10 pounds less than they had been on New Years Day!!!  I reached my first milestone goal!!!! I was elated, jubilant.  Now I get to set my next set of goals!!!  Here are some happy pictures about my progress.

So now I have to set a new milestone to reach. I would like to be down another 10 pounds by my sisters wedding in April.  I know that I can do this, I just have to keep doing what I have been doing and my weight will keep decreasing.  Currently I am fitting into a size 12 comfortably, and size 14 are now my fat pants!!!  

So Goal #1: To lose 10 pounds by April 18th!!

Goal #2: To exercise at minimum 3 times a week

Goal #3: To reach week 9 of the runners training sheet by April 18th.

All these seem reachable and measurable and within the realm of possibility!!!  Can't wait to post more on these goals!!

Week seven 52 Photo Challenge Free week

So week seven was a free week, and I couldn't even get anything photographed that I was happy with so I waited until my family day trip and I submitted some of those photos.  Here are my favourites from that day!!!

It was a fun day, the only thing that would have made it better would have been having Chan home with us!!!

Week Six Photo Challenge Fearless

Ok I am behind in my blogging a bit, so I need to catch you up.  We are actually into week eight as I post this blog.  But week six was Fearless.  Come up with good photos to encapsulate a theme can be difficult, and sometimes you do need a preamble to why the photo represents the theme.  So I will tell you a story.

Many years ago, I became afraid to leave my, then, boyfriend.  We weren't good for each other, we were constantly fighting and I was miserable.  But he offered me a sense of security that I wasn't ready to let go.  I was competent, I was putting myself through school, I was putting food on the table, I was taking care of my little guy and I was doing it all without his help.  But I had painted him in my mind as vindictive, I  firmly believed that if we broke up he would take all the furniture from my house that was his, the kitchen table, the television, the couch and I would be left with very little and that because I would have been left with so little he may have tried to take my son from me as well.  So I couldn't leave, I couldn't walk away.  For three years at New Years I made a resolution, I was going to break up with him, if I wasn't genuinely happy with him in 90 days.  But I became complacent, it's a devil of a thing to become, and I stayed for 730 days longer than I should have.  The third year I made the resolution I kept it, I didn't give myself 90 days, I just determined that I was done, so I called him, and he knew what was coming. Neither of us were happy, but we were trying to make it work for our little guy.

I finally left, I left my comfort zone and it was such a growing experience for me. I learned that people aren't always the devils you make them out to be.  My ex did not take the furniture that was in our house, he wanted his son, our son, to have furniture so he could have a life.  I also learned that I could stand on my own two feet and that I truly was strong without him.  I learned that just because I was scared didn't mean it wasn't the right decision and that it was ok to take risks.  Was the time after the break up hard, sure it was, we had been together for 5 years, I went through a bit of depression for awhile, I was angry with him, he moved on, found another date and even got married before I was ready to settle in with my life partner. I have a bit of jealousy over that. He was such a bad person in my mind that I couldn't understand why he was getting everything I wanted!!!! I worked through those things though and I faced my fear, which opened the door for me to be able to face another fear.

I had always talked about moving from Saskatchewan to Alberta, I'd talked about it from year two of University, 5 years later, I actually decided to make it happen. I left the comfort of my familiar surrounds, my mom, my sister, my friends, my life.  I packed up a uhaul and drove 5 hours until I made it to Red Deer.  I've now lived in Red Deer for 6 years.  It's definitely been a rollercoaster ride, sometimes it's great other times I wonder why the hell I moved from Saskatchewan. I miss Saskatchewan on a weekly basis, or at least the people from Saskatchewan, they are a different breed, be it good or bad, it's something that I actually cherish.  But I was terrified to leave what I knew to move to a new place full of unknowns, with no full time job, and no real prospects.  But I did it and I am honestly glad I did, so that leads us to my picture for fearless.

I don't think you can be fearless without knowing you have a fear to face, so how I show this in a picture is like this.

A packed suitcase, by a door, ready to go. I'm not afraid to go out into the world and try new things  That for me is fearless!!!

I liked this angle because it demonstrates that even though the challenges and trials may seem huge you can take them on, and if it doesn't always work out, you can come back home, which is why I had my home door in the shot as well!!

Finally once you've faced the fears, conquered the challenges they don't seem as big as they once were. Had I been prone to panic attacks, I am sure I would have had a few driving to Red Deer in my uhaul.