The Igloo Ice Bar

 

One of my favorite things about Justin is that he doesn't do anything half way. When he gets an idea in his head he figures out every little detail, adds his own extras and goes the extra... ten miles. The spark of a little idea turns into absolute awesome-ness! So my third new thing this year involved us building a huge igloo type structure in our backyard… Justin style!

The week long project started by snow blowing the outline in the yard. We had perfect weather that week – although it was freezing, it allowed us to continuously build and thankfully the structure survived the one warm day in the middle of the week! By warm of course I mean just above freezing… it was a little droopy but still standing!

We worked every night for a week with the promise of an ice bar party on Saturday! We packed big plastic tubs full of snow and began building…

We sprayed each layer with water so it would freeze over night and be strong enough to put another layer on top the next night. This involved a lot of work with small portable sprayers that we had to fill up frequently in the tub upstairs, and or hauling the hose out of the basement because it’s too cold to leave it outside!

Layer number two….

Bo joined the team on night number two and the boys worked hard as I made dinner several nights in a row! Layer three made it up before the warm day hit us!

We did lose pillars that had to be re-built but layer four made it up the next night!

Insert homemade slab …

and torch for an ice luge,

homemade slab for ice bar equipped with ice shot glasses,

 

decorative ice candle holders,

fire,

and friends for a good time!

It was absolutely freezing that night – I think it was 4 degrees out, but we had a blast and stayed warm with chili, hot chocolate and standing very very close to the fire! It was quite a week and I think will become an annual event at the Bogle Drake house! Thank you to my Zumba class for reminding me to be silly, adventurous and have some fun! Winter is great if you make the most of it, get outside and play! Happy winter!

Zumba

So, I don't know if you have heard of this phenomenon called Zumba, but it seems to be taking over the world. It's everywhere and seems on the surface like something that I would LOVE. Not being a huge fan of scheduled, intentional exercise, but loving movement in many forms I finally thought, ok, it's time to try Zumba.
I went on a Saturday morning by myself. I forgave my gym buddy, Bo, the trip partly because I would never force him to attend something like Zumba, and partly because sometimes these sorts of things are best done alone. Some people (who I think exercise a lot) speak of the ability to clear their minds when they work out, do yoga, etc. I am not one of these people. I try, and I'm getting better at it, but I think Zumba gave me more of a mental work out than a physical one! Don't get me wrong, I was huffing and puffing, but I was completely stuck in my head because I didn't really like it. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a rather nice person. I try to be positive, see the big picture, not judge things or people too harshly... so I spent the whole class battling my own demons about why I wasn't having fun.
It was sort of a dance class meets aerobics class, but being someone who has taken many dance classes I struggled with wanting it to be more like dance. I wanted to perfect the moves, critique my performance, make improvements and well, be really good at it. Zumba brought up one of my biggest struggles. I want perfection. I'm not the kind of person who actually has to perfect everything, but I do internally struggle with wanting to be perfect at everything I do. Ha! Funny how even when you know something is ridiculous it still sticks with you...
Zumba was silly and fast paced and that is the point. Zumba isn't about perfection, it's about allowing yourself to let go, be silly, have fun and get a work out. And I had a really hard time doing it. What I did get out of it was an experience, a lesson, a reminder to let go and just go with it. I still feel like I should like it, so perhaps I will go back when the mood strikes me. Getting out and experiencing new things is incredibly important, and whether you like them or not you almost always get something out of it; so thank you Zumba for stirring my inner demons! They needed some exercise too.

A New Thing

Being sick and on the couch for much of this week gave me some time to think. Throughout the stress of looking for work, thinking about starting a practice, finances, worrying about how to meet all of my current goals despite my semi-annual personal/professional crisis, the thing that floats to the top is happiness. I have frequent identity crisis' because my head is filled with all of the things I think I need to be happy. And they often take precedence over the things I just plain need to have, say for instance, reliable work, and... money. Unfortunately this is a vicious cycle as one needs to have money in order to... well, survive, but also to do some of the things that lead to happiness.
Somewhere in my haze of sickness and stress I realized that once again I have been in the lull of inactivity lately and it has to stop. I had a very busy fall which led to exhaustion and far too many colds, but I've had some recovery time now and it's time to get back into an actual life.

SO. I've decided that along the lines of a new years resolution (if you would like to call it that) I am going to try to do something new every week and write about it here. In an effort to get out into the world more and write regularly, I'm going to do even the smallest thing that I haven't done before or maybe just haven't done in a very long time, and use it as my inspiration to write. It could be taking the time to go into a shop I've never noticed, or a new walk with Lola, or a new activity of some sort. Attempting to run a 5k was a good start! I think it will help me become more conscious of my community, the world around me, and my participation in it. And remind me that taking the time for even very small things, adds to happiness.

New Year

I have been wanting to write for a while now but I just haven't felt ready to. I've been thinking a lot about what the new year means for me, how I can get the energy to jump in full steam ahead
with clear, organized goals... and as usual it has been a rocky start.
In the past week or so I have made many lists and done lots of talking and thinking but no real doing. I've made mental plans to be more proactive and productive, but my action has been left for the future. Tomorrow, next week, some other time when I have a bit more energy, when I get over this cold, when I am ready... I've wanted to declare my hopes and dreams for this year loudly and with certainty, but the certainty part was lagging behind a little. Today however, I did something I don't often do. I just went for it. I put on some appropriate clothing, declared myself a runner and attempted a 5K with a dear friend of mine.

Now let me explain that I've done some talking about this. When Bo and I joined the gym this fall I thought, hey, I can do this. I'll work out, do some training and maybe try to run a 5k in the spring. What a great goal. Last night at dinner my ever so motivated friend Amanda mentioned that she was running a 5k today with a friend who, as of January 1st, has decided she is going to start running and do a 5k every MONTH. I was shocked for half a minute and then realized that I have been thinking about a 5k as if it was a marathon. Not being a runner it feels like a marathon. But then I realized that I can certainly walk a 5k no problem, so why not just try to run it and see how well I can do? The worst that could happen was that I would walk the whole thing. And what's so bad about that? So I took the plunge today, and while I can't say I ran, I did jog for much more of it than I thought possible and finished in 35min 27seconds! Not that this is any great record but it is my first time, I didn't die (or even want to at any point which is shocking to me) and now I know it can be done! I did a 5k, something I had never even entertained doing before.

SO. While I am feeling pretty good and quite proud of myself for today, I also am feeling a bit more prepared for the year. I have a few goals in mind, a few things I want to try, work on, and work towards, and I'm feeling ready to take action instead of just thinking about them. I tend to think and plan for a very long time before I feel ready to actually go for anything. This is a big and reoccuring lesson for me, that I forget and need to be reminded of often. Just do it. Go for it, embrace it, take action. You can only think so much and then it's time to DO it.

My biggest and most present goal is to get my own massage practice up and running. While I'm nervous about the process and the financial uncertainty, I feel like it's the right time and that somehow it's going to work out. You never know what will happen until to you go for it. So here's to a new year, positive events, lots of happiness, love and success for each and everyone of us!

Happy New Year!