With spring's arrival yesterday, i celebrated and ran my first 10K in a long while. I didn't set out to do it, but it just happened, which is why it was such a sweet victory! I mentioned, in this post, we were running with the Nike+ and after 20 runs so far, most of which have been short 5K runs, I can say this has been a fun way to motivate me to run again. Sam has loaded all my favorite "girl power" songs on my ipod and I'm enjoying running again.

Now I recall why I love it. It's the challenge of pushing yourself, or just enjoying the pace you're at. The choice to go hard or take it slow. The satisfaction of doing something that makes you feel good. If that is not running, I would encourage taking time to do things you love or used to love to do (when you had the time!) and make those things a priority. Make time for fun!

Ottawa now has had 410.7 centimetres of snow this winter, the second highest total on record. In 1970-1971, Ottawa had 444 centimetres. ~CTV

Here are some pics we took with the recent snow storm that gave Ottawa more than 50 cm of snow! How fun is that!

We spent the weekend playing deep in the snow, making igloos, snowshoeing, sitting by the fire with hot chocolate, and enjoying nature's snow.

p.s. Nathalie & Pierre: Hope you guys are having a great time in Mexico! I told you I'd show you what you missed! haha. Bring back a nice tan, okay? Have a great week and March break, everyone!

Can I blame it all on the snow that's been keeping me busy from my usual posting self?! I cannot even count the number of hours I've spent shovelling and hauling snow off our driveway... and before you wonder where Sam is, he does help on the occasion, but he knows how much i secretly enjoy it! Yes, I do most of the yard work too, but just because I love it (and Sam does not get along with grass in the summer!).

Anyway, back to the snow... we are suppose to get another huge snowstorm this weekend. I think it must be a love-hate thing with winter and snow. I love getting out in it mostly, but I also threaten to move south every winter. Who knows? Maybe I mostly love it cause we are still here. No worries though, we've got some fun posts coming up and lifestyles sessions we wanted to show you, so stay tuned!

In other news, we entered this photo to a contest by dwf, a large community (forum) for professional wedding photographers, and placed in the top 10 (with over 300 entries in the "couples" category). Sam and I were delighted and continue to be inspired to shoot from our hearts. We love the emotion and connection in this photo!

Hope you're having a great winter!

We discovered Ana Miura this past summer and immediately fell in love with her music. You can find her song "Dragonfly" on our lifestyle site as Ana has graciously allowed us to feature her music on our website. Thank you so much, Ana!

photos by Mitch Lenet (taken from her website)

"A six song testament to Ana's ability to weather any relationship weather, Tenacious Heart is an honest collection of personal, intimate songwriting. From the playful beat of Dragonfly to the stirring build of TransCanada and the solemn resolve of He Swallows Whiskey; the percussive La Dee Da, the sweeping mantra of Follow me back and the jazzy groove of Left of Centre, this disc is a testament to Ana's tenderhearted nature."

We'll definitely have to catch one of her concerts live this summer. Her music is intimate, reflective and warm. So if you don't have her CD, stop reading this blog and go check her out now!

Her album is available online at mymusic.com and CD Baby

you don't have resolutions to break!

It's already 2008 and life is already better in that we have decided, as we have the past few years, to not be bound to make the traditional new year's resolutions. No pressure, no guilt. Instead, the new year is a good time to remind ourselves of the lifestyle changes that we choose to live by and work on the rest of the year.

There are a few that come to mind, that being:

* keeping a healthy positive attitude always
* making healthy food choices, but still eating foods we love
* being active and outdoors as much as possible
* having a good balance of work and play

On the topic of being active, Sam and I are starting this year off right and are going to be running with Nike+. In case you haven't heard, and want to join in the fun, the Nike+ experience involves a Nike+ Ipod Sport Kit, a Nike+ shoe, and Apple's Ipod Nano.

There are tons of reviews on this already, but you can read more on these blogs, here, here, and here to name a few. Okay, so there are so many great features that attracted me to this, one being that you can track your progress on your computer through your ipod and that is important if you have goals you want to meet. Another, more obvious reason is that it looks fun, so why not?

You just gotta love the branding that Nike and Apple have and now teamed up they have come up with another great idea. We'll let you know how it goes once we give it a try! What are your goals or things you want to accomplish this year?