There's a birthday in the house

Would you believe this here little blog of mine is 1 year-old? I find it hard to believe myself. But it's not about how much time has passed; it's more about how my life has changed (so much!) in one short year.

Last year at this time, I had just started my journey to better health. Last December I was paying much more attention to what I was putting in my mouth and my body began responding -- my waist shrunk without much effort and the unneeded pounds melted off. I still eat lots! The key here is that the quality of the food changed!

These changes in my body lead me to enroll in the Canadian School for Natural Nutrition's Holistic Nutritionist program, which I am LOVING.

And it didn't stop there, I also learned that my body has trouble breaking down gluten proteins. I also want to point out that I figured this out through listening to my body, not by subjecting myself to unnecessary blood tests. I'm adapting to a gluten-free lifestyle quite easily as well as a healthier lifestyle in general and enjoying its benefits.

But mostly this year has given me a remarkable appreciation for health and how to stay healthy without the need of pharmaceuticals and vaccines, but through nourishing my body with what it requires! The human body is such an amazing instrument and unbelievably resilient – but remember to treat it well!

I honestly believe that this year, which also marked a milestone in my life with my 30th birthday, has been my best and most life changing yet. I'm so glad I started Everyday Rae to capture some of these moments.

Happy 1st Birthday!

xoxo

Weekend recap

We've all had weekends where we felt productive, right? This weekend was one of those for me.

On Saturday I had a great day of catching up with a couple friends that I haven't seen in a while. Lunch with B was lovely and dinner and movie with R was equally great. In a city where I have no family it is beyond comforting to know that I have such a great family of friends.

Today was a great day and I barely left the house. For me, stress, or what my brains notes as chaos, presents itself when things aren't in order. I love and feel comforted when everything in my home is in its place. During the week, chaos generally ensues and sometimes I don't always have the time on the weekend to tidy up, but this weekend I did -- I had an entire day (and a bit of time on Saturday too), I accomplished a lot!

• Filed my taxes
• Paid all my outstanding bills
• Cleaned up every room in the house and removed and put away everything that didn't belong or that was out of place
• Ironed a pile of clothes that might have been hanging around and slowly growing for literally weeks (i.e., more than a month)
• Tidied and cleaned the kitchen - the most chaos reducing part of it all! The only thing I could have done more would have been to remove everything from the pantry cupboard and reorganize it
• Cleaned the bathrooms
• Vacuumed the entire house
• Cleaned the hard-surfaced floors
• Did 7 loads of laundry! Clothes, bed sheets, and some other odd and ends that needed a run through the washer
• Bought groceries for the week

Ahhhh... chaos reduced! All it took was a whole day (and a bit) of work. Granted this isn't possible every weekend, but it always feels good when I do have the time.

On the agenda for next weekend: school supplies shopping! Woohoo! I'm starting my 2-year part-time program for Registered Holistic Nutrition on Wednesday, March 23rd. So excited!!! Also next weekend is the BF's birthday, so will have to make some plans for that as well! Good times ahead. Now just to get through these next 5 days in between...

Happy week, all!

30th Birthday Extravaganza!

I posted on Facebook earlier this week that I was going to have an "all about me" birthday bonanza week. Some may wonder what that consists of. Well let me tell you how my week shaped/is shaping up:

Wednesday, January 5
Chiropractic adjustment at LiveWell. I've been seeing Dr. Sabrina for just over 7 years now and I'll never turn back. I'm a chiro-believer. It's done so much for me in my 20s, and I know it's going to continue to keep me healthy, alive and vibrant into my 30s and beyond.

Massage appointment with Meg. Ah, what else can I say. Meg is an awesome RMT and I'm lucky to have found her.

Thursday, January 6
My birthday! Dinner with 16 of my besties at Khao Thai in the Byward Market. Best thai food in Ottawa, in one humble girl's opinion.

Friday, January 7
Facial at Hummingbird Spa. Not my first choice for spas, but I've been there before and they do good work. They focus more on the chemical/non-natural stuff (Botox, Laser, etc), which I'm not keen on, but they do regular esthetics too.

Saturday, January 8
Pedicure at Le Spa (would have been my first choice for facial, but alas no appointments available). I love going to Le Spa for pedicures because they let you go home with the bottle of O.P.I. nail polish and the price is on par with other places for a spa pedicure. Sweet deal!

After the pedicure, some friends and I are heading over to Chelsea, Quebec to go to Le Nordik for the rest of the day! I'm so excited. I can't get enough of Le Nordik's nordic baths. Mmmm bliss!

And that, my friends, is how I've done an "all about me" birthday extravaganza. The fun could continue... After all, that was only four days, as opposed to a whole week...