Jimmy Reprise

Brad and I got to see Jimmy Eat World in concert in October so we were suprised, but super excited when they came back to town so soon. They played at Flames Central which was a place neither Brad and I had ever been but it turned out to be a really great venue. There's lots of standing room on the main level but we were lucky to get a seat on a padded booth on the 1st level, we had a great view of the stage but got to be comfy and seated the whole time.

The concert was incredible. The music was just as good as expected and you could tell the band was having a great time, they even declared it the best night on the tour.

Go see them if you get a chance, it's definitely worth the cash.



They played with a band called The Midway State, they weren't great in concert but show some potential, they have a new album coming out that might be great.

L

Satisfied

Dear Red Lobster:

My husband and I have not been frequent visitors of your restaurant but in the recent past we’ve visited your Calgary NE location twice.

Both times we were so impressed with the service we received.

The first visit we were in a bit of a hurry so we let our server know this and she did everything she could to accommodate us. She brought our salad and appetizer together and our meal followed shortly after, the food came so quick and we had plenty of time to eat and enjoy the delicious food. She (we think maybe her name was Shauna) seemed to make a real effort to get us fed and out on our timetable.

Today we made a repeat visit. Trudy was especially friendly and made some great suggestions, including reviews from other customers on the specials. We informed her that we we’re on a carb free diet so she offered to take out the croutons from our salad. She showed a genuine interest in our satisfaction and since it wasn’t busy even took a few minutes to chat with us.

In a city like Calgary where there is a shortage of workers you often find employees who don’t care about the work they do, it was refreshing to have such wonderful service twice in a row. We’ll definitely be visiting the same location again.

Brad and Laura Wiebe

Something's Missing

So I promise not every post will be about South Beach for two weeks but here's one more.

It's interesting the way the body reacts to this diet. We're eating yummy food that we love yet it's hard to feel satisified because you're missing the carbs that normally make you feel full. Things are still going well but it's definitely hard.

Also we discovered that light feta isn't so great.
L

Cheating

We made a great discovery last night… sugar free pudding is allowed.

The white chocolate was so yummy! It tastes so good part of me think we're cheating.

I was most concerned about the lack of dessert in this diet since that's what I crave most, it's nice to be able to eat a few sweet things and not feel guilty about them. Brad also introduced my to Baskin Robins sugar free hard candy, the Cookies & Cream and Mint Chocolate Chip are super yummy!

Day three is going well
L

South Beach

Brad and I have decided that we need a little kick to get us to lose some weight as we've both gained more than we'd like in the last year. To help us out we've started the South Beach Diet, we're going to do Phase I for two weeks.

For those of you unfamiliar with South Beach it's supposed to help you cut out bad carbs and fats but I'm not really interested in the diet long term. What I am interested in is Phase I. Long term, terribly unhealthy but short term it's great for you. You cut out all carbs including those that are naturally occurring which means no fruit and technically no carrots, we're modifying to include carrots though. You also cut out basically all sugar. Diary is allowed as long as it's low-fat or reduced fat. The science of it is that when we eat too many carbs our body stores them as fat, by cutting out all carbs you're body starts to burn the stored fat resulting in an average of 8-12 pounds weight loss.

After Phase I (which isn't recommended for longer than a three week period) you gradually add back in whole grains and some sugars. Phase II and III are about maintaining. We're hoping to build some good habits and break out of some bad ones in these two weeks.

We only started yesterday but so far it's been really easy. Yesterday and today for breakfast we had scrambled eggs with peppers, onion, low fat turkey and some low fat cheese. For lunch we ate bunless burgers with Greek salad and it was so yummy! We did cheat just a little yesterday as the Feta wasn’t low fat. It's what we had in the fridge though and we didn't want it to go bad. We used it all up and the new stuff we purchase will be low fat for sure. For dinner we had BBQ skewers with steak, shrimp, peppers and onion.

Today should be just as good, taco soup for lunch and we're having a yummy salad for dinner. I haven't missed the carbs one bit yet.

I also appreciate on South Beach that you're encouraged to eat until you're full. Don't over eat but you eat a good size meal since everything you're eating is great for you. Snacking is allowed as long as they are good snacks such as nuts or cheese and pickles are allowed.

I'm interested to see what results we get and I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
L

Birthday Photos

As mentioned previousy here are some softball photos so you can share in the fun.



L

Double Booked

There are a few things I look forward to every summer
Softball
Stampede Breakfasts
Time at the lake
and possibly the most important one, the Global Fest Fireworks competition.

I really love fireworks. I love how the sound is so intense you feel it all through your body, I love the way the colors never cease to amaze. Sitting, on a blanket beside friends and family is my perfect summer activity (well okay, so there may have needed to be some softball earlier to really call it perfect). I had planned to link to previous posts where I'd mentioned fireworks but I discovered that there are 10 different entries, far too many to link too.

Today I made a very sad discovery.

Brad and I made our summer plans in January and we're spending a week out at Shushwap lake in August and we've been really looking forward to it, dreaming about it even. Today I realized that our week at the lake happens to also be the week of the fireworks.

Time will tell if the draw of the fireworks is enough to bring us home early from lake paradise.
L

Afterglow

I am in a seriously great mood. I even initiated a conversation with Betty (my really awkward co-worker) that turned out to be very normal. The cause of this mood? Well today's my birthday so to celebrate last night all of my Calgary friends and family got together for a game of softball.

Brad and I put a lot of work into this event, we scoped out baseball diamonds and debated about treats and we even officially booked the diamond. It was the perfect plan until the torrential downpour started yesterday at 4:00! The clouds were dark all day but started getting worse and worse and darker and darker so by the time it started to rain it looked like twilight. The rain came down in these heavy drops and sheets of rain blew all over... it took mere minutes for large puddles to form. It may sound a little silly but I was fairly devastated; I'd really got my heart set on softball.

We quickly made sure plan B was in place, games, treats and cake and then could only wait until it got closer to game time. We headed up to the field early to see how bad the damage was and couldn't have been more surprised! The outfield was sort of damp, not even squishy, it was game on for sure!

It really couldn't have been better. We had enough people for two teams and played a great game, my team even came out victorious! My birthday present this year was a new baseball bat and a pair of cleats and both were great purchases. We ate cake and lots of treats and were eaten alive by mosquitoes, no matter how well we coated in repellant.

Thanks to all who came, it was quite possibly my best birthday yet.
I have a few photos but they'll have to wait until a bit later.
L

Inspiration

I have a friend from high school who recently gave birth to triplets... she's become a bit of in inpiration to me, the way she's handling her situation is so impressive. She recently started a blog that you should check out, I love this last post especially. It's a nice reminder to not take anything for granted.
Good luck Michelle, I hope things continue to go well with the triplets.
L

Anniversary

On Monday Brad and I celebrated our one year anniversary.
Funny how it seems like just yesterday but at the same time hasn't it always been this way? It's strange to think of a time when we weren't married, of when I didn't see him daily.

To commemorate the day here is a list of things I've learned from Brad

• Nothing is greater than having a ticklish husband
• How to neatly wrap up a microphone cable / extension cord without any twists
• Neither of us likes Pizza by the Yard
• If there's a squirrel / bird / gopher it MUST be chased
• He always puts me first, always gives me the best of everything. I think maybe to him my happiness is more important than his own. I'm trying to be like that.

If only everyone could be as happy
L