The Biggest Fundraising and Physical Challenge I have ever undertaken

I have never personally fundraised before for a charity organization. The biggest physical challenge I have done is a half marathon last year (which I regrettably had to be wheelchaired for the last 100m due to a leg cramp). And yet, I have signed up for a fundraising event called Walk Without Borders (by Doctors Without Borders) and challenged myself to walk 350km in 45 days, a distance equivalent to walking from Parksville to Port Hardy.

I thought my goal was realistic enough, but falling behind a few days in a week really adds up! I have to walk more than 10km every weekday and more than 15km every weekend day for the next 9 days. I've never been so committed to a goal before, but perhaps because I have made a point of posting this Challenge on my Facebook I kind of felt responsible to my friends and family to see it through.

I still have to raise $200 more - I gotta think of something quick. If you are reading this - would you consider making a donation?

Your support will mean much to me but will mean the world to those less fortunate. Thank You!

https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?registrationID=2604946&langPref=en-CA

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Learning to be good pet parents

It's been almost 2 months owning a dog and already 6 months owning a cat. And yet, being first timers, I have to admit it's a struggle sometimes for us...how to give affection that would not jeopardize obedience and good behavior? Or the other way around - how to give discipline that would not make our animal harbour thoughts of revenge against us? And the ultimate challenge, how to get our dog and cat to like each other enough that they would not be jealous of each other?

We have much to learn, and I realize that just because the animals seem to be behaving ok last week doesn't mean your job is done. I learned that being pet parents is no different than being human parents; your animals will react and evolve to their environment and can always change (which is good and bad). We have to be consistent with what is acceptable behavior and what is not. But we also have to constantly monitor their behavior and see if it's giving us clues about how the animal's doing physically and mentally.

We borrowed a Dog Whisperer DVD from the library and it's giving us a lot of refreshers and insight how to make our dog more obedient. I wonder if I can find a similar Cat Whisperer resource? Honestly I think cats can achieve obedience to some degree - it's a matter of whether you are devoted to working on it.

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The essence of Breathe. Stretch. Go.

There is nothing that better captures the essence of my blog.

Today I had a layover in Sam Francisco for 3 hours. The airport terminal is modernistic, with a lot of nice chairs and spots for you to plug in your wired devices. I passed by an express spa and pondered if I would get a pedicure there, but I was looking for something more enticing.

Then I found out from the airport directory that there is a Yoga Room just a short walk from me. It was in a little enclave tucked in at the side of another gate.

It was an oasis. It had ambient lights, mirror, wood floor, yoga mat, and sanitizing wipes. I plugged my phone into the outlet, found a yoga video on YouTube, and there I was enjoying my Yoga while people bustled outside this little sanctuary.

This is what I love about the West Coast. Places like Vancouver and San Francisco would have free facilities like this and not be abused by the public. I did have a security lady knock and check in once but as soon as she realized I was really doing yoga, she left me alone.

I'll have to tell my Yoga loving friends about this gem. And now that I have breathed and stretched, I am ready to Go!

posted from Bloggeroid

Good luck, good deed

We have our lucky stars to thank for missing the magnitude 6.6 earthquake in Port Hardy. Both of us and our cat are out of town when it happened. Although not much damage should have happened according to reports, we are still blessed to not have the scary experience. I wonder how our cat would cope?

As I was getting ready to check out of my hotel this morning, I decided that I was going to skip the hotel breakfast (no time) again, so I was left with 2 unused breakfast vouchers. I usually would just toss them away or keep them anyway, but today I had a better idea. Why not give them to another hotel guest who could use a free breakfast? So that's what I did. The couple who rode the elevator with me already had breakfast, so after checking out at the front desk I walked over to the gentleman waiting to be seated at the restaurant and gave the vouchers to him. That felt good, and I wish I thought of that many trips ago as I rarely use all my vouchers. Note to self for the future!

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A Four-year Couples' Retreat?

It is no doubt that life is simpler and slower here in Port Hardy. But it was my husband who called it what it is: a Four-Year Couples' Retreat.

We are each other's best companion, best confidante, and we share in almost every experience exploring the area and meeting new people. We fight, but we don't run away, because we only have one home and it is the best place to hang out in the town. We make up and we haven't really felt lonely yet, because we have each other.

Some people say that it's a good idea to travel somewhere with the person you are dating, to see if you are compatible and get along well with each other. I think the next level up is to travel somewhere without much entertainment, an almost boring place, and if you two can enjoy each other's company without feeling bored of each other, you two have a good chance at making it through marriage.

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One Good Deed a Day - Journey begins!

I picked up this journal at a store recently. Good idea! I have been stumped about interesting things to blog about. And New Year's resolutions are like making lists...you make them, check off once or twice and don't go back to them. One good deed a day breaks the "goodness" into manageable pieces.

So today is Valentine's Day and I think it's a good day to start my journey of spreading love.

The book has lots of ideas, but today I choose:

Donate a little bit of money to aid disaster-relief work somewhere in the world.

Perfect. I procrastinated on the Typhoon Haiyan relief campaign and now it's time to make up for it.

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