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The Pregnancy Feels

I’m half way there!! Can I get a high five?! 

At 5 months, baby is now punching like crazy.  It feels like having a muscle twitch on the inside of your stomach. Sometimes I even see it on the surface of my belly skin, so alien. 

At 5 months, my pants are more comfortable with the button undone and the zipper halfway down.  Like after a big turkey feast.  I’m feeling self conscious in my size 14 kids rain coat.  It’s getting a bit tight to zip up if I’m wearing a sweater underneath. 

At 5 months I am past the point of trying to convince M that I’m bloated when he gushes over my belly (which he does ALL the time). I have a new found love/acceptance for the baby belly. It’s like overnight, my belly popped out and it finally looks like a pregnant belly.  To be honest, its taken me up until now to replace the thoughts of ‘ugh, I look bloated’ to thinking ‘yup, that’s a belly and I love it’.  

In a nutshell, month 1-now has been pretty uneventful.  Maybe borderline boring. Here’s the quick and dirty top Q&A. 

1. Morning Sickness: Nada.  Closest thing is maybe this every so slight epigastric tightness if I didn’t eat breakfast within an hour or two waking.  I figured it was my body’s way of reminding me to eat because I have a terrible habit of skipping meals. When I get busy, I forget and/or don’t make eating my priority.

2. Fatigue: Find me a grad student who isn’t tired. Ha. But actually I have no complaints energy wise to do with growing a baby. I’m still cycling to school, going to school 30 hours/week, working out 3-4 times/week, working 10-15 hours/week and studying a couple hours a night. You know - the ush.  

Energy wise, what has been different for me, is if I go to bed after midnight AND wake up early, I’ll feel like I’m hungover the next day. It sucks. 

Is this a pregnancy thing or a getting old thing?

3. Food Aversions: No full on aversions. If I had to pick something, its eggs. I’ve always been ambiguous to eggs. I find myself more picky to how I like it cooked. Currently scrambled is the best way I’ll take it. But eating it cooked in other ways doesn’t make me nauseous and I don’t avoid it. I just don’t enjoy it as much.

4. Heightened sense of smell: Definite yes. But for select scents and its inconsistent whether or not the smell bothers me. Like sometimes when M puts Frank’s red hot sauce on his food, or when the condo painted all the entry doors, or the smell of bacon cooking. How much it overwhelms me, is like walking into a Lush store or walking into an elevator with perfume freshly sprayed.

5. Food Cravings: Just sweets. I’m not the kind of person to say no to chocolates. Lately I’ve been doing a lot more baking (and not the gluten free, sugar free, healthy kind of baking)

6. Breast Tenderness: slight, in my first month of pregnancy (July).

7. Frequent Urination: omg yes. I was waking up 2-5 times at night to pee in the first trimester. Then I realized I drinking like half a liter before bed…so 1+1… I reduced my intake before bed and everything has been fine. I SO Smart.

8. Emotional Ups and Downs: None, sorry guys- I’m pretty emotionally stable, even through my regular menses. Unless you’re family - then you know I’m a raging nut case.

So yeah. B-O-R-I-N-G.

But I’m not complaining. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Lets hope the rest of the journey stays just as lame.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

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Mother nature has the best box of crayons. 🍃🍂🍁 #helloautumn #fallfeels #lettinggo #newtransitions #canthavefallwithoutflannel #autumn #fallleaves #autumnequinox

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Lemons+

I’m just one of those kinds of people who get more stressed out doing nothing than doing something.  Lately I’ve been more go-go-go than normal (working 40+ hours/week for most of June and a bit of July - eep!), I’m relentlessly taxing the yin of my body as I strive to keep busy and stay moving. 

And so I bought lemons.

In Chinese Medicine, things that are sour in flavor affect the liver and gall bladder. This go-drive, planning what I’m going to be doing next, is my liver in action.  Pathological? Potentially, but I recently went from 3 jobs to 2 jobs…so let’s hope that helps keep any pathology at bay. Further in the Chinese Medicine perspective, the nature of sour flavors is considered cooling, it’s yin - gathering, moving inwards.  In non-woo woo terms, the lemon’s acidity makes it an excellent natural astringent - this is the contraction, the yin, the inward movement I’m talking about.  It’s astringent nature also assists in the body’s fluid regulation (i.e. preventing inappropriate leakage and re-absorption).  Summer’s at hand, you’re potentially more active and sweating ridiculously (err..assuming that the rain clouds go away and the sun comes through 🌧⛅🌞) ���lemons are perfect for this season.   As for my personality, adding lemons to part of my diet probably doesn’t hurt.  Lemons are one of many things that can supporting the body’s yin and lend to an energetic inward contraction to balance my outward, expanding nature.

Now, with a bag of lemons, I don’t just make lemonade. There’s something about using lemons for one purpose that feels wasteful. I made like 8 other things with my bag of lemons. That’s right, I maximized the full 6 dollars, 2 lbs, worth of organic lemons...and it felt goooood.

But first let’s start with lemonade. If you don’t own a vitamix and it’s too much effort to juice your lemons manually, you can make lemonade using a blender. Peel your lemons, blend it, strain it.  Add sugar if you so please. Voila lemonade.

Then you should be left with the rinds and pulp. Now I don’t go always 100% organic for everything, but I think if you’re going to be utilizing the peels to this extent, it’s probably worth the extra $ for less chemicals.

Here we go - onto the good stuff after making your lemonade:

Lemon Tea: Slice the rinds into strips, bake on low to dehydrate. Throw it in with your tea

Lemon Zest: Grind the dehydrated peels into a powder

Lemon Body Scrub: Left over lemon pulp + sugar + coconut oil.

Lemon Room Scent: Saucepan + water.  Boil.   Add lemon rinds + cinnamon stick + anise +  cloves. Simmer.  Add water as needed.

Lemon Ice Cubes: Slice the peels extra tiny! Ice tray + peels + water. Freeze.

Lemon Candy: This is the winner for using up most of the peels.   - Slice the peels into strips - Add to sauce pan + water. Boil. - Drain water, remove rinds. - Add fresh water + honey. Boil. - Add lemon rinds back in. Simmer (until the whites of the pith turn translucent)

Lemon Syrup:  A bonus byproduct of making the lemon candy.  Keep the water/honey/lemon liquid as a syrup.

Lemon Ice Cream: I’ve been into making no churn icecream this summer.   Condensed milk + whipped cream + lemon pulp/syrup + electric mixer.

Here’s some lemon ice cubes. 

Some lemon body scrub.

Some lemon peel candy I’m laying out to dry + syrup (in sauce pan)

If you’re making the candy and waiting for the water to boil, here’s some other lemony things to do to pass the time.

Rub the rinds on your face, your boyfriends face (mine wouldn’t let me - so good luck with that), your cats face. Whatever. It’s a great skin tonic for the more alkaline based skin types!

Whiten your teeth! Rub for a few minutes and then rinse with water!

Side note: It was probably my liver in overdrive on the night I decided to make more than just lemonade. It’s totally acceptable to only make lemonade with your lemons.

Happy summer! Happy lemoning! 🍋🍋🍋

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KOOTENAY SUFFERFEST HALF MARATHON

This past weekend I ran my FIRST half marathon in Nakusp, BC.  It boasts to be one of the most difficult half marathons in BC because of the significant elevation gains and losses and with a name like sufferfest, how could I resist? Just so you don’t have to google it, a half marathon is 21 km.  Kind of a big deal you guys, and its taken me a few days to digest the whole process.

Here’s your TL;DR warning +  don’t forget to click the pictures :) 

They say that when you race, you run faster than your normal pace because of all the adrenaline.  I don’t think this was my case.  I spent way too much time in my head and didn’t feel comfortable until 10km into the race.   My original and ideal goal was to finish within 2 hours, but I knew I had to be more realistic so I had my goal as a range - somewhere between 2 and 2:15. I finished with the final time of 2:04:18 - and I’m not totally happy with it, but I’m ok with it.  

I went into the race with the mindset: this is just another run, just do what you do, don’t worry about everyone else.  The start of the race felt good, but that positive attitude and feeling didn’t last long.  It’s hard to keep it up you’ve got bunch of other runners around you.  It’s hard when you hear the rustle of your bib and reminded that you’re chipped and tracked. It’s hard when you hear a set of rhythmic footsteps approaching from behind, its hard when you get that sinking feeling as someone passes you…again…

At some point from 0 to 5 km, my legs were lead, I wanted to go home and questioned my whole existence (ha! not actually that dramatic but pretty close!).  As I kept running, I kept trying to find a valid reason to stop going - like, waking up at 5am sucks, I didn’t sleep good the night before, I wasn’t ready, I had only trained for a month - if that.  I considered calling M (even though I didn’t have a phone) and having him pick me up.  I ran through the different conversations we would have had - in one conversation, he would tell me to stop being a baby and finish the race, in another he would sympathize and and come pick me up.  As the rare vehicle passed by on the highway, I fantasized scenarios where they would stop and ask how I’m doing (small towns are friendly like that, right?!), and then give me a lift back to town.  Even as I passed by houses, I thought about what the insides of their places would look like, and wondered if they let me in to hang out? maybe they would let me in on their Saturday breakfast?

None of these scenarios or excuses actually panned out. Probably for the better.  Not finishing would have been more disappointing.  As I kept running, the group started to spread out and I started to move out of my head and more into my body.  It didn’t matter so much who was in front/behind me, how far away they were, how far I had ran or what time it was.  My lead legs didn’t last long and I got into a good pace, a good breath and was actually enjoying the gorgeous scenery. I can’t imagine a more perfect morning to be running - no rain, no wind, slight overcast at 12 or 13 degrees.  Top that with scenic mountains, green grass, quiet highways, friendly volunteers and the most clearly marked course ever.  Though I didn’t finish the race within 2 hours, I did finish 3rd place out of my age group of 20-29 year olds.  I got a cookie medal and came out feeling amazing.  Contrary to the race name, I didn’t suffer much - if at all! no fatigue, cramps, “the wall” AND most importantly, I finished.  So in my books, that’s a win (✿◠‿◠)    

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Less is More

Yay another blog post.  Since the last blog post, I had started at least half a dozen blogs.  Key word being ‘started’.  The intention was there but the priority was not. School is out for the summer and part of my spare time I’ve been cleaning out, clearing out - Spring season style.  Recently I started with my closet.  I'm inspired by the concept of a ‘wardrobe’ capsule’.  In a wardrobe capsule, you select 37 items (give or take) to wear for one season (i.e. 3 months).  A capsule includes clothes, coats and shoes.  It does not include socks, underwear, bras, workout wear or accessories.   I know we’ve all been there where we buy something, thinking we’d wear it a lot and then don’t or maybe we complain about having a closet full of nothing to wear, and then default to the same top worn days ago (girls- you can relate! and apparently boys can’t - I explained to M how I reorganized the closet and he laughed for 30 seconds - I don’t find it funny, but he finds it hilarious how I find things to do to fill my day). Anyways, what I like about the idea of capsules is that it encourages being minimal and getting creative in the way that you pair and wear your clothes.   

I lead a fairly active lifestyle in Nelson and so year round I find myself living in lulus, tank tops/T-shirts and a rain coat.  Close to Pareto’s 80/20 rule, this is maybe like 15 out of the 100+ clothing items I have in my closet.  To be frank, I’m tired of living in workout gear and I like the idea of fully utilizing ALL of my clothes.

So this is how your rooms going to look if you start this capsule.  It’ll look like a tornado came through.  You pull everything out of the closet, out of the drawers, off the shelf.   Then you try everything on and decide: 

A) keep it or B) ditch it

Some questions to ask yourself to help in the decision making are: how do I feel about this item? what can I wear with this? how often have I worn this? why have/haven’t I worn this? is this my style? does this fit me?

This was a long and drawn out process taking me more than half the day.  My aim was to come out with less clothes and closet of versatile, wearable pieces.

Here’s a few things I learned:

If it’s torn, the choices are: fix it or let it go.   Clothes are just material objects and its funny how when you’ve had something for a long time, you attach meaning and memories to it.  These acid wash pants torn at the bum? I’ve held on to them for way too long and I decided it was time to say good bye.  (◕︵◕)

I learned that no matter how many pairs of size 25 pants I buy/own, size 25 does not and will not fit me. Period. I don’t know why I own so many ill fitting pants.  Its likely that more than half of them were impulse buys and maybe secretly I was hoping I would grow into them.   Adios velvety orange pants, too tight in the calves; Au revoir white corduroy pants, too loose in the thighs; Good bye jean capris that make me look like I have short legs (which I do, I just don’t need it accentuated)

Another big thing I learned a lot about was my style (or lack of...)- as it currently is at and how it used to be. I used to love shopping  spending money frivolously {insert spend money emoji}.  I used to buy different and unique pieces, without consideration of my personal style. Like this white 'thing’ - I liked aspects of it, but never considered that I didn’t like it as a whole.  I liked that it had thumb sleeves, I liked that the mesh gave it a different texture but I never once wore this.  Easy decision - ditched it.  I’m proud to say that my days of frivolous spending have ceased. My last purchase (clothing wise) was in February 2015 - a gorgeous, tan trench coat with an A-line waist, which shamefully I’ve only worn once but that will change! 

And last, but not the least - another testament to my ill fitting choice of clothing and style.  This shirt is not my style.  This shirt is way too long for me.  I look like a rectangle. And weirdly enough I’ve worn this a LOT, and yes, in public.  How? What? When? Where? I don’t know. Anything, everything.  It was just one of those ugly comfort shirts.  Sorry Billy Joel, we’ve had some good times but you won’t be making the wardrobe cut. 

I didn’t strictly stick to the wardrobe capsule “rules” or “steps” to building the capsule.  Unfancy laid out some capsule steps, but Step 4 (buying more clothes for your next seasons capsule) doesn’t jive my intention for this capsule.  Not to not bore you with the details and photos, I’ve made my capsules for both Spring and Summer, each with 9 bottoms, 15 tops, 2 dresses.  I didn’t bother with including shoes or coats in the capsules, but you can if you want.  

I’ve also made some capsule exceptions/my own rules: 

Basic, staple tops were not included into any particular capsule.  They’re essential, versatile picks that can go into any season. 

Formal work wear (i.e. dress pants/skirts/blouses) were not included in the capsules either.  They’re in its own category of ‘not-worn-often-because-I’m-a-student-atm-but-need-to-keep-in-case-I-have-a-real-job-where-I-have-to-look-professional’; ANND it would be a shame to get rid of them after all the tailoring for my size.  #allaboutthepractical

So here’s where I’m at: 29 items in the donation pile and still too much in my closet that I’m not quite ready to part with: 60 tops, 25 bottoms, 18 dresses (including work wear; not including workout gear).  Reducing has never felt so good. Hopefully as I go on with my capsules, I’ll be able to cut a little each season and each year!  

Remember - your closet, your rules.  And really, cliche as it is, less is more. 

 ヾ(〃^∇^)ﾉ

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Had this darling done this a.m! Number 1 for nausea or an upset stomach; Also so good for calming the heart&mind (i.e insomnia, stress, anxiety, depression, or nervousness) Find it + Press it! 🎯 In the center of your forearm, you have two prominent tendons running from the wrist crease towards the medial end of the elbow crease. You can find #NeiGuan (内关) approximately two finger breadths from the wrist crease between these tendons. #acupressure #acupuncture #acupuncturestudent #chinesemedicine #healthandwellness

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8am fun!! I went from 😪➡😰 #betterthancoffee #imawakenow #acupuncturestudent #chinesemedicinestudent #feetpoints #lovemylife #health #vitality

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"Oh love yourself, honey." 💞 #wisdomnuggets #hungryforchange #thescienceofselflove #selfcare #selflove #lovethelifeyoulive #lovethebodyyourein #insideandout #acupuncturestudent

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This is part of #health ; So speak kindly 💓 #mindbodysoul #selflove #selfcare #kindness #bodypositive #youbecomewhatyoubelieve #acupuncturestudent

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😀This is the smile of someone who did their FIRST intake& #tuina treatment in the student clinic! 😀This is the smile of someone who's quit their 4 year day job. 😀This is the smile of someone who postponed an exam for the first time (actually I'm not smiling about this. It's a mixed bag challenging my belief that we should do exams when they're given. 😕 But hey- life happens). #hellochange #smilemore #adayofexperiences #lifeisneverboring #friyay #acupuncturestudent

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Fernie Weekend!

This past weekend I went to Fernie.  My life is basically studying all the time, so it’s kind of a big deal when I say that I did ZERO studying this past weekend. Regrets on not studying: always.  But other than that, to sum up the weekend in Fernie: the snow was terrible but the company wasn’t and I’m grateful it wasn’t the other way around. 

The plan was to do a ski trip with the old crew.  I can’t recall the last time we were all together.  Probably when we all lived in Edmonton.  I think that was at least 4 years ago.  It’s funny to look at where we’re at now and where we were. I remember a time when the crew was mostly singles and now we’re all domesticated living with our SO.  How did that happen?? I’m not sure. 

The forecast for Fernie was grim and we were naively hopeful - planning for skiing both days.  But that didn’t happen.  We ended up spending most of our time (content) hanging out in this amazing country style log cabin just outside of Fernie. Vaulted ceiling, open floor concept, wrap around deck, hot tub, fire place, fire pit, claw foot bath, rainfall shower head, glass bricks, heated floors -- you get the picture.  The caveat to this gem? No wifi and spotty cell phone reception.

I somehow survived and this is what a no internet weekend looked like in the boonies: 

Friday night was a treat: wine, beer, bourbon, hot tubbing & staying up until ungodly hours.

Saturday - Recovery day.  Sipping coffee and lemon water, we lounged around  the fireplace almost all day.  We burned at least a dozen logs and cooked delicious meals - going in and out of food comas.  Some hot tubbed, some watched TV, others cat napped.  The perfect definition of a chill day.

Sunday - Ski day. Rain on the lower mountain and poor visibility at the top.  It was snowing - but not really enough to make a difference.  There was instant regret for the few times we went off the groomed runs.  This more or less forced us to accept the fact that the groomed runs were the best runs. The lesson for this day was that you can’t win it all, but beer and ice cream makes any soggy day at the hill better.   

Here’s some shots from the weekend-- mostly mountains -- because blue skies and snow capped mountains always win my heart <3

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As a doctor, let me tell you what self-love does: It improves your hearing, your eyesight, lowers your blood pressure, increases pulmonary function, cardiac output, and helps wiring the musculature. So, if we had a rampant epidemic of self-love then our healthcare costs would go down dramatically. So, this isn’t just some little frou-frou new age notion, oh love yourself, honey. This is hardcore science

Dr. Christiane Northrop, Hungry for Change (via fyp-psychology)

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Senega Root - A Herb for Respiratory Diseases

The senega root is mostly used as an expectorant remedy for coughs, chronic bronchitis, asthma and whooping cough. The root has stimulating properties and helps to expel phlegm from the lungs.

To find more about this plant. Visit the Herbal Resource: http://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/senega-root.html

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Finished my written tui na final today 🙌🙌 Current status: ✔heated seats on ✔feet up ✔max chillin #mybrainisfried #fridaze #letsgoonaroadtrip #explorebc #kootenaylife #weekendadventure

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The season is shifting to spring🌱 (yay!) but don't forget to keep your layers on for just a little longer! Bodies are especially vulnerable to catching colds in any season change. The best way to build up our immunity in the season of spring is to support the liver- the associated organ. Introduce more leafy greens, reduce the sour flavors, and maybe add pungent spices/foods like ginger or tumeric! Here's what I've been doing: #goldenmilktea-- tumeric+ginger+honey+cinnamon+coconutmilk! #springiscoming #imnotgettingsick #foodismedicine #tumeric #indiansaffron #goodasgold #tumerictea #eatwellfeelwell #healthy #healfromtheinsideout #antiinflammatory #curcuma #healthiswealth #chinesemedicine

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Balloon Flower for Lung and Throat Related Ailments

The root of the plant is used to treat cough, excessive mucus formation in the throat, sore throat, the common cold, flu and bronchitis.

To find out more about this plant visit: http://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/balloon-flower.html

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In today's adventures of a #chinesemedicinestudent ..😷 #scrapeawaythepain #guasha #chinesemedicine #holistichealth #healing