The Night Before a Trip!

The night before a vacation should be exciting, not stressful! I personally do not enjoy packing as I am a compulsive over packer and feel like no matter how much I have packed I still need more. However tonight's events go beyond the regular night before vacation stress!

It has been super rainy all day which is fine with me because I had no intentions of venturing out with all the things that needed to be done before we leave! I had to do laundry, clean, pack and make sure everything was ready on my end because when Jason got home he needed to eat and pack because we have to leave here at 2:00am so we wanted to be in bed early and relaxing!

Well Jason ended up being an hour late, got home and had dinner. While I cleaned up he got in the shower so I could get in right after and early enough that I could wash, dry and straighten my hair before going to bed so not to have to tackle it in the morning! As Jason was getting out of the shower I heard this noise and I went searching.. there was water coming out of the ceiling in the dining room... I kid you not! There really is a HUGE list of things that are wrong in this apartment and NOTHING has been addressed in the month since giving the list to management. However tonight when the ceiling started leaking EVERYWHERE I was a little less patient than I have been. Maintenance came, looked at the leak and said he was going to check with the people upstairs because yes there are people living above us! Well he never came back and the roof continues to leak... keep in mind we are leaving at 2:00am. I am so furious, this is the last thing I want to worry about when leaving and this crappy weather is suppose to get worse!

We have to leave earlier than expected because the weather is pretty awful and it seems doubtful that we will improve on time getting there. So I'm sitting drying my hair (on the couch because the bathroom in this apartment does not have an electrical outlet... again I'm not kidding) and a fuse blows and all the lights go out in the living room and kitchen!!! Again, I'm not lying. I almost lost my cool!!

So I am getting ready for bed now, I know very well that I wont be sleeping but I figure rest is better than nothing and when we get there tomorrow we can take a nap before everyone gets off work!

Toronto HERE WE COME!

Everyday!

Everyday is a gift, tomorrow is never a guarantee... make the most of every second, you're worth it!

Magazine Love!

What is better than a latte and some magazines? When I need some time to relax, I absolutely love to curl up on the couch with a warm blanket, a hot drink and some magazines.

I honestly don't remember a time when I didn't read magazines! When I was a teen I got all of those Teen magazines with all of the young heart throbs from the popular TV shows.. who wasn't in love with Johnathon Taylor Thomas or Andrew Keegan when they were 12 years old? As I got older I read Seventeen and than Cosmopolitan and now the list of magazines I read is lengthy. I will admit with hesitation that I have a secret obsession with trashy magazines.. don't judge me! I cant help it, when I'm at the grocery store they literally scream at me to buy them, and the bigger story that I see on the front page the more I want it. I consider it a major feat if I depart any store selling such material and I don't have one in and amongst my goods!

However I don't read as many magazines as I once did and for one reason, they are so expensive! With our upcoming travels I like to have some magazines to read on the plane so I purchased a home decorating magazine (cheating on fashion with furniture ;) ) and Allure, those two magazines were $12.00!! I'm not being cheap but good lord, $12.00!! If I sit down and read those I can be done in less than an hour and then what?

I see people with magazines all the time, who doesn't whip one out of their purse at Starbucks, have them stacked on their coffee table, neatly piled on their desk... are we really OK with paying a small fortune for a guilty pleasure? Truth be told I am, however Jason is convinced that anything you can buy and read in a magazine you can read online... and he may be right. For me its the act of holding it in my hand, flipping through the pages, looking at the pictures! So much of our lives involve social media and computers, sometimes its nice to stray away.

I still cant help but wonder why people buy them? I personally buy them and pass them on, I feel better about spending the money if other people get to enjoy them with me! I often wish there were magazine swaps (as I wish there were more book swaps because although I have an Nook I love, I do love a good book)! Not only do I buy them and pass them on, I buy them and read them cover to cover... even the articles that mean absolutely nothing to me because I feel like I must get my moneys worth. I do not decorate my coffee table with them but on occasion I will keep a Women's health on the bookshelf to reference back to for work outs and such!

After doing a little big of research I have come to the conclusion that the most cost effective way to be a magazine reader is to purchase a subscription, for most publications anyways! That will not hep your grocery store impulse buys but it will save you a few pennies if you buy the monthly issue of the same magazines.

So tell me, what is your favorite magazine and what do you do with them after you're don reading them?

Big Hair Dont Care? I dont think so!

For those of you who don't know me, I have a TON of hair! I often sweep the floors and wonder how its possible I'm not bald!

Ive always had a lot of hair, I was born that way, I come by it honestly and when people look at me and tell me what beautiful hair I have, I graciously thank them all the while thinking they have no idea what it takes to make me look presentable! The length of my hair generally varies, I absolutely love long hair but its usually an indicator to cut it when I lay in the tub, go to get up and fear snapping my neck! That however is not the only reason I have come to the decision to cut my hair in the past! I believe wrecking the vacuum, having it caught in the car door, not being able to find a hair tie I don't snap with the first use, finding it in all my food, and choking on it more than once in a day... just to name a few!

I really truly hate short hair and have very rarely in my life ever had it, I can think of three times that stand out to me, once when I was a child and my mom did it herself because it was unmanageable and if you can believe it I wasn't overly cooperative in letting her properly maintain it, when I cut of 16 inches for locks for love and this past summer when I had some sort of moment of stupidity and cut it to my shoulders.. madness. I sometimes find myself wanting a change and when it comes to my hair it gives me extreme anxiety. I have red hair and so coloring it is always a consideration, however at my age I have absolutely NEVER done so, not of any kind! No color, highlights, etc. I often consider cutting my hair off, knowing darn well the moment I do it I will hate it, but on occasion I get ballsy in the stylist chair and regret it not long after! I look ridiculous with short hair because along with having a lot of thick hair I have very curly hair.. short hair causes me to wake up looking like Diana Ross! Its a lot of work to maintain it, at least with longer hair in a pinch I can throw it in a bun and run!

I try really hard to take good care of my hair, aside from the fact that my flat iron is practically my right hand! I do however use a heat protector and the fact that I don't generally blow dry or color my hair helps! I don't often have terrible split ends or dandruff, if I notice either of these things I invest in products to fix it! I am a huge fan of Tresemme's leave in conditioner, as well as the fabulous product that is Moroccan oil! I on occasion use Tresemme dry shampoo as well. In my experience Tresemme is a really great and relatively inexpensive for hair products.

While living in Alaska with the extremely dry air I started to notice some flake.. BAD NEWS! As much as I hate flakes its the itchy scalp that drives me bananas! So I immediately went to the salon where I got my hair cut and invested in their shampoo and conditioner which quickly remedied my issue! Let me just tell you a little piece of advice Ive learned from experience, for years I made the mistake of using a 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner, it was quick and easy and with all the hair I have washing my hair is a job in itself let alone shaving my legs all in one "quick" shower. DO NOT USE 2 IN 1 LEAVE IN SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER! There is a reason why even hotels give complimentary bottles of each! If you start to see minor issues with your hair and you are a user of the 2 in 1... make that switch first!

Now that we are in Saskatchewan and they have notoriously bad water, especially where we are I found my problem of itching and flaking evolved quicker than ever. I'm not even kidding you when I say my head was bleeding it was so dry, when I would brush and straighten my hair I would be surrounded by a white circle of flakes that I would have to sweep up, literally. I honestly was at my wits end and willing to try and spend anything! I went to the only hair salon in town, Dolly Sue's (no I'm not kidding) and spoke to a very nice girl with extremely out of control multicolored hair! She advised me of a few products and although I was willing to spend anything at that point I wanted to make sure it was going to work.

This is what I left with!

KMS California head remedy has a lot of things going for it that most dandruff shampoos do not, its not thick and heavy, and it smells great! I literally started seeing a difference the first week I was using it! I use it 3 times a week and leave it in for a minute or two, before rinsing. Amazing results.

Check out KMS California Products HERE!

Now I cant give all the credit to just the shampoo because I have paired it with a random conditioner, because as I said I like to try things and make sure they work before I dive in with my debit card! So here is the unlikely pair...

Tea Tree <3 If nothing more this product smells absolutely amazing! I purchased just the tiny sample bottle because that in itself was $13.00 and for a larger bottle was $50.00 so I wanted to make sure it was going to do the job. I honestly have nothing bad to say about this product. This conditioner is noticeably thicker than most conditioners and although I have a lot of hair this requires so little to make a difference. Again I leave it in for a minute or two before thoroughly rinsing.

You can buy this at The Bodyshop and local salons (at least around here!)

I leave you on a good note that my hair problems have been resolved for the moment, and although I am very happy with these products I am planning to try something else just to see what my options are, at least this time I will have something I know is great to fall back on!

Before I part ways I will however leave you with this! I always straighten my hair and have had many flatirons over the years but nothing has ever compared to my current partner in crime... The GHD Flatiron!

This here is my beauty!

I absolutely LOVE my flatiron, it heats up in seconds, straightens my hair in no time with minimal damage and has an automatic shutoff for those of you who are like me and would forget your head if it wasn't attached! Spend the money, I promise its worth every cent!

To visit their website please click HERE!

Daily Inspiration

Be yourself everyday, because you should never deprive someone of the privilege of getting to know the real you!

Gym, Tan, Goals?

OK, OK please ignore the Jersey Shore reference! I was at the gym last night and although I got in a good workout, I know this because I can barely lift my arms to tie my hair today, I did quite a bit of people watching while I was there!

When you go to the gym do you ever take note of the diverse crowd? I will generally say that I am a people watcher in that I take note of attire as I myself am a lululemon addict, and tattoos which I always find fascinating... but here in such a small gym I cant help but take note of the characters around me.

I go to the gym, always hoping to lose weight! I go because although sometimes I don't want to I always leave feeling great! I go because the feeling of noticing improvement is amazing and self gratifying! I go to the gym because when I do I feel better about myself than when I don't.. and sometimes I go to the gym because Jason makes me! Haha! Being in a smaller gym I cant help but wonder why these people go as I frequently see the same faces. Last night we were at the gym and on a Monday night it is usually at its busiest! So we have in one corner the real housewives of Estevan who have their nails done and their expensive workout gear and truth be told Ive never actually see them work out, they usually stand in the corner and catch up and giggle! Do they go to the gym to get away from their families and house just to have a break and catch up? Ive noticed recently there is a group of boys who are maybe 13 years old who I can tell are there together because of the way they smirk at each other now and then but wander around looking for machines they know how to use and settle in. I wonder why they go to the gym, are they on some kind of school team and they think it will help their performance? Do they think its cool to say "I went to the gym last night"? Then there is my favorite group by far, the gym rats with twisted faces who make the loudest grunting noises and throw weights around like they are one step away of being the hulk. I'm not going to lie this group irritates me!

I think that any reason you have that brings you to the gym is a good reason, whether you walk around with a notebook keeping track of your work out and progress, if you go for a stress reliever, or a break from home, any reason to get active is a good reason! I think its great that as I'm sure a lot of you know the gym is quite expensive, or most are to join and that's how people choose to spend their hard earned money!

In today's society I appreciate the fact that being healthy is so widely publicized now rather than just being thin and beautiful. For a long time I have felt that so much pressure has been put on society to look a certain way that people go about achieving that in all the wrong ways. Being healthy is a lifestyle, its a choice you make not just in one aspect of you life but all. There are so many ways to accomplish your health and fitness goals as long as you are committed!

I myself get up in the morning and have a coffee and breakfast, I do yoga for 45 minutes to an hour and then get ready for my day! Lunch is always something healthy, dinner is the same and then we go to the gym for an hour at least every night! I try to eat very healthy, I don't snack after dinner, I drink a ton of water throughout the day!

If an active healthy lifestyle is something you want but don't know how to go about achieving it, there are so many outlets to get advice, motivation and healthy recipes to encourage healthy eating! There are so many health and fitness myths that discourage people from trying, such as... before I decided to really work on what I consumed and how active I was I thought dieting meant starving myself all day.. WRONG! Eating healthy is actually the opposite, with some advice from friends with an extraordinary amounts of knowledge on this subject I now I eat more than I ever did before, because I'm eating the right things! You can treat yourself once in awhile, but you need to maintain portion control which is a problem for most.

Jason is an extremely healthy eater, I know this because I am the one who feeds him! However Jason does eat extremely healthy and definitely burns off his calories because of his job, however he has an issue with portion control! He has a very healthy appetite and after a long day of being on his feet he comes home and could easily eat 5 plate fulls. Its scary to think how many calories you actually consume in for instance a restaurant portion. What is one of the most common parts of a restaurant recommendation you hear? "The portions are huge" this is often referred to as a pro, the more you see the more you will eat. An example of a correct portion size is comparable to a Lean Cuisine dinner.

Ive gotten on a little bit of a rant here now, but my point is that a healthy lifestyle is so important.. you only live once and this is the body you get, treat it right! You don't have to go to extremes and work out 5 hours a day and live of chicken and salads, any little change in the right direction is a good one! Everyone starts somewhere!

I'm not an expert but I try hard, if for no other reason than when I am in shape and eating well I feel amazing, I feel less lethargic, I feel motivated, I want to get dressed and don't need to go through 50 outfits to find something I'm happy with. I have so many things in my life to be thankful for therefore I want to have the best attitude I can while enjoying them!

If you are looking for a more fit life, or even a way to make small change please feel free to contact me! I have some great resources and wonderful people to put you in contact with!

Remember it just takes one step!

Sunday Funday!

Good Afternoon Weekenders!

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the lovely weekend, from the pictures you all share I see that everyone is having better weather than we are here! Unfortunately we've had a week of cold and rain here! Today is overcast, with thunderstorms this afternoon and this evening so I figured it was a perfect day to make a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup! I don't actually like noodles in soup, that was Jason's request. I have a issue with soggy noodles, so I can just pick them out!

Overall it has been a quiet weekend here, Jason had to work all weekend which isn't necessarily unusual and with the crappy weather I haven't really done a whole lot. Last night we did however head to the Orpheum theatre to see the new Fast & the Furious movie! Usually when movies come out that have many movies in the series the more they come out with the less exciting they are... but I am happy to report this one might have been better than the first! On top of an already fabulous movie a few seconds into the credits they showed previews from the next movie which also looked pretty incredible!

So this week is pretty exciting, the count down is on until vacation time! Our flight leaves Friday morning at 6:20am I believe (Jason's booking, not mine) which is kind of unfortunate because we will have to leave Estevan just after 2:00am! We will land in Toronto just after 10:00am and Jason will head north with the boys! Monday morning we will leave super early and drive to North Carolina which we couldn't be more excited for! We have our studio visit Tuesday for the house and then off to see the Seavey's Tuesday night!! We will be back in Toronto late Thursday night for Jason to head back up north for the weekend before flying back here Sunday night!

This week I have a lot to post, so I hope you check in!I'm still getting the hang of the new layout so please bare with me! If you haven't subscribed by email please do so! You can also follow me on www.bloglovin.com.

Happy Memorial Day!

10 Things you might want to know about me!

Via inspiration from other blogs that I have been following I thought it might be a good idea for my readers to get to know me a little better!! You can read my bio under "Meet Nicole" but those are just basic details, who is Nicole really?

1. I love reruns of Gilmore Girls, no matter how many times I see an episode I never find it any less hilarious!

2. When I get into a good book, there is absolutely no turning back I need to read it until its done or until I absolutely have NO other choice but to stop to complete a task and than its right back to it. Usually when I get into a book like this I cant wait for the end result, but its bittersweet because its so good I don't want it to end.

3. Sometimes at night I look so forward to going to bed because I know when I wake up I get to have coffee. There is nothing I don't LOVE about coffee! I drink my coffee with one raw sugar packet and vanilla almond milk... sooo good!

4. Small gestures make my heart smile. I love to get an unexpected card in the mail, flowers, surprise date night. When someone does something small or big my level of appreciation is always through the roof!

5. I hate the smell of the ocean! I know that sounds crazy to most people but when someone says "I can smell the salt water" all I smell is rotting seaweed!

6. I like most other people am absolutely ADDICTED to my iPhone! I definitely got into the iPhone fad a lot later than most but now I cant imagine my life without it. How can you not love something that literally leaves the world at your fingers?

7. I'm absolutely TERRIFIED of the fog.. its eerie in the WORST way!

8. I absolutely LOVE Christmas for so many reasons but above all else I get soooo excited to see people open the gifts I got them! Each year I try really hard to buy everyone at least one very meaningful gift, and as the years go on and people have everything that gets harder and harder, or as I like to look at it, more of a challenge. So when I do come up with that fabulous gift I cant wait to see their excitement!







9. Some days I just need a front seat dance party! I need to get in the truck, put all the windows down, the music on bust and drive... all the while singing at the top of my lungs! Somehow no matter what is going on a front seat dance party solves it! Rain or shine!

10. Criminal Minds is one of my favorite shows but it scares the crap out of me! Its pretty much a given that no matter how hot Shemar Moore is I'm not going to sleep on Wednesday nights because that show is scary as hell! People bleed from their eyes, they are kidnapped and tortured.. and lets be honest in today's world where innocent British soldiers are being slaughtered on the street, and on a day we should be celebrating others accomplishments bombs are going off, the show doesn't seem so far fetched! Yet I cant help but plant myself in front of the TV and watch.. every week!

So now you know a little bit more about me, why not tell me something about you! 















Face Lift!

If you are returning reader, welcome to the new and improved look of Adventures of a Wild Sunflower!! If you are a new reader, welcome!

As I mentioned previously I was looking to make some changes to my blog, have it encompass me as a whole rather than just mine and Jason's adventures, as some adventures just aren't as exciting as others. So I wanted to put together something to keep your attention and show off the things that are important to me!

I have a ton of ideas and I hope you stick around and explore all the great things to come! Note on the right hand side you can also check out some of the the blogs that I enjoy following!

Stay tuned for more post, recipes, book recommendations and daily inspiration! I hope you enjoy the new look and content as much as I am going to enjoy sharing with you all!

Spring Time Construction!

Hey guys,

I just wanted to pop in and let you all know that you will definitely be seeing some changes to my blog, it will be understand construction for awhile but I think you will all be pleased with the end result! I am working towards bigger and better things, offering a lot more to my readers and giving a broader view of me and all the things I love!

I'll keep you posted and let you know when you can expect the finished products!

Onward & Upward to bigger and better things! XO

Greetings from Regina!

Well not really actually because I'm home writing this, but not the point that is what I'm going to chat about because that indeed was our day!

So we decided this weekend that we would use Jason's one day off to head to the city for a change of scenery because this place is really getting to both of us. Its really hard with Jason having worked until 9:00pm a lot of nights this week and not really doing anything. My life pretty much consists of this apartment and the gym and Jason's life consists of work, this apartment and the gym and I'm really sure the only place either of us like being is the gym.. my because I get to tan. Haha!

Last night Jason actually got home early and we had dinner and headed to the gym early which was great because it was dead! I actually do like the gym, especially because when we got here I felt so bad about myself having packed on all kinds of traveling pounds I had worked so hard to lose in Alaska. It really is amazing how hard it is to get in shape but how easy it is to lose it. We were traveling and away from the gym for a month and my jeans don't fit.. I honestly don't even know how that happened! I didn't think we ate that horribly, but I guess compared to what we are use to and we go to the gym at least 4 times a week and we weren't.. so naturally I became a porker! We started back to the gym this month and Ive been really watching what I eat, doing yoga every morning and going to the gym at night and I can already tell a HUGE difference, I feel better about myself, my clothes are starting to fit again (some of them...) and I'm increasing the amount of weight I can lift again.. it feels great! Tanning is just a nice little bonus after a hard workout!

Not to mention the fact, since going to the gym Ive learned something pretty friggin' hilarious! Ya'll know that episode of Friends where Rachel doesn't want to run with Phoebe because she looks like shes nuts? No? OK well before I continue you have to know what I'm talking about... Watch this little clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfaztVg4kaA

Well apparently Jason jumps rope like Phoebe runs!!! HILARIOUS! Honestly Ive never seen anything like it in my life and no unfortunately I don't take my phone to the gym to get even a picture of this comedy! At first I was stunned, I stopped skipping myself and just stared at him with no words.. I was thinking.. "WTF is he doing" but I could laugh or speak I just stared... then I bust out laughing! Good lord it was HILARIOUS! His face was all smushed and he was whipping the rope around so hard and jumping all over the place, it seriously is the best thing Ive ever seen at the gym! Truth be told I go to the gym to tan and watch Jason skip now!

Anyways we got home last night and decided to watch a movie.. WELL! Have you ever seen the movie with Liam Nissan? WELL DONT! Stupidest movie I have ever seen in my life.. I will never ever get those two hours of my life back and for that I am pissed!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfb0-U0ydj8

Did you just watch the "teaser"? Well they hype it up to be this great survival story of the Alaskan wilderness.. SURVIVAL MY ASS!!! The flipping plane crashes and they all get eaten by the wolves, one by one.. end of movie. WTF IS THAT??? Whats worse is Jason just saw a wolf driving home from work the other night and kept saying over and over that he was going to have nightmares.. I was just mad.

So this morning we got up and ready excited for the beautiful weather and a change of scenery and headed to Regina. We have been to Regina before when we were living in Saskatoon but truth be told I don't remember much of it as my short term memory is pretty pathetic and we really didn't do a lot of exploring we went to look into buying a laptop at Best Buy!

We got there just at the mall was opening and toured around there for awhile, truth be told its so hard to go into stores in Canada now and see the inflated prices! Paying $30.00 more for something I know is way cheaper in the States just doesn't make sense. It was great to get a Booster Juice and tour around though. However we made our way to Lululemon and naturally you can imagine my excitement, my favorite store and all but Jason proceeded to tell me that I didn't NEED anything there and that I have a TON of clothes from there.. blah blah blah.. I left mad with nothing in hand.

Overall the day was fine, there really isn't a lot in Regina either but I'm not complaining because its still better than here! I got a Starbucks and really that's all that counts!

I took a bunch of pictures on the way there and back, mostly of farm land and all the flooding for you guys to see! These pictures pretty much represent the scenery all the way from Estevan to Regina and back! The few at the end are probably duplicates I just played around with on Instagram...

In conclusion we are back safe and sound, not to travel anywhere Im sure until our much awaited roll out May 31st! At which time you will get no pictures of our travel to Regina because we have to leave Estevan at 2:30am!

I promise to blog more tomorrow, I have some recipes I want to share!

I also want to wish all the Mama's out there a VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! Especially my wonderful mother who I dont know what I would do without!