little overdue for an update....

somehow, updating my journal managed to slip my mind the last few weeks.....oops, sorry!

All is well here, my back (nerve impingement) is almost completely healed and I'm still enjoying a much needed break from the gym. The healing process has been incredibly painful though. Repeated massage therapy appoinments, ART treatments, visits to the Chiropractor etc. have made me very achey. As much as I dislike the entire process, I know if I hadn't taken time off to receive treatments and allow my back to heal, things would only end up worse for me.

Time away from the gym has been both inspiring and motivating..I'm actually excited about going back after all these weeks away. I'm still waiting to find out about the 2008 schedule so I can decide how long my potential off-season will be and when my next contest will be. Now speaking of my off-season, I've officially made the switch over to an off-season diet plan which means no more junk food during the week :( Unfortunately, I can't eat crap and expect to make decent gains in the gym. I know from my past experience that a solid nutrition plan will help me grow, however, I can still squeeze in a few treats here and there, they just can't make up the bulk of my diet. I figured it would be easier and much more constructive to make the change now rather than when I go back to the gym. We have some new equipment arriving at the gym toward the end of this month or early next month and I'm pretty happy about it. I'll look forward to trying them when they arrive. For now, I'm merely an 'arm chair' athlete :)

Thanksgiving was awesome! I had two turkey dinner's...the first was on Sunday night with some family in Vancouver and the second was in Victoria with more of my family. The food was fabulous, but it was so nice to sit around and visit with everyone without having to rush off to the gym to train OR answer 20 questions about the 'mystery food'in my tupperware container that I'd usually be consuming while everyone else ate yummy stuff.

AND speaking of food...I have been baking a bunch of sweets for a party at my Uncle's house this evening. What was suppose to be a small get-together has now escalated in to a full blown party with a large guest list...lol. We were suppose to order the UFC on PPV, but I'm not so sure the noise level will accomodate those who will want to watch the event...we'll see what happens.

That's all for now....gotta clean up the mess I made in the kitchen...lol.
I'll leave you with a few pics from Las Vegas.

Heather & me (killing time before dinner at the Courtyard Cafe' in the Orleans hotel)



Me, Heather & Kim at the awesome surprise party thrown for me at Rain.



Enjoy your weekend!

Vegas was a blast!

I got home from Las Vegas a few days ago in dire need of rest...it seems I was in need of a vacation from my vacation :) My trip was exceptionally eventful and even unforgettable! Never have I been so sleep deprived....and what a trip it was!
Somehow I managed to pick up a head-cold between Las Vegas and home, I really shouldn't be surprised though....I was pretty worn down after 6 days in Vegas :)

I travelled down to Vegas with a friend of mine who had never attended the Olympia before nor had she been to Las Vegas. She and I had so much fun....we arrived a few days before the weekend events began so, we used our time to tour the 'strip', hit the outlet mall and even make a pitstop at Outback Steakhouse. I must admit, this was my first dining experience at Outback...yeah, yeah, I'm a wee bit deprived...let's not forget that I live in a 'sleepy hollow'..we don't have 'Outback' here and I have always wanted to try it so.....we made a point of stopping there. The food was ok, but certainly nothing to write home about.
In total, I think we walked the strip for roughly 6 hours....we took our time and did the tourist thang. Although this certainly wasn't my first trip to Vegas, it was fun to tour around anyway.

Macey & me @ Outback



The Olympia itself was great, the expo was as huge as ever and as always, I spent a majority of my time in the expo visiting with friends I bumped in to as I roamed around. I caught a bit of the women's pre-judging or at least as much as I wanted to see anyway. I skipped both the Fitness & Figure and watched the female bodybuilding. It was so awesome to see my gal Nicole up there! I also, attended the women's finals and saw the men's prejudging as it was scheduled as the first event of the evening. It was a pretty long, drawn out process, but interesting nonetheless.

Melody & me in the expo



After an eventful day in the expo, Saturday night, some friends of mine hosted a surprise party for me to celebrate my pro status, the party was held at a club called Rain in the Palms and it was amazing! The club itself was fantastic, it had great music and a wild atmosphere..I loved every minute of it. There was a record number of Canadian female bodybuilders in attendance along with other notables..we all had such a great time. I have a ton of pics which I'll post as I sort through them. The party rolled in to the wee hours of the morning and some party-goers were still 'going strong' up until roughly 8:30am... We were all in pretty rough shape on Sunday, but several of us managed to pull it together enough to head out for dinner at the Venetian.....

By Monday morning I was exhausted. I was pretty happy to be saying goodbye to Vegas and heading home :) My trip home wasn't too eventful, but somehow my luggage was lost between Las Vegas, Seattle & Vancouver....I was suppose to clear Customs with it in Vancouver, but it never arrived.....after waiting around to deal with an agent at the airline luggage claim desk, filling out the waiver required to get my baggage through Customs upon its arrival, I almost missed my damn connection to Victoria....I was experiencing some serious 'deja vu' as I hustled through the airport to get to my gate....thankfully I made it just in time..jeez, what is it with me and delayed flights, missed connections, lost luggage etc.? The highlight was that my flight arrived home early! At that point, I could have cared less if I ever saw my luggage again, I just wanted to get home and go to bed...lol... My luggage was located and did arrive the next day via courier though.

Since my arrival home I haven't really left the house, I have spent a majority of my time in bed trying to rest and fight off this cold. I am feeling a bit better today, but it'll be a few days before this sinus congestion fully clears up. I'm just hoping to have my sense of taste back by Sunday. My family is celebrating Thanksgiving on Sunday and I'm really looking forward to it...it's been a while since I last sat down and enjoyed a meal with them. I'm not exactly sure what the menu entails, but I'll be happy to eat anything other than diet food :)

Happy Thanksgiving!