September 18, 2015
One Week To Go: The Great Camp Adventure Walk #WalkForSickKids
The past few weeks have flown by for me after I announced that I will be taking part in The Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk. This was important to me in so many ways. Sick Kids is an incredible hospital that does so much for the children and families that are treated there. They open their doors, hearts and give their all to their patients. I was privileged as a high school student to participate in a research study at Sick Kids. It was this study that sparked my love of medicine and the hope it gives families.
What is The Great Camp Adventure Walk?
The Great Camp Adventure Walk is a challenge by choice event held in Toronto on September 26th. Participants can challenge themselves to a 5km, 10km, 15km or even a 20km walk. It is an event that is open to all: young children, families and even pets! The day is full of fun, camp like activities and more.
Participants can register on the Walk for Sick Kids website. If you would like to donate to my team, you can do so at our team page, Live, Dream, Hope. Our goal is to raise $1,000 and we are a quarter of the way there.
All donations raised go to The Possibilities Fund at Sick Kids Foundation. The goal this year is to raise over $2 million!
You can also enter to win a $100 donation to a team of your choosing and a $100 VISA gift card for yourself. A definite win-win!
The Great Camp Adventure Walk for SickKids Promotion Contest
Disclosure: I am part of the Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk for SickKids campaign with Influence Central and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”
September 16, 2015
Five Ingredient No Bake Granola Bars
I love simple, good for you recipes. When it comes to crunch time, I need something I can make in a big batch, quickly and with little mess. Granola bars fit these requirements to the T but I don’t want granola that is full of extra ingredients. I want something natural and as few ingredients as possible.
These simple to prepare and even simpler to make no bake granola bars are my favourite. I can make these quickly on a Sunday night and have a weeks worth of granola bars ready for us to enjoy on the run or as a healthy snack before dinner. They have quickly become an easy and satisfying snack to consume on the run to work, between practices or even as a sweet tooth craving at night.
Ingredients:
- four cups of oatmeal
- 1 and 1/2 cup of peanut butter
- 3/4 cup of honey
- 3 boxes of raisins
- 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
Directions
Cover a rectangular pain in parchment paper and set aside.
Combine all the ingredients into one bowl. Mix the ingredients together well and until all the dry ingredients are ‘wet’ and sticking together.
Transfer the mixed ingredients into the rectangular container on top of the parchment paper (this will help with easy removal of the granola afterwards). Push down to ensure the ingredients bind together well.
Put the container in the fridge and allow it to remain in there for at least two hours.
When you are ready to eat the granola, cut yourself out a piece and enjoy!
This granola recipe stayed well in our fridge for the entire week.
September 16, 2015
Nature Walk #WW with linky
Hi Friends!
I missed out on last week’s wordless Wednesday because of the first week of school and all of the excitement of our youngest entering Kindergarten. So here is our latest nature walk that we went on over the weekend. I played with some of the photographs, let me know what you think.
Make sure you link up below so that I can visit you too. Have a great afternoon.
September 16, 2015
A Song For Bellafortuna by Vincent “Chip” LoCoco
A Song for Bellafortuna follows a young man and his desire to free his Sicillian village from the domination of one family’s long reign.
About A Song for Bellafortuna
For years, the beautiful and secluded hilltop village of Bellafortuna, Sicily, was a great producer of wine and olive oil and the entire village prospered. After the arrival of the Vasaio family, production dwindles and the villagers soon find themselves in crushing debt to the Vasaios. Only one family in the village remains outside the control of the Vasaios, but the reason haunts Antonio Sanguinetti every day of his life. Antonio is determined to erase this legacy by offering financial and emotional support to his fellow villagers. He introduces them to the choral song from Verdi’s opera, Nabucco, which becomes the rallying cry for the villagers and offers them hope for a better life.
When Antonio’s only son, Giuseppe, discovers his family’s past, he becomes determined to take on the Vasaios and remove them from power. Led by the young Giuseppe, a plan is hatched that could result in either complete freedom for the villagers or will forever solidify the Vasaios’ control.
My Thoughts
A struggle for power, fairness, equality and overcoming poverty. The beautiful village of Bellafortuna was destroyed by one family who wanted to control it all. They used their power to ‘protect’ the people from a bigger threat (the Mafia) but in turn crushed the people in debt. While the villagers were angry and knew this was wrong, they were powerless to stop it. So instead, this vicious circle continued from generation to the next.
It is one young man, Giuseppe, who is willing to lay his heart and everything on the line to protect his people. He can no longer see them suffering as it causes heartache for him to think that his family may have played a role in this.
A Song for Bellafortuna is a beautiful and touching story of hope, grace, forgiveness and strength. I love that the story centres around music because it is music that gives us hope, lifts our spirits and gives our heart freedom. A wonderful story with a truly nail biting ending. You will love it from start to finish.
You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Award winning and bestselling author, Vincent B. “Chip” LoCoco, lives in New Orleans. His first novel, Tempesta’s Dream – A Story of Love, Friendship and Opera, became an Amazon bestselling novel and was awarded the 2014 Pinnacle Achievement Award in Historical Fiction. Amazon also has named his book as a Top Rated Novel in Italian Historical Fiction.
His most recent novel, A Song for Bellafortuna, was shortlisted in the William Faulkner – William Wisdom Competition. He is an estate planning attorney in New Orleans, where he lives with his wife and two children.
The Giveaway!
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
September 16, 2015
Week Five: Still Holding On
We are officially in the second week of school and normal routines are almost back (thank goodness!). My regular fitness routine is slowly returning to normal, with help from my calendar on the fridge – desperate times call for desperate measures! I have started to see a physiotherapist to help with my stretching which has helped a lot with some of the pain I have been experiencing. I have always had lower back pain and this has really helped to improve my range of motion and compression like feeling I have been having. Most of the pain is due to my poor posture and abdominal weight so my fitness goals couldn’t have come at a better time!
So how did I do?
Here is week four:
1-2 pound weight loss.Although to be fair this was the weight I gained back from my Dad’s delicious cooking!
Weight training five times this week.- Yoga three times this week.
Daily squat, lunge, push up and crunch challenge.- 11,000 steps a day. Every day but Friday! I was so close this time!
- Two 3km walks.
One 4km walkAnd I chose the hottest day to do so, I was looking lovely in my sweaty clothes.
Week Five Goals:
- 1 to 2 pound weight loss.
- Weight training four times.
- Yoga twice this week.
- Daily squat, lunge, push up and crunch challenge.
- 11,000 steps a day.
- Two 3km walks.
- One 4km walk.
Week five marks one week closer to my walk for Sick Kids coming up on September 26th. For more information on my walk (or if you would like to donate to this great cause) please check out my post on The Great Camp Adventure Walk.
Here is to good things in week five! Have a great week and I will see you here next week.