A Tribute to Moncton

Where in the World is Heather & Mark Grace?

A HUGE thank you to my friend Jennifer for getting together yesterday for the afternoon to go through some Photoshop basics with me. I've had the program for about a year and even purchased the book for Dummies - but it was so helpful to sit down with Jenn and go over how to put everything into practice.

Nike Plus = Mega Cool

What is Nike Plus? I think it is the coolest workout technology out there. Basically, you have to get a pair of Nike shoes that are Nike+ compatible. There are currently two kits available - one that plugs into your iPod Nano and the other is a wrist band. I have the iPod one and Ray has the wrist band. Both require a sensor to be put inside your shoe. It's great because mine is connected through my headphones and while I'm running/jogging/walking I can press the center button and a voice tells me my current time, distance, average speed and calories burned! How cool is that? The wristband shows the same information on the display face and you just toggle through it. After a workout you just plug it into the computer and all of your workout information is uploaded to the Nike Plus website. It's awesome that I look back at my runs and chart my progress. One of my favorite features is that you can set goals for yourself (you may have noticed my goal on the side of the blog - it gets updated automatically when I upload a workout!) and invite friends to participate in a challenge based on most miles, distance goals, or fastest times; these challenges can be set for individuals or teams. For me, it is a great motivational tool to get me back on track and make me accountable. The only downside to this is that it currently only works for running/jogging/walking - so it does not calculate any other exercise...however I did read that this technology is being brought into gyms to track the same type of information. What will they think of next???

Yes, It's been a while...

What's funny is that you would think that after 2 weeks without a post, having gone on vacation for 10 days and celebrating a birthday, this would be very easy to write...well you would think wrong. Too much has happened to really capture the essence of it all...so here is a list of the highlights!

• Hung out with my family in NC for 4 days! We stayed with my sister Suzanne & brother-in-law JD. They live right up with street from JD's parents where we cooked out and sat around a camp fire one evening.
  
• Played mini-golf at the $1.50 course in Hendersonville, NC with Suzanne, Emily (who is now 4 months pregnant), Mom & family friend. I came in 2nd behind Suzanne.
• Ray did some scouting work while we were there. We went to Greenville, SC to see JD play goalie in one of his hockey leagues...no contract has been signed yet.
  
• Downtown Asheville was not a highlight but probably a lowlight of the trip. Ray & I did not fit in with all the hippies & homeless people...not our scene - but now we know!
• Played BINGO with mom at the Elk's Lodge while Ray got some quality bonding time with dad...they both refused to go play with us. In case you're wondering, neither of us got to yell BINGO even though we both were sure we would win!
• Drove to Myrtle Beach and stayed in the same condo we stayed at in March right on the beach. It was so great just being able to drop our bags, know where to go and be able to relax.
• The shopping in Myrtle is AAAAMAZING!!!! I'm pretty sure we went shopping everyday we were there. There are 2 outlet malls, 2 regular malls, 3 outdoor shopping centers and we hit them all (some multiple times). We were both able to find some great deals and were able to fit everything in our suitcases which I'm still amazed about.
  
• I would say that eating, shopping & laughing our faces off was the theme of the trip.
  
• MIYABI Japanese Steak House was where I had the best fillet mignon of my entire life. No joke...it you're ever there you MUST check that place out. Num, num, num. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Fyi, there are more locations than just Myrtle Beach if you check out their website.
  
• I was in the mood for ice cream and we found a place that had frozen custard. I stood in line for about 15 minutes, ordered my cone, had a few licks only to discover that they only took cash...long story short I had to give the cone back...so sad.
• Had my 29th birthday while in Myrtle. Ray gave me a beautiful silver heart necklace from Tiffany & Co...LOVE IT! He is a great gift giver - very thoughtful and comes up with the best things.
• Played a round of mini-golf (see a theme) at the Hawaiian Rumble Golf, Home of the Masters, Sanctioned by U.S. ProMiniGolf. This course has been featured on the travel channel and has been voted one of the Top 10 mini-golf courses in the world. It was a great course and see why people rave about it. Yes, I did win by 5 strokes. Ray attributes that to the practice I had in Hendersonville.
  
• I was sad to come back home from such a wonderful & relaxing vacation, but happy to see the dogs...and boy were they happy to see us. Champy was so excited that he rammed his head into my leg, tooth first, and I have a bruise to show from it.

Birthday Present

Ok, I have to tell you that I am quite impressed (if I may say so) in the present that I gave to Ray today for the big 3-8. I'm not the arts & crafts kind of gal...or at least I never thought so until now. The man already has everything he needs and the things he may want tend to be out of my price range; so I needed to get creative. It must've been around fathers day when this idea came to me and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. If it's hard to make out, it is both of the dogs paw prints on the sides, a picture of the two of them in the middle, and a little plaque on the bottom with their names & todays date. I need to give a shout out and thank you to Jennifer Marr, for taking on the challenge of photographing the dogs! I couldn't get them to sit still enough to take a picture of them sitting next to one another. That's the beauty of photoshop. Ray was surprised and I think it's nice that he'll have this forever. Now we're off to dinner at the Keg....num, num, num!

Happy Birthday Ray!!!

Today Tom Cruise, Montel Williams, Quebec City, and the great Ray Delia celebrate birthdays. I'm excited to be spending Ray's 38th birthday with him this year. Last year at this time he was traveling to Moncton to interview for the job with the Wildcats. It has been a pretty low key day. Had some fresh cinnamon rolls this morning, watched some tennis, opened up a couple of presents, and just got done doing some last minutes errands before flying out tomorrow morning...the nice 6am flight out of town. I'm sure we'll figure out somewhere nice to go for dinner tonight to celebrate. Happy Birthday!

Oh Canada

Happy Canada Day!!! I can't believe that July 1st is already here! I guess that's largely due to the fact that it's been rainy and in the mid 50's & 60's this past week...but today finally feels like summer. I am still trying to figure out what people do here for this day of celebration. I look down the street and nobody has flags out and I haven't heard anything about fireworks tonight. All I do know is that here in Moncton, the city is pretty much shut down, like any other holiday.

My big plans for today is to stay in my pj's as long as possible (it's already after noon), watch Wimbeldon and relax. I LOVE this time of year! One day I'll make it to England to catch this tournament live. Watching always makes me want to get my tennis racket out and play.