I thought this article was awesome! I love it when people take the initiative to do something different, adventurous, and a little crazy. It think all of us would be better off if we had the courage to go against the grain a little more.

Hiker eludes bears, hungry skunk on cross-Canada trek

So, once you’ve read that and get yourself inspired, what challenge might you take on in 2012 to break out of your comfort zone and experience something new?

Post below and share!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

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Fall has got to be my favourite month – cool and crisp, bright colours, a wonderful scent of dying leaves in the air. Love it, I really do.

A couple of weeks ago at the “SoundsAround” liquidation sale my husband was able to pick up a simple (thank goodness) Panasonic Lumix DMC-F2K point and shoot camera for me. I’ve been wanting a simple camera for a long time. Photography used to be a hobby of mine, but it got too expensive with film and printing costs, and the fact that it was bulky (an old Canon EOS SLR) meant that I had to take pictures “on purpose” instead of just being able to “capture the moment”. Tom is more of a serious photographer, and he has inspired me to “see” the world just a little differently. I’ve often wanted to capture something, but haven’t had the means.

So, now that the fall colours are out, I took a lovely long (5k) stroll down towards a park in the area, snapping pictures all the way. Here are some of the highlights (yeah, I know the exposure isn’t always the best – working on it…)

Bowness Valley from Nose Hill, looking Towards Cougar Ridge

A small branch of the Bow River running through the wilderness park

Stormy skies on the way home - love Calgary skies.

Ahhhh – nothing like a great walk!

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Who is Darlene Hull? Click here: www.darlenehull.com to find out!

I just got back from a 7-day cruise to Alaska with my parents and siblings.  My folks are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this year, and this was part of that celebration.

What great fun!  Lots of laughs, beautiful scenery, fabulous ship (Holland America’s “Volendam”) and wonderful service.  A great way to travel, to be sure.  Another cruise is definitely in my future somewhere, this time with my hubby and kids.  My parents actually won a 7-day cruise on this cruise, so they’re all geared up to go again as well.  Cool anniversary present!

I was terrified to go on the cruise because I kept hearing about all the food, and I have worked so hard to lose weight that I didn’t want to gain it all back in a 7-day cruise.  Neither did I want to go on a cruise with all that food and eat only lettuce.

I decided to compromise: I’d keep up with my walking, never take the elevator (as we were on the 2nd deck and the food and many activities were usually on the 8th deck, that meant a regular scaling of 120 stairs one direction, several times a day – I was usually over 20,000 steps on my pedometer each day of the cruise), eat only fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch, and then simply enjoy my dinner – all four courses.

I even did a 5k walk for breast cancer while I was on the cruise!  I walked 12 laps of the ship with 65 other people, and finished two laps ahead of the crowd.  We celebrated with glasses of chilled pink lemonade, and were part of Holland America’s raising of over $1,000,000 for the cause.  Pretty cool!

The result?  I still gained 4 pounds.  But ONLY 4 pounds.  I’m quite happy with that.  I also attended a very interesting workshop on weight loss and heard things I’d never heard before that will make future weight loss not only much easier to succeed at, but also even easier to maintain.  I’m doing further research on that to make sure I have the facts straight before I share the info.  Watch for that here.

It’s great to be back, but I sure loved the time away.  I am back refreshed and full of new ideas!  Can’t wait to share them with you!  There will be some exciting things happening here over the next couple of months, so keep your eyes peeled!

Have a great day, and happy walking!

Darlene

On Wednesday I shared the experience I have with walking with a Rosary. Another cool meditation tool for walking is walking a labyrinth.

I heard about labyrinth’s a few years back when I got very involved with studying Catholic Mysticism. After that I looked for opportunities to walk one, and while there aren’t many around here, there are a couple – one at Kingsfold Retreat Centre, and one at the FCJ Christian Life Center

I love walking the Labyrinth because there’s a slow rhythm, there’s mindfulness, and there’s peace. You go into the centre with something on your heart, seeking God’s will, and come out with peace. It’s a very long walk covering a very small space, and unless you’ve walked that particular labyrinth or pattern several times, you are always suprised at where you end up, at how the path unfolds. It’s kind of like life. I just wish I could walk life with the same kind of mindfulness as I walk a labyrinth!

This morning I stumbled on this article about the labyrinth, and thought it was a helpful piece to understand how it works and how to walk it. This article from Kingsfold is also very helpful.

If you want to find a labyrinth near you, check this Labyrinth Locator

If you want to read more about the Labyrinth, here’s a great book: Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth

Happy Walking!

Darlene

PS – you can even get a labyrinth on your iPod Touch (I ♥♥♥♥♥♥ my iPod Touch!) here: iPause

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Jenolan Caves to Hill End
Your Blue Mountains journey begins in Jenolan Caves. Jenolan Caves is home to the oldest discovered open caves in the world, approximately discovered in 1835-49, featuring numerous Silurian marine fossils and calcite formations. From Jenolan Caves walk to Gulgong a gold rush town which was founded in the 1870s and then on to Mudgee in the Cudgegong River valley, which is now a wine producing region. From Mudgee continue on to Hill End which was established in the 1850s as a gold rush town. Hill End is also classified as a historical site by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The GREAT NEWS is that you can join me, because I’m only walking “virtually” using this very cool website:

You just create an account (choose to join the step log on the bottom left), then go to the “I-challenge” link, and sign up at whatever level you’re comfortable at.  With the training I’m currently doing, I’m going for the second level.  I should be able to accomplish that.  Then get yourself a pedometer and get walking.  Every day log your steps and the rest is done for you.

Pretty cool, eh?

So sign up, find me as a friend on there, and we can walk together.

Happy Walking, Happy Canada Day!

Darlene

PS: I’m still looking for sponsors for my walk on the 5th of June – can you help? Just click the badge below and you’ll go right to my page

Well, I’m back after a 10 day visit to Ireland to see my husband’s family.  My mother-in-law recently broke her hip, and we wanted to check in and see how she’s doing.

Visiting family in Northern Ireland is not the best way to keep up with weight loss plans!  We stayed with my husband’s sister who’s a fabulous cook.  Thankfully, she’s also a healthy cook – lots of greens, farm-fresh food, and a good variety.  We also ended up eating out a lot with various combinations of family members, and were not always so lucky with the food selections (though all were delicious!).  We both came back with a couple of extra pounds, but we chose to enjoy our time with the family, and put that ahead of keeping trim.

We did, however, keep up with walking.  Ireland is a beautiful place to walk!  Rolling green hills, lots of birds, fresh, moist air (compared to the near-desert air of Calgary) and restful scenes.  I loved walking there!

I posted my walks on Facebook, and I’m putting the links here in case you want to check them out.  Some great pictures there!

Monday’s Walk in Northern Ireland

Tuesday’s Walk in Northern Ireland

Wednesday’s Walk in Northern Ireland

Thursday’s Walk in Northern Ireland

Saturday’s Walk in Northern Ireland

Sunday’s Walk in Northern Ireland

Enjoy!

Darlene