So, as part of my 12in12 challenge I wanted to get back out walking starting February 1. Today I just found this cool walking challenge that starts on the 1st and encourages you to walk 1049 minutes (30 minutes a day for 35 days) and the number of minutes is based on the number of miles for the Iditarod Sled race. Here are the details from the site:

The Idita-Walk is an event to promote physical fitness in the spirit of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The Iditarod Sled dog race is 1049 miles long from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. To complete the Idita-Walk, simply walk 30 minutes a day for 35 days between February 1, 2012 to March 31, 2012 for a total of 1049 minutes (any combination of minutes will work – just reach 1049 during the 60 day event!).

Want to join me? It’s only $10 and the money is for charity. You can sign up here: www.idita-walk.com

You can even register your dog!

Post below if you’re going to join in! It will be fun to watch out for each other’s results.

Darlene

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

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

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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Be A Star! Post your comments below and join in the conversation (or get it started!) and then share this post with your friends using the different share buttons on the blog. I'd sure appreciate it! Thanks!

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

Being married to a true Irishman (a Belfast boy!) let me begin today’s post by wishing everyone a happy St. Pat’s!

And speaking of marriage…

These days we’re so incredibly busy and stressed that our most meaningful relationships often suffer from neglect.  We WANT to have a more meaningful marrige/family life, but when we actually DO have time, we’re not sure what to do with it, and we’re too tired to come up with something creative.

Well, here’s an idea all ready to go:

What if once a week you took a marriage walk with your spouse?  Here’s how that works:

• Book off a night in your calendar, and do whatever it takes to keep that time free from interruptions.
• Put on comfy shoes and start a nice slow stroll – this is NOT a power walk (that’s actually a really important thing to remember, for dozens of reasons I won’t go into here, today) Hold hands, walk arm in arm, take it slow.
• The first couple of times, just catch up on your day.  Find out what’s going on.  Avoid all “hot” topics.  Re-connect.
• Once you have the habit in place, use this time to go deeper by asking questions.  If you don’t know what to ask you could try these for starters, and then you could move on to “Couples Conversation Starter Questions” with each of you randomly grabbing, say 3 cards before leaving for your walk.
• Take time to really talk about your answers, and make sure you keep the environment safe.  Allow each other to speak truth, and if it hurts, don’t react immediately.  Explore it a little deeper and see if there’s a way to move past the hurt to healing.
• Make sure you laugh from time to time – in fact, as often as possible!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

PS – oh, and just a little nudge here: remember that Exercise Can Spice Up Your Sex Life