Good morning friends!

Aren’t these sunflowers I picked up at the Farmers Market last weekend gorgeous? They make me think of our wedding every time I look at them since the sunflower is going to be our wedding flower

OK, onto more important things. Like the winner of the $250 lululemon gift card giveaway. This giveaway was a little different since it was only open to Canadians so the number of comments on the post doesn’t necessarily reflect the number of entries. Especially since people got extra entries through Twitter and Facebook.

So I kept track of all the entries as they rolled in in a google spreadsheet. In the end we had 124 official entries.

And the winner is….

#45!

Yay Samantha! Email me your address! Samantha is running her first marathon in a month so I’m sure she could use some new lulu gear

I also want to say a huge thank you to Healthy Families BC one more time. What a great organization this is! I really hope you all check out their website!

***

Onto the real point of this post: Sleep Deprivation.

Let me be honest here, I do not have sleep deprivation. In fact I may be getting too much sleep. I’ve been getting about 7-9 hours a night but I have SO MUCH trouble pulling myself out of bed in the morning. For example, this morning, my alarm went off at 6:00 AM and I fell right back asleep until 7:10 AM! Yesterday morning I got up, put running clothes on, ATE 1/2 AN ENGLISH MUFFIN and then laid down on the couch and fell back asleep until 7:30 AM, missing my run.

Really Amber?!

I am just SO TIRED in the mornings lately and getting out of bed takes everything I have in me. I got like this around this time of year last year too but I thought that was because I was tapering for my marathon. Maybe it’s a seasonal thing?!

I am definitely drinking a lot of this lately…

***

Questions of the day: Do you get extra tired this time of year? How do you deal with it when you are having a lot of trouble getting out of bed in the morning despite getting a good, long nights of sleep?

Hi friends! Have I got a fun giveaway for you

In early August I was contacted by Healthy Families BC, which is a new initiative in my province that is focused on creating a healthy, one-stop-shop resource for families in the province.

Considering the concern about activity level with youth these days and the obesity epidemic that is sweeping our country I think this is an awesome initiative and I’m very proud of my province for bringing it forward.

The website offers tips on healthy eating, exercise and ways to fit it into a busy schedule and life. They also have other great tips and resources including articles on healthy living for pregnancy, tips on getting active for all ages and even salt and sodium facts among lots of other things!

I’ve blogged before about how I didn’t really learn about healthy eating until I was in my late teens/early twenties. I was a product of the processed food generation and I can vividly remember eating pizza pops, chips and drinking Coca-Cola for lunch every day when I was in grades 8 and 9. I think education is the way to go when it comes to teaching kids and families about healthy living and eating.

They are also offering daily tips on their facebook page!

And now for the especially exciting news…

Healthy Living Families BC has generously offered a $250 Lululemon gift card for me to giveaway to ONE of my readers!

Ways to Enter:

REQUIRED:

1. Like Healthy Living Families on Facebook and follow them on Twitter
2. Like Girl with the Red Hair on Facebook
3. Leave a comment on this post telling me you’ve done the above two things AND ways you focus on keeping your family happy and healthy.

EXTRA ENTRIES

1. Tweet about it and leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve done so. Sample tweet: I want to win a $250 lululemon gift card from @AmberYake & @Healthyfamilybc: http://bit.ly/nBAcrB
2. There are going to be extra entry options happening on my Facebook page this week, so you’re going to want to make sure you like Girl with the Red Hair on Facebook

The winner will be determined using random.org and announced one week from today on Tuesday, September 27.

**This giveaway is open to RESIDENTS OF CANADA only. Sorry U.S. friends (I still love you!)**

I am a paper planner girl through and through.

I have tried using google calendar and outlook to schedule my life. But I just can’t get into it. With a paper planner, on the other hand, I am constantly jotting in little notes, deadlines and schedules. I love it.

My planner from my last year of college when my life was insane:

So when I heard about the Erin Condren Life Planner I decided I had to have it. But the shipping cost was deterring me. $25 (half the price of the planner) to ship to Canada is ridiculous. It does not cost that much money to ship things here.

Luckily, I was going to be seeing Lisa at the beginning of October for the marathon so I chose to ship to her for a measly $7 and then she brought it up to me!

Let me say, the $60ish this planner cost was 110% worth it. I am in love.

I’ve quickly been filling up the pages with to-do lists, deadlines, dates and times to remember.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes I am taking these photos on Webster’s cat stand. It’s the only place in our tiny little basement suite that has good lighting because it’s right in front of our one window.

Getting whacked in the head with a cats tail is just the price I have to pay to take good photos.

Anyways, back to the planner. It comes with all these nifty little labels that I love to use.

And even though I have a pretty good memory when it comes to dates and commitments, it doesn’t hurt to remind myself

In the back of the planner there’s this fabulous little folder and waterproof ziplock baggie to stuff important cards and papers in.

And finally, it came with these great gift labels! Seriously, how cute are they?

My Review

The only complaint I have about this planner is the ridiculous cost that shipping was to Canada. I know a lot of companies in the States do that and I hate it because I know it’s not that expensive. I sent TWO books to Becky for HALF the price that it cost to ship the planner.

If it hadn’t been for sending it to Lisa I would not have bought this planner because the high shipping cost was not worth it to me.

Other than that, I have no complaints. I really like how user-friendly it is, the fun colours and labels and just the overall format of the planner. I would highly recommend it to anyone that uses a paper planner regularly and I believe (minus the shipping) it was worth the $60ish!

Giveaway

I also got two lovely little 10% off coupons, which I am going to giveaway to two equally lovely readers! The discount code is good for anything in Erin Condren’s store and it’s getting close to Christmas so might as well take advantage, right? Right!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me whether you’re a paper planner person or an electronic planner person or a no planner person and WHY?

I will pick two winners next week!

*Giveaway open until Wednesday, November 17 at 9:00 PM PST. I was not given this Erin Condren planner for review, I bought it with my own money and all thoughts/opinions in this blog post are my own*