December Empties 2016

I've been using up a lot of products recently and it's finally time to toss a few.

Amika Un.Done Texture Spray - I just bought a small size of this texture spray to try out and I'm very happy I did because it just wasn't for me. I'm still searching for that perfect texture spray but this didn't work well with my hair, this one really didn't give me enough texture I was looking for.

Shiseido Extra Creamy Cleansing Foam - This is a face wash I've been using for a long time but it's time for a change. This face wash does an amazing job cleansing but it left my face feeling stripped of it's moisture. I'm on the hunt for a new one that gives me a clean feeling but doesn't strip my skin.

Adidas Absorbent-Deo - I'm pretty sure this has been in some past product empties because it is till amazing...there is honestly no better deodorant out there.

Wella Leave in Conditioning Spray - Great product, crappy packaging. I loved this product for when I got out of the shower. I have very long hair that tends to get tangled so a leave in conditioner is a  must for me when I get out of the shower. This is defiantly one of my top favorites but the packaging leaked and it wasted so much product. This has to be stored up right which doesn't work in my bathroom so I wont be repurchasing this again...unless the packaging changes.

Arbonne Makeup Primer - A great makeup primer, this provides a great first layer before foundation and will help your makeup last longer throughout the day. Highly recommend for all skin types.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Concealer - Still my must have concealer, this stays on all day and provides amazing coverage. I've already repurchased a new one.

Benefit Gimme Brow - This is by far my favorite brow gel, it glues your brows into place and locks them in all day. I've already repurchased a new one, my only complaint would be this doesn't last long but I guess most brow gels typically don't last very long.

Josie Maran Whippped Mud Mask (Sweet Basil Mint/Sweet Citrus/ Lavender Citrus) - These are amazing mud masks! Highly recommend! Most mud masks feel my skin a little dry after I take them off and I feel like I have to moisture immediately after...not these ones. My skin feels hydrated and glowy after a treatment. I love these masks and I still have a few more to use up but I will definitely be repurchasing these after I run out.

Dior Pore Minimizer Primer - I didn't like this primer at all and it's not actually empty but the pump broke so I can't get anymore product out. This didn't minimize my pores, it didn't even extend the life on my makeup. The only thing I think this primer did do is make my makeup look cakey.

Ion Cool Blonde Shampoo - I love this purple shampoo, by far I think it's my most favorite I've come across. This really helps to ton my hair between colors and it leaves my hair with an icy blonde look. Love and I'm defiantly repurchasing.

That's it for my product empties! Let me know in the comments below if you have tried out any of these products and what your thoughts are.

Thanks for stopping by!

November Favorites 2016

I'm back!!! I know it's been a while but we've added a new addition to the family...if you want to read more about him you can check out my post Our Family Just Keep Growing.

From September to November has just flown by for my family, my recent looks have been extremely simple and quick to throw together, here are just a few products I have been using and loving.

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Compact - This is a beautiful powder and I've been using alone or to set my foundation - depends on how busy I am that day.

Moroccanoil Dry Shampoo - This has been a life saver! On the days I don't have time to wash my hair I've been using a dry shampoo and this one is so far my favorite. I know I've probably said that a few times on my blog but this is one I picked up in November and I haven't been able to put it down. This makes my hair feel so clean and refreshed, it also doesn't leave a white cast in my hair so that is always a plus!

Drybar Triple Sec - This is also another great hair product. This is advertised to be a texture spray, volumizer and dry shampoo all in one. I mainly use this as a texture spray and I love it. This gives me texture without making my hair feel dirty or gritty. So far this is my favorite texture spray I have ever tried.

The Estee Edit The Barest Contour Lip Liner - Even when I'm too busy to do my makeup I still like to throw on a lip liner so it looks like I've tried to pull myself together a little. This is  a great nude liner, I have the color 05 In the buff.

Nars Lip Gloss (Orgasm) - To pair with the lip liner I've been going back and forth between two lip glosses, the first is a peachy color from Nars called Orgasm. It's a great nude look that gives a little bit of color.

YSL Gloss Volupte (20 Nude Carat) - The other gloss is by YSL and it is even more nude than the Nars, so I'll wear this with more minimal makeup....it still looks great and like you've pulled yourself together as it has golden shimmer that looks amazing.

Guerlain L'Or Pure Radiance Face Primer - I had to give this primer a try because everyone is always talking about it. This is an amazing face primer and even though I don't feel it helps extend the life on my makeup it just gives my face the most beautiful starting canvas to apply makeup. Plus the gold flecks seem to give a dewy glow under the foundation that looks amazing.

Our Puppy's 5 Month Update | Ms Pam Blam Life Update

Our puppy, Bear, is now 5 months old....WOW! When did that happen? It feels like we just got this little guy. Bear came into our family at the end of August, you can check out my post Our Family is Growing  for some cute puppy pictures of when we first brought little Bear home.

Bear has been a wonderful addition to our family...we've had our ups and downs with training but all and all my husband and I are very happy to have this little guy as a part of our family.

Bear did give us a little scare at the end of September when he decided to eat some mouse poison. I had to rush him to the emergency vet where they had him throw up so he his stomach wouldn't breakdown and absorb any of the poison. It really didn't even seem to phase Bear at all...he was back to his mischievous ways within hours of being home. 

Bear and our 5 year old cat, Max, have been getting alone OK. It really depends on the day and Max's mood.

We've been training Bear to have some self control when around Max and we are teaching him it is NOT ok to chase Max around the house or eat his food. Bear is doing much better than he was when we first brought him home.

Bear went on his first road trip in the middle of October - 12 hours in the car with a 15 week old puppy! My husband and I were a little nervous bringing him for such a long trip but we didn't want to leave him at home with a puppy sitter so we risked it...turns out Bear is a great travel companion and he does great in the car.

Bear got fully vaccinated at 16 weeks which was near the end of October. Once he was vaccinated we started taking him everywhere to get him used to different environments ,people, animals, ect.

Bear has been to several different pet stores which he loves because we always run into people who gush over him and give him treats. He have also meet other dogs and animals at the pet store...Bear always loves saying hello to everyone. Bear has been for a few trail walks which again be loves because we run into wild life and other people...who again always stop to pet and gush over him.

But Bear's favorite outing is probably to the dog park. We starting taking Bear to the dog park when he turned 4 months old -he LOVES it there. I know that taking your dog to the dog park can be a little controversial...I will admit my first dog was repeatedly attacked by dogs as early as 6 months at the dog park by aggressive dogs which made her have behavior issues for the rest of her life.

However, I found a park that is an extension of our local Humane Society. You must be a member in order to bring your dog to the park and it is advertised as being a fun and safe way to socialize your dog. The whole park is fenced in so we can let Bear off the leash (even though we don't trust his recall 100% there is no way for him to run away). They have a zero tolerance for aggressive dogs so you know when you go there that all the dogs in the park are friendly and they aren't going attack your dog.

Honestly it is a great place for Bear not only to go and have fun and socialize with other dogs but I also like to train while we are at the park. There are a ton of distractions so it's great to test how well your dog actually listens to you. We practice loose leash walking, recall, leave it and stay.

Bear officially turned 5 months old on November 26th - it's amazing how much this little guy has grown! When we got him at 8 weeks he was about 8lbs....at 5 months he is now 37lbs! We have no idea how big he's going to be when he's full grown but we have loved to watch him grow. 

I hope you've enjoyed our adorable puppy pictures - follow me on Snapchat [mspamblam] if you want to see more of my day with Max&Bear. 

Our Family Just Keeps Growing | Learning To Be A New Puppy Mom

 We got a puppy!!! On August 29th we adopted an adorable 9 week old puppy. This was not planned but I been wanting another puppy since my last dog passed away 2 years ago from old age, she was 12 years old.

If you read my last fitness update you would have seen me mention him, we got this guy a few days before my race which wasn't ideal but once my husband and I met him we knew he was going to be perfect for our growing family.

We named this little guy "Bear" because he is so cuddly and loves people. He is a Black Lab/German Shepard so he's going to be BIG.

Having a big dog was something my husband and I both wanted. I'm very used to having big dogs as my last dog was as Border Collie Cross and was very high energy. I trained her to be my running partner and my hope is that this little guy will love to run as much as she did.

If you've followed me for a while you will know that we already have a cat named "Max" who just turned 5. We got him from my husbands grandpa's farm and we are his 4th home....he was the cat that no one wanted.

Max is a very depended cat who loves to be around people and hates going outside....basically he couldn't hack it as a farm cat and the other homes he went to just didn't work out.

He's surprising been very patient with Bear and they have had several very positive interactions.

Obviously we didn't give Bear the run of the house imminently as we are still potty training him, all of Bear's and Max's interactions have been supervised and we keep them pretty short.

Bear has been a wonderful addition to our family, however, I haven't had a puppy for 14 years so I'm a little out of practice. We've had to learn each other routines and his signals he gives me when he wants something.

Everyone who has met Bear says he is the cutest, cuddliest puppy they have ever met...and most of the time he is. However, we have already started training him as I can tell he is starting to develop some behavior issues already that we would like to nip in the butt.

Bear is now 11 weeks and he can...
-let us know when he needs out
-sit
-lay down
-come
-stay
-shake a paw

We are working on
-not barking when he's alone
-play nipping
-being gentle with Max
-not barking when he's bored or wants attention

If anyone has any tips or training tricks for new puppies please leave them in the comments below.

Bear will be going to puppy school but he wont be able to go until he gets his final vaccination at 16 weeks. 

Also I'm curious as this is our first male dog...let me know in the comments below on your thoughts about getting your dog neutered? Are you pro or con and why?

I hope you've enjoyed our adorable puppy pictures - follow me on Snapchat [mspamblam] if you want to see more of my day with Max & Bear. 

Fitness Update | Finished 21 Day Fix EXTREME | National Sprint Duathlon Women 25-29 Champion!

 We've got a lot to catch up on! My last fitness update was on August 19th, two weeks before my qualifying race. At that time I was preparing for one last hard training week and then I was going to tapper off and do race prep one week before my race.

I worked my butt off those last two weeks leading up to my race! It wasn't easy but I had put so much time and effort in at that point, I told myself that it would all be worth it in the end. The pain you feel during training and racing is temporary but the results that you post are forever.

I wanted so badly to post some amazing results at the Edmonton ITU Duathlon race. Not only did I was to post good results for myself personally, I wanted a spot on team Canada for the 2017 World Duathlon Championships.

I finished another round of 21 Day Fix EXTREME a week before the race. I've been using this program as cross training and to help improve my leg strength for racing.

In addition I was able to stay injury free (besides my knee that I had hurt previously). My knee honestly wasn't bothering me too bad leading up to my race but I did decide to throw some tape on it for race day just for some extra support (which was recommend to me by physiotherapist).

The weekend before race day I had to opportunity to head out to Hawrelak Park and practice on the race course. It was a great training day! I got to practice on the hills, I was able to run around the park and get a good sense of what I was in for.

I was able to scope out where transition would be and I even practiced a few transitions just to make sure everything was race ready.

Then 6 days before the day I adopted an eight week old puppy....what!?!?! This was something that was not in the plan at ALL but it happened. I'm going to do a whole lifestyle post on our new puppy this Wednesday so make sure you are subscribed to my blog in order to be notified when that post goes up.

Lets just say it's a good thing that puppies sleep a lot. Even though our new puppy is a lot of work I was still able to do my race prep, get a good amount of sleep and prepare for my race.

On race day it was cold....very cold. I bundled up nice and warm and heading to the race. I was so nervous just before the start. My heart was pounding, thoughts started racing through my head (am I ready for this? Did I train enough? I wonder how fast everyone else is? Do I have everything in transition that I need for my race?)

I took a minuet after checking in the athletes village, I took a breath and calmed down. Racing is so much more than just physical, you have to be in the right mindset as well. Something I've been working very hard at is self motivation and positive talk.

I told myself that I had done everything that I could have possible done to prepare for this moment. I told myself that I had put in countless hours of training and no matter what the results were I was going to have an amazing race. I told myself not to worry about anyone else and to stick to my own race plan I had set.

Well turns out I had trained enough because I took home the GOLD medal in my age category which makes me the National Sprint Duathlon Women 25-29 Champion! 

I just want to take a minuet to thank everyone for all the support I have received here on my blog, Instagram, Facebook and email. I have had so many heart warming comments and well wishes from people cheering me on and supporting me throughout my training....it has honestly been overwhelming! From the bottom on my heart THANK YOU!!!

So what's next for me? I'll be competing in worlds August 2017.

I'll be sure to post regular updates over the next year sharing what I'm doing for training. Please be sure to subscribed if you want to be notified when those posts go up. 

I've been taking it pretty easy this past week and letting my body recover after my race....but it's time to get my butt in training mode and start planning out what I'm going to be doing for the rest of the year.

Thank you again for all the wonderful support!