Dancing With the Stars Update!!

I forgot to do this the other night... so here are our updated lists and yes, you see correctly, I am kicking butt, Mike is down to 4 on his Top 5! Michael Bolten is GONE! I am hoping that "The Situation" gets booted soon, as well as the comedian! I can't stand to watch them! I personally think that Michael Bolten should have lasted longer, stiff or not, he was better than "The Situation", but the people vote, and he is pretty popular!

Ashley’s List                                                              Mike's List

Jennifer and Derek                                                     Kyle and Lacey

Kyle and Lacey                                                          Jennifer and Derek

Brandy and Maxim                                                     Rick and Cheryl

Rick and Cheryl                                                         Brandy and Maxim

Audrina and Tony                                                      Michael and Chelsie

Michael and Chelsie                                                   Florence and Corky

Florence and Corky

Thursday Things

This is going to be a generalized "THINGS" post, for things that bug me, things that I do, things that others do... etc...

So, I will start off with things that I am happy about: and you probably guessed it... I am off today!!! I am also happy that I managed to sleep in and it is supposed to be nice today.. if this fog ever clears! It is also Thursday... and Greys and Private Practice are on tonight!

Things I do :

• Lock my car, yes I know we all do this, but I have a few anxieties about it. I usually lock my car once I am out if, but when my hands are full (on my way into work) I will lock the car while I am sitting in it with the door open and put the keys away in my purse, I then get out of the car and before I shut the door, I check that I have my keys and sometimes lock it again and shut the door. I must get distracted at some point between my building and the lot, because I then later wonder if I locked the car... does anyone else do this? I may have a fear of locking my keys in the car or of not locking the door at all! I am crazy and I cannot seem to shake it, I just have to double check. It is not even like my car is the most amazing car out there:

(http://www.insideline.com/dodge/caliber/2007/photos/2007_dodge_caliber_actf34_ft_1.html)

• 
  
  While on the topic of cars, I also will not let my gas light come on in my car, if I can help it! I have a fear of running out of gas! I am sure I am not alone on this one!
• 
  
  I tuck my socks into my pajama pants on cold nights when I go to bed because I cannot stand my pant legs up at my knees. I may look crazy, but I am warm... I totally need pajama pants with feet! I am totally jealous of babies because they have this!

Things I am afraid of include SPIDERS... I HATE spiders. I am afraid of SNAKES as well.

Things that are bug me: LEONS! haha I was supposed to get my washer and dryer delivered today and they did not call! Sooooo I phoned and they were like "we don't deliver to Innerkip on Thursdays, only Tuesdays and Wednesdays" so of course I got upset with that fact, as I was told they deliver to Innerkip on Thursdays and Saturdays, so after explaining to the woman that I was told Thursdays. She had reminded me that there was no way she could have them delivered today, but that it would have to be either Tuesday or Wednesday. She also told me that if I wanted to speak to the salesman that told me all this info, she could have him phone me, and I said well what good is that going to? If you don't deliver on Thursdays to my village, then you don't deliver and there is no way I can get it today... so really what good is that going to do? REALLY!! So I went with Tuesday for some stupid reason and got off the phone with her. I then realized that I only get Mondays and Thursdays off, and not even for sure, but if I am going to have a day off it would be Monday or Thursday. So I called her back, not sure if I am even speaking to the same woman and explained that there was no way Tuesday or Wednesday would work, it would have to be Thursday! She said ok, no problem, I will put you on Thursday! I questioned her, informing her of what the lady previously told me and reminded her where I lived and she said "yeh that happens sometimes, but it will be fine, we deliver to Innerkip on Thursdays, but sometimes can do it Tuesdays or Wednesdays! CRAZY! Enough said!

Things I wish:

• 
  
  I wish that my cats would do their sprints around the house at any point, aside from when we go to bed! After all, they have ALL day! They chase each other, growl, play fight, hiss, meow, and cause a commotion every night when we go to bed! It is like I should pretend to go to bed at like 8:00 every night, so that they have it out of their system by bedtime!
• 
  
  I actually wish that I enjoyed cooking, I sometimes really want to do something in the kitchen, but that want disappears half way through the task!
• 
  
  I wish that the fall colors lasted a little be longer! I feel that I am going to miss the photo opportunities, as the tress change at different times!
• 
  
  I wish I could take more pictures, now that I have time off in the week, but I need to find people who want their pictures taken, without annoying them with my continuous shots and variations! (Don't worry J&S, I will take your family pics soon!)
• 
  
  I wish that my nose would stop running and that my allergies would take a HIKE for good!
• 
  
  I wish that puppies stayed small and precious! I found some photos of Lily and Gracie as puppies and brought back sooo many memories! Here are a few sneak peaks... I think I'll do a photo blog on them at some point!



Gracie - 9 weeks old



Lily - between 8 and 9 weeks!



Well that is just about enough, feel free to post your own Thursday Things!

Mike and I

In hopes of trying to get my blog up and going and gather a few followers, I figure you probably need to know a little bit more about me! So I have found another survey to do about Hubby and I! Hope you enjoy!

What are your middle names?
Mine is Nicole and Hubby goes by his middle name Michael.

 How long have you been together?
10 years come October.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
Well we met through a common friend and then hung out a couple of times, we were technically dating since October... but made it official in Novemeber! But I maybe knew him for a month or two, as I met him in September.

Who asked who out?
We had been dodging the awkward questions for like a month, so semiformal was coming up and to avoid more questions... we brought the topic up and decided to be offical! I could officially call him my boyfriend and he could officially call me his girlfriend. We went to seperate schools, so when we would introduce eachother to people before we made it official, we never knew what to say!

How old are each of you?
I am 26 and Mike is 27

Whose siblings do you see the most?
Mine, and I only have one sister! Mike is an only child!
Do you have any children together?Nope

What about pets?
Yes, we have 2 Golden Retrievers (Lily - 2 and Gracie - 1) and 2 cats Jazz and Binx

Did you go to the same school?Nope... I went to a Catholic Highschool and he went to a Public and then we did long-distance, when he went to Peterbrough and I went London.

Are you from the same home town?Well pretty much, but not at the same time! Mike lived in Innerkip and I lived in Woodstock ( 10 minute difference.. but the same county)

Who is the smartest?
Depends on the topic! I know all about the subjects he doesn't and he knows the ones I don't know!

Who is more sensitive?
That would be me

Where do you eat out most as a couple?I hate to say this... but Mr. Sub!

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Confresi Beach, Dominican Republic for our 2nd Honeymoon (We got married in July and cannot waste Canadian summers, so we went to Muskoka for our 1st Honeymoon for a week and then went away in January)

Who has the craziest exes?
Neither one of us!

Who has the worst temper?
Well I suppose that depends too! Neither one of us throw temper tantrums or anything, but we can be grumpy for various reasons, like being hungry and tired (for me) or after a LONG day on the job for Mike

Who does the cooking?Not I! But I am getting better! But Mike loves to cook!

Who is more social?Probably hubby, he could really talk to anyone! Infact, I took Mike to Buffalo, NY for his birthday and we were in Tim Hortons and some old man just starting talking to Mike, the two of them could have chatted all day! I often have to tell him to keep it quick when we are in a rush, but that doesn't even work!

Who is the neat-freak?That would be me, but I wouldn't call myself a freak.... my house is not tidy all the time!

Who is more stubborn?
We both can be, if we want to be!

Who hogs the bed?
I would if I could! But we bought a King bed last year when we bought our 2nd house and now we are both able to stretch right out! If anyone hogs the bed it would be the cats! The dogs would too, but we don't let them sleep with us in bed anymore! They are tooo big!

Who wakes up earlier?He totally does!

Where was your first date?My front porch Halloween night! Hubby dressed up as a scarecrow and sat in the chair and then moved suddenly and scared little kids, as well as thier parents!

Who has the bigger family?
Well I am gunna go with myself on this one, because we see mine all the time!

Do you get flowers often?
Every now and then, usually fresh from the market

How do you spend the holidays?Well.. it depends on the holiday, but we try to see everyone, just not necessarily on the same day!

Who eats more?Mike! He is a farm boy... enough said!

Who does the laundry?I do most of the time, but Mike will chip in every now and then and he puts it away!

Who’s better with the computer?Depends what we are trying to do!

Who drives when you are together?Usually Mike

What I Am Loving Wednesdays!

So after reading Newlywed Tales blog entry today, I thought I would also link up to Little Daisy May and share what I am loving as well!

I am totally in love with the fact that it is NOT raining here today!! It is actually quite nice out!

I will also have to agree with both ladies on the fact that I am IN LOVE with FALL!! It is sooo beautiful! Hubby and I are due to have some family pics taken (by myself.. sounds more complicated then it is), as we always do fall pics!

I was travelling with work today and took the back roads today, just so I could look at the trees! I LOVE the colors and the smell (not the farmers spreading ____), I love fall decorations.

I think fall is soo special to me because it is the season that I met hubby in! In fact our FIRST date was Halloween night!

I was listening to my ipod on the way home from work yesterday and came across this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckqv9juxCkc
and I am totally LOVING it! Incase you don't feel like clicking the link to listen to it... it is Come Home by One Republic! I have been a big fan of One Republic and this song is far from new, but it just clicked with me when I heard it last night! 

I also LOVE the fact that I am off tomorrow and I think it is supposed to be nice! I might make some applesauce!

Hope you enjoyed this post, thanks to Newlywed Tales and Little Daisy May!!

Lily and Gracie Photo Shoot

Taken September 27, 2010 in our backyard!

Gracie is 1 and Lily is 2!!

Re-Organize Recap

Soooo... hubby and I got brave this weekend and we tackled a few things on our 2010 To-do list that is only in my mind, not on paper!! Which will be a whole other blog on it's own!

Infact, I think I will start doing a Monthly Monday post to go over the things that need to be done for that month and maybe a Finally Friday to go over what we actually accomplished!

However, this weekend we worked really hard and buckled down a few dreary tasks! First off we bathed Jazz, she has been shedding like a mad cat! Jazz HATES baths!! However the job had to be done and it was job that takes two of us, because Jazz is FULLY clawed!! I had once tried to bath her by myself at the old house, which you could get right in the shower with her and close yourselves in, so she could not escape and I wore rubber gloves to try to give myself some type of protection, which got ripped to shreds, so at that point I had said I was never going to do this on my own. However, hubby once thought he could tackle the task on his own and he ended up with a pierced nipple!! So we have mutual agreement that it takes two to tackle Jazz!  So Jazz was washed and cuddled dry and let me tell you... we could have provided hair for a whole other cat, with the amount of hair that came off of her!

Secondly, we hubby headed outside, since it was SUPPOSED to rain on Sunday, which it ended up doing on Saturday on and off. He is such a trooper! He brought over the backho and filled the bucket with broken patio stones from our Phase 1 Backyard Overhaul, along with the broken, un-useful pieces of slate we had left over from our patio and they just tidied up the yard in general. We had all of the rocks on our stamped concrete path to the hobby shop, which as you all know is full of my Mom's stuff! However, this coming weekend has crept up on us all fast and IT'S ALL LEAVING!!! Which means the hobby shop can soon become a functioning room! Infact, my treadmill is awaiting its new location!! So we at least needed the path cleared this time, so loading the moving truck can go as smoothly as possible! Mike went back to the farm and dropped off the stones at the BIG rock pile at the back of the farm.

I guess I have never really mentioned the FARM! That is a big and common word at our house! We live just a few minutes away from the farm which is located just outside of our village. Mike's parents own the farm and Mike grew up there! If you say the word FARM in our house, our dogs go CRAZY! and if you happen to say something along the line of " Do you wanna go see Grandma and Granpa at the FARM?" they go absolutely BONKERS! Soooo cute! The dogs absolutely love the farm, they could stay and play ALL day!! In the summer, we don't go there all that often, but come fall, winter and spring it is a different story! Hubby does work for his Dad, who owns a farm drainage company, so hubby heads to the farm to start every day and then they travel to various farms for work. Mike will sometimes take the dogs with him.

But back to buisness... Hubby also tidied the garage and cut the grass! So you are probably wondering what the heck was I doing? Well, I headed into town and grabbed a few necessities in the grocery store and headed back home and tackled some of the laundry I had been avoiding! Then we went around the corner Saturday night to friends of ours and enjoyed appetizers and good company!

Because we were out late Saturday night, Sunday we took the morning to sleep in (which for Hubby was 9 and for myself it was 10'o'freakin'clock!!) We relaxed all morning, I got caught up on my Soap Operas (Days of Our Lives and General Hospital). We had lunch and then decided that we would make another loaf of homemade bread! We decided to make a French loaf this time and we also decided to make a 1.5 pound loaf this time, because our cheese loaf was soo small last time. Little did we remember... we made a 0.5 pound loaf last time, not a 1 pound loaf and 1.5 does NOT fit in our bread machine! We ended up having to cut off the very top (not too much) because it did not finish baking where it had been stick to the lid of the breadmaker! However the bread was FANTASTIC!! This loaf took at least 4 hours to bake!! We took our ribs out of the freezer to start defrosting them for dinner and headed downstairs!

Cold Cellar HERE WE COME!!

Yes, we worked on the cold cellar, since we had not worked in this room since moving day and knew that things were in there that should not be! Like cupboards full of SHOES! We had been meaning to work on this task for well over a year, since we have been in our house for just/well over a year!

So... out came the cupboards full of shoes and we started going through them and I may or may not have... found shoes with tags on them still and I found shoes that I had totally forgot about! This was a topic for discussion.... so this was something that we obviously had to find a resolution to, there is no way that my shoes should be forgotten about in the basement!! So Mike made me go through all the shoes that we found downstairs, because there was ANOTHER shoe rack in the back basement as well! So believe this or not... but I did it!! I got rid of OLD shoes! Not all of them, but pairs that I had not worn since highschool, that I would never consider wearing again or that were well to worn, along with some flip flop sandles that had no soles left to them! I don't know why I kept them!! However... I am not the only shoe collecter in our household!! Hubby has way too many pairs of running shoes! So he saw how hard I was working to decide to get rid of shoes and he joined in the festivities and got rid of a few pairs himself! We donated the shoes that we decided to get rid of, that were still in good shape! We wiped down all the shoes. We put the shoes that should not be forgotten on a wire shoe rack and took that upstairs and put them in a closet and the shoes that we would not wear all that often, but could not get rid off stayed in the blue cupboard, that was now only half-full and relocated it to the back basement! We now had only completely empty cupboard, gave it a good clean and back in the cold cellar it went! It was now going to be my new TUPPERWARE cupboard!!

Tupperware is a WHOLE other story! I have sooooo much tupperware!! Mike's Mom had a tupperware bridal shower for me! So we clearly needed a space for this all on its own! Before we tackled this job, they were in boxes and bins that we rummaged through to find anyhing! So with the tupperware having its own home, was fantastic! However it did not all fit in the cupboard, so we kept the clear bin and put the smaller tupper ware in there, attached all the lids to the containers for easy finding and we were set! We were organized in the tupperware department!

We also have a white tall cupboard in there, which we organized as well with kitchen appliances that we do not use everyday, along with dishes that we do not use often! We found our picnic set, which we should replace one day, because I am sure it is very old and it appears to be missing a few pieces, I think we recieved it second-hand! After organizing it, we moved on to the shelves that we had bought for the cold cellar. We moved them over to the opposite wall, so that all of our shelving was on one wall and just placed the various items in an organized fashion on the shelves. The items mostly consisted of products that we had bought in bulk at COSTCO, like ziplock bags, brownie mix, pop, water, etc. We technically should have also done an inventory of the freezer as well while we were in there, but we had enough of that room and were happy with what we accomplished!

Now we have to figure out the closets upstairs, where we put the shoe rack, because they are far from any state of organization! The back basement is a tack that we do not look forward to as well, because it is full of basement stuff in moving boxes! However, we will get around to that, as it is not top-priority!

We enjoyed a nice dinner, while watching Heartland, which has become a Sunday family dinner tradition in our household, and then Mike had to go meet with friends at the golf course to dicuss plans for a buck and doe that they are throwing for M&J and I headed out for a walk with the dogs!

Hope you all had a great weekend as well!!

Thoughts for Thursday

Sooooo....  couple things have crossed my mind today and this week and I THOUGHT... why not a Thoughts for Thursday post!


1) I HATE construction! And I especially hate it when it is rainy and on a highway! Enough said...

2) I love the fact that next Thursday I should be getting my NEW washer and dryer!

3) I definately was not a big fan of stopping a break and enter this morning at 5:30 AM by a CAT! Yes, that is right, "Jazzy had a boyfriend". Well I don't know that it is a male cat, all I know is that it was trying to break into my bedroom window and Jazz was not trying to prevent it, which was weird! Then when I crawled back into bed, I listened to Mike's alarm clock go off not once, not only twice,  but three times!

And that brings me to a topic that I have never discussed before on here! ALARM CLOCKS! I HATE them! They make my day miserable! They should really come up with a new way of waking people up, instead of using some monotone blaring device! If the alarm clock is set, I wake up before it goes off automatically, I think my body just knows that if I hear it, I am miserable for the day! Mike uses an alarm clock, NOT me! He will wake me up, I will use my cell phone, anything BUT the alarm clock! I do like the clock portion tho!

4) Congrats go out to Lucy over at Lucy's Life! She had a baby girl yesterday!! Lucy's blog link can be found on the right side!

5) I love that today is Thursday and tomorrow is Friday and then the weekend is here!!

6) I LOVE that fall has a arrived!! I actually love any season that is not WINTER! But fall is sooo pretty!

7) I may or may not be procrastinating, by writing this blog entry instead of folding mounds and more mounds of laundry that are calling my name downstairs!

8) I may or may not be allowing my dirty laundry to stockpile downstairs because I want to wait and wash it in my new machine! Haha Can we say pathetic?? I did a load today and hubby did a load of his work clothes last night and I have to use up my fabric softner because it is not High Efficient, which you HAVE to use in the new washer and because they are front loaders! So I should probably stop slacking!

9) I kinda miss playing baseball! I miss the people and the fact that we actually had a so-called routine and last night was our first night without it since like May! It was weird having soo much freetime!

10) I know most of you have been waiting for me to announce this,  no I am not pregnant, but it is THURSDAY!!! And this Thursday is the premiere of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice!! The two shows that actually complete a Thursday!! Sooo... my life may or may not revolve around a TV show or two or three... but hey, c'est la vie!! (Yeh, that is right FRENCH!! I still got it... haha)

Happy Thursday!!!

Dancing With Stars Winners List

Mike and I made up our own little competition for Dancing With Stars. We made up our Top 5 Make It To the Top list! Our number ones could NOT be the same! So here it is:

Ashley’s List                                                              Mike's List

Jennifer and Derek                                                     Kyle and Lacey

Kyle and Lacey                                                          Jennifer and Derek

Brandy and Maxim                                                     Rick and Cheryl

Rick and Cheryl                                                         Brandy and Maxim

Audrina and Tony                                                      Michael and Chelsie

Michael and Chelsie                                                   Florence and Corky

Florence and Corky

I know, I know, I have 7 and Mike has 6, but I just like Audrina, I don't really know how she will do, but I figured she would do better than Michael. Florence are Corky were entertaining. The bottom ones are our runner ups! Did any of you make your favorite lists?!

A Toss Up Between 2 Rooms Left to Decorate!

So I officially have 2 rooms left to finish in my house now, that is not including the hobby shop, but that is way down on the bottom of the to-do list.


Mike and I were going to wait to do the laundry room until we bought a new washer and dryer, which ended up happening a little sooner then planned. With the laundry room, we plan to redo the WHOLE room... now when I say WHOLE room, you are probably thinking that it is a massive room, but it is not! It is actually quite small. I know that we are not going to be redoing the WHOLE laundry time at this point, but I would kind-of like to paint it at least! I had this whole plan to get white wainscoting for the bottom of the walls, and then paint the top half a taupe color and then use my circle stencil (from my bedroom at the old house) with hot pink paint, orange, yellow, teal, etc. to brighten it up! Whatever I do I want the room to be bright, colorful and most importantly FUN! Because laundry has to be FUN somehow! However, we did not end up getting the washer and dryer I had planned, as a better deal and pair came up! The ones I was going to get were:



As great as these were, we found better! I actually just LOVED the color of them really! And had planned the room completely around them! My mom thought I was crazy for picking such a bold color of the machines, and now I see her point, I probably would have grown sick of them eventually!


So we ended up with white! You can't go wrong with white (or red in my honest opinion)! So I can go back to my brainstorming, which definitely included Hot Pink walls! And Hubby agreed! haha! I just have to decide for sure!

Although I think I have some time on my hands, because Mike wants to wait on the laundry and move forward with the bedroom! Which means I just might get a bedroom door!! Pretty sad that is the first thing that excites me! I know it is just Mike and I and our crazy animals that sleep in our bedroom, but I would love for the cats not to be in our bedroom all day... shedding all over my nice comforters (which I can wash now in my BIG machine) and when they are in the bedroom, I can put a throw blanket on top, although they are pretty good at sleeping in their bed at night... it is just in the day they like to sun bathe! I also like the privacy feature a door has to offer! It is hard to get dressed when people are over, or even to get changed! And if I don't make my bed, which I prefer not to, but insist on doing a makeshift job to stop the cats from getting IN my bed, then no one would technically ever know! If I know someone is coming over, then we would of course make the bed, but for the stop-in visitors, I could not guarantee that my bed would be made properly! And with a door, I would not have to make my bed, as I prefer it not made! It is like my little BIG nest, I leave my pillows the way I like them, blankets the way I like them, and can just hop back in and end up where I left off! So that would be the con to having a bedroom door!

Our bedroom is very big, and I dread the thought of painting it, and especially edging it, since hubby is not very handy, nor does he have a perfectionist itch in his body, which I make up for X 2, it means I have to edge, if I want it to look half decent. We even have crown molding in our bedroom, so that technically means double the work! I keep going back and forth between doing an accent wall or not... the thing holding me back would be the fact that I cannot use ALL my comforters, since they are all different colors and would not go with one color! Mike said I could just accent the room with curtains and throw pillows, but I know him well enough that he would eventually complain about this, as he already complains that I insist to change things up! I can't wait to accent the room with HOT PINK.. to match the comforter set he AGREED (with much persuasion, thanks to some lady in the store, who TOLD him it was HOT PINK, ho wouldn't have noticed otherwise!) The whole set is not hot pink, it is reversible with black and white on one side and hot pink and white on the other! And this set does not have polka dots! haha, my other FAV! The set does happen to have HOT PINK sheets, which I  may have told hubby he would look SUPER HOT in to get my way, after all he did wear pink at our wedding and he looked pretty hot in that!

Why does decorating have to be soo damn difficult to buckle down on a decision!! However, hopefully I will have one of the above rooms done soon!

Weekend Recap

So I do not have tooo much to blog about today, so I figure I will recap my weekend! As I previously mentioned (I think), I had baseball starting Wednesday night and Thursday night for catch up rain date games at the end of the season and our end of the season ball tournament on the weekend! So that included Friday night and Saturday. Of course we lost, but we did play great games all week!

Mike and I ran into town for a few things... which may or may not have included a brand new washing machine and dryer! Which will arrive in approximately 2 weeks! I am sooo pumped about this! My washer and dryer are only 6 years old and they are great, but the washer is a top-loader and that means it has a center agitator and that is exactly what I don't want! So, they will be up forsale soon!

We had stopped for some gas and slushies and pulled in the driveway, opened our doors and sat there for a minute enjoying our slushies and "Beep Beep Beep Beep", (yes I did just imitate) Mike's pager goes off. So we shut our doors and down to the firehall we went. Dropped him off, waited for all the guys to arrive and leave in the fire trucks before heading back home by myself. I never have any clue how long Mikes calls are going to be, so I had to try to decide if I should make dinner or wait and fend for myself. With it being a structure fire, I knew it would be a longer call, but also figured that they were the secondary department, so who knows... I eventually decided to fend for myself and put the meat I had planned for dinner in the fridge for tomorrow night. We were supposed to go to our ball banquet that night, however that slowly slid out the plans, as hubby still was not home by 9:00 PM. 10:00 turned into 11:00 and I was just not up for staying up for him to get home after that, so I figured I would crawl into bed, with the TV on and the cats at my side, dogs on the floor at the foot of the bed and see if I could fall asleep without him. I find it hard to sleep when Mike is not with me, crazy I know, and I don't know why it is, could be for many reasons including that he is fighting a fire and that always includes some risk, or with him just being around, I feel protected and safe ( I will call it the little kid in me).

Well, either way, little did I know that there was no way I was going to settle in for a quiet nights sleep, thanks to a party that was happening in the village. Don't get me wrong, I love a good party and I was once young too (not that I am that OLD!), but I can honestly say that I never and mean NEVER disrespected other peoples property! There were TONS and I mean TONS, in groups of 20, 30, 40 or more of teenagers walking (though with that amount, they sounded as if they were marching) down the street. Now.. you would think that you would use the side-walk, that is how I knew that they were not locals, because, number 1 - the village I live in does not have THAT many teenagers in it and number 2 - we just got sidewalks in the village and we all use them! Party or not! These kids were walking down the middle of the road, which led to cars almost hitting them and honking at them. That just added to the noise that was about to happen, the later the time, the rowdier (sp?) they got! The shouting, the swearing, and then began the smashing of bottles and beer cases thrown. The dogs are at the door, upset by what was happening and the cats were in the windows with their hind hairs raised and I am crawling out of bed at this point and heading to the front porch. My bedroom is at the front of the house, so I knew there was no way I was going to sleep through this! I stepped on the front porch to find a group of girls on my front lawn, in front of my bedroom window. I asked them first and for-most if they were ok, and after finding out that they were, I suggested rather strongly for them to get off my property! Why didn't I call the police? Well, our village is under a new contract we'll call it, with OPP and no longer the city police. I did not want to call 911 for a noise complaint/ask them to do a drive by in the neighbourhood and the only number in the phone book for OPP is a 1-800 number. I have since learned to call the 1-800 number! I crawl back into bed, try calm all the critters that the noise will soon pass and lay in bed wide awake! 12:30 comes and hubby is finally home and exhausted! Which I knew he would be, since we had been playing ball all week and just had a really busy week and when he woke up on Saturday, he was still tired! So he hopped in the shower and then snuggled into bed next to me. Not even 3 minutes had passed and his pager was going off again! Up and gone he goes! This is now about 12:45 AM. He was back around 1:15 ish, crawls back in to bed and the pager is going off AGAIN, for can you guess what? The damn teenagers! Someone called in that there were large crowds of teens puking all over the place! Hubby was home after 1:30 for good and our whole household slept the rest of the morning away, even with a bit of a sleep in!

I will not get started on my opinion of the party and party goers.... as I am sure you can only imagine my thoughts already!

Sunday we had a lay low perfect family day! We made fresh bread for the FIRST time! Which was delicious at dinner time! We had a traditional Sunday night dinner and it was great. We ended the night with a walk in the village and a visit with Matt and Jenn!

High hopes for a nice relaxing week ahead, and more of my TV shows start this week too!!

Oh and a big congrats go to M & M!!! I missed a beautiful wedding on Saturday, but congrats guys!! Wishing you all the best!!

Freebie Friday!

No I am not going to personally give you free things, but I will inform you of the free things available right now, that I may or may not have already taken advantage of!

Enjoy!!

Free tub of Cottenelle Fresh wipes (- saw this one on the commercial!) Get fresh with a friend! Refer a friend and not only will you get a free coupon for these wipes (which I have not tried), but your friend can too!

http://www.getfreshwithafriend.com/Default.aspx

PG Brand Sampler! This is one of my favs!! I already signed up for this! But hurry fast because it is a limited time offer! You get to try out a bunch of great free samples from various PG products!

http://www.pgbrandsampler.ca/en_CA/

Crystal Light! Oh how I love Crytsal light! My water is never boring now! Although I am beginning to like water on its own, it is nice for a new splash of flavour in a healthier fashion! And no, you do not have to be a facebook fan for this one!

http://www.facebook.com/CrystalLightCanada

Ikea Catologue is out now for 2011. Here is the link to order your new catologue!

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_CA/virtual_catalogue/online_catalogue_splash.html

Free Breathe Right Samples.... well can guess who might need these? ME! Thats right! Not for snoring, just for breathing!!

http://www.breatheright.ca/default.aspx

Purex 3-in-1 Laundry Detergent Sample - got mine and I have not tried it yet!

http://www.trypurex.ca/splash/

Free Recyclable Bag - don't know too much about this one... just did it myself, but its a bag to store your hazardous waste in (batteries, paint, etc.)

http://makethedrop.ca/content/orange-drop-order-bag

Free Keychain Bottle Opener - a pop up pops up shortly after, but you can close it!

http://ozzytshirts.com/free-keychain-bottle-opener/

Free Candle - a pop up pops up shortly after, but you can close it!

http://ozzytshirts.com/free-aromatherapy-candle-serenity/

Well that is all for now folks! Hope that made your Friday!!

Um... Michael Bolten!?!? Excuse me?

OK... I may regret announcing this... but what the hell happened to Michael Bolten? My mom has been an ALL-TIME favorite fan for as long as I can remember and we have ALWAYS made fun of her for having a crush on this guy... his music isn't horrible!  My mom will be soo proud of me for admitting this and I just might be a tad bit ashamed! haha

What I am about to show you... may suprise you in a good way... sorta... here it goes:


Photo Credit: Andrew Macpherson from website:
http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/season-11-stars/ThemeGallery/543833


Why does he look kinda good looking? I won't say HOT.... I am not at that point.. and as I said I may regret even saying he looks good! Amazing what cutting your hair does eh? He is not really my "type", but I would say he has come a long way! I am kinda looking forward to seeing him on Dancing With The Stars! Is anyone else out there going to watch it too? What are thinking of Michael Bolten?
(PS: you do not need to sign in to comment... so comment away)

It Might Kill Me to Complete This:

WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING? My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
WHAT TIME IS IT NOW? 7:28 PM

WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't have one here at home, but at work it is an eco-friendly big black thing.
FAVOURITE BOARD GAME? Monopoly.... but I hate playing with CHEATERS....
FAVOURITE MAGAZINE? Does US weekly count? lol I don'ty usually buy magazines, unless I am going on holidays

BABIES? Fur babies: Lily, Gracie, Jazz and Binx

FAVOURITE SMELL? Secret Garden by Victoria Secret right now.. changes often tho!

WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD? Saying your final goodbye

FIRST THING YOU THINK OF IN THE MORNING? What time is it?

HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU ANSWER THE PHONE? Two usually, unless I am expecting a call.

FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? So... I will admit I used to LOVE the name Virgil.... and I still like it, but could never actually name my child that... and as for what my names are... I cannot say... or I will not say! You'll find out ONE day, when I have a kid!

FAVOURITE COLOUR? Well I love PINK... but it all depends what the color is for.. cuz I obviously won't paint every room in my house pink... I think it all depends

WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN YOUR LIFE? Being in love and content, friends and family!

FAVOURITE FOOD! Well... this is a tough one.... because it depends who is cooking! Are we talking desserts? Breakfast? I LOVE lasagna and I have FOREVER! I also love brownies! If I had to pick one... that would be it, but I like a whole lot more!

IF YOU COULD PLAY AN INSTRUMENT, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Guitar, I tried to learn it when I was young and wasn't determined enough, but I would love to learn now, I even have a guitar!!

DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? I don't know that I like to... but I do!

SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? Does hubby count? JK I do sleep with my blanket still! I have tried soo hard to stop and have for months at a time, but I keep going back to it! I even try to use a different one, it may be sentimental because my Grandma made me the baby blanket in the first place, but I cannot break the habbit!

WHAT TYPE WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? 1995 Dodge Stratus, fully loaded, and RED

WHO IS THE PERSON FROM YOUR PAST YOU WISH YOU COULD GO BACK AND TALK TO? Ummmm, the first person to come to mind would be Dorothy who was my Grandma's best friend and neighbour. We used to go over to her house every day for mints and gingerale! If she was still alive, I would stop in and visit her!

FAVOURITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK? This changes often as well, but I have been liking Bacardi Breeze - the pineapple flavour

WHAT'S IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR? Well I have a hatchback and it has dog beds in it right now from our last trip down to the lake.

DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI? Only if they are attached to the flower (is that what that is called?), if they are on thier own, then no.

IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB YOU WANTED WHAT WOULD IT BE? A Vet with my own animal shelter

EVER BEEN IN LOVE? Yup and I still am

GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL? Half full

FAVOURITE MOVIE? hmmm I have a few: Marley and Me, Sweet November, P.S I Love You, and The Blind Side to name a few.

DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? Definately NOT!

WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Bins full of hubbies clothes because I hog the closets!

WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST WEAKNESS? Taking on too much and letting little things get to me, hubby is always telling me "Don't sweat the small stuff"

IF YOU COULD BUILD A HOUSE ANYWHERE WHERE WOULD IT BE? On a Farm, outside of a bigger city, but not to far from family!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING? Sweat pants/ Yoga pants!

BEACH, MOUNTAINS OR CITY? Beach

TECHNOLOGY OR ART? Art

COMEDY OR HORROR? Comedy
FAVOURITE PHYSICAL FEATURE OF THE OPPOSITE SEX? Eyes and Muscles

FAVOURITE TIME OF DAY? Going to bed! haha.. sleep is soo important to me!

THE LAST CD YOU BOUGHT? Glee Soundtrack

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO BE MASSAGED? Back and feet... but only by Mike for my feet...

WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT, STRONG IN MIND OR STRONG IN BODY? Mind

WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? 7:00 or 7:30... sometimes 9:00 on weekends, but can't usually sleep past that.

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE KITCHEN ITEM? My Kitchen Whiz... although I don't personally use it, because I don't do much in the kitchen! Hubby does most of the cooking!

WHAT MAKES YOU REALLY ANGRY? Seeing bad things happen to good people

WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SPORTS CAR OR SUV?  SUV definately.. with a sunroof!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN AFTERLIFE? I don't think so

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE SEASON? Spring, Summer and Fall, all for different reasons... I HATE WINTER!

IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT
BE? read minds

DO YOU HAVE A TATTOO, WHAT IS IT? Nope!

CAN YOU JUGGLE? Probably not! Haven't tried for years!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE DAY? Saturdays

WHICH DO YOU PREFER SUSHI OR HAMBURGER? Hamburger... I do not eat fish!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE SOAP? Softsoap lately!

IF YOU COULD TAKE A VACATION ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
WHERE WOULD IT BE? Africa, but I would totally need a new camera!

DONE! I did it!

Fall TV

So I could totally say that I am one of those people who does not watch TV and that I prefer to do something more intellectual like reading or something. But that would probably be the biggest lie I have EVER told, not that I tell a lot of lies! Infact, that is one thing that I sorta miss about summer-time is all of the TV shows that are not on, not that I would have time watch them, but I do hate the cliff hangers they leave you with!

I hope my PVR has rested up, because it is gunna be a busy fall! The shows that I PVR in the daytime include: Days of Our Lives, and General Hospital (all year long). And I do, for some unknown reason, get caught up in The Bachlorette, The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance (sometimes) and of course the series finale of Bachelor Pad which ends tonight! I don't know what it is about reality  TV....

My weekly line up will be:

MONDAYS: 90210, and Dancing With the Stars for now.
TUESDAYS: One Tree Hill, Life Unexpected, Glee
WEDNESDAY: Nothing so far....
THURSDAY: Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice
FRIDAY: Nothing
SATURDAY: Nothing
SUNDAY: Heartland

That's all I have planned for now... I am sure that there will be a few more added! AND all the shows are either starting this week or next.

This week is gunna be 4 nights in a row of baseball and then that is it for the year! We have catch up games Wednesday and Thursday and then our end of the year tournament! Plus tonight Mike has fire practice, so we really only have Tuesday night free to ourselves!

This Old House



So.... I have been neglectful in posting pictures, so I am gunna begin to go a little photo crazy... I will introduce our FIRST House!!

Mike and I bought our first house when I was 20 and Mike was 21! Crazy eh? Hard to believe having a mortgage that young, but we did and we survived and it was great! We started off small and I mean SMALL, quaint, miny, midget, little, modest... get the idea? Well if not, I will help you PICTURE it.


I will note that we lived in our first house for 4 years, we had 2 dogs there for the most part, but sometimes 4 and we had 2 cats, plus hubby that is 6'4'' and myself 5'11''.

Street View

Side View

Back Deck

Pond/Waterfall that hubby made for me... totally miss it!

Mudroom/Laundry Room

Mike's Games Room... or 2nd bedroom (that never had a bed)

Looking into the kitchen from the mudroom... Please note that the kitchen pictures were taken after I had moved out, not my decor, just my paint!



Kitchen



Other side of kitchen

Living Room

Other side of Living Room... note the hardwood floors... LOVED them!

Part of Master bedroom

Other part of Master Bedroom... wall hand painted... by ME

Had to add this one too, so you could see the above closet storage!!

Bathroom, naked... after we moved out, so minus my decor, just my paint... looks soo bland now!

Bathroom vanity... minus mirror and decor!

 And well that is it folks! Yes, the tour only took 5 minutes... if that! But it was a good first house! I loved the hardwood floors in the Living Room, that we I refinished and yes there were a few light shows going on when I zapped the cord with the disk sander... Mike's mom actually verathaned them and they turned out PERFECT! They had 6 coats of paint, with the top couple being chocolate brown... they were even red at one point! We wanted to do the bedroom too, but they were not in good shape when we pulled up the carpet! However the carpet HAD to go... she had 6 cats... and I am sure that more than one of them had used it as a litter box... enough said... the carpet was gone and we put down laminate. We also put laminate in Mike's room and eventually the kitchen. We had to paint EVERY room, except for the master, but it was bland and taupe, so I hand painted my accent wall! We took 2 to 3 weeks to paint and redo the floors before we moved in. We then poked away at landscaping projects and decks! It was a great first home! A lot of memories were made there, but I don't miss it, as we outgrew it 1 year earlier then planned. It was supposed to be a 5 year house and we made it to 4 years!


I think I have posted enough pictures today, so I will leave the new house update for a little while, and that way I have time to photograph the rooms now that they are all done and maybe I will have time to paint the master!


Enjoy!!

Cats

Has anyone really wondered what it would be like to be a cat? I mean maybe I am the only one, but I doubt it! I have had 3 cats in my life time and I grew up with cats at my Grandma's.

We all think that we choose cats, but really when it comes down to the truth... cats choose us. Lucky for them, they choose who they like and don't like and it is just accepted. Actually, you can't really make a cat do anything! They have this attitude about them.

I look at Jazz, who is my baby... she does not really like anyone else, I think she just tolerates other peoples presence. She is lovey-dovey with me, but she hates Mike, Mike or the dogs ( and she does not mind the dogs) can just walk in the room and she will growl at them. I personally think it is funny. If you even so much as look at her the wrong way, she will growl. But with me, she just purrs and cuddles in. I come home and she greets me. She is not the most playful cat in the world and never was... I think that is why I picked her , but wait, I didn't pick her, (don't ever tell her that) Mike picked her. If I had my way I would have picked the long-haired grey and white one. But Mike didn't fall in love with her, he did with Jazz.. but I say it was just lust, because they clearly can't possibly LOVE each other or maybe it is a secret affair, if I am not around then she will warm up to him.

Jazz with the only girl in her litter and her brothers were all striped brown and black tabbies. Jazzy is solid grey... with a white blotch on her belly. She is beautiful! A little over-weight in a healthy fashion, but beautiful. She would not play in her cage with her brothers or the toys, she actually just sat there and Mike felt bad for her, so he wanted to hold her and she bit him. She bit his ear to be exact. That is why Mike chose her and I still haunt him with his comment "We will get this one because she has SPUNK". Well that spunk stuck around.

I think I love Jazz sooo much, because it is like she chose me and she still chooses me. Even when she is in trouble for something... she still only listens to me, I have to be the one to give her crap... because she chooses to listen to me.

Jazz is one of those cats who will go up to anyone and say Hi, but it is on her terms, if she chooses to continue to get love. She will rub up to the dogs and they won't move because she is unpredictable. It is kinda funny... she may or may not have a bit of a personality disorder.

With Copper... he didn't choose us. We were just the next best thing, we were his heroes, but whether or not he cared is unknown. We chose him, brought him home, brought him back to health.. paid for vet visit after vet visit, spent hours trying to get him to choose us or even just to choose to live. We NEVER understood that cat, never really knew him really, but he knew us and he tolerated us. I remember the first time he purred after we had him for like 6 months, it was like an old engine trying to start. I think that he was trying to be cautious about choosing us, because no one had ever chose him, but they got rid of him and that would hurt.

Binx is just Binx, she is wild and crazy, but we chose her and I think she has chose us... hard to say she is still young...

Could you imagine, if we, as humans, could just drop each other off on the side of the road? If we could just pretend not to have feelings, or even if we could not freely express our feelings? What if no one out there cared? What if no one chose us? Just simply imagine being out in this crazy place we call our world alone... I wouldn't make it without the people and animals around me. They are what makes me ME! They encourage me to be ME and you to be YOU... who would you be today if your parents just abandoned you and you had no one... you may have picked up some friends along the way... but I am sure you would have encountered some problems too...

I guess what I am saying is that being a cat is full of choices and choices that you and I would sometimes never get the opportunity to make because of how we were raised... cats raise themselves. Put yourself in a cats paws...

A Picture Update :)

Mike and I at a wedding last weekend!!

Peoni Bush in Stratford

Picture I took of Hannah in June! One of my favs!!

Just thought you would enjoy a photo memory!