Life As I Know It

Manic Monday

2012-01-30T13:00:00.001-05:00

Today I have a case of the Mondays - not my typical awesome Mondays, but the true blue Monday. It actually started yesterday and I woke up today thinking "Today is a new day, those are yesterdays feelings". I made a few phone calls and turns out today has a few of yesterdays feelings after all, as well as some of it's own. I'm babbling...

Friday night M and I went up to see my sister and Brandon. They are both continuing to do better. Either way it's going to be a tough couple of weeks ahead, with Amy recovering and Brandon being in the NICU. However, they are both super strong and I know they will both pull through this struggle. I managed to get some great shots though as Amy held him!

10 toes!

Getting Amy's milk for the first time!

Reaching out for Mom - hand on her heart already!

He has the family chin already!!!

I could keep on posting... but that is enough for today!!

Today, my sister is being released and they will be staying at the Ronald McDonald House - such a blessing, as they provide a room to stay in for the families who have little ones in the hospital. They provide breakfast and dinner as well and they are very reasonable with how much they charge at night.

We had a nice soak in the hot tub during the snow storm on Saturday, did some groceries and gift shopping and then M and I went out for dinner together - it was nice to just have some time alone, as we have been busy with my family for most of the week! After dinner we went and hung out with N and K!

Also on Saturday, one of my best friends had her baby!! I can't even begin to say how excited I am for them!! She had a sweet baby boy as well! I was right about another baby - maybe I am getting better! He weighed only 5 pounds 15 ounces!! They named him Wyatt.

Sunday was a lazy day. M did an oil change on my car and I watched New Years Eve. We got nailed with snow this weekend, but it should be gone by Thursday as we are supposed to get positive temperatures again!

Overall, it was a pretty low-key weekend!!

Friday Letters

2012-01-27T12:48:00.000-05:00

Today I am going to link up with Ashley - ya we share a wicked awesome name - for Friday Letters!! Hope you enjoy!

Dear Gracie, I absolutely love it when you squish your face up when you are sleeping! You are adorable... trouble, yet adorable!! Although you have been very well-behaved so far this year, I have a fear that you are planning to destroy SOMETHING... or maybe you have and we just haven't found out about it yet! I also love how enthusiastic you get when you see snow falling! You definitely didn't get that idea from me! Love your Mama!

Dear M, I love how willing you are to just fly by the seat of your pants, especially when the world uproots around us! Thanks for being there to support me and my crazy family! Also thanks for leaving the light on for me when I came home at 2:30 in the morning on Thursday and thanks for getting up and tucking my feet in too (I didn't even ask). I love you like crazy and I hope you will never forget that even when you are 80! - Love your awesome wife!

Dear Baby Brandon, Welcome to the world little man! I was soo excited to meet you and I know your uncle Mike can't wait to meet you this weekend!! You have given us a scare by coming early, but your strength continues to amaze us all! Soo many people are waiting to meet you and I can't wait to see you go home!! I can't wait to hold your hand and eventually hold you when you are up for it! Yes, I am crazy one with the camera, you better get used to it! Hard to believe how much you continue to teach us all at such a young age! I think someone has BIG plans for you and you had to get an early start!! Can't wait to see you again! - Love Aunt Ashee

Dear Amy, I just want to let you know how proud I am of you! You have done amazing things for your new little boy. You have tackled each week, problem after problem with such strength and we all know it couldn't have been easy. I know you wanted to make it a few more weeks, but life had better plans. Luckily, it looks like Brandon has got your strength, so good job Mom! I know the next few weeks, hopefully not months, will be hard for you, but just take it all moment for moment and day by day and remember how blessed you truly are! - Love your baby sister!

Dear Jazzy - thanks for our cuddles and your dirty looks! It made my morning better! - Love Mom

Dear Lux - thanks for our bathroom time, even though I know I get mad at you when you bust through the door - sometimes mama wants some privacy. But you just want to snuggle with the bath mat and purr up a storm. I don't know why you continue to head butt the bathtub - it might cause damage to yourself one day. I also love that you sit on the other side of shower curtain when I am showering, so you don't get wet, but love it when I spray the curtain! You really are too stinkin' cute! Oh and please catch that mouse! Thanks! - Love your Mama!

Dear Binx - thanks for being a secretive lover cat! I know you only want to be loved on when YOU want it, so it makes it all that more special! Thanks! - Love Mom!

Dear Lily - You are too beautiful for words! I love your sweet puppy nuzzles and cuddles! I also love it when you pretend to chase the cats! - Love Mom

I think that is enough letters for today!! Oh wait I forgot one!

Dear Winner Of My Give Away - Thanks soo much for participating! I really hope you enjoy these wire tags! The winner is Meg from Henning Love!!! Congrats!!! I will be contacting you shortly!!

Happy Friday!!

My Sister Had Her Baby!!

2012-01-26T11:00:00.001-05:00

Original title right?

However, yesterday around 5:00 a sweet baby boy was born via emergency c-section. Brandon Peter John was born weighing 3 pounds 14 ounces and 39 cm long! He doing great - breathing on his own and all! He did suffer a cut to his head when they cut Amy open, but 6 stitches later and he is as good as new!!

Both Amy and Brandon are doing well! They are both very lucky! The doctor didn't even think that they had 30 minutes and both baby and Amy's lives were on the line. Turns out she had a major blood clot between the placenta and uterine wall. But someone was watching over them both and now we are blessed with a healthy mom and baby!!

Please continue your prayers for this sweet boy as well as my family. Thank you!

So What Wednesday

2012-01-25T10:02:00.001-05:00

So it has been a while, but after the past few weeks like mine.. I am ready to unleash! Can't say I didn't warn you!

You can link up here.

So What if my hair is beginning to look highlighted with gray hairs... I get that it is far from trendy, but my hair dyer has gone on strike... aka my hubby! So now I will have to try this new foam product - maybe tomorrow! I did get an awesome deal on it!!

So What if the weather is crazy... I think Mother Nature may be suffering from bipolar or something... one minute its warm (like +6 degrees Celcius - yes you Southern Americans that is warm here in Canada...especially in the winter months). Don't get me wrong I am not complaining, just make up your mind! Because now today it is like -13 and snowing!

So What if my skin is still acting like hormonal teenager.... and So What if I can't find anything that works!

So What if I am pretty sure that my cats think I purchase mice for entertainment and by mice I mean the real thing. Disgusting! M and I woke up this week to a mouse squealing - who knew they made noise or THAT much noise - apparently that is what happens when your cat catches them! Although Binx has caught one before, it didn't squeal, but it also didn't lose most of its tail... Yes even more disgusting - that's not even the best of the story! I heard scratching in the corner, lifted the ottoman and dropped it quick - a mouse, right there in front of my eyes and the cats are getting into place. I actually had the hope that they would get it for good this time. I move the ottoman and the mouse is moving slow - it is injured after the morning brawl. Jazz books it down the stairs, Luz and Binx play with it. It goes down stairs. I grab a bowl and follow. I find Jazz sitting infront of the couch (she is the detector - that's it), Binx is pacing around the couch, Lux is nowhere to be found, but the mouse is squealing from under the couch. Sure enough after a few minutes of squealing, the mouse staggers out and Lux follows. I try to drop a heavy bowl on the mouse to capture the thing, sure enough I drop it on the mouse, it squeals and breaks itself free. It then enters the back basement and cannot be found! Damn It! I hate mice! I need some mean cats too.

So What if I wonder if there is a course I can put my cats in to teach them how to successfully mouse?!

So What if I made a fantastic dinner from Pinterest Monday night! I will show hubby that Pinterest is not ALL bad!!

So What if I cannot decide if I want to paint the great room/kitchen, it has only been 2 years with the current paint and I like it, I really do, I would really like to repaint the dining room. But the color I have in mind for the greatroom would be more cozy, where as now it is fresh, light and airy! Oh decisions - will you ever get any easier?

So What if I would like to find out how to purchase hotel pillows. I love them! They are always PERFECT! There must be a way. I am thinking of calling the hotel we were in last week and asking them! That may be strange, but probably not the strangest thing I have done!

So What if I secretly like the collar I made for Lily better than the one I made for Gracie! Shhh!

Lily's

Gracie's

So What if I don't quite get this "ombre" look... don't get me wrong I like it in some colors, but in others it just looks like they need their hair dyed - that they grew their roots out.

So What if I continue to watch Teen Mom - I am sucker for punishment really. It isn't getting any easier to watch... Jenelle may need to be admitted to the psych ward, they don't wear seat belts, they yell way to much.... and following them on twitter - why? But I do? You really wouldn't think it is all that entertaining!

So What if I am hosting a give away and only 10 people have entered... hello people free stuff, easy to enter.... so go enter!! (After all you have great odd at winning!)

So What if I still wanna post some great Pinteresting finds, just in quote form... it's my blog and I will do what I want to!

You can visit Michelle to link up!

Happy Wednesday!!

Bachelor Link Up #3

2012-01-24T10:13:00.000-05:00

I'm sure we are all watching the same show and I am sure that everyone is finding the drama never ending?

Last night Blakely drove me crazy, but not as much as Courtney - she gets under my skin! I definitely don't blame Emily for ratting her out. I am also glad Ben didn't send her packing because of it. Courtney would have been better on Survivor - to her this is all a big head game, I highly doubt she even cares for Ben. It is all about winning. If Ben picks her at the end and watches the show back, she will be in dumpsville!

I think that before the bachelor or bachlorette choose, they should be able to watch the footage back.

I kind of like Jennifer, aside from her badly dyed red-hair - although her hair look less red last night, must have been a wash out. She seems pretty down to earth. Her date with Ben was great!

Ben seems to have a plan behind how he chooses the girls for the private dates as we found that out with Samantha. Although she says she cared about Ben, I don't know that she really did, but she took the early dismissal with a smile for the most part. She seemed more upset to be leaving the girls!

Monica was also sent home! I was not upset by this at all!

Did you guys here about The Bachelor Canada? I am PUMPED!!!

Also, don't forget to enter my give away found HERE - super simple to enter!!

Link up below with your thoughts on last nights show!!

(I had issues with the link up so hopefully this works...)

Operation Organization - GIVE AWAY

2012-01-23T10:44:00.000-05:00

Most of this past weekend was spent organizing the basement. Another big bag of "stuff" to give away. I have the Canadian Diabetes Association Clothesline coming pick up my donations on Wednesday!! M's tools are now in their new home in the garage, we have old flooring all together now and big furniture up on cinder blocks/skids (I have a fear of things being ruined by water). We also went through and organized a whole wall of shelving!

I also managed to get some more fabric for dog collars!! Soo pumped!

Now on to the GIVE AWAY!!!

I am doing another wonderful give away for Lovable Labels!! I am soo pumped!

Lovable Labels is now offering new colors, new packages and new designs!! They also have a great selection of household labels. I have recently been sent the Wire Tags to try out.

No more guessing which cord goes to what!! It is awesome, especially if you have cats. We used to use those wire from the plastic bags to wrap around cords, but Jazzy can get them undone. They are 100% stuck on the cord! You just wrap them around the cord and then stick it together. The name is displayed on both sides!

In the package, you get 12 sheets of stickers that are all organized by equipment: Power Cables for both Audio/Video and Office, Chargers, Connection Cables for both Computer and Audio/Video, Ethernet, as well as Other Household items! Here is a list of what they include and how they look! They are very bright and colorful, so you can't miss them! Waterproof, UV Resistant, Peel and Stick, Pre-printed and Handy, just like most of their other products!

Lovable Labels has allowed me to give away a package of these labels to one of my followers!! How awesome!!

How do you win!?

It is simple:

1) 1 entry for being a follower of my blog's page on FACEBOOK. - leave me a comment here saying you follow!

2) 1 entry for being a follower of my TWITTER - leave me a separate comment here as well stating that you follow.

Open to both Canadians and Americans!!

That is 2 chances to enter!! I will be drawing a winner on Friday!! Good luck!!

Also if you are wanting to place an order - remember my discount code AshleyVLB1 at the checkout and save 10%!!!

**Disclosure** The product in this review was provided to me free of cost for the purpose of conducting this review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.

4 Years!!!

2012-01-22T17:34:00.000-05:00

My sweet sweet Lily is 4 today!! Hard to believe it! On January 22, 2008, our lives changed for the better and we gained a new best friend! I'm not saying that as a puppy she didn't find trouble... a few remote controls, my old camera, shoes, books, coffee table, kitchen floor, kennel liner and several dog toys may have been chewed and she can pretty much get out of anyway you contain her, including a kennel. Luckily those days were short lived and now I can say we have a "pretty" perfect dog and to be honest, I would do it all over again!

1 out of 11 siblings:

Shes the one in the front right with her nose burrowed down (still does that)

Her mom (Molly) and dad (Rocky) - she is a spitting image of her dad!

5 weeks

7 weeks - first nap at home!!

Getting acquainted at home with her toys - gather them all and lay in the middle of them all!

Learning from and copying Diamond!

4 months!

First swim - 6 months!

8 months

9 months - she LOVES swimming!!

10 months

1 1/2 and Gracie - 9 weeks

I would be lost without the 2 of them!!

Happy Birthday Lily!!! Here is to many more years of love and excitement!!

Finally Friday!

2012-01-20T12:59:00.001-05:00

Here comes a bunch of randomness for you!!

Sorry for the lack of blogging yesterday! M and I have actually been in the city since Wednesday! M is on the board of directors for LICO and there was a big drainage conference that he needed to attend.

I headed up Wednesday afternoon. I managed to schedule my doctor's appointment while I was there and then got ready for dinner banquet at the hotel.

Thursday morning M had some meetings to attend, so I went and visited my sister while I was in town. I usually park across the street from the hospital in the Staples parking lot because it is FREE and I don't mind the walk, but yesterday morning I had a parking ticket lady knock on my window. She asked me where I was heading, I was honest and told her. She told me that she just saved me a $30 parking ticket and to go park at the hospital. She also told me to pay it forward - which I wasn't sure what she meant by that, so I clarified and she said to do something nice for someone. I told her I bought my sister breakfast! She told me how great of a person I was and sent me on my way. I still didn't park at the hospital. There was a lab in the next parking lot, so I parked there instead! I just find hospital parking prices CRAZY, especially in the city! Not to mention it takes like 15 of your pricey minutes to find a spot and get into the hospital. So I try to save when I can.

We got a snow storm yesterday as well. But that didn't stop my mother and father-in-law from going and picking up our flooring for us! They only got 120 units in and I needed 22, but the guy said on the phone that he didn't expect it to last long, as he had gotten a lot of calls about it. Luckily he put some aside for me! Sooo that means that we are now flooring equipped!! I am pumped!!

M and I had lunch at Pizza Hut after his meetings and managed to spend the afternoon together. He even suffered through BRA shopping! Bad wife alert!! Good sale alert!! I hate bra shopping, but it needed to be done and they had a great sale! I managed to get 7 bras and a pair of slippers for ONLY $60! I was more than pleased!

When we got back to the room, we chilled for a bit and then went swimming! We had another banquet dinner to go to last night, although this one was formal. So I wore the dress with the sparkles on it that I showed you Monday.

This morning we were up by 8, got all packed up to realize we were missing a room key. We spent 20 minutes going through everything and found it in the garbage. Neither one of us knows how it got there, but we were happy to find it! We got all checked out, M had another meeting and I headed into work, but stopped to pick up my calendar at Costco beforehand. I LOVE it! I will totally be buying more in the future! I think I will also be going there for my enlargements, they seem to do them right on sight!

I am pumped that M has the weekend off - for real this time!! And we don't really have much on the go! I am hoping to make Lily's dog collar too! Maybe we will get some organizing done in the basement! I might even get around to getting that give away post going! I also have some TV to get caught up on!

Is It Just Me?

2012-01-18T12:18:00.000-05:00

Is it just me or do Wednesday's seem to be falling closer and closer together!! Maybe it is that I have a specific subject for Wednesday's blog topic?

But before we get to that... I am fighting off M's cold! I only have the sniffles, but fear the worst.

I would also like to take a minute to thank the A-Hole who phoned my house at 1:00 AM.... they must have forgot that I have a sister in the hospital and a palliative grandmother?! 1:00 AM calls are strictly EMERGENCY - not call and hang up - the least they could have done was say sorry wrong number, you know so your can stop worrying and checking your cell phone afterwards for texts/bbms. Luckily, my sister is still hanging in there, but I fear the end is near, as she has come across some hiccups like bleeding and contractions and a partially torn placenta. My Grandma is still hanging in there too!

Now for what I am loving:

with Jamie

I'm loving the quality time I get to spend with the hubby this week!

I am loving my crazy dogs.

I love my cats - even when they steal my blankets.

I am loving the new flooring we hope to get!

I am loving all my new and existing followers!! There is a give away up my sleeve - I just have to get around to posting it!

I love that I am off tomorrow!

That's about all I got today... the weather is crappy and I'm fighting a cold coming on.

with Michelle

This movie was pretty funny!

How cute is this for a tablescape?

I'm considering this color for the great room/kitchen:

This looks yummy and super easy! (great for a picky eatter like myself as well)

Who knew it was this easy!?

So TRUE:

Bachelor Link Up #2

2012-01-16T22:36:00.000-05:00

Ben still didn't cut his hair - not that I actually expect him to do this, but it would be nice - very nice!

Why must they face soo many fears on this show? Can they not just live in a house with crazy people - is that not enough? I don't think very many people have climbed the San Fran bridge! They also didn't show how they got down from the bridge! I kind of like Emily now! Her dating story cracked me up - she was matched online with her brother!

And skiing in bikinis in San Fran? Do they ever have realistic dates? The private concert was super sweet though! I am also glad that Brittany left when she knew she didn't have feeling for Ben. I also wondered why the heck Ben hasn't given Lindzi a date in 2 weeks, she got a pity date because Brittany bailed. But the chemistry is there and they did have a great date!

I like Shawntel and wish that he had kept her around instead of Monica!

I love how much smack the girls talk and they own up to nothing. They were all pissed off about Shawntel and only Courtney had enough balls to complain about it - referring to Shawntel as "Whats-her-butt". I still don't like her and may have choked when Ben was telling his sister how sweet, kind and caring she is... wait till he watched this show back!

Jennifer's hair must not actually be red, because if it is she wears alot of the wrong clothing colors for her hair color! But Ben did say she was the best kisser! And trust me - he would know, I'm sure he's kissed them all - some more than once!

Casey S. had really bad hair during the rose ceremony. Jamie's dress was horrible... Poor Erika passed out before Ben's speech, but still didn't get a rose and then he also sent home Shawntel, Jaclyn. Don't worry Shawntel, you can probably date him when him and the winner break up!

Remember to link up your reaction below!!

Spend Less - Save More Weekend!

2012-01-16T15:44:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the late blog post today - I have been busy making:

(Gracie didn't REALLY want to model for me... so this is all I could manage getting... brat!)

Yup! Gracie girl got a new collar! Don't worry Lily is getting one too!!

I have been trying to find new collars for the girls and then decided I would attempt to make one. Granted this one is my first and is a little rougher looking... Practice makes perfect!! I hit up Lens Mills for some supplies, which included collar material, fabric of my choice, D hook and a buckle... Nice and lightweight, super cute and affordable!! Will I be making more? Heck YES! Anyone want a dog collar!?

While I was at Lens Mills - I found this beauty:

Regularly $400 for ONLY $40... so that chandelier I bought for the hot tub that needed to be slightly modified will no longer need to be, because this will be going there instead! This picture really doesn't do it justice, I will take a picture once it is hung! GREAT deal though!!

Then I went to Reitman's because they were having a save 70% and then an additional 30% sale, I figured I could use some work pants at that price. Although I didn't find work pants - I found these:

Yes, 2 formal dresses - one with pockets and 2 sweaters all for only $44. I couldn't NOT buy them!!

Although these pics don't do them justice either - you get the idea!

Awesome deals!!

All while M was at work... when he was supposed to be home - so logic told me to go shopping!! He wasn't upset and loved all my buys!

Sunday we made a budget for the great room/kitchen/foyer renovation and a new shower stall for M's bathroom. This renovation will include flooring, a wall taken down between the foyer and great room, which I lose a closet (but that's why we bought a wardrobe in the mudroom), all trimming necessary. If there is money left over in the budget we will buy new kitchen hardware and shutter blinds for the great room. Well it looks like we will fall somewhat under budget, since we will be about $250 under our flooring budget! We went to Costco and found our flooring!! We are in love and hope to get it on Friday! We brought home a box and LOVE it. It is hand scrapped laminate, but looks like tongue and groove old flooring! I don't know how else to describe it. I will post a pic at some point! We also bought more Contigo Water Bottles - LOVE them!

Tonight I am hosting girl's night and will be serving popcorn and fruit smoothies! Semi healthy right!? Anyone else ready for The Bachelor?!

Happy Monday!!

About Me Game

2012-01-13T11:10:00.000-05:00

Hilary over at Thankful for Second Chances has tagged me in the "About Me" post going around blogger land, so I thought I would play along since I have some new followers, why not share a bit more about myself! So:

[the rules]

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post 11 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 11 new questions to ask the people you've tagged.

4. Tag 11 people and link them on your post

5. Let them know you've tagged them!

My 11 Facts:

I hate winter and I always have - even as a kid - tobogganing and skiing or anything outside - I hated it and I still do! The only thing I did and continue to like is hot chocolate! Yet, yes I call myself a Canadian!
I had surgery on my right foot for a tumor on the bottom of it - came back benign, but now my one calf muscle is bigger than the other... trying buying boots to accommodate...
My first dog was a shih tzu - Snoopy - he was a great dog with lots of spunk! Miss him like CRAZY! I got him before I went into high school because I got straight A's!(I usually got a B or 2) My mom didn't think I would ever do it! I did get a B on my report card in gym - but I fought it and got an A (he gave me a B for not having a gym uniform - no one else did either)!

After his first haircut done by me!

I have never been in an car accident as the DRIVER, but I have been in several as a passenger.. knock on wood!
I first studied a year of law clerking, before switching over to medical assistant. I loved the law and learned soo much, but figured the pay was crappy for the work you had to do... I would either have to be a lawyer or do something else!
I am a needle-a-phob, even after this past year, I really thought I would get over it, but NOPE I haven't!
I was diagnosed with high blood pressure when I was 16, after a year of meds and tests, they decided that I do not have high blood pressure, I was actually diagnosed with "white-coat syndrome" - my blood pressure goes up when I goto the doctors (to the point I can actually feel it rising on my way there)
I love blankets - can not have enough of them! You might even call me a collector... yes that is what I will call it! Any type will do.
I was born with dislocated hips, I never know when my hip will slip out of place, but luckily I can get it to go back in on my own!
I am a planner! I like to know the details to everything. It is hard to just sit back and let things happen and not know what is coming next!
I am a sale shopper! I HATE paying full price for ANYTHING! Love getting a good deal! Clothing and household goods must be a good price. Groceries - we buy whatever - sale or not, but I'll stock up on sale items.

Hilary's Questions:

1. What's your favorite blog to read (yes, you can only pick one)?

2. What is your favorite book?

3. What kind of car do you drive?

4. What's the one thing in your home that has to be a certain way? (Toilet paper over, clothes folded, DVDs alphabetized, etc.)

5. Tell me about your worst school yearbook picture growing up.

6. What's your favorite app on your phone?
7. Tell me one really quirky thing about yourself.
8. I just saw on the news this morning that a lady paid $50,000 to have her dog cloned. If someone offered to clone your family pet (all creepiness aside), what is the max amount of money would you pay to have it done?
9. What's your favorite Real Housewives season?
10. What fast food chain do you wish would go away and never come back?
11. How many US states have you visited?

My Answers:

1) Oh geez, I have no clue how to pick just one! I do really love Alison's - Life & Times Of Alison & Justin.

2) My favorite book is probably To Kill A Mockingbird - the first chapter book I ever finished in high school!

3) I drive a 2007 Pontiac Torrent in a purple/black color, fully loaded with leather heated seats, sunroof, etc.- I know I still haven't taken pics of it! I will though! We also have a 2002 Ford Explorer that is green - this thing HATES me!

4) Toilet paper - the paper must always go over the roll, not under - under drives me and hubby batty! I also like underwear folded (mine or his)!

5) I think it would be when I was 16. I had the worst hair cut in my life... I went to a new hair dresser and he cut my hair waaay to short - like I didn't ask for it short. 2002 was NOT a good hair year! I managed to pull the look off, but HATED it! Here is the pic from my driver's license that year:

It is shitty quality... but you get the point! I can't believe I just shared that!

6) My favorite app on my phone is probably Facebook or Social Feeds. Blackberry's are not known for their apps - that is for sure!

7) One quirky thing about me would be that I hate getting my hands dirty - there must be a glove for that! Baking, cooking, cleaning, gardening.. you get the point!

8) I can't say that I would clone all my pets, but I would clone Lily - she is pretty much the world's perfect dog, but I would have them take away her thyroid issue... money would obviously not be an issue if we are talking about paying to have a pet cloned, so I would probably pay whatever it needed to be.

9) I don't really watch the Real Housewives - I've only seen the Beverly Hills one, so I guess that would be my choice! I'm still trying to figure out if the show is staged or if there are people that CRAZY out there! haha! I know there is - I might even know a FEW! haha! Shhh!

10) I wish that Taco Bell would take a hike! I don't like it! We don't really have a lot of fast food joints where I live in Ontario. You can pretty much choose McDonalds, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Subway, Mr. Sub, KFC, or Tim Hortons or Starbucks.

11) Define visited? Stayed over night in - maybe 6 or 7. Drove through/stopped in - 9.

I am going to break the rules now, because I am not going to tag anyone specific - but please play along and you can answer the same questions I did!

I had a super hectic drive into work today. I had to take the windy back roads to work, because all other 4 options were closed or had issues!! It took me an hour and fifteen minutes when it should have only taken me half an hour! I hope the drive home is better!

Have a great weekend!!

Thoughts on Thursday!

2012-01-12T14:24:00.000-05:00

Today is a pretty boring day! It is raining and dreary outside!

I just hopped out of the shower and all I can smell is the sweet aroma of my Moroccan Oil! Google it - get it - amazing stuff!

One Tree Hill - a bit confusing at first, but soo happy it is back!!

Revenge - great as usual.

Jog followed by a soak in the hot tub with hubby - excellent! Nothing better than pushing each other to go that extra length and then rewarding ourselves with a nice relaxing soak.

PVR to tape the People's Choice Awards - life saver - haha not really, but I am grateful! I got caught up on that this morning!

Sleeping in bed alone - sucks - I ended up calling the dogs up! Yes, that is right, I slept with 2 dogs instead of my husband. He decided he WANTED to sleep on the couch because he is sick. He thought that laying flat was making him feel worse, so he slept propped up. He didn't sleep alone either though... the cats joined him! I do miss him! Since we have been married, we have always slept under the same roof. He has slept in the spare room after his shoulder surgery, but I am pretty sure that is it! I sure hope he feels better soon ;(

I love going to the post box and finding magazine and another great GIVE AWAY coming soon!!! Stay tuned!! I've lined up some great things soo far for 2012!!

My guess as to my sisters baby gender is getting stronger and stronger... soo strong I might be able to make something special soon!

Date night at home with the hubby... consists of some Swiss Chalet take out!!

I am also looking forward to Thursday night TV!

I think it is about that time to go give myself a toe nail painting!

This is my 400th post! Crazy!

Someone's been playing with her new camera:

This is the look you get when you interupt/wake up cuddling cat and dog... they swear they hate each other....

Look Jazzy looks somewhat happy! This really is a good camera!

But Binx looks miserable... the flash may have woke her up! Opps!

Typical Wednesday Post!

2012-01-11T11:51:00.001-05:00

I just want to give a warm welcome to my newest followers. I hope you all enjoy following along Life As I Know It - feel free to comment whenever you want - I kinda like comments :)

I will be linking up with Jamie and Michelle today! This way I can share my loves and my latest pinterest finds!

I am loving this super mild weather we are getting! I will take this kind of January every year please - even though my husband is BEAT because they are still working outside and are usually doing shop work by now and he is sick - probably because of the weather change.

Which brings me to my next love: My Husband! He is pretty awesome I must say!

I love that One Tree Hill is back on tonight!!!

I am loving how patient and kind I was to my patient this morning - after I drove and hour for just his appointment and he was not 10 minutes late - but 40! 40 minutes LATE! Thanks... so instead of telling him my frustrations with the scenario - I just pretended like he was on time, but inside I wasn't impressed. My drive back to office after was annoying too because I got stuck behind one of those cares that doesn't drive a consistent speed and drove UNDER the posted speed... what is the speed limit and drivers like in Alberta (- she was from there)? :0)

I am loving the fact that dear husband might not have to work this Saturday! I have my fingers crossed that it stays that way!

I am loving the fact that I am able to watch Giuliana and Bill now on E! Her strength amazes me continuously with all she has been through! Infertility, breast cancer, yet still as strong as ever!

I am loving keeping up to date with my favorite celebrities on twitter! You can find me here! Also be sure to check out my twitter feed on my side bar!

Are you looking for my on Pinterest? I'm here!!

How cute is this:

Source: etsy.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I love how cozy this looks, plus the chandelier and the fireplace - dreaming!!

Source:houzz.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Love the curls!!

Source: tittysandpancakes.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Love this basket and soo simple to make! I need to get me some burlap!

Source: aimee-weaver.blogspot.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Yummy!!! Oreos, cream cheese, powdered sugar, chocolate pudding, and cool whip...all layered into yummy deliciousness!

Source: mycupcakejourney.blogspot.com via Ashley on Pinterest

And now for some inspiration:

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!!

Bachelor Recap Tuesday - FIRST LINK UP

2012-01-09T22:37:00.000-05:00

Soo pumped for the first Bachelor link up! Now we can see exactly what everyone is thinking when it comes to Benny Boy!

Ben is obviously far from good looking! They showed pictures of him when he was younger and his hair was short - so what the hell is with the long, frizzly, straggly, middle-parted hair. I am still hoping that he will cut his hair throughout the season - maybe one of the crazy girls can suggest doing it for cancer or something? He would improve is look massively!

Now - let's break it down.

Kacie B - she is cute, she is Southern and I am pretty sure I like her! She seems very well-natured and not AS catty as some of the rest of them... aka Jenna/Blakely/Monica. I also loved her outfit for her date! Their first date was sweet, although the baton twirling was a bit much!

Monica - still don't like her.

Jenna - glad she is gone! She was crazy and should be on suicide watch! She knew she wasn't gonna get picked so why in the world was she asking if this was real at the end?! Did she think she was still in bed crying!?

I wish I could remember who was making comments about a horse face because they definitely couldn't talk! I find that a lot of them have horse faces. Don't get me wrong, some of them are super cute!

Blakely - did you really have your boobs hanging out in front of a bunch of children? I mean heck I guess that was nothing - Ben stripped in front of them! After all they asked for a sexy dance - how old were these kids? Why was there soo much kissing!? I wouldn't want my kids to be apart of that! Also - why the hell do you feel so entitled to stealing time with Ben after you got a rose?! That bothers me!

Emily seems very sweet - but we didn't get to know her very well yet.

Courtney - Oh Courtney - you seem VERY FAKE. I actually find her very hard to watch. She is pretty and that is pretty much all she has happening for her as far as I am concerned.

I also can't seem to stand the drama thus far. I see throughout the previews that it only gets worse... but really!? You all signed yourself up for this, you knew other girls would be dating Ben - not to mention you decided to stay beyond the first night after knowing it was BEN!

Oh and I don't think Ben kissed enought girls last night... insert sarcasm here!

Lindzi - is the one I really like! I don't care if she rode in on a horse... heck she should ride out on one with Ben too!

Nicki - I think I liked her too.

Overall I am glad he finally got rid of Jenna - it would have been a long season with her kicking around! Although the previews demonstrate that it was not the last of the tears!

I think I might have to make notes during the show so I can keep track of all the things I wanted to mention.

Link up your own Bachelor Recap below!!

Manic Monday

2012-01-09T11:15:00.000-05:00

M and I ended up having a great weekend!!

Friday night was nice and low key. We had dinner and then enjoyed a nice walk with dogs. We are having spring like weather, as if we have just skipped over winter - no complaints here!!

Saturday morning M worked, and while he was at work, I decided to take on a kitchen adventure! I even blogged about it on Saturday!! So be sure to check the previous post for more on that! When M came home, we decided to head to Kitchener and do some shopping. I have been looking for stuff to fill our new custom TV cabinet.

Here it is:

It is far from finished! We still need to stain it once we get our new floors and it still needs to to be filled and re-arranged. The letters are new and I LOVE them!! Oh the TV is new too!! I need to find something to put in those vases if they stay in the cabinet. We also bought a set of vases, but they are still in their box!

We stopped at Urban Barn - favorite store and we bought an egg set that came with a stainless steel egg timer! I love egg timers - reminds me of my Grandma and now I have a cute trendy one! The set also came with salt and pepper shakers and soft boiled egg holders. I am pretty sure I could furnish a house with that store! Bowring had a great sale - we bought the set of vases, place mats, as well as this place mat:

Its purple... lol this picture doesn't do it much justice - my bad! But it matches the mudroom colors bang on!

The basket is from Michaels, where I got the letters as well from the above picture! We then went out for dinner to the Beaver and Bulldog. We had never been there, but over all it was pretty good. My only complaint, which makes no sense why it bothered me soo much - was the alcoholic at the bar doing shots and drinking beer and just staring blindly.

After we got home, we decided to go over to N and K's to watch some football!! Good ol' Saints took the game! I am a Saints fan! Oh and Drew Brees looks hot in a football uniform!! I will be honest, I was very disappointed in last nights game... I expected a bit better of the Steelers - now we have to see what the Patriots can do...

On Sunday I slept in until 11:30 AM!!! Didn't help that my sleep was interrupted with M's snoring - his cold can take a hike any day now! We enjoyed a nice soak in the hot tub, had lunch and then did groceries! Yes of course groceries included a trip to Winners, where I bought a laundry basket, which I will eventually recover, because the colors are not fantastic - but it was on clearance. M bought a bat... this bat now comes with a story. Once we got home, I wanted to try it out. M told me I couldn't swing it in the house, but of course I did. He was trying to give me pointers on my swing, so we played a bit of baseball in the house with dogs toys. Now I can't wait until spring and do some batting practice. M PROMISED to take me this year!!

We also hit up Wal-Mart, where I bought this frame - the one I have been wanting for YEARS! It has never gone on sale!

We also bought a HDMI cord so I can watch things from my laptop on my TV. I tried it last night with Tori and Dean and it worked awesome!! Now I can do slide shows easily too!! So nice having a TV capable of so much!!

We did some housework and laundry and went for a run last night! They have new paths down at the ball park, which are awesome for running!!

Tomorrow I plan on posting a Bachelor link up, where we can all link up our thoughts on The Bachelor!!

Kitchen Adventure

2012-01-07T15:00:00.000-05:00

Soo as I have previously mentioned, I am not exactly kitchen inclined. I am getting better and constantly challenge myself. M is definitely more confident in my cooking, in fact I kick his butt at some recipes.

We had been talking recently about changing up our recipes, as we are getting sick of eating the same old thing. So I had been given some recipe books for my wedding shower (almost 5 years ago), so I thought - I'm home alone on a Saturday morning, why not bust them out.

While scrolling through the "Rush Hour Recipe" book, I found a recipe for Parmesan Drop Biscuits. And this is what I made:

1 1/2 cups of All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp. of Baking Powder
2 tsp of Parsley flakes
3 tbsp of grated Parmesan Cheese
1/3 cup of Margarine or Butter - cut into 6 pieces.

3/4 cup of Milk

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Put the first 5 ingredients into food processor. Pulse with on/off motion until margarine/butter resembles coarse bread crumbs. Transfer to medium bowl.

Add milk. Stir until just moistened and dough is sticky. Drop by large spoonfuls (makes about 12) onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake on a center rack at 425 F oven 12 minutes until golden.

After they started baking, I forgot that I had wanted to add garlic powder, so I sprinkled some on the top of the ones I could reach while they were in the oven. I would recommend this - these ones were the best. I would also top with a touch of shredded cheese.

Sounds easy and it was. But quite a few firsts happened during this adventure. I did not wear my typical baking gloves, which means this dough touched my hands and got under my nails. YUCK! Have I ever mentioned my baking gloves? I hate the feeling of dough/sticky/textured wet stuff - so I wear these pretty fancy black rubber gloves - they came with a ring that I don't wear! I followed instructions from a cook book for the first time! I also used the food processor for the first time and even figured out how to put it together!!

The kitchen ended up filling with smoke and I was actually afraid to open the oven. But they were fine, turns out something cooked previously had spilled in the bottom of the oven and that was burning.

Soo... I survived a kitchen adventure!!!

Lay 'Em Down

2012-01-06T11:09:00.001-05:00

This song is hitting home!!

This is not my typical happy go lucky Friday post.

Yesterday was hard. Yesterday I had to put my feelings aside and be strong for my Grandma.

My Grandma has been sick for a while, I am sure I have posted about it briefly. Yesterday she was deemed palliative, which basically means she is not going to get better and her days are numbered. They have decided to keep her in her nursing home, as the hospital is too hectic for her, but they are doing their best to keep her comfortable.

"Love is stronger than death even though it can't stop death from happening, but no matter how hard death tries, it can't seperate people from love. It can't take away our memories either. In the end, life is stronger than death."

The last time I saw my Grandma, she was in good spirits, still cracking jokes. I selfishly wanted to hold on to that memory as my last. The more I thought about it, the more guilt I felt and then realized that this is not about me - it is what my Grandma needs and my family needs. M and I decided to go up and visit her last night and I am glad we did. She was still cracking jokes and was still smiling. She was soo happy to see us! I fought back my tears, knowing that this would probably be the last time I saw her, the last "goodbye" and the last "I Love You". My eyes are welling up as I write this.

I think the hardest part is that she knows the end is near. She is very Catholic and the priest has come to read her last rights. She says she is ready for this, yet you can see how scared she is - afraid to close her eyes, wondering what will happen, waking startled, but just to make sure she could still wake up. It is soo hard to see this going on, or even to know this is happening. Her strength still amazes me. She has lived a great life and fought a hard battle.

She always tells me that I married my "Ken" and would laugh afterwards - Mike's first name is actually Kenneth. She also would tell me how lucky I was to find a young good-looking man and that she had a crush on him!

I pray that she finds peace and comfort with whatever comes next. I also pray for a smooth transition and that her suffering is minimal.

I also pray that my family will find peace throughout this and that our strength is enough to support each other.

"Life lives, life dies. Life laughs, life cries. Live gives up and life tries. But life looks different through everyone's eyes."

Love/Pinterest

2012-01-04T11:41:00.000-05:00

I am pretty sure that Wednesday's are my favorite blogging day!!

I love linking up with Jamie for What I Am Loving Wednesday and Michelle for Oh How Pinteresting.

I will start with:

I am loving that I should be getting my new TV tonight!!

I am loving this new oil for my hair. Morocan Oil helps take away fly aways and frizz, speeds up drying time after your shower, revives your hair and strengthens and conditions!

I am loving that Revenge is back tonight! I also can't wait for One Tree Hill!! Oh and Parenthood was a great episode last night! Someone please tell me why I watch Teen Mom?

I love my husband - he switched my windshield wiper and filled my car up with windshield wiper fluid, as I ran out on my way home from work yesterday! Then he also made room in the garage for me to park!!

I have joined twitter and I am loving following some of my favorite stars as well as some of you!! You can find me here!! Also my blog has hopped on board for Facebook! You can follow HERE

I am also loving Pinterest!!!

I am a sucker for gray cats, how cute is this one?

I would like to go relax on this porch please:

While talking about porches - how awesome is this one?

Love this bathroom:

I also love this fireplace!

I want to try this with my hair:

Now for some inspiring words:

Happy Wednesday!!

Random/Bachelor/Bling

2012-01-03T11:22:00.001-05:00

Doesn't that title just make you wanna jump right into this interesting post?!

I think I need to think of some more creative titles!

Let's start with the random happenings...

SNOW - it is here and I am ready for it to go! I know it is Winter and all, I may had admitted at one point it was pretty while it was falling, but I also admitted how happy I was to not have any...
COLD - it is COLD out. Like -15 degrees Celsius, feels like -23... I see how easy it is to get confused by what I say, as I said it could be cold, with no snow all winter long - NOT this cold, just like -1 to -5 tops... I am not sure where you got COLD and SNOW from - that was definitely not in the orders.
My cats really did it yesterday... we are talking destruction. I initially thought they were scratching my stairs or rug, but then realized they were playing harmlessly (so I thought) in a crunch laundry bag. That was until it sounded like the whole front of my house was collapsing yesterday - really it was just all the dining room chairs, my giraffes, phone falling over. It turns out that one cat got stuck in the bag and the other one was stuck in the laundry bags long handles... kind of like this one, but smaller and square...

Via

So what does one do when they are stuck? Panic and run (around the dining room table?), while attached to such bag, with such cat stuck inside... which knocked everything over, which then caused more panic... They finally got loose from the bag and were running on the spot in the kitchen, missed the foyer stairs to make a quick exit to the basement and took out a bench... their tails were bigger than their bodies I think. Luckily nothing was broken and they eventually calmed down. However there is no such thing as playing harmlessly - this I know now!

I am linking up with the newly engaged C Mae for:

This picture is one of my favorites, as I am sure I have mentioned before! I don't know why but I find pictures of hands to be soo beautiful. Maybe it is the strength they represent in a relationship, in life, in everything we do.

I also realized I need to take some new pics of my rings. That is one thing our photographer didn't do. But I have got a camera and some skill, so I shall play!!

We started up Girl's Night again last night, which was GREAT!!

Now onto the dirt I watched last night. Yes I am referring to The Bachelor. Doesn't this look like a drama filled season?

Jenna - the "blogger" - not loving her right now... seems a bit emotional - maybe unstable?! I am not even sure I want to read her blog... she might have given us all a bad name!

Amber - aka the Canadian that didn't make the cut - didn't represent Canada very well.

Was it Samantha - who also didn't make the cut - that blew Ben off during her introduction?! I don't know that her plan panned out..

Lindzi C - wasn't sure about her at first, but now I kinda like her! Not to mention she came in on a horse..

Lindsie J - a bit over-the-top.

Monica - don't like her ONE bit - she seems like trouble!

Brittney aka the girl who brought her Grandma - she seems sweet, wasn't too sure at first, but we will see!

I agree with Ben - I am liking most of the brunettes that made the cut!

This season looks a bit messed up!? The tears were a bit much last night - thank you Jenna and I am sure you had an "ugly cry" on to make matters worse, but don't worry, we didn't see you, we just had to listen to you.

What did you think?!

2012 - A Year With No Resolutions

2012-01-02T13:49:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!!

As I had previously mentioned, I am soo happy for 2012. I was ready for 2011 to end. There is something about a fresh start of a new year. New hopes, new friends, new thoughts, new prayers, new dreams, new everything. I am more than ready for it all!!

Instead of making new year resolutions, I have decided against it. I have decided to take on 2012 with a fresh new perspective. I am going to work on letting go of the things I cannot change and take charge of the things I can. This alone is going to be very difficult. New year - new start. The great thing is M is right on board with me!

Sooo we spent New Year's Eve over at N & K's - which was nice and low key. I haven't been feeling the best, but managed to stay up till the New Year. We came home shortly after midnight, and M and I laid in bed and discussed how to tackle 2012. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my man!? He some how finds the exact words that meet my thoughts, even if I can't bring them to language.

Not very flattering... but...

Sunday morning, we tackled the upstairs. My craft/sewing room was overhauled, the closets upstairs were overhauled. It felt great to declutter. I don't think M wanted to stop the process because I was in a very giving mood. We managed to donate one MASSIVE costco bag of clothes, purses, household linens, etc. to Goodwill. It felt soo good! We rearranged the craft room and brought up a shelving unit from the garage.

We also switched some pieces around in the mudroom and now it looks a little more complete and welcoming.

We set up the new wall unit cabinet for the new TV that will hopefully come tomorrow.

I spent waaay too long on ordering a calender from Costco last night, but I can't wait to get it!! It is filled with pictures and inspirational quotes. I am also going to start getting pictures printed soon for the photo wall! I think I have enough frames to get it started now!

Welcome 2012!! Let's make the best of it!

Ready For The New Year

2011-12-31T09:46:00.001-05:00

To say I am ready for a New Year would not even cover how I actually feel! This year has been hard, for reasons I have not exactly disclosed on my blog. Yes, there have been some great things that have happened, but I feel as though the bad may have overcome the good.

I am ready for a fresh start, especially after my day yesterday, and this past week. Yesterday my sister started bleeding and went into labour for the whole day. Luckily the baby has decided to stay put, but so has the bleeding. Labour is on and off at this point and no one has any answers as to what is actually going on. She will be 28 weeks tomorrow. I cut 4 inches off my hair, which still leaves it pretty long actually, crazy how long my hair was! M and I were on our way up to the hospital yesterday and we got in an accident on the 401. Luckily no one was hurt and the Torrent only ended up with a scratch, can't say the say about the Ford that was involved. The lady was American and just wanted to get home, so no cops were called, we exchanged insurance info and went on our way. We are still unsure of how it even happened, as M was switching lanes, and there was no one around, this lady appeared out of no where and was driving waay to fast. We are soo lucky it wasn't worse.

I just have to get through today, for this year to be over. I pray that 2012 is better for us!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

Christmas Recap

2011-12-29T09:44:00.002-05:00

Wow, I suppose it is about time to get back to the blog before this year is over!! Time is literally flying by!!

Christmas was great!!! My dad popped by on Christmas Eve day for a visit and then we headed over to my sisters - as they let her come home from the hospital for the weekend. Dinner didn't quite go as planned, as the turkey was still not cooked by 8:00 PM - but the pie we made was delicious!! We ended up just carving some turkey off and cooking it... M got a game for his X-box, a subscription to X-Box magazine and 2 shirts and I got shoes, a buffet server, a monogrammed hand towel and a gift certificate for some spa treatments.

Christmas Day was nice and low key. The dogs enjoyed opening their stockings - I wish I had got that on my NEW camera!!!

credit

A Canon Rebel T2i with lens kit!!

Such a happy girl!!! It is soo awesome to be back behind the lens!!

M and I got lots of kitchen gadgets and serving ware. M got a lot of clothes, a new watch, a saw, a tool chest, a shop vac. I also got picture frames for my photo wall. It is soo hard to remember what all I got when most of it is already put away!!!

We were totally blessed with gifts this Christmas.

Then we just happened to check out the boxing day sales and found ourselves a new TV!!! We bought a 42 inch Sharp Aquos!! It was such a great deal we couldn't turn it down and it was exactly what we were looking for!! Soo pumped for it to get here!!!

We enjoyed a great dinner with M's parents and Aunt and Uncle and topped it off with cherry cheesecake!!

Yesterday I went to London to visit my sister in the hospital, unfortunately most of our visit was complicated with contractions, but they stopped!!! Stay put baby!!

I also joined the twitter... yup I am crazy! I don't know how much I will actually tweet, but I am enjoying getting the scoop from my favorite stars!!

Does anyone know how to get those fancy connect buttons for facebook, pinterest and twitter?! I would love some!!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T14:13:00.000-05:00

Merry

Christmas!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend filled with love and Christmas surprises!!

A Trip Down Old Christmas Photos Lane

2011-12-22T11:02:00.000-05:00

Soo today I found this super old pic of M and I during one for our first few years of dating at Christmas time:

Look how young we look!!

I also found this one:

This one was from M's commencement - so this one would have been a year into our relationship! Look how tint M looks! Haha! I look tiny too... too tiny! This would have been taken the year before the first photo, a couple weeks before Christmas!

Another old one!

2007 Christmas card picture:

Look how tiny Jewish looks!! I miss Diamond and Copper!

Ripper and Diamond opening their presents in 2008 - They sure did love opening presents!!

H's First Christmas 2009:

First Christmas Family Photo:

Binx's First Christmas/my Christmas present from M:

Our First Year Hosting Christmas Morning:

Gracie's First Christmas:

(7 Months)

I don't have access to 2010 right now... and I will be sure to get some for 2011!!

I hope you enjoyed a trip down Christmas memory lane!

So What/Pinteresting Wednesday

2011-12-21T11:37:00.000-05:00

Today I am going to link up with Shannon!! It has been a while since I have done so...

SO WHAT: if I woke up a bit bitter this morning... I am usually a pretty good fireman's wife - but today I am a bit whiny because I was sleeping soundly (finally - first night in a long time) and M got a chimney fire call at 1 AM and from that point on sound sleep went out the window!! Don't get me wrong, I love my hero and wouldn't have it any other way!

SO WHAT: if I went to bed with wet hair again last night and now my hair is curly - where did these curls come from? So today I have gone for the tousled curls look... Ha!

SO WHAT: if when I saw this quote:

I did not know it was a song, yet alone by my friend Rascal Flatts:

Although I had heard the song and loved it... I didn't put the two together!!

SO WHAT: if I had a major blond moment yesterday.... I didn't realize there was a time change between Alberta and Ontario... and I am Canadian!!! Thank heavens for a patient Alberta friend.... lol Alison!

SO WHAT: if I am considering changing Lux's name to Lucifer permanently. He seems to answer to it and I tend to call him Lucy often, along with Lucifer.

SO WHAT: if M and I have discussion about what our pets would sound like if they could talk. We also decided it was best that cats can't talk, especially Jazz - her looks say enough - I can't imagine much positivity coming from that cat unless it was dinner or treat time! Or bed time. I swear though, she is a *SWEET* cat! See:

She's the gray one... and yes both you and I know that the bed is only meant for one cat... but c'est la vie!

SO WHAT: if I can operate a complicated camera and shoot in raw, yet I cannot seem to take a decent photo with my new phone, which has a 5 MP camera (which I know isn't great, but better than what I had) and it has a flash and I still suck!!

SO WHAT: if M and I are making caramel corn this year as the goodies we give out to our friends this year. He asked me why OUR baking projects turn into HIS baking projects. I told him it was because he was better (boost his ego a bit more). But come to think of it - I made the cookies last year and I decorated them too! I will be sure to remind him of this tonight when I read this post to him - he loves So What Wednesday posts and believes they should happen everyday for me!

SO WHAT: if I agreed to work Thursday this week and I already wish it was Friday!! I also had to cancel my much needed hair cut appointment I had made for Thursday.

Now for some:

Head on over and link up with Michelle!!

I love this headboard!! Soo rustic looking!!

I find this VERY handy!! I might actually have to print these out:

I love this hair style and I think and hope it might just work for Christmas this year - as I plan on curling my hair! (I would also like her eye make up)

I am still struggling with some aspects of forgiveness:

Soo True:

I think Gracie would LOVE this dog Popsicle with toys frozen inside!!

Have a great Wednesday!!!

Ho Ho Back To Work I Go

2011-12-20T11:15:00.002-05:00

I am back at work this week and my desk is FULL of requisitions!! My boss was not able to sign in to my computer while I was away because my password was not what I thought it was... kinda funny! So I was trying to sign in to my computer this morning and finally clued in to the problem - when I reset my password before I left (the computer made me) I didn't realize the Caps Lock was on! Opps!! So my password is super smart for the next 3 months!! Haha! My boss got a kick out of it!

Brrr it was cold out this morning, but fear not, it is supposed to warm up this week! I actually had to scrape the inside of my car windows this morning! I'm guess a window wasn't completely sealed? But thank heavens for heated leather seats I tell ya!

As much as I am loving Christmas movies, I miss my week night routines!

I did end up doing some sewing yesterday, until I bent the needle. I decided that Mike will have have to fix that, because I don't remember how to and then suggested that HE hand sew the part that bent the needle, as it didn't quite fit. M doesn't mind hand sewing, although I am sure he would rather sew with the machine, but I suck at hand sewing! I still want to attempt the 2nd project... I have 4 days!

We are going to attempt our 2nd batch of caramel corn tonight and this batch is going to have waay more caramel - the last batch was like "lightly buttered". I hope to be delivering them all Thursday night!

Getting up this morning was NOT fun - for anyone in the house aside from Mike!

It is still soo hard to believe that Christmas is in 5 days!! I don't know where December went! Nice that I will be working 2 more days this week and then off for another week!

Manic Monday Before Christmas

2011-12-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

The last weekend before Christmas has passed!! Crazy to believe that Christmas is this coming weekend!! But guess what - I am ready!!! The presents are wrapped and under the tree!!

M and I wrapped presents both Friday night and Saturday afternoon!!

We did our last grocery run Saturday morning, we also picked up a few new things as well - like a new humidifier - aka Snore Stopper!! Yup M doesn't snore nearly as much when its on! We made our first batch of caramel corn - its good, but I would like more caramel!

Sunday we popped over to the farm, had a visit with M's Aunt and Cousins, came home and got ready to go for Christmas dinner at M's other Aunt in Woodstock! It was great seeing everyone!! I definitely love the holidays because it brings everyone together!

We got snow this weekend, but I am happy to announce it is melting today!! And it is supposed to be in the positives this week!

My sister made it to 26 weeks!!! She is still hanging in there and doing well!

I don't really have much else to report today! I hope to get back to a regular blogging schedule this week!

Lazy Day Thursday

2011-12-15T12:52:00.000-05:00

Today I am having a lazy Thursday!!! I have hopes of getting some sewing done today and maybe some gift wrapping.

I was all excited for lunch today, until I realized I had no cream cheese to have with my "Great Canadian Bagel" - we picked some up yesterday for a sweet deal.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas movies, but I also love watching my regular TV shows too...

I am pumped for the new TV show seasons coming in January - One Tree Hill, The Bachelor, etc.

I can't believe Christmas is next weekend!!! CRAZY!!!

I am going to have to break down and admit I am becoming a fan of Michael Buble - I watched his Christmas Special last night and he was co hosting with Kelly today!!

It is 11 degrees (Celsius of course) here today!!! Rainy - but warmish - better than snow!!

I got skype!! My sister and I have been skyping and last night I got my Mom set up over phone - frustrating task - yes, but she has it now!!

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

What I Am Loving Wednesday!!!

2011-12-14T17:19:00.000-05:00

Today I have soo much to love!!!

Today was an awesome day!!! We met someone new and exciting!!!

I am loving how smoothly the month of December has gone soo far - crazy that Christmas is coming up in only 11 days!! I have a lot of wrapping to do!!

This week has been pretty busy, hence the lack of blogging... sorry!! Don't you just hate it when life gets in the way?!

I am loving the sales that Old Navy online keeps having!!

I am loving that my sister's baby is still staying put!! Only one minor scare this week....

I love that this picture looks like Jew aka Jazz, but as a kitten

Love this look :)

Love this treeskirt:

And these words:

I could go for one of these:

Fantastic Friday!

2011-12-09T11:32:00.001-05:00

Today has started off fantastic, I am just hoping it continues to go that way!!

Have I mentioned how much I hate getting up the morning, especially at 6 AM - I also hate the snow!! Yup we got a few centimeters this morning and they can take a hike as soon as possible please!

I just realized my initial sentence probably sounded sarcastic after reading the second paragraph! But it really was good!!

I have made a list of the last items I need to pick up this weekend for Christmas gifts and then I am done!!

Last night M and I had a pizza date night in, since I wasn't feeling so great!! Love our pizza date nights!!

We have the Santa Claus parade in the village tomorrow night!

I also want to get going on making my caramel corn for Christmas! Every year we present our friends with a little home-made something - one year it was pie, last year was cookies, this year I want to try to make caramel corn! Which reminds me - I should try to print some labels.... then I just have to scrapbook the rest of them!

Otherwise, not to much is happening this weekend that is blog worthy at least...

My sister is still hanging in there, as is the baby. One of her neighbours up there went into labour last night, which was scary, as she was a week behind Amy - in preterm labor as well. She had a baby girl via c-section. Soo far that baby is holding on, but please keep that poor family in your prayers as well!! I guess these things happen everyday but for now it has been brought to my attention how real and scary this world can be sometimes. I guess we should pray for all the people who deal with these struggles not just today, but everyday. It is soo easy not to think about the bad things that happen in this world, so I think I will just pray in general for those struggling, no matter what their struggle.

Have a good weekend ;)

What I Am Loving and Pinteresting Wednesday

2011-12-07T11:03:00.001-05:00

I am going to quickly recap my weekend, as I did the wedding recap yesterday instead!

Friday night was Pie Night and it was fantastic!!

Saturday I grabbed some groceries and lunch with K and little G, took a nap in the afternoon and then got ready for the fireman's Christmas party. It went well too!!

Sunday M and I almost finished all our shopping. Just a few more small things to get ;) I have a few things to make and then we have to wrap it all up!

Monday I had an appointment in London in the morning and then went and visited my sister. She ended up in the hospital Sunday morning instead of the evening because she started spotting. Everything seems okay so far. Her ultrasound showed a healthy baby so far and it passed the biophysical test that day too!! Yesterday she hit another bump in the road though. In the morning she lost a significant amount of fluid (she is leaking small amounts normally). The baby's heart rate and movements showed decelerations on the stress test. So they decided to do a bedside ultrasound, which showed less fluid, but they could not find anything alarming on the ultrasound. But on a good note, today the baby passed the stress test! So it is going to be day by day for a while. She actually started blogging again last night and requesting prayers!!

Hannah seems to be getting better with the adjustment, but it is still a learning curve for everyone at this point!

So today I am loving:

- day by day progress for both my sister and myself!!

- I am loving my husband like crazy! He is soo supportive and is my rock!!

- I am loving my crazy cats and smart dogs!

- I am loving my new phone.

- I am loving friends and family and I am very grateful for everything they do! I am also grateful for all the people in my life!!

I am loving the following pins:

Love this verse. Actually it reminds me of this song that I have posted about before "Blessings" by Laura Story :

I think these are cool:

I think this looks yummy:

They are Golden Graham S'mores Bars

And these look festive and delicious:

Strawberry champagne punch

I hope everyone has a great day!!! I know mine is off to a good start!!!

ABC's Of Our Wedding

2011-12-05T21:39:00.001-05:00

I saw Allison at Moments Like This do this and thought it was a great way to remember our wedding!!

We have been married for 1599 (as of 06/12/2011) days aka 4 years 4 months and 2 weeks!

A - Attending

We invited just over 200 people!!! I signed back into theknot.com and they didn't keep my guest list, which is fine because I have it in my wedding file, but it's not handy to give you our final number, but I am going guess it was just under 200.

B- Bridesmaids

I had 3!! Carrie was my MOH and my sister and Nicole were both bridesmaids:

Photo by Blair Gable

C - Cake

Believe it or nor, we decided to vito the traditional wedding cake! We did serve cake and ice cream for dessert, but we did not have the "cutting the cake" moment. It really wasn't all that important to me.

D - Dress

My dress was not at all what I had initially went in wanting, but once I put it on, I knew it was the one!! I initially wanted a long flowy dress, nothing too extravagant and well that went out the window!!

Photo by Blair Gable

E - Engagement

Our engagement was very unique... I was over at the farm and M and I were trying to pick paint colors for the bathroom. We had just bought the house, but did not have possession of it yet. M was acting a bit off, but I just figured he was flustered about the house. He called me upstairs to his bedroom to "pick colors". His mom had made a comment about wanted to see them and M told her she would just have to wait. Little did I know that once I sat down, M had a different plan. He asked me if I would be his wife and spend the rest of my life with him! I can barely even remember the exact words!! He was a nervous wreck!! I told him yes and we were both ecstatic!! We didn't end up picking the paint color that night, but we did end up celebrating our engagement with M's parents, my MOH on the bleachers at the ball park at Mike's ball game that night!! Nothing like sipping on champagne at the ball park!! I tease M that he got the girl and won the ball game! We got our engagement photos taken at a retail store.... they were super cheap... I regret not getting them done privately, but oh well...

I don't even have a picture scanned in that I can think of...

F - Flowers

We had our flowers done by a local in the village!! I was very impressed!!

Girls Bouquets:

My Bouquet:

Both photos by Blair Gable

G - Groomsmen

M had 3 groomsmen - Jeff was his best man and Chad and Aaron were groomsmen!

Photo by Blair Gable

Both of our Dad's were in the above photo as well!! They actually wore the same thing as the groomsmen!

Here we are all together!!

Photo by Blair Gable

H - Honeymoon

M and I went to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. We stayed at the Sun Village Resort and Spa. We swam with the dolphins at Ocean World, which was amazing!!

I - Invitations

We had our invites custom made at Staples. They were simple post card style with pink wording and a pink Gerber daisy on the top. I have some left over, but they are not really accessible to photograph!

J - Justice of the Peace

Mike's grandfather married us! He had also baptized him! We had an Anglican service with a sand ceremony. We were his very last wedding, and we weren't even sure that he would be comfortable doing it, but he did and it meant sooo much to us! Our ceremony was soo special because of this and we were absolutely honored that he did agree to marry us!

One of my favorite photos!!!

By Blair Gable

K - Keepsakes

Aside from my millions of photos, we have our sand ceremony jar and we have our wine glasses that my Dad engraved for us!! We also gave out these to our guests and we have one still:

My Dad also did the wine glasses for the wedding party:

Here is almost all of them:

We also had photo candles made in honor of our grandparents who had passed. We had a special lighting of them at dinner time.

Our centrepieces at the wedding were Siamese fighting fish in a bowl, with a candle in a wineglass.

We also have this BIG sign from our wedding:

We took a wagon ride to the hall, pulled by a John Deer tractor - of course M could tell you what kind, as it was antique... however it ended up breaking down and we got pulled by a different one! But the sign still hangs in our garage!!

I should have done this sooner than 4 years later, so I could remember everything!!

L - Ladies Night

I didn't want anything major, so we just went for dinner and to a bar after, at which point we felt OLD and decided on having a girls night after all!!

M- Music

I walked down the isle to traditional music. During the signing of the registry we had a friend of ours sing "Can't Help Falling In Love" and we walked down the isle to "So Happy Together" by The Turtles, which was a meaningful song to M and I. Our first dance was to "She's Everything" by Brad Paisley.

N - Newlyweds

Does this stage ever end? LOL!

Here are some more pictures:

By Blair Gable

By Blair Gable

By Blair Gable

By Blair Gable

O - Old, New, Borrowed and Blue

Old - my Grandmother's ring, my shoes
New - my dress and veil, angel pin and the necklace M gave me!
Borrowed - my earrings
Blue - my garter

P - Photography

Almost all the pics in this post are by our amazing photographer - Blair Gable!!

Q - Question Popping

I explained that one above under engagement.

R - Reception

Was of course a BLAST!! But not without excitement...

This little guy came in for a visit:

He didn't have an invitation...

And then someone fell on my foot...

So at this point the drinking began and the ice bag got taped to my foot... nothing was stopping this bride from dancing at her wedding... luckily I went with the poofier dress... I could stand still and just shake my hips!!

S - Shoes

You couldn't see my feet... I am not a fancy shoe kinda girl - comfort first - flips flops is what I wore, just as pictured above!!

The girls wore cute pink flip flop mini heels.

T - Trash The Dress

Nope... it is preserved in a box!!

U - Unique

We took a wagon ride to our photo locations and the hall.
We had an outside ceremony at the farm.
Our dogs came for pictures afterwards.
We had a bat at our wedding.
M's grandfather married us!
Us ladies did pictures with the backhoe and I got grease on my dress!
We had pictures taken with horses. I ended up with a green horse shoe print in the inside of my dress (is that luck or what) and the horse tried to eat my bouquet.

V - Vows

We did traditional vows from the Anglican ceremony

W - Wedding Woes

Not sure what this is... but I will mention that our wedding was absolutely perfect. I wouldn't change a thing... I am still just as in love with M as I was on our wedding day (July 21, 2007), if not more in love with him.

X-Rated

(By Blair Gable)
In order for us to kiss, people had to come up and demonstrate... hence the cowboy hat....

Y - Young Kids

We tried to have a kid-free wedding reception, however M's cousin brought his little boy. Luckily he was well behaved!!

Z- Zzzzzz

Wow - I am done!!!

Hope you enjoyed learning about my wedding!!

Friday and Pie NIGHT!!!

2011-12-02T10:43:00.001-05:00

Wow, I feel like this week took forever to get to Friday! But it is here and I am very happy about it being the weekend!! Tonight is delicious Pie Night!!! We made about 10 pies yesterday and a lot of tarts!!

I am hoping to finish Christmas shopping this weekend!! I only have a few more things to get!

Did everyone watch the Country Christmas Special last night? I watched part of it, but went to bed early, I did PVR it though!!

I really don't have all that much to say today for a change!

Here is some weekend Pinspiration:

and just for fun, here is a picture of Mike and I from Sep/2007

One of my absolute favorites of us!!!

Have a great weekend!!!

Hello December!!

2011-12-01T13:19:00.001-05:00

I can't believe it is December!!! Our days are still mildish for December - mild as in above zero!!! No complaints here!! We got some snow yesterday, but it is gone now!

I didn't end up blogging twice yesterday - insert disappointment here - because I missed my favorite blogging day ;( But my afternoon was pretty busy!!

Today I went to work on a Christmas gift project and realized I don't have a fleece fabric to match my cotton fabric....

I am going to be heading over to the farm shortly to make pies!! Tomorrow is PIE NIGHT!!! Pie Night had been a tradition for years that Mike's mom has. She invites most of her friends from around the village and makes a bunch of different pies!! I will be honest, it is one of my favorite nights of the year!!! She keeps saying she may stop having it, as it is a lot of work, but I don't really see us letting that happen!!

I only have a few more gifts left to buy!! I managed to grab a gift yesterday while waiting for a patient at clinic!!

I hope everyone has a great day!!!

Picture Post

2011-11-30T09:06:00.000-05:00

You might just get a two post blogger today!!!

Here is my blog swap gift from sweet Alison, I hope I photographed it all!!! (I forgot the soap)

Excuse the phone picture, it is all I am able to use right now... but the quality is much better than my old phone!!

LOVED EVERYTHING!! The cats even loved the elastic around the cafe mocha jar!!!

Here are the typography photos I did:

They were soo much fun to do!!!

Excuse the curtains, we had just begun tearing it apart when I realized I didn't have any before pictures!

the rug was even already pulled up!

Naked window

Outside looking towards the patio

Standing on the patio looking in!!

and now....

Naked, but wow, what a difference. Now I need to get on the curtain painting!!

I have put on the old ones for now!

I forget what else I needed to post pictures of, but this will do for now!! I hope to be back for what I am loving Wednesday and Oh So Pinteresting, depending on how my day is of course!!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away - Come Again Another Day

2011-11-29T09:46:00.001-05:00

Wow we are getting a TON of rain, but I am more than happy it is rain!!! Snow and I don't get along. Although I heard we may get some of that tonight :(

Sorry I missed blogging again yesterday, I ended up doing some typography for a client! They ended up looking something like this:

via Pinterest

This was the first typography project I did and it was a lot of fun!!! I will try to remember to post the ones I did!!

I also ended up getting my new phone:

via

It is sooo cute!!!

And last night ended up being bath night for the dogs!!!

Let me think back to what my weekend was like...

Friday - M and I chilled at home. With him working Saturdays it kind of kills the social life lol, but that is okay!

Saturday - I went shopping with my mom and H. We tackled my sisters 3 page grocery list.... yes 3 pages... with a toddler.... in Walmart!!! I think we are crazy!!! H was totally done by the end of it! I will admit I was shopped out too!! Have I ever mentioned how much I hate shopping at this time of the year? Mini rant: People need to be patient and less rammy! Don't park your cart in the middle of an isle so no one can get around you! Don't ram your cart into the back of my heels! Okay, I will stop there.... you probably all know what I am talking about!!

M attempted to make the same dinner I made last Friday and FAILED...

I watched Marley and Me Saturday night, which only stirred up soo many emotions!!! Why do I do this to myself?! I LOVE the movie, but it had me in tears. I can relate to that movie sooo much!! Not to mention Diamond looked like Marley, especially in the end!!

Man I miss her!!! M had come up to bed by the end of the movie and we were both in tears!!! We laid in bed and reminisced about her!!

She was such a good sport!!!

She came to the wedding... okay the pictures portion!!!

Loved boating and had mastered the I can sleep sitting up!!

Although we had rescued her and didn't have a destructive dog, I think Lily's puppy stage made up for that... and Dimey had to put up with her....

Miss you Dimey!!!

Sunday - we headed to KW and hit up Costco and Henry's! I am trying to choose between the Canon T2i and the Nikon 3100!!

That was pretty much our weekend....

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! I will hopefully get caught up on blog reading soon!!!

November... Where Did You Go?

2011-11-25T10:21:00.001-05:00

Wow, I can't believe it is only a MONTH until CHRISTMAS!!! Where the heck did November go?!

Yesterday we got our new window installed in the great room, what a DIFFERENCE!! I will be honest I was a bit scared that it would make the room look smaller, since we didn't get a bow window, we got a picture window with a window on each side that opens. If anything the window almost opens the room up more and we now have a GREAT view of our backyard!!! The cats are not soo happy that their lounge spot has disappeared, but I'm over it! There is still a sill for them to sit on! Pictures to come when I find my ghetto old camera....

Everything went smoothly in London as well yesterday, except for the Christmas shopping :( I sucked at that part big time!!!

When I came home, I found 3 shipments at the post office, two of which were gifts I had bought for people and 1 was my blog swap gift!!! I was absolutely SPOILED!!! Thanks Alison!!!! I will do a post on that soon too... mission this weekend will be to find my old camera!!

I feel like I have sooo much more shopping to do!!! I am running out of time!!

I also need to get camera shopping... all my lovely friends who take pictures - what camera do you have?! Or - what would you recommend??

I am happy that Canada has stepped on board with the black Friday sales, not to the extent of the states, but more so than before!! Now we just have to get the day off!!! haha!

I hope all my American readers had a great Thanksgiving and continue to enjoy the weekend festivities!!! And for us Canadians - I wish us a warm and fantastic weekend!!!

Typical Wednesday

2011-11-23T10:56:00.001-05:00

Granted us Canadians had our Thanksgiving in October, I must admit I enjoy reading about the American Thanksgiving traditions!! It seems that you go all out for Thanksgiving, more so than us Canadians, or maybe it is just a lot different than the way we (as in my family's) celebrate! Doesn't help that we missed our family's thanksgiving this year either...

So I am loving how grateful everyone is at this time of the year! I wish it lasted all year, but we all know that isn't the usual case. I am working really hard on accepting both the good and bad in my life and trying to be grateful no matter what! After all I do have soooo many things to be thankful for.

I am loving that we had our first winter storm last night and we lucked out with mostly rain!!! There was a bit of freezing rain, but no snow!!! I wasn't happy to come home to a DARK house last night, as the wind knocked the power out, but we took our dinner to the farm and cooked it there!!

I am loving that my new window is supposed to come tomorrow!! I know I said that like a month ago, but it was the wrong size! One man's mistake is another man's treasure - as the window fits M's parents, who had been thinking about getting a new window for quite some time! So tomorrow we should both be getting new windows!!

I am hoping everything goes smoothly tomorrow for both the window and my trip to London.

I am loving that my sister continues to do well!!!

I love this and believe it would solve a lot of issues in our bedroom!!! M actually agrees that it would work and it is now on that LONG to-do list for the house! The only difference would be that our bedroom window is MASSIVE, like 6 panes, but if anything I think it would look better!!

Via

I love these for headboard ideas:

via via

I am tempted to try this, but I am not sure yet... it says that you can use oil pastels in hair sections and then coat with hairspray for temporary color, but what if it doesn't work and it gets stuck or what if it stains your clothes?! Either way I love the style:

Via

Speaking of hair color, I am running out of time to dye mine!!! I must get M - my personal stylist ahaha - to help me color my hair!!

I love these and I would like to attempt to make them!! Anyone else with me!?

via

I also love this for my photo wall - I could do one for the dogs and one for the cats!!:

via

I also couldn't NOT leave you with some of my favorite quotes:

via

Via

I hope everyone has a great day and all my American readers - Have an great thanksgiving!!!

Tuesday's Tid Bits

2011-11-22T10:18:00.001-05:00

Yup, I missed Manic Monday again this week.... I was at my sister's yesterday watching H and visiting with my sister. She had a pretty calm weekend, and has an appointment today to see how everything is going so far!

My weekend looked a little something like this:

Friday night I made an amazingly awesome dinner - no joke!! I made pesto chicken, with alfredo and bacon sauce and it was DELICIOUS!!! I also went over K's to play some domino's and skipbo!!!

Saturday M and I got some more Christmas shopping done when he was finished work and before the Santa Parade in town! I also waited in a drive thru for waaay to long for an hot chocolate! I also almost felt like an extreme couponer, with all the money we saved and without a coupon!!! I wish we could do that in Canada....

Sunday M and I tidied up the house a bit, and then headed to the farm to help his mom make pastry!! We also managed to get dinner out of it as well!! Then we came home and I attempted to watch the AMA's.

Yesterday I went to my sister's and on my way home I decided I deserved a hot chocolate, so I went through the drive thru off the highway and she filled the cup waay to full, added the whip cream and passed me the cup leaking the fluid out of the top, I commented, she wiped it and sent me on my way. I figured I better open it before getting back on the highway and it poured all over my lap - it was almost like it was under pressure... not impressed! And then to top things off I burnt my tongue!!!

I think I need a professional organizer to come and organize my house and pay for the organizable storage...

I also hate when people say things they shouldn't!

My new window is supposed to come on Thursday - it better be the right size this time!!

Oh - Canada is stepping up in the big online shopping world... we can shop online at Wal-Mart now and for only 97 cent shipping!!! Watch out Sears!!

I hate that I am planner sometimes... it absolutely sucks to not be able to plan somethings. I hate this wait and see BS!!

I hate that my camera is broken... and that I haven't found my old piece of crap camera to use in the mean time!!! My pets keep doing the cutest things I miss it!!!

Thank You & Finally Friday

2011-11-18T12:36:00.001-05:00

This week has been a whirlwind, that is for sure!!! I also have a feeling that things are not going to slow down, even when I need them to!!!

Funny how when we make plans, God laughs at them!!

Update on my sister: She and baby are doing well, baby is still inutero, where we hope he/she will stay for a LONG time, but the next two weeks will be the hardest! She has gone home, for how long we do not know yet. If the baby stays put, she will go back in at 24 weeks until she delivers! Soo quite a few things are up in the air, but nothing we can't continue to pray for!!

I just want to say a special thank you to all of you who have said prayers and checked in for updates, your thoughts and prayers have blown me away and I cannot thank you all enough for your continued support! I have been blessed with so many people in my life!! Even people I have never met, knowing that extra prayer is there makes such a difference!!

Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I had little Miss Hannah all day yesterday! I kept her pretty busy, she enjoyed a much needed 3 hour nap, a dancing/Christmas singing aunt driving her up to see Mom and Dad - the cars surrounding me may have thought I was CRAZY!! - The things you do to impress kids I tell ya! Heck, she even went to bed for me! I know this can't be easy on a soon to be 3 year old, but she is doing pretty good!! She at least understands that Mommy is sick! We even colored some pictures for both Mom and baby!!

I did not sleep the best last night, and feel that I am running on fumes today, but the weekend is here and I am ready to catch up on some much needed sleep!!

Thanks again!!!

Have a great weekend!!

Praying for a Miracle

2011-11-16T09:54:00.001-05:00

Today, I continue to pray for a miracle.

My sister's water broke yesterday morning and she is only 21.5 weeks! Luckily there is still fluid around the baby, she is only dilated to 1 cm and having very few contractions! We are praying that the fluid stops leaking, she does not dilate or contract anymore and that the baby stays put for as long as possible!! The hospital will not do much for the baby at this point, as they feel that at 21 weeks, it would not be viable, but the baby has been a fighter since day 1 and has a strong heartbeat!! Please pray that Amy will be able to keep the baby in for as long as she can healthily. Please pray for strength and understanding for both Amy, Eric and Hannah, as well as the baby!! I pray that God wraps them up in love and sees them through this!!

I love how much our family pulls through in these kinds of things!!

I love all of the support being offered to Amy during this time!

I wish for more answers!!

I love that technology has come this far in detecting what is going on and monitoring the baby!

I love these quotes:

Crazy Tuesday

2011-11-15T10:29:00.001-05:00

So I skipped Manic Monday and have decided that today is going to be a crazy Tuesday!!!

Please pray for my sister!!! Pray that she can hold on to this pregnancy a little longer!!!

This weekend was busy!

Friday night we had a quiet night, as M is working pretty much every Saturday up until Christmas. They are super busy!! So our social life is taking a hit, which isn't so bad at this time of the year!

Saturday, M worked until 2:30, as I worked away at laundry. While I was doing laundry, I just happened to break my freshly manicured nail all because a certain someone keeps putting things out of my reach, like laundry baskets on top of the wardrobe... In fact, we have had many conversations about putting things out of my reach in the kitchen, and in the laundry room, so you can imagine how not impressed I was. You can also imagine the conversation on the phone after it happened, where I also informed him that he needed to be home on time, as I had an appointment to get this nail fixed! I could have gone in myself, but figured we would do some Christmas Shopping and groceries! Luckily he did not put up a fight and was home before I expected him!

We got a few more things off of our list of gifts for others! We grabbed dinner while we were in town. We ended up going to N and K's later on, which was good!!

Sunday we decided that would spend the day tackling the to-do list! The gardens were cut back and the leaves were all raked into the garden, now we just have to clear the gardens of all the trimmings and leaves! We also resituated the basement furniture! I even cleaned out behind the bar!! We had ribs for dinner, which are always delicious!!

Monday I made some Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, worked on more laundry, gave the dogs mani and pedi's and ended up having a coffee date with a girlfriend!!

Oh yah, I also have a winner from the Lovable Labels give away!!!

#14 - Sarah is the winner!!!

Congrats!!!

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!!!

GET IN ON THE GIVE AWAY!!!

2011-11-12T13:10:00.001-05:00

I am just reminding everyone to get in on the GIVE AWAY from Lovable Labels!!! Hurry, because it is coming to an end soon!!!

GO HERE

Have a great weekend!!

Remember

2011-11-11T11:06:00.001-05:00

May we never forget the things that have been done for us by the hero's that fight for freedom!

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place; and in the sky the larks still bravely singing, fly."

These videos are all touching.

When you think your life is "hard", remember and be grateful for what we do have!!

Never forget, forever grateful!!! 11/11/11

Thoughts On Thursday

2011-11-10T12:32:00.001-05:00

Wow, tomorrow is Friday, this week has flown right on by!!

So how many people watched the CMA's?

I did and I loved it!!!

Did Kelly Pickler look a bit off last night? Did she have some facial work done? I mean don't get me wrong, she looked good and all, but different!

We had crazy winds happening here last night, to the point that part of my fence has blown down...

I might pop into town to do some Christmas Shopping this afternoon!! I'm running out of time for trying to get it done before December!!

I *might* have made brownies this morning... and may have eaten one already!!!

I am considering bringing the blog to facebook!! Anyone have an opinion on this? Is it worth my time and effort or will it be more work?!

Don't forget to enter my give away - enter here NOW!!!! Great stocking stuffers...

I wanted to do another shout out to one of my new favorite blogs:

I am a newer follower, but love how down to earth and real Nikki is!! Oh and she has a great sense of style and 2 adorable puppies!!

Head on over and check her out!!!

Does anyone else look back on past blog posts of their own and feel inspired? Because last night I did...

I also found some more great quotes to share:

and last but not least, a secret I have:

Yup.. that is right!!!

Have a great Thursday!!!

What I Am Loving

2011-11-09T16:32:00.001-05:00

I could not resist listing a few things that I am loving today as well!!

Aside from hosting a great give away - which I am loving, I am also loving:

- Dirty Soap - a show I just learned about on E! It is a bunch of my favorite soap stars on a reality TV show! Genius!!

- I am loving that the CMA's are on tonight!!!

- I am still loving my hot chocolate maker at home - it really does make the best hot chocolate, I am also pretty sure that I will be buying some of them for Christmas Gifts this year!!

- These words mean soo much right now, so I love them!!

- Sooo true!!

- This picture reminds me of Gracie and Lily and their love for water and tennis balls! I heart Golden's!!

- I love my hair today!! I took the time to curl it and it looks wicked awesome and my hairspray held!!

Happy Wednesday!!!

GIVE AWAY DAY!!!

2011-11-09T13:39:00.000-05:00

So, as I have previously mentioned, I am a new Love Bug!! Lovable labels has sent me some of their products to not only sample, but they are also allowing me to host a give away!!! How awesome!!! They have sent me the Holly Jolly Gift Pack. I was able to choose what name I wanted on the label, what colors I wanted and what icon I wanted!!

In the package I received:

That is a lot!!!

I must admit that the Slimline stickers are my favorite, I use them on everything, including my water bottles, Tupperware, basically anything that leaves the house. Heck I even put them on the dog leashes!! Nothing worse than taking the dogs to the vet/dog park and getting someone else's leash!!

These products will work awesome for kids one day and I am pretty much saving the clothing dots and shoe labels for them!

I love that these labels are dishwasher and microwave safe, waterproof and UV resistant! They also come in a range of colors, fonts and icon choices. They are super easy to order and ship fast!! Great stocking stuffers!!

These labels help with making sure that all of your belongings/kid's belongings make it back home! Even if you forget something, people are more likely to return something with a label on it!!

So, allow me to share the love with lovable labels!! One lucky winner will win the same package I did!! Great value!! Great starter pack!!

Here is how you can win:

- leave a comment for EACH entry

Mandatory - be a follower of my blog or friend on facebook - leave a comment with your email if it is not accessible!

- go over to Lovable Labels and tell me which icon is your favorite?

Extra - Like Lovable Labels on Facebook and let me know.

- Mention this give away on your blog!

Give away is open to US and Canadians ONLY!

I will be picking a winner on Monday, Nov. 14, 2011. Good luck!!!

If you would like to make a purchase from this site, feel free to enter promo code: AshleyVLB1 at the checkout and save yourself 10%!!! They are also throwing in free gift seals if you place an order now and have a couple of great deals on!!

**Disclosure** The products in this review were provided to me free of cost for the purpose of conducting this review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.

The Tuesday That Started TOO Early

2011-11-08T15:21:00.000-05:00

I interrupt my regular post (that I did not write yet.. aka give away) because of an in-promptu doctor's appointment this morning, which involved me getting up at 6:00 AM, which means it was really 5:00 AM - yes this time shift is still pissing me off! I promise I will get over it... and then driving straight to work!

I had planned to write it last night, but my sister just happened to get me addicted to a new show, which then made me stay up too late watching it.. what show?

LOVE IT!!

Soo anywho... that is how my Tuesday is going, so I may post the give away tonight or do a double post tomorrow... sorry!!

Just A Chilly Manic Monday

2011-11-07T12:34:00.000-05:00

What a busy, yet fun weekend!!!

Friday night we went for drinks and saw Footloose!! It was good, the dancing was good, they tried to bring back a lot of the original, but it just wasn't the same... I still like the original! I think if they had made it happen in today's day in age it would have been better, but since they tried to incorporate the original time line it made it harder to compete with in my opinion! But overall it was pretty good and so was the popcorn!!

Saturday morning M had to work, but I had made plans with the Girls, as our original set up just isn't working the same anymore. It is becoming more difficult to get everyone together anymore for several reasons, as a lot has happened in all of our lives lately. I figured we could start trying to get together every 2 weeks, but I don't really see that happening either. So, I just hope that if it is meant to be, that we will all get to hang out together soon on a more regular basis.

So we went for breakfast at the Golf Course and then headed to a few craft sales. I ended up buying a wrought iron chandelier that holds 8 pillar candles in a big circle, intertwined with pussy willow twigs. Very country chic! Perfect for the hot tub gazebo!!! It hangs a bit to low, so M is going to cut it and reweld it back together. It was only $30!! Steal!!

We did some running around in town and then parted ways. I came home and made a garlic loaf in the bread maker and settled in for a nap!

We had dinner plans with M's volleyball team. The bread was a bit heavier than I would have wanted, but overall it was pretty tasty!

On our way home we popped by to visit baby K, K and J's new baby! She is adorable!!!

Instead of gaining that extra hour of sleep, M got a medical call early morning.... NOT IMPRESSED, but duty called. I hate daylight savings time... it just screws up my whole day! I get hungrier earlier, tired earlier, and it gets dark earlier...

I enjoyed the first soak in our working hot tub!! It was devine!! Oh how I have missed it and it was actually nice out on Sunday. M tidied up the lawn furniture and attempted to cut the grass until he ran out of gas and daylight! We popped into town for groceries as well!

November's schedule is filling up and it seems to me that it is going to fly right on by!

Tomorrow I am going to be hosting my first review and give away!! Stay tuned!!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Happy Friday & Boob Tube Babble

2011-11-04T10:43:00.001-04:00

Wow, we made it to Friday!!! This week has been a bit busy for us, and the weekend is about to be busier... but that is okay, after all it is beginning to be that time of the year!

So with that being said, I was too busy to blog yesterday!! What did I do?

- I slept in!! It was fantastic!!

- I did some dishes - big shocker I know... M was very happy when he came home from work to see that I had washed some pots and pans! Fear not - I wore my pink gloves!!

- Found out one of our friends was in labor!!! Yippee!!

- Hot tub guy came and said the tub was fixed - however, M discovered after that only part of it was fixed - NOT IMPRESSED!! But they are coming back today...

- Got a much needed manicure!! Did something a bit different with my nails instead of a french, I went with a natural looking gels, with a coat of nude on them - love it!

- Treated myself to a yummy coffee culture hot chocolate with whipped cream!!! Yummy!!

- Made delicious perogies for dinner!! That is 2 nights this week that I made dinner!! M was impressed with that as well!!

- Settled in to watch X-Factor, Grey's and Private Practice!

- Got the news from J that she had the baby!!! Oh and big surprise - I guessed it was a BOY and it turned out to be a GIRL!! Haha! I am ALWAYS wrong!!! Soo excited for K and J and baby K!

And now for a bit of:

I was super disappointed that Hart of Dixie was not on this week!!!

90210 is very typical this year... I am getting sick of the Naomi can do no right... but that is way the show works lol, as well as there are soo many illegal things happening on the show it seems a bit unrealistic... but I will watch on!

Parenthood was awesome as usual!! They are dealing with some very real issues!!!

Still not sure why I am watching the Sing Off... but it okay to have on while making dinner I suppose!!

Soo happy to be watching X-Factor and that all my favorites made it through!!! Loove Lakoda Rayne and Drew and well here are some vidoes of my favs... in case your not hooked:

and

Although I didn't love this weeks performance, I am posting my favorite!!

This performance gives me goosebumps!!

I was surprised by this guy - he is good, but was really good this week!!

and of course Astro

He is sooo talented!!

For all of these videos, you can skip in to the video by like a minute to find them singing!!

Who are you loving?

Up All Night was okay this week.

I am still watching Suburgatory! I am not sure why, but may have something to do with Wednesday nights TV sucking!

Revenge - ADDICTED!!! This show just keeps getting better and better!! Love It!

Grey's - It was okay, but left us with suspense at the end!! Now I can't wait until next week!

Private Practice - was touched again with Addison's struggle!! Also intrigued to see what happens with Amelia...

Did anyone else happen to hear the great news about One Tree Hill? It is coming back in January!! Soo pumped!!

Last Man Standing was moved to Sundays with Heartland!! Heartland was touching this week. As far as Last Man Standing - I am a fan of Tim Allen.

Okay... soo now that we are done talking TV... I am going to see FOOTLOOSE tonight!! Double date night with my some of my favorite people!!

Also... GIVE AWAY happening NEXT WEEK!! A special thanks to all my new and loyal readers!!!

Have a great day and weekend!!!!

November Loves and Pins!!

2011-11-02T12:24:00.001-04:00

Linking up with:

Again today!!

Be sure to check out Michelle and Jamie!!

I can't believe it is November!! I mean yesterday was the first... but today - today is the second and it is just not sinking in!!

I am beginning to love:

via

- she might just be the next Oprah!! haha!

I am going to see:

via

on Friday!!! Ohh how I hope this movie is good, but even if it is a disappointment, there will be movie theatre popcorn and that NEVER disappoints haha!

I am loving these quotes from my pinterest:

I also love this picture:

I've also found some great sewing projects:

Although I am hoping I can put the crates away... if Gracie would stop being a BRAT!

Loved Parenthood last night!!

I am loving the spaghetti with meat sauce I made last night!! M loved it too!! We are weird in the way that we usually don't have pasta sauce with our spaghetti, we usually just have cheese and noodles, but it was a delicious change and one I think I will make again!! I am also about to enjoy it for lunch!!

Have a great Wednesday!!!

Tuesday Ramblings

2011-11-01T12:21:00.000-04:00

So today I feel like being random.... so bare with me!!

- Since it is November 1st, I am working on my Christmas list!! I would like to have all my shopping done by Dec. 1!! Wish me luck, but in the meantime, I am asking for these shoes for Christmas:

Size 11 please!! haha!

But I would also like these:

Both pics were from Payless!!

- Can't believe my black beauty turned 2!!! She is such a closet lover cat... she only wants to be loved when she initiates it, but she soo free-spirited and loving. She was one of the best Christmas presents EVER!!

- My camera appears to be tired... aka lens error - continuous, non-stop... = not soo happy Ashley!! I am hoping Santa drops a Nikon carefully down my chimney!!

- November is pretty boring for us Canadians, aside from Remembrance Day... Christmas is the next best thing!! So excuse all the Christmas talk... we already had Thanksgiving!!

- M's fire pager has been super busy lately.... play safe people...

- I am pretty sure M put at least 7 baskets of laundry away last night... SEVEN!! He says he is going to try to do it more often, but you know what the sad part is, I could keep on clothing myself without those 7 baskets!! Granted, I don't pay a lot for my clothes because I am a SALE shopper, but I am going to CUT back on my clothing shopping tendencies.. so Old Navy, we must part our online shopping ways for a while!!

- Hart of Dixie was not on last night, and I am still not watching Dancing With The Stars, so therefore NOTHING was on TV, I had even watched General Hospital and Days when they were on yesterday!!

- Why is making a Christmas List soo difficult? Aside from those shoes and being greedy about a camera... I have no idea what else to ask for... I need to think hard on this!!

- This morning it was SUPER foggy out!!! I also love that my car reminds me to "Drive safe. Roads may be icy!"

That's all I got!!! Have a great Tuesday!!!

Happy Birthday Binx!!

2011-11-01T11:30:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Binx!!!

5 weeks

8 weeks

5 months!

I am posting this from work, so I don't have a recent one of her!

We don't really know when her birthday is, but we assume Halloween, because she was 7 weeks when we got her and if you count that back, it puts her right around Halloween! Plus she is black!! So we just celebrate around this time, we gave them birthday snacks last night to celebrate, as well as a round of laser mouse!

I will be posting later... but Binx deserved her own post!!

It's Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T11:52:00.000-04:00

And... here we are:

We went with Geek and Chic!!! I must say M's costume really made an impression this year! haha!

How bad is it that the weekend only consists of two days really and I am having a hard time remembering what we did Friday night...

Saturday M worked until 2:00 PM. We then headed into town to grab some groceries and the remaining items we needed for our costumes... aka fake eyelashes for me! And what a steal of a deal I got - they were only $2!!! So I bought a few packages for future use!!

We stopped at the farm to pick up Mike's bow tie and shirt, and Mike's Mom put my eyelashes on! We came home and began baking these:

Excuse the crappy pic, I was in a rush when I took it!!

We went to the Halloween party and had a great time! Oh and the cupcakes tasted superb... I LOVE my home made icing!!

Oh I just remembered what we did Friday night... we went for a nice walk and chilled at home - it was soo nice while it lasted, until Mike got paged out to a garage/house fire...

Sunday morning we slept in, which was excellent!! We got up and got the day started with laundry and cleaning the kitchen. I went shopping with K and little G, had lunch and before we heading home, we stopped at Payless!!

Oh the deals I found:

via

and these peep toes:

via

The pictures obviously don't do them justice... but they are super cute on and super comfy!!

Plus it was Buy 1 get the 2nd pair 50% off... so guess how much I spent on these 2?

$15

that's it!!!

I also got this hat:

via

and instead of making my own purse, I bought:

via

but not this one exactly, this one is similar...

I paid $17 for the purse and $5 for the hat!!!

Great deals!! And then on top of that, I saved 20%, so I bought all four things for less that $35!! Soo... go shoe shopping ladies, while the sale is on!! Start your Christmas shopping early!!!

While I was at play... M was busy at work at home... we can't all play at the same time right? M managed to doctor our mudroom doors. Let me explain: We have patio doors, but one of the doors was stationary, but because of where we put the washer and dryer, we needed the other door to be the one that opens. We tried to get a new middle post, but Home Depot didn't call us back... not impressed, so M decided that he could just doctor the middle post and sure enough he did! So he installed new door handles, since the other ones were only bedroom handles - um scary... and now the door opens the way we need it too!! Love my handy man!!

Later that afternoon, I took pics of little G for K all decked out in her toad clothes!!! She was such a great little photo subject and was pretty much all smiles!!

I hope everyone has a great Halloween!!!