Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas!

It will officially be Christmas here in 2 minutes!

I arrived in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night (quite delayed - thanks, Delta) and it has been very nice to spend time here and to see my Joseph again. Things have been busy here and I will probably be absent the rest of the week as I spend time with family here.

I hope you are all having a happy and wonderful holiday! Merry Christmas! Keep a warm heart and spread the joy around.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Hello 27


Today is my birthday and I am 27 years old. 27. Hmm...27. Twenty-seven.
Sometimes I feel like I have wasted a lot of time. Like some of what I want for my life should have happened by now. It is not like I haven't done anything - I have done a decent amount of traveling, I got married, I have gone to University and have a BA. But there are somethings that are still a bit out of reach - owning a home, having a job that I love to go to everyday, starting a family, not being in so much debt (thanks, student loans...). It isn't like I am not happy with my life, I just wish it would move forward faster, but without me aging...is that so much to ask!?

This past weekend I was with my family and it was nice to be with them (even with my 2 sisters ganging up on me big time!). I am not doing much today - going to work and then meeting my brother for dinner (I don't think he remembers it is my birthday...). I am also going to Pittsburgh on Wednesday and will get to see Joe, who I haven't seen in 18 days! It will be nice to be on holidays and de-stress and slow down.

I hope you all have a great start to your week!!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Have a happy weekend!


Just a quick post saying that I hope you are all having a great weekend! Mine has been soo busy so I haven't been online much at all and for that I apologize.

Today, I saw Tangled and I loved it! It was so cute and my niece, Ainsley, was adorable while she was watching it.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Love, laughter, food, friends and snowflakes

Oh Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday. Why can't you be Friday?

I hope you all had a great weekend! My friends came over on Saturday and we had a great time at Market Collective, ate yummy food, had an ornament exchange, and played Apples to Apples and drank wine for hours. Lots of love and laughter - it was perfect! I hope you all had a great weekend!

Last night I met my friends Grace and Kayla and we went to a great restaurant called Cilanto. It was delish!


Since I broke my toe and it is still pretty messy, I can't go swimming which makes me sad. Tomorrow I am meeting Mary and Teira again and going out for Vietnamese (soo yummy - and I am taking advantage of it too since Joe doesn't like it and he is away). This weekend I am going to Brooks to see my family again before I leave for Pittsburgh and then I am going out for supper with my brother Tyler on Monday. I am so looking forward to it all!

What are your plans this week? Doesn't it always seem so much more hectic around the holidays (in a good way)?

Also, I saw this post on Room Remix - how awesome are these snowflakes?! I LOVE them! Learn how to make them here!





Friday, December 10, 2010

Have a great weekend!

(photo via dishbase)

Today, my friend Jen came over and brought me some Vietnamese for lunch, yum! Then we did some Christmas baking (well, I sat with my foot elevated while she followed my directions - but I did roll cookies in sugar!). We (She) made peanut butter cups (thanks to Carrie's awesome recipe), butter tarts, and soft ginger cookies (both family recipes). Then we ate dinner and watched A Christmas Story. It was lovely.

Tomorrow, she is coming back over, along with Teira and Mary and we are heading to Market Collective and then coming back to my place to watch movies, play games, and eat good food. I am so excited for it because Mary moved to Vancouver for school and I haven't seen her in months! It will be great to have everyone together again!

Sunday, I'm going to do NOTHING. Usually I say that and then do a ton, but I am really going to do nothing. I mean it this time!

What are you weekend plans?

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Oh my ouch

Today, after work, I had wonderful plans to clean my house and get things ready for a get together with my greatest friends at my house on Saturday. In my motivation, I decided I wanted to move a table I have downstairs to my bedroom. However, that never happened as part of the table fell as I had it lifted in the air and crushed my toes. After it happened I just kinda stood there swearing in my head and pretending it didn't hurt. Then, I slowly made my way back upstairs and into the kitchen to get ice. Once there, in the light, I noticed my sock was soaked. Ew. Then, I sat down in my living room and took it off. I totally did not expect to see what I did and went into a pretty bad shock and freak out and started crying. I just sat there for awhile and then called Joe (like he could do anything - he is thousands of miles away) and then decided to call my brother, who also lives here but doesn't have a car. So then I called Teira and left a message. Within 15 minutes she was over.

Happy early weekend to me...but so not worth it.

I am really mad it happened. I should have been more careful. And I just know it is going to take awhile to heal and I hate that. So tomorrow will be spent in bed watching movies with an elevated foot and ice.

Thank you, Teira for coming to help me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come!

Hope you all have a better start to your weekend! And enjoy some more Vince Guaraldi!





Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Christmas Time is Here

Christmas Time is Here by Vince Guaraldi (you may recognize it from A Charlie Brown Christmas) is one of my favourite Christmas songs. Right now, I'm sitting here listening, drinking tea, and eating a mandarin orange (a really big deal here the time of year - we call them Christmas oranges in my family) with my Christmas tree shining bright.



PS - Did I use the word Christmas enough?

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Award

I got my first blog award! Yay!


1. Thank the blogger/s who gave you this award

Thank you to my beautiful sister, Marley, for this award. It means so much that it came from you and I am glad you like my blog! (PS - I like your face).

2. Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, and experiences using five words.

My philosophy: Post about what you love.

My motivation: Family, friends, and fellow bloggers!

My experience: Great and rewarding!

3. Pass on to ten other bloggers.

I know some of you I list have already received this award, but I wanted to give it to you anyways :) You don't have to post about it again.

Mary
Teira
Rebecca
Lisa
Hollie
Nattie
Jude
Bubbles
Signe
And back to Marley!


Thanks again, Mar! Love you!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Swimming


I absolutely love to swim. It always feels great during and after and I love being in the water. For the past month and a half, my friend Jennie and I have been meeting at least once a week to go. I love going with her because she pushes me so hard and it's just nice going with someone. We are meeting again tomorrow to go and I am so looking foward to it.

Do you like swimming? Do you ever go?

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Zoo Lights







Here are a few photos from Zoo Lights! I love going, it is so nice to walk around and see the displays and hear the music and see all the people out enjoying it. There is also a really big display in a golf course just down the street from my house that I hope to go walk and check out sometime this week.

Do you have any big light shows or displays or houses that have crazy Christmas lights around you? 2 years ago in Pittsburgh, we saw the most amazing house - there was not a spot on it without a light! I don't have any photos of it because I was taking a video the whole time, but this year, I want to go back and see it again, it was seriously amazing!

I think Christmas lights are one of my favourite things about this time of year!

Have a great weekend!

This weekend I am at home with my family. I got here last night to my very excited niece, who then gave me a present that was a Disney Princess hair set with elastics and clips and a barbie. So we put some in our hair right away (I had Ariel and she had Sleeping Beauty and Marley had Belle). It was so nice of her to pick those gifts for me - and for no reason! I love her to pieces! We played Just Dance and Pictionary on the Wii and then I chased her and Gavin around and Marley had to save them. Great fun!

Today, I get to play with them more and go to a birthday party. A good friend of mine, Christine, is here from Vancouver so I will get a short visit with her too. Then we are decorating Christmas trees!

I'm going back to Calgary tomorrow and will be putting up my own tree and decorations at home. If I have time, I will be going out to the mall because I thought of a good gift for Joe - who is the hardest person to shop for...

I'll also be posting Zoo Light pictures this evening :)

What are you up to this weekend?

PS - Marley drew this picture years ago. It is a bit outdated now since Gavin isn't in it and my mom is missing too. She needs to do a new one!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

"Hey Ya" it's another great cover



Love this! Like, lots. This song (well, the original version) always takes me back to my trip to Europe. An old friend and I were waiting in the middle of the English country side near Lancaster for the bus and we were dancing to her cell phone ring tone, which was this song. I really like this version though - it is more my taste.

What do you think?

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Yummy!


Joe leaves tomorrow - but before he goes, he made me one of my most favourite things ever. Nutella ice cream! I love Nutella. I will eat it just off a spoon. It is dangerously delicious and it as an ice cream is even better! If you have an ice cream maker, I recommend you try!

Ingredients

2 large eggs
3/4 cup of sugar
2 cups heavy or whipping cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Nutella

Directions

Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 more minute. Pour in the cream and milk and whisk to blend.

Pour about 1 cup of the cream into a separate bowl and whisk in the Nutella, a little at a time. Return the Nutella mixture to the remaining cream base and stir until well blended.

Then follow the directions of your ice cream maker.

Makes 1 quart

Enjoy!