30 Days of Blogging.... Day 1

Georgia and her Auntie!!

I know you haven't had an updated picture of Georgia in a while, so here is one of us from a this weekend. She is 7 months old now and is so fun, loves to hear her own voice and talks up a storm, and her laugh is cutest!


I know I have been promising pictures of many many things, and I will follow through. Especially of Jenica Wedding, they are to come PROMISE!

Richard's Birthday

Today is Richard's Birthday! I'm not sure what we will be doing tonight to celebrate, other than him opening his gifts from me, maybe we will go out for dinner or watch a movie. If you don't know Rich personally then you wouldn't know that he is a big movie guy (we have the DVD's to prove it!!), and is up to watching anything. Don't tell anyone but on occasion has been known to watch a "chick-flick" or two even without me (hehe, love ya babe).

This Saturday he is spending the day with the "Guys" to celebrate his Birthday, so I will be enjoying my evening alone with him tonight!

Happy Birthday!!! Love you bunches!!

I would have liked to post a pic of just him, but this is all that I have at my office. Which reminds me I better get back to doing work so I can try to leave early!

Please Pray for Johnny

On Sunday our friend Johnny was in an ATV accident while away Camping in Kamloops with his family. I'm not sure of the exact details of what happened, the extent of his injuries or prognosis, but he is now in a Coma.

I ask that you please Pray for him, his wife Britt who is by his bedside, and their 2 young children who are now back at home being taken care of by family.

Johnny we are all PRAYING for YOU!

Link to: Kamloops Newspaper
Facebook Page: We love you Johnny!!!

Oops...

Looks like I wasn't paying attention when doing some late night laundry tonight, and I put the liquid soap in the fabric softener spot. The soap is suppose to go in the container on the lid, and the Softener goes in the spot on the bottom right. Don't ask, I don't know what I was thinking!

I don't know if you have ever done this, but if you have then you know then you know your next step is to figure a way to get the wet goopy stuff out. So out came a roll of paper towel to try to sop up my mess, a Garbage Can to dispose of the mess, and a toothbrush to get said mess out of all the tight spots.

And 45 minutes later I have a clean Washer! I know 45 minutes is a bit much but I have a tendency to go over board when cleaning, and just can't stop. But now my Washer is sparkling clean, and I love it. So as a Public Advisory Warning... Don't do your laundry at when you are tired at night!! It just delays the process and then you end up being the one waiting for you load to finish at 11pm on a Thursday night.

Were tossing around the idea of going camping this weekend, so hopefully I can get some sleep soon. I have a hard enough time waking up as it is, and my plan is to head into my office early so I can leave before Rush Hour. It's the first weekend of Summer Vacation for the kids so I know the Highways are going to be packed!!!

Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend. Good Night all!!

Jenica & Jeff's Wedding / Events

This was a very big weekend for all of us, Saturday June 20th, 2009 was the BIG DAY for Jenica and Jeff. Their Wedding was amazingly beautiful, and we all enjoyed ourselves so much!

I will follow up with pictures from the day, but I'm going to first catch you up on the events leading up to it including her Bridal Shower, which there was two of, but these pictures are from the Shower we had for her.

We enjoyed some good food, and fun Bridal Shower Games, with a bit of funny dress up for Jenica when her answers didn't match Jeff's video taped answers to The Newlywed Game. Oh and of course Jenica was spoiled with lots of wonderful gifts.

(Click on picture to enlarge)

I will return with some Pictures from her Stagette.

Baby Quinten

It only took 1 day short of 6 months for the baby of our Family Georgia, to become the big Cousin, so she isn't the baby any more...

Last Sunday June 8th, 2009 we welcomed Quinten the first child of my Cousin's David & Lana. He is the cutest baby boy and has such light blond hair (the total opposite of Georgia). He weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was 21" long

Here are some pictures of our visits so far;

Proud parents David & Lana (left),

Brooke & Georgia meeting Quinten (right),

Quinten & I (bottom right)

New Purchase

So why exactly am I up at 1:30am, well to let everyone know about my newest purchase of an Eliptical!! So exciting, right?, hummm...

Well I ordered it a few weeks ago and it finally came in last week, but thanks to Camping, and other fun stuff (I will let you in later on the other fun stuff) it's been in the box since then. So late tonight, I decided I wanted to assemble it, but I was alone with that brillant idea. So guess which stubborn one of our household won for the evening, ME!!, what was I thinking. The manual says 2 people, and 1 & 1/2 hrs. are needed for assembly. They should put in a Warning, if your too stuborn to wait for your Husbands help (the next day) then it will take you 3 HOURS!!!

A couple hours into my build Rich told me to "just leave it I will finish it tomorrow". Oh no you won't, I have now decided that this is my mission for to complete this task all ALONE! That and there was no way I was leaving my half constructed Eliptical in the middle of our Hall (don't ask why I decided to do it there, but I did).

So here it is in prior to and after assembly... Oh and when Chloe wasn't sleeping during the construction she was giving me THAT LOOK (bottom left pic.)

I'm very excited about using the iFit feature. Hopefully the Jillian Michaels (the Trainer from the Biggest Loser TV show) program will keep me on track.

Ok well I'm off to bed, I have another really jamed packed weekend ahead of me. I will be back with picutres of the events this weekend, oh and of course from Camping last weekend.

Good night!

Weekend Recap

I enjoyed a very busy weekend and am now tired at 8pm on a Sunday, and am thinking of going to sleep early... but not before updating my Blog.

Here is my Weekend Recap...

Friday after I was done at the office Laura and I went to see Jenica's new Condo, LOVE IT!! I know Jenica wouldn't appreciate pictures of the madness of move in day on my Blog, so I will show you a sneak peak of a unit that we purchased for an investment. Her unit is the same layout but in reverse, and just in a different colours scheme.

While still in Surrey I got a phone call from Richard to tell me that he was at our house to for a surprise weekend visit. I was sooo excited to get home to see him, but when I got home that night it was to a very overly excited Chloe (our English Bulldog) that was limping around. I just panic when anything is hurting her, so needless to say I was a little unnerved that night.

Saturday started out with a early morning trip to the Vet. Sure enough the excitement of Daddy coming home and then jumping on and off... on and off... on and off the bed the night before had pulled a muscle in her knee. Solution... medication and a strict enforcement of No Exercise for 1 week. So yes that includes no jumping up to sleep on the bed or couches, no stairs, and no playing tug or catch (an yes I'm getting stronger by the day having to tote all 50 lbs. of her up an down the stairs). Chloe is a pretty good listener, so thus far we are doing pretty good, and she is on the mend.

Brooke & Georgia came out our way for our Cousin Lana's Baby Shower Saturday Afternoon. If you recall she was my 2nd post on my blog, take a look. She is 3 weeks from her Due Date and I can't wait to meet the little guy!! (Sorry no pic right now, will have to come back with those)

That night we had a Laura's early Birthday Celebration over dinner and drinks, oh... and the Canucks game. Here is Laura enjoying some of her new Birthday presents, and Georgia.

Hope you have a wonderful Birthday on Thursday Laura!!!
Love ya, xoxo

Sunday, Mother's Day!
I enjoyed the day with my Mom and Grandma, doing my Mom's planters. Unfortunately Brooke was too sick with the flu to make it out today and missed her very first Mother's Day. I will be sure to catch a 4 Generation picture of everyone the next time we are all together. Oh and in case you didn't know Brooke was named Mother of the Year 2009 This was passes on to us from a friend hehehe. (Sorry Brooke, Smith was the first fake "lastname" I could think of) Check it out and make sure you pass this on to all the special Mothers in your life, here is the link.

Well that about wraps up my weekend, and tomorrow it's back to the grind of another work week. Luckily it's a short one for us, May Long weekend marks the start of Camping Season, so we are leaving on Thursday. And even better were on holidays next week.

Hope everyone enjoyed your Mother's Day, and have a wonderful week! I will be back with some pictures from Camping, and from my weekend away visiting Rich (Sorry I know, really late in posting those).

Twitter

So my question today is about Twitter. Are you on Twitter? Do you understand all they hype?

I don't! From what I understand it's kinda like a Facebook Status, that you update, but it then send messages or "Tweets" out to your "Followers", humm... don't get it. Maybe because I'm not one that regularly updates my FB Status so I don't see the point. Or maybe I just don't think I have that much interesting stuff to ANNOUNCE TO THE WORLD! Don't get me wrong, I joined the band-wagon, and I'm willing to give it a shot, but as of yet I haven't "Tweet'ed"

I'm sure that it's going to be the next big thing like Facebook was years ago, but for now I'm on the fence.

What's your thoughts?

Brooke's Baptism

Last Sunday Brooke (my Sister) was Baptised in the Greek Orthodox Church. I wanted to share a few pictures with everyone so you can see a little bit of the day.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

that whosoever believe in him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.– John 3:16

The Greek Orthodox Church is new to our Family, and this was my 3rd Baptism at the Church. Well, 3rd if you consider the Twins Dual Ceremony individually. But unlike the Twins (Brooke's Baby Sister In-Laws) Baptism, Brooke's Ceremony was conducted in English, so it was alot different when you can actually understand what was being said.

It was a beautiful day and I felt blessed to see and hear her devote her life to God.

Shoe Sale!!

Ladies, did I get your attention with the Title of this Blog....

Humm, maybe not, maybe like me you have a 'love/hate relationship' with Shoes. Ok, who am I kidding, it's more like a 'hate/hate even more relationship' with Shoes. But for the rest of you that love shoes especially the high heels you are probably all aware that today was the start of the Annual 5-Day Army & Navy Shoe Sale!!

Oh how I wish I was half a foot shorter to take advantage of the millions of pairs of soooo cute heels!

Being that I'm not a crowd person, I popped in today with Laura, Brooke & Georgia after leaving my office to see if the crowds had died down to take a shot at finding some shoes. End result, these cute sandals....
I was despratly in need of some cute sandals, and now I have two (1 in very Dark Brown & 1 in White). When you love something buy multiples, right??

So if you have forgot about the sale don't worry I hear they bring out more stock everyday. Some of the shoes are regular $700 and all shoes are under $69!!!! So get your butts down there to get yourself some shoes. I will keep my eyes open and Blog Stock to see what you Ladies find.

*** P.S. - Rich if you are reading this, it was a needed break from the dreaded Tax Prep!!! I'm getting right back at it... only 7 days left until the DEADLINE, oh my!

Countdown to Taxes!

Got to love it, the crunch to get our taxes done on time. Every year I procrastinate doing them cause I can always think of something better, funner, more entertaining to do than our taxes, like cleaning the baseboards haha. Richard bugs me that I don't have to wait until the deadline to do my taxes that I can get them in early, but I don't.

Now, I have it down to a fine art of riping apart my office, making a huge, yet well organized mess, combined with late nights of calculating and entering receipts etc. and voila some how I manage to just get Richards, Mine, and the Business taxes done on time!!

So now that you know what I've been up to and the reason for my lack of posting, I will get back to it, and will return with a few (thanks to my camera battery dying) pictures from my wonderful weekend away visiting my Hubby.

Hope everyone had a great Easter!!

Day 1, 2, 3… 11, 12, 13

Today is day 13 since my Husband (Richard) left, not me, no no no for work purposes, and Chloe and I sure are lonely. Other than the rare Girl/Guys Weekend away this is the longest time that we have been apart in the 9 years we have been together. It’s going to be a long few months.

He has planned to come home for the Easter Long Weekend, but when Jenica told me that her and her fiancé Jeff are going to visit friends & new Baby this weekend in the same City that Rich is in, I invited myself along for the ride. Lucky for us it looks like the Snow will hold off and we shouldn’t have a problem with the Coquihalla. So it looks like the Jeff & Jenica weekend away is now the Jenica & Nadine Mini Road Trip with Jeff as our tour guide. And she is just as excited as I am about this. hehehe

I’m super excited to see Rich, but sad to be leaving Chloe behind. (Really all Hotels should be Pet Friendly, that is ridiculous!) This will be her first time without one of us, but she will be in good hands with my Mom & Dad. Believe me I know that she is a Dog, but because we have no kids of the human variety she is our only Baby!! So I’ve have explained to my Mom all of Chloe’s whines & whimpers and her eating & sleeping habits and have now realized that I don’t think they know what they have signed up for… she is a handful. Hahaha, this should be interesting.

So I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and hopefully I will have some pictures when I return. (Depending on the scenery!)

Earth Hour

Tonight is Lights Out Night for Earth Hour, it is happening at 8:30 p.m. This has become a annual event where millions of people in cities around the world will use the simple act of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

My house tonight will be in the dark for an hour. Well that is not entirely true... nobody is going to be home tonight so when I left I made sure to leave all of my lights off, even my exterior lighting. So really for my house it will be a Lights Out Day. At home we are pretty consciences to make sure that we don't leave lights on when we don't need them. Not for the reason of Global Warming (that thought really doesn't cross my mind), but just for the sake of not wasting money. Why leave the lights, TV's, Computers on if you are not using them?

So I just wanted give everyone the reminder in case they forgot, because I know last year I forgot. Lets see how much energy we can save!

Chloe

Well I took Chloe to the Vet yesterday hopeful that I would see Puppies on the ultrasound, but there weren't any to be seen. I kinda had a haunting feeling that "it" didn't take, but was really wishing that it would have.

Of course not knowing the she was pregnant or not I was analyzing her every action and thinking humm. I even convinced myself that she looked pregnant. Haha, oh well maybe next time.

Maybe next time it will be just in time for some Christmas Puppies!!

Jenica's Birthday

Today one of my best and oldest friends Birthdays.

Jenica and I have been friends for 23 years, I hope that doesn't age us, we were really little, really we were. Her and my Sister (Brooke) started playing in our neighborhood and shortly after I come running home to tell on Brooke for going in a "strangers" house. My Mom went running up the road to find Brooke and Jenica eating popcorn. Brooke said it's not a stranger’s house it's Jenica's, yes the same girl she met only minutes before.

I'm sure that this story is going to come up during speeches at Jenica's upcoming Wedding in June. But I'm pretty sure that it won't be me saying it (I'm not much of a public speaker). Brooke and I are sharing the title of Matron's of Honor for Jenica and I'm sure in the up coming weeks I will have more to tell you about her Wedding.

Well today Jenica is turning..... haha you thought I was going to say it didn't you. No I won't do that but you already know how long we have been friends so I'm sure you can kind of figure it out.

Here is a picture of Jenica, modeling the clothes ect. that we got her for her Birthday (previous Birthday).

Wishing you a wonderful day Jenica, Love you!!



I'm leaving my office early today to take Chloe for her Ultrasound, so I will be back with the results later. Puppies or No Puppies.... can't wait to find out.

Happy Anniversary!!

Today is my parents 30th Wedding Anniversary!! I remember it to be not that long ago that Brooke and I were orchestrating the biggest Surprise 25th Anniversary Party, fun times.

So much has changed since then, both Brooke and I are now Married, and my Parents now have 2 Son In-Laws (which I'm sure my Dad is very happy about having some Men around to do outdoor man stuff, haha), and now my Parents also have their first Grandchild Georgia.

This morning I sneaked into there house before they woke, left a bouquet of flowers & a card for them explaining tonight's evening out that we (Brooke & I) have planned out for the two of them.

I'm sure we would not be the same without the love and inspiration they provide to our whole family!!!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!!

Love you

xoxo

Bootcamp...

Wowsers, that was intense!! Well for my first exercise experience I guess was overall a good outcome, but it was mighty COLD .5 degrees, and Bootcamp is outdoors. It was a lot of me trying to breath while feeling like I had a hole in my chest. So far I’m not sore, but I hear the next day is worse than the first.

I’m on the fence if Bootcamp is a good fit for me, I think I’m more of a go at your own pace, catch your breath kind of exerciser. Look at me, yesterday I had no exercise experience, and today I’m analysing my exercise style, haha!

Maybe I should try swimming... I use to swim many years ago, and loved it so I should give that a shot again, maybe on Thursday (yes that is the next day of my panned Bootcamp), looks like I’m flaking out on Bootcamp already.

Until next time.... *N

Lent

Lent, What is it?, Do you Observe Lent?

"Lent, period of fasting, penitence, and self-denial traditionally observed by
Christians in preparation for Easter. The date of Lent varies each year according to the date of Easter.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, six and a half weeks before Easter. Among many Christians today, Lent is a time for doing penance by praying, studying the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, refraining from sin, and giving time or money to charities. Many give up something pleasurable during Lent, such as television, a favourite food, coffee, alcohol, or dining out."

This is my first time, and so far so good. If you know me I love my Junk Food & Candy (especially Chocolate, and Sours) Mmmmm!! I was thinking of restricting my intake of these kind of foods, maybe going on a Diet of some sort, but knew that it wouldn't last that long (just the same way I don't do resolutions; refer to prior posting), so what would really be the point if I stoped eating Junk Food for 1 week. So with Lent upcoming I figured that it would be a great opportunity to give up my Junk Food for a higher reason, and also have a tangible end to it.

I’m shocking everyone when I pass up the "Office Donuts", Deserts and Chocolates, but I’m feeling good!! I didn’t really think about all the Junk Food I ate before, but I’m sure realizing now how often I would really easily choose the it.



The second part of my Lent Diet, is EXERCISE. Once again, this is not in my department. I have never worked out, done Yoga or anything that is associated with exercise. Why, because I’m just plain lazy, not a work out kinda person. Well that is all going to change, as of tomorrow I’m starting Bootcamp!! I’m sure you are all familiar with Bootcamp, probably most of you have done some sort of Bootcamp. Well I don’t know what I’m really getting myself into but looks like I will be finding out very shortly. I will keep you posted!!

Over the weekend I did a little shopping in the US in preparation for my Bootcamp debut. I got myself a workout wardrobe and some really comfy runners. See:

I’m hopefully thinking that I will want to stick with this Bootcamp thing since I’ve invested a few dollars in it. (I know probably not the best way to do it but I have to convince myself some way or another).

I will be back tomorrow with a review of my first day of Bootcamp, that is if I make it home!!

I'm so nervous!!!!