{Just To Make You Smile}

:: I got this sent to me in an email today and I definitely needed to share ::

Random Thoughts of the Day

1) Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

2) I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

3) There is a great need for sarcasm font.

4) How the in the world are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

5) I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

6) MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

7) Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

8) I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

9) Bad decisions make good stories

10) You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

11) I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

12) I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Shoot!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

13) I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

14) As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

15) I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

16) I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

{It's Spring, Right?}

Anybody know of a good internal clock repairman?

I'm pretty sure mine is broken. Really broken.

It seems I've completely skipped winter and jumped head first into Spring.

Now that we've finished Denay's room, a sort of snowball effect has occurred that's got me cleaning and sorting and organizing and scrubbing and painting and every other sort of activity usually associated with Spring Cleaning.

All it takes is one sunny day and I set into a flurry of, well, cleaning in all shapes and forms.

Anyways, other than that, I have nothing exciting or interesting to write about so I think I'll be drawing this post to a close now.

Just know now, that you never need to wonder again what's keeping me from my blog. You can pretty much always assume that I've come down with another serious case of the project creeps.

On another note, please pop on over to my photography blog as there are some seriously exciting and cool things happening over there!

Happy Hump Day!

Guilty Pleasure

I have been a dedicated Cookie Dough Blizzard fan for quite a few years now. That used to be mine and Trev's "thing"......going to DQ and getting a Cookie Dough Blizzard and sharing it. Every once and a while the thought would cross my mind that I should try something different but I'd either chicken out or go for it and almost always wished I'd just gone with the norm.

I needed a fix last week so we stopped by on our way home and Trev was halfway through the order when I spotted a new flavour on the board. I stopped him and got him to ask the server what was in the Cookie Jar Blizzard and when I heard the words oreo, cookie dough and fudge in the same sentence as ice cream, we couldn't get to the pick-up window fast enough.

Yummy-ist thing ever! I hope they keep this flavour around for a while because I don't think I could go back to plain old cookie dough again......

:: Trades-ies ::

First off, if you have never heard of or visited the Esty site, you need to go. You can find almost anything on there and the best part, it's all handmade and unique.

I got this adorable camera bag from my MIL for Christmas. I was, however, awfully disappointed when I got it home and found out that it was far too small for my camera, extra lens and all my accessories.

I contacted Jackie from XcessRize Designs and I am now waiting for this..... .....adorable and gigantic bag.
I'll say it again, if you haven't visited Etsy.com, I highly recommend it. I don't think there is anything you won't be able to find.

{Input Time}

Alright my dear Blogger Friends, now is the time I really need to "hear" your thoughts.

A trip to a few stores later and much time spent on the Internet, I have yet to find the perfect drawer pulls for Denay's refurbished dresser. Ideally, I would love a set of pink or purple round crystal knobs but, alas, the only ones I could find were in Australia. Yeah, not so much. I'm still going to do some looking around town but I did find this fabulous store on Etsy (yep, I'm addicted) that has the cutest hand painted items.

So, I exercised my super-strong choice making muscles, and narrowed the field to a mere 10 looks.

Leave me a comment and let me know you're top three favourite designs and give this indecisive girl a hand!

#1 - Cherry Blossoms

#2 - Yellow w/ white polka dots #3 - Purple/White w/ polka dots

#4 - Pink Flowers

#5 - Green/Pink w/ white polka dots

#6 - Purple/White w/ polka dots

#7 - Assorted colors w/ large dots

#8 - Pink/White/Green daisy

#9 - White w/ pink thatching

#10 - Pink/White polka dots

Let the commenting begin!

Oh, and as a side note - if any can recommend somewhere that I can get crystal knobs, please let me know!

Beaches and Sunshine and Food, Oh My!

This is me following through on my promise to elaborate on my quick mention of our sunny vacation coming up in April in this post.

In about three months Trevor and I, along with two super awesome couples, will be soaking up all things stunning that Varadero, Cuba, has to offer. We will be staying at the Iberostar Laguna Azul. A brand new, 5-star resort that is just as lovely as can be.

If you care to be made a little green with envy, you can click the collages to get a closer look ;)

Funny as it may sound, we didn't realize until after we were booked that we will be there for Trevor's 28th birthday. What a birthday it will be!
It's been two years since our Punta Cana trip and I'm so thankful that we have the chance to get away together again. It makes all those long (and fun) days spent with Cranberry Creek well worth it!

I may, or may not, be counting down the days already.

Can Ya Tell?

I was doing some extra closet and storage organizing this week and came across my baby photo album.

Based on this side-by-side of both of us at 18 months, I think I can take a little bit of credit for this girl's looks.

:: Making Old Things New ::

When Trevor's parents came to visit on the weekend, they brought with them a couple pieces of much awaited furniture. One was a big-girl bed that will stay in the shed for a little while longer and the other was a very special, well-used dresser. Special because this dainty and fragile piece of furniture was purchased for a then seven-year-old little girl named Rose in 1927. Yep, you counted right, it's 83-years-old. It belonged to Trevor's Gramma, was passed through all three of her sons, then handed down to all three of her youngest son's (Trevor's dad) children and now we have the privilege of having it in our home.

As is obvious from the before shot, it was looking it's age just a little. But a coat of primer and a handful of coats of white paint later, and this heirloom is ready for another few years and children!

You can sort of see in my post here the large bulky dresser that we were using. I was moderately concerned about going from a large, six-drawer dresser to a petite three-drawer dresser but it is impressively roomy and I managed to get almost all her clothes in to it.

We're going to Home Depot tomorrow to find the perfect pulls for the drawers and then it will be done.

The best part about this little project? Since the dresser was a hand-me-down and I just used the paint and primer I had left over from Denay's room, it was completely free! Between that, and the nostalgic nature of the dresser, it makes for one sweet addition to my little princesses room.

My Own "Julie & Julia " Project

As a buffer for this post, I'd like to say that I make a point not to make New Year's Resolutions. I believe, as a sinner redeemed by the blood of Christ, that God's mercies are new every morning and each day I start fresh with Him.

This decision was an accumulation of feeling inadequate in the dinner-making department. I'll certainly freely admit that I don't really love cooking supper most nights. Cooking was not something I did often growing up and never really took to it.

This was really an area that I felt I could be serving my family better, so one afternoon last week I sat down while Denay was napping, and made a list of relatively simple (some more so than others) but hearty meals. It's been almost two weeks and I've managed to cook something different for dinner each night. And yes ladies, I'll confess, that that is slightly uncommon in this house for a two week period.

I've always found that even though I buy random ingredients with the best intentions to use them, I forget about them and food goes bad without being used. So each day, I decide what I want to make for dinner, then I go and buy only what I need. I know it may sound wasteful in the time department but I've found that it's been the best method for me right now as I buy in smaller quantities and nothing goes to waste which saves us moolah.

So here's run down on what we've consumed, in no particular order:

Pot Roast w/ yams and asparagus

Chicken and Dumplings (my favourite thing to eat ever) with zucchini

Macaroni and Cheese (homemade of course)

Steak w/ rice and peas

Perogies and Caesar salad

Chicken Enchiladas w/ cold veggies

Spaghetti

Fajitas

Tuna Melts

Chicken strips and fries

Mushroom soup w/ fresh bun and cheese

So I still have a few things yet to make but the more I "cook", simple or not, the more confident I feel and the more I realize that making dinner isn't quite the ordeal I'd made it out to be.

Maybe I should start a separate blog and get a movie deal out of it......

:: Checking In ::

I got one whole comment from a very lovely reader (thanks Laura, you made me feel special) wondering where I was, so, here I am.

We have been keeping on our toes around here without a doubt and I am full-time dependant on my dollar store day timer to keep me in line.

2010 brings with it many many exciting ventures and opportunitiess! The most exciting is that in just over a month I will be across the water with my church dance team for a week doing street ministry in the heart of Vancouver during the Olympics. This has been in the works since well before the summer and that it is just a month is hard to believe. We have the blessing of working with an organization called More Than Gold with many other artists from across Canada. Whew.....prayers welcome!

On top of that, I am counting down the days until Trevor and myself and two other couples leave for Varadero at the end of April. Ah, more on that later.

I have "resolved", if you will, to start scrapbooking again. I was meeting each week with a girlfriend during the summer and then fall hit and that quickly went by the wayside! But, with some new additions to my paper collection (thank you Susan!) I am fully re-inspired and determined not to fall any farther behind.

A certain dear friend of mine has gone back to work this past weekend and I have taken on a bunch of days in the next few months to watch her one-year-old daughter Abigail (whom Denay happens to love). I joked with my mom that I could run out to the store and leave them home because they clearly didn't care that I was even in the room! They played so well together it makes me want to have another baby.

Trevor is involved in leading a young adults bible study as well as with the media ministry at church and I'm looking forward to committing to fully to GEMS again after a busy end of 2009.

We had the pleasure of hosting Trevor's parents for the weekend and enjoyed lots of relaxing, eating and laughing. Denay got to show Grammie and Bobob her new room and swim with them at the pool!

Goodness! I think that it all....but what blog post would be complete without a Denay collage! Click to get a closer look

We're still learning lots of new words around here. I feel bad for the poor girl when she starts using a word I don't understand and she cries because I'm not doing what she wants!

I was at bible study tonight and she was playing on our pastor's daughter's leapfrog laptop. She was pressing the letter buttons and repeating the computer when it sounded out the different letter sounds.

Most days I'm pretty convinced she is smarter that me ;)

Anyways......busy day tomorrow, short night ahead. I'm off to bed wondering if I have more than one reader still with interested.....??

:: Christmas Eve ::

We've been keeping super busy since Christmas Eve but it's definitely time to get our family pictures posted! We got an adorable Christmas dress from my grandparents and if I do say so myself, she looks awful darling.

Pictures with daddy.

Pictures with mommy.

:: Family Portrait 2009 ::

Denay seeing her present for the first time.

I don't think life could get any better.