New Year's Eve 2015

 1. What did you do in 2015 that you’d never done before?
Finance stuff at work, made it into a better pool and I'm now acting in a higher position. We stayed on the resort in Mexico for the entire trip as well.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Kinda, we did get a gym membership and were going really good for a while, then it kind of fell off the bandwagon. We did start eating healthier though. Here are my resolutions for this year:  

2016 resolutions:

1. Continue going to the gym 
2. Eat healthier

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Dh cousin just had a little one a week ago.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What places/countries did you visit? 
Mayan Riviera Mexico, Seattle Washington.

6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?
A little more savings, a permanent job in what I'm doing now, a growing family. 

7. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
July 10, 2015- 5th Wedding Anniversary
April 6, 2015 - I started a 4 month acting that turned into a possible huge career change for me.

June 30, 2015 - last year in my 20s

October 28, 2015- Mexico 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting a new career change 

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not saving as much as I wanted, not losing the weight I wanted, and not starting a family

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No

11. What was the best thing you bought? 
New coach purse, Xbox one for Dh.

12. Where did most of your money go?
Home reno's, trips.... Enjoying life 

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going to Mexico and my parents visit this year

14. What song will always remind you of 2012?
   I can't feel my face

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier 
b) thinner or fatter? Same
c) richer or poorer? Richer and poorer

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Excercising, eating healthier, start a family

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Sitting on the couch, working

18. How did you spend Christmas?
With Hubs at home, it was a quiet Christmas in. 

19. Did you fall in love in 2015?
I continued to be in love in 2015.

20. What was your favorite TV program?
Grey's Anatomy, Walking Dead, Survivor, bachelor/bachelorette, how to get away with murder, Big Bang

21. What was the best book you read?
Too much to list

22. What was your greatest musical discovery?
No person or group specifically

23. What did you want and get?
A coach purse, trip to Mexico, see my family, better job 

24. What did you want and not get?
A growing family

25. What was your favorite film of this year?
Star Wars the Force Awakens 

26. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 29 and got spoiled with great presents.

27. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Loosing weight

28. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2015?
More professional

29. What kept you sane?
My Hubs, my family and friends

30. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Kate Middleton 

31. What political issue stirred you the most?
Don't keep up to date on political issues, my bad

32. Who did you miss?
My family and best friend who live across the country

33. Who was the best new person you met?
Robyn

34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015.
You have to work for what you want, it's not going to be handed to you, nor is anyone going to keep your best interest at heart

35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
     Hmmm

Merry Christmas 2015

Wishing all my friends and family a wonderful Christmas Day filled with good food, love, laughter and wonderful memories to look back on.

Merry Christmas to my family and friends back on the east coast and my friends and in-laws on this coast.

I got to wake up with Dh this morning and neither of us had to rush off to work. 

I made a delicious berry French toast casserole which I will be sure to post the recipe for soon!

Merry Christmas 

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve everyone. Dh is working tonight, so I'm getting the house tidied up so when we have time off together we can enjoy it rather then house work. I'm off until 4 Jan now!! Tomorrow morning is the first Christmas Day Dh and I have been able to wake up together and enjoy Christmas Day together in a very long time without either of us rushing off to work.

December

I can't believe it's the midway point of December tomorrow. I've been so behind in posting on the blog but promise to catch up. Here's somethings we have been up to:

- My parents were here in October

- we went to Mexico in November

- we visiting family up island 

- I made a faux fireplace at work

- we are having a cookie exchange at work tomorrow 

- I got a new job at work 

Remembrance Day

I just wanted to say thank you to all the soldiers who fought for our freedom and everything we have today. My thoughts and prayers are with all those currently away fighting as well. Please take the time today to remember all those who gave up so much so we could live so lucky today. Thank you.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my best friend ever today!!

Even though I cant call and wish you a happy birthday you are in my thoughts today! I hope you have a great day and get some time to relax. Wish I could be there to celebrate with you.

Happy 1st Birthday

Wishing my best friend's little guy a very Happy 1st Birthday!! It's hard to believe a year has gone by already...

Happy Halloween

Wishing everyone a safe and fun Halloween. Drive safe and watch out for the little trick or treaters.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you got to spend it with family, good friends and good food.

Girls night

Tonight I'm heading over to a friends house for a girls night. Theme is Canadian food and byob! I'm bringing Canadian made wine and make and cheese with bacon!

Happy Birthday!

Wising one of the best coworkers and friends a very Happy Birthday today!!!! Hope you take the time to relax and enjoy the day.

Kingfisher Get Away

Earlier in the Spring, hubs surprised me with a wonder hydropath and gourmet lunch from the Kingfisher Resort and Spa.

I had never been to the Kingfisher before and hubs found an amazing package deal that made it super worth it.

For $69 plus tax and gratuities you can enjoy the hydropath spa experience which includes:

Swiss Shower

Swiss shower jets carved into the sandstone send water pulsing from all angles, rinsing and warming your body.

Mineral Massage Pool

Proceed around the pool where jets progress from the lumbar region of the back up to the shoulders, relaxing tense muscles.

Waterfall Massage

Breath in the positive effects of healthful negative ions as a series of streaming waterfalls from above relax stressed muscles in the shoulders and scalp.

Steam Cave

Inhale aromatic steam, soothing to the lungs and encouraging perspiration to carry away impurities.

Glacial Waterfall

Invigorate your body and senses with a welcome rush of cold!

River Walk

With sections of both warm and cool water, the river walk produces a “Kneipp” effect for the legs, a traditional therapy that stimulates blood circulation. Jets positioned along the walk provide a targeted massage, leaving legs feeling light and rejuvenated.

Sea Mineral Soak

Containing 104 trace elements at the optimal temperature for absorption by the body, the sea mineral pool is the perfect spot for a relaxing float.

Tidal Baths

Relax in a single person tidal bath carved out of rock. We hand make and freshly blend our own signature sea salt scrub. Beneficial marine extracts will leave your skin feeling nourished and refreshed.

To finish it off you get lunch at the amazing Break Water restaurant where you can choose anything off the lunch menu!!

Simplifying the work week

Having just got ready for another work week I thought it might be good to write a post on tips I find helpful for making the start of the work week go smoothly. 

*For starters I like to ensure all laundry has been washed, folded and put away. This makes for finding closes so much easier and if everything is out away you don't have to worry about pulling wrinkled clothes out of the laundry bin when your in a rush.

* The night before, I like to pick out the clothes for work the next day, this way I'm not trying on multiple outfits and spending precious time deciding what to wear. Sometimes I'll have 2 outfits payed out so of the weather is chillier or warmer then I thought, I have a second choice.

* Buy groceries for the week and have everything prepped.

* I like to have my lunch made the night before. This way in the morning if I'm running late in the morning I can just grab my lunch and go. This will also help the pocket book, as you aren't tempted to just grab something at work.

* have anything you may need ready to go for work. It could be extra snacks, paperwork, grocery list, etc and ensure you have it all in the same spot or bag so you can grab and go in the morning.

* have your purse, keys, sunglasses all together so you aren't running around the house looking for them in the morning.

* do the dishes, empty the dishwasher the night before, especially on Sunday night, so your starting the week off on a good foot and organized.

* have suppers planned or already made. This way you aren't guessing what to make or having to run to the grocery store. This also saved you from just going out to eat because it's easier.

ABCs

A- Age: 29

B- Biggest Fear: spiders

C- Current Time: 11:08pm

D- Drink you last had: sanpellegrino

E- Easiest Person To Talk: Kathryn

F- Favorite Song: too many

G- Ghosts, are they real: I think so 

H- Hometown: Dartmouth

I- In love with: my husband

J- Jealous Of: friends with kids

K- Killed Someone? Nope

L- Last time you cried?: can't remember

M- Middle Name: I have 2

N- Number of Siblings: 2

O- One Wish: have kids

P- Person who you last called: My parents

Q- Question you're always asked:  when are you guys having kids

R- Reason to smile: My life ❤️

S- Song last sang: can't remember

T- Time you woke up: 8:30am

U- Underwear Color: green

V- Vacation Destination: Mayan riviera 

W- Worst Habit: overthink everything 

X- Xrays you've had: lots

Y- Your favorite food: Mexican, Thai, pizza 

Z- Zodiac Sign:  cancer 

It's September!

September has arrived and with it comes my return to blogging. I haven't written a post since the one for our 5th wedding Anniversary in July.

I love keeping up with the blog reading but sometime I get to caught up in life to sit and write myself. I'm going to make a better attempt of blogging again as its so nice to be able to look back over the years and see what I was doing last September or 3 years ago.

Life for the hubs and I has been pretty good. We've both been keeping really busy and since I haven't blogged in a little while I think this will be a catch up post on a bunch of misc. items.

* The last weekend of July, hubs and I went up island to the Sea Fair. Hubs has been wanting to take me for years but our schedules never worked out to allow us to go. This year however we were able to make it work! We stayed with hubs' stepdad and family, which was awesome as we were able to walk to the fair from their house. The fair was free to get into, we walked around and enjoyed the booths, watching the rides, and eating a sno-cone. We went back later in the evening to watch the fireworks and I must say they were pretty spectacular!!

Earlier in the day, before heading to the fair we went to the airshow that was going on at the airport. It was a small airshow and their was an old car show as well happening so lots to see and do! Not to mention we ran into quite a few of hubs family members.

The weather was hot and sunny, so we enjoyed a treat of gelato at a local gelato place on the main street of town (delicious and inexpensive!) and picked up some deer pepperoni (my first time trying it). We spent an evening out at hubs' families cabin and went for a picnic boat ride on the ocean. The sunset was amazing! We even got to see seals and sea lions resting on the rocks.

The following day we took hubs step-sister with us and we strolled around town, browsing art shops, book stores, antique shops and second hand stores. We stopped for supper at the delicious Coastal Cookery per the recommendation of hubs step-sister and it was delicious!! We will definitely make it a point to go again next time we are up there.

* I've been hanging out a couple times with a new friend I've made. She is the newly married wife of one of my husbands coworkers. She lives not far from us and we get along great. We went and had manicures down a couple weeks ago, and last night I went over to their place and she made homemade apple cider and we enjoyed blizzards and cinnamon buns!

* The brownie batter blizzard made a reappearance, however I never did get one. I tried ordering one at on DQ and when they gave it to me it was not a brownie batter blizzard. When I complained they said they were out of the mix (So why didn't they tell me this when I ordered it?) and made them remake me a different blizzard.

* Last night we went to DQ and the pumpkin pie blizzard is out!!!! If you read my blog, you know I have a love for anything pumpkin, so of course I had to get one. When I first tried it, I didn't really care for the pie pieces, so now I order it with the pie filling and brownie chunks instead.

* My parents are coming out to visit, my mom arrives next Saturday and is here for 3 weeks and my dad comes out the week after for 2 weeks. Will be nice to see family. I think we plan on having an early thanksgiving dinner with them while they are out.

* Work is going great. I was extended at my current position (I am on an acting assignment away from my actual position). I had an interview at the end of august for a pool. I really hope I get into the pool as its a nice pay increase and would be great for career advancement.

Happy birthday brother

Wishing my brother a very happy 22nd birthday today. Wish we could be there to celebrate with you. The older you get it doesn't matter. You will always be my baby brother. 

5th Anniversary

Today hubs and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, that's half a decade!! I don't know where the time has gone but we have accomplished so much together so far and I can't wait to see where the next 5 years take us.

Canada Day!

Wishing Canada a very happy birthday today!

Last year in the 20's

Today is my 29th birthday. Hard to believe it's my last hurrah of my 20's. 

The plan is dinner with friends on a patio. Meeting up with hubs for drinks afterwords when he's off work and then catching the fire works. Best of all tomorrow is canada day so I don't have to work!

Here's to an amazing year 

Happy Father's Day

Just wanted to wish all the dad's, dad's to be,  and grandfather's out there a very Happy Father's Day. Special send out to my BFF who's husband is celebrating his 1st Fathers Day.

Happy Father's Day to my Hubs as well! 

I'm also sending a special Happy Father's Day wish to my dad today. He has always been there to support, comfort, and guide me. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful father in my life, as well as wonderful grandfather's! Love you so much xoxoxoxo.

It's June!!

Seems like blogging is getting harder and harder to do, although I'm not sure why.....I think I find it easier to go onto Blogger and read everyone else's blog posts, then it is to use the blogger app to create your own blog post.

Things have been pretty good around here for the most part. There has been some drama but I won't get into it, I want this blog to be a place of happiness and the drama certainly doesn't contain that so it's staying off the blog.

Since it's been so long since my last post, this might just end up being another random bunch of tidbits post:

* I celebrate my birthday in just under a month (Will be my last year if my 20s). Hard to believe next year I will be celebrating the big 3-0!!!!
* My mom is doing great! I'm so happy that she has her health. My mom and dad and 2 siblings just came back from a 2 week trip to Mexico in April. They had a horrible winter and are still fighting frost warnings in June!!
* In a little over a month, hubs and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding Anniversary. Hard to believe its been almost half a decade, and after this year we are on the downward slope to 10 years.
* My best friends little guy is too adorable for words. He is growing up so fast!
* We did some work to the front of our house. We cut out the garden and installed patio stones along the front of the house. We then put grass seed down so hubs can just mow the entire front yard. I bought a couple of plant pots and put in some decorative grass and dahlias. I also spray painted a few random plant pots we have and took a few plants we didn't want to lose out of the garden.
* It's supposed to be a super hot weekend here this weekend. My plan is to max relax and enjoy some sunshine.
*We may or may not have booked a trip for the fall to celebrate our anniversary.
* Hubs is doing super good at work. He just moved to a different department and is loving it!
* I'm currently on a 4 month acting position with my work. Its more money and lots of experience.
* I also just wrote two exams and passed both, meaning it has qualified me for higher positions at work.

Happy Birthday mom!

Wishing my mom a very happy birthday today! Wish I could be there to celebrate with you. 

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing my mom, grandmother, and mother-in-law's a very wonderful mother's day. 

Wishing my best friend a very happy first Mother's Day!

Here's to a wonderful day to all the mother's out there on my blog, as well as first time mom's celebrating this wonderful holiday. Spend the time to celebrate with your mom and let her know you care about her.

May 4

May the fourth be with you...

It's a Royal Princess

Congrats to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their second child, the Princess of Cambridge!

ABC's of Me

A. Age: 28B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore you dislike: Cleaning the bathroom and folding laundry. I don't mind doing the laundry but I HATE folding laundry.

D. Dogs: No dogs yet.

E. Essential start to your day: Putting on makeup (at least mascara) and having a shower

F. Favorite color: Blue

G. Gold or silver: White gold

H. Height: 5'1'' or 5'.5'' if you go by the Dr's office, I prefer the extra half inch

I. Instruments you play(ed): I was never very musical

J. Job title: Admin assistant

K. Kids: Stepdaughter named Clara, other kids one day

L. Live: Canada

M. Mom’s name: Mom

N. Nicknames: Bear, Hug and kiss, bunny, nubs

O. Overnight hospital stays: None

P. Pet peeves: Rude, ignorant people, unruly kids who's parents let them run wild

Q. Quote from a movie: Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming....

S. Siblings: Younger brother and sister

T. Time you wake up: 5:45 am mon-fri. Weekends its whenever unless something is on the go

U. Underwear: Yep

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Peas, baby corn, beets

W. What makes you run late: Waking up late, traffic, duddling

X. X-rays you’ve had: General dental ones, and a couple chest x-rays

Y. Yummy food you make: My famous ginger cookies, curry broccoli and cheese

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Giraffe's and elephants  

It's Friday the 13th

It's Friday the 13th for the second month in a row!!

Happy Birthday Sister!

Wishing my sister a very Happy and wonderful Birthday today. Wish I could be there to celebrate in person.

Organix Coconut Milk Shampoo Review

When it comes to beauty products I don't generally like to spend a fortune. I shop at places like Walmart because they offer good deals on their products. Shampoo is definitely one of those items. I don't buy super cheap but I generally use Aussie, herbal essence, etc versus salon quality products. I also always try to buy on sale and stock up! While at hub's step sisters wedding over the summer, I borrowed the groom's sister's shampoo. She had organix argan oil shampoo and I loved the way it made my hair feel. When I went looking for the shampoo at my local stores I cringed at the $8.00 price tag (which I know is fairly inexpensive given how much shampoos can cost, but I'm used to spending $2-3 a bottle). Hubs told me if I wanted it to buy it. At the time, they were out of the argan oil shampoo so I sniff tested the other ones available. I instantly feel in love with the coconut milk shampoo.

It smelled exactly like a pina colada and reminded me of summer and our trips down south. It leaves a light fragrance in your hair and has a more luxurious feel then the typical shampoos I use. I'm definitely excited to broaden my use of these shampoos and conditioners in the near future.

ABCs of Me

A. Age: 28

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore you dislike: Cleaning the bathroom and folding laundry. I don't mind doing the laundry but I HATE folding laundry.

D. Dogs: No dogs yet 

E. Essential start to your day: Putting on makeup (at least mascara) and having a shower

F. Favorite color: Blue 

G. Gold or silver: White gold and starting to like rose gold

H. Height: 5'1'' or 5'.5'' if you go by the Dr's office, I prefer the extra half inch

I. Instruments you play(ed): I was never very musical

J. Job title: Admin assistant

K. Kids: Stepdaughter, other kids one day hopefully

L. Live: Canada

M. Mom’s name: Mom 

N. Nicknames:  Bear, Hug and kiss, bunny, nubby 

O. Overnight hospital stays: None 

P. Pet peeves: Rude, ignorant people, unruly kids who's parents let them run wild

Q. Quote from a movie: Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming....

S. Siblings: Younger brother and sister

T. Time you wake up: Depends.... Workdays it's 540, days off varies

U. Underwear: Yep

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Peas, baby corn, beets

W. What makes you run late: Waking up late, traffic, duddling 

X. X-rays you’ve had: General dental ones, and a couple chest x-rays

Y. Yummy food you make: My famous ginger cookies, curry broccoli and cheese

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Giraffe's and elephants   

It's February

Sheesh, it's already the middle of February and I haven't even posted anything in my blog yet for this month. Sometimes I really feel like I am slacking and other times I feel like.... there just aren't enough hours in the day. Lots has been going on in our little slice of paradise lately... some of which I'm not really ready to talk about on this blog, although my best friend knows whats been on the go as of late.

I'm going to do another quick random update because lots has been on the go, but I just don't have the time for separate blog posts.

* My mom has been doing really good, no news has been great news!!
* I'm super thankful I live where I do. Instead of worrying about snow storms, we are enjoying spring weather and flowers.
* My best friends little guy is growing up so quickly, he just rolled over for the first time today!
* My sister is doing really good, she passed her written exam for dental assisting and is hoping to get recruited by the military.
* Hubs got a new position with his work, its been a long time coming and something he has wanted for a very long time! I'm so proud of him and all his accomplishments.
* My job is going really good. I've learned so much over the past almost year! I'm currently on a 3 day course and so far learning lots. I'm on another course next week as well. I've been applying for everything and anything when it comes to courses. The more knowledge and resume padding the better.
* A few months ago I had an interview with the housing agency where I work. I just found out last week that I made it into the pool. I was super stoked as its a classification above mine and apparently there was steep competition to just get into the pool. They only took the best of the best. A coworker of mine who has been in a higher classification and worked in the admin world a lot longer then me didn't make the pool, so it just shows you how hard the interview process was. The pool is open until 2017, so if any jobs become available then they will draw from the pool.
* I just applied for another pool as well. I figure the more I have my name out there and the more practice I have with applying for jobs the better.
* I had an impromptu interview for a job in an extremely executive office at my work. I got a phone call saying I was highly recommended and they asked if I was interested in the job. It deals with financial amongst other things and although I don't have much finance experience I applied anyway. Even if I don't get the job it gets my name and willingness to grow out there. I'm just super proud with how far I have come in just under a year. I went from working in a kitchen with little office experience to working my way into pools and interviews for executive offices.
* Last Thursday hubs and I went for dinner with my coworker and her girlfriend. We went to the Indian Bistro as per the recommendation of my coworker and the food was delicious. We generally just go to Indian food buffets but this food was amazing! They are renovating towards the end of this month and reopening with a buffet grand opening.
* Sunday night I went and seen 50 Shades of Grey with a friend. I've read all the books and we had planned for a while to go and see the movie when it came out. I was super excited to see the movie, however after watching the movie I give it a C at best. I mean for it's rating I was expecting a lot more. The amount of nudity for the type of movie it was, was fairly lacking and the sex scenes were underwhelming. I've seen more passion and thrill from other movies that weren't based on sex. I will go see the next couple movies and hope they are better, but so far I think the books were much better.
* I really need to start getting back to the gym and using my gym membership. I've had it for almost 2 months now and have hardly gone. I really do need to start holding myself accountable in this regard.
* Valentine's day was a quiet one in our house this year. I made supper for hubs which consisted of au gratin slow cooker potatoes, parmesan crusted chicken breasts, steamed broccoli, accompanied by a bottle of red wine and dessert of a DQ blizzard. Since hubs worked his 4th morning shift he was pretty tired and we ended up going for a nap that ended up turning into us just leaving the kitchen a mess and going to bed for the night.
* Hubs stepbrother and his girlfriend stayed with us Friday-Sunday night and left today. They came down for a convention but it was nice to finally meet his girlfriend. They will be moving back to Victoria in the next couple of months so it will be nice to have some family closer to us.

I'll have to come back and do an update post on my job as we are nearing my 1 year new job anniversary. It's hard to believe I have been in my job almost a year. It doesn't feel like it.

Christmas Dinner 2014

This year I attempted to make Christmas Dinner on my own.

The menu consisted of:

Appetizers:
Cheese & Crakcers w/ Garlic Coil and Cheese Ball

Main:
Rosemary Balsamic Glazed Ham
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Caramelized onion & bacon dressing
Prosciutto wrapped asparagus
Honey Glazed Baby Carrots
Orange zest cranberry sauce
Caramelized brussel sprouts with onion & bacon
Assortment of wine
Fresh Dinner Rolls

Dessert:
Ice Cream Cake

Happy 2015!

Welcome 2015! Here's to an amazing 2015