Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Boy Behind the Blog

I completely forgot about BBB this month, well, with Christmas and all, and when I went to find it, I was too late to link up, but I thought I would do one anyway...

1. What is your favorite cereal?
Crispix

2. Pancakes or waffles? 
Waffles

3. What is your favorite holiday tradition? 
Collecting glass ornaments (old/antique). 

4. Finish the sentence: All I want for Christmas is...
A dehydrator (sadly, he didn't get it; we are waiting for a cheap one to become available...maybe at Canadian Tire, as he has a gift card there).

5. What was your best moment of 2013?
Taking the sheep up the mountain this August. 

   

Sunday, December 29, 2013

TToT-2013 Edition/Christmas Week Edition. Two posts in one.

Happy Sunday.

I am going to do two posts of TToT in one. I am going to do the Christmas (this last week) edition, and Liz is also hosting a 2013 edition; which would be 12 things of thankful:)

So, first off...Christmas Week Edition:


1. The roads were okay/fair going out, and they were great coming back.
I hate winter driving, and I am always stressed about it. I was glad that the drive both ways went well.

2. Spending time away from the family at the B&B.
As much as we love spending time with the family (and we do), we also love getting away from the house and having our own time in our own little place for a few hours. Anker especially needs this time away.

3. I can still make my own fire (and keep it going).
I woke up at 4 am, to a cold cabin. Usually Anker would get up and get it re-lit, but I thought I would try. I got it going, and it went pretty much all night. Yup! This girl still has it!

4. Yummy food. 
This included LOTS of mincemeat and butter tarts, fruit cake, ginger-toffee pudding, oranges, and two turkey dinners, with a few veggies sprinkled in.

5. I was able to keep Anker out longer than we had Planned.
We originally had planned to come back on the 26th. I encouraged him to stay out there until the 27th. I am SO glad we did, because we avoided a really bad day of freezing rain (and bad roads) in town.

6. Extra Cash (and a great visit).
My aunt gave us a few bucks for whatever we needed. We also had a great visit with my aunt and uncle.

7. Spending lots of time with N.
I spent a lot of time cuddling with N while I was there. She wasn't much of a cuddly baby, but we did have our moments. I took her sledding on Christmas Day, while everyone else watched a movie. She really was adorbs!!! I got a ton of pictures of her; some of which I posted on FB (but I tried to only post side profiles, or far away pics).

8. Relaxing Christmas Day.
We had our dinner on Christmas Eve, so we just relaxed on Christmas Day. So fun! I would definitely recommend it.

9. Christmas Bonus.
I got 3 cds, and three books from work as my Christmas bonus. That was better than Christmas:)

10. Upcoming Relaxing Week.
I am going to do as little as possible this week. Just watch movies, maybe clean a little, and watch more movies.


Twelve Things of Thankful-2013 Edition:
 (as of the above, this will be very simple, with no pictures...i will try to get a Christmas post done for tomorrow; complete with pictures.

1. January-I started a new semester!
I remember on how excited I was last Jan when I started my new (and last) semester. I remember thing that I was now on the home stretch!

2. February-Time away (alone).
I was thankful that I was able to spend time at my family's B&B for a few days and was able to get some school work done. And yes, I did the fire then, too.

3. March-I really started Blogging; meeting new friends; link ups, etc. (sadly, I have just read that the WS will no longer be around..oh well).
I am happy that I have a place as an outlet for our infertility, along with daily life. I love "visiting" people, and I am sorry that I haven't been doing it much lately (the visiting). I will try to do it more this week.

4. April-I finished (and passed!) my course!
I was so happy when I took my final psych exam. And even happier when I knew that I had passed it. I also was able to visit my lil niece.

5. May-I got a job at the Christian book store.
Ok, this technically happened end of April, but I needed something for May. I loved that job. I am very sad to see the store go:( It was just the job I needed after a hard year of school. Something calm and quiet, and fun:)

6. June-My birthday/Joining IG/Twitter
I don't really know what to say about June. I remember I was thankful for TWO couples who took us to dinner on my bday. I also remember being thankful that I discovered Instagram. I don;t remember when I actually joined IG, but I know it was in the late spring/early summer. I re-joined Twitter. I am still not sure about that. But I am thankful that I at least gave it another chance.

7. July-Our 6th Anniversary.
Thankful that we have been together for 6 years!  I was also thankful that we had a nice together. We went to Paul Lake (about a half hour from here) with a picnic supper. We had a nice time, which was good.

8. August-Making new friends:
I don't know when I started connecting with K (my next door neighbour), but I think this was about the time. We have spent MANY hours together hanging out and watching TV, and wandering around Walmart:) I was also thankful for the 24 hour girls getaway with my sisters.

(I got 2/3's of the way through, and I got tired, and I couldn't remember what I had to be thankful for, so I am just now coming back to this (Dec 31).

9. September-Trip to see family and Puppies:
I can't think of anything exciting to be thankful for this month, although I am sure there was something, but I was looking through my blog, and I saw that I went to my parents to see the puppies. So, I am thankful for puppies!

10. October- Thanksgiving, a Birthday and A Wedding
I am thankful that I was able to spend time with my family (and cook my first turkey dinner for more than two ppl) for Thanksgiving! The wknd was great. The supper was wonderful, and the family time was even better! I am thankful that we were invited to my friends wedding. It was such a fun evening. I am also thankful that Anker was ok to spend a quiet evening at home for his bday.

11. November-Our Vets/The Start of the Christmas Season:
I am at a loss as to what to say, so I will say that I was thankful for my freedom; the military fighting for us, and the start of the Christmas season.

12. December-Christmas with Family:
Of course, this was the highlight of the month!!! I will post more about this, well, hopefully, soon.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Five on Friday

I will an official Christmas post with pictures either later today or tomorrow, but for now, here is a quick FoF post:) You may see some of these in my TToT post as well:)

1. I got to spend LOTS of time with my family, including my niece.

2. We had Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve, which made Christmas Day very relaxing!

3. Bailey's. I am not a huge alcohol fan, but I do love Baileys:) Over ice. Yum!

4. I got Yoga Pants for Christmas. I love them.

5. White Christmas (pictures in next post). I actually snowed on Wednesday!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas with their friends and loved ones!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

TToT- Christmas Edition

I haven't participated in a TToT in awhile, partially b/c I don't feel like I have a lot to be grateful for, but also because I just don't feel like blogging. However, since it is CHRISTMAS, I thought I should would this week.



 T E N  T H I N G S  O F  T H A N K F U L- C H R I S T M A S  E D I T I O N!!!!


1. The REASON for the SEASON:

I am thankful for the REAL reason that we celebrate Christmas, and that is JESUS!! If there was no Jesus, there would be no Christmas; simple as that!

2. Christmas Tree and Christmas Decorations:

It took us awhile to get into the "Christmas Spirit" this year; ie, putting up the tree. But we finally got to it. You can look here a tour of our home at/on/for the holidays. I usually do love putting up the tree, and decorating the house. Once I got to it this year, I actually enjoyed it.

3. Christmas Baking:

I LOVE baking (esp cookies) ANY time during the year, but especially at Christmas:) I have baked a few batches of cookies already. This also includes treats that you buy at the store; pecan pie, Christmas cake (yes, I LOVE fruit cake!!!), tarts. etc. I don't do pastry, so anytime I see pie, tarts, etc for a good price, I will grab some (even during the year). This also includes any baking I get at home. My aunt makes awesome Christmas pudding! Yummy!


4. Christmas Treats (and drinks):

Mandarin oranges, nuts, gingerbread houses, eggnog;  pretty much anything surrounding the season I love.


5. Family and Friends (parties, etc);

I love getting together with family and friends over this holidays.  I love hanging with my family at Christmas!!! I get to see my brother and his family, which I am SO looking forward to!!! I love Christmas parties, and visiting and laughing it up with friends.

6. Christmas Movies and Specials on TV (and bringing out our Christmas movies that we have) (and Christmas music, of course!!!):

I love (and have been) watching Christmas movies and Specials on Tv. I seem to be watching too much lately.  There is nothing quite like curling up on the couch in the evening, with the Christmas lights on, and watching a Christmas movie (or two!). I have already watched Scrooge twice.

7. Food!

Yes, I have already mentioned this..but there is nothing like sharing (and preparing) food over Christmas, especially when you are with family and friends.

8. Gifts:

One of my Love Languages is gifts. I freaking love gifts. Even though we have no money, I LOVE to buy gifts. We draw names now, but it is ALL I can do to NOT give everyone a lil something!! Even just now I wandered around the store, seeing if there was something I can give to my siblings (it also doesn't help that their bdays are in December...we have 2 Dec bdays and 2 Jan bdays in our family..nice going, Mom..lol). So, I feel like I have to buy something for them..:)

9. The Season of Giving and Receiving:

I love doing little things during this time of year. I try to bake cookies and give to people in our complex, and my family. I love getting extra little things as well. Hubby got a little hamper from the Brain Injury place the other day. We got some extra money. If I can, I try to give to the SA while I am out shopping. Hubby got a little bonus on his chq.

10. Extra Cash:

I have my job back over the holidays. I am very grateful. It is a few days a week, but it is better than nothing. For that, I am thankful.

10.1. That my family is healthy and HERE this Christmas:

I have one set of Grandparents that are not alive anymore. I especially miss my grandpa over the holidays. He loved this season. Plus he gave me awesome gifts..lol:) JK. I am SO thankful that my parents, siblings my aunts, uncles, and of course Hubby are all (semi) healthy and alive! I was just on FB, my SIL's Aunt's sister (Her dad's brother's wife) just died from cancer. My other SIL's Gramma (who I knew fairly well) died. There is so much sadness in this world. I know that we are not exempt from this, but I am grateful that we are HERE (even though not together) on earth this season. My brother and his family are arriving today. I will be praying for them all day, that they have a good trip!

10.2: White Christmas

It snowed pretty much all day here yesterday. I think we will having a White Christmas. I love it!!!

Well, that about does it for me today!!! I have loved doing the TToT with Liz (among others that host it) each week! I hope to do a lot more next year. And yes, I will try to participate at least every couple of weeks!! Knowing/saying/thinking on what you are thankful for is great for the soul!!

                                

                                   MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!


Friday, December 20, 2013

Five on Friday and Christmas Traditions

Happy Friday! I am a little late, because, well, I didn't feel like blogging until now..haha!

So..Five on Friday; the last Friday before Christmas!!! Wow! I have been a "real" blogger for nearly a year now:)

I think it will just be a quick one this week; I was going to do a FoF Christmas Edition; but I think I will do that next week, since I already did Holiday Tour of my Home. (my fav things in that post, even though I didn't state what they were/are).

1. A (Free!) Date Night.
Hubby's Brain Injury Association had a Christmas party on Wednesday night. The food was really good (except that they ran out of Pumpkin pie; who runs out of Pumpkin pie so early??? Clearly, tey had no idea WE were going to be there!!), and we came home with some sweet swag:) It was an early night, but it was a great evening. I came home and watched TV (I think).

2. It's SNOWING
Yah, I hate driving in this mess (esp at night), but it makes for a cozy day at work. I love watching thee snow fall, and laugh and point at people who are driving (knowing all too soon that I will be driving in it).

3. TrainStation
Ugh! Hubby got my hooked on this FB game a month or so ago, and I am actually starting to like it. I am on lvl 40, and hubs is on lvl 117. I don't play as much (time wise) as he does, though.

4. Christmas Pressies are (almost!) bought!
We only buy for one person (plus our SO's), so as to make it not as expensive and stressful for us all. I love it. I went out and bought all the gifts we needed to, in about an hour last night. Love it! Just one more to get (plus maybe some stocking stuffers), then we are done. Oh, hubs still has to get mine.

5. Impromptu Girls Movie Night last night.
A Friend of mine texted me last night to see if I wanted to hang out with her and watch a movie at her house. Thankfully, the weather was NOT frightful, so I went. We had a fun time hanging out and watching movies. We watched Christmas With the Kranks, and License to Wed. I had seen the first one before, but not the second. We had a great evening:)

Now on to the next part of the post;)

I am participating with Kelly this Friday for Christmas Traditions:) I am so happy to share with you some of the traditions that I grew up with.

Christmas Eve we try to have everything all wrapped, and most of the pre-prep for Xmas Dinner the next day. We all sit and have egg nog (usually homemade), and eat cookies (after having either a dinner of 7 Layer Dip and salad, OR snacks/finger foods) and sit around the fire and visit. Then we will usually got for a walk on the farm. Then we come back in and Dad will read the Christmas Story, and when we were all younger, let us each open one gift (this was before we all drew names, and a million gifts under the tree). We hang our stockings (if we are doing them that year), and go to bed. The adults visit, and./or go to bed. I usually will go with Dad over to Grandpa and Aunty Val's house (which is now Uncle John and Aunty Valerie's house; Grandpa died), and visit there for a bit, and bring any gifts (if any). I LOVE going there on Christmas eve. You have to understand that their house is 50 yrs old, so it seems more old fashioned. Then back to the main house (or cabin) we go. Hubby is usually long in bed.

Christmas morning, we all wake up to the (usually) same Christmas Album; Living Strings and Living Voices (it is the best album ever. Just sayin). We open our stockings, and then we sit at the table and read the Xmas story again, and also read about His Death and Resurrection. We have communion, and we make a promise either as a sacrifice for someone else, or to improve our spiritual walk, etc. We all light candles and it is a memorable time.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Christmas Tour of our House; SUYL. (and maybe a Christmas recipe or two)

Hi everyone (again)!

I have been slacking off in the blog link ups as well; including SUYL. I completely forgot about last wks SUYL, which was on Christmas recipes. The week before i purposely missed, as I in a very grumpy mood. Moving on.

So, this week it is Christmas Tours of homes. I AM NOT by ANY means claim to be a Martha Steward, and I have been VERY jealous when I see people who have the decorating bug, and who are able to have nice homes to show their skills in. Oh well...c'l've, right? LOL I do what I can with what we have been given, and what we can afford:)


I do love decorating, for Christmas, or other wise, though:) I thought it would be fun to show/share some pictures of our lil place all decorated up for the season.

Our wreath. It is on the inside of our house. We have had it up all year. It isn't that Christmass-y, is it?

                                                                          The tree.
                    Stockings. We will take them to my parents when we go there for Xmas.
 A

                                                       Last years tree topper.

 The display on the top of the bookshelf. I have had something similar all year, but I wanted to change it up a bit. A friend of mine gave me this little church ornie YEARS ago, and I still use it every year. My grandpa painted the winter wonderland picture.
                                                    Our version of ELF ON THE SHELF.

                                                          The display on our bookshelf.
                                                   Yes, I love taking pictures of our tree:)
                                    I saw this on Pinterest once. It isn't as pretty, but I like it.

                                                            Our clean table.

                                                        I love this one. One of our favs!
 Our SIL made this for us last year. Isn't it sweet. We didnt have a tree last year, so I had this on the little tree that sat on our shelf.
                                                           Anker loves the birds:)
                                                    Our Christmas tree topper this year.

                     I put the rest of the ornaments in a bowl. I love it how it looks.
                                                                Our Christmas movies.
                                                 Just a touch of Christmas in the bathroom.
                                                 Our head board with the lights on it.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Christmas Gatherings, Ramblings, and a General Update

As have I said, I am not really in the blogging mood at the moment, but since is my first Christmas as a "real" blogger, I thought that I had better document about what is up with us around this time year:)

First of all, I am very blessed that I am alive, am pretty healthy, and my family is happy and healthy. My sister survived Spain, and is on her way back to Canada this wknd! My lil brother survived his first semester at college, and I am excited because I get to see them soon!

I also should note that I do try to remain grateful at what the Lord is doing in our lives. I can't see it right now, but I know that God is doing SOMETHING in an of us. But like I said in the last post, I am finding it hard to see where He is helping us. I know that we somehow make it from one paychq to the next without going homeless and having things turned off (that being said, our electric was almost cut off the other day..nice).  But we sure can have down days, that's for sure. I was going to do a post called TRUST, because I was losing trust in God, and His plans for us. It happened after I lost the job I thought I had. I won't go into specifics, but when I found out that I didn't get the job (and wasted a week of not job searching because I thought I had had it), I was not happy. I was mad. At God. At people. At the job market. At myself. I wish I was a mommy, and not have to work. Even now, when I see good things (miracles) happening to people at this time of year (chk out the WestJet video), I get mad and angry. I just want a few bucks. I don't care about a tv, or some high tech gadget. But I guess if you are rich enough to travel, you can tell Santa your wish, and WJ ppl will go and get it for you. Anyway, the point is that I am just frustrated with life right now. I AM grateful that I don't have to pay on my SL for a few more months, and there are little things in which I am thanking God for. I just sometimes wonder what God has in store for us. One of my statuses the other day was "How can I praise God, and say that He is good when crap things keep happening to us?" Things are a bit better from a couple of wks ago; I am back at work at the store; it is pay day today, among other things. Anker has been having a hard time with all what is going on, too. He has been angry and grumpy. He doesn't go out much, except to work (to be fair, the weather has been gross).

I guess what I am trying to say is (other than venting), is that I just am not sure what God wants (from this part on was written Dec 14) for us. I have been thinking that God only wants us to suffer and to just get by. I don't know if God wants good things for us anymore.

As you know, I frequent a BLM's blog. Although I don't always concur on what she writes about, I can identify with her on some level. She talks about how tired she is of having a dead baby. Well, I am tired of being infertile. I am tired of telling people that we "can't have kids", or that we don't have any, but "I have two nieces and a nephew whom I love.". Some days, I am just done. I deal with BOTH of our emotions, thoughts and feelings. Honestly, I am exhausted. Some days, I want to sleep the day away. But I get up, because I know that it is expected of me. I smile and say hi, and say that I am "great" or even "okay", and go along with what I am doing.

I scream/beg/cry to Jesus on an hourly basis some days. I don't read the Bible like I know I should, but when I do read it, I read the Psalms. I think God has forgotten us. He has gone on to some other family who are on fire for God, make $80K a year, have a bunch of kids and a nice house. There area few of my friends who I wonder what would happen to them if they suddenly had their job taken away. Then what would they do? Would they be praising God then?

I got home from work last night upset and stressed out. I hardly said two words to Anker. I laid on the bed and I started crying. I got paid, but it was a post dated chq.I was hoping that I could use that money to pay some bills. Now, I have to wait until tomorrow, or Monday. Thankfully, I called our Electric company, and they understood, but there are other bills that we are behind on; rent, cable and internet, and our cell phones to pay for. Along with food, and credit card payments. Most people would think that Internet and even the cell phones aren't needs, when in my opinion they are. Internet (although an addiction at times) is a way of reaching out to others. The cell phone we need (although we don't need to roam the internet on it, and we don't need apps, but those are free), as a way to text with family and friends, and of course if our car goes kaput while we are out on the road.

Well, I could go on and on, but I think this is enough complaining for now:)

On to the next part of this post.

Not everything has been depressing, however. I have managed to get to two (free!!) events this month.

The first was our Ladies Bible Study Christmas Party. It was held on Dec 3, and it was a lot of fun!! There were lots of AWESOME YUMMY food, and their was lots of fun and laughter. We played some Christmas games, sang carols, and a lady in our group had a short talk. We each came away with a great gift, and it was a great evening.

Here are some pictures...
                                                    I have a thing for Christmas trees.
                                                             ...and decorations....
                                      ....and more decorations. They did an awesome job!
 They said come in your jammies, but I didn't think that anyone would actually show up in their jammies, so I went casual. Every did. Oops! Oh well.
                                                           See...yummy food!!
                My sad version of Nanaimo bars from a box. They did taste really good, though.
                                                                       Our table.

After all of the trading and stealing of gifts, this is what I came home with.
Someone also gave me the star from their gift package. I also got a candle from someone who didn't want theirs. I also came home with the table prize...a rose:)

 The next party I went to was my friend M's bday party, which was last Saturday. (I was going to write about in my WS post, but I never got around to doing one this week). We went to our friends house located a half hour out of the city. I got a ride with my friend, as I hate driving in the dark if I don't have to. It was a fun evening. Again, lots of yummy food (can you tell we like to eat?), fun, laughter and a surprise activity.

Here are some pictures of that evening....
                                             I told you I had a thing for Christmas trees....
                                                        Her fake TV fire place...love it.
 The bday girl on the left. And lots of yummy food. We had shake n bake chicken, potatoes, veggies and cranberry sauce. DELISH!
 Cranberry ginger ale and grape juice. I loved this combo. I usually do ginger ale and cranberry OR grape juice.
                                                         Eggnog cheesecake.

                      Our surprise activity was that we each got to do our own gingerbread house!!
                                               This was my victim...uh, I mean project.
                                                   This was not mine...lol. I only wish.
                        This was mine....See, I told you that I am no Martha Stewart...lol.




                        I think was a great idea, because usually Anker and I do one every year, but we hadn't gotten to doing one yet this year. So this was perfect.

I think that is all my ramblings for/on this post! I hope you all understand that I am grateful, but I am just feeling the Christmas pressure. Oh yah, we also need to buy gifts!

A Little Catch Up & A Small Rant(and a Surprise!)

Howdy! Well, as my aunt says, "I'm so far behind, I'm ahead", so I think I will take a page from her play book and just st...