Friday Link ups

Happy Friday!!

Wow...this week has been busy..and then not, then busy again! I am SO glad that I have the wknd off!

Here are a few of my favourites from my week...

1. Dollar Drink Days are Back!

$1 drinks are back at McD's. Happy girl, am I.

2. I got the weekly magazines, and a monthly Mag...

I had to...well, with my friend Kate and her babies on the cover and all...and I also got May's Cosmo.

3. My Yard.

Have I mentioned on how much I love my yard. I spent two hours in the sun yesterday. LOVE it.

4. Frappy Hour!

It's been Frappy hour for over a week, and yesterday was the first day that I was able to participate in it. I HAD to participate in it at least ONE day during the 10 day promotion. I met up with K and H yesterday, and we enjoyed sitting outside, enjoying our drinks.

5. Superhero Party.

I got to host a Superhero Party for a certain little someone. Since I couldn't participate in H's birthday fun that they had last wknd, and since they had had us over for supper last Friday, I thought it would be fun to have them on H's birthday! It was a fun evening, and I think he really enjoyed it. I went all out and got Spiderman decorations, and plastic plates and cups. And maybe a streamer or two.

Here are some pictures...Sorry they aren't in order, but I didn't feel like re-ordering them.

Btwn him loving Superman (which sadly, isn't that popular right now), and him wanting, mac n cheese, salad, pineapple, and waffles, here is what I came up with...

 Marvel Mac N Cheese.

 He wanted waffles, and I was thinking shortcakes, so I combined the two. It was a hit.

 The table all ready and waiting.

 The Happy Birthday Streamer.

 A close up of the table.

 I wrote Happy 4th Birthday, Hayden on the balloons.

 The party started at the door.

 H's birthday shortcake.

We also had Superhero (which I changed to Superman) Shortcake, Spidey Salad, and Superhero Juice. I know Martha won't exactly be pounding on my door begging me to be part of her empire, but I think I did ok :)

6. My Fave Spot.

Well, I actually have two; our table which is now by a window (where I actually will eat breakfast), and this...

Love it, people!! It is almost TOO bright in the morning.

Well, those are my five fave for this week (plus one more).

Yes, I will still put up pics of our house, and our trip to the ranch soon. Hopefully this wknd.

Moving Tips/Let's Be Friends Blog Hop

I thought I would do a post on my tips for moving. And I thought I would also link up for this wks LFBH. You know, to kill two birds with one stone.

Like I had mentioned before, I had been at my last place for over 8 years. And this was the first move that Anker and I had done together, and we have been married for almost 8 years, so you can imagine on how much stuff we have accumulated. So, here are a few tips that I have rounded up since this last move.

1. Start Early (but not too early).

People told us to start packing early. I think there is a fine line btwn starting early enough to not make you go insane, and not too early, so that you are walking around boxes. I think we started a week or so early, and that was plenty of early for us. I have always started by packing my CD's, movies, and books first. Then I move on to knick knacks, and go from there. I am by no means a packing Queen (anymore!), but that is what I have discovered works for me.

2. Buy some Bins.

My brother and his family used bins, and we kind of made fun of them for doing that, but in all honesty, it works! I wouldn't buy a ton of them, though, as they are costly, and although great for storing stuff, are a bit bulky. But definitely get a few if you can. We find that Rubbermaid works the best. Adam and his family also have some see-through ones. They were very sweet, and let us borrow a few that they weren't using, which helped.

3. Don't Use your Dishes

While/when you're unpacking/packing, don't use dishes. My SIL told me to buy some plastic plates, cups and utensils, which are a great life saver. Go to the dollar store and grab a few. You'll thank me later. Or, better yet, go out for dinner.

4. Label, Label, Label.

Nothing needs to be said here. Label a box that says "open me first", with things that you will be wanting ASAP; meds, alarm clocks. We didn't do this, and we wish we had. Label boxes instead of items with in which rooms they should go in.

5. Don't Pack Random Stuff...

..in the same box. Yes, I did this. I may have packed a slipper and cooking oil in the same box. at the end, you just don't care, but try not to do this (except for what I said above). Pack the heavy stuff in small boxes/bins, and the lighter stuff in larger boxes/bins.

6. Have one Person at each End.

I am sure this is a given, but it helps when you have one person at the old place, and one person at the new place (ok, this would only work if you're moving within the same radius/town, etc..unless of course, if one person is already at the new place in the new town, etc). We both started at our old place, and then Anker went to the new place to meet the movers. He helped organized (and did a great job!) at telling them where stuff should go. I stayed behind in/at our old place and packed, etc. Also make sure you each have a cell phone with you (preferably yours).

7. Take Time off work.

If you can, take time off from work. I cannot tell you the amount of times when I didn't, and it wasn't fun, so this time, I took a day off, which helped immensely. I would also suggest that you don't work the wknd after you move and clean.

8. Hire Movers

If you can, hire movers. End of story. Friends with trucks are hard to come by, and everyone has such a busy life, that rarely will there be anyone to help you. Just hire them already.

9. Move Out stuff before you clean.

Just trust me. You`ll thank me later. You`re welcome.

10. Clean and move on Different Days.

Again; trust me; you`ll thank me later. It just is better. It makes sense. Or better yet, hire someone to clean your place for you. If we had had the money, I think we would have done this.

I think that is all my tips on moving for now. I am sure there are more, but I have a day of errands, ahead of me, so I will end here. I hope that helps. It was also great that we didn't have any pets or kids to worry about. ..however..

If you do have pets (coming from hubby)..

1. Have an appropriate Pet Carrier for the move.

2. Give the pet a chance to explore the place first before you bring all the stuff in.

3. Put Fluffy for Fido in a room that is not being used for moving; close the door, and move things around that room (if possible).

As far as moving with kids...

Krystle and H came over and although H was very bored, he did help us by crushing boxes, and putting small things away. And hubby's Mac helped.

...and as far as unpacking....

Get the kitchen unpacked first. Get up your stereo, tv/dvd, etc. Then you have something to listen to while you unpack. Unpack your bedroom ASAP. Yes, I am still walking around boxes, and it has been nearly a week. I blame working this wknd. Unpack a box/bin a day. If you can, keep all your stuff in a room/corner so that they don't clutter up your house...

...and on moving day..

Move your boxes/bins outside, which will help you realize that you really have done more than you think you have (during packing, put the boxes/bins in a corner or room to ease the obstacle course). It also clears up space.

Linking up with Tiffany for:

Random

Duchess Kate has a baby. Honestly, could she ***LOOK*** any more gorgeous?? I love the name they have chosen...and Charlotte is simply adorbs. And let's talk about on how ADORABLE Big Brother George was, looking so much like his daddy, and rocking those tube socks!!!

Can we just please talk about Grey's? Ugh. I can't believe the PD is gone. BOO. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, as he had been talking about leaving for awhile. I hated on how Meridith left with the kids, and didn't tell anyone, but I guess she felt that she had to do it; to heal.

My blogger friend Kelly had a little boy last month. He is so adorable, and he has two wonderful big sisters to help raise him! Go on over and wish her and her family congrats! My other blogging friend Patricia had her baby a couple of weeks ago, a girl, named Amelia. I am sure there are a few other bloggers that I follow that have had babies..including Jessica, but I don't follow them quite as close as I do others...soooo...that is why I only highlighted those two (ok three).

I watch too much TV. We were talking with my brother and SIL the day, and telling them about what shows we watch, and she says "wow, you watch a lot of tv". Yup, she's right. That's not even including the TLC shows that we used to watch (we no longer get TLC anyway...boo). At any rate, yes, we do....which again doesn't include the movies, and extra stuff that we watch. But I tend to watch it long stretches, so as not to totally waste time. I am two weeks behind in DWTS, and 5 wks behind in CTM...and we have to catch up on AD,Y&R, JJ, and Remedy, Big Bang (our PVR was unhooked, so we watched GA on CTV's website, and will have to do the same with Big Bang), and I watched Amazing Race today. One of my favourite teams were eliminated. So sad. Hubby also watches shows that I have no (real) interest in. I will sometimes catch FOREVER, and maybe MOTIVE, but that's about all. But yes, we do watch a bit too much tv.

Hubby is back working at the church a few days a week. It gets him out, and gives him something to do. Even he was saying that he was bored.

We have a yard, people. A yard! I am determined that this will greatly improve our marriage. Hubby has already spent more money than he should getting it going.

Have I mentioned that I love where we live? I love on how it feels so country. Across the road there is a therapautic riding club, and we are very close to the airport, but we can see the stars at night...and actually hear birds (well, we heard birds at the last place, too). There isn't a lot of traffic (we are near the end of the road, close to the airport), so that is good, and our place is quite insulated, so we actually don't hear a lot, anyway. As I am writing this, I can see the moon through the blinds. We also have SO MUCH light! And I love our deep bath tub. I love that we can have people over. We hope to do this a lot. I felt like I could never have anyone over, especially in the last few years; our place was always a mess, and it got very crowded; mostly with Anker's stuff.

That is enough randomness for now....:)

Friday Link Ups

Here are a few of my (moving) favourites  this week...

I was going to talk about a few random favourites, like Nutella pockets and Tim's, and on how I finally got my free drink at Starbucks, but since we have just done a move, I will blog about some of my moving faves that we experienced this week:

1. Our new place.

We moved this (or rather last) week. I had been at my last place for over 8 years. It was time for a move. We love it. It has a spare room, a yard, and lamenant flooring. So far, the neighbours seem nice. It has a country feel out here, which we both love. I am from the country, and although I love the city, as I get older, I am loving the peace and quiet even more. I will post pictures soon.

2. Movers.

Honestly, I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't hired movers. I had booked off the last wknd of May, since that was when we originally were planning on moving, so when this place came up, and we knew we had to take it, we decided to get movers. They were wonderful. We felt very grown up.

3. Friends/Family.

Friends and family came out and helped clean, pack and unpack our stuff. It was such a blessing!!

4. Lieu Day.

If I hadn't taken (and gotten) a lieu day, I am pretty sure that I would still be cleaning. I thanked Jesus over and over all day Thursday (my lieu day), that I didn't have to go to work at/for 3:30.

5. Bins

Buy them. Pack them. Keep them. Use them.

Linking up with The Farmer's Wife

Linking up with The Slaughters

Linking up with April

Linking up with My Life in Leggings

Blogs: What Draws You?

I often wonder what draws me to follow a blog. I wonder what draws people to mine. I only have 31 followers, which is ok. I don't really mind the lack of followers; I just like to get my message of infertility out there. But when I go to check out blogs (for whatever reason), and I see they have thousands of followers, I wonder what the blogger has that I don't (or do). I DO know what draws me to follow a blog.

Here are a few...

Friends. As long as they update (I have had to delete a couple of my friends' blogs b/c they never updated them..lol), they get a follow from me. Hands down.

Canadian. If they are Canadian, I follow them. Hands down again.

Christian/Faith-based. I love me a Christian blogger.

Infertility. I have been looking up and following a few blogs who deal with infertility. I like seeing other ladies who are in the same boat as me/us.

Real: I love the ones where the ladies don't have it all; they have the messy house, know what it is like to not have money coming from both ends. You know..the real people.

Adoption: I will often follow adoption mama blogs. Although I find it hard to see them happy, and with their babies, I do love reading their stories.

Ex-Pat/Missionary Blogs: I have followed ex-pat and missionary blogs. I do tend to find that MOST EP kids are a bit spoiled to the lavish life, and are a bit rude (just from what I have read on their moms' blogs), but I do enjoy seeing different parts of the world. Missionary blogs (though not many around..sadness!) are awesome as well, as they provide a totally different way of seeing things.

Link ups: Ones who do link ups that are of interest of me are ones I follow.

Return Followers: Ones who follow me (usually) always get a return follow from me. That's just good manners. I also have that policy on Twitter (usually), IG, and Pinterest

Farmers/Ranchers: Anyone who is on a farm/Ranch will almost automatically get a follow from me. Bonus if they have sheep!

Home-schoolers: I was home-educated, so I love to read about what/how mama's today are home-educating their kids.

About the blog it self:

I look for blogs that are aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I don't like when blogs are too "busy", but not too boring (ok, mine is, but I do try to sort of make it pretty). I like when there aren't a bunch of posts all over the blog. Not sure how to explain it, but when they are not seemingly in order, it makes it confusing. I like a more linear view of the blog. I tend to not follow style-only, food-only, or decorating-only blogs. They are too boring (IMHO). I also don't tend to follow blogs who have multiple writers/authors, though I am following a few. And obviously,  I follow them if they get updated fairly frequently. I like blogs that have good printing; if they are too small, then I tend to not follow them. Like at least once a month. If the blog writing is too...odd...too quirky, too satire, and just plain doesn't make sense (for me), I won't follow it. I also won't follow blogs where you have to join a Google Circle. What IS a Google Circle, anyway? I tend to follow blogs where/when they have a low-amount of followers.

So, that's what draws me to follow blogs...what about you?

Friday Link Ups

Happy Sunday! Yes, I am well aware that I am SLIGHTLY behind. Oh well.

Since I haven't posted my "favourites" in the last couple of weeks, I may have more than 5...soooo, let's get to it!!!

1. New "neighbour" Blogger:

I just discovered this today! Kara is a lady who I connected with on Twitter. We had a few tweets, and I discovered her IG account, and then I found out that she has a blog. Oh, and did I mention that she lives in the same city as me? I of course, added her to my long list of bloggers! (I follow WAY too many!)

2. AD. The Series/The Series AND Devotional:

First off..I LOVE the AD Series! They are on IG, FB, Twitter, etc. I think even Pinterest! I also saw the Dateline NBC episode when/where they interviewed Mark and Roma (you know, my friends, Mark and Roma!). (and yes, I could link up all those three, but I don't feel like it). Anyway...https://www.youversion.com/ in partnership with Lifeway have created a devotional series. I am loving it.

Every week, in accordance to the episodes (at least that what I have observed), they bring out/up another devo plan. Love it. Even though I may be a bit behind, I am really enjoying it.

3. New Jammies:

Ok, they may not be TOTALLY new, but they are my newest jammies that I have. I love them...they  only have spent time in my drawer for a total of 10 minutes, they are either on me, or in my dirty clothes, or getting washed/dried.

4. New Make-up:

A couple of weeks ago, I went to my friends, and had a Mary Kay facial. I wasn't going to buy anything, but I was about to get paid, and I love makeup..so you know...

LOVE it!! I also got the eye make up for free, as well as the bag. I got the cream eye shadow, which I LOVE, and foundation, which I normally hate, as it usually makes me look like a corpse. I tried it, though, and I really like it. And of course, the good old Satin Hands cream is always a winner.

5. New Chatelaine:

Ok, so this (as well as the others that I have talked about) came a couple of weeks ago, but hey, it makes me happy.

6. Free Magazines:

This wknd, I decided to forgo my usual (but not EVERY week) stack of magazines. I went to Wal-Mart yesterday, and I saw their Free magazine, which is now being displayed in the aisle (as opposed to being on/at/in the chCanadian Health Magazineeck out). I love getting them. They are so interesting, and colourful. I also got Canadian Health Magazine, which I haven't seen in quite awhile (it's usually in most drug stores, and hospitals, etc). So, that was kind of fun.

7. Excellent Selfies:

 If I do say so myself...lol....the bottom was taken two Sundays ago, and the top one was taken today.

8. Days in the Sun:

I have been able to spend a few days (even if it just for a half hour or so) sitting in the BEAUTIFUL weather. This was taken last week (last Tuesday) in our local park. It was such a beautiful day! Monday, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, but I was too busy before work to enjoy it. Tuesday was almost as nice.

9. Greek Food (and date with Hubby):

Over a week ago, after looking a place, hubby and I went for Greek food.

It was ever so yummy. Then on Tuesday, after signing for our new place, we had Chinese food. It was very good.

10. Spanish Rice:

I made Spanish Rice for the first time ever the other day. It turned out really well. I even had to substitute some of the ingredients. I used this recipe, and I would defo make it again.

11. Lilacs:

The lilacs are out! They are usually out later at the ranch, so I am STILL not used to them being out in April. Love it. I picked a few while I was at work, and I put them in a cup. Such a lovely smell.

12. Lambs:

I got to cuddle some cute lil lambs a couple of weekends ago. I will do a post on our visit there soon...or never...depending on if I get to it. Ha!

Well, that's what happened in the last couple of weeks with us!!

Linking up with/for:

Guys Behind the Blog/April

Linking up with Betsy for this month's Guys Behind the Blog.

 As usual, hubby won't participate, so I will be answering the questions to the best of my ability.

1 // Has Starbucks ever spelled your name wrong on a cup? If yes, what's the craziest way that 
someone has spelled it?
No, but other people have. Also, they usually ask on how to spell it, and/or I (April) usually have to spell it for them.

2 // Who would play your wufe/fiancee/girlfriend in a movie or TV show about your lives?
No idea (even I can't think of any....lol..) K, I am thinking now maybe Drew Barrymore? Hubby has always thought she was cute.

3 // What is your proudest accomplishment?
Probably making me his wife, and his bike that he is almost finishing.
 

4 // What is your favorite holiday and why?
Christmas...and probably Canada Day (July 1st), b/c it is warm.

5 // What is your favorite breed of dog?  If you don't have a favorite breed, describe the characteristics of your ideal dog (or cat)! Border Collies for dogs, and Siamese for cats.


May's Guys Behind the Blog is scheduled for Thursday, May 28 and will stay open through Friday, June 5.  If you want to get a head start, here are the questions:

1 // What is your favorite family tradition?
2 // Who's your male celebrity crush?
3 // What song best sums you up?
4 // What three things do you think of the most each day?
5 // What is your most embarrassing memory?