The ABC's of Me

I saw this on Brittany's blog the other day, and I thought it would be fun to do this on mine...

A - Age: 30-something.

B - Birthday month: June

C - Color: Pink,Green
 
D - Drink: Iced tea, Coke

E - Eyes: Blue

F - Flashback: Stirrup pants; walkman, pretty much anything from the 80's and 90's.

G - Game: To watch? Hockey, CFL. To play? Monopoly

H - Hobby: Photography, blogging

I - Indulgence: Chocolate, Starbucks

J - Job: Community Support Worker

K - Kiddos: Childless. but I would have loved to have had 3 or 4.

L - Love: My hubby.

M - Music: Country/Soft Rock/Christian Main Stream

N - Nation: Canada

O - Overstock: Junk!!

P - Pets: One late cat. KitKat.

Q - Quote: Jeremiah 29:11

R - Residence: BC, Canada

S - Siblings: 6

T - Temperature: Hot.

U - University: TRU

V - Vehicle: Oldsmobile Alero

W - Want: To win the lottery; a great vacation!

X - X: 2 exes...thankfully no more!
 
Y - Yuck: Chickpeas, avacado.

Z - Zodiac: Gemini

Last Week and Last Wknd Updates.

I thought I would do a few "real" posts, instead of doing blog hops all the time.

This last wknd was pretty tame, as I pretty much just worked, ate and slept. Anker camped at my parents' over the wknd, and he said he had a great time. I like to have the bed to myself once in awhile. I will put the laptop on his side of the bed, and pop in FRIENDS or a movie.

I worked 12 hour days both Saturday and Sunday, and 7 hours each day Friday and Monday. They were good, but tiring shifts. I did manage to watch a couple of movies, sit outside, and go on a picnic, plus do a couple of Wal Mart runs. It was a good variety of things. In the evenings, I came home, and grabbed some wine and strawberries and relaxed, had a bath and went to bed.

 Friday morning, I helped get Anker ready to leave. I went to a couple of stores to grab things for his trip. I went to work. Thursday, I went to Wal Mart and to the Dollar store to grab some things for my friends Bridal shower, and a late Father's Day gift for my dad. Thursday night, I went to the bridal shower, and relaxed later in the evening. Wednesday, I spent time cleaning off our balcony. I am SO happy that it's done. Now to tackle the INSIDE of our house :) I also spent time reading magazines on the patio after the clean up.

Yesterday, I relaxed in bed and listened to the local Country Station, and Facebooked. I went to Wendy's for lunch, to the library, and grabbed a mocha frap at Starbucks and sat outside before heading to work.

Tuesday, I watched Philomena (or sometime last week, can't remember which day that was). It is SUCH a good movie, and I hope to buy it some day. In afternoon, Anker and I went to the church for a bit, and then grabbed some Iced Caps from Tim Horton's and went to check out some birds at our local park. It is a nice cheap date. Wednesday and Thursday, Anker cleaned the floors at the church, which was nice, since I got some time (and the house) to myself. Not sure what I did Monday, but I am sure it involved going to Starbucks or some other coffee shop.

I think that sums up our week.

Hope your week is going well!

Liebster Award!

I have been nominated by my NEW follower Rachel @ A Vivacious and Carefree Life for the Liebster award!!! This is my second nom, as Sky Anne had nominated me a few months back.

Here goes everything *laughing*

Rules:

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself

2. Answer 11 questions from the blogger than nominated you

3. Nominate 11 bloggers to receive the award

4. Write your own 11 questions for those bloggers

5. Notify them of the award.

So...here it goes!!

11 Random Facts about Me:

1. I am the oldest of 7 kids.

2. I was homeschooled

3. I am a farm kid.

4. I am a preachers kid.

5. I got married a little "later" in life, at the ripe old age of 31.

6. My husband is near;y 15 years older than me.

7. I spent the first two years in the hospital, due to MAJOR health complications...8

8...and I went back to the (nearly) same hospital nearly 34 years later, due to more major health complications.

9. I still buy CDs, and I listen to them on my '00's made stereo.

10. Even though I grew up on a farm, I can't drive a standard to save my life.

11. I have one nephew and two nieces.

Questions that my nominator asked me:

1. When did you start your blog?

I started in 2007
2. What made you decide to start blogging?

To keep up with family and friends; to journal about our life, then eventually it was to blog about our life as a childless couple
3. What is your favorite blog of all time to read?

hmmm..I have a lot!! 

Here are a few of my faves, though..

Sky Anne

Rachel

Kelly 

Ashley 

Louise 

4. Do you use blog hops? If so please share which ones.

Yes!! Here are some of the "buttons" (not links).

5. What is the last book you read, tell us about it?

I am not sure if was the last book that I read, but I read "Safe Haven" by Nicholas Sparks, and I loved it. I have been trying to read Danielle Steels new (er) book "Winners", but I can't seem to get into it.
6. What is your favorite blog post you have written?

Uh..lots! I like ones that bare my soul, though :)
7. Do you work out of the home? If so what do you do?

Yes. I am a casual/on call Community Support Worker for a community living company, and I love it.
8. Which season do you prefer? Why?

All of them! I do love me some summer, though. I love it b/c it is HOT and I can spend time at the beach..and swim...and I love camping!
9. What is your favorite kind of music?

I like all but hard rock (like severe hard rock), and rap.

 10. Do you like sports? If so which ones or one?

You mean to watch? I love figure skating, and hockey, and occasionally, some football, but only the Canadian games (CFL).
11. If you had one piece of advice to give your 16 year old self what would it be? 

No regrets. Don't wait around to go to school, take the class, just DO it!

Questions to my Fellow Bloggers

1.  What movie have you watched 3 or more times?

2. What was the first blog (if you can remember) that you read?

3. Do you listen to the radio? If so, which station?

4. What is your favourite Summer time activity?

5. What/who was your first concert you went to?

6. Do you camp? If so, do you tent, trailer, cabin, RV?

7. Where are you in your family (oldest, middle, youngest, only)?

8. What i your favourite flavour of ice cream?

9. Do you have the entire CD collection of one particular singer?

10. Do (or did) you have pets?

11. Pie or cake?

Nominations

Talk Nerdy To Me

Kelly's Korner

Ashley Lately 

The Litle Button 

A Vivacious and Carefree Life 

 A Coffe Break with Brittany

 Catherine`s Chatter

For this Journey We`re On 

Goat Cheese and Goober Peas 

Heres The Scoop 

Cherry Pie Twins 

(Yes, I realise that a lot of these are Canadian Bloggers! I don`t see too many, and we Canadian bloggers need to be noticed and celebrated, too!!)

Now...go now, and do the same (as a Great Man once said).

PS...I re-read the Liebster Award "rules" and I forgot that that blogs should have less than 300 followers in order for them to be nominated..oh well..i am not redoing it, bc I don't feel like it..haha...most of my noms have less than 300, I think, anyway.

Sunday Social

Happy Monday!!! I need to a few "regular" posts, and I have a few in my head, but I thought I would start with Sunday Social!!

1. What’s your favorite scary movie?
I am not a big fan of scary movies/thrillers, but I did like Deceived when I was young. It stars Goldie Hawn. I also watched Unknown yesterday at work. It's not scary, but a thriller, and I like that, too.

2. What is your favorite weird TV show you think no one else watches?
I am not sure that it's weird, but I do watch 19 Kids and Counting. I KNOW other people watch it, but I don't think it's very popular right now. I also still watch ER and FRIENDS on a regular basis (I have all the seasons. Now THAT is weird. LOL)

3. What is the song you can sing all the words to without any music?
I can't think of any at the moment, but I am sure there are a few.  Usually whatever Christian song we are singing at church or that is popular, or whatever I am listening to at the moment. That goes with/for any song/CD that I am listening to at the moment. I love (and usually know) most of the popular Celine Dion songs, and most of the popular Country/soft rock songs.

4. What is your favorite book to re read?
I don't re-read books in full, but I love to skim through any of my Danielle Steel books that I have. I also love re-reading parts of The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers. My sister took it with her to Spain last summer, and left it (which I told her to do) somewhere for someone else to read, and that makes me sad.

5. The one website you visit more times a day than others? 

Uh....Facebook? Isn't that our "One Stop Shop" now? I love People, and of course, Blogger.

Next week’s questions

1. What was your college major? Did you ever change majors?
2. What is the best purchase you’ve made lately?
3. What is something silly we don’t know about you and go…
4. What is your favorite Holiday?
5. What is the first thing you do when you wake up?

Five on Friday

Happy Friday!!!

Here are my FoF for this week:

ONE
First day of Summer.
Then it's 6 months til Christmas. You're welcome.

TWO
A weekend Alone.

Hubby is going camping this wknd, so I am going to be alone this weekend. And working. Yay me!

THREE

A little (financial) Help from Family and Friends.

Because of our trip, we have been a bit short on cash. Thankfully, our aunt and uncle gave us a bit of money. They are so sweet. I also got some $ from my friend for my bday. Oh, and I got paid today. Not much, as I only worked one day, but hey, it's something.

FOUR

Honey Boo-Boo

I may or may not have recorded it yesterday when it TLC had a marathon on. I watched the last few minutes of an episode, thought it was funny, so I then recorded the rest of them that were on yesterday. We'll see on how much I actually like it.

FIVE

Finally getting our Patio cleaned.

I spent nearly an hour cleaning up our patio the other day. I think that was the first time I had cleaned it since I moved here. Nearly 8 years ago.

FIVE POINT ONE.

Some fun afternoons on my own.

Maybe it was because I was single for so long before I got married, or maybe it is because Anker is such a homebody, but I do enjoy my time alone; either doing things around town (And NOT errands, although I like that, too). I can enjoy time at a coffee shop, reading, or going to the mall, or going to a movie. I spent a couple of great afternoons alone. I went to see "The Fault in our Stars", which is a great movie. I also spent an afternoon at Starbucks; going through some blogs, updagnig my own blog, and just relaxing. Oh, yah, I also met my friend when she texted me to see if I wanted to go a bday Starbucks drink. Since I had already bought my drink, she gave me a GC, which I in turn used on another drink. So yah, I do enjoy time on my own.

Father's Day

This past FD was a bit strange for me. For the past few years, we usually ALWAYS at my parents for both MD and FD. We went for MD. You can read about it here. We didn't to my parents' for FD, mainly b/c we didn't really have the money for gas, I was on call, but also b/c Anker was sick. So, we stayed home.

I picked up my aunt on the way, and we went to church. Anker was sick, so he stayed home. The service was nice. They asked all the men to stand up, which was great, b/c I am SO glad they didn't exclude those who aren't fathers. The kids went around and dropped of Dad's Rootbeer and Cookies. I asked for one for Anker. He LOVED the Root Beer. This is a brand we never get. Shelley and I went to Tim Horton's for a coffee, snack and chat.

The rest of the day itself was ok. I was a bit sad seeing all the FD posts on my news feed, as well as the blogging posts. I felt a bit sad that we didn't go home to my parents' and also that Anker isn't a father himself. I think Anker would have been a great dad. He loves to play with kids, and really engages in them. He is not perfect, not a perfect man, not a perfect husband, but I think if given the chance, he would have made a great father. It makes me sad that we probably won't get the chance to see that. So, I went to bed on Sunday night a bit melancholy.

I am also grateful for the WONDERFUL dad in my life. I did call him on Sunday, and wished him a happy day. I have a card for him, and I will probably get him a little something for the next time we go out there. When I was growing up, MD and FD were almost like Christmas. We made them a nice breakfast, showered them with cards and/or gifts, and let them do pretty much whatever they wanted that day. In some ways, I feel the pressure every year to do something (go there; give them a card, etc), but in other ways, I am also blessed to have them in my life. I know Anker is sad that his parents are no longer alive, so that makes me sad a bit, too.

So, I hope everyone had a good Father's Day, wherever you may be in your life Father-wise.

VIctoria/Vancouver Vacation, Part 2 VIc AND Van

EEK! The last travel post took OVER THREE HOURS! I hope this won't take as long! I am actually at Starbucks hanging out, doing blog and Facebook stuff. I have been here for a few hours already. I would have already left, but my friend texted me (I was already here) asking me if she wanted to meet up with me. We had a nice hour long catch up visit!!! I have been looking at blogs, and doing Facebook...and I did two posts already! I need to do a "normal" post sometime..maybe tomorrow...:)

So..back to our trip (I know you were ITCHING for me to finish/continue, right?)

Oh, but first, let me say congratulates to my blogger friend (I say "friend" loosely, bc she probably didn't know I exsisted until I added her on FB a little while ago) Louise at coming in SECOND in the Vancouver Mom's top 30 Bloggers (yes, there is a link, no, I don't care to hunt it down, mainly bc it has already past)! Go on over to her blog and check her out!!!

Ok..now back to our trip!!!

Sunday

We slept in and had another great breakfast and just lazed around in the morning. Got all packed up and left around 11 or so and went to the Victoria Butterfly Gardens. I was a LITTLE disappointed by it, mainly because there weren't as many butterflies as I would have thought, but we had a fun time, anyway. I took A TON of pictures!

I took these pictures with my phone, which turned out much better IMO.

 These ones I took with my camera.

 The new bird. Sky or Sqwak or whatever his name was.

 I got a few good pictures of the butterflies.

 Not very good, but they are still nice....just look real hard!! LOL

                                                              I love these two.

                                                  These ones are pretty, too.

 I think these were the ones that were ready to hatch.

There were flamingos and birds and fish..and tortoises! Oh and a lizard! And a poisonous frog!

Not sure what this picture is of, but I think it was of the frog.

After the Gardens, we drove towards the ferry, and we stopped for coffee at a cute little Sea Side Cafe. I had their cheddar poutine and a mocha. Sea Horse Cafe is a great little spot. Anker loved their soup.

 After our coffee/snack (and a quick stop at the general store for some candy), we quickly drove to Sidney and wandered around. We were looking for pie. I got a book. It is such a cute little town. Would have loved to have spent some more time there. We rushed to get the 5pm ferry, caught it and had a nice sailing. I just relaxed inside this time, complete with my coffee and the paper.

It was nice to just relax and enjoy the sailing (although I did on the way over, too), and just read and people watch.

Picked up our car on the other side, and went to our B&B. I usually stay at Windsor House B&B (Facebook link only, their site is down, or not working), which I always love, but I was a little late in calling this year, so we ended up staying at Cambie Lodge (again, FB link only, the site was down). I really liked it, but I think I like the Windsor House a bit better :)

We were across the street from The White Spot. It was a shame that we didn't end up eating there. But we had our two suppers already planned, and we have one here (though we have a BP here, too), and our breakfast is included, so we didn't end up eating there this time.

We had supper at Mongollie Grill. We actually have one similar to it here in town, but Anker wanted to take me there It was VERY good! The food was amazing, and ALL FRESH! You also got free soup, rice and wraps. Yum! I almost had their red velvet cake, but I practiced at least a bit of self control. We walked back up to the B&B and watched TV (what is about watching TV in a hotel, or B&B that make it more fun??) and went to bed. Actually, I texted my friend, and hubby watched TV..lol.

Monday (yes, I am almost done..promise).

Woke up and had a LOVELY breakfast!

 Went to my first appointment, which was a breathing test, a walk about test, and an ABG (needle). After that, we wandered around before our next appointment. There's a mall right along the main drag, btwn the hospital and our B&B. It has a few cute little shops, and of course, a Starbucks. There are SO many Starbucks (along with other coffee shops) in Vancouver. One on every street corner. So, we walked the mall, and I grabbed my FREE bday drink from Starbucks, and we spent time just relaxing and reading.

We also got a few fruits and veggies from the market that is in the mall. They had some awesome deals, too good to pass up. Anker walked back to the B&B to drop them off, while I slowly made my way to my appointment. I took a few pics along the way.

 The old Vancouver General Hospital (where I was born). This is used as offices, and procedure rooms.

                                    The street between the two. LOVE it. SO pretty!!!

                               The new VGH, where I was about 4 years ago, when I got sick.
(FYI: the BC Childrens (and Women's) Hospital was finished in the 80's, which was why I wasn't born there. I did have a few surgeries at the BCWCH, though).

My doctor's appointment went well. I was a little low with the lung function test, and he advised me to lose some weight (which I wasn't surprised, I knew he would say that). But my blood test and walking test came back in good order, which makes me happy.

We were all done by 1:45, and we went back to the B&B to relax and have a nap. After some bday phone calls, off we went for supper! BP was about 2 KM (1 Miles). Each way. But it was a beautiful day, so I didn't mind. Even thought have a BP here in town, it was still nice to go to a DIFFERENT one. And we had a gift card, so neither of us complained.

                                                             As we were leaving.

                                                           Hard Iced Tea. Yummy!

                                                           Pizza bread..SO GOOD!

                               Ribs n Fries. And salad. I had to even out the unhealthy part of supper.

                                                           A bite sized brownie!!

                                                  One of the nicest pictures of me, I think.

One our way back, Anker stopped and bought me flowers.

Just had a relaxing evening. I got some more bday phone calls, and we watched TV and went to bed.

Tuesday:

After a nice sleep in, Anker and I grabbed breakfast, got packed, and left around 10. Instead of going back on to the the main highway our normal way, we wanted to avoid paying the toll on the new Port Mann Bridge, we went a different way, which caused us to get lost, and it took a bit longer to get back on to the main road. It was a bit of a stressful time. The GPS wouldn't help us, and Anker gets stressed when he doesn't know where he is going. It also caused a pee in the car incident.

Other than that little blip, we had a great trip, and we are SO glad we went!! We got home around 2:45 pm, which was great. Time to still do some errands, unpack, etc. It was a lovely bday trip/wknd away. We will have lots of memories.