Cookies, Coffee, and a Christmas Concert

Well, it is now the weekend, and THIS post is about last weekend. Oh well :) First off, can I get an Amen that it is now Friday before Christmas Break? You're welcome!!!! I am looking forward to sleeping in, eating, and enjoying family. I also hope to do some reading..books and magazines! So far, it hasn't snowed in our area of town (well, it did a few weeks ago, but it didn't last or stay long), which I am not entirely mad about.

Like I said, this is about last wknd...I had hoped to have gotten this out beforehand, but somehow, it never happened. So, here is a glimpse of my/our life last wknd (yes, I said wknd twice..lol).

Last Friday, we had our secret Santa reveal at the end of the day. I was super surprised on who had me. Then, I helped my sister-in-law for a few hours. She ended up feeding me supper, which is always a good idea! I decided to go grocery shopping, since it was pay day :) I came home, put away the groceries, and watched a movie and read magazines. It was a wild Friday night, let me tell ya!

Saturday, Anker had to run an errand, so I decided to go with him. It was BUSY, so we didn't stay in that particular area for every long. We had coffee at Starbucks, then came home. I baked cookies with my friend, which was fun. We ended up making gingersnap cookies. It was the first batch of cookies that I had made this season. Anker has made 3 batches (well, four, as one set was remade), but I haven't really been wanting to bake much. I might get a few batches done this wknd, but I highly doubt it. Our fridge and freezer need a wipe down in the worst way, so think that will be the first thing I do! After the cookie baking, I came home and watched movies for awhile, and then I went to my friends house for tea. We had a wonderful visit, and I came home at 10:30.

On Sunday, I woke up at 7:30 (am!), and I had plans on going to my brother and sister-in-law's church, as H had his Christmas concert. I ended up going to the 1st service, and I understand on why the first service is so popular....you're out by 10:30! He did so well in the play..I would have taken pics, but they had asked that we not post any pics that we take on Social Media, and I wouldn't have gotten any good pics of him, anyway. After that was over,  I very nearly went to "my" church, and I probably would have, if Christmas Break had already started...so I went to Starbucks, and I journaled, and then I read. I also went back up to A and K's, but I just wanted to have a relaxing day (well, time on my own, then watching movies). I left Starbucks at 1:30-2. I came home, and I hung out and relaxed for the rest of the day. So, that was my/our wknd!!

 Gingersnap cookies! My friend's mom also gave us tarts!!

 We found these glass ornaments for $18 at Michael's. We thought that for glass ornaments, they were a good price.

I spent a few hours relaxing at my happy place!

Five on Friday/Randoms

Here are some Friday Faves from the last while. I will try to keep them short and brief :)

1) Shoes
I bought some shoes from Value Village a couple of weeks ago, and I really like them. Well, I love one pair. The other pair? Not so much! I wore them to my work Christmas party, and it did not go well! At least they were pretty! I might sell them, or I might keep them for when I need a fun pair of shoes. I really love the other pair, though!

               I love these boots! These shoes below? Not so much! But don't they look pretty?

2) Christmas (plans, movies, parties, decorating, baking, etc)
I actually decorated our tree a couple of weeks ago! We also bought some more ornaments today, so we put some of those on the tree. I went to another party that we girls had. 3 of us were missing, but we four had fun. I had fun at our work Christmas party last wknd. There was fun, food, laughter, and spitting crickets (dude, it's a thing!). The party was over by 8:30. #christianspartyhard I also started (finally!) doing some baking this weekend! I of course, have watched a million Christmas movies!! Our plans this year involve going to Victoria to see Anker's sister and her family. She found us an awesome deal (well, an awesome deal would be for 10$, but it is close enough!), as we don't want to drive, and the bus service since Greyhound closed down is a bit dicey. We are going for 4 days, and we are looking forward to it! There have been a few girls' parties, as well. I think I have blogged about them, but 4 of us girls got together this last Thursday. We had appies, and we watched a movie, called Book Club. It was hilarious!

3) New Owners of our Complex
We have new owners of our apartment complex! We were a bit worried as who would buy it, but we found out WHO bought it, well, we were pretty happy! The owners are actually semi-related to me! The want to keep the place as is, and not demolish it...nor raise the rent..Yay!

4) Hypoxy Rear Defrost thing working
Late last winter (or early spring), the connector to our rear defroster on our car went. Anker found something online that would work. It never came. Well, it took about 4,000 phone calls to PayPal and to Canada Post, and lo and behold, it came! He put it on the next morning, and it worked!!! We said a few prayers that day, y'all!

5) Not getting sick
While everyone at work has been sick with some sort of plague, I thankfully haven't gotten it! I know I still could, so I will not be smug, but to be honest, I am really surprised that I haven't gotten it yet!

6) Dates with Anker
Anker and I went out on American Thanksgiving evening. We were only going to go for coffee (which we also did!), but then went to Denny's for dinner. I had to the Turkey Dinner, and it was actually pretty good!!! It was nice to spend some time together. Then, yesterday, we ran an errand, and then grabbed coffee on our way home. Last weekend, we decorated the tree, and then we had brunch in front of the tree, while we watched Christmas Chronicles. It was cute!

7)) Grant Mullen Wknd
One weekend in October, I went to my parents'. The churches in town were co-hosting a speaker named Dr. Grant Mullen. He is a doctor from Ontario, who now specializes in mental health. I went all day Saturday, and I really enjoyed it. I also got his book, and Mom bought me a dvd.

8) Socials /Snack/Secret Santa(work)
We have socials (coffee/snack/drinks out) once a month. I didn't go to the last one, but I will probably go to the one this week. It is fun to go and hang out with my colleagues, have some laughs, and just relax at the end of the day. We also have snack day one a month (they sometimes happen on the same day!), which is kind of fun! We have lots of fun goodies, and it makes packing my lunch a bit easier (less food to take!). We also had our 2nd annual secret santa at work. It is completely optional to be involved, but I would say about half of us do. I know it's a bit more $ (not super expensive gifts, but it does add up), but it is fun, and it helps to get to know our co-workers a bit more.

 The gifts started coming in on Monday, and I wasn't sad about it. Below is a teacher gift from one of the students.

                           I think this was Day 2 of our Secret Santa. I got chocolates. Yum!!!

9) Senior (and our own) light tours
I went out with a friend to our city's light show last Thursday. It was good, but I could have covered more ground if I had driven myself. It was nice not to have to worry about (not) driving off the road while looking at the lights. After the tour, we went downtown, where we had coffee/hot chocolate and goodies, and listened to a Rube Band play. I was home SUPER late, so was a tad annoyed..oh well. At least I could say that I have gone, now. A week or so prior, my friend and I drove around (after getting coffee from McD's) looking at the Christmas lights. I had fun driving around looking at everyone's lights!

10) Two Party Weekend
The Remembrance Day Long Wknd, I went to TWO parties on ONE night! Can you believe it? You would think I was 35, or something! Our friend's bday was on the 10th, so we went to a Chinese place, and it was so good! After we were done, I went over to my other friend's place for a couple of hours, as she was having her bday party, and she had invited me. I wasn't sure if I was going to go, but I ended going for a bit, and I had a fun time!

11) The Grinch
I saw the new Grinch movie a couple of weekends ago. I liked it.

12) Baby, It's Cold Outside
I am glad this song is back on the air. Really, people have WAY too much time on their hands and over think, sometimes!

13)No snow
I am happy that it hasn't snowed yet! I really do dislike winter driving!!

14) Winter wear
I finally took out our winter wear the other wknd. It has been fairly cold on and off the last couple of weeks. It had to be done!

15) Kraft Lime Dressing
Y'all, if you haven't tried toe Kraft Lime Dressing yet, you should! It is devine!

16) Christmas Concert
Our school's Christmas concert is this week. I will be going, as moral support :) It should be a fun and crazy time!!

17) Being an Aunty Again
I have been sitting on this news for awhile, but I am going to be an aunty again! My brother Luke, and his wife are going to have baby #3 in the spring!! N is 6, and L is almost 4! We are all so happy for them, as they have had some miscarriages, which has been very heartbreaking for them.

18) Advent Bible Reading
I have been slowly been reading some of the Advent readings. I have about 10, including one that I started last year.

19) Placement Cards
I have also decided to open up an Etsy shop, for clearly, I have missed my calling. I was asked to make placement cards for our work party last wknd, and Y'all, they were epic!

20) No Payment on my SL for a few months
No payment on my SL for the next few months, which makes us very happy! We are going to be really short on funds for the next couple of months, as we found out that Anker won't get his full disability cheque next week, and won't get any in January. Not sure on how we we will manage, but we will somehow.

21) Pinterest ideas for school
I am pretenting that I am a teacher, and going online to find a few ideas to keep the kids occupied for the next week or so. I am happy that I found two Bingo Games, a couple of Booklets (including a memory game), and a few crafts :) If you want to find a relatively easy craft, go here to check it out! It is a Christmas Tree craft. You can decorate it with whatever you want! I found a few things from the dollar store, and they worked really well (small pom-poms, sticky "jewels", sticky "gifts", etc). Go here for some free Bingo printable!

22) Steeped Tea Party
I had/held an online Steeped Tea party last week, and I didn't think that I was going to get the host (or any other) gift, and sure enough, at the last minute, some orders came in, so I was able to get a ton of stuff!!!

Christmas Has Arrived at the W House!!

I posted here a few weeks ago about on how blah I felt about Christmas, or at least on how I felt about decorating. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to do some decorating in our bedroom, and last week (?), I ended up decorating the tree! Truth be told, it has been sitting up (with no decorations) all year. If it had been put away, I might not have bothered to put it up, but since half of the job was done, I decided to just go ahead and do it. I am glad that I did. Even though I don't spend a lot of time in the living room, I DO get to enjoy it as I am passing by....and Anker and I even had brunch in front of it last Sunday! I started, and then Anker helped me a bit. He rearranged it a bit when I went to work on Monday, and we got some new decorations from Michael's yesterday (60% off glass ornaments? Yes, please!), so we put a few more on. Anyway.....we don't have a theme this year, although I am thinking that next year, we might do white lights on the tree. We have a TON of ornaments (I actually sold a few last year), so we take turns using different ones each year. Here are some pictures of our very humble decorating style!

                            The lights on our headboard. I think I will leave them up all year :)

 Half of the reason I love our tree, is that I love taking pictures of it with the lights on at night.

                                              Some of our Christmas ornaments up close.

I love these snowflake ornaments!

Our tree yesterday after we put some of the new ornaments on it.

                                                         Our window lights!

If you would like to see more, go to my IG, and or my FB :) Merry Christmas!

Teacher/CEA/EA/SEA Gifts

Oh my goodness! I am sooooo far behind in my blog posts! I am alive, and I am doing well, I promise. I hope you the start of the Christmas season is going well for you. Ours is going well....it seems that I have been really busy, hanging out with friends, with work, etc. Last weekend was a SUPER chill weekend, which I needed! Even this last week I was home for 3 out of 5 nights :) This last week, we did Secret Santa gifts, and we all had fun giving and getting gifts :) Anyway, I wanted to do a quick post on what Teacher/CEA/EA/SEA gifts. I did one on my IG story, but I wanted to do one here. And no, this is not sponsored in any way...these are just some of my suggestions that I think are great for the educators in your life!

1) Mugs

I know some people don't like them, but I LOVE mugs...the cooler the better!!!

2) Gift Cards

Pretty much to anywhere works for me. I love me a Starbucks, or Tim Horton's GC...or to a restaurant is a great idea, as well.

3) School//Craft/Office Supplies

My teacher loves getting Sharpies, or paper (sticky notes) is a great gift, since a lot of teachers use their own money to buy school supplies. Just make sure they are really fun, and try to make it personable, and buy something that only they will use (instead of using it for the kids!).

4) Mani/Pedicure/Spa

I know this is expensive, but consider joining up with a few parents to give your child's teacher (EA, etc) something fun from a spa :)

5) Bath Stuff

I love getting bath stuff!

6) Candles

I love getting candles! I have been burning a lot of candles lately, and I love the smell.

Those are some of my favourite gifts to get (even before I was a CEA), and since I have entered the education world, I have really come appreciate certain gifts even more. But in all honesty, whatever you get for your child's teacher or EA will be appreciated! Just knowing that you thought of them is a wonderful sentiment.

Parties, (The) Plague, (My) Peepers, and Prep

So, I am going to blog about last weekend, b/c it was kind of fun, and eventful. Plus it was a 4 day weekend! I love my job, but if I could work 3 or even 4 days, that would fit me perfectly. Or, maybe I would be bored....who knows!

So, last wknd (Nov 30th-4) was really busy, but fun. I had hoped to spend a lot of watching movies, blogging, journalling, Christmas decorating, or reading, but I didn't get a whole lot of that done. I was super busy, though, which was good.

Thursday (29th): After work, I came home (probably after the library). We had supper (or something), and I relaxed for a bit. Then I went out and did some respite for an hour. I came back and hung out for the rest of the evening.

Friday (30th): Pay Day!!! I just hung out and relaxed in the morning. Then, I went to the eye doctor, and my eyesight hasn't changed in a year. Yay! I ran some errands (I think?) afterwards. I came home, and we had supper (probably). I probably bought something for us to have for supper. Then, I watched Christmas movies, and read Christmas magazines in the evening. Anker went to bed at 2 am, thanks to his GoT marathon.

Saturday (1st): I ran a couple of errands, paid rent, chatted with our neighbour, then grabbed a few things, and  then was out for the rest of the day. I went to the library really quick, then to drop off some cans and bottles at the bottle depot. I met my teacher friend at a local coffee shop, and we chatted for an hour or so. Then, I went to Value Village to see if I could find some shoes, and I did! Quickly dropped something off at my brother's. Then, I dropped my car off at my friends, and 4 of we girls car pooled to our girls' Christmas party! We had a fun night. We played games, sang, and two of the girls even gave us all gifts! Did I mention that we ate??? I got home at around 10. I didn't fall asleep until 2 or 3, though, due to the amount of caffeine that I had drank in the day.

Sunday (2nd): I went to church, but I was late. It was a great service, though. I nearly went to my brother and sister's house after, but I was in a bit of a funk. I ended up coming home, after grabbing lunch for Anker and I, and I had hoped that we could decorate the tree (the tree has been up all year, but with only half the lights on it, and they have been off. Anker had already put the lights on, and they have been "on" since last week). He didn't want to decorate the tree, so I was feeling a bit bummed about that. I watched some Christmas movies, and read some Christmas magazines. I ended up doing some decorating in our room, since I spend a lot of time there, anyway. I posted pics on IG and FB, so if you are my friend, or follow me, go and take a look!

Monday (3rd): We were supposed to have a 4 hour course, but it got cancelled on Thursday night. So, Whoever wanted to make some $ could go in and prep, or do whatever our teachers wanted us to do. I ended spending two hours (after sleeping in and having a lazy morning, of course!), then visiting K for a bit, and then going back and doing another hour. After I was finished, I came home for a bit (I don't think I went to the library), relaxed, watched movies (duh!), and got ready to go to our Church ladies Christmas party! We had a wonderful evening of eating, sharing, and gift giving! I ended up coming home at 10! I went to bed, and thus started a new week!

I wanted to mention that a lot of Kamloops has been down with The Plague. My poor mom even got it for almost two weeks! I thankfully haven't gotten it yet! A good chunk of our school was down, too. Thankfully, as our class is one of the largest classes, we still had a fair amount of kids. I think we only had one day this last wk where all of our kids were there, but at least most of the kids were there (in our class, anyway) for the week.

Also, last year at this time, I had taken at least 4 or 5 (or more!) days off, due to either being sick, or hurting my knee, etc. This year, I have only taken one day off (and that was for a test that I never ended taking!)! I am feeling pretty proud of myself, I gotta say!

Yummy White Chocolate Mocha and a Cranberry and White Chocolate chip cookie at Reservoir Coffee!

                                                           My friend's tree. I love it!!

                          These are the gifts that I came home with from the ladies church party.

                                                    Some of my decorating that I did.

Thanksgiving 2018

Well, it is nearly Christmas, and I am just now writing about Thanksgiving! Meh, what can you do? Ha! I hope I can remember what we all did, as it was so long ago! As I have said before, Canada has Thanksgiving in October, and it is the first wknd of the month. This month, it fell on October 8th. The weekend I will be talking about is from the 4th (or, the evening of the 3rd), to the 8th.

Our school had a 5 day wknd, which was really nice! We EAs had our pro-D day on Thursday, which was a great day. We learned lots, had some laughs, and enjoyed each other. I really cannot remember what I did on the evening of the 4th. I probably went to the library, ran a few errands, and started to get ready to go. Friday, Anker had a doctor's appointment in the morning, and I had errands to run. I think I was busy for most of the day, and we left around 3 or 4. We got to the ranch, and I am assuming we had dinner. Ha! I am reaching FAR in my brain (and on IG!) to remember what we all did, and when we did it....so I could be making some of this up, you never know! We stayed at the B&B, which is always nice. We enjoyed being on our own in the evenings. I read, and Anker played his game. I am just looking at my Social Media posts, and I realized that we didn't take a lot of pictures of/from the weekend. I guess I just didn't feel like taking a lot of pictures, and I wanted to enjoy the moments :)

Saturday (6th), we all started getting ready for the dinner. Mom REFUSES to do the entire dinner herself, and all we kids couldn't agree more. I can't remember what we even made/brought. I think we brought and made the yams (sweet potatoes). Oh, and I also bought the whipping cream (hilarious note: I rarely buy whipping cream, as we usually used the canned stuff. Anyway, I bought it, and was over $5, or something, so I called home, and told Mom that life had lost all meaning, as it was so expensive...lol). K, so, we all helped make the dinner in the morning, and then we, well, we ate the dinner. We went for our annual family walk. We had pie, and visited, and some of us played Dominoes. We won't talk about who lost.

Sunday (7th), we had a nice leisurely morning. I think I helped clean up a bit before we left for church. My brother, S and his family have moved (back?) to Vavenby after being in the Okanogan for the last couple of years. I actually got to hold K (she rarely lets me hold her..she usually just cries) after church for quite awhile! After church, we had a birthday party for a little friend. Then, we had #friendsgiving with some friends. We had a nice evening together. I think we went back to the cabin fairly early, and we relaxed. Actually, I think Anker went to bed, and I read.

On the 8th, we left at around 3 or so. I think I spent time reading after we packed up, and before we left to come home. It was a nice relaxing day. We had a relaxing evening, before embarking on the week ahead.

It was a great weekend, and another one for/in the books!

What I am Watching and Reading

This is/was one of the posts that have been in my drafts waiting to written and posted. I haven't seemed to want to blog much lately. Anyway...I am alive, and doing well (mostly). Our school had a 4 day wknd this last wknd, and we staff had a 3 days wknd. We have had our first skiff of snow (which has now melted), but it is pretty cold :)

I have seen people do a "What I am watching and / or Reading Post", so I thought that I would post one similar. First off..watching :

I rarely watch shows "live". I 99% of the time watch them on the PVR. I am not going to include Christmas Specials, or award shows...b/c those are pretty much a given..though I haven't actually watched an award show in ages. I think I only watched a few Christmas specials last year. I am not going to include other random shows (reruns like Frasier, or Murder, She Wrote), or shows that I sometimes watch on HGTV, FoodNetwork, W Network, or TLC (though I guess I could), as I watch them on and off (I tend to record something for a few months, then I stop, then I start up again), or DVD movies, or random movies that come on TV :)  I am basically going to talk about shows that come on the major networks. Though I guess I could list ones that I watch on NF :)

1) Hallmark (Christmas) Movies:

Ok, I did say that I wasn't going to list off random movies, but Hallmark movies are not random! I love me a Christmas Hallmark movie!! I get them on W Network (I don't think we have the Hallmark Channel). I have probably 30 movies that I have on our PVR. If I have watched them before, I may or may not watch them. Sometimes, I will watch a good chunk of the movie, before I realized that I have watched it before :) There is something about a HallMark movie..they are clean, fluffy, and light. I was watching some Fall-themed ones before starting on Christmas ones :)

2) The Good Doctor:

I love me some Shawn Murphy! That show is superb in every way. I hope it continues for a long time. I love the story and plot lines. I hope that Shawn and Leah end up together :)

3) The Neighborhood:

This is a funny show that I decided to try when I first saw it preview, and my view is mixed. I think it will take a year or so before they find their groove, but I think it could do really well.

4) Big Bang Theory:

I am sad that it is in its last season, but I am glad that they are choosing not to drag it out for too many seasons. I hope it goes out with, well, a BANG!!

5) New Amsterdam:

I love this show! Yes, it is another hospital show, but for some reason, they seem to do new and interesting things (or maybe it is just the characters that make it different?). Besides, Ryan Eggold is easy to look at, right?

6) Grey's Anatomy:

I will admit, I am only really watching this as I am a dedicated fan. I actually cannot wait until it is over. I think they have done what they can with the characters and plot lines.

7) The Resident:

I actually nearly gave up on this show, but I am back on the wagon :) I will see on how long I last with this show for this year. I can't believe that Theo from the Cosby Show is in it...as well as Jane Leeves (Frasier)!

8)  This is Us:

I nearly gave up on this show as well, as it was driving me crazy, with all the back and forth, and the random memories not making sense. And again, I might give it another year, and see on how it is. If not, it's "bye, bye, Pearson's"!

9) Last Man Standing:

With Netflix getting rid of seasons 5 and 7 from its line up (thanks!), I haven't been as invested in this show as I was...but, I will say that I am liking it. I love that all but one actor came back!! I think I actually like the "new" Mandy better!

10) The Young and the Restless:

I am sort of taking a break from this right now...but I do love watching it once they get Christmas up :) I will probably watch at least once this week. I know that Ashley is leaving, so I kind of want to see that (if I haven't missed it).


Of course, I will sometimes watch cooking shows, Judge Judy, and House Hunting shows. I also used to watch Love it or List it Vancouver, but I kind of got tired of it. I also tried to watch shows on TLC (Sextuplets, the Busby kids, The Little Couple), but I got kind of tired of it, so I am taking a break from that, too.


Now, for what I am reading:

Less and less magazines :) I have given up reading Hello Canada, and InTouch. I still read Redbook, and GH, and People, and Us Weekly. I am of course, reading Christmas magazines. I will try to read a Christmas book or two this year. **oh my...it is now December 2nd!!** I haven't read People or Us Weekly in ages...I am still working on September issues of People....not sure if I will ever get back into reading them. I have been reading Danielle Steel books, and lots of Christmas magazines :) I also hope to try to read a Christmas murder mystery or two. I am not a big murder/mystery reader, but I saw some books by Joanne Fluke that looked interesting, and I have started on a Debbie Macomber book. I hope to also start on Max Lucida's book, Anxious for Nothing.

Since this post has been waiting to be finished and published for forever, I will finish this off, but as of December 2nd, these are what I am watching and reading :)

The BunHat

A friend of mine asked Anker to make her a bun-hat. I had never heard of it before. Well, we liked it up, and he was able to knit her one. Then, he knit me one. I love it! I haven't had a chance to wear it much, thanks to the lovely weather that we have been having, but I have it all ready to go! 

Christmas is Here....

...and I am not feeling it. I mean, I have watched my10000th Christmas movie, I have listened to some Christmas music, and we even made our Christmas plans. But, I haven't started baking, shopping, nor decorating for the season, despite all of the happy Christmas photos I see on Social Media. I know that I say this every year..and every year I WILL end up decorating, but right now...meh :) I wish that the cleaning fairy, and then the decorating fairy would show up and clean and decorate for me :)

I think it is because I don't feel like we have a nice (or clean) enough house, nice enough decorations, or nice enough....??? Part of it also is because we don't get a lot of company...and I don't spend a lot of time in the living room. I spend a good chunk of my time in our bedroom. I think if we had kids, we would tend to do it...also, part of it is b/c we grew up not putting up the tree until well into December. Since being on my own (and then getting married), I/we usually have put up the tree anywhere from mid-November, to early December. We also keep it up until well into January. One year, we decided to not put a tree up, and we put up a small table top tree, and a few decorations and lights, and we really enjoyed it. I am thinking that we might just put some decorations and some lights, and call it a day. Though, our tree is already up, so half our work is done for us, right?? We might put the tree in our bedroom, and then find a smaller tree for the living room. I know people who have a bunch of trees in their house. I think two for our house would be more than enough!

And then there is the shopping! Oh, the shopping! The people, the stores, the sights, the sounds...the  traffic...the parking lots, driving through the ice and snow...the overstimulation of the senses! And the quest to get the perfect gift! Ugh! I used to really like it...and I DO..BUT, it is stressing me out more as I get older...maybe because we don't have a ton of money to spend on others. I hate that Christmas is SO commercialized! I doubt very much that Mary and Joe registered for their Baby at Babies R Us. Don't even get me started on Black Friday, Small Town Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. Since when is everything about STUFF!!?? Yes, I love stuff! Don't get me wrong. But, guess what? That "stuff" costs money! We don't need STUFF!!! My IG, and Blogger were/are filled with Cyber Monday deals, and I could honestly care less. I do love gifts, they are my love language. I am not a huge one to volunteer, but I might decide to do some of that one year. Or, I might even give gifts of World Vision, or give gifts to/in the community in someone's name.

Then there is getting to your destination for Christmas. If you are close to where you will be staying..Yay! But most of the time, one has to go somewhere :) You gotta drive (in snow!), and worry if your car will make it...worry about the other drivers...and then you have to come back home!

It sounds like I am a Scrooge, and I am really not. The problem is that I LOVE all these things...I love the light, the sounds, the decorations, the shopping (yes, I do), the music, seeing the kids in their costumes at their concerts. going to fun plays, drinking Christmas drinks, eating Christmas foods...the music, the movies, the Christmas parties, the dresses..the list goes on! But I feel that I am insignificant, and that I am not "enough" or "good enough" to get, do, and give these things. And also, that I am lazy! Ha! But, I also know that it is wrong to think that....b/c really, the person you are doing this all for is yourself, and God (well, I don't think He really cares about the decorating!!). And honestly, isn't the really the whole point?

We are Family

I **still** have a few posts that should get out..and no, I didn't do them this weekend! I was busying doing, well, not a whole lot..ha!

I just wanted to take a moment to talk about something I know I take for granted..a lot! That is the wonderful (well, most of the time!) relationship that our family has. Now, please know, that we are not perfect. We fight, we hurt each other, things get miscommunicated, we might ignore each other for awhile...we get upset with each other...BUT...we always forgive and go back to one another. Just an FYI: I am talking about my side of the family (immediate, extended, and I am talking about both my mom's and dad's side..with us, and with each other). Anker's parents are no longer around, and his  one sister (who is very different, but we do connect with) lives in the Island, and his other sister lives in the States.

The reason that I got thinking about this, was that I have just finished reading a book by Danielle Steel, called The Award, where the daughter was the most despicable person around, and was bitter towards her mom and about her life in general until the very end. I was thinking on what a wonderful relationship that I have with my mom.

Just a quick backstory: My dad is a 3rd generation sheep rancher, as well as a pastor of our local village church (no, it's not a Hallmark town, sadly...lol). My family also home-educated us (we older kids went to school for a few years, then younger kids have never been to school), and there are 7 of us kids. There are 3 older kids (I am the oldest), and then there is an almost 8 year gap between the older set and the younger set. Anyway, all that togetherness (along with my grandparents-who are dead now-and my two aunts-followed by two uncles) could have caused A LOT of issues...and while it has and does, we always end up talking things out, and loving each other again.

When I hear of families who don't talk, or who are estranged, it really does break my heart. I cannot fathom it, actually. Yah, they drive me nuts, and they are annoying, and there are things about them that we can't stand, or that we wish we could change...but guess what...they are our family!!! They are the only family we will ever have! Yes, there is my work/church family, and they are awesome....and yes, they have sometimes taken the place of my family-family, and they should at times. Our family-family isn't (and can't) always be there for us, and help us out when we needed. But, there is A LOT to be said for having a wonderful relationship with our family-family; our siblings (who are our first friends), our cousins (also, one of our first friends), aunts, uncles, grandparents, not to mention, our parents :)

I am just happy, proud, honoured and blessed to call my family my friends!!!

Five on Friday

Here are some of my tops faves from this last week:

1) Books

2) Throw Blanket

3) Starbucks

We are a bit mixes on their Christmas Blend this year....but mixed with our regular coffee, it is actually really good!

4) Walmart Loot/Anne of Green Gables Series

Found this Anne of Green Gables sets for only for $7 off one of the buy and sell sites! This reminds of me Christmas!!

I have wanted to buy The Grinch for ages, and I finally found it for $8 at Wal-Mart. I also got the Home Alone Series! I also found this beautiful Cranberry (?) sweater, and I love it!!! I really want to get another one (different colour), but I probably won't.

5) Purse

I found this purse at our local thrift store for only $11. So far, so good! I can keep all my junk in there!!!