Random Pictures

Here are some pics from the week. I was going to add them to the FoF post, but I thought that I would do a different post :)

                                   I loved this cup where I was house sitting this last wk!

                                                     I found some fun dollar store finds!

            I got some new Tupperware Snack cups, and also some new tumbler brushes.

I found some awesome glue at Staples the other day! I might have to go back and buy some, you know..for the kids! This was Glitter Glue :)

I somehow missed getting last week's Woman's World, so I found one copy from each week, and I bought them :)

Anker made muffins today! They are zucchini and carrot :) Both of the veggies were grown in our garden.

                                        You can barely see the mountains in the background.

 This was looking across the road. There is supposed to be a mountain there. Can you see it? No, neither can I.

The sun today. At least it's pretty.

                                           These bottom two pics were taken today. Gross!!!

I felt kind of blah today. I didn't know what I wanted (or should!) do. I had hoped to get some cleaning done this summer (our bedroom, the rest of the house up and down), but I never got any of it done. I might get some done either this coming week, or the wk after. I enjoyed house sitting at my friends house last week, and I will be doing some house sitting this week. It was fun being in another part of town and shopping in stores that I don't get to very often. My cousin and her family are coming in tomorrow, so I think we will see them. The smoke isn't doing anyone any favours. My eyes are pretty sore, and poor Anker has been having a bit of trouble with his breathing (and yes, smoking cigs doesn't help, either). I also enjoyed some library time this week. I don't think that I will get back to the beach this summer, as the smoke is supposed to stay awhile. Maybe I get in some beach time in September?

Five on Friday

Hello from Smoky Kamloops! Yes, that IS our new name! Most of the province is on fire, so there smoke pretty much everywhere you turn. I was talking to one of my SILs who lives on VI, and she said that it was clear today, but that they had some smoke earlier in the week. It is now seeping into the buildings. Ugh! But my mom reminded me that at least we aren't the ones having to evacuate. I am VERY thankful for that. The only thing that we have to put up with is some smoke. Hey, at least it is cooler!! I managed to clean out our fridge today. There were some science experiments in there, y'all!

Her are some fives from the week:

1) I met up with THREE friends for coffee this week! It was fun to connect and of course, have a Starbucks!

2) I got some makeup from the new Sephora store that opened up. I had fun getting a mini make over and a some free stuff. I then went to get the cheaper stuff from Shopper's Drug Mart, but it is a great place to get ideas :) I got some redness reduction primer from Smashbox, and I really love it! I also got some CC cream from it cosmetics, and I have to somehow try and get some somewhere, b/c I really do love it!!! Then, since I signed up for their rewards program, I got my birthday gift from Bite Beauty, which was some lip liner, lipstick, and some lip scrub and balm :) I found some redness reduction stuff from Pur Minerals from Shopper's (which was down from $43 to $12.99), and I would have bought that, but I went to our local (closer) SDM, and they had one from Maybelline (which was normally only $14, but it was $11-something). I actually haven't tried it yet, but I cannot wait to see on how it works!

                                                          Maybelline Redness Control

I tried the Sephora stuff today.

                                                           I love my new makeup!!

3) I went to Costco with K, and I saw these Bark Thins, and I HAD to have them. Since she owed me $7 for something I picked up for her, she said that she would buy something for me. They were SO GOOD! I actually had had some where I was house sitting, which was on how I knew that they were out of this world!

4) Anker and I saw on our local midday news show that they were giving away metal straws if you took a picture of your recycling, and showed them. So, I did just that, and I got my straws!

5) I also tried a new cider this week, and it was very good!!! Naramata Cider is SO GOOD!!! I don't know where she got it, but I will have to try to find it and get it soon!!!

What are you faves from the week??

Bubly Sparkling Water:A Review

A few weeks ago, I decided to try Bubly Sparking Water. I tried the lime flavour first. I wasn't a huge fan of drinking it on its own, but I did like it with cranberry juice, cider, etc. I tagged them on my IG stories, and they reached out to me to offer me a coupon for a free case! I decided to try the orange flavour. I really do love it in other drinks, and I think I can almost drink it plain. I love that the taste of carbonated water isn't that strong. I most definitely will be buying it again. I hope to try to learn to drink it alone (instead of putting it with sugary drinks), but for now, I will enjoy it with juice and cider.

**Full Disclosure**, I was given a free coupon to try it out, but my opinions are all my own!

Summer (so far) In One Post

I have to say that this summer has been pretty good! For some reason, I am feeling less stressed than last summer. Not sure why, but hey....I will take it!

We have had a mixed back of weather...warm, cool and rainy, then back up to warm (with a bit of rain), and now smoke (thanks to all the fires burning in BC and probably some from the US, and who knows where else), but it is cool. Weird.

We will have had a total of 10 weeks of summer break when I got back on Sept 4. I think I go back for a meeting, and class schedule on August 30th, but I don't count that. I don't know if I am excited to back or not, but I am looking forward at getting back into a routine (such as it is), and having something to do every day. Oh, and the money is nice. Ha!

I have met up with friends and family for coffee, gone to the beach once, house sat 3x (or will have by the end of the summer), read (magazines and books), watched countless movies and tv shows, done zilch cleaning (well, I did clean the house a bit when Mom came last month), slept in, gone to Vancouver, Calgary, gone to my parents' a few times, endless trips to the library, spent money on dollar drinks at McDs, gone to the park a few times, celebrated our anniversary, done some babysitting, listened/watched numerous IG stories (as well as done more than I probably should), shopped, swam in a couple of pools, gone on a couple of dates (with my husband, just to clarify!), visited my childhood friend, gone for a few coffees alone (which I need and love), watched Mama Mia 2 (it was really good), started learning the worship/sermon slides at church, gone two a couple o BBQs, met up with friends for lunch a few times, ran numerous errands, and so far, I have only managed to get one sunburn! It has been a pretty good summer, and I am really happy and thankful that it has gone so well.

One of the highlights this summer is that Anker came to church with me a few weeks ago! He hasn't come again, but that has mostly been b/c I didn't go last week (oh yah, I managed to go to church 9 wks in a row....whether it was in Calgary, at my parents, or here in town), and this week there was (and is) a ton of smoke, and that was bothering Anker (honestly, I think he was exaggerating a tad, but to be fair, it is pretty bad, and it does affect both of us). I hope that he will come with me either the next wk, or the wk after (I might skip next wk).

We also had a lovely anniversary on July 27th. I cannot believe that it has been 11 years!!!  I might do a marriage post sometime, but it is pretty much the same stuff that I say each year....:) It's hard work, blah, blah :) We had a relaxing day, and then we went to dinner. We spent time outside in our yard, and I read for a bit.

Well, I think that about does it for now. I won't post any pics, as there are all on my IG feed, or my FB :)

Also, my apologies to all my American friends who are sending their kids back to school tomorrow. Or, maybe they are all happy..haha :) I love that we still have 3 more weeks left....although I am itching to start the summer in May when we still have weeks left to go! So, happy first day back to school for tomorrow!!! Now, pardon me while I have another glass of wine and sleep in tomorrow :)

Weekend Wrap Up: Canada Day Edition

Well, it is now mid-August, and I am just now writing about my Canada Day wknd. Whatever.

Friday: I had sushi with a friend at Edo Japan, and it was really good! I think I ran a few errands, and then I left to go to my parents'. Anker decided that he would stay home this time. I am not sure at what time I got to the ranch. It was probably around supper. I really remember what I did, but I am sure it was a fun time. Ha!

Saturday: The wknd was kind of cool and damp, so I couldn't go into the pool, but I did spend some time reading, and visiting. I think I cleaned up the kitchen. A friend of Mom's came over, and she helped her with her garden. To be honest, I was in a bit of grumpy mood, but I still managed to enjoy the time out there. My sister made pies for the piecakken (yes, it's a thing), and we watched The Shallows in the evening.
                   
                                           It was so cold, that I had blanket while I read.

Sunday: Church, and then we started getting ready for the party. My aunt and uncle hosted the CD BBQ, so all we had to do was get things ready to go. I don't remember what I brought. I think chips. Then, Mom and I ran a short errand. We read magazines and then came back to join the party. The supper was SO GOOD, filled with all kinds of good things! The piecakken was a hit, and we all ate much too much. We visited on the deck for over an hour afterwards, which was totally fun. It ended being a lovely evening. The sun came out to play, and then it rained a bit. After dinner, we came home and hung out. I think I ended up reading. My sister in law gave me a lovely belated birthday gift as she was leaving.

                                       

The only red and white picture that I got.

The Piecakken. You're welcome.

                                                              Love where I grew up!

Monday: Vienna and I decided to go into town to have lunch. We thought that we would make use of the time together, before she goes away. We had lunch in town, and ran a few errands, and then came home.

Tuesday: Mom and I went for a walk before I headed out to come back home...around 11 or so. Of course, THAT was the warmest day! I couldn't stay, though, as I had an appointment that afternoon.

You know on how some blog posts just flow so easy, and some are harder? This was harder...I think because I don't remember the entire wknd. Oh well. It took a ton more pics, so head on over to my IG page to check them out!

Five on Friday

Happy Sunday!!! I hope your summer is going swimmingly! Here are some fives from the wk:

1) I have been house sitting for a friend this (and next) wk. It has been nice to have some down/alone time. I have been enjoying reading, watching tv on a big screen, and generally the solitude.

2) I have been getting into Last Man Standing. I love that show!!! I am half way through season 3. I am happy that it is coming back on next month, but I think the kids will be different actresses. Boo. Oh well. I found out that Tim Allen is a Christian, so there are some Christian things that come through on the show.

3) I did an IG story, and I mentioned that I had tried Bubly Water, and they reached out to me, and said that they would send me a coupon to try a pack. I have to admit, that I am not 100% loving it, but I do like it in juice, or I have even tried it with cider. Yum! I have tried both the lime and orange flavours.

4) I went to the mall the other day (the whole day was pretty awesome...I read, got things done, and I even helped my SIL out), and I was able to get a few things done. I had a free coupon in my wallet for ages a free tea from David's Tea (which I just found out is Canadian!), and while I normally don't love their teas, I really liked the White Peach iced tea that I got. I also used a coupon from Bath and Body Works that I got at Christmas, and I was finally able to use it. They had some some hand soaps 6 for $20, and I ended also getting some hand sanitizers (b/c hello, school starting!). I gave one soap to H (I was there for a bit on Wednesday evening), as likes having his own stuff, so now I am left with 5. I might give one or two away as gifts.

5) A friend gave me a purse of hers a few months ago, I ended up switching over my stuff...even though that it is mid August. And yes, I will probably use it until December. I never follow the rules. You're welcome.

These are the fives from the week. I will post a post hopefully soon about on how our summer generally is going (which has been going well), and what we have been up to.

Mom and Daughter Road Trip: Vancouver and Back in One Day

Back in November, my Optometrist said that had a misshaped cornea. At first, I thought I had eye cancer. Look it up...it's real...honest (I may or may not have just looked it up right now). Or, at the very least, some sort of eye disease. Anyway...he assured me that it was probably fine, but he wanted to see his cornea specialist. I am trying very hard to NOT keep going down to Vancouver (gas, stressful driving, etc), but you don't really want to fool around when it comes to your sight, so I figured I should make it a semi-important priority.

I won't go through the drama of booking the appointment, but I will say that it took AGES! He thought he could see me in January...they never contacted me until I contacted them...we played phone tag....then they wanted to book surgery...I said, not until I saw the surgeon first....and then the appointment was made for July 10th. Driving with Anker has gotten to be stressful, especially when it comes to the big city. He can, and will do it, but I would much rather go alone, and then him come with me (yes, I know that sounds bad, but it is sometimes true). I even thought about going myself. Then I remembered that I don't like driving in the big city....he would have taken me (he has lots in the past), but I thought I would ask Mom if she wanted to. I would have loved to have been able to afford a night or two down there, but I couldn't, and Mom was busy anyway, so we decided to make it a day trip.

Mom came on Monday night...which kind of stressed me out, but at least it made us clean the house! I had a few errands to do, and I also had an appointment with my GP that day (I thought I was seeing him about my tumour markers, but it turned out that I was "just"anemic), but I didn't know that, and Mom had offered to meet me there. After said appointment, we each had some errands to do, and then I got supper. We had fried chicken, which was really good. We watched a movie called Survivor, and then it was early to bed.

Tuesday, we got up at 6 or so, and then headed out around 7. We ate a quick bite before we left, but neither of us are early eaters, so we had breakfast at the Tim Horton's in Merritt. We got to The Pacific Laser Eye Centre with time to spare. We were kind of hungry, but we wanted to wait until after my appointment. We were wandering around trying to figure out where we should go afterwards, when we happened up Fortune Garden Restaurant. We weren't impressed. We went in to look at the menu, and to have some tea...but they weren't that welcoming (to be fair, it WAS lunch tie, but still....we did tell him that we were thinking about coming back afterwards), and he was actually kind of rude...asking us why we didn't go to McDonald's...which was across the street....if we wanted something in a hurry (we asked if they had something already made up that we could maybe sample). It was all rather hilarious! We definitely decided not to go back there!

So, at around 12:30, we went to my appointment. Again, I won't bore you with all the ins and outs of it (testing, blah, blah), but we found out later that not only was it laser eye surgery (which I did know beforehand), but it wasn't covered under BC Health! It was $2500 per eye! That's a lot of Starbucks, y'all! We wondered if it might be covered, but alas, it wasn't going to be...nor was it really going to be really that helpful. So, we said thanks, but no thanks to that! As we were leaving, we said "Thank you", and I was thinking "for nothing", when Mom said it under her breath! I laughed! As for the real name of what I had....Keratoconus...that is fine for a few years. We will go back maybe in a few years. Even though it was a bit of a waste of time, at least it WAS a waste of time, and we don't have to contend with some eye disease.

We left YVR, and headed for Chilliwack. We wanted to get out of there before rush hour traffic (also, we couldn't find anywhere else to park). Mom told me of a nice Chinese Restaurant that she and Dad had gone to before, and said was really good. I would definitely go to the Mandarin Garden again! The food was DELICIOUS!! It is a very plain, but not dumpy atmosphere, which is an added bonus. On our way back, we stopped at a local blueberry farm. I don't remember the name, or I would link it. I did have some business cards, but I just threw the last one out today! The berries were SO GOOD! I bought two boxes (I think two pounds) for $5 each. It was a smoking deal!

We got back around 8, and we went to my brother's for the night, as they were away. We watched some Call The Midwife, and went to bed. If you would like to see the few pictures (as in 4) that I posted, head on over to my IG account. You can find it here. I still don't know on how to do/link the buttons to IG, FB, etc.

Weekend Wrap-Up: The End of School Year Edition (June 22-25)

Well, I realize that it is now half way through the summer, but I still want to talk about the wknd after school wrapped up. I did kind of blog about it here, but I wanted to do a more in-depth blog post about it.

Friday: School (and staff) let out at noon. Ya'll, we were SO excited!! I got a lot of fun gifts from the parents, and some from other staff. I don't remember what I did that afternoon. I think I had coffee with a friend. It was so long ago now! I probably ran some errands, and then I got ready for the trip to the ranch. I decided that we would leave the next day, as I knew that I would be tired.

                                           I might have gone to Starbucks twice in one day.

Saturday: I don't remember that we left super early. We probably left around 1 or 2. I probably had errands to do, or something. We got to the ranch, and Mom was (as usual!) about to go a do a project, so I went and did the best thing I know how...I sat and watched! Anker went off to find something to do! We visited while she painted, and then we went and sat by the river.  We had burgers and pie for supper that night, and I don't know what we did in the evening. I think we watched a show or movie or something.
                                       

                       Don't worry, I took my feet down the second after I took my picture.

Sunday: I slept in, Dad made me coffee, and Mom did my hair, and I got ready for church. After church, I sat outside and read for a bit. Then I went over and visited my aunt and uncle. Anker joined us, and then we all had things to do, so we all went our separate ways. My other aunt and uncle had invited us for dinner when I was talking to them after church, so we went up there around 6. We had a wonderful dinner, and we stayed until 10 visiting. It was SO nice not to have to leave on Sunday!!

Monday: I slept in, and Dad and Anker had a short visit in the morning. Dad and Anker usually have their visits in the morning. Mom, Dad, and V had to come into Kamloops, so we had the house to ourselves! I sat and read, for a good part of the day! It was rainy and chilly! I actually had socks and a  blanket on. I ended up starting supper, as they weren't back from town yet (we found out that they were behind an accident, and were awhile getting back). I did a "Tupperware Cooking Show" (Ellen should be calling me any day now!), on my TW group (join it if you want!). We had spaghetti and sauce for supper. YUM!!! I was hoping to get into the pool, but it wasn't really warm enough. Anker ended up doing some projects that needed doing, and I was super impressed that he was out almost the entire afternoon, even during the rain! After supper, I think the guys all watched some odd show, and I hung out in the bedroom.

                                                                 Like my socks??

Tuesday: I think I slept in again. Mom and I went for a walk (I think?), and/or we read magazines for a bit. I think that might have been on Monday or the next weekend...I cannot remember. Ha! We left probably around 11 or 12. Maybe a bit later. At any rate, even though I cannot remember what I did, I know that we had a great wknd!!!