Christmas/Birthdaay Get-together

A couple of days before Christmas (ok, a week), we girls got together for a partial bday/partial Christmas Celebration. It was a lovely evening filled with food, fun, and fellowship. The bday girl, M had had her bday on Dec 4th, so we all came together for a belated bday party. We all met at our friend C's house, and had a great evening together.

 The bday girl and the cake.

 I loved C's Nativity set.

 The food.

 I loved her mantle.

I loved her tree.

We also watched "Just Friends", which I hadn't seen before. It was ok, but not great. It was such a great night, and great it see everyone again.

Snow Day!

I have had a few posts mulling around in my head, mostly those about on infertility, but frankly, who wants to read another depressing post?

So, I thought I would share some pictures from/of the last 24 hours. Yes...today was considered a SNOW DAY, and it looks like tomorrow will be as well. Now, we Canadians are no strangers to snow...we can plow our way out of (almost) anything; we will send our kids to school despite the chilly temperatures; we run (well, I don't, cause I am not crazy, but others do) during the long, cold winter months; we don't think twice about driving anywhere in any condition (well, I actually don't like winter driving...but other people don't seem to worry about it)...but these last couple of days have been CRAZY! Schools were closed...a lot of businesses were closed; it has been a mess...and we HAD to go out today. I asked hubby very sweetly if he would drive me, and he said yes. I am SO glad he did, cause it was awful. The roads were packed, and it has snowed on and off day. Thankfully, the worst of it was after I got home yesterday from work, but even then, it wasn't great driving. Thankfully, it only took me a few minutes longer than normal to get home.

So...here are some pictures of what it has been like...we had literally dig our car out today..and we slid a few times, got stuck in a parking lot, and took three tries to get up our driveway. Thankfully, we have two, as the first one was impossible to get up. Today was an adventure, to be sure. There were cars slipping and sliding; it wasn't pretty.  There is also more snow called for tomorrow. Oh goody. Thankfully, I am not scheduled to work tomorrow, so I am declaring tomorrow a PJ day.

Ok..here are the pictures

The Weather Network/Channel has nothing on these...

Looking out/through our living room window.

 These were taken today. I actually went out on our deck to take them.

 Yes, our lights our still up. And yes, that's snow on our balcony. And yes, it's that high.

 

 The roads today.

 Where my appointment was.

 Our car. Oh goody.

 The cars in our complex.

So, yup, it was a snow day! I got so chilled, since the bottom of my pants were SOAKING wet! Yes, I don't really have proper boots. So not very Canadian of me. I only have some nice dressy boots. I had a pair of boots, but I never used them, so I gave them away...or are they in our winter bin? I am not sure. Perhaps I need to dig them out/up again? If I don't have them..then I have a serious problem...will have to try to find a cheap pair, I guess. But by then, I am sure the snow will be gone, or at least lessen.

Five on Friday/Oh, Hey, Friday!

Happy New Year!!!

I will try to make this a short post, b/c it took me forever to write the Christmas one!

Here are some of my current favourites of the new year...

(I realize that a few of these happened technically after Friday, but oh well)

1. Downton Abbey

Yes, it is back! I watched it last night, and I have to admit, it wasn't as exciting as I was hoping..and I am finding that there are too many characters...but it's still a good show.

2. Night Shifts.

Ok, I don't really like doing them, but I DO love watching stuff on my laptop while I am doing what needs to be done. These last few nights, I watched a bunch of movies, ER, FRIENDS, and Big Bang Theory. And I get to sleep during the day.

3. Prolonged Christmas

It is still Christmas at our house. I don't have the energy to take down our stuff. Plus, I like the pretty lights. I am still watching Christmas movies, and listening to Christmas music.

4. Wine

I have discovered wine. I have never really liked wine, but I have found a few that I like, and I really love the blush ones. SO GOOD. I love Jackson Triggs, and Gallo Family wine. It tastes like juice. Yum!

5. New/Returning TV Shows.

Celebrity Apprentice, Grey's Anatomy, and a few other shows are coming back. There were also a few other ones that I remember thinking that looked cool. Can't remember what they were, though.


Linking up with April

Linking up with Karli

Christmas and New Year's Wrap Up

Wow..yes, I am a few weeks behind. I just didn't have the incessant need to blog the second Christmas and New Year's finished. Plus, I was too busy and tired to even think about it. Ha! I have like a million pictures to post, and lots to tell...so, here we go!

I survived two week so crazy! I survived, and better yet, so did everyone else! Btwn work, family stuff, and all around craziness, it was BUSY!!! Our tree is still up; that's how busy I was.

So, I will start with the the 21st, and give a quick run-down on our couple of weeks. Then I will add pictures...

This Christmas was an interesting one. Mainly because I worked a lot of it, including Christmas Day. I have NEVER worked Christmas Day before. I have worked Christmas Eve, and Boxing Day, but never C-Day. It was also a partially brown Christmas. Most of our snow that we did have had all but melted, which was great for driving (I hate winter driving). We got our snow after Christmas; the 27th, to be exact.

Sunday, the 21st, I worked all day. Monday, the 22nd, I cleaned up the house, as we had a friend stay with us for the night. She was on her way to Vancouver (flying), and wanted to get in before the snow came. We had a nice evening; she took me for supper, and we spent the evening relaxing, and chatting. The 23rd, we hung out for the day, and Vicki and I ran some errands. I think we grabbed lunch while we were out. Anker drove her to the airport, and I went to get some sleep before work. I worked the night of the 23/24, which I think went ok. Came home and slept for a bit, and Anker and I grabbed McDonald's for supper. And we had the Holiday Share Box. Extra yummy. Then off we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church. It was a very nice service, and A LOT of people came, which was great. It was nice to see people, and wish them A Merry Christmas. Came home and relaxed and watched the first have of FROZEN, and went to bed. On Christmas Day,  I woke up early (well, we both did), and opened the gifts from each other (it wasn't much), and then it was off to work for me. It was a good, but busy day. Came home and relaxed for a few minutes, and then we went to our friends for dinner. We had a lovely time, and came home around 9. On Boxing Day, I went to work, and then came home and relaxed. I think we watched the last half of FROZEN. Yes, my husband likes that movie. I spent the evening organizing the Christmas gifts (just stocking stuffers this year), and wrote some Christmas cards, while watching a Christmas movie or two...and fell asleep at 1 am.

The next day, before going to my parents', I made a quick trip to the dollar store, as I found out the night before that I had no stocking stuffers and a few other people didn't have very much, so I quickly grabbed a few more things. Then we hit the road.The roads were ok, but not great. Thankfully, our friend let us have the use of her vehicle, which was such a blessing. One really cool surprise that Seth brought his girlfriend and her sister. It was fun seeing them again (they used to live in Vavenby), and made everything the merrier. We stayed in the B&B, which we both love. We had a lovely afternoon/evening together. We opened out gifts, and had a lovely supper together. Just relaxed in the evening, which was great. Sunday, was spent with family; eating, relaxing and visiting. My sisters and I even had a wine time. And that's when we had our white Christmas.  it snowed for nearly 24 hours non stop? It started the 27th (it started when we got to Clearwater), and it kept snowing until Sunday night. Saturday night, I went over to visit my aunt and uncle, and we had just started visiting, when the power went out. Thankfully, they have lots of candles.We had such a fun time together in the glow of the candles. Went back to the cabin and chilled for a bit, and the power came on at 11. We left the next day, and the roads were pretty good. Came home and just hung out for the rest of the day.

I worked the 30th and 31st (both nights), so it was basically just filled with my sleeping, and eating. And working. I did watch a few movies on the 30th; some of the Christmas movies that I hadn't had time to watch yet. New Years Eve was really nice, despite my having to work. I slept, and then woke up to a lovely spread that Anker had made. We watched a couple of movies, and ate finger food. Yum. Went to work, and came home New Years Day, and pretty much chilled the whole day.  I did to my friends/neighbours for a coffee and a visit in the evening, so that was nice. Friday, was pay day, so I ran around doing errands, that may or may not have included the current weekly magazines and Starbucks; came home, slept and went to work. Yesterday was pretty much the same. Now, I am off for a few days. And I am done. And tired. The tree and decorations are still up. They may or may not get taken down this weekend.

I also got over a touch of the flu. I got it yesterday (Sunday), and it got worse. I didn't throw up, but I sure felt bad. I just now tried to eat something, and I couldn't even eat it all. Drinking fluids seem to be ok, though.

Well, I guess that sums it up...here are some pictures....
 Montana's Chicken and Waffle sandwich. I never thought I would like C&W, but I had tried it a few times, and I actually thought it was pretty good...so when Montana's had this on their menu...well, I HAD to try it...it was very good!

 What we got.

The opened gifts under the tree.

 Anker bought me some cute little slippers.

 He made this beautiful glass necklace.

 The road going home...just outside of Clearwater.

The back road. So close to home. Love it.

 My parents' tree.

 Anker opening up his gift. He got slippers.

 For "stocking stuffers", we actually made out quite well.

K, not the best picture..my camera was being dumb.

 These pictures are a little better.

The dinner was "just" our family, and the aunts and uncles came for dessert.

Plum pudding. SO GOOD!

What is Christmas without a game of Risk? Anker watched the first game, and Sunday afternoon, they played another game, and Anker joined them.

 Hanging out at my aunt and uncles house. I took these just before the power went out.

The power outage!! Lots of candles.

Mincemeat tarts and cheese...so good.

This is the only picture that I took of the outside (other than one at night) while I was there. It was beautiful.

 The trip home.

New Year's Eve...

Sadly, I didn't get the greatest picture...but I wanted to document the evening.

Well, I think that's all the pictures that I am going to share...the other pictures are pretty much the same. I hope you enjoyed our Christmas update!

I also hope that everyone had a very wonderful Christmas and New Year...and that 2015 is a wonderful year!

Leaving you with a Christmas selfie