A Weekend Away...

Last weekend Nick and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary, and since we rarely get to leave the city, we decided a weekend away would be the perfect way to celebrate. Thanks to our good friends and neighbors at the lake, we still had a $250 gift card from our wedding for the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa in Moose Jaw, just waiting to be used up.

Because I hate to leave my boys with anyone overnight, we tossed around different ideas about just going up for the day to take in some shopping and have some services done at the spa, but in the long run we deciding against the overpriced spa services, and ended up booking one of their mineral water jacuzzi suites instead. The majority of our Saturday was spent in Regina, where Nick and I did some casual shopping in the Cornwall Centre and a few stores around town, and then we headed back to Moose Jaw to check into the hotel. We had Bonanza (of course) for supper, courtesy of my parents, and checked out the casino quick before settling back in to our room for the night.

I wasn't overly excited about the hotel itself, as I had previously stayed there on a business trip, and had a terrible experience. Not only did I have blinds that were stuck open, and a toilet that did not flush, but I ended up on the top floor in a wing of the hotel completely separated from everything else. It took more than half an hour to find my room, as not all the elevators go to this random wing, and when I finally got settled I was unable to sleep because there was a broken vent that was attached directly to my bathroom that flapped open and closed all night in the wind. After filling out the compliment card left in my room explaining how inconvenient my situation was after getting zero hours of sleep and having to attend meetings the next day, they were kind enough to send an apology letter and a "$50 off any hotel room rental" certificate. I was very grateful, and we put that certificate to use this past weekend, and even with an overpriced in-room movie rental and a parking pass, my total bill was only $10.00. We had an excellent stay, and thoroughly enjoyed everything we took in at their establishment. The entire staff was very accommodating and pleasant, and all in all we had a great stay.

When we woke up Sunday, we grabbed some breakfast, did a bit of shopping, purchased an Orange Julius and hit the highway to pick up our pooches from their sleepover at Darlene's house. We relaxed most of the night, and since our actual anniversary was on Monday this year, Nick came home and surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and we spent time together by going out for supper after work and carving pumpkins.

Looking back on our great weekend just reminds me of how lucky I am to have found someone as great as Nick. I couldn't be happier at where we are in life, and am proud to call him my husband. These past two years have just flown by, and I can't wait for many more happy years to come.

Final Resting Place...

After a busy summer, my family finally managed to get together to lay my grandpa to rest forever by spreading his cremated remains. It was beautifully warm and slightly breezy, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. My mom's brother came from Edmonton, stopping in Calgary to pick up one of their cousins, and two more cousins came from the Regina and Assiniboia areas stopping in Swift Current to pick up some close family friends. My mom and I drove together and met everyone there. We were a small crowd, eight in total, but I felt all the right people were there (minus my mom's sister from Vancouver) to pay our last respects.

Before Saturday, I had never participated in an event like that before, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. As everyone arrived fairly cheery and in good spirits, I didn't anticipate any tears, and we proceeded our hike up to the top of the hill, just south of Gull Lake, where my grandpa wanted to be. I had the honor of carrying my grandpa on his very final journey up the hill, and I wound up being overcome with far more emotion than expected. I was filled with regret for all the times I wish I would have spent more time with him, and I wasn't ready to let go. After we released him into the wind, I felt a huge wave of relief knowing he had a good life, and was blessed with an incredibly loving family and a good large group of dedicated friends.

Although I'll miss him very much, my mind is now at ease, knowing he's finally home, resting peacefully with the rest of his family, right where he wanted to be, with a beautiful view of the prairies.

Stuffed Cabbage Strata

Ingredients:
- Cooking Spray
- 8 slices of bacon, cut into 2" pieces
- 3/4 cup minced onion
- 1 cup uncooked instant rice
- 8 cups shredded green cabbage
- 1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
- salt and pepper to taste
- 16 oz. low sodium tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 3/4 cup water

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray a 9x12 casserole dish with cooking spray.
3. Spread 4 of the 8 cups of cabbage along the bottom of the dish.
4. Cook the bacon until crisp, and set aside.
5. Add onions and rice to the leftover grease in the used bacon pan.
6. Cook until the onions are transparent, and the rice is slightly browned.
7. Spread the rice/onion mixture over the cabbage in the casserole dish.
8. Brown the ground beef in the bacon/onion/rice pan.
9. Add the cooked beef to the casserole dish.
10. Add the remaining cabbage to the top of the beef in the casserole dish.
11. Add the tomato sauce, water, salt, and pepper to the previously used pan.
12. Pour the sauce over the casserole, ensuring it doesn't overflow.
13. Top with previously cooked bacon.
14. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
15. Uncover and cook another 10 minutes.
16. Serve and enjoy!

If At First You Don't Succeed...

...try, try again!

That'll be the motto I go with for now to give blogging a second chance, but don't be surprised if somewhere down the road you see a post titled "Third Time's The Charm". Sadly, during my first little blogging spell I only made it to 50 posts, and when I first started, I envisioned myself dreaming up what I would write for reaching my hundredth post - in what I thought would be just a few short months - all the while writing about how fast the time has gone by. Unlike the other blogs I follow (and the blogs I occasionally creep on), I'm not overly crafty, I don't offer any worldly insight or advice, I don't have an abundance of followers, and I don't post things that people in the real world (aside from my immediate family and close friends) actually care about.

However, I've decided that is OK. Even while I haven't been posting I've occasionally gone back through old posts just to see the pictures again, or to bring back simple memories of the things that have no relevance to anyone else in the world but me. Its fun to look back and remember not only the big things, but the little things that take place throughout a person life, and I've decided I'm going to try to continue doing so moving forward. If it doesn't pan out the way I expect it to, then I guess I'll leave the blogging world satisfied with the fact that I tried my hand at something unfamiliar, and gave it a fair chance. But until then....i'm back!

FYI...

I currently have nothing interested to share with the world, and haven't for a while now, but i'll be back...maybe.

A Great Weekend...

This weekend was spent surrounded by family and great friends, and was all-around awesome. On Friday we woke up bright and early to get ready for the parade, which is a must every July 1st in our family. July 1st is also my Momma's birthday, so we always spend it with her, and usually Granny too. We spiffed the doggers up in their bandannas, and made our way down to our old apartment, which is the perfect location to check out all the floats. The weather was beautiful, and we had a great time scooping up candy and waving to everyone we knew. (The dogs had a great time too, and my mom was nice enough to share her freezies).



















After that we took my mom and family to Wong's Kitchen for lunch to celebrate my Mom's birthday, and headed home for an afternoon nap. Around 5:00 we headed to Frontier Days for a few hours where we walked around stockade, checked out all the rides (from the ground), easily ate our weight in fair food, visited with a whole whack of people, and spend a bunch on money on cheesy carnie games. The best part of the day was winning my own little minion by popping balloons with darts. After that we went home for a short while and waited to go watch the fireworks. As usual, we headed out to our top-secret location and ended up waiting darn near an hour for them to start. The grand stand entertainment was running late, and after growing very impatient, we called it quits and drove home to hear them being fired off just as we crawled into bed. Sigh.

Haircut...

I'm not usually one for taking tacky self portraits of myself in the bathroom so I can upload 543 pictures of myself weekly onto facebook, but I just had a long overdue haircut and wanted to share!

New Beginnings...

It's official! After five long years at the Southwest Booster it's time to move on.

I will miss the flexibility and seniority I worked hard to get. I will miss being the go-to person with all the answers in any department.I will miss the few select individuals who made my time there bearable, the ones who I was able to make long lasting friendships with. I will miss being comfortable, knowing exactly how my day will begin and exactly how it will end. However, I will not miss being taken advantage of or being severely underpaid. I will not miss the power trips, the degrading managerial attitude, or the negativity. I will not miss the laziness, the hypocrisy, or the overall stupidity of their distorted corporate vision.

I understand I will need to adjust to new beginnings, essentially starting my "career" from scratch. I also understand for my well-being, my bank account, and for my sanity - this is what's best for me. This is what's best for my future. I'm proud to say that after seven long months of job hunting, I've found something I'm excited for. My last day at the Booster is June 17, and starting Monday, June 20, I will be the new Office & Warehouse Coordinator at Friesen Nutrition's Swift Current Branch.

Can you tell I'm excited!?!
(The picture is a bit fuzzy, but those are the stickers that came with our calendar, and they all say "Party!")

Mother's Day...

I know I'm about a week late, but better late than never right? This year for Mother's Day, Brad, Jess, Nick and I took Darlene out for brunch on Sunday, and had a nice visit afterwards at the house. Later that night, my family came over for supper where we had a superb bbq, and played with the dogs at the p-a-r-k (you can't say it, you have to spell it, or the boys lose their marbles instantly). It was a wonderfully relaxing day, and was well spent with our wonderful moms. I even got creative and pieced together a small flower bowl for each of them!

I've Been Busy...

Busy....well, sort of anyway. Lately, my life could probably be better described as 'detached' from the outside world as opposed to busy. The last few months have been stressful, and I found myself not wanting to interact with anyone let alone write a blog post. The first Sunday in April my Grandpa Dick passed away unexpectedly, and naturally that brought on the start of my somber existence. Thankfully, he passed on peacefully during his morning nap, but unfortunately it was my who mom found him when she went over to take him groceries and do his laundry just after lunchtime. Not knowing exactly what to do, she called me and I rushed over, where 911 had just arrived. We sat in shock for quite some time, did our best to hold ourselves together, and proceeded to move on and make arrangements. As with the passing of any family member, the days went by in a giant blur, and I don't remember much with the exception of being thankful my entire family was able to travel down for the funeral. It had been close to 10 years since I had seen my cousins on my mom's side, and it was the first time the whole family had been together in probably 15 or 20 years.



After everyone had gone home, my mom and I started the process of cleaning out my grandpa's house, and that was a bit stressful too. We had advertised a bunch of his items for sale online, and it seemed like I was constantly having to go over to show an item, or communicating back and forth annoyingly with uninterested buyers. Last week we finished emptying the contents of his apartment and doing the final cleaning. Aside from at the funeral, that was my goodbye. I was holding on to his memory from his items, and from being in his home, and since that part is over, I won't say my final goodbye until we spread his ashes in the summer at his desired location.

In regards to other things that have detached me from the world, my car was broken for nearly three weeks, which made it hard for me to get out and do the things I always took for granted when I had a running vehicle. Now that my car is fixed my mood is slightly better, aside from the fact that it cost a small fortune to make the repairs, a small fortune of course that I didn't have. Now my credit card is racked right back up again after I worked so hard to get it paid off, and I feel I'm stuck in a vicious cycle, with many other contributing factors not appropriate for discussion on the blog.

Alas, today brings a new month, and I'm currently trying to break the cycle I'm in. I spent the day with Nick so we could have some quality time together as we've been lacking in that department lately. We packed a picnic lunch (courtesy of Subway) and went quadding. We found a beautiful secluded area with a pond and a bunch of trees where we ate our lunch in peaceful silence, and continued on quadding and hiking through the coulees with the dogs. It was a beautiful day spent outdoors, and was a great way to jump start my new mood.

Two Down, Two To Go...

Just recently I finished two more projects - a baby blanket for my dear friend Claire and her daughter Addyson, and although the material is girly, Nick requested I make him a toque. I know two more people having babies in the June and July months, so I've been acting the life of a hermit, only leaving the house at night to lane swim or get groceries, in hopes of completing their blankets before the babies arrivals. Hopefully the next two turned out as cute as the first two. Have a gander...

You Know You're A Redneck When...

...you drive an hour and a half so you can eat Bonanza on Valentine's Day. Yes ma'am, we packed up the dogs around 4:00, and hit the road to Moose Jaw. I was on holidays and Nick was off because it was too cold to work, so it worked out perfectly. As usual, we both ordered shrimp, and pigged out on the salad bar. It was a perfect trip (minus the check engine light in my car coming on), and we were home around 9:00. Nothing says I love you like 'Two Can Dine for $19.99'!!!

Cake In A Cup...

I came across this fun little recipe while browsing online, and decided to give it a whirl. I'm still undecided on what to think of it. I made it twice actually, the first time I took it to work and made my coworkers taste it first, and the second time, I made it for Nick after supper one night, just to show off how crafty I can be. He hated it. But, the girls from work thought it was nifty and more than edible, minus the fact that it might have been slightly overcooked.....and I may or may not have forgot to add the milk.

Recipe:

1 microwavable coffee mug
4 tablespoons white flour
4 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons white milk
3 tablespoons oil
1 splash of vanilla
3 tablespoons chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Whisk all ingredients until smooth, pour into coffee mug.



2. Microwave for three minutes. (I would only recommend 2 1/2 minutes).



3. If desired, add whipped cream and sprinkles. Enjoy!

Finally, A New Floor!

For Christmas I got a new floor, and although it's been installed for about two weeks, I wanted to wait to post a picture until I found some blinds to cover our ugly old kitchen window. Due to the size of the window, I have been unsuccessful in Swift Current thus far finding anything even near the right size, so I give up. Sometime in the future, we plan on paiting the kitchen some shade of yellow to blend better with the floor and cabinets. Here are some pictures!

Before:



During:



After:

The Best $25 I Ever Spent...

A few months ago, I heard great things about a website that sells prescription glasses for cheap. Since I'd never bought a new pair of glasses since 2002 when I got my first pair, I decided it was time for an upgrade, and played around with the idea of ordering online. After finding a pair I liked, I placed my prescription order, and waited patiently for them to arrive. I was a little weary about them not using the right strength lenses, but a short 8 days later, my package had arrived from China! They turned out to be everything I wanted, and they only cost me $15.95 + $9.00 shipping. The only reason I had been putting off buying a new pair was because of how ridiculously expensive they are from the vision clinics in town. My first pair was $400 ten years ago, and although I've had the lenses changed to accommodate my brutal vision, I refused to pay for new frames since mine were still in good condition. Now that I've found Zenni Optical, I'm actually excited at the thought of getting new glasses on a regular basis, and it not being such a financial burden. I highly recommend checking it out! (www.zennioptical.com)
These are the ones I bought:

A Years Review...

Overall, 2010 was a good year, and it flew by relatively quickly. It's hard to recall 365 days worth of activity in a few moments time, but just like everyone in this world, my year had it's ups and downs, and I'm excited to start over fresh in 2011.

Here is my recap from the last 12 calendar months:

- January was busy with renovating our first home, and moving on the last day of the month.

- February was difficult, as one of Nick's family members had a serious medical emergency, and ended up passing at the end of the month. Many hours were spent at the hospital, with family members, and helping on farm.

- March, and April seemed to fly by as we finished settling in, unpacked, organized and arranged, and some time was spent adjusting to all our newly acquired extra space. Around this time, I also decided it was time to end my part time bookkeeping job I had a Smart Flowers.

- May, my parents celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary, so we kept busy with planning and arranging their big surprise. May was also the month we made the decision to put my kitty kitty Emma to rest, and as hard as it was at the time, it was the right thing to do. I miss her incredibly, and reflect back on pictures of the good times (I'm a creepy, crazy cat lady...I know).

- June was officially summer, and although we had our campsite set up since the first weekend in May, June was when we really started to spend lots of time out there.

- July and August were mainly spent at the lake with good friends, or in town doing yard work, and during that time we also attended a family reunion.

- September marks the month that Nick finally bought the quad he had been drooling over all summer, and he's spent a good portion of his time riding with buddies through the mud puddles or ripping around in the snow at the lake.

- October allowed us to experienced Halloween on a different level as we stayed home from the bar, and enjoyed having kids come to our door, which was something we never got to experience in our apartment. October was also the month in which I started working casually for the S.C. Bronco Hockey Club.

- November and December flew by in a hurry and we were fortunate enough to have multiple Christmas celebrations.

I believe 2011 will be a good year, and I look forward to what may be in store for Nick and I. Although we're only 11 days in, I already had to make a very difficult decision that would have affected the rest of my life. I don't ever really make resolutions per say, but I do make mental notes of things I'd like to happen in the coming year. This year, I'd like to be less of a homebody. I want to spend more time with the friends I've got, and make an effort to make new friends. I want to be less restricted financially. I want to blog more. Among many other things, I want to stay happy. I'm very happy with most aspects of my life right now, and because I refuse to settle in the areas I'm not happy with, I am currently working on changing those things for the better.

Since it's been almost a year from when I started blogging, I looked back and reviewed all my old posts, right back to post number one. Although my blog turned out nothing like I hoped it would, I enjoy sharing with the world the lame little details as to what is going on in my life (even if I only have 2 readers). I had hoped to share my thoughts and feelings and look back for reflection, but instead I've got a photo album of things from my day to day life. Like most things in this life, blogging hasn't turned out as I initially expected, but I'm OK with that.

Goodbye 2010 - Hello 2011!

Let There Be Light...

When we bought our house, we (mainly Nick) did a complete overhaul of our main floor, and once we moved in, we slowed down a bit inside and focused the majority of our energy on the yard and garden. As time went on, the small things we meant to do soon after settling in, moved to the bottom of our largely accumulating list of things to do. Finally, we crossed off an item that had been bothering me for some time. For the 12 months we've already been in our home, we've never had a light cover in our bedroom. We took off the ugly existing one when we re-stippled, and never bought a new one or put the old one back on. We simply had two bulbs protruding from the ceiling, covered in stipple, giving the room an extremely bright speckled hue. This year for Christmas, as part of our gift, my parents bought us a beautiful ceiling fan, and Nick put it up just after Christmas. It makes the room look so much better, and ads a nice touch. Although it's a bit darker than we are used to, I love it!