Snowy spring

It snowed A LOT yesterday. It makes sense being spring and all. ;) So I thought long and hard about what to be grateful for this week. And I could think of quite a few.

1. Days off. Especially since I have a little bit of a commute. With a bit of a mix up, my orientation training got split. And I got the lucky draw as I didn't need to go in the last three days. I know it hardly seems fair to have time off after just a week and a bit. But I will make up for it. For now I am grateful.

2. With those said days off I have done some work related stuff but I have also stayed snug as a bug in the house watching movies and scrapbooking. It is just how I feel when I wake up and see snow but I usually have to go to work. Ha ha. Not today! Again I am grateful.

3. To extend my happiness Mark and I are outta here on Monday, New York bound to meet up with my parents. Now New York is no Hawaii, Mexico or anywhere else hot hot hot. But it is warmer than here with little to no snow. And New York is fun. Pumped. Grateful for a long awaited retreat to make up for Las Vegas. He he.

4. And with all this bragging (err, I mean all these things I am grateful for) I have to say something in all seriousness. A cab didn't come for Donna today to drive her to the airport, so I hopped into the car and got her to a cab. On the way home I was pulling in when I saw a neighbour stuck in their driveway. Mark and I then helped push them out. It just made me think and put out there how grateful I am to all the people in my life that have helped me and us out. Like going outside last night to see Lawrence and David had shoveled not just our walk, the whole driveway but my car too. Thank you! Moments like that not only are appreciated but help in extraordinary ways. Knowing that, Mark and I both acknowledged after our offerings of help that we have absolutely no problems helping others in a bind. Putting goodness out into the world promotes more goodness right?

Love

where does the time go?

it seems like yesterday that i was "complaining" about the semester ahead. now i am sitting here, with all my midterms done and just two group projects to complete. wow. so fast, how it flies. i have one more semester down and this much closer to my goal (SCARY!!). but as i do my readings, tests, and assignments the answers come a lot easier than they used to...probably an indicator that i do know stuff.

i have been really getting into these albums lately. i (almost) have all of my 2009 pictures in an album. so exciting. i have just developed 2010 pictures and their album is on standby. it feels great to finally get some organization to my pictures!

i spent all of sunday cleaning and adding an addition to mark's shelves. it is huge! mark jokes that i am trying to kill him, as it would be quite a big load if that thing ever tip over (don't worry, i checked on the tipping factor). but i love the way it looks and it took a lot of his books (that were scattered everywhere) and put them in a place. i do have to say though, he has a lot of books. but as my mom says, you gotta love a person who reads...(guess the reader in my family?).

not much else going on. i dabble in wedding planning but nothing at all in seriousness. i am still enjoying the engagement phase that just involves thinking and no work is involved. we both have ideas of what we want, we just need a plan to get there. BUT i did buy a book! mark laughed as i bought a book to plan a plan. whatever, i welcome the reading. i know how to plan trips, ride a bike, do svanasana in yoga, and sing every word to la vie boheme but i have no idea how to plan a wedding. hopefully this book will help!

not much else going on. tomorrow is st. patty's day so i must think of a green recipe to make as i had a lot of fun doing it last year with our green milk and green pancakes. and i am getting together with my girlfriends this weekend which should be loads of fun and laughter and talking! 

till next time...
love

4 more days...

the best thing about christmas time and the holiday season is something that many people don't have the time to do. relax. rest. sleep. that is what i did today. i managed to finish three spreads in my scrapbooking....one is right here. and i watched a bit of t.v, had a nap, and listened to christmas music. seriously best day ever. i keep telling myself i must get to the gym but sometimes lazy is so much fun! :)

tonight mark and i are doing a pub grub night. nachos, jalopeno poppers, mozza sticks, popcorn chicken and beer. its all for the hockey game...that i may watch! :) he he he

love

its a wrap up of the last two days

these last two days have been nothing but the sole loveliness of relaxation. i work, go home and nap (like the old lady i am) and scrapbook. it has been pure bliss.

i am still continuing my quest for the half marathon as its next weekend (YIKES). so i get up at 6 three times this week and go for my morning run. the goals are 6km and 10km. AND, my running partner has cancelled the next big run that we do together. the target is 11 miles or 17.7km this weekend. whatever. he had a lame reason. i mean who wouldn't want to meet up with me at 6am to go for a run on sunday morning...he he he

i finally finished my painting projects last weekend. i painted my mom's beloved brass lamp (gasp) silver and finished the second coat of my cd case: the lovely zesty lime! they are sitting in my doorway at the moment waiting to move to their real home. alas, we must sell mark's 70 gallon fish tank first. know anyone interested?? PLEASE!!!

next up is a couple of reupholster projects...and maybe i will start on some more of my cooking goals like my nan's raison bread...or brown bread that i set way back when. AND of course continue to work.

on the parent front, they are finally settled in at stanley. or maybe i should just say they are finally there. jim's cat jingles has already caught his first mouse. LOVELY! :)

that is it...have a happy tuesday night and wednesday morning everyone!

taking a dip

i have decided that i am not going to post all my scrapbook pages on this blog anymore. mainly because i have another blog devoted strictly to those pages. check it out here. however, i will continue having little stories to my spreads on this page.

soooooooooo, this is the story of this spread.

mark and i went on a hiking trip to fryatt valley, in jasper. a 10km hike into our site, with multiple day hikes from there. we were only there for 3 days so our day hike had to be a memorable one. it was! multiple waterfalls and small streams everywhere. some were even available to us as we would take small dips. mark loved how the water broke from the cliff formations. i loved the cool relief from the hot hot hot weather! great day!

love

roadtrip 2008

mark's cousin, emma, married will in june 2008. the next day, on our drive home from calgary we decided on a detour and took a trip to drumheller. i hadn't been there since i was 13. it is amazing what the 13 year old mind forgets to appreciate. great visit back to dinosaur land! here is my scrapbook spread:

love

lovely lovely friends

ahhh my fantastic friends...even better than my fantastic friends? karaoke with them! a wonderful night of singing, laughing and making "zoolander" poses at casey and sal's housewarming party.

love

winter fun

so let's go back to winter (i know we just got out of winter)! mark's granddad was renting out a skating and curling rink (in 2008) for a family get together. because of this, i wanted/needed to buy skates. i hadn't skated since my figure skating days 17 years prior, so mark and i went on a practice run at hawreluk park. similar to riding a bicycle, i picked up where i left off...AND loved it. i forgot how much fun skating was. when you are 11 and have to go to lessons the fun wears off after awhile. to be on the frozen pond reminded me of all the good times i had with my dad and brother on our pond in sherwood park. we just skated around, and enjoyed the snow sculptures, attempted a snowball fight. it was a really great night!

love

all about the chipboard

for the last couple of months i have been pining away at these chipboard albums.

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i love scrapbooking. it is the one hobby i have that allows my creativity to flow AND gives me a nice keepsake of my photos/memories. i don't want to totally give it up since i have slightly stopped drawing and painting. but lately, as i continue through my 2008 album, i am overcome with questions of how i will ever keep up with my endless photos. not necessarily now, but in the long term when i have other responsibilities that may take priority. then i came across chipboard albums. these would be fantastic to store photos with special themes like friends, vacation, life, love and happiness! AND they still promote the artistic side in you. i think this will be my summer project once the semester is over. i will tell you how it goes!! :)

i have one more thing to say

ahhh a nice relaxing evening for st patrick's day. had some really good green food today. started my day with two green suckers, then had cucumbers, celery, spinach dip, and guacamole, with two green cookies. ended my night with some green milk and green pancakes!...ahhh if you can't enjoy it through food it just isn't worth it!

anyways...had a great scrapbooking night although still am really crappy with the photo taking. but here is my spread. it was in 2008 on valentine's day. casey, jeff, and i decided to do action shots as the camera person yelled out a word. needless to say it was endless laughter.

happy st patrick's day again!

love

scrapbook night

i love to scrapbook

and i love my friends

not quite that good at the picture taking and don't own a scanner so this is what you all get. in reality, i don't think it is quite that crooked ;)

love

just like that

i went to michaels last night...
spent a small fortune...
just like that...

now the scrapbook creations begin

love

battling addiction...REPHRASE: SCRAPBOOK ADDICTION

ahhh, to scrapbook. what can i say. i am an addict, been one for about 17 years now. my mom started working for welcome wagon and came across a sponser who did creative memories. she rehauled all of our albums (my brothers and mine) and compiled a baby book. me being me, was not satisfied with the progress she was making (even though she was rasing a family, working a job, and doing countless other things). so i took over my album at 13 finished it. mom, seeing my interest, bought me a scrapbook travelling bag, filled with all things that would delight a crafter: glittery pens, beautiful paper, artistic scissors, endless stickers and all other necessities to make my own albums. so the scrapbooking began. now 12 + (?) albums later, i still continue the NEED to scrapbook. my travelbag is now a room. the glittery pens, beautiful paper, artistic scissors, and endless stickers are in abundance. also some helpful additions have fueled my addiction even further. THE CRICUT has helped me escape the need to die cut paper for hours. the brads, eyelets, ribbons, glitter, and chipboards have ehnaced my pretty little scrapbook pages (what i believe) into works of art.

ahhh to scrapbook. the only problem is there really is not enough time in the day to do all i want. i am currently (although) slowly working on my album from 2008 (yes you heard it right), a wedding album for a bestest friend (i love you case) from 2006 (i know i am horrible friend), and an album for a very dear lady i work for. there are definitely worse problems!

ahhh to scrapbook.

love