Life Lately

I interupt my usual talking about wedding stuff to tell you all about my life lately (because it's more than just cookies and wedding over here!)

School is winding down and my pool has officially opened (it actually opened about a month ago but this weekend was the first time I headed down there).  My friend and John's sister came over for an evening swim because it was just way to hot to do anything else.

Those same 2 girls that came over for a swim also went to a wedding with me (John also came).  It was for a friend from life group (and John's sister knew the bride).

the whole life group!

We (my sisters and I and all our significant others) took our parents ziplining for Mother's and Father's Day (because it was something that my mom actually wanted to try!)

just my sisters and I hanging out with my dad

the guys hung out with my mom

my mom even managed to climb this... and by the time we got to this point it was pretty windy!

I've got tomatoes, flowers, spinach, and swiss chard growing in my "garden" outside.  The tomatoes are an experiment John is doing because they aren't actually growing in any soil.  So far, lots of flowers on the tomato plants but no tomatoes.

And of course wedding planning, wedding planning, wedding planning.  We have pretty well made our way into the 7 month part of the checklist I found online which is nice... mostly because we have less than 4 months before the wedding!  I'm not too panicked about it though... it'll all get done.

The list for the next couple of weeks includes:

finding shoes (for me)

deciding on suit (for John)

finalizing the guest list

deciding on invites

deciding on a florist (pretty sure we already know who we will go with... we just need to contact her)

figuring out flowers for the centerpieces (ahem florist ahem)

make gift registeries

finalize the cake

The list seems long now that I look at it... but I think it'll be doable... most of the stuff we already know what we want we just need to make sure it's going to happen (or possible for it to happen)

And that folks,

Is my life lately!

Valentine's Day

I'm not one for making a big deal about this day.  Shouldn't we all be showing the person that we love that we love them every day?  BUT... I told John earlier in the week that I had come up with a good idea to do for it so I would take care of planning this Valentine's Day and he could start working ahead to next year (or you know, think of it February 13, 2017... whichever).  

But first...

I've rarely had a date on Valentine's Day so it has been a long tradition that I go out for a girl's night on (or around) Valentine's Day.  Why should all the couples get all the fun?  The girls I hang out with on this date have changed over the years (because people run off and get married) but the good times continue.  So on Friday, myself, and a few friends got together for dinner (and they had dessert - I didn't because I had an obscene amount at the classroom Valentine's Day party I was subbing in) hung out and caught up.  It was fun.

Then on Sunday, February 14th I of course woke up not feeling so great.  Why oh why am I always getting sick when there is a holiday (Monday was a holiday)!?!  You know how when you get sick there is usually one day that is worse than the others?  Well I wasn't willing to risk Monday being the more sick of the two days and postponing.... so the show went on.

When thinking about what we should do I thought about what John would want to do.... or what he likes to do.  

"Well... he likes camping" I thought to myself and so the plan began.

It was a pretty simple set up.  Hotdogs, chips, s'mores, carrots, and pickles (or you know... what I'm assuming is typical camping food) and of course... my fireplace.  I was a little nervous about someones marshmallow going up in flames (and they did... multiple times... those things are highly flammable!) and burning something important (such as my condo) so I put a pitcher of water by the fireplace (which we didn't end up needing... we just blew out the marshmallow fires).  I also took a couple of cushions off the couch and put them on the floor in front of the fireplace to make it more comfortable (then I covered it with another blanket so that we wouldn't get any ash or anything on the cushions.

I didn't get him much... 

While picking up the groceries for the indoor camping experience I took a wander down the candy aisle at Walmart thinking that they usually have some of their Lindtt chocolate on sale.. the only ones that were on sale were the dark chocolate varieties which just so happen to be his favourite.  So I bought him one and told him to open it before we made s'mores because he might want to include it with his (and he did).

I'm pretty sure he had a good time (and I enjoyed how incredibly simple it all was)...we called it a night early on because I wasn't feeling the greatest but at least the day wasn't completely ruined (by my illness... or you know an out of control fire or anything).

Hope all my readers, whether single or happily taken had a great Valentine's Day!

Life Lately

I've been doing more than just making cookies... 

Just over a week ago one of the local centers was having a family day with free admission!  The temperatures were somewhere between -30 - -40 which kept most families away... but John and I and my sister and brother in law ignored all weather warnings and took to the great outdoors for some snow shoeing, cross country skiing, and sledding.

first time on snow shoes!

Don't we look thrilled to be outside!!?

On Saturday the weather warmed up to a balmy 3 degrees (yes, just 7 days after our minus 30 degree weather we moved into the pluses).  So my friend and I went for a skate at one of the local parks.  The river trail also finally opened up (for a very short skate) but we decided everyone and their mom would be there... and we may have been right because there were very few people at the park we choose to go to.

I finally was able to wear my new blanket scarf that I got for Christmas!

This was the non skating rink side of the building... it was a perfect winter day (with some snow gently falling too!)

On top of all the outdoorsy stuff I've been busy reading the book I got for Christmas (Krista, I'm nearly finished it), taking down Christmas, and working every single day for the last 2 weeks.

This coming Sunday I'm making some Mennonite comfort food for a friend... meat buns, soup, and jam jam cookies... is there anything else I need to include?

What Christmas Means to Me

Day 24

What Christmas Means to Me

Christmas to me means a bunch of things... but when I first started thinking about this post I thought of this quote from our good friend... The Grinch

I like it, because for myself, it's true

A few days ago John called me requesting a Christmas Wishlist for his mom and I really struggled thinking of what I needed.  I knew I didn't really NEED anything so obviously I eventually put together a list of things I wanted.... 

For me, Christmas isn't about getting presents

I mean, it's lovely to get presents and I appreciate them all... I might even be a little disappointed if one year I didn't get any.  But presents are definitely not the most important part of Christmas and I don't want to ever think that I have to get presents because it's Christmas.

So the question remains, what does Christmas mean to me?

It means spending time with family and friends

It means giving to others before yourself

It means going to at least one Christmas themed church service

It means having a bunch of fun with a bunch of different people

It means good food and great company

It means seeing people you haven't seen in a while

But most importantly it means remembering why we celebrate this day and remembering Jesus' birth and all that he did for us.

God sent his son to Earth to save us all from our sins.  God sent Jesus to Earth so that one day he would die... for all of us!  Which really, is the best present of all... because think about it.... if someone stepped in front of a bullet that was heading straight for you wouldn't you be forever grateful for that person?

This video is a few years old but is still very much applicable.  It tells the story of Christmas through social media

This past Sunday my church did their children's Christmas concert and play... they played this song during it which I feel like tells a good part of the Christmas story and a bunch of things that Jesus would do in his life time.

Hope you have a very blessed Christmas this year!

Life Lately

So I'm a little (a lot) behind... what else is new?

I'm sure I'm forgiven though?

I've been busy subbing lately.  Today I got home by 4pm... it's kind of nice.

Subbing has FINALLY picked up 

Last weekend we had Thanksgiving and as it is with most big family events... I managed to get a cold just for the weekend.

it was a lot of lying in bed and Watching Modern Family.  

Can you spot the super moon?  John and I watched it!

Super moon

I had one day off last week, luckily it was a lovely day!

More walks in the park

I made John and I breakfast for dinner one day (don't worry, we also had some slightly over cooked bacon and fruit salad)

Pumpkin Pancakes

But the highlight of the last couple of weeks was that last week John and I went to see Odysseo!

I thought it was great!

After the show we went to the stables to see the horses (we weren't allowed to touch them though)

This just seems like a slightly better than ordinary breakfast but in reality it was dinner.  John was away and normally he has to make the omelettes because, well... I can never seem to get it right.  But on Saturday that all changed.. it was delicious!

Probably about 6 months ago my friends and I made some bowls with what was pretty well paper mache and balloons. But there was never a time when we could all get together to paint them... until Saturday evening.  

Mine is the purple one in the front.  It now holds my keys by the door.

paper mache balloon bowls!

All summer John and I have been reading The Scorch Trials and we finally finished it!  Then yesterday John and I spent a couple hours at the mall waiting for Scorch Trials to start at the theater... and about an hour  before the movie was set to start alarms started going off at the mall.  Shops started closing and firemen were walking around with a hose and an axe... but no one seemed to be in any kind of panic so we kept wandering.  Then we got trapped inside Chapters which was when they said we had to leave the mall.  

But don't worry!  We just took a drive to the next theater and caught it somewhere else.

And that's been my last couple of weeks!  

Looking forward to more Thanksgiving festivities (this time with John's family) this weekend.

Labour Day Long Weekend at the Lake

Most people that know me know that I am NEVER EVER available to hang out September Long weekend... why?  Because I am always at the lake for a family gathering.  This year marked 30 years that I've gone (at least I can't remember a time that I haven't gone).

John and I had every intention of leaving the city around noon on Friday (I convinced him to take the day off just for this) but there was a lot of running around that he had to do that morning (plus washing his boat for any invasive species that the boat might have picked up in the Winnipeg River system).  I think we ended up leaving around 1:30.... getting there around 5 which is slightly later than what it normally would have taken us because we had to drive the first hour or so on the highway at about 70km/hour because of a massive downpour (I'm talking everyone pulling over to the side of the road kind of downpour).

But we got there and checked into our cabin that we were sharing with my cousin, sister, and brother in law (and 2 dogs).  

When we got there it wasn't raining so I showed him the sights and we sat down to a delicious dinner of soup and pizza buns.

The weekend didn't have great weather but our cabin managed to squeeze in as many activities as possible!

Saturday afternoon we decided to attempt a 13km hike.  We starting at the top and were working our way down... we thought the fog was lifting as we continued on the hike but on our way back we realized that wasn't the case... because we were right back in the thick of the fog.  Our faithful leader to keep the bears way was one dog and the other one was somewhere near the back.

Still all smiles because at this point we likely aren't even halfway through

It's hard to tell in the pictures but there was often a pretty steep drop off to one side of the path

(don't worry.. we all made it out of the hiking trail relatively unscathed).

Lots of going down and some going up.  I am likely the shortest one in this hiking group and here I appear to be some kind of giant.

We walked along the road back in hopes that it wouldn't take so long and we would make it back in time to get things ready for dinner (because we eat it all together... about 30 or so of us this year).  On the way back it was about 95% uphill and I was feeling it in my back for a couple of days!

But here we are (well I'm behind the camera) exhausted from our long walk!

"Look exhausted everyone"

"So we'll just look like ourselves?"

Saturday evening after we were all showered we all decided that we definitely deserved an evening in with some movies... so we set up a laptop and watched a movie and ate snacks.  

I fell asleep.

Sunday morning we went with my parents to the bison enclosure and we just so happened to go at the exact right time to see a bunch of bison!

(there were a lot more than I managed to capture with my camera)

My mom says that we had been here before... I just don't have much memory of it.

(as in I have no memory at all of it)

When we turned around to head back the same way we went in (maybe about 20 minutes later) there were no bison to be seen at all!... which is why I say that we went at the right time.

Later Sunday afternoon we were debating on going to watch the Bomber game at a local restaurant or taking the boat out.  

We decided on the boat option because John had pulled it all the way from the city!

(this ended up being the better option because the Bombers ended up losing anyways)

So we all changed into our Bomber gear (well everyone but John who apparently doesn't have any!) and headed for the public boat launch.

We had been pre warned that they were doing inspections for invasive species (like zebra mussels) but because John had already washed his boat we thought we would be free and clear to head out.

Unfortunately, because his boat had been in the Winnipeg River system we weren't so free and clear as we had thought we would be.

Here his boat and trailer are being steamed cleaned just in case (about a 30 minute job).

Luckily, they do this for free so that people don't lie about having used their boats in different waters

It looks like a beautiful day but the waves were a little large and we all got pretty wet on the boat ride back to the docks.

Luckily, I had decided to bring a bunch of extra towels from the cabin and a blanket of mine 

(I hid under the blanket for the majority of the bumpy ride back)

My job before a boat ride is to be in the boat and drive it towards the dock and then hold on until John comes back... I'm still working on doing a decent job of all of this.

My job for after the boat ride is to pull the boat our of the water which is what I am about to do here...

I was a little nervous because you launch and pull the boat out of the water on sand here and I didn't know how that would work for traction... after a few attempts I managed to get it out.

Monday morning John went out and bought cinnamon buns for our cabin at the local bakery (because what's a trip to the lake without some delicious cinnamon buns?) and then after breakfast people started to pack up and leave.

John and I took one last stroll around the place and left around noon.

People would ask me what the highlight of my summer was and I always told them that I didn't think it had happened yet... because I knew September Long would be great.  

And it was!

It doesn't matter what the weather is like when you are surrounded by great people (and great food).

Hope everyone's long weekend was as fantastic as mine!

What's Up Wednesday

The last Wednesday of every month Shay, Mel, and Sheaffer answer these questions

(and this week I'm joining them!)

What I'm Eating This Week...

I've already made one batch of cookies and I'm making a second today or tomorrow at some point.

Plus I still have my Mississippi Mud Cookies in the freezer.  

So many cookies!

But I can't JUST eat cookies....

I'm pretty organized person when it comes to what I eat for dinners and I make a schedule at the beginning of each month and write in a couple of dinners I'm make each week (It's just me here - although John often will come for dinner when I'm making something - I still often have enough leftovers to get me by for a while).

It looks like tomorrows dinner is teriyaki chicken and stir fry. 

I bought some quinoa a while ago in hopes that it might be a better alternative to rice.  I'll see if I like it.

Sidenote:  I bought my quinoa at the Joe's nut stand in Walmart.  It seems to have really reasonably priced food there (food as in chocolate covered pretzels, flax seed, and quinoa... because that's all I ever buy from there).

But I'm CURRENTLY eating Froot Loops.

... Because why not?

These are not in a very large bowl... they are in a cup.  I put them in there so that I don't eat too many without realizing it!

What I'm Reminiscing About...

Last School Year

It was fun

It was rough

There were smiles

There were tears

As most of my readers know I've been fortunate to have my very own classroom for the last 2 years.  It looks like this year I'm going back to substitute teaching.  On the upside that means my work will NOT come home with me!

What I'm Loving

Going for long walks. 

For whatever reason I haven't done a lot of these this summer.  I recently started them back up (because I had to go to Bulk Barn one day and to get groceries another... I just decided to go for the long walks instead of jumping in my car).

What I've Been Up To...

Honestly, not a whole lot.

I've been thinking about Interactive Social Studies Journals... or ways to improve my Social Studies Program because I just really don't like it.

I've also been cleaning this week.  I'm away the next 2 weekends and decided it would be good to come back to a nice clean condo.  

What I'm Dreading...

Now that summer is winding down it means that winter is coming!  If you've come to this province in the winter you know it can get cold (like -50 kind of cold).  

Luckily, I've heard rumors that it is supposed to be a nice fall (I haven't heard what the farmer's are saying winter is supposed to be like).

What I'm Working On...

Interactive Social Studies Journals (for grade 5 and 6)

And finding ways to use technology in the classroom 

(check out some ideas on Confessions of a Modern Day Teacher)

What I'm Excited About...

I said earlier I'm away the next couple of weekends.

This weekend I'm at the lake with the girls.

We (as in myself and extended family) always head to Clear Lake for September Long.  It's like one last hoorah before school starts.  

This year John is coming along so I'm excited to show him around

AND...

he is bringing his boat so I'm excited for boating there as well.

What I'm Watching/Reading.

I've just started watching Season 6 of Modern Family.  I love this show.  It's funny and I laugh.

I've been reading (since Spring Break) The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers.  I'm about halfway through the 3rd (and final) book.  I heard great things about this series but to be honest... I'm not enjoying it too much.  Maybe Jodi Picolt has a new book out that I can read after this.

What I'm Listening To...

I don't listen to much except when I run or go for my walks.  Currently I'm listening to the traffic outside my place but that isn't what you want to hear about I'm sure.

I just made a new playlist for when I go for walks and put Olly Murs album "Right Place, Right Time" on it.  So I've also been listening to that.

What I'm Wearing...

It has been a bit of a chilly week here so it's been a pants kind of week.

I'm heading out for a haircut in a little bit and I'm sporting this

sometimes I wear these shoes without socks.... I did it all the time as a kid.  No I did not choose my shoes because of the colour of my shirt.  I choose them because these are the only ones I have like this.

What I'm Doing This Weekend...

Heading to the lake with the girls!

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month...

Routine.

This means getting back into the swing of things with work (I'm hoping for at least 12 sub days in September which seems a bit ambitious to me).  I like getting up early (as in just after 6am), eating breakfast, and then crawling back into bed to read my Bible and pray.  I haven't been as great at doing that over the summer because often there isn't anywhere pressing that I need to get going (and personally, I think it is a great way to start off my day!)

What Else is New...

Well I bought 2 new pairs of pants for $12 each (on sale) that I'm pretty excited about.  They don't have a zipper or button to close them and I think that just makes them more comfortable.

I also bought the t-shirt that I'm wearing today (see above recently)

BONUS QUESTION

What's Your Favourite Back To School Tradition

I don't think I have one?

If I had a classroom of my own I think it would be setting it up, decorating it, and making sure it looked great for the first day of school!