Getting to Know Me!

Tomorrow (very early) morning we are heading on our holiday to Montana! It's almost 10pm and Greg and I are still working on getting the house cleaned and all the stuff done that needs to be done before we go. I HATE coming home to a dirty/messy house so we're getting the last of the laundry/cleaning/grass mowing/etc. done now since the kids are in bed! I have to go finish but did this post earlier in the week and thought I'd post it now! I most likely won't get a post in while on holidays as there is no internet at the house down there. It's kinda nice to be away from facebook/twitter/blog and everything else. I also won't have my beloved iPhone as I find it too expensive to run in the states, but again, I'm almost looking forward to the break from it all! YAY!

I saw this on facebook and though "That would be PERFECT for a blog post!" So here we go! Hope you enjoy it!

1. What time did you get up this morning? Between 6-7am

2. How do you like your steak? Medium Rare

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Water for Elephants! Loved the book! Loved the movie!

4. What is your favorite TV show? Grey's Anatomy

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I'm pretty happy here in Canada, Montana might be nice, or somewhere in Europe would be neat!

7. What is your favorite cuisine? I don't have one.

8. What foods do you dislike? Brussel Sprouts

9. Favorite Place to Eat? Any Sushi Place or Joey Tomatoes 

10. Favorite dressing? My homemade Caesar Dressing!

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Yukon Denali

12. What are your favorite clothes? Yoga pants and a tank-top or t-shirt

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Indonesia 

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full ... ALWAYS!

15. Where would you want to retire? As long as it's with Greg I don't care! :)

16. Favorite time of day? Morning!

17. Where were you born? In northern Alberta, Canada!

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? I don't watch sports.

19. What color are your eyes? Blue

20. Do you dye your hair?  Highlights 

21. What size bed do you sleep in? King (it's good for when little people sneak into bed with us, they have to sneak cause we have a no kids in our bed rule! HA!) 

22. Bird watcher? Nope!

23. Do you consider yourself attractive? Yes ... there I said it! 

24. Pets? Kitty named Ashes

25. Any new and exciting news that you'd like to share? Nothing but I like the saying "No news is good news"!

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A Ballerina (I never took ballet lol), a lion tamer (I never had a lion lol) ... those are the only two that come to mind.

27. What is your best childhood memory? Summer holidays with my family camping in our motorhome. 

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Both! 

29. Are you married? Happily 

30. Always wear your seat belt? Yes always.

31. Been in a car accident? No

32. Any pet peeves? Yes many but I can't think of any right now! HA!

33. Favorite pizza topping? I love pizza and will take it anyway I can get it!

34. Favorite flower?  I love all flowers but especially Roses and Tulips.

35. Favorite ice cream? Mint Chocolate Chip

36. Favorite fast food? I don't eat much fast food these days but if I was going to it'd be McDonalds ... don't judge me! HA!

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? None!

38. From whom did you get your last email? Facebook notification.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Target! I know it sounds boring but you can get everything there from clothes to kitchen stuff to electronics, bedding, food ... the list goes on and on!!!

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?  No I'm not really a spontaneous person.

41. Like your job? Yes! 

42. What was your favorite vacation? Disneyland when I was in Grade 3

43. Who's your favorite actor/actress? Meryl Streep!!! I LOVE HER!!!

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Greg for our 8th anniversary!

45. What are you listening to right now? The leaves blowing and birds chirping, Toy Story 3 on softly upstairs.

46. What is your favorite color?  Orange or pink

47. How many tattoos do you have? One

48. Coffee drinker? YES YES YES! I love love love my coffee!

49. How many children do you have? 3 (Boy 5, Boy 4, Girl 2)

50. What was the last book you read? Water for Elephants

Serenity!

Yesterday I went to my first AA Birthday Meeting! For those of you who don't know, when you begin your sobriety they consider it your birthday and celebrate just as you would a birthday. There's even cake! I was invited by my dear friend Red to witness him receive his 1 year medallion! 1 year of sobriety!!  WOW! It was so awesome! I could feel God in that room. I was so proud and honored to be a part this celebration. I know the road Red has traveled in his addiction and it was a hard road. I have seen Red at his best and worst. Red's worst is more terrible than most could imagine and I'm so very thankful he's found sobriety and this marvelous 12 step program. Being friends with Red makes me want to be a better person and live my life in an honest and healthy way. I'm so proud of him and love him so much.

It also brings me back to how amazing God is and how God's miracles are filling AA/NA/OA/SA etc. rooms all over the world! It's such an amazing thing! His light is shining at peoples darkest times! WOW! WOW! WOW!! Absolutely mind blowing!!! HE IS AWESOME!

Here are all his medallions!

The Silver is the 24 hour medallion

The red is the 1 month medallion

The yellow is 2 months

The green is 3 months

The blue is 6 month

The purple is 9 months

The Gold "1" is his 1 year that I saw him recieve

I'm so proud! God is GREAT!

The Countdown is ON!

It's 8am on Monday morning ... the first Monday morning of "summer", meaning the first Monday I won't be driving The Captain to school. So what fun and exciting activities do I have on the agenda for this momentous day? Laundry and cleaning ... living the dream people! Living the dream! HA!

So check this out .... doesn't it look like a little piece of heaven? 

We'll be here!! Our first holiday countdown is on! 3 more sleeps until we all jump into our truck and drive to Montana for 5 nights! I LOVE MONTANA!! LOVE LOVE LOVE! My parents bought a home there on this beautiful lake in 1990! I've been going to this amazing place for 20 years!! I can hardly believe it's been that long! My parents spend the summers there and have invited my brothers, myself and our families down for the 4th of July! We are all so excited!

We'll be canoeing, swimming, playing, sleeping, eating ... I can't hardly wait for this getaway!!

Now here's where I'm going to ask for some help! I was wanting to cook or bake something special, with an american/red,white and blue theme, for the 4th of July for everyone but don't know what I should do! I welcome any and all suggestions!! Thanks everyone!

First Summer Read - Charlotte's Web!

I'm reading this to my kids!! It's the first time we've read a book that isn't a short story. My neighbor offered me up a box of books to pick through a month or so ago and when I saw this book I had to have it!

In Grade 5, I had an english teacher named Mrs. Good, she would read to us for 1 period a week. She read us many books but the 2 that stand out are Charlotte's Web and Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh. When I think back to my Elementary School years the memory of being read to by Mrs. Good really stands out. I LOVED it when Mrs. Good would read to us. She had an wonderful English accent and read so well. I remember being so taken in when she read and looking forward to it all week. That period always went by too fast. I am very thankful Mrs Good reading to us and someday I will let her know (I am still friends with her Son).

So last night we started reading Charlotte's Web. I'm sure my reading is not near as captivating as Mrs. Good's reading but the kids seemed to enjoy it. We are reading a couple chapters a night and I am loving it.  Cutie only lasted for one chapter and I put her to bed but the boys and I read 2 more chapters (they are short chapters). I discovered this morning when I tried to read to them that this will only be a bedtime activity. They were much to distracted and restless to sit and listen to the story but I think at bedtime this will be perfect to get them calmed down and relaxed before bed.

I'm looking forward to tonight's read and reading with my kids this summer. I hope they enjoy being read to as much as I did. I hope it nurtures a love for books and reading that will stay with them through their lives.

Friday's Five!

So I'm stealing this from my dear DEAR friend Sara at Simply Sara! She does Ten on Tuesday and I LOVE her Ten on Tuesday so I thought a good week ender could be Friday's Five! So here we go ...

1. Today was The Captain's LAST day of pre-school!! Wild, crazy, exciting, unbelievable!! I'm still in disbelieve that A) I'm old enough to have a child going into Kindergarden in the fall B) how fast the year has gone by and C) I'm old enough to have a child going into Kindergarden in the fall (did I mention that I can't believe I'm old  enough to have a child going into Kindergarder?). For the last day I took all 3 the kids to the lake with his teachers and other classmates and their families. It was a blast!

2. I have seen a few bloggers who are doing a "Summer List" (Summer bucket list, Summer fun List ... you get the drift). Well I am SOOOO jumping on THAT wagon!! This weekend Greg, the kids and I are sitting down and making a Summer List!! I can't even wait! I'll fa-herrrr sure be sharing it once it's complete! I've got a little idea of how I'm going to do it, that if done, will be super duper!!

3. Greg and I watched "Just Go With It" last night and we laughed our heads off. I seriously enjoyed this movie but I must warn you ... I LOVE LOVE LOVE Adam Sandler!! I've loved him since his days on SNL when I was too young to be watching it but was allowed because I had older brothers who watched it! HA! Being the youngest is great sometimes!!

4. I am addicted to Homemade Iced Coffee!! I always have some coffee left over from my morning coffee and I HATE throwing out food (and drinks obviously) so I've started putting my leftover coffee in the fridge in the am and I make an iced coffee in the afternoon! I put in some sugar-free cinnamon syrup from Starbucks and then I add some cream and it's pretty much heaven in my mason mug.
*side note: these mason mugs I bought at a garage sale for 50 cents each (total of 6) about 3 years ago and i love them! It's the perfect iced coffee/tea glass!

5. My iPhone is my 4th child and I love it dearly! Don't judge me! HA!

Summer Fun!!

This photo was taken at 9:45 this morning!! The temp was +18C and the kids were itching to get in the pool! The Chief got this for his birthday that just passed from our best friend Yota! Yota lived with us for 9 months this past year so she is more than just a best friend ... she's part of our family! Thank you Yota for the awesome gift! We are LOVING it! Cutie is napping and the boys are having a little quiet time and then we'll be back out there for the afternoon! 

"Hello Summer, so nice to see you! Please stay a while! xo"

Graduation Day

Today was Pre-School Graduation Day and here is The Captain (in his cap and gown) with his little brother (The Chief) and sister (Cutie). *Side Note: My Dad gave them each these nickname*.

I am so crazy proud of these 3 little people I can't even tell you!

Seeing him in his little cap and gown definitely made my thought wander to when he's actually graduating from high school! I can see this picture 13 years from now with grown children! It makes my heart burst when I think of it!

These are 3 of my greatest accomplishments. I love them with all of my heart, mind and soul and will for all of eternity!

Understanding HIS Plan!

Sometimes we hit rough patches in life and I find myself asking God what HIS plan is for me, for us, my family!! I know he only gives us as much as we can handle but I do find myself looking up to the sky asking "God please show me what you want me to do". I also find myself not being able to carry some of life's burdens and giving them to God. Sometimes I do feel the peace I'm looking for but other times I don't. I know God is here for me and I feel his love. I want to be able to give to him more completely as I still try and have control over things. The serenity prayer is such an amazing prayer and I find myself saying it daily

"God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change, 

courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference."

Isn't that amazing? To apply that to everyday life is an absolute blessing! To truly accept what I can't change and have the courage to change what I can!! WOW! And of course the wisdom to know the difference just ties to all together! I am so very thankful for my faith, I honestly don't know where I'd be without it. On hard days or periods of time it's what gets me through, knowing that everything is happening exactly as it's meant to! That it's all HIS plan for me! I will continue to ask for his guidance and that he will open my heart to hear what he wants of me. I know he will always lead me down the right path.

Date Night UPDATE!

Here is a photo of our Date night! Sushi & cold beer made for a nice evening. We ended up getting onto the topic of religion. Greg and I are on the same page (for the most part) in the religion department but still it's not the most romantic topic. It kinda fizzled out our evening! I can laugh about it now though. HA! It was still a wonderful Date Night in and I can't wait for the next one!

TRUTH!

Okay so it's time for some Truth!!! Fathers Day sucked! It had good moments but for the most part it wasn't great. Greg woke up in a terrible mood and it continued on from there. I'll completely admit, I don't handle bad moods well, especially from Greg. When I'm in a bad mood Greg is so wonderful and cheers me up and does whatever I need to help me feel better ... I'm not so great like him. I get my back up and angry and just don't want to deal with it. Isn't that terrible? Definitely a character default of mine!

Sometimes there are things in life that suck. Greg parents split up when he was 4 and his Dad wasn't around much for the 10 years following the spilt. Reasons have come out in the past few years but it doesn't change what it is to Greg. Fathers Day brings up feelings from years of having this occasion celebrated all around him and never really celebrating it the way you would with a Dad that's around. Very touchy subject don't you think? But this is the Truth I'm talking about when I talk about Love, Life and Truth. I told Greg yesterday that it's time to deal with this once and for all because our kids have an amazing Dad to celebrate each year and having the past ruin the present isn't fair to anyone.

I have to say that Greg is the most kind and caring person I know. He is selfless and sweet and has such a wonderful heart. He is an awesome Dad and I'm so blessed that God has put him in my life to teach me so much grace. Even though we had a rough day yesterday I still went to bed loving him more than I love anyone on this earth. Thank you Greg for everything you do for our family and for being who you are ... I love you!

DATE NIGHT IN!

You see this guy? He is my man! My bestest friend! My everything! This is a recent picture a dear dear friend of mine took of us while taking some family photos (don't worry you'll be seeing many more and I'll tell you all about this amazing experience we had with her). I love this photo!! LOVE! The guitar isn't just for show, he's an amazing musician. Right now he's at church playing with the church band and when he gets home, the kids will go to bed and it will be our Date Night at home! A DATE NIGHT!! I put on my best bra for our date! HA! 

We were going to barbecue a couple of steaks but it's pouring rain here so we're having a change of plans! I'm not sure what we'll be doing now, to be honest I really don't feel like cooking! I've been working all day and I really don't feel like cooking (I work on Saturdays at a little card/gift/flower shop I use to work at in high school ... again a post for another day). Regardless of what we eat I get a candlelit night alone with my man and I can't wait! 

I feel so blessed to be married to my best friend!  I can truly say that there is no other person in the world I'd rather spend time with. Today he stopped by work and when I saw him through the window I got butterflies! BUTTERFLIES!! After 10 years together he still gives me butterflies! Unbelievable! Wonderful! Love!

Dress Like Dad Day!!

It's dress like Dad day at school today. Greg is a licensed automotive mechanic and also a musician. I automatically thought I'd put him in one of Greg's work shirts but The Captain (my oldest son) would have no part of that. He wanted to be a Rock Star!! HA! I love it! So here he is ... rocking it!

Homemade Sausage Rolls!

Yesterday I made my first attempt at homemade Sausage Rolls! Now I should be clear. I do not like sausage rolls!! I find them flavorless and just kinda nasty. These on the other hand were full of flavor and just pretty fantastic (not to toot my own horn). I should also mention, when I cook I don't use a recipe and I don't measure anything. It's a gift I learned from my mom and grandma. I highly encourage you to do the same! It's awesome to be able to get to the point while cooking to be able to look in the fridge, see what's there and throw together an amazing meal! I feel great accomplishment when I am able to do that, especially when I'm doing it on a budget!

When I woke up yesterday morning sausage rolls were not in my plan but it was a rainy dreary day and I had to bake or cook something! After my beloved morning coffee I set off to the kitchen and opened the fridge! After a minute of examining what was in there Sausage Rolls is what came to mind! I had a package of ground pork which is not a normal ingredient for me to have in my fridge and I had a can of Pillsbury Biscuits that my mom gave me (another ingredient I normally would never had). I added a small package of ground beef with the pork to make it go a little further.

To start off I chopped and sauteed about 1 large onion with garlic in olive oil, near the end I added 2 ice cubes of white wine that I had in the freezer because it needed a little moisture. When the onions and garlic were on the stove I mixed my ground pork and beef with 1 heaping tbsp of Dijon mustard, 1/2 cup of crushed croutons (or you could use breadcrumbs), 2 small eggs, salt and pepper. When the onions were cooked and nice & soft, I cut 3 fresh sage leaves very finely and added them to the onion just to warm and soften them. I moved the cooked onion, garlic and sage onto a plate to cool but I am not a patient person so they were still warm to the touch when I added them to the meat mixture. I mixed it all together let it sit as I rolled out the biscuits. I should have taken some pictures of that but I forgot. Oops! I made little logs with the meat and wrapped them in the biscuit dough. I had the oven pre-heating at 350F and put them on a greased cookie sheet (the first few I didn't grease it and they stuck so I highly recommend greasing!). I cooked them for about 30 minutes. They were golden and the meat inside had cooked through!

After I made the Pillsbury Biscuit Sausage Rolls I made some Gluten Free Biscuit mix and made some Gluten Free Sausage Rolls. They turned out very different than the Pillsbury ones but still very good. We try to eat gluten free as much as we can in our house. The GF ones are awesome on they're own but if you compare them to the Pillsbury they are disappointing! HAHA! Because of the gluten the Pillsbury Sausage Rolls were chewy and soft ... just amazing but the GF ones are more crumbly and don't have the chewiness. Still without comparing the two the GF ones turned out awesome! I got 8 Pillsbury Sausage Rolls (the package comes with 8 biscuits) and 8 Gluten Free Rolls out of all the meat. It made a very big batch!

I sent this picture to my husband at about 11 and told him what I had made, I asked if there was anyway he could pop home for lunch and he was more than happy to make that work! It was a treat to see him for a few minutes during the day! Greg is crazy for these. The kids were okay with them, maybe if I made them smaller they would like them more? 

I'll be making these again, once in a while for a treat (mostly for Greg cause I love him! HA!)

Enjoy!

Morning Coffee

This is my morning coffee in one of my favorite mugs, my "New York" mug that was given to me by my dear friend Trika! Every morning when I'm laying in bed not wanting to get up it's this cup of coffee that gets my feet to the ground! Greg usually gets the coffee ready the night before and we program it to start for around 6am (sometimes a little before, sometimes a little after), so when I know a hot cup of coffee is waiting it's just the motivation I need to get moving. I drink my coffee with cream. I mean real cream. Not milk, not half n half, not light cream, I drink my 1-2 glorious cups of coffee with 18% coffee cream. If there's no cream in the house I won't drink a coffee. I know, I'm weird! I'm also particular about my mug. I've got my favorites and I use them a different times of year. I've got my everyday favs, my New York mug, my Chicago mug, my Oprah mug ( yes from the Harpo studio in chicago from my longtime BFF who has lived in Chicago the past 3 years). Then there's my seasonal favorites, my Halloween pumpkin mug, my Christmas mug and my Valentine mug. Most of my fav mugs are from Starbucks (with the exception of my New York and Chicago mugs). So there you have it, now you know what gets my blood pumping in the morning, and even sometime gets me through a long afternoon. What gets you going in the morning? Do you drink coffee? Tea? With milk, cream or sugar? How about a favorite mug? I know it seems pointless but this is real life and I love it! Love, Life & Truth! xoxo

Love, Life & Truth

I've decided it's time to do a blog ... a for real blog. I've attempted a couple time before but had no long term success. I was trying too hard to have it be something specific but this time it's a much about nothing/everything blog. It's about marriage, parenting, faith, self-image, success', struggles ... it's about Love, Life and most of all Truth! I will share when I'm on top of the world but also when I'm down in the dumps. I tend to not want to share struggle, especially with strangers but I love honesty in blogs and I'm going to try this one last time!

My previous attempts were when my kids were younger and it became more of a chore but I find myself thinking often about blogging and having a bit of a release. I've got 3 kids and I had them in 3 years! Wild I know! They are now 2 and a half, 4 and 5. They are amazing children and I'm proud to be their Mom! I'm married to an amazing man named Greg. We just celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and have shared our life the past 10 year! It still at times amazes me that  I was lucky enough to not only find the love of my life but find him when I was only 20 years old! It's funny though, I find myself sometimes not wanting to share how truly in love and happy I am with Greg because lots of people don't receive it well. Just the other day I read somewhere that people on Facebook find it annoying to see their friends status' about how happy they are with their partner! That's so crazy to me and not my definition of a friend! Anyway, I'll be very real about my marriage. Most of the time it will be how great Greg is but there will be time of frustration and I will share that also because I really want this blog to live up to it's name!

Hope you read something you enjoy and that this little blog helps you in your  own Love, Life and Truth!