Life of Pi

I picked this book up from the library last night....it's one of the books on my "to read" list.

I don't know a lot about the book, except that it won The Man Booker Prize once I'm finished I'll let you know if I liked it or not. I don't even really know what it's about to be truthful, guess we'll see :)

Punta Cana or Puerto Plata?

Well....I made the Pico de Gallo, have to say "meh"...it was okay. I think, like the guacamole in general, it's an acquired taste. I did add a bit of salsa to it cause it seemed like it was "missing something" and that made it taste MUCH better. But really...if I want salsa I have other recipes that are better. So I attempted it, but probably won't be making it again, and I will clarify that this strictly falls under "chick food" Kristen wasn't a fan of it at all. I liked it a lot more than he did and he's usually the one who likes everything.
Tonight will be regular food, but tomorrow I'll be attempting another new recipe will let ya know how that one turns out later.
In other ramblings....Kristen & I are trying to plan a trip down south, we thought we might be going as soon as a couple of weeks with friends of ours, but it doesn't seem to be working out. The plan right now is to go in the spring as originally planned, maybe the Dominican Republic, since we've been to Cuba the last two years.
Any suggestions on resorts or locations? We can't seem to decide between Punta Cana and Puerto Plata....we've heard good and bad about both. I guess it mainly depends on the "type" of vacation you're looking for...so if you have been to either...please your two cents worth is GREATLY appreciated.
Til next time....

Pico De Gallo & Guacamole

This is the recipe I'll be attemping this evening.....I've only had guacamole once and really enjoyed it so I figured I try this twist on it, as by Pioneer Woman (have I mentioned I'm addicted to her blog and food blog?)
Here's the recipe, and for a more illustrated version, go on over to her food website for full instructions and step by step pictures:

Pico de Gallo (and Guacamole)
Ingredients:
Five plum tomatoes (firm not soft)
1 small onion
3 jalapeno peppers
cilantro
lime juice
salt
Directions:
Dice jalapenos without seeds, dice tomatoes, and dice onions.
Chop cilantro til relatively fine but not minced.
Mix all in bowl and squeeze 1/2 a lime juice into bowl and mix well.

Halve & Pit avocados mashed the meat but leave chunky. Fold together with generous helping of pico de gallo, add second 1/2 of lime juice. Serve.

I'll let ya know how it turns out....

Weekend Update

We didn't get to the movies Friday night...once hockey was over we were too tired to head out to the theatre. But overall it was a great weekend. We did go to Bass Pro as planned and to Bowling for Steph's birthday, all of which, was fun!

And yesterday I got caught up on some of my scrapbooking. I still have a LOT to do but at least it's a start. Baby steps right?

Also, I might have some exciting news in the near future...no I'm not pregnant. Will keep you posted on that :)

Til next time...Happy Monday!

It's Friday...yay

Only a few plans for this weekend, tonight we're going to the movies to see either Cloverfield or Rambo (we haven't decided yet) Tomorrow think we're going to be out and about to Bass Pro (haven't been there since before Christmas which is a long time now) And tomorrow night we're going BOWLING! I'm so excited. It's for Steph's birthday and since I haven't been in years I'm really looking forward to it.

So it'll be busier than last weekend but it's all good.

Oh and here's some random pictures that Kristen took that I had completely forgotten about. Don't ask what I'm doing cause I really don't know!??!! :)

Happy Friday & Have a great weekend!

Busy Bee

I swear he spends every waking minute at the basement lately...not really, but he is certainly dedicated to the cause. When we bought our house, we bought with full intentions of finishing the basement ourselves and had all sorts of plans and ideas. Kristen had started some of the framing last winter but things were put off once summer rolled around. So now that hunting season is over, his new job outside of work is the basement. And so far, I'm thoroughly impressed with his ability. I NEVER would be able to take on such a feat and actually do a decent job at it. Here's a few before, and "in the works" photos....

Our rec room...BEFORE:

Our Rec room...in the works:
Hard at work
And the close up :) which he'll probably give me heck for putting on here...but doesn't he look cute with his drill and all?

I'll post more photos as he goes along.

Backyard Bunnies

We have rabbits in our backyard, sometimes one and sometimes two. Even though I think there's at least 3 cause one is really small and we don't see him/her as often.

Kristen started feeding them just around Christmas time....carrots, cabbage and now green beans. They're favourite is cabbage....

So much so....that Kristen discovered one digging through the fresh snow trying to get down to a piece of covered cabbage.
Just look at that hole....It won't be as cute this summer when we actually plant vegetables and the rabbits think..."oh more food for me....must be an all you can eat buffet!" But what can I say...I'm a sucker for cute fuzzy animals and encourage Kristen to feed them too. Can you blame me? Just look at them!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Dad!

Wishing you all good things for today, the year and many to come :)

Love You Lots!

Happy Friday

TGIF!

I have no plans this weekend, outside of going to Kristen's hockey games. And I am SO looking forward to it. It's nice knowing I can just hang out at the house, and do as little or as much I want :) The next few weekends are going to be busy and last weekend was busy, thus the NO plans weekend being so appealing.

Other than that, all is well. Maybe I'll even take some pictures this weekend to post for next week's posts.

Have a great weekend everyone!

I apologize for all the quotes lately...my reasonings are this...

- I feel bad if I don't post every day

- I figure you'd rather not listen to me ramble on ALL the time

- I don't have any pictures as of late and I think my blog is even more boring without them

So...on to the "quote of the day"

"If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love." -- Maya Angelou

"To love someone deeply gives you strength." -- Lao Tzu

"Live as if you like yourself, and it may happen." -- Marge Piercy

I Survived...

...babysitting 3 kids on Saturday night. A 17 month old, 8 year old and 10 year old. The older kids are pretty self-sufficient, it's the 17 month old that was a bit more of a challenge. You know, with dirty diapers and all. But overall, I must say I did okay. Helps BIG time that all the kids are very well-behaved and I really didn't have to do a whole lot.

The hardest part was my lack of sleep. The baby woke up around 2:15am crying cause he wasn't used to sleeping in a playpen nor our house and refused to get back into the playpen so into the bed with Kristen and I he went. He fell asleep around 15 min later but that was basically it for my sleep for the night. I'm a very light sleeper so this extra person in the bed plus any little noise from him and I was wide awake. I doubt I'll ever actually NEED a monitor when I have my own kids.

The next morning Kristen wasn't working on the basement (like he was Saturday night) so as I was cooking breakfast he was helping to get the kids fed. Quite the system we had going. Just relieved that it went well cause it reassures me that I might, just might, be able to tackle my own kids someday. But then again, I have a feeling my kids aren't going to be as well-behaved....lol. I'm sure those will be interesting blog posts when I'm crying about my devil-children :)

Til then....Happy Monday!

Be Yourself

"About all you can do in life is be who you are." -- Rita Mae Brown

Read this quote today and it got me to thinking about the people in my life...friends, family, co-workers. How so many of them know exactly who they are and what they want in life. Sometimes I feel that way, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I know exactly who I am, what my goals are, where I hope to be some day, and so on. And other days, like this week, I think and wonder....am I living life to the fullest? With so many people dying of cancer (found out another co-worker age 40 passed away last week) that you realize nothing in life can be taken for granted. Get's me to thinking...if I were ever diagnosed with the "6 months to live" scenario...what would I do? Would I regret not following through on certain dreams or taking certain risks? Would I quit my job and do everything I possibly could?

I do know this....I know that I have to make a conscious decision not to get in a rut, to do and learn new things. To keep challenging myself, do those things that I make excuses for, if I had more money, if I had more time, if, if, if...as my Grade 5 teacher, Mr. Paddle (RIP) used to say "IF is in the Middle of Life"

I never forgot him saying that. And that's how I choose to remember him.

And that leads to another thought (I'm just full of them today) how would you like to be remembered? As someone great? Someone famous? Someone who made a difference? I think figuring out HOW you want to be remembered is a really good place to start to figure out what you want in life....it's how we choose to live now that determines at the end of the day, when we look back, if we're satisfied. I'd like to hope I will be. In the meantime, I'll be "myself" can't go wrong doing that. Can't regret being who you are...the only regrets in life are the risks not taken.

A few quotes

Not much to talk about today, no pictures to post either. So I'm just going to list a few quotes that I've read lately that I like....

"Yours is the energy that makes your world. There are no limitations to the self except those you believe in." -- Jane Roberts

"True knowledge of ourselves is knowledge of our power." -- Mark Rutherford

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world." -- Lucy Montgomery

"What I like most about change is that it's a synonym for 'hope.' If you are taking a risk, what you are really saying is, 'I believe in tomorrow and I will be part of it.'" -- Linda Ellerbee

Memory Quilt

I was introduced to something new yesterday...it's called a "Memory Quilt"

My friend Daphne makes them. And it's my new love! I'm so impressed with them that I immediately wanted to order one as a gift for everyone on my Christmas list. My personal favourite is the wedding quilt that also includes the actual wedding inviation. Nice touch!

Not sure if it's the photographer in me or the scrapbooker in me that causes me to love these so much. Maybe it's because my mom is a quilter and I can appreciate the long hours that go into them. Or maybe it's the soft-hearted emotional basketcase that I am, that anything sentimental makes me want to burst into tears. Regardless of the "why" I wanted to post some photos of them. And she does take orders....hint hint :) The girl sure has talent...no?

Amateur Photographer

Today's post is a plug for me, the amateur photographer. I figure it's a new year, time to actively pursue my passions a little more, and do something about it. So now that Christmas is over and my schedule is much more flexible, I wanted to let you know that if you're interested in booking a session now is the time.

My areas of interest are:

Engagements

Maternity

Babies

Kids

Families

Pets

I prefer not to do "big" events such as weddings, birthdays, and so on. I like the intimate & relaxed sessions where there's not too much pressure.

I have very reasonable rates since I'm just starting out and to be honest it's not for the money, it's more to cover the cost of the album, proofs, and gas (since most places I have to drive too)

My fee includes:

1 hour session (approx) at location of your choice (within reason of course)

Album with 20 to 30 - 4x6 proofs

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Reprints & Enlargements available

Also I'm working on doing greetings cards as well.....will keep you posted on that.

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Some examples of my work:

If you're interested leave a comment here and I'll get back to you, or if you happen to know my email then drop me a line. Prefer not to post too much personal info on here :)

Dirty Dancing

Went to see Dirty Dancing this weekend in Toronto. It was AWESOME. I would say it's about 95% like the movie, some parts aren't quite like it, obviously cause it's on stage, it's a musical, and there were a couple little sections they added for stage purposes. But overall it was great...I actually really enjoyed the new twist on it.

The hi-light of the show was when Johnny came back and says "Nobody puts Baby in the corner" the whole place just went UP in major cheers and applause...it was awesome. Have I said that already? :)

The tickets were a little expensive and to get cheaper seats you're limiting yourself to leg room since the Royal Alexandra Theatre is quite old (the stairs creak as you're walking to your seats) but I love the old buildings. The giant chandliers and paintings on the cieling are amazing. And I really didn't mind the tight quarters for the most part.

If you have the extra money, are a fan of the movie, and going to be in Toronto this winter, strongly recommend you taking in the show. It's the perfect girls day or night out event, if I do say so myself :)

Happy Monday!

New Years Eve

Here's a couple of shots from New Years....we spent the festive "eve" with friends at Corey, Vicky & little Reed's house. I would call it an intimate quiet New Years and I think it was exactly what I needed and I still had fun. What a better way to kick off my year to be "still" then a quiet New Years Eve?

And now for the photos....first a bit of poker. I didn't play, I split my time up with spectating and helping to take care of Reed. But I really like this shot of the poker chips and then the rest of them blurred in the background where they're piled in the middle of the table. If you look really close you can even see Vicky's stacks of chips on the table by her arm.

Kristen playing poker....

The disadvantage of being a photographer (amateur at that) is when someone actually does get a picture of you (well me...) it looks like this....geesh...there's really no hope

And the kiss at midnight...we're so freakin' goofy....no hope there either...LOL :)

Happy 65th Birthday

Sending be-lated Birthday wishes out to Nanny Betty who celebrated her 65th on Dec. 30th

Here's to many more