White Christmas!

How beautiful is that! What a wonderful Christmas gift to wake up to. So calm, and quiet, and so nice to look at through our livingroom window as we were opening gifts, in the morning. We had even MORE snow after that photo was taken.

An anniversary of sorts

Today Darren and I start our 18th year together. I was 17 when I met him, so I have officially been with him longer than I haven't been with him.... If that makes any sense.

Decorate.....and Destroy!

Just one of our silly holiday traditions. We call it "Decorate... and Destroy" As the name describes we decorate the the annual gingerbread house, take a token picture for the scrapbook..... then start digging in. What can I say...."I live with boys"

Cheese and Crackers

I finally finished this quilt top. It is a triple irish chain pattern, but with a great pieced border that I absolutely love. I really should have written down the amount of time that I spent working on it. At 83" x 83" ..... it was ALOT of time.

She can knit in the round!

I took a two part class this past week to learn knitting in the round and here is the result! A very simple design, but I like how the variegation in the yarn gives it stripes. Now all I want to do is knit hats! This one will be a Christmas gift for me mom.

Rememberance Day

The eleventh hour of the eleveth day of the eleventh month. This marks the signing of the armastice on November 11, 1918, to signal the end of World War One. It is at this time of the year that we wear a red poppy in memory of those who sacrificed thier lives for us during times of war

Lest We Forget

Drum roll Please.....

Well here it is.. a weeks worth of de-cluttering, sorting, and organizing. I have over 80 older scrapbook magazines that I am giving away to a second hand store, and I have some "editing" to do with my magazine stash, as I still have way to many.

Not everything is in the room. I have a laundry basket full of sewing/quilting projects that I need to get into clear boxes as well as a laundry basket of yarn earmarked for certain projects. Once I find some more of the great clear shoe boxes that I like. I will stack them in the left over space in the closet.

I still have to go to Ikea to get a table to replace the blue/gray desk that my scrapbook stuff is on, with the same kind of table that my sewing machine is on. The current scrapbook desk is too dark and it takes up too much space in the room. Of course some pictures on the bare walls smight be nice.

A place for everything.....

....and everything in it's place (Sort of) I am very lucky to have a room in my home that I can completely dedicate to the many things that I love to do. Unfortunately I haven't quite been on top of my organizational skills, and the "stuff" in that room, has become unruly. It was time to take charge, and this great bookcase from Ikea was the perfect solution. I still have a bit to do before I have the room completely set up the way that I would like (notice that you don't see pictures of the rest of the room). I am really happy, however, with the progress so far.

Lights, Camera,....Action!

Kind of an exciting day today. I showed up to work, and the front of the store was covered with a movie crew. We knew that they were going to be filming on the street today, but we had no idea the majority of thier "stuff" was going to be laid out in front of the store. Late this evening they were doing some scenes in front of the store, so they totally decked it out in Christmas decorations. Since the store was in the scenes this evening we got to hang out in the background. and because it was late there really wasn't any other on lookers. They even let us sit in the director chairs for a couple of pictures. All in all a pretty cool experience, considering it doesn't happen everyday. I was really excited for the kids, because they thought that this was pretty cool. Jordan loves acting, and wants to be in the film industry both in front, and behind the camera, so he was REALLY excited to see how it all happens. I believe it is a TV movie called The Mrs. Claus (??) starring Lea Thompson. She is the actress that played Marty McFly's mom in Back To the Future! After they were finished filming the scenes she was very kind and stopped to take a picture with us.

We Hiked!

British Columbia is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts..... and although I wouldn't consider myself an all out enthusiast... I have always liked the idea of hiking. I was given a great suggestion by a coworker, of a good place to try.... and that brought me to Lindeman Lake today!

In all it was about a 3 hour round trip for a total of about 3.4 km. It started out deceptively easy... and then got progressively more rocky and a pretty good climb for most of it.

Unfortunately Darren has really bad knee problems so a hike like this is pretty much not possible for him... and Jordan... well he is a teenager.. and really doesn't want to do much of anything that we would like to do... even if he might actually like it. So Jason was may hiking buddy, and we had a great time. There were some really tough spots and he kept on going with a great attitude.

Now I am on the hunt for our next weekend adventure..... I am sure that it will take at least a week for my butt and leg muscles to recover from todays trek.

3 magainzes, 2 books and 1 class

I MUST have books..... to touch.... to read.... to look at... I LOVE them! So every couple of weeks on my way home from work I make a stop at Chapters which is big ass book store. Part of my routine is to pick up something great to sip on from Starbucks as I spend the next couple of hours flipping through MANY books. It is rare for me to walk out of there without at least one book or magazine.

Tonight was an especially good night, as you can see from the picture. I am really excited about the sock knitting book, because I desperately want to knit my own socks.

For the first time in a long time, I also picked up a scrapbook magazine. For reasons to numerous to mention, scrapbooking has been on the back burner for me for a LONG time. After picking up the new Scrapbooks Ect. I decided to go visit a scrapbook store, that I haven't been into for a while. They had a great table set up of their classes, and they were beautiful! So nice in fact that I asked about one of them. Since I used to teach scrapbooking classes myself, I have never taken one before. Since I have been out the loop for so long I need a little kick start. I was pleased that the date of the class worked out with my full time work schedule.... so I signed up! A picture is worth a thousand words, so rather than describe it I will post pictures of the mini album after I take the class.

The fruits of my labour

I have a green thumb!! Well sort of, as long as I can grow it within the confines of the garden space in my front yard. (which is the sunniest spot) Although I have done tomatoes before, this is my first year trying green peppers and herbs. I wasn't sure that the green peppers were doing very well because the plant itself isn't big, so I was shocked when I saw the above green pepper growing.

Darren and I are also really enjoying using fresh herbs in our cooking.. and it tastes soooo much better. A couple of things that we didn't plant this year that we are sure to plant for next year is mint (for Mojitos yum!) and catnip for the kitties.

There is something really cool about growing your own food. I just don't like weeding.

Progress!

We are alot closer to getting it done! Just a little bit more to finish the drywall then we can mud and tape it. I think after that is is done, it should start looking like something. I don't know if I ever posted a picture of our bathroom vanity.. but this is it. It is probably a good Idea to get a picture of it before it gets installed, since the bathroom is long and narrow, I can get a better picture of it now. We had this custom made for us.. and it has been sitting in our living room for over 3.5 years! I still LOVE it and I can't wait to see everything together.

1 beach, 4 deer, 2 bears and a snake!

We had a great time on Sunday during our day trip to Skaha Lake. It is a bit of a drive to get there, but that is part of the fun for us. On the way there we had two deer cross in front of us. I did have my camera handy, but they were running pretty fast!

Of course we had a great time at the beach even though it was crazy hot at almost 37ºC!! which is over 100ºF. The sand was way to hot to walk on without flip flops. As usual this little redhead stayed under the umbrella knitting and reading.

The drive home was alot of fun. We have had satellite radio for a few years now... and it is well worth its weight in gold during long trips. We listened to a couple of the comedy stations and had some great laughs.

We came across a few more deer, and then to our surprise we saw a bear on the side of the road foraging in the grass. This was the first bear that any of us had ever seen that wasn't in a zoo. A little frightening and although I would have loved a picture...it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to stop and get my camera out of the trunk, and we wisely chose not to do so. Then a few minutes later we saw another bear!

I am sorry to say that during our ride home several mosquitos lost thier lives on the front of our car... I am also grossed out to say that a snake did not make his way over the road as he crossed our path while we were going at about 100km/h (60mph) there was no time to stop and Darren drove right over it. Thankfully I was reading a magazine so I didn't see it, but apparently it was about 4 or 5 feet long. I sat with my feet up on the seat for the next half hour just in case it wasn't truly dead and wrapped around our axle and wanted to get revenge by coming up under the seats to "get us" ..... the thought of it still makes me shiver.

Procrastination project #1

I almost didn't get this bag done this week. It wasn't until this weekend that I remembered about wanting to tackle my procrastination list.

Jason has great teachers this year, and I wanted to do something nice for each of them. I decided that I would make them each a bag. I picked out the fabric this weekend, and I had a hard time picking out fabrics that would fit their individual style. After bringing home my choices, I asked Jason which fabric should go to which teacher.. and I was pleased that he matched the fabric to teacher as I had planned.

I only have the one finished, however I have the other two cut, and ready to go. The pattern is an Amy Butler "swing" bag, and it is really easy to put together. What I like most about the bag, is that it is reversible. You might not be able to see it, but the fabric on the inside of this bag is little green lady bugs. (thanks for helping me pick that one Rachel)

In addition to the 3 that I am making for Jason's teachers. I also have plans to make 5 or 6 more for Christmas... actually there are a lot of handmade items that are on my gift list this year.

I was also pleased to finally get the binding on the quilt pictured in the post below. The quilt has been ready for more than 6 months...just waiting for that final touch, so I am happy to get that done.

On my "To Do" list for this week.... The other two bags.

complete!

Yay! It is nice to post pictures of projects that are finally completed! The quilt has been done of a while now, I just had to put on the binding, which I did today! The purse is on its way to Florida.. I hope you like it Liz.

Reno progress and cute kitty

Wow it sure has been a while since I last blogged. The bathroom is going slowly... but it is coming along. The plumbing has been moved to fit the larger tub, and the tub is now in place/1 We filled it to check for any leaks in the plumbing ect.. and we are OK! I am going ot order the tiles to go around the tub tomorrow. While we are waiting for those to arrive, we will be putting up the cement board and the drywall! It isn't alot of progress.. but it IS progress.

On a totally unrelated note, I just wanted to post a picture of Baby Stuie.. (it doesn't matter how old he gets, he will always be the baby)

One small step

Here is the current state of the main bathroom in our house. I am ashamed to admit that it has looked just like this for the past THREE years, wilh the exception of the new tub which was placed in the middle of the floor about 5 months ago!

I am happy to report that after several false starts in the past few years it looks like we really are going to finish it this time. So here you have it... the official "before" picture! I spent my days off this weekend helping my dad with the plumbing which was a huge hassle, since the new tub is wider and taller than the previous one.

I have had all the fixtures and fittings, floor tiles ect... for the past years! I just never bought any tile to go around the tub. I will have to choose that next week... we originally were going to do everything "ourselves" with lots of help from my dad (you can see how well that worked) but for the sake of "getting it done" I am going to hire someone to install the tiles around the tub and on the floor. I hope to have an "after photo" within the next 2 months!

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday

My baby turned 10 years old today. The only thing on his wish list was Lego, and he has spent most of the day building the new Lego sets that he recieved.

Since his is such a huge fan I wanted to make a him a cake that looked like a piece of Lego, but instead he wanted to continue on with a tradition that started out with Jordan a few years Ago when I let his friends pick out his cake. At the time we were looking there wasn't too many themed cakes available for boys, so instead they chose a Little Mermaid cake and requested that she had a moustache .... and thus began the tradition of the "girly cake with a moustache"

If you look closely at the cake, all the princesses on this little boys birthday cake are each sporting quite a lovely moustache. Upon Jason's request to continue the tradition we bought him a "girly cake with a moustache".... and he couldn't have been happier.

Happy Birthday Jason!

Page contest entries and winners!

Since I recieved only 2 layout entries for this contest, I am forgoing the judging and declaring this a tie!

The top layout is by Kelly. Supplies are: CM Vintage Power Pallette PP and solid paper, CM Vintage letter stickers, CM Geometric Punch, Zig pen for the stitching and journaling.

The second layout "Angel" by Liz Wheeler
Materials: paper and flourishes by Trevor's Treasures Charity Kit, Miss Scrap Jeans Alpha, CK Maternal and Dauphin fonts and the journaling is an adaptation to the lyrics "Angel" by Jack Johnson.

Congratulations to both of you for getting this done, and creating great pages. Good job!

I have been tagged

A-attached or Single - Married

B-Best Friend - My hubby Darren

C-Cake or pie - that would be PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE apple to be specific

D-Day of choice - I like Sundays because I can sleep in and spend the morning reading in bed

E-Essential Item - ipod (I love it) and Satellite Radio.

F-Favourite type of music - I love Gwen Stephani and some of Fergie's songs. I also like some of Feist and my current favourite is the Oscar nominated one "falling slowly"

G-Gummy bears or worms - Chocolate covered gummy bears are very addictive.

H-Hometown - Abbotsford BC

I-Indulgence - OMG there are so many, I wouldn't even know where to start.

J-January or July - They both suck! I hate being cold and I hate the heat and sun.

K-Kid's - Two great boys.

L-Last movie - "Mansfield Park" I love Jane Austen books and I had not seen that movie yet. We also recently rented "Elizabeth" and "Beowulf" I think that repeatedly poking a fork in my eye would have been more entertaining then watching Beowulf. Totally retarded!

M-Marriage date - August 12, 1995

N-Number of Siblings - two older sisters and a younger brother who passed away 10 years ago.

O-Oranges or Apples - both... yum!

P-Phobias or fears - feathers, or birds attached to feathers *shudder*

Q-Quotes - "If you don't like the answer don't ask the question" and "Don't be sorry, just be informed".... and yes, I have said them before.

R-Reason to smile - to many to list.

S-Season - FALL!!!!!!

T-Tag four - Nikki, Shannon, Angela, and Baby T!

U-Unknown fact about me - I hate being hugged. Not really an "express my feelings" kind of girl. I am not a heartless bag... I just keep that kind of stuff to myself.

V-Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal - Meat is really quite gross, so I stick mainly to the occasion chicken dish... but mostly vegetarian meals and of course the the 5th food group which consists of candy and snacks

W-Worst habit - I often say exactly what I am thinking....even if I intended to keep it to myself... sometimes it just slips out and suprises me just as much as the recipient.

X-Xrays or ultrasound - X-rays..... I almost burst a kidney from all the water that I had to drink for an ultrasound that I had when I was pregnant with Jordan. I will NEVER forget that pain.

Y-Your Favorite food - a variety of cheeses and breads... or even better cheese in bread, on bread or around bread... thankfully I don't eat as much of it as I would like.

Z-Zodiac - I am a Virgo

The Entertainer

I have been a shut in for the past week or so, and I desperately needed to get out. After my Doctor appointment the other day, Darren, myself and my black eye decided to check out IKEA. It is a bit of drive so we rarely go, and when we do I often leave with nothing or a few small items here and there.

Quite surprisingly we found a cool entertainment center. We really needed something in our family room that was both budget friendly and could hold lots of "schtuff". As you can see we found something pretty cool. It is a perfect fit for the wall space with just a few inches to spare. Now we just need to hide the cords and decorate. Any suggestions on what do on the wall space on the right? It is an awkward wall that sticks out about 6" from the wall that the entertainment center is against.

Hidden Treasure

Darren has taken 2 weeks off while I am home recovering from my surgery. He is taking advantage of the spare time by tackling our clutter around the house. One of the rooms that needed a lot of help was the laundry room.

If not for the fact that there is a washer and dryer in there, our laundry room could pass as a small bedroom. It even has a small walk in closet, which up until yesterday, I completely forgot about. Through Darren's hard work in the laundry room... it opened up path to the closet which we haven't been in for at least 2 years. I decided to move out the old crap that was in there, and had Darren move all my storage boxes in my sewing room to that closet. I think it is a perfect solution to my over stuffed hobby room. Although the rooms couldn't be further apart. The fact that all my projects are not cluttering up my work space is much easier.

Having all the sewing projects out of the hobby room closet leaves me more space to store my scrapbooking stuff, in the closet rather than on my scrapbook desk. I am hoping to get 2 matching desks for my hobby room that will be much nicer than the heavy looking hand -me-down desks that are currently in there now.

A sad reality

Unlike my scrapbooking supply philosophy, which is "If I don't have it, I should get it" My sewing/quilting/knitting purchases couldn't be more different. If I find something that I like... I will create a project... buy all the stuff, and then store them until I am ready to make them...the result of which is in the photo above. The unfortunate part is that there are MORE boxes than those shown, and some of the boxes contain more than one project.

As I was "organizing" my hobby room this evening it hit me...This is no longer a room to scrapbook, sew, quilt or knit...... but it is a STORAGE room for all things scrabooking, quilting, sewing or knitting! I cannot possible part with it though, and I think that I have come up with a different solution that I will blog about it in next couple of days.

You should see the other guy!

Okay.... the other guy is my eye surgeon... and no, he doesn't have a black eye. I had my long awaited lens implant surgery on my left eye yesterday. Despite how it looks, it went really well.

I was actually awake for the whole procedure, which took a whopping 15 minutes. I wasn't really cool with the idea of being awake, but it wasn't really that bad. The nice thing was not having to get over having anesthetic, and the groggyness that comes after it.

Why the black eye? not too sure, but I remember him giving me a shot during the procedure, and then saying that I would have a black eye the next day. My vision is somewhat distorted because of the stitch that was put in, but that will be gone when I have the stitch(s) removed next week. For now. I just keep having the wipe away the tears that comes from the light sensitivity that I am having. Hopefully this will clear up pretty quick, and I should be back to normal in a few weeks... to do it all over again in April for the right eye.... hopefully sans the black eye.

I hit a dog.

.... and he is okay!

Last night Darren and I were on our way to meet some friends for dinner. On our way we had almost been clipped by a big white van that cut us off, and then had to swerve out out of the way to avoid hitting a guy wearing black crossing in the middle of the road. All of this happened within a very short period of time, so Darren said "maybe these are signs that we weren't meant to go to dinner" .... and just after he said that, is when the dog ran out in front of me.

He is a big German Sheppard, and I thought I killed him. When we stopped to see what happened Darren wouldn't let me out the car because he knew that I would not what to see a dead dog on the road. I am in the car freaking out, then I heard Darren talking to someone. I got out of the car, to look at a dog laying on the road.... but there was nothing there. The guy that Darren was talking to was a roomate of the dogs owner. Apparently this was the second time that day that the dog had got out. We went to their house and there was the dog sitting in the front window looking at us. The Dogs owner came out and said that the dog seemed okay but had some blood in his mouth. It wasn't until he saw our bumper that he decided to take the dog to the Vet hospital.

I called this morning to check on him, and it looks like the blood in his mouth is from where he bit his tongue, and he has a fractured front leg :( I am so surprised that it wasn't worse.

I think when I saw him in my headlights, I must have swerved to avoid him and that is why he hit the side of my bumper... otherwise I would have driven right over him.

Long time no blog!

Wow I can't believe how long it has been since my last blog entry. Today is an unexpected "snow day" or at least "snow morning" for me. I was supposed to make my 45 minute commute to work this morning when I got a call that they weren't going to open the store until 1pm Whooo Hooo!!! Thankfully I have our truck today which is 4 wheel drive.. but it doesn't help when other people are slipping and sliding everywhere.

Here is my street this morning... and then from just a few months earlier. I think that I would much prefer to have the weedy green yard than the snow.