Look out Mickey!

Disneyland time is finally here. It will be nice for all three of us to actually be together for 10 days. This summer has been crazy. Mommy is definitely ready for some Arden-Daddy time. I don't know how single parents do it. Will post some pics when we get back.

Oh, by the way, Hilary Duff concert was great. Arden was really surprised and seemed to enjoy the concert. I almost cried at one point during the concert because Arden was singing and looked like she was having so much fun. I am such a sappy Mom.

Feelin' pretty

I got the BEST haircut and colour today!!! I was nervous because it is the first time with a Houston stylist but she was awesome! My hair looks so good someone should be takin' me out! But alas, there is nowhere cool to go here! HUMPH... Oh well, I still look great!

Start of summer?

Well, of course I just had to get sick to kick off the summer. I didn't think I would get sick since I didn't work much in the last two weeks but of course Aaron got sick so I did too. It's going on day 5 and I still feel really run down. Might have to bite the bullet and actually go to the doctor - UGH!

I got the job!

I am so excited. It is part time, first semester but it is Lit 12, Writing 12, and Socials 10 - all courses I love to teach. It will be nice to have the extra cash as well, LOL

Bedroom almost done!

Yesterday we:

installed baseboards

installed rods in Aaron's closet

installed closet organizer in my closet

replaced outlet and switch covers

ordered KING SIZED mattress!

We actually may be sleeping in the room before the end of the month!

Job opportunity

I applied for a job at Houston Secondary. It is only for first sememster and is only 3 of 4 classes but it is continuing. The best part is that it is teaching Literature 12, Writing 12, and Social Studies 10 - all subjects I love to teach. Hopefully my friend TC will let me rape and pillage her Lit. resources - LOL

Hillary Duff, here we come

Yep, I did talk myself into it. Got the concert tickets and plane tickets this morning. Used my Air Miles for the flights so the trip is just costing us the airport fees and taxes and the concert tickets. I am going to surprise Arden with the concert. I will let her think we are just going to see Aaron in Edmonton. It feels so good to be at a point in our lives where we can do this kind of thing for our daughter.

Another trip?

OK, so I know I am already jamming so much into this summer but this evening, while watching family channel with Arden, a promo came on for a Hillary Duff concert tour. Now don't laugh, I'm not the fan, but Arden is. This wouldn't be tempting except she is in Edmonton on August 1st and Aaron is already going to be there supervising the Nationals. I started looking into it and I could use my Air Miles to get us there and we could stay with Aaron because the other supervisor is a woman so they will each have their own room. The other thing that makes this so tempting is that we could be together on August 2nd, which is our 10th Anniversary and my 39th (really!) birthday. I was thinking we could surprise Aaron too but if we want to stay in his hotel I think we may have to tell him. It might mean that Arden and I have to go to Vernon to see my dad right at the beginning of July but that wouldn't be so bad. Hmmmmm.... sounds like I have talked myself into it.

Goal accomplished!

Yep, actually got the ceiling painted and two coats of primer on the walls. We even installed the ceiling light fixtures - they look awesome. I am off to put on the first coat of paint - Cherry Cobbler! It is such a cool colour. We may even be in our bedroom before September - LOL!!! I want it done before July so I can work on my craft room while Aaron is away!

Great to see our friends

Our weekend in Hope was awesome. It was so great to see everyone and be a part of the graduation festivities. It made me realize how much I really missed them all this year. The dresses at Prom were beautiful. There wasn't one dress where I thought "What was she thinking?" Rachel C's, Rachel T's, and Evelyn's were my favourites mostly because they were so transforming from their regular clothing. Sherina and Danielle really stood out as well, but, as I said, I thought they were all so beautiful.

Not flooding here significantly, yet. I still think it won't flood. They have been so proactive that all of their preparations and work are actually holding back the water. The two big diggers down by the river hauling out the debris before it gets to the bridge are quite impressive.

Weekend goal: to get the ceiling and 2 coats of primer done in the bedroom!

Off to Hope

Arden and I are heading down to Hope this afternoon for Grad. I am really looking forward to seeing all my students. I really missed being a "regular" teacher this year. It will also be great for Arden to see Emma and to catch up with all my friends.

ALOHA!!

WE'RE GOING TO HAWAII FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!! I just booked the trip seconds ago! 12 nights, 13 days of Hawaiian bliss!

More yard photos

Lovin' my yard right now!

I have been working like crazy to get the yard looking great. Once the plants grow in I think it will look awesome. I especially love my solar lights that I got for Mother's Day.

Su...nny Days...chasing the...clouds away

It is so beautiful here today. I actually sat outside at lunch and ate on the deck. Yesterday, Aaron's mom and I went to Smithers and I bought new patio furniture. I got such a good deal!!! They had mispriced the set that I wanted at Zellers - by $100!!!!! I got a table, 6 chairs, 2 foot stools, a small side table, an umbrella and a lazy susan for the table, all for $399! They were exactly what I wanted. I even bought some plants for the front garden. I haven't put them in the ground yet because it has still been quite chilly at night but I think I might risk it this evening. The yard is looking really great so it is nice to be out there.

Will spring ever really arrive?

Took a trip out to the local nursery today and now I am just itching to plant something. They had the most beautiful bedding plants but I think it is still too cold at night to plant anything. The poor plants will just go into shock once they get out of the greenhouse. I also need to get the cat "problem" under control before I plant anything. Unfortunately, about 3 local cats are using my front flower beds as a litter box. It is just disgusting. Today I cleaned it all out and put wood skewers and cayene pepper all over the garden. Hopefully this will work.

I am totally loving my new computer. I have printed my photos and saved them on the computer. I printed out a great picture of Arden and my mother-in-law for her for mother's day. It turned out great.

Bedroom still is not done - Urggggghhhhhh!!!!! It is making me mental that I am the only one working on it. DH seems totally disinterested except when it comes to telling me that the new drywall still doesn't look right. If he had gotten someone to do it like I said in the first place, we wouldn't be in this predicament. As soon as the in-laws are gone I will be finishing the room, and I don't care what he says - as long as it is finally DONE!

New Computer Fun!

Oooohhh, I am loving this new computer. It can do so many cool things. Last night I even completed my first ever digital scrapbook page! WOW! I could get addicted to that! It might be something for me to do on the road or at school on days when the regular teacher leaves a test or "busy work" for the kids and not much for me to do. I could get addicted to this. I only used freebies from various scrapbooking sites. I don't think I could get into purchasing items for digital pages. I guess the good part is that you can use the same embellishment over and over - a totally renewable scrapbooking supply! I think I still really like the hands on feel of traditional scrapboking, but it is fun to try new stuff. It might be neat to actually create some pages while on vacation or I could see them making great gifts - add a frame and voila!

Random Musings

I like a good drink at the end of the day, especially a cold cider or a Long Island Iced Tea.

Pink is pretty.

I'm a procrastinator and lazier than people might think.

I want my scrap room to be finished.

I really want my bedroom to be finished.

Chocolate is yummy.

I wish I could motivate myself to really lose weight.

I love it when I can do something better than my husband.

Today my new computer arrived. A MacBook Pro. I am so excited I feel like a little kid on Christmas morning. I have read the manual but I am at school right now so I haven't got to play with it yet. I am most excited about getting my photos off my camera and printed out. I want to print off the one of Arden and Pearl to give to mom for Mother's Day.





It is the spring formal dance at the school today and my whole class is absent except for 2 - 2 who want to go to the dance. It makes for a pretty boring afternoon - especially when there is a new computer at home to play with - Did I mention my new computer? AHHHHH....I'm so excited!!!!

SMILE :)

I feel cheerful when...

A student in my class right now is working on a worksheet where she has to give the definition of a word by using it in a sentence.

I feel cheerful when I think about my bedroom actually being finished by the end of the month! The drywall is repaired and just needs a bit of sanding. Then I will be painting. We picked up the paint in Prince George this weekend. The colour is called Cherry Cobbler. Aaron ordered our bedroom furniture yesterday. YIPEE!!!!! Our bedding is in the picture above. I love!!! it.

I think I get even more cheerful when I remember that once the bedroom is done I get to work on my craft room!

I feel cheerful!!!!

Friday again!

This is starting to become a weekly blog. At least I am a little more regular again.

Scrapbooking was great last Saturday. I got 12 pages done. I have been working on my inspiration binder all week. I cut layouts out of magazines that I like and then I don't have to keep the whole magazine. I organized them into categories but it is working out great. I am feeling really inspired to scrapbook, I just wish my room was done. The hole I work in right now is just too cramped. We have been waiting for the drywaller but he still hasn't come over. It is literally a couple of hours work but he is just so busy.

I tried to go to a friend's blog but she has changed it to invitation only. I will have to contact her to see if I can be invited. I know she is going through a rough time right now so hopefully everything is ok.

Spring is starting to arrive in the north! I am just itching to plant something but it still gets down below zero at night so any plants would just die. The lawn is starting to look great though!

Focus on Friday

Ahhhhh..... Friday! You just gotta love it. Worked today at the high school which was fun. I love working in WM's classes.

Tomorrow I am going scrapbooking all day for National Scrapbook Day. I am looking forward to it. I am starting to make some new friends which is great. I am going to try to get 10 layouts done tomorrow. I might not get the titles done because I am not dragging all of my die cutters with me. I might take my Quickutz with me with a few fonts so that I can get some done.

Well, the class is getting a bit disruptive so I best be off.

Lululemon!

This is my new Lululemon pink gym bag. I am going to use it for work or maybe to lug around scrapbooking stuff. Either way I LOVE IT!

Spring Break Hilights!

Science World - especially the History of Chocolate exhibit.

Robson Street - SHOPPING and Lululemon! (I love my new pink gym bag!)

Visiting our friends in Hope, not to mention dinner at Kimchi!

AHHHHHH, spring!

Seeing Bridge to Terabithia with Arden and her Grandma.

Seeing Cats in Nanaimo. It was really well done and Arden and Isabelle were mesmerized. Arden is already memorizing the songs!

Back from Spring Break

Just back from our two week spring break. It was so nice to have the break and head down to the coast. I felt the need to see things growing! I saw tulips and daffodils as well as cherry blossoms. Even if my allergies were driving me crazy, it really was beautiful.

Arden and I did lots of shopping. She has grown so much that she was in desperate need of clothes. The Children's Place is my favourite place to shop for Arden's clothes. They have trendy stuff that is not outrageously priced and is of good quality. What more could a mom ask for?!

On the second week of our break we got to spend 3 nights and 4 days in Vancouver. Aaron was at a Principals' conference so we got to stay at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. It is right next to the art gallery. Arden called it a castle! These few days truly proved that you get what you pay for. The service was amazing! It was nice to be in the city for a few days. We ate good food and shopped on Robson. We went to Science World and I took Arden to her favourite place, Chinatown.

After the two weeks away it was good to come home to our own beds. All of the snow is gone here now. (there is still some in the mountains and in the "bush") Today is an absolutely glorious, sunny day! I love the weather here. Anything is better than all the rain down south!

Wednesday musings

Just read a friend's blog and freaked out a bit. It seems that snowboard accidents are the trend in Hope these days. Another student was severely injured and is still recovering and now my friend's daughter hit a tree on the weekend. It is very scary. My friend is also going through a divorce and it seems like it may be a little ugly. I feel for her and hope that in the end she comes out stronger but it must be very difficult.

We are a couple of days away from spring break!!!! Yipee!!!! Even though I am not working full time, I am looking forward to the break. I am also looking forward to doing some shopping! Arden and I went through her closet yesterday and must have put 1/2 her shirts into the "too small box". She has grown so much, all of the sleeves were half way to her elbow. We will hit The Children's Place in Nanaimo while we are there.

I am also looking forward to doing a little scrapbook shopping. We are going to Treasure Mart and Clipper Street and of course Michael's. I don't really need anything, I'm just in supply shopping withdrawl! LOL I do want to get a couple of new Cricut cartridges and maybe a new sizzlets font. We'll see.

what we have

what we want

Spring Break?!

Well, if it was a 'normal' year, today would be the first day of spring break. This is only noteworthy because we woke up to more snow this morning. Nothing really significant, but snow none-the-less. Lucky for us, the school district has decided to join spring break with Easter so that we can have 2 weeks off, so our spring break isn't for another two weeks. Hopefully the weather will perk up by then.

Crosgreys were supposed to visit this week but the heavens were working against us. Between sketchy weather and the slides up the Fraser Canyon, we decided it was best they not come. I had a good hour plus phone conversation with Theresa yesterday, which was really nice. We are going to have dinner with them when we are through Hope over Easter.

I had a really blah weekend. I think I have a bit of the blues lately. I'm not really sure why. I think it is partly due to feeling unimortant - at home, and with no 'real' job. In my old life I was important, especially in my job, so it helped me to feel good about myself. That part is missing now. I think I also need some romance. Perhaps I will need to instigate that myself. hmmm...

Feelin' the scrappin' bug

I am starting to feel like scrapbooking again. I really want to get our New York album done before spring break - which gives me just over two weeks. I am almost done the layouts and then I just have to go back and add embellishments and journaling. I used the same layout/formula for each page so it made it pretty quick. I used black cardstock with white, grey and red accents. I think it is turning out great.

I am going to my first all day crop in Houston. It is a Creative Memories crop so it might be interesting. I don't think the hostess has seen much other scrapbooking so I might shock her but I will try to keep it low key. The only CM stuff I really use now are my corner rounder and my small cutter. Sometimes I break out my circle or oval cutters, but it's pretty rare.

A couple of staff members here at the high school want to see my Cricut so I think I will bring it in tomorrow for a bit of a demo. Cricut just came out with a bunch of school related cartridges that would be really awesome for bulletin boards and really great for elementary teachers. I think I will visit Treasure Mart over spring break when we are in Vancouver for the Principals' conference. I am hoping they will have some of these new cartridges because their prices are amazing - almost half of other retailers.

I just wish we could get our bedroom done so I could have an actual scrapbooking room. The cave of a room I am in now is so uninspiring.

Sledding at School

One thing I love about the North is the variety of activities compared to down south. Today I TOD'd a PE class and we went sledding. It is a beautiful day and with the 6 inches of new snow we got on the weekend, the sledding was awesome. Of course, one thing that never changes is the whining of students. It's amazing how grade 9 girl whining can put an end to a fun class of sledding.

We were surprised by the snow all day Saturday. I had just told Aaron on Friday that we should move the barbecue from the carport to the deck and then it snowed all day. Good thing we didn't move it. It is so bright here all the time and with the time change this weekend (a few weeks earlier than normal) it is light for even longer each day. It was almost 8pm before it was truly dark last night. Apparently, in the summer, it stays light until 11pm. I'm looking forward to that. I always seem to get so much more done when it is light out. The winter darkness just makes me want to hibernate.

I am going to my first all day scrapbooking 'event' in Houston on March 31st. I am really looking forward to it. It is put on by a Creative Memories person but hopefully she won't mind my non-CM style. I am going to buy the Disney album from her though, because they are really nice. I want to use it for Arden's autograph book.

I booked our Disneyland trip today. I can now officially be excited. I can hardly wait to see it all through Arden's eyes. She is going to love every minute of it. I even booked a Disney Princess Dinner for us. We are staying at a Residence Inn which is like a small appartment so it will be really comfortable. The next trip to book is Hawaii at Christmas. I am hoping Aaron won't change his mind because of the cost (about $7000) for the three of us for 10 days. I think it is so much more enjoyable to spend our money on trips and experiences rather than on 'stuff'. We always seem to have such a good time on trips and I have to admit, I love organizing a holiday for us!

It's Wednesday!

I have been working a tonne lately. I'm starting to feel like a full time staff member at my new HSS home. Being a TOC definitely has its perks and perrils. I like not having any prep work and that my marking is limited to some short assignments or quizes in class. The tough part is the students who like to take advantage and not really having a class to call my own. Most of the students have been great and my 14 years of experience has come in very handy. I now truly appreciate how lucky I was to get a job right out of university and not have to TOC then. I think it would have been a lot tougher. I am on my fifth day straight of working and I have one more day this week and then I am taking Friday off. Aaron is going to have to start doing some stuff around the house as I can't keep up with everything there too.

The sun is shining again today and the snow is almost all gone from the roads. What a dirty mess it leaves behind. You can really see how much sand and gravel they put on the roads in the winter. There are some pretty serious pot holes as well.

weekend review

Had a pretty good weekend. The weather was beautiful and we had good results in the mixed bonspeil despite not curling especially well. We ended up 2nd in the 'B' event even though we only won one game. We had a great time however. Lots of laughing.

Arden lost another tooth last night. The tooth fairy has visited twice in the past 5 days. That kid is going to be rich off this pixie! She looks so cute with one tooth mising from the top and two from the bottom. She loves to stick a straw through the hole to drink her juice.

I'm working a lot this week. Monday - Thursday. At least that means I'll make scale. I'm not going to work Friday so I will have a bit of a break. I told Aaron that he is going to have to start doing some stuff around the house because I can't keep up when I am working 4 days a week. So much for my three day a week plan. He needs to at least do the dishes once in a while. I hinted at that last night and hoped he would do the dishes but it didn't happen. I don't think he got the message of me slamming the cutlery into the drying rack as he was going to be last night. Working so much also makes the mornings quite stressful as Arden is not known for her morning speed and I hate arriving at school at the last minute. If I get a full time job here next year we will have to look into other arrangements for the morning because I will need to be here before 8:15am.

The snow is rapidly melting and the sun is shining pretty much every day. I definitely don't miss the rain in Hope.

I'm back!

Well, life really has really been happening since way back in June when I last updated. I actually forgot about my blog for a while.

We moved to Houston, BC in August and are loving our new home in the North! It has been an exceptionally cold and snowy winter so we are getting a good taste of life up here. Aaron's new job is awesome and Arden is doing great at school. I have been working as a TOC quite a bit which is different for me but I must admit I do like the no marking or prepping part of the job.

I had hoped to scrapbook a lot more once we moved up here but we are still using what will eventually be my scrap room as a bedroom right now. Hopefully by the end of April that problem will be rectified! I have scrapbooked most of our New York trip and I think I will work on my Scottland trip next. I seem to be more productive with projects like this that have a clear end.

Arden lost her second tooth last night while biting into her hambuger at A&W. It's a good thing she didn't swallow it. This tooth was a little less traumatic than the first one so hopefully the rest will follow suit.

We are curling in the mixed bonspeil this weekend. I doubt we will have the same success we had in the ladies' and men's bonspeils. Aaron's team came 1st in the C and my team came 1st in the A. I'm sure we will have just as much fun. I made jello shots in the shape of orange slices so that should get the festivities started.

It feels good to be back and I am going to try to keep this up again, even if it's just as a record of life's happenings.