March Round Up

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

"Merciless" by Richard Montanari , "Boneman's Daughter" by Ted Dekker, "The Scarecrow" by Michael Connelly all very good suspense novels.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?

Martin & I actually made it to a movie at the theater. We have not been to the movie theater in a long time, so long in fact, I don't even remember what the last movie was we saw at the theater. LOL So as part of our new weekly date night program I turned our night out into a night at the movies. We ended up watching AVATAR in 3D, and both got a nice headache from it. The movie was pretty good, we both thought, one you had to see on the huge screen, (versus the big screen at our home).

We watched a weird Stephen King short story movie that Michael & Kim brought over called "Dolan's Cadillac". From Blockbuster online we had a couple of rentals sitting there and we ended up watching them in one night. "The Echelon Conspiracy", which was pretty good and "Atonement", which both Martin & I liked, surprisingly. It was a great novel adaptation and the story was told very well. It makes you think and is also a wonderful love story with a twist.

Also watched "2012", and I must say I was glad we waited for the Blue-Ray. I would have been disappointed to have paid good money to see this in the theater. A little too much packed into one movie. I mean, really, Airforce One just happened to crash at the right time, and how many times can John Cusack avoid falling into a crevasse???

I watched "Saw VI", the 6th installment of the horror series by myself, since hubby is not into these type movies. Together with Adam and his buddy Tyler we also watched "Armoured", which was a pretty good movie but a little short towards the end. I was hoping for a bit more....

I've been catching up on the last season of "Lost" and watching "Grey's Anatomy" to try to catch up with the current season.

One of our new favorites is "Undercover Boss", which we happened to catch right after the Superbowl and are now following. We are looking forward to the next episode featuring the CEO of RotoRooter.

We also ended up at the Mt. Baker Theater for one of our dates this month. I purchased ticket to see "Scrap Arts Music" and went there with an open mind, not knowing what to expect. martin had no clue either since it was a surprise. We were totally blown away. the show was incredible and we enjoyed every second of it. It was a shame that it did not sell out and people missed out on this incredible experience. I can see why these artists were featured in the Olympic Games Closing Ceremonies in Vancouver.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?

We had two great St. Patrick's Day parties at friends houses. One was on St. Patrick's Day and the other the Saturday after. Both were a lot of fun and it was great to connect with old friends and make new ones along the way. I even backed rainbow cupcakes and green bread (a la Becca, thanks Girl!) for one, and Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Frosting for the other. YUMMY!

We also attended Ashton Lozano's Birthday Party at Chuck E. Cheese's. What a riot. I can see why the kids all want to go there. Gracie had a lot of fun and even had another birthday party to head to after this one.

Did you take any trips or vacations or did someone come and stay with you at your house?

Since we just returned from New Zealand we didn't do much in March. Starting to get the house ready for summer, mowing the lawn for the first time and such.

Our friends Stan & Ginger, who live in Alaska for the summer and Arizona for the winter came up on a side trip to spend a few days at our house.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

Martin & I went on a shopping spree at MACY'S for him and found some smoking deals. Let's just say we scored, BIG TIME.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

I hurt my right arm & shoulder playing Saturday night volleyball at the YMCA. I blocked a hit by one of the guys and he hit it really hard jolting my whole arm, elbow and shoulder. When I had Beth massage it this past week she as amazed at how rock hard the muscles in the arm were, really locked up. I stopped playing for a week and a half and seem to be getting much better.

What were my disappointments this month?

We took our friends Stan & Ginger to a fancy restaurant. One that we had attempted to sample during our Tuesday date night the week before. Well, apparently they are only open Thurs/Fri/Sat for dinner. We found this out the hard way, by driving all the way out Semiamooh, which took about 45 minutes. So during our second attempt I was very disappointed by the meal I ordered. For one it was served pretty cold and the steak was not of good quality. For any of you that know us we've been trying to cut back our meat intake and when we do go out for dinner I tend to savour a good cut of red meat. Not at this restaurant, even more disappointing since the price tag was quite high.

Anything else noteworthy to include?

I finally got into using my new popcorn air popper that I had bought back before Christmas. I love popcorn and using the microwave kind was kind of expensive and probably not very healthy either. So now I use my handy dandy Redenbacher air popper and love it.

I guess the snow we had on the 8th of March would be considered noteworthy since we do live in the Northwest and that is not normal in these parts.

Grace had her first Easter Egg Hunt the Saturday before Easter at her new school bus depot. The weather was great and there was only about two dozen kids there. She found quite a few eggs and even a hardboiled egg.

December Round Up

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Dean Koontz's new book "Breathless" was one of the first ones on my list for this month. I love his style, it's very down to earth, and I enjoy the fact that he makes me reach for my dictionary to look up a word every few chapters. I shop for the few hardcover books I plan on keeping in my personal collection at Costco, and when I picked up "Breathless", I also grabbed the last published novel by Michael Crichton. Did you know he passed away? I didn't until I read the book jacket on this new novel entitled "Pirate Latitudes". They supposedly found this manuscript amongst his belongings after he passed and published it post mortem. It was quite different than his usual stuff, but I enjoyed it. I also read "The Fire" by Katherine Neville and "Turning Angel" by Greg Isles. "The Fire" was a good book but according to my husband it was a book more suited to a teen, whatever that means??? The Greg Isles book was quite a heavy subject and well worth a read if you can handle big emotional issues.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?

Finally the long awaited finale of "Survivor", "The Amazing Race", and my personal favorite "The Biggest Loser". Of course they put in a hook to secure that you'll watch the new seasons, and of course, I'm pretty psyched for them to start. Other than that we watched several football games where the Seahawks had their bootie whooped, not so much fun. As for movies we rented "Four Christmases"

which surprisingly both Martin, myself & Grace enjoyed immensely. Despite Adam's stating that he didn't' think the new Terminator Salvation movie was any good I decided on a whim to grab it and the new Star Trek. Again Martin & I both enjoyed these two movies, despite what some of our friends had said to the contrary. Martin had been concerned about not having seen all the previous movies in each series, but they were both made in such a manner that you could enjoy it as a separate show and if you had seen the past episodes the better.

With Gracie we also watched the new Pixar movie "UP". I had no idea what to expect and both Maritn & I were pleasantly surprised. They did it again, managing to make a movie for kids that keeps the adult audiences entertained and riveted to the screen. Grace also enjoyed this one, a big thumbs up from the LaVergne household.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?

Grace and I up kept our annual tradition and saw Santa at the mall. Even though she had already had a Santa encounter at her pre-school, she took this one quite serious and rattled off the list of items she decided to ask for this year.

The weekend before Christmas we attended the annual holiday party at the Skagit. It was a lot of fun and without the evacuation we suffered through last year, we even shut down the dance floor in style this time. It's kind of fun to go all out and dress up & have my hair done up. Grace & I went out for pedicures together. She chose purple and I went red for the Christmas party. This year I even had fake nails put on, a first for me, and I think a last. Although they look beautiful I don't think they are for me. LOL

Did you take any trips or vacations or did someone come and stay with you at your house?

As a family we decided to spend New Year's in Seattle. But first a side trip to IKEA to pick up our office furniture, and Troy & Aubree purchased their kitchen for an apartment they are building. After a yummy, but late dinner at McCormick & Schmick where Grace polished off a whole plate of Clams before dinner, we stayed in a suite at the Crown Plaza. Plans had been to go watch the fireworks at the Space Needle, but after seeing how foggy it was and that we actually had a pretty good view from our 11th storey rooms we stayed in. It was kind of cool to watch the fireworks out the window and then see the time delay on the television. We got the best of both worlds because we were warm & dry and could hear the accompanying music along with the beautiful fireworks.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

I guess the purchase at IKEA qualifies. This time we racked up a bill for about a dozen shelves, three desks, numerous storage items, some desk protectors, door inserts for the shelves, a ginormous wall clock, a leather sofa and a mirror. I think that was it...but I could be wrong.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

After Grace's visit with Santa at the pre-school she came down with a fever and proceeded into the full blown flu. She had it for about a week when of course I came down with it. It was mostly a hacking cough and a sore throat, annoying, but not the end of the world. I had my annual check up at the doctor's office and they said I was fine, mid-flu. So what do I know...

During our holidays at Grandma's house I suffered through a bout of sore neck/shoulder, which was so bad I couldn't sleep. After medicating heavily, a bit of massage by Martin and lots of heat and icing it got a point where I could at least function. I personally think this was brought on by the stupid two by four that fell on my back the day before we left, which I had totally forgotten about until we came home and I saw it lying on the ground.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

Well, Christmas presents of course. I was pretty excited that this year I was pretty much done shopping for everyone by the beginning of December. As a matter of fact I had bought a bit too much and saved some of the items for future gifting. LOL

I did pretty good this year, even if I have to say so myself. I found a purple digital camera for Grace which she absolutely loves. She even took some pretty darn great photos with it right off the bat.

I also received a camera, one of those flip video cameras that you just plug into your computer to download the movies...pretty cool.

For my dear husband I went all out and got him some brand, spanking, new work socks. Just what he's always wanted. LOL No really, I mean it. He didn't' see that one coming at all. He also received some new cologne, a bird bath (that one was revenge for the bird feeder I received from him a few years back!), (besides I really wanted that bird bath, LOL!), a burr grinder for his beloved coffee beans, (which means I can finally send the recalled one back to Starbucks, YEAH!) and some odds & ends as stocking stuffers. Oh plus the usual box of Applets & Cotlets, his favorite.

I was a little disappointed to see that he failed to get me what I had wished for this Christmas. (Well, what do you expect if you wait till two days before!), so Santa thoughtfully substituted an iPod download card in Adam Lambert's new CD's stead. No need to fret, I rectified Santa's error and purchased said CD at TARGET today. ***wink***wink***wink***

What were my accomplishments this month?

I was very proud that my Secret Santa gift went out on time, actually ahead of time. Megan's parcel did not fare so well, but the ornaments for the swap that were in that parcel were also done ahead of time. Yeah for sticking it to procrastination for the month of December. LOL

I also did manage to squeeze out almost all of my Christmas cards to get them in the mail before we left for Winthrop. Amazingly most of them made it to their destinations, even as far a Germany.

What were my disappointments this month?

Definitely being sick over the holidays was a real downer. I had waaay less energy to do stuff, so it was a good thing that most of my shopping had been done earlier in the year. This also prevented me from achieving my goals of cleaning up some stuff around the house.

Also not having a tree up this year was a real bummer for me. I love having the sparkling lights, putting up all the carefully chosen ornaments and such...but this year we were just too busy to get it done. I vow that this will be the last time as I missed having a tree way too much.

Anything else noteworthy to include?

I did managed to stick to my workout schedule for the month and am pretty proud of myself for that. I did not lose any significant weight, but I do notice that my arms are becoming more toned.

November Round Up

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
I must say I am starting to feel the withdrawal of not receiving my usual scrapbooking magazines in the mail. I really miss Simple Scrapbooks. What were they thinking when they discontinued this magazine? Really? I have also read a few books this month. Seems like it's been quite a while since I've had one that was noteworthy... But I did squeeze in the fairly new Nicholas Sparks entitled "The Choice" which is his usual twisty turny style but on top of it this one really makes you think... I also read a couple which I really had to force myself to finish. You know when you get past the point of no return and have to know what happens next? They were "Spandau Phoenix" by Greg Iles and "The Black Path" by Asa Larsson. I look forward to the release of Dean Koontz's new book "Breathless" next month.

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month? Seems that with the holidays approaching, work picking up with the temperatures dropping, the start of football season and just being a lot busier we are not watching as much TV this month as we have in past months. We are still loyal viewers of "Survivor", "The Amazing Race", and my personal favorite "The Biggest Loser". I have been waiting to watch "True "Season 1 since I've requested the first two DVD's from Blockbuster, but have not found the time to do so. We did watch some BlueRay movies on our new player, including "The Taking of Pelham 123" which I thought was quite good. I would have to give a so-so rating to "Angels & Demons" since I am a big fan of the books, and the movies just don't live up to the books. I also wasn't thrilled by Sandra Bullock in "The Proposal", it just seemed a little contrived.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?
I started going back to the gym to work out regularly this month, but this time with the help of a personal trainer. Her name is Charity and she works at THRIVE Fitness in Ferndale. I know it's a drive to go all the way out there for a workout, but it's worth it. The first week she worked me out, I was at the gym on a Wednesday and by Saturday I was still sore and hurting. Grace took a class through the local YMCA that she lovingly referred to as a "dance" class but was actually more of a "keep-the-kids-moving-till-they-wear-out" kind of deal. I tried to get her enrolled in a ballet class with some neighbor friend's kids but the class was unfortunately full. We'll try again next year...

Well, as you all know November is the time for turkey, family and all that. Even though we had two invitations from friends to join them for Thanksgiving we decided to forgo that and instead have some friends, family & neighbors over to our house. My parents even drove down from Canada to celebrate American Thanksgiving with us. Canada has their Thanksgiving early in October. Grace had a blast dressing up in her new sparkly dress and dancing around the house. We are still finding glitter in the most interesting places.

Did you take any trips or vacations or did someone come and stay with you at your house?
Martin & I had a weekend away without Gracie in Seattle this month. I had surprised him with tickets to see the "Trans Siberian Orchestra". Which neither of us really knew much about. Our seat mates at the Key Arena were raving on about it and highly recommended it, saying this was their third time there and they planned on going again next year. We were both pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic show. I even managed to shoot a few decent photos, despite the lasers & strobe lights.
We stayed at a boutique hotel in downtown called the Max and had dinner at the Space Needle Restaurant. Despite horrible rainy & cold weather we had a great weekend away.We also had Chris & Verena come and stay at our place for a night. They came out for dinner and then helped us stain the shop & apartment floors the next day. It was a lot of work but worth it in the end.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
We took a trip to IKEA in Renton on a Wednesday to purchase our kitchens for the apartments & the shop. I believe we broke a record for most items purchased at one time. The cashier actually had to check out the first part of the order because the till quite working at a certain number of items. We ended up with 2 receipts and a total of 129 & 113 items combined, and about a dozen carts of stuff. This still left us with numerous out of stock items which we had to get on a second & third trip. What a nightmare. But it all resulted in three beautiful kitchens.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
About mid-way through the month Martin called and made me an appointment at the Doctor's office for my insistent headaches. It was getting to the point where i had a standing headache for a week, and couldn't function properly any longer. They drew about four vials of blood and did a bunch of tests without any results. Now they are wanting to send me in for an MRI...not sure about that.
We all managed to stay away from the flu, including H1N1. **Knock on Wood**

What were my accomplishments this month?
I accomplished some clean-ups around the house, not that you'd notice. But it did feel good to get rid of the Halloween decorations before Thanksgiving. LOL

Monthly Round-up (and NO! I do not mean the bug killing kind...)

WARNING!!! Extremely long blog post!





I read many different blogs, some involve scrapbooking, some organizing (though you wouldn't know it if you saw my home!)LOL, some about cooking, and much, much more...
One of the blogs I read is Katie the Scrapbook Lady and she recommends to do a reoccurring round-up at the end of every month to allow you to scrapbook your memories easier. So I thought I would give that a try.
Here are her prompts for a monthly round-up:

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
Well, besides my usual scrapbook publications (Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Memory Makers, Scrapbook ETC) I bought Woman's Day, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Good Housekeeping & a special issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors entitled "Studios". I am a self proclaimed magazine junkie and would buy them all f I only had the room to store them. LOL I also have to note that 2 of the above mentioned scrapbook mag's are going out of publication, which is a real bummer cause Simple Scrapbooks was one of my favorites.

I have also read a really good book this month. Seems like it's been quite a while since I've had one that was noteworthy... It's called "Book of Lies" by Brad Meltzer. Check it out if you're looking for a good read...

What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?
We finished watching a lot of reality TV series that we had gotten hooked on over the fall/winter months. Such as "Survivor", "American Idol", "The Amazing Race", and we just started watching the new season of "The Bachelorette". What makes this season so special for me is the fact that Jillian comes from the town of Kelowna, where I spent the college years of my life and where my family still lives today. I can't wait for the show where she gets to take them home to show them around Kelowna, it's so fun to see how they portray a town I know well.

I've also been trying to catch up on TIVO'd episodes of "LOST", I find that I enjoy this show way more when I can watch several episodes one after another.

What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends? (I decided to add my own category in addition to this called "Did you take any trips or vacations or did someone come and stay with you at your house?")
I started going back to the gym to work out regularly this month. As part of that I joined a new bootcamp called "It's A HOOT Bootcamp". The girls that run it are great and the best part of it is that we exercise outdoors. I love it, even when the weather wasn't all that stellar to start with. But I also signed up Miss Grace for the kid's part of the bootcamp and this means that she got to join me outdoors at one of Bellingham's fabulous parks and she exercised with the kiddos. What a great idea! If this sounds like something you would like to check out please feel free to look up their website and let them know I sent you. There is even a coupon I can send you for a free session if you just want to try it out once... Let me know if you want it, it's good till the 19th of June...Hope to see you there...

Grace also started her T-ball league through the local YMCA. I wasn't sure what to expect, since soccer seemed to be a "take it or leave it" thing. But it seems that Miss Grace is quite enamoured with T-ball and can't wait for her next practice/game.

Did you take any trips or vacations or did someone come and stay with you at your house?
As a family we made two trips this month.

The first weekend of the month we headed out to the San Juan's in the Roeboat. The first night we anchored off of Sucia Island and had quite a bit of rain. Actually an island local said it was the worst rain storm he had seen in 20 years. WOW! The next day we headed to Friday Harbor and had an awesome dinner at an Iranian restaurant. It pays to try something new every once in a while!

The last weekend of the month we headed east to Winthrop to visit Martin's parents. We took Becky her long awaited chicken coop, losing some pieces along the way, but finally managing to get it all finished and ready for some chicken to move in. Grace & I had a good time visiting the Farmer's Market with Grandma Becky.

In between the two we had our friends Stan & Ginger from Alaska stay with us over Mother's Day Weekend. I cooked up a yummy Sunday brunch and afterwards we took a nice walk down to the river with everyone.During the week of the 14th Grace & I decided to drive up to Kelowna to surprise my parents with a visit. They were soon to be celebrating their 25th Wedding Anniversary and we wanted to do something special. Besides, Martin & Adam were off to visit Ben, the aspiring NAVY Seal of the family in San Diego, where he is stationed during his training. While in Kelowna my younger sister Lyne & I hatched a crazy idea to set up my parents for a surprise family photo shoot. It turned out to be a great idea. The photos the photographer we got totally last minute turned out amazing. He was a guy who had taken pictures of Lyne's friends' wedding. His name is Stefan Matis, go check out his website.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?
I finally did the "Pay It Forward" drive thru thingy. You know, the one where you pay for the person behind you in line.
It was kind of a cool feeling to gift someone I didn't even know and make their day. You're welcome lady in the green Volvo, it was my pleasure.

I also finally finished the "Grandparents" frame I had been working on for a bit now. And during our Memorial Day visit to Winthrop to see my in-laws it was delivered. I think it was a hit. Thanks Julie for making me look good. LOL

What special or unusual purchases did I make?
I've been waiting to get some window coverings for my scrapbook studio. Coveting anything Pottery Barn I knew that waiting for a sale was an absolute must...well, I got lucky and the curtains I had been drooling over were part of their last sale. I ordered them straight away and also snagged some cute lamps for my office too. Can't wait to put them all up...hopefully hubby will squeeze me into his busy schedule sometime soon.

Another, very unusual purchase, was made while visiting Winthrop during the long weekend. My friends Troy & Aubrey are getting hitched in July and Martin had wanted me to get a nice new dress for the wedding. There is this awesome store in Winthrop called the "Courtyard Quail" and I spend money there every time we go to Winthrop. It is a cute boutique that sells all kinds of cool clothes, accessories and such. They also have a home decor store in Winthrop and branches in Leavenworth and somewhere else I can't remember right now...

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
I have had some popping in my lower back when exercising, but think that's just from being a bit rusty and starting to exercise more again... Martin has been having trouble with his arm, he seems to think that he pinched a nerve or something and has been getting massage therapy for it.

During Grace's T-ball game on the 30th I was stupid and did not put my sunscreen on before the game.
When I remembered it was already too late and my shoulders and back where burnt pretty bad.

What were my accomplishments this month?

This doesn't really ring any bells with me...? I guess getting back to exercising regularly. That's a biggie. Dragging my sorry butt off to bootcamp and the gym...

What were my disappointments this month?
Disappointed that I still have a mile long to do list, and am not getting as much accomplished as I feel I should...

Anything else noteworthy to include?
Also getting rear-ended twice in one day should qualify under this category, shouldn't it???

All right, I apologize, this post has taken on gigantic proportions. But I must say, we did a lot more stuff this month than I had originally thought. What a great way to look back and summarize everything you think is noteworthy. I love it and will try to do this every month from now on. Beware! I think that I will change some of the topics though, and add on some I feel need to be in there...so stay posted.

I also had my last day at Treasury, at least for the summer. It was soooo hard to say that. I miss that place.

Ooooh and volleyball at the park has started up again. It was so nice to play outside on the grass. I hope to make it out there more often this year...

So I apologize for the long post, but I think that I may actually try to do this every month. It made me realize how much more we had done in a month than I actually thought... I plan on changing some of the questions to things I feel are more relevant to me and my scrapbook style, but all in all I think it's a great idea.