Quick Birthday Update!

Friday was Grace's 5th Birthday. My parents came into town and we had a late dinner. After dinner she got to open one gift from Dad. It was a big hit and we decided to play one round. Little did we know that one round took a lot longer than we thought it would. LOL

Thank God, we decided to have the cake before the game started. We had strawberry shortcake, cause that's what the Birthday Girl requested. Yummy!

Easter Egg Hunts (yes, we did more than one!)

This year we were invited by Beka to join the Mt. Baker School District at their egg hunt the weekend prior to Easter. This ended up to be a great choice since the weather was way more cooperative that weekend than on Easter itself.

Grace was excited to be there with Beka's two girls Ripley & Taite. The organizers did a wonderful job, separating the kids into age groups so everyone had an equal chance. Grace collected a basket full and even found a "real" easter egg. She didn't quite know what to make of the boiled egg, but when we got home she made short work of it and devoured it.

For Easter Weekend we decided to try a new egg dying technique I found on Facebook. You use old silk ties or shirts found at the consignment store and transfer the pattern to the eggs. We didn't have too much success, but plan on perfecting our method next year.

The annual egg hunt put on by my old boss Elizabeth and her family was this past Saturday. We met at Whatcom Falls Park where the kids promptly started playing around on the playground. Even though it rained on and off the morning of, the turnout was incredible. The volunteers again outdid themselves and hundreds of eggs were hidden in the park. there were even golden eggs for each kid which they were allowed them to exchange for a prize. Grace ended up with a purple magic princess wand and was happy as a clam. She collected just over 20 eggs and has plenty to candy to show for it.

Big Birthday Bash Planning

I am in the middle of planning Grace's 5th Birthday Party. Invites have been flowing out the door and ideas are bombarding me for everything from the cake, to decorations and activities. Our theme this year is polka dots and that should make things simple, but you know how that goes...

Does anyone have any great suggestions? Please feel free to put in your two cents, they may just be what saves my sanity...LOL

Here are some cakes I've been looking at:

What do you think? Is it doable? Or am I deluding myself? We did cupcakes last time and that was not easy... However, I have never worked with fondant in my life. But how hard can it be? Maybe I need to consult me friend Stacy, she is the Martha of all things cake....

Please feel free to comment and help a gal out.

I am LUCKY!

I totally stole this from Stacy Julian's blog, but why mess with genius. And that woman is, a genius.

My lucky number is 7, so here are 7 things that I am lucky to have in my life:

1) I am lucky to have a husband that works hard so we can run our own business, which enables me to stay home and play most days. I am incredibly lucky to not have to get up each morning and go work a job I don't particularly like.

2) I am lucky to have a wonderful family. And even though we live far apart and spread out, there is great support and love every day to help me get through this journey of life.

3) I am lucky to have so many scrapbooking friends far & wide that share this crazy hobby with me. I love reconnecting with them every so often and following their every day antics via Facebook, Blogs and e-mail. I love you guys and miss you every day...

4) I am lucky to have a precociousus 4 year old who woke up this morning saying "Mommy, I have to show you something" and came to my bed with a handful of sparkly shamrocks that had been scattered all over the house and her bedroom last night. She didn't even notice the green milk. LOL

5) I am lucky to have hobbies that I love, including scrapbooking, cooking, watching movies & playing volleyball. It is wonderful to have outlets for my energy every day and to learn new things all the time. Recently we've been experimenting with vegetarian cooking and I am amazed at how much info is out there that I did not know about.

6) I am lucky to have awesome friends who throw amazing parties that we are invited to, so I don't have to...

7) I am lucky to have the cutest little almost 5 year-old for a daughter. She brings me joy every day and I am so grateful to have her in my life.

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.

We are on Fiji Time

Grace & I are at Bulaccino, a Fijian chain coffee shop in Nadi. They have affordable internet and we decided to take advantage of some time to post about our trip so far. I attempted to upload some photos I have taken, but did not have much success in reading my card at this internet spot. Watch for more posts and hopefully photos of our exploits.

So here we are in Fiji on our second day. It's been an interesting ride starting with a 2.5 hour plane ride from Seattle to Los Angeles, then a 4 hour layover. We did not know that the LAX airport was under construction and the selection of food, etc was extremely limited. We ended up with some chicken teriyaki which could at best be called so so. Good thing the folks at Air Pacific served dinner as well as a nice breakfast on the 9.5 hour flight to Nadi, Fiji. I can only say good things about this airline. Everything was perfect, from the in-seat TV with audio, video and even game selections. You can play your seat mate at Tic Tac Toe and believe me Grace took advantage of this and whooped our butts a few times.

We arrived in Fiji at 4:30 AM on Thursday, two days after departing Bellingham on Tuesday morning. It was a little strange to hire a taxi to take us to our hotel in the dark. We didn't get to see any of the countryside as we were whisked away to the Radisson. The hotel is on Denarau Island which is a total tourist area, but it's a very nice hotel with a wonderful pool supposedly the nicest on the island. We took a little nap and after freshening up we headed into town to explore. It's very hot & humid here and we walked around town from one end to the other. Having read in the in flight magazine that the local restaurant "TaTa's" was supposed to be a very good place for lunch we stopped in there. it was quite the experience let me tell you. We ordered a variety of curries. Adam had chicken, Martin had shrimp and I ordered a Lamb dish requesting it to be mild as we were all not accustomed to curry. Wow, what an adventure. My mouth burned pretty bad and needless to say most of my meal stayed behind there. Martin & Adam seemed to suffer through it and mostly enjoyed their lunch.

We had stopped at a grocery store and attempted to pick up some snacks. However we're dismayed to find that prices for anything healthy were astronomical. Yogurt, fresh fruit and such were really expensive and we left just purchasing a pack of bottled water. After some more explorations we visited a local coffee shop since my caffeine withdrawal headache was getting to be too much. One of the employees directed us to a locally owned shop for a truly local experience. We participated in some local rites and a kava ceremony. It was quite interesting to talk to some locals from a nearby village in the mountains. It looks like we may head back there today to purchase some local art stuff. Everything they sell is handmade in the village and profits go towards education for the village children, or so they tell us around here. LOL

Then we headed back to the hotel for some swimming in the fabulous pools.

We had dinner at a local spot around the marina in the complex where our hotel is. It was quite good, martin & I shared a seafood platter, and Adam went all exotic with a Hawaiian Pizza.

We hit the hay around 9:30 PM since we are all tired and jet lag wasn't quite overcome.

Today we hit Nadi again for breakfast at Bulaccino here...next on our agenda massages by locals at the spa here in town. It's amazing how cheap things are, like a 1.5 hour massage for $60 Fijian, which is about $40 US, I think...

Anyway, our 30 minutes are almost up so I better finish off this post. Its beautiful here and we are definitely thinking about a return visit. The most striking thing about Fiji is how friendly and helpful the locals are.

This is Melanie & Gracie sigining out.

Finally! A Destination for our Family Vacation!

Here's a peek at where we'll be going in three weeks...

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.

Finishing Up the Year 2009

Wow, I can't believe that it's the end of another year, much less decade...can you? It seems like just yesterday that I commenced working on my Project 365 scrapbook, and started taking a photo every day. It's still a work in progress but I've been looking back in it and fondly remembering moments and days that I would otherwise not have in print. I have decided even though it is a big commitment, and I may not finish it in a timely manner, but I will do a Project 365 for 2010. I considered doing a 52 photo version, but it's so hard to decide on a favorite photo for the week, so I just made things easier by ordering a Becky Higgins kit called "Project Life", check it out here. I actually ordered two in the hopes that my younger sister Lyne, who just recently became a scrapbooker will join me. So far so good. Anyone else doing this?

I also have resolved to make a few changes in my life for the new year. Hopefully all for the better. I have already taken a step towards being healthier by going back to the gym and working out with a trainer once a week. I plan on supplementing this with other workouts, classes and WII training. I recently gifted myself the new Yoga for our WII and have yet to find time to try it out. I plan on eating a lot healthier too. No more second servings when I am full, a lot more veggies and a lot less starch. We'll see how that goes...

In the organizational part of our lives I hope to finally re-arrange my scrapbooking room so that it is functional and I enjoy my time in it, not feel pressed upon by all my stuff.

I also plan on getting a birthday calender up and running in the first part of January so that I will not fail to mail out any more birthday cards and wishes. There are some other small things but I won't bore you with the details.

This upcoming week will be extremely busy as we are in the final stages of finishing our rental units. Just some countertops, a few electrical fixtures, doorbells, etc and then they will be ready to rent out. We are heading to IKEA, yet again, for some office furniture to finish off the downstairs offices, so that our bookkeeper will finally have a place to work. I plan on packing up our little bit of Christmas decoration that I did manage to put out prior to the holidays. I didn't realize how much that stuff really means to me until I saw my Mother-In-Law's Christmas tree. It kind of gave me a lump in my throat that we did not have one this year. Oh well, I guess there's always next year...

Oh and I wanted to thank everyone who so thoughtfully sent us Christmas Cards again this year. I did manage to squeak mine out just before Christmas and was amazed to hear that most of them even arrived before the holidays, even in Germany.

We are heading to Seattle to celebrate the New Year. I am looking forward to a nice evening out with my family and a fun start to 2010.

Happy New Year!

Pre-Christmas Shenanigans

The weekend before Christmas we attended the annual Christmas party one of our largest clients puts on every year. It was held at the Skagit Casino again. Some of you may recall the disaster last year where the whole hotel was evacuated at around 2 AM due to a broken/frozen pipe. Not so much fun. This year however things went off much more smoothly. The band was a bit late so dancing with the "PopOffs" did not commence till well after 8:30 PM and some grew a bit restless. The open bar helped a bit. LOL

We had a lot of fun and danced the night away.

The day after we watched the Seahawks get their butts kicked and had Troy and Ashton over for an early gift exchange since he had to go back home to his Mom's for the holidays. Grace & him played together for the afternoon and had a blast.

Christmas in Winthrop

Since my parents ended up spending the holidays in Montreal visiting my Grandfather, who had broken his leg just recently we decided to head east. After numerous discussions of when we would leave, (my hubby thinking as early as possible ie: Tuesday morning, when in fact I had Tuesday all booked up!) we ended up departing Bellingham on Wednesday at around 10:30 AM, which for us I must add, is quite a feat. With cooler, six-pack of wine, numerous bins of food, a huge cardboard box of presents and our suitcases we headed toward Winthrop. Of course there was a stop at the bank to get some cash for the road, a swing by Starbucks for the mandatory latte & scones and a quick detour to our mechanics place to drop off Adam's truck so it could be serviced over the holidays.
We arrived in Winthrop and immediately everyone went into Vacation Mode. Martin stopped answering his phone every five minutes, Adam was playing computer games, Grace hauled the contents of Grandma's toy box all over the living room floor and I went into last minute present production and wrapping. We were expecting Martin's sister Michelle and her boyfriend Jack, as well as my sister & brother in-law Melanie & Matt with their two boys Oscar & Riley. Grace was beyond excited to see her cousin Oscar and to play with him.

Grace did feed the reindeer again this year. She was so cute, called Grandma before we left to make sure she had everything to put into the Reindeer Food. Turned out it was a good thing, as Grandma was all out of tiny marshmallows.
We did a lot of unwrapping on Christmas Morning, playing games & cards, eating lots of good food and had a blast in Winthrop.

In Full Christmas Preparation Mode (NOT!)

GASP!

Normally we would be ready for Christmas around this time of the month, of course. But this year it's just not been going our way.

Well, until today that is...

Why do you ask? Well, we have not gone to cut down a tree this year, and my husband informed me yesterday that we will not be doing so this year... Apparently he is just too busy with work and I will just have to deal. It's nice to know that family takes priority for him, NOT! Well, I have tried to have him pick up an already cut tree somewhere but again that is hit and miss. So far only misses. Will keep trying, even if I have to drive the John Deere across the street to the tree farm myself. Didn't know it was so hard to find good help? LOL

Today though I found some small miracle in the form of a trip to the mall. What on earth do you ask is so miraculous about that? Well, for one a premium parking spot right out front of my favorite store. No line, (YES absolutely no line!) at the Verizon Wireless store. Not a single mother & child waiting to sit on Santa's lap for photos. A smiling girl sitting on Santa's lap and a perfect photo to show for it afterward. I found everything I was looking for at Victoria's Secret, in my size, and color, and even got a cool tote FREE with my purchase. Someone pinch me...I must be dreaming! At Gymboree the whole store was 30% off and with the coupon we got from Santa (apparently he gifts adults too, at least at Bellis Fair!), we received an additional 20% off our purchase.

All this has left me wondering why I have been avoiding the mall like the plague lately. It was quite pleasant and I noticed a bunch of brand-new stores that I had never seen there before...I hope this was not a one time deal...

Anyway, back to Christmas. I do have most of my gifts purchased and plan on wrapping soon as my curious daughter already had one in her hot little hands asking innocently "Whats this Momma?". I do also have a few decorations out and about our home, making it a little more bearable to be so far behind in my preparations. Plus Grace & I managed to whip up a batch of Sweet Potato Spice Cookies this Sunday. YUMMY!

Give-Away

One of the talented instructors of last year's fabulous scrapbook retreat "Inspiration Unlimited" is having a wonderful giveaway on her blog. I instantly fell in love with the creations she is showcasing. Go check it out : Tammy Mitchell's Blog.

Been busy starting more blog posts, but not finishing them. Now that the volleyball league is back to semi-regular hours I do not have the urge to blog at midnight any longer. What's a girl to do?

I will try to squeeze in some time between my workouts, Christmas decorating & shopping and all the other crazy stuff that's been happening in my life.

Hope to see you soon.

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

What Does One Do...

when the hubby and kid are asleep and you just came home from a very late volleyball game to find them both spread eagle in my bed?
Update my blog of course. LOL

I know I have been horrible with keeping this puppy updated, but when I looked at it tonight I noticed that I had no less than 5, yes FIVE, posts that were started and some even ready to post. I have no excuse as to why they did not get published earlier. I guess I've just been avoiding this blog ting... Well tonight I took the blog by it's horns and added some photos. So please enjoy the update. I promise to do better....but don't hold me to it. You know it's Thanksgiving this week and I don't know yet how many people I will be feeding...much less have I gone shopping. Aaaaahhhhhh the joys of the holiday season.

See you around!