Freedom , freedom, march break hurrah!!!!!!
Can you tell this week has been march break?
So it all started last Friday. Because of the teacher deal and unpaid days, I got hubbie home for Friday. We decided to go on a date!
Oh lone star. Can you say deep fried avocados with some amazing "mystery sauce"
Oh. My. Goodness.
Über wow.
Side note: how cute! It automatically made the umlaut over my u!
We also went for glow in the dark mini golf. I managed to only be behind Josh by 8.
So. Since we were gone til 630, that meant the girls were being put down by the babysitter.
I'd just like to say that I love our babysitter. She is fabulous. For her safety sake, Im not stating her name. So she shall be called the babysitter. That sounds so cold and unrelational, but....yeah. Im not sure my mom would have been thrilled that someone was blogging about me babysitting when I was a teenager. Except people didnt blog so much then. I also didn't babysit so much then. Like maybe yearly. Usually because kids never listened to me.
Not much has changed since then.
Anyway, our babysitter, put Sophia to bed early.
Not half an hour early.
Not an hour early.
Not even an houor and a half early.
2 hours early.
Apparently she was falling asleep on her feet.
She woke up at 330 the next morning.
The plan was, that after I got home from work ( yes I was working that morning) that we would head to Peterborough to celebrate my birthday with my mom. I was getting, shall we say, ornery as the morning went on and was VERY, shall we say, ornery when I was leaving the house later than usual.
Then my phone rang.
It was buried in my purse so I considered not answering it, as it was a another barrier to me getting out of the house. Good thing I answered it because my shift was cancelled. Imagine how great that would've been to drive all the way to work only to find out there was no one there....hah!
So it was good to have the morning to prepare for travelling. The previous week had been the free mcdonalds coffees....we had gotten...many...and so had saved up our stickers to get free drinks. On the way we stopped at mcdonalds to get drinks. I asked if the free drink included the chai latte and they said no. I had originally wanted a smoothie, which I discussed with Josh in the car but didnt ask about.
So Josh ordered...some kind of coffee with chocolate and I ordered a hot chocolate with the toasted marshmallow on top. We got to the window and waited........and then the girl comes over and says they have no chocolate syrup and if we rea`lly want it, it will be a ten minute wait. So we had to order something else. Josh chose and I couldnt choose.....when I said I don't really like coffee that much, they said I could get whatever I wanted. Including a smoothie. The look Josh gave me was a mixture of hilarious and pitiful. I got a smoothie.
It
was
GIGANTIC.
I got another indescribable look from Josh. I got a flavour I thouoght he might enjoy so we could share it but he didnt end up wanting much LOL.
We had my birthday dinner at moms. She made this broccoli casserole that I actually loved as a child. At my request. SHe also made a humongous cherry cheesecake. We watched a movie and i ate half the piece of cake at the begining of the movie and the rest at the end. Phew. So good though. I got this awesome nail stamping kit with jewels and etc from mom. Its one of those things you apparently have to experiment with a bit because the stamp is a bit smooth and shiny. Ive done some research though and apparently nail filing it works ( it does) unfortunatly I havent had as much time as Id like to play around with it.
My birthday was sunday the next day. I got to have a soak in the tub in water that was actually hot ( our hot water tank kind of sucks. Im not complaining, because we do have hot water, but by the time our tub fills up the water is ice cold coming from the tap) and I got to facebook chat with my seester since it was sunday. My dad called a little later and the conversation went something like this:
(after singing happy birthday to me)
Dad: I wasn't sure if you were going to chapel or not so I thought I'd call before
Me: (glancing at clock: 10:15) uh...if we were going to church we'd have to leave now.....
Dad: its only 915!
Me: no...its 10:15, we had the time change last night
Dad: WHAT?! No, i think you are mistaken
Me: no seriously
Dad: I'll have to check on the tv.....*turns on tv* Oh...you are right! well.....
Heh.
We talked to Momma G and Jeremy as well. Later that night I went out for dinner with a few people and we had the restaurant to ourselves basically. It was nice to feel like Christina for a few hours. It was hilarious though because the waitress at one point changed the songs and "Closing Time " came on. We wondered if it was a hint. I laughed uproariously of course. The waitress realized shortly after we did and ran over to change it. She said it wasn't on purpose...but it actually was closing time LOL. I got a free apple crisp for supper which I tried to share but the crust was so hard that it just made everything ooze out everywhere.
Turning 30 wasn't so bad :)
The next day some family came to visit which was nice. They had some humongous cheesecake too. Then the girls napped and we headed home. They were getting a bit cabin feverish and my moms house, as a childless house should be, is not the most childproof.
I will end part one here.
Thursday 27 March 2014
Wednesday 26 March 2014
Mini Getaway for the big 3-0
Im going to be a bit backward here.
Not in a bad way - in a confusing way. Which is just natural when it comes to me really.
Im a big fan of writing in chronological order. Actually I'm kind of an annoying stickler for it. But today Im going to veer from that a bit because this blog will be much shorter than the blog Im going to write about the march break.
So first of all, it was my 30th this year. Im not sure if this mini getaway was initiaed by my mother in law or hubbie and I, but regardless it was much needed.
I decided that I was going to be particular for once. I asked hubbie if I could be selfish and he said yes. My criteria for a place to stay was as follows:
- A jacuzzi ( or whiirlpool tub? I dont know the difference)
- A Fireplace
- A full english breakfast ( for hubbie mostly)
-A comfortable bed
We talked about a few possibilites and set upon Niagara on the lake.
So I searched and found a B&B that looked awesome ( it has a kitchenette as well!) and comfortable and had all of the musts on the above list. Very excited. It was nice to have that to look forward to as well.
Anyway, my inlaws arrived friday night so that we would be able to leave early on saturday and still get a bit of a visit. We tried to play it like Josh was leaving for a normal school day and I'd slip out after to minimize trauma.
Blessing #1 - There were no tears when we left ( that we heard anyway)
We ended up stopping for lunch at a mall i remember my grandma talking about shopping at back in the day. That was a little weird. I mean, obviously its likely totally completely different than back then but it was still a little weird. A little sad. A little neat though too.
WE had virtually zero traffic and arrived fairly quickly. We decided to go to Queenston because my history loving hubbie wanted to go see the monument.
OKAY
That thing is absolutely huge! Like I cannot believe how massive it is. How did they ever manage that?! If he were on the ground, I swear he'd be about three or four times the size of a real person! We took a picture but it totally did not do it justice. That was basically my entire contribution to that stop.
We also drove into the little town of Queenston where Laura Secords house is ( closed of course, like many things that aren't stores in the area) Seriously creepy experience. The old houses were really cool. Its obviously a lived in town...but there were no people outside, the school ( well one of them) was closed and boarded up and also kind of creepy looking. We saw one other car the whole time we were there, it came from the lake and not the town. It was just plain eerie.
Anyway, we had lots of time to browse the shops and just relax and meander. It was a cold, but beautiful and sunny afternoon.
There are so many cool shops. Honestly, the biggest pull to choosing Niagara on the lake was the scottish loft. My friend Lisa had found the thistle china pattern im in love with ( and discovered on our honeymoon in Scotland nearly 4 years ago) there last summer and told me about it. Ever since Ive been itching to go and get a teapot. During out time there we discovered that these chocolate biscuits I love, called penguins, have been banned from being imported to Canada.
Because the package states that they have added calcium.
But genetically modified, over sugared, over preserved, one ingredient away from being plastic crap we eat on a daily basis is totally acceptable.
Added Calcium. Seriously. Poor Canada.
Anyway, I also discovered there that the set has not been discontinued as I had read a while ago on a website so I can chill and easily collect the tea set I want without having to shell out money when we don't have it. As it was the teapot was 85$ plus tax but I had birthday money so it was perfect timing.
Some other note worthy shops ( Ooooh its like a travel blog!!!)
Taste - ( at least thats what I think it was called)
Excellent shop. They sell a bunch of sauces and specialty oils and etc. You can try absolutely everything they have in the store for free. Most of it is locally made too which is pretty cool. Unfortunately the pear glaze I loved was 15$ for maybe 200 mLs so we skipped that, but it was a really fun experience and the lady was so helpful and nice and when we left without buying anything she was still friendly when we thanked her and told her to have a nice day.
Cheese Secrets - ( this was neat because we both wanted to try to find a cheese shop. We ended up parking in a green P that had we not gone all the way the end to, would not have seen the cheese shop at all because it was tucked in behind the main street. Blessing #.....Ive lost count really)
They didnt have a huge selection but what they did have was varying (cow, sheep, goat milk) and they were generous with taste tests. We got a 2 yr old raw cows milk cheese from PEI and an aged gouda. Both very tasty.
A fudge shop.
I forget the name.
They had lots of homemade fudge, canadian maple syrup and dutch licorice. Unfortunately nothing fun for my mother in law who is half dutch. Im glad I was with Josh because I swore he said she liked dutch licorice candies and he was emphatic that she doesnt. So that was a good thing to avoid. They let us have taste tests as well. We got a chocolate peanut butter and cookies and cream fudge. My only problem with that place was they only sold by half bricks and full bricks when we wanted less, but oh well.
Another shop I forget the name of.
This place was full of sauces, jams, chutneys, dip additives etc etc etc. There were about 12 taste test areas for all sorts of different things. It was really cool. Again we didnt buy anything but it was a fun experience.
We stopped for a snack ( more like a meal) at the Irish tea room.
Oh
My
Gosh.
I had decided last week that I need to go back to avoiding gluten.
This place blew that resolve out of the water.
We had a GIGANTIC scone complete with strawberries, jam and clotted cream. We had to eat it with a fork and knife, very carefully, because it was so so huge.
But so. so. oh so good.
We also had tea of course and a shamrock shortbread cookie. It was a nice atmosphere and the people were really friendly. Our waiter was not Irish. He was from Manchester. But oh well.
After the tea room we went back to get my teapot and to the cheese shop. I began to feel.....funny. Tipsy. Like Id had a couple glasses of wine. Except I didn't. Gluten? Sugar? Hm.......It sort of sucked. I was dizzy for a good 2 hours. Me thinks I should get to a nutritionist or something of the sort.
Anyway, we then checked into our B&B - 627 on King.
Absolutely amazing. Totally blew my expectations out of the water.
The owner was so friendly ( and English interestingly enough) and we had a little kitchenette with a fridge, tons of tea, a kettle, french press ( which hubbie was ecstatic about :D ), snacks, a fruit plate, even dishes and a knife and cutting board ( perfect for our newly purchased cheese). We chilled before dinner since I was all dizzy and had a terrible time figuring out where to eat. Once we finally decided, I was starting to feel a bit better.
We chose a pub. We are so predictable. We had wanted to try some place nicer but any of the places had no selection on the menus and it was mostly things I wouldn't eat, naturally. So we went to the pub. "The Irish Harp" Excellent atmosphere, nice waitress, food was pretty good. The fries were nothing special at all. The Guinness mayo was though.
Oh
My
Gosh
I actually neglected the ketchup completely. I even considered dipping my fish in the Guinness mayo. It tasted nothing like Guinness to me....more like hickory and something else. Regardless it was fantastic. They had a taster beer menu that Josh totally didnt see before ordering his Guinness. Poor guy. I had a glass of a Jackson Triggs chardonay that was ridiculously good. I mention this because it comes in to play later.
After dinner we returned to the B&B and poured over the mitt full of wine tasting vouchers the owner gave us. We tried to pick the most reasonable ones distance wise and leave the rest for other people. He had a drawer full of them though. It was kind of funny. I passed out around 930 as per usual.
I woke up about 6 times before morning, but they were very brief wake ups. It was nice to be in bed for 8 hours straight. I was wide awake by 5 which sucked but at least I got to relax. We had ordered breakfast for 830 so we ate our fruit plate since we were both up by 630. It was so nice to just chill and talk and relax and take our time. Time by the way went by ridiculously slowly which was very nice.
Breakfast was awesome. He serves it in your room ( I forgot to mention the little dinette set). He also serves it on the small placemats that we saw all over the B&B's on our honeymoon which was fun for nostalgic sake. Our first part included porridge wtih maple syrup and cream. I dont think i have ever seen Josh eat so fast. Usually i suck back food like a vacuum and hes not even half finished. Our next course was the english breakfast ( without beans but thats just because whenever he puts them out people usually leave them) So so good. We talked with the owner for a while during breakfast and shortly after, at checkout time. Turns out he teaches part time at the university in York ( England) Apparently they are having issues with the students getting drunk, falling in the river and dying. 3 died last year. Its become a serious part of orientation. Crazy!
After checkout we went to walk around Fort Mississauga. There isnt much there so its open to the public. You have to walk through a golf course to get there. So even though the wind was bitter cold walking there, it was probably better to be there when balls weren't flying around. Honestly, I would have been hit or narrowly missed getting hit, had there been golfers there. Some kids have used parts of it to hang out and do who knows what. I found reading the plaques kind of interesting.
Then began our wine tasting experience.....
First we went to Peller Estates. Absolutely gigantic, beautiful building. Very classy atmosphere. We spent longer there probably than intended. The lady was very helpful and informative about the different wines and etc. I didnt realize how generous they are wtih these wine tastings. We each got to try three types of wine and shared an ice wine and an extra dessert wine.
For free.
The ice wine was....oh man. As was this other oak aged dessert wine that we tried. It was 60$. We left without buying anything, but it was a very enjoyable experience.
Next we went to Jackson Triggs which was in a weird looking warehouse, blasting country music. It felt kind of like going to a huge LCBO with wine tasting. The contrast between the two places was bizarre.
One of the reasons we went to Jackson Triggs was because I wanted to try to find the chardonnay I had had the night before. I tried the only two they had in store ( you see, they save the top stuff to sell at the winery and the rest goes to the LCBO....the lady running the testing guessed that they either had an older version or it was a special restaurant version because they didn't have the one the pub owner said it was.
Or something.
Regardless she didnt include my chardonnay tastings as the free tastes so that was nice. We bought a bottle of gewurztraminer and a small bottle of ice wine that tastes like strawberry jam.
After that we had lunch at swanky McDonalds and checked out a store beside it that sounded a lot more interesting than it was....and then went to a beer making place. I forget the name. its relatively new. They gave us a range of beers to try. A lot of beer. All of which I despised of course. Josh didnt like it too much either so we slipped out, leaving lots of beer behind feeling slightly bad. Friendly people and atmosphere but too bitter and Josh was disappointed that it was only 3 years old. He likes the super old reciped beer. Or something like that.
So anyway, that was our last stop home. We had very little traffic and I slept off and on on the way home. It was a very very nice relaxing weekend.
We got home and the kids exclaimed "daddy!" Mommy was totally an afterthought. But thats ok. :)
Momma G made me an enchillada lasanga of sorts with corn tortillas. Very. Very. Very good. Luckily there was some leftover for supper the next day too. Later on we had yummy carrot cake with cream cheese icing too and got to visit with my inlaws for a bit. They stayed for a bit on monday to babysit while I went to the doctors. Earlier in the day momma G suggested we try to take the girls out for a walk because they had been cooped up forever. It was cold. But Sophia walked the whole way to the park and neither girl wanted to get out of the swings. Can you say tempers? Seriously, in minus "who knows what" weather with freezing wind chill and they STILL want to swing.
They didn't get this from me. I had a scarf wrapped entirely around the majority of my head.
Anyhow, Sophia finally had a good nap for the first time in days.
Come Spring! Fast!!!
This only took me two days to write.
Thank you sesame street for being so entertaining.
xo
Not in a bad way - in a confusing way. Which is just natural when it comes to me really.
Im a big fan of writing in chronological order. Actually I'm kind of an annoying stickler for it. But today Im going to veer from that a bit because this blog will be much shorter than the blog Im going to write about the march break.
So first of all, it was my 30th this year. Im not sure if this mini getaway was initiaed by my mother in law or hubbie and I, but regardless it was much needed.
I decided that I was going to be particular for once. I asked hubbie if I could be selfish and he said yes. My criteria for a place to stay was as follows:
- A jacuzzi ( or whiirlpool tub? I dont know the difference)
- A Fireplace
- A full english breakfast ( for hubbie mostly)
-A comfortable bed
We talked about a few possibilites and set upon Niagara on the lake.
So I searched and found a B&B that looked awesome ( it has a kitchenette as well!) and comfortable and had all of the musts on the above list. Very excited. It was nice to have that to look forward to as well.
Anyway, my inlaws arrived friday night so that we would be able to leave early on saturday and still get a bit of a visit. We tried to play it like Josh was leaving for a normal school day and I'd slip out after to minimize trauma.
Blessing #1 - There were no tears when we left ( that we heard anyway)
We ended up stopping for lunch at a mall i remember my grandma talking about shopping at back in the day. That was a little weird. I mean, obviously its likely totally completely different than back then but it was still a little weird. A little sad. A little neat though too.
WE had virtually zero traffic and arrived fairly quickly. We decided to go to Queenston because my history loving hubbie wanted to go see the monument.
OKAY
That thing is absolutely huge! Like I cannot believe how massive it is. How did they ever manage that?! If he were on the ground, I swear he'd be about three or four times the size of a real person! We took a picture but it totally did not do it justice. That was basically my entire contribution to that stop.
We also drove into the little town of Queenston where Laura Secords house is ( closed of course, like many things that aren't stores in the area) Seriously creepy experience. The old houses were really cool. Its obviously a lived in town...but there were no people outside, the school ( well one of them) was closed and boarded up and also kind of creepy looking. We saw one other car the whole time we were there, it came from the lake and not the town. It was just plain eerie.
Anyway, we had lots of time to browse the shops and just relax and meander. It was a cold, but beautiful and sunny afternoon.
There are so many cool shops. Honestly, the biggest pull to choosing Niagara on the lake was the scottish loft. My friend Lisa had found the thistle china pattern im in love with ( and discovered on our honeymoon in Scotland nearly 4 years ago) there last summer and told me about it. Ever since Ive been itching to go and get a teapot. During out time there we discovered that these chocolate biscuits I love, called penguins, have been banned from being imported to Canada.
Because the package states that they have added calcium.
But genetically modified, over sugared, over preserved, one ingredient away from being plastic crap we eat on a daily basis is totally acceptable.
Added Calcium. Seriously. Poor Canada.
Anyway, I also discovered there that the set has not been discontinued as I had read a while ago on a website so I can chill and easily collect the tea set I want without having to shell out money when we don't have it. As it was the teapot was 85$ plus tax but I had birthday money so it was perfect timing.
Some other note worthy shops ( Ooooh its like a travel blog!!!)
Taste - ( at least thats what I think it was called)
Excellent shop. They sell a bunch of sauces and specialty oils and etc. You can try absolutely everything they have in the store for free. Most of it is locally made too which is pretty cool. Unfortunately the pear glaze I loved was 15$ for maybe 200 mLs so we skipped that, but it was a really fun experience and the lady was so helpful and nice and when we left without buying anything she was still friendly when we thanked her and told her to have a nice day.
Cheese Secrets - ( this was neat because we both wanted to try to find a cheese shop. We ended up parking in a green P that had we not gone all the way the end to, would not have seen the cheese shop at all because it was tucked in behind the main street. Blessing #.....Ive lost count really)
They didnt have a huge selection but what they did have was varying (cow, sheep, goat milk) and they were generous with taste tests. We got a 2 yr old raw cows milk cheese from PEI and an aged gouda. Both very tasty.
A fudge shop.
I forget the name.
They had lots of homemade fudge, canadian maple syrup and dutch licorice. Unfortunately nothing fun for my mother in law who is half dutch. Im glad I was with Josh because I swore he said she liked dutch licorice candies and he was emphatic that she doesnt. So that was a good thing to avoid. They let us have taste tests as well. We got a chocolate peanut butter and cookies and cream fudge. My only problem with that place was they only sold by half bricks and full bricks when we wanted less, but oh well.
Another shop I forget the name of.
This place was full of sauces, jams, chutneys, dip additives etc etc etc. There were about 12 taste test areas for all sorts of different things. It was really cool. Again we didnt buy anything but it was a fun experience.
We stopped for a snack ( more like a meal) at the Irish tea room.
Oh
My
Gosh.
I had decided last week that I need to go back to avoiding gluten.
This place blew that resolve out of the water.
We had a GIGANTIC scone complete with strawberries, jam and clotted cream. We had to eat it with a fork and knife, very carefully, because it was so so huge.
But so. so. oh so good.
We also had tea of course and a shamrock shortbread cookie. It was a nice atmosphere and the people were really friendly. Our waiter was not Irish. He was from Manchester. But oh well.
After the tea room we went back to get my teapot and to the cheese shop. I began to feel.....funny. Tipsy. Like Id had a couple glasses of wine. Except I didn't. Gluten? Sugar? Hm.......It sort of sucked. I was dizzy for a good 2 hours. Me thinks I should get to a nutritionist or something of the sort.
Anyway, we then checked into our B&B - 627 on King.
Absolutely amazing. Totally blew my expectations out of the water.
The owner was so friendly ( and English interestingly enough) and we had a little kitchenette with a fridge, tons of tea, a kettle, french press ( which hubbie was ecstatic about :D ), snacks, a fruit plate, even dishes and a knife and cutting board ( perfect for our newly purchased cheese). We chilled before dinner since I was all dizzy and had a terrible time figuring out where to eat. Once we finally decided, I was starting to feel a bit better.
We chose a pub. We are so predictable. We had wanted to try some place nicer but any of the places had no selection on the menus and it was mostly things I wouldn't eat, naturally. So we went to the pub. "The Irish Harp" Excellent atmosphere, nice waitress, food was pretty good. The fries were nothing special at all. The Guinness mayo was though.
Oh
My
Gosh
I actually neglected the ketchup completely. I even considered dipping my fish in the Guinness mayo. It tasted nothing like Guinness to me....more like hickory and something else. Regardless it was fantastic. They had a taster beer menu that Josh totally didnt see before ordering his Guinness. Poor guy. I had a glass of a Jackson Triggs chardonay that was ridiculously good. I mention this because it comes in to play later.
After dinner we returned to the B&B and poured over the mitt full of wine tasting vouchers the owner gave us. We tried to pick the most reasonable ones distance wise and leave the rest for other people. He had a drawer full of them though. It was kind of funny. I passed out around 930 as per usual.
I woke up about 6 times before morning, but they were very brief wake ups. It was nice to be in bed for 8 hours straight. I was wide awake by 5 which sucked but at least I got to relax. We had ordered breakfast for 830 so we ate our fruit plate since we were both up by 630. It was so nice to just chill and talk and relax and take our time. Time by the way went by ridiculously slowly which was very nice.
Breakfast was awesome. He serves it in your room ( I forgot to mention the little dinette set). He also serves it on the small placemats that we saw all over the B&B's on our honeymoon which was fun for nostalgic sake. Our first part included porridge wtih maple syrup and cream. I dont think i have ever seen Josh eat so fast. Usually i suck back food like a vacuum and hes not even half finished. Our next course was the english breakfast ( without beans but thats just because whenever he puts them out people usually leave them) So so good. We talked with the owner for a while during breakfast and shortly after, at checkout time. Turns out he teaches part time at the university in York ( England) Apparently they are having issues with the students getting drunk, falling in the river and dying. 3 died last year. Its become a serious part of orientation. Crazy!
After checkout we went to walk around Fort Mississauga. There isnt much there so its open to the public. You have to walk through a golf course to get there. So even though the wind was bitter cold walking there, it was probably better to be there when balls weren't flying around. Honestly, I would have been hit or narrowly missed getting hit, had there been golfers there. Some kids have used parts of it to hang out and do who knows what. I found reading the plaques kind of interesting.
Then began our wine tasting experience.....
First we went to Peller Estates. Absolutely gigantic, beautiful building. Very classy atmosphere. We spent longer there probably than intended. The lady was very helpful and informative about the different wines and etc. I didnt realize how generous they are wtih these wine tastings. We each got to try three types of wine and shared an ice wine and an extra dessert wine.
For free.
The ice wine was....oh man. As was this other oak aged dessert wine that we tried. It was 60$. We left without buying anything, but it was a very enjoyable experience.
Next we went to Jackson Triggs which was in a weird looking warehouse, blasting country music. It felt kind of like going to a huge LCBO with wine tasting. The contrast between the two places was bizarre.
One of the reasons we went to Jackson Triggs was because I wanted to try to find the chardonnay I had had the night before. I tried the only two they had in store ( you see, they save the top stuff to sell at the winery and the rest goes to the LCBO....the lady running the testing guessed that they either had an older version or it was a special restaurant version because they didn't have the one the pub owner said it was.
Or something.
Regardless she didnt include my chardonnay tastings as the free tastes so that was nice. We bought a bottle of gewurztraminer and a small bottle of ice wine that tastes like strawberry jam.
After that we had lunch at swanky McDonalds and checked out a store beside it that sounded a lot more interesting than it was....and then went to a beer making place. I forget the name. its relatively new. They gave us a range of beers to try. A lot of beer. All of which I despised of course. Josh didnt like it too much either so we slipped out, leaving lots of beer behind feeling slightly bad. Friendly people and atmosphere but too bitter and Josh was disappointed that it was only 3 years old. He likes the super old reciped beer. Or something like that.
So anyway, that was our last stop home. We had very little traffic and I slept off and on on the way home. It was a very very nice relaxing weekend.
We got home and the kids exclaimed "daddy!" Mommy was totally an afterthought. But thats ok. :)
Momma G made me an enchillada lasanga of sorts with corn tortillas. Very. Very. Very good. Luckily there was some leftover for supper the next day too. Later on we had yummy carrot cake with cream cheese icing too and got to visit with my inlaws for a bit. They stayed for a bit on monday to babysit while I went to the doctors. Earlier in the day momma G suggested we try to take the girls out for a walk because they had been cooped up forever. It was cold. But Sophia walked the whole way to the park and neither girl wanted to get out of the swings. Can you say tempers? Seriously, in minus "who knows what" weather with freezing wind chill and they STILL want to swing.
They didn't get this from me. I had a scarf wrapped entirely around the majority of my head.
Anyhow, Sophia finally had a good nap for the first time in days.
Come Spring! Fast!!!
This only took me two days to write.
Thank you sesame street for being so entertaining.
xo
Wednesday 5 March 2014
Goodbye facebook...its been nice
Alright. Folks. Here we go.
So I have been thinking about, and praying about what to give up for lent this year. Usually I give up chocolate or desserts. You know yummy things. Partially because the last two years Ive been trying to lose pregnancy weight at that point and because its kind of a sacrifice. I enjoy these things for sure. This year I decided that really, yummy food isn't the biggest sacrifice I could make.
Facebook.
I am on it way too much. It distracts from my children, husband and God too. I mean really there are things I read on facebook that send me into a flying rage, and not for good reasons. Sometimes because I am indignant over in justices but sometimes because things people say that just really frustrate and upset me. So I have decided that aside from a once a week check ( sundays....being the off days) will be all I do.
Pray for me because this will be difficult. I do a lot of communicating through facebook.
Not only will I be giving up facebook, but because of that, I will giving up on some of my coupon opportunities. I started couponing earlier in 2013. I really enjoy it. At one point I realized though that I was actually trusting the coupons more to save us money than trusting God to provide for us. Sounds silly? Well we all have something right? :) Anyway, I am mostly beyond that though lately God has been teaching me more and more to trust Him more and more with everything. So the past week or two as I have been wondering what to give up, facebook kept popping up in my mind. Its a greater sacrifice than chocolate.
Why am I participating in lent? Traditionally this has been a catholic tradition and I am not catholic.
The truth is that many christians participate in lent now. One description (im sure it varies)is as follows:
Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting,repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection.
Now while I don't believe that participating in lent is in anyway a means of obtaining some kind of special observance by God that has anything to do with my salvation or standing with God, I think this is an excellent opportunity to throw off things that hinder our relationship and developing intimacy with our saviour. This is why I choose to observe it. This year I feel prompted to be more intentional about giving up something difficult. Example : God has called me, at this time in my life, to primarily be a wife and mom ( NOT ditching my career, but at this point FB doesnt interfere with that). So when I could be spending time pouring into my babies' lives and my husband's life but am wasting chunks of time on my phone facebooking for whatever reason, im neglecting, in a sense that calling.
Now friends don't get all up in arms. Facebook isnt evil. I am just spending way too much time on it. So really, why shouldn't a follower or Jesus, regardless of denomination embrace Lent if they so choose?
Today would have been my grandpa's 95th birthday. I can't believe that it has been 6 years since he passed away. I miss him, and my grandmother very much.
Then the children choose to both wake up at the same time shrieking.
The end...you may see me more often for the next few weeks.
So I have been thinking about, and praying about what to give up for lent this year. Usually I give up chocolate or desserts. You know yummy things. Partially because the last two years Ive been trying to lose pregnancy weight at that point and because its kind of a sacrifice. I enjoy these things for sure. This year I decided that really, yummy food isn't the biggest sacrifice I could make.
Facebook.
I am on it way too much. It distracts from my children, husband and God too. I mean really there are things I read on facebook that send me into a flying rage, and not for good reasons. Sometimes because I am indignant over in justices but sometimes because things people say that just really frustrate and upset me. So I have decided that aside from a once a week check ( sundays....being the off days) will be all I do.
Pray for me because this will be difficult. I do a lot of communicating through facebook.
Not only will I be giving up facebook, but because of that, I will giving up on some of my coupon opportunities. I started couponing earlier in 2013. I really enjoy it. At one point I realized though that I was actually trusting the coupons more to save us money than trusting God to provide for us. Sounds silly? Well we all have something right? :) Anyway, I am mostly beyond that though lately God has been teaching me more and more to trust Him more and more with everything. So the past week or two as I have been wondering what to give up, facebook kept popping up in my mind. Its a greater sacrifice than chocolate.
Why am I participating in lent? Traditionally this has been a catholic tradition and I am not catholic.
The truth is that many christians participate in lent now. One description (im sure it varies)is as follows:
Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting,repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection.
Now while I don't believe that participating in lent is in anyway a means of obtaining some kind of special observance by God that has anything to do with my salvation or standing with God, I think this is an excellent opportunity to throw off things that hinder our relationship and developing intimacy with our saviour. This is why I choose to observe it. This year I feel prompted to be more intentional about giving up something difficult. Example : God has called me, at this time in my life, to primarily be a wife and mom ( NOT ditching my career, but at this point FB doesnt interfere with that). So when I could be spending time pouring into my babies' lives and my husband's life but am wasting chunks of time on my phone facebooking for whatever reason, im neglecting, in a sense that calling.
Now friends don't get all up in arms. Facebook isnt evil. I am just spending way too much time on it. So really, why shouldn't a follower or Jesus, regardless of denomination embrace Lent if they so choose?
Today would have been my grandpa's 95th birthday. I can't believe that it has been 6 years since he passed away. I miss him, and my grandmother very much.
Then the children choose to both wake up at the same time shrieking.
The end...you may see me more often for the next few weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)