The Daisy Field

I just need to say this....

2012-01-12T10:11:00.000-08:00

This week I have been confronted by many things that have made me stop and really work my tinkboxer! (thats brain for you non campers...)

I truly believe in God and his love for me....I believe that he puts people, situations, words...whatever in my line of sight as a way of speaking to me. You can call it Kismit, Fate, The Universe, Buddha, Mohammed, Ganesh, The Stars whatever you like but I call it God. I still love you even if you call it horseshit!

I wanted to share some of the things that have touched me latlely.

1. I am an avid reader of Badmommymoments.com and she has been talking about a site called Unbreakable

I have been so moved by the courage of these people to face their fears and shame and say NO...SHAME IS FOR THE ATTACKER! It reminds me of the strength of the human spirit

2. Why I hate Religion....I have long felt alone and ashamed of my disgust for organized religion which I felt was is in direct contradiction to my love of God. Its nice to know I am not alone. I truly believe that God would be so disappointed to see what his "church" has become. The wars fought in his name, the hurts perpatrated in the name of religion and his "church" spending their money on themselves instead of the community.

Didn't God say that the greatest commandment was love and that we should love our neighbor...I think he even said despite their "sin" :) Jesus would have lived on the downtown eastside....just saying!

3. I want to be an instrument of compassion, do you? This is the first time that i have heard this prayer, but it is the words of my heart!

4. One of the hardest things for me to remember is to take life one day at a time especially when things get tough.

Have I hurt your brain today?? I hope not...I just found these things so encouraging I wanted to share them in case they spoke to you too!

I just want to be the best me that I can be....so Today I am going to try that out!

Thanks,

T

So its been a week....Getting fit all over!

2012-01-09T09:17:00.000-08:00

So as my loyal readers know (all 3 of you thanks for checking in!) Chris and I are getting fit - emotionally, financially and physically! You will have to scroll to the end if you just want to see the results in numbers!

We sat down, paid off all our credit cards and Chris cancelled one of his cards. We have enough credit between us to be able to book any minor travel but not so much we can't pay it off right away if we got in to far! We have a pre paid card as well if we need to charge something more than what would fit on each of our credit cards. That feels pretty good!

We have set out our budgets and after making some changes we are both putting away some decent savings and are on track to purchase a new to us car in May (with cash...no payments please!), to take a dream trip to europe in 2013 and to consider purchasing mid 2014!!! So as long as our plan and God's plan is still in line and our money flows stay, we are looking pretty tight financially!

This does mean we are in financial lockdown for the next year though! We made an executive decision and decided since date nights will be few and far between that we would take the bond money I had and do some upgrades to our entertainment system and to our organization in the house (the rest went to the above noted pay off)! This should make the house a more fun place to be if we are stuck there! LOL

The cleaning out of the cupboards and fridge was a huge eye opener for us! We donated a large box of food and threw out two garbage bags full of things that could not be donated! It was an expensive way to go grocery shopping let me tell you! However now our kitchen is filled with fresh, fresh frozen and healthy foods and treats!

We have taken the one step at a time approach and right now we are focusing on healthy choices and portion control. We are making more active choices and adding bits of exercise here and there when we can (mostly walking at this point). We will slowly start adding more structured work outs as we go!

One of the things we are also going to work towards is weaning out all of the processed foods...this is a hard one, especially with our busy schedules. But necessary as packaged foods have tons of sodium and thats one of the things we are trying to lower! One step at a time though and getting into the routine of making all our own meals has been fun and delicious!

We have been using quite a few of the Hungry Girl recipes and if you do not know about her I would highly recommend you check her out http://www.hungry-girl.com/

You can search for recipes, subscribe to her email list (totally worth it!), and read her blog. She is a master at making the low fat version of your favorite restaurant food and the recipes are easy to follow and modify! Many of them are single portioned which is great if your doing this on your own and have to make meals seperate from your family, are just making lunch for you or you can just quadruple the ingredients for the family! You can find tons of the recipes online and she has 4 awesome cook books out too! She includes nutritonal info and weight watchers points on each menu.

Okay...enough babbling...here are the results!

Chris - down 5 pounds and several inches all over
Tara - down 6 pounds and several inches all over

New Year....

2012-01-01T12:51:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Internet.....

Did you party hard last night? are you still hung over, do you need me to turn down the volume?

First off, I hope that this year treats you with lots of love, joy and health!

Chris and I are starting off the new year by dumping all the crap in our house and filling it up with fresh meats, veggies, whole grains and some healthier snack options. We will start with extra walking and get the food in order. I don't think that Chris has ever tracked his food on a daily basis before so should be a fun adventure!

Once we get the food under control, then we will continue to up the workouts together!

This is the first step in our two year plan to get into the house and family market!! We are not positive the baby thing will happen but we will have fun practicing!

So I guess its time to go work on our cupboard emptying project and have a budget meeting!

talk to you soon!

TW

Merry Christmas Dear Internet!!!

2011-12-21T07:18:00.001-08:00

Create a digital greeting

From our Family to Yours!

C and T

When it shines....its tropical??

2011-12-08T09:29:00.000-08:00

Ever thought about this??   When things are going bad we say "when it rains....it pours"   but what do we say when things are going good?

That's my gift to you today dear internet...you're welcome!

Okay so why is it so shiny??

Its been a stellar week in the daisy field!

Sunday -  My faithful fans (so my mom and tanya LMAO) will remember fondly my status update for sunday...."Hung out with the kids...made Christmas pictures...had Perogies for breakfast (yeah I did)...took a 3 hour nap...finished my paper....ate home made Turkey pot pie for dinner...cuddled with my husband...decorated the Christmas corner....now I am watching Dexter!! yup sounds like a great Sunday to me!!!"   I mean really, that's a good day! Those perogies by the way were homemade by the polish lady at the deli down the street! YUMMMMY

Monday - The work day flew buy, I watched some Sons of Anarchy (season 1..kind of grusome but really good!) at my desk and then went to an amazing rehersal with Good Noise, our full band and our guest choir from Kwantlen.   We really are awesome!

Tuesday - I got up at 4:30 am, no really I did YUCK! Andre came and picked me up and we ran down to the Westin Bayshore to sing at the annual christmas tree decorating competition.   We sang all morning for Breakfast Television on CityTV.   Then I met my husband at starbucks, we went christmas shopping (I am all done just need stocking stuffers), had grilled cheese..oh darn I keep forgetting to do my review...Went to the specialist and got the okay to go off my meds!!!   Swelling seems to have stayed down and she was pleased with the way things looked.   I have a follow up in 2 months. Cuddled with my hubby and watched GLEE YAY!

Wednesday - I got up at 4:30 am again and Chris and I hopped in a cab to the Pan Pacific for the Christmas Wish Breakfast so I could sing again! (here is a clip with a tiny teaser of us and shows the huge mountain of toys! http://www.globaltvbc.com/video/moving+mountains+of+toys/video.html?v=2174559315).   Then I went off to work after grabbing a yummy starbucks and reaching my first 15 star free drink YAY!   Once I got to work I found out that I got 14 out of 15 on my paper in my Language class...SUPER STAR!!!!!!!

Thursday - That brings me to today, I get to go to my mom and dads for a visit and to help them finish their taxes.   I will get fed something yummy and then I am going to borrow my moms car till Sunday.

Friday - Concert at Christ Church....its going to rock! I hope you got tickets because this is a packed to the rafters sold out show.

Saturday - I intend on sleeping until forever and then I will get up study and go to my Concert at Christ Church, this one will rock too! Also sold out.

Sunday - Have to get a good sleep, have a good breakfast and then head up to SFU for my exam.   Then I am going to drive like a mad woman to our concert at Fraserview in Richmond (starts at 3:00 pm).   You can still get tickets if you like for this one http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/206046

Hope its tropical where you are too!   Why don't you share some good news with the internet too?

seriously...its been 357 days???

2011-11-29T08:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, thats almost a year!!!

What a freaking wierd year it has been!   so what, my new readers, you may be asking was 357 days ago?

It was the first day I noticed I had a problem with my vision and we started out on this journey with Intercranial Hypertension.    The end seems so close, I have an appointment to go see the specialist in 7 days and it should be when she takes me off the medication!   YAY....

But in the last few days I have been having more headaches (possibly due to sinus infection?), I have needed to wear my glasses WAY more, and have had 1 or 2 days with some wierd vision things.

I really, really, really don't want to be taking this medication forever!   Chris and I would really like to stay on the road to good health and start having a family in the next year, but that can't happen until all the meds are out of my system!

I am getting older, it could be because of stress, it could be I am not drinking enough water, it could be because of being sick.    Whatever it is, only the scans will tell!

Please join me in praying for good results, we really just want to get on with our lives!

Thank you to all of you who have been praying along with me and my family for my Mom's quick recovery from Cancer!   Her second round of chemo went much more smoothly and we are praying for better and better results each and every day!

You can read about her journey here if you like....http://ljscorner-laura.blogspot.com/

TTFN!

Why does God let things happen?

2011-10-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

I have heard myself say these exact words...and I am sure you have too! My friend Ronnie sent this to me and it actually caused me to stop and think....

Have a read....maybe it will make you think...maybe it won't.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God ? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

If not, then just discard it.... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

BZZAGENT REVIEW - Trend Micro Titanium

2011-10-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

I was offered the opportunity to try out the New Trend Micro Titanium Subscription and then submit a review.   I think some of you may have seen my posts when I first got it about how you could get a copy for a discount at Best Buy.

(discount code "BZZ30" (for use on the Trend Micro™ site) and the downloadable Best Buy coupon .)

I have had this installed now for about two months and I have to say I LOVE IT! I was able to use my one subscription to cover my laptop, my tablet and my smart phone! The install was really easy and even unistalled the other program I had on my computer for me as part of the install.

It took me only a few minutes to run through the set up and push it to my mobile devices.   The scan is quick and thorough, and no longer causes my computer to just randomly shut down for no apparently reason like the other one I was using!

One of the features that I LOVE is under the email/website settings, I notice it most on Facebook. When I log in to facebook it immediately scans each and every link on the page (without slowing down load time) and then highlights all safe links green and all unsafe links red!

I can let trendmicro run its scans in the background without noticing a drain on my computer or a lag on whatever I am doing.   You can even run a clean up scan that will go through your processes and shut down unnecessary items.

One of the other features that I have not used yet and hope not to have to use ever is the vault feature.   It works in two ways...one I can put super confidential files in there and if you do not have the password and you try it wipes it away.   The second feature is that if my bag gets stolen, I can jump on my computer and lock down my smart phone and tablet or vice versa if someone broke into my house.

Once I lock it down I have the option to keep it locked until it is returned to me or I can wipe it remotely.

There are also parental controls for all three of my devices, so I could lock down anything important but still allow my nephew to play the "bird" game.

Why not check out the features and see if its something you might like to try!   If your security system is coming due why not check out another option especially if you can get a discount!

Visit trendmicro.com to learn more about Trend Micro™ Titanium™ Maximum Security. Don't forget you can also use discount code "BZZ30" (for use on the Trend Micro™ site) or the downloadable Best Buy coupon if you want to go into a store and pick it up.

It May be Raining Like Crazy Today....But I Saw the Sun!!

2011-09-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

For those who know me well, you know that my family has been struggling alot in the last few weeks. On August 17th my mother was diagnosed with Breast cancer and that started this horrible ugly ride that we have been strapped into since.

(photo: Joel A Rogers)

I got the text to call my mom while I was at a week long camp up on the sunshine coast, I took my phone and sat down on one of my favorite beaches staring out into the beautiful sun hanging over the ocean surrounded by trees. Behind me I could hear the girls laughing and enjoying the program I had planned for them. I took the news like a good women in our family does - Strong and Optimistic. When I hung up the phone I put my face in my hands and I cried. I cried in fear, I cried for my mom, for my dad and I just let it wash over me.

The wierdest thing happened as I cried, a long haired hippy guy with no shirt on appeared on the beach (wierd since its a private beach, but it happens). He saw me crying and he looked very confused and conflicted, and he finally looked at me and gave me a wierd sad smile and gave me a peace sign and walked on. For some reason it made me laugh. It was so wierd that it distracted me and I was able to compose myself and get back to the girls.

The days and nights were long and I was thinking about my mom all the time! I prayed that she would do okay and that the surgery would go well! Soon it was time to come home.

When I got back to work I talked to my boss immediately about what was happening and they agreed to let me take what ever time I needed to help the family. The next weekend when I went out to visit my mom, I found out that my aunt was also in the hospital. They did not have alot of info for me and we went to visit her. We found out when mom's surgery was and now it was time to wait.

When mom got out of her surgery and we were waiting for her to come out of Post op to recovery we decided to go up and visit my Aunt. Turns out it was good timing as she was just being released home. However, not with good news, it turns out she has an advanced stage uterine cancer. As we went back downstairs, dad decided to go talk to mom first.

It was a rough day for our family. We had also found out just a few days prior that my Grandmother would be having a begnin tumor removed just to be safe because of our family history and her age. My poor little brain felt like it was going to go KABOOM!

I spent the next 4 days at my moms house helping out with laundry, moms after surgery care, doing a big cook for the freezer and running mom to appointments. I found out that my mom is a superhuman healer and after only a day and a half she was having her drainage tube taken out! She had a large bruise that had developed and they were concerned about post operative infection or abcess...so off to the ER!

I do have to say the ER on a saturday night is kind of like a crazy soap opera! Doctor Cutie Pie gave my mom an ultrasound to make sure her big huge bruise was just that. They started treating her aggressively with nasty IV antibiotics just in case. Now it was time to wait....

Over the last two weeks I have been hearing and singing a song called Praise You Through This Storm - by Casting Crowns. I have been feeling a bit as if my life is in the center of a brutal storm. I am just returning to fall activities, returning to school, dealing with my stupid landlord, trying to be a strong tower for people to lean on during this time and all the while worrying about the situation with the women in my family. I am emotionally exhausted and physically too!

This song has been really uplifting for me, and I think it translates to anyone going through a hard time....Christian or not. It has been a slow shift in thinking for me to say God will lead the way and not God why have you forsaken us! This morning I was thinking about everything and I had a vision of myself in a dinghy on the rolling seas. Forgive me if you do not know what I am talking about but sometimes I am struck by visual representations of thoughts. Its a quick thought that strikes me but my brain processes it in pictures. Sounds wierd...whatever LOVE ME!

The thunder was rolling and waves were crashing all around the boat and no matter how the boat tossed and pitched I would never fall out of the boat. Slowly the waves began to subside and the sea became less and less choppy. My fear began to subside and the sun began to peek through the clouds. I haven't had a visual picture appear this clear to me in a long long time

(thejosevilson.com)

This vision filled me with a feeling of peace and a sense of quiet in my soul. I knew in that instant that I would be able to hold on to my sanity and get through all of this situation. It was like how everything is so clean after a spring rain! For some reason I just felt renewed.

Then....I saw the facebook post....

Laura Jane Stonnell Lang

GOOD. NEWS! http://ljscorner-laura.blogspot.com/2011/09/good-news.html

I am so happy for my mom!!! The clouds are starting to part and the sun is peeking through a smidge. We still have many obstacles as a family to overcome, but we will do it together with you, our amazing friends and with God!

Thank you for praying for my family and I ask that you keep praying for my moms continued health and for some good news to come about my Aunt!

Don't forget to keep donating to cancer research! https://www.kintera.org/site/c.koJNISOwEpH/b.4782785/apps/ka/sd/donorcustom.asp

Thank you.....

UH OH....its September!!!!!

2011-09-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

So here we go, what happened to the summer? Apparently I worked through it LOL.

My weekenights are slowly filling up with Choir, School, District Events, Area Events and somewhere in there I need to remember to fit in date night each week with my lovely and ever patient husband!

My calendar has gone digital, my files have gone cloud and I even found my GGC name tag. What sort of things do you do to keep on track during the busy months?

For my faithful readers in the Vancouver Area, if you want to sign up as a leader or district guider you can always email me! Depending on which role (or if your as silly as me...how many roles) you take on, your commitment can be a few hours each month or week. We are of course always looking for leaders who want to fill in for leaders who are sick or who want to be ratio leaders for camps and events. Its a great organization to volunteer with and you can make a significant difference in the lives of young girls!

If you are wanting to sign up your daughter we have a district registration next week and I can help connect you with other districts if you do not live in the Mackenzie Heights area!

Happy September everyone....buckle up that seat belt and hold on!

Lunch Time Review - Arturo's Mexican to Go

2011-08-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

Today I lost my lunch buddies and was on my own. I could sit in the cold office reading my book or go for a walk and see what happens!

I mentioned to our HR person that I didn't know what I wanted to eat and that I may just wander until something appeared and inspired me, she told me I MUST go try the "Taco Truck".

She told me which direction to start walking in and I vaguely remembered passing by Howe and Cordova late one afternoon and seeing a "Taco Truck" packing up.

When I arrived at Howe and Cordova I was met with this lovely sight:

I ordered the Calle Trio which is 3 corn tortilla's with your choice of meat and salsa. It comes with black beans, rice and salad for $9.50 ; I also ordered a bottle of water for $1. The staff are quick, efficient and clean, and I was impressed by how quickly my "non-fast food" was done.

A plus for this food truck - they take debit and credit cards, but I had cash and left a nice tip. I ordered 1 Chicken and 2 Beef taco's and I should have known when the guy smiled when I asked for it medium spicy!

As you can see the portion is HUGE and all lovely fresh ingredients. I could not stop eating the salad which was a simple lettuce salad with lime, mango, pico de gallo, corn, black beans and cheese.

The chicken taco went first and it was AMAZING!   The chicken was moist and perfectly seasoned.   There was a lovely bite from the salsa, jalapeno's and onions.   I added some black beans and rice, which as many of you know is huge because I hate mexican rice.   This rice was nice, not dry, not wet, not overly tomatoey or spicy, it was just nice!

The beef taco's were more spicy and very very tender.   The chipotle was a lovely warm flavour that was in perfect balance with the fresh veggies and beans.   A word to the sensitive, I like a nice spicy meal, so if you are a wimp go with the mild!   I think if I ordered just chicken I might have to kick up the spice level but the beef was the perfect mix of spicy and yummyness!

I stuffed my face, until I could eat no more and alas I was not even close to clearing the plate!   In my humble opinion, well worth the $10 and it was a nice walk.

Another bonus with Arturo's is that they have the corn option for those who are gluten free and they have a burrito in a bowl for those who are carb free. You get all the ingredients from the burrito but on the salad! If your going low fat you could drop the cheese and sourcream as well because they ask you what toppings you would like for each dish.

I highly recommend you make a stop at Arturo's Mexican to Go next time your in the neighborhood for lunch on a work day. If you have the Eat Street App it is located under "Revuelta Cue Arturo." Here is their website - http://arturos2go.com/

I hope you all had a wonderful lunch and I leave you with this parting shot of my "lunch room" this afternoon!

Till next time.....

West Memphis Three Walk FREE!!!!!

2011-08-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

As many of my long time blog readers will know and anyone who has been unfortunate enough to ask, I am very passionate about the West Memphis Three Case. For those of you how don't know, these three young boys were convicted of murdering three 8 year old boys in Arkansas. The main piece of evidence was a confession taken from a young boy unrepresented after 12 hours of interrogation in which he supplied information that was not even close to what happened. There is a gap in the taping and after that you hear Jessie being lead through the testimony and police correcting him until they get the "right" info.

I learned about this case in an intro to policing class when we talked about false confessions (or maybe it was criminal law I forget) but I was so intrigued by the facts presented in class I had to go and read more. I spent HOURS and HOURS over many days pouring over the public records and reading the "evidence" against the boys. I was shocked and dismayed that such a horrible thing could be done and that these three boys could be convicted because they wore black clothing and listened to "satanic" music. I read every book I could find and watched both HBO Documentaries.

Over the last ten years, I have attended fundraisers, purchased items online to donate and tried to educate as many people as I could about this case. I have prayed for justice and was elated when new DNA evidence exonerated the three and actually pointed towards one of the young boys step fathers and his alibi! I could only imagine how long each day felt for Jason, Jessie and Damien as they could see the light getting bigger at the end of the tunnel, but were stuck in a system that would have to look back on itself and admit its own flaws to do the right thing. A new judge was appointed (THANK GOD!!!) and the wheels were starting to move.

Just a few weeks ago I received and invitation to be at the evidentiary hearing to show support in Arkansas in December. I knew I would not be able to go but I was praying and hoping that it would go well. This is what the fundraising and prayers had been working up too!

I have been at camp (blog to come about that later!) and this morning i saw the amazing news....while I was away they had called for a quick meeting and the men were offered an "Alford" plea, basically a no-contest plea where you do not admit guilt and can maintain your innocence but it is marked down as a guilty plea. This was an all or nothing deal and from watching the press conferences I can see that it was a very very very difficult decision to make. At the end of the plea each man declared his innocence and for the first time in 17 years they left the courthouse as free men. Finally after all these years....

THE WEST MEMPHIS THREE

ARE FREE!!!!!!!!

There is still a long road ahead, as these men who have been locked up for more than half of their lives try to find their place and figure out who they are. These men also want to see the true killer (or killers) brought to justice and their names truly cleared. If you want to learn more about this case please visit www.wm3.org and read up on the case. If your as enthusiastic as I was the evidentiary archives are there as well.

Thanks,

I have been convicted.....

2011-08-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

boy that sounds bad huh...well in a way it is!

I remember in highschool we regularily threw around phrases like "your such a ____" and you can fill in the blank with the 3 letter F word....or the 6 letter R word!!    It was something we just never thought about, I mean everyone said it right??   As I grew up it became less of a "your such a ____" and more of a "that's so _____" and in popped that 3 letter G word.

I have ALWAYS hated racial slurs and have fought a losing battle with elder members of my family to stop using them.    They think its a joke and like to whip them around when they can to get a rise out of me!

A long time ago I dropped the F and G words from my vocabulary because it was no different than any of the racial slurs and because I have many LGBT people who have crossed my path who I love and adore! One day it just clicked for me that what I was saying was TERRIBLE and hurtful and no worse than what my Grandmother said at the dinner table!

But this weekend I was convicted about the R word! I was watching some mindless program on TV and this commmercial came on...why don't you stop and watch it too: http://www.r-word.org/Not-Acceptable-R-word-PSA.aspx

My eyes filled with tears and my heart broke, I was immediatley filled with guilt and knew I had to make a change!   It was the simplest concept and it finally clicked in my mind.   I can't tell you why it clicked for me that day, but I am just so happy that it did.    Its not like I run around saying it all the time, but I have been know to call things that annoy me or that I don't like the dreaded R word.   I have even told someone not to be so R word!   Man it hurts just to write that sentence.

Check out the campaign, and maybe you want to join me in my pledge to stop the word! http://www.r-word.org/Default.aspx

I love how their "word poster" is just like Girl Guides "word shirt".    My life really has come to be about the journey to respect, inclusion, unity and acceptance.

Lets Spread the Word

to End the Word!

The new R word is RESPECT!

Great day at the Pride Festival

2011-07-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day for us....West Coast Area Girl Guides hosted a booth at the Vancouver Pride Festival.

The response we received was overwhelming! People were so happy we were there and we heard over and over that it was long over due. Many people were surprised to see us and to hear that we are an inclusive organization. I was moved by many stories of LGBT people who had taken part in Guides and Scouts as children and who felt it made a huge difference in their life. I was deeply saddened by one woman that we talked to who long ago had been kicked out of Guides for being lesbian. One of my favorite moments was when three young women walked by and slowed down and one girl turned to the other and said "wow...Girl Guides love gays!" I just wanted to give her a huge hug!

I also met a sweet young man who had grown up in guides and credits it as being one of the saving graces in his younger years. We had a great talk about his involvement and he even bought a bunch of cookies! He challenged us to know more about the process for young people who are transitioning and curious.

Many people were sad to hear that Scouts were not taking part and hoped that they would follow us to the festival next year!

I am so proud to be part of an organization that values people over sexuality/race/religion! It was a quite a journey for us to get to pride this year and we came up against lots of opposition even within our own organization. People are always afraid of what they don't know. I think they will be happy with what we have to show them!

We handed out all our adult registration forms and a whole bunch of girls forms. We even have to phone province to let them know that TONS of people will be calling for cookie info!

Here are some pics from the event!

Want to join us??

Girl Guides is always looking for volunteers for units, advisers or helpers! Come as you are and get in where you fit in! You don't have to have any past experience, you just need to have a desire to make a difference in the lives of young girls.

Vision

Girl Guides of Canada-Guides du Canada, the organization of choice for girls and women, makes a positive difference in the life of every girl and woman who experiences Guiding so she can contribute responsibly to her communities.

Mission

Girl Guides of Canada-Guides du Canada enables girls to be confident, resourceful and courageous, and to make a difference in the world.

Values

The stated values for Girl Guides of Canada-Guides du Canada are stipulated in the Promise and Law.

Promise

I Promise to do my best,

To be true to myself, my beliefs and Canada
I will take action for a better world
And respect the Guiding Law

Law

The Guiding Law challenges me to:

be honest and trustworthy
use my resources wisely
respect myself and others
recognize and use my talents and abilities
protect our common environment
live with courage and strength
share in the sisterhood of Guiding.

Visit us at www.girlguides.ca if you want some more information, or drop me an email!

Best snack ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-18T22:32:00.000-07:00

Okay I was super skeptical at first....but I kept hearing about Kale Chips! I thought...man I don't really like kale on its own so why would I like it baked in the oven and how will this replace potato chips??

Well to tell you the truth it wont replace potato chips but it did make a super yummy melt in your mouth (literally by the way melt in your mouth!!) snack that is a good source of fibre.

Here is how I made them:

Preheat the oven to 325
rip the kale leaves away from the stem (thats the really bitter part) - I recommend bigger versus smaller pieces!
Spin, pat whatever you like to do...just make sure the kale is dry
make your oil mixture - mine was olive oil, sesame oil, hot oil and fresh galic

dip your fingers in the oil and then massage the oil into the leaves.
Lay the leaves on the try and make sure they do not overlap.
sprinkle with sea salt and garlic pepper.

Put in oven for 5 minutes
pull out and flip over leaves

put back in oven for 4 or 5 minutes (you need to watch - don't let them go brown!)

let cool and put in a dry container that seals (not a plastic bag as they are kind of fragile!

Calories	43	Sodium	30 mg
Total Fat	1 g	Potassium	296 mg
Saturated	0 g	Total Carbs	7 g
Polyunsaturated	0 g	Dietary Fiber	3 g
Monounsaturated	1 g	Sugars	2 g
Trans	0 g	Protein	3 g
Cholesterol	0 mg
Vitamin A	354%	Calcium	9%
Vitamin C	89%	Iron	7%

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

enjoy!!

Why I am still proud to be a Vancouverite!

2011-06-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

Unless you live under a rock, you know that last night was not the best moment in Vancouver History! But just in case you live under a rock.... CTV Coverage of Riot

I had a pretty bad feeling all day yesterday, I was here downtown in '94 and I was really scared that it would go bad win or lose.    In fact on my way home on the bus I just prayed and prayed for me to be wrong!   As the game was nearing the end, I began to get heavy hearted and started thinking back over what happened 17 years ago.

I have never been a hockey fan to be honest, but I am a fan of fun! I absolutley LOVE going to live games even though I am not a sports girl, because the atmosphere is amazing and how can you not love just soaking up other peoples joy and excitement!    The details are more hazy now as I get older, but I remember we left part way through the game to head downtown because thats where all the fun would be.   We walked up and down Robson and Georgia and Granville, the atmosphere was electric, people were handing out invitations to house parties and then somewhere along the line it all started to get a bit darker...the news spread quickly that we had lost, and people for the most part were just going to shake it off and have a good time, but there was this undercurrent!

People started yelling, things were thrown, some fights broke out etc etc....after our first big mouthful of pepperspray we were headed out of downtown, and we watched the rest of the carnage ensue on tv.

But last night....my heart broke for my city last night.    Yet as a person and as a budding psychologist, I couldn't tear myself away....I was glued to the TV, facebook, twitter and online news.   I had to force myself to go to bed because I had to get up early in the morning.

So why is this post called "Why I am still proud to be a Vancouverite"?   I will tell you why.   I watched videos of people risking their safety to try and protect the city and its landmarks.    I saw THOUSANDS of people join in with the city this morning and help clean up downtown!   I saw the majority of people who were interviewed saying this wasn't vancouver, and this wasn't hockey fans.     This was Hooligans!

And this right here is why I am still proud to be a Vancouverite - Globe and Mail - My Neighborhood

It is sad that a small group of people with such vicious intention can rile a group of people up and get them to do what they may not normally do.    Did they think it was okay because no one was watching??   Guess what guys, we were watching and Vancouver....well we don't like it!    We have you on video tape, photos, even your own lame bragging online about what you set on fire and stole!    Do you think that no one will turn you in?

Vancouverites....stand up, we have pride in our city!   Our Football team crushed Calgary last night, Our hockey team won the presidents trophy (or is it cup...sorry I am just not a sports girl LOL) and had an AMAZING run!, we held a very successful and mostly peacful olympic celebration and we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world!    We are a world class city and although we took a world class beating last night, we wil jump up to our feet and say....HELL NO!

So what next, well first we clean up the streets, and we start to win back the respect of the world and we shut down the rioters!   Social media is not just for fun and games people, its also for information.    Help out our local law enforcement who worked their butts off last night.

So how do you post someone elses bragging??

You can easily copy and post items from facebook and twitter where people are bragging about what they have done.

go to the page and press CNTRL + Print Screen
Open paint and press CNTRL + V
use the select tool (the one that looks like a dotted box) to select the post you need
Open an new window (CNTRL + N)
and paste (CNTRL + V)
Save as a JPG and then upload to one of the many sites who are asking for people to post and tag rioters!

Were you downtown last night taking photos, post them to the sites and let them be useful. If you would like to help, here is some great advice from Miss 604 - How you can Help!

Lets stand together and show the world that last night was not Vancouver and what the power of a true proud Vancouverite can be!

GO VANCOUVER!!!!!!!!!

Update on life...

2011-05-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

Another year has almost past by!!!

Today is my lovely sisters birthday....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANYA! This also means that it is only 4 days until my birthday.   Its hard to believe its the 8th anniversary of my 29th birthday! hehehe just kidding...sort of?   I do feel like time is slipping by in an ever increasing manner though!

So here is my update:

Marriage - IS AWESOME!   I love my husband and I am so proud to be his wife.   He is kind and lovely and always willing to work with me as we journey along.   Its great to have a true partner I can count on who loves and respects me!   He is also very very forgiving especially at the start and end of the school year!!!!

Work - IS AWESOME!   I am loving my new job and its a total fit for me.   I have tons of awesome projects to work on and lots of flexibility to do it all my way.

Choir - IS AWESOME!! in four days we will be performing our world premiere of our choral piece that was commissioned in part to honour the 125 birthday of Vancouver. Paul Halley will be coming to Vancouver to work with us, the Vancouver Children's Choir and the Christ Church Cathedral Choir. Its going to be amazing and as far as I know we are SOLD OUT!

District - IS...You guessed it AWESOME....but very very tiring.   Denise and I are very very lucky to have a small team of people who work very very hard and join us when people drop the ball!   I think some people don't understand that when they don't do their job, we can either punish the girls and cancel or the DC team has to step in!   Its a lot of extra work, that sadly prevents us from doing what we are supposed to be doing!   They are all going to camp on my birthday and I am super bummed I can't go!   The girls will have a great time and it will be a great send off to top off a fun year!

Area - IS ...welll...I think it just is!   We had a very fun time with our sparks and brownies this last weekend and it looked like they had a great time.   Denise and I (have I mentioned how amazing Denise is????) have decided to stop focusing on special events and get back to what we are supposed to be doing, which is helping the guiders understand and deliver program and challenges in a fun and easy way!   We will be spending the next year focusing on spreading the word about program and doing some awesome trainings for new guiders!   We let area know that if they want to put together committees to work on special events we will gladly sit on the committees but we will not head them anymore!   I am not that optimistic they will happen!

Attitude - IS good I think....really pushing myself to keep going and be positive even when things feel a bit crazy and I am overextended!

Family - IS SUPER AWESOME...again with the amazing husband and I am so lucky to have such a great family that lives so close. I see my sister, Andre and the kids pretty much every week! The boys are the absolute joy of my life and I LOVE LOVE LOVE talking to them on the phone and hearing all about their adventures. I get to see my mom, dad and Brian not as often, but still usually at least once or more a month! They are moving soon, and I am happy for them to have a great house to move into!

Friends - ARE AMAZING....I have been so lucky in my life and I have made some really great friends. I am blessed to have a small group of really amazing people who I adore. In highschool it was all about how many people you knew and how full your address book was (yes I am actually that old!!!). Now that I am older it really is about those amazing friendships that stand the test of time. Some you don't see that often but when you do you fall right back into your groove as if you have never been apart. Some you see all the time and it doesn't matter how much time you spend together....there is always something to talk about! I am so blessed to have such great friends....so THANK YOU!!!!!!

School - IS stalled?   I am hoping to go back to school for September, I am just waiting to hear about my scholarship and hoping that my brain will improve (see health section) and I can keep it together and get a good grade!

Health - IS SUCK....okay to be fair its up and down but its still really getting me down.   When my meds are up there is much less pressure on my brain and my optic nerves but the side effects include intense tingling in all my extremities (sometimes very very painful) including my face, severe apathy, short term memory loss, inability to recall information as quickly as usual, heightened emotions and extreme fatigue (really hard to lose weight btw when you can barely drag yourself out of bed!!). So when I have good pressure readings they lower the meds which helps a little with the other symptoms but they are still there and then I get more headaches and my pressure goes back up...so they put the meds back up....lather...rinse....repeat!!!   With all the ups and downs of the meds I just spend all my time adjusting to the medication and as soon as I even out and things seem to level off I have an appointment and it changes again!   I think this time I am going to tell her just to leave me at the higher level until I have a remission and then see how it goes. Chris and I really really really want to start a family and we can't do that until I am off the meds completely. I am very very thankful to have a great group of people I have connected with on the internet who have the same thing and who are a great source of support and practical advice!

Life in General - IS AMAZING!!!!!!!   I am a blessed woman and I am so happy to have such a great group of friends and family. I am praying that this next year will be one filled with renewed health and continued weight loss for me and full of blessings and love for everyone!!   I trust in God that he will provide Chris and I with all the things we are hoping for!

Love ya....T

I wanted to share a poem

2011-05-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I am dealing with a medical issue right now that has probably gone undiagnosed for a very very long time and contributed to a lot of things that have been happening over the years! Major Headaches, Back and Neck Pain, Weight Gain, Most of my Major Depression Symptoms and so on....

I am part of a great group of people online who all have the same thing and are going through the same things as me, and some of them are so much worse than I am. I pray daily for them as they have lost their jobs, homes, livelihoods and even spouses because of this terrible disease.

The list of possible causes is as long as my arm and would basically mean everyone in the world is at risk....a scary way of saying they have no idea!

Today, a new friend of mine Heather posted a great poem online and I wanted to share it with you my faithful reader, not as excuses but as a tiny window into what it feels like to be me lately!

When your head is banging

And you can not see

The world is swaying

PTC!

When your ears are pulsing

And you can not think

This PTC

It really stinks.

When people say

Well you look fine.

But inside you're

really dying.

The pains unbearable

and you can not move

But people still expect the same

from you.

I am not lazy

I'm not lying to you

Keeping train of thought

Is so hard to do.

I have tremors,

pins and needles in my feet and hands.

Some days it feels impossible to

stand.

You don't see the tears I cry.

When I'm alone.

So please be patient with me, look and learn

I thank god that you're not me

who suffers from this dreaded PTC!

Thank you Heather for being brave enough to write down how your feeling and for sharing it with us.

If you want to learn more about PTC which is also called Intercranial Hypertension you can check out this site http://www.ihrfoundation.org/

Thanks for listening.

I am Sad and Torn Today.....

2011-05-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

As we all know by now Osama Bin Laden has been killed by American troops just outside of Islamabad.   Do not get me wrong, I do not think this is the bad part.

What makes me so sad is that people are partying in the street.   People are rejoicing that someone is dead and they are openly wishing someone a painful horrid death filled with an eternity experiencing anguish and torture in Hell. This thought makes me so sad.    Have we actually become so jaded?

Moreover, have we become so blind?    Bin Laden was merely a figure head, a face to a cause.   There are millions behind him who will step up and continue his war.    Until we can come to a peaceful understanding it will NEVER end.    This makes me even more sad.

As many of my dutiful readers know I am a very empathetic person and also very logical (okay well most of the time) and I will often present the devils advocate point of view just so it can be said and maybe cause some to think before they rant!

I want to preface this next part by saying I am by no means standing up and saying that I support the ideals of the Jihad or extremist Muslims, I am just asking people to look at this from another point of view.

When I first heard the news of Bin Laden's death I was pleased (as pleased I guess as you can be over someones death) and immediately thought that maybe this would mean that our young men and women overseas may be able to come home.   As many of you know I have several friends who are in the Canadian military and I pray daily for the safety of everyone over there. I digress...

Shortly after my brief feeling of pleasure it was replaced with deep deep sadness as I realized that our young men and women won't be able to come home and in fact we could be bracing ourselves for some terrible times to come.

Think of all of this for just one second from the eyes of a child who grew up with Al Qaida parents in an Al Qaida family on an Al Qaida compound.   This child has likely done nothing wrong, but knows no other life.   Right or Wrong it is all they know.   To that child...We are the Terrorists!!   What a horrible thought!!!

Someone will step up and replace Bin Laden, they will be more or less fanatical than he was and we will have to deal with that as well.   A friend said to me today, what if Bin Laden was the calm one?   what if he was the one who told people to hold off, wait...plan?   Does this mean we will have outright chaos in their organization and tons of attacks on our men and women still over there?

Today, I am sad and torn and confused. I will never forget September 11th and all that has happened since, I will not take time for granted any longer and I pray that we never face anything like that again!  I will thank God that we are one step closer to overcoming this fight.

I will get on my knees and pray today and everyday and ask God to deliver a miracle in this situation.   To spread his peace over everyone. What I can not do though is rejoice and take pleasure in the death of another human being.

I am sorry if this offends you, I feel all life is precious and I am so tired of always hearing of nothing but death and destruction!

Its a new year....but is anyone learning anything?

2011-01-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

First off an update...Chris and I had a wonderful christmas season with the family even though it was crazy busy as usual.   For those of you who only read the blog and not facebook....In December I was diagnosed with Intercranial HyperTension (basicly my brain is swollen and causing pressure). It was a hard month but I am doing well on the medication despite the crappy side effects and my inability to remember to take medications on time! I am currently following up with 3 doctors each month and going for routine labs to make sure I am still okay. Needless to say I am totally sick of seeing the doctors LOL.    This apparently will continue for at least 6 months BLAH!

In an effort to get my brain and body healthy again I have decided to go back to what works for me! Peer pressure LOL.   I have joined Weight Watchers again and got myself a work out buddy who can work out with me at lunch or after work!

Chris and I are enjoying life and enjoying each other and were only a little bit put back by the news we would have to wait another 6 months to a year to try getting pregnant!   We are so excited to start our own little family and the delay is a bummer but I would much rather be healthy and have a healthy baby than anything else!

We are rejoicing in all our friends baby's (congrats to the newest addition!!!! can't wait to see you!!!!!!!!!!) and we get to babysit the nephews once a week!

So the rest of this blog....My heart is sore once again!

I don't understand how someone can repeat the same action over and over expecting different results each time?   I will not go into details at all, but I am heartsick that these people have chosen to go down this path once again without thinking of the consequences of their actions and the widespread ripples it will cause to others.

So what do you do?   Do you wipe your hands clean?   Do you stand by and watch the wreck happen?   Do you join in on the insanity and hope for a different result?   Do you stand by and let the pain you know will happen to innocent bystanders just happen??? I just don't know.   To be honest I don't think I am actually looking for an answer.

I have had some pretty rough things happen in my life, some beyond my control, some as the results of my own decisions and I turned out okay.    But I had a strong group of friends and family and a faith that helped carry me at points when I was unable to even move!   It took many years of therapy, self exploration, a ton of growing up and lots of painful self inquisition! What happens to people who don't have that structure or ability to face themselves??   Are they buried? Does someone come in and drag them out? Does time heal all wounds?

I think this is part of why I am so interested in psychology; the human mind/body/spirit is the most amazing thing! I desire to know why if three people experience the exact same thing, they all deal with it differently! Is it nature or nuture? Do people have the innate ability to deal with only certain things in certain ways?   Does the structure around them create those mechanisms?   Is it a combination of both?   Is it none of the above.

As you can see today I am feeling very philisophical! I hope this situation all works out but I can't help but think I am standing at the sidelines of a very slow and painful crash that will cause some irreperable damaage to some very special people.

c'est la vie? who knows....

Bzzagent - Extend-a-Clean Scrubbing Bubbles

2010-11-25T12:23:00.000-08:00

Okay Ladies,

I got another Bzzagent job....I needed to review the Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean Power sprayer.    I was thinking it was a pretty silly idea, but having used the shower cleaner and it making a difference I thought I would give it a try!

WOW - my husband actually did the spraying and then I totally forgot about it.   He told me he liked that it had a continuous spray!

A little bit of back story, we live in a dingy little basement suite, but its our happy little dingy basement suite.   The bathroom taps get a little gross and leak so they get that gross black and rusty stuff around the edges and you have to clean the counters every other day if you don't want to see it.

I went away to camp and when I got home I was in the bathroom and asked my husband if he had cleaned up while I was away.   I was amazed when he said no!

There was no groadies around the tap and the counters had no soap scum or toothpaste grossness I would have expected at not being cleaned in almost a week (I know I know but it worked for this experiment!!)   It had been almost 5 days and the sink and counters were still gleaming and lovely!

I HIGHLY recommend this product, if you want a coupon come on by and get one!

Tara

I have been thinking...

2010-11-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

Its been just over two months since my Aunty Sharon passed away and today she and her family has been on my mind all day.   I was looking at picture of the kids trick r' treating and it amazed me how fast time is flowing the older I get.

It doesn't feel like that long ago when all of us would go out, I can still remember the layout of the house and the feel of Sharon or my mom yanking on our hair as we pick some "pretties" out of the olive green tupperware that was always kept in the cupboard just over from the fridge.   I remember camping trips, card games in the rain, playing outside till it was dark, eating fruit from the tree till we felt sick and so much more.   I remember trying to sleep on the waterbed and getting busted for chewing gum while "sleeping" by my parents.   I remember everyone gathering at Sharon and Dwights house in a huge storm and squeezing the puppy in the car while they ran back to get Tanya.

The visits became much less frequent as we got older, and then virtually stopped.   I understand now as an adult why, but I wonder if we would have grown so far apart if things had been different, if we had continued to "grow up" together. Its hard to think that we "kids" didn't do anything but have to bear the hurts of our parents.

Maybe we would have continued to hang out and maybe it would have eventually happend anyway since we are all such different people??

I have been so fortunate to have some amazing people in my life for so long and as far as I am concerned until the day I die - Alison, Jolene and Kyle will always be my cousins.   Their family will always be my family.

I fear that Aunty Sharon was the glue inextricable holding the two families together and I grieve at the idea of not seeing them anymore now that she is gone.   I guess there comes a point in your life when you have to realize that too many miles and too many years and too many hurts may have passed.   You have to look back and know that you gave and got unmeasurable amounts of love and that it may be time for each of us to move on in our own little circles we have made.

I hope that we will always touch base through the years and I pray that our children get to experience the friendship, family, love and experiences that we got when we were kids. Thank goodness for facebook, for if thats the only way we see each other children grow and celebrate each other's happinesses and tragedies, then at least we had that!

Whats the point of this blog??   Not sure there is one.   I just wanted to tell the universe that I am so grateful for all the amazing things that I have been able to experience in my life!   I felt these incredible feelings of loss and sadness today and when I write it all out I don't feel so sad, I feel happy to have had those times and thankful for everything that has made me into who I am today.

So...if your a long lost friend....or even a new one! Thanks and I love you!

T

Super new shop! LOVE the Lougheed London Drugs!!

2010-09-26T00:08:00.000-07:00

I have lots to update, but I will do that in another blog! This blog is to highlight my newest shop!

First off I have to give a shout out to Leigh-Ann and Justin at the London Drugs at Lougheed mall! I have never had such a fun experience doing a shop! They were very welcoming and were happy to see the couponers in the store! They wanted to know if they had run out of anything or if they needed to order something else we wanted. They even went so far as to find other coupons and bring them to us at the cashier to see if we had them. Even though the store closed they were happy to have us there and weren't rude in the slightest even though we apologized a ton! They would like us to call ahead and order items if we are going to take large quantities, especially when we have the really good deals on diapers since they cant stock tons of different sizes and types. So all I can say is GO TO THE LOUGHEED LD! They love coupons and want us to come shop there! No rude cashiers making you feel like you are trying to rip off the stores and no limits on the price match!! Even price matched with Army and Navy!

Anyway... On to my shop! This one was a record....I had a coupon savings of $284.69!! When you take out the taxes I paid a total of 17.00 for the product! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!! Here is a picture of what I got!

so as per usual lets list it all out! 2 scope outlast, 6 dawn, 6 cascade, 3 large mr. clean, 2 centrum cardio vitamins, 1 claritin allergy sinus with bonus allergy medicine, 2 secret invisible deoderants, 4 covergirl wetslicks lipglosses, 3 mr clean magic erasers, 1 Johnson and johnson gift basket, 1 pack of huggies newborn diapers, 1 venus gift pack with razor, shaving cream, olay lotion, travel case and shower pod!, 5 mr clean multiservice sprays, 1 mr clean bathroom spray, 4 gillette body washes, 2 olay body washes, large ziplocs, 4 oral b toothbrushes, 3 large bottles of advil, 2 herbal essesnce shampoos, 2 febreeze flameless lumiaries, 1 dove shampoo and 1 dove conditioner, 1 dove body wash with bonus deoderant, 1 dove hairspray, 2 skintimate shave lotions and 1 quatchi doll!!!

I have been asked to write a review on a couple of products so watch for those in the next few days! I am currently checking one of them out and waiting for the other to show up!

T

A little update and a new shop!

2010-08-29T23:18:00.000-07:00

Well lots of changes in the Wasney household lately. Both Chris and I are at new jobs and very very happy to be enjoying work. I am sure Chris will tell you all about his job, so I will leave that to him. I am now at the Office of the Chief Judge, and really liking it. I am hoping they trust me with more work soon as I could use it.

Girl guides is starting up into full swing now, it will be very wierd not to be going back to a unit, but I think I am going to enjoy the new job.

No baby news yet, but we are still practicing! :)

I had another shop today with Denise to get rid of some coupons that were going to expire. I thought I would tell you about it. I have been saving the money that people have given me for items they have purchased from our pantry/storage and today I went and did a shop and spent that money. I wanted to know how much I could get for my 27 dollars. Well I went to LD again and I had $219.75 in coupon savings!!! WOW! I picked up a few groceries at no frills as well and saved another $13.00 in savings. I ended up spending 8 dollars of my own spending money.

Here is a picture of my haul:

The picture is missing 2 tubes of sensodyne and a head and shoulders that I left over at Denise's house and 1 bottle of aveeno body wash that is already in the shower:

3 paks of cascade actions packs, 2 packs of pasta carbonara, kashi bars, 2 packs of pampers cruisers mega packs, 2 packs of newborn huggies, 2 jumbo packs of wipes (3 packs in each bag), 16 bars of irish spring soap, large bag of pasta, Aveeno baby gift pack (5 full size items), 2 lash blast mascara's, 2 packs of finish dish washing packs, 2 bounce dryer bars, always pantyliners, dove deoderant and body mist, 2 herbal essence shampoos, 1 dove hairspray, 2 tide stain release sprays, 3 dawn dish detergents, 2 dove shampoos, 1 dove intensive conditioner, 2 dove conditioners, 1 rubermaid refillable bottle, 1 package of royale toilet paper, 6 rolls of scott paper towels, 5 st. ives apricot scrubs, 20 pack of elastics, 4 large boxes of tampons, 2 large boxes of pantyliners, a free tshirt, a clothes dryer rack.

not a bad shop huh!

Hope all is well in your world. Drop me a line sometime!

WOW...another extreme shop!

2010-07-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post my first extreme shop here on my blog....so here is a link to the post but to sum it all up
I spent $102.00 and had a coupon savings of $204.93 (without counting pricematch and sale prices)!

not to bad huh!

Well I have done it again! Denise and I decided to hit the store last night and I picked up some great stuff my final bill was $61.72 and my coupon savings was $122.47 and again this does not include sale prices, although I have to say that I did not have to pricematch yesterday. Everything I was going to pricematch ended up being the price at the store! I think Denise had to pricematch 3 items. Here is a picture of my haul!

for those of you who can't see the picture....my haul includes the following:

2 deep woods off, 1 active sport off, 1 coppertone sport sunscreen, 6 bars of jergens soap, Nexxus shampoo and conditioner, Automatic shower cleaner with two 1 l refills, 4 double packs of glade scented oil refills, 2 scented oil plugins with double refills included, jumbo pampers wipes, jumbo pampers, 3 bags of cascade action packs, 2 crest prohealth sensitive toothpaste, infusium colour safe shampoo and conditioner, 2 boxes of OB tampons, and 1 - 12 double roll charmin toilet paper.

SCREW CANCER!!!!!

2010-06-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

Thats how I feel...actually it was worse words....but my little brother might read it and get mad and charge me two dollars for swearing!

We have had cancer scares in our family, we have lost friends, family and acquaintances and I am so so so tired of it.   The word still strikes fear in my body and makes my blood run cold!   I would do just about anything to help find a cure.

When I was little when we would see a falling star we would wish that "aunty polly would get better" and quite sometime ago that wish changed to "Aunty Sharon would kick cancers ass!".    How silly is that wishing on stars and raging at cancer!

As most of you know, my sister is the perfect kid...and so she has one upped my rage with action!   GO TANYA!!!   She is going to shave her head for cancer!    Her goal is to raise 10,000 by the end of the month and then we will have a party where she will allow you all to watch her shave her head!

Her husband has not always been totally on board with the bald wife thing, but he is 150% on board with the cause read his personal story here.

I am so proud of my sister and I hope that I can challenge you to match or exceed Chris and my donation of $100.00.    Many of you know our situation and you know that this is a big deal for us.   We are on a very very tight budget.   This is a huge deal, and every single dollar goes to cancer research (and of course you can get a tax receipt if you are concerned about that).

If you have had cancer, know someone who has, or have experienced any measure of the loss, anger, sadness etc that this diagnoses can bring I challenge you to match our donation! Go here to make your donation pledge (please don't pledge unless you intend on following through)

Thanks

Tara

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2010-06-08T08:06:00.001-07:00

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My First BZZ Review - Danone Danactive Strawberry

2010-05-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

So apparently for the BZZ Agents, I review the product elsewhere and then let them know!

So here goes, I am reviewing the Danone Danactive probiotic drink in Strawberry.   I was a little nervous when I was chosen for this campaign as I have a bit of a texture thing and am not a huge fan of creamy drinks at all.

A few days ago, i received my voucher for a free 8 pack of Danone Danactive and I headed out to the store to pick up my free case.   The packaging is nice and bright and sunny and caught my eye in the cooler.   I went to Pricesmart and I only had the choice of strawberry, however there are other flavours in other size packages.

I was very reluctant as I opened up my tiny little bottle, but I pulled back the tin topper and gave the top a lick! YUM, the strawberry flavour and smell was quite pleasant. I popped back the rest of the drink in three easy swallows.   The small size makes it perfect if you are feeling wierd about drinking your yogurt instead of eating it.

The taste was not too sweet and was not sour at all.   It was just a yummy creamy strawberry taste that did not have a lasting aftertaste in my mouth. It was smooth and I found that the strawberry flavour was a genuine taste and not like a fake strawberry extract flavour.

My one and only criticism of this product is that it is not a substantial source of anything but the probiotic. 0% of your daily intake of the major viatmins and calcium and the same for fibre. For those on Weight Watchers, this product will cost you 2 points in the morning!   By adding 3 grams of fibre they could have dropped that down to 1 point and who can't use more fibre in there diet! Diabetics should note that there are 14 grams of carbs!

so what about the pro-biotic, I asked my doctor about this as I am currently on antibiotics and he highly recommended using a pro-biotic drink or capsule while taking antibiotics. He also suggested that if you were experience bathroom discomfort while pregnant that taking the pro-biotic would be a good natural way to help turn it around.

So lets sum it up:

Taste - very pleasant, no aftertaste, no chemical diet/extract taste

Texture - smooth and velvetty

Value - Not bad $6.00 for a week plus 1 day supply, Probiotic pills are around 30 dollars a month so the drink is less expensive

WW Points - 2 points

Stars - I would give this a 4 out of 5 stars, losing one for its low nutritional value.

Would I buy it again?? - YES I WOULD

Stealing a page from tanya...who stole it from Carole

2010-05-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

Today is May 25, 2010…

Outside my window: I see the gray clouds rolling in and the most beautiful array of coloured leaves.

I am hearing: The laboured sound of my own breathing, the clacking of the keys, the credits rolling on a movie and the air purifier. I can also faintly here chris and his interview and the birds chirping

I am thinking: that I may need a nap before i head to the grocery store.

I am hoping: That even though I have been sick and having to take meds, and having a fever etc that little egg implanted well and we will have good news for people soon.

I am wondering: If Chris knows how proud of him I really am.

I am reading: the vampire diaries...but only when im not reading my text book

I am improving: my health i think....well I have been trying, walking more and eating better and taking vitamins!

I am wearing: the most ridiculous outfit ever....please picture if you can, a red and white and green christmas fleece pant that says HO HO HO all over it, a pink and white tank top that say I could be so sweet and a winnie the pooh blanket wrapped around my shoulders

In the kitchen: is a giant mess!!! and we need to take out the recycling.

This Week: School, work, two concerts this weekend and then tanya's birthday on sunday

A few of my favourite things: chocolate, family and friends

A picture thought: This is the epitome of summer to me! I love to eat outside! Cervesa anyone?

Birthday List

2010-05-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

You have been asking so here is a birthday list:

hand held GPS (for geocaching)
ITUNES money
Quad Latern by Coleman
Coleman stove with grill and burner
headlamp but the lamp needs to be small, LED and flat (mec sells them)
thermarest brand self inflating sleeping mat
Army and Navy or MEC Gift card for a back pack
wireless indoor/outdoor speakers for computer/ipod
skin/case for laptop (15.6)
gift card for penningtons, additionelle or any other such plus size clothing store
new bra
screen covers for my ipod

So hopefully that helps you all!

OMG....I used my first Coupon!

2010-05-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

Okay I know I haven't done the class yet, but today I got a coupon for BOGO popcorn....So I went to the store and there was a sale on pudding cups too.

So I got 12 pudding cups and 2 boxes of microwave popcorn. If I had bought it all seperatley it would have cost me just over 12 dollars and it cost me $5.68! YAY!!

I am sure that sounds stupid to you, but I was pretty proud of myself. I can't wait for the other coupons and things I have ordered to come so I can have even more savings. I think I am going to really like this class.

T

A Revolution

2010-05-09T13:00:00.000-07:00

Quite some time ago Chris and I attended the Financial Peace University with The Baron and The Baroness.   We have been slowly working on "living like no one else" so that one day we can live like no one else!

We were headed in a pretty good direction and Chris was almost debt free before he lost his job.   We were able to move and reduce our rent, and have tried really hard to stick to our budget.   We both have our 1000 we can access in an emergency, and our slowly slowly chipping away at the debt snowball.

Things have been tight, but not so tight that we can't even leave the house, but tight enough that we are not really getting ahead or making any progress on my large bills (student loans).   We do alot of bargain shopping and second hand shopping when we need stuff, but we dont really care about that!

The other day I noticed quite a few people I know talking about this Coupon Class....I was intrigued, what is this. Then I saw the results of their shopping trips!   HOLY COW....10 boxes of cereal for 11 bucks, a table full of toiletries and it all cost 16 bucks...she had a savings of 109 dollars!!!!!!!!    I started to google and found the class and a blog and this leads me to all sorts of stuff.   Why not, there is free stuff for the grabbing all over the place, you just have to look.

We even changed our cereal choice so that we could get a free movie ticket.....we were looking for the one with free milk on it but they didnt have it.      I also joined another site and they are going to send me free products in exchange for free word of mouth advertising.

I am going to have the coupon class here on a friday night, want to come?

Good News!!!!

2010-05-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I have been watching the news, praying for and supporting the West Memphis Three for many years. I think I first heard about their case in my first year of criminology back at Douglas College when we were learning about coereced confessions.

I digress....today a bit of good news!

The state's highest court has scheduled oral arguments in Damien Echols' appeal for Sept. 30, 2010.

This comes a day after Gov. Mike Beebe appointed special justice Jeff Priebe to consider the appeal of the Damien Echols, who along with Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, were convicted of killing three boys in 1993 in West Memphis.

According to legal papers the Arkansas Supreme Court will consider, DNA testing and other powerful forensic evidence - combined with compelling evidence that the original jury foreman engaged in blatant misconduct that contributed to the jury's decision, proves that Echols was wrongfully convicted of murder.

National legal organizations, including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law, have filed amicus briefs with the court. The University of Arkansas Law Review recently published a journal article asking the Supreme Court to overturn the convictions of Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley.

Lorri Davis, founder of Arkansas Take Action, said,"Damien Echols is innocent, as are Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley. We are pleased that court has set a date for oral arguments and we trust that the justices of the highest court in Arkansas will thoroughly review the new evidence and innocence claims of Damien Echols. We are hopeful that they will overturn his conviction and free an innocent man."

Yay!!!

I have spent many hours pouring over the evidence etc that is public record and reading the various papers etc put out by experts and novices alike, and it still astounds me to this day that three people can be convicted without a single piece of evidence and despite evidence that doesn't match any of the accused!!

I won't preach, but it you want to know about it, I will gladly tell you all about the case!

I do invite you to read for yourself and join me in praying for the new Judge to hear the evidence and to rule based on that and not follow in Judge Burnettes footsteps and not overturn the convictions just to keep face.

Thanks

Tara

Day three in sunny Mexico!

2010-04-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

So here I sit on day three of our awesome Mexican vacation and we are having a wonderful time! I sit writing my blog this morning In a gorgeous courtyard surrounded by greenery, amazing flowers an the sounds of exotic birds. I can hear people talking and laughing and I am enjoying a sublime version of a mocha with baileys. I can literally smell the sunshine as the morning clouds are burning off and the cool breeze soothes my burnt shoulders!

Today will be an easy day spent at the resort chilling out and hopefully getting into the water if the sun isn't too bright or we can find a nice shady corner to hang out in!

So far we have gone swimming, drank a keg of beer, chilled out, done a bit of shopping, and gone snorkelling! We took an amazing bus ride (only 1 guy actually threw up) to our waiting boat where we cruised on to puerta vallarta to pick up a few more people and then cruised on further to Las Caletis. This is a private beach owned by the tour company and it was picturesque! We traded in our hotel key for some snorkel gear and jumped in the ocean. I gave chris a quick lesson in clearing your mask and how to get comfortable on the water. He was floating around when he popped his head up and with a panicked look on his face he yelled fjfhfhdbxhdhxbxbxbz! I told him to take the snorkel out of his mouth and he told me he had lost his wedding ring. We tried in vain to search the area he was in but to no avail! Some free diver or fish will find it! Later we were able to purchase a new silver replacement ring at the marketplace!

The snorkelling was really nice and we even saw a baby round manta Ray! Chris says he saw an eel also but I did not. I did however once more tangle with my arch nemesis the jelly fish! I had not been in the water more than 15 minutes when I was stung on the thigh! Just a small guy but it still stung like a mother for about 10 minutes or so!

I got a great picture just for Tiffany at work of a GIANT raven sitting on my arm! I also got to hold the cutest monkey!

We have tons of great pictures and sories but I think I'm going to grab a margarita and hit the pool! Talk to you soon!

Tara

ps...tonight is the tequila tasting class ARRIBA!!!!!

Two more sleeps

2010-04-01T21:04:00.000-07:00

So here it goes.... Just two more sleeps till we head out to Mexico and we are super excited!

We are staying at the palladium near bucerias! I am totally looking forward to the snorkeling trip to Los calietas and being able to just chill out by the pool with an icy cold drink in my hand! It's really exciting for me to watch Chris getting ready to go. He Jas never been further than southern Oregon and this was the first rime he has had a passport!

Chris is most excited about getting away from the rain and not having anything to think about! I hope he catches the travel bug! I would love to go on tons of adventures together.

I will post more once we get there!

Its all over....

2010-03-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

Wow...its hard to believe but its finally over. I have mixed emotions about that. On one hand I am very sad, I met the most amazing people and had a tremendous amount of fun. On the other hand I am dying to actually cook in my own kitchen, and I could really use some sleep. My house and my husband are both feeling pretty neglected!

I have a ton of memories from the 17 days of the olympics here in vancouver and here are a few of my faves: (sorry they probably mean more to me than to you, but its my blog :P)

watching my hard work come to fruition
watching the opening ceremonies while sitting with the spanish flag bearer

trying to outsmart the stage nazi's with Delaine and Kat (you know who I mean LOL)
"stalking" celebs at Vom 2
watching the performers and the show evolve practice after practice
being asked if I was a "take charge" kind of person (ie so your bossy huh?)
standing in line with chris and knowing we had no set plan for the day but FUN!
having a beer at Dix's with some new friends and some old ones too
the energy downtown
not being able to go 5 blocks in my smurf suit without being stopped for info and directions
watching the torch go by with my co-workers
getting into the "wrong" elevator and meeting nickelback
watching Maelle Ricker get her gold ceremony
seeing Paul Brandt live
getting chased off stage after taking pics on the podium
watching canada win Gold and hearing the cheering from outside the stadium
seeing 1200 teenagers spontaneously breaking into the national anthem
wrangling a moose with 6 of my favorite lumberjacks
Running in circles around BC place
not hitting a single spectator with my giant ball as I walked down the stairs
collecting pins and trading them too
talking to all the athletes
making new friends
hearing we ran out of beer on the second day
hearing the athletes ran out of condoms and needed more
getting to be a part of something so special

It was an amazing experience and I am proud of the whole thing! The Opening was beautiful and the closing was a good self deprecating fun fest.

We were the first country to hold an olympic ceremony indoors and we marked the first time that the energy consumption of the Olympic venues was tracked in real time and available to the public. Energy data was collected from the metering and building automation systems of nine of the Olympic venues and was displayed online through the Venue Energy Tracker project.

The torch travelled (in canada alone) approximately 45,000 kilometres (28,000 mi) over 106 days, making it the longest relay route within one country in Olympic history. The Olympic Torch was carried by approximately 12,000 Canadians and reached over 1,000 communities, it was taken by most any mode of transport you can think of including zamboni and dragon boat.

The Canadian Olympic Team closes out the third Olympic Games held in Canada with the most medals it has ever won – 27 – and a new all-time high of 14 gold medals, to lead all countries and break the all-time mark for any nation at a Winter Games.

For the first time in Games history, indigenous people were recognized as official Olympic partners, acknowledged as formal heads of state before a worldwide audience at the opening.

Were there things to criticize, absolutley, but all in all it was a great games and gave Canada some reasons to smile and I think for 17 short days it brought us all closer together as a country, a continent and a world.

I have taken the photos from Dotphoto down as I want to only showcase the good photo's. However I have made a few folders on picassa if you want to check out all the good bad and the ugly pictures that we took over the 17 days. I will let you know when I update the edits.

Here is the opening
The closing
The victory ceremony
and My pavilion day with Chris

Hope you enjoyed the games as much as I did.

Tara

Can you believe it??? only 5 days left

2010-02-23T20:35:00.000-08:00

WOW...can't believe there are only 5 days left to go! I had to take a few days out as I came down with a sucky cold, but we are rolling along with rehersals!

I had a nice long one the other day...8 am to 11:30 pm! Glad I got to sleep in the next day. Chris and I took a day to go around to a bunch of the pavillions and we had so much fun! We also went to a victory ceremony and got to see Maelle Ricker get her gold medal! very cool! This was followed by a Paul Brandt concert which i loved and Chris was very good about (even though he doesn't really like country music!).

Working on the closing has been a very different experience than the opening was. It feels more fractured but means that it will be a suprise for me too!! I got the subscription for the opening and closing on my ipod, its pretty cool. It was 2.50 I think and I get a copy of both ceremonies without all the other stuff i have on my PVR!!

I have updated my photo's so you can check out the link again here if you like!

The closing is a totally different show and I hope you will check it out! I doubt I will have very good pics from the closing as I have three seperate jobs to do for the closing and we will not get to sit in the stadium like last time! But I will post anything I can get!

Hope you have been enjoying the olympics!!!

My Journey as an olympic volunteer so far....

2010-02-13T16:13:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,

I have to say I am still on super high from last night, here are some pictures from the last few days. I will keep updating as the weeks go along so keep checking back. when you click the link if it doesn't go right to the photos just hit "guest" and log in!

Yesterday morning I got up early and ran down to Main and Hastings and joined up with my co workers to watch the torch go by and I was so so so glad that I did. It was the coolest thing and really got my olympic fire going! Then it was off to the stadium for a long long day at work!

I hope you all got to see the show last night, I really really enjoyed it, and I hope you did too.

I started volunteering back in November, and I really want to thank my awesome husband for putting up with my NEVER being home! With work, brownies, choir, school and the olympics I have basicly been home to sleep and shower and that's it! He was very patient even though anytime anyone asked what i was doing I replied "I am making sandwiches, big awesome sandwiches!"

For those of you who did watch, I was working on the First Nations portion of the show. What an amazing experience. although I have to say I didn't really have any olympic spirit until I saw a full rehersal a few weeks ago.

When I first started working I was helping distress the fiddles you saw in the tapper/fiddler section, I also worked on the skaters portion for a short time. I was briefly assigned to the aerial skiers portion but then I was moved onto the first nations team where I stayed until last night.

The energy in the building last night was indescribable! The energy was flowing from the staff, the volunteers, the athletes and the crowd. We worked our butts off yesterday getting the stadium ready to go, putting out programs, drum kits and snow everywhere. I think the stadium looked awesome. We had some free time so we had dinner and hung out like crazy groupies at the "special guest" entry and got the occasional photos while we gabbed and waited for the call to head out.

When it was time to go we got our props and ran down to our vom (enterance) and waited for our kids to show up! We got to watch all the athlete teams walk by which was really good. Once the kids showed up and we handed out our props, we ran down the ring road under the seats to get back to the props area. We joined up with the rest of our team and we became the human barricade that stopped the athlete teams so the placard bearers could get back to their area on the other side of the ring road.

This was cool because we actually got some time to stop and talk to the stopped teams. I was given olympic pins from Italy, Korea and Romania and we got lots of pictures taken with the athletes. (and no we did not see the hockey team because they did not show up!). Once that was completed we had to run back around the ring road to go pick up our props at the vom and take them back to storage.

We found out yesterday that we would be put into the athlete's seats to watch the rest of the show, and we were beyond EXCITED!!! I got to sit beside the Spanish flag bearer and one of the Romanian athletes. Watching the show was amazing and even cooler than I imagined. The excitement in the air was palpable.

When we left the stadium the streets were super packed, so a few of us headed over to Dixs on Beatty and had some appies and beer and waited for the crowd to thin out. I got home and curled up with my hubby and watched the show again with my husband. I finally got to sleep around 2 am!

Now its time to switch the show around to the closing ceremonies! If you think you liked the opening just you wait for the closing! it will be twice the show I am told!

I don't really know, I am just going back to making Great Big Awesome Sandwiches!

Check back with you later!

Olympics 2010

2010-02-08T23:34:00.000-08:00

I have to say at first i was excited...but not EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! about the olympics!

I have been working on the team doing the opening and closing and no dont ask me what I am doing I will just tell you "I was making sandwiches!!!'

Tonight we had a big rehersal and we invited people we love to come see it! It was amazing as usual! Tonight I got to stand in as a flag bearer for one of the countries and I have to say I was super nervous and really really excited! Walking around that stage was one of the coolest things I have done so far and only ramped up my excitement!

Does Vanoc leave the best legacy, was the money spent the best way it could be??? You know what I dont know! But what I do know is that I have more respect for people like Covenant House who worked with Vanoc and got their slice of the pie and got 34 new beds for homeless youth than those who stand at the skytrain and yell at the "corporate sell outs" who volunteer their time for the olympics!

Its coming and you can't stop it...why not get excited and join the rest of the world in the celebration. Lets celebrate that for a few weeks every couple of years the world stops and rejoices together for a short period of time!

I was super disappointed tonight to hear of people posting photos of the opening rehersal! You konw what that means right. It means good people who take their cell phones to the rehersal so they dont take the bus home alone at night without a phone will have their phones confiscated at the next time they try to go through a security gate.

Thanks for ruining for the rest of us you ass!!

Thousands of people have been working hard to keep this an awesome and wonderful secret from the rest of the world for months and months! You were invited by someone who has been keeping the secret because we thought you would be excited and we could trust you!

SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 1/2 days to go people!!! enjoy the games and try and do something fun! Watch the ceremonies on tv if you dont have tickets, it will be AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chris and I are also going to check out a medal ceremony with Paul Brandt and Our Lady Peace!!! SWEET!!!!

Can't wait to see the torch in my neighborhood on the 11th. Get in the spirit Vancouver, its here whether you like it or not!

T

Week 3

2010-01-20T15:04:00.001-08:00

Its going good so far...did you know you can eat a vietnamese salad roll for only 2 points! YUM YUM 1 tablespoon of peanut sauce is 1 point.

So far I am down 10 pounds, i cheated today and weighed even though weigh in is not till friday! LOL.

Super busy right now, but just wanted to update! Chris's party is this friday, and we are looking forward to hanging out at the alibi room and then going dancing!

Hope all is well with you....make sure you click on the banner on the left and sign the NO MEAL TAX petition!

Being Healthy - week 1 of the rest of my life.

2010-01-10T22:12:00.001-08:00

So on the first day of the year as I was dealing with my first hang over in a LONG LONG time (I broke my own cardinal rule, no mixing types of alcohol), I was thinking about being healthy. I looked at myself and realized that Chris and I have been enjoying the good life, with good food and good wine etc etc! We have both packed on weight to already curvy frames and are feeling the "weight" of the issue.

I decided to go back to the weight watchers principle, its easy to follow, it makes sense and it works. Whats the first step, write down what your eating to see where you are at. I calculated out my daily points and set out to eat like i normally do and then write it all down to see if i am off base.

Well day one being hung over i was well under my limit LOL....day two not so successful, I didnt eat excessively just the normal puttering around the house weekend stuff, lots of nibbling! Turns out I ate all my daily points and all my weekly points and then a few more! HOLY CRAP!!!!

I got on the internet and immediately started looking for some yummy healthy alternatives and ways to make good lunches with out eating the same thing for 8 days in a row or eating SUPER sodium laden frozen meals every day. I remembered seeing the Ziploc Zip and Steam bags on the biggest loser and though I would check it out.

We went and picked up some of the large ziploc bags (7 for 4 and change at walmart) and even better the medium size glad bags (which are 387 for 10 at walmart or 187 for 10 at Superstore). I was concerned because the medium says its for 3 to 4 servings, but its perfect for personal full meals.

the first ones i made were Salmon and veggies, Chicken and potatoes and veggies, and steak fajitas. I took one of each to work with a few corn tortillas and 2 cups of already cooked brown rice. I also made a egg white omelet with ham, peppers, onions, cheese and salsa to cook in the micro (you can use the bag or you can use a small microwave safe container. For snacks i took apples, cucumbers, carrots, dry curd cheese, salad and low fat greek dressing.

The omelets are amazing and i split it between 2 corn tortillas for a 5 point breakfast!

The salmon was really good, when i added the rice cup it was a 7 point lunch!

The fajitas was an 8 point lunch with 2 corn tortillas and an amazing 3 point snack was Dry curd cottage cheese, with cut up cucumber and carrots, salt, pepper and 2 tbls of greek dressing!! IT WAS AWESOME...like a little low fat greek salad.

Even though the first day was rough, this first week has seen a 5.5 pound loss! yay us!

I have to say though i was very very discouraged by the article linked above(click on the title of my blog). I sat to eat my snack and was greeted by a vogue magazine with the title "When Size 4 Is Too Big: A Curvy Model's Struggle To Fit in". I nearly spit out my salad....if a size 4 is too big, I am in big trouble! I dont think i have been a size 4 since maybe grade school....who knows...i think in grade 8 i had a size 4 dress at the spring dance.

What does this tell our kids, even ourselves. I mean really, if I had not had a ton of counselling I think this article would have sent me straight for the cookies! What are we telling our young teens if a healthy size for a 5 foot 10 inch woman is a size four!!!

whatever, I am going to be healthy and love myself now...as I am losing....and when i meet my goal weight!

One of the ladies at work and I are going to go to the gym a couple of times a week at lunch and we are looking into starting a new TOPS chapter at our workplace. Its got a weigh in and classes and support just like weight watchers, but you dont have to do weight watchers! you can just be eating correctly and wanting to learn how to be healthy. Another bonus is its yearly fee is the price of 1 month at weight watchers!! Also to start a new chapter you only need 4 people. We needed 15 for weight watchers and we had to pay more than if we went to meetings outside our work!

anyway, i have been babbling on enough! thanks for reading to the end and if people want i can post the Ziploc Zip and Steam and Glad Simply Cooking that we find we like!

Thanks

Tara

as the year comes to a close...

2009-12-30T13:20:00.000-08:00

I reflect back on what I have and what I have left behind.

The last few years have been one of enormous change, sadness, tears, laughter and intense happiness. It has been a long road and I think of the intertwining paths that have come across mine.

They say people are in your life for a reason, a season and a few trusted few stay for a lifetime. I have recently made some very close friends who I hope will stay for a lifetime, and I have also recently had to cut some people out of my life.

I remember being in high school and having well over a hundred phone numbers and addresses of friends and yet here as I creep closer to the middle of my life I can count quite quickly the number of people that I call a close friend.

It should seem then that I would be less happy, having lost friends. Does this mean I am not popular? On the other hand i think of the quality of the friends that I have now. I am in fact considerably more happy now than I was then.

There are lots of people on the periphery of my life that I think about now and then, and I miss them and the joy they brought into my life at one time. I send out a prayer for them and their families and hope that I was able to bring a small change into their lives as well.

Most of these people I think of happily and know that I was part of their reason and season. There are a few though that I think of with great sadness in my heart....people who are no longer really part of my life because of a severed connection with someone else. One of the hardest parts about getting a divorce for example was the feeling of loss at losing half my family. Or when my best friend got divorced and we no longer had the connection to her ex husbands family. Occasionally I will message someone who falls in this category to let them know I was thinking of them. More often I will send up that little prayer for them and their family.

Don't get me wrong, I am amazingly happy and completely blessed by all the wonderful people in my life. I guess today I was just struck by the passage of time and the way that life is constantly changing. It is a bitter sweet feeling.

Each person, experience and feeling a paving stone that is leading me through life. What a crooked, windy, bumpy road it has been.

Thank you to all the people who have come in and out of my life and helped lead me to the place I am today. Now for those of you who are still part of my life, thanks for making it so much fun to go down the road to tomorrow!

Just a few days until 2010 arrives. So many cool things coming up this next year! I hope that you all have had a great year and I pray that you and your family will be blessed with great joy and prosperity in this new year!

i think i want this...what do you think?

2009-11-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

Acer Aspire AS1410-8837 Notebook PC -
Intel Core 2 Solo SU3500
1.4GHz, 3GB DDR2,
250GB HDD,
11.6” WXGA,

475.00

here are the specs:

Display Type:
WXGA Crystal Brite panel Display
Screen Size:
11.6"
Maximum Resolution:
1280 x 800
Memory Type:
DDR2
Memory Size:
3GB
Memory Speed:
DDR2 667
Memory Slots (Total):
2
Memory Slots (Filled):
1
Memory Slots (Available):
1
Maximum Memory Supported:
4GB
Capacity:
250GB
Hard Drives Included:
1x 250GB
Drive Types:
Hard Drive
Hard Drive Speed:
5400 RPM
Lifestyle:
Thin & Light
Condition:
Open Box
Operating Systems:
Windows Vista Home Premium
Startup Operating System:
Windows Vista Home Premium English/French
Platform:
Notebook PC
Processor Brand:
Intel
Processor Class:
Core 2 Solo
Processor Type:
Single-Core
Processor Speed:
1.4GHz
Processor Number:
SU3500
Processor FSB:
800MHz
Processor Cache:
3 MB L2 Cache
Additional Technologies:
Enhanced SpeedStep Technology

Intel® Virtualization Technology
Graphics Description:
Integrated Graphics
GPU/VPU:
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500
Video Interface:
HDMI

VGA
Optical Drive Type:
N/A
Supplemental Drive Type:
Media Reader
Media Types:
Memory Stick

xD-Picture Card

Memory Stick PRO

Multi Media Card

Secure Digital
Audio Description:
Integrated Audio
Audio Input:
1- Microphone input port
Audio Output:
1 - Headphone output port
PS/2 Mouse Connectors:
N/A
PS/2 Keyboard Connectors:
N/A
Serial Communication Ports:
N/A
Parallel Ports:
N/A
USB Ports:
3
LAN Ports:
1
Audio Out Jacks:
1
Microphone Jacks:
1
VGA Ports:
1
HDMI Ports:
1
Communications Description:
Integrated LAN

Integrated Wireless LAN
Interface Type:
RJ-45 Ethernet Connector

802.11a/b/g/n Wireless lan
Data Transfer Rate:
Up to 300 Mbps

10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Protocols:
802.11b

802.11a

802.11g

802.11n
Width:
11.22"
Height:
0.87"~1.18"
Depth:
8.03"
Weight:
3.08 lbs
Mouse Type:
TouchPad™ Pointing Device
Buttons:
2
Keyboard Type:
Standard Size
Battery Type:
6-Cell Lithium-ion

Where is Bun???

2009-11-19T12:25:00.001-08:00

Okay so the baby has not come yet and we are all anxious....my sister called me a stalker yesterday because i called her twice!

Chris says we need to put a note on a muffin that says "if you come out there is more where that came from"

Martin said some blargh flark flip numbers numbers wierd geeky thing which i am sure someone smarter than me got and laughed loudly over. (love you martin!!)

Tanya tried to hold cookies in front of of her mouth to entice the baby....but well then she ate them.

My office says its AL GREEN TIME (read...lets get it on!) and also one suggestion of eating some eggplant parmigean. Apparently its foolproof?

Can't wait to meet the little girl or guy and see how Warren interacts with the baby!

Hurry up bun we are all anxious to meet you!

love Aunty Tara

Camp Olave Update

2009-11-18T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys,

Some people have been asking what you could continue to do to help save Camp Olave. Here is the latest information that i have recieved.

1 November 2009
RE: TAXATION OF CAMP OLAVE

Dear Guiders and Friends of Guiding,

We lost the first round with the passing of the bylaw on Friday. It was not surprising asall 45 applicants requesting tax exemption were included in the same bylaw. If the District ofSechelt Council had defeated the bylaw no one would have received their exemptions for 2010. The bylaw reads that Camp Olave is to be taxed in 2010 on the upper half of the camp property, which based on the last assessment, would have us pay an annual tax of at least $133,000. Clearly we cannot afford that.

The Camp Olave Management Committee’s next step is to obtain a new tax assessmentof our property. The assessment team has recently been to camp. The official assessment will be mailed in January. Please note we can appeal the tax assessment, but not the bylaw exemption. We will not know the final amount of taxes owing until we receive the invoice. The COMC will investigate means to reduce or eliminate the tax bill. Since this tax creates a hardship for our organization, COMC can apply to the District of Sechelt for a grant.

We want the camp to be returned to the Sunshine Coast Regional District where wewould be tax exempt due to our charity status. We were in that District until the boundaries were changed twelve years ago. Mayor Inkster has changed his tune due to the huge public outcry and has offered to help us anyway he can. As I sat at the Council meeting on October 21st and listened to the Council Members, I thought they have no idea who they are taking on. They completely underestimated the power of the Girl Guide name. We are much more than a cookie.

Once again I am asking you to write letters but this time please send them to your own particular MLA, find yours here as well as:

The Honourable Gordon Campbell
Premier of British Columbia
PO Box 9048 STN Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2
premier@gov.bc.ca

Minister of Finance
The Honourable Colin Hansen
PO Box 9041 STN Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2
colin.hansen.mla@leg.bc.ca

Minister of Community and Rural Development
The Honourable Bill Bennett
PO Box 9056 STN Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2
bill.bennett.mla@leg.bc.ca

In your letter please include a request for a provincial tax exemption of all non profit camps whether they are in a rural or municipal setting. All non profit camps should be governed under the same law. Using Camp Olave as an example we are taxed because we are in a municipality. Move us down the road into a regional district (rural area) and we are tax free.

The present system is not fair. I want to thank every one of you for your support.
Yours in Guiding,

Elaine LakeChairperson,
Camp Olave Management Committee

Life as I know it...update!

2009-11-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

life has been interesting. I have really over booked myself lately, with work, two writing intensive classes, brownies, choir, the olympics and being a wife!

I think some things have to go....dont worry its not Chris! he's a keeper! Next semester anyway I am going to take off school to focus on work, choir and the Olympics. I have got two new leaders at brownies so that will help as well.

Tanya and Andre are at baby day....we are now just waiting for Bun to make her (or his) arrival. I am really excited to meet my new nephew or niece and can't wait to see what warren thinks of her.

I survived bronchitis and now have something called Costrocondritis? i think i spelled that wrong. Anyway its inflamed cartilage connecting my ribs to my breastbone. Im not supposed to wear an underwire bra and I have to put up with the constant pain. awesome! the pain is compared to a heart attack or the inability to take in a deep breath. I can't breath deep, stretch, carry anything heavy, tie my own shoes or put on my own bra! its awesome. they say it will stick around for another 6 weeks or so. She did put my mind at ease by letting me know that although it is painful it is harmless.

Chris and I went on our honeymoon, i feel bad for him cuz i spent lots of it sucking on T3's instead of hanging out with him! He says i can make it up to him another time :)

He's pretty cool! anyway hes hanging over my shoulder i think he wants his computer back...i have been hogging it and the PVR...such a selfish wife I am LOL....hes telling me not to write this its going to make him look bad...LOL hes so sweet! Everyone knows im the bitch LOL

JK...no really i am going to give him his computer back cuz i told him like 30 minutes ago i would be two seconds...but then i got sucked in by an ad for a pandora bracelet...mmm want one! so pretty!

Have a great day, keep your self healthy and remember show everyone you love that you love them right now. It feels nice to hear it!

URGENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dear Internet....CAMP OLAVE NEEDS HELP!!!

2009-10-27T22:04:00.001-07:00

How can you help us??? it will only take a few minutes out of your day....please read this letter i received today and write a letter to them demanding they continue to allow us to have tax free excemption on the property.

If this goes through we will lose the camp we have used since the 20's or earlier!!!! There is no way we can sell all those extra cookies and think of all the girls who will miss out!

This is the only camp in the province where they will be forcing a non profit agency to pay tax on the land. Please send off a letter ASAP...before the vote on friday if you can!!!

3 October 2009

Dear Guiders and Friends of Guiding,

As some of you have heard we were blindsided by the District of Sechelt Council when we discovered through a friend of Guiding that we were losing a huge part of our tax exemption. Twelve years ago the municipal boundaries were changed and Camp Olave became part of the District of Sechelt - prior to that we were in the Sunshine Coast Regional District. Since then we have applied for and been granted a permissive tax exemption. This year without notice to us this tax exemption has been changed so that a percentage of our property will be taxed. The final vote will be taken on October 30. The southerly portion of the property – the portion outside of the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) is included in the exemption. This is the land along the waterfront where most of the buildings are located. The remaining land is excluded from the exemption. The exact amount being levied against us is unclear. It is in the range of $85,000 to $137,000. At $1.25 profit per box of cookies we would have to sell 68,000 to 110,000 boxes of cookies to cover this invoice.

On October 21 eleven members of the Camp Olave Management Committee (COMC) and one Guider from Lions Area, along with several friends of Guiding attended the Sechelt Council meeting. We were unable to make a presentation to the Council as a week’s notice is required and we only heard 5 days prior. The meeting began and ended with question and answer sessions, however none of the questions were answered! We were told that the answers will be available at a later date, or perhaps attached to the minutes. For further information and copies of the minutes visit www.sechelt.ca.

How can you help? Send a letter or e-mail to Mayor Darren Inkster, Mayor of the District of Sechelt. The councillors are Warren Allan, Alice Janisch, Ann Kershaw, Alice Lutes, Fred Taylor and Keith Thirkell. The address is District of Sechelt, 2^nd floor, 5797 Cowrie Street, P.O. Box 1229, Sechelt, B.C. V0N 3A0. The email is info@district.sechelt.bc.ca. Their fax number is 1-604-885-7591. Continue to send your comments even after the October 30 vote.

We are not the only charity to be earmarked for taxes from the Sechelt council. It has been recommended that the following organizations be given a year’s notice that their tax exemption will be reduced by 50% in 2011. They are Davis Bay/Wilson Creek Community Association, Royal Canadian Legion, Sunshine Coast Army Cadets Support Association, Sunshine Coast Salmonoid Enhancement Society, Sunshine Coast Search and Rescue, Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden Society, Suncoast R.A.A. Canada Chapter #580, Elphinstone Aero Club and the Sunshine Coast Rod and Gun Club. Even though we are listed in the same category as these organizations, we were not given a years notice. At the Council meeting the question was asked if they would re-consider and defeat the bylaw reading and grant Camp Olave the total tax exemption for 2010 so that we would have the same status as the above mentioned associations. That would give us a year to review our status. As I mentioned earlier in the letter, answers were not forthcoming so there was no response to this question. Please note that Camp Byng, Camp Douglas, and other Sunshine Coast camps are not in the Sechelt Municipal District.

In the long term the COMC plans to work with other charitable organizations who have camps throughout the province. We have already heard from several of these groups. They are very concerned because if Sechelt is successful and sets this precedent, then other municipalities and cities could go ahead and tax their properties. Our plan is to lobby Victoria for provincial tax exemption legislation for non-profit organizations. This is the case in Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. With this in mind, please send your comments to Honourable Gordon Campbell, Premier, Honourable Colin Hansen, Finance Minister, and to your own MLA. Nicholas Simons MLA for the Sunshine Coast has given us his support. Send your letter to PO Box 9048, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9E2.

When composing your letters keep in mind the following:

The property has been in our possession for 82 years, since 1927
We have provided a safe, secure place for girls and women to come and experience outdoor camping which is only a plus for society and the girls.
We lend our camp to Cops for Cancer
Local groups use our camp – quilters, districts and units
We employ local trades people and contractors
We shop for food and supplies at local businesses
Guiding families spend their vacations on the Sunshine Coast. Many Guiders retire on the Sunshine Coast due to their involvement with the camp.
Camping groups donate regularly to the local Women’s’ Transition House and the local food bank
Guiders already pay school and municipal taxes for our primary residences
The camp is open all year round
We have offered the camp free of charge to the local schools for day use
We operate on a budget of $225,000 annually. Our income is from assessment ($20 per girl) and our bed night fees. We do not receive money from other agencies.
We are self sufficient. The District of Sechelt does not contribute to the maintaining or management of the camp – garbage, roads, fencing etc.
Over the years we have worked successfully with our neighbours on issues involving a halfway house on Browning Road and the geoducks.
We are all volunteers.
We have approximately 5000 girls and Guiders using our camp each year mainly from the Lower Mainland, but also from throughout the Province, Canada and international.
We are the largest Girl Guide camp in the Province.
We are very conscious of the environment and practice and teach conservation and appreciation of our natural resources. For many girls their weekend or week at Camp Olave is their only encounter with the outdoors and marine life.
The financial inability to pay the tax may put the whole mater into litigation for years which will not help anyone.
What does Camp Olave mean to you?

Your Camp Olave Management Committee is working diligently with a number of options, including reassessment of our land, and returning to the Sunshine Coast Regional District which would exempt us from taxes under the Rural Property Tax, section 15. We have retained legal council and have the full support of our Provincial Commissioner, Daphne MacGregor-Greer and her entire Council. As we progress, we will let you know through your Area newsletter. We ask for your support. The bottom line is that we cannot afford to pay taxes. If we lose this battle we will lose the camp. That is heartbreaking. Future generations of girls need to have the opportunity to camp in this magnificent location and enjoy the beauty of the forest, the ocean and the entire camping environment. They will only benefit from this experience.

Yours in Guiding,

Elaine Lake,

Chairperson

Camp Olave Management Committee

Want to get me the BEST christmas present ever!??

2009-10-01T10:25:00.001-07:00

I suggest some people go in as a group and get me this and pair it with a room at the river rock!!!!

PARTY 2010 with Boyz II Men

Show Starts at 07:00 PM Thursday, December 31, 2009

River Rock Show Theatre
Boyz II Men are labelled the most commercially successful R&B group of all time by the Recording Industry Association of America. They recorded five #1 pop hits including “End of the Road,” “I’ll Make Love to You” and “On Bended Knee” between 1992 and 1997, have topped sales of 60 million records worldwide and have earned a host of Grammy Awards, American Music Awards and World Music Awards. Their newest album, Love will be released on November 10th. Tickets on sale Thursday October 1 @ 10AMDinner & Show:

DOORS 7:30 PM
Cabaret Seating with Premium Buffet, Dance Floor, Champagne Toast at Midnight & Party Favours
Couples $375.00 plus service charges

Come on you know you wanna! Tickets went on sale this morning....get good ones on the main floor!

Loving Married Life!

2009-09-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Hope you got to check out the wedding photo's...still waiting for people to finish uploading their personal photo's for us to see! its really easy to do, just log on and click upload photos.

Its been a busy september so far with choir, brownies, school and work all roaring up to a running start. Still waiting to see what will happen with the olympic schedule!

We are still praying that Chris will find the perfect job and really looking forward to finally receiving our first EI cheque LOL. Always a plus and a minus to getting a severance package.

Would love to hear from everyone and get an update on their lives!

T

Life as I know it!

2009-08-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

don't forget to go back and check out our wedding photo's after Wednesday. The password is WBwedding2009.

The wedding was amazing, more than I ever thought it could be. We ended up getting a stunning room at the Sutton Place Hotel on hotwire.com and it provided some nice relief for dad when pictures got to be to much. He is doing lots better and we were so happy to have him at the wedding.

I met him at the bottom of the stairs and he walked me to Chris and Craig, it was a beautiful ceremony and the party after (albight short) was a ton of fun. It was an incredibly hot and gorgeous day, we enjoyed doing our pictures in the afternoon. It was a good thing we did that too, as that evening was the most amazing of summer storms including the most spectacular orange sunset i have ever seen. There is an amazing time lapse video of the day on our wedding website also.

The staff at the Alibi room were phenomenal and the food was amazing. The beer selection was great and I drank a great peach beer most of the night. It was like drinking summer.

It was incredibly hot downstairs and so most of the guests had left by 11 pm. The end of the night was spent with Brooklyn, Eric, Tim, Angel and Kam. The DJ let us put on our own ipod and we partied down and laughed until about midnight. We took off and headed to our hotel, we had a great sleep and had a swim in the morning. We went and picked up Brooklyn at home and went out for a yummy IHOP breakfast, then headed out to mom and dads for the present opening.

We can not even begin to tell everyone how thankful we are for the very generous gifts. We are very blessed to have so many great friends who came and enjoyed our day with us.

Married life has been pretty hectic so far. We moved into our new home just 6 days after our wedding. You should read Andre's blog about the ridiculous moving company we used!! After their NINE HOUR....yes you read that right...9 hours to move a 2 bedroom aparment 15 km's away....they then proceeded to charge us 600 for a 4 hour move (3 blocks down the street!!), even though they were 5 hours late showing up, dropped 3 loads of boxes on the ground, and we were told we would only be charged 90 per hour.

You might be asking if we checked them online..and i sure did! I only read positive results, so I wasn't worried about it. Oh well lesson learned. I hope Andre takes it up to the better business bureau. I thought it was pretty disgusting that they owner of the shop would complain to me about my brother in law, who he had just scammed, and blame the 9 hour move on them being unorganized and having too much loose stuff unpacked. Funny since they had been fully packed for weeks and had even gone so far as to move all of the furniture into one central area so it could easily have been moved. They were way more organized than we were for sure!!!

OH WELL....anyway...Chris and I have been happily (sore and happy!!) been moving into our new house and getting everything set up! We are LOVING married life and are looking forward to our honeymoon in November.

We are still on the hunt for work for Chris, so keep your eyes open! School is coming back up, and I was lucky enough to get another scholarship! YAY!!!!!

Once again, i want to say thank you to everyone who has been supporting us!

Love,

Tara

only 51 days left !!!!!

2009-06-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

People have been asking if I am stressed out...and I am not surprisingly. People have also been asking what is left to do and what we could use help with.

So here is the list of things I still need to do:

Get the dress altered (Rachel thinks she has someone)
Find the broach for the dress
Find the amazing hairpiece or cute little black hat with little black veil
Find more money LOL
Figure out how and where to get my hair done
Figure out how and where to get my nails and makeup done
Meet with Raya about the food
Do up a list of photographs for Kirsten
Find out how and where to get all my underclothes, before I do the dress
Figure out what to do now regarding the honeymoon
Start packing up the house!
Find someone with a pick up that will help us do a dump/recycling run so we can pack up the house and have a place to put boxes!
Kiss my honey!
Get the ball rolling on counselling!

Chris is working on the ring, the suit, the pastor and the marriage licence!

We are really excited about moving into the new house…we are saving our pennies for storage items (ie a cabinet in the bathroom, or closet system), backyard items (ie we want to get a bbq, a pool, some backyard furniture) , covers for our little couches, a new entertainment stand and the piece la resistance….we would like one of those amazing ottomans that has a cushion on one side and a tray on the other, so it can also double as our coffee table!

We are really looking forward to slowly building these things together as we build our life together and look forward to our own family.

We thank each and every one of you for support us and we are sorry if we haven’t be able to invite everyone to the wedding. We will be hosting a party to celebrate Tanya and Andre’s new purchase, our housewarming and our wedding and any other celebrations people want to tack on! Have a birthday this summer…bring a cake and some friends….have an anniversary this summer…come on over and bring some champagne!

Seriously doesn’t that sound like fun!?

Great week so far....

2009-06-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

Having a great week so far....and I think its going to be a great year coming up!

I am feeling surprisingly upbeat about being closer to 40 than 30...

I had a great date with Chris on the weekend for my birthday and then family lunch with the immediate family at Cambie noodle. We dropped my Dad off at the airport and went over to grandma's house for a visit and Mom and Brian and I ended up staying for dinner.

I think i might be allergic to my grandma's house...or maybe the blooming plant in the corner...or possibly the chinese food she orders. This is the second time i have had a very severe allergic reaction after being at her house. Someone remind me to ask her what the plant in the corner is.

My eyes have been swollen up for 3 days now, and are very dry and even cracking at bit...the swolleness in my face thankfully as gone down and its just my eyelids now. Don't tell Grandma im allergic to her house though....it might make her upset!

Rachel and Scott are coming to meet Chris and I and the Barons for dinner...I get to choose...and I think im going to say the REEF!!! yum yum...hopefully we can get a spot on the patio and watch the world go by on a hot hump day evening (with a nice frosty red stripe!! yummmmmy!)

This weekend we are also having a family bbq at tanya's house...I am sure you can come if you want! I hope we have lots of these back yard get togethers this summer. We are so busy i am not sure we are going to be able to get away camping, but i sure hope so!

Have a great day and thanks for all the awesome birthday wishes!

T

GOODNESS GRACIOUS

2009-05-28T17:31:00.001-07:00

So after crying at the movie theater like a retard during the movie trailer for My Sisters Keeper....i decide why not read the book!

So once again i look like a retarded mush face as i cried on the bus...at least the end of the book came while i was at home...cuz let me tell you i was full on crying out loud by the end of the book!

I am kind of glad i know what happens....might make me less of a retard when i go see the movie. Oh yeah...im going to watch the movie too!

Hope all is well with everyone....58 days till the wedding AAAAHHHH!!!!

Happy Mothers day!!

2009-05-10T09:01:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to say a VERY VERY VERY Happy Mothers day not only to my amazing mother and my new soon to be mother in law; but also all my mommy friends.

The work you do is tireless, thankless, selfless, exhausting and i hope some days incredibly rewarding. GO MOMS!!!!

Here is a new mom song you really must check out! Very funny. The only phrase i did not hear in the song that i remember hearing lots...was DONT MAKE ME PULL THIS CAR OVER.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

Crying like an idiot.....

2009-05-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

Okay so there i was, surrounded by people crying like a retard...

thankfully it was not an insurance commercial or anything like that, but a movie trailer....yes a movie trailer!

Not just lump in your throat, tears threatening, but yup big tears roll down your face kind of crying. Luckily it was dark and only Chris noticed.

Well probably until he said incredulously (sp?) "are you crying?".

Okay so there it is, im a giant mush ball...wanna make something of it?

here is the trailer...tell me it doesnt make you cry...

Poop....

2009-04-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

did i get your attention....

I got pooped on yesterday by a bird on the way to the Army and Navy Shoe Sale...right on my left boob! GROSS

I had to get someone to check and make sure i didnt get it in my hair. So they say that this is good luck. But really where did this come from...why is a bird pooping on you a good luck sign? I tried to google it, and really i could only find the same questions and no answers.

Then i started to look for urban legends about bird poop and ran across this one that made me laugh out loud!

BAN DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE!

Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there.

Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.

Dihydrogen monoxide:
· is also known as hydroxl acid, and is the major component of acid rain.
· contributes to the "greenhouse effect."
· may cause severe burns.
· contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape
.· accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
· may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
· has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

Contamination is reaching epidemic proportions!
Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream, lake, and reservoir in America today. But the pollution is global, and the contaminant has even been found in Antarctic ice. DHMO has caused millions of dollars of property damage in the midwest, and recently California.

Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
· as an industrial solvent and coolant.
· in nuclear power plants.
· in the production of styrofoam.
· as a fire retardant.
· in many forms of cruel animal research.
· in the distribution of pesticides.
· as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.
Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.

Companies dump waste DHMO into rivers and the ocean, and nothing can be done to stop them because this practice is still legal. The impact on wildlife is extreme, and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer!

The American government has refused to ban the production, distribution, or use of this damaging chemical due to its "importance to the economic health of this nation." In fact, the navy and other military organizations are conducting experiments with DHMO, and designing multi-billion dollar devices to control and utilize it during warfare situations. Hundreds of military research facilities receive tons of it through a highly sophisticated underground distribution network. Many store large quantities for later use.

Anyway...back to poop...dont know why its lucky...but i bought a lottery ticket anyway! LOL

Hope you have a great day.

T

ps...Dihydrogen monoxide is water....Dihydrogen monoxide H2O

Volunteering

2009-04-17T08:49:00.001-07:00

As i worked into the wee hours on a camp skills day for my brownies (and im not even on the planning committee!!) and contemplate my upcoming change to the Vancouver Area Program Advisor for GG of C, i started thinking about the other people in my life who currently volunteer and have done excellent volunteer work both here and in other countries.

I am proud to say that I am a part of such and amazing community and have friends who love people, they dont know, enough to want to help in whatever way they can.

I challenge you to get out and volunteer...if not on a long term basis, then on a short term mission or even a vounteer day at a soup kitchen. Not only do you provide help to the other volunteers, but you help provide services for people who can not afford. Your generosity and love makes a bigger difference than you can even imagine!

There are volunteer positions available for every talent imaginable, don't go out and do something for the sake of doing it, pick something you would love to do and then give it your all!

I pray that this year when International Volunteer Day rolls around on December 5th, that we will have doubled our numbers! Make a difference if only for a short time, you will be suprised how much it helps your own heart!

Just in case you are interested in Girl Guides...there is an open house in the West End. Here are the details i have been given:

We will be at Oakridge on Sunday April 19 from noon - 5pm. Fraserview Shannon will be selling cookies and we plan to have our display at an adjacent table.

You can also search "volunteer" on craigslist and you will find tons of opportunities and even some volunteer fairs!

Okay I will jump down off my soapbox now...thanks for listening!

For your reading pleasure here is a great article about IVD from last year.

International Volunteer Day
Message from the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development

Since 1985, December 5 has been designated as International Volunteer Day by the United Nations to thank volunteers around the world, to increase public awareness of their contribution to society, and to inspire others to volunteer.

The Government of Canada values the commitment of millions of Canadian volunteers who give generously of their time. Their selfless work and priceless contributions, in collaboration with not for-profit organizations, support the well-being of individuals, families and communities, and help create a stronger Canada.

According to data released in June 2006 from the Canada Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating, 12 million Canadians, or almost half the population of our country, volunteer their time to charitable and not-for-profit organizations. Their contributions totalled almost 2 billion hours, or the equivalent of 1 million full-time jobs in a year.

Since the International Year of Volunteers in 2001, the Government of Canada has been recognizing the valuable contribution of volunteers from communities across Canada through the annual Thérèse Casgrain Volunteer Award.

This past spring, the Government of Canada honoured Ms. Elizabeth Grandbois of Burlington, Ontario, and Dr. Kwang Yang of Surrey, British Columbia, with this award. Ms. Grandbois, who is an inspiration to everyone, especially people living with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease"), emphasized that volunteering is a unique opportunity that allows us to give as well as to learn. Dr. Yang, who finds great joy in serving others, feels that volunteering is a social responsibility. Their stories can be read on the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada Web site at http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/community_partnerships/therese_casgrain/2008/recipients.shtml.

I applaud all volunteers from across Canada who devote their talents, skills and resources to helping others in their communities. Those who choose to volunteer make a valuable contribution to our society and enable others to live more productive and rewarding lives.

The Hon. Diane Finley, P.C., M.P.Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development

How True!

2009-03-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

If you agree, pass it on.
If you can read this - Thank a teacher!

Just wanted to remind you all....

2009-03-17T14:10:00.000-07:00

I love you! and I appreciate having you in my life!

I thought today I should take a quick moment and remind you that you are a special person and you play a special part in my life.

No...really...you...it doesn't matter what our stage of friendship/family/whatever is. You are a valued member of my life. You listen, or you support or you just are.

I want you to know that i prayed for you today, and that i hope you have everything you need!

Thanks for being a part of my life no matter how big or small that role is. I hope that I can be a blessing in your life.

Just a reminder fron me to you, that you are special and you have an effect on people...not just me. Its a reminder to all of us that we are perfectly flawed and perfectly made to fit together just the way we do! Thanks for loving me as flawed as I am!

Tara

Its been a while

2009-02-24T07:08:00.000-08:00

I cant barely believe its been so long since I last wrote! Life has been screaming past at an alarming rate!

Its only 151 days until the wedding...can you believe it? Things are rolling along nicely. We are getting married on July 25th....invites should be going out asap! Im sorry we cant have everyone come!

We are getting married at the Alibi room and i was so excited about the awesome venue i forgot to consider the fact that my little brother cant come! Good thing hes 10 and could care less!

Work is going well, insanely busy but always interesting. Brownies is tons of fun and getting pretty busy as i seem to be doing it all on my own! Anyone want to join Brownies with me? Choir is phenomenal....our last concert rocked the roof right off!

School is very interesting...i had an epiphany the other day. I did not need to study very hard before....and i seem to really be struggling now....well before i was attending school full time so i was totally committed to school. Now i am torn in 8 different directions!

I need someone to sponsor me 24 thousand per year.....so i can make all my bills etc and then i can afford to take educational leave and go back and just finish my degree....woshful thinking huh? i guess one day i might win the lottery and then i can do it lol!

Oh well im almost at work i should wrap this up! Hopefully i will see you all soon! We should have a geekette party soon....

Christmas List

2008-12-05T17:23:00.000-08:00

Sorry it took me so long mom!!!

I dont know why you guys keep saying that I am so hard to buy for....im easy!

I would like:

Scrapbooking/cardmaking stuff
a new toaster oven (silver and black please)
a new blender/food processor (again i prefer silver and black)
Gift cards for clothing such as penningtons, Addition Elle or other such plus places
New Laptop (13 inch screen, good for throwing in my book bag)
Gift cards for shoes/boots
A Cricut (see previous blog)
Tickets to movies
tickets to concerts or plays
Twilight soundtrack
Credits for online music or book stores (fictionwise, itunes, mpuk etc)
Gourmet consumables that i would not spend my money on but love
a start on a wine collection or booze cabinet
Beer of the month subscription
Tickets to a football game
pink floyd, dixie chicks, rascal flatts, beattles cd's
a new car
anything that tanya would say....oh that rocks....

is this enough????

I said yes.....

2008-11-26T21:44:00.000-08:00

well hello.....excuse me if the spelling is bad, but im updating from my phone in the hotel!

Today we slept in and went down for a lovely breakfast and then got ready to go and headed from our hotl down to the waterfront. we walked to the olympic park and then back up to the pier....then we stopped for a lovely peppermint twist mocha at starbucks!

we continued on down the waterfront and decided to go to the aquarium.....we got a pic of nemo and dorie! then we went for a beer and grabbed a bus back to our hotel.

We got ready for our dinner and got a cab to take us to Cafe Campagne. we had an amazing three course dinner with lovely wine pairings and a lovely chocolate Digestif. Chris wanted to go for another walk.....so we headed down to the park, once there he looked me ddep in the eyes and told me how much he loved me....then he dropped to one knee and produced the lovely mahogany ring box....he asked me if i would make him the happiest man on earth and be his wife.

you know me.....i giggled and said yes.....he wanted to know what was so funny.....i siad the romantic view of the........FREEWAY.

yup you got it....we looked out onto the ocean and mountains.....and just below was the romantic freeway! he went to one knee again and slid the ring on my finger and asked if i would be his wife!

enogh blogging....im going to go hang out with my fiance!

My mom wants a new blog

2008-11-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

She says she is tired of reading my Woah nelly blog!

so here it is. Life is hectic....i think that might be an understatement.

My midterm did not go so well...i got a C....feeling a little worried about next semester, but i will do what i can, i think i may take my last crim elective and leave stats for one more semester. i am sure that it will still be there in the summer.

Brownies is going well, i cant believe we only have like 5 weeks left till christmas break.

speaking of christmas...I know what is number one on my christmas list this year!!!

I WANT A CRICUT....i want the cricut expression...but will settle for the critcut personal. there is about a 300 dollar difference between the two! IT LOOKS SO FREAKING COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

maybe i should look on craigslist or ebay and see if they have a used one....im not against used ones as long as they work.

Chris and i are getting ready for an amazing week long trip to seattle. We are super excited, and i will finally get to go spend the whole day at experience music. We will be doing quite a bit of photography and will be taking all our gear down with us. I am really looking forward to some amazing artwork when we get home.

We are taking the train there and back, so i think that will be really exciting. I think it will be a memorable trip.

Work is going really well, im not convinced the new supervisor doesn't hate me....but I asked flat out if there was a problem with my work and he said no....so im not worried at all. I am getting anxious to just get on with my career though. One of the ladies in the choir suggested i look into the option of switching to psychiatry versus pscyhology. Believe it or not its the same amount of school. Although it garners you more prestige and more money. I dont know if i can switch or if i would need to upgrade some electives, but i will look into it regardless.

I should go now...I am creating a pile of crap to go to the dump as Chris and I get ready to make the move into our dream place, while we "live like no one else, so we can later live like no one else" and start putting away the money to buy.

i wil try and keep everyone updated more often!

Love you!

WOAH NELLY.......

2008-09-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

WTF (thats a freak...not the other one...im trying not to swear!!) This month...this summer...this year is flying by!

Im not sure how to slow it down! I thought i should do a little update and let me adoring fans (all three of you) know how things are going this month.

I started school this month again, that was a big step for me and i am madly in love with my professor....no no not like that!!!! he is doing exactly what i want to do when i "grow up" and i am so fascinated by everything he has to say. I think i am going to really like this course (I am taking Adolescent Development FYI).

Brownies starts up on Sept 23rd, but i have been busily attending meetings, training, putting together posters, planning unit meetings and trying to get my calendar straight. I even went to Area camp at the end of august for a few days. I will definetly be staying the whole week next year. I had a riot and it really got me pumped up for brownies. I am the new liason for the church we meet in and my reception has been very good. I was woried but turns out they were just as worried that i was going to be all stand offish and ignore the church and its people like the last group. I even made contact with the scout troupe and we may go do a few joint activities.

Choir started up this week and i can tell i havent been singing as much and of course i forgot my water bottle so my throat was very raw at the end, but we did learn a new song. Sadly it does not look like i will be able to go to the october retreat, although someone else did offer to pay for it, which was very nice to know people want me to go that badly!

We are about half way through the financial peace university course, and we are slowly getting the hang of it. I think that we are building the foundation for us to be very happy and successful. I know Chris and I are very excited to be able to put this in practice and be able to give our children a legacy of good savings etc. (no mom i am not dissing you!)

We have our big vacation coming up in november and we have not decided where yet but we are tossing around mandalay bay in vegas, cuba or mexico. I am really looking forward to going to hawaii some time after transat starts flying there.

Chris and I were both given promotions in status and title this summer (sadly not monetary but still very exciting none the less) and we are working hard to prove they were not done in vain.

We are both really excited about the directions are lives are headed and are both doing very well! we are literaly counting the days until we get our new bed and can finally have a great restful and unpainful sleep!

Chris is looking at taking a photography course in the winter semester, and i am very jealous but not sure i can add one more thing to my plate at this point. Besides something tells me he will be a good teacher and wanting to show me all the cool stuff he learned anyway!

Warren is amazing and beautiful and if you cant tell i am the most proud aunty ever! Hopefully in the next year or two maybe we can work on giving him another cousin to play with ;) we will see about that one.

Jennifer is ready to pop out six anyday now!....so we are just waiting for the call to go meet the new family princess!

I have discovered the best book series by stephanie meyer called twilight, i have read all 4 of them (in 9 days eheheheheh) all 500 pages or more each! She is a great writer and i have just started another one by her called The Host, so far so good i will let you know. I have also been turned onto another series called House of Night by PC and Kristin Cast, haven't started them yet but looking forward to them (more vampire books).

Chris and i were talking about why i have stopped reading true crime and moved into more of a fantasy type book and i decided the other day, especially since i have moved on to the Major Crime Desk that i need to escape real for awhile! I get an awful lot of that lately, including pictures!

speaking of work....well my break is over i better head back! hope you enjoyed the update and i look forward to reading all of yours!

Some times i have premonitions.....

2008-08-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

sometimes its a vague feeling....sometimes its a vision....sometimes its really quick and sometimes it repeats and repeats. Sometimes its nothing...and sometimes it comes true.

I knew the day i got in the huge car accident in edmonton, that we were going to get hurt (and no i wasn't driving) and all day i begged my driver to put on her seatbelt....and just minutes before we got creamed she did.

there are more but i digress to today....i drive past this street near my house all the time, the other side has the stop sign, but there are two guys who park their trucks so that it completley blocks the view from both directions every day!

EVERY time i drive by the same thought....i'm gonna get hit one of these days....what would i do...probably try to excellerate through the intersection. then i think of that stat that says 75% of accidents happen less than 5 blocks from home. Then i drive through the intersection and the feeling is gone.

This morning i thought the same thing about the trucks and then i saw the car....and everything went into slow motion as i hit the gas and prayed that it would slide by me....and it did, literally by millimeters....SCARED THE POOP OUT OF ME!!!!!!!!!!!

maybe its a good thing i had thought about it and prepared myself to excelarate, cuz if i had followed my first instinct to stop i would have got tboned but bad! Thank god the car actually allowed me to accelerate LOL.

So Barbie has no scratch...(well no more than the other ones Cory had already given her LOL)....but i got to say im still super tense, so tense i might need a muscle relaxer to get my back and neck to release!

I have to start work now...so thats my story for today!

a little math for you....

2008-08-29T06:11:00.000-07:00

what does this equal.....

a long weekend

+

A sore throat

+

headache

+

aches and chills

+

Rain

=

must be time to go back to school LOL....seriously i feel so yucky right now!!! i wonder if i got tanyas cold or if its just all the build up of stress from the last few days?

i am really very excited to go back to school....and start brownies...and choir! and im most excited about going away and hiding with chris this weekend! its going to be fun.

i still have to write about my brownie camp experience...its a good laugh....maybe i will stop reading long enough to type out another blog today!

Go read twilight!

dont you wish you had thought of it LMAO!!

2008-08-12T10:06:00.001-07:00

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was
recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls had
begun to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine,
but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the
mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man
would remove them and the next day the girls would put them back.

Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all
the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She
explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the
maintenance man who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just
imagine the yawns from the little princesses). To demonstrate how difficult
it was to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls
how much effort was required.

He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned
the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers.... and then there are educators.

Testing....1 2 3 4

2008-08-11T16:45:00.000-07:00

is this thing on? syballance.....syballance....ok!

wanted to see how blogging from the bus went....looks good!

Chris got his June review....above average! yay Chris!

did you all see my sister the famous protestor?

2008-08-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here she is at the H&M nurse in...she wanted to go check it out, didnt feel the need to force her child to feed like some...but wanted to see what was up and show her support for another friend who was told cover up on a westjet flight.

you can see her blog here at www.crackedhelmet.ca and read the story.

My fave part of the story (after tanya told me about all he mothers hamming it up for the cameras) was the baby who kept asking for a BA BA and the mother would say thats right hun Bad store...Bad store....and looking for the cameras. I dont know about you....but in my world...and most everyone i know BA BA means Bottle! Lets just be real about this ladies.

Tanya and i talked about this before she left, there was actually a woman in our cafeteria who was talking (loudly enough) about how she though breast feeding in public was obscene and these mothers should just cover up. Which i thought was pretty funny coming from a very large lady who wears very small clothes on a regular basis. She doesnt want to see the side of a boob but we are daily graced by the presence of her exposed skin?

I think that most mothers who are breastfeeding in public have the smarts to be modest enough about it. Are you going to catch the occasional glimpse of boob? yes you are. Are you going to see the occasional woman who pulls out her entire boob and slaps it on the table? yup you are....but i have to say i would rather catch an occasional glimpse of boob than a big fat, slobby, hairy, man boobed chest of a man walking around...and well all of these are legal so suck it up!

Do you like to eat your sandwich under a blanket in the middle of summer? NO??? what really? neither does my nephew! its hot...and stuffy....and really i dont want something covering my face while i eat. There was another woman in toronto who was scolded in a LeSenza store also and she said "you get to eat your big mac in the store and no one complains....well so does my son!" i thought that was pretty clever.

Well i am quite sure we are never all going to agree, but i for one will not be shunned to a back room, or try to make my child wait to feed. I will cover up as much as i can, however i will not suffucate my child under a blanket or push them to starvation just to please someone who has a stick up their butt. You have the legal right to be ignorant...and i have the legal right to feed my child! lets just agree to disagree and stay out of each others faces!

Welcome to my new home!

2008-08-09T12:38:00.001-07:00

a little update on the summer seems to be in order.

It has been a great summer so far, i have been camping, to carribean days, relaxed, gone to many lovely and delicious BBQ's and just had a ton of fun with family and friends.

Chris has bought a new camera and we have been playing with it, TONS OF FUN! i will post the link to my new photo site once it is completed and you can check out my work. If anyone has any of the Darcy/Pemberton shots on their computer can you please send them to me!

I have been accepted for the pacific leadership scholarship and so will be headed back to school in september! I am very excited about this and of course nervous...the pressure is on to maintain a very high grade point average to keep my scholarship! I also received a promotion (in honour only sadly) at work and was move to the Major Crime desk. I am very excited about that and have been working very hard to prove it was a worthy change for them.

look forward to doing lots more cool stuff this month and hope to see lots of you soon!

OH YEAH....Chris passed probation and is loving his new job!!! YAY CHRIS!!!!