08.10.2010

There you have it! Dill Pickle is the leader. Now when I need to buy a bag of chips for a party or potluck, Dill Pickle will be my first choice(which I am totally ok with because it's my fav)!! Check out Michael's new poll, hah!

FAVORITE CHIP FLAVOR

The move went really well. It was the most stressful of all our moves yet. That is because we had to clean the carpets and everything else of the house we moved out of, as well as the house we moved into. I don't think I had ever been more stressed and exhausted. The ONE THING I didn't want wrecked in the move (my bookshelf) got turned onto it's side and moved along the cement in our laundry rooms and scraped all along the side! UGH... But then Michael told me we were moving and things were going to be wrecked-which I agreed with and felt much better after.

We had sooo much help!! Thanks to the Malmbergs who came to help us move as well as the 5 other members of our ward, and to my Dad, step-mom, and step-sister... and my in-laws. I lovee you all! 

 

I also had a good friend from hairschool Camilla Pratt donate some of her old furniture to us! A 52" TV (not a new one, so it's pretty chunky-but we still love it) and a red leather couch. SO I have decided I won't be bringing our sectional couch to this new home. After the stress of everything else, and knowing we might be moving again in Jan-Feb, I'd rather not have one more thing to move.





So here's to hoping this is our LAST basement suite...... ever!!!

08.05.2010

Today we spent about 5 hours packing... and doing some cleaning. Most of the cleaning coming very soon after all these boxes are out. I'm so thankful we have friends and family helping us with this move. Here are some pictures of the past few days packing and cleaning...

08.04.2010

Do we look like sisters? You tell me... hah 

All of us kids at the Waterfall... I love these people so much!!

Magrath Days

I'd say about the past 7 years I have been going to Magrath Days. No, I am not from Magrath, but my dad lives there so I love going to the festivities with family. The parade is always good(we didn't end up going this year). Then there's a potluck BBQ for family and friends after the parade at my Dads house, and this year TONS of people showed up and I didn't know 75% of them. In past years after the BBQ we go walk around the gathering area at the park or visit but this year, we went to Wallys Beach and went seadooing!! My dad just got two seadoos at the beginning of the summer and Michael and I just got our boating licenses so we got to drive quite a bit. We were saving for a new vehicle, but now I think we'll just save for a seadoo! Seriously the most fun I've had in a long time. Michael and I also got a chance to go kneeboarding, which is nice because its so easy.... We aren't very good at wakeboarding or waterskiing because we never grew up boating. It was fun to do all this and suntan a bit too!!

After boating we cleaned up a bit and went over to get beef on a bun and watch the talent show. There was some sad entertainment this year, but it ended off by a Canadian Idol contestant (sooo good) and some fire dancers which I thought were the highlight of the talent show. Afterwards, the fireworks.

I loveee Magrath Days because of the festivities and getting together with family, but I also get to see and catch up with friends I don't see throughout the year. And there's always cotton candy to pig out on. heh

So to whoever reads this, next year this time, make your way down to Magrath, you won't regret it.

I posted pictures from this weekend on facebook... so go check them out.

Also, I've had a ton of people doing the poll, and no I can't see who votes, but I don't get nearly that amount of comments on my posts... so comment, or I'll go private and only invite people who are cool and comment. :)

Jarvis Bay

We went camping this past weekend! It was so much fun to see some really great friends. We did a lot. Hung out in the rain, ate really good food, played cranium, the guys played with sling shots, went to the beach, hung around the firepit, and went to the park. I was so happy we were able to all find a time that worked for us to go camping. Michael and I love camping, and it doesn't get any better when you are doing it with friends and family. We want to be able to take a few trips camping with friends every summer! So if you need some awesome people to camp with....... 

Next weekend we are headed on a 5 day camp trip to BC. Michael and I will camp our first night in Golden and then head to the Shuswap Lake to camp the remaining 4 days at our family reunion! I'm SOO excited. I haven't seen my sister Cassandra in a about 3 months(which is loooongg) so it will be good to spend some time with her there!

Enjoy the photos!   

Trying to stay dry

 

 Corn on the cob after we dried up

 

 Blueberry Muffins... delicious!!

Oh and don't forget about the poll. I know, your favorite flavor is probably not on there but I think Michael wants to know what your favorite flavor of HIS is.. haha

To Do

Here are two things I'd like to do within the next five years. I've been kind of hesitating to write about them and let everyone know because I am so afraid I won't do them. But maybe this will motivate me even more.

run a half marathon


I had a client recently who does a running group once a week. After she had her first baby, she had a hard time losing weight, but found running was the only way for her. So she paired up with a friend and they trained for a half marathon and their marathon was in Seattle so it was more motivation to actually do the marathon. I have always wanted to be a runner, but I find it really hard. I can run a few times for a week, and I feel great, but then it dies off and then next time I run is months later. I feel if I had a buddy to run with, and then had some place to look forward to going, I would do better.

start a book club


I have been reading books continually since grade nine. I love to read. I started off reading church fiction history (with some non-fiction in them as well), and then just church novels. I love all these types of books because I have been able to learn tons of church history and also history about the past wars (WW2 and Vietnam War) while enjoying a good story. Then I moved onto best-sellers, classics, and love stories. Ah, anything. What I really desire is to read an amazing book and be able to discuss it with someone. I get so connected to some characters and almost feel like they are real. So I would really love to start a book club, to be able to get recommendations on great books, and to be able to talk about what I am reading with someone.

That's all for now. Maybe I will add to this post and re-post it sometime when I can think of more things I want to do.

poll and photo shoot

It looks like Mac is the favorite. Sorry for the two who choose PC- you choose wrong. haha kidding. I will get Michael to post a new poll this week.

This Saturday we had our family(so just Michael and I) photos from the free photo shoot I won with Meghan Maxwell. She is amazing, and I'm sooo excited to see the rest. Heres the sneak peak photo!!

So Many Photos

We had a great Canada Day. The evening before we left to go down to SoAb for the weekend, I told Michael he had to color my hair. It has been 2 months and 3 weeks since I had gotten it colored and it was in desperate need! He was not okay with having to do it, but he looks semi-happy in these photos. haha

Canada Day Parade with Beans. He did a good job with the color hey? 

US

After potluck lunch at the Orrs in Raymond (Michaels Aunt and Uncles house), we headed to my stepdads Moms house (Grandma Janice) to have a second lunch. haha We played soccer with these nets for about an hour with Bryans(my stepdads) nieces and nephews (there are 8 kids, haha). It was soooo much fun playing with the little guys. AWwwww

It was Jaxon's birthday!! He got this for his birthday and was nice enough to let Michael try it out.

Mom and Breanne and my bratty husband. hah. I love him.

Our attempt at a beautiful grassy picture. Not sure what the heck I'm doing.

Grandpa got us first class tickets for the horse rides. Michael and him were in the back. And this other photo is of Michael playing with the little goat in the petting zoo(at this point, we have made our way to Cardstons festivities).

And we met up with a bunch of my cousins... This is Mindy, and we hardly ever see eachother. I got to meet her two year old twins. It was really good to see her and a bunch of other family members!(Also, at this point I have burnt my nose pretty bad-this picture does not show how bad it was)

Ending off the week with a pedicure from Becks!! So comfy!

post number 2 today

A while ago I noticed I was getting spider bites... twice in one week!!! And that scares me a lot because I HATE spiders, and I hated knowing there was one hanging out in my room.

Then I started to notice these guys! RED ants. That's what has been biting me.

I started out by just killing them when I saw them because I had only seen a few in my room. Then on my computer desk in the living room another day, then on the living room floor after that. Phew... only on the west side of our house. "I can control this situation by killing them off with my foot" I kept thinking to myself....

Then more in our second bedroom, and out came the vacuum... vacuum those little suckers up...

Sadly, today I found a bunch in our kitchen near our entry. We live in a basement!! How the heck are they getting in?? I think it's time for some ant traps. As for now, I'll tell ya, I'm not thinking of these ants as this cute little guy here.

Cool Old Men

We went out to my dads in Magrath for Father's Day! Grandpa Parker came over and it was a lot of fun. If us Parkers get together there is definately some card playing! 

Okay so no evidence of cards here, but I promise... we played cover your butt.

Michael learned how to ride a motorbike... My dad has had it for years and finally got it fixed up to run again. Michael was very excited. He still says he needs lots of practice but I thought he did pretty good. 

So Breanne and Becky took the Mini Bike out (I didn't get a picture of it) but it was Beckys first time and she took a corner a bit to fast and they wiped out... here's a picture of some of the damage. Her knees were pretty gross. Breanne only scratched her elbow and hand so we were bugging her saying that she robe Becky on the ground after the wipeout.

 

My dad and I! I look terrible but he's just so cute!

Breanne and Dad... He's gonna be a super cute old man!

We move August 7th! Anyone want to help us move? heh.

Move #4

We are moving!!

It's official. After our landlord told us our rent was going up to $1100 for our small basement suite we said "That's it". We started our search for a new place to live. We have settled on another basement suite about 5 minutes from where we are now for $800!! We move in in August. Although the bathroom and kitchen are historic, the 2 bedrooms are almost double the size we have now, and the living area is so spacious!

I'm finally able to have this in my house.... It's been 2 years!

We got this when we first got married and we are both IN LOVE. We used it for 8 months in Lethbridge and when we moved to Edmonton we had to stash it in storage and it's been there since~due to incredibly small living space.

You have nooo idea how excited I am! Finally we can have company over without offering them our nasty furniture! 

So if you need a place to stay in Calgary-call us! We love visitors! (But you're not sleeping on my couch-haha!!)

looking through old photos

This photo was taken right after we were engaged. (And camera died shortly after) We were backcountry-ing it in Montana. It's not a fabulous photo, but it was a beautiful day in September with a gorgeous view!

As beautiful as the day and moment were, we faced some interesting stuff that I think most people would pass on moments after their engagment.

After driving our old man car back over bumps and turns, we discovered oil leaking ... Hole in the oil pan ...

We hung out in Babb for about 3 hours before we could get someone to look at it, and luckily he was able to patch it up for us to make the ride to Lethbridge back.

Who wants to be stuck in BABB moments after engagement? I wanted to tell everyone but had to wait until that night.

How about we add an extra $300 to the cost of the engagement ring-haha.

Welcome

Welcome to the blogging world... Cassandra!!! She's my sister and I'm excited she has joined us all. How about you all visit her new blog and give her a little love(comment)!! You can see her blog HERE 


Alsoo, my mother has been blogging for a while (about 4 posts in a year). But she had started back up and she's looking for followers. If you don't know her, then no worries, but I have a lot of family who blogs so you can find her HERE


Michael is now contributing to the blog!! YES! His contribution can be found on the left side where you will find a poll. haha. I feel like it's just my blog (I guess it kind of is) and he just creeps on it from time to time, so its nice to have him doing something. Maybe one day he can do a post... we'll see.

Getting impatient for summer, and a tan....

pictures

DELISH!!! Underneath that heap of fruit is quinoa, milk, and sunflower seeds. Probably our favorite breakfast ever.

At my mom's work party Luau. Good food, fruit drinks, entertainment, prizes, hula hooping, limbo... probably as close to Hawaii as we'll get for some time.

Me and my hun!

These "Hawaiian Donuts" were AMAZING. The white stuff is a coconut sauce. Here's Breanne and Bryan. I'm sure he'll love that he's featured on my blog.

This guy and his wife and 6 kids were our entertainment. Different outfits, dancing, singing... we all loved it. (And after all this when it got dark there was a dance, but we only stayed for a few minutes)

Remember that one weekend recently when it was beautiful out? I'm sure you know when I am talking about because it's the only time it's been nice in months. Well after sunday dinner at our place with Devin, we went to Princes Island Park and enjoyed HEAT and these friendly little birds.

Feeding the birds.

I hadn't posted pictures in a while so I thought I would update you all.. And I usually update my photos to facebook, but I'm off all week. So far so good. A lot of you were saying you wanted to try it. I actually got the idea from a good friend of mine who went on a facebook diet. Challenge yourself! It's really not THAT hard, but it's nice to get away from it, and find other things to do. 

facebook fast

Michael and I are not going on facebook this week.
Reasons:
1.We want to see if we can.
2.A serious waste of time.
3.We want to get some other stuff done around the house.
4.Find ways to better use our time/be creative.


I'm finding its not so hard and it's actually a nice challenge. It has given me a chance to knit a lot more. My little sister taught me how to knit last weekend and now I'm just knitting away.


Work is SOO busy this week! I loveee it. I have so many clients who come see me a lot and it feels so good to have a clientele, though it is small.


I'm looking forward to enjoying SUMMER, if it comes. We have July 1,2,3 and 4th off, however, we have nothing planned yet. Except to possibly go to Raymond for the parade and family BBQ. So if anyone has any suggestions for our looong weekend, let's hear them!

she's so lucky

I'm not sure what it is but I'm pretty lucky. Over the past 4 years Michael and I have been together I just haven't been able to control my winnings. Here's a list of them...

-David Usher concert tickets and CD (This might not sound awesome to you, but it is. Michael's first concert when he was 13, which he went alone to, was Moist. David Usher was the lead singer of Moist. Seeing David again was so fun for him and Michael was such a kid. It was pretty cute to watch him so happy)

-Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit with extra game and controller. (This was very exciting to win)

-Christmas Card template. So this isn't a huge thing. But it still was fun to have super cute Christmas cards!

-50/50 draw. (about $65)

-Couple Photo Shoot with Meghan Maxwell (Our shoot is next month!!!!)

-Last weekend I won a cuuuute apron with cupcakes on it from my new favorite home decor store Twisted Goods.

-And this weekend we went to a Luau for my mom's work party and they had prizes. After a few draws, Michaels ticket didn't win, so he gave up and handed it to me... I then proceeded to WIN! haha. I won a Magic Bullet Deluxe and a really extensive Emergency First Aid kit for our car.

I think there was another prize, but can't put my finger on it, so I'll just post it when I remember.

We have been entering for a trip to Switzerland for the past month and a half... My mother-in-law won't like to hear that when she reads this because she's been entering too, haha, but I'm realllllly hoping I win this prize!! The winner is annouced sometime in August I think.

Have you ever won something??