Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Christmas Time

I love Christmas. And it definitely feels like a very long time ago! But here are some pictures from my Christmas.

It's tradition to have Sawatzky's over after the Christmas Eve Service. We have too much Chinese food and then the "kids" watch a classic Christmas movie.

A cute little couple that I love.

Who agrees that stockings are amazing? If you look at the red and white striped one, you can see that Reid, Lisa and I got a little carried away with Mom's stocking - the bag below it is totally full of "stocking' presents. I laughed so hard, because there was probably enough three stockings.

Cady on Christmas morning. Through-out the month of December I bought the girls "Belle" presents, because we were doing "exciting things with Belle" at Christmastime. So here she is in her Belle nightie.

Helping Nanny with all those gifts (in those PJs).





Monica did a lot of wandering around at this time. 

Playing with Lego and Play Mobile on the ping-pong table, out of the reach from little fingers.

Skating was a must at Christmastime and we did it almost everyday. It was fun to teach Alanna, Meg and Cady.


Little munchkin.

Time for our "exciting time with Belle" - Broadway Across Canada "Beauty and the Beast"

All dressed for the occasion.

Let's add the little one!

The girls had never seen a play before, much less Broadway at the Jubilee, so it was a little overwhelming and took a little explaining to let them know people were just pretending. 
My favourite was after all the gifts of soundtrack, decorations, movie, etc, as soon as the music started at the theatre, Cady turned to me and says "Hey, we have this movie!" And all I could think was "Yes sweetheart, that was the point." :)

It was so much fun!


And now time for some of those friends of mine! On the 28th, four of us headed out for some x-country skiing! It was my first time. And except for a very jarred shoulder/arm and a sore backside, I think I did okay!

There we all are!

Poor Jocelyn has turned into our resident photographer and she never turns up in the photos anymore! Here she is!

Snack time!

And now for the real party! It is always so special to have the seven of us together, even if it is for just a few hours.

Photo credits to Jocelyn Dawn Photography.

Having a little too much fun. 


Can you hear the laughter?

And we didn't even plan to coordinate!


I love Christmas, food, family and friends! Let's do it again next year!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Res Update

I don't plan on updating you on my resolutions everyday. That wouldn't be interesting (I have too much too do), but it would be silly if I didn't keep you appraised on the situation.

Since I'm sitting here at 12:08am 12:26am, I guess that means my resolution to go to bed before 12:00 is being broken, at least today! But, you see, I'm installing Adobe Creative Suite 5 *right now*, which is part of my "try something new" resolution. I think that the two should cancel each other out. Yes? Currently it is saying that I have 159 104 minutes remaining. I'm hoping it's one of those things that actually takes way shorter.

I'm still quite happy with the goals resolutions (goals have an ending...resolutions don't) that I've decided. I feel they are realistic and since resolutions are to make a happier you or me, I don't want to start feeling like I'll fail. I also like that I'll add to this list later. I keep finding other things that I've wanted to do, but don't take the time to do. So, I'm continuing to write them down, and will add as I find my first 7 very manageable. 

"Trying something new" - CS5 is the one I'm most excited about. I met with a friend about it on January 1 and got a brief run down on "InDesign", and have a couple more dates booked. Being in marketing, or trying to be, I think this will be helpful. I'm very excited! And also cool that I found it on Kijiji for about a quarter of the price. 

Again, least excited about running, but a friend of mine is doing a 10K, so we'll train together (right, Jocelyn?!). And since my mother is seeing a trainer, my sister runs a 10K, my bro-in-law a half marathon, and my brother can do anything physical, I'm feeling a little left out here and must fix that! I'm going to start on this after going to NYC next week, as I'm in a little over my head right now with trying to pack and practice and work and I'm in a singing workshop this weekend (brilliant, I know!).

I still have lots to work on, and tonight ran off with my time management skills. But I'm very happy with the week so far. Over and out. 

Monday, January 2, 2012

New Years Resolutions

The blogs, facebook, and tweeter are just teaming with posts about New Years, new changes and resolutions. It just is that time of year. New Years is just a new start. It feels right to start fresh. Yes, I know you can make changes at any time of the year, but News Years just seems right somehow.

Last fall I read "The Happiness Project" (www.happiness-project.com). I'm not much for self-helf books, but I sure loved this one. I loved the real-ness and practicality. So therefore, along with so many other people, I do plan to blog "New Years Resolutions". There's the part of me that doesn't want to talk about them or blog them because A) everyone else is, and I don't really like to play by their rules and B) because then people know about them and I have actually do them (scary!).

I have a few, obviously, but really have tried to keep them at a point that I can handle. These are January (or perhaps a few months worth), with a few longer term ones thrown in:

1) Go to bed before 12:00pm. I know that sounds crazy, but that's my reality.
2) Drink more water. At least two water bottles per day.
3) Give birthday cards to my friends. Like make and write.
4) Keep a prayer journal.
5) Learn something new: For work and personal stuff, I've decided to learn Adobe CS 5. Already have some "lessons" booked.
6) Run a 5K in May. This is definitely the one I'm least looking forward to. Blah. I just read a blog and it says to always exercise on Monday and start the week right. Oh dear, it's Monday.

I'm actually really excited about all of them! And here is the fantastic journal I get to record it all in. :)

And I'm off to practice. Carnegie is just next week!