Wordless Wednesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas Links

I can't believe Christmas is so soon! Living across the country from family means we seem to be less busy than most at this time of year. This gives us lots of opportunities to enjoy time with our little girl, each other and our close friends. Oh and to type lists like this. Here are my top links in my Christmas bookmarks folder.


1. Advent Conspiracy  A great reminder and challenge to 'Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All'

2. Etsy has some fantastic sellers with money going to great causes check out Twiggie, all the money she makes goes to Compassion International. Love is raising funds for adoption. 




3. DIY ornament wreath made by Lisa Leonard. So cute and easy...looking. She makes beautiful jewellery too!




4. If you are looking to make a stocking for someone special here is a great round up with some really great designs.




5. Homemade bath fizzies oh Martha Stewart.




6. Fantastically delicious and simple to make fudge. Aha! Writing this just reminded me that I have a full container of this stuff in the deep freeze...uh oh...




7. Home for Christmas: A list of shops and websites supporting adoption and orphan care.




8. Holly napkin holders. How cute would these be at the Christmas dinner table.




9. Love this reusable ribbon garland. 




10. The Etsy listing for the template for our Christmas card this year.

Linked with Amanda

1 year ago today...

Our lives changed, our family grew, my heart grew, my belly shrank (some)...

Happy 1st birthday cutie pants!

Top Ten Tuesday: Pick My New Glasses

So my glasses got broken last Saturday. By my dog. While I was wearing them. My 80 lb dog.

We were heading out the door so that our real estate agent could show our house. I had finished tidying, vacuuming and was leashing our small dog when our super boisterous 3 year old chocolate lab smashed into my face, breaking my glasses.

So my glasses that I didn't plan on replacing anytime soon now need to be replaced. Here are my current top ten choices, please please help me choose!

I know glasses choice all depends on face shape, glasses shape, size etc. but let's say that these all fit my face and it is just a matter of preference...

1.  Love L702: They are purple and pink and black and fun.

image from www.lensway.com

2. Just Cavalli 126: Brown and stripey: kind of reminds me of a rugby shirt or maybe a root beer float.

image from www.coastalcontacts.com

3. Just Cavalli 063: They are blue. I love blue. My wedding dress was blue.

photo from www.coastalcontacts.com

4. Modo 5006: Simple and brown but still a little fun.

photo from www.eyeglasses.com

5. Kam Dhillon 3017: Pink inside, how girly and fun is that?

photo from www.coastalcontacts.com

6. Modo 5005: lilac and texturey.

photo from www.lensway.com

7. Love L703: Reminds me of bamboo.

photo from www.coastalcontacts.com

8. Jones New York 608: Olive like my eyes.

photo from www.coastalcontacts.com

9. Love L704: They say Live, Love, Laugh. Kinda like having tattoo but not permanent and without pain.

photo from www.clearlycontacts.ca

10. Cynthia Rowley 228: Remind me of Mardi Gras somehow.

photo from www.lensway.com

Go visit Amanda for more of Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Maritimers

In light of Amanda's post on being a true Southerner I thought I would do something similar.

I am a maritimer. Except for the first 22 months of my life and the past (almost) 3 years, I have lived in one of the wee provinces on the east coast of Canada. My parents are both from the maritimes as well as my grandparents and I'm pretty sure my great-grandparents were too so it's in the blood.

Moving out west nearly 3 years ago made me realize just how maritime I am. Maybe not so much in my accent as some, although I have my moments. (Care for some saaaaaaahlmon anyone?)

Top Ten Things I've Learned About Maritimers by Living on the West Coast

1. We are alll about family. That is our major reason for wanting to move back is to be closer to family. There is always some kind of family event happening. Birthdays, baptisms, graduations, weddings, I got a good deal on lobster....always some reason to get together.

2. Some of us have a bit of a...twang. We drive carrrrrrs hard on the 'r' and eat saaaaaahlmon.

3. We drink tea (hot tea) or iced tea (sweet tea). There is no such thing as unsweetened cold tea, gross.

4. We don't tend to have fenced yards. Some do, and maybe it's just where I've lived, but out west just about everyone has a fenced yard.

5. We have yearly inspections on our cars. Could be because the salt air and salt on the roads in winter eats our vehicles but we have to have them inspected every year to have them on the road.

6. We use snow tires. That's not necessarily a maritime thing but all seasons are not all seasons.

7. We use salt on our roads in the winter. Where I live now they use sand on the roads (read: gravel) because it gets too cold for salt to work on ice....

8. We rarely have to replace our windshields. Out west it's a yearly thing because of #7.

9. We are very friendly and respect is huge. Funerals are usually large events and when a hurse drives by on the street all oncoming vehicles stop right where they are and pedestrians stop and remove their hats until the procession has passed. I may or may not have been nearly run over the first time I saw a funeral procession here...

10. We have fog, lots and lots of fog.

I'm sure these things are not unique to the maritimes... anyone?

Go see Amanda for more Top Ten Tuesday fun.

Wordless Wednesday

Top Ten Tuesday: Canadian Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving this past weekend and that means we spent time with some great friends, family and ate some delicious food so here it is, top ten Thanksgiving foods.

1. Turkey, obviously! Never had a deep fried one but would love to try it.

2. Sweet Potato Casserole. Different from yams so I learned 2 years ago and pure yumminess especially when mixed with butter and brown sugar and topped with marshmallows... (okay so every photo I found appears to be made with yams...hmmm) googled the difference

3. Yams...yes they're good too especially when baked in orange juice, mmm.

4. Potatoes and gravy. Yes they must go together, they are one entity.

5. Cranberries. I could eat my weight in these, seriously.

6. Carrots and other vegetables. Really these are eaten to even out the turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce and to soak up some of the not so good for you stuff.

7. Stuffing/Dressing. I detest the stuff but I understand it really isn't turkey dinner without it.

8. Pumpkin Pie. Again I'm not a fan but it is very thanksgiving-ish dessert.

9. Ice Cream cake. Okay not traditional but we had it and it was scrumptious.

10. Rolls. Mmm so buttery and good.

We took a lovely walk with the dogs on Thanksgiving Sunday and enjoyed the crisp air, blue skies and crunchy leaves. I LOVE autumn!

 For more Top Ten fun go visit Amanda.

Wordless Wednesday

Meal Plan

I LOVE autumn, love it! It means warm soups, drinks, and just a general coziness that I love. I'll be baking some pumpkin yumminess and we'll be enjoying Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday most likely. Other than that, here's what we'll be eating for the week.

Monday: Burgers as requested by my husband so we can use some yummy spicy peppers given to us from a friend's greenhouse.

Tuesday: Copycat Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi soup but with pasta

Wednesday: Stir Fry

Thursday: Cheesy Chicken and Rice casserole

Friday: Burritos

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Thanksgiving dinner?

For more menu plans head over to Laura's site

Linky Love: cupcakes, autumn and bunting

Hello Naomi: I love all things cupcake and I also love her name, just look at these babies.

Echoes of Laughter: I love autumn and she has some great decorations oh annnnnd she's a fellow maritimer living out west.

The Artful Abode: I love bunting, love it.

Top Ten Tuesday: Things I Did This Summer

1.  Visited with far away family and friends. Oh how nice it was to be able to spend some quality time this summer catching up and introducing Isabel to everyone from back east.

2. Saw places I've really been missing.

3. Camped across the country and then some with my best friend, our daughter and our dogs in our tiny trailer.

yes half our roof top carrier is missing but that is a whole nother post.

4. Drank yummy Java Moose drinks. Hello Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Mocha.

5. Shopped in stores that don't exist where I live.

6. Combined #1 and #3 for a family camping trip.

7. Watched my baby girl learn to sit, wave, crawl and pull to standing.

8. Ate entirely too much good food...

9.  Missed my own house but not the smoke from wild fires

10. Flew by myself with the babe for the first time...across the country 

Fr more top ten fun visit Amanda

Totally slacked on the blog for the summer but hoping to get back in the swing of things.

I'll also probably have some more spare time on my hands since the babe is napping regularly and we cancelled our satellite tv!?

Now in some areas that would mean that we still have a channel or 2, we do! We have 1 channel but it's all celebrity gossip all the time. Not my style. I've lived without tv before and I actually like how it made me feel.

 I'm figuring it might save us in electricity from running the tv (for background noise when I'm not even watching it)... Not to mention I'll get outside more and spend more time just enjoying quality family time.

Linky Love: May 1st edition

Mother's Day Gift Ideas and Giveaway from The Diaper Diaries: I love love this jewellery in particular, what an awesome gift idea...for mother's day...perhaps a first mother's day...?

Family Ring: another awesome mother's day gift from etsy.


Eco-Friendly Tutorials neat ideas, need to make the scrappy zipper pouch.

Chicken Pomodoro Recipe from Cooking During Stolen Moments: Made this on Thursday, so good and a nice option for a spaghetti type dish.

Things I love Thursday: Nauseous Egg Separator

What to do when a recipe calls for just an egg white or just an egg yolk...one must separate the egg. Now you coooouuuuld just crack the egg shell and do the old pass the yolk bag and forth between the 2 halves but really why do that when you have one of these:

My husband's nanny gave it to us and it makes me snicker every time I use it, not to mention it's beautiful handmade pottery. 

Go see the Diaper Diaries for more loved things.

Top Ten Tuesday: Cutest "Vacation Homes"

We love camping and do so in our Boler trailer. We've been working hard on its interior to make it all spiffy and cute but now it's time for the exterior to get some love. In my searches I have come across many many photos soooo here are:

THE TOP TEN CUTE BOLER/FIBERGLASS RV EXTERIORS 

1. A cottage, just needs a porch

2. A cozy honeymoon

3. Cute as a bug

4. mellow yellow

5. Awesome matching paint job!

6. Ruh-Roh!

7. Firefighter Boler

8. Similar to what ours will look like

9. Meow? 

10. Starry starry night

I'm thinking we're going  to go with a solid colour and have it done in truck bed liner for durability...orange perhaps

Please go visit Amanda for more great Top Ten lists