.

Today...

2011-07-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

Today my house is a mess, after spending all weekend (on and off) cleaning. Pictures to come.
Today I am busy with massage/hair/chiro appointments. Which all 3 had to be switched to different times.
Today I have a strange man in my house fixing winter house cracks.
Today I cleaned out my entire pantry to fix the mega crack in there. There is food everywhere.
Today I am stuck at the computer sipping coffee and eating bran muffins.
Today my husband is coming home for lunch.
Today I am choosing to stay calm, and relaxed about this day.
Today I am planning meals for the weeks to come.
Today I am reflecting on the weekend which held a fantastic date night with the husband that included only fun stuff (supper, walk at the forks, Cirque, coffee and ice cream) and not a lick of errands (returns, grocery shopping...) and a wonderful church service and a nap with supper at one of my favorite places (Red Lobster) with some of my most favorite people.

Hudson's First Birthday

2011-06-26T16:31:00.000-07:00

First off I must say it's about time blogger got there act together and got a better way to upload pictures. I am still trying to figure out how it all works, so bear with me in this post!
** I just previewed my post before posting it and it looks NOTHING like its supposed to. some pictures are clumped on here and in preview they are all in a line. Blogger, you got a long way to go to make me like you. On the bright side I noticed while I was scrolling down the pictures kinda go wavy like a caterpillar!**

Stef baked all the cupcakes and cakes and decorated the cupcakes and Hudson's smash cake.

I decorated the head

The spread. Stef had the who Hungry Caterpillar story written out with all the food he ate through. It was amazing!

Smash cake! Hudson loved it!!

Darcy made Hudson a toy box for his birthday

More presents!

The 'H' is branded onto the toy box. Darcy spent a lot of time working on this toy box for Hudson. I think it turned out great.

Happy 1st Birthday Hudson. Uncle Darcy and I love you lots!!

What have I been up to?

2011-06-02T18:53:00.000-07:00

I have been...
- printing new recipes for my homemade cookbook
- soaking in my view of the river since it keeps dropping, and will soon be gone
- planting flowers (and a tomato plant) in my pots from auntie Hilda
- taking pictures of Darcy's latest creation - (stay tuned for Hudson's first birthday party)
- loving my new white vase from Gail's, now if only I would have flowers to put in it!
- counting down the days to...
                        - Fargo (2 days)
                        - Minneapolis (29 days)
- celebrating my favorite nephews first birthday (33 day, I realize this conflicts with us going camping but Sudsy's party will be at the end of June)
                        - relaxing at Hecla (33day)
                        - date night at Cirque De Soleil (51 days)
                        - standing up at some of our best friends wedding (65 days)
                        - relaxing at Hecla again (71 days)
- finding new sites to help my baking / cooking addiction
- printing coupons
- exploring a few new business ventures
- running into old friends and making dates to get together
- not feeling like uploading pictures to go along with this post
- spending WAY to much time on facebook and remembering why I quit in the first place
- looking at Jerry Seinfeld tickets and thinking its a 'must see no matter the cost' but cant imagine spending over $300 for Darcy and I to go (those are the CHEAPEST tickets, yeesh kapeesh!)
- listening to a friends anxiety about big changes in her life and trying to be supportive even when I'm not sure what to say
- being extra thankful for my husband
- really wanting to go to Brittany Spears, but don't know who I'd go with. I heart her! (well maybe more her music than her)
- wishing I put more of my good intentions into action

So that is what I have been up to. Pictures to come? We'll see.

2011-05-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

It started with cake baking.

Then it turned into cake icing.

And cake piping.

And mixing the fondant to add some funky colour.

And then cake assembling.

And stopping to pose with our creation.

Then cutting the first layer.

And the second layer.

Lastly, the third layer.

And peeking into the three tiered goodness inside.

And just because I have you here, this is how I spent my Sunday morning.

Watching Darcy play street hockey in the parking lot of Kildonan Place Shopping Center. They lost. But it was nice to be in the sunshine with friends, having brunch on the patio, and enjoying each others company.

I also couldn't post without showing you these beautiful flowers I got from my sweet sister in law for my b-day. These pictures don't do justice to how gorgeous the colour actually is, but here they are.

It's been 13 days and they still look amazing. I love waking up to fresh flowers every morning!

It all started with one batch....

2011-05-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

....so I donned my apron,

put my recipe on my handy dandy metal note holder thing Darcy made me, (since we have a stainless steel fridge and no mementos can be magnet-ed to there I wanted a place to put cute pictures of my niece's, cards, etc. and realized it would be a perfect recipe holder for when I bake. )

admired my view,

and got to work.

An innocent evening of baking a batch of auntie Renee's 5-star chocolate chip cookies (one of Darcy's all time favorites) quickly turned into this....

Since I just bought flax I thought I might experiment and throw some ground flax in

And some whole wheat flour, who said cookies couldn't be healthier?

Well as it turns out adding flax and whole wheat flour made the cookies a little bit of a flop. But I will continue to experiment because if I recall correctly Mckmama once said "You can also use 1 Tablespoon of flaxseed meal and 3 Tablespoons of water to replace an egg in a recipe, provided you are not already using it to replace oil".

I also tried out baking on parchment paper. I have used it in the past and never really liked it. So I stopped buying it.
But most of my recipes say to use parchment paper so I figured I'd give it another try, since it was on sale at superstore anyway. Well, wasn't I pleasantly surprised.

I have now converted to parchment. so. much. easier. to. clean.

After I took these pictures I thought that this was a much better idea for my change of heart.

Since all my ingredients were out any way I may as well try something new....

Bakery Style Cookies and Cream Cookies.

Darcy said the Oreo's were hard to taste - so next time I will try more cookies or leaving bigger chunks. The meat pounder kinda got away from me : )

And since all me ingredients are STILL out I may as well make MY favorite... (even though I can't eat them yet : ) )

...5 chip cookies

(not exactly the same recipe but it's pretty darn close - the only difference is I do 1/3 cup EACH of the 5 different kinds of chips)

and why not toss in some more flax seed?

And since I have made 3 different kinds of cookies I may as well use some of my new cupcake liners and make some bran muffins....

And even though I didn't use my new birthday muffin liners that I love (thanks Kels) I may as well make a batch of humming bird muffins to test them out...

.
Ok, so these never made it to the oven. It was getting late and I wanted to do some of the delivers tonight yet, so these will wait til morning. (we'll see if it works...)

Aaaaaaaand since I am baking all these for just Darcy I may as well give some to my loved ones...

Using my leftover-good-intention-but-never-got-around-to-making-gifts (did you get that?) Christmas wrapping paper

Poor penmanship and blurry I know...

Look at this nifty way to store cupcake liners. Instead of having them free floating in my cupboard they are all nicely contained in mason jars. (Are all jars mason jars? I am not even sure I know what a mason jar is!)

Have I mentioned that I love to bake?!

all things loved - may

2011-05-13T14:58:00.001-07:00

My Shark Steam mop. I have been looking for a good steam cleaner forever and have never taken the plunge to get one. While shopping with Amber, we found one on sale and after me humming and hawing over it she told me to get it since I had been talking about getting one for years. So I gave in and purchased it. When we got back from shopping Darcy went into the office to get me my birthday present....and he pulls out none other than a shark steam mop!

Making sugar cookies

My new flower ring from Pier 1

Anything Puma
Like these pants - I love that they are oldies ugly

Booking a weekend away to Fargo using MC points

Kaylee introduced me to a new kind of coffee

My bright green pedicure

Target

Our new dining tent, complete with 4 fold down sides for less than $100

My Ikea scale - I like it even more now that the numbers are going down instead of up!

Discovering new stores in St.vital that lead to purchasing this sweater

my bedroom set

Alice

Summer Veggies

New foods

Etsy

MPI rebate cheques that I can spend on updating my wardrobe

Journaling. I read my journal from right before I got married and want to start again.

Flip Flop season

my new serving dishes from Pier 1

Our deck (this is not ours...)

Contigo! water bottles, travel mugs it's all good!

Love, love, love Candies, there clothes fit me well

black coffee, cream and sugar used to be the only way to go but simple is better

my new votive holder

Hobbies

2011-05-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

As you know, my new hobby is baking. My husband on the other hand has gotten into woodworking. Darcy grew up with 2 huge shops in his back yard, and over the years he has followed his dad around learning anything and everything about metal fabricating. Ever since we started dating he would make me things out of metal. Like the monkey he made and painted (picture to come), the beautiful lamps that are sitting on my nightstands, the nightstand itself, candle holder, and other decorative things for around the house just to name a few. He is now starting to do woodworking...I am still undecided how I feel about his new interest, seeing as he has to get all new tools. For instance he just got a table saw for an anniversary gift but also ~~needs~~ wants a router, a miter saw and who knows what else! However, I do get things like this out of the deal...

We now have matching nightstands for the first time since we've been married!

That's the lamp Darcy made me when we first got married

Our beautiful new bed!

Recipe's

2011-05-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

My new favorite thing is baking. Cakes, cookies, cake pops, cupcakes - anything really. I love finding new blogs devoted to baking and cooking. I have stumbled upon some really great sites and have a very large stack of recipes that I'd like to try out. Here are some recent creations...
* I am very quickly reminded why I don't blog more, pictures take forever to upload, you can only do 5 or 6 at a time, they are always in the wrong order and they always go to the top of the page so I have to drag them all to the bottom...grrrrr. There must be a better way, Help!

Rainbow cake of Hailey's 6th birthday

The finished product - I didn't have a fondant smoother yet
so you can see all my finger prints!

I had almost enough left over fondant from the soccer cupcakes I made
Darcy - but not quite enough to cover this cake

one of my new favorite cake recipes

Darcy had a soccer game on his birthday,
so, I made soccer cupcakes for the team

Cake for Tyler's 26th birthday

Again, no fondant smoother

Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey of James Reimer
(2nd cousin once removed? third cousin? related in some way...)

Best banana cake made into muffins

Hailey had her first ballet recital and I have been
wanted to try out sugar cookies so I thought this
was a great reason to make them!

all outlined ready to be flooded

Hailey and Kalia

The start ones didn't fit in the bags!

Chocolate cupcakes with Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
and Peanut butter Icing

I made these mostly for my b-i-l Erik
He loves peanut butter.

And stir fry. My new favorite thing.

summer

2009-09-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

i just stumbled across picasa on the computer, so i made 2 collages of summer. i am still learning so bear with me!

2009-07-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

tuesday
june 30, 2009
day 4

after breakfast at our hotel we headed down to the piers to do check out some of the shops and the wax museum. after the wax museum we went for lunch and walked around and shopped for the rest of the afternoon. we headed to rain forest cafe for supper and then back to the hotel by bus...buuuut it was a longer trip than anticipated. the bus was really full and i darcy and i couldn't sit beside each other, i thought darcy was paying attention to street signs and he thought i was. by the time we made eye contact and asked each other when we needed to get off we were over 10 blocks from where we needed to get off! normally this wouldn't be so bad, but we had been walking all. day. long. plus now we had all our shopping bags to carry. needless to say it was nice to kick off our shoes and relax for the evening!

the royal family

michael jackson memorial

fidel castro

cleopatra VII, marie antoinette
and others who i don't know

the pope

the last supper

sermon on the mount

the electric chair, it was sort of scary
i screamed!

sports hall of fame

wednesday
july 1, 2009
day 5
HAPPY CANADA DAY!

we headed down to the piers again to do some more shopping. we stopped for coffee and lunch at a neat bakery place. we went to fisherman's wharf on pier 39. they had even more shops, restaurants, and there was lots to see and do. we went to the worst magic show ever! it was definitely lacking magic, more just entertaining for kids. thankfully it wasn't very long! after the horrible magic show we walked down to pier 33 where the ferry departed to go to alcatraz. we took the audio tour of the prison and it was awesome! there was so much to learn and a lot to see. after the tour you were free to walk around as you please. there were movies you could go watch and gift shops you could get 'prison' gear from. darcy ended up getting a really nice jacket, but i drew the line at prison cup and food tray...useless! we were on the island for about an hour and a half just walking around and exploring. this was for sure the biggest highlight of the trip. darcy has wanted to go to alcatraz since forever and his wish finally came true. we went to hard rock cafe for supper. it was so good. best fajitas i've ever had! we stopped for gelato at a place close to our hotel, and then started to pack up for our way home!

waiting for the magic show to start
the sea lions

modern day mary poppins

san francisco from the ferry

the morgue

the water tower was HUGE
'check in'

3 levels high. the bottom level here is
for the really bad prisoners, they were
put in a cell with no light for days.
some of the most famous inmates

a typical cell

the wardens house just outside the jail

the 'good' inmates could paint and
listen to the radio
the gun gallery, the guards could never
have guns or keys on the floor with them.

a break out attempt

the kitchen, every knife was outlined
to make sure they wouldn't go missing

thursday
july 2, 2009
day 6

we checked out in the morning and then went to the golden gate bridge. meh. it was nice but i don't get what all the hoopla is about. we also went to fort point (without knowing what it was at the time.) fort point, lime point, and alcatraz formed a triangle and were california's protection against invaders during the gold rush. we left san francisco and headed to sacramento to stay for a night. along the way we saw some outlet shopping so we stopped to shop and for lunch. after melting from the heat, buying shoes, some kitchen stuff, soaps from bath & body, and clothes for d we were on our way again. we found an ikea in sacramento and spent a lot of time there. i love ikea. we found a hotel and tried to find a tgi friday's. we programmed it into the gps and were on our way. it ended up taking us to a red lobster, which was fine by me but darcy dislikes seafood. a lot. but seeing as i didn't get to eat my crab on the ocean he said that he'd take me. awwww. we went back to the hotel and enjoyed the outdoor hot tub (and i enjoyed the pool too.)

some of our finds in san francisco
the rest of our finds

cables for the buses

underneath the the golden gate bridge

friday
july 3, 2009
day 7

we started on our way home today : (. we shopped for a bit at target before we got on our way. we didn't make it very far before we stopped for breakfast. we drove aaaaaall day,and saw some pre 4th of july fireworks while we were driving and then stopped to sleep at 12.30am. it was a little hick town, it was a little scary but we were both really tired.

saturday
july 4, 2009
day 8

i took a whole gravel for night. i was only planning on taking half, but decided i wanted a really good night sleep. i woke up at 5.30am and we started driving, i quickly fell back asleep and at 8 we stopped for gas and breakfast. i could hardly keep my eyes open and at 8.30 my eyes were again closed until 10am. apparently the gravel knocked me out longer than i had anticipated. but i did have a really good sleep! finally being awake enough, i could drive so darcy could sleep. we stopped a few more times along the way and in fargo stopped at kholes to find some wedding shoes and shirts for darcy. he for sure bought more clothes on this trip. how sad!? in grand forks we stopped for ice cream, fireworks and coffee. we saw a lot of fire works in all the little towns as we headed to the boarder. a few questions at the boarder and we were back in canada, and surprised by the 110km speed limit! we got back to the apartment at around 12.30am. we unpacked just a little and then headed to bed for some much needed sleep! it was wonderful to get away and not think about life, school (except for the one phone call i got from school in cali) or anything but what we wanted to do that day. it was so relaxing having no schedule to follow.

california

2009-07-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

on the loooooong drive down i took time to document our trip, so i thought i'd share some of it with pictures.

friday
june 26, 2009

i got home from kelsey's stag at midnight. i came into the apartment only to notice darcy sleeping on the couch. as he had been since 6pm. i showered and we slept until 3am and then packed up in the pouring rain and we were on our way.

saturday
june 27, 2009
day 1

we had a real jerk at the boarder, it was pouring rain on a tin roof and he was mumbling. he asked many questions some of the usual and some other this is how it played out
"where you going?"
darcy "california"
"why there?"
d "it's nice and hot there"
"it's hot other places. why there?"
d"umm, that's just where we picked this time."
"where do you guys work?"
d"westfield"
"what's that?"
d"we build augers"
"and you miss?"
r"i am a student"
"where?"
r"massage therapy college of manitoba."
"when do you need to be back at work and school?"
"monday -- september sometime?!"

and so on and so forth, there was more but i got tired of typing in story form! after the boarder it stopped pouring some what and by fargo it had cleared. after walmart, some breaky, gas and a few wrong turns we were headed on the I94 west for 1199 kms. 1 mile from medosa, ND it started to rain again, then it started to rain harder and harder, and hail, harder and harder. we pulled over and were creeping along the I94 until it passed. we took the more scenic route on the way down, going through yellowstone national park. the roads were so narrow and windy, i was glad we drove there in sunlight. i kept telling darcy mom would have never made it driving with him! there were many white crosses on the shoulder i'd say 25+. this did not calm my fears but darcy drove great. i drove for a while in the mountain area -- in the dark! i was freaked out, to say the least but d needed to sleep so that was the only option. we stopped to sleep at 12.45am our time (we gained an hour). it was a long day of driving, but lots of fun, and we stayed safe. praise the Lord!

the above two are of yellowstone national park
God's really good at creating mountains

sunday
june 28, 2009
day 2

we started driving again at 6am. we stopped in twin falls for gas and breaky - where they got my order wrong. after lots of driving and darcy almost losing it because he saw a cop on the other side of the highway and then turn around to come our way...he fears cops with a passion....but all was well. we stopped in some unnamed city and picked up a pizza for lunch. we gained another hour in nevada and just into california there was what seemed to be a toll booth coming up. so darcy got out his wallet and pulled out some 1's. he opened his window and was greeted with "hello sir, this is just an agricultural check stop, i don't want your money. coming from canada i see, that's a long drive. do you have any meat or fruit with you?" to which darcy replies no and then we were free to carry on - forgetting we had apples in the back. oops! we finally got to oakland (thinking it was san francisco, we had crossed one bridge but not both.....) and got lead astray by the gps. after about an hour of being lost (and actually being in san francisco for a while w/o knowing it) we found a hotel to rest our weary eyes. on our way out for some supper we were confronted by a woman in the hotel. she told us she had booked a room but didn't know they didn't take cash. she wanted to know if she could use our credit card to book her room and she'd pay us cash. obviously we said that we couldn't and she said she understood why. i felt really bad for her, she seemed genuine but i know better than to give my credit card to a complete stranger. i told darcy it's sad that the world has come to this - not trusting anyone.

these mountains we went over and down were scary!
they had areas where you would go down for a few
miles and then have to go straight, then down, straight,
and back up...etc. plus people were riding their brakes the
whole time!

going through a mountain in nevada, d woke me for it.
got the picture just in time!

monday
june 29, 2009
day 3

we got up and headed to the zoo in san francisco. it was shockingly cold, we were unaware that the bay winds were so chilly. it was nice to walk around the zoo in cooler temperatures though, 115 would be just too hot! after spending the morning and afternoon at the zoo we hunted for a hotel. we came across a super 8, not too far from everywhere else we wanted to go. i wish i would have taken pictures of it, it was really nice for a super 8! we crashed for a while and then walked around looking for a place to eat supper.

san francisco

this bird almost bit my hand. i tried to move a leaf
to get a better shot and he tried to nip at me! i screamed

more to come!

2009-07-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

i have wanted to write something to Kelli for a while now but always kept putting it off. partly because i didn't want the reality to hit again that she is gone, and partly because i was scared that i wouldn't find the right words to show how wonderful she was. but here it goes.

Kelli Leigh Rempel
1981-2009

Kelli you were such a wonderful friend, so full of love. You were such a Godly woman and there are many things that I have learned from you. You had such a contagious laugh. I don't think I will ever forget your laugh and how you would belt out a hardy laugh at the strangest things. I loved that about you. You were a lover of God, Jamie, your family, any sort of reality show, fashion, Ashley Simpson - or any celebrity gossip for that matter and your friends among many other things. You were such a passionate person and always lived life to it's fullest. There were many weekends that you and Lisa would plan some sort of get together with the Carosenort group. I have countless memories of pool parties, where you were wearing your green sailor swimsuit, fondue parties, talking and laughing into the night and just gallivanting around Rosenort and Carman looking for something to do. When you moved back home to Saskatchewan we definitly didn't stay as close. You were the glue that held the group together. I am so thankful that we were able to make it to your wedding and that you came to Rosenort for a shower within the last year and a half. Kelli, you will be always missed but never forgotten. I love you!!
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to changes the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.

Kelli and I at Mike and Misty's wedding

Last group picture before Kelli left for SK

Kelli and Jamie's engagment pictures.
She is so pretty.

soon we'll be here...

2009-06-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

2009-06-05T19:30:00.000-07:00

i felt so much better yesterday evening and today. i feel at peace about everything, and i know it's due to all your prayers. so thank you, i really appreciate it.

now onto some pictures from may....

darcy took me to the keg for my 21st birthday
and then to tim's for a coffee and birthday 'cake'
(he couldn't find a candle, so he just used a match,
but it blew out just before the picture!)

i started making cards, these were for mother's day

sizzling wok, 1 week prior to the incident...
darcy said that he'd make up for our bad
anniversary dinner. it turns out it was a
really bad day at school too, he's always so thoughtful!

this picture is dedicated to kara, it is a rare occasion
that i get starbucks. but am treated. what a doll.
(if i was on the ball i would have turned the logo
to the camera! oops!)

hailey's 'trick' raena taught her!

i got to spend all afternoon outside with the girls a while ago. it was wonderful! am came to pick me up from the city and i watched the girls while she worked downstairs. j was sleeping for a good chunk of the afternoon so she missed out on pictures. i always have such a good time with the girls, never a dull moment! i am so blessed to have 3 wonderful nieces who love to be cuddled and give cuddles!

tears.

2009-06-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

first off those of you who know me well, know that i am not one to share my feelings easily, so this is a big step for me!

i wish that i could be posting something happier since i have not blogged in ages, but the truth is i am sad. stressed. overwhelmed. burnt out. these last few weeks at school have been the hardest for me yet. the stress of exams is hitting me hard and i just want it to be done. i know its only a few short weeks until i am done but those weeks include endless studying 4 exams in 5 days and 6 exams overall, evening clinic and trying to get my 100 hours done (i am at 92), not to mention darcy being away a lot due to farming. i have shed many tears over the last couple of day, but thankfully darcy has been around most evening to calm me. if you think about me from now until the 23rd you could gladly send up a prayer on my behalf. i would really appreciate it (and i'm sure darcy would too!) i am trying to take it one day at a time and just finish strong but it's so hard to be motivated to study. luckily i have done well in all my courses so far and if i do worse on these last exams i should still be ok but it's still stressful.

april

2009-04-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

school, must make it. 2 more months. please pray. it's getting harder and harder to study.

but onto the rest of april happenings....april 21st marked our 2 year anniversary! who would have thought 2 years would fly by so quickly?! since the 21st was on a tuesday (after an exam that day) we decided to stay in and have breakfast for supper. our favorite! we didn't do much else that evening due to me having to study for anatomy the next day. we did however go out for supper on thursday, to hus on first. i would be lieing if i said i was anything but disappointed. it was nothing that we expected. i am lucky the company was great, and that i got treated to tim's coffee and timbits later, as well as a good movie. so the evening shaped up after all.

happy 2 years babe, i love you!

on one of our weekends out in rosenort darcy and i decided to walk around mom and dads place and see what kind of trouble we could get into. after some snow, ice, a lot of water and 1 booter later we didn't find anything too mischievious to get into so we came back home.

lastly, some pictures of madda from the hotel.

2009-04-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

has it ever happened to you that when you are walking home from school, you get a text from your husband asking how your day was? and when you walk into the apartment and drop your bags you notice flowers on the table? and hear someone say "hey babe!" and wonder why they are home an hour and a half sooner than you thought they would be? because as it turns out it was only an eight hour day and not nine and a half hour day like normal? and after the shock wears off you realize that you don't have to make supper because you are being treated to kelsey's nachos and club house sandwich? and then end up at the movie theater watching 'marley and me"? well, it happened to me today.

2009-04-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

i thought i would quickly (it actually took 2 days due to blogger being slow with uploading pictures yesterday.) just catch up on some pictures from the last 2 months

i made darcy a cake for his birthday

at erik's hockey game

hailey's 4th birthday

just chillin' out reading the comics in bed : )
ty, stef, darcy and i got hailey this princess
camping bed with a sleeping bag

they are pretending to be sleeping

jayda going for her first
motorcycle ride of the year

date at the museum

you can't see it very well but
there's a wolf staring him down
how could i forget the newest addition to our family?

2009-03-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

i know, it has been a while....and i really don't have any excuses. even though it's been (i am not actually sure when i last posted) either way not much has been going on. but i will try my best to briefly update you.
- first off our computer crashed about a month ago so i have been mooching off ty and stef to check my email and facebook. we ordered a new one but it hasn't come in yet.
- secondly i am sick of school. spring break however is just around the corner and i will have a much needed break.
- darcy has purchased a ps3 so i can pretty much kiss my husband good-bye. evenings are filled with him and ty spending countless hours playing hockey and i am on my own except when stef is on days, then i have a friend.
- i have started to read. i really enjoy it. we have a library just across the bridge from our place so i am going to get a library card. i am pretty excited.
- i miss living in rosenort. i miss my family and not going to see am and the girls whenever i want. i never talk to anyone any more and know nothing that is going on ever. i feel out of the loop and it saddens me. i miss going to moms and just talking with her. it's crazy how a week can go by and i don't talk to 2 of my best friends at all.
- the city isn't all bad. i didn't feel like making supper today, so darcy picked up a pizza. that was nice.
- i am really looking forward to summer. i don't know where i'll work but am looking forward to camping and not thinking about the brachial plexus, where extensor carpi radialis longus originates and inserts or how to do goading properly. ( i rather like goading though, it feels nice) ask me about it i'll demonstrate on you.
- i miss being with friends late into the night playing games, watching movies, and just laughing til our sides hurt. we have done that the last two weekends but it was the first time in a long time.
- i have started reading 'power of a praying wife' i really enjoy it and slowly it is changing my heart. i have spent more time with God lately and working on my faith. it's been a hard road but slowly i am making progress, i have been to lazy in my faith for too long.
- darcy and i are going on a date. is that the right word? when two people go out to dinner and a movie and just spend time getting to know each other? it's been so long i don't know what people call it any more! we are going to the museum (dorky i know but i am really looking forward to it, and so is d) and maybe to a movie, and maybe dinner as well. we'll see.
so, that pretty much sums up the life of the friesen's. nothing grand but i guess it needed to be said. i will try to update with pictures just as soon as we get our computer. and am, i'll send you the hockey pictures of us and the littlest one and the oldest one when the computer arrives.

just a little update

2009-02-25T19:42:00.001-08:00

i guess it is time to post again, seeing as it has been about a month since my last post. school is in full swing again and it's unbelievable to think that we've been back for about four weeks already, exams start next week already! everything is pretty much the same in the city - school, study sleep repeat. this week i hit the stage that this semester is becoming routine and i am not as stressed and freaked out anymore! my courses all seem ok -- most are pretty easy and don't require a lot of studying time, so it's nice to have a little more relaxed semester and then gear up for junior which is harder again. darcy has started to carpool to work which is so nice - he can sleep on the way there and back, which he really enjoys! seeing as we don't have our new computer yet i can't upload picture (not like i have any to update you with!)

2009-01-31T14:30:00.000-08:00

we just got back from Fargo and we had a wonderful time! we didn't shop all that much (shocking i know!) but i did score some shirts, a sweater, lots of bath and body works stuff, and darcy picked up lots of shirts, and a pair of shoes. other than that, we relaxed a lot. it was so nice to get away and focus on 'us' again. the weather was crazy nice (5 degrees celsius today) but it was so super windy on the way home. there were a few cars, and semi in the ditch and a bad tuck/ camper trailer accident on the way home due to the windy conditions. thankfully we had a safe drive home. just some pics of our getaway....

it was no c'mon inn, but still very nice.
it felt clean but still had the old gross
hotel fuzz blanket

we got a 'spa package' with our room
the olay lotions smell devine

jacuzzi suite

all dolled up for delish supper at...

2009-01-22T16:37:00.000-08:00

I AM FREE!!!!!!

exams are done! i can't believe it! that was the longest two weeks of my life, and now, i can sit back, relax (sort of, there's a lot on my 'to do' list) and not open my books for a whole glorious week and a half. that feels nice! since i am pretty booked this week i started my baking spree yesterday. i made chocolate chip cookies, and today i am making a double recipe of ginger snaps and a frozen mocha cheesecake! i also decided i want to take on the task of baking break. we l-o-v-e Stella's fresh baked multi-grain bread, so i decided i am going to make my own bread! it can't be that hard can it? now all i need is a good multi-grain bread recipe, so if you have one let me know! i can't seem to find my camera cord to upload pictures of the first cookie baking experience...so this will have to do. i never knew what all the hype was about with having a kitchen aid, but now that we have one, i finally understand!

fontanels....

2009-01-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

now that i have everyone's attention on such an interesting subject....
just thought i'd give a quick update about exam. they are going really well, i am half done now which is so exciting. thursday after noon at 2.00 i will be done! my week off is already filling up fast, but i am glad i won't be stuck at home and board everyday! darcy and i booked a few nights away in fargo in a jacuzzi suite at Americinn - i know that it's no Comon inn but i am still super excited to get away and have some much needed 'us' time! (sorry that this post was dull, it was mostly for am!)

school....

2009-01-05T10:57:00.001-08:00

these next three weeks are going to be tough for me (and darcy for that matter!) i have exams coming up the next 2 weeks...so if you think about me in that time you can send up a prayer for me! my exams are the 12th, 15th, and 16th of next week and then the 19th, 21st and 22nd of the following week. i can't believe i am going to be 1/4 done after the 22nd. school has flown by so far, and hopefully continues to do so. i look forward to being done and starting to work, so i know this is what i want to do....it's just so tough to get there. i hear this next semester is easier, so hopfully there will be less tears shed and i can feel at least half sane again!

Christmas

2008-12-30T19:30:00.001-08:00

Christmas began on the 20th for us this year. with the kornelsen and friesen (mom's side) falling on the same day we decided to not drive the extra hour to winkler and went to the kornelsen gathering at joe and carols. almost everyone was there, it was nice to spend time with family we see far too little. it's funny how this used to be the calm quiet gathering, but with the addition of 8 little kids in the last few years, it is anything but calm and quiet! darcy and i stayed out for night at his parents place since we were having Christmas with them the nest day. it was a wonderful day filled with lots of food, games, presents, laughter, and sleep! we then headed to my parents place for 2 nights to cut down on driving, darcy had to work monday and tuesday. on the 23rd we went to nick and jacquelines for darcys dads side gathering, it was nice to spend time with family we don't see often, and jacqueline even planned a craft for us!

after a long 3 nights away from home we headed back to the city and relaxed and had our Christmas on the 25th. we had such a relaxing day together it was wonderful to spend our second Christmas together in a new home...i got to thinking and in 4 years we will have Christmas in 3 homes! yikes i hate moving.

on the 26th we packed our bags again and headed back to rosenort for a night with tyler and stef. the 26th was the waldner gathering, for the last few years (maybe only 2) someone (usually auntie m i think) puts together a little program for the family to enjoy consisting of singing, little kids reciting their poems or singing songs, and then every family says a blurb about their family or what God has done in their life that year. the highs, the lows, the times of growth, and times of struggle are shared, and for that time that people are sharing our family seems really close, in some ways we are but everyone has their own busy life. but when it comes down to it our family is there for each other, when someone is hurting, we hurt with them. it is truly a blessing to be part of such an amazing family. i got to connect with a few aunts and uncles and cousins that i only see at gatherings, it was really nice to connect with them. i never really made an effort to talk to them at gatherings, it was usually just a "hi, how are you doing" but this time i sat down and had a really good conversation with them. if i have learnt anything this Christmas it is that family is so important, and we need to take time for each other, even when life seems too busy.

the 27th marked the day of our last Christmas gathering at mom and dads. am, erik, and the girls came to mom and dads for brunch, and after games, jayda naps, and maddy nuggles we dug into presents. more games were played more food was eaten and a wonderful Christmas was had by all!

Christmas pictures in no particular order, and am we never did take family pictures....next year!

games at mom and dads

matching outfits from auntie steffy and uncle ty

appetizers at mom and dads

kitchen aid!!!

stories with gramma lill

grandma, grandpa, and me

rook

"steaaaak, where's my steak?"

FRIENDS SERIES!

biggest. stocking. ever

dads new awesome chair we picked out

friesen family

2008-12-16T17:11:00.000-08:00

this weekend darcy and i headed out to rosenort for the night. we had our college and career chirstmas banquet at hilda's cabin on saturday. it consisted of a potluck, gift exchange (sadly d and i ended up with our own gifts : ( ), games and spending time with friends. sadly, i have no pictures to share with you....sunday was spent with family, it was nice to go home for a night!

i got up with darcy at 5.25 this morning to trek out to rosenort to bake with mom, amber, auntie martha, and grandma. it was a lof of fun!don't ask....

hailey bird

moms pretty tree

such a sweetie

sleeping madda

kisses

2008-12-10T16:51:00.000-08:00

when darcy stops by his parents place.....
banana muffins, bran muffins, soup, rice krispee squares, chocolate sauce, and toffee marshmallows follow his home...mmmm : ) we have such a wonderful family!

my mom...

2008-12-07T14:54:00.000-08:00

...is the kind of mom you can phone day or night to talk to when you feel sad
...is there to lend a shoulder to cry on when school is too overwhelming
...will drive an hour to bring me lunch when i've had a tough day
...will come clean the apartment when it is left in a jumble due to inconsiderate neighbours
...helped clean our house before we moved out and cleaned the apartment before we moved in while i sat there, too sick to move.
...will stop whatever she's doing to help us with whatever we need
...will pray for me daily
...send food home with darcy for us
...always thinks about others needs before her own
...hates surprises
...is a better mom than i could have ever asked for
the list could go on and on...but i'll just get to the birthday festivities. all mom knew was keep saturday december 6th open. bring a change of nice clothes, and makeup to get ready later. having that much information she thought....
1. swimming at the hospital across from our place
2. skating on the river behind our place
or
3. that i had arranged to have massages at school. that one was pretty close...

moms birthday surprise....

started off at the fort garry hotel
at ten spa to be exact

the steam room

the lounge area...

...where you waited to be called
for your appointment

the after lounge

the spa was amazing! we went an hour before our appointment to change, and enjoy the steam room, each others company, relax and spending time with our wonderful mother. erik came along to take care of maddy while we were in the spa. it worked out that maddy ate in that hour at the spa so erik could go back to the apartment with the guys for the rest of the afternoon. definitely something we were hoping would work out well. our appointments were at one and we all had an 80 minute relaxation massage. it was wonderful! after we could hang out in the lounge, get food and tea, and just further relax. side note, they made the best cheese and grainy muffins there.

after the spa we headed back to the apartment to lounge around and get ready for our dinner reservations at ichiban. i love going to ichiban, the food is delish and it is so entertaining to watch. mom has wanted to go to ichiban for a while now so we thought it was the perfect way to top off a spa day.

"you can't catch the egg with your
arms folded"

it was such a wonderful day celebrating moms birthday and spending time together with family, exactly what mom wanted! happy birthday mom, i love you!

what have i done?????????

2008-12-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

this is what i was doing at 6.15 today.....

this is my "oh man what have i done"
face

.....what'd you do?
on the bright side i got "jade" my stylist from chatters (she was really good, i think i'll go back to her, too bad shes preggers and won't be around too much longer) to do multi-functional (??) bangs, i can wear them swooped to the side if i want. funny story about her doing my hair first off her boyfriend is also a massage therapist! i thought that was kinda crazy, and she was kept asking questions about my hair and said my old hair dresser used to be really good, but she kept getting worse and worse. she said my layers were SO uneven and she had no idea what was going on...but not to worry she'd fix it! she said a few times that she was confused as to why another hairdresser would cut someones hair that way! yikes....good thing i switched! I just need to dye it now, hopefully stef will have time tomorrow morning before our day of awesome-ness!!!!

oh and be honest, what do you think of the bangs its been probably 5+ years since bangs have occupied my forehead.

just one of those days....

2008-12-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

that is the best way how to describe how i am feeling right now. wednesday's are usually bad, i have come to realize that. wednesday means all day anatomy, for the most part i enjoy anatomy. call me crazy but i love learning osteology, and arthrology (bones, joints and ligaments). myology on the other hand (muscles) are a whole other story...there are so so so many muscles and have different actions, and origins and insertions. it is very overwhelming to learn 20+ muscles a class and know where they all start/end, and what they do (most muscles move in more than one direction). i feel so overwhelmed with school and studying, the only way i make it through the week is knowing that come thursday i can sort of take a break. no quizzes on friday, and thursday after school means we go to ty and stefs, or they come here. sometimes for supper, other times just to watch the office at 8. i know school will be worth it in the end but some days are really hard to get past (kara, i am sure you know what i mean!) i am so excited to be a massage therapist and am very anxious to get my own table. there are many days that i come home and wish i could do an hour or two massage to strengthen my hands and for practice. i think that i will invest in one in the next few months, and when we come out (or anyone can come by anytime) i can to get some practice hours in and be critiqued...there has been more than enough people volunteering to help me out! on a happier note i got a wonderful call from my sweetheart sister today. she phoned just to cheer me up, i felt really special. my sweet husband also phoned on his way home to let me know everything would be ok, and to let me know he was going to pick up a pizza for supper so i didn't have to make anything. what a guy. only 12 school days until christmas, and 16 total days. that also helps to get me through. christmas will be a very much welcomed break to school, and even more than the christmas break i look forward to semester break where i don't have to pick up my books for a whole week....

on the brighter side....

....which reminds me, keep january 26th 2009 open for an epicure party i am having! hopefully at mom and dads place, but i should check with mom first! i am rather excited about it, i love epicure and the consultant i talked to said that the new catalog should be out and i think i may be the first rosenort party to have a new catalog party!

things to be thankful for
- talking to amber - the times we talk now that we are in the city is far to few
- darcy's encouragement
- talking to kels about school
- not making supper
- tomorrow being thursday
- being able to see auntie m and jer on friday
- not procrastinating and finishing tomorrows physiology assignment yesterday
- this weekend spending time with family, celebrating my wonderful mothers birthday
- a God who is always with me in my highs and lows

2008-12-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

We set up our Christmas tree on saturday evening and then realized as we got to our storage unit that we left all the decorations at mom and dads place in the basement. so the tree went up and sat there bare for two days. considering how it looked when we first set it up i am quite happy with it. our star was too heavy for the flimsy top branches so we had to do some serious cramming to get it on, it's still a little crooked.

darcy thought it was a good picture,
and made me post it

last year we got a real tree, so darcy
surprised me with part of the stump he cut
off as an ornament

our apartment
well...the living room/dining room/office
and kitchen

any suggestions for what to do when you have no ambition to study for school anymore? i seem to have hit a studying wall. i don't spend as near as much time studying since my last midterms were done. my marks are a little lower in quizzes...i guess we've only had 1 since our last exam and i didn't do too bad but i just don't feel like studying anymore. ever. that is all.

2008-12-01T10:27:00.000-08:00

2008-11-29T16:25:00.000-08:00

in no particular order, some of my favorite things, as of late....

wrapping presents that i have picked out for
my wonderful family and friends for Christmas

greek pizza...my supper tonight

pashminas
hoop earrings, darcy just bought me some
today! and earrings in general all mine seem to
be tarnishing at the same time

bath and body works, haven't been there in a while
but anything from there i l-o-v-e. and it makes a
really good gift

my new favorite store

cream soda slurpees from 7-11

decorating for Christmas
(this is not our apartment!)

2008-11-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

mommy and maddy

anytime someone else is holding maddy,
hailey says "can i hold maddy?" it's cute
how much she loves her!

madelyn soleil

eidse girls minus jayda

stef and maddy

am, erik, hailey, and madelyn came out to the city for the afternoon and supper. it was nice to spend time with them again and get maddy snuggles in. missed j though!

2008-11-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

I guess it's about time to post about life, the good, the bad, and the cute...

School has been a wondeful, horrible, stressful, challenging, crazy emotion filled experience so far. It has been a really big adjustment getting into the swing of school again, especially such intense classes where it feels like the teachers are speaking french. Everyone said this was an intense course and the learning curve is huge, but I never thought it would be as physically, mentally and emotionally draining as it is. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy massage therapy and know this is what I want to do but some day I doubt that I can get through the 2 years. I have been encouraged so many times by family, friends and my wonderful husband, and that means the world to me. Exams are done for now which is nice but the studying and homework is endless!

Living in the city has been really good. Darcy and I both love it, despite the fact that we are far away from family and friends. It has been really nice to ahng out with Ty and Stef (almost everyday) and get to know them better.

On to more exciting news November 24 marks the day Madelyn Soleil was born. A third neice and Darcy and I are thrilled! We got to go see her Monday afternoon as soon as Am, Erik, and Maddy got home from the hospital. Yes, Amber is amazing and came home a short 9 hours after giving birth to a beautiful little girl. I sadly have no pictures to share of the little bundle of cutness but tomorrow I will take oodles and post them. Am and Erik, I am so proud to have you as my brother and sister. You make such great parents and I love you both Lots!!!!

And Just to end off, my sweet sweet husband brought me flowers after a not so good day at school...

2008-11-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

breath....anatomy mid term is over....i maybe should have studied more than i did but hopefully i did ok. i am not really sure what i should blog about, i seem to have a pretty boring life, or maybe i just am not a creative writer. yes, that must be it. anyways i will just post some pictures. enjoy!

this is what my very talented husband
likes to do in his spare time...

the lamps he made for me

christmas gift for uncle mike and auntie martha

well, i don't feel like waiting another hour to try to load pictures so that is all...oh and my stupid tooth that always chips and needs to be crowned just chipped. love it.

blog post number one

2008-11-15T23:28:00.000-08:00

i have decided to start a new blog. nothing fancy, just a place to post some pictures and keep in touch with family and friends now that we live so far away! i will try to be a faithful blogger, but i make no promises.

life in the city (all 16 days) has been great. it's so nice to not have an hour drive to school every morning and afternoon! the appartment is finally unpacked and the appartment is started to look and feel like a home. school is going well, exams are almost done which i am looking forward to.

and here are some random summer pictures so that this post is not totally useless. i am too tired to post more, hopfully more to come soon...after anatomy midterm (wednesday)

check our darcy's horrible mustache

beautiful

24 hour road trip to sk for kelli & jamie's wedding