2013 at a (long...ish) Glance

(I've been meaning to get this out for about...16 days now but I kept putting it off).
It takes quite a while! And it's also fairly lengthy...lots of pictures!

Well, 2013 is officially over. Seems like just yesterday that it was beginning!

Here's what happened with us throughout the year...

...I left behind my old blog and started anew here!

...Georgey got fixed. 

...I've eaten a lot of ice cream...especially during DQ sales...

...Scott and I left behind our first little apartment together and bought a new house!

(Virtual tour)

...I completed a 30 day hot yoga challenge and I've still been loving it ever since!

(Google images)

...I realized I love TOMS, so comfy!

...I had a spider haunting my vehicle...

...we added another fuzzy cutie to the family! Bruce!

...we went to Texas! Fun times!

...we celebrated our one year anniversary!

...I completed a survey so you could get to know a bit more about me!

...little Brucey got fixed. I remembered how horrible drugged up cone headed kittens are...

(cute yes...but mainly horribly irritating...)

...I test drove a bunch of vehicles, but eventually decided upon a shiny new Subaru!

(about a week later, I ended up with a big ol' crack in the windshield...)

...I did some thinking, and decided to go back to school!

...some Smile Cookies from Tim Horton's were enjoyed!

...I started and finished all the Jane Austen books...and I also decided to withdraw from school (not necessarily related...but they were in the same post).

...I got some color put in my hair for the first time! Purple! 

(Sorry, it's more difficult to see in pictures...)

...cookies were baked! Quite a few cookies...

(mmmm~!)

...Christmastime was nice to see both sides of the family :)

(Had some good times with Hettie while she was here).

(Our "family photo")

And that pretty well sums up our year (give or take a few things here and there)!

The biggest things would probably be... buying a house, buying a new vehicle, and my decisions with school (and a couple things not blog worthy). 

What're your big memories from 2013??

What're you looking forward to in 2014?

Thanks for sticking with me!

Love you too. 

xo T

Hettie Memories and Yummy Things

Happy Saturday to you! Also, Happy First Day of Winter (supposedly....).

A week ago, we had a Hettie come stay with us...and just yesterday I dropped her off at the airport.
It was sad to bid her adieu...but we had a fun week!

I realized we didn't take ANY selfies and there are only a couple pictures in total!
Oh well.
Here's some highlights!

...hot yoga. Hettie had never been, so she decided to take a risk and check it out! She at least somewhat enjoyed it and commented that it was kind of challenging and obviously very hot! We got nice and sweaty!

...we got to work out together. Before she moved, we were work out buddies! It was nice to be reunited and get some good workouts in!

...shopping. We spent a LOT of time at the mall. We're both kind of slow shoppers and apparently we're also quite bad influences on each other....
It was fun regardless ;)

...finding ginormous Toblerone!

I think the picture speaks for itself ;)
No I didn't get one...yet.

...a couple stops at OJs (Original Joe's). For chicken fingers and fries of course. So good!
Though the last time, the fries were definitely under cooked! Even after a second try! Yuck!
No one likes a limp fry. We thought our line of fries looked pretty ridiculous.

...we walked, quite a bit! 

My feet felt so sore!

...we watched a few Christmas-y movies. 

Love Actually, Four Christmases, and The Holiday. 

...we had lots of laughs, good times, and made new memories! 

Miss you!

Enjoy your Christmas...and even more important, the fondue party ;)

Only 4 days left until Christmas now!

I'm hoping you're all ready by now!

On with the 12 Days of Christmas!

On the ninth day of Christmas a Trudy gave to you, nine hot bevies, eight festive goodies, endless heaps of snow, six Christmas songs, fiiive strriiiiiiinnnnggs of liiiiiggggghhhts, four candy canes, three snuggly blankies, two fuzzy kittens, and a small fiber optic treeeeee.

Yes, I'm pretty sure I talk about these hot and festive bevies every year! They're just so tasty! And they're only here once a year...I'm just doing my duty!

I don't have nine different pictures or even nine different bevies for you...but I'll share a few I've been enjoying!

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate (Starbucks)

It was my first. Delicious...and sweet!!!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate (Starbucks)

Always tasty, and not too sweet. 

Candy Cane Hot Chocolate (Tim's)

A classic. Also quite sweet! I'd stick with a small...

(Recall me saying I've been enjoying candy cane flavored things) ;)

Have you been enjoying some festive hot bevies?

What's your favorite?

For the song of the day, I had Beach Boys on the mind! 

Very catchy song!

(Sorry if it's not working to play over blogger...link over to YouTube to hear!)

ORRRRR would you prefer this song??

Oh, and yes...cookie dough making has begun.

Love you too.

xo T

PS. Here's Day 8 if you missed it!

Still loving this song...

TGIF!
We're now diving into the weekend with only 5(!) days left until Christmas!

Today, I was listening to the radio (Lite 95.9 "Calgary's Official Christmas Station") when an interesting they shared an interesting statistic.

Are you ready all ready for Christmas (Canadians)??
69% said they still had at least 1 or more gifts to get.
22% said they haven't even started.
(So I guess approx 9% said yes?)

WHAT THE HECK?!?!

That is definitely procrastination. You go have fun with that...because you're dumb.
Sorry I'm not sorry...

Me?
Please...I've been ready for pretty well a month with a few minor additions!

So which category do you fall under??
Yes, I'll judge. But it's okay! :)

Early this morning, I had to take Hettie to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye, but we had a fun week :)
I'll give more details from the week hopefully tomorrow!

For now, I'll continue with the regular 12 Days of Christmas (Trudy style)!

On the eighth day of Christmas a Trudy gave to you, eight festive goodies, endless heaps of snow, six Christmas songs, fiiive strriiiiiiinnnnggs of liiiiiggggghhhts, four candy canes, three snuggly blankies, two fuzzy kittens, and a small fiber optic treeeeee.

Yesterday, I asked what you're craving now that Christmas is almost here.

What I'm craving is festive goodies! Both baking them and eating them (of course)!

(picture from last year)

Have you done any baking yet?

Or are you a baker? 

I'm no baker by any means...but I do love holiday baking! Everything is so tasty!

Plus, I think it's kind of fun!

Last year, I made a LOT of things. It took lots of time...but they all seemed pretty tasty.

Here's a few examples of what I made last year.

This year, I won't really be doing any repeats from last year...but we'll see.

I'll probably be making some version of Christmas White Trash again.

It's just yummy...and very easy...

ANYWAYS. I haven't even STARTED yet. So I need to get on it...ASAP!

I think that's where I'll be tomorrow ;)

Annnnddd onto the song of the day!

I know I mentioned this song last year and I STILL love it. 

It's pretty.

Sarah McLachlan's cover sounds very nice as well!

Who does it better?
Or do you think they pretty well sound the same?

I'm done for today.
Poutine calls ;)

Love you too.

xo T

PS. Here's Day 7 if you missed it!

PPS. All winners have been accounted for! Now I can quit bugging you :D

Update - Reading, Kittens, Cold and Giveaway's

Well hey there!
I know...I haven't been doing the best at blogging. Usually I like to blog every day in December...because I find Christmastime to be delightful! But alas, I've been a failure. I'll try to do better!

I know I'm not as busy as some of you fine people out there, but I've been busy!

With what??
Well, I'm actually going to do a bit of an update today...so here goes!
I'll start with the minor things and then go on to a slightly more major update later on.

...finished all the Jane Austen books.
Near the beginning of August, I had been on a bit of a binge with watching the Jane Austen movies I could find on Netflix. When that was done, I didn't feel satisfied! So closer to the end of August, I started reading all the books (which are much easier to access). Not only does Scott have them all (he has a rather large collection of books...), but they're free to read on Kobo, which is what I did (in case you're wondering).
I saved my favorite (movie...as I had never read the book) for last, Pride and Prejudice...and it's still my favorite. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are my favorite. Though I did like most of them quite a bit.

Have you read them? Which is your favorite?

(Google images)

...I've got my kittens shots all up to date for the year.

George wasn't too impressed going in twice over the past month...but it's all done! No more Vet visits (unless something goes horribly wrong...Bruce is always up to no good...) for a year now! I think we're all happy about that. My computer (or my phone) is not cooperating for uploading photos right now...so I'll just blast you with a few kitty pictures within the next few days! 

Look forward to that.

I know you are...

...My sister Hettie (and her husband) is visiting from Scotland!

Haven't seen her for a year and a half, so it's definitely been nice! We've been able to talk more often, but I've only seen her once. Next week, we'll have much more time together. ;)

...If you didn't know, it's been decently snowy, slippery and cold lately.

I don't particularly enjoy sliding around and taking so long to get everywhere....but it hasn't been horrible. 

If nothing else, it's definitely looking nice and Christmas-y!

...I've gotten to spend significantly more time with Scott!

Which has been quite nice :)

...I still like ice cream...and hot yoga.

'nuff said.

And lastly...

...I've withdrawn from school. 

I'm not sure what to say about that. No, I wasn't failing or even doing poorly at all. Not sure if the timing was wrong, or if the program was wrong or if I'm just a bum...but I wasn't feeling it and I withdrew.

SO lately, I've been working a few days a week...which isn't too exciting, but it is nice to be making money.

(If you didn't know already...surprise!)

So that's what I've been up to lately. Scott and I have also recently started watching Supernatural on Netflix. I've never really seen it before...some of the episodes creep me out, a lot. But it's keeping us amused. 

I've realized I don't really have any Christmas movies. FAIL!

I love Christmas movies!

So what've you been up to lately? 

What Christmas movies do you have?

OH! One more thing, I've been LOVING the entries/comments for the giveaway. Only a few days to go! Enter now, as it ends this Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Get on it. 

Love you too.

Over and out.

xo T

PS. Christmas is in 2 weeks! O.O!

Vacations - where to?

It has been pretty busy here on my end for the past couple days!

STILL getting over this cold ;( GO AWAY!

I hope it hits the road soon...because soon WE'LL BE HITTING THE ROAD :D!
(Actually more hitting the air....but...you know...).

IT'S VACATION TIME - YAY!!

When do you like to take trips/vacations??

I've only really taken trips in the Spring/Summer, because that seems to be the easiest time to go!
Sometimes, I would LOVE to take off in the Winter and go somewhere WARM!

Do you take trips/vacations every year?

Ideally, I like to take at least one trip or big vacation per year (if possible). I'm sure that won't always be a possibility, but the past few years have been good!
When I was younger, I hardly went on any trips. But the past 5 or so years, I've always done some sort of trip!

Where to this year?

Back to Texas! My sister, Tammy, and her little family lives there. I've visited 2 times now and I'm looking forward to going back!
Good times... ;)
Yes, I was just there 2 years ago with Hettie...but Scott has never been and I LOVE TEXAS :D

So Tammy, we're getting excited! Get ready...because we are ;)

Love you too.

xo T

PS. Answer the questions above yourself!

George loves to bird watch ;)

Is that...sun I see?!

Well hey there! I'm the person that blogs for a couple days and then suddenly is MIA ;)
Nice to see you around here regardless of my negligence...

ANYWHO. I know, I've been doing poorly. Sometimes, life gets in the way y'know?
Then again...I definitely let it ;)

I actually have a few new things to share! But I'm going to hold out on ya until tomorrow.

Can you wait?
I think you can!

Well lately, we've been having no shortage of rain...but thanks to my blogging pal Amber, and her well wishes for sunny days, sunny days have indeed appeared! Just today, the sun came out today and with it, a big old smile on my face! (Now the Joker doesn't have to put it there for me - YAY!)

Why cannot I share more today?
Well because I haven't read a book in...well, many a month. And today I's just gots to do it!
I wouldn't say life is getting in the way...I got something up, didn't I?
A sister of mine was bugging me to give 'The Night Circus' a read quite some time ago and today...I'm starting ;)
This one's for you Hettie!

Love you too.

xo T

PS. Spidey (no, not Toby Maguire) has still not been found. I'm hoping he finally went to spider...hell.
Not because he was a bad spider... but because, in my world, that's where all spiders would go.

First Day!

 

Happy first day of Spring! Or as my mother would probably say... 'Spring has Sprung' ;P

Though I don't think it'll TRULY be Spring for a little bit still. Even though it's supposed to get up to about 10 (Celsius) today, it's also supposed to snow overnight...so there you go.

But the first day of Spring lets us know that Spring is on it's way at least... yay~!

I've basically been doing the same ole' here. Work, packing, hot yoga...busy busy busy.

Hopefully things will slow down a bit after Easter weekend... that's my hope anyways ;)

Yesterday when I went to hot yoga, the heat was not working...the temperature sat just under the room temperature mark (LAME) when it usually gets up to about 95-105 (Fahrenheit). So it was an alright class, but I just didn't work up a full on sweat as per ush. In fact, it felt cold compared to regular days!
Today I walked into the room and the heat was in full force. I didn't realize how much I loved the heat in the morning - so so nice!

So, I am still loving hot yoga, still working, still packing and I'm definitely excited for Spring to finally get here and this snow to be gone for a while!

Love you too.

xo T

PS. I'm pretty sure today and tomorrow are the last days for the DQ Blizzard deal...buy one get one .99 cents. So, if you're wanting a blizzard of the ice cream variety, get it now!

How're things with you? Glad Spring is on the way? Going to DQ? ;)


PPS. Hettie, this is for you ----->
It popped up when I googled 'spring has sprung'.
Clearly he's happy for Spring ;)

(Both images are from Google)