Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Wearing black and orange today is about as festive as I get, other than handing out candy tonight.

News Flash:  Halloween is my least favourite holiday. 

Reasons: 

*Women, young and old, feel they have the devine right to dress extra slutty and get away with it. 

*Men, young and old... let me start over... Boys, young and old, dress up as dorky as possible and get away with it!

*Teenagers knock on my door for candy without costumes on.  Big NO NO.  The least you could do is put a costume on.

On a positive note:  I love when children dress up.  They have the cutest costumes imagineable and I do have a deep love for carving pumpkins, although, I decided not to carve one this year.  Shame on me, I know.

On the plus side, I've managed to not open the box of halloween candy for over week, which I think shows amazing self control!

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm having all 4 wisdom teeth extracted by a dental surgeon, so I will be in no condition to write on the blog tomorrow, but will keep you posted when I'm not so high on painkillers.

I will also post pictures from my Victoria trip this weekend!

~ Christine

From Rain To Snow

I'm back in Alberta and happy to be out of the Victoria rain and back in the snow!

It was a wonderful trip... made some great memories and spent lots of time with relatives.

I was fortunate to be able to do all the things that I really wanted to do.  It was a great experience and I hope to someday take Travis there and maybe our future family!

I will post pictures very soon.

~ Christine

"Where You Going Mom?"

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

Today I'm feeling anxious and excited because I am leaving for Victoria, BC after work.  My flight leaves at 7:05pm and arrives in Victoria at 7:35pm.

This is a trip that has been 24 years in the making.  I'm going to Victoria to meet up with my Gramma who's been there for about a week now. 

We have wanted to go to Victoria together since I can remember and have never had a chance, so when the opportunity came up this month, I couldn't pass it up.

It's been over a year since we've seen each other and would have been another 7 months if I didn't go on this trip.  That's too long to go without seeing the ones you love most!

I will update when I get back from what I anticipate will be a wonderful trip and heartwarming experience.

Although Nixon was a little upset last night that I was packing my suitcase and even more upset this morning when he tried to come with me and I told him he couldn't.  Oh those sad puppy eyes that break my heart.  Lucky for the both of us, Travis is coming back from Saskatchewan today which will thrill Nixon and make me happy that he's home to take care of my baby!



Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

~ Christine

What Keeps Me Going...

Sometimes my days can be really long and I need to find ways to amuse myself.  Lucky for me I've recently come across a few autocorrect websites.

Some of these make me laugh so hard that I can't stop laughing and bring tears to my eyes.

These are just a few of the hundreds that I have read at this point.

Enjoy!

~ Christine

WT....

It's Hump Day!

We're half way through the week and once again, it's felt like the longest week ever!

I miss not having my future husband home with me every night, but he's enjoying the work that he's doing in Saskatchewan which is great!

Winter has finally made an appearance and I think it's here to stay!  Nixon is thrilled about it and he had a blast last night while I shoveled and we went for a walk!

I'm looking forward to leaving on Friday after work and spending 3 nights in Victoria with Gramma. 

~ Christine



I Call...

I call BULLSHIT because it's Monday!

Luckily for me, I had a very productive Sunday, but unfortunately, I barely got any sleep last night because my mind was on overload from my overly productive day.

In other news, I'm thrilled to say that we booked our cake decorator for our wedding.... a very difficult decision.

I told Travis last night that there were three details of the wedding that were extremely important to me:

1. The Photographer

2. The Cake

3. The Dress

Any other details, I could stand to forfeit if it meant having the best of those 3 details!  Fortunately, Travis is so wonderful when it comes to the wedding details and wants to be sure that I have all the details that I want and he doesn't question it. 

On a side note, I found this picture today and couldn't help but post it for Travis, who says this all the time!

HAPPY MONDAY!

~ Christine



White Stuff

After what felt like the longest week of all time, I actually got to sleep in a bit this morning and got to hog the bed all night because Travis is away in Saskatchewan for work.  It seems that's all we are doing this month is traveling.  Travis was away for work at the beginning of the month, then we went to Waskada and Winnipeg, now he's in Saskatchewan and next week I will be in Victoria.  We are hoping that November turns out to be a quiet month for us with some R&R and that we can hammer out some wedding details.  

Tonight feels like a girly movie kind of night, wrapped in a cozy blanket on the couch! 

Happy Saturday Evening to Everyone!

~ Christine

Spill The Beans :)

I am so excited to spill the beans, even though they were already spilled on facebook, but none the less...

CONGRATULATIONS!

To Keith and Allie on their engagement!

It's hard to believe that Keith and Allie have been officially dating for less than a year and are in the process of buying their first home together and now planning a wedding for early 2014.  Some things are just meant to be!

We are thrilled to officially have Allie as a part of our family, even though she has been for several years now.  Travis and Keith have known Allie since they all started at the University of Manitoba about 7 years ago.  Allie has been a part of my life for a few years now and also happens to be one of my beautiful bridesmaids!  So who better to marry my brother than somebody that I trust and love enough to have in our own wedding party!

I wish Keith and Allie a lifetime of happiness, love, laughter, trust and friendship and I hope that all their dreams come true!

I love you both and look forward to your wedding and our future nieces and nephews! :)

~ Christine

Bursting at the Seams

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

I am bursting at the seams with incredible news that I can't quite divulge yet and no, I'm not pregnant.   So you will have to wait a few days until I can spill the beans.

Other than the fact that we are half way through the week, I am happy to say that I found some energy last night and did some baking... something I don't do very often anymore because of our big health kick.

So what's better on a cool October night than a healthy Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!

The 3rd piece was for Dad, not Nixon.

Cake:

1 cup (250 mL) SPLENDA^® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated
1/2 cup (125 mL) brown sugar
3/4 cup (180 mL) canola oil
1 cup (250 mL) egg substitute
1 (15 oz. or 425 g) can pumpkin puree
2 cups (500 mL) flour
2 tsp. (10 mL) baking powder
1 tsp. (5 mL) baking soda
1 tbsp. (15 mL) cinnamon
1/4 tsp. (1 mL) ground cloves
1/4 tsp. (1 mL) salt

Frosting:

1 pkg. (8 oz. or 227 g) reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter, softened
1/2 tsp. (2 mL) vanilla
1 drop imitation maple flavour
1/2 cup (125 mL) SPLENDA^® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated

Directions

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or spray a 13 x 9 inch pan with baking spray. Set aside.
Place SPLENDA^® Granulated, brown sugar, oil, egg substitute and pumpkin puree in a large mixing bowl. Mix until well blended.
Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Pour cake batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated 350°F oven 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake.

Frosting:Place frosting ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until well blended. Ice cake when cake is completely cool

***  4 whole eggs = 1 Cup of Egg Substitute ***

*** It took less than 25 Minutes to cook ***

*** The icing could use a touch more sugar, I suggest whipped cream, coolwhip or dreamwhip instead ***

Feel The Love

Well at least it's not Monday anymore.  Travis and I made through Monday despite our exhaustion from the week prior.

Bob is being released from the hospital today and they will spend a few days in Winnipeg with friends before making their way to Waskada for the rest of his recovery!

Today, My dad is coming to spend the night with us while he travels for work so we are looking forward to that.

And I'm feeling the love today and found these pictures that inspired me.  Perhaps we all need to appreciate our loves a little more than usual because life is short and there is no reason not too. 

~ Christine

Things to be Thankful For

As I mentioned two posts previous, Travis and I made a very short notice drive to Waskada and Winnipeg.  

Travis' dad had to have heart surgery at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg and of course Travis and I wouldn't be anywhere else during that time.  

We started the 12 hour drive to Waskada on Thanksgiving Sunday with Nixon of course and the weather was great and the day went by fairly quickly.   We were so thankful to be able to spend a few days in Waskada with Boo and Maggie and really got to spend some quality time together.  

We were also so thankful to be present for the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Chad Temple Play Park in Waskada.  Thank you to Debbie Temple for organizing the ceremony for Wednesday so that we could all be there before Bob's surgery.  

Again, we want to thank all the volunteers who put the play park together, all the donors and everyone who helped with the hot dog lunch and came out for the ceremony.  In only 3 months, they raised $65,000.00... just amazing!

It was such a touching ceremony and meant the world to us.  We know the children and their families will be able to enjoy this play park for many years to come and someday we hope to bring our own children there!  

So after the ceremony, we started our trek to Winnipeg to spend the night before Bob's surgery.  

Thursday was surgery day and surprisingly the day went by really quickly despite him being in surgery for almost 5 hours and it being about a 15 hour day for us all.  There was a lot of waiting around, but everything went perfectly and better than expected!

Within 24 hours of his surgery, Bob was sitting up in bed, walking to sit in a chair and walking down the hallways!  He has been way ahead of schedule and has had zero complications and remained completely stable since his surgery  

We are so thankful for the surgeons and nurses at St. Boniface Hospital who were nothing but great to us and to Bob.  They allowed us extra time to spend with him when we weren't supposed to and they were beyond compassionate and caring! 

So here's to a quick and wonderful recovery and we expect nothing but great things for Bob! 

We are so thankful for the support of our family and friends and everyone who made a difficult week a little bit easier.

~ Christine & Travis

~ Birthday Surprise ~

Well I must say, Travis successfully planned a surprise birthday celebration for me and I couldn't be happier to tell you all about it!

After spending the evening of Friday, October 5th at the Sheraton in Red Deer for the Engaged Bridal Show to see Randy Fenoli from Say Yes To The Dress, we were pretty exhausted because we didn't get home until 1:00am.  So I thought I would at least get to sleep in on my birthday, but I was wrong.  Travis woke up saying "GET UP, WE SLEPT IN AND NEED TO GET READY TO GO."  Okay, so he didn't yell at me, but he seemed a little panicked.  At this point, I still have no idea what we are doing, so I don't even know what to wear.  He finally told me to dress warm and comfortable so yoga pants, sweater and running shoes it was and off we went out the door!

We got in the truck and started driving towards the mountains!  Now of course, the rocky mountains are one of my favourite places to be, but even more so than the mountains are waterfalls.  So after about an hour of driving and a million guesses on my part, Travis finally confessed that he was taking me to Crescent Falls.

The weather was great and the view was stunning, but I was pretty confused when he asked me if I was ready for lunch considering we were in the middle of nowhere!  So I said yes and we found some picnic tables and out comes Chef Travis with a fully prepped meal for us.  Steak Salad with fresh veggies and cheese and crackers with a view of the mountains... what more could a girl ask for!?  And for dessert... a little birthday pie from a local restaurant... Lemon Meringue for the Birthday Girl and Pumpkin for the Birthday Planner! 

After a fabulous lunch, we got to spend some time hiking up the mountain and enjoying the view of Crescent Falls... with Nixon too of course!  

It was the perfect birthday!  I love my future husband so much! 

~ Christine