the scenic route to dufferin county

I have yet to find the "perfect" bricks and mortar retailer for scrapbooking goodies. So I tend to get my stash, a little bit from here and a little bit from there. Today, Mom, Chelsea and I ventured towards a road not taken. Where roads wind up and down for KMs with no sight of what's ahead. We were headed to a Scrapbook Warehouse Sale by Open Page Wholesalers. I think twice a year they open their warehouse to the public and the MRSP is around 40-70% off and because of this, we decided to take the drive. (The last time they opened their warehouse - which used to be in Mississauga - I went with Janelle, not a much stuff, but still a wicked deal). Today, I ended up with these lovely goodies, because of the Thickers, the drive was well worth it!

I think I've got my fix for a while :)

I'm inspired, I'm happy.

Also, this little bugger is also keeping me beaming from ear to ear.

Even though some days are hard and more difficult than others, at the end of the day, motherhood is tres fulfilling. I'm learning so much every step of the way. I know I say it often, but my heart still flutters when you're sleeping at night and I take a glimpse of you, my son. I know that Ryan also feels the same way. When he catches you in a cute pose while you're sleeping, he can't help but tap my shoulder to make me look at you. Aiden, you are our joy.

compromising with earphones!

There's nothing better than being able to snuggle up with my two favourite boys after a hard day's work (hehe!). But tonight, I'm snuggling with A snoring and Ry watching his 1464216th episode of Heroes, did I mention that he started the series today? I watched one episode and he's managed to get to the end of the box set. And because I don't want to watch at the point where he is, I'm sitting here, in the dark, well the screen light of the TV and our mac with earphones jamming to a little t.swift (who's obvi my most recent girl crush). The things that keep a marriage happy :)

I've been pretty good with my blog posts, ok, well, 8 posts in 28 days .. not too too shabby, hey I do blog about our house process too! But better start than most. However, been slacking incredibly on my photo taking! Making it a point to capture some shots this weekend and the upcoming week ... thinking about investing in a digital SLR, but it's a huge splurge. Maybe something that we can't justify for leisure's sake at the moment. Still need to save approx. 10K for our closing costs, but our saving is on track! *relief!

Day off tomorrow, splendid.

it was a cold one in Toronto!

Today was chilly.

We've been rather lucky that we haven't had such a bad winter, actually it's been spring like conditions for the past couple of days, but goodness, today was a cold one. Particularly a bummer for Aiden as he just recovered from a high fever and a bit of a cold only to have to leave the comfort of our cozy home to venture off to Burlington for the day because mama has lecture and daddy's gotta work. He looked so cute all bundled up, scarf, toque and tiny red mittens.

My day consisted of lunch with Ryan at South St. Burger Co., which I don't think I can handle again because of the size of the damn burger. Ryan always craves pizza, burgers and subway. I rarely eat pizza, can chow down on the occasional burger and get sick of subway fast. After lunch, I drove down to the city for my lecture (when you're driving, it's hard to feel the wind chill, so I never realize how cold it is unless I'm walking from Union Station to campus and vice versa).

In class today, we had about 30 students from Amsterdam sit in on our lecture. They were in Toronto for the week to experience the retail atmosphere of the downtown core. They shared with us about their visits to various retailers naming Nike, Walmart and Loblaw as stand outs, tourist retailing in Niagara Falls, the incredible vision that is the Toronto Eaton Centre and told us how ecstatic they were to watch a Marlie's game and see the Raptor's defeat the Miami Heat! Something I thought was so cute: "we just don't quite understand the concept of, uhhh, a what is it, called, there's so many food choices, a food court - we don't have food courts, we've never seen so many people eating in the same place at the same time". Hehehe. What I thought was particularly interesting was the fact that they were 3 year students all working fulltime in management roles while doing their Bachelor's degree. Such a different mindset and concept then here in North America. Takes much determination, time management skills and focus to be in such a competitive atmosphere. Definitely a pleasure to have them attend. Such an outing bunch of individuals who provided us with some insights on retailing in the Netherlands.

save the date!

As the wicked MOH that I am (hehe), I've been nagging Carissa to finally start, create and mail out her Save the Date cards. So excited that she liked the one and only template that I created. And we were able to start and finish 100+ cards all in one shot!

I could do this all the days of my life & be happy ...

& 5 hours later, the final product! :D

sugar & spice

... baby girls are so nice!

(except my baby A is pretty darn fantastic!)

We weren't able to attend baby Lealana's shower because Aiden isn't feeling too hot. Crappy fever and horrible cough and of course, a runny nose. But we send along a wicked gift filled with all the things that you don't think you need but really need when a baby is born: loads of receiving blankets, mini towels (for spit, drool and all that fun stuff), cute little , nursing pads and DIAPERS! Esp. digging the wrapping and the card ... truly thinking I can spend my entire life creating and be .. happy.

four really means one

I can't seem to decide my entire life all in on sitting. Sometimes I wish I was just destined to do something, that I had some sort of concrete plan towards my happiness ... or maybe, sometimes I even wish, someone chose something for me. Ok, scratch that last thought, I lied.

How do I say no to something / someone that always was supposed to be my meant to be. This is supposed to be my "next step" ... how do I regretfully decline?

Excuse me while I write a cover letter,

Oh I loathe career making decisions.

every little bit helps ...

So let's dig deep

& give generously.

last one!

Today, starts the first day of my last semester of university.

(finally)

Excited to be finished, excited for what will come next.

Applications are being accepted as of January 18th, you better believe mine will be in there.

Picking some brains of school friends who graduated last year, mixed feelings everywhere.

After school, I have a date with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and our bathroom, woot.

and then, I want to do this.

I always thought this phase was over

As much as I try to hold all my feelings of insecurities inside, I can't help but feel this way, some days. Even though I have much going for me & much to be thankful, wrong words, hurtful words .. still have an effect on me, especially when it comes from the people that I care about the most.

I never want to be in a position where we hate each other so much that we can't stand being with each other anymore.

That's my greatest fear.

here's to 2010!

Finally got to countdown with Ryan! First time ever in 8 years, he made it home from work to greet A & I a very happy 2010.

Already feel like this year's going to be a BIG one :)

Happy 2010!