A little update

Well nothing is too new here but everyone else has updated their blogs so I figured I better too!! I was in Lake Tahoe last weekend for a ladies retreat and it was AWESOME!! There was about 17 women from our church and we had 3 cabins on the lake. We met in one of the living rooms and watched video's from previous conferences from the Women of Faith. Watching these really encouraged me and I grew in my own relationship with God. I became closer with the women of the church too. Being a "newbie" in the church, I was finding it hard to bond with some of them as they had been there for 20 years. But after the weekend, everyone found a new sense of sister-hood.

We had a few hours on Saturday for free time so some of us went into Carson City (only 20 miles away) to do some shopping. I had an awesome shopping day that day. I bought some pants from Old Navy for $1.97 (Chris was excited about that!!) and the most exciting part is the fact that I bought pants from there. See, Old Navy makes their pants low rise and I could never wear them as the sat on the fattest part of my belly (thank you girls!!) but now I can wear them!!! And they were in 2 sizes smaller than what I was wearing!!!! So of course I had to keep going! I bought 3 shirts from Old Navy also, a dress and 2 shirts from Target and 2 pairs of shoes from Payless. Plus I got stuff for the girls (of course) and some scrap booking stuff. So all in all, it was a great shopping experience. I love those kinds of shopping trips. Chris has stated to me that I need to keep the weight off as he's invested hundreds of dollars of new clothes for me!!!! A little exaggerated but I want to keep it off to cuz I feel better and look better. Still have about 20 pounds to go and I hope to have that gone by the time we go to Snow Lake. Here are a couple pictures of my new purchases :o)

Alyssa has started t-ball and is enjoying that. Her and Brooklyn both are getting anxious for it to get a little warmer so Chris can get the pool set up. Maybe at the end of May. It has been really nice the past couple days. It was cold and snowy on the weekend but today I'm wearing shorts and a tank top!!!

Tagged!

I was tagged by Shanna to write seven random facts about myself. I'm suppose to tag others but nah!! So here it goes :

1) I just got a massage!!! A full body one. It was soooo relaxing and something I think I'll do it a couple times a month. Even moms needs to be pampered from our stressful jobs :o)

2) I LOVE a clean house and can get a little obsessive-compulsive about it. When we leave to go out of town, the house has to be spotless. Then I come home to a clean house and I can relax while we're gone.

3) I'm very organized. I like everything to have a place and for it to be in it's place. If there's no place then get rid of it!!

4) I wanted to have 4 kids. After Alyssa was born, the number quickly fell!! And after Brooklyn, there was no increasing. Things now a days seem to be made for a family of 4 and we're quite happy with our girls and they boy-ish enough to give Chris what he needs!!!

5) I love to cook but feel limited with the variety in our grocery store. I always come across recipes I'd love to try but our store doesn't have the ingredient. Then when we go to a bigger place where I could get it, I forget what it is.

6) I'm getting sooo sick of reality tv. I like Survivor America's Next Top Model, Beauty and the Geek and shows like that but the ones where "America has to vote" suck!! And it seems like every time I turn the tv on, a new one comes on....ugh!! Enough already!!

7) I wanna get another tattoo. A heart or a treble clef. Maybe something on my lower back or something to do with Chris!! Don't know if I ever will again but I always have my eyes opened.

Spring Break in Vegas!!

So we made it back from Vegas and had a great time with virtually no set backs! We got there around supper on Sunday after lots of Easter fun. We had an egg hunt at the house and then went to the church and had a brunch and egg hunt there too. So we have enough chocolate to last a life time!!

Once we got to Vegas we got settled in and had dinner and then took the girls for a walk to see the water show at the Bellagio! They LOVED it! Brooklyn kept asking how the water did that and to not have 100 follow up questions, the answer was magic!! Then on Monday we did a butt load of shopping and hit the OUTDOOR pool in the afternoon! The girls and I had nap so we could make it through the Tournament of Kings show at 8:30. That, was AWESOME. Worth every penny! Something I totally recommend seeing. So kid friendly but just as much fun for the adults. Alyssa has asked to go back every spring break!! They put on a super show and lots of food that we got to eat with our hands!! We even sipped the tomato soup!! The general story was King Arthur and his son Prince Christopher avenging his death after the evil knight killed him. They also had 6 knights from different countries that competed against each other. We were in the Spain section, so that's the knight we cheered for!! All in all, it was a blast!!

The following morning (Tuesday), Chris checked the truck and discovered we had a flat tire. So he put the spare on it that was low too but not as bad as the original and we drove to a Walmart to get it fixed. We would have had to wait an hour just to get them to look at and really all we wanted was for them to fill and check for leaks. So Chris found the repair guy and gave him $20 to fill and check it!! It got us home but still seams to have slow leak. We were a little more nervous than normal driving home as we had a gazebo, 12 bags of dirt and 11 bags of cement in the box of the truck!! Plus a few Walmart bags and the Costco trip had to go in between the girls in the back!!

We got it all home and Chris has even started the landscapping in the back. We're pouring a cement pad and putting the gazebo on that, along with our patio set. So hopefully we'll get that done in the next few days. Here are some pictures of Easter and our trip and one of Alyssa doing a bridge at gymnastics!

Another year closer to 30!!!

So today is my birthday...my 26th birthday!! I like to use my birthdays as a time for reflection and see what's changed in my life the past year. Am I where I thought I'd be? Have I accomplished things that I wanted to? Am I proud of my life? This year, the answer to all those questions in YES!! I always wanted to a have a family. It started a little earlier than what I had planned but I always wanted kids and to be married. I've accomplished more this year than I did last year!! I've lost 35 pounds (and counting), we've moved to another country, I'm more involved with the church. These may not be huge things or anything to "write-home-about" but these are few things that through this past year have bee huge changes in my life. I am very proud of my life. The only thing I wish maybe that I could have done was go to college. I was planning to attend Mount Royal College in Calgary and take Recreational Therapy after my year at Bible school. But as we all know.......things change!! Do I regret this....no. My life took a corner I hadn't planned on at that time but in the end, am so glad it did. I can always go back to college but I only have one Alyssa!!


Speaking of which. She made me breakfast in bed this morning!! It was 6:40am and I hear banging in the kitchen and the toaster click and I'm thinking "Great, she's making toast with bread I don't eat!!!" I only eat low-carb bread. So I keep on pretending sleeping as she brings in my toast with PB and Raisin Bran cereal with 3 times more milk than needed and a glass of water. Then she leaves and comes back with a note that says "Happy Birthday Mom. To Mom, Love Alyssa." And she goes back to bed! So I get up and go to her and ask her if she wants to share the breakfast with me (this way I don't have to eat the toast) and she does. So she eats the toast and I choke down one spoonful of a very soggy cereal and ask her if I could get another bowl after I do my workout as this is all soggy!! She had no problem with it. So she ate the toast and I drank the water in my bed together and had a great few minutes together before it was time to get ready for school. Needless to say it was a great way to start off my birthday!! Here's a picture of what I woke up to:


Tonight we're going over to my mom and dad's to have my birthday supper which includes steak, shrimp, caesar salad, fresh veggies and dip and my new favourite cauliflower dish which I make to look like mash potatoes!! And angel food cake for dessert. So I am very much looking forward to that! On Sunday we head off to Vegas for two nights after church. So I said to Chris instead of spending lots on me for a present, we'll go to the Tournament of Knights at our hotel (The Excalibur). This $50 a person show (yikes!!) includes a meal that you eat with your hands while you enjoy a show of jousting, sword fighting and all the medieval fun!! So that will be my present and this way we can all enjoy it. All in all, should be a great birthday. Here' a picture of me that I took myself (that's why it's bad!!) today in my size smaller outfit!!!