Ten on Tuesday

#45

1. Pretend it’s Monday morning–take us through a day in the life of you.
This will all be changing once I end my job and start a new one, but we’ll just go with how a typical Monday is with my regular Nanny Family during the school year.

5:30am- Wake up, eat, drink coffee/read blogs, get ready for the day.
7:30am-Arrive at work. Get kids fed and dressed for school. Start some laundry.
9am-Get kids to school.
9-11:30am- Get chores done around the house.
11:30am-Pick up J from kindergarten.
Noon-Kids come home for lunch.
1pm- Kids are back at school.
1pm-3:30pm- Hang out with J. Do homework, chores, play.
3:30pm- Pick up older kids from school. Snacks/homework.
I go home sometime between 5pm-6pm.

For the rest of the night, it’s mainly just puttering around the house. Eating dinner, reading blogs, watching TV.

2. What’s your favorite reality TV show?
Right now, it’s Teen Mom, Jersey Shore and Big Brother.

3. What motto do you live by?
I don’t really have a motto, but I’m pretty big on doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.

4. If you knew could you try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt?
Opening my own bakery/coffee shop.

5. What was your first job?
I used to deliver fliers!

6. What is your current job?
I’m a nanny.

7. What would you call yourself if you could choose your own name (and you cannot pick the one you already have)?
Grace.

8. What musical instruments can you play?
I can play the flute.

9. Is it easier to forgive or forget?
It depends on the situation.

10. What is one food you’d never want to taste again?
Seafood of any sort.

A Birthday BBQ

On August 14th, my baby sister turned 19. Last weekend, we helped her celebrate by having a big BBQ in Bowness Park. It was a fantastic BBQ, which turned into a mini family reunion. The Vulcan Sister and her boyfriend + three puppies came in, our Uncle Greg and his partner came by and our Uncle Darcy flew in from Vancouver! Ok, so Uncle Darcy didn’t fly in specifically for this event, but the timing just happened to work out perfectly. Add in a sprinkling of really close friends and a Saturday night that Stephen wasn’t working, and I’d call that a perfect evening in the park.

{My Dad plus 2/3 of the boyfriends.}

There was plenty of good food to go around: I baked a few treats, there was birthday cake, hotdogs, hamburgers and salads. Yum! Leave it to the guys to take care of the barbecuing.

One of my favorite babies made an appearance. (Are they still babies when they’re almost two? She’ll always be a baby to me!) I had so much fun walking with her by the river and playing at the park.

{Abby and Iggy}

{Jaybo and Lily}

We had 4 dogs join us in the festivities, and as you can see, Jaybo and Lily got a little rowdy and tried to steal some food. Made me want a dog so much more!

{The birthday girl!}

This picture is kind of blurry, but is definitely my favorite from the night. I wish that we could all get together more often, we always have so much fun!

All of this just makes me wonder one thing, why the heck is my birthday in the winter? I wish I could celebrate like this!

7 Quick Takes (Vol 13)

1. I’ve been job hunting in full force this week. Every spare moment outside of work has been devoted to returning phone calls, replying to emails and scheduling interviews. It’s tiring, and my Google Reader is sitting neglected. I’m sorry.

2. I’ve had two interviews so far, with one today and another one hopefully tomorrow. So far, both interviews went extremely well. I have to call them back this weekend and let them know my thoughts on wanting the jobs.

3. I keep getting emails from people wanting to offer me the same rate as a day home. Here’s the thing: With a day home, there are several different children, so it’s ok to charge less because you’re getting the income from several different families. Plus, you’re doing it all in your house. With a nanny, the one family that I work for is my sole source of income, so no, you cannot pay me $30-$60 for a full day of work. Nannies are more expensive, but you get more personalised care in your home.

4. I’ve had several people emailing me and asking me if I’d be willing to travel outside of Calgary to work for them. Sorry, but no. I scheduled an interview with a family that sounded promising (3 kids with twins of the way!), but then found out that they don’t live in Calgary. Even if it is a short commute, I can’t do it. I figured that would be information a family would offer up first thing.

5. I could probably write an entire post on how to hire a nanny.
I’m sorry this post is so job oriented right now, it’s all I’ve got on the brain.

6. I’ve got a cold. I don’t recall ever being the type of person who gets summer colds, it’s just plain weird being sick like this when it’s 28C.

7. I’m having a Spice World party tonight. You read that right, be jealous!

Another Trip To The Zoo

The past two weeks have been busy for me. Between family staying with us last week, and job hunting this week, I haven’t had much time for pleasure baking. I say pleasure baking because I’ve actually been baking up a storm at work, to stock up my Nanny Family’s freezer with cookies. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to take pictures of, so you’ll have to wait until next week for a recipe. I’m sure you can forgive me though!

Last Friday was a designated Zoo day. It was supposed to be a big trip, including Stephen, his brother, girlfriend and their baby and my three Friday kids. Due to unforeseen circumstances that I won’t get into out of respect for privacy, Stephen’s brother, girlfriend and baby didn’t end up making the trip with us. They slept for most of the day, so Stephen still decided to come with my Friday kids and I (who still had to go because I was working after all). My Friday boys adore Stephen. My heart melted a little every time they wanted to hold his hand over mine! We also discovered that seeing animals is fun, but letting the kids run around on a patch of grass is twice as fun. Stephen and I sat on a bench, and the kids ran and wrestled for a good half hour. I can’t believe they didn’t tire themselves out! Stephen says that they have too much energy for him.

For the first time in years, I walked through the Canadian Wilds exhibit. I normally skip that area of the zoo, because it’s filled with animals that I can see when I go camping!

Apparently this time around, I took way more pictures of my kids than I took of the animals. I have a few pictures that are hilarious; I’ll have to print them off for their parents as well.

I’ve discovered that the best work day I could ever have is spending the day at the zoo with Stephen and my kids. The day went by so fast, and I didn’t even feel like I was working!

When Family Comes To Visit

Last week, Stephen’s brother, girlfriend and their baby came and stayed with us. It was quite the eventful week, but worth every moment.
Stephen and I slept on an air mattress, smack dab in the middle of the living room; we had given up our bedroom to the new parents. It was hot, but we survived with three fans on us.

One of the nights was designated as game night. We had gotten in touch with our old roommate (who inexplicably fell off the face of the earth for a few months), so we invited him over, made some chilli and played Settlers. The night turned out to be much more entertaining after a few beers had been consumed, and someone (other than the Baby Mama) tried out the breast pump. I even have the video to blackmail them with later in life.

I had to work 4 of the days they were here, but I did have one day off, which we took advantage of by going to Barrier Lake for the day.

Meeting my one month old nephew for the first time was one of the most special moments. He was such a snuggly bundle or preciousness, and he sent my baby fever into overdrive.

As is the case with any baby that crosses my path, I barely put Kolton down. I didn’t want to miss a single moment of snuggle time, even if it meant that Stephen and I had duke it out once or twice over who got him next.

I’m hoping that we’ll get to see Kolton again soon, I already miss that squishy little face!

Ten on Tuesday

#44

For each of the following, take a picture. This is a chance for us to get a literal glimpse into each other’s lives. Feel free to skip a question if it doesn’t apply to you or it’s too personal. You can include explanations if necessary.
1. Your house.

{My apartment building. Our apartment is on the back.}

2. Your shower.

{Sorry, but you don’t get the inside.}

3. The inside of your refrigerator.

4. Your pet.

5. Your favorite pair of shoes.

My actual favorite pair of shoes seem to be missing, but these are a close second. Apparently I need to dust them though. Who knew?

6. The most comfortable seat in your house.

Stephen will probably argue with me over this one, but besides our bed, I find this seat to be the most comfortable. It was either this, or the bar stools. Stephen’s always in his computer chair, so I never get to sit in it.

7. Your favorite cup or coffee mug.

It was dirty, so I washed it. I was too impatient to dry it though.

8. Your laundry room.

Creepy, right? Yes, that’s my purse you see.

9. The view from your office chair.
We don’t have an office/I don’t work in an office.

10. Your spouse/significant other/roommate.
This is Stephen, the guy I’m madly in love with.

Giveaway Winner

I was pretty excited to be able to host my first giveaway, and even more excited to notice that it attracted some new followers. Hopefully you guys will stick around so I can get to know you better!

I decided to draw a winner the old fashioned way. I wrote everyone’s names down on a piece of paper:

Cut them all out and threw them in my red mixing bowl:

Then…I drew the winner!

The winner is Ashley, from Double Shot of Texas!
This is what she said that she likes to bring to dinner parties:
"i tend to show up with some kind of dessert. for an informal family friend's wedding i brought cake pops (of course in the shape of wedding cakes and beautifully decorated by my family). those were a lot of fun.”

Ashley, I’ll be emailing you to let you know that you won, and then someone from CSN Stores will also be emailing you, with the code for the gift certificate.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 12)

1. I met my nephew for the first time this week! He’s absolutely perfect, and has sent my baby fever into overdrive. Pictures will come next week.

2. We’ve given up our room this week so that Stephen’s brother and girlfriend can sleep in our bed. Stephen and I are currently sleeping on an air mattress in the living room. There’s just not a whole lot of room in our apartment, but I’m happy regardless. Although, I did have to straighten my hair the other morning in the kitchen. The outlet in the bathroom doesn’t work, and there was nowhere else to do it! I must have been quite the sight, perched on a bar stool at 6am, working on my hair at the kitchen counter.

3. Because of the extra bodies in the apartment this week, we’ve accumulated a few more fans. We’ve got three going in the living room and 2 in the bedroom. Stephen promised me that next summer, we’re buying an air conditioner.

4. I wasn’t able to take this week off from work, so I’ve been missing out on the baby action during the day. To top that off, I’ve been working late hours as well. Of course that had to happen this week!

5. I’m still job hunting. Someone wants to try and set an interview up for next week, so keep your fingers crossed for me that all goes well!

6. Tomorrow night, my sister is hosting a BBQ in a park to celebrate her 19th birthday. I’m pretty excited to eat good food with a whole bunch of people! I’m in charge of desserts, of course.

7. Have you entered my giveaway yet? If not, go and enter here.

Strawberry Cream Pie

This time of year, grocery stores around here have big containers of the juiciest red strawberries I have ever seen! I always get suckered into buying a container, and because they’re so big, I need to be clever about how I’m going to use them up before they go bad Believe it or not, there’s only so much Nutella and Strawberries a girl can eat. Not even my guinea pig can help me get through them quick enough! When I had seen that Pioneer Woman had posted a recipe fro Raspberry Cream Pie, I knew that I had to change it up and make myself a Strawberry Cream Pie. I was glad that I did, because it was such a refreshing dessert to enjoy in my hot apartment, while watching some trashy reality show that I just can’t stay away from.

Strawberry Cream Pie
Adapted from Pioneer Woman

(Printable Recipe)

1 Oreo pie crust
I cup strawberries
3 tbsp sugar
2 6 oz containers of strawberry yogurt
1 package vanilla pudding mix
1 cup whipping cream

1. Prepare pie crust if not premade.
2. On a plate, smoosh the strawberries with a fork. Mix with sugar and let sit for ten minutes. Drain excess liquid.

3. In a mixer, beat together yogurt and vanilla pudding on low for one minute. Beat in whipping cream until mixture is thick.
4. Fold in strawberries. Pour into pie pan and spread evenly. Freeze until firm, about 2 hours. Keep in freezer.

Date Night

For the first time in ages, Stephen had an entire weekend off. Feeling like it was my birthday or something, I asked Stephen if we could have a date night and he agreed it was about time for one again. We didn’t do anything spectacular, but just being together was perfect.

We started off our afternoon by walking over to the movie theatre to see The Expendables. I had only agreed to see it to make Stephen happy, but I ended up loving it too! I was one of only two girls in the movie theatre, so I think that we both need to win awards for girlfriends of the year.

{image found here.}

After a nice leisurely walk home, and then some time to relax, we got dressed up to head out for dinner. We had made reservations at West Restaurant and Bar, and it did not disappoint! I had the most amazing Tandoori Chicken Linguini, and Stephen had some pretty awesome roasted chicken and ribs. Stephen asked if I wanted a cocktail, so I told him to take a guess and order me what he thought I would like. He ordered me watermelon drink that was made with real watermelon and came with a sprig of fresh rosemary. I may have to head back there for some more of those…

Afterward, we had my nanny friend and her husband over for game night. Naturally, we played Settlers, but we also busted out Cranium. Stephen and I are usually experts at the Word Worm category, but I guess we weren’t so lucky this time around. We kept getting hung up on the silliest things. (Stephen-Quagmire spelled backwards does not start with a Q! I’m still shaking my head at that one.)

{image found here.}

After all was said and done, I’ll have to mark this past Saturday as one of the best I’ve had in a while. Let’s hope that Stephen gets some more weekends off in the future!

A Guest Post On Camping

Andi from Fuegita Bonita is my oldest blogging friend; we go back six years. Who knew blogs even existed back then? Her post prompted me to head back to our Live Journal accounts and read through some of our archives. All I can say is be thankful that we’ve outgrown our angsty posts. Oh, and I just have to throw in a camping experience of my own (hopefully Andi doesn’t mind me sharing the spotlight): When I first moved to Calgary, I went to a church camp in July, in the mountains AND IT SNOWED ON US. Everyone’s tents collapsed and we spent the rest of the week sleeping in a church.
**********

Since Angela was originally going to go camping this week, I thought I would write about some of my camping experiences. I like to camp sometimes.

The past couple of years, my friends would come out for the Ren Fest and we would camp like 5 minutes away. They would camp two nights, me one. Last year, we slept on a tarp under the stars. Kinda annoying, since they still expected me to help pay the tent fee, for a tent I was never in. Boo. It was kind of fun. I never take enough blankets and freeze my butt off.

One time in college, we went camping. I had a bottle of vodka that I’d had for a long time and wanted to get rid of it, so I brought it along. Holy cow. I passed out with a rock under my thigh, so when I woke up, my leg was asleep which made it hard to get out to puke. That trip was fun though, it was at a lake. We went exploring and there was this really rocky area that we climbed down. Actually, that year me and Angela exchanged pictures of each other to take with us on adventure. I sent her a pic from this trip were I was cooking. She sent me one I took to a football game.

Then there was the time I went to my mom’s church Girl’s Camp. That was quite the adventure. I got a really bad sunburn. The girl I shared a tent with was evil. There was another tent that we didn’t really like the girls, so she put food around their tent, which didn’t zip up, so they had raccoons in and around their tent. So to get back at her they put food all around our tent, but the day they did it, she slept in her sister’s tent so it didn’t affect her, and I couldn’t get to our tent. I also got stung by a bee on that trip. We were just walking along through a field, when all the sudden I felt something in my sandal. I thought it was a flower or something. I looked down, there was a bee between my littlest toe and the next one. He was laying on his back, with his little legs on the strap, just chilling. Then he stung me. I had no idea if I was allergic to bee stings so I started freaking out.

I think the best camping trip, was when I was in 7^th grade, I went with a church group. We went to some place near St Louis. There were 2 girls on it that I didn’t know and were mean. But we went spelunking. That was the coolest thing ever. One cave was called mushroom cave. Sadly I didn’t get to see the mushrooms as the first part we went in didn’t have them and they left me when they went in the second time since I was looking at some cuts I got. Saw lots of bats. To wash off after the caves, we went to a near by river. I lost my sandals in the river and was terrified my mom would kill me for it. She didn’t, she was just like oh well summer’s over anyway. I would love to go back. The first night out there, my friend I was sharing a tent with, kicked a hole in the tent during the night, that kinda sucked. There were so many katydids at the camp site, that they started cooking and eating them. Me and like one other person were the only ones that didn’t try them.

Well, there’s been a lot more but those are the most memorable and this has gotten really long. Maybe I’ll post more stories on my blog sometime. Drop by! ~ Fuegita

My First Giveaway! ($25 Gift Card)

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.

To start off my week of not being around here much, I figured I would make it up to you guys by hosting my first ever giveaway! CSN Stores contacted me and asked if I would be willing to host a giveaway for a $25 gift card, and of course I couldn’t say no. CSN Stores is fantastic because they have over 200 online stores, where you can find everything you may need, from cookware and bakeware to dining room sets. You could buy everything you need to host a fabulous dinner party!

{image via cookware.com}

In order to win the $25 gift card, all you have to do is comment below with your favorite dish to make at a dinner party! (You must be a follower of my blog.)

Bonus Entries: If you blog about this giveaway or tweet about it. (Please leave a separate comment for each one, with a link to the post/tweet.)

You’ll have until Sunday morning to enter the giveaway. I’ll be picking the winner on Sunday evening (the 22nd) and posting the winner on Monday morning (I’ll also be emailing them). Someone from CSN Stores will be emailing the winner the gift card.

This contest is only open to residents of Canada and the US. (Sorry international followers.)

Good luck!

Disclosure: I’ll also be receiving a $25 gift card so that I may review a product of my choice; look out for my future post containing the review.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 11)

1. I found out this week that my time with my regular nanny family is just about over. I didn’t get fired or anything like that; the kids are at an age that they don’t really need a nanny anymore. I was expecting this, but hadn’t been given a definitive answer until this week. This is hard on me because I’ve been with these kids for nearly 5 years, but all good things come to an end. I’m currently polishing up my resume. Fun fact: I’ve never had to turn in a resume. None of the families that I interviewed with have requested that I give them one, but the family I just applied with requested one. Yes, this means I’m job hunting. This next couple of weeks are going to be stressful, so please keeping me in your prayers/send me good thoughts. I need to find a job quickly.
Let’s hope the next couple of weeks go slow so that I can savour my last moments with my favorite kids ever.

2. I’m still working with my Friday kids, just in case you’re wondering. They’re still as lovely as ever. I wish they could take me on full time! (I think I'm going to pitch that idea to the Mom and see what she says…)

3. We’re not going camping anymore. Sharon got an infection (she had had a C-Section), so she didn’t want to risk aggravating it by camping. They’re still coming to visit, which means that we’ll have two other adults plus a month old baby staying in our teeny apartment. I’m ridiculously excited! I still have to work while they’re here. Since I only have a limited time with my nanny family, it wouldn’t be a good idea at all to get the time off. We’re still going to fit in lots of fun, which means I won’t be around much next week.

4. Speaking of which, I’m scheduling blog posts for the entire week. I do have one guest post that will go up on Tuesday, from my oldest blog friend.

5. Stephen has Saturday and Sunday off, which is a real treat for both of us. We’ve planned for Saturday to be a “Date Day”. We’ll be going to the movies in the afternoon, then dinner, and then I’ve invited my Nanny Friend and her husband over for a game night. I’m looking forward to unwinding after a long and hard week.

6. Sunday will be spent shopping for presents for our baby nephew and preparing the apartment for our guests.

7. My 7 Quick Takes are never really short as the name would imply. Oh well. Everyone who knows me in real life can attest to the fact that I talk a lot.

Love Bomb

I believe in the power of the blogosphere, so when I heard about the Let’s Drop a Love Bomb blog, I knew I’d be on board with this mission. Please take the time to check out this mission headed by Lauren, this is an amazing thing that she’s doing! And if you want to join along every week, you'll be able to find out how at her blog!

- - -

Hey Team!

This week's mission is one that hits me at my core.

It was suggested by one of the awesome anonymous women in our Love Bomb family.

Her friend, Bria, is a 22 year old young woman who has severe clinical depression and anxiety (severe panic attacks included) and in June she checked herself into the hospital in hopes of help. She was doing better, but has, in her own words, relapsed. For the first time, she is suicidal.

This past year I dealt with the same, which resulted in multiple hospital visits and medication. I will never forget the thoughts, emotions (and lack thereof), pain, and darkness that seemed consume me 24/7.

Written encouragement and love have such incredible power in times like these. They were two of the greatest contributing factors to bringing here: to a place of joy, stability and health. I still cannot express how thankful I am for those that went out of their way at this time to speak hope into me.

I am SO thrilled and excited to see all of you come together for this mission to provide exactly what Bria needs most: love, encouragement and hope. I have full faith that she can overcome this, and that we can be what helps get her there.

Let's get on it, team! Join me in dropping a Love Bomb on Bria.

You can leave a comment on her blog here:
http://devilishdelish.com/2010/08/08/this-life-is-a-struggle-and-i-am-ready-to-give-up/

Lauren

Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream- Without An Ice Cream Maker!

A little while back, I mentioned that I was going to order the KitchenAid ice cream maker attachment. To spare you from a long story that came about due to an error on my part, I didn’t order it because I couldn’t bear to spend so much on shipping. Buying the attachment has been put on the back burner for now, but the idea of making my own ice cream has still been at the forefront of my mind.

Amanda (from kevinandamanda.com) posted some recipes for ice cream that didn’t require an ice cream maker, and I was sold on the idea. I ended up picking out the Cinnamon Bun flavor because Stephen isn’t a fan of the other flavors, and we all know that I don’t need an entire container of ice cream to myself. This ice cream is ridiculously easy to make, but it’s also very rich. You’ll only need to eat a small portion at a time. Trust me! I also subbed in a vanilla bean for the vanilla extract, because vanilla beans are a beautiful thing.

Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream
Adapted from Kevinandamanda.com

(Printable Recipe)

2 cups heavy cream
1-14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 tablespoons of melted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 vanilla bean (or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)

1. Whip cream to stiff peaks.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together condensed milk, butter, and cinnamon. Cut a vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the mixture. Whisk again.
3. Fold whipped cream into the milk mixture. Pour into a container and freeze for 6 hours, or until firm. (I left it in overnight.)

{I love vanilla bean flecks and cinnamon!}

Kurt Halsey

A few years ago, I stumbled across artwork by Kurt Halsey. Since then, I’ve been admiring his work from afar, but had never bought any pieces of my own. Two Christmases ago, I decided to start off small and ordered the 2009 Calendar. Stephen placed the order for me, and sneakily added on a few more items to be given to me as Christmas gifts. There’s a good chance that I probably squealed when I opened up the gifts from him (he spoiled me rotten our first Christmas together).

{Everything Adventurous Magnet}

{Little Lovers Prints}

Since that Christmas, I’ve been frequenting his website, longing to own an original. I discovered a live journal community that Kurt himself was a member of, and kept track of his work through there as well. I also learned just how kind Kurt his, and how much he truly cares about his fans. I’d often read comments left by Kurt, offering to fix artwork that had arrived in the mail damaged.

While owning an original is still a ways off for me, I noticed several weeks ago that he was selling postcards from his latest show, and if you pre-ordered them, he’d include a couple of handwritten post-it notes. I jumped all over that chance! Last week, my postcards arrived, and I’m pretty excited to call them mine!

{My post-it notes}

{The entire set of postcards}

{A few close ups}

Do you have any favorite artists?