Goodbye 20's Hello 30

Today is my 30th Birthday, Happy Birthday to Me!

A decade in review:

Age 20:

• Don't remember, kidding... partly
• University
• P-A-R-T-Y
• Was Renting my first apartment in Downtown Edmonton with my lovely friend Vanessa

Age 21: 

• More University, more party, more living downtown with V
• Completed my BSc in Biology, Specializing in Genetics
• Retired for a summer (I mean there was only so much time you could spend looking for a job right)
• Took an international trip visiting England, Holland, Belgium and France
• Got myself a job 
• Moved with Vanessa & Jess to a 3 bedroom apartment with a washer & dryer
• Got my first car

Age 22:

• Continued living with V & Jess
• Worked as Plant Manager at a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility
• Got engaged to my lovely man

Age 23

• Continued working in various positions at the same pharmaceutical company
• Lived a bit with Murray & Jess
• Bought our first house
• Renovated the basement
• Had various friends & family live with us
• Built our first garage
• Got Married to my lovely husband 

Age 24

• Had my Brother & Sister live with us
• Finished renovating the basement
• Worked as Office Manager & Quality Assurance Manager at a Pharmaceutical company
• Got pregnant

Age 25

• Moved away to Provost buying our first acreage 
• No longer working
• Had massages every month
• Sewed a lot of diapers
• Got two dogs
• My first garden
• Had my first beautiful baby girl
• Play groups
• Started to blog
• Quiet & peaceful year

Age 26

• Obsessed over Nollie
• Became an Auntie
• Bought the truck
• Moved back to DV
• Had my second beautiful baby girl
• Started building our own house

Age 27

• The year of the house build, that's all we did, really that is it
• Became a minivan mama
• Moved into our new house just before Christmas

Age 28

• Continued working on the house as we live there
• Started some landscaping
• Built a shop
• Had our third beautiful baby girl

Age 29

•  Momed
• Started cross country skiing
• Gardened my brains out
• Volunteered on the Swim Club Executive

There you have it, a snippet of my last decade.

Bring it on 30, I'm excited to see what you've got for me!

Stay Out of the Stores

We went so the city shopping for skis earlier this week.  We had a purpose for going into the store but once we were there I felt the pull towards the clearance section, I would just take a peak on the way by.  Soon I was sizing up clothes as if I NEEDED to buy some shirts that had been marked down to $50 or maybe a new jacket marked down to some price that is way out of my price range.  I didn't need any new clothes and before I walked into the store I wouldn't even say I wanted any new clothes.  Maybe it was the excitement of shopping with no kids or simply that it was a SALE but I was ready to B-U-Y.  Luckily I came to my senses before I got anything to the till.  I took it as a reminder that the best way NOT to spend any money is to just STAY OUT of the stores.

MY Dark Chocolate Stash

It started with Curt dipping into my secret (or I guess not so secret) chocolate stash and eating MY dark chocolate and then complaining about how disgusting dark chocolate was... as he ate it.  Agh, quit wasting my good chocolate.  Now he has decided that he really likes my chocolate and he is going into my cupboard every day. Beat it Curt, really.  Since I see him take a piece I think that I need to as well, partly because it puts the idea in my head but it also becomes like a race, I'm afraid he will eat it all and there will be none left for me.

I used to buy only one bar a month and savor it one tiny piece at a time.  Now there is no way that one bar will last the whole month.  Its a good thing I have a bit of a stash from when they were on sale.  I think I may have to find a new hiding spot.  Watch out Curt, I'm cutting you off.

Oh and if you were wondering its the Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate Bars, Intense Orange usually but we recently tried Intense Blackcurrant and that was delightful as well.

Valentines Day Art

While I was busy making my Coffee Art, the girls were making some collages of their own.  I gave them each one of the small canvases from  Dollerama some glue and a bunch of pink and red items from the craft cabinet.  Paint, glitter glue, beads, feathers, pom poms, jewels, buttons, glitter etc.  We killed some serious time at the table creating.

I hung them on the wall as soon as the mass amounts of glue dried.

 

I Heart Coffee

I think my new wall hanging is just the best because: a. I made it and b. I really do love coffee.  I've been dreaming about this project since I bought a batch of crappy coffee beans from the bulk bin about a year ago.  Its no surprise that I can't throw anything out so the beans went to the craft closet until I could come up with a use for them.

I used one of the small canvases from Dollerama, the ones that come in a 3 pack.  A little paint, a little glitter, some hot glued beans and voila, you have a piece of art.

The best part was that I got to enjoy the beautiful aroma of coffee while I did this craft.

Maybe I'll have to make a few more.