Sledding {Finally!}

This week has been a bit of a wake up call after having two glorious weeks of holiday vacation time. The time off was just what the doctor ordered and I did my absolute best to have a good time, be slightly productive with projects and sleep in as much as humanly possible.

Mission accomplished.





On our way back from Atlanta we purposely scheduled our flight to drop us right in our favorite New England city - Portland, Maine. That way we would break up our trip a bit and tag on a few days with several friends from camp.





We spent two nights curled up in the cutest house I ever did see, complete with a barn out back and a wood burning stove that kept us toasty for the New Years celebration.





We were only in town for one full day and we obviously chose to bundle up in all of our snow gear and head over to camp for a little exploration. Between the five of us, we've logged an astonishing number of summers at camp so it only seemed appropriate that we finally get to see it under a blanket of snow and, more importantly, finally walk on the lake.





Looking at all the snow was cool, and the lake was most certainly frozen but the main attraction was (drum roll please) sledding!

Y'all. It's been on my winter bucket list ever since I moved to Canada. Every year our friends discuss how we're all going to go sledding THIS weekend. Every year we talk about it and every year sledding gets but on the back burner.





But not last weekend. We bundled up in full snow gear, dug a sled out of the shed, filled the thermos with hot cocoa and set off for camp.

Of the few hills that we suspected would be good for sledding, we settled on the water ski beach first and then moved over to the baseball field. I'm not going to lie, a very small part of me was a little nervous. I mean, I haven't been on a sled since I was about six years old.

Let me tell you, it was awesome. We each took turns blazing a trail down the hill so that the next person in line got an even faster ride.

Our blue L.L.Bean kids sled was impressively fast and even managed to dump a few of us over on occasion.





We kept sliding (as the Canadians call it) until the sun set on our little party. I had long forgotten my frozen toes at that point and our sledding had progressed to the point of shoveling small hills to catch air on and trying to avoid hitting the camp theater. Most of us were out of breath from climbing up the hill a million times and TC had long since thrown off his gloves and jacket.





After almost a decade of working at camp it was definitely a career highlight to see it in the winter and go sledding down the very beach that I usually walk barefoot on while wearing my bathing suit and board shorts.

Now that real life is back in full effect, I'm even more glad that TC and I added on the extra few hours to our trip in order to make time for New Years at camp. It was definitely the perfect way to finish out 2013.

{Yes, walking on icy snow is tough. Kasey demonstrated that several times.}

Hello There.

Good news! I'm am not stranded in an apple orchard. No, in fact I left the apple orchard that day and simply hung up my blogger hat. As it turns out, blogging takes up a good bit of time and life was picking up the pace. Something needed to give. Family, work, sleep, and home all take precedence. And if I'm being honest, it was really work that was suffering. I realized one day that what I really needed was more sleep - and guess what keeps me up past a normal bed time? Writing.

So, I'm back. But only on a self-imposed probationary period. We'll see how well I can stick to a reasonable bed time.

Now, where to begin?





Back before the snow, I suppose. TC and I moved! We bought a house that is perfect for us. It's just across town and has marvelous features like no neighbors living directly above and below us! A garbage disposal! A GARAGE! More than one tiny bathroom and a linen closet that actually holds all my towels! It's a miracle, I tell ya. Oh, and get this - we no longer have to keep my dresser in another room. Our bedroom can actually hold both dressers. Crazy, right?

Every single wall needs to be painted and there is definitely some furniture to be bought but for now I'm just enjoying the new space. Actually, even though I promised I wouldn't touch a paintbrush for a few months, I caved over the weekend and painted my office. I'll be sure to show you the before and afters soon.

We've had an unbelievable amount of snow this winter so it was extra nice to catch a plane to Atlanta for the holidays and escape the constant blizzards. I spend most of my fall getting excited for our holiday trip and this year was just as wonderful as always.





We spent an amazing Christmas with my family. Gift were opened, mimosas were consumed and a lot of time was spent sitting around the kitchen just hanging out and talking about a whole lot of nothing. There is definitely no place like home.

In Atlanta we also got too see all of my friends - we went out to breakfast, we had dinner, we went to a home inspection, we went on a Ferris Wheel, we sat on living room floors to play super heros with the kids, and we ate lunch at the Food Truck Park.





A little bit of everything as we spent time with all my girls. Perfection, really. And let's be real - you know how much I love ferris wheels.





After leaving Atlanta we spent a few nights with friends in Maine for New Years Eve. It was a mini reunion of sorts and was the perfect way to spend the last day of our holiday break. For some reason the snow looks prettier down in Maine than it does here at home. But that's probably because there was a lot less of it there.

I've got a few projects in the works, a few new recipes, a discovery or two and a couple of adventures that I'll fill you in on in the near future.

It's good to be back :) Thanks for being patient with me.

Cuatro de Mayo Fiesta.

Even though Canada and the USA are neighbors, there a tons of differences between the two countries. For example, in Canada you eat tacos for supper and in the US you eat tacos for dinner. In Canada you give someone a drive to the party and in the US you give someone a ride to the party. In Canada Thanksgiving is in October and in the US it is in November. In the US Cinco de Mayo is a legitimate celebration and in Canada it doesn't exist.





In my never-ending quest to bring my American traditions to my friends in Canada, I bought a bunch of tequila last year, dug up sombreros and invited all my friends over.





This year we had a dear friend in town this weekend so it seemed like a good reason to throw together some Mexican food and cut up some limes. I didn't force margaritas on anyone this year, but they did manage to happily drink a batch or two of sangria and even wore sombreros.





Oh, and it wasn't Cinco de Mayo. It was Cuatro de Mayo because we celebrated it on Saturday. Not that anyone knows the difference. Do you know how many times I was asked when Cinco de Mayo was?





I love 'em anyway. They took tequila shots like they've been celebrating Mexican heritage their whole life.





Last year I got carried away with the fiesta. This year was pretty simple - a veggie tray that looks like a Mexican flag, a frozen Cantina box from Costco (delicious!), Connie's spicy cheese dip and my mom's Mexican Layer dip.

The Mexican Layer dip is so easy and fabulous:

In a 10 inch round dish layer the following:
1st - 1 can of refried beans
2nd - 2 avacados, smashed with a 1/2 lemon fresh juice
3rd - mix 1 cup sour cream and 1 cup mayo with a package of taco seasoning
4th - 3 tablespoons chopped green onions
5th - 2 tomatoes, diced
6th - 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Serve with chips

Connie's Spicy Cheese Dip that is good for ALL occasions:

1 pound of Velveeta, 1 pound cooked spicy sausage, 1 pound cooked ground beef and 1 can of Rotel.
Melt the cheese in a sauce pan or crockpot. Add in the cooked meat and Rotel. Serve with chips and prepare to have everyone think you are awesome.

Birthday Weekend Shenanigans.

TC and one of his best friends are lucky enough to celebrate their birthdays within two days of each other. This works out well because we get to have a double birthday celebration every year. 

After painstakingly hanging twenty-some balloons, TC walked in the house and immediately started hitting all of them. He said it was a guy thing and that he could promise that they would all by down by the end of the day. 

Somehow, it has become Tyler's job to come up with an obscure cake flavor for me to make every year. About an hour into my baking extravaganza I decided to bust out my DJ-style headphones and have my own party in the kitchen. 

Truly, I can't even explain how much fun I had. I was dancing and singing like no one was watching, even though TC was just a room away. 

Tyler requested a blueberry cake this year and I aim to please - thus, a blueberry frosted white cake was born. 

It was delicious. Not one crumb went uneaten. 

We take birthdays seriously in this house so all of our friends were invited over for a party. And you know that no party is a success unless the fire department shows up. 

We didn't start a fire, but it just so happens that one of our closest friends is a fire fighter. He happened to be in between emergency calls, so his fire engine pulled up outside. We all ran to the window, fighting for the best view. We excitedly pointed and ohhhed and ahhhed like a bunch of elementary school kids.

We had grand plans to do some bowling, but that was thwarted when TC opened a birthday present. 

In keeping up with our elementary school theme, the boys spent the rest of the evening learning how to fly the remote controlled helicopter inside the house.

I feel that I'm going to have to repaint all my walls in the very near future.

We woke up this morning to open a few more presents.

A remote controlled sailboat kit! Just what every sailor needs.





That's not exactly where I envisioned the wood bicycle living, but it was his birthday so I let it slide for the day.





The headphones came back out this afternoon as I set out to make one more birthday cake for TC's family dinner. It's the same cake I've made the past three years. The idea is to have fourteen layers, but that's never happened. The first year there were thirteen. There were ten layers last year and eleven this year.





Our niece puffed up her little cheeks and helped Uncle TC blow out his candles. I forgot to bring candles so my mother-in-law scrounged up what she had. Our best guess is that the 5 candle was left over from TC's birthday thirty years ago.

Two birthdays, two cakes, one party, a helicopter and a fire fighter visit later, I'd say birthday weekend was a success.





And if anyone happens to know someone that needs a helicopter in their life, this one is awesome. It's a Blade mQX. My mom had my uncle, who happens to be a pilot, find a good one. He bought the same one for himself and is currently driving my aunt crazy with it too.

The Long Weekend Thus Far.

It's a four day vacation for us and we've had a house guest for the weekend. We're watching TC's sister's dog while she and her husband are enjoying a trip to the beach.

I imagine that Dylan is completely exhausted by now, as he has been in constant motion since he arrived. It appears that his goal is to push the limits of my sanity to the max. And he's doing a good job of it too. Don't be fooled by his cuteness and laying down on the bed. It was the only time it happened, which is why I snapped the photo.

Also, TC's eleven year old jade plant has been blowing my mind every morning when I wake up, right around 9am. The sun hits it at such a perfect angle, that I just stop and stare for a moment.

After hanging simple pink hearts for Valentine's Day, I was missing the color they brought to the kitchen. So I got creative and hung some pastel eggs from sparkly twine. They were adorable and cheery and perfectly non-perfectly asymmetrical until a group of boys attacked my kitchen on Friday night. With whiskey and beers in their hands, they flicked, flung and spun each egg until all that was left was a giant knot.

Thank you for that boys, I hope you enjoyed yourselves while the rest of us behaved ourselves in the living room.

In an effort to keep these crazy animals from taking over the world, TC and I have been going straight from our pajamas to our running shoes every morning. This morning I told him that maybe when we're older we can be that happy couple that starts every morning with a walk together. He nodded, smiled and said, "Well, I kindda wanted to be that old man that just sits around and drinks whiskey and reads the paper, but I guess I can walk too."

And that my friends, is how we've survived three years of wedded bliss. Compromise.

Last night was not technically our anniversary, it's really on Wednesday, but we did get married the day before Easter so last night was kindda/sortta our anniversary. Enough so that we used it as an excuse to go out for a delicious Indian dinner. Which of course resulted in Dylan having another anxiety induced bowel explosion in my dining room. So that was a fun way to end the night....

Either way, we started our Easter with a walk to our favorite diner for breakfast. It's not exactly warm, but the sun is shining, most of the snow has turned to mud and the temperatures have been above freezing for several days, which is what we call spring here in Canada.

Jean's Diner is full of hysterical photos of old time country-western bands that are so fabulous. You couldn't design this stuff if you tried.

For the second time this weekend, I ate way too much greasy goodness, which is why...

I've been hanging out at a new-to-me gym that is smack-dab in the middle of downtown. Ironically, right next to a tobacco shop where smokers and the occasional bums tend to hang out. Either way, its a fabulous gym and I am back on the fitness wagon. The Easter bunny came to our house last night, but I am not giving into the chocolate egg temptation. No. No. No, I am not.

We happened to have our traditional Easter meal last weekend. Tonight we indulged in delicious seafood alfredo with TC's family, that is of course, after spending some quality grandpa-granddaughter time on the iPad.

How is it that iPads have seemingly replaced playing in the snow? Oh right, they haven't. Snowballs are still as much fun for my niece as they were for me. Especially when the snowballs are being thrown at yours truly.

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Newsflash: I finally mustered the courage to write the "About" page. Check it out!

Dinosaurs for Valentine's Day.

I wore a light pink shirt and a dark pink scarf to work today. I wasn't even thinking about it. Towards the end of the day I mentioned to my students that I should have saved today's outfit for tomorrow.

knock, knock. anyone home? 

Not one of them made the connection that my pink ensemble should have been saved for Valentine's Day. Not one of them. They're teenagers, surely they're aware of the holiday, right?





I've never been one to decorate for Valentine's Day. Or wear pink and red, for that matter.

But the other day I had this sudden urge to string hearts around the kitchen. TC was off skiing and it just seemed like a cute thing to do.

It took me approximately three minutes and a ten seconds to cut out seven hearts, punch seven holes and tie seven pieces of yarn to the pot rack.

That's nothing if it's not love.

I also really went above and beyond for my favorite guy this week. Motivated by a message from a dear friend, I wrote out five notes for TC. Each note listed one of the top five reasons that he's my favorite. Briefly I considered being funny but ended up taking the cheesy-lovey-dovey route because deep down TC's a pretty sappy guy. Just don't tell him that I told you so.

I attached the notes to little treats and have been hiding them in his bag every morning. The treats are pretty extravagant - only the best stuff I could find at the grocery store. I'm that kindda gal.

The little treat today was the best of the week. I went all out and ventured to the dollar store for the sole purpose of tracking it down. I saw one the other day and have kind of been obsessing over it ever since.

What is it? A dinosaur egg. Obviously. After sitting in water for a day the egg begins to crack and over the next few days a baby dino hatches. First, he pokes his head out of the shell. Then he yells ROAR! Well, he doesn't actually roar, but he does keep growing until his egg completely cracks. He's super cute too.

Upon opening it, TC emailed me and said he can't wait to meet his new friend when it hatches. Then he said, and I quote, "I bet it will look just like you!"

Hmph.

See if I ever buy him a dinosaur again.

Dolphinitely!

Makes me laugh every time.

Happy Valentine's Day!