Happy Birthday Hubby and Amy!

I'm lucky enough to have TWO people I love have their Birthdays today. :) I think they're a year apart... and even if they're not, Amy doesn't look like she's 32, like my husband is. :)

We're off today to a BBQ his dad and a bunch of his dad's friends are throwing. His mother's boyfriend (We call him Uncle Daddy, because he's such good friends with my husband's dad, that they're like brothers, making him an uncle... and he's dating my mother in law, so he's like a dad too)... where was I? Oh yes, His mother's boyfriend, and some other guy had their birthday on Sunday, so they're all planning this HUGE BBQ today to celebrate all 3.

We have this really cool gift for Uncle Daddy Steve. It's the first half of Season 6 of The Sopranos. We also did a really cool thing with the spine, we split up one picture of the family, and layed it out so each DVD would get one spot. Its hard to explain, but once he has all 28 DVD's layed out on a shelf, it'll look like this from the side:


We're also giving Ronnie a CD, I should make him a b-day card really quickly too. He'd appreciate that.

I'll be going to this party at around 4ish to do eBay shipping at the same time. The husband just left and took a taxi. His mom needs our crock pot for Brandi's shower so he's taking that to her while he's at it.

They just called me and so now I need to make 4 cd's before I go, AND a birthday card for Ronnie. Gotta get crackin'!

I hope Amy gets my card I sent on Monday soon! :) I also hope I sent it to the right place. :-D

JUMPING FOR JOY!

I just got a check for $1525.00 CDN! (It's my refund for my immigration fees I paid within Canada last April, and can't use for my Buffalo application.)

Its actually my refund for my immigration fees. NOW I can pay my mom back and maybe MAYBE even get my car back from Buffalo!!! I'm SO FREAKING HAPPY!!!

I should scan in the check... it is awesomeness! lol

Our phone was cut off yesterday because of non-payment... and our rent is so far from being paid... And we still owe H&R Block like 400 bucks for doing Jon's taxes last year... with which he'll get back another $1800 or so...

This is a good day! Maybe now I'll be able to afford a birthday present for my husband! (b-day on Thursday). I'm so glad I went out to check the mail today! He who says money can't buy happiness, has never been as poor as we are right now. I have a huge smile on my face. :)

I thought this was going to take 8 months to get back! :-D :-D :-D!

Our Branch has sprouted.

Hamilton 5th Branch is no more. We've been upgraded today to Hamilton 3rd Ward. :)

For the folks that have been coming to this downtown branch for the 14 or some odd years its been in effect, this is a truly momentus occasion.

I, on the other hand, have been wanting to call our Branch President "Bishop" for as long as I've known him. People around me were completely freaking out when they released him as a BP today. I had a little giggle, because I knew they were just going to re-call him to be our new Bishop. :)

It's kinda nice... New building, New Ward... all in the same month (ok, 3 week period). We've been super busy. :)

I also liked having our Stake Young Women's leaders (2 of 'em) there, they brought us treats AND taught our lesson! It was joyous. Now I don't have to teach again till June 10th! Gotta love that!

I keep meaning to take pictures of our new building, but I keep failing at that. Maybe on Wednesday I will. :)

Anyway, I'm glad we had Branch/Ward conference today, I was supposed to teach next week, but now I'll be able to go help my Mother In Law set-up for Brandi's baby shower. :) I just have to figure out how exactly I'm going to get there... :-o Gotta check bus routes... Not sure if there are any busses going north, then east... unless I could head west till I hit the barton bus... That'd work. hmmm (Sorry, just thinking out loud)...

Meanwhile, does anyone have a super-cheap baby shower gift I can get her? yipes! :(

Drenched!

I thought APRIL showers were supposed to bring MAY flowers! This month has been the rainiest (did I spell that right?) month we've had since it stopped snowing. In all fairness, they said it would snow today, but since I don't have cable tv, I guess I missed that tidbit of info. Otherwise I would have had my umbrella with me and I wouldn't have gotten soaked.

We went to my father in law's house at about 1 or so, after hubby got his hair cut, and we stayed there till about 3:30 when I went to go do the shipping. Every thing was just fine and dandy til' I was finished, and had to come back. See, my FIL doesn't live THAT far from the mall downtown. He's maybe a block and a half away IF that. And for the one FULL block, there's a parking garage I usually cut through. So I get out of the market doors and it is raining, hard... like cats, dogs, birds, AND fish... and possibly a hamster too. I was hot ALL DAY LONG, like hawaii in August hot, where everything is just sticky, even if you shower, you're sticky 10 minutes later, hot.

So I figure, why not walk in it?

Because duh, shell... It got HARDER.

So I'm now running across York Blvd... towards the parking structure... there are two teenage boys that are cursing the heavens because of the rain... and I just lauged. I get to the other side of the parking bldg, and I make a run for my FIL's house, down the alleyway, and by the time I make it there, I'm totally and completely drenched.

So not fun. I'm wearing a thin-ish Mossimo shirt from Target (I knew I should have gotten more while I had the chance!), but luckily it didn't get cold or anything. So I played with my FIL's 5 month old puppy "Bart" for a while till I dried out a little. Once that happened, we decided to head home. I brushed my hair out first though, and its nearly dry now. :) I just smell like a wet Shelley... which is only slightly better than wet dog. ;) Sorry the pic of Bart is so tiny, the big version of it got corrupt somehow, but the little thumbnail is ok, so I took a screen shot of it, and this is the best I can get. :) He's a cocker spaniel/poodle mix and he's just adorable. :)

My new hero

Last night, at our new church building we had the opportunity to listen to President Alan C. Ashton speak about the Dead Sea Scrolls and "other writings from the dust".

It was quite interesting, and you could see how into it he was. A little info about him though, he co-founded Wordperfect! He was a computer science professor at BYU, and he and his wife co-created Thanksgiving Point! He's kind of my new hero. :)

He's adorable. He had this teeny tiny laptop (an acer? i believe) and he was giving his presentation from it, and of COURSE he was running Wordperfect. WP merged with Novell and he's on the board of directors now. Look at how cute he is:


He's been the President of the Canada Toronto West mission for the past 3 years or so. They were supposed to be going home like in a week or so, but something happened with the new Mission President, so they're staying in Toronto till September. Kinda crappy, I heard they just shipped all their stuff back to Utah on Tuesday, and they found out yesterday (wed) that they had to stay till September till a new Mission President could be called. poor kids.

Anyway... They created Thanksgiving Point! In my opinion, it is truly one of the highlights of visiting Utah. (After, of course, visiting my family ;) ). It's beautiful there, any time of year. The gardens are truly amazing. It's a totally non-profit place they've basically donated to Utah. Anyway, it rocks.

Here's another link for TP. Love it.

Tonight, we're going shopping for Young Womens camp this summer. We're bringing all the girls with us too. Should be fun, hectic, and hopefully we'll get lots done. :)

Ooh la la!

You can now go green in the bedroom! Bamboo fiber sheets! I want some! Apparently they're super comfy, keep you warm when its cold, and cool when its warm... We could really use some new sheets too. Lookie:


They're available at Bed Bath & Beyond. I think we have them in Canada... Maybe 20 minutes from me? if not its a Linnen's and Things. *sigh*

Here's what treehugger.com (very cool site btw) says about 'em:
"Bamboo fiber has officially entered the mainstream. Bed, Bath and Beyond now offers these sheets made of 100% bamboo fiber with a thread count of 230. Bamboo is one of the softest fabrics in the world — softer than cotton but with a drape like silk. It comes from a rapidly renewable resource that doesn't require pesticides to grow. The sheet sets cost between $39-$99."

I likey. Plus, we need new sheets. We only have one set of sheets, and it sucks when I'm super lazy and don't want to make the bed the same day I wash the sheets. (Like Saturday... I washed the sheets... Saturday night, i slept in the comforter alone, with the clean sheets piled at the foot of the bed... Sunday night I slept on the couch... and last night I finally made the friggin bed).

Anyway. I likey. I wanty.

Happy Meal

This morning, I was up at about 7:30, and I was feeling alright, considering I slept on the couch. (I washed our sheets on Saturday, and I still haven't put them on). I'm so lazy.

Anyway, I got up early and when DH (edited for Hayley: DH = Dear Husband) asked me to go get him coffee, and me a muffin from Timmy's, I gladly went because I was a little hungry. When I get home, there's the most adorable, happy breakfast waiting for me. I just had to take a picture of it.


Isn't my husband just the cutest thing ever? He made breakfast for him too, but it was just boring. Mine was happy, and it pretty much made my day. :) I smiled all throughout breakfast, and now when I read this post I'll smile too. Now that's a Happy Meal. ;)

In other news, its Victoria Day here in Canada. Don't ask me what its for... I asked the Canadian I live with, and he didn't *really* know... He says its for the Queen's birthday... but her actual birthday isn't today... It could be (he said) but he doesn't think it is. Oh well, I still hope Victoria has a happy day... whomever she may be. ;)

Its a blah day...

So, only two girls showed up last night, I'm glad they did though. I'm the Beehive leader, and both my girls showed up, (We have 2 of each till September). I'm so proud of them. Granted they're sisters, and about a year and a half apart age-wise, but we 3 leaders got to bond with them and it was pretty fun.

We slept in the tent. May in Canada is lovely during the day... night however, is freakin' cold. lol Well not too cold, but cold enough that you shouldn't camp-outside-and-sleep-on-the-ground cold. I only got maybe 5-6 hours of sleep, because my nose was cold for at least the first hour or so I was trying to fall asleep. I kept tossing and turning, it was horrid. I'm glad I had a nice, warm sleeping bag though. So I had to scooch down in deeper so my head was covered and I suppose either my nose warmed up, or I just was so exhausted that I just passed out. Either way it was after midnight when we finally got to the tent, and just before 8 when I woke up.

We had pancakes and sausage links for breakfast, the girls made breakfast (Beehives are 12-13 years old, and quite adorable while making pancakes too) and it was quite nice to not have to be in charge of anything for once.

When I got home, the house was literally turned upside down. My husband tried to do a nice thing for me by moving my desk downstairs (how I had hinted a week earlier). This is to give him more storage upstairs (I basically relinquished all control over the 3rd bedroom when I suggested that I guess.) He said, when I hinted, that he didn't need more storage upstairs, and that it was a silly little idea. But apparently ever since that time, he'd been planning this major move with his brother and his dad (neither of whom showed up to help, but alas, he had planned it none the less). So, my desk is now in our would-be dining room (we have no dining room table, we eat at the tv for now, with the coffee table and a little Ikea side table thing for now. Maybe when we're actually grown-ups we'll have a dining room table and eat like normal folk.)

Anyway, so my desk and computer are down here, and all is lovely. I'm even supposed to get a delivery of my stuff from Buffalo today. :) Thank you Dan & Shara!

Other than that, I'm exhausted from helping clean all day, and not getting enough sleep last night. My neck is also a little sore. Not much left to do today but wait for my stuff. I've got meetings at 9 and 1 tomorrow for church... should be a good, long day. *sigh*

I'm still bored... and a little blah too. *'nother sigh*

Drama-rama!

I think I love drama. I think I'm drawn to it like a little moth to the flame.


Some (DH) may say I create it on purpose... but I don't really really think that I do. Especially if it makes others angry... I no likey. But when things are chaotic, it sort of drives or motivates me to get movin' and do something.

Like today, we've been planning a pre-Girl's camp Camp for a few weeks now... so far I haven't been able to contact any of the girls to confirm their attendance. I already know that 2 of them (one for SURE as she's in NY) won't make it. (There are only 6 girls total...) I was put (this morning) in charge of calling them all and making them come. I'm not that kind of gal, really... Hopefully in the next 4 hours, I can rise to the occasion and get them to come! We're planning smores, pancakes, and all kinds of fun camping stuff! We're even sleeping outside in tents! (If it doesn't rain of course).

Anwyay, there's that, I went grocery shopping earlier, I already showered, I have to go pick up my pills, and some chicken at my FIL's house, and pack, all before camp at 7pm. AHHHHHHHHHH!

I think I'm going a little nutso, but maybe that's ok. :) Hopefully I don't explode.

My hiney hurts!

So, our little Hamilton 5th Branch adopted a little section of Highway a month or so ago. We went to clean it last night for our combined YM/YW activity. (I guess its my little part of "going green"). On Highway 403, we've adopted the York exit, on and off ramp, and in between. I want to name it Gilbert. We cleaned in between last night. The off ramp actually goes up and over the on ramp, so there's a tiny bit in between that is kinda steep! Anyway, I was the first to venture up the steep part, because I saw a ton of garbage/bottles/coffee cups, you name it. I usually think that Canada is just a really nice, wonderfully green place... Seeing what I saw last night though leads me to think otherwise.

Among my findings, there were a few old tires, part of a car's bumper, cigarette butts, condoms (unused, but not in their wrapper) and a small collection of porn vhs videos. I'm so thankful that *I* was the one to find those jewels, instead of one of the innocent kids (well they're mostly innocent) ;).

It is utterly amazing the things that people toss out. If nothing else, bending over for an hour and a half, and lugging around these HUGE bags (big enough for me to sleep in), and trying not to fall down a mountain-side... Anyway, it has truly given me a new found respect for the environment.

Garbage does not just magically disappear when you huck it out your car's window... so STOP DOING THAT! Get a little bag for trash and simply put it in there. It's not a strife, really. You'll be saving me and my little hiney a whole lotta pain! I didn't even know I had muscles back there!

I'm also going to strive to go green too. (I don't have Cable TV, so I heard about Ellen's Going Green show from Hayley's sister Heather's blog. And I've been thinking about it ever since, so thank you both for your entries.

I have about 3 canvas-type bags that I do tend to bring with me when we go shopping. I also use the boxes they have there, and later put them in the recycling. (Mostly though, this is because most stores charge you $.05 cents a bag, not because I'm thinking greener on purpose. :() I'll try to use those more often. And if I don't, I'm definitely recycling the plastic bags that I DO use.

Hamilton is a lovely little city, we have glass/plastic and paper product recycling bins that get picked up weekly. We also have a food bin to cut down on any food waste going into the normal garbage. Last week we didn't fill up a normal garbage bag, so we're using the same one this week. We're definitely cutting down on our waste. :) I'm just super glad that I live somewhere that has recycling options available.

Hubby also wants to replace all the normal lights with those cool compact flourescent bulbs. He thinks it'll MAJORLY cut down on our "Hydro" bill (That's what Canadians call their electricity bills. I think its strange), so we'll hopefully be doing that soon too.

As for a hybrid car... I'm just trying to get my normal car back from Buffalo *SIGH* and maybe my bike too... Until then though, I'm walking and losing weight! woohoo!

This entry reminds me of that old cartoon "Captain Planet". GO PLANET!

lol

Holy Hail!

And boy do I mean HAIL! We had a real nice storm roll in around 6:30-7pm and it stayed for a few hours... During the storm though, it was hailing! The hail was HUGE too! (Well, biggest I've seen anyway). Hubby says he's seen golf ball sized or bigger. :-o I grew up in Hawaii man... we just don't get hail there. Its not scientifically possible... and if IF it is, I've never seen it in the 16 years I lived there.

So, me being the precious lil' hawaiian... skidaddled outside to take pictures of the stuff, and I picked up a few of the bigger pieces, and brought them inside to take pictures of them. I'm a geek, I know. I'm still not 100% sold on the word "blog" but the whole time I was caught up in the hail drama, I was thinking "I'm so going to put this in my blog!" So maybe that word is growing on me... and not in the infectious diseases way either. The jury is still out on that one.

Anyway, here are my lovely pictures, I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I'm also inclding a little picture of our backyard. I helped mow the lawn on Monday, and I'm still quite proud. See, the ghetto lawnmower my landlord has is electric, but so whimpy. It cuts out when you try and cut anything taller than an inch. And, since this was the first cutting of the season, all the grass back there was just like how it is around DH's motorcycle. Like 1-2 feet tall. It was so tortureous trying to mow it! You had to hold down some tiny red button so it wouldn't keep cutting out, but doing so made my fingers hurt. It was near impossible. Anyway, I do hope you enjoy the newly cut grass, and my little hails. :)

I had to change the brightness on this one a LOT, hopefully you can still see how long the grass *was*... I dunno.

If you ask me, these hails are HUGE!

For you crazy Americans out there reading this, that is a Canadian penny, its got the Queen on it, and its exactly the same size as the Abe Lincoln pennies. ;)

I hope you enjoyed this adventure as much as I did, although I seriously doubt that. lol

Why pay retail, when you can pay MORE?

Ok, so as you know, we list a TON of stuff in our eBay store. TON. Anyway, last week, I listed this fancy Estee Lauder age controlling cream. It retails for like $63.50 for a 50ml jar. I didn't quite yet want to sell it, so I listed it for $69.99 thinking no one would be THAT silly and purchase it... Let alone BOTH of them. :-o

Boy was I wrong. They were purchased today. Not that I'm complaining. We could really use the money (gas/electric/rent)... It just is mind boggling to me.

Usually we mark prices up on stuff that has been discontinued, and people gladly pay for it, because that's the only place it can be found. This stuff though, it's still sold online, at retail counters... It's everywhere still!


OH, and we got our first negative feedback yesterday from a jewel of a bidder. Her first emails to us were rude, demanding, and threatening. Hubby is working on getting her banned from eBay entirely. There's no reason for this kind of abuse. Her item was shipped on the 30th of April, and she's complaining already... Her mail is mixed up with Mother's Day cards, that's like the 2nd biggest shipping time of the year! Oh, and she already put a PayPal dispute through... she'll probably be granted that because the bidders are always right. It's a drop in the bucket... 1157 other people have NO complaints about us. This one is just like a little splinter (no not the rat from TMNT)... the kind stuck in your finger that just won't go away.

Ah well, another day, another trip to the post office.

Not much happenin'

It is a boring day in our house today. We did sell like a TON of stuff since Friday that we'll have to ship out today, so I'm just writing up customs labels, and finding packages to mail this crap in. Its not really crap... but whatever. It's the bane of my life right now.

Anyway, I just got my Kraft What's Cooking magazine today, sorry but its for us folks in Canada only... There might be a US one, but whatever. I don't know. Anyway, I just ran across a really fun looking recipe for a SUPER easy ice cream cake and I want it! Look at how cute!


MAN i want some! There is a whole page spread in the magazine with step-by-step pictures and instructions... It is so pretty! And its made with ice cream sandwiches! Something I love anyway! :D Must make this some day... maybe for a Young Women's activity!

OOOOOOOOO I just noticed there's a spot near the end of the recipe that has a video! Y'all should watch it! :D Man I need some ice cream!

My Journal Lesson

Today in Young Women's I taught lesson #15 from the Manual 2. It was about Journals. Something I hold very near and dear to my heart and soul. I started a journal in like 1990, I was 11, almost 12. I didn't REALLY get into writing too much in it until *I* was in Young Women's myself, and learned that we are commanded to keep a journal. I brought my journals to show, and I even shared a few entries with the girls, and they giggled at how hilariously stupid I was back when I was there age. (Like for example, when a cute boy at school gave me a piece of gum... not only did I save the wrapper... I saved the gum as well. I did wrap it in plastic wrap... but its just SO SILLY to look back on that entry today.)

I'll cherish my journal until the day I die I'm sure. I also had a Journal Jar that I had made from a few sites. It asks questions about their favorite aunt, uncle, what their house was like growing up, all kinds of things to get them thinking, and interested in keeping their journal, and making it something they can love in 10 years.

They were all SUPER excited about it too! We're even having a Journal Jar mutual activity on Wednesday June 6th. :) Hopefully they can all make their own, and they'll be super excited about their own journals from now on. I really feel like I was able to reach them, and you can't put a price on that. :)

Here's the word document I used to create all the strips of questions and what not for inside the Journal Jar. http://www.hawaiianshells.net/Journal_Jar.doc If you do use them, keep in mind there are some that may not fit (like where were you when President Kennedy was shot? I personally wasn't alive then, but feel free to change them to be more updated.)

I should somehow, sometime take a picture of the Jar, but I left it at church, on purpose. I'll figure it out sometime. :)

Keep a journal. It is a commandment.



PS: Happy Mother's Day mom! :) (Don't worry folks... I called her like 3 times already!)

Immigration update/Thanks Mom!

My mother has graciously agreed to LOAN me the money for my application.

Funny, they want $885 US or $1040 CAD, and with the exchange rates as they are right now, its cheaper by like $150 bucks to send it in US funds. I guess it just goes to show how horribly the US economy is suffering right now. (I'll refrain from making any political commentary about that, because for ONCE this is in my favor.)

SO... AGAIN, the application has been sent off. PLEASE pray for me/with me that they actually ACCEPT it and PROCESS it this time! *crosses fingers too*

Label/Receipt Number: 0310 2990 0001 5578 1870
Status: Delivered
Your item was delivered at 9:33 AM on May 9, 2007 in BUFFALO, NY 14203.

Wow, they got it 2 days after mom sent it. Right on Priority Mail! :-D

Anyway, I severely hope there are no more delays with it! I just want to go get my darn car already!

Madison is ok :)

Quick baby update! She's doing fine, they went home Thursday afternoon. We got to visit them last Wednesday at the Hospital. She's beautiful and just perfect! See for yourself! Oh, and they dropped the "River" as her middle name. She currently doesn't have one.

Happy Mommy Brandi with baby Madison. 5/3/2007 (2 days old)

All kinds of bad news...

I've been feeling a little down and somewhat hopeless lately. As some of you may know, my car and most of my stuff is still stuck in Buffalo. Every SINGLE day, I have dreams (some may call them delusions of grandeur) of just crossing the border, and getting them back, my car, my crap, everything. It doesn't help that there's at least 10k worth of cosmetics there that I could sell and help our financial situation.

I got news on Friday (well, I didn't actually get it till Sunday, because my computer was broken all weekend) that the new license plates for my car can't be requested by mail. The lovely folks watching my car don't want to drive my car into Canada because they believe the license plates are flagged at the border due to all the crap that has happened with my car in the past (not that I can blame them, I really owe them so much more than they know). So I was going to request new plates, and I just found out that I can'd to that by mail.

To make matters worse... my previous post about my Immigration application being in April 5th... well they too sent back a letter (AND my entire application) saying that the funds receipt I had sent along with my application (The one I had paid last April in Canada, when I had originally wanted to apply as a sponsored spouse) is no good at their Buffalo Visa office. So now I have to apply for a refund for the original funds, which is a headache and a half. Thankfully I asked my parents for temporary help for the application fee, which, when I receive the original refund, I'd send them a check for, and they have ever so graciously agreed to do this for me. Which hopefully will allow me to cross the border in August to go to my youngest brothers' wedding.

*sigh*

I wish things were different. I wish I had my car up here. I wish I had some chocolate.

:-\

Suspicious Cereal

In an earlier post, I had mentioned that some Canadian brands of cereal were different in Canada than the US. Here is prime example #1 of Kellogs' Special K.

It looks like Rice Crispies. Tastes JUST like USA Special K though. It is kind of a fake-out. See, for those few Canadians reading this, they don't know what US Special K looks like... Well, it has BIG flakes. BIG. I remember as a kid, we used to eat it, and to fill up the morning boring time of eating, we'd try and find who had the biggest Special K piece. Some of them were like the size of a quarter or BIGGER! What's up with Canadian Cereal? Its the same with Corn Pops. They're supposed to be light and fluffy with a light glazing of sugar coating over them... lots like pop corn. In Canada, they're more like Kix. It is somewhat of a let-down. Anyway, click on the picture, it'll take you to a HUGE picture so you can see the up-close shots of the individual bits.

That is all for now. Until I purchase Corn Pops to post that picture as well. I WILL get to the bottom of this! (Or to the bottom of my cereal box, whatever happens first. :))

Baby update :)

Apparently Brandi hasn't been able to hold the baby yet. Madisyn was in respriatory distress, because of the cord. It was wrapped around her neck and her whole body, so I think they said she's on IV in the NICU. We'll more than likely get to go see them tomorrow. :) Other than the minor cord issues though, they said she's perfect. 7lbs 5oz. :)

Congratulations Brandi & George!

My sister in law (DH's sister) had her baby this morning at 6:40am, she got to the hospital at 6:25, and was in labor for a whole 15 minutes! She had a baby girl, so now I get to be Auntie Shelley to TWO baby girls this year! (Paula (my sister) is having a girl in Mid June!)

Apparently the umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck, and her lungs were full of fluid... I'll post updates as we get them. She hasn't settled on a name for sure yet, but they like Madisyn River R. I'm sure she's going to be beautiful though. Not sure how much she weighs either, they took her to the NICU right away.

Let's hope nothing is too serious! They told Brandi that the baby is ok! I really hope so. I'm glad I don't have to keep calling it "it" or "your baby" or "the baby" it's a GIRL! :D