Go ahead, you deserve it!

Maybe... a year and a half ago, possibly more, I discovered that there are folks out there that make their own candles, and bath & body products. I just re-discovered mine from a recent delivery of my stuff from Buffalo, and I'm falling in love with my favorites all over again, and I just wanted to share.

In November or so of 2005, I discovered tarts. Some call them "wickless melts". They're like candles, but you don't have to burn a fire with them. You'll have to burn a tea light if you get the cheap tart warmer though. I personally prefer the electric tart warmers that have the little lightbulb to warm up your tarts. I ADORE my tart warmer, I just wish my husband would appreciate all I go through to make the house smell and feel more like a home. He calls it my smelly crap. Anyway, Here's my lovely tart warmer, I do highly suggest the electric ones. I got mine in shells, because hey... I likey the shells! But there are a TON to choose from.



I adore it. I highly suggest you get one if you don't already have one. They're totally safe if you follow the bulb-wattage instructions. The only thing I'd see a problem with, is with small children, and their curiosity, I wouldn't want any of them getting hurt, so make sure you put it up high where they can't get to it.

Anyway, here's a few of my favorite tart companies:
Whiff and Sniff Candles
Bizzy B's Candles
Hoffman's Candles Moslty I love this place for its $0.20 cent shipping.

Another thing I discovered maybe 14 months ago is handmade bath and body products. My all time favorite product is Bohemia Bath's Bath Whip. This stuff is TO DIE FOR. Its a thick but lightly whipped product that soaps up like body wash (well, it IS a body wash). But it is truly amazing. I love it in her Peppermint Patty scent. (I just used it an hour ago and I still adore it).

Here's a link to her Etsy store:
Bohemia Bath and Candle

I haven't tried her tarts yet, but her soaps are also amazing. She's very nature-conscious and so her products are made with the best ingredients around. So I would definitely recommend her products. I'd also recommend getting the sample sizes, that way you will have more scents to choose from. :) The Bath Whip is so luxurious it honestly feels like I'm breaking some law when I'm using it. (Especially the Peppermint Patty scent!)

I also like Bobe Bath products. Plus, she's Canadian. ;)

I love this stuff, and I know you will too.

Can't sleep

I'm bored as "heck" and I can't sleep. I got an earache today, at one point it was so painful I broke down into tears while my husband was hugging me. It's semi-ok now, but it still feels like its plugged.

Anyway, since I'm so bored, I'm just taking care of my fake fish.

I use the Opera browser, and they have a TON of widgets, and I love all the ones I have. I have one that tells me the weather, an HTML editor widgit, a conversion (temperature, metric, imperial, you name it!) widgit, and my favorite, the SimAquarium 2.0 widgit.

Here's a screenshot of my current fishie setup. If you click the link above, it explains it a little. I like the Rosy Barb fish. I gots lots of 'em.



This is what happens when you click that playboy bunny icon. It makes them breed like "bunnies"... get it?


Pretty cool huh.

Ok, so its not that cool. I'm just a bored, sick, dork. :)

I'll just go feed my fish now.

My toe hurts :(

This morning... well, ok, it was nearly noon... I woke up from sleeping in WAY late (I'm still sick remember? I'm allowed to sleep in) at around 11:15 or so... got dressed, and found my husband talking to the landlord's son across the fence in the backyard.

I let him talk for a half hour or so... then I decide to go out and say good morning while it was still morning. I say hi to the various family members I hadn't met before (as they don't live there, they live with the landlord's ex-wife Elaine, whom my husband calls "Mama Bear")... Anyway, on my 2nd trip outside, (literally) I completely trip and cut my baby toe on a pitchfork. Granted it was proped against the wall next to the shovel (hubby has been fixing up our lawn and yard for entertaining for BBQs etc). It wasn't like right in the walk way, but it was there, I was barefoot (hey... I grew up in Hawaii, we no like shoes there), and because I am such a klutz, as I fear I always will be, I basically tripped over the pitchfork and I'm now missing the first layer of skin on my baby toe (left foot). Its about the size of a centimeter or so, but it stings like the devil!

So I'm still sick, and I think its getting worse... I seem to have a cough that wants to kick in, and its getting harder to breathe today. And now I'm limping because it hurts to walk on my left foot, because of my wee little baby toe. :(

To top it all off, I'm supposed to donate blood tomorrow, and that's so not happening. I still have to go purchase Badminton racquets before Wednesday night... (YW/YM activity night). Hopefully I can do that without harm or incident. Why am I so clumsy? What is wrong with me? I think one day I'll be able to laugh at all this... but I just hope I don't seriously hurt myself or someone else because of it. eek!

Time for bed.

Welcome Courtney Rose!

Apparently yesterday afternoon, a new addition to our ever-growing family was born (and I just found out an hour ago after talking to mom... I guess I should have read Amy's blog before just now?) Not sure why I'm the last to find out... BUT I have a new neice. :)

Paula (my sister) and Ben welcomed a 9 pound some odd ounce baby girl Courtney Rose into their family yesterday, June 10th. Grandma (my mom) said that Courtney's collar bone was broken, but apparently that's quite common for big babies. I don't know about the rest of you, but once the baby is 6 pounds, get it OUT of me! Like my neice Baby Ella (she's getting so big now!) last August, she was teeny tiny like 6 pounds and a few ounces, and I thought she was just the perfect size. :)

Kudos to you Paula! I don't know if I could do it! I didn't hear how many ounces mom said, I think I fainted when she said 9 lbs!

Anyway, I like how Andrew and Paula have both named their daughters with the middle name Rose. (Ella Rose and now Courtney Rose). Rose was the first name of our Great Grandma on my mom's side (Grandma Velda Palmer's) mother. I just adore that name. If I have ANY say whatsoever in the naming of my daughter (and oh MAN I had BETTER!) Her middle name will also be Rose. The hubby already picked out our future kids' first names (He likes Joshua and Kasia (kah-sh-uh but say it really fast) which means Katherine in Ukranian (i think) which is what his background is...) Anyway, I like Kasia Rose a LOT. Just the other day at our BBQ though, he said he didn't think girls should have middle names. :( I am GOING to fight for it though! And I also like Thomas for a middle name for Joshua. Thomas is the name of our great great great? grandfather also somewhere on my mother's side. But with our last name, it sounds quite regal and I like it a lot. :)

Anyway... Welcome Courtney! Sorry you broke your clavicle! We hope it heals quickly! Welcome to the world! :)

so sick

I feel so sick, and I don't feel like its going away anytime soon.

I started feeling it last night after our little BBQ, and I kept waking up during the night. I still felt awful this morning, but I still went to church and was able to teach the lesson just fine. :) (yay me!)

Here's a new pic of me from our bbq last night... I didn't look too sick, but that's because I'm slightly tan now. (Car wash burn turned into a nice tan) :) I still have the ugly sunglasses line mark though. lol Just ignore that... do check out my hair though, it's almost long enough to donate to either Locks of Love (in the states - 10 inches) (like my neice Brianna did) or the Angel Hair for Kids people (who require 12 inches) here in Canada... I'm not sure who the lucky ones are yet. There's an amazing lady in our ward here who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, but she found a wig cheaper than it would be to make one out of my hair, which I offered to her... I just hope she recovers quickly and fully. She is an amazingly strong woman. (Pity her daughter in law doesn't quite see that. :( ) ANYWAY...

Here's me. :) Enjoy!

Canada Day

Ok, so Canada Day is July 1st, its comparable to the fourth of July. Parades, fireworks, the whole shebang! I just found this recipe and I would absolutely LOVE to make it and have it at a BBQ. I think people would be just SO impressed with it!

Here's the recipe!


Canadian Flag "Cake"

Prep: 15 min
Ready In: 4 hr 30 min
Serves: 12

Ingredients
1 pkg. (298 g) pound cake, cut into 10 slices
2 cups boiling water
2 pkg. (85 g each) JELL-O Strawberry Jelly Powder
3 cups ice cubes
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries, divided
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Directions

1 LINE bottom of 13x9-inch pan with cake slices; set aside.


2 STIR boiling water into combined dry jelly powders in large bowl at least 2 min. until jelly powder is completely dissolved. Add ice cubes; stir 3 to 5 min. or until thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. Stir in 1 cup of the strawberries. Spoon over cake slices. Refrigerate 15 min. Cover evenly with the whipped topping.


3 REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until jelly is firm. Arrange remaining 2 cups strawberries over whipped topping to resemble the Canadian flag. Store in refrigerator.

Variation
You can also quick-set the jelly using frozen sliced strawberries. Dissolve the jelly powders in boiling water as directed. Stir in 1 cup each frozen strawberries and ice cubes. Stir 3 to 5 min. or until thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. Continue as directed, decorating with 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries.

Make Ahead
Using a toothpick, trace a maple leaf pattern on top of dessert. Place a strawberry slice on each leaf point, then fill in the leaf with remaining strawberries.

Nutritional Info
Serving Size = 1/12 th cake (183 g)

Calories 210
Total fat 7 g
Saturated fat 3.5 g
Cholesterol 15 mg
Sodium 160 mg
Carbohydrate 31 g
Dietary fibre 1.2 g
Protein 3 g
Vitamin A 2 %DV
Vitamin C 40 %DV
Calcium 2 %DV
Iron 4 %DV

Heck, even if you don't do the Canadian Flag with the strawberries, it's still a yummy dessert! :)

Stench no more!

Ok, so for the past month or so, I've been unhappy with my deodorant, so I figured I'd share here.

The last one I had purchased and was happy with was Secret Platinum in a lovely Gardenia scent. Loved it. It worked, AND it made me homesick, gotta love that (in a deodorant no less!)

Anyway... I ran out of that maybe a month and a half ago or so? not sure... but I went through a stupid phase where I tried other ones... Luckily 2 of the 3 others I tried were dollar store ones, and my MIL (mother in law) bought one of them for me... but I'm still upset at the other ones I wasted my money on, especially when I know secret platinum works for me.

The others I tried and hated, were the Dove cool moisture one... it made me smell like cucumbers and or melons... I hated it... and it didn't even work, so it was like BO/melons. not good. (dollar store purchase)

The other one I tried was Degree... Allegedly little black dress approved... Sure, it didn't leave a white residue, but the deodorant didn't work. Maybe I'm just way too stinky for this stuff? No idea. I don't think I ever had a stinkyness issue until recently... And its sooooooo annoying! (another dollar store purchase)

The third one I tried, and was COMPLETELY shocked about, was Mitchum! I'd tried it 7 years or so ago, and it was FINE! I could go 2 days without a shower and still smell FINE! This time around I was stinky within like 3 hours. TOTALLY SUCKY! I still have most of it... (because it was a full-size $4.99 stick). I'm angry at the Mitchum people, because it used to work for me.

I should have never left my lovely Secret. At least with Secret Platinum (I normally get the clear gel), I know the formula is the same, and will always work for me... And with their vast array of scents, I don't have to just be "shower fresh" or unscented all the time. Why did I ever switch? Again, I go back to my stupidity. It must be the reason. Never again shall I depart from Secret. Unless THAT stops working... Then I know I've got real issues, and should see a doctor. lol


Southern Peach... My current deodorant of choice.

Next, I'll probably try Tropical Tango, Arctic Apple, Brazilian Cherry, Eastern Lily, and Vanilla Chai... sounds way too yummy to be somethin' for your armpits. :)

The End. (of my stinky drama!) :)

Currency Exchange

If I were an American living in the states, I'd be SERIOUSLY concerned about our economy.

Since I'm an American living in Canada, making USD (eBay), I'm a little mad at the current financial situation of the US. Check this out.

1 USD = 1.06268 CAD / 1 CAD = 0.941021 USD

This was taken from xe.com just moments ago. It's the site that has all the currency conversions in the world... and then some.

When you look at it like this, its not that big of a deal... but at the ATM, when my US bank tells me I can take out $500 USD per day max (and my rent in Canada needs to be paid, so I'm going to take out as much as possible... here's what I get:

500.00 USD = 531.338 CAD

When I first moved here, December 5, 2003... It was like this:

1 USD = 1.30440 CAD / 1 CAD = 0.766640 USD

Which would mean my $500 USD limit at the ATM was at that time, equal to $652.20 I don't know about you... but $120 bucks loss is a BIG DEAL to me.

I REALLY really *REALLY* try not to be politicial... People who know me don't know how I vote, or whom I've voted for in the past... But this must be said... The current Economic situation of the United States of America is in DIRE need of an overhaul.

I honestly and truly feel that it is the fault of President Bush. Flame away.

Past presidencies and past wars have proven that the economy BOOMS while in a war... so why the HECK is the American dollar losing against EVERY OTHER CURRENCY out there?

Examples:
Australia Dollar today: 1.00 USD = 1.19466 AUD
Australia Dollar pre 9/11 (pre war 9/10/2001): 1.00 USD = 1.948314 AUD

Horrible aint it? Or am I crazy?

Oh, here's Canada's pre war conversion: 1.00 USD = 1.56477 CAD

Another Example:
United Kingdom Pounds today: 1.00 USD = 0.501741 GBP
United Kingdom Pounds pre 9/11: 1.00 USD = 0.68574 GBP

The conversion is getting smaller... Which is good for EVERY country except the US. What is going on here?

One more example... because I can...
Iraqui Dinars today: 1.00 USD = 1,257.50 IQD
Iraqui Dinars pre 9/11: 1.00 USD = 0.3109 IQD

Well, at least SOMEONE'S economy is flourishing... *sigh* I guess I just wish I were making my money in CAD... Any day now... It'll be passing up the USD.

Hopefully this post hasn't upset any of my lovely American friends or family (or random readers...) But I'm upset about the US economy, and SOMETHING needs to be done about it.

Baby Shower Madness!

Yesterday was Brandi's baby shower for Madison. It was a lot of fun, although I was helping out Linda (my Mother In Law (MIL)) the entire time and it wasn't much fun for ME... but I do hope everyone else had fun.

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment... or maybe just my enjoyment.


Belle helping Brandi with the presents. (Belle is my neice). Look at that little belly poking out. lol She's cute.


She got a TON of presents... Remind me to invite all of Brandi's friends to MY (eventual) baby showers! Man she really got a LOT of gifts.


Guess the baby food (without the labels) game. I actually think someone got all 8 of them right! Amazing.


Brandi, opening cards, presents, etc. I forgot to take a picture of the food, cake and all that, but it was QUITE a spread! If anyone went home hungry, it was their own fault! :)


Baby Madison. She has either a heat rash, or baby pimples... Brandi is taking her to the Doctor's today to find out... Poor thing, she cried and cried for ages during the shower, her other grandma (George's mother) and I took her out in the hall and we fanned her for a good 5 minutes to cool her down. She was absolutely burning up. The pimples or rash or whatever it was on her face got SO much darker, or a brighter pink/red when she was hot. We were able to cool her down a little. That girl just doesn't like wearing clothes! The same thing happened last Wednesday when I took her to the mall. She was WAY too hot, and wouldn't stop crying. I think I would have done much better with her at home, and NOT in the mall on a super hot day. Ah well, I'll be better next time!


The ever-embarassing ribbon hat. Hers turned out quite well, a family friend Shelley made it, and did a great job, considering she didn't have ANY tape! :) Good Job!


My neice Belle. She's Christian's (hubby's younger brother) daughter. She'll be 4 on September 19th.

The Shower was quite nice and I hope everyone had a good time. The hall we'd rented was WAY too hot, and everyone was fanning themselves, no wonder Madison had a cry-fest. :( Overall though, I think everyone had a lovely time. I'm glas its over though, I'd been helping my MIL with the food etc since like 9:30am, and we weren't out of the hall till 5:45pm or so. For my shower, we're just having a fruit tray, a vegie tray, a cheese tray, desserts and some concoxion of mormon punch. (sprite/ginger ale + rainbow sherbert in a punch bowl yum!) :)

One good thing though, I slept like a baby last night, from like 11:30 till 9:30 or so this morning. hehe!

BUSY weekend!

On Saturday, June 2nd, our lovely, wonderful, amazing Young Women held a car wash & BBW in the parking lot of our new building... stupid me got pictures of the car wash... but not the building! And I had my camera RIGHT THERE! doh!

Only four girls showed up, but that's alright. We made like 200 bucks AFTER costs etc were taken out. :-D AND that's sort of a "soft" profit margin, because enough bbq suplies were purchased for the car wash/bbq AND the big garage sale on the 16th or so of June in Dundas. So, after that point, and all of our supplies are used, we'll better know what our REAL profit is.

Granted, I believe the Church doesn't allow for Girls Camp fundraising, but alas, our Bishop said it was ok, and as far as we're concerned, that's all that matters.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from the car wash.


Washin' a car.


The BBQ table. (Tide was on sale at the nearby grocery store... we weren't feeding it to people, don't worry.)


A few people who stopped by for the food and car wash. Sarah (YW President) is in Pink, and Lisa (1st counselor) is facing her in the dark blue shirt... you can't see her face.


This is the best picture I have of our building. lol It's prettier than that. Melanie is in green and her brother Joshua (in my old Primary class) is on the cooler. Missionaries etc are helping out in the background.


This is the second time Brother Seibert (hope I spelt that right) had a water-fight at our car wash. The first time, he brought his wife's car, and Lisa (his daughter) had a water fight with him. This time, he came back and had a water fight with Joshua. It seems good times were had by all. Oh, you can also kind of see the grocery store in the background. :)


I got oh SO sunburnt. Its better today, turning into a nice tan, but I had my sunglasses on, so I kind of have a bright red nose, and my skin is still lily white where my shades were. I'm totally gross in this picture, no clue why I'm posting it, but we worked our little butts off for that car wash, and it totally shows. I wasn't the only one with a little burn. Good times for all.

When I got home, the hubby had moved a TON of stuff around, and organized the shed, and basement, I was totally impressed. He even turned on the water to the outside, and is quite focused on getting green grass for the summer so we can host a few bbq's. :) He had the sprinklers on, and I went out to toss some trash out, and I saw a little red breasted robin hopping around in the sprinklers. It was adorable, so I ran to get the camera. You can barely see him, I tried to get closer, but he flew away. :( But he's in the upper right corner!



I think I'll start a new post for the baby shower I went to yesterday. :) This one is getting too long.

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

Stamping!

I am by no means, an avid stamper... In fact, most of my stamps are stuck in Buffalo! I really must get to them ASAP. Anyway... I've recently discovered a whole WORLD of stamping and stamping people... who are more stamp-enthused than I am! (DH doesn't believe it though).

It's Splitcoaststampers! I'm so far LOVING it. I've only been a member for a few days, and already I want to buy everything there is out there! I have really got to get my car back, then I can go to Michael's! Anyway, its a lovely community, and I'm learning lots, getting a lot of ideas, and breaking the bank all in one fail swoop!

I've even made my first card in over 6 months this past Saturday! YAY me! :)

Dang city workers!

As if my pulsatile tinnitus isn't enough to keep me awake... There are city workers not too far from my house, jack-hammering the road up, because there was water seeping out of the cracks in the road.

Silly stupid me called the city and reported this strange water leakage... the next day they came and spray-painted about 5 pink lines going one way, and some blue lines going the other way...

Now its past midnight, on a monday, and they're tearing the road up looking for the leak! I called them about it last WEDNESDAY! And by that time, I'd noticed it since the Sunday (at least) before that! It is now the following Monday oop, TUESDAY morning (super early, mind you...) surely it isn't THAT important that they need to do all this right now is it?

We haven't lost any water pressure over the last week... so what gives people? WHY do you have to steal my precious sleep? IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!? :( I may cry... There's also two very large apartment buildings in the same viscinity (did I spell that right? where's the spell check button? ;) n/m I'm delirious)... and I'm sure they all have jobs or school to attend in the morning... There's going to be a LOT of mad people on my street. Let's just hope they don't find out it was ME who called all this in to the city in the first place.

Oh geez, now my entire house (it's a crappy house) is vibrating.

I suck. the end. *sigh*

Tell me I'm not a hypochondriac...

Ahh the joys of the internet. The internet allows me to self-diagnose myself, and find some relief. I've lately been getting this constant whooshing in my right ear. Its my heartbeat. Apparently I've got pulsatile tinnitus. I swear it is SO loud, people around me would be able to hear it. It's not normal... but thanks to the internet, I've found some company to my misery, and by reading her posts, and updates, I've gained some comfort in this.

It does, however, quite suck, that I may have to live with this. You really have no idea how annoying it all is, unless, of course, you've experienced it too. For now, I shall wallow in self-pity for a little while longer.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
In other news, I'm going with my sister-in-law to Oakville tomorrow to pick up her babys' bassinet, they're the only ones that have this one, and seeing as how her due date is tomorrow (the 24th) and there's no baby yet, she'll be needing this quite soon. :) I'm going to be an Auntie again!

That's the bassinet she's getting, It's apparently a 5 in 1 a portable sleeper, bassinet, bedside sleeper, play seat and changing table. It looks absolutly adorable, and we'll be purchasing it tomorrow. Also, she said she'd let me drive WOOHOO! It's been a while, as my car is stuck in Buffalo. *sigh*. Later :)

"There's a Mormon," by Jeff Foxworthy

I thought this was funny, and highly reminiscent of my mormon upbringing, so I'll post it here. :) enjoy (PS, most of these "jokes" won't make sense unless you're quite familiar with the LDS religion, and that's ok. :) )

---

"There's a Mormon," by Jeff Foxworthy:

If all your dishes have you name written on them with masking tape...
You might be a Mormon.

If you postdate your checks while shopping on Sunday...
You might be a Mormon.

If you believe Heck is the place for people who do not believe in gosh...
You might be a Mormon.

If your mom was pregnant at your sister's wedding reception...
You might be a Mormon.

If you pray that your food might "nourish and strengthen your body"
before eating doughnuts...
You might be a Mormon.

If you think Jell-O is one of the basic food groups.....
You might be a Mormon.

If at least one of your salad bowls is at a neighbor's house.....
You might be a Mormon.

If you've ever written a "Dear-John" to more than two missionaries on
the same day.....
You might be a Mormon.

If you were frustrated when your son "only" got accepted to Harvard...
You might be a Mormon.

If you have on e kid in diapers and one on a mission...
You might be a Mormon.

If you have never arrived at a meeting on time...
You might be a Mormon.

If you have more wheat stored in your basement than most third world
countries...
You might be a Mormon.

If you've already got your order in for volume 50 of "The Work and The
Glory"...
You might be a Mormon.

If you think it is all right to watch football on Sundays as long as a
direct descendant of Brigham Young is playing...
You might be a Mormon.

If you have to guess more than five times the name of the child you're
disciplining...
You might be a Mormon.

If you automatically assume that BYOB means, Bring Your Own Burgers...
You might be a Mormon.

If you go to a party and someone spikes the punch with Pepsi...
You might be a Mormon.

If you arrive to an activity an hour late and are the first person there...
You might be a Mormon.

It's been a slow week

Not much going on in this neck of the woods. I bought some New (smaller) Gap Jeans (because the jeans I've been wearing are so big on me, I'm now able to take them off without undoing the button and zipper on them...) on eBay last week for $13.27 + s/h ($8.49 to Canada), and I'm waiting to receive those. See, I told you it was a slow week.

I found a little Italian shop that sells every kind of pasta you could imagine, and their prices aren't too bad either. I've never seen what ziti looks like before. I didn't realize it was like a Penne but longer, very interesting. I just got some Penne Rigate x2, Fusili, and some Linguini, but I'm tempted to go back for more. ;) I still have some of my spaghetti sauce in the freezer from when I made that.

Question... very random, I know... but why can't they sell ground sausage like they sell ground beef? You know... Without that sausage casing? I hate that casing. It's such a humbug. I want a poud of Italian Sausage without the casing. Is that too much to ask? Or are they not allowed to call it "Sausage" without the casing? bah.

I should end my musings for the day... I'm not making much sense anyway. ;) I think I'm just hungry. :)

Speaking of... Special K and Corn Pops cereals are so different in Canada. I'll have to take pictures sometime... its freaky. The end.

Added @ 10:15am:
WooHoo! My sister in law, Brandi, just called me and wants me to come baby-stuff shopping with her. (I keep calling it Baby Shopping, and it confuses my husband, because no real babies are for sale anywhere...) Anyway, that'll happen probably around 11, and I need to dry my hair and finish some laundry before she gets here. :) She's about 8 months and 2.5 weeks pregnant... She doesn't know if she's having a boy or a girl, but my new neice or nephew is definitely healthy. She and her Husband George were married in Mexico last January (2006). :) yay!

It is Official.

The Canadian Visa office in Buffalo, NY has received my immigration application this morning. :)

Label/Receipt Number: 7005 3110 0002 2004 3222
Status: Delivered

Your item was delivered at 9:50 AM on April 5, 2007 in BUFFALO, NY 14203.

YAY! The end.

STICK A FORK IN ME!

WOOHOO!

I just got back from the picture place AND the post office... Thanks to a lovely surprise in my bank account from Mom, I was able to get my pictures taken and get my Immigration packet finished and sent out! :-D

I sent it to Mom, and she'll send it to Buffalo for me, but the hard part is FINALLY OVER! Sing praises... or something.

You really have NO clue how happy I am to announce this. :-D

YAY!

The end. :-D

Immigration...

I'm about 99% finished with my Immigration. FINALLY. All I need is to take pictures, and get 4 passport type pics into my immigration packet, then I can send it in!

They say 30% of the applications are completed within 18 months... :( And the rest could take up to 36 months. So sucks... BUT I'm finally done with it.

I may have to re-do my police certificates, but who knows, hopefully not. With rent due soon, I hope I'll be able to submit my papers quickly, but I'm so excited to be FINALLY done with everything! YAY!

Maybe I'll be in the 30% who is able to get processed in a year and a half! That time should just fly by. Cross your fingers for me!

I made Spaghetti Sauce!

I'm becoming a good cook! (Well, good enough!) I haven't killed anyone or anything with my cooking yet either. I made a lovely spaghetti sauce from almost scratch last night, and I'm quite looking forward to leftovers tonight... even though its 9pm lol and I haven't started making them yet.

Anyway, I browned some ground beef, cooked it with onions, and put it in the crock pot. I then added 3 jars of spaghetti sauce, 2 green peppers, 1 red pepper (super cheap at the market!), mushrooms, Hubby added some spices... I added a few cloves of garlic, and some celery seed (Celery is unusually expensive right now, I suppose we can thank the California frosts from last fall for that). Then I added some special ingredients... some grated carrot, and brown sugar, totally amazing. I let it cook basically all day, on high for maybe 3 hours, and on low & the "keep warm" setting for about 3-4 hours. We then made some garlic bread, and had a lovely meal. We get to have it again tonight! Woohoo! We had grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch, and we ate kind of a lot of it, so I'm still full a little from that, so that's the excuse for tonight's late dinner... I dunno what the excuse is for all the other late night dinners we eat... It happens a lot in our house though.

Anyway, I'm just proud of myself.

The End.

The epitome of the Hawaiian Canadian

A while ago, my husband and I went to Pizza Hut for dinner. We wanted the pizza(s) to last until lunch for the next day, so we each got a Large of our own choosing.

Pizza Hut has specialty pizzas, and so we decided to try them. My husband got the Canadian, and I got the Hawaiian. It's the perfect order. :) The fellow behind the counter thought it was a riot when we told him I grew up in Hawaii, and the hubby was a Canadian. :)

Canadian comes with: Pepperoni, bacon, mushrooms and 100% mozzarella cheese.
Hawaiian comes with: Ham, pineapple and extra 100% mozzarella cheese.

Oddly enough, I liked the Hawaiian pizzas better in the US. The "Canadian bacon" I used to order was like thinly sliced round bits of hammy goodness... the ham I get here is little strips of ham! Like lunchmeat ham, but thicker... who would have thought that you couldn't even order "Canadian Bacon" in Canada! sheesh! Here's a pic for a better idea. I do miss the round canadian bacon from the states...

Man, now I want some pizza!

I don't like the word "Blog"

So, from now on, I'll call this my online journal... granted a journal should be more personal and private, but hopefully none of that stuff will find its way here.

As you may or may not know by now, I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There's a program for the 12-18 year old young women, and I was recently asked to be the 2nd councelor of the Young Women's program. This is quite exciting for me. I never finished my laurel's project, so this will be the perfect opportunity for me to do so... after I've been in the program a year that is.

There are, however, a lot of activities at the Stake Center (Centre here in Canada lol), and I wish I had my Jeep so I could easier attend them... or give other people rides. We're also getting a new church building in maybe 2 weeks, and its further away than the temporary building we meet at now. There's got to be a way for me to get my Jeep back here legally. :( I miss it so much. Not to mention all the stuff that's stuck in Buffalo. :(

Maybe if I pray hard enough for it, an answer will come. I'd really love to have my Jeep back by the time Girl's Camp rolls around in July. :) So very exciting. I'm glad, happy, and eager to be of use to the young women in our Branch in this way. :)

T.V.

So very strange, how one little thing in your life changes, and it has the capacity to affect every aspect of your life.

Not necissarily by my choice, we've been without Cable since October 2006. Granted, my husband (being the loving man that he is... and also due to the fact that he's a big geek and I love him...), he gets the shows that I do love, and sends them to our game console, so we are able to watch them on our normal tv. I absolutely love this freedom. This must be what it feels like having TiVo.

I'm no longer tied to my tv on Thursday nights! I've been glued to the tv on Thursdays for my MUST SEE TV fix for like 13 years... and if not thursday nights, I always recorded it (Friends through ER... or whatever else was on NBC from 8-11pm on thursdays), and watched it the next day after school (back when I was in school).

Anyway, I absolutely adore my husband for making this so much easier for me. I do sometimes miss channel surfing, and running across the random TLC, HGTV, or A&E program that is just SOOooOoO interesting that I MUST stop surfing to watch it. But over all, I'm so glad that I still get to watch my favorite shows. (Desperate Housewives, Prison Break (for both of us), Men In Trees, Grey's Anatomy, My Name is Earl (we both like this show), and of course, 13 years and running strong, my hallowed ER.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to 100% ween myself from the relaxation, de-stressification (is that even a word?) and enjoyment of tv watching, but this process makes it easier, and for that I would like to tell my husband Thank You, and let him know how much I love and appreciate everything he does for me... Even if its "only" getting me my tv shows. It makes me happy, and I'm so thankful for him.

Business is BOOMING!

What a week! We've sure been busy with our little eBay venture this week, Monday I shipped out 10 packages, Tuesday was 4, and today is 3. One of today's items are five lipsticks that I had NO intention of selling. I listed them at $40.00 each, thinking "That'll be high enough, that no one will be crazy enough to purchase them at that price". I originally had 6, but one was purchased last week, and that blew me away. Today, I wake up to find someone purchased the remaining 5! Needless to say, business is going well! We may even be able to get all our bills paid! If only every week could be like this! hehe!

Please click our logo below to visit our store.

Happy Birthday to my Mother In Law

It's hubby's mom's birthday on Sunday (25th of Feb.) She'll be 49. I've been volunteering at her office lately, in hopes they can find a way to pay me, and maybe when I finally get immigrated, they'll be able to hire me on full time. I'd love that.

Today we went to Tailgate Charlie's for lunch, and it was pretty fun. Who would have thought that a bunch of Insurance Adjusters could be so hilarious? Was it the fact they all had alcohol with their lunch? Or are they always this funny? I guess I'll find out if I do continue to work/volunteer (or whatever you want to call it) there. I had the nacho platter and I added chicken for a balanced meal, it was quite tasty and I'm surprised I was able to finish it. We then went back to the office for a most delicious ice cream cake from Sweet Paradise (bakery & deli). It was amazing, and well worth the money the office paid.

They really really like me though, and they ALL keep saying "man we've gotta start paying you!" I just keep saying "okay! fine with me!" I'm even catching on to the insurance lingo. Very spiffy. =) If nothing else, it'll be some excellent Canadian experience for my resume!

Communion Sweet.

On February 17, 2007, we had the opportunity to attend the first holy communion of Alex Roque. He is Brandi's step son. (Brandi being my husband's sister). He's our step-nephew, if such a thing exists, but we had a lovely time at the reception. It was a very huge ordeal, with a big cake/bible, and mini cakes with sparkly crosses, and some of the most amazing food I've had in a long time. A fun time was had by all, and it was a nice chance to hang out with friends and family.

I made perogies!

I made home made perogies (pierogies) on Wednesday (yes, that was Valentine's day... I had nothing better going on. :) )  And I will just say, that I'm pretty darn impressed with myself.  I'm not even Ukrainian, and I did a good job!  My mother in law loved them.  I don't think the hubby did, but he says "I never said I didn't like them!" in a rather defiant manner... I still don't know how he feels about them.  Anyway, here's the recipe I used.

http://www.recipezaar.com/11550
Ukrainian Perogies, for Beginners
48 perogies - 32 min 30 min prep

Dough
2 cups flour
1/2 cup milk, warm
1/2 cup potatoes, well mashed
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Filling (I used this one... next time I'm leaving out the onions and adding more cheese ;) )
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup butter
2-3 cooked potatoes, mashed
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Alternate Filling
2-3 cups cottage cheese, drained (or use dry curd)
1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped
1 egg
salt and pepper (taste before adding egg!)


---------Dough--------------.
Mix dough ingredients together.
You may have to add more liquid or flour to make the dough soft and somewhat sticky.
Turn onto a floured surface and knead more flour into dough- just enough to make it easier to handle. The dough will be slightly sticky. Do not over-knead. Place dough in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rest for 30 minuets.
--------------Filling-----------
Cook onion in butter. Mix with potatoes, and add cheese while the mixture is still hot. Let filling cool before using (place in fridge.) If you are using the alternate filling, simply mix those ingredients together.
-----------Manufacturing-------- (My method of manufacturing needs work)
Set a large pot of water to boil. Form walnut-sized balls of the filling. Roll out dough on floured surface fairly thinly (3 millimeters, or 0.125 inch). You will probably need to add flour as you roll. Cut out circles approxamitely 7 1/2 centimeters (3 inches) in diameter (a wider-mouthed glass should do fine.) Press scraps into a ball. Place filling ball in center of dough circle. If the dough has a less-floury side, keep that side up. Fold dough over ball, and pinch edges to form a half circle.
To prevent perogies with"horns", I pinch at the top ("90degree mark") of the perogy first, then pinch at the 180 and degree edges, working up to the 90 degree mark.
You can cheat pinching the perogies by smearing water on the filling side of the dough at the edges, and keep your fingers floured when you pinch (on the non-filling side.) In order to prevent perogies from drying out, keep finished perogies on a floured surface, and cover with a floured clean dishcloth.
Place several perogies in boiling water. Stir once, gently with a slotted spoon. Perogies are done when they float for a minute (this will take 2-3 minutes). Melt about 1/2 cup of butter or margarine in microwave. Rescue and drain the perogies with the slotted spoon. Place in a bowl, drizzle with some melted butter, and gently shake to distribute the butter. Cook, drain, and drizzle the other perogies in the same manner.

They were quite yummy. We usually eat them with sauteed onions and sour cream.  Some people like them with bacon. My MIL likes hers with ketchup.

The End.

Snow Day!

Tuesday February 13th, it snowed like there was no tomorrow! So that made Wednesday a Snow Day! It was my first actual snow day since I'd moved up to Canada, the library was closed and everything! No one went to work, or school, except for the people at Tim Horton's. They are some loyal employes.

I hadn't seen that much snow, probably since I was a wee lass, and my siblings tried to burry me in it because of its abundance. No hard feelings though, I honestly don't remember the alleged pain. I only remember it was a sunday, and everyone else got yelled at, I got rushed to the hospital, and then I got popsicles or ice cream or something like that.

Anyway... :) I almost made a snow angel, but I didn't have snow pants, and the snow was soaking through my two layers of pants as it was. Enjoy my galavanting! You'd think I'd never seen snow before. Bless Jon's heart, he must have shoveled about 8 times from Monday to Thursday. :)

Welcome to ME!

I've been inspired by Amy to create this space. I don't like the word "blog" it makes it sound like something I tried making for dinner, and it didn't turn out right. I'd rather call it an online journal. Hopefully it will be a place I can post pictures, and ramblings, whatever is on my mind really. If the Hubby has anything to say, I'll allow it, but mostly this will be from my point of view. The End. (Or perhaps, it is only the beginning.) Enjoy!

Kahuku High School Class of 1996!

Just in case you somehow missed it, head on over to: http://www.classreport.com/usa/hi/kahuku/khs/1996/

Create an account, log in, and say hi!
Alohas!
~Shelley

(This blog was copied from my myspace blog which I no longer use.)