Grand Valley Firefighters please respond to...

It never fails. I make a nice meal, the pager goes off. We're in the middle of working on something together, the pages goes off. We have company for dinner, the pager goes off. 


Today it happened to be a fixing the car kind of day. Neil's car needed a new radiator, and mine needed new brakes and an oil change. 


PLEASE do not get my wrong, I love that Neil is a volunteer firefighter. I am so proud of him, and that he and and the other firefighters are running into the problem, when everyone else is running out. He loves the rush of the call, he loves helping people, and he loves the brotherhood that the fire hall encompasses. The group of men that serve our community are professional and selfless. I am very proud to know each one of them, and their families - we are one big family after all.


So back on todays' task. I wanted to go up to Jamie-Lee's as her and Jackie were doing a cash & carry sale. Our cars had different plans for us, and these things needed to be taken car of. We started with my car first, got the brakes and the oil change down. We stopped for lunch, and Neil's parents arrived home. We head out to start on Neil's car, the radiator, and the tones start. Nice timing, Neil's dad Bill and I end up installing the rad, without a curse word - Neil arrives back in the door and hour and a bit later, and the job is done. 


It's now 5:20pm, Lennox and I are home, and showered/bathed. She is exhausted after playing with Mark & Tammy's (Bill & Faith's neighbours) two dogs, so she's sleeping at my feet. It doesn't seem like a terrible idea to have a little siesta right now. Supper will be later then usual anyways, because we had a late lunch. 

Lord I thank you for my firefighter. This firefighter that I love.
Give me strength to give him support with your guidance from above.
Make me a good partner, attentive listener & my love's best friend.
When I chose him I chose a firefighter, and the job on which he depend.
Lord, keep my firefighter safe when our plan's have gone awry,
Answering an emergency call with a life or death cry.
Keep the gusting winds and raging flames from being his final fate.
please help me cope with the trauma of being a firefighter's wife.
-Anonymous 

Keep your restaurant chatter on the D.L.

D.L. ... [thats down-low]


So one of my "bridesmen" Bryan, and his lovely girlfriend Katie came to the metropolis of Grand Valley [this is big for them they are from Badjeros! Population 20] tonight. We met up at  The Grand River Chop House which is our favourite place to have dinner. This local restaurant is well run, has great food, fantastic prices and well - the owner and manager has become a great friend of ours! I highly recommend checking it out! The restaurant, as usual, for a Friday night was busy. Our food, as usual was fantastic! As people started clearing, and we finished off our drinks - there was two couples sitting directly behind us. 


Their table-talk was not what I expected to hear, from two men, and two woman who seemed to be of my parents age, or older. Kate said "are there swingers here". I said "there must be". Entertaining, no. I'm so glad we didn't have a clue who they there! So without saying what they were saying, basically they were talking about 'choking the chicken' and some topics I have never dreamed of bringing up at a dinner table, let alone a small town restaurant. 


So in short, lesson learned. Period. Now this blog has to be about something else.


It was great to hang out with Bry tonight, since we live now, only 30 minutes apart - we talk sometimes several times week but do not see eachother often enough! I was thrilled to hang out with he & Katie tonight, and get to know her better! She has already been an amazing help and her & Bry hooked us up with an amazing DJ for our Buck & Doe and Wedding! We are so lucky to have such great friends.


I'm telling you, we are very lucky. We have some GREAT hook ups.


Our photographer is Amanda Arch-Webber and her Facebook page is something you must check out! This girl is talented, who would have known that the girl I used to figure skate with, and go to her place for lunch [being a country kid, getting to go "home for lunch" was pretty darn special] would be taking my wedding pictures some 15 years later!! Amanda, you have no idea how excited I am for you to be there with us on our big day! 


My Uncle Wayne is going to help me out with the invitations, he is so creative and had a great eye for these kinds of things! We're going to get together with him in the next few weeks and look at the design and style of everything - wow, this is excited! 


Our church minister when I was younger, Rev. John Hogerwaard was really the only minister we had at our church that I remember well. When he moved to the west, I remember Caleigh McNalty and I said "that man will marry me when I get married". Well, last fall we saw John out for dinner, and learned he had moved back to Ontario. He's living and preaching in Listowel, and will be marrying Neil and I - I am so THRILLED.


Clearly, we're excited about our DJ! 


Well thats about all I have "booked" right now for vendors, but considering we're 9 months out - I think I am doing well. The hall is hooked, church is booked, the caterer is in the works, and decor is going to be done by a combination of friends, family and yours truly. I think we'll hire someone to do the ceiling and maybe head table, I do not want to even begin to think about the stress and problems this could cause 24 hours before we wed. We are going to look into rentals soon. 


Ok, so it's bedtime - for sure. Goodnight friends. 

What I love about Sunday...

Neil and I haven't been up to the farm together in a while. I was there for a short time last weekend [long enough to pick up mom, and take pictures of the twins] and then off to the wedding show. Yesterday, we have so many other things we should have been doing, but instead we decided to head up to the farm together.

We loaded Lennox in the car, all you have to say is "do you want to go see Diesel?" and she is fluttering around the house and then the car like a crazy pup hoping we'll be at the farm in a flash. Diesel is my sisters dog, who resides at the family farm. He is a blue heeler, and he will be 3 years old in March. These two love to play. When I drove in the laneway to pick up Mom to go to the wedding show, Diesel was so excited to see my vehicle, and then when Lennox didn't jump out - it was a bummer. This time we did not disappoint. Diesel is a little camera shy [awe his ears are back!] - however it might also have been the peeved off momma cows having the dogs run around the barn, as if they were a threat to the momma' cows babies or something! 

Lennox and Diesel - January 23rd, 2011

Ofcouse, we also visited the twins. They have grown so much, and are in their curious stage now. As soon as I walked into their pen, they were curious to know who I was and what I was doing. They were especially curious about my camera and all the flashes!!

I'm Combo, I am the momma of these two wee girls you will see below. 

I'm Maddie, and I've got spunk! And I'm pretty cute too!

I'm Aida, I'm a bit less spunky then my twin sister.
But I do like to run around my pen with our pen-mate.
Don't mind my dirty face, we don't get bathed everyday like real babies!

This is our pen-mate - isn't he so cute!!

So we had a really nice day at the farm, it was bitterly cold outside so we didn't spend much time in the barn, but the dogs had a lot of fun. We visited my Grandma, while my mom, dad and Grandpa went to a hockey game then Neil and I made supper for the family.


Speaking of bitterly cold, it is so cold today! When Neil went to work this morning at 5:00am he said the thermometer at work  said -32 - thats insane!!!


Anyways - he just got home from work, so I am going to go make us lunch and then I`ll be getting ready for work. 


Stay warm,

The dreaded reference of an ______ bride..

Bridezilla\ bride-zil-a n 1 Horrific, bulging-eyed bride prone to screaming spells and spontaneous fits of hysterical rage. Bridezillas are known to drop blows over seating charts, get bug-eyed at the mere mention of carnations and view hurling champagne at their wedding planners as a form of hazing.

So everyone is bound and determined I'll be a bridezilla, by likely - May? I hate the word, and I cannot stand people calling brides that. We're 9 months away from our wedding - am I not allowed to be a little stressed about this? When woman are pregnant and they are anxious/excited/nervous for their birth to go well - do we call them mommazillas? Pregazillas? No! 

This is big people - this is the only day of my whole life that I want to remember as perfect, flawless and memorable - after all, I am GETTING MARRIED! By the way, most who know me well, know I have OCD, I like things perfect, I colour code my calendar and I cannot stand disorganization. So give me a break - mom/sister/friendzilla! 

We had our friends [well Neil retired to bed early] but Lynsey and I had Mel & Mike over last night and Mel has assured me that I should be a bridezilla, because then I will have things how we [or I] want them and that this is the one day it's all about us. 

So then I started reading this bridal magazine today, and I found this.

Bridezilla\bride-zil-a n 1 Exceptionally attractive, confident women who know what they want and can’t be bothered to sugar coat because they are obviously not on 100 calorie- a- day microbiotic diet and can’t even sneak a pack of Splenda if their life depends on it. Bridezillas are both blessed and cursed with a higher vision of perfection than most mediocre, prissy wearing, Gerber daisy carrying mortals and have no choice but to impart this vision exactly to the masses. It is this motive that drives them to demand nothing less than excellence for their day. 

So I will take the "compliments" graciously and think yes, I do know what I want and I am confidant - I will loose my cool sometimes, I am sure. I am not doing it to be a mean person, I am doing this because I am marrying Neil, we love eachother and we deserve to have an exciting day all about us and the memory that we worked hard, and together to make it happen. 

So it`s been a long week...

Yes, I have been neglecting my blog this week. It's been one heck of a week. One thing I realized this week, I love being a shift worker! Give me nights, evenings, weekends, 12 hour shifts, days or nights. I cannot, and never will see myself working Monday to Friday. EXHAUSTING. I guess the commute doesn't help either {one hour one way} - but holy cow, I stayed at Keri & Dale's two nights this week too - and still, exhausted. Anyways, shift work is dandy for me.

Maybe it was all the wine and late nights Keri & I put ourselves through, boy that was enjoyable. I always envy those people who drink wine everyday, how do they afford it, and why do they do it. Now I know. Wine is good, it's relaxing and it makes you sleep so good. An apple a day keeps the doctor away... A glass a wine a night, makes me feel alright!! 


So I promised pictures of the twins from my last post. They are adorable and I am sure in the week since I have seen them, they have grown a ton. Without any further adieu here is Momma Combo, and baby girls Maddie and Aida!

Aren't they SO cute.. 

So this week myself, and some of my co-workers from the hospital have been working on a project offered by Breakthrough Horizons. It's a "5 S Lean" project. In other words, we're leaning out the amounts of things we don't need. The five S`s are SORT, SHINE, SET IN ORDER, STANDARDIZE AND SUSTAIN. The 6th one we added was SAFETY. It's honestly quite interesting, but in short, I am exhausted. Our leader of our group Heidi was so much fun! We honestly had a blast working on a lot of tough subjects and big topics. I learned so much about maximizing human talent, how much non-value added things we do on a daily basis that waste time, and a lot about problem solving. Anyways, if you're feeling geeky - and having troubles at work, in any organization you are involved in, or even at home getting organized, staying organized of feeling motivated to fix something - I highly recommend the services of Breakthrough Horizons. Better yet, you can read Ron's blog http://breakthroughhorizons.blogspot.com/ - it`s likely more interesting to someone who`s spent the week in the workshop and gets what he`s talking about. 

Benefits of 5S

1. Improve safety. 

2. Decrease downtime.

3. Raise employee morale.

4. Identify problems quickly.

5. Develop control through visibility .

6. Establish convenient work practices.

7. Strengthen employees`pride in their work.

8. Increase product process and quality.

9. Promote stronger communication in staff.

10. Empower employees to sustain and maintain their work area.


Ok so that was fun, but now onto something else.


Keri and I went to Bridal Images on Wednesday night - I pulled about 12 dresses, and liked 1. This is how it goes for me. I guess I'm picky. Did I find THE ONE. Not sure, this decision making process for me is difficult, what does the "say yes to the dress" feeling feel like!?!?

Haley was apparently quite upset that I moved home last night. Being that I stayed for two days, her assumption seemed I would stay forever. She told me on Monday night that she usually sleeps by herself, but because Uncle Neil wasn't with me, she would like to cuddle with me and sleep with me. She is at such an adorable age. A friend at work, Shelly brought a flower girl dress that her daughter wore at a wedding for Haley to try on. Bonus, it had chocolate brown details! There was a small seam bust on the one side, and she told me that there was a "little mistake" with the dress but we could likely "fix it". I just love the things she says, I could listen to her talk for days! 


The battle of the diet continues, this was a very difficult week because I wasn't at home and did a lot of "lunch buying" - however, I kept the sandwiches piled with veggies and kept my goal in mind while ordering. I didn't feel off the bandwagon, and felt confidant my calories would be ok. Well they were, and I am down about 6 pounds in a little over a week! 


Lennox was so happy to see me last night, she must have really missed me. The first night I was gone she was sick (ew, thanks Neil for cleaning up!) and last night when I got home she was laying in the upstairs hallway, and had drug my pajamas I'd left under my pillow out into the hallway. She is quite a wee girl - she won't leave my side now that I'm home. I have missed her too of course she is our baby! 


So what will I do today.. well we were going to go to Orangeville, run some errands and get some groceries. Neil went to work shortly after 4am, and he is still at work. They usually only work 1/2 days on Fridays, but it's snowing and blowing like crazy here today. I think it may have been a snow day for the school buses too. So needless to say, I don't think I'll head to Orangeville today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, or maybe we'll go tonight.


Tomorrow Lindsay (my old roomie!), Graham (her boyfriend!) and Tatum (Lindsay's dog that lived with us at the apartment!! MISS HER!) are coming for a visit and sleepover! She made me promise I was going to make Thai Crispy Honey Sesame Chicken with Jasmine Rice (copycat recipe from Jack Astors - soo good!) - I am so excited, I love this dish! I'll be calorie counting don't worry! 

Before I head off, I  just wanted to share an amazing picture I saw this week.. 

So this is Friday...

Happy Friday! I thought while writing my last blog [my big confessions] nobody really read this blog, and now I am realized - well I guess I have more readers then I thought. People are holding me accountable, this is good.


So this week, well I was hungry. I can't lie. I snuck a few things - but I did write everything down. I feel like when I do feel that crave for something bad, because I have to write it down its like a "handslap - bad girl!". This is ok!


I weighed myself mid-week - and ofcourse, that was MORE motivation to do what I need to do. 


Tonight is going to be hard, we're having our "cow family" over. We're going OUT for dinner, and then back here to our house to have some drinks! I am going to have to pay attention to my choices!! 
My dad's dear friend Ron, who suddenly passed away in September is in my head today. It is his family, and my immediate family we are getting together with tonight. I am so excited to see them! Ironically, my girl Combo [she's a cow, yes] brought twin baby girl calves into the world last night. Ron was the first owner of Combo, and I showed her as a yearling [which I might add was my best year in 4-H ever!] - we even won at the Royal! I cannot wait to see the twin girls tomorrow at the farm. Their names are Maddie and Aida. I will give you the story tomorrow night.

For now, I need to move my rear end and get tidying up the house! Neil's napping - it's been a long week for him - early mornings with all of this snow. Lennox is cuddled in with him. I guess I will tidy alone. 

The big decision..

Instead of saying it's a big decision, we'll start by saying it's the RIGHT decision. 


I need to start eating better [also referred to as dieting], and being more healthy in general. I'm getting married this year, and I think both Neil and I deserve to have a healthier looking and feeling me. 


I've tried before, and I have failed before. I've thought about it, read about it, talked about it. I've even lied about it. I don't think it's going to work anymore.

I spoke with two friends today, both of which have had amazing results from doing some little things to change their eating and exercising habits - I heard what they told me, and thought to myself "why isn't it like that for me". Lack of determination. I'm going to need a boost here.


So there I said it, I have [in the past] had no determination for losing weight, eating better and feeling better. Well, without further adieu I'd like to announce my motivations. 

1. I'm GETTING MARRIED THIS YEAR. 
2. I deserve to look and feel better. 
3. Neil deserves to have me look and feel better.
4. I'd like to share some of my sisters clothes. [she may not read this ever, and she may]
5. I would like to like clothes shopping. Especially WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING. 

So there you have it. I'm trying to get motivated, and keep myself accountable. Natalie - I know you'll keep my chin up - you always have when I have pretended to do this before. No pretending this time. 

Ok, so share your dieting successes with me [I'll need them]. Send me some great healthy recipes because I love to cook good food. 

I'm going to start slowly, so I don't get frustrated.