The weekend...

I really enjoy weekends..

Friday night Jamin & I went to our neighbour's house for rabbit pie and/or lasagna. I had the lasagna while Jamin enjoyed the rabbit pie...have you tried it before? Later that evening, Jamin's parents & sister, Shira came over from PEI. Shira flew out the next morning back to Kentucky. It was great to see her while she was home.

On Saturday night we hung out with my brother, Peter & his girlfriend Janine. They are on a big monopoly kick these days, so we played a round with them. Peter's winning streak is over! Jamin was the winner, then Janine, then Peter, then me....I just wasn't getting the rolls! Here are Janine & Jamin in the final round!Sunday after church, Naomi came over for a visit...she is back from India and on her way to South Africa. It was soooo good to see her!! I love that girl :) Here's a picture of us.

Sunday night we went to Christa's house for her birthday party...Happy Birthday, Christa! We had a great time. There was a competition that involved building the highest free standing balloon tower and the boys won...I think it helped that they had an engineer on the team! Here is the competition..the ladies. They did a pretty good job too!

Here's Stephen, Bryan & Jamin. We were just leaving as Bryan was arriving...he's just such a late night party animal!!

Happy 2006 (a little late)

Jamin & I made it back to Halifax for New Year's. We went to Steve & Jill's place to count it down! We had a great time....loved the food & drinks, guys..thanks for having us! Here are a few pictures from the evening. Happy New Year!

"The boys": Brian, Stephen, Jamin, Tyler & Kent"The ladies": Margaret, Giselle, me, Kendra, Jill, Naomi & Amanda

Jamin & I

Kendra & Jamin

Nick & Jessica (not the couple from the Newly Weds!)

Congrats!

Congrats to Michael & Kim who got engaged over the Christmas break!! They are planning to tie the knot in the summer of '07! Very exciting :) We hear the ring is beautiful and that Mike planned it all out perfectly!! Marriage is great..You'll love it!

Friends

One thing I love about the Christmas season is that lots of people come home for the holidays. It's almost impossible to see everyone, but we did manage to see quite a few people.

Our friends, Jeff & Amanda MacLeod who are originally from Cape Breton now live in Ontario. They stopped over along with Amanda's friend, Sarah the other night. We enjoyed a party pizza and caught up with each other....come again anytime!!Last night, Michelle Brogan stopped by with her finance, Tom Morrison. Jamin & I had never met Tom before, so we were so glad they were able to come over. Michelle is from Cape Breton and living in Ontario now as well. She & Tom are planning their wedding for September 1, 2007...congrats you guys!!

Good times in PEI part III

It was great to see Shira while on PEI. Shira is Jamin's sister who now lives in Kentucky with her husband Bobby. Bobby flew in on Friday night, so we all went out to Swiss Chalet for supper. It was also Jonny's birthday the next day, so we celebrated that as well. Happy 23rd Jonny! By the way, I love eating at Swiss Chalet..so yummy!!!!!! Thanks for the treat, Bob & Elsie :) Here are some pics of us around the table...

Bob & ElsieBobby & Shira

Sarah & JaminElsie & Jonny

Good times in PEI part II

Jamin & I had a great time in PEI over the Christmas holidays. We spent lots of time with family, visited friends, ate very well, & enjoyed time to relax.

Here's Jamin & Bob playing with the hockey table that Jonny got for Christmas. We all think Bob really bought it for himself :) Bob is smiling because he usually won. By the end of our visit though, Jamin was beating him occasionally though! Jonny looks on, wondering what winning must feel like...One night we went over to Mike & Jan's place. Jan spoiled us with yummy Christmas treats. The conversation was great too...right, Erin? :) Here's a pick of the ladies. (Jan on floor, me, Kristi, Erin, & Shira)Here's a cute pic of Paul, Melanie, Mike & Jan..ah the happy couples :)

Good times in PEI

We are enjoying our time in PEI for Christmas. One of the presents I got Jamin is a 3D puzzle of the Sydney Opera House. We took it with us to PEI and in less than two days he had put it all together (with some help from Jonny, Grant, Nathan & myself). Pretty impressive, huh!?
Last night we went to visit Mark & Roxanne Johnston in their new house. They have recently moved back to PEI from Ontario. Their new house is beautiful and the pizza we ate was delicious! Congrats to Mark & Roxanne.....they are expecting their first baby this June!!

Merry Christmas!

Just a short note to say Merry Christmas! We hope you all had a wonderful day with family & friends and had a chance to reflect on the meaning of today as well as those things in your life that are most important.

"Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays"

So, this year it seems to be controversial to say "Merry Christmas". The politically correct thing to say is "Happy Holidays".

I like to say Merry Christmas because it is the holiday I celebrate. For me, Christ coming to Earth as a baby on Christmas has deep personal meaning in my life. I do not think everyone should have to say Merry Christmas, but I think if I want to say Merry Christmas that should be okay.

If you celebrate another holiday this time of year or if you don't celebrate anything at all, I still hope you have a good time while you're off on vacation. I hope we all have "Happy Holidays", and I hope that those of us who celebrate Christmas have a "Merry Christmas" but even more than this my prayer is that we understand why we celebrate this beautiful day.

What do you think? Oh, and what will be say when Easter comes???

The Big Day!

Sunday was Mary & Eric's wedding. The weather was great (a little chilly when we did outside pictures though!) and the day went smoothly. It was great to see family & friends there for this special day. Here's a pic of Gemma (Eric's sister) & Joseph (Eric's brother) coming down the isle. I really liked Gemma's hair.This is Dad walking Mary down the isle. You'll notice in the next picture (on their way out) she looks a lot happier with Eric!I was the Matron of Honour, so I walked out with Steven MacEachern, the best man. We were pros at this because we were also paired up at Jeff & Amanda's wedding a couple of years back.
Here's Peter & Janine (my brother & his girlfriend) hanging out after the wedding & reception. Don't they look cute! It was a wonderful weekend! Congrats Mary & Eric Whyte!!PS I'd like to say thank you to Mark & Cheryl for letting Jamin & I crash at their place! Your house was great! Thanks and happy birthday, Mark!

Pre wedding

This weekend we travelled to Cape Breton for my sister, Mary's wedding. On Friday night, Karen threw a personal shower for Mary. It was lots of fun with nice gifts for Mary, fun games, and great food! In one game you had to see who could come closest to kissing the lips on the poster. While I went for Matt Damon, here's a picture of Janine going in to "seal" the deal with Edward Norton!On Saturday we got ready for the big day (the wedding was on Sunday). After the rehearsal, we all went back to Eric's parents' place for a rehearsal party. Here's a pic of Jamin & I with Eric's two younger brothers, Benjamin & Joseph. Later that night back @ the hotel room, Mary tried on her dress with my veil and we convinced her to wear it. I love the veil....so bridal. Doesn't she make a beautiful bride!!

Alarm clocks

Jamin & I have two alarm clocks in our room. One on each of our bedside tables. Even if we get up at the same time in the morning, we set them both. I think it's because we both like to have that control. I know I'm not willing to give up my alarm clock. I also like looking at it during the night.

A couple of weeks ago, we were supposed to get up @ 6:00am on a Sunday morning to drive our friend Kelley to the airport. For some unknown reason, only I set my alarm clock. Have you ever set it for pm rather than am or vice-versa? Well that's what I did. Anyway, we awoke to Kelley pounding on our door! It wasn't a big deal because we can get ready in 3 minutes.

However, this made me think about what other couples do as far as the alarm clock situation. I was talking to a friend @ work (Patty) and she & her husband only have one alarm clock which has lead to some sleeping in later than desired at times.

Questions: What is your alarm clock situation? One or two? If you're single, what do you think you'd prefer when there's someone else sharing your room? Let's hear it..

Weekend

It was a busy, but fabulous weekend! Saturday evening we went to Jamin's work party. Jamin ripped up the dance floor and boogied like crazy! Okay, maybe not like crazy, but we had a great time dancing and the buffet was good too!

On Sunday after church, Jonathan came over to visit us. We hadn't seen him since he moved to Moncton, so it was a great visit. Come again, Jono!!


Later that afternoon, we babysat for Ainsley (you may remember her from earlier posts) and Toffee (also seen earlier). It's probably good practice for us! She was very good and super cute...although she looks a little scared in this picture, Jamin was doing a really good job!

Snow & Visitors

It's snowed last night!! I'm not sure exactly how much we got, but it was enough that the snow plow came by last night and Jamin had to shovel Jonny's car out so he could get to his exam. It's very pretty though and great for making snow men! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

Earlier this week we had some visitors. Jamin's parents, Bob & Elsie came with their friends, Leigh & Anne. We all went out to dinner @ Quincy's; it was yummy! Here's a picture of Bob & Elsie by our tree...I think this picture is cute :)

This is Elsie & I. She's trying to make herself look taller :) Good try!!

And lastly, this is Ainsley Dawn Sutherland. She's Jamie & Kelly's 5 month old baby. She is also Toffee's owner. Toffee also came to visit earlier in the week, but I wasn't able to get any good pictures of her with her family. I know a lot of my readers are big Toffee fans, so I'll try harder next time. Isn't Ainsley a cutie!!

Oh Christmas Tree & Gingerbread House

It all began on Saturday morning. I had it in my mind that I needed a Christmas tree. My kind husband & brother-in-law were good enough to come with me to pick out our tree. After scanning a couple of places, we decided that Home Depot had the cheapest trees (besides the forest..), so we pulled in to a great parking spot....now not to get off on a tangent, but I don't really think I'm the prime candidate for this parking spot. Yes, I'm pregnant, but I don't have any problems walking!! Anyway, I got a picture with my messy hair and belly...what do you think..should someone like me park here? My thought is no. What about those moms with 8 kids? I think yes. Or, someone that can barely walk they are so pregnant...?? I think yes. Anyway, I ran from the spot so no one would see me...I really hope people didn't see me running....that's even worse...Anyway, after getting someone inside to unlock the gate so we could look at the 10 trees that weren't wrapped, and then after taking the tree back inside to pay for it, we took our little tree named Woodsy home and decorated him...
I think he turned out beautifully. We're still working on getting ornaments, but I think he's just perfect....
On Sunday, we had our 4th annual gingerbread house decorating. We managed to save some of the candy for the house :)
Ah Christmas...I LOVE IT! I'm glad God sent Jesus to come to earth....the greatest gift of all :)

Thank you!!!

Since the last post wouldn't seem to allow me to put on as many pics as I wanted, here are a few more from our GoverNEXT party:

Since I didn't get a "guys picture" like the one of the girls, here are a couple of the guys (Terry & Wyatt) chillin' at the party. After looking through my pics I noticed that Vijay, Gary & Larry managed to miss all the pictures...hmm..I'll get you guys next time!!

I know Mike already got his picture up, but how could I not put this up!? And hey..I think that's Gary in the background!

Lastly, I would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone for my surprise baby shower! That was sooo thoughtful. Everyone chipped in to get us a gift certificate for Halifax Shopping Centre and a cute piggy bank of Noah's Ark filled with cash. Perhaps I should save this for our baby's education...let's face it, I'm getting a new outfit! Only kidding...I think we'll use this $$ to buy the car seat and stroller. Thanks again everyone. It was totally unexpected and very much appreciated.

GoverNEXT party

Tonight Jamin & I went to a party @ our friends Vijay & Paru's house. It was a bunch of us from a committee at work called GoverNEXT. We're basically a bunch of young public servants trying to change the world!! Anyway, we had a great time. Lots of delicious food, great friends, & lots of laughs. I may have talked about the blog too much, but I'm hoping it will motivate all of my fellow colleagues to start up their own! (hint, hint...)

Here's Jamin holding the SKOR bar trifle we brought...yum!!

Jamin & Mark hanging out by the door.

"The ladies" left-right: Kim, Jennifer, Michelle, Patty, Sarah, Mengxuan "Annie", Paru, & Angela. Note: Jen Thorne did show up later after being lost in the neighbourhood for about half an hour :) We're glad you found it, Jen!

A cute picture of the happy couple, Mike & Kim.

Haircut update

As I'm sure you're all just waiting to hear how the big haircut went, here' s a picture. I didn't get much taken off the length, just a trim with a few additional layers. As for the color, I did get some highlights & lowlights. I went to Concepts in Halifax. They were really good there. The only downer is that it does take a long time. It took 4 hours today. I didn't mind though. I got to catch up with Hannah who is in school there and met some other nice people while getting my hair done. I would recommend the place and would go again.

Hair cut tomorrow

I love getting my hair cut. Tomorrow I have an appointment at a hair school. I haven't been to this one yet, so I'll let you know how it goes. I'm all about getting the deals. I'm going for a trim perhaps with some additional layers as well as some highlights. Do you ever read those magazines that tell you what types of hair cuts look best for your face shape? I have trouble actually deciding what my face shape is.

I need your help. Perhaps you can be more objective. Here's a picture of my face (it's a little old, but will do). Is my face oval, round, oblong, heart, square, or diamond? For more info on these shapes, click here. Thanks; I appreciate the feedback :)