What a week!

This has been one busy week! Why does it always seem like you run off your feet the week you get back from vacation? On Monday I had over 100 emails to look at and a lot to respond to and a ton of voicemails as well. I finished going through all of my emails yesterday only to have more pop up again.

I am so happy it's Friday! I've been fighting off a cold so I'm going to relax this weekend but I do hope to get to the gym on Sunday if I'm feeling better. I'm also heading to a big craft show with my mom today. I'm excited as it's kind of the kick-off to the holiday season. And of course I'll be getting ready for all the cute trick-or-treaters on Monday! I love having the kids come on Halloween! I still have to get some candy, but I always hold off on buying it so I don't eat it! :)

Here's a couple of pictures of what I was up to while I was on vacation. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Manic Monday!

It's back to the grind tomorrow! No more sleeping in, staying in my pj's until late, going to the gym when it's not busy, enjoying afternoon walks and catching up on the PVR. Tomorrow I'm back to work!

I can say though that I am looking forward to going back. I feel rested and ready. I'm excited to see my co-workers too! We are like a big family at my work and I'm lucky to have a place of employment where it's like that.

Tonight I'm going to head to my mom's for dinner. My brother's girlfriend from Switzerland is flying in. I haven't met her yet, so I'm excited to do so. I'm sure she'll be jet-lagged and really feeling the time change. It was a 16 hour flight for her to get here. She'll be staying for two weeks, so I'm looking forward to getting to know her.

And tomorrow bright and early at 5 a.m. I'll be hitting the gym for my class. I have a love-hate relationship with early morning workouts. I love that I can get it over with and get on with my day but I hate waking up when it's still pitch black! The 'love' part definitely outweighs the 'hate' at the moment, so I'm still happy to go.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Hello friends!

I have had a wonderful and relaxing (almost) two weeks off! I've gotten quite a few things done around the house and the yard, finished off some projects I've been meaning to get done and put another good dent into my Christmas shopping. It feels great!

This past weekend we had our Thanksgiving, although it was a week late, it was still absolutely wonderful! For dessert I made Strawberry Cheesecake Bites like these:



These aren't the ones I did, this image is via www.pleasedontburnette.blogspot.com. I didn't take any pics of mine.

They turned out great and are SUPER easy to do. One thing I would recommend is making them the day you'll eat them. I did mine the night before and put them in the fridge, but the strawberries became a little soft. I will definitely make this recipe again.

Here's the recipe:

About 20 strawberries (was a little over one carton for me)
8 oz package of softened cream cheese
1/2 cup of icing sugar
1.2 tsp of vanilla
12 graham crackers

First you want to core out the middle of the strawberries (I just used a sharp knife). With an electric beater, beat cream cheese until all of the lumps are out. Add icing sugar and vanilla. Mix until blended.
With a piping bag, pipe cream cheese mixture into the middle of each strawberry.
Crush up graham crackers using a Ziploc bag and rolling pin. Dip the strawberries into the graham cracker crumbs to cover the cream cheese at the top.

Simple and so delicious!

Hello holidays!

I am in heaven today! While I think of my co-workers at the office, I am sipping tea and having a piece of toast. I am on holidays! I needed to use up two weeks of holidays. Noel is home for a week of them on his regular days off, which will be great! But the best part is, we have no plans! I have never taken a holiday where I just stay home. It is complete bliss!

I have some projects that I want to get done while I'm off. Some of them I've been wanting to tackle for a while -- ok maybe years -- so I'll be happy to get those done. I want to organize our office closet, which if you saw it would understand that it is not a small feat! I also want to go through my closet and get rid of the clothes I haven't worn in forever. For some reason when I do this there are some items that I just can't get rid of and think that I will wear them again -- but that never happens and they continue to hang there.
I also have a fall wreath I want to make. I've never made a wreath before but I'm looking forward to trying it! I will post pics when I'm done. And I am going to make two bow hangers for my nieces for Christmas. I'm really excited to make these, they are so darn cute! Will also post pics!

So, I'm off to clean up the yard and clean out my pots -- with the low temps (-2!!!) at night I think they're done for the year!

And I'm backkkkkkkk!

Hello blog world! :) Wow, it's really been February since I last posted?! I took an impromptu bloggy break. But I'm back. I'm feeling inspired and I have a lot to talk about!

Let's see over the last eight months -- In May I ran in my first 10K race. The experience was amazing. I pushed myself like I have never before and I couldn't wait to do it again. In June I ran a 5K race. Weather was cold and rainy -- a much different experience than the 10K. But I finished it and I was proud.

Since then running has really fallen off my radar. Life has gotten so busy. My cakes are really picking up. I've done some wedding cakes and birthday cakes as well as cupcakes for different functions. While this is a good thing, it certainly has taken up a lot of time.

In July Noel and I also took a week vacation to B.C. It was so amazing to get away. I came back feeling refreshed and relaxed. The crazy thing is that it's the most time Noel and I have spent together in about two years! With him working in the oilfield he is often away. It's an adjustment for sure and after two and a half years of this life I still sometimes find myself getting used to it.

That leaves me to now. Unfortunately I have gained some weight back. I'm working on fixing this though! I signed up for a six-week challenge at my gym. It's the first week and has been going well. We meet three times a week at 6 a.m. Wowza is that early for someone who isn't a morning person! But honestly, it feels fantastic to get my workout done in the morning and I honestly think I'm more of a morning person than I thought! :)
I'm excited to get back into a routine exercise-wise. I have really come to the conclusion that I cannot do it on my own.

There you have it! I'm looking forward to being back! :)