O' Christmas Tree! - 2012

We like to get the Fraser Fir type of Christmas Trees. This year we paid attention to how long they last. This one lasts 30-35 days so it helps us since we got it a little early. Here is Ian and his dad loading it up. It was... a little challenging.

Ian unfloophed it once we got it set up. It's a word. 

Ian helped me decorate it this year. I think it turned out pretty good.

I've been slowing adding to our decorations for different holidays. I got the deer in Virginia (thankfully Derek did not shoot them). I'm waiting to print out the subway art that I created. But Ian got me an advent calendar that I had been eyeing. :3

Here is the whole scene!

Ian surprised me last year with lighting up the staircase. This year we did the main stair rail and the loft banister. Here's a fuzzy picture.

I'm still taking pictures of the house. Here is one with our holiday decorations. Don't ask about the 3rd garland on the right.... (sensitive subject..)

Balancing Act

The Feeling Is Mutual

Target Loves Canada (can't wait!!!!)

Seattle Seahawks Game

Ian and I had so much fun at the Seattle vs. Buffalo game in Toronto. It made me really want to go see a Seattle home game. My face paint held up in the rain and our seats were pretty good. I did dance along to Gangnam Style... Heeeeeeey sexy lady.... :P

I asked Ian who was a more embarassing football game partner.. Derek or I? His answer - "You. Derek spent most of the time in the bathroom." Lol.

12th woMan

Tomorrow I get to see my favorite NFL team play. They have come to Toronto CRUSH the Buffalo Bills. Here is a view of the Stadium. We are going to be behind the Seattle Seahawks bench we *think* 4 rows up from the field near the 20 yard line towards the hotel. I say *think* because from the map it looks like they block off a portion of the seats near the bench.. if they really do, then we will be 4 rows up. Yes, there's a hotel in the stadium. :P

Before seeing Ian and Derek on TV, I probably wouldn't say look for us... but since I know it's possible.. Look for the crazy girl in the #12 jersey (white long sleeve shirt underneath), jumping up and down with face paint. :D

Wish We Had A Bo

He could inspect our decorations that I just finished! The paws get me every time. Too cute!

Feel Good Video of the Day

So Cute I Want To Cry

Christmas Subway Art

A trendy thing to do in home decorating is something called "Subway Art". Google it for examples. It's simply a canvas or framed print of words usually with a theme. It's cheap and easy artwork for your house. I decided to whip up something for Christmas. It's my first stab at it.. but I think it turned out pretty good. (Minus the fact that I had to go in order for the Reindeer and Rudolph's R makes the E in Comet look weird - I'm being nit-picky)  I'll print it out and put it in a black frame on the entertainment center. Simple and easy!

This Old Hot Springs

When Ian and I first moved to Cambridge, I had a lot of questions about this building at King and Fountain. It's this really neat looking structure that obviously had a coat of paint thrown on it a few years ago... but otherwise has been left to collect dust. Apparently, it was originally a hotel built in 1890 over natural sulphur hot springs. Since then it passed through a few hands, bought by one company who started the restoration, only to have it almost burn down and no activity since then.

The hair stylist that I used to go to said that her salon's owner was looking to buy the building and turn it back into a spa. It would be nice if they restored it in the same style that it was built in.

---

Landmark Preston Springs building in market for new owner:
A blue-and-white For Sale sign went up on the front balcony of the historic Preston Springs building on Thursday.

Puerto Rico?

Last Wednesday there was a town hall meeting at work. I had some stuff to do so I called and watched the presentation remotely. The head of our site talked about the global financial results and skipped over the Canadian year to date financial results. But at the end of the presentation he told a story about setting a really high goal and that we hit the mark and deserved a reward. 

Then he played this video and the screaming ensued. Twice a year the entire company comes together for a Semester Meeting - once in the middle of winter and another at the end of the summer. They are usually painful experiences in downtown Toronto... full of meetings, bad food, bed bugs (!), and lots of people. You're locked in rooms with no windows for 8+ hours a day. It's not fun and extremely exhausting. This upcoming Semester Meeting should be much more pleasant. :)

Puerto Rico!? Since it's not the kind of place that Ian and I would take a vacation, it's crazy to think that I will be headed there in 2 months! 4-5 days (somewhere in the range of January 28 - February 2). I heard that they are mandating a limit of no more than 15 total hours spent in meetings. Whatever ends up happening.. I think we are all extremely aware that this kind of reward is not common these days. Estoy muy agradecido y voy a disfrutar de cada minuto. 

First Snow This Season

Here are some fuzzy pictures of our first snow!

About an hour later....

I'm loving how all the rocks look covered in snow!

J.E.T.S.

Just End The Season - Ian was pretty happy with how the game went last night... :>

It's Beginning...

...to look a lot like Christmas. Last weekend, I started to decorate for Christmas. I wanted to get a jump on it since we will be gone the first week.

Big thanks to my sister for the Owl candlestick holders. They are absolutely perfect for the mantle. (Still looking for white taper candles!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is American Thanksgiving today. I'm thankful America got the election right. :P

We should all celebrate this holiday Cooper-style. Look at him rocking the custom paper bag vest and headband. Awesome. :3

WTB Dog PST

Being a Dog Is Like Being In a Video Game [Comic]:

11 Days

I got to FaceTime with this little man a few days ago. He has HAIR! He's all like.. Hey I'm grown up and stuff. Booo...

Can't wait!!

Just Dance 4 Fix

I am so very happy right now. Just Dance just posted this on their wall:

I can't wait to play it again. I've been dancing to JD 3 or Greatest Hits. I had stopped using JD 4 because the menu functionality was pretty much unusable. They were trying to rely solely on the Kinect for menu selection. The precision you had to have was RIDICULOUS. I spent most of my time jabbing at air in futility... desperately trying to select a song. Oh man.. if you picked the wrong song or got into another menu... you would be lost F O R E V E R.

I'M READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!

I get to see the Seahawks play in person for the first time ever! December 16th. 23 rows up from the sidelines behind the Seattle bench. Look for a lady covered in face paint, cheering like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert (next to a guy who is politely pretending he doesn't know her). Sweeeeeeeeeeeet. 

Christmas Lights Are Up!

We had a weird spell of warm weather last Sunday. We took the time to winterize the house and put up the Christmas lights. It was either that or wait until the more appropriate time (late November/early December) and FREEZE.

Ian did the pole + clips method again. There was much cursing, throwing, and murderous looks... until I made an offhand observation about the clips regarding their shape and how the trick must be to get them in a specific spot on the gutter. Ian tried a new technique and the clips snapped right on.  I'm pretty sure he wished I had made my offhand observation an hour earlier when he was throwing the pole to the ground in frustration*.

*Short note for next year - We need a new pole as it is now bent. :|

Dreaming Of Muskoka

Ian and I had such a great time in Muskoka. I can't wait to go back. I'll post on our trip soon - better late than never... I just can't go through the pictures without being depressed that I'm not there - lol. :)

My Mom Had The Best Idea

Ian and I were a little worried about having to get up at 2:30/3:00am to drive to Buffalo for our flight to Virginia in 18 days... My mom gave me the best idea and thankfully Ian agreed. We are going to head down to Buffalo after work on the Friday and stay the night. The hotel is across from the airport and next door to The Parking Spot. (I'm not going to mention that the money we saved on our early morning flight will be negated by a hotel stay and mall shopping...)

The best part is that we get to do a little American shopping and dining. The Walden Galleria is huge and has a Cheesecake Factory. Yay Early Christmas! :)

Less Than 30

Just like me... the countdown is at less than 30! Less than 30 days and we get to see these little buggers.

Boo!

Cooper and Max were ghosts for Halloween. My sister made some pretty cool costumes!

Max clearly wanted to be a tiger. :)

Halloween Stats - SO CLOSE!

Man.. if we had just 1 more kid we could have at least tied last year! We got 61 kids even though it was a little rainy out! There so many kids wearing bulky costumes to keep warm and rain boots. Cute!

Ok Seriously - Don't Be Mean!

2012 Cute Overload Top 10 Howl-o-Ween Costumes!:

1. Evita

2. Bat Cat

3. Banana

4. Witch

5. Trick-or-Treater

6. Crocodile Kroncshe

7. Seal Pup

8. Fast Foods

9. Rice Crispy Treat

10. Mutt Romney [ REMOVED PICTURE BECAUSE EVEN A DOG VERSION OF MITT ROMNEY IS NO GOOD]

The End

One More Thing… Don’t eat too much candy, you might barf!

Credits!
1. By Katie Sokoler for Gothamist.
2. Via Girlington Garage.
3. Via BananasInstinct.
4. Bearded Dragon by Helen D.
5. By Jiffpom.
6. Via Intertubes.
7. By Ann N. and Bacon the French Bulldog.
8. An oldie but a goodie from Sender-Inner Richard H.
9. As modeled by the fabulous Winston.
10. REMOVED
11. “The End” By Cheryl L.
12. “One More Thing” from Alisha V.!

Happy Halloween!

Don't be mean to your dogs. :3

Muskoka Bound

Ian and I are headed to Lake Rosseau tomorrow - extending my BrittanyBirthdayWeekendofFun to this weekend. I've wanted to go back up north for awhile. Especially now with the trees having changed and hopefully still retaining their leaves. Low amount of bugs and just overall beauty. The last time was with the in-laws to Algonquin. While it was fun and I saw a moose, it was hot and bug filled. This time it will be cold which usually means less bugs! Lake Rosseau is a little less than 4 hours away from here.. in the land of a million little lakes.

We are staying at the The Rosseau Resort by JW Marriott.

The room has a fireplace and a good view of the lake.

We're going to try to geocache using my new handheld GPS! It's ready and loaded with a few geocaches in the area. Most of them near the hotel are micro. The micro ones were impossible to find using the iPhone's GPS. I'm hoping for better results with the handheld.

Ian and I are still getting over the virus that Max so kindly gave us. I've developed a wicked cough that I hope will be gone soon. Ian's cough is still awful but not as frequent. We're both high on inhalers 90% of the time. So this weekend might just be full of rest. But rest with room service~

Joke Gift

This was kind of a joke gift given to me by my mother-in-law... She knows how much I love mosquitoes. :P But it's actually an excellent mug for soup!

Via Virginia (Mugs #47-49)

My sister came up for my birthday and brought with her *3* mugs! She got the Houston one and then a friend of hers has a husband that goes to Korea monthly. Crazy.