Life was beautiful then

On to Day 26

Fun times... A childhood Memory.

I had a fantastic childhood filled with a lot of fun happy memories. It is hard to choose one to share with you but I will try.



I have always loved Christmas, time spent with family visiting, laughing, and playing. Christmas meant extra goodies and treats and staying up a little bit later because of parties and dinners and get togethers. I have a fantastic memory of waking up one Christmas morning and seeing under the tree a stroller for my cabbage patch kid. I remember being SO excited and happy. I now know that stroller was made by my mom and dad, Mom sewed and my dad put together the frame with white pvc pipe. (genius). I'm not sure why that is such a strong Christmas morning memory for me but I do remember being a little groggy as I walked in to see the Christmas tree with all sorts of gifts and just knowing that stroller was for me and all that excitement just wiping away any sleepiness in me. I would have been very young (not sure exactly how old), but it's a special memory that I can't wait to make for my children when they come along.

I really should ask if mom and dad have any pictures of this stroller.... as this post is lacking in the photo department.

Absolutely DELICIOUS!

And on to Day 25

I hope you just ate because this post may just make you HUNGRY!

Today is a recipe day!

I have fallen in love with this blog

Check out Gina's Skinny Recipes!

Seriously if you have not yet checked out this blog you must.... Go! Seriously..... I'll wait!

Doesn't everything look SO SO delicious!

I have yet to try a recipe from her site that I have not liked! A huge crowd favourite around here is

Gina's Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

Source: skinnytaste.com

As you can see Gina takes GORGEOUS photo's of her food! She is very talented!

This recipe is So simple, I've even thrown my chicken in frozen and it has still turned out fabulous! I usually cook up some Quinoa to serve this on, and I add sides of salsa, guacamole, grated cheese, sour cream, hot sauce (my hubby loves them) and anything else I think would be delicious to add on top.
It has always been a crowd pleaser and I doubt we will ever get sick of it! I definitely recommend you add this on to your menu plan next week!

Do you have any favourite cooking blogs or recipes? please share!

I'm Baaa-AAAck!

Well after a long Hiatus (sorry about that) I figured it's time to get back on the horse.

I have sat down to do this a few times and never seem to make it past clicking on "New Post". I figured I just needed a break, haven't figured out why yet and not sure why NOW is when I finally get back in the blogisphere, but here I am.

I am going to finish these 30 days because it's important for me to finish, so I hope you've been waiting in anticipation.... for Day 24.

Actually I'm going to switch up Day 24, It is meant to be - A Movie no one would expect me to love.  I'm pretty hard to disappoint with movies and I think most people know I have a fairly eclectic movie taste and love almost anything. So I decided I'm switchin' it up! Ya, that's right, I'm coming back to finish my 30 days but I'm hijacking them and doing it MY way (well at least for Day 24 I am.)

So rather than a movie no one would expect me to love, how about a movie that no one would expect me NOT to love.

The number one movie in that position is
... drumroll please.....

The Devil Wears Prada

source

I think I enjoyed the book too much to like the movie. I know that is a common experience for many people, but not for me. Typically reading the book doesn't disappoint my movie watching experience.  With this one I remember sitting through the movie SO angry half the time, and left the theater feeling cheated.

Are you surprised? Needless to say The Devil Wears Prada is not in my rather large DVD collection.

So.... did ya miss me? did ya? ;)

How do you remember me?

So this post had me a bit stumped, It is day 23 and the challenge is a way in which I want to be remembered.

It has me thinking of how I live my life, how those brief encounters with others can affect them. Do they remember me for a moment, for the rest of the day. I hope if they do spend a fleeting moment in remembering their day it's a positive memory of the stranger who smiled, who offered a helping hand, who held their place in line, who patiently waited for their child to finish. I'd like to think that I am a happy, positive, caring individual who if I even met you for the briefest moment you would want to smile from our encounter.

Now I know I don't always leave this impression, sometimes I have other things on my mind and I don't notice that I could have held the door open for that person behind me. I'm sure I'm not smiling 24/7 and I know that sometimes I am not the most patient person in the world (particularly behind the wheel). This challenge today is a bit of a wake-up call, to try to be more positive, smile more, be more considerate of those around me and more aware of the needs of others, even perfect strangers. A good reminder to live my daily life on purpose.

I also thought about how those who love me and know me best remember me, or rather think of me. I was lucky enough to marry the most wonderful man this summer. We found Jerry Stilson who is an amazing marriage commissioner. Each ceremony he performs is personal to the couple he marries, he asked us each to give him 5 words about the other, these words were to be kept secret and so we didn't know what the other had said until the ceremony. The words my lovely husband used to describe me were:

Intelligent

Kind Hearted

Silly

Full of Life

&

Caring.

This is high praise indeed (even silly is praise coming from my husband he means it in a positive way as in I'm happy and don't take life to seriously, that I enjoy life and laughter) and hopefully I can continue to live in such a way so that others will think of me in the same way. I guess I don't just want to live in the same way but strive to be better everyday!

Surfin' the webisphere

Today I get to introduce you to some of my favourite websites! It's day 22... If you want to catch up on all those other days you missed here you go.... Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6,Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12,  Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 19, Day 20 and Day 21

I know it's just supposed to be one, but come on there are so many things I love doing on the web.

So my fave window shopping (and real shopping) site is
ETSY
they always have the most interesting stuff like check out the fun ties in this shop

And this shop has some of the most adorable little patterns

And I've purchased the most gorgeous feathers here, many times

On to some of my favourite blogs..
I've been following I am Momma Hear me Roar for a long time. Cheri has the cutest ideas and tons of boy crafty ideas. I am sure to check out her blog nearly every day.

 

Another blog I can't pass up cause she always has me laughing and her projects amaze me is Tidbits from the Tremaynes. Seriously Mandi is full of movie quotes and hilarity!

Now of course I should add Pinterest, but who doesn't LOVE pinterest. I mean you need to go check out the fantastic ideas like this one

Pinned from Christina Re

Isn't that beautiful, it's lace tape, so cute... but I love that it inspires me to possibly just use lace, or use lace as a stencil to get the same feel... pretty!
or funny bits like this one

still laugh every time I see it!

What are some of your favourite places to hang on the web?

I did it MYYYYYYY WAAAAYYYYY!

look at us go, I'm on day 21: Something I know I do differently than most people....

Well when I was thinking about today's challenge I really had a hard time. I think often when we do things differently than most people we may not realize it, we assume that everyone does it the same way as us, and until we see someone else doing it differently we don't even know that we do it differently. So there may be many things I do differently than most people but I just don't know it yet.
As for something that I already know I do differently than most people, I think I wrap my christmas presents differently than most people. I think the key here is MOST people, I am sure there may be other people who wrap similarly but I don't know anyone personally that wraps presents the same as I do.
So how do I do it? Well first is the buying process....

Every year at the end of Christmas I keep an eye out for pretty wrapping paper that is on clearance, but I don't just buy any pretty paper, I buy 3 rolls that co-ordinate with eachother. I then save this paper all year and when the season comes around I pull it out, Usually I'm pretty excited as I have anticipated wrapping with it all year. Plus wrapping paper is way overpriced so getting it at 70-80% off is always fantastic!

The actual wrapping part.... probably not much different although I like them to have nice neat corners and such if possible.

(photo to come once I charge my camera battery)

The different part is that I wrap my presents making sure I use an equal amount from each roll, or rather that I have a good mix of all 3 different papers under the tree, For example I would never wrap 2 large boxes in the same paper, they would have to be different paper... and if I had a lot of little presents I would try to make sure it was alternating wrapping papers. I know this seems strange to most people, but man it looks SO pretty all wrapped and under the tree ( I also buy co-ordinating ribbon and bows of course).

What happens to the wrapping paper left over from years before you may ask?
Well if it is plain silver or red or any other type that is not necessarily Christmassy it can be used for other gifts through out the year. And if it is very christmassy I can use it for white elephant gifts or other christmas gifts that won't be living under my tree for any period of time. (LIKE, if a friend or neighbour is popping by and I want to give them a little something to take home with them, it would likely not be matching the wrappings under the tree.) I have also donated it to friends who I know haven't bought wrapping paper yet. It can also be used for fun crafty projects!

There you have it.... Am I considered OCD when It comes to my Christmas wrapping process? Or just a little odd?
And just as a side note, I try to change it up every year, so one year I may have silver/black/white. the next year I would make sure to have some colour involved, reds golds and green, And yet another year it may be blues, whites, and silver. There are so many different pretty papers I feel the need to switch it up.

Food, glorious food, we're anxious to try it

We have hit Day 20: A food I like and a food I dislike.

Narrowing it down may be a bit tricky as I love a lot of food. But I'd have to say my favourite is a really well done Thai meal. It's always hard for me to explore thai restraunts because I'm searching for the perfect one with Gorgeous coconut rice. In Edmonton Viphalay is the best!

 

 

 

SO good you must try it if you're ever in Edmonton!

My usual order would be starting with the satay (SO fantastic) And Gai Himapan (Orange Cashew Chicken) with an order of coconut rice (they make an amazing coconut rice!)

a great review at eatyourcity.ca

 Now onto food I dislike. It's not as much fun to talk about but I can share I really dislike fried eggs. blech!

source

 

Not appetizing....
Can we get back to talking about the delicious coconut rice please??!?!!

Have a fantastic day, and I hope you enjoy all your meal experiences today!

Stumped... but carrying on..

Hello All, So I have been MIA it's because among other things day 18 has me stumped. I am still in the slow process of unpacking and setting up our home. So finding a favorite room at the moment is difficult and nothing is quite photo ready yet. SO I decided to just skip it and come back later. 

On to Day 19: A talent

 I feel blessed to be given many talents, but not only that to not be afraid to share and develop my talents. One of my talents is singing, I've been singing since childhood, I sang at weddings as a child. Spent my teen years singing in community talent shows, weddings, church, and even funerals. I've always had a love of singing and have sang in many different choirs, both church and community choirs. I now teach Music Together classes singing with children from babies-five years old and their grown ups who love them.  I just love to sing so much and hope to spread some joy through music when the opportunities arise.

Here's a few little photographs of me singing my heart out.

check out my attitude

that's right I'm on a chair and bustin' out in song!

Karaoke with roommates... work it!

I wish I had some photo's from my stagette. We sang Karaoke, it was FANTASTIC!

Anyways what are your talents? I know I have some very talented friends and family.

ART

So today is Day 17: An art piece.

Click to find out more :)

Not sure how I'm interpreting this today, is this a piece of art I've made, or possibly a piece of art I love.....
I think I'm going to go with the latter.

It may seem morbid, and truly no picture I can find online does it justice. But I recall sitting at the Louvre and just staring at this painting for a very long time. I find it very moving and beautiful.

Paul Delaroche: La Jeune Martyre

I also LOVE elephant art. I always enjoyed heading to the Edmonton Zoo to watch Lucy paint. One day I would love to own some Elephant art!

Some of Lucy's art

AND
An artist whom I always am in awe and inspired by, not only is she extremely talented she is also a very dear friend.

my friend Brenda Vawter: Inspired by Michelangelo's David (This painting is For Sale!)

Hope you've enjoyed some art!

To catch up here you go.... Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6,Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12,  Day 13, Day 14, Day 15 and Day 16

tears on my pillow pain in my heart caused by you...

click this button to learn more about this challenge

It is Day 16: A song that makes me cry

I am not afraid to cry and many songs have made me cry. I am particularly moved by live performances if the artist can portray their passion through the music. 

Thinking back to a time when I cried during a live performance I was reminded of Eivor a singer from the Faroe Islands who I was able to watch perform at the Edmonton Folk Fest. She has such a hauntingly beautiful voice and performs with such passion! I wish I could remember exactly which song brought me to tears but unfortunately I can not. Here is a video of one of her performances.

  As always a chance to catch up Day 1,Day 2,Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6,Day 7, Day 8,Day 9,Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14 and Day 15

What are YOU afraid of?

So I missed a day and this post is extremely late. It's been a BUSY last few days with very little sleep involved. I apologize for leaving you high and dry, cause I know there must have been tears shed when you checked my blog the last few days and found no new posts (obviously I am the highlight of your day ha ha). Without further ado let the challenge continue....

click this button to learn more about this challenge

On to Day 15: Five funny fears

So I found this day quite challenging... I don't have many fears and the fears I DO have are not particularly funny. BUT I will try to list five.

So I have a funny fear of witnessing a car accident, obviously not funny in some ways but funny that it is a fear of mine. I will be driving along and can envision an accident happening with the vehicles I see on the road, and actually it will play through my head like a movie. I then want to distance myself from that certain set of vehicles if I can, because the accident scene just keeps playing over in my head. I know it's strange... but there is one funny fear.

Source

Funny Fear number two would be about the UFC fights. I'm not a huge UFC fan, but occasionally my husband and I will be invited out to watch the fights and we do enjoy socializing and don't mind watching the fights every now and again so we will join in on the festivities. But I have a funny fear of one of the fighters killing, or causing serious long term damage to another fighter while everyone is watching for entertainment value. Kinda gross and yet why is that a fear... weird I know. I'm not afraid the whole fight just the times when the one guy is punching the other guy in the head over and over, I just cringe. yuck.

Source

I have a funny fear that when I order something different and unknown in a restaurant that I will be sick. Particularly if it's a restaurant that I've never been to before.  This comes with some background, cause when I was a kid I threw up almost every time we ate out. There were times I had to sit in the lobby of the restaurant waiting for my family to finish their meal because if I stayed sitting amongst all the food and smells I would be sick. That would be number three.

source

On to number 4. I have a funny fear the first night sleeping at the cabin. I don't even know what I'm afraid of, it's just really quiet and really dark and there is no electricity. And so the first night I find it hard to fall asleep cause I'm just afraid... (really of nothing). And the next night I'm just fine.

just realized I don't have a pic of the cabin, but this is the beautiful view from the cabin

And last and probably least.... I have a funny fear of bugs in my hair. I'm not scared of bugs, sometimes they startle me but I've never particularly been afraid of spiders or bugs. But you know that moment when you notice a bug is in your hair and you just kinda freak out a bit, and then you feel like you have bugs in your hair forever after. blaaaahhh I get the heeby jeebies thinking about it.

source

And for those who want to catch up Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6,Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12,  Day 13 and Day 14.

Let's fly, Let's fly away....

click to find out more about this challenge

Day 14 and let me tell this is my kind of day!

I LOVE to travel, have been able to do a lot of traveling and I'm sure will always be looking forward to my next trip, either figuring out how to pay for it or booking and planning those few precious days that we can get away!

I have a short list and a long list of Vacations I would like to take, We'll likely just try to cover part of the short list today.

I want to take my husband to London, to show him around where I lived and all the little parts of London and the UK in general that captured my heart.

one of my first night time views of Big Ben

 Lucky for me this has turned into our honeymoon and our flights are booked so next spring this vacation gets checked off our list and I am SO excited it's been too long since I've been back.

Australia and New Zeland have always been on my list and it seems for some reason they always get pushed back. I'm hoping to be able to cross this one off in the next 10 years or less!

hoping to see the 12 apostles along the great ocean rd one day

And the last place I'll share with you today is Ireland.

I am sad I haven't yet made it to Ireland and who knows maybe we'll figure out a way to head that way during our London honeymoon. But the thing with Ireland for me is that it is more than a few day trip I want to explore and wander and take advantage of everything I can. I would rather spend a month or at the very least 10 days. So it's been holding off waiting patiently for the time I want to give it.

I can't wait to discover all the castles and beauty in Ireland one day!

And there you have it, a little list of my Vacation dreams.

Here are Days 1-13 of the challenge if you want to catch up.

• Day 1, 
• Day 2, 
• Day 3, 
• Day 4, 
• Day 5, 
• Day 6,
• Day 7, 
• Day 8, 
• Day 9
• Day 10
• Day 11 
• Day 12
• Day 13

Lucky THIRTEEN.... Strange

Another day of my challenge

If you click on this button you can learn more about this challenge

Day 13: Five strange facts about me

 

Now I'm not exactly sure if I'm the best person to write this post. I'm sure if I handed it over to my sister or best friend or even husband they would be able to bring you much greater insight into my strangeness. But alas, it is I left with the task of deciding what is strange about me. (Super Tricky, as I am sure I'm perfect in every way .. ha ha)

I'm going to tackle these as they pop into my head. And in the end I did get insight from my sister who helped me out with two on this list.

1. I Love Peanut Butter and Cheese Whiz toast.

Yummy... when it's warm and they get all gooey together it's extra delicious

Made me think of cheese whiz commercials as a kid, does this bring back any memories?

 

2. I love to drink Tonic water (no gin... just Tonic)

I think this is more of a norm in Europe than it is in North America, but regardless I love it!

 You can also find a much better selection in Europe .. well for sure in the UK.

Here you are lucky to find good ol' schweppes Tonic, no indian or russian or any fancy tonics.

3.  I take delight in wearing HIGH heel shoes.

I know it isn't strange that I love shoes, and that I love high heel shoes. But some would say it's strange how much I LOVE to wear my high heel shoes. Most of my heels are around 4" and I will and do wear them for hours and hours at a time. and I LOVE wearing them. For my wedding I had lovely high heel shoes (that we already talked about on Day 5), and because my ceremony was on grass I didn't want my heels sinking in so I wore 4 inch wedge shoes. My day was spent in very high heels until the end of the night when I wore my birks. And I loved it! I have a large selection of heels to choose from but here are some of my "go to" heels ... typically If I'm looking for a pair of heels to wear it'll be one of these that I grab :)

Wedge Sandals Ala, Black Wedge JLo, Black Ankle boot La Diva, Green Suede heel Irregular Choice, Gold heel Ravel, Black studded heel Dollhouse.

Top view of same shoes

 I'm sure now that I'm free to wear my wedding shoes whenever I would like, they will soon be added to this selection. 

Side note- I've had the Green irregular choice shoes for some time and they are starting to look pretty worn :( 

4. I have a capitol D in the middle of my name.

This may be more about my mother than me, but it's true. My name is not two words Jo Dana... it is one word no spaces with a capitol D plunked right in the middle.

JoDana

I think my mom chose to name me like this because it looks pretty that way and also to maybe get people to stop and think before saying my name... that one didn't work out so well I get Jordana, Joanna, and all sorts of other variations ALL the time but I'm not worried. I love that my name is different and to some Strange.

5. I have no fear of being on stage in front of people

I love Karaoke, I'm not shy of being the one randomly pulled out of the audience, and if I'm prepared I love doing a presentation or lesson. This has never really bothered me even as a child when I was on the buck shot show, I wanted to sing a song (and did) I was the quickest to raise my hand to be the child to announce the commercial break.

"we'll be right back after these special messages" 

(but said with a missing tooth lisp... very cute if I do say so myself)

My mom had us children singing at family and friends weddings as children, I was in a Drama club when I was younger and I have often played piano and/or sang at talent shows throughout my life.

Some people find this strange, to me it's just me! :)

Have a good one, and let me in on some of your strangeness.

See you tomorrow for Day 14!

Oh and if you want to catch up on Days 1-12 Here you go....

• Day 1, 
• Day 2, 
• Day 3, 
• Day 4, 
• Day 5, 
• Day 6,
• Day 7, 
• Day 8, 
• Day 9
• Day 10
• Day 11 
• Day 12 

Our song....

It is Day 12: A song we played at our wedding

If you click on this button you can learn more about this challenge

We have very different taste in music and the things we do like are quite random so it was actually a bit difficult to find our song to dance to but after hours of searching it was finally decided.

Crush by Dave Matthews Band.

It's a beautiful song and it was so lovely to dance to. We took dance lessons and learned to Rumba.... quite a fun first dance if I do say so myself.

Our first dance

 We were a bit nervous and my dress was much bigger than we were used to, plus during out photo's we kinda broke part of the bustle but it was fun and turned out well.

The song we requested as our first get everybody dancing on the dance floor song was.

Camel Walk by Southern culture on the skids.

 This is kinda our engagement song. We listened and sang along to this song on the night we got engaged and when I hear it I always think of that night and Kelly singing to me "ooooo eee you make me wanna walk..." It is a super fun song!

What song did you play at your wedding, Or if you are still looking forward to that wedding day what song do you hope to play at your wedding?

Want to catch up on Days 1-11 Here you go....

• Day 1, 
• Day 2, 
• Day 3, 
• Day 4, 
• Day 5, 
• Day 6,
• Day 7, 
• Day 8, 
• Day 9
• Day 10
• Day 11 

Day 11: MORE photo's

Day 11: A photo of me taken recently

Feel free to click on this little photo to explain the challenge.

 You have seen a lot of recent pics of me over these last few blogs, lot's of wedding pics and even some Halloween pics. I thought I'd post a really recent photo that's just a plain ol' any old day photo.

Out for a casual date night with my hubby

So there you have it, plain ol' me. No costume no wedding dress, not even make up. Enjoy.

In case you've missed them here are

• Day 1, 
• Day 2, 
• Day 3, 
• Day 4, 
• Day 5, 
• Day 6,
• Day 7, 
• Day 8, 
• Day 9 and 
• Day 10

Have a good one!

A little walk down memory lane

It is Day 10:A photo of you taken over 10 years ago

Feel free to click on this little photo to explain the challenge.

In case you've missed them here are Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4,  Day 5,  Day 6, Day 7, Day 8 and Day 9

So I have no pictures on my computer from before 2005 therefore time to search through some pictures and scan and save....

I am not certain on the dates of all of these but I can guess approximately when. Enjoy a little trip through memory lane.

With my brothers in the Spring of 1985, so I would be 4 here.

Posing as my friend Sarah plays photographer, this would be around 1994 about 13 years old

This would be at Echo Lake in Montana I'm 15 yrs old so 1996

My Highschool Grad, 1999. I was 18.

Well I hope you've enjoyed our little trip down memory lane. Is it just me or do you all have a shoe box full of old photo's as well. Ok I admit I have more than one box full of old photo's. My husband has NO old photo's any photo's he has are digital and do not date back 10 years. I told him he's crazy but he thinks I'm the crazy one for hauling around all these old photo's. It would take forever to scan them all though... I guess it'll be on my to do list, just a bit further down the line.