Life

With growing up comes change,
sometimes good, sometimes bad,
sometimes the change is nether it's just what it is change and a
normal part of life.

The last few years have brought a lot of change to my life.
The passing on of my Grandparents, becoming a mommy for the first time, moving to a new town, starting to attend a new church & a change that I learned about just this week....
my two Grandparent {who are still around and pretty healthy....Amen!} have decided to put there cottage up for sale.

This is a picture of the beautiful cottage from out on the lake...

This place holds so many memories for me.  Fishing off the dock, catch frogs along the shore line, swim in the always chilly but refreshing lake.
You can't see it in the picture above but to the left of the cottage was a fire pit and hammock.  

We always had a fire at the end of the day, which of course involved mashmellows and  sometimes even hot-dogs. 

We took many boat rides and fishing trips out on the lake, 

and always tried coming home with enough small mouth bass to have

a delicious dinner.

On many occasions we'd get caught in the rain but that was just another fun part of the experience.

Ooooh and I can't forget to mention, visiting the marina across the water for ice cream.  

That was always a treat! 

These memories of course will never leave no matter what happens to the cottage physically, but it does make me a little sad.  

I had visions of my daughter learning to fish here, swimming and experiencing her first boat ride here, but these memories for her may have to be made in a new spot, a spot that will become special just for her!

Alicia ♥

Here's to 2012!

(*wrote 01/02/12)

I'm sitting here in the warm and quiet of my parents home, while outside the snow is falling and numbing cold wind is blowing.  Oh how I love Canadian winters, there's nothing like it.   I love watching the snow fall, while drinking a nice warm cup of hot coco, it's so very relaxing! Tomorrow I do hope I can get K outside to enjoy some of this newly fallen snow as I'm afraid this may be her only chance this winter to enjoy it.  Back home in Eastern PA the next few days are suppose to be oddly warm, 50's/high 40's with rain.........ahhh whats up with that!  It's winter and even once we've gone our nine+hours south.....I know I'm going to want more Canadian winter! 

So how has your 2012 been so far?  We enjoyed ringing in the New Year with my family here in Canada and have been enjoying a nice, relaxing, fun filled first few days of 2012 with them too.  Pretty soon it will be time for goodbyes but I don't want to think about that right now.   

The last few days K has been showing off her singing skills and has been talking up a storm with almost everyone here.  She has also really enjoyed having her cousins just a flight of stairs away.  Every morning she runs to the bottom of the stairs and wants to head up to my Aunt and Uncles part of the house to play.  To be honest I've enjoyed having all these extra loving hands to help and play with Kaylin. It`s been a nice little break.....I`m even able to shower by myself without having to worry about her. 

 Games games and more games!!  We've also enjoyed the first few days of 2012 playing games. Probably more games then we've ever played before.  New Years day I got to play quite a few rounds of "Dutch Blitz" which is always more fun with a crowd. I think at one point there was eight of us playing this game at once....all I can say is wow!! I also enjoyed a few rounds of "Skip-Bo" & "Old Maid" with my cousin Em and her friend. We played till the wee hours of the morning.

My hubby so far has played two games of "Settlers", each game lasting just over two hours each. My cousin Q and him have also been working on creating a Canadian version of the game "Settlers", they are coming up with their own board, rules ect...My hubby is in heaven!!

Alicia ♥

London Fog

I like tea.....no wait let me rephrase that I am a tea-oholic who can't start her mornings off without a good hot cup of it, even threw the warm summer months it's a major staple. Now I could blame this addiction on the tiny bit of English/British blood that's running threw my veins, or I could blame my Mother, Aunts & Grandma who always seemed to have a cup of tea in their hands while I was growing up... but I think even without those wonderful warm memories from childhood...I'd still love tea..and much prefer it's taste to coffee. (sorry all you coffee lovers....coffee smells awesome but the taste isn't always for me.) 

So in honor of tea and my love for it, I thought I'd write a quick post and let you all know about my all time favorite tea.

Now my first time having this fabulous tea called a "London Fog".  I was in Canada at a coffee shop/restaurant called "Williams Coffee Pub!"  over a year ago.    

Don't I look so happy.....

Baby K getting a tiny taste and enjoying my very last drop of tea

Now unfortunately there is no such thing as Williams coffee pub down here in the states....so one day craving this fabulous tea I ventured over to Starbucks and tried their version called the "Tazo® Earl Grey Tea Latte" and I'll admit although it was good it just didn't taste how I remembered it at Williams. {I think both my hubby and wallet are very thankful that it just wasn't my cup of tea!"}

So anyways I now like making the drink at home. I can make it as strong/weak, sweet/unsweetened as I'd like and it's a little easier on the bank. 

This is how you make one of these fancy drinks at home......{just in case you were wondering}

• 16 oz of milk. (2% or whole)
• 1 shot of vanilla syrup per 16 oz of milk
• 1 bag of Earl Grey tea

1. Brew a small amount of Earl Grey tea. Add about ½ cup of boiling water to a mug along with a bag of Earl Grey. The result is an Earl Grey tea concentrate. Let steep for 2-4 minutes to achieve optimum flavor.
2. Heat up milk. Access to a steamer is preferred. If unfamiliar with the process, seek the help of a local Barista. {Or like me you can use a tiny hand held frothier that we can pick up at our local Ikea...it makes perfect frothy milk for this drink!!} 
3. Add the vanilla syrup. (adjust according to taste) 

Happy Monday Everyone!

Summer fun!

This time last week we were up in Canada having a grand ol' time with my family.....

I really miss them!!

This time last week we were up in Canada having a grand ol' time with my family.....

I really miss them!!

No place like...........

When I was dating my hubby we lived over 9 hours away from each other & we saw each other maybe once every couple of months. This was hard!  Even with our consistent nightly phone calls it wasn't the same as being face to face. Every time a face to face visit would end I'd have these strong homesick feelings in the pit of my stomach till we were together again in each other's physical presence. 

This past May my hubby and I celebrated 5 years of marriage and for these entire 5 years of marriage we have lived over 9 hours away from my family up North.   At first I'll admit it was easy to leave Canada after a few day visit.  I'd shed a few tears on the way home....have one or two small conversations with the hubby about maybe one day moving up north.....but I always seemed to recover quickly and got right back in to the swing of things here at home.  


Well I'm not sure what changed....but I feel those days of quick recovery from homesickness for my Canadian family are gone.  Even as I write this.... {twenty four hours after saying goodbye to my bro and parents}... I am fighting back an ocean of tears and that familiar homesick feeling that has been none existent for years is now back sitting in my stomach.  I wish I had a better understanding as to why this time was so much harder to leave or why it is effecting my emotions so more then ever before.....but I don't.  All I know is I want to go back.  I just want to go back to Canada.

Hey maybe if I click my heals three times saying there's no place like home, there's no place like home....

P.S Please do not mis understand me and think that I don't feel at home with my hubby and daughter.  They are my family, my loves and I wouldn't leave them to go back to Canada for anything.  I just wish the three of us as a whole could be closer to my extended family up north, does that make sense?

I've been up since 4:30 this morning and I should be in bed.........but I'm not.  Instead I'm catching up on some of my blogging reads on my parents computer!  Yup that's right we took a 11 hour road trip today and ended up in a whole other country.  This was a planned trip don't worry. We didn't just spontaneous decide to drive all this way for a week visit with my many relatives, although I am the kind of person who would do such things.  I love being spontaneous!  I love the idea of just jumping in the car at the last minuet to go to the beach or somewhere.

So anyways after such a long drive. We were all ready to just chill and relax for the rest of the night, NOT!  My hubby chopped wood, went to the hard wear store, helped build a fire and even tried putting up a little pool.

Kaylin and I helped get dinner ready {OK maybe I helped with getting dinner...while Kaylin kept the dog entertained!} then off we went, just us girls to do some food shopping.   My mom has a wonderful party planned for my Dad's 50th birthday tomorrow, and food is always good to have at parties, right!?.

Isn't this picture so cute!  This is Kaylin and her second cousin Peyton.  They had fun hanging out today while we all shopped for food. 

Well I  hope that this week doesn't go by to fast.  There is always so many faces I want to see and things I'd love to do while here back home in Canada, but the busier we are the faster the time seems to go.

Till next time, 

Canada

This past weekend we got to take a loooong 20 hour drive {10 hours one way} north to Canada.  It was a very short trip....we left Friday morning and was back home in our own beds by Monday evening.  The trip was well worth every moment thought...I really miss my family!

The whole reason why we made the trip....

 Happy Anniversary Grandpa and Grandma

Aunt Joanna, Uncle Jerry...Grandparents.

Growing up I lived no more then 15 minuets from ether set of Grandparents and no more then an hour or two away from all my other relatives.  Living so far away from them all now....makes me realize how much for granted I took that closeness.  If we ever move back...{hint hint} I hope to never take those special moments of just being together for granted again.  My family is so very special and I know in my heart without their prayers and support my life would probably be on a completely different path.

My family is one of the best gifts God gave me! 

I must say I did not get as many pictures this visit as I normally do and to be honest I'm kinda of glad.  As much as I want to be able to have momentous of this visit and very special occasion...it can also be very hard to have a good visit with a camera constantly in your face.  Don't get me wrong...I love taking pictures....my Grandpa was a photographer...and I secretly want to be one too some day....I just feel I was able to have more of an even balance between the two this time around. 

Isn't this picture adorable. Baby K made the whole trip up to Canada on only 15 minuets of sleep...crazy girl was just to excited I guess. Thankfully on the way home she took her normal 2 hour nap in the car as we drove.   

Well I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

Things are always crazy around here but with the holidays Thanksgiving....the Hubby and I's birthday and Christmas I hope I can keep my blog interesting enough and up to date for any of you readers out there. :)  

Home Made Popsicles...

I was blog hopping this evening and over at HappilyDomestic she shared a fabulous recipe for homemade popsicles and I am now more then ever excited to try and make these for our 10 month old daughter...minus the honey of course.  I really think she would get a kick out of these since she is still learning to feed herself and i'm sure they would be a great solid for her to experiment with as well.   What you think? Would 10 months be to young to start on a homemade popsicle??  

Baby K in Canada enjoying her green puffs by "Happybaby".  

July 2010

It has been over a month since I posted any type of blog post.  I've been very distracted obsessed with the layout of my blog this past month and have been trying hard to learn html and other things that'll change things up and allow me to make it more "me."  Anyways I'm not done editing or learning by a long shot, but since it has been so long since I last wrote anything- I thought I'd do a post reviewing our exciting month of July.

July started off with a family trip up to Ontario Canada.  It took us 12 hours to get to my parents up north and after driving all day it was nice to sit and relax over a nice hot chicken dinner that my mom made. She had gravy, stuffing, mashed potato's the works.....mmm {i'm making myself hungry thinking about it lol.} Baby K was also soo excited to finally be out of the car and her car seat.  She was crawling all over the place. She had grown so much since my parents and bro saw her last.  It was like she was brand new to them all over again.

{My Bro}

There were many many many events that took place while up in Canada.  Baby K got her first experience with sand when we spent a day at the beach.  She got to experience fireworks in celebration of Canada Day- but she actually slept threw most of them which was kinda shocking.  Baby K was dedicated on the Sunday at our church home away from home, and we got to met our new baby cousin Peyton who is just a little doll...sooo adorable.


Oh did I mention-I got my hair highlighted?  My cousin Megs so lovingly and gently pulled my hair through a plastic cap our last night up north in Canada...my Aunt Judy helped out too.  I now have hair the color it used to be when I was a little older then Baby K. I love it!!



Well our busy week up north Canada had to sadly end sometime I guess... we ended up back at home on Wednesday evening but not before stopping off at a Super Walmart to do a few groceries. The rest of that week was us unpacking and getting ready for my all day work shift Saturday as well as the arrival of my hubby's parents Saturday evening.  We had a nice visit with the Winckler parents Saturday till Sunday evening- they brought a little rocking chair from Maine for Baby K.  It is in need of a little TLC but when she's a little older I can just picture her rocking her baby dolls in it.  Speaking on the topic of growing up July 21st Baby K turned 10 months old.  It is so hard to believe that in two months time she will be a whole year old. How is it possible for all this time to have flown by!?!
I even started on her birthday invitations {I am creating them myself}....they should be in the mail early August...yes should be but with the way I am with correspondence threw old fashion mail it may be closer to the middle of August if I'm not careful.

Now a week before Baby K's 10 month birthday, hubby found himself with a job interview in a town about an hour from where we are now.  Soo we all piled in to the car and hubby took Baby K and I over to a mall while he went to his interview.  The place was so secure he said you can only get in if you have finger prints that match up with there files...it sounded so "Mission Impossible" like lol.  We would eventually have to move if he took this job.........but we are still playing the waiting game. Waiting to hear back, waiting to see if they offer him the position.  Hubby said the interview went really well. He rated it a 9.5 out of 10.  {Prayers Requested-thanks!}

Well that's all for now...month is almost over. We'll see what's in store as the days go by.  Ohhh how can I forget to mention this.  Today July 29th Baby K took her first few steps.  Hubby counted nine in a row before she toppled over.  It was so exciting and scary to see, it is another sign that she is a growing girl!!