Fill in the blank friday

Hi everyone. I hope everyone has been enjoying the holidays spending time with their loved ones and of course, overindulging in food :)

(If you want to play along, just fill in the blanks on your blog and then link back here!)




1.   New Year's is (awesome/lame/other) ...     Is awesome. It is a time to reflect over the past year, and think about your accomplishments and of course to plan for the upcoming year. And it is my dad's birthday, so it's always good eating :)
Happy Birthday Tatay!!!


2.  Last New Year's Eve ...
I honestly can't remember. So much has happened over the past year. But probably lunch with the family to celebrate my dad's birthday and relaxing with friends.


3.  My New Year's resolution is...

* to clean and organize our house, especially our closets and to organize our finances. Ensuring a more peaceful and calming setting at home. I'll try anyways!

*making sure me and my family eat better and exercise more. Maybe trying a new activity.
Nothing out of the ordinary and should be easy to keep up. :)


4.  The best way to spend New Year's Eve is...

enjoying a good glass of wine with friends and family.

5.  My prediction for an up-and-coming trend in 2011 is...

Sadly I can't really answer this. I haven't been able to keep up with the trends. But hopefully the pretty hair accessories will stick around!


6.  This New Year's Eve I will...

Having lunch and dinner with family and hopefully ringing in the new year in my pajamas.

7.  A fresh start is...
Letting go of the past and accepting a new future with endless possibilities.

Enjoy your New Year's and the rest of your weekend!


XOX

Tis the season to Bake

Yes, it is definitely the season to bake. After all the preparing before the holidays. It goes so quickly. So we haven't been blogging so I thought I would share some photos of what we have been doing before the holiday! Baking and making homemade treats to give as gifts. We made Chocolate gingerbread, chocolate chip cookies (replaced the traditional white flour with spelt flour! and they turned out pretty good), peanut butter oatmeal cookies, Maple cinnamon trail mix, gingerbread cookies and shortbread....and I even made a lasagna for my hubby so I wouldn't have to cook during the week ;)

Enjoy and I will be posting more pics soon.

Katelyn in her snowsuit

Playing with some of her gifts before Christmas

Gingerbread and shortbread cookies!! Yummy (recipes courtesy of marthastewart.com)

Our little girl already found the ornaments on the tree. Next year, they will be hung alot higher.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your families a very merry Christmas!

Hoping you all enjoy the holiday with your loved ones.

And have a listen to get you in the mood for the holidays!

Fill in the Blank Friday

It's Friday and it's Fill in the Blank Friday!

{Erin Nicole Photography via weheartit}

1.   I wish       that all my debt was paid off!

2.  Yesterday I   went out with friends for a Christmas dinner at our fave All you can eat sushi spot. Lot of good eating :)

3.  Today I will       clean up around the house and finish up some wrapping.

4.  Tomorrow I will   go to baby and me yoga and go to a breast feeding clinic.

5.  Maybe      tomorrow I'll be able to go to the gym and do a class. It's probably been a year since I've been there and it would be nice to officially start before the mad rush of people in January with their New Year's resolutions.

6.  Someday       I will go to Disney World. I've always been a big fan of the Disney movies and after just recently going into the Disney store to pick up gifts for my niece and nephew. All those childhood memories came pouring back! So yes, I want to go to Disney World with Katelyn! Hubby always said I had to wait until we had kids :)

7.  I love     waking up in bed and seeing my baby and hubby sound asleep! and of course, Katelyn's first smile of the day.  

Thanks for reading. And enjoy the remaining minutes of your weekend!

Have a good week everyone :)

XOX

Blog Friend Friday

Yes, it is another Friday. And the weekend is ahead, with full of plans. Christmas dinners and lunches and some little Christmas shopping. And of course, getting my winter tires changed. It feels like I just changed them but I guess it was months ago.

Today I will be featured on The Blarkness Chronicles. A friend and fellow blogger, Leesh, runs a series where she asks questions, so we get to know and learn a little bit more about the people behind the blogs.

Check it out and read up on her other posts. It's an amazing blog that I follow!

Much Love
Ai

A New Challenge for the New Year

I have decided to join Melita ( a fellow blogger) and participate in a 21 day yoga challenge.



For more information on the challenge, check out the Yoga Journal website.

Have a great day everyone! Back to studying :)

Last Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend and I have a few pictures to share with you.


Friday.
Well, since Katelyn had a long nap that day we ended up starting some Christmas shopping in the mid afternoon. Can I say that Toys R Us was crazy at 3:30 pm? Maybe it was the new flyer with some great deals...I don't know. Or is everyone really shopping this early. I was real proud of myself that I started a week ago.


Saturday.
Katelyn and Daddy had her swimming lesson. That morning it was snowing, well maybe just some fluff. But she looked amazed. 
In the afternoon we had our family portrait done for Christmas.
And that night we had a Christmas party at S&J's.


Sunday.
We headed downtown for the Whole Life Expo. Then we hit Smokie's Poutinerie for some poutine. Queen St. for some baby shopping. And then the Distillery District to meet up with some friends over coffee at Balzac's and then a brew at Mill Street Brewery. I sampled the Lemon Tea and Vanilla Portland and they were both yummy!

And this weekend is almost done. Where is the time going???

What made me smile this month ... (November)

Realizing that raw beets taste good!

Sitting on Haliewa Beach in North Shore with an old dear friend, my hubby and daughter and watching the Triple Crown Surf Competition (checked off my bucket list)

Spending an awesome day with an old friend and roommate - beautiful drive, beach, shopping and sushi.

My daughter's second tooth

Introducing Katelyn to her Hawaiian relatives

Katelyn in her bikini

Our daughter hanging out at the beach with her grandparents

Island tour of Oahu

Coming home and sleeping in our bed after the vacation

Decorating the Christmas tree and listening to Charlie Brown Christmas music

Eating warm chestnuts

Getting a pedi and facial

Attending Hannah's baptismal and watching her sleep through most of the event

Eating at at a "new" All U Can Eat Sushi spot

Eating shaved ice

Buying new "slippas" at HIC

Hearing my friend tell a stranger that my daughter was 2 years old....this was more of a laugh with lots of smiles

Pineapple ice cream at the Dole Plantation

My daughter in her jumper after being away 2 weeks

First snow

Going to the distillery district to meet up with old and new friends and taking pictures with the beautiful and large Christmas Tree.

Seeing new pictures of Hailey

Katelyn taking a group photo with the CPK gang at the S&J Christmas party. And meeting a new CPK friend "Oscar"

Fill in the Blank Friday

Again, I am running late on my blogs and definitely have to catch up. Here are the fill in the blanks for the week. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and hopefully I'll be posting more soon!

{photo from weheartit via this tumblr}

1.   Holiday spirit       is the warm fuzzy feeling when you are baking something yummy, spending time with relatives and the anticipation for the holidays! 

2.  The holidays are incomplete without   Santa, gift wrapping, Christmas tree ornaments and TV movies! 

3.  My favorite things to do around the holidays is     wrapping gifts, spoiling my niece and nephew, watching my favourite holiday movies (The Grinch that Stole Christmas, Love Actually, Family Man, White Christmas)

4.  A holiday tradition my family and I have is   having a big dinner usually, with turkey and all the fixings and then waiting until midnight to open gifts. 

5.  Holiday music is     the best for getting you into the holiday spirit. I love Charlie Brown Soundtrack, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Glee....this list goes on and on.

6.  This year, I'll be spending the holidays       ...well this is currently being figured out. It will probably be hubby's good friend for dinner and then his parents' group christmas party with friends. And then breakfast at his parents and then lunch at my sisters ...and dinner...yes, it goes on and on. It is usually a marathon of seeing dear friends and family and EATING!!!

7.  Holiday wish list       Dressy scarf, Dark jeggings, fun jewellery, spa certificates, gluten/dairy free cookbooks, slipper socks, hoodies, new kicks (pumas), new wallet, gift cert for new shoes :)

...

Hope you all have a great weekend and are not getting snowed in with this weather!!!

XOX

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