What is happening to me???

I've been baking!
Today I baked delicious oatmeal raisin cookies and THAN I made these no bake cookies with oatmeal and coconut.
These no bake cookies are one of Ray's favorite treats so I am trying to find a good recipe that he will love.
I only ate one oatmeal cookie and than packed the rest up for Ray to take to work and for Elliott to take to great Grampa tomorrow. I know, I know, THAT is impressive!
Last Thursday morning I called Mr Quick at the Hart Mohawk to see if they would be able to change over my cracked rim for my new shiny one. The guy said," if you come right now, I'll get it done in 10 minutes". So I packed up my girl and off we went at 8?:30am.
Because these things can never actually be that easy, there were no nuts for the new rim and the ones from the old rim did not fit the new one. So off to the little A&W for toast we went to wait for the parts girl to drop of the new nuts.
About an hour later we wandered over to see if said parts girl had showed up.
The kind fella informed us that because of all the snow it would be a while.(Lots of snow the previous night and still snowing that morning!)
So I called darling Ray to come get us with the intention of picking up the vehicle later.
As I headed outside to go back to A&W for toast, I bit it so bad in the snow and fell right on my butt with my bad broken leg folded up right underneath me heel to bum! Elliott fortunately landed on top of me, and aside from being wet, handled it quite well.
After repeating a certain expletive about 10 times I stood up, waited, and took a few very slow steps to test out the leg. Sore and shaky I made my way back to A&W to wait for Ray.
We had toast :)
This following Tuesday, this is how my knee looks. It feels about as good as it looks :(
But I still did physio yesterday and worked out today! But fear not, I am taking it easy and babying it a wee bit.
My wonderful husband fixed the banister that my dad broke the other day. Here is Elliott with her favorite person exploring Home Depot while daddy tried to find all the items he needed to be handy. She loves to wander through stores. She is quite a good little shopper. I am thoroughly enjoying this as I am told that it will not last. But for now, my girl and I can do all kinds of things together :)

Domesticated

I have challenged myself to cook more. Doesn't have to be new and fancy, just ready when darling Raymond gets home from work, or shortly after. I have been feeling much better in so many ways and am up to the challenge.
This meal was crock pot except for the asparagus. Those I tossed in olive oil and Parmesan among other spices and baked them for 15 minutes. My new favorite way to cook asparagus. Leaves them a bit crunchy which I really enjoyed.
Whipped up a batch of chewy ginger snaps for a coffee date with Gramma and Grampa a coupled days ago. I set 2 aside for Ray and then sent the rest home with Grampa as having them here does nothing for my butt or midrange.
And I Christmas decorated the living room! I'd like to do the media room and kitchen too but we'll see. I don't want to spend a ton of cash but I've got to get some new decor as I got rid of a bunch last year. Time for a change I suppose.
I used pink and black upstairs, so I think that I will use blue and silver everywhere else since I have a ton of blue and silver decorations.
Every year I say I'm going to shop after Christmas for new decor when it is 75% off, and every year I do no such thing.
This year....
Just a wee tree. I don't really want to get into the tree. Instead I ordered a Fisher Price Little People nativity set for Elliott. I'd like to teach her the meaning of Christmas. We'll see. I make no commitment to no tree in the future, but for now it is good.
Unlike Ray, I do find some good in Christmas. I know the origins are messy and the meaning deceiving, but still we can celebrate God's goodness to us in the gift of his Son.
It is pretty. And time with family and friends and holidays to relax are all wonderful gifts too.
Here is Elliott at daddy's office chair. We brought him Starbucks and she awed his coworkers with her greatness. We love her so :)

Things that make me smile as of late

On October 23 I turned. It was a lovely birthday. I had a party on the 21st and then was whisked away to Mexico with my darling husband, but not before he put in an order for my very own dress form. And here she is.
She was a bit shy with the photos at first so I put a shirt on her.
I love her. She is just my size and I am very much looking forward to some time to alter and sew and play! I think I'll name her Suzzy.
Found this sweet little snow suit and jacket at Winners for $49 bux. It's adorable, however Elliott can not move in it and she hates it. But maybe she'll change her mind when we get some snow and I take her out to play.
Posing pretty to model the sweater that cousin Kaelen knit for her.
Shoes. I love these shoes.
This complete outfit; shoes, dress, and necklace are all from my favorite second hand store. Love that! Thrifting is a passion of mine. I love putting together trendy outfits for a fraction of the cost. Too bad I thrift so much that it's probably not really saving me any money...but let's not think that way.
I shaved all summer and then let my leg hair grow out for a month. So satisfying was this waxing experience that I had to photograph it and share it.
My lovely birthday gift from my dear sisterinlaw Carmen. I love this hat. It is so cozy and soft and not scratchy.

There you have it, a random blog about things that make me smile as of late :)

Projects to ward off the SAD

In an effort to win back my favorite holiday, I am contemplating making one of these beautiful Christmas wreaths.

Last year I got PPD right around Christmas but didn't have it diagnosed until after so my favorite season was...my mom says if you have nothing nice to say then don't say anything at all so I will leave it at that.

Along with many people in the great white North, I occasionally find myself being affected by seasonal affective disorder otherwise known as S.A.D. This year I intend on taking some active measures against said disorder. I am planning on doing some crafting type projects as well as keeping up with my physiotherapy/exercise regime. I may start tanning in a tanning bed as well. Yes I know it is not great for the skin, but the happy benefits outweigh the risks. Besides, I was thinking once a week or less. Getting out and walking with Elliott or playing on the deck are high on the list of activities, especially on sunny winter days. Spending time reflecting on God's goodness is number one.
I have a plan.
Here is to taking back the beautiful northern BC winter months. They are a gift and I intend to see and experience the greatness in them.

One of my most favorite things...

Time with my baby girl. I have a one year old. It's hard to believe.
It is so easy to get wrapped up in chores or projects or whathaveyou. There are times when I have to remind myself to put everything aside and enjoy every minute because the minutes go by so very fast. Yesterday I pee'd on the on the test stick and today I have a one year old. Crazy!
Today we went for a lovely stroll to the park and then on down the road and back. We played on the swing and the jungle gym, and we picked up leaves and looked at birds.
My girl is a miracle. A gift straight from God. My life will never be the same, fuller now that she is here.
And we leave her in just 5 short days for a mommy daddy trip to the Mayan Riviera. I am so excited to get away with Ray, but I don't want to "get away" from her...just the hustle and bustle of life. Thank the Lord for Facetime!!!!

Pickled Peppered Perfection!

Another day full of accomplishment.
Feels so wonderful!
My Aunty picked up 15 lbs each of carrots and beets from a local farm. I believe it cost her $40.
Sorta made my little bag of carrots feel inferior.
We worked hard. Well Aunty worked really hard and I took lots of sitting breaks and Elliott breaks. It was fun, and we get delicious pickled peppered carrots and pickled beets...YAY!!
My Aunty was trying to not be wasteful so she brought a bunch of carrots from home as well as the giant 15lb bag. Problem with that was the ones from home were not washed so we had to scrub them all down which took a reeeeeeally freaking long time. She didn't inform me until I was almost done scrubbing that the 15lb bag was pre-washed and ready to go...er, thanks a lot there Aunty. We could've got WAY more done if we hadn't wasted all that time scrubbing!!!
Alas, a day spent together was worth it anyhow.
My hands are very dry from being in the water for so long. Twisting all the skins of the beets was a bit tedious too. I so love pickled beets though and my mouth starts watering just thinking of their deliciousness.
My little jug could not handle the boiling water. So sad. Not even barbie could fix it.
We had to do over the juice when Aunty added 10 cups of salt, yes that's right, 10 to the pot. WAY too pickled!!! A math misfortune and a bit of a waste.
Right there is a thing of beauty.
I'll be pickling again this weekend to finish off those bags!
I love days like this!

Amazing the things one can get done...

What a day.
I got lots done, enjoyed my family, made dinner, had a bath and worked on a project instead of watching tv and eating junk food.
Even my sweet girl enjoyed the yummy dish I made. Chicken, asparagus and Cauliflower Cakes.
My husband actually said the words,"the cauliflower is good".
wow.
I'm pleased.
I like it a little crispy. I am happy that I did not give up even when I had to throw the first batch away. We have pans that I don't understand(I say that instead of calling them stupid piece of a$$ pans). After I started using the cast iron instead, things went much more smoothly.

You know one of those days where everything goes right and even though nothing great happened, it was still satisfying? That is the kind of day today turned out to be.
9 garments.
Count them, 9!!!
That is what I can accomplish in the 45 minutes I put to good use. Better use that is than watching brainless tv episodes and filling my body with garbage that it does not process well.
To think that all 9 of these garments were just sitting there collecting dust for months and months when I could've saved myself so much angst by just putting down the chocolate and stepping away from the remote.
I hope this marks a turning point in my nightly rituals, especially now that the winter is fast approaching.

Cheers