Christmas parties, pajamas, baking and lipstick!

We had Ray's Christmas party on Friday night at the Twisted Cork.
IT.WAS.FANTASTIC.
Lots of laughs, amazing food, gifts, drinks and more drinks. Arlene, the lady that holds the business together, was delightful! My favorite work party to date!
Ray hates all my pajamas. I think he is jealous of how warm and comfy I am.
He says he thinks I look like a bum.
Here are my new Smart Set jammies that make me feel a little like spider woman.
I heart flannel.
My friend Megan made me decorate sugar cookies for hours and them put them outside to get snowed on.
FAIL!
You can't tell in this picture..
but I am on the hunt for the perfect red lipstick. So far I've got runny stick, sticky stick, unspreadable stick and teeth reddening stick. NOT glamorous at all.
But I keep looking because red lipstick is life changing!

I want to be able to let go

How sweet is this!
I totally would use this. Not only would I use it for all my fabulous parties, but I would also keep it full of ice water with oranges and limes all summer long. I LOVE it!
Christmas toes.
I enjoyed painting these Christmas toes.
Christmas is sort of annoying me today. I am annoyed at myself actually. I'm annoyed that I am letting the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season get to me. I am annoyed that I am letting it stress me out.
For instance, I am awaiting a few items to come in the mail so that I can send my parcels out. Any other time of year this would not bother me, but right now it's super annoying. I even ordered with plenty of time to get here, be wrapped, and sent out.
It's so not even a big deal though, so why do I let it bother me?
I am supposed to be enjoying the season of giving...and receiving of course.
I love all the parties.
I love reading Elliott books about Jesus and attempting to show my 1 year old the true meaning of Christmas.
I enjoy baking and sharing the baking with those that I love.
I love listening to Christmas music, and usually I love shopping for gifts...as long as I don't let the commercialism get to me.
I want to be able to let go. Breath in and then breath out the stress. I don't need it or want it.

The other thing that's been eating at me as of late is trying to get disability payments. I'm sure that is not what they are called but I am disabled at the moment and I qualify for payments so what's the freakin issue???
I'll tell you the freakin issue: picky ICBC workers, Difficult ex boss, an EI office that does not answer their phone ever, and a lawyer who I think may forget I exist.
My legs hurt people! Can't you just freakin make it happen??? It's less than a grand a month, it's not like this esthetician made much money!!! Argh!!!

See...
Breath IN....
Blow out all that negativity.
It will come together...
maybe not today...
But is most definitely will.

Making Memories

Every year I say I'm going to go to the Festival of Trees, and every year I don't. This year I thought it would be something fun to do with Miss Mouse and the grammas. So we made an evening of it.
This giant bear came by to talk to E and give her a sticker. She was quite surprised by him but she didn't cry. My girl is so curious and brave. I love those qualities about her. She has no fear and it makes her scardy cat mama so very proud.
The guy in the background was so impressed that my tiny girl didn't cry but the 3 year old boy at the table screamed like a girl when the bear went to give him a sticker!
She was so excited by oh so many sites at the Festival. Taking her out of the buggy may have been a mistake, but she had so much fun. It was like a giant winter wonderland to her.

We fed her some really gross overpriced pizza while she wore the toque that cousin Kaelen knit for her birthday. She liked the pizza, wish I could say the same for the toque!
Elliott with her gorgeous gramma.
Gramma Arlis was asking for trouble putting her down in the gift shop. But she had so much fun in there! Everything was sparkly!
I think I'll take her again next year. Maybe make a tradition of it. Next year my legs won't hurt so bad so we can linger longer and really take it all in.
My wonderful husband bought me a new dinning room set after the other new dining room set proved to be crap. Thankfully Costco has an awesome return policy so we didn't get stuck with the crappy one. This one is from the Brick and seats 8. The leaf folds up inside and the seats are comfy and padded for our sore legs and my sore backside. It has 6 chairs and one long bench. I love the decorating possibilities this opens up for me :) I get it on Friday.
My sweet mouse just always wants to be where I am. So she lays on the floor in the kitchen while I make dinner and alternates between yelling at me and mooching food. So fun she is :)

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.