one more thing

Also a highlight that I forgot to mention.....had a GREAT girls night...we drank wine and wore snuggies. End of story.

There Kelly...are you happy?? :)

overdue update...that's an understatement...

wow....was it really September that I last posted something on here? how the heck did so many months fly by? I doubt anyone is even checking in here anymore....but just in case i still have a few peeps out there, i'll update!!!!

I suppose part of the reason i've disappeared from the blogsphere in the last 9 months is because something else has taken over my life...nooooo definitely not a baby, though i can see how that whole "last 9 months" thing could have been misleading...lol. No, it was about last September that BFF Pammer and I came up with a brilliant idea. We had both been dreaming of having both more living space, along with a yard, however, the reality of west coast living is that on a single income, that's pretty much impossible. Since our knights in shining armor seem to be taking their sweet time to show up, Pammer and I decided to pool our resources....and we bought a house together! A great.big.house. Tons of space, so we don't even need to see each other if we don't want to lol!!! Anyway, back to my original point, the house hunting search began in the fall (was briefly interrupted by an AMAZING vacation to Maui with our friend Kim), we found a house we loved, papers were signed in November, and we moved at the end of January!!!!!

So now, it's been 4 months in our new abode and WE LOVE IT!!!! If you're not my facebook friend, and want to see pics of the house, let me know. And if you're in the area and need a place to stay, give me a shout...we've got a guest room and if you're nice, I'll make ya waffles for breakfast!!

Anyhoo, that's the big new from me, big 'ol house that now takes up all my time and money, but it's GREAT!!!!

Other than the house, other highlights from the last 9 months include my nephew's first Christmas, my nephew's 1st birthday, and the Canucks making the Stanley Cup Final!!

I'll do my best to update again soon....hopefully it won't be another 9 months!!!

Summer highlights

Well, here it is September already....i can't believe the summer has come and gone...but fall is definitely in the air. It was a busy and fun summer....here are some of the highlights!!!

July started with a couple of days camping at Beachwood...i think some of the sunset pics made it into the last post. The rest of July was full of things like dinners with friends and working out with a trainer 2 days/week....some friends and i bid in a silent auction on 12 sessions with a trainer and won....so spent some hot summer evenings in the park working out....it was a lot of fun!!!

August long weekend saw my family arrive from the east and we headed up to Whistler for a family reunion.....SO. MUCH. FUN!!!!! It's been 3 yrs since the last one (New Brunswick....probably have a blog post about it if you look back to summer of '07...i'm too lazy to link it right now lol). We lived it up in style at the Fairmont, enjoying good company, good food and good drink.

And i was happy to get lots of cuddle time with my sweet nephew...who was 5 1/2 months old already!!

My bro, sis-in-law, cousins and I ventured out for some ziplining fun! We had a blast....until a stupid thunderstorm rolled in and the lightening forced us off the course....too bad, but i guess better safe than sorry...!!

And no reunion is complete without the ever important croquet tourney....

Whistler is beautiful...even in the fog....

And all was well, because the sunshine waiting for us at the top...here's my cuzzy and me at the top of Blackcomb

My mom also enjoyed cuddles with her grandson!!

Group photo!!!!

family photo

After the weekend of Whistler fun, my family and I headed over to the island for the rest of the week, to Courtenay, and spent some more quality time with my cousin and her family. And of course, i got more cuddles with my nephew!!

And I also got lots of time with my cousin's little guy, Zander...who you've seen in my pics before...love those curls!!!!

Mom and I ventured up Mt. Washington

And took in the scenery on a nature walk

I also had an impromptu photo shoot with my nephew...not hard to capture the cuteness of this little man!!

What a great week of fun with the family!!!!!!

What else have I done in August? Well....let's see....

I played a very poor but very fun round of golf with some friends from work....Ceiliah strutted her stuff (and probably made the putt in the shot below)

and i tried to make it look like i knew what i was doing

I ventured to Bowen Island with my friend (and running buddy) Sue and we had a weekend of fun, including running a 10k and going for a hike

And that brings us to now, the long weekend....which has been a good combo of exercise and lazyness!!!

I hiked Mt Cheam with some friends on Sat.....it was still a good time, despite not getting to enjoy the view from the top....it was cloudy and cold the higher we hiked, but the green valley and meadows of flowers still made it worth it!

I've also enjoyed just spending a couple of lazy days at home, working on some photobooks, watching tennis and drinking coffee (and ignoring most of the cleaning and dusting lol!!).

Whew! i'm exhausted just thinking about how busy the summer has been...! I am happy that I managed to stay quite active, between sessions with the trainer, running about 2x/week and a few hikes here and there....good thing, cuz i just looked at the calendar and realized it's officially 30 sleeps till MAUI!!!!!!!

summer sunsets

well look at that, it's been about another month, so time for a blog post :)
Not much to write, just some pics to share....sunsets i've enjoyed lately, since summer finally showed up here on the west coast....enjoy!!

Crescent Beach
Crescent beach

Crescent beach

Crescent beach

Birch Bay

Birch Bay

Birch Bay

Birch Bay

Birch Bay

Birch Bay

Birch Bay

Birch Bay

Downtown Vancouver

Abbotsford....from my balcony

Abbotsford...still from my balcony!

Looking forward to my family visiting in a few weeks.....stay tuned for pics of Whistler, Vancouver Island and of course, my nephew :)

where did spring go...and where's summer?

I think i have given in to the fact that i just can't blog on a consistent basis. however, this also means this post will have a lot of pics jammed into it...fyi you've been warned. :)

So way back in mid-May (again, where did May go, never mind 1/2 of June...) a few of us from Life Group decided that our Frenchie buddy Julie needed to see Kelowna and all its wine country bliss before she heads home to France in July. So...Pammer, Kimmer, Mel, Julie and I headed up for a girls weekend of fun! These next pics are actually in backwards order...but you get the gyst (as always, see Facebook for a more extensive photo collection). We ended our weekend with a wine tour at the Mission Hill winery...delightful!!
We walked by Lake Okanagan and met the Ogopogo

And walked a section of the Kettle Valley railway trestle bridges and saw firsthand the devastation that forest fires have done within the last couple of years

Pammer and Kimmer

I scrambled up some rocks to get a better view

The girls were such troopers with all my photographing...they were such good sports when i made them pose over and over!!!

group shot!GREAT WEEKEND!!! We had a blast!!

Moving along through May, my friend Sue and I went for a hike at Golden Ears and had a great time, despite the rain and chilly temps...the scenery was still amazing!!

Aaaannnnddd....perhaps the most exciting thing of all that's taken place recently is BATHROOM RENOS!!!!! Kimmer's dear darling husband Jaco is a WIZARD when it comes to renos, so i hired me a dutchman and let him get to work!!!!! My bathrooms weren't in bad shape, they were just ugly and i didn't like the '90s look of them...time to modernize, baby!!
Here's the before shot of the ensuite

And the before shot of the main bathroom...hello mismatched vanity pieces!

Helloooooooooo new and improved ensuite! how i love getting ready in you every morning!

And a close up of the sink area in the main bathroom (looks just like the ensuite...both bathrooms have matching pieces)

And another angle of the main bathroom

I love my new bathrooms!! They're so loverly, fresh and modern!!

It's been a rainy, cold spring here on the west coast....quite miserable, actually, and I'm having a hard time believing that summer is just around the corner. Last Saturday, however, was a gorgeous day! So, i took the opportunity to snap a few flower shots from Pam's mom's garden...they will help me believe that spring really has sprung, and that summer is just around the corner!! Enjoy!!

Well there you go...a summary of the last number of weeks....and i'll see you again, probably at the end of July, lol! No seriously, you should see my daytimer...i'd take a picture to show you, but it's full of confidential client information, so i can't really do that...but take my word when i say that the busyness doesn't slow down any time soon! Just hope there's some sunshine in the forecast!!!!