Sewing on the names was the hardest part. It’s hard to stay on the same line and sewing on a curve is really tough! I learned a lot of new stitches though!

What do you think?

My Stocking

Tyler's stocking

Here’s our tree: What do you think? I’ve only got about 15 presents under it right now, but I have A LOT of wrapping to do still! Do you  have your tree up yet?

Our Christmas Tree!

#1 – Facebook – I’m kind of embarrassed to admit it, but I spend a lot of my time online on facebook. I’m not OBSESSED with it like other people I know, but I do go on every day just to see what’s going on. Sometimes I feel like I find out more about my friends and family on facebook than I do from talking to them. I think it’s more that you don’t know what to ask about when you talk to them on the phone or in person, but sometimes I find out the craziest things on facebook. I’m not really into all of the games and apps they have on there now, but I like seeing what people are doing – even if I haven’t talked to them for a long time. It’s also nice to be able to talk to family without having to wrack up a huge phone bill.

#2 – IMDB – I often go on IMDB to look up a movie or an actor and then I spend about 45 minutes surfing around finding who was in a show with who and what my favourite actors are currently working on. Quite often, I’ll start at one movie and eventually work my way back to the original thing I was looking at. I’ve even gotten quite a few good recommendations for shows that I now love off of IMDB.

#3 – Goodreads.com – If you like to read AT ALL, I suggest that you get a goodreads account. I use mine constantly and it’s the best site I’ve found for book reviews and recommendations. You can connect with people all over the world and see what they’re reading and how they liked it. I’ve found a lot of books that I probably never would have noticed in the store that I have absolutely loved (such as Divergence, The Hunger Games Trilogy, and anything by Jeffrey Eugenides). You can message other people to see where they’re getting their books (this is how I discovered bookdepository.com – They have books at almost half price and they ship anywhere in the world for FREE). You can add your own books and write your own review or you can just fill out the number of stars you’d rate it. It’s a great site and I probably go on it the most out of every site.

What are your favourite websites? Any suggestions for a book/movie lover?

We do the same thing for everyone’s birthday – we meet at my Mom and Dad’s and the birthday person chooses their favourite dinner. Then we have a homemade chocolate cake and give presents. This year was my Mom’s first birthday as a grandma and Jenny was SO excited tonight! She was playing with all the presents and unwrapping anything that had tissue paper in it. She was enthralled with the candles on the cake and got COVERED in cake.

I got my Mom some little Maple Leaf things (because she LOVES the Toronto Maple Leafs) and a Kindle E-reader, which she LOVED. She’d mentioned getting an e-reader briefly before, so when we went to the states last month, I stopped at Best Buy and got her a Kindle E-reader. She seemed to really love it. I love getting gifts that people love. She was so excited to get it and we spent about an hour setting everything up for her. She’s going to take it to Vegas when they go so that she can bring a few different books without having to carry them.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Tyler’s secret is the bacon and the chocolate. He starts off by cooking an entire pound of bacon in a pot and then cooks everything in there with the bacon and bacon grease (I never said it was healthy chili!). He adds onion, celery, a pound of ground beef, a can of lentils, kidney beans, mushrooms, chili powder, and two cans of diced tomatoes. He uses the chocolate to balance out the bitterness that can sometimes come from all of the acid. He just puts a little bit in and then balances it out with a little bit of red pepper flakes. It’s the best stuff in the whole world!! I could eat it everyday. I usually hate eating leftovers, but I will eat that chili until the last drop is gone! It’s the best!

Now I just need to convince him to leave some at home tomorrow…

My favourite thing about my job is taking the ladies I support to Special Olympics bowling. They LOVE this so much and the smile on their faces when they’re dancing with peers and friends melts my heart. One of my ladies in particular LOVES to dance and sing and just be crazy. She’s usually so mellow when she’s at home that it’s funny to see her like this. She usually tells other people to stop singing and dancing at home, but you get her into that bowling alley and it’s like she’s a totally different person. I can’t help but smile when I take her bowling because it just makes me happy knowing that she’s happy. She’s quite the little sweetie pie (but like everyone, can flip like a switch) and she’s part of the reason that I love my job. She’s a great person and I love advocating for her and helping her to do things that she never thought possible. I think that’s my favourite part of the job description – advocating for others. I love ripping down barriers and helping these ladies do things that they never thought they’d be able to do. I love getting them involved in new activities and finding new things for them to do.

I wish I could post a picture of them for you, but I can’t – again, their identities are completely confidential. That’s also why I never refer to them by name. I really do love my job though and I hope that my temporary contract as their Program Coordinator gets continued. I’ll be going back on the floor with them in April, but I’d love to keep doing what I’m doing. I love being able to see them and still have day hours. Life is good.

There are many other vacation destinations I’d love to visit, including:

New York City – I think this one comes from many of the books I’ve read. They’re always based in New York and I’d love to go see the lights and the stores and the city. I know that it’s probably not nearly as glamorous as I think it is, but I’ve still always wanted to go. I always pictured myself living their briefly too. Just to see what it was like. That is completely unrealistic now, but that’s okay.

New York City

Paris, France – I’ve always wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower and practice my French. I could also visit the Louvre and just explore the culture.

Paris, France

Brussels, Belgium – My family is from Belgium and I’d love to go there and learn more about the culture. I’d also love to learn Flemish, but since my Grandfather passed away, I don’t think I’ve heard a word of it. I looked into teaching myself Flemish, but even Chapters doesn’t carry those language kits.

Brussells, Belgium

Hawaii – I just want to go somewhere warm, where I can sit on the beach or by a pool and just relax. I know there’s not too much to explore in Hawaii, but walking along the beach just sounds heavenly, especially when I think about the snowy weather that I’m sure will invade Ontario soon.

Hawaii

Germany – I know that it sounds morbid, but I want to visit some of the WWII museums and take the Auschwitz Tour Krakow in Oswiecim, Germany. I like reading about WWII and I’d like to see some of the things that I’ve read about. I’d also like to see Berlin.

Berlin, Germany

Do you have anywhere that you would like to travel? I could probably list about 100 places (some of them are just smalltowns that I’ve heard of that I’d love to see someday).

What do you think?

I watch it at least 25 times before Christmas and sometimes watch it even in the spring and summer because I love it so much. I also often quote the movie, especially to my husband because I make him watch it with me quite often. I think it’s Will Ferrell’s best movie and, even though I was skeptical at first given his comedy style, it’s nothing like his usual stuff. It’s geared towards kids and I love that. I often say “Son of a nutcracker” when I stub my toe and have referred to myself as a “cotton-headed ninny muggin” before too.

I love the other actors in it as well. Zooey Deschanel as Jovie was the perfect casting choice, as was James Caan as Walter. They played their roles perfectly and whoever wrote the script was a genius. The story is amazing and the costumes are hilarious!

The music is also excellent too. There’s lots of old style Christmas songs, but they’ve been lifted up a bit and have some new singers. They’re great!!

Have you seen Elf? What’s your favourite Christmas movie?

I was pretty much the only one who had nothing negative to say about my Dad. My Dad was never extremely strict and I can’t really remember any fights that we even had when I was younger.

I loved my Dad so much that I used to cry when I was in Grade 1 when he dropped me off because I wanted him to stay with me. We have all these pictures of a 6-year-old Sarah crying because I never wanted him to leave. Eventually the only way that I would calm down would be if my Dad stayed for storytime with my sister Kelly and sat with me at the back while Kelly sat on their teacher’s lap as she read to the class.

My Dad even took time off work when I was born and my Mom went back when I was only a few months old. My Dad did this with all of us and switched his work around once we were in school and worked 4-12 shifts for the first 11 years of my life. I feel bad for him and my Mom because she worked full-time weekdays and he worked full-time evenings and some weekends. They barely got to see each other, but they made it work for us kids.

My Dad is a great man and sometimes I don’t think I say that enough. I am grateful for everything that my Dad did for us. He made us the people we are today and I thank him for that everyday of my life.

Me and Dad at my wedding

Dad and Baby Jenny!

Dad in his shorts on Rachel's wedding day. It was too hot to put pants on until right before we left!