Christmas Update

Merry Christmas (Yesterday) and Happy Boxing Day today! Hard to believe that Christmas is over. What a good day it was yesterday. We had my uncle, cousins, aunt, grandma and grandpa come over in the morning for breakfast. The house was packed since there was 5 dogs (luckily 3 got left at home or else there would have been 8!) but we had a great time together playing games, eating and just hanging out.

Our family opened up our presents at 2:00 pm. Some presents that I received were a footspa, spa treatment items, books, kitchen stuff, clothes, and money. James got a really cool gift, he got the 20 question game. He played that game all afternoon and tried to stump it, but the game own most of the time. That little thing is smart!

Lexis is starting to warm up to Maddy and Bailey. The first couple of days she wanted to go in the car and every chance she got she ran out to the car. Now she is trying to play with Maddy, taunting her with toys and the getting mad when Maddy decides to take the toy away. The new puppy is just the cutest thing I have ever seen. She sleeps a lot of the time, but when she is awake she loves to snuggle and play with the big dogs.

Tomorrow we get our family picture taken at 5:00 pm. Every single time we are together we get our picture taken and then someone doesn't like the picture so we don't order it. But we have now decided that we are going to a place that you can see the proofs before you walk away. So hopefully we don't have to take too many pictures to make everyone happy!

I should go and get ready for the day... I have some clothes to return to the wonderful store of Taget! Hope everyone has a great boxing day and the rest of the holidays! Happy New Year!

Made it here to Washington safe and sound... 19 hours of driving!

The puppy is so cute.... her name is Bailey not Kenzie.

Anyway. James said that I shouldn't be updating this right now... so I will have to write again another time!

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas Present!

I LOVE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!!! James and I exchanged Christmas presents last night! This is what he bought me, a Kitchen Aid Mixer! Isn't that just great! I was so excited to use it that I baked a cake at 9:00 pm, just to prove to him that I would be using it. It came with a bonus set too, spatula, whisk, baster, measuring cups, and spoons! Then we also splurged on each other because we went out and bought these really modern dish set.... James picked them out. What did I get James for Christmas you ask? Well, he got sweatpants, socks, underwear, a t-shirt and a new Christmas Eve shirt, and I subscribed him to the Leader-Post Newspaper. How boring!

Another Pic!

Here is a pic of my sister (Kristi), Maddy (bigger pup), and the new addition (name might be McKenzie "Kenzie"). I will let you know when they get a name that they keep. Aren't they just adorable!!

Another puppy for the Williams'

What are my parents thinking? This is ANOTHER new addition to their family. Last December Madison was born (and came to live with them in Feb.) and now they have another puppy! Spur of the moment decision (someone backed out on taking her and the breeder was moving today to Nebraska) so my parents have decided that Maddy needed a baby sister. She has not been given a name (since she has only been there a couple hours). But she sure is adorable! This christmas will be quite the adventure with Lexis, Maddy, Libby, and new puppy! FULL DOG HOUSE!

Just Breathe

Everyday I check this one celebrity's blog to get my inspiration of the day. Now in some people's eyes she is not looked upon highly, but in my eyes she is just human. That is what we all are and what everything comes down to, we are human. We make mistakes, we have flaws, and we say things that get us in trouble. We are all on a journey and where that journey takes us depends on who we are. Some are searching for happiness and others are searching for wealth, some people are not aware that they are searching for anything until later on in life... but we are all searching. Constantly on this celebrity's blog she tells people to "just breathe". Which is something that I think many people need to do this time of year. Sit back and breathe. Let the hustle of this time of year pass you by for a moment and reflect on what really matters. Say no to a Christmas party, or skip a christmas concert. Don't get wraped up in the festivites of Christmas and forget the true meaning of it. Celebrate with friends and family. Thank God for the year you had, even if it was a year of pain, thank God for bringing you safely through it.

Just breathe.

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Today is my little brother's 17th birthday! Hard to believe my brother is 17 and my sister will be 20 in a 2 weeks... where does the time go? WOW!

Christmas Gift Exchange

By the end of the season, someone is going to have roll me out the door. The great part of working in a place where everyone "appreciates your business" is everyone drops of treats for you to eat. Today the "treat of the day" is Laura Secord chocolates, yesterday was chocolate covered peanutes/almonds/jube-jubes. MMMmmmm.... I love Christmas!

Tonight is my Royal LePage Christmas Party, which will be different from my previous christmas parties (LHAC's). Seems like everyone is excited to get drunk and party since that is what has been talked about for weeks now. Oh sad.... but I guess that is how they have fun. I use to give mugs in the gift exchange but this year I am going to change it up a bit. We are doing the "new, used or regift" exchange so I have to think of something good. I think my one gift will be cash ($15) but I would love to have something funny as my second gift! I just can't decide what!! I am not sure if James will let me or not (okay, I just called him and he said no), but I would love to give away the N64 that has sat in a box in the closet for 3 years now. But James keeps telling me that he wants to play it and it doesn't even work on our tv. I have to think of something sweet. Any ideas?

Too sad

My heart goes out to the less fortunate people in this city. Those who are dragged down by the demons of drugs and alcohol. I just had a man come into my office this morning and tell me that he left his kids in a van outside of white city and he needed money for gas. "White City?" I asked, "Sir, you walked past many other businesses to get here, we are half way down this busy street." He assured me his story was true, but I knew it was a lie. He smelt of booze and had vomit on his lips. He could hardly stand up and wore women's gloves. I couldn't handle him, I had to get someone else to help. Phil took over from here, questioning and trying to get to the bottom of his story. Phil phoned his friend who works on the reserve this man said he is from, the friend had never heard of him before. Another lie busted. Phil gave him $5.00, said that he knew he was being screwed, but it was Christmas. On his way down the hall the man fell into the wall. I just looked down at my computer, scared to make eye contact with him. He came towards me, like he wanted to tell me something, Phil told him to leave and he stumbled out the door.

Big Night Last Night!

BIG NIGHT LAST NIGHT!!!

Oh Ya! We parked in the garage last night for the first time EVER! James and my grandpa decided at 7:30 that they would clean out the garage (which was so full of crap from building the house that we could hardly walk in it). They thought it would be a 1/2 hour job, but they didn't finish until 11:30! They brought the rest of the boxes inside, cleaned out all the garbage (2 full truck loads taken to builders bins), straightened up the miscellaneous objects that were still there, and then swept out all the dirt. Now, I would never have thought that it would take a 1/2 hour, but I have learned that you take the time that James says it will take and multiply by 3, and then you will get a better estimation of how long it will take. But in the end my car and his truck were parked side by side, all ready to spend the night cozy in the garage.

Also last night we gave my grandparents their Thank-you/Christmas presents. They have used the same luggage since 1960 and it is an ugly red leather suitcase. Every time they travel (which they do quite often) they get out the ugly red leather and jam them full of clothes. And it is not like my grandparents just travel to Moose Jaw or to places in Saskatchewan... they go on cruises, down south for 3 months, to my mom and dad's a couple times a year. So, James and I decided that we would splurg on them and get them matching luggage sets! They loved them and were so excited. And I made it clear to them that the ugly red leather suitcases that they had been using for 46 years HAD TO BE THROWN OUT!

Well once again I should go and get some work done at work.... We have another big night tonight, Trademark Construction's Christmas Party. Okay, who am I kidding? Conrad and Sheena are just coming over for supper... but we are trying to make it seem like a Christmas Party.

Weekend Recap

What a weekend!!!!

This weekend was such a good weekend, I am so sad that it is over. Not that anything too exciting happened but I do feel like I got quite a bit accomplished! Let's give you a short recap:

Friday
On Friday James and I got last minute tickets to the Crawford Xmas party. And by last minute, I mean like 5:00 pm tickets were given to us and 6:00 pm the cocktails started. We love going to this Christmas party and were kind of sad that we would miss it this year. But just our luck we were able to go! Now I must admit that it wasn't as fun as previous years (especially last year's when Conrad and Sheena went with us), but it was still very good food. The Comedian this year was so brutal that I was ready to fall asleep. He was this Magican/comedian... so his tricks were bad and his jokes were even worse!

Saturday
We woke up at 6:30 am to drive to Outlook, SK for the day. Lexis had a vet appointment at 10:00 am, which went really well (She is healthy, has good teeth, and didn't flinch when she got her 2 shots). Another great thing about the vet visit was that we got some sleeping pills for Lexis!!! She is horrible to take on trips because she chases passing cars in the back seat and whines and jumps around. Now, we can handle this for about 2 hours, but not for 22 hours straight when we go to Portland. So Julie, the vet, gave us these wonderful pills to use and I am really looking forward to a peaceful drive down at Christmas.

James was able to spend the day snowmobiling around town while I napped on the couch and read my book (Dr. Phil's wife, Robin, has written a great inspirational book). James' uncle from Toronto surprised everyone this weekend and came to Outlook so we were able to see him and James' cousin Caitlin.

Sunday
We came back to Regina late Saturday night as we had to teach Small Groups at Church on Sunday morning. After church we came back and worked really hard on getting the house together! WE GOT SO MUCH DONE! We brought the washer/dryer in for upstairs, the washer/dryer in for downstairs, the fridge for downstairs and the stove for downstairs. Everything worked out great until there wasn't enough room for the stove to fit in the kitchen downstairs! The cupboards were made wrong, so we have to call Kitchen Kraft back to fix the cupboards! Oh well, they will come this week and make everything work....

I did so many loads of laundry yesterday it was unbelievable! This is the first time I have ever had main floor laundry (which happens to be right across the hall from our bedroom). Laundry now takes no time at all, and I look forward to doing laundry more often. I am a very lazy person, who can sometimes go 1 month before running out of clothes to wear, so there are times when there is a month worth of laundry piled up in the closet! But not anymore!!! I am now going to do laundry regularly and always have clean clothes! I am so excited.

Oh yeah! Another fun thing that we got this weekend was a glass top for our table! It is a custom made glass top that fits right over the table so that we don't have to worry about our table getting scratched or getting rings on our table. I was so excited when it came, and now I don't have to worry about ruining our new table, like I did our old one ( I put a pot on the table and burned a ring in it... opps!).

Well that's my update for this weekend. Definetly was a great weekend.... Later friends!

Christmas Letter 2006

December, 2006

Happy Holidays Friends and Family,

Hard to believe it is the holiday season already! Each year it seems to sneak up on us and I am never ready for it. This past year has been a year of change and transition for James and I, and we are thankful for the opportunity to share with you the changes that have happened.

Last winter we spent many evenings and weekends fixing up our cozy 850 square foot bungalow that we purchased in 2005. It was our first house and we were quite proud of all the work that we did to it. But after a long Canadian winter in it, we soon found ourselves toying with the idea of selling it and buying something a bit bigger. Before we knew it we were in discussion with one of the New Homebuilders here in Regina, Crawford Homes, and were drawing up floor plans for a brand new house. In April we finalized our plans and put our down payment on a 1225 square foot, 3 bedroom bungalow, just blocks away from the house my (Melissa’s) family lived in when they were in Regina.

In late June we decided to sell our house during the peak spring/summer market. I thought that I would try to sell it on my own and if that failed I would have Grandma list it. I soon discovered (and as did my new boss – more on that too come) that I have the Williams’ eye for Real Estate, as I sold our house within 5 days without having an Open House. By August 1 we were moved out of our house and were living with Grandma and Grandpa Williams for what we thought would be around 2 months. 2 months turned into 3 months, which turned into 4 months… and we were still living with Grandma and Grandpa but on December 1, 2006 we moved into our new house. We are very proud of it since we (I will admit James did more work than I did) were able to do a lot of it ourselves. We spent endless days and nights working on the house (paint, trim, hardwood floors, ceramic tile… the list goes on), but now that it is all finished we are able to sit, relax and enjoy our hard work.

This past August we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. Crazy how the time flies bye! I wish I could tell you that we are expecting a baby, but no, you won’t be hearing that in this Christmas letter, we will see what next year brings. Right now the only baby we have is our two-year-old Lab/Husky, Lexis, who still takes up a lot of our time and energy, but we wouldn’t trade her for anything.

Up until spring James was still working for Crawford Homes part-time while going to University (majoring in Human Justice). Instead of going up North to tree-plant, like he had done the two previous summers, he decided to look for work here in Regina. He was offered a job running a franchise for College Pro Painters on the East side of Regina. Through this summer experience he learned two main things. First he learned he loved running his own business, and secondly he learned that he missed working on the construction site. After much thought James decided to take some time off University and open up his own construction business, Trademark Construction. The business does mainly siding, soffits, and facia, but also does some interior renovations as well. The business is now too busy for James to do alone and has allowed him to hire a fulltime employee, a good friend of his named Conrad Shepherd.

This past year has been a hectic year for me (Melissa) as well. Last winter I was still attending the University of Regina (majoring in Psychology) and working at Living Hope Alliance Church. I had been working at the Church for the past 3 years and loved every minute of it. When I decided to sell our house myself I never dreamed it would lead to a new job, but that is just what happened. I ended up meeting and talking to the owner of Royal LePage Regina Realty and he offered me a job. So I have taken some time off of school and I am working as the fulltime Receptionist for Royal LePage Regina Realty while I take my Real Estate courses. I plan on being a licensed Realtor by spring!

James and I both are still involved in teaching/mentoring the students at our church. I am one of the leaders of the Grade 11/12 girls small group while James is the leader of the Grade 12 boys small group. We both enjoy impacting the students lives and look forward to seeing them each Sunday morning and connecting with them. We also keep busy by traveling; there are short trips to Outlook, SK to see his parents and longer trips to see mine in Vancouver, WA. This winter we are hoping to get away to Los Angeles for 10 days and take a much needed warm and relaxing vacation.


We trust that you will have a happy and memorable holiday season! If you are ever in Regina, please drop in and see us. We would love to connect with you, especially those who we do not see on a regular basis!


God bless you in 2007,
James, Melissa (& Lexis) McCullough

Opps!

I had my first mishap in the house yesterday morning, and James will not let it slide. Usually when I put on my makeup I sit on the floor in front of a full length mirrior. That is how I have put on my makeup for over 15 years I bet. James and I have separate bathrooms now too, he uses the ensuite and I use the main bath because he is so messy in the bathroom and I don't want to be embarressed if someone drops by. So anyway, I now have to put my makeup on in the main bath and I just can't seem to find a way to get close enough to the mirrior. So I decided to sit on the toilet seat and put my legs between the toilet and the counter, that way I can look directly into the mirrior. So that was all fine and dandy, I finished my makeup and swung my legs out from where they were and I knocked off the toilet paper roll and holder! I didn't just knock it off, I RIPPED the screws right out! James came in and made me feel horrible. He said that I had to have some real force behind that, but the truth is I didn't even feel my legs hitting it! He was like, "Let me see the bruise you have on your leg now" (because I bruise so easily), and I didn't have one! So anyway, he refuses to fix it because he says I need to think about being more careful with the new house (who does he think he is? My father?).

So this morning when I was getting ready James poked his head in the bathroom and he checked the shower rod and the towel rod and said, "Looks like you haven't torn anything else off the wall... way to go." He was laughing but I was so mad!! I know he meant it as a joke, but that isn't really funnny. I told him if he didn't put the toilet paper roll holder back on the wall I was going to do it myself, which would be really scarey, or I would call the plumbers back to install it because obviously they didn't put any anchors in it or they hardly screwed it on! He told me the plumbers would just laugh at me and say that they don't come to fix things that people rip off the wall because they are careless.

In other news...

My friend Deb called me last night after viewing my blog and told me that I should put a plate under the plant that my mom sent me. Thanks so much Deb, I went home and did just that! See how handy this blog is, you guys can look out for me! Also yesterday we cooked out first dinner at the house (Chicken and Sidekicks). I am not really a fan of sidekicks, but James is so I eat them when he would like them. I have no clue what to make tonight... I am kind of craving a pasta dish.....

Well I better go and check my other friends blogs.... Be sure to click on the links at the side of my blog to view others. Shauna Archer has a great blog that she does from Dalat International School in Malaysia!

Housewarming Gift!

This was our first (and so far only... hint hint) House Warming Gift! My Mom and Dad sent it to us, and I picked it up from Safeway. I was explaining what it looked like to my Mom (since she didn't actually pick it out) and she got all worried that it was tacky looking. So I told her I would take a picture of it and put it on here....

See Mom, it's not tacky!! It's a Pointsettia with some other plants in a basket... and No, it has not died yet... it's still looking good and healthy!

Finally Some Pics!

This is looking from the Living Room towards the hall way, which leads to the bedrooms and bath room.
This is loooking into the Kitchen/Dining Room from the Living Room

This is a shot of the Kitchen/Dining Room

This is standing in the Dining Room looking towards the front entrance

This is the new TV! Looks small in the picture but it's a 37" LCD TV!

This is my new Kitchen Dining Set!

Kitchen Again.....

Kitchen Again......

Finally the pictures are ready! I know these are only of the Living Room/Dining Room/ Kitchen but that is really all that has been set up right now. There are many pictures of the same thing, but I guess that will help you understand where everything is. Our Bedroom is almost done (just got to hang some pictures) and tonight we are setting up the office/den room. Everything looks so good, and I am so happy with the house!

Lost Cord

So.... we made it back safe and sound from the McCullough Family Xmas Weekend. The roads were okay on Friday when we went out there. We got there around 8:30 pm, just in time to meet the fam at Perkins for dinner (we always time it just right for a free meal - Thanks Cheryl). On Saturday we were able to watch Christie Anne play some basketball, which was a nice treat, and then we headed over to the shopping mall. I thought James would be grumpy have to spend 3 hours in the shopping mall with me, but he did just fine! The mall was very busy, but what can you expect the first weekend of December. I did have to kick James out of one store because he was following me around like a lost puppy and was starting to get on my nervous. We came home on Sunday in not the best driving conditions. James' parents who left only 4 hours after us got stuck 2 hours outside of Winnipeg... good thing we left when we did.

I took some really good pictures of the house last night, but I can't find the cord to put all my pictures on the computer. So tonight that is my mission... get pictures of the house on the blog!

Another fun survey.... I am bored.

1. Where do you hang your towel to dry after showering?
Usually I hang it up on the towel rack when I go to dry my hair... if I don't do that then I just toss it on the ground.

2. What kind of mouse pad do you have?
One at work has DELL on it and I have an apple shaped one at home.

3. Do you brush your hair with a comb or a brush?
A brush

4. In your opinion, who do you think is the hottest celebrity?
I have no clue... I am a celebrity gossip person but I don't really think any of them are "so hot!"

5. You have a project due tomorrow, do you use tape or glue?
Always glue... I hate tape

6. Chicken or pork?
Love chicken!

7. By the time you get to school, is it still dark?
I don't go to school, but it's still pretty dark out when I get to work.

8. If you had a choice to be a unicorn or mermaid which would it be?
I have always wanted to be a mirmaid, why would I want to be a horse with a horn?

9. What color is your underwear?
Baby blue

10. What time does the sun usually set?
I have no clue!!! I would just when I am getting home from work. (How depressing is that? I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark!)

11. What/who do you think of last before you go to sleep?
"James, stop touching my feet!!" (Seriously, I think that EVERY night)

12. AC or fan?
I love a ceiling fan when I am trying to go to sleep!

13. Do you wear braces?
I DID wear braces from Grade 6-8

14. Can you do a hand stand?
Not even close... maybe a donkey kick

15. If you were the opposite sex, how would you style your hair?
Shorter and always looking trimmed

16. What level English are you in?
Well I did University English... so I guess I am pretty good....

17. Jessica Simpson or Alba?
I use to LOVE Jessica Simpson but now I don't at all.... so I will go with ALba

18. Which subject is worse, English or Math?
Ugh... Math. I was HORRIBLE!

19. What's one thing you really want to do this very moment?
I want to go and work/umpack my house!

20. What movie are you embarrassed to admit you've watched?
I have no clue....

21. CD player or iPOD?
I own a ipod, but everyone makes fun of me because it is old.... but it plays music and that's all I need.

22. Would you rather spin upside down going 30 miles or drop 400 ft. into water?
Sprin around forsure! How much fun would that be! I can not handle falling at all.

23. Whats your favorite shape?
Thats a dumb question. I would have to say a Trapazoid. (HAHA! I don't even know what a trapaziod looks like...)

24. What do you have planned for the weekend?
McCullough Fam Xmas in Winnipeg

25. Have you ever gone ice skating?
Of course.

26. If you were put in a room with nothing except for a pencil and paper, what would you do?
Doodle

27. Is it always easy finding your remote every time you want to watch TV?
Depending on what TV.... but yes, it is usually easy.

28. How was your day?
Going alright. I have a lot on my mind... James has called me about 10 times and it's

29. Do you grow your nails, bite or cut them?
Bite them off, a really bad habit!

30. Describe your handwriting:
I would say really nice. It is VERY close to my friend Carla's.

31. Do you consider yourself a stalker?
I would hope not...

32. Do you bruise easily?
SO EASILY!!! I am anemic, so there is always a bruise on my legs.

33. There`s nothing on TV except Barney and Japanese news what do you do?
Not watch TV

34. Do you know more then 3 myspace codes?
Myspace codes???

35. You got a essay due, you either can type or write in pen, which will it be?
Of course I would type. So much easier.

36. Do you wear jeans to relax at home?
I sure do!

37. Describe yourself using three words:
Stylish, transparent, determined

38. Do you use deodorant?
Every day.... what a dumb question

39. Do you like ice in your drink?
I can't drink without ice.

It's only Thursday???

Great answers to my "How Well Do You Know Me" Quiz so far.... but what is with you people thinking I still drive my tuna can Accent?? I have not driven that car in 2 years.... and you think you know me so well! Oh well, for the MOST of you that is the only question you get wrong, but I will let that slide. Way to go Sheena S and Margit K who both got 100%!

We started moving stuff over to the new house last night, the long trek over next door. Thankfully Conrad and Sheena helped us carry stuff, because we all know that I am not much of a mover. I am better at putting items in piles for Conrad, James and Sheena to carry over. That Sheena, she can move with the boys! I wanted to sleep at the new house SO BAD but the Grinch (James) Kyboshed (sp?) that idea. He said he didn't want to sleep there until eveything was set up and it felt like a real house. So after C & S left we spent the evening setting up the bedroom, putting together the new dining room table/chairs, and unpacking one box into the cupboards. We have hardly any work to do on the house now, it's just making it look like a home. Tonight I have to do some paint touch ups in the basement and fill some nail holes in the baseboards downstairs, as well as clean out the bathtubs. Jeremy & Sheena D. are coming over to pick up the key and to drop off the first months rent. Hard to believe the date came by so fast!!!

James' dad was in a bad mood and cancelled the McCullough Xmas for this weekend. What a spoiled sport. I think he was just mad that they couldn't find the key to the snowmobile... but that's just my opinion. Anyway, he called back this morning and said it's back on. I hope he doesn't try to cancel again!

This morning I let Lex outside to do her morning business and she was so confused about which door to go to when she wanted to come back inside. I looked outside and I saw her sitting at the new house's back door, shivering and waiting to be let back inside. So I called her back to Grandma's house and she looked at me like, "What the heck? I thought I was suppose to go to that door now. Come on Mom, get things together!". She will be a little confused at the start but will soon learn where she lives. She was excited when we brought over our bed last night. She went and found her favorite bone and jumped right onto the bed and remained there until we went back to Grandma's to sleep. How did I get such a precious dog?

How well do you know me???

http://www.testriffic.com/friendtest/741607

I was really bored at work and made a quiz about myself. Click there are take my quiz!!!

So cold!

Hmmm..... Is it cold outside or what today?? BRUTAL! On Monday James called me from work (he works outside) and told me he was cold. I laughed and told him it was only going to get colder. Then this morning he woke up and turned on The Weather Network, only to hear that it would be -35 with the windchill! THAT IS SOOO COLD! Needless to say, he and Conrad are not working today. But that is okay because that means that the house will be finished today! HORRAY!!!!

Since James didn't go to work today and he parked his BIG truck behind my car for some unknown reason I took the truck to work today. I was so excited about the truck when we first got it, mostly because it is HUGE and it was all clean inside. Well, today it is still HUGE but clean it is not. I climbed (literally climbed, I use the steering wheel to pull me up) into the cab and it is soooo diry! Not just dirt, but there is garbage, winter clothes, a heater, plus materials. I don't understand why the cab gets filled with such stupid stuff. James has a 14' trailor that he pulls, plus a metal toolbox! He paid a lot of money for the toolbox too and to he justified it by saying he would keep the cab clean if he had the tool box... obviously he lied!

I was looking on the internet for Christmas gifts and I think I have the perfect ones for my family. Since they are known to periodically read this blog I will not disclose what the gifts are! Let's just say they are "authentically canadian since 1973 (I think)". It's PERFECT! I still have not gotten presents for _____ and _____, which we are exchanging on Saturday. I really need to get on that ASAP!

Well, I am going to call James and ask him if he wants to go for lunch today. Later!

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!

Snow, snow, snow!!! Can you believe how much snow is out there? My backyard looks like a winter wonderland (minus all the yellow spots thanks to Lexis), but it looks so pretty. This really gets me ready for the Holiday season. I can hardly wait!!!

This weekend we are off to Winnipeg to have a VERY early Christmas time with James' parents. We did the drawing of names, so we will exchange our sibling gift. I don't know what I am going to get for ______, _____ is a hard one to shop for. I have some ideas about what to get James', in fact I have too many ideas. He says I am not going to get a present because I already got a new LCD/Plasma TV and new dining room set, but that is not fair. James - you use those items too you now! If James asks any of you what I would like for Xmas, please inform him that I would really like an a diamond ring to go with our matching wedding band set. I know I already have an engagement ring, but I would really like a ring to wear with my gold band too. Man... jewellry is my weakness!

Today I ordered cable for the new house and got this amazing deal!!! For only $60/month I get 200 channels, 6 movie channels, and a box that gets me HDTV Channels PLUS it records, pauses, fast forwards, and rewinds LIVE TV! Okay, for you Americans reading this, please note that we don't have TIVO here in Canada (No, we are not a third world country), and this is a relatively new thing.... we will slowly catch up to the technology of the USA. I am so excited! I am going to tape Oprah every day and watch it in the evening!

Today is a slow day at work. In the morning I finished off my Real Estate Assignment and gave it to my Broker. Hopefully I will be handing it in this week!!!

Light at the end of the tunnel!

I know that everyone is really excited to see pictures of the new house and I promise you they are on their way! I went to take some pictures this weekend but everything is such a mess that I decided to wait until Wednesday. Today we are getting our carpets for the bedroom and tomorrow we get the plumbing done... then we are finished!! Yup, seems like it has taken us forever but there is light at the end of the tunnel! James and I spent the weekend putzing around the house...

Saturday James finished the baseboard, which look awesome by the way! I came along an filled all the nail holes and painted the final coat on the base, making it look all clean and nice. We quit working early on Saturday because we were so tired!
Sunday we came home from church and had a lovely afternoon nap (something we haven't been able to do since before August!). After our nap we went over and put up the mirriored closet doors for the front closet, put knobs on all the bi-fold doors and cleaned up the bedrooms for the carpet layers.

In other news we woke up to snow for the first time on Sunday morning. What a lovely feeling that was! It really feels like Christmas now with the snow on the ground and the American TV stations playing all their holiday commercials. I am getting so excited to decorate the house for Christmas and play Christmas music! I just can not wait. Also, James and I are going to do some Christmas baking together... hopefully we will be able to make some great treats and have some company over to enjoy our new house!

I better go and register for Power, Energy, H20 and most important Cable! Later friends!

Friday

WOW!

I started to post something about 4 times yesterday but never finished once! We were getting new phones here in the office and I was getting training on how to work and program them. Seems like I am now the only "expert" in the office which really sucks. They are nice phones and they will come in really handy. I had to record 7 different voice messages yesterday morning so if Mr. Liske needs a replacement over at Sasktel, let him know that I have a wonderful recording voice. The brutal thing was I didn't leave work till 6:00 pm yesterday because I could not get the brutal things to forward to the answering service. I hate technology!!!

Yesterday the ceramic floors were finally finished! And they look amazing... I am so excited to get them REALLY clean and mopped up. Our plan is to move into our house next Thursday, which is so amazing. Living at Grandma's has been um... great and cheap... but it's not the same. We have been "homeless" for about 4-5 months now and I just can't wait to set up my house again!

Some sad news is Lexis has an eye infection. I noticed yesterday morning that her eye was all goopy but didn't think anything of it. Now she keeps rubbing it and making it worse. Her eye is half closed, which is not good. James has some eye drops that he is going to give her, which kind of makes me nervous, but as he says, "an eye is an eye". I think she got something in it when she was in the new house or Libby scratched it when they were playing. Hopefully it gets better because I do not want to take her to the vet.

Well, I best be getting to work here... have a good weekend!

Christmas is coming!

Christmas is coming, the gesse are getting fat

won't you please put a penny in the old mans hat.

If you haven't got a penny, a half a cent will do,

if you haven't got a half a cent God bless you!

It is that time of year again, that I dread... Christmas Carol time! Yes, I know I sound like a grinch or a scrudge but I really am not fond of them. I know that most people look forward to this time of year and can't wait to bring out the old carolling book but I can't think of anything worse! They are good songs and important songs but I guess they have just been sung over and over and over and over again. Noone has written a new christmas carole in like 100 years!

I love Christmas though, don't get me wrong! The smells, sights, and sounds of the holiday season make me so happy. I love the colours outside and inside, all warm and inviting! I love sitting in front of a fireplace with a warm cup of hot chocolate, wearing my favorite pajama pants and hoodie. The snow falling outside my front window but I am so warm inside my house!

AHHH!!! I love Christmas so much!

Monday, Monday, Monday :(

Good Monday Morning! I was so sad this morning when I woke up because that weekend was just not long enough. There are not enough hours in our days right now. We (well, mainly James, but I did help) spent the ENTIRE weekend tiling the floor in the house. He started Saturday morning at 7 am and worked till 10:00 pm and only took about 2 10 minute breaks. Who knew ceramic floors were so time consuming? I felt bad when I had to get him up on Sunday morning because he was so soar and tired he could hardly move. And then we went straight home from teaching small group and he started the process all over again till 9:00 pm last night. The poor guy, I can't wait for him to get finished all these jobs on the house. Only 2 more weeks of this back breaking work! If I was thinking I would have taken off the entire month of November from all commitments (other than work) because we just don't have any spare time right now. We are always late for everything or we are leaving early, but there is nothing I can do about it right now. We have to get this house done!

I spent the weekend doing some painting on the trim and sanding nail holes. I also went to Home Depot all by myself and bought some grout for the tiles. I was nervous I would get the wrong stuff, but I did fine. I only wandered around the Depot for 10 minutes looking for sanding spounges, but eventually I found them! I have a $25 gift certificate for the Depot that I won't let James spend. This was a birthday present I received from some family friends and I will be the one who spends it. I will most likely get a mailbox or some rope lights, because those are things that I need for decor.

Lexis had her friend Moses over to watch the Grey Cup. Moses is a 5 month old Boxer, who's parents are our good friends Conrad and Sheena. Conrad is now working for Trademark Construction (James' business), so that is really exciting. The business is booming right now. He has more jobs than he knows what to do with, but that is a good thing! It might be a little bit cold this winter for the two of them, but I guess that's what you get when you work in construction. So far the weather has been amazing for working outside, so hopefully the guys only have to endure 3 cold months out of the year.

Today I am freezing cold again at work. My fingers are just NUMB! I have the heater I could turn on but it sounds like an airplane taking off and sometimes I can't hear people on the phone. So to save myself some embarressment I refuse to turn it on when there are other people around. I do have an afgan that I could put on but I leave it here over night and I think that mice run all over it so that is kind of gross. Today at work I will be making the invitations to our Christmas Party at the Rugby Club. Should be a really fun time! We will be having an auction that will raise money for Regina Family Services.

Well, I best get to work here on something production and important.... like the invitations! Have a wonderful Monday!

Addicted to TicketMaster.ca

So you know how I am addicted to Concerts, well I think I am just addicted to TicketMaster. I was playing around on there today and the next thing I new I was booking 2 tickets to David Copperfield, the illusionist. I wasn't just booking the cheap tickets either, I decided James and I would be sitting in the Orchastra section. So, now we are going to see David on Jan. 11 at 8:30 pm. Isn't that great? Since I am sitting so close I am hoping that he will ask for a volunteer and I can disappear or something super fun like that! Did you know that he once made the Eiffel tower disappear? How cool is that?

In celebrity news this is a big weekend for the Cruise-Holmes family. The TomKat (as I like to call them, along with every tabloid in the world) are getting hitched. Why I care so much and follow this story I will never know. Like who really cares? Well, I guess I do! They are getting married in a castle, it will be a scientology wedding with some traditional catholic moments. There are many celebs hitting the Italian city where the wedding takes place, such has Brooke Shields, Victoria and David, Jada Pinkett Smith, and many others... but who cares....

The lights are being put in at my house today, isn't that just great?? I will have lots to do tomorrow. James and his friend are laying tile and I will be painting the window trim. Slowly the house is taking shape!! Only 2 more weeks left! I can't wait because I am so ansy to start decorating. I am really ansy to put my TV in the cool niche. James is looking forward to sitting on the couch and not feeling guilty because he has been working on the house like a dog!

This weekend I promise to post some pictures. It has been a while now!

Date Night!

Sorry I didn't get any pictures posetd last night! I was really busy because I had a DATE NIGHT!!!

We went out for supper to Boston Pizza. We spent much of the supper on the cell phone as James wanted to call AirMiles and see how many Miles it took to fly somewhere warm. We have 1.5 free trips to L.A. we found out. HORRAY! Other than spending time on the phone, which if you are dating is a real no-no to do when on a date (but we are old married people), the dinner was good and the service was ok. After we had dinner we went to the Pats Hockey Game.

I can remember going to the Pats Hockey and thinking how old and good looking these guys were. I must have been REALLY young! When we went yesterday everyone there was around the age of 15. The young highschool girls were dressed to the nine and the young hockey boys thought they were at an NHL game. The players that I thought were so "cool" and "old" were between the ages of 16-20! That's as young as my brother and as old as my sister! I must admit they were good hockey players and it was a fun place to go on a date. I spent much of the evening pigging out on buttered popcorn and mini-donuts. The Pats were playing the Portland Winterhawks and that is my dad's team, well he is the chaplain for the team. The Pats beat the Winterhawks 7-0.

I thought our date night was over after the hockey game but when we got home and turned on the TV we saw that The Notebook had just started. It's such a good movie! I could watch that one over and over and over again without ever getting tired of it.

It was a great night to hang out with the hubby! Tonight I am afraid we are going to work on the house again but we have to get somethings done... the sooner we get it done, the sooner we can move in!

I'm Back!

Hi Everyone!

I am back! My parents were in town and I had no time to write on this blog.... We had a great time with my parents. We worked REALLY hard on the house. The first day they were here we did all the laminate in the basement and up the stairs. It took a good 12 hours to get down, but in the end it looks awesome and it's finished. My mom wasted no time relaxing, the next day we got all the hardwood floor on the main level finished. I just LOVE my hardwood floors! I covered them up carefully with cardboard so noone would scartch them. My mom and I spent a good portion of the day on Saturday painting the trim upstairs. So I only have to paint a second coat on the kitchen & living room. Sunday was spent with family and friends, watching the football game and doing some shopping at Costco. And yesterday, Monday, we did the last minute pickups before dropping them off at the airport! CRAZY BUSY!

It was so nice to have my parents come and visit. It's just hard to believe that the thing I looked forward to for so long is over. Now I am just looking forward to Christmas time! Only 5 weeks until we go down to visit them!

I will post some pictures of my cooking class that I went to on Thursday. I probably will not get to that until this evening.

What a good day today is!

Today is the day that I have been waiting for for 2.5 years. Yes, my parents, who once vowed they would never return to this province, are coming to visit me! Hard to believe because it feels like yesterday I was having an emotional breakdown in my living room on Mullin Ave. over them never coming to see me. So, after 1 year of guilt tripping, threatening to never visit them again and to miss Christmas they are coming to see me!

I have big plans for the weekend... oh wait, no I don't. When they booked this trip they thought that the house would be finished and we would be all moved in. BUT... we still have 3 weeks left on the house :( Oh well, I will put mom and dad to work and we can get a lot done. James' parents are coming to visit on Saturday afternoon/evening. My parents and his parents have only met each other 2x, once when we were dating and then again at our wedding. How weird is that?

Tonight I also have a Greek Cooking Class! I am so excited for it... Not sure what we will learn to make but I really do like Greek food! Hopefully we will make those little appetizers that are Phyllo bread with feta and some other kind of cheese in it. MMMmmmm!!!! I will fill you all in on how it went at another time!

Old Age Driving

In my mind it was bound to happen, just maybe not to this extent. With 100 of senior citizen gathering at the Northgate Mall for the Flu Shot Clinic I was sure there would be a fender-bender or someone driving on the wrong side of the road. Why you ask? Because senior's shouldn't be able to drive! On Flu Clinic day there should be buses leaving every mall (like they do at concerts and such) so seniors can go get their shots without jepordizing everyone elses safety.

My great grandma (who is 93) just gave up her license last month. She was not a horrible driver (in fact my family was looking for reasons to take away her license but could never catch her doing anything wrong) but it still scared the heck out of me when she got behind the wheel. She would sneak out of the city of Moose Jaw (which she was not allowed to do because my grandma had put limits on where she drives) and then she would lie about where she was. This one evening James and I were coming home from visiting his brother in Carenport when we passed her on the highway, driving 90 km/h in her K-Car. I called my grandma and tattled on my great-grandma and later when my grandma called to confront her she said that it wasn't her! LIAR! (HA! How many other ladies drive with grey driving gloves, in a white K-Car, with a CAA and bible bumper stick, and look exactly like Gladys?). My great-grandma had always said she needed her car because would drive seniors to get their groceries. But when you are driving seniors who are younger than you are around, I think you should take a hint and find someone to drive you around.

Once when I was driving home from school this old man and his wife were coming down our side of the street. And it was a divided street, so that meant he had been driving down our side for a while! There were tons of people behind us and he was just coming straight at us. Finally he realized he was in trouble and just stopped dead in the road. People were trying to explain to him that he needed to reverse for a while inorder to get out or to just turn around. Well, he tried turning around and hit his tires on the curb and then got stuck! And during all this his wife didn't think anything was wrong and just kept looking out the window.

I am not against senior citizens, I just think they don't need to be driving around at their age (over 85 or so....). They are scarey and unaware of how they should be driving. And also, many of them love HUGE cars but to be honest they can not handle huge cars because they can't see over the steering wheel or know how long they are. If seniors are going to drive they need to drive smart cars or golf carts so they are aware of what's around them and they can't pack all their friends in the car to distract them!

Basement Building Bee

THAT WAS THE LONGEST WEEKEND OF MY LIFE! Yes, I worked on the house like a freakin dog this past weekend. But we got the whole basement practically finished (minus the flooring, but that's not on our plate). It looks so awesome! James and I actually were able to work together this weekend (first time ever). I only threw one paint brush at him and threatened to walk away 3x. But in the end love pervailed and we worked it out.

See the problem I have with working with James is that he uses tools that I am totally scared of. For instance, we were in the basement closet putting up the shelves and he wanted me to hold up this wood thing and he would air nail it to the wall. But that air nailer is the scariest thing in the world and I thought he was nailing too close to my fingers so I dropped the peice of wood and the level on the floor... he was not impressed with that. But the thing is, I have seen him nail his finger to wood before, and if you can be stupid enough to nail your own finger, you can definetly nail someone elses. We also used a table saw (or I should say we attempted to use) because I backed out on helping with that tool, which resulted in a hole in the freshly painted wall.

I hate power tools! I am not like the lady in the Rona commercials where she is all talented and
"do it her selfy". I could think of nothing worse than fixing something on my own. Since I backed out (or avoided helping) with the things that involved tools, my jobs were meant to keep me busy. I was in-charge of filling all the nail holes with putty (haha) and sanding rough areas and fetching any tool that James needed. Which was also a huge mistake because I have no clue what any tool looks like. He sent me into the garage to get him a router. I told him I needed a complete description of what it looks like and an area of the garage that it might be in. After 15 minutes of searching for this so-called router and starring blankly at 100s of tools, I came back with one... but not the right router. You gotta give me some credit, atleast it was a router, even if it was not the one he wanted. I also hate it when he sends me to get him a screwdriver. He will say he needs a "philips" screwdriver, but that means nothing to me! I need to know if its a cross, star, straight, or diamond screwdriver... don't confuse me with a name!

So after 1 thrown paint brush and 3 attempts of ditching the consturction zone, all in all it was a good weekend. We learned that we can work together we just have to find the right jobs for me to do. I am wicked at filling nail holes and sanding corners and I can hold up a peice of wood to be nailed to the wall (as long as the gun comes no where close to my hands). I look forward to working on the upstairs with my handy husband, I just need a couple of days to recooperate from the basement building bee.

TOO TIRED!

Hello Everyone! I hate to admit this but I am so tired I can't even begin to think about posting something for you all today. Okay, I actually just thought about it, and still nope, I am not doing it. We didn't get home from the concert until 2:30 am last night (uhh...morning?).

The concert was really good, check out Sheena's blog for a full report (Link on mine: Conrad & Sheena). Obviously she had way more energy this morning than I did. The opening band was brutal, just some drunk guys who looked like they belonged in my dad's highschool yearbook. But the Chicks were great, not the best stage performers, but definetely amazing and very talented musicans (I think I spelt that wrong but my eyes are slowly closing). They did all the good oldies (landslide, Cowboy Take Me Away, ect.) some personal new songs (Neighbour, Lullabye) and then their rockier new music (Easy Silence, Not Ready To Make Nice, etc.) All in all it was a great concert and well worth the $99 tickets. Row 7 was amazing too, it was nice to see them up close and personal and not having to watch them on the jumbo screen. The only down part was having to stand for most of the evening, which really hurt my back.

But I am just realizing that I just posted something and I said that I wouldn't do that... so now I am going to close down work early (my boss left for Mexico at 4pm) and there is noone here. So I am shuting 'er down early today.

Chicks Today!

Today is THE DIXIE CHICK LIVE IN CONCERT! I have been looking forward to this day for the past couple of weeks and it has finally arrived. We are leaving for Saskatoon at around 3:30 pm today so we can grab a quick bite to eat before we go to the concert. But before we head out of town I have to drop my car off at Suds and get it cleaned out.

James is mad at me for paying someone to clean my car. But I don't want to do it because it's so cold outside! I do not feel like driving my car into the garage and then bundling up in my winter clothes just to vacuum out my dang car. I would much rather drive it over to the professionals and have someone paid to do it. UGH! James and I will never see eye to eye on who we spend our money! Oh, the joys of marriage....

Well I should get back to work here as I am waiting for the girl I am going to be training for my job. Hopefully she enjoys the job and she will take over after christmas..... I will let you all know how the concert went tomorrow. Until then....

New Blog Style

Good Morning! As you all can see I have been very busy changing the look of my blog! It has only taken me about 2 months to figure out how all this works, but I am slowly getting the hang of it. I was able to change my blog template from by downloading from another site and even how to add links! HURRAY! I am starting to get the hang of this. Any suggestions? Hope you all enjoy this fresh new look. I have already had some great comments on it. Now I really want to add those side bar things (Word of the day... This day in history... etc.). So that is my task for today. Check in later and see if I have made any progress.

In other news..... our kitchen and bathrooms are half finished. I was going to take a picture but then I figured I would just take one today when it's all complete. It looks awesome though. I can't wait to start cooking in the kitchen (PAH! Who am I kidding?). On Sunday I am going to a Spice Party with my friend Sheena. It's at my friend Stephanie's house and she is sort of like my cooking coach. She called and told me that she thought this would be really beneficial to me, to learn some new spices and cooking tools. So being the good student that I am, I jumped at the chance to expand my cooking skills and will be at the party with a pen and note pad ready to take extensive notes on spices.

I am just counting down the days till my next concert: Dixie Chicks. 1 more day! Tomorrow is the concert and I am so excited. We plan on meeting James' parents in Saskatoon for a quick dinner and then we head down to our floor level seats and they head up to the nose bleed section (haha, just kidding.... well not really....). Well, I should get back to work. Or atleast check other peoples blogs. Hope everyone has a wonderful day! :)

McCullough Familiy

I am only posting this picture because I am trying to figure out how to add one to my profile. So here is a picture of the McCullough family! Enjoy!

Happy Halloween

Usually I hate Halloween, mainly because I hate the colours. Everything looks so gross during Halloween. There are no leaves on the trees, the grass in turning (or in some cases has turned) yellow, and the main colours are orange and black. SICK! But the one good thing is the endless candy. Right now on my desk I have a bowl of chocolate bars and sadly it's only 10:40 and they are disappearing.... and my desk is slowly being covered with wrapers! I'm doomed! Good thing the only lylons I could find in my drawer this morning were the granny tummy tucker ones. They seriously are so tight they are sucking every chocolate bar in.... I can barely breathe. But my tummy, tighs and hips have never looks so "tucked" in my life!

Today our cupboards should be going in... I really hope they are in when I get home from work. This will be a VERY exciting day. I love my cupboards and counter top and it will make the house look so good. My cupboards are white, with a brushed chrome knobs, and a textured green/cream counter top (that I upgraded). The bathrooms are the same style of cupboard and counters. I will take some pictures tonight of all the progress.

Now I have to go and pick up my tickets for the Dixie Chicks and help my friend Jim find a birthday present for his girl-friend. Later friends!

(P.S. Deal with any spelling or grammar errors, I'm too lazy to proof read this)

I never want to paint again in my life....

The house is all painted. We worked hard all weekend and were able to finish all the paint, start painting some trim and hang some doors. James' mom came to help out and then yesterday our friends Conrad and Sheena came over to help finish. My favorite paint colour is my dark burgandy wall, it looks so amazing! James says it was the death of him, but I think it was well worth all the hassel. Our kitchen/bathroom cupboards and counters are suppose to be delivered and installed tomorrow but we have a lot of work to do before that. I will be so excited once those are all in, it will really make it feel like it is almost done!

Baby Lexis LOVED painting. I brought over a blanket for her and some toys and she spent most of the weekend following everyone around and getting paint all over her. She stepped in a paint tray so she has a white paw, she has a green tail, grey nose and white all over her body. Too cute! The windows are the perfect height for her too. She loves standing there and resting her nose on the window sill and watching the traffic pass. I think once we move in we will have to close the blinds so she does not bark at things, that could be annoying for the people in the basement.

Tonight at work is our Pumpin Pumpkin Carving Night. I am not sure if I am going or not though. I am so tired from painting and my back and feet are killing me. I am sure that I could help James out at the house tonight, the more I work the faster it gets done! I will take some pictures when I get home from work of all the progress that was made this weekend!

The house is ours!!!

The day finally came.... THE HOUSE IS OURS!

Yesterday the long awaited day came. The drywallers packed up the house and handed us over the keys (okay, we already had keys but it's ours!) It was a great day yesterday, not only because we got ready for painting but also because we got some sod! Yes, 3/4 of our backyard is covered in nice, lush, green grass. And today the rest will get done (keep your fingers crossed!). I got on my jeans and hoody yesterday and went out to help lay the sod. I couldn't pick up a roll of grass but that's okay, my job was to fill the holes in with peices and to cut the sod around the beautiful corner steps James made. By the end we were working in the dark so I had to run and get a flood light so we could see, but we made it! No more muddy puppy feet to deal with!

After supper we had to go and do our cleanup in the house. We are doing the cleanup after trades because we save money that way. This cleanup was by far the grossest one yet. The drywall dust was ALL OVER the house and we had to sweep it up. I was in charge of getting it away from the wall and James was the main "sweeper", but James fired me from that job so in the end I just moved things out of the way so he could sweep. Luckily grandma (in her cast) and grandpa and baby Lexis came over to help. We worked for a solid 2 hours but have the house all ready to go. Lexis was adorable, she turned gray with all the dust! So when we emerged all covered in dust, I put Lexis in the shower (one of her favorite places) and cleaned her all up.

So, grandma and grandpa are going to start painting today while we are at work. I have given them directions about which walls are what colours. (But I will be going home for lunch just to check and make sure they didn't get confused.) Grandpa is a good painter, and well Grandma, let's just say it might be a good thing she broke her wrist...haha.

I can't show you any pics of this weekend because Conrad and Sheena borrowed our camera. Conrad's sister is having a baby (or had one last night) so they asked to borrow it. If they bring it back on Sunday I will snap some pics...... Stop by this weekend if you want to see the house! I will be there ALL weekend! I'm not complaining though, because the harder we work the sooner we can move in!

Happy Creep Day!

Today is creep day... and I am not being mean, just honest! It's Thursday and EVERY Thursday our office supply rep comes into the office and hovers around my desk. He is older and lonely I think, but he just gives me the heeby jeebies (haha). My friend Margit doesn't start work till 9:15 am and so that leaves me to battle the rep on my own. It wouldn't be that bad if he just came in and asked if we needed anything. But he comes in, stands at my desk, does this little jig thing to kill time, looks at some advertisment material, and then WAITS till Margit comes in. Somestimes Margit makes in within a couple seconds of his arrival while other times it's about 15 minutes. 15 minutes too long! Now it's so awkward that I don't even make eye contact, I just keep on typing random things on my computer....

Next Monday is Pumpin Pumpkin Carving Night. (The only reason why the word Pumpin is in there is because I spelt Pumpkin wrong in my mass email so I had to cover up my mistake... which I think I did rather well). I think I am going to dress up for this family event, any ideas on what I should be? Maybe I will buy one of those rugs and dress up as either a bear or a fox, wouldn't that be sweet?

Bear and Fox Season!

So It must be that time of year again..... when everyone wants to get rid of their animal rugs! So, what do you guys think? I was cruising my favorite website (usedregina.com) and found these amazing rugs for the new house! HAHAHA, JUST KIDDING! I think it would be awesome if someone put these in their house, because I know I never would! Check out the mouth on the fox, isn't that the grossest mouth you have ever seen??? SICK! Anyways, I got a kick out of these and thought I would share them! Let me know if you want more information on who is selling these fine and expensive rugs and I can help you out.

Poker Night

POKER PLAYERS BEWARE! Tonight I am playing my first game of poker in a real tournament. Yes, it's true, I have never actually played poker before. Okay, I have NEVER played poker before but I am playing tonight. I have been studying the rules for the past week and today I might even play a couple games on PartyPoker.com, just to freshen up for tonight. The buy in is $20 (I just learned what that meant...) and the rules are house rules (and I still don't know what that means...) but I am looking forward to a good time! Hopefully I don't get out first, that would be HORRIBLE!!! (and not to mention embarressing)

In other news I woke up at my earliest time ever (5:55 am) because I went to the Breakfast with Friends ~ Cancer breakfast at the Delta hotel. My good friend Sheena asked me to go with her and her company so I couldn't turn down a free breakfast. The sun wasn't even up when I went to start my car but today I feel fresh and awake. Maybe from now on I will wake up at 6:30 am just to get a head start to my day (we will see...). Once James tried waking up early and making coffee every morning before he went out to work. It lasted about 3 days and then he quit. So much for that idea. But I think I could make it work...

Well, I will tell you tomorrow how I did at Poker... stay tuned!

Libby the "Angel"

So grandma's little angel, Liberty the bullmastiff, finally did something bad. She doesn't care that grandma and grandpa buy her special dog food, put special capsoles in her food, or that they bought a king size bed just so she could sleep in it. She doesn't have to pee outside anymore, because she is too good for the backyard. She only pees on walks now. So, even if its 9:00 pm, when she does her little dance grandpa will put on his winter coat and walk her around the block. SPOILED! She is no longer socialable, infact she is the opposite of that, she is a hermit. But maybe now their eyes are opened....

BECAUSE GRANDMA BROKE HER ARM! We have told them time and time again that Libby is an idiot when she is on a leish. She pulls so hard and you have to yell at her. But they wouldn't listen, saying Libby is just fine. Until this morning...

Lexis likes to sniff the ground, making sure no other dog has walked their route and Libby likes to jump on Lexis and body check her. But this morning Lexis moved out of the way of Libby's body checks and Grandma took the full force and broke her arm. Maybe now they will realize that Libby is spoiled and get's her way all the time... but I doubt it.

Puzzels

Usually I am not one to hang framed puzzels on my walls but I will now be making an exception. James' grandpa from BC made all the grandchildren puzzels and James' parents framed them. I am glad ours is not a flower puzzel or a bear puzzel, because that's just not my style. I HATE FLOWERS AND BEARS! (Almost as much as I hate wreaths...but don't get me started on them) But, ours is the cutest picture of baby black labs or in other words, BABY LEXIS'!!!! It's really not that bad! So we have it hanging in our bedroom now and it will soon be moving over to the office at the new house.

James' grandpa loves puzzels. Infact when we phoned him to invite him to our wedding he told James, "I am sorry but I just got a new puzzel, I won't be able to make it." Man, that's a strong love for puzzels... But he is getting older now and not remembering much so it is very nice that we have something that he made for us all, something to remember him by in the years to come. So thanks Grandpa Sommer, it's a beautiful puzzel.

Dixie Chicks and normal day activities!

Once again I don't have much to say at all... no much exciting is happening in my life right now.

Yesterday Libby ran away from home when Grandpa was suppose to be in the backyard with her. But he got too distracted with moving gravel and Libby decided to go on a walk. By the time grandpa realized she was gone she had already ventured on her regular walking route, crossed a very busy street, crossed the bridge and was returning back. Grandpa found her when she was crossing the street on her way back. Atleast she was coming back, and she did stick to her regular walking path! But still, she is worth too much money to do that again. My grandpa got mad at her, which hardly happens because Libby is "his baby". Libby spent the rest of the afternoon locked in the laundry room with the lights out. I think grandma should have locked grandpa in the laundry room with the lights off because he was the one who wasn't watching her. Libby just wanted to go on a walk!!!

Last night James thought someone was breaking into the cars out front. He got up at 3:00 am and went upstairs. I didn't hear a thing until he came back downstairs. Then I heard the noise, but James was sleeping. So I layed awake trying to figure out the noise and I got all nervous. Things always sound worse in the middle of the night. I lay there thinking off all the places they could be breaking into: is the house next door locked, did the drywaller forget to lock one of the doors, is the garage next door open, is my car unlocked, is the garage unlocked here... I seriously was awake for hours! In the morning I found out it was the gate (which is just outside our window) banging against the house because it wasn't shut! All that worrying over a dang gate.

This weekend we are moving everything out of my grandparents garage and into our garage. Now that it is getting cold Grandpa wants to park in the garage but all our stuff is in there. So we are moving to next door. We are slowly making our way closer to the new house, we are almost into the garage! SO CLOSE!

Oh, one exciting thing that I just remembered (how could I forget this) is that I am going to the Dixie Chick on November 2nd. James, Conrad, Sheena and I are going up to Saskatoon. We have really good seats, row 7 on the floor! I think I am becoming addicted to concerts, first the Stones and now the Chicks! What has happened to me?

22 year old in a 72 year old body!

I'm getting old.... well at least I feel like I am getting old. I woke up today at my usual time (7:23 am), tried to sit up in bed and felt like over night I had aged about 50 years (making me feel like I am 72 years old). My back hurt like it was twisted and the weirdest thing ever is that my elbow is throbbing. Usually an elbow is not something that hurts... unless you hurt your funny bone. Hopefully I will start to shed some years as the day progresses.

Last night we meet with our financial guy again to go over our life insurance policy. He asked us if we wanted critical illnes coverage on our mortgage, which is something we had not had in the past. It really gets you thinking when you talk about the chances of getting cancer one day. You have a 1/3 chance of having cancer (or some sort of critical illness) in your lifetime. So when he asked if we wanted this coverage it really made us think.

It makes sense to plain ahead, especially when so many people you know are being diagnosed with cancer everyday, but that extra money each month can make things a little tight. But can you really put a price on insurance, especially when you have such a high risk of using it one day? The one thing that made me hit home was when he asked if we had house insurance (and of course we d0), but you have a 1/3000 chance of using it. He asked if we had car insurance (and we do), but you have a 1/200 chance of using that. When he asked if we had critical illness insurance (and we don't) and he said you had a 1/20 chance of using, it really hits home!

So it's something to think about.... maybe that's why I feel so old today. All this talk about death and critical illnesses. I'm sure I am fine though.....

Normal Rambling....

Today baby Lexis went to work with her dad!!! So cute! James asked Lexis if she wanted to ride around in the truck with him today and play at the job site. She was so excited she could hardly contain herself, she did so many circles!! James use to take Lex with him to work everyday when he worked for Crawford Homes. She was only 7 weeks old and she would sit in the passengers seat and sleep and then he would let her out to run around in the fields. But then one day Lexis pooped in the van and James never took her again. But now that she is all grown up (tear...) he decided that she can come once again. I have to find some toys for her to play with in the truck, like a new kong and fill it up with peanut butter. (Before you call child services, please remember that I am talking about my dog....)

Last night we went to Brewsters for cheap wing night... MMMmmmm!!! I use to just crave wings from there but I think that my tastes are changing. I could only down about 6 wings last night and James eat the rest of the 2 dozen wings. I was much more content with the cookies and cream cheese cake I ordered, which I devoured in about 2 minutes. I wish I had the energy to make a good cheesecake at home. When James and I first started dating I made him a cheesecake every weekend (okay I did it for like 2 weekends in a row) and took it up to Outlook for him. Man, I was a good girl friend.

Maybe there is still hope for me. I think once I get my new big kitchen I will start to cook and bake more. I told James this and he just laughed at me but I think it's true. I will be so excited to be in the new house that I will forget my hatred of cooking and become a great chef! All because of my new kitchen...... Riiiiiight. But we will see, I know that I will have way more people over to the house when we finally move in because there will be so much more room than at the old house.

Well, I am still trying to think about what to blog about and I realized that I am onto paragraph 4 and I have said only useless things so I am going to stop. My mind is just not working like it use to, I think I am under too much stress. So maybe tomorrow I will have some new and interesting (not to mention captivating) blog. So check in......

House Update

Who knew building a house could be so stressful? Yesterday James finished the deck in the backyard and pounded in all the landscaping ties. Now all we need to finish the backyard is some sod. But with the weather being so rainy and then freezing I am not sure when the sod farm will be bringing in their next semi (if they even do.) But I am hoping for a miracle because I don't want to have to wash Lexis feet all winter and spring! I hope this week to stain the deck so that it is protected from the snow. I know you are not suppose to stain unless it is warm out but I am running out of time people!!!

My first real job on the house must be finished by today. I am in charge of picking out the paint colours. So last night I got out our trusty colour wheel from our local General Paint store and went to work. I had our ceramic tile and hardwood on the table and began cutting apart the colour wheel removing any colour I thought might work. Soon I had about 30 colours taped onto the tile so I knew I should start removing some. I was able to narrow it down to about 2 colours for each room. And this morning I brought the choice to work and had my co-workers help me decide. Here is what I have chosen for the paint colours:

Main colour of house (Kitchen/Dining/Living Room/Hallways): Kindling Wood
Accent Wall (Through Living Room to Dining Room): Robust Red
Stub Wall: Wild Cat
Bathroom: Walnut Wash
Master Bedrom: Dauphin Gray & Threshold Gray

I AM DONE! Don't let me change my mind... because this needs to get decided. I hope James doesn't mind that I have so many colours because at first I could only pick 2! Haha! Oh well...

Last week I got a knew dining room set... I can't remember if I have already mentioned this. If so, I am sorry but I am going to explain it again. It's a dark red/brown oak table that is normally 72" in length but extends to 90". I know, that's huge! But it's my first real table and I am really excited about it. It came with 6 chairs and they have an expresso leather seat with a wood and leather back. They are so grown up looking. I wanted to set up the whole table in the basement but James would only set up 2 chairs. But the chairs look amazing!! I am so excited to have this set up in our house!!! I have looked everywhere for a good deal on a dining room set but they were all so expensive and I could not justify spending $3000. But then James found this great set at Costco for so much cheaper (and just as nice) so I jumped on it and bought it. Ill post a picture later when it's all set up.

McCullough Family Blog

This blog thing has really taken off, my family-in-law now have a blog. We use it to chat back and forth since we are spread out all over Saskatchewan and Manitoba. James, who made fun of me for having a blog, is now busy downstairs blogging away. I think he is happy to be able to make some posts and comments that make fun of his siblings typos. (I hope he never reads mine...I will never hear the end of it!) I can't wait for him to make a typo and then I will jump all over it!

The house didn't come along very far today. I am starting to get very frustrated with the building process. For those of you that don't know, we were suppose to have the house on Sept. 1. On that date we would take over and do the rest of the work (painting, trim, floors, base, etc.) ourselves, since James is a contractor. But it is now Oct. 13 and we still don't have the house. Like the pictures show we are only at the drywall stage, which means it could be another 2 weeks. My parents are coming from the USA (they haven't been here in 2.5 years!!) to see the house, but I don't think it will be even close to being ready.

Have a good night! Thought I would post a little something for you all to read! Good night!

Before my life is over.....

Lately I have been thinking about what I would like to do before I do: where do I still need to travel, what do I still need to participate in, who I still need to meet. It's amazing how quickly life can pass you bye, and you will open your eyes 45 years down the road and think, what I have I done with my life. I want my life to be productive and exciting, but most important I don't want to loose sight of the truely important parts of life like God, family, friends and lasting memories.

Here are somethings that I would still like to do in my life:

• Go on a family vacation with my family or James' family: Family vacations are extremely important and for those families who have not had one in a while you are missing out. Family vacations are different when you are older than when your family was younger because you become friends as you grow up.
• Attend an Oprah show taping: Doesn't matter what show (maybe Oprah's Favorite Things show if I could...). I would just love to meet this very influencial woman and see what she is like in person
• Have thanksgiving with my family: I miss the days of sitting around the table and talking with my family about what I am thankful for. I love my family!
• Have a child: I am at the point in my life where I am beginning to think about becoming a parent. I would like to see this dream accomplished in the next year and a half too.
• Have a Successful Career: Like most people starting out I hope my career takes off and that I enjoy what I am doing. Money is always good, but my main goal is to enjoy going to work and love going to work and not feel like I have too. That's why I am excited about becoming a Real estate agent.
• Lead a study for teenage girls on the importance of purity and honesty: For those of you who know my life story and the paths I took when I was a teenager you would know why I feel strongly about this topic. My desire is to teach young girls about purity and ask the hard questions and search together for the answers that God has provided. This is not always a subect that parents feel comfortable talking to their girls about and girls do not feel comfortable discussing this with their parents. That's why I also want to......
• Lead a study/session for parents on discussing purity and honesty with their daughter: This is also a dream that I have of mine. I would love to share my story with other parents. This would allow parents to see they are not alone in their concerns. Looking back on my highschool years there are things I wish my parents did differently, but I am also thankful for many things my did do out of love. I would love to share these things with parents to help give my support and share with them things that changed my life.

I hope that I am able to accomplish many of those things. I know that I will keep working towards these things until they are all accomplished.

Our Home Sweet Home! (Or Soon-to-be)

Here is some details on the pictures:
Picture 1) The Outside of our house

Picture 2) Master Bedroom (with doors leading to the walkin closet and Ensuite bath)

Picture 3) 2nd Bedroom (Same as the 3rd bedroom, so I only took 1 pic)

Picture 4) Hallway (With 2nd bedroom at the end, linen closet 1st door on the left and bathroom is the 2nd door on the left. The 3rd bedroom and laundry area (not pictured) are across from the bathroom)

Picture 5) Living Room and stairs leading to main entrance on lower level

Picture 6) Looking from the LV Room into the Kitchen/Dining area. Notice the Liche on the wall for my new TV?

Picture 7) James and Sammy working in the Dining area which is front of the kitchen

Was going to have pics... but have no cord!

I was going to post all these really nice pictures of our house today on the blog. So I brought the camera but FORGOT THE CORD! DANG IT! So now I am showing everyone my house on this itty bitty 1 inch screen on my camera, trying to explain to them how the living room and kitchen look... When I go home for lunch I will grab the cord and update some pictures this afternoon.

I had all these wonderful ideas about what I was going to blog about today. But then when I sat down here my mind went blank. I am sure my ideas were whitty and nutty, and since I am at times a very absent minded person you will never know what those wonderful thoughts were.

Oprah was so good yesterday. Oprah and here friend Gayle went on a Road trip and the show was called, "Oprah and Gayles Big Adventure!" I would love to have camera following me around during a roadtrip. You could see how Baby Lexis does not sit down for 1 minute and even went 22 hours straight standing up. She has to see the on coming traffic and when you are on a single lane highway she will chase the car as it passes. Cute at first, but annoying after a while.

Well, since this blog is going nowhere and I am still mad at myself for forgetting the cord, I am going to end this blog NOW! I will post the pictures later on this afternoon.

Thanksgiving Weekend is OVER!

Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone, one that put Regina on the map! After 2 concerts by The Rolling Stones the city of Regina might start to calm down. I wonder if the Stones were treated to a turkey dinner with all the fixings?

My thanksgiving weekend was very uneventful. You can't get into to much trouble in Moose Jaw with your dad's relatives. The dinner was good, the usual meal (minus the cranberries) and I did make it back to Regina in time to catch Desperate Housewives, our regular Sunday night show. (I know, many people think it's garbage, but I am still addicted) On the way back to the city we saw the fireworks go off at Taylor field, indicating the start of the 2nd concert.

Yesterday James and Garn built a fense, to keep our little monkeys in the backyard. Lex & Lib were not sure what they thought of the fense at first, especially since for the past 2 months they had free roam of all the backyards on our block, but they seemed okay being confined to the two yards. Since we live side by side with my grandparents, we decided to only put a fense on the 2 far sides of our yards, leaving the feeling of one large yards. This way the dogs can have more room to play and run.

This week we hope to lay the sod in the back (and maybe the front) yards. I thought it was too cold but James assures me that it is fine. We do not want to be washing Lexis' feet everytime she comes inside the house! What a pain that would be. Other news on our house, it will be finished being drywalled today and start being taped tomorrow. That means paint within the next 2 weeks and then we can watch our house fly!

I spent Saturday looking for a new kitchen table. I want to buy my first REAL kitchen table (a wood one that seats 6-8 and has a leif!!). I like the big square ones but James is not too sure what he think so we will keep looking. There is a nice on at costco but it comes in a box (like they all do) so it's not set up for me to see. But it's a very good price!

I will get back to work here, I was just handed a listing to process, duty calls!