Queen of Procrastination!

I know I should be studying or atleast reviewing my material for my makeup exam on Monday. For those of you who don't know, I didn't pass my real estate exam by 4.5%. I got a 65.5% and I needed a 70%. It was kind of disappointing but I knew going into it that I did not put as much effort into it as I could have. Many people don't pass the first time, or so I am told by people in my office, so I am not the only one out there. But it still sucks.

Every day I tell myself that I will study for 2 hours in the afternoon, but somehow the afternoon comes to an end and my books are still sitting closed on my desk beside me. I always can find other things to fill my time, like people.com, other blogs and websites, or just sitting there talking to co-workers. Studying or reviewing stuff is not what I like to do. But I have to do it!

So that is what I am going to do. I am going to stop typing and start studying! Later!

Back to my Southern roots (haha)

Orlando

Pearl Island, Nassau (Day 2)

You guessed it! We are traveling again and I am so excited!!!

Yesterday James came home from work and expressed his interest in going somewhere warm for a winter vacation. And I am not to agrue with a man who wants to go somewhere warm!!! So thanks to Airmiles, Westjet seat sale and Carnival Cruise line... we are going to.....

ORLANDO AND THE BAHAMAS!!!!

Feb. 19-Mar 2

We had enough airmiles for 1 person to go to Orlando for free and we found an amazing seat sale on Westjet, so we booked right away. We checked around the internet and carnival cruiseline had a last minute special on some of their cruises, one leaving for Port Canaveral which is only 45 minutes from Orlando. And the price for a 4 day cruise is only $249/person! Amazing! I know! Cheaper than the airplane ticket we had to get!

It will be so nice because for the first 6 days we get to stay with my grandparents at their house (which is in a community that has their own pool, golf course, the works) and then the last 5 days we will spend cruising the ocean and laying in the Carribean sand. My grandpa has a list of stuff he needs James to do while we are down there, so we will help him out since we can stay at their house for free. We went to their place for Christmas '04 and had an amazing time. In their "village" everyone drives around on golf carts and they are all over the age of 60. SO CUTE! But their place is great and has everything anyone could ever ask for.

As for the cruise, we chose the cheapest room available (no window, 2 beds) but picked the option of the free upgrade if another room is available. In all honesty I don't plan on being in the room too often. You can eat all the food you want, go to any show you want, or just wander around the MASSIVE boat. The only thing you have to pay for is the alcohol and any merchandise, and we have already pre-paid our "tips" for the servers. You can have room service anytime for free, so James plans ordering cheesecake at 3 am!

We deport at 4:00 pm on Feb 25, and set sail to the Bahamas. We stop in FreePort, Bahamas on our 1st full day on the cruise. There are some excursions you can pay to go on but I think our first day we will just lay in the sun on the white beach. The second full day we are at a place called Nassau, another carribean island. That day I am going to book a snorkeling adventure for James and I. The third full day is our Fun Day At Sea so most likely I will be found at the pool or on the deck (or maybe eating because all the food is FREE!!!). We then get back to Port Canaveral on the morning of March 1. Short but SWEET!

I love speratic trips! 2 weeks in the sun!

Thanks Deb for giving us all the "cruising tips". We ended up booking with Carnival, so I will let you know how that cruiseline is... You got us to excited that there was no way we were not going to book after talking to you!

I Love Regina! (Haha)

Hi Everyone!

I am still alive, althought I have a sore throat and my voice is a little bit scratchy. This past week has been long. It feel like forever ago it was Monday. The sad thing is I didn't even do anything fun or exciting. My evening have consisted of a lot of TV watching and lazing around. James and I have been taking Lexis for a run (she runs, we watch) in the field across from our house most evenings. She is so cute when she chases the rabbits. She chases them for a couple of minutes and then gets bored and sniffs something else. She gets a good 20 minutes of running around and then we head back home. Hard to believe that in the middle of the city we have an open field filled with about 50 rabbits.

Another exciting thing is how warm it has been in the queen city! I don't ever remember a time when in the 3rd month of January it reached +8! How awesome is that? James and I went to Wendy's for a quick dinner last night and there was this guy driving a convertable with the top down! I just can't believe it! Today is a little bit chillier, but at -10 I am not complaining at all. In fact, it is amazing!

I am really looking forward to the growth of our province of the next couple of years. Many people are obsessed with Alberta and BC, and yes, I was one of those people a couple of years ago. In fact, I always told my friends that I could not wait to get out of this city, let alone province. But I must admit, Regina is starting to grow on me. The city has been great to James and I. There are not many cities where 22 year olds could own a house, let alone build a brand new one. Saskatchewan has a promising future, and I am glad that James and I will be around to see what that future brings. The talks of population growth and city expansion gets James and I very excited, especially since our career choices are directly affected by city expansion and population growth. It will be sad in a way because I think our city with a small town feel (Regina) will be changed and we might be looking at becoming more of what Calgary is to Alberta. But change is good and I know more people are realizing what great things Regina and Saskatchewan have to offer.

Have a good weekend!

Movie Reviews

On the weekend James and I went to see Freedom Writers, Hilary Swanks (sp?) new movie. It was amazing! I loved every minute of it. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it is about a first year teacher in 1992 who goes to teach at a school where they have an integrated system (bringing poor students from low income neighbourhoods to other schools out of their district). In L.A. (in 1992) the gangs had reached record high numbers and Freedom Writers deals with a teacher trying to break through to these gang students to gain their trust. It was an amazing storey, especially because it is a true storey. It is a MUST SEE! (Rated PG)

Another good movie is The Pursuit of Happyness, with Will Smith. Love the movie! Just a little tid-bit of information for you, in the last scene of the movie where Will and his son Jayden are walking down the street and a man in a suit passes them on the street, well that is the real life Chris Gardner (who Will Smith is playing).

There you go, there is 2 movies for you all to see.

I got that "itch" again...

I dream about them and see them every where... what you ask?? PUPPIES and BABIES!!! I am having another round of what some people might call "the baby itch!" I think my problem is, like most mothers whos little baby have grown up and hit the toddler age, your little one is just too big now. That's my problem, Lexis (my dog, haha) is just growing up too fast. Now, I know I am probably not at the best point in my life to have a baby (just stating a new career, moved into a rather expensive house, etc) and that's why I would settle with a small dog. That way the dog doesn't grow up too fast and I get the baby stage LONGER! I have been longing and pining for a Mini Pinscher! Yup, the "King of the Toys" as some people refer to them. They only get to be a maximum of 10" and weight only 8 lbs when all grown up. How cute would that be? I have told James over and over again that Lexis needs a baby sister or else she will be like the spoiled only children in the world (sorry to those of you who are only children, I mean no offense!). They are currently in the paper now for $600, so if anyone would like to pick one up for me I would be very thankful.

As for the real baby itch, yes I do seem to have a bad case of it. James and I have been talking about when we would like to have a family and we both agree sooner rather than later. But with my job I really can't afford to have a baby in either the spring or summer, and it's probably not a good idea to have one in the fall either. Those are VERY busy months for Realtors. The best time would be November or December. So that means that I only have a small window of "opportunity" (to put it nicely) to get pregnant. Bring on the months of fun: February - April!!! (James would kill me if he saw that I wrote that on my blog!!!) But yes, we would like to start a family soon. My goal has always been to be finished having kids by the time I am 30, and that means I only have 8 years left to pop out 4 kids. Oh my goodness, I am not sure I am going to make my goal I have had since I was about 12 years old! I think I have some work to do...

Well, now that you guys all think I am crazy and you are all red in the face from reading this entry I better get back to work here.

One amazing performance

David Copperfield did it again! He was........................ AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even begin to explain the illusions and tricks he performed last night because every time I do it hurts my head and I just get all flustered. The night included: 15 audience members (random people catching frisbees thrown into the audience) disappearing on stage and ending up in the 2nd balcony within 2 seconds, a car appearing in thin air, before the show guessing lottery numbers random people would guess during the show, sending an audience member to Austrailia (YES, EVEN I HAD A HARD TIME BELIEVING THIS ONE!!) and card & animal tricks. I just can't get over his ability!!!! James and I walked out of the show shaking our heads and talking non-stop about what we just saw... I am still in awe! The best $75 I have EVER spent :)

Family Pictures!

Hope you enjoy the new family pictures we got taken at Christmas time!

David Copperfield

Tonight is going to be a VERY fun night! James and I are going out for dinner (I hope) and then we are going to David Copperfield, the illusionist! How fun is that? I have been looking forward to this performance for sometime now, as I bought the tickets back in November! My mom was a little worried that I was going to an "illusionist" because she thought he was evil. I told her not to worry because he is not evil, he admits that he is only playing "eye tricks" and there is no majic involved. It is kind of scary when you think about how your eyes can play tricks on you. Did you know that he made the Effiel Tower "disappear"? How cool is that??

Speaking of "cool", today is FREEZING cold! Without the windchill -29 C and with the windchill -41 C! Needless to say James is not working today... but that is okay, he can catch up in some paperwork and do his GST remittance, and probably play with Lexis. I want a snow day!!!

I write my Real Estate Course 1 exam next Monday evening so I have been studying hard with that all week. I hope that I do okay, I am sure I will. But I should get back to studying here... later!

New Year's Resolution

My New Year's Resolution is to cook/bake more often! For those of you who know me well know that I hardly ever cook. It is not that I hate cooking, infact I quite enjoy eating great meals. I just am REALLY lazy! So I have been doing really well on my New Year's Resolution! James and I have decided that we are going to bake something most nights. And it just dawned on me that I am going to gain so much weight if we actually do that! So far we have ventured into making home-made cinnimon buns and this frozen creamcheese/coolwhip cake. Tonight we will be eating that lovely cake with some great fresh berries! Tonight I think we will bake cookies, I am definetly craving some chocolate chip/oatmeal cookies.

Here is the EASY recipe for the frozen cake:

Mix 2 cups of chocolate cookie crumbs with 1/4 cup of melted butter and press into the bottom of a 9" square cake pan.

In a bowl (or Kitchenaid :) ) whip 2 - 250 g cream cheese squares until creamy
Add 1 tub of coolwhip
Add 1 can of thawed concentrated fruit juice
Mix together till it is not clumpy or lumpy
Spoon over cookie crumb base
Freeze for a couple hours
Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving
Serve with fresh berries and chocolate sauce

ENJOY!

House Trinkets!

I could not decide what to put on my display ledge... than we were shopping at Ross Dress For Less (My FAVORITE American Store) and we found this African Wicker Vase for $9.00! When we brought it home it turned out awesome on the ledge. I am still deciding if I should put up my other 2 items or if the vase is fine on it's own....

This is a picture of the new area rug that I bought for Christmas. You can not really tell but it has the burgandy that matches the wall and green that matches the curtains... Once again, I think it looks just dandy!

My Sister and I

Kristi and I decided that we needed to take some practise pictures before our family picture... I think we looked okay!

Back to work...

I am back!!! Today is my first day back at work after 2 weeks of glorious holidays! We had a great time in the states with my family. We did plenty of relaxing, sleeping in, 2 NBA games, plus much more. The drive was long, 20 hours! But we made it back safe and sound.

Yesterday James and I both did not go to work. We bought some fun stuff with our Christmas money: Central Vac system, garborator, an area rug and other small things. The rug looks so good! I will take a picture and post it soon. We also cleaned the house. It is so hard to believe the amount of junk you bring home with you from a trip. We had so much garbage and stuff that it took a couple of hours to put the house back in order.

Not much else is new right now. January is always a slow month but that is okay because we definetly need some time to relax and sit back. That is one of our New Years resolutions, to take some time to relax and do nothing! Another New Years resolution of mine is to enjoy cooking more and cook more often. Tonight James and I are making cinnimon buns....

Well I better get back to work here since I have not been here for 2 weeks. It seems like the got by with me gone and the office didn't fall apart but it was sure messy when I came in this morning.