Life is Sweet: Apr 22, 2011

Apr 22, 2011

How well do you know me?????

Saw this and love the interesting questions...

1. When do you feel happiest? When I'm with people I can truly be myself with.....when I feel safe and secure in my life.....when I feel loved.....when I'm relaxed and creating...whether that be art, journaling....a blog post...when I'm outside in the sunshine...

2. How do you take care of yourself? I surround myself with people who believe in me and care about me. I make sure to take time for myself - whether that be by soaking in the bath, creating art, tanning, or sitting in a coffee shop with my journal...I take my meds regularly, don't miss meals, take garlic capsules regularly.

3. Are you internally (by yourself) or externally (by others) motivated? I am motivated by others a lot...probably more so than by myself - but can motivate myself when I really want to do something. I am a hopeless procrastinator though and tend to leave things until the last minute and work to a deadline better.

4. What do you do for fun? Pub quiz on Thursday nights with Samantha is always so much fun!! The piano duelling at the bar was also really good fun! The yorkshire pudding cook-off we're planning will be a lot of fun :) Flirting with Nigel on facebook is fun :) Going out with the kids to places like Katies Crossing, roller skating, swimming, even hiking up a mountain - is great fun!! :) Breakfast with Val is always fun!! Time with Christie and Sid is always CRAZY fun!!! Getting covered in paint and modpodge while I work on a canvas is good fun too :)

5. What intimidates you? Not much....I can't think of anything right now...a lot used to...but nothing much any more....

6. What is something you're proud of? I am VERY proud of my children - all of them are such amazing young people - each with their own special personality :) I am proud of my artwork and how it is developing! I am so VERY proud of my home and how I turned it from an empty shell 6 years ago into a LOVELY country home filled with personal mementoes and special pieces that mean so much to me.

7. Finish this sentence. I never.... stay down for long....I'm very grateful that I have the positive and optimistic personality that I have - because no matter what I go through and what I have to deal with, I never stay down for long :)

8. Favorite vacation spot? Canmore!!! Yes of course I love Florida and New York and I'm sure I will love Hawaii and Vegas when I go....but my heart is in Canmore and I will always return and I know that as soon as I arrive there I feel lighter and more myself and like I 'belong'.....

9. Today is a (rate from 1 - 10) probably a 7. It was a lovely day. The sun was shining, the children were happy. We had lovely foods, time to relax and a trip out...Susie has a friend sleeping over and I relaxed in the bath....so all in all a lovely day!!

10. Finish this sentence. If you knew me really well you'd know who Mr TDH is......you'd know when Nigel is arriving and how long he's staying and you probably know how I feel about that......you'd know what is on my list of 40 before 40......you'd know who Amber is and why she's sooooo special to me (and I mean HUMAN Amber lol - not my gorgeous dog who we lost last year sadly)......and if you knew me well you'd also know why I'm finding it so hard to figure out this new relationship with Mr TDH......

First visit of the year to Katies Crossing.....

Laurence drove us out to Katies Crossing and we had hoped to have ice creams, but they don't sell ice cream until after May Long Weekend!!!! Wahhh! Good job I bought ice cream for at home so Sam was happy :) We ended up having supper there instead and then had a walk around and played for a while as we always do!! :) It's always a great place for a photo opportunity!! :)

Easter treats...

Yummy chocolate Easter nests :)

Easter story...and bubbles on the deck...

After brunch we all relaxed on the deck for a while - I read Sam and Abby a book all about Easter traditions in different cultures - and the history behind them....and then they played bubbles for a while. Laurence and I threw the ball for Rosie..Sam dug a snow fort for a while in what is left of the snow in the back yard....

Good Friday Brunch...

We had hot cross buns, coffee, juice, chips and cadburys creme egg cakes out on the deck this morning. It was a lovely sunny day - in fact the cakes started to melt a bit!!

The Hot Cross Buns were yummy :)

As you can see, my extremely tasteful salt and pepper set were there to give the table an extra Easter/ Springtime feel :)

Friday Five....

1. What is your favorite Easter tradition? Two traditions that we have...one is to have Easter brunch outside on the deck - laying the table all nicely and making a real effort with croissants and jam, juice, hot cross buns, eggs and toast, coffee or whatever we feel like....The other tradition is that we have a big egg hunt - well two really - the first one is first thing in the morning when they get to hunt for their main BIG egg...this is hidden in the house somewhere and they have to find it, but we've always been good at hiding the older kids eggs REALLY well :) In the afternoon we also have another egg hunt to hunt for hundreds of little eggs - we try to have this outside and because we have 16 acres here, we are able to hide the eggs in the woods, through the long grass in the back fields, all around the front yard....The children rush off with their baskets or bags and fill them with the eggs they find :)

2. Are you a "shower" or a "long, hot bath" kind of person? I LOVE long hot bubble baths and if I have a magazine, a nice drink and can top the hot water up, I will stay in there de-stressing and relaxing for HOURS :) I also like long showers...and often daydream to the point I have no idea how long I've been in the shower - good job I'm not on a water meter...and sorry but no I'm not very good at saving water....

3. Can you parallel park and if so when is the last time you did it? I managed it in order to pass my driving test in the UK, but don't think I've ever had to do it since....I park anywhere BUT somewhere I have to parallel park!!

4. What is your favorite Easter candy? Cadburys Creme Eggs.

5. Easter: do you go all out with the Easter Bunny or focus on the religious part of the holiday? Easter is one of my favourite holidays - I love that it symbolises Springtime and renewal...I love that it's a fun family holiday with plenty of events happening around the area, but that the children don't expect much more than a few chocolate eggs to hunt and maybe some eggs to paint!! There is no need to have to decorate over the top or spend endless money on toys and gifts....it's a holiday full of tradition and I think I have almost as many memories of Easter as a child as I do Christmas - maybe even more!

Being from England, we don't really 'do' the Easter Bunny....and as we are not a religious family, we don't particularly focus on that aspect either - although I do teach the story of Jesus and the Christian beliefs - just as I teach the Pagan ideas and other reasons behind holidays we celebrate. I try and make holidays as much fun as possible - and full of traditions that the children will hopefully grow up remembering and will want to pass on to their families - not all of them but some I hope....

Friday Fill-ins

And...here we go!

1. Pardon me, but this was your choice - didn't you think about the consequences???

2. The Prairie Gardens Coupon was SUCH a good deal.

3. I was surprised to find that I really like driving downtown and being able to get to all those places I used to have to get the LRT or get driven to. I love having my independence!!

4. Facebook is one of my favorite forms of entertainment.

5. Hi, my name is Jane Fernandez and I'm an artist.

6. I love hanging with my kids and listening to them play happily at the pool or lake or playground on summer afternoons.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to maybe seeing Samantha or watching a movie with the kids....maybe Tangled! Then chatting with Mr TDH for a while before bed, tomorrow my plans include Going to the Prairie Gardens to enjoy their Easter festivities with the discount coupon I got and am soooo pleased with :) Sunday, I want to enjoy an Easter brunch on the deck, hunt for our big eggs and also have an easter egg hunt for mini eggs inside, and take Rosie out for a lovely walk before having our big Easter dinner and Monday I want to head to the Zoo...and catch up with Mr TDH in case our weekends have been too busy to be in touch with each other....

Sunset tonight...

The sunset from our road as we drove home....

Train Crossing!!

After Chris's play I drove us to South Edmonton Common for us to get things we needed for our Easter Weekend. Laurence then drove us home form there along Ellerslie Road, and came upon his first train since driving :) I snapped these two pictures :)

Chris performs on stage.....

Chris was in a play tonight at his school, so we all went to watch him. It was called The Shirkers, and was a one act play. It was REALLY good - sad and quite similar to Romeo and Juliet in a way...but very good!!! Chris played a character called Dick Murray....he looked so grown up and tall and mature up there on the stage...he looked like a man...which of course he is....but still, it's hard to see.....and hard to face....I still think of him as my little boy....he did REALLY well though and I was very proud - even Sam sat in silence through the whole thing and enjoyed it :)

It was excellent :)

Brave girl :)

Yes, this is me.....driving in downtown Edmonton....in rush hour :)

Easy peasy :)

And I love it :) I love that I can drive anywhere now and I don't even think about it and don't even worry about it ever....I just go :) Sooo hard to believe that just 12 months ago I was such a different person!!!