New Blog!

The reason for no new posts on this blog?

My ultra super secret awesome other blog!

I've finally had the big reveal, so you can find out everything that's going on with me at...

http://journey-2-you.blogspot.com

Check it out!

This one's for you, Carmella

So, the Man and I are moving to Stony Mountain. Well, Rockwood actually, but close enough. We searched high and low all throughout Altona, found some great houses that we'd have loved to buy, but lo and behold.

Apparently you are supposed to put a downpayment on a house before you buy it.

Who knew?

So, we concluded that in order to live greater one day, we're going to have to live poorer right now. That means maybe not having all of the amenities we'd love to have, maybe not having the most beautiful furniture on the market right now, and maybe just sticking it out for a while to save up some dough for the future.

We researched apartment buildings in Winnipeg here, that have a lower rent than we are expected to pay if we stay with our current apartment ($1000 a month, are you kidding me??) But nothing seemed to catch our eye. Just when we thought all hope was lost, an offer came from an unexpected source.

The man's mother, or, I suppose, my Mother-in-Law, offered to completely finish her entire basement into a two bedroom apartment, with a kitchenette and bathroom, seperate entrance and garage parking, access to an enormous farmyard at all times, for us. FOR FREE! No rent, no utilities, no parking costs, heck. No cable or internet costs either!

Imagine how much we'll save!

So the plan? Our lease is up on June 1st, and then we're making our trek out of the city! We're going to save up for a while, see how much we can accumulate, and eventually buy something a little closer to the house-of-our-dreams, instead of a house-for-right-now. I can't wait!

Plus, just imagine... waking up in the morning, going for a walk down country roads, picking fresh raspberries from the garden, lounging in a hammock in the shade of the oaks...

Can't wait for country living again!

Look out, 2010!

So, as a response to popular demand (yes, all two of my fans are begging for more!) I've decided to post again. I've been a bit distracted by the convenience of Facebook for all of my updating needs, but no longer! Let the creative juices flow once again!

Let's talk about New Years Resolutions, shall we? Who on earth invented these things, that's what I want to know. What makes aspirations so much more achievable if they are made at the beginning of the year? Its more intimidating to me than anything else. "I can't eat chocolate for HOW LONG?" This ain't no lent we're talking about here. This is a 365 day challenge. Who does that?

I do. Apparently. Though, I'm not defining them the same way I do every year. This time, they are going to be a bit more generalized, and a bit more attainable. That way, every time one of them is coming to fruition, I can feel that much more accomplished, and that much more motivated in the future.

So here are a few of my goals for 2010. The year of progress, we'll call it.

1. Make a name for myself as an artist.
--------- Now that one's going to take some actual effort. Sure, I love to paint. But do I ever make time for myself to do it? Absolutely not, I don't. I need to develop some kind of business plan, and market myself a bit better. Also, find a way to develop an impressive portfolio of independent, non-commission pieces to represent who I am and what I do.

2. Figure out who I am and what I do.
---------- This one goes nicely with that one, doesn't it? Now, this isn't to say that I don't know who I am. I know the fundamental aspects of myself; animal, human, female, Mennonite, Christian, Canadian, age 20. I know what I am interested in, and what I am absolutely not interested in. But, for instance, what genre of painting do I prefer, or medium for that matter? Do I play any instruments anymore? Am I a sushi person? Let's find out.

3. Have 5 adventures.
----------- This one I stole from somebody I know, but that is because it is an excellent idea. And I'm not talking, try out a new restaurant down the street. I'm talking, travel to somewhere exotic, do something outrageous and new, find more worthwhile things to capture on film. I don't want my children looking back over my life and saying "Wow, mum. You really didn't do much didja."

4. Get in shape.
----------- Okay. I know what you're thinking. But don't, I can do this! And you can too! What I need to do is develop some kind of non-intimidating plan to slowly work my way to a place where I can consistently start to lose a little weight, and get to a place where I'm not afraid to look at myself in the mirror after a shower anymore. And getting in shape doesn't have to be a battle, it can be fun! Maybe I'll try out a yoga class - yikes! Or take up dancing! Whatever it is, it had better be fun! (or I just won't do it!)

5. Stop worrying about 5 years from now.
----------- Yes, a little bit of future planning is responsible, but I'm so worried about what's coming up, that most of the time I end up missing what's happening right now! I need to slow down, and appreciate each morning, afternoon, evening, and night of every day before I worry about each week, month, and year of my life. It will make the future that much brighter.

6. Show the people I love that I love them.
----------- Everybody could use a little bit more appreciation, I think. A lot of people are responsible for my awesome life, and I finally need to give credit where credit is due. If someone makes me smile, I should go out of my way to return the favour, however much effort it takes. Because, though this may sound like a selfless goal, in reality, it's a pretty selfish one. Nothing compares to the feelings I get when I do something nice for someone else!


So that's what I'm going to start with! And we're going to see how far I get! Even if I take a chip out of every one of these I'll be satisfied, because I'll be getting that forward motion I so desperately long for in life. I often feel as though I constantly need to be moving forward, making progress, a train that yearns to be choo-choo-chooing along. And, this way, I can find that in a small, productive way.

So bring it on, 2010! I'ma kick your ass!

Christmas-izing Part 2

So our dining room space got a face-lift too, so it could coordinate with the theme. It was pretty basic. One might think "What can you really do with a table and four chairs?" Be creative!

I replaced the green placemats with soft brown bamboo ones, replaced the multicoloured patterned fabric napkins with white embroidered ones, wrapped them in branch napkin rings, and set them on silver plates.

I placed a shimmery blue table runner down the center of the table, and made a simple winter center piece using a small glass vase from Dollarama, and some pearly and crystally branches from Michaels. I filled the base with pine cones and it was complete!


So altogether it looks great, and goes perfectly with the rest of the apartment. Isn't Christmas decorating fun?

Christmas-izing

So, I'd like to start by saying "Yes, yes. I'm going to get to the wedding. I'm still coming down off the wedding mountain, but there will be an entry about it!"

But, I figured in the meantime I would blog about the Christmas decor in our apartment. I completely redid everything from the rugs to the drapes, in order to fully capture the mood I was trying to convey.

Our wedding had a Winter Wonderland theme, so I figured I'd follow that lead and try and decorate the apartment in the same sort of style.


So there were a few easy changes that transformed my space into a winter wonderland!

1. I found new sequined pillows in silver, charcoal, and white.

2. I replaced the Papasan cushion with a white one instead of a green one.

3. I bought new gray drapes to replace the red ones.


4. I bought a new blue rug to go in place of the multicoloured one.

5. The hand carved basket in the centre used to contain apples, but now contains pine cones.


6. The three frames on the wall are so great because you can interchange what they hold to match your season! They used to have different scrapbook papers in them but I took the panes out, wrapped them in basic Christmas wrapping paper, and they were transformed!


7. I did the same thing with the panels in the media unit in the corner, which used to have green fabric in them.
8. The jars on top of the TV unit contain candies in the right colours.


9. I wrapped some empty boxes I had lying around the apartment in the coordinating wrapping paper, and set them under the tree.


And voila! A magical wintery-but-warm Christmas atmosphere! And you are welcome to visit anytime!

Stellar Stagette

I've just had the bachelorette party to top all bachelorette parties, thanks to my beautiful, wonderful Maid-of-Honour of dreams.

I had no idea what was coming, either. I was simply told to bring:
"A cocktail dress, something to party hard in, a bathing suit, and overnight things."

So, at that point I was pretty bewildered, to say the least. I wasn't expecting anything so elaborate, I feel like I got five bachelorette parties in one! Here's how it started...

The Man picked me up from work as I tried to get information out of him, which he absolutely did not surrender. He drove me to some obscure gas station where I was picked up by my Maid-of-Honour and a friend. I threw my things in the back of their car and away we went! In the backseat I was handed a fuzzy pink crown that said "Princess" and told I could not take it off once the entire evening.

We pulled up at the Greenwood Inn and checked in. (A hotel! Omy!) We took the elevator up to the fourth floor and into room 443, a cute room with a mini fridge and the most comfortable blankets ever, despite their initial lumpy appearance. Twenty minutes later my two cousins showed up with their bags, ready to party. Then all of us girls got into our cocktail dresses (which all turned out to be black, by the way) and traded shoes until we'd all found the right combination. Then, we all put on bright pink sashes. Mine said "Bride-To-Be" on it, the rest said "Princess" but they turned them backward so you couldn't see, and instead stuck little gold stars to their sashes, and wrote assorted funny things of their choosing on them. Some of these things were: Laid of Honour, The Groom's Mistress, The Bride's Lover, etc. We also all got buttons that said "Bride-to-Be" and "Bridal Party Official Member" which was a lot of fun. The girls got to wear crowns too! But theirs were miniature, and were quite a lot of trouble to get to sit properly on their heads. But a few bobby pins later, we were all bachelorette-party royalty.

We headed downstairs for a fantastic dinner in the hotel restaurant, where we were served by someone who, unfortunately, was gender indistinct. Upon further inspection, we found out her name was Ruby, which is not a unisex name. I sipped at my bright pink cosmopolitan as my good friend from work showed up for the dinner. We had an excellent time chatting, and discussing funny marital woes. Then it was back up to the room for some games!

It turns out that while my MOH and a friend were up in the hotel room "getting something" they had actually been decorating, so when I got back to the room there was a big metallic silver banner over the door that said "BACHELORETTE PARTY!" I got into the room and was welcomed by another banner, and a very large poster of a naked man on the wall. Though, the important bits were covered by a red and white target. We then proceeded to drink Pina Coladas and, as stated on the poster, "Pin the Macho on the Man." Basically, someone would be blindfolded, and then reach into a bucket and pull out a, well, a significant part of the male anatomy. Each one of these, um, parts, was different. Had a different joke written on it, was camouflaged, looked like a Dr. Seuss design, etc. Then, that person would be spun around, and then would try to pin the part on the correct area of the male anatomy. We played three rounds, with one tie-breaker. I ended up winning YAY! The prize was that I got to pick one of the assorted game pieces to wear on my sash. I chose the smallest most inconspicuous one, naturally.

After the game was present time, and the entire party crew got together on one bed with the presents in the middle. All three presents turned out to be lingerie, and one of the stipulations of recieving these gifts was that I had to try them on and model them for the party. Needless to say there were a few pieces I was hesitant to wear in front of such a large group. But, pressured as I was, I did as they asked. (Now here's hoping those pictures don't end up on facebook...)

Next, we all got into our bathing suits and headed down to the hot tub, slightly spiked cokes in hand. We soaked for a little while, and chatted about how much our men loved our belly rolls, and how a woman is supposed to have a little mean on her, and before we knew it, we had to rush back to the room and get ready for the next big event.

We made it up, and changed into our "Going Out" attire, looking sexy as ever. We reapplied our makeup, and restraightened our hair. Retraded our shoes. Then we headed downstairs to our mode of transportation which turned out to be... *drumroll* a WHITE LIMO! I squealed in delight when I saw it, having never even set foot in a limousine before. When I got inside, I could not believe how amazing it was. Ultraviolet lights shone all around, with a lit-up mini bar and something that looked like a sparkling runway of lights across the cieling. We turned the music up loud as we cruised down the streets like celebrities. Then, we arrived at the next location.

We pull up at some completely obscure spot, on some unrecognizable street. We walk a little way until we get to a building with no obvious signs or purpose. We get inside and climb a few flights of stairs until we get to a level where there are asian posters everywhere, and this room full of video game and star wars memorobilia, where my MOH is now talking with an asian guy across a glass counter. She is asking for "The Red Room." I am absolutely and completely bewildered now. The man hands her a remote control with the most buttons I've ever seen and we walk down a hallway into this little adorable room. We get inside and there are asian posters all over the walls, with this gigantic screen on one side of the room, and this booth and table on the other side of the room. There are fancy star lights dancing all over in rainbow colours and then I see it. the big black machine in front of the screen with the microphones dangling from its sides. That's right, folks. Our very own KARAOKE ROOM! We eventually get the system going, after a few arguments with the asian employee over whether or not the lyrics are in another language (they are.) We finally get them displayed in english and it's go time! We sang our hearts out, screamed our hearts out, and danced the night away together. I've never laughed so hard in my life! It was such a blast! We were so loud, making up our own lyrics to songs, trying to imitate the dancers on the screen! One of the party guests apparently filmed a great deal of it. Which I never want to see. Ever.

After karaoke, we headed back down to the limo. The temperature outside wasnt actually that chilly, surprisingly. We cruised in the limo to a great club called "Stereo" and had VIP passes, so we cruised past the freezing cold line into the club, adorning our pink sashes and crowns. I got in and was immediately bought a drink. The club was a blast, I ran into some old high school friends, got hugged by at least 4 strangers in congratulations over my imminent marriage, and enjoyed the night scene. Flashing lights, blaring music, and just a lot of people having a great time. At a certain point I got fed up with my crown, and one of the girls said she would only wear it if I got up in the booty box.

Definition - Booty Box: a raised pedestal surrounded by railings in which one showcases their dance moves for all the dance floor to see.

Needless to say, I got up in the booty box. My entire party joined me and we rocked out. While we were up there the DJ said "Big shout out to Holly, she's acting like a real animal tonight. She's having her bachelorette party, congratulations on your upcoming marriage!" And we all cheered and raised our arms in the air. We danced until 2am, when the club had to close!

We took the limo back to the hotel and almost immediately crashed into bed.

In the morning we all begrudgingly got up and whiped the second-day-makeup from our eyes. After a few tylenols and a lot of water, we headed over to Perkins for some much needed breakfast. Mmm, french toast...

I feel so lucky to have such incredible friends. I only hope if they ever need me, I can far exceed their tremendous gifts they gave me last night! I guess now all that's left is to get married...

13 days folks!

The Bomb

The red wire or the blue wire?
Which cord shall cutters score?
The smallest fault would shake the bomb
Down to its very core.

Senses pause in heightened state,
And time seems slowly drawn.
So delicate in nature,
The bomb ticks steadily on.

At times, it seems so dormant,
Harmless and serene.
Other times you’d hold your breath
So to not stir the machine.

And when it blows, it annihilates,
Flattens and disintegrates.
Laying waste for miles around
To everything it hates.

So sensitive the bomb remains.
Would you risk a passing glance?
Knowing every second is
A deadly game of chance?

It is the worst of any kind,
If it were yours, you’d feel the same.
But one man’s burden be this bomb,
And “woman” be its name.