We had company over the other day and I wanted to make beef kabobs for the BBQ. They are very simple to make not to mention filling and healthy. I wanted to marinate the beef to give it more flavor but I had never done it before. I didn’t find anything I liked online so I made my own! That’s very scary! (Especially those of you that know me!) It wasn’t anything fancy and I wasn’t even sure it would taste ok, sure didn’t smell like it. Here’s what I used with no measurements because I just eyeballed it.

Beef Marinade
Garlic salt
Onion salt
Ground pepper
Worcestershire sauce
Water

I tried a great bread while visiting Kelsey a few weeks ago that her mom had baked. It was Saffron and Raisin bread (she used blueberries instead of raisins which is what the recipe actually calls for). I got the recipe from her and was excited to try it, though the ingredients are very expensive!!! Saffron is the world’s most expensive spice!! I believe it!!!!!! I can use it again but still, the start up costs are a little sickening especially since I messed up the recipe. I have no idea what I did wrong but my guess is the flour. The original recipe calls for bread mix but I didn’t have that and wasn’t going to buy it. (Maybe I should have?) I supplemented using regular yeast and whole wheat flour. I wanted to share the recipe with you all anyways and hopefully someone will have better luck with it than me. It’s supposed to be light, fluffy and sweet – mine was dry, course, and bland.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms and moms-to-be! This Mother’s Day I would like to create an honorary post for my wonderful Mom! She is the most loving Mom and I’m happy to say that she is my Mom! I love you Mom and hope you like this letter and poem below (I didn’t write the poem).

Dear Mom,

I have no gifts or flowers for you this Mother’s Day just this little note. I want you to know the love and gratitude that I have for you and no money could buy that.  I want to thank you for giving me life and for supporting me in my life.

I’m not sure there’s a stronger bond than the one between a mother and her daughter. From the time I was just a little girl, I have always looked up to you.  You showed me strength and determination in all of the obstacles you were faced with. You never once showed me weakness, only your beautiful persistence to strive to succeed and overcome any hurdles.  When I became a teenager, I’m sure we had our moments but not for one second did I think you didn’t love me. I always knew you were there for me. I’m sorry for any grief I caused you then! You have always cared and provided for me, I didn’t need the latest fashion or newest toy – I just needed your love and acceptance. You are my inspiration and my strength to succeed in everything that I do.  Now that I’m an adult and venturing into new journeys of my own life, I feel like we are closer to being equals. I’m so happy to call you my friend, my mom.

Your love is a love that I want to share with my own children someday; I want them to feel the love and admiration that I feel from you. I want them to know that a Mother’s love is something so special, so precious and to never forget that they are loved, always and unconditionally. If I could be half as good of a mother as you are to me, I know they will be happy and feel loved. I want them to know your love also, you are such an amazing Nana to Cameron and Kingston – too bad they are so far away.  Your love for them is expressed in the way you talk about them, your urgency to see new pictures or videos and the smile that you have when you see them. I know how much you want to be here with them and watch them grow. You will be a great Nana to my children and I am looking forward to seeing your love for my babies.

You are my mother and you are my friend, you listen to my ramblings without judgment and you accept my mistakes. I love your smile and your warm embraces. Your happy and cheery personality is one that just rubs off onto me and it’s one trait that I do love about you. You are always there when I need you most; you laugh with me, you cry with me – you will always be my mother and I love you more than words can even express! I wish I was there with you today to give you a big hug for Mother’s Day but I’m not so this letter and Skype will have to do! Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

Love always,
Your little girl
xo

For all of the times you were by my side
to help me celebrate my successes
and accept my defeats?

Or for teaching me the value of hard work,
good judgement, courage, and honesty?

I wonder if I’ve ever thanked you for the simple things…
The laughter, smiles, and quiet times we’ve shared?

If I have forgotten to express my gratitude
For any of these things,
I am thanking you now….
and I am hoping that you’ve known all along,
how very much you are loved and appreciated.

My beautiful Mom and I on my wedding day!

I got inspired to create my own bucket list after reading my friend, Alison’s bucket list on her blog. A bucket list is a list (obviously) of items that I want to accomplish or experience within my lifetime. Some of mine are not that exciting but they mean a lot to me! Some of these I had to go to Google to get some inspiration but they are all things that I want to accomplish or already have. So let’s get started! (There in no particular order at all!)

1. Marry the love of my life
2. Travel to Europe
3. Build something out of wood and nails
4. Randomly help someone in need
5. Own a Russian nesting doll
6. Eat food from a different country
7. Try hot yoga
8. Travel to Paris
9. Hike the volcanoes in Hawaii
10. Try regular yoga
11. Visit the US
12. Take photos of newborns as a side job (need to get good enough with my SLR first!)
13. Become a godmother
14. Run a half marathon
15. Go to a jungle
16. Learn to meditate
17. Experience pregnancy
18. Ride bike again
19. Make my own ice cream cake (like DQ’s!)
20. Kiss in the rain (Evan of course)
21. Bake apple pie
22. Avoid sugar for a full month
23. Bake key lime pie (Evan’s request)
24. Visit my Aunt and Uncle in England
25. Go to Disneyland
26. Teach kindergarten
27. Become a teacher
28. Experience motherhood
29. Crochet a baby blanket
30. Go fishing
31. Go true mountain biking
32. Make a difference in someone’s life
33. Create an original recipe and eat it!
34. Go to Phantom of the Opera
35. Fly first class with Evan
36. Write a children’s book
37. Be a Maid of Honor (I guess Matron now, almost got to do it)
38. Make lemon meringue pie from scratch
39. Ride in a limo and see what the fuss is all about
40. Become experienced at skiing
41. Bake French bread
42. Grow our own herbs again
43. Go kayaking
44. Own our own sailboat
45. Get my Masters in Education
46. Learn to knit a blanket
47. Think positively for at least a full month
48. Be the guest of honor at a surprise birthday party
49. Beat Evan at the game of Risk
50. Make bread from scratch
51. Take dance lessons (with Evan preferably)
52. Pay off my student loan
53. Foster a dog (Miss you Jack!!)
54. Learn to make sourdough starter
55. Drive a standard
56. Decorate a nursery
57. Adopt a baby
58. Go sailing
59. Make a quilt
60. Re-watch the Wizard of Oz (see if I’m still scared)
61. Meet a country music star or just their performance
62. Create a blog
63. Spend a weekend away with just Evan
64. Learn to sew my own piece of clothing
65. Donate blood to the Red Cross
66. Read every Nicholas Sparks book
67. Become fluent in French
68. Repel from a cliff
69. See my niece again someday
70. Read all of Emily Giffin’s books (almost finished!)
71. Go on a zip-line
72. Go on an overnight backpacking trip
73. Scrapbook our wedding
74. Go rock climbing outside
75. Learn to sail
76. Have a picnic
77. Travel by seaplane
78. Experience pure bliss
79. Ride on a train
80. Do some sort of exercise for 20 minutes, every day, for a year.
81. Sell a photo that I took
82. Make my own candles
83. Enjoy a spa day with my friends
84. Learn to swim!
85. Experience the Northern Lights (the Aurora Borealis)
86. Skip dinner and only eat dessert
87. Taste cheese fondue
88. Enjoy a sauna
89. Go horseback riding
90. Spend a day with no computers, TV or phones!
91. Stop worrying about things that I cannot control
92. Learn to figure skate
93. Reach the top at the climbing gym
94. Go whale watching
95. Participate in a food fight
96. Help build a home for Habitat for Humanity
97. Watch Cirque de Soleil
98. Have my fortune read
99. Write down 5 things that I’m grateful for every day, for a year.
100. Throw someone a surprise party.

What’s your bucket list? Are there things that you would like to do before you leave this world?

One of the many reasons I love my husband, he’s so good to me. He knows how much I miss NL and one of my favourite restaurant’s Cora’s and decided to surprise me with this lovely breakfast!

Delicious cinnamon french toast smothered with fresh fruit!

I was in charge of dinner today and I wanted LOTS of veggies (slightly abnormal for me but I’m in a new frame of mind). We love eating sweet potatoes or yams whichever you want to call them though they are very different, we call both sweet potatoes. On my shopping trip to Wal Mart today I got lots of fresh fruits and veggies (sounds weird that I got ‘fresh’ produce at Wal Mart but I did and it’s cheap!) that I wanted to use during the week.

I wanted to grill the veggies on the BBQ with the ribs and make for an easy dinner and easy clean up!

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

1 sweet potato (scrubbed but keep the peel – lotsa fibre)
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Cut potatoes into slices (see picture). Place slices into boiling water and boil under you can put a fork through it but do not overcook. Toss sugar, cinnamon and butter over potatoes. Grill on your BBQ until grill marks form. Enjoy!

Foil packet veggies

1 carrot, cut into sticks
7-8 pieces of broccoli
1/4 red onion, thick slices
1 bell pepper, diced into large chucks
1 tsp fresh minced ginger root
1 tbsp olive oil

Place all ingredients on foil and double wrap. Toss on the grill until veggies are tender. (We didn’t cook them long enough today, much better when you do)

Now for the photos!

Last weekend I went to North Vancouver to visit my good friend Kelsey! She was on a quick stop from her work term in New Zealand headed back to Newfoundland. I was so happy to see her and meet her wonderful parents! We enjoyed Greek food for dinner thanks to Kelsey and her Mom’s wonderful cooking/preparing! After dinner, Kelsey and I went for a walk before heading back to her parents place to look at some of her photos from NZ. It was a great night and I’m so happy that I got to spend time with her and her parents! Stay tuned for a new recipe, very yummy bread that I got the recipe from Kelsey’s mom!

I've missed this girl!!!

On Friday, I spend the whole day with my other good friend Robyn and her adorable little Ellie! We chatted a whole bunch and I took lots of photos of sweet Ellie, she’s grown a lot since I’ve last seen her. Robyn also baked an emergency chocolate cake for dinner, seriously everyone should have an emergency chocolate cake recipe, right? Stay tunned for that one too!

Robyn had plans for lunch so I decided I would treat myself to Subway because I was craving their chocolate chip m & m’s cookies! To my surprise, they had none out in the tray so I turned around and decided to go to Safeway and make my OWN sandwich (which by the way I KNOW is better than Subways!) I decided to treat myself to a cinnamon scone from Cobs Bread (if you have not had one, you MUST try one – NOW!) Below you will see my healthy alternative to Subway sandwich with cookies and pop. Later that day we came up with the idea of having our other friends over to have a BBQ potluck dinner. It was great to see them all, weird not having Evan with me but I enjoyed myself. I made cheesy sourdough bread dip for an appetizer which the guys loved! Phil said it was like a Doritos dip. Robyn called my mom for her beet salad recipe (one I grew up on) and I made another childhood favourite pineapple and corn salad. These are both great for BBQs and cold plate dinners. I will include the recipes later.

My healthy alternative to Subway for lunch!

Robyn and her emergency chocolate cake

Me with beautiful little Eleanor

Beet Salad

Pineapple and Corn Salad

I wasn't happy with the quality of this photo because my ISO was too high but she's so cute in this photo!

Is it time for dessert yet?

Saturday I headed back to Victoria, and Evan and I enjoyed the afternoon going for a mountain bike ride. I LOVE my new bike! I will have to post a picture soon, it’s a beauty! That evening was date night! We made dinner together and watched Save the Last Dance (great movie by the way).

My NEW mountain bike!! LOVE it!

The past two weekends we have been very busy with company and it was great! The weather was absolutely beautiful and fully co-operated with us! The first weekend my father was visiting us from Newfoundland and it was so nice to spend time with him and show him our new home and city. We went on little walks through Goldstream Parkt to show him the huge trees here in BC, MUCH bigger than NL!! We took him downtown and he had some interesting memories in Inner Harbour where he got put on the spot during a busker’s show because he was videotaping him! haha it was priceless and amazing that he caught it all on video. Overall, it was so nice to spend quality time with my father. We had a great time cooking for him, well Evan cooked and I baked pie and banana bread!

This past weekend, our good friends from Saskatoon came to visit us. It was so nice to see them again! We haven’t seen them since they stood for us at our wedding in August. The boys had such a great time staying up real late and playing the Wii (Dr. Mario ALL night long, lol). They have been friends since high school and even though they are apart most of the time, when they get back together it’s like they’ve never been apart! While they were here we went for walks and drives, Wendy and I shopped downtown and we all went for a great bike ride! It was such a great visit, one where you really get to just hang out. There was no obligations to be anywhere or do anything just spend time with each other and I liked that! We also took them to Butchart Gardens, which I have to say spring is my favourite time to go because of the daffodils and tulips! They are my favourites!!!!!

Here are some pictures from Butchart Gardens, I really wished I took more from the weekends while we had visitors!! I’m not happy with some of my photos as they are slightly over exposed but they are still pretty!

Last night I hosted a Favourite Things party. Each girl was asked to bring their favourite item and bring 3 of the same thing (now realizing we should have only brought 2). The items are kept a secret until we pick names from a bag and then each girl discusses why the item is their favourite and where they got it from (this was interesting since everyone got an item from each person!). Though I messed up a little bit because we didn’t have as many people as originally thought, it was still a fun night and amusing to laugh at my mistake.

Everyone arrived around 7:40 and we enjoyed the food before we opened our new gifts. It was an exciting evening with wonderful ladies and amazing food! (Our favourites to be exact) There were fruit kabobs, baked tortillas, deviled eggs, ice cream and cookies!

I had remembered that it was Earth Hour at 8:30 by setting a timer and we lit candles to enjoy the evening. We opened our gifts in the dark and after we were finished we played Clue in the dark (for a short while until it was 9:30 then we had lights on). Jenny figured out who the murderer was, good game!

I made fruit kabobs with fresh pineapple, chocolate dipped strawberries and bananas! I LOVE fresh fruit AND chocolate. I also made tortilla chips from whole wheat tortillas. I flavored them with garlic powder, salt, and ones with cinnamon sugar. They are so tasty. I will post a recipe on here soon.

Here are the girls enjoying receiving their new items!

Here are the items that we received. We each received soap from the Rocky Mountain Soap Company and Trolli gummy worms (from me). I love the pumpkin soap and I LOVE these candies! We also got great nail polish in an awesome shade of red with sparkles from Meagan. Kristin gave us each Easter lilies that are beautiful! Jenny brought the cutest tea pots and had 3 bags of her favourite Tim Horton’s Honey Lemon tea inside.

And one lucky girl got to go home with a special bag that I put together. I received lots of coupons for items that I had for the bag plus I purchased some items as well. In there was toothpaste, hand cream, travel size shampoo & conditioner, plus much more! Yay to Kristin for winning all the extra goodies!

This was such a great night and I would love to host another one in the future. Thanks to Kristin, Jenny and Meagan for joining me in such a great evening!

Two weekends ago I attended my friends baby shower and I finally got to give her the blanket I had worked on for just over two years. This blanket had a lot of meaning to me and I was hoping that she would enjoy and appreciate all of the hard work I had put into it for her precious little girl. She loved it and definitely appreciated it. Here is the little note I included in with the blanket in the homemade card I create and the blanket being received. Plus a picture of her beautiful little girl!

Dear Eleanor,

I’ve taken just over two years to be created
but I have seen the world while I was waiting.
It all started in my home province of Newfoundland,
then to Finland and finally I was finished in your
home province of British Columbia. I’ve changed colors
over the years from greens and pinks to the lovely colors
that I have become. I’ve been ripped apart several
times but put back together in order to cuddle and
protect you now. There have been tears of frustration
and tears of joy cried over me during the process to
get me to you today but I’m so happy to finally be
wrapped around you! Hope we share many great years together!

Love Newfie
xo