The Ghosts of Halloween Past!

 

Happy Wednesday everyone and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! This Wednesday, the blog is taking a break from it’s regular scheduled “wedding” theme. Because it is a holiday after all and I thought you’d like to see a blast from the past! My Halloween past, that is!

When going through old albums from the time I was born (1987), I couldn’t believe that I didn’t have a costume until I was 3! My brother on the other hand, dressed up as a baby pumpkin since the time he was born. Life of the second child…*sign*

Mom ALWAYS made our costumes when we were little. Here, I didn’t have an opinion and so I had to dress up as the clone to my brother’s obsession that year, a dinosaur!

The next year, I had an opinion and I always liked being “creative” and dressing myself. Poor mom. Here, I am some sort of cat I think. Gotta love the high waist super joggers! And nothing says cat like felt pumpkins glued all over your body right? ha ha!

Thanks big brother for pointing your gun at me!

I gave back the reigns to Mom and she made my costume the next year. In fact, in the all important Halloween Costume Contest in our small town I won first place! Boo ya! So, I wore it again the year after and took the prize again! I still have the costume at home and intend of putting my future daughter in it! 

I was a flower. I had a skirt that was made to look like a flower pot! I would totally wear this now if it still fit!

After growing out of the flower costume I wanted to be what every girl has to be at least once for Halloween, A Princess.

Mom took an old blue bridesmaid dress she had and cut it all up to make me my princess dress and shawl.

Jared was Aladdin. We were a good pair that year! 

As I kid, I loved weird movies and shows. I could sit through Pollyanna, Little House On The Prairie, Anne of Green Gables and Gone With The Wind like it was a cartoon!

So, this next year for Halloween I wanted to be an old fashioned girl. Mom made my dress and matching candy bag. At the time, big old fashioned hats were hung on walls with fancy fake flowers on it. Attaching some lace to one of these hats for under my chin and it finished off the costume!

My parents took my brother and I on our first trip to Disney world around this time. So, I knew the next year what I wanted to be for Halloween, Mickey Mouse!

As you can see, Jared was REALLY creative that year.

I

Come high school, you still wanted to go out and get candy but you didn’t really want to dress up. I took Jared's Aladdin costume and tried to pass it off as a “genie”. The boys were “gangsters”. Tough stuff.

This was also the first year that I got to go trick-or-treating in the big village of Quyon. I thought I was SO cool. But it was a COMPLETE disappointment. In the country, people don’t get a lot of kids so they give away LOTS of candy. You have to work 3 times as hard to get the same amout of candy in the village!

My last year of going out to get candy with my cousin Shannon! We threw on Robinhood costumes. I was telling people I was Maid Marion. Yes, I totally drew on Shannon’s goatee with my eye liner! We went out around the country to get our candy. We had learnt our lesson from the previous year! 

Time passed and I stopped going out to get candy. I never really did start dressing up again till University. One year I was a cowgirl and the next a sailor!

When I come home I started working at the local bar! Halloween was always one of the busiest nights! It was fun to dress up! Here my friend Andrea and I were Elmo and Cookie Monster!

Now, I throw on a pair of devil horns and head off to work! All the guys at the farm say I’m “Horny”. Geez!

What are some of your Halloween costume memories?

Happy Halloween!

xo

A Weekend Full of Fall Fun

 

Happy Monday everyone! Ryan and I were chatting late (late for us is 9 PM, ha ha!) last night before bed. We couldn’t believe how fast the weekend went by! It feels like we accomplished a lot. It just flew by. I guess that’s what happens when you’re busy!

Friday after work started out with getting some painting done. Now that my laundry room is 90% done, my craft room is getting taken over! Now, it will be a spare bedroom! Task #1, painting!

Friday night was book club which was held a short walk across the road at my sister in laws! We were discussing The Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda.

Saturday morning it was off to the grocery store early for my monthly trip! On the way home, I picked up a “healthy” lunch for Ryan, myself and my folks.

That afternoon, we finished painting and I moved all of my craft stuff down to it’s new home in the basement!

That evening I packed up some pizza, snacks and scary movies to head to Jilly’s for our 1st annual scary movie marathon! And a marathon it was.

First, we walked Chernobyl Diaries while there was still a bit of daylight. We then watched Fear, Scream, The Shining and Hush! 

Pretty much out reactions during most of the movies!

By 2 AM we were scared senseless but it was a fun night and a new tradition!

Sunday morning I headed to church with mom and then had a delicious turkey soup for lunch with her.

That afternoon, it was back home to peel, chop, cook and mash 20 lbs of potatoes for the church Harvest Supper.

That afternoon Ryan and I helped serve and clean up food at the Harvest Supper.

We were pretty spent when we got home but it was still fairly early so once we were ready for bed it was time to do one of my most favorite jobs…putting together Halloween goodie bags for our trick-or-treaters!

I do have to say, I think these are the best candy bags we have ever made up! Very excited to see what little ghosts and goblins come to our door this week.

How was your weekend?

xo

Potato Leek Soup

 

Happy Friday!! It’s going to be a very wet (with rain) weekend around these parts. But I’m not complaining because as long as it’s not snow, I am a happy girl!

Now that the weather is getting colder though, I have changed our meal plan to include more “warming” foods. Stews, Crockpot meals and soups are making their way into our schedule. Ryan is a little resistant trying some homemade soups for the first time but I convinced him he would like this one.

Potato Leek Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of Butter

2 Large leeks, whites and pale green parts only. Sliced and rinsed well.

2 Large potatoes, peeled and diced into cubes

4 cups of chicken stock

1/2 cup of heavy cream (I use half and half)

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh chives for garnish

1. In a large pot, melt butter and add leeks. Sauté leeks until soft, about 8 minutes. 

2. Add potatoes and stir together well.

3. Add stock and bring to boil. Once boiling, turn down heat to a simmer and cover pot. Continue cooking for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

4. Carefully blend soup with blender (I used a hand emulsion blender) and puree to desired consistency. I like mine really smooth. Stir in cream, salt and pepper.

5. Ladle into soup bowls, garnish and serve!

6. Enjoy!

Confession:

This is the first soup I have EVER made.

I know. Kind of shocking. To be honest, I was super intimidated about making soup. I thought it was this long, drawn out and messy process.

Truthfully, and I know this was a very simple soup to make but, it was easy. And the reward, a delicious homemade soup. Perfect for a cold Sunday night supper!

Ryan did his usual sniff the food and eat a few hesitant bites. Then he said, “Yup, you can make this again”.

WIN!

Hope you all have an amazing weekend!

xo

Reception – Part 4

 

I had this post all ready to go for yesterday and then the internet went down! Talk about pain in the butt! No internet ALL day yesterday! But here is yesterdays post! ________________________________________

Happy Wednesday everyone! It’s kind of feeling like a fuzzy week. One that you want to just get over with. At least it’s hump day and the weekend is just over the horizon!

I can’t believe that my wedding recaps are almost done. Looking through the pictures every week, it’s hard to believe that the wedding was over 5 months ago. It seems like it’s gone by in lightening speed!

One of my favorite moments from the wedding reception was a game that we arranged with the D.J. It was pass the potato but with napkins.

The last one holding the napkin then had to proceed to the dance floor to claim their prize. Not without doing the chicken dance first!

After more dancing and passing it was finally decided who the winner was. The winner got to take home the centerpiece!

My parents were up next for some of the final speeches of the evening. First up my mother.

And then my Dad!

Who presented Ryan with a new golfing hat and windbreaker!

 

The new hat and windbreaker also went with his new set of custom fitted golf clubs! A wedding gift from my parents to Ryan! He was so excited and has loved using them this summer.

Happy Wednesday!

xo

Focusing On The Good From The Weekend! Cuz’ There Was ALOT of Good!

 

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! Today, as I was sitting here at my computer reflecting about my weekend, it is easy for me to remember the negative things. As I was looking through my pictures however, I came to the realization that there were some major happy and fun times that happened this weekend. These are the ones that I want to remember. These are the ones that I am choosing to share.

Friday night started out at Jill’s house for birthday pizza! The house was full with a lot of my closest friends and their families! The amount of kiddo’s there is now is amazing! It is so fun watching them all interact! I can see many more get togethers like this as the kids get older.

Not only did we have pizza but we had Pizza Pizza! My favorite especially with the garlic dipping sauce! Yum! We also had a yummy Oreo birthday cake for Sharon and I. The kids helped blow out the candles!

Three boys on the couch! Each with their biggest priorities. My husband on the end happens to love food at this moment in his life, no babies for us! ha ha!

Charlotte and I! She is the easiest to take a picture of! She loves to pose for the camera!

Saturday morning was car rally day in Quyon! Ryan and I didn’t have a team this year so we were going to get stuff done around the yard to get ready for winter. There was a change of plans in the morning but we did at least get to spend the day together!

We headed up to the hospital for the 4 hour wait. I got so much reading done for this weeks upcoming book club!

Ryan patiently waiting.

Nothing says fashionista like a fancy blue hospital gown!

Disclaimer: Yes, I spend Saturday at the hospital. No, I’m neither pregnant nor seriously sick. I would just like to keep that part out of this post. I will go into more detail as to what is happening at a later time.

Sunday morning, I was so excited for church! Not only did Ryan not have hockey (I love when we can sit next to each other at church) and it was a special little baptism!

Neve is the little girl to Luke and Amanda, who got married this past February!

Cousins helping to pour the water.

Little Grace was sitting behind me in church and we kept playing together! I got lots of laughs out of her! So adorable!

Sunday afternoon was wonderful! Having breakfast and visit with my parents, cooking up a storm and beating the pants off playing cards with my husband! Absolute perfection!

How was your weekend?

xo

Some Things You Might Not Know About Quebec…

 

Happy Friday everyone! I am so looking forward to a lower key weekend! It’s pretty nice not having too many plans! Having time for rest and relaxation! It’s going to be great!

As many of you are already aware, I live in a very small community in Western Quebec. Literally right across the river from Ontario. I always get a kick out of people looking at you a little funny when you tell them you are from Quebec. Almost always, they ask as to why you don’t have a French accent.

That’s the thing about Quebec, Canada. I think there’s a lot of things people don’t realize. Some things great and some not so good. So, I thought I would like to share a few that come to my mind!

First, Quebec is correctly pronounced like this:

Kay Bek

 Not ALL of Quebec speaks French

In fact, pretty much all of my closest friends (who also reside in Quebec) speak English! I was born and raised in Quebec by my ENGLISH parents and I can hardly speak any French.

You graduate High School in grade 11

Yes, that’s right! Off to college you go after grade 11! It’s kind of cool not to have that extra grade and having the opportunity of moving away from home a little early.

 The legal drinking age is 18

Really, the legal drinking age around these parts is just a suggestion.

The PQ sucks.

Now, I know this isn’t really a fact. And some of Quebec would disagree with me. However, the community where I come from, the PQ sucks.

PQ = Parti Quebecois

Basically, it is a centre left provincial party here who has recently been voted in to power (minority, thank god!). It advocates separating the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada. Scary!

Currently, it puts into power the language law, Bill 101, that makes everyone in the province of Quebec post all French language signs. It pushes for more French in work places, schools and general public. It even forces their government people to speak to the general public in French EVEN if they can speak perfectly good English. So frustrating!

You can buy booze and cigarettes at any store (grocery store, pharmacy or even corner store)

A wonderful thing about Quebec. Not to mention beer is like half to price then it is in Ontario!

Quebec’s motto that is plastered on all of our license plates is, Je me souviens which means I remember.

Ironically, the meaning of what we are to remember has been debated and analyzed for decades! Confusing!

Celine Dion, William Shatner, Mario Lemieux and Glen Ford were all born in Quebec.

Quebec is a great place to have kids!

Can you say subsidized day care? Yes. Cheap childcare. As low as $7 a day! Can you say Quebec baby bonus program? That’s right in order to entice us to procreate more little French babies, the Quebec government has it’s oven parental leave program. Quebec is the ONLY province who does this.

BUT WAIT, call within the next 10 minutes and Quebec will also throw in the “allowance for newborn children” that pays up to $8000 to a family after the birth of a child. This is on top of the federal baby bonus.

My number 1 reason why I love Quebec…

The Poutine!

A Quebec delicacy. Fries topped with cheese curds and gravy! Yum!

AND just because I had a great laugh at this other fellow bloggers post about Canadians I had to share!

Happy Friday!

xo

Reception – Part 3

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! The weekend is in sight and there are only a few more days to get through to get there! Hang on!

Although today’s post is titled, “Reception – Part 3” it should really be called “The Cakes”.

After Ryan was given his special grooms cake from his Aunt Lynn during her speech, we proceeded to cut both cakes before dessert was served!

The Wedding Cake

Here I am warning him within an inch of his life to NOT smash cake in my face!

I wasn’t so kind! :-)

Cutting into the grooms cake

Happy Wednesday!

xo