Oh Friday:

Wow the end of the week is almost here, which means my date with Rascal Flatts is TOMORROW!! Pretty pumped and cannot wait for him to serenade me!! Haha! His songs are just soo meaningful and it is just what I need in my life right now. I literally could get lost in his lyrics, I love them soo much!!

What else is going on? I don't even know lol! Like I said this week has been a disaster and I cannot wait to put it behind. At least it was a short week! I plan to get back on track with my positive thoughts and grateful heart.

So I will end this post off with some quotes:

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Being Thankful

It is Thanksgiving this weekend in Canada!! So I figured it would be the perfect time to go over the things I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my husband. He is here by my side whenever I need him. He holds my hand when things get tough, wipes my tears when they tend to fall, kisses away my worries and makes me laugh everyday, no matter what. He encourages me to find strength from deep within and to face my fears with a smile on my face. He has taught me that no matter where we end up in life, as long as we have each other we will be perfect - our own kind of perfect and that is all that does matter.

(Photo courtesy of Whitney Cowan)

I am thankful for all of our pets. Each and everyday, they are there for M and I. Making us laugh daily at their antics, driving us crazy with their antics and of course the hair, but in the end we wouldn't have it any different. They are our family.

I am thankful for our families. Yes there are days where they drive us crazy, but they have helped form us into who we are today. They continue to support us in our daily lives with encouragement and love. Though we may not see each other every day, we know they are here for us and that we are there for them.

I am thankful for our friends. They continue to teach us lessons in life and love. Some friendships have been easier than others and some have been through hell and back - some haven't come back. They fill our lives with fun and laughter, a few tears, they encourage us to face our fears and how to handle various situations. In our life, we consider most of friends as family and we wouldn't have it any differently!

I am thankful for our surroundings, jobs, our home, our freedom and our capability to make choices. Hard to believe that people live differently than we do or to think when trouble crosses our door step that others have it worse than us.

I am thankful for all the things that haven't gone as planned. This is a BIG one - never would have thought I would hear myself say this. But this alone has taught a lifetime of lessons that some people may never understand. It has taught us strength and enhanced our growth in one another. Our hearts and minds have been opened up more to soo many more things and made us aware of the things that CAN and DO go wrong in life. It has put us in touch with soo many new contacts because of this and has allowed us to support others and accept support from others. It has reminded us in life that no matter what goes wrong we are not alone.

I am thankful for life. I know this sounds silly, but today marks the "anniversary" of almost losing my boss. It is hard to think back to this day, but luckily it ended up for the best. In fact we had a little laugh over it all this morning. Please remember to take care of yourselves. When life is hectic and stress levels are high - slow down. Ask for help. You are not alone! You never know what is waiting for you in your future.

I hope everyone begins each day with a grateful and thankful heart! To all my Canadian followers, visitors and such - have a great weekend with family or friends.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Loves and Laughs

Ok so we all know fall is pretty much my favorite season. If only they could integrate summer weather with fall colors - I would be in heaven!

So here are some of the things I am loving:

- I love that I have my first FALL photo shoot of the year tomorrow!! And the weather is supposed to co-operate! Makes me a happy girl!!

- I love my husband so much! Especially when he walks into screen doors. You bet there is a story behind this. I had went out yesterday afternoon with K to Michael's - dangerous! I had the screen door shut, as it was really nice out. When I left the house, I had just shut the main door and was on my way. Later that night - like 11 PM, M opens the door to let the dogs out and went to go out on the deck and just walked right into the screen. We are talking face pressed sideways on the screen, full-fledged walk. I am lucky to still have a screen. To say I laughed at this would be an understatement. He was laughing too! It was humorous!! Yes, it was my fault but in my offence I had forgotten about it as well! Either way we both had a good laugh!

- I love Zumba! Had a blast last night and felt great afterwards!! Hoping I can make it to Yoga tomorrow night!

- We are having our thanksgiving dinner at the farm tomorrow night. I am making cherry cheesecake!! Yum!

- I am just about finished the dishcloth!! This is soo exciting!!

Now for some Pinspiration:

How cute!!

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Love this:

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I would like to try this to my hair:

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Makes me laugh:

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Dream closet:

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And now my favorite part... quotes:

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And last but not least, in lieu of thanksgiving this weekend - love this prayer!!

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I SURVIVED ZUMBA!

Not only did I survive Zumba, I loved it! It was a lot of fun! Within the first 20 minutes I thought oh my I don't know if I can keep up, but I did and I feel great after doing it! It's pretty high energy, but I think the more I do it, the better I will get!

As for the fear factor being that I am not co-ordinated, I don't think I did to badly actually! There were a few steps that it took me a bit to figure out, but for my first class, I don't think it was too bad. Once I learn the dances it will be easier!

I love that it is within the village and a good friend of mine is the instructor, so it is just a short walk around the corner! The group of ladies that were participating were great too!! We had some good laughs!

I loved Parenthood last night!!! I got home from Zumba around 9:30 PM and watched it on the PVR!

I am hoping that hubby is going to construct our bench this weekend!!

I love these two, who were having too much fun on our walk yesterday:

Love them both soo much!!

As sad as I was to see the pool come down, I am looking forward to being able to have bon fires again in the back yard!! I like bon fires in the summer, but in the fall I love them even more!!

And now for some Pinterest Inspirated Reminders:

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Happy Wednesday Friends!!

It's Wednesday And I Love It!!

I just cannot help but to do a "What I'm Loving Wednesday" even though I know I need to finish my road trip recap!! It will happen - just not today! Okay? Okay!

Soo here we go...

- I am loving our pool!! It is pretty awesome I must say!! Even M thinks so!

- I am loving this bedding set at Target!! I blame it on Ruthie, after showing her home tour on the blog, she showed the cutest yellow bedding set, so I had to go look for myself (online because we are not cool enough to have one in Canada yet..) and I found one I like even more!! I know I need another bedding set like I need a kick in the butt... but I would take a kick in the butt for this!

How cute is it?! I am IN LOVE!! You can find it here!

- I love that I was finally able to open the windows last night and take the dogs for a nice long walk! The heat wave has broke a bit, or at least the humidity wave has, it is still hot!

- I love that I just ordered my Road-Trip Photobook from Shutterfly!! Can't wait to get it in the mail!!

- I am still reading 50 Shades of Grey - nothing has happened yet. Just got to Chapter 6, but I hear things will be taking a wild turn soon!

- I hope my sister feels better tomorrow so we can hang out!

- My heart must be pretty big, I am pretty tall:

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- How cute is this idea? Doesn't even look like a pallet!

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- Love this sink!

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- So true:

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I will finish off with some quotes that I am loving this week:

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And:

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Someone Wants What You Have...

It is soo easy to compare your life to someone else's, so easy to want what they have or to experience what they have experienced.

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But remember…

When you’re weary of fixing another meal and doing dishes yet again, somebody wishes they had food to put on the table.

When you’ve folded and put away a(nother) mountain of laundry, somebody wishes their children had proper coats and hats to wear to school.

When you’re groaning over the highest heating bill yet this year, somebody wishes they weren’t so cold.

When you’re losing sleep and gagging over a child’s stomach bug episode, somebody is praying for a miracle over her child’s hospital bed.

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When the exhaustion and nausea of the first trimester are about to do you in, somebody is weeping (yet again) over a negative pregnancy test.

When your headache intensifies over your teen’s college financial paperwork, somebody is visiting the site of her teen’s fatal wreck.

When you wake up to another cloudy, rainy day, somebody is praying for moisture to end a season of drought.

When you pick up your husband’s dirty socks and take out the trash because he forgot, somebody is wishing that for just a moment she didn’t have to do it all alone, all the time.

The next time your situation threatens to steal your joy, try to remember… somebody wants what you have.

I saw this post over HERE and had to share, because it is true. Not to mention the fact that soo many people suffer silently. You never know what someone is actually going through, so before you complain or think it will never end or that it could never get worse, just know that someone else would rather have what you have, someone else has it worse.

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Be grateful for what you have.

Give thanks in all circumstances…

1 Thessalonians 5:18

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Weekend Rewind

Today I am trying a brand new link up:

You can check it out here.

Friday night M was going to Seafood night with the guys, which left K and I to fend for ourselves. So we had a little girls night sipping on Raspberry Lemonade and watched some trashy TV since nothing is on Friday nights (so we learned). We watched My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding - no offense if anyone is a gypsy.. but that show is just beyond words for screwed up!

Saturday, M had to work, so that left me home with the dogs, so we enjoyed a sleep in, some snuggles and some housework! Lily was an eating machine on Saturday!! She ate a big dog food can, without me having to spoon feed her, not all at once, but throughout the day! Proud Mom right here!! She also was playing with her tennis ball in the back yard and some horse-playing with Gracie! Seeing her regain strength like this, only helps me believe that we are going to get through this! I am soo very grateful for every one's kind thoughts and prayers! I believe that everyone of them has helped us get to where we are today!! We had a ball meeting on Saturday afternoon to discuss our co-ed team. That starts May 16!! Saturday night M and I just relaxed, it is soo hard to make plans when I know M is exhausted from his Spring-time hours!

Sunday morning we decided it was time to tackle M's bathroom. He NEEDED a new shower stall, as his was leaking and would not hold a seal.

Soo say bye bye to this:

Yup pretty ugly!! (hence the shower curtain that hides it)

We purchased the new one, but M has got to cut out and replace a few pieces of drywall. Sooo if you were to look into the bathroom today it would look like this:

We were trying to decide if we were going to repaint the bathroom or just touch it up because either way we need to buy another can! We decided we will just touch it up! After all, I love the color (M doesn't) and it is the only color in the house that represents our old house (it was the old living room color).

We decided to spoil ourselves with a steak dinner with potatoes and fresh green beans and played some ball in the backyard with the dogs, but after I was batting and the ball went a little further than planned, we decided we better take it to the ball park. So we ate and then met N and K down at the park and practiced batting. Gracie and Lily had fun running after the balls, yet didn't pick any up (shucks!). They also enjoyed playing together. Melted my heart to see them interacting together again. Lily continued to eat well again!!

Today K and I decided we would do some baking for tonight's girls night and we made the infamous "Crack" dip:

which is super tasty and easy to make! You can find the info here.

And we decided to make these too:

Terribly Tasty Toffee!! Found here. I will warn you it is addicting!!

To say I am looking forward to girl's night would be an understatement! Plus I think everyone is going to make it!!

Oh and just to share the cutest little picture of Baby Brandon:

He looks soo gangster in his sweet little outfit I made sure he had! I've been waiting for him to fit into it!! Now he just need to listen to some LL Cool J!! Haha!

Also I forgot to mention that I won a new work-out video from Alison. Soo I will no longer need to use my Richard Simmons, although I must say, my sister sent me this picture of H and it made me want to bust them out again... just for fun:

She looks like she was working hard with Richard!! Love that kid!

Happy Monday friends!!