A and the Cello

This year A has decided to take up the cello and so far, loves it. She is quite talented when it comes to dance and music...she gets it...she feels it. I love watching her dance and play instruments as her body just goes with it. This week, after two months of lessons, the music teacher has granted each of her nine pupils with a bow....wow, this sure sounds different that the finger picking she has been doing up to now.

Once you make it past the first few painful seconds of her playing with the bow, watch her face change and she bursts into her own song (she now makes up her own music as well). She is hilarious, I love this little being more than life itself and moments such as this one make me so proud of her and all that she is and will be. She amazes me.

You go girl! I love you. xo

Aunaka's a Big Sister

Aunaka's wish of becoming a big sister finally came true on June 10. Her step mom, Lisa, gave birth to beautiful twins....Ethan Fraser 6lbs 6oz and Abigail Marie 6lbs 4oz. They are healthy and gorgeous. Ethan a bit jaundice so has been spending some time under the lights (though he hates it). Auna is beyond thrilled and sooooo in love with her siblings. I am so happy for her and proud that we as parents are able to parent in harmony....which is not only wonderful for her, but for me as well as I can snuggle the babies too and take plenty of pics. I have made the below video for Auna as a keepsake....it makes me cry each time I watch it.



Aunaka's a Big Sister

Blog Invader

For the past month I have not been able to do ANYTHING on my blog. It had been taken over by some freegadget page. Each time I, or anyone else, attempted to visit my blog, it would quickly flip to the free gadget ad page. I tried emailing the company listed in the invader's page, I tried googling this issue. I was beginning to feel as though the only solution would be to start over in a new blog. My last resort.

This morning, while procrastinating on completing the assignment before me, I decided to google my issue one last time. Jackpot! I found one post and one response with a simply suggestion that it was one of my gadgets. I went through and began deleting as I don't really know what some of them do, I just added them in my excitement of setting up a blog. :) I finally found it, it was the visit tracker. I removed it and voila.....I have my lovely blog back.

Taylor Swift and a Bedazzler

My baby turned NINE last weekend. I can't believe that nine years have passed since I was in labor....the worst pain of my life. 'They' say that you forget the pain the moment you hold your new babe and then you go ahead and do it again. Wrong. I have not forgotten. Hence why I only have one child.

There are many perks to being an only child of separated parents, one being Christmas and Birthdays. Last weekend, she had a birthday celebration with her dad and today will have her birthday party with me. Some years we do combine this event, but this year we opted for two small parties as opposed to one big one.

I am heading to the movie theater with 7 little girls to see ToothFairy. We were originally slated for Alice in Wonderland....the IMAX. I would have loved that, R would have loved that and most definitely the birthday girl would have loved that. After watching the trailer and reading a few reviews, I decided that I didn't want to risk any 8/9 year olds being terrified.

A's dad called me the other day and told me that he and his girlfriend were planning on coming to the cake/present portion of her party as they had a gift for her. This is great, she loves it when her dad is involved in anything we do and she loves his presents. I asked him what it is. OMG.

VIP Taylor Swift tickets and a weekend cottage stay on PEI....just her and daddy.

She is going to lose her mind. She is a huge TS fan and loves concerts. This will be her first outdoor concert experience and her first roadtrip with her Daddy.

I am trying to decide when to give her my gift. Before or after the tickets. Either way, it doesn't really matter. What did I get for her?

A Bedazzler.

This makes me laugh out loud. It also makes me so happy that we, as separated parents, do not get into competitions for who can give her the most expensive, massive gifts. It just so happens that this year he went all out. His girlfriend is expecting twins in June, A's life is about to change drastically, so I think that this trip is a wonderful idea. She is going to remember this for a lifetime. When I was a little older than her, my Dad took me to an Edmonton Oilers vs Hartford Whalers game in Edmonton. I had wanted to go to see Hartford play as we knew one of the players (Torrie Roberston). I will never forget that night. Just me and my dad and Torrie Roberston. Thanks Dad. xo

February...Sorry to say that I will not miss you....

February Finds ( & Favorites)

February is the longest shortest month of the year, every day feels like two. With no long weekends, short days and below zero temperatures...I am going to be happy to wake up in March tomorrow morning.

Despite the weather and lack of holidays, here are some good things that did come in my February:

1. The discovery of Etsy, a place to buy and sell all things homemade (http://www.etsy.com/). I love this site, the items are priced fairly and each is so unique and not like anything you will find in a store near you. I bought A a birthday t-shirt with her name and the number '9' embroidered on the front. She was so excited when she opened it yesterday. With shipping (it came from California) and exchange, it was only $17.49. Wow.

My boyfriend's sister found a beautiful print to commemorate her one year anniversary of waiting for a referral for her daughter from Ethiopia. The print shows a white mother cradling a sweet little brown baby. How perfect. Nicole most definitely would not have found this at WalMart!

2. My photography skills were enhanced through a day of play at my friend Jo's. She agreed to let me use her babies as guinea pigs in exchange for free pics. I have new lighting and equipment from Santa and was eager to get it all figured out. My hope is to continue practicing on my friend's wee ones in hopes that I can one day (in the near future) make a side salary doing something that makes my heart happy....capturing moments in people's lives forever in a photo.

3. Valentine's Day. Usually this day comes and goes and I try my best to pretend I don't notice. This year was different, I even found myself looking forward to it. This is the wonder of finding someone that you can't remember your life without. R showed up a boquet of flowers each for A and I. It is not often that there are not flowers in our house (not sure where he learned this tip, but I am most certainly not going to complain). We ended the weekend with a delicious chocolate caked by me. (good thing I went to aqua fit first)

4. This brings me to the discovery of the most fun I have ever had exercising....AquaFit. I love it. I decided in January that I would return to swimming to shed some of this winter weight. Well, swimming laps gets pretty boring pretty quick. AquaFit is at the same time as lane swim in the other half of the pool. I decided one day that I would give it a try. How hard could it be? Boy, I was in for a shock! I laughed so hard at myself as I tried to keep with all of the 50+ ladies. I was hooked after the first class. Now I try to go to the shallow water class twice a week while A is dancing and then the deep water on Sundays (R is my new babysitter). If you have never tried it...you should. Not sure if I have lost any weight, but my jeans are feeling a bit looser.

5. I discovered a blog that I now check everyday for updates. The writer is a young woman named Katie. Katie lives in Uganda with her 14 adopted daughters. I don't consider myself a Christian as I am not sure how I feel about God, but I do consider myself spirtitual and feel quite deeply about the Greater Spirit. I quite often pray to the Greater Spirit (whomever she may be) and ask for forgiveness and guidance and strength. This blog has only made my belief that all things in the Universe happen for a reason, we just have to open our eyes and our hearts in order to see them. You can check out Katie's life here
http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/
and her wonderful organization, Amazima, which among many other things, sponsors children in Uganda and enables them to not only attend school, but to have school uniforms and supplies and food as well. You can check this out here:
http://amazima.org/

6. Last week was the screening of Whatever It Takes, the short film in which A was cast lead girl role (all actors were children). It was so strange to see my child on a big screen acting as another child. Weird. She did such a fantastic job, very professional. I am amazed at her confidence, yet not arrogance and so proud of accomplishments this far in her 9 years (almost 9 years). About half way through she turned to me and said "Mommy, I think they changed my voice". I love that girl. I couldn't help but laugh as I remembered the first time I heard my recorded voice and thinking the same thing. :) Unfortunately we do not get a copy of the film until sometime in the Fall as it is being submitted to 30 film festivals. We are hoping it will at the very least make it into the Atlantic Film Festival and Sundance as one of the Directors had a film win at Sundance last year. They did give us a cd with still shots from the filming......I guess this will have to do for now.

Well, there you have my February highlights. I am hoping that my March highlights include nicer weather and longer days as I begin my count down to Spring and then Summer.

Happy March.

My List

Things I would do if I could:

1. Travel around Patagonia. I have always wanted to go there. No particular reason, it just sounds so far away and interesting.

2. See Madonna in concert. This is one that I have wanted to do since I was about 8 years old when I was wearing acid washed jean jackets, side pony tails, and lace half-fingered gloves.

3. Spend an entire summer on Vancouver Island with my grandparents and the rest of my family. I spent every summer as a child with them and I find that the older I get, the more I crave sitting outside on a warm summer evening talking to my grandma.

4. Take Aunaka to Disney. I’ve always wanted to go, but my parents were never very interested and unfortunately, they were the ones with the credit card. We would stay in the fantasy suite at the Disney hotel and have our picture taken with Cinderella and all of the other princesses. We would wear Minnie Mouse ears and get lots of pictures of us in them.

5. I would pay my student loan in full. Then I would send a long letter to the government “people” and describe what it is like to go through that system and how people treat you. I would also ask them why my files always seemed to be in an “important meeting room” every time that I called.

6. I would buy my Mum a Saab. She deserves it and she would look so cool too.

7. I would buy my Dad a Harley. Anyone who knows my Dad knows how he belongs on one.

8. Aunaka would get the best swing set, the one with the tree house, climbing wall and twirly slide. Ever since she could say ‘swing set’ she has wanted one of her own. Though she is soon going to be too big for one, her and I would still spend hours swinging on the swings, chatting and giggling.

9. Photography is one of my great pleasures in life, having my dream camera would be blissful. I would spend entire days wandering with my new camera, searching for the perfect picture.

10. I would buy my big brother and his wife a hobby farm to love and to raise their family on. It would make me smile from the heart to see them living on a hobby farm.


Most people make these lists on the assumption that one day they will be rich and all of their dreams will come true. The thing is I already consider myself one of the richest people on the planet, just not in a monetary kind of way. My family is incredibly supportive of my choices in life, wise or not. I am healthy. My daughter is healthy and her life is lovely. I smile a lot of smiles every day. I have friends that make me laugh until my cheeks hurt. I have found the ‘one’. I have my education and a job that I don’t hate.

You see, money doesn’t make a person rich, money might be able to help me in fulfilling my list, but it can’t buy the things that I already have, the list that truly makes me feel rich. BUT, if I ever win the lottery, I will tick these ten off one by one and love every minute of it.

Spin Class

So I had this romantic vision of Rob and I working out together......couples who work out together stay together right? I have been wanting to try out a Spin Class for a long time now and Rob agreed to try it out too.

Result: I WAS SUCH A SPIN LOSER AND HE WAS A TOTAL SPIN CHAMP!!!

It was only a thirty minute class, only 7 people including us. I made it through the first 15 minutes, my legs were burning but I was making it...though the entire time, I was asking myself "WHY". Then I suddenly felt dizzy and thought I was going to be sick in the corner. I had to stop peddling and put my head down on the handlebars. I was so embarassed. I felt like I did when I was in labor.....dizzy, crampy and if I were to move at all, I would hurl. Rob kept going, periodically checking in with me as I sat on my seat with my head on my bars. My butt was killing me from sitting. I couldn't even move my legs without feeling as though I was going to fall off of the bike.

Poor Rob, it is his gym and his girlfriend is the one that can't even take a thirty minute spin class. In my defense, I can swim 5km in open water, I can run for more than 20 minutes straight......yet, can't make it through a thirty minute spin class. He even had to drive my car afterwards!

Yes, it is true....spin class kicked my ass. I double dog dare anyone reading this to give it spin a try. Let me know how you make out.