today's the day!

It's Christmas Eve! I was glancing at some of my old blog posts the other day and was reminded of how much I love the actual day of Christmas Eve! (It's my second favorite day of the year next to Valentine's Day!) I don't know what it is, but I just love the anticipation of Christmas... maybe because Christmas comes and goes so fast.

I will always remember heading over to my Aunt Chris' house on Christmas Eve after we went to church for the candle light service. Her house is always so "magical" at Christmas! We always had special crafts that were planned for us, yummy food, and of course, the blessing of having Mom's side of the family all together :) I sure do miss that.

This year, we're heading to Melissa and Brad's for Christmas Eve! We're leaving this morning around 11 when Mom gets off work!! We're going to hopefully make it to their candle light service and then head home and have some appetizers and sweets... and maybe play some games or watch Christmas movies. It will be a good weekend for sure! It will be our first Christmas as a family of 6... and soon to be 7 with a little Taylor baby on the way! This probably won't happen again for a while so we're all really soaking this one in.

It's also my first Christmas with Bobby! Even though we were dating this time last year, he was in the States and I was in Japan. We're also looking forward to a special time together just the 2 of us after we get home from Saskatchewan... I get 2 Christmas Eves! :)

Well, I should get going... Merry Christmas to all! Have a wonderful holiday and enjoy every minute of it! Make lots of memories! :)

My way of celebrating!

Today was the big day... I wrote my last final exam for this semester!!! I'm SO excited to be done! I had decided a little while back that I was going to celebrate by making Gingerbread men... so that's what I did this afternoon! I bought a mix from Superstore (highly recommended by the way!) and set to work! I had a lot of fun! I made icing and decorated them after too :) Take a peek...

I'm quite proud of myself :) I love being creative... and I love having time to bake and be creative again!!! Tonight our apartment building is having a cookie exchange mingler and I can't wait to share our treats! :)

Prov Christmas banquet...

We had a fun time at the banquet last Friday! Here's a picture a friend of ours took...

It sure was fun to get all dressed up and go out together! The food was SO good too! Christmas celebrations are so much fun!

I love picnics!!

I love picnics... and my husband knows that so he planned a special winter picnic for us... in our living room! I absolutely loved it and couldn't stop smiling the whole time! :) I am certainly a blessed woman! What a fun little date!

winter beauty...

The other morning (it's blog catch up time!) we had a beautiful hoar frost and we were able to snap a few pictures out our window... enjoy!

My husband is the greatest...

My husband did something very sweet and thoughtful today... and as usual, I feel compelled to share it with the world... He had to go to Steinbach to pick up some ink to finish printing our prayer letters this afternoon and he came back with 5 pretty pink roses just for me :) He knows the way to my heart! (but he already has my heart anyway!) Thank you, Baby :)

My day was also brightened by a phone call from my sister... she had her first ultrasound today and they're having a.............. wait. Can't say it on here because Mom doesn't want to know yet and she reads my blog. (if you really want to know, you can e-mail me!)

On the school front... I've got 3 more classes left (one is actually not really going to be a 'class' but we still have to go... just 2 more days for this semester and one more paper to write! Then I have 3 exams (one on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) and then I'm done!! Yipee! :) Can't wait for the break... although I seemed to have created quite a to-do list for myself over the break. I guess I'm just looking forward to a change of pace!

This Friday is our 5 month anniversary and we get to celebrate by getting all dressed up and going out for a free meal! (the Prov Christmas banquet is on Friday) :)

Well, guess I should get back to that paper! Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas at the Badens!

It definitely looks like Christmas in our house now! Last weekend we found ourselves a tree, some lights and some decorations at the Goodwill store and set it up! This weekend we got a few more additions to our decorations for the house at Dollarama and now it's officially Christmas in the Baden's house! :) Here's how it all turned out.... Bobby very dilligently fluffing up the tree!
and proudly admiring his job on the lighting... (I very happily delegated him to that job for us for the rest of our marriage! he's so good at it!)so pretty :)

Today we did some more decorating and Bobby wrapped some presents to put under our tree... again, he's so good at this!! :)

He was having fun :)

We used some Christmas money to buy the Willow Tree nativity set because we both like it so much...

Isn't it beautiful?! We really like it!

You can't really see it too well, but I have snowflakes hanging in all 4 windows... and then there's a mobile on the ceiling and decorations on the wall :)

The final product... our happy little tree! minus a topper... we're still compromising on that one! ;)

notice how our card string only has one card on it?! Hopefully we'll get some more to add to it later this month!

Merry Christmas!!! :)

Diaper Backpack...

Since my big sister Melissa is having a baby in May, I'm now officially always on the lookout for anything 'baby'... especially free things and giveaways!

I came across a blog that is currently hosting a giveaway and by posting a blog about it, I get one extra entry. I don't normally enter contests like this but this time it's worth the effort because it's something I'd absolutely love to win for my sister!

This contest is featuring a super cool backpack diaper bag that I'm pretty sure Melissa will really like... just look at all the features...

2 large compartments
Removable padded changing mat
Internal baby accessory pocketing
Ergonomic back panel & shoulder straps
Quick access, insulated bottle pockets
Parent's Organizer
Reinforced base panel for durability
Premium YKK Zippers
100% Recycled 600D Polyester Main Body Fabric
100% Recycled Polyester Webbing
100% Recycled Plastic Buckles
Rubberized, non-toxic, waterproof coating
Lifetime Takeback Policy
Manufactured in a Fair Labor Association and Social Accountability International approved factory

Have I mentioned that I really want to win this for Melissa?!... I think it'd be the perfect gift for a first-time mom :)

The company sponsoring the giveaway (Green Ostrich) also has a ton of really great products worth taking a look at. You can find their website here...

Wish me luck! :)

Winter Wonderland!

Happy Winter!! Just thought I'd share some beautiful pictures that my very talented husband took of our window the other day... and a few others too!

Aren't they gorgeous?! God is so creative and amazing!In the last week, we were blessed to recieve quite a blanket of snow! We've had a beautiful, mild November, and then winter came in with a bang! We heard on the news last night that we haven't had this much snow in November since 1996! (and we've only had snow for a week!)

Anyway, both Bobby and I LOVE snow so we've really enjoyed the last week! It's so beautiful! (Of course not so fun to drive in, but we've been able to stay at home all week and just enjoy watching it fall.) We both bought new winter boots last weekend and the other day we went for a quick little walk (it was a bit colder than we thought!) and took a few pictures... (yes, we do take a lot of self portraits!)

Our home base (for now anyway!)

It was snowing so much you couldn't see very far!

This is one of our favorites...

Two things will always make me smile... snow and being with my wonderful husband! (and what fun it is to combine those two things!)

It just kept snowing and snowing!

and of course I couldn't resist playing in it! :)

In my world, it's officially time to celebrate winter... and Christmas! I've been listening to Christmas music for the last couple of days now and I love it! Nothing better than curling up with a blanket and a hot drink and listening to Christmas music and watching the snow fall!

We haven't decorated for Christmas yet though since we're starting from scratch and can't really go too crazy since we have to either store everything or take it with us to Japan (most likely storing it since we already have Christmas stuff in Japan... including a HUGE tree we bought from one of our co-workers... can't wait to set that one up!) Anyway, we're going to go tree shopping at the thrift stores around here sometime soon and see what we can find so soon our home will look like Christmas too!

Hope you're enjoying your winter!

A new addition...

We have a new nephew!!

No, Melissa didn't give birth prematurely, but Bobby's sister in law (does that make her my sister in law too? I've never been able to figure that one out!) had a healthy 9lb 11oz baby boy this morning :)

No pictures or name that we've heard yet... all we know is that all is well! :)

Congrats to the Badens! We can't wait to meet you, little one!

PS- thanks for the sympathy comments yesterday... guess I was a little worked up!

Group Projects Drive Me Crazy!!!

For the record... I hate group projects! For some reason, this semester I have been involved in SEVERAL group projects and it's confirmed my dislike for them! Sure, sometimes you get a great group where everyone shares the work and things go smoothly... and you get a good grade. But then there's the groups where people don't show up to meetings, show up late, and in general just don't care about the project at all... and then there's the groups that have terrible communication about when/where to meet!

Let's just say that I'm involved in two group projects right now and they are both driving me crazy! Sure, maybe I'm not so easy to work with, but I do try my best to be an 'active member' and show up when I'm supposed to! I'm not really sure if this blog has a point or not, but I guess I just need to get this off my chest! In spite of the apparent goals of 'this is what life is like/it teaches you how to deal with people'... I DON'T LIKE GROUP PROJECTS... and I'm going crazy!!

So... now that I've stated that... I'm going to contently get back to my individual work now! How do you feel about group projects?!

It's the little things...

Who doesn't love an excuse to celebrate?! I know I do :)

Yesterday marked 4 months of marriage for Bobby and I... so of course we jumped on the opportunity to celebrate! I used to think celebrating 'little anniversaries' was silly, but now I think marriage is different, and it's important to celebrate the small milestones! :)

After class, we drove into the city and went for lunch at Montana's, taking advantage of a gift card given to us for our wedding. We had a great time and enjoyed some yummy food!

After that, we had to stop by Service Canada so that Bobby could get a SIN... which turned out to be a success! :)

Then we went to the Forks (to visit "our spot" where we got engaged), got some Hot Chocolate, hung out with the geese and ducks for a bit and then went for a walk.

The birds were all quite tame... and hoping that we had some food for them, but we disappointed them. Bobby was sticking his hand out to see how close they would come to us... and this guy almost nipped at his fingers! (I missed it by a second... this was just after)

Posing in front of "our spot" :)

Then we did some shopping and went to Step Up 3 at the cheap theatre.

After that, we decided to have a bit of a backwards supper... we went out to Moxie's for dinner, but ordered only dessert! :)

Next, we went to Chapters and wandered around and looked at books together :)

And to cap off the evening, we went grocery shopping! :)

All in all, it was a fantastic date day and we really enjoyed having a stress free day to just be together and enjoy one another!

I love being married...and I love my husband! :)

My big sister...

...is going to be a MOM in May!!!

Congratulations, Lissa! (and Brad too!) I can't wait to meet my niece or nephew... and I know he or she will have an awesome set of parents!! :)

I love you!!

Our first home and a wedding update :)

Well, it's long overdue now, but I finally posted some pictures of our new home in Otterburne :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=285408&id=517722436&l=748bfa9249

We had an amazing time in Edmonton/Vegreville for Nadine's wedding... everything went so well and it was so great to be a part of Brandon and Nadine's special day!I have to say, best part of the whole weekend... falling in love with my husband all over again :)

I haven't posted my own album on Facebook yet because I've got so many pictures to post, but haven't had time to organize them into an album, but I'll leave you with some of my favorites....

So great spending time with Ang again... and getting to enjoy the excitement of her recent engagement too!

The four of us had a blast hanging out together! Adam and Bobby kept each other company since Ang and I were so busy!

Congratulations, Nadine :) I love you OTNS!