This was Danny and I during our first Christmas together. We had been engaged about 41/2 months.

This picture was taken this November. This is our fourth Christmas together. It is so hard to believe that the time goes by so quickly. Each year becomes even more special together. We had our little Christmas together this morning. It was great! We actually were able to spend a full day together celebrating. It is fun making new traditions together. Blending some of both of ours together and making fresh ones. We want to wish everyone a very blessed Christmas holiday! (Hopefully I'll get a few more pictures up of our December festivities yet).

December

Well, it is hard to believe that we are already into the beginning of December. The last few months have gone by VERY quickly. I am really beginning enjoying this Christmas season. Our tree has been up for a few weeks (very early this year) and I am just taking in all of the blessings that God has granted me. I am very happy. I can really feel God's presence in my life. So often I take it for granted, but I am so thankful for all my friends, family, and everything that I have. Christmas always goes by so quickly. I am really going to try to savour this time. This is a picture of my family last week. We had a great time setting up my mom and dad's Christmas tree. I always cherish that weekend.

Marathon Relay

We want to send a big CONGRATULATIONS our to our good friends Jon and Pam who just got engaged. We are so happy for the two of you and love you very much. We really appreciate your friendship and look forward to making many more memories together.

We had such an amazing time last weekend in Regina. We ran the marathon distance as a relay with three of our friends. It was so much fun! Jon, Pam, Jenelle, Danny, and I were the FLYING FIVE. We were true to our name. We all ran so fast! Everyone did well. This is a picture just before the first leg of the race began. We all look fresh!!! Pam and I after the race. We were very proud of our medals! This was Pam's first race. Way to go girl!
The Flying Five after the race. A great group. Good job team!

Summer Days

Summer is flying by so quickly. I have really enjoyed relaxing in the sun. I love the heat we had! Of course, Danny says it's because I can go inside and cool off whenever I want. We went to Manitoba to celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday. What a milestone! It was a great time to see everyone in my extended family that i don't ge to see very often. Danny and I detoured down through north dakota on the way home. We had a nice relaxing time. We stayed in a hotel that had 5 hot tubs which was just the ticket for relaxation. We went to the Minot zoo on the way home which was really fun. We took our time and stopped anywhere we wanted. You'd be suprised what you can all see in 2 days. I had to get some pictures in the sunflower crops on the way home, too. We finished painting our house and I love it. I will have to post some rennovation pics soon. It is back to school in one week. I am sad to see summer end, but it is always nice to get back into routine. I have had a fabulous summer, so I can't complain.

I can't believe that we have already been married two years. Yesterday was our 2nd wedding anniversary. Time really flies by soooo quickly. I know how cliche that sounds, but it is so true. It has been so much better than I could have ever imagined and I love my husband more than I thought possible. We tried to celebrate this weekend, but I have been sick and could not really leave the house. I was disappointed because we had a great weekend planned. At least we could spend time together.

Our July consists of a huge amount of rennos. We have begun the process of painting the outside of the house. This is the first one. We thought we had decided on a colour, but dark colours really show up different in the sun and it just doesn't work. Then we tried another, still not the right one. So we are going to prime the entire house tonight and hopefully by Thursday can find an appropriate shade. We are going for a bit of a drastic colour, so you kind of need it to be "just" right. It should look great when it's done. Then we can finish the bathroom and begin the massive undertaking in the kitchen. I will be soooo happy when these are all finished. Anyway, this was just a quick update. I wanted to put some wedding pics up, but they don't load from the format I have them in, so I'll keep trying.

Canoe Trip, 10K and other stuff

We had a very busy month of May! First we went up to a cabin on Heritage Lake for May long weekend. It rained the entire time, but we had a lot of fun. We ate a lot, too. We go camping somewhere every May long. It is a tradition since I was in grade 3. A lot of special memories there. The next weekend was the Saskatchewan Marathon. I did the 10K along with a few others. My dad and a couple guys did the half marathon. Here is the crew.
Jenn, JoD, and I all ran the 10K.
I look really over dressed. It was the nicest weather I have ever run in. I am not sure why I was so cold that morning with the sun beating down on me. It was actually a struggle for me to get to the point of the run because I have been having trouble with my knees. It is actually quite frustrating. It felt great to be able to finish.

Then we were able to go on a canoe trip up north. We went up to the Churchill River. It was awesome! It was a great time of relaxation and rest (especially before a very busy last month of school). Here are a few pics. Danny and I after going through some awesome rapids.
Dad and Danny going through Mosquito rapids. It was a lot difficult than it looks.
JoDee and Tim, Dad, and Danny and I.
Danny sitting by the lake. It was so beautiful up there.
Me sitting by the lake. The blue canoe was the one that we used. It took me safely down many rapids.

ARRRGH!

So, last post I was feeling pretty pleased with myself because the little unwanted friends were just about gone. I spoke too soon. No, no, no. The ants are NOT gone much to my dismay. Does anyone know any remedy to rid these evil ones from my home? At least they are confined to one room. Some one, HELP!

The ANTS go marching....

I don't know if you all remember that song, "The ants go marching two by two, horah, horah, ...." Well I remember that I used to like it...until the decided to march 20 by 20 in my house. Yes, in my house. Three nights ago I was up all night dreaming that I had ants crawling all over my body in bed. No sleep that night. Well, it has been about 4 days with them and I think we have nipped it in the bud. Last year it took three weeks. We were prepared. They are coming in from the same place as last year but we can't figure out where. It is not fun. Last year was worse because we had thousands of them. No joke. Anyway, I tried everything under the sun last year. This year, we put two ant traps up and I sprinkiled baking powder down. I think all of those little creatures are gone. YEAH!!!!

Tick Tock Tick Tock

Time certainly flies by. Another year has come and gone. I had a great birthday this year. I want to mention a few highlights from my wonderful fam. My sister and I went shopping together one day when we were both off from work. We had a fantastic time! It was great just hanging out and sharing memories. Of course there was a lot of laughter. We started out with a fav from Wendy's - frosty and fries. Yummm! It was a nice treat. Then we headed to the mall. We found some great purchases and JoD told me to pick something out for my birthday. I came home with a really cute pair of black shoes. Thanks Tim and JoD! Thanks for the awesome day JoD. We need to do that more often. Then Danny took me out for supper on my birthday. We went to Moxie's because he knows how much I LOVE the white chocolate brownie. Had to include a picture of it. Yes, I ate it all. The 45 minute wait to get in was worth it. Then we went to a movie. It was a great night and just when I thought it was over, he pulled onto a gravel road on the way home. I had no idea what he was doing until I saw fireworks shooting up in the air. He knows that I can't get enough of them. It was amazing. A fireworks show just for me. Thanks honey. It was very romantic.
Then my parents had us over for supper to celebrate. One of my favourite meals (have you noticed I seem to really enjoy food) was made by my wonderful mother. Again, more laughter and talking. We never seem to get bored of that. Then, my birthday cake, an apple pie. Again, my favourite. This picture shows that I am not the only one excited about the pie. Jod, did you have too much sugar?
Thanks for the great celebration! You all made me feel very special. Luv ya lots.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I just wanted to say a shout out to my mom on her birthday! I am so lucky to live so close to both my parents. I am able to see them on a regular basis. I love my mom so much and wish her the best possible year ahead of her. She is a wonderful woman who does so much for all of us. Thanks for all you do. Have a super day today! Our family is heading in to the city for supper at Genesis. Yum!!! It is always a great time full of fun and laughter when my family gets together. I am very blessed. Happy Birthday Mom!

Waffles and Mold

Well, guys. I tried desperately to post pictures last night. Dial up just isn't the answer. It gets really frustrating. We are doing rennovations in our bathroom and I wanted some advice on what to do. The reason we plunged into this project is because we found black mold. It was quite disgusting. So, even though we were going to start this project in future months, alas, it was sped up. Ladies, it is not easy not having a working bathtub and shower. Luckily, my parents live a block away. That's right. Showers at their house all the time. It is convenient, but I tell you, it is time consuming. Anyway, we are not sure exactly what to put around our bathtub. A tub surround or tiles. It isn't easy to put a surround in because we have a window in the shower (which I hate). If we go with tiles, it is a lot more work and more expensive. What colour of tiles would we go with, too? Our bathroom is neutral colours and painted a light brown. Although I would like a punch of a bright colour in there. I don't know. White tiles. Tan tiles. No tiles. Advice is needed.

I also wanted to add that my wonderful husband made me an ego waffle the other morning for breakfast. That was sweet, but the best part was that he cut a smiley face into it. Sounds simple, but it sure cheered me up on a day that I needed it. Thanks sweetie. You are the best. I will never look at an ego waffle again without thinking of that little face smiling back at me.

Gingy

I decided to post of few pics of our little kitty. Ginger is so much fun and always makes us laugh. Her personality definitely suits her orange fur. She can be a little terror. For example, she likes to climb our ceiling and rip out the ceiling tiles, she broke a couple of Danny's die cast cars, she broke one of my dishes, she ripped down the shower bar and curtain....just to name a few. She really shouldn't just be lounging in the sink, but she was soooo cute. Believe it or not, she learned how to turn the tap on. I came home one day and the tap was running. Silly kitty. I guess now she needs to learn to turn it off, too.
Every time we leave the house this is how she says good bye to us. It really is quite adorable.
So, Ginger can be a terror, but she can also be the most cuddly kitty around. So, yes, I know I am babbling about my kitty, but she really is great. Some people wanted to see more pictures of her, too, so I thought, why not? Anyway, gotta run.

Of course you can't go to Disneyworld without a picture in front of the castle!!!
I had to talk Danny into going on this one! I couldn't miss it though.
I met a little friend along the way.
Everywhere you looked, there were bushes in the shape of different Disney characters. I loved that part so much. That was one memory I had from when I was little.
I love this pic. It is from the Animal Kingdom. The animals were beautiful to watch. I especially loved the baby elephant and giraffes. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of them.

Overall, we had a blast. Hightlights: Aerosmith roller coaster, tea cups (of course), fireworks, Everest Expedition roller coaster, Seaworld, Splash mountain, Big Thunder Railroad, Safaris, Medieval Feast, meeting Mickey, Space mountain, and soooooo much more!

More Trip Pics

Here are a few more trip pics. I know it has been awhile, but I have had trouble with my blog. Anyway, the 4 theme parks were amazing. The shows, fireworks, rides, and parades were amazing. I don't know if we even saw one person who was not happy. Of course, every time we saw a car we had to stop and take a picture. The tree above was from the Animal Kingdom. The picture doesn't do it justice. It was huge and looked so real. The tree of life. In the trunk there were detailed carvings. It was neat.

Disneyworld!

Well, we are back. We had a fantastic time. It was great to get off the plane and step into 25 degree weather. Disneyworld is truly the happiest place on earth. I laughed and laughed like I have not laughed in quite a long time. I will try to post more pictures later, but this dial up business is crazy. Let me just tell you a quick story about our buddy Mickey. Well, we were waiting and waiting for a chance to meet him. Finally, at the Magic Kingdom we found his house. He was no where in sight. Then we saw this line up in a barn behind his house. We went to check it out and it was a line to meet Mickey. Things are different there now. They have specific lines for each character and each character has a body guard. They don't just roam the parks. Anyway, we decided that we couldn't leave without a picture with Mickey, so we stood in line. When we got to the front of the line, I went to stand beside Mickey and he gave me a HUGE hug. He actually wouldn't let go of me. When Danny came, he hardly even wanted to shake his hand. notice in the picture his arm is still around me and NOT Danny. Anyway, Mickey was flirting with me. I can't believe it. When we went to Pooh bear, the same thing. You can really tell that there are men inside those mascot suits. Shamu the killer whale was a little happier to see Danny. We laughed about it for days. I'll post more later, but just wanted to let you know we had a fabulous trip! I don't really want to get back to reality. It is hard going back to life.

Mickey here we come!

So, I was told that I need to update my blog (Rhea) and I guess I really should. It has been a busy month at school. Anyway, the countdown is at 7 DAYS until we go to Disneyworld. I am so excited. I had a bit of a tanning nightmare. Well, everyone else thinks that it is just funny, but they are not the ones who are living with it. I decided that I did not want to show up in Florida as white as a ghost. So I decided to tan a little bit. I went in on Tuesday and apparently the tanning bed was hotter than regular beds. I was relaxed and warm (which is rare because I am always cold lately) and having a grand old time. I left the salon and went home. Three hours later I decided to try my bathing suit on. Well, I looked in the mirror and I was redder than I had ever been. Suddenly I realized why my butt and legs were burning. I had burnt myself BADLY. Yup! That is not the worst of it though. The tanning bed apparently had a bulb burned out, but I did not know that. You guessed it. All the way from my shoulder right down to my left ankle I have a 3 inch white line. It wouldn't be quite so noticeable if I was not so red. This is what I look like: tomato stripe, stripe of snow, tomato patch. Now I did not get much sympathy. Danny laughed and is still laughing 2 days later. Mom laughed. My fellow teachers laughed. Yeah. Not a pretty sight. If it didn't hurt so badly I might have laughed a bit harder. So I will probably go to Florida looking like a Canadian girl who tried to fake and bake. Oh well! At least I'll be in Florida. I am sure that Mickey and friends won't mind!

Back into Rountine Again

Once again, the Christmas holidays went far too quickly. We were able to stretch them out, but it is always tough to go back to work. We had a fabulous holiday! Danny and I had our Christmas on the 22nd. It seems like forever ago, but it was a special time together. I got a beautiful coffee table that matches perfectly in my house. I was very excited! We went all the way to my parents' house for a few days. We had a great time. Laughing and eating!! We played a bunch of games and had a good time. I think a highlight was watching my mother play poker. It was hilarious. We all are not very good and just played for fun, but she cleaned us out. I have a great picture of her with all of her winnings. I'll post that later.

After a fantastic time in Hepburn, we went to Fort Qu'Appelle to have Christmas with Danny's side. Again, lots of laughter, fun, EATING, and good times. We had a hockey match that ended up being a lot more like a tackle match into the snow. We were still there for New Years. It was fairly low key. We played games, looked at Christmas lights, and watched the countdowns on TV. It was nice and relaxing.

So, I am back to work. A pretty good first day other than the alarm ringing at 6:30. It was difficult to get up. The only thing keeping me going is that I am going on a trip with my wonderful husband in February. We are going to DISNEYWORLD and I am super excited. Just the two of us are going. It should be great. Now I just have to work off all of the turkey and cookies before going somewhere hot!!

I should get going. I hope you all had a fabulous holiday and I wish you a great new year.