A Planned and Last minute visit!

Mom and Elliott were coming out for a quick overnight visit to drop off some furniture and see the new house when Greg decided that he, Julie and the girls should join them! Why not? What a great idea! Although that meant I had to get a move on all my cooking projects Friday night cause I wouldn't have time on the weekend. I got all my perogies made and then got to work on the Easter cookies! I was up until 2am ugh...

Julie, Greg and the girls arrived just before lunchtime so I got my fresh home made perogies boiling and frying and made lunch for everyone. And, since I have my handy heating drawer on my new oven, I was able to have lunch ready for Mom and Elliott when they arrived over an hour later!

My first guests for a home cooked meal in our new home! How nice it could be on the deck outside!

Cute puppy - Kona

Sophie and Cali smiling for Auntie Holly

Posing for a quick picture!

Everybody wants pictures done!

The girls were so well behaved this weekend!!!

Hanging out in the kitchen!

A visit to the park around the corner from my house and fun on the slide!

Mom making Pine Cone animals for the kids!

We all headed off to Aunt Bettina and Uncle Donald's for Easter dinner... we all had a great time. Mom and Elliott stayed there as we only have one spare room and the Lehner's wanted to stay with us!

We offered to take Max for the night cause we have lots of room and Kona and Max are such good friends. They even wanted to sleep in the same kennel together... funny puppies...  All the dogs slept in the kitchen in their own boxes or own bed.

My Bridal Shower!

I headed down to Abby with Brian and the dogs for the weekend to do a tonne of wedding stuff, but most importantly, for my Bridal Shower! Julie did an amazing job and so many of my friends and family were there... it was just awesome! Thanks again for a super party Julie!

(I am sure there are lots of pictures, this is the only one I have though!!)

Dap & Flooring

I finally got some motivation today to work in the ensuite! I sanded down the walls, dapped everything that needed dapping (that was a lot because of the back splash being glued to the walls), I sanded the floor and then wiped down the walls.

Why stop there right? I installed the new flooring too! I think that part took about 3 hours but it sure looks great. Its the Allure flooring from Home Depot (a vinyl laminate interlocking floating floor).

Ok... I am off to do a bit more dapping so I can be ready for round 2 of sanding tomorrow so I can start the painting. After that, the toilet, sink and cabinet is all up to Brian!

Burger 55 - You Gotta Eat Here!

Brian bought a Groupon a few months ago for a burger place in Penticton that is being featured on the Food Channel's "You Gotta Eat Here" in May this year. We packed up the dogs and made the drive out to have burgers for lunch. Burger 55 is just as big as it looks in this picture, it was tiny!! More of a 'to-go' kind of place, but great burgers non the less. I love Groupon... its such a great way to try these places you might not otherwise go to!

Glen Canyon

I decided to take the dogs out for a hike while Brian was working... the snow has finally cleared so I was able to get down the trails close to our house. It was so slippery before so we weren't able to really explore it. The trail is so tiny and steep to get down to the bottom of the Canyon but really cool once you get there. The only problem is once you are down there, you have to climb back up again again. I found a spot further south of where we came down that brought us back up a few streets over... it was quite the workout though! Also... when I got home I had a little freak out when I found a tick on me... totally forgot that there are ticks out here.... ugh!! I jumped in the shower and thew all my clothes in the wash... yuck!!!! (the dogs were ok, I checked them out too!!)

Lunch Break

I worked the last 3 days with Don (Uncle Donald) and Barbra... they kept me busy this week!! Never thought I would be writing database code and I never thought it would start making sense either! Haha. Anyhow, its an interesting change from all the accounting. Yesterday I went out for lunch and ate at the beach... even when its overcast here its still amazing (see above!).

No new prospects on the job front... my interview last week went well, but I didn't get the job as I wasn't qualified enough (I knew that going in, but it was still worth a try!). So, I will keep on looking! Just catching up on some house work this morning and then will hopefully get going with getting the ensuite ready for painting!!

En Suite Reno Underway

The only thing functioning in our en suite right now is the shower. Brian finished ripping out the counter today and ripped out the old lino off the floor. It looks bad now, but will look pretty cool soon... wonder how long it will take us to finish?! Brian is going to put in the new flooring and then I will get the room painted and we will go from there!

Just after the cabinet came out

The view of the en suite from the shower (the door to our bedroom is on the left)

Employment Update...

Well, I have been unemployed for 2.5 weeks now. Wish I could say I feel good about it, but I don't. Having time off is nice, but only when there is vacation pay and nicer weather (snowed again today)!!! I have started working part-time for my Uncle's software company... it's really nice to work with family. I still have to find a second part-time job or full-time job.I have an interview on Friday so wish me luck!

Wedding Dress Cookies!

I decided that I am going to make cookies for the wedding favors. When I went to buy the cookie cutter I wanted from the Bulk Barn (best store in the world by the way)... I ended up getting a wedding set of 4 cookie cutters in it and one was a wedding dress cutter. My bridal shower is a couple weeks away... and I know I am not supposed to do anything for it, but, I couldn't help myself!!!!

What can I say? I am only working 2 days a week now... need to fill my time with something!! And they did turn out so pretty :) (No one needs to know I made the cookies, maybe Julie just bought them somewhere! It will be our secret!)

Dresses, Dresses, Dresses

Brian and I made a quick trip down to Abby... I wanted to spend some time with family after Nana passed and needed to work on some wedding stuff, so, we made the drive!

Cali and Sophie modeling their flower girl dresses...  super cute

We found Julie an awesome Maid of Honor Dress (the one around her neck in the purple color she is holding)

Bribery will get you every where with kids.... cupcakes for those little girls who behaved in the Dress Store!

Oh Sophie... hard to get her sitting still!

It was a quick trip... but I got lots done. Jeanie and I planned out their back yard for the wedding... Brian asked John to be the best man, Nadia and I hit Michael's to go over ideas for hair clips and decor... and, we have 3 contacts for wedding commissioners!

Dog Walk

I took the dogs for a walk around lunch time today. Tag needs the exercise, Kona needs to burn off energy and its good for me too! We went on the main trail we already knew about and when walking around the neighborhood I found for sure at least one more trail entrance and one possible (it's not marked). If there wasn't so much snow everywhere I would have checked it out more.

Master Bedroom Painted!

I finished painting the master bedroom today. Brian and I both really didn't like the burgundy color the room was, it just felt to dark and it was not the best color. When we were selecting colors, we both really still liked the  dark colors, but I wanted to make sure the room felt bright so I suggested a feature wall... I wanted to do something different.... hope you like the end result!!

Before with the Burgundy (not our stuff either)

Another before... note the wooden plank coat hanger... we removed it!!!

After! The wall at the head of the bed is a very light purple/grey color and the rest of the room is a dark eggplant

I added the birch tree decals as something different to give the room a bit of character.

I still need to repaint all the moldings and doors to freshen up the white... but the changes are starting to look so nice! Can't wait to get the floors redone too... but that's probably a year or more away. Old carpets for now!

Main Bathroom Toilet Installed! Yaay!!

Sorry for blogging so much about toilets! Its kind of a big deal when the 2 in your house aren't or are only partially functioning! The main bathroom toilet had to be replaced first as it is not working at all. Our problem as mentioned before was that the toilets were only 14" and the standard now is much higher, therefore, the counters built around the toilet has to go!

Before - The short broken toilet

Toilet removed, counter almost gone

Counter fully gone, new toilet going in!

New toilet good to go!!

I am so impressed with Brian... other than taking these pictures and buying the toilet seats at Home Depot yesterday,  Brian did the whole demo and install! He did an amazing job... now I am sure you are looking at the wall behind the toilet and thinking "what is she talking about?" We are going to finish that part of the wall when we replace the counter. There is no point in repairing it all and painting when its all going to have to be ripped up again.

Ok... just trying to get motivation to finish painting the bedroom today... only 1 more coat and then I can show it off!!

Happy 33rd Birthday Julie!

33 is a good year... I know you will enjoy it! Wish I could be there!!

In Memory of a very special Nana....

Nana passed away last night. I will miss her so much as she was so special to me. In June she would have been 97 years old. She has had a great life full of wonderful family and experiences. Here are some random photos I took from the albums I dug out of boxes this morning (we are still unpacking).

Grandpa and Nana with Victoria

Marie and Nana

Me and Nana this past Christmas, as it turns out, my last visit with her.

Nana with Kristy and me at the cabin

Nana on the deck at the house in Mission

Grandpa's Ash spreading in Kelowna with all her kids

Christmas with Elaine and Bob... probably about  13-15 years ago

Nana with Diane and Elaine

Nana with Donald and Bob

Bathroom Reno(s)

As mentioned before... we have spent a lot of time shopping for toilets. Who would have ever guessed its harder to pick out than paint or appliances!! Ugh... anyhow, we finally settled on 2 American Standard Dual Flush toilets. An oblong for Brian and a round bowl for me.... now the next fun part.... installation

We no longer have a toilet in the main bathroom... this was the broken one, so it has to be fixed first otherwise if something went wrong with the other one, we would have no toilet. The other fun problem we were having was that the old toilets and counters were made for midgets... well, not really, but a 30" counter isn't good for Brian or me especially with being tall. Not to mention, the counter has a pork chop that jets out over the extremely short toilet (14" bowl height! wow). Brian has cut out the pork chop in the main bathroom... but now we are thinking we might as well replace the cabinets too, get it all done in one shot. We actually found a cabinet for the en suite last night at Home Depot for $89 and it even comes with a mirror... we are talking about the cabinet for the main bathroom as it costs a bit more, but sure would be nice to get it all done at once especially since we are trying to paint over all this darn yellow in the house... have I mentioned everything is yellow?? 

Tag... never too far away.... He has been sticking to me like glue lately, he always senses my stress or upset and thinks he needs to watch over! haha... what a great dog.

Photography by Holly Resurrected?

Its been an interesting couple weeks.... all the stresses of moving and on top of that, loosing your job. Today is the official first day of unemployment. I had to give notice at my new job 2 weeks ago because of something I discovered (not going to get into the details here and it was nothing I did wrong) but even though its a scary thing to loose a job, its not a bad thing. Lucky for me, an ex-wedding photographer, I have moved to the wedding capital of BC! Anyhow, I am going to jump back in again... wish me luck! Don't worry, still looking for a great position with a company, but isn't it nice to be self sufficient? Takes the stress off a bit!!

We Moved!

We have finally made our move to the new house! But not just the new house, our own house! Unfortunately I have no pictures of the actual move as its the first time we have moved where we did it on our own. Yes, couches, beds, everything you can imagine that is heavy, I helped Brian take it down a flight of stairs at the rental house and into the moving truck... and then we unloaded it too. It is a week later now and I am still sore! We were very fortunate to have the help of Andy Bet and Barbra on day 2... they met me at the rental house and we put in a good 4 hours of cleaning and packing the remaining stuff which ended up taking 3 vehicle loads so we had to call in Uncle Donald with the Tahoe! We then caravanned back to the new house and unloaded and had cabbage rolls for lunch that Andy Bet so thoughtfully brought along. What a weekend!

Picture of the laundry room paint job in progress.... I needed to get this painted before the new washer and dryer arrived.  Unfortunately, the ones that came with the house were gone when we took possession so it was a necessary purchase.

Ahhh.... can I say that I am in love with my new appliances?  They were not as necessary as the washer and dryer as the old ones were still in place, but, I guess I don't need to explain... you all know how I am! Anyhow, once you try a convection oven, you will never go back! Wow!

Ok, I lied! I have one picture from moving day... classic McDonald's for  breakfast with any event in life... haha, it is always the thing to do!

Toilet shopping... 4 stores later, we finally picked out 2 that we are happy with, American Standard  Dual Flush (we have to pay for water here so it made sense to go dual flush to save water). Did I forget to mention when we moved into the house the main bathroom toilet was broken and the ensuite toilet (which we already knew was cracked) was leaking in a not good way. Ugh....

We love our new house... so many projects on the go and projects for the future. I will post more pictures soon as there are going to be alot of changes!!