The Palmer Family

5@5

2012-02-10T17:00:00.007-07:00

It's that time again...

Lately I have been going to bed early (because I have to leave the house at 6am to get to work) and I use my cell phone as an alarm clock. This means that I cannot turn my phone onto silent so it has to be on vibrate. Van texted me last week at 10am (which used to be an acceptable time to text) but it woke me up and I thought that it was 5:30am. I was pretty disoriented. When I fell back asleep I dreamt about Van ALL night. I dreamt that he was dating my sister and I was super ticked off because she is half his age. Moral of the story - don't text me after 8:30pm unless you want me to dream about you. And don't date my sister.

I love wearing scrubs to work! I have been realizing lately how awesome it is. Not only did I NOT have to buy work clothes but I also don't have to pick out my outfit everyday. Plus I'm super comfortable all day long and I get to wear running shoes!!

Our curse with technology has ended...knock on wood

Lunging is the new walking. Last week after we went to see an improv show at the university Ryan lunged halfway back to the car with me. I couldn't stop laughing. Lunging is the best!

I picked Ryan up at the university yesterday and I once again realized how much I miss school. I have been crazy busy with work and haven't had much time to think about it - but I'm experiencing withdrawls. I'm just glad that I had such a great experience with it all and someday hopefully I'll be able to go back.

Best Superbowl EVER!

2012-02-09T10:05:00.005-07:00

This week I am thankful for the New York Giants! They won the Superbowl on Sunday and thanks to a little bet, Ryan is now stuck doing ALL the dishes this week.

...actually he usually does them - but this week I don't have to feel guilty about it!

Am I Allowed To Make Children Cry?

2012-02-08T10:45:00.001-07:00

This week for our date we played Mall Bingo! Ryan came up with this when we were first dating and we decided to do it again. First of all you have to chose a place to eat for dinner. This time we went to Five Guys. It was my first time and I really wasn't impressed. I have had MUCH better burgers at other places. To each their own though...

While we were waiting for our food we filled out our bingo cards. Basically you just fill in things that you might see at the mall. I filled out Ryan's card and he filled out mine. If you are not easily offended then you should click on our bingo sheets below. If you are easily offended I suggest that you don't!! This time we added the clause that you had to draw pictures to go along with each thing.

Then we went to chinook mall and walked around together looking for the things on our sheets. It really is entertaining. Ryan and I laughed pretty much the entire time. Every time we walked by children I was intently staring them down to see if A) they were crying B) if they had anything dora on their person C) were red headed and D) if they were wearing a leash.

(I may or may not have been sticking my tongue out at children to see if I could make them cry)

My favorite moment was when I said "nobody wears jean on jean anymore" and then 2 seconds later a guy with jeans and a jean jacket walked by! Win!

The Ugly One was definitely up there on my favorite moments list too!

Favorite Conversation:

Ryan: I'm about to rip someone's arm off

Amber: Can you make it a child so that it will cry?

Ryan enjoyed seeing the gay men holding hands and also enjoyed looking at every girls butt to see if their underwear was hanging out haha.

People watching at the mall is WAY more fun than shopping!

I WON! (last time I lost so I had to try really hard this time!)

Ryan was angry

the final sheets

It was pretty funny because the majority of the ones that I thought for sure Ryan would find he didn't and vice versa.

I can't wait to do this again soon! So much fun!

Empty Birthday Bags

2012-02-07T10:37:00.002-07:00

We got invited to Audrey's FIRST birthday party on the weekend. I am still shocked that it has been a year since she was born. I can still clearly remember the day that Willie and Anna told us that they were pregnant. We were happy to be invited to celebrate Willie not killing Audrey off in the first year (thank goodness for Anna)! There was good food, cake and lots of people there to celebrate.

We got Audrey a Grover stuffed animal. I think that she liked it...

Isn't she adorable?!

Famous

2012-02-06T09:58:00.002-07:00

Ryan was part of an improv show at Dickens Pub. Van went with me and we got a massive amount of nachos. Chris Menzies and his girlfriend joined us for a while and we laughed A LOT.

ryan looking sOoOo good

the creepy chucky doll that was staring down at our table the entire time

After the show Ashley and Nick came and sat with us and we talked till much later than I should have been up - but we had such a great time. Ryan got paid for this show so it was even more exciting! I love going to his shows. My husband is one funny guy!

Bowling Fail

2012-02-03T10:00:00.001-07:00

On Saturday I was craving hot dogs so we went on a hot date to Tubby Dog! If you haven't been to this place and you live in Calgary then you should DEFINITELY check it out. Not only can you get awesome/messy/creative/delicious food - but you can also play Pac Man!

I got the A-Bomb and Ryan got the Sumo-Dog

After we got food we were going to go bowling with the Heyland's and the Roy's but everywhere had over an hour wait. Instead we went and partied at Danny and Mindy's house. It was a great night!!

Rodent Cupcakes

2012-02-02T17:49:00.001-07:00

Groundhog's day is kind of a big deal around our house. Every year that I have known Ryan we have made these cupcakes. They usually end up looking different every time, but I still love them! We are gearing up for the Groundhog's Day that we end up having children. Then I'm really going to go all out. Groundhog's Day will be their second favorite holiday - since there is no competing with Christmas.

I hope that you all had a great Groundhog's Day....we sure have so far!!

p.s. what is up with Balzac Billy? He is a mascot...NOT even a REAL groundhog. I guess with a name like Balzac you can't expect too much.

Series of (un)Fortunate Events

2012-02-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Unfortunate Event: Ryan's computer is not working properly.

Unfortunate Event: We are now forced to watch movies in the office on the desktop instead of in bed on the laptop

Unfortunate Event: Ryan hadn't showered that day and we smelled stinky feet (his response was that he is becoming more of a man and is overpowering his deodorant...right)

Fortunate Event: Ryan took a shower

Unfortunate Event: The smell was there the next day

Unfortunate Event: This caused a half hour search of the room to find rotten food or dead bodies

Fortunate Event: Ryan found the camera behind the desk that we lost a year ago

Unfortunate Event: We didn't find the dead body/rotten food and therefore MUST conclude that our upstairs neighbours are dead body hoarders

Fortunate Event: Now we know

Unfortunate Event: That probably means we're next....

Very Unfortunate Event: Our office still smells

OORAH

2012-01-31T10:15:00.000-07:00

In September Ryan's brother Andrew joined the US Marines. He started boot camp and graduated right before Christmas. He did incredibly well and was named the Company Honor Man. He went through a lot over the three months and I didn't even hear half the stories. I guess that is to be expected though, as the Marines have the toughest boot camp. He graduated the top of his class and survived the Crucible.

Ryan and I are so proud of him. Now he is off doing infantry training.

Andrew's platoon 3247

Thespians

2012-01-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Kirk was in a play. He had the best western accent. It was a short play but we laughed A LOT! He had a big part and had to memorize a lot of lines - I was impressed.

Ryan's favorite part of the play was Kirk's hill-billy accent and the characters math skills or lack of skills. My favorite part was when Kirk when off stage to go squirrel hunting and a squirrel came flying onto the stage! His red long john's were awesome too!!

5 @ 5

2012-01-29T17:00:00.010-07:00

I saw this idea on Paige's blog and I stole it! It is just a great way to blog about things that you can't write a full blog post on - but want to remember. Here's my 5@5!

While at Ryan's parents house his Dad grabbed us and showed us the mouse trap that was outside. They had caught a mouse and there was another mouse eating it. Cannibal mice!

All of our technology has stopped working this week. Our Mac is acting up and going super slow. The car wouldn't start and once we got that fixed, the engine light has come on. Tonight we tried to use Ryan's Bose with the i-pod and it wouldn't work. We are cursed. I honestly think that everything stopped working because I'm now making money and the universe thinks that I can afford it now.

We have discovered a new show - Happy Endings! It is hilarious.

Last night we had dinner by candle light just because. I made chicken and dumplings and it was delicious!

I start work at 7am most mornings and I have to leave the house by 6:30am, which means that we have been going to bed around 9:30-10pm. I have always classified myself as a night owl, but I seriously have never felt this good. It is great to go to bed early and get up early! Ryan is awesome and has gotten onto the same schedule as me. Now that I write this all that I can think is OLD married couple. I guess we are 25 now. Come to think of it I should probably start taking an aspirin everyday and stock up on Depends.

...I may have googled cannibal mice and wasted half an hour. It was very informative!

Too Bad They Didn't Give Us Tights...

2012-01-28T10:00:00.001-07:00

Cool Runnings

2012-01-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

...Jamaica we have a bobsled team

This year for Ryan's 25th birthday we went bobsledding at Calgary Olympic Park. We sat in a bobsled and went around the same corner that the Jamaica bobsled team wiped out on at the Olympics in 1988. The whole experience was crazy but really cool at the same time. There is a professional driver and then three other people in the bobsled. You experience up to 5 G's and make it down the track in 60 seconds reaching speeds of 120 km/hr.

Ryan sat in the back and I sat right behind our driver Trevor. We were told that the most intense place to sit is at the back of the bobsled and Ryan will vouch for that. He was a little bit sore after we were done. The whole thing was interesting because when you go around the corners your head gets pushed down and you can't lift it up because of the G-force.

Here is the picture evidence...

we went down in the black one

showing off the fancy toques that they gave us

my cheeks are too big for helmets like these... it gave me cheek cleavage

we made it down in 60.38 seconds. the second fastest run that day

Just so that you can visualize the craziness - here is a video

Our driver told us that the record bobsled time is around 53 seconds. We were only 7 seconds slower!! They also have luge rides at COP so we may have to check those out too in the near future.

Breakfast Idea!

2012-01-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

This is the cake that I made for Ryan's birthday. We ate left-over cake for breakfast all weekend- I love being an adult!!

To make this delicious goodness - just make a chocolate cake. After it has cooled poke holes in it with the other end of a wooden spoon. Then cover it with a can of sweetened condensed milk. Let the cake sit for a couple hours so that it can absorb and then top with whipped cream and crushed up skor bars. Sometimes I even put chocolate sauce on it. It is a crowd pleaser and so easy!

Cold Feet

2012-01-19T10:07:00.003-07:00

Every year I get amnesia. If you talk to me in the summer I will tell you that the previous winter was NOT THAT BAD. It is due to this medical condition that I remain living in Calgary. This year we had a VERY mild winter up until this week. On Monday the cold snap hit. On Tuesday the car wouldn't start. Normally this would be okay, but I'm a working woman now. I have to be into work at 7am and it takes me half an hour to get to work. So Ryan called me a taxi, with the intention of getting the car working and then coming to pick me up after work. That didn't happen so I took another taxi home.

I have never taken a taxi in Calgary and MY GOODNESS they are expensive. All that I can say is that I will be waking up early enough for the next couple of days that if the car doesn't start then I'll be able to walk to the C-Train and take transit to work.

I'm just hoping that this winter isn't as cold as they are forecasting it to be. I'm a wimp.

Spoiled

2012-01-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I share a birthday. I am selfish and wanted a day all to myself. So this year we decided to have a cake on our birthday and then the next two saturdays would be a special day for each of us.

I had no complaints this year! Ryan really spoiled me.

I woke up to cinnamon buns and we just spent the morning relaxing in bed.

Then he surprised me with a couples spa package. We spent the day getting massages, pedicures and facials. It was relaxing and just what I needed. I have never had a facial or a pedicure before and I think I'm in love. I tried to convince Ryan to get his toe nails painted..but he wouldn't go for it. To top it all off after getting pampered they fed us a late lunch too.

Barbie pink! The perfect colour for winter!

When we got home we continued with the relaxing and Ryan made hamburgers. I was hungry so you get to see the half eaten hamburger haha

As if that wasn't enough - he got me a book!

This year has definitely been one of my favourite birthdays! Thanks for being man enough to get a pedicure with me Ryan! I love you!

Salty Eyes

2012-01-17T10:13:00.003-07:00

This video deserves its own post.

While waiting for the cake to soften at Dairy Queen, my family played a game. Basically one sugar packet gets dumped out and filled with salt. Then everyone takes a package and tosses it back.

It is sugar pack roulette.

...perfect!

Just For Laughs Birthday

2012-01-16T10:59:00.006-07:00

My favourite younger sister, Tiffany, turned 17 on January 10th. She is a glorious girl. Ryan and I love spending time with her because she is SO cool.

For her birthday we went out for Vietnamese food. It was perfect because I was seriously craving some vermicelli happiness. When we walked into the restaurant it was quiet and peaceful. We can't help but be loud and obnoxious when we get together, so we changed the atmosphere all together.

me and the birthday girl

my brothers being overly inappropriate

...in bed?

Dave wanted a burger - not Vietnamese food...
(I'm going to get in trouble for posting this)

After dinner we decided that a cake was necessary. Jon still had to drive home to Strathmore so instead of going back to my parents house we just ate the cake at Dairy Queen. Tiffany picked out a beautiful little mermaid cake. She has a soft spot for gingers and fish.

we're professionals and this was too perfect not to post

We sure love you Tiffany! Thanks for being the awesomest!

COOOOOOKIES

2012-01-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

Part of our Christmas present to Jon and Joanna was a coupon for babysitting. We were SO happy when they decided to use it! We spent the day with their three kids and we had the best time ever!

we made a fort and watched a movie in it/ read some books.

Josee got her toenails painted

and her hair did

we had a couple dance parties to michael jackson - obviously. Ashton had the butt shimmy down

we played lots of trains with Carson and his new train set

we were too busy playing (or hyper from the cookies) to look at the camera

we took a trip over to the playground and spent the majority of the time on the swings. Ashton couldn't stop saying "WOW" and Carson and Josee braved Ryan's under-dogs.

my nephews and nieces are the cutest!

The Soup Company Draw

2012-01-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

Now for the moment you have ALL been waiting for!

I wrote down the names of the lovely ladies who commented.

I enlisted my over enthusiastic husband to hold his hat out with the names in it

and I randomly picked

...this

....name

Congratulations lady! Shoot me an email/text and I'll get you your delicious soup!

mmmm soup!

OH It's a Tiara!

2012-01-13T21:01:00.004-07:00

I've been busy - so you'll have to wait for the magical soup winning draw. To tide you over I have this gem. I have never loved Amy Farrah Fowler more than tonight...

I may or may not have watched this 7 times already.

Free Stuff!!

2012-01-08T10:00:00.010-07:00

My sister-in-law Shelley started up a company a couple years ago and she sells soup and other delicious things. I have been pretty lucky and she gives me some every once in a while. I thought that I would share the love with you guys, since I am the luckiest and get the love from my family!

Here's the deal:
1. follow and become a member of my blog (join this site)
2. like The Soup Company on facebook
3. comment and tell me that you have done both of these things/ how awesome you think I am (haha)
...and I will enter your name into the draw for your choice of the soups!

For an extra ballot you can post something about this on your blog - just let me know in the comments as well. You have until Thursday January 12 I'll be drawing a name the next day!!

These soups are SO good and the best part is that all you have to do is add water - super easy. When I make these for dinner they feed Ryan and I for a couple days and I take it every day for lunch. Yum! I think that I will make some more tonight!

OH OH and if you want fast and easy cookies you should get some of her soft chocolate chip cookies. They are dangerous. If you don't want to gain 20 pounds I would suggest staying away from them....they are addictive! Seriously!

These are just some of the delicious options - she also sells potato cheddar...but we ate it before I could take a picture. Mmmm!

Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle...Yeah!

2012-01-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

My parents invited Ryan and I over for a birthday celebration dinner. Mom made an awesome dinner with a roast, potatoes and asparagus with hollandaise sauce. It was delicious!

the night involved tiffany photo bombing

ryan showing off his black man lips

tiffany taking artsy pictures of the food

being puzzled by trivial pursuit

making AWESOME faces

opening presents and of course playing Monopoly Deal!

This year I got a cookie dough and a muffin dough scoop thing (I have been wanting one of these forever!!). And a mini metal spatula. Ryan got a movie, the trivial pursuit travel size game and a gift card to Coras.

We had a great time and felt very loved! It definitely eased some of the pain that I have felt for turning 25. This is the first year that I have actually dreaded my birthday. I'm getting OLD!!

Night Terror

2012-01-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

I never realized how weird I am when I sleep until I got married...

On our bed we have a body pillow that lays under our separate pillows. At night Ryan puts his pillow under his arm and just uses the body pillow under his head. The other night I yanked the body pillow out from under Ryan's head while I was sleeping. He woke up because his head smacked the bed. I sat up and told him that I was sorry.

THEN I threw the body pillow off my side of the bed and fell asleep.

Ryan decided it wasn't worth it to go get it and went back to sleep as well.

I (of course) don't remember this at all - but at least I was polite and apologized before I was a jerk and threw away the pillow!!

-15 Wrinkles

2012-01-05T14:24:00.001-07:00

This is what our joint 25th birthday looked like...

An early afternoon breakfast + a chocolate peanut butter ice-cream cake = birthday success

Beating Seals With...Mindy

2012-01-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

This year for New Years Eve we partied it up with the Goldthorps. Julie and Jordan had a party and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Our night was full of conversation, Balderdash, Things in a Box, Poker, more conversation and lots of eating.

the wooden airplanes were dangerous

we found out that Sophie got into law school - yay!

we all wrote something that we didn't like about our lives/ ourselves from the past year and threw it into the fire

poker! poker!

Ryan and I brought in the New Year with a kiss - the best way to start the year! This past year has been pretty good but I'm excited for a new one. 2012 brings me a new career, Ryan finishing his undergraduate and much more!

Happy New Year!!

The Mayans Are Coming

2012-01-03T20:02:00.001-07:00

This is the last family photo that we took this year. I love it!

Please take note of the TIME MACHINE in the left corner. I'm so glad that it could make it into the photo for posterities sake. That microwave is magical and large!

Hot!

2012-01-03T11:18:00.012-07:00

Things have been busy! To relax we decided to go out for some hot chocolate. Second Cup has the best Vanilla Bean Hot Chocolate so we brought Cribbage (thanks Santa) and got ourselves some.

We attempted to figure out how to play Cribbage from the instructions but it wasn't really clear and we gave up! Instead we used the cards to play Idiot.

Just thinking about the hot chocolate makes my mouth water! It is seriously delicious! I have a hard time waiting long enough to drink it and I end up burning my mouth.

Oh yeah and Ryan broke the chair in the picture above. I'm pretty sure it was already broken before he sat on it... either way it was still just as funny!

Zoo Lights

2012-01-02T11:13:00.010-07:00

I have never been to Zoo Lights before. One year I attempted to go but when we got there the line up was too big and we gave up and went home. This year I finally got to go check out what everyone has been talking about. My brother Jon called and invited us to go and we were all over it! We went with their CUTE family and it made everything 10 times more exciting.

We bumped into Chris and he hooked us up with free hot chocolate. He is the best!

Between playing on the playground, bowling for snowmen and watching a hay fight - we were pooped when we came home. The Hughes' know how to party!

If you decide to go I recommend that you show up early. We got there at 5pm and there was barely anyone there. When we left at 7ish it was packed!!

This slide wasn't slippery but it was still VERY exciting

Jon and Josee had quite the hay fight. It was entertaining to watch and I didn't even have to get covered in hay!

Just looking at this picture I can hear Carson's growl!

Thanks for inviting us Jon and Joanna!

I Am A Cougar

2012-01-01T10:36:00.005-07:00

Happy New Year!

....and Happy Birthday to my favourite husband Ryan!

Here are 25 things that I love about Ryan in honour of his 25th birthday

He is the most rounded person I know - he will go to the ballet, bungee jumping, football games and watch chic flicks and he even enjoys it or at least pretends to haha
The alter-egos that he has are awesome! He makes the best voices. Devin is my favourite!
Ryan can always make me smile
He is one of the smartest people that I know. It comes naturally to him but he also works really hard
I have never doubted that he is attracted to me. He tells me daily that I am beautiful and that he loves me
He has the same addiction to good television that I have! We have been through several different series since we've been married and I love just cuddling with him and watching a good show
I don't think that he has ever criticized something that I have made. He isn't picky at all and is just fine with me experimenting with food in the kitchen. Remember the time that I made cookies and threw them out because they didn't turn out right - well he fished them out of the garbage and ate them all. That is dedication.
Ryan is my favourite person to have dance parties with - he has some seriously good moves!
He is a nerd and I love it!
Ryan can hold his own in any social situation. I never have to worry about leaving him alone when we go to social events
He knows how to cuddle. Most times I have to convince myself to get out of bed in the morning because he is so comfortable and warm
At least once every week he makes me breakfast in bed. His eggs and bacon are the best around
Ryan is competitive but a good winner/loser
He doesn't kick me or snore in his sleep. He also puts up with me talking in my sleep and doing other interesting things
He loves to camp and go on adventures with me!
Ryan never expects me to do all of the housework/cooking. He is always willing to help and consistently tells me that it isn't just my job to do
We share very similar dreams and plans for the future. He is supportive of my dreams and always pushes me to do the things that are important.
Ryan always makes time for me - even when he is ridiculously busy
He is my best friend
He cares about my family and his, and would do anything for them
Ryan appreciates or at least pretends to appreciate my quirkiness. I feel more comfortable with him than anyone else and as such he gets to hear some pretty crazy things. I make up words, sing out of tune and the list goes on and on
He is VERY talented musically. He can play the cello, piano, guitar and has a killer singing voice. For the most part he has good taste in music and I love the new groups that he introduces me too
Ryan knows how to make me feel good about myself
He has the same love of reading that I have. We read similar books and I love that we get to talk about them
He is ridiculously good looking and he is ALL mine! Yesssssssssss!

I love you Ryan! Thanks for being born. I can't think of anyone else that I would rather share a birthday with!

Round Two

2011-12-31T11:01:00.003-07:00

After spending Dec. 23 to the 27th at the Palmers house - we went over to my parents house. Corey&Shelley and Scott&Kari also came for the after Christmas party. We ate lots of food, went bowling, opened presents, went swimming at Southland Leisure Centre and went to see a movie (Tin-Tin). It was great to see the nephews and nieces open their Christmas presents. They were too cute!

this is what I got when I asked for a SASSY picture! haha

ryan really knows how to rock out

Highlights

beating scott, ryan and shelley at bowling (the first game anyways)
bowling left handed and getting a strike!!
ratuki
going swimming and all of the battle wounds
corey being a princess and not wanting to do anything
unscrewing sarah's guitar to fix it and once it was put together realizing that we missed putting the guitar straps back in
waking up to the chorus of jeff burps
all of the delicious baking and food (thanks mom)
getting to spend some time with grandma
opening presents with the nephews and nieces that were there
sitting on the counter and talking to tiffany
hearing all about how drew saw santa this year
copper copper, lead lead, iron iron, tin-tin

First Annual Brothers Brunch

2011-12-30T12:08:00.001-07:00

Christmas at the Palmers house is full of testosterone. Since there are six boys in Ryan's family, his mom and I are the only females in the bunch. I attempted to fit in by playing some first person shooter games but I'm hopeless. I even tried out Axis and Allies but gave up after the first turn. I guess I'll just leave the boy stuff to the boys and pray for a sister-in-law soon!

Ryan spent boxing day playing Axis and Allies with Jesse, Ty and Nigel. They played for around six hours. I am consistently amazed that playing a game that lasts for that long can enthral and entertain them the entire time. I'm just glad that most of the guys that Ryan plays with throughout the year have AWESOME wives that I can hang out with.

Jesse took the boys out for breakfast/lunch on the last day that we were there. While they were gone, I hung out with Ryan's mom and we talked. Upon their return we had a photo shoot.

and the usual...

Round One

2011-12-29T21:39:00.002-07:00

Christmas was great this year! Ryan's Dad had to do security at the Nativity from 9am-12pm so we didn't start opening presents until after lunch. My patience was tested but it did help to stretch the anticipation further. We opened presents for a solid 5 hours. Someone gets up and gives everyone a present and then we all watch each person open their present in turn. Often in between rounds of opening presents the toys are put together and breaks are taken....how is that for patience?! I learned that if you open the presents too fast then it lets all the love out - who knew!!

these are Ryan's old snow pants - Nigel got them as a present. lucky him!

nerf guns aren't what they used to be...

Highlights:

all the boys getting knives, nerf and airsoft guns - if there is EVER a zombie apocalypse we are definitely headed to the Palmer's house
modern family
hot tub
amurrrrica
andrew being home and all of the boot camp stories
epic meal time and the bacon tree
christmas pajamas...from china
ty's five for one resource card trade with nigel
several games of settlers and ratuki
christmas eve and christmas day dinner
homemade oreo cookies
the "talent" show
kirk's bucky balls
the first present of lighter fluid
stockings
airsoft wars
reading and relaxing
all the boney m you can imagine...not!
the anonymous BACON air freshener for hot wheels

Christmas is Carnage!

2011-12-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

This year we spent Christmas with the Palmer's. We have had so much fun! On Christmas Eve we read through the nativity, sang Christmas songs and had a mini talent show.

Kirk played the trumpet and we sang along

Andrew played the Little Drummer Boy on his stomach as his talent....awesome!

Our contribution was the Palmer Christmas Jib Jab. haha

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

... we went to the Alberta Ballet Nutcracker.

Due to the busyness of our December - we haven't quite been able to finish our advent calendar (notice how this is ONLY the twelfth day of Christmas haha). A lot of the activities we can do after Christmas and so we will be doing them later on. These tickets were a surprise from Ryan - so it wasn't really part of our advent but we substituted it in anyways.

I had a smile on my face for the entire performance. I REALLY enjoyed it! The costumes, the sets, the dancing, and the music all came together for such a magical performance. If it wasn't so expensive for tickets then I would definitely go every year!

ryan got us great seats. it was such a thoughtful surprise!

this is the set at intermission - they put so much detail into everything

At the end of the night we went home and ate these delicious Crave Cupcakes that Brenda gave to us. It was a perfect end to a perfect night!

I also forgot to mention that last week we went to The Christmas Carol that was put on by the Cochrane High School. Nigel helped out and it was fun to go see another festive play this holiday!

Center of Gravity

2011-12-26T10:01:00.002-07:00

We took a day trip to Edmonton. We met up with Corey, Shelley and their family to spend the day in the water park doing this:

the new cyclone waterslide was awesome! definitely worth the trip to the waterpark

Corey wanted to go bungee jumping so Ryan and I joined him. It was my second time and it was JUST as scary!

this is DEFINITELY the best waterpark that I have been to

It was a quick trip as we drove to and from Edmonton all in one day, but it was a blast!

2011-12-25T10:49:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas from the Palmer Family!

Totally BA

2011-12-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

This is what it looks like to be done your bachelor of arts in sociology...

On Tuesday I walked out of my last exam, just in time to pose for this picture. I think we can both agree that I worked it. Eight years later I am officially BA! Watch out if you ever see me in an alley.

On The Eleventh Day of Christmas...

2011-12-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

...we tried to get a picture with Santa but he heard we were coming and didn't show up. Turns out we were too naughty this year.

no santa

Maybe next year.

On The Tenth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

...we made out!

ryan can't resist this

I think that is all the pictorial evidence that you need.

On The Ninth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

...we went shopping for our stockings.

This is one of my favorite traditions that Ryan and I have. Some time before Christmas we go shopping to a big department store (this year was Walmart). We each get $20 and run around finding fun things for our stockings. It is all secretive - so we have to make sure that we don't run into each other. It also saves so much time because we get it all done in about an hour, in one stop!

I am EXCITED for Ryan to open his stocking on Christmas!

Another tradition we have, is stolen from my parents. Instead of the stockings being hung by the fireplace, Santa puts the stockings in our room. When I was younger it was just put on my bed, but since then Santa has gotten tricky. When I was a teenager I would wake up at 4am to open my stocking but couldn't find it. "Santa" would hide it in my room somewhere. The tradition lives on with Ryan and I. We don't quite hide it as well as "Santa" (*cough* Dave *cough*) but it makes for some fun on Christmas morning.

This is one of my favorite traditions BECAUSE it is difficult for me to sleep in on Christmas morning. Opening my stocking in my room would tide me over until everyone else woke up. Otherwise I think that I would have gone crazy from excitement and started unwrapping all the presents at 5am. I get a little bit excited about Christmas....still.

On The Eighth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-21T10:33:00.001-07:00

...we made gingerbread houses!

the potries came to join us!

The finished product:

ryan's gingerbread house

melissa's gingerbread house

jesse's gingerbread house

amber's gingerbread house

Now that we have the gingerbread houses complete Christmas is officially ALLOWED to come. I give my permission.

On The Seventh Day of Christmas...

2011-12-20T10:39:00.003-07:00

...we wrapped presents!

Things have been really busy lately!! So it was nice to get into our pajamas and check another thing off our list!

ryan is pretty special!

We still have a couple more presents to get, but this is the haul so far.

I ordered his christmas pj's off ebay from china, so I thought that I would go along with the theme....I have no idea what I wrote

Bird Overeasy

2011-12-19T10:10:00.046-07:00

Ryan finished the semester. On Saturday we finally got a chance to celebrate and we went out for breakfast....at 2pm in the afternoon! On the way over to the restaurant there was a bird on the street. You know how birds usually fly away as you drive close to them? Well this bird didn't!! The car hit it and it kind of rolled over the hood. It was one of those moments that you just wish that you could watch again and again in slow motion. Thank you suicidal bird - you made our day. We picked a new place called OverEasy to eat at. I didn't bring the camera so here are some stolen pictures:

This place was really really good! I got a traditional eggs benedict and Ryan got the Euro-Trip (basically french toast with cheese, fig jam and ham). The atmosphere was fun and the service was great. We will definitely be going back!

Now Ryan only has one semester of his Undergraduate left! Yay!

On The Sixth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-18T10:08:00.006-07:00

...we went Christmas shopping

These are only some of the goods! The malls were a little crazy but we survived.

Santa Went On A Diet

2011-12-17T19:03:00.041-07:00

Every year the Palmer's have a cousins party. They have lots of food, a magician and Santa comes! I have only been around for two of these parties, but I have heard many stories of Santa arriving in different ways. This year Ryan got to be part of the legacy! I won't tell you how he was involved...but watch the movie and look at the pictures and I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out!

Richard Young was the magician this year - he is great!

my favorite trick. seriously...how does he do it?

rudolph wasn't feeling good and it was foggy, so santa had on fancy glasses in order to make it to the palmer party

even grandpa got a turn on santa's lap

santa was strangely attractive this year - I got a glimpse of him without the glasses and have a bit of a crush. don't tell ryan

This video documents how Santa arrived this year. Awesome!!

On The Fifth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-16T10:36:00.002-07:00

...we ate Candy Cane Icecream!

This is the BEST peppermint icecream EVER!! I love the fudge in it!

Van...for variety

This is my new FAVOURITE picture of Ryan!

Van came over for the night and we played HANDYMAN and ate LOTS of Christmas goodies, plus icecream. It was wonderful!

Earlier on Wednesday I also went out for lunch with these lovely ladies! I finally got to meet Samuel and he is a handsome little boy with massive blue eyes. It was good to catch up and eat some delicious food!

Christmas Party

2011-12-15T10:20:00.004-07:00

Even though technically I was done work in November - the office invited me to the work Christmas party anyways! We went to the Chili Club Thai House and it was way good! I really am a sucker for coconut rice!

This year they did a White Elephant and Ryan and I got sweet gifts! I didn't realize that White Elephant gifts are supposed to be funny - so the gifts that we brought were a little bit boring and useful - whoops! Here is a picture of the presents we got to take home...

The tie was Brenda's when she was little and she collected pins to put on it. My favourite is the Mary Kay pin....even though Brenda never was a consultant haha. We also got the Christmas tree baking pan - which I will be using right away here!

With all of these Christmas parties and events that we've been attending we haven't had dinner at home for a while. I love December because we just get to party all month long!!

Wedding

2011-12-14T10:11:00.002-07:00

Ryan's cousin Danielle got married! The gym was decorated so nicely - it was like a Christmas wonderland! There were a bunch of real trees (as you can see from the pictures) and everything looked great. I was able to meet more of Ryan's extended family and I'm still trying to remember everyones names! Yay for weddings!

One of my favourite parts was that they had bells on every table and whenever we jingled them Danielle and her new husband would kiss! Such a cute idea!

High Socks and Headbands

2011-12-13T10:55:00.001-07:00

We went to the institute Christmas dinner on Friday night and then drove to Lethbridge. Once we got there we stayed up talking to Kari, Scott and Corey until almost 3am. It might have had something to do with the 2 energy drinks each that Ryan, Scott and Corey drank.

In the morning we got up bright and early to go play racquetball. Scott wanted me to write on the blog that he won all the games. Just you wait until Christmas though Scott - we're going into intense training to beat you!!

That afternoon we went over to Corey and Shelley's house to decorate sugar cookies. For whatever reason we couldn't get the icing to turn a red color no matter how much food coloring we put in - and we didn't have yellow so we couldn't make green. So it was our take on pastel Christmas cookies!!

decorating!

half of the finished product - the rest were consumed

and of course I had to add a picture of this kid....he was a sick boy on the weekend but that didn't stop him from wanting to take a million pictures and make a different face in every single one

Lethbridge was fun as usual! And it helped that the roads were completely clear - thank you chinooks!!

Sugar!

2011-12-12T10:46:00.002-07:00

This year I have been trying out this whole candy making thing! I've had some successes, some failures and my freezer is filled with happiness!

Here are some of the things that I've made:

vanilla caramels with sea salt (my favorite!!)

almond caramels dipped in dark chocolate and Turtles

white chocolate peppermint fudge

peanut brittle

chocolate ganache dipped in milk chocolate and dark chocolate

Mom spent all Friday morning helping me get try out a bunch of recipes and then we played a bunch of Monopoly deal with Alisha and Rachel! It was a quality day!

Thanks to pinterest, my mom and recipes from others I've made some really great stuff. I only burnt my first batch of peanut brittle and my dipping of chocolates needs some serious improvement, but I'm sure that will come over time!

Really? That is NO way to meet a chic

2011-12-11T21:31:00.001-07:00

...because when people hurt themselves I can't stop laughing.

It is in my genetics.

Mixed Feelings

2011-12-10T22:57:00.002-07:00

Remember that time that I went back to school September 2010? Well I finished my last day of classes on Thursday! I have had some really mixed feelings lately as I am SOOOO excited to be finished, but SOOOO sad to be done.

On Wednesday I finished my last paper and as soon as it was done I burst into tears! I'm still a little embarrassed about it, because it was at the institute and who cries about being done a paper?!?! I'm just going to miss this whole school thing.

The bottom line is I am just really grateful that I have been able to go back to school. I appreciate Ryan and the support that he gave me when I first talked to him about how I felt about going back to finish my degree. I was hesitant to go back for several reasons and Ryan just kept on telling me to do what I wanted to do - regardless of what was going to change. It has been such a great experience for me personally and for our relationship. With both of us in school, financially it has been a struggle and we've had to take out student loans but it has been worth EVERY borrowed penny!

I'm excited to move onto the next chapter of my life - but it is hard to fully commit because this chapter has been full of pushing myself, finding things that I love, learning and having a whole lot of fun. I figure that I still have another week of being a student as I still have one exam left. Once I finish that then I'll be ready to move on and start working - cross your fingers that I find a job quickly!!

I just need to realize that everything else is going to be just as great and probably even more challenging. Heres to the next step!

In my mind there is very little that good Chinese food can't fix or at least temporarily make things better. For the last day of classes we ordered some of that goodness in and watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was a great low-key celebratory/mourning night haha!

On The Fourth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-09T10:22:00.003-07:00

...we played Christmas themed Scrabble!

The board is pretty funny! We tried our hardest to be creative and come up with only Christmas words. Halfway through the game we scrapped the scoring sheet and went crazy! We played off the scrabble board, had some questionable spelling for some words and we laughed really hard!

If you ever get a chance to play themed Scrabble - DO IT! We have done many themes in the past and it makes the game VERY interesting!

On The Third Day of Christmas...

2011-12-08T10:39:00.006-07:00

...we made Christmas cookies.

We decided on Almond Raspberry Shortbread Cookies. They are DANGEROUSLY yummy!! We doubled the batch so that we could give some away to friends and the professors that have written reference letters for Ryan. I usually don't put a glaze on them when I make them, but because they are for Christmas I made up an almond glaze to make them look more festive.

You should come over and play games with us - we still have more cookies in the freezer and are just waiting to share them!

On The Second Day of Christmas...

2011-12-07T10:30:00.009-07:00

...we watched Elf! It is my favourite Christmas movie!

this picture wasn't staged...at all...haha

Cool Fact: I was really interested in Ryan and I wasn't really sure if he felt the same way. I planned a Christmas party so that I could invite him over to my house in a non-commital way haha. Ryan came over early and he helped me make the icing for the gingerbread houses. Then lots of people came and we decorated gingerbread houses, played games, had an eggnog taste test and watched ELF! Ryan was one of the last people to leave and he even helped me clean up! I remember giving everyone hugs as they left just so I could give Ryan a hug and it wouldn't be weird haha - I put so much thought into all of it!! It is funny thinking back to a time where both of us were still wondering if the other was interested in them.

I was sure smitten by Ryan, and now 3 years later I still feel the same way!

Wordcorn

2011-12-06T15:00:00.102-07:00

Things got really tacky over at our house on Saturday night! We had an UGLY SWEATER PARTY!

Pre-Party Posing

Awkward Family Photos

The Palmers

The Heylands

The Rutledge's

The Wrights

The Roy's

Party Time

roll doubles and you get to wear the elf hat and stockings while trying to open the present!!

playing jingle bells with glasses filled with water

We played:

Joy

Scattergories

Balderdash

Memory Game

and the games with pictures above

the prizes!

It was a GREAT party! Thanks for coming everyone!!

Ugly Sweater

2011-12-06T10:28:00.029-07:00

This year we hosted an Ugly Sweater party. We wanted to invite a bunch of people, but due to space limitations we only were able to invite 5 couples. I went old school, abandoned facebook and made the invitations by hand and then deliver them. Below is the front and back of the invitations.

ignore the blotted out part - stranger danger

the back

up next - the party recap

Feta

2011-12-05T10:17:00.015-07:00

When was the last time you went Laser Questing?!

Nick Jette had his birthday party at Laser Quest this year - and we joined in on the fun. Ryan and I had such a great time! The first game that we played there were 29 people and the second there were over 40 - which was WAY too many....but it kept it interesting. My name for both games was Smooth Criminal and Ryan went with Feta.

The first game I placed 5th and Ryan got 7th

(I beat him....yessssssssss!)

The second game I place 5th again and Ryan got 2nd

(I don't even care that I lost because I beat him in the first game....yesssssssssssss!)

As soon as we got home, I was starving from all of our hard laser gun shooting work. I threw some water on the stove to make some ichiban and just as it started boiling Tim and Elise texted us to join them at Denny's. Denny's wins over ichiban EVERYDAY! Our sample platter was delicious and SUPER greasy. I don't know what it is about Denny's but their food tastes way better late at night!

Goodbye and Good Riddance

2011-12-04T10:07:00.009-07:00

It has been a long cold month for Ryan. His moustache has definitely stopped me from sharing the love! I was excited for December 1st so that I could kiss him without getting hair up my nose or having to deal with the creepy tickle! I'm glad that he did it -- it was funny. But I'm also glad that it is gone!

Here is the beginning and the end of the creep-stache

November 1st

December 1st

Ryan looks tired in the last picture and it is totally my fault! I've been waking up at 2am lately and not being able to fall asleep until 4 or 5am. LAME! I wake up only to toss and turn in bed for a while until I feel so bad that I go try and sleep on the couch. NOT FUN! Anyone with suggestion on how to sleep... let me know!!

Pointy

2011-12-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

Ryan came home with this festive plant. I have never had a poinsettia before, so it was exciting! I'm looking at it right now on the kitchen table and it makes me think of Christmas! Without further ado - we would like to introduce Pointy the Poinsettia

Hopefully I don't kill it before Christmas...

On The First Day of Christmas...

2011-12-02T10:19:00.011-07:00

Today marked the beginning of the Snowman Advent calendar. Things have been really busy for both of us with school - so it was nice to take a quick break to get milkshakes.

Ryan got a double eggnog milkshake and I tried out the gingerbread milkshake. Mine was great, and Ryan loved his, although I thought it was just a little bit too strong.

Cool Fact: We went on our first "date" three years ago (Nov. 28, 2009). Although at the end of the night I corrected Ryan and told him it wasn't really a date because he asked me on facebook, didn't open my door, or pay (he forgot cash and Peter's only accepts cash haha!). Ryan redeemed himself though by asking me on another date promptly he dropped me off at my door. This first Peter's adventure was a fun night that I still can remember vividly. I got a candy cane milkshake and Ryan got eggnog of course. He beat me multiple times at Trouble (which was impressive because I usually always win!!) and we laughed a lot. Peter's will always have a special place in my heart!

While we sat in the car drinking our milkshakes we talked about Christmas traditions of past and present and played the question game - with a Christmas theme!

Gangster

2011-12-01T10:17:00.001-07:00

Ryan spent some time with Kirk doing a project for his Language Arts class. He decided to do a rap for a book report/ project thing. They spent the night playing around with garage band, and recording everything. The end product was pretty awesome.

I find it funny that Kirk just has never really hit that awkward stage that I THOUGHT all kids go through. He has just always been cool. Hence why he is doing a gangsta rap for a school project. I still have it stuck in my head.

Rocking Around The Christmas Tree

2011-11-30T10:06:00.002-07:00

On Sunday the Palmer's invited us over for dinner and to decorate the Christmas tree. We listened to Christmas music, ate Christmas cookies, and decorated. It is fun being apart of another families traditions. The Palmer's have lots of ornaments from throughout their lives and I love hearing the stories that come from each one. Ryan has a couple ornaments from the year that he was born and there are lots from their families travels.

Decorating the tree

The finished product

The usual

There is just something so magical about a Christmas tree. I could stare at them ALL day.

Things You Don't Want To Know About Grandma

2011-11-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

I realized that I still haven't put a picture of our little Christmas tree up....so here it is!

On Friday night we went to Elise and Tim's house for dinner and games. Elise made chili and we just sat around and talked. The first phase of people left and when the second phase of people got there we played one of the best games of "Things in a Box" that I have ever played!

Some highlights were:

Making the Ngai's uncomfortable - especially James
Jeanette getting Tim out the first time every time!
Helicopter
"Pee Shivers"
Ryan trying so hard NOT to come in last
Tim finally getting a point - on the round that Jeanette couldn't guess!

We really have such a great group of friends! Thanks for having us over Tim and Elise!

We're Off To See The Wizard

2011-11-28T10:39:00.010-07:00

There are so many perks to both Ryan and I being in school. One of them is cheap entrance into a lot of great events. We went to the Alberta Theater Production of The Wizard of Oz on Thursday night. The tickets were only $10 and they included free pizza and all the pop that we could drink. Considering that the tickets are usually $50 each - we got a steal of a deal.

The musical was amazing. We were very impressed with their "special effects" and how entertaining everything was! The Munchkins were my favorite!!

enjoying our drinks before the show started

Ryan has never seen The Wizard of Oz (shocker!!) but this production was very true to the film. I definitely recommend that EVERYONE in Calgary go see it! It is playing until December 31, 2011.

Here is just a sample of the goodness that we saw last night:

http://www.atplive.com

We've Got Chemistry

2011-11-27T10:34:00.012-07:00

To say that Ryan has been busy this semester is the understatement of the year. Between applying for graduate programs and funding and keeping on top of his classes at school, and spending time with me - there hasn't been much time for anything else. I am really proud of him and jump at the opportunity to brag about him whenever I get the chance.

He was part of the Undergraduate Research Symposium at the university on Thursday. He explained the research that he did over the summer to a series of judges and to anyone interested.

I stopped in for a little while to say hello in between my classes. When I first walked by he was talking to a judge and I was really impressed at how well he was explaining things. Not really surprised but definitely impressed! He did a great job!

UPDATE: We just heard that he got an Honorary Mention for his presenting skills and poster! Good job Ryan!!

Ryan's Got Talent

2011-11-26T10:52:00.002-07:00

On Wednesday, Ryan was in another improv show! His family showed up and we all laughed really hard! This has been one of my favorite hobbies that Ryan has taken up. He has been in three shows this semester and I have loved going to everyone of them. He has made some great friends and I get to benefit from that.

Here are some pictures of him in action:

My favorite improv games that they play are:

My movie, My movie, My movie

Four Square

and

Press Conference

A Night Out On The Town

2011-11-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

After going to Lethbridge and seeing the Bulk Barn in all it's glory I was hooked. Since I found out that there is one in Calgary I have just been waiting for an opportunity to go. Ryan is a good husband and he let me make a date out of it. We went to FatBurger for dinner. It was delicious! Just looking at the pictures makes my mouth water!

Favorite Ryan Joke From Dinner: Three tomatoes went on a walk. A mommy, a daddy and a baby tomato. The baby tomato was falling behind so the daddy turned around and stepped on him, exclaiming "Ketchup"!

mmmm California Burger

Next - we went to Value Village. It was their 50% off day and we had some ugly Christmas sweaters to find! We were kind of successful! We also managed to secure a murder mystery game for $4!!!! So that will definitely be happening in the near future. Ryan and I laughed pretty much the entire time that we were in Value Village. Apparently it was the night that all the people of Walmart decided to go to Value Village. If I was braver I would have taken pictures.

My Favorite Person of Value Village: the mullet lady

My Favorite Ryan Quote #1: "You know people could have died in these clothes"

My Favorite Ryan Quote #2: "That woman has a better moustache than me..."

The Spoils

Next we took the 15 second drive over to Bulk Barn. I don't have any pictures because I was too busy skipping down the halls, throwing chocolate and Christmas candies into plastic bags.

Somehow we managed to squeeze in Dollarama for some more bargain shopping. I have a new found love for the North East and their new and exciting stores!

On the drive home we saw Sunridge Mall all festively decorated. Naturally we had to pull over to walk through and look at the lights.

This was one BIG tree! We look like midgets standing next to it!

Please excuse Ryan's dirty upper lip - he HATES cancer

Favorite Christmas Song: Ginger Bells

We drove home and then hopped back in the car to deliver some cookies to friends. Overall it was a successful evening!

Girls Gone Wild

2011-11-24T10:56:00.029-07:00

Every once in a while my family has a girls night - and one was planned for this past weekend! Dave crashed for a little while and took some pictures. He should know by now that if he takes pictures on my camera they will probably end up in a place where the rest of the world can see them.

Lovely isn't it?

These are the fine ladies that were able to make it

The Puzzle!

You slay me with your model-esque faces Tiffany!

My regular type face

We did a puzzle, we laughed, we played settlers. It was grand!

Tigger's Got MOVES

2011-11-23T13:34:00.003-07:00

I was in need of a smile today - this definitely did the trick!

Improv...ement

2011-11-22T12:29:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of the semester Ryan and I went to an improv show at the University. After the show Ryan decided that improv was something that he wanted to try out - so he joined the club. Now he has been in two shows, and I love that he has found a hobby that he loves so much. Plus it is great for me because I get to go to his shows and laugh for a straight hour and a half.

On Thursday last week some of his friends put on a show at a pub downtown. We went for the entertainment and the $1 taco's (sketchy!). Van joined us for the evening and we laughed our faces off.

Here are some low quality pictures of the improv-ers

Sketchy Tacos - next time I'm going to try the nachos

Ryan always has his shows at that Empty Space at the University. If anyone wants to enjoy a free date full of laughter - let me know and I'll give you the details. He is usually in at least one show a month. Warning: Emergency pants may be needed.

HO HO HO

2011-11-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

You can tell that Ryan has been busy by the sheer amount of crafts/baking I have been doing lately. This craft was awesome because I didn't have to spend a penny on it - I just used construction paper that I had around the house.

Every day in December you cut a little bit more off of his beard!

When I have kids some day I will definitely be making this again...but until then Ryan get's to enjoy my festiveness!!!

Blast From The Past

2011-11-20T11:08:00.008-07:00

I missed around 6 months of blogging from January to June of last year...I didn't end up recording our trip to Mexico! Since it is so cold outside, we have been itching to return somewhere warm. But since it's not in the budget right now - I'm going to blog about our previous trip (January 1-8, 2011).

We had a New Years Party at our house with some friends and then we finished up packing and headed to the airport for our flight which left at 6am.

Cool Fact: Ryan and I are birthday buddies! We were both born on January 1, 1987. I was born around 3am and Ryan was born just before 8am (I'm a cougar!!). My mom brought me to go meet Ryan later that day, as we were both born in the same hospital! I love that he was my first friend and I love celebrating my birthday with him!

To celebrate our birthday we went to Mexico because we got a smoking deal!

We stayed at the Costa Club Punta Arena. Upon arrival we realized why we got such a GREAT deal! It wasn't anything like the resort in Cuba - but then again it also wasn't a 5 Star. After a room change and some convincing to Ryan that this was a FUN adventure in the sunshine, we were excited to be there.

We went out dancing, ate lots of food, finished a couple books each, played games (I cheated at Boggle - Ryan said I have to include that for posterity), hung out with Jorge, went shopping, sun tanned, watched some entertaining Spanish television (War-Nar), played ping pong (I was the ping pong champion of Mexico!!), drank LOTS of virgin pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris, played numerous games of volleyball with our friends from Guadalajara and just loved spending time together.

Here is the best part -- THE PICTURES!

Puerto Vallarta

Dressed up and on our way to the al la carte restaurant

This is Theodore the Turtle - not featured in this picture but deserving of mention was Craby the Crab

Meet Jorge. He made sure that we always had beach chairs and kept us smiling!

This picture was sneakily taken to capture the woman and the sign in the background....awesome!

Delicious dinner at Senor Frog's. Ryan got something delicious that was wrapped in bacon...mmmm bacon

Look at that hottie!

The only thing that we bought in Mexico were these Luchidor masks. We searched all over the place to find the Calgary Stampeder's logo. Definitely worth it.

Dinner on our last night

On our last morning just outside of our building

If anyone would like to fund our birthday trip this year - please contact my secretary (Ryan) to make a donation. We accept cash, cheque and all major credit cards.

Can We Pretend It's My Birthday Tonight?

2011-11-19T11:07:00.001-07:00

Apparently November 12th is the best day EVER to be born...well other than January 1st of course. My brother Jon, nephew Drew and friend Jesse all were born on this awesome day. Jesse's wife Julie, planned an awesome party. We ate good food, had good conversation and played Scribbler (very entertaining!).

Me and my HOT date!

The AMAZING cake that Julie made AND decorated. Impressive!

Jesse blowing out the candles

The party got a little bit gender segregated. I love spending time with these girls!

All in all it was a great party - thanks for inviting us Julie! Oh and thanks for being born Jesse.

Banff

2011-11-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

The Steeles organized a trip to Banff. We went out for dinner at The Keg, went to the Hot Springs and finished our night with a trip to McDonald's for icecream. I even loaded up on Grapefruit Slices from the candy store (I may or may not have gotten a pound of them)

I'm still laughing from some of the "explosive" stories that were told. Thanks for inviting us!!

Once There Was A Snowman

2011-11-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

Ryan played Axis and Allies with friends...so while he was taking over the world, I made crafts! I saw some things on Pinterest and I decided to make them while I still have time! I made a snowman advent calendar.

It was pretty inexpensive to make - I love the dollar store! I just got a bunch of little containers and painted them white. Once that was dry I painted on the faces and glued on the noses. I punched holes in the lids and then glued on a pom-pom. I think it turned out pretty cute. I'm excited for Ryan to open each one so that we can do all the Christmas activities!

Then I took some ornaments from last year and glued magnets on them. These look super cute on the fridge!!

After the boys were done playing Axis and Allies, we went hot tubbing with Tim and Elise. It was a great day!

Remember That One Time At Band Camp...

2011-11-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

Nigel had a band concert out in Cochrane. The highlight was definitely him dressing up as the pink panther and dancing across the gym! I got prime seating so I could stare him down while he was playing his trumpet. I remember the days of band and going to the concert brought back many memories of horrible band uniforms, band trips, weird teachers and the quality friends that I made!

I love that Nigel dressed up and did this...the Palmer's are the best!

Party in Red Deer

2011-11-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

Nicholas got baptized! I still can't believe that he is 8 years old. We had a great time and everything went so well! I don't mean to brag but I'm pretty sure I have the best family a girl can ask for!

Congratulations Nicholas!!

Offensive Line!

2011-11-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

This year both Ty and Kirk have been playing football. They are both on different teams and we've been lucky enough to go watch a bunch of their games. Kirk is the kicker and a running back and Ty plays on the O-line. Ryan and I loved going to cheer for them. They both did such a great job.

I missed Kirk's last game because I was writing a MASSIVE paper, but Ryan went to cheer for him.

We were both able to make it to the final game for Ty. It was freezing cold but we had a great time cheering out hearts out - even if we did accidentally offend a SENSITIVE lady on the other team (whoops).

Go Lions Go!

Kirk and Ryan

Final Score- Ty Won!

It was COLD!!

That afternoon we went to the Stampeders game with Tiffany and Jeff. We beat Winnipeg and had fun hanging out with my siblings. I love football - but I wish that the season would start earlier so I didn't have to freeze to death during the games!!

Spa-tastic

2011-11-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

We have been VERY busy lately. So I decided for my date this week that I was going to do a Spa Night. This included face masks, cucumbers, massages, really good chocolate, apples, caramel dip and some great movies.

Ryan particularly loved the cucumbers. They were very soothing!

Ryan pulled the mattress into the living room and we relaxed and spoiled ourselves!

...awesome!

Eat Your Heart Out

2011-11-12T16:18:00.000-07:00

I have such a sweet husband! He usually makes me breakfast in bed once a week and this week he got really creative! He cracked the eggs into cookie cutters (heart shaped - aww) and let them cook. They turned out really cute!

Not only did they look super cute but they were yummy too!

It's Over

2011-11-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

I have finished my job at the chiropractic office for the second and last time! I officially left last September when I went back to school but after a month they asked me to come back and help out with bookkeeping and such on Saturday's. It has been a great "part-time" job, but I wanted to have a couple weekends with Ryan before Christmas.

You should always quit a job twice - it means you get two cards!!

My last day was November 4th. I seriously loved this job - the people that I worked with and the patients were all fantastic! I will miss this place, but I'm excited to have a full Saturday to go on adventures with Ryan!!

No more early Saturday's for me!

Too Good Not To Post

2011-11-03T12:31:00.004-06:00

While we were at the Potries place on Halloween - Melissa brought out this awesome game. You put an apple on some wire and you have to try and take a bite out of it. We laughed so hard! Here are some videos and pictures. Conveniently I don't have any pictures or videos of Ryan and I doing it....

The Monster Mash

2011-11-02T19:21:00.001-06:00

This year for Halloween we did a progressive dinner with friends.

I was in charge of appetizers and I had so much fun organizing and making the food. Here's what I made:

Vegetable Skeleton

Pesto Turkey Eyeballs

The rest of the courses were:

Salad: Rutledges

Dinner: Heylands

Dessert: Potries

L-R: Melissa, Jesse, Ryan, Amber, Julie, Jesse
Jeanette, Jace

The night was full of good conversation and great food! Have I mentioned that I love Halloween?

This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween

2011-11-01T19:20:00.001-06:00

In September I was looking through different costume ideas for Halloween. I stumbled upon a great idea on pinterest and enlisted Ryan's help. We went to the hardware store and had quite the adventure finding everything and then trying to fit the goods in our car (it is hard to fit a cement form tube into a little car!).

Then with one stop at my parents house, lots of help from Dave and Ryan finishing the rest up at our place, we had a costume.

Here is the finished project!

I will miss the spray paint fumes in our home!

Crashing the Dance

2011-10-31T20:00:00.004-06:00

We had friends over on Friday to carve pumpkins. Here are the spoils:

From left to right - Amber/Ryan, Jace/Jeanette, Julie/Jesse

Close up of our pumpkin: Herbert!

After our Pumpkin carving we crashed the YSA dance for thirty minutes and then went over to Danny and Mindy's for delicious pumpkin eggnog pie and a rousing game of things in a box! We love halloween!

Spooky!

2011-10-30T19:55:00.001-06:00

While at the Bulk Barn I picked up a new SpOoOky baking pan. Upon arriving back in Calgary I made some Ghost cakes. We brought them to our institute class on Thursday and shared!

On Thursday night we decorated an abundance of sugar cookies. I enlisted Ryan to help me and we had fun being creative and eating way too much sugar! We did bats, ghosts, spiders, pumpkins, skull and cross bones and witches fingers!

Only a portion of all the cookies we decorated!

No witches were harmed in the making of this photo

Up close and personal

Ryan's abstract art ghost - MY FAVORITE!

We were running out of ideas for the bats - so Ryan made a Jack'o'lantern bat!

Want some cookies? Com'on over!

It's Alright...Wait It's NOT ALRIGHT!

2011-10-30T08:10:00.003-06:00

Last weekend we went to Lethbridge to visit family!

Highlights:

Seeing Shelley in all her entrepreneurial-ness
Swimming in Taber
Going down the slide a bazillion times with all the kids
Brie jumping off the diving board
The Haunted House in Sterling
Pretending to be brave while holding Sarah
Holding Sarah as protection from the creepy monsters (they can't scare a child too much...right... awesome protection!)
Mario Kart with Drew where he kicked our butts
Hearing Sarah sing
Dance parties in the car
Seeing Grandma
Breaking into Corey and Shelley's house by accident
Bulk Barn in all its glory!

Lowlights:

Having to drive back to Calgary and acknowledge that the weekend was over

Kari and I were legitimately scared...

My face does weird things when I'm scared

Nathan was brave. Drew was running away.

Sarah offered me some serious protection from the creepo's in the haunted house. I pretended to be brave!

Everyone survived

I seriously love this little girl! She is the SASSIEST!

Lethbridge is always an adventure - thanks for letting us come visit you guys!

Party in the USA!

2011-10-29T11:31:00.001-06:00

Once I finished the summer semester of school we took off for Coeur d'Alene and a much needed vacation. We camped all week, explored the city and drove over to Spokane.

We had our first experience with In-N-Out, hit up target and enjoyed all other things American. Battled the wasps at our campground. Ryan attempted to chop off his finger. Ate delicious breakfasts, tin foil dinners and our weight in marshmallows. Watched Fringe in our tent late at night - SCARY! Played ping pong (Ryan is the champion of Coeur d'Alene). Hot tubbed every night. Shopping in Spokane till we almost died of starvation and Red Robin saving us. And ran into Brother and Sister Harris at our campground - along with their daughter Paige and her family...random!

My favorite moment of the trip was when we were coming back across the border into Canada and Ryan finished talking to the Border Lady. He was given the okay to leave and he peeled away....sometimes standards are the best!

This is our lovely campsite!

We went to the Silverwood Amusement park for two full days. The first day we did the water park and the second day the rides. It was definitely worth going! We had a blast.

By this point in the day both Ryan and I were feeling a little queasy from all the rollercoasters

Exploring Coeur d'Alene

Please note the bandage on Ryan's finger. Chopping wood is dangerous!

Yummy cupcakes!

Overall Coeur d'Alene was one of my favorite trips I've been on with Ryan!

Defying Gravity

2011-10-28T16:23:00.000-06:00

Wicked came to Calgary - but we were too poor to get tickets. Luckily a friend told me that they were doing a cheap ticket lottery every night of the show. All we had to do was show up an hour before the musical (which was easy because we are a five minute walk away from the Jubilee) and write our names on a ballet.

The first night we went and our names didn't get drawn

Magically - I was the last person drawn on the next night. I had already pretty much given up and then they called my name!

Please excuse the CRAZY eyes. I was excited to see it again!

This was Ryan's first time seeing Wicked...he loved it!

I will NEVER get sick of the music from Wicked! SoOoOo great!

Save a Horse...Eat Deep-Fried Food

2011-10-27T10:26:00.001-06:00

As per tradition we headed on over to the Stampede. We planned out our day so that we could experience everything that THE GREATEST OUTDOOR SHOW ON EARTH has to offer.

We started things off with the Show Dogs. As we missed it last year, we had to see it this year! They switched buildings and although there were more sales pitches (buy our dog food at Superstore - you don't have a dog? buy it for your husband!) it was still great!

The rest is a blur. We saw a guy get shot out of a cannon. Ryan got hypnotized. We ate lots of greasy, deep-fried, creative, strange food. Walked around a lot. Saw some really ugly outfits. Saw pretty much every show at the Bell Circus tent. Played some monopoly deal. AND got our fix of carnies for the year.

Now for the pictures!

This is a maple glazed donut hamburger - Ryan had it!

Deep Fried Pop-Tart Happiness

It isn't Stampede without mini-donuts

I decided to try out some Macaroni and Cheese Pizza. Yum!

Now let's see if I can get a video to work...

....excellent!

Finally!

2011-10-27T00:48:00.000-06:00

For the last couple of months my blog has been private. For the first little while I had no idea. Apparently blogger thought that my site needed to be private. Once someone mentioned that my blog was private and I realized it, I couldn't figure out how to switch it back to my regular "un-private" settings.

I think I have it figured out now...and I have some serious catch up to do. Check back soon! I have lots to blog about!

Excited Racoon

2011-07-13T10:10:00.003-06:00

Date night! We decided to give Spoon Me another chance because I had a coupon. The format is way different now and you get to choose your frozen yogurt and add whatever toppings you want. The price is determined by weight instead of size. I got mandarin, white chocolate and acai berry and loaded it up with fruit and other happiness. Ryan got something else - but mine was better! We sat in the awesome chairs although this time they were definitely well used and dirty!

After our stomachs were full we went to the Loose Moose Theater - thanks to a sweet Groupon Deal! We went to the improv show called Gorilla Theater. It was very entertaining and we will definitely be going back again soon!

I give this date two thumbs up !

A Royal Sighting

2011-07-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

On Friday July 8th after I was done work I picked up Ryan and we went to the BBQ hosted by Palmer Salmon Insurance. As we were standing in line a limo drove by and inside were William and Kate. I didn't get any pictures but it was exciting! I usually don't get into that sort of thing but it gave me tingles.

There was an Asian lady that left her daughter in line for food and ran to get some pictures of the couple. Upon returning to the line she kept on telling us that Prince William was much chubbier in person. I wasn't close enough to tell - but perhaps he is just letting himself go now that he is married!

Even Kate was surprised!

Ready To Pop!

2011-07-11T08:00:00.002-06:00

On Thursday July 7th I had the pleasure of attending Mindy's baby shower! The food was good, the company was better and it was great to spend time with everyone. I sure can't wait to meet this little boy!

Photo Skills

2011-07-10T16:23:00.001-06:00

How many pictures does it take to capture Amber jumping?

One?

Two?

Three?

Four?

FIVE!

How many pictures does it take to capture Ryan jumping?

ONE!

Moose Attack

2011-07-10T09:02:00.000-06:00

On July 2nd we decided to go hiking. We loaded up our stuff and drove out to Moose Mountain in Bragg Creek.

It was a tough hike and there were times I thought that I was going to die either from slipping down the gravel and falling to my death or from exhaustion - but we did it (Ryan was much more graceful than me haha)

The hike to the summit was entirely worth it for the view and basically to say that I did it! Here are some pictures...

Halfway there - we took a break for lunch and pictures

This was satisfying!

This is the house on the top of the summit. Someone is always there and they keep an eye out for forest fires. The guy that was there had an awesome yellow suit. Too bad I didn't get a picture of it!

So Proud!

Ummmm....

Oh Canada

2011-07-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

I can't think of a better day to kick off the football season than Canada's birthday! The Stampeder's played against Toronto and unfortunately we lost. Ryan wore his awesome mask and we cheered our hearts out - but it didn't help.

Luckily we still had fun!

After the game we went to a hill that overlooks the city for fireworks. The bugs/teenagers weren't too bad and we had a pretty good view of the fireworks. Plus I had my favorite person to keep me warm.

I sure am proud to be Canadian. As we were at the football game and the anthem was sung I couldn't help but feel blessed to live in such a wonderful place. We are so lucky to have our freedom, a beautiful place to live and all the other luxuries we enjoy! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!

Such Great Heights

2011-07-08T13:44:00.003-06:00

After all the anniversary build-up Ryan took me out for dinner at the Calgary Tower. June 20th marked the day that we had been married for 2 YEARS! I still can't believe how quickly it has gone. We took lots of pictures and ate good food. We started off with appetizers, moved onto our entrees of tuna(Amber) and steak(Ryan) and then finished it off with dessert! We were very full but it was delicious!