Past and present!

Hey Bloggies,

I didn't get to post last night again because I didn't have the device with me to transfer my pictures to the laptop..go figure! But noon isn't too far off, right? Okay let's get to it!

The Wednesday before the move, I flew into Vancouver for a workshop for work. Ya, it was wonderful timing..lol! I wasn't too impressed with work to send me out there the week of my move but oh well so is life. The workshop was the Dale Carnegie High Impact Presentations workshop. It was two days (although the last day I had to leave early to catch my flight).

Initially I was skeptical as to what this workshop was going to do for me professionally. Right off the bat the teachers told us that we were going to give 6 small presentations in front of the class and all of these would be video taped. Fear was radiating through my veins the minute I heard this and I wished I was invisible so I could sneak out and run, run away! Public speaking is not my strong point, is it anyone's? Anywho, I did my first presentation and cringed as I watched myself on camera but I also learned a lot about how I project myself. I talked a lot with my hands, talked too quietly, and stood a lot on one foot. After the first couple presentations I was beginning to enjoy myself. The guys at my table were really nice and I enjoyed talking with them. I also became more aware of myself in front of a crowd and would catch myself if say, I would be flailing my hands. I learned a lot of techniques that not only apply to the boardroom, they can be used in real life situations where you need to project confidence and poise..say getting a bank loan or in a job interview. In the end I thought the workshop was really wonderful and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to attend. If your boss ever sends you to one of these, don't worry it's not as bad as you think it will be.

My flashy certificate that they even put in a frame! Not sure if it will ever go on the wall, but I will for sure be putting this training on my resume:)


After leaving the workshop on Friday, I had to take the Skytrain to the airport which was an experience in itself. I had to transfer 3 times and so I was like a tourist asking the patrolling cops where to go..lol! But I made it in perfect time! I was really nervous because the weather had been pretty disgusting earlier that day and I thought there was the possibility that the flight could get cancelled. The airport I was flying into is not called "cancel-gar" for nothing! Yet, the afternoon cleared up beautifully and we were off! I don't mind flying although I have this hidden fear of falling from the sky to my death lol! When I can't see houses anymore, I'm good. Apparently I think my chances of death are less at HIGHER altitude..lol. We landed safely and my ride arrived in good time too! My MIL and her hubby were driving up to Nelson so they picked me up along their route.

Zipping along to current day! This past week I didn't want to take a cab/bus home again so I decided to start walking home and get Ry to pick me up along the way. I didn't think it would be more than half and hour so I took a leisurely stroll along the country roads and took some picts of course!

Nothing quite like the BC countryside without prickly blackberry bushes..and some power lines!

What's that hiding in the tall grass? Is that horns I see?

Here's a cute little one trying his best to follow his mamma's orders to stay low in the grass:)

The yellow grass area is actually cranberry fields!

Ah good ole CN rail! I get to hear the train many times a day and its actually fun to hear it. I definitely feel like its "back in the day" where I work which I don't mind one bit!

I love snow-capped mountains and Mt. Baker is just that!

Okay, this house is pretty much my dream home...acreage, tree-lined drive-way, pond, horse paddocks, country-style home. Simply gorgeous:)

I ended up finding the perfect car on Friday! Thank you all for your good car vibes..it worked!! After the disappointing events on Thursday, I did some mad searching on Friday. I searched craigslist all day and nothing too promising was coming up. I was trying various search words to see if something different would come up. Finally, the last search I did on Friday I found a car that was listed on June 8. I thought it would have for sure been sold by now but I emailed anyways. The owners responded and we headed out to take it for a test drive. I mean she is old but that's what I was looking for! I really only need a commuter car. The owners were two seniors who didn't need it as they were now close to the skytrain. The guy was only the second owner and the car is an '87 with only 151, 000Km on it! The car is in excellent shape and the owner had all the receipts. Ya, that is very rare to find someone having all the receipts for an older car. Ry thought it was great and that was that! I love driving my new Betsy around and she is quickly becoming a good friend...lol! I'm just so excited to not be stranded at work as that was not a fun time.

We named my old car (ya, only a year ago I was driving a car that was only a couple of years older than this one, what can I say I like the oldies..LOL!) "eggnog" because that was the color of the paint, so now I need a new name and everyone thought "milk" if we wanted to stick to the dairy products...but I say "mylk", "snow white", or Ryan's suggestion "White Russian" (I think making that liquor cabinet really got to him:) You have any suggestions?

Okay so I was going to show you the cassette player except my picture wasn't supposed to be from outside. I didn't want to go dig my keys out so this will have to do for now..lol! Lazy blogger I know. And yes you heard right, it has the STOCK cassette player still in it. Ry is going to put in a deck one of these days but for now its radio baby...and fuzzy radio at that. The one good station I get is oldies classics..suiting wouldn't you say?

As for the dinner plans, they ended up not working out. It was pretty much my fault they didn't but I made my apologies and it wasn't my proudest moment but I'm trying not to beat myself up too badly. Remember how I said I was all emotional and on edge?..ya well this one of those times when it really got the best of me. As for the food, I bought all the ingredients for a thai salad and for Kelli's chocolate cream that she recommended. Yet, I didn't even have dinner that night because we were busy getting the car home and I was emotional about the whole dinner party cancellation thing. So, the goodness would have to wait for another day!

The next day I picked up my mom and we did some plant shopping..I was so giddy it wasn't even funny!! They even had this cutie-patutie!

I love goats! They have such characters! I think Nemo and a goat would be best buds LOL!

Feed me already!

I see the goods!!

Ahh..finally!!

Once we said goodbye to Spot and I spent my paycheck stocked up, we headed into town to pick up some indoor pots for some of my plants. I had them in outdoor pots for some reason and because I just picked up all these bedding plants, I needed those pots!

I love this one! It's the first thing I see when I walk into the front door:)

These plants were actually from last Christmas! This was one of those holiday planters that has a pointsetta in it. The pointsetta died but these plants are going strong!

I love how this pot looks old and almost Roman:)

My prayer plant! Oh she has been good to me. Through underwatering and overwatering, she has stuck by me. I other words, if you want an easy plant to care for get one of these!


It rained most of the week and so the lawn was stretching for the sky by Saturday! I had to cut it twice but man it looks awesome. Mom did the weed eating part! We then tackled weeding some rock beds that in the end we took the rocks out and put soil in. We planted some canna lilies and these beautiful blue flowers to fill in the remaining space.

When Ry got home we decided that it was time to take out the rose bush. It was pretty much dead and was quite diseased. Two ladies, one man, an electric saw, and one shovel later we were able to cut the darn thing down. Holy, are they strong and the root is big! It looks so much better without it there its quite amazing! We also planted some trailing flowers underneath to fill the space.

The rhodo stands alone..lol! I think it looks a lot better with just the three rhodo bushes in there!
These are the cute trailing plants that are planted in the bed around the rhodos. I love the mix name "tequila" woot woot!

Phew...this catching up business is work I tell you:) I love sharing it with ya'll though so its fun too! Hope you have a fabulous rest of your day. I plan on going for a run on my favoritie trail (picts to come!) and then picking up a flat of strawberries..yum!

PS I watched the season finale of Glee last night and they sang one of my favorite songs. Its such a beautiful song..and ya I cried LOL! Enjoy! Do you love Glee...it's one of the only shows that makes me smile that's on TV right now!! Can't wait to see what happens in season 2.