Birthday Bowling Break!

This weekend I took a little break on Saturday from the studying to go out for my birthday. My birthday is not until next weekend but I will need the whole weekend to study for my exam on Monday March 30. So we thought a break on Saturday for some fun would be a good idea. I had a wonderful evening with lots of fun, friends and laughter. We started the evening with some bowling and then headed home for a game of Cran*ium and a few snacks & beverages. Lisa & Jeff spent the night at our house so we finished off the evening with some games of w*ii … and finally caught some shuteye around 4pm!!





I had a wonderful evening and love all the thoughtful gifts from my friends. Thanks so much to all of you!! xoxox

“Hello…My Name Is Nikki, And I Am A Neglectful Blogger…”

Ok, I Suck At Posting But Let Me Explain…

I know you all have been busy as well and you don’t want to hear my excuses but here it goes…Christmas decorating, work,Christmas tree (*see note below), Christmas presents, visiting, Christmas baking, appointments, educational courses, Christmas Wrapping, company, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day…did I mention...

C – H – R – I – S – T – M – A – S!!!!!


~Here is a slideshow of our Christmas tree and Christmas Eve at my Mom's
house. As you will see my tree is "excessively" decorated and therefore
takes many hours.

* Approx. time for lights - 8~9hrs.
* Approx. time for decorations - 6~7hrs.

I believe I may be a little anal when it comes to the
Christmas tree, lol! But I learned from the best...my Mom's tree is on
page 5 of the slideshow...see what I mean!?!?

More Christmas pictures to come!

We had a wonderful Christmas, busy as usual and filled with lots of friends and family. We enjoyed lots of relaxing time together and had a lot of fun with our “wee” and new “wee fit”. These are amazing game systems, so fun & interactive.

Here is a picture of the fantastic gift we each received from my best friend Lisa. She makes these personalized licence plates and they are completely tailored to have what you want on them! These were such a surprise!! We LOVE them!

I plan on getting her to make more so I can give them to friends and family as gifts for upcoming occasions. Here is a close of each one...

I can’t wait to put this on my car!!!

While I was "otherwise occupied" we hit another LID milestone…2 YEARS!!! It’s hard to believe it has been that long since we were officially logged in.

Some days it feels soooo long ago and others it just feels like last week we were sending the documents off in the mail. Either way, we are and will hang in there until we are holding our precious little bambino!

Today was our first ~“Wait” Watchers~ meeting since the holidays and I was sure I had gained weight after stuffing my face all over the Christmas break but guess what!!!!!!! I LOST!!! Ok so it was VERY minimal but hey…I didn’t gain! I am now over the 25lb mark!!

SuperShopper Weekend

Who said it could be Christmas time already!!!!!!!!! Since I’ve been sick time has flown by and I am way behind on all of our decorating, buying, wrapping and baking. This weekend that just passed was a very busy one but it was a great shopping weekend.



Friday evening I went with Donna for a “date night” & late night shopping…woohoo Wa1mart is open 24 hr!! Donna & I went for supper and then hit the mall for about 3 ½ hrs, then off to WallyWorld for some shopping & laughs…we finally left there at midnight. One of our co-workers is leaving for Australia on Sunday so in honour of his trip here are pics of 2 very jealous girls.




Usually when Donna & I go shopping there is more laughing than shopping and tonight was no exception!! Thanks for another fun night!!

________________________________________________________


Saturday was another special shopping trip. Lisa & I have not had a good full day shoppy trip in approx. 9 years. So finally after being long overdue we made plans for a shopping extravaganza!!! We had a wonderful day together shopping, laughing, and reminiscing.

Lisa & I went to college together and then we lived beside each other for a few years. 8 ½ years ago Lisa & her husband Jeff moved approx. 1 hr. away. We still see each other occasionally but they are now proud parents to 2 beautiful & sweet girls and are a very busy family.

This was a very special day and I am hoping we can make it a bi-annual event…what do you think Lisa…a trip in the summer and a trip in the winter??

Here we are with some of our loot for the day!




Phew...I am still recovering after this busy, busy weekend but it sure was worth it!!

Weight Loss & Fun Friend Friday

Today’s weigh in was a wonderful surprise!! I lost 2.2lbs and this means I finally reached…




I am so happy and surprised!! It has been quite an up hill climb but I have the feeling that now that hill will get even steeper!

I AM going to give it my all though!

_________________________________________________________________________

I am really excited for tomorrow!! After work a bunch of us girls are getting together for supper with 2 of our girls that were left go back a few weeks ago.

After supper we are going to draw names for “Secret Santa Sister”, then before Christmas we are going to get together at Donna’s new place and exchange gifts!! I can’t wait to know whose name I have so I can get shoppin’!!!



This is the first time for some of us being back together so I’m sure there will be a lot of chatting and plenty of laughs…but NO TEARS, we all have had enough of that, right girls???

It's Been A Rough Week But As Far As Weight Loss Goes...

Yesterday was our weigh-in day and I finally made it over the 15 lb mark!!!! I can't believe we are already on week 9! Only 11 more weeks to go and then we are all on our own!!!

I was so happy to have had a loss today because after the week I had last week I was sure I was going to gain...

We have had some adjustments at work early last week and have recently lost some people due to restructuring. One of the girls we lost was my bestest girl LeeAnn.
(((HUGS))) Miss you girllie! xoxo

I/We have had some very tough days and we are all trying to get through this as best we can. I'm sure in time we will all get back in the swing of things. But at work there will always be one missing pea from the pod...

Scarecrow Weekend

Tomorrow we will be having our 2nd annual Pumpkin Party. Everyone will bring a pumpkin and we will carve our designs together, then we head up to the festival. This is the weekend of The Scarecrow Festival in our town so one of the activities we will enjoy will be the “pumpkin walk”. This is an evening event where there are many, many pumpkins carved and lit up along a road. The road is closed to cars and people can walk along and enjoy cookies, apple cider and a talented local singer. Then there will be fireworks to end the festivities and we will all head back home for a few drinks around the campfire.

I can hardly wait to enjoy it again this year!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Gracias Mamá & Amigo!

This is my Mom, last night she came over to help me hang “new” curtains in our living room. We have been a very long time without curtains on our windows in the living room because I was hoping to get blinds instead of curtains. For months I have been searching for the perfect set of blinds.








Have you ever known in your head exactly what you want but are unable to find it for real? Well that was my situation with the blinds for our living room windows. I guess my friend LeeAnn got tired of seeing my windows bare because she actually gave me these curtains.
Thanks so much LeeAnn, they really changed the look of my room and I love them!!


BIG hugs to my Mommy!!
Thanks for all your help last night! ~xoxo~

An Evening at the SPA!

A few weeks ago some girls and I got together at my friend LeeAnn's house for a "spa night". This was such a fun & relaxing evening with the girls. We did facials and pedicures, all the while enjoying some different drinks and girl time! Here are a few pictures from our evening.

Thanks for a great night ladies, it was just what I needed! I can't wait to do it again!!

Rearranged or Deranged?? **UPDATED**

Look at my blog … notice anything wrong??



Ummmmm … my sidebar has taken a trip down south!! Look down, look WAAAAAY down!!








I’m not sure what happened but something went wrong after my last post. I hope I can figure it out. If any of you have any ideas of what I can do to fix it I sure would appreciate a comment or an email.

** I messed around for a while tonight and seemed to have the problem fixed. It did have something to do with my last post, not sure what but it doesn't matter because it is fixed now.

I am happy again! **

About a month or so ago I offered to make my friend, Natalie, a header for her blog. Around the same time she received her referral for her adorable daughter Anna. Here is her header and if you would like to check out her blog just click on her name above.





Now on to my new CAR!! WOO HOO!!!!!







Larry thinks I am crazy, but I have given her (my car) a name … her name is Paris. I guess this just goes to show how bad I want a child; I will even name my vehicle, lol!!!!!!





If any of you have named your vehicle (or any other “strange” object) please let me know in my comments below!!!

Have a good FRIDAY!!!

Lisa ... A Friend Like No Other

"Many people will walk in,
And out of your life,
But only a true friend,
Will leave footprints in your heart." ~unknown

Happy Birthday to my closest, dearest, & best friend, Lisa.
I hope you have a great day and I can't wait to see you this weekend!!

Happy Birthday to ...

DORIS @ 3D's

I always enjoy reading your blog. You are an inspiration, a motivation and a friend to all of us waiting Mommies.







Enjoy your special day girl, you deserve it!!!







Drop by Doris's blog and leave her some birthday wishes.

More Baby Blessings

Another post of congratulations to a friend. Norma was our first secret pal that we sent gifts to and she has just received her referral for a beautiful baby girl from China.



Please stop by Norma’s blog and wish her well while she waits to bring home her new baby girl Bethany!

CONGRATULATIONS DAWN!!

I am so happy for my friend Dawn. She and her family have been logged in for 20+ months with China. Recently they decided to re-open their file with the BC ministry.

Well guess what!?!?!

They just received “the call” that there is a 14 month old baby girl named Charla waiting for them in Victoria!!

This is such wonderful news!

They leave on Sunday and return a week later with their precious little girl! I wish them all a safe trip on this amazing journey to their little Charla.



Dawn, Dale, Chase, Colton, Caden & Carter my thoughts are with you while you wait your last few days until you meet your new daughter and baby sister!!

Parties and Pictures and No Power...

~ Well our power is out so while it is I will write a (much needed) post in Word and have it ready for Blogger when the power comes back on. ~

Last weekend we were very busy with Christmas parties. First we had the Children’s Bridge Christmas party to go to and then the same night we also went to my company party. The Children’s Bridge Christmas party is always nice to go to because it is great getting to see all the beautiful little cuties home with their forever families. Each time we go to one of the Children’s Bridge get-togethers we get to see the dreams really do become reality. It was especially nice this year because Son Pham got to attend as well. Son Pham is a little boy from Vietnam who came to Canada in hopes of receiving medical treatment. Children’s Bridge has been very involved in helping Son find the medical care he requires. Click HERE for more information and ways to help.

Here are some pictures of the adorable little munchkins from the party.

Our company party was an absolute BLAST! Earlier this month our company decided against having a Christmas party. So three of us, myself, Donna and Lee Ann, decided to take it into our own hands and put together our own company Christmas party for everyone. After a meeting and some company support, in 2 ½ short weeks we had the party planned. Everything was ready, including location, food, prizes, speeches, decorations and a DJ. We had fun planning everything and I would do it again!

Here are some pictures from our evening.





(I'm not sure that doing "The Locomotion" with co-workers is a good idea...)














I also got my hair cut last week, it was getting long and I couldn’t do anything with it so it was time for a change. If I get brave I might post a before and after picture. :o)

~ Our power was out for over two hours, oh well I guess it could have been worse. ~

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday:

I left work early so we could head to Halifax do a little shopping and go to our waiting Mom’s & Dad’s group meeting. This was our first one and it was really nice. I have been in contact with both Jocelyn & Natalie for quite some time through Facebook so it was nice to finally get to meet them in person. We met at Applebee’s and had some appetizers, drinks and good conversation.



“Thanks for the invite Jocelyn & Natalie, we had a great time!!”







Saturday:

This morning I ran some errands and did some baking. Saturday night Donna, Larry, Dardy and I went to a local bar for some laughs & some dancing. We had a lot of fun and saw some crazy stuff!











(We also saw a lot of “celebrities” too … right Donna?? LOL!!)