5 on Olympic Friday!!

It's the time of the week that everyone loves...the day that your Bloglovin' feed is full of fun lists of 5 things! Check out the other posts here with Darci, April, Christina and Natasha!

{ONE}
Today is my baby brother's 24th birthday. I won't be anywhere near him to celebrate (Him = Calgary, me = Halifax, 6 hour flight & 3 time zones), but I'm definitely thinking of him! I can still remember when he was born and he was also the cutest baby ever (until Molly came around, that is! ;) j/k). He is a wonderful person, and I am so glad he is in my life. Hopefully he's coming out to visit us in NS this summer, because I haven't seen him in a YEAR now!

Excuse the blurry scanned picture from 1990!

{TWO}
Today is also the start of the Olympics in Sochi! We are going to have a nearly impossible time watching events live because Sochi is 8 hours ahead of Halifax, but I still can't wait to watch some hockey (of course!) and figure skating. Here's the official CBC link for Olympic updates (Canada based), but I think I'll be following along on Twitter instead. Go Canada Go!! Here's me cheering for Team Canada in 2010 :)

The little guy on my shoulder is Quatchi and he was one of the mascots (in case you were wondering ;))

{THREE}
I know I'm not the only one out there who loves Google, and I really like the Google doodles that teach you a little something about someone. Google ran a contest this year in Canada in which kids drew a doodle and the winner will have their Doodle posted for a day (along with other cool prizes). If you're in Canada (or maybe in the US, not sure!), you can go HERE to vote until Feb. 14; they have been narrowed down to the Top 5! There are also awesome descriptions about the invention that each Doodle represents...they made me smile :) I like this one best:

(Via)

Speaking of Google and the Olympics, check out Google's Doodle today, which also encompasses a few lines from the Olympic Charter and another reason to love Google - they are showing their support for all athletes, straight or gay, etc. etc. 

"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play." –Olympic Charter

{FOUR}
On this weekend in 2013, we moved into our house!!! It's hard to believe we have been living here for a year! Here's a funny picture of what happened to one of our (two) sheds on our first night that we slept in our house (note: it was during a blizzard!):

It wasn't really funny at the time, but it sure is now!

{FIVE}
In our house, we have all been battling a bit of sickness (of varying types/degrees) this past week, including the dreaded MAN-COLD which caused hubby to actually take a sick day today. Because of this, I am going to be pumping THIS concoction into all 3 of us to curb the coughing this weekend (posted by Kathy at Vodka and Soda- a hilarious fellow Canadian). I also highly recommend using a Neti-pot if you find yourself sick and you're looking for a natural solution...definitely clears the sinuses :)

Exact words (mostly) from Kathy's blog post

And finally...I'm linking up with the wonderful Whitney because it's Friday funday!! Here's what's in my head this week...a little Joel Plaskett (from Halifax) because my hubby and I both love this song and it's an upbeat one for the weekend!!

Lists of 5 Things

This year for Christmas, I told Brian about a few gifts that I really wanted and most of them were "necessities" like maternity clothes, leather gloves (I had NO gloves and we live in Canada!), slippers (our floors are cold)...etc. etc. He did an awesome job of rounding up the items from my links to the stores, and all was good. One of the things I mentioned on my list was a day planner/agenda, and he got a bit creative with it and gave me this one:

You can buy one here!

At first, I was unsure about it...but now I actually love it. The only thing I don't love about it is that it has no month-at-a-glance view. Overall, though, it's been invaluable so far keeping track of blog posts and ideas, writing down LISTS as prompted (which I love) and tracking appointments. I love it. My work life isn't busy enough to require a day planner, and I manage it fine with Outlook & my e-mail, so this planner has worked for me so far. Brian got it for me because he knows that I love to make lists :) 

That being said...here is a fun post I saw ages ago with a lot of little lists!! Feel free to borrow it or even add your own 5 things in there somewhere!

Five Things I Have a Passion For:

(1) My Family - Every single member, immediate family, extended family, in-laws...I am so blessed to have wonderfully supportive family members who mostly get along.
(2) Music - I love listening to most types of music, but I also love to play - fiddle, piano and French horn. We also love to have dance parties around our house :)
(3) Research and Knowledge - I love to know why things happen, and I love Google because you can find the answer to any question you might have about anything. Based on my educational background, I also believe that research moves the world forward.

(4) Friends - Life would be nothing without friends to share it with, and we have some of the best friends around.
(5) Words - I love to read and write. I love getting lost inside a book. I love discovering new blogs or fun articles to read. I used to love writing letters and e-mails to friends.

Five Things I Would Like to do Before I Die

(1) Travel (see list below!)
(2) Watch my children grow up and have children of their own
(3) Truly feel like I am in the best shape of my life
(4) Run a half marathon
(5) Take a belated honeymoon and renew our wedding vows

Five Things I Have Made in the Kitchen Lately

(1) Zucchini Lasagna (recipe coming soon!)
(2) Chicken Fajitas (recipe tomorrow!)
(3) The best chocolate cake in the world for a friend's birthday last weekend (I really should share this recipe ASAP)...
(4) Egg Muffins to eat this week
(5) Protein pancake for breakfast this morning

Five Books And/Or Magazines I Have Read Lately

 I don't think I've read any magazines lately but I've definitely been reading some books! 

(1) The Divergent series
(2) The Book Thief (currently reading!)
(3) Hop on Pop (one of Molly's favourites)
(4) Barnyard Dance (another Molly favourite - she likes to dance to this one)
(5) The local newspaper (online version)

 Five Favorite Movies (Maybe I've Seen Them Five Times?)

(1) The Princess Bride
(2) Inception (although I still can't quite figure out the ending)
(3) The Lion King
(4) Pride and Prejudice (version with Keira Knightley)
(5) Love Actually (Ok, it's sappy, but "I love [it] and true love lasts a lifetime")

Five Places I Would Love to Travel

(1) Ireland and Scotland
(2) Hawaii and/or Costa Rica
(3) New Zealand
(4) Northern Canada (Yellowknife or Whitehorse?) or go on an Alaskan Cruise
(5) Locations from Dan Brown's books in Europe

(All images Via Google)

It's hard to stop at just 5 places but these are my top ones!

Five Useful Smartphone Apps

(these are for my Samsung Galaxy but I'm sure iOs has equivalent apps)

(1) 3G Watchdog - to monitor your data usage in a month
(2) Relax Melodies - great white noise for little ones or if you can't fall asleep
(3) gStrings - tuner for any instrument
(4) Songza - we've been listening to playlists on this one a lot lately
(5) SoundHound - similar to Shazam, but I find it a bit better

Five Blogs I am loving lately

(1) Camp Patton - just discovered her and I find her stories about toddlers hilarious
(2) The Life of Bon - just announced some big news this week! Her posts are always entertaining.
(3) The Daily Tay - makes me laugh almost every day
(4) Let Life be Like Music - I love reading about her life in Toronto and her fun pilot boyfriend and cute dog!
(5) Truth Be Told - another fellow Canadian who writes posts like this one that are awesome

What are 5 things on your mind today??