Bursting with Canadian Pride and 2-player board games

Although this Monday morning isn't off to the smoothest start (late/restless night/busy morning) we had a wonderful weekend and I am swelling with pride at our Olympic team!! So proud to be Canadian today, and so proud of our athletes and especially our hockey players (male and female!) :) Once we knew that Canada was going to be playing for gold yesterday morning, we arranged a little brunch at our house and watched the game. Molly got a bit bored (and we played with toys and read books throughout the game), but she was excited to see the medals and flag at the end!

(Via CTV)

I'm a bit sad that the Olympics are over, and I think Twitter is about to get a bit boring for a few weeks until something else interesting happens!!

We were able to see some of Brian's extended family and a lot of my extended family this weekend too, which was nice. It's not every weekend that Molly gets so much family time! The weather here was warm, especially on Saturday, so we actually barbecued for supper that night. We also watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with Ben Stiller (it was pretty good, actually! Cute message and great music) and played some board games on Saturday night!

(Walter Mitty quote - Source)

Today, I wanted to share some of our favourite 2-player board games. Brian and I have a lot of "date nights" at home, even though we are fortunate enough to have about 1-2 date nights out of the house each month when Molly is with her grandparents. Often, we just watch a movie or TV series on Netflix, and we enjoy that, but it's nice to change it up every once in awhile and do something a bit more interactive. We are both pretty competitive (in a fun way! haha), so games are right up our alley. Occasionally, we will play Wii (either Wii Resort Sports, Wheel of Fortune, or Wii Jeopardy), but we also have a few fun board games that are good for 2 people. We both love strategy type games, and I personally like games that don't necessarily take all day/night (I'm not big into Risk or Monopoly etc. etc but Brian likes those). There are tons of card games for 2 players too (such as Cribbage!) - but I'm not going to get into those. Here are some of our favourite games:

• Rivals of Catan / Catan Card game -  We have the Rivals of Catan, but I think the Catan Card game is similar (just not as readily available). I bought this awhile ago because we both love the Settlers of Catan games but they require at least 3 players, so we don't get to play them very often. This is a variation of the Catan games that goes by pretty quickly, and it is easy to learn, especially if you've played the full version of Settlers. For those unfamiliar with Settlers of Catan, it involves rolling a dice in which the outcome will provide you with cards or resources to "build" settlements and expand to get victory points. The winner achieves a certain number of points.

•  Rummikub - this is a very straightforward game, and mostly has to do with luck and keen observation. The goal is to get rid of all the number tiles in your hand by laying down sequences or 3 of a kind etc.

• Carcassonne - I bought this when we first started dating because I had heard that it was also a bit similar to Settlers. It's a pretty fun game, but it's totally different if you play with more than 2 people. We played it on the weekend for the first time in ages, and we easily got through 3 games in 90ish minutes (Best 2 of 3, and I didn't win - boo! haha). It's a really easy game to learn, but there are a few key strategy points that people pick up on over time. It's another "building" type game like Settlers of Catan.

Every Carcassonne board ends up being different, which is pretty cool!

• Sequence - we haven't played this one in awhile, but it's also really easy and just uses two decks of cards - you could even make your own board for it (which I think is the one we have - Brian's mom made it for him). It gets pretty fast paced towards the end. 

• Scrabble/Yahtzee/Othello - most people have tried these games before, so I don't feel the need to elaborate too much. We went through a huge Scrabble phase a couple of years ago and played it all the time. Yahtzee is fun too, but we get sick of it because it's almost 100% luck. Othello is a pretty easy game, but the winner is often determined early on in the game and it can be hard to make a comeback. 

And some we'd like to try sometime:

Pandemic

Lost Cities

Ticket to Ride - Brian has played this with a friend, but I have yet to try it...maybe it will make an appearance at a birthday sometime this year ;)

Stratego

Any fun board game recommendations for us out there?

I also LOVE playing Scene it movie trivia on the XBox, but I can only really convince Brian to play that with me about twice a year (and the game is currently "missing" in our house - hmm, I wonder who hid it? haha). I should also mention that we have a lengthy list of fun board games that we like to play with friends and family - a whole post about that is coming someday soon!!

5 on Friday :)

Hope everyone survived the week!! It was another snowy one in Halifax, but I realized today that spring is just one month away!!! Can't wait!!

I'm linking up today with the 5 on Friday girls...Check out the other posts with Darci, April, Christina and Natasha!

--ONE--

Go Team Canada!! 
We had a nail-biting game against the US Women in hockey yesterday, and today's should be the same for Canada vs. US in Men's hockey. Overall, I am so proud of how my country is doing at these Olympics though! I'm not sure if we will get the same number of medals as we did in Vancouver, but I think our athletes are excelling and some lesser-known players achieved great things!! I really think we need to medal in men's hockey though...just a personal opinion. :) My hubby is considering taking the afternoon off work to watch the game today...haha I might just do the same ;) Day date?! I could get on board with that.

I think this picture on Twitter sums up our feelings about today, but I'd rather the men make it a little bit less stressful for us than the women did yesterday:

(Via)

--TWO--

I am seriously considering adopting the no-shampoo method sometime this spring/summer. I don't feel like I can try it yet, because I know my hair is going to go through some crazy changes after I have the baby, but I am pretty intrigued by it. I've read a lot on Amanda's blog about her experience with it, and although my hair is really OK right now, I definitely think it could be fuller and healthier. I have always steered away from trying this because I am scared of the transition phase, but I'm thinking that if I give it a go while I am on maternity leave, it won't be as big of a deal to have gross hair for a week or 2 (I will be spending time mostly with a 2 year old and a newborn who don't care how my hair looks!). Has anyone tried it? I'm going to look into it more, but I am really very interested in the method. In case you aren't familiar with it, you basically "wash" your hair with a baking soda mixture/vinegar rinse every 4-5 days, and the natural oils take care of the rest. It's very interesting :)

--THREE--

Molly had her first dentist appointment this week and she was so good! When it came time to pick out a "prize" at the end, she OF COURSE picked a bouncy ball out of all the toys. She actually wanted to take about 6 things home (she's a bit of a hoarder), but settled on a ball (we only have about 500 balls at home - no big deal, haha).Our new dentist also has a TV screen on the ceiling for kids (and adults) to watch while they are getting their teeth cleaned. Unfortunately, no Bubble Guppies, and we (apparently) have very little interest in My Little Pony, so Molly was still very squirmy but she did well!!

Having fun :)

--FOUR--

I found this Buzzfeed list about 30 things everyone does that you'd never realized and it made me laugh. I don't do all of these things, but Brian does A LOT of them, and it is funny to realize that we are all alike in some ways!!

I also saw this list on Pinterest this week and it totally cracked me up. The things that make toddlers cry or throw tantrums are hilarious and I can completely relate this photo roll to the random events that make Molly melt down sometimes.

--FIVE--

Molly had her supper one night this week in a muffin tin. I used to do this for her all the time, and it's great because now she is old enough to understand that she has to try at least one food item from each cup. There are tons of ideas for muffin tin meals here on this blog (a resource I had totally forgotten about!). This one wasn't my most creative muffin tin, but it is oranges, whole grain spaghetti, strawberries, and meatballs :)

The baby bump appears in this pic too - so I didn't edit it! haha

Hope everyone has a great weekend - any fun plans?? We are getting together with both of our families, which will be nice, and it's supposed to go up to 6 and 7 degrees Saturday/Sunday, which Brian considers to be "t-shirt weather" (haha!) so I'm thinking we will do something outside!!

Linking up with Whitney this week too...here's another Canadian song for our hockey men today!!!

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7 weeks to go! Crazy hormones!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day (if you celebrate it!!) and weekend! Here in Nova Scotia, we do not have a holiday today...bummer! I think almost everywhere else in Canada has one. It's actually a pretty long stretch to go, too - New Year's until Easter without a stat holiday! We're getting one starting in 2015 so that will be something to look forward to!

We had a lovely Valentine's Day...my Valentine actually surprised me by picking me up at work (usually I take the bus and meet him halfway home) with chocolates, red roses, a homemade card AND a haircut!!! haha. It was really nice! We picked up Molly and had a nice supper at home, then watched About Time when Molly went to sleep. It was a pretty cute movie, and I liked it...but it made me cry towards the end and then I couldn't stop. As in, even after the movie was over (and it really wasn't even THAT sad), I was still crying. So I celebrated Valentine's Day with the colour red...eyes. haha. Silly hormones at it again!!

Via IMDB - loved Rachel McAdams in the movie

So true! haha

Saturday we took it pretty easy, ran a few errands, did some cleaning, and had friends over with
kids in the afternoon. Molly (and our friends' kids) had sleepovers at their grandparents' house and we all went out for supper on Saturday night at a local Irish pub...it was yummy!! SO much food though since we all split an appetizer and had meals too. I was full until yesterday at lunch, basically.

We played this fun board game:

Via Amazon

I'd highly recommend it as a party game - super easy and pretty fun...it can be played in teams and doesn't take very long to play (for those with short attention spans!)

And my friend and I watched Take This Waltz on Netflix while the boys played video games in the night. Overall, probably not a movie I would recommend...it has a bit of a weird ending and the whole movie is a bit pointless and whiny in my mind, but the acting was OK, and it takes place in Toronto, which was kind of cool.

On Sunday, we picked Molly up, and I worked on some blog stuff while Brian watched Elysium with Matt Damon and Molly napped. Then we watched Team Canada play Finland in the Olympics (close game and great win, but not SUPER exciting to watch compared to others). Here's our little Team Canada fan:

Sometime mid-afternoon yesterday, I was playing with Molly on the floor and started crying completely out of the blue...silly hormones again. I think I was just overtired from Saturday night, and I was thinking about how big my "baby girl" is getting (2 and a half!) and how we'll be bringing a new baby into the world soon, etc. etc. I couldn't stop crying and I wasn't even sure why, or if I was sad, or happy, or what was going on...anyway, Brian just asked what was wrong and I had no idea really, so he said “Ok, well, I’m going to go to Canadian Tire for a bit…and I’ll even bring Molly. So good luck with the crying”. I mostly got it under control and whipped up a pretty yummy supper that even the 2 year old enjoyed (meatballs and rice).

All in all, a pretty good weekend and I am feeling much more caught up on sleep this morning after a decent 9 hour stint last night. :)

Yesterday in the evening, I took some time to clean all my make up brushes (they were SO GROSS) using this tutorial here, which was awesome!! I highly recommend it, and your face recommends it too...I'm sure :)

I even took a few minutes to update our chalkboard for Valentine's Day:

A fun Tuesday's tots talk is up tomorrow on the blog and I have a fun recipe to share later this week too!! 

Happy Monday!!

Five on Friday #TeamTeddy...Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Friday, and Happy Valentine's Day! AKA my half-birthday!! I actually did celebrate it once with friends in University...but I think we all know how much "celebrating" happens in university anyway ;)

For 5 on Friday today, the hostesses (Darci, April, Christina and Natasha) are raising awareness about a little guy named Teddy, who suffers from Menkes Syndrome. You can read more about his story HERE. They are asking that 5 on Friday participants put up a picture with a #TeamTeddy sign as the first in their post.

---ONE---

#TeamTeddy photo (mostly just editing) with Baby Molly circa Mother's Day 2012.

---TWO---

A Canadian blog friend of mine, Melissa (who blogs at Dreams and Colour), looooooooves David Myles who is an East Coast musician. When I saw that you could send Valentine's including one of his songs from his website, I knew I had to send her one. Today is her birthday today too, so perfect timing! Send your own Valentine (with mp3 download) here!!

---THREE---

We don't really do much for Valentine's Day besides usually exchange cards and have a nicer-than-usual dinner or something, so that's our main plan for this evening! I'm making fettucine alfredo with shrimp, caesar salad, garlic bread and chocolate eclairs (not homemade) for dessert. Then I think we are going to watch About Time after the little munchkin goes to bed. Speaking of which, isn't her Valentine's shirt adorable?!?! (It was a Christmas gift, not actually purchased for Valentine's Day, but does suit the occasion!!!)

This picture isn't from today because someone was crying while I tried to take a picture this morning

We are also going on a double date tomorrow night with some friends of ours who have kids...and all the kids are going to sleepovers at their grandparents' houses...so I'd say that's one way to "celebrate" Valentine's Day!! :)

Here's the card I made for Brian this year, which I think is HILARIOUS:

(It says "I don't just like you, I love you...LOL)

My boss (who is awesome) also brought in heart-shaped cookies for us today:

---FOUR---

I am loving the Olympics (obviously) and the fact that hockey has started!! It's been difficult to keep up with the Olympics at work, so I've just been checking Twitter whenever I get a chance. One of my favourite pictures from the week (via John Lehmann) is of Canadian Dara Howell, who TOTALLY rocked her slopestyle run and easily won gold. It was amazing to watch (even though I didn't catch it live) and if I were her, I'd frame this picture at home!

(Via)

I am also loving this Buzzfeed list about Canada winning at the Olympics. :)

---FIVE---

I saw this quote on SparkPeople this week and it's a good one to remember moving forward. :)

I'm also sharing our wedding song for #BackThatAzzUp Friday with Whitney today!!

Happy weekend!! Hope everyone has a good one! And for those of you lucky Canadians (and all Americans) with a holiday on Monday...enjoy it! We get one in Nova Scotia starting in 2015...which does me NO good this weekend, haha ;)

Tackling the week ahead and some blogging resources

How is it Monday already? This weekend flew by and I'm not ready to be back at work yet. We had a pretty low-key weekend visiting some friends and family and getting over our colds, but I definitely didn't get anything too productive accomplished! I guess that's what next weekend is for?? It is boggling my mind that we only have about 7 more weekends until Baby #2 arrives (give or take one or two!). We don't have much to get done, but there is a lot that I want to sort through/organize/clean before welcoming the little bundle into the world :)

(via)

We spent some time watching the Olympics on Saturday (Molly LOVED it and cheered "Go Canada Go!" when we explained it to her), and I hadn't realized that I would be so emotional watching Canadian athletes at these games. I have always felt a bit emotional when Canada wins gold at the Olympics, with the anthem playing and all of that, but my pregnancy hormones have thrown me even further out of whack emotionally. I was SO excited to see 2 sisters win gold and silver in moguls skiing on Saturday!! How cute are they?!? I can't imagine how it would feel to win an Olympic medal and stand on the podium next to your sister.

The Dufour-Lapointe sisters (the third sister finished 12th) (Via)

As you may have noticed last week, I updated a few things on my blog and I wanted to share the tutorials I used for the update, in case anyone else is in need of them!

1) To add social media icons, I mostly used the tutorial here.

2) For the header (which I will be updating again this week), I previously used this tutorial here.

3) For the favicon, which is complete but not uploaded yet, I used Hubby Jack's tutorial here.

My next goal is to update my "About me" section and take some more professional photos to put in that section, so watch for that! I am also attempting to use my blog twitter account more frequently. I still have a personal twitter account, which I had used to follow a lot of my favourite blogs, so I'm trying to merge the two. I haven't really shared my blog with very many family members and real-life friends, so I want to keep my blog accounts and personal accounts separate.

I also wanted to share a few articles/blog posts/series that may be of interest to beginner (or even veteran) bloggers like myself!

1) Grow your blog/tweak your pinterest page (Jen has started a whole great series on growing your blog)
2) Sarah at Venus Trapped in Mars has a great series of Saturday Sessions about blogging
3) Kelli at She Crab Soup shares blogging resources every week. This post was particularly interesting to me, but she shares useful tips all the time.
4) Lauren talks about blogging a lot, and her tutorials and discussions are awesome. Here's a few of her tips.
5) Good old Pinterest has a lot of resources too (obviously) ;)

Does anyone else have any other fantastic resources to share? I have lists of them all over the place, and Google provides a lot of answers too.

I think it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the things that you can do to grow your blog. In some ways, I'm not even sure if I want to "grow my blog" exponentially, but I do find that I benefit from the interactions and connections I've made from other bloggers, so I want to put my best foot forward and see where the year takes me! (I'm sure as soon as I tell my friends and family about the blog, however, there will be no shortage of readers...hahaha).

5 on the 4th Friday of the month :)

It's time for everyone's favourite link-up...including me!! Check out all the other 5 on Friday posts over at Darci, April, Christina or Natasha's blogs today.

This was a bit of a long week, and kind of strange too because I worked from home on Wednesday  due to SEVERE snow in the city and got a bit confused with which day it is (yesterday felt like Monday). So the fact that today is actually Friday when it feels like Tuesday is pretty great!!

{ONE}

We have an amazing store close by called Gateway Meat Market. It (obviously) sells a lot of meat at EXTREMELY good prices and locally grown, but they also have a fair amount of produce and other goodies. You can’t get everything you need there, but you can get a lot of fresh food way cheaper than Sobeys or Superstore! Their prices are unbeatable and they do “flash sales” in which something is extremely cheap for a day or two until they run out of supply. I almost always take advantage of the sales to stock up on some veggies, and this week, the sale was BANANAS 17cents/lb…which, as you know, is amazing. Bananas here are usually 79-89 cents/lb. I bought a bunch and I’m going to wait for them to ripen and then peel and freeze them for smoothies (amazing way to use up bananas!)

Here’s the 24 bananas I got yesterday for $1.50 (major WIN! – PS: My husband rolls his eyes every time I come home with items like this, haha – he loves sales but thinks this is too many bananas ;))

{TWO}

I get to see my sweet sister tonight as she is in Halifax for residency interviews. Molly loooooves her auntie so much and we have been lucky to see her a few times lately (we usually only see her 1-2 times a year since she lives in Ontario). The next time I see her after tonight, we will have a new baby and she will be a doctor!! Hard to believe!!

{THREE}

As I’ve mentioned before, I am keeping a 5-year journal similar to this one on Amazon but following prompts from this site and writing it myself. Today’s prompt is “What are you looking for from life?”, which is a bit of a loaded question (haha), but it has really gotten me thinking about where I’m headed in the future career-wise (that’s a whole other post) and what things are important to me. I think reflecting on questions like this every once in awhile a good way to keep on track goal-wise is and a good way to remind myself that “the world is my oyster”. J So far, I love the simplicity of the journal prompts – only a sentence or two each day but it will be great to look back on!

(Via)

{FOUR}

I’m starting to get really excited for the Olympics! I can’t wait to see, in particular, how the men’s hockey team does (I am a huge Sidney Crosby fan but I think all of the players were good choices!) and I also love the figure skating/ice dance component. It'll be hard to watch it all because of the time difference, but hopefully we can catch a lot of the highlights and some events live on TV. Brian and I met right after the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, so when we were first talking, we were both really into the Olympics as a current event/ice-breaking topic...so I told him I'm so happy we've made it to the next Olympics! Here's to many more! ;)

{FIVE} 

I love U2 and we had the opportunity to see them live a few years ago in Moncton when I was super-pregnant with Molly (her first concert and it was a good one!!). They are releasing a new song for download during the Superbowl next weekend, but I can't stop listening to this other new one from the Mandela movie soundtrack. So let's #backthatazzup this Friday with the queen of yoga pants :)

 


Happy Friday, everyone!!!