Liebster Award

Chrissy, who blogs over at Simple Joys nominated me for a Liebster award last week, and so I'd like to dedicate this post to answering her questions and sharing some little-known facts about myself! Thanks for thinking of me, Chrissy!!

Baby Molly :)

The Rules are:

1) List 11 facts about yourself.
2) Answer the 11 questions provided.
3) Create 11 new questions.
4) Nominate 11 bloggers with fewer than 200 followers and let them know that they've been nominated! :)

11 FACTS ABOUT ME:

1) My favourite season (since moving to the East Coast) is fall. It's just so beautiful here in the fall.

Cabot Trail in the fall

2) I play the fiddle, the piano and the french horn

Circa 2006ish

3) I have never broken a bone (knock on wood!!!)

4) I have seen a LOT of Canada because we have driven across the country 4 times (all the provinces but no territories).

5) I have never traveled internationally besides the US (many Northern States, NYC, and Florida)

NYC 2009 - it was windy on the boat, haha

6) My Master's thesis is in the process of being published in an academic journal, and I have several other publications 

7) I am a very fast reader and often finish a "normal length" novel in a weekend

8) One of my favourite flavour combos is chocolate and peanut butter...yummm

9) I love holidays, especially Christmas and Canada Day

Christmas 2009

10) My husband and I met online, but when we met each others' families, we learned that our grandmothers used to be friends and our mothers grew up near each other...many of our aunts and uncles know each other from University, too!

@ Luckett's Vineyard in the Valley on our mini-moon

11) I spend too much time thinking - not always in a stressful way, but I'm dying to know what our future holds and I can't wait to see my children grown up (but I'm not trying to wish my life away either if that makes sense!)

11 Questions from Chrissy: 

1. Why did you start blogging?

I found that I was reading a lot of blogs, and wanting to share information and connect with these people whose lives I was reading about everyday. So far, it's been a lot of fun and I can't wait to see where it goes from here!

2. What is your favorite way to spend free time?

Honestly, I love curling up with a good book and a blanket, or watching a movie on the couch with my hubby. In the summer though, I love hitting up the beach or doing something fun outside!! I also love to run or go for a hike outside.

3. What gift or talent do you wish you had?

I wish I could speak more than one language. I can speak French a little bit, but would love to be fluent in it (and I do hope to work towards this one day!) I also wish I was a bit less shy around new people, or a bit girlier in big groups of girls (I often find that I can't relate to the conversation that's floating around).

4. What is a current goal you have for yourself?

I want to deliver a happy and healthy baby in April and get back to where I was fitness wise (or even better!) by the end of 2014.

5. If you won an all expense paid vacation to wherever you choose, where would you go?

Either Costa Rica, Hawaii, New Zealand, or western Europe. If expenses were covered, I'd probably pick the most expensive place! Haha!

6. What hobby or interest would you like to pick up if you had more time?

I'd love to do more DIY projects around the house or do more sewing

7. What era or time in history do you find interesting?

I'm not sure...I love the time around Jane Austen's novels. I also loved reading Outlander and found that period of time (at least in Scotland!) interesting compared to the present day! 

8. What shows do you like to watch on TV?

Oh man, too many to list...but currently we love House of Cards, How I Met your Mother, Modern Family and I like New Girl :) For old-school shows, Friends (of course), Gilmore Girls and Alias.

9. What famous person would you like to meet?

There are a few I'd love to meet, but I think it would be amazing to meet some favourite bands, such as U2, Coldplay, or the Beatles. It would also be great to meet J.K. Rowling and ask her some questions about Harry Potter :)

10. What is the last book you read?

Still finishing up the Book Thief. Took a little break to read some cheesy romantic novels around Valentine's Day. haha.

11. What is your favorite store to browse?

Costco, Chapters (book store), Winners (Marshalls), Target

I nominate these bloggers (Sorry, I couldn't quite come up with 11!!):

Amanda @ Tickled Pink

Emma @ Emmaloo

Haley @ Truth be Told

Sarah @ Baloney Bin

Kelcey @ Hello Kelcey
Kristen @ Sunny with a Chance of Lemons
Meredith @ More than Yesterday

And here are my questions for them:

1) What is your favourite genre of music?
2) If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
3) What is your favourite ice cream flavour?
4) Do you have any goals that you're working on right now?
5) Where were you born?
6) What is your favourite holiday?
7) Do you prefer the mountains or the beach?
8) What was the last movie you watched?
9) Have you ever met anyone famous?
10) What was the best vacation you've ever taken?
11) Do you prefer hugs or kisses?

This was fun!! Thanks again for nominating me, Chrissy!! :)

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?? 

10 Things on my mind today

1) Very few people have been blessed with the ability to whistle/sing in tune. This is particularly true for Sleigh Ride...sigh. Someone I know has been whistling it CONSTANTLY...and out of tune.

2) Public transit either brings out the best or the worst in people. These days, it seems like the worst as people scramble for seats on the bus...but I have seen some kind gestures too.

3) It is usually best to assume that my 2 year old wants to try something herself first, and then ask for help if she needs it. This goes for getting dressed, getting into chairs without being lifted, etc. etc. etc. "Me do!" is a common phrase out of her mouth these days.

4) Marriage is not easy. I always knew this, to an extent, but we have had a long few weeks with my husband working a lot of overtime, so I am feeling like we need to rest and re-charge over the holidays. Marriage requires constant patience. I also discovered this blog/book in the past few weeks that has really changed some of my thinking (and self thoughts) about my husband.

5) A book is more of an actual escape to me than TV. If I'm watching something on TV, even if it's gripping, I find myself turning to my phone as well, or my computer, or just generally distracted. With a book, all my focus is on the pages. I also found this blog post interesting this week.

6) My first pregnancy was easier, in many ways, than this one. Fortunately, I do not feel exhausted all the time as I did a couple of months ago...but I am finding it harder to do certain things such as pick up toddler toys at the end of the day. Also, there is that whole caring for an independent little person each day on top of my own self-care...that definitely amplifies the lack of free time ;)

7) On the same note, it takes hardly anything to make me cry during this pregnancy. And I don't usually mean crying over my own sadness about something. I mean things like this WestJet Christmas video:

or this:

James Van Der Beek posted this on Instagram this week. Link here.

or this:

Basically any photo of a soldier reuniting with a family member has the same effect on me: tears

Yep, all tears, all the time. And in some ways, I actually like those cathartic tears that are for someone else's sorrows or joy. Furthermore, even though I only really watched two seasons of Glee, I've been listening to a lot of their Christmas music this year and my heart breaks for Lea Michele and listening to her sing duets with Cory Monteith (R.I.P.) I want to get caught up on the show someday, but I'm not sure if I can watch the tribute show for him (definitely can't while I'm pregnant or I will be soaked in tears!!)

8) I really wish that all saxophone players could either sound like Kenny G, or Braddy G (my extremely musical cousin Brad who doesn't like that nickname, haha!). The saxophones in my concert band have been absolutely demolishing the most beautiful Christmas piece ever written, O Holy Night. Each time I leave rehearsal, I have to listen to version for a little bit to get it out of my mind. Now, obviously, we cannot all be accomplished musicians, and I'm not anywhere near a professional french horn player, but it is painful to the ears.

9) Yoga is good for the mind, body and soul.

10) Keeping this image in mind anytime I am frustrated instantly vanishes it and makes me long to see my little toddler. She has transitioned into her big-girl bed like a total champ, and I love her with all my heart.

(Very LATE) Cara Box Reveal for July!!

This post is SOOOO belated!! I received my Cara Box from Chantel (who blogs over at A Harvest of Blessing) MORE than on time, but then I got insanely busy and THEN went on vacation last week, so here is my reveal post!

Chantel is super sweet and her blog is really sweet too! I enjoyed getting to know her a little bit this month and I LOVED the things she sent me!! The beach bag was used constantly on our beach vacation last week, and I love the water bottle too - I drink TONS of water so this is very handy!! I used the nail polish last week too while on vacation. The bracelet is so pretty and I love the anchor!! The anchor is one of my favourite "nautical" things. It was so nice of Chantel to put this together for me and her words of encouragement really made my day too :) Thank you SO much Chantel!!!

I sent a Cara Box to Melissa, who sent me my first Cara Box in May! It was great to reconnect with her this month. You can see what I sent her over here on her blog Dreams and Colour!! I found a lot of inspiration from Pinterest and made her some homemade things which I hope she really likes :)

The Cara Box exchange has been great for me so far, but I know some people have had a lot less success with their partners. Kaitlyn at Wifessionals who runs the Cara Box exchange has decided to do it 4 times a year, which I think is great because hopefully more people will be able to participate more fully. It can be challenging to get to know someone in a couple of short weeks and then get their items and mail it all in a short period of time. Thanks again for this opportunity to participate, Kaitlyn! You can check out everyone's Cara Box reveals here.