Dropping in on a Friday again :)

Hi there!!

I have finally come to terms with the fact that I just won't be blogging regularly for a little while longer. I am still reading all of my favourite blogs and trying to comment when something resonates with me, but it has been hard to keep up. Shannon over at Life After "I Dew" wrote a post this week that really describes how I feel...basically when I have free time, blogging is not a priority. I am either doing a fun craft with Molly, cooking, cleaning or organizing our house, or sleeping (usually at about 8:30-9pm every night, HAHA). It might be better someday, but I'm not sure. I am trying to keep a personal journal going just so that I can remember these days and some of the things we have done.

Anyway, I do have some favourites to share this week to link up with Amanda at Meet at the Barre!! I love her Friday posts SO much...I always end up finding a good recipe and some good music and laugh at her funnies ;)

Favourite Pics of my Girls:

Big Sister/Little Sister :)

Favourite Recent Recipe:
Last weekend I made this delicious vegetarian chili (added lentils to make it thicker too) and this very yummy cornbread. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but we all enjoyed it and Brian doesn't typically like meatless chili so I was impressed!!!

Favourite New Music:
Coldplay's new album Ghost Stories...especially A Sky Full of Stars

Favourite Show that Molly has been watching:
The Hive, which is a British show on Netflix about a family of bees. Ahhh so cute!! See?

Favourite Show We've been Watching:
Still Homeland. We just finished Season 3 and Season 4 isn't out until October. What an amazing series!!! Now we're watching old episodes of House on Netflix :)

Favourite LOL this week:

Favourite new purchase:
We technically got them for free, but Brian and I both got new cell phones this week. Sony Xperia Z1s. They are awesome so far, but I'm still figuring it out a bit. They are similar to our Samsung phones since they are both Androids, but the Xperia has some pretty cool features.

Favourite recent read:
One More thing, by BJ Novak of the Office fame (Ryan on The Office). It's a collection of short stories - so I haven't finished it but I have gotten into some of the stories and it's very entertaining so far!

Favourite Mommy Lifehack:
In the mid-morning when Lucy is napping, Molly watches 4 2-minute clips on Youtube (Wheels on the Bus x2, Row Row Row your Boat and Hickory Dickory Dock [my fave]) and I get to shower with the door open 10 feet away. Works out great for both of us ;) Another great Mommy lifehack: Molly and I "work out" together - doing HIIT for 20 mins and some strength training. She loves to jump around to the music I put on! :)

Favourite Newly Discovered Blogs:
Kids Activities Blog - amazing resources for keeping kids entertained and educated!
Lindsay's List - some great posts about being a mother & fitting it all in!

Favourite recent life moments:
1) Brian is a diehard Habs fan so Molly has been wearing her Habs hairclips and t-shirt all this week to support his hockey team in the playoffs. She is obsessed.
2) Lucy is smiling these days! I love it!
3) Molly had a little bout of Hand Foot and Mouth disease and I caught it too but we are all seemingly on the mend now :)
4) My sister graduated from Med school yesterday and won an award! I'm so proud of her!!
5) And here's Molly's contribution to this post: aaaaaaa ("I push A!")

Check out all the other Friday Favourites here! BTW I love how I spell favourites the Canadian way for an American link up ;) Oh well!! Potato, potato! ;)

Hope all the Americans out there have a great long weekend...ours was last weekend but since I am home everyday and Brian has to go into work that day to meet a deadline, it was pretty normal around here for us ;)

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!! :)

(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.

I would walk 500 Miles - (Five on Friday Link-Up)

Some bloggers that I follow do a link up on Fridays called Five on Friday which is basically 5 things you are loving this week or 5 things you want to share. I am linking up with them today!!!

ONE

I am finding it hard to believe that I have been married to this wonderful guy for a year on Sunday:

 

It has been an amazing year with a few small challenges, a lot of laughter, and a lot of love. I can't wait to see what life has in store for us in the future!! Happy first wedding anniversary to the love of my life!! XOXO

TWO

I am sooo relieved to be feeling healthier this week! I had forgotten what it was like to be a normal functioning adult. As an added bonus, our adorable toddler slept through the night for 11-12 hours almost every night this week, which she hadn't done well since she'd been sick. Yay sleep!!! It has been a busy week with Brian's birthday, our first frisbee game last night, and kiddie birthday parties this weekend, but it has been fun too!

THREE

My sister and her husband went to Costa Rica on their honeymoon last year. I have been looking at pictures since a friend of mine also went there this year, and I am dying to go. I know it's not in our cards for the near future, but I'd really like to take a trip sometime for a belated honeymoon. We are going to try to figure out a way to make this work in the next couple of years :) Look how beautiful it looks:

Image via Google

FOUR

I came across a new funny blogger yesterday via The Life of Bon (whose blog I enjoy for the humor and literary interests)....her name is Erin and she blogs at Living in Yellow. She is REALLY funny. I also laughed a lot at this post from Jake this week. Hahaha.

FIVE

My beautiful daughter loves to read. Yesterday, I was making supper and she was wandering around the kitchen & back deck (which is fully enclosed and therefore pretty safe to play on). I look outside about two minutes later and see this:

It was the cutest thing ever. Just chillin' on the deck reading some books with Samuel the bear. She set this all up herself. She also loves giving High 5's...so that's a five on Friday too! ;)