Ventured out for pictures earlier. The sun was out and there was a slight breeze but it wasn’t too terribly cold - it was rather nice actually. The ground is frozen though and when I say frozen, I mean the entire driveway looks like a big block of slippery ice. In fact, it is. I took one step from the deck to the driveway and swoosh, my feet started dancing around. Needless to say, I didn’t get a chance to take too many shots but I really like this one, which I snapped after I looked up, while standing under a pine tree. This particular stem was dangling just over my head.

My husband is going to be helping his uncle later on tonight. With what you ask? I believe he’s going to help his uncle set up his new TV and various other things that go along with it. His uncle just got a really nice flat screen HDTV (I am jealous). His uncle isn’t that great with hooking things up, much like me, and tends to tinker with things so much that nothing ends up working. I guess that’s why they called Jo in for assistance. I phoned up a few minutes ago to see how things were going and he said they were nearly done but that his uncle needed new HDMI switches. Well that stinks. You go out and buy something new and turn around and have to buy something else for it in order for it to work perfectly. That would be my luck.

Speaking of TV, I’m so excited that American Idol and Survivor are back on. And on the topic of Survivor, there are already a few castaways that leave a bad taste in my mouth already. Ha, ha. I hope James wins this time. I was so bummed that he got voted off and had no idea it was coming. If only he’d played one of those idols…

There aren’t many things that I can honestly say that I hate. That being said, I absolutely hate running out of everything at one time. I’ve just run out of my beloved sweet pea body wash, conditioner (strange that I run out of conditioner faster than shampoo) and mousse. Yesterday, after baking cookies, I realized that I am now out of shortening and chocolate chip morsels. I wonder what’s next? Am I going to run out of computer memory while I’m typing this out? Ha, ha!

How annoying! Well, actually the most annoying part of that is that a) there are no Bath and Body Works here, b) I can only get the conditioner at Wal-mart and the closest one is 30+ miles away.

Anywho.

Speaking of chocolate chip morsels; when I realized I was out, I remembered that we’d purchased some Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough a couple of days ago. Since the cupcakes lasted no time and I had a sweet tooth, I decided I’d make bake some cookies.

Haven’t seen you in a while.

I’ve decided to let it grow out, and I’ve also stopped coloring it for the time being. It’s been at least a year since the last time I colored it (I think) and while I’m not 100% used to the gray hairs, I’m starting to prefer my natural hair color. Besides, they’re only natural highlights right? Ha, ha!

My hair is also getting rather long. It was only a couple of months ago when I cut it myself, chopping off a couple of inches. It’s hard to believe it’s already grown out, way past shoulder length. I’ve almost always worn my hair long. There have only been a couple of occasions when a) my mother decided I needed a bowl cut (OK, it wasn’t that bad) and b) I’ve gotten so frustrated with my mop that I, on a whim, made an appointment to chop it off to my earlobes. As much as I get annoyed with styling my hair when it’s long, I’m going to try and keep myself from doing any cutting other than regular trims. I’m aiming for waist length but I sort get the feeling that it will never see that day.. lol.

Since I’ve been on a tight budget lately, I decided instead of buying gifts for everyone, I’d make dinner instead. And of course that included yummy, sweet cupcakes that didn’t last 24 hours (24 cupcakes… GONE) and my on concoction of 4 cheeses (Asiago, Ramano, Sharp Cheddar and Mozzarella), chicken, bacon and lasagna noodles. I’m going to post that recipe up later tonight, or tomorrow morning.

I’ve been a bit bummed today, which everyone here has picked up on. Today is my dad’s birthday and tomorrow is my mom’s. This is the first year I’ve not spent it with them and that’s left me somewhat sad. Boohoo. I know, I know. I feel like such a baby for feeling like this but daggummit, I can’t help it!

PS; Don’t forget about my contest!

How many weddings have you attended where the couples provided their guests with wedding favors? I can only think of one myself, but I know for the other couples, the money was tight and there were other priorities.

My husband and I will be celebrating our ten year anniversary in about a year and a half. We’ve had many ups and downs, twists and turns and bumps in the roads over the years but after everything we’ve been through, I think it’s made our relationship stronger somehow. Since our first day as husband and wife, we’ve been talking about our ten year anniversary because this is the day we’ll have the big ceremony we never had. We spent so much money in the beginning of our marriage, to make my husband legal in the USA (he’s from Canada). We also felt a small ceremony on our wedding day was best because my in laws couldn’t attend at the time (Jo’s grandfather had just had triple bypass surgery). The only relatives that attended were my mother, father, youngest sister and her oldest son Tyler and my late grandmother Mac. Short, simple and sweet. Of course as a little girl, I always dreamed about my elegant, perfect big day.. and still do.

As crazy as some think I am, I’m actually looking forward to all of that wild and crazy planning that will be involved. I’m so excited about picking out colors, the flowers, the invitations and because I want to show my appreciation for the relatives/friends that will be traveling from all over the USA and Canada, the wedding favors. We’ll surely be on a very moderate budget, but I would love to find favors that are unique and affordable. Much like the wedding favors you’ll find at Truly Wedding Favors. There are many that already stick out to me as “the one”, for example; Bride and groom “Mint to be” tins - the heart shaped mints are adorable. And because I’m a lover of flowers, I also really love the idea of the Plantable Wildflower Heart. I think flowers relate to love in a special way (flowers bloom and grow.. as does love), so this makes so much sense. The hardest part is going to be deciding on that perfect one. Narrowing it down to only a few will likely prove to be difficult but I can’t wait.

If you’re planning your own wedding (and I can think of a couple of you who are) and plan to provide your guests with favors, Truly Wedding Favors can help get you started. They have a really nice and rather large selection of favors like; wedding favors, bridal favors, wedding party favors, and edible favors. And if you’re pinching your pennies like me, theirs even a selection of cheap wedding favors that should definitely fit into your budget.

This was a paid review.

My cats often pretend they hate one another. You’ll usually catch them rooms apart. If it happens to be a strange day where they’re actually in the same room together, they’re usually hissing at one another, pawing at one another or down right fighting. There have only been a few occasions when they’ve been “playful” or acted lovingly toward one another. I guess today is one of those days. A strange, strange day in the life of Jynx and Bella. I couldn’t find either of them earlier this afternoon. I looked everywhere, yet they were right under my nose (well, sort of).

Caught, mid-lick!

“If I could turn back time” happens to be one of my favorite songs by Cher, with “The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in his kiss)” coming in as a very close second. My mom was always a big fan of hers, she’s someone I grew up listening to and watching because of my mom. I can remember being in middle school when Mermaids (the movie) came out, which Cher starred in alongside of Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci. It quickly became one of our favorite slumber party movies. In fact, my good friend Jess can recite nearly every word in the movie before it’s said - yeah, we watched it a lot and a lot is probably the biggest understatement. I absolutely loved her in Mermaids and often wished my own mother was like her (not that my mom isn’t amazing or anything). Rachel (Cher) let Charlotte and Kate get away with a lot and that is so not the way I recall my childhood at all. HaHa!

Though it’s been years since I was first introduced to Cher, I still find myself enjoying her the same as I did back then and then some. I think she’s just getting better and better as she ages (both career-wise and her beauty). I’ve never seen Cher live but I’d love too And now that she’s out of retirement, I can think of a hundred things I’d be willing to do, to get my hands on Cher Tickets at Caesars Palace, where she’ll be replacing Celine Dion beginning this May. Someday I will.. someday!

It’s been snowing, again. It looked mighty blizzard-like just after four this morning. Yuck. The sun did make a brief appearance a few hours ago though, but not for long. I decided I’d head outside for a bit and take a few pictures. I didn’t venture out too far though, the wind felt like it was chapping my skin so I headed back in shortly after.

I’m not sure if I should accept the most recent weather reports for the week or not. I’ve been told “This is Newfoundland - the sun may be shining now but give it a few and it’ll be storming..”.. It’s currently showing a couple of days of snow this week and on Wednesday, blowing snow.

Spring can’t come too soon. I miss pretty flowers and rain showers.

If you haven’t learned by now, let me fill you in - I am a [proud] handbag addict. I’ve collected them since around the age of 7. In fact, my mother has a family video of yours truly telling my aunt that I “adore” her handbag and that I’m going to have my mother buy me one just like it. She always teases that I started young and she’s right.

When it comes to style, anything goes for me. My collection is quite eclectic, with bags varying from; casual to designer. There aren’t many handbags that I don’t like. Earlier this week I found out about a lovely little collection of western handbags by AJ’s Western Wear Outfitters. I was impressed with the handbags right away - the details put into them are fabulous. The designer uses both leather and faux leather, along with finishing studs that give them a very cowgirl feel. I know I can’t speak for everyone but for me, there’s usually something that really attracts me to a handbag. For instance, it could be the style, the color, the material or even the purpose it will hold (will it help me organize my contents better.. will it hold everything under the sun, since I tend to pack everything but the kitchen sink). One of the things I really love about many of these bags are their front buckles. They’re perfectly designed to look like belt buckles. Even though the prices, the details and the overall styles of their bags impress me, the buckles are definitely the feature that caught my attention and made me say “Ooh, I want one”.

If you are like me, a handbag lover, or simply are in search of quality, western style handbags - you must have a look see.

This was a paid review.

OK, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it really is “burning up” in here. I’ve stripped down to shorts and a tank top and gone as far as opening the sliding glass door (and it’s -12ºC). I’m starting to believe that my father in law enjoys the feeling of “Hell”. How on earth can someone be so dern cold indoors, to the point of the walls sweating right along with all of us? He’s always comfortable when he’s outdoors tinkering in his shed, in the woods or whatever. The cold never phases him out there. A little while back I suggested he start layering, so that the rest of us could still be comfortable. After all, you can always add clothing to keep warm but there’s only so much that you can rip off to cool down.

I currently feel like bathing in a tub filled with ice water. If the harbour wasn’t froze over, I think I’d even consider diving into it for a cool down. HAHA. Yeah, that’s extreme but if you only knew how miserable this heat was..!

Today is my husband’s 31st birthday. We’re having a small surprise party for him later this evening, complete with; a chicken dinner, cake, ice cream and delicious cupcakes (2 dozen, courtesy of me). After dinner we’re planning to have a few games of dice or maybe even bullshit (card game) and maybe even watch a movie or two (home theater chairs would come in handy when we do this).

While my mother in law and I were running around picking up a few things for the party yesterday, I stumbled onto a selection of “sound cards” by Hallmark. I doubt any of you (maybe a handful) know that I tease my husband about the way he walks, it’s all “macho man” like and when he’s doing that strut, I always sing a piece of “macho man” to him. Well I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when I picked up a sound card that plays “Macho Man” by the Village People! I simply couldn’t resist.

Here are a few photos I’ve taken throughout the day. Pictures include; birthday card, both inside and out, cupcakes galore. The cupcakes with the sweethearts on them are for specific people - example; be mine = my husband, cool cat = M. the young girl up the road who recently had surgery (she’s coming home today), call home = sister in law (she calls home at least a dozen times a day when she isn’t home, even when she’s at school) and all mine = mine (haha! had to mark it otherwise it would disappear with the rest of them).

The birthday card reads (before playing Macho Man when you open it up);

You’re another year old, but you’re still a… oh, what’s the word? Gimme a second. It’s on the tip of my tongue!

Now that I have the cupcakes finished, I’m going to take a shower and attempt to get all of this food coloring (used for the icing) off of my hands. I hope some soap and water does the trick, otherwise I’m not sure what will get this mess off - any suggestions?

As I mentioned yesterday; I’ve decided to run another contest featuring Lori’s jewelry. Last month the featured prize was a turquoise bracelet. This time around, the prize featured is a gorgeous necklace complete with sterling silver links, silver plated floral pendant with both jade and vintage silver beads. The necklace is 30 cms in length (I know some would ask).

I’m willing to ship anywhere, so if you’re interested in participating - please do so.

The only requirements are;

a) IF you have a blog, create a blog entry which will include the paragraph below and have all links in place as they are in the paragraph.

b) leave a comment on this entry and include a link to your blog entry.

c) IF you aren’t a blogger, you may participate by commenting on this entry and letting me know how you learned about the contest.

The paragraph you will need to include in your blog entry is as follows;

Teresa is holding a new contest over at her personal blog. Those entering have a chance at winning a beautiful floral necklace created by Lori Jaclyn. She’s willing to ship the prize anywhere, so anyone is eligible to participate!

This is what you have a chance at winning;

No entries will be accepted after 11:59 EST on February 17th. Once the deadline is met, I will close the comments. I will announce the winner sometime on Monday, February 18th.

It’s been months since I logged in to check up on my old bank accounts with the bank I previously worked for. We still have a loan there, which I check up on occasionally to make sure that my payments are being posted. It never dawned on me to check on the other accounts too - those accounts have been closed out for well over a year now. Yesterday I decided to do just that and much to my surprise I see that both of the checking accounts are overdrawn, despite me thinking those accounts had been closed as I mentioned. I clicked to view the transaction history and noticed a $5 charge for each month, on each account. This is a monthly fee that customers are charged when they no longer have a savings account connected to their other accounts (this “bank” was once a credit union.. it still pretty much runs in the same fashion as it did previously). Apparently when we asked them to close out our accounts, they only closed out the savings account. The overdrawn balances totaled $130 ($5 per month on 2 accounts for 13 months). Frustrated really doesn’t begin to cover my feelings on this, even with the account fixed now and properly closed out. Many of you likely recall the troubles I experienced with this bank from the get go, even as an employee. I’m honestly surprised I worked for the company for 4 years, they’re a pretty shady bunch (not all, but most).

I knew they’d fix the accounts once I notified them, especially if I spoke with the person who was supposed to close out all of the accounts and not just the savings account. The first representative that I spoke with this morning, at their call center didn’t want to help and placed me on hold, where I sat for about 5 minutes before hanging up. I phoned back and got the same representative who then said that it was my responsibility to close out my accounts. She obviously missed the part of my complaint where I said I’d done that over a year ago. Rather than get myself that much more worked up, I hung up and phoned the branch I worked for and asked for the assistant manager that had taken my original call and request last December. Anywho, she got it all squared away and apologized. She said that she must’ve gotten a customer after I spoke with her and forgot to go back and close out the other 2 accounts (the checking accounts). I thanked her for her time and told her I appreciated her help, then we did a little catching up. When I worked for the company, there were a lot of turn overs. A lot is really understatement. She said things haven’t changed and she is the only person remaining out of the ladies I originally worked with. Ouch!

First off; several have asked for a 3 column Wordpress theme. Your wish is my command, but it’s going to be a few days before I release it. I’m also going to work on making the themes widget-friendly, which will take a little time.

Secondly; I’ll be announcing a new contest sometime tomorrow. I figured since the most recent contest went so well, featuring Lori’s jewelry, I’d do a second contest featuring another piece. She had originally planned on letting me select a piece for myself and as much as I love her jewelry and would love a piece, I love you guys too. I rarely wear jewelry enough to buy it on a regular basis and I figured someone else would get better use out of it! I am having Lori create a customized piece for my mother for mother’s day though and I can’t wait to see it!

Thirdly; It is snowing so hard out right now, that it looks more like rain than snow. I had gotten so excited earlier this week, to see the snow we had from a couple of weeks back finally start to melt. I really should have known better than to think that would last very long. This is what it looks like out of the dinning room window.

Fourthly; I stayed up late last night so that I could watch the Calgary Flames (my favorite sports/hockey team in the whole wide world.. lol). We are only able to watch hockey on Saturday’s because of the programming here, which stinks - I miss watching nearly every game like we were able to do in Calgary. I was sad to see my team lose but I guess you win some, you lose some right?

Fifthly; Are you ready for some football? Who’s watching the Super Bowl tonight? This is actually the first year, in 6 years, that Jo’s been “off” and able to see it. He’s pretty excited about it. We’re having a small Super Bowl party, or I should say they are. Football isn’t my thing, I only watch it for the commercials (haha). To those who will watch it: Who are you rootin’ for? Jo’s hoping the Patriots will win and close out with a perfect season. I couldn’t care less about who wins to be honest. There’s only one football team that I can actually tolerate watching and that’s the Georgia Southern Eagles which is a college team (Go big blue).