Only 3 Months More...

I don't remember exactly who introduced me to "The Hunger Games", probably one of my sisters as they are the ones that I hear most book recommendations from, but I have been in love with the books since day one.

When they announced they are making a movie I was a little skeptical mainly since I remember a little book-turned-into-a-horrible-movie named "Twilight" but then I saw this preview.

I was sold.

Then one boxing day I came across this lil late Christmas present on the internet... 

The first official song off the soundtrack sung by Taylor Swift.

I was a lil wary at first, as much as I love Taylor Swift, cause I wasn't sure how the two fit together...

Gorgeous... 

You can bet that this is one movie that I will be fighting the crowds on opening day to see... 

Booking off March 23rd right now. 

Where Have You Been All My Life???

Ahhh...

Cafe Rio.

This is a restaurant I have heard ALOT about. Everyone knows and loves it and my amazing mother-in-law even recreated Cafe Rio salads for our wedding reception. It was amazing and it solidified my desire to one day become a patron of the restaurant.

Cue our current trip to Gilbert, AZ.

We were all going out for dinner and someone suggested it. 

"Cafe Rio"

Finally! After all this time, I got to go to the Restaurant.

I am sold.

How do I bring this restaurant to Lethbridge?

GIngerbread Dreams

Making Decorating gingerbread houses (I don't saying making because there is NO way I would make the house from scratch. I am all about the kits) is something that always sounds like fun and a way to get into the Christmas spirit.

Ah... I love being tanned... but I digress

 The Bevans clan decided to whip out our Christmas spirit and have a traditional gingerbread-decorating-off; the houses were bought, the teams were made and it came the time to actually make them.

Three problems:
1) It is inevitable that someone is gonna bow out and disappear come gingerbread house time *cough* Todd and Matthew *cough*
2) There is NEVER enough candy given in the box. I would LOVE to see the magician who decorated the houses on the box cause how did they make that candy stretch that far? I am pretty sure they only decorated the two sides that are shown in the picture.

Supplementing the candy supply is a MUST

3) The IDEA of decorating houses are sometimes more fun than the actual event and I was a lil weary about wanting to do it this year

But I am glad we did... Because we KILLED it...

Okay, not really, but we pulled a decent result.

 

Alright, who am I kidding, we were dead in the water till Shawn pulled out his secret talent.
Shawn can make a legit candy Santa. We all laughed when he suggested it but he made us believers.

This lil guy helped keep us in the decorating race

I learned that Jenny is a freakin star of decorating. Martha Stewart should hit her up for tips.

Apparantly the key is to decorate BEFORE arranging the house.

Pure Martha Steward talent

 

Kyle and Shadolyn win the slow and steady award. We were all done and they had only the walls done but they came through in the end.

But the best part is afterwards, when they are all done and I get to take pictures, celebrate the Christmas-y-ness and think "Yep, just another memory to store away for a fantastic lil Christmas"

 Love how every group pulls out something different. Aren't the hollies on the middle house adorable?

p.s. if anyone has actually ever been brave enough to actually try and eat the gingerbread house from the kits I will salute you cuz that stuff can't even be classified as food in my books.

Hidden..

Oh the things that your walls can hide!!!

This is a good example of why you should always wash the walls in your newly-purchased house that was previously smoked in....

The picture above shouldn't have surprised me, after all I did see how clean they kept their house but the thing that surprises me is that that is AFTER we washed the walls the first time...

Yep... If you look at the next picture... The far left is after being washed with soap and water, looks decent right? Well, then we sprayed on the heavy duty "Tough Job" and on the right is what it exposed hidden in the walls!!!!!

Lots of thanks to my mum who helped me scrub everything down twice.... Now, on to painting!!!

Difference Between Shawn and I

Don't get me wrong. 

I like to work.

But I also like to rest, sleep, read, watch T.V. and especially eat
(trust me, I get grumpy if I don't eat)

Not like Shawn. He's a freaking machine.

Let's compare:

Me:

6 am- Get up

7 am- Go to work

4 pm- Get home from work

4:30 pm- Go out to Taber

5 pm- Paint 

(Yep, we are on to painting!!!)

7:30 pm- Supper break

8:10 pm- Wal-Mart break

9 pm- Home time!!

Shawn:

6 am- Wake up, start Valena's car 

(love him)

8:30 am- Go out to Taber to work on the house

(everything and anything)

7:30 pm- Eat pizza while tiling the shower

10 pm- Still out there working

Yep, my husband puts me to shame...

He can work like no other... I am a lucky girl because:

a) he works so hard

b) doesn't expect me to keep up

He has high hopes to be in the house in two weeks... Can't wait to post some pictures so you can see just how much he has done. It's amazing! He has skills... 

Working on the bathtub tiling

Almost done

How nice is this??? 

Admit It, You've Done It Too

I    LOVE pinterest.

It is one of those sites that I can spend hours on

and not feel so bad because

I could be preparing for dinner, babies, outfits, christmas presents, housecleaning tips...

Anything, really...

So really, I am studying life when I am on pinterest...

(that's how I justify it to myself anyway)

But there is another reason I love it...

Every now and then you come across a 'pin' that

  speaks 100% truth...

Today I found one...

I thought I was the only one.

Don't tell Shawn but I do this ALL the time... Especially now that the basement light is burnt out and I find myself needing to go down at LEAST twice a day... 

I would be good in a horror movie. I do the 'once-all-over' sweep with my iPhone flashlight and then a second 'make sure there is noone hiding in any nooks or crannies' sweep before grabbing what I need and booking it upstairs at top speed all while looking behind me just-in-case. When I reach the top step I know I'm safe, this time... 

The Good Thing About A Delayed Honeymoon...

When Shawn and I got married we were so busy with moving, school, work and other life things that we never got around to going on a honeymoon. But that's changing now. Due to future plans of ours we decided that December is the best time to go in the next near future so two days ago Shawn and I booked a our trip to the Mayan Riviera for December 11 - 18th. The best thing about a delayed honeymoon is that this counts as a honeymoon and our one year anniversary celebration.

I am ridiculously excited. Beaches, ocean, and tanning are all things I have missed ridiculously the last year and a half. But even more, I have a husband that is fluent in Spanish, loves everything Mexico and am so excited for him to see a different part of Mexico...  And if it happens to look like this

Then I am just even more excited....