Fall Fun Completed.

As winter and the Christmas season are right around the corner, I figured I would see how well I did in accomplishing my fall goals. It was a good list I feel, check it out here, however time and life got busy. I did worlds better completing tasks off of my fall to do list than  I had in the past with my summer list..

1. Corn Maze - That was completed one evening with two of our wonderful friends. We bundled up and had a wonderful evening getting lost in the corn. The highlight of the evening however was not the corn or the great time with friends, ok that was up there, but this huge dome shaped trampoline really was pretty epic. Yes, it was a gigantic, yellow and red rubber dome that you could jump on and fly in the air. They let us have 'adult jumping time' on it, which really made me feel old and I felt a little guilty have the kids get kicked off, but it was totally worth it.

2.Rake Leaves- Not going to lie, kind of sad that this did not happen. Maybe next year someone will take up my offer on free manual labour.

3. Caramel Apples- Another big fail. There were however lots of festive fall treats made, but caramel apples did not make the cut.

4. Fall Crafts- Again, no time for anything. Fall crafts were not completed, well a yarn wrapped wreath was made, but fell as soon as I put it up and before I could take pictures, it broke. Then my niece broke it two more times, I gave up on it and it ended up in the garbage. I have however made up for it with the number of Christmas crafts created. Just wait to see the awesome thing I got a group of kids to make.

5. Pumpkin Pie or Apple Pie - So looking at this list again makes me realise that I was probably hungery when I made it, cause there are some serious junk food going on. I did make some pumpkin tarts with home made crust, filling and whipped cream, so I am calling that winning.

6. Try new Fall Recipes- Well I made the pumpkin pie tarts. I also did some yummy apple sauce cookies (recipe here) and pumpkin cookies (recipe here). Both were a big hit with the pumpkin cookies being the winner. I just loved the icing.  I used the same icing for both. Next time however, I will not store them in the same container, it became hard to know which cookie was which.

7. Carve Pumpkins - This became a family affair as a few of my cousins and I helped our second cousins (? Cousins kids? Feeling old) and my niece carve some pumpkins at thanksgiving. They helped de-gut them, then draw or explain the face they wanted, and then we went to town cutting them out.

Not on the to do list, but always wonderful, spending time with family. We went to Firefest (a local fire truck thing) as they are one of Little J's favourite things. 

My brother re-enacts the war of 1812, it was the bicentennial, so we went as a family, spent the day and watched the battle. 

Family pumpkin carving. 

The best picture (out of like 20) of the little kids with their pumpkins.

Baxter dressed up for Halloween and the pumpkin cookies in the background. 

Little J was a bat, she loves Baxter. 

November Books.

I am slowly but surly getting back on track for getting some reading done. I am a long ways from coming even close to accomplishing my reading list, especially because I might have just put on order all the Gossip Girl books. I do however feel like those will make me feel accomplished in the number of books I read because they are small and fast books.

Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close- This was an easy read. It is also one of those books that you read when you think your life sucks and the last thing you want is to read about people getting wonderful jobs and living in beautiful places and meeting completely awesome people. This tells life more like it is, with having no work, and little gross apartments and boys who don't always call you back. It is a good pick me up. I did however struggle greatly remembering which girl was which as the character development was not well done, but the actual life situation was well explained.

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson- This book was kind of slow, but I was determined to truck through with it because I knew it had to be going somewhere. The book looks at a woman who wakes up every day forgetting her past. It gets intense, but you need to make it through the first 200 pages. In the end I am glad I kept going. 

July-October Books.

So as I said before, we have been busy. I find that lack of routine or too much time, for me results in no reading being accomplished. I love to read for fifteen minutes here or there, or hoping in the bath for an hour or more. I feel like the summer ran away from me. There was not a single, lay on the beach and read all day kind of day, which I had totally planned on. So as a result, not much has been accomplished on the reading list front. I have really failed with that, but am hoping to make a big catch up, especially now that I am working at the library again.

Sisterhood Everlasting- by Ann Brashares- I was so excited for this book as I have always loved the Sisterhood of the Traveling paints books. I used to reread them each summer, so when I found out that there was a fifth and final book about my beloved characters I was ecstatic. I downloaded the ebook and audiobook before heading on the girls road trip to NYC this summer. I am so glad I did because it gave me something to listen to on the drive, when the ac broke and the wind made it so loud we could not hear each other. I was then also able to read it in bed at night which was a great way to relax. The book was a wonderful and shocking conclusion to a beloved series.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - This was on my reading list as it was a must re-read prior to the movie coming out (I am so excited for Sunday)! I am in love with the books and the movie. I felt as though the second time through the book I actually enjoyed it even more. Maybe because I have already read it through and know how it ends, or because I have seen the first movie so many times, regardless I loved it even more. I cannot wait for the movie.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins- The first time through this book it was a hard read. I did not fully enjoy it and therefore it seemed to take forever. I enjoyed it a hundred times more this time through, but again it took a while. I got busy and just did not have time to read at all, but when I did it was in big chunks of time because I did not want to put it down.

Curling.

Winter sports have always been my favorite. Growing up I played a number of winter sports and always found that to be the busiest time of the year. So after a fantastic summer of getting back to soccer I knew I wanted to do something physical again this winter.  A few months ago I started looking into different options.
Ringette was my number one option as I missed the game and knew it would be a fantastic workout. It was also the first option to go once I started some research as the time commitment was ridiculous especially taking the travel time and expenses into consideration. I was hoping for a once or twice a week activity, not a two or three including out of town games and tournaments. Had their been a local house league/rec league then I would have for sure signed up.

My second option was curling. I was a competitive curler through high school and the beginning of tournaments. It was a sport I tried out for on a dare and quickly grew to love. That option yet again went off the table once I discovered the price of curling as an adult was almost four times that of a student which I was used to paying.

So just when I thought that there was no winter sport that really fit into the place of life that we are at, mom called. She needed a spare at her local curling club once a month and they had a deal of a membership. It was a fraction of the price of the curling club in town, so even taking into consideration the driving and gas, it is still a steal. So I signed up, am sparing once a month for her, but also joined a weekly league.
Last week was my first time back on the ice in a while. It all started to slowly come back to me, which is something I love about curling, I say its like riding a bike. A few days later I was a little worse for the wear, with muscles I forgot I knew I had hurting, but I cannot wait to keep it up. It is a little frustrating being on the ice and not as good as I once was, I also hope to keep my competitive nature at bay as much as possible and remember I am out there for fun.

So between curling 1-2 times a week and starting up boot camp 2-3 times a week, I am sure to keep busy and active this winter season. I am excited.

Throw Back Thursday. - High school curling team at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. 

That time I lost my wedding ring.

Yea not fun. I have almost officially lost my wedding ring. I say almost officially because I am still holding hope that it is not gone for good. I am heart broken and devastated, but at the same time thankful it is just the one.

I take my rings off sometimes at night because they have a tendency to bother me, and at times leave my skin very dry. I have always put them on the side table when they bother me at night and when I think about it I put them back on. Sometimes in the summer I would go to work without them on, but I rarely leave the house for anything else without them on. If I do, it is the first thing next to my earrings that I remember I have forgotten.

The other day we were running out the door and I remembered my rings. I went searching, and in a hurry only found my engagement ring. I put in on in a rush and figured I would remember to look for the other later. It was another two days before I remembered to look for the wedding ring. When I did, I sadly could not find it. We had company over at the time, so that evening I enlisted the help of the husband to see if he could have better luck. Still nothing. We then proceeded to tare the bedroom apart. Nothing.

The only other location we could guess was that it was in the garbage. They were sitting together on the beside table, the cat loves to knock everything and anything off of the bedside table, so there was a possibility that he had knocked them into the garbage. The issue was that the garbage was recently emptied and in the dumpster sitting outside ready to be picked up in the morning. Yes the dumpster, in that a huge bin full of garbage from everyone in the entire condo. I was in such a panicked disheveled state that I was completely willing to go dumpster diving at 11pm on a work night. I am however, extremely blessed to have such a wonderful and caring husband that he took one for the team and went through the dumpster on my behalf, while I just went through our own individual bags.

An hour later and about 8 bags of our own garbage found, I was exhausted, disgusted and frustrated. We had no luck. But at least we could rest assured that it most likely was not in the garbage, and at least we tried. So the search continues in that we are keeping our eyes open. I thought I would miss it a lot more than I do. I wear the one and have yet to be questioned about it, which honestly was my biggest fear.

So we keep frustratingly looking for the ring and praying that it turns up. Lesson learned I guess. When I take my rings off now, they either go in the tea cup in the bathroom with my earrings, or in the bedside table drawer. I wish I never had to learn the lesson that way however.