Thursday Things

First off, I must say I am truly happy for finding Katie Gagliano over at Healthy Diva Life. She is truly inspiring and as I read through some of her posts, I realize we have so much in common. We both have 9 month old boys and we both want to live a healthy & happy lifestyle. Her post today talked about letting go. Letting go of the negativity, stress, and unhappiness. I find that I am definitely over thinking things lately. I often think negatively when I should be thinking more positively. When I take a second to STOP and look at my life, I have so many things to be grateful for. There is no reason for the negative thoughts, stress or unhappiness.

I took Katie’s advice and I took 5 minutes to just sit in complete silence.

I was able to clear my mind, breathe and find peace.

There is something truly magical about being still.

I realized some of my thoughts are a waste. They are simply ‘noise.’ I definitely needed this today. Thank you Katie!

Some other happy things for Tuesday:

Chas took his first selfie! He is way too cute, I could EAT him up!

We celebrated our niece Molly’s 2nd birthday! It is incredible to think she was a mere 2lbs. 1oz. when born! She has come such a long way. We are so proud of her. Chas looks up to her cousin so much. She is such a smart, adorable, beautiful little girl. We love her so much! XOXO



And this stuff is amazing! Lakewood’s organic pineapple juice. I’ve been using this to make my Morning Bombshell’s. That recipe is from the Tone it up Meal plan that you can get here.

I purchased the meal plan and officially became a member in February!! I am so excited and have not even begun to put a dent in the recipes. I plan on getting more organized with my weekly meal plan and start experimenting with some of their recipes. I wanted to start with their 7 day slim down but have to wait until we do groceries again.

And next was definitely a very happy moment of the day…

FEELS LIKE SPRING!!!

I was finally able to take Chas & Boots for a walk. We have been receiving a ridiculous amount of snow here in the Maritimes even though it is supposedly spring. We have definitely been going a bit stir crazy, that’s for sure. I love being able to get out for a walk every single day when I can. It’s nice to be able to get out, enjoy the sunshine and get some exercise - not only for myself but for the dog as well!


Someone enjoyed it so much, they fell asleep ; ) …

He’s such a little cutie. I just love my little man to pieces. Shades are from H&M!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thursday! … and don’t forget, take the time to just be still & find happiness!

Sheila xo

Moms night out!

Friday night I had the opportunity to help one of my mom friends. She owns Bella Promessa Bridal Boutique here in Moncton and needed a couple of models for a bridal show. She asked myself and another mom if we’d be interested. Of course, we said yes! There’s nothing better than playing dress up (especially with gorgeous wedding gowns) and I am always looking for excuses for a little time out of the house.

This all went down at the Wesleyan Church yesterday! We started off by getting our makeup done around 3:00 p.m. by the amazing ladies of Bastarache Beauty. Ryan was not home from school yet so I brought little CJ along for the makeup session. Jessie (the owner of Bella Promessa) had her hands full with a couple babies while we got dolled up. Here is a picture of Andrea and I and our amazing makeup.

 

I just love getting my makeup done and I must say, it was well done! I would definitely recommend Bastarache Beauty to family & friends!! After makeup, we hurried home to finish hair and last minute details. Rushed back to the church for 5:30 and the fun began. We had 3 gown changes throughout the evening and the last gown was my all-time favorite! It just fit so perfectly.

This gown makes me want to get married all over again just so that I can wear it! I guess there’s always our 10-year anniversary celebration, right?! ; )

Family Shoot 2013

It has been a while since I last posted on the blog and a lot has happened. The main one being that … WE HAD A BABY!! Our lives have been turned upside down and inside out but we just adore our little man. I could not get my act together to get a newborn shoot with him so this is our first bunch of family pictures together. It was pretty rushed as I had just booked it the week of and the photos were edited just in time to get Christmas cards ordered (& hopefully sent on time). We had the shoot with the lovely Ginger over at Thibodeau Designs. She does excellent work with children and was able to do a 20 minute mini-session with us. Pictures turned out beautifully. Here are my favorites!

 

 

I’m back!

Hello everyone … I’m back! I have surprisingly been away from the blogging world since January! I cannot believe that it has been so long. I am somewhat disappointed in myself as a blogger because I thought I was going to be writing much more consistently. I even went so far as to buy a blog template (at a reasonable price thank goodness) and then … POOF! I disappeared. I must admit that there has been a lot going on in my life lately which probably explains why I have not been able to blog.

Back in October, my husband and I had received the best news of our lives. That we were EXPECTING!!  Overall, I’ve had a very easy pregnancy. I experienced very little nausea in the first trimester (never got sick) which I consider myself very lucky for. I did however, experience extreme fatigue which made teaching my 5th graders very challenging. I SLEPT A LOT during that first trimester.  and then all over a sudden… I regained normalcy in the second trimester. I had a little extra bounce in my step and had tons of energy again. 2nd trimester was by far my favorite. Then 3rd trimester hit. The fatigue has returned once again as well as a number of other symptoms that have been somewhat unpleasant. But the end is near! I am exactly one month (+ a day) away from my due date and getting extremely anxious to meet our little bundle of joy! I keep thinking of the moment when I get to hold our son for the very first time and my heart melts.

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday evening, we had the pleasure of working with the amazingly talented Jenna Lymburner (www.jennalymburner.com) who photographed a maternity shoot for us. It was absolutely perfect!

 

Here are a couple sneak peaks from our shoot!

 

 




I CANNOT WAIT to see the rest! : )

 

Happy Thursday to you all!

Kacie’s Huge Mistake

Thought I’d do a little recap from last night’s episode of

The Bachelor

.

First off, I was so confused. In the commercials leading up to last night’s episode, they made it look like Tierra was either pushed or was made to fall down the stairs …. when in reality she fell down by what seemed to be by accident. She was almost taken away by ambulance and then realized that she did not want to actually be taken away. It’s hard to say if she actually hurt herself or intended this to happen so that Sean would come running to her rescue. I’m always a bit naïve when it comes to people, so I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt and say it was by accident.

This made Sean late for his one-on-one date with AshLee (totally weird how the letter ‘L’ is capitalized in her name). And although AshLee should have been totally peeved, she is a totally down to earth type of girl and did not let this event ruin her date with Sean.

 

 

So here’s how the dates all played out:

Date #1: Lesley

I actually felt kind of bad for Lesley. There she was looking all fab in her cute little pink lacy dress (one of my best friend’s and I were totally wondering where we can buy this dress, love it that much) and Sean whisks her away to … the Guinness World Records museum in Hollywood? Say, what?

 

Turns out the big surprise is that they are there to set a record of their own: longest onscreen kiss!

I must say, Sean and Lesley did a pretty good job. Their kiss at times was passionate while after a while it was just their lips touching but who can blame them? 3.5 minutes is actually a long time to kiss.

They did enjoy a little rooftop champagne after they won their world record which kind of made up for the silly part of their date. I thought they really connected and Lesley wasn’t just throwing herself at Sean. When chatting, she didn’t make it seem like they were totally meant to be together, but that perhaps with time, they would find out. It’s the crazy ones that ‘know’ they are going to be with the Bachelor that you know don’t have a chance.

Date #2: Group Date

I absolutely HATE group dates. How awkward. This one started with a bit of a twist. They were asked to go play on the beach. Conveniently, all the ladies were wearing somewhat sporty two-pieces so you’d think they would kind of wonder what type of ‘playing’ they would actually be doing.

 

Low and behold, Harrison suddenly appeared and told them they would be split into two teams to play beach volleyball against one another. The winning team would get to continue the group date while the losing team would be sent packing. This game started off quite friendly and then picked up pace. I couldn’t believe how close the game actually was. It came right down to the wire. Blue team: won. Red team: lost. Red team was so bummed out that Kristy and Leslie were still crying when they got back to the mansion.

The blue team got to hang out with Sean at his temporary home. This when Kacie made a HUGE mistake. She decided to take it upon herself to tell Sean that Desiree and Amanda were at odds which made her felt as though she was caught between them. As soon as she started uttering these words to Sean, I thought to myself “Bye, bye Kacie!” She honestly lost Sean in this moment, big time! She even said herself, she doesn’t like to involve herself in the drama but here she is discussing it to the main person she is trying to win over. BIG MISTAKE!

Date #3: AshLee

After Tierra pretended to throw herself at Sean, AshLee and Sean sent out for their one-on-one. I actually missed part of their date but came back to tune into them having fun with two teens who were both suffering from serious diseases. I thought this was really touching and what better person to be on this date, than AshLee! She was so sweet and caring towards those two girls. Sean definitely caught a good glance as to what AshLee is really all about. Her past history also tugged on his heart strings. Go Girl!

 

The Rose Ceremony

 

Sean felt really bad for Sarah because they didn’t get to spend any time together all week so he had her dog, Leo, sent up for a visit. HOW SWEET! Honestly, for him to think about doing this for her shows he has some true feelings there. This also comes to a bit of a surprise because the fact that she has only one arm did raise concerns in terms of whether he would truly like her or feel somewhat forced to keep her on the show. But after seeing this thoughtful gesture, I think he’s got a crush for sure!

Kacie was sent packing before the roses were even handed out. CALLED IT!
I do feel bad for her though. I feel as though she did not approach the situation in the proper manner and she is very sweet. She just should have left the drama out of it.

Sean gave roses to Tierra, Leslie, Catherine, Daniella, Robyn, Selma, Sarah, Jackie, Amanda and Des.

Should be interesting to see what unfolds next week while they are staying in California again.

 

First Thing

I'm stealing this post idea “First Thing” from another lovely blogger, Jacki (& she stole it from someone else) over at ‘Wine Down’. I hope everyone in the US is enjoying MLK day! 

First thing you do when you wake up in the morning:
Feed my dog, Boots!
First thing you reach for when you open the fridge:
In the morning? Some kind of fruit …
First thing you do when you get to the gym:
The what? I don’t go there these days but I do try to walk Boots everyday!
First thing you do when you get home from work:
Let the dog out and catch up on shows that I’ve missed.
First car:
The first car I drove around was my dad’s old Pontiac Trans Am van – which was bright blue!
First accident/traffic violation:
Given a warning for speeding (learned my lesson & never was stopped again)
First thing you wanted to be when you grew up:
Sports Psychologist
First choice beverage:
Perrier nowadays, but usually Wine.
First choice breakfast:
Egg sandwich.
First choice dessert:
Cheesecake.
First choice dream career:
Stay at home mom
First song that comes to mind:
“Catch my Breath” by Kelly Clarkson
First major purchase:
Ryan and I bought a house together June, 2009.
First job (aside from babysitting):
Fish plant. Don’t ask!
First time you flew on a plane:
Trip to Florida when I was maybe 3yrs old.
First thing you do when you get in the car:
Turn it on and put on my seat-belt.
First thing you do when you get on the computer:
Check my Facebook.
First person you call when you have exciting news:
The hubby of course! xo
First pet:
My fam had a black lab named Sammy while I was growing up, then I desperately wanted another lab so we ended up getting a chocolate one named Harley which my parents took over .. & Ryan and I rescued a mix from the SPCA, his name is Boots. So I guess Boots is my official first pet.
First time leaving the country:
Same trip to Florida as mentioned above.

Weekend Update Linkup

This weekend has been … well busy yet relaxing at the same time. At some point yesterday though, I came down with a serious cold. I slept for most of the day and still feel like crap. I was going to call in sick but all my ‘go-to’ supply teachers were already working today so I’m powering through.

Friday, 

hubby and I had a lovely little date night with 4 other couples. It was great catching up with great friends. We rented a private room at Osaka Hibachi which was nice and cozy. One thing that was extremely difficult, was watching everyone eat all the yummy sushi! That is definitely one thing that I miss eating while being pregnant. What I ordered ended up being really yummy as well but I cannot wait until I can eat regular sushi again! Once supper was over, this mommy-to-be decided to call it quits for the evening while everybody else continued on to the Tide & Board Pub. Originally, I thought I would be up for staying out all night but then extreme fatigue set in. I have no problem going home early because I know it will only due Baby J good!

Saturday, I relaxed most of the day! Saturday night, I decided to join my best friend for supper as she celebrated one of her friend’s birthdays. We headed to Five Bridges to eat and I had a wonderful time. I really only knew the birthday gal and my best friend but enjoyed meeting some new friendly faces. It was a fun evening and I was able to be home early enough to get some rest. Gotta love pregnant life!

Sunday, as previously mentioned, was spent mostly sleeping. I slept-in until 11am and then went for a nap in the afternoon … 3 hours later I woke up. Obviously caught some sort of bug and am still suffering today unfortunately. Hopefully will shake this ASAP.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

I’m linking up for the first time here!!!! …