the week and weekends

Have you noticed I like taking breaks on the weekend from blogging? It's not really that I don't want to blog on the weekends, but I am trying not to so I can spend more time with my family and friends! I work every two weeks on Saturday and Sunday so it's nice to relax when I am home on my weekends off or we are sometimes traveling. This weekend we were home though! We went to an amazing Andy Brown show at Trailside Cafe. It was very similar to the one we attended last fall. His music is still as lovely as ever and his hair just keeps getting better, must be the argan oil Andy!

I worked Friday morning and the rest of the weekend seems like a blur... We didn't do a whole lot on Saturday. It was nice to just be able to relax at home in the morning. Saturday night I watched a movie with the young women from church. We watched the newest Star Wars, it's so awesome! Sunday we went to church and had our home teachers over and we also went home for a delicious supper. Thanks mom! You're the best. Thanks for feeding us more than often.

Now we are into the end of May (ahh today is the last day of May, I love May sooo much!) and on to the first week of June. We have lots of exciting things going on as you can probably imagine, but the most exciting thing will be our Pinsent/Cliff family visiting PEI at the end of June for a Family Reunion! I cannot wait to be with these crazy, lovely people again! We also hope to play some golf this month, eat some good food obviously, spend time with good friends, work hard and play lots.

Family Search

I have finally been a little more motivated to get My Family Search set up. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons as some people know us, encourages members to do their family history work and genealogy. This work is important to us and helps us to become closer to our ancestors. My parents came over for dinner a couple nights ago and my mom helped me get a couple things set up. It was kind of confusing at first, but after a couple of different tries, we figure things out. The funny trick was that I could only get connected to all of the work that has previously been done through my deceased ancestors.

Once I got my side connected, I started to work on Haig's side as well asking for some help from his mother and Nan Pinsent. Over the last couple of days I have been learning so much and it is very amazing to see just how far back the work goes. My maternal Grandmother's side is from Prince Edward Island and also Acadie. I love the story of Acadie and I hope I will be able to visit the historical village in Nova Scotia someday soon. Most of the Pinsent side is from Newfoundland, which is another place I want to visit in the near future. I hope if we plan to visit these places we will feel the love they had for those places where they lived and raised their families.  

Another reason why Family History is important to me is for names. My mother always said that we would have different names if she had been doing more family history before we were born. As we hope to start a family soon, I would really love to use some of my ancestors names. There are so really pretty ones that I am falling in love with already! 

This plaque was given to us as a wedding present from our friend Julie Haas. It actually came in handy as I was trying to set up Haig's side of the family. It is a sweet reminder of the homes and families that these individuals created. I hope I can continue to learn more about my ancestors and find the joy in family history work. 

SERVICE & CHALK WAR

Every week, we have an activity for young women's. Tonight, we don't have an activity with the girls because we will be having a movie night on Saturday. Once a month, we combine with the young men and have an activity together called "mutual".  Last week, we combined with the young men and had a service project and a chalk war/capture the flag. The service project was helping my dad clean up some of the mess in our back field from the fire a couple weeks ago. The youth did a great job of helping to clean up, and more than willing to get dirty in the process. After we were done cleaning up, the young men's President went to his car about brought out a big box of individual packets of colored chalk (the stuff from the color run and holi festival). The youth emptied some packets into a knee high stocking and started a game of capture the flag. They could use their stocking to whack the color onto people. It was so fun and cool to see. I know the youth had a lot of fun and I was very impressed with their willingness to serve.

TWENTY-FOUR

I had such a great weekend celebrating my new age, 24! On Friday night, my mom and dad took us our to dinner at Boston Pizza. We had a gift card that we forgot to use while we were in New Brunswick with my parents at the end of April. We all had some delicious food and desserts. On Saturday, the lovely Miss Casey Ford took me to lunch at Casa Mia. It was so nice to catch up with her about things that are going on in our lives. I worked from 3-10 pm and came home to a nice potted flower plant and helium balloon, as per my requests. 

On Sunday May 22nd, my BIRTHDAY!!!, my handsome husband and I went to church and I received so much love and kind words. Sister Carmichael made me a cake and the sweet young women sang happy birthday to me! Haig and I took some pictures before I went to work. It was kind of a bummer to work my birthday weekend, but I didn't want to complain too much. One of my co-workers made me cupcakes, and they were so yummy. It was a really wonderful weekend, and at least I had Monday off to relax with my family. 

ME BEFORE YOU

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.

It took me about a month on the waiting list at the library to get it, and then once it was available I found out I could only have it out for one week because it was so high in demand. So what did I do? I read it in less than three day. It was a really wonderful read. I love Louisa Clark, she is such an amazing, whole-hearted individual. Will Traynor is a dashing and whitty quadriplegic that Lou begins to care for. Their relationship grows as Louisa helps Will in finding ways to enjoy life. The book was not as romantic as I thought it might be, but I think that was for the best. The book focuses on many other relationship, including Will and Louisa to emphasize the moral of the story. The moral of this story in my words is learning to understand and support someone else's needs instead of pushing our own opinions to them. Everyone experiences different things in this life and what they wish to make of their life should ultimately be their decision.

Book Rating: ****/5

PEI PARK PASS

For the past couple of years, the PEI National Park puts their summer passes on sale for 50% as an early bird rate. Last year, Haig and I split the cost with my family and we borrowed it back and forth for most of the summer. This was okay, but we decided to purchase our own this year so that we wouldn't have to worry about not having it when we wanted to have it. If I have a day off work and I want to go to the beach, I don't really want to have to figure out how to get the park pass from someone else. I am really looking forward to some good beach weather this year, and we also very excited to show off some of these beautiful beaches to our extended family and friends this summer.

Michaels Clearance Haul

I don't think I would want to live in Charlottetown if we didn't have a Michaels Store. I love all of the ideas that the store has to offer. I really like purchasing little knick knacks at Michaels and going there to get inspiration for crafts, projects, do-it-yourself tutorials and just finding the coolest odds and ends for things! I went in a couple days ago to look for a certain type of mod podge glue for a project I have coming up. Unfortunately, the only size bottle of this type was a little out of my budget, so I will have to wait for the next 50% off one item coupon.

Never go to Michaels without a coupon. I love that Michaels is so great for putting out coupons and their in store promotions are usually pretty spectacular. I am also hoping the paper goes on sale too for another project I have in the works (so many projects!!!). Even though I didn't buy what I went in for, I browsed the clearance shelves that are at the ends of the aisles. I started to get so many ideas of some project ideas I have had on the back burner for sometime, and I also picked up a couple things to get me through the summer. I had also just went to a price-mart store where I picked up a couple more things to go along with the projects I have in mind for the next couple of weeks.

Wooden Spoon Make-Over
I have been wanting to make these for awhile now, but I have been keeping an eye out for a nice set of wooden utensils at a good price. I also purchased two sets of (3) spoons at the dollar-store, so maybe I will have a giveaway for this project! I just need to buy some dishwasher safe mod podge and then this project will be ready to go!

Tinted Vases/Mason Jars
This project has been sitting on my pinterest board for over a year now, and obviously I have't revisited the tutorial because I bought the wrong paint for it. I will try these ones and see if it works out, and if not I will try again! I bought the Martha Stewart Glass Paint in Pearl Opaque in hummingbird and the Martha Stewart Glass Paint in Gloss Transparent in wisteria. I am pretty concerned about putting glass in the oven, so we will see how this goes!

Mason Jar Drinking Glasses
My mother and sister in law were making these for a while a couple of years ago, but I would really like to try making one! I found some pink reusable straws at price-mart and thought this would be a great project for the summer.

Zig-Zag Scissors... because everyone needs a pair of scissors that does something other than cutting a straight line right?

Chalkboard Sticker Labels... these are so cute! I thought they would be great for my parent's anniversary party this summer. I will place them on the table with white paper cups and people can put one on their cup and write their name on it.

Pink Paper Doilies...again, so cute and so inexpensive. These will also be cute to decorate my parent's anniversary party or also decorate for a girls night in.

Wooden Speech Bubbles...this was probably my favorite find of this haul. My plan is to add some chalkboard pain on the front in an oval shape and add magnets to the back to put them on the fridge. I think they will compliment our picture fridge magnets in a cute and unique way.

All together, everything in this post cost under $15 and the projects will be super fun to make over the next little while, stay tuned for the outcomes!

currently inspired by: mother-in-law

My mother-in-law

Since I have known Haig, his mother has always been up to something fun, creative and exciting. A couple of years ago, she also made the decision to go back to school and she continued to be create, and she was also challenged by the many stresses in life including managing a home, finances and rearing children. She is a wonder woman. I wish I could a small fraction of how creative she is. Her work has always been so unique, from her wood signs, to window panels, to leather totes and bags and now baby accessories! I can't even. She is so incredible. 

This is her new Facebook page for this line of products!

New Brunswick 2016

We had such a great weekend planned when we left last Friday, but then it decided to rain practically all weekend that we were in New Brunswick and it really put a damper (literally) on most of our plans.

We left Friday evening and we made some stops at winners & marshals before going to our friends' house to stay for the night. Lynn and Michael were so great for inviting us into their home. We will be happy to see them again later this summer and I know the guys are looking forward to playing a round of golf together! On Saturday morning after getting ready and saying our goodbyes, we delayed driving down to Saint John and opted to spend some time at the Champlain mall because it was pouring rain. I was just there about two weeks ago, so lots of things looked the same, but Haig found an amazing deal at Tip Top for some new dress shirts, and I also bought my sister her birthday present, but you will have to wait and see what that is!

We grabbed some lunch at Sobeys and then made our way to Jen's house in Sussex. It was so nice to reconnect with Jen and meet her family after so many years of knowing her and talking to her mostly through Facebook. Jen and Dave have two boys, Layne and Payson and another baby on the way! They are a busy family so we are happy we could spend just a little time seeing them and getting to know them better! We stayed at the house for a little over an hour and then made our way to Saint John to spend some time in town.

This was probably the most disappointing part of the trip, and not because it was raining. I expected Saint John to be this busy and inviting city. By the time we arrived in the late afternoon, everything was closing up for the night and there was really nothing all that interesting to see. I hope that next time we go to Saint John we will be there at a peak time during the day with a lot going on and a lot to see. We were getting some snacks at a store in the mall and then we sat down in the food court to eat. A couple of minutes later we noticed all of the stores were closing. At 6pm on a Saturday!? It seemed really silly to me, but I guess that's just how things are in Saint John.

The main event of our weekend was attending a wedding reception for Jonathan and Cherish Cosman. Just a couple of days ago, we were trying to decide if we could really afford to make the trip, and Haig said that we needed to go to support them. Marriage is really great and we are so happy for these two making it a priority in their lives to be married and sealed to each other! It was really great to see them and talk with Jonathan's family and friends.

Sunday morning we attended church with Jen and Layne (Payson was sick and stayed home with Dave). We just stayed for the first hour of the meetings and then headed towards Fundy National Park. The park was really beautiful, I hope we can camp in Fundy someday! Our destination was Hopewell Rocks. We already knew the park would be closed, but we assumed we would still be able to walk the ocean floor, but we were wrong. It was still nice to look, but I hope I can convince Haig to come back someday for us to do it. I think at this point he never wants to visit New Brunswick again. Just as we were leaving Hopewell Rocks, it started to rain again. As we walked to the car, I was almost in tears as I apologized to my husband for the weekend not going as planned. He told me 

"I would have given up a long time ago if I didn't have someone fun to do it with".

That's our life right there. I couldn't do this without him either, every step we take along the way I need him beside me to hold my hand, dry my tears and be my light. I wouldn't have made this trip without him either, he is the best road trip buddy ever, rain or shine.

Karen's Best Brownies

This brownie recipe though guys, best ever! If you like a good cake-like brownie, this is it. Sometimes I would prefer to have a more fudge like brownie, but I usually will just find a store bought one. What I really love about this recipe is that I can whip it up in no time, I usually don't even use my kitchen aid to make it, just pour everything into a big mixing bowl. This is also a great recipe to make a double batch of (use a bigger pan!), so you can take it to a potluck, or eat like 4 in one sitting, because sometimes you just need to eat 4 brownies right? There is also a fantastic chocolate syrup recipe below, because it goes fantastic with these brownies and very easy to make! 

Enjoy! 

throwback: the story of why I started my blog

Hello again! I'm sharing a little "throwback" story today. Maybe I will do this every month? Over the past couple of weeks, I have been working really hard to write more meaningful posts, create projects and maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle. I was thinking about what blogging means to me and I thought I would share the reason why I started to write a blog.

In September 2010, I left my home on PEI and moved to Halifax to study at Dalhousie University. Long story short, it didn't really work out and I ended up moving home after three weeks. When I first arrived however, I was taking a lot of webcam pictures and posting them on Facebook (the days before Instagram!) and some of my friends mentioned that I should write a blog. At first I had no idea what I would talk about. It wasn't until I decided that I would be moving home that I starting writing. You can read my first blog post here called I'm going back to the start. 

I started writing to know that even though things didn't work out in Halifax, I still had a purpose.

I still had goals, hopes and aspirations. I still wanted to work hard, accomplish my goals, while having fun spending time with friends and family and doing things that I love. Just because this didn't work out, I wasn't going to give up. So as I worked hard, and had some fun I wanted to document every step of my journey to figure out what I wanted to do with this thing called life.

As I look back now, I am so incredibly grateful for this record of my life. I wrote it all, the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. I went back to school. I waited for my missionary, I had good times with my friends, I was welcomed into a new family. This is my beautiful, uniquely Pinsent Life.

My blog is now called Pinsent Life I always knew I wanted to be a part of Haig's wonderful family. Being a Pinsent can certainly be an adventure. We have our moments but I love that I after all this time I can finally say that I am Haig's wife and we have a family! Do you ever just think of how wonderfully incredible life is? My life continues to be so remarkable and extraordinary, and I don't want to forget to take my beautiful life for granted, 

so I write.

Hillcrest Disc Golf

Haig started playing "disc golf" or "frisbee golf" on his mission in Minnesota. He really enjoyed it and we were pretty happy when we found such a beautiful course to play last spring. Hillcrest Farm Disc Golf is located on the Trans-Canada in Bonshaw, PEI.  I am so impressed with their story and their hard work in getting the course set up for the recreational use of islanders and people who want to learn more about the game. It is actually really fun, but I am REALLY bad at it. I don't even play when we go now because it would take way too long. When we went out on Saturday morning, it took us just about an hour for Haig to play all 18 holes. The walk is so nice and it is a great work out (because let's be honest, I don't do a whole lot of that otherwise!).

Things to know

- admission is $10 and an extra $2 to rent a bag with discs. 

- wear comfortable shoes and clothing. the course tends to be pretty wet

- the course also sells discs if you are interested in purchasing your own to use

-if you ever want to come out with us sometime and learn more about it, let us know! 

We would love to show off this great place! 

cinnamon rolls, census and celebrate

The last couple of weeks have been so much fun! I think it's so funny when people say "oh, I can't believe it is such and such time of year", but seriously I can't believe it is already May! I love this month so much! When I got home from Moncton last weekend I was craving (not pregnant!!) some cinnamon rolls! So it was like almost 9:00 pm and my cute husband helped me make some and we watched some shows. They turned out pretty amazing, just look at them! I posted the recipe here. 

I was also super excited to get the census in the mail one day. The census is such an important tool for caluculating data about our cities and our country! I loved completing the census one night after Haig had gone to bed. I stayed up late to get my body ready for my next night's night shift. I decided to fill it out. It was kind of repetitive. I think it must have asked me in 6 different ways what languages we spoke! We only speak English, and I think I put that I can speak French, but I would not confess to writing French anymore because those verbs though, I would be so lost. 

Anyways, Census information is important for the growth of our country and I love that!

I had some flowers left over from my floral arrangement last week and I made a small bouquet to take to young womens and give to Emma who turned 16 on May the 4th (be with you). Sixteen is such a great age. I loved turning 16 and I hope we made her night very special for her with an uplifting lesson, treats and flowers from yours truly. Happy Sweet 16 Emma!

Plans for this week: Work, Haig starts a spring course, get ready for our weekend road trip to Saint John! Is there anything we should do or see in the Sussex to Saint John area? Let me know!

mother's day series: karen

To honour Mothers Day; Alyssa asked me to write a guest post for her blog.  I gave it some thought and wondered what could I say about being a Mother... it seems like such a natural thing to happen to most women that I know.  Looking back they always tell you that there is no parenting manual; which is true for the most part.  For many of us our own mothers and grandmothers were likely the first and hopefully the best examples to us.  When Kevin and I got married; we made plans to start a family. It didn't happen right away, in fact it took almost 5 years.  I think that we needed the time to establish our relationship as a couple first.  Then in quick succession I became a mother to two children within 15 months and a third about 3 years later.  While raising children has had its challenges, for the most part I would have to say it was all worth it!  I have also learned that it is true that there is no manual for being a parent, only by what you have learned from others, what you already know yourself,  from your own instincts and  most of all from what you learn from your children.  I learned that it is true that one size does not fit all; even in the same house, my parenting style needed to adapt for each of my children, in a variety of circumstances, and as they grew.

That being said; one of the most valuable things that I learned from my own mother was to love each of them unconditionally.  With the struggles and challenges of parenthood we all need to see past the flaws and imperfections of our children, and just love them anyway.  As parents we also need to see past our own imperfections and realize that our children too just love us anyway.  When my children were young I did learn that just as all parents are different; so too is no child is the same.  I also learned that as mothers we did have some things in common; like that we loved our children and only wanted what was best for them, and also that we all make mistakes.  It was a struggle to find a balance of love, discipline, fun, learning, and letting go.  Looking back on things I would like to say that I have no regrets, but I do.  I wish I knew how quickly time would pass, we were in such a hurry to have children, then we were in such a hurry for them to grow up; that we did not really take the time to really enjoy the little moments and to let them just be kids. Sometimes I wish I had been more relaxed, read to them more, played more, taught them to be more independent, to let them learn more by their own experience and to just let them have FUN, and to have FUN with them!  Of course in hindsight I wish that I knew then what I know now.  One of the questions that was given to me was; How has your education changed your perspective of motherhood?  This is really relevant to me as I have just completed my Diploma in Early Childhood Education.  Yes I really do wish I knew then what I know now.   Although these new ideas and philosophies have not changed my perspective of motherhood, I still feel that it is a very important role in society, and that it is far more important than anything we can do outside the home; even with diplomas, degrees, titles or prestige of the world.  Kevin often asks if I would like to go back and do it all over again; sometimes it seems like it would be an interesting experiment, but I always say that I would have to have the knowledge that my education has given me.  Not to change anything, but just to do it better.  Then again don't we all want to be better!  I guess in the end we only can do our best with what we have.

To sum up my advice to my children would be; live in and enjoy the moment, relax more, don't  be in such a hurry, don't worry if you are doing it right; trust your instincts, look past your imperfections, and those of your children, do your best, let them be little; because they grow up REAL FAST!  Also I really like this quote by Ann Landers;  "It's not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.”  I have learned that it is more important to just let children be kids, to experiment more, learn from their own actions, and to do as you do, and not as I say.  Above all else  just LOVE THEM MORE!!!

mother's day series: samantha

Dear Babycakes,

I've carried you for about 35 weeks now. The days have gone by slow and the months have gone by fast. A lot of women say the last month seems to take the longest and I would have to agree. Each day now feels like waiting for a whole week to go by. Especially when I'm at work. My body has gone though a lot of change over the past 8 months. With all the extra weight and stretch marks I've accumulated, I often forget what my body felt/looked like before you were on your way. Growing a baby is hard work. There have been so many days of feeling sick, tired, emotional, strange cravings, and just overall exhausted. But there have been so many wonderful days as well; finding out you were in there, feeling your first movements, seeing you through the ultrasound, finding out you are a boy, knowing that both you and I are healthy.

So many people are happy for your daddy and I to have you coming into our lives. They often try to give advise on what it's like to have and raise a baby. Some of it is good advise and some seems a little crazy. Luckily for your daddy I have some experience with helping raise children. Being the oldest of nine kids has taught me a lot. I’ve had to learn responsibilities such as cleaning, cooking, watching and taking care of children, at such a young age. These skills will be a huge help to being a mother, however most of my siblings are girls, so raising you, my own baby and a boy will be new to me. But it is an adventure I'm sure both daddy and I will enjoy. I know we will have lots of help from our families, as they are all so excited and eagerly awaiting your arrival. You will have no shortage of love I can tell you that. From day one of finding out you were inside me I have been filled with such great joy and love for you. Now I understand when my mom would say, "there's no bond like that of a mother and child." I have felt you grow inside me and I know you have felt my emotions, joys and heartaches, shared my food and energy, and I can already feel the love that connects us.

I know I won't be a perfect mommy, but I will try my best to raise you to be the man God wants you to be. And I know I won't have to do it alone. Your daddy is a great man, who loves me with his whole heart and I know he loves you so much already. He keeps telling me of all the things he will teach you to do such as fishing, building things, and standing up for what's right. Life will be new to you, and this will be new to us as well. But by putting God first in our lives and knowing you are a precious child of our Heavenly Father, it will help us in strengthening our marriage and our family. Seeing you grow and knowing that your daddy and I helped create your little body is such an amazing godlike gift we have received. I'm so grateful that your daddy and I were sealed for all time and eternity in the holy temple, so that our family can be together forever. This is such a wonderful blessing that I am so grateful for.

As Mother's Day is approaching, I have been reflecting on the great mother and motherly figures I have in my life and how I feel entering into this new phase of motherhood. My own mother has taught me a lot and played a big role in helping me to be the person I am today. She has loved me unconditionally, and taught me to be responsible, loving and honest. You will be her first grandchild and she will love you to pieces. My mother-in-law, who is no longer here with us physically but is in spirit, has shown me abundance of kindness and love. She was so excited when we told her we were expecting you and I'm sure she is spending much time with you now and helping to prepare you for this earth life. There are so many other women in my life that have been great examples to me of what motherhood is all about. I'm excited to start this new adventure, for that is what it will be I'm sure, and I know I won't have to do it alone. There will be lots of help along the way as there will be times I will need to call out to those other mothers for support and guidance.

So over the past 35 weeks I've carried you and loved you, I've come to better understand that motherhood is not always easy peasy.  There are going to be difficult times, times I may breakdown from exhaustion. Times where I may struggle to feel confident as a new mom. You will need to be patient with me as I learn what it is to be your mother. This pregnancy was not all fun and games but I would do it all again because you are worth it. There is one thing I do know and that is good motherhood = selfless, unconditional love. This love has already started since the first day I knew you were in there and it will continue on for eternity, as that is how long I will have you to love. I am grateful to be your mother and can't wait to hold you in my arms and see your smiling face.

With all my love,

Mommy 

mother's day series: jessica

“If you could go back and do it all over again – would you have your first child later in life?” I get asked this question quite often. People are curious if I ‘regret’ getting pregnant at the age of 20. Getting pregnant young and unplanned certainly came with many challenges. Completing our post-secondary schooling and figuring out finances was a huge and ongoing challenge.  We lucky had lots of support from family that helped us get through it – but the journey was still not easy. Was it difficult trying to get assignments done for school when you had a sick child at home – yes! Was it difficult to decide to agree to work an extra shift when you really needed the extra money but it meant giving up on of your few free nights with your son – absolutely! Is it hard being the only person in your circle of friends at this life stage and having no one close to relate to and go through challenging milestones with – definitely. But that being said – I wouldn’t change a thing.

Being a parent is hard work – regardless of when in life you take on that roll. Our situation might have been a bit harder than some because of the lack of a financial foundation and the struggle to finish school – but the flip side of that hardship is the joys of parenthood. Being a mother has made me a better person. It has helped me see the world in a new way – a way that is a bit more innocent - more child-like – open minded and not as clouded with the preconceived notions we all develop as we grow. Being a mom has made me mature into a young woman and take more charge in my life - take responsibility for the road on which my life journey will travel. Being a mom has made me appreciate the small things in life.  Life isn’t about being the best dressed, or the smartest, the most wealthy, or about possessions – it is about relationships, emotional bonds, time with friends and family, making memories, and finding happiness.

Happiness is found in different places for different people. For me – I found happiness in my family. I can remember being in school and talking about what we wanted to be when we grew up. Everyone had a certain career in mind and some were very passionate about their future career. I never got that excited about a career prospect. There were jobs I thought would be neat to have and rewarding – but nothing (even to this day) has grabbed my passion like that. But one thing I always knew deep down inside – was that I wanted to be a mom. And now that I have come along in that journey and found motherhood – I can say that it is my passion.  My pursuit of happiness still entails finding that job that I really enjoy – but nothing is more important – nothing can top the happiness I get from being a mother.

Being a mother is a blessing. It is extremely special to be able to feel that unconditional love. There is nothing better than coming home and having my son run down the hall to hug me. There is nothing better than getting to watch my son learn about the world around him and watch as things intrigue him and as his mind questions. There is nothing better than the feeling that you have the magic kiss to heal a boo-boo. There is nothing better than knowing that you can bring happiness to this child – that you can positively impact someone’s life and have a front row seat to watch them grow.

Parenthood of course doesn’t come without its worries. Aside from the financial and work-home balance – there will always be the question that maybe you aren’t a good parent. I’ve come to realize that every parent has those moments. Whether they feel that way because they acted rashly out of frustration, their children aren’t developing at the same rate as other children, their children have a certain personality – parents tend to blame themselves first. It is natural – and even though I am cognisant of it – I still do it. I still question if I am a good mother. But I know that no one is perfect and that I just need to be the best mom I can be.

floral arranging

Today I am sharing a quick how-to floral arranging. I saw a video about a week ago on Facebook and it inspired me to do this post. It looked super easy to do and I really wanted to buy some flowers for spring & mothers day. I bought these three bouquets for 50% off at Superstore one afternoon, 

what a deal!

what you'll need is

3-4 bouquets of flowers 

(carnations last for a long time, so that's a win-win)

scissors

tape 

(floral tape would probably work better but I didn't have any)

water

vase

1. Remove flowers from packaging, decide how much of the stem you want to cut off. I wanted a lot of green in the vase and I wanted the flowers to still be pretty tall so I didn't cut off very much.

2. Using strips of tape, make a grid over the flower vase. Place the largest flower in the center and each corner of the vase's grid. 

3. Then, add flowers around the grid making a circle around the larger flowers (seen in the photo beside me).

4. Add in accent flower in the rest of the spots and remove tape from vase. You may have to do some rearranging after the tape is removed if the flowers shift a little bit, but mine didn't. I just added more yellow stems towards the top.

5. Admire your beautiful work and convince your husband that there should always been fresh flowers in your house.

tomorrow, I will be starting a three day series for mother's day weekend with three of the most caring and beautiful mothers that I know ( I know many more, but these three ladies were my lucky picks this time around! )

One Hour Cinnamon Rolls

Credit for this recipe goes to the lovely writer Danielle of Live Well Bake Often. I searched long and hard for a good cinnamon roll recipe that was easy to make. I stumbled upon this one on pinterest of course. I love using this recipe because it is fairly quick and simple. 

Original Post from Live Well Bake Often is HERE >>>

casino New Brunswick

We had such a fun time this weekend hanging out as a family! My brother got my parents tickets to see Alan Doyle for a Christmas present. Getting closer to the date, Kayla and I decided to tag along for the fun weekend because our Aunt Helen from Ontario would also be visiting at the same time. We arrived on Friday night and mom and dad dropped us off at Aunt Helen's hotel room. We watched some TV and caught up on a few things.

On Saturday morning, we had some breakfast and then went over to mom and dad's hotel at the Casino. We took a walk around and I went into a casino for the first time. It wasn't all that exciting because we don't gamble, but also because it's a very different atmosphere and I didn't enjoy it very much. No one looks very happy. The room is dark and there are no clocks, so you can't tell what time of day it is. I would much rather be outside all day playing and having fun than confining myself to a room like this one.

For most of the day we were out and about shopping. I found some super cute things and Kayla and I went to Cabela's Hunting store, which was really neat. We went to the dinner Buffett at the Casino around 5:00. The food was soo good! Mom & Dad got ready for their night "out". Kayla and I sneakily watched the "red carpet" and admired some of the pretty red dresses. The event and concert was in support of New Brunswick Heart and Stroke Foundation. While Mom & Dad partied ;), Kayla and I swam in the pool at their hotel before going back to our room with Aunt Helen (which was in a different hotel, across the street). Mom & Dad had a great time and they even got to chat with Alan Doyle!

On Sunday, we had the Brunch Buffett at the Casino. The food was really great, im just glad I didn't feel super full after. It was hard to not want to pile your plate with everything! After breakfast, Mom & Dad checked out of their room and we went to visit my grandfather's grave. It's been five years since he passed and I had never been. It was very nice to finally be there with my family. Then we went to see grandma at Monarch Hall and also had a quick visit with my great Aunt and Uncle that came from Dartmouth.

There was lots of laughing, smiles, shopping, eating, and driving this weekend and it was lots of fun. Thanks for a good time everyone. 

PS I LOVE YOU

A couple of weeks ago, I decided I wanted to read some new books. It's been a year since I've been out of school and I've hardly read a book since. I started to find some books I wanted to read and checked some prices of buying them new. I quickly shot down that idea because books are so expensive! If there is a book that I have already read and enjoyed then I might buy it. Or, if it is a book that I have been anxiously waiting to read I might buy it. Or if it is a 9.99 paperback edition, then I will usually buy it!

So I thought about getting a library card again. I haven't had one since junior high, so I thought it was about time to get one again and use the library's great online system for searching books, placing holds and renewing books. I have loved the PEI provincial libraries for a long time, but I guess I was just busy over the years that reading didn't interest me as much anymore.

The first book I checked out was PS I LOVE YOU, by Cecelia Ahern. I have loved this movie for such a long time and I always knew there was a book. I saw the book the day I went in to the library to obtain my new card. It was finally time to read it! 

I think from watching the movie for so long, I think I just might like the movie more than the book (that's a first huh?). The book goes into more detail than the movie, it includes more characters like Holly's family and it also takes place in Ireland, not the USA. One of my favorite parts about the movie is that Holly visits Ireland again after her Husband's death to remember those spots where they fell in love. 

The book however is really funny. There are somethings from the book that are really funny that would have been too complex to add into the movie, like when Holly's brother films her and her friends on a night out clubbing and turns it into a documentary that everyone hates but really loves at the same time. I do also love what the book and movie means to me, because I love LOVE letters.

This is how I felt when Haig served his mission. Although it was a very different situation I can understand how Holly must have felt opening letters from her husband every month. 

Book Rating: ***/5