Stanley's Shower

With Stanley Jr, or SJ as we have started to call him, coming 4 weeks early, we thought that last weekend was the perfect time to through him and Bethan a shower and get him introduced to all of the friends and neighborhood in the area. Bethan tasked me with the job of planning the shower, and she would take care of inviting everyone, as she would know who should be there.

So I went to work planning, and baking and getting some decorations together to make this shower great. Half way through getting things set-up on Saturday I realized, I had never been to a baby shower before! It was to late to worry about that so we just finished what needed to be done, and had a great time during the shower!

Little boys need blue velvet cupcakes!

I even had "the Eng" helping me bake

Chris loves rubber ducks, so we put some on the cupcakes

And we had a massive spread of food!

It's Almost Give A Way Time!

Things have been a little hectic this week. I am trying to get some stuff done for Bethan's baby shower, and in the mean time doing some work, going to a concert, and doing some cooking and baking.

I didn't want you waiting for a whole week for some good blogs, so with the help of my good friend Ty Christian Wilson we are working on a little give away for the blog! Stay tuned for more details to come but in the mean time check out his sweat album cover for his first album release! You can also check him out on Facebook.

New Arrivals & Friends

I know I have been sharing my weekend adventure with 'the Eng" for the past couple of days, but the truth is that in the last couple weeks there has been a new many come into my life.

Meet Stanley Christopher Walter. He is the new son of 2 of my best friends Chris and Bethan. Lil Stanley was born on June 28th early in the morning, and I got to wake up to a call from Bethan that morning with the announcement of their new arrival.

Although I am not a fan of children I have to admit that this guy is pretty cute. I don't think that he looks like either one of them right now, but I am sure with time that will change.

This weekend I am headed out to see the new family and hang out with the little guy. Don't be expecting pictures of me holding the little guy next week though... I do not hold babies!

Moving Day

This past weekend I headed out to my friend Bethan and Chris's to help them move into their new house. For the past 6 months they have been living in a holiday trailer while they had a house moved onto their farm and fully renovated.

The house is just about complete, and it was to to get things moved in. There items had been packed into a SeCan trailer. It was packed right up to the roof and we thought that it was going to be a long job getting it all emptied out.

Most things just got thrown into the rooms and left to be sorted out later.

All of the kitchen items needed to be washed. So again things got stacked up, and the dish washer began to run non stop.

However, the kitchen is so beautiful! The tile work is unique and her cabinets are not only functional but really gorgeous. They are built to that no matter how hard you shut them, they do not slam shut. A pretty cool feature.

We did get a few of the rooms partialy set up. The sitting room got the floors washed, cow hide down, and the couches some what in place. After all we needed a place to sit and rest after all the heavy lifting we did!

We feature wall in the sitting room is a real stunner. All of the rocks are original, and there are even some neat features in it. There is a piece of pot ash built in, as well as three hammer heads that Chris's grandpa found and had built into the wall.

The last room that we got set-up is the dinning room. The boys kept hitting their head on the chandelier, so we figured that we had better get the table in place so that it was no longer a safety hazard.

The house is just about complete now. I will try to take some pictures of it once it is all completed. They sure did a great job with it. Much deserved for them after living in the holiday trailer for that long!

Girl's Weekend

This weekend my best friend and guest blogger Bethan and I ventured out for a girls weekend. It was long overdue, and so we made the most of this trip!

We started Friday night heading to Calgary to celebrate a friends Birthday. We all loaded up and went to the Back Alley for a night of dancing and a few beverages. There was lots of laughs along the way, and it was a really fun night.

The next morning we ventured back onto the highway to head to Canmore. The Rapunzel Salon in Canmore was our destination for a Spa afternoon. We had 1 hour hot stone massages, pedicures, as well as having our hair and make-up done. It was a great way to relax and just have a fun weekend.Our next stop was the Delta Lodge in Kananaskis. Due to a wonderful employee discount we had some great food, and an amazing stay. We did not want to get out of bed to check out the next morning!On our way back to Olds, we kept seeing all of these people pulled over on the side of the road taking pictures. Now this is not an unusual scene while driving in the mountains, however, it was not deer and mountain goats they were taking pictures of, it was swans!

It turns out that there rare swans have made there home in the Rocky Mountains right now. No one really know why they are there, but we seen hundreds of them. It was really neat.

We had such a great time that we are now going to do this every 3 or 4 months. We have developed a rating system to find the best Delta and spa's. I think it should be a fun journey!

Now I know you are probably saying where are your pictures from the weekend!! Well... Bethan and I both forgot our cameras. So the pictures you are stuck with are some stock photos I found. I know, I was event told before I left not to forget my camera....

Time to Share #22

A few weeks ago I announced that I would be having my first guest blogger! Well here is here first post.

You may have heard me talk about Bethan before. She is one of my best friends, and a young woman who as wisdom beyond her age. Hope you enjoy her points of view.

Kindness--

I can honestly say that I would never see myself as a being a guest blogger, but when my good friend Stacy asked me I jumped on the opportunity! It took me awhile to decide what to write on and it came to me as I was at school last week....

I am currently attending Olds College, I am married and I am quite a bit older than my classmates. I have tried to be as helpful to my classmates as I can throughout the year: explaining different aspects, or helping them with a question or even studying with some students that are struggling. I got asked the other day why I take the time to help others, doesn’t it slow me down and doesn’t it not allow me to finish my work as quickly? I am a very talkative person and at that moment I found myself dumbfounded, I didn’t really know what the person meant or how they wanted me to react. This got me thinking...

I do not think of myself when helping someone or even how they are slowing me down. I look at it as I help others and they help me. A lot of my classmates do not feel that they help me; they do not realize that it is a great feeling for me to help them. If I needed help I know someone will be there to help me, and even if it isn’t an action that I can explain, by allowing me to help them they have helped me. I like that kindness in contagious, if I show my kindness others may pass it on.

This quote says it best by Barbara De Angelis,

“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.”

This takes me to a time when I needed help... I was about 2 hours away from home in the truck. I realized that I was low on fuel and was not going to make it home so I pulled into the gas station, I just put in 20 bucks enough gas to get home. I got the till and realized I didn’t have my wallet in my purse it was in the car, I knew exactly where it was. I explained the gas attendant my story and was curious if I called my husband if they could take his VISA number and charge the card for the gas I had already put in the truck. The gas attendant said it wouldn’t work and I was mortified at this time the man behind me stood forward and paid for my gas. I asked if I could get his address I would pay him back, he told me just to pay it forward.....

That man, which I never did even get a name from, had a huge impact on my life that day and from that day on. I didn’t make my life about creating these heart warming stories, but simply to just bring kindness into the world. If it is helping a student in class or just by sending a random text to a special friend or smiling and saying hello to a stranger. I don’t think there is anything bad about bringing happiness into the world.

Here is another quote to explain what I mean, by Leo Buscaglia,

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

So as I write this blog and you read it I hope that it has made you think twice about being kind to others. Here is a list of 10 simple acts of kindness maybe you could consider and may change someone’s life and not even realize it:

1. Send someone you care about a random message telling them you are thinking about them

2. Tip 100% for good service at a restaurant

3. Tell someone how much they mean to you

4. Smile and say hello to a stranger as you walk by

5. Let the person that is such a hurry behind you just go in front of you

6. Give your seat up to someone else in a public place

7. If you see someone else in trouble...stop and help

8. Pay for the person behind you in line at Tim Horton’s

9. Send an random card to someone in the mail (everyone loves getting good mail)

10. Donate to a charity

11. Just Smile...it will spread and bring a smile to others around you.

I hope this blog leaves you with a perspective in life that being kind can make a difference. Anyone can make a difference in this world I will leave you with one final quote by Theodore Rubin,

“Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.”