November Movember

So another month has skittered away. I can hardly believe it myself. We have officially entered a snowy wonderland and I spent a week shoveling and bearing the frigid -30's and even one day where we topped at - 40 leaving us the coldest place on EARTH at that given time. RIDICULOUS!! Anyway... Concerts are in full swing and I can hardly believe they are only a week away! I am feeling slightly defeated with my div 2 classes at this point, but they generally pull it together in time to put on a show of perfection. Let's all keep our fingers crossed. The 2/3's are coming along pretty well as are the K's & 1's. So hopefully after all the hard work next wee will be deemed a glowing success :)

In other news, I'm enjoying my brown hair, slightly more so when it's straight, but the curly is growing on me too. I have also finally mastered the round curly brush and hairdryer and can get my hair fabulously straight in essentially no time flat! I love it! It is just kind of empowering(?) to be able to have the choice so freely :) I Likes a lot.

Besides that all is well, all are well and I can't wait for Christmas Break! :D

October!

The year is off and running and I find myself busy as can be. It's report card time already, if you can believe it, and only 5 weeks until Christmas Concerts!

September and October flew by in a blur but a few notables I can mention are as follows:

Clint and I took a day trip through Kananaskis. Was a beautiful day, a small chill in the air but soo nice! Saw some deer, goats and sooo many mountains!

On another note, every fall I toss around the idea about going darker with my hair, and every year I chicken out... until now! Kinda spur of the moment, out with some gals, great deal on and... Voila!

Still not too sure about the curly look... its much darker and well, unruly to say the least lol!

Summer in the Cape

I went home for 8 days recently and had a fantastic time. The weather couldn't have been better and I got to see a lot of friends and family whom I miss dearly. I got all ends of the spectrum done including a trip to the Steel & a full night of shenanigans with Tara, Beach day with Sarah& Dan, as well Family time with Everyone!

I had my hair straightened before I left, in an attempt to beat the humidity...

Had a lovely lunch out with the ladies...

Had a Keiths Light on the beach with some babes ;)

Enjoyed a back yard BBQ too!

Pink - Glitter in the Air

Saw this when she preformed a few months back but it's just re-circulating now and caught my eye & ear. Great song, AMAZING preformance!

My Current Summer Jam :)

Hope you enjoy as much as I do :)

Concerts

I don't get to too many concerts and I always regret it, so when the opportunity came up recently I took it!

On June 28 I went with Ana, her sister & mother to see Nikki Yanofsky at the Jack Singer. I had an open mind, yeah the little one who sang that olympic song, but really didn't know much about her otherwise. Well, let me tell you, I just wanted to pick her up, put her in my pocket and take her home! She was adorable! I knew she was only 17 but man she is one teeny tiny. Her personality shone through and her band - 4 guys late 20's early 30's - simply adore her. And how could you not? Her little tales and tidbits in between songs left me smiling, and we haven't even talked about her singing yet. Well for one teeny thing she sure can fill a theatre. She is a total jazz singer, but threw in a few contemporary pieces here and there. She loves what she does and it shows. I would recommend to anyone who has the opportunity to go and take in her show. It was a wonderful surprise. The John Pizzarelli Jazz Quartet opened for Nikki and well WOW! They are some serious jazz musicians and I totally enjoyed their performances as well. Such a treat!

Last night I attended the Rihanna concert with Ana, Janelle & Melanie. Travie McCoy was the first opening act, I didn't realize there was two. He is a former member of the Gym Class Heroes and has more recently released his debut album including his single "Billionaire." He was high energy and lots of fun to get things started. The crowd was electric in the Saddledome for sure. He only did about four songs but got everyone warmed up.
KE$HA followed Travie's act and well, my goodness! I mean I guess I've heard it plenty that she's a train wreck, but HOLY! She really is. Ana said it best when she asked "Is she gonna be the next Courtney Love?" I mean, I'm all for success where you get it, but she really does very little actual Singing. The parody "Sing Talk" I think pretty much sums it up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JelGcEyS6Aw Check it out.
Her dancers were AWFUL, and she tried to join them, but wasn't much better. She sang/talked maybe five songs and well, wow. The song about the DINASAUR was notably a great disaster... D-I-N-O-SA - UR A DINASOUR -- O-L-DM-AN you are an OLD MAN! Just wow. She ended her set by stealing a cymbal from the drummers kit... followed by stealing drums and then kick / tossing them off the stage onto a second stage. Oh, also notable moment... after playing the cowbell and hip bumping a dancer in a t-rex mask and knocking them over, she just whiffed the cowbell at them while they were down. What a pleasure.

Now Rihanna however, that was a whole different story. She opened with Russian Roulette and was on a raised platform in a black gown with red lights! Crazy, but cool. She followed with Hurt and then one of my favs Shut Up and Drive. The hits just kept coming and I was pleased to have heard SOS, Rude Boy, Rockstar, Umbrella, Take a Bow Soooo many more, PLUS I thought it was very cool that she sang some of her duets, alone obviously. Jay z, Ne-yo. And I was also surprised to hear her sing Airplanes - I didn't think she was involved with? I'll have to investigate.
Her costumes were great, she sounded great and she seemed really pleased with the crowd response, you know... just like she'd pull back and let the crowd take the lead and you could just see on her face that she also loves what she does. The audience was insane! They were singing, dancing, shrieking and everything else an audience can do. I am just so glad I went. She was definitely worth seeing.

We'll have to see what other concerts the future may hold. I hope they keep coming!

xo

Blogity Blog

So time for some updates...

Back at the end of May Sandy came to visit from Korea! He was here for a week and we did a whole buncha stuff including beers, bbq's - Canadian & Korean, shoppin beers, bbq's ;) Good times all around.

The coolest thing in my opinion was the Korea Barbeque he took us to. He said it was very authentic too, only a few nominal things he noted might look a little different in Korea. We had a grill right in the middle of our table and they brought us our meat to cook right there. I was soooo fun!

I'm not gonna lie, I was a little worried going in, but I highly enjoyed all the food. I would totally go back again too.

Since then the end of the year was super busy with school but we managed through and I am FINALLY on Summer Vacation :D YEE HAW!!!

I will update if other fun events occur, hoping they do ;)

xo

For those in need of a good laugh!

Absolutely needed to share this one!

xo

Jess

Toto's Africa done WAY too Cool!

I had this forwarded to me about a year ago or so and just thought of it again tonight. It is SO worth sharing! If you haven't seen it yet, sit back and prepare to be blown away. If you have, just enjoy because you KNOW how good this is!

Jess

New Tunes Needed...

So I'm at a bit of a crossroads with my choir. I need something new for them to sing and am pretty stuck for ideas. We're not exactly your "traditional" choir. The kids favs right now are Livin' on a Prayer, Don't Stop Believing & most recently the Wavin' Flag. They're good with old or new, just needs to be school appropriate. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Help!

GLEE!!

OMG how could I have forgotten to post!

GLEE IS BACK TOMORROW!!!!!!!

If you couldn't tell, I'm not even a little bit excited.

In honour of the event, enjoy!

March into April!

SO seriously, am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that we are in Mid-April here! The year is flying by and I am going to have a lot on my plate again in a real short time. So

let's see what you've missed....

OH, I DID organize my closet - sort of. I took out a big basket of clothes to be donated, I washed a lot of stuff that was randomly piled & re-sorted and moved around some of my hanging organizers. I think it's working okay for now, but I suppose time will tell if I start layering things up all over the place again. Pictures somewhere? Must still be on the camera. I'll look!

March , or "Spring Break" came and went and for the most part it was pretty quiet. The big deal however was that I went and chopped my hair! They cut about 7+ inches off and straightened it SUPER straight! I LOVE IT!! I really loved it when it was straight, but MAN did I have a challenge on my hands when I tried to curl it. After trying mousse, gel, hair diffuser, putty.... I ended up straightening it again lol. After some good advice, I decided to sleep on it while it was wet and in the morning the Afro Puff had significantly subsided - Thank Goodness!

Straight

Curly

It's pretty darn short, but I was well due for a change.

In other news, Clint has been sent to do some work in Dallas. He was down for 4 days last week to get situated and introduced and such and left again this morning for another undetermined stint. He said the people all seemed nice and he thinks this could be a really good step for him. Hopefully it is. He's been waiting on this for a LONG time.

Other than that, There's not a lot to report. Music Monday is only three weeks away! That means field trips, assemblies and spring concerts are right up there too! Incredible!

Well I must get off to the rest of my "To Do's" but making a new post was def way up there!

xo

Closet Update

So I've been doing the regular... Laundry, School work, House work.... but have yet to tackle my closet. I think that it's just gotten to the point where it's SOOOOO out of control that I just can't wrap my head around how exactly to tackle it. Something tells me that I've got a book that tells me what I Should do. Maybe I'll dig that out.

The problem, I feel, is threefold...

1) It's a gigantic mess

2) Some stuff fits & some stuff doesn't... but I hope that it will all fit again soon

3) I have a hard time parting with stuff... I don't know why

So Clint was home, very briefly... arrived 630pm Friday night and then had to leave in the morning... Back last night at 630 and gone again this morning by 8am. This time is different because I don't know when exactly he will be back. ANYWAY... So I neglected the closet until now... but somethings got to be done. It just isn't right.

I'm going to find my book... possibly take a few pictures right now to see where we stand... and then I'll go from there.

Hopefully next time there will be more positive things to report.

xo

March

I can't believe how quickly this year is passing. I just finished my second round of report cards for the year (Yay!) and it feels like we just did our first set, that was actually back in November! The year is seriously just swirling around and soaring past. I have almost forgotten that in a mere 2 weeks we will be on our beloved spring break. Not that I have any plans this year, but all the same I know where I won't be for those 12 days :)

Clint was home for a quick 4 days and is gone again. Unfortunately this time he doesn't have a return date. I guess there is lots of work so he will be kept busy, Work = Good, but work also = away. So hopefully he gets to at least pass through sometime in the next little bit. It really was so great to actually know when to expect him home. Made him leaving a lot easier. Ah well, what can you do? Someday ... someday...

Other than that I have a big list of "To Do's..." Including some of the following:

Plan lessons for the rest of March and April... potentially longer

Plan for open house conferences

Find a new bedding set for my bedroom

Find some new music resources

Get back into a gym routine

Start running... The weather is picking up so I should dust off the runners

And the biggest task of all is going to be to Clean out my closet / dresser. Man, I'm in need of a fashion overhaul, Seriously!

I have a bit of a problem with keeping a neat closet and that has to change. My closet has plenty of space, but I guess it's just not a very accommodating layout? The top shelf is up soooo high that I can only really put storage type boxed stuff up there... and I can barely reach that. The hanging shelves have those stupid dividers every foot or so, which is also a pain when you're trying to slide things down looking for things.

I have a lot of things that need to be folded on a shelf, and I don't have a lot of room for them. The rack above hangs down into the shelf so there isn't much space and then I always stuff too much stuff into the space so I lose Everything! Yeah, I just decided that I'm going to start tackling it this weekend. That and update my portfolio.

Looks like I've got lots to do so I'm out!

February Blues... not much news

There's not a whole lot interesting to tell about at this time. It's mid-February and I just got over a massive cold / canker outbreak. It was out of this world rotten! I was laid up for four days of pure bed rest, and the after affects still linger. Hopefully it's the last round of illness for this school year, time will tell I suppose.


In other domestic news, I made some fatayers - I'm not actually sure how to spell it, but I think Google tells me this is the way. They turned out pretty yummy and I have been sustaining off of them. I also have gotten into this whole "Amish Friendship Bread" which started with some friends at school. Essentially you get a bag with a bit of batter in it and you have to mush the bag, after a few days you add some ingredients then continue to mush some more. On day 10 you add ingredients, split the batter & use the remainder with some additional ingredients to make the "bread". It turns out more like a cake / loaf than a bread. I am in round three, as the mix has you baking every 10 days and this time I added chocolate chips and it is YUMMMY!!

Vancouver 2010
I have caught the "Olympic Fever" as they call it and find myself glued to the tv or computer, or both keeping track of all the events. Some of the sports are just so exciting I find myself yelling out loud... which is causing a lot of confusion from the cats heh ;) So far we are at 8 medals and I hope we can win some more.

Shopping Bits

I was out looking for leggings today and found a Purse Organizer! Yes I know it wasn't what I was looking for, but it was like a sign... I backed into this rack and there it was! I have been complaining majorly about my huge black hole of a bag lately and had been looking online at all different kinds of organizers for ages and just hadn't decided which style would work best for me. The one I found today is made by "My Tagalongs" and it's a soft vinyl bag with a number of pockets around the outside and a zippered part. The large open area in the middle of the bag is perfect for bigger items like lotion, hand sanitizer & my sunglasses but there is also a drawstring at the top if you need to close it up. It seems to fit all my stuff and I think it just might do the trick! I'll take a picture soon to show you.

Clint will be home on Friday :) yay!
xo

Girls Night Out in Banff

Seven girls in need of a night out headed for the mountains after work last Friday and landed at the Fox in Banff. Our home for the evening was so cute and cosy. A small kitchenette, dining room and livingroom (pull our couch) upstairs, then down the spiraly stairs there was a bathroom and a large room with two big beds. We were quick to ready and have a few refreshments then went for a delicious dinner at The Keg. After we managed to roll ourselves back to the loft we have a few more soda pops then made the trek downtown to Aurora for some dancing. Lots of fun with great ladies!

Andrea & I may have had an adventure or two on the way home from dancing...






We were up an at it early enough the next morning and decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and head off for a hike. After our PD last week we were trying to be creative with some of our shots... as we were the night before too lol!

Ricky's All Day Grill

So 8 of us went to Rickys All Day Grill today to get some breakfast after a well enjoyed hockey day in Canada yesterday. We agreed to wait the 20 minutes to get a table together. After about that time one of the hostesses tells us that there is a round table that sits 5 and a square table that seats 4 available upstairs. We agree to take the tables... I mean a circle doesn't fit awesome next to a square but hey, it will work and we're HUNGRY!

So after about another 10 minute wait we're lead "upstairs" - which was one full STEP up from the main eating area. So that in itself was enough to have us laughing out loud, but what was even better... they didn't even put the tables together. So we were sat at two different tables. After getting over the shock - literally I think we were stunned stupid for a while - we did see some humor in the situation, but were pissed due to the fact that they sat sooo many smaller parties before us, and here we all end up sitting at two tables of four anyway. Urgh!

The food took a small forever and by the time we all got ours it was easy to see which plates were ready first and sat to wait for the rest...mine & Janelle's were stone cold except for the sausages. We scarfed them down all the same because at this point it was after 2pm, we arrived at 12:30!

After seeing the comedy in the situation and making a few calls and texts to our friends across the way at the other table we called it a day. In short, won't be going back.

Spending Rehab?

So, not that I spend oodles and oodles of money on frivolous things, but thinking about it... what could be bad about a spending rehab?

My cousin posted a link to her friends blog where two gal pals have decided to put themselves through a torturous test and not shopping for a YEAR! From their page http://www.365fashionrehab.com/ here's the details...

Rules & Regs

For one entire, whole, long year (365 days for those of you who may not be in the know) we will not purchase ANY (eeek!) of the following:

1. Clothes of any kind. No socks, underthings, coats, t-shirts, tanks, jeans, dresses, tights, workout gear, rain gear, snow gear, skirts, skorts (as if), sweaters, bikinis, etc...

2. Accessories. Including all pumps, t-straps, platforms, spectators, wedges, booties, Havianas, sneakers, clutches, hobos, satchels, baguettes, totes, weekenders, wallets, hats, gloves, jewelry, and, of course, sunglasses.

3. Make-up. No power plumping lip gloss, liquid eyeliner, fancy foundation, romantic red lipstick, eyelash curling mascara, shimmering bronzer, eye-popping shadow- you get the picture.

4. Home Decor. Broad category of decorative pillows, fancy candles, vases, stationary and general "I do not need it but think they are cute knick-knacks that who's kidding who we probably don't have room for anyway".

5. Gifts. If we receive gifts in the categories above we cannot use/enjoy them until rehab is over!

... Now I don't consider myself quite the shopaholic, but just thinking about what they're doing is making me think about doing some cutting back. Really... how many lipglosses does one have to have on the go at one time? I did the purse count and had, what was it 8? Embarrassing! If I just used one til it was gone I'm sure I would still have glossy lips 12 months from now if I rooted around my make up bags, maybe even longer!

And in this, "no clothing" category... I suppose this would be a good way to get myself into a big fitness push. No clothing until the stuff I own doesn't fit me anymore and its absolutely necessary? Suppose it could be an idea.

If I took the money from all those "frivolous" / unnecessary purchases and put them against student debt, I bet I would see a significant difference. Maybe...? Oh who knows. I guess like I said to begin with, I don't shop like mad to begin with. BUT... if I could cancel out trips to the dollar store for example... or Walmart, that might help. They are those places where I find myself wandering out of boredom and purchasing for gratification rather than necessity.

So, shall I try it? Only purchasing out of Necessity? Last year I hopped on the coupon train last year and am sure I saved a bunch of pocket cash taking on that initiative alone. My rules will be maybe not so sever though... Might need some time to actually come up with them though.

Ok, so that will be my next mission. Come up with guidelines and perhaps see what will be challenging enough to make me appreciate what I'm undertaking, but not so outlandish that I'm not allowed to ever leave the house again. Sounds fair.
On that note, I'm off to do some thinking.

Choir Success!

Today my choir finally saw the light! They finally got it together, heard themselves singing in harmony and totally flipped their lids! :D

I had attempted to split my Grade 4,5,6 choir into two definite parts back in the Fall, but it just didn't pan out. I divided the kids up and tried to assign them as sopranos and altos but they revolted and pretty much all just went with the soprano line.

Today I had a BIG discussion with the kids explaining how they are really good singers and have been doing really well, but I think that they could be Great singers, and I expect them to be. After much discussion about how every one's contributions are equally important and that just because they are designated one part, it doesn't mean that they can't do the other part etc etc etc... we were finally able to get down to business.

We started with some Suzie McNeil, "Believe" and I simply had them harmonize the final note. Well, that was it! It was like the sky opened and their eyes near popped out of their heads. They were so amazed with their own sound the atmosphere was just insane! We attempted a few more harmony lines in the song, moved into Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" and they just couldn't get the excitement off their faces. It has all been worth it!! I mean, not that it wasn't before, but this is what I saw happening in the first place and finally , PRESTO!! :D

I'm really excited for next week and can't wait to hear how they will do with some of our other selections.

2010!

It's hard to believe that we're 10 days into the new year already. I have been getting settled back into school routines and planning, getting the house together ... you know the usual housekeeping duties.... washing dishes, vacuuming, overflowing the washing machine, shop vac backing up and dusting the house, putting my blackberry back together after dropping it into the puddle created by the washing machine in the porch, shaking my head and succumbing to a tube of potato chips and a flop on the couch... BLAH!
So... I was eagerly tidying the place up and somehow I guess the duvet decided that it didn't want the water to stay IN the washing machine this time. I guess it could have been much worse, but all the same, yesterday gave me some additional work.

On a side note, before all that, I decided to make a big slow cooker full of home made veggie soup. It turned out pretty good, a little on the spicy side but good! I just took the 6+ gallons and split it into some individual portions that I can take for lunch this week and froze the rest. I am thinking that maybe next week I'll do some chili. We shall see I suppose. My great attempts to a) Cook for Myself and b) be Domestic lol!

The recipe changes each time I make it slightly. The recipe is pretty simple if anyone is interested:
1/2 a head of cabbage
Green Peppers ( 2 this time)
Celery ( Two small bundles this time)
1 bag sliced carrots
1 package sliced mushrooms (yes I realize that I am capable of slicing carrots & mushrooms)
1 small bunch of Green Onions
1 bottle V8 juice - 48 oz I think?
2 cups chicken stock
4 - 6 cups water
1 can crushed tomatoes ( I forgot these so added a can of tomato soup & 1/2 a bottle of salsa)
spices: Salt, Pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, Tabasco, franks, Louisiana hot sauce, salad spices, onion powder....

Anyway, if you try it, let me know how it goes!

Resolutions...
I am never very good at keeping resolutions, or making them for that matter... in any event I am going to try to do a few things this year... call them what you will.
I will stay positive
I will keep in touch with my friends, near & far
I will get serious about my fitness - food & gym
I will try new things with my classes
I will take that one 6 credit course I need
I will make budgets and stick to them
I will update my blog on a more regular basis ;)
I will have an amazing year!! :D

PS: here's my new baby! :)