Photo-a-Day Challenge: The Last Three Days

Well, that's it. January is officially over at the end of the day, and so is my Photo-a-Day Challenge. It has been so much fun, but I don't think I'll be doing it for February. It was a good creative change, but I fear that if I were to continue it would just get repetitive and I would begin hating the project. Although, I will probably do the Quick Challenge that Fat Mum Slim has introduced because it can be done any time, and it's only for one day. And with that, here are my final three days:

Day 29: In My Fridge

My husband's favourite condiments. 

Can you believe we have two jars of Cheese 

Whiz because he forgot we already had one?

Day 30: Nature

This is the little Paper Birch tree 

that we planted in our backyard last

October in celebration of the birth of our son.

Day 31: Me...Again

I am feeling particularly happy 

with my hair today!

Adieu, January!

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My First Blog Award

The lovely Steffi of Maedchen Zimmer has bestowed upon me the Awesome Blog Award. I feel so honored -- She is too sweet :)

First, to answer a few questions that Steffi has asked:

1. How long have you blogging?

I have been blogging since the Summer of 2005. I used to have a blog as "whiteorchid", but eventually grew out of it, and stopped blogging until March of 2011. I'm glad to be back at it, I have met a lot of wonderful people so far.

2. How did you get into blogging?

I started blogging as a way to share my photography and poetry, and then, as I became more comfortable with sharing myself, I started doing self-portraits and writing about myself. I also dabbled a bit with vlogging -- video blog posts.

3. What's important to you at your blog?

I guess the most important thing for me right now with my blog, is sharing a bit of myself and my thoughts with the world. Now that I am a mother, I want to share my experiences and the things that I do in the hopes that another mother will stumble upon what I have written and learn something new.

4. What is your favorite song at the moment?

Right now I am always listening to my son's favourite songs of the moment -- which happen to be The Tummy Song from the new Winnie-the-Pooh movie and September by Earth, Wind & Fire. I enjoy those songs as well, but my favourite song right now has got to be Coldplay's Every Teardrop is a Waterfall. I am madly in love with Coldplay!

And now, to pass it on! Steffi is intending that the blogs to be given this award should be blogs that are not necessarily well known, to share blogs that we enjoy and get them out there a little more. Here are my three choices for the Awesome Blog Award:

1. Lowercase Letters -  Memory is such a fantastic writer. She knows exactly how to suck you in, and she is so wise for her age. I am in love with her blog!

2. Tuckoo and Moo Cow -  Sarah is an absolutely amazing artist and person. She is always sharing how she creates her miniature pieces of artwork, and her thoughts on Etsy, hipsters and everything in between. I love visiting her blog, and she always makes you feel welcome :)

3. Joanne Bee - I first met Joanne through the Cold Hands, Warm Hearts blog swap. I really enjoyed getting to know her, and she always has fun little thoughts and snippets of her life to share.

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Photo-a-Day Challenge: Week 4

Wow! We are now done the fourth week of January, and starting to look forward to February. If you have enjoyed my photographs for the Photo-a-Day Challenge, Fat Mum Slim now has the list for the February Photo-a-Day Challenge available. You should check it out. I've had so much fun doing the challenge for January. It's been like a homework assignment that I look forward to doing, and it's really made me think and be creative in a different way than I normally am -- working on cards and drawings for the SHOP.

1. Day 22: My Shoes - My Toms that I am currently wearing around the house to try and stretch for Spring.

2. Day 23: Something Old - This is the oldest thing that I know of :)

3. Day 24: Guilty Pleasure - I love me some Gushers candy!

4. Day 25: Something I Made - I can't take all the credit for this little guy, but I did do half the work :)

5. Day 26: Colour - My little boy's toys are so colourful!

6. Day 27: Lunch - There's nothing that I love more for lunch than left-over tacos!

7. Day 28: Light - Because of our South-facing windows, our home is filled with natural light.

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Around the Table as a Family

There are a couple of really important things that I have noticed since my son has started eating table food:

The first thing that I have noticed is that my husband and I have started eating a lot healthier -- we are incredibly picky people and would often only eat rice for supper...I know. Maybe it is just because I am at home all day, and can start making supper in the afternoon, but we have been eating a lot more home cooked meals -- even if they are just tacos, or pork chops with rice and vegetables. I know how important it is for our son to get protein into his little body, and so I make sure now that we have protein at every meal -- and vegetables. Wow! Were we ever horrible eaters.

The second thing that I have noticed, and this is probably even more important than eating healthier, is that we have been eating around the table. Before my son started eating with us, we would often feed him, cook-up our food, and make our way into the living room to eat while watching television. Now that he is eating with us every night, we are actually sitting down at the table as a little family.

Eating supper as a family every night was always very important in my house while I was growing up, but it never really felt the same when I ate at the table in my own home. I don't know what it was, but it almost felt awkward, and I didn't enjoy it; it wasn't the table that I had grown-up with. But now that I have my own little family sitting around the table with me, it doesn't feel awkward anymore. That little boy of mine has changed everything.

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Thoughts: Getting that Crampy Feeling...

*Warning: This topic may make people a little uncomfortable.

It's been a very long time since I have had a monthly visit from my old Aunt Flo, but she finally got settled in for a good visit this past Sunday, and I have since noticed a couple of things. Let me start at the beginning:

Everyone knows that when you are pregnant, you no longer get your period -- one of the blessings of pregnancy. After giving birth, it seems as if you are menstruating for a good 2-4 weeks, but it is really just your body getting rid of everything that was protecting the baby -- so I don't really count that as a period. Let's just say that I pretty much have not had to worry about this for almost two years, and it has been absolutely fantastic -- and there were no hot flashes involved.

Getting that crampy feeling...again.

I really thought nothing of not having Aunt Flo for a visit for such a long time. I mean, it was at the back of my mind that someday she would come back, but I didn't really know when. I guess my body is pretty much done the process of repairing itself after having a baby, and now is the time. Which is why I have noticed is that there really may be something to this PMS thing -- you know, that getting our periods makes all women bitchy. I guess I never really noticed it because it was happening every month, and it was just a part of life. But, now that I have had such a huge gap between visitations, I have noticed that I am getting very upset with my husband over trivial little things:

Case 1

On Sunday, I wanted to learn how to use Google Documents for accounting purposes -- besides using a notebook and pen -- and I blew up at him for something that he may or may not have said that made it so I had to input the information all over again.

Case 2

Yesterday, my order from Dorothy Perkins arrived. I was so excited that I immediately put one of the shirts on, but my boobs are still too big, and the shirt got stuck. I asked him for help, and he gave me a funny look and took what felt like forever to put our son down on the ground to help me out. I blew up and had a mini panic-attack because he was taking too long to help me take a shirt off that I so desperately wanted out of.

Now, that isn't to say that I don't ever get upset. I'm human, and that is what I do. Sometimes these kind of situations frustrate me, but the degree with which I got upset is not normal of me in the past year. That is why I think there's something to this PMS thing, which I never really thought much of before.

The other thing that I have noticed is how much I really don't like having my monthly visitor -- nobody does, and if they say they do, don't believe them. But after not having it for so long, now I really don't like having it; getting it this weekend was like someone laughing at you after they punch you in the face.

POW!

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Swept Away by Ballet: My Love for Swan Lake

Source

I loved the ballet Swan Lake from the moment the curtain first lifted. Many years ago, my mother and I saw an advertisement that the National Ballet of Canada was performing the ballet that very same night, and, at the last minute, we rushed to the theatre to purchase tickets.

We were seated in one of the very back rows on the main floor, and we were entranced the entire evening. That was the first ballet I had been to in a very long time, and I have been to many others since, but every time Odette and Odile make their way back to our stage, my mother and I immediately buy tickets for one of the first few rows. No experience has come close to the very first performance that we saw, though; we were swept away by the beauty and the wonder that is the music and movement of ballet.

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