~Books~

It seems like forever ago that I sat down and read a good book. This summer I’ve been making an effort to read more and get back to one of my passions when I was younger. So far this summer I’ve read:

The Secret Daughter by: shilpi somaya gowda

It was a book I couldn’t put down. Such descriptive writing and thought provoking storyline. It made me want to go to India and experience the things she described and made me sad that the slums she described exist in this modern day world. It was a realistic beautiful look into a society that I couldn’t imagine surviving in.

Good in Bed by: Jennifer Weiner

It was a quick read, amusing and airy storyline. I see myself in bits of this storyline but don’t really believe anyone could live this story.

Freedom by: James Patterson

I bought it on my Ipad and just haven’t gotten used to the idea of reading on it. It isn’t done yet so I can’t really say what I think about it but so far it is an interesting story.

I have several books I’ve picked up this summer that are on my to read list. You’ve got to love garage sales! That’s where they’ve all come from! I’ve got sitting beside me:

Love in the Time of Cholera by: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Late Nights on Air by: Elizabeth Hay

Olive Kitteridge by: Elizabeth Strout

The Saffron Gate by: Linda Holeman

The Gatecrasher by: Madeleine Wickham (alias for Sophie Kinsella)

Twenties Girl by: Sophie Kinsella

The Life you Want by: Bob Greene

Quite a variety of books and genres but I love that, it keeps it interesting. I’ve got lots of reading planned for this winter, on my elliptical! I hope it has a book holder! Starting October 19th through January 27th, our family is joining a 100,000 nights of reading program through the school. Every night we read to Ethan for at least 15 minutes, more often like half an hour. This program through school is all about reading for 15 minutes a night for 100 Nights. Not a challenge for this family of bookworms!

Also in October I’m ordering my first class from Athabasca towards my degree. I’m scared but I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time! Since Home Depot will pay for half of it I’m going for it! It will take me a couple of years but in the end I will have a degree! Bachelor of Human Resources and Labour Relations. I’m looking forward to having that education to back up my experience I’m gaining in my job as an HR manager. I will also be going after my CHRP designation. With that and a degree I can get a job almost anywhere in HR. I’m so proud to be working towards a goal and glad that I can role model the importance of education to my kids!

I wish I had a book club like my friend Chantel does…there is one at the Library that I might join…mostly just chicken about it! I just need to do it once and see if there are people there that I gel with I guess and go from there. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even make a new friend! Edited to add: the day I posted this I got an email inviting me to a Grande Prairie Mommy Book Club. I'm biting the bullet and signing up! YAY!!!

So? What’s on your book list? I love recommendations! Chantel sent me home with a list the other day that I can’t wait to work through! Anyone else have any they love and want to share with me?

~Body for Life~

So at work we started a 12 week challenge with www.bodyforlife.com There are around 25 of us that have signed up for it and have a great leader leading us to the finish line.  I have creeped back to the weight I lost and my clothes aren’t fitting anymore.  It is time to get off my ass and work out.  The problem is that with Reitmans I was on my feet for 8 hours a day non-stop.  At Home Depot I sit at my desk for 9-10 hours a day.  While I’m hoping to get out of my office more and get on to the floor it’s not going to happen any time soon.  So I need to work out at home and make other changes so it works.

I’ve set a goal of losing 25lbs in the 12 weeks.  Mostly I’m looking to lose weight in my hips and thighs.  So need to slim down there!!!

So I’m working out at home, the schedule is:

Mon, Wed, Fri – Weight Lifting/Yoga on the Wii Fit

Tues, Thurs, Sat – Aerobics on my Wii Fit and my Elliptical

I’m shooting for 30 minutes a day.  I’m on day 4 and feeling great.  I won’t lie, I had a cramp in my ass all day yesterday at work and could hardly walk but otherwise I’m not doing so bad.  Food wise I’m eating like a horse and supposed to be eating protein and more protein.  That is a pain and I’m struggling with it.  I know that I will lose more weight if I can get the level of protein daily that the diet calls for.  Mostly I’m trying to eat 6 times a day and drink lots of water.  I get one FREE day a week, whatever I want to eat and no workout.  Honestly I will probably just eat the same anyhow, but take the break from the workout.

I will try to let you know how I’m doing weekly with my challenge.  I can proudly say that in 4 days I am down 3.5lbs already.  I figure that I will lose weight fast off the start and then slow down as my body gets used to it.  Then I will change it up.  In a few months I might go get a membership to Curves or Snap Fitness.  We will be going to the pool on the weekends that we have off together and that will be good exercise.

Anyhow, wish me luck.  Its’ time to make some changes!  Can’t wait to show you the before and afters!

~Job Hunt – Week One~

Well I went out yesterday for my first day of hunting for a new job.  I have a renewed determination to find a job that is Monday through Friday 8-5 but still flexible for our life as needed.  I applied at a couple of banks, the City of Grande Praire, a plumbing distribution company and the Quality Hotel.  I was able to have a quick sit down interview with the General Manager of the Quality Hotel and we struck it off right away.  I will be having a second interview with the Controller of the Hotel but I do think that I will go forward with a good recommendation.  My friend Leanne used to work there and knows the GM and is one of my references.  I have to say, I have a love for working in the hotel industry.  This job would be very similar to the job I used to have at the Holiday Inn and I LOVED that job.  I still to this day kick myself that I quit it.  But unfortunately the money sucked so I didn’t have a huge choice in the matter. 

I would also like the job with the City… pension plan!!!  I won’t lie, all of the jobs would be great at this point.  I am continuing to apply for a few that are only available to apply for online and I keep checking the job bank daily for new postings.  I am determined to have a new job by May.  I am going to negotiate in my holidays for the summer because I already have plans made so that I don’t have to change any of them.  Reitmans will have to pay out my 2 + weeks of holidays that I have accrued.  I think they owe me for 2 weeks plus 3 days.  I would like to hang on till the first of May so that I can collect on my 2 float days that come available then but I won’t stay just for that! 

Anyhow, I’ll keep you all posted on the job hunt!  I can’t wait to start a new chapter for our family!

~Picture Post~

Ethan & Tigger have been hitting it off lately! Tigger is not as scared of him and seems to be accepting him into the family as you can see here!




He likes cuddling with Ethan (well somewhat, it is usually staged, LOL!) but he isn't all that thrilled when Ethan starts crying, as you can see in these pics!



Tigger loves to be underneath of things...it doesn't suprise me that this is what Randy caught him doing yesterday!


In case you missed it Ethan is Two Months old now! Here are his Two month pictures!




Finally, here is Ethan last night. After being up all day fussy and upset I finally stripped him down and he was as happy as a clam and fell promptly to sleep! He is his fathers son!


This is a Vision Board that I created this week. It includes some of my goals and dreams as I oontinue to proceed with my word of the year: Achieve. I wanted something that I could look at and remind myself as well as send out a message to the universe that this is what I want for my life! Not to mention I had a blast making it! It would seem that something would pop into my head like " Getting Married" then next page of the magazine I was flipping through had the word wedding on it! It happened a few times with the topics I had in mind. Creepy...

~My Word!~

No, something has not offended me! I'm talking about my word "Achieve" that I've designated for 2008. I'm trying to keep it alive throughout my months and thought that I should designate a post to it once a month.

So for February I/We achieved:

- making a meal plan and following it for 2 weeks of the month
- completion of my word layout for the year and created a few other layouts of our trip to Mexico
- a whole month with NO scrapbook purchases aside from my monthly kit!!!
- a whole month with NO purchases other then food and personal necessities!
- having a beautiful dinner party for our friends and also cleaning up after it, the same night!!!
- a closer relationship with our baby through talking to him/her, and sharing kicks and movements with Randy.
- getting our taxes done
- talking more to my sister Mary
- called my friend Melissa and got caught up on their life
- took time for myself and read a few books
- stuck more money in savings and are feeling good about the amount we have saved for when baby comes
- we made a plan for how things will play out as far as moving, Randy's work, where to live etc

February flew by so quickly, I can't believe it's gone. As I'm sure everyone knows in March we will be moving to GP and I'll be going on maternity leave. So this month we are working on socking away as much money into savings as possible and curbing our spending because who knows how long it will take to get my ROE to file for EI benefits. So I'm hoping to scrap a bit more, keep life simple, and just get through the time that Randy and I will be apart quickly.

My word! Achieve, there is so much for me to strive for! I'm getting there too!

~Brrr Cold WInter Update!~

This has been the coldest week I have been through in years! This has been how it has been here for the last 5 days every morning, this is a view from our Patio. The temps have been hovering in the -40C mark, we thankfully only had one day with wind and it was ridiculously cold that day, somewhere around -60C! We did have this beautiful ice fog that covered the town every day making driving nearly impossible. In the second picture there is actually a truck, with its headlights on the road right in front of our house, you can hardly see it!

We are having a much needed relaxing weekend around here. We watched movies all day yesterday at home, then went for dinner and a movie last night. We saw the new National Treasure Movie (I know, it's been released everywhere else forever but we just got it here!) it was really good! Our dinner sucked though, we went for Chinese to a new place that just opened up and it was awful! Randy didn't even eat his combo plate, just ate the appetizers. I had War Wonton Soup for supper and it was okay but we won't be returning there, the service was terrible and it was so cold in there I had to wear my coat the whole meal!

So today we are having another fun day. Randy is playing his game now and going to make some French Toast and coffee for us for lunch. Then this afternoon he is going over to Brents for one last time to watch the Super Bowl. They all leave tomorrow. As for me, I'm blogging and playing online and this afternoon I'm headed into my new scrapping room to play! I FINALLY got my scrapping stuff moved over here!!! There are a couple of things still there that I need to pick up but I have the essential items here. So once it's unpacked and set up how I like it again I'm hoping to finish my 'Word' layout that I have been working on for my word for this year of Achieve. I'm using my Feb scrapbook kit that I get from Sweet Pea Scraps and so far it is turning into one of my favorite LO's ever!!! So once I finish it I will post it on here.

Since this is now the first weekend on Feb it is time to do and update on how we are doing in terms of our goals for 2008.

Short Term Goals

1. Have a Healthy Pregnancy: So far so good. I am at the 25th week and so far no problems with my blood pressure at all. I've been monitoring it at home and it has been staying really constant. Suprising given all the stress I've been under! I've been having TERRIBLE heartburn that is keeping me up all night. Last night was the worst night as I woke myself up coughing up acid that I had aspirated. Not good. So I'm going to re-evaluate my diet and make some necessary changes to help prevent the acid, more so then I already have! Baby is kicking up a storm and letting us know she/he is there, I'm enjoying it so much right now and am just getting the hang of talking to the baby throughout the day and it feeling natural. Randy still hasn't been able to feel the baby kick despite his patient waiting with his hand on my tummy! They are getting stronger so I don't think it will be long. All in all, things are going well and I'm starting to definitely show now as you can see!!!

2. Enjoy our Hobbies: Well so far Randy has been enjoying his more then I have because my scrapping stuff hasn't been here. But I've been active at the library and have read more this month then I have in years!!! I just wish that my requested books would be turned in so I can read them! I'm still unsure how I want to go about doing my recipe collection book so I haven't even started yet...It will be a HUGE undertaking as I have recipes written down everywhere!!! We have called to get cable connected so that we have another thing to do. It is only costing us $20 more to have it because they bundle it with our internet and we get some savings. I just hope they come soon because we aren't here for that much longer and it's almost pointless!

Long Term Goals

1. Pay off $30,000 in debt this year: Well this will not likely be happening given that we are going to be moving from here at the end of March and will be paying rent and housing costs again. We are concerned about having the ability to go out and do things in GP, like eat out, go to movies, shop, etc. We just don't have that option here. But we have started on some good habits that we are committed to keeping and I think we will experience a minor bump in the road when we first get there because we will be able to do alot of things but I think we will right ourselves back onto our path. We have been very good since the beginning of the year and have put most of our money towards debt and have lived pretty frugally. We have not made a single credit card purchase that was not pre-paid with cash for the last two months. That is something that we can be proud of!!!

2. Save $14,000 this year: Again, may not happen to this degree. But we have got a nice emergency fund set up that makes life less stressful and we are adding to it monthly. We are still doing our tax savings though because we know that it is inevitable that Randy will have a tax bill next year. Also, we have enough stashed in our baby savings to make all the initial purchases that we will need for baby! I love that!!!

As for our other goals, they are not something that we are working on yet as they are far away and require some thing to be done first before we can go at them. But they are still goals and we are doing small things to move forward on them.

So upon review of January I really feel that I am giving my all to my word of the year 'Achieve' as we have achieved success on our path to goals! How are YOU doing with your goals for this year???

Well I'm sitting here on December 31, 2007 and thinking back on the year we've had... WOW big changes again in the Rogers/Grounds house! I love this magazine cover I whipped up, it really helped me think about what I want to talk about in my last post for the year. Not to mention it's kind of cute!!! So this will be a long one, but I want to be able to look back on my memories as they years go by via this blog so here goes....

Places we Visited

2007 started out with very little travel as we were still paying for our house in Grande Prairie plus rent in Calgary. Our budget was very tight and required Randy to work his full time job as well as deliver pizzas five nights a week. We passed each other in the hall those days, we were both working so much. Thankfully in March the house sold and we were even able to make a little profit off it to pay down some bills. Life slowed down a bit and we started planning our summer vacation to Salt Lake City to visit (and for me to FINALLY meet) Randy's family that lives there. We did some fun things in the months leading up to our trip including a picnic at Prince's Island Park, a couple of trips to Kananaskis, a visit with my college friend Mike, tour the zoo, Greek Festival, and some walking tours around Calgary. It was one of the funnest summers we've had in years. In August we loaded up the SUV and took off for Salt Lake City, you can find the post on it by clicking on the label for Vacation on the side. It was a great time and has created a relationship that I know Randy and I will cherish forever.

Baby Making 101

Well a boy and a girl meet and fall in love, then they...nah I'll spare you the details. Suffice to say, Randy and I did not have any problems. We went on vacation, I took my pack of pills, got there, opened it and....oops it was empty! So one thing led to another and a mere month of being off birth control and I'm pregnant! We were planning on starting to try in about 6 months so it didn't matter to us one way or another. We are just so happy to be welcoming our little one in May!

Jobs, What is the Right Fit?

Well again this year Randy changed jobs. It seems that it has happened so often in the last few years but when you don't have an education or a trade to fall back on it does two things...a) can make it hard to decide what to do but at the same time it b) leaves many doors open to try new things. Well Randy has dabbled in carpentry off and on over the years and quite enjoys the work. After trying the management field yet again he finally decided that he wanted to go into finishing carpentry as a career. He had a great offer from an old friend and pursued it. That is so like Randy though, just go after something wholeheartedly and put his all into it. So far he is totally in his groove. He started out doing tiling of bathtub walls and backsplashes on countertops and got to learn how to do that well. Now he's in the shop building cabinets and countertops and learning how to do millwork. He is in his heaven! He comes home happy every night and is learning so much. I'm really happy for him!

As for me, I left a GREAT job at Reitmans to follow Randy to the great frosty north where we now live. I'm working until baby is here as a leasing agent, renting apartments out. It's easy work and the money is decent. I'm on the fence as to if it is something I would do forever though...this company is not it for me! I like that I have administrative work to do but that I still get to interact with people. It's a nice mix. I do plan on staying home with our baby though and stopping work likely in end of March. We would like to have me at home until baby starts school, we'll have to see if our circumstances allow that. We have some BIG goals for 2008 that I'll share that will help us to accomplish that.

GOALS for 2008

Randy and I have no room in our life for resolutions. We set goals and work towards them so that they are achieved. I know that to some people they are one and the same but I don't like the word resolution. It sounds like you are made to do it, last resort kind of thing. I look at our goals as CHOICES that we make based on our VALUES. So for 2008 we have some big ones to work on. I'll be sharing some personal information that I feel that I can trust with you as our friends and family. If I feel that trust is violated then I will take it off of here.

Short Term Goals

1. Have a healthy pregnancy - I am working hard to ensure that I eat properly, drink enough water, obviously avoid alcohol and smoking, and make it to my Dr for all my appointments.

2. Enjoy our hobbies - Randy LOVES playing World of Warcraft and I spend too much time picking on him about it so I'm going to give him his time to enjoy himself and take my own time to pursue my interests. I love to scrapbook, take pictures and read though I don't find myself taking time for them enough. So I'm setting aside time each week where that is exactly what I do. I'm going to go an get a library card this weekend and become active as a member. I may even volunteer there. I love to cook and collect recipes so I want to create a 'scrapbook' where I can keep them organized so I can use them easily. I want to have this time before we have baby so that we can savor the last few months of just being by ourselves...

Long Term Goals

1. Pay off $30,000 of debt this year - It sounds like a really ambitious goal and likely a little unreachable to some but I've crunched the numbers forwards, backwards and sideways and we can do it if we really work at it. We are living free right now, no household expenses yet bringing in a nice steady income. There is nothing to do here and no where to go. While sometimes that is a disadvantage in this situation it is an advantage. It will give us a way to accomplish goal #2 above as well as save money for this goal. We have our trailer loan coming due for renewal this year and we would like to just pay it down before refinancing it. Randy needs to buy a truck in the spring for work, he's using one of his bosses' for now but he can't do that forever he needs his own. So we are planning on buying a used truck and putting a huge downpayment on it. We want to cancel all but two credit cards by paying them off and paying off and cancelling one line of credit. The only major purchases we will be making this year are for baby and we are getting alot of that as hand-me-downs and only buying the necessities. Until baby is born we will likely have only one dining out night a month for a date night and after baby is born it will likely be pizza once a month. LOL. Another benefit of living in the middle of nowhere, no places to eat out!

2. Save $ 14, 000 this Year - Yes it is possible. Once again, I've crunched the numbers and it will work. I want to have five months of living expenses in a savings account that we can access at all times. We currently have around 2 months worth saved up that we can access so this will finish that off. We are creating a baby savings account that will be a part of that number and a portion of that money will be going into an RESP for education for him/her up to the governments match amount. Randy didn't go to school and I didn't get the education I wanted because we couldn't afford it and we want to be able to provide that for our kid(s). A part of the savings will go towards taxes because we know that Randy will have to pay taxes on his income. With this money saved we can alleviate the tax burden by being able to contribute to RRSP's once we know how much it will take.

3. Lose Weight from Baby - I'm not concerned about it happening overnight but I want to make it a goal from the get-go so that it's not lost amongst everything else we want to do. Ft Nelson is a small town so baby and I will be walking to alot of places come summer!

Long, Long Term Goal

1. Buy a house - I'm guessing we are a couple years off from this based on our current debt situation and goals for our savings. I'm hoping that 2009 can be the year that we save up a huge downpayment and find our dream house.

2. Get Married in the Dominican Republic - Well the plan was that we would have this done before baby but...that didn't happen. So in a year or so we want to sneak away and get it done. Whether baby comes with us our stays with an Auntie or Grandma I don't know. I think we'll tell our baby's Aunties and Grandmas to save their pennies and come with us so that someone can babysit and I won't have to leave my baby behind, LOL! This is our dream wedding and we won't compromise on it so we will leave it on the planning stage for let's say...2009. We will be close to ten years together then (Holey Moley, that long!?!?!?!?) so it has a nice ring to it!!!

Baby Names, Spelling etc.

As many of you are aware we have no plans to find out the sex of the baby. Therefore we are planning for either/or. I am not a fan of weird spelled names and cool names etc. We don't want our kid picked on because we had a complex about keeping up with the Joneses. Therefore we stuck to two-syallable, easily spelled names. So drumroll please!!!!

If it's a girl : Reese Melissa Grounds

If it's a boy: Ethan Thomas Grounds

First names are just names we like, middle names are for people. Melissa is for my best friend for the last 17 or so years. Thomas is a family name for the men in my family, my Dads middle name, his Dad's first name...

Christmas Travels

Well you can read about the fun we had just a few posts below this. Hardisty and Vegreville were where we went. (Say that fast 10 times)

What did Santa Bring Us?

Santa brought us a wonderful time with friends and family, lots of laughs and memories. Presents aren't a huge deal to us and we don't make a big deal out of them. However we did receive a few items that we love and would like to show on here. This isn't everything and doesn't meant that we don't appreciate everything we've been given!!!

This was a Baby/Christmas gift that my best friend Melissa gave us. I LOVE it and can't wait to put it in the baby's room!

This is a mini album that my sister Mary made out of a Starbucks coffee sleeve. I sent her a link to the idea, I found it online and wanted to make them but alas there is no Starbucks up here!!! So this is a couple of pics of the one that she made. She made on to go out with all her Christmas cards this year and also gave me a BOX of Starbucks coffee sleeves so I could make my own!

This is one of the gifts that Mom gave us this year. She gave us a bottle of wine with it that we had to leave at her house because we weren't sure it would make it home on the plane with the pressure and the cold and didn't want to risk it exploding. It is a really nice set that all matches and perfect for our collection of wine items.