Our Family & Our Life

As I say, another year older, another year wiser, another year healthy and another year to be thankful! It's bittersweet for me to think that in three short years, Colin is taking me to Tahiti for my 40th!  Yeah, right, in my dreams but I keep reminding him just in case we win the lottery in the meantime.... Do you like Colin's birthday annoucement for the neighbourhood? It snowed again on Sunday (my birthday) so he was outside shovelling the driveway and sidewalks and found a bit of spare time to create this 'birthday cake'.  I didn't go out to see it until later that night because it was cold outside ... brrr... but my family came over in the evening for cake and coffee and kept talking about it so I had to go out and take a peek for myself... It was still cold btw...  What a sweet guy I have?!?  LOL Anyways, it wouldn'be a birthday without cake, right? Colin baked it and decorated it and Isla helped me blow out the candles as she is now a pro at it. 

I write this the evening of our return home. Colin and I left Isla overnight with Mom and Dad and we escaped to "cottage country" for a very short break but as short as it was, I was happy to see my baby again. This was the first time I have left her and the first time she spent the night away from us. She did very well with Mom and Dad and they were able to keep up with 19 month old. Thank you! We didn't go to far, just to Gravenhurst and we stayed in the brand-new Residence Inn Marriott . It was lovely and we had a small kitchenette in our room but trust me, we didn't cook, we needed a break! Our afternoon drive took us to Gull Lake just outside Gravenhurst. The weather was great both days, sunny and dry but today (Friday) was a bit cool especially on the boat. This weekend there is an antique boat show and boaters from all over N. America have taken over the hotel and the marina. Our "cruise ship" - The Segwun - is 120 years old so appropr

I just wrote a big long post and when I hit the publish button, I got an error message. I hate it when that happens!!! Perhaps I shouldn't re-write it, I'll think about it. In the meantime, here is a little bit of sweetness:

Dear Diary, Isla and I would like to wish our fellow Canadians (especially those stuck in this country) a very HAPPY CANADA DAY! We just wish we were up north to celebrate...

Dear Diary, As you may or may not have noticed, I have fallen off the weight loss wagon.... ... but I have crawled my way back up. I was at the gym at 7 this morning since apparently my body has to move in order to shed the pounds. What a novel idea, eh? For one reason or another, none of which are good, I have stopped going to the gym and pretty much since then, I stopped losing weight. Enough is enough, I have to lose at least 10 lbs. by the end of June. Anything less is unacceptable to me and anything more is woohoo!!! My original goal was to reach my ideal weight by May 22. That is not going to happen but I'm OK with it as long as I continue to lose. I am proud of the 17 lbs. I have lost and my clothes that were tight last summer are fitting much better now but I don't want to become complacent. Colin has orders to push me out of bed at least 3 mornings a week at 6:45, just enough time for me to get to the gym for at least a 30 minute walk/run or do 2 mil

Dear Diary, Today we had our biometrics taken by Homeland Security as part of the visa and green card process. By the way, we didn't get a microchip in our necks!!! All they did was electronically fingerprint us and take yet another photograph. When we submitted our application we had to include 10 passport photos of Colin and 6 each of Isla and I so I was surprised they still took more. I was a bit disappointed they didn't scan our iris', that would've been cool albeit a Star Trekki! We don't know when or even if we'll get the visa and green card but I'm fairly certain we will be approved. I'm confident our attorney would've told us if she thought we didn't take a stand a chance. From conversations with various people I should say we are NOT applying for American citizenship. It's simply for residency and work authorization. Perhaps if we are still living here in 10 years we'll apply but at this time it's not even an option

Dear Diary, I've been tagged by Katy Lin at the great adventure ... Here's how to do this 8 THINGS thing: Mention the person that tagged you (done). Complete the lists of 8's. (done) Tag 8 of your wonderful bloggy friends (done, sort of, I'm lazy, it's Saturday). Go tell them you tagged them! 8 Things I Look Forward To : 1. Weekends with Colin and Isla. 2. Church on Sunday. 3. SLEEP! 4. Colin's cooking . 5. Any day I get the van. 6. Our trip to Canada this summer. 7. The green card. 8. Pay day! 8 Things I did yesterday : 1. Watched Sesame Street. 2. Showered. 3. Napped. 4. Went on Facebook. 5. Made and drank lots of coffee. 6. Played with Isla. 7. Watched the movie, "The Boy in the striped Pyjamas". 8. Prayed. 8 Things I wish I could do : 1. Travel to Tahiti. 2. Not turn 40! 3. Live in one location for longer than 3 years. 4. Never disappoint the ones I love. 5. Never disappoint God. 6. Learn to take decent photographs.

Dear Diary, Colin is away in NYC and Philadelphia for a few days this week so Isla and I have been getting out and taking advantage of trips to the park. She loves going to the park especially the swings. If she had her way, I'd push her for hours! Lately every time I try to snap her photo, she won't look at me. Apparently mommy is not that exciting and other people or things are much more interesting. Here is a classic example although I still love it. She is such a happy girl! Back at home she has been spending time in her deck chair on the balcony with her furry sisters but she's been scraping her knees while crawling on the balcony concrete. Ouch! While we've enjoyed getting out the last couple of days, we'll be happy to have Colin home with us again tonight!

Dear Diary, I haven't been sleeping well lately because I have about 1000's running through my head and the worst bit is, I can't do anything about it. I just have to get it off my chest. First, the sale of our house. Our solicitor advised us it will probably complete on Friday. That's great but after two months it's about time. If we have to make another mortgage payment on an empty house I'll go over the edge. Second, the visas. We have confirmation of receipt. At least we know they got them and it's proceeding and when they do get issues, Isla can go to work too because she's also getting a work authorization. What bothers me most about the visas is the fact that all this could've been done last year and we would not have had to go through the periods of separation. Colin missed four months of the first six months of Isla's life and then some afterwards as well. Now we have to wait another couple of months and if they are not

Dear Diary, I promised the photos of NY and now that Colin is safely home with the camera, here they are. Enjoy! 5th Avenue The plaque above is located on this cross which is made of the remains of the towers This station house is located across from the Towers and was first to respond This is part of the memorial to the five men lost Sept 11 We weren't able to get to the Statue of Liberty as it was sold out for the day but we still had some great views from Battery Park. Family photo in Battery Park Stock Exchange Colin and I in front of the Brooklyn Bridge View of Manhattan from the observation deck of the Empire State Building

Dear Diary, To quote from Sproost.com : Your personal style is a mix of 3 specific styles: 40% Wine Country Style 40% Nantucket Style 20% Classic Wine Country Style Tuscan sun, here we come! The Wine Country style reflects the feelings evoked by the seaside regions of Europe such as the South of France, Spain, Italy and Greece. The style manages to be both refined and casual, such that you can mix beautiful antiques with more rustic wrought iron or wood and the result is both sophisticated and cozy. Furniture is large and comfortable, colors are bright and cheery, and regardless of the color palette the spaces almost always feel warm. You can easily translate the style into the perfect family environment but you can just as easily emphasize the more formal pieces and make your room the perfect adult getaway.

Dear Diary, We are driving to NYC on Saturday.... with Isla... Are we crazy travelling 1800 miles with a 13 month old? Probably but for a good reason. Colin has a convention at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan for a couple of days. He has loads of stuff, aka. computers, terminals and even our TV, so we decided to drive and make it a mini-family-vacation. At least I hope its a vacation, we'll have to see about that. Another thing, after the convention Colin has to come back to Denver to meet a client and I'll stay on the east coast. While he is away Isla and I will be staying with Nancy and Bob in Hartford who graciously offered to put up with us for a few days. By way of history, Nancy was Colin's mom's pen-pal for over 50 years - they were like sisters. Colin will fly to Hartford late Tuesday night to meet up with us and then we drive back to Denver and should arrive back home on Saturday at the latest... Phew, nothing in our lives is straight-forward

Dear Diary, First, thank you for the birthday wishes in the blog comments and on FB. In case you were wondering, I'm officially mid-30's... Also, without sounding too cryptic, we are in the middle of a visa drama. I can't say too much right now but we would grateful if you could pray that we get the visa's we need to stay here and in the alternative if it's not meant to be, He shows the way. Hopefully, I'll be able to post more about this in the near future. We haven't posted too many pics of the little lady since her birthday so here you go, Isla, 12.5 months: Don't worry, she's still adorable and happy. These were taken tonight quickly before she went to bed so nothing too great, just a few updates for her Opa and Oma (and everyone else of course). She was up at 8:30 this morning, really, she was! I'm glad she woke up when she did because we would've been late for church this morning and we had to make a side and main course for t

Dear Diary, Today is Heather's birthday, she is ** today... Do you think I would get home if I told you? Anyway I just wanted to say 'Happy Birthday' dear... It has been a difficult year for us all, but I know through God's grace that we will be sustained through it all.. May ou LORD bless you today and forever in his sight and his covenant. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo 'Til next time, Colin.

Dear Diary, 1.YOUR REAL NAME: Heather Marie 2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother and fathers middle names) Ann Ike (they don't have middle names!) 3.NASCAR NAME:(first name of your mother's dad, father's dad) John Gerardus 4.STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name) Blahe 5.DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Cat 6.SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, town where you were born) Marie Burlington 7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning) The Green Coffee 8.FLY NAME:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name) Heck 9.STREET NAME:(fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie) Chocolate Chocolate Chip 10.ROCK STAR NAME:(current pets name, current street name) Pearl Cherokee 11.YOUR GANGSTA NAME:(first 3 letters of real name plus izzle) Heaizzle 12.YOUR IRAQI NAME:(2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, first two letters of your midd

Dear Diary, On Monday we drove into the mountains to visit Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park . I can't help but sing to myself "Home, Home on the Range, where the deer and the antelope play.." No antelope, just deer and a lot of elk. It is a beautiful park and we have plans to bring a blanket, a bottle of wine and sandwiches with us this summer.

Dear Diary, Saturdays are the busiest days of the week, are they not? With Isla having swimming lessons until Feb 21, we have to schedule our outings around her lessons. They are going well and she loves them! This week she learned how to go below the water but the little miss wasn't co-operating, she refused to close her eyes. Work in progress but she went down the slide with her daddy. Here are some photos: After swimming we went to the park for a bit of fun... The last photo is a bit funny. Colorado grass in January is apparently rather prickly and the little miss didn't like it all, she cried. Poor girl... We went home for a spot of lunch and rather than go back to the gym (I was there at 8:45) for strength training together as we originally planned, we couldn't resist the summer weather and decided to go for another walk and pick up a few things from the store. By this time Isla was exhausted but she fought sleep, as usual. She finally slept after so

Dear Diary, I bought a bathroom scale this week. Not just an ordinary scale but the Biggest Loser scale and it was to come with the Biggest Loser DVD but it wasn't there. I'm writing a letter to get my DVD. Oh yeah, and it was on sale at Tar-get. I bought it for a couple of reasons. 1. Since we are still not in a position to get a pediatrician for Isla and get her checked out, I wanted to weigh her. 2. Also, I'm not sure the scale I use at the gym has EVER been calibrated and therefore unsure of it's accuracy. Despite my unfocused week, I managed to maintain my weight. Granted I did bump up the workouts and really watched my calories but this week, I've been a really good girl and the scale proves it. I'm down another 4 lbs. I'm not sure how I managed to shed those pounds but they're gone and never going back to my hips. Maybe it was water weight. My body is like a sponge. It also helps that we have blessed with summer temps. This week and Isla an

Dear Diary, This has not been a good week for me at all. Eating and exercising that is. I just can't seem to focus. I've been snacking and I've been at the gym only once. I had a plan but for one reason or another, it hasn't happened. I forgot to buy something at Target today so I think Isla will power walk our way on over tomorrow (although snow is forecasted ) and I asked Colin to be home by 6 so I could attend an aquafit class at 6:30. This week is only about intentions. Not much else. I think I'll avoid the scales. I'm disappointed in myself. Someone kick me.

Dear Diary, 169!!! Woohoo, I lost another 3 lbs this week. That leaves me another 34 lbs. to go to reach my goal weight..... Getting there, slowly but surely....