Where has the year gone?

I'm not quite sure. But feels like summer is nearing an end in my neck of the woods as the days have gotten considerably shorter and the weather is definitly cooling off.

The last 2 weekends I was out camping and had a wonderful time. Even got a little bit of a tan :)
The pup went swimming for her first time and loved it. She's a true Lab, right down to her very cute little nose. Too bad we live out in the prairies where water to swim in is a bit harder to find. I will have to find a lake/river for her to enjoy though, that is close to home as she enjoyed it too much to keep her away from water.

DH built me a lovely new raised garden bed. Cant wait for spring next year to get it going. We'll also be building another raised bed in the backyard but I'm hoping to convince him we ought to make that one be a greenhouse. I have an idea of how I want it to look but its another thing to convince DH we ought to go that route. We'll see.....

what a fun weekend

its been a great weekend. on friday night hubby and i went to see 'iron man' with movie coupons. it was such a great movie. i really liked it.

saturday morning we took the dog and headed to a shooting range near the city. it was so nice out...no wind, just warm. there was a lot of snow on the ground though, but we had a great time. we got to shoot some guns, the dog got to listen to gun shots (she's a lab, gotta get her trained!) and she got to play in the snow. it was wonderful. after we got home, i took a quick nap. for dinner we had a great pork roast with potatos. yummy. sunday, started off somewhat ok. i was sick first thing in the morning, then we had floor hockey, then we went out for breakfast with the team, and right after i felt sick again. i'm home today too because i felt so horrible this morning. whatever stomach bug i have, it better go away soon....blah.

i'm hoping to be able to go to the library today, and reserve a book called "more with less cookbook". i've heard lots of good things about it.

anywho, i'm off to do some laundry and tidy the house up a bit. might as well make myself useful while i'm home.

Vacations are not the time to be frugal...

just got back from a wonderful 3 week vacation. i realized on the trip that vacations are not a good time to try and be frugal. mind you, i didnt buy nearly as much as i had wanted to but we did spend quite a bit of money on things like eating out and hotels. some might say we splurged a bit when it came to that but hey, when in europe....right? needless to say, we had a great time so at least we enjoyed our selves at the expense of our bank accounts. reality hit once we got home but we've already made a plan on how to get back to where we were before out trip when it comes to savings so we should be ok in the long run.

i found a great and easy recipe for home made laundry detergent that i will be making as soon as we run out of the store bought stuff. i have about a 3/4 full bottle now, so in a few months we'll have to make some of this which is fine by me. we never threw out the old bottles for the detergents so they'll go to great use.

i have bought some tees before realizing that "oh yeah, i'm not supposed to buy new clothes" but it was in a foreing country so i figured, at least while away on vacation i can spend some money and then i'll return to my frugal ways after getting back.

anywho, i'm off to do some raw food recipe research. i'm looking for an organic recipe for muesli so i can have some yummy breakfasts....oh! before i forget, here is a recipe i've been using for breakfast that is super delicious and raw:

-rolled oats (not the quick stuff, but the regular ones!)
-apples
-cranberries
-almond slivers

i put the apples ina food processor and make them into like a paste; then i put the oats and the apples into a bowl (enough oats to be covered by the apples) and refrigirate overnight; i add the almond slivers and cranberries in the morning to taste.

super yummy and really easy...and i find it really filling. enjoy!

cheerio.

When will it warm up?!

Today was supposed to be +1C...I'm still waiting around for that weather. Its a balmy -20C out there right now. The poor dog has cabin fever. Its too cold out for her little paws...its just a quick run for a pee and then back home!

I attended a seminar yesterday by a rather famous dog trainer in my area. The seminar was amazing. Lots of information was given and he also had brought in some dogs to the show to help out with their different 'problems'. It was pretty cool.

Today I have a baby shower to go to and then its time for floor hockey!! Fun day but it feels like I had no weekend since I was so busy.

Anywho, I have to get going. Cheers.

january is nearly over

well, thus far, things have been going well. i did purchase a lot of fabric from the store yesterday as they're going out of business so everything was either 50% off or more. i couldnt pass that up so i ended up buying tons of fabric! now i just need to make sure i do something with it LOL

i'm going to take the pup out for a nice long walk to day with a friend of mine who also has a dog. its good for us to get together because this way, my pup gets lots of exercise and social time with other dogs. she's home with the cats during the day but its just not the same, you know?

so, i've beent thinking more about my resolution to make this year a productive and simple one. further to the goals i have written a month ago, here are some new ones:

• eating a raw diet 75% of the time (breakfast, snacks and lunch; dinner will be cooked)
• cook up some food for the dog once a week so she's getting REAL veggies and fruit in her diet (apples, carrots, rice, etc.)
• make food the cats once a week (tuna, salmon, venison, etc.)
• complete a "BOM" once a month and in December put it all together for a piece at a time quilt.
• garden this spring and do more with the houseplants (ie, not kill them! hahaha)
• DO NOT SPEND MONEY!! live off of what i have and be satisfied with that.

so far, its going ok. i'm enjoying this whole 'dont spend money' business and its quite simple actually. i like it. i'm going to cancel some stuff i get regularly in the mail (face wash) and start using only natural homemade solutions. yey! :)

alrighty, well its time to get this day started.

2008 is nearly upon me.

i have to say, i cant believe 2008 is nearly here. but, i'm also exicted as this is the perfect time to start transforming my crazy and stressful life into a calm one. doing some research online for like-minded people, i came across a few sites/groups that promoted a 'but nothing for 12 months' mentality and lifestyle. this got me thinking (well, i was honestly thinking about this before i did my research but this just confirmed my thinking) that this is something i'd like to try. i feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff in my house and it always feels cluttered, no matter how much i clean it. so, 2008 will be the year i dont contribute anymore to the clutter in my house and actually start getting rid of what is currently existing.

i need to work out some of the ground rules but thus far i have come up with:

• no new clothing (other than shoes or undies...although i'm sure i can figure out how to sew some lovely knickers so i'll try not to buy these)
• all cleaning and washing supplies must be fully used up before buying new, and then i can only purchase enviornmentally friendly products (
• no eating out (unless its completely necessary and work-related)
• no driving the car to work during the winter
• will starting biking to work in the spring (or late winter...dependant on the weather cuz i'm a wuss and i hate being cold...blah)
• grocery shopping can only be done once a week (no more quick jaunts to the store for those "oops, i forgot something" excuses)

so yeah, thats it so far. i'll be thinking of more over the next day but starting january 1st 2008 my debit card/paper money/cc's will all be staying home. scary.

Footprint Quiz

Very handy and eyeopening:
http://www.earthday.net/Footprint/