In our 5 years of marriage, we've had our ups and downs like any marriage. The one thing we've always done for each other is randomly come home with 'I love you' presents. No real reason for the gift. Just to day I love you and appreciate you.

Last night I decided I wanted to get him something. He never asks for anything, and he's pretty content with what he has and only ever buys video games. I wanted to get him something he needed but also something he would feel is actually a gift.

I bought him a new laptop. The one he was using had a cracked screen from when Dechlan dropped it on the tiles in our kitchen. Also it was a small Netbook. That alone is a turnoff for me. I went to Future Shop with no real luck. Believe it or not, I found one at Walmart! Good price too! It's super powerful and has everything he needs. I bought a gift bag and a card.
**On a side note, My husband and I don't really get cards for each other. They never say exactly how we feel for each other. They're usually corny and lame. I found one today that said everything I felt and it was perfect. My husband even loved it. I was shocked.

 Anyway, he was very very happy about it. He couldn't believe I had gotten him a laptop. He is thrilled with it. He called me sneaky because he had no idea what I was doing today. I took Dechlan out for a few hours and we had lunch and did our thing.

He was so happy that he made dinner tonight and cleaned the condo!!! I guess I should buy him surprise gifts more often! He says it was the card that made him decide to take on the household chores. I need to buy a stack of cards, clearly!

This will be my last post of the year, So







HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY WONDERFUL READERS!!

Hard to believe that 2011 has come and almost gone. This year has gone by so quickly.

I find New Years Eve kind of boring. I'm not really a social butterfly. I don't like going out in big crowds or partying. I got in a ton of partying when I was a teenager. It's not my thing anymore.

Every year, my husband and I stay home and we watch movies, drink wine/beer and have appetizers for dinner. It's nice to just be home with my family. This year we've decided to watch The Lord Of The Rings Extended edition blurays that I got Nick for Christmas.We will enjoy Taquitos, Sausage Rolls, Mini Quiche and Nachos. Lots of wine is chilling in my fridge as well as sparkling wine. I love wine <3

New Years Day, we always do a big breakfast and relax.



What are your NYE plans?

This year I decided I wanted to make cake balls for my in-laws and our family friends. I spent all of Saturday baking. Cake balls were much harder than I had anticipated. They looked and tasted great though!

Here's how I made them:

1 box of cake batter of your choice (I used vanilla and tinted it red with food colouring)
1 can of icing of your choice (I used french vanilla and tinted it red as well)
3 boxes of semi sweet baking chocolate
1 box of white baking chocolate (tinted red)

Bake bake according to package. Let cool for 10 minutes. crumble the cake and mix in 3/4 of the contents of the can of frosting. Mix until combined. Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Line 2 cookie trays with parchment paper. Make small balls using a melon ball scoop. refrigerate for another hour. Melt semi sweet chocolate in a double boiler. Insert a skewer into the cake ball and dip into chocolate**. Place them on the tray and refrigerate until set, About 30 minutes. Once they are set, melt white chocolate in a double boiler and tint whatever colour you would like. You can also just ass sprinkles top the freshly dipped balls if you would like. Let the cake balls set in the fridge for 30 minutes.

**If you have a hard time dipping the cake balls in the chocolate (like I did near the end) You can add the chocolate to a piping bag and cut a hole and top the cake balls that way. No one will notice that you didn't dip them. Once they are set, you can dip the bottoms into chocolate.

I bought little tins and put tissue paper down and then put all the cake balls into cupcake cups and put them in the tin. They look like little chocolates.

They last in the fridge for 3 days. They can be frozen as well.

Enjoy!

                          Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah!


The last 2 days have been so hectic that I've forgotten to blog. I was so busy on Saturday baking away. I think I spent 5 hours baking. I made Gingerbread men (I'm terrible at using cookie cutters. My gingerbread men we a bit disfigured), Sugar cookie snowflakes (With the help of my 4 year old they actually turned out pretty nice), Cake balls and Gingerbread cupcakes.

Christmas Day was exhausting but really amazing. We woke up at 7 and opened gifts. Dechlan was really thrilled that Santa really came for him. We were due at my in-laws for breakfast at 9 so we all got ready and gathered their gifts and headed to their place. After an amazing breakfast of scrambled eggs (My husbands family make the best scrambled eggs. Even my husband that doesn't know much about cooking makes pretty amazing eggs), sausage and back bacon. In my mind that is a perfect breakfast. We then opened gifts (again). My Christmas was made right there. I only asked for one thing this year and I got it. I got a Tassimo Brewing Station. Dechlan loved opening gifts and passing them around to everyone. He was such a little helper. Once he was done all his gifts he thought it would be okay to help everyone open theirs before they even got it.

We all did great with gifts. We all got what we wanted. Well, that isn't quite true, Dechlan asked Santa for a real, live bunny rabbit and he didn't bring him one. He was a little sad. But he seems to have forgotten it today.

Around 2pm, we headed over to family friends for Christmas dinner. It was lots of fun and we ate SO much. Turkey, ham, sausage stuffing, roasted veggies, YUM! There were so many goodies for after dinner too. mini cheesecakes, cookies, cake balls, cupcakes, Christmas pudding and macaroons. You know you're part of a British family when you have more goodies than actually real food.

Last night we all just sat around feeling very satisfied and exhausted. Dechlan passed out pretty hard just after 7pm. Nick and I watched one of the movies I got for Christmas and then read until I got a little silly for exhaustion and passed out. Today, we are all still quite tired. Early night tonight I think

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate.

T'was the week before Christmas and this mama realised that she hasn't figured out what to make for Christmas. I'm known to make cupcakes but this year I want to make something new. I'm not sure what I'm going to make! I will be making red velvet cake balls as gifts. I'm thinking Friday I will make the cake balls and keep them in the fridge until Sunday. I've never made them before so if they don't turn out, I still have time to fix it or make something new.

I might end up making gingerbread cupcakes to bring to Christmas dinner. Who knows. I have a few days to go through my cookbooks and blogs I follow to find something.

I'm really excited that Christmas is 1 week away. Dechlan is even more excited than anyone. I can't wait to see his face as he opens his gifts.

Dechlan woke up with a cold a week ago, He is rarely ever sick so this has been so hard on him. He is finally back to sleeping through the night and can breathe for the most part. He's still super stuffed up, but he will be better in a day or two.

The day after he woke up with a cold, I woke up with a cold. My cold, like his, came out of no where and went from mild to bad to worse within 48 hours. I've barely slept and feel like death. I've finally gotten well enough to be able to get out of bed and get stuff done. I've tried everything, nothing is helping. I'm praying that I'm better before Christmas Day. If not, Christmas is going to SUCK!

Anyway, I thought I would pop in and explain why I'm not blogging much this week. I'm going to give Echinacea tea a shot. Fingers crossed I'm better by next Sunday!!

Dechlan is 4 years old and he hasn't really understood or even really cared about Christmas. He's really gotten into it this year. He doesn't quite understand the whole Santa thing but loves Christmas anyway. He has really gotten into the Christmas tree decorating. We even got him his own little tree and he decorated it. He really loved it.

You never fully appreciate Christmas until you have a child, or atleast that is how it was for Nick and I. I have always loved Christmas, but having a child has made it even more amazing. It's been really special for us.

Dechlan has really gotten into Christmas. He loves the movies, the decorations and even baking with me. What has really been cute is hearing him hum along to holiday music. It's the cutest thing ever hearing him sing Jingle Bells. He says it's his favourite. It's just amazing hearing him sing the songs.

It gets more and more amazing every single year with him. His first Christmas was at 3.5 months old. He opened 1 gift, decided the paper was better than the gift. Then he proceeded to fall asleep. It was absolutely amazing.

His 2nd and 3rdand 4th Christmases were spent trying to get him to just open ALL the gifts and convince him that he could play with the toys a little later. Hopefully this year he understands that. Either way, Christmas is always amazing for him.

He is the only Grand-child for my Mom and Nick's parents so he gets spoiled to death. I have to admit that we spoil him as well. That's the great part of having one child, you can spend so much more on the child.

I just love the Holidays with my little family. I'm so thankful for them. You really do make my Christmases the best and brightest.

Dechlan is very rarely sick. He has only been sick once before today. He woke up this morning with a stuffy nose and it has progressed to coughing.

Dechlan is always on the go. He never sits down. Today, he hasn't really done anything. He's been snuggling and watching tv.

My poor boy. I hope he wakes up in the morning feeling better. I hate seeing him so lethargic.

I love Christmas. I'm always happiest in winter in general. I love snow and everything that comes along with it. I especially love holiday movies. Unlike my husband, I can't get sick of Christmas.

I love curling up on the couch with hot cocoa and watching a movie with my family. Everyone has movies they watch every single year. Movies that really make Christmas special. My family has favourites too.

Dechlan's favourite holiday movie is Frosty The Snowman. He doesn't seem to get sick of the movie. It was one of my favourites when I was younger. He's really into Christmas and everything that comes along with it.

My favourite holiday movies are Elf and The Polar Express. Those two are must see movies for me every year. It doesn't really feel like Christmas without those two. Dechlan watched them both this year and thought they were pretty awesome. It's so amazing to share them with my child.

My husband only has one movie has needs to watch. He loves Scrooged. I'm not a big fan of Bill Murray but even I like that movie. It's a great story. I don't think Nick get into the Christmas spirit until he sees that movie.

What are your favourite holiday movies?

I've been wanting to go back to work for a little while now. Not because we need the income but because I wanted something to do with my time. I've been feeling kind of bored lately. Dechlan is so independent. And he will be starting school soon.

My mother has been selling Avon for quite some time now. I was buying Avon through her and she would send it out to me. I finally decided it was time I started selling Avon myself. I met with a rep and got all signed up. I put in my first order and I got it today.

I'm still getting the hang of it, but I think it's going to work out well for me. If/when we move, my business can move with me. I love Avon. So if you know anyone that is interested in buying or even selling Avon, just give me a shout at carolyn.l.walker87@gmail.com

I thought it was time for a makeover. New name, new theme (What do you think? There will be a new one in the new year).

The blog is no longer called Backyard chit chat. The new name is Blogging over coffee. What do you think? It seems fitting since I usually blog over my morning coffee.

I'm really loving my new template!!

In my recipe search for holiday goodies, I found a recipe that I just HAD to make. It's called Peppermint Bark. It's chocolate on top of chocolate topped with candy canes. I love chocolate and I love candy canes.

The recipe was super easy. So here it is!

Peppermint Bark:

6 ounces (170 grams) semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons vegetable oil (flavorless oil)

6 ounces (170 grams) white chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/3 - 1/2 cup (80-120 ml) crushed candy canes

Line the bottom and sides of an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan with aluminum foil, smoothing out any wrinkles.

Melt the semi sweet chocolate with 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Immediately pour the melted chocolate into the prepared pan and tilt the pan so the chocolate makes an even layer. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or until the chocolate has set.

Then, melt the white chocolate with the remaining 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Immediately pour the melted white chocolate over the dark chocolate and tilt the pan so the chocolate is in an even layer. Sprinkle the crushed candy canes evenly over the white chocolate. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or until the chocolate has set.

Remove the Peppermint Bark from the pan by lifting the edges of the aluminum foil. Peel back the foil and break, or cut, the bark into small irregular pieces. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Makes about 25 pieces. Preparation time 45 minutes.

My week started off great. I got an email from a couple who were interested in buying our van. I wasn't expecting much. We have gotten so many calls and emails but no one actually followed through. I had 3 ads up since the beginning of the month.

We had one guy come to look at it. He said he wanted it but that was the last thing we heard from him. He was so hard to deal with. He took forever to call us to set up a time and day to come look at the van. He low-balled us on the price. We wanted it gone so we dropped the price 700 dollars. Ya, not cool, but we wanted it gone..

So this couple emailed me and then came to see it the next day. and we got the paperwork filled out and payment set up the day after that. They're coming to get the van tomorrow! I'm thrilled! I'm so happy to have gotten the van sold AND I went down 500 dollars. Which is fair since they have to get it checked out.

So with the money we got for the van, we were able to get ALL our holiday shopping done. We spent a good part of yesterday shopping. It was exhausting but fun.

I treated myself to a manicure today. I don't do that very often. And I even bought my favourite holiday cookies.

It's been a great week. The rest of the week will be spent cleaning and moving some furniture around and this weekend we will be putting up our tree! I'm going to do some baking as well, but that is a whole other post.

How's your week been?

I had some computer issues this week and most of last week, The back light of my laptop died. I was convinced it was a virus. Hours and hours of anti virus scans later, still nothing. I ended up restoring to multiple previous points and still nothing. After an hour on hold, I talk to tech support at Toshiba and do all the things they tell me to do. Still didn't work. They finally told me it was my back light. Then they dropped the repair fee bomb on me.. It was going to cost more than I paid for the laptop itself.

We ended up going to look for a new laptop. I wasn't wanting to spend too much. I'm known to be a bit frugal. I hate spending money. Anyway, we found one for a great price and turned out they didn't have any anywhere in the GTA. Kind of a bummer. We went to another store and found a pretty decent laptop for an okay price. My hubby says it's a great price but the frugal side of me says it was too much money.

It took me a day or two to really get things set up. It's still not set up the way I want it to, but it will take some time to figure out what I need on it. But I'm back! I can blog again!!

I seriously forgot about blogging for like a week or so. I've been out of it. I haven't been sleeping well lately. I got a great nights sleep last night. I'm ready to blog again.

I'm getting fairly excited for the holidays. I love shopping for other people. I've already done half of my shopping. I'm fairly proud of that. My shopping is usually done by December 1st. I'm taking it easy this year and doing it slowly.

We're going away this weekend. I'm fairly excited about that. We're going to Quebec to visit my Dad and Step-Mother. We haven't seen them in a year. We usually go twice a year but we didn't really get around to it this year. This will be the first time I get to drive us. It will be interesting driving on the highway. I think it will be really weird for Nick to not drive the whole way. I'm kind of excited to drive on the highway.

What are your plans for the weekend?

I'm a big fan of soup. It's my go to meal. Soup and sandwich is my fave. I bought a turkey this week for the sole purpose of making soup. I love making my own broth. I find store bought broth is always so salty. I hate it. So yesterday I cooked up the turkey and saved the bones. I went out this morning to get some fresh veggies and got it all together. As I sit here typing, I can smell the broth and let me tell you, it smells amazing!! I'm really looking forward to the broth being done. 

I don't know what other people put in their soups but I put parsnips, carrots, potatoes, celery, sweet potatoes and leeks. I sometimes add onions but Leeks give off a similar flavour.

Since I couldn't just buy 1 leek, I'm thinking I'm going to make some potato and leek soup tomorrow. I hate to waste food. I might even make potato and leek cakes. That could be real tasty!!

I really love cooking. I used to make clam chowder a lot. I lost my recipe for it though. I might just have to make my own recipe.

What is your favourite soup to make or just in general?

** Uhh, I just realized that it's Wednesday and not Tuesday... Fantastic. I lost a day somehow..

It's Catchy Tune Tuesday again!

This week I've had a song stuck in my head non stop. It has almost driven me crazy. I still love it!

The song of the week is

Moves Like Jagger By Maroon 5

I bet after listening to it, it will be stuck him your head. You're welcome :)

Last week I posted that I had my road test today. Well, It's done. It was stressful and I hated every single minute of it but It's done.

And I passed!!

I did make mistakes but I did it!! I was so utterly convinced that I was going to fail. But I didn't! So now it's official, I have a G2 license and I can now drive alone and on the highway! Next November I have to go for another road test to get my full G license but I'm not even worrying about that.

I did it!!!!

Also, I don't think I posted a picture of my boy in his costume. So here it is!

    My One Eyed Blue Monster

Today, that is exactly what I said to my husband after he gave me a look saying 'Really Sweetie, You're starting your Holiday lists already?'  Why yes, yes I am. I love to plan. Holidays always get busy and I don't like being stuck in big crowds of people. I like to get my lists done early and do the shopping in November/ early December. I have NEVER had to go shopping in big crowds of people. I'm never rushed either. I like that.

So, today I've started getting some ideas ready for the Holiday season. I'm going to go through magazines and pick out recipes for my baking, and possible crafts I can do with Dechlan. He's at the age that he can help me bake and do some fun arts and crafts.

I love being done everything by December. I've already started on my Holiday music mix and I'm starting to make a list of recipes I'm going to use. I'm getting a head start already :)

This is going to be a new thing I'm going to do every Tuesday. I'm going to post the song that I have stuck in my head and can't get enough of.

The catchy tune of the week is:

Soaking Up The Sun by Alyssa Bernal

I've had this song stuck in my head for about a month now. No joke. I've been a fan of Alyssa Bernal for a while now. She's a fantastic YouTube star who got signed by Star Trak. She has 2 videos out and 5 original songs on iTunes. She's been working on an album. I'm dying for it to come out. She's simply amazing.

So that is my Catchy Tune Tuesday!

In a previous post, I posted about how much I hate parallel parking. I have to confess something to you all, I don't really hate it anymore.

My wonderful hubby took me out driving today. My road test is next Wednesday morning so I wanted to get a little practice on the few things that I was worried about. My biggest issue was parallel parking. I did it a few times with my driving instructor over a year ago and it was just awful. I never got it down.

Today, Nick coached me on how to do it right.

-I want to point out that my husband is the most amazing and supportive person I've ever known. He has been telling since I booked my test that he thinks I could pass the test no problem. I didn't believe him until today.

Anyway, He told me exactly how to do it, and I was able to do a parallel park in 1 try! I was so proud!! The next time I tried it, I totally botched it. I told him not to tell me what to do. I totally effed it up. I did it a few times and got it right. A few more times and I hit the curb. Finally we realized what I was doing wrong and was able to do it no problem.

I'm very proud of myself. I didn't think I'd be able to do. I really didn't. I did reverse stall parking as well today. It was as easy as it was the first time I did it with my instructor. Nick hates the way I do it though. I don't care what he thinks on that one, I got it done and that is all that matters in my opinion. My tester isn't going to care HOW I did it, just that I did it.

Now I just wait for November 2nd and hope and pray my nerves don't take over.

Don't worry, I'll let you know how it goes.

XOXO

I've been getting back to reading my ever growing stack of books. I have about 15+ books just waiting to be read. I really need to catch up on some reading. I love reading.

 I've been hooked on watching Gossip Girl lately. Now that I'm all caught up on the show, I'm back to reading.

So, What am I reading right now? I'm reading the 3rd book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris called Club Dead. I will admit that tomorrow night I will be putting the book on hold to read another book. The book is called Destined by PC Cast. It's the 9th book in series. I have a thing for vampire books. And fallen angel books as well. Pretty much anything supernatural.

So tell me, what books are you reading? Or what are your favourites? I love finding new books and authors.

My road test is in 2 weeks and I have been working on parking and such. I was really praying that I wouldn't have to do parallel parking. I hate it.

When my driving instructor taught me how to do it, it was frustrating. I just haven't been able to get it. Now I've realized that I need to get it down before my test on the 2nd.

I'm very nervous about the test as it is. I have heard that so many people have failed their first road test. I hope I don't though.

I guess the next 2 weeks will be spent practicing my parallel parking.


I hate parallel parking. So. Freakin. Much.

Many people don't know this, but I don't have many friends. I'm slightly anti social and shy. It's hard for me to make friends. I can't drive on my own yet so getting around is hard for me.

I have a few food friends. I've been lucky to have a wonderful group of military wives as friends. A few of them I actually consider good friends.

I have my best friend, Tasha. We have been best friends for 10 years. I love her like she is my own sister. She will forever be my family.

I had another best friend, our friendship had ended several months back. We were very close and were torn apart by stupidity.

A few days ago, we reconnected. You would think it would take time to go back to normal, but it's so easy for us to just fall back into a steady friendship. I love her. She's a great girl. I missed her so much when we stopped being friends.

I'm so glad we are friends again. Her and I are so much alike. She's great. It's hard not to love her.

I don't need many friends. Of you have the right friends, that's all you need.

Today I bought an iPhone. I got sick of all the issues with Blackberry. I can't even begin to tell you how many times my phone would just crash and stop working. I had enough so I decided it was time to get rid of it and buy an iPhone.

I've had it for a few hours and it's honestly amazing. I'm glad I switched. I used to think Apple products we're awful but now I'm realizing that some are quite awesome. I'm quite happy now.

Fall is finally here! I love Fall. The first week or two of Fall are always filled is crappy weather though. It's been raining off and on for about a week now. I actually like the rain, except when I have to go out. I hate driving in the rain. People tend to get stupid when it rains. Or snows for that matter. But I've never driven in snow before. I was too chicken to do it last Winter. This year will be different.

Our Summer lasted until Thanksgiving ( Last week). It was so strange to sit on the deck and feel the heat on Thanksgiving. I had a cute and warm outfit for Thanksgiving and had to change since it was 30 degrees outside!!!

Anyway, In my opinion, Fall is the best season. I love the leaves and everything that goes with Fall. Best part about Fall? Starbucks brings back the Pumpkin Spice Latte and Pumpkin scones!!! My two faves! Yum Yum Yum! I got to enjoy both of those today! My hubby took me out on a date today. Lunch at Milestones, Costco and Starbucks! I'm one happy girl today!

I've been slacking on posting. I've had a really sore back and tummy bug for almost a week. Today is the first day that I've felt great. Barely any back ache and the tummy bug is completely gone.

So today I've gotten back on the weight loss wagon. I set out to just do do minutes at medium intensity but I ended up doing 1 medium intensity and 1 high intensity workout and then did 40 minutes of aerobics for a total of 90 minutes. I'm quite surprised at myself. I burned roughly 730 calories in that time.

I love working out. I don't really like the sweat though. I have a tendency to give up after a week though. I just get lazy. I'm trying to do a 30 day challenge. I really want to complete it.

I don't know if any of my readers use game systems to workout or not, but I think it's a great way to workout at home. I have a toddler that doesn't do well in the gyms daycare so I like to workout at home. I have a few workout DVD's but only really use 1 of them. It's called Pure Strength by Bob Harper. I do the beginners workout that is just 20-30 minutes. It's a great way to get some strength training in at home.

Getting back to the game system workouts, I like Wii Fit Plus as a way to add to my routines. It's great. I've had success on just doing Wii Fit before. The first time I tried to lose weight I lost 20lbs just doing Wii Fit. Now I'm using EA Active on the Wii and I'm inlove with it. It has amazing workouts. The kinds I would do with my trainer. It's great!

I'm going to be very honest with everyone and myself, I've gone back up to 250lbs. That is 5lbs heavier than I was 2 months ago. I'm ashamed of the 5lb gain but I'm proud that I'm trying again. I'm just going to take it one day at a time.

I will admit that my eating wasn't 100% perfect this week but I put on 2lbs. 2 effing pounds. Yes, weight loss is not my main goal right now, but seeing the number on the scale today really ticked me off. I'm hoping to hear back from my trainer to find out if it was muscle. I'm doubting it though. I hate weighing myself.

Good news is that I'm HURTING from my workouts this week. That's a good and bad sign. It means I'm out of shape compared to 2 months ago but good because I clearly worked hard enough for it to hurt for 3 days. I've promised myself that I'm going to do some working out at home and maybe do some quick bursts of cardio. I HATE running since it hurts my shins. I love walking but walking on the treadmill is boring as hell. Walking outside is just out of the question since it's fall and it rains almost every day.

Here is my promise for the weekend:

I promise to do a minimum of 30 minutes of strength training every day. I will jog on the spot for 1 minute on 1 minute off for 20-30 minutes as well.  

I will report back every day and let you know what I did!

I took quite some time off from working out and eating right. I've been kind of quiet about why I quit. I honestly didn't think I was going to go back to working out. I was actually starting to think that I would grow to be okay with being obese. My trainer, Anna kindly asked to meet up and talk about how things were going. So we met up and she and I decided that we will change up our workout routine and not focus so much on weight loss. We're focusing on getting my core and back strength up to where it should be.

Here is the truth, I stopped working out because I just couldn't handle the back pain any longer. I've had back issues since I was a young and being as heavy as I am now, it makes the pain worse. SO, Anna and I are only doing 2 days/week and that will help with my future goals of getting thin again.

We had our first session in over 2 months. It was hard. Not like it was before. She gave me some 'homework' to do at home so that I can get into shape faster. I'm also going to start tracking my food and see how I do.

Early this morning my Mum headed home after being here for 3 weeks. It was great to have her here and D really had a great time with his Nana. He is going to be SO upset when he wakes up and sees that she isn't here. She had to be at the airport for 6am and we didn't want to wake him up. It's going to be very hard to see him upset in the morning.

I'm really bad with saying Good-Bye. I'm a very emotional person so tears happen very easily for me. I've been good the last 2 times I've had to say Good-Bye to family. I didn't cry when my brother left our place in January after visiting for 2 weeks. Well, not in front of him. I did cry later on. Today when I had to say Good-Bye, I was able to hold back to tears until she was gone. I know that if I started to cry that she would start to cry and that would just be awful. So I made it through the Good-Bye without any tears. Lord knows I wanted to just break down and cry. God, I'm even crying right now.

I'm really going to miss her. It's going to be good to get back into a regular routine again though. it's going to be incredibly quiet around here though. I already miss her.

Okay, I'm going to shut up and stop crying now...

My mother leaves on Monday so I will be back to blogging regularly again.

Things around here and slowing down again. I've been forced to take a few days of rest. A few weeks ago I pushed myself too hard during yoga and hurt my wrist. I wasn't aware that I had actually hurt myself. I woke up one morning with a really sore wrist and thought that I just slept on it wrong. It kept hurting but of course I didn't go to the doctor. I was convinced that it was nothing and it would just go away in no time. It's been like 2 weeks and the pain has just gotten worse.

Thursday, I finally had enough and went to the doctor. I was sure he was just going to tell me it was nothing and to just let it rest and eventually it would go away. Sadly, that was not what he said. It turns out I have an irritated and pinched nerve. He's put me on anti-inflammatory meds to help with the pain and whatnot. He's also sending me for physio therapy. I was sent for an X-ray to rule out any kind of bone fractures of anything else. I need to wear this ugly splint on my wrist/arm. It's incredibly annoying to wear and I actually feel fairly dumb with it on. Worst part of this all are the meds I'm on. I have to take them twice a day and it's given me such an awful stomach ache. I hate taking them. I spent a whole night awake from the pain and I've felt ill for days now. I'm not a fan of medication. I like to avoid pills whenever possible.

Good news is, I'm getting back to the gym next week. I spoke with my trainer, Anna, and we've worked out a plan that we are going to avoid weight loss and focus on core and back strength. My back issues are because of lack of strength so we're going to work on that instead of trying to lose weight. I'm going to work on weight loss on my own. I'm not in a HUGE hurry to lose a bunch on weight. I'd rather focus on getting into shape so that working out will come easier to me and cause me less pain.

Since having a baby 4 years ago, I haven't had a good nights sleep. It isn't because D keeps me up. He does still wake up once at night but always before 1am and we are usually still awake. No, my issues are with waking up all on my own or just wake up very tired and very sore.

I recently got prescribed sleeping pills in hopes that it would help me sleep through the night. I have yet to be able to sleep through the night. It's so frustrating. I've tried yoga, meditation and pretty much anything anyone has recommended. Good thing about the sleeping pills is that I don't wake up tired anymore. Well, not really. For the first 10 minutes after I wake up I walk around like a zombie (haha). Bad thing is, I'm having a hard time waking up before 10am. That doesn't really work when you have a child that likes to wake up between 7 and 8 am.

Send me your suggestions for sleeping through the night. I will try ANYTHING!

Today my mother and I spent a good part of the day just her and I. We went to Square One mall around noon and walked around a bit and then got some yummy lunch at Moxie's. We shared a HUGE appetizer since we weren't hungry enough to get our own meals. After lunch we went and looked around Old Navy and found Dechlan's Halloween costume. We picked up a shell for my Blackberry and then got some coffee and headed home!

Once we got home we played with D a bit and then took him swimming. It was really fun to get some more activity in today. It was a great day. Just amazing.

On another note, I just love seeing Dechlan and my mother together. Like I had mentioned in one of my previous posts, it has been 3 years since the last time she has been here. Yes, we used Skype a bit, but daily phone calls are a must between my mother and I. He loves talking to her.

Well, when she got into the car, I was very ready for him to cry and act out or even play shy. He acted like she was just someone he saw every other day. He is just in love with her. He has been attached to her since she got here. It's so great seeing them together.

It's sad that my father doesn't really have much to do with D. He loves his 3 Grand-Parents. I love that he has people other than his parents that have his back and love him more than anything. It warms my heart.

Today is the day!!! My mother will be landing in Toronto in just under 1 hour and I'm beyond excited!! We have a little something something planned for her tonight. We are making her a nice dinner and have cake and gifts. Her birthday was 1 week ago and we are having a delayed party for her. Dechlan is beyond excited that his Nana is going to be here for 3 whole weeks. He's even more excited about all the gifts she is bringing him. My mother spoils him rotten. I'm okay with that. It's what Grand-parents do best.

This isn't going to be a super long post about be blabbing on about how excited I am. I am going to keep it short and just say that I probably won't be posting much for the next 3 weeks. I might post pictures and quick blurbs about her stay.

SO, with that said, I'm off to pick her up!

Today we took D to a play area and we watched him play with another boy. He never did well at the daycare at the gym so we stopped taking him. I realized that he really does well when it doesn't involve toys. It was amazing seeing him communicate with the other boy.

I'm not a big fan of being around people. Actually, I prefer to be at home with my family doing stuff together. I think my fear of being around people has hurt D's development. Nick and I have decided that we will start taking him to the Ontario Early Years Centers and once a week take him to a play area.

Nick and I could really use some time out as well. We have both become somewhat antisocial. I need to get over my fear of being with people.

Do you ever wake up with random aches and pain? I do. Some days I walk around like an 80+ year old and I'm only 24. I even complain like one too! "Oh my back!", "Oh my hip!" It's sort of funny some days. But it's the truth. I get so many aches and pains it's ridiculous.

I woke up this morning with a horrible pain in my right side. I took a look and sure enough there's a bruise. No idea what I did. Hubby thinks I did it in the night, I have no idea what happened. Maybe it's from pushing myself a bit too hard during yoga yesterday. Who knows.

I get random spontaneous aches and pains more often these days. Maybe it's my weight, maybe my body just plain hates me. All I know for sure is that it drives me crazy.The woman at Shoppers Drug Mart must think I'm some sort of drug addict the way  I go through Tylenol. One of the bigger bottles lasts about a month in my place. Thankfully, I'm not the only one that uses it. That would just be awful.

I'm going to take it easy for a few days and see if it goes away. Maybe I just need to do more yoga :)

The past few days I've been doing a huge clean up of my condo. It's been feeling cluttered and oddly messy. Not the normal 'There's stuff all over the floors nothing is put away' kind of messy. The kind that you notice that you have so much stuff that you really don't need and may actually run out of space soon.We live in a decent size condo (1100 square feet). 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and solarium that we use as a playroom for Dechlan. Space isn't really an issue here. It's big enough for the 3 of us.

I looked around my place the other day and realized that I need to find room for my Mom when she's here. So I started moving things around and then saw that I had so much stuff I haven't even looked at in years. We've lived here for 4 years now and I've never really gone through everything and gotten rid of stuff. Sunday night, after we put Dechlan to bed, I went into my room and just started going through boxed and I just threw out everything I didn't really need or want. I cleared out a Rubbermaid container full of stuff and almost emptied out another of. Sadly, they didn't stay empty for long. I put Christmas decorations in the empty one. Yes, I had decorations just hanging around in my close. Filled the other container with random stuff I just couldn't part with.

Yesterday I went through boxes that were under my bed and found so many CD's and magazines and books. I cleaned the dust off and found them temporary homes. I cleaned off 1 dresser and 2 shelves. I sorted through all the blankets and sheets and found them homes in the closet.

Today I'm going through ALL my clothes and getting rid of anything I don't like, fit or plan on wearing. Should take a long time. I have a huge dresser full of clothes I barely wear. Time to stop hoarding things.

Do you do this? Just go through everything and throw out/ get rid of stuff in huge batches? How often? I'm going to have to do this more often.

I like to plan ahead. I'm very big on lists and plans etc.  My husband thinks it's odd but when I plan things out it usually leaves little room for things to go wrong. It does drive him nuts.

This September is going to be very exciting for my family. My Mother is coming to visit!! We haven't seen her in 3 years. She was here in Ontario for the birth of my Son and to help us out when he was first born. And then she was here for his first Birthday. Well, this September, my baby is turning 4! It's amazing how quickly time flies when you have a child. She is going to be here from the 7th until the 26th. I'm so excited for her to be here. Dechlan( My Son) is so different from when she saw him when he was a year old. My Mother and I are quite close and talk everyday. He likes to call her behind my back as well ( Haha). He loves his Nana.

So September is a big month. My Mother will be here, and while she's here we are going to celebrate her Birthday ( Which will be late because it's on September 1st) and we will be celebrating Dechlan's 4th Birthday as well.

I have a lot of planning to do. I'm planning out where we are going to take my Mom while she's here. I'm also working on her Birthday gift. I told her I was making a cookbook but that didn't go as planned. So I have another gift pretty much ready to go. I will post pics of it when it's done and I've given it to her. I want it to be a surprise. I'm also planning out what kind of cake/cupcakes to make Dechlan for his Birthday. I've got some good ideas for it. I just need to find everything I need to make it perfect for him.

I will probably make another post when I get things sorted and know exactly what I'm going :)

I'm not a big fan of the heat. The only good part of Summer is that we can go camping. I would actually rather go camping in the Spring and Fall. That is how my family always did it. I hate being in the sun because I get a sunburn so fast.

I used to love Summer but now I've realized how much I really am like my father. I LOVE the cold. But this Summer, it isn't the heat that I hate. What I'm hating is the fact that I've gotten sick also every month. Everyone says it's allergies, but I have never had allergies to anything non-food related (and even that has gone away). I've been stuffed up off and on for the last, I guess, 3 months now. I've had 1 Summer cold and this horrible stuffed up nose that gives me the worst headaches. It's gotten annoying.

Plus, I hate showing skin. I love to be bundled up in warm clothes. You can't do that during Summer! All the fun stuff for our family happens in the Fall, Winter and Spring. I find Summer kind of boring. I always have to be so careful with going outdoors with my little pale, red headed child. He doesn't like the heat either. He's just not a big fan of the outdoors in general. He's like his Father that way.

About 6 months to a year ago I stopped eating egg yolks. The other day I got sick of egg whites and made whole eggs. Turns out I HATE the taste of whole eggs now. When I first tried egg whites I thought they tastes weird and I just wasn't into it. Now I think they are absolutely amazing! They're healthier too!

I've realized that I just need to find new recipes. If you have any good breakfast recipes using egg whites and the star, please share them with me. Plain ol' egg whites or egg white omlettes are getting boring. I need some excitement in my food. I usually like to eat the same thing day in and day out. I need new favourites I think.

Since having a child, my whole body has changed so much. My skin for one. It's so freakin' dry and itchy and painful. But it's only like that on my face. I've tried so many facial washes and moisturizers but it just doesn't help.

I decided it was about time I did a bit of research on skin conditions and see if I could find anything. I found that it's mainly cause by taking too many showers and using water that is far too hot. So I'm going to attempt taking cooler showers and washing my face less and just having maybe one shower per day.

I didn't know it was possible to deprive my skin of moisture by just having hot showers. I can't help that I like to shower a lot but I CAN help the temperature of the water. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully it will work.

Since camping with Dechlan was such a bust, Hubby and I decided to go on our own for 2 nights. It was great until 10pm the first night. We went for a hike and then had lunch at the beach, found a site and then set up everything. We went for a small walk to explore and then sat for a little bit and read. In the late afternoon we went to Lake Simcoe which was really close to our site. Swam for an hour and then went to shower. Yes, we showered. I may love camping but I don't like being dirty and I certainly don't like outhouses (Ew). After showering we made dinner. BBQ chicken breasts and ceasar salad. We read until about 8:30 and then started our fire. We are terrible at building fires. We built it enough so that we could roast marshmallows and enjoy the sounds and smells of a campfire. Our fire died around 10-10:30pm which was okay because we were getting tired. It started to rain once we started putting things away. Just a light drizzle at first and once we were in our tent it started to just pour down on us. It didn't let up for hours and hours. It started to thunder and had some lightning and it woke us up. We looked around the tent to make sure it wasn't leaking and sure enough it was start to leak into the tent. It was about 3am and we heard people leaving from the sites around us. We had actually contemplated leaving too. But It was a one hour drive home and honestly, we just weren't sure it was a good idea to leave in the middle of the night. So we just put towels down and went back to sleep. Once we woke up we found that EVERY was soaked. Our picnic table was so wet that we weren't sure we would be able to use it that day. So we packed up our stuff, got a refund for the 1 day and headed home.

it was a great camping trip until the rain, haha! Next year we will be better prepared for rain that is for sure!

I forgot about this blog. I'm not sure how I forgot about it, but I did. I'm back at it. I promise to blog more often.

Our summer has been fun so far. My hubby and I spent a day at Canada's Wonderland. It was really fun but I came home with 2nd degree burns on my chest from the sun. I'm still healing from the burns actually. Almost better :) We also attempted camping a few weeks ago. That didn't go so well. Dechlan hated it. It was really hot and he was really bored. It didn't help that I wasn't feeling all that great. We didn't even spend the night. It wasn't the best experience. We've decided that we're going camping next Sunday without Dechlan. He will spend close to 3 days with his Grandparents. He`s actually very excited to spend a few days there.

We`re excited to have to adult time. We`re going to Sibbald Point. It`s about an hour away from here. A friend of mine suggested it so we checked it out and fell in love. We liked Bronte Creek in Oakville but Sibbald looks like it has a lot more to do. So next Sunday we are going to be enjoying some outdoor time just the two of us :)  We are going the 24th to 26th. The 26th we are leaving early and heading to Canada`s Wonderland to hit up the water park.

We have a busy week of fun coming up. Tuesday we are taking D to Canada`s Wonderland to go to the water park. He has been excited about it for weeks now. Honestly, I`m pretty excited to spend the day in the water with my family.

So those are our plans so far! Happy Summer!

 A while back someone mentioned a company named Tiny Devotions that make mala necklaces. They are so gorgeous. I've been wanting to get one for a while. I couldn't decide which one to get so I let it go.

Nick decided that as an early birthday present he would get me one. He asked me to pick a few that I liked and he made the final decision. So I got a Rose Quartz mala. Rose Quartz is for 'Love'.

I got it in the mail a few days ago and I'm absolutely in love with it!!!

Here is a picture of it :)

As I mentioned, I went away with my husband overnight to Niagara Falls. It was amazing! Well everything except our room. It was small, terrible view of a parking lot even though they said it was a 'Gorgeous city view'.

We ended up doing a bunch of attractions we had never done before. We went through two mazes, play glow in the dark mini golf, We did some bowling and saw one of the wax museums and a few other things. We had dinner at an amazing restaurant called The Rainbow Room. The food was incredible and we had a view of the Falls. It was amazing. After dinner we went for drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe and then got a Decaf Latte and went for a nice walk along the Falls.

It was such a great day. Sadly it was followed by a terrible night sleep. But we just shrugged it off and had breakfast and headed home. I was so happy to see Dechlan.

I'm very very excited about my plans for the weekend!

This Friday, my Hubby and I will be celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary. We usually go away every year. We always go to Niagara Falls. It's my most favourite place in the world. We go there a lot and I don't seem to ever get tired of it.

We usually stay at the Hilton but this time we decided to stay at the Sheraton that is just across from the Falls. We got a city view and we've made reservations for Massimo Capra's restaurant, The Rainbow Room Falls view. We've planned to drop Dechlan off at my in laws for the night.


We have plans to do all the things we haven't done there before. Lunch at the Skylon Tower, glow in the dark mini golf. Maybe some of the Museums. Who knows.


I'm really excited to spend time just Nick and I :)

Hey guys,

So I've been MIA from pretty much everything this last week or two. But I'm back and ready to get blogging again!


Honestly, I've been feeling down. I've actually feeling like giving up on everything. I felt off and depressed and stressed. I felt like I was letting everyone down. Letting myself down and thought it was time for a pity party. I'm over it.

I took some much needed me time. I've been spending a lot of time meditating, spending some time taking long baths and reading. I even went out and got my nails done. I didn't realize that me time and meditation were just what I needed. I'm so thankful for meditation. I really am. It helped me feel like me again. I realised what was really going on.


On the plus side. I've gotten a ton of reading done. I've read 2.5 books already. I should also mention that I'm doing a challenge called 50 books in one year. So I'm down a few books. I'm on the right track to completing the challenge!

So that's it for now!

Hey guys,

Nick and I and a few other military members/families I know are doing the Army Run on September 18th 2011 in Ottawa, Ontario.

As you know, Nick is a member of the Canadian Forces. We are raising money and running/walking in support of two wonderful foundations, Soldier On and Military Families Fund. Both are very important to me.

Soldier On is a charity to help Soldiers that have been injured physically and mentally. It's so important for those who have fought for us to get the help they need. If you would like to read more check out this link :Soldier On

Military Families Fund is very special to me as well. It's a charity that raises money to help the families of Soldiers that have come by hard times. Here is the link if you'd like to read more about it:
Military Families Fund

So, we're asking for a little help to raise money for these wonderful charities. We have a donation page set up for easy and safe donations:
Running Room Donation Page

Or if you'd like to, you can do an e-mail transfer to Carolyn.l.walker87@gmail.com


Thank you so much for you love and support,


Carolyn & Nick Walker

Since this is a new blog, I'll share what's been going on lately.

As you might already know, I've started on a weight loss journey again. My first few attempts ended with me getting too down on self and getting lazy. But I think this time is different. I've got a trainer and seeing a dietitian as well. I've already lost 10lbs since starting in October.

What else.... My brother was here for 2 weeks which was just great! I had missed him so much. We reverted right back to our childhood bickering after a while though (ha ha!). Dechlan had a great time with him. He was here for Christmas and New Years. It was great to have him here. He left January 5th and headed to BC. He's moved back to BC to get his life on track. I couldn't be more proud of him.

Speaking of BC, Nick will be done his course in October and I'm actually getting anxious now. We know that in less than 2 years we are moving. For the longest time we thought we wanted to move to Halifax, but lately we've decided that BC would be our best option. It's close to my family but still far enough away that we have our own life. We both have friends in BC that we miss dearly. So we decided we'd rather live in a PMQ for a few years and THEN buy a house. I'm anxious to move. Not that I don't love Ontario. I'm really going to miss the people I've met here. But I'm really looking forward to getting back to BC and being with my friends and family. It will be nice to just be a 2 hr ferry ride from my childhood friends and a 10+ hr drive to my Mom and Brother.


Nick and I are celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary in a few weeks. Hard to believe it's been 4 years!

We're all doing well. Dechlan is developing the funniest little personality ever! I love it. He's such a comic!


Well that's it for today.

If you're a follower of Carolyn's Room, you will notice that it is no longer there. I'm not sure what happened to it. I logged in today to blog and nothing was there. So, I'm sorry for that.

With that being said, I want to welcome you to my new blog.There isn't much to say at the moment. I'm a bit upset over the sudden loss of my blog. But Hey, it's a new year. Maybe it was just time for a new blog!

So welcome!