Birthdays!! Birthdays!!

Happy birthday!!!! Today, Claire is four. This blows my mind. I remember when I found out Isabelle & Bruce were expecting a baby, and this would be the first kid of any of my family. We were so excited!!!! I LOVE this little princess, and so miss getting to be there as she shoots up into a full-blown little girl. From the beginning, it only took a minute or two interacting with this kiddo before you realized that she is one bright little girl with the social skills of a 20 year old. Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point. We made her imitate animal sounds as early as 10mths old and were having conversations with her when she was two, in which she threw out words like "probablement". But the best was when she wanted to get dressed by herself and say: "j'veux mettre mon p'tit haut" :) I love being around her and miss her tons. We love you so much Claire XOX Bonne Fete!

Claire and her brother Alexi = ADORABLE

Claire wearing my sunglasses and necklace, cute cute cute!

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY SHOUT-OUT!!

Happy birthday Angie!! Angie and I met when we were still in high school (yes, many moons ago). We navigated through some of our twenties together, and have seen each other through so much! Angie is SO funny. It just never mattered what we were doing. It was always fun with Angie (and still is!!). While all the fun and laughter was what bonded us, it didn't take long for Angie to become someone I always wanted around. She is one of those people you just gravitate to... she's sweet and spunky and has that infectious little laugh, and she's so funny (did I mention that?)... everyone just loves being around her. She's so quick-witted, and also so easily laughs at life and even herself. It's refreshing to be around her.

Angie has the biggest heart for her husband (she just glows when she's with him) but lets not forget for her dogs also :) She was my only friend who had goats in her backyard LOL!! Angie is such a gorgeous girl. But as true as that is, so much of Ang's beauty is from what radiates from inside of her. Angele, I miss you and I'm looking forward to our next visit.

Have a w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l day xox

p.s. (clarification: you = not old... our friendship = old!!!)

Missing you!

So, today marks day 9 of my visit to New Brunswick. It's been so much fun but I must admit that I MISS Adam!! He is neck deep working hard in training camp. It's going well. He played Wednesday night and he will play again tomorrow night in Nashville. Honey, keep up the hard (super tough) work xoox

Happy almost weekend!!!

Got-cha...

Per my last blog, where I said I was up to "no good", well it was cuz I decided to surprise one of my good friends that I hadn't seen in like 10 years!!! We jumped in the car, my mom, Angie's mom (Elise) and I and drove up to Halifax NS to see Angie. Her husband was in on it and helped us pull this off (thanks Myles!). I walked right into her office and said: "hi, can you help me cuz I'm lost". You should have seen the look on her face. TOTAL SHOCK!! I could see her eyes try to re-focus in doubt. Then, the moment became real! I'm sure the law firm that Angie & Myles work for wondered what was the celebration in her office haha!!!

Angie, I didn't know what was the best way to say congrats for ALL your accomplishments this year, so I decided that a BIG hug in person would work :)

Angie & Myles' significant moments:

~Graduating from law school

~New home

~Passing the BAR exam

~7 wonderful years with her man & 4 years of married life

Congratulations to both of you xox

p.s. I LOVE your closet!!!!!

Something's up my sleeve

I am up to no good today (evil laugh) and I will tell you all about later!!

So... what's new? Oh, I don't know... let's see... Decorating, decorating, decorating! House decorating is so much fun. My mom and I have been giving the livingroom & diningroom a lil face lift or should I say love haha. It's been going well but we must make some purchases. I'll post pics once we are done. Visiting with my family has been great!!!

Sorry, times up....must run :)

Hey... Hi...

Yeah... it's been awhile. Life is busy!! Something had to give (well, many things, actually), and I guess blogging got the ax for awhile. Now I see what a pain getting behind on this is! So much to cover, it's going to bore you! I'll just hit some highlights.

Ok, first things first. Some belated birthday shout-outs...HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARL!!! Carl is my cousin who lives in Japan with his wife Rieko and, soon-to-be 2yrs old, son Gakuji. Carl, I hope you had a great day, complete with a birthday crown as part of your teacher-attire September 14th. It's how things should be, no question ;) Luv ya big time. Also, happy birthday to Adam's lil sista Ashley who turned 17yrs old on September 11th. Hope you had a great day kiddo!! xox

Hurricane Ike decided to come visit Ohio. I had never seen tremendous winds, raise trees and debris like what I saw last Sunday! It was horrible... I've posted a few pictures on my other blog. The series of high winds around the state last Sunday left many "Ohioans" dealing with repairs and clean-up in the aftermath. People are dealing with fallen tree debris, roof repair, damaged vehicles and so on... We had no power for 2 1/2 days and let me tell you that I rely on electricity ALOT. Oufff... I missed having hot water, a cold fridge and TV, TV, TV.

Finally, time to have a Kenny Chesney talk in one word SPECTACULAR!!! We had such a great time and can't even put it into words haha. We tailgated in the parking lot and Kenny surprised fans outside by playing a few songs on the XM radio stage prior to his show! Around 6pm, we headed inside and to our surprise, Leann Rimes showed up and was singing her greatest hits!!! I had read on internet that she had tonsilitis...but nope she was singing strong. A few hours later, Keith Urban took the stage and last but certainly not least, Kenny got on and absolutely rocked the Lucas Oil Stadium. I did encounter one problem, my camera battery died as Kenny got on stage. So, I gave my email address to the girl that was standing next to me in hopes that she will email her pics to me (she said "not a problem"). Cross my fingers!

I still have SO MUCH to blog about but I'm tired and off to bed folks'.... Talk soon!

...up up and away

ha ha ha yes, that's me laughing because I just read my last blog and I quote: "Actually, I have time between my connecting flight so I will be able to blog then ". Let me explain. Once I landed in Newark on Thursday, I had no wireless connection in the terminal = no blog :( I boarded the plane at 6:25pm and little did I know that it was gonna be a l-o-n-g wait.... We stayed on the runway for over two and a half hours before we got clearance to take off. There was a whooping 47 planes in front of us! We were airborn at 9:15pm. But I made it!!!

More to come...

I just wanted to post a little something here tonight to say: "Yes, I do have power" and "I'm on schedule to go to New Brunswick tomorrow" YAY!!! Packing (once again) hasn't really slowed me down, so this upcoming trip will be a very welcomed opportunity to catch up on sleep, hang out with my friends & family and blog!! Actually, I have time between my connecting flight so I will be able to blog then ;)

Well, more later... it's my bedtime! Over and out for now.

Kenny~aholic!

Tomorrow, we’re headed to the Kenny Chesney concert in Indianapolis!!! Wow, talk about being spontaneous. We got tickets today...so why not! Adam, the Healy's and I are going and we are all super excited! Off to Lucas Oil Stadium as Kenny will perform live on stage alongside Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert (Leann Rimes had to pull out of this concert because of tonsillitis).

Miranda Lambert

I’ll update everyone on the concert later this weekend!! Yahoo......

Play Time!!

Yesterday, Adam and I helped build a playground with some of the Blue Jackets players for students at Arlington Park Elementary School on Mock Rd. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Manny Malhotra and his wife, Joann, spearheaded this great project.

Here is Adam getting a 5 sec lesson on how to use the Bob Cat!! He loved it...

Guro and I with our Manny-acs t-shirts

"“Blue Jackets Panther Park” features dual playgrounds with each area outfitted with age-appropriate slides, climbing structures and other interactive elements. In addition, the area intended for kindergarten and special needs students is built upon a rubberized surface designed for wheelchair accessibility."

What a wonderful way to give back to the kids!!

We got back from Milwaukee Sunday night at around 10pm. We had a fun time driving back. First off, we stopped in Chicago cuz we had never been. It's wayyy bigger than I imagined. It kinda has the Big Apple feel to it. Once back on the highway, Adam came up with the idea of taking the country roads home. We saw miles and miles of endless corn fields, narrow roads and farms. What a great drive!

I gave you a brief update on my last Milwaukee blog. So, the second chapter of our short trip was spent at a Brewers baseball game. We got to tailgate a bit, see batting practice (side note: we got a ball!!!) and enjoy the game & good old ballpark hot dogs and roasted peanuts. And just like that, our little trip was over!! I managed to forget my cell phone charger in Milwaukee so my cell is dead! Thanks Melissa for sending it my way. Anywaaaaaay... good stuff. We had a good weekend and LOTS and LOTS of driving.

Latest addiction: 90210 ~ it's such a good "girl show"! Don't think Adam will get into this one :) Totally understand sweetheart! 5 minutes till' I go downstairs and pour myself another cup of coffee and pretend it's a fancy latte with foam haha! Tonight we are going to enjoy some Monique-made lasagna deliciousness. So I better get started! Have a great mid week day!!

Happy Birthday Sonia!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet friend of just about 10 years now!!!!

I met Sonia in September of 1998 when we were both new students at NBCC Dieppe. We both had enrolled in the Teleservices course and quickly had desks side-by-side eachother and always paired up for assignments. That was the beginning of one of the most important friendships in my life! Since then we've grown through so much together. We've had so much fun, trips, new jobs as Camco girls, small moves, big moves, and just the challenges of growing up... We basically went through our very pivotal 20's together and I'm so thankful that Sonia has been a part of my greatest joys and struggles, and vice versa.

A picture from wayyyyyy back (2000 ~ I believe?!?)

I love you so much and hope you are made to feel as amazing as you truly are to so many people in your life!!! Of course I wish I could be there to celebrate. Your friendship means the world to me, and I miss our more normal times together such as watching our fav shows, splurging on chips & dip while we talked and laughed. I enjoy our connection and miss being able to just drive over to your house and have those heart-to-hearts whenever one of us needed it. Over multiple cups of hot chocolate, chocolate bars and ice cream, of course.

I love you my friend!! Happy Birthday and I MISS YOU!!!!!!

Milwaukee, here we are...

I forgot to mention that we were driving to Milwaukee and weren't flying....4hrs?!? So, 7hrs later, we made it with our tummies full of gas station snacks. Terrible weather our whole trip... Rain, rain and more rain but I must admit, it was kinda cozy. We are in a little town, Oak Creek, south of downtown Milwaukee. This area kinda reminds me of Mountain Road in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Adam being the safe driver that he is, would not take his eyes off the rainy road to look at the camera... :) So this is the best I could do!

Adam and Jimmy went to skate this morning at a nearby rink. It kinda made me eager for the upcoming hockey season. I managed to get a picture with him (and his stinky gear) haha!

Well, hear I am blogging while watching Adam and Jimmy play "horse shoe". It's a beautiful day, I better go enjoy it! More to come... Just wanted to let you all know we're here safe and sound. Happy Friiiiiday!

...on the road again

After hours of "thinking about it", we are heading to Milwaukee, WI this afternoon! I don't have much time to blog cuz I gotta finish getting ready but wanted to keep you in the loop ;) Adam's friend Jimmy Sharrow lives there and he wanted us to go up for the weekend. At first, we thought it was a 4hrs drive, then we heard it was 8hrs drive, then 5hrs... Holy confusion!!! I guess we will only find out how long it takes to get there once we arrive! I will let you know who was right. It will surely be part fun and part travel. Have a good one y'all!!!

Good Times!

Labor day weekend has come and gone and it felt like 4 hours...it went by much too quickly! It was one of those great weekends, the kind you just feel so happy and content with. Saturday, we had a BBQ at the Healy's for the players who were in town. Sunday, we swam and lazed by the pool to enjoy the last few days of summer. Then we were invited to Linda & Freddy Modin's house for a pizza dinner. The Modin's are from Sundsvall, Sweden. They have two beautiful kids, Jesper & Ida. It was fun to get to know some of the more experienced players on the team and listen to years and years of hockey stories.

Monday, Adam returned to intense training at the rink and I had a "watch-Hurricane-Gustav day". We feared for Darlene's parents house. Even though her family had evacuated, she was very concerned for her hometown. Thoughts & prayers to them! Tuesday night we went to dinner with Kelsey, Gilbert and the Tollefsens'. We caught up over dinner at Hyde Park. We laughed so much, my stomach was sore haha... On the way home, Adam and I talked about how we have wonderful friends!

Yay!! For the first time in three years, Adam doesn't need to participate in the NHL Prospects Tournament (September 13-17) in Traverse City, Michigan. He's real happy about that!! Adam starts training camp on September 19th. It will be a super tough few weeks for him. I will send him all my good vibes and energy during that period. :)