Happy Birthday Anthony

To Anthony where ever you may be, your in my heart and thoughts always.
I wish you could know how much you mean to me.
How I long that you were near so I could look at you and smile, hug you tight as I wish you all the wonderful things this life can bring happiness, peace, joy, and laughter. All these and more I hope will fill your life everyday, and with one wish left I hope that we'll meet once again and embrace as brother and sister so I can tell you that I love you and miss the times we could have had! Please don't stay a far, for your always close to this family who loves you more than you know! Happy Birthday Anthony! I miss you!

A look back

Today is my last day in this house, so I thought I would post some pictures of the good times we've had. It's been fun and I will miss you all sooo very much. Change is good though and I know my next place will be filled with excitement and lots of crazy people too so I'm sure I'll fit right in. Thanks guys for putting up with me and my quirkiness, your wonderful and I do love you all!

To a wonderful sister

Happy Birthday Heidi!
Your an amazing person with lots of spunk and zest for life. You have two precious, beautiful kids that I'd love to see again and I just want to let you know that I'm thankful we had some good fun-filled years together. I miss you and wish you the very best this coming year! Love you sis!
~MarieAnne

Last Sundays BBQ

28

Yep...I don't mind saying it now! I use to be one who cringed at the thought of getting closer to 30 but I've found out that I just had a misconstrued idea of what "old" was, and I think a lot of young people do too. I know that when your in the 18-25 age bracket that you feel your at the top of your game, your living life, having fun and the thought of "getting older" like being in your 30's is a terrifying thing. When in reality that's when life starts getting good. You've come to know who you are as an individual, your more focused about your goals and what you want out of life, your more comfortable in your own skin and don't worry as much of what people think of you. And if you can keep a positive mindset about your age and strive to keep fit, eating healthy and loving life then I'd say 30's can be the best time of our lives....and the only thing stopping us from living our lives to it's fullest potential is a negative mindset that makes you stop feeling young. Your only as old as you think you are.... so think YOUNG, live your life to the full, enjoy the age you are. It's amazing how happy you can be if you have a healthy attitude about aging, it's a blessing not a curse! I know I want to make the most of each year that passes, I know how short life can be and I'm not going to waste it worrying about getting older. I love my life...the good and the bad, I love that I'm learning so much every year that passes, and I'm excited about how much more there is to learn. I'm thankful for this life and getting a second chance to live it. I'm grateful for my amazing family who's always there when you need them, and my friends...there's just not enough words to describe just how wonderful they all are. I'm so so blessed to have so many! So here's to a new year...one filled with exciting challenges, Change, good health, and feeling young in heart and body.

Carnival

A few days ago a friend gave me 12 tickets to a carnival that was set up in the mall parking lot... so it was a pretty small one. My dad and me took 3 of the kids there for 4 rides each. Devin, my youngest sister Amy and Lizzy went. They were all jazzed about going on two of the biggest rides first as the other ones looked too "kiddy". So they went on the first one which strapped them in and started going up and down in a circular motion and after about 3 rounds the girls start screaming in fright...Devin joins in thinking that maybe it's more fun that way. But the girls weren't enjoying themselves at all and wanted down right away...poor things looked terrified, so needless to say they didn't want to go on the other big ride as they had enough. Thankfully there was this tall slide that they did enjoy and got to go one twice while I took Devin on the gravity UFO looking one where it spun us around so fast we were stuck to the wall, Devin and me were laughing the whole time at each other trying to pull our arms away from the wall as the gravity was keeping us tightly pinned, afterwards I felt pretty sick with my head throbbing from the spinning...not my cup of tea! After that the kids went on a big jungle gym thing where they had to climb some stairs, jump on a bouncing balloon, walk across a netted bridge and slide down a very slow slide, they seemed to enjoy that one too so at the end of it all I guess it was a success..Yeay!

Getting ready for the "big scary ride!"

It started off good but then....

..up and away....

....Ohhh the look on Amy's face tells it all "GET ME DOWNNNN!"

Amy happy again!

A News article I came across on...

10 more nutrient-rich foods that will change your life
(and keep you feeling full on less)
By Samra Habib

1. Mushrooms: Loaded with antioxidants, riboflavin, selenium and other nutrients that keep the immune system healthy and help stave off cancer.
Sneak it in: Add to onions, garlic and thyme to make stock for risotto.

2. Kale: Rich with antioxidants, minerals and vitamins, kale is also thought to help lower risk of arthritis, as well as ovarian and breast cancers with sulphur-containing phytonutrients.
Sneak it in: Use in winter soups and hearty pasta dishes.

3. Spirulina: With more iron than beef and more protein than soy, this algae is the only plant source of vitamin B12.
Sneak it in: Add spirulina powder to breakfast smoothies and dips.

4. Cranberries: Compared to other fruits such as grapes and strawberries, cranberries have the highest level of phenols – an oxidant that decreases the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Sneak it in: Add zest to your dinner with cranberry relish.

5. Kefir: Ideal if you're lactose intolerant, this cultured milk product delivers antibiotic properties, protein, minerals and vitamin B.
Sneak it in: Use in place of yogurt with granola and berries.

6. Ground Salba: This ancient grain provides 8x more omega-3s than salmon, 25% more dietary fibre than flaxseed, 30% more antioxidants than blueberries, 7x more vitamin C than an orange... get the picture?
Sneak it in: Sprinkle in cereal, smoothies, pasta dishes and salads.

7. Eggs: Egg yolks are loaded with choline, which is proven to help combat breast cancer.
Sneak it in: Crumble a hard-boiled egg over your favourite salad.

8. Cherries: High in phytochemicals (plant chemicals that have disease preventative properties), cherries may also reduce inflammation.
Sneak it in: Forget about sneaking! Just grab a handful as an afternoon snack.

9. Pistachios: Studies show these slow the rate of carbohydrate absorption and contain the fibre, protein and monounsaturated fat you need.
Sneak it in: Use them in pesto in place of pine nuts.

10. Beets: Beets are high in folic acid and contain betacyanine, which is an antioxidant that gives beets their rich, red colour.
Sneak it in: Add to your favourite salad.

Flower shots