T'was the Night

If you live in Calgary you should come to this. The money goes to United Way so come support us. I'll be there of course :)

DOWNTOWN CALGARY’S BIGGEST PRIVATE SHOPPING NIGHT
Benefitting United Way’s “BeCause” initiative and the National Music Centre

Join us at The CORE on Wednesday, November 30th from 6:30 - 10:00 pm to kick off the holiday season in style!

Special events will include:
Exclusive one-night only offers from The CORE retailers
A performance by Juno Award winning singer Chantal Kreviazuk
Sampling of holiday-inspired beverages and cuisine
Red Carpet hosted by Lainey Lui of LaineyGossip.com
FREE Parking
Unveiling of The CORE's 40-foot illuminated Christmas tree

Calgarians can get all of their holiday shopping down in one night and feel great doing it, because all ticket sales will support two local charities working to revitalize Calgary's downtown: BeCause, a next generation initiative of the United Way of Calgary and the National Music Centre Project.
Tickets for T'was the Night are $15 and are available online or at the Customer Service Centre, located on the second floor of The CORE.

Click here to get your tickets.

Hacked

My email got hacked last night so if you get any weird emails from me they probably aren't really from me. As a result of this hack i had to change my password. This sucks! I use the same password for everything (I know not good) so when i have to change it it messes me up. Maybe i should come up with a secondary one.

Kris, Renee and I made our annual trip to the states this past weekend. We were going to go down Friday spend the night and come home Saturday but Dad messed up our plans and decided to stay till Saturday morning. He left at 4 am and we left at 6 am. The plan was to go back to sleep after he left but neither of us could. We got home at 9pm. It was a long day but it was good. Great Falls is a totally flashback of the 80's. We find it very entertaining to people watch. We make a game out of it now to add a little more entertainment. It's kind of like bingo :) The best part of the day was when we went to Taco Bell. The kid behind the counter was just sitting there watching us look at the menu. So i asked him a question about one of the tacos. He gave me the blankest look i have ever seen. So i reworded it and still nothing. Hello anyone there???? Renee goes up and orders. He asked for her name so they can call it when her ordered is ready. He writes down Benea. really?!?! Then he stops and was like i don't know how to spell that. So she spells it for him abut he didn't get it and just sat there with the pen on the paper not changing it. It was really odd. Then i ordered and when we asked for my name i spelt it for him and he still go it wrong. this what he wrote down K A K E Y. We laughed so hard.

Last week I had my spelt Karrui, Kakey and kerriy. Really people? I know it's an odd spelling and that's why i spell if out for people all the time. So why when i spell it out for people they still get it wrong. I have dealt with my name being spelt wrong my whole life and honestly it doesn't bother me unless it's by a friend or even family member but this past week it has. I must be PMSing :)

I'm getting really excited for Christmas!! I'm almost done my shopping and i have made over 40 cards already :)

Tailgate Party

I was in my glory at work yesterday. We are half way through campaign season which means it's time for our mid way energizer party. Last year's party was pretty lame. It was more of a formal event at a fancy hotel it wasn't much of an energizer. This year we wanted to switch it up and have something more relaxed and fun. I was asked to be on the planning committee. Yay! I'm not sure how we got on the idea of have it a sports theme but i jokingly mentioned a tail gate party and everyone loved it. It went from there.

The other day i was driving home from work thinking about this theme and what i was going to wear when all of a sudden i remembered a friend of mine from back home who lives here now is a big Packers fan and even has the cheese head. I sent him a message and sure enough he said i could borrow them :)

Here are some pics. I had some much fun planning it and being involved. Everything went very well and everyone had a lot of fun.

nothing better then a hot dog with cheese :)

I was going to wear this until i found my cheese head

Nadine and her cute little baby bump

haha

minute to win it game

Elvis even came. I thought i couldn't sing :) At least he had the courage to get up there.

my fellow cheese head

Good times!!!

Summary of Europe

I can't believe I've been home for a month already. In some ways it feels i just got home in other ways it feels i never left.

Truth is i haven't felt like blogging about my amazing trip b/c i find it overwhelming. I have so many things i want to share and of course tons of pictures but i don't know where to start. I was just at Kris' and got her pictures but i still have Dad's to get. All together we took over 1,000 pics. Me taking the most of course (740 but got it down to 690). I took so many pictures of buildings that mean something at the time but now they all look the same lol.

The trip was way more then i hoped for. I have memories that i will cherish forever. People ask me what i liked the most. It's hard for me to answer that b/c there were so many good things. Here's a super quick condensed run down of the trip. I promise to add pictures soon.

I loved the time Dad and i spent in Normany. It's is gorgeous there! We rented a car and drove 3.5hrs to get to where we stayed. that whole time dad told me all he knows about WWII. He was prepping me for everything we were about to see. I loved it! I love his knowledge and passion for the war. he taught me a lot. It was neat to go there with him b/c he kept trying to picture what was happening back then. Definitely different seeing it in person. Highly recommended.

After Normady we met up with Kris in Brussells. Funny story, so my days were totally messed up and we also didn't meet her there until the next day. It wasn't until Dad wrote down the date that i clued in that we actually had to meet her the next day. Phew! Anyway, we met up and all was good. It was beautiful there! We had 2 days there but did everything in the first day so the next day we went to Brugge. I loved it there. It's full of canals and old buildings. Not as busy as Brussells. It was pretty laid back. We went on a canal tour and learned all about the buildings and such but of course i don't remember much of what they said anymore. Then we walked around and did some shopping for the rest of the day. i could have spend days there.

Paris was good but not nearly enough time there. 2 1/2 days only gives you a small taste. My first take on it was ok but then once we explored more i liked it way more. Next time I'll be spending more time there for sure.

Then off to Holland. First stop Amsterdam. Hated it! I guess i shouldn't say hated it but i really disliked it. It stunk so bad. We said it smelled like the 3 P's pee, poo and pot. It was really dirty too. We happened to be there on a Transvestite weekend. Interesting! The only thing i liked about it was Ann Franks House. That is worth going there for. We did the 30min intro before walking through the house which i totally recommend doing. After that we went on a bike tour which was good but by the end it was so crowded that it make it hard to bike.

After a day and a half there we had enough so we took a bus to Edam and rented bike and biked to Valderdam which is a cute fishing village. loved both of those places. Again could have spent more time there.

I loved loved loved the last week in Holland i think the most. I learned so much about my Grandpa's side of the family. We stayed with Oom Hans (Uncle Hans) and Tante Hinke (Aunt Hinke). He is my grandpa's brother, i don't remember ever meeting them before but apparently i did. They are the amazing people. They took us to the city they grew up in and we even got to go in their old house (which was taken over by the Germans in the war). We would stay up late every night asking so many questions about our family. We went for tons of bike rides, eat amazing food, relaxed and of course went site seeing. I didn't want to leave.

One day I'm going to go back and bike Holland.

Just looking out for me

I was talking to Kris last night making plans for this weekend (I'm going to good old Lethbridge). Anyway, she saying she was going to go for a bike ride with a friend on Saturday and Tori thought it would be fun if this friend brought over her 2 daughters for a play date while they were biking. this means i would be looking after all 4 (which totally is not an issue). So, Tori was sitting there listen to the conversation (like she always does) and asked if she could talk to me. I thought she just wanted to chat but this is what she really wanted to say.

"Hi Auntie Karey"
"Hello Miss Tori how's it going? Tell me all about your fun trip to the cabin"
"Umm later. I just wanted to say that having our friends over on Saturday will be good practice for when you have kids. Also i will come and help you anytime when you have kids"

So stinkin cute!!! Kris and i were laughing so hard. She's on one of her kicks about me having kids.

I was on FB last night while on the phone so i wasn't really paying attention to FB that is. Anyway, a friend that i haven't talked to for awhile starting chatting with me. She asked me if i have ever thought about sponsoring a child, totally random. Anyway long story short she came over and we filled everything out and now I'm sponsoring a little boy from Africa. I can't wait to get all the info on him. I have wanted to do this forever but never made the step to do it. I'm glad she randomly decided to ask me. She sponsors 2 and has met them both. It's actually kind of a cool story. She sponsored 2 from Mexico years ago but one of them moved out of the area so she couldn't sponsor her anymore. Meanwhile she was planning a trip there and went to meet the one she still did sponsor. while there she fell in love with this girl. The girl followed her everywhere she went. She came home with a few pictures of her. Her and her husband decided to sponsor another one once they got home and when they got their package it was the little girl she met while she was down there. Same dress as the pictures she brought home. Cool hey?

I finished Friday Night Lights...sad it's over :(

the girls are happy

I did something yesterday that i had never done before but always knew i should do. I got properly fitted for a bra. I promised myself once i lost all my weight i would do it but i kept putting it off b/c i knew it was going to be expensive. Well yesterday i was out trying to shop for my trip but kept getting distracted by how much i hated the bra i was wearing. I totally doesn't fit properly at all. I bought it just after i lost my weight but it totally wasn't the right style for me. I tried ignoring it but i couldn't any longer. I went to this store on the south side and bit the bullet. I felt sheepish once i was in there but i got a super great lady to help me and she made me feel totally at ease. She made me try on at least 10 bras (most of them more then once). all different shapes and sizes. i realized i was really picky about bras and this didn't help with the variety they had. apparently this is a bad time of year to shop for one b/c it's between seasons. Anyway, at first i was uncomfortable just standing there in a bra letting her check me out but by the end totally didn't care anymore. nor did i care about the door being open while she was doing it. I thought my cup size would have gone down b/c i know i have lost weight there but to my surprise they were up...way up. I know that it has a lot to do with style and brand ad stuff but i was wearing a C when i went in there and walked out in an E!!!! Goes to show the one i was wearing was totally not the right size. I would like to know what cup size i was before i lost 60lbs :) Side note but the lady beside me was wearing I cup size. I didn't see her but i kind of wanted to see how big she was lol.

Wow what i difference it is wearing a bra that fits. The girls look much better if you will :)

When i went to see Clinton Kelly (from What Not to Wear) he made us all promise to go get properly fitted for one. He said like many others that over 70% of the female population is wearing the wrong size bra. I now believe it.

Clinton making us promise :)

So the bra was really expensive and that pretty much ended my shopping trip for Europe but it was totally worth it :)

Randomness

look at this 2 posts in one week. what is the world coming to :)

Here's some pictures i took of the flowers in our yard.

Vicki wants to get rid of this peony. I don't want to. I think they are so beautiful.

didn't even notice the spider in there till i down loaded the pic.

Here's a pic of the the dead mouse i found after the snow melted. YUCK!!!! I also found little trails through the back yard from the mice which means they were in our back yard this winter. I told vicki (once i discovered this) that i wasn't going to mow the back lawn until she racked and picked everything up. that didn't happen so i decided to do it myself and sure enough I saw one running down the back part. i was proud of myself for not freaking out. It was b/c i was wearing runners, if i was in flip flops i would have FREAKED. I don't really go back there anymore :)

I was telling Laura about how my crocs melted last summer and told her i would take some pics of them for her. it's kind of hard to tell though. on the top one you can kind of see the darkened and bubbly parts. You know like melted plastic.

this one you can see how the heal curled in and again the darkened parts. I left them on the back beck which gets a lot of the sun. they were too close to the side of the house and i guess the heat from the siding melted them. Crazy hey!

I'm really into Friday Night Lights right now. I just found out today that the season that's on right now is the last one. I'm so sad.

Canada Day weekend

I'm just coming off of a 4 day weekend and I'm sad it's over. Going into the weekend i didn't really have any plans other then a few appointments and maybe a hike on Saturday. I was looking forward to just hanging out and getting some much needed things done. Well plans changed and i was actually really busy and it was great! Thursday I went to the dentist (no cavities but i need other expensive things done), then i went shopping for a dress before heading to physio, while out in Okotoks I stopped by my friends work for a visit. She works at a recycling place like the one in Nanamio but bigger. I found 2 awesome frames there that I'm going to paint. I heart them and the best part it she gave them to me for free b/c i didn't have any change on me :) then i went and did some more shopping and this time i found a dress for the wedding I'm going to and some cute shoes :) Then i came home, made dinner. i found this really good recipe i wanted to try called Summer Stew. Just as i got it into the over my friend called to see if i wanted to meet her a the mall. So Vicki got to enjoy the new recipe :) We met at Old Navy and tried on a ton of stuff but nothing was working for what i wanted. We walked around for awhile longer till her husband called and gave her a hard time so we parted ways. When i got home i enjoyed my dinner. sooooo good. I'll post the recipe later.

Friday morning we got up bright and early to head to Raymond for the big parade. We had to make a stop at Shoppers first which made us almost late but their usual spot was still open so we were happy :) It was soooo windy though. On the drive down i was hoping to get some sun b/c it seemed so nice out...until you stepped outside. We left right after the parade so i didn't get to see any of my old peeps there. We went back to her mom's for a few hours before driving back home with her niece and nephew. Once back in Cowtown we went downtown to watch the fireworks. they were downtown which may not have been the best place to bring the kids. Lets just say it was eye opening for these small town kids :)

Saturday Vicki and i got up early to go for a run. I should mention that i haven't gone for one in 2 weeks b/c of my knee but i thought that since i had physio the day before i would be fine. Nope, not so much. i made it 2.5k's before i couldn't run anymore. I felt bad for Vicki so i kept trying to push it but i don't think i should have. We made it home later then planned due to my needing to walk so much. We had to quickly get ready and leave so we could meet our friends for a hike. I was excited for the hike b/c i haven't been on one in years. It turns out that it was the some place i went snow shoeing a few years ago. This time it was a lot easier being 60lbs lighter :) It was a beautiful hike not too hard and not too easy. My knee was doing well until we hit the stairs at the top. I had to stay behind while they continued on but it as just a bonus part of the hike so it was ok. On the way back down i took the easy route since i could barely walk. It was kind of sad to me but at least i was outside enjoying nature. Hopefully i will be able to enjoy the whole hike next time :) after the hike we went out for lunch to our favorite place in Canmore (Grizzly Paw). Then came home had naps and then went to see Rio. Such a good movie, go see it.

Today was church and then we drove Vicki's niece and nephew to Claresholm where her mom met us so we didn't have to drive the whole way.

We as in Vicki did a lot of driving this week. All in all it was a great weekend. I'm so grateful for the time i got to spend in nature. I don't do it enough.

Vicki and Shelby at the fireworks

Me and Vix

at the start of the hike

Sam

Shelby

Brandon (Sam's son), Jon (hottie), Caroline (the mom) and Sam

Squirrel!

at the top. so beautiful!

one of the lakes at the top

the only pic of Ryan we could get.

thanks Vicki! not sure what i'm doing in this one. She made me keep it though.

the 2nd lake

can you see the guy climbing the rock. Crazy!

Ryan giving it a try. hahaha

2nd lake from up higher. Pictures don't do it justice.

the waterfall that i didn't get to see b/c i had to take the easy route. sigh!

How my trip to Europe came aboot

So back in Feb. I picked Kris up from the airport after a trip to the coast. she was saying in the car that Oma was going to Europe this year but the dates didn't really work for her (Kris) b/c it's just before school went back. I thought that was that. Fast forward to the end of March when i receive an email from her totally out of the blue with her flight confirmation. I was a little surprised since i didn't even know she was thinking about it anymore. Here's the thing i have always wanted to go to Europe with Oma and better yet Kris and Dad. She knew that b/c we talked about it before. so when i got that email i was a little choked b/c i thought she would have invited me or at least said something to me about it. I told her that and at the time i thought there was no way i could go since it was only a few months away but after a lot of thinking (sleepless nights even), talking to others and getting a raise at work, i was in. I also had to cancel the kayaking trip with Laura and Vicki which i felt really bad about. I was talking to Kris one night and we were talking about how awesome it would be if Dad came but we didn't think he would be able to b/c of the short notice. I called him and at first he said no but i didn't give up till he was in as well. I can't even begin to tell you how excited i am.

So Dad, Kris and I leave Aug 12, we'll have 10 days before Oma arrives. The day we land Kris is going to go visit some friends South of Holland and Dad and I are going to go to Vimy Ridge, Normandy and all that stuff (camping apparently), then we are going to meet in Brussels for 2 days, then Paris for 3 and then head to Amsterdam till we meet up with Oma and then spend the rest of the time in the Northern Holland. Where she will show us around and stuff. I plan on doing some family history while I'm there as well.

We didn't tell Oma our plan till we were out there for Easter. It was kind of funny b/c she is always trying to get me to go to Hawaii with her so i told her that i can't go to Hawaii b/c I'm go to Europe with her instead. After the shock wore off she said that's great but i still want you to come to Hawaii. It was cute :) She is really excited to show us around her old stompin ground.
I have been busy planning things, looking for hotels and so on. The other day I realized that i will be able to cross 2 things off my "life list" on this trip. 1. got to Europe with Dad, Kris and Oma 2. hot air balloon ride over Paris!!! I really hope it works out so we can go. I've had a hard time trying to find places you use b/c a lot of the sites are in french. I think Tori might have to translate for us :) They said they could teach us from french before we go lol.

Which reminds me of a cute story. The other day Kris was helping Tor with her homework but Tori was getting frustrated. Kris told her that her and Addi are already smarter then her (Kris) b/c they know 2 languages and she only knows one. then Addi who was coloring in the other room pipes up and says "Umm you know more the one language".
Kris "No i don't"
Addi "Yes you know Dutch. you say "vipping" cream all the time"
We call whipping cream vipping cream b/c that's how Oma says it lol. That kid is always on fire!

Anyway less then 3 months now. Crazy!

Running Blog

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I'll be posting my 1/2 marathon pics and thoughts on there soon.