Feeling lucky.

You know those *I hate life right now* moments. Those situations where one thing after another just finally breaks you and even the things you have already dealt with are issues that come up to just prove that you have the worst luck in the world. 

That was me this morning. In the Rexall parking lot. 

Today I decided to stay home from work as Sophie is sick and miserable. We ran out of tylenol so we has to make a quick trip to get some more. 

While walking into the pharmacy a car in the parking lot was leaving quick and spinning its wheels. I though geez that asshat is going to hurt someone or shatter someones window with all the rocks being spit out from the tires. I carried on because taking out a sick toddler with a super energetic 4 yr old while being super big, ready to be done being pregnant is NOT fun, EVER! 

But then I came out to this! Yes my friends my thoughts about windows getting shattered from flying rocks was indeed true. FOR MY VEHICLE!! 

I lost my emotional $#!%... ugly cry face and everything. 

The one van door won't open so I have to buckle 2 carseats from one side. My belly is getting in the way. I am so tired. We are having another baby soon. We just replaced our hot water tank. We just bought a new washer & dryer. We put my 15 yr old cat down. We just redid our bedroom. Our house taxes were missed by our mortgage company so a surprise large lump sum payment had to be set up ASAP. Why am I planning and saving when nothing goes to what I am planning and saving for.... Is insurance going to cover this. Why out of all days did I decide to leave my cell phone at home. Why is there so many options to choose from when calling EPS now??. No I didn't get a license plate number. Why is Kris not answering his phone....  and yea you know the snowball effect.. 

I gathered myself enough to make the short drive home, set the kids up with a movie and called my insurance company. It was a little bit of a wait to talk to the adjuster and the end result was that it wasn't covered. But I had time to calm down and reflect. 

None of this was anything I could control.

I am lucky no one was in the van when it happened. 
I am lucky that I am in a fortunate enough situation to be able to save money in general. 
I have a wonderfully loving husband who came home from work to support the wife that sounded like a hot mess on the phone leaving the message just after it happened.
I have an amazingly heroic brother in law who was able to find a replacement for me and have it replaced by 4:30pm for a price that I dare not even brag about. 
Again I have an amazing husband for taking it in to get it replaced for me. 

I am just lucky! 

I made sure to send an email to my insurance company telling them that their customer service was as alway amazing and to please pass that on to the employee because people are always so quick to send the hate but never the love. And then I promptly went and spent the afternoon cuddled with my kids. 

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DIY Pizza Pockets. #easy #freezerfriendly #yummy #basicingredients #budgetfriendly

This past weekend I think my nesting kicked in.... 
The baby will be here in a bit and my mom will be staying with the kids. I want to have meals prepared for her and the kids and I want meals for when I come home too. 

I remember going from 1 child to 2...Carter was so much more smaller...and could be easily swayed by some cut up cheese and baby mum mum's. 

Gone are those days. Both Carter and Sophie want something with substance. 
And their always asked for food lately.... PIZZA. 

This is an easy recipe for DIY pizza pockets - one I hope becomes a favourite of yours. You can freeze them and they are good in the freezer for up to 3 months (Not that ours will ever last that long). From start to finish it took me about 45-60 minutes to make 17. But this was also with the kids so the process was a little bit more drawn out.  

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.
• In a bowl mix 2 tablespoons of dry active yeast in with 2 cups of warm water. Let it dissolve. 
• Mix in 2 teaspoons of sugar (I used coconut palm sugar), 2 teaspoons of salt, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, and 5 cups of flour. (I used regular unbleached flour)
• Once all mixed together knead the dough for about 2 minutes.  
• Let dough sit for 10 minutes.**This is a good time to chop your ingredients up if you haven't already started!!**
• Knead dough for 2 minutes
• Let sit for 10 minutes
• Split dough into pieces. It will yield 15-17 pieces.
• You can roll the dough out with a rolling pin or you can shape with your hands into a circle - either works well.
• To fill your pizza pockets pick your favourite ingredients. We used cut up green & red pepper, mushrooms. pineapple, olives and of course pizza sauce and grated cheese. Put ingredients in the middle and then fold in half.  Think pyrohy, but bigger! **Remember to not fill it too full as you want to be able to seal the edges**
• Brush both sides with a bit of olive oil, put on a greased cookie sheet and cook for 10 minutes or until a little browned.
• Once out of the over, they are ready to be served or you can cool them and then freeze them for another day..

To enjoy from the freezer just pop in the microwave for approx. 1 min and they are ready to eat!

√ One more thing off my to do list. 


Try these other ingredient pairings
Ground beef & cheese 
Ham & cheese 
Chicken, broccoli, and cheese 



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See the City of Edmonton attractions on a #budget Buy the Edmonton Attractions Pass.

Did you know that there is a way to access the City of Edmonton events and activities for an even cheaper price than if you were to pay for admission separately? The City of Edmonton is selling their Edmonton Attraction pass again this year and there are 2 options to choose from - and the deal saves you up to 60%!!! 

Ultimate Attraction Pass

This gives you access to every event and activity that is offered through the pass. The cost for a pass is $62.95 per adult and $47.25 per child 3 and older. 

U-Pick Pass

This gives you the option to pick from activities and events that are offered through the Ultimate Attraction pass but on a limited basis. 

The cost for a pass is $36.70 per adult and $25.73 per child 3 and older. 

**For BOTH options. Children 2 years of age and younger are ALWAYS free when accompanied by an adult**

Want to see exactly what activities and events are offered through each pass? 

Check out the Edmonton Attractions Pass website for all the deets! 

Events and activities include but are not limited to: General admission to K-Days, Prairie Gardens, Aviation Museum, The Art Gallery, and Jurassic Forrest- just to name a few. 

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Carter's sales #thegreatwinterclearance #carters #sale #clearance

My bank account has a pretty good dent in it right now from a pretty awesome sale going on at Carter's. 

This new baby is going to be one brillantly dressed little man! 

You can shop online >>here<< or shop in store. 

Regardless the deals are #awesome 

Planning to shop online?? Make sure you go through Ebates to get 2.5% back!!  

(Learn about Ebates and how awesome it is here) 

Christine Confessions - YouTube & Marriage #mustwatch #happyheart #weddings

Okay I must confess, I have an obsession with watching a few things on YouTube. 

Wedding proposals and surprise/flash mob dances at weddings. Those are one the top of my list. I love watching them - sometimes I ugly cry - hello hormones! But mostly watching these types of videos just makes me super happy! 

Check out my top 5 favs! 

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Oh how they grow. Cherish these moments. #cherish #yegkids

When we moved into our house the master bedroom was on our list of things to fix up/re do. We knew that it would have to be done before the next baby arrived because the plan - as it was with Carter and Sophie is to have the baby in the same room as us for the first little while. 

So while taking the floor out this weekend, our 4 year old going on 30 year old insisted, yes insisted that he be given some jobs to do during this Reno. Kris set up his I phone and recorded the whole process and then sped it up. 

It took awhile and yes Kris could have done it 1,000,000 x faster but it was important for Carter to feel included in this process and it also helps to give him a good sense of work ethic. And of course he owned it. 

He's growing up too fast and it's bitter sweet. I ask him to stay little. He reminds me that he grows because I keep feeding him. Touche - I am so proud of the little man he is becoming. 

P.S.

Final product to be revealed soon. 

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Get ready for Slide the City on July 18th! #yegfun #slide #yegevents

Rain or shine its coming to Edmonton

Slide the City is happening on  Saturday July 18th and it's going to be so much fun!
Location is TBA and the requirements to be able to use the slide are: children must be over 46 inches tall or over 5 yrs of age - which ever applies on the day of. Also anyone under the age of 18 will require a permission slip/waiver signed by legal guardians. 

There are 3 ticket tier options for different prices. From a single ride, 3 rides, to a VIP ticket which gets you sliding privileges 1 hour before and after the regular times plus unlimited slides through out the day. 

Registration isn't open yet to buy tickets but you can sign up to get updates for when tickets will be made available, plus check out specific ticket prices for each option, plus so much more! 

>>>>>Website here<<<<<

Conversation starters of just stuff - you decide! #funfactfriday

I have a love for learning facts. Fun facts. Useless facts. Scientific facts. Statistics. YES, I love it all. So I figured this would be a great thing to share  every once in a while because in my opinion, you can never have enough knowledge!! 

#1 - One of the biggest sources of BPA's....is from receipts! Yes those receipts that have that nice smooth touch. BPA's all the way! 

#2 - When it is about to rain and that familiar "It smells like rain is coming" is actually oils lifting up from the roads. 

#3 - When the Expedit shelves were discontinued by Ikea record collectors near and far were of the many completely saddened by the discontinuing of the shelves. Why? Because they fit a record perfectly!! 

#4 - With the recent rulings in California made regarding more humane treatment for chickens and the conditions in which they live, this has started to pave the way for better treatment for chickens in other states. AND its crossing over to Canada. What does that mean for us? Even more humanely raised chickens! Yay!! 

Until next time.. hope you enjoyed these #facts! 

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The Loft - One of my favourite weekend restaurants! #yummy #justgo #cinnamonbunbreakfast

Just off the highway in Spruce Grove is Sandy View Farms deli - a place to get some amazing cuts of meat that have no fillers, MSG, a section of meat that is hormone free plus more. . 

Above the deli is an AMAZING quaint restaurant called The Loft. There are times where the line goes down the stairs but it's never a super long wait, and it's worth it.It is one of our favourite places to go for breakfast and we try to go as often as we can!           

Cream Cheese Explosion!

My absolute favourite is the Cream Cheese explosion. It's French Toast and it tastes like the best cinnamon bun that will ever cross your lips.  There are many other equally delicious menu items, made from scratch in house. Plus the customer service is phenomenal. 

Want to check out Sandy View Farms and The Loft??? They are located at 155 South Avenue, Spruce Grove and their menus can be viewed here. 
You won't be sorry you decided to check it out!

Ps. Sandy View Farms also has a location at the Enjoy Centre in St. Albert!!!

Dear Target #goodbye

Dear Target,
Unfortunately we never became friends. We never made a connection and this is why.....

I had hoped your shelves would be stocked with the same items as the ones in the United States. Before you opened I dreamt about affordable non-toxic sunscreen, competitive prices, and the other different products you had. The first day you opened at West Edmonton mall I went and searched for all these things...nada...alas I left.

Your shelves were never fully stocked from the beginning. Your shelves always looked bare. I can count on my one hand I went into you store and actually came out with something.

Your prices weren't competitive. One time. One time I went in there and found a pair of fluorescent pink pants for Sophie for under $2. Everything else you generally had on sale in my opinion was still cheaper for regular price at other stores. (Let's see how these "liquidation" prices are)

Most importantly and lastly. You have now paved jack hammered the crap out of the path for other American businesses crossing over to Canada. You have made it so that other American companies probably won't cross over the border and give us Canadians a chance for a long time.

Good bye Target. I am not sad to see you go!

The easy way to peel a pomegranate fruit. #fruithacks #lifehacks #yummy

Carter and Sophie love love love to eat pomegranates. While it's a good fine motor skill activity for kids when picking out the seeds (and a messy one at that) there is an easier way to get it peeled and ready to eat in no time. 

Once finished doing this you can rinse the seeds to get rid of any small white bits but otherwise you are good to go! 

Did you know that pomegranates are a great source of fibre, vitamin C and vitamin B, among many other health benefits! 

They go good in yogurt, smoothies, salads, or on their own!

~Enjoy~

P.S. 

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