Category Archives: Family

Be Having a Trophy Husband

As I sell Green Tea Hawaii in ECity, Sexy Neck is at home with our wee boys. 20140720-011757-4677094.jpg

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This is the first time in five years (since CC was born!) that I have done any type of paid work and the first time I have ever sold any product in my life. I am completely out of my comfort zone, humbled, confused at people’s purchasing choices and having a great time. I have met incredible people.

A Tibetan monk who is giving insight into the health of the Green Tea Hawaii owner.

A wonderful woman selling deep sea lotions and body scrubs.

A mom selling tights for her daughter’s new company.

Kind.

Authentic.

People.

Try to sell their wares.

Thirty year veterans of the fair.

Newbies like me!

Sexy Neck, my trophy husband, has been holding down the home front.

Here is the text I got about their day today:
Tried to get haircuts,
costco,
ate cones,
built a pulley system for the fort, worked a wee bit on the side yard, cleaned blown done branches,
swam,
couple movies,
dinner,
magic show, books,
power outage…

I wonder if all these wonderful activities caused the power to go out?

Doesn’t that sound like a fun day?

Side note: Praying for safety for everyone fighting the forest fires to the west of our city.

Be Sharing Green Tea Hawaii Love

My story with Green Tea Hawaii started even before I knew that Green Tea Hawaii existed. green tea logo In the summer of 2013, my mom was in profound pain. She had a distended stomach. We thought it was a bladder infection. It was cancer. She journeyed through six months with cancer, living in tremendous pain. We shared many moments shaving her head, watching the boys, cutting her toenails, living each moment. Very unexpectantly the cancer continued to multiply and mom became an angel in heaven on Boxing Day 2013.

Back in mid-October, Mom went to see a Physician at an Integrative Cancer Clinic that supports each patient’s emotional, physical and spiritual health. At this appointment, they doctor covered many topics from eating, exercise, supplements, meditation and encouraged mom on her overall cancer journey. One moment that made her laugh, was when he suggested that she drink ten cups of green tea per day. It has shown that drinking green tea slows down and even stops cancer cell’s from multiplying. My mom was barely eating nor drinking at this point, so the thought of drinking ten cups of green tea made us giggle. If I only knew…

Fast forward now to March, where our family had been given a great gift from a University friend and teammate, their house for ten days in Hawaii. We were also given free access to this amazing product that they own called Green Tea Hawaii. They had samples all over their kitchen counter and we helped ourselves.  Green Tea Hawaii changed our lives.

Everyone I know that has tried Green Tea Hawaii talks about the benefit of the extra energy. I now ride my bike at 6:00am, just because I want to and can. (And I ain’t no morning person!) I enjoy doing Jillian Michaels DVD’s in the afternoon and evenings because I have the energy to. Plus I still have lots left in me to be a present and loving mom to my three boys under seven. Before Green Tea Hawaii, I was struggling.

I love the L-theanine in the Green Tea Hawaii as it gives me a great sense of peace. The combination of the Noni and green tea is absolutely delicious. This is a sweet tea, but contains less than one gram of stevia and sugar. (One teaspoon of sugar is about four to five grams for those visual people.)

Hot or cold.

Shaken not stirred.

Mixed with about a cup of pure water

I have finally found my drink!

The health benefits of the Green Tea Hawaii take me back to the appointment with my mom. Each sleeve of the Green Tea Hawaii equal around 45 cups of Green Tea. Yup, you read that correctly. My mom could have drank just one sleeve and had more than the benefits of the 10 cups of tea that were recommended. satchet

 

The other benefit of Green Tea Hawaii is weight loss. This is an added bonus for me as I already love the health benefits of this product. If you take one sleeve fifteen minutes before breakfast and again before lunch, it revs up your metabolism. I am not entirely sure how this works, but as of today, I have lost fifteen pounds. But nothing compares to the taste, cancer fighting and energy that Green Tea Hawaii brings me.

My dad now uses Green Tea Hawaii to help with his arthritis from his hockey playing days. My husband doesn’t drink pop or energy drinks anymore and he has more energy than before. In one weekend, he planted twenty-two cedars and fifteen HUNDRED square feet of new grass. He had a Green Tea Hawaii in the afternoon and early evening which gave him what he needed to work hard. IMG_4165IMG_4172 Lastly, I have to tell you that after I discovered Green Tea Hawaii, I went to my Naturopathic Physician. Anything that I eat or drink on a daily basis, I like to check out with her. She looked at the ingredients and loved the product for me. She only cautioned the caffeine in Green Tea can disrupt your sleep cycle, so don’t have it after five o’clock in the evening. One sleeve of Green Tea Hawaii is the same amount of caffeine in one cup of Java. She loved the calming affect of the L-theanine as well as the health benefits of the high quality Green Tea from Japan and the Noni from the Polynesian Island. I am very excited and full of gratitude that I can share this product with anyone that would like to try it. Can you tell? IMG_4654IMG_4664
Off to ECity to learn more about Green Tea Hawaii.

Full of gratitude.

Full of energy.

Full of cancer fighting Green Tea.

Feeling the Hawaiian Noni love.

Sweet and cool on a hot day.

Warm and comforting on a cold day.

Healthy.

Green Tea Hawaii.

Love!

 

Sidenote: You can leave me a comment,  text or call me if you are interested in trying a sample.  I have had many people ask since this post.

 

Be Five

The days are sometimes long but the years are very short.

Five years ago, CC was born. This athletic, witty, smart, wondrous boy came into our family in the water on a Thursday just before lunch.

Today, full of gratitude for life, we celebrate five years with CC. He gets to choose what we eat: waffles, then Japanese food for lunch and frittata for dinner. Plus a birthday cake with vanilla icing. Decorated with a few surprises on top!

The planning started many weeks before. Here is our oldest and Sexy Neck creating a bed for CC’s teddy bear from scrap wood:

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Sexy Neck created another masterpiece:

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It was a water-filled birthday!

Be Living Beyond Expectations (Painting)

Who knew what these last twelve months would bring?

Surprise after surprise, both wonderful and heartbreaking.

My self-assessment twelve months ago would have used the descriptors: mom, wife, daughter, previous jock, teacher-on-leave, Vtown girl…

I no longer live in Vtown, nor think of myself as a teacher, neither do I have a living mother anymore… The fact that I am painting makes me lie of the floor.

I was introduced to watercolour painting by Herta at this retreat. Sexy Neck bought me a set of paints for my birthday in a month later.

My heart is full of gratitude for having the luxury to play with colour on beautiful watercolour paper. My boys love it and always join me. We paint quietly together often talking about cool new colour creation or telling each other what we can see.IMG_4842 IMG_4843 IMG_4844 IMG_4845 IMG_4846

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creative.

Peace.

Soul care.

Colourful.

Uplifting.

Unexplainable.

A pure gift from God.

Beyond anything I ‘thought’ I could do.

Have you lived beyond your expectations today?
Two year old OC:
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Almost Five year old CC

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Seven year old JC’s paintings including a hairless one of me.

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My paintings from my soul, feelings and things I see in God’s creation.

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Expectations.

Chains or freedom.

Choosing freedom.

Living in the beyond.

Painting.

Playing.

Expressing.

Me!

Be Having a Week of Cousins

We have had lots of love pop into our hood this week! Thanks family for reaching into our world. Two sets of cousins I haven’t met their children before and another family we haven’t seen together in about a year.

I love it when everything comes together.

Full of gratitude for the Cousin love this week:

Sam, Terry & Dani (almost 3) from outside Cowtown

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Uncle R, Auntie R, M and L from VCity

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Uncle D and Auntie J with Emi (3 1/2) and Nic (18 mos.) also from VCity

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Be Saying ‘Thank You’ to my Mom’s CFUW friends

I have talked before about my salty people. As my mom and dad journeyed through cancer, I got to see first hand the saltiness of their friends.

Yesterday, I was fortunate to help my dad host a group of my mom’s favourite people at their house overlooking the lake.

20140709-202042-73242308.jpgAll of these women belong to the CFUW. (Canadian Federation of University Women)

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Mom moved full time to Vtown when JC, our oldest, was three months old in July of 2007. Over the years as mom and I talked about all the amazing people she was meeting hiking, biking, quilting, volunteering or even her next door neighbour, mom always expressed “oh she’s in CFUW too!” They are everywhere.

20140709-202224-73344037.jpg“Where are Nana’s friends?”

I have taken up riding my bike very early in the morning. For those who know me well, you are probably lying on the floor laughing or passed out, as you know I not a morning person nor much of a long distance bike rider. I feel close to my mom in the quiet mornings as the pedals crank and hear the birds. I also love seeing who is out and about as well as exploring this new city. Earlier this week, I chose a random street along the lake and you will never guess what I saw. A sign stating:

20140710-080735-29255301.jpgThe CFUW are everywhere, even taking care of a street along the lake.

During my mom’s cancer journey, her CFUW friends were everywhere. They provided food delivered to hospice for our family, picked up boxes of books to be donated, just because I asked. They provided close conversation and space for mom to be herself. They brought pictures to uplift and stories to comfort. This group of women did everything they could for my family and especially my dear mom.

At the Vancouver Peace Summit in 2009, the Dalai Lama foretold that Western women will save the world. After watching my mom’s CFUW friends, I believe him.

With gratitude,

For all the gifts,

Giving freely and lovingly,

Over the course of this last year!

To a group of women,

Who gave these gifts,

Of themselves, through themselves,

Independently and collectively,

Thank you from the bottom of my family’s hearts and stomachs!

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Be Doing A Less Than $5000 Kitchen Reno

Kitchen Renovation anyone? Just say No!

I had no idea why kitchens cost so much to renovate.

My family (including my mom and dad last July) has put so much sweat equity into this kitchen it should be worth $100,000. We spent less than $5000, new-to-us appliances included.

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Here is our work at this humbling progress. From brown wood and lino floors to white walls, avocado cupboards and engineered hardwood.

We found a guy who makes laminate countertops in his garage. Perfect!

Our amazing contractor installed the wood floors, a new door and my parents put their skill into painting the cupboards.

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We bought a secondhand Bosch dishwasher for $200 and splurged on a new faucet, fridge, stove and hardware.

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Here is what we started with:
1960’s kitchen with ‘newer’ appliances.

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First week: Paint June 23, 2013

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Week Two: Laminate Countertop July, 2013

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Week Three: Engineered Hardwood floors and copious amounts of coats of paint. I think it was FIVE coats of paint to be exact. July, 2013

Week Four and throughout the NEXT YEAR!: Final paint and new hardware. Viola c’est fini! June 15, 2014!

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This kitchen is inspired by this photo from houzz.com and our designer friends Robyn and Angela.

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Many, many hours of painting by Steve, my mom and dad made this $5000 transformation possible. It was a labour of love.

Let’s review–
BEFORE:

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With God all things are possible.

With Sexy Neck’s ideas and vision a smokey house became a home.

With my parents labour of love, our roots have grown deep.

With our boys love of fort building, creating and playing every corner of our home has been explored and filled.

With old and new friends stopping by laughter and memories have brought us home.

Be a Golf Camper in 2014

 

 

 

 

 

It always amazes me the memories that we hold dear to us. I love hearing peoples stories for this very reason.

My boys memories are especially sweet for me because they often have a profound deepness about them and sometimes they are seriously silly!

Last year I blogged about our oldest experiencing a golf camp here.

 

 

Here are both of our boys at golf camp today.  JC is seven and CC is almost five.  (We snuck him in!) They were very excited to go together and ride in the golf cart, putting the ball down hill very carefully and driving the ball towards a yellow flag.

The boys are waiting for camp to begin.  Papa is in the background chatting to the instructor.  20140702-213819-77899966.jpg

The boys were ready and in the car before any of us this morning… thank goodness the car was in the garage or they would have had to get out because it was hot, hot, hot today! 20140702-213817-77897893.jpg

The boys getting ready to ride the cart down to the driving range.  20140702-213823-77903218.jpgJC brought up a memory from last year.  Nana had walked down to the driving range to watch him hit the ball.  At the end of the session Nana decided to race the golf cart back up the hill.  JC remembered her running fast.  And in true Nana fashion, she won the race!

How can this only be a year ago?  How could she have been in the hospital only a month later? And DEAD five months later?

Memories.

Tumbling forth.

Beautiful, driven Nana.

Boys who cherished her presence.

Loving.

Determined.

Encouraging.

Present.

Nana.

 

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