High Five For Friday- 25.03.2016

It is Good Friday and the beginning of the Easter weekend!  I am looking forward to celebrating the Resurrection, seeing family and having some time with Hubby.  Here are five highlights from my week:

1.)  When Hubby was home last weekend, we tried converting the crib to a toddler bed.  It did not go well and we changed it back pretty quickly!  Miss. E refused to stay in her bed and kept crawling out.  Miss. E had a blast "helping" us take the crib apart and put it back together.

2.)  I started working out again this week.  I am so happy that I did.  Working out makes me feel strong, healthy and energized.  I do the Bikini Body Mommy workouts.  I am currently doing Bikini Body Mommy Challenge 4.0.  I love Brianna's workouts.  They can be done at home, they are quick and I always feel like I have worked HARD.  I previously did the 3.0 Challenge and saw fabulous results.  I am hoping for the same thing this time!

3.)  Miss. E has been a lot of fun this week.  She is putting together little sentences and she is making me giggle.  She has taken to eating her yogurt and then rubbing it on her face.  Oh my!  It is very messy.  Maybe she is just trying to give herself a facial!

(Yup, these are Christmas jammies.  They still fit, so she is still wearing them.  They are so fuzzy and warm, especially with our recent snow!)

4.)  I had a really nice tea with my friend and she gave me the sweetest "going away" gift.  She is thoughtful and kind.  I really appreciate her friendship, especially over the past few months!

5.)  We got our satellite television hooked up again.  We had disconnected our service when Hubby wasn't working.  We can afford to have it again and I am so excited!  I really enjoy television and it is nice to have it back!

Have a lovely Easter weekend, everyone!  If you want to keep up with all of our Easter fun, be sure to follow me on Instagram!

If you want to participate in H54F, join the link up with the lovely ladies below!

Good Friday and Easter

Good Friday is tomorrow and that has me reflecting on the Easter season.  Good Friday is the day that we solemnly remember the ultimate sacrifice that Christ paid for our sins.  He was brutally abused and crucified.  He hung beside common criminals, when He had not committed sin.  Thinking about it makes my heart ache.  He gave up his life so that we could live everlasting life with Him.  

Our God loves us so much and it truly astounds me.  I find such shelter and comfort in this love.  I also feel called to try to be the person that God wants me to be.  I know that I will always fall short, but I take comfort in the fact that I am forgiven.

Tomorrow, I will take Miss. E to mass and we will remember the sacrifice Jesus gave.  (Hubby will be traveling home and likely won't be home in time for church.)  I look forward to Easter Sunday when we can celebrate the resurrection and Jesus' victory over death.

 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have everlasting life."

I pray that your Easter weekend will be a wonderful time for reflection, family and celebration.  I wish you all a very happy Easter!

High Five For Friday- 18.03.16

Hello Friday!  Hubby drove home late last night and it was so nice to wake up with him here this morning!  Here are my five:

1.)  Our house is listed!  Most of the work is done and it is all cleaned up.  I hope it sells quickly, but I am not sure it will with the market being low around here.  Did you catch my post about staging our living room?  You can read it here.

2.)  My Mom, Miss. E and I had a shopping day in the city last Friday.  We went for authentic Italian pizza, which Mom and I really enjoyed!  Miss. E was not a fan and had fries later on!  Ha ha!  We hit a few stores and I found some really great Spring pieces.  (Yes, I am shopping again.  I have definitely reigned it in, but I am shopping.)

3.)  We are back home!  I really appreciated my Mom and Dad's hospitality when we were staying with them.  They really helped me out and spoiled us!  It feels good to be home, though.  I missed my bed, my couch and my routine.  It is good to be back.  Mom even sent me home with some of the Reese's eggs which of course I have been gobbling up!

4.)  Work went well this week.  It was crazy busy for the first 2 days but still good.  We have 2 new instruments in the lab and they work so well.  It makes a HUGE difference in my day.  Miss. E was even excited to go to the babysitter.  I was dreading dropping her off, but she was so excited to play with her friends.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, she didn't even say goodbye!  She just ran off to go play, which made things much easier on this Mama.

5.)  I won an Instagram giveaway!  Woo hoo!  I follow Carlton Cards on Instagram and liked one of their photos.  They commented that I had won a pack of their cards!  I was so excited.  If given the choice, Carlton is my favourite card shop.  They are always beautiful and well made!

I will leave you with a couple of photos from yesterday.  Miss. E and I didn't do anything special for St. Patrick's day, but we did dress in green!  We are a wee bit Irish and I always like to recognize that part of my roots on St. Patrick's day.  Have a fabulous weekend!

Do you want to join in the link up?  Link up with the lovely ladies below and tell us your five!

Staging Our House- The Living Room

Our house is officially on the market.  Last weekend, I ran around like crazy trying to get the house ready to sell.  We had done all of our big purges and had cleared most of our clutter.  I put the house back together, cleaned and staged our home.  I want our house to be a place that someone can imagine themselves in.  It is a tough market around here, with the economic downturn, so I want to make our home as appealing as possible.

I staged our living room with what we already owned.  I added a few touches that I purchased at HomeSense.  I staged the ladder shelf, hid the toys and added some throw pillows.  I plan to keep fresh flowers in the living room to help brighten the space.  (Shortly after these photos were taken, Miss. E tore my pretty tulips apart!  I usually move them up on a counter while she is playing so she can't get them.  I will have to make sure I do that in the future...)

I looked for ideas on Pinterest for staging the ladder shelf.  After I had my inspiration, I brought out the items that I owned and knew would work.  I purchased the few things I needed to make the shelf complete.  I am quite pleased with how it all turned out.

Never underestimate the power of clean and tidy.  If your house is dirty, people will be grossed out.  If your house is cluttered, people have a difficult time looking past your belongings and imagining themselves in your home.  

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my living room!

High Five For Friday- 11-03-16

I have always loved Fridays, but now that Hubby is working away they have become even more special.  He comes home every Friday.  Miss. E and I are always eager to see him and he is excited to see us!  Here are my five:

1.)  I have been staying with my parents because of my restrictions after surgery.  They are amazing people and have been so generous.  They play with Miss. E, spoil us with yummy meals and take great care of us.  I am so fortunate to have family who are so wonderful.

2.)  My parents completed all the painting at my house.  It looks amazing!  I am so grateful that they did it.  We will be able to list our house for sale on Monday.  I am so excited!

3.)  I had a lovely day to myself on Tuesday.  I went to the optometrist in the city.  I got some contact lenses.  They really come in handy, because Miss. E has a love of mucking up my glasses!  I had a yummy latte from Starbucks and did a little shopping.  It was a really nice day.

4.)  Miss. E went to the babysitter for a few hours this week.  I didn't want next week to be a shock to her.  I work 3 days next week and thought it might be nice for her to have a "warm up" day with the babysitter.  She had a blast playing with her buddy!  She was so happy and talked about him the rest of the day.

5.)  My parents have PVR, which is something that Hubby and I don't have.  My Mom PVRs Fixer Upper episodes,  I LOVE that show!  I think that Chip and Joanna have such a lovely relationship.  They are so kind and respectful to one another.  They also have a lot of fun!  I find that most T.V. shows like to focus on angst-filled relationships, so Fixer Upper feels like a breath of fresh air!  I also love Joanna's design style.   It is beautiful, clean and bright!

Have a fabulous weekend, friends!  If you want to join in H54F, join the lovely ladies below!