Found this on a few blogs and decided to snatch it up.


2005; A Year in Retrospect.

JANUARY
Did you make a New Year's Resolution this year?
January seems like forever ago. I can’t remember. Don’t think I did though.

Who kissed you at midnight?
Jimmy and I spent New Years Eve moving into the apartment we are living in now. If we were still awake at midnight, Jimmy would’ve been my midnight smooch.



Took this picture right before heading to bed....and one year later.....everything still looks pretty much the same... I won't show you any pictures of the basement where the bathroom and bedrooms are. The upstairs was unpacked and set up that first day...and we slept on a mattress on the floor downstairs that night.

Did it snow where you live?
Yeah, January is a big snow month.

Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop?
Nope, but Jimmy and I were in Times Square this summer during our honeymoon and I know exactly where the ball drops from.

FEBRUARY

Who was your valentine?
If I said anyone other than Jimmy, I’d be in trouble. No, waitaminute, there was also Banner. Ok, I had two valentines.

What did your valentine get you?
Whoa back up!!! Who gets gifts? I’ve never gotten anything.

MARCH

Are you Irish?
My mom says she has Irish in her family, so that means somewhere down the line, I am a teensy bit too right?

Did you wear green on St. Patty's Day?
I don’t think I even own anything green.

What did you do for St. Patty's Day?



Me and my Nana - no comment on who was the worse influence..

APRIL

Do you like the rain?
Not particularly. I have high maintenance hair. Porno hair looks more like drowned rat hair in the rain.

Did you play an April Fool's joke on anyone this year?
100% positive I didn’t.

Did you get tons of candy on Easter?
Jimmy’s family buys all sorts of shit. Too much actually. And my mom buys me those huge bags of Mini Eggies. Like 3 lbs of them.

MAY

What's your favorite kind of flower?
I’m the kind of girl who wears daisies my hair. I like them all. Bright colorful bouquets, small simple ones, whatever. I went slightly simple with my wedding bouquets and now….they are my new favorite and because the wrong ones were delivered, I haven’t a clue what they were.

Oh, and while I was searching for a pic of my bouquet, I found this and just wanted to share.

Do you like the spring?
Yup, it’s not too hot and not too cold.

Finish the phrase: "April showers bring..."
May flowers. (couldn’t think of anything else…if it aint broke…)

JUNE

What year did you graduate from school?
Grade 12 June 1996 and went back for more torture....OAC (Grade 13)
Did you go on any vacations last June?
Nope, too busy with wedding planning.

JULY

What did you do on the 4th of July?
The Canadians I know do nothing on the 4th of July. But on July 1st this year, it was cold and rainy so I skipped the Canada Day celebrations.

Did you go on any vacations during this month?
Yup, honeymooned in NYC.

AUGUST

Did you do anything special to end off your summer?
We always one last big BBQs a pig roast and end of the summer parties out at cottages.

What was your favorite summer memory of '05?
My wedding and honeymoon.

Did you go swimming a lot in the summer?
I haven’t owned a bathing suit since I was 14.

Did you go to the beach a lot? Girls who don’t wear bathing suits don’t hang out on the beach.

SEPTEMBER

Did you attend school/college in '05?
Nope. I’ve forgotten what that is all about.

Who is/was your favorite teacher?
Mme Chenier…..was my creative writing teacher and also creative writing club supervisor.

Did you like fall better than summer?
Things started to cool down…so yeah.

OCTOBER

What was your favorite Halloween costume ever?
Cruella Deville. I’ve dressed up as her for 3-4 times. I really dig her hair. It’s sooo Raina!

What's your favorite candy?
Any of those little mini-chocolate bars.

What did you dress up like this year?
Cruella…of course. She’s a meanie, but soo darn fashionably fashionable. Bwa-hahaha.

NOVEMBER

Whose house did you go to for Thanksgiving?
What’s wrong with me…that wasn’t too long ago but for the life of me, I cannot remember. Hmm, where the heck did I go? Either to my parents or Jimmy’s parents.

Do you like stuffing?
I say no, but the truth is that I’ve never really tasted it. Doesn’t it come out of the turkey’s butt?

What are you thankful for?
My family and friends, Jimmy and I both have jobs, health, happiness and electricity. Oh, and hairspray.

DECEMBER

Do you celebrate Christmas?
Yes I do. With a bazillion happy healthy family members.

Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe?
Don’t think I ever have.

What did you want this year for Christmas?
All the things I mentioned wanting were under the tree.

What's the best present you ever got for Christmas?
Soo many good ones, but this year was the year of The Rebel!!!

Do you like cold weather?
As if!

How would you rate your year on a scale of 1-10?
Soo much happiness in 2005, but lots of bad news too.
I have way huge expectations for 2006….. Bring it!

The Post-Christmas post.

It's all over. Caroline is leaving tomorrow to head back to Ottawa, work is just around the corner. And so is a brand spanking new year. Sooo ready for a fresh start. I have huge expectations for 2006. Finally, Jimmy and I are gonna get some luck.(at least I hope.)

So in a nutshell.... Christmas Eve was with my family. My immediate family pays our annual once-a-year visit to church and then it's off to my aunt and uncle's where my dad's side of the family gets together, we play 'Christmas' games and then the food follows all the midnight Christmas kisses. Then with full bellies, we head home to bed.

Being newly-weds, this year was different for Jimmy & I. We both ALWAYS woke up at our parents homes and opened gifts separately. While we were living in Ottawa, when we came home for visits, we moved back into our childhood bedrooms. Nowadays, Jimmy and I are living in the same city as our parents. (When I drive, I time everything by songs....my parents live 1.5 songs away from our place and Jimmy's parent's are 2 songs away. Soooo different from Ottawa.) This year, I decided Jimmy and I should open our gifts together with each parent. Jimmy's parents house was the first stop at 8am. The tree looked like it had puked up gifts, there were soo many. And one gift was opened at a time....with everyone else as the audience. Sooo different than at my parent's place. It took 3 hours and Jimmy's father and brother in law got lots of tools. They all looked the same to me.

Then it was off to my parents home. I told Jimmy to prepare for the whirlwind cause we did things much different. Unlike Jimmy's parents who wrap money, my parents give mostly gifts. Soooo, we open gifts and then throw the paper on the ground. At Jimmy's parents, we have to keep the paper money separate from the wrapping paper so as we unwrap, the paper goes into a garbage bag!!!! Seriously, who does this? Anybody else?

After opening gifts, Jimmy and I ate breakfast with my family before heading home to shower and dress for dinner with Jimmy's side of the family. Lots of running back and forth. The things we do for free meals huh?

Finally came Boxing Day. The last party for a few days. Back to my side of the family for yet another free supper. My uncle is the coolest. After his divorce from a crazy woman, he moved into his own house where there are no rules!! Bwa-hahaha. After his two daughters (both equally selfish) decided they'd rather move away to live with their mother and her rich boyfriend (ah yes, money buys happiness for these two morons) my uncle decided there was no point in sitting around waiting for his girls to come back (or even call). Boxing Day is his day and we make sure we all show up, party hard (and loud) and show him that he love him.

I have a REALLY special family. I have a family that most of my friends are jealous of. All my uncles and aunts are suportive, cool and very open-minded. And whereas most kids party with their friends, in my family we party with our parents who are our friends. We're young, we do stupid things....and our parents outdrink the best of us. We spend the weekends with our parents and invite our friends along to join in....and our friends are blown away every time.

Is it really over?

Christmas flew by this year. Our annual Boxing Day Party is the last till New Years. Now we just wait, rest and prepare to do it all over again in a few days.

Today's agenda includes doing a little cleaning, putting away all our gifts that have been stashed in the bedroom (so that Banner couldn't get at them while we were out whooping it up with family), spending time with Banner and giving him a walk AND THEN.........finally installing software for my best Christmas gift ever.........I want to see my REBEL-tastic picures pronto!!! But before I get dessert, I must eat all my veggies!

Christmas is just around the corner and I've yet to step into the mall.

My Christmas cards are laying around and not mailing themselves.

My staff party is tomorow night and dinner will be served at 6:30pm. My tummy will be rumbling at 5pm.

My peppermint schnapps advent calendar...drank it, again! Thank goodness the the liquor store is next door to the office. (I'm almost positive I can make it last till 24th. I only need 9 shots outta this bottle...then the rest can accompany me on Christmas Eve.)

I smell like a large candycane.

Now if this ain't a Christmas card picture, I don't know what is.



no just kidding, here it is.



Ok, the Christmas spirit is sneaking up on me. Still haven't finished shopping, but my parents came over with a fibre optic tree, no lights or decorations needed. Did the trick. Alright Christmas, come to Raina!!!

Weather update: EFFING COLD OUT!

Randomness

Got tagged by Jocelyn to share 20 random facts about myself. And seeing I'm such a trouper, I obliged.

1. Christmas is just around the corner and I’ve yet to start shopping. This is sooo unlike me. I usually have shopping completely done by now. And I have no idea when it’ll actually get done. Jimmy and I do everything together, like a team. Because of our jobs, we don’t see each other anymore. It sucks.

2. I’m a huge flirt. It’s gotten me into trouble soo many times. Now I'm more careful.

3. One of the biggest thrills of my life.



4. It’s A Wonderful World was playing at the same time as the Victoria Secret’s Fashion Show tonight and I opted for the fashion show. (p.s. I’ve never seen It’s A Wonderful World.)

5. Christmas is coming, and then my birthday is in January. Everyone is asking me for gift ideas….who needs anything right after Christmas?? Not me. Anyways, I can’t even think of anything that I need for Christmas this year. Soooo after thinking really hard, I finally came up with a teapot, Elizabeth Arden Green Tea and a new bra.

6. I make lists. Lists of everything. They're scattered everywhere throughout my home. And if I make a scribble or a spelling mistake, or just plain don't like my handwriting......I start the list all over from scratch.

7. I didn’t put my wedding rings on today. My hands are naked. And they usually are, up till the last second before I leave the house.

8. I’ve broken a few hearts, but never gotten my heart broken.

9. I have one younger brother. I call him my big baby brother. And because he's soo much bigger than I am, I haven't been able to get a recent picture taken with him to save my life.



10. I stopped watching American Idol after the second season when Clay Aiken lost to Ruben.

11. Jimmy bought me my first digital camera for my 24th birthday. I yelled at him and told him I couldn’t believe he spent soo much money on me soo soon after we had just moved in together. (FYI, digital cameras were JUST coming out. I was the first person I knew with one and I was clueless as to how they worked and all the wonders digital photography entailed….plus we were broke from having to actually pay our own bills) Anyways, I brought my camera out on the town with me, showed it off to my friends….and less than an hour after yelling at Jimmy for buying it for me, I was practically making out with my little Kodak, I loved it soo much. (RIP Kodak, you were good while you lasted.)

12. I realize I’ll sound like a teeny-bopper….but I love Jacob Hoggard. Ok, got another Christmas idea…. I want Hedley's album.



13. I’ve been reading this same book The Dogs of Babel for months now. I swear I’m gonna finish it if it kills me……I’m just too busy to sit and read lately.

14. It’s official….Jimmy and I are shopping for our first home. Snooped through my very
first two houses yesterday. And it felt soo wrong to be snooping through closets and looking at the people pictured around the houses. (Haven’t found it yet……but we’re checking out a few more on Sunday.)

15. I was born on Friday the 13th.

16. Scrapbooking is the first and only pastime I’ve ever taken up. So far so good.

17. Today is Saturday. That means I got to sleep in. I finally dragged my butt out of bed around 10ish.

18. My new years resolution is to start posting layouts on 2peas.

19. My favorite movie of all time is Dirty Dancing. Patrick Swayze still sets my heart aflutter to this day. And he’s what…like 50? Anyone see him lately? He’s looking older, but man………

20. I’m a sucker for random 20’s like this. And also those damned surveys friends fill out and e-mail to each other. I read them all. And I save them all…..for me to fill out on a rainy day when I have nothing to blog about.


Now let the fun begin....... Who shall I tag? I promised April that I'd tag her. We were chatting while I was making up my 20 tidbits and she practically begged me not to tag her, but I love her too much to pass up the opportunity to learn more about her Pfabulousness. So, April, show us what you're made of.

Okay, now just to show April that I'm doing this cause I love her...not out of spite, I'll tag two other people....people that I like. (Oh I like all of you, but I just want to get a point across that I'm not doing this to be mean.........)

How about my Canadian friends....we gotta stick together....
Toronto gals Alex and Christielli. Some day I'll make it to Toronto and we'll do everything up right. And token male reader Scott. If you wanna play with the girls, you have to share your secrets...or at least some quirks.

And Caroline make me proud and play along. You're being a blog slacker lately.... p.s. Can't wait to see you at Christmas. And since you haven't.....I'm posting the pictures Lisanne took of us....just for shits and giggles.





Remember, we don't pretend to have really exciting lives up in Timmins.

Dog For Rent.....real cheap

......just for the holidays.

-15 month old Black Lab (with just enough Chocolate Lab in him to make him, for a lack of a better word, CRAZY!)
-answers to the names Banner, B, Deelio, Bannerbum, Bannerman, Bum, BB, Satan.
-Male....and soo damn curious.
-Always up for a snack
-And boy, does he snuggle nicely.


For your viewing pleasure........

Now, here's the catch....possession of this little beast entails a very sparsely holiday decorated living space.

This is what I have soo far.....and I suspect that I wont be able to pull too much more out of storage this weekend. Will Santa still come if I don't have a tree? Eeek, I don't want to find out. We'll have to work something out.

Yeah, Christmas is just around the corner......I have yet to begin shopping and all I have as decorations are a table cloth and 4 plates.

Oh hey, forgot to tell you...... Saw Rent with my Mom and friend Paula. Soo glad Paula was there, because my mom doesn't cry at movies. She just doesn't cry!! Yeah, where the hell do I get it from?

Oooh April.....I found TEAL staples! I picked them up, along with blue, green and pink ones!! Gonna play with them tonight.

Lastly party girls......when you're out and about......can you request Girls just wanna have fun and think of me? Cause dammit.....Jimmy's staff party was this past weekend and the DJs were killing me!! NO Cyndi Lauper??? And no I wanna dance with somebody!!! Now, I get it. They're old tunes....but HELLOOOOOOOOO, some oldies are goodies right? And the straw that broke my back.....NO BLACK BETTY!!!! Dude, is a party a party without Ram Jam? Black Betty is to my family what Black Eyed Peas' Let's get it started is to the MTV music awards.

Anyways, I'm off to have a little shot of Christmas.... The only thing that is getting me through this (undecorated) holiday is my nightly shot of Peppermint Schnapps. Instead of an advent calendar with a dinky little chocolate....I have a shot of peppermint...either in my peppermint tea or as dessert. Tonight I forgot all about Day #6 so I'm just gonna take it like a man. Cheers!

YO!!! This girl wants music on her blog!!! And Christmas music none the less.
Who can help? I've been everywhere looking, but the only Christmas tunes that have videos to go along with them are Mariah Carey vids....and she doesn't make me happy, much less merry.
Is it possible to just play music? Ok, I KNOW it's possible, because I've heard it coming from blogs.....but can't remember who and where and when.... Anyone know the secret?

I'm sure I wrote this before.....but this time I mean it. Kinda like an early resolution. From now on, I will not publish a post on my blog without a picture. Who's a genious? You'll all make sure to visit more often if you know there will be a new picture right?

Jimmy's gone to judo...check out who's keeping me company.




We wrestled, he kicked me in the head, instead of getting mad I had a glass of wine, he gave me kisses, he posed for some pictures and I'm on my second glass. Why not, hot date = sippy drinks.