And just like that 2012 is almost over.

I can't believe 2012 is almost over. What a crazy year. An amazing year!!! 2012 goes down as one of the best years I have had in a long long time. Nothing can top 1997 that's the year I met George :) awwwww I know LOL. It's the truth though.
So 2012 was a crazy fun filled action packed year with some minor detours along the way. Lets see George went to Afghanistan. Then we went to Italy, Turkey and Greece.( something I will never forget)Bought a house and got married.Moved to another province(minor detour) :P
I feel like I'm all grown up now. hahaha
We also adopted a beautiful Cane Corso named Sheena( Shiny Sheena). Who I am sooooo in love with. It's a great feeling adopting an animal. I beam with pride when I look at her. So how am I going to top 2012? I got a few things up my sleeve ;) Nothing major like getting married or buying house more personal growth changes. I am looking forward to 2013. I am thankful for all that I have. It's great to be at a place in life were I don't really want or need anything. I have everything already. The love of my family friends and good health. What more does a girl want. A purse ok I want a new purse hehehe.


“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”
 

Thane got called to heaven and Sheena finds a new forever home!

Wow talk about a roller coaster of emotions this last couple weeks. We lost our baby boy Thane to cancer. He gave us the best 10 years of our lives. The love we felt for him was intense. We coddled, spoiled and gave him anything he wanted.So losing him was just like losing a child. Both of us have never felt such loss and pain in our lives. We gave all our love to him and he in return. For 3 days after he left George and I literally walked around the house like zombies, not eating we felt nothing but sadness. If it wasn't for our dear friends who sent countless emails and shared pictures and memories with us we would have never seen the light at the end of the tunnel.
Day 3 George looked at me and said I have a hole in my heart and I need to fill it. I looked back at him and I knew what he was thinking without even saying it out loud. Is it to soon? We literally just lost Thane. What will people think I said? George was like I don't give a rats ass what people think. He was right of course. So I went online and read story after story about when is a good time to get another dog. It was different for everyone. There was no right answer or magical equation.
George and I have had this discussion countless times over the years. When Thane was to leave we agreed no more dogs. End of discussion. Well let me to tell you when it's all you know and it becomes reality your mind and soul say something totally different. Both of us had more love to give. We both knew this time we had to adopt. That's where Sheena comes in. We searched the internet for rescue Mastiff sites. We didn't want another Bull mastiff but we wanted to stay in the Mastiff family. We love the Mastiff's but we thought if we got another Bull mastiff we would compare he or she to Thane. Thane was unique one of a kind. We wanted to look at new dog with new eyes and see he or she for what they were. We came across Sheena and her story touched our hearts. They had found her on the streets in Oakville scrounging for food. She barley weighed 80 pounds. She barley had no hair on her body and was extremely sick.Test after test they found out she had lime disease. She also has IBS. So in for surgery she went and they took out her spleen. $7000 later and a year in rehab with her foster parent she is finally on her way to being healthy.
We have to make her food and treats for her because of the IBS. She is very food aggressive which we will have to work on. She does not trust other animals right away. She still has a very very long road ahead of her. With lots of love and discipline we will show her she can trust and be a happy dog.
We will not quit on her.
So as we say goodbye to Thane we welcome Sheena into our lives. She has an uphill battle but George and I are determined to make Sheena's life a happy one. We will never forgot Thane and all the love he gave us.

Rudeness

Well I posted a link on my FB wall about cell phone rudeness but I felt like it was blog worthy. And I have sooooo much more to say.
Ok I will be the first to admit I have whipped out my cell phone while out at dinner and out with friends and family. That being said I truly make a conscience effort to leave it in my purse when I am out with others. My friends will say oh your phone just beeped several times. I say oh that's nice. Because really it's more then likely some stupid email. Why do I need to check my phone for the latest status updates. It can wait.... why???.......ummm because the person I'm with is more important.
I want to be with you so please want to be with me.
I have friends who if I phone them will not pick up( and you know who you are :P ) but if I text them they will text me right back. What the heck!! They will text me but they don't want to talk to me. I don't understand. Why?? Please explain this to me.
We are so self absorbed as a society we truly have no idea what is going on around us. I witnessed one guy walk into on coming traffic because he was texting. We would rather be with our Ipad's, cell phones lab tops then with real people??
Nope not me I'm making a STAND you are either with me or not. I choose me because if you are going to be on your cell phone texting or browsing then I guess we are no longer hanging out. It's that simple. So George get your act together.LOL
No George is amazing with his cell phone as  I think it bugs him even more then me.
Ok confession time. I have a really bad habit and it drives George over the edge and we have got into major fights over it!
So when we are watching tv or  even a movie I will have my labtop in my lap. Sometimes I'm on pinterest sometimes I'm playing games or just browsing. Really doing nothing!!
I will miss something and say oh what happened? He will look at me and be well if you put that damn thing away and watch tv with me maybe you would know. The key word he said here "me". He wants me to want to be watching tv with him. I get it!!
So from here on in when George and I are watching a tv or a movie I am making a promise to him right now to have my labtop cell phone put away. To be present with him. He can hold this to me.
I choose him :)
We all can make a small effort to be present in our lives. Let's stop the rudeness and enjoy one another. I am old enough to remember  the time when we had no cell phone no computer and internet.
This new generation has no concept of this it's up to us to show them how to behave and act. Lead by example treat others how you want to be treated. It's quite simple :)

Is there a such thing as being too nice??

So last week we had to go to Kingston to run some errands. George was on a course that week and he had mentioned to one of the guys that we were going. He asked if he could tag along. So as we were driving there we all were chatting away getting to know one another. We started talking about were we all have been posted. George's friend had mentioned something about one of his postings. For some reason it has been on my mind all week. So I thought I would share with all of you :)
He said he had been posted to Halifax. Well of course both George and I smiled and said oh that's our hometown. He continued on and said it was nice but he found one thing that annoyed him the whole time he was there. He said the people there were just too nice. What??? Yes I do agree Nova Scotians are known to be very nice. Is there such a thing as being too nice?? So when he initially said it I was very proud that he thought we were nice. Could be worse he could have said we were stuck up and rude. To hear it actually annoyed him and he was happy when his time in Nova Scotia was over annoyed me.
Really as a society you mean to tell me it annoys us when people are nice??? I don't get it.
All I know is that I'm proud to be from Nova Scotia and proud to be known as the nice province.
My hope is that when he goes to another province and is treated rude, no one will let him cut in the line is given the finger for driving the speed limit maybe just maybe he will change his mind and think hey maybe NS wasn't all that bad. :)

Chaetophobia

Chaetophobia yes it's a phobia and yes it's real.
Yes I  may or may not show signs of this said phobia.
Ok it's not that I don't like hair I just prefer you didn't have any...LOL  Hence why I am so attracted to bald men. Now don't get me wrong I think every man should have hair were it needs to be( blush) but not like cave man material.
Anywhoo back to this phobia of mine. So George started his 2 month beard growing thing today. So far so good. Ask me by day 30 how I'm doing. I may be in rehab by then. Fingers crossed all goes well. So I came up with a solution. I love it!!! George not so much. So here is my solution.......

Well what do you think?? I think it's pretty awesome. He could put that on everyday we could even grow it out a bit to make it look fuller. It's a WIN WIN for everyone. :)

no shortage of change

So the last time I was here I had just got married :) It's now September and we are no longer living in Comox. BC. We bought a house in Frankford, ON.
Lots of change. New husband( LOL), new province, new home and lots to do. I feel like we both have been running a marathon with no finish line. We have been here just over a month and it's just now starting to feel like we bought a home. We haven't really had a minute to sit and take it in.
Fall is in the air and I can't wait. We have lived in ON before so we knew what we were up against. This humidity just won't break though. I can't wait to put a sweater on and feel the crisp cool air and just go for a nice walk on a trail without feeling sticky and sweaty. I know by next summer we will be climatized to Ontario weather and it won't bother us so much.( thinking positive)
So with every move I always get into a funk. It takes awhile to get used to the change. I still have bad days where I feel blah but I'm starting to feel like me again :)
Thank heavens I married a guy who seems to have unlimited amount of patience.As I sure do put him to the test some days. lol  I know with him standing beside me I can get through anything.

 

OMG! A bun in the Oven?

 Did that get your attention???
 LOL ya right! NOT!

Well after 15 years of being together we finally made it official and got "the paper". Why? It took me 15 years to decide if he was the one or not. NO hahaha I joke about that all the time with him. It became a joke with us and our friends. It was time and we have always wanted to get married. Life got in the way and we put it off(ok I put it off) and didn't make it a priority. So the years went by as they do.
A few of you have emailed and my brother even joked and said OMG is there a bun in the oven. Really!! No LOL you guys make me smile and laugh. Now that's funny.
When were on the plane coming home for our house hunting trip in Ontario George got all serious on me. He put the ball all in my court. He said it was all on me. No more excuses lets just set a date and a time and get it done :) I would have to say that George had wanted to get married more then me over the years. He would bring it up every so often and I would make some excuse or just change the subject. I was always on the fence about it. Why ruin a good thing I would say. For George though it was that last step in our relationship and he truly wanted it to be official. Now that it is done I'm so happy. I wished we had done it sooner.
So we had to get busy and there was no better place then here in BC. So we got all our ducks in a row. Went to the marriage counselling classes. Found some willing passer bys to witness..lol No there was no hesitation in that choice. We knew it had to Mike and Lily :)
Why the secrecy?? Well George and I both have already been married before and we knew we did not want the big wedding this time around. I know it sounds selfish but we wanted it to just be about us. If we invited one person why not someone else. Then it becomes a "thing" an event.
It was perfect just the way it was. We were already married in the eyes of everyone anyways this just made it official :)
I am very proud to be a Wagner now I was very torn as to whether I was going to take his last name. Being a Bennett has always been a sense of pride for me. My roots were I came from. Then I realized I will always be a Bennett that will never change.
I am very happy to finally be George's wife :) 

For Love of the Game!!

We started Geocaching in Winnipeg and feel in love with it. We have been seeking and hiding ever since then. We have met some great people and have made friends for life all because of it. You get to see places and experience mother nature that most people don't even know exist.
We moved to BC well over 4 years ago and have enjoyed caching here. We have been to some pretty amazing spots all because of it. In the last 6 to 8 months though there has been some struggles in the community. A lot of he said, she said. George and I try our best to stay out of the lime light. We do our own thing, stay low key and do not get involved with anything political when it comes to geocaching.
Every once in awhile though you can only take so much and you finally have to stand back and draw a line in the sand. Enough is enough!
We have a very small caching community here in Comox. Lately with all the drama nobody wants to hide anything more which is very sad :(
We are both very happy to get to some new terrain with some new attitudes. I'm sure there will be drama there as well. There always seems to be one or two bad apples in the bunch. I just felt like ranting and getting it off my chest. There I feel much better now :)

I can see a light I think it's there somewhere!

Wow 3 months to the day since I have last been on here. Yikes!!  Well to tell you the truth I got myself into a little funk not a bad one but a funk to say the least. Still climbing out of it but I can see the light now :)
We recently got voted off our little Island of paradise. Told to pack it up and move to Ontario. This news sent me into my funk :(  I don't want to leave and you can't make me. LOL Well when the military says it time, it's time. We head out in late July. Reality has sent in and I'm dealing with it much easier now. I know deep down farther down the road we will be back....and to STAY!!! Yipppeeee
We bought our first home in Ontario and we are looking forward to making it ours. It will be sooooo nice to get out of the PMQ's I can't even begin to tell you. So ya for that.
I'm no stranger to change and can adapt at the drop of a hat.So why am I having such a hard time. Well it's easy. I'm OLD hahaha. I don't want to move around anymore time to put some roots in. All in due time. I love George with all my heart and will follow him where ever he goes. Love makes you do crazy things.
We have made some amazing friends here and it's going to be so hard to say goodbye :( well now that I think about it I'm not going to say goodbye I'm going to say see you soon :) ya that works. It's going to be hard to top the scenery and the wildlife here. Sorry Ontario you can't win in that department. Each province has it's own beauty and I'm sure we will find it there. I'm going to have to start to gather some things here to remind me of this beautiful province they call the BEST PLACE ON EARTH.
Some sand, some ocean water,part of a tree:) can't take an Eagle with me or the deer or a bear which are some of the best things or our friends :(
I am looking forward to our new home though seeing our many friends and family in Ontario.There are alot of positive's to moving back to Ontario.Being closer to NS is a huge plus.
I will make sure to stop in and keep more of an update not every 3 months :)

Now time to get off the computer and go enjoy BC :)

Bucket List

Wow here it is March 1st already, seems like the days and months are just flying by at a rapid speed. SLOW DOWN already :)
So tomorrow March 2, George is off to do the Polar Bear Dip. A first for him something that has been on his to do list or his bucket list I should say. Not something I would like to do but hey to each there own.
I was sitting here thinking of George and all the crazy things he likes to do. How it must be nice that when he does one he has a sense of accomplishment then a what's next? Always moving forward to the next goal. I think deep down we all have a Bucket List. Some of us keep it in our heads some write them down so they can visually see them and cross them off as they go. Which I think is a great idea. I have never made a Bucket List but I have done some things on the list in my head already :)
Do you have a Bucket List? When you finish one thing do you add another? Or just keep working on the list you have?

Here are some things on my Bucket List:
go to Iceland (this will happen )  :)
visit the Acropolis in Greece check and check did that woohoo
swim with the Dolphins
learn to play Guitar
go to Disneyland and be a kid for a few days
go to Vegas
learn to scuba dive
go in a Hot Air Balloon
see a lion in the wild :)
climb a mountain in BC
visit Trevi Fountain in Rome check did that
go paintballing
learn to box
learn to speak German
these are just a few as I sit here I have more to add. I think I'm going to write out a legit list and add things as I go along.
Question though is your Bucket list different from goals? For example I want to have my own  business I see that as a goal not a Bucket List.Or are goals and Bucket Lists the same thing?

Sweet dreams?

I can't believe it's Feb 10th already! January went by so quick. It's usually a very long drawn out month for me. Almost painful for some reason. This year it just flew by and it was gone. I think having George home made it that much easier :)
So I'm very happy to see little signs of Spring coming :) Makes me very happy. The rainy season here on the Island can be quite draining at times. You can get easily get the blues. So when you see little sprouts of flowers coming up it puts a dance in my step :P
I woke up this morning after having a dream. It wasn't a bad dream but it wasn't good either. Just made me think of my past. So I went by all morning thinking about my dream and feeling very blah and wished I could get just get it out of my head. I have dealt with this dream of mine but it will always be a part of me no matter what. It's up to me how I let it compact my life.
So I had to go see my hair dresser today( The miracle worker I call her) She is amazing! She has a lovely personality about her and I smile every time I see her.  So she begins her task of making me look like a rock star. We always chat about what's going on, what's new and so on. Out of the blue she starts asking me some questions and all of a sudden she is asking about the very topic of my dream last night REALLY!!!
OK universe what are you trying to say to me.  I smile and nod and chat with her and try to answer her questions the best I can. Next thing you know I'm talking very freely to her and she is listening to me. She says one thing that I have never really thought of or looked at before in that way.
All of a sudden we are done my hair looks great and I feel 100% better then I did this morning :) WIN WIN!
Lesson learned today: It's ok to let the past in when you can learn from it.  :)


You can’t make the same mistake twice, the second time, it’s not a mistake, it’s a choice.

Random Acts of Kindness

Kindness is the act or the state of being kind, being marked by good and charitable behaviour, pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions.

As many of you know I LOVE Random Acts of Kindness :) I try to do them as often as possible. At first I had to think what I was going to do and act them out. Now I do them so often that it has become a part of my life I don't even realize that I'm doing them. So when you are on the other end and receive one it makes you realize just how magical they can be. Yes I said magical :) It's a great feeling on both ends. To give and receive.
After receiving a gift of kindness from a coworker the other day I started thinking well what else can I do? Google is great tool sometimes. Found this great website well foundation and joined. Found some great new ideas, alot I already do but it's nice to start some new ones :)
Just wanted to share the site with you so you all can browse through and maybe get inspired to start giving out some Random acts of Kindness of your own. Maybe you have some great ideas of your own you could share with me. I love getting new ideas.
Lets make 2012 the year of Kindness!

Here is the foundation I just joined. It's free :) you can still look around though without being a member :) Have a great day :)


http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/RAK-Blog/

Over the hill!

Happy Birthday George!! Your now over the hill :P


Today is the big day I dig and make fun but I will be here in a year and a half. I hope I can celebrate my 40th like George is. He doesn't care that he is 40. I asked him straight out so how old do you really feel? He was like honestly I still feel like I'm about 25 :) He is in the best shape of his life. He looks amazing! I can't wait to see what 50 will look like.
So for his birthday pretty much every year he likes to do something out of the box. Something that takes him out of his comfort zone. He is an adrenaline junkie. He has gone sky diving, white water rafting, spelunking to name a few. For his 40th I really wanted to take him to Cedar Point, Ohio to the roller coaster park, but it doesn't open till May :( He loves roller coasters so I told him he can go later :) So this year being where we live and so close to a mountain he decided he wanted to learn to downhill ski...REALLY! Both of us have never down hilled before. So today we are taking lessons. I hope it goes well I think George will pick it up in no time. He will be snowboarding and whizzing by with a smile on his face. :)
George may be 40 but he still acts and truly believes he is still 25. It really shows he lives each day like it's his last.Good for him.We all should live like this happy and in the moment.

Happy 40th Birthday Babe!!Love you xoxoxox

MMMMM Donairs :)

Well since so many of you have asked for the recipe I am posting it here for all to enjoy! :)
So this recipe is just a guide. George alters it every time he makes it.Sometimes he adds more spice sometimes less but he has it down to a science for what we like. So play with it until you get the recipe you enjoy. The recipe doesn't call for bread crumbs but he always puts like a half cup in for me cause I like them in there.


3 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons ground oregano
3 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne powder
3 pounds of ground beef ( Ok now the beef should be double if not triple grind you want it nice and smooth you can ask the butcher at most grocery stores and they will do it for you. We put it all in our Kitchen Aid mixer and literally beat the crap out of it...LOL trust me you can't over mix it!!

We form this into 2 small loafs and cook on 200 till it's medium rare.Cause you will be frying it up later so don't over cook it!! ( internal temp of like 140)
Let the loaf cool down don't be in a hurry to cut it up and mess up the creation you just made. Let it sit.If you have the will power let it sit a day! Carve it into thin slices and fry that goodness up in a pan.
After you have fried up the meat leave it there with the pan still hot run your pita under water and put directly onto that hot pan. Flip it! That's it soooooo easy!!

ooooh now for the sauce the best part you need to get this right!!
1 1/3 cups of evaporated milk
1 1/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoons of garlic powder
1/4 cup  white vinegar

Mix  the milk sugar and garlic powder until the sugar is dissolved. add the vinegar LAST. Put all the vinegar in at once and then gently fold it in. DO NOT STIR!! If you stir  the sauce will be very runny. It's almost like you are not really combining the ingredients. Put it in the fridge to sit. When you take it out give it a quick little stir. mmmmmm it should be amazing!!

Now back home in Nova Scotia we do not put lettuce and cheddar cheese and all that weird stuff that we have come across.
NO just meat, sauce onions, tomatoes and some like shredded mozza on it. That's it!!

Well what are waiting for...get going you got Donairs make. :)

P.S. you need to wash that down with a beer not any beer a Keith's :P

Happy 2012!

Well I made it through another year. It's going to be pretty hard to beat 2011. I had an amazing year as I look back. Sure there were some bumps along the way but who doesn't have those right.
Ok New Year's Resolutions. Do you do them?  I stopped doing them year's ago. My life has been so better for it. Really why set yourself up for disappointment? Going to eat better go to the gym give up smoking all very good things to be doing. Why do you need to start those on Jan1st? You don't! You can start goals anytime throughout the year. Which you should. You should always have a goal. It's gives you purpose and drive to do better. So please don't start going to the gym today then stop going a week from now cause you will feel bad that you failed. You start working out when your ready to give the 110% needed to stay on track.
If you need Resolutions. Do realistic ones like spend more time with the ones you love. Give more. Be a better person. Strive to be positive instead of negative.Start each day with a :) instead of a :( everything else will fall in place.

I have my health and the love of my family friends that's all I need to start off 2012 with! Sure I want to eat better and exercise more but I'm not starting that today. Heck no! I will start when I'm ready to give the discipline needed so I don't fail :) Well how can I fail really I pretty much live with a personal trainer. George comes back from Afghanistan looking like a machine. He will be 40 in 8 more days and he is in the best shape of his life. He is in better shape then when I first met him. I took one look at him and said myself if he can literally transform his body in 6 months so can I. So I did the one thing I hate doing and asked him to help me. Ok let me back track a bit I have learned over the the years of being with George the one thing you never ask him to help you with is eating better and working out...only if you want to give  like 150%. He takes you to the max! He really should have been a  motivional speaker/trainer. So over the years well he pushed me to be better and I fought back well lets just say it caused some teeny tiny fights along the way.
So when he came back with his 6 pack my jaw dropped literally. I was like if he can do that so can I. So yes I know I will be in for a very very bumpy ride.He will get the job done though. We are not starting on Jan1st though! :) George always has to have a goal on the go at all times. When he finishes with one he starts another. His is usually workout goals cause he loves to exercise and to be in shape. Good for him( grrr really??) LOL no good for him. I can't imagine being with someone who didn't have goals and dreams in life.
I do have a goal for this year well 2 goals actually which I can totally achieve with hard work. Can't tell you what they are right now. I will share them with you when they are done!! Can't wait :)

Laugh often, Dream Big, Reach for the Stars.....and always with a SMILE on your face! Much love in  2012!