Erin Condren Obsessed...

I bet you have all been reading about erin condren and her AMAZING products on Facebook, Twitter and different blogs.  I have entered every single giveaway that I have come across featuring her products and unfortunately I haven't won yet.  With 2012 fast approaching, I have been trying to justify spending $50 on a planner any way I possibly could, but no matter how many times I added one to my cart, I couldn't process the order.  That is, until AP mentioned a discount code of seeyousoon25 which will save you $25!  SOLD!  I can definitely justify spending $39 (shipping included) on a planner, especially if it lives up to the hype that I am constantly reading.

If all goes well, I should have this little beauty in my hands in 2 weeks time!!   Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!  I am soooo excited. :)

I figure it's a great birthday present to me, from me seeing as Thursday marks the big 29 for me.  Now if only Ryan would buy me an iPhone so I could buy one of their iPhone cases to match my planner...hmmmm.

Bullying

There are stories of bullying every time you turn around lately.  I know there has always been bullying, but lately it seems as though it's gotten much worse, or perhaps we are just becoming more aware of it.

 

Just the word makes my stomach twist in knots.

There is talk about bullying in schools, at home, on the streets and even in the blogosphere.  That last one really shocks me.  I've never had an encounter with a bully related to blogging, but I really am surprised that in this amazing online community that anyone would do such a thing.  Everyone I have 'met' while blogging is nothing short of amazing, being that we all support one another and give the encouragement that's needed when something is wrong.  Needless to say, there are bullies EVERYWHERE.

In my younger days I was definitely not the nicest person in school.  I picked on people, some for no reason at all.  I'm not sure why I did it, I know it didn't make me feel any better about myself and it sure as hell didn't make me cool.  Perhaps it distracted me from my chubby, awkward girl with glasses and braces phase that lasted the whole 5 years?  I had plenty of friends and it wasn't as though they were all bullies, so there was no pressure to pick on people. 

Whatever the reason, I was a mean girl.

I'm not going to touch on the things I said or did, I see people that I wasn't very nice to all the time and it's a constant reminder of who I once was.  The guilt and shame is something that I will have to live with forever, and I deserve this on my mind.  However, I know for a fact that I am no longer that person and unfortunately it took something drastic to change my point of view.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I am perfect now, nor will I ever be.  I do catch myself judging people or thinking mean things, but I stop myself and the point is I would never intentionally hurt anyone ever.  I try to stop myself from judging someone on the street, because really, I have no clue what kind of life he/she is living.

 'If you knew me yesterday, please do not think that I am the same person that you are meeting today.  I have experienced more of life, I have encountered new depths in those I love and I have suffered and prayed.  I am different.'

Last Friday a young boy from the Ottawa area took his own life due to several reasons and one of those reasons being that he was bullied.  This young man was an active part in the community with his father, trying to help others, but he was also gay and preferred skating over playing hockey and for this, he was mocked and tormented.  Other kids thought that they should terrorize this boy for something that he enjoyed and for who he was.  And their pleasure really was his pain.  This teenage took his own life, because he couldn't stand the pain, the suffering, the teasing.  He couldn't 'wait 3 years for things to get better', the words hurt that bad.  I can't even imagine a life so terrible that not living would be a better option.  It's devastating that this poor boy who had a loving, supportive family wasn't able to make it through those tough teenage years.  I pray for his family and friends and even more so, for those who tormented him.  We can only hope that this tragedy is an eye opener to each and everyone of them and that it helps them become better people.

When googling images for bullying I came across this one:

This picture absolutely makes my heart ache.

I sit here looking at this picture of this poor, innocent child and my eyes fill with tears and my head fills with worry.

Worry for my own child who is now going to school and as we are all aware, kids are mean.  All parents are partial to their own children, obviously, but Cole really is a sweet, innocent, caring and sensitive little guy who just loves to smile and laugh.  He isn't a bad kid by any means, sometimes a little foolish, but never mean or rough, at least not that I see.

BUT, that is wear my concern comes in.  I fear that he is too sweet and that one mean word from another child is going to ruin his innocence and break his heart.  He is an only child and hasn't had to yet 'handle his own' physically, (not that I would encourage him to anyways!) when he is angry he yells 'no thank you' at the top of his lungs to voice his displeasure.

I also fear that perhaps there is a side to Cole that I haven't had the opportunity to see when he is at school/daycare.  Is he mean?  Is he bossy?  I've only received positive feedback about how funny and sweet Cole is, so I pray that I am worrying for no reason.

Finally, I fear for what Cole may or may not do if he sees someone being bullied.  Will he do the right thing and stick up for this child?  Will he tell someone?  Or will he turn his head and pretend that he saw nothing to avoid confrontation?

I am constantly trying to remind Cole that everyone is different to help prepare him for situations that may cause him to snicker at a child for something he might think is funny.  One night at supper he told us that a little boy from school talked funny.  When we asked what he meant, he said that he talked differently.  We tried to explain to him that this is not something he should laugh at or point out to the other child, as it might hurt his feelings and that everyone is different in their own way, but I'm not 100% sure he understood it.  Granted he isn't even 4 years old so it may take some time for him to understand what we mean.

How do you/will you prepare your children for situations that might arise?

New York City

This past weekend I travelled to New York City with my sister-in-law Shannon.  This was our first trip to NYC and we both had an AMAZING time.  We spent quite a bit of time in Times Square and took in everything...shopping, people watching, Central Park, Canal Street, Webster Hall, The Naked Cowboy...

We were able to see the Freedom Tower that is currently under construction and what an overwhelming moment that was.  A moment I won't soon forget and a feeling that was the weight of a thousand bricks on my heart.  I don't know how long I stared up at the Freedom Tower remembering those who lost their lives, praying for their families and thinking of all the firefighters, paramedics, security, priests, etc. who bravely helped others in need that day.  It's a feeling I wasn't quite prepared for.  I couldn't stop the chills from coming and the tears from stinging my eyes, but I am glad to say I was there and that I was able to witness this amazing city and see how they have started to come back from that devastating day.

Here are a few pictures from our trip, I do have more, but didn't want to over do it. :)

Times Square

No explanation needed...

Although I do have to say that there was THE cutest elderly couple there and the lady was posing with the Naked Cowboy while her husband took pictures of them...the two of them giggling the whole time.  It was seriously adorable.  The Naked Cowboy even picked her up for a picture...too funny!

 Times Square, Macy's ad

Shannon and I on the Saturday tour

Cathedral of Saint John the Divine - breathtakingly beautiful

 

a close up of the detail on the cathedral, including the twin towers

 Shan and I in the Conservatory Garden at Central Park

The Freedom Tower

This flag hangs on The Freedom Tower, but was ripped up the middle on Saturday due to the high winds

The trip was so amazing and I am so glad that Shannon and I went together, she really is an amazing sister and I'm so lucky to have her.  We ate too much, shopped until we dropped, partied quite hard (one night only) and laughed until we cried, several times.  I'm so thankful that we got to experience NYC together for the first time and I have a feeling that we'll be doing it again together, soon.

I was definitely glad to get back home to my boys, whom I missed so much.  I'll hopefully have a picture of them modelling their new NYC FD shirts soon enough. :)

Fall Favorite Finds Blog Swap

A couple of weeks ago I participated the "Fall's Favorite Finds" Blog Swap hosted by Caroline, Molly & Mateya and I was paired up with Alison from Life and Times of Alison & Jason.  Alison is a Canadian as well and has just recently bought a house with her hubby Jason and their sweet Cruz.  She's so adorable and it was great getting to know her.

I definitely lucked out with THE best swap partner...here are some of the goodies I got from Alison.

Love everything here!  The scarf is absolutely perfect and I have gotten so many compliments on it already.

Seriously how sweet is Alison, she even thought of Cole with these cupcake liners and toppers, perfect for Halloween

gorgeous flower earrings

an adorable headband for our cold Canadian winters, practical and stylish!

This has to be the cutest decoration ever.  I am absolutely in love with this and have already been questioned as to where I got it.  And Alison, how did you know that I LOVE owls???

I am so happy that I joined the blog swap and that I was matched up with Alison as a partner.  I made a new friend, found a new blog and got some great goodies to boot.

Head on over to Alison's blog and read all about their new home, their sweet dog and to send her some love.

Thanks ladies for hosting the swap and to Alison for all the treats.

Healthy Recipes Link Up - Stuffed Zucchini

It's that time again, Pam from Our Love Nest is hosting her link up party for healthy recipes.  This week I am posting about a recipe we tried out last year after cleaning out our garden and finding several large zucchinis.  Ryan We did the big Fall clean up this weekend and again, we had some veggies to use up so we went pulled out this recipe from allrecipes.com.

STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Ingredients

• 4 medium zucchini
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound Italian sausage
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
• 1 cup water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C). Grease or spray a 13x9 inch baking dish.
2. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds. Chop and reserve about 3/4 of the seeds for the stuffing. In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, sausage, chopped onion, bread crumbs, egg and the reserved zucchini seeds. Place the meat mixture equally into all of the zucchini halves; mixture should be piled up over the top. Place the filled zucchini halves into the prepared baking dish.
3. In a bowl, stir together the crushed tomatoes, tomato soup, and water. Spoon the tomato mixture over the filled zucchini, liberally. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes. You may want to place foil or a cookie sheet underneath the baking dish because it tends to bubble over and splash.

* We also added some shredded cheese on top and then let bake until the cheese was golden brown.  Delicious!

*Photo and recipe from www.allrecipes.com.