Photo Session

We had our engagement photos done over the weekend. I love them!

http://flickr.com/photos/71748504@N00/sets/72157602701251374/

Happy bday to me!

Another bday has come and gone. I'm one year closer to 30 how devastating!!! EEK!

I had to work and go vote on my bday. how late. After work, Jimmy took me out to Montana's for dinner and then we headed home for what I thought would be a nice relaxing dinner. Turns out that my parents & bro and sis in law were there to surprise me :)

We had wine & cake and then they gave me my gift. They all chipped in and bought me an awesome 48 bottle wine fridge! I'm soo excited! It's been ordered from DirectBuy and it should arrive within a week. I can't wait to use it!!

Wedding Website

So I went ahead and created a wedding site for us. It's not completed but most of the sections are up and running!

http://jim-and-jimena.613-flavah.ca/

Big News!

Just wanted to share with you all that I got engaged on the evening of Aug 22, 2007!! I am now officially a bride to be!!

How it happened

After work yesterday, Jimmy picked me up and told me we were going to the market to go shopping for some paintings for the house. As we were walking around, he stopped in front of a horse drawn carriage and asked if I’d like to take a ride. I said of course said yes.

We took a beautiful 30 min drive through the scenic back roads of downtown Ottawa. All of a sudden, we stopped behind the Supreme Court and the driver said he was going to take a small break. I thought that he was going to take a leak. As he left, Jimmy sat across from me and seemed a bit nervous. At this point I began to get suspicious! He had a speech written down but refused to read it and forgot all his words! He then got down on one knee and presented me with the beautiful ring. He thought I was going to cry but there were soo many other emotions going through me that crying was definitely not one of them!

Of course I said yes and the driver proceeded to take a million and some photos so I’m going to share them with you all!

No date has been set in stone but we’re looking at September 6, 2008.

Yay to me!

Here is a link to the photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/613flavah/EngagementAug222007

T - 3 days

Yay! Another vacation is fast approaching! I'll be posting updates to my trip on my travelpod account. If anyone is interested in getting updates on it, please post a comment and i'll make sure to add you to the update list.

Cutest Pet Contest

Hey guys!

I entered both my cats into a "cutest pet contest" online and one of them has been nominated a finalist. I was winning the voting but now I'm behind I think 15 votes in second place!

Can you guys help me win by voting on Zazu (my cat) as your fave? LOL

http://www.brighteyesbushytails.com/contest.htm

You can vote only once a day and the voting lasts until August 15!

Prize includes $500 worth of cat food & toys!

Thank youuuu xoxoxo

What the heck are these used for???

Vroom Vroom!!

Jimmy & I went to pick up the car last night after work!!

New wheels!

I now have my own set of wheels! No more sharing with Jimmy. No more having to call my mom and bus to her place to borrow her car. No more worrying about who will get the car at night.

I have own wheels!!! I ended up getting a used 2004 chrysler crossfire. It's soo sweet. Check it out!

Yay it's Friday!

I'm heading to some girl's cottage for the weekend to celebrate Kelly's bachelorette. Should definitely be a good time!! It's been over a year since I last went to a cottage.

I received my Tabasco BzzAgent info early last week. I'm really excited about it because for the longest time, I thought Tabasco was only good for Bloody Marys. I guess I was wrong because I received a bunch of coupons in my package and they list some pretty yummy recipes in there! I think I'll be keeping one of the mini tabasco sauces for myself to try that's for sure!

Did you know that with Tabasco you could make Lemon Rosemary Chicken? Yea neither did I check out this recipe it sounds soo good!

4 boneless chicken breasts or 8 thighs
salt & pepper
1 lemon juiced, then quartered
4 sprigs fresh rosemary or thyme
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thinly
2 tbsp olive oil
4-6 shakes of Tabasco Sauce

Season chicken with salt & pepper. Place chicken in a large bowl. Add garlic, herbs, lemon juice, lemon quarters, oil & tabasco sauce. Toss well and marinate in the fridge for 2 to 4 hours. Remove chicken from marinade and grill. Makes 4 servings! I'm going to try it on Canada Day for my guests!

How about the Bloody Mary Burgers??

1 lb ground beef
4-6 shakes of Tabasco sauce
4 shakes of Worcertershire sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tsp of horseradish
1 shallot minced
2 tbsp chopped celery tops
salt & pepper

Adjust ingredient amounts to suit your personal taste--just as you would for a Bloody Mary. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Divide into 4 patties and grill. YUM!

Hello to Summer

TGIF!!!!

Jimmy built a deck in the backyard and I bought a patio set for 6 it looks amazing! I'm going to take some photos this weekend and post them on here next week. We can actually now host parties in teh backyard. It's perfect b/c we're having a bbq on canada day and we now have places to sit outside! I cannot wait! I'm going to buy next week some decorations to put outside with the c-day theme!!

My mom's oldest sister & her husband are in town for a month. They are staying at my cousin's house(their son) who lives in Toronto and they are all coming up this weekend to crash at my mom's. I invited everyone over to our place at 6pm tonight for drinks and appetizers. They haven't seen the house since last summer before I moved in and before we made all the great upgrades to the house! 13 ppl will be over tonight yikes! (my aunt & uncle from peru, my other aunt from toronto, my cousin & his wife and 2 kids from toronto and my mom and stepdad plus my brother and his fiancée and Jimmy of course) busy busy!

Sat we're hosting a bbq luncheon for Jimmy's sister's 35th bday so that will keep us entertained for a good while!

Sunday it will finally be relax. Can't wait.

So I've finally been pushing myself to go to the gym! It's been 2 weeks I've been going almost every day and I've lost 2 pounds. It's not a lot but it's something for me. My goal is to lose asbout 10 pounds and tone up in time for my trip overseas in Aug. Wish me luck!

Happy June!

Ever since I was introduced to Facebook, I've completely forgotten about blogspot LOL so I apologize!!

Not much new here except I'm getting really psyched for my trip to Europe & North Africa!!! In case I didn't mention it, I'm going to visit one of my best friends who is doing his masters in the Netherlands in August. I'll be travelling around with him for 2 weeks. We're making a 2 day stop in Antwerp cos my little sister lives there and then we're off to Barcelona for a few days. Then we go straight to Morocco where a good friend of mine is working for the embassy for the summer. I love how we can travel around and not really worry about lodging except for one night in Antwerp and 2 nights in Barcelona! Everything else will just be spending money CANNOT WAIT!!! This will probably be my last big trip in a while. I do know that most likely, in Oct, for my bday, Jimmy & I are going to go to Vancouver for an extended weekend. My cousin lives in Richmond Hill so we wouldn't ahve to pay for a place to stay and I have enough airmiles to take us both. I'm going to call airmiles tonight to find out if there are any flights available for us. Keep your fingers crossed! Then in Feb we're thinking of going on an all inclusive. I love them and Jimmy has never been so I would really enjoy taking him. Plus it would break up our winter nicely and let us have a great week alone completely stress-free.

Jimmy is building a small deck for our backyard tomorrow. I can't wait! When he's done, we're going shopping for a patio set. It's perfect timing cos my family is coming over for a bbq dinner on Sunday and then we have Jimmy's family over the weekend after then it's Canada day so it works out wonderfully!!

Changes

Jimmy and I picked out some new colours to paint the living room & dining room. He's doing the dining room and half the living room another weekend with a different colour here are some photos!



We got these awesome paintings in Peru and recently had them framed here. Check em out!

Long time

Wow, it's been almost a month since I posted. I got too caught up with facebook that's probably why :P

Well, the bedframe we bought is discontinued so we had to order another one. It's still nice but not as nice as our initial one boo...

I'm going to visit Jason in the Netherlands this summer can't wait! We're going to Spain and Belgium to visit my little sister. Maybe even France if there is $$. I'll be keeping track of my trip via my travel blog that's for sure.

My brother got engaged over easter weekend! Wedding is sometime in June next year and I'm in the wedding party woot!

Things are looking good

Jimmy and I bought a new king size mattress a couple of weeks ago. It arrived on Thursday and I'm anxious to use it but he doesn't want to until our new bed frame comes in. We ordered it from DirectBuy and will be in sometime by May 5. I hate waiting! I want to use it NOW. So I'm hoping it comes in soon in April and not as late as May 5.

I found a photo of the exact bedframe we're getting.

Life works in mysterious ways...

I'm not sure if I posted about this before but I found out a few weeks ago that our accountant passed away from cancer in December by total fluke. I was looking for his phone number and couldn't find it so I decided to look him up on the net and lo and behold, the first link was a memoriam to him along with his photo. I was in total shock. This accountant had been doing our entire families finances since 1990. He was like a part of the family, being there for my mom when my parents split up and always coming to our house to do our taxes and take the time to explain how finances worked to me and my brother as we began to file our income tax. An amazing and sweet man for sure.

So not only was I in total shock but I was also concerned of where I was going to find another accountant who was just as wonderful. I dove right in looking for one and even though lots of my friends gave me numbers to their own personal accountants, I hesitated calling any of them not sure why.

Yesterday, a girlfriend of mine hosted a "candle party" (partylite.com). I had never been to one and thought I'd give it a shot. I didn't know anyone there besides my friend the host and her younger sister and her mom. Close to the end of the show, I sat next to a girl named Marguerite, we got to talking and for some reason, her parents came into the conversation. She was telling me how her dad had passed away in December and how he had his own business. For some strange reason, I had a feeling I had to ask her dad's name. When she said the name it was my accountant!!! I was so overwhelmed my eyes started watering. She went on to tell me how the funeral was and how he had died peacefully in his sleep. She also said that her dad had a partner and she had taken over all of his clients. It was like a god-send I tell ya. I got her number and I'm going to call her today. It's as if her dad had been watching over us all along.

I may not be an everyday practising catholic but when things like these occur, I get a chill down my back and really fall back to my christian beliefs.

Thanks Bryan!

Lookin' good!

Now that Jimmy's roomie is gone, the living room and dining room are starting to look awesome! Jimmy spent last night rearranging things around. Since his ex-roommate had all her furniture basically on the entire main floor, now that it's all gone, we can put his basement furniture along with some of my stuff and the things we bought in Peru in the living and dining rooms. It's still a work in progress but here is a photo of how great his 2 couches look with my glass coffee table and my plants along with the alpaca rug we bought in Lima.


We are going to be painting the walls sometime in the next few weeks and fixing up the dining area and putting up decorations on the walls so that's why this is all I'm showing for now. More photos to come as we move along with our decorating!

The day is drawing near...

Today we move whatever is left in my apartment to the house. I thought I wouldn't be sad but in a way I am. My life as a bachelorette and living downtown all alone is coming to a close! The apartment I had dreamed about and looked forward to finally moving into has come and gone. I can't believe I bought it back in April 2003 and didn't get to move in until June 2006 and now it's March 2007 and I'm in a house now.

I'm not regretting anything of course, but it's still sad to be closing a chapter of my life.

What I'll miss:

- Fireworks on Canada Day from my balcony
- Killer sunsets during the summer from any of my windows
- Walking to and from work
- Next door to LCBO
- Wine & cheeses with my neighbours
- The great party room
- Floor-to-ceiling windows

What I won't miss:

- The elevators constantly breaking down; having to go up 12 flights of stairs!
- Gym always being busy
- Small spaces
- Fire alarm going off at odd hours of the day/night
- Firetrucks/ambulances/police car sirens going off at all hours of the day
- The bums across the street
- Not seeing Jimmy every day

Now that I'm in Orleans permanently, I'm looking at getting my own set of wheels sometime this summer b/c Jimmy has priority over the car and it sucks at times. Like today, he's gone to teach a course at army and I'm home bound all day until he returns. Not that I mind I've got enough to keep me busy today just sucks that's all!

What was your theme song in 1996?

Your 1996 Theme Song Is: Macarena by Los Del Rio

When I dance they call me macarena And the boys, they say that I'm buena They all want me, they can't have me So they all come and dance beside me

What's Your 1996 Theme Song?

Le weekend

Do I ever look forward to the weekends! It's nice to know I've got a whole house to roam in rather than a small apartment. It was fun while it lasted but I'm really happy to be back in Orleans.

Jimmy's roommate moves out tomorrow and we're going to pick up the remainder of my furniture (which isn't a lot) from the apartment on Sunday. I can't wait to start decorating the house as I see fit. Pretty much everything in the living/dining room belonged to Jimmy's roommate so it will be nice to finally give it MY touch! I'm hoping to start painting the walls in a month's time. We have our first overnight guests coming up from NY in May so I'd like to at least have the walls painted and the guest room and their bathroom nicely decorated.

Guys i'm completely addicted to facebook!

too funny not to share

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3e0_1173614039

LTNT!

It's been a while since I posted. Mostly cos when I would remember to post, I wasn't anywhere near internet. :(

Luckily, now that I've moved in with Jimmy, we have finally set up the internet and I just have to get back into the groove of things.

My apartment is almost totally bare!! We're moving everything out on Sunday evening and next week I'm going in to finish painting over my wall holes and clean the apartment for the new tenant who moves on the 24th!

Things at the house have been good, his roommate just came back from being gone for work to Germany for the last month and half so she's got some packing to do before she moves out this coming weekend.

The cats are getting on Jimmy's nerves. I am still pretty concerned that something major will happen and he'll make me give them up :( They've been living at his place fulltime since February and we've already had 3 major incidents with them wrekking things.

1. They figured out how to jump on top of his side speakers, then jump on top of the big screen TV and then walk across the TV knocking over the centre speaker which for now, sits on top of the TV. The centre speaker fell backwards and created 2 holes in the wall. Luckily the speaker was fine.
   
2. We came back from grocery shopping one evening to find that the front entry vase which sits on top of a coffee table had been knocked over. This is a huge vase with luckily, no water in it since it houses fake flowers but there were pebbles in the vase and some of the pebbles chipped the hardwood flooring. He wasn't impressed at all.
   
3. Just last weekend, they climbed on top of the centre speaker and knocked it over once again, created 2 new holes, so now we have 4 holes in the wall we have to fix.
   

He said that was it for chances, one more and he's giving them away. :( So to try to minimize the issues, I'm locking them in the laundry room while we're not home. I hate doing it but I would be devestated if he gave them away. I can't honestly blame him though, they've already broken my computer printer by pulling on the cord, I had to buy a new one cos it was completely busted and cost more to fix than to buy a new one. Jimmy bought me roses a few months back and I put them in a vase and left them as a centrepiece on our dinette table, well the cats completely destroyed it, there were petals everywhere. Cats will be cats, I guess, I just really do not want anything else bad to happen!

2 weeks!

My move is coming along nicely. I've got most of my clothes and bathroom stuff moved over to Jimmy's. This weekend Jimmy is going to Montreal so I'm staying at my place to pack up all my kitchen stuff and my night stand table. Next week I'll be removing everything from the walls and packing up as much as I can week by week! I've only got about 4 weeks to get all my stuff out of there and paint the place before my tenant moves in the last week of March.

I'm still addited to facebook.com I've found sooo many ppl I highly encourage you to join if you haven't yet!

I'll try to remember to take photos of the new car this weekend as well.

Addicted

I'm officially addicted to facebook.com !

GOOGLE In Ontario!

I just finished reading an article in the Ottawa Citizen on how Google has opened an office in Waterloo! There are some photos and the place looks awesome!

They were comparing why the company chose Waterloo over Ottawa. If you have a chance, check it out, it was in yesterday's paper the techweekly section.

Organized

I've officially changed all the necessary addresses on all my mail. At least I hope. I did this 2 months in advance to keep a close eye on what mail I will still receive end of this month that I missed and must change addresses right away. I've already moved half my summer clothes over to Jimmy's and this weekend I'm putting the remainder of my summer clothes plus fancy dresses and summer shoes in his car. Next week I'll begin moving everything out of my storage room up to my apartment to bring over as well. I really don't want to have too much to move out by end of March. Especially since we have to paint over all the holes I put on the walls before April 1.

Rogers is cancelling my internet and PVR services on March 7. So the day before, I'm disconnecting everything and lugging it into Jimmy's car and setting it up at his place cos the eve of the 7th, Rogers is coming to reconnect me at his place.

OMG News Flash! Anna Nicole Smith is found dead!

You know you're from Ottawa when...

I found this funny article on facebook.com Ottawa group

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM OTTAWA WHEN...

You HATE having to dial “613” first before having to call people now in Ottawa

You talk to people from other cities about shawarma and are mystified when they have no clue what the hell you're talking about

There was a point in time (or it is that point in time right now) when you wished you were 18 so you could drive, cab or bus to hull to get alcohol

You've waited 30 minutes for the OC transpo only to realize it came early?

You remember when the Scotiabank Place was still the Corel Centre, or better, Palladium

You've partied on Parliament Hill on Canada Day

You remember going on field trips to the museum of science and tech. every year of elementary school

You've travelled and waited for over half an hour just to get into Zak's Diner in the Byward Market

A winter without going skating on the Rideau Canal just doesn't seem right

You're bilingual... or at least you can parler Franglais

You've swam in Mooney's Bay and had to shower for 2 hours afterwards to get that filthy, filthy water off of you

You don't flinch when asked if you want to eat a beavertail

You've been at the top of the peace tower and thought you were amazingly high just because nothing else is allowed to be taller than it

You've cheered for and a year later, booed Alexei Yashin

You remember the Roughriders, and wish the Renegades would come back

You've watched for yourself on Speaker's Corner on CHRO/The NewRO/A-Channel/Channel 6

You've seriously considered swimming in the Rideau Canal on one of those 30+ degree summer days

You remember a time when Patrick Lalime was kinda good

Everyone you know has some sort of story about how Alanis Morissette babysat their cousin's best friend's dog's original owner's son-in-law

You realize that MPs are you local celebrities

You've taken the O-Train and wondered exactly why they ever built it

You wonder why Bluesfest is even called Bluesfest. Who knew the Black Eyed Peas could sing the blues?

You remember that Tom Green used to be funny

During grade school, you were warned about "The man in the white van." (Or if you grew up in Orleans “the white van”)

The word Vanier strikes fear into your heart, in fact you duck and cover any time you hear it

The dreaded Ice Storm combined with the teachers' strike made 1998 the best school year ever

You listened to ENERGY 1200 AM and remember when 93.9 KOOL FM was still new

You remember RJ's Boom Boom Saloon turning into the Liquor Dome, whose days of serving alcohol to minors ended when it turned into Capital City music hall, which after a few David Usher and Massari shows turned into... well, condos.

You remember the amazing breakfast at the Golden Griddle before it turned into a Hooters and now some pub or something

The Sens earned you some free pizza

You've been cut off in traffic by a car only to realize they had a Quebec plate.

You've gone to Herongate Mall only to realize you need to kill more than 8 minutes.

Head gear!

Poor Zazu, he has to wear that stupid neck thing for 7 days so he doesn't lick his paws otherwise he'll get an infection!

YAY!

So I think it's safe to tell you guys that I've rented my apartment! After going through a few applications, I've made up my mind and the new tenant is coming over on Thursday to sign his lease. We've made a deal, I lowered my price a bit in exchange for him to sign a 2 year lease. He is looking for April 1, 2007. Which gives me an extra month to move out! Well, actually I'd prefer to be completely moved out or mostly moved out by mid march. I've already switched all the addresses on my bills the only one remainding is my rogers one which i'm going to try to make sure I don't get that penalty charge cos i'm getting out of the contract early by adding my name to Jimmy's account and adding features to that other account. Keep your fingers crossed that my bargaining skills succeed! hehe

My kitties were neutered and declawed early last week. They were kept at the vet's overnight for 2 nights to make sure everything was healing alright.

Zazu was licking his paws a lot and started developing a small infection so the vet put one of those hilarious v-shaped collars on him for a week. Poor thing keeps running into walls and has a bit of trouble eating so I hand feed the fella. I'm counting down the days when I can remove his collar and he can go back to normal. He keeps wanting to cuddle but the collar makes it so impossible for me to hold him close to me.

I recently got convinced by a girlfriend to join facebook.com and now i'm totally addicted! If any of you are on it please let me know or look for me to add to each others friends list LOL

Peeling

OMG I'm peeling everywhere wtf!

So one week later, I finally got a hold of all the photos I need to print. I'm going to be printing a combo of my dad's digi photos , my bro's photos and mine. I can't wait!

Oh and I created an online gallery of a lot of our photos combined. It's not all of them but a heck of a lot.

http://picasaweb.google.com/613flavah/Lima2007

bbbbrrrr

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate winter?? *sigh* well I do. Especially cold days like today. -25 celcius! I had to walk to work in that my kneecaps were frozen! Awful! I'm going to dress way warmer tomorrow.

So I had 3 ppl come to look at my apartment today. 2 were really interested. I'm stuck on who to decide. Jimmy says I should base it on who will be more responsible on paying rent, one is a student from Ottawa U who can afford this place (not sure how?) and the other is a guy who works at Parliament Hill. I'm going to base it on both of their background checks. Whomever makes more and has more stability will get it. They both offered to sign on for 2 yrs which is a bonus for me.

Decisions decisions!!

Oops!! I forgot to update my blog! Well, I´m still in Peru so here is the link to my travelogue where I will be posting updates on my trip (which concludes on Wed)

tootles!

http://www.travelpod.com/cgi-bin/guest_login.pl?tweb_tripID=peru2007&tweb_UID=613flavah&tweb_PID=tpod

Last day of waiting !

Wooohoo!

This is my last blog entry until I get a chance to post a small one when I'm in Lima. Today has been a hectic day, what with my focus eye centre appointment (yaya 20/20 in my right eye has been achieved!) and since I had my mom's car, I just paid to park at work. Then I had my first italian course, then I have 10,000 things to finalize before I take off tomorrow, what with wrapping up projects and training my replacement. EEk!

Jimmy had an interview today and he thinks he got the job, he finds out today. I really hope he gets it, it will be a nice pay raise for him and no more stress with his current workplace which he hates. So keep your fingers crossed!

I gotta go pick up some last minute groceries tonight to make sure I leave the apartment fully stocked for my friend who is staying there. Then double check everything is a go in my suitcase and I'm off to spend my last night at Jimmy's before our trip!

Oh and I'm most likely moving on March 1. Jimmy's roommate got an apartment and she moves between March 1-15. So as soon as she's moved all her stuff out, I'm moving in there. Upon my return from Peru I'll have to start changing addresses for everything and cancelling my services as well.

T minus 3 days!

It still hasn't really hit me that I'm leaving on vacation in 3 days! I'm one of those ppl who doesn't realize it until the night before and then I don't end up sleeping at all and regret it the next day on the flight.

This time I'm prepared. I bought one of those neck pillows, I bought a huge book and have loaded my iPod with all the best tunes to keep me busy. I shouldn't have any problems. It's an 8 hour flight from Toronto alone so here's to hoping!

New Year, New Changes?

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm thinking it's going to be a great one too. What better way to kick in the new year than with a raise?! I'm soo happy! Crappy thing is, I'm almost at the end of my pay scale, if I want to make more money, I'll have to apply to a higher level job and to do that, I have to get more experience under my belt, so guess who's going back to school part time this fall? I'm not sure what I'll be taking yet so we'll have to see, but I"m def staying in the techie world.

I leave for Peru in 6 days :D I'll be documenting as much as I can of my trip as possible on my travelpod.com website and on my blog so if any of you would like to be kept up to date on my travel adventures, please email me so I may add your email to my travelpod.com update list.

I've also had a few leads on my apartment. Some guy from Mexico who is coming to finish his PhD at Ottawa U. this spring is coming in feb to check out my pad. So keep your fingers crossed peeps! Once I return from Peru, I'm most likely going to lower my price a bit if it doesn't work out with the Mexican.

Jimmy's roommate looks like she found an apartment and possibly moving for March 1. Which is perfect cos that's when I wanted to move in with Jimmy. So here's to hoping everything goes as planned!

I've also talked to my good friend Jason who is doing his masters in Ultrecht, Netherlands that I'll be going to visit him for 2 weeks sometime in Aug. He's graduating so after that we're planning on travelling through Ultrecht, visiting my sister in Herentals, Belgium and then heading off to either: Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco or Spain & Portugal!! I can't wait!

My kitties are getting so big! I'm going to miss them while I'm in Peru but luckily I found a good friend who will be staying at my apartment while I'm gone taking care of them. It works out for the both of us since she works in the west end and currently lives at her parents in orelans, this will be a nice break for her from them and will be closer to work and will work out if she wants to go out at night she's right in the market!

I signed up for beginner Italian classes and beginner Japanese courses at work LOL we'll see how well I do. Plus I'm doing advanced writing in French as well. yikes I hope I can balance all three language courses heeh.