Remembering, Eating & Weekending

My weekend started on Friday, which was Remembrance Day here in Canada. In this part of the world stores are closed and most people have the day off work. I attended the community Remembrance Day service at church with my Sparks/Brownies. It was a lengthy service but the girls held it together and sat through the whole thing. I only had to remind them once that they could look at the Bibles and the hymn books but they weren't to be used to hit their friend sitting in the pew in front of them. So I'm calling it a win. I was back home early afternoon and spent the rest of the day helping Mom put together some things for the church tea & sale next weekend. 

Saturday I made a trip to Michael's where I bought more washi tape (apparently I have an addiction) and treated myself to Starbucks. I could care less about Pumpkin Spice Lattes but Creme Brule Lattes are a completely different story. Happiness in a cup. I made Thai Chicken & Rice Soup for supper, which if you saw my Instagram post, is the soup that makes me forget that I don't like soup. I start with the soup mix from Campbell's but then I add a bunch more veggies and the end result is delicious. I put the finishing touches on meeting plans for Sparks, we were finishing off the My Community badge and starting on Being Healthy so our meeting included learning about 911. (The printable above is from here.) I started doing this activity last year and I'm still so surprised how many kids have no idea what their address or phone number is, it really is important information they should know. 

Sunday mom made spaghetti & meatballs. I've made meatballs so many times but they are never as good as my mom's. She doesn't really use a recipe and doesn't have any secret ingredients but even when I follow her instructions I still can't get mine to taste like hers. I spent the afternoon working on my Project Life album. I'm ready to start October, which means I am essentially caught up! The photo above is of my cover page, it started coming together organically when I realized I had feet pictures for the first three months of the year so then I kept taking them and the result is a fun opening page. I have a post written about what I learned from my year of documenting using PL, I just need to take photos which has been on my to do list for almost a month now. 

I also spent time this weekend working on yet another job application, only this time I've leaped out of my comfort zone and have decided that I would be willing to move across the country for this particular position. If you've got some spare prayers and positive vibes I'd love if you would send some my way. 

Linking up with B Loved Boston for Weekending 

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Remembrance Day

Via MacKay Cartoons

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada and in this corner of the world Remembrance Day is a big deal. In a lot of ways it is the only 'holiday' that has remained true to it's roots. People wear poppies, attend Remembrance Day services and observe a moment of silence in honour of all of those who have fought for our freedom. There's no 'Poppy Presents' or major sales the day is truly a day full of appreciation and thankfulness. 

Monday night at our meeting my little group of Sparks learned about some of the animals that have helped along side humans in the armed forces. The info packets are put out by Veterans Affairs  and they were perfect for my girls. They learned about a part of Remembrance Day in a way that was completely age appropriate, educational and fun. This morning we attended a service at the local legion and I was so proud of how respectful they were as they sat in their seats and watched the veterans and community groups lay wreaths. I love getting my Sparks involved in things like this because odds are if they grow up being involved, they will stay involved. 

On that note I am going to light my flannel scented candle and cross some things off my to do list. 

Blogging, Cooking and Remembering

I spent a lot of time this weekend browsing blogs, reading blog advice articles and pondering the blogging universe's greatest mysteries, for example: $500 a month for adspace!? I mean I totally get blogging is A LOT of work, and bloggers shouldn't undersell their products/advertising. Really I'm more surprised to learn bloggers can afford to pay that much to promote their blogs. 

*If you haven't seen this video yet you are missing out. 

Saturday night I had a wonderful Skype date with H. & R. this is becoming a weekly activity and it is so much fun. Technology has a lot of flaws and  potential for negativity but when it comes to keeping in touch and staying connected technology is my BFF. 

I've been challenging myself to expand my food comfort zone by taking little steps. Rather than jump right into trying all kinds of exotic foods, I'm trying new recipes for foods I already like. The truth is I think I'll always be a "picky eater" but I still want to try new things and open to food. I recently mastered The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Strips. They are SO good. It took me two tries to create a flour mixture with the right balance of spices but now I've figured it out and will never go back to buying frozen chicken strips/nuggets ever again. 

(Imagine a beautiful photo of crispy, golden brown chicken strips artfully arranged on a plate here.)

I seriously need to work on remembering to take pictures of things. 

And I can't click 'publish' on a post about the long weekend on November 11th without taking time to acknowledge and reflect on what this day represents. In Canada November 11 is Rememberance Day, a day to pay tribute to the men and woman who fought for and continue to fight for our freedom. Even if this isn't an official day of Rememberance where you live take some time to remember.

Linking up with Sami for Weekend Shenanigans.