Kate...my opinion

So Kate...I wouldn't call myself an experienced person however Iam one to think I live by some routine.

Work is work and there isn't much way around that, so we just accept that so we can get our paycheck and pay the bills...however some time in your life wheather it's now or when you have children, or even when you get a dog your going to have to accept that routine is part of life, which isn't a bad thing...It doesn't mean you have to do the exact same thing everyday, it just means you have structure in your life.

First of all you should have the feeling of "I can't wait to come home". Now, I know my job is abit different, but the minuet I sit down at work I think to myself "I can't wait to go home". The number one reason is of course to see Joe. You need to love who your coming home to, or else this will make routine alot harder for you. If your excited about spending time with Lucas, then it doesn't really matter what you guys are doing.

But in all seriousness I don't really get why your even mentioning routine. You work and then you can do whatever you want for the rest of the day. You have no pets, no children, no house (I say this because a house does take some time and work) no huge bills or anything...so I don't really know why your stressing about this.

Just because you work and have an apartment doesn't mean you can't go out and do fun things. Joe and I go out all the time, go on adventures with the dogs, and do projects aroung the house. Anything we do together is fun and exciting to us...and I think that is how it should be.

Unfortunatly your not a celebrity, you don't have endless money, you aren't going to be doing different and exciting things each and everyday. The key is to be around people that really make you happy.

Thats all I have for now, I got to go. I hope you get what I'm saying.

Hello there..

Well, It's a pretty gloomy day in London Ontario. Not very cold, just rainy and wet... but hey I'll take this to snow any day of the week. As long as it snows for Christmas I'll be happy. It has been so mild that they haven't even begun the ice rink at Victoria Park. I walk threw the park everyday from my parking spot on my way to work and they are in the process of putting up all the lights.

Mother and I just came back from my appointment with my OB. Everything seems to be going well. They detected the babies heart beat and it is normal and everything is seems fine with the little babe. I have an ultrasound tomorrow which I always look forward to, hopefully I will get another picture to add to my collection. My book that I bought called " What to expect when your expecting" says my baby is about 3 inches long, and in this week it is starting to form vocal cords which is pretty neat.

All of my pants are pretty much too small for me at this point. I will have to go to Talize and look for some Maternity pants. However, I'm in the inbetween stage..I'm not yet big, but I do have a pot belly pig tummy so I can't fit into my size 3 pants no longer. If I could wear yoga pants to work there would be no issue, but unfortuantly I can't, I have a few days and no one has said anything yet, so I will probably push it as long as I can.

Well I should be heading home soon, Marley and Zenny are sitting here waiting for me. Just wanted to write a quick blogarino.

Take Care
xoxo

An update...

Hello Everyone

Happy Birthday Sister Jane! sorry it's a little late. I have been really busy lately so I apologize for wishing you a Happy birthday a little late. It sounds like you had a good day which is awesome. I'm so excited for you and Lucas to come visit in December, not to much longer.

So I'm feeling alot better lately, hardly any nausea anymore which is fantastic. Iam still really tired all the time, Lately Joe and I have been getting alot of sleep, usually a good 10 hour sleep. I just came back from an ultrasound appointment and I have another picture to add to my collection. It is so amazing to see our baby inside of my belly. He or She is a very active little one, Baby was jumping all over the place. The ultrasound women said how much baby was moving around. It was quite amazing to see my little baby jumping all around the womb, makes me so happy to know the little guy is doing well. I took a picture of the ultrasound image so you can all see. it is below..enjoy!

Baby Strong- 12 weeks

So our bathroom renovation is going good. It is alot more work then I thought. Joe has been working so hard and I'm so luckey to have him. He is so good at what he does, and knows so much. I like watching him work and I do tend to pick things up and I like watching all his knowledge go into his work. Once we started working on the bathroom we found out there was alot more work to do then what we originally thought. It was in quite horrible shape once we gutted it...the plumbing needed to be all re-done, the electrical needed to be all re-done, and the drywall needed to be all re-done as well. So right now we have the new bathtub in, the drywall is all done, and the plumbing and electrical are all re-done and work perfectly thanks to Joey. He also put in a vent fan which was needed. Tonight when he gets in we are going to work on the walls, and putty, and hopefully lay the tile floors.

Joe has been working very hard lately. He got promoted at work, and he is now working with the master plumber. He also got his own plumbing van which is awesome. He is thinking about taking his G2 gas technician course come January. He already has his G3, and the G2 is the next level. This would be two times a week for about a year, it's alot, but we think it's better to do it now, then when he has even more on his plate. I don't think I'm going to like it too much once the baby is born, but I know he is eventually going to have to do it so it may as well be now then when we have even more going on.

Christmas is coming, and unlike sister Jane I'm not looking forward to Christmas shopping, the busyness in the grocery stores and traffic all over the place. Joe and I are not spending alot of money this Christmas, there are many better places that money can go. Our Christmas presents to each other is the bathroom renovation, we set this in place before we started. There is nothing either of us really need, and I'm not a fan of having unnecessary "things" all over the place. Christmas to most people is about buying "things" and spending money. I love Christmas for the family time, food, traditions, and time off really. I don't mind a present or two, but going to Wal Mart at Christmas time and seeing hundreds of people spending so much money on such useless crap, all paying on there credit cards makes me sick. I hate it. Joe's family is the perfect example. Last year Joe's parents probably spent close to $8000.00 on presents for the family. It's all about show, seeing who can buy the most presents and who can have the most presents under the tree. They spend over $500.00 on me along. I didn't like it though. It felt wrong to me. They spent about $1000.00 on Ethan, it's just crazy. The crazy thing about it is that 3/4 of the garbage they bought last year is either broken, lost or in the garbage. Sorry Kate but it is consumerism. Joe told his parents not to spend alot on us this year. I think we are just going to ask for a video camera for both of us. We want one for when our little baby boo arrives.

Joey, Mar bar, and Zin Zen

Our Backyard in the fall time

Me in the hot tub, and Marley

Zenny Baby

Zenny is honestly the funniest, cutest little pup ever. She has such a halarious personality and no matter what she does you can't be mad at her because of how adorable she is. Marley and Zen are best buds, and spend all day playing around the house. Everywhere we take Zen we are stopped by people asking about her, no one has really heard of her breed so they usually have alot of questions. We bought her a little pink harness the other day, it has reflectors with little cherries on it. We had to get it because she refused to walk on a leash when she was wearing just her regular collar because she would just bite the leash. We took Marley and Zenny on a long leash walk the other day and it was quite pleasent..at first she was making quite the fuss, rolling around and making rediculous noises, but after a few mins she got the hang of it and did very well. It's so nice to walk a dog that doesn't feel like they are dislocating your arm the whole time...hahah. So now Joe walks Marley and I get little Zen, Works out perfectly. We must train them both to be very good on leash before I attemp to walk both dogs and a stroller...hahah, what a sight that would be. I do hope this can happen one day though..lol
Here are some pictures. Enjoy

Pavel - a video from the wedding

This a video the Nancy Seaton took...I forgot I even had this. The battery ran out so she wasn't able to get the whole ceremony...however Ellen I thought this was just great of Pavel, and you can show Hynek how good he did. Enjoy!

Zen!!!

Introducing Zen

Yes we got another puppy..

Little Zen joined our family Tuesday September 22nd. She is a Shiba Inu, which is a very rare breed. It is a Japanese breed and they are very hard to come about. I have only seen one in London and once I saw it I knew the next dog I was going to get would be a Shiba Inu. They are full of personality, and are just the cutest dogs. When they get older they look alot like foxes. We needed another dog because Marley is very needy and needs a play mate.We also looked into the future and when we have a real human baby he will need someone to keep him occupied, since we wont be able to dedicate all of our attention to him like we do now. Shiba Inu's are very active dogs and require alot of exercise like Shepherds..there are alot of similarities with the two breeds, however Shibas only get to be about 25 lbs...and since we didn't want another big dog, because I simply can't control two big dogs, we decided a Shiba was the breed for us. I find I relate alot to a Shiba, and in my opinion if I was a dog I would be that breed...lol.

So far she is doing great. Her and Marley are great together, he is already very protective of her. They play all night long, and it makes it so nice for Joe and I because we don't feel guilty anymore, looking at Marley laying down by himself. Now he is running around with little Zenny, and although she is small, she does keep up. I have to go though, still no Internet at the house, im at mom and dads. I will write again soon, i have really funny videos of Marley and Zen playing, however i dont have time to put them on...so here are a few pics of the new baby...she is just precious. More to come!!

Welcome to the Strong home

Hello there. I'm inviting you to take a look at our home - 1340 Wilton Ave. Here are some pictures of some of the rooms, however we still have work to do, and I will post more pictures in the future. We will be starting the kitchen renovations hopefully in the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Some of my favourite pieces so far...

I absolutly love this light fixture. I knew I wanted something different for this space, and not the typical formal chandaler thing, so I saw this at Home Depot and loved it. This is one of the pieces everyone notices when they come in the house, and everyone seems to really love it. At first when I was explaining this light fixture to Joe he was abit hesitant, however when he saw it in the dining room hung up, he loved it - I think i did well with this one and it really brings some character into the space.

This is a old man face carved into wood- Love it

When we moved into the house this mirror was already there, however it had no frame- Joe did an excellent job on the frame and stained it a nice colour. Adds alot of drama.



Haven't done too much in the bedroom yet...this is the colour that was already painted and we both really like it so were keeping it the colour it is. It is a small bedroom but it's cozy and gets alot of light.



Our Backyard....where we spent most of our time...

Just around home..





And a random...Joe jumping off the shed at his parents house...lol

Hope you enjoyed....More to come later.