kids say the darndest things

Photo Credit: E3 Studios

That's me and my niece, Angelika, she often gets confused as my daughter... I think it's our strong Mendoza genes.

We are about 20 years apart and it's funny how sayings and such have changed since I/we were kids. Recently on one of her field trips I played the Stella Ella Ola clapping game with some of the kids and the words have evolved to something with "cheese and macaroni"!

And just the other day, Angelika had said a variation of the saying for determining North, East, South and West. When we were kids it was either Never Eat Soggy Wheat/Wieners... yesterday she had said Never Entered Shreks Washroom!

bahahahahaha! Kids are too cute :)

Feels good to be apart of something BIG!

As you may or may not know, I work for a construction company… In the 3 years that I’ve been working in this field I’ve obtained a variety of experience as a project accountant through several projects: smaller projects such as renos and banks to more substantial projects such as the Southgate Centre Expansion - which added more than 150,000 sq feet and 30 new retailers including Alberta's fist Kiehl's store, Sephora, Coach, Zara, and Apple.

And now the Edmonton International Airport, it feels good to be a part of something BIG that although you are just one person, you are contributing to something substantial - here’s a sneak peek!

The existing building

The Expansion


Something BIG!

eeeeeeeeeeeeek!

that's all i have to say...

Semi Famous! - - - Happy Birthday Babe!!!

Just surfing the net at work… waiting for the day to end when I decided to check out what my old photographers have been up to. The days leading to my wedding I constantly checked their website for inspiration for my wedding day photos… And we made it to their website!!! My husband and I, as well as our wedding party :)




My handsome husband scored a singles spot... ain't he gorgeous?!?! and btw HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!









Ideal Wedding Photography, currently shoot photos for all occasions within Edmonton and area, Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Whistler. Eugene and Irma are super sweet and uber talented, check their website out here.

wonderland

What a great weekend, spent a majority of my weekend just hanging out with my girls - laughing, eating and watching movies. I've come across a few conclusions after this weekend too...

I’m soooooo team Jacob!

Never read any of the twilight books, nor have a seen the twilight movie… but I have concluded after watching New Moon that I love Jacob and Bella made the WRONG choice :)

My friend Nicky, sometimes, doesn’t have good taste in movies because Alice in Wonderland is soooo awesome! OMG – I loved it sooooo much… I highly recommend it.

This great classic was WONDERfully done:)

30 seconds of pure joy...

... "how bout you and me have a picnic"

my husband literally pissed his pants EVERY time he's viewed this... we replayed it a dozen times by now :)

it's pickin up!

The snow is almost all melted and spring is in the air! That only means that summers coming and my life is only going to get busier, luckily, I have only two more papers and presentations to complete until I get my degree… oh man! It’s sooooo close! After all my procrastination, I don’t know why I wait so long! As it was easy breezy… not to knock down the program, but I’m not sure about the instructors and the grading system. The way the course works is a series of eight papers and presentations to be completed in two semesters, if you don’t hear anything back from the instructors after submitting your final draft it’s usually a good sign and you’ll be able to present. After a day and a half of presentations students are assembled into groups to go over a case, after working at it for a few hours we draw for times to present on the final day. Groups don’t usually fail this, as long as they do it… the only groups that have been said to have failed is one where two members broke out in a fist fight…a fable I’m sure. After the group presentation, student papers and presentations marks are available for pick up, typically when I receive my package of markings, I bounce… after 3 days of presentations and nerves I just want to get the hell out of dodge. When I finally got a chance to review the marking scheme I was needless to say confused! There are several points and topics that must be discussed, the instructor is to rate your presentation based on whether you “failed to meet”, “somewhat completed” or “successfully completed”… for one of my presentations the instructor checked off “Successfully Completed” for everything and guess what mark I got!?!?! I got “D”!!! WTF!?! Whatever… it’s over, I passed (barely) but I don’t have to re-do it and I will be receiving my Degree as planned :)

But like I mentioned… summer’s around the corner, and that means ---- wedding season! Just received THREE invites in the mail today, so excited, as we only had one wedding to attend last year… my smoldering eyed - co worker Jonny’s and his beautiful wife Emily.

I love weddings! Yay 2010!

2010 - the year can only get better :)

Well that’s it… the Olympics are done! And what a great run it was; at the begin of the games there were comments in regards to our nation not winning a GOLD medal on our own turf since hosting the games in Montréal (’76) and then in Calgary (’88), well we officially killed those comments and now will be known as having won the most GOLD medals (14!!!) by a single country at a Winter Olympic Games!!! There are several moments during the winter games that made me so proud to be Canadian – witnessing our first GOLD won by Alexandre Bilodeau, women’s bobsleigh when we took GOLD and SILVER, Joannie Rochette’s story, Jon Montgomery celebrating with a pint, Team Martin’s shutout victory… but by far the moment that made me scream and shout in jubilation would have to be the last medal event when our Canadian boys won the GOLD medal for men’s hockey. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G game!!! I must say that with only seconds left in the 3rd period when the US tied the game up (2-2) I got a little nervous, but I never lost faith… and 7 minutes and 40 seconds into the sudden death overtime period sid the kid scored the winning goal. Whatta a way to end the Olympics!! Especially one that we hosted…

So now that the Olympics are done… what to do, what to do…? I guess I can focus more on my school work as I’m nearing what feels like a never ending journey to obtain my degree and designation. Only 2 more papers to go and 4 more presentations… then exams!!! Oh dear, I don’t like thinking about that... quick, divert!

I’ve been wanting to try moksha yoga for almost a year… I finally found the time and motivation to just do it! And it’s been an amazing week; they have this 1st timer’s promotion - $20 for an unlimited week. It was definitely different, I’m used to physical exercise were I am over exerting myself, breathing heavily and being able to barely talk in order for me to sweat my face off; whereas with moksha I’m holding a warrior pose and sweating just as much! Weird, I know!




Moksha (90mins class) consists of 40 poses practiced in a heated room (37C to 39C) designed to promote openness through your hips and strength through the upper body while detoxifying your entire body. Both standing and seated poses are practiced, giving a balanced cardiovascular workout (mokshayogaedmonton.com) they also offer condensed 75 and 60 min classes.

It’s pretty intense, the first class I went to I laid inside the room prior to the class start, I remember thinking how nice and humid it was, bearable, but as the class started and everyone’s heavy breathing persisted throughout the 60mins class it just hotter and hotter and the more I dripped of sweat. I like it though and moksha boasts many benefits such as de-stress, relief of back/knee pain, headaches, insomnia, depression, scoliosis, poor digestion, arthritis, and poor posture.

A family friend of mine, Joe, is certain that bikram is where it’s at… I might have to try that one out too. This place charges $30 for an unlimited week. Look out for the verdict bikram vs. moksha in coming weeks.

Oh yes make a shout out to my girl Mary trying to get as much exposure and experience in this market, I played her assistant during the photo shoot of one of my dearest friends, Celeste. Derek had forgotten his cell phone at Celeste and Matt’s place the night prior and I thought I would go along for the ride…

Check out more professional photos here. I caught some good pics of Mary, E3 Studios, doing here thang.

random ramblings

Wow... ok, so my godsister Mary has started to blog, as she posted on facebook, I thought that maybe I should start trying to get mine a little more current and blogging more frequently. So here’s my first day attempt… let’s see how long this lasts!

So yes, Mexico… it was a great break, to say the least… a lot of drinking and dancing and hanging out with my handsome hubby, friends and family. Unfortunately we went when the weather was not that HOT… in know right. Mexico and NOT hot?!?! Let me tell you that when I was packing I brought one pair of jeans and a whole lotta shorts, skirts, dresses and swim suits. My tale of unfortunate events was a little bit of rain and a whole lotta wind, I had to go into Playa Del Carmen and buy a jacket and another pair of jeans!!! I’m over it now though but it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

While in Mexico I got my godsister to do a little fun photo shoot for me, it’s top secret as Derek still hasn’t seen any of the photos yet… thinking of making a little photo album or calendar for him… so shhhhhhh! You can catch a sneak peek of some photos here on Mary's Blog… some are touched up… but my favorite by far is this one.

she captured the shot at the right time, it’s me… au natural. I just love it!

Looking forward now… how ‘bout those Olympics?! Man I just can’t get enough of it!!!

The opening ceremonies where pretty cool; the big polar bear, or the electronic whales that blew out of their blow holes, or how 'bout the Olympic cauldron inside the arena when only 3 our of the 4 arms erected?!?! hahahaha priceless! Love Sarah McLachlan, mmm… that French dude was cool but whatever happened to Roch Voisine?

I watched as we received our nation’s first GOLD on our country’s soil; Alexandre Bilodeau has an amazing story, with that said this title couldn't have been awarded to anyone as deserving as he.

I’m looking forward to the events ahead and hope we continue to hold our position for medals held with victories from both curling teams (my favorite here!), speed skating, and both our hockey teams!

Chrismas 2009

I know it's kinda late, but in the attempt to make room on my camera for more debauchery here are some family pics from Christmas 2009

*mom n pops*

*me n derek*

*kuya and his family*

*justin*

*angelika*

I got a problem…

As you may or may not know I’m heading back to Mexico, for another destination wedding/honeymoon x2 for Derek and I. I’m hoping I don’t over pack as I usually do, with that said, I’m hoping to bring only one set of pumps which I needed a new pair of insoles for and decided to swing by the local Aldo and scoop some up.

Go in for a pair of insoles and come out with $150 dent in my wallet. I scored some sweet loot for ONLY spending $150… but I think I might have a spending problem…

Aldo – insoles (terry cloth), and two purses (which I probably didn’t need but they were super cute and perfect for my holiday); one is a simple black clutch which I hoping to use during the wedding, however I'm not really sure what I'm wearing yet, and the other (see below) for use in and around the resort.

Isn't it cute?! I figured, "Why do I need to carry my huge purse around"… I don’t need money or a cell phone, I'm on holidays. I figured just my camera and my Rosebud Lip Balm should suffice and I should be good to rock and roll! (this is how I justify purchases)

La Senza – a lil something something ;)

Shoppers – Sunscreen SPF50, Aloe Vera Gel complete with Vitamin E (just in case we burn!), bottles of hand sanitizer (it is the country to which the Pig Influenza came from), tooth brushes, toothpaste and mouthwash (essential to living).

Awwww man, I'm so glad I did this post! Makes me feel like I don’t really have a problem with spending after going thru each item and place where I spent my money --- I see now, were all necessary for the ultimate satisfaction of my trip! Thanks readers!!!

Happy New Year!