Me

I think I've completed and posted one of these questionnaires before but in case I need the answers for future reference I thought I'd post this again. All answers have been provided after much thought and in all seriousness.


1. What time is it?
7:59

2. What are your full names?
Rosanne Marie

3. What are you most afraid of:
Meeting George Clooney and forgetting my name

4. Place of birth?
London, Ontario

5. Favorite food?
Chocolate, is there anything else?

6. Your natural hair color?
Brown with gold flecks(have to squint to see the flecks, but they’re there, really!)

7. Have you traveled?
Yes, just back from taking the girls to school

8. Do you scrunch or fold (toilet paper)?
Why???

9. Love someone so much it made you cry?
Yes

10. Been in a car accident ?
Yes , I have caused several

11.Mercedes Benz or Lexus
Mercedes

12. Favorite day of the week?
Any day I’m scrapbooking or crafting

13. Favorite Restaurant?
20 King

14. Favorite Flower?
Lilies

15. Favorite sport to watch?
Extreme Figure Skating(it is a sport isn't it?)

16. Favorite Drink?
Vanilla latte, half café, non-fat, extra hot........

17. Favorite ice cream?
Peanut butter chocolate

18. Disney or Warner Brothers?
Disney

19. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Wendy’s

20. What color is your bedroom carpet?
Iced coffee, really! It was just installed

21. How many times you failed your driver's test?
None

22. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail?
Mom

23. Hobbies
Scrapbooking, crafting, reading, blogging, reading blogs, reading more blogs.....

24. Bedtime?
11 pm or when I drag myself off the computer and away from reading blogs

27. Who is the person you are most curious to see their answers?
Everyone

28. What means the most to you?
Family and friends

29. Favorite TV shows?
American Idol, Dexter, Cane, Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, Gene Simmons Family Jewels

30. Dating MALES or FEMALES
Married to a male.

31. Are you Tall or short
Short but I always wanted to be tall

32. What is your Favorite color?
Soft greens

33. How many pets do you have?
Does my husband count????LOL!

34. Age: Above or below 29
A bit above

35. What would you like to accomplish/do before you die?
Meet George Clooney and vacation at his Italian villa

Costa Rica - Our Resort

This photo, one of my favourites, is one I took looking at the water and beach through the tree. I think its an interesting shot.

I've put together a slide show of mostly resort photos below. I'll talk about our zip line adventure through the rainforest and our sunset sail in future posts.

We had uneventful 5 hour flights both there and home and I was able to watch two more Oscar nominated movies, Elizabeth The Golden Age and Micheal Clayton, both of which I liked.

We landed at the airport in Liberia in the Guanacaste province of Costa Rica. We walked out of the plane and down the stairs to the pavement then passed through immigration in what looked to be an airport hanger. This airport is relatively new, (it opened in 1996) allowing this area of Costa Rica to more recently market itself to tourists. From what I could observe on the drive from the airport to the resort, it looked like there was a fair bit of ongoing development.

My first impression on the drive to the resort was how dry it looked. I later learned that it is the dry season in Guanacaste, most of the rain occurs further inland and towards the Carribean side of Costa Rica. Our resort the Hilton Papagayo was on a sheltered bay heading into the Pacific ocean. You'll see from the pics that the resort is spread out on the hillside with accomodations in two to 4 room bungalows with a couple of larger 8 room buildings as well. We were in a 4 room bungalow near the top of the resort with an oceanview. The resort runs shuttles throughout so we didn't have to walk the steep hill back and forth to our room. There was a large infinity pool with swim up bar as well as tiki shelters lining the way to the beach. We spent most of our time under a tiki shelter reading and drinking pina coladas! The resort is beautifully landscaped with bougainvilleas, hibiscus and palms. I was also impressed with the hillside covered with cactus.

The volcanic nature of Costa Rica is readily evident in the black volcanic rock along the beach and the resulting black sand. On sunny days the water looked blue but when overcast it reflects as black. It was hot, around 35 celsius, most days with some afternoons becoming overcast. That was Ok because you can't really stay out in that hot sun all day. I often moved to the shade.

The staff were very friendly, willingly teaching us spanish words like, con mucho gusto, and more slowly than I would have liked, some of my high school spanish came back to me. The all inclusive nature of this resort meant we didn't have to worry about paying for drinks or food and while the food was not the quality of a cruise ship, considering their location and probably, limited availability, was still quite decent. And they did make a mean pina colada! Have I mentioned that I like pina coladas!

More trip details to come in future posts.

Mum's Recipe.....

........two buttons, one ribbon and a spoonful of flowers. That's the most recent challenge on daring cardmakers.
And here's my card. It uses one of my favourite papers ever. I like how it resembles toile fabric.

Pura Vida Costa Rica

I'm back from a wonderful week in Costa Rica, where, just like in this photo I did a lot of reading and lounging in the hot sun! Unfortunately while there I wasn't able to access my blog but I'll add some of my favourite pictures and stories over the next week.

And knowing my Mom was looking after the girls while we were away I was able to enjoy lots of these! Thanks Mom!

February 14th

I wish you a very Happy Valentines Day! My husband surprised me with The Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sabrina, Roman Holiday, Funny Face and Paris When It Sizzles as well as the book Atonement. It will be nice to relax with a good book or a vintage movie! And my daughters made me some cute cards too!

Love Is In The Air!!!

I once again decided to participate in this week's mid-week challenge at Daring Cardmakers. The challenge was to make a card with a romantic theme and red/black ribbon.




I thought I would use this dare to create a card for my husband. First I gave it a tag shape. Next, I used some Basic Grey rub-ons, a chipboard heart I left unpainted as I thought it looked more masculine and a black brad. Then a bit of ric rac, red ribbon and black velvet ribbon complete the card.

Brianne Baked

and baked and baked!

Yes,Brianne was in a baking mood this weekend. Partly because her Gramma sent her the links to a few good websites with lots of yummy recipes but also because she really likes to bake. I think its in her genes. Her Great-Great-Grandma on my Mom's side was a cook and baker for a wealthy London, Ontario family. And the love of baking was passed from her to my Mom to Brianne.

First up were Raspberry Nanaimo Squares. Brianne patiently prepared the base, then the middle and finally the top to produce some really yummy bars.







Next was chocolate banana cupcakes. It you like banana bread then you'll definitely like these!



Then there were Frosted Banana Cookies that are quite good. I'm not a big banana bread fan and I do like these.



Second to last were Be My Valentine Cookies with the surprising ingredients of cream cheese and peppermint extract. They are very good. And once again Brianne patiently made the dough last night, let it chill, then rolled it out, cut out the cookies then finally dipped them in chocolate.







And finally was Chocolate Strawberry Torte, a very ambitious four layer cake. I helped Brianne to cut the cake layers in half and offered a bit of advice on putting it together but other than that she made it all herself and it turned out to be an excellent cake!

Cruisin'

I was recently reading on the In A Pinch blog how paper piecing is making a come back. And just this weekend I made a layout using paper piecing from a kit that I had purchased at CKC Buffalo a couple of years ago. This is the ship that we cruised through the Panama Canal. I will add our ports of call to the daily log.

A New Chair

Since we moved into our current home, 11 years ago, I have wanted a chair for our bedroom. A chair to read in, knit in and maybe daydream in.

Finally I have a chair!

We ordered it shortly after Christmas and it arrived this week. The patterned chenille-like fabric goes perfectly with the paint colour!

The View Out Our Window

As I sit browsing through various blogs like this one(talk about putting things in perspective), putting off the Saturday household chores, I looked out the window and just had to share the view.

Panama Cruise

I'm finally scrapbooking some pictures from our 2006 Panama Canal Cruise! And true to my New Year's resolution I'm not going to post the layouts until I add the journalling. But I do have a few layouts that will not require journalling and here's a couple:

I've really been enjoying using Scenic Route papers with these photos.





Scrapping these photos does bring back memories, we had a lovely time on this cruise. The train ride took us from the Atlantic side to the Pacific side of Panama and was a great way to see the natural landscape.

Yes,Its Another Card......

......for this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge sponsored by Paper Pesto.

The card is to be based on this template:





I used lace,ribbon, flowers, cardstock,SEI paper and Heidi Swapp hearts to complete my version. I stamped the sentiment on the heart which turned out to be faint but legible.

Just Doodling

The Daring Cardmakers challenge this time is to doodle on your card. In fact, I rarely freehand anything, I just can't draw but I decided to give it a shot. It didn't turn out too badly and I was able to use some old Chatterbox paper I had on hand.



And for some great doodling tips do check out the tutorial on the DCM blog here.

Movies, Movies, Movies

Every year I tell myself I will watch more of the Oscar nominated movies and every year it doesn't happen. But this year it is different! I've just seen 3 movies at the theatre in 5 days!


First I saw There Will Be Blood starring Daniel Day Lewis with my husband. Its nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actor. I do have to say that the movie was not what I was expecting, its not your typical western, but Daniel Day Lewis played his character extremely well.






Next was Juno, with my daughter Brittany. Compared to There will be Blood,I would describe this as a cute movie despite the storyline. It has been nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actress. Ellen Page(a Canadian by the way)is excellent in her role of the quirky Juno.






Finally was Atonement, with two friends from work and my daughter Brianne. It is a sad story of how quickly lives can irrevocably be changed. It is nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress(Saoirse Ronan). Although the middle of the movie drags a bit(war scenes with no real relevance to the plot) I would recommend seeing it.



Now I can watch this year's Oscars feeling a bit more informed.

Red and White

Just got back from a scrapbook retreat weekend and have completed lots of layouts to post over the next while. But while there I did complete a red and white card for Daring Cardmakers.

Elton John

Elton John just announced a couple of concert dates in Ontario this past week and I got tickets this morning to see him on March 3rd! I'm soooo excited!

Snow Day!

The girls are home from school on a snow day today.

Click here for the radar pic showing why, that big green blob of snow still hasn't made it way to us yet!

So what will they do? Britt could practice her viola and Brianne is making chocolate chips cookies as I type this.



The baked extra large cookies!

Southern Pecan Pie

My husband loves Pecan Pie, really he loves it! Usually my Mom will make him one at our various family get togethers. But this past weekend, I was in a baking mood, had pecans to use up and decided to make my Grandmother's pecan pie recipe. My first pecan pie ever. And it turned out! The recipe called for 1 cup of pecans but that didn't look like enough so I added two cups. Now that's a pecan pie!

Southern Pecan Pie

3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
dash of salt
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup pecan halves (or maybe 2 cups!)
1 9" unbaked pastry shell

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat eggs thoroughly with sugar, dash of salt, corn syrup and melted butter. Add pecans. Pour into pastry shell and bake for 50 minutes or till knife inserted in centre of pie comes out clean. Cool and serve.