On a business note.....

For those of you who haven't heard yet (can't imagine who) I'm heading to Vegas in March for the Wedding Portrait Photographers International Convention. I can't wait. It should be wonderfully fun and I'm hoping to come home with tons of new ideas and energy for my business. I have almost completely booked every Saturday from April-October. I have a one or two left open, and I have booked several off to spend some time with my family as well. I can't believe how this has taken off, it's hard to believe that only 4 years ago I had never shot a wedding photo. Amazing! I have 20 bookings so far this year. Can't wait to see where the next 4 years takes me! :)

Getting there......

The mudding and tapping is started... with any luck I'll be painting within a week... which means I should probably work on choosing a colour. I also have to pick out and buy sink basins... decisions, decisions! I'm really looking forward to having a decent bathroom again! I'll keep you posted.

Happy Birthday Rachael

On Thursday January 11, my fashion Diva Freddy a.k.a Rachael turned 10. Here she is in all of her fashion glory wearing her stripped tights and matching fingerless gloves. She has a style all her own, and although I wouldn't wear it, I love it! She is creative and doesn't care what everyone else is doing, she is going to be herself. Keep it up girlfriend!

Making Progress

Sorry I have no new pictures to show you, but honestly there isn't much to see at this point. The wiring is run and the new plumbing is in. What a big job the plumbing was. All the original pipes including the cast iron stack that went from the basement throught the attic had to be removed. It was a HUGE job. Thanks a bunch to my father-in-law and his brother Charlie for ALL their help. We went to Toronto on Friday and picked out our tile and taps and light fixtures. I've got a cabinet maker preparing a quote for the vanity that I want, and then we are off to the races! And the biggest news of the day..... for the first time since we moved ALL of the laundry is done, well atleast for the next couple of hours or so. It took two days and about 20 loads, but it is DONE! And so am I!

Warning the following pictures are graphic and disturbing

Okay.... so may that's a little dramatic, but our upstairs bathroom was GROSS! It was seriously in need of some help. These are the before pictures.....

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The tub was really icky...

So currently.... it is gutted. Down to the bare outside walls. There is a very attractive dump trailer on my front lawn full of what was the bathroom. I keep telling myself, it has to get worse before it can get better :)
To be honest it's quite exciting. Now we just have to pick out all the new stuff to put in there. We are really debating over the tile. It's such a permanent thing, that we don't want to hate it in five years. Chris is trying to talk me into the white tiles with black grout similar to what our master bathroom in Zurich was. I'm starting to agree with him. I'll keep you posted with the progress.

Decorating Fun

My kids have a great Dad. This week while Christmas shopping Chris came across a great deal on gingerbread house kits, so he bought one for each of the kids. It was great fun to put them together. Each child decorated their own, Vic had some assistance of course. The results were pretty cool!

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

We are anxiously awaiting our first Christmas on Blackbush Line. I'm hoping we will have some wonderful new memories in our new home. The stockings are hung on the bannister and the tree is set up in the living room... now if I could just get all those presents wrapped :)