Nie Nie Today

I have posted about Stephanie of Nie Nie Dialogues before. She and her family were on the Today show this morning. It's interesting to see her "live" after reading for so long. Why is it that every time I hear her story, I am brought to tears?

Check it out here

Kudos to...Grandma

This weeks kudos goes to my Grandma. She is a fantastic pie baker. Tonight my hubby and I enjoyed a night snack (aka late dessert) of fresh apple pie, courtesy of my Grandma. This summer we were discussing rhubarb and I mentioned that I love rhubarb desserts. she offered to make me some rhubarb pie and asked what kind of pie my husband liked. When I told her apple, she offered to make apple pie too. A few weeks later we were the grateful recipients of a rhubarb, an apple and a saskatoon pie. At almost every family gathering, she makes sure that each of her nine grandkids leaves with a pie from her freezer. We all have grown up on, and love her pie. One of my favorite backing memories was when I went over to her house and she showed me how to make pie crust. She always uses lard for her crust, and her pastry is so flaky and delicious.

So kudos to you, Grandma. Derek and I thank you

Kudos to...Good Friends

Tonight I had the pleasure of getting together with a group of girls that I went to high school with. We went for supper at Dessert Sinsations, which I highly recommend. The photo above was given to me tonight, which was taken 7 years ago, probably the same time that the 5 of us were all together at the same time. It was so great to sit around for hours and catch up. It feels in some ways that it hasn't been 8 years since graduation, but it obviously was as we were talking about husbands, jobs, and kids. They're such wonderful ladies, and we're planning to get together again soon.

Kudos to...My Hubby

This week's kudos (yes, I realize I missed last week) goes to my husband, Derek. He is one of the hardest working guys I know, he is really smart, he is patient, and he always makes me laugh. As I took this picture, I was giggling and telling him he looked funny. He puts up with it. This is part of our nightly ritual...we sit next to each other in bed, each typing and checking out our regular sites as we watch TMZ and laughing at the various craziness on TV. This is our nightly unwinding, and we thoroughly enjoy our mindless time.



Kudos to my honey for being fun, and someone whom I couldn't be without.

Kudos to...Nie

Just over a year ago, blogger Stephanie Nielson, her husband and their friend Doug were involved in a plane crash that killed their friend and left Nie in a coma. A year after the crash, a coma, and the beginning over recovery, she posted a pic of herself and the story of a climb, that was more than just another hike. Take a visit over to her blog, grab a box of Kleenex and be ready for inspiration and hope.

Kudos to you Nie on your bravery.

Kudos to...Scheduled Posting

In honour of my first day of the "Kudos" column ( and to use the new feature I just discovered), today will have 2 acknowledgments.

The second kudos goes to blogspot for allowing the scheduling of posts. As I am a newer blogger, I am frequently "discovering" standard features of blogspot.com. This may actually allow me to post consistently every Monday morning my latest ackowledgement of something that is well done.

So kudos to you, blogspot on your scheduled post feature.

Kudos to... New Column

For you fellow bloggers out there in blogger world, do you ever find that you are wanting to post, are loving the content on your favorite blogs, but are a little dry when it comes to ideas for your own blog? I feel that way frequently. So, in order to combat the bloggers-block, I thought I'd try coming up with a "column". This is not meant to be fancy, just a starting point for myself to blog. The first one I'd like to start is for Monday mornings (I'll do my best), titled "Kudos to...". It will focus on new, creative or interesting ideas or twists that I think are neat, which you might find interesting. I hope you enjoy.

The first well played goes to Design*Sponge. In honour of her 5th year of blogging, Grace Bonney introduced 5 new columns, my favorite of which is "Living In" by Amy Merrick of An Apple a Day. This takes a movie and dissects the overall style, including sources for items which fit the style. The first week focussed on Out of Africa, and featured a Safari-inspired theme. If you are someone who tends to notice the decor while watching a movie, or even if you're not, I highly recommend you check it out.

So, kudos to you, Design*Sponge, on your new columns and 5 years of blogging.