What I've Been Reading

I thought my blog would be a great way for me to post what I've read in 2012.  This way I can look back in December and see how many books I was able to tackle, and hopefully I will be able to inspire some new reads for you.

So far in 2012, I have read 2 books on my Kobo.

Book #1: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

What an amazing story! I'm sure most of you have seen the movie and know the gist of what happens, but of course as my favourite little quote says:

 

This book is an easy read, and I love how it switches between all the characters points of view.

Five stars for sure!

Book #2: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This book was recommended to me by my Kobo.  It was on sale and after reading the back I thought I'd give it a try.   I really liked this book, it's a little strange that's for sure, but at the heart of this book is a love story and who doesn't love a love story set in 1890 with a circus and magic.
I'd give it 4 stars.

And now.....I'm finally heading back to the Outlander series after a very long hiatus.

For some reason, The Fiery Cross has been an obstacle to me for years.  I've read books 1-4 twice (well I read them once and then listened to the audiobook once) and both times I read the first 50 pages of The Fiery Cross and I give up. 
Well not this time, I'm taking on the challenge of all 1433 pages so I can finally move on to Book #6: A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and Book #7: Echo in the Bone.

Wish Me Luck

Ta Ta For Now
xoxox Bri

Project: Bee Pollen

well it's happened, the hippie, eating weeds right from the garden part of my extended family has finally got me under their grasp and I am taking Bee Pollen.

This is what I'm eating - little yellow granules

It all started with Sean.

Pierre (my brother-in-law) recommended it to him when Sean was feeling very lethargic by the end of the day. Instead of fueling his system with cup after cup of coffee, he started taking bee pollen.  And since he started eating 1 tablespoon he hasn't stopped telling how fantastic he feels.

The most important factor when you decide to take bee pollen is where it comes from.  Luckily for us, we have a bee farm & meadery about 10 minutes from us, Planet Bee, so our bee pollen comes right from where we live.  And where I live is a beautiful mountain town with clean air and little pollution which makes for high quality granules.

Here is just a little sampling of all the things bee pollen can do for you:

• Relief for Arthritis
  

• Help with Prostate problems
• Improving digestion
• Skin problems such as eczema & psoriasis
• Hormonal balance, such as PMT & menopause
• Repetitive colds & flu
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Athletic performance
• Reproductive system - impotence, infertility, loss of libido etc
• Low or high blood pressure
• Nervous system problems
• Glandular problems
• Ulcers
• Hepatitis
• Bronchitis
• Chronic fatigue
• Insomnia
• Bowel problems - constipation, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome etc
• To help protect against adverse effects associated with radiation treatment
• To help prevent premature aging
• To eliminate toxicity from the body

and let me state, this is just a short list of all the benefits it has.

Since Sean has started taking bee pollen, he is full of energy and it really have balanced his hypoglycemia.
He has his morning coffee and that's it, no more 3-4 cups of coffee a day. 

So I am on day #2 of taking these little yellow granules mixed in with my morning yogurt, and I'll keep you updated on if I feel any great effects like Sean has.

Ta Ta For Now
xoxox Bri

Obsessions and Confessions - Premier Post

so I promised my dear friend Sara - author of my favourite blog SaigeWisdom that I would join the band wagon of posting midweek Obsessions and Confessions - so here goes my first post.

Obsessions:

• HGTV / The Food Network.  These two channels are all I need for cable (well maybe A&E and Bravo for Criminal Minds).  I can flip between these channels ALL DAY and trust you me, I do.  I even set an alarm on my iPhone for when the shows I really like are coming on so I don't forget to tune in (we don't have a PVR).  Tonight at 8:00 it's America's Worst Cooks - my alarm is set.
  
• Scrapbook Paper, it's my biggest weakness at any craft store.  I can't have enough!  I even have paper that I don't even want to use because it looks so nice.  Thankfully I promised Sean I wouldn't purchase any new supplies until I put a substantial dent in the supplies I currently have. 
  
• Mr. Big chocolate bars - I can eat at least 1 a day, possibly even 2
  
• Little Caesar's Crazy Bread - I can easily eat two whole pouches.  I order it with extra cheese and on nights when Sean is working late or going out for dinner, that is what I treat myself to.  I try and leave some for Sean, but usually I eat both bags myself. 

Confessions:

• Gin makes me cry- I love gin, my favourite way to drink it is with soda water and a lime or two.  But I will take a gin & tonic any day.  But if I have too many gins, it is guaranteed I will have me a little cry at some point in the evening.  Not to worry, Sean is quite aware of this and thankfully he still goes out with me when I decide to drink Gin.
  
• Criminal Minds gives me nightmares.  I LOVE this show, and I LOVE Dr. Reid and when Morgan tackles the un-sub.  Sean and I just discovered how great this show is so we still have quite a few episodes we haven't seen.  But I can't watch it before bed, I have to buffer going to bed with some HGTV.  If I don't - I'll have nightmares about un-subs attacking me when I sleep.

That's all for this week's post!
Ta Ta For Now
xoxo Brianne

Featured Customer at Scrap Much?

I'm being featured as the customer of the month over at the Scrap Much? blog.
Take a look!
I have some layouts posted - some of my favourite from my honeymoon album.

Ta Ta For Now!
xoxox Bri

My First Day of Work

You would think I've never had a job before with all the hype I am putting around this new job I've started but I can't help it, I am just too excited about this opportunity.

Last night I barely slept because a) I was afraid I would be late for work and b) I was a little excited, so after a very restless night I woke up at 7:15 to get ready for work.  I dropped Sean off to around 8:30 and up CommonAge I drove to Sparkling Hills.

They have a staff parking lot and I was told there was a slight hill to walk up to get to the staff entrance.  Let's just say the slight hill is a REAL HILL at like a good 60 degree angle.  So making it up that hill this morning in my heels wasn't the easiest, so tomorrow, I'm wearing my TOMS instead.

Really there is not much to say about my first day.  With no computer or phone set up yet, I did a lot of reading of brochures and menus, and I was toured around the hotel and introduced to a number of employees, including our General Manager Hans-Peter Mayr.

My first day was fantastic!
I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

Ta Ta For Now,
Bri xoxoxo

Walk Away and Come Back Later

I know, weird title for my blog - but this is my advice to you today.

Tuesday I wanted to do a layout of 4 pictures I had from when Sean and I went to Anstruther for fish and chips.  I usually always do 2 page layouts, but really with this limited amount of photos I thought a 1 page would work well.  I also decided to wing this one, use my own creativity instead of the assistance of a sketch.
I looked through my paper closet (yes I had all my paper hanging on little hangers in the closet in my scrapbooking room - I'll post pictures soon) and found some old papers that I thought went well together. 

I knew I wanted to do some sort of design element on the spotted paper but I didn't want to dig out my Cricut (I am patiently waiting for my husband to build me a 7 foot by 3 foot shelf which my cricut and other items will call home) so I traced it from another paper I had.

I cut it out and then started playing around with the arrangement.

DISASTER!!

Every combination I thought of looked horrible to me and I was starting to get really frustrated, so I WALKED AWAY.
I turned off my little iPod stereo, turned off the light and went upstairs and forgot all about those 4 pictures.....until today.

This morning I decided not to sit in front of the TV all day (as I have for the past two days) so I came on the MAC and went to all my bookmarked blogs.  With all the amazing projects being done by everyone I decided to head back downstairs and give some fresh eyes to that pesky layout. 
And literally within 25 minutes I had it complete! and I loved it.

Here it is

It's really a simple layout - 4 pictures and 4 papers but I love how it all came together

I loved how the dot paper had lime swirls through it so I stitched a few of them

The funnest Thickers out there - you can't go wrong with sparkly teal

So that's my advice for you today - when you are overrun with ideas or you just can't decide - walk away and come back later.

Ta Ta for Now
xoxox Bri

My New Job

Today I had some great plans to show you some of the great layouts I've worked on in the past year, but alas, I am having some crazy technical difficulties using Sean's camera.  I pressed something and now the camera won't focus :( and of course Sean isn't answering his cell so I can't get a quick fix from him over the phone.  So that plan is out the window for today, and I'll double up on the layout photos on my next post.

But not to fear, I still have a great topic to blog about, my fantastic new job!!!

So, Sean and I have been in Vernon since November 1st, and literally I started looking for a job here back in August when we came for our summer visit.  I even had some interviews lined up before we came out.

I met with someone from a great golf course here called Predator Ridge and I interviewed for a marketing manager position with BC Tree Fruit.  Lastly, I interviewed for a marketing position with a new resort here in Vernon called Sparkling Hills.   

The resort opened in 2010 here in Vernon and is owned by Swarovski Crystal and there are over 3.5 million crystals used throughout the hotel. 

To say this place is fancy is an understatement, it has 40,000 square feet of spa and views to die for! Sean and I were fortunate enough to stay at the resort for one night (thanks to my MIL) and the best part of the resort is there are sauna's, steam rooms and 3 pools that are included with your stay.

Here are some pictures from their website

an aerial view

The gorgeous view from their hotel rooms (and the glowing red thing is a crystal fireplace)

Valet and front entrance

The Lobby

So I applied for the marketing position but it turned out I wasn't the right fit for what they were looking for. 

Once we finally drove out here I hit the computer hard looking for a job, and really I was looking for ANY job.  I applied for office admins, admin assistants, and anything that had marketing in it.  But Vernon is for sure not a hot spot for employment right now and I knew to find a job needing my skills I was going to have to commute to Kelowna.  

Now, I have no issue with commuting.  I commuted 75 minutes each way to Shoplogix and driving 50 minutes to Kelowna each day is not so bad, but secretly I wanted a job in Vernon. 

So after 5 weeks of hearing NOTHING from any of the jobs I applied to (almost 40) I thought it was time to speak to an employment agency.  

I enrolled in the program at the Centre for Business Development (CBD) in Kelowna.  The purpose of this Centre is to help professionals with their job search through their workshops. They don't find you a job, but they give you the skills you need to find a job.  Carol was my coach and without her I wouldn't have found a job.

Carol found the posting for an event coordinator at Sparkling Hills and she helped me tailor my resume.  After a lot of hard work and editing to my resume, I submitted it and I was overjoyed when I got the call to come in for an interview.

The interview was 2.5 hours! Basically it was a lot of questions from the Director of HR and the Events Manager (who I would be reporting to) and then it was time for the tour exercise.  Marlene (events manager) walked me to various spaces in the hotel and asked me questions regarding how I would handle certain situations....ie: in this room we can fit 145, a bride wants 160, how would you set it up and what restrictions would you have? What would you use this space for, or how would you arrange for a board meeting.  

The Ballroom

The Terrace

 

All of this I thought I answered very well, but now I had to wait to see if I moved on to the next step - reference check.

Well after two long weeks of waiting patiently for an email, I finally found out I was selected to move to the reference check step.  I provided my current references (who were all from Shoplogix) but then I was asked to give names of people I worked with at Allstream and U of G - what a process that was.  I still chat to Kathy at U of G so that was just a matter of leaving her a message on facebook, but Allstream was going to be a challenge.   My manager JoAnne no longer works at Allstream and I had no personal phone number or email for her,  but thankfully after a lot of phone calls and emails I was able to track down someone at Allstream who a) remembered me and b) could talk about the job!

Finally on December 29th I was offered the job! and what an exciting day that was! I called Sean practically screaming that they chose me and that I finally had a new job to start on January 10th!

This job has lots of great perks, but the best is, my drive is under 20 minutes to work! WOW, what a change from my life in Ontario!

For a good two years I had truly been missing event planning! I don't regret working at Shoplogix, but in hindsight I don't know if I would have taken the job again if offered it.  I moved into more of a marketing role because of the size of the company (they were just too small to have a dedicated event planner) and for five years I really had to put my event planning career on hold.  

But now, I am back doing what I love.  I know this is an entry level position and the hours are going to be long but I can't express to you how excited I am to have this opportunity and to jump back into event planning.  It's the career I knew I was meant to have.  It is truly my passion.

My life is back to organizing, notebooks, lists and my favourite of all PENS!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday can't come soon enough, and trust me, there will for sure be a post letting you all know how great my first day was!

Ta Ta For Now!

xoxox Bri