crystal's little corner

so, yesterday i entered a contest online... to find out today that i won a $100 gift certificate from DHBC .  it can be used for pretty much anything in the downtown Hali core, so we're going to put our thinking caps on and come up with a couple of ideas on what to do.  i'm thinking about taking the kiddos to the Discovery Centre , and then to Freak Lunchbox for treats afterwards. what would you do if you could do ANYTHING along the waterfront of Halifax?  harbour cruise?  spa?  shopping?  eats? thank you Downtown Halifax.  i can hardly wait to spend my big day downtown :)

i think i've turned into a sloth.  i have ZERO energy these last few days. i went to zumba last night but i didn't enjoy myself.  it takes all my energy to do laundry or housework. anyone have any ideas on how to get out of my own way????

after a weekend full of family, friends, cake & fun, my little boy is five :) happy birthday bud.  each year that goes by, i am more and more in awe of you!

i cannot believe alex is old enough to start school.  i started this blog before he was BORN! here are some pics from the first day :

This Sunday, I am participating in the Ovarian Cancer Walk of Hope.  This is a fundraiser for a cause very close to my heart. On Christmas Eve 2009, my mom was diagnosed with Stage IV ovarian cancer after starting to feel sick around Thanksgiving.  The symptoms of this disease are very similiar to menopause or PMS, and go un-noticed, or misdiagnosed far too frequently.  For a person diagnosed with Stage IV, the survival rate is only around 17%.  So far, my mom is feeling well after her chemo treatments & a full hysterectomy, but the chance of the cancer coming back is still strong. There is no early detection test for ovarian cancer.  A pap test DOES NOT test the ovaries.  I always thought it did.  The idea of how quickly my mother became sick scares me silly, and I worry all the time about whether or not I will also get sick in this way.  All I can hope is to help raise awareness to the fact that there is no early testing that can be done...

This has been a pretty big week in our house.  We had a first day of school, first filling at the dentist, and first needles.  I had done up some pretty great collages on the software that is being given away later tonight, but the hard drive on our desktop crashed, and so I'm stuck posting from my netbook.  At least I can still do this much!  Pics and more details will follow a little later.  I have to get ready to go pick Alex off the school bus in a couple of minutes!!

i am so excited to roll out my first blog giveaway! i was approached by mymemories.com which is a digital scrapbooking software company to review their product here's what's in it for you, my readers!  you can win a full version of the software, and all you have to do is this: visit  http://www.mymemories.com/ , and check out the gallery.  come back here & post what your favorite was. giveaway closes september 8 - that's one week from today! you can see from my post below some of the effects that you can do.  that was just one template.  i'm going to keep playing with the program, but so far, it's super easy!

my beautiful family!   photos courtesy of m. blanchard - my talented SIL! software courtesy of my memories suite