Life, Birthdays & AVON

Tons has happened since I last posted... LOTS.  More than I can squish into this post, more than I can squeeze out of my overflowing brain right now.

Still living in, and loving, Blaine, Washington.  It never fails to take my breath away every time I come around the curve on Peace Portal as I'm heading south and Mount Baker is there in all its majestic beauty... I immediately thank God for bringing us here!

Rick is working seasonal for TC Trading again, though we're crossing our fingers that when they asked him to choose between the morning shift or the swing shift, that it meant that he'd be getting hired on year-round.  They are such a wonderful company; the owner is so nice, the managers rock, the office ladies are so nice, and most of the guys Rick works with are awesome.

I am finally working again, after more than 6 years!  I'm working at the Dollar Tree in town, and I am absolutely loving it!  I only work 4-hour shifts (unless you're a manager, that is all they offer), but, honestly, after not working so long, 4-hour shifts are hard enough! LOL

Kiera is a big 8th grader!  I can't believe she'll be 14 in January!  She is such an awesome girl, I am so proud of her.  She's been such a huge help with her sisters on the days I work, for which I am so thankful.  Her grades are spectacular... last year she missed the Honor Roll by .05.  Yeah, she finished out 7th grade with a 3.95 GPA!  She's looking to repeat that, if not bypass that this year.  She's involved with GEAR UP, a group that gets kids interested in college early, and she's already toured UW and fallen in love with it.  Kiera is still kicking butt in choir, her voice is just so sweet!

Emmaline is in 5th grade this year, but reading at a high school level... I'm so proud of her!  She got super lucky this year, she really likes her teacher AND her bestest friend is in her class again!  She & Lyric were fairly inseparable during the summer, and that hasn't changed through the school year.  Emmie took a couple free karate classes this past month at Shayne Simpson's Martial Arts & Fitness, and she'll be starting up actual classes in November.  She broke a board with her foot AND earned her white belt yesterday!  I really think this will be the perfect thing to help her self-esteem, and just totally boost her confidence.

Abigael is a KINDERGARTNER!  She is so in love with being in school: her teacher, new friends, playing on a big playground, school lunches, scissors... there is nothing that she doesn't love, except maybe the days she isn't in class LOL She turned 6 yesterday.  SIX.  I just can't believe all my girls are in school and so big.

In even more recent news, I've become an AVON representative.  More specifically, an eRepresentative.  For the main part, I wanted to help my neighbor out, but the upside is that I can buy AVON products at a discount :)  So, you know, if you're interested in AVON products, hit up my personal site ~ http://dpiccini.avonrepresentative.com

More soon... (much sooner than last time!)

Filming locations hunt... Supernatural & Psych...

Rick and I thought it would be a lot of fun to head up into Canada to check out where a couple of our favorite shows, Supernatural and Psych, are filmed. After dealing with yet another annoying border guard, we were on our way to hunt down some better recognized locations.

First stop, White Rock, BC, Canada. The White Rock Museum & Archive (14970 Marine Dr) stands in as the outside of the Psych storefront. The girls thought it was pretty cool getting to see it, they are big fans of the show... though the sundial definitely drew their attention :o)

From the show:
From there, we headed over to Surrey, BC, Canada to check out Shawn's dad's house (2756 O'Hara Ln). To see the front, you have to park and then walk down a beachfront path... whoever lives there has an awesome view!!

From the show:

...back to the car, and on to the Supernatural locations! :o)

The first place we went was Delta, BC, Canada. Dead in the Water (S1-Ep3) The church that the little boy draws in his picture, and the Winchester boys later visit, is the Ladner United Church (4960 48 Ave).

From the show:

We didn't go inside, we just drove past and headed onward to Vancouver, BC, Canada. Almost all Supernatural filming goes on in BC, and TONS of it is in Vancouver!

We checked out a house from Phantom Traveler (S1-Ep4)... can't remember exactly, but I think it was the home of one of the victims. (4334 W 8 Ave, Vancouver, BC)

From the show:
... checked out the CNR Bridge (near 21113 River Road, Richmond, BC), which was where the Hook Man (S1-Ep7) left a date dangling :o) Not only did this bridge make appearances in Hook Man, but it also made an appearance in Salvation (S1-Ep21)

From the show:
... checked out the awesome house (3689 Selkirk St, Vancouver, BC) that stood in as a bed & breakfast in Playthings (S2-Ep11). The girls thought the house was cool, but bound to be creepy because of those freaky dolls :o)

From the show:

... then we took a quick run by the Royal Bank of Canada (685 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC), which stood in for the City Bank of Milwaukee in Nightshifter (S2-Ep12)

From the show:

And, from Houses of the Holy (S2-Ep13), we went by one of the houses that someone was murdered because "an angel told me to". *LOVE* the dinosaur! (750 Princess Ave., Vancouver, BC)

From the show:

...also, from Houses of the Holy, we went by St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church (1022 Nelson Street, Vancouver, BC). THE church where Sam summoned Father Gregory so he could be allowed to rest. I was just planning on driving past, maybe taking a couple pictures of the outside (it IS Sunday, after all!), but Rick wanted to go in. I am *SO* glad we did, the stained glass was gorgeous!

So, here is the picture from the show, outside & inside...

And here are the pictures I took of the outside and inside...

Vancouver is such a big city. It never fails to amaze me how these *HUGE* apartment buildings and office buildings grow up and overshadow these historic buildings!

All this is within an hour drive of our house, so our day trip was really only half a day :o) Crossing the border north was pretty quick, despite the border patrol guy wanting to know if we were looking for work in Canada (why?) or if we had permission for Kiera to travel across the border (her birth cert. has a different last name). Next time we want to go to Canada, I need to have our custody order or a enhanced ID with her real last name on it LOL But we had a lot of fun. Coming HOME across the border was LOONG... the wait was 40 minutes! That is actually not too bad, seeing as some days it's more than 70 minutes... now *THAT* is nuts!!

Actually, I lied. Our first stop was Tim Horton's :o) Must have a honey cruller to start the day... and THEN we went on our way :o) Can't wait to take another film location hunt up in Vancouver... Once Upon a Time is filmed up there, and of course, the Twilight films! :o)

Kiera Through the Years

My baby will be thirteen tomorrow, January 11th. I cannot believe it! Who the heck gave her permission to turn thirteen? I think I'm gonna have to have some words with someone! :o)

In the meantime, in honor of her turning into an actual TEENager...
some pictures of Kiera from the beginning :o)

My momma took me to the hospital around 1130P on January 10th, 1999, and after about 19 hours of labor, my baby girl was born. I know she is destined for great things because when she was born she wasn't breathing and her heart had stopped, but not even 12 hours later they were having to put a hep-lock in her HEAD because she kept kicking it off her foot! :o) I have never seen what she looked like at that moment... only my doctor, the nurses and my momma saw her. Before taking Kiera to the NICU, the nurse brought Kiera to me and had me kiss her... twice. Once for hello, and once for good-bye. I only found that out later. My momma threw out the disposable camera that she took pictures with, she didn't want us to have those memories.

I love to show Kiera this picture to let her see how wiped out I was after giving birth to her LOL I was 19 years old and so completely lost... thank God for my momma and Greg!!

Kiera is 3 days old here. I LOVE this picture of her!

Me and Kiera at about 3 or 4 months old.... I just want to squish those cheeks!

There is NOTHING like the sight of a sleeping baby, especially your own :o)

Kiera used to make this awesome face when she was happy...
she'd snuffle through her squooshed up nose :o)

Kiera's ears were my favorite when she was a baby :o) I couldn't tell you why, but I loved them!

Kiera, about 18 months, hanging out with her Uncle Jon at her grandma's Post Office.

Rick, me and Kiera... she's about 18 months.

At SLO creek, not quite 2

2 years, 11 months :o)

Kiera's 3rd birthday (hi, mom!!!)

2004, Kindergarten school picture

Christmas 2006... such a proud big sister (with her sassy Emmie & floppy Abi LOL)

7 years old... already looking so much bigger!

Christmas 2007 ... she's almost 9 years old!

9 years old... I love this girl!

Skipping a few years (can't find the pictures!!)

February 2011... 12 years old

My rocker... she LOVED going to the EMP/SFM... it was so her thing!

So, now she'll be thirteen. I absolutely LOVE who she is becoming! She has her own individual style, the funkier the better seems to be her theory. She has developed her own taste in music, taking a little of mine, a little of Rick's and quite a bit of her own. She likes R&B and pop, but you'll find her singing along with Queen, Brian Setzer, Zac Brown Band or Bob Seger. (oh yeah, I'm a proud momma!) She's an avid reader of fantasy. Harry Potter? Percy Jackson? She's read all those series... three times! And now, she's reading Michael Crichton. (yup, prouder still!) And she LOVES to help out with cooking and cleaning (seriously!!!).

Yup, she's destined for amazing things...
and God has given me the blessing to be a witness to them all!

Happy birthday, Kiera!!!