We have some weiners!

And/or winners. Basically the same thing.

So! If you didn't know about it, I did a 12/12/12 giveaway...and the results are in!
 
Are you excited?

To be honest, I was fairly surprised with the results.  I won't say anymore but I'll let you see for yourself and be surprised! Thanks to everyone for your participation and entries, it was really fun :)!

So I put all this disaster together....

There are some high tech draw's going on right there!

I promise to you, I didn't rig anything. (Believe me if you wish).

First, we had the Benefit mini scent sampler...

Ruth*! You were bound to win, you're the only one that wanted it apparently!

Second, the Bath & Body work set of Trudy's faves ;) (Including candle and soap)...

There were QUITE a few entries here...but Nani pulled through! Good thing you entered near the end! :)

Third, Paul Mitchell Shampoo and Conditioner had a few entries...

But Ruth came through, again!

Fourth, Sephora Philosophy Sparkle and Joy set with body washes and lipgloss...

Ruth again?? What kind of crazy luck do you have?!

Fifth, Love Spell Lotion by Victoria's Secret....

A new contender pulls in...Janette*! (I call her Ned...)

Sixth, Corioliss Brilliant Gloss Mist...

Ned again?? Like I said, I shook all the little piles very well! It was all luck and chance!

And the last 2 things...something almost everyone wanted...the sweet sweet chocolate.

First we have Ferrero Rocher...

And here we have Nani again! (Or should I say Joe...) ;)

And of course the Toffifee...

Ned apparently has some sweet luck as well! 

So first off I want to say Congratulations to the 3 winners! And I want to thank everyone for your comments and participation...I had fun! Like I said, I was quite surprised with the results. Only 3 people managed to snatch everything up! I guess it's just the luck of the draw!
I'm going to be honest here though, I'm slightly relieved I don't have to send anything out! (Especially to Scotland...no offense Lambie) ;). 

Again thanks to everyone! Happy Holiday's & Merry Christmas!
I'm happy to be sharing some of my things with some of you!

Nani, I'll be seeing you tomorrow! :)
Ruth, I'll send your goodies with my parents as they'll be seeing you guys later on Christmas Day. :D
Ned, I'll see you Christmas Eve. ;) 

Fare well for meow :)!

** Ruth and Janette and nieces of mine, just for those who were curious**

I can't always be awesome...

One more work day until the holidays! (For me anyways...if not for you, I'm sorry). 

So...last night was a failure. I was making something delicious but it got ruined and burnt up...probably because my oven runs a bit too hot so I should have turned it down a bit. Anyways, just 5 cups of pecans/1 cup of almonds ruined...not a big deal. Made me sad. 
But I did successfully (I think anyways?) make a cookie dough last night for baking tonight. I'll share when completed. 
Since I wasn't able to win in doing all the baking I wanted last night, I figured I had to get something else done. SO! The house got all tidied/vacuumed and bathroom cleaned. At least that's all done. I also finished Scott's card and all his wrapping. So I still got a decent amount done and again passed out from exhaustion around 10:30. It's been long days guys and I think George is starting to feel neglected because he's not getting as much attention as he usually does.
Tonight will be busy yet again... so much baking. *.*

How has your week leading up to Christmas been? What things do you still need to do?

I'll have to finish up my baking, get all packed up, finish with the rest of my presents (will take about an hour or less), and shower George ;) He has to be looking his best (fluffiest) for the holidays (me). 

December 20th! And what's my favorite Christmas meal?
Well, my family has never really done a big meal on Christmas day (that I can think of...someone can correct me if I'm wrong). What I remember from Christmas morning, is having my mom's homemade hot chocolate and toast! But Christmas Eve we generally have a little feast of sorts...lately Chinese food!
Though if I had a choice in the matter....I love roast beef, turkey dinner...all those marvelous things :D

Do you have a feast on Christmas Day or Eve (or both)? What do you have Christmas morning?
AND what's your favorite Christmas meal (if you have one)?

12 Days of Christmas!
On the 8th day of Christmas a Trudy gave to you, 8 mint hot cocoas, 7(+) songs for singing, 6 lengthy foot rubs, 5 boooxxxesss of Godiiiivvaaaaa, 4 festive movies, 3 pomegranates, 2 pairs of sweatpants and a fuzzy kitten named Georgey!

Trudy out.

Byeas for meow :)!

PS. Today is the last day to enter the giveaway. If there's anything else you want to enter for, do it now!
I'll be announcing winners at some point tomorrow ;) SO GO ENTER!

Last night, on the drive home, I heard a Christmas song I hadn't heard since last Christmas. I thought to myself, oh ya! I kind of like this song! I wonder who it's by. Again, I had no idea...so enjoy T Swift everyone! 
I should've known by the twangy guitars... -.- (I'm starting to dislike it now...)


 

Cookies have begun!

Traffic last night was stupid. I'm excited for Christmas...but I'm ready for all this traffic to be gone. Regular Calgary traffic is bad enough without throwing all the last minute shoppers into the mix :P
But yes, traffic was stupid. There was no way I was going to pick up groceries or even go near the dang mall.
So I went home, showered (in case you were wondering) and then decided that something else productive was in order. The result? One batch of cookies has been made! Triple Chip Chocolate Chunk Cookies from the blog Picky Palate. So I broke out one of our wedding gifts (from my mom - thanks :D)...guys, it was awesome. Cookies shouldn't be made any other way...it's just so convenient for it to be mixing for me while I measure and add other things in. Sweet mixer.

So I basically followed the recipe as it says...I didn't add near as many chips (of the butterscotch, white and chocolate variety) because that just seemed insane to me. I like there to be at least a bit more cookie than chip. I also made the cookies a little smaller so I could get a few more out of it, and thus decreased the baking time to 7/8 minutes. I'm not sure if I left them in too long or what, but they were a bit too crunchy for my likings...I was wanting a nice soft cookie, but they'll do. I'm mainly giving them away anyways...so be ready for crunchy cookies! :D We'll see what ends up being made tonight!

So, as I was working out this morning, George was crawling around the tree and he just looked so cute! I had to stop and take a picture...

Cute~! :D 
After the picture, George proceed to fall (or fail at jumping) off the table - poor little guy x).

PS. Do you like our recently added decorations? Dino and, up in the left corner, blue Snoopy!

 Speaking of decorations :D ... they're related to Christmas, which brings us tooooooo....

December 18th (!), less than one week until Christmas yo! I'm to share with you, when I open gifts. 
My family has never been into the opening of just one (or any) gifts on Christmas Eve (which I know some people do). We've always opened gifts Christmas morning, which I like...though I wouldn't be opposed to opening it Christmas Eve or even the day after. Just so long as I get to open eventually ;) haha. 

When do you (like to) open gifts??

12 Days of Christmas...
On the 6th day of Christmas a Trudy gave to you, 6 lengthy foot rubs, 5 booooxxes of Godiiiivaaaa, 4 festive movies, 3 pomegranates, 2 pairs of sweatpants and a fuzzy kitten named Georgey! :)

I don't know about you, but I love foot rubs. They just feel so dang good! (Really, I like all massages though...so ya...)

Do you like having your feet rubbed? How about giving foot rubs?

Some people are too grossed out to give them... I really don't care. (Though I would prefer for them to be cleaned...some feet just smell, rather unpleasant). Either way, I'll likely be washing my hands...

AND that's all. Wish me luck on tonight's cookies! Mixer, here I come :)!

Buh bye for meow :)!

PS. The last day to enter for the giveaway will be Thursday night (midnight I guess). I'll be doing the draws on Friday morning... so just as long as all entries are in before then, you'll be good! So that's only a few more days if there's anything you want to enter for that you haven't yet, do it! There's still great chances!!

Today's song... is actually one I kind of forgot about. I recall singing it in Music Class in grade 5 or 6...
I'd like to see (or rather, HEAR) you try singing it WITHOUT attempting an Australian accent...

Advent Calender has issues...

SO! It was back to the mall with me for about an hour last night. I really don't mind going to the mall during Christmas. Sure, it's absolutely insanely busy on the weekend (which is why I didn't go on Friday) BUT I don't know, it's just all bustling and festive and decorated. I like it!
I believe that I'm FINALLY done my Christmas shopping (hopefully), but you never know ;)

The past few nights, I've been waking up at about 2:30 ish and have been having a heck of a time getting back to sleep, THEN when my alarm finally goes off at 5...I feel DEAD to the world. I don't know what to do...but I hope this annoying little habit stops on the ASAP.

So, you may or may not know...but Scott has been gone for 3 weeks. Tonight, he's able to come back for about 24 hours then he goes back out until he's off for Christmas, on the 21st.
I don't know about you...but I'm DEFINITELY ready for some holidays...
How about you??

Want to see something lame??

Do you understand what's going on there? The KINDER EGG ITSELF is behind that door. On the 13th???!
NO! Gah...I had to skip the 13th for now. I don't know if it's just me...but that Kinder Egg is being saved for the final Kinder feast. 'Nuff said. :P

So, I still need wrapping paper and a bunch of ingredients to get some baking going! Hopefully that happens this weekend.

But the Christmas blogging must go on!

December 14th...11 days til Christmas! Real or artificial tree you ask??

Well...growing up, I think I only saw one or perhaps two real trees in our house.We had at least a couple (probably more) artificial trees stored in our basement. And correct me if I'm wrong family... but I believe almost all of my siblings get artificial trees? One sibling that I KNOW gets a REAL tree every year is the Strathmore bunch. (Remember how I talked about their Obese tree??...I'm so sad I forgot to get a picture!)
 {PS, my graham cracker house is still decorating my kitchen...it remains uneaten thus far!}

I know lots of people love going out to get real trees...and I'm sure that's a very fun and festive experience! Real trees also usually look great (or obese apparently...), and lots of people love the piney tree scent.
I, however, don't really care. Haha. I just love the look of a decorated tree - period! And I'm not a huge piney scent fan... so that doesn't really make me want a real tree. PLUS, real trees make a mess! (Also, who knows what critters you're bringing into your home in that tree bundle D: ).
So by the sounds of it, I think for me personally, I prefer an artificial tree ;)

How about you?? Real or artificial??

Almost forgot about the 12 days of Christmas!
On the second day of Christmas a Trudy gave to you, 2 pairs of sweatpants and a fuzzy kitten named Georgey.

Now here's my explanation. I don't know about you...but when I'm hibernating at home for part of the holidays, I do NOT leave my pj's/sweatpants. My favorites are usually Lululemon...but I also have a really big, cozy pair I love! (I'm giving 2 pairs so you can cycle through... wash one pair while wearing the other). ;)
You're welcome.
You understand what I'm saying? ;)

TGIF!

Ciao for meow :)!

PS. If you haven't yet... don't forget to check out that giveaway! The chances are still VERY HIGH for winning SOMETHING!

So the Christmas song I chose for today took me a while to find. I had no idea what it was called, and I ABSOLUTELY did NOT know it was Brittney Spears. It's a catchy song though, so far, I was making up my own words because I didn't really know what they were. (Thus why it took me so long to find...). ;)
What do you think of it??

12 Days of Christmas Begins!

Well hey there! I've gotten a few new readers/followers due to my giveaway (which is just fine)...so welcome everyone! A quick introduction (because my blog isn't all that organized)...

So, I'm Trudy! I've been blogging for...well it's getting close to 3 years now! I basically blog about my life, things I learn and things I'm thinking about. (So basically it's an online Journal, but that's what a lot of blogs are). I'm living in Canada and just got married this past summer{you can search tags about wedding help; wedding plans; wedding planning to see more on that} to Scott {who I also mention on the blog...you can search Strongbad, fine fellow, and Scott}, but he's also gone a lot. We got a kitten not long after getting married, his name is George and he's pretty ridiculous...but also pretty dang cute {he can also be searched under George of course}!
I don't really like the cold, I enjoy swimming and I love Kinder Eggs and Ice Cream :D
Right now I'm basically just working, living life, and looking forward to Christmas!
I'm pretty sure I didn't put any, let alone even one wedding picture up on here...I just realized. I could probably do that. If you want.

Now how about you tell me about you ;)

Feel free to comment or email me at trudyjohnson11@gmail.com!

Any other questions, let me know!

So back to everyday nothingness!
So today is the 13th and I really want to watch some dang Christmas movies! Scott and I don't have any. My parents have a few, so I'll just have to wait a little bit and then I can go crazy!
 
So recall how I didn't make banana bread this past weekend?
Well, last night I realized I needed it...so banana bread was made! Same as last time. Still just as delish!

Nummers~! Remember, I could still post the recipe if you want ;)

Oh! I also waxed my legs last night haha. I think I'm getting better...because it doesn't seem to take as long. It seems like I'm getting less and less hair growing back each time (which I like).

Now we're going to get Christmasy for the rest of this post, real Christmasy...

 

Here on the 13th, I'm supposed to share my favorite Christmas book. 

I'm going to be honest here...I don't remember the last time I read a Christmas book. 

I remember reading Christmas books when I was a wee lass...about the '12 Days of Christmas' and 'T'was the Night Before Christmas' and such. But I don't know if I've ever read any Christmas books as an adult. 

Is that normal??

Maybe you should give me some recommendations if you know of Christmas books!

Do share, what's your favorite Christmas book? Or do you have one??

And NOW it's time to start the 12 Days of Christmas! (I did this last year, you can search the tag, 12 days of christmas if you want to see it - or starts here). So, my "12 Days of Christmas" are basically things that I've really been liking lately (or for a long time), things that seem festive; and some things that I just personally relate to Christmas. ;) Basically, it's ridiculous and you'll think I'm odd...but that's alright :D

Here we goooo...

On the first day of Christmas a Trudy gave to you, a fuzzy kitten named Georgey.

He's not always running around like a psycho...just usually.

Aww~!

GAH! His addiction is getting worse!

Do you want to do your own 12 Day of Christmas? :D 

Do you want my kitten? ;)

Toodles for meow :)!

PS. Get on over and enter into the giveaway if you haven't! Chances of winning are pretty high! A couple things haven't been picked at all yet!

This Christmas song is one of my faves...(not necessarily sung by MC, just what I found first)

Oranges make smoothies delicious

It's true you know...the past couple days, I've just thrown in a (peeled) mandarin orange. SO GOOD! Sweet, but delicious (if you're into that sort of thing...).
Yesterday though, I must've filled the container a little full and it leaked over onto my fav green Lulu hoodie.

Horrible, right? :< I washed it last night after work and I looked at it this morning (praying that it would magically be gone) and though it was definitely faded, it wasn't completely gone. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture if you were interested). I used regular detergent and oxi-clean. Though I didn't scrub it at all (which is probably what my mother would suggest...).

Any tips?? D:

Curse you delicious mandariny (yup) smoothie.

So I need to get some dang wrapping paper so I can get on wrapping gifts! Which leads us nicely into this actually...

Well hey there December 12th! What's that? Do I prefer wrapping paper or gift bags??

Come now. WRAPPING PAPER! I think a lot of us prefer to rip open something. Though sometimes, without putting something in a box, there are a few things that are very very difficult to wrap. Especially kids toys these days...they have insane corners and shapes. Do they enjoy making it obscenely difficult for the world?? 
Though I will most definitely admit, I have used gift bags...they're very convenient at times. 
Another reason I prefer wrapping paper is then I don't feel like I need to reuse it. I don't know if this happens to everyone or if it's just my mother ingrained in my brain. But if I get a gift bag from someone and it's in good condition, I'm going to reuse it. 
Is that so horrible?? Do you do it?
(Though my mom also tried to save wrapping paper...so at least I don't go quite that far...).

Do you prefer wrapping paper or gift bags? And do you ever save them??

 Buh bye for meow :)!

PS. 12 days of Christmas (Trudy style) starts tomorrow!

PPS. Did you see I'm doing a giveaway?? Get over there and enter to win something!

I should likely start putting up Christmas songs everyday now... (nice view, hey?)

12:12:12 Giveaway! *CLOSED*

** GIVEAWAY CLOSED**

Alright people. This is sort of exciting. But not too exciting.
Here we are on the 12th day of the 12th month of the (20)12th year, and I'm doing a giveaway!

I've been considering doing a giveaway of sorts for a little bit now. Lately, my reader base has increased... and I think it's actually worth it to give this a try. Now I will tell you, I do have a few gifts to give away but they likely won't all appeal to each of you.

So first I'll start with the goods...

Sorry, I don't know how to flip this picture horizontally on here. But you get the drift. Benefit mini scent samplers. They're pretty good! :D

My favorite soap and winter scent from Bath & Body Works :D And also a candle, Winter Candy Apple...smells delish, trust me! (These I have as a set, just took it out to show you what it was).

This Paul Mitchell extrabody, shampoo and conditioner set.

This little festive Christmas set from Sephora (philosophy products).
4 different body washes and 1 lip gloss. (Sorry, again I didn't know how to flip it...haha).

A little lotion called Love Spell from Victorias Secret. (Smells pretty delish).

Corioliss, Brilliant Gloss Mist. (I've never tried it...I don't know of it's awesomeness)

I'll also be giving away a box of Ferrero Rocher and a box of Toffifee. As these are my favorite Christmas treats you can get from the store ;). They're delicious.

And last but not least, I will NOT be giving away George. I just want you to look at his cuteness.

Alright,so there are QUITE a few things to giveaway. And here's how this is going to work. You can enter your name to win any or all items you're interested in.

How do you enter?
WELL, to enter...you need to leave a comment (or a text, email, facebook comment, facebook message, whatever!) for each entry/item. In this comment, you will either tell me...
A) an exciting/entertaining or even meaningful story (ideally Christmas related) ;)
B) one genuinely nice thing about me (hey sometimes the Trudy needs love!)
C) one of your favorite blog posts on here so far, and why you like it
D) another awesome blogger that I'm missing out on, and why I should check them out!
E) your favorite thing about Christmas (put some heart into it) ;)
F) an awesome Christmas recipe that I NEED to make

Not too hard right?? I just feel like doing a giveaway!

Rules
 As I said, you can enter for just one thing, you can enter for ALL of them as long as you do a separate entry for each item. Make sure you say in the comment (text, email, facebook, etc) what the entry is for. I'm not quite sure what the finish date will be yet, but it'll go for at least a week (I'll let you guys know when I've picked the ending date). At the end of the contest, I'll take all the entries and do a draw for each item...so if you're the only one...you win by default!
OH! You're probably wondering if I'll ship out of Canada? I'm perfectly aware I have a few readers in the US and one in particular in Scotland ;)... and YES! It's all in! I love all you readers and I want everyone to have equal chance. Oh, and feel free to spread the news!
Any questions about the giveaway or any of the products, let me know!

So start now!
Email is trudyjohnson11@gmail.com for those who would prefer to email.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!