Extreme Makeover: Nursery Edition

I dream it, and Justin makes it come true.

Remember this?

He turned it into this...

Do I love it? YES!

All of you expert word scramblers out there who got our baby's name right need to go make your family millions on a word scramble game show. Our son will be named Scotlin Prince Madsen. Scotlin after his Grandfather Scott Lynn Madsen, and because we live in Nova Scotia which stands for "New Scotland." His middle name Prince is my maiden name. After I came up with Scotlin's name the thought of it became so strong and powerful I could not deny it was meant to be our son's name. Even now when I see his name in bold letters up on the wall it almost makes me want to cry. I know there is a special little guy who will be joining our family soon.

Let me tell you a little about this nursery.

See that crib? It didn't cost a thing.

See that dresser? $10

Bead board on the walls? It's actually wallpaper.

10 piece bedding set? 18$

Lighthouse a sailboat? borrowed.

Letters? Homemade. (With Love)

Love it.

Love Justin for putting it all together.

We are not quite finished. There are still a few picture frames to fill, and finishing touches to add. But I was too excited over how it was all coming together I just had to post a few pictures.

Here's some more...

Up close with the bedding... It was Justin's idea to do a Nautical/Maritime theme because of where we are living right now. It was a great idea, and it is turning out very cute, and it has been a blast to create. Let me know what you think, and give suggestions if you want also. I'm not any kind of decorator, so I love tips.

Nursery Stuff

I have searched the greater Halifax area high and low for block letters to put baby Jo Jo's name up on the wall in his nursery, and I have been unsuccessful to say the least. Everything was too expensive, or not what I was looking for, So Justin decided to give our friend Brandon (aka Tim the Tool Man Taylor) a call and see if he had a jig saw we could borrow to rig up some letters. Brandon, of course, had a jig saw and invited us over right away to use his tools and leftover wood he just happened to have lying around. We spent the afternoon there playing while Justin and Brandon traced and cut out the baby's name. I am so excited! They turned out better than anything I could find in the store! I can't wait to get them sanded, painted, and up on the wall in the nursery. Things are coming along. Thank you Griffins for helping us today!

Can any one guess what we are naming our baby boy?

(Hint: It's not baby Jo Jo)

A Whole Bunch of GARBAGE!

I highly doubt any of you care to read about the Love/Hate relationship I have developed with the garbage situation in Bedford, Nova Scotia, but, if by chance you care about these little and insignificant things in my life, please read, and feel my pain. Let me start off by saying recycling is wonderful.

Living in an Eco-friendly, Green community is great.

I don't particularly want to be wasteful.

I'm just wondering why becoming less wasteful is so darn complicated.

I thought when we moved here I would get the hang of sorting our garbage, but I guess the 'I've got the hang of sorting garbage' train passed and I didn't have a ticket to ride.

I am still frustrated by it, and I can't shake the feeling that my life is becoming consumed with piles of garbage. Not really, but I'll show you what I mean...

First of all, EVERYTHING must be divided.

This is our garbage can. It now sits out on the back deck, and I will explain why in a bit.

This garbage can is used for all "dirty garbage" i.e. diapers, and other soiled items.

It's amazing to me once we divided out our recycling containers, papers, and food waste how we cut down to just one bag of actual dirty garbage a week. Good right? Here's the catch, and also the reason the garbage can is outside,

it takes a lot longer to fill up our garbage can with dirty garbage because we have divided everything else out, so the garbage inside...well, ...stinks. So it's on the deck until it gets full, and there is no way to get around the fact that it's stinky, stinky, stinky.

Next, we have this beautiful paper bag that goes under the sink. It is sold at the grocery store here, and it is used to place all the food waste and can be thrown away in the compost. It's convenient so we don't have to carry scraps out to the compost every time we cook or clear our plates. Looks simple right? Well, looks can be deceiving, because there is usually not enough food waste to fill the bag up in one day, or three days for that matter. And weather it is full or not, if we don't take the bag out to the compost every day then...

this guy will grow inside... Justin and I learned this the hard way.

Under the sink also sits our recycle bin. All recycled containers have to be in a clear blue bag ( also sold at the grocery stores.) Our blue bags don't fit our recycle bin, so it just sits inside. All paper and cardboard products have to be divided into this tan colored grocery bag.

Fun! I've always wanted to sort through all of my garbage! Awesome!

Here is a picture of the compost aka Green Box. It's not all that big, and it is stinky. I try to stay as far as possible when I open the lid to throw something inside. Next to the compost is our garbage can. The city does not provide a garbage can so Justin and i had to go out and purchase this one. The garbage cans here are small. We can only fit about one full bag of garbage inside at a time. Also notice it has a lid lock to lock the lid onto the can. This is to protect the garbage from raccoons and crows, both of which seem to figure it out anyway, and that's a yucky job to clean up.

So,

We usually end up storing full garbage and recycling bags under the front porch. Locked up tight from crazy animals.

Then the glorious day arrives. Garbage Day.

Garbage day comes every two weeks for the dirty garbage and Green Box, and each household can only have six bags of garbage or the collectors won't take it. Recycling is every week, and you can have as much as you want. Unless it's not divided correctly, in which case they will place a pretty sticker on it and leave it on your front lawn for you to sort through further, as they did to me today.

I sure hope the 'I've got the hang of sorting garbage' train rolls on through again soon so I can jump on!

The Stuff in the Middle

Here's a quick update on the stuff that goes on in between everything else. I had to make a trip to the hospital to get some blood work done, and so Miley and I took a little tour of the place while we were there. At one of the entrances they have a little replica of Halifax in different seasons of the year, and when Miley and I came by the nice old men at the desk turned the trains on for us to watch. Miley was fascinated!

We had the missionaries over for dinner the other night and I made some chocolate cupcakes for desert. Miley thought it was her birthday again so we stripped her down and let her have one. Can you tell she enjoyed it?! After we got her all cleaned up she saw me frosting the rest of them and started to cry because she wanted more. She only got to have one though, That was quite a mess to clean up!

On Labor day we went out to lunch with some friends at a little restaurant in downtown Halifax called 'Your Father's Mustache.' Apparently, we are not cool like all the other dental students unless we eat there frequently, so we had to make our debut ASAP. After lunch we walked around The Public Gardens which is a huge garden in the middle of the city. The air feels like fall now, and so it's a bit cooler, but it was really good to get out and enjoy a beautiful day. During Miley's afternoon nap I thought I would run out and do a little shopping while Justin was home with her. I was the only one in the parking lot. All businesses are closed on Labor Day here. It is definitely not a day to get out and shop.

In other news we have been working on the baby's nursery. Here is a little sneak peek... This is a "BEFORE" picture. BEFORE, basically, any and everything. But stay tuned because it's almost ready.

First Week of Dental School

For the first time in my marriage of almost three years I heard Justin walk out the door and say "see ya later honey, I'll be at the bar..."

What I'm talking about here is not exactly your typical USU Aggie Orientation.

The Dentistry Orientation schedule at Dal gave Justin ample opportunities to become 'oriented' with things he is certainly unfamiliar with. Each day after meeting and greeting classmates, courtesy lunches, and buddy dinners, the dental students were invited to private party's at local bars and night clubs. There was a chance for him to go on his very first "'booze cruise,"' 'have all you can drink beer and soda,' and 'party the night away at one of Halifax's hot spots.'

Instead Justin was found at home with Miley and I organizing his things for the next day, trying to get enough rest, and then waking up early to find Miley YouTube videos of Elmo singing songs about ducks.

Justin and I kind of had to get a kick out of the fact that we are definitely not in Logan anymore. Our idea of a Friday Night Party involves Adam and Eden, Miley and Zaida, and maybe a little popcorn to spice things up a bit.

We can appreciate the camaraderie the school is trying to establish amongst the students, and I sure hope there will be more chances for Justin to get out to the bar and sip on his water glass with his fellow classmates again. He is really getting wild.

Overall the first week was kind of exhausting and slightly overwhelming, but exciting at the same time. Justin came home sporting his bran new Mac Book Pro, as well as other goodies exclusive to Dalhousie Dental Students. I guess the school is just buttering them up before they get thrown in the deep frier! So, it's official now. Justin has been oriented, and the next four years of our lives have begun.