When Jealousy Rears it’s Ugly Head

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Today we are dealing with jealousy. Sibling jealousy to be exact. It’s a common enough theme in our house with two girls very close in age but today was worse than most. It’s been building for a while, because we’ve been renovating our basement to make a new bedroom for the older child. So of course the younger child would feel left out. We understand this.

Sibling Jealousy

On the weekend my oldest child asked for a hair cut. She really needed it. So I thoughtfully asked the younger child if she would like a haircut too. She said no.

A big saucy “NO I’m not ready for a haircut”. We ran out of time and didn’t go at all.

That brings us to tonight. The younger child is in the basement listening to music. The older child asks “can we go get me a haircut tonight?” I say yes. We leave. She gets a lovely haircut, we do some shopping at Shoppers, and come home. Guess what greats us at the door?

A VERY upset younger child. WHY didn’t we invite her to come get a haircut too? Um, because you didn’t want one?! Well apparently that wasn’t good enough. We were supposed to ask again, because she WOULD HAVE chosen one tonight.

UGH.

Sometimes I’m just so tired of parenting. I know you know how I feel. It’s just one of those days.

Tomorrow will be better right?

Please Support the Film and Television Industry in Nova Scotia #NSFilmJobs

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In my full-time job, I work as a Production Accountant, at Arcadia Entertainment in Halifax, NS. My position and many other film jobs in Nova Scotia rely on the financing of our productions, to stay employed. Financing for film and television comes from many sources, but arguably the most important is the Nova Scotia Film Tax Credit. Our Liberal government made a promise to maintain our Nova Scotia Film Tax Credit for 5 more years!

Premier McNeil

This financing source is now in jeopardy and so is our entire industry in Nova Scotia, because our current Minister of Finance, Diana Whalen, has an agenda to reduce, or eliminate, the Nova Scotia Film Tax Credit. (She won’t tell us what the changes are until April 9th when the budget is released!) DON’T STOP READING! I know this might sound unimportant to some of you – why should you care about this? Well let me tell you.

A Visit to the Beach in Winter

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The drive is longer than I’m used to, the roads covered in a slippery labyrinth of packed ice and snow. Inching forward, the car bounces left and right, up and down, and is rocked by the wind. I finally arrive at the beach, but there is no parking. Instead, snow covers the parking lot. I pull off to the side of the road, then put on my winter parka and pull up the hood. Stepping out of the car, the ocean wind hits me like a wall, whipping at my hood. Yet it still smells like the beach and invigorates me. I breathe in deeply and feel the cold, damp air enter my lungs.

Winter at the Beach

I walk up the stairs, onto the boardwalk, my boots crunching on the crisp, hard-packed, snow. A vast grey sky, with wispy thin white clouds, stretches out before me. The ocean below is a greenish charcoal, topped with frothing whitecaps. The deafening roar of small pebbles, pounded onto the beach, by the icy cold Atlantic swell, overpowers every other sound.

Jack Frost Children’s Festival is Family Fun at it’s Best

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There’s nothing I enjoy more than doing something that makes me feel like a kid again. The Jack Frost Children’s Festival in Charlottetown, PEI was the perfect spot to have fun in the winter with my family!

Jack Frost Childrens Festival 2015 Snow Sculptures

The were so many incredible pieces of snow art at the festival. Many were at least 15-20 feet tall! Some were made out of both ice and snow and there was even a Tim Horton’s drive through! There were also ice carvers making incredible ice sculptures too. Our absolute favourite part about the festival was the ice slides!

Family Fun at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Charlottetown

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I just have to start this post off by saying right away how impressed I was with the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Charlottetown. They went above and beyond in their preparation for the families staying at the hotel for the Jack Frost Children’s Festival.

When we arrived we were greeted by a very pleasant front desk clerk, who immediately gave my daughters a special children’s check in bag – even though they felt they were too “old” for the children’s special check in process. He made sure that we knew where the pool was, when breakfast started and gave us all the important information about the Jack Frost Children’s Festival.

An interview with Michelle from Souls Harbour Rescue Mission

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You might have seen Souls Harbour Rescue Mission on the news lately. The centre recently won $100,000 in the Aviva Community Fund to build a new kitchen. The drop in centre serves up to 100 meals each weekday to men, women and families in Halifax. I was inspired by the founders of this mission, Ken and Michelle Porter, so I asked Michelle a few questions about how the mission came to be and why it is important to them.

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How we Rekindled our Marriage in Puerto Vallarta

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My husband and I just returned from a vacation, without the children, in Puerto Vallarta. It was heaven. It was romantic. It was adventurous. It was stunning. It was just what we needed to rekindle our marriage, get to know each other again, and have some adventures together.

Puerto Vallarta Malecon Beach

There were so many amazing moments on this trip. For me, it was overcoming my fear of zip-lines and learning I LOVE them. For my husband it was being re-introduced to scuba diving and swimming with a manta ray. This was the trip of a lifetime for us. Hopefully the first of many to come!

5 Ways to Save on Last Minute Spring Getaways

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Are you a spontaneous traveller? I’m not usually, but I’ve been thinking about it more and more lately, because I do know how to find good deals and I’ve love to start taking advantage of more of them! How fun would it be to pull the kids out of school and grab a last-minute deal to somewhere warm? It would be amazing! You know it.

5 Ways to Save on Last Minute Spring Travel by My Life in the Sun

You must be thinking about it a lot this year. It’s been too cold in Canada for too long!

The Casa Magna Marriott Puerto Vallarta

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Nestled in the Puerto Vallarta Marina beach strip, the Casa Magna Marriott is a beautiful beachfront resort, with a full conference center, five restaurants, three pools and a fantastic fitness centre. The tropical grounds of the resort are covered in cacti, palm trees, flowering vines and lush gardens. The moment we walked through the front entrance, I immediately felt like I was in a tropical paradise. When you walk up the front steps you can see straight through the other side of the building to the pool and beach!

Casa Magna Marriott Puerto Vallarta 2

The hotel is very close to the airport, which is amazing when you just want to get to your hotel and put on cooler clothes on your arrival. It’s set outside of the downtown area, but still only a 10-15 minute bus or taxi ride to the city center or hotel zone. We had no trouble getting around Puerto Vallarta during our stay, and greatly enjoyed the quiet atmosphere of the area. The Casa Magna is not an all-inclusive hotel so has fewer people who just came to drink and party.  Even though we left our kids at home we appreciated the family atmosphere. There are three golf courses near-by, the hotel has a five star spa and you can do many water activities right from the beach in front of the hotel.

Honouring Female Entrepreneurs on International Women’s Day

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For International Women’s Day I would like to honour female entrepreneurs everywhere, who take the risk of leaving stable jobs, to follow their dreams. Who have to work incredibly long days and use every skill they have to make it happen. Who often risk financial security and use their own savings to follow their dreams. You are incredibly brave and I respect all of you immensely! One woman in particular comes to my mind, when I think of successful, intelligent female entrepreneurs: Nicole Lapierre.

Halifax_Wedding_Photography-1Nicole left a full-time job to follow her dream and start her own business: Nicole Lapierre Portrait Photography and with her husband Teddy: Nicole & Teddy Wedding Photography. She has been very successful and her portraits are gorgeous! Nicole also spend a lot of time taking portraits of other local business owners, connected to the wedding industry, and showcasing them on her blog, in a segment called Industry Friends.