Posted by bethany on Dec 31, 2009 in
Projects + Ramblings I follow a lot of blogs, and this week’s topic is all about looking back! Sure, I like to look back… I remember the first days on my own traveling, the first days of motherhood, the first days in a new house…
And there is a lot to look back on this year. Whoa. What a year.
I hope that one day I’m like Debbie Travis and can shamelessly laugh about the chaos and dish out wise advise to other people who are making their way.
But there I go… dreaming of the future.
My work-related goals for 2010:
1. Write here as often as I can up until school ends.
2. Write frequently, and for the love of it, post-school.
3. “Design-Build”… here we come. Stay focused.
Dream Big.
4. Build on the relationships that have been started with other local businesses.
5. Start second phase of training
In pictures, here are some (not all – there are too many!) of my favourite parts of our mini-2009.
Work – Getting this amazing shot with Crystal from Crystal Clear Photography. Kari and I squealed and danced.
Personal – Meeting Kari. miss you, friend!
Work – Great Tips and Advice. Lots of it.
Personal – I love this post from Kari about purple. I may just convert from a “green” lover to a “purple” lover…
Work – This beautiful home tour received 400 hits in one day. That’s big for a little site in a little valley!
Personal - Lindsay, owner of this house, is now a friend! (and I get to admire her house more…)
Work – Honestly, one of the best parts of last year was all the fantastic business owners I met in the Comox Valley. This is truly a special place – so much drive and inspiration around here!
Personal – Building my knowledge of products and services in the Comox Valley has really helped me to gain confidence as a woman entering the construction industry.
Work/Personal – this one is one-in-the-same. I am a lover of Art. I am a collector of Art. And now I have a great reason to immerse myself in it even more. Original art is the best jewelry for your home.
Work – If art is the jewlery of a home, then cooking is the perfume. Food and design are best friends… feast for the eyes and feast for the tummy.
Personal - Here’s a peek at a personal goal for 2010. I want to prepare meals with more flair!
Happy New Year!
b
Posted by bethany on Dec 4, 2009 in
Projects + Ramblings Yay it’s Friday! Friday’s seem to get a lot more exciting towards the holidays, no? And the frost outside this morning almost looks like snow. (I’m on “team snow” – dreaming of another White Christmas like last year. It was so magical!)
First of all, don’t miss yesterday’s feature on grants for renovating. There is a lot of rumour out there and Nico teWinkle, a local Certified Energy Advisor, is clearing it up for us. Post is below, or you can click here to see it.
Secondly, I promised to facilitate an order with FLOR – and so I shall! This order will go through our business, Capstone Creative Industries Ltd.
Order Dates:
December 11th (Next Friday) – Provide your order details to me including the name of the pattern and the quantity (# of tiles needed). If you need help with measuring, give us a call. 250-898-7573
December 14th – I’ll provide you with confirmation of a.) the pattern, b.) the quantity, c.) the sub-total d.) the total with shipping, taxes, duty other fees (remember, these are coming from the USA).
December 16th – Please make any needed changes to your order by this date.
December 18th – Please confirm your order with me by providing full payment as quoted in the confirmation. Cheques to be made out to “Capstone Creative Industries, Ltd.”
December 21st – I will place the order with Flor. I will contact you with expected order arrival date.
Upon order arrival: I’ll let you know when the order arrives. We will deliver it to your house. I’ll call to confirm a date and time for delivery that works for you.
Peace of Mind: Should you decide the carpet you had ordered is not quite right, we will facilitate a return of the order. You will be refunded the total amount you paid less the costs of shipping and any other non-refundable expenses such as duty charges and brokerage fees (theirs, not ours).
Having spoken with FLOR on several occasions, I can see that it is rather complicated and certainly not an easy order process since we live in the Great White North. I’m hoping that by ordering through our business, we can make this great product available locally with less hassle.
Please spread the word about this order to anyone doing renovations or wanting to redecorate.
Thanks!
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Recipe From Jackie: Panzanella – Italian Bread Salad
(Potluck season, here we come!)
Posted by bethany on Dec 3, 2009 in
Guest Writers UPDATE! MARCH 2 2010.
The “LiveSmart” program will continue!
Hello everyone.
Wow, there is a lot of confusion out there concerning the various energy grants and tax credits available to us. Thankfully, Nico teWinkle knows all about it. He’s here to clear some of it up:
ecoENERGY is Alive and Well.
When I tell people that I’m a Certified Energy Advisor doing ecoENERGY assessments, I often get the same response: “I thought they canceled that”.
It’s true that our provincial government has discontinued most grants in the “LiveSmart” program, meaning homeowners do not get quite as much grant money as before; however, LiveSmart was only part of the funding that was available – the federal government is still going strong with its ecoENERGYprogram, and people can still receive up to $5,000 back in grant money.
Now, before you dismiss that with a frown and a wave and an utterance to the effect of “yeah, but that ends soon”, let me clarify that ecoENERGY is completely separate from the Home Renovation Tax Credit program, which is available until January 31 2010.
The ecoENERGY program is good until March 2011, so anyone interested still has a year and several months to make upgrades and apply for the grants.
Just remember: you do have to get a “pre-retrofit assessment” of your home completed before you make any upgrades. In essence, somebody has to come check out your house so that the grant program has a starting point to base the grants on.
This assessment comes with a lot of great advice and includes energy modeling to help determine where your energy upgrade dollars will be most effective.
Even more grants are available through SolarBC for those intending to go to the next step by installing solar energy setups such as solar hot water heating.
So before you start those renovations, check out what grants may be available to you – you might be surprised!
For more information, visit LiveSmartBC.ca, ecoAction.gc.ca, and SolarBC.ca.
For details on grants still available, visit http://citygreen.ca/energy/ecoENERGY_grantchart.aspx
Nico teWinkel is a Certified Energy Advisor for City Green Solutions, living in the Comox Valley. Alternative energies and energy efficiency are his passion.
To book an ecoENERGY assessment, you can call City Green Solutions at 1-866-381-9995 and ask to book an appointment with Nico.
Posted by bethany on Nov 27, 2009 in
Guest Writers,
Projects + Ramblings 
Recipe Via: AllRecipes.com
www.JackieConnelly.com
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FLOR:
I’ve decided to do a group order of FLOR for anyone reading ComoxValleyDwellings.com. You may have seen the links and comments about this on the facebook page.
www.Flor.com
If you live in the Comox Valley, and want to put an order in as well, please email me. We should be able to save on the shipping costs for a larger order. Once I get an idea of the number of people who want to order, I’ll get an estimate for price of shipping. It’s a great product! I’m looking forward to using if for our loft renovation.
~b
