Finding Hope

Baby Pool Information

2010-04-23T14:30:00.004-06:00

Hello all,

I have setup an online baby pool for you to enter in your guesses. As mentioned before, this is a 50/50 split. 50% goes to the winner and 50% goes to the CIBC run for the Cure on October 3rd. Each entry is worth $5. The pool end date is on August 31st. I will require all the entry fees by that date also. Please feel free to invite others to join. We already have 3 guesses! Please keep them coming. I have posted pictures of the baby's ultrasound. Take a very close look at the photos as they may provide some gender clues...tehehe.

Pink or Blue?
Sandy

Pink or Blue? (Title inspired by Aunt Eleanor)

2010-04-20T15:55:00.008-06:00

Happy Tuesday!

Well it was a very exciting weekend. We have two very special visitors from Hong Kong this week. My sister Winnie and my nephew Evan endured a 14 hour long flight from Hong Kong to Calgary! It has been three years since Winnie's last visit. It is wonderful to have them both here.
As you all know, Brenden and I are expecting our first baby in September. We had our first ultrasound on Saturday:) Wow!!! What an amazing experience. It was so nice to be able to share the photos with our families afterwards. Winnie thinks that we are going to have a boy. But my cousin Jacquie's boyfriend Atef had a dream that we are going to have a girl. Brenden also had a dream that we are going to have a girl. The old wives tale needle test revealed that we are going to have a boy. So what are we having? I am just going to keep telling myself that we are having a surprise!!! I must admit that I am dying to find out the baby's gender. Brenden on the other hand, he enjoys the anticipation...boo! I have included a few photos of the ultrasound and let you all to decide what we are having. Take a closer look at the ultrasound photos again because we are hosting a baby pool for Run for the Cure. The pot will be 50/50 split. The winner will get half of the winnings and the other half goes to the CIBC Run for Cure on October 3rd.
We haven't quite hammered out all the baby pool details yet but we will be sure to do a seperate post on the pool information.

Keep checking:)
Sandy

News and Updates

2010-04-12T16:42:00.006-06:00

Hello all,

It has been a long time since we have updated our blog. We have so much to share! We would like to announced that The Geneskirt Divas will be joining forces with the Mayberry men plus a little one (You guessed it! The Mayberry Clan is expecting their first baby in September!) to participate the CIBC Run for the Cure on Sunday October 3rd, 2010. In 2009, 56 communities and 170,000 Canadians participated in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure. Together, the event raised $26.5 million for breast cancer research, education, and awareness programs. We had great success last year with the Weekend to End Breast Cancer Walk. We feel that this event will be even more special having to do the Run for the Cure with three generations together!

We will be doing our registration this month and we love for everyone to join us to either do the 5K walk or the 10K Run. The participation commitment is very straight forward. You can either raised $150 and no registration fee or just pay the $40 registration fee. Simple and we love it:) Click here for more information.

Well bloggers, that is it for a little while. We promised that we will dedicate a blog post from the 2009 Weekend to End Brest Cancer plus Mark and Vicki-Jean's super fun murder mystery dinner.

Keep blogging!
The Divas

Cinco de Mayo Celebration Photos Post

2009-11-25T11:00:00.015-07:00

As promised, here are some photos from the Cinco de Mayo Celebration at Canyon Meadows Community Center. The entire evening was filled with wonderful people and yummy Mexican food! The Geneskirt Divas will be back for the 2nd annual fundraising event in 2010. We are busy planning the venue and dates right now. Also, we are looking for slient auction donations as well as volunteers. The ever so gracious and generous Mrs. Vicky-Jean Beech already donated a piece of her artwork as well as her services for 2010. Big THANK YOU to VJ!!!
Please come back for our next blog post on the Weekend to End Breast Cancer Walk as well as post on Mark and Vicky-Jean's multi-course dinner evening:)

Thanks for coming by!
The Geneskirt Divas

Cinco de Mayo Celebration - Geneskirt Divas' Journey to End Breast Cancer

2009-05-05T13:57:00.007-06:00

Wow!

We don't know where to begin...the party was an amazing success and experience for all of us.

We are truly touched by all of our generous donors, last minute volunteers, friends, families, co-workers, and the Sales & Services team from Heninger Toyota. There are so many Thank yous to express. So here we go..

First, we would like to thank our wonderful family friend Mrs. Emily Gray who is a true heart of gold. Emily is part of the Westjet family and she graciously organized Eleanor's flight from Toronto to Calgary. She went the extra mile by letting the flight crew know that Eleanor is our Guest of Honor for the Cinco de Mayo Party. The crew took extra special care and made sure Eleanor was comfortable throughout her flight. We cannot thank Emily enough for all the things she does for our family:)

To all of generous donors who donated all of the fabulous silent auction items. Just from the silent auction alone, we've generated enough money for the Walk. We would never be able to meet our goals without their valuable contributions. BIG Thank you to you all!

To everyone who came to party from Heninger Toyota, it was so nice to see everyone in the room. You guys really are our biggest supporters! It all began at the Easter bake Sale. Everyone purchased something from us. At the Cinco de Mayo party, almost the entire Sales and Services Teams came with several friends and family members. Their energy and empowering spirit lit up the room in seconds. We ran out of Conronas in an hour!!!

Sale manager Mr. Mark Beech and his wonderful wife Vicky-Jean are true examples of Angels. They particpated at the party, took photos all evening long and stayed to help us divas to cleanup. They also purchase the Private Catered dinner for 8 from the silent auction. We will ensure that they will have a over the top dinner and it will be the talk of the town;)

General Sales Manager Mr. Michael Bickhert is another fine example of true giving spirit. Several days before the event, Michael graciouly agreed to manage the entertainment portion of the event. He used his personal time to put together quality music that suited everyone's taste and brought along his own projector to create special affects on the dance floor for our guests to enjoy. In addtion, Michael also assist in managing the event agenda by carefully timed the speeches and airing of the DVD, so dinner will be served at the perfect time. Michael you ROCK!

Senor Alex and Senor Farhrid - Dos Amigos:) As you read from our previous blog post, the two fine gentlemen came to Diane's house a week prior the event to give us ladies an authentic Latin Food lesson. They took the time to show us how to prepare great tasting Latin dishes. If it wasn't for them, we will be eating ground beef...yikes! All evening long, they went around from table to table to encourage our guests to particpate the Tequila Tasting. Their sense of humor and sunny dispositions helped us generate $140 in donations...Bravo Amigos! Senor Farhrid also helped me tremedously in the kitchen to prepare the beef taco mixture. All the guests raved about the food, little did everyone know that The Divas had a secret ingredient in the kitchen...Thank you Farhrid! Did we metioned that Alex will be participating the Walk next year? We hope Alex doesn't mind being part of the Geneskirt Divas and wear a Pink team T-shirt.

Leo, Jacquie, and Atef. Thank you so much for being our buffet food runner. All evening long, they were helping us run all the food and alochol to the front. Only because of you guys' efforts, the buffet and the bar were kept full and our guests were also kept happy.

Our Sparkle Coach, Ms. Melissa Sterling. You are a GEM girl! Melissa started her new Sparkle business and she generously donated a gorgeous set of earrings and matching necklace for our silent auction. She totally bling out her appearance with sparkle paints and with the Life Styles Signature earrings. Melissa invited a bunch of her friends from high school and they all showed up to support the Cause. Melissa's efforts didn't stop there, she got her partner and Star Calgary Stampeders Punter Burke Dales to donated a signed 2008 CFL Champion Team football to auction off too:) You totally shine in the room that night girl. Thank you again for your super bartending skills and willingness to support us.

Mr. Arlo Gray our long time bud from childhood, a loving husband to Ms. Emily Gray, and awesome father to Izzy. For goodness sakes, we thought Tom Cruise showed up from Cocktail! We were meisermise by his mixology tricks;) Arlo also stayed and assisted us with cleanup. Poor guy saw that I was carrying the heavy chafing dishes (full of hot water) and accidential burned his wrists...Ooch! He got a 2nd degree burn from being helpful...why do nice guys finished last?!?!?! We are super sorry Arlo and we hope your burn heal soon.

There are many people to thank still but from the very bottom of our hearts, we thank everyone who came out and play along with us. The event would not be a success without your participation! We would like to have everyone back for our 2nd Annual event in 2010.

Photos will come later, we promised!

Warm Hugs,

The Geneskirt Divas

Three days until Cinco de Mayo Celebration.

2009-04-29T23:12:00.004-06:00

Hello Bloggers,

Only 3 more days until the Cinco de Mayo Celebration!!! We have changed our page background to something a bit more colorful and energetic to prepare for our title fundraising event. We have also included a direct link to our Divas' personal pages, so it is more convenient for everyone to make a donation:)

We have gathered most of the Silent Auction items this week and here are the highlights.

2008 CFL Champion Calgary Stampeders Football signed by the Team

Viva Las Vegas Trip for 2 with flight & accommodations

Private Pole Dance Lesson for 10 by Aradia Fitness

Private Catered Dinner for 8 by sip

Gift Certificate by the Ranche Restaurant

Gift Certificate by the Vin Room

Jewelry Set by Life Styles Signature Collection & Sparkle Coach

Haircut and Color Certificate by Hrant at Josef Saliba

Detailed Package by Heninger Toyota

Hand Crafted Quilt by Castilleja Cotton

Champagne and Riedel Glasses Gift Basket

Power Washing and Window Cleaning Package

Fun Calgary Flames Fans Package

Anti-Aging Skin Care Package

And more to come...

We have preview some of the items to several peeps and they just cannot wait to place the biggest bids on them;) We cannot thank our generous donors enough for their support and they will not go unnoticed!

This is all for now. We very much look forward to seeing all of you on Saturday.

Hope Courage Awareness,

Geneskirt Divas

Food Network Lookout!!!

2009-04-26T19:06:00.010-06:00

Happy Winter Bloggers??!?!

Good thing there will be some spicy Mexican food and Tequila to heat things up for us this coming Saturday. Old Man Winter has played his last trick on us. From here on in, nothing but sunshine and patios!

We had special guests at Diane's home this past Friday evening. We kid you not, Food Network Canada lookout!!! Farid and Alex are a dynamic duo. One is a super star Latino foodie and the other is a super star Latino Comedian. We will leave it up to you to decide who is which when you meet up with them at Cinco de Mayo on Saturday. They will be hosting the Tequila Tasting Bar. Diane has never had a cooking lesson in her life and she has a new found appreciation for a man in the kitchen with an apron;)

The kitchen was a magnet for all our guests. Friends and family were anxious for the end results from all the fabulous aromas wafting throughout the home. The dynamic duo entertained us with their great humor and skills in the kitchen. We had so much fun preparing authentic Latin influenced dishes and learning all about essential spices and techniques to WOW you all this Saturday. Checkout some action photos. Too bad we don't have a videographer:)

We are counting the days and hours til our guest of honor arrives. Yes folks, Eleanor arrives Thursday afternoon and we cannot wait to show her our true Western hospitality and Calgary Spirit. We would like all of you to show Eleanor a warm welcome this Saturday at the Cinco de Mayo Celebration! You will be sure to recognize her - she is a cross between Diane and Brooke! We look forward to see you all on Saturday.

Sunshine and Puppy Dogs,

The Geneskirt Divas

Geneskirt Divas Fundraiser #1 - Easter Bake Sale at Heninger Toyota

2009-04-13T18:23:00.026-06:00

We've officially and successfully finished our first fundraiser in nothing short of the highest style (as if you'd expect less from us!!). Heninger Toyota generously hosted us gals and our selection of delectable sweets. The staff and management were our first customers and purchased a good lot of what we were offering - I'm sure they were on a sugar high all day! We can't express our thanks enough for their support!

In addition to the fine folks at Heninger, we must also express our sincere gratitude to Sobey's Urban Fresh Market on Fairmount Drive SE Calgary for their donation of packaging for our cupcakes - they were perfect and made for easy transportation for our supporter's later enjoyment!

Last, but certainly not least, we have to give huge props and lots of love to our family and friends for sampling many a recipe and always giving us the thumbs up (we definitely had some mishaps and bloopers but they tasted our fares anyways - and with a smile on their face!).

Thanks so much to everyone again - we're very excited for the next fundraiser, Cinco de Mayo, on May 2nd and look forward to raising some huge dollars for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer! Hope you to see you there!

Love from the Geneskirt Divas

Where is our division title...

2009-04-07T23:21:00.003-06:00

Well bloggers,

What can we say??? It was a very disappointing lost tonight with the FLAMES!!! Canucks didn't deserve this win. Despite the heart breaking lost, here is a photo of Brenden and our lovely Clubber. Please keep on supporting our FLAMES. We play the oils the next two games and we MUST WIN!!!

Forever FLAMES die hearts

Cinco de Mayo Celebration Announcement

2009-04-06T21:39:00.016-06:00

Happy Monday Bloggers,

It is our great pleasure to announce the Cinco de Mayo Celebration on May 2, 2009 Saturday. We have create an invite through Facebook Event and the invite will be out soon. We have included the ticket image with event information on it.

This is just a sneak-a-peek and more information will be coming shortly. Please keep checking back on our blog as well as checking your Facebook Event.

Okay...being the foodies we are, we cannot host an event without scrumptious nosh. Checkout the menu.

Taco and Fajita Station

Spicy Beef Taco with authentic Mexican seasoning

Baja Chicken Fajita served with array of coloured peppers

Fresh Garnishes & Trimmings (to jazzed up your plates)

Pinto Gallo (yummy rice & beans mixture in Spanish)

Assorted Latin inspired Salads

Tortilla Chips with fresh made Salsa & Guacamole

Chili scented Chocolate Cupcakes dipped with Rich Dark Ganache

Assorted Freshly Baked Cookies

Hope all of you are as excited as we are about this upcoming event. Please remember that our Easter Bake Sale at Heninger Toyota will commence this Saturday April 11th from 10am to all the goodies are gone. Please bring your friends, family, and your co-workers to visit our table at the Heninger Show Room.

Until the next blog,

Geneskirt Divas

Happy Pre-Easter:)

2009-04-03T12:54:00.003-06:00

Hello All,

It is exactly one week until Easter. We thought it will be nice to change our blog background to welcome Spring with an Easter twist. Hope you LOVE it. We would like to take this time to provide some information about the Easter Bake Sale at Heninger Toyota on April 11th Saturday. Here is the preview of all the goodies that we will be selling for Breast Cancer.

“Weekend to End Breast Cancer” Easter Bake Sale Menu

Assorted Spring Cupcakes (Large $2.50 each/ $14 half Dozen/ $25 Dozen)
(Mini $1.50 each/ $8 half Dozen/ $15 Dozen)
Decadent Chocolate Cake with Signature Cream Cheese Icing
Luscious Vanilla Cake with Luscious Pink Butter Cream

Easter Blossom & Bunny Cookies ($10 dozen or $1 each)
Flower-shaped sugar cookies with pastel tinted glaze
Bunny shortbread dipped with Callebaut Chocolate

Homemade Marshmallow Bunnies ($7 dozen)
Hopped full of sweetness and chewy goodness (Pink and Purple)

Dark Chocolate Bark ($10 per package)
Perfectly prepared with the finest white & dark chocolate and topped with plumped dried berries and roasted hazelnuts

The bake sale will take place at Toyota Heninger on 3640 MacLeod Trail South. It will start at 10am sharp until all the goodies are GONE!!! Please come on by and support us.

We have ordered all the tickets for the Cinco de Mayo Celebration on May 2nd Saturday. We will send out invites via ALL Channels (i.e. Facebook, Evite, hotmail, Blog...etc). Tickets is avaliable now and they are $20 each. Please e-mail us and pre-order your tickets.

It is all for now. Please keep on checking and let's all have a great weekend!

GO Flames!!!!
Geneskirt Divas

Earth Hour, join us on Saturday March 28 at 8:30pm

2009-03-27T08:28:00.007-06:00

Happy Friday Bloggers.

We would like to send off a little reminder about Earth Hour on March 28 Saturday. Earth Hour will take place at 8:30pm. Here is the Earth Hour Message from WWF (this stands for World Wildlife Fund)

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.

Please VOTE YES for Earth Hour by switching off your lights no matter where you are. Have a great weekend all:)

Cheers,
Sandy

Spring...is it Winter all over again:(

2009-03-22T21:26:00.009-06:00

Well bloggers....it is totally Winter all over in Calgary again. We have got 20cm of snow..YEAH i KNOW. But in spite of winter not wanting to leave, the Geneskirt Divas did a whole bunch of baking to turn the mood around. Checkout some pics.

We did a few test runs of cupcakes and have been approved by the Mayberry Men. Checkout some action shots. There was a bit of drinking involved but It was Sunday:)

There you have it, Geneskirt Divas cupcakes. Yummy, Beautiful and Delicious. We hope there will be a huge turnout for the Easter Bake Sale at Heninger Toyota on April 11th Saturday. We need all the support we can get and we look forward to seeing everyone that day.

Have a great week all and until then...keep on blogging:)

Love the Geneskirt Divas XO

And the blogging begins....

2009-03-18T23:21:00.003-06:00

Let me tell you a bit about The Gene Skirt Divas and our mission of 'The Weekend to End Breast Cancer'. On January 23rd, Diane decided to sign us up as there is someone dear to us that is fighting her way through Breast Cancer. We would like to dedicate this life-changing event to her as well as other members of our family that have passed from different forms of cancers. She came up with our clever team name The Gene Skirt Divas. 'Gene' signifies busting and eliminating the gene that carries the disease. 'Gene Skirt" is also a play on words of 'Jean Skirt' due to our Calgary Stampede tradition, and who are we kidding, we are definitely DIVAS!!!

During one amazing weekend, July 24-26, 2009, we will join thousands of women and men to walk 60km in 2 days, all in the fight against breast cancer and other women’s cancers. The money raised will go to benefit the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre.

We will post every step of the way about the lead up to the Weekend on this blog. As mentioned from our previous blog post, we are planning a couple of exciting events in the next couple of months. We will definitely firm up all the details by next week.

Until then, keep on blogging:)

Sandy

Gene Skirt Divas first blog!!

2009-03-17T20:43:00.002-06:00

Welcome family & friends.

It took me a few hours to get the blog background working properly!!! It is finally finished and I hope you all like the way it looks. I have created this blog to keep all of you informed on the Gene Skirt Divas. As you all know, Gene Skirt Divas is our team name for The Weekend to End Breast Cancer 60 km Walk on July 24th - July 26th, 2009. Our goal is to raised $6000 for Breast Cancer research. We NEED all the help & support we can get. In saying so, there will be many fun and exciting fund raising events in the next couple of months. We LOVE for everyone to participate.

Here is the highlight of our upcoming events:

April 11th - Easter Bake Sale at Heninger Toyota

May 2nd - Cico de Mayo Celebration & Silent Auction at Canyon Meadows Community Hall

Details will be out next week or so, please keep on visiting our blog:)

Hope you all have a luck filled St.Paddy's day.

Cheers,

Sandy