Better Late Than Never?

People often remark how they're surprised I can find time to blog.

Well, obviously, sometimes I can't.

It's been over two weeks since I told you we were celebrating our 5th anniversary.

That feels like a really long time ago.

It was a really long time ago.

Regardless, I still want to share.

We started the day mid-afternoon with massages.

Not a couples massage, I did enquire but am I the only one who doesn't see the point?

We had a couples massage once and it was a little awkward. 

{Granted, that could have also been because of the TV crew in the room and knowing that we were live on Breakfast Television in the nude with a thin white sheet as the only barrier shielding us from indecency.  Just another hypothesis.}

I am the type that wants to be dead to the world while being massaged.

So, we had separate rooms next to each other and it was fabulous.

Jeff {of course} headed back to the shop for a couple more hours which gave me some time to get dressed up.

Getting dressed up is a big deal for me.

I used to buy many lovely clothes and take my time picking each outfit carefully.

Since those days are long over {am I right Moms?} I love any chance to spend a bit more time on my appearance.

{Hence the questionable bathroom selfie below.}

We continued our celebration by opening the bottle of wine that we received for our wedding that was marked for the 5th anniversary.

{Thanks Alex!}

You may know how I love finding significance in numbers so having a 5 on the top of cork made me happy.

 My parents babysat and also snapped this pic before we left.

{Thanks Mom and Dad!}

Thank goodness Movember wasn't really a thing when we were married.

I have resigned to the fact that Jeff will always have a 'stache on our anniversary. 

 We chose Three Boars as our dinner destination and it was great.

Described as your friendly neighbourhood Hutterite this place was truly original.

They used parts of animals that other places wouldn't.

Or, more accurately, other places wouldn't dare to admit.

We ordered dishes that used gizzards, jowl and pork fat powder.

And we loved every bite.

Jeff's Kind of Anniversary

If we did the gift thing this year would be the easiest to buy for my husband.

His love of wood and burning said wood is undying.

However, our gift to each other, as usual, is to not have to buy a gift.

I say it every year and I'll say it again.

The time is flying by and yet it's hard to believe we've only been married for 5 years.

Our wedding feels like yesterday and at the same time I barely recognize the people in our photos.

Their whole lives ahead of them.

Ready to take whatever comes their way.

We chose our wedding song {and now one of our kids' lullabies} knowing that we had a crazy ride ahead.

Troubles they may come and go but good times never grow old.

So if the road gets rocky babe just steady as we go.

We really have lived by these words.

We've had our troubles {don't we all} but they are much outweighed by the good times.

Can't wait for the road ahead.

Happy 5th Jeff.

Love you always.

Our Labour Day Weekend

I'm still working on my last Ontario post but in the meantime wanted to share our weekend.

We headed out to the lake on Friday to maximize our last summer weekend.

On Saturday afternoon we cleaned up {as well as you can without running water} and drove back for our friend Josie's wedding.

It was at the Oasis Centre which provided many photo ops during cocktail hour in the garden.

Here's Cedric striking his very best casual pose.

And Fiona doing a fierce take on the "contemplating".

Cocktail hour also led to some fish-tank antics.

These fish were actually a major life saver with the kids.

 Cedric soon figured out that he was the only one small enough to fit behind the tank.

This of course meant that he was back there every chance he got.

Giggling away, naturally.

I probably shouldn't forget to mention this fabulous couple.

Congrats Josie and Kajan, thanks for letting us share your day.

{And a beautiful day it was.}

After the wedding it was back to the cabin to soak up those last days of summer.

The mornings were chilly which graced us with some beautiful foggy scenes.

 The leaves were coming down and subsequently being raked into jumping piles.

 Warm oatmeal felt just right.

 Finally, my morning runs were the perfect temperature and gorgeous.

Jeff, on the other hand, has taken to running in the evenings.

{Yes, you read that correctly, Jeff is running!}

And he has certainly noticed the earlier sunsets. 

After realizing how dark it would be he ended up running down our country road with a carving fork.

{In case of a coyote run in.}

Now that's dedication.

Hope you all had a great Labour Day.

All You Need is Love...

If you knew Alysha and Brian it wouldn't surprise you that this phrase made an appearance in their beautiful wedding last weekend.

To call Brian a Beatles fan just doesn't cut it.

And Alysha, being about the sweetest girl you'll ever meet, would insist that anything important to Brian be a part of their day.

Don't get me wrong, Alysha's gorgeous style was woven all through this laid back affair.

The moment we walked into the downtown brewery it felt perfect.

Homemade Salsa and matchbooks {for the cigars} were the perfect favours.

The bride was perfectly stunning and the groom styled to perfection.

 The real perfection of the night though was how much fun we had.

Again, knowing these two, that would be their goal.

 And they succeeded, without a doubt.

We don't get out a lot so I may or may not have taken 516 pictures of us.

Give or take a few.

Thank you Alysha and Brian for including us in your celebration.

...love is all you need.

Now That's How You Do a Surprise

Americans celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday.

{And Happy Thanksgiving to you.}

Though we had our holiday a while back, the sentiment was definitely felt this November 22nd.

Last night we bundled up the kids and headed to a party.

Ready to get our celebration on for two of our very best friends.

{They also happen to be Fiona's best friend's Moms and our neighbours.}

They met 10 years ago with a dance and,  to paraphrase Stacey's beautiful words, the dance hasn't ended.

It was a party to celebrate the last 10 years of memories, little did we know, a biggie would be made that night.

Halfway through the night, the jazz trio {yep, I said jazz trio} took a break and Stacey rounded everyone up.

Her sister Marcey warmed up the crowd with a poem that would put Dr. Seuss to shame.

Then the girls took the floor to reminisce about the truly fateful day they met.

A real life love-at-first-sight story.

As the story faded into an introduction of a new face in the crowd, the room burst into cheers and applause.

We all realized what was happening.

We were at a wedding.

The person being introduced was a Commissioner.

And we couldn't have been happier.

I also couldn't reach for my phone fast enough to freeze the moment in photos.

I'm so glad I did but trust me when I tell you that they don't do this event justice.

If only I could have captured the beautiful vows they both wrote.
If only I could share the pure joy felt by their parents.
If only you could feel how honoured I was that Kerry asked me to witness their marriage.
If only I could show you that the beauty these two have on the outside doesn't even begin to demonstrate how beautiful they are.

So yes, I {as I'm sure all in the room did} felt so thankful yesterday.
Thankful that I live in a country that respects love in all forms.
Above all, thankful that I count these two among my friends.

A Long Time Ago...

Well, it really wasn't that long ago.

4 years to be exact.

It just feels like ages since our wedding day.

So much has happened since then, how could that only have been 4 years?

The decision to get married wasn't if, but when.

We had been living together for 4 years.

We had 2 dogs.

We owned 2 properties and had been through 2 already.

Not to mention the businesses.

Jeff proposed in September 2008 and we were married in November 2008.

{To be fair, we had started planning in August.}

We didn't give our guests a lot of notice but they sure came through.

We had almost all of our family from Ontario and even some amazing friends from Denver.

{Love you Charmian and Heather!}

We were married at Murrieta's here in Edmonton.

Our ceremony was during cocktail hour and we loved walking down the aisle while our friends and family sipped their wine.

The dinner was great, as it always is at Murrieta's.

Finally, we danced until they started setting up for breakfast.

It was a perfect day.

I know this is probably more than enough pics but if you want more check out our feature on Style me Pretty.

Pinterest: Keep it and Kill it {Take 3}

Bridal showers.

Am I right?

They have become a whole different ball game now thanks to Pinterest.

There are so many good ideas at your fingertips.

We decided to throw a "Pinterest" shower for Jenna a while back.

We would peruse her boards and take ideas from them for the decorations, drinks and food.

 {Except the wedding board of course that would have been cruel.}

The funny part was that Jenna didn't remember pinning many of these things.

That's my issue with Pinterest.

I pin away and rarely go back to look at said pins.

{Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy pinning.}

These are a couple of projects I did for the shower.

 Keep it:

This was an idea for house numbers.

                                                                 Source: ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com via Jenna on Pinterest

Jenna has actually done this and it turned out great.

I decided to take an old piece of baseboard (6") and twine and do one with her wedding date.

I was really happy with it and she now has it in her home.

 Kill it:

I'm really not being fair to these poor doily lamps.

                                                                               Source: shexists.com via Jenna on Pinterest

The actual pin looks great.  My adaptation, not so much.

I didn't have a stash of crochet doilies and with no rummage sale in my near future didn't know how to acquire any.

I used paper and these are the pathetic results.

I put them up anyways and wish I hadn't because they looked even more pathetic hanging at the party.