Milestones: Decking the Halls for the First Time

So this year I finally broke down/convinced Tom to buy a "real" tree. We got a pre-lit 6.5 foot lovely, and I promptly went Christmas crazy. I want to remember these first decorations forever:

p.s. I made that ^ and it's perty!

Musings: The Awesomeness That is Scrubs

So I spent my summer vacation this year recovering from 2014 AND watching ALL the Scrubs. I never understood the big deal about it. And then I watched it. Now I love it. Here are some favourite bits:

Family: The Best Grandma

Grandma turned 88 in October. We went out for fish and chips. I hate fish, but I think they're cute. We sat next to the giant aquarium and I took pictures of fish.

They're pretty cute, and so is Grandma

Craft: Keepin' it Scouse

So I married a Scouser. More commonly referred to as people from Liverpool :) They have some lingo that is common to the area, or has unique spin when said in the distinct accent. When I first met Tom he would walk into a room and ask me if I was alright. Every time. I started to ask him what he meant? Did I sound sick? Was I breathing like Darth Vader? Well he was just asking me if anything was new/how's it going. I'm still getting used to it, and can do a pretty horrible impression, but for now I just make art. I've got some ideas to make this a bit better (i'm thinking of making it in sharpie and not in paint). Here goes version 1.0:

Book Review: I Haven't Done This In FOREVER Addition

Now because of my full-time teaching gig, reading for pleasure is really a summer time occupation. Don't get me wrong, I read, but finishing a book take a long time. This summer I binged. Here are some thoughts:

Chocolat: I had seen the movie a long time ago, so I had a little idea of what to expect. It was a cute and easy read. I really liked how they had the Priest as a sort of nouveau-Philistine. A Philistine who ends up rolling around in chocolate like a PMS'ing woman. I also like the liberating of the woman from the abusive relationship. 

And Then There Were None: I read this book when we were at the cottage. Which was a hilarious coincidence as we were on an island, and the whole book is an island murder mystery. I looked at Tom sideways the whole time (that's a bad joke by the way). This is quite possibly one of my favourite books. I have read it several times. We did a book report on it in High School and I remember it completely fooling me the first time I read it. A fooled me, need to reread some of it to fill in the blanks, wonderful twist. I love that Vera Claythorne isn't your typical smelling salts/swooning girl of Christine's other books. She is a fighter who isn't too afraid to stand up to a murderer. I won't say too much about the plot, as I don't want to ruin the ending for anyone.

Not Quite the Classics: Tom and I watch a lot of Whose Line on YouTube. I love me some Colin Mochrie. This is an improv meets classic literature delight. He takes the first and last sentence of famous books and rewrites the middles. Whether it's Conan Doyle's "Study in Scarlett" being about Sherlock Holmes learning what funny means, or "The Cat in the Hat" about surviving the zombie apocalypse, I giggles the entire read through. Plus, they are short stories, so you can enjoy it in small doses. I will definitely read this one again.

Happy Handmade Home: This is a crafty book written by the talented bloggers at A Beautiful Mess. It's all about special touches you can do to make your house unique. I'm definitely going to be trying out some when we finally buy our own place.

Boneman's Duaghters: Oh Ted Dekker. You spooky spooky man. I've been reading his books for probably 10+ years now, and I love it. I describe him as the "Christian Stephen King". This one is about a serial killer who kidnaps teenage girls and breaks their bones to kill them if they don't prove to be a loyal "daughter". The main character is Ryan, who is just back from Iraq where he had a traumatic hostage experience. His daughter gets taken by Boneman, and he tries to save her. The FBI start to think that he might be Boneman, and well, it gets complicated. As per usual I finished this in a few days as I just could not put it down. 

Craft: Matryoshka Dolls

One of my students got me a craft kit as a teacher gift. It was a paint your own Matryoshka Dolls kit (such a cute/thoughtful gift). Unfortunately because of the Calgary climate the smaller ones were stuck shut, so I could only paint 3 of them. They sure turned out cute though! Here's a picture:

Family: Mom Keeps Everything

I love the fact that my Mom has kept some of my toys from my childhood. I spent some time reminiscing when we were visiting:

Shirley my Cabbage Patch Doll in full 90's clothes:

Jo from New Kids on the Block, Troll Barbie, and Pocahontas:

Third Grade photo. I'm in the red shirt and overall-skirt thing:

Family: The Cottage

After Niagara Falls we took off to the Woltz family cottage. I've had friends ask me where it is, but my GPS was like ??? when we were there. Georgian Bay area-ish. It was absolutely beautiful! We spent two days filled with hummingbirds, chipmunks, boating and outdoor showers:

Family: Windsor/Niagara Falls

We came back from Windsor a few weeks ago, and instead of writing a reflection I went and organised the ENTIRE apartment! Label ALL THE THINGS! Anywho, we didn't spend as much time in Windsor, but road tripped it with the Mom and Mark. When we landed this is what the forecast said (EEEP), and praise the Lord for air conditioning!:

We did a family BBQ in the backyard, as Tom and I melted. The locals did a bit better than we did. My Mom has this beautiful backyard, and I'm kicking myself for not taking any pictures! Next time. On the Monday we took off to drive up to Niagara Falls. We stayed at the Oakes Hotel, which I have to say, wasn't the best hotel I've stayed in. The view was beautiful (see below), but the room was meh.

Tom was a sweetie and did the "Maid of the Mist", also known as the Hornblower Tour (I don't want to call it that), with me. We got soaked and rocked a poncho:

We went to the Keg for dinner for delicious delicious stakes. Pretty good time overall:

Family: Going "Home"

Going "home" is something that is foreign to me. It's one major thing that my husband and I don't have in common. He grew up in the same house for his entire life, went to the same schools, and has parents that have been married for 29 years. I've lived in 10+ houses over the span of my life. And I know I'm not done yet. In one day Tom and I are off to Windsor. The place I spent 9 years of my life and 4 houses of my life. When I lived there I felt trapped. I had moved away from everything I had ever known. We moved three weeks before my 10th birthday. It was tough. I went with my Mom, but my Dad stayed in Calgary. I felt like I had been cut in half. Now I need to admit something. I've spent years hating Windsor. Hating it for existing. Hating it for taking me away from the city I loved. The only thing that anchored it to me way my Mom. Now I'm going back (I've been back plenty of times), but I want to reflect on what it truly meant to me. Honestly I think it's probably a really beautiful place. Filled with history and sights to see. So I'm going to put myself in Tom's shoes. I'm going to SEE it for the first time. Something tells me I might actually love it. It won't just be the place my Mom is, but the place that contributed my history.

Craft: Jewelry Box Fix-up

I find jewelry storage one of the hardest things. I'm the type of person who if I don't see it, I forget I have it, so I only wear like two necklaces. I got an old wooden jewelry box from my stepmom a few years ago and spray painted it. I never really liked it. Case in point:

This is what happens when you succumb to free spray paint! You get a booger coloured jewelry box . Anywho, I decided to fix it so I can store bracelets, earrings, and rings in it. So a few coats of turquoise paint and some mod podge later and here is what I have:

I'm cooking up something to hang my necklaces on now and will post when I've got it on lock!

Craft: The Wedding

The decor was perfect! The only issue was that those napkins were supposed to be grey, not purple. I only noticed when we sat down for dinner. Tom chuckled because he picked up on it when he got there for the ceremony and knew I would be a bit ticked. Purple really didn't look that bad anyways!

We had two guest books. The first one was a photo album with our engagement photos to sign. We also had a calendar and asked people to sign their birthdays so we could celebrate them throughout the year.

Our guest favours were these adorable personalized tea bags. We got them online HERE.

Our table numbers were just wooden hearts I got from Michaels, painted and strung ribbon in our colour. Our table wine was the perfect place to hang them.

I made a wooden box for our cards and put it on our gift table. Instead of a slide show (which I personally hate) I wrapped foam board in fabric. I then printed off growing up pictures of Tom and I and made boards of just us. Then one of the two of us together. People could look at it when they wanted to.

I got these cute lanterns from IKEA and they made the best centrepieces. Our hall had a no open-flame policy, so they added a little romance to the table.

For our dinner game we made Union Jack flags and Canadian flag and put them on all the tables. Our fabulous MC, Peter, asked questions about Canadian and British history. The first table to get the right answer got to line up for the buffet! It got a BIT competitive.

Milestones: Wedding Part 4

The reception was a HOOT! I'm going to post separate for the DIY's I did. Here is the just the pure shenanigans of the night.

My step-mom made our cake. She's talented like that! The cake-toppers are birds from Michael's. She made a delicious marshmallow fondant three-tiered cake. Quite delicious!

We made a kissing game: instead of the clinking glasses we made our guests sing Queen lyrics. Our Pastor got us started off with a rendition of "We Are the Champions".

Even though everyone does it we played the shoe game.

We had these beautiful giant windows along one wall. It made a fabulous backdrop for the head table.

We did a father-daughter dance to "Cinderella" by Steven-Curtis Chapman. I pretty much cried the whole time.

Then Tom and I had our first dance to "Inevitable" by Anberlin. It was perfect!

 

Tom and his Mom danced to "Dancing Queen" ABBA and Tom and his Dad rocked out to "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns N' Roses. I dedicated "This Will Be" by Aretha Franklin to my Mom and "Ballroom Blitz" by The Sweet to my step-mom Tracey. We tried to make it as about family as we could. Our DJ was great, although quite grumpy. I think there was only one song I didn't feel like dancing to. I don't think I would have changed a SINGLE thing about our day. It was pretty magical!

Milestones: Wedding Part 3

We honestly could not have had better weather for October! The leaves were still on the trees (for the most part) and the whole world was reds, oranges, and yellows. We had a small park behind our venue where we went and took all of our pictures between ceremony and reception. It was quite relaxing as we knew we didn't have to drive anywhere to get to our reception. Here are some of my favourites:

Tom and the boys: his father, brother, and my two brothers.

Me and the girls: Krista, Kara, Katie and Chantel

Why not throw leaves?

What did I tell you about the colours! We look pretty good too.

This is my favourite picture of all the ones taken. It's just... us. I've had a few people comment on how young Tom looks... He's got the cutest smile.

Our photographer has the best eye! Plus I have to add how beautiful our flowers were. We got all our florals done by Best of Buds including boutonnières and bouquets.