A Year Ago Today…

 

A year ago today I was excited to leave work and get food ready for a special birthday supper in honor of my brother Jared and Ryan.

A year ago today Ryan and I took our traditional head shot before everyone arrived for supper.

A year ago I was so excited give Ryan a special birthday gift. Plane and baseball tickets to New York City!

A year ago today Holly was bouncing my niece on her lap, I was clearing away the dishes and Ryan had other plans.

A year ago today I was completely shocked to see my fiancé get down on one knee.

A year ago today Ryan asked me to be his wife and I said “Yes”!

You can read the whole story here.

A year ago today was an extremely happy and exciting day. The days that have followed have been wonderful as well!

I so look forward to the day (soon) when I get to give say another short answer, “I do”.

xo

Wedding Wednesday – Please Be Seated

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! Almost everyday now I look at my little count down calculator thingie and go into shock! Today, 59 days till the wedding! We’re into the 50’s. I was excited when we broke 200 days and now we’re in the 50’s? Holy Moly!

Last night I went for my VERY FIRST dress fitting! Wow! Does that ever make it feel real! I am happy to report that the dress actually fit like a glove right out of the bag! Only alterations needed is putting in the bustle!

Now that the wedding date is getting closer and closer I have started my DIY projects that I wanted to do for the wedding.

It was really important to me to add a lot of personal touches to our wedding. It was important to me that I do these projects myself. Although all of my crafting time has been spent doing wedding stuff it has also been fun.

Sometimes, when I sit and focus on a project for an extended period of time I start to day dream about the day and the future.

This week I started an important project. It was our seating tags.

What are seating tags? Well, I saw this picture and I wanted to incorporate tags tied to our old ladder's so that guests could just untie their tag and know which table they are at.

All of my supplies came locally. The paper doilies from Stedman’s. The shipping tags and glue stick from our local newspaper and office supply store, The Equity.

 

Basically, all you do is cut your paper doilies into quarters.

Then glue them onto a corner of the shipping tags.

Let it try and cut off the excess and voila! Ready to guide people to their seats.

I tied a raffia ribbon through one of the loops to get a glance at how it would look.

I LOVE how these tags turned out. The doily corner reminds me a lot of lace and I find it makes it look a little antique. It was actually a fun project and SO simple to do!

Can’t wait to see them displayed and ready for guests to grab!

Bring on the next project!

xo

Weekend Wanderings

 

The weekend that just passed was probably one of the busiest in a long time! It was jam packed it great times.

Friday was so much fun! When a guy from the farm gets married they usually take them on a bus tour back to a local bar for wings and drinks. The good thing about Ryan’s trip? It was a complete surprise!! My brother showed up on our door step at 5:30 PM, handed Ryan and beer (while in his PJ’s) and off the bus went for a good time!

Well a few of us girls who either work or the men in our lives work at the farm were not going to just sit at home! So, off we went to the city for supper at Montana’s, where it serves my favorite, PICKLED CAESARS!

It was such a good supper!! A buffet of appetizers and then beef brisket for me! The discussion was, well….interesting! Jilly expressed her concern for her fish whom might have a tumor or be pregnant. The discussion got “deeper” and ended with a youtube clip of a turtle and a shoe. Wow! ha ha!

Saturday morning I was up early and out the door while my poor (hungover) fiancé rested. I headed to Jill’s for a pizza lunch and to watch the DVD of Breaking Dawn, Part 1. A little tradition of ours to always watch the DVD together!

After the awesome movie and lunch I headed back home to get ready for a special evening at our local Beach Barn. I had discussed before about how our community is trying to raise funds for a new building. One of those ways is by having a party in honor of a special person from the community!

This year it was in honor the beloved Mae. She is an amazing member of this community. Besides owning and running the communities favorite little chip stand, she is always active in all the events! Supporting every cause!

It was a super fun night with a delicious supper, wine, speeches and after party! I am SO excited to say that the committee had reached their goal on Saturday!! $150,000.00 raised!

Sunday we were all off to church and then had Nancy (our student minister) and her husband over for breakfast. It was a great visit and we were able to also go over wedding details, very exciting!

Monday of course I was off of work so I headed over to visit a very special birthday girl yesterday!!

She was so excited and really enjoyed her special lunch, cupcakes and presents!!

I still can’t believe she is 3 already!

How was your weekend?

xo

Happy Birthday Faith!

 

The weekend recap will have to wait another day because a very special girl is turning 3 today!

Dear Faith,

Happy Birthday little buddy!! Uncle Ryan and I were talking this morning about how 3 years ago we were SO excited to meet you. We had a little laugh at all that has happened in the last three years and how fast the time seems to have gone.

You are so active now! You are have recently started putting full sentences together. You are so much more like a little girl rather then a baby. You are constantly making me laugh with all your quick wit. Nana always says how much you remind her of me. You have a mind of your own and you don’t mind letting it be known!

You love princesses, singing and reading. You have an amazing imagination now! You love to play dress up and kitchen. You love to pray for Tucker and you always seem to be worried for his well being.

When I look at  you I feel an overwhelming sense of pride and love! Uncle Ryan and I love you so much! We hope you have an amazing 3rd birthday!

Love,

Uncle Ryan & Ti-ti!

xoxo

Please enjoy one of my favorite all time videos that I have of Faith. She is belting out Gloria.

Viva Las Vegas Part 1

 

Happy Friday everyone! This week has defiantly passed by in a blur at my end. Between piles of laundry and mountains of work on my desk things have gotten back to normal which feels great!

Leaving for Vegas was tough. There are so many things happening with work and with life. The farm is starting to get busy again as spring will be happening soon. Life, is of course busy with upcoming birthdays and wedding plans underway.

As crazy as it has been since we have been back I am so glad we went away, just the two of us, for a weeks escape before things get SUPER busy.

We left for Vegas on Sunday, February 26th, a blistery cold day. We flew into Calgary, had a relaxing lunch (and a 1 hour delay, boo!) then landed in Vegas early in the afternoon.

Peace out Canada!

Just driving in the cabs were amazing! Signs and 2 t.v’s playing all the advertisement for the events of the week!

When we pulled up to our hotel we were amazed but felt like a couple of hillbillies. I even turned to Ryan at one point and said, “Tucker, we’re not in Quyon anymore.”

We were staying at the Encore, the sister hotel to the Wynn. It is (by far) the best hotel I have EVER stayed in! They seriously thought of everything. The room was beautiful and spacious. With a flick of a button you could close your blinds. T.V’s in the bedroom, office area and bathroom. The staff was amazingly accommodating! It made the experience!

Inside the hotel.

After walking around our hotel(s) for the afternoon we headed into our hotel’s Italian restaurant for some pizza and gelato. With the 3 hour time difference we were pretty tired and headed to bed early.

First thing the next morning we headed to the buffet located in the Wynn. I had read reviews that it was the best buffet in all of Vegas. They weren’t kidding! All the food was FRESH. No warmed up buffet food, it was amazing.

Ryan got complimentary chocolate milks with his meal so he was happy too!

Monday was exploring day! We hit the strip and walked all the way up one side and down the other. Taking in the different hotels and sights.

Inside Venetian

We stopped in New York, New York at a little Mexican place that overlooked the hotels rollercoaster.

We split a meal and I ordered my very first margarita! Wow! It was a strong one but very good.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at one of the ticket places. Apparently, in the afternoon, if a show isn’t sold out they will sell you tickets at half price. We looked and picked Peepshow, the burlesque show by ex-girlfriend of Hugh Hefner.

We got all gussied up and headed to Planet Hollywood for supper and  drinks at the Rock Bar. I ordered a lemonade concoction called the hat bender, so good!

We arrived at the show early so just sat and sipped on a drink taking in all the people and sights around us. Once the show got started we never stopped laughing! It was a really good, entertaining show. The best parts being when the girls choose men from the crowd!

The next morning we were up early and on a bus on the way to Grand Canyon (south rim). Upon learning that the South rim tour was closed due to snow (and road closures) we switched to the west rim.

Waiting for our bus.

We left the depot in warm Vegas and stopped in at the Hoover Dam. What an unbelievable structure!

After a 2 hour more drive we were at the Grand Canyon. There are no words to describe how massive and breathtaking this wonder is. It’s humbling looking at such a beautiful landscape.

 

Don’t get too close to the edge!

After enjoying the sights of the Grand Canyon. We had to duck in somewhere warm!! Us crazy Canadians thought that it was suppose to be warm and wore shorts! Instead it was –3 and snowing! We felt right at home! Ha!

We grabbed lunch in the (warm) old western town saloon!

A traditional cowboy meal of ribs, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and of course cornbread!

We visited the barber shop, black smiths and jail!

We even met some real cowboys who let me practice bow and arrow and Ryan practice lassoing a calf! This small western town was a highlight of our trip! We had so much fun!

It was a long and sleepy drive back to Vegas but we were SO glad that we visited the Grand Canyon. We have no idea when we were going to be going back to Vegas again (if ever) and wanted to take in this amazing site!

Very worth it.

After a touristy first two days we rested up for more activity to come for the rest of the week!

xo

Wedding Wednesday – Candy Buffet!

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! It’s been a tough week getting things back on schedule. Between trying to adjust my sleep to a 3 hour difference and getting life back on track. There’s a mountain of laundry still to be done but I am still reminiscing about the trip that passed.

That story will have to wait though because today is Wednesday and that means wedding stuff! Which, by the way, I am not in a shortage to talk about! Things are happening so quickly has far as wedding things go I doubt I will get to everything by May 12th!

The week after we got engaged we flew out to New York city for a small long weekend vacation. It was a blast and we really enjoyed spending that time together as a newly engaged couple.

One of the best things I did on that trip was at the airport. I bought my first wedding magazine and flipped through it, alot! That magazine was Southern Wedding. It was the perfect one for me to pick up because it was flipping through it that I confirmed, yes our wedding with me a country, rustic wedding.

The magazine had so many great ideas and you dog-ear a lot of them but with time you never get to everything. One thing I was POSITIVE would be at our wedding was from this little picture….

A candy buffet!

I know candy buffets are used as often now as wedding cakes but it didn’t matter to me because candy is something that Ryan and I both like. A candy buffet was all up Ryan’s alley and he has been talking about what stuff he wants on it since!

Upon actually wedding planning it was discovered how expensive this candy buffet can be! You need multiple clear jars of different sizes, scoops, signage and of course lots of candy!

Luckily, still being my thrifty self, I began the search early looking for cheaper alternatives. That is when I stumbled upon an add in Kijiji Ottawa. A past bride, who also did a candy buffet, wanted to sell all the jars and scoops for…

$50!

Apparently, she wanted to keep all her jars but her husband was sick of them and wanted to get rid of them! I went to visit the next morning and brought them all home!! I think we scored an amazing deal!

A little while ago, I thought it was time to set up all of our jars to take count on how many different kinds of candy we need. It was fun setting up the pretend table and getting a good look at how it will be!

There are about 13 jars and candy dishes that spell LOVE.

For each jar there is a special metal candy scoop as well!

I knew we needed some kind of bags that people could use to put the candy in. I searched a lot of stores for this but wasn’t keen on anything I had found.

One day I went online and saw small gift bags, with handles that we would get for CHEAP in our wedding colors, navy and yellow!

I snatched up enough to cover wedding and reception people!

Ryan and I are now starting to figure out what kind of candy we want. I love the look of the whole matching table where the colors of the candy represent your wedding colors.

However, that really limits us to what kind of candy we can get and we both agree, let’s just get the candy that we like and that we know other people will like!

Ryan’s favorite, Swedish Berry’s

My favorite, Reese peanut butter cups.

What’s your favorite kind of candy?

Happy Wednesday!

xo 

Viva Las Vegas!

 

So, I have a little confession. Even though my little blog has been on it’s regularly scheduled time, I haven’t been. Ryan and I just got home Monday morning at 2 AM from…

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA!

And let me tell you, it was one crazy trip but I am SOOO happy to be home! Vegas was AMAZING!

But, more on that later this week because right now I have to try to get everything else cleaned up, re-organized and back to everyday life!

Happy Tuesday!

xo