A Year In Review – Part 2

Ha ha! That titles rhymes! Yesterday, I left you all off in June. Let’s see what the rest of the year brought.

July

In July, Ry and I hit the woods and went camping for the weekend! We headed back home early though because we were asked to be my nephew’s God parents!

In the middle of July Ryan and I got our engagement pictures taken and the next day a huge storm caused a tree to fall on the road!

August

Ryan and I started the month out right by going on a date to The Keg and to see The Lion King. That weekend we also went to see the final Harry Potter movie with friends Sharon and Wayne.

By the middle of August we decided to surprise and celebrate my parents anniversary by seeing the fire works at Lac Leamy for the first time. 

We also found the bridesmaid dresses in a fun shopping trip in August.

Ryan and I ended the month off by heading to Markham to attend the wedding of Matt and my college friend, Whitney.

September

Early September around these parts usually means the fair for most. Although I did attend one evening the rest of the long weekend was spent on the road with my friend and bridesmaid, Amanda! We were headed west!

Ryan flew out to Calgary and we spend the week with Amanda and her boyfriend, Josh enjoying all the sites that Alberta had to offer.

My awesome Grandma turned 90!

While leaving my Grandma’s 90th birthday party I got a amazing text from Rebekka telling me that she was now engaged! Little did she know I had been anticipating this call since her Fiancé, Josh, had asked me to help him pick her ring!  :-)

October

Thanksgiving activities brought on a whirl wind of activity between Cirque De Soleil show, thanksgiving meals and my 24th Birthday!

I was so excited this year to participate in our hometown’s car rally for the very first time!

By the end of the month we helped my brother with the shipment of his 9000 hens, went to a musical and went to see a hockey game in Ottawa!

November

I faced my fears and showcased my crafting abilities by putting a craft table in the local Craft and Bake Sale.

The big moment came in November when Breaking Dawn Part 1 was released to the theatres. Jill, Sharon and I had midnight premiere tickets. The movie was AMAZING!

We finished off the month with the Mountainview Christmas party, crafting and getting bridesmaid dresses!

December

The month of December is always an exciting time because of Christmas. However, this year we had two other little presents to celebrate.

On December 4th, friends Evan and Josee welcome their little boy, Landyn Cole to the world!

And on December 7th friends Chad and Priscilla welcomed baby girl Willow Ann! Such an exciting time with new little lives!

At the beginning of December Ryan and I took a trip up to North Bay to visit his family. We had a great time chatting, playing games and catching up!

The weekend after that Ryan’s niece and nephew stayed over and we all had a blast at the Santa Claus Parade.

There was only one weekend left until Christmas arrived and we did it by celebrating with lots of friends and a Christmas pageant.

Finally, another Christmas passed by. A very happy yet emotional one for me as it is my last unwed Christmas! We had a great time celebrating over the whole weekend!

Wow! What a busy, eventful, at times stressful but AMAZING year! I can’t believe everything that has happened! I am so thankful for all of the wonderful things that happened to me in the last year and I am very excited and hopeful for 2012!

See you next year!

xo

A Year In Review – Part 1

2012 is literally just around the corner. It’s a little spooky to think about. I still remember ringing in the year 2000 with my friend Morgan. We had a great time celebrating as young pre-teen girls but there was still a little fear of Y2K world destruction. It’s hard to fathom that that was 12 years ago.

Regardless, I am SO looking forward to 2012. There are a lot of big events in mine and Ryan’s lives that are happening in 2012. I’m not wishing the days away but anticipating the ones to come!

I like to take a look back every year as a reminder as to what great events happened throughout the year. I did this at the end of 2009 found here and for 2010 found here. At times throughout the year when Ryan and I are trying to figure out when a certain event happened I just have to look at those posts.

January

A large group of Pontiacer’s and friends loaded a plane and headed south to Cuba. We were all there to watch and celebrate with Kerry Lynn and Jeff as they said their wedding vow’s on the beach.

We all had a blast in Cuba enjoying the company, the beach, the food/drinks and all the relaxation! It was a great trip!

February

Wow! What busy, fun month! Ryan and I were so excited to have the basement renovation behind us so that we could host our very first Superbowl party!

We also finally finished another renovation in the living room/dining room!

We celebrated Valentines day a very special way by heading up the hospital to visit friends, Lisa and Luc, and their new baby girl Sydney.

March

March is always a busy month for this Irish family! Besides the obvious St.Patrick’s day there are 4 family birthdays!

We celebrated the 2nd birthday of my niece Faith on March 12th.

On March 15th, 2011 Ryan got down on one knee and proposed!

We also celebrated my brother’s and Ryan’s birthdays!

We picked the date of May 12th, 2012 for the wedding!

My brother got the best birthday present when Clark William Alexander Hamilton was born on March 23rd, 2011.

April

With Spring in the air Ryan and I celebrated his birthday by travelling to New York City for the weekend! We had the most amazing, adventurous trip we have ever had.

At the end of April I was up extremely early to watch the Royal Wedding! An event that I had been anticipating!

May

At the beginning of May, nearly one year till the wedding day, I wrote my very first Wedding Wednesday post.

The long weekend of May, Ryan and I drove to Melbourne, Quebec to attend and celebrate the marriage of friends Nick and Jenn.

The month ended with golfing in the annual Canada Day golf Tournament with some of my best girl friends!

June

The month of June is always a busy one here around the farm. It’s a pretty sleepless month but I still managed to get lots done!

In the middle of June my mom, my future mother in law, my bridesmaids and maid of honor, all headed to the city where I finally said, “Yes” to the dress.

Ryan and I hosted the 3rd annual pool party! It was another GREAT year and the dynamic of the group has changed. Most couples now have 1 or 2 children and we love sitting back watching them all play in the pool.

At the end of June, Jilly, Ryan and I headed to Ottawa for our very first Chicken and Rib festival. We then went to see a movie thinking how fun and uneventful evening it was. Only to realize after we got out of the movie that we were stranded because of the great Pontiac flood of 2011.

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow….

xo

A Belated Merry Christmas To You All

I know, where have I been right? Well, as much as I love my small and the farm that I work at, that happens to be in the middle of no where, it has it’s draw backs too. One being the internet. I am thankful that we even have high speed internet and at times even wireless (WOOOO!) but the littlest of storms, like the freezing rain we got last Wednesday, and bye-bye internet! But the best part, it was Christmas and no one could fix it! Boo!

It actually has been off for a whole week and while I was a little stressed about not being able to e-mail, blog, or browse I took those days off as an opportunity to focus on Christmas, family, and friends! So, now I’m back bloggy world!

How about a little Christmas recap?

Christmas is, as we all know, the most wonderful time of year! I was feeling so prepared! The food was all bought and prepared, and the presents were all wrapped. All I had to do was wait.

Since there was no network or internet at the office myself, Mom, and Jilly picked up Amanda and headed to get Amanda’s bridesmaid dress! We met Rebekka there and then all enjoyed a nice eve of Christmas eve breakfast!

When we got back to the office everyone was already off work and starting the Christmas shindig!

It’s a Mountainview tradition to get together and play some music over a couple of drinks before everyone is off for the holidays!

That evening I headed to Jilly’s for our annual supper/dessert and Christmas movie night. I made supper this year which was Better Butter Chicken. Jilly supplied a tray of assorted homemade sweets! Yum! We settled in with full bellies to watch, The Holiday.

Christmas Eve Ryan and I headed to my parents for a turkey lunch. We all ate so much food and then topped it off with some birthday cake for Jesus. We even sang, “Happy Birthday” to him as well. Faith had a hoot blowing out the candles.

Then it was time to exchange presents with the kids and my brother and sister in law! I have so much fun just sitting back and watching Faith rip open all her gifts and trying everything out immediately!

Although Clark doesn’t quite get it yet his riding gift from Mom and Dad was a hit! He giggled and smiled while on it!

We all headed to the Christmas Eve service at church and then back home to get into bed before Santa came!

Christmas morning I woke up at my parents house for the last time. Next year, Ryan and I will start our own traditions at our home. It was a blast at home with Mom and Dad as usual but sometimes I would get mixed emotions. Part of me can’t wait to wake up Christmas morning with my husband and do our own thing. The other part of me is a little sad that the Christmas mornings at Mom and Dad’s are now over. No, I know, they will still be here but it’s just seems like the end of an era.

The tree.

Mom with her new squeeze box.

Ryan and I headed back to my place to change and load up the jeep to drive to his parents for Christmas supper! I was super excited to see everyone! The kids were so excited about all the gifts and commotion around the house! They were so enthusiastic about all their gifts!

One of my favorite memories was when Ryan’s nanny gave Katelyn a card that read “Merry Friggin’ Christmas” with other funny “not so Christmas” messages. ha ha Shirley and I had a great laugh about it.

“Does this tree skirt make my butt look big?”

Ryan and I were so spoiled by both of our families! We are so lucky to have such wonderful people to call family.

Boxing day and yesterday was spent cleaning up and putting things away. We watched movies and played with all of our new “toys” one of mine being my new Keurig! Loving this machine!

It was such a wonderful Christmas! I truly enjoyed every moment!

How was your Christmas?

xo

Wedding Wednesday – Registry Woes

Happy Wednesday everybody! It is getting harder and harder to focus the more the week continues on. It is getting so close to Christmas! I keep thinking to myself, “Wow, this is my last Christmas as an unwed woman”.

The Knot has been an amazing tool to help with getting ready for the wedding. Not only is there a checklist of things for me to check off, it also gives you the timeline.

I have been very good at checking off the necessary items in the allotted time. There was only one little item that I was having trouble crossing off the list at the “6 month” mark….The Wedding Registry.

Honestly, the wedding registry was something that was an after thought until I saw it on my “to-do” list. It wasn’t something I was looking forward to. I actually felt a little weirded out  and awkward about pretty much asking people for these things.

Then my mother reminded me that it made peoples lives a lot easier because regardless of what I wanted, people were still going to get you a wedding gift and it would be easier on them to have a list.

While my Mom and I were at the wedding show this past fall there were three major stores offering wedding registry services…

The Bay/Home Outfitters

Sears

and Bed, Bath and Beyond

After looking into each companies site and online recommendations I had decided Bed, Bath, and Beyond was the one that I thought was the best.

While at a dentist appointment in the city a while back Ryan and I decided it was also going to be Wedding Registry day. We arrived at Bed, Bath and Beyond like little excited children with our list and quickly we become disappointed.

We learnt that while a Quebec resident can register for gifts at their store you must still give an Ontario address. If you don’t have an Ontario address….forget it. Also, other Quebec residents shopping for us would not be able to get things delivered to them unless they lived in Ontario….bummer!

Upon arriving back home my AMAZING MOH Jilly and Mom reassured me that things would be ok. Jill mentioned that her brother and future sister-in-law had just registered at The Bay and Home Outfitters. She had mentioned that they now had a great online website and I should check it out.

Check it out I did and immediately signed up!

So, right now our registry is sitting there empty until the new year when we can go in person to scan some items. It started off disappointing at Bed, Bath and Beyond but thankfully because of my great support system (Jill and Mom) the registry was started without any stress at all!

Happy Wednesday!

xo

The Weekend Before Christmas Weekend

Being that it was the last weekend before Christmas, parties and fun Christmas activities had to be squeezed into 3 days.

On Friday evening my family and I settled into the comfy couches at my parents to watch a family favorite….

A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Every member of our family can now recite that whole movie! It will always be one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time.

Saturday morning I was up early so that I could accomplish many Christmas things including; cleaning, cooking, more cleaning and wrapping! It was busy and before I knew it Ryan and I were headed out the door to head to friend’s Sara and Grahams for the annual Potluck and ornament exchange.

The food was amazing and how different the group has become! It was especially fun to sit and watch these two cuties play around!

I love the gift that I received from Kelly! It is all set out so that I can enjoy it before Christmas as well!

Photo courtesy of Stacy 

Sunday I was up and headed to church for a very special service. It was pageant day! It is always so fun to watch the little ones be involved in the reenactment of  the Christmas story.

Two little angels sitting with Nancy.

Two very cute Sheppard's.

The whole production, I was an angel.

I had to dart out of church right after the service because I was having some very special guests over for supper. Amanda and Josh were home for Christmas from Calgary and we were getting together with Candace, Steph and Shane for our annual potluck and gift exchange.

It was so nice to sit, chat and visit with these ladies that I don’t get to see very often!

Right after our gift exchange Dad came to pick me up to head to the city. We went to go visit my Grandma who is unfortunately in the hospital.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went to see the men’s choir that my Auntie Ruth plays for!

It was so lovely listening to these amazing singers as they belted out all of my favorite Christmas songs! I felt full of Christmas spirit!

How was your weekend?

xo