Attitude!

 

HAPPY FRIDAY! Holy Moly am I ever glad to see this day come! Regardless, it’s Friday and it’s the long weekend!! I hope that I find enough energy to get lots done with 3 whole days!

A while ago when I was at Mom and Dad’s looking through old pictures for the Wedding Wednesday series I couldn’t help but stop and laugh at one thing…I really didn’t like getting my picture taken.

In most of the pictures I had this very unhappy look or my face has a small smirk out of force.

The hand would be on the hip and I’d be glaring into the camera giving my mom tons of “attitude”. The impact of the “hand on hip” pose was sure to intimidate her to stop with the pictures!

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Can you see the intense look?

Well, 9 years later and I’m still not overly fond of getting my picture taken. Those self full face portraits with my friends or hunny? No problem.

However, the pictures where people want you to stand there, by yourself, like some big loner, SUCK! It feels so awkward and unnatural!

When someone is insisting that I take a picture by myself. I usually try and pull someone closer to me! It just feels so much better with someone there with me. At that point, it’s not even that bad.

However, if they are insistent that they want a lovely portrait of me standing there alone (like a total loner!) I will resort to my old ways, hand on the hip and tons of attitude!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

xo

Wedding Wednesday – Colors

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! I’m feeling SOOO much better in comparison to Monday! It’s like night and day! And I promise to try to take more care for myself so that I don’t get sick again for the rest of the summer!

Today is another addition of Wedding Wednesday. Last week we talked about the theme of the wedding. Wedding colors kind of goes hand in hand with the decor. It’s also a question that I get asked ALOT when talking to someone about the wedding!

To be honest, wedding colors weren’t that difficult to figure out. I’m getting married in the spring, so that left out fall/winter color schemes. I am NOT a pink fan so that was crossed off the list as well.

When I asked Ryan what colors he would like, he didn’t really seem to care as long as it wasn’t too girly! I’m honestly such a lucky bride! Ryan likes to be involved in the wedding process but gives me complete creative abilities! He doesn’t object to things that I want, he just agrees with it! It’s a relief because we never argue about wedding related things (except that he wants to wear shorts, flip flops and a vest to the wedding).

One day I was searching through the internet looking at color schemes. I kind of had it in my head that I would like some kind of blue but wasn’t sure what. I decided baby blue seemed to summery and indigo blue is hard to match with. Out of the process of elimination I decided on navy.

Next, a matching color! I was really pushing for white so that it would be the color of the Toronto Maple Leafs, woot woot! I put that thought aside and decided on a bright cheery spring yellow (and accents of white).

What I loved about this color combination is that I got a mix of dark and bright. Both colors go together but aren’t put together commonly.

 

And yes, I AM going to have yellow shoes! How fun are they? :-)

I have to say I am please with the color choices and it has been easy to gather ideas around this. It’s going to go well with our theme and the colors go well with us as well!

What do you think?

Happy Wednesday!

xo

Golf and More Golf

 

Happy Monday everyone! I have to say I am kind of under the weather this morning. Stupid summer cold! I have to admit though, it is kind of self induced. Between lack of sleep, not eating the greatest and not allowing any down time for myself.

Let’s recap on the weekend shall we?

Friday was a very exciting day!! The annual company golf tournament. Everyone was done work at noon and loaded on the bus ready to head to the brave golf course that would host us wild bunch!

We always arrive at the course early so that we can relax before our tee times. We sit with a couple of drinks and all the musicians in the group serenade us.

Finally, it was time to tee off! It’s always a bit of scramble to figure our who’s going to go with what team. I have to say, my team rocked this year!! It was me, my bestie Jilly, Jess, Rolly and Cowan.

We had such a blast! It was crazy fun! There were so many laughs! We had decided that each hole had a theme song. For example, hole number 4 was Friends In Low Places by Garth Brooks (altered lyrics).

“I’ve got friends in FOUR places”

We were so silly and we weren’t too serious about the actual game but we all had fun!

After the game we all headed back to the clubhouse for more music, drinks, steak dinner and door prizes! The company golf tournament is always a highlight of my summer and this year was no exception!

Saturday morning I woke up pretty early to read a text saying, “Please let Ryan in”.

I was pretty confused. I mean Ryan told me he wouldn’t be at my house because he was going out with some of the boys. I guess plans had changed and unfortunately for Ryan my phone was on silent and he didn’t have a key to get him.

I did find him however, sleeping in the passenger seat of my car! Poor guy! ha ha!

Saturday afternoon Ryan and I had some errands in the city and then headed to my cousin Shannon and her boyfriend Casey’s house warming party!

Sunday morning Ryan and I packed up our clubs again to head to Norway Bay for a round of golf with friends Evan and Josee.

 

My game sucked but Josee (who I affectionately call Tiger) is a wicked good golfer! She puts me to shame! But we all had a good time visiting over golf and then lunch!

How was your weekend?

xo

Luxe Box By Loose Button

 

Happy Friday! Finally, the week is over and we can all think about all the awesome things that our weekend will bring.

So, apparently I have been living under a rock. All the sudden some blogs that I follow were sharing all the wonderful goodies they were getting in their Birch boxes. I was in awe of the fun things they were getting and I wanted to join the fun too!

After looking into it, I quickly realized Birchbox was only for America’s. “FINE!” I said to myself, feeling discriminated against for being a Canadian. So, I did what any sane girl, desperate for a few luxury goodies would do. I googled, “Birchbox for Canadians”.

As usual, google didn’t fail me and brought me right to Luxe Box by Loose Button.

So, what is Luxe Box you ask? Well, here is the websites description….

“Luxe Box is a monthly subscription service that delivers 3-5 deluxe-sized beauty samples to your doorstep in a chic box. The samples range from skincare and makeup to fragrance, body, and haircare. What’s more? These samples have been hand-picked by our beauty experts, so we are confident you will enjoy them!”

I was a little nervous about the whole thing so I signed up for just 1 month to try it out!

A few weeks later I got a noticed it was shipped and the next day it was here! I’m not going to lie I was pretty excited to rip it open!

 

The box inside was so pretty! Packed so nice that I knew instantly that I was going to be please with what was inside!

I delicately removed the ribbon (it will make great hair bow!) and saw what was inside!

 

Here is the descriptions:

  Essie- Nail Polish

Today Essie has grown to to be one of the industry’s most popular professional polish brands. Due to Essie’s long lasting formula, Essie Nail Polish has been worn by many celebrities including Princess Kate Middleton on her wedding day.

Retail Value: $8

I’m sorry did you say Kate Middleton? SOLD! I did happen to paint my nails with this before our engagement pictures last Sunday.

Proclaim – Hair Oil Treatment

Proclain Argan Oil Hair Oil Treatment is uniquely formulated with Argan Oil and natural ingredients that condition, help repair dry, damage hair without weighing it down, eliminates frizz and infuse brilliant shine.

Retail Value: $7

 

Stella – Stella in Two Peony Fragrance

Light and sparkling Pink Peony spiced up with black pepper comprise the top notes, while the base notes of amber, cedar wood and patchouli leave a warm and decidedly sensual drydown. A great spring/summer choice to add to your fragrance collection.

Retail Value: $56

I LOVE this fragrance! It’s mature yet still fun and flirty! I’m still using Tommy Girl which is nice but this smells like a more mature version! Definitely, going on the Christmas wish list!

Trucco – Pro Lip Liner

Pro Lip Pencil can be used to sculpt, color, outline and reshape the lips. Outline lips before applying lipstick to create shape and help prevent lipstick from feathering. Or use this product to fill the entire lip as a base for lip color.

Retail Value: $20

When you fill out the form for your own Luxe Box they ask you questions. Well they must have been really paying attention because this color is PERFECT for me! Again, another product I wore for the engagement pictures!

So, as you can probably tell by the enthusiasm in my writing, I LOVED my Luxe Box! For the $12 it was I think I really got my money’s worth! I signed up for another 3 months immediately after and I can’t wait to see what comes next month!!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

xo

Please note Loose Button has nothing to do with this post. This is entirely my opinion expressed.

Wedding Wednesday – Theme

 

Happy Wednesday everyone….you’re half way there!

Today is Wedding Wednesday. Let’s recap shall we:

The Maid of Honor, Jilly and Best man, Graham.

Bridesmaids, Rebekka and Amanda.

Groomsmen, Luc and Jared.

And of course flower girls, Maddy and Faith.

Plus, here is our engagement story. 

So, now that you are all caught up, where do we go from here? The theme of the wedding!

Yes, we are having a medieval themed wedding. Ryan is going to be wearing a full armored suit, ride in on a horse……

Ha, no just kidding!

Pre-engagement I thought that I would want to go to the city for my wedding. I thought wouldn’t a wedding in the city where guests would stay over night be nice? And easy, all the amenities are right there.

Then, I got engaged and started thinking about my wedding for real! The thought of not being able to get married in my small town made me sad. Suddenly, I knew that I didn’t want to be married anywhere else then around home!

That got the wheels turning. Let’s be honest. Ryan and I aren’t the fanciest people. We’re not big on flashy and fancy. But, isn’t that what weddings are? It was a very confusing process. Ideas and opinions are getting thrown at you in every direction!

One day we were walking around the farm and ducked into a building that that holds a lot of our inventory. When that building was build a few years back they build a loft to hold some of the old artifacts from the Farm.

An old carriage.

Grandpa’s latter, the old brick house door…

And LOTS of old barn board.

I knew, the minute I saw all this stuff that I wanted to have a rustic/vintage themed wedding/reception.

Most of the decorations are going to be actual antiques that belonged to my ancestors. I am so lucky a lot of old farm stuff that most people would have thrown away are still here!

The ideas using barn board, mason jars, raffia ribbon, and antiques galore are spinning around my head!

Ryan and I realize that we are going to have a lot of work ahead of us. Not only is this stuff hidden away but it is covered in years of dirt and dust.

The first idea of an out of town wedding was convenient. The idea was nice but when thinking about it, so not “us”.

What is “us” is a simple, rustic/vintage wedding celebrating our love with our family and friends!

:-)

Happy Wednesday!

xo

Eventful, Yet Uneventful Weekend

 

Are you confused yet? How can a weekend be both eventful and uneventful? Well let me explain! :-)

The week was going by so well and quick! It was busy with random trips in the bug for ice cream.

And an impromptu trip for groceries and supper with one of my BF’s Jilly!

When the weekend finally arrived I was excited to get it started by getting together with some of my best friends for big celebrations! Babies, birthday’s and anniversary! Where else to go but Lonestar! The best part of Lonestar is the big cowboy hats that they make the birthday people wear when singing! :-)

It was a delicious meal and great company! The conversation is never short with this group! I’m sure we could all talk for hours! Once I got home, and after a long week at work, it was off to bed right away. Fridays night’s just aren’t the same wild time they use to be! ha ha!

Saturday morning Ryan had to work so I went with him. I told him I went to keep him company when in reality I knew he stopped for pizza for lunch…ha ha! It was nice spending the morning with him though!

The rest of the afternoon we worked outside weeding the vegetable garden and mowing. Then to beat the heat (hello scorcher!!) we joined my brother, SIL and kiddos for an afternoon swim! It was perfect!

Sunday morning Ryan and I were up early to “beautify” ourselves for our engagement pictures!! The wonderful Julie C Butler was making the long drive to the farm to take our pictures!

I have to say these pictures have been on my mind for quite some time. I was nervous! I know, I know totally silly to be nervous about pictures but I was! I was nervous because Ryan and I had never had professional pictures done. I was nervous because lately I haven’t liked looking at what I look like in pictures. I was just nervous for a bunch of reasons!

Julie really helped that though! She is so comforting and easy going! When changing clothes at Mom and Dad’s we were stilling there chatting and it really made things comfortable! It was a friend taking these pictures not just anybody! I’m so confident in her abilities that I know they are going to be beautiful! Thank you Julie!

For the rest of the afternoon Ryan and I were going to work on the new flower beds! However, it was so friggin’ hot!!! Instead, we decided to be lazy, move into the cool basement and watch 2 movies for the afternoon! It sucked that we didn’t get anything done outside but I think we are both more rested this morning.

Finally, I was able to cross another item off of my 101 list!

#97: Watch a thunder and lighting storm. ‘

This was was one of those items that is easy to cross off but you kind of forget about it! When I saw the storm coming over the mountain though Ryan and I went out on the veranda to watch the storm!

Little did we know 5 minutes into it a huge cracking sound would send us back into the house fearful that a tree was going to fall on us!

The wind was so crazy from that storm that it sent branches and parts of trees down blocking our road! The one big one, very close to the power lines and house!

Thank goodness that was the worse of it but maybe mother nature should stop with the extreme weather for the rest of the summer. What ever happened to nice, relaxing rain showers?

So, as you can see, with a few events (supper out, engagement pictures and thunderstorm) for the most part the weekend was relaxing and uneventful!

How was your weekend?

xo

Eww.….*Gag* *Gag*

 

Wow! Nothing like a Friday to have a totally weird title right? Oh ya, happy Friday! Finally the end of the week and the beginning of a super fun weekend!

I have a little story for you but first I have worn all of those with weak stomachs to turn away now…..

Ok….I warned you! As you know from Monday, Ryan and I went camping last weekend and had a blast! We really worked well as a team when we got home to get things unpacked and ready for our next destination.

I have this red water bottle thingy that I carry everywhere! It stays cold, fits nicely into cup holders and basically I am too cheap to go somewhere and buy water!

So, before we left for Rebekka’s and Josh’s I filled up my water bottle with fresh cold water!

Now, I’m about to tell you a very embarrassing fact about myself. I get Tonsillotiths (don’t click the word to the link if you have a weak stomach either).

What the heck is Tonsillotiths? Well, some people have crevices in the back of their throat that collects loose food/mucus and stays there forming balls. After building up these whitish balls they can be removed by hand. The worse part? It causes bad breath. I always try to have gum/mints on me at all times and when speaking to someone I try to talk with my mouth in another direction then their face. It’s common but can be really embarrassing.

So, as I was saying, I had such filled up my water bottle with fresh water last weekend. I was thirsty after running around putting everything away. I took a BIG gulp of my water and “oh frig, one of those balls got loose” (common thing). So, I walk to the bathroom and spit out my water in the sink only to find that it wasn’t one of those balls but…..

AN EARWIG!!!!!!!!!!! AH!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!

Look I’m not a wimp! I can handle spiders, snakes, and other “creepy crawlies” but Earwigs (in my mouth…ahhh)…HELL NO! It’s the name EARwig…Like those little spikes on it’s butt are going to burrow into my head and eat my brains!

After drinking a bottle of mouth wash and throwing out that water bottle I was a little better!

However, I will NEVER drink anything, before looking first! YUCK! EW! GAG, GAG!

Have a great weekend!

xo

Wedding Wednesday – Flower Girl

 

Happy Wednesday Everyone! This week is going to feel particularly long for me since it the first official 5 days straight of work in three weeks. Yikes.

The good news is that it is already Wednesday which makes me happy because…..

1. The week is half over and

2. It’s Wedding Wednesday!

We are at the very last member of Lindsay and Ryan’s wedding party, a flower girl. (Yes we have two flower girls! In the little dresses, rosy cheeks and mini bouquets…I die!)

I’d like you all to meet our niece Faith (Dude, Baby, Faithinator):

Faith is the daughter of my brother Jared and his wife Holly. Not mention Faith is the very proud big sister to Clark!

Faith was the first baby in the family and we were soooo excited the day she arrived! I was finally an Aunt and I had a little niece to spoil with all things girly!

Faith was such a spunky little thing even as a baby! She was always full of personality! She loved to play and smile for everyone around the farm and never played strange!

Faith calls me her Ti Ti because when she first began to speak she couldn’t say “Auntie”. She affectionately calls Ryan, “Uncle Wyan” and thinks Happy Birthday lyrics are:

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday Uncle Wyan…..Happy Birthday Uncle Wyan.

Faith knows how to turn on the charm and has her “Uncle Wyan” wrapped around her finger! He would do anything for her, even wear a tiara!

 

Not to mention her Ti ti (me) is a wonderful influence on her! :-)

Faith is one smart cookie! She repeats everything and loves to sing her heart out! Not to mention her dancing skills…she can really bust a move! And here’s a little secret for you all. Faith is a therapist…no really she is!

Sometimes things can get busy and down right stressful around the farm. At times I can be speaking to some really mean customers that will say hurtful things. I can get pretty down. When these times come, I walk over to my brother and sister in law’s for what I like to call “Faith Therapy”. After playing with her for 5 minutes, everything in the world is right again. Faith has no idea the impact her cheery innocence has on some the most stressful situations.

Faith,

Ryan and I are both delighted that you are going to be walking down the aisle as our flower girl! We are both honored and thankful to have you be part of our big day.

You are such a wonderful little girl with a magical smile that can make anybodies day. You really do make our hearts swell with love!

You are our family, our niece and we love you very much!

Ti ti and Uncle Wyan

(Lindsay and Ryan)

xo

Camping Weekend & God Bless Clark

 

Good Monday morning! It was been one really LONG weekend! Ryan and I booked Thursday and Friday off of work!

We decided that this summer we were going to go camping. We would be roughing it for 2 days! So, on Thursday morning we drove the two hours (and 40 KM’s into the bush) to our home away from home.

What else do you wear when camping then a “save the trees” shirt! Very appropriate! :-)

I loved our campsite. It was private, lush, and right on the water! The water was so beautiful. Sand shore, clear and warm waters.

This kind of camping is not for the faint of heart. No running water, no electricity and no flush toilettes. We slept in a tent and cooked everything on the open fire!

We didn’t starve though! We had steak and potatoes, bacon and egg breakfast and chicken wraps!

Not to mention S’Mores! My personal favorite!

Can’t you just see the complete concentration in my face as I assembled my s’more? ha ha!

The cool part about our campsite is that in 1840 it use to be a logging town. It had a historical hike you could follow with stories and artifacts.

We were so lucky the weather was so beautiful. We only had about an hour of rain. During this rain we just ducked into our tent for a couple of games of Yahtzee and Hangman.

 

Ryan is total cheeseball, love it! :-)

After packing up on Saturday morning we drove off and stopped at another stop from our campsite. It was the Brent Crater that was created over 450 million years ago!

It was nice to be home on Saturday! And Ryan and I worked together to get all our stuff unpacked quickly so we could get ready to go back on the road! We were headed to friend’s Josh and Rebekka’s parents cottage in Ladysmith for a “floatilla” and fireworks!

What is a floatilla? Well boats decorated in lights that parade around the lake! It was pretty cool!

And after the parade you stayed in the middle of the water to watch the 30-40 minute firework display!

It was an awesome night spend with some new and old friends! Thanks again for having us!

Sunday was a very special morning. My brother and Sister (in law) was having their new baby boy, Clark dedicated (baptized).

The very special part was that they had asked Ryan and I to be his God Parents. We were so humbled and honored to be a part of Clark’s spiritual life.

After church, we headed back to my parents place for lunch and a visit! It was a very warm day but all the kids cooled off in a little pool in the backyard!

Busy weekend eh? But even despite all the activities is was still relaxing, restful and a weekend that was full of memories!

How was your weekend?

xo