Dear 17 Year Old Self…

 

Dear 17 year old Lindsay,

You need to take a second and sit down to read this. I know life seems SO busy right now but trust me, it’s gets busier. So, sick your butt down and get reading.

You are about to head off to University, get out of your small town and spread your wings. We both know you are secretly scared shitless but don’t always be such a tough guy! It’s ok to be sad that you are leaving home to a place where you don’t know a soul. You think you’ll be looking out the window at the you farm saying, “good riddance” but we both know you love this place. Don’t fight it. Follow your heart that brings you back home.

In University there is only 1 other girl in your class that you go out of your way to try to be-friend. Don’t waste your time. Years later she puts no effort into your friendship and ends up burning you in your final year of school.

Instead, you’ll meet this shy blonde girl who oddly enough, lives back home right across the river from you. You both will cling to eachother through University and she becomes your rock through some tough moments. This girl is a true friend and will become one of your best friends! She will even stand with you as you get married (yes, you get married!). This is the friendship that matters. Go ahead and just get the two bedroom apartment together versus the 3 so that the “no good friend” can’t live with you both.

Speaking of University, you know that guy in your class that offers to help you study one night? SAY NO!

Actually, I take that back. Go ahead and say yes and live that experience. You’ll end up moving across the country for this douche bag and your soul will forever be scarred. It sucks but I want you to go through that but only because through this experience, you’ll learn what a real good man is like. You’ll learn that there are good men out there who treat women with respect and love. You won’t believe it now confident girl but, this guy tears  you down and you let him. You always swore you would never let a man treat you like this. You would never let a man call you names or put a hand on you….but you do. And truthfully, you never fully get back that confidence that you have now. I’m sorry that you have to go through this. Remember that your family and true friends are there for you. Lean on them when you need them.

You do move home. Stop crying…it’s not as bad as you think. But for a while you hide away behind a shell as you try to heal. There’s a man that is also broken who tries to mend your shattered heart. Stop running from him. He isn’t bad news. He is good and one of the best things that has ever happened to your life. Stop playing hard to get and pushing him away. Let him help you heal. He is kind, gentle and always puts you first. Don’t be such a bitch to him! The sooner you are nice to him, the sooner life will get better. In fact, he is your happily ever after!

Girl, you are not fat! In 8 years, you’ll wish you look like you do now! Your metabolism slows down and you get a desk job! Go ahead and start getting use to working out now! Make it become part of your everyday life! You’ll thank me later for this!

In about a year, you’ll go to a super bowl party at a guy named Scott’s house. It’s super fun but when someone offers you some salmon DON’T EAT IT! Step away…run away from it!

Here’s a little hint, next year during your turf trial, your prof will infect YOUR plot with pythium blight. He tries to single you out to make you look weak. Yes. He doesn’t like you, sorry. Go ahead behind his back and preventatively treat it with Heritage. He’s going to be the one to look stupid. Don’t stress. You end up doing good in the class because the professor has no control over your final exam!

You’re first year of University is going to seem busy and stressful. Please try and make friends with others in your residence. There are some really great people on your floor and they have the potential to be great friends if you would give them the chance.

Linds, I know 25 seems SO far away and seems SO old. I don’t want to ruin too many surprises for you but life is good! Really good! You are in love and loved. There are some bumps in the road to get you there but life (so far) turns out kind of perfect. Try to take life less seriously because you will get through it. You’ll soon learn that there is a destined path for you. Don’t fight it! Trust in yourself, in the ones that love you and God. You’ll be O.K!

Love,

Me

xo

Annual Golf Tournament and Celebrating A Great Girl!

 

Happy Monday everyone! Another weekend passed by way too quickly! I have been thinking all week how crazy it is that we are almost in August. It feels like the summer is flying by. And it completely makes sense. How can the days not fly by when every day is filled with fun activities? Making memories every chance we get!

I had been looking forward to the end of the week more then normal being that it was our annual company golf tournament! Every year at the end of July, our whole company closes at noon on a Friday and hops on a bus to a golf course. We spend the afternoon golfing and then have a great meal together where door prizes are given! The day is filled with good music, huge laughs and lots of fun! This year was no exception.

This year Claire organized it secretly. No one knew where we were headed! It made it even more exciting! Everyone loaded up on the bus for the 30 minute ride to Mickey Creek Golf Course in Vinton, Quebec.

Everyone got settled and then hit the course! My all girl team had to share a cart as they had run out! But it didn’t matter! We had lots of giggles this way!

It was the PERFECT day for golf! The sun was out and it wasn’t too hot! Sometimes for theses tournaments I give up and do not play the whole round! This year, all 3 of us girls golfed the WHOLE thing. All 9 holes. Jill even won longest drive and I won closest to the pin!

It was so much fun and we settled in for a delicious meal! It was a delicious buffet with an option to fit every taste bud! Everyone got a prize and I have to say I lucked out this year. Gift card to Canadian tire, new sweater, coffee mug, some tool thing (that Ry was excited about, haha!) and golf balls!

We all sat around on the porch while the musicians played the classic songs. Perfect ending to the day! I am so thankful to be able to work where I do. But what makes it so great, the people. I do work with some of the greatest people on the planet (in my opinion).

 

Saturday morning I was up early and off with my bestie Jill to celebrate her 30th birthday! There were a few things planned for later but I wanted to surprise her that morning with a relaxing day at The Nordik Spa.

Jill and I spent the morning relaxing in the saunas and hot tubs. We even got to try their new salt water Kalla treatment. We enjoyed a healthy fresh lunch at the spa’s restaurant before getting ready to meet the girls for a night out on the market!

We all loaded up in Sara’s van to head downtown. It was great to be able to go all in one vehicle. I was the driver and I was a little nervous to be driving a van for a first time (especially downtown!). I have to say, I have been converted! I will totally be a mini van mom! I loved it! It felt like you were driving something small but really it wasn’t! It’s great to park into tight spaces because of the sliding doors! Loved it!

After walking around the market we decided on Hard Rock Cafe for supper! It was a beautiful night so we didn’t mind sitting on the patio.

After our delicious meal, we walked around the market more. We grabbed a gourmet cupcake at The Cupcake Lounge and then did some shopping at Chapters and the Rideau Centre.

Inspirational message inside bathroom stall at Chapters

The girls and I tried REALLY hard to keep the night going as long as we could! What Jill didn’t know was the her brother and sister-in-law had planned a surprise birthday party for her at the bowling alley!

Thankfully, Jill bought into all the silliness (including a detour to a “cleaner” Tim Horton's) and we arrived at the bowling alley for the big surprise!

I am still sitting here giggling at all the craziness on the way to the bowling alley! It was so fun and I am glad we were able to successfully pull off the surprise!

We enjoyed a couple games of bowling and then all gathered to sing to the birthday girl and have some cake!

Ryan and I headed home and I had such a hard time falling asleep that night from all the excitement that day!

Sunday morning Ryan and I headed to church and got to enjoy some niece and nephew time!

After church, we immediately headed to the city where we got to enjoy our July date. But, more on that to come..

How was your weekend?

xo

House Tour– Home Office

 

It’s Friday! Excuse me while I have a mini celebration…

It’s been a good week. I can’t lie. I have been crossing to-do’s off my list all week and for some reason being really productive puts me in a good mood…who would have thunk?

I was picking up and cleaning around the house lately and I realized that we are SO close to be being done with home renovations. The majority of stuff is done. Sure there will be further paint projects and stuff but for the most part, we’re done! The other thing I realized, there’s still renovation projects that I never shared!

Remember that scene in Beauty and The Beast when Belle walks into the huge library in the mansion? I always wanted that library!! I had dreams as a little girl twirling around my massive library surrounded by thousands of books.

Well, that isn’t a reality but I always knew a home office with book space was a must in my home! My job allows me to do some work at home if need be. But, to do that I need a quiet space to get away with my computer and focus.

I had this extra UGLY space that my parents originally used as a laundry room. It was hideous. Not a pretty sight to see if you were to sit down to a nice dinner. As you might remember from this post Ryan and I decided to finish off an old section of the basement as a new laundry room!

With our awesome new laundry room also brought an empty room. The room itself isn’t very big. It’s on the main floor. I had thought an extra bedroom was an option. The only problem with that is that it would be the only bedroom on the main floor while the rest were upstairs.

YEARS down the road I hope to have children. Because of my position in the family business I can’t just take a whole year off of work to be with a baby. It’s not an option. There is always stuff that I need to do. Thankfully, a lot of those things I can do from the comfort of my own home. After thinking about this lots, I decided the “old laundry room” would be a great space to use. I could keep my work space separate from the rest of the home by shutting the door. We can keep important family paperwork organized and all in one spot.

Once it was decided that this empty space was going to be a home office, I immediately began planning what I wanted and needed.

Before:  

Check out this super awesome floor that we ripped up. The thing is…we thought that it was only one floor. Turns out as we removed layer after layer of flooring that there were 4 floors all piled one on top of the other….joy! We were the first ones to actually see the original hardwood floor since my great-great grandparents!

When I began envisioning my space I wanted to use as much of the empty wall space as possible. There were certain things on the “must have” list. Space for books (adult and children), filing cabinet space, big desk/work space, and lots of space for organization.

When browsing all the different places that offered desks and shelving units (sears, ikea, etc), nothing ever caught my eye. Not to mention this is a small room and it seemed like everything was too big or too small. Nothing in between.

My mom actually came up with the idea to get the same people in who did the shelving in my walk-in closet. At first I thought it was going to be WAY over the budget that we wanted to spend. After getting California Closets in to do measurements and make a quote, we were pleased and surprised with the price and decided to let the professionals handle it.

We did have to remove the floor and do the painting of course but the rest of the room was completed in one day by California Closets. Couldn’t have been happier with their service and quality! It’s nice having shelves and a desk that perfectly fits OUR space.

After:

These baskets I found at No Frills grocery store for $1 each!

Nice big working space!

My own library is one of my favourite parts of the room! Holds all of our books and some other special treasures!

We were even blessed with Ryan’s children’s books by his Mom (Hi Bev!) they are such a treasure! I am so thankful to have them in our possession. I can just picture our future children picking a book off the shelf every night before bed.

Another neat thing we found in the room was a trap door. When we lifted all those layers of floor we found this random door. It had a latch and hinges but had since been sealed off. We had no idea what it was so we asked the family historian, Aunt Elaine. She told us that this room use to be the kitchen when they first build the house in 1912. There was no basement and obviously no fridge. To keep food somewhat cool they dug a hole in the ground and used it as a cold cellar. Every time they needed something out of the “cooler” they opened up this trap door in their kitchen floor, climbed into the cold cellar and got their food! We decided to leave it there rather over it up. It’s a part of our homes history and a neat story to those who visit.

Truthfully and selfishly, I kind of consider this room to be “mine”. I already use it a lot and it’s been a dream of mine since I was a little girl watching a classic Disney movie. I feel like Belle in my very own library. It’s a room I see us using a lot in the future. A room for family paper work, books, computer work and sitting down to do homework. It’s a space that is really going to be used a lot in our life both present and future!

Happy Friday!

xo

I’m Starting To Feel Old!

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope everyone’s week is flying right by. I think mine is about to come to a very slow crawling pace as I am a tired girl again today. Summer nights are hard! There’s the 25 year old in me that loves to do fun things in the warm summer evenings. Then there’s the old lady in me that feel like it takes her a whole week to recover from one night.

You know you are getting old when…

You go to a Justin Bieber concert and feel like you are missing a kid. There are all these mommies with their girls (and some boys). It’s weird being at a concert where the child escorts are closer to your age then the girls actually enjoy the show.

Belibers!

At said Justin Bieber concert you have a hard time enjoying the show because you are too focused on the fact that it looks like his pants are going to fall down! Your obsessive-compulsive self just wants to run up on stage and pull them up for him!

You party it up as a bridesmaid on a Saturday and it takes till Tuesday to feel normal again.

Pic from Jilly

Your tolerance to alcohol is pathetic and it takes a bad hangover to realize you can’t drink like you are in college again!

Pic from Jilly

Coffee becomes an everyday occurrence and even though you said you would never drink more then one a day, you see yourself creeping into a 2 a day habit. 

 

Moisturizer becomes your #1 beauty buy! You now buy one with an SPF in it because you don’t want to get sun induced wrinkles!

 

Your taste buds and waist line have changed and so have your eating habits. You find yourself finding and loving a salad on a menu when you use to get chicken fingers!

Feeling old…

Happy Wednesday!

xo

Amanda & Josh

 

WOW! What a weekend! This had to be one of the best weekends of the summer so far! It’s a weekend that I had been looking forward to for almost a year now! This weekend one of my best and longest friends got married!

Amanda and I have been friends since kindergarten! We have quite literally, grown up together. There aren’t many milestones in my life that Amanda wasn’t apart of! Sometimes I sit back amazed at all the things we have gone through over all of those years. I was so excited and proud to get to be apart of her big day! Even though I haven’t known Josh as long, he has quickly became a big part of mine and Ryan’s life! Ryan and Josh are like 2 pea’s in a pod and have become great friends over these years. We are so blessed to have Josh and Amanda as friends and neighbours!

Last Friday the weather was CRAZY around these parts! Tornado warnings and everything! Friday afternoon I met all the girls at Amanda’s for last minute prep! Except, at Amanda’s there was no power! Yikes! Most of the girls ended up at my house for the night to sleep which will always be a funny story associated with Amanda’s big day! There are still people without power! Crazy!

The day of the wedding however, beautiful! The sun was shining that morning and the forecast was perfect! The girls headed to the salon to get their hair and then makeup done!

The beautiful bride!

Everything was so perfectly scheduled and we were back at Amanda’s to get dressed and take some pictures! Before we knew it, it was time to get into the limo and head to the ceremony! The ceremony was beautiful! I had the best seat in the house, right at the front where I could perfectly see the happiness on both Amanda and Josh’s face. Tears were streaming down my face with complete joy for these two!

The ceremony was beautiful! Complete perfection and now my bestie was a MRS! The bridal party joined the other guests for cocktails as the bride and groom got some pictures taken! It was fun mingling with all the guests!

Even my handsome hubby, who was asked to be an usher that day!

These girls….These girls I have SO enjoyed getting to know better (missing Morgan and Barb).  There has been lots of laughs with these girls while we got ready for the big day. I am so thankful to have been given the pleasure of getting to know these girls better. I have new long-time friends and I can’t wait till we can all get together again!

The bridal party left cocktails early to take a few more pictures! Again, couldn’t ask for a better group to spend the afternoon with! Lots of laughs were going on in between every shot!

The bride and groom left early to go take some shots of just the two of them and we all headed up to the reception!

The wine was opened and flowing (barely! ha ha!) and the delicious dinner was served! After some cute speeches it was time to get the party started! First up the new couples first dance!

The band had the hall ROCKING! They were so good and were not playing the typical wedding songs! Good sign of an amazing night….sore feet and 60 bobby pins left on the counter the next morning! Ha ha!

Amanda,

Congrats hunny! Welcome to the Mrs. club! I can’t thank you enough for having me be apart of your special day. It was truly an honor! I am so happy for both you and Josh! You are both are some of the kindest people I have ever met. It was so wonderful to see you so happy and so in love!

I love you!

xo

Some Breathing Room

 

Happy Friday everyone! I wish I had a super great post for you all on this hot and rainy Friday. The truth is, I don’t. Things around these parts have gone BAT crazy! There were a couple events that are taking part around the farm, that I will totally fill you in on soon (I promise!), and the BIG wedding of one of my besties. Amanda this coming Saturday (WOO HOO)!!

So, for now…Until I can post a better post for you all to enjoy here are some life facts as of lately.

Everett

Baby boy is ADORABLE! 3rd children are kind of weird in the sense that they kind of become a little forgotten. You know he is there. But baby boy is laid back and just let’s his siblings do all the fussing. Every once and a while I catch myself suddenly remembering his existence and smile!  

It is HOT around these parts! Temperatures that feel well above the 40’s! My old house has a small wall mounted A/C unit that doesn’t work everywhere. So our master bedroom is HOT! But I love being warm and I can handle it. Ry on the other hand, cannot! Therefore he has been sleeping on the couch in the basement and I have had the king size bed to myself. Not going to lie…been taking up the WHOLE bed at night and LOVING it!

 

Because this heat doesn’t make one sweat enough, I have also decided that this week would be a good one to up my running schedule. I have been getting my groove back when it comes to running. Slowly but surely adding distance until I get to 5 KM again. My new distance this week is 4 KM. It feels great to be out there running again but I am disgustingly wet when I get done. One night this week after my run, I collapsed fully clothed into the pool. It was needed.

 

Hope you have a great weekend!

xo

Things I Learnt This Weekend…

 

Happy Monday everyone! Another weekend gone and beautiful it was! People were basking in the sun and warm weather that we FINALLY have. I was watching out the window as the grass got more brown...I much prefer the rain!

There are a few key things that I learnt this weekend. I had some time to think and reflect and there are some important and memorable things that I want to keep note of.

1. Bluesfest is EXHUASTING! When Jill and I originally got our 5 day passes, I couldn’t wait to go to my very first Bluesfest to see some amazing artists. 2 days in, and this girl was already spent! Last Friday (with a show the night before) I was running on 3 hours of sleep and was still on my way to one last show! Great Big Sea was AMAZING (the best of what I saw) but this girl was TIRED and was kinda looking forward to bed. Bluesfest was a great experience! I will definitely be back. But, probably only weekend shows! 

2. A simple drink, cold pool and chick lit is exactly what the doctor ordered. I am capable of completely relaxing even when work trucks are driving past my door every 10 minutes. I am able to shut off from work and life and have “me” time. Not to mention the feeling I have at work this morning…complete satisfaction with that rest time….rejuvenated.

3. The age of 4 is fun! This girl is so full of personality and I already knew that. But, what I got to experience on Sunday was something entirely different. I got to REALLY KNOW this girl. No siblings, no parents, no grandparents..just Faith and I. It’s amazing what little things you can learn. Some of my favourite time with Faith was in the car driving! This little chicka prefers rock and roll over country!

4. I am STILL incapable of tanning. This Irish girls skin hates the sun! One hour later and I am as red as a tomato!

5. Norway Bay beach is a great spot! I only live about 15 minutes away from this hot spot but I had never been to enjoy! Sure, I have walked and driven by a million times! But to say that I packed up and went to this beach? Never! The water was warm and so was the sand! The best part is the shallow water so Faith could “swim” around like a fish and I didn’t have to worry! The water literally only goes up to about my knees!

Did you learn anything this weekend?

xo

True Life: My Purse Is A Mess

 

Happy Friday everyone! I am one VERY sleepy girl this morning!! Last night Jilly and I headed to night 4 of Bluesfest to watch The Tragically Hip! It was a fun evening! Between supper out and the fabulous show, it was the perfect summer night!

The only problem with such a fun summer night? Not going to bed till 1 AM! Yikes! This would be fine for someone who worked 9-5. But this farming lady gets up at 4:30 AM…Just hook me up to some coffee fed intravenously today, K? Glasses are a necessity this morning as my eyes won’t open up fully..Zzzz…

Anyone who has read my blog for a while or knows me in real life, knows that I am very particular about certain things.

- I have a 6 week meal plan (including grocery shopping) that we follow religiously.

- My agenda is my best friend. I love a scheduled life.

- My home is always picked up and my closest in particular is always color coordinated

To say that I love all things organized would be an understatement. But there’s one area of my life that is a mess.

MY PURSE

I love owning nice purses. It’s kind of my one indulgence. I am cheap with all other clothing, shoes and other accessories. But a nice purse makes me get all excited. When I get a new purse (or switched purses) I feel like I am on cloud nine. A week later. It usually looks like this…

Then…I go on a cleaning spree and it’s as clean as a whistle and probably 10 pounds lighter.

A week later- Back to chaos. I think it’s because when something is given to me that I don’t know what to do with, it gets thrown in my purse. This collection of paper and tib bits stays in this location until I finally, once a month, analyze this mess and realize I don’t need to hold onto ever tiny piece of paper. They are not ALL important.

I mean, there were 6 grocery lists (with the items crossed off) in the purse above! I don’t need to hold onto those. But at the time, it seems necessary and it gets stuffed into my purse!

Bah!! Something this girl needs to work on because I HATE the constant mess! Any suggestions?

In other happy news, baby Everett came for a visit this morning to brighten his Ti-ti’s day! I’ll confess, I had began to get some “baby fever” after Everett was born. He was all squishy and cute! Then this morning I got in my baby snuggles and young buck started to cry. Reality slapped me in the face and I happily handed him back over to his daddy and went back to my peace and quiet. Baby fever officially gone! Sorry peeps! My loins will be baby free, for the time being! 

Happy Friday!

xo

It’s A Boy! I’m An Auntie Again!

 

It’s been a very exciting place around here as we all sat yesterday morning and early afternoon waiting for news of my brothers (and Holly’s) new baby! We had word that Jared and Holly were up at the hospital since the night before. I have to say, I was pretty excited to meet this newest addition of the family that it was hard to keep focused at work. We finally got the call around 2:00 PM.

After a long drawn out conversation with Mom on the phone, my brother finally announced that he had another son!

That afternoon the family and I left work early to go up and meet this new member of the family! Jared and Holly’s tradition is to announce the name of their children to people at the hospital. After meeting the newest baby for the first time (Ekk!! He is so cute!!) it was finally time to fill everyone on his name!

Please meet….

Everett Kenneth Hillis Hamilton

Born: July 9, 2013 at 11:58 AM

Weight: 8 lbs 5 oz 

To say we are all in love would be an understatement! Not only do I LOVE his name but he is as cute as button! Grandma was the first one to hold Everett when we got there.

Grandpa was next to hold his second grandson and was having a nice little chat with him over in the corner!

Then it was mine and Uncle “Wyans” turn to hold baby Everett! He was getting a little hungry at the time that Ryan held him!

But Ti-Ti (ME!) was able to calm him down a bit! Did I mention I am SO in love? I did not want to put Everett down!

Everett,

Welcome to the family little man!! We are so excited to meet you! It’s hard to imagine that after three babies that it would be still exciting….but it is! We are over the moon with happiness and excitement for your arrival! And don’t worry, your sister loves you too..even though you are not a girl! ha ha!

Love you Everett!

Ti-Ti (& Uncle Ryan too!)

xo