A perfect weekend

Pizza and friends Walks and sunshine Yummy lunch parties and dinner parties Trying new recipes and perfecting old Sleeping in and lying low Planning trips and reminiscing of places we have been These are the weekends I enjoy!

Coffee in bed...

Having a husband is fantastic!

Today is the day a year past

The day I married my best friend.
This very day I hoped could last forever
Today a year ago I wanted every second to last a minute
To cherish this day like no other

And now a year later....

He's a better friend than yesterday
Each day since, we have dreamt of forever
There isn't a second I would change
Our love is something we cherish above all

And this day in a year to come....

I promise you I will still choose you, my love
Only the Lord knows what forever will hold
He is counting our seconds
But regardless of His plan, as long as their is breath in our lungs, I will cherish you

Monday

I was dreading my first Monday after vacation. It started with the water being off at the office. I quickly emailed and texted the team and let them know; telling them to stay at home until we could wash our hands or flush the water closets. But alas another work from home day was short lived when the water came back on and I jumped in zinny to head into work. I was just going to make our ops meeting.

The day proceeded with trying three parking lots before finding a spot, meetings and catch up, training and client emails. By the end of the afternoon I was exhausted and couldn't bear the thought of taking the bus.

I texted my fantastic husband a sweet note asking if he was coming through downtown at all hoping to catch a ride home. He gently responded that he wasn't.... But didn't I have my car???

Yup, a Monday.

Happy Second Easterversary Baby

Jimmy thought he had scored a little reprieve when we decided to plan our wedding for Easter last year. The notion that he would never forget our anniversary because it was tied to an 'event' and a day that cannot go unnoticed. When we were talking about my trip to visit Kimmie, he made the off handed comment that I would be missing our wedding anniversary.

Well baby - we probably picked one of the worst times for a wedding if we were looking to add a date queue so we would never forget - Easter can be anytime in later March or April - but know that I am thinking of you and our wedding day all the same this Easter Saturday.

What a joyful Easter 2011 was!

Lazy Days

I pre apologize to all of you reading this whom are not currently on vacation.

Have you ever noticed how everything is a bit sweeter when you take a much needed break. 8 hour sleeps feel that much more luxurious. Showers are more energizing. Coffee is that much more delicious. Books are more exciting. Time ticks to a more pleasant beat. Salads are that much crisper and yogurt that much richer.The smaller most mundane items are rejeuvenated to being special again.

I am some number of days in -  less than 5 - have already lost count - to my vacation. Did a little work on the plane and logged into email twice to send that work back to the office and grab a couple more docs from Kai. I have not read any other emails - even the subject - and my phone email is completely disconnected. If they are desperate they know how to text me - and so i turn my phone on to receive texts once a day.

I miss Jimmy like crazy and wish he could have joined me. But I know we will come back here together one day.

In the meantime - I am drinking in every minute of this time away. Time to read and to lounge poolside, soak in that vitamin D, my workouts are now swimming and water aerobics style, I have that second cup of coffee, walk at a leisurely pace (well not so much yesterday but you can read about that here), eat meals on the patio, chat with a dear friend and just be whole in every moment.

At home in my daily work life - I am rarely ever whole in that moment. I am always performing tasks thinking about what is next, what this impacts, what this adds to my to do list, how to utilize this to our advantage. So to sit here wholly in the moment is such a refreshing delight.

And on that thought - it is time to update the travel blog and then head to the pool. My coffree is half way done so I know the timing will be perfect. Oh and for those of you wondering - jet lag is nill now - yay!

Sorry for the quasi sappy post but it is kinda true today. Wish you all could have joined me here - it really is such a treat.

Counting Down to 40

Jimmy turned 39 this year so we had to celebrate his last year in his 30's in style. A helicopter ride, a hike on a mountain top followed by a delicous dinner all with great friends seemed like the perfect way to do it.

 
The views were incredible. We had never seen the mountain tops from this vantage point before.

Flying over the mountains felt a little bit like a crazy roller coaster when we hit the wind channels that curve over the top.

We landed at broken lakes and went for a little hike.

You will notice I cropped out my 'flood' ski pants. I even have boys ski pants and they still aren't long enough for these legs!

 We finished our day at the Iron Goat Pub & Grill in Canmore. The food was delicious and the mountain view incredible. Would certainly recommend it! You can check out their website here. Tim, Tanya and I all went with the Kobe 'Oscar' Burger (house-made with kobe beef, lobster, blue crab, provolone, tomato, tarragon mayo, ciabatta) and were not disappointed!

Mirror mirror on the pillar . . .

Keely, the beautiful daughter of my dear friend Shannon got her braces off this week. I was so excited for her as it instantly took me back to a fabulous day in Regina when I experienced the very same thing.

I don't remember how old I was, I don't remember if it was summer or winter but I do remember standing in the Army and Navy looking in the mirrored pillars while mom and dad shopped for something (probably work jeans) for Dad in the men's department.

You see braces are awkward. They cut up the inside of your lip, it is hard to play sports, you have constant canker sores, you can't eat a bunch of foods and you truly feel like you have ball bearings in your mouth. You face structure looks so different - your nose is flattened weirdly, your lips puff out, your cheeks are fuller - all in all you have a totally different profile. And as a female teen/tween it's a hard time. You don't have the confidence in yourself, you can't always see beyond the present and you have no idea what you 'should' look like since your development years have included these big icky metal braces.

So the day I got them off - all i could do was stare in the mirror. Look at my profile. Check out my smile. Run my tongue over my smooth teeth. Smile again. Dad could have shopped for hours and I would have been happy to just stare at that mirrored pillar. It was at the back of Army and Navy - with that distinct smell in the air. In the old store off Dewdney. The store may no longer exist in Regina. And you don't see mirrored pillars very often anymore - but that memory is still so vibrant in my mind.

Shan said Keely did the same thing. Of course it wasn't Army and Navy but rather the orthodontist office. But I am sure she was filled with the same emotion, same excitement, same relief to find that your nose and puffy lips don't stay that way.

Congrats Keely - you are a gorgeous girl and one day will look back at this memory and grin like a fool. You might even still run your tongue along your teeth - I find that I still do whenever I am reminded of that moment.

Coyote hunting they say?.

Jimmy and I got a little bonus Flames game in on Thursday. And what a treat it was - it was the most fun game of the season. Complete with a little Iggy dance:



The Coyotes were in town but Calgary was't backing down.

And of course we got some ice cream. A game at the dome isn't complete without a little ice cream for the third period!!

Sitting on the couch with my husband of almost a year (eep) drinking hot chocolate watching the flames.

The floor needs to be washed.
My hair could be blow dried.
Taxes are waiting.
Shirts to iron.

But tonight . . . it isn't a priority.

Tonight, I choose spending time with you my love!

When Life Seems Busy

I read a  great post this week on being 'too busy'. The author suggests that to understand where your time is being spent you should start cataloguing your days. People often work less than they think they do, cutting back on Facebook would allow them to fit in their gym time, swap a little fluffy TV time for reading that book that they are dying to get to.

You can read it in full here.

The paragraph that stood out the most was the last one:

Change your language. Instead of saying "I don't have time" try saying "it's not a priority," and see how that feels. (Are you as busy as you think? By Laura Vanderkam)

Hmmm, how different would my days look if I evaluated my time more purposefully. What if I  didn't clean the bathroom this weekend because it was not a priority? (I kinda didn't) What if I chose to spend time with Sarah and her beautiful babies because it is a priority? (I kinda did)

It feels like Jimmy and I have spent a lot of energy since Christmas trying to prioritize better: vitamins, working out, healthier meals, flossing. LOL - baby steps we know - but cut us some slack. It hasn't been easy since work has been crazier than I would have liked (and I can't exaggerate this one).

However, after reading this article, I have found myself pondering my choices. I am a queen of multi-tasking so I can check Facebook and read the blogs I follow while commuting to work. I can clean the living room and bake muffins while catching up on a show. (That is why commercials were invented).

But what else can I do to ensure I don't miss those work outs? To be a better long distance friend? To enjoy our second year of marriage even more than we did our first?

When life is busy . . . I will choose what is my priority.

You might wonder

Where have I been? What is new? Why did I drop off the blog world for so long? When am I going to return?  Who has captured the priority of  my time over keeping all you lovely firends updated?

Well let me tell you - I have returned. I dropped off due to work commitments that kept me hopping day and night. I wasn't far - in fact sitting in this exact same spot and often times typing on this exact same keyboard - just not on the same links. My fabulous clients and colleagues have heard from me a lot - I am sure they would say too much. And as for what is new? Well let me share:

• I had my first helicopter ride
• Achieved a HUGE project milestone at work (thanks to a wonderful team)
• Met a couple new little snuggle bugs that God has blessed my friends with
• Hung out in the beautiful town of Fernie
• Made it home for Christmas
• Got a new camera lens - a zoooooom lens - eep
• Superbowl parties, birthday parties and quiet evenings in with friends
• Enjoyed a weekend away with Jimmy in Banff
• Planned a girls get away with Kim (meeting up with her in Singapore and then heading out from there)

I will do my best to highlight a few of these excitements in subsequent posts. It isn't much for 5 months and I am hoping to turn that around for the next 5 months. Oh well - sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

Happy Hump Day!!!

Tis the season

Tis the season... To squeeze your loved ones a little tighter Be gracious in your anger Have patience in your daily interactions Tis the season... To enjoy your every minute Be generous with your love Have the extra moment to smile Tis the season... Some may find this season already passed And find themselves filled with regret Knowing they can never have this season with someone again

I used to laugh at mom and her tears. Tears at commercials. Tears during a tv show or movie. Tears of sadness and tears of joy.

I now find myself with those same tears. This past week has been an emotional tv/movie week. First Ryan died and Amelia had to face her pain head on. Then Sarah is feeling torn between believing in her ex-husband again for enjoying her new love. Jimmy laughs at me as I finish every Parenthood crying and proclaiming 'that was a sad one.'

The tears start to form as I read sad blogs of husbands who have passed away and wives and mothers doing there best to find life, sad news of friend's families wishing I could do something to take the pain away.

And now I sit here, watching that darn movie - p.s. I love you. Jimmy is off playing hockey so I have the candles burning, a warm cup of tea and the laptop ready for wedding photos. I can feel my throat tightening up. The tears welling in the back of my eyes.

Life, well specificaly work, has been a tad stressful so not sure if this is my body's way of cleansing the emotions or if as I get older, I find my self with the same tears as my mom.

Either way, I better hide upstairs before Jimmy comes home with the boys. To find me on the couch. Kleenexes littering the floor around me. My eyes blood shot and swelled. My nose red. My voice hoarse. Nobody wants to see that site - :)

Not sure if Jimmy was quite prepared for all of this!

Wedding Day Silliness

We got a little package in the mail a couple of days ago. Knowing that it was our wedding photo booth photos, we saved it until tonight.

What fun it was to see the DVD and look through the photos. It made the wedding day feel like it was just yesterday.

Hope you all enjoy it as well:

We had such a delightful visit with Trev, Kim and the boys. They arrived Sunday night and we packed our days full with snuggles, playing outside, baking cookies, magic shows, making dinners, eating Lucky Charms, the Science center, hocky games, the lego store, bowling dates, the mountains, chocolate fondu, movie night, KFC and making butter balls.

The week came to an end far too quicly, as it always does. But here are a couple of pics to enjoy.

Birthweek

Today marks the last day of my birth week. It was actually a bit longer than a week this year. This years birth week contained lots of work but it also contained some fun!


Trev, Kim and the boys came out last week for a delightful week long visit bearing gifts from themselves and from mom and dad.

Steve and Susan invited us over for dinner and surprised me with delicious birthday cupcakes!

Jimmy took me out to a delicious dinner at AKA Winebar:

We shared a bunch of appetizers - my favorite way to do dinner.

And ended with a fantastic birthday present - a lovely weekend spent out in the mountains at the perfect little get away spot: