This is 40!

Happy Monday! This weekend was all about celebrating James on his 40th birthday.  I am so proud of my hubby and all his he's accomplished.  One of his greatest accomplishments was marrying me of course!

We didn't have a house warming party when we moved in so we decided to throw a birthday bash at our house to celebrate this milestone occasion.   I contemplated making it a surprise but I was scared I would miss one of his friends so we planned it together.

We were expecting over 30 people which meant there was lots to do to prepare. Food, decor, and bevies were top of the list!  James and I took Friday off, went for a birthday lunch, and ended our day off with a dreaded trip to Costco to load up.

Our guests started filing in an many drinks were consumed and laughs had.  There may have been a lot of beer pong involved. For the record, don't choose me as a partner, i have a losing record.

We decided to go with an adults only party so while we were celebrating, the kids were lucky to spend the night at Nana's. They came home at noon the next day just as their Dad got out of bed.  A sign of a good party, non?

James, I hope you had a great weekend celebrating.  Cheers to the next 40 years!

The Mondetta Shirt

Wednesday is the day that bloggers typically talk fashion.  While this post is about fashion, it isn't a typical one.... this one is about my sweet husband.  You see, he is a hoarder of clothes.  So was his Dad so he comes by it honestly.  It is not uncommon to find items with tags, items he has never worn, or items that are more than a decade old in our closet.  Since he moved into our first home 6 months before I did, he took over the master closet. It wasn't huge, but it certainly should have been large enough for both of us.

To avoid a big argument, when I first moved in I just chose to use a spare room as my closet and 'get ready' room, after 2 kids filled up both spare rooms I finally had to move into the already cramped master closet.  We were forced to start the closet purge of 2010.

Let's just say that James wanted to keep everything.  Shirts I'd never seen before, shirts that were dusty and buried in the back of the closet, and just plain ugly clothes.  He didn't want to get rid of anything.  It all started with the Mondetta shirt shown below.

I love my Mondetta shirt!

If you were born in the late 70s early 80s I am sure you would recognize the brand Mondetta. It was everywhere. For interests sake I wiki'ed Mondetta and learned the following:

Mondetta is a Canadian casual and sportswear design and manufacturing company. The brand is best known for its world-flag themed apparel. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Mondetta has three main divisions: Mondetta, MPG and private label.

It was an interesting read to learn how the company started and that they are in fact still around and interestingly enough make the shirts for the Canadian Olympic curling team.

Before we move on, let's address the picture.  This was taken within the first 6 months of James and I starting to date.  How can I tell you may be wondering? Because of his hair.  When I first met James he had long hair parted in the middle and then flipped out to the side. We started dating in Jan 2002 and he cut his hair in October of the same year.  This photo was taken in my first apartment when I first moved to the city.  When I first laid eyes on this photo it took my a while to place it.  The door to my bedroom is right under the purple clock and James appears to be digging around in the linen closet

Back to the story.  When I pulled that particular shirt out of his closet and targeted it for the recycling bin he didn't want to hear it.  He liked it and didn't want to get rid of it.  I told him that if we wore it the next day he could keep it and he agreed.  We were both sure we were going to win.

The next day he woke up, put on his Mondetta shirt and headed to the office.

He came home, looked at me, and said we could get rid of the shirt.  Turns out all his coworkers made fun of him for his choice in attire.  Can't say I didn't warn him.

Since this incident almost a decade ago, James has come a long way in his fashion.  Like me, he is particular about what he wears and we both choose to not buy each other clothes. 

I never shy away from telling this story whenever I can and love to remind James that I was right!

Happy Father's Day - 2015

James is celebrating father's day on his own this year as I am away for the weekend celebrating Blaire, again, at her wedding shower.  I haven't been back home in years without the kids so I am doing my fair share of visiting and sleeping in :).  More on that later.   Today I want to wish James a very happy fathers day and hope that these answers form the kids bring a smile to his face first thing in the morning.

How old is Dad?
Grady -  36.
Cooper - I don't know.  13.

What is Dad's job?
Grady -  He works hard at doing some stuff on the computer.
Cooper -  Work. He goes to work at New york City.  He sits in his office.

What is Dad's favorite thing to do?
Grady -  Talk to his friends.
Cooper -  Snuggling with me.

What is Dad good at?
Grady -  Soccer.
Cooper -  Hockey.

What makes Dad happy?
Grady -  When his favorite team wins.
Cooper -  When he wins Soccer.

What makes Dad mad?
Grady -   When he gets hurt and slams doors.
Cooper -  When he loses

Who is Dad's best friend?
Grady -  Rob
Cooper -  Don't know.

What is your favorite memory of Dad?
Grady -  That he is a Dad.
Cooper -  The presents he gives me.

What do you want to tell Dad on Father's Day?
Grady -  That I love him.
Cooper -  I made you a special present.

Happy Father's Day - I hope all the dad's get spoiled!

Gutsy Walk - 2015

This year we participated in our 10th annual Gusty Walk for Crohn's and Colitis.  Well, actually it is the 9th time we've done it as we were away one weekend so we had to miss it, but we still got our donation in.  As many of you know, less than 6 weeks after we got married, James was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.  James is very lucky and his case is quite mild.  For the past 5 years he has had zero symptoms.  We do not take this for granted.

We started doing the walk the spring after he was diagnosed and make it a yearly priority to participate every year.  They do a great job of making it a family event so it was easy to incorporate the kids into it.  This year, all 4 of us walked 2km which is probably the furthest Cooper has walked without the stroller.  Ever.

It was a bright and sunny spring morning and perfect weather to be outside.  For the first time, we registered the kids as participants so they got the matching shirts.

Cooper was not excited about getting his picture taken.  Can you tell?

When the walk started we were all in a clump which is to be expected.  James and Grady took of ahead and both kids insisted on holding our hands. Probably scared of the crowd.

Cooper and I trailed behind playing eye spy and any other game I could think of to pass the time.  We were walking beyond slow and that was totally fine, at least he was walking!

Post walk, they have lunch and festivities.  While Grady waiting in line for his balloon animal....

Cooper took a bounce in the bouncy castle.

My favorite part is dressing up. This was new last year and the kids weren't as willing to try.  This year they were all over it.

We decided that next year we are going to make our own shirts since James and I learned how to do iron on shirts this year.  We just have to come of with a good name.....  

The Gutsy walk is a family tradition I don't see ending soon.  It is really easy to support a great cause that is near and dear to our hearts.

Maybe next year we'll try to do the 3km walk!

Weekend Getaway

This weekend we were off to sunny Vancouver to attend the wedding of one of James' friends that stood up for him at our wedding.  We arrived early Friday morning and had the whole day ahead of us.

Is it just me, or when you find yourself with a whole day to yourself you don't know what to do with it?  We landed at 930am and hadn't really discussed what we would do.  If I were with my friends, I would either go to the spa or shop.  If he was with his friends they would be sitting in a pub somewhere I am sure.

In the end, after walking for 10km around downtown (per James app) we settled in at the lounge in one of the hotels on the water and had a few drinks.  A few drinks too many.

Not a bad view!

We met up with one of James' friends and before you know it we had had a few too many afternoon drinks.  We literally went for supper at 630 and were in bed by 9pm, which is 10pm Alberta time.  Nothing like getting day drunk by accident. Oops.

Since we were up bright and early on Saturday morning we decided to find a nice place for breakfast.  The reviews for Medina's were fantastic so we decided to give it a try.  When we arrived at 945 they said the wait was 35 minutes.  At home we probably would have kept on going but since we didn't really have a plan for the day we decided to go for a quick walk, grab a water and come back.  

We did come back and we still waited.  In the end it was just over an hours wait.   And well worth it.

My breakfast was called La Sante and was nothing like what I expected it to be, but I really liked it.  While we were eating, we noticed that everyone around us was eating a waffle as an 'appetizer'.  When the waitress asked us if we wanted to finish our meal with a waffle, I said hell yeah, while James already looked like he was going to vomit from being so full.  I ended up fighting him for the last piece!

Seriously best waffle I've ever had.  The little dish in the back was white chocolate pistachios and was fabulous.  Seriously the best breakfast I have ever had.  James agreed.  Totally worth the one hour wait and I never thought I'd say that.

Back at home while we were eating our delicious waffles, my Dad, Sheila and Kolby were kept busy with an early morning hockey game.

It was Grady's first tournament and first medal playing with his own team.  I can just imagine how excited he was.  Thankfully we have another one next weekend so we'll get to experience the excitement first hand!

After breakfast, we embarked on what turned out to be a 13km walk.  I apparently wasn't wearing proper footwear (my riding boots) since I got shin splints in the end....

It was a beautiful day in Vancouver. The sun was shining and it was +10 outside.  While it was chilly on the water when we kept walking at a brisk pace (hence the shin splints) we warmed up quickly.

There was green grass.  Green grass in February.

We got back from our walk and James laid on the bed and rested while I sat in the sunshine and read my book.  I read the book The Husbands Secret and loved it.  I finished the book just as the kids got home this afternoon after a birthday party.  Reading is my favorite part of vacation. That and the enormous amounts of lattes consumed.

While we were relaxing, these two were being goof balls at home and enjoying time with family.  They didn't even care when we left. For real.  Which I love and hate at the same time.  Ha!

I have no pictures of the actual wedding, but we had a nice time.  Closed down the wedding and then had to wait in the cold for a cab.  Always the worst part of staying out late!

We woke up in the morning and James had either food poisoning or the flu.  For real, not the self inflicted kind that you call the flu or food poisoning since he only had one beer last night.

It was a rough day.  He stayed in bed right until we had to leave for the airport at 11 and then had a rough go traveling home.  He went straight to bed when we got home.  A great trip overall but not so great of an ending.

As always, it is nice to get away, but always nice to come home :)

Date Night

Me and my hunky husband have been having a weekly date night for the past 6 or so weeks.  While you may think that we have been going out for dinner or drinks, we have actually been going to spin class.

That's you in the background Stacey!

You may remember earlier this year when I went to my very first spin class and hated it.  Like, despise it.  I could taste blood within the first 5 minutes I was working so hard.  I actually can't even believe I went back.  When Cooper started preschool in September, the only class they offered that allowed me to drop him off and pick him up  was spin, so I decided to try it again.  And what do you know, I started to tolerate and even enjoy it.

I sweat like crazy.  Like sweat dripping off me and towel wiping constantly.  I still count down the minutes until it is over, but when it is over, I feel great.  Empowered.  I feel like I could conquer the world.  I feel strong.

James had come with me back in the spring or summer to try it out and he didn't love it either and he never went back. Until last month.

Out of the blue he told me he wanted to try it again.  I never refuse an exercise date and off we went.  Wouldn't you know it, he liked it better.  He even bought a 10 card pass.   Now he had to go.  WE decided to go weekly and I think today will be our 6th week in a row.  

I love working out with James.  WE don't really have anything we do together, for us.  I actually think it is kind of sexy.  (Sorry mom and marla).  There is something about it that connects you even though you don't say a word.  After the class we talk about our fave part and compare it to prior classes.  We talk about the instructor, the music and which class we want to take the following week.  I imagine it is like how men talk about gold.  Remember hole 9 and you took a shot that landed in the bush?

Our enthusiasm is rubbing off... we've convinced John and Stacey to come.  Now it is double date night.  I am very proud of them as they didn't hate their first class nearly as much as James and I did!

I hope it is something we can keep up in the new year.  A couple that exercises together stays together.  Or something like that.  Ha!

My Husband

I've had a comment from a certain male reader (who is not my husband, you know who you are!) that the blog is getting boring with all the clothing posts.  While I tend to disagree strongly, I have taken what he said to heart and decided to dedicate this post to tid bits about my husband that you may or may not know, to man it up around here.  This certain someone pointed out that the blog is a family blog and I only talk about the kids and I and you already know what we like (hockey and shopping!).  So let's take a look at what my husband likes to do.


First, James likes poker. He is in a poker league that plays once a month.  I'm not sure exactly how it works, but they play each week and accumulate points and at the end of the 'season' they have a tournament and there are 3 winners.  One of the rules of the league is that if you win first (or second I think), you have to go to Vegas and play in a poker tournament.  This is totally a boy thing to do, as a woman, I would take the money and shop.  To each their own.

James like fantasy sports pools.  He runs the football one, meaning he collects and holds the money.  What that really means, is that he collects the money and spends it over the course of the football season and then we have to pay out the winnings at the end if he doesn't win.  I think he does hockey and baseball pools as well.  I asked him and he is currently in third place in what I assume is the hockey pool.

James has been doing the Jillian Micheals 30 day shred for about a year.  Now he doesn't do it 30 days in a row. More like 2 days a week, and usually on the weekend.  I am proud of him for fitting exercise back in his life as there was a few years where he didn't exercise at all.  I think it is great for his health and wonderful that the kids see us exercise.

James like NFL football better than Hockey for the most part.  He is super pumped for Sunday night football.

His team is the Oakland Raiders.  From what I understand, they are not a good team but it has been his team for ages. 

For Hockey, he cheers for the Flames and the Penguins.  Not sure where the penguins fan comes from but it goes way back and he has a super small jersey to prove it!  He still wears it sometimes.

Speaking of Jerseys, he has lots.  For every draft that they go to the local pub down the street with free wifi to do, he wears the sport specific jersey.  For real.  I also think he has 3 flames jersey.  He has at least 2 anyway and I do believe I bought him one.

James really likes HBO shows and I don't. I like a few but James likes them all.  I couldn't say which one is his favorite.

James and I have been commuting together for about 6 months.  I hate it and he loves it.  James makes me late for work every day and then I become his secretary on the way home.  Not cool.  Although to his defence, I told him I would commute with him as long as he left at 4 and so far he always wants to leave before me.  It is nice having him home in the evening.

Despite my kids love for hockey, James was a soccer player growing up.  He played soccer in an adult league for the first few years we dated then stopped. 

James loves NYC.  So do I but for completely different reasons. 

So there you have, a few things you may or may not have known about my husband.  I hope that mans it up a bit since we are back to fashion on Monday!

Have a good weekend!

School Photo

This, ladies and gentleman, is Grady's first ever school photo.  The day this happened was a gong show at our house.  I woke up extra early since I had an important deadline at work and Cooper threw just before I left.  I looked at James and said I really have to go to work today and rushed out the door leaving him with a puking Cooper and Grady.  Shortly after I left and before Grady went to school, James put his back out.  Like fell to the ground in a sweat and couldn't get up kind of put his back out. 

James place a call to his mom for reinforcement and they slapped some hair gel in Grady's hair and sent him off to school and this is the resulting picture.  Pretty darn good if i do say so myself.

My baby is no longer a baby, he is such a BIG boy.  Seeing these picture made me so excited for him and all the school pictures to follow.  Does anyone else remember trading school photos?  It was so the cool thing to do.

For fun, I added in James and I's kindergarten pictures.  I have the bangs that never ended.  I think that was in style?  Wasn't it.

And here is little blond haired James.  In a turtle neck.

For the record, these are pictures of picture.  Like I took a picture of the old pictures with my cell phone.  Talk about laziness, but I seriously don't think I know how to use my scanner anymore!

Our 8th Anniversary is Today

8 years later! 

Today we are celebrating our 8th anniversary.  Technically we aren't celebrating today since James has a work commitment, but we did break away for a kidless dinner over the weekend.  When Nana offers up babysitting so we can go out, we don't refuse!

On Saturday it rained.  Like really rained.  It reminded me of our own wedding day.  It started raining at the rehearsal dinner and didn't stop until after the reception the day of our wedding.  It poured all day.  The wedding pictures I hoped to get outside at Heritage Park and around the city were shattered by Mother Nature herself.

I didn't let the rain dampen my spirits (pun intended). I was married after all and had all my friends and family to help me celebrate.  Still to this day, my favorite picture of the entire day are the 3 the photographer snapped of James and I on the balcony of the Wainwright Hotel just before the reception started.  The only 3 outdoor pictures we got that day.

So Saturday morning when we were driving and the rain was coming down, I thought of the day I made the best decision of my life by marrying my husband.

Another Birthday

Saturday was James' birthday. Husband, not brother.  Yes, it is odd that my brother and husband have the same name and birthdays 3 days apart.  Not to mention that me and his brother are one day apart.  4 siblings and birthdays all within 2 weeks.  Weird.

Anyhow.... since James' birthday was a Saturday this year we decided to spend the day in the mountains and attempt our first family hike.

I took about 6 pictures of the my three boys and didn't get a single one with both James and Grady's eyes open. Cooper on the other hand looked cute awake in all of them.  I guess he takes after me in the picture department because his brother sure doesn't.  This is the best I could do for a birthday shot.

Our traditional birthday hat photo

We literally started the day with present opening.  Someone may have slipped a few weeks back in telling James what he was getting for his birthday so he wanted to open it first thing and find out exactly which espresso machine he was getting.  The kids were all over helping him.

They were extra impressed in the Cars wrapping paper.

After presents we ate Land of Nod cinnamon buns.  The best. cinnamon. buns. EVER.  If you haven't tried them, you should.  And to top it off they are super duper easy.

However, I don't recommend putting candles in it when it is hot.  Our candles literally melted in the bun.  It ended up being quite colorful.

Look at how much cinnamon bun is there and we ate the entire thing over the course of 1.5 days.  It is that yummy!

Again the kids helped Dad with the candles.  You know, because he wasn't capable of doing it himself.

After breakfast James insisted on making a latte on his new machine so we were delayed about an hour while James read the instruction book and got the machine up and running.  We finally left for the mountains just before 10.

We decided to do the Johnston Canyan hike just past banff.  James and I did a few times years ago and remembered it being easy and paved with waterfalls.  So we thought we could bring a stroller for Cooper and just take our time.   Thankfully, Grady decided to walk and he did a great job by the way.

What we didn't remember was how narrow most of it was and how many people were there.  I don't think we'll be doing that hike again anytime soon.  Although the scenery was beautiful, I didn't get to enjoy any of it as I was too busy trying to maneuver Cooper's stroller and keep it as far to the right as possible as not to annoy to many people. I'm pretty sure that was NOT accomplished.  I would not advise bringing a stroller on this hike.

My second complaint was that there were so many people you weren't able to stop and enjoy the view without holding others up.  Grady wanted to stop and climb a few rocks and Cooper and I had to continue on as the stroller was partially blocking the path.

Next time I would look for an easy hike that was less populated so we could take our time and enjoy the wilderness and let the kids stop to play along the way.  Live and learn. We still enjoyed our first family hike - especially Grady.  He loved the waterfall at the end.

We waited in line to go through the cave and look at it up close.  Grady was amazed by the mist from the waterfall that made your face wet and the rocks wet.  

The best part of the hike is that there is ice cream shop at the bottom.

Since the hike literally took us about 30 minutes return we werent' sure what to do with the rest of the day.  I certainly didn't want to go home yet.  So we stopped in Canmore at Quarry Lake park.  It was my favorite part of the day.

We walked up expecting to skip a few rocks and we found a bunch of people in their bathing suits swimming in the lake.  Don't get me wrong, it was cold water but bearable.

Grady asked to go in immediately so we took the kids pants off.

Eventually, we had 2 almost naked kids running around.

I could have watched them all day.  They were having so much fun.  They splashed around jumped in the puddles.  We left because it was getting late and James and I had supper plans, certainly not because the kids wanted to.  We will for sure be going back there in the future. 

We rushed back home, got cleaned up, and went for dinner just the 2 of us.  We snapped this selfie just before we went to bed.  We did the one where you can flip and see yourself in the camera.  I am laughing so hard at James odd expression in the photo.  I already that he isn't photogenic... right?

All in all it was a great day with a mix of family time and alone time.  I hope James enjoyed the day as much as I did!

How We Spent Father's Day

For father's day, I gave James two choices.  We could either go downtown, stop at his favorite coffee shop and then continue down to the river to play at the park and walk on the path OR we could go to Calaway Park.  Calaway Park was hands down the winner for both the big and small boys!

This is our third year with a seasons pass and it is very well used.  How can you go wrong really when you break even with one visit?  You can't!  This was Cooper's first visit where he was really excited to be there, and to be honest, I was pretty excited to.

Cooper was so cute. Every time the ride went around he would wave and yell 'Hi Mom (or Dad)'!  He was having a blast.  Grady just started going on rides by himself last year, so Cooper is already ahead of the game!

Last year when the kids went on these trucks, Grady freaked out because Cooper undid the seat belt.  I made sure Cooper was NOT closest to the release button this time around.  There was some fighting that occurred on this ride, but there wasn't much James or I could do from the sideline except hope one didn't push the other out of the truck!

Grady was hesitant to go on the swings without Cooper, who wasn't tall enough to ride.  I think he did it half to spite Cooper who stood outside the fence and cried.

We alternated between the boys letting them choose the ride that they wanted to go on.  Cooper's choice included the mini train and the BIG train.   The big train is one that the entire family can ride.  It is always a fan favorite.

Here is Cooper doing his wave I was telling you about.  Notice the gap between the boat and the ledge?  Well the first time Cooper went on the boats without Grady (who was riding the bumper cars and cooper was too little and started crying), he didn't wait for me to come and help him get off, he literally nose dived out of the boat as I was running towards him trying to avert the crisis that was about to take place.  Thankfully an older girl grabbed him and helped him out.

Straight from Calaway Park we headed to a birthday party for a 3 year old girl.  It was a princess party where an actual princess attended. When she left, Grady asked if she was going back to Disneyland.  HA!

When we left Grady said that the party was awesome!  I asked him what he liked best and he said getting the goodie bags :)

While the princess was there she did some face painting and guess which 2 little boys got  mustaches painted??

After the birthday party and cake (of course), we headed home so I could cook Father's Day/Birthday dinner.

A special Nana we know has a birthday tomorrow and she always agrees to share her birthday dinner with Father's Day so Grady can have a full week of birthday celebrations for himself!

All in all we had a really nice day.  It was a busy day, very busy, but we got to do lots of fun things.   I only wish the kids would have been more tired out and gone to bed earlier!

Seven

Today marks seven years of wedded bliss for me and my hubby. I really can't believe that it has been 7 years. It has gone by in the blink of an eye, it really has. Also, I don't feel old enough to be married 7 years. I remember when I started my first job after articling and my boss was celebrating his 7th wedding anniversary and I told him he didn't look old enough to be married for 7 years. I hope people think that about me when I tell them how long we've been married.

In 2012, we will attend a total of 5 weddings. We have already attended Serena's wedding back in March, and my brother's wedding last month.  We still have three wedding in the next 2 months. We haven't had this many weddings since the year we got married when our wedding marked the 5th of the summer. Since my year has been focused around weddings, showers, stagettes etc, it is hard not to reflect back on memories of your own wedding and wishing you could relive that day again. Wishing you could experience that feeling of fresh love and anticipation of the future and what it may hold. I love that feeling.

(I noticed when getting the links for the weddings that I wore the same dress to both weddings.  In my defense, the only repeat person at the wedding was James, and he probably didn't even notice!  Don't worry, I don't plan on wearing it to our 3 remaining weddings!)

But there is a certain feeling of comfort that comes from being with the same person for 10 years and married for 7 years.

For example, James and I both wear night guards on our teeth at night.  Not an issue at all.

I love that James and I still plan date nights.  It isn't nearly enough, but we both like to get out of the house together without kids.

We have comfortable silence.

I laugh that James still asks 'permission' before he makes plans for the most part.  Mostly because he can never remember our schedule.

I enjoy our text messages that we send each other through the day.  A day never passes that we don't make contact at least once to see how the day is going.

There is comfort in being with someone that knows you so well.  The security of knowing that even though you have a disagreement, that you will make up.  The security of knowing that another person has your back.  I like that.  When I look at our kids, I love that they are a part of each of us.  I love that he is the only other person that loves those boys as much as I do.  I love being a family unit.

As much as being married for 7 years is a sign that I have aged 7 years, it is also a sign that our marriage has not aged, but matured and blossomed into something great.  No it isn't perfect, and I would never try to convince anyone that it is.  But, it has worked for us.  We fight, we make up.  We disagree, we compromise.  That is real life, isn't it?

So today, on our 7th anniversary, we will celebrate the 7 years and reflect on our memories of the day....

I'll remember that feeling of anticipation I had as I waited at the back of the church and my parents told me how proud they were of me.

I'll remember the overwhelming feeling of love that I felt as I walked down the aisle surrounded by every important person in my life.

I'll remember the rain.  If you were there, you probably remember the rain as well!

I'll remember Deena pinching my butt during photos.

I'll remember Gina's umbrella flipping as we ran to ride the train at the reception.

I'll remember how every window on the train was so foggy you couldn't see out them, but nobody seemed to care.

I'll remember how much I loved the cocktail hour and that they gave us so much extra food (including seafood) in error.

I'll remember the speeches.  The toasts to us and our marriage.

I'll remember arriving at the hotel in my wedding dress and seeing 2 other brides.

But most of all I'll remember the love.  The love I felt from all of our friends wishing us well on one of the most important days of our lives.

oh how I wish I could relive that day.

On that note I will leave you with the photos of us with our bridal party enjoying the day.......

I actually can't believe that they took this photo.  I don't even want to know whose idea this was.  So I guess tarps were optional at my brother's wedding and pants were optional at ours. 

I think this picture was taken right after Deena pinched my butt.  I love that each and every one of these ladies still play a very important role in my life.  I couldn't have picked a better bunch to spend the day with me.

So with all that being said.  James and I are doing something special on our anniversary this year.  Details to follow next week....

Happy Anniversary James!

January 19th, 2002

Exactly 10 years ago today, James and I went on our first date.  

James' birthday - Aug 17th, 2002

No I did not pull out a camera to celebrate the occasion.


I probably would have forgotten but I got a text from Deena reminding me of our special anniversary.  Why does Deena remember you ask?  Because she had her first date with her husband on 02-02-02, a mere 2 weeks later.  We are best friends so figured we might as well meet our husbands in the same few weeks.

James and I met through my roommate and his friend who happened to be dating at the time.  We actually officially met on a camping trip on James' birthday the August before but I moved back to Saskatoon for my last semester of school before my permanent move to Calgary in January.

James came over to our apartment with his friend the second night I was in town.  He has essentially been a part of my life since the day I moved here.  About a week after that, James asked me out for a lunch date which I quickly turned down.  I had just started a new job at the busiest time of the year and we didn't take lunch.  We seriously didn't take lunch.  James thought it was a brush off.  I called him a few days later and suggested dinner and a movie on the weekend.  He agreed.

I asked him years later if he ever would have called me again had I not called and asked him out and he said he would not have.  I guess it was a good thing I called him!

July 2002

I remember him coming to pick me up and he came up to the apartment for a few minutes. I distinctly remember, as does James, that there was a NFL game on TV.  Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots were playing.   They were playing in a blizzard.  Like a serious snow storm.  Even 10 years later and they still show highlights from that game on TV and we both remember that it was the day of our first date.

He brought me to Moxies.  Ironically it is the one right by our house that we often eat at now with our family, although it has been 100% renovated since then.  I had a noodle wrap.  I remember because it was the messiest wrap ever and I probably ended up wearing more than I ate!

I remember talking about our families mostly and just getting to know each other a little better.  The conversation was great and James was a complete gentleman.  He paid for dinner and I insisted on paying for the movie.

We saw A Beautiful Mind with Russell Crow at the same theater we go to now.  I doubt it was my choice but that is what we 'chose' together.  Years later I gave him that movie as a gift. I think it is still in the shrink wrap.

I now know that he really liked me as he really likes football, and especially the Raiders,  and it was an important game that he missed.  He now knows I really liked him since I agreed to see a movie that would usually not interest me.

That day 10 years ago marked the beginning of a relationship that led to a marriage and 2 kids.  I wish I could have told my 22 year old self that he was the one and to enjoy and savor every moment of first love.  The butterflies in my stomach, the first kisses, the first date.  January 19, 2002 was my last first date.

November 2002

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

6 years.

Six years ago today James and I were married.  It is in the top 3 of the best days of my life! Obviously along with the days Grady and Cooper were born.  I can't believe that it has been that long. I remember it like it was yesterday.  The friends and family, the speeches, the rain.... I loved every second of it.

My favorite part of the day was the ceremony itself.  It was so much more powerful than I ever imagined it to be.  The exchanging of vows and rings, sharing of love, and leaving the church as husband and wife are only a few of the fond memories I have of that day.

For me our wedding day marked the beginning of the rest of our lives together.  The hopefulness and anticipation of what the future would hold for us. Now that future has unfolded, and continues to do so, right before our eyes.  Through our marriage we have become better friends and partners, we have created 2 children, and made many new friends that represent who we are as a couple.

With time comes change.  With 2 kids we celebrate anniversaries different than we have in years past.  Before kids, there was always a nice dinner out, wine, and maybe even a night or 2 away.  It was all about us.

Now, 6 years later, things are a little different.  Dinner out means arranging for someone to come and watch the kids over bedtime which can be horrific.  Wine means feeling lousy during the middle of the night wake up and early morning starts.  And a night or two away?  Are you kidding?


We plan to celebrate our anniversary as a family this year.  We are spending the day going to Kayben Farms which I hope the kids love.  And after we have tucked our young ones in for the night, a romantic take out dinner for 2 with perhaps a glass of wine. Perhaps.


It would be easy to just pretend it was another night and turn the TV on and fall asleep on the couch or head to bed at 9:30pm because we are so exhausted from our daily activities and raising 2 young lads.  But we won't.  If there is one thing I have found since the additions of little people is you have to make date night a priority.  You need to find time to be alone, to be a couple instead of just parents, even if it is after the kids have gone to bed and you are so tired you just want to crawl into bed.

So tonight I will raise my glass of wine and toast 6 years of marriage to the man that I love with all my heart.  My husband, my best friend, and the father of my children.

Happy Anniversary James!