My Week in Pictures!

Not a whole lot happened over the past week, but I think it's important to document even the not-so-exciting weeks. They're definitely part of life. And a good part - I can't imagine how exhausted I would be all the time if I didn't have those weeks where I spend the majority of my evenings at home on the couch with J!

1. Our church celebrated it's 15th anniversary on Sunday so after church we all stuck around for lunch and of course some group pictures. It was great to hear some of the memories of people who were responsible for the "birth" of the church. I've only been going since shortly before J and I got engaged but he's been there since the beginning. (J's dad is our pastor, I'm not sure if I've mentioned that here before or not.)

2. One of my many purchases during my shopping spree last week. I love the way this top flows, it's very flattering. I'm looking forward to wearing it on our vacation in a couple weeks.

3. I still love these sunglasses. I wore them to church yesterday and got a ton of compliments. J still doesn't like them, but he's not the one wearing them. ;-)

4. I may not have any kids to let lick the beaters (which I totally plan on doing) but if I'm making anything with peanut butter I always let Daisy lick the spoon. I made peanut butter pie for the church potluck and it was a big hit!

5. Thursday night I just didn't feel like cooking so J and I decided to use one of our Christmas gift cards and headed to Boston Pizza for a last minute date minute. After supper we did a bit more shopping for our trip. (We splurged and bought us both a t-shirt from East Coast Lifestyle to wear when we're in the US.)

Hope you had a great week!

My Week in Pictures!

I think I like the idea of doing a phone photo dump each week. I take so many random pictures with my phone it's hard to narrow it down though. Okay, that's totally a lie. At least half of the pictures on my phone are either food or one of my fur babies. But I managed to find some that show what I was up to last week.

1. This is Lil Eatily. It's one of the "food trucks" at Truckside, a new indoor food truck food court in Dartmouth. We had supper there Saturday night. I had pasta from Lil Eatily and J had fish from U-Pick Fish. We both enjoyed our meals. 

2. I was in charge of the nursery Sunday morning at church and I couldn't resist snapping a picture of these two cuties colouring together. 
3. For Mother's Day J and all of his siblings gave his mom a family ring with all their birth stones. She burst into tears before she even looked at the ring. As soon as she saw the box from People's the waterworks began. 
4. My amazingly smart friend Jenn was interviewed in the local paper as part of a nurses' week feature. She's a labour and delivery nurse and a strong advocate for breast feeding. 
5. My staff spoiled me with lots of birthday treats. (Including chocolate covered jujubes which are my absolute favourite.)
6. We are finally starting to get some sunny, warm, spring weather here in Nova Scotia. Two evenings in a row I laid outside reading while Daisy played in the yard. It was wonderful!
7. At work this week we presented a cheque to Threads of Life. We raised $1305 as well as providing a barbecue for participants in their annual Steps for Life walk. I love that my job allows me to do stuff like that. 
8. After supper at Truck Side Saturday night we headed to the Middle Spoon for dessert and drinks. If you're local and you've never been I highly recommend it. Dessert ended up costing more than dinner, but it was totally worth it. 
9. This picture shouldn't even be included because it was taken today but I absolutely love this picture of J and Daisy and I couldn't wait until next week to share it. 

I love that it's so easy to take pictures with my phone, but I find I never get pictures printed anymore. I need to start getting prints again I think! (And I might start with that shot of J and Daisy.)

Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo

A couple of weeks ago my boss mentioned that he had some tickets for the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo to give away and asked if I was interested. J and I have been to the Tattoo a couple times and have always really enjoyed ourselves. I was able to get four tickets for the show on Saturday afternoon so J and I decided to take my parents.

 

We had a delicious lunch at new restaurant downtown (try the lobster mac and cheese if you're ever at The Foggy Goggle) and then headed to the Metro Centre for the show.

 

The Tattoo is... Well, hard to explain for starters! It features all kinds of military bands and different display teams. (According to Wikipedia it's inspired by "military tattoos" but I don't really know what they are so that's not particularly helpful.) It happens every summer in Halifax and features performers from around the world. The majority of the performances are military based (there's also a strong RCMP prescence) but some are civillian performers. There are dancers, acrobats, bands, historic re-enactments... All kinds of different performances.

 

If you're ever in Halifax during the first week of July it's definitely something I recommend checking out!

 

The opening.



A tribute to three RCMP officers recently killed in the line of duty. (I bawled.)

 

This little guys came from Denmark. They were fantastic!

This was the best performance of the night. So much precision!

These two pictures are from a tribute to soldiers killed in Afghanistan. (I cried again...)

I love highland dancing. I hope some day I have a daughter who's interested in trying.

 

The muscles on this boys... Whoa.

Everybody marches back in for the finale. It's awesome to watch.

Sorry for all the pictures, I just couldn't narrow it down anymore!

Have a fantastic Tuesday. :-)

Grateful for In-Laws

This week J and I spent a lot of time with his family since his sister was home visiting for the first time in over a year. My relationship with my mother-in-law got off to a rocky start, but this week reminded me of how thankful I am that we have a good relationship now. I don't think I'll ever be as close with her as I am with my own mother, but I think that's pretty normal.

I am very fortunate to have married into this family. J's brothers and sister are all really wonderful (and really different!) people. There is so much laughter when the whole family gets together, and hours pass without anyone realizing it because the conversation flows so easily.

I have friends who don't speak to their spouse's parents or siblings, or who have very strained relationships with them. You hear so many "in-law" horror stories, but that hasn't been my experience at all. I am so grateful that it's as easy to spend time with J's family as it is to spend time with my family. (Though the conversations are pretty different!)



{ Photo by Tammy Orr }

For both mom's this year we arranged family portraits as a mother's day gift. On Friday night we did our shoot with J's family. Four of his six siblings were able to be here, along with their significant others. (Two married couples and two engaged couples.) We used the photographer J and I always use and we had a fantastic time. It was probably one of the best parts of our vacation.

Have a great week, and remember to take a moment to remember something you're grateful for. :-)

PS: Live in the Halifax area and need some pictures done? Tammy is very easy to work with and she does an amazing job. You can check her website out here, or check her out on Facebook.

Favourite Vacation Snap Shots

I've been trying to figure out how much I want to post about my vacation. Part of me wants to share every little detail, and every single picture. Part of me doesn't want to share anything because they're my memories. I've decided to compromise with myself and I'm sharing five of my favourite pictures from the week so far. (A lot of them are portrait orientation, so this post is going to look a million miles long.)

The first one is J and I on the wharf in Lunenburg. I know I've already shared this one, but it's my favourite picture of the two of us from this week. It was the first real day of our vacation and we were so happy to be spending the day together, just us. I really love the colours too, Lunenburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a National Historic Site so the downtown core looks like you stepped back in time.

This second picture is Daisy and I at Taylor Head Provincial Park. Not the most flattering picture of me but I love the clouds and the waves rolling in. Earlier that day J tried pulling Daisy down towards the water but she didn't want anything to do with it. Midway through the afternoon she was loving the waves and the wet sand. There's something about walking along the beach that just makes me really happy.

This is J's sister, Rachel and her boyfriend, Jesse at Grand Pre National Historic Site. These two are absolutely precious. I love that they're not actually looking at me in this picture. J was taking a picture using Rachel's camera at the same time so that's where they're looking. I don't actually know Rachel very well, she moved to Florida for university the year before J and I got married. She's come home at Christmas, but it's such a busy time of year that it makes it hard to really spend time talking to people. This week we've spent a fair bit of time with Rachel and Jesse and I've really enjoyed it.

This is J's brother, David and his fiancee, Tracey. They obviously had no idea I was taking this picture. I just looked over and there they were. I love the scenery in the background. We've been spending a bit more time with these two lately and I love it. They're a lot like J and I in some ways. Tracey is a few years older than David, they met at work, and she's the chatty one while he's the listener. J is six years older than David so it's only been recently that he's seen him as someone to hang out with as opposed to just being his little brother.

I love the self-timer on my camera! My camera is propped up on a sun dial (of all things!) on the grounds of Grand Pre National Historic Site. The six of us had a great day together yesterday. We went to the zoo, had a picnic, visited Grand Pre, and checked out a local coffee roastery. Family is very important to J and I and I love that we were able to spend some time with his family during our vacation. (Not gonna lie, I also loved that we were able to spend some time together just the two of us!)

Hope everyone has had a great week, and I apologize for not commenting as much as usual! I should be back on track next week.

Silent Sunday

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Silent Sunday

Napping in the sun.

#TBTStories; Engagement Photos

I think Throw Back Thursday Stories is my favourite link-up. This is the third week in a row that I've linked up with Jessica @ The Mom Creative and I'm already thinking about what picture(s) to use next!

Today I'm sharing a couple of my engagement pictures. I tried to narrow it down to one, but I couldn't...

 J proposed to me on January 13th, 2008. It was a Sunday evening after church. We had decided we were going to go out for dinner that night and he was driving. The route he was taking to the restaurant seemed a little weird, but I have a horrible sense of direction so I just figured he knew where he was going. Once we hit a particular spot I realized that our destination was not the restaurant we had chosen for dinner. As we turned down the road to Sandford Fleming Park J looked over at me and asked what I was thinking. I'm pretty sure I squeaked out, "nothing" before turn to stare out the window.

We pulled into the park and carefully made our way over to the gazebo. It was freezing cold and the ground was covered in ice, and I (of course!) was wearing heels. We slipped and slid our way to the gazebo and I turned to stare at the tower in the distance. I remember saying something like, "It's beautiful tonight," and then J asked me to turn around. I joke that my husband is a man of few words, people always find him very quiet and reserved, and that night was no exception.

I turned back around to see him standing there with the ring box open in front of me, and all he said was, "Will you marry me?" My response was an immediate yes, and throwing my arms around him.

Even though he hadn't planned a long, eloquent, romantic speech I still think the proposal was perfect. It's just who J is. And I talk enough for both of us! ;-)

Our engagement photos were taken several months later (a year after the day I thought I was getting proposed to) by my friend and co-worked, Kate. It was sort of a dreary, grey day but that seems to work well when you're doing outdoor shoots. We had a photos done at the same park where J proposed. (It had also been the site of one of our first dates.)

 

There have been a lot of proposals happening in our lives lately. One of my best friends just got engaged, my brother-in-law proposed to his girlfriend a couple months ago and just a couple weeks ago my brother proposed as well. It made me think a lot about the night J proposed to me. And while the speeches my brother made and my friends boyfriend made were romantic, I still love my proposal story best.

Silent Sunday

Daisy keeping me company while I did some writing.

#TBTStories; The Day I Almost Got Engaged

It's time for Throw Back Thursday Stories with Jessica @ The Mom Creative again. My fifth wedding anniversary is fast approaching so for the next couple of months I'll probably be sharing wedding-related pictures and stories. 

 

It was October 2007 - Thanksgiving weekend - and J and I were out having an adventure before turkey dinner with my family. It was a bit chilly, but the sun was shining, so we decided it would be a good day to visit Peggy's Cove. We had a great afternoon together, climbing the rocks and posing for pictures. We had recently gone shopping and looked at engagement rings, I had pointed out several that I liked. We knew we were going to get engaged, it was just a matter of him asking.

During our afternoon at Peggy's Cove we had a number of discussions about our future and about how we pictured out wedding. There were several times I thought for sure J was about to pop the question.

But he didn't. In the end I waited 3 more months before he asked me to marry him. I still tease him about that day in October and how I was so disappointed that he didn't propose that day.

Were you expecting it when your significant other popped the question, or was it a total surprise?



Throwback Thursday Stories: Daisy's "Before" Photo

I thought I would like up with Jessica from The Mom Collective again this week. I love getting to share some of my older pictures and share the story behind them.

This is Daisy the day we met her for the first time at the SPCA in June 2011. I never wanted a dog, we always had cats growing up and I knew that when I got married I wanted at least one cat in our home. J wasn't opposed to a cat - but he wanted a dog too. So when we got married I promised him that when we bought a house we would get a dog. I think I thought that day would never come.

But it did come. And as soon as we put in an offer J was online looking for dogs. We decided that we wanted to adopt, we wanted to rescue a dog who needed us. J wanted a german shepherd or a boxer and I wanted a pug or another small breed. We checked out lots of local rescues like the East Coast German Shepherd Rescue and the Atlantic Small Dog Rescue but we had adopted our cat, Sydney, from the SPCA so we decided to see if they had a dog that was just right for us.

Daisy was the first and only dog we walked at the SPCA. She really was perfect for us. She wasn't too big and she wasn't too small. And the sweetest little pup I had ever met. This little beagle has been part of our lives for almost three years now and I can't imagine my life without her in it. She is spoiled rotten, and not particularly well-trained, but she's my baby. I'm glad I let J convince me that I could be a dog-person and a cat person.

Have a great day!

Wild, Wild Life

We were really disappointed when we saw the weather forecast for today earlier this week. We were hoping for a day like Saturday, which was absolutely gorgeous. Warm (but not too hot) and sunny. Unfortunately today's forecast was pretty bleak. Cloudy with a 60% chance of showers all day. And cold. Boo. We've been wanting to go to the zoo with David (J's younger brother) and Tracey (David's fiance) since it opened Easter Weekend. We all ended up with today off but with the weather forecast we weren't sure we wanted to drive all that way.

At the last minute we decided to head to the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park and I'm really glad we did. The weather was warmer than we expected and it didn't rain at all. It was so nice that we even stopped for ice cream on the way home. It was a great way to end our long weekend.

There are peacocks everywhere!
 

We found a couple of love-birds roaming around. ;-)
 

Canada Geese and their babies!
 

He was so cute! He did a couple turns, just like Daisy, before settling down.
 

Posing with my new friend the Artic Wolf.
 

I love raccoons. I know they're basically pests, but I just think they're super cute.
 

David and Tracey checking out the otters. They look so graceful in the water, but so awkward on land.
 

Of course we had to pose with the bear!

 I loved having three days off in a row this weekend. J and I really enjoyed the time together and it was so nice not having to set an alarm. Hope you enjoyed your weekend, especially those of you in Canada celebrating Victoria Day!

An Afternoon by the Atlantic

This weekend is a long weekend here in Canada, and two small miracles happened. One, the weather yesterday was absolutely amazing and two, I'm off! I'm off for three whole days and I couldn't be  more excited. J and I have been really busy with work the past couple weeks and haven't had a lot of time to spend together so having three days off together is just what we needed. After writing about how much I loved the Seaside Adjunct and how perfect our day was there the first time we were there we decided that's where we would take Daisy.

The weather was absolutely perfect, and it was just as beautiful as I remembered. We spent a couple of hours roaming the beach and climbing the rocks. I took a ton of pictures, though I don't think any of them actually do the area justice. We basically had the place to ourselves which made for an extra peaceful afternoon.

Daisy absolutely loved it. I really wish we could let her off-leash but with a beagle who wasn't trained as a puppy it's just not something we want to try. She still enjoyed all the smells and all the new places to explore. She didn't seem to be overly fond of the waves though!

We saw seals too. Lots and lots of them. I love getting to see wildlife when we're out on our adventures.

The best part of the day was just that we got to totally relax. I left my cellphone in the car and we spent a couple hours just talking, laughing and catching up. I really think that's crucial to making a marriage work.

Daisy was exhausted by the time we were on our way home and actually slept most of the drive home.

It was pretty much the perfect Saturday. Hope you had a great Saturday too!