:: Jody and Lucas ::

On Saturday, October 25, 2008 my friend Jody married the love of her life, Lucas . The weather was PERFECT, a beautiful Fall day, the sun shone and the leaves were stunning... not as stunning as the bride of course!

The day started off with some drama when there was a fire at the chapel! They got married at a local church, which has the main building in the back, and a pretty chapel at the front, near that road. The chapel caught on fire during the night! Luckily their wedding was in the main church. Lucas got a call at 5:30am, finding out that there was no power at the church! They didn’t have candles but they had to go and put a bunch of candles everywhere. The power ended up coming back on in time for the ceremony, but the candles looked really pretty :) And Jody wanted them all along, so it was perfect! The decorations were really nice, ALL leaves! The only flowers were in the girls’ bouquets. And curling willow too, very fall-like and looked awesome. Jody looked SO pretty! Up-do, and she wore the blusher on her veil when she walked down the aisle - so dramatic! The girls wore red, really pretty dresses! Long and flowy. The guys were in black with red vests/ties, except Lucas wore a black vest/tie. We had to sit on Lucas’ side for the ceremony because Jody’s side was full, but it was nice because we saw her face more! All the music was live, and mostly worship music, and was done so nicely. Her brother and sister sang “Jesus be the Centre” as Jody walked down the aisle – so special!

Jody and Lucas stayed at Le Soliel then the Fairmont, they flew out early Monday morning to honeymoon in Cuba! So fun! I think they had a really good day, they both said it couldn’t’ve gone any better. So great to hear!

:: The happy couple ::

:: Listening to the speeches ::

:: First Dance ::

:: Icing War! ::

:: Fall Cupcakes made by the Incredible Shawna ::

:: It all Started with an R ::

This is a fun little meme where you have to write 10 things about yourself using a certain letter. My friend Morgan gave me the letter R. If you want to play, leave me a comment and I'll assign you a letter.

1. Relationships - I love people! The people in my life are everthing to me, and I value relationships so very much. My hope is that if you're one of these people in my life, you already knew that! :)
2. Retail! I love to shop!! Actually, truth be told, I love to buy ;) I also worked at The Body Shop in the mall for about 8 years - my first job and I really enjoyed it there. It was just what I needed, my confidence really grew and I became much more out going.
3. Reading. I am a real book worm. I love to read a good story and when I'm really into one I can't put it down! Then I get a little annoyed with myself because I finish the whole book in a day or two... but I just can't put it down! My favourite author? Karen Kingsbury, hands down. I feel like I know the characters in her books personally, and I love how she weaves the Lord and scripture through her writing so naturally. The other night I got to read with my nephews at bed time and that was such a treat, especially hearing the oldest one reading on his own! Wow!
4. Recreation. I took Therapeutic Recreation at a local college, for two years full time (graduated in 2004). Although I'm not working in the field now, I really enjoyed the program. I don't like the lifestyle that goes along with being a student (working Part Time on eveings and weekends, only eating in the car, on the go all the time, being poor) but I do enjoy learning, and am glad I went to College. Oh, and of course I love recreation on a personal level - having fun doing activites!
5. Road Trips! I love going away! For one night, 5 months, whatever it may be! Growing up my family went on some great vacations and I have wonderful memories of driving in the car for long periods of time with my parents and sisters. Singing, playing games, eating, sleeping - I love it all! I've had some great trips with friends too - to California, Trail, Kelowna... wouldn't trade those times for anything!
6. Respect. I think of respect as a foundation to all healthy relationships - family, friends, workplace, chikdren, etc. A little respect goes a very long way! I've also had experiences where I just don't respect someone I'm in contact with, and it really makes it difficult to be in a functional, positive relationship with him/her. So I try to find something in everyone that I respect. Sometimes this isn't easy! Other times it's a no-brainer :)
7. Rebel... not what you think! I played rep fastpitch softball for 10 years growing up and our team name was the Rebels! I still love softball but don't play anymore... although I'm proud to say that I can still throw harder (and more accurate!) than a lot of guys I know ;) Some of my best memories growing up include softball.
8. Romantic... as in "Hopeless Romantic!" It's true, I love love!! :) And I am so blessed to be married to a man who fulfills my romantic whims and doesn't think I'm silly :)
9. Root Beer. I don't drink pop very often (or soda for you Americans!) but if I were to choose a favourite, it would be Root Beer!
10. Rainbow - I love seeing Rainbows... for so many reasons! First of all, they remind us of God's promises. They are a miracle in themselves, so pretty! And they remind me of being a child and colouring rainbows, learning all the colours and the order they go in.

:: He Left... on a Jet Plane ::

Josh and I are super excited about his new job!! The prayers of many were answered when Josh was offered a Class 1 driving position with a great company called Trimac. The BC branch is located in Port Kells, so Josh won't even have a commute! yay! For the first year his schedule is likely to be all over the show, so we're prepared for that. But he's been told that after one year he gets to make his own schedule, how great is that?!
Trimac does week-long training seminars for all new employees, in EDMONTON (for you Americans, that's in Alberta, the next province over from BC). So yesterday Josh flew out, and won't be home until Friday. Now I know it doesn't seem that long, but for us newly-weds it seems like forever! When we said goodbye at the airport you would've thought he was leaving for a year or something... I was fine until he got teary, and that was it, game over! But I thought it was kinda cool, that we would miss each other THAT much!
Our place is just too quiet without Josh there, so after taking him to the airport I went to my sister Lisa's house. I figured her family of 3 boys would keep me busy! We had fun colouring, playing, and reading books. I just love my nephews so much!!
I thought I'd read for awhile when I got home... and I found a love note from Josh under my book!! What a great surprise, it totally made my night :)
I've made plans for this week, hoping that the time goes by quickly. I'm going out for dinner tonight with my good friend Nadia, and really looking forward to catching up with her. Thursday is Girls Night! And there's always things to do around our place to keep me busy...

:: Enjoying a beautiful Fall day together at Derby Reach, on Sunday ::

:: Happy Birthday to Me ::

What a weekend!! I had 4 days off work, and that in itself was a gift and something I am VERY thankful for!! I feel so refreshed and like I had a much needed break.
On Friday night my parents, Josh and I went to the BC Lions football game. They were playing Edmonton and Edmonton won, 27-20. I only go to a game once every couple of years... and every time I feel the same way - I enjoy going, the atmosphere, doing something different and having fun with family and friends. But the actual football game isn't something I care too much about! This time was better as I had Josh and my Dad explain things to me... I can throw a football but never really understood the game and the strategy behind it. My husband, on the other hand, loves football and with our recent hookup to cable, I have a feeling I'll be watching it a lot more in the days to come...
Saturday night we went to my friend Crystal’s to celebrate with them - it was Crystal and Dave's first anniversary on Oct. 6 and her 26th birthday on Oct. 10! It was a fun night, seeing people I hadn't seen much since last year at this time :) Poor Josh wasn’t feeling well, and ended up being sick to his stomach that night once we got home (and all through the night…) :( Poor guy.
So he missed Thanksgiving Dinner at my parent’s house on Sunday, and it was our only one!! He wasn’t impressed. Plus, it was my family birthday and he felt really bad missing that. But what can ya do? The dinner was great, I LOVE turkey dinner, it’s my favourite :) I got some lovely presents too! Josh started feeling better but thought he should stay home and rest so I stayed after everyone went home and watched a movie with my Mom :) I brought some yummy leftovers for Josh that he got to enjoy the next day... actually, we're still enjoying the desserts! My Mom made 3 - chocolate cake, apple crumble and pineapple upside down cake! Yum!
Monday was a nice relaxing day, we got a lot done – getting pictures up, organizing and cleaning – much overdue!! It feels so good to get long overdue tasks completed!! We went shopping for a bit, then to East Side Mario’s for dinner, then met my Mom and Grandma for a movie! We saw “Nights at Rondanthe” – it was good! I’ve read the book so I knew the ended and spent half the time comparing it to the book… but it was still good! Josh was such a good sport going to it with us ladies!!
Yesterday was my 27th birthday!! We started off the day with presents!! Yay!! Josh wrapped every gift and put it in a big gift bag. He always write such touching words in cards, it's my favourite part :) I was so excited, he got me a camera!! I knew he got it for me, as my last one wasn't working properly lately, and I hate not having a camera! We used it yesterday but I haven’t had a change to download the pics yet – but they look good so far :) Josh also gave me chocolates (a bunch of different ones), 2 Jack Johnson CDs, 2 movies – Enchanted and The Little Mermaid (my favourite Disney movie and I’ve never owned it!) and a case for my camera. Fun!! We got ready and left for the day, stopping to get Starbucks, to vote, and buy a memory card for my camera (we thought my old one would fit and it didn’t). We went out to Park Royal mall, where I’ve never shopped before. It’s a great mall, and there’s 2 parts, plus the new village part. We shopped ALL day!! And I got spoiled again!! Josh bought me this great Lululemon bag, one of those big ones that are perfect for weekend getaways. I spent my birthday money and got a fabulous cream wool coat from RW and Co. They had a promo for $20 off all coats, plus they gave my 25% off for it being my birthday!! I saved $64!! Woohoo!! I also found jeans for $20, a Lululemon headband, coconut perfume oil, some things for our place from Urban Barn, earrings, and brown knee high boots!! I’ve been looking for a cream wool coat and brown knee high boots for the last 2 years and was so happy to find them :) We went to the Keg for dinner, right by the mall. I had been given a gift card when I left my last job (thanks ladies!) so we used that and went all out! Got special drinks, an appy, I had lobster and Josh had steak with scallops, then we got a piece of birthday cake! Yum!! We topped off the night by seeing another movie, although we wished we hadn’t… we saw “Blindness” and it was truly quite disturbing. I wouldn’t recommend it. But all in all it was a great day! Josh is so good at making me feel special :)
Stay tuned for some pics...