:: 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...

:: Last Weekend of Summer ::

I can't believe that Summer has come and gone... sad in some ways but I gotta say, I love Fall!! I love the crisp air with sunshine, wearing sweaters and boots, and getting back into routines. September is going to be a crazy month - we have 2 weddings (one of which I'm a bridesmaid in), one stagette, and at least 3 family birthdays that I know of, plus I joined volleyball every Monday night! So the month is already shaping up to a busy one and I'm looking forward to every minute! I love being busy and having lots of things on the go. At times I need to say "no" and take time for just me, or for Josh and me, or for our place! I'm learning :)

Josh and I had a great last weekend of summer! Josh is still off on compo, recovering from a back injury, so we were able to go away! I had a day banked at work so we turned the long weekend into a 4 day weekend. It was such a nice break! We started off the weekend by joining Josh's family up in Golden Ears for some camping. It's been a tradition of the Neufeld's to go there this time every year. We might change it up for next year though, because we haven't lucked out with weather for the past few. Grandma and Grandpa Goerzen join in, and whoever can make it comes up, whether for the whole weekend, a night or two, or a few hours. It did rain a lot and it was SO cold! But we had fun reading by the fire (at times under umbrellas!), playing games and eating... a lot of eating :) To make things more interesting, there were some mice who decided that the trailers would be nice and dry... Grandma and Grandpa G caught one little guy and we caught 3! We think there were still more with us though - those ones just got the cheese. Smart little mice! :) On Sunday my parents came up to visit but we were packing up to leave, as the weather wasn't improving and we had used up all the firewood! So we all went back to Josh's parents and had a fire and dinner there. A nice hot shower never felt so good!

The next evening Josh and I got to celebrate our friend Dean's 38th birthday! It was so nice to see old friends and celebrate with Deaners. Dean and I have been friends since 2002, and in 2004 I introduced him to Jessi, my friend from Australia. It was love at first sights and 5 weeks later they were engaged, and since then have had 2 wonderful children - Halle and Sebastian - and have bought their home in Langley. They are such wonderful people and a huge blessing in my life - I love them all to bits !

:: Josh and Grandpa Goerzen in deep conversation by the fire::

:: Josh and I - we wore touques all weekend, attempting to stay warm and dry! ::

:: Our three little friends in their final resting place ::

:: The wonderful cake Jessi made for Dean - her first time using fondant! Good work Jess! ::

:: The happy family of 4 ::

:: Amber, Jessi, Sebastian and me - no better feeling than a baby falling asleep in your arms, especially one as sweet as this little man! ::

:: Today at work, trying to show my new hair-do! It's dark underneath which you can't see in the pic, and blonder everywhere else, plus shorter and more layered. My SIL Hannah did it for me, isn't she awesome?!? ::