weekend alone

i think it is funny how we have only lived together for ... 5 months, yet the thought of spending a weekend alone my house seems so odd to me. i am used to coming home to jesse, being with jesse or leaving jesse. i know that it is only a few days but it is definitely going to be odd. luckily, i have emi to keep me company in his absence.

in a sense, i think that it is going to be nice to do whatever i want whenever i want. i am working this morning until about 1 in the afternoon then i plan on going home, making lunch and taking emi for a walk. if i am lucky, i may even be able to see one of my best friends, michelle, who i rarely see since she is now living in LA (unfortunately, she is in calgary for the weekend to say goodbye to a dieing family member). at four o'clock i have a pedicure booked. after that i will probably go home and watch the hours of trash television that have accumulated on my pvr over the week. then, bed with emi. it is sort of fun to plan a day to myself when you know it is just for one day. i couldn't imagine having to do it over and over again though - knowing that i would never see jesse again.

i know this is a morbid blog post but this thought process came upon me this morning when i was searching for my photographer's blog online. i had forgotten the exact address of her blog and googled her instead - the link that google produced was a link to her personal blog instead of her photography blog and the sad, struggle that filled the pages honestly broke my heart. our photographer, christa harriman, was married to a man named tim harriman in may 2010. unfortunately, after battling cancer four times, tim passed away in july 2010. they were married for less than two months. now, christa devotes her life to capturing other happy couples as they embark on the journey of marriage. jesse and i met her in november for our engagement photos and she was such a happy, kind person who seemed to really love her job - you never would have known that she had lost her husband. i couldn't imagine photographing weddings for a living after my own marriage ended so painfully.obviously, she is still struggling with the loss but is still such an inspiring person. her blog was a combination of happy memories, self pep talks and sad struggles that really touched me and got me thinking about how lucky i am to have the person i love in my life here with me every day.

we are looking at a little bird that was flying around - christa said that this happens on a regular occasion and in her heart she knows that little bird is tim, helping her capture happy moments

so jesse, i love you. you are my very best friend and i am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you. have fun this weekend and come back in one piece, please and thank you.

montana

this past weekend we went to montana with maddy, brian, adelle and chris. maddy's parents have a place on the US side of lake koocanusa and i was really excited because this is the first time we have been invited out there with them. the lot that maddy's family has is unreal - they have such a beautiful view of the lake. unfortanutely, i forgot my camera (shocking for me, i know) so i do not have any pictures.

anyways, we drove up there on friday night after work. we basically took our usual route out to fernie and then drove an extra half hour across the boarder to eureka, a really cute, little town in montana. as soon as we crossed the boarder the first thing out of jesse's mouth is "i really hope they have a sonic". i seriously could not stop laughing. pretty sure eureka is the american version of fernie, they just got a subway. they definitely did not have a sonic. after we did some shopping in eureka we headed to rexford, about 10 minutes down a sketchy back road, where her parents land is. the oddest thing to me about montana is that the people who own the land also own the road that drives up to the land so, if you get lost and drive on the wrong road you are technically tresspassing and, since we were in american, if you are tress passing the owner of the land is allowed to shoot you no questions asked. i did not like this at all. americans are so odd to me.

anyways, we made it to maddy's parent's place on friday without getting shot, thankfully. since it took about 3.5-4 hours to get there from calgary we didn't arrive until almost ten which meant that very little happened on friday apart from setting up camp and saying our hellos. saturday, on the other hand, was action packed. we woke up, ate breakfast and immediately headed down to the lake. at the lake we loaded onto their boat and boated 2 kms down the lake to an amazing little beach. here, chris's parents, who were on a golf trip in montana, met us with their seadoo. the hougan's were nice enough to let us all play with their seadoo that afternoon. i had never driven a seadoo before this weekend and i loved it. they really are so much fun. after some serious seadooing the girls tanned while the guys went wakeboarding or wakesurfing or something with a wake. it is all very confusing to me but they seemed to enjoy whatever it was they were doing.

so after an action packed day we were starving and decided to go to the local "bar". now rexford had one restuarant, the rexford bar, which had 4 things on the menu: steak sandwich, fried chicken, breaded shrimp, or a burger (american style aka raw on the inside, of course). thankfully, the steak sandwich i had was thoroughly cooked. all and all the food was really good but i found this entire bar concept confusing. we are in the "rexford bar" yet there are five year olds at almost every other table. apparently, in america it is fine to take your children to the local pub. my mind was blown.

so, after our dinner we headed back to maddy's parents place and just had a fire and hung out. the next morning we went into town and got breakfast at the local restaurant, did some shopping and then headed home around two o'clock. jesse and i were pretty anxious to get home since we had left emi with my sister and were really starting to miss her. 

so, after a quick two day trip to america i had learned two things: 1) that americans have every right to shoot you if you get lost on their "road" and 2) children are allowed in bars. americans are seriously odd.

jesse's birthday

this weekend was pretty packed. not only was it the beginning of stampede but it was also jesse's birthday weekend. friday was a nice, relaxing night. jesse and i cooked dinner and took emi for a good two hour walk through fish creek. the weather has been amazing lately so we couldn't waste it by sitting inside.

western girl through and through

how can you not love her?

saturday was jesse's birthday. every year jesse celebrates his birthday with his good friend caleb since they are one day apart. i always feel bad for the boys.  since their birthdays, july 9th and 10th, generally coincide with opening weekend everyone is dieing to head down to the grounds and they always get stuck going to the stampede regardless of whether or not that is how they want to spend their birthday. this year we decided to compromise and have everyone a barbecuing with the plan being to head down to the stampede grounds around 8 o'clock. one thing our friends are always good for is bringing more than enough food. all of the girls made side dishes like green salad, potatoes and pasta salad, while the boys all brought meat and booze (typical). all and all i think everyone had an amazing time.

the birthday cake i made jesse.
i know, it looks like it belongs to a five year old but that is what i get for letting him choose his own sprinkles (yes, they are dinosaurs) and candles.

barbecuing

jesse seriously enjoying his birthday cake 

enjoying ourselves at the stampede grounds

emi welcoming jesse home!

we had a ton of fun on saturday and were definitely feeling it on sunday. my mom called at about eleven o'clock inviting us over for breakfast. we went over for pancakes and sausages so that my family could give jesse his birthday presents. he got some new underwear (is it weird that my mother buys my fiance fancy lulu lemon underwear? possibly, possibly....), a few t-shirts and some summer sandals. after hanging out at my parents for a while we came home and cleaned our house since it was a bit of a disaster after saturday. then, after a relaxing afternoon, we went to jesse's parents for his birthday dinner. val and kev got jesse a pellet gun and jesse, being a big kid at heart, loved it. after taking turns shooting the pellet gun we ate dinner. kev made an delicious dinner of bbq ribs, corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw and baked beans. then, for dessert, val made the most hilarious birthday cake ever for jesse: a mini emi!

the cake version of emi

honestly, i think that jesse had a really great weekend. he was definitely tired come sunday night...

PS>> the wedding invitations are officially in the mail so keep your eyes open!

emzilla and camping

 i know i keep saying that our dog is becoming massive in almost every blog post but she really is. when we took her to the vet on thursday the 23rd she was almost 33 lbs. the following tuesday jesse hopped on the scale with her again and she is about 38 which means in 4 days she gained almost 5 lbs. we should have clued in since she seems to be constantly starving, eating up to six cups of good quality dog food a day. we are scared to weigh her again...

emi in may about a week after we got her

emi about 2 weeks ago - growing like a weed

luckily, she seems happier than ever. we took her to this really amazing dog park by our house and she had an absolute blast. i am beginning to think that the dog park may create some sort of complex for jesse and i since nearly every person we run into goes off at length about how beautiful her colouring is and temperament and personality are. luckily, she is beginning to really catch onto her training. it made camping with about 10 of our friends this weekend just that much easier.

since it was canada day long weekend we hopped into the car friday morning and went camping in cochrane for the weekend.

emi enjoying the mountain air on the drive up to the campsite

making a cooking stick

emi bringing us presents.

jesse playing newfie golf

the weather was beautiful so that made the entire weekend a complete success. the group of us brought up newfie golf, boccie ball and beer darts. basically, we just hung out and enjoyed ourselves and the amazing weather. we were really impressed with emi. she was completely laid back and respectful towards everyone - we could tell she was really enjoying being able to roam free in woods. whenever she drifted too far we would call her name and she would come running. we didn't have to tie her up once.  all and all it was an awesome weekend.

updates

two blog posts in one week. it seems like i am on a roll.

first, i will start with an update on the wedding progress. all of "big ticket items", like the venue, caterer, the dress, the suits, the bridesmaids dresses, the flowers, the cake, and now the DJ, are booked. i was stressing out pretty hard earlier this week because i hadn't booked my DJ. i had emailed five or six companies and either didn't hear back, or heard back only to find out that they were booked because even though it is still three months until our wedding, that is basically tomorrow in wedding time. anyways, i was venting to my friend courtney who is also getting married and she gave me the name and number of this DJ company called stardustsounds that all the major wedding planners use. of course when i email them they say "they regret to inform me that they are booked on our date". so, i thank courtney and tell her that they are booked so i am still out of luck. well, bless courtney's little heart, she gets her aunt, lynn, who just so happens to be the biggest wedding planner in calgary, to call the company and convince them that they have to work our wedding as a favor to her. thankfully, courtney texts me about twenty minutes later telling me all i have to do is call the company number, speak to some man named bert, and we are good to go.  i was shocked and incredibly grateful. so, i obviously did as she said and now we are good to go. not only are we booked with a DJ but we are booked with the DJ that the number one wedding planner in town recommends. we are definitely lucky. it really is all about who you know.

so, on the puppy front, we took emi to the vet today. she was 32.5 lbs. i have decided she is not so slowly becoming massive. i am convinced that by the end of the month she will be too big for me to carry. i am not sure if i am going to be upset by this or relieved. either way, i better come to terms with it because she is obviously growing like a weed. i really want to start taking her to the off leash dog park but i am worried that she isn't trained enough. even though she is almost 33 lbs she is still only 13 weeks old. i just think it is really important for her to play with other bigger dogs. if we do go this weekend i am going to have to keep her on leash since she seems to forget all her training as soon as there is any sort of distraction aka other dogs or new smells.

snoozing after her shots at the vet

i < 3 kijiji

i feel like at least once a month i begin a blog entry with the following sentence: "i am so sorry that i haven't blogged in such a long time but i have just been soooo busy". so, i will skip it this time (kinda). i figure that anyone that knows anything about what is going on in my life understands that i am definitely busy. between planning a wedding, training our new puppy, working on our new home,  and my busy social life i have very ittle time left over. recently, that little time i do have to myself has been consumed by scouring kijiji for an amazing deal. in the last week i have found two: my new papasan chair and my new storage chest.

first, last thursday, i found a papasan chair for $35. i have wanted a papasan chair forever. i remember begging my mom to buy me one from pier one when i was twelve years old. brand new the chair i wanted was about $200 so the fact that i found one in amazing shape for $35 is unbelievable! i have always been a bit sketched out about buying furniture on kijiji when fabric is involved; you never really know what is hanging out inside the foam or what went down on the fabric but, thankfully, the papasan chairs have a removable pillow / pad that i can throw in the wash if need be. luckily, the lady who we bought the chair from seemed super clean and it is in amazing shape - especially for having a white cushion. i am so amazingly pleased with it. it fits the space perfectly. i figure that when i decide to get grown up furniture i can just move it up to my office or guest bedroom. there is absolutely no way it wasn't worth every penny of the $35 dollars i spent.

papasan chair and a side table i refinished

the next amazing deal i found was this really neat blanket box / chest for $10. jesse and i actually went and picked it up about 45 minutes ago. i haven't decided if i am going to refinish it or not yet since it is in relatively good shape for being over fourty years old. i thought it was so cool because it was originally a 1970's radio that the owners hallowed out and made into a chest. the squares are one front are speakers. i loved it because it is definitely one of a kind. oh, and because it was $10.

the inside will be awesome for storage

so, with these two new additions my living room is finally coming together. i bought a really cool clock with a gift card i had to crate and barrel that definitely finished off my mantle. so, here are some pictures of the nearly finished product:
 

please ignore emi's favorite toy, "road kill", on the sofa.

emi JUST jumped off the papasan chair

emi all over everything, as always

emi trying to help me blog?

so, as you can see, emi is growing like a weed. she has got to be at least 30 lbs. we go to the vet on thursday so i can tell you exactly how massive she is after her check up. she is officially "tall" enough that she can jump up on the dinning room table / kitchen counter which means we need to be constantly watching her. currently, she is full of energy, furious that i am blogging instead of paying attention to her...

her new favorite move - hitting you from behind

hugs

begging me to play with road kill

what am i going to do when she weighs 130 lbs? ridiculous...

my arch-nemesis

these wedding invitations have become my arch-nemesis.
honestly, when you finally get yours in the mail please humor me by not throwing it out right away. maybe, if you really like me, you could possibly even laminate it in order to commemorate all my hard work. thank you in advance...

if you have been reading regularly you know that making these wedding invitations have not been my favorite aspect of wedding planning. after debating too long on whether or not to make them (apparently it takes months to get wedding invitations done - months that i no longer have) i was stuck with having to make them. originally i was definitely leaning towards making them but as the date became closer i started getting second thoughts until i had no other choice. so, now i am making them. at the time i figured, "i like crafts - how hard could it be?". apparently, way too hard.

i was actually really excited about making them after i bought some of those premade invitation kits from bridal magazines brides line in purple and ivory from michaels. they seemed perfect. all you have to do is print onto the precut cards the wording of your choice. i also really liked the fact that we can get matching thank you cards, place setting cards and programs if we wanted. i figured that i would be smart and take them to be printed professionally so they look absolutely perfect. turns was not a "smart idea" - instead, i wasted a good week trying to find a company that would print them for me. i visited / phoned over 15 companies and they all told me the same thing : "sorry, we are unable to print on any stationary that was not purchased from our location as it voids the warranty on our printers" (obviously i have heard that line a lot considering i now know it off by heart). so, apparently they are not going to look absolutely perfect and i am going to have to print them all out, individually, myself. obviously, i am not excited about this. the thing is, i bought 60 wedding invitations since i only need to send out 58. when i bought the invitations i had assumed that i would be getting them professionally printed so i didn't think the fact that i only had 2 extra would be a big deal. now that i have to print them myself only 2 "oopsie" invites is starting to reallllly make me nervous...

and, to top it all off, canada post has decided to go on strike as of thursday. so, worst case senario i will be FedExing everyone their invitations individually. how wonderful.

on a positive note, i have successfully ordered all my bridesmaids dresses. i went in last thursday with my last two bridesmaids to check out styles and thankfully, all of the girls agreed on the same dress: a strapless chiffon dress in amethyst, my favorite colour. i was a little frazzled when the lady at the bridal shop informed me that i only had one more week to place my order before it was considered a "rush order" - an order that costs an additional $25-50 dollars a dress. so, this weekend i got all my girls in to be measured and the dresses are officially ordered. just one more thing i can cross off my long "to-do list".

my new "rush order" status got me a little freaked out. i figured that four months was plenty of time to do the rest of my planning but i was wrong. apparently, four months is four seconds in wedding world so on friday night i decided that we needed to figure out jesse's attire as well as his groomsmen. jesse really wants to wear a grey suit while his groomsmen wear black. and just our luck, although they have tons of black tuxedo's to rent it is basically impossible to rent suits, especially grey ones. at first we figured that suits would be the best option since most 23-25 year old men own one. obviously, if you are in a trade, like jesse, you wouldn't, but all his groomsmen have jobs you would need a suit for. turns out that three out of his five groomsmen do not own a suit. i was beginning to panic. i really did not want the guys to be wearing tuxedos since a) it seemed like too formal attire for the ranche house and b) rentals seemed like a massive waste of money, but we also didn't want to make his groomsmen spent $300 - $400 on a suit simply for our wedding. thankfully, we found out about a buy-one-get-one-free sale that moore's is having in the next few weeks. this seemed to be the best option since the guys would be able to get a suit for $150-200 dollars instead of having to rent one for $150-180. hopefully, this will all work out but i will have to keep you posted....