I Do :: Drew & Arianne

Drew and Arianne ventured off to Vegas to say their "I do"s" but didn't want to miss out on a party to celebrate with their friends and family here at home.  This meant Arianne got to do something that not a lot of brides get to: she was able to wear her dress twice!  (I might be just a tad jealous lol!)   We had a great afternoon together and their wedding party was hilarious - it was hard to get a serious shot with those guys around lol!

Congratulations Drew & Arianne... may you enjoy a lifetime of love and laughter...

a little rider pride for the christmas season...

This summer when we were in New York, we wandered through the Mets store after watching the baseball game.  One item in particular caught our eye - a Mets themed Christmas wreath.  Justin and I looked at each other and right away had the same idea: We should make a Rider wreath!  So once the Christmas decorations started showing up in the stores, we kept our eyes open for the perfect additions to our wreath.

Justin had the mini football from his birthday last year - that would totally work....
Wandering through Canadian Tire we found the Riders ornament plate - that was a must...
And the S - a monogram is perfect for this creation...

And so this is the cheery creation that will greet you at the Scott residence this Christmas season :)

crop into christmas

I'm learning that fundraising is definitely a big part of playing rep hockey - without it parents end up paying so much more for their kids to play.  We like to be as involved as we can with the teams Justin coaches but don't often participate in a lot of the fundraisers.  I had heard of the idea of doing a scrapbooking retreat as a fundraiser and our fundraising coordinator was such an awesome sport about it and said "Why not!"  So she let my brain run wild with ideas and let me look after a lot of the planning - most of which included the food!

We are hosting the team Christmas party - parents and all the kids - in a few weeks so some of what I made was a "dry run" for that night... I had so much fun!  And even though we didn't end up with as many people as we had hoped, those of us who were there had a wonderful day :)  We created all day and I think we were all pleased with what we accomplished by the end of the day!  Some scrapbooked, some made cards and two of us lugged over our sewing machines to work on a few quilting projects!

A big thank you to Robyn for helping organize and for letting us turn her library upside down with all our "toys"!  And another big thank you to Andrea for the great make and take project and creative ideas!

There was lots of talk about maybe doing another this spring... keep your eyes open for those details :)

Our morning "snack":

What's a girls day without a little chocolate.. and cheesecake!? :)

And a healthy supper to finish off the day!

Happy Blog-i-versary To Me!

an old picture...hair's a little darker but that's about  it!

Today as I browsed some of my entries, I realized that it was exactly one year ago today  that I wrote my first entry... so happy blog-i-versary to me!

Maybe it's just that I'm a sentimental sap but I love looking back through my journals, and now looking back through some of past blog posts...life is a journey - not a destination - so reminiscing about the journey is something that makes me smile.

(I'm sure my sister will poke fun at me for this post... it will likely go down in history with the "sponge" blog... oh well!)

I Guess It's Not Just in My Head...

Last week I got a text from my dad as I was walking into my office:
"Check the Weather Channel for an article on fibro"

My curiosity was definitely peaked and it was the first thing I looked at when I turned on my computer. (see article here)  The article confirmed that rain (or changes in the weather and barometric pressure) can cause great pain and discomfort for Fibromyalgia sufferers...
I thought to myself, "Hmm...I could have told you that...finally someone acknowledges this as real..." and then as I chuckled to myself, "I guess this isn't in my head after all!"

I am a healthy 30 year old today, but when I was 12 that wasn't the case.

I was in seventh grade, an active pre-teen, I loved running cross country, I was your typical oldest child over achiever :)  Suddenly I was tired all the time and we didn't know why... my body hurt, all over and for what seemed like no reason.  I could be sitting in my classroom with my winter jacket on, freezing and unable to shake that chill, while my classmates worked around me in tshirts.  I would have periodic "spells" in class where in an instant I went from totally alert to ready to drop into a deep sleep.  My parents were getting more and more concerned, my teacher watched me in class and knew something was definitely not right.

I was a regular in the doctors office, thinking back, I should have known the nurses by name!  Finally after months of tests and searching for a diagnosis, a specialist I had seen several times called my parents in and explained to them that even though I defied everything he knew about Fibromyalgia, that is what I had.  He said that because of my age I would most likely grow out of it - and 3 years later life finally went back to "normal" for me.

This week the temperature swung from -19 degrees (felt like -29 degrees) to +9 in the space of about 48 hours.  Don't get me wrong, I will never complain about warmer temperatures, especially at the end of November lol, but a wild swing of 30-40 degrees can sometimes leave me knocked off my feet.  I'm VERY grateful that it doesn't happen as bad as it did when I was 12 and 13, but yesterday and today I'm feeling the effects of the upswing in our weather.

Yesterday that article came to mind, and I thought, "It's nice to know that what I'm feeling today is finally 'acknowledged' in the medical realm..."  and I'm VERY thankful that the specialist was right, and that I did grow out of it and that life did resume it's normal pace for me... I'm thankful that I am blessed to live with fibro as part of my past and rarely as part of my present...and so today, even though I don't feel 100%, I choose to be thankful that this too shall pass :)

Sneak Peek :: Drew & Arianne

Drew and Arianne actually tied the knot south of the border but didn't want to miss out on the chance to celebrate with their family and friends.  We had a great afternoon together... I think we laughed almost the entire time as their wedding party kept us in stitches!  

Laughter and love...such a great combination :)  

Roots & Wings....

I remember the first time I watched the movie "Sweet Home Alabama"... I don't remember where I was or even who I was with, but the one thing that has left a forever footprint on my heart was the conversation between Jake and Melanie in the graveyard during the street dance scene.  There was one line in particular that Jake says: "You know Mel, you can have roots and wings..."  In that instant I felt like so much of my life was suddenly defined by something I could now articulate.

Roots and Wings...
I've always been a homebody, I've always needed a physical location to identify with as "home"... life is much easier to deal with - I'm much easier to deal with - when this is in place. My parents did an amazing job of giving me roots. They instilled in my sister and I a deep love for family...for each other...when we didn't have much we always knew we had each other and we knew how valuable that truly was. They instilled in us a deeply rooted faith in God...not religion and rules that we had to follow, but they modeled a genuine relationship with Christ and encouraged us in our own spiritual journeys.
But my parents also gave me wings... they let me "fly" when I needed to explore on my own.  From the time I was a teenager, they encouraged me to make decisions on my own.
I will never forget one infamous mother/daughter chat:
Me: But Mom, why can't you just tell me what to do?  It would be so much easier that way!
Mom: I could but then you'd never learn to make these decisions on your own.
Me: But it was so much easier when you just told me what to do!
Mom: Yes but if we let you make this decision on your own, and you make the wrong one, at least your Dad and I are here to help you pick up the pieces and help you make the right decision next time.  If we made all your decisions for you while you lived at home, then when  you leave and you make a poor decision, we won't always be able to be there to help pick up the pieces.

This may have been one of the top 5 significant life shaping conversations of my life...

And so when we made the choice that I'd be able to stay in Caronport to finish grade 11 &12 while they lived 2 hours away, they had prepared me to make those decisions on my own and allowed me to fly... and a few years later when I moved around the globe to China for almost a year and a half, again they allowed me to fly, to adventure, to see the world - both figuratively and literally.

Roots and Wings...
I think because my parents gave me such an amazing balance of roots and wings, this was an incredibly vital quality that I looked for in my future spouse.  The best way I could articulate it was this: He would have be a special individual who would allow me to "fly" as far and as high during the day - let me adventure, be creative, try new things - but be secure enough that he would know that I'd come home to the "roots" he and I shared at the end of the day, all the while knowing that home with him was still by far my favorite place in the world to be.  When I met Justin, I found my roots and he gave me wings.  His love gives me the freedom to know I can explore, be as nerdy and creative as I want to be lol, but it's with him that I am home and it's with him that I share my roots.  And the funny thing is, my desire to adventure solely on my own has shifted...my favorite adventures are usually the ones where we "fly" together...

Roots and Wings...
Several years ago Mark Harris released a song called "Find Your Wings".  It's a prayer from a parent's heart, a prayer that that precious life you're holding in your arms would find their roots in a parent's love and out of that that that child would find the wings that have been created especially for them.  I remember the first time I heard that song - it nearly stopped me dead in my tracks... it was truly the story of my parents and my relationship, it would be several years before I would reconnect with Justin but today it is our song, and one day, Lord willing, when we have children of our own, this will be my prayer for them, the song I will sing over them...

I pray that God would fill your heart with dreams
And that faith gives you the courage
To dare to do great things
I'm here for you whatever this life brings
So let my love give you roots
And help you find your wings


Roots and Wings... 

My Most Favorite...

I came across this on Pinterest... it's perfect... I've often told Justin that my most favorite place in the whole world is standing with him with his arms around me..it's the place where life makes sense...the place where I don't have to question...the place where I am safe...the place where nothing else matters....

I honestly can't think of any other place I'd rather be...

I Could Make That :: Braided Scarf

Several weeks ago I got a text from my sister early in the work day:
Mo: Have you seen Teaka's blog today?
Me: Ya I have, isn't that a great idea? They'd be so easy to make!
Mo: Great! Cause I'd like one for my birthday please :)

Well that makes shopping for her gift uber easy! lol...

Our friend Teaka had posted a tutorial on her blog Life Like Honey of how to make a Jersey Braided Scarf.  As I read through her instructions I thought, this looks easy enough that even I could make this... and so I did!  Two of them in fact and they turned out great, my sister loves them!  (I would like to steal them back...but I've been told to keep my paws off!...maybe I'll just make ones of my own lol!)

So this got me thinking... I've seen several scarf tutorials on Pinterest that look relatively easy... and well, I'm kinda cheap when it comes to buying scarves - I love them, but not often loving their price tag... so I thought, well lets give this another try...

I found a tutorial for a Braided Scarf that could be made from large tshirts, and apparently a "pattern" that would create a replica of a much more expensive scarf from Anthropology!  So Tuesday after work I stopped at Value Village, found a couple of very large men's tshirts and headed home to start creating.

And today, I'm wearing it :) (please forgive the poor iPhone photos... I was the only one awake in our house at 7:30 this morning!)

Happy Thursday! :)

Saying Goodbye to Summer...

I cleaned out our flowerbeds this weekend.   With only a few exceptions, all our plants had been frostbitten and were looking not so pretty anymore.  As much as I dislike winter, I can't deny that it will arrive at some point lol, and I figured it was time to get this part of our yard ready for the pending cold. I figured it out the other day that we enjoyed watching our plants grow for over 5 months...not too bad for the Prairies!

At the end of September, while things were still growing, I snapped a few shots of our flowers...I'd say our rookie year was a success :)

 The pots on our front step... I loved coming up the walk and seeing all the color...

 I will definitely plant the front bed differently next year... It looked nice but it certainly didn't have the "pop" that the back bed did...live and learn :)

 

These were the pots on the back deck...when I look back at photos of how small the plants were that these started from...such an incredible process :)

 Our back flower bed turned out even better than I had dreamed..it ended up as a mass of color, where you could hardly tell where one plant ended and the next one began :) 

This delphinium actually got blown over in a bad storm mid summer and the single stalk broke... then over the next few weeks the base just kept growing and before long we had 5 new stalks blossoming!  This is one of my favorite flowers in our garden...

This dahlia plant was one of the plants that had been chowed down on by a mouse and eaten nearly to the ground...a little fertilizer later and it was bigger than a basketball with blossoms almost as big as my fist! 

 

So much color...exactly what I had envisioned that first weekend in May when we planted these tiny flowers...

So long summer...

The Hook Family...

This was my third year in a row capturing the Hook family, and I think this is my favorite shoot yet!  Andrea and I actually were classmates in high school and we reconnected a few years ago when I moved to Medicine Hat.  She is wonder-mom - seriously I may have to ask for lessons when I have kids :)  She and her husband Brent are parents to three little men who have personalities that are larger than life, and have the baby blues and mischievous grins to go with.  I've had so much fun seeing these guys grow up and change, this shoot was much different than our first! 

Thanks Brent & Andrea for your friendship and for allowing me to capture your family year after year :)