All Dressed Up - A Wedding Weekend

This weekend started off bad enough - Chloe woke up sick Saturday morning. She was supposed to go to her father's for the night. Eric and I had a wedding to attend. Luckily, her sore belly passed quickly and she went to her father's. She had a fever for most of the day but woke up find on Sunday morning. 

 Eric and I rushed around showering, packing and getting ready Saturday, then drove an hour away to where the wedding would be. A friend of his got a ride with me. I felt a little sick for about an hour and I thought it would kill the day, but it passed. 

It was a cool, windy day, but when we got to the ceremony location (a park) it was perfectly warm and sunny. Weddings tend to make me teary. This one was no exception. 

We managed to take a couple of pictures - when we were getting ready at Eric's mom's, and then another picture outside before the wedding started. 

I bought a new dress for the wedding - it may have been the perfect dress for the weather. With the wind that day, any of my flowy dresses or skirts would've flashed the world. This one stayed in place. 

We drove around with a couple of his friends after the ceremony - we bought some chocolate milk and animal crackers like the children that we are. Afterwards we went back to his Mom's to charge our phones. The boys played pool while I read for 30 seconds before giving up and just watched, half falling asleep. 

Then we went to the dinner and dance. Fun was had by all. I can't wait for our wedding dance. 

On Sunday we woke up (after sleeping in!) to his mom making breakfast. So we ate then she took us to pick up our car. Then! We went to meet up with all my bridesmaids. We didn't get a picture of everyone, but one of my friends, Melanie, always takes a picture when she goes anywhere so we got one of 4/6 of us. 

We discussed bridesmaid dresses, suits and eventually took measurements for some of us. Eric left earlier and drove my sister back to town, and I stayed with two of the girls. We went to Giant Tiger, Starbucks, then drove home, getting Chloe along the way. We hung out at my place for a bit, had dinner at East Side Marios, then visited for a little while longer after Chloe was in bed. Overall, a great day and a great weekend. 

Now it's Monday - a holiday - but I'm back to work anyway. Luckily it's a slow day, but that also means it's going by slow. Eric's home with both girls, and I look forward to getting home and laying around all night before bed. 

Our Easter Weekend Away

This Easter was a great one. We spent the weekend away, staying with some of my closest friends (a married couple). The drive up was difficult - Chloe was not impressed with the sun in her eyes, and kept throwing sippy cups, toys, even treats we gave her as a distraction. I was relieved when we finally got there. She doesn't know my friends too well, since they live so far away, so I tried to explain to her who they were - that they were at her birthday party. That wasn't a great idea because she then thought we were going to her birthday party. Luckily she forgot about that by the time we got there. 

Immediately when we arrived, I realized I forgot to pack pjs for Chloe. Fail.

And all stores would be closed the next day. We rushed to the grocery store and bought her two pairs of pjs. 

When we got back, I realized I forgot mine too. Double fail. I wore Eric's pj pants to sleep in all weekend, which were way too big and not very comfortable. 

On our first full day there, Chloe decorated cookies and we just visited with my friends and their family. We went out for a lunch, then afterwards split up and Eric and I took Chloe to a park and the car wash. She enjoyed both. After that, we met up with people at a different park. Later on, we went for some frozen yogurt. We all loved it. 

Once we were home and Chloe was in bed, we watched The Heat. I loved it. 

The next day was zoo day! We got up and ready and went to the zoo. It was colder than expected, and Chloe didn't seem overly excited, but she didn't complain or whine. She loved the Easter egg hunt (see the top right picture below) and especially the Cheetos she got in her treat bag. 

Afterwards, my friend was amazing enough to watch Chloe so Eric and I could shop. Shopping wasn't very successful. I need jeans, but apparently I don't have a size. I'm between sizes. We ended up just buying hand sanitizer and train tracks at Toys R Us. 

That evening we had dinner at my friends parents' house. They are also like family to me so the company was great, and the food was amazing! So good. 

And that was our last night there. 

We woke up Sunday and Chloe found a trail of... well, see for yourself on our YouTube video outside the bedroom door. 

She loved the egg hunt, loved her Little People car, her beach ball from another friend who lives in the Dominican. She especially loved the chocolate chicken that had a chocolate egg inside filled with Smarties. She devoured those Smarties. We hung out until around noon before we hit the road to come home. 

About halfway home, when Eric was paying for gas, Chloe told me she was sad. I asked why, she said because she wanted her Daddy. Luckily, he was home so she spent about 3 hours with him that day. She had to take her beach ball with her to his house.  

Monday was back to work, for a 10 day stretch. Not looking forward to it, but at least two days are already down. 

Life just isn't fair

I don't know how I would begin to describe this weekend. 

It started off well enough - I shopped some yard sales, cleaned some my house. 

In the afternoon, I went out to the race track to visit my best friend who's husband is part of a racing team. His best friend is the one who does the racing. I had a really great afternoon hanging out with my friend and some of her friends - one being the wife of the race car driver. I also got to see his two kids - one is only two and the baby is 10 months. I got to hold the 10 month old for awhile, which I loved of course. I love me some cute babies. I also asked my friend to be my maid of honor - the first and only person so far to be asked to be in my side of the wedding. It was a great afternoon. 

I left go pick up Eric and since Madi was actually staying with her mom for the night (first time in months) we made some last minute plans to visit his sister and go out. I drank, he didn't. It was nice seeing his sister and her boyfriend. The 'bar' part of it wasn't great, but still a decent night. 

We were back home, in bed and asleep probably just before 1am. I had no idea of the message that I got shortly after, that was waiting for me when I got up around 8am. 

All lights were off, and Eric was still asleep when I checked my phone for the time. I think it was 8:17am. But there was also a message there from my friend. 

Their best friend that drives the race car, the best man from their wedding, he got in a one car accident during the race and passed away. My heart dropped. I woke Eric up saying something like "Oh my God. Oh my God." He was still half asleep when I turned on the light. 

I was frozen. I didn't know what to do or say. How do you respond to that? Had I received the message when it was sent, I probably would've rushed right out to where they were. 

I felt so sad for my friends. I knew how badly this would hurt them, how close they were to this man. But more so, my heart was completely broken for the two little boys he left behind. His wife. It hurt so much more after just spending that afternoon with them. His wife was so sweet and friendly. The boys were adorable. Everyone was so happy. Things change SO QUICK. 

I teared up a lot that morning, but I didn't actually cry until I dropped Eric off at work. He offered many time to stay home and keep me company, but I made him go. It was hard to see him leave on this particular morning. Things change so quick. 

I had a harder time keeping it together when he wasn't there. I called to see if I could stop by Chloe's father's house to see her for a minute. I just wanted to hug her, to see her happy face but she was gone with her grandmother. I got home and saw that the wife had been on Facebook, saying goodbye to her husband, best friend of many years, father of her children. I lost it. 

Life just isn't fair. 

I think of the little boys and think of what it would be like if either of my children lost their fathers. What it must be like to lose a spouse of 14 years. I think of how my friends must be feeling - because it would be like me losing them. They weren't blood, but they were  family. 

I absolutely hate that my friends are going through this. I feel so useless and helpless through it all. 

Life just isn't fair. 

Vacation Long Weekend & Engagement Photos

[ Preview of our engagement/family photoshoot ]

This weekend was amazing. 

On Friday night, two of my best friends arrived, one of them with a 4 month old baby in tow that I was just getting to meet for the first time. Oh how I love babies. Friday night was a low-key night of chatting, eating Chinese food and hanging around home. We were all in bed before 11 o'clock. We're old folks now, folks. 

Saturday morning is when Eric and I left with the girls to get our pictures taken. Mom was awesome and met us at the photoshoot location to watch the girls when we took pictures of just us. I haven't seen all the pictures yet, but I love the preview ones. (I'll post more at the bottom) 

Mom took Chloe when the left the photoshoot, and we took Madi to be dropped off with Eric's Mom. 

Then we were childless. 

We had our dinner, bought some booze and headed home. Slowly, our friends all started to arrive. Drinks were poured, and the BBQ was fired up. BBQ'd burgers and potatoes are some of the best foods you can eat. 

Later on we even had some cake to celebrate "everything", aka my engagement, the birth of a baby 4 months ago, another friend's pregnancy (she's 26 weeks), the birthday that just passed of a friend. 

We had more drinks, played guitar outside on the deck, and played some cards. We were probably all in bed around midnight (old folks) but it was still an amazing night. 

We all had breakfast together Sunday, then got in our cars and went back to our hometown, where Eric and I met up with the girls again for a beach afternoon. When we were through with the beach, we went back to our (free) hotel room and went to the pool almost right away. Eric convinced me to go down the waterslide once (I'm not a big fan) and we went in the hot tub for a bit. 

We ordered some room service and watched Big Brother and ended up in bed at a decent time again. 

We had our breakfast in the morning then met up with Mom, our babies, and my nephew to go to a water park. The same one we took the nephew and Chloe to last year. Everyone had a blast. Madi is like a fish. She's not scared of the water at all, so I'm sure she drank half the pool. She was constantly losing her balance or just throwing herself in the water on purpose, and we'd have to pull her back up but she'd always be laughing. 

Chloe was obsessed with the waterslide, but she was only big enough for one of them. Mom helped me out by catching her at the bottom, and I'd run her back up to the top and send her down again. 

We were there for more than 5 hours. We had tons of snacks and and we were so thankful for the frozen water bottles Eric's Mom sent in a cooler with Madi. Apparently it was crazy hot yesterday, but we never felt it because of being in the water and shade constantly. 

Despite the sunscreen we all wore, Eric still got super burned. 

I could've stayed a lot longer, and the girls probably could've too but it was a long drive home. Madi slept most of the way, Chloe only slept for a little while. It was nice to get home. Today I'm back to work, and back to reality. But not for long, because I'm taking tomorrow off to spend it with friends again. 

Annnnd.. here's more engagement/family pictures. 

Canada Day Weekend 2013

It seems to be an annual thing, but this weekend me and Chloe went away and spent the weekend with friends. We did pretty much the same thing last year, except this was a much shorter trip, and Eric wasn't able to come. 

We stayed at my friends cottage, 5 of us plus Chloe makes 6. We visited with a lot of people throughout the day. We went to the beach, which Chloe finally loves (hated the beach last year - and by reading that post I also realized July 1st marked one year since the first time we had a full-family sleepover: Me, Eric, Chloe and Madi). We had some great BBQ'd food, then took a walk on the beach. My friend's mother brought out some champagne after Chloe went to bed and they had a toast for my engagement, which was super sweet and unexpected. (I also got a small gift for my engagement from that same friend). 

Before we left, I was reunited with Paper Me. 

I was dropped off at my Mom's, where Madi had just spent the night. Eric met us there. We had no actual plans for Canada day, so we ended up hanging out at Mom's. The girls went in the pool then played in the yard. We tried to go out for pizza for supper, but Chloe decided to have a meltdown so I took her to the car. Eric got the pizza to go, and we ate it at his mothers. 

Luckily, the girls were pretty good the whole way home and went to bed easily. And that concluded our second Canada Day together. We took our first 'family' picture last year on Canada day, so we were a little sad when we realized we didn't take any pictures this year. 

Canada Day 2012

A baby's birth and a weekend away!

At approximately 5:30 pm on Saturday night, boyfriend and I were left with no plans. I got a hold of a couple of friends, we packed a bag, and hopped in the car to leave the province. We had to make a couple of stops along the way, but arrived at my friends' house shortly after 8pm. 

That, by far, was one of the most spontaneous things we have ever done. 

We hopped in the car and took a two hour trip, complete with bridge fee (almost $45), gas, food. We didn't think much about it, we just did it. Because we had no expectations at all, it was an amazing time. We went out for appetizers and drinks with my friends, watched a movie, and slept over. 

Nothing quite compared to the sleep you have when you know a baby won't be waking you up through the night. We slept for less hours than we usually do, but woke up feeling so much more well rested. 

The next day we hung out for a little bit then went to the mall. We didn't buy anything exciting, but it was nice to browse around together. 

I had so much fun. 

We got groceries then got our girls home and life went back to normal. 

Boyfriend said he was glad we made the trip, since I've seemed so much more, uh, affectionate since we got home. Yeah it might be true. It feels like all is right with the relationship again and we finally spent some real time together. It was so nice. 

The topic of my blog came up over the weekend, since the friend I was visiting reads it. I told boyfriend the only reason I don't go out of my way to give him my blog link is because all I do is bad-mouth him on here. 

So whatever you do, don't tell him about this post. Cause I actually quite like him. 

<3

We are not photogenic

Ash and me

My favorite married couple

Mmm mmm Arby's. 

And I don't know any details yet, but finally my friend had her baby - the first of my close friends to have a baby. It's about time someone joins me in motherhood. This is baby Emma and her mommy. I can't believe my friend has a baby. It's so exciting. I'm just sad that she lives on the other end of the country so I won't be meeting this little one until July. I cannot wait. 

And?

As soon as I find out how big or small she really is, let the shopping begin. 

Screw Meal Plan Monday today. Other things are more important. I'll meal plan tomorrow. 

Another 'Vacation Weekend'

I fail at blogging. Boyfriend has been around far too much lately, and he's a bit more fun than blogging, so I feel like I'm falling behind. Speaking of boyfriend, yesterday he discovered that I have a blog. That's about as much as he knows so far. So someday he may be reading this, or if he's already discovered the link on his own, maybe he already is, so just a reminder that I told you to stay away from the blog. Or at least don't tell me you're reading it. 

Moving on....

I had an amazing weekend. I took a (free) trip with a friend to visit two of our best friends and their family. At a cottage on the beach. I am officially obsessed with sitting out on the deck on a beautiful morning drinking coffee, with great people to talk to. There is not much better than that. 

Me and Chloe also got in a little beach time. She did okay with the water, but still isn't a fan of sand AT ALL, so we ended up spending some time playing on a towel while the others swam. 

We played tourist a little bit, took some fun photos, then went back to the cottage and took more photos. 

Paper Me came out to play.
Ps, if you don't know who Paper Me is, I can do an introduction another day :)

We attended my friend A's 'Family Fun Day', which was basically a ton of great food and a 'hillbilly' talent show, which might be my new favorite thing. Her aunt plays a hilarious hillbilly.

Boyfriend (got lost) made it up for his mini vacation Saturday night, basically Sunday morning. Of course when your cell loses service, it's always when you need it the most, so when we were supposed to meet, he couldn't get a hold of me and tried to find me anyway and got lost. We found him, brought him back and spent Sunday morning on the beach then headed into the city to eat, browse the mall, then head home.

Monday was moving day. 

We ended up not having the help we needed, so we didn't rent a truck but moved over most of his small stuff in his car anyway. The apartment is starting to feel pretty full, and the furniture isn't even in yet. It's giving me a lot of organizing and cleaning to do, but since I love doing most of that stuff, it's not so much of a chore. 

Having him here feels different now. Now that I know he'll be here every morning and every night. It's better. And so far he's the best roommate I've ever had. 

Once upon a bridal shower

My close friend M's bridal shower was this Sunday. It was quick, low-key event, but there was great food and some entertaining games. And as always, it was great to see my friend since she lives about 5 hours away from me. 

She scored lots of goodies, then the day was over. Next stop, wedding rehearsal. 

Here are a few photos from the day. 

Me, the bride, and Sarah

The bride and her sisters

Me in my toilet paper wedding dress

M putting on her 'honeymoon outfit' blindfolded, which was just a bunch of random items

Still putting it on

Opening a few gifts

Me and the bride

Did you have a bridal shower theme? Tell me about your wedding shower, or one you'd like to have or throw for someone else. 

Getting friendly with the ex?

Sometimes it's strange to really think how much I've changed from that super-shy girl I was just a few years ago. I couldn't do small talk, I never had the courage to start up a conversation with a stranger, even with some friends I just didn't know what to say. 

Both working with the public and dating my ex got me a lot more comfortable with people, and with myself. 

To the point that I've been recently thinking of asking someone to get together. Not a romantic kind of getting together, but something that stems from that. 

My boyfriend's ex. 

I know that sounds a bit crazy. Who does that? I've met the girl twice in quick passing, both times a bit awkward, as to be expected. But one night, months ago before I ever met her, she knew I was without baby and asked boyfriend if I would want to go to a bar with her to see her boyfriend's band play. I said no, simply because I didn't just want to go out alone with a girl I never met. 

But she wanted to meet me, since I'd be around her daughter a lot. Completely understandable. 

While my friend situation is quite limited around here these days, I'm not looking to meet her in hopes of getting a new friend. If it happened, I wouldn't complain, but that isn't my intention. My intentions are to get to know the mother of the little girl who I see usually at least once a week. No matter their relationship, she's always going to play a role in boyfriend's life. Whether or not we become friends, I'd like for us to at least be 'friendly'. This isn't a case of 'keep your friends close, enemies closer'.

The thought only crossed my mind because she is moving within walking distance of where I live. I don't know if I'll ever go through with it. 

But it can happen, right? 

[ via: weheartit ]