Boots

Can I just point out that I've lived in two well-known rain capitals in my life and never owned a pair of rain boots? At least I can’t remember owning a pair.

As a person who meticulously plans everything, after the acquisition of our small fur-baby I started to realize that I would be spending countless hours trudging around the block during rain storms once fall arrived. Derek, being the loving fiancé he is, purchased me the most gorgeous pair of Navy Hunter Wellies for my birthday.

I sit here today, with the rain streaming down, patting myself on the back for finally owning a pair. They’re gorgeous, they keep my feet dry (and my jean cuffs dry – wet jean cuffs are my biggest pet peeve), and I look absolutely fabulous in them. I don’t really understand how I survived without them.

Now, to finally complete my life, I shall be ordering a pair of fleece Welly liners to keep my feet warm during the Winter as well.

Rumour is that we’re getting snow this weekend, YUCK! Although, my hatred of snow is somewhat overshadowed by the excitement of my tiny puppy playing in the snow for the first time.

Knock Knock

I just want to put it out there that I don’t find knock-knock jokes funny. I never have, maybe it’s because I don’t really understand them? Why is someone knocking on my door? Have you ever actually said ‘Who’s there?’ before opening the door? I HATE it when people knock on my door, its such an intrusion into my space. Unless the person on the other side is delivering Thai food.

Kind of like when the phone rings, I hate answering the phone. I rarely do. Except for this morning when my father thought 6:50 am would be an appropriate time to call. I bolted for the phone because I thought something horrible had happened to mom. She’s fine. But I did leave my cell phone at their house last night.

Anyways, back to the jokes. Who invented them?

Such a waste of time...... Kind of like this blog.

That being said – I tell a lot of knock-knock jokes. I make up my own on the spot and they’re never funny nor do they make sense, yet I continue. They make Derek laugh and he loves them, and that’s why we’re getting married.

Knock-Knock

Who's there?

Unconditional Love.

Unconditional Love who?

Unconditionally Love me.

I vote that we abolish Monday's

Monday’s are horrendous – especially when it’s dark past 8am, it’s pouring rain like you’ve never seen it before, you didn’t sleep well and you go to pick up dog poop but it turns out there was no bottom of the bag and you end up grabbing the poop with your fingers. Lovely, I know – what made matters worse is that I was one poop bag short, and with two dogs you need multiple bags. So when my parents dog went to the washroom, I had nothing to pick it up with and a lady started yelling at me.

So to recap; I hate Monday’s, poor Derek is sick on his deathbed downstairs, and my parents are enjoying fruity tropical drinks in Mexico.

Our photographer has posted the rest of the Engagement photos on her blog – we love them and can’t wait to get some hanging around the house. I want to blow one up for above the bed, but Derek won’t let me. How does that saying go? It’s easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission?

PS - the above photo has nothing to do with Monday's or this weekend - I just thought you hadn't seen enough photos of Lexi lately. Here's some pictures from the summer, including her first swimming lesson with Daddy

October, Weddings & Engagment Photos

Should I stop being surprised when another month is over? At this rate my wedding will be over and done with before I know it.

Good thing we’re progressing nicely. Today we had an amazing photoshoot with Vanessa Voth Photography – Vanessa and I met in New Zealand and I’m so lucky that she lives close by to take our wedding pics.

Mexico was great, it flew by, but I was able to sleep, eat as much as I could, and swim in that warm Caribbean ocean. Overall, October has been good to us - the house smells of amazing scented candles – I can’t get enough! We’ve been burning ‘Fruit Salad’ by Yankee Candle a lot, but have started going for the Fall spicy scents and I’m loving ‘Leaves’ by Bath and Body Works.

We literally JUST got home from our photoshoot and Vanessa has already posted a sneak peak on her blog – and I’m in LOVE! Cannot wait to see the rest of the photos.

Weddings and Whatnot

I’m not sure where August & September went – they’ve completely flown by at a dizzying rate. Work takes up the majority of my time, and then the rest is divided between the fam & planning a wedding – I don’t know why people stress about planning weddings, this has been amazingly fun and relatively stress free so far! (Ask me my opinion in a few months time)

Perhaps it’s because I’ve had everything planned out for years and a lot completed already - the venue is booked, photographer is 95% booked, engagement shoot is next month, Décor rental is chosen and secured, florist chosen, menus and bar planned, dress purchased (yay) and I still have just under a year to go! I would book and plan more but I’m trying to save some stuff for next year….. I heart all my spreadsheets and lists and love tackling the challenges. In fact, I’ve already made my seating chart and I haven’t even invited people yet.

I cannot wait to become Derek’s wifey on Nine-Ten-Eleven – despite the 30-40 wedding magazines scattered around the house (all donated by past brides) I haven’t lost sight of the most important aspect of our day. I’m curious as to how different being a wife will feel – will there be this sense of completion, a stronger bond between us? An official stamp to make us feel like we’re finally a family? Or will it be business as usual? We’ve lived in this house together a year, pay our bills together, cook our meals together, share chores, laundry and everything else… so what will change?

My last name will change - I get to spend the rest of eternity spelling out a last name to people that I still struggle to pronounce and spell..... Ahhhh the price of love.

Anyways, we’re off to Mexico for a week for a much needed holiday. It’ll be our first time away from our little Lexi and my heart already breaks thinking of her all alone… until I remember that she’s staying with my parents, who think it’s perfectly acceptable to feed her whip cream from a spoon.

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy wine touring?

Derek and I had been planning a weekend of wine touring away in the Okanagan, we took off Thursday and drove up to Osoyoos to stay at a fabulous resort. We drove up with our little Lexi (who just ate through her third power cord in two weeks - 2 laptops and a phone) and spent the weekend relaxing, wine touring and making it the most memorable weekend that I will hold very dear to my heart, for the rest of my life.

Where to start... the weather was amazing, hot and sunny each day - so we put Lexi into Doggy Daycare for the two days we were out at the wineries to allow her have fun and not worry about the heat.

We did some amazing wineries in Oliver and Osoyoos the first day and then on the second day drove 1 hour north to Naramata to do some of my favourite wineries. Saturday was a magical day - not only did we purcase cases of my favourite wines, I also came home with a Fiance!

Derek proposed at Poplar Grove, overlooking the lake up on a cliff surrounded by vines. It was amazing and surprising and I can't wait to spend my life with him!

I can't stop stairing at my ring, which makes driving very unsafe - and both families are estatic that we're getting married. The plan is for next September here in Vancouver!

2 baths 2 days… and an eye infection

It turns out that we didn’t just come home with a wet, smelly dog covered in burrs when we left the park last Thursday – we also contracted a vicious eye infection that appeared on Monday.

Poor Lexi has been battling a severe case of conjunctivitis. I noticed it Monday morning when she woke up with her eyes crusted with pus and she was scratching them. I made a vet appointment for later that day – and thankfully I did, as the issue got worse over the course of the morning.

The first question they asked me was if she had been swimming in dirty stagnant water? If by swimming they meant tumbling off a bridge, then yes…. The vet shaved around her eyes (which gives her the appearance of two large black eyes) put all sorts of medications and freezing in her eye and then sent us home with a topical cream (have you ever tried to put cream on a squirmy puppy’s eyeball??) along with a big ole’ cone.



Poor Lexi is feeling much better – and the eyes are almost back to white with almost no crusties. But she’ll go into random whining/crying/moaning fits everyone once and awhile. She has to keep the cone on or she’ll scratch her eyes and either scratch her cornea or give herself an ulcer.

She can’t sleep with the cone on though, she’s so gosh darn uncomfortable and doesn’t fit in her crate, so she lays next to our bed at night, but there’s no sleeping going on. She’s up, crying whining, escaping, banging her cone into things and it goes on and on and on…… last night was the second night of sleep deprivation. I’m grumpy, she’s grumpy, Derek’s grumpy…..

I can’t wait for our follow up vet appointment tomorrow when they tell me she’s back to normal and we can ditch the cone.

Lesson learned: If your puppy falls into a dirty pond, don’t just bathe the fur, flush out the eyes and pick up some polysporin eye drops from the pharmacy.

Blogging pool and vinyard side

I've been at a stagette all weekend in Osooyos, in fact I'm still laying poolside soaking up the 30 degree weather for a few more hours before we trek home to cold and rainy Vancouver. Despite it being mid-June, its been rediculously cold leading up to summer - hopefully it warms up.

I do miss Derek and Lexi this weekend - I keep wondering what they're doing and if they're having fun without me. This resort is amazing and oh so gorgeous - I wish they were here with me to enjoy it. I feel like wine touring is in our future. We visited Twisted Tree and Nk'Mip wineries yesterday and I'm glad to be bringing home 5 bottles to share with Derek.

Anyways, I need to close my eyes and relax some more.

Xoxo

2 Baths 2 Days

(it's tough to get a picture of her playing... she's fast)

Poor Lexi has spent some significant time in the bath the past few days by no fault of her own… well a little of her own.

On Tuesday night we took her to a friend’s house to watch the Season Finale of Glee (Lexi’s a big fan) and my friend asked if she could have a bone as she was feeding her dog one. Thinking that it was a cookie type bone, I said yes, only to realize that my dog was gnawing on a raw lamb’s neck. I was disgusted butLexi loved it.

What I didn’t think about (until the next morning) is that you’re not supposed to change a puppy’s meat protein. If they eat chicken puppy chow, stick to chicken. If they eat lamb, stick to lamb and so forth until their stomachs are a bit stronger. Since Lexi’s on a Chicken and Rice diet – the lamb went through her, causing diarrhea every time she put anything in her mouth for the next 24 hours…. Fluffy white fur and runny poop will give you an idea of the mess I was dealing with. Poor thing.

Last night we took her for a walk around a lake with a friend and her new puppy. The two dogs are pretty close in age and got along famously – they played and ran and chased for 1 ½ hours straight. However, poor Lexi was running across a foot bridge crossing a muddy creek and slipped and fell off the bridge, down approx 4 feet and into the water. Lexi has never submerged herself in water, and we definitely didn’t plan for her first time to be a surprise.

Derek was a hero however, and ran into the water and pulled our poor flailing, panicking puppy out of the water. I'm pretty sure she was the one screaming, but according to Derek that was me.

She recovered with a bruised ego and continued on playing with the other dog, and ran straight through the bushes and came out covered in burrs and sticky tiny green seeds, which are IMPOSSIBLE to get out. So we spent another evening in the bathtub washing mud and smelly water off of her, and cutting and pulling burrs out of her fur.

I’m off to Osooyos for the weekend for a stagette – so Lexi and Derek are having some Daddy-Daughter bonding time. I hope for Derek’s sake she stays clean until Sunday.

Live crab

Live crab could have been the theme for last weekend’s sailing trip. Lexi, a coworker and I all headed to SaltSpring Island for a weekend away with my parents. The boat seems to have this medicinal aura about it, that instantly relaxes you and this weekend was all about relaxation….. and crab.

Dad has always wanted to catch crab, for years he's put down differnt traps, all sorts of bait and always come up empty handed. But I think the drought is over, being the scientest he is, he seems to have come up with a fail proof formula and started hauling in the crab this past weekend not looking back since.

Lexi, not to be left out of anything, also starting crabbing this weekend and experienced her first taste of live crab – she quickly learned that if she flips over the rocks on the beach tiny (and some not to tiny) crabs run about and are fun to catch and eat. I spent half my weekend shrieking at her and pulling fatally wounded crab out of her mouth.

All-in-all it was a great introduction for Lexi to the boat, the sailing was great, the fresh crab dip was great and the company wasn’t too shabby either.

Life before twelve

Some people think I'm absolutely crazy when I tell them I wake up at 5 a.m. three times a week to run a bootcamp, but despite my weekday madness, I'm actually a sleep lover. I go to bed between 9:30 and 10:30 and wake up either at 5am, 6am or on weekends..... 11:30 a.m.

I love laying in bed on weekends - Derek and I used to get in gear and make breakfast around 1 p.m. on weekends.... which has its downsides as we never really got that much accomplished on the weekends. Everything has changed since Lexi Doodle entered our lives 3 weeks ago.

We go to bed after our 11 p.m. pee and bedtime routine, get up at 3:30 a.m. for another bathroom break, and then again at 6 a.m. - we can usually squeeze another hour of sleep out of her until 7 a.m. when it's time to get up, eat breakfast, go for a pee and take our morning walk.

It's been good parental training for Derek and I, as by noon on a Saturday, we've made a huge breakfast, gone for a walk along the harbour, gone grocery shopping, done housework, watched the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (it's true) and are making progress around the house (finally getting my home office set up).

Life before twelve? Who knew.

New Camera

My cup overflows. First Lexi joined our lives.... and now my DSLR - I purchased a Nikon D3000 this weekend and have taken hundreds of photos with anyone or anything willing to pose for me. I can't wait to learn more about this camera and get shooting. I need baby models... may need to convince friends to let me babysit. It's 11:30 so I should go to bed, but I've had so much fun editing and going through all my photos.

Check out some of my efforts from yesterday and today

Loving Little Lexi Doodle

I can't imagine loving something more than Lexi. She's such an amazing puppy. Her potty training is all coming together - she goes to the top of the steps when she wants let out, she's learning all her commands and was the star of her very first puppy class yesterday - she gives the greatest snuggles and just flops into your arms and will lay there forever.

My mom hadn't met her yet, as she and my dad are away for the summer on the boat, but I was anxious for Pooda and Mom to meet her, so my mom took a three and a half hour ferry round trip to come and visit us for 2 hours!

Pooda and Lexi were great together - they had a very special bond, something you don't often see with Pooda, and I can't wait for them to spend more time together. Lexi also gets along with Farley, my brothers Labradoodle, and tomorrow they're attending a 'Doodle Romp' in Vancouver - where 19 other labra and goldendoodles get together.

When opportunity presents itself

So the thing with life is that it twists and turns. You go down one path, and then something comes up and you switch gears.

I tend to always hesitate when it comes to opportunity. Opportunity scares me. Failure scares me. And those two often go hand in hand. However every once in awhile opportunity partners up with success and blessings. Sometime the status quo is the easiest route, and more often than not, I take it. I always read about the amazing things people accomplish and do – the way they put their selves out there, and reap the rewards by utilizing their opportunity, and yet – I still sit back and wait for things to happen.

Anyways – opportunity has allowed me to work from home for the next few months. It’s a big deal and project that I get to do – and it’s setting me up for being able to work from home in the future. I’ve been having great discussions with a few mentors in the past few weeks, and I’ve decided I’m going to begin to work towards my ultimate goal of becoming a photographer, by studying, taking classes and beginning to purchase my equipment. My new/old/same/different job (long story) isn’t in photography – but it’s allowing me the time to begin to pursue over the next few months.

And if I fail… at least I took the opportunity. No regrets.

So in the mean time…. I’d like to announce the arrival of little Lexi Doodle – Derek’s and my new Goldendoodle addition. Why not make working from home a bigger challenge by adding a 12 week old puppy!

She’s adorable… when she’s sleeping. We picked her up 8 (fast and short) days ago and she’s coming along nicely with her training. A bit clingy to me… but we’re working on me become a pack leader and ignoring her fluffy adorableness.

She also needs plenty of socialization, but we start puppy classes next week and then we signed up for a ‘doodle romp’ where other Golden and Labradoodles in Vancouver meet up – plus lots of walks and trips to the dog park.

Note to self: Puppies are a lot of work. I spent so many years begging to get a dog, I never actually thought Derek would cave and think it was a good idea. Ha Ha. I love her so much already though.

Have I ever mentioned I’m REALLY into vacations?

Derek and I took off for Seattle a few weekends ago at the last minute. I got a great deal on the Westin downtown through Priceline and made a Thursday afternoon decision that we would head south Friday afternoon.

We spent the weekend walking around Seattle, shopping, had coffee with a friend then drove back north… stopping at the outlets along the way.

Have I also ever mentioned that I’m REALLY into sunshine and decks? Derek and I bought our patio set on Friday and spent the afternoon putting it together. Unfortunately it’s no longer sunny and it’s too cold to use it… but I foresee many a weekends spent barbequing and relaxing with friends up there.

Motivation

I'm lacking it.

I have several things on my list of things to do, but I'm finding it hard to come up with the motivation to do any. Clean my house, update this blog, take photos, go for a run, get to the gym, the list goes on. Perhaps I'm in a post-olympic funk... a haze of watching curling, skiing and, of course - hockey on t.v, going downtown to mix with the crowds, high fiving strangers just because I can... all of it gone.

Sure the paralympics start today but it's not the same. I miss the Olympics. I also miss my Olympic work schedule, we switched to a 12 hr, 7 day a week schedule at work to cope with the sheer magnitude of work meaning that I had several week-days off throughout the games. I loved heading to the gym at 12pm on a Wednesday only to find it completely empty or actually being able to go to the bank on a weekday! (It's the little things that get me going....)



Anyways, so I'm having a hard time dredging up the motivation to get back to the gym after a 8-4 day of work (although since I coach at 6am still, it's more like an 6-4 day of work) and Mexico is rapidly approaching. The entire family is going mid-April, which I'm completely looking forward to - I'm most excited about doing shots with my parents on the beach at the swing bar (a bar with seats that swing). Don't look horrified mom & dad - just one shot - it'll be fun.

I feel ridiculously out of shape however, I had a few good weeks where my abs were visible again, but I ate a bag of cheesies yesterday.... and two cupcakes.... and some mini eggs.... and I'm thinking the only way to force myself to get back into it... is signing up for a class of some sort. I like the group workout mentality... it pushes me harder, but I'm kind of sick of boxing right now, and hate going to the group classes as they're the same people I coach and people LOVE to make little comments telling me to run faster/punch harder, almost like we're friends.... we're not. I'm your coach... I'm paid to pretend to be nice to you, now leave me alone.

Irrational fears

If I wasn't nervous and jumpy enough, Derek's managed to add a new fear into my life - going to prison and becoming someone’s b**ch. I am now officially terrified of being sent to prison. Sure, I haven't ever committed a major crime worthy of a prison sentence - actually, that's a lie.

I once accidently shoplifted eggs from Safeway 12 years ago... I didn't mean to, I was babysitting and needed to get groceries for the family and placed the eggs into the stroller to carry them because I ran out of room in the basket.... and sure enough, I forgot they were in there.... Out of guilt however, I always donate to those Safeway charities at the checkout and have more than made up for the $4 I owe Safeway... ugh, okay.... now I'm feeling terribly guilty about those eggs again. Hmmm, can you go back and pay for something you accidently took 12 years ago?

Anyways, back to my important irrational fear - Prison. We were at Costco last night, and Derek stumbled upon the DVD's of his past favourite T.V. series - OZ. We watched the first episode and it was enough to scare me straight for the rest of my life.


There are some scary, scary people in prison - and despite my boxing skills, I'm a huge pansy and sissy... I'd be forced to join a gang for protection, and unless there's a Scottish bagpipe pride group - there's no one else for me except the Aryans... I don't want to be an Aryan a) I would like my body to stay swastika free b) my head is too lumpy and misshapen to be bald, and c) I'm 100% against what they philosophically stand for, so we would probably clash there....

Which leads me back to being terrified to commit any sort of crime... Derek was pretty quick to point out that given my moral piety and fear of pointy things, I won't ever be in the situation... but just in case I ever even contemplate it, I now am officially scared straight. Consider myself warned.

Seriously –should I call Safeway? This is now bothering me a lot… what if they read this and send me to prison? Could I buy a dozen eggs (they weren’t free range) from Safeway, and then sneak them back onto the shelf so they can sell them again?