When life hands you too much

run away...yep I said it, you run away, far away if possible, leave it all behind, if even for a little while. With that being said, Tim and I have been working hard, putting up with dumb ass people, people who keep getting more and more, much more then they deserve or we originally agreed to when we took the job, and much more then the deal Tim gave them on their house in the first place. So today was the final straw...so what if we have work still on going, or 3 projects when we get back. Today, we needed to know that there was an escape...and there is...with an open invitation to visit anytime, our friends Andy and Mike have opened there home to us for a week starting July 2....so we will be escaping to Sunny California, Long Beach to be exact for a few days, then a road trip to Vegas for a few days, then back to finish up our trip in Long Beach. It's 7 days, more then any other trip we've had, 7 days of bliss, of not thinking about bills, work, kids (well maybe just a bit about them) about housework, or even driving...yup, we are running away.

this photo is from last July when they met up with us in Vegas and took us on a wonderful day trip through Red Rock Canyon. Can't wait to see what adventures we have this trip. And also, it will be our first time in the USA for July 4th, :)

27 years ago

I found my soulmate...did I know it then, heck no, would I have believed that at 16 I had found the boy that would become the man who would make me his wife, the mother of his children, the reason for which I would wake each and every day for, not a chance. What I saw was this cute guy going into the apartments pool every so often and I would see him from my friends window. And yes, on many occassions I would make sure me and that same friend would just happen to go into the pool just after him and his friend. And well, the rest they say is history. Wow, 27 years, that's a whole lifetime, yet sometimes it seems like just yesterday we met, fell in love and got married. But it was a long time ago, we are now the age my parents were, and my parents are now the age my grandmother's where when we met. Has it been easy, that's a big no, would I change things, yes, but not what you would think, I would change how I handled myself in certain circumstances, not the outcome or the learning experience or the ups and downs, because through all of that, it has taught me that love is strong, love can conquer all, and with the right person holding your hand and your heart, the world isn't so scary or hard to get through, it just means that those bumps and lumps are worth every scrape, every bruise, every tear, if in the end your are still hand in hand when the sun comes up again. All I know is that without him, there is no me, no wonderful daughters, no family, no home to come to each day, for without him, I would not be the person I am today. Thank you Tim, for being the only one for me, for holding me, for loving me, for putting up with me but mostly for cherishing me, like no one else can. I love you with all my heart from this day forward, for our past, our present and our wonderful future. xoxo

Finished Graduation Wall Gallery

With Jordyn's graduation now done, I was able

to finally finish my graduation brag gallery. I added

a photo of her in her dinner/dance dress and then

one from her commencement in her cap, love how it

has the year on the tassle of the cap. I then had one

spot still looking bare on the wall, so I made a frame

inspired by Ali Edwards. I used my cricuit to cut out

multiple hearts in corresponding pattern papers, and

then put the background paper inside the frame, then

with pop dots, put the hearts on the outside of the glass.

Tickets to the UFC131

When we found out the UFC was going to make a return to Vancouver, we were really wanting to go, since last year it had sold out so quickly. And once again, the tickets sold out asap. Tim decided to search on Stub Hub and managed to get us seats, although up in the rafters, but still reasonably priced that we could go. As the even grew closer, Tim became a UFC Fight Club member online, and that allowed for us to participate in some exclusive things the UFC was putting on while here. We got to go to a Q & A with a fighter, Stephan Bonnar, see all the fighter weigh ins, and do meet and greets with different fighters at Venues around Vancouver.

The first rule of fight club is...you don't talk about

fight club, good thing I'm not a member then eh? :D

After the weigh ins, we were lucky enough to get

to meet Joe Rogan and Tim got his picture taken with

him. He was very friendly and outgoing and took the

time with many fans to chat and for photo ops.

The Octagon Nation has a big rig that

sets up when the UFC is in town, and has

a mini museum set up in it, a UFC store

and also had fighters doing signings and

photo ops. I posed with the title belt, and

it was actually pretty heavy. I couldn't imagine

wearing it around my waist.

The day of the fights, Tim and I proudly

wore our Canadian power UFC t's and

stood for a picture at home before we left.

This is how high up we were in Roger's Arena,

actually just one row down from the very top,

but still a good straight view for us. I asked the

guy behind us to snap a picture of us with the

octagon in the background.

What an amazing weekend we had, a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable experience we won't soon forget. We met great people both from the UFC, models, and other fans while waiting in the line up. The MMA Expo was also another oppurtunity to meet and get photos taken and was well worth the price of admission. For a first time fight experience, we can honestly say we took in as much as we could, and even though some of the fights didn't end the with the winner we wanted, the event was well put on and highly entertaining.

Jordyn's Commencement

Jordyn's Commencement Ceremony was held on

June 9, 2011 at Pacific Academy. Before heading over

we took a bunch of family photos out front of our house.

My baby is all grown up, and I have no idea where this

beauty of a girl came from. I was a very proud mom this

day and know how hard she has worked in school to get

good grades, be polite and respectful of her teachers and

peers, and how much of a personal stuggle she has had over

her 5 years in high school. This one evening of honoring her

may not balance out all the hardships of high school, but

she can know just how proud and happy we are for and of

her. Love you baby girl. Congradulations.

Ever wish you were anywhere but here

I get like this in the summer especially, I hate Surrey, really hate it, and when the sun is shining brightly, and all I yearn for is to be in the great outdoors, what are the options...takes over an hour to drive to a lake, or even into Vancouver to walk the seawall. Being outside is in my blood, I was born basically in the True North, were in summer and in winter we were outside, never inside, hell, I am surprised we didn't live in an igloo, lol, that's how much time we spent outside. But Ontario is built for that, anytime of year, you can enjoy outdoor activities. BC in all it's splendor, well at least the lower mainland area at least, is too much city!!! not enough green space. Sure parks are great, but camping is forever to get to and that's if you are lucky enough to find a spot to stay. Living in a basement suite with no outside space doesn't allow for backyard fun or get to gether's for bbq's. I'm just feeling like I've awoke from a long winter's nap, and summer is knocking at my door, but I'm not allowed to go out and play. I look at all my family that lives in Ontario, with outdoor adventures, and sometimes I wish we would have never left when I was a kid, maybe I'd have that cabin on the lake, or the boat to go out and spend hours in. But alas, I'm stuck in my basement suite, sad and lonely and blue. So much potential, and no time or money to do what I want.

Happy 22nd Anniversary my love

Thoughts on being married for 22 years! Seems like

a lifetime, and really, it's been more then half of my life,

that I've been married to this wonderful man.

I can't imagine waking up in the morning without him, or

laying my head down at night without him by my side.

He's more then just my love, my life or my best friend.

He's literally my everything, my heart, my soul, my

complimentary other half. I can't imagine my life any

other way, with any other person, without the other

half of me. Love is a strong word, full of meaning and

emotion, yet it just doesn't seem enough of a word to

describe the feelings I have for him. My life, maybe

really is the only word for it, for without him, there

would be no me, no wife, no mother, nothing, for he

makes me who I am, a better me, a loving me.

After all the rush and fuss with Jordyn's grad dinner and

dance yesterday, we finally managed to spend a little time

together to celebrate our love for each other, and although

some may think a romantic dinner would have been the right

thing to do, for us, it's more about being out, having fun together

and experiencing things that make us happy, so on this night

we went to the racetrack, won a bit of money and had a nice

evening out, and had Amy along for the ride. What a great day!

Jordyn's grad dinner and dance

Words can not discribe how I felt yesterday when I saw my baby girl all dolled up for her grad dinner and dance. She wanted to feel like a princess and I can honestly say, she looked like one when all was said and done. She got her nails, hair, and makeup all done professionally, and once she stepped into her dress she became a "princess" and that's how she felt, because she said so. I have put a few photos here on my blog, but for those of you who are also my FB friends, you can see all of my photos on an album there. I can't believe my beautiful daughters are now amazingly beautiful women, and I look forward to the next steps in their lives. Pretty soon I will be able to photograph Amy having another graduation, this time from College, and although Jorydn is not sure of her future plans, I look forward to guiding her down this unknown path. I think as I did with Amy when she graduated and looked so beautiful, I will browse upon these photos ofthen so my heart can once again fill with pride and joy.

A few more LO's from our Whistler Weekend Getaway.

Amy's Grad Dress 2009

I am posting pictures of Amy's graduation as

well as Jordyn's as I am equally proud of both of

my girls and want to relive Amy's special time as

well with my friends and family.

Frustrated

I just need to put this out there, what is up with Blogger? I can't log in to comment on my own blog, yet I show up as me on other's blogs. I can make a new post, but yet, it post randomly large, with huge spaces, and I can't fix it no matter what. I am starting to get very frustrated. I want to showcase my creativity, yet spend hours trying to make it look good on here to share, yet all this wasted time is for not. So I apologize to my friends and family who come to my blog to see what I've been up to and have to scroll a whole page just to see a few things....ARGH!!!

Whistler LO's

This is the front page of an 8 x8 LO I did for fun. It was from our mini trip to Whistler and includes a copy of the free drink coupon I got for Starbucks. I really wanted to include this smaller LO in my 8 1/2 x 11 scrapbook so I used the back of the page as the journallin spot for not only this LO but for the one on the next page as well.




















So here is the journalling side of the 8 x 8 page, and it's in front of the the next LO in this post.




















Just a fun quirky LO to celebrate my 43rd birthday. I did a few LO's from our trip up to Whistler, so this LO just reflects on a few things we did on my actual birthday.