Exciting News!

Well. I have two things I want to tell you all. It's very exciting for our little family.

1. I am now a new employee at London Drugs! I am a Cashier! I had the interview friday, got hired that day, and had training on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. It all went fairly well! I was a little overwhelmed at first, but I am SUPER excited to be working, especially for a company where everyone is super nice and fun to be around! My first shift is on Wednesday!

2. Meet the Newest member of our family. Lars. The french bulldog. Yes. A dream come true!!

So. Let me tell you how this all went down. Blake and I have been wanting to get a puppy since we've been married. We threw around the idea all the time, and we desperately wanted a French Bulldog. I have written a blog post about them before. I am in love with them. If you want to be entertained for a good couple of hours go to Youtube and type in french bull dog anything. They are ADORABLE. and SO playful. Their breed is known to be the "clown" breed. They are so goofy! And they have the best personalities. Blake and I have researched them, and we just knew they were the right dog for us. No only do they have the cutest ears and face and stoutest little body you've ever seen, they are not high maintenance and just love to goof around and will love you with all their heart.

So anyways. I was always on kijiji, hoping to see puppies available. I've only seen french bulldog puppies about once, and they are a VERY pricey dog. about 2,000 to 2,400. So.. yes, this was to remain a dream for us. With a big sigh, I look at their pictures, adore them, and then move on. We also would search shelters to see if there was ever any there but there was never any.

Well. Friday, after my interview we decided to go to the pet store that was right next to London Drugs. I go to a pet store whenever we can. We have a routine we do whenever we go to a pet store. Fish, creepy crawlies, reptiles and THEN rodents, birds, and puppies. So we made the rounds. I turn the corner, and this glass case is exactly my height, and all i see...are these HUGE bat ears... I just stared..and then i focussed...and my jaw dropped and I squealed and covered my mouth with my hand. Yes, there they were right in front of me. Two ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. French Bulldogs. Blake was also in Aw. And we thought they were cute in pictures and youtube videos...in person...its not even comparable.

So, there was a male and female. We begin to play with one of them, the other one was sleeping. And it took us a few minutes to figure out which one was playing with us and it happened to be the female. Blake and I have always wanted a male dog, just because of their demeanor and what not. Don't get me wrong a female would be great, but we just had hope for a male. So after a while the female just starts jumping all over her brother and he wakes up. He looked TERRIFIED. And we absolutely loved the females personality. A worker came up to us and asked if we would like to get one out and hold them. ABSOLUTELY we did!!! I was beyond giddy. THERE I WAS ...a french bulldog puppy in my arms, kisses galore, seriously, cloude nine. She was adorable!! The work then asked us if we'd like to go with her to the play pen ( a little area in the back where you can go and play with the pup with toys and what not. So we did, she was running all ove rthe place grabbing every toy she could, chewing on my boots, blakes sweater. SOO hyperactive and adorable. Sliding all over the place. French Bulldogs are top heavy so they dont have the best balance at this age, so she was tripping over herself quite a bit. We were in love.

Well, we couldn't leave her brother out now could we?! So the worker went and got him as well and he was still terrfied, very concerned about everything and shy. Cute, but we wanted more playful. We continued to play and he started to get more active, running around bitting toys being adorable. Okay..Blake and I were sooo torn. How could we pass them up?? Not only just one..but how could we not take the OTHER?! That wasn't even a question, we couldn't take both. Also, I have to mention their coloring was everything we had wanted. Brindle. We love brindle coloring, for those of you that dont know what that is , its kind of a tigerish stripey look with dark brown and a lighter brown. Not only that though, they both had this adorable white strip down their chest! ahhh!!

Blake and I sat in that pin for probably an hour, back and forth, back and forth. We can, we can't , we SHOULD, we shouldn't... WE HAVE TO!!!! But how could we pick which one?! The females coloring was more vibrant, but she began to get a little too agressive with biting and what not. And she was quite a bit skinnier then the male. His body structure was MUCH more sturdy which is something i really really wanted in a french bulldog if we were to ever get one. Well, he warmed up to us and we fell in LOVE. We couldn't leave him. We had to have him. He. was. OURS.

But before we could decide anything we asked about the process of buying him etc, would we have to put all the money down or could it be at a later date. We found out we could put a deposit on him if we wanted, for half the price. So earlier I mentioned French Bulldogs are VERY expensive for a dog. Well, this price for PURE BRED french bulldogs... was AMAZING. It was quite a bit lower then what they usually go for. So how could we pass this up? How could we NOT get him...without regretting our decision. It was a lot of money. Neither Blake and I had been working for a while..but I got a job, with decent pay and decent hours. We could do this. We did it. We put a deposit down, and planned to pick him up monday.

EEEEEE!!!! We left, and we couldn't believe we were doing this. We are going to have a puppy. The whole drive home I was on top of the world. We both were. We couldn't wait to see him again!!! Well.. I got a phonecall shortly after asking if I could do my work training for hte next three days! I quickly agreed. And then I remembered...Monday we're supposed to pick up Lars!! Also..you better believe Blake and I have had that named picked out since we ever even thought of getting a french bulldog. It's just so perfect. So anyways... Blake had school and I had training all day.. So blake would be picking him up by himself!


What were we to do?! I would NOT allow him to be picking up Lars by himself, and shopping for all the necessities by himself. No. Way. Ahhh!! So... Saturday? No. Training. Sunday. Nope. Can't pay for him then. We then both knew what we had to do...we had to go back..and get him THAT day.

So we did. Probably only an hour after, we were back. And the worker said she knew we would be back. (Was it that obvious how in love with him we were??) So we went shopping, we got an awesome discount on everything we needed, food, bed, toys etc. And then as we were ready to leave, we finally got our puppy. He was TERRFIED. I can only imagine what it must've been like for him, leaving his sister, coming out of a quiet glass case, into the real NOISY world. With many scary big objects. His claws were digging into us. The whole ride home, he was shaking. I felt so guilty.

Anyways, he is WELL adjusted, he is still pretty shy with certain things but we couldn't be happier with our decision. We love him so much, and he is our precious larsy boy. He is sooo smart. He is picking up on potty training so quickly, and he has already found his voice, he wouldnt make a squeak when we first got him. But now, after a few days, he is not afraid to use his little squeaker! Its soo cute!

Anyways. That's our big news, and I will continue to update on everything! I hope he doesn't grow up too fast! :)

Falltober..yes, we had a fall.

Hello!

Yes, it has been a while. I haven't really done a blog, well, simply because nothing exciting has happened in the past couple of months. But I will update you anyways.

Blake has been going to school, he is taking 4 classes and is now starting his generals for pre dental. YAY! It's been a long road to get here, but he is finally here and is MOSTLY enjoying it. He is super happy that he was able to pick classes that he wants, and that will actually count towards something, instead of the horror of upgrading. But he is doing great! He is taking Bio, Psychology, a SUPER easy computer class, and Art. (He HATES art, but he is a trooper for sticking with it.) He also is actually a really good artist, so I'm glad he is tolerating that class, and all the people in it. Things were off to a slow start until just recently. He wasn't getting really any homework, and had hardly any tests but I think because its getting closer to the end of the semester teachers are throwing everything they can at them to keep them busy until its over!

I'm still on the hunt for a job! I've applied at multiple places, but I guess the rumors are true that lethbridge is a hard place to get a job in! But I am determined to get one by the end of the week. So we'll see how that goes. I haven't been TOOO agressive with finding a job, up until this point. Reason being is I was very much dreading being tied down and not being able to get time off to visit my family before winter. Supposedly it's supposed to be a really bad winter too. So the thought of not being able to visit my family before the roads were bad..well...that means it'd probably be a YEAR since I had seen them before we could get down! It's already been 7 months.

But that's not an issue anymore, because Blake and I went to Utah this weekend and had an early Thanksgiving with my family! We left Thursday Morning, and Came home Sunday. So it was only for a few days but it was SO worth it!

We got there Thursday night, and it was so fun to see the house all decorated with Halloween stuff! I had forgotten how full out my mom goes! I absolutely love it! And I had also forgotten what my house smelled like. But as soon as I walked through that door it just overwhelmed me! I was back. I was home. And it felt good. We left around 7:00 that morning, and got there that evening around 5:45 pm. Blake was able to take his psychology test that was supposed to be thursday morning, the day before. And I'm so grateful for that because it gave us an extra evening with my family!

The drive to Utah is about 12 hours, but with good roads and a consistent speed, we usually manage to shave off an hour or so, which helps! This trip actually went by a lot faster for the both of us. It probably had somethign to do with the fact that the weather was AMAZING and we weren't having to slow down because of roads etc. We just relaxed when we got there that night. We had amazing Cafe Rio pork burritos when we got there. That's another thing I had forgotten about home, the amazing food! Okay, actually I never forgot about it, I have always remembered and missed home cooking, so it was just finally able to have some of it.

The next day I made sure to get up earlier so that I had more time in the day to do things, and spend time with people! My older sister had stayed over night thursday night, and her, my mom and I all spent the day in the kitchen preparing food for the Thanksgiving dinner the next day. It was so fun! I was getting so excited making all the food, because I haven't had a thanksgiving with my family since I've been married! That's over 2 yrs! We always planned on it each year but the weather always turned out to be bad when it came around, plus Blake doesnt get a break then because it's American thanksgiving, so who knows what tests he would have around then so finally my family decided we HAD to be there. And I was so happy we did this!

Later that night we went to my brothers highschool football game. Might I add it was the first state qualifier game! My brother is now a Junior in highschool. I can't believe it. He was heading into highschool when I got married. I haven't seen ANY of his games, and it kills me. I was the one always at his games or other sports he did, I never missed it. I loved going and watching him kick butt. I have to say he is a very talented athlete, so it's very exciting to watch him. It gives me adrenalin! Anyways, so missing his highschool experiences has been really hard on me, and I just can't believe how fast time is going and that he will be a senior next year, so seeing this game was something I really, really needed. Just to let you know how much it meant to me, and how HAPPY I was to be there... I got choked up when they ran onto the field, and I was fighting back tears during the National Anthem. I know, pathetic. But you don't realize all the stuff you miss until you're missing it. It turned out to be a REALLY good game, we all thought we would lose, but we WON! 21-0! Go Vikes!

So Saturday came along, and we had the Thanksgiving dinner. All of my family was there, including my Grandparents and my Uncle I haven't seen for YEARS! It was so much fun, and the food was so so good! And I was so happy that Blake could finally be there with me, and experience it with all of us for the first time! We had the tradiational candied yams, german noodles and an AMAZING turkey. (For those of you that don't know what german noodles are, the correct name is Spetzle and its AMAZING. We have them in place of potatoes. Google it.) I ate as much as I could but I am sad I couldn't eat more, especially knowing we had to leave the next morning and wouldn't be able to take any of it with us! I'm especially mad I didn't have another piece(s) of pumpkin pie. I'm thinking I will just have to make one for myself around the real American Thanksgiving. But anyways, we ate, we laughed, we loved. And it was wonderful, and exactly what I needed.

My nephew has gotten so big, he is POTTY trained now! And talking. I just can't believe it, the next time we get down there he will probably be dating! Jk! But that's how fast I feel time is going. My dog is getting older, but still the same silly doggy. I got many many snuggles and kisses out of him before I left. Same with my brother... jk. No kisses. Just lots of hugs. Against his will. It's just so fun to hug him now though, he's so big!! The little big brother I never had.

Saturday went by even faster the the other days, and it was time to go to bed and get our rest before we knew it. We woke up early Sunday morning, and were out of there by 7 as well. The drive home is always the hardest for me. Because I don't feel like I'm going "Home" , it feels like I'm leaving home. But it's getting better. I actually do miss Lethbridge when I leave it. Just a little though. We made good time, and had NO problems at the border. In fact, the guy was so super nice! He told us to have a good day and drive safe! What a difference compared to going through the border TO the states. He asked us the usual questions, and handed us our passports backed and said GET GOING!! And it wasn't in a nice way. It was like we were burdening him. Anyways. The border is always a fun place. I'm sure everyone thinks that!

So now we are back, October is gone, and there is STILL no snow. That's supposed to end this week. But I'm just amazed at how beautiful this fall has been. We were able to see the leaves change, the leaves fall, and slowly were able to bring out the sweaters and mittens. Instead of the huge coats and big boots because of the crazy snow that all of the sudden appeared! We're going to miss not having to scrape our car windows off every morning.

I think November is going to be a good month. And who knows, maybe it won't be such a bad winter and we will be able to visit my family again. And maybe it could be a long enough trip that I could actually visit some friends!!! That would be nice. I haven't seen any of my friends for a long, LONG time.

So Fall of 2011. You have rocked. For the most part. Thank you for being warm enough to allow me to go to Utah. And thank you for letting me see all the beautiful trees as we drive through the neighborhoods here. Winter 2011, please be nice to us. We are welcoming you with open arms, I promise. But please, be gentle.

Oh!!! I remembered another thing that IS new. But this blog post is long enough. So I will write about it another time.

P.S. There were NO trick or treaters last night. But oh well. I enjoyed my traditional watching of Nightmare Before Christmas, without any interruptions. :)

End of Summer

Well, it has been a while! Oops! I can't believe the last thing I blogged about was my birthday...that was literally months ago!

Last you knew we were in Edmonton. Well, a couple weeks after that we took an opportunity to go to Saskatoon and switch back to installing the security systems instead of selling them. I also got my FIRST JOB EVER since being in Canada. It was completely official and everything..because I have my work permit..and now a SIN! (Social Insurance Number). Everything worked out exactly how it was supposed to I think. I got to be the Office Assistant for the Vivint. Saskatoon office. It was actually really laid back for the most part.

Blake and I really enjoyed Saskatoon! Saskatoon is in the province Saskatchewan, which is stereotyped to be very grassy, spacious, and ..boring. I'm most of it is, but Saskatoon is absolutely beautiful. Very, very green and there is a whole river that goes through the city. We loved it. The apartments weren't half bad, although when we got there it was COMPLETELY disgusting..like the DIRTIEST thing I had ever seen. Just garbage and old food everything, toilet paper (used) all over the bathroom! Soooo gross! We were like REEEALLY? But after we cleaned it all up and unpacked our stuff it was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, I didn't take ANY pictures of the Apartment we stayed at..or of Saskatoon at all. I completely slacked this summer. I guess that's what happens when you are working.

Another awesome part about going to Saskatoon is Blake's cousin was his "Head Tech" basically the manager of the techs. It was so fun! There was also another guy there that was with us last year in New Brunswick, so it was like having the gang back together again. In fact, we all became even closer this summer, while adding even more friendships onto it! I was really happy. I had a lot of fun. I hung out with the boys because more often than not Blake would ALWAYS get the late install, and I HATED being alone all evening.

Unlike last summer, it was sooo warm! I'm sad because I honestly didn't take advantage of that at all. I was outside way more than last summer though. I was also able to make more friendships with the other wives! Last year I only had one other wife to keep me sane (You know who you are! Love you!) but this year there was a whole group, and I know I have made some lasting friendships. So I was getting out sooo much more, going shopping, going to spray parks, bbqs, and just having work to go to each day really helped me look forward to what this fall is going to be like.

So Blake and I got home a few weeks ago. The end of the Summer season ended Aug 27th, but we had to leave the Monday before that so Blake could take a test for school! School..I can't believe it's already here..and this year Blake does not have to work AT ALL. So he can focus completely on his studies. I'm so so happy about that. You really don't realize how much of a load it is to work and go to school, so I'm grateful I can now help lighten his load by being able to work.

4 hours into the drive home we realized we had forgotten a suitecase..all of Blakes clothing was in it! The funny thing about this is we had BOTH checked the room it was in and had both said "Yep! We got everything!" And on the way home I was just like "Wow Blake! We can actually see out the back window this time! You did a really good job packing. I really can't believe how much less it seems like we have packed." That was like right when we left. Then later Blake was like "Did you happen to see me pack in the Black suitcase?" .....Uh oh... I frantically looked through everything in the back...yep. We had definitely forgotten it. I was so stressed! I really tried to get Blake to turn around but he wouldn't, but at this point..we both wish we would have. Wanna know why? Well, we didn't realize we had forgotten the bathroom bag until few days later when we were unloading the car. The bathroom bag contained: All my make-up, hair products, shampoo, blake's razor charger, BOTH my pairs of glasses, and my retainer. All that is quite expensive. We asked our buddies that were still there to search for it but it was gone. What we wanna know is who takes personal stuff like that, and doesn't think to give it to someone who can find it's owner..or put it in an area where maybe the person that was looking for it could find it??

So we get the joy of replacing all of that stuff! Wahoo! Good thing we made some decent money this Summer! We had another week before school started that we were planning on going to Utah, but turns out Blake's passport had expired earlier that month. It was so disappointing! I couldn't believe I had forgotten about that. So that is also another thing we need to get taken care of so we can get down there ASAP before the winter starts up here.

Anyways, that's pretty much an update! We are back in the same house we were in last year! Yes, a whole house to ourselves for an amazing price. Blake is going to school full time, and is starting his pre-dental. And this week I will be on the hunt! For a job. So we have lot's to do! We are both really looking forward to this fall and everything that is in store for us for the rest of the year 2011.

21st Birthday ya'll.

So! This past week I had my 21st birthday!! Wahoo!! I am now legal in the states...but that doesn't really matter, but it's still fun to THINK that I could go to clubs and all that stuff that 21 yr olds can do , right? Anyways! So the weekend before my birthday I was able to go
down to Blake's sisters graduation/grad (prom)! It was sooo exciting! It was so different from what we do in the states. We have prom a month ish before graduation, and then the actual graduation we go to a college and sit, have a program, graduate. The end! Here, they graduated the day before "grad", so they did all that, and then the NEXT day they go and have their "grad" dance!! But!! It's not just a dance..the whole family goes if they want to, because there is a banquet. We were lucky, everyone was there except Blake, (so sad he had to work! boo :( ). But they have a little program while we eat, and then they have what they call...the march (i think). It's something march..march of the grads? Either way, what happens is all the graduates, march around the gym around all the tables, family, and friends. It was really cool! What a way to be celebrated and recognized for graduation! Afterwards, everyone goes outside and gets pictures, and then after that it's off to the dance! And then...after THAT..there is an all night party! We too have an all night party after graduation day..but I thought it was crazy because ours is strictly only for the seniors, but here the whole school can go, till about 3 in the morning!

So it was really fun to take part in that experience! So graduation wasn't the only exciting event to take place that weekend. Blake's mom, brother, and I are all 3 days apart with birthdays! So this was first time actually celebrating all our birthdays together! It was really fun!! We all got really amazing gifts. Another thing I also got to do that I have never done before was go to Waterton National Park, in the Spring/Summer ish. I had been there before but in the winter..that is actually where Blake proposed to me. :) But it was sooo beautiful!! I was so sad Blake couldn't be there with me, but oh well. He's amazing for working so hard, and I am so lucky to have him as my husband. Oh! Also, it's a tradition for Blake's family to go to Calgary zoo for his brother's and mom's birthdays, and now also mine. But because Blake couldn't be with us, we're going to wait to do that a weekend in September. I'm super excited for that..because guess what?? Yep, never been! hahaha. I need to get out more.

But anyways, that's what I did this past weekend. For my actual birthday on Monday, I woke up to the most beautiful and sweet note from the hubsy. He had to work all day unfortunately, but I know he was thinking about me every minute, at least he better have been!! Just kidding. But later that night around 9:30 we went to Moxies. It was delicious, and it was very nice to get out on date with him! I love any time I can spend with that guy. He's the best.

21 has now come, and I'm so excited for this next year in my life! I'm so grateful for the families that I have, the health I have, and the wonderful life I am living. It can only keep getting better!

Enjoy some pictures of the events!

Also, it's happening. I think I'm becoming Canadian...I...like...hockey. The stanley cup has opened my eyes. Boston vs Canucks... I honestly don't know who to root for. The American in me is still bitter about the Olympics... so bitterly I secretly want the Bruins to win..but then the growing Canadian in me wants to take pride in the Nucks. I have just decided that either win will be amazing, and I'm gonna choose my own hockey team to root for with this next season! Go....TEAM!! :)Waterton. Beautiful.


Birthday dessert at Moxies!

This was mentioned in my last post, but this was my birthday in Utah! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of my birthday in Canada.

The girls at Grad. :)

Spring..fever? Nah.

So I guess it's been a while since I have updated this, due to the fact that we haven't had internet until this week! So yay! I'm back.

Updates...well let's see here. Blake and I are now officially moved up to Edmonton for the summer. I LOVE it up here. It's absolutely beautiful. And..there just recently hasn't been any wind. Southern Alberta is known for the wind, so supposedly when we moved up here there wasn't supposed to be ANY wind...yeah. Lies. It was windy every single day until this week. And the wind was worse than Southern Alberta!! But luckily it has ceased, and now we can more fully enjoy what this city has to offer! It's finally sooo green!! I think this step was supposed to happen let's see..two months ago?? And now we're supposed to be seeing flowers everywhere!! But no, slow start. But it's okay. As long as summer comes I'm okay with that. Another AWESOME update... MY WORK PERMIT FINALLY CAME! WAHOOOO!!! I've already been applying to places, but unfortunately I'm limited in where I can work, because of the limits on my work permit, and because I am not always going to have a car, thus limiting me with my location. So..who knows. Also, so many people aren't looking for just summer work they want permanent, which isn't gonna work for us. So too bad! But I'm so happy the process is finally really starting with my Permanent Residency! WAHOOO!!

So before we moved here we went down to Utah Easter week. It was very, VERY much needed for me! And I'm so glad that we went down before this summer in which we won't be able to go down at all. It was so, so good to see all my family, and how much my cute little nephew has grown!! I didn't even know he was really talking, yet alone him being able to say my name and know who I am! First thing I heard when I walked through the door "Sissa! Sisissa!!" ahh! Love him so much! He also is finally getting to know who Blake is uncle "bakey". Which just made my heart so happy! We basically just hung out with the Fam while we were down there. I honestly just love to be at home when we go down, and just soak it up. I was suprised when my family celebrated my birthday (2 months early) with everyone! It made me sooo happy! I always hate being away from my family on my birthday so it was such a good suprise. For my Birthday my parents got me a sewing machine! AHHH!! I was sooo excited!! So this summer I'm going to do my best to learn how to sew! I already have a pattern and projects that I'm trying to work on! So we'll see how that goes. :) My sister also got me 2 of Lauren Conrad Books, both of which I finished in 2 days because we had no internet or tv the first couple weeks we were living here! Oh how i've read so many books! I also got to go to my cousins wedding while we were down there, even though it had us driving back until 1 in the morning, I was so happy I was able to experience that and have Blake there with me to meet soo much of my family, because they really don't know him that well!
So after Utah, we headed out to Blake's family's house to have a little easter with them as well! Mind you we got in at 1 AM, and then at 8 the next morning we had to start packing the car up, because we would be driving to Edmonton (6 hours away) that day! It was sooo packed! Luckily Blake's dad is a master packer and we were even able to fit Blakes sister in the car with us, to drive back up there.

So yeah! That's what we've been up to the past couple months! Blake is gone from about Noon to 10:30 at night! So at least we get to spend the mornings together, as well as all of Sunday. Oh how I look forward to Sundays! We've met sooo many great people up here, and I know that we are making many friendships too, and I couldn't be happier about that. This job is very, very hard, and I'm so grateful for a husband who has committed and works so hard everyday to this job. It's been a rough first month, but I know this summer is going to be SO worth it.

So that's what's been up with us lately! I hope that life is going well for everyone else, and I can't wait for the sun to start shining every single day!! ..Blake is already so tan... I need something to get me outside...this town kind of freaks me out. hahaha :).

It's that time of year again

Yep. That's what I did today! First mow of the season! I actually really enjoy mowing the lawn. It's almost theraputic to me. I just love the feeling I get after it's all mowed, the feeling of making something look nice! We are still only renting a place, but I really have enjoyed having a front and back yard, and doing all the yard work. Makes it feel more like the home really is mine! I grew up mowing the lawn. It was one of my favorite ways to get a tan, go out in the middle of the afternoon on a Utah summer day. Yeah, sometimes I would come back in and be like "why the heck do I mow at the hottest time of day!! GAH!!" But it was all about the sun baby. Anyways. This is kind of a random post, but as Blake and I are getting all packed up to move up north for the summer, I found pictures of the last place we were in, and Blake and mines first place together! Well, they're kind of "pictures". I accidentally deleted the original ones I took on my camera, off my camera, and off the computer. Luckily, I had printed them out on paper! I believe I was going to send them to someone so they could see but I never got around to it. So the quality is very pixelated, and not very clear, but still. At least I have the memories captured of that basement suite. I honestly can't believe that we're already at that point in our lives again, starting to pack and leaving to work for the summer! It came back SOOO FAST!! I can not even begin to tell you how happy I am that we aren't going to New Brunswick again, or ever again for that matter. It's funny to think how fun we thought it was going to be, being clear across the country on the East coast....yeah, definately didn't expect what we found. Such as rain almost every day, and living in hotels..the WHOLE summer. Horrid. I mean, it's fun to think about now, but during that specific time, it honestly was miserable!! But I guess it makes fun memories! So yes, there is lot's to do by the end of this week. We don't actually have to be up in Edmonton until the 25th, but I really wanted to go down to Utah with Blake and see my family before summer, or else they wouldn't even see eachother again until next fall! Not okay! Plus I haven't had easter with my family for 2 years! So we're making it happen. I'm very excited. So we will be down there for about 6 days, and then drive all the way back up, have a little easter with Blake's family and then be on our way!! What I want to happen is for us to have everything we need to take with us up north all packed and ready to be loaded for when we get back before we leave to Utah this weekend. So hopefully that is possible!! It's kind of hard, because we don't really know the place that we're staying at and everything that we would need to bring such as cooking supplies, towels and other random things that you wouldn't think you would need to bring. Last summer, we took WAAAY too much. Like way. to. much. But it was our first summer doing it, and we were freakin stuck in hotels (which by the way shouldn't have been the case) so how were we supposed to know?! So I guess we will see!! Oh, some good news!!! They are FINALLY processing my paperwork!!! YAY!!! Except only kind of...right now my paperwork is on hold because they need my marriage license to be approved and notarized by a provincial authority. It makes me laugh, because that would've been SO, so very easy to do before I even sent my paperwork, copy of license included, if they would've specified it needed to be approved by the province. Like seriously, in the paperwork it just says this "include a copy of your marriage license". That's it. But oh well! We're getting that done tomorrow and then sending the copy in and then it will continue to be processed!!!!!! I can't even tell you how happy that makes me. It will seriously be a year at the end of next month since I had sent it in! Wowzers. Anyways, that's what we are up to this week! I'm excited to see what this next adventure this summer has in store for us! Now for some pictures of our cute basement suite we had last year! :) Oh, and it was a basement suite that brought all the joys of living in a basement suite.. such as: not having any hot water when the upstairs tenants would run ANY water at all, shared laundry (upstairs tenants always leaving their laundry there), you could hear every footstep, every dog bark, little girl whine, any argument, and any baby cry (a baby in which we didn't know would be born a couple months after we moved in). Over all, I kind of miss it, only because we had all our own furniture and wall decor and such. Makes it feel more like it's my own home. Where as we are living in a place now that is already all furnitured. I mean nothing is wrong with that! I just kind of miss all my stuff! And our landlords couldn't have been better! In fact they would bring us free loaves of bread every monday! I don't think we bought bread that whole year :). So here it is!

So you walk in the door and it's the kitchen and to the left is what you see here.

So, to the right of when you walk in, this is what you would see! Sorry, I took this picture when we were starting to pack up that place around this time last year!

So looking at the last picture, to the right where you can see a room, this is the room you would see! Our little living room :). Sorry there is a fold in this one, like i said these are on paper. So on the right down the hallway is the bathroom. So walk down the hallway a little more and on the left is the office! It was sooo nice having this extra bedroom to put the desk in. Blake would study in here a lot. And at the very end of the hall, is our bedroom! I took the picture like this to show the dresser. I absolutely love this dresser. It was my great grandmothers. With this we got the headboard which you can kind of see in this picture, another tall dresser, a coffee table, two end tables, and night stands. We also have my great grandmothers couches. Also, just a random fact...Blake and I slept on a queen size airmatress our first year of marriage, and we started off this year sleeping on it too, but apparently it didn't storage very well because it kept going flat every night. Seriously, it was SUCH good airmatress! It was big, and it BARELY would go flat after a few months! I was soo mad it started going flat everynight. I'm determined to fix it, because I'm just so mad it is doing that after just being stored. So there you have it! That was our first little place, our first year of marriage! Now on to the next! Yip, yip!

First Weekend in April

So this is going to be quite a random blog post, but oh well!! This last weekend, we went out to Blake's parents house for LDS General Conference. And I have to say, it was one of THE best conference's up to date for my lifetime of watching General Conference. Soooo good! I don't know if it's because I'm getting older and can relate more to a lot of the stuff they're talking about, or that it's because I am able to stay awake and actually pay attention. But I'm so, so excited to read the talks again. On top of the uplifting messages that we heard all weekend, it was a lot of fun just being with the family!! It was also a crazy weekend because it had snowed almost the whole time we were there! Seriously. At least it is all melting now!! It's just supposed to get warmer from here on out! So I'm very excited. I need to get rid of these winter blues, and this pale skin of mine! Oh, speaking of melting....because of the huge drifts that are created during the winters out at Blake's parents house, once they DO melt, more often then not, it will flood the basement! And, unfortunately Blake's room...well I guess my room too, got flooded majorly. So that always puts a "damper" (wahaha) on the getting warmer situation! Anyways. We once again stole the beloved family dog P.J. He was due for a much need bath and grooming, plus I just enjoy the company of a kanine companion! He honestly was like a little e-walk before we washed him and brushed him. Now, for the grooming part.....oh boy. I'm so ashamed... and if I'm ashamed over it, imagine how he feels!! I'm getting worse and worse at shaving him. Really, though it's not all completely my fault, or lack of ability to do so! It is the buzzers that I have to work with. They're absolutely horrible! I think it's his fur and how it curls and just the general texture of it....but...they either decide to cut it....or they don't. And when they decide to cut it...you are NOT expecting it. Probably would've been smart to use a guard right? Well, we had been! But it was just not doing the job. And as a result... he shall now be named "patchy" or "baldy", or hideous. Something to that effect. No, I'm just kidding. It's really not THAT bad. Besides, the way I like to think of it is the shorter it is...the longer it will take to grow back! :) Anyways, I didn't even want to take a picture of the aftermath because I am too mad at myself for it! I'm sure he could care less..but really, I feel so bad! What I do have pictures of though is my sweetie in the middle of P.J's groom. Here it is! P.j. was giving so many kisses! It was so cute. Little do we know...he really was hating the whole thing and was only giving kisses while thinking "you are the most horrible people in the world, stop, pleeeeease."

As for this next picture...there is this game called Mass Effect 2. You can create your character, so Blake and I did our best to make it look like him, and honestly...considering the graphics and stuff it freaked me out how close it was to looking like his side profile! So here that is! I actually really liked watching Blake play that game, it was like a movie! In the game, you have to make choices and stuff, and you can choose to be either good or bad...of course blake would always choose the bad one, against my advice. hahaha. But I guess that's what games are for. To live the life that you can't? hahaha. I don't know. But seriously, look how much this look's like him. So, this next picture is just from a random morning in February, or even January, I honestly can't remember, but regardless it was sooo beautiful!!! And as for this last one.... I want one. Or both. But I want a french bulldog. Mark my words...we will be getting one.

February

So the Schnoor's really haven't been up to much this last month! For Valentines Day, we didn't do anything too crazy! Even though I always love an excuse to give gifts, I had to hold back this year! But that's okay, because we have a lot more Valentines to come! I just got Blake a little gift, and then had planned a yummy CHOCOLATEY breakfast! I had been planning this for at least two months, and was craving it sooo much. And boy, did it satisfy. Especially since Blake and I have been on this new workout routine, we are limited in what we can eat, or more so what we SHOULD be eating. Soooo good!! Holiday's are also a good excuse to not be as strict with eating! Yay! So it was just a chocolate waffle (tasted like a brownie though) with a berry sauce, and whipped cream.

Blake had planned to take me out that night to a resturaunt that I had been wanting to go to ever since I had been in Canada! But we got a phone call from Mama Schnoor that night about coming out to have a valentine's dinner with them and the girls! So even though they're an hour away we decided it'd be fun (and cheaper) to go have dinner with them! I had also been planning to make a delicious chocolate chip bundt cake (Yeah I know, way overdoing it with the sweets, I was craving!) that night for dessert after Blake and I came back from eating out, so I just made that and brought it with us! We had a chicken lasagna, veggies, and sparkling cider for dinner! And it was soooo good! With my cake, and a white brownie to follow! Overall it was a very "Sweet" valentines!
I'm so grateful for my hubby and how hard he works for us! I know it hasn't been an easy road, with me not being able to work, but he always kept a good attitude and has SOMEHOW able to spend a lot of time with me, even when he was completeley worn out! You may think that's dumb, "of course he had time for you, you live together." But what I'm saying is...I'm a 20 yr old girl that is kept up in a house all day...we only have one car...and the weather is brutal during the winter so I can't exactly walk anywhere. So yeah, I guess I could say I'm pretty attention hungry, with lot's of energy built up to just DO something, or GO somewhere. Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy, and Blake would agree. But that's why I love him. He's so good to me! And I couldn't be happier.

But speaking of not being able to go anywhere, do anything, and all that stuff. It's been 9 months since my paperwork has been in. And guess what? The processing times are 9-10 months. So guess what that means? ANY DAY NOW!!! Except, not exactly. We recently had called immigration about this matter. And just my WORK PERMIT will be coming (hopefully) within the next month. Seriously, as much as I want to be mad that not all of my paperwork will be done, it's a work permit. That's honestly all I need right now. And have wanted for a long time!! So, yes people, I will be able to work in this country FINALLY, within the next month!!! Fingers crossed!!

Anyways, so for reading week this year we went to Edmonton and stayed with Blakes Aunt and Uncle, and all of their kids that live up there. Oh, that reminds me! We had gone up a couple weeks before, to go to their new baby's blessing! He is a miracle baby, so it was such a good experience, and we are so happy that he has joined our family! But yes! I was a little upset that we weren't going to Utah during reading week, which is what we have done the past couple of years. It's basically spring break for canada, and basically the only long break that we can take to go visit my family before we do the APX (Now VIVINT.) thing for the summer, so I was a little bummed, but ended up having a lot of fun! We're just going to have to take some time to go down before Blake leaves for the summer.
Edmonton is actually a really beautiful city. It reminds me a lot of Utah, and honestly if I have to live in Canada the rest of my life, I'd want to live there. It's a city, so there a lots of people, and the neighborhoods are big, not village like, like most of southern alberta. There's nothing wrong with villages, I just like more people, more neighbors, and convieniant shopping! But, something Edmonton is probably most famous for (besides the Oilers) is the Mall. It's the biggest in North America, and it really is..huge. I was exhausted just walking through it the first time. Most of the stores in there are for ..what I would call "upper class" people. Okay, not even that...mostly just stores for people that can actually afford it. Which definately would be us newly weds, with one of them still trying to immigrate. So it was still fun to walk through, even though we didn't shop! There is a huge water park, and when I'm in shape, I definately plan to attend. It has a wave pool and tons of slides. It even has a bungee jump, that goes into the pool! There is also a little amusement park, I hear it's the biggest indoor amusement park. Blake's parents paid for all of us kids to go, and it was really so fun!

This ride is called the "Space Shot", it's like the Rocket for those of you who have been to Lagoon, except a lot smaller! But still big enough to freak Blake out. As you can see :). I absolutely LOVE amusement parks, and rides. So that's why I look very, very, happy. I just have so much fun! I laugh like the whole time, especially if I'm next to people who are especially freaked out. Pee my pants funny. :)

Anyways, after Edmonton (we were only there for 2 days) we spent the rest of the week out at Blake's parents house. It was a lot of fun! We FINALLY even got to go see the girls cheer at one of their highschool games! It was awesome. Even if the game was a bore, the halftime show rocked it!

Blake took me out on a date on Friday, we went out to this place called Kind of Trade (basically, you just trade in a bunch of your old stuff there and get some money for it) and looked through all their videos and found a couple to watch that night! After, we went to the pet store (whenever I go out on the town I HAVE to stop there) and got to look at all the animals! I was dissapointed...there were hardly any puppies. Boo!! But oh well. We still got to look at all the fish, and creepy crawlers , and little furries! I have seriously been considering getting a Black Bear Hamster. We'll see. I want cuddles..I don't think those really do that. And after that we went to a food place we had been wanting to go for a while. We've heard nothing but good things about it, "Five Guys, Burgers and Fries". And it did not dissapoint. Now we know to go with the "little burger" though. I think that place would be absolute killer, if it offered shakes too! Those fries would be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G with a milk shake! Hopefully they will do that soon. Maybe I should suggest it? After that, we came home and just watched both the movies! An all night cuddle fest! Yes, please.

Anyways. That's just what we have been up to for the past month! Also...I just have to brag a little bit. I made the best dinner ever tonight. Baked Salmon with a maple glaze, with rice (cooked in chicken broth), and asparagus with cheese sauce. It was sooo good!!!



It probably doesn't look appetizing to you..but trust me it was good. And I didn't have much to work with for the rice. Also, that pink plate isn't mine. It belongs to the people's house we're staying in. I wouldn't personally buy those plates. But yes. Delish.

That's all for now. Oh, and p.s. I like that I started the blog with "we haven't been up to much", and then wrote ...a lot. ha. :)

New Years and Blakes 24th

I can't believe how fast 2010 went! I still remember the begining of that year! And now it's already 2011...Blake and mines 2nd year anniversary is creeping up on us! I can't believe it. We were able to "celebrate" New years with my family as well this year, or should I say "last" year. I was so happy! We got to eat the traditional New Years Eve Hot wings with Bleu Cheese that my mom likes to make, along with melted chocolate and fruit, cheese and crackers, and lastly chips and salsa. All matches made in heaven. We also found a new favorite juice drink, Ocean Sprays "Cranberry & Pommegranate". So divine. I'm actually craving some as I write this. I wrote "celebrate", because as you get older, and ESPECIALLY after you get married, there are no parties to really go to..no dance's, nothin. And I still have 2 younger siblings at home that are still able to do those parties, so ultimately it was just me, Blake, and my dad! We ate, talked, laughed, DANCED, yes we all danced, and watched movies. The xbox Kinect is an AMAZING thing and sooo fun (that's how we were able to dance it up)! In fact Blake and I are looking into getting one. We paused our movie and counted down. It was my 2nd New Years Eve kiss with Blake. My 2nd New Years kiss period. And I am looking forward to bringing in sooo many more New years with Blake, and whatever family we are surrounded by. This year it happened to be mine. We still need to set our goals for the year 2011, but I have no doubt that there will be big changes this year. Good changes. Shortly following the New Year was my sweeties 24th Birthday! I can't believe it...I'm married to a 24 yr old!! 1 more year and he will be a quarter of a century! AH! It's not that old..but really..it is..I'll be turning a measely 21 this year. I can't seem to picture myself at his age..and yet it's not even that old! Silly me. Anyways, we were able to celebrate with my family before we left back to Canada, and then right after we got back, we were able to celebrate his actual birthday with his family! He got lot's of great gifts, and lots of yummy ice cream..cakes! I love you Babe! Happy Birthday!!! :) One year older..and almost wiser. :) Blake and his birthday cake in Utah. Blake and his Birthday Cake at his Family's house. Yes, he's biting the candle. Weirdo.

December Continued

As you know, we were headed to Utah this Christmas to be with my family! We left around the middle of December and were there for about 3 weeks. It was soooo nice!!! I was so happy that Blake was able to be with me the WHOLE time too. Usually, I'm there for a few weeks, and then he comes for only a week at most. This was the longest he had ever been with my family, so it was suuuch a nice change!! I was really happy that my family could get to know him even better! And that he could get to know them better as well! It needs to happen more often, if I do say so myself. Unfortunately, that's probably the longest we will ever get for Christmas Break in a long time, because hopefully I will be able to get myself a job soon!! But who knows, maybe where I work would be flexible if they knew that I hardly got to spend time with my family?! I don't know. But I definately cherished all the moments and laughs that we had this Christmas! I was also grateful that the roads were good both going there and back (even though we had a tire explode on the way back.)

Some of the traditions that we have in my family for Christmas are getting new pj's, and putting them on Christmas Eve, a new ornament, decorating giant gingerbread men cookies, and having a Christmas Eve dinner with the Grandparents and reading the story of the saviors birth!!

It was especially fun this year, because it was both mine and Blake's first Christmas with our Nephew Robert, who is 2 years old! He is sooo fun right now! Of couse he goes through the terrible 2 tantrums just like any other kid his age. But his cuteness makes up for it! He still is warming up to Blake, in fact most of the time he tries to avoid Blake, and even tries to take me "safely" away from him. :) Eventually!! I think when he gets older he'll be able to remember him better as Uncle Blake, and not some scary man that is always with his Aunty Missy.
And don't get me wrong! I LOVED being with everyone in my family! Every single person. It's just especially fun to have a little one running around entertaining everyone, or at least keeping you busy! He's still so new to the family, well, at least to me because I left when he wasn't even a year old yet.

Anyways!! Here are a few pictures!!

The family!! We love you all!!
From left to right- Wes (Danae's husband), Danae, Robert, Mom, Nicole, Dad, Brandon, Me, and Blake.

The Wardell kids with the Grandparents (Mom's side). Christmas eve.

This is Blake and mine's creation. We always create the ugliest, yet cutest, things. We're great together. :) He was delicious!








And...to the right, is Danae and Wes's. Blake and I will get there...one day. It's sooo cute!! If you couldn't tell, its an ugly Christmas Sweater.




Christmas Eve dinner! It was sooo good!! I can't quite remember what the actual piece of meat was called that we have, but it was a type of Rib Roast!? Sooo tender and juicy!! Yum!! That along with greek salad, Lion House Rolls (amazing), German Noodles (aka Spetzle, like I said, family favorite!) And Sparkling cranberry juice! I never have really liked Horseradish with my roast, but my Mom made a really good mix of like, Horseradish and Sour cream! IT WAS SO GOOD!

This is what we woke up to Christmas Morning! Even at 20 years old, it still excites me!









Blake and I Christmas Morning!


Blake and I were really thought of this Christmas and I was so happy to share everything that I've experienced my whole life, with Blake this year! And I can't wait to do it again!

Also, can I just say I saved so much money by waiting to shop for Christmas presents 3 days before Christmas down in Utah!? Seriously, so much. People have crazy sales when it's a few days before Christmas! Loved it.

Oooo, another awesome present Blake and I gave ourselves was a very nice and needed teeth cleaning!! Yet again, saved a lot of money!

Anyways! Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

December Happenings

I forgot a very important part about our month of November in 2010. Yup. The WHOLE month of November. Or more so "Movemeber". Blake grew this beauty in support of Prostate Cancer. It's pretty nasty, but he does pull it off well. :) Anyways. Just like the rest of the months in 2010, November flew by just as fast. Next came Decemeber. Which brought two very big birthdays for two of Blakes sisters. 18 and 16!! Within a week of eachother! So amongst all the busy schedules we were able to finally pick out a weekend to go "celebrate", their birthdays! (I put celebrate in " because they had already celebrated with presents and everything before we could make it out there.) The girls are both on cheer this year so they're sooo busy!! Like we hardly see them anymore! But its so fun for them! But we went out and while they were at a game having to cheer, since the girls BOTH didn't get a birthday cake, only presents..kind of backwards, Blakes mom, sister-in-law, and me decided to make them both cakes to come home to. 6 hours people. 6 hours of cake decorating. Heres the 18 yr olds cake. Sooo cute! But you have no idea how HARD it was to get the fondant that brown. I had the job of kneading the color into the fondant...I was almost positive I had carpell tunnel syndrome after both cakes. My mom decorates cakes...she had to have surgery for just that...and I now understand COMPLETELY how that happened. Way to go Mom!! The 16 yr olds. Yeah..I complained about the brown.... Black fondant....is the devil. It's just better to buy the fondant that way, if any of you are going to go out and try it! I was very proud of the result though. But my hands were literally purple and blue from it..not bruises..just the coloring. So that was the begining of December for us, actually more so the middle. The girls came home and were very happy!! We didn't even end up eating it, but oh well. At least we know we can do it. The next weekend, we went back to Blakes family's house, and were able to have a little Christmas Eve/ Christmas with them. We had a bunch of appetizers for dinner, and made the traditional Happy Pop!! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that. Blakes brother and his wife were also there to celebrate, since we were both going to be away this year for Christmas. (Coordinating it so that we can all be together the next year of course!). In Blake's family it's tradition to open new pj's on Christmas eve, so we did that as well. In my family we always just bought new pj's that we wanted, so we figured it worked out perfectly to still do that with his family and then have new pj's with mine! This year the girls got footie pajamas! Mine were elmo and had little elmo heads on the feet! They were cute! My nephew loved playing with them when we were down in Utah. We got lot's of wonderful presents from Blake's family, it was a nice way to kick off the Christmas Season for both me and Blake.

It's Been Awhile!

Well.. I've definately slacked in blogging mine and Blake's life. But..good news... I'M BACK!!! I have a lot to catch up on, but like usual I have a TON of time to do it, and so I am now committing. By the end of this week we will be up to date on what is going on in our lives.

So, for the first blog post in the time line..of up until now will be Thanksgiving. What? Thanksgiving..yeah, it was almost over two months ago..so what.

So we were planning on making it down to Utah for American Thanksgiving. But we suffered the loss of our dear cousin Taylor Tolman, so that weekend we had a funeral instead of a feast. It happened so fast what happened with Taylor. He had been in the hospital for over a month before we went and visited him. It made me realize that sometimes no matter how busy your schedule may seem, you ALWAYS need to make time for the important things. Especially family. We visiting him, literally, the day before things went down hill. Blake and I are so grateful that we did and will always keep the memory of him in our hearts. It still hurts me because the last thing I said to him when walking out of that hospital door was "I PROMISE we will see you again." Though it's not going to be in this life.. Taylor, my promise still stands. :)

Anyways, so because of that we had a change of plans and I made a LITTLE Thanksgiving dinner for me and my hubsy! It wasn't anything extravegant, but it made me happy. Blake has yet to experience an American Thanksgiving with my family, so I'm banking on it this year!!

Here are some pictures!
See, like I told you.. very tiny! We didn't even have turkey.. just a Rotissery Chicken! With gravy, stuffing (that we had left over from Canadian Thanksgiving, yay for freezing) and some spetzla aka german noodles.

You might be wondering what the heck those are..but they are a HUGE tradition in my family!! What it is..is..well.. Just flour and eggs! But with some gravy or cheese or anything else you want...sooo good! My grandparents gave me my own Spetzla press knowing how much I love them.
Unfortunately..I didn't have any white flour to work with..so I changed up the recipe using whole wheat flour..BIG mistake.. such a waste of flour..and of noodles. But hey, we tried! And now we know!


This is our make shift "pumpkin pies" I didn't have the time, being as this was a last minute Thanksgiving, so instead I found this easy recipe of a Pumpkin Pie Crumble Cake. It was soooo good!!! I have a favorite recipe that is the same, only using cherry pie filling. It is so good! As was this!

So that's pretty much it for now! :) Can't wait to write about Christmas!!!