getting our hair did

After a lovely breakfast with my family, us girlie's headed to Looks Salon to get our hair done. I drove there with my massive mop of curls, which I probably shouldn't have. I was so distracted I'm surprised I didn't kill us all!

I don't know how much I can write to describe getting hair done haha, so mostly pictures today.

again i admit i'm a dead beat blogger: WEDDDDDING

I decided to write about the lovely wedding day and i will start with the not so lovely wedding rehearsal.

For me the rehearsal was one of the worst parts of the whole wedding festivities. The day was lovely,
1.breakfast/shower with the aunties and cousins at the hotel who had flown in for the wedding
2. GIANT family picnic at Assiniboine park with both my parent's extended families complete with delicious bbq, potatoe sack races and 3 legged races. It was amazing. We planned it so that colin would have a chance to at least meet my family members before the crazyness of wedding day, and I got to visit and talk a bit too. I was sooooo grateful that all my family came out for the wedding, what a show of love and support!!!!
3. mani/pedi's, every girl's happy place :) Got to relax with my "maids" and get pampered for a bit (which was especially nice since i was sporting giant bruises from the races at the picnic)

4. dun dun dun THE REHEARSAL

THat would be my fake, oh yes everything's ok but inside i'm screaming and freaking out face.
We got to the church pretty early, which gave me a chance to talk with pastor j about how i wanted the stage set up and the flow of the ceremony. All the while i'm waiting for my parents to arrive so i can get my bag from their car and change into something cute/wash up from the races and events of the day. No fault to anybody, but my parents arrived with my bag and all the decorations at the same time as family, bridal party.....basically a huge mob of very helpful and loved people asking what they should do.
I had thought of this ahead of time and had written out where everything should be set up, so that people wouldn't ask me and these things could just be done. BUTTTT do you think i could find that paper? lol i'm not going to turn this into a rant....or i guess let myself rant anymore but i will just say i found the whole ordeal very stressful and it was probably my biggest bridezilla moment (we just won't talk about wedding morning in the car with my girls and my mom leaving the hair appointment haha).
All the decorations got set up, and i loved them, including a few of my faves
the table with our engagement photo and our parents and grandparents wedding photos

The sign made by my lil sis in law along with flowers and a picture right behind the last pew

AND my best decision, not to use the white folding backdrops we rented from the party store. They looked good in the pictures, and as soon as my loving man and his father set them up i HATED THEM.


SO colin was a lifesaver, he was so loving and could totally tell that i was stressed and did everything he could to make it easier. We were waiting for the sound guy and a few wedding party members to arrive, which allowed me time for a cry session in the bathroom with my mom--then i washed my face and rocked my sweaty shorts for the actual rehearsing part. SO maybe it's the setting up which i hated and not so much the rehearsing. Pastor J and Pastor D worked out their shared duties seamlessly, dad and i galloped down the aisle...which i'm sure scared everyone into thinking we'd repeat that the second day :) haha, but it went great, the little kids did so good.

ANd then we had a delicious bbq prepared by colin's mom and it was lovely, although i ate three bites of a hotdog which were forced on me by my sister because i was so preoccupied :)


To end of the very full and stressful but also fun day before the wedding, i got showered with unmentionables and a hotttttt kitchenaid mixer by my awesome bridesmaids who i love so much!!
i almost fainted when i saw the mixer.


Thats it for now folks, stayed tuned for the wedding day!!

Marriage license!! Booooyah

We bought our marriage license today. Colin says it still hasn't hit him. I'm hoping that me in a white dress will hit him, lol if it doesn't then I'm not sure what will.
I get so caught up with planning and organizing that sometimes I forget to take a minute to appreciate the man he is. Colin is truly my prince, say I'm cheesy and I will kick your shin BECAUSE I wanna shout so loud how happy I am that in less than two months I get to marry my very best friend. There isn't anyone I'd rather laugh with, explore with, grow with or even fight with! HE makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
I was reading my journal and I found a page were I wrote cute texts he had sent me:
Me: this (being in love) feels so amazing, like it's a dream. Pinch me
Colin: nah, let's just keep dreamin
<3 <3 <3

AAAAAHHHHHHHHH

I am getting married. I am getting married! I AM GETTING MARRRRRRRRIED!!!!! Holy cow, does this mean I'm suddenly a grown up? I still feel like such a kid. I am sitting on the couch wearing a purple polkadot pajama set, eating popcorn....secretly wearing my wedding ring. When I look at it I realize this must be real, when I tried on my wedding dress at the bridal salon, when I get emails from family saying flights are booked, all these things prove it's real but I feel like I'm dreaming. I get to marry my best friend, I get to laugh and smile forever.
So happy that when I pinch myself this ring is still on my finger. YES!!!

i haven't been to the gym in a week.
ooops. GET GOING!!!!

It's just about 8am, I just got off a night shift and I'm heading to the gym. Call me crazy...that's fine. I just think it's time to get my butt in gear, wean the body off of chocolate and spinach dip....and turn it into a lean mean drop-dead-gorgeous-in-my-wedding-dress machine :) wish me luck....and kick my butt if I try to quit, please!

heeeeya!!

It's my first day off today and I surprisingly feel pretty good considering I only slept a couple hours after my night shift!!! I am relaxing waiting to get the text from colin telling me he's awake so we can meet at the gym and pump some iron!!! We are both trying to make fitness a priority...for me it's because I want to looking smoking hott in my wedding dress--maybe for colin its because he wants to beat my mom at an arm wrestle?? hahaha, he hasn't tried yet actually, but she's pretty good at arm wrestling. I have only beat her once and it was after she had surgery :)Wanna see something gross??? this is what is preventing me from wanting another tattoo. I think I got a staph infection from the water at birds hill when I was there a few days after getting this tat. Water must have splashed up into it, and then since you have to put lotion on a new tattoo it smothered the infection and let it grow!! I had these spots from my arm pit down to my thigh. The worst part is that it's now five months later and I can still see marks on my skin from where the spots used to be. Love the tattoo, hated my spots.

CONSUMED!!!

With wedding planning!!!! Here's a horrendous picture of aly and i trying on dresses at David's Bridal in fargo. These are not the dresses or colors that we picked :) It was a fun day, although i'm sure aly got sick of trying on random dresses and posing for pictures!!!!
The new year has been busy, getting back to work and trying to fit in my social life. I feel like all i think about is wedding, which i'm hoping as i get more of the big things checked off the to-do list i will be able to think about it less. I doubt that will happen i will probably only think about it more and obsess over all the tiny details!!
In all reality if the napkins don't match the bridesmaid's shoes and the flower girl spills juice down her dress...it doesn't matter---what matters is Colin and I will be in a room filled with people we love who love us back and wish us the best in our life together. I feel so so fortunate to have amazing friends and family and our day will be so special celebrating with them!!! plus i'll look smoking hot and everyone will be staring at me ;) hahaha

christmas time

I have been on holidays for a good chunk of time-i won't say how long or i'm guessing everyone's gonna want to quit their jobs and join the fire dept :) it is nice to not go to work, although i do miss it, and it'll be good to go back next week. I've really enjoyed being home the last few days, i've spent time visiting and laughing and catching up and it really brings joy to me! how nice to wear sweats and go to the mall for some last minute shopping, or have a lunch date or fall asleep on the couch watching a movie. I love christmas, i love that it brings people together, i love that you get to put on your fat pants, i love that our house is full of food and yet we spent an hour at superstore this morning. I love that friends from years ago come "home" for the holidays. I love that i am not working christmas, how blessed i feel to have two loving families to spend time with. not really sure where i'm going with this post but i just feel so happy to be surrounded by so many people that are awesome!!!!!
i spent this evening at a get together with girls i went to highschool with, it was so neat to hear where everyone is at in life's journey.

wedddding bliss

So SO much fun planning so far and thinking about all the lovelyness!! We have chosen August 5, 2011 as our wedding day. We've actually gotten a lot done so far and have a fairly organized to-do list so I think we will be just fine.
The most fun thing right now?! My mom let me take her wedding dress out of the sealed box and try it on. It was a weird feeling but a lot of fun.

Getting hitched!!!!

colin has asked me to marry him!!!! let the planning begin. i guess if we want a summer wedding that means we need to get out butts in gear. We had meetings today with a hotel and also with a church and we're closing in on making a decision. So many options though, how fancy shmancy does this thing need to be, what aspects of it are more important...flowers, food...the gown !?!?!? lol I'll try to be a better blogger, no promises though.

buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

had three coffee dates today, which means I'm wired. All were lovely, great to catch up with friends I haven't seen or gotten to hang out with for a bit. i love talking, and laughing and listening. My friends make me so happy.
great day

handy (wo)man

I got new furniture from Ikea! I am a happy girl!

the shelf which has baskets and drawers that fit the boxes

The kitchen table and chairs, just the right size for the apartment, and the chairs stack too

I spent May long in Minneapolis with Colin and his sister Heidi. It was great. Colin drove the whole time, which was one of the best parts, I got to shop which was also pretty awesome. We went to Valleyfair and it was just grand, it was supposed to rain/thundershower so not many people showed up to ride...which meant we got to ride rollercoasters over and over instead of standing in hour long lines. On the last day we went to ikea and I used quite a bit of self control, I had made a list and the only thing I bought that wasn't on it was a red spatula. haha. I bought a kitchen table with four red chairs and a book case that is just gorgeous.
Since getting home Tuesday morning I have been running off my a$$ with planning a retreat for the mom's group I volunteer with, working and doing respite and trying to fit in workouts. This means I have stayed up way too late at the end of the days trying to put various furniture pieces together. Today the last of it was put together, a friend came to help me put the shelf up....and aside from the huge cardboard box sitting by my door the apartment looks amazing. I love it. I love having furniture that I picked out and bought, makes me feel like a big girl--kind of like the feeling when I bought my bed:) Funny how I can be a Winnipeg City Firefighter and I still feel like a little girl, meanwhile putting together furniture makes me feel grown up.

I have a to do list as long as the great wall of china... but for at least 12 minutes I'm gonna sit here and do nothing. YESSSSSSSS. i'm a big girl i can do whatever i want.

i am the worst blogger in history

a lot going through my head these days. i'm such a chick... i over analyze and obsess over the stupidest things.
saturday i took a deep breath with my hot bf and it was so nice to relax, swing on the bridge in souris, eat egg salad and watch baby geese swim. mostly the egg salad=best part.
too many things to get them all down. will attempt next week maybe. no promises

t t t tattooo

I want another tattoo!!! I have a few ideas. I love the wooden cross in this pic, I would love to have that with maybe a smaller maltese cross incorporated somehow. I don't like the sash with writing, this is just my favorite wooden cross that i've found online. I would want this on my left side ribs-ish. Although I'm guessing that'd be pretty much pushing the boundaries of my pain threshold. My other idea is

One of these simple crosses like the bottom row, maybe middle or left. I would want it behind my ear!

ps. filling out paperwork today to hopefully start teaching at the firecollege :) woohoo

You alive?

Yes, but have found that I don't feel like making this online world a priority. I am also considering deleting facebook. Life's just way better when you're spending time with friends, frollicking outside ETC. I'll think about it over the next few weeks whether to continue with this blog. I have been writing in my journal, so thats good. I find that I have lots of thoughts, but don't necessarily care to share them with the entire world.

weekends are happy

I was right. That friday was amazing. I got my toes done by a little chinese man, it was entertaining making him attempt nail art :) We had Sushi Cushi lunch which was amazing, then cooked dinner at my place. YUM Dance parties were had and it was a good time. I unfortunately didn't take any pictures.
Last weekend was also very good. Mom and Dad came in on Friday, and Colin too. We had a family dinner, it was nice--just missing lindz. Saturday after a huge breakfast Colin and I headed off to Steinbach Mennonite Village to explore our heritage. It was really neat to read some of the information and take pics all over menno-ville.

Then we got lost trying to find New Bothwell, I wanted to go to the cheese factory. When we finally found it, it was closed. We met up with friends in the evening for the corn maze, which was sooooo fun. We almost got kicked out, the boys were throwing corn and nearly took out some children. They had to take off running to escape the "maze patrol". Overall a good weekend.
Works not too bad, I'm at a hall right by the apartment this week. It's nice waking up at 705 and being at work by 720.
peace out
ps. it's cold now.

I'm so excited to spend time with friends today. I love the people in my life!!! Details will follow, but I see cocktails, guacamole, and dance parties on the horizon. (after a sushi lunch and a mani/pedi...Good day!!)

I haven't had a moment

Aly and I in our new apartment...first morning (after finally getting all our stuff in at 11pm the night before)

I told you that I would suck at this! The last month has been rediculous. Packing up all my belongings and moving out of my lil firehouse....all the way approximately 5 blocks across town :) I no longer live alone, my little sister is my roomie and it's been great so far. A few moving days were slightly stressful, cleaning, throwing crap out, organizing...all that fun stuff that everyone loves. We're now basically settled in. We still need to get pictures up on the wall, which will happen after we paint over the previous tennants nail holes.
I can't tell you how much I love having my lil sis around. Even if we're not up to much, at least there's company. Like this afternoon she sat and did homework in the living room and I washed walls. We hit the gym for a half hour while our pizza dough rose, and now it's just come out of the oven. So I'm gonna go. I will not promise that I'll get better at this, but I will say that I'll make an effort to give updates a little more frequently.

Pump drill

Training at the academy the other day with Engine 101, Rescue 5, Ladder 2 and us Engine 26. It was nice to go over some pumping, although I'd already gone through the exact same day two months ago. So I took pictures--much to everyone's excitement.

Nothing else really exciting to report. Although I watched Nancy Drew the other night, was almost embarrassed to rent it, and then ended up getting pretty freaked out watching it--even more embarrassing!!