Three!

 

Three years ago, I married the most wonderful man in the world.  He has been my rock and my support for many years and I know I will be supported for many years to come.

I love him more now than I did that day and tomorrow even more than today.  We've had ups and downs and ins and outs but I would say I do all over again any day.

 

You're my forever, Baybee!!  Happy 3rd Anniversary!!

Love your face!!!

Ya ya, I know, sorry :/

Life has been extremely busy these last couple months.  Since I'm working now, my days off are spent doing the things I usually spread out over the course of the week...it makes everything a little more crammed in and compact!

Let's see....

Work is wonderful and this is the first job I've ever loved in my life.  Ever.  It is SO great helping excited brides try on dresses and helping bridesmaids please their brides while being comfortable themselves.  Being surrounded by that happiness while at work is very satisfying.  I enjoy this job immensely.

Jer is finished his last portion of apprentice trade school this Thursday.  Being on EI has sucked but this was necessary and it will be good in the long run.  His marks have been fantastic and I'll be happy once he's written is red seal test and goes back to work.  He may have to travel for work for a bit so we can get caught up (which I hate but is also necessary) but hopefully there'll be something here and he won't have to.  The end of November can't come soon enough!

The kids are all good, in school and bowling on Saturdays as well as a couple other extracurricular activities, so keeping busy.  Marryn is loving JK and Jonah is loving French Immersion (even though he thought he wouldn't like it, he surprised himself and he loves it!) and James is waiting (im)patiently until he graduates high school (and he's only in grade 11 lol).

Rehearsals for PC Operatic Society have started up again and I'm SO proud to say that Jonah auditioned as well this year and he made it in!  So we'll be doing The Music Man together this year!!  He's loving that as well :)  It's a great show with great music and I'm enjoying it a lot, too...maybe even more than Oliver because I reeallllly enjoy the songs in this one!

We just had our annual Thanksgiving weekend in Havelock last weekend and it was pretty good, the weather was crappy for dinner on Sunday and we had to go late (Saturday morning instead of Friday afternoon) because I had to work Friday night but overall it was an ok weekend.

Now we're looking forward to our 3rd anniversary (the 30th) and Halloween and then FLORIDA!!  We're leaving very early in the morning this time and we plan to overnight in Savannah before continuing on to Kissimmee the next day.  We're there for a week and we'll be doing Disney again as well as a couple of museums and science centres.  We have our memberships to the Science Centre here in Toronto as well as the Royal Ontario Museum and those give us free entrance to a few places in Orlando as well so we're looking forward to going there as well!

Anyway, all is well, just very busy.  I'll leave you with some pictures :)

 One of several beach fires we had this year!

 Jonah at Toys R Us for his birthday

 Rainbow cake I made for Matt

 Marryn's drawing of Mike from Monsters Inc.

 Me and one of the only cats in history that doesn't bother my allergies!!!!

 Marryn on her "meet the teacher day" at school.

 Her first day of JK.

 Jer and friends at one of our fave places in Niagara, Sulfur Spring Drive.

 Jonah at rehearsal.

 Thanskgiving pics...

 Power went out Sunday morning so Jer made me eggs this way, it was awesome!

  It was also freezing lol

 My apple pies (ok, ours, Jer peeled and cut up the apples for me!)

 Our turkey...

 Marryn fell asleep at the dinner table and missed Thanksgiving all together :(  Poor girl, she wore herself out that weekend!!

  Sleeping beauty on our way home hehe :)

Hot nough for ya?

Haven't heard that too many times in the past week... /sarcasm/

We finally broke down and turned on the central air for the first time this past Sunday.  We knew it was going to be extremely hot for the week and I didn't want the kids to suffer.  They've barely even been outside to play because it's just too bloody hot!!!

I'm looking forward to the cooler temps this week though because the a/c makes me fee like a pile of poo.  I don't enjoy the fake air except that I'm not boiling to death lol

I started a new job last week too!  It's sort of a dream job for me in that I'm helping brides choose a wedding dress.  It's amazing!  I love weddings so much so to be surrounded by yards of beautiful white, sparkly satin and lace?  Heaven.  I'm enjoying it very much.  It's a first for me in that I actually WANTED the job I applied for instead of NEEDED it.  I was already starting to get bored and Marryn hasn't even started school yet so I thought it was time to get something part time.  Something I really wanted :)

Jer has his last round of school in the Fall...after that he'll be a certified Red Seal Plumber.  I'm so looking forward to the beginning of 2014...it's going to be house hunting time (if not before!)...2014 will be the best year yet!  2013 has been pretty great so far though!!

We're headed back to Florida in November and I can't wait!  Gonna be just as awesome as last time and I'm looking forward to chilling by the pool and a few more naps than usual :)

Happy July :D

Choosing Happy

All my life I have found something to be sad or unhappy about.  It was just what we did in our family.  *Insert happy goings on here*....*Insert yes but's here*...there was always a look at the negative in every happy moment.

Body image was negative.  Eating was negative.  Creativity was negative.  Being eccentric or "weird" was negative.  Body functions were negative.  Imperfections were negative.

Nothing was normal.  Everyone else was normal, we, were not.

So I grew up thinking everyone was better that me, could do it better than me and that I was sub par in every and all aspects.

As you well know, this leads to unhappiness, depression, anxiety and a myriad of other things that I won't even get into because they're in the past.

What I DIDN'T know, is that happiness is a choice.  Your likes and dislikes and eating and body functions and creativity and wonderful weirdness are all things you can't control.  But, should you chose to accept them and love them as part of who you are, something miraculous happens.

Happiness.

And it's a choice.  You have to consciously say to yourself, "This is me, I love who I am and I choose to be happy because I am a good person."

Some days it is harder than others and, like everyone, there are days when those negative thoughts creep in and dampen my day, sometimes for a few days at a time.  Then I see something or hear something or read something that reminds me that I am the only person in control of my happiness.  And that I can do it.  I am strong enough and good enough and I have love and support in my life.

Bad things happen to everyone.  People are mean.  The world can be unfair and cruel.

This too shall pass.

The only consistent thing in this world is change.  Nothing will forever be the same.

I choose happiness.  I choose love.  I choose acceptance.  I choose forgiveness, both for myself and for others.

I have an amazing life and I've worked hard to get here.  No one can take it away from me!

Happy 4th Birthday my Darling Girl!

 This 4 years has gone by incredibly fast.  She brings me joy every single day and I wish she would stay little forever!  But, she'll start school in September and knowing how quickly she learns it won't be long before she's surprising me in new ways!

Happy Birthday "little" girl, don't grow up too fast!!! xoxoxox