Happy Anniversary

Hi my love,
I know that you don't read my blog that often anymore but I think you will drop by today.
Thank you so much for doing everything that you can to make me happy. For making coffee in the mornings despite the fact that you don't drink it. For doing the kitty litter box. For accepting that being with me means having to clean the house every week so my neat-freak tendencies don't fire up. For loving me however I look, whatever size I am and whatever I am wearing. For going for walks with me when you are tired and sore from your day at work. For sleeping on whatever side of the bed is closer to the door. For eating whatever I cook. For not pinning me down to watch the Star Wars movies....Really, just thank you for loving me for who I am and not trying to change me.
I love you!
Kelly

One year

Wow, I can't believe how fast this year has flown by!
A year ago at this time I was at the salon getting my hair and makeup done in preparation to walk down the aisle. The years of planning and dreaming were all going to come together. I was finally going to marry my best friend.

Once we were done at the salon we went back to my parent's house to get dressed and I was laced into my dream dress. It was so perfect for me- despite the fact that I went to the shop asking for something completely different. As soon as I had it on I knew it was the right one (but still tried on a ton more...)

The boys got into their suits and posed for a few photos before heading down to the church.

We loaded up the limo with lunch so that we could eat between the ceremony and photos and then I figured out that my lip gloss could go down the top of my dress so I would be able to do touch ups between photos and kisses.

We arrived at the church and were surprised by the minister's Star Wars themed sermon. The boys were joking with him about it at the rehearsal dinner and he went through with it. He was talking about storybook endings and how they never show you what happens after the movie. Who do you do Christmas with? Who actually does the laundry?? We were all laughing so hard....

We did a rose ceremony in french for Jon's family. We knew that we were going to have guests who didn't speak any english and wanted to include them. Two of his cousins helped us by reading it in french and our english guests followed along in their programs.

We were  pronounced husband and wife and did our kiss. Then the photo spree started. We did formal photos in the church and then a great big group shot which is customary in Montreal.

We took some great photos on Whyte Ave that duplicated our engagement photos.

 We also got to add some new poses with the rest of the bridal party....

And then we went to the reception where we had speeches, drinks, dances and kisses all night. It was an amazing day and such an perfect start to our life together.

 Looking back a year later I am still so grateful for everything that people did to make our day special. We are just as in love today as we were a year ago and we still feel so blessed.

People are strange

I have had an incredible few days at work. Our clients are so much fun to work with and I really love finding them that perfect item. I have a few bridal registries on the go and 2 of the brides called my manager to compliment me. Our boutique manager is wanting to hand all of the registries over to me because the other girl who handles them has received complaints this week. Yeah! I love doing the registries- the couple comes in, gets to pick out goodies and I build a relationship with them. If I treat them right they will come back to me even after the wedding is past. Their guests get the same treatment and they will come back to me over and over again for good service. It is an easy way to make strong contacts and bond with people. Which makes me wonder, how do you screw it up? Why is the other girl getting so many complaints? I just don't get it! Maybe I should ask my biggest question....

Why are people who aren't "people people" working at a commission based store???

We all have to shop, and some people enjoy it more than others, but don't you understand that good customer service and a smile will make people come back? I would rather pay a bit more than deal with bad customer service. But that's maybe why i'm good at what I do. 

via

Wedding Video

So we were lucky to have such amazing photographers for our wedding because it's sounding like we may never actually get the video. The company that we hired was called Tru Moments and they are based out of Calgary, Alberta. The videos on their website are stunning and they had done a previous wedding for our planner so we thought we were safe going with them. We were wrong.
The contract says that we should have had the rough footage and our hard drive by the end of August and the edited 20 minute show video by the end of December. It is now June and we haven't received either. Lots of phone calls and emails have  been ignored and we are now wondering what we should do (other than tell everyone we know to NOT HIRE TRU MOMENTS!!!!)
Any hints????
Does anyone want to help us spam them so they have to respond???
Their email address is info@trumoments.ca

The Holidays (only a bit late...)

2010 went out with a bang! So many things to do, so little time to sleep. I looked a my computer each night and said tomorrow I would post. So here I am, a week and a half later, with only one post up.

So....Here is the last two weeks in a highlight reel:

December 24th: Christmas Eve

After a short day at work I went home to get ready for the evening. Our family goes to church every Christmas Eve and then we all head back to Mom & Dad's place for games and way too much food! The church sermon was awesome, the message was great and lots of beautiful music. The organ always blows me away, but it is spectacular when combined with a clarinet, tuba, violin and drums! We arrived at Mom & Dad's and spent the evening eating, drinking and playing Christmas themed Charades. It turns out I am a really, really good guesser, but an awful actor! I blame it on my luck when grabbing things like Holiday Affair out of the bag. Really.... I meant to have my camera out (I am usually the family shutterbug) but it spent the evening in my purse....

December 25th: Christmas Day

We woke up early to head over to my sister's house for brunch and gifts. It was fun to see her little guy open presents and play with all his new toys. Last year he was still a bit too young to really understand. We spent a lazy morning there and then went back home for presents and late lunch with the Latours... 

We opened up our stockings and then our gifts. Tons of fun, and we were all very, very spoiled. I got the  mitts that I subtly blogged about earlier this month, along with a pair that were hand knit by my Mother in Law and a few pairs of long warm ones from my Mom. I gave Jon the ornament that I ordered from Etsy. It was a big hit! I think that is going to turn into a yearly order for the very talented painter! 

After a quick nap we went over to a friend's house for dinner. We have done Christmas dinner with my family for the last 2 years, so it was the Latours turn to have us for the feast. They moved to Edmonton from Montreal and created themselves a new family here. Dinner at Barb & Raymond's had been the tradition for the last 22 years, and now that I have been there I see why. Great food, great company and some very strong Pictionary rivals. Raymond is also celiac, so there was lots of gluten free goodies for me to snack on! I, once again, decided I need to learn french asap! I had to draw a stork, and I did a pretty good job, but they took forever to find the word in English for me. My team was shouting the answer in french, and the men weren't going to help us get the point by telling me that they were right. 

December 26th: Boxing Day

We woke up early and went over to Grandma & Grandpa's house for a drop in brunch. She made a ton of food, and we all stayed for a visit and to see who would drop in next. It was the first year in a long time we haven't had a family gift exchange on boxing day, so after the visit we went boxing day shopping! Kingsway mall was a zoo, but less crowded than I was expecting it to be. I picked up a few great jackets and some new work clothes, so overall it was a great shopping trip. I kept laughing at Jonathan, he likes shopping (in small doses) and insists to be my packhorse while we walk around. All the women in the stores were fawning over him as he carried my stuff, they kept saying how they wished their husband would do that. It inflated his ego a bit, but it was fun! We picked up season 1 of Glee, which I have seen bits of and loved. After shopping we came home and started watching it. So good!! 

December 27th: The Spa Day and Wedding Day
In November my gel nails suffered an unfortunate run in with a dresser at work and a few split off. I got impatient and filed them down so they could all grow out a bit. The longer they were filed, the more impatient I got and eventually I just pulled them all off. That was not an easy task! Those buggers really are on there! My thumb nail was the worst, the gel was not leaving. Eventually I coaxed it off, but it took half of the real nail with it. Suddenly the gels that I have had for the last 5 years weren't a possibility until it grew back in. A month and a bit later I finally could get a new set put on. I was at the salon at 10am to get them attached, they are so pretty! Purple and sparkly with pretty blue and white designs painted on my ring fingers. While I was there I got a pedicure and then headed home. I had just enough time to eat lunch and then it was time to head to Southgate

Jonathan and I were, against better judgement, in matching outfits. I usually am very adamant about not matching, but his Mom always tells me the photos will be better. I may have to start listening to her, all the shots of us together are cute. We both rocked the black and red outfits!

December 28th: The Hangover Day
Lots of Glee and couch time. In fact, the rest of the Glee season 1 and cuddling on the couch. That is all. Such a good day!

December 29th: Saying goodbye to Rocket
We spent a lazy day at home and spent some time cuddling Rocket before bringing him to the vet. He was very loved and is very missed. Our poodle is still running around the house looking for him, and our cats still pause when coming up the stairs to see where he is. We spent the evening talking about him, and I got to hear a bunch of stories about him as a puppy. One great one about when the Latours took a road trip across Canada and had him with them. He really, really liked the fish nets in the Maritimes, much to the dismay of his car mates!

After dinner I introduced Jon to Gilmore Girls. He has seen snippets of the episodes over the years of girls nights and couch days that we watched the discs over and over again. I figured it was absorbing enough to distract him a little bit, and that it would help explain some of the quotes Shannon and I use. He says it's a chick show, but is still willing to watch the seasons with me.

December 30th: Work Work Work
After a quick stop at Transcend coffee I went in to work for the day. It was insane! The boxing week shoppers were out in full force and we were crazy busy. The day flew by and we had a blast! Jonathan spent the day at home doing errands for his Mom, who was busy preparing for her annual New Years Bash. Four Gilmore Girls episodes after work and then bedtime for us.

December 31st: Work and Party
Thursday was nuts at the store, so I was fully prepared to run around like crazy on Friday. Apparently all the shoppers were at home getting ready for parties. The store was so slow! Fortunately my Dad came in and we got a bunch of the tedious accounting stuff done. We went home as soon as the warehouse guys came back from delivery and got to work helping with the party.
Sylvie does a theme party each year, and this year's gala was Glitter and Glitz. She spent the morning covering the house with silver organza and white twinkle lights. I got there and helped out with food preparation and more setup. Soon it was time to get ready for the party. The only catch after all that setup? We weren't staying at our house. So, while everyone came here we went to our friend's place which is just down the street. We have a very friendly block, and while the parents all went to the lovingly named Geezer party, us members of the younger generation also all got together. Tons of food, jello shots and board games filled our evening. We did the countdown, the kisses and the hugs and then ran over to crash the other party for more hugs and wishes. Such fun!

January 1st: Yay! Today! Couch Day!
Wow, you stuck through this post all the way to today! Look at you go! Thanks for reading! Today was another relax on the couch day. We watched a bunch more Gilmore Girls and Karate Kid (apparently we were lacking in the testosterone friendly viewing)  Breakfast, lunch and dinner all consisted of New Years platter leftovers. I capped off the evening with a bath in one of my Lush Christmas present goodies. For those of you that don't know me, I am totally addicted to Lush. I love pretty much everything they make, and this beautiful gift box was under the tree for me this year! All of their limited edition Christmas goodies in one big pretty box. I used the bubble bar that looks like Santa Clause tonight. Yay!

Now that I am done this mammoth post it is time for me to go to bed! I promise tomorrow won't be so long winded!!! I hope you all had great Christmases and fun New Years Eves! I am so excited to see what 2011 is going to bring!!

Goodnight!

Today's adventures

This video almost made me pee my pants I was laughing so hard! Someone posted it on my facebook awhile back and I was trying to describe it to Shannon at her cookie exchange. Now that she's following my blog, what better way to get it to her than this? On The Rocks is an a cappella group from the University of Oregon. Can you imagine walking around campus and seeing these guys walking down the street? I love it!

Most of today was spent getting errands done, but there were a few highlights. 

1. I was exploring blogs today and found a book club using the same template as I was. It was free and cute, so I understand, but felt the need to change to something a bit more original. I love this one so far, it reminds me a bit of sparkly Christmas lights on a dark night! I'm sure I will eventually find another person with the same one again, and I will probably change it again. In all fairness most people who know me know that I would re-paint or re-arrange my house weekly if Jon would let me, so changing the blog every few weeks doesn't come as a big shocker.
2. My Christmas cards are totally done and the ones that had to go in the mail have already been dropped into the box! I took the lazy route this year and bought cards instead of hand making them like usual, but since I didn't send any at all last year I don't think people will mind. 

3. My laptop is alive again! Jonathan and I both spend a lot of time on our computers and this last week has been interesting sharing one. We usually have 4 to choose from, his desktop, his laptop, my desktop and my laptop. Well, his desktop was broken (he's at a friend's place right now upgrading it), we lent his laptop to a friend because Jon barely uses it, and then my laptops ram came loose and it started making an ominous beeping noise when you tried to turn it on. All of our photos are on my laptop because his desktop has been acting up for awhile, and I was in major panic mode thinking that the last 10 years of digital photos were gone (including wedding photos) All is well, I have all my pictures back, and will pick up some discs asap to back the photos up!
4. It is my beautiful friend Holly's birthday today, so we paid her house a quick visit and dropped off some goodies. I hate working on my birthday, it just seems like a day that you should be allowed to do anything with- really, it's your day! So, we hung a little gift and card on her front door so when she got home there would be a little surprise for her. 

5. We went to visit my favorite florist today and picked up some pine branches. One of my absolute favourite scents in the world is fresh pine, not the icky fake pine air freshener scent, the actual crushing the needles between your fingers version. The real version is really hard to duplicate, I have found a few convincing candles, but my cat burns her nose when i'm not looking, so I can't light them all the time! There are now pine branches all over our place, and for once, my cats aren't trying to eat my purchases! If you are in Edmonton or know anyone here who should be treated to flowers, please check out Off Whyte Floral. Kristi is so amazingly talented (she also did our wedding) Here is a link to the store's Facebook page so you can see some of the goodies she has in store!

Almost ready! Just need the dress now!

Our wedding flowers were so perfect, and since I have access to photos again, here is a shot of Kristi and I with my bouquet. She stopped in at my parent's house to pin the corsage and bountineer on my parents and to see me in my dress prior to the church. When she does your wedding she is there all day, including 2 locations to do all the pinning, delivering to the church, quickly gluing roses back onto the front of the bouquets when you have a spazzy bride (like me), fluffing your dress before the doors open up to walk down the aisle and bringing all the flowers to the reception afterwards. She (along with a ton of other people) made the day run better than we could of imagined.