Summer nights

Tonight Mark and I decided to take a walk to the convenience store a few blocks away for ice cream. 

It was my idea. We have worked pretty hard this weekend on out little projects and deserved a sweet treat. 

The dog sitting was over and I realized this was the first walk we had taken without the dog. And I noted that. 

Mark replied after, "We may have to start taking just 'couple walks'. I have noticed that people do that around the neighborhood."

"Really?" I replied. It got us thinking. 

We don't have a wedding to plan. We don't have summer jobs to fill up our time during our breaks from school. We don't have school to worry about or exams to study. We have just come to the realization that this is the first time in our lives where there is nothing that is needed to be completed on a set date. 

We get to relax. Have fun. 

We get to take walks at night. 

Grateful. 

Love. 

summer: are you coming my way?

i think so. this week it has been slowly escalating to hot hot hot. and i am loving it. and when i need a break from loving it. i hop down to my beloved basement where everything is cool and refreshing! fabulous!

anyhoo...mark is officially on summer break! whooo hooo! i don't think he could feel any better right now. we spent our first official holiday day (well mine was just the weekend off but regardless) at the St. Albert Farmer's Market. so i have never been. HUGENESS and LOVELY! apparently it is one of the biggest outdoor markets in Western Canada. and it lived up to it. plenty of lovely food and other delights. we got ourselves some tasty delights including lovely cinnamon buns, green onion cakes and pasta! yum! definite carbo loading if you ask me!

then mark went to work on his big landscaping project. i on the other hand lazed around (i.e. napped) and then attempted to do some sanding projects. a little frustrated with my project as i don't think it will be what i would like it to be (and it turns out it is a lot more work than i though) but i have to wait and see. future posts on both yard and mine later when all is completed.

speaking of beautiful projects. mark's uncle john made us the most fabulous-ly beautiful bookcase. i don't think we could have imagined it being any better than it is. it is fantastic. wendy, david, and john all joked asking if it was enough space for us. and yes it is. and it is full! as well as our bookcase upstairs. what can i say. i married a husband with a book addiction. i think there are worse things in the world?

i am kind of in half marathon training right now as well. but not doing as well as i should as my motivation is in other places and although there are places to run, i do miss the beloved river valley...that is presently very wet (although with the sun, probably drying out). jimi and i were suppose to do the colour me rad in Calgary today and i was quite pumped about it...unfortunately do to all the floods Calgary had other worries to think about than a little five km race.

AND lets just say that all of southern Alberta is doing a great job in handling this massive disaster...and on top of that the amount of generosity i have seen from Albertans, Canadians and people world wide have once again astounded me. its pretty awesome to see. and to be able to see it again on social media...really shows the positivity of these kinds outlets!

i think that covers it all for me. here are a few pics that i haven't posted this month.

a fire-pit in the summer. is there anything better? it makes for an easy but great meal of hotdogs, banana boats, and cherry pies and mixes in with mark's favourite pastime of making fires.

sibling love on this lovely evening of food.

graduation day with my fellow nurslings!

all dolled up for the lovely occasion. our next stop? home depot of course!

 the grass is back and wilder than ever! and yes it grew once again.

 

 i think mark is in heaven right now as he not only has his yard to play around in but he has "his" dog. we are dog sitting while wendy and david are on vacation. i am assured that this is only temporary. ;)

 i saw my long lost friend jeff who i hadn't seen since may and really didn't even get a chance to talk to all that much! so lovely. and yes this is jeaninne protecting her hair from getting wet as she didn't want to "frizz" out.

lovely friends

 "let's go thrift shopping," i said

"it is the perfect day to do it as it is rainy," i said later

"holy it is really wet," i said even later

"remember the whitemud flood that we got stuck in, in 2004, i think we better go home cause i think its going to happen again," i said lastly

he he. yes jeaninne and i went shopping and i guess some of the roads did flood but not really where we were, all was safe! but we did see this die hard fat franks guy selling hot dogs. we just had to stop and see him. cause really...in torrential downpours he deserved our business!

 ahhh hot dogs so worth it!

 

 no finds for us...but one lucky lady found a cute little toy!

till next time...

love  

convocated

today was my convocation day. i never went to my last one. i don't really regret it as i didn't know many in my faculty (and it being a huge one) didn't feel like i was missing out amongst the massive numbers. but after attending mark's graduation and enjoying all the ceremonial aspects i decided that i was going to attend mine.

and i did. with my husband. who diligently took pictures of me and my friends. who waved at me from the audience and who facetimed my parents so that they could watch me receive my BSc degree in nursing. that's right my parents attended my graduation from new brunswick. lucky lucky me!

it was a wonderful morning. the first day of summer and the first day of no rain this week. and it was a happy day. the school journey is officially over for a while...the learning has just begun.

It's just the beginning.

I must say. When we were first moved in I was massively overwhelmed. Not the unpacking part. But the part where you start to convert the show homey look into your personal look. You know the one. When people walk into your home and know its yours and your partners. 

The challenge for me has been trying to merge Mark's minimalism with my bold, bright and just a tad excessive. Not to mention my incessant need for urgency to finish it all up. And really all we have is time. 

It's kind of funny as it reminds me of how I started to plan the wedding with billions of things going through my head of what needed to be done. And dear dear Mark reining me in and stating one step at a time. 

So the process has begun. And I have lists and projects to fill my summer months. Plus I have amazing friends that know a thing or two of what to do and where to look. It shall be fun and let's hope not to expensive. Ha ha. 

Love

The joys to be young

I got to hang out with one of my dear friends and her three year old daughter. This is what I learned from her today. 

Playgrounds are really fun. I don't know when they stopped being as exciting. Possibly it was about the time when i didn't enjoy the slide as just a slide or the swing as just a swing. It was when the equipment had other purposes to the made up games we would make to make it even MORE fun. 

When leaving the playground it is the end of the world. It is the biggest problem and in fairness it is a big problem as you don't get to control when you want to leave. Poor little bug. I feel your pain. 

Finally having to leave that playground and feeling very upset I am reminded of what my dad used to say when I longed to be a grown up and make grown up decisions and be rid of being told what to do. "One day, Tracey, you will make those decisions and you will long to be a child.  Cherish being young."

Dad you were right. 

Love

dadders, its dad's day!

wishing you a stupendous day!

love

A little escapism.

Just had two days off and during that time took a little run around the neighborhood. Must admit I did get lost a bit but enjoyed some of the trails. And my favourite song right now is this one. Don't know many people got to see this show as it did get cancelled but loved it. Might have to do with it being about broadway. He he. Been singing it in my head for the past three days. 

Now on to my day two of six.

Love

Hard nights

I am reminded of something. 

When things get hard at work. 

And at times they really do. 

The staff remind me how great they are. 

I can lean on them, ask questions, get answers, 

and more important than anything else, 

I can laugh with them. 

Sometimes you really need to laugh. 

It helps you get through some of the hardest situations. 

Some instances tonight had me laughing all the way home. 

Love to laugh.

Love

It's officially been a week

Everything that is needed has been unpacked and looking pretty good. I have to admit that we went pretty hard with the move. So hard that I was pretty physically exhausted and waiting for the weekend of nothing. But it seems that both of us just can't sit still even if we tried. Lol.

Saturday was looking for potential gardening things to landscape. Mow the lawn and weed the garden for Mark. For me, fix up the basement, set up my desk and make storage shelves. Side note: My scrapbook stuff is set up and ready to go....eek! Then a little rest. Organize papers, make some steak, attempt a fire and settle in for a movie. Sigh. 

Sunday was grocery shopping day. Then off to check out the local market. Yay for green onion cakes, kettle corn, and cheese bread. But boo for no fat franks, teehee. Then a family dinner with some lovely people. Sounds just like what a weekend should be for our first week in our home. 

Love