the last post for awhile

so this will sadly but happily be my last post for a bit. things are starting to get slightly hectic and i really can't think i am going to have much more time to write this lengthy blog till we get back from our fabulous trip.

first off i have to say that i celebrated this last weekend with a fabulous bang! my ladies and i headed to a spa for some glorious treatments. really, living a life of leisure does seem pretty fab at times. we started the morning lounging in our robes in hanging beds, drinking sparkling wine. then off to get some treatments (mine was a hot stone massage, facial and pedicure).

after that we headed to julios where we had quite a few bulldogs...more than a few. it got a little rowdy and ridiculous i am sure! :) the end was a sweet surprise and i feel the need to gloat about a pretty special guy.

anita had previously given mark a pretty rough time about how messy the car was. this was a big deal as mark agreed to be the designated driver for all of us (and this is no exaggeration) the car could only fit two passengers (even though it is a 5 passenger car). needless to say as we were at the bar anita continued the texts about her expectations of the chauffeur (all joking of course). well he sure came through...mark pulled up in a suit, hand delivering roses, with cheese, crackers, fruit and non alcoholic champagne in the clean car. he really is a keeper. sigh.....

OKAY that is all the mush i promise!!

overall i have to say that this process of planning a wedding has been pretty amazing. not so much the planning part (unless its crafty, he he) but to see all the people that you truly love and adore come together to show their support, love and help you every step of the way. i don't know what i could of done without so many of you. not only our immediate families, and friends but extended family and even co-workers! we both are tremendously blessed and lucky and hope to return the favor for all of you in our own little way!

so that is it. next is the big day. and the honeymoon. let the final celebrations begin! :)
love

wedding happenings....

Well what can I say on the wedding front. I have to say I am at the point where I am enjoying it. Why you ask? Because its craft time! Something I love doing.

The cricut and my scrapbooking skills have taken on double duty. With the fabulous help from my mom, and absolutely fantastic bridesmaids we have done the invites, favors, banners, and other little things. This part I have to say has been fun. Especially the favor bags because I went a little wacky with the paper choices. He he.

It seems to be little things now. RSVP's are coming in daily. While Mark and I have to get our marriage certificate and refine some small details. Probably will be refining those details till the of the wedding.

Fun girlie stuff is coming up for me. An adult bridal shower. Tee hee. And getting my hair, make up and dress fitting. Love being a girl.

All of it is getting rather exciting I have to say!

Thats all for now.
Love

a shower of fun

last month i was lucky enough to have another shower thrown for me by mark's auntie jane. it was incredibly sweet of her to do it AND it was nice to see so many people come out to have some fun with games, food and such. it was nice to introduce my mom to a lot of mark's family, since she had rarely met any of them. it was a really great time.

here are a few of the happenings of the shower....from toilet paper wedding dresses, to bridal hats, to a fun drawing game!

 

thanks to all of you that came out. you really know how to make a girl feel special and loved! :)

love

hair drama

mark and i got engagement photos done yesterday.
trying to plan ahead for any kind of mishap as the drive to our "site" was far:

• our clothes were washed and laid out from the night before. 
• both of us got home at reasonable times. 
• he showered. 
• i showered. 
• he got changed. 
• so did i.  
• i plugged in my straightener to do my hair...
• yes, the power button was on...
• but the plates were cold...
• totally broken.

sigh. i know in the grand scheme of LIFE this really doesn't matter and it did put me in a fit of giggles 15 minutes after BUT if you did see my hair at that time, it did need some work done, considering lately when i wash it i put it immediately in a bun. those girls with long hair will understand what it looks like after the elastic is out. AND if you put a bit of money into pictures being taken...hopefully i have a bit of support ;)

thankfully in my life i have wonderfully supportive and fantastic-ly great friends and an equally supportive and fantastic boyfriend. call jeaninne, she plugged in her straightener (my old one) and told me that i could come right over. mark cut his dinner conversation short and with his ice cream cake in tow we drove to sherwood park earlier than expected. he may have even driven me to the mall to buy a new straightener (as my old one, isn't mine for a reason). at jeaninne's house, she was there by my side to help do my hair in 10 minutes flat (the back had never looked better, he he he). off to elk island we went.

the photos were done and we actually had a lot of fun, joking around, enjoying the scenery and having many laughs. AND my hair was straight so i was happy, seriously i can be such a dork! he he he

love

one year from today...

we have picked the venue.

we have picked the church.

we have our photographer.

AND

i have my dress.

our colours are almost set.

dj's are in the works.

our friends and family have wonderful ideas.

AND 

this bridal thing kind of works for me...now!

one year from today we will be married.

where does the time go?

it seems like yesterday that i was "complaining" about the semester ahead. now i am sitting here, with all my midterms done and just two group projects to complete. wow. so fast, how it flies. i have one more semester down and this much closer to my goal (SCARY!!). but as i do my readings, tests, and assignments the answers come a lot easier than they used to...probably an indicator that i do know stuff.

i have been really getting into these albums lately. i (almost) have all of my 2009 pictures in an album. so exciting. i have just developed 2010 pictures and their album is on standby. it feels great to finally get some organization to my pictures!

i spent all of sunday cleaning and adding an addition to mark's shelves. it is huge! mark jokes that i am trying to kill him, as it would be quite a big load if that thing ever tip over (don't worry, i checked on the tipping factor). but i love the way it looks and it took a lot of his books (that were scattered everywhere) and put them in a place. i do have to say though, he has a lot of books. but as my mom says, you gotta love a person who reads...(guess the reader in my family?).

not much else going on. i dabble in wedding planning but nothing at all in seriousness. i am still enjoying the engagement phase that just involves thinking and no work is involved. we both have ideas of what we want, we just need a plan to get there. BUT i did buy a book! mark laughed as i bought a book to plan a plan. whatever, i welcome the reading. i know how to plan trips, ride a bike, do svanasana in yoga, and sing every word to la vie boheme but i have no idea how to plan a wedding. hopefully this book will help!

not much else going on. tomorrow is st. patty's day so i must think of a green recipe to make as i had a lot of fun doing it last year with our green milk and green pancakes. and i am getting together with my girlfriends this weekend which should be loads of fun and laughter and talking! 

till next time...
love

she said...

 so Mark and I have been keeping a little secret...now that the family knows we will out ourselves to the facebook world and let you all know we are happily engaged ♥

 ~facebook message

we are back from an absolutely fantastic trip. not only did we have a delightful time, we had even more delightful news to share with our loved ones, both family and friends alike. it occurred soon after my last post.

we were hiking the kalalau trail. a hike i was later told is one of the top 10 hardest hikes in the usa, and rated 9/10 in difficulty. sigh. needless to say the reviewers were right. the combination of inclines, steep drops and (myself) dropping the camera in a creek, left us pretty weary (me a little worse than mark). things started to brighten up near the end of the day as mark set up camp in a nice solitary spot and we had supper under the sunset. we even saw some humpback whales breaching in the ocean.

the next morning being relaxed and feeling MUCH better, mark and i sat on a part of a wall that composed a heiau built by hawaiian natives long ago (mark wrote that bit...totally doesn't sound like me, he he he). i have to admit (although i really hate being a mush) it was an absolute perfect day. huge blue sky, sun shining, ocean in the background (with more whales surfacing) and being totally isolated from much of humanity. we sat there taking it all in when mark got up and said "tracey i love you, if you are willing to come here with me, then i will go anywhere with you. will you marry me?". then he got down on both knees with a ring in one hand. i wonder what my answer was...;)

YES! a very happy day. nothing more to say. pure bliss!

i later told him jokingly that i would be more than willing to go on more hikes if i have the promise of more shiny things in my future...we shall see about that one!

i hope you enjoy our mushy story, i promise i won't get totally mush on all of you in the future. however, mark did say we are allowed to be like this since we just got engaged!

love