Blogger Problems: Here is November - my sincere apologies

Oh Blogger issues. How many times have you cursed my blog? Bonnie - be honest. haha I know the blogging police are royally frustrated with me. But my blog will not let me post!!! Even a simple post like this has taken over an hour. And my uploading of photos is getting to be ridiculous. It takes us to 3 minutes a photo. I am thinking of leaving blogspot. I really did start this blog over a month ago. But yes...here it is... only a year late. Well let's quit wasting time and get started. :)

Sister visits. Natalie that is - Kyla lives above us. So she is always visiting. ;) We spent our time with fondue at Chocoatl. shopping on 4th. mainstreet. robson. mary poppins watching. going for dinners. sight seeing. All good fun, and it was a good visit although poor Danny was the only guy... and our professional photographer.

After Nat left I headed to Calgary solo where I got to witness and share in Erin's joy at her wedding. We couldn't afford for Danny to come so Danielle was my unofficial date - although I have no pics on my computer of the two of us!! I got to hang with Ruth from Capernwray too which was so fun!!!  So nice to hang with good friends and see Erin and Dustin so in love.

 

Wish I could have stole Jessica away for a nice long chat but she was in the wedding party so she was busy with her duties!!!

November was lovely. A good month. Adjusting to my new job so I was very tired. Sleepy Hailey comes to town! It was fun to prep for Dec. though. I LOVE CHRISTMAS and decorating, and its a winter wonderland here. We decorated on the last day in Nov. and the festivities began. I will update you on Dec. soon. If my blog cooperates that is.

A group of us friends got together for an early Christmas dinner party because it was the only time that worked for everyone. Christmas dinner number 1. Number 1 of  5 I think? Lets just say I have probably eaten an entire turkey on my own in the month of Dec. BUT: Yummy food = Good times.

We enjoyed our party poppers with Chad and Lynda and the crew - Danny scored a sweet necklace in his. I am so glad he doesn't wear it on an everyday basis. EW!

SO that is our Nov. in a nutshell. Food. Family. Friends. A great month. A HAPPY LATE CHRISTMAS to you all! And a DELICIOUS AND WONDERFUL 2009!  Hope you all enjoyed celebrating our blessed Savior's birth. I am forever grateful we have HIS birthday to celebrate. Thank you Jesus - for all that you were to us in 2008...

October...Just in the Knick of Time!

[So this blog is just a total mish mash due to the fact that our pics are all messed up as well as the blog was being annoying... And I know I'm one day late people. Just cut me a little slack here. I had my final exam of the year, and the biggest project of my life due, YESTERDAY. That was the scariest part of my Halloween.] ;)

What a beautiful month October has been though. The colors are just UNREAL in our neighborhood-I can't get enough! Autumn takes my heart when it comes to seasons. We have been to Edmonton twice in the past month too! (The end of Sept and mid-Oct)Well first we hit up Steve and Kim's wedding on Sept 27. And that was just a blast. I will talk more about that later on. Then we had many other adventures this month such as Thanksgiving in Cowichan Bay on the island. And our second trip to Edmonton was for Robbie and Ashley's wedding. It was an absolute delight as well! So so so nice to be home as we haven't been since June.

So seeing as Halloween was yesterday I thought I would post this BEAUTIFUL shot of Danny and I. This first photo of us is in Superstore where we went with my sis Natalie, and did a little shopping and tried on wigs. I could NOT stop laughing every time I looked at Danny. He looks so creepy/pretty!!!!!

Next here we have Ashley and Robbie's wedding. The most recent of weddings we've been to. They had a perfect Edmonton Fall day on Oct.17. Darla and I were in charge of opening the doors for the girls before they walked down the aisle. It was fun to be behind the scenes! Ashley did really well at holding herself together before heading down the aisle. Darla and I on the other hand had quivering lips and we had to force ourselves not to cry. No wonder this is normally a boys job!!!!


Here is the Robbie's handsome best man. My husband. After the wedding I said something to Danny that confused him/made him frustrated and I took a picture of him as I said it. This picture makes me laugh. True frustration with me. ;)


It was hard to get a good shot of the place but this is the church-Gateway Alliance. Danny and I got married here too. Just completely different decorations. It was very pretty!!!

And now we have the happy couple after they were pronounced husband and wife. Too cute!


Yesterday was a big day for me.  It was my last day of school.  True story!!  I am done, and start a brand new job on Monday at Kiwi Collection.  www.kiwicollection.com.  More to come on that in weeks to come.  Anyways...These are MA GIRLS! My class was primarily exchange students, and we are all female-so it has been SUPER fun getting to know them and learning about their cultures. 2 weeks ago we were studying tour guiding, and got to escape the classroom for nearly a week.  We got to go on the ever-so-exciting Aquabus as part of our tour.It was fun to spend our last days together doing something not involving listening to lectures.  I keep feeling like I have homework. I have been so busy with school lately I can't even say!!! I am so happy to be done! But I will miss these ladies dearly!

Now on to Kim and Steve's wedding. It was great to see people, and Danny did such a great job with the sermon too. (He married them.) And if you are an Office fan...(the tv show) You will be happy to know that Danny even managed to say "That's what she said" IN the ceremony. After Kim said her vows. I just about died!!!! And everyone eventually burst into laughter.

Here is a pic of the pastor (Danny), the talented photographer (Ian) and the groom (Steve).

We snagged a shot of us before the wedding. I flew solo this day though...missed my man. He was off taking photos and being there for the groom!

I picked up this lovely lady however, and we spent the day together. My hot date was Janae! We had heaps of fun out and about in Edmonton.  I miss my hometown.

Steve and Kim were VERY talented at cutting the cake. I was impressed.  I don't have any good shots from the ceremony because I sat kind of far away from the front!  I look forward to seeing Ian's good shots.

Our good friends Steph and Jer were in town from Germany too! They are staffing a YWAM Biblical Studies school there now, and they just left again a day ago! :( We will miss them.

The dance was a good time. I love getting people in mid-move. ;)



And on to Thanksgiving. WE LOVE THE ISLAND. Let me just put that out there before we go any further here.  Everything about it. We had a great great time with Mama and Papa and the crew. My Auntie Pip made a killer Thanksgiving dinner with the help of Mama too. And get this- 5 minutes before we were about to sit down to eat, the power went out on the ENTIRE island! Thankfully all was ready and we ate up! Then at night we went to my cousin Riley's show at this hall. And I am so proud to say even my Mama and Papa came out for the late night! They were definitely the oldest people there!!!!




Okay so at this hall they have a "Not-So-General-Store". That's what its called. And it was SO strange. But I found these cat puppets that made me laugh so hard. I couldn't stop making faces with them. Oh it killed me.

This cafe below is called Moziros. They make amazing coffees, but the real treat is their Mint Smoothy chocolates. They are seriously life changing. I promise.  I loved the art and vintage feel in here.

We came across pumpkin heaven.  I just wanted to jump into the pile but of course that would be painful so I didn't.



This is the courtyard for this restaurant there. I mean how cute is this!?
So that is more or less our October.  I can't believe it's November already.  It scares me to think about how fast this year has gone.  INSANE.  But I am getting SO incredibly excited for Christmas.  It will be great.  I hope all is well with everyone else!  Here's to a good November!

September...So Far

September is a good month. In Vancouver, most still consider it "summer". Although I can't agree with that totally because its gray here today. And my hands are cold. And actually, this first pic of us is on a FREEZING night, at the beginning of the month when we decided to go to the Richmond night market. It was SOOOOOOO WINDY! But of course we made the best of it and bought some warm mini doughnuts. Can't go wrong with those.


I bought this notebook there because I just couldn't resist. Too cute! Not sure what I will use it for yet, but Danny was making fun of me a bit, but we all know he secretly loves it.



I LOVE AUTUMN. It is for sure the greatest season. The sun always seems the prettiest, and the clothes are ALWAYS the coziest. Big scarves, and woolly sweaters. I love it. We were able to escape to Whistler to the Westin Resort and Spa this month too. A little late anniversary getaway. We like to celebrate as much as humanly possible. :)

Smoldering...



Whistler is always packed with tourists. Which is one of the reasons why I like it there so much. I love being surrounded by people...even if I don't know them. It's got a lodgy feel too. You really feel like you're away in the mountains there. My Dad hooked us up at the Westin Resort and Spa too; it is always nice to be pampered. We got upgraded to this great room that overlooked a beautiful driving range. So stunning.









Next on the agenda were some visitors! I know you are all shocked because we never have people stay with us. It's unheard of! But we bent the rules this time for our lovely sis Darla, her dog Mylo, and her friend Kyle. I guess I should say our friend Kyle. We're all friends.

We did the usual including some hilarious board games, sight seeing, and even FONDUE!!!!! Delicious. We ate so much chocolate that night I can't even say without blushing.


To wash all that delicious chocolate down we went on a wine tour in Langley the next day. It was smokin hot and the wine was tasty. The few sips I had. The grapes and vineyards were just so deliciously beautiful, I couldn't get over it. It really does take everything in me to not pick a grape.






We enjoyed ourselves around Vancouver too. They were lucky they got some great weather while they were in town!


Last week I had my graduation ceremony as well. Now before you get all excited and congratulate me, you need to know I DON'T ACTUALLY GRADUATE UNTIL THE END OF OCT. We just have the ceremony early because there are many start dates throughout the year, so they do a couple ceremonies a year. It was still a good night though nonetheless.




Another BIG thing that happened this month was our big church kick off called Re-load. We launched our new website- www.churchonthewestside.com. And had a church service at the Kitsilano Showboat Theatre. The setting was so so beautiful it was almost too distracting. The weather was hot too; so people were swimming in the pool behind the stage. It was kind of funny. There were about 450 of us, so it was pretty awesome!




Other big piece of news: My sister Kyla moved into the suite above us. Timing worked out and she is all moved in. Crazy having family so close! It's been good.

Well that is all from me now. I am sure there will be more to come at some point. We are heading to Edmonton this weekend for Kim and Steve's wedding so that will be great. Can hardly wait!