Forgetful?

Well it's the middle of the week... finally.

It seems that I can't keep my head on straight these days and it's driving me crazy.  

It's very rare that I forget things but lately that's all I've been doing.  

Last week I forgot my lunch for work... unheard of.

On the weekend, I left my wallet at the dog kennel in Red Deer and drove all the way back to Sylvan before I realized I forgot it.  Nixon had a good 1.5 hour nap in the car.

Yesterday, I forgot my cell phone on the nightstand.

WTF.

All of this is so out of character for me and I blame it on the wedding! haha.

Of course it's absolutely impossible not to think about the wedding at any time, day or night. It's consuming!

We are ready to get married... NOW! 

Anyway, Travis is still away for work and likely will be for another week which is one week more than it should be but he's changing schedules and this is what needs to be done.  

I am still moving along with wedding stuff and getting to a point where I think I can take it easy for a little while, while I wait for RSVPs to come it!

I've come to the conclusions that I don't really have any hobbies or do anything fun!  Everybody keeps telling me to just do something fun for me, but I enjoy spending my time with Travis!  I love baking and cooking, but it's hard on the waist line!  My Gramma suggested that I get back into photography and I think she's right, especially now that we have our new camera, so as soon as the wedding is done, expect plenty of pictures on here! 

That's all for now.  I found this picture the other day and I love it!  She reminds me of pictures I've seen of Gramma that age.  I think everyone should try to be this happy!

Now if only we could all be this happy!

~ Christine

Vivid Dreams

Well it's almost the end of the week and I am thankful for that!

Tomorrow morning before I go to work I will be taking Nixon to Freedom House for some much needed socialization and play time and I will pick him up Saturday evening.  This should give him a break and me a break!  I won't say that I don't feel slightly guilty about it but it's needed.

I've been having vivid dreams for the past week about our wedding day!  Of course they aren't wonderful dreams... they're the kind where everything doesn't quite go as planned!

We are now 100 days away from the big day!  Travis and I are very anxious for the next 3 months to fly by so that we can finally be Mr. & Mrs. Temple!  We look forward to life after the wedding and are still crazy excited about our honeymoon!

I hope to get lots more wedding stuff done this weekend and started getting things ready to pack to bring to Winnipeg with us in March.

That's all for now!

Happy Thursday! 

~ Christine

Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

Good morning Monday followers! 

We made it through the long weekend and it was definitely nice to have the extra day off for Family Day or Louis Riel Day (For those Manitobans).

I kind of forgot that I had to go to work today until this morning... and then I might have slept in a little bit... oops.  But as always, I was still on time for work!

I had a fairly productive weekend and am happy to say that there are several check marks on my wedding to do list now!

I was lucky enough to have Travis home yesterday, even though he slept for most of the day.  We were able to hang out for about an hour in the afternoon and have a quick supper together before he went back to work.  

As promised, I have received some news about my position at Red Deer County.  As you may know, I am filling a temporary position that was coming to an end in July, but it has now been extended for another year, until April 30, 2014.  I was hoping for a permanent position, but everything happens for a reason and I'm sure it will all work itself out down the road.  In the very least, I have some peace of mind for another year a bit and won't have to worry about looking for another job around the same time as the wedding!

It will likely be a quiet week around my house, continuing with the wedding to-do list and giving Nixon some much needed attention and exercise.  I think he's getting a little stir crazy in the house, so he's due for a weekend at the kennel so he can play with his doggy friends and exhaust himself!

That's all for now!  I hope everybody has a great week.  I think everybody should take some time for themselves this week, do something that makes you happy and might seem selfish, because everyone deserves a little break every now and again! 

~ Christine

Overdue

It just occurred to me that I'm long overdue for a blog post.

It's FRIDAY and it's a long weekend because of Family Day on Monday which is great for this busy bride!

Travis has been away since Tuesday and might be away for up to 3 weeks this hitch which is good and bad.  It's good for the bank account and because I will get lots of wedding stuff done.  It's bad because it's lonely and Nixon misses his daddy!

My parents have taken off to Cuba for 10 days so I don't even get phone time with Mom but I'm happy that they decided to go and hope they have a great relaxing vacation!

I've had wedding on the brain for awhile now and that's all I think about!  I've been trying to do something wedding related every night and so far it's been going well!  I hope to get lots accomplished this long weekend and maybe even finish the centerpieces if all goes well!  

I said I wouldn't start a countdown this early, but I felt like I needed a little daily encouragement to get things done so I started a to do list and countdown at home.

106 Days until the Big Day!

We've been getting a few RSVP cards back, which pleases me to no end and it is much appreciated.

Other than that, there's not much else going on in our little world.  

I hope everybody has a great and safe long weekend!

~ Christine

Bad Ass "New" Tattoo

Travis has been saying that I've changed since we moved to Alberta and that I'm not as "bad ass" or "punk" as when he first met me in Manitoba.  So today, after sitting/laying for a 3.5 hour tattoo session, he won't be able to say that for awhile! 

While wedding dress shopping, I realized how important my shoulder tattoo was to me and how much meaning it carries.  I had been feeling for some time that it was "just there" and faded and needed "something."  Luckily for me, I have a wonderful hairdresser in Sylvan Lake that has many beautiful tattoos and she suggested I visit Jesse at Soul Case Tattoo to get my touch up.  

It was well worth the 3 month wait for my appointment.  Jesse was funny and took his work very seriously.  He was also surprisingly kind and gentle.  It was a wonderfully painful experience and I'm so glad that I finally did it.

I am thrilled with the final product.  I think it's everything that it needed, not too much, not too little.  I think it's beautiful and flows with my body.

I am very thankful that Travis took the day off work to be there with me and endured the whole thing without a complaint!  I don't imagine it's very easy to sit around for 4 hours doing nothing and listening to "buzz...buzz...buzz."

The following photos are a run through the day!

Getting ready.

Shaving... haha

Freehand drawing with pen

Gun's loaded

First lines

Laying down to finish everything

My 4 leaf clover wasn't looking so lucky at this point.  I swear it's green.

My first real look.

The beginning of adding new red... notice that the original red doesn't show at all.

Almost done but then we decided to redo the symbols

All done!

Relieved and excited!

A little messy after taking the bandage off.

All clean

I love how it comes over my shoulder now

~ Tatters

Banana Mania

Travis asked me to blog about bananas awhile back and I haven't gotten around to it until now!  So here it goes:

I had never eaten a banana until last summer while out camping.  For 24 years, I couldn't stand the thought of a banana but something possessed me to try a piece last summer and I've eaten at least 1 banana every day since then!

I love that bananas are inexpensive and nutritious!

Travis always finds a little bit of humor in the foods that I eat now that I have never eaten before I met him.  I could list many, but maybe I'll save that for another post!

~ * ~ * ~

Aside from bananas, Travis is coming home from Calgary tonight which is great because I don't think he's enjoyed his last 4 days of work there. 

He went at lunch at pick up our wedding bands at Carati in Calgary.  This is small family owned jewelry store in a mall downtown that Travis used when he bought my engagement ring.  The staff there is great and were exceptional with Travis and remembered him months later when we walked in the door together to purchase our wedding bands!

Tomorrow morning we are going for my tattoo touch-up/addition which I'm still nervous and excited about!  

We aren't quite sure what the weekend has in store for us just yet, although we do plan on spending Sunday celebrating an early Valentine's Day because Travis is expected to be in the field on Valentine's Day.

That's all for now!  Enjoy your weekends... lucky for me... mine starts tonight! :)

~ Christine

GO JETS GO!

Dad stopped into Sylvan for a visit tonight and we watched the Jets game together.  It just so happened that I came home from work and put on one of my Jets shirts without knowing that they were even playing tonight.... coincidence.

Mom let me know earlier that Keith and Allie were at the game tonight so I was on the lookout for them!

The Jets pulled it off tonight and won and just minutes after winning, I spotted Keith in the stands!  Thanks to PVR, I was able to rewind it so that Dad could see and then took a picture!  So here it is!

~ Christine

Times Are Changing

Every once in awhile, I realize how much times have changed.  In my opinion many men have definitely taken on new roles in their lives that were unheard of even just 20 years ago.  They are evolving into wonderful, nurturing, caring creatures and it's amazing to see sometimes.  Many men nowadays have taken on many of the household responsibilities that were once considered women only duties.  They have also become loving, involved fathers.  There is nothing more heartwarming than seeing a dad with his baby and/or kids at the mall, no Mom in sight.  I can only dream that those men say to their wives... "Honey, why don't you take the afternoon for yourself and I'll watch the kids."  

This weekend was wedding overload for me... mostly just flower overload.  I have taken it upon myself, with the help of my Mom, to handcraft every single flower that will be seen on our wedding day.  It's a fairly easy but time consuming task.  It will all be worth it in the end and I couldn't do it without the help of Travis.

Despite the fact that Travis was working from home the majority of the weekend, he still managed to help keep the house clean, fold a load of laundry and walk Nixon, allowing me to completely focus on flowers.  It's amazing to me that he's willing to do these tasks whether asked or not, without complaint.  This is a side of men that I've never known growing up and it's a pleasure to see.  

I feel truly lucky to have a man like this in my life, that I will spend the rest of my life with and look forward to the day that we bring our own children into this world because I know that Travis will be an amazing Dad and I can't wait to see it.

I will continue on with wedding stuff for the rest of the week while Travis is working in Calgary.  I might get to see my Dad tomorrow night for a couple hours.  And I am nervously looking forward to getting my shoulder tattoo touched up on Friday and thankful that Travis took the day off to be there with me.  I will post pictures of the tattoo as soon as I can.

I hope everybody has a great week! 

~ Christine

The Ball Is Rolling

Today marks the 4 Month Countdown to our wedding day!  

It's all getting very real now and really exciting.  Planning is coming along great.  

Yesterday, I picked up my dress from the bridal store.  I was so nervous to go pick it up that I procrastinated for 4 days because I thought it was going to be too big.  Turns out it fits perfect and it just needs minor alterations... my boobs aren't big enough.  

Tomorrow, we plan on going to Calgary to pick up our wedding bands which I'm also nervous about because Travis has lost so much weight and we had them engraved, so here's hoping that everything is good when we get there! 

This week, I went for a trial at 30 Minute Hit in Sylvan which is a women's only kickboxing/self-defense circuit training.  It was a great experience, I learned a lot and sweat a lot.  Now I need to decide whether I want to commit the time and money and get a membership.  Decisions, decisions.

Other than that, things have been pretty quiet around Sylvan.

Hopefully this weekend, Travis will finish his wood working project and I will be able to post pictures! 

~ Christine