Christmas Cheer ~ Tablescape

So our posts have been few and far between once again. I'm hoping I can stick to a bit more of a regular schedule in the new year. Don't hold me to it though! 

We hosted a dinner over the holidays again this year. D's Mom had gifted us the vintage green and gold tumblers shortly after last Christmas and I had vowed I would incorporate them in this year's table setting.

All other items are pieces we had on hand around the house. The 'holiday sweets' cupcake toppers have been floating around the baking cupboard for a few years now and green candle holders were recycled from my sisters summer wedding. (I promise that post is coming soon!)

We hope everyone had a wonderful relaxing time over the holidays, filled with yummy treats and lots of love!

Holiday Recap

We hope everyone had a relaxing, enjoyable Christmas filled with love, laughter, friends and family.

The new house called for new traditions along with hosting family dinners. In fact we had both sides of the family over for a holiday dinner. We have had family over for dinner in the past but this time it was in our new home, cooking on our 1950's stove and accommodating 8-11 people in our dining room. Everything went well and we are happy to have our first holiday season of entertaining guests under our belts.

Christmas Table ~Take 1.

Our first gathering was on Christmas Eve eve with D's family. We were able to fit 11 people, with room to spare in our dining room, which I thought was quite an accomplishment. D prepared dinner with me nervously standing around pretending like I knew what was going on, every time he left the kitchen area to show a newly arrived guest around the house. I have to be honest and tell you I have only turned on our stove a handful of times since being in the house! Cooking is definitely D's department.

My parents came to stay the night on Christmas Eve. It was an enjoyable evening of taking a wintery stroll, preparing last minute presents and all sitting down to watch the movie 'Elf'. My Mum took over cooking Christmas dinner and I did my part by cleaning up and washing dishes through out the day.

Christmas Table ~Take 2.

All in all our holidays were filled with snow...

Cozy days at home.....

(we painted our dining grey a few days before Xmas)

Being spoiled with gifts.....

Watching our kitty mess up the tree skirt a few times a day.....

It's a good job she is so cute....

And taking the time to be a couch potato here and there.....

And we are already looking forward to doing it all again next year.

Happy 2013....May your year be filled with silliness, love and new adventures!

Diggin' A Hole

Last weekend D and I dug a hole in our front yard. Why you might ask? Cause we were preparing to welcome a new addition to the family :)

A while back I had mentioned that we would like to plant a Japanese Maple in the yard. Our previous townhouse had one in the back patio area and it was gorgeous. I loved watching it grow over the time we were there and am hoping our new tree will provide us me with the same enjoyment.

We dug our hole at the tail end of a two month dry spell. It was quite a process as we wanted to transfer the dirt to another area in the yard. D shoveled the dirt onto a tarp and then I separated the dirt from the turf, removing the weeds as I went. As you can imagine the ground possessed rock like qualities so the digging part was hard work. We also don't own a wheelbarrow yet so we had to transfer the dirt one shovel load at a time. We didn't have far to go, but I'm sure we looked pretty funny walking back and forth across the yard a million times. A wheelbarrow is definitely on our wish list for spring!

We filled the hole half way with water a few times to try to presoak the ground before we planted the Maple. If you don't do this then once the tree is in the hole the surrounding ground can steal the water away from the tree roots. Luckily for us the rain started a few days later and hasn't stopped since. So the ground was nice and moist come planting time. It's funny that now we are home owners with a yard we are trying to beautify, we welcomed the rain with open arms. We were actually quite excited about it :)

Yesterday was the day we had planned our trip to the nursery to pick out our Japanese Maple. I had practice and a game to attend in the morning to mid afternoon so by the time I got home D was itching to go. It was still raining, quite hard I might add, so I had my doubts about being outside. I also thought the folks at the garden center would think we were crazy for planting in the rain but turns out that it was the perfect weather conditions to plant a tree :)

So we chose a 3 gallon tree, grabbed some soil and bark mulch and drove the block home with our new Maple sticking out the back of our hatchback.

We decided to name our tree because we are dorks like that. So let us introduce you to Mr. Roboto, our new Japanese Maple!

And we have been personifying him ever since. Last night we had a discussion regarding if he was missing his friends at the garden center and that now he can watch the traffic go by ;)

We think he's going to be a great addition to our yard and can't wait to see how he transforms over the next few years. 

Mr. Roboto is currently the same height as D. Let's see what the height difference is a year from now. I should also state that the Maple tree is my birthday present (which is today) so we will always know what date to take another comparison photo :)

The final step was to give Mr. Roboto some root booster. Yes, we need an outside watering can as well ;)

Thankfulness

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Our weekend was jam packed with awesomeness and so much to be thankful for. Including:

• Three Thanksgiving dinners
• Spending time with family and friends
• Enjoying this amazing October weather out in the garden
• Having Minter Gardens Center two blocks away
• Digging holes (I'll explain later)
• Walking down by the river in Hope with the evening sun shining on the mountains
• Having the time to tackle a few more small projects around the house

We've been in our bungalow for a month now and I have been putting off writing about the move. I was initially waiting until the end of September when we had officially moved out of our old townhouse and shop with intention to summarize my thoughts and feelings regarding this moving experience as a whole, but decided not to bore you with the emotional details. Almost everyone has been through a move and knows how it feels right? ;)

In short the month of September was filled with stress, excitement, exhaustion, long nights, anticipation and a few tears. After taking the first week of October to decompress, relax and really enjoy not having to stop at either of the two old places on the way home from work to pick up more junk or clean, I feel much better about the situation and relieved that it is finally in our past. Instead here are a few photos of moving day.

The photos below were taken by D's mum :) 

Before moving into our bungalow we spent an entire day just cleaning and fixing a few things in the kitchen.

We were extremely grateful to have my parents, D's parents, our friends Jon, Ben and Linc, D's sister Cindy, Willow and her bf Dustin help us move. We couldn't have done it without them. The amount of help we received was truly a gift. The day went incredibly smooth and our family members went above and beyond just carrying boxes into the house. My Mum provided lunch for everyone and after the truck was unpacked all family members went to work either cleaning, arranging or tackling the weeds in the front yard.

 

This photo will be a great reminder of what our driveway looked like before the garage was built (which should be happening very soon)! Permit application is in and our concrete friends are coming to do a pre assessment tonight.

Also do you remember me mentioning the new fence panels the neighbours bought here? They ended up at the end of our driveway. Unfortunately they were installed before we had our survey done so they are a little ways over onto our property which isn't really a big deal. Even so, the neighbours have insisted on moving them into the correct spot once the garage starts to go up.

Friday Funnies ~ A Dog's Dilemma

This is what may happen if we cut down too many trees! Global warming is one thing, but the dogs of the world may run into a crisis if we continue to clear our forests! We have to stop cutting down trees! This could turn into a serious problem!

*(this was forwarded to one of  my bosses. I had to share it because it made me laugh out loud).

This weekend D and I are putting the final touches on a mini makeover we have been working on. Looking forward to showing you all.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Party Time ~ A year after 60

Over the weekend my Dad turned 61. Unfortunately turning 61 isn't as big of a deal as turning 60. Last year we threw an outdoor woodsy themed birthday bash for my Dad plus 2 of his co-workers who were also celebrating the big 6-0.

It's occasions like birthdays that force you to take note of how fast a year goes by. It seems like yesterday D and I where at the shop cutting logs into small sections and gluing them together to make the 60 sign.

Even though we didn't have a big get together this year, we did spend the afternoon relaxing and swimming down at the lake. Which really was our best and only option because this weekend the weather was scorching hot!

The kids, D and I pretty much stayed in the water the entire time. The photo of Orrin above reminded me of how much he is growing up. I used to call him my little budda baby!

Out & About - Stave Falls Powerhouse

http://www.bchydro.com/community/recreation_areas/stave_falls_visitor_centre.html