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My perfect day would start out with waking up with my husband in a luxury boutique hotel on the Oregon coast with my hair already done. Room service would bring in a breakfast of eggs benedict, shredded hashbrowns, frothy lattes and TWO daily papers ( to prevent fights with my husband). We would enjoy our breakfast on a private balcony overlooking the foggy ocean.

After we finally got dressed we would wander down to an eclectic coffee shop to grab another coffee and go for a long stroll on the beach. Tony would have to carry a pail just in case we found any shells, driftwood, sea glass, etc.

Once we got back from the beach we would go on to do some wine tastings at local vineyards.

As soon as all the wines started to taste the same we would go to a spa for a glorious hot stone massage and some relaxation time.

By now it would be dinner time so we would dine on seafood with good wine in a 5 star restaurant by the water.

After dinner we go to the theatre, drink wine and eat yummy chocolate confections.

Upon returning to the hotel we would crawl under the 5,000 thread count down duvet and rent a movie.

Clearly, I love luxury, the ocean and wine.

What would you do?

and finally an ode to Jersey Shore…

What the shart?!?

I received an email from Starbucks last week saying that Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back but every time I go to Starbucks I get turned down and the barista looks at me like I’m crazy.

Have you been able to score a PSL yet?

In my research I found that forums were the best place to get ideas for the wedding as well as the place to get things for a good deal. My favorite forums were the knot and weddingbells. It was on these two websites that I was able to gain so much inspiration while discovering things I’d never even heard of before.

I decided early on that I wanted to have a unique ceremony in a traditional church location and beautiful tent reception.

We’ll start with my invitations. Of course I didn’t want to have regular invitations mailed in envelopes, that would be too normal. Instead I got the idea of having boxed invitations. I bought:

-chocolate colored boxes from Nashville Wraps

- Chocolate & Ivory Satin ribbon from Wal-Mart ( Very nice quality and beautiful color)

- paper from Hobby Lobby

- Swavorski crystals from ebay

- gocco machine ( The love of my life… at the time of making my invitations)

Each invitation was lovingly made by hand and wrapped with a belly band.

Just for good measure… Here was our table number… The Shlubbinator!

Over the past couple of months I’ve really been contemplating what I plan on doing with my life and my mind continually changes - Finish my Social Work degree then move on to MBA one day, Bachelors of Social Work then Masters of Social Work another. Maybe I should be a teacher? A Lawyer? A psychologist? A writer…? What am I going to be?

I’ve tried logically thinking things through, but what little help that’s been.  When I was about to graduate high school I told my mom that I thought I should take a year off and work before going to University. She told me I had to go right after high school otherwise I wouldn’t go back. So I went and completed my degree. Now, a year and a half after I finished my first degree I’d love to go back to school full time, but with adult life comes bills and other responsibilities that make it difficult to go back to school. She was right – you get used to a certain lifestyle and going back isn’t easy.

I’m also in the midst of a potential career change which is hampering my efforts to complete ( or even begin!) my Social Work Degree. Why can’t I find a job that would allow me to take at least TWO classes  a semester while working and pay me a good wage? Will Social Work even help me with my life goals? I dunno…. maybe… It sure wouldn’t help if I was a lawyer… but that’s beside the point.

In my heart of hearts I’d love to take as many degrees as possible to be fully prepared for whatever I chose to be. I’d love to get a PhD in Social Work or Counselling or something like that. But Tony and I have just started our “Adult” life together and I don’t know if I’m ready to shake that up yet. We’re just getting settled.  I graduated a year ago and he just graduated this past Spring. We’re finally not living the student life. Unfortunately when that starts, the bills start too.

We keep saying “In ten years when we own our house…” In ten years when we have no debt…”  “In ten years…”. Although this is somewhat consoling to know that there is an end in sight; it doesn’t do much for the current situation.

I like goals and paths and knowing where I’m going. Right now I’m in the middle of an open field with no direction and although I know that something will come up to help me decide, I don’t know what to do for the short term.

In the mean time, I’m working on my other life plans. I’m currently learning French, planning our trip to complete the Camino de Santiago in 2012 and focusing my energy on trying not to think about work so much.

What do you want to be when you grow up? If you’re already grown, did you take the risk to become what you really wanted to be?

Much has happened since I last posted (I’ll fill you in on that later) but I thought I’d start with a recap of our Road Trip down the Oregon Coast, Napa Valley and San Francisco.

We had an absolutely fabulous time and put on about 5400 km on our new Mitsubishi!

Oregon was beautiful! We’d never been there before and wished we spent more time there. The beaches were vast and life seems so laid back. Dogs are welcome pretty much everywhere, you can drive on the beach and openly have bonfires on the beach.

We found a piece of drift wood that became a….

Bazooka

and a horse!

Then we had an epic stick throwing contest. I clearly won as Tony’s throw was pretty wimpy.

We found some really pretty houses in Astoria built on a little bay. We’re still scheming to figure out how we can move there.

We stopped in Bruce’s Candy Kitchen in the cute little tourist town of Cannon Beach and ended up purchasing about two pounds of fresh salt water taffy.

After hearing so much about Tillamook Cheese I knew we needed to stop at the factory. When we got there it was SOOOOO busy that you could barely move. We took a couple quick pictures, ate some samples and bought a couple loafs (hahaha) of cheese and left.

As we drove the the redwoods there was a beautiful ethereal glow produced by the fog and sunlight shining through the trees.

Have you ever been to Oregon? What was your favorite part?

In the year 2000 I was in Grades 9/10. My best friend was Rachel and we were inseparable. We went on an Outdoor Education camp out where we had to build lean to’s. I also kicked ass in track that year.

In 2001 I was in Grade 10/11. I got my license in January and was ready to hit the road with my mom’s beloved “Saturnator”.  At this point I was still figure skating and coaching CanSkate.

In 2002 I was in Grade 11/12. I went on the Marine Biology trip where I met my future husband, Tony. Although we had instant chemistry we didn’t start dating for a couple years. I also went to Ottawa for the Encounters with Canada exchange and had a great time visiting the Parliament Buildings, going to museums and meeting new people. I quit skating in 2002 and regret it now.  I also got MY first car, which we still have. His name is Reddy – he’s a Nissan 200SX ( a very manly car with Hawaiian Flower stickers on the back windows). Reddy is now Tony’s car.

In 2003 I graduated high school and went on to my first year of University. I went on a fabulous graduation trip to Hawaii with my mom in February. I moved to the city that summer and had my first experience living with roommates ( I ended up moving out the following semester to live by myself in a basement suite). I was studying Management in University with a major in Marketing. At the time I really had no idea what that was, but it sounded cool and chic.

In 2004 I finished my first year of University in good standing! I, unlike many others, was not on Academic Probation (or AP as we fondly call it). This was also the year that Tony and I started dating. My best friend Chelsey decided it was time to hook Tony and I up for good.  We started ‘seeing each other’ in November, but don’t have an exact day we started dating so we went with November 12. I also moved into another house with some new roommates.

In 2005 Tony pretty much moved in with me and the roommates. We were still doing the student thing and enjoying getting to know each other again. I spilled a huge movie pop in Tony’s CD Deck, causing it to seize with stickiness, never shut again as well as causing the battery to occasionally drain.  I changed my mind and decided I should major in Marketing & International Management, therefore started taking spanish classes.

In 2006 I turned 21! This was also the year we Albertans were given our $400 ( AKA Ralphbucks). My mom, my brother Braeden and I all went to San Francisco to celebrate my day of birth. My mom is one of my best travelling companions. We move at the same pace – always and fast. We’re no loungers. We need to see things when we travel.  We even ditched Braeden at the hotel one day to go to China town. Tony and I decided to move into a condo by ourselves  this year and thought it would be a good time to get a puppy. We got our little puppy baby Shlubby that fall. This was also the year that Tony, Dan, Mandy ( an ex-girlfriend he hoped would become his girlfriend again…. long story) and I went to Portugal and England. Tony proposed to me in a rocky cove on the coast of Portugal on Christmas Day. We had a fantastic time travelling through Portugal in our “Wagonator” station wagon, almost driving off cliffs, spending over 150 euros at a pizza joint and learning about history.

In 2007 I spent the majority of my time planning our wedding. I was obsessed with wedding planning, still in school and working 19 hours per week. I switched my major again- this time I decided to major in Marketing and Finance. Basically wedding planning consumed my life in 2007. In May Tony and I decided it was time to buy a house. One day we found a great house that suited our needs. We moved in on June 15th.I began my time volunteering with the YWCA Board in 2007 and thus began my intense love for the non-profit sector.  I also became great friends with Shayla that year. Even though we went to High School together, we never talked before that summer.

In 2008 I turned 23. I went to Aruba with my mom a week before my wedding. My Baba passed away about a month before my wedding from a disease I work daily to fight. I married the love of my life, Tony on June 28th and we went on a two-week honeymoon to Hawaii. I switched my major again  for the final time to HR with a minor in Social Responsibility. Tony graduated from University with a B.Sc and was given a great opportunity ( and a lot of cash) to do a Masters degree. I was fortunate to get a full-time position at the Cancer Society doing a job I absolutely love.  I continued to volunteer at the YWCA, but now rather than being a director I became a VP.

In 2009 I graduated University! It took me a long time, but it was great to finally be done. Lots of people ask what I ended up with and I received a Bachelors of Management Majoring in Human Resources and Labour Relations with a minor in Social Responsibility. It was nice to be able to just work rather than having to work and go to school. I was  still at the YWCA and I’m sure I will continue to be until my term is up 4 years down the road. In February we bought a second puppy and named him Oliver. Oliver is Shlubby’s full brother and they love each other very much! In June we celebrated our first wedding anniversary by going to Waterton National Parks to do some outdoorsy type stuff. Tony started working as an interim manager for a research facility at the University in January and was hired full-time in July. He was also writing his thesis at the same time. I was so proud of him for scoring a job that he loves so much. My Dad had a heart attack in July and underwent surgery to put in a stent. In 2009 Dad managed to change his lifestyle and is now living much healthier and is looking great. In September we went to Scotland for 2 weeks and had a great time driving around in the “Silver Bullet”. We didn’t eat haggis, but did eat black pudding and tatties. In the summer I started getting an itch to go back to school and decided that 4 months after graduating I needed to go back to school for Social Work. In December I began my application to go to school part-time. December also was a great month for my brother. Braeden tried out and made the volleyball club, allowing him to play with people who share his passion and opening up doors for the future.  2009 was the first year Tony and I officially started living like grown ups with real jobs, debt ( that you have to pay back!), and forming our own little family with our two puppies.

2010 has much to hold and I can’t wait to see what will happen next for Tony and I. Many things have changed over the past decade and with the good and bad I’ve grown a lot and am truly happy with my life. Life may not always be glamorous, but I really enjoy doing my job and helping people, hanging out at home with my dogs & husband, cooking up a storm in my smallish kitchen, learning new things and travelling to new destinations.

What did you do this past decade?

I had great plans to be done my shopping early this year and not complicate things. But, alas, I have barely even started my shopping.

I did end up purchasing 4 copies of The Story of a Lifetime by Pamela Pavuk that I was asking about a couple  months ago. But rather than paying $80.00 a book I  found them on the Chapters website for about $34.00 each with free shipping on purchased over $39.00! The only thing is the books  I bought are not leather-bound. But for half the price I don’t care!

Tony and I decided these would be great gifts for our parents to reflect and recall memories. I’m quite excited to see what they all write in their books!

I also figured that since they were going to be doing some heavy-duty writing they should have a nice pen to use. I did a bit of research into fountain pens ( because they sound sophisticated and look lovely), and found  xFountainPens.com.  They have some really nice pens at great deals and shipping is only $4.00 flat to Canada if you spend over $15.00.

I also was able to track down some coupon codes thanks to Pocket Blonde and ended up getting fountain pen and an inkwell FOR FREE!

- Get a free bottle of Chesterfield ink when you spend $35.00 or more. Add the ink of your choice to the cart and enter the use CF44 as the coupon code

- Get a FREE X750 Fountain Pen when you spend at least $50.00.  Add the X750 pen of your choice to the cart and enter DAME as the coupon code.

YAY for Coupon Codes!

What crazy dogs I have!