Seven has become a fairly important number to me.
When we first moved to Victoria I was determined to make it work here and part of that was finding a community that I could be a part of, the first place I looked for that was softball. Trusty Google lead me to a the website for Victoria Women's Fastball and I took a chance sending an "I want to play" email to a generic league address and crossed my fingers. A few days later I was put in touch with a coach and from that point forward I was a member of Team Storm.
At the first practice it was discovered that I was Jen #3 on the team and that could get confusing. A few nick-names got tossed around but I won't mention these because they are rather embarrassing.
Fast-forward to the practice where I got my uniform. By pure luck I was assigned the #7 - which at that point meant a whole lot of nothing to me.
Fast-forward a couple more weeks to a team bonding event where I got dubbed Jen-7, there is a story there but it's long and it's one of those "you had to be there". Jen-7 eventually morphed into Seven and that's who I became.
Now what does this have to do with Ian and I? I'm getting to that, be patient.
Now that I have given you a rather detailed look into the past twelve months of my life I will get to my point. You didn't think I had one did you?
Today is another #7 for Ian and I. Not only is it our 7 year (yes it really has been 7 years) anniversary, but it is the last time we will celebrate our anniversary on this date. I thought Ian had forgotten because last night after arriving home from a week on the mainland he feigned ignorance when I asked him if he knew what today was. Then this morning I was told that we will be attending the Sarah McLaughlin concert here in Victoria tomorrow night. The stinker!
So like I said #7 is pretty big in my life and it feels very fitting that the last "dating" anniversary be our 7th.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Being a grown-up
I'm sure everyone has one. A piece of furniture they hate more than anything. It sits there all mockingly saying, "I'm so ugly but you need me so you can't get rid of me".
I have a piece of furniture just like that. It is a really old desk that I have been carting around with me since I was 17 years old. It's heavy, it's ugly and I never actually use it as a desk. It is a gather all for junk and I've wanted to get rid of it for quite some time but haven't had anything to replace it with.
A couple months ago I voiced my opinion about the desk and the corner it lived in. Ian whole-heatedly agreed that we needed to do something about the desk and "the corner" (insert ominous sounding music here).
It didn't take me long to form an opinion on what needed to be purchased in order get rid of the desk. A china cabinet to house all the beautiful things that are going to be coming our way in 5 months - 1 day. In fact, the set of china that I got for my birthday has been in its box since I got in and every time I saw the box I got sad that I had nowhere suitable to put it. Two problems solved: the desk could go and we would have somewhere appropriate to house or china and crystal when wedding gifts arrived.
Ian was a bit of tough sell but he soon saw my way of thinking and jumped on board.
Translation: I pouted.
Next step was to locate such a piece of furniture in our very pathetic price range (anyone want to give us a nice piece of furniture for a smile and hug?). We went on websites like TheBrick.com and Sears.ca and found things that we liked but the attached price tags were a bit more than we could afford, or in some cases a lot more than we could afford. Ever.
I kept a watchful eye on craigslist because I have had good luck there before but two months went by and the only things that popped up were things that should have stayed in the 80's. Bad things...*shudder.
I had given up. I was stuck with the desk. It was going to haunt me to my dying day. Stupid desk.
THEN: there was a glimmer of light.
I checked craigslist one night when I was bored and was shocked to see a hutch/buffet combo in seemingly good condition for $45. It wasn't ugly, it wasn't from the 80's and we could feasibly pay for it. WHAT?!?!
I ran into the bedroom with the laptop and made Ian look right then and there. He agreed it had potential. I said it's got to be better than the desk. He agreed. Only problem was the posting was from 4 days prior, that's what I get for getting lazy with my craigslist stalking.
An email was sent anyway and we both went to bed very soon after, me praying that the furniture gods would smile on me and an email would be waiting in the morning saying that we could still view the hutch.
I must have been in good graces with the furniture gods because they did smile on me and the email I hoped for was in Ian's inbox the next morning. It was on. Within 48 hours we arranged a time for pick up and the use of a truck to actually bring it home.
We arrived at our friend Kristy's place on the appointed evening to pick up the truck and get the keys from the owner, her lovely boyfriend Austen. Ian decided that the canopy could stay on because, "this thing can't be that big and I'm SURE it will fit".
So we drive out to Oak Bay and find the hutch... it is that big and it doesn't fit. So back to Kristy's to take off the canopy that is bolted on. Austen isn't home. doh! A quick phone call later and we are informed that he will be home any minute. The canopy gets taken off and off we go again.
We were about put the hutch part into the truck when suddenly one of the glass doors leaps out of the hutch and smashes on the drive-way. We are talking totally shattered. Now something you need to know is, the owner has left it to us to pick up this rig and is not home, thus we have no access to a broom and dust pan. A bit of recycling-bin-diving later I came up with an empty Kleenex box and a Thrify's bag. I think I did a pretty good job but we called the owner to give him a heads up, just in case.
Anyway long story short we managed to get the thing home without further incident and into the living room. At this point it was 10:30pm on a Sunday night and we both needed to go to bed. So the rest if transformation would have to wait. It actually ended up happening over the next few days. I snapped a few pictures of the process so you can look at my apartment as it went from chaos to not so chaotic.
I have a piece of furniture just like that. It is a really old desk that I have been carting around with me since I was 17 years old. It's heavy, it's ugly and I never actually use it as a desk. It is a gather all for junk and I've wanted to get rid of it for quite some time but haven't had anything to replace it with.
A couple months ago I voiced my opinion about the desk and the corner it lived in. Ian whole-heatedly agreed that we needed to do something about the desk and "the corner" (insert ominous sounding music here).
It didn't take me long to form an opinion on what needed to be purchased in order get rid of the desk. A china cabinet to house all the beautiful things that are going to be coming our way in 5 months - 1 day. In fact, the set of china that I got for my birthday has been in its box since I got in and every time I saw the box I got sad that I had nowhere suitable to put it. Two problems solved: the desk could go and we would have somewhere appropriate to house or china and crystal when wedding gifts arrived.
Ian was a bit of tough sell but he soon saw my way of thinking and jumped on board.
Translation: I pouted.
Next step was to locate such a piece of furniture in our very pathetic price range (anyone want to give us a nice piece of furniture for a smile and hug?). We went on websites like TheBrick.com and Sears.ca and found things that we liked but the attached price tags were a bit more than we could afford, or in some cases a lot more than we could afford. Ever.
I kept a watchful eye on craigslist because I have had good luck there before but two months went by and the only things that popped up were things that should have stayed in the 80's. Bad things...*shudder.
I had given up. I was stuck with the desk. It was going to haunt me to my dying day. Stupid desk.
THEN: there was a glimmer of light.
I checked craigslist one night when I was bored and was shocked to see a hutch/buffet combo in seemingly good condition for $45. It wasn't ugly, it wasn't from the 80's and we could feasibly pay for it. WHAT?!?!
I ran into the bedroom with the laptop and made Ian look right then and there. He agreed it had potential. I said it's got to be better than the desk. He agreed. Only problem was the posting was from 4 days prior, that's what I get for getting lazy with my craigslist stalking.
An email was sent anyway and we both went to bed very soon after, me praying that the furniture gods would smile on me and an email would be waiting in the morning saying that we could still view the hutch.
I must have been in good graces with the furniture gods because they did smile on me and the email I hoped for was in Ian's inbox the next morning. It was on. Within 48 hours we arranged a time for pick up and the use of a truck to actually bring it home.
We arrived at our friend Kristy's place on the appointed evening to pick up the truck and get the keys from the owner, her lovely boyfriend Austen. Ian decided that the canopy could stay on because, "this thing can't be that big and I'm SURE it will fit".
So we drive out to Oak Bay and find the hutch... it is that big and it doesn't fit. So back to Kristy's to take off the canopy that is bolted on. Austen isn't home. doh! A quick phone call later and we are informed that he will be home any minute. The canopy gets taken off and off we go again.
We were about put the hutch part into the truck when suddenly one of the glass doors leaps out of the hutch and smashes on the drive-way. We are talking totally shattered. Now something you need to know is, the owner has left it to us to pick up this rig and is not home, thus we have no access to a broom and dust pan. A bit of recycling-bin-diving later I came up with an empty Kleenex box and a Thrify's bag. I think I did a pretty good job but we called the owner to give him a heads up, just in case.
Anyway long story short we managed to get the thing home without further incident and into the living room. At this point it was 10:30pm on a Sunday night and we both needed to go to bed. So the rest if transformation would have to wait. It actually ended up happening over the next few days. I snapped a few pictures of the process so you can look at my apartment as it went from chaos to not so chaotic.
This is all the crap the used to live on and in my desk... hence why I could not rid myself of it without a suitable replacement.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Something Borrowed and Something Blue
Hopefully you remember my first post on this subject, "Something Old, Something New..." because this is the continuation.
So first things first, my something borrowed. I am very blessed to have a wonderful sister and a wonderful sister-in-law-to-be (wow that's a lot of hyphens!) who both have been married. So I thought it would be a nice touch to have a something borrowed from each of them.
My older sister had this amazing veil that goes so perfectly with my dress, I don't have a photo of it but I can tell you it's fantastic!
My sister-in-law-to-be generously offered me her tiara that she got all the way from the Tower of London for her wedding. This one I have a picture of:
I am so happy that it worked out for me to have something from each of them and the whole look together is going to be amazing. Added bonus, both of those pieces would have cost a fortune so borrowing them is saving me a bundle!
Now think back to my last post. I had asked for opinions on garters and got some great responses. Yet after looking at my choices again I just wasn't sold so I did a bit more looking. I came across http://mygarter.com/ and was totally excited to literally piece together the exact garter that I wanted. They even have this nifty thing called the garter design center where you can see what your garter is going to look like. I finalized my order and it finally arrived a couple weeks ago and I couldn't be happier!
Please note: these pictures don't do the items justice. I'm no Ian with a camera... sorry
So first things first, my something borrowed. I am very blessed to have a wonderful sister and a wonderful sister-in-law-to-be (wow that's a lot of hyphens!) who both have been married. So I thought it would be a nice touch to have a something borrowed from each of them.
My older sister had this amazing veil that goes so perfectly with my dress, I don't have a photo of it but I can tell you it's fantastic!
My sister-in-law-to-be generously offered me her tiara that she got all the way from the Tower of London for her wedding. This one I have a picture of:
Isn't it amazing?!
I am so happy that it worked out for me to have something from each of them and the whole look together is going to be amazing. Added bonus, both of those pieces would have cost a fortune so borrowing them is saving me a bundle!
Now think back to my last post. I had asked for opinions on garters and got some great responses. Yet after looking at my choices again I just wasn't sold so I did a bit more looking. I came across http://mygarter.com/ and was totally excited to literally piece together the exact garter that I wanted. They even have this nifty thing called the garter design center where you can see what your garter is going to look like. I finalized my order and it finally arrived a couple weeks ago and I couldn't be happier!
Please note: these pictures don't do the items justice. I'm no Ian with a camera... sorry
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
My first creation!
I was so excited to make something with my new mixer that on Monday when I got home from school I busted out my recipe books to figure out what I wanted to make. I decided on blueberry muffins but had a small set back when I realized I was out of milk. So I make a quick "pick up after school on Tuesday" list and put the mixer back in it's home feeling somewhat disappointed.
After school of Tuesday I ran around the grocery store picking up the missing ingredients for my muffins (plus a few other things) and got to work as soon as I got home. I did my reading to make sure I was using the correct mixing tool (it came with three!) and got to work on the muffins. Since I can't eat real food I have gotten used to cooking with alternatives. They tend to be difficult and never turn out quite the way you want them to, at least so far that has been my experience.
I put my muffins in the oven and waited, happily distracted watching season 1 of Glee. When they finished baking I was pleasantly surprised. They were beautiful. I waited for them to cool and then sampled one... quickly discovering I had not waited long enough for them to cool. The burnt tongue was totally worth it though, because even though I've made this recipe a lot these were by far my best batch!
I was so excited I took a picture. You have full permission to laugh at my incredible geekyness.
Don't they look yummy!!!
After school of Tuesday I ran around the grocery store picking up the missing ingredients for my muffins (plus a few other things) and got to work as soon as I got home. I did my reading to make sure I was using the correct mixing tool (it came with three!) and got to work on the muffins. Since I can't eat real food I have gotten used to cooking with alternatives. They tend to be difficult and never turn out quite the way you want them to, at least so far that has been my experience.
I put my muffins in the oven and waited, happily distracted watching season 1 of Glee. When they finished baking I was pleasantly surprised. They were beautiful. I waited for them to cool and then sampled one... quickly discovering I had not waited long enough for them to cool. The burnt tongue was totally worth it though, because even though I've made this recipe a lot these were by far my best batch!
I was so excited I took a picture. You have full permission to laugh at my incredible geekyness.
Don't they look yummy!!!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Wedding Fair
I've been engaged for over a year now and thus have been to quite a few wedding fair's. They are so much fun and actually pretty useful. I've found many things and gotten some serious gift certificates.
Last April I was super excited and wanted to go to wedding fair's left, right and center so one weekend my mom, sister and I had planned to attend the Vancouver Wedding and Honeymoon show at the trade and convention center. I went online to purchase tickets so that we could save a couple bucks and after going through all the steps I received an email confirmation that said, "Thank you for purchasing tickets to Wedding Fair 2011". Turns out they are run by the same company and I had clicked on the wrong show.
Doh!
Needless to say I was determined to not waste that $80.00 (yes $80.00) so this past weekend when Wedding Fair 2011 finally came around I dragged my Mom, my Sister, my Nieces, and Sydney downtown. Oh and did I mention that Ian got two complimentary tickets to the show as well? Ya... double doh! I didn't expect to find much because I've got so much booked but I still managed to walk out with arm loads of stuff. I was actually pretty pleased because I found a smokin' good deal on chair covers. I also got more free stuff and gift certificates so all was not lost.
I entered this hilarious content with escapes.ca that required me to have my photo taken and Syd decided to jump in with me. So for your viewing pleasure my picture with Sydney.
Last April I was super excited and wanted to go to wedding fair's left, right and center so one weekend my mom, sister and I had planned to attend the Vancouver Wedding and Honeymoon show at the trade and convention center. I went online to purchase tickets so that we could save a couple bucks and after going through all the steps I received an email confirmation that said, "Thank you for purchasing tickets to Wedding Fair 2011". Turns out they are run by the same company and I had clicked on the wrong show.
Doh!
Needless to say I was determined to not waste that $80.00 (yes $80.00) so this past weekend when Wedding Fair 2011 finally came around I dragged my Mom, my Sister, my Nieces, and Sydney downtown. Oh and did I mention that Ian got two complimentary tickets to the show as well? Ya... double doh! I didn't expect to find much because I've got so much booked but I still managed to walk out with arm loads of stuff. I was actually pretty pleased because I found a smokin' good deal on chair covers. I also got more free stuff and gift certificates so all was not lost.
I entered this hilarious content with escapes.ca that required me to have my photo taken and Syd decided to jump in with me. So for your viewing pleasure my picture with Sydney.
Monday, January 10, 2011
My last Christmas as a "Vaness"
After I handed in my last exam on July 17 I was free to enjoy the Christmas holidays. Hazaa!! By the 19th I was on a ferry home and enjoying some much needed R&R at Hotel Mom and Dad. Ian was still working but he had the week after Christmas off so we decided to spend that together.
Our Christmas was somewhat hectic because Ian and I are at the phase of our lives where we go to everyone else. Christmas Eve after I picked Ian up from the ferry we went to his parents house for dinner with Ian's parents, Grama and the Maedel family. The next day was early morning presents with Ian's parents followed by more presents with my parents and then Christmas Brunch. Ian squeezed in a could visits with friends while I relaxed with the women in my family (all the men had disappeared for naps).
After Christmas dinner and a female victory in a Men v/s Women Cranium and a much needed good nights sleep we were off again. This time to Port Alberni for Christmas: Round 3 at the Reddick household and dinner in Cherry Creek.
Finally the next day was Cade's 5th birthday with more celebrations and fun ending with Ian and I getting a ride to Nanaimo and then driving home. We were very glad to get home but the whole four days were amazing fun.
So Ian and I have had our eye on a certain kitchen appliance for some years but it has always been out of reach for us. We put it on the registry because "you never know" figuring nobody would buy it for us and we told people that an easy Christmas present would be to purchase something off one of our registries.
Well under one of the three trees this year was that very appliance. The famous kitchen aid mixer in RED!!. Needless to say we were VERY excited!!!!
We were also surprised by fantastic spice rack that I thought was just the rack and the bottles when I registered, but was actually filled with a huge range of spices! Thanks so much everybody!!
With all this new cooking paraphernalia I was inspired to get into the kitchen. However because of the size our new mixer it didn't fit in the car the first time. It had to stay on the mainland until this past weekend. haha! So now it's home and because it doesn't fit in any of our cupboards it's new home is on top of the fridge which is fine by me because it's so darn pretty!
And for your viewing pleasure I really like this pic of me and Ian on Christmas morning - I think it's cute!
Our Christmas was somewhat hectic because Ian and I are at the phase of our lives where we go to everyone else. Christmas Eve after I picked Ian up from the ferry we went to his parents house for dinner with Ian's parents, Grama and the Maedel family. The next day was early morning presents with Ian's parents followed by more presents with my parents and then Christmas Brunch. Ian squeezed in a could visits with friends while I relaxed with the women in my family (all the men had disappeared for naps).
After Christmas dinner and a female victory in a Men v/s Women Cranium and a much needed good nights sleep we were off again. This time to Port Alberni for Christmas: Round 3 at the Reddick household and dinner in Cherry Creek.
Finally the next day was Cade's 5th birthday with more celebrations and fun ending with Ian and I getting a ride to Nanaimo and then driving home. We were very glad to get home but the whole four days were amazing fun.
So Ian and I have had our eye on a certain kitchen appliance for some years but it has always been out of reach for us. We put it on the registry because "you never know" figuring nobody would buy it for us and we told people that an easy Christmas present would be to purchase something off one of our registries.
Well under one of the three trees this year was that very appliance. The famous kitchen aid mixer in RED!!. Needless to say we were VERY excited!!!!
We were also surprised by fantastic spice rack that I thought was just the rack and the bottles when I registered, but was actually filled with a huge range of spices! Thanks so much everybody!! With all this new cooking paraphernalia I was inspired to get into the kitchen. However because of the size our new mixer it didn't fit in the car the first time. It had to stay on the mainland until this past weekend. haha! So now it's home and because it doesn't fit in any of our cupboards it's new home is on top of the fridge which is fine by me because it's so darn pretty!
And for your viewing pleasure I really like this pic of me and Ian on Christmas morning - I think it's cute! 
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Sad Face
This past week Ian has been off work and I have been off school. Together we have had the most wonderful "stay-cation", we have played games, cleaned up our apartment, cooked and just relaxed. It has been blissful.
One of things we did one day was go and visit Roberta at Barclay's to finally get the ball rolling on the wedding bands. Since my engagement ring is so unique a generic band was out of the question. I tried many on and not one looked good. My engagement ring is a really unique shape and all of the normal bands produced a massive gap between the rings that looked really stupid.
So because my ring is so unique and I want the wedding band to fit the ring I had to leave my engagement ring with Roberta so she could construct a wedding band. I also didn't get a loner ring this time because she has to hang on to it until... FEBRUARY! I am really rather sad about that. So I busted out the ring that Ian gave me for Christmas a few years ago just so I had something to wear on that finger but it just doesn't have the same weight and it makes me sad. I can't wait to have my ring back.
One of things we did one day was go and visit Roberta at Barclay's to finally get the ball rolling on the wedding bands. Since my engagement ring is so unique a generic band was out of the question. I tried many on and not one looked good. My engagement ring is a really unique shape and all of the normal bands produced a massive gap between the rings that looked really stupid.
So because my ring is so unique and I want the wedding band to fit the ring I had to leave my engagement ring with Roberta so she could construct a wedding band. I also didn't get a loner ring this time because she has to hang on to it until... FEBRUARY! I am really rather sad about that. So I busted out the ring that Ian gave me for Christmas a few years ago just so I had something to wear on that finger but it just doesn't have the same weight and it makes me sad. I can't wait to have my ring back.
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