Walking on Sunnybrooke..

Every night we walk our pup the same route and every time we pass this shrub, I always kick myself for not having a camera strapped to my body.

Glad I had it on hand tonight : )

ka-boom

This is what happens when I am left alone with my thoughts all weekend..

My better half left Rufus and I to play 'single man' with the guys, which I support %100 (sometimes). It took me all of 15 minutes to figure out what to do. Rufus spend most of Saturday hiding.. with good reason of course.. Things got a little messy..

Throwing rocks in coffee cups is a very messy and noisy hobby.. one Rufus doesn't bode very well with. Didn't stop me from having a little fun experimenting though..

I also may have overdosed on cookies for a little while...

(inspired by the cookie splash group on Flickr)

House plant love..

my 6 year old peace lily; first flower of the season..

City girls don't play with tractors..

After having a great brunch with family Sunday morning, we made our way over to a friend's farm for a cup of coffee.. I'm in no way mechanically inclined, but I'm glad I brought the camera in with me.

I am intrigued by shapes and objects that show their wear and tear proudly..

And Missy wasn't too hard to look at either.. : )

Grandpapa and the Old West

After going through boxes of old photographs and books that once belonged to my grandfather, I became a little disappointed with myself in how little I knew of him before he passed in 2000. Once in a while my grandmother will come out with hilarious stories on how they met, and their lives together but I'd love to learn more about his past, where he grew up..

A few things I loved very much about him was his obsession with Abbott and Costello VHS tapes, Anne Murray and a love for the Old West (he grew up in Alberta). As a tribute to his early years, my uncle sent him a collection of photographs inspired by the Old West for Fathers day in '78.

here are a few of my favorite photographs from that collection..

a keepsake project..

I've been going back and forth on creating a keepsake book of our memories together for about a year now. We are slowly creeping up on the 5 year mark in our relationship and I think I'm ready to start putting things together to build this behemoth of a book.

It will need to be durable and have many blank pages to fill since we're planning on adding pictures and souvenirs to it for many more years to come. It would be to document how we met, our first date, our biggest milestones (recent engagement and upcoming wedding) babies (a scary but exciting word) and our children's milestones. And of course, a special spot for Rufus, our fur baby.

First thing's first, our family tree..

My parents were only able to trace our family tree back 3 generations but eventually I'd like to go even further than that (more on that soon). For the time being 3 generations is more than enough for the project. I'd love to document where everybody grew up, how they all met, wedding dates.. cultivate as much information as possible. If we can, I'd love to have pictures of everybody either in the tree or next to it. But only if it's possible.. I know some pictures might have gotten misplaced over the years which is understandable (won't lose any sleep over it)

I am grateful my parents documented the first 3 years of my childhood in my memory book, but It still left me wanting more.. maybe I'll make a separate book for each of my kids to give to them on their wedding day or graduation.. I want to be able to preserve our fondest memories together for as long as we can.. I find myself looking back at my memory book every once in a while and I know I'll be thanking myself years from now when little details get forgotten..

I'd love to finally find our keepsakes a permanent home and to have it be something we can enjoy as a family for years to come. Like other things in our lives at the moment, it won't happen overnight, but looking at it as a long term goal, this will be a very special project and close to our hearts.

Can't wait to start working on this..

Bedroom Exposed: inspiration

I will admit, I did get a little paint happy when we first moved into our home almost 3 years ago.. picking paint colors consisted of going to Home Depot, getting a paint chip fan, closing our eyes and with the drop of our finger deciding on each room color. Not the brightest tools in the shed.. that's for sure.

We're taking a different approach to it this time. In keeping with the tones of 'serenity and calmness', room by room our little Easter colored home is going to get a complete overhaul.. Eventually I'd love to bring neutral tones throughout the house, but for now the master suite is our starting point that will lead the way for future projects in our home.

The master suite consists of our bedroom, a fairly spacious walk in closet and ensuite bathroom (cheater ensuite, to be more specific) The colors in these 3 rooms do not match each other what so ever. I'd like to have the master bedroom be the base color to our color palette selection for all 3 rooms.





The hardest part for us at the moment is figuring out the base color. Once you figure that out, you're pretty much good to go with the same tone but a few shades lighter or darker. We decided on 2 shades of a mix between a light sage and grey. (don't mind the picture quality, it looks much better in natural light)

I'd love to bring some of these elements into our inspiration scheme..


via Brick Town Love inspiration images

This is what part of our room looks like now.. very 'inspiring'.. right?

In the coming months, we plan on priming the walls and painting the ceiling (popcorn ceiling.. lord knows this won't be easy!). Almost positive the dressers will be next on the paint list furniture wise. Haven't quite decided on colors we'd like to go with yet. I really like the boldness of the black colored frame, but I'm wondering if it's too bold for our overall idea (light and airy and not as heavy). I'm partially thinking of painting the bed frame too, but that's a while different story.

We're really going to be taking it a day at a time on this one. (just to avoid any 'oops' moments)

Weekend gardening

I've been anxiously awaiting the day where I could finally get my hands dirty and start prepping the beds for a brand new season of gardening. I love to garden.. It's a passion gifted from my dad.. for years I've watched him create an oasis of flower beds from scratch. I also like to think of gardening as a form of therapy; nothing makes us happier than getting our hands dirty and making something beautiful and caring for our lovelies.

Over the years I have learned to love and care for my perennials and show them reasons to keep coming back stronger as the years go on. Every spring, I look forward to seeing their little heads peek out.. my favorite part, this exact moment..

well hello there..

In a couple weeks, my spring ladies will be here.. how I've missed them..

I spent most of Sunday clearing the gardens of the garbage winter usually leaves behind. I also gave the lawn a well deserved combing. I missed the boat on lawn maintenance this past year and I vowed to make it a goal to get the best looking lawn on Sunnybrooke dr.. I have a feeling it will be a successful change. (toes crossed!)

I have to say I was a little bumbed when the birdhouse didn't survive the winter chills..

I guess our birds will have to enjoy the upgrade from condo to cottage soon! The search is on for the newest addition, hopefully we'll find something soon.

And now I leave you with the best part of getting your hands and feet dirty.. The amazing at home 'sink pedi'.. just read a trashy magazine for a half hour and let those babies soak for a little TLC time...

your toes will thank you later.. mine always do!

Dog Park Days..

This week has been an exceptionally bad one so far. To change things up a little, we've been doing activities we normally wouldn't do on a weekday to help us get out of our funk and change our moods a little. Yesterday, we decided to blow off some steam by taking the little guy to his special haven, The Dog Park. (his most favorite words of all time)

Seeing this face makes it worth the trek every time.