What a Year

 Looking back on this year I can't believe everything that has happened. It was an exciting year for me from beginning to end. I started it off in Kicking Horse learning how to snowboard with Kevin and his friends, spent the summer traveling around Europe with Kevin and ended with purchasing a new home together. In between we celebrated Austin's first birthday, friends' weddings, helped Olena and my brother move into a new home, and enjoyed a fabulous family camping trip in Rushing River. I have so much to be thankful for and I can't imagine life getting any better than it is right now. However, looking ahead to next year I know I have so much to look forward to in 2015. In less than 5 weeks we will be getting possession of our new home and we have so many plans for making it our own. I cannot wait for the adventures that are sure to come in the year ahead.
 

Snowboarding Trip

 

Austin's First Birthday

Europe

 

 

 

 

 

Austin trying out our new lawnmower

Our New Home

A Little Piece of Heaven on 19.76 Acres

Come February, I will be calling this place home...

Kevin and I have purchased a new home outside the city on nearly 20 acres of land. We've been looking at houses since the spring and came across this beauty in mid-August. Nothing else has quite measured up to this one for me. It checks off everything on our list and I can picture myelf living there very easily. I love the lot, it's well treed and has about 17 acres of trees and bush out back. Can't wait to make some trails out there for snowshoeing and walking. It has a pool, which at first I wasn't keen on, but may actually be quite nice. Not sure how much upkeep it will be and extra cost but we'll enjoy it for a few years and then can always get rid of it if needed. The deck is composite, which is a total plus. It also has a front porch, which has always been a dream of mine. The basement is 90% finished, just needs flooring and baseboards. It will give us a lot of extra space. The layout of the house is really nice and I can easily picture where all my furniture will fit and it's all very useable space. I can't wait to make this place into our home. I already have a bunch of plans for the place, particularily for the yard. Now I just have to wait another 3 1/2 months. Although I'm kind of glad I get one more Christmas in my old place. It has been a great home for me these past 3 years and it will be a little hard to say goodbye to.

 

The Lot... (Yes this is ALL ours!)
 

Here are some pictures of the new place:

Living Room

Kitchen and Dining Area

Master Bedroom

Basement

Back Deck and Pool

Front Porch

My Favourite View of the House (looks so inviting)

Can't wait to have you, Dan and Makenna over next summer Krista. ;)

Europe!

I am finally back home and things are getting back to normal. It has been a busy summer for me, full of excitement. Our month in Europe felt a lot longer than a month and we fit in a lot during our time there. It would have been better if the weather could have cooperated with us (we had maybe 4 nice days out of the whole 4 weeks we were there) but we saw and experienced a lot. Here's a brief overview:

Switzerland - It rained the whole time and was quite cool but we were prepared and our rain jackets came in really handy. We stayed with Kevin's friend Tom and were able to use his car to get around places during the day. My 2 highlights were going to Rhine Falls and doing a hike in the Appenzell mountains up to a little restaurant built right into the side of the mountain. We stopped to eat our picnic lunch part way up under some trees to get away from the rain and a cow almost stole Kevin's sandwich!!

Rhine Falls

Rhine Falls

7th Heaven Restaurant

Italy- Was dirty, smelly and was full of people trying to sell things to tourists. It was not as "romantic" and beautiful as I expected. I enjoyed Florence and Cinque Terre but otherwise was not that impressed with the country. Driving was ridiculous and in Rome it was humid and 38C. Not enjoyable (especially after getting sick from the cold, rainy weather in Switzerland).

Pisa (on our way to Cinque Terre)

Cinque Terre

Slovenia- Was absolutely beautiful. We spent 2 extra days in this country as we were enjoying it so much. There are some beautiful places to go hike, we saw a couple really cool caves and spent a lot of time with Kevin's family who were wonderful.

Postojna Cave

Vintgar Gorge

Waterfall in Vintgar Gorge

Austria- Spent 3 less days than planned here and had enough time to see what we wanted. Went to Vienna for a day and a half and rode around the city on these bikes we rented (it only cost us 1 Euro each!!) Went to Schunnbrunn Palace on our way out of Vienna and then Hellbrunn Palace just before Salzburg. Both palaces were very different but both neat. Hellbrunn Palace has trick fountains in the garden that turn on and off by a switch. You can only predict where they will go off by the water on the ground around certain areas. The Archbishop who had the castle built had quite the sense of humour. Also saw a couple sites from the original Sound of Music movie which was cool.

City Bikes in Vienna

Trick Fountains at Hellbrunn

Maribell Gardens where part of the Sound of Music was filmed.

Locks covering the bridge in Salzburg - found one perfect for us :)

 Germany- Still rainy but saw a lot. Went to the Dachau concentration camp, the Eagle's Nest (Hitler's Tea House), Neushwanstein Castle (Disney was inspired by it when he built the Disneyworld Castle) and spent a day shopping in Munich. Unfortunately the Eagle's Nest is supposed to have a spectacular view and it rained the whole day. We couldn't see 6 feet in front of us. We stood below the Eagle's nest and couldn't even see the building. You looked down and saw nothing but fog :( As soon as we took the last bus down off the mountain the sky cleared up. Super disappointing. At least we did get to see Hitler's bunkers and the tour guide was super informative and good. The rain had to follow us from the first day right through to the last...

Neushwanstein Castle

Munich

Austin is 1!!!

This past weekend I celebrated Austin's first birthday. I can't believe it's been a whole year since I was waiting in the hospital waiting room to finally meet this little guy. He's grown so much and I love watching his personality develop as he does. Here are some pictures from this special day.

The cake:

Austin dressed for his party:

 His Birthday lunch:

Opening presents:

 Austin's favourite present:

Ready to ride:

Austin trying to try on his new top:

Austin loves balloons... especially Thomas the Train balloons:

I love you Austin and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store...

Making Plans :)

So things are finally getting more concrete with regards to our Europe plans this summer. The flights are now booked and we know which countries we will be visiting for sure. We have looked up some places we will visit and are slowly starting to piece together our trip. I am getting super excited and can't believe that this is only 3 short months away!!! :)

As of right now this is what I know...

We leave July 5th and fly to Zurich, Switzerland
We fly home August 2nd out of Munich, Germany

We will be visiting 5 countries: Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Austria and Germany
We will be staying with Kevin's friend in Switzerland and some of Kevin's family in Slovenia
We will be going to Venice :) and riding a Gondola (this is a must!!)
We will visit an old concentration camp (not sure which one yet)
We are looking into getting a rail pass for travelling but not sure how many days we will need it for.
We are probably going to an F1 Race in Hockenheim, Germany

The rest of the details are in the works. I am thankful that Kevin has been to most of these countries before and I know there are a few places he loved that we will be going to. There will also be some places he didn't visit that we have on our list which is great as well. Had you told me a year ago that I would be planning a trip for Europe, I would have laughed. It has always been a dream of mine to go, but I never thought I'd actually have the chance to make it a reality this soon. I figured maybe down the road when I was much older I'd plan to go with my husband but for now I didn't know anyone interested in going with me and I am not the type who would want to travel alone. I think this is going to be a great experience for Kevin and I to share and we will actually get to celebrate our 1 year anniversary while we are in Europe. I'm thinking that is pretty rare and special :)

Anyways, the rest of my summer is going to be crazy as well. Kevin was sweet enough to make sure he accommodated the rest of my summer plans so I wouldn't have to miss out on anything. Although this will make for one hectic, but amazing summer. I arrive back at 7:30pm on August 2nd and then have a close friend's wedding on August 3rd. I then leave for Rushing River with my family on August 4th for an 8-day camping trip. Not sure how all that will play out and how exhausted I'll be but it will all be worth it I'm sure.

:) :) :) :) So happy and excited right now :) :) :) :)

Keeping Kevin busy

Kevin is constantly fixing things and finding jobs to do around my house. If I were to give you a list of things he has fixed, installed, replaced, or otherwise worked on in my house, we would be here a while. And the thing is I don't even ask him to do these jobs, he offers before I need to even ask (and in many cases before I even realize something needs to be fixed). Here are just a few of the things he has done for me in the last week. 

First my tree.

I hated this tree. It dripped sap on my deck, making black spots on the wood. It was home to many aphids in the summer. It dropped leaves all over my deck and yard in the fall. And it prevented my flowers in my deck boxes from growing. I have wanted to get rid of this tree for over 2 years now but my dad didn't feel comfortable cutting it down, as it hung over a couple wires leading to my house (cable and phone). I briefly mentioned something about hating that tree on the weekend, not even really thinking about what I said and Kevin responded with, "we could get rid of it." Within three days he was cutting it down in -40 weather. The day he planned to cut it down I came home from work with a migraine. I called him and told him we'd do it another day. Being as stubborn as he is, he came over with Excederin Migraine pills for me, set me up in my room with a blanket and closed the drapes and then proceeded outside to start cutting down this tree. In four hours he had it down.

Then in the folowing days he built this in my backyard. Snowbenches for us to enjoy a bonfire and burn some of the branches of this tree. Last weekend we had some friends over and enjoyed a bonfire. We will burn some more tomorrow and then have another bonfire with friends this weekend. 

This past weekend he also decided to install a new ceiling light in my dining room, as well as, fix and replace some electrical plugs in my basement for me. This is the new light fixture. So much nicer than the old brass one that was probably from the 70s or 80s.

Then this morning I go to leave for work and my garage door won't close. The cord on the side wasn't wrapping up on the pulley system and it wouldn't go down any further than this. I had no time to play around with it and frustrated, I left it like this. I sent Kevin the picture and asked if he'd come by this evening to help me fix it. Instead I got a message at 11 when he checked his phone saying he'd take care of it today (I assumed he meant after work) and then another message at noon saying it was fixed. As soon as he saw my message he dropped everything at work, asked to leave for a bit and use some of his banked overtime and headed to my place. It took him half an hour to fix it and then he headed back to work. What a guy!!

Oh and this weekend was Valentine's Day as well and Kevin spoiled me, as he does every day. I honestly don't know how I managed to find him. I still find myself thinking this must be a dream. I don't think I could have even dreamed up a guy as amazing as Kevin though. I never thought that guys like him actually existed and to think they do and I am lucky enough to call him mine.  

My Adorable Nephew

So I haven't posted in a while and wanted to give an update on Austin who is growing up so quickly (I know that sounds cliche but it's true). He is 9 1/2 months old and changing every time I see him.  He has started eating solid food (and not just mushy pureed baby food). He loves it, and has been enjoying feeding Buddy a bit now and then as well.

He loves to play and has so many toys. Watching him play with the same toys is so neat as he starts to really learn what he can do with each of them. 

He has also developed some of his own games, like the one he is playing with Olena here. She stands him up with something to hold onto and as soon as she lets go he purposefully falls back, making her catch him and then he laughs. He will do this over and over. I wonder what will happen the first time he tries this and Olena isn't there to quickly catch him. Although knowing Olena, this probably will never happen.

I always love spending time with my amzing little nephew. Austin, I am so happy to be your auntie :)

Kicking Horse

Today is the last day of my winter break and although I feel I need another week to recover before going back, this year's break has felt like far more than two weeks. I have been so busy over the break and done so many things I really feel like I've gotten the most out of it. With that said, school planning wise I have done very little and although I wish I could say I was able to get ahead in my planning, I don't regret spending this holiday just enjoying myself and life.  

The first week of my holidays were jam packed with family and Christmas events. We managed to work out that Kevin was able to join all of my family's Christmas gatherings and I was able to attend his. I finally got to meet some of his extended family and his grandma was so cute. I was absolutely spoiled by Kevin's family this Christmas and got some amazing gifts. I feel so lucky to be a part of his family and I love that he fits in so well with mine as well. I especially love watching Kevin play with my nephew Austin, even if he steals Austin away from me quite frequently. 

The second week of my holidays were spent going on a road trip out west with Kevin's friends. Six of us left from Winnipeg on Saturday morning, after a short 3 hours sleep for Kevin and myself. Maybe we need to be a little more proactive on the packing! We drove all the way to Langdon (just outside Calgary) to stay with Kevin's friend for the first few nights, before heading to Kicking Horse. While in Langdon we went on a few hikes to Elbow Falls, Johnston Canyon and made a trip to Banff and Lake Louise. Kevin's friend and his wife were great hosts and we had an awesome time hanging out with them. 

Johnston Canyon

Johnston Canyon

Elbow Falls

Lake Louis

We then drove to Kicking Horse where we stayed in a nice 3 bedroom house we rented for the next three nights. We made it there for New Year's Eve and then headed out snowboarding for the first time New Year's Day. As I had never snowboarded before I took lessons the first day with a couple other girls we went with. It was a lot harder to get the hang of than I thought and by the end of the day I was getting a bit frustrated and tired. Unfortunately I decided to take one last run down the bunny hill and almost wiped out into a young girl and her mom. Trying to avoid them I fell and landed on my wrist. It was quite sore and a little swollen that night and I was worried about boarding the next day. The first day I pretty much fell everytime I tried to turn and had to constantly push myself up. I didn't see that happening with my sore wrist so I took the second day off and stayed back at our place, quite reluctantly. Kevin didn't want me to feel as though I wasted a day and promised he'd take me out snowshoeing when he got back. I assumed he'd be too tired to actually go after a second full day of boarding but when he got back he insisted we still go. 

The third day I took another lesson in the morning and somehow I managed to figure out how to make it down the hill without falling on my first run. Kevin taught be how to flutter down the hill on my heal edge and toe edge in the afternoon so I could go up on one of the runs with him before the end of the day. I only went down one run but it was so worth it. It may not have been the smoothest run and I had to take a few breaks as we went down but I was so proud I actually did it. I can't wait to go snowboarding again and get a little bit better. 

Kevin also rode up the gondola with me so I could see the view from the top, even though I wouldn't be going down from there and then we rode it back down together. I know he would have liked to take one last run down the mountain himself but he wanted to make sure I had a good time and that I got to enjoy my last day there. His patience in teaching me to snowboard and in always putting me first continues to amaze me every day.

The group at Kicking Horse

After boarding the third day we drove back to Langdon to spend the night before heading home in the morning. It was a long day of driving but actually quite enjoyable. Kevin's friend Jann rode with us and he was great company. The three of us discussed a lot of things and had some great laughs. Oh and Kevin found a new song to annoy me with which I just may have to share with you. It's stuck in my head and Kevin has continued to make sure it stays there :P

So today was my only day to rest before returning to work tomorrow. Most of the day was spent unpacking and doing laundry so I don't feel too rested. But I am very thankful Kevin came by and shoveled for me.  He is constantly looking out for me and helping me around my home. I can't believe how lucky I am to have found him and I constantly find myself trying to grasp the idea that he really is mine. I have never been so in love or felt so special and cared for.  Over the past 16 days Kevin and I have not spent more than 10 hours apart and I loved every moment of it. What an amazing holiday this has been! :)