Back for the Holidays!

Hello my friends!

If you're still with me, I thank you. I know I havent been keeping up with this blog, and I dont have much of an excuse. Except for the fact that for a little while I really felt like life was kicking my butt, and sometimes I feel like people don't need to hear a lot of negative stuff. People like to hear positives, and that's usually what I try to project. But every once in a while life gets you down and that's just the way it is.

I am happy to report that the long line of unexpected disasters has come to a close, and we are levelling off right now. Gareth is back to work (yay!) with the promise of news on his residency application 3 months away. It's exhausting to constantly hear that I'm blowing things out of proportion, and he should automatically be accepted into the country now that we're married. Guess what folks, life's not like that! The process is working in his favor so that's all that matters right now.

I am now driving a new/old car, as I got my parents old vehicle from them. I am back driving the car that they had when I got my liscence at 16. It's has 4x4 and a car starter, so that should have been a "gimme, gimme!" kinda deal, right? But let me tell you, when you're struggling as much as I have been, giving up one more piece of independence (my very first car) and feeling like you're regressing (going back to the car you drove before you couldn't even legally drink) is a tough one. I really struggled with that. Finally swallowed my pride and exchanged the two (I hope gracefully). So that bug got worked out. Then Gareth was given a work truck, so there's another worry off our shoulders.

THEN to top it all off, we bought a new oven! Gareth searched and found a crazy sale, and it finally came in last week. Just in time for Christmas! Four months without an oven is NOT fun, but we got through, and now it's all over!

Luckily I seem to be coming out of my funk just in time for the best time of the year. Christmas is my favorite holiday as it's all about friends, family, and QT. I'm all about a little QT. My tree is up, our stockings are hung, and now we're just waiting for Santa to come!

We spent Saturday night with some great friends. We hosted a potluck and it was a great night! I am forever reminded of how lucky I am to have great friends in my life, who are wonderful. I feel so lucky right now!


Christmas is going to be a relaxing time this year. I shall return tomorrow with our plans.

I know I have neglected this for a while, but a new year's resolution is to keep up with it.

Back tomorrow!

Love and kisses,
Shauna xox

It's Been a While...

Hello faithful followers,

I bet you have been better at checking in than I have been at writing! Things have been crazy busy with me. Things haven't been too much fun, and I haven't felt like dumping on you all!

Alas, there have still been things to update you on, which I will slowly do the next week.

Gareth and I shared our 5th year together on October 30. We usually go for a nice, romantic dinner to celebrate. This year I planned things just a little different.

First off, we went and played black light mini golf. The decorations are fantastic! We had a blast.



Gareth won this round...so as of right now he's in the lead. But I will fight back!

After our rousing game, we headed over to the Fulton Burger Company for dinner. It's a gourmet, New York style hamburger joint.

Dinner was so good! We stuffed our faces and it was worth it!

Gareth enjoyed his :)

Happy 5 years babe. Here's to always having fun together.

I'm off to another work event, so that's all for today. I promise I will be back soon for more updates

Shauna xoxo

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Happy Friday everyone!

I have a busy day at work today, as we are carving pumpkins and having a pizza lunch. I said busy, not productive!

This day means a lot more to me than just the day before halloween though. It's mine and Gareth's 5 year anniversary! I know, I know, we're married now, so why am I still counting this one? Because it's special! And it's a milestone! And it's an excuse to go on a date ;)...as if we need an excuse :P

Anyway, I thought it might be fun for us...okay for me, to have a little walk through memory lane, photo style.

This is either the very first, or one of the first photos we have with each other. Adelaide, Australia, at the Grace Emily pub. 2004


Back in Canada, going to Bar None, a yearly party put on by the Agriculture students at the U of A.

New Year's eve! I'm going to say 2006.

My trip to the UK to meet the family!! We did some sightseeing as well ;)

Stonehenge

The night before I ran my first half marathon! 2008

And of course...

Wedding day!! August 8, 2009

And our honeymoon xx

So there you have it! We've done tons, we've been a lot of places and changed a bit I think!

Happy anniversary babe, love you lots!

Shauna xoxox

Vino!

Hello my friends!

Remember yesterday I said that I was doing something last night that was on my "Makes me Happy" list? Welllll...I went to a wine tasting! And yes, wine makes me happy!

Most of you know this, but my dad makes wine. The store that he buys the kits from hosted a wine tasting night, and it was fabulous!

There was a little slideshow telling us about the different kinds of wine they were offering, and which foods went best with what. Then we got to taste some of the wine! The best part (other than actually drinking the wine) was that they paired a little nibbly food to every wine to have with it. For example, there was a beautiful Blanca Quartet (white wine made from 4 different grapes). They paired it with hummus and a pita, and it was delish!

We also got to taste a Shiraz with dark chocolate. My fam with that tasting!

I had so much fun at this event! The crazy thing is that they paired some reds with sausage, and some with chocolate. I would have no idea which should go with a dessert and which should go with a meat! I don't know very much at all about reds. I've taken the time to get to know my whites, but not my reds. So I have NO idea how to pair reds up with foods. And if I'm going to be totally honest, I don't know how to pair whites up either. I just buy what I like, and that's that. This wine & food tasting helped me realize how much food can change the taste of the wine. I think this is fascinating! Okay, yes, I'm a geek. But it is! Think about it...you probably shouldn't be drinking the same white wine when you have salmon for dinner compared to when you have, say, hummus. But I don't know which one goes with which!

I have decided I am going to read up on this, get to know my wines better, and then start pairing them accordingly. If I can make my meals better with my wine, why wouldn't I?

This is my empty glass from last night. Doesn't it look lonely? I think I filled it back up soon after this shot ;)

So have a glass of wine tonight and think of me!

Shauna xoxo

The Grump is Gone!

Hello my friends!

First off I would like to apologize for my absense last week. To be very honest with you, I just didn't have anything good to say! I pretty much felt like this guy:

I was just having a bad week! I was grumpy, I was moody, and there was no pulling me out of it. I tried talking to people about it, I tried talking to myself, I tried working out, but nothing worked. I was just grumpy! Gareth was ready to make me this t-shirt:

BUT I have decided that grumpy time is OVER! There is no need to be miserable all the time, regardless of the situation. Right?! And there's no need making things worse than what they are. Right?! I have to make the best of the situation, make the best of our current set of cirumstances, and make the best of my life!

So to everyone who had to put with me last week, I'm sorry! To all of you who didn't come in contact with me, consider yourself lucky

Weekend

We had a fun weekend! Friday night I went on a haunted hike with my friend and her sons, it was awesome! Saturday night we celebrated a friend's birthday, which Gareth blogged about his presents:

Who wouldn't want homemade oreos as a birthday gift?! Yep, homemade oreos! The recipe is an old one from my Grandma, but you can't have it! Ok...I'll share it if you ask!

Here is Justin's birthday cake!

And that was the gist of the weekend! Oh, we finally finished off our bedroom suite with the final missing dresser. This one is mine to use, and I LOVE it! The drawers are fantastic. Perhaps I'll snap a photo and show you guys!

I've been reading over my "Things that Make me Happy" list, and I am going to make sure that I do something everyday to make me happy! I have a plan for tonight, that falls into my list. Wanna know what it was? Come back tomorrow!

Muah!

Shauna

Book Review

Hi again! It's meeee!!

I couldn't sleep last night-it must have been the excitment from the riveting wedding! Anyway, I was awake for hours, so I finished reading Twilight!

To be honest, I was skeptical about reading this series. I don't know why, I just was. Maybe because I saw the movie and it wasn't the greatest movie ever amde. My friend finally bugged me enough to read them. It took me a bit to get into them, but I ended up loving it!

It's a simple read, it has some really sweet parts, and the author's take on a vampire's life is interesting! I have never really thought about it...why would I, right? But it always interesting to think about it. One thing they haven't touched on, that I hope they do, is how it must feel to live that long and see all the changes in the world. They cannot really watch anyone they know grow old because they always have to move so they're not found out, but that's something I wonder about too.

I've seen the movie, but I think I want to watch it again. I always find when a movie is based on a book, a lot of the story is missing. So now that I know the missing pieces, I might enjoy the movie more.

So...all in all, good read! Light, easy, a good story, very entertaining. I'm hooked! I shall pick up New Moon from my friend this weekend and continue on!

Have a great weekend!
Shauna xox

Love me Tender

Guess what we did last night...


We went to a wedding.

A virtual wedding.

For the first time in my life, I wore sweat pants to a wedding!


My man decanted a bottle of wine...

He made us a very nice dinner (yes, I know, we need better candle sticks for the table!)..

And then we settled onto the loveseat to watch Gareth's friend tie the knot. By Elvis.

we had some technical difficulties and switched computers.

Elvis sang "Love me Tender" as the bride walked down the isle, and the couple had a little dance once she reached her groom.

And then they said their vows!

We toasted the happy couple...

and drank up!


It was a fun evening! We didn't have the best connection with the webcam, so we missed some of the ceremony, but it was a really neat experience. So different from any other wedding I've seen! There was no one else in the chapel except for them...and Elvis!

Congrats guys! Hope the trip, and the day, were everything you imaged it would be. We had a blast!

Shauna xox

p.s. I'll be back later to review a book I just finished