Easter 2011

Wanted to share these photos. I love traditions... I love holidays. I like having traditions surround special holidays. The boys really got Easter this year... they understand that Jesus died on the cross for our sins on good Friday and that he rose from the dead so we can live. Love that they get this... they also LOVED our annual easter egg hunt. They were pumped for days leading up to it.

After Jett went down for his afternoon nap we hid eggs all over the yard and let them loose.

(not so sure why they are totally color coordinated... lol)

sentimental

feeling the love for this guy. he's such a sweet boy. he is busy yet so gentle. he is cuddly and soft. he gets into everything and is so fast. yet his favorite thing to do is be held. our relationship is changing a bit these days.. I am slowly weaning him... and when I say slow it's cause I am lazy. I find it easier to nurse him.

I am definitely weaning him sooner than I had planned but our upcoming vacation is a choice we made and the stallion and I can't wait to get away so this is just the way it is right now. maybe it's because he is my last baby or maybe its' cause I really don't mind nursing.. whatever it is I am just embracing the change. He loves his bottle so that helps and my discomfort is subsiding. I just need to get him to sleep through that 5 am feed. Cause it sure is just easy to quickly nurse him and put him back to sleep. We both kind of like it. but I am sure his caregivers for when we go won't... ;)

as our relationship ebbs and flows one thing is for sure. our love doesn't change. sentimental.

love starts in the kitchen...

I like being in the kitchen. I love trying new recipes. It helps that my family and especially my husband is VERY easy to cook for. The Stallion is the king of expressing his love for food. There are many ooh's, ahh's and this is so good at most meals. It's a joy to cook for him.

My lovely and very talented in the kitchen friend Crystal shared her love of this cookbook awhile back.

It is full of some seriously good recipes. I just wanted to give Jamie a shout out for making some super easy to follow GREAT recipes. Now if you want to check this out at the library I will return my copy soon... ;) I have renewed it 4 times... lol. I hope to have it for my very own come Mother's Day ;) (Dave)

And just so you know I'm serious.. here are the recipes I have tried and LOVED.

Quick Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yogurt (17 min)

Asian Chicken Noodle Broth (17 min)

Mini Shell Pasta w/creamy bacon & pea sauce

My Sweet and Sour Pork (so FAST)

Sizzling Beef w/ scallions and black bean sauce

Super Quick Salmon Stir-Fry (FAVE!!!!) Seriously we would eat this once a week for sure!

In the easy Curry section I did:

Chicken Tikka Masala

Vindaloo

Thai Green Curry

His Jam Jar dressing recipes are awesome! Especially the Lemon dressing.

I tried the Evolution Potato Salad and his Rice Salad was also so good.

The Ground Beef Wellington was an easy take on a classic. I served it with Bacon and Mushroom cream sauce.

His Basic Stew is amazing.. I did the Beef & Ale version.

There are so many more recipes I want to do but I have to return it to the library... I can't wait for Mother's Day to continue on. The best part about the cookbook is he gives easy practical tips for each recipe. Easy to follow and SO yummy!

Let me know if you try any and what you think!

where the magic happens...

remember this? the master bedroom was definitely lacking. I mean for the first thing you see when you open your eyes and the last thing before you close them at the end of the day... ugh.

again the color on the walls was drab... goldeny, browny, yellowy, beigey.. drab (yes i made up most of those words...) We still had the plastic shade on the window and had not hung anything up. Here she is before...


and after.... in all her brilliance. LOVE it.
Dave painted the room with one of my favorite colors.. dune white and the feature wall is dragonfly... again color matched at Parkside to Natura paint. I love the pop of blue. I bought new lamp shades. The purple vase on the bedside table was 25 cents at MCC and everything else was already there. The bedding was on clearance at West Elm awhile back. And those grey pillows were bought at SS for 4.00 each. The headboard we recovered with a sheet we found at SS on clearance of course...It has a beautiful chevron pattern. LOVE it.

The curtains were sheets found at SS again on clearance. I love the way they add to the room. The Love decal was found at Custom Vinyl art on Etsy. The old vintage metal embroidery hoops were found at Old House Revival in the city. I had some old quilt blocks that I put in them.


The print was a gift for Dave (take him back to his roots). I had a gift card at Urban Barn and was more than happy to use it on this piece of art... oh also on clearance. ;)

We change up the light fixture to a old paper lantern that I had my handy hubby make work instead of the old boob light that was there. It has a beautiful soft glow.

I am super happy with the way it turned out. It makes me so happy in there. Just the way it should be... I mean after all it is a very important room.

And for the breakdown.

Paint - $40

Lampshades - $14

Decal - $15

Hoops - $14

Print - $59 (had a gift card.. so free)

Bedding - $55

Grey pillows - $8

Headboard "fabric" - $7

2 "curtain" panels - $14

Curtain rod - $15

New sheets - $35 (clearance at Target)

Total - $203

reveal

(disclaimer.. these pics are not great.. we really need a new camera)

super happy with the outcome of the boys room! Dave is a superstar!! A friend came over for the morning to help him paint... and by 9pm that day it was all done!! Amazing. The before color was beyond ugly.. it just did nothing for the space.

Here is the little area at the top of the stars to the right of the boys room. It's a cozy sunny space perfect for reading. But lets go back... here it was before...

and after :)

this was the boys space before.. and yes I left it in all it's messiness for you... although to my defense I sold a couple shelves that used to hide some of the clutter... but seriously the color was so drab.

and to enter the boys space now...

the personalized prints are from Penny People Designs. I got them shortly after the boys were born. I love them.

I know this is a horrible picture... sorry. we were lucky enough to find a used black metal bunk on PVO.. it's perfect and it was a steal of a deal. the boys bedding is from ikea.. the bed skirt I made from some fabric I found at an antique store. The orange crate I got from PVO as well.

the antique armoire came with the house and a malm dresser we had from vancouver fits in the space perfectly. I picked up that paper at a store when we visited friends in Waterloo a couple years ago.

I sold a few shevles we had kicking around and bought the grey cabinet off kijiji. it's a perfect fit for this room. The lovely map decal was found at Custom Vinyl Shop. I love it. I found the bits of vintage paper at Salvage Beauty. I hung them on Baker's twine with little clips I found at dollerrama. The globe is from MCC and the lantern was found at an antique shop. The bulletin board was already in my craft room and looks way better repurposed here.

I love it. The boys love it. They now can store more of their stuff here and play in her more often too. The wall color is Benjamin Moore Moonshine but color matched at Parkside where they have Natura paint.. Low VOC and no odor.. It's awesome and WAY cheaper.

And you know me.. for the best part. This makeover was done LOW budget.

Paint - $28

Lantern - $12

Globe - $10

Grey Ikea Cabinet - $100 (although I sold some shelves I had for $80)

Bunk Bed - $75 ( we already had the mattress's)

Decal - $25

Vintage Paper - $4

Everything else was repurposed from other areas in the house. Total cost $250

What do you think?

(sorry not sure what happened with the font color in this post??)

not alone but lonely

Do you ever feel like you are alone in your own world? I mean you are surrounded by people and you feel comfort cause I mean in some ways you have created what's going on around you... but you still feel alone?? I feel that way lately. I feel there is just a huge piece missing... I was thinking hard about this last night and kind of came to a semi- conclusion that it may not be anything missing... but the fact that I want MORE!!! I went out this week with a friend that I don't have a long past with.. we have only been friends the last few years... and we don't hang out often enough.. but I felt like me. I felt like I was known. It was a breath of fresh air.

I have always been tired of the fake.. try way to hard stuff. I am tired of that and want to surround myself with depth and character. I'm not talking only about the people I surround myself with but for myself too.... It's always got to start with me.

We have been walking a heavy path in a Spiritual matter lately.. it's left me heartbroken and again lonely. It's hardest when Dave and I are not necessarily on the same path.. I mean we are not on different paths but we are on different emotional levels.. me being emotional about things that hurt and him just being un-emotional about anything... I mean really the guy is as even keel as they come. I have seen him mad like really mad maybe once and he rarely gets really excited about things.. I mean not like I get excited. Smiling can be really excited for him... oh don't get me wrong.. there is no one I love more and no one more perfect for me, just sometimes it's hard to feel things deep down... I think it comes down to I want to be known... isn't that what we all want. I can think back to times when I have been known.. I mean really known. Those times feel long ago. I can say that my relationship with God has grown in this time.. I mean He knows me. He loves me in the midst of all of it....

I am understanding more and more about myself and even as I've written this I feel I have come more to terms with the fact that I may feel like a stranger in my own life some days but that's the beauty of the journey. I mean if only I could imagine where He will take me.. even just a glimpse sometimes send me sailing.. It's a beautiful beautiful thing.

Came across this one the other day while going through old photos.. It is SO good to be known by these guys...

wail - MAIL!

bonus points if you can tell me where my title comes from! ;)

It's true I LOVE mail. I have always loved getting the mail. Especially when there are fun surprises... months ago I pre-ordered a book and totally forgot about it. Until yesterday....

it was such a happy moment to open up the box and find Decorate. It's a lovely book written by blogger Holly at Decor8. I have not had too much time to go through it but it's LOVELY. such a happy surprise.

I was also excited to find a package sent by my sweet friend Martha in Ontario.. she shopped at H&M for me... my favorite 10lb tanks (; Crystal) are from there.. I wear them everyday under everything!! I asked for two.. she sent me three just cause she's sweet like that... lovely spring colors!

And just a preview of room tour in the works for the boys room which I hope to share early next week....

Happy Weekend!!

twins

Some nights Dave and I lay awake talking about the fact that we have almost 5 year olds... we look back (on what we can remember) and it's hard to believe we've all come this far. I mean if you've been following you also probably have breathed some sighs of relief too.

Now that they are almost 5 things are easier. Ok who I am kidding they are ALOT easier. Noah and Ari are caring, sensitive, generous, easy going, try anything, kind, silly, good kids. They love big.. Going on Maternity leave this year was a bit hard for me.. I was really nervous how it would go. When I went back to work it was what we needed... we all needed the break from each other. I needed to get out and do something else and half days was perfect for us. We were blessed with the best childcare and things just came together. So a full day at home for all of us made me nervous.. would we fight all the time? what would we do?

I am so thankful to say it has been such a good year... I feel like we have gotten to do so many fun things. The boys love being at home and you know what so do I. I am so thankful for this time we have gotten to be together before it all changes... you know Kindergarten in the fall.. yikes!! Some of the days are LONG and we don't always get along but we figure it out.. the four of us just roll with it. Some afternoons we get in the car and go to town because I know they will fall asleep and we all need it but for the most part our home days are good days.

Just two more reasons to be so thankful for the life I've been given. A blessed mama of some fun, crazy, goofy, boys. Who somedays dress up like super hero's!

the real stuff.

If you know me or have been following Our Life Voyage for awhile you know I value the real life raw emotions of daily living. I hate fake. I think our struggles in life are behind the amazing people we are and behind the great things we can do!

This has been a GOOD year.. I had always hoped my 30th birthday year would be the year of me.. it didn't end up that way.. there were some very dark times and I struggled more than I care to share... So I staked my claim to 2011. I have made choices to live the best life yet. For me. MY best life.

I decided to befriend my God again... to revisit those deep, deep wells. The water has been so so good. I joined a bible study group and we are going through Beth Moore's Breaking Free. It's been amazing. Dave told me the other night the changes he has seen in me... it was like a breathe of fresh air.

I also decided enough was enough with the overwhelming obsession with my weight. I made a choice to believe in myself and made a promise to myself to nurse myself back to life. To a healthy, active life. I joined an online community (the same group that did the bootcamp I was a part of last fall) It was called the fat shredder. A community of people who were tired of dieting and failing. We learned how to take care of our bodies by what we put into them... getting rid of the junk.. not only what we eat but the lies we tell ourselves. We were given the chance to view 20 minute workouts daily.. AMAZING. I actually love loading a workout each day. I mean 20 minutes is so doable! I can waste 20 minutes so easily. The biggest thing I can say now looking back and having completed it is I view myself so much differently.. I am not defined by what I eat. I care so much more. I feel confident. I feel more me than I have ever felt before.

So to bare all.. I am happy to report that with lots of hard work I lost 9.5 inches!!!

I decided to loose the scale part cause it was just dragging me down.. a number doesn't matter to me anymore.. but how my clothes fit and how strong I feel .. now that's what matters.

I was also gifted (God is so amazing) a 10 week yoga class.... AMAZING. I am in awe of what my body can do. It's so nice to feel strong again.

I can't say one or the other of these two life changes is better than the other.. I feel they both have worked hand in hand. I am making choices to become more disciplined, to live strong, to grow deeper in love... and of course learning day by day To Shine!! What are you learning so far in 2011?

p.s. I have not forgotten about the big reveals on our makeover upstairs.. just waiting for a few small things to finish the rooms.. I'll be posting soon :)

lent

40 days... Jesus wandered in the desert for 40 days.. I can handle 40 days. Lent is seen as a preparation.. a call to repent, a call to remember. It's not meant to be easy. As I have been learning to live in the unconditional, forgiving, deep love of God I am finding it easier and easier to let things go...

So for this season I am giving up all shopping.. other than groceries and the bare necessities... I am longing to be reminded of all HE has done for me... to remember how far I have come and to revel in the wonderful amazing jaw dropping lovely plans He still holds for me.

and yes for the record.. shopping does make me feel like the above... (and of course because I am human I did go shopping on Tuesday... )

keeping busy.

this weekend the upstairs got a major upgrade.. the paint looks amazing! waiting on a few items to complete the rooms and I promise I will give you a tour...

while dave was painting there were two eager helpers... I kept them busy with their own kind of painting.

Jett was there too :)

the master

As many of you know we moved into our dream house a bit over a year ago... I have loved making the space our own. We have invested time and energy into mostly main areas (minus the kitchen... Dave says maybe in 12 years.. lol) The upstairs has a start. We did my studio and of course Jett's room. It's finally time to attempt the rest...

Painting the hallway, the boys room and FINALLY focusing on the master bedroom. It's funny.. it seems to always be the last place we focus. It's the first thing you see when you wake up and the last thing before you close your eyes... it really needs some lovin.

I think I have settled on the paint and I got new bedding. I plan to change the fabric of the headboard and have bought curtains... a few more things to get and we are all done. But for now a peak into some of my inspiration folder...

Can't wait to show you the rest.