The Official Announcement!

Okay, so I admit it, I'm like THE worst blogger in the existence of bloggers. I figure it doesn't REALLY make that much difference though because I don't have an onslaught of loyal followers waiting with baited breath to read the latest news...and if I did...they died a long time ago from suffocation. Anyways, I'd try to commit to write more frequently but we all know that would be an empty promise, and I have more integrity than that.

However...that being said...there is a possibility that over the next little while there will be a little more to write about.

Why, you may ask?

Well, Ryan and I an announcement to make!

Our lives will be drastically changing over the next couple of months.

We are absolutely thrilled about it.

Though we may be losing a significant amount of sleep because of all the noise,

and we're so used to it just being the two of us in this apartment,

while we're thrilled,

it's certainly going to be a big adjustment.

Is the suspense killing you yet?

Okay, I'll let you in on the secret.

...

Ryan and I

are

MOVING TO PHILADELPHIA!

Haha, gotchya didn't I? No, we're not having a baby, and no we're not thinking about having a baby just yet. We are however, pulling up our roots and taking the plunge. And we'll be moving back into my parent's house, which is so affectionately (and appropriately) referred to frequently as "the zoo." After years of just the two of us it will certainly be an adjustment!

As most of you know I'm from Philadelphia and I came to Nova Scotia for university, met Ryan, got married and have been here ever since. Most of you also know that I spent 10 months of the year desperately homesick and the other 2 visiting my family. And even though I'm a homebody who wishes with every fibre of my core that I could spend every moment of my entire life with my family, I've always told myself that I would go where the Lord wanted me to go.

So even though it was hard

I stayed put

And I...

finished my education

found the most perfect eternal companion

built a really incredible relationship with my affy and papa before she passed

made some amazing friends

and

grew into the person I am today

The Lord knew what he was doing when He kept telling me to

look past the tears,

bite down hard

and turn back

every time I just wanted to run home.

I have loved my time in Nova Scotia, it's where my love and I started our life together. But after out last trip to Pennsylvania for the holidays, that feeling, that knowledge, that coming back was the right thing, was absent.

The more we talked about it,

with each other, with family, with friends,

The more we searched it out,

within ourselves, our hearts, in the scriptures,

The more prayed about it,

together, individually

And the more we communed with the Lord,

The more we knew,

our time in Nova Scotia was finished and it was time to move on.

We did not come to this decision lightly. We find ourselves deliciously scared as we embark upon this next chapter in our marriage. It's a dousy, I struggled with how "irresponsible" it seemed for a while. But like I said, Ryan and I have exhausted our spiritual efforts to make sure this is the right move for us, no pun intended, and so now we put our best efforts forward and have faith that the rest will be taken care of.

We would like to thank everyone who has become so dear to us in Nova Scotia over the past several years. You have truly helped make this a home for us and we are sad to leave you. We appreciate your support as we move on though.

And for my own benefit...

EEEEEEEEEEEEK! I'M GOING HOME!

School, Work, Hobbies and Friends

So we've been busy busy busy lately and I figured it was time for an update. I am FINALLY at the tail end of my degree. The beginning part of the summer I was in four super intensive condensed classes and I wasn't sure I was going to survive it. But not only did I survive but I conqured and now I just have ONE class that I'm working on to finish up. It's called Traditions of Christian Women in Religion and has thus far been an overview of the history of Christianity. It's a distance class so I watch it on the TV and I don't even have to go into campus to finish. Sometimes it's harder to do it distance because I'm sitting on the couch thinking "I'd MUCH rather switch over to Cake Boss or Charmed right now...FOCUS, focus, focus..." Eventually I get through it but between episodes I generally reward myself with a snippett of another show we've recorded...I love DVR. Anyways, the class will be finished mid-August and I will officiallybe a degree holding adult. We are both totally psyched, Ryan moreso because I'll stop driving him crazy with my perfectionist tendencies that keep me up until 3 or 4 in the morning fiddling with lines in papers, designs for websites, schedules for events, etc.

In other news I also quit my job at the Delta Barrington Hotel and am moving on in the world. After two years it was time for me to move on and after this came to light a little while ago I began seriously job hunting. I'm actually going to be working with Ryan at Admiral Insurance working in their sales department. I'm excited for a new start but nervous at the same time. The company has been great to Ryan over the past year and a half and there is room for growth within the company to perhaps a more PR oriented position in the future. Everyone wonders whether Ryan and I anticipate a problem working together and it was certainly a conversation we had before I applied. However, at the end of the day we decided the only real problem would be if Ryan ended up as my boss (since he's in management) and we were assured this would never be the case. Truthfully I can't wait to work with him. Some of our greatest challenges throughout our marriage have been finding time to be together when our schedules were totally opposite. While our schedules may not always be identical in this job they will always fall within several hours of each other and hey, we'll, hopefully, get to each lunch together most days. What more could a wife ask for?!

Ryan has officially enrolled for full time classes for the fall. He's a bit anxious about the whole thing but I think he's looking forward to really getting his degree(s?) underway. And I'm looking forward to giving him the opportity to do it.

Ryan has also recently taken an interest in carpentry. Some of you may know my papa Charlie Grant. For those of you who don't he's like a "wow" incredible carpenter. In an effort to become more of a handy man Ryan has enlisted Papa to teach him to start building and fixing things. He's hoping to learn the basics of carpentry so that eventually he'll be able to build cool things. His first project is building me a nice sturdy book case (unlike the one we have right now). I'm currently working with Papa learning how to restore my incredibly sad looking coffee table. We are so lucky to have such a talented generous teacher amongst our family. Plus, it gives us more time with him. I'll post pictures when we're all finished our projects.

We did just have a friend from the states come up for a visit. My best friend from high school and beyond, Lisa, came up for a Canadian adventure a couple of weeks ago and stayed for 2 weeks. We took her all over and we think she enjoyed it. Amongst our adventures were Peggy's Cove (of course), a tour of the Alexander Keith's Brewery, a ride on the Harbour Hopper and we even got a chance to check out the free Virgin Mobile Offspring concert. It was a blast. Mostly though it was just nice to have an old friend in my (not so) new (anymore) life here in Nova Scotia. Here are som pictures from her visit.

Alive and Kickin'

I know it's been a while since we've posted anything. Things have been so amazingly crazily busy and somehow the blog just got pushed to the bottom of the priority list. Well now I'm at home with the flu, ugh, and I've already watched three episodes of The Bachelor Paris (ya, don't judge me, I'm sick) I thought I'd write something to let everyone know we're still alive and kickin'.

The last I posted was for American Thanksgiving like five months ago. Since then we've made several trips down to the states (one for Christmas and a surprise one for Easter), completed another semester of school and started (for Dee) the VERY LAST semester, Dee started career hunting (scary! let me know if you hear of anyone wanting to hire an incredibly talented PR grad), we celebrated Ryan's 24th birthday and I'm sure much much more.

Our trips to Philadelphia were absolutely amazing. We always love visiting my parents. At least I do, sometimes the zoo is a little overwhelming for Ryan I think. But regardless we always have a great time. Our last trip was for Easter and we were there for 12 days. It was so nice to be finished classes and not have to worry about all the stress back home. We just settled in and had a great time. Mom and I had a great day getting our hair done at David Witchells for her birthday/mother's day. She got her hair cut and coloured and it looked absolutely fabulous if I do say so myself. I got mine cut and it looked great, like always when I get it done there.

Ryan and I had a chance to babysit for Seth and Meaghan and had a great day with little Josh. It was Ryan's dream come true when the woman at the Lindor outlet asked if she was ours. Oops!



Other than that, we didn't do anything Earth shattering but we spent a lot of time with family and friends and had a great time doing it. We made the trip in one fell swoop and Ryan was a major trooper and drove the WHOLE way back home. We got through a lot of Law and Order: SVU on the car ride (Thanks for the series of DVD for Christmas Shaun!) and we had some great laughs along the way. I'm constantly amazing and grateful that I am married to such a wonderful (and FUNNY) man.

I make no promises that I'll be better at this for the next six weeks, I'm a busy woman! But I do promise to make a more concentrated effort. I just thought I'd post a video from Christmas for everyone, it was from when Ryan opened his Wii on Christmas morning. I've been meaning to post it.

And I'm Proud to be an American...

Allow me to show you some of our American Thanksgiving goodness...drooling is allowed as I know that I am an amazing cook!



The bird in all its golden goodness


Now I'm just being artistic




That's right folks, I gutted, cleaned and stuffed that bird all on my lonesome...probably violated it in every way possible!



Check out our spread! Fancy serving dishes? Who needs them?




That's right, a Pecan Pie AND an Apple Crumble Pie...thanks goodness for pie plates that have the edges in them already



Along with homemade pies I also make pumpkins roll, a delicious spice roll with cream cheese filling...unfortunately I can never roll it so it doesn't break...mom has promised to teach me this art during Christmas this year.



Finally, we have all three desserts for your drooling pleasure.



Good friends and good food...it's great to be an AMERICAN!

'Tis the Season

I am in the Holiday Spirit this year like no other!

The decorations, the music, the shopping...I love it all. And this year I'm in the running for the "Greatest Wife Ever" award with the Christmas present I've gotten Ryan. He thinks he's getting a watch...HA! I'll show him!

This is ALSO the time of year that I get to go to the good ol' US of A! We're packing in the car at 5:00 am on December 19 and making the 18 hour drive home. Hopefully between Papa and Ryan I won't have to drive and I'll be able to sleep in the back and read. Regardless though, I can't even TELL you how excited I am to go home. I miss the kiddies and my mom and dad. I miss the Nelsons and the Tribe. I miss the big house and the free food and the pampering from my mom because she loves having us home so much. I miss mom’s sage and wise advice. I miss her comfort and her encouragement. I miss feeling like I can do anything in the world because she has such incredible faith in me. I know most of you don’t know my mom but she is an absolutely, indescribably phenomenal person. She has wisdom far beyond her years and she has unwavering faith and love in and for her children. She truly believes I could stand on top of the world if I wanted to and she would not only support me but give up anything she could to help me do it. That kind of unconditional love and support is something I miss most about home. Not that Ryan doesn’t give me that kind of support, he does, but there is nothing quite like the bond between mother and daughter. I can’t wait to be with her again.

Christmas, to me, while I love the snow and the shopping and the lights, is a reflective, nostalgic, joyous time. This year I have been thinking about what Christmas really is. With the world in economic turmoil and my family not doing any better than the next guy, I was concerned about the little ones and if they would have a satisfying Christmas this year. I talked to my dad about my concerns and offered a helping hand. He, of course, turned me down but it was what he said that convinced me not to do it anyway. He said that Christmas for us has never been and never will be about the presents. There is always the illusion that there are lots of presents but that’s because everyone gets one or two things and there are so many of us that it seems like the room is overflowing. He reminded me that Christmas in our house is about having everyone home. It was then that I realized that we give up the luxury of lots of presents to be able to afford to bring the entire family together for a couple moments of absolutely unjaded joy as we bask in love that is our eternal union. And that is so much better than an empty house on Christmas morning with a tree overflowing with shallow “things”. It has been 5 or 6 years now since my family has all lived under one roof and Christmas is, unfailingly, the only time of the year that we are always reunited. We put aside our differences and hold on to each other for the few short moments we have together before having to separate back to the different paths our lives have led us.

Over the past several years it is clear to me that “Christmas” is synonymous with “family” in my mind. That is why I always look forward to it with such anticipation. Then I started to think about family and what family is and means to me. My family is a relief. We are wild and crazy and absolutely everywhere, but we are completely free of judgment, entirely filled with love and wholly forgiving in all respects. Being with family means being able to relax and just be myself. I am to simply exist as the purest version of who I really am. Because regardless of my infinite flaws, their love is 100% unconditional and guaranteed.

Family, at least my family, is the single strongest connection on Earth and this year I have learned that that extends to in-laws as well. Over the past year there have been times when Ryan and I have struggled to make ends meet. Despite the 5 jobs we held between the two of us at the beginning of our marriage, we floundered in a financial whirlpool for a while. His parents were always loving and giving. I can’t remember a time when his mom didn’t show up with a huge basket of food for us when they came to visit. Conveniently enough she always had that 10 lb bag of flour that I’d just run out and couldn’t afford to replace of or a refill for our rice supply. There were many times when the reason we got a meal at night was because of my in-laws. I am fortunate to have married into a truly incredible family. And I pray that I can glean from them the many lessons they can teach me.

As I considered the implications of family in my life, I started to think of the “true” meaning of Christmas. Family, I realized, is completely encompassed in the true meaning of Christmas. As we gather together to celebrate the love that we have for one another, we gather together to also celebrate the love we have for Christ, the eldest of our siblings. He is our family, He is the reason our family exists, He is the reason our family is eternal and we celebrate His life, His death, His resurrection, His sacrifice, and His love and mercy. At this time we are so prominently grateful to Him for all He has given us, specifically, the opportunity to extend this familial bond beyond time and into eternity. It is because of him that we are able to look forward to an eternity of Christmases together. It is because of him that we are able to overcome the consuming grief of losing Affy and push past that pain to know that she sits with us that morning, watching over us, if only for a moment, to bring peace to our hearts about her life.

The older I get the more I appreciate this time of year. I dwell on the blessings in my life, the incredible friends I have, the solid family unit I have and now the family that Ryan and I will one day build. It used to be hard to look through the commercialism and see what this season is really all about. But now, I find it difficult to remember the commercialism and buy presents because all I can ever think about is the love that exists during this time of the year and how excited I am to participate in it.

Of course, Christmas morning is fun. But mostly, I live for the Christmas season. The week before and the week after when I get to be home again. The absolute spiritual and emotional uplift I receive. Some people may hate this time of the year, but I spend the rest of the year waiting for it to come around again.

Happy Holidays everyone. May this holiday season be as prosperous in love and wealthy in joy for you as it is for me.

Movin' On Up!

I just wanted to take a brief moment to publically congratulate my brilliant husband.

Ryan was promoted at work today. He was a sales agent for a car insurance company and today he was promoted to an "SCR". I don't actaully know what the acroynm stands for but it means that he'll now be helping to manage a sales team. He'll still spend some time on the phone but he'll spend a lot of his time in a supervisory position.

CONGRATULATIONS BABY! He's movin' up in the world...and I always knew he would.

Burnt Apple Pie Anyone?

What a weekend!

It all started Friday night when the white blankets fell. Ryan and I dabbled with the idea of going out with some friends. There were several options.

First was the millionth week in a row at the Clay Café where we would paint nothing and watch everyone else do their 3 or 4 piece. This was not number one on my list.

The second was the movies. I was up for that. Except Ashley and Alex wanted to see “Quantum Solace” and while I like James Bond just as much as the next girl, I’d really rather enjoy James Bond for a $5, 2 night rental with homemade popcorn and candy that will cost me a total of $20 instead of about $40. So option two wasn’t really number one on my list either.

Considering the pending weather conditions options one and two seemed to be less and less appealing. Therefore, I concocted option three.

Option three was to get Chinese takeout from our favorite (and CHEAP) Chinese restaurant, rent a chick flick and stay home curled up under a fleece blanket with the REALLY gorgeous guy I call my husband. Option three was INFINITELY more appealing to me than options one and two so I had to convince that gorgeous guy that it was the best option for him as well.

Luckily enough I have a fairly complacement husband and he doesn’t really care what we do as long as we do it together (I know, he’s so romantic). Therefore, option three was the winner. And in old, boring married couple fashion, we stuffed our faces and watched the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. It was wonderful.

Around 10:30ish the snow started to fall. And it fell. And fell. And fell. And then it fell some more. Around 12, when it was supposed to START, I was even more glad that we had chosen to stay in. Driving on those roads? There is absolutely no way our car would have made it up the hill to the apartment and we would have been walking. And I would have been CRANKY.

The next morning I made Ryan get up and walk to the gym with me. We get there around 10:20 and the girl told us we were number 6 and 7 for the day…she had been there since 8. We had a good time working out together though, we don’t generally get to and Ryan kicked my butt on the weights. I just told him it was because his wife was so dainty and lady like…he burst out laughing.

Then it was off to the Delta Barrington for a fun filled (dead) night of answering phones and checking in the two guests that braved the weather and showed up. A bunch of people stayed in the hotel for the night in order to ensure workers for the morning as there were “snow squalls” forecasted for the evening. I, however, booted it out early to catch a BUS, yes I rode a bus for the first time in MONTHS and at midnight on a Saturday night nonetheless, to go home. Ryan picked me up at the Lacewood Terminal and drove me safely back home. It was probably about 12:20 by the time we got home. But at least I wasn’t trapped at the hotel.

Sunday was the primary presentation.

It was…interesting. My little sunbeams had trouble sitting still for so long. In an effort to thwart their secret telling and giggles while the other kids were saying their parts, to their great protestation, I sat between them. Eventually we compromised and one of them sat on my lap so they could still sit next to each other. Towards the end I think it was all just a little too much for them because they started to get incredibly rambunctious (as I imagine most 3 and 4 year olds do after sitting for over an hour). I, however, was tuckered out and could not handle it. I simply had to stand up and leave the stage…while crying in front of everyone. How incredibly embarrassing the whole ordeal was. I could just hear in my head everyone pitying the poor 22 year old newly wed who was never going to have children because she couldn’t even handle a couple of sunbeams. This made me cry even MORE because I kept thinking of what a lousy mother I was going to be. Anyways, after a long and drawn out internal beating Ryan was able to calm me down and convince me I shouldn’t count myself as a failed mother yet…seeing as we’re not even thinking about having kids right now, I had some time. We then had a primary party and I was glad I did not have to teach my lesson all red and splotchy.

Sunday afternoon I was still moping about so Ryan made some crackers and cheese for lunch and we watched Gilmore Girls. It always seems to cheer me up. We cleaned the place and got ready for supper with his parents.

We had the pleasure of hosting my in-laws for supper Sunday night. I was so proud, I did a pot roast with mashed pertatters and corn. We had bread and butter and I even managed to make an apple crumble pie for dessert. I was really feeling like a hot shot housewife when they showed up to my spotless house, and a wafting aroma of roast and apple pie mingling together that would even make a vegetarian hungry for what I had cooking. I took the pie out of the oven, set up everything and went to go be sociable. I then smelled, amongst all the wonderful melding juices, what was the unmistakable smell of burn. That, however, was utterly impossible as there was nothing left cooking. Unfortunately in my oh so prideful head I’d forgotten to turn off the burner I’d been doing the gravy on. This also just so happens to be where I put the pie when it came out of the oven. Luckily enough the glass plate didn’t break but there was a giant circular burn on the crust of the pie. I caught it early enough that I didn’t destroy the ENTIRE pie but the bottom was pretty bad. Ryan’s mom tried to make me feel better and told me it happens all the time. No one was overly concerned about it except for me. And I mean, the pie did still taste pretty good. But the pie wasn’t the only thing burned, my ego was showing a bit charred around the edges too.

All in all it was a good weekend in the snow. I love, absolutely love, this time of year. Sweaters and snowmen mean I get to go home soon. And that I cannot wait for. It’ll be 25 days and then I’ll be back in good ol’ U.S of A. Back with family and friends. And it couldn’t come soon enough.