two years

We got engaged on the tailgate of Keith's Chev pickup truck in the middle of nowhere.
Nothing but us on a seasonal Saskatchewan road between two fields and the big sky
filled with stars. Blankets, hot chocolate, and us on the tailgate. 

That was two Thanksgivings ago. 

So much has happened since then. And I am so blessed.

Thanksgiving weekend 2013.

Thanks to my Dad for the great picture.

2012, a review

2012 was with no doubt a momentous and very memorable year for us. I really saw my year begin, when the rest of my life began on our wedding day...

A good majority of the rest of the year was captured in iPhone pictures. Hundreds of blurry but smiley pictures that I look over often to see memories of the past year. We bought our land, we built the shed, I discovered the horror that is tick season in Saskatchewan...

I have never had to deal with ticks before in my life. Not the kind that go on people anyway. I've had to pull ticks off of horses which I thought was one of the worse experiences, that was until I had to pull them off of myself and found them nestled in all the most vulnerable and inconsiderate kinds of places. Keith would roll around on the ground in shorts and not have a single one, I would tuck pants into socks and they'd still find a way in. It was awful. I'm already starting to get anxiety over this upcoming May/June.

The summer brought lovely heat which drove the ticks off. We were able to go camping (which is a big deal to fit into our summers!), we got the canoe, took Nova on long bike rides around the park, and of course there's always football.

When I came back from Markus and Allison's wedding Keith surprised me with our fuzzy new fur-baby. Sofi has never failed to steal the hearts of most those she meets with her big furry face and floppy ears. I love looking at her puppy pictures. 

September brought the momentous move of our house. The big thing we had been waiting so long for it seemed.

I'll let you guess what we built with the moon....

We enjoyed our new found sunlight in the new house - such a welcome relief after living with the north facing rental window! - and I cleaned floors with an old t-shirt and my slippered feet (don't worry I invested in a spray mop after about a month or so). And at Christmas we enjoyed sparkley ornaments, candles in the windowsill, and lots of doggy snuggles. 

Between the getting married and the honeymoon and the land and the house and the building of sheds and fences and things with moons it was a huge trailblazing adventure of a year.

And at the end of 2012, we found out that we were about to embark on our biggest adventure yet....

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I cannot wait to meet you baby.

You and I (Welcome Home)

Don't you worry there my honey

We might not have any money

But we've got our love to pay the bills

 So lets get rich and buy our parents homes in the south of France

Lets get rich, and give everybody nice sweaters

And teach them how to dance

Lets get rich, and build our house on a mountain

Making everybody look like ants

From way up there

You and I

You and I

("You and I" by Ingrid Michaelson)

Love love love (A+M 25.08.2012)

Things are finally starting to quiet down! I'm hoping I finally get to catch up here on blog posts.

A week ago I was honored to stand up and witness my older brother get married to the girl of his dreams. It was so unbelievably beautiful. I don't know if it was just because he's the last of the kids in our family to get married, or if there's something in the water down there in Calgary, but I bawled my eyes out. Literally could not stop. I don't know if I've ever met a couple that compliments each other as good as Markus and Allison do. Saying they complete each other hardly begins to explain it.

We had so much fun. Everything was beautiful, and I got to spend an awesome weekend with friends and family. I danced like a total idiot with my brothers and my sisters-in-law (who I am now going to refer to as my sisters, just so you all know), got to get all dressed up and wore killer shoes which were so painful my right toe went numb for four days.

It was absolutely amazing. And I couldn't be happier them :)

Photos are courtesy of Gabriela Husch.

Happiness. Warmth. And so much love.