Back as a Mrs!

Well everyone! I'm officially back as a Mrs!

On April 11th, surrounded by our close family, David and I got married. It was an amazing day and an overall fantastic trip back to my homeland of Canada.

We flew to Toronto on an early morning flight the Sunday before the wedding. I hadn't slept and getting up at 3am didn't help as the looming alarm kept me from falling asleep. After a long wait at the airport and an even longer flight, I was home. We were greeted at the airport by my fantastic parents and welcomed home with signs that my niece made for us. A home cooked meal, lots of tea and lots of love was just what I needed after travelling so far.

Mom, myself and Cathy (David's mum) at the shower

The rest of the week was wonderful. We had a night out with friends on the Monday night and my church family blessed us with a shower on the Wednesday. It was tea party themed and the hats were spectacular! I felt so incredibly lucky, blessed and thankful to have been the recipient of such an event. The church, Bethany, was like a second home to me growing up, and the people there are still in my hearts and I cannot be more grateful to have such loving people in my life.

Cutting the shower cake!

The next few days were full of shopping for sweets and bathroom basket stuff, manicures (I had my nails done for the first time since my sister got married, seven years before), and family time.

On the Friday, I got up and despite it being such a momentous day, I felt quite calm and relaxed. My mom and I headed to get our hair done just before noon, and shortly after, my sister arrived with a Starbucks coffee for me (the perks of being the bride!). I was dropped off back at the house, where I watched some MASH and had lunch, before the makeup lady arrived. My face was done and I had about an hour to kill before our lovely photographer, Karyn, was due. My niece noticed I had a laptop on my bed and informed me that you can watch movies on it. I got the hint and her and I snuggled up to watch a Pirate Fairy film.

My niece Charlotte

After a while, Karyn showed up and so my sister helped get me into my wedding dress and Karyn started snapping away. Around 5pm we headed over to the Osler House B&B for the ceremony. I was shuffled into a side room and ended up waiting for about 25 minutes for the rest of the family to get there and for everyone to get things sorted. I spent the time making sure my niece didn't destroy the bouquets and playing Candy Crush.

Coming down the aisle

Soon it was go time. The music started, my sister and her daughter disappeared from the side room to walk down the aisle and then my dad and I followed. I remember feeling so excited and just so relieved and glad that the time had finally come to get married. David looked so handsome in his suit and I had to restrain myself from giving him a kiss straight away!

Just married!

The ceremony was lovely. We wrote our own vows, and that made it feel so special as it was our words and our promises to each other and not some generic phrases that would never mean quite as much. During the ceremony, I felt like my heart would burst when David managed to whisper to me that I looked lovely and a few other sweet things. I really am a lucky girl to have married such a sweet and loving man.

Afterwards, we had a quiet (well as quiet as my family ever gets) family dinner. It was really nice to be able to sit and talk to everyone, which is something you rarely get to do quite so much, at a larger, more traditional, reception.

Wedding dinner

First dance

Cutting the cake

The next day, we got back into our wedding outfits and got ready to party it up with the rest of our Canadian family and friends. My mom put a lot of effort into planning the party and it was awesome. There was a lot of fresh (yellow!) flowers done by Katelyn Hughes, a girl who goes to my family's church, and even a surprise TARDIS! The candy table seemed to go over well as every time we looked ever, there was a queue for it. The yummy cupcakes, music and time spent with everyone was just really fun. By having the party on a separate day, we were able to be relaxed and just enjoy the time celebrating with everyone. I mean... who doesn't love dancing to Hanson with all your friends?

Note the TARDIS?!

The next day we jetted off (ok... we took a bus...) to Montreal. While there, we embraced the culture and ate poutine, enjoyed a maple tasting, and took in the sites of the old city. We experienced 20 degree weather and snow, within 24 hours, and soaked in the hot tub while looking through the window at Mount Royal. It was a great little honeymoon.

The trip back to Canada and our wedding celebrations were so special, and I'm sure that we will look back at everything fondly for years to come. Both David and I are so thankful for all the love, support and generosity that we have experienced these last few weeks. Married life has started well and I love knowing that I have my best friend and partner with me for the rest of my life.

Wedding Bells!

I've been quiet the last few weeks as life has been rather busy for me!

One major thing that has taken up my time has been making sure we have everything to fly to Canada for our upcoming wedding!

Yes... you heard that right! David and I are getting married next week! I apologise for the many exclamation marks that will litter this post, but I think they are quite justified as I am excited!

Our engagement has been short, compared to most people's, but in a way, it's felt like forever. Ever since David and I started talking about marriage, to the moment he pulled out that special ring, I have been eager to blend our lives together and make our commitment to each other official.

The planning process has been interesting. Some days it feels like we barely had to do a thing, and on other days, it felt like our to-do list was impossibly large. Planning a wedding abroad meant that I had rely heavily on my family in Canada. My mom became our wedding planner and so while that meant that we didn't have to do a lot of the running around, calling, and appointments, it did mean that my mom got the pleasure of doing that for us! A huge thanks to her for that. As for our work... well... I have a couch full of things we need to remember to take with us when we fly over. We will have very full suitcases!

One of the things that I enjoyed far more than I expected to, was the whole dress thing. Originally, I wanted something simple, non expensive, and not super wedding-y. I first went to try on dresses with a friend, and all of the dresses that I found were too much. Too much poof, too much bling and far too much dress for me. The next time I went, I had my future mother-in-law along for the ride. I showed the shop lady pictures and told her specifically what I didn't want. She was amazingly great at figuring out what I actually did want. When I put the dress on the first time, I felt great. I felt pretty, fancy, but yet still very much like me. The second time I tried it on, I knew I wouldn't find a dress that I liked more. Even though it was a proper wedding dress, it fit my criteria and I loved it.  After the alterations were done, I didn't want to take my dress off! I think that's the moment that I turned from a woman getting married to a bride.

If that doesn't convince you that I've turned to the dark side of the wedding industry... I've also got an appointment to get my nails done the day before the wedding. Yup... me. I hate nail polish and haven't had any on my hands since my sister's wedding, years ago. But alas... the wedding industry has claimed me.

Don't worry too much though... because although I am excited over my dress and submitting to the beautification process that many females do on a regular basis (I may even wear eye makeup!), I do realise that the wedding itself is not what I am actually excited about. Sure, I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends. It will also be great to eat good food, and dance to good music, but at the end of it, what I'm most excited for is the marriage.

See... marriages often follow weddings and while I'm sure the wedding will be a lovely time, at the end of it, I won't be a bride, but rather a wife.

And that, my friends, is why I cannot wait until next week, when I get to officially start my life with the man that I love.

Twice Broken... Now Shy (of crossing the street!)

    I stood there waiting for the light to change. It was red, but I needed to cross the street to get to the bus stop. The sun shone brightly in the early morning sky and my thoughts strayed to the class I had that morning. The light turned green, my eyes scanned the road quickly and then I started off. A quick second later, I saw a truck turn into the middle of the intersection. A pickup with some landscaping company's logo across the side. It's probably just turning so it can go through when I'm clear, I thought. It's not uncommon for a car to pull into the intersection, pause until the pedestrian has moved on, and then continue their turn.

    Suddenly, I realised the truck wasn't stopping. It was coming right for me! I started running but it was too quick. The pickup hit my left arm and hip and though I desperately tried to maintain my balance, I fell to the ground. I lay there for a minute. Shock overtaking my body and brain. The driver stopped and there was silence. I forced myself to get up and stood there, unsure of what to do. The driver wound his window down and, horrified, asked me if I was okay.

    Okay? Am I okay? I don't know, I thought. "I think I'm okay," I replied. He didn't seem convinced and asked me again. I was in shock, but I wasn't aware of that yet. Since I didn't seem to be struggling to walk, talk or wasn't even bleeding, I told him I was fine. He didn't know what to do himself, and oddly, the only thing I was worried about was getting to school for my lecture. So, I got myself, safely this time, across the street just in time to make the bus.

    Five minutes later, as I sat waiting for my stop to come up, I felt a lot of pain in my arm. I looked down and saw that my wrist was swollen and found that I was having difficulty moving it. Then it dawned on me, I had been in shock, and I was actually hurt. I knew there was a hospital on the main campus (just past the building where I attended classes), but I didn't know where it was. I called my friend, who happened to be in medical school at the same university. She'll know where the hospital is! As it was just before eight in the morning, and she was across town, I think I scared her a bit when I told her I'd been hit by a truck, was on the bus and needed directions to the emergency room. Not a call that anyone would like to get!

    With the help of her directions, I found the ER and explained what happened to the triage nurse. "I a tuck hit me." The nurse looked at me and so I explained what happened and showed her my arm.  It was a very quiet morning so they took me back after waiting only a few minutes. After examination the doctor proclaimed that I had broken a bone in my left wrist. He then put a plaster cast on me and checked me over for any other injuries. Sadly, this was not the only time that I had broken that wrist. Whilst I was doing my first degree, I worked for a summer at a call centre. Coming home late one night, I fell into a ditch, created by the construction on my street. By the time I had made my way home afterwards, my arm was rather painful. A visit to the ER found that it was broken and I had to wear a cast for several weeks after that.

   My phone buzzed. "Hello?" It was my friend. She had made her way to the hospital and was checking in with me. We met up and went for ice cream, because I had been hit by a truck and quite frankly, I deserved it.

P.S. I just wanted to add in that I am very proud of my home country of Canada for doing so well in the Sochi Olympic Games. Today. I was able to watch the women's teams for curling and hockey win the gold. Well done ladies!

Bordeaux

    Last post I mentioned a trip that I took with a good friend of mine to Bordeaux. It was a bachelorette trip for me as David and I are getting married this spring.

View from our room!

Kitchenette in the hotel apartment

    When I got engaged, Ashley proposed something different to me: that we go on a somewhere for a bachelorette/hen trip. I loved the idea and soon we decided to go to Bordeaux, France. It ended up being just the two of us, but it was a fantastic time. We flew out on the Monday morning, on the tail end of a major storm. THE STORM was all we heard about during the week as we would watch BBC World in our hotel and that news story was their favourite, I'm sure. Anyways, we arrived and checked into our hotel. The hotel was more like a studio apartment with one large bed, a smaller sofa/bed, table and chairs, fully operational mini kitchen, complete with pots, pans and the rest, and a bathtub with separate shower. It was great.

     We spent the next day or so walking around the city and remembering whatever french we knew. The first night, we randomly came across a large carnival in the middle of the city. It was bizarre. It was set up in what must have been a sort of town square, or park, as there was a large column and fountain right in the middle. The fair itself had us in stitches. It was meant to be an "American" style fair and so had random English words on most of the rides. When I say random, I mean random. One ride was called, "Sexy Dance". I'm not sure how it was sexy or where the dancing was, but hey... why not?

Me posing by a fountain in Bordeaux

    On Tuesday, wandering around, we came across a cathedral, many cool streets lined with shops, the river, and a reflecting pool. In a supermarket, I even found a brand of biscuits that was my last name! I was very excited. The weather was beautiful too. That is, until a freak rain shower started when we were by the river. I had left my coat behind because the weather was warm enough, so by the time we got across the street to hide under the window arch of a building, I got pretty soaked. It was all worth it in a way, because a few minutes later there was a gorgeous rainbow. We then walked up and got on a mini-train (ok... not a real train... it was a car train for tourists) and took a tour of Bordeaux. I really enjoyed it... when I was not shivering from being wet!).

    Wednesday was wine day. As part of the trip, Ashley had booked us a wine tour of the Medoc region. We were with an American brother and sister and our tour guide was great. He knew a lot and was constantly telling us facts about Bordeaux, the wine making process and all sorts of stuff. We visited three wineries that day, and learned a lot about why some wine is good and some isn't. Just so you know, pretty much all Bordeaux wine is fantastic!

Wine being stored in the third Chateau we visited

Wine doesn't get labelled until it's ordered so they can put the correct label on it, depending on where in the world it's being shipped to.

Tower and square

    The next day we took the train to Saint-Émilion, a town in the Bordeaux region that has been around since the Medieval era. In fact, when we were there, I found what I believe was the original monestery that was the reason the town was founded. Vineyards completely surround the town, making it very picturesque. Once inside, be prepared to walk and climb hills! The city was founded at the top of a large hill and there are many layers to the town. As it is very old, the streets are random, and you can find lots of neat, hidden treasures if you go down the odd alleys and paths. One of my favourite memories of the trip was eating lunch outside in a large courtyard that was overlooked by a giant tower and surrounded by centuries old buildings. On a beautifully sunny day, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

Vines and an old ruin

View overlooking the town

Square where we ate, and the wine shop we went into

    While in Saint-Émilion, we went to a wine shop that was highly recommended to us by our tour guide the previous day. Le Cellier de Saint-Émilion was great. We went in as our wine tour guide was finishing taking another tour group through. He introduced us to the owner and then we were sat down for a wine tasting experience. He started off with a lovely red and continued all the way up to a bottle that cost about 150 euros. The wine was pretty much the best wine I've ever had. I was a happy camper that day! We left after ordering a few bottles to be shipped back to the UK (don't worry... neither of us got any over 50 euros!) and went off in search of some more good French pastries (little did I know that at the airport they sold massive nutella macaroons! mmm...).

    This trip was amazing all around. Other than that terrible rain shower, we had great weather, followed up by great food and even greater wine. It was a bachelorette trip worth remembering and I can safely say that this falls under the "wonderful" part of my life.

Long time.. No Post!

Hello again!

So it's been a long time since I've written a post. The last few month have been... interesting... and honestly, writing has been the last thing on my mind. I may have to spend a few more posts going into some details about what's been going on, but I did want to give an update.

Going all the way back to to October, I went on a wonderful bachelorette trip with my wonderful friend, Ashley. We spent five days of the half term holiday in Bordeaux, France, sampling amazing wines, wondering through medieval cities and enjoying fantastic food. I will add more in a future post about this fantastic trip.

A few days after arriving back, I, in a graceful move, fell in my flat. As gravity pulled me down, my arm hit the wall, forcing it backwards. Ouch. I cannot describe how painful this was. I felt sick. I instinctively knew that this wasn't something that will be ok in a few days, or would settle down in a couple hours. After going to the hospital, I found out that I had a crack in my shoulder and had torn the rotatator cuff and bicep. I was sent home with a sling, painkillers and told to stay home and rest.

Every move I made for the next month was very painful. It took me ages to change clothes and I was limited in what I could even get on. Because my bicep was also damaged, if I moved my arm or even did anything with it, it felt like my upper arm was on fire. Keeping my shoulder still was one thing, but for at least two weeks, I couldn't even straighten my arm out.

Finally, after a few weeks of rest, I convinced the doctor to let me go back to work. She agreed, as long as I kept my arm in a sling and was very careful. I went back to school and was pretty happy to be back. Staying at home for a day or two is nice, but after a few weeks, it gets very boring, very fast. It was lovely to be able to talk to people during the day, and feel like I had a life again. The only problem was that all week, I felt ill. I had a bad cough and felt really under the weather. I sucked it up and continued working as I didn't want to take more time off after being gone for so long.

That weekend, I went to a friend's birthday party. By the time I got home, after only being out for a couple hours, I was exhausted and couldn't stop coughing. I spent most of the night awake, coughing and fed up. The next evening (Sunday), I started having a lot of trouble breathing. I tried to relax and sit in the bathroom with the shower running (sometimes the steam can help loosen things up) but nothing worked. Eventually, I became desperate and realised that I was getting dizzy and that I really needed to go to the hospital. When I got to A&E, the nurse took me back right away and when she saw my oxygen levels, the doctor got me on a breathing treatment very quickly. I spent the night getting tested and was given many treatments and lots of oxygen. By morning they told me that I had a bad chest infection and that because it was affecting my breathing so much and with my oxygen levels being quite low, I had to be admitted. I spent several days in hospital, which was an experience! I will have to write about that another time. I will say, though, that I'm sure that I rocked the oxygen nose tube that I had to wear.

I was sent home later in the week with so many medicines that the pharmacy bag was overflowing and actually broke. I was starting to get a bit better but then a week later, I began having stomach issues. I started being sick and had a lot of pain.  After a week of this, David and I trekked back to the hospital. When they tried to take my blood for a test, they had a lot of trouble. I had become so dehydrated that at least 2 nurses and 3-4 doctors tried and couldn't get anything from me. They even used an ultrasound machine to try to find a viable vein. No luck. They were able to place an iv line and so gave me a lot of fluids through that. I was told my stomach was upset over the medications I had been on, and that I had maybe developed an ulcer. They gave me more pills and sent me home.

Soon, it was Christmas. I was still being sick and had to take painkillers as my stomach hurt so badly. It was the first Christmas that I've ever spent away from home though, and I was determined to still enjoy myself. I joined David and his family at their house and while I was still ill, I had a lovely time with them. After Christmas, I ended up back in A&E twice, to get more fluids (I kept getting dehydrated) and to get more tests done. Between them and my regular doctors, I have been keeping the NHS busy! They then told me that the original diagnosis was probably wrong and that I had a few other issues. Since I had spiked a fever and gotten worse, they put me on more medications and arranged for me to get iv treatments at the hospital once a week. After getting these treatments, I started feeling a bit better. My fever has come down and is mostly where it should be (aside from a few random days when it goes up again), and my pain has significantly subsided. I am still unable to eat properly and am still being sick sometimes, but I am feeling much more like a human being. I have been able to return to work, on a modified schedule, and, I hope, am slowly getting better.

I am getting physiotherapy for my arm and shoulder and I can actually move it small amounts now, so I am pleased with the progress that I am making. David and I are getting married in April, and so now my goal is to be able to eat, drink and dance at our wedding. With just over two months, I am determined to be well and enjoy the wedding celebrations.

Throughout all of this, my fiance, David, has been amazing and very supportive. Despite his hatred of hospitals and needles, he sat with me many days, and was my rock. He has helped me out around the flat, by doing the shopping, the washing up and other things that I have really appreciated. I cannot say thank you enough for all that he has done. I knew that I picked a keeper! My family at home have also been great and I have felt the love from them and my friends, all the way across the ocean.  My mom has told me many times that if I needed her, she'd fly over, no questions asked. So thank you to her and everyone else as well.

Life is tricky sometimes, but I've decided to try to remain positive and focus on getting better. I will try to write some more posts about some of he specific experiences mentioned, and I'll do my best to keep you, dear reader, updated on how I am doing.

-Erin

"When times are good, be happy, but when times are bad, consider this: God has made one as well as the other."
-Ecclesiates 7:14

Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving in Canada and so today, I wanted to take some time to discuss what Thanksgiving means to me.

Growing up, I enjoyed Thanksgiving as it meant a day off school, lots of turkey and time hanging out with family. I do have to admit though, that I always held some resentment towards the holiday. You see... Thanksgiving (in Canada) falls on the second Monday of October. My birthday also happens to usually fall around this time. Sharing your birthday with a holiday always meant issues planning a party as everyone was usually away either on the long weekend or other weekends surrounding it and having the sharing of the gifts as an afterthought at family gatherings. Not that I expect to always be the centre of attention... but on one's birthday, it is nice. Although, I suppose I can't complain too much as, in our family, December 24th is never Christmas Eve, but rather birthday day for my Mom and sister. The one perk of having my birthday near/sometimes on, a holiday is that I did have a much better chance of getting it off of school than most people. That and getting Grandma pies. My Grandma J. makes the best pies ever. I don't care if you think your grandma makes the best... I'm 100% confident that Grandma J.'s are the best that I've ever had or are likely to have. Today, I no longer feel any sort of resentment for having a holiday birthday, but rather Thanksgiving has become my favourite holiday.

Thanksgiving is usually the time of year that I like most. It falls nicely in the middle of October, when usually the leaves are falling, the air is crisp and the sun is still warm enough that being outside is rather pleasant. Trees are a myriad of colours, brightening the landscape. Here, in the UK, however, this is not the case. Some trees are turning colour, and yes, the air is cool, but it is a damp cold that sets into your bones and the leaves are mostly falling because of the rain, but yet, I am still thankful.

I am thankful that I had the opportunity to move here, to live and to work here. I am thankful that I met my future husband here and that I've met some amazing friends and had some wonderful experiences. I am thankful that I am able to travel, able to have a career and able to enjoy life.

I am thankful for my family who have been loving and supportive. I am thankful for my friends, who have been there to have a laugh and also when times have been tough. I am thankful for growing up safe, and with luxuries that many around the world do not have.

I am thankful that I possessed the capabilities and the opportunities to complete two degrees, allowing me to work in the field that I feel called to work in.

I am thankful for a loving God who shows me compassion beyond all understanding, and love beyond comprehension.

I guess... this Thanksgiving, I just really feel thankful and I know that I am so blessed.

Today, please do remember to just be thankful.

-E

Thanksgiving meal... yum!

Pumpkin tarts... made by Ashley. SO GOOD!

Birthday cupcakes thanks to my wonderful fiancee!

More Thanksgiving meal... :)

Engagement Lessons

David and I have been engaged for just under two months now... and what an interesting two months it has been!

It has been a whole range of emotions since the moment David pulled out the ring. From extreme happiness and joy to stress and confusion... the change in our relationship status has been a new experience for sure.

From the very start of our engagement, it was pretty clear to me that I am not like a lot of girls (or at least the stereotype of most females). I have never had a "vision" for my future wedding, nor have I ever sat and looked at wedding stuff in anticipation of my future wedding day. I always knew that I'd like to keep it fairly small and simple. David and I had actually discussed the idea of having a small ceremony and then a party for both sides in our respective countries before we got engaged, but that was the extent of any thoughts or planning that I had pre-engagement. I never thought about colours or themes or dresses. When I went to weddings, or a friend showed me wedding stuff, I knew what I liked or didn't, but that's about as far as my wedding dreams and knowledge went. So when family members and friends started asking questions and wanting to get an idea of what I'd like, I felt overwhelmed. I thought... I like yellow... so let's make that the colour! The only flowers I like are sunflowers... so let's make that the theme! Done.

Ok... it turns out that it was not done. We haven't thought of any complimentary colours yet, and it turns out that sunflowers are very not in season in April (when the date is), and so would be crazy expensive to get, so new flowers it is. I am not a person who cares about flowers in general and usually appreciates wildflowers in the woods more than cultivated gardens with fancy flowers that are "just so". Looking at various flowers baffles and confounds me but I'm sure that myself and my family will be able to sort something out. Although it turns out my tastes seem to run to the eclectic and is not always appreciated by other human beings. So a lot of my ideas for the party have been turned down by any and all people hearing them, and also is usually accompanied with the "Erin. No." face. And here I thought weddings were the time that the bride could go nuts and do what they wanted!

Something else that has been interesting is people's reaction to our wedding date. We got engaged in August 2013 and plan on marrying over Easter break (we get two weeks here for school holidays), in April 2014. That makes it about an eight month engagement. Now, I know most typical engagements are a year or more which does make sense as weddings are a lot of work and having that time would be useful but it just wasn't something that we wanted. While eight months is still not that quick of an engagement, we have gotten some really crazy reactions. From people hinting that there might be a little reason for us to get married quickly (nope!), to just reacting shocked and then pressuring me to explain why we are "in such a rush" to some amazing people who are simply supportive. It really surprised me how much judgement people have put on us for getting married before the usual engagement gestational period. To me, if you are ready to get engaged, you are ready to marry and so waiting around doesn't make that much sense. We have other reasons to pick April that are more practical but really... we don't want to wait ages to move in and start our life together.

Something being engaged has changed is how our conversations that we have about our relationship and future. There is something very comforting about knowing where the future is leading to and who I will be sharing it with. Wedding talk has also brought up some ways that we are different (I am fighting for some form of TARDIS at the party but David... and my mom... tells me that it's silly but darn it... it would be so cool!), and many ways that we are similar. We both agree that the details of the wedding aren't that important, but it's more the marriage that we are wanting to focus on, which is great and I feel like a healthy way to look at the whole getting married thing. The only problem is... in order to get married, we will need to sort out some of the details first.

Sigh... and so I go to look at more pictures of bouquets.