Time flies…

I can’t believe it’s already been a week and a half since we returned from Paris!

That’s right I said Paris!2013-05-07_0001

I know I didn’t really update anything other than my instagram during that time but I kind of liked the idea of being away without everyone knowing.

I want to recap and share all the little details with all of you I hope you will be ok with that :) Blogging is a great way for me to record events in my life like this one.

Paris? Why Paris? The trip was planned as my grandmother’s 80th birthday gift. The plan was to bring her to Rio de Janeiro the place she has dreamed of her whole life. As we started planning Mamy (my grandma) got nervous about the flights being too long and a few incidents she saw on the news made her decide she didn’t really want to go there in the end. So then came the time to pick a backup. In the end we chose Paris. We opted to go at the end of April in order to give me some time to accumulate some experience on my own at my new job and to avoid Melmel’s busy season at work.

And let me tell you we couldn’t have chosen a better time to go. Paris in the spring is absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect for sightseeing.

So Wednesday the 17th we were off. We met up at Melmel’s and headed out to the airport. Our departure was later than planned and let me tell you Melmel is a bit of a control freak when it comes to traveling. It’s quite funny she kept asking to see all our passports and our tickets and when she could she would hold on to them. For someone who has traveled a lot it’s quite funny to see how nervous she gets in airports.

Love this picture of us at the airport we are all so happy to finally be going on this trip together. We took this pic with a self timer app on the ipad  there are many self timers I downloaded TimerCamera and it’s great!2013-05-07_0003

I’m not sure if I ever told you about my love for airports. I absolutely love them! They are hubs of emotion. Maybe it’s cause it makes me think back to September 11, 1999 when I left for Venezuela. I was so excited and scared all at once. I remember leaving my parents at the gate and crying like a baby once I made it to the other side. When I got on the plane I was crying so much that the flight attendant tried to ask me what I wanted to drink but I was sobbing so much that the nice lady next to me told her “just bring her an orange juice.” That day marks the beginning of one of the best years or my life. I left as a young naive girl and came back as a new person.

To this day I love watching families and lovers saying goodbye and reuniting it’s amazing. I secretly hope to someday have something really romantic happen to me at an airport. Like being surprised by a special someone at the gate with flowers or something of that sort. Someday maybe someone will surprise me.

Here is the first pic of me and the Eiffel tower on our first day. I’ll be back with a daily breakdown of our trip. And an AMAZING trip it was. Happy to be home in Cornwall but missing Paris a whole lot.2013-05-07_0002

I hope you are all enjoying the great weather we are getting!

April 15 2013

Today I’m adding an extra post. I just couldn’t help sharing how I feel about Boston.
I keep thinking of all the injured and their family members. I also feel bad for every participant. The months of training to get ready for the marathon and that feeling of bliss when you finish. That feeling that you did it. No matter if it’s your first marathon or your 100th no one should be able to take that away from you. I think of those who hadn’t finished and were possibly about to get their best time ever. I think of the ones that traveled from around the world to complete the Boston marathon likely for the first time and likely something they have dreamed about for a long time.  I think of all the runners who may never be able to run again because physical or mental limitations. This saddens me deeply.

Let’s not forget all the heroes that took part in yesterdays events the police, firefighter and ambulance crews that ran towards the explosion to help others. The hospital staff who through tragedy kept strong and helped everyone as much as possible.

Marathoners everywhere keep running don’t let what happened yesterday ruin your experience, don’t let it frighten us. Don’t let it stop you from experiencing this moment of pure joy.
marathonNancy

Family day = Sister day

What did you guys do for family day? We took advantage of daddy daycare and Melmel and I headed to Quartier dix 30. We had a few shopping goals to get things done for Melmel‘s basement. We were able to find all the accessories for her bathroom and got some custom cut blinds for their basement as well.

Funny we went shopping and other then the sports clothing stores we didn’t hit up any clothing stores firstly cause I have way too much already plus I will now be spending 75% of my time in a uniform between cadets and work it doesn’t leave me much time for regular clothing.

I did pick up a new swimsuit cause last time I went swimming I discovered after the fact that the bottom of my bathing suit was see through how embarrassing! Not having a swim suit is a good excuse not to swim so I decided I didn’t need the excuse. I got this speedo  that is supposed to last 20 times longer in the chlorine. Let’s hope so! Cause no one needs to see my buns through my bathing suit.

swimsuit

We went to have lunch at Zibo’s cause I used to go there with my Montreal friends all the time and it actually made me text a friend I hadn’t texted since September 2011. Now I

promised to send her an email and we will make a date to see each other soon. Gotta love it when you can pick up a friendship after lost time.

lunch zibo

I also chose my birthday gift from Melmel and I can’t wait to get it. It’s this lovely chair it’s perfect for my place cause visually it doesn’t take a lot of space but I need extra seating seeing I had a client meeting last week and had nowhere for my client to sit. Next up I

need an office chair.

chair structure

So all in all it was a great day off for some quality sister time. Today I’m back to the grind working on client work and I just got called in for work later this afternoon. 31 is starting off well I just need to remember to take pictures for project life. I did well yesterday except I forgot to take a pic of Melmel and I.

What did you guys do? Did you spend time with family?

Nancy

30 has come and gone

Well here I am at the very end of my 30th year. I must say it was a great year. I spent a lot of time with loved ones traveled to a few new places and lived every moment to the fullest. Attended a few baseball games went to my first NFL game. But the end of 30 is near and I am happy a new number is coming along so I can put the not so good parts of 30 away and start working on 31.

I have big plans for 31! I am heading to Paris for 10 days in the spring with my sister, my mom and my 80 year old grandma for a trip of a lifetime. I will have my first solo shift this week at my new job that I absolutely LOVE! (So happy I passed my training I guess I should have announced it here but if you follow me on Facebook you already know) I’ve already started building new friendships and am so blessed to already have some incredible friends.
birthday flowersMy family is of course the best thing I have cause I know even when I’m not the best daughter, sister or grand daughter they are always there for me. I have a few big purchases I am planning for the next few weeks and months and can’t wait to share them with you as well as a possible move. I’m also planning a trip to San Fransisco in the fall something I have been putting off for far too long.

This year as selfish as it maybe I will be putting myself first I’m going to work on saying no when I don’t really feel like doing something and I will take the time to do the things I love. It seems like I haven’t crafted in ages (minus today of course at Auntie Em’s). I want to try project life for year 31. I had a few projects around the house that I never accomplished and I miss that sense of accomplishment. Also with my training days behind me I can’t wait to concentrate more on my business and the many projects that have been brewing in my mind for a long time.

betterme_nancy

I started working out at Renew and it’s challenging and it hurts but it’s feels so good to know I can do it and I could work through the pain I hope this will remain a big part of my life. I need to take better care of me.

So even though 31 begins with a little rough patch I am sure it will be another great year to add to the story of me, and this little rough patch will be so worth it in the end. As my colleague told me upwards and onwards. Plus it turns out my life is nothing like I would have ever imagined it but I wouldn’t change one minute of it.

This year I won’t rely on anyone else for my happiness it’s all about me I’m number one however in being number one I still want to work on being a better me. Cheers to 31!

I’m a lucky girl

curlymel&nance

 

Today Melmel is celebrating her birthday. And I figured it would be a good time to share how lucky I am. How lucky I am to have been born with a best friend. Sure when
I was little I didn’t appreciate it when she farted on my face and we tugged at each others hair.

Wish we were both still this skinny! Heather @Renew this is your goal to get us both back on track!

Wish we were both still this skinny! Heather @Renew this is your goal to get us both back on track!

We spent awesome times lifeguarding at TACTSC together

But since she went to University things changed we started growing closer. Even being miles away from each other we always kept in touch. For some reason I never shared with her when I was going through hard times. I felt since she has had such a great life she wouldn’t understand but lately I promised I would be a better sister and I’m starting to turn to her when things are bad and turns out she still understands even if things went differently for her. Plus through my sister I scored an awesome brother in law and of course the cutest niece ever.

Celebrating with her before Gaby’s arrival

The sad part about this is this is the most up to date picture of us together and it’s from 2010!!

A colleague of mine and I were talking about imagining life without our sisters and we both had no idea how we could do it. I can’t imagine not being able to text or call her anytime or not having my awesome (good deals) shopping partner.

So on this day I thank you Melmel for being the best sister a girl could ask for. And I hope you have a wonderful day. Looking forward to what the future has in store for us and to growing old by your side.

Memories of 2012

I am overdue for writting but I took the month of January to get organized from my office to my computers I needed sometime to get all my things in order and I needed to concentrate hard at work to make sure that I pass my training. I only have 4 shifts to go and then my training is up it’s crazy how fast the 3 months went by.

Well 2012 is just another year behind us.
Life in Cornwall is going amazingly well from design to photography, business, scrapbooking, friends, roadtrips and family things couldn’t be much better.

What a great year it was! Here is a quick monthly recap I decided to break it down since so much awesome stuff went on that I want to recap!

January
-I started dating my awesome boyfriend
-I became a godmother to my amazing niece
-A few girlfriends took a weekend away to celebrate our upcoming 30th birthdaysgirlsweekend -During that trip I got to shoot Terri’s maternity pics still some of my favorites. terri February
-I made the design team
design_team_layout-My family got to meet my awesome boyfriend.
-The awesome boyfriend and I babysat Gaby for a whole weekend while we sent Melmel and her lover to Quebec city for a weekend. We took the pics from this layout that weekend.
marchlayout - Nancy-Jasmine Star commented on my blog here!!
-I went on the most amazing valentine’s date ever.july_layout

-We celebrated my 30th birthday with sushi, bowling and friends and a few days off of work
March
-I started my Etsy shop with my friend Fiona (which is bare and needs some work)
-I shot this awesome shoot with GabyGaby_baby_headshot-and met this little guy for the first timeDSC_0297_r_halfsepia

April
-was a nice quiet month but I met this little one for the first time
AnnabelleMay
-we went on an amazing road trip through detroit to chicago and back through cleveland (to be blogged) We attended 3 MLB games and 2 at Wrigley Field!wrigleyfield_layoutJune
-We finally went away on our first weekend of camping together to Kring Point ( I guess I can blog about this too)
kring_point-85-I finished my invisalign treatment (this is a big one I should blog about it was a life changer for me :) )
-We went to Toronto on a little getaway. During our stay we saw a Blue Jays game and we went to the zoo.
2012-06-30_1341090569I’ll be back with more from last year and some other stuff I’ve been working hard on.
Hope 2013 is treating you well. Can’t believe 31 is just a few weeks away!
Love you guys thanks for reading

Nancy

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Where has 2012 gone…It’s kind of crazy that we are already nearing it’s end. I’m just finishing up getting ready for the holidays. Not done everything yet but I’m on my way.

Unfortunately I’m sick so it’s hard to get everything done but I try to get a few things done and take lots of naps.

I wanted to stop in and wish you all the very best for this holiday season. Take the time to enjoy your family and your down time. I’m looking forward to family and food and maybe a few extra naps here and there. I have a couple more days off then usual and I’m hoping to use those to get caught up on a few things.

My November and december layouts are up on the Auntie Em’s blog so check them out.
First 2011 in reviewnovemberAnd Noel

december

Nancy

 

bananas

Are you like me constantly storing bruised bananas in the freezer and constantly telling yourself you will make banana bread? But do you ever really do it?

My freezer was beginning to get overloaded so I decided to make a few loaves. That same night I packaged them in wax paper and made these cute labels. Brought them to work as a sign of appreciation for those who made it enjoyable.

The labels read: I would  go Bananas without you here and one special label read I’m completely bananas about you guess who that one was for ;)

Looking back on this, it’s crazy how much I needed those people around to help me get through the everyday at my old safety net. As of right now the change has been amazing. I truly enjoy what I do. Plus luckily I am surrounded by more wonderful people here as well.

BTW I miss you guys. I’m trying to be around as much as possible.

Nancy Paquette

Sheconnex…

Have you heard of Sheconnex? If you haven’t and you live in the Cornwall area you should look into it. Sheconnex was founded by Karine Parthenais.

Karine Parthenais Founder of Sheconnex

It’s a great organization that brings women together through various types of activities. At first, like many I thought this was just another business association. It’s nice to have a place where I don’t have to talk business all the time and where I can bring along my friends that aren’t business owners. They have activities aimed for moms, business women and other activities where women of all walks of life are welcome. It’s also a low commitment environment you can sign up for the events that interest you and that fit into your busy schedule which is great.

I first met Karine at the end of August she was looking for someone new and local to Cornwall to work on the graphic design for their various events. When I met her I instantly knew that she would do very well in this type of work. She is a warm welcoming person with an amazing personality very approachable and completely invested in this project. I wish her the best of luck with it and encourage you all to look into their events. Go take a look around their site here and like them on facebook here.

As of right now I have created the following for them. Each of their projects are fun and I look forward to all the projects that have yet to come.

First off they created the feminar you can find more info about it here.

The next project was creating a logo and poster for their super hero party, organized to to raise money for la maison baldwin. Unfortunately due to lack of participation it was cancelled let’s all make sure that doesn’t happen again.

And here was the poster.
Lastly and most importantly I just designed a poster for the opening of their studio and the logo for the studio itself!!! Which means they will now have a space in which to host their events; essentially a pied a terre. The other interesting part of this space is that they will be sharing it through space rental.

Here is the logo.

And the poster…
I hope to run into you at the grand opening I will be there for a bit (I have to sneak over during my lunch since I work a 12 hour shift that day). Once again Cornwall is a great place to be and there is plenty going on please check out their site and get involved.

Nancy

Lately…

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to give you guys an update.

Lately…
Things are busy
Things are good
Things are great
Things are looking up
Time is limited
Time is precious

One of the many reasons I haven’t been around as been because believe it or not I am free. Free from my safety net. Don’t worry I didn’t take a complete leap but rather I found a new safety net. One with more padding and comfort, one in which I feel I will be much happier. This safety net comes with 5 weeks of full time day training followed by 3 months of shift work coaching. I have been barely surviving with trying to keep up with my clients and studying for the weekly exams but I’m making it. After this week there will only be one more full time days week and once on shift I should be able to manage a little better.

I hope…
to keep loving it as much as I do today
to find some balance between work, business and life
to never go that long without seeing my girlfriends again
to take the time to be a better girlfriend, friend, sister,
aunt, daughter and grand daughter
to learn to stop over planning
to learn to say no
to live a healthier lifestyle
to be back here regularly soon

How are things with you guys? Any big changes going on in your lives? My bestie is having her first baby sometime soon. Now that is one big change! I am so excited for her! The baby should be here anyday. Can’t wait to meet the little one.

Miss you all