Tag Archives: family

Kaleb

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Remember about a year ago I went to meet this lovely young man.

2013-03-18_0013 He was all fresh and curious. He kept his gorgeous eyes open throughout the shoot. Well I got to celebrate his first birthday with him in a photoshoot. He is by far one of the happiest little guys out there and his parents love him so much. Such a cute family. Here are few of the images from that shoot.

Kaleb_1ansThe great thing about being in Cornwall is that I get to use my passion for photography and preserve memories for great friends like Terri who I have known for years. I remember when Terri & Marc started dating ages ago and now to see them as a family is amazing.

To take a look at this gorgeous, stylish and happy boy head over to my album on facebook with all the images from his newborn shoot and his birthday shoot.

30 has come and gone

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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

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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.

Lately…

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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

thanksgiving tradition

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So do you guys have traditions you follow for thanksgiving?

Growing up we never really celebrated it. But Melmel married a man who is crazy about turkey and my  parents are crazy about camping. So now thanksgiving is our last big camping weekend with family and friends that might as well be family. Last year we started a new tradition deep frying turkey for everyone.

I’m so excited for this weekend it’s nice to get away. The girls plan on getting away to get some shopping in and the boys are planning on visiting some local breweries. For a few years our destination was Tremblant, then we did a few years in Lake Placid and this year we are trying out Lake George for the first time. The September challenge on Emma’s blog is actually a neat layout filled with pics of last years thanksgiving. Check it out here…

Happy Thanksgiving

Nancy

 

Happy to be where I am today…

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Today as I write this ( September 27) I have now been living back in Cornwall for 2 years to the day. It seems like just yesterday I was in the peak of marathon training and fundraising when suddenly I was given 2 weeks to uproot and move back to Cornwall. Luckily my parents own a rental property and I was able to move into a vacant apartment right away (more on that soon). Thank goodness, cause finding an apartment was an extra stress I didn’t need.

In the past 2 years so much has changed. I completed my fundraising challenge of 6800$. I traveled to Greece and completed my very first marathon. I became single and lived on my very own for the first time ever other then a brief stint in 2007. I became an officer in the Cadet Instructor Cadre. I completed my invisalign treatment (more on that later too) and best of all I became an aunt as well as a girlfriend once again to a wonderful man.

Now I’m in my thirties living in Cornwall working part time and working on this business and living it up. Funny I always thought that I would live in the big city seeing that that is where the work is in my field. I knew that someday I would start my own business but I never thought I would do it so soon and that I would return to Cornwall to do it.

Looking back now as much as there was to do in Toronto I couldn’t afford to do much in the 2 years I lived there. I never went shopping couldn’t afford it. Rarely went out couldn’t afford it. Never traveled anywhere but home. Not only couldn’t I afford things money wise but my time was so limited with the daily commute that I couldn’t partake in the activities that I love so much. Since moving home I have been able to join my old bowling league, join the design team and become an officer with 325 air cadets plus I get to spend quality time with my girlfriends crafting and some good old family time too.

There are so many advantages to living in this beautiful city and today I’m happy to say that moving home was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Do you ever look back on past decision and have regret? I don’t usually carry regret in my life; turns out everything that I have done has led me to where i am today and they are experiences that have made me richer.

In the spirit of not regretting I agreed to join some girlfriends on a new york city adventure next month. When I received the invitation I was hesitant and over analyzing everything ie: time, money and of course staying away from the business for a long weekend yet again. In the end I decided it was a great deal and the business would profit from me taking some time away and getting new inspiration from the big apple.

Check out this video. It’s been around for a while but I love it and figured I’d like to share it with all of you.
Nancy

I heart BLOGS!

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My friends tend to point that I am always referring back to the blog posts I read. I am addicted to blogs…I don’t really read books or magazines anymore since I try to follow blogs and they just make my heart happy. Plus I get tons of inspiration from them.

I do however have a problem I have a hard time keeping up. I use Google reader it’s great. It allows me to categorize my blogs in folders and I can star my favorite items so I could easily find them when I go back. Also I can do a search in my reader account and find something I read very easily whether it’s a new post or old one. Love it! My Google reader account always has a high count of unread blog posts but I’m comfortable with 300 unread posts. If you go over 1000 it says over 1000 to read and well I don’t like that I like to know how much reading I need to catch up on. This week I am at 546 unread post!!! How is that you might ask? Well I follow a lot of blogs 73 at the moment to be exact. I sort through them by reading my favorites first. I thought I would share my favorites with you. Starting with Melmel‘s of course!

Interior Design:
Bower Power – I was introduced to this one by my sister and I love Katie my sister and I often speak of her as if she was our friend she is so real and pleasant to read.
Teal & Lime – This one was just added to my reader list and I find myself jumping to it first to see what new DYI projects Jackie is working on.
It’s Great to be Home – I love following Liz…she and her husband have been busy flipping houses and the results are impressive…Love her style and feel like we could be friends if we really knew each other. (hope that doesn’t sound to creepy)
Ikea Hackers – Love love love this blog some post have some very interesting ideas for using your ikea furniture in new ways. It’s also quick I look at the images and if there is something I would like to hack I stay for a while and read the tutorial.

Photograpy:
Jasmine Star - Of course you all know I have a huge career crush on Jasmine! So I read her as soon as a new post is up.
Mikeala Ruth Photography – Through Jasmine I discovered Mikeala I enjoy seeing her work and getting to know a bit about her life. She is also very talented.

Lifestyle / Fashion:
Kendi Everyday – Kendi has awesome style and she post pictures of her outfits everyday it’s a quick refreshing read. I found her while reading Jeremy and Kathleen
Making it Lovely – Nicole has such a distinct style and I love reading her design ideas and watching her family grow. It’s kind of hard to believe it when I see posts about her kids cause she didn’t have any when I started following her.
A Cup of Jo - Joanna’s blog is always filled with gorgeous photos and links.
Organic Pixels – Lindsay and I went to school together and her blog is filled with gorgeous pics and recipes. She doesn’t always post regularly but her posts always make me smile.

Graphic Design
Jeremy and Kathleen – It’s a great resource for me being that I am slowly building my design studio to hopefully do like Kathleen someday and jump in full time.
How About Orange – Really enjoy this one it’s also a new one on my list.

Scrapbooking
Auntie Em’s Scrapbooking – I read this one and now I am also part of the design team so from time to time you will find me over there talking about my latest projects.
Dear Lizzy – Is a designer for American Crafts she lives such a beautiful life one little girls would only dream of. Always creating new things she is so inspiring.
Ali Edwards – I like to think that Ali is a bit like me she is a memory keeper but her work is a combination of computer design, awesome photography and scrapbooking. It’s also fun to watch her family grow.

How do you manage your blog reading? Do you have an ipad or ereader? Right now all I have is a laptop and I dream of the day I finally cave and buy myself an ipad so I can bring my blogs with me on the go or cozy in bed. (And I’m dying to have flipboard) I find it just too hard to read them on my iphone and the laptop is not all that convenient.

Do you have any blogs you would recommend? One day soon I will give you the full list of blogs I follow but it fluctuates sometimes I get bored or annoyed when people write too much.

Nancy
Your blog crazed friend

Today I wish I was…

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In Chicago…to be specific at Wrigley Field. Melmel and her little family are on their way back WOOHOO! To be exact they will be back in 5 days! If you read her blog you will find out that she is way behind on their adventures. (but we have to go easy on them since they are driving across the country with a baby.)

Today they are going to a cubs game at Wrigley Field as per our advice in the outfield bleachers. Here is my layout from the June challenge that I never shared with you guys.

These pics are from the day we didn’t sit in the bleachers it wasn’t the same but it was nice to experience both. I will have to scrapbook the outfield pics too eventually.

Check out the detailed post here.Hope your summer is treating you well

Nancy

 

 

Pure craziness…

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This summer has been pure craziness for me.

Literally…
-I flooded my sister’s basement
-Had to change the fan in my car
-Now I have to change the AC compressor
-I lost my memory card before heading on our cadet canoe trip which I was suppose to photograph
-I lost my graduation ring that I have worn everyday for 8 years
-my internet stopped working
-and then to top it all off my iphone broke

The iphone breaking was my breaking point. This is how it went down. I was at my safety net job with my iphone just sitting on my desk when this happened:
I googled this right away and the solution was to turn off the phone and hope it wouldn’t come back. Now you have to understand that my iphone had a disabled power button that has been essentially useless. Short story after the restore my iphone would no longer recognize the sin. At that moment that moment of weakness I wrote a desperate email to my sister here are some funny exerts:

“my iphone decided to go to heaven I think it deserves to go to hell. Anyway so if I don’t text you back or I don’t instagram I didn’t die. My iphone died. We should have a funeral. Oh wait I have no family they all abandoned me for the summer. And since they left me I also caused a flood in my sister’s house oh and I lost my grad ring yeah my grad ring I can’t find it anywhere I usually don’t take it off but it’s so freakin’ hot I took it off cause my fingers were like sausages and now I can’t find it which breaks my heart since I have worn it every day except 18 days in China for 8 years!!! Plus you gave it to me. So I am hoping with your return that my bad luck streak will end and that the world will start spinning in the right direction again.
Hope you are having an amazing time so that this weird bad luck streak is worth it.”

So as you can see I was the end of my rope. Well the next day my sister and Justin did the best thing ever. I was working at my home office it was a super productive day when someone rang the doorbell. There was Mrs. Wheeler holding this bouquet.
How awesome is that? Even though they are on the US west coast they took the time to set this up for me. It really made me smile and laugh. I am so lucky to have such an awesome sister and so lucky that she married Justin he’s the best brother in law I could ever imagine. Thanks guys.

As for the summer even though all this has happened it’s been pretty awesome and I will make sure to share some of the funner things as well as some of the work that has been keeping me busy.

Hope your summer is treating you well
Nancy

SIDE NOTE: I finally found a temporary replacement for my iphone. Thanks Joey.

I made the DESIGN TEAM!

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Hey guys,

If you’re my friend on facebook you already know that I made the design team!This is such an exciting opportunity.

Here is the post unveiling our first layouts. Soon there will be a detailed post about my layout I will let you know when it’s published. Until then hop over to Auntie Em’s and check out the layouts the other girls created. Here is mine Gaby is my inspiration of course

You’re newest Design Team member

Nancy