The City I Live In

Calgary is the first Big City I've lived in and I love it. I never thought of myself as a City Girl but I really do enjoy it. I love living in a Suburb that feels just like small Abbotsford yet I can drive 15 minutes to Downtown and go shopping. I love that there are beautiful settings throughout all of Calgary to walk. I love that there are gorgeous $2,000,000 plus homes that Ben and I can
walk by and dream about.

Calgary is a gorgeous city. In the two years of living here I've been able to capture a few moments of different seasons. They are mostly winter... because my love of photography was sparked in the wisps of snow!

For Christmas 2010 my family decided to not buy gifts, but make them! Since I have absolutely no craftiness in me (unlike the rest of my family) I decided to use something I enjoyed and Im alright at, photos! I thought through each sibling and their family and tried to think of a photo they would love and would hang in their home. My sister and her husband, Heidi & Josh, have always loved trees! And I absolutely love all the tree photo's they have in their home. So this picture was taken on my mission to find the perfect trees for their picture! This was taken just outside of town. I love love love how you can see the Foothills on the Rockies:) In BC we are so proud of all the mountains we have nearby but here in Calgary... its like having 50 Mount Baker's on the edge of town. It is spectacular!

Downtown Calgary Summer 2011.... You don't see the distinctive Calgary Tower because this picture was taken on the North side of the city. You can see the Bow River and the unique walking bridge that leads to Prince's Park. Whoever said Alberta was try and yellow was very wrong!

Fall 2011. One of my favorite places to walk. Along Memorial Drive. Ben and I walk along here a lot:)

This is another pathway Ben and I randomly found one day:) I love trees.

January 2012. Another favorite walk of ours and mostly because it is beside our condo! The snow beyond the bench is actually a tiny lake:) Ben and I love walking here. It is the perfect size for us.

February 2012. I was in love the moment we ran across this little place. It is in one of the wealthiest area's of Calgary. We discovered so many good walking paths down here too.


February 2012. In the same area. I cannot wait to go back in the summer AND the fall to see how beautiful it is:) This picture makes me feel like I'm back in Prague. If only:)

As much as I want to move back to BC, I love the beauty of Calgary. It is a great city to live in.

My Man's 26th!

There are only 3 months every year that Ben is a different age than me. Coincidentally we got married in those three months:) Yesterday was Ben's birthday and I wanted to make it special... I had quizzed him for a month trying to find out what HE really wants to do. He kept saying "You make me dinner" which didn't sit well with me! Everything I make, I make all the time! Except for one meal which I had made recently. I love going out, but he goes out for lunch ALL the time because of work and travel. And he wanted to go see the new Underworld.

But he already knew about dinner and the movie and I'm all about surprises... so I woke up at 630 am (which is early for me!) and made him Dutch Pancakes! He was really surprised and

loved it:)

So that was it then! I had to make him my one fancy meal... Chicken Cordon Bleu! It is a recipe I found a couple years ago on AllRecipes.com, it had raving reviews so I tried it. My first attempt failed miserably but the second time it came out amazingly!

The main course was set... the sides were easy... I had leftovers from Bible Study of an amazing salad with strawberries, almond slices & spring mix lettuce. Ben LOVES some mashed potatoes, especially with my parents Apple Sauce which we have one serving left of! And asparagus is another one of his favorites.

Dessert... that was the hard one... there are only two of us... Ive made him cupcakes before and I don't really want to buy a cake... then a great idea hit me... Ben LOVES cheesecake... and I had seen a delicious looking No Bake cheesecake recipe on Pinterest!

I had hoped to make it look as beautiful as this...

But I couldnt get the piping down right.... so mine didn't turn out was nice! But it was still yummy!

So there it was... my special meal for Ben finally had come together:) Everything turned out beautifully! I even pulled out our china dishes and white table cloth out.

He loved his gifts too:)

I got him the entire Arrested Development series which we had been talking about recently a lot and wanted to re-watch. And I got him a new leather Bible with his name engraved on it:) I had been planning it for awhile, we always share my Bible at Church because his Bible is from elementary school and is very used!

The only hitch was the movie... we got there... got great seats... the commercials started... and previews... then BAM Neon Pink & Neon Green... the movie looked like it was showing in Negative... 10 minutes later after 2 people leaving and my eyes getting sore trying to figure out what the heck was going on in the movie the manager came out and announced they downloaded the movie in 3D! this was no 3D! Anyway, they handed out free movie passes and said it would take 15 minutes... 20 minutes later they handed out free popcorn passes.... and another 10 minutes later they finally announced that the movie would not work and handed out another movie pass as we left. Oh well.

That part didn't work out the best... but we got free movie tickets!

All in all I would say the day was a success:)

The Superbowl

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl... I'm very excited about. Not because of the football that is going to be played for hours and hours but for the food! The food at super bowl parties is always the best! This Chef In Training blogger has so many cute and yummy ideas that make my mouth water... like this one:)

The other thing that I am really

excited about is hanging out with new friends! We are going to be watching it with our new Care Group!

Our Care Group was recently started by another couple and us... we desperately wanted to meet other young couples in our church. So we got a bunch of names and set it up:) Each couple is fairly newly married (I think 5 years is the longest marriage so far & one is engaged), we are all quite new to Calgary and last of all we all are Kidless!

Funny enough the couples are dropping like flies! Not leaving our group but the first week one couple announced they were pregnant... two weeks later another TWO couple announce they are pregnant too! So 3 out of 7 couples are going to have babies in car seats in September! I know what that means... LOTS of Baby Showers this Summer!

I'm very excited for what this year holds:)

Not A New Years Resolution

Everytime I think about my blog I feel bad... I always want to have such amazing things to say which causes me to feel like I'm climbing a mountain every time I write!

I don't like New Year's Resolutions... so this is just a new way of looking at my blog... Im not going to write a chapter of a novel everytime I post... Im just going to write what I'm thinking or feeling and write it from me:)

So here goes nothing:)

and a picture that made me happy today:) I took this picture while travelling with my brother James in Green Park in London:)

Have a great day!

Cherie