Summer Vacation

This past weekend, Ben and I were able to get away for the weekend and jet off to Sicamous. We stayed in a condo just at the entrance of Mara Lake. It was gorgeous! This summer our only vacation was a quick trip to Abbotsford for a wedding and to see family, so something in the hot sun by a lake was the perfect end to the summer.

We left work around noon on the Friday and were on the road just after 1pm. It's been over a year since I have done this drive, so beautiful! Not terribly traffic thankfully! We got to Sicamous around 630pm and dropped our stuff and headed out exploring! We found the Sicamous Beach and just walked as the sunset. It was absolutely magnificent! Living in Alberta, you don't realize how much you start to miss the mountains of greenery and just open water! Yes we have the Bow River that is quite pretty, but its not the same as the BC lakes:)

The weather was perfect, 30+ every day. We even got a ride in Jason, a realtor in my office, boat, which was extra awesome. There is just something about sitting on a boat as you speed through the gorgeous BC waters. I've always loved just sitting in boats, Im not a big water sport person at all! The one time I tried Wakeboarding was with my friend Kelsi on Kalamalka Lake in Kelowna and man did I suck! Her brother was teaching me and by the 10th time I had tried he got so frustrated and said "I have never failed at teaching someone... you have to get up!!!" Well I finally did get up... for a full 10 seconds then did a full face plant into the water. I was so water logged and I have never tried again! I like my seat on the boat with the spray of the water and wind in my face. Its amazing. The weather was perfect for this boat ride, early morning, water was almost as smooth as glass and barely a cloud in the sky.

After our enjoyable boat ride we headed to the beach, the wee beach of Sicamous. It was not too full but there were plenty of kids all around. Of course I was self conscious the entire time as I don't quite look pregnant, I just look overly large. Oh well what can you do! I think I am finally passing that stage! Ben enjoyed swimming in the water.. mostly alone as the water was a little chilly for me.

Later that evening we went out for dinner at a really nice golf course overlooking Mara Lake. The few was gorgeous.. the food not so much! It wasn't horrible but just not that good!

We headed out around 10am the next day as we wanted to stop at Lake Louise and hike around the Lake! The traffic was much better on the way home and it was a very enjoyable ride:) When we got to Lake Louise around 4pm we realized that we forgot to buy the Yoho Provincial Park pass to be able to park!! And the parking lots were all overflowing with people! We decided we would try and risk it and we found a great spot close to the Lake... it was insanely busy! There must have been 2-3 weddings that had just gotten out plus many tourist buses! After snaking through the crowds we made it to the path along the lake which was much less busy! It was beautiful! It was quite cloudy so the pictures I have don't do the turquoise water justice but it was perfect. As we were nervous about getting a ticket we didn't go to the end of the Lake but turned around about 3/4's of the way and headed back. Perfect timing too because as we arrived at our car massive droplets of water started falling! And we had no ticket! As we were leaving Lake Louise the pelting rain started quite hard! Perfect timing to get out of there!

In the end it was a really nice relaxing weekend:)

So happy to be in a Lake!

Sunset!

I love sand in my toes

Beautiful Sunset over Shushwap Lake

Can't forget all the love for Baby T!

Ben made me breakfast!! hmmm Bacon!

After our dinner date we tried to find a nice walk but only found this lonely beach!

The spectacular Lake Louise! Notice the gloomy clouds above the mountains!!

This picture shows a bit of the beautiful turquoise color of the water!

Baby T

Well all... I am pregnant!! I can't quite believe it. Hearing the heartbeat at 10 weeks helped solidify that there was something in there but I am super excited to be able to see the baby soon!!

Today I got some of the best news of all... I have a midwife! Now Alberta is a lot different than BC for midwives. It has only been in the last year or so that midwives are covered under Alberta Health. So now with only about 40-60 midwives in a city of 1.1 million you can image the wait lists. Pretty much you can only get a midwife through a referral! And praise God I did! My friend Maylee referred me and I am beyond excited. I had actually totally given up on the idea but now I am so relieved.

After announcing that we were pregnant, something I had been itching to do and trying so hard not to was posting baby stuff on Pinterest! I can finally go crazy! Its a lot of fun! And in my pinterest search I can across this girl names Jessica's Blog, she had a baby girl February 15, 2012 and ironically Baby T is due February 15, 2013. I haven't read the whole blog yet, but I really like her writing and what she posts! One of the things she does in her blog is a mini interview at landmarks in her pregnancy:) So I thought what a perfect way to keep me posting!!

So here goes nothing!!

How far along? 13 Weeks

Total weight gain: 3.5 lbs. (I had to run upstairs to weigh myself!!)
Maternity clothes? nope, barely did up my work pants yesterday though!
Stretch marks? nope!
Sleep: not bad, mostly Ben is making me stay up cuz he likes to read:)

 Best moment this week: Finding out I have a midwife!!!
Miss Anything? coffee and wine
Movement: I imagine Baby T flipping... especially while I held 3 week old Tripp but I cant feel it yet!
Food cravings: I got mad at Ben when he didn't bring home some left over icecream cake at work. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: I felt queasy after having McDonalds... oops
Have you started to show yet: there is a definite bump there!
Gender prediction: Girl - because it was a wee bit of a surprise!!
Symptoms: gassy... sorry for the TMI, I blame Baby T.
Belly Button in or out? in
Wedding rings on or off? on!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Songs and random commercials make me cry!
Looking forward to: Our first ultrasound!!

Ooo fun!

Just to Say Hi

Its been so long since I have blogged! I have a post in the works for our trip to Europe but now it totally isn't relevant!


So I'll do a fast one now:)

In April Ben & I took the trip we had been dreaming of for years. We talked about going to Europe a lot when we were dating and we both longed to see a few places.

For Ben it was Holland, where his Dad's side of the family are from, and Germany where his Mom's side of the family are from.

For me it was Scotland, to see some old friend and old places I once loved.

The trip was amazing, here is part 1, Scotland:)

Our hotel in Edinburgh, it was so gorgeous. We stayed here for our 2nd Anniversary.

Our first coffees after lots of flying and airports!

Edinburgh Castle... so beautiful!

The park keepers house:)

I love this park in Edinburgh

Edinburgh City

The most amazing B&B in St Andrews, Kinkell House

The view from our room.

Kinkell House Lane

I love the ocean

A cool house in St Andrews

Stirling Castle

The Wallace Monument

The beautiful town of Stirling

Glencoe... The Highlands of Scotland. So beautiful to drive through!

Glasgow!

I hope you enjoy... I will post Part 2 soon!

Scotland

A couple weeks ago at church our Pastor quoted a Celtic Prayer. That brought me back to my YWAM days in Scotland. I had a hard time concentrating on the rest of the sermon as my thoughts were inundated with the memories of the Discipleship Training School I went to in Paisley, Scotland called Celtic Way DTS. 

This picture was taken on my second trip. You have to cross the border of England /Scotland. The country side we pass was beautiful, breathtaking. In the past couple years, while watching movies set in the English countryside I am taken back to those days of just walking through God's beautiful creation. Sometimes I think I appreciate it more now, than I did while I walked it.

It was a unique DTS. We followed in the footsteps of Celtic Saints thousands of years ago, literally. We were a hiking DTS:) The main hike we did was St Cutherberts Trail, it is 100km long and starts in Southern Scotland and ends on a tiny island called Lindisfarne on the East Coast of England. It was not an easy hike as it lasted 5 days and crossed many different terrains. I got to experience this incredible hike twice.

On my second hike we got to experience Chase Anderson playing the Bagpipes at the highest point of the hike. It was beautiful, unfortunately all you can hear in the videos I took is the wind!

My all time favorite part of the hike is the last day (partly because it always meant it was almost over!). Its the day we walk across the ocean to the Island of Lindisfarne. There is a causeway separating Lindisfarne from the mainland which means cars & people can walk to the island at certain times of the day! The causeway is generally open from about 3 hours after high tide until 2 hours before the next high tide. Because we have to rely on the tide that means we had to wake up at 4am to be able to cross at the correct time frame. 

The causeway has refuge poles every 30 yards -ish and we each time we pass one, someone reads a Bible verse of their choosing. I love this part. We always meet up with Andy Raine, a resident of Lindisfarne, who teaches us. He is a great teacher/servant of God. A very hilarious man!

After our big hike we always did another trip that visited a few Islands of Scotland. My favorite Island ever is the Isle of Iona. It is a tiny island on the West Coast of Scotland, south of the Isle of Skye. You have to take two ferries to get there. Only 125 people live on the Island. From one end to the other it is 1.6 KM and one of the most beautiful walks I have ever taken. The Iona Abbey is situated on the Island, it is a beautiful Abbey that still stands.

Another hike we did was a one day hike called a Munro in the Highlands. My first couple years we did The Cobbler right near Loch Lomond.  The photo above is my first ever hike in Scotland. I had only been there for 2ish weeks! Who would have guessed the girl sitting beside me would become one of my best friends.

Then in my last year we did a different mountain and for the life of me I cannot remember the name of it! But it had a spectacular view! I love that my hair and sweater are the same! 

And lastly another way we followed the footsteps of Celtic Saints was our morning/evening prayer. We called it Office. We met at 730am & 9pm every day. The prayers we read were taken from the book Andy Raine wrote called Celtic Daily Prayer. I miss those office times. At the beginning of every school we would have all the new students take 5-10 little pieces of paper and add a name to each of someone they love to it. Then before we started prayer each day we would each take a piece of paper from our prayer bucket. Halfway through the prayer we take time to individually pray for the person on the piece of paper. Office was a time that we reflected and prayed.

Part of the prayer was "May the peace of the Lord Christ be with your, where ever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing and the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you back rejoicing once again into our home." I would love to be part of Office again:)


I miss the community Stanely House created, especially living in Calgary away from lots of friends and family.  

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