A Weekend Full Of Friends...

Tonight I'm hanging out with one of my besties, Emily, to go see the new movie, The Help. It looks amazing, and I love having meals with Emily because we get so caught up in chatting and laughing that I never eat everything on my plate! :)

Tomorrow I'm going to my WW meeting, then off to meet Lisa and Lizz for some girl time. We're picking up our dresses (I'll post pics next week), then having lunch at Olive Garden, doing some shopping in the US, then heading back into town to complete some of her wedding tasks before waiting for the boys to return from Darren's stag.

The stag topic has brought up some interesting discussions between myself, my girlfriends, and Aaron respectively. I don't love the fact that men think that they need to include oogling naked girls when celebrating the end of single life. Women don't do this. Women tend to celebrate their friendships with each other (even when it sometimes includes penis-shaped accoutrements), celebrate their friend's entrance into married life, and celebrate her as a person. Men just want to grunt, drink, and see boobs! I don't understand it myself, but I do think that when it's Aaron's time to attend his own stag that he goes with the understanding that his respect for me should outweigh his desire to have a half-naked butt gyrating on his lap. And I'm sure that Darren will do the same!

Sunday we'll take it easy and clean our home because I'm sure that all the stag fun will take a serious toll on Aaron's well-being. :)

So friends, what are your plans this weekend?

My In-Laws

To be honest here, before I entered this significant relationship with Aaron, I had never really had a relationship with my boyfriends parents, so I didn't know how I'd feel about having a new family to adapt to when I got married. But folks - I'm the luckiest girl in the world! Not only do I have an amazing family (my mom is my best friend, my dad is my buddy, my brother and I are very close and trusting of one another, and I have a great relationship with my aunts, my uncle, and my cousins), but now I get a whole new set of family members, and I L.O.V.E. them!

My future mother-in-law is a very strong, loving, caring, and wonderful woman. She never hesitates to compliment people. She is honest and straight-forward, but never mean. She always says I love you, which I'm not really used to in my family. We all show our love through our actions, but rarely through the 3 Little Words. She gives the best hugs. She's thoughful. She's warm. And best of all, she really treats me like her daughter.

My future father-in-law is a tough guy - a hunter, a shooter, a cabinet-builder who worked with his hands his whole life. But at the same time, he too says I love you often and meaningfully. He is charming, he is funny, he loves his tiny Chihuahua, and as much as he talks about hunting, he really has a passion for photographing nature and wildlife. He is thankful for his family, and he never ceases to amaze me with his cooking!

Both of these wonderful people have taken me into their family like I was born into it. They tell people that I'm not their daughter-in-law (to be) but their daughter. They've made me tear up a time or two with their emotional tributes to me - telling me that they loved me, appreciated me, and were thankful that I was in their lives. When Grandma passed away, I was there to support them, and wouldn't have had it any other way, and in some way, it brought us all closer together.

I'm really very relieved to be entering a family full of love. They are not without their troubles, just like any family, and they are not perfect, just like all of us, but I am so proud to be entering this family and making them my own. And they will also make wonderful grandparents some day to our children!

Training for Weight Loss and Goals

I've never been a runner. Even with I was a kid, I couldn't run fast or long distances. It just wasn't how I was built. I was a decent base-stealer in softball, but after I tore my knee ligaments when I was 17, my softball career came to a crashing hault.

But I've decided that I need to set a fitness goal for myself in order to get trim and fit before my wedding. So I'm going to attempt something after we get back from our Vegas trip in October - train for the Sun Run.

Every year in Vancouver there is a 10km race through Stanley Park and downtown called the Sun Run. Thousands of people do it annually, and I've walked it once but didn't have a great time doing it by myself. But this year I'm going to train to walk/run it, put on my Ipod, and see if I can do it in less than an hour and a half. I'm excited to train, I'm excited to complete it, and I'm excited to see what it all does to my body.

13.7lbs down and another 17lbs to go...

Songs and Such...

Aaron surprised me the other day by bringing up wedding music out of the blue... and playing me some of his favorites on his computer.

Then Lisa asked me what I'd be walking down the aisle too, as she was also trying to finalize her wedding tunes.

It got me thinking that I really don't know what the tone of our wedding music is going to be... we have the standards playing as guests take their seats, but I don't know what to walk the aisle to, or what to sign our certificates to. We know what we'll have playing as we exit the ceremony room, but it doesn't really have the same tone as the standards. What's a girl to do???

Well, this girl is just going to pick music that she and her hubby-to-be love, and run with it. Guests won't critique our choices, and if they do, we'll have the answer "We love that song!". That's all that should be important! :)

Showering Lisa with Love...

I can finally talk about the details of Lisa's Surprise Luau themed Shower! Lisa reads my blog from time to time, and now I can reveal the party to you all!

Lisa and Darren are getting married in 6 weeks, so her MOH Lizz and I threw her a shower on Saturday night and outfitted my patio with all things beachy!

She was very shocked, emotional, and thankful to have her favorite ladies (and the guys later on in the evening after a boys night out at the pub) there to celebrate her upcoming nuptuals to a fantastic man!

Welcome!

The Bride-to-Be - very surprised!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Bride and her 2 Bridesmaids

Here are some food shots... YUMMY!

Olives, Rice Salad, Orzo Salad, and Chicken Skewers with Grilled Pineapple

Fruit platter


Homemade Coconut Shrimp with Orange Dipping Sauce



Boccoccini and Tomato skewers, 7 layer dip, and Veggie Platter

Detail Shots:

Tiki Bar




Tiki Bar with Tropical White Sangria or Blueberry Mojitos

Gift Table and Starfish Bookmark Favors

Bride's Throne

Scrapbooking Station

It was an amazing evening full of so many laughs, good memories, lovely ladies, delicious food (if I do say so myself), and celebrating my best friend!