Pumpkin Patch

We ventured out to play in the mud at one of the local "U-Pick" pumpkin patches this week. I'm not sure which Reagan was more excited about... the mud or the pumpkins!
It was so funny to listen to her trying to find her perfect pick... "Nope, too big." "Not this one, too squishy." "No way, too dirty." I was beginning to think that we were never going to leave that place! She finally found her perfectly plump little pumpkin in a box of tee-tiny ones that had already been picked. I found almost half a dozen bigger ones that I plan to carve up for Halloween!

Ryan gave Reagan a spin around the patch in one of the wheelbarrows that were provided, and you would have thought that she was on the newest ride at Disney World to have heard her happy squeals.
Stay tuned for the post where we all get oooey, gooey, and sticky from pumpkin guts when we carve out our jack-o-lanterns!

The Million Dollar Dog

***We're almost all caught up! This will hopefully be my last "retro" post, and then we can just focus on the here and now!***

On Monday, October 5th, we had to take our little dog Dixie (six year old, 3.8 pound yorkshire terrier) into the animal hospital for emergency surgery. Our vet had been telling us for the past year that this surgery was probably going to need to take place, but we just kept putting it off. Until the day came when we couldn't put it off any longer.

Dixie had a hernia on her belly, and it was suddenly getting bigger by the day. Our vet suspected that Dixie's small intestine had somehow gotten trapped in the hernia, and she was worried that it was becoming necrotic (dead) and that it would cause Dixie's other organs to become rapidly infected... leading very quickly to Dixie's death. We agreed to let her operate to remove the hernia and to save Dixie's life.

Dixie was also having problems with her teeth, which is very common for such small breed dogs as Yorkies. Their little mouths just aren't big enough to properly hold all of those teeth! Dixie's teeth were jammed in there so tightly that they were literally growing on top of and over each other. Severe periodontal disease had set in, and she needed to have a massive dental cleaning. The vet convinced us that now was the time to do it since it would save us a little money on the anesthesia fee by only having to put her under only once to perform the two surgeries. So we agreed. She warned us that she would probably have to pull a few of Dixie's teeth that were very badly damaged, but she also suspected that those teeth would possibly just fall out on their own during the dental cleaning. That was fine by us, because then we wouldn't have to pay for a cleaning and an extraction!

The vet had given us a written quote when we had initially discussed all of these surgeries last summer. I took that quote in with me when we made the decision to go ahead with the surgery. The highest possibly number on that quote was very high, but it still fell under "that" number of where we felt we were spending too much to save Dixie's life. Ryan and I had already made the decision on what "that" number would be... anything over it meant it was time to consider putting Dixie down. We went for the surgery.

Dixie was in surgery all day on Monday. The vet phoned me numerous times throughout the day to let me know how things were going. She phoned shortly after 2pm to let me know that Dixie was out of surgery... she had repaired the hernia, made sure there was no damage done to the small intestine, and she had pulled NINE of Dixie's teeth. She informed me that Dixie had over 50% bone loss in her upper jaw from the severe infection in the teeth. Dixie was having some post-operative difficulty, but she said that I could still come in when I got off of work to come get her. By the time I got there, Dixie had gotten worse as she was bleeding from her nose. The surgery on her mouth had been so extensive that the space where her canines had once been was now an infected hole that led straight into her sinus cavity. The vet recommended that Dixie spend the night in the animal emergency hospital across town, but warned me that it was going to be very costly. I explained to Dixie's vet that there was no way I could afford anything more than I was going to be paying her that day, so that I would take Dixie home and take my chances. She phoned the emergency hospital anyway on my behalf and gave them a head's up of what was going on and told them to possibly be expecting me sometime during the night.

It was at this time that the receptionist of the vet clinic handed me my bill for Dixie's surgery. I nearly had a heart attack right then and there. I was frozen in shock because the bill was almost THREE TIMES HIGHER than what we had originally been quoted. I began stuttering and stammering that the bill was incorrect, and that I needed to see the vet immediately to settle this dispute. I still had the original quote in my purse, so I pulled it out to hand to the girl. It was then that she pointed to the date on the quote... from last summer... and she told me that it had expired.

OH MY GOD! ARE YOU KIDDING ME LADY?

I started crying. Not just little soft tears trickling down my face like a dainty little lady might would do. No, I was sobbing... red faced, barely catching my breath, snot running down my face... sobbing! I had this astronomical bill to pay, and we weren't even sure if Dixie was going to live through the night. One of the technicians pulled me into an exam room and told me to sit down and to put my head between my legs. She also handed me a box of kleenex and told me that she would be back soon.

About 15 minutes passed, and I had managed to calm down a little bit. I was steadily on the phone with Ryan and Anna, and we were all trying to figure out what to do. The vet came into my little exam room, and she said that she was sorry but that the bill was correct. She apologized for the confusion, but said that there was nothing they could do about the fact that I was basing my decision to go ahead with the surgery on a year old quote, and they were basing their numbers for the surgery on current data. We worked out a payment plan, and Ryan, Anna & Reagan came to get me and Dixie from the vet because I was too traumatized to drive. I was exhausted, and I had a limp dog laying in my lap that was bleeding all over me and my truck.

That night was a very long night. Reagan was an angel... she had made get well cards and welcome home posters for Dixie, and she decorated the little cage that Dixie was to sleep in. Reagan even managed to be calm and quiet that entire evening so as to not disturb Dixie. I stayed up with Dixie until about midnight, and then Auntie Anna slept on the couch beside Dixie's cage for the rest of the night. I was up at 4:00am to check on Dixie again, and by that point the bleeding had finally stopped. By that afternoon, she was starting to show signs of life again.

It took about two days, but Dixie finally started eating and acting more like her normal self. Considering that she doesn't have any front teeth any longer, she has to eat canned mushy food. Trust me when I tell you that stuff smells horrible! Reagan won't even come into the kitchen when I first open the can of food because she says it smells too bad.

Dixie has had to have two types of medicines twice a day for the first ten days after surgery, and she has to wear a cone to prevent her from licking or scratching the stitches on her belly. The cone has also served as a reminder for Reagan that Dixie is still healing, and that we need to be extra calm and gentle when we were around Dixie.
We took Dixie back to the vet this afternoon for her post-surgical check up, and everything is looking good. The stitches on her belly were removed, but she will still have to wear the cone until all of the scabbing has disappeared. Her mouth has almost healed completely as well, but they still want her to eat the soft food mixed with her regular food until she figures out how to eat with the majority of her teeth missing. Of the 42 teeth that she is supposed to have, Dixie now only has 23!

Ryan has taken to calling Dixie his Million Dollar Dog, and he has even joked around about getting her a gold "grill" to wear in place of her missing teeth! Needless to say, we had no plan or intention of paying that kind of money for our little dog, but we are extremely grateful that she should now be able to live for at least another 6-8 years!

Meadows Maze

On October 4th, we took Reagan to Meadows Maze for some "ear resistable" family fun!

Meadows Maze is a corn maze in Pitt Meadows, but it is also so much more. Reagan had a blast when we took her last year, so we knew that it was an adventure we wanted to repeat again this Fall.

As soon as we got there, she was running for the "Meadows Mountain" to grab her burlap sack and slide down the tube. Again and again and again and again!
The only way we were able to convince her to stop sliding was to turn her attention to the cow rides... make shift cow barrels that were positioned together like a train and then pulled behind a four wheeler. All of the kids had a blast on this thing! Once Reagan had finished her ride, she joined Ryan, Anna and I for a hay wagon ride through the corn maze.
We ventured over to the petting zoo, and Reagan instantly fell in love with a baby goat that she named "Little Buddy." She wouldn't let anyone else come near "her" goat, and I seriously thought she was going to ask to take him home. He was pretty cute, but something tells me that he would be pretty stinky too!
As if all of that wasn't enough, there were pony rides too! Reagan thought that she was tough stuff as she rode the pony round and round the ring.
We finally made our way into the corn maze. Each year, the maze builders create a new and more elaborate maze. This year, the design was based on the new bridge in our area called the "Golden Ears." How appropriate of a name of a bridge for a corn maze design!
We were given a map with 12 check points to find through out the maze. Seriously, thank goodness for that map because after only about 2 minutes of being in the maze I was so turned around I didn't think I would be able to get out. We found the first check point by accident, and then I decided to use the map! From that point on, I was on a mission. There was no way that we were going to leave that place without checking in at each of the 12 stations. I started barking out orders... left, right, straight, follow the loop, stop! Ryan started calling me his GPS... but I got us through the whole thing with only getting lost one time! Reagan started pretending that she was having to clear the path for us to get through the maze by using a fallen corn stalk to beat through the bush, and Auntie Anna picked up a fallen corn stalk to use as her torch like on Survivor. Needless to say, we got a few funny looks from some of the other folks that were there. Of course, I also heard one guy say that if you wanted to get out of the maze then I was the person you needed to follow because I obviously knew where I was going! HA!
We made it out of the maze, and then we let Reagan play in the hay piles for awhile before heading home. Of course, that was after she rode the pony and the cow train a few more times, slid down the slide a dozen more times, and gave her little buddy a few more handfuls of food!

Ever since that day, whenever Reagan makes a wish (on a star, while blowing out pretend candles, before she goes to sleep at night, on a flower she picked...) she wishes for the same thing... "I wish I could go back to Meadows Maze every day." Too bad they have already closed for the season, or we would for sure take her back to play again!

Something tells me this is going to become a yearly tradition for this household!

PreSchool Party Day

***I'm still trying to get you all caught up... so I'm back tracking with this post, as well as a few more that will be coming soon! I hope to be back to blogging in real time by the weekend!***

Reagan is really enjoying her preschool, and she complains on the mornings that she doesn't go. She loves her teachers, and comes home every day pretending that she is either Teacher Bev or Teacher Anne. Ryan, Anna & I have become the "boys and girls" of her classroom, along with every stuffed animal in our house!

I am amazed at the things that she has learned already. This month, the science focus is all about photosynthesis. Seriously... she's three years old and she's learning about photosynthesis! The math focus for this month is sorting, and she has proven that she has a bit of my OCD tendencies with how she now sorts and organizes everything she puts her hands on!

The last class of every month is called "Party Day" and the children celebrate whomever has a birthday during that month. The parents are invited to stay for the first 30 minutes of class on Party Day, and the kids have the chance to show off all the things that they have learned from the previous month. Ryan, Anna & I were all three in attendance for Reagan's first Party Day, September 29, and of course I have a video of one of her performances...


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

All of the kids were asked to bring in a photo page (front & back) that describes their life. I was so excited to help Reagan with this project... I mean photo collages are a passion of mine, right?! We titled her page "REAGAN IS..." and each photo collage depicted a different aspect of Reagan's life.

Reagan is... A BEACH BUM.
Reagan is... AN ANIMAL LOVER.
Reagan is... LOVED BY HER FAMILY.
Reagan is... A GYMNAST.
Reagan is... A ROCKSTAR, A CHEERLEADER, A BIKER, AND A FAIRY PRINCESS.
Reagan is... A VERY HAPPY GIRL!
Me? I am just so very happy and thrilled that Reagan loves her school as much as she does!

Ice Skating on Thanksgiving

***I'm moving back into the present to write this post... I'll go back to covering things from the last month tomorrow!***

Today is Thanksgiving in Canada... a fact that I may never get used to. It just seems weird to be celebrating Thanksgiving in October. So weird, that I usually don't cook a big meal for Canadian Thanksgiving... I save it for November for American Thanksgiving! That was my original plan for this year as well, until Auntie Anna started asking why we weren't having turkey today. So I made a last minute decision to cook a quick turkey dinner. Normally, Thanksgiving dinner takes me two full days to prepare with endless homemade from scratch casseroles and a deep fried turkey. Not today... everything we ate was pre-prepared and frozen! All I had to do was throw it in the oven, heat it up, and place it on the table. In less that 2 hours, dinner was ready! It wasn't as good as my normal turkey dinner, but it was a heck of a lot easier!
Earlier today, we celebrated the fact that for the first time in a couple of weeks Mommy & Daddy were both home all day! It was so nice to not have to go to work, and we wanted to have a fun family outing. We decided to take Reagan ice skating for her very first time ever, and she was so excited. A little nervous, but excited just the same!

Reagan takes after her Daddy... she is a natural on the ice. Her first few moments were a bit "tricky", but it didn't take long before she was asking to skate all by herself. (Please excuse my horrible black roots that are showing... I'm getting my hair done this week, and I'm saying goodbye to the platinum blonde!)




Thank goodness that Auntie Anna was there with us and that she brought her camera. I had mine with me, but as soon as I turned it on I realized that my batteries were almost dead. Sure enough, I didn't even take a single picture before the camera shut down. Anna saved the day by taking lots of pictures... she even captured an adorable video of Reagan skating on her own (with the aid of the learning thing!) that I am sure we will always cherish. Pay attention folks... the video you are about to see will one day be worth lots of money when Reagan is an Olympic gold medal figure skater!
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

After such an eventful morning, Reagan was completely exhausted. She never actually fell asleep, but I sure enjoyed all the snuggles that I was getting.

Today, I am THANKFUL for my wonderful family. Today was a very good day!

Camping Trip and My New Job

***My next few posts will be full of all the things that we have been doing the last month! I hope to get y'all all caught up over the next few days!***

We try to go camping each year for Ryan's birthday, and this year was no different. Wait, that's not true... this year was different in that we had Auntie Anna with us! Anna had been living with us for just a few days when we loaded up my Yukon XL and headed off to Cultus Lake. Trust me when I tell you that my truck was LOADED!
We settled into our site... the same site we have stayed in the last couple of times that we went camping... and wrestled with putting up the gigantic tent. Thank goodness for step by step instructions!
Once we had all the comforts of home right inside our tent (including the amazing overhead remote control light fixture that took Ryan & Anna over an hour to install) we took off to go see our friends who were also camping that weekend at Cultus. Auntie Anna was in full nanny-mode with all the kids fighting for her attention, and she loved every second of it!
We spent most of Saturday down at the lake. Ryan & Reagan were the only two crazy enough brave enough to get in the cold water. Anna and I sat on the beach and took tons of pictures...

It was an amazingly fun weekend, and I wish we would go camping like that more often. To me, there is nothing like sitting by the campfire roasting marshmallows and eating smores in the evening, sleeping outside in a tent, and waking up to eat a big camp breakfast each morning. I LOVE IT!

One of the highlights of this camping trip was the phone call that I received Saturday afternoon not long after we had returned to our campsite from playing at the lake. You all know that I had been anxiously waiting to hear back from the hotel regarding the night audit job that I had applied for. I was pretty sure that I had the job of the Night Services Manager, but was still a little unsure because the General Manager of the hotel was hesitant to provide me with a schedule. I found out why he was hesitant while we were camping.

You see, the Hampton Inn in Langley knew that they wanted to hire me. The only problem was that they wanted to hire me for a different position that what I was applying for. You may remember from previous posts that I wanted the position of Night Services Manager so that I could still be home with Reagan during the day. I didn't care that I knew I was overqualified for that particular position, I just wanted a job that would still allow me to be a daytime stay-at-home mom. But after talking to the manager again that Saturday, I began to change the way I was thinking. I hung up the phone and looked at my husband and my sister with look of sheer panic on my face. The hotel was offering me the position of Event Coordinator and Group Sales Manager... and they were offering A LOT more money! We discussed it as a family, and my sister was actually the one who made me realize that I would be able to see Reagan more if I worked during the day than if I worked at night. If I worked at night, I would have to sleep during the day... I would never see any of them!

I was still a little hesitant about what decision I was going to make at the beginning of the week when the manager asked me to come in to the hotel again. I didn't want to give up being the one who takes Reagan to all of her activities: preschool, gymnastics, ballet, tap, etc. I was having a really hard time giving up the role of stay-at-home mom and transitioning back into career mode. I was honest with the manager, and I told him why I was hesitant to accept his generous offer. He surprised me and told me that he would be willing to work with my schedule when we needed to. If I needed to come in an hour or two late or leave an hour or two early a few days a month so that I can go to Reagan's special events, that would be fine. He was even willing to let me work my hours around my bridal business... he just wanted me to say yes to the job! So... I DID!

I am the new Event Coordinator and Group Sales Manager for the Hampton Inn in Langley. And there is already talk of me being promoted to Director of Sales very soon! I've been in the position for almost a month now, and I think that I am finally getting used to being back at work every day. The first week was horrible... I cried every day that I left the house, and then I cried when I got home because I had missed so much while I was gone. But I'm doing much better now! I'm enjoying what I am doing, but I still plan for this to just be a temporary return to the business world. I plan to make as much money as I can, and to get as many promotions as I can, before we get pregnant with baby #2. And no... no news on that front yet! We're still waiting another couple of months before we start trying!

Reagan has adjusted fairly well to my new job. She loves having Auntie Anna here with her during the day, and the two of them are CONSTANTLY doing some new fun arts and crafts activity or new creative game. Reagan asks me every morning to please not leave, but she seems to be fine once I do. I think it helps that she comes to visit me at work whenever she needs to. Of course, I'm not so sure if she is coming to see me or if she is just asking to come see the giant 3-story waterslide that connects to the pool at the hotel! She's yet to come go for a swim, but something tells me that day is coming soon!

So there you have it, the first of a few posts to get you all caught up. I'll try my best to get back on track this week... if only I could blog from work!!!

Give Me Just a Few More Days...

I know, I know... I'm the worst blogger in the world right now. I promise that I have every intention of writing a post by this weekend that will catch you up on all that has been going on in our world. In the meantime... just know that I'm still here, and I will hopefully be back to my normal blogging self VERY soon!

First Day of PreSchool

Isn't it funny how when I plan to NOT be able to make a post, it DOES happen... yet when I try to set aside time to get a post done, it takes WEEKS for me to get around to doing it!

The pictures and stories from Reagan's first day of preschool today were just too precious to not post immediately for all the world to see. She woke up this morning, and she was NOT her normal happy self. She was crying, whining, and really acting out. It took me a few minutes to figure it all out, but I finally clued in that maybe she was nervous. I gently asked her if she was excited about her first day of preschool, and she sat down beside me in tears and admitted that she was scared. Auntie Anna and I both sat with her and talked it out for a few minutes. We reminded her that school was fun and that she had already met and liked her teachers. We told her of all the new friends that she was going to make, and even reminded her that both her Momsey and her Pops were also once school teachers. I think it was once we started talking about all the times that she had gone to visit Momsey at her school when we would visit in SC that she started to relax. She got really excited once we began reminding her of the times that she would go play in Mrs. Mary Jane's kindergarten class! So, once she was settled and ready, we got dressed in the special dress that she had chosen WEEKS ago to wear for her first day of school. Of course, a photoshoot by paparazzi Mommy & Auntie Anna immediately followed!Reagan and Mommy decided to give her two teachers a little gift as a "back to school" surprise. Thanks to the Semi-Slacker Mom's idea, I had the perfect gift for a pre-school teacher... EXTRA LARGE PERSONALIZED HAND SANITIZERS!You can go to The Preppy Polka-Dot to get your own!

We made it out the door with just enough time for one more picture before we drove the four blocks down the street to Church that houses Reagan's preschool.
We chose this particular preschool because of their solid reputation in our community for being not only a place for children to grow socially, but also to learn more than just the basic fundamentals that are normally taught in preschool. They have an extremely heavy educational curriculum for the three year olds, and they also incorporate Christian values and attitudes. The fact that it is located only a few blocks from our home was just the icing on the cake! On the drive there, Reagan said in a very quiet and shy voice, "Wow, I'm still a little nervous, Mom." So much for Mommy not crying or getting emotional! I gave her a big smile and told her that Auntie Anna and I would be right there with her each step of the way, and that I knew she was going to have so much fun. By the time we got out of the car, her nerves must have settled. You probably can't tell it in this picture, but she is actually RUNNING down the hallway to get to her classroom!
After only just a few minutes, she told me that it was OK for Auntie Anna and I to leave, and she joined the group for circle time.
Auntie Anna and I both had tears in our eyes as we walked back down the hallway to the car! We went to Starbucks to pass the time away before it was time to go back to pick Reagan up. I'm not even sure if Reagan even realized that we had left! Class was only an hour long today, and will be an hour long next week as well. After that, Reagan will go to the normal schedule of 2.5 hours for 2 days each week. And if every day goes as great as today did, then I can guarantee that we are going to have a FANTASTIC school year this year!

To Reagan:
I am so proud of you sweetheart! You were such a big and brave girl today, and my heart was swelling with both love and pride as I watched you enter into this next chapter of your life. You are growing up way too quickly, and I am already so impressed with the beautiful young lady that I know you are going to be. I love you, my little preschooler!

AUNTIE ANNA IS HERE!!!

*** Update from my previous post... the only thing stressing me out right now is the fact that I am still WAY behind on catching up with all of your blog postings... but it will eventually happen!***

My sister left South Carolina on Saturday morning, September 5th. She was scheduled to drive across the United States for five days, but she decided that she just couldn't wait that long to see her precious niece. So, she drove for over 14 hours each day, and arrived here a full day sooner than planned. That's right... as of yesterday evening at about 6:00, Auntie Anna now lives in beautiful British Columbia!!!

Reagan had been standing by our front window for most of the afternoon waiting for Auntie Anna to get here. I think that she was running out of the front door before Anna even had her car in park! Of course, Anna was already out of the car and running to hug Reagan as well...Ryan and I both got some Auntie Anna love as well, although I only have pictures of Ryan!I can honestly say that I have never seen Reagan ignore a dog before, but she wasn't even interested in Auntie Anna's black lab puppy named Theo... all she wanted to do was hug Anna! She eventually turned her attention to the dog, but it took a while for that to happen!And yes, we did find the perfect home for Anna's puppy! Our neighbors across the street (different neighbor than from previous post) were more than happy to take Theo into their home. Theo is fitting in well with the family, especially with their 10-year old black lab named Sadie. Sadie has become Theo's role model, and she is the perfect role model for him! The two teenage boys who live in the house have already fallen in love with Theo, and I think that the Mom & Dad in the house have as well. It's perfect in that Anna can just simply walk across the street to visit whenever she wants to see her boy.

When it was time for bed last night, Reagan would only let Auntie Anna tuck her in... Mommy & Daddy have become chopped liver. At three in the morning, Reagan crept into our room and asked if she could please go get in bed with Auntie Anna. Of course, I told her to go ahead! And today has been much of the same. Trust me when I tell you that Reagan is extremely excited to have Auntie Anna here living with us. And I am too! It was so nice waking up this morning and enjoying a cup of coffee with my sister. I'm looking forward to MANY more mornings like this one!

As of today, I am 99% sure that I am the new "Night Services Manager" for the Hampton Inn in Langley. I have unofficially been told that I have the job... we are now just working out the logistics of my schedule. I should have official documentation by Monday next week, and I am holding off on my celebrations until that takes place. I am even hesitant to blog about it in fear that I may jinx it all, but I'm taking the chance!

I'll be missing in action (once again!) for the next few days. We're leaving on Friday morning to go camping for the weekend! But rest assured that sometime next week, I'll be back with countless pictures from our adventures. And hopefully I'll have "official" job news to report. And seeing as how tomorrow is the VERY FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL for Reagan, I'm sure that I will have a few hundred pictures or so of that event as well! Hopefully I won't cry so hard that I make a fool of myself. Thank goodness I will have my sister here to keep me in control!

Did I mention that I am so excited and relieved that AUNTIE ANNA IS FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!

Feeling Stressed

I'm feeling a little stressed out lately. Why, you ask... I think I would reply to you with "Well, why the heck not?!"

This has been my busiest year yet for my bridal business, and August has been my busiest month ever. And in the past month, I have dealt with some of the most... ahem... difficult brides! I have a very elaborate wedding to coordinate this coming Saturday, then I have TWO weddings on next Saturday, and then I finally get a little break for a couple of weeks. I hate to sound like I am complaining because I really love what I do for my brides, but I'm ready for a break from some of the bridezillas I've had to deal with lately!

I'm also starting to stress out about the fact that I haven't had any job offers as of yet. I have applied for more than a dozen job postings online, and I have applied in person at three businesses here. I've had one interview, but I'm still waiting for their decision. I spoke to the manager this morning, and she told me that they hope to have selected the new staff by next week. So I am trying to remain hopeful about that one. I've also been promised an interview at a different location, but as of an hour ago they still haven't started scheduling interviews. I've never been in this position before... in the past I have been hired almost immediately for any job that I applied for. So this waiting game is starting to drive me crazy! Plus, my sister Anna is packing up her life and moving here to help us by being Reagan's nanny. She will be here in two weeks... so I need to find a job so that she can actually be the nanny!

Speaking of my sister Anna, that is another subject that is causing me some stress right now. Well, not her exactly... it's more that her dog Theo is the cause of my stress! She has a 17 week old black lab puppy that she wants to bring with her when she moves up her with us. The only problem with that... we have a 6 year old yorkshire terrior who does NOT do well with other dogs. Plus, Ryan is extremely allergic to dogs who shed, so it just wouldn't work for us to have her dog at our house. I've asked all of our neighbors, as well as all of our friends, if anyone would like to "dog sit" Anna's dog for the next year or so. Even though I am offering that Anna would pay for the dog's food and vet bills, no one is interested in keeping Theo at their house. We thought we had the whole situation worked out perfectly with one of our neighbors across the street, especially because then Anna would still be able to see Theo every day and take him for walks and stuff. But those plans fell through. I know how much Anna wants to bring her dog... I can't even leave our dog behind when we go for a week's vacation, much less a year long adventure! I'm still trying to find a temporary home for him, but I feel like I'm running out of time and options. I just want Anna to be happy while she is here...

As if all of that weren't enough to stress me out, Reagan has decided in the last couple of weeks that she is some kind of spawn from the devil demon child. Seriously, the kid is going through some kind of phase where she is just defiant about EVERYTHING. That's part of the reason that I have neglected this blog so much lately... I've been trying everything I can think of to keep her calm, happy, entertained, and occupied during the day so that she doesn't "lose it" quite so often. I'm sure that I'm just receiving some kind of karmic payback for all of the grief that I gave my own parents as I was growing up. What scares me is that Reagan is only THREE... I was expecting the kind of attitude that I am getting from her to come at closer to age THIRTEEN! The last few days have actually been much better in that regard, so hopefully we are in the final stages of whatever phase this is.

I can't write a post about stress without telling you about what happened this past Monday. This story may sound silly to some of you, but let me assure you that this was and still is serious business in this house. Reagan nearly caused me to have a nervous breakdown... SHE CUT HER OWN HAIR! Now y'all all know from previous posts how particular I am about her hair. She has had the most beautiful little head of hair... until Monday that is. We had been playing with artwork most all of Monday morning, and I had been really working with her as she was mastering using her artsy kid-safe scissors. By that afternoon, she was properly cutting out shapes and using those shapes along with stickers, glue, glitter and pipe cleaners to make some quite crafty gifts for me. She was so proud of herself, and I was quite proud of her too! She told me that she wanted to use her glitter make-up to use for a final big surprise. I said sure. She took her scissors and her paper into the bathroom and halfway shut the door. I assumed that she was going to use the glitter to decorate the construction paper, and that then she would cut out the shapes she wanted and give it to me. I started unloading the dishwasher, and a few minutes later she came out of the bathroom and said, "TADA! How do you like my hair, mommy?" My natural response before I even turned to look at her was, "Oh it's beautiful baby!" But as the words were coming out of my mouth, I actually took a closer look. My first thought was that she must have smeared a lot of that glittery lotion mess into her hair because it looked like it was all matted up against her head. And then I clued in to what was really going on. I ran across the room screaming,

"NO! NO! NO! NO! Please baby NO! What have you done to your hair? OH NO! OH NO! OH NO! Not your hair, please not your beautiful hair..."

Yes, I slightly over-reacted. Yes, I completely freaked her out. As I am kneeling in the bathroom on the now hair-covered floor, she comes in crying saying, "I'm so sorry Mommy. I wanted to surprise you." Then she runs upstairs and locks herself in her bedroom. (Gee, I wonder where she gets her drama queen issues from?!) I continue to cry in the downstairs bathroom, and then I phone my hair salon to get her an appointment to get it fixed. I went and sat with her in her bedroom, and we both cried. By the time Ryan came home from work, I had calmed down completely. Reagan on the other hand freaked out even worse and started crying even harder and saying that she didn't want her Daddy to see her ugly hair. She finally settled down a while later, but she wouldn't leave the house even to just play in the backyard or to take Dixie for a walk around the block without wearing a hat.

She scalped it in the front. There are sections of her bangs that are not much more than stubble at this point. She chopped it up really good along the top and the sides, and she even managed to somehow take a chuck out of the back. What breaks my heart the most is that she was SO VERY PROUD of what she had done. And then I broke her heart with my reaction.

Thankfully the girls at my salon were able to somewhat salvage what was left without cutting her hair down to a super short boy cut. They taught us how to style it in a way that will help to camouflage the damage, and they gave Reagan a LLOOOONNNNNGGGGGGGG lecture about cutting her own hair. For obvious reasons, Reagan wouldn't let me take a picture of her before we got it fixed. But she is back to herself now that she has been assured over and over again that she is just as gorgeous as ever, and she's posing for the camera like always! I am starting to wonder if I have created a beauty queen monster already at her tender young age...
So that's what's up in my life. Now I'm off to continue trying to catch up on what seems like the 1,000,000 posts from all of you that I have neglected the last couple of weeks. I was up pretty late last night getting caught up, and I hope to be completely caught up by the time I go to bed tonight!

The Winner Is...

I used the Random Integer Generator to come up with the second winner for my first ever giveaway...

Here are your random numbers:

27

Timestamp: 2009-08-21 17:07:12 UTC

And lucky comment number 27 belongs to:

Lexie Loo & Dylan Too said...
Oh-and I follow!

Congratulations Stefanie! Send me a message with your address and your preference of either a Starbucks or a Target gift card, and I will get your prize in the mail to you ASAP!

We Have the First Winner!

Congratulations to ANNA!

No, not my sister Anna, you silly people. That wouldn't be fair now would it? No! The winner of my first ever giveaway is Anna from The Musatov Family blog! Anna is a Minnesota girl who has a four year old little girl named Ally, and a baby boy on the way who will be born in December of this year! I love reading Anna's blog, and have often thought that Ally and Reagan would probably be the best of friends if they had the chance!

So, congratulations Anna for being the 10,000th hit on this blog! Thanks even more for sending me the picture proof. Send me an email with your mailing address, and I will get your prize sent out to you ASAP. You can have your pick between a Starbucks gift card or a Target gift card... just let me know which one you would prefer!

Don't forget, there is still a chance for YOU to win a gift card as well. Be sure to leave a comment on my Not Me Monday post from this week, and I will choose a lucky winner from those comments on Friday, August 21, at 9:00 am PST.

And who knows... maybe I'll still award the 100th follower with a special prize as well.

CHANGES

If you have arrived here via Mckmama’s Not Me Monday link, consider this post to be part two of that original post. Be sure to scroll down to that post to find out how you can be one of the two lucky winners for my first ever giveaway! I'll even stop with all the drama and suspense and tell you what the fabulously awesome prizes are going to be… gift certificates to my two favorite places… STARBUCKS & TARGET! What could be better than that?! Be sure that you are entered to win…

Now, to explain what would have just been too confusing to try to put into a "not me" style post...

You may remember this post from a looooong time ago. (Wait a minute... I only had 7 readers back then... you probably don't remember it!) In case you don't want to click on the link, (you know you really want to... go ahead and click it to read the whole thing!) I'll just tell you that it was a post all about being a full-time stay-at-home mom. Well, the time has come for some change to occur in that department!

You may also remember this post from just a few weeks ago that talks about the itch I suddenly have to have another baby. The more I think about it, the more I can't stop thinking about it. Does that even make any sense? But that is just who I am... the ultimate planner! So, in all of my thinking and planning, I have decided to go back to work. Why, you ask? Let me explain it to you!

Canada has an amazing maternity leave that provides ONE YEAR of paid benefits at 55% of the employee's current wage. And the only requirement is that the mother has worked a minimum of 600 hours in the 52 weeks prior to the birth of the baby. The drawback is that my current salary is from being self-employed. And being self-employed means that I am not eligible for those wonderful paid benefits that I had when Reagan was born three years ago.

Ryan and I talked about it endlessly, and in every conversation we agreed that the best decision financially for our family was for me to go back to work, even if it was for just long enough to collect the benefits so that we would have some extra money. Who doesn't want extra money? But every conversation also ended with us agreeing that there was no way that I could go back to work because I can't leave Reagan. And we refuse to put her in day care. Yes, she starts pre-school in less than a month, but that is only for 2.5 hours 2 days a week. There was just no way that we could figure out how to make it work....

That is, until Ryan reminded me that we had an offer from my sister to be Reagan's nanny. Anna mentioned several times while we were in NC for vacation last month that she wanted to move up to live with us and to be Reagan's nanny. I just thought that she was kidding around. And she may have just been kidding around. But we decided to put the offer out there for her to take if she wanted it. After a few long days of thinking and soul searching and decision making, SHE SAID YES!

So, in just over three weeks, Anna will be crossing the border into Canada to come help with spoiling Reagan rotten even more than she already is! I still don't know 100% for sure what type of job I will have, but I've sent my resume to over a dozen different employers in the past week. My first choice would be to work at a hotel covering the night audit and desk receptionist position. I would prefer the graveyard shift (that no one else in their right mind would specifically ask for!) that goes from 11PM to 7AM. With those hours, I can still do my bridal work on the weekends, and I can still be available to enjoy Reagan's activities during the week like gymnastics, ballet, and taking her to pre-school. And during the rest of the time, I can sleep while Auntie Anna takes care of Reagan. That way, unless I am sleeping, the only parts of my family's life that I will miss will be when they are sleeping. In my head, it all sounds perfect... we'll see how it all pans out in real life!

I have an interview with one of the local hotels later this week, and I have been told from a second hotel that I will be receiving a phone call by the end of the week to schedule an interview with them as well. Keep your fingers crossed everyone!

So there you have it! Our big and exciting news... all compliments of my wonderful little sister! We love you Auntie Anna, and we can't wait for you to get here!

Not Me Monday With a GIVEAWAY!

I know, I know... it's been 17 days since I have made a post. I AM SORRY! It has been more than just a little bit crazy around here the past couple of weeks. There are many major major major changes happening in our lives right now, and I am not even going to attempt to try to explain them in a "Not Me" style post. That would just be too confusing! So stay tuned for a post later on today that will explain all the reasons for my bloggy absence.

Meanwhile... I'm excited to join MckMama for another week of Not Me Monday! By now, you know how this little game works, and I hope that you will join us in this glorious form of free therapy!

Speaking of therapy, I am doing pretty well with the final phase of stopping all of my anti-depression and anti-anxiety meds. I went through two days of either severe withdrawals or I possibly had some kind of weird and painful stomach virus. Or maybe I had a two day flu. I'm not 100% sure what it was, but I really think it was from stopping the meds! Regardless, I did NOT complain to my husband that I felt like my brain was buzzing with electricity during those two most awful days, as well as for a few days after that. I also did NOT hear my husband telling someone that he felt like he was riding the "Crazy Tiffany Roller Coaster" during that first week. Geez... I just thought that I was a little bit edgy!

I am NOT seriously thinking about registering for a 10K run at the end of September. Considering that I have only run two times in the past two weeks, and considering that both of those runs ADDED TOGETHER still don't equal to 10K, this may be a slightly crazy idea.

I have NOT been trying to decide what color to paint the walls of my living room for over a week now. I love the color that it is currently, but it is really dark. I decided that the room needed to be brighter, so I've been searching for the perfect paint color. The problem... nothing compares to the color that it already was. So, I finally decided to just paint it half a shade lighter than what it originally was, mainly because I need to clean up the giant mess that I made in my color choosing process.
And finally, I am NOT super excited to host my very first giveaway! Currently, I have 82 followers (I LOVE Y'ALL!) and my hit count is at 9,752. Whichever event occurs first, either 100 followers or 10,000 hits, that lucky person will receive what I consider to be a FABULOUSLY AWESOME prize! You can check my right sidebar to see where all of the counts currently stand, and if you are the 100th follower or 10,000th hit, please send me picture proof and you will be my lucky winner!

And, just because I want to make it even more interesting for all of you (and to give those of you who are already followers an extra chance) I will be giving away a SECOND prize winner at random to anyone who comments on this post! You can even receive bonus opportunities to win by commenting to let me know that:

1. You are a follower of this blog.
2. You are following me on Twitter. (just ask... I'll confirm for you to follow)
3. You have posted my button on your blog.
4. You write a post or a link about this giveaway.
5. You just want to tell me how wonderful and awesome you think I am.

So there you have it. My entrance back into bloggy-land, a "Not Me" post, a give away, and a promise for another post to come later today... all wrapped up into one little post right here just for you.

Happy Monday everyone!

I've Got An Itch

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I've been cleaning and organizing like a crazy wierdo the last couple of days. I've cleaned out every closet and made bags to take to Good Will of clothes that we either don't fit in (because they are way TOO BIG!!!) or just simply no longer wear. I've cleaned under the beds, re-organized our closets and drawers, and de-cluttered our bathroom cabinets. I've even gone as far as to take ALL of the clothes that Reagan has outgrown and I've organized them by size. I then packed all the clothes into those space-age vacuum sealed storage bags. Those bags are now stored away in bins that are labeled by size ranging from premie/newborn up to 2T. There are over 10 extra-large over-sized Rubbermaid storage bins full of her clothes now. Needless to say, she has a lot of clothes. If the next child is a girl, then we will have nothing to worry about.

What's that you say? Next child?

No, I am not pregnant. Yes, I am thinking about it. I'm thinking about it ALL THE DANG TIME it seems. I see pregnant women every where I turn. If the women aren't pregnant, then they are holding or nursing a newborn. Or, I'll see two or three sisters all dressed alike looking so adorable and cute while walking through the mall. Or at the park. Or at the pool. Like I said... ALL THE DANG TIME!

Our original plan was to start trying for our second child sometime last Fall. Those of you who have been reading this blog since that time may remember all of the stress and strain that we went through with Ryan's back surgeries at the end of last year and the beginning of this year. Ryan was on some pretty heavy duty pain medications, one of which stated directly on the label, "Do not plan to get pregnant or father a child while taking this medicine." Um, alrighty then. So much for our plan for child number two at that time! We were told we would need to wait at least two months for all of the drugs to be out of Ryan's system before we could start trying again, so that put us looking at April of this year. But something happened during that time that I never told any of you in blog-land about...

The day before Ryan's third surgery, I went to my family doctor on the verge of a nervous breakdown. You see, I had suffered from clinical depression once before a long time ago, so I knew that all my signs and symptoms were pointing in that direction. I was scared to death for Ryan, but I wouldn't let him know it. I was trying to shoulder his fears as well as my own, all while still putting on a happy face for our daughter and doing my best to keep life as normal as possible for her. But on the inside, I was falling apart. I would hide in the bathroom to cry, or I would cry in Reagan's room after I had watched her fall asleep. I was a nervous wreck. My doctor put me on an anti-depressant, Effexor, and he also prescribed a mild sedative, Serax. At my request, I was only put on what is considered to be a half dosage of each of these medicines. I wanted relief, but I knew that I needed to be able to keep a level head as I was pretty much a single parent taking care of my daughter and my husband at that time.

The medicine helped. The sedative provided me with immediate relief, and within two weeks, the anti-depressant had kicked in. My doctor and I both agreed that I would need to stay on them for some time in order to get things back to a normal state for me. So, the plan to get pregnant was pushed back even further. Sure, the dosage that I was taking would probably have had no effect on an unborn child, but I wasn't going to take the chance.

But guess what... as of yesterday, I am completely off of both medications! I've been off of the sedative for over a month now, and I've been slowly weening off of the anti-depressant for the last three weeks. Maybe the fact that I am now physically "allowed" to get pregnant is the reason that I can't stop thinking about getting pregnant. Or maybe it is just time! Regardless, I've got an itch! We do still plan to wait until later this year to actually start trying though. The next three months are my busiest months with weddings, and I don't want to be working 12-14 hour wedding days every weekend while feeling nauseous and exhausted from the first trimester of a pregnancy. So, it will probably be November or December before we really start trying. But in the meantime, Ryan says that we need to do a LOT of practicing. ahem...

Truthfully, I want two more children! I would love to add both a son and another daughter to our family. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens...

I would like to say that for anyone reading this post who is filled with anxiety, fear, sadness or depression, please know that there is NOTHING wrong with asking for help. I'll be honest, I was scared and ashamed to admit that I needed help. But a very dear friend of mine made me realize that I had nothing to be ashamed about. She told me that she was extremely proud of me for being wise enough to realize that I couldn't do it all on my own, and that she was even more proud of me for being courageous enough to ask for help. I of course cried when she told me that! But those tears were happy tears. It made me feel so relieved to know that I wasn't being judged, and it made me feel so relaxed to know that she understood. So for anyone reading this, please know that I will not judge, and I will understand. Feel free to send me a private email using my CONTACT ME button located on my right sidebar if you ever would like to talk and do not want to leave a public comment...

Let's Rock Out

Seriously, where does this child get her energy? This video was taken tonight just after 7:00 pm... after a day spent at the lake in the hot sun for over three hours! I'm ready to just crawl in bed... she's ready to ROCK OUT!
Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Home Again

I'm in the process of catching up on all my favorite blogs... it's going to take me a few evenings to read the over 200 posts that you all have written in the past week... but I will get it done! I can't wait to see what y'all have been up to while I've been gone...

We're back home from our vacation to NC. As always, the trip seemed far too short once it came time to return back home. We enjoyed every single second that we were there... except for when we had to say goodbye!

Our last few days were just as busy and fun as the rest, and of course I have the pictures for you to prove it!

Auntie Anna joined us for a trip over to Holden Beach to play in the ocean. Reagan seriously thinks that Auntie Anna is the coolest Auntie in the world...
Ryan & I joined in on the fun in the waves as well...
Once we were all full of ocean salt and sand, we headed on over to the water slides for more fun. Anna & I both commented on how much smaller the water slides looked now that we were adults. When we used to go to those slides as kids, they always seemed so much bigger! I'm sure that in Reagan's eyes, they were monster-sized...
One of Reagan's many requests of Momsey & Pops was that she wanted to see fireworks while we were visiting. Pops put on a grand display the first night that we were there, and then he put on an even bigger show our last night there. I don't have any pics of the actual fireworks, but Reagan has discovered that she loves sparklers...
The entire trip was amazing as we did so many fun and memorable things each and every day. And it was the perfect relaxing holiday as well that we all so desperately needed. On the ride to take us to the airport on Saturday afternoon, Momsey asked Reagan what she would miss the most about the beach. Reagan was very quiet for a few seconds, and she had a very serious look on her face. She then turned to my Mom and said, "I'm going to miss you and Pops the most." I fought back the tears as best I could... Reagan on the other hand decided that it was time to cry, and she began to chant over and over again, "I don't want to go home. I want to stay with Momsey & Pops. I don't want to go home. I want to stay with Momsey & Pops..." Needless to say, I shed a tear or two at this point!

Thank you again Momsey & Pops for a fabulous vacation. Ryan and I both agree with Reagan... YOU are what makes our time at the waterway all the more special!
It's going to be a long 5 months until we go see them again at Christmas...

Does Ryan Even Know How To Relax?

It's a rare thing to see my husband relaxing. It's as if Ryan's body is physically incapable of sitting still. Even here, at the waterway, he still goes looking for some sort of work to do. Prime example... the other day at low tide he decided to scrape all of the barnacles off of the family pier.
He practically begged the neighbor that lives behind us to let him trim a few of the overgrown hedges that were growing in the neighbor's yard. And knowing him, he will probably cut the grass before we leave just so my dad doesn't have to do it. That's Ryan... always working!

At least here at the waterway, he does slow down a little. He loves to fish, and he will sit on the end of the pier with a fishing pole in his hand for hours on end. He really loves it when Pops takes him out deep sea fishing, especially when they have a great day of fishing like they did on Tuesday...
My Dad gave him a few lessons on how to properly clean the fish, and then he also "schooled" Ryan on how to clean the crabs that we caught just off the end of the pier.

We only have a couple of days left in our vacation, and Ryan and I both always hate it when the time comes to head back home to the real world. Reagan now feels the same way too. But with the time that we have left, we plan to do a little more playing, have a lot more fun, and we'll even work on perfecting Ryan's relaxing skills a bit more. Seriously, how can you not relax here?

When I Grow Up

Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while already know that I used to dream of being the next Mary Lou Retton. But, I bet you didn’t know that I also dreamed of being the next Kristi Overton!

That’s right… I had dreams of being a professional and competitive water skier. I’ll let you in a little secret… I still hold on to that dream!
Reagan… she’s still in that decision-making stage. She too has dreams of a gymnastics career, as you well know. But she also is starting to show some interest in the water sports.

Will she be a surfer?
Will she be a stunt lady on the tube?
Or will she be a jet skier?
Only time will tell for sure!

Sunset Harbor

In 1955, my Great-Grandfather and Great-Grandmother, Ralph and Sarah Myers (aka “Pop & Mom” Myers) purchased two lots of land on the Intracoastal Waterway in Sunset Harbor, NC. Years later, those two lots were divided among their three children, and three family vacation homes were put into place. Pop Myers’ two cousins also purchased the land and two houses beside the existing three family homes so that there is now a cluster of five homes within the family that sit right along the water.

Growing up, I spent most of my summers at our family waterway beach home. I didn’t always appreciate the slow-paced charm of Sunset Harbor and the waterway. I would often envy my friends who would tell stories of their trips to the popular tourist vacation spot of Myrtle Beach or Cherry Grove. What I realize now is that my friends were the ones who were missing out. While they may have memories of roller coasters and busy boardwalks, I have memories of large family gatherings that were lazy and leisurely.

I have countless memories of time spent at the waterway with all of the families together. My cousins and I would play hide and seek when the tide was too low to swim, we would build houses out of decks of cards and work puzzles on rainy days, we would jump off of the pier into the waterway to cool off on a super hot day, we would cast for fish, dig for clams, and pull crabs up in the basket. I can close my eyes and still see my Poppy (my Grandfather) taking a nap in the hammock after sipping on his lemonade and I can see my Maw Dot (my Grandmother) hiding Easter eggs for us to find in the branches of the old oak trees. I can still hear all of our screams as we would ride on the tube behind the boat, begging to go faster and actually wanting to be thrown off! I will never forget how proud I was of myself the first time I got up and stayed up on water skis. I remember staying up to watch Haley’s Comet with my Aunt Chippy and watching my Dad shoot fireworks off of the end of the pier. The memories are endless for me…

It is truly just a different way of life at the waterway. Days are planned by the sun and the tides, not by the clock. Life is simple and relaxed. Even at the young age of three, Reagan already understands and appreciates this way of life at the beach. She summed it up best last night when she looked up at me and said, “Mommy, it’s so peaceful here. Today was the best day ever.” My heart filled with joy as I listened to her say those words.

Yes, my sweet child. You are correct.

In Case You Were Wondering

Just in case you were wondering what we've been up to the past couple of days...

We've been catching lizards...
We've been bike riding...
We've been eating the World's Largest Sucker...
We've been playing volleyball with our cousin...
We've been eating ice cream...
We've been getting all dressed up to go out to dinner...
We've been kite flying...
What have you been up to?

At The Beach

We’re here! Our relaxing get-away vacation has officially begun!

Reagan was so excited to go and see Momsey and Pops that she was EXTREMLY hyper all day long. I mean, she was all kinds of crazy hyper. She must have asked us a hundred times, “Are we there yet” just on the way to the airport! We flew out of Vancouver Tuesday night, and thankfully Reagan slept on the plane for the entire duration of the flight into Toronto. From there, we hopped a quick flight into Raleigh, NC, where Pops & Momsey were eagerly waiting to pick us up Wednesday morning.

We arrived at our beach house to find Auntie Anna waiting with balloons. It had been almost 18 months since we had seen my sister, so it was a very joyous reunion to say the least! Reagan didn’t leave Anna’s side the rest of the day. It got to the point where I had a hard time telling who was having the most fun playing… Reagan or Anna.
After they were tired of swimming in the waterway, they decided to try their hand at fishing. Ryan had been fishing off of the pier most of the afternoon, and he had yet to have a bite. As soon as Reagan put her line in the water, she caught a fish! She then proceeded to catch fish after fish after fish! Of course, she was practicing the “catch and release” program, so she could have just been catching the same fish over and over again! Ryan now fishes with Reagan’s purple fishing pole because he says that it is the lucky pole!
Pops and Momsey took us all out to eat last night at our favorite eating spot in the world… The Provision Company in Southport. The chili-cheeseburgers were just as good as I remembered them to be, the onion rings were nice and crispy, the crab cakes were delicious, and the beer was ice cold. It was the perfect dinner, especially considering that we went by boat to get there. The boat ride up the waterway to Southport was beautiful. At one point on the way there, I looked over at Ryan and said, “I had forgotten how much I miss being here.” His response back to me, “I could never forget!” Every time we come for a visit, we laugh and talk about buying a place of our own down here. Maybe one day…

This morning, we all slept in to try to make up for the lack of sleep from the plane ride the night before. Reagan slept on a cot in Pops & Momsey’s room, and she slept for almost 14 hours straight! Now if only I could get her to start doing that at home!

I decided to go for a run to work off all the food that I had eaten last night, but I almost died not even a half-mile into my run. It wasn’t all that hot… about 85 degrees… but it was HUMID! I had forgotten how humid it gets down here. My lungs felt like I was trying to run under water. All in all, I ran 1.8 miles on what is normally a 2.5 mile course for me. Needless to say, I did a bit of walking during my run! Hopefully it won’t take me long to re-acclimate to the Southern conditions, because I have a secret goal in mind of trying to out run my dad before we go back home!

Now, I’m off to put on my bikini and to work on my tan. I’ll try to keep updating as much as possible while we are here. But if you don’t here from me, just know that it is probably because we are too busy having FUN!

What You've Been Waiting For!

And it looks even better now that I've figured out EXACTLY how to style it!

Her First Visit to the Salon

By now, y'all are all fully aware that for the past three years, two months and two weeks, I have served as Reagan hair dresser and stylist. I gave her her first haircut when she was 14 months old, and I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. I have always loved playing with her hair and giving her different styles...
But last week, my a portion of my stylist duties for Reagan came to end. The time had come for Reagan to discover the world of the SALON!

She was so excited to get her hair cut at Mommy's salon, but she was also a bit nervous as we discussed exactly what we were going to do.
Miss Danielle immediately helped her to relax with a little scalp massage! This is always my favorite part of my salon visits...
And then, it was time. I was so proud of my little girl as she sat perfectly still and let Danielle work her magic. Reagan was mesmerized by the whole process... especially since all the girls at the salon were treating her like such a princess. She's already told me that I can no longer cut her hair... only Miss Danielle!
I'm going to make you wait for the pictures of the finished product! A little suspense never hurt anyone, right? Reagan's new "do" will be displayed for the world to see sometime tomorrow... after Momsey & Pops and Auntie Anna see it in person when we arrive in North Carolina!

In the meantime, I'll leave you with one more picture just to tease you a little more...

The "Second" Wedding

Two weeks after our wedding (see the post below for all the details and pictures!) we got relive the moment all over again. Not the ceremony part of course, but I did get to wear my stunning gown one more time for a beautiful reception that my parents hosted for us in my hometown of Dillon, South Carolina. We realized that it was asking a lot of people to make the trip all the way across the States and then up into Canada for our actual wedding, and we wanted to be able to celebrate with those friends and family who couldn't make the trip. So on Saturday evening, July 26, 2003, we had a party! A BIG party! And like I said, other than the ceremony stuff, we did ALL of it all over again. It was awesome, and I am eternally grateful to my parents for allowing us to have the opportunity to share that experience with all of the Carolina Crew! Not many brides have the chance to do it twice with the one man of their dreams... I am one of the lucky few!

Six Years Ago - A Wedding Story

I woke up that morning, six years ago today, filled with excitement and anticipation. It was my wedding day! July 12, 2003.

My sister, Anna, and my best friend, Toni, had spent the night with me the night before, and we had all three piled into my king size bed sometime late in the evening. It was my last night as a single woman, and I loved being able to spend it with them. We laughed, told stories, had a few drinks, and at some point, we finally went to sleep! While I was in the shower the morning of the wedding, the two girls went out to get me a lavish breakfast... BURGER KING!

After breakfast, we all loaded up into my car to go to the salon for hair and makeup. My other bridesmaid, Elizabeth, met us there at the salon along with my Mom, my Grandmother, and my to-be Mother-in-law. This salon was well known for being the best in the area for wedding day up do's, and they specialized in air-brush makeup, which was the newest thing at that time. We were not disappointed!
Once we were all looking beautiful, it was time to get dressed. I was so excited to put on my wedding gown... it was the most beautiful dress that I had ever seen! And the train... it seemed to just go on forever. I remember my sister thinking that I was going to start getting really nervous around this time, so she made me a special drink that she called "The Hulk." I still to this day am not 100% sure what was in that drink, but it did make me feel all kinds of relaxed and happy! I put on my gown and just stood in my living room basking in the moment of everyone oohing and ahhing. I didn't want my Daddy to see me until I was completely ready, and it was a very special moment when he walked into the room.

Ryan and I had decided to not see each other before the wedding, but I wanted to make the most of my time with the photographers that day. We went ahead to the formal gardens to take some shots with my family, while Ryan was simultaneously taking shots with his family at a different garden.
We didn't just do family shots... we took some fun shots with our bridal party as well.
When Ryan and I were dating, he used a really cheesy pick-up line on me one night that went something along the lines of "I could get lost in your eyes." I teased him endlessly about it, and I even went as far as to buy a really big pair of sunglasses to have on the next time that I picked him up from that airport when he came for a visit. I told him that I needed to make sure that I had my eyes covered so that he didn't get lost! It seemed only appropriate that the girls and I all wore a pair on our wedding day!
And what would the Knopp boys do without hockey? They even play hockey on the golf course!
After only a few minutes of pictures, it started to rain. And I don't mean that it started to drizzle. It was a down-pour unlike anything I had seen in Langley ever before. It was raining like crazy! We ran back to the car as fast as we could. In my big dress, this was no easy thing to do! As a matter of fact, my Dad had rented a super big Expedition just so that he could transport me and my big dress around that day. I climbed into the back through the tailgate and rode in a squat position (a great leg workout I might add) with my dress spread out behind me so that nothing would wrinkle. I look back now I realize what a primadonna bridezilla that I was being. I would die if any of my bride's tried to act that way with me! However, everyone who was with me that day acted as if I was asking for nothing at all... they let me have whatever I wanted!Once we arrived at Newlands, where we were getting married, I quickly began to realize that our plan of getting married outside was not going to happen. I was disappointed, but I decided that I didn't care. I just wanted to walk down the aisle... any aisle... and marry Ryan. So, that is what we did. Newlands moved the ceremony indoors, and everything else went according to plan. My dad walked me down the aisle, and then gave me away to be Ryan's bride.
We had a bit of a laugh as we literally shoved the wedding rings onto each other's hand.
Once we were officially married, we were able to take the rest of the formal pictures as a couple!
Our wedding party was made up of those who we love the most. Pictured here from left to right are: Elizabeth, Toni, Anna, Tiff & Ryan, Kyle, Craig, Reece and Jeremy.
It's a little obvious that we were all A LOT more relaxed once the ceremony was over. It's also a little obvious that even though Ryan was now my husband, he was also still the ladies' man!
And then, the fun really began! It was time for the reception, and everyone had a blast. Ryan and I enjoyed our first dance as a married couple...
My Dad and I showed all the Canadians how to shag like we do in South Carolina...
And Ryan gave me (and the audience) quite the thrill when he removed the garter to toss! Be sure to notice my mom screaming and cheering him on in the background along with all of the bridesmaids!
The bridesmaids weren't the only ones making some noise that night. Here's a great shot of the guys singing the classic "Sweet Caroline"...
This picture of me with my sister is one of my most favorite shots from the evening.
I am amazed that even though we got married over 3500 miles away from where I grew up, I still had many people that made the trip to be with us that day. I will be forever grateful to my parents and my sister, my Grandmother Marie Smith, Toni Branson, Elizabeth Johnson, her son Kaleb & her parents Mickey & Betty Anne Miles, Bobby and Dorothy Zimmerman & their grand-daughter Bailey, Gerald and Jean Reeves, Lorraine and Jenny Hamilton, and Ralph & Lou Sasser.

It's been six years, and yet it seems like it was just yesterday. I am even more in love with my husband now that I was then, and I didn't think that it was possible to love him anymore then. He is an amazing man, an adoring father, a best friend, and a loving husband. Every day with him is a new adventure... some of them good, and some of them bad. But I wouldn't trade a single day of the last six years because they are what got us here today. Now, I'm just looking forward to what all of our tomorrows will bring.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Last week was a very difficult week for my husband.

I wanted to make jokes and laugh about him selling his car at the beginning of the week... I had even written a blog post in my head about a small piece of his heart dying as he watched a stranger drive away in his baby. I mean, that car really was his baby until Reagan came along, and we had been trying to sell it since shortly after she was born. You may even remember this post from February 2007.

But something happened a couple of days after we sold the car that makes me not want to make jokes about anything right now.

The day after the car sold, Ryan phoned me from his work and told me to start looking for tickets to make a trip to North Carolina to my family's house at the waterway. He said that was what he wanted to do with the money that was left over from selling his car after we paid our outrageous property taxes. I laughed and told him that he was crazy... there was no way we could fit a trip into my busy bridal schedule, and we could use that money to convert his shed into a workshop. Sorry Momsey & Pops... it's not that I didn't want to come see you... I was just for once trying to think practically about a lifetime investment to our house instead of a week of fun with you guys!

The very next day, something horrible happened. I don't feel like my blog is the place to go into any of the details of what my husband experienced, so I will just tell you that he witnessed a hit-and-run accident that is now being investigated as a homicide. You can go to this news link if you wish. Ryan was one of the last people to see this man alive as he tried to help in saving the man's life. The man passed away in Ryan's arms.

Ryan spent that day doing numerous interviews with the police to try to provide as much information as he could to help with catching the criminal. He was mentally, physically, and emotionally drained when he finally made it home. After Reagan went to bed that night, he recounted the events as they happened to me, and I was almost sick to my stomach having to listen to what he witnessed. One of the last things that he said to me that night was that he really wished that we could make the trip to NC because he needed an escape from the images in his head.

I started re-arranging my schedule the next day.

So, hopefully the peaceful views from the waterway and some quality time spent fishing with my Dad will be therapeutic for my hubby. We leave next week for our impromptu trip to what I have always called the most relaxing spot on Earth:
On a lighter note, Reagan was beyond the moon excited when she found out that we were going on a plane ride to see Momsey & Pops!

Not Me Monday!

Don't you just love all of the changes and additions that MckMama has made to Not Me Monday!? From the new logo, to the new MckLinky system, I think she rocks!

Now, onto my confessions...

We did NOT go to the Canada Day celebrations in our hometown on Tuesday June 30, which was a day earlier than the actual holiday itself. And we most certainly did NOT let little Miss Reagan stay up a full 4 hours past her bed time just so she could watch the fireworks and ride all of the rides.And if we had done such a thing, we surely would NOT go back the very next evening to do it all over again for the official holiday celebration!
We did NOT also celebrate Independence Day on July 4th with all of our Canadian neighbors for a little back yard barbeque at our house on Saturday night. And I would NEVER forget to pull out my camera the entire night to document such an occasion!

I am NOT secretly loving the fact that Reagan has slept until 10:00 am for the past 5 days since we have totally wrecked her nighttime schedule with all of our holiday celebrations!

I did NOT tell Reagan that she could eat cupcakes and ice cream for dinner knowing that I wouldn't be home to deal with the overly hyper child since I had a wedding to go work. Sorry Ryan!

I did NOT have to go back to a wedding venue at 2:00 in the morning this past Saturday to try to help locate a missing cake knife! Oh man, the things that I do for my bride's as The Bride's Assistant... I guess that was my punishment for the cupcakes and ice cream!

I am NOT laughing at how my husband's and my vocabulary has changed since Reagan has starting listening and repeating so well. For example, it is now quite common to hear us shout out the expletives "Pickle!" "Sugar!" "Cherry Pits!" or "Fudge!" in place of some other not so child-friendly words.

And finally, I am NOT super excited about a completely unexpected trip down to Carolina in less than two weeks. Details to come...

Otter Lake

We spent the past weekend at Otter Lake just outside of Princeton, BC with Ryan's brother Kyle and his family along with their cousin Gord and his family. Reagan was beyond excited to be able to spend the entire weekend with her cousins Brady, Karis, Shaylea, and Chase. Ryan was beyond excited to spend the weekend fishing. Me? I was beyond excited to be back on the water with the sun in the sky!

I can't help but laugh whenever Denise, Kyle's wife, calls this weekend our annual camping trip. She and I have a completely different view of camping... mine involves tents, sleeping bags, lanterns, and a Coleman hot plate stove. Her idea of camping is what we did this weekend. This is a shot of our cabin (complete with Denise standing on the deck) and the view of our dock on the lake from our deck. I'm beginning to think I might like her idea of camping a little better than mine...
Reagan couldn't decide which activity she wanted to do first. Ultimately, she did them all over and over and over again. Her favorites... FISHING and PADDLE BOATING!She made her Daddy quite proud with her immediate fishing abilities. Even though she never actually caught a fish, she could tell you a story to make you think that she caught a whopper. Isn't that one of the biggest traits of a true fisherman anyway?!?!We were a little nervous at first when Reagan insisted on going on the paddle boat with Shaylea all by herself like a big girl. After only just a few minutes, our fears were put to rest when we realized that they were just fine all on their own. Let me tell you, Reagan Marie Knopp thought that she was hot stuff out there on that paddle boat with her older cousin. She was loving her new independence!

And what camping experience would be complete without a campfire and marshmallows? Now, I'm not going to mention any names, but a woman with extremely blonde hair managed to eat over half a bag of marshmallows that the children roasted for her. Thankfully, the blonde woman was the one with the camera, so no one else was able to document the event! Just trust me when I tell you that they were yummy! Oh... I guess that kind-of gives it away that I was the marshmallow monster, huh? Oh well, they were worth it!

The kids weren't the only ones to have a good time over the weekend. I promised everyone that I wouldn't post any incriminating pictures on the web, so I'll just leave you with this one. Sorry boys, I had to do it! It's a little bit blurry, but that could be because by the point in the evening when it was taken, I don't think that I could see straight myself. It probably looked crystal clear to me when I took it!
It was a fabulous family weekend, and I'm already looking forward to the third annual camping trip next year!

Gymnastics Graduation

Reagan has been going to The Little Gym since she was 14 months old. Since that time, she has advanced though their programs from a Bird, to a Beast, to a Super Beast, to a Funny Bug, and now she has graduated as a Giggle Worm! Her final class of the semester was last Friday, and she was so proud to show off all of her skills to both her Daddy and her Mommy!
Reagan is the youngest child to have graduated in her class, as most of the other children are already four or five years old. She is such a little dare-devil, so her age and small size didn't stop her from being able to keep up with the older kids one little bit!

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As you can see from the video above, she has quite the balance on the beam. And, from the video below, you can see that she has no fear when it comes to the high bar!

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I must admit that it was a little bittersweet to watch her receive her certificate and her ribbon. I personally feel that she has outgrown The Little Gym, so she will more than likely be starting lessons at one of the local gymnastics training centers in the Fall. The gym that I am considering for Reagan has already produced two Canadian Olympic Team gymnasts in the last few years, so I know that they are built on a solid reputation! We'll see how Reagan likes it, and just go from there...

I'll leave you with the brief video clip of Reagan accepting her award from Coach Jenn. Her certificate was inscribed with the following:

"This certificate is awarded to Reagan Knopp in recognition of completing the semester in Giggle Worms! Reagan has done an amazing job at keeping up with the older kids in the class. She has such power in her donkey kicks, and it is great to see her practicing landing on her two feet. Her energetic personality is a great addition to the class, and she's always there to help us tell a story! Keep up the great work, Reagan!"

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