This is fall!

I found this gorgeous picture from bloom

vacationinparadise:

(by Cody-James)

Good News

Yesterday was the 5K Run for the Cure, and I ran the whole thing without stopping!  Woot!  It was such a fun time, and I am excited to do it again next year!  There were oodles of people, and the air was full of excitement!  

Some more good news!  Have any of you heard of Beyond the Rack?  Click on the name to check it out!  It's a really cool website where You can shop from a dozen new events every day featuring your favorite women's, men's, kids', beauty, and homeware brands at up to 80% off.  So go, check it out!

Really enjoying the colour scheme in this picture today!  Anthropologie has their new October Catalogue out, you want to take a look!

The weather is GORGEOUS today!  I love the sweet smell of fall  in the air!  Beauty surrounds me!

Run like the wind bulls eye

I am participating in a 5K run in 1.5 weeks!  AHHH!! 

For those of you who don't know me, I'm not a runner!  When I started "running" this summer I could barely make it 1/4 of a mile without having to stop and walk.  But I wanted to get in better physical shape, and my goal was to run in some sort of official RUN!  There are days when I'm motivated, and I go for a run, and achieve my goal, or surpass it, and I feel amazing afterwards.  Then there are days, when I DREAD it!  The other day I even said to my hubs "Why do I even go jogging?  I don't even like it!" 

But, I have a goal, to run this 5K, and I'd love to be able to do it without stopping!  So, I need to get back at it, because I've been slacking lately :(  Excuses like the weather, no time, and wanting "a day off" have had their time, and now it's time to put an end to it!  

So last night, we went to my parents house for supper, and then made a bunch of salsa.  So while the salsa was cooking, I went on my parents treadmill and ran 2 miles without stopping!  Go me!  But, 5 km is 3.2 miles, so I still have a ways to go!  I've given the hubs full permission to make sure I go for a run 5 or 6 times a week, and to do whatever it takes to get me there!  He's already been a huge motivation!  This morning, seconds after my alarm went off, "Are you going for a run dear?"  and I didn't, because I actually didn't have time, so I am going right as soon as I get home from work!

Do you have any fitness goals that you're working towards?  You can do it!  Keep at it!  Big or small, beginner or pro, you just gotta keep at it!  Any tips on how you stay motivated?

Getting back on the blogging bandwagon

Honey I'm home :D 

I had an incredible summer, what about YOU?  I have so much to update and share with everyone, I can't wait! 

Married life is AMAZING!  It definitely has it's challenges, but those make grow as individuals and as a couple!  Iron sharpens iron, and with God's help, we're becoming more like HIM! 

So, where to start??? It's been a LOOONG time!  You will probably have to be patient with me as I re-learn the art of blogging!  I feel like a spring chick being released from the barn - full of anticipation, excitement, and yet overwhelmed! 

So, what would YOU like to hear about/see first?

Wedding/honeymoon
Home/house renos
The Pupsicle
Projects and Dreams
or Summer lovin

Let me know what you think and in the mean time I'll start putting together the pieces! 

Until then, check out my pins!  Yup, that's right, I could only resist joining Pinterest for so long :P

Here's a little taste of our wedding :D

And..check out this incredibly sweet proposal video I found online!  

Have a stellar sunny fall day :D

So long, farewell...

Hello all my faithful blog friends!  I have been a bad blog friend lately, and I'm sad to say that I will be ducking out for a while.  Life has been busy the last several months, and as much as our world prides business, I do not. 

First and foremost, I want to be fully devoted to my Lord and Savior.  I need to spend more time being intentional with my God time, and having that my priority. 

Secondly, I want to be a wife who has time for her husband - time to make a home, time to plan date nights and special surprises throughout the week, time to encourage and pursue the love of my life, time to put him and his needs above my own.

I also want to work at being the friend I want to be to my amazing friends!  The friend who calls you in the middle of the week just to check in.  The friend who plans a surprise party.  The friend who remembers the struggles and joys that you're experiencing and asks how YOU are doing!  I feel the same way about my family!  To plan special days with my sisters and mom!  To go above and beyond the norm.

I want these to be my priorities in life. 

Following this priorities, I am so excited to work on our house, to do projects, to plant a garden etc!  I hope to share some progress every once in a while, but I thought I would be honest with all of you as to where I am at right now!

Have a great spring, and see you in a while!

Goals

How was everyone's weekends?  Mine was sad, quite a lot of fun, partly very frustrating, and a lot of other emotions in between.

Sunday evening I had to say good bye to my husband :'( for the week, because he is helping out a friend by taking over his business while he is in Mexico. 

A while back I remember seeing a fellow blogger (and :( now I can't remember who) having weekly goals that she posted and I thought that was a great idea.  So...I finally am starting this too.  So here are my 5 goals for this week.

Weekly goals 

1. Bake cinnamon buns without my Mom (for the first time ever) 
2. Exercise for at least 10 minutes 5 days this week (because I'll be eating so many cinnamon buns..jk, to improve my general health)
3. Take a bubble bath and be in bed by 10 pm
4. Try to come up with a clever way of showing my husband that I love him and then follow through :P  
5. Memorize John 15:1-6 (My goal for this year is to memorize all of John 15...I haven't gotten very far, only to about vs 4, so I am making it a priority and a weekly goal!)

So...are there things that you've been putting off and want to check off your list??  Why not share them, it just might be a bit of extra motivation.

We had 3 vehicles 

05 Jeep Liberty (mine)

'96 Jeep Cherokee (Ev) and 

'97 GMC S10 (Ev)

All being fuel inefficient to varying degrees.  So about 2 weeks ago I thought that it might be nice for us to find a car that is fuel efficient, since we drive long distances quite frequently.  Then I realized, which vehicle would we get rid of?  Definitely not my Jeep, and Everett will NEVER sell his Jeep, and the S10 isn't really worth much.  I voiced my thoughts to Everett, just as a general observation, not thinking that anything would come of it, since we have zero cash to spend right now, and not really any options as to selling a vehicle to acquire cash.  He mentioned this to his dad two weekends ago.

AND..as of last Saturday we are the proud owners of a '98 Toyota Corolla!!  WOOT! 

His dad was the previous owner, and they realized together that his dad wouldn't mind having a small truck around, for hauling/moving things occasionally, and the 'rolla was sitting in the garage unregistered, so we did a switch-a-roo!  YIPEE!  We also parked Ev's Jeep, so it's now unregistered, but it's great having only 2 vehicles registered instead of 3, and now one of those 2 vehicles is good on gas :)  Winner!

My favourite wedding pic

Soo...since I have been busy, and it will take me a while till I've posted wedding pictures, I'm going to go ahead and show you my favourite wedding picture of just Everett and I!

Sitting on dogs

Just kidding!  Today we start our exciting week of dog sitting.  Sysco is an amazing dog.  He is our Bible study leaders dog, and we get to have him over at our house this week!  Sysco will be a part of our family from today till next Sunday and we are so excited!  I will definitely post some pictures during the week!

I have grown up ALWAYS having a dog on the farm.  We also had cats, and a few fish, guinea pigs and hamsters along the way.  Everett on the other hand has only ever had rabbits.  But he loves dogs.

We have been thinking about getting one!  I miss having a dog around so much.  My families dog Freckles died in fall, and since then there has been a void in my life :P

We also plan on planting a garden :D  YIPEE!  But there are quite a few deer in our little "village" here, so it may be really useful if a dog can scare them away.

So...we've started discussing which breeds of dogs we like, and would be best suited for us being in town, even though our yard is quite big.  Just yesterday I went online to check out our local animal shelters dogs, and boy, are there some really cute ones!  So we will see, I think we'll wait till May or June...but right now I'm so excited to have Sysco hang out with us!

What's your favourite dog breed?

Progress with a capital P!

Part of my day included laundry, folding/putting away clean laundry, making lunch, and tackling some of the mess in our house.   Look closely at the floor!

Dining Room 

Before

After

Before - other angle

And After :D

Now that's what I call progress!!

Hi everyone!  I have been AWOL for quite some time, wedding prep, wedding, honeymoon, and now the craziness of trying to fit, and unpack/organize my mounds and loads of STUFF.  Man, I have WAAAAAY too much, so my goal is to sort through my "stuff" as I unpack and find new homes for things.

In the next few weeks I hope to share many posts of pre-wedding/wedding/honeymoon pictures and maybe even some how to's.  It may take me a while, but please stick around, cuz I've got lots that I can't wait to share!

Here is a little sneak peak to "tide" you over for now!  My bouquet!

How have all of you been doing?  What have you been up to for the last month?

Love :D
Mrs. Raban 

For Japan with Love

show details 10:53 AM (5 hours ago)

Primer went up!

Everett has been working really hard on our house!  Yesterday he finished mudding, sanded the mud, and the walls that we didn't tear down and primed the ceiling and walls!  Wooot! 

I have no photos, but I was so excited I just needed to share the news!!  We will hopefully be putting colour on the walls on Monday :D

Update on the wood floors

Everett worked really hard yesterday, with my brother and dad and they got tons accomplished and I can't wait to actually see it in person.  Ev sent me these pics, so I thought I'd give you all an update!

When you're looking at these pictures, if the wood looks like incredibly different colours, it's because some is super dirty with drywall dust and plaster dust and some is clean (because it was being protected by ugly lino during demo.)

Originally the floor looked like this, remember (carpet, linoleum and finally wood)

 

 

Then here's the during picture, looking great: 

(by the door if you look close you can see that it's not quite finished)

 

And.......NOW...finished :D

 

 

In the corner, there used to be a bit vent covering, but apparently it was useless or something, so they covered it up. (which I am sad about, because I loved that corner vent cover, but I'm told to just put it on the wall or something...)   Anywho, so they needed to replace the surrounding boards and cover the place where the vent was.

So here you can see the white, that's the filled in part, and surrounding if you look close needs boards too

And after, all filled in!

 

Woot woot, progress!  :D  I've got such hard working men in my life!  Thanks guys!

Flowery girls

We are being non-traditional and having 2 flower girls and no ring bearers.  I have 2 very special cute girls in my life, C who is 7 years old (we've been good buddies for about 5 years) and A is 2.5 years old (we've been buddies since she was 3 months old).  Both of the girls know each other really well, and it's been fun to plan and talk wedding stuff with them.  Actually the other day A was asking her mom where her husband was, because she had a pretty dress (her flower girl dress) and so now she just needed to know where her husband was!  TOO CUTE!  I'll have to share more stories yet about these two girls!

So anyways....since our wedding is during winter, and we live where it's COLD, I thought I would try to find some cute sweaters for the girls to wear over their adorable flower girl dresses.  Sunday afternoon after church I searched and searched!  What I had in mind was a shorter (shrug) style, long sleeves, white or dark purple, and pretty!  This is what I found.

First one at Old Navy (seen below, except in white) unfortunately they only had size 0-24 months.  It is longer then I wanted, but still cute, so I did buy one for A, in case I couldn't find 2 of the same design in sizes for both girls.

Then at The Children's Place I found these adorable crocheted shrugs! 

Perfect length, since it looks dressier, and suits their dresses more, with long sleeves, in white, and better yet, crocheted!  They couldn't be better! So then the search for the right sizes was on, the 7/8 which is what C usually wears looked too big, so I bought the 5/6 for her as well, and the smallest they had was a 3/4, so I bought it, hoping that it wouldn't be huge on C.  The 5/6 fit C better then the 7/8 so I was happy I bought both (I will return the 7/8) and the 3/4 fits A!  HOOORAY!!!  And, they both like them to boot!  :D

I can't wait to post some pics of the girls all dressed up!  hehe!

Sleeps and dreams

So, today is 18 sleeps till I become Mrs. Raban :D

This last night I had a wedding dream/nightmare!  I still remember bits of it, so I thought I'd share it with you!

We had gotten ready, and I was in my dress, my hair was done (except I had forgotten my hair extensions, but my hair was still super long, so I was ok with that) and so we went to the church to make sure that everything was in it's right place and everything.

I met Everett, my bridesmaids, the family, the groomsmen and everyone there.  I realized I had forgotten Ev's ring at my parents house, so I told someone to go pick it up.  It was around 11:00 Am, and the ceremony was only starting at 6:30 so we had time, but we did want to start taking pictures at 12, so they needed to hurry!  So then I walked into the sanctuary towards the back and went into an office area for a bit to make a phone call, and when I came out, there were about 50 guests coming in and sitting down already!  So I quickly tried to scoot around to the front and through the doors, but tons of ppl saw me!

So "back" stage I had a room that was designated for me, so I went there to find some quiet!  I closed the door and walked into the middle of the room (it was a really weird building we were getting married in, one that i don't recognize) and there's a "bathroom" that's like an airplane one, all cramped, and I'm about to use the facilities, with the door open of course, because wearing a dress it's difficult to fit in there, and in walks a family and their little boy needs to use the facilities as well!  At this point, I'm so tired of things going wrong that I tell them they have to use the other bathrooms!


Around 11:30 I peak through the window into the sanctuary and the place is PACKED!  7 hours before the ceremony starts and the place is bursting at the seams!  Some people brought their own picnic lunches and are pulling out Tupperware bowls of potato salad, and eating right where they are sitting!

I decide that we need to leave to take some pictures, so I tell the pastor and a friend to round up the families and wedding party to head out!  So we are climbing into the back of pick up trucks, with bales in them to ride around for picture taking, which is crazy!!!

I woke up, and I remember thinking, wow that was a great day, cuz I was already getting married, and then I started to remember all the craziness, and I am glad that we still have some time to prepare!

Yet at the same time, I can't wait for the day to come!  I'm so excited!

EDIT: I remember a small part of my dream after I posted this!

Just after ppl started eating in the sanctuary, (7 hrs before the ceremony starts) they were even sitting in the front row, and I had to personally make an announcement to tell them that my family needed to sit in the front row, if they could all shuffle back!  Outrageous! haha!  Oh dreams!

Progress

(I'll apologize in advance for the lack of pictures!  I keep forgetting to upload them from my phone)

So, I have progress to report!!  YIPEE!

On Saturday we had a work crew out at our house.  Consisted of Everett, me, his brother and sister in law, my dad and my brother!  They (because I didn't do that much work) sanded the mud and tape, and did another coat, ripped up the two layers of linoleum (pics to come of that later), cut the floor out where the new master bathroom is going (because we don't want hardwood floor there) and then pulled up the boards and hammered the nails out! 

Then yesterday my dad and brother went back to help Ev, sanded again, and they worked on filling the floor.  So here's what it has looked like through out the demo!

Here's a pre-demo pic of the closet.

Then here we are in mid demo, you can see carpet in the closet.

And in this one we removed the closet walls and carpet, 

to find linoleum glued onto original hardwood floors.

So, you can see we put in drywall, have done some mudding, and the floor is almost whole again!  :D

So today, the hard workers may be back at it, and that means that we should be able to prime soon :D :D :D
We also need to sand, stain, varnish/coat etc the floors too, all before Feb 17, when our amazing bed will be delivered!  It's looking like we're right on track!

Meadow Giveaway!

Hi all!  If you aren't already following Michaela Noelle, then get on over there!  She has an amazing blog filled with wardrobe ideas, hair ideas, and all sorts of interior design wisdom.  Most importantly she loves the Lord and it shines through her blogging!

She is doing a give away, so click here for more details!

23 Sleeps :D

Till I get married :D :D :D  I'm so excited!

Yesterday was my Grandma's funeral.  I said my "see you later" Grandma.  It was a beautiful service!  I was reminded of how wonderful she was, and the blessing she was to me and my family!  They also shared some stories about Grandma and Grandpa when they started dating etc!  They were married for 67.5 years!  Grandma had 11 children, 49 grandchildren and 79 great grand children!  She left such a beautiful legacy!  Enjoy heaven Grandma!

On Saturday we finished putting up drywall in our master bedroom.  We also got some mudding and taping in done, with the help of my dad!  This week has been busy, so we haven't worked on it since, but we plan on getting lots accomplished on Saturday!

Soon I will hopefully share some pictures of a few projects I've been working on lately.   Have a superb day!

Grandma went to be with Jesus

Friday evening, around 7pm my grandma went to be with Jesus.  I was able to spend some time talking with her Friday morning, and I am so grateful for that!  She is no longer in pain and I praise God for that!  She was only sick in the hospital for less then 3 weeks, so she didn't have to suffer long.  More details here. 

Please pray for my grandpa, because the love of his life has left him.  Thank-you.

So much to do...so little time!

Since things are quite busy, and it's only 33 sleeps till the wedding, I will probably be on here a lot less, but I will hopefully be able to pop in every once in a while to update you all on the progress! 

Thanks for reading!

We've got colour!

None of the paints we bought are the exact colours that I posted earlier, but we are really excited about them!  I tried to find pictures online of the colours, but I am unsuccessful!  So, you will just have to wait! 

It was a bit of a crazy weekend.  Friday at one location we were told the big sale (Buy 2 get 1 free) on paint was only till Thursday, then Saturday my Mom and I went into a different location, and they said the sale was on till 4pm.  So I phoned Ev, he had most of the samples that I wanted, so we talked through most of it, I picked one colour, and he likes it! 

Saturday Ev, one of his friends and my brother in law got tons of work done.  They did some wiring, fixed a hole in the floor which used to be a return vent into the 2nd room and is now where the doorway to the closet is.  They narrowed the closet door to 26" rough instead of 32" rough, so that we can have more closet storage.  They also drywalled the ceiling in the master, and part of the "new" wall.  We will need to do some work on the floor to fix where the closet was, as well as in the door way from the bedroom to the closet.  They also got a bunch of lumber for framing the rest of it, a standard light fixture so that they can have light in there and some different screws etc! 

It's so exciting to see it start to feel like a room again!  I can't wait to paint!!

Saturday my Dad's side of the family surprised me with a Pampered Chef bridal shower!  Yipee, more Pampered chef!  It was really fun, and now I get to make out another wish list! 

Please Pray

My grandma (my dad's mom) has been in the hospital for a week or so.  Her blood sugar levels have been really low, so she becomes very lethargic, non coherent or talking gibberish.  They have been giving her lots of sugar water, cookies, juice etc to try to get her sugar levels.  Yesterday they took her from the local hospital to the big city hospital for tests and to confirm their diagnosis, bone cancer. 

My grandma will be turning 92 in July, so she isn't a young spring chick, but I ask that you pray that she isn't in pain and for my grandpa as well.  I know that God can heal her and I also know that she wants to go to heaven, so it is in the Lord's hands!  I appreciate your prayers!

Paint colours I'm eyeing!

These are the colours I'm debating between.  I need to consult Everett tonight yet.  But I'd like your imput!  These first colours are ideas for the master bedroom.

Thunderstorm 

Herringbone

Tarnish

Peppercorn - (I think it's probably too dark)

 

Elephant - I think I'd lean towards this one more.

Convertible - a few weeks ago I wouldn't have put this colour in there, but it's growing on me.

And the lighter colours I like....

 Fog

 

 Surf

 

Lichen

 

Retreat

 

 

 Then for the Master Bath - Ev already said we could do a purple :D :D

 

Velvet

 

Amethyst

 

Sapphire is blue, but nice

 

Then there are a few colours I like, but not sure where to put them!

 

Ocean Liner

Cashmere

 

Patina

 

 

There's a buy 2 get 1 free deal on this paint this week only, so I think we're going to have to boogie on over to the store and snatch some up!

 

 

Bisque - a potential kitchen cabinet colour (but really I shouldn't even be thinking about that!)

 

 

A splash of colour

We are currently trying to pick colours for our house.  The master bedroom is the main focus right now, since it needs to be done in 4 weeks!  Here are some amazing colours and inspirations.

I love this room for many reasons.  Love the wall colour, so calm and soothing.  Love the floors (ours are very similar).  Love the white trim and crown molding.  Love the fabric.  Love the fabric covered closets idea too.  I've been toying with this exact idea for a while now, (post here) so it's great to see that I'm not crazy and how beautiful it turned out!

~ Via Ten June ~

 

 This dark blue/purple/grey colour is amazing!  I love it, especially with the black and white furniture/accents!  It's also a colour that isn't super girly, or super manly which is amazing!  I showed Ev this picture and he also likes it!  I do have 2 white dressers that may end up in our bedroom, so that would look great!  If you follow the link to her blog you can see her green dresser (its peeking in on the right edge of the pic), which is also amazing!  I also love those curtains and the huge cube shelves! 

~ Via Emily A. Clark ~

Going darker  yet is this beautiful grey!  Man it looks so amazing with the white contrasting trim!  Can you tell I love white trim!

~ Via The Lennoxx ~

 

This is also really pretty!  Like a relaxing sanctuary

~ Via Kristin~

So, I love the light blueish/green colours and the dark blue/purple/grey/brown colours. 

This one is really cool, Everett isn't a fan, but I love the wall colour and headboard

(I can't remember where I found this :( sorry )

So, do we go dark or light?