Thankful

It is our first Thanksgiving holiday as a married couple so to celebrate this occasion, we came up with a list of things we are thankful for (in no particular order).

1) me (Mark)

2) Mark (Lisa)

3) our health and the health of our family and friends--having sight, hearing, mobility, (taste touch an smell-Mark)

4) Mark's job

5) our home

6) our beautiful wedding and Hawaiian honeymoon

7) two loving families

8) Mark's patience and sense of humour (as I typed this, Mark thought I was writing Penis...clearly I was not) (Lisa)

9) my job as a TOC

10) the beautiful city we live in

11) peace and freedom

12) a warm, comfy bed

13) safety

14) food

15) the Canucks

16) a loving God

17) a wonderful church (Pacific-downtown)

18) the rain

19) music

20) bedtime (Mark)

21) laughter

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Signs of Fall

Well, it is officially FALL to me. I know technically, the first day of fall begins on September 22nd, but here is why I really felt it was the beginning of fall today:

1) It was POURING.... I mean the hollywood kind of rain. From my house to my car (which is maybe 30 steps), I got absolutely soaked and looked like a drowned rat. Farewell Mr. Sun... time to replace my flip flops with my rubber boots.

2) My summer allergies have been replaced with the sniffles and a sore throat. My official first cold of the season.

3) Our furnace is on. I have never realized that we have three vents in our home that blow wonderful warm air. I stood under one today because I was freezing!

4) My tea intake has skyrocketed. I bought a giant bag of Twinnings Earl Grey Tea about a month ago. Mark and I have started to put a dent in that!

5) I think the BEST part of Fall has got to be the start of the hockey season. Today is the first game of the season for the Canucks!

So goodbye flipflops, beach days and summer dresses. Hello slippers, cozy nights in, warm sweaters and CANUCK JERSEYS!.

Guilty Pleasure

u-nique:

1. Being the only one of its kind

2. Without an equal or equivalent; unparalleled

3. a)Characteristic of a particular category, condition or locality

b) Unusual; extraordinary

I love, love, love antiques and folk art furniture. I love having furniture in my home that is full of character and unlike anything I might find at IKEA. Now, not to rag on IKEA. I do have a special place in my heart for all of their organizational pieces, but there is something special about having an old cabinet that was from the early 1920's with its original paint.

My favourite place to find such gems is the Dragonfly Gallery in Ladner.

My latest piece was from my Nana. She gave Mark and I some money for our wedding and I wanted to find something sentimental to spend the money on instead of a microwave or DVD player. I found this stunning farm cupboard and I love it.

Thanks Nana!

"Home is wherever I'm with you" Edward Sharpe

Well as promised, here are some pictures of our quaint, little home. During our first month, home was not so sweet. We slept on the futon for too many nights as I had serious allergies and breathing problems from what we think was a vent problem in our bedroom. I was worried we were going to have to move, but our landlords had the vents cleaned I'm good as new!

I had always wanted to live in Kits, but we found a place just off of Oak and it is very central. We are in walking distance from lots of great shopping, Starbucks and a beautiful park with a community centre. It was actually the first place we checked out. We thought it would be good to look even though we hadn't considered the area. Actually if I'm being honest, I was really hesitant and Mark was the one who thought it would be a good idea--he is rather convincing... not just a hat rack. Anyway, we walked in, chatted with our now friendly landlords and left with the agreement that we would talk it over and call them the next day. I knew it was home for us as soon as we walked in. Not even 10 minutes after leaving, Mark calmed me down from my hysterical excitement and I called them to express our enthusiastic interest in the place. They were just as excited to have us as tenants as we were to have them as landlords. It was the perfect fit.

Even though it does not have a bathtub or a dishwasher, is not much bigger than 690 sq. ft, has a slanted floor and incredibly low ceilings (Shawn, I hope your head is alright), I love it and I am excited for this to be our first home together. I am excited for all the wonderful memories we will make here; especially our first Christmas!

Kitchen:

Do you think we have enough cups or wine glasses?...Don't worry, we have 12 more wine glasses in the cupboard and a cabinet stuffed with tea cups!

My family really doesn't believe I can cook... is that obvious?!?!

Bedroom:

Bathroom:

Note the Jesus bobble head. That is ALL Mark (and a little bit of John)

Here is Mark cleaning the bathroom. He's hot and he cleans. How did I get so lucky?!?!

Living Room:

Dining Room:

We're so grown up, Mark, with our healthy chicken/vegetable dish and asparagus for dinner!