shall we raise chickens?

recently, vancouver changed its bylaw

to allow chicken-keeping in backyards

for the purpose of "making" your own eggs.

i love this idea.

i think chickens are fantastic,

with their calming clucking

and their pensive pecking.

and of course, baby chickens

are just about the sweetest things in the world.

i would adore the opportunity to head out to my chicken coop

every day to feed my lovely hens

and collect their eggs to make our daily breakfasts

and our weekly bread, loaves, muffins

(yes, in my fantasy i make bread & baked goods every single week)

i have only mentioned keeping chickens once to dante,

and he looked at me like i was a lunatic.

so it remains a secret hope

on the backburner of my brain.

of course, we don't even have a backyard...

we only have a balcony

(which, although quite big for a vancouver balcony,

wouldn't have enough room for both us and chickens)

and, of course,

we are leaving town in just over two months

so it doesn't make sense to adopt chickens now

only to have to find them a nice farm at the end of the summer.

but i can still dream about it, right?

as a matter of fact,

we're hoping to have a house or townhouse

with a backyard

once we move to guelph...

i wonder if hen-raising is legal there, too?

image from here

a piece of me in January

happy tuesday morning to you!

it's a little late, but here's my entry for the

"piece of me" game

hosted by the toothfairy 

...

1. i like...

that it's getting lighter out every day

2. i don't like...

being back at work when it's so slow!

3. i want you to know...

that i'm so happy to welcome all my new followers!

you make me so happy, i'm very glad to have you all here

4. i've planned...

to start looking for ways to feel more fulfilled every day.

whether it's another job where i feel more challenged,

doing some volunteer work,

or spending more time developing my hobbies and passions,

i want to feel happy and accomplished every day.

5. i want to say to someone special...

paul, the hardest part about heading to work this morning was leaving you.

i've had so much fun spending tons of time with you over the holidays,

and the thought of you sleeping in and hanging out at home all day

working on your thesis just kills me.

i wish i could work from home so we could take breaks together!

portrait of a (sniffly) weekend...

hello!

i hope you spent a lovely and restful weekend.

i, unfortunately, got sick this weekend.

so i spent most of today recovering,

which for me meant...

chocolate

(it was actually chocolate frosting... on a spoon,

which was good for my mood, but maybe didn't help the cold so much)

  

herbal tea

and lots of sex & the city

(most of season six to be exact)

i managed to make it out for dinner on friday night

with some girlfriends

before i got too sick,

and after all the resting today

i was well enough for a lovely impromptu dinner with my parents

to celebrate dante's birthday (coming up this week!)

i'm going to bed early tonight in the hopes that i'll be well tomorrow for...

christmas shopping!

i'm hoping that starting early and shopping on a weekday will avoid the crowds

and allow the day to be relatively pleasant and stress free.

it can't hurt that we'll start the day out with a nice brunch at one of our

favorite neighborhood brunch places :)

i hope you enjoy your monday!

photos from here & here & here & here & here

marriage inspirations

i've been thinking a lot about our marriage lately,

and how to make it the best that it can be.

it's a slow process to adjust to the mindset that

you've now made a vow to be with this other person forever,

and that is the most important thing.

i came into our marriage with this mindset,

but sometimes it's easier said than done.

luckily paul & i have some very good role models

when it comes to successful marriages.

we are so blessed that both his parents & mine

have been married for 28 years,

and both sets of parents are still

so happy together.

paul's parents seem to have a great mindset about

keeping their own interests and personalities

even though they are married

and have been for such a long time.

mom-in-law does fitness classes and enjoys time with her friends,

dad-in-law loves music;
he heads up the music at their church,
and spends a lot of time with his admirable collection
of music equipment at home.

they have many wonderful traditions in their marriage & their family,

like cooking an amazing sunday brunch together

and attending midnight mass on christmas eve
and having a wonderful feast afterwards!

they go to church together and take walks
in their neighborhood together on a regular basis.

my parents have the most amazing realationship of anyone i know.
they still act like newlyweds,

they have nicknames for each other that go back thirty years,

and they don't hesitate to show each other affection in the form of

a hug & kiss in the kitchen

or an "i love you" on the phone,
and a phone call just because.
 i've never heard them raise their voices at each other,
or approach any situation with anything other than
love and respect for one another.
both my mom and dad have given me

such great advice about compromise

and what it means to have a happy marriage,

and i know that they both have put their hearts & souls

into their marriage

because they love each other so very much.

sometimes when we were planning the wedding,
it was hard to remember that the importance wasn't on
the one day that you were putting all the effort into...
the important thing is the marriage that comes afterwards
and the wedding day will mean nothing
if you don't continue to put just as much effort
into loving and honoring each other
every day of your lives together
and making sure that your marriage is always a happy one
~full of fulfillment, caring, and love~
for both people involved.

we're so lucky to have such inspiration when it comes to

having a successful marriage

and i hope paul and i

can be just as happy as our parents

when we have been married for 28 years.

for now we'll concentrate on our first year,

because we're not even four months in.

but i have a good feeling about us.

we're learning every day,

and every day we fall more in love with each other.

photo from here

What I've Learned So Far About Being Married

*it's okay to hang out together but still be doing your own thing*

*one of the most fun things about sharing all your money...

...is deciding how to spend your grocery budget*

*winning fights is not the most important thing*

*sometimes you can't tear yourself away...
...no matter what else is going on in the world*

*as a matter of fact, winning the fight is pretty much the least important thing*

*bliss is when you fall asleep together and wake up together and know...

...that you're each the person the other one wants to be waking up next to*

*even when you wake up looking like an insane person*

*who knew you could pass hours just making each other laugh?* 

*having traditional gender roles in a marriage is okay...

...as long as you are each happy to be in them*

*knowing that someone made a choice and a declaration to be with you forever...

...really gives you a lot of trust that this person isn't going anywhere* 

*and that's a good feeling*

*especially when you want to talk about having babies and you know...

...that now he's okay with talking about it too*

*learning to communicate well is way harder than you think it's going to be*

*someone now shares your life...

...big decisions (and even medium-sized ones) should be made together* 

*mini after-lunch-cuddle-sessions are pretty much the best thing on the planet* 

*there is still so much to learn about this person you think you know so well*

*compromise is key*

*and hey, you never knew that a godfather poster and a purple ikea lamp...

...would work together in the same space*

*it's important to remember who "you" are...

...as well as who "we" are*

*knowing you have a partner & a friend in everything you do...

...is a wonderful feeling*

our wedding favors, photo from here

a walk in the park

recently we took a walk along the seawall and through stanley park.
the green spaces in vancouver are some of the best in north america!
if you ever come visit, definitely check out this world famous park.

vancouver is so beautiful and unique,

because you can walk from urban center, to beachy ocean, to dark green forest,

all in one afternoon.

 the day was rainy/sunny/windy/rainy

so we had many glorious skies.

when i see the sun peek through

heavy storm & rain clouds,

i always imagine that this is what

heaven

must look like.

 this is the start of the seawall,

a 10km (6.6mi) stretch of trail

that runs between the ocean

and the forest

at the west end of downtown vancouver.

in stanley park
there is a plethora of wildlife...

my dad once told us

when we were little

that if we could catch one of the many

canadian geese

that hung out in the park across the street

from our house,

we would eat it for dinner.

we chased them,

but didn't try too hard

because we wouldn't know what to do if we actually caught one.

as soon as we entered the forest,

we were greeted by about half a dozen raccoons

some of whom came quite close to us

and made me very nervous.

they are cute though...

a family had brought bread to feed the birds.

i think the birds liked it.

this is the lagoon in the middle of the forest,
which dante made sure we saw
before we left
(even though i was worried we were lost,
he was confident we'd find it)

why i love my husband

paul, you are a wonderful husband, and i wanted to take some time to write down all the reasons you mean so much to me...

1. you're not afraid to be silly around me

2. you are very handsome when you're working at your desk by the light of your little lamp

3. i love your unshaven-ness

4. you love to cuddle at night and in the morning

5. you encourage me to be my best

6. if i'm feeling down, you take the time to make me feel better, in any way you can think of

7. when i think about you teaching your class on thursdays, it makes my heart flutter with pride

8. you are artistic and the words and songs you create are absolutely incredible

9. you tell me you love me all the time

10. when i say i need some "real" kisses, you stop what you're doing and wrap me all up in your arms and give me real kisses.

i love you!
i'm so glad to be married to you.