dear NYC ... i'll be back!

It was September 2010 ... I was still working for United Airlines when I went on a few excursions.  One with m'love, my Dad, my Mom-Sister-Auntie.  All SO fun!

Was thinking about the trip to NYC with Dad over this past weekend.  Actually, more than just thinking about, I was wishing I were there.  You see ... my family (parents, sister, & brothers) were all there this weekend to see a concert (for Phil Keaggy - a personal favorite of my Dad's) at the B.B. King Blues Club.  They were sweet enough to skype me from different locations so I'd "be there".  So, in a sense, this is what I was up to (yea, thinking about!) this weekend...

pic pix: a lil getaway to the big apple, September.2010, NYC, NY

blessed

Parents are so special.

What I have been feeling lately, definitely stems to me being pregnant (miss emotional tornado over here!), but roots much deeper than just towards this "time".  Almost twenty-six years ago, my parents were anticipating a little one to make it's debut in the world.  Not knowing my gender, hair color, personality, potential...they were full of this unexplainable joy and a love for this baby that was already "theirs".

It's wild to now see and experience just a taste of how much more they care for me as I now sit on the other side of this parent-child spectrum.  Putting myself in their shoes, and thinking that baby was me, I am overwhelmed with this 'connection'/love/joy that they felt when they thought of me for the first time ... and how they look at me today.

I can't explain how thrilled I am to meet our baby or how much I am already in love him/her ... the only description that seems fitting is my own parent's love for me.

Today, I know I am so blessed.


 pic pix: when I was born, 19.June.1986, Calgary, AB

first comes love...then comes marriage! part 2

It's been one year, and 7 days since we got hitched!  Here are some more of our wedding pictures to reminisce from our so very special day...
 

 

 

What an amazing day...an incredible year...

pic pix: our wedding, 19.Feb.2011, all photos compliments of perspectiveye photography

first comes love...then comes marriage!

Yup...today is the day.  The day that marks our one-year anniversary of being married.  It is wild to think of after waiting 4.5 years of dating, we finally (!) got engaged, then married only 3 months after!!  There was so much to prepare, so much excitement.  That period of time in our lives can't, nor will it be replicated by any other.     


Just reminiscing...

More reminiscing to come!  But for now, off to enjoy this day with my husband.



pic pix: our wedding, 19.Feb.2011 all photos compliments of perspectiveye photography

clean slate

Lately, I've had this "thing" with white.  White & cream, layered textures on my bed, milky winter skies, really minimalist home design ideas, soft baby blankets that are (yup!) linen white, white-washed walls, creamy lattes (though, I really shouldn't be drinking any milk)...maybe because it is winter and we haven't really had that much snow this year either (*knock on wood*).  Even my current favorite soap is simple & white!  I really don't know why this is, because by nature, I am in love with colors.  Bold, bright, and beautiful...COLORS!

But, there is just something so raw about white and the elements that fit so well with it.  It's pure.  It's clean.  Much like how I have been attempting to start my days.  A while ago, I wrote about a bad habit of mine...not putting things away.  Along with that unruly pattern, tag-teams the "starting fresh" routine that I haven't seemed to get into a groove with since we got married.

You see, for me, mornings are just not my thing.  Never have been.  Though lately, I've been trying.  Trying to consistently make the bed as soon as I 'jump' out.  Taking the dishes OUT of the dishwasher before I leave for work.  Reading/writing something while eating breakfast instead of just staring into space (though writing down my thoughts that early usually consists of a sentence or two in a 45 minute span...maybe!!).  Though, they are the smallest of steps, I have noticed an improvement in my attitude towards the day...having a clean slate to work from.

When I was taking out the trash today, it hit me how "grubby" I can let myself get.  If you think about it, the garbage bin itself really isn't that gross, it's just the bag full of stuff that sits in it!  As I've been purging my home and making room for baby I've had to ask myself, "..am I really that cluttered or unorganized of a person?".  The answer is no...I just hold on to stuff that I really don't need and have carried it with me for years - memorabilia, guilt, papers, habits...things that limit me from starting 'fresh'.  It's like creating a painting and trying to combine every color of paint I've have collected (with every single year/experience/memory/etc.) in my life.  All that will result is an ugly, big, brown mess!

More and more, I see the need to let go of all the garbage/clutter/habits that limits my perspective to be clear, pure, and clean.  It will get harder and harder for me to see the right colors glistening together, or to enjoy the simple beauty of unpolluted white if I don't oust the unforgiven thoughts, get rid of unnecessary items (tangible or in a memory), and attempt to clear my current vision of "mess".

How do you start from a clean slate?

By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.  We have received all of this by coming to know Him...In view of this, make every effort to respond to God's promises.  Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.  2 Peter 1:3-9

pic pix: latte from DeVille, November.2011, Calgary, AB

gettin tagged

There's something fun about meeting people in this blog world.  Learning about different lifestyles, personalities .. relating to people that you haven't met face to face!  Recently, I got this tag from a blogger buddy of mine and got pretty excited (well, extremely excited!),  as I've never participated in one of these before!  So...here goes nothing!

Rules:

1. You must post these rules. 
2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.

4. You have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post. 

5. Go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her. 

À propos de moi:

1. I am a traveller ... Working for an airline "ruined" me!  Being able to just hop on a plance, whenever, to go wherever, gave me a bug to travel that I hope I will never lose.  I just wish I still had those airline benfits!
2. I love people ... If it be a stranger in a new country, or a long time soul sister, I thrive off of the stories and details that make a person who they are.
3. I love entertaining ... Hosting that is!  Having people over at my house, where I can feed them the food I made for them AND make them feel comfortable?! {sigh} the very thought warms my heart.
4. I have a passion for creation ... If you haven't already gotten that from my blurps on this blog!  Watching a soup transform with colors and tastes, making a blank canvas white-no-more, capturing the smallest details with my camera, diy projects, drafting floorplans ... I just really like to be creative.
5. I am weak when it comes to a good coffee or good cheese ...
6. ok, french pasteries too!
7. I am married ... to the most wonderful man I could dream of!  I am one lucky girl to be blessed with his love.
8. I enjoy running,m aerobics, yoga, and team sports (especially volleyball!) for exercise.
9. I am overly competitive and stubborn ... in good ways, naturally :)
10. I love music ... listening to it, singing or playing it, I find myself in a 'happy' place.
11. I have a collective ancestral background ... as are most North Americans!  From my Mom, I am 50% German; from my Dad, I am 25% Ukrainian, 12.5% French, 6.25% Irish, and 6.25% Native American.

Mes reponses ... from Calista's questions:
1. I’m giving you $20,000 to do with as you see fit. What would you do?

Put it towards buying a chunk of land closer to them Rockies...the distant window view is just not cutting it!

2. What’s your favorite book? 

The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis

3. Can you drive a stick shift? If so, how did you learn?  

Haha ... ask my husband!  I actually learned how to drive on a standard (until the timing belt came off while driving it!).  I attempted driving Matt's standard a few years ago, and he hasn't let me borrow it since.
4. Do you have an Instagram account? What’s your handle?  

Yes...yes, I do!  @sarahnadine7
5. What would be your dream job?  

I've got a few(!) 1. a photographer for National Geographic 2. a freelance writer/blogger 3. a retreat owner 4. professional traveller
6. What is your favorite piece of art?  

I have a picture sitting on my mantle of a horse, done impressionist style.  Never tire of looking at it.
7. What new band did you discover in 2011 that really got you dancing? Or at least toe-tapping?

Brooke Fraser isn't new, and this song isn't either ... it's just one I think I listened to over a million times in 2011!
8. What’s your favorite condiment?  

Mustard ... grainy, dijon mustard.
9. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?  

My wedding rings.  I get to wear them all the time! 
10. What’s one thing on your “to-do” list for 2012?   

Daily find time to do something I thoroughly enjoy.
11. Do you use powder or liquid laundry detergent? Why?  

I use liquid laundry detergent.  It seems cleaner(!) ... with no powder spills to worry about.

Mes questions ... for the new 'tagees':

1. What is the greatest place you have travelled to?

2. If I were to walk into your fridge/pantry weekly, what is a staple food you "cannot" live without?

3. How do you wear your hair 75% of the time?  

4. What is your ethnic background?  Is your native tongue different than english?

5. What are the top 3 blogs you frequent?

6. If you could choose any era to live in, what would it be?

7. What is the kindest thing someone has done for you?

8. Why did you start blogging?

9. What is your best workout routine?!     

10. Do you have siblings?  If so, where do you place in your family?

11. What is one daily routine you do that "sets" your day right?

Tags: Alli, Candaci, Britt, Linda, Sara, Mariel, Crystal, Fawne

Happy tagging!!

pic pix: Hampton Inn Hotel, Edmonton, AB Jan.01.2012

uncover

I've always had this 'dream'/wish that I could've been an explorer.  Go back to the time when there were no maps, expectations of the terrain ahead ... be the first person to ever step foot on that soil.  Every time we head up to the mountains and find an area that is "seemingly untouched", I ask Matt, "Do you think some has walked here before?  Or could I really be the first??!!".  We both know the obvious answer to that question, but I am always hopeful at the slightest chance(!).

"Generations come and generations go, 

   but the earth remains forever. 
The sun rises and the sun sets,  
   and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south  
   and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,  
   ever returning on its course. 

All streams flow into the sea,  
   yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,  
   there they return again.
All things are wearisome,  
   more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,  
   nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,  
  what has been done will be done again;  
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,  
   “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;  
   it was here before our time."

Ecclesiastes 1:4-10

As we've all heard before, "nothing is new under the sun".  Even though there's something so rapturing and exciting about discovering something no one has before, the ironic thing about an expedition like Lewis & Clark's, is that they weren't even the first to see what they saw ... they were the first to document and uncover it.


I feel sometimes, even the landscapes and explorations in my own life have been pre-felt and pre-experienced - either by me, or just a mirror image of what someone else has gone through before.  Though it's true (to an extent), it's usually in those blankets of time that I get overly discouraged and uninspired because I am not seeking to uncover and document the revelation(s) in my own journey.  I shrink away from being thankful, I silence the beauties shown to me daily, I hide in my own sorrows, I quiet the confessions that need to be shared...  


Though, essentially, there is nothing new under the sun, there are parts of me that need to be uncovered, exposed, and shared ... otherwise, I will never live in the beautiful discovery of my own life's exploration.  And that, my friends, is not how I want to live life!


I want to be open, revealing, honest ... uncovering the "new soils" in my life with joy, excitement, and purpose.  Maybe others have lived through it and 'been there, done that', but this journey is mine to adventure and presently explore.  There ARE new things under the sun ... the aspects of me that aren't uncovered!  


Will you uncover yourself today?!

pic pix: on a k-country walk with my bro; Kananaskis, Alberta, Jan.22.2011