"A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition." William Arthur Ward

day 3 of my challenge:

day 3: clouds

this turned out to be a perfect day for this challenge.  it poured buckets of rain this morning and then the sun came out around lunchtime, but the rain-loaded clouds were still looming.  when the picture is full size (just click on the photo) the detail in the clouds even better, clouds are pretty awesome.

Buckle Up

my next in this series:

day 2: what you wore today

do i take a picture of my clothes laid out on my bed?  nah, too wedding.

should i click a shot of my outfit in the mirror?  no way, not another chance of my face being in the shot.

i know, lets get specific.  today i wore my favourite belt.  i wear it every day.  i've probably worn it close to every day since i bought it about 6 or 7 years ago (minus the last half of my first pregnancy when i bloated up so big it wouldn't fit even on the very last hole).  it's brown, brown is a neutral and can be worn with anything.  it has enough detail in the imprinted design to not be boring.  it's broken in and worn.  and i like it more having never met anyone with the same one.

Ugh

my least-favourite challenge (i guess that's why they call it a challenge, huh?) - a self portrait.

day 1: self-portrait

shh... i'm sleeping.  i find it very 80's album cover.  like sarah mclachlan or something.

Self-Challenge

i'm not a photographer, though i wish i was.  i know too many way talented photographers and i don't have the brain power to compete.  my camera isn't fancy but i like it, i don't have to worry too much about it and it fits really nicely in my purse (aka. diaper bag).  i want to be better at picture-taking, though, and what better way to get better than to practice!  so starting today i'm challenging myself to this:

i'll post them after.

I Do (and I Always Will)

i'm going to go on little ride down memory lane.

great quality photo, huh?  we were actually comparing our cell phones to see whose took better photos.
i don't remember whose won...

on june 9th, 2005 i was invited to a "doves" concert for my friend joel's birthday.  i would have rather stayed home, had snacks and watch a chick flick but i thought to myself, "maybe i'll meet the man of my dreams tonight," and i went.  during the evening (complete with a limo ride, a fun dinner out at the rugby club in vancouver, and a great concert at the commodore ballroom) i started to hang out with joel's younger brother colin who was really sweet and lots of fun.  i wondered if he was too young for me, though he seemed wiser and more mature than any 3.5 year younger guy i'd ever met.  actually he seemed wiser and more mature than any guy my age i'd met!  so we tried out dating, and it was the way dating is supposed to be, he was so funny, had similar taste in music and movies, had the same interests, a great family and a very similar upbringing, liked cats more than dogs, and went to my church.  it was meant to be!

6 months later, on christmas day in 2005, colin's gift to me was a remote control.  he said, "push forward!" and a car drove out of a box on the other side of the room, and as it came towards me i saw a little wrapped box on top with a note that said, "will you marry me?"  duh, obviously YES!

another 6 months later was our wedding day.

our wedding was perfect.

it took place on saturday, june 17th, 2006 at 2:30 in the afternoon in colin's parents' park-like back yard (which became our first home together that day as we moved into their bright, spacious basement suite).  it was minimally decorated by us and some family members, and both of our extended families and some of our closest friends attended.

there was a light rain coming own all morning long which made us glad that we'd rented tents for our guests to sit under, until the clouds parted and sun shone through at exactly the moment we started the ceremony, which made made us glad that we'd rented tents for our guests to stay in the shade under.

my bridesmaids (my best friends, sharon & arlynn) led the way for my dad and i down down the aisle towards a most handsome colin and his groomsmen (his brothers, joel & ryan) to the song "one and only" by teitur.

the ceremony was short and light, performed by our church minister at the time, jim, and a prayers from each of our dad's.  we managed to shyly make it through our vows and i surprisingly didn't cry (though i do admit i teared up a little at the end of colin's vows when i could see him fighting a happy tear or two as well).

our friends and family congratulated us and we had pictures taken and mingled with great finger-food provided by my dad and other family members.  it began to rain lightly again around 4:30 or so, which is when we were planning on kicking everyone out anyway.

then we went to the sonoma grill for an incredible dinner with our parents, colin's grandparents, our siblings and my bridesmaids.

we stayed that night at a hotel on the beach in white rock, and went to vancouver island for our honeymoon.  i highly recommend brentwood bay resort, it was quiet, romantic and beautiful.

happy 5 year anniversary, colin, it's been incredible and i love you!

I'm Very Pinterested

ahh pinterest, my new love.
heard of it?  they describe it best on their "about" page:

What is Pinterest?

Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by people with great taste.

People use Pinterest to collect and share all sorts of things -- wedding inspiration, favorite T-shirts, DJ equipment. You name it, people are pinning it. 

We know you have great taste in something. Our mission is to make Pinterest the best place for you to share your taste with the world.

after installing their special pin button onto your browser you can click "Pin It" from almost any website and it will be pinned to your page so that you can look at it again later and even follow it back to it's original source.  i can't tell you how free it's made my bookmarks section!

i know it's confusing at first but maybe some sample pictures from my page will help.  click on them to get a bigger view.

here are my "boards":

here are some "pins" on one of my boards:

you can also "follow" people and see their boards or most recent pins, or browse recent pins from anybody in any category:

i think it's by invitation only still, you can request to join and they'll send you an invitation to your email account (mine came in about a week or two) or i can send you an invite and you can sign up right away. warning: if you already spend time searching random things on the internet it's about to get a whole lot worse ;)

Molly's Birthday Luau