Oh 2013, you may have not been the most exciting year in my book (it is hard to beat 2012 when so much happened
last year), but there has been pivotal moments that occurred that will
set up for an amazing year to come (um...baby!).
Don’t get me wrong, lots of exciting things happened this year, but the best way to sum up 2013 for me is: work.
Nick and I worked hard in the years leading up to 2012, and we basically did the
same thing this year. We’ve been working our butts off this year in
knowing that it’s going to pay off years to come.
In January, our wedding bliss continued. We got finally got sealed
in the Calgary Temple for time and all eternity. I had wanted to do it a
few months earlier, but sometimes you can’t control everything, and if
anything, it was a nice way to begin the New Year. We were sealed on
January 19, 2013 followed by a small open house in Okotoks.
A few weeks later our family secretly planned a surprise 75th Birthday Party for my Grandpa. He had NO
idea, and I was amazed at how many people showed up! Family and friends
from all over Alberta came, and for the first time in awhile my Grandpa
had all of his siblings in one room!
We
had a nice break of events in February, but I needed it so I had time
to plan and prepare for my crazy spring plans! At the beginning of March
I hosted a Baby Shower for my sister Danika. She was having a
little girl which was perfect because I knew exactly what kind of theme
to throw for her – pink & leopard! If you know my sister at all, you
know this party screamed her name.
A few weeks later Danika and Chad welcomed little Alexa Rosa into the world on March 20th and our whole family was thrilled! She was so perfect and I was so excited to become an Aunt.
That same week, Nick and I left for Fernie with Crystal and Bianca for our Ski Trip! It was seriously one of my favourite trips we went on this year, and I can’t wait for next years!
In
April Nick and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary. For our actual
Anniversary I just made dinner, ordered peonies (the flowers I had in my
bouquet) for the table and had a night in because Nick had to spend the
rest of the time studying for finals. We ended up truly celebrating at
the end of April. I planned a trip to the Columbia Icefields, followed
by High Tea at the Chateau Fairmont in Lake Louise before arriving in
Banff for dinner and a night at the Delta. It was good to get away for
the 2 days and spend some quality time together before Nick got busy
with school again.
Halfway
through April I had the chance to go up to Edmonton with some of my
best friends to celebrate Bev’s birthday. We went for 2 days (1 night),
and it was seriously one of the best trips to Edmonton that I have ever
had. Lots of bonding took place, and I found a new favourite restaurant
in Edmonton – The Red Piano Bar. It was such a good night and I didn’t
want it to end. Hopefully we can do something similar this year, but
we’ll have to see what kind of condition I’ll be in, being 8 months
pregnant and all.
On
May 5th, Alexa had her Baby Blessing performed by my dad. Lots of
family came including Nick’s mom, and after we had dinner at my parent’s
house followed by lots of family pictures.
That
same weekend, celebrations kicked off for Crystal and Andrew’s
upcoming wedding in June. Crystal hosted this beautiful High Tea Bridal
Shower at the Palliser downtown Calgary.
Oh
June. What a crazy month it was! Here in Calgary we had that big flood
(with a current price tag of 6 billion dollars!) that caused a lot of
issues. Obviously the biggest excitement of June was Andrew and Crystal’s
wedding, and the craziness that surrounded that day. I don’t want to go
too much into detail because I’ve already written a whole blog post on
it, but in the end it was still a beautiful day (click here to
see more stunning photo’s by Guenard Photography), and everyone that
needed to be there was there. I saw some amazing strength from everyone
involved, and was taken aback by how humble and composed Crystal was
that entire day. *Girl Crush*
July brought the Calgary Stampede,
which I didn’t plan on attending at first, but my friend Whitney wanted
to go, so just the two of us ended up attending. It was great because
Whitney and I love the exact same stampede activities, so that made for
an excellent day!
I
held a little birthday BBQ party for Nick’s 25th birthday, and invited
all of our close friends and family. Nick doesn’t really like
celebrating or being put in the spotlight, but it was his 25th, so I had
to do something. I think next year, I’ll just keep it simple and just
between the 2 of us.
Due
to the flood, I got to attend 2 benefit concerts here in Calgary in
August. I guess it was the silver lining to such a tragedy, as we got
pretty lucky and had some big names perform for us here in our city.
Between the Color Me Rad race, a bachelorette party, a wedding, a birthday party and a few girl’s nights, August was pretty heavy with events.
At the end of August I planned a big camping trip
for all of our friends. 25 people ended up coming, and it was nice to
just get away from it all. Nick was also able to come, which was a huge
bonus and kind of lucky to say the least. The day after we got back from
the camping trip, Nick and I also found out that I was pregnant!
It was so exciting to break the news to our family and close friends,
as they were all aware of my baby fever. They were glad it happened so
quickly and Nick’s parents are excited to be grandparents.
September
was a little slow for us, which was a good thing, because I got my
first taste of pregnancy. The nausea hit full force and eventually I
made a trip to the doctor’s office for some relief. My appetite went up
almost immediately, and sleep was my best friend. The biggest newsworthy
moment was Nick finished his LAST day of practicum on September 15th.
We were finally able to take a breath and celebrate. It was bitter sweet
because Nick grew close to his last set of preceptors (he worked with
them for 10 weeks, which equals to almost 500 hours!) and he was almost
sad to not work with them anymore. Originally I thought it was a little
mean that his preceptor Nicole was making him come in for his last day
of practicum as she told Nick that she wasn’t going to sign his book
until then. However, it was to make sure that Nick would come in so they
could give him a proper send off. Nick had built a relationship with
the whole fire hall and had “proven” himself (won’t go into the whole
story, but let’s just say that some arrhythmic gymnastics, pull-ups,
juggling, and other competitions were involved), so they threw Nick a
little party complete with steak dinner and ice cream cake. Finally
after being hosed down by the firefighters he was sent home to me.
In October Nick and I found ourselves with a little bit more of unexpected free time. It was nice to have some time together and not work so much. One of the biggest highlights for Nick and me in October was going behind the scenes at the Calgary Zoo. Earlier this year I bought tickets for a special and private tour of the Penguin Plunge at the Calgary Zoo for Nick’s birthday in July. Then the Calgary Flood happened and the zoo was heavily damaged and we had to postpone our little visit. Finally at the end of August I got a phone call saying they had reopened the Penguin Programs and asked when we would like to rebook. We decided to wait until October when Nick would be done classes and we would have a little more free time. It was such an awesome experience that will stay with us for a very long time. We learnt so much about the penguins, see what goes on behind closed doors and then go inside the exhibit and be up close with the penguins and feed them. We both left with huge smiles on our faces and agreed that it was well worth the money. The most important thing was Nick had a lot of fun and loved the entire experience.
November was an extremely busy month for us. Nick went up to Edmonton the first weekend to write the Alberta College of Paramedics exam for two days, and I spent some time with my parents. The next weekend I hosted a big party (read Part I, II and III) for mine and my friend’s birthday. It was a lot of work, but it turned out to be such an amazing night. The week following my birthday party was filled with lots of birthday dinners and activities with friends and family (yeah, my birthday tends to extend over several days, if not weeks!)
After weeks of waiting, the ACP exam results were posted and
we found out Nick passed and officially became a Paramedic. Our whole year has
been leading up to this moment, and it was such an awesome feeling to know that
all of Nick’s hard work and sacrifices paid off.
The last few weeks of November continued to stay eventful
with 2 Christmas parties and a wedding.
December was very emotional for us. While lots of exciting things happened, it also brought some sensitive and unexpected news. On December 10th, we found out that we were expecting a little girl, but they also detected a congenital heart defect (read all the details here). While we have received so much love and support (everything from phone calls, messages, texts and comments) from family and friends, it was still a little hard to take in. We knew our lives were going to change when we decided to expand our family, but with this diagnosis, the changes feel a little overwhelming. I’m trying to stay positive, breath and take it one day at a time. I pretty much have at least one medical appointment a week already, and there is so much information being thrown our way. I’m so glad I have Nick by my side, and I just pray Heavenly Father will give us the strength we need to be strong for our daughter.
Some
highlights from December are the Ugly Christmas Sweater Fondue Party,
the 3rd Annual Girl’s Christmas and my cousin Ryan and Devonee's wedding.
