Meet me at the Forks.

Winnipeg. A city of sunshine, beautiful architecture, and crazy drivers.

When you venture deep into the city, it is quite stunning. 

Mark and I hit up the Forks Market for the first time due to my incessant talk of the place and forcing him to look at every photo on Instagram!

The Forks is one of the most beautiful places in this province (that I have seen). It is like you have left the city and gone to a little town full of cobbled streets and lush greenery.

And the market itself? Awesome!

I could have spent all done and all of my money if I had the option to - and actually had money to spend. The little "shops" are so unique, full of items which you cannot find anywhere else! There are many displays of locally made items that are just too rad for words.

The cherry on top of our whole experience here is the style of the market! 

The moment you walk in you are welcomed with busker performances, a sky-lit room with the most incredible seating area I have ever laid my eyes on.

The lighting fixtures are superb and the smells from the multitude of eating establishments... my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

We opted for a simple but incredibly tasty crêpe from the Caramel Crepe and our taste buds were more than satisfied.

We have lived in this province for over two years and I am still baffled by the fact that this was our first time visiting this magical place. Our plans of moving this summer makes my heart ache knowing that this enchanting spot will no longer be a two hour drive..

But until the move, I will be making that drive as often as I can bear (once I return back to the province)!

If you have not been to the Forks, you need to add it to your bucket list!
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I became.

June 1st, 2013:

I became a Buckle.

I became a wife.

I became a daughter-in-law and a sister-in-law.

I became an aunt.

I became a best friend for life.

I became the best me I could ever imagine.

And this is all because of this incredible man.

My husband.

He became my inspiration.

He became my everything.

<3

June 1st, 2013*

June 1st, 2016

"When I say I love you more, I don't mean I love you more than you love me. 

I mean I love you more than the bad days ahead of us,

I love you more than any fight we will ever have.

I love you more than the distance between us,

I love you more than any obstacle that could try and come between us.

I love you the most."



*2013 Photo: Jessica Grace

You and yourself.

I am a 20-something year old woman who has many insecurities. The size of my nose, my new-ish encounter with adult acne - which is horrible - and the body shape with my lack of height - anyone else a full grown 5 foot tall adult?
But with these insecurities, I have found (forced) love for myself. I have been teaching myself to look past the big nose and the red mountains on my face. 
How do I do this, you ask?
Four simple things:

Yoga (with Adriene!)
Meditation
Exercise
Looking in the mirror

These four things have helped me tremendously!
The first three are easy as long as you make the time. It is the fourth one that has taken some time and I still hate doing it. But, I take a moment every morning, when my hair is a mess, my breath reeks, and my skin is at it's most natural and uneven state. 
In this moment, I say to myself: "You are beautiful. You are strong. You are kickass. I love you".
Now, that may seem really weird and that is because it is, but they are truths. 
I am the only me there is and gosh darnit, I am going to rock at being me!
Screw these red dots that have invaded my face, and my nose is a piece of my family that has been passed on! My height, well, that too has been passed on by my family and it disguises my age. I will forever look about 10-15 years younger than I actually am!

Self-love is a quest we must all endure. 
There is no finish line but there are many rewards along the way.
Become your own best friend!

Now go out there and love yourself!

Take care my beautiful friends!

"And I said to my body. Softly. 'I want to be your friend'.

It took a long breath.

And replied,

'I have been waiting my whole life for this.'

- Unknown -

Today and every day.

Look in the mirror and repeat these three words:

I. Love. You.

Today, and every day, show yourself some love. 

Rock the skin you're in!

"I am brilliant, bright, and beautiful.

I love how tall I am and I love the size of my ass."

- Jen Sincero, You are a Badass, pp. 56 -

Home.

Home should be an anchor,

a port in a storm,

a refuge,

a happy place in which to dwell,

a place where we are loved,

and where we can love.

- Marvin J. Ashton -

Tradition.

Last week, my Dad called Mark and I to see if we wanted to go look at squarenets...

Neither of us had any idea what squarenets were but our curiosity kicked in and we hit the open road to the picturesque Gaspereau Valley!

We ran into someone that my father knows through a family connections - really, there is no one that he doesn't know around here - and Mark and I were given a demonstration of how the squarenets work.

We were told that squarenets are a form of fishing that started in the late 1800s to gather a large amount of fish at once and involve (somewhat) less attention than that of with a fishing rod. There is a platform built about 15 feet from the ground where the fisherman with jump off of, pushing down the pole that raises the net in which the fish - in this case, Gaspereau - will swim into. The use of squarenets and the fishing of Gaspereau is a short season of 1 month long. 

In this particular case, the fish gathered from this squarenet were being sent to Haiti!

The family was nice enough to send us home with a few Gaspereau that we watched them catch just moments prior (I may have cried a little). I am not a huge seafood fan but I will say that Gaspereau - besides the annoying amount of small bones - were pretty tasty! 

If you ever find yourself in the Gaspereau Valley of Nova Scotia during the month of May, you should definitely try to find a squarenet and the extremely friendly people that manage these rad contraptions!

Again and again and again.

Here's to all the places we went, 

And here's to all the places we'll go. 

And here's to me, 

 whispering again and again 

and again and again: 

I love you.

-John Green-

*All of these photos were taken along the coast of Digby and the Digby Neck in Nova Scotia*