It's been a slice!

Can we just take a moment to realize that in mere hours it will be 2016! 

2015 has left the building (almost)!

Since this year is coming to an end, I thought that I would share some of the wisdom that I have accumulated throughout 2015.

1. Be patient.

2. Be thankful for today and everyday. 

3. Live life colourfully. 

4. It is okay for things to not go as you plan.

5. Love more and be grateful. 

6. Stay curious. 

7. Stop planning and just do.

8. Never stop trying.

9. Think outside the lines.

10. You are weird. That is that.

2015 has been grand but I am excited to see what new and exciting things 2016 will bring! 

I hope that every one of you reading this have the most amazing year!
Happy New Year, All!

Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas!

As we seek Christ, 

As we find Him,

As we follow Him,

We shall have the 

Christmas spirit,

Not for one fleeting

Day each year,

But as a companion

Always.

- Thomas S. Monson

The very best day.

It's finally here! 

The best day of the year (other than my anniversary and birthday).

Christmas Eve has been the most exciting day of the year for me since I was old enough to realize it. Christmas Day is all fun and dandy but Christmas Eve was the day my mom would spend many hours cooking, my dad would be running the final errands (last minute gift shopping and missing ingredients) and I would normally help out with the cleaning. To be honest, I cannot remember my two older brothers on this day. They were with us (I think) but I have no clue what they were doing (most likely playing video games).

Once evening broke, the door-bell would ring and it would be my best friend since birth, Annie, and her family (my second family)! Every Christmas Eve, up until about 3 years ago, her family and my family would spend Christmas Eve supper together and we would exchange gifts and just be silly, crack jokes (and farts), and the house would be full of, what some might call, "holiday cheer". 

With growing up comes bumps in traditions. It sucks, and I miss it, but we grow, expand, and life carries on differently. The fun thing about tradition is that you can make new ones and adjust old one's. 

This year will be Mark's and my first Christmas not with either of our families or in the East. We have been making the most of it out here in Manitoba with our two pups and our cat. We have been trying to make new traditions of our own, like getting an ornament every year of our marriage, and keeping with some, like watching Lord of the Rings (who else does this?)!

To sum it up, this day is the best!

I hope that all who celebrate Christmas have the most magical day and those who do not, I hope that you have the most magical day as well :)

Means a little bit more.

"And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,

stood puzzling and puzzling

How could it be so?

It came without ribbons, it came without tags,

It came without packages, boxes or bags

And he puzzled and puzzled

'till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something

he hadn't before.

What if Christmas, he thought,

doesn't come from a store

What if Christmas perhaps,

means a little bit more?"

A Willing Heart.

 "Fall in love with someone who promises to make you laugh. Fall in love with the constant feeling of being anchored to someone who makes the crash of the waves bearable, someone who makes you stronger. Fall in love with someone who tells you that if they fall asleep waiting for you to call, they'll call you in the morning - but not too early. Be in love with something greater than both of you that defies your superstitions. Be in the arms of someone you can call your lover, someone that completes your heart. Be with someone who lets you be wrong and wades in the mistake with you. Fall in love and write down in your diaries, "we made it through", knowing there is more (good things) to come. But most of all, hold onto that love with clenched fists and a willing heart."

- Author Unknown

(Sorry for the sap but I love my husband too dearly not to share my feels for him!)

Everything you do.

"Your handwriting. The way you walk. Which china pattern you choose. It's all giving you away. Everything you do shows your hand. Everything is a self-portrait. Everything is a diary."

-Chuck Palahniuk

(Photo taken by: Mark Buckle)

Many Firsts.

Christmas this year is going to be something new for us.

It will be our first Christmas not on the East coast and not with our families.

Another first for us was getting a fake tree. I grew up near a mini-forest of sorts. Every Christmas, my Dad, my brother Hudson, our dogs and I would find the Woodworth Christmas tree for that year. It is a tradition I will cherish forever and hope to continue once we live somewhere that we can just cut our own tree (and not have to pay for it!)

Our tree this year is a tiny 4-footer but we love it! It is simple and on-sale ;)

It is definitely going to be weird come Christmas Eve and Christmas morning but we are going to make the best of it here in Manitoba with our three furry munchkins and each other :)

Happy Holidays to you all!

The Other Day.

The other day, I decided that Mark and I needed "Christmas" pictures. So, I grabbed my handy-dandy tripod and we hit the open road! About 5 minutes later, we reached our destination. 

I did my very first shoot here and I am so thankful to the awesome family who showed me this beautiful spot. The abandoned lot which has a barn, house, garage and a shed, is the perfect location for any type of photoshoot you want. The only thing missing for our particular shoot was snow! But, we made it work :) (and hopefully we got the point across with our red and green shirts!)

The most wonderful time.

It is the most wonderful time of the year and I am incredibly lucky to have a guy like this to spend it with :)

we will remember them.

Show your love for the men and women who fought and continue to fight each and every day for our freedom. Remember the fallen. The one's who never made it back. It is because of them that we are able to write what we want, say what we want, do what we want. We owe it all to them and the one's who continue the fight today.

I am so lucky to be married to this handsome soldier who has a heart of gold and loves his country more than anyone I know.

Thank you, Mark.

You always have my back and I will always have yours.

You are too rad for words, and I love you to the moon and beyond!

We will remember them.

Inner-Dragon

We all have an inner-dragon in us. 

It is just about finding the courage to let it out.

There is power.

 "There's power in looking silly and not caring that you do."

-(The wonderful) Amy Poehler.

I can.

I got this mantra from one of my absolute favourite people on the internet, Adriene Mishler (Yoga with Adriene on YouTube).

She shares this mantra in the beginning of RISE Day 7. As I was pushing myself to keep going through the practice, wanting to give up every two minutes, I could Adriene say these words.

I can.

I will.

I choose.

I love.

I thrive.

I create.

I enjoy.

They gave me that energetic lift that I needed to make it through this morning, this day, with a smile on my face and an open mind.

All of us have those days where it seems like life is holding you down and you just cannot get up. This mantra is great for those days, reminding us to keep going, keep trying and stay bright! 

Life is a grand adventure! Take it by the wheel, by the handles (or by whatever sort of transportation you prefer) and go! Choose the path that will bring balance to your heart and you mind. Choose to be happy, friends!

Take care.

<3

Big + Little

Gotta love that sibling love, eh?

Cora-Lee + Family - October 17th, 2015

Finally finished editing the photos from the shoot this past Saturday and I thought that I would share a few more with you all on this beautiful Monday!

(Happy Election Day to all of my fellow Canadians!)

 

 

"It is not what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters."

Cora-Lee + Family {sneak peak}

Yesterday, I had the most delightful pleasure of capturing photos for Cora-Lee and her family.

It was my first shoot with strangers and I could not have asked for a better group!

They were so friendly, so goofy, they have beautiful dogs (super awesome bonus!), and they shared many of Western Manitoba's hidden treasures with me for future shoots.

These are just a few of my favourites from yesterday.

(more to come!)

Choose.

This morning, I chose to hit the mat at 6am. The sun had not even opened it's eyes by this point but I was ready to start my day strong. I am doing the RISE challenge with Adriene Mishler (Yoga with Adriene on YouTube) and at first I told myself that there is no way I am going to be ready to kick it into high gear at 6 in the morning. 

But this morning, I was determined.

I was determined to choose.

To choose to give my body what it needs.

To choose to strengthen my mind.

To choose to set my soul run wild and free.

To choose to be great.

To choose to be grateful for the body, mind, and soul that God has blessed me with.

To choose to love myself and all others.

To choose.

You have the choice to be great, to be strong, to be happy.

Choose to find what feels good!

Take care, friends!

The Fam.

This Thanksgiving, Mark and I got to take photos for my brother and his family! 

I haven't done too many shoots but the ones that I have done, I love every minute of them!

Here's hoping for more in the future, but for now, take a peak at our cute Thanksgiving session :)

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