New Canadian Citizen!!

On Friday Matt & I had the privilege of attending our first Canadian Citizenship Ceremony.  It was a wonderful (and quite emotional) experience.  Our friend (and neighbour) Adolfo was presented with his Canadian Citizenship.  We are so happy and proud of (and for) him!

The presiding Judge Sharon Robertson was excellent. She was animated and did such a great job with the ceremony and making everyone feel comfortable and welcome.  There were 46 people (from 22 countries) receiving their citizenship and she took the time to speak to each one of them, as did our MP Peter Braid.  

Adolfo with Judge Sharon, Peter Braid and his sons Gabe & Alex.

Before the ceremony started, the clerk walked us all through how the ceremony would proceed, when we should stand, etc.  The place was packed and he told us it was the fullest ceremony he'd ever seen.  When it came time for the new citizens to take their oath, Judge Robertson encouraged anyone who wanted to renew their oath to join in, including those that had been born in Canada and may have never had the opportunity to say the oath before.  Matt & I both joined in.  I should clarify that I tried to say the oath, with tears streaming down my face and my voice cracking it was a little more difficult then I might have anticipated.  I won't tell you what happened when we sang O Canada!!

It was a really great experience.  I am so proud to be Canadian and that pride grew exponentially at the Citizenship ceremony.  I totally understand why a person would choose to become Canadian!!

The fun continued when we were invited to join Adolfo and his family (including his lovely wife Heather - who is my awesome tennis partner!!) at a "new citizen" party on Friday night.  It was a lot of fun to raise a beer and eat some good old deep fried Canadian food in celebration of a fantastic achievement!

Decked out in a new tuque and scarf!

We got Adolfo a new Canadian tuque and scarf to keep him warm this winter!  He's already experienced many Canadian winters...but somehow I suspect his first as a Canadian citizen will be the best one yet!!  Congratulations, Adolfo!!

xoxoxoxooxoxoxo

One Year!!

Friday marked my one year anniversary for finishing chemo!  One year ago I was celebrating being done my chemo treatments (there was cake involved)...and now it's been a whole year!  Some days it feels like a lot longer than a year, and other days it's wild to think a whole year has gone by!

So Friday night we went to visit some friends and they were happy to celebrate my one year anniversary with me...again, cake was involved!!  Thanks Rob & Steph for the hospitality and for cheering me on the whole way!!

It's actually been a great weekend for celebrating. On Saturday we had the privilege of attending an 80th birthday party with Matt's family for his Aunt Ruth.  It was a bit of a surprise for her, and it was fun to see everyone there for her!  After the birthday party, we went to an annual "Rink Building" party at our friends the Andrews.  It was a good time...albeit a little crazy with many little ones running around!!  Always good to sit around a big table and have a beer with friends!!

And today I got to meet up with my good friend Tracy for our birthday pedicures...ok...two months late but man do I have pretty blue toes tonight!!

Hope you had a good weekend too!!  Cheers to one year!!

xoxoxoxoxoxox

Scrappy Weekend!!

I just had a FANTASTIC weekend!  I was at a Scrapbook Retreat with two great girlfriends!  We were at the Elmhurst Inn in Ingersoll.  It's a beautiful spot, and the grounds are awesome!  It seems to be a choice destinations for weddings...and we did indeed see a bride each night we were there!

We arrived Friday mid-afternoon and spent from Friday at 5:00 until Sunday at 5:00 scrapping with the great people from ScrapMuch?  It was awesome.  While we did get a little bit of sleep, we also ate some good food (and snacks!!), had lots of laughs, played a little Price is Right and, oh yeah, we had a great time working on Christmas cards, layouts and I even made a rocking Advent calendar!!  I am not quite as fast or productive as Mindy and Amber (hello...Amber got 37 pages done and Mindy completed ALL of her Christmas cards...but damn my advent calendar is cute!!!)

Thank you to Anita and Elaine for being such wonderful hosts this weekend! And thank you to Mindy and Amber for being such great roommates!!  I'm already looking forward to the next one!

xoxoxoxoxoxxo

KISS This!!

Start with a beautiful, loving, mild mannered family...

add a life long KISS fan with a makeup brush (and decades of practice)...

four willing faces...

awesome home made costumes...

lots of enthusiasm, energy, attitude and star power...

and you end up with the winners for BEST costume!!!

And like any good rock band...they have a crazed fan!!!

xoxoxoxoxo