When nothing turns out the way we planned.
I’m still your baby and you’re still my man.
Griffin House
08 910
10 years ago last Sunday, I married my best friend. Looking back on that amazing day is surreal. Ninja and I started dating a few weeks after my 22nd birthday. We had HBear when I was 29, got engaged when I was 30, and we got married when I was 31. Now I’m 41. Pretty soon I will have been with Ninja for half of my life.
😳
That’s crazy! 😂
Looking back on the last 10 years, so much has changed. Especially our relationship.
After 11 years of off and on dating and then 10 years of marriage our relationship has gone through loss, triumphs, disasters, childbirth, building a home, living with my parents, and raising our children. Throughout it all we have had each other’s back’s. We have cheered each other on and held each other up. We laugh more than we cry and we talk more than we shout. We confide in each other, share everything, and we have learned to not sweat the small stuff. We still get dressed up for each other and I still get butterflies when getting ready for one of our date nights. We encourage each other when needed and hold each other accountable when it’s called for. We know that criticism is constructive and communication is key. We know when to hold back and went to press ahead. We value our independence but rarely feel the need to exert it. We debate, fight, and make up. We feel at ease in our family bubble and parent as a team.
We ARE a team.
Although I was completely head over heels in love with Ninja the day I married him, I had no idea that 10 years later my love would be even stronger and more rooted and that I am even more excited for what the future will bring.
2020 has been rough but I will always remember a wonderful day spent with my gorgeous husband living like tourists in the paradise that we call home celebrating 10 years of love, commitment, and family.
In times of Covid we were unsure of what we would do to celebrate this momentous occasion. We decided to explore new foods a new wines in honour of our 10 year anniversary!
We started with a private winery tour of Phantom Creek Estates Winery in Oliver. It is stunning! We started with a delicious glass of Pinot Gris and then our tour guide took us out to the vineyard to see the vines and the gorgeous art. We came back inside and learned all about the state of the art under workings of how the wine is made! Our tour guide was amazing!
We ended the tour upstairs in our own private tasting room! We tried 5 delicious wines that were paired with amazing and completely unique 😂 canapés. We enjoyed our tasting on the balcony overlooking the Golden mile. It was absolutely stunning! All the wines were super delicious and we enjoyed all the canapés (even the oyster 😂) and the amazing local charcuterie board. It was an amazing day!
For the evenings entertainment we drove out to Cawston for a locally sourced pop-up dinner hosted by Honest Food Farm and The Paisley Notebook.
I cannot recommend an evening with The Paisley Notebook enough. It was an amazing experience of storytelling, delicious food, and phenomenal drinks.
We started at the farm and had a tour with the farmers! The whole idea is to see where your food comes from. We walked through rows and rows of flowers & veggies popping little cherry tomato deliciousness into our mouth’s as we sipped on fresh Peach Bourbon Smashes. Chef Aman joined us in the field and prepared our 1st course. It was an Indian salad with Okanagan ingredients! She puffed Albertan wild rice an added in sautéed BC lentils, did a peach gastric with local honey and apple cider vinegar and then tossed it with amazing fresh vegetables and stuffed it in a cone shaped grape leaf! It may be the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my entire life! For the actual dinner we headed over to the farmer’s homestead where tables made out of giant sheets of recycled plywood and overturned applecarts beautifully decorated between 2 rows of in season Peachtrees! It was like a Pinterest fairytale right in front of my eyes!
In between each course that the Chef, her Mom, and her Brother (also the bartender) prepared, she shared hilarious stories that were thought-provoking and incredibly personal. It was just a magical experience! Not to mention the food! We had her Mom’s famous pakoras, roasted corn… that she roasted right in front of us on a little Coleman Grill!! With Indian spice blend on it that was a party in my mouth! The smells coming out of the outdoor kitchen were INCREDIBLE!!! That was served with a beef stew (from a local cattle ranch)and BC rice. For dessert she made a spiced yogurt with a peach compote and dehydrated flowers! I wish you had heard her explain these dishes so much better than I ever could!
It was the perfect way to celebrate 10 years of love. Great food, delicious drinks, and the BEST company, the love of my life. My best friend. My partner. My everything. Thank you Ninja for 10 years of love. I can’t wait to see what the next 10 have in store for us 😘❤️
After an amazing date day and evening, Ninja and I came home and podcasted! Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? episode 184: 08/09/10 HERE This week we dig into our wedding memories! Topics: the date, farm life, planning, stag & stagette, welcome bags, drink menu, night before, the storm, the ceremony, the reception, 1000 cranes & the music!
In my new exercise group my coach has been asking me a lot of questions about my nutrition lately. Although we generally eat healthy dinners and the Girls have great lunches and OK breakfasts 😂 I have realized that I don’t eat breakfast and my lunch is a usually something quick and easy. I started looking at things I could make for dinner they would leave leftovers for lunch the next day. This one was great! I love cheeseburgers and I found different ways to make them… lighter. One of our favourites is Cheeseburger Salad but this one is a top contender as well AND it was perfect for lunch the next day!
Cheeseburger Wraps
Adapted from Six Sisters’ Stuff
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
1/4 onion, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
6 flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cup lettuce, shredded
1/2 cup dill pickles, chopped
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
1/4 onion, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
6 flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cup lettuce, shredded
1/2 cup dill pickles, chopped
In a large skillet, brown onions and hamburger until no longer pink.
Add ketchup, mustard, onion, Worcestershire sauce, and season with salt and pepper.
Cook for about 2 minutes, until all combined.
Take a tortilla and line the middle with a small amount of cheddar cheese.
Add some cooked hamburger beef and then top with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and your any other hamburger toppings you like.
Roll the tortilla up and tuck in the ends (like a burrito).
This week was supposed to be Peachfest. My Cousin and her family were in town and once upon a time before Covid, we had plans. It is hard to feel that it is headed towards the end of summer when these annual events that signal different times throughout the summer… Aren’t there. Sigh. But there are highlights too! Like my plants are still alive! My Sister sent us a beautiful print of one of our favourite places to visit, Cochrane. Can’t wait to go there again soon ❤️
We have been trying to tick off summer bucket list items like making rainbow snow cones! The Girls made 5 different fruit simple syrups and we made snowcones! I am still doing Morning Meltdown 100 and I just finished phase 1! SBean had a tummy ache and a low grade fever for the latter part of the week, it was very very hot last week and we think she may have got a little bit too much sun. She rested at home with me while HBear visited with my Cousin and her family. Her and my Cousin’s daughter love seeing each other in the summer… just like we did when we were kids!
My MIL sewed a gorgeous cover with the fabric HBear picked out for her glider in her bedroom! It looks amazing! Midweek, we had a scary day when a grass fire started close to town. My Dad’s Girlfriend and her Mom live very close by and they were beginning to be evacuated when the fire crew finally got a handle on it. We are so lucky that the weather cooperated for once! Low winds and a slight rainfall!! Mama had an early afternoon glass of wine 😂 my Oilers were in the playoffs for a mere 4 games, SBean lost another tooth, neighbours have begun gifting us with their bountiful fruit treasures, and we got ready for our anniversary weekend!
While Ninja and I were on our date, HBear was enjoying the Balance Performing Arts Intensives. That Girl loves to dance! At the end of a hard weekend they had a little beach party while Ninja and I were showered with amazing bottles of wine from our loved ones! Ninja got me the laser etched sound waves of the song we walked down the aisle to, Better Than Love, and I got him a canvas of maps where we got engaged, married, and where we honeymooned 💗.
It was a weird week because the Peachfest buzz that is usually humming throughout town was missing. However, we made our own fun and our own new beautiful memories.
