New York - Day 1

 We left for New York eeeearly on Tuesday July 16, 2013. We were SOOO very excited, despite it being 3:45 am when we woke up that morning!! We had a bit of a delay leaving Edmonton, but after that it was smooth sailing! I LOVE direct flights!! 

Damian and I all ready to go on the plane!!

 We arrived in New York in the early afternoon and holy moly did the humidity hit us or what!! It was CRAZY HOT! We had to take a cab to our hotel which was about a 40 minute drive. And unfortunately we don't have any pictures of the ride due to me trying not to faint or be sick on the VERY turbulent cab ride! Ha! Darn motion sickness...and CRAZY drivers in NYC!! 

We stayed at the Casablanca Hotel in New York. It is beautiful boutique hotel just off of Times Square. It was surprisingly quiet, considering where it was located, and the staff there are AMAZING!! 

This was our room! It was quite small, but very homey!

After getting all settled we got changed and headed out to the streets of NYC! 

We were hardly excited...can you tell!?! Ha!  

This was the view from around the corner from our hotel! It was pretty unreal to see all of this in real life after seeing it in movies and TV for so long! 

We stopped for a lunch break and of course it HAD to be PIZZA!! My request of course! I was determined to eat Pizza as many times as I could on the trip ha ha! It was soooo good!! Be prepared for MANY more pizza pictures from the trip, to come!! Ha! 

YUMMMMM!!

After our pizza break we did some more wandering around the Times Square/Mid Town area. I couldn't get over the amount of people there was, everywhere we went! It was nuts!! 

We walked to an area called Bryant Park. It is this beautiful park right in the middle of Mid Town! It had TONS of park benches and tables and chairs, a games area, a few food kiosks, and this adorable kids area!

They even had an outdoor library!! It was SO cute!! There were a few kids sitting and reading the books and such, but I figured it would be a lil creepy if I took their pictures...ha!!

 So I took a picture of the books instead! 

There was this AMAZING ice cream station in Bryant park as well! You got to design your own ice cream bar with ANY toppings! By this time it was about 45'C outside, so anything to cool down was a must!! 

This was my Ice Cream. I had it dipped in milk chocolate, and then had toasted coconut, peanut butter crumble, and Carmel bits as my toppings! It was DELICIOUS!! And probably 2000 calories!! 

Damian enjoyed his ice cream as well!! 

After hanging out at Bryant Park for a bit, we headed back to the hotel for a bit of a rest! Our early morning was starting to catch up with us!! 

We decided to try one of the restaurants next to our hotel for dinner on our first night! 

TONY'S!!

This was some of the best Italian food I have ever had!! It was served 'family style' so they gave you a HUGE amount of food to share. Sooooo good!!!!

Damian enjoying a drink with our first dinner of our trip!! 

Our  Hotel!

To end our first night in NYC we found a really neat lounge called `Lanterns Keep`in one of the other hotels just off of Times Square. It was super small, but had some really cool drinks and amazing bartenders! 

Cheers to our first night in New York!! It was an amazing first day!! 

Stay tuned for DAY 2 tomorrow!

 It was our anniversary AND we had a 

pretty cool run in with some big stars!! 

One Year!!

Today Damian and I are celebrating our First Wedding Anniversary!! One year ago today I got to marry my best friend! We got married on a beautiful beach in Mexico, in front of our amazing families and friends! It truly was everything I had hoped and dreamed off!! I had known I wanted to have a 'beach destination' wedding since I was probably 10 years old. I just love the beach scene, and I LOVED the idea of celebrating for a whole week, instead of just one day!!! And that is exactly what we did!! 

This is us the morning of our wedding!
We had a nice breakfast just the two of us and then we headed for a couples massage!
It was AWESOME!!

And then our BIG DAY started...

These are a just a few of my favourite pictures from the day...

Our wedding location!

My Daddy walking me down the aisle! 

Those are Damian's vows! I LOVE this picture!!

WOO HOO another pretty ring!!

We had a sand ceremony!

Let's make this official!

If we weren't crying we were laughing! Ha! We were both a HOT MESS by
 the end of the ceremony!!

LOVE ALL OF THESE AMAZING PEOPLE!!

With Damian's parents!

With my family! Can you tell the boys were a tad HOT!?!?

WOO HOO!

Love these ladies!

LOVE!

LOVE!

MOI!

LOVE!

LOVE!

I can't believe that a year has come and gone already! We have had a WONDERFUL first year of marriage and we look forward to spending the next 90 years together! Ha! I feel so lucky to have such amazing memories from our special wedding week, and I am so thankful for those that have played a part in our lives over the last year! Especially my AMAZING husband!! 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DAMIAN!!

LOVE YA!!

xoxo

Kels 

Here we come...

NEW YORK CITY!!

We are off on a new adventure to celebrate our first wedding anniversary! 

Hopefully I don't get lost in these crowds...

See you in a week!!

On this day last year...

July 13, 2012...

We were leaving for MEXICO!! At 3:30 in the morning. With 30 amazing people. With 5 pieces of extremely overweight luggage. TO GO GET MARRIED!! 

Where does time go?! 

I know I am a little bit biased, but it truly was the most AMAZING trip ever!! 

This is what we were doing at this time, last year...

We had a limo pick us up and take us to the airport! 

Here we go!!

My wedding dress got it's very own seat in the limo!

Gotta love waiting in the airport ha! Not!!

Love all these people for making the trip with us!!

After a LONG wait and an interesting delay, we

 finally made it onto the plane! 

They served us champagne because we were traveling for our wedding!

 It was also 8:00 am...ha ha!!

Damian sure enjoyed his breakfast champagne!! 

After a long plane trip we finally arrived in MEXICO! 

We all boarded onto our bus and headed to our resort!

And that's when the REAL fun started...

 Even a year later we look back and remember all of the AMAZING memories we have from that trip!! We can't wait to go back again someday and relive it all over again!! 

Summer Projects and Salad!

Summer is my time to work on little projects around the house! I LOVE a good DIY  project, or to organize a disastrous closet or shelf. With that being said I would rather organize something over CLEAN it any day of the week. I'm fairly certain I am allergic to cleaning...ha! I wish!! 

This was one of my projects this week...

Now I know this 'before' picture may shock you...ha ha...especially if you have ever been in my classroom!! I am a total type A personality and everything in my classroom is kept a VERY certain way. And for the most part my house is the exact same way. However...I am hoping I am not the only one out there that has 'THAT' closet or shelf that just gets stuff thrown at it. Well...this was that space in my house!! The closet in our spare bedroom. The home of my gift wrapping stuff, craft supply, picture frames, children's books, and extra soap. Ha ha it was quite the assortment!! So after a little bit of organization, it is looking MUCH better!! Let's just hope it stays that way! :) 

This was another one of my summer projects...

I planted flowers!! 

This might also shock most of you, because I am known to KILL any type of plant!! Even hearty bamboo can't survive in my house...its quite sad! 

So far so good with my flowers! Although they don't exactly look this beautiful anymore after they took quite the beating during a few hail storms over the last few weeks!

Craft break...

I LOVE me some 'craft time' during the summer! I found this clear serving tray in the clearance section at Home Sense for 3 bucks! It was fairly scratched up so I knew I would have to do something to it to make it look more presentable. I dug out some scrapbook paper and my 'Mod Podge' and got to work! This was a super easy project and I was really pleased with the end result! 

*You may have noticed that I am trying out some new 'methods' for my pictures on my blog! I found this program called 'Picasa' online, and I am LOVING creating all sorts of picture collages and such! You should really check it out!!*

Now onto the Salad...

I was inspired by a certain salad that I had been seeing all over Pinterest for a few weeks. So when we had some friends over for a BBQ last weekend I knew I had to try this salad out! And man am I glad we did! It was delicious!! Salads are typically my 'go to' lunch in the summer time and I know I will be making this one over and over for sure!

Summer Spinach Salad 

What you need:

1 package baby spinach

1 cup sliced strawberries

1 avocado, diced 

4 slices of bacon, cooked and sliced

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/3 cup pecan pieces 

*Raspberry balsamic dressing* (I used Kraft) 

Assemble salad, toss in dressing.

ENJOY!! 

Summer Spinach Salad!
Perfect for a summer BBQ!! 

Please forgive me Target...

So you may remember a few months ago I was SUPER excited about Target opening up in Sherwood Park...and then something terrible happened. I didn't like it!! At.all!! However, I am here today to tell you that I have given Target a second chance...actually a lot of second chances...and I have changed my mind!! 

I know, right!? Who would have thought!? 

I will admit that I have been to target on quite a few occasions since my original blog post, and although I am still sad that I cannot purchase my 'amercain' favorites like I had hoped, I have managed to find some pretty great items and deals at my local Target store! 

So just in case you are still trying to decide if heading to Target is really worth it or if Target Canada is just starting to 'grow' on you, here are some of my latest finds from Target...

I bought this wall plaque to hang in our eating area in the kitchen. I have actually been pretty impressed with Targets selection of home decor, and there are a few other items that I know I will be purchasing to add in our house very soon!

CHICAGO MIX POPCORN!! 

I am still LOVING this tasty treat and pretty much buy one three bags every time I stop at Target!!

I am a BIG time bargain shopper and love a good deal on clothes. While browsing through the clothing section at Target I found this super cute polka dot tank top! It is really comfy and was only $14.99! What a steal!

Who says you can't wear a bathing suit cover up as a dress?! Ha! 

I actually have a few bathing suit cover ups that I sport as dresses and with leggings! They are just so darn comfy! And for $19.99 you can't go wrong! 

I LOVE me some Chevron!! This wrapping paper will come in handy for some projects I will be working on for my classroom! And it was only $1.00! 

I wish I could have a pedicure once a week. My goodness that would be HEAVENLY!! However that's not gonna happen...so instead I like to paint my toes pretty once a week. I picked up some new Essie nail polish in 'Naughty Nautical' and am in LOVE with the color. Don't my stubby little toes look pretty?! Ha ha!

Mmm I also love cheese!!

 And I was pretty pumped when I found this new Laughing Cow Cheese flavor, Creamy Garlic and Herb, at Target! It is DELISH!! 

Well that about sums up my Target finds from the last few weeks! Like I said before, Target is definitely growing on me, and I have enjoyed finding new things and getting some good deals! I will keep you posted if I find anything else new and exciting to share!! 

HAPPY SHOPPING!!

Summer-ness, Dessert, and Sending good vibes to Florida!

So this blog post has a little bit of everything! My first week of summer recap, a yummy dessert recipe, and a special request at the end! Hopefully you can last through it all! ha! 

 I have been THOROUGHLY enjoying my first week of summer vacation and have been spending a lot of time visiting with my wonderful family and friends that I don't get to see all that often during the school year!! 

We headed to the Edmonton Eskimos home opener last weekend with my parents, and lets just say that the only enjoyable parts of the game were my delicious ice cream bar and the 26'C weather. We lost to Saskatchewan 39-18, and it was a pretty terrible game! Though the company was great, and I was able to work on my tan! Ha ha! 

Ma and Me!

Damian and Dad!

We opted for a 'low key' Canada Day this year! We spent most of the afternoon/evening on the deck enjoying the beautiful weather, playing some games, and having a BBQ for dinner. 

My cousin Lyndey had her baby!! Little Lucas John was born on Saturday June 15, 2013. My Mom and I went to visit them this week and man oh man is he ever precious!! I look forward to MANY more snuggles from Lucas!! 

And now onto a delicious summer time dessert...

Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Squares

What you need:

2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

2 tablespoons white sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

16 oz (2 tubs) cream cheese, room temperature

2 eggs

2 lemons, zested and juiced

1/2 cup white sugar

2 cups fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 325'

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl.

Add the melted butter and mix well.

Pour into a 9" pan and firmly pat down evenly to make the 'crust'.

Bake for 12 minutes. 

Combine the cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar, using an electric mixer. It should have a smooth consistency.

Pour onto the cooked graham cracker crust and sprinkle with the raspberries. 

Bake for 40 minutes, or until set. 

Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours. 

Serve chilled. 

ENJOY! 

Prepare the crust.

Combine the ingredients for the filling.

Pour filling over the crust,
add the raspberries and bake.

Refrigerate and ENJOY!

I made this dessert for Sunday Dinner, in celebration of Canada Day because its 'red and white'! It was VERY tasty!!

And last but not least...

I would like everyone out there to PLEASE send some good vibes to my little brother Cody for the next week! He is leaving for Tampa Bay, Florida tomorrow morning to attend the Tampa Bay Lightening rookie camp! This is a very exciting opportunity for him and I KNOW he will do AMAZING!!! 

Good Luck Cody!! We are all SO proud of you!! 

Me and Cody in Alaska

Lets just hope they don't ask you to do any interviews...

Haha...What a guy!!