BIRTHDAY SURPRISE VACATION!

Ian thought all of his birthday surprises were done after the surprise party with his family but they definitely weren't! I made sure Ian had gotten time off work on his actual birthday so that I could take him to Tobermory for a mini vacation.  It seems like everyone on facebook is going to Tobermory and with the pictures I've seen, we had to see it for ourselves!
According to Google Maps, the drive should have taken 4 hours. Challenge accepted! I made it in about 3 hours 40 minutes and beat google! We stayed at Big Tub Resort and I honestly didn't expect much from their website, but we were very surprised and will definitely be staying there next time we go. Two minutes away from the resort was a lighthouse that we were told to go see and since we didn't have plans to see the Grotto until the next day, we checked out the lighthouse and fell in love! The lighthouse was so cute, there were wild orchids everywhere, and the water was unbelievably clear!

 I kept telling Ian that I felt like I was in the real life Little Mermaid movie!

The only thing that made me incredibly nervous during our time at the lighthouse (or pretty much anywhere we went) were the signs warning you of the wildlife:

To say that I am afraid of snakes would be the understatement of the century! If given the choice between seeing a snake for 1 minute from a distance and only eating broccoli for a week, I would choose the broccoli without question!

After our time in town, we came back to the lighthouse to take in the views and I had brought my marinera skirt, so I got Ian to take some shots of me and I edited them and I LOVE what Ian got!

And we can't forget the most handsome birthday boy ever!

Here's the vlog for our first day on the surprise vacation!

For our second, and last day in Tobermory, I only wanted to go to the Grotto. It was a huge part of why I chose to come and I couldn't wait to jump into the cave and swim! Well, that didn't happen. Watch our day 2 vlog for the whole story, but we ended up coming back to the lighthouse to swim, which was really fun!

Since I love pink, I made sure I had my souvenir (there's water in that can, not pop)

We took a canoe trip where Ian did most of the work (thanks babe!)

Then it was time for swimming in the lake that was 13 degrees Celsius!! 

It took a while to get into the water, but I eventually got my picture on the Little Mermaid rock (yup, I named it!)

Here's our vlog for the last day of our trip!:

SURPRISE IAN!

For the past few weeks, I have been planning a surprise party for Ian. Now he doesn't really like parties, but I kept it strictly family and his family from Alberta was coming up to visit so he was going to get to see them! Turns out keeping a secret from your husband is way harder than I thought! He spent the last few days thinking I was mad at him because I kept the talking to a minimum so that I wouldn't spill and tell him. I could tell he was REALLY surprised when he opened the door and saw everyone, which made it all worth the ridiculous shopping trips, the secrets, and stress of making it perfect for him. After we ate and sang happy birthday, we headed to the gym for some volleyball and I got to spend some one on one time with Caleb! All in all, the night was a blast and we had SO much fun seeing everyone together again for Ian's birthday!

And here's the vlog for that day!!:

Bluewater Beach!

This weekend, we celebrated my dad's birthday! We've gone to the beach every single year for his birthday, but this year, we went to a new beach that I found on google! I don't think we have ever been in water that cold ever! 

We got there and were really excited to go swimming, but there was absolutely no way I was staying in the water for more than 10 minutes! 

The main problem with this beach was that there was absolutely no parking anywhere! It was a private beach (google left that part out) but my dad somehow made it work (dad to the rescue!).  

There were NO clouds in the sky and it looked beautiful!!

We eventually sucked it up and got into the water where Ian thought I was taking too long to get in. Before I knew it, he had picked me up and thrown me in to the ice lake!

When we got out, someone went straight to his phone to watch videos...so much for enjoying the view! 

I joined the cell phone party too :p

Turns out we got a little too comfy, and we fell asleep... In the sun... Without sunscreen. 

We left the beach with a really bad burn, but it was fun and my dad really enjoyed himself!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!

Here's the vlog for our day at Bluewater Beach!

Prom 2014!!!!

By marrying Ian, I gained 3 brothers and a sister but the youngest, Mitchell, is the one who asked me for Prom help. I loved  my prom and I think it is so wierd that Ian didn't go to his so anything that has to do with Mitchell going to prom, I was excited about. 

Turns out corsages and boutonnières cost a lot so that's where my DIY expertise was called on. Here's the deal: I have no idea how to do anything that has to do with Flowers! My aunt thankfully helped us out when Ian and I got married so all I had to do was pick them and she took care of the rest!

So first thing I got were the flowers. Mitchell's date loves lilies but when I asked for them, they showed me this:

Not bueno! The lilies weren't even open! So I went with roses:

But before I took them home, I got to wait in the ridiculous Costco line!!:

I got all my supplies with a coupon so they were way cheap!

Then after a lot of google, Pinterest, and YouTube research (I called my aunt for help too) I started with the boutonnière:

In my defence, I wasn't the one going to prom so I didn't do my makeup :p

This was the first boutonnière I made but I ended up making two just in case

Then the corsage. Oh boy, the corsage! I had never met Mitchell's date except for super quick once a few months ago so I had no idea what she would like! Would she like a big corsage or a small simple one? I winged it and went with what went with my hand and prayed it would work for her!

So I finished and I just had to add a Vanessa touch!

For some reason I didn't have any rhinestones, but I did have glitter!!! I was SO tempted to add glitter everywhere but I kept it together and stuck with a few dots on the green stem that I didn't like very much. 
I picked up Ian from work and we went directly to prom to take pictures and give them their flowers!
THEY LOOKED SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The flowers looked pretty good if I do say so myself!

I was SO happy (and relieved) that I pulled them off and as much as I tried to not embarrass them while taking pictures, Ian was a whole other story!

 We even got a cool shot of them "using the force":

After we got these crazy kids to prom, we had a double date with Ian's parents in the Don Mills area. We went to Chipotle for dinner (best mexican food EVER!) and after walking around the shops at Don Mills, we saw Maleficent. Best Movie Ever!!! Princess Aurora is my absolute least favourite Disney Princess so I didn't think I would like this movie but it was so great!!
Remember how I made two boutonnieres? Well Ian didn't go to his prom so when we got home at midnight...