Packing Chaos

BAHHH!!!! I can't wait to move!!! 

I'm kind of excited about moving to my new home. My house has looked like this (see below) for weeks now. I'm so eager to move that I was over at my fiancé's house helping him pack all his stuff, even though most of it isn't coming for a few months... lol. 

On another note: can you believe how much stuff I have? That's only a fraction of the bags/boxes too! I can't believe how much stuff I've accumulated in only a few years on my own. Luckily we're planning on staying in the new home for a long, long time. I can't even imagine how much we'll accumulate between now and when we move out of the house. 

Also, I guess now I'm gonna have to take back the boxes of stuff that's been stored in my parents' garage since I left 8 years ago. Welcome to adulthood! I'm not excited to have a bunch of bins to make room for, but I am excited to look through some of the old boxes that I haven't checked out in ages! Mr. A also has a bunch of old toys that will be moving in asap. Eek - we're filling up the house already. Good thing it's got lots of space :) 

TWO DAYS UNTIL MOVING DAY!!! 

Scrapbooking Again!

Sorry that I haven't been posting much lately! Now I'm in the middle of packing and moving, and absolute chaos. But here are some photos of scrapbooking pages that I did recently :) 

This is the spot where we got engaged :)

Here's some pics of us and our family at the beaches in White Rock. 

Here are the results of our epic go karting adventure. Notice I'm on the top of the girl podium! 

And here are some pics of Russ and I at various locations during our road trip down to BC. 

I think I'm getting better and better at this! 

Cute Puppy!!

Joop is a lucky puppy. When we move into the new house there's a nice dog kennel, but there's no where for Joop to rest and stay warm. So Grandpa Vanderschaaf decided to make Joop his very own dog house!

It was made out of an old cupboard. There are even left-over shingles on the roof! He doesn't really stay in there yet, I'm still tricking him into it with treats. Isn't it adorable?! Maybe he'll be happy about staying outside now??

Learn to Run 5K... Check!

I did it!!! I ran 5K this morning!! Actually 5.1.... but who's counting...

For those of you keeping track, this is pretty much the best month of my life (engagement, house, completing running goal). I'm really proud of myself actually. It took me 43 minutes to do 5.1K, which is probably horrifically long to some people, but I felt really good about it. I don't have a watch or anything to track my distance, so I just run for a while - or until I feel like falling over - and then I walk. I was hoping that I could do 5K today so I pushed myself a bit, but I'm so glad :)

Now the goal is to improve my time a bit before I get to Ontario for a run with my BFF.

Joop and I post-run.

Joop chilling out by my shoes. [side note: As I write this he is passed out and snoring on the couch beside me, lol. I think he was just as tuckered out from the run as I was!]

New Home!!!!

Lots of changes happening in my life :) If you've been watching Facebook you probably already know that Mr. A and I have bought a new house! Below are come lovely pictures of the place from the realtor add before we bought it.

Now on top of a wedding, I'm in decorating mode! Although our budget won't really allow us to decorate too much until after the wedding, it's still fun to think of ideas and paint colours. I love the house so much! There are 4 bedrooms, which means we shouldn't ever have to move unless we want to, and 3 full bathrooms. Some other highlights include a hot tub (woo too!), surround sound in the whole house, and a giant bathtub in the master ensuite with jets :) Also, I love the kitchen! We have enough furniture to furnish the important rooms (i.e. bedroom, living room, kitchen), but the rest may have to wait a year or so.

I am feeling very blessed on this Good Friday :)

Sold sign up :)

Beautiful kitchen! I really like the backsplash!

Whole kitchen.

Living room. The stairs upward lead to the master bedroom.

Beautiful fireplace :) There's also a fireplace in the master bedroom!

Engaged!!! - March 25, 2012

I'm ENGAGED!!!!!! To the love of my life :) And I still can't stop smiling.

For those of you who don't know the story...

We were on vacation in White Rock, BC visiting family (Mr. A's side). We had been having the best weather for the first few days of the vacation. Little did I know, Mr. A had brought a ring along on the trip and was planning to propose. The weather was so perfect that we decided to go for a walk Sunday morning before church. Normally, one would probably suspect that this was a good opportunity for a proposal, but when Mr. A didn't wake up on time for the walk, and I waited around for 20 minutes, I lost all suspicion. (Who wouldn't wake up on time for their own proposal?? lol). Anyway, I was a little upset when we left because I thought I was gonna have to walk alone (but he soon made up for it!). We walked to a lovely lookout spot. There was a beautiful view of the ocean and everything was calm and quiet because it was early Sunday morning. He turned me around at the hips and I realized he was down on one knee behind me. I'm pretty sure that I started crying immediately. Saying something like "What? Really?" with my hands over my face. He gave a beautiful speech (sorry, can't share that!) and I cried. I realized then that he was holding a ring box out upside-down (he was too nervous to realize it was the wrong way). He asked me and I said yes (obviously). Then I had to ask him to repeat the speech because I was crying and didn't hear it all. We got home and toasted the engagement with the family and some champagne. It was a perfect morning :)

This is the lookout spot where he proposed :)

My beautiful ring in the gorgeous BC sunlight.

Post-engagement happiness!!!!