For Sale

So -- know anybody that wants to buy a house?! ;)

Yup!  It's official.. our little house is on the market and we are looking for a new "project".. I won't say house, because Tyler is bored and doesn't want to move into something that is completely done. Haha... neither do I, if I'm being really honest.. :)  We had a blast renovating this place and can't wait to do it again!!

We will be staying in Red Deer as far as things stand now, but who knows...?!?!  We feel it is the right time to move onto something else but we will just keep praying about it...  With Tyler having his own business now, it makes {natural} sense to stay in Red Deer, but sometimes you have to take {spiritual} steps in a different direction... but for all the right reasons... Anyway!  We will see where the next few months take us...  And if you know anyone in or around the Red Deer area that is looking to buy a house, well, by all means, send 'em our way! :)

A beautiful autumn sunset at the end of our street..  What a gorgeous day today!

These pictures make me totally not want to move now.. haha!  Isn't that always the way it goes?  You get everything all fixed up and cleaned up to sell and then you see why you fell in love with your house in the first place! :)

{PS  My kitchen has never been so clean!  Today I scrubbed all the cupboards and appliances... Tomorrow  I will be vacuuming and mopping for the third time this week.. Maybe that's normal house cleaning for some people, but not this chick! haha... Give me errands to run or a pile of laundry to iron any day over cleaning!}

Do you guys think I missed blogging much?!  HA!  Three posts in two days.. :)  I'm gonna go with a "yes" on that one!!

Until next time!

 xo ~ Jess

The Great US of A Road Trip 2011: Part 1

Hey everybody!  :)

So, the updates begin!!  These pictures are from day one through to day five, I think...

As I mentioned in my last email, we started out our trip in Canmore, staying with some old and dear friends of ours... Of course, I didn't get any pictures there (DUH!  Why, Jessica, why?!)... Actually, these pictures are some of the first ones I got and we were already three days into our trip!  

I guess really there was nothing interesting to take pictures of until we got to the coast anyway... We did travel along the Columbia River on our way out to the coast, which was amazing, but sadly, no pictures there either.. Guess we just really wanted to get to the coast in a hurry!! Ha!

Ok, so let's get started... 

Sunday (Sept 18) was probably my favourite day of the whole trip.. We had every kind of weather imaginable, but some of the scenery we witnessed that day was absolutely incredible.. The day started out extremely rainy as travelled the mountainous roads from the city of Portland to our first stop of the day, Lincoln City, OR, which right on the ocean.. It was about an hour and half drive from Portland to there.  We stopped and took a few pictures at a roadside turnout right in the city, but decided not to have a coffee break there and kept going...  I'm glad we did, because a few miles down the road, we started to run out of the rain and into pure sunshine!  It was awesome!  We grabbed Quizno's and a Starbucks in the next town (which I can't remember the name of) and I could officially take my rain gear off there!  Yes!  

We carried on, pulling off at lots of roadside turnouts to take in the view, the salt spray and the sunshine!  That night we stayed in Coos Bay, OR.  It's a logging town, but a very pretty little town... 

The next morning, we were off again and this would be the day we would cross into California.. You really can notice the difference as you change states... The Oregon coast highway runs along high bluffs with lots of cliffs and by the time you get to California, you are driving right along beside the water.. which was amazing too!!  We stopped at a beach and I got my first feel of the Pacific Ocean.. 

So, ya, that's an update of the first few days of our trip!  :)  It was so much fun and I want to go back again already!  Enjoy the pictures and I'll see ya in Part 2!

 Lincoln City!  Tyler sending an update text message out!

 Tyler's awesome rain goggles!  HA!  They look funny, but man oh man, do they work!!

 You can see the road weaving through small coastline towns.. just beautiful!

 More coastline!

 Us!

 I'm not sure if anyone saw the video I took when I walked down the sandy hill to a little bluff?  Well, this is a photo of the trail down.. :)

 Mr. Victory Vision!  He did a great job of getting us from town to town, up and down mountains and even across the dessert!  Thanks, buddy!

 Here comes the sun!!  Whoo hoo!  Officially no more rain after this!

 My handsome hubby.. also known as, the world's best motorbike driver!

 Reflection!

 Gold Beach, OR for fish and chips!  Delicious!

 We're in California!  My first time on a Pacific Ocean beach!

 Enjoying the waves....

I love this shot... Those are my boot prints in the sand... I didn't know the waves washed up so quickly, so I was running backwards to avoid getting wet feet, all while trying to get this shot!  Ha!  Despite the running, I think it turned out pretty cool!! :)

Until next time!

xo ~ Jess

And I'm Back!

Um, hey!

Hello??  Anyone there?  :)

I still exist!  I promise!!  It's just been............. a while.  Ahem.  To say the least.

Oh wow, where to ever begin!  First off, HI!  It's good to be back to blogging!  Sorry for just kinda sorta leaving without much reason or explanation...  I was on holidays, in case you were wondering!  It was fantastic and relaxing and I feel recharged in every aspect of my life.  Thanks, awesome two-week holiday!  You were exactly what I needed.

So, where did we go?  What did we do?  Who did we see?

What: An almost 2-week road trip

When: Sept 15 - Sept 27

Where: Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana and home! (Plus a corner of Arizona)

Who: Me & Tyler (we met up with Orlyn & Lori in Las Vegas!)

Why: See above.  (To relax and recharge)

How: Via Motorbike

Yup, we did a 12 day, 8 state road trip of the north west and western states of our dear friend south of the border!!  It was so much fun.. We saw so much amazing scenery, went through all kinds of weather and made memories that will last a life time.  Besides enjoying three days with Orlyn & Lori is Las Vegas, it was my and Tyler's first trip by ourselves... can you believe that?!  In 7 years of marriage, we have never done a trip, just the two of us!  We've always been with family or friends, and we have thoroughly enjoyed each of those trips...  But this was different...  It was our own schedule, our own timeline, our own direction.. stop when we wanted, ate where we wanted... We did a bike trip last year with 2 other couples and Tyler's cousin.. It was a blast and I would love to do another one with some other couples, but there is a lot of coordinating schedules and figuring out where to stay and eat, etc, etc when you are with a larger group.. It was nice to almost fly by the seat our pants most of the trip... :)  How many stars would I rate this trip?  10.  Out of 5.  It was that good.  :)

We started out the trip in Canmore, AB... we stayed with out friends Ryan and Cheryl... We have been friends for years with them (we go way to our Ontario days with them!) and I can't think of a better way to start our trip..  They were having the workers stay with them as well, so we felt doubly privileged to get in on a portion of their visit!  :)  Lucky us!  After Canmore, it was onto Spokane, Washington, then Portland, Oregon, then all down the Oregon & California coast.. then into Las Vegas, Nevada.. we stayed there the longest, (3 nights) and then the last three days of our journey was just heading home (we stayed in Utah, then Montana and by the third night we were home!  Whew!)

I will definitely be recapping our holiday along with some pictures... Here are a few, just to start out...

 Lincoln City, OR... rainy-est day of the trip!  :)  But the best!  

 At a roadside turn-out, just outside of Lincoln City, OR... :)

Yup, I'm a hardcore biker chick.  Believe it! :) Ha! Not.

This is leaving Coos Bay, OR...  

Enjoying a California beach at a roadside turn-out.. oh, how I loved your hot sun, Cali!!

Yosemite National Park!  Absolutely beautiful through the park!

 Also, if you want, you can go to my YouTube channel.. I uploaded a few videos from our trip there! :)

More to come! :)

What have all you been up to!?  I was able to keep up with most of your blogs, so that was awesome!  Yay for free wifi at most hotels and tiny travel laptops!

Until next time!

xo ~ Jess

September Long Weekend: Our Day Trip To Calgary

Man, it's taken me forever to get around to putting these photos up!  Shheesh!  Anyway!  Better late than never, right?

On Labour Day, my dad organized a motorbike trip to Calgary.  Us, my parents and two other couples hit the highway for lunch at the Calgary Tower and then took "the long way home"... (aka: the scenic route!)  It was an awesome day and the weather was perfection!

Below are a few snaps of the day.. 

(I forgot my camera, so these are just taken with my phone's camera...)

It's freaky lookin straight down!! 

Mom, Dad, Leonard, Carol

Gang's all here! 

Orlyn, Lori, Tyler, my arm..  (ha!  can you see the reflection?!)

Calgary's newest addition to their skyline..  

Ok, so these next few pics are of us on the way freaky way creepy glass walk-out bit... :O

Ohmigoodness.  I have an incredible fear of heights.  My head knows that it is safe to walk out on that glass platform, but my stomach and heart and totally irrational side are like, NO!! DON'T DO IT!!  YOU'LL FALL THROUGH!!  ALL THE WAY TO THE GROUND!!!! Which, ahem, what may or may not have been running through my head the entire time.  

 Yes, this is my dad and Orlyn (on the ends) making fun of me...

This was taken just outside of Strathmore... It was hot hot hot, so our stops didn't last too long... awesome day in all!! 

I've loved seeing some of your long weekend posts!!  Aren't long weekends the best!?  :)  

Until next time!

xo ~ Jess

See? Pinterest is good for something.. :)

 The Making of "Acorns"!!

This was a recipe I pinned on my I Heart Food board and couldn't wait to recreate.  (I say recipe very lightly.  It's not really so much of a recipe as it is an assembly line of goodies... timbit, nutella, chocolate sprinkles and a half a pretzel stick... rinse, repeat.. ha!)

Some dear friends hosted a little birthday get together/bonfire Friday night, so I thought I would quickly whip these up to bring along.. :)  We had such an awesome night.. good friends, good conversation, a crackling fire, an awesome spread of goodies (complete with a "guy" theme... food served in the garage, buckets of nails and blueprints pinned up.. so creative!!) and lots of laughs... what says Friday night better than that?? :)

So ya, just thought I post a few pics of recreating these little Acorns.. :)  So much fun and so easy! :)  

Ahem, also *really healthy* too... hahah!

HAPPY WEEKEND-ING EVERYONE!

YUM!

xo ~ Jess

The Story of Just Us: June 4, 2004

Hey everyone! I've been getting into reading a lot of lifestyle blogs around the interwebs, especially couples blogs and I was inspired by a very cool idea one of them blogged about! (You can check them out here - www.wordsofwilliams.com) Basically, it's the story of us (or them..?). They call it their Fairytale... and this is totally cute, but not me and Tyler! Ha! So I am going with the theme of this blog and calling it the Story of Just Us. I'm going to start right at the beginning and work through all the years that Tyler and I have been together. I am so excited to reflect on our journey.. I told Tyler about this the other night and even though he's not really into blogging, he thought it was pretty cool, too.. I am hoping to get a bit of his input but we'll have to see how forthcoming he is with his memories... (he's says he's more "private" than I am..I say he's just forgotten.. haha!) :)
So, here goes! Errr... enjoy!
**I will add photos where I can. Some years of our journey are pre-digital-camera days, so I will do the best I can!** 

_____________________________________________________________

CHAPTER SIX: WEDDING DAY!

Our wedding day remains as one of my most favourite days ever.  That's pretty normal I think.. and that's what I love about wedding days.  Every one's wedding is unique and there are certain elements that make it "your day".  So it's not that weddings in themselves are original, but it's the people that attend, the vows and the heartfelt speeches that make your day original.

There were so many undertones to our day that I will never forget.  We were married in Newfoundland at Marble Mountain Ski Lodge on a rainy spring day.  There hadn't been a young couple's wedding (amongst the friends) for quite a few years in Newfoundland, so that was very special.  Tyler's great-grandparents (on his dad's side) both attended and his Pop-Pop (that's what they call a great-grandfather) was even able to give a little speech.  But maybe the most sobering thing for Tyler's family was that we would be leaving for Ontario, a week after our wedding.  He is the oldest of four kids, so a wedding, gaining a daughter-in-law plus Tyler leaving home for the first time was a lot for the Brake family.  Looking back, it was just a stepping stone in our journey, but it was all very overwhelming at the time.  It wasn't in a negative way, just in a truthful way.
But let's start at the beginning, shall we?  Or better yet, the night before... :)

The night before, we took over Pizza Delight and had a huge family dinner.  We also had some birthdays, so we celebrated those and just spent the evening laughing and eating and enjoying our families.  Then mom, dad, me and my two brothers checked in at Marble Villa where we would be staying the night before the wedding.  (It was right at the ski resort!  Handy!)  I settled in to have a bath and then mom put foam curlers in my hair.  (Yes, my mother is partly to thank for my wedding hair-do.. thanks mom!)  It was a relaxing evening.  
The next morning was a different story! We were married at 10:30am, a morning wedding... I have NO idea why I chose 10:30am, but anyway!  It was up at 7am for me and the getting ready began... I did my own hair.  The flowers and photographer arrived.  The scurrying and hurrying began.  Family pictures were snapped.  And then it was off to the lodge.  Our photographer got an awesome picture of me holding my dress up (from dragging in the puddles), my dad's suit coat around me and mom holding an umbrella as we made a dash from the hotel to the car!  
I waited up in a loft with Arctica (my maid of honour), NaTasha, Gabriella and Stephanie (my flower girls) while everyone filed in.  It was so neat to listen to the hushed chatter, the light music and soft laughter from up above..  There was a curtain hiding us, and I decided to peek once and got a major case of the nerves, so I decided NOT to peek anymore. Haha!
When I finally came down the stairs from the loft and saw Tyler for the first time, I seriously wanted to run the rest of the way to him, but managed to hold myself together and finish walking down the aisle with my parents like a sane person. Barely, but I managed... 
Tyler and I wrote our own vows and picked a really unique ring ceremony that we found online.  The vows were my favourite part.  It honestly felt like everyone just disappeared and it was just us, saying words that I now forget, but never forgetting what they meant.
It was then picture time and we had a bit of time to kill before our 2pm reception.  The food, the speeches and our MC (my dear uncle Martin... did an amazing job!) was perfect... Sure, there would a few things I would change, but  those are just details..  When I think back on our wedding day, I remember it exactly the way it was intended to be remembered: a day filled with love and family.
We spent our wedding weekend at a little honeymoon cabin close to ski resort.  We decided on a honeymoon-slash-post-graduation trip after Tyler finished his degree at Lakehead.
The little cabin was so cute, but my brothers managed to find out where we staying and crashed in on us to watch the NHL playoffs.  Brutal.  :P  Oh well, makes for funny memories.  We knew we would have a real honeymoon one day... 
The week following our wedding was packing and packing and more packing.  We loaded up Tyler's truck (that had a fancy-schmancy truck cap!  I tell ya, we were stylin'!) with our clothes, Tyler's text books and a few wedding gifts.  That's it.  That's all we had to our name.  We were probably crazy and I'm sure our parent's worried about how we were ever going to make it, but we did... :)  Probably because we were crazy!!  There is a quote that I love: Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.  We hardly knew it at the time, but I'm sure our parents knew that we were definitely stepping out of our comfort zone and into our new life, whatever it held for us!

So that wraps up how we met, dating, the engagement and our wedding.. I'm going to start the Years series now... first up?  Year One!  (Obviously).  This year will be moving to Thunder Bay, a 2-week holiday to Alberta, finding an apartment and getting settled into married (and university!) life... whew!  
We'll see y'all next week! :)  And yes, wedding photos to come! :)

xo ~ Jessica & Tyler   

Pintrest

You guys may love me or seriously want to injure me for introducing you to this site (if you haven't heard of it).

Ohmigoodness.  I love it.  If I don't surface by the end of today I am most likely "pinning"

Go Here. Now.

You know, or whenever you get a moment. :) 

xo ~ Jess

PS I heart the new blogger layout.  SO MUCH. :)