Anniversaries!

On January 23 Jesse and I had our 3 year anniversary of being together. On our anniversary this year we got the opportunity to do our food tasting for our venue at the Red Deer Lodge/Baymont inn & suites. It was super special and very nice. 

The lady that was the sales manager for banqueting personally catered to us and made our day really special. They specially made a table that was set properly as if it was our wedding day. We got to meet the chef that was going to serve the food for the day, and they just waited on our hand and food the whole time. 

They first brought out the starters which was a garden salad, potato salad, a thai noodle salad, veggies and dip and a meat and cheese platter. Everything was fabulous and yummy. Next they brought us what our entree would be..the prime rib. Since it was a tasting and we obviously have never been to one before, I thought that they just make one dish and then we share off of it. But to our surprise they brought us both out our own plates of prime rib with 2 stacks of potatoes and a veggie medley. All I have to say is...so good..and so much food. Along with the prime rib was this au jus that was the best. It was so good, the potatos were fabulous. All I can say is how amazing it was and how yummy it was. It was one of the best prime ribs I have ever had, they properly seasoned it and was just juicy it was fabulous. 

If that wasn't enough food after that they brought us out the desserts. They had an 2 servings of each dessert for each of us. The desserts that they had was brownies, nanimo bars, butter tarts, red velvet cake, and different kinds of cheesecakes. It was fabulous and everything tasted wonderful. Light but not too heavy and delicious. Our whole meal was delicious. 

But after we were literally waddling out of the hotel. It was fabulous definitely worth the amount that we are paying for the food. Having our tasting brought into effect how soon our wedding really is and it made me really excited for our wedding and to spend the rest of our lives together. 

Happy anniversary to us! 

New years!

Blog post came just a big late but I knew I had to still write it! Having the habit of trying to remember to write in my blog when these events happening is getting a bit tough for me even though my life is not that busy! 

On New years eve Jesse and I had plans...plans I know you heard me correctly? We had PLANS! Being the hermits that we were we knew we had to step out of our comfort zone and my coworker Sage had invited me to her New Years party. I thought perfect opportunity for me to socialize and extrovert with my introverted self and for Jesse to just interact with someone other than me. Perfect situation right?  Sage had said that normally her parties were crazy, drinking and dancing until 5 in the morning. Dog sledding with her two great danes, etc. Crazy antics at her parties and we wanted to participate with them. Also I was extremely honored that Sage had invited me and Jesse to come to her party that really warmed our hearts. 

When we went to their party there was lots of food! Tons and tons of people. We got overwhelmed with how many people were there, the loud music and the amount of alcohol (tbh). We started to talk to one of her friends that the husband did eavestrough work as well and had a nice conversation with them. We decided to play a game called cards against humanity. I had never played it before, it is basically like apples to apples but the more morbid version. It was hilarious to play and it was great to meet new people through that game.

Later on throughout the night they decided on dog sledding and fireworks in the backyard. Her husband Ron had made a dog sled by taking a folding chair and welding it to a pair of skis. The horsepower was her two great danes that were huge it was insane. All the kids took turns going down the ally way with the sled it was so fun to see. Afterwards we had fireworks in the backyward and although they were illegal they were so much fun. They had all different kinds, sparklers, star fireworks etc. It was gorgeous to watch and see them so up close. 

After the fireworks we decided to go back home but it was awesome to have that experience with my coworker. I really thank her for inviting us and having such a great time. She was truly a great host, Between the games, the drinks, the dancing, the fireworks and the dogsledding it was one of the best new years I ever had! 

Getting Engaged!

On November 3 2015 Jesse decided to propose and I said yes. I love him so much and cannot wait to spend the rest of our lives together. I wanted to write down the story of how he proposed so that I can remember it forever. 

A couple of months prior when he was having a hard time figuring out some stuff we had went on a drive. We began talking about deep things about our lives and he had said that he thought he had wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. The next few days after we had gone to the ring store for him to see what kind of rings I like and such. One important thing that I remember was that I should let him pick out the ring because that was the lady's one regret was picking out her engagement ring and to let him just pick it. I agree'd and the thought went out of my head for a bit. 

Fast forward to November Jesse had come home one night telling me that his boss was thinking of proposing to his girlfriend and he had told me that his boss had NO idea how to propose so he began to ask how I would like to be proposed to. The first idea I shot down was christmas since nearly everybody got engaged on christmas. I wanted to have my own day to get married on not some holiday or birthday. Just a normal wednesday.

Then the next day it was like any other night but he had asked if we went on a walk. If you knew Jesse you would know that he hates walking, if the destination was half a block he would rather drive than decide to walk there. Another thing that was weird is that it was not cold but he decided to wear his winter jacket. I had no idea why, he just said he was really cold. THEN before we went on the walk he sat on the couch for awhile looking really dazed, I swore that he was sick or gettingg sick and told him we didn't have to go on the walk. He eventually did get up and we went down to heritage ranch and began our walk. Normally when we go on walks we just talk back and forth but he was not talking at all so I thought that was weird as well.

 As we were walking we walked to this gazebo as we walked  up to it there were kids in there smoking pot and Jesse looked so disappointed, I tried to tell him we could go and find somewhere else to sit if he was winded that bad. We eventually found this bench overlooking the river and some trees peaked through it was really pretty and all through this it was dark. We still were talking and he was still not saying anything then it got really quiet and awkward and he said we should go. As I was getting up he had gone down on one knee and grabbed my hand and told me everything he loved about me, how I cared about him, loved him, am loving and how I even flare my nostrils and if I would spend the rest of my life with him. I began to cry since I couldn't believe that he was proposing, all while I could not see the ring at all just the outline of it. I said yes even though I did not know what my ring even looked like but frankly I didn't care I just loved him for who he was, but after he had said the proposal and after I had asked to see his phone so I could see the ring and after I saw the ring I absolutely broke down.. It was amazing, more beautiful than I could even imagine. It was just perfect it fit me perfectly. And gorgeous ring or not I would have said yes anyways. But I love him and I am so happy to say that I will be marrying the man of my dreams September 17, 2016.

#RussellWedding

Halloween!

For halloween Jesse and I decided to go to edmonton to go see my cousin and her boyfriend Jeremiah. I know what you are thinking…Celina so not like you to go and hang out with people. When I told people at work that I actually had plans they were so surprised since Jesse and I are both Hermits. But we did we decided to go to edmonton, even though I had no idea how it would turn out, if it would be awkward or be an amazing time. We just tried to get out of our comfort zone. 

When we first got there we were surprised to see that Hannah was there as well (Sarah's sister) so we all decided to go to West Edmonton Mall to eat something as well as Christmas shopping. Jesse had actually planned to surprise Sarah and told me to go with Hannah so he could shop for me. Hannah and I just decided to go and find her a costume (I ended up finding Jesse a costume as well). But by the time that we were actually close to being one we all had enough (since it was halloween, so many kids…and I legit got hit someone's baby that was in a baby carrier). So we decided to leave. 

We had decided on halloween that we wanted to drink and maybe go to West Edmonton Mall to go drinking but that didn't end up happening we decided to go to whyte avenue. I cannot lie I do not remember how I got to whyte ave very clearly and I do not remember what happened at whyte ave but the stuff that I do remember is hilarious. When we were walking to the bar "buddah" or whatever Sarah kept on calling it there was a guy that was hit. I guess the guy is fine and it was good but I was well determined that the guy had died. I guess I kept on shouting at everybody that it was disrespectful to watch a guy die and I kept on thinking that he was dead and even till this day I think that he still died..but he did not. The other stuff I remember is getting into the line for this bar "buddah" and feeling so sick that I had to go outside and puke, after that is when we decided to go. It wasn't that hard to find a cab as it was only 11:30 at night that I decided I was done.

When we got back to Sarah's place I kept on vomitting before we even got up to her apartment but when we got inside. Sarah and I began to giggle at each other like how we were kids, we would just laugh at nothing, just be looking at each other and start to laugh. It was so much fun!

Attempts at socialization

Over the past month and a half I have REALLY tried to put myself out there for socialization. Normally in situations where socializing goes wrong for me, I run back to Jesse and pretty much say I never want to try that again. So I have been putting myself out there, trying to socialize, make friends and get some interaction since moving to Red Deer. 

Over the course of last month I went to a bachlorette party, a thirty one party, and a work potluck in attempt to making some friends.

The bachlorette party was for on of the RN's at work Corey, she is part of the kitty fund at work so they threw her a bachlorette party. Lots of RN's went, no processors went and a unit clerk went. It was fun, we went to Heritage Ranch for the party and I had never eaten there before. I had chicken tacos and had this very yummy beet and watermelon salad. It was nice to have conversations with the other ladies at work and get to know them better. It was like a normal bachlorette party, where we talked about her wedding, she opened some presents, etc. It all in all was just very fun. 

The other attempt at socializing was going to a thirty one party. Thirty one is a company that produces bags, such as utility totes, purses, wallets, and some jewellery. It was fun also, they had a raffle, we had to introduce each other and such. I bought some stuff there as well, a wallet, a cross body and a wrist strap to go along with the wallet. I met a girl there as well, her name is Karly and she had just moved to Red Deer as well. She is a dental hygienist and was looking for friends as well. Later on I went to go for pedicures with her and did a bit of shopping as well so that was a bonus. 

Uncle Chris and Aunt Linda long weekend

On the long weekend on Saturday we decided to go visit Uncle Chris and Aunt Linda. Jesse and I have been wanting to get a coffee table for what seemed like MONTHS so we finally decided to just go down and buy one at ikea or something like that, and while in the process going to visit some family that I felt we needed to reconnect with. 

When we got there, we got the same feeling that they always give us whenever we come visit..just a feeling of being part of the family. Uncle Chris had asked us if we had breakfast and we just had a quick timmy's bagel, so knowing his family he knew we would need more than that. We decided upon making waffles, Jesse and I got to make the waffles, he just handed us the recipe and that was our job to make the waffles. Along with the waffles we also had some hash browns and some bacon. It was the most food we had seen in MONTHS, not because I starve my man, but because we just cook enough for the two of us. But there truly was nothing better than having a fresh waffle with pb and nutella with maple syrup. Jesse was so satisfied with the waffle he didn't even put maple syrup on it. 

After that we decided to head out to Ikea and holy moly..was it ever busy. Aunt Linda told me she doesn't think she ever saw it that busy! It was insane! People everywhere! It's like they all needed furniture just that one and only weekend! We all got separated from each other too it was crazy! The only time we got together was at the end, and let me tell you..they are good at snatching the free samples and go nuts over them. But our trip was successful, we got a coffee table completely under our budget, a quick dry bath mat (which really is quick dry) tupperware (always need it, cannot ever find lids) and some new kitchen utensils all for under 50 dollars!

After knowing the Ikea incident, our original plan was to go to cross iron mills too since I have never been there before. But after seeing how busy Ikea was we decided against it. Instead we went bowling with them both, maddy and Justine. We all pretty much sucked, but we were trying to mime the guy on the end lane since almost every single turn he would get a strike. He would granny walk up to the line and just casually drop the ball then BAM strike, strike, strike again. But even though I tried to follow his technique I still came in last at a whopping 28 points. Jesse I think won the bowling, then uncle chris came in second. But that was so much fun, and something different to do!

Afterwards we went back to their house and had cafe rio (super yummy) for supper and we played ticket to ride. Which got quite intense, Jesse's tactic was to just block people. I could have gotten a better score but missed one of my destinations by mixing two up together. It even got so intense that Justine and I had to stand up to see the board better to understand it, but so much fun! Uncle Chris ended up winning that one, with having the longest train, and the longest train cars in a row.

Afterwards Uncle Chris gave both Jesse and I blessings for some extra inspiration.

But all in all, super fun day! Glad we got to spend some time with them!

Vacation

I went on vacation about 2 weeks ago and this is my first official paid vacation. It was really weird knowing that while I worked I got to be paid for it. The first week was basically like an errand week, I went to a Dr. to see if he would be my family dr. (I got accepted but I disliked him). I went through my stuff in my house and cleaned it up majorly and I just relaxed, I had been working for pretty much a full year so it was nice to relax. 

Near the end of the first week, my mom and I had made an agreement that she would come down to Red Deer for a few days and I would come down to Lethbridge. 

When my mom came to Red Deer I had Patty and Dr. J's retirement party to go to. It was hosted at Sharon Tebb's house (lpn) and her backyard was lovely. There was a really good turnout and we had lots of fun. Connie had set up a photo booth for people to take props and have funny pictures with. I did this with Nancy (spd) and Sage (lpn). It was a lot of fun, we ate, mom got to meet some of my coworkers as well as Jesse and we had a lot of good laughs. 

The next day mom, Jesse and I went to Browns social house for lunch, since mom has never been there. It was really good. After lunch we dropped Jesse back at home and we went to the museum to see the display Walking With Our Sisters. It was about the 1700 native women/children that go missing and their cases are never looked into or solved. Also to commemorate the children that did not return home from the residential areas. The display was really powerful. They made us wear a skirt to show respect to the fallen sisters and honour them that way. We also participated in a smudging ceremony, basically what they do is cleanse you with some sort of herb (they used sage.) to cleanse and bless us. They also gave us some tobacco to hold in our left hand and to give into one of the bowls to show our appreciation to our sisters. The main display shows about 1700 vamps..which is the front part of the moccasin to represent that they did not live a full life and that it was cut short. They were all designed by people that were affected by the missing women or children. The artwork that were on some of these vamps were beautiful. They put the names of the missing on some, they had beautiful beadwork of designs and pictures. They would not let us take any photos as they had made the display as if it was a sacred burial. But it was very beautiful and moving to have seen that display, especially with mom. I think she really enjoyed it. To me it made me sad because it looked like a mass grave with all the vamps. It really brings it close to home seeing all the vamps.

After that we began to head down to Lethbridge, mom wanted to go visit Aunt Linda and Uncle Chris before we went down though. We got to visit with them and we had a good chat. Aunt Linda gave mom and I tons of stuff to make cards with since we are so obsessed with that. It was just nice to see them it was good. 

After that we went back to lethbridge, it pretty much took the whole day to travel down to lethbridge with going to see uncle chris and aunt linda. So we basically just chilled that night. 

The next day we went over to Grandma's, she finally was going to show me from start to finish how to make her potato salad, since honestly…it really is the best potato salad ever. It was really nice to just cook beside her and see how she makes it. The secret is…its not the ingredients its the technique on how she puts her salad together and how long you let the potatoes cook for. But I know her secret now and I feel confident that I could make it myself.

 After we made the potato salad we went to go have a picnic at Indian Battle park since there was not a whole lot of people there, and there was a bit more shade than what there was at henderson lake. It was nice to get some fresh air and some sun while enjoying eating with my family. I think grandma enjoyed it as well. We then went to go look around the mall since it was still really hot outside. We then also decided to hang out with her the next day. I was really glad to have gotten that time with her though. 

Then Jesse and I came back to Red Deer. It was the first time that Jesse had let me drive from Lethbridge straight to Red Deer though and he taught me some techniques to not get so tired when you are driving on the highway which worked pretty good. 

Then when we got back to Red Deer. I had an appointment with another Dr. which I liked so much better than the other one and I am pretty confident that he will be my family Dr. now, as well as Jesse's Dr. and we just finished our errands for the week. 

And that folks…was my vacation!