This One is Personal

Let's be honest; I've neglected this blog for the last little while. 

It's not something I'm proud of because I do very much enjoy blogging.

This time I am truly struggling and think it's the perfect time for you to get to know me a little bit better.

I am a fun-loving Hamiltonian who has a serious thing for cupcakes; I am a wife, mom, sister, aunt, friend, and now…

… a full-blown entrepreneur.

And that right there scares the shit out me. 

The truth is, up until a few months ago, I’ve been a full-blown corporate woman for almost nine years. Nine. Almost a full decade. I started working in the world of HR right after I finished college and spent the past nine years working for the same company. Talk about loyalty.

I guess it wasn’t mutual because I was laid off as a result of restructuring. Not fun.

I have to admit; it was really unexpected (though I guess those situations always are). I was shocked, saddened, and I really didn’t know what to do. I cried. I called my sister. I called my husband (and made him come home from work). We went for breakfast and then that afternoon I went for a manicure and pedicure. I deserved it after all.

Not a completely bad day considering how it started.

My point though? I’m 100% going to turn this into something positive.

Yes it’s a pretty crappy feeling when you lose your job, but I also see it as a clean slate. An opportunity to do something I truly love and was meant to do.

This was my sign - I am no longer meant for the corporate world. And now I've had the daunting task of getting used to life at home (mostly working and adjusting to having too much time on my hands). It sounds like a nice problem to have, but sometimes I really don't know what I should be doing or where I should be going. It's such a change from the corporate life.

But I feel like it was meant to be and that I'm meant to set my own schedule; be my own GirlBoss. 

I am meant to live out my dream.

I can now spend some time volunteering at my son’s school; I can keep up with my daily activities and chores without trying to be super mom; I can prepare healthy meals at home; I can spend more time with my family; and I can spend more time focusing my efforts on doing what I love, which is planning weddings (and everything else that comes with being a WeddingGirl).

Just because one door closes it doesn’t mean another one will automatically open. First, make sure the first door stays shut and then work as hard as you can to pick the right door. Don’t just take on the first thing that comes at you as you might end up with some regrets.

As it turns out for me, WeddingGirl has been my right door all along.

Deep down I knew it, it was just hard to make the official transition and I am happy I now have that opportunity.

It’s true that sometimes life throws you unexpected punches. Things go wrong in life, situations change, people change. But the question then becomes, how can I make it better?

You make it better by changing your outlook on the situation. Ask yourself how you can turn the negative into a positive. Picture the change as a clean slate that can be painted anyway you want it.

And own it.

Make it happen.

Be happy because you have the right to be. And trust me, you do.

Oh, and try not to let anyone dictate when you can take your vacation.

A Special Announcement!

Doug and I are thrilled to announce...

We are SO excited to be expecting our second child in June! 
We will find out the gender next week and I will blog about my pregnancy journey throughout the next few months.
I just can't stop smiling!

Teacher Gift Idea: DIY Crayon Wreath

I made this crayon wreath for my son's daycare teacher and gave it to her on his last day there. She loved it so I have also decided that I'm going to make one her his Kindergarten teachers as well. 
It will be the most perfect Christmas gift for them; unique, unexpected, and I am sure all the kids will love it too!
Oh, and it's super easy so you can have the kiddies help too!
What you need:

• Two Embroidery Hoops (one 12 inch and one 8 inch).
• 64 Crayons
• Ribbon
• Assorted school stickers
• Block letters
• Hot glue gun (forgot to include that in the photo!)

How to:

1. Place the small hoop inside the large hoop, ensuring there is equal distance all the way around. I put the embroidery hook the at top part of the wreath because it's easy to cover with the ribbon later.

2. Starting at the top, glue the crayons on one-by-one by using your hot glue gun; dabbing a a small dot on the top and bottom embroidery hoop, placing your crayon on top. 

Leave a small gap at the bottom as it can get pretty tricky to get the nice even circle if you don't. Spacing as you go works well; and you don't need to be afraid of pull off the crayon if you make a mistake - I did that many times!

I've seen many tutorials that have you lay out the crayons on the embroidery hoops first, but don't waste your time with that. It takes too long and the crayons never stay in place anyway.

3. Once you glue all the crayons, tie the ribbon at the top around where the embroidery hooks are; the ribbon covers them really well. I just tied a bow at the top, but you can get more creative if you want. Just make sure that the bow or knot is tight at the top so when you hang up the wreath it doesn't fall down!

4. Arrange and glue your stickers and block letters as you wish. The stickers will not stay on on their own, you will need to use the glue for them.

That's it! Super easy right? And once I was in my groove, it took me about half hour total to do.

I am sure your child's teachers will love it!

Migraine's: How It All Started

I don't think I've ever mentioned it here, but I'm a migraine sufferer. They've recently become more frequent and severe that I thought it would be good idea to add my experience to the general migraine discussion that's going on out there.
Let's start at the beginning.
My migraines actually started when I was a pre-teen. I would get constant headaches and eventually my parents took me to see our family doctor. At that time they weren't diagnosed as migraines, just really bad headaches, and I was put on Tylenol 3.
After a while, they seemed to have just disappeared. It was amazing. Then out of know where, when I was around 17 - 18, they came back in full force; more severe and became relatively frequent. I remember the very first time they came back; I was driving my car and all of a sudden I had a severe migraine with aura (though I didn't know what that was at the time). I immediately called my doctor, who referred me to an Optomitrist right away. 
The Optomitrist dilated my pupils (since most of my migraines centre around my left eye), and he took a good look at what was going on in the back on my eyes. When doctor's dilate your pupils, they can see your optic nerve and the blood vessels in your retina. Because he saw what was going on , he was the one to officially diagnose my migraine.
The type of migraine I suffer from is Ophthalmoplegic migraine, which are an uncommon type of migraine headache in which the eye region is the focal point of pain. 
While it was good to finally get a diagnoses, at the time I was really just told to find a trigger and was given a comparable to Tylenol 3. While they worked back then, Tylenol does nothing for them now.
Finding a trigger is a major part of what I struggle with now. They are random; they come at night, during the day, when I just wake up, and sometimes when I'm just sitting on the couch doing nothing.
But what about you; are you a migraine sufferer? How do you cope? I would love to hear your thoughts.
During my posts about migraine's, I'll continue to talk about my struggles and how I cope with them. My next migraine post will focus on my struggle with finding a trigger.
Thanks for joining in this journey, I really appreciate it.

A Jamaican Getaway

My husband and I took a kid-free trip in the Spring, and it was pure bliss (because having some alone time is hard to get sometimes!). We spent a week in Runaway Bay, surrounded by lush green mountains and blue skies and beautiful sunsets.

Runaway Bay is a town in Saint Ann Parish on the northern coast of Jamaica and is considered one of the most naturally beautiful places on the island. It’s also located 16 km west of Ocho Ríos. There, we stayed at the beautiful Grand Bahia Principe Jamaica.

When you walk into the grand lobby of the resort, you’re greeted with nothing but smiles from the resort staff. The service at this resort was nothing short of exceptional. They truly aim to please; especially when the first thing they hand you is a welcome drink.

The resort itself is family-friendly and I was actually surprised at how many children were at the resort (including many infants). Having said that, we hardly noticed they were even there. There were no screaming or crying kids, there are plenty of kid-friendly activities, and the resort is so big that we hardly ever saw them. I guess that can happen when your resort has 850 rooms.

There are a lot of activities to do at the resort; this includes windsurfing, tennis, snorkelling, catamaran, kayaks, and bicycles. You can also check out the shopping centre or the nightly entertainment. We really didn't do any of the resort activities; we really just had a relaxing vacation and spent a lot of time by the pool and on the gorgeous resort beach. To sit by the pool all day, for three days in a row was bliss I tell you. Pure bliss!

There are also plenty of things to do outside of the resort. We went on a tour to Ocho Ríos that included a botanical garden tour, a visit to a local flea market, a visit to Dunn’s River Falls. On this particular day we had a truly authentic Jamaican Beef Patty. You really haven't had a beef patty until you've had one in Jamaica. It was ah-mazing!

On our last full day there, we took a raft ride down Martha Brae River. It was so calm and romantic. A truly perfect way to end a perfect vacation.

The vacation itself came at a really good time for Doug and I. We are constantly striving to improve our relationship and I feel like this vacation really helped us communicate and get to know each other more as a couple. We really couldn't have asked for a better destination. I would truly recommend going to Jamaica if you ever get the chance. It's such an amazing country, the people are fantastic and the food is amazing.

A truly beautiful country.

Fall Family Photo's

Hey There! I have something awesome to show you; our fall family photo's. We get photo's done every year and had these done a couple of weeks ago. It's something really important to us as we grow as a family. This will be our third year using the very talented Charlotte. I'm really excited to share them as I am so happy with the way they turned out!

         

        

 

Aren't they just lovely? I absolutely order them and I can't wait to order prints for our new living room redesign (which will be posted of course). I really just love everything about them and I encourage you to take a look at Charlotte's work.

Thanks for visiting!

Five on Friday!

Hello friends! Happy Friday to you! I have a day off from work today so the day is already looking good. Let's get to it shall we?
{ONE} We had family photo's this past weekend at beautiful Paletta Mansion in Burlington. A full blog post will be done on this but here is a sneak peek. I am so happy how they turned out!

{TWO} I have been back in full swing with my blog and I think I have finally found a common scheduling ground with everything else I am doing, so I'm extremely happy that it seems to be working so far.
{THREE} I created an Everyday with Lisa Facebook Page. Please like and join the fun!
{FOUR} Monday was Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful time. We hosted Doug's Aunt Pat and his two cousins, Scott and Amber, for dinner on Sunday. I went all out with turkey, potatoes, carrots, my Nana's famous broccoli and cauliflower carousal, and of course, homemade gravy made from the drippings. I also made homemade apple crumble pie (recipe to be posted soon!). It was all so delicious.

{FIVE} We went for a small hike this week up to the Devil's Punch Bowl. Sounds awful, but it's a trail that leads you to one of the best vies of the city. I caught this cute picture of Doug and Eric while we were there.

How was your week? Be sure to link up with Lauren Elizabeth and Carolina Charm.

Have a wonderful weekend loves!