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This was a crazy fun week for us, full of joy, excitement, emotion and gratefulness. Last weekend we were up in Calgary for a family wedding that was so much fun, I danced almost all night! The theme of the wedding was black and white and our family went all out, I loved every minute of it. I went with a 50’s diner dress that was black with white polka dots and although it was a little out of my comfort zone, I think its good to step out of that zone every once in awhile and open yourself up to new things. My hair was another story though. I went to a hairdresser, showed her a picture of what I wanted and surprise, surprise..it wasn’t even close! She backcombed it to represent Bride of Frankenstein and then left it, never even smoothed it out! It was so frizzy and I felt so uncomfortable, thinking everyone was staring and laughing at me. But, thankfully, by the end of the night (and a few libations added) I had received many compliments which helped soothe my bruised ego. What I want to remember was how much fun we had. We hung out as a family for most of the day, talking, laughing and getting ready. Between the ceremony and the reception we hung out with Adams brother and his girlfriend and took lots of photos and ate appetizers at a nearby Keg. I want to remember how thankful I felt to feel so close to my inlaws..I feel as though I’ve known them my whole life now..they truly are an extension of my family

The view upon leaving Canada
 
The Disneyland gates, lit up at night
 
 
 
On Sunday I surprised Adam with his birthday present, a 4 day trip to Los Angeles to go to Disneyland, his favorite place on Earth. And my gosh, was he blown away!! And with that, here is what I want to remember from this week:

– I want to remember Adam in his suit, getting ready for the wedding. It reminded me of our own wedding nearly a year ago and sent butterflies floating in my tummy
– I want to remember how I felt when a girl came up to me on the dance floor and complimented me on my entire look at the wedding. She said she was a photographer and wished she had all her stuff to do a shoot with me because she loved it so much. I needed to hear that so badly and it truly made my night!
-I want to remember sneaking around Sunday morning while Adam was in the shower, packing every last little thing for our secret trip to LA that afternoon
– I want to remember the car ride to the airport, when Adam still didn’t know what was about to happen
– I want to remember that, after Adam found out where we were going for his birthday, he teared up and was so touched that someone would ever do anything like that for him. It made me tear up just to realize he has no idea how much he is truly loved
– the 3 hour delay in our flight. Which left us sitting at the airport, drinking beer and noshing on nachos
-I want to remember the feel of the humidity as we landed in LA. It hit us like a brick wall and it was very, very welcome!
– I want to remember our walk thru Downtown Disney Sunday night, seeing all the glowing pumpkins from within Disneylands’ gates and walking by the exact spot where Adam proposed 1.5 years ago
– I want to remember waking up Monday morning and getting to Disneyland as soon as the gates opened so that we could take in all the sights and go on all our favorite rides before anyone else
– the sights and smells of Disneyland..the music playing everywhere you go..it truly is the happiest place on Earth!
– Walking thru Carsland for the first time. It was as though we stepped in to Radiator Springs, every detail was impeccable, nothing was overlooked
– the 105 minute wait to get on to Radiator Springs Racers..insanity!
– the chicken fried chicken at the Rainforest Cafe…OMG
– being sad that our favorite ride, Indiana Jones, was closed for refurbishing
– the new Transformers ride at Universal Studios..so cool!
– Taking the wet plunge of Jurassic Park, even though I vowed last time that I would never do it again! We were completely soaked but it wasn’t as bad as I remembered!
– I want to remember Adam waking me up on Wednesday, his birthday, with his Mickey ears on. He was vibrating he was so excited. It made me giggle as soon as I opened my eyes!
– The Mickeys Soundsational Parade on Wednesday night..once again, the details were amazing!
– Seeing the World of Color show again. I mean, you just stand there in awe. We went to that show right after getting engaged and, for that reason alone, it will always hold a special place in my heart
– Walking thru Disneyland on our last day and being so sad that our trip was already coming to an end. We had such a fun, magical time..
– Getting back in to Calgary and the cool, crisp air hitting us. Reminding us that yes, we were definitely back in Canada!
-Staying overnight at my brother in laws place so that Adam could get up in the morning and help my BIL with a few generator problems
– driving home and discussing our trip, how amazing it was, and how much fun the next few months are going to be. So busy, but so exciting!
– having supper with my family before driving back to the farm and feeling torn between my love of being home at the farm and being in the city with my family
– Coming home to collect 8 eggs a day – I’m so proud of my chickens!!

As you can see, this was a crazy week. So full of excitement and many memories to keep for years to come! This coming week I hope to settle back in to a routine, try to focus on Halloween a bit more without Christmas completely taking over my brain and doing a few projects around the house while I’m at it. Adam will be busy getting back to construction on the dome (fingers are still crossed on a March moving date!!) and we have a crazy next month up ahead! Stay tuned, can’t wait to share it all with you right here on the old blog 😉 Happy Sunday everyone!!

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  • Kim H. - I dont comment often but I do follow you. :) I had to make a moment to tell you that your hair look fantastic! Before I even knew that the picture was from a themed wedding… I thought – wow her hair looks fantastic. How did she do that? Really…. you looked great.ReplyCancel

    • Dawn Cosgrove - Kim,
      Thank you so much for your comment!! You truly just made my morning!! I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know! I often wonder who all stops by my little blog and I’m so glad you did :)
      Have a wonderful Thursday :)ReplyCancel

Photo Taken February 15, 2011, the day after we got engaged @ Disneyland
 
As you may know by now, today is my dear hubby’s s 30th Birthday & I surprised him with a trip to Disneyland and it may just be the birthday gift to beat for the rest of our lives 😉
 
I wanted to take a quick moment to wish my farmer a very happy birthday today. He is the man of my dreams and most days I wonder how I ever became so lucky as to marry him. He is my best friend and I am still giddy every morning that I get to live this fabulous life right alongside him!
 
Happy Birthday Beau!! Now, lets get back in line for the Pirates of the Caribbean!!

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  • Lynette - Congratulations on your man’s birthday. Hope you have a wonderful day of celebrations.ReplyCancel

  • dawn - Hi Dawn!! Happy Belated birthday to your dear sweet hubby!! What a wonderful gift for you to give him, love that you surpris him this way!! I know you wil have so much fun!! We went their on our honeymoon and one other time since then. Hoping to go next spring with the kids.

    You had so many posts for me to catch up on, sorry to be late on them.

    Sending hugs and prayers or your family and whatever your going thru. Hope it all turns out well adn everyone is ok.

    I love that your going to write/blog things to remember. This is what I love to do also, all those little things that pass by so quickly and I forget. Looking forward to reading more of your posts like this. These are all good things to remember.

    WOW WOW WOW look at your first turkey, WAY TO GO DAWN!!! I’m so happy and proud of you, knew you couldn’t wait for this big day. I love the pictures!!

    Love the idea of naming your chicken coop, great designs for the new one.

    So many happy and exciting things in your life right now. It’s been a great year hasn’t it.

    Will see you when you get back from you trip!!
    HUGS!!ReplyCancel

Hi Friends!!

This past weekend we all went out of town to attend a wedding for my farmers cousin, Kristi Lee. But what my dear hubby didn’t know was that, since his 30th Birthday is this Wednesday (October 17th), I planned a big surprise for him! As of yesterday afternoon he found out we were spending the next 4 days down in Los Angeles to spend his birthday week at his most favorite place in the world..

Thats right folks..

 
I’ve surprised my hubby with a trip to Disneyland!!
 
I’ve been planning this for quite some time now and let me tell you, it ain’t easy to keep such a big secret from your hubs! I booked everything, hid all the required documents in my suitcase, packed extra for him {and here he thought I just needed lots of goodies for the wedding!} and prayed that those in the know would keep the secret to themselves. And my gosh, it was worth it!!
 
I have some posts scheduled for this week and we will be back home by Friday..can’t wait to share with y’all our photos of this fabulous & fun trip!!
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Although I keep a daily notebook and try to keep my Project Life album current, some weeks I just get behind and forget all the little things that, in the moment, I tell myself I want to remember. Does this ever happen to you? Well..heres to a new feature on my blog! Every week I will write down little things here and there as they happen in my notebook and then will post them all together in my new feature, What I Want to Remember. I think it will help enrich my PL album as well as any scrapbook layouts I choose to create with photos from each week. The more I can add to my albums, the more cherished they become!! I highly encourage you to join me in this posting journey, whether you participate in Project Life or not..trust me, what you will get out of this will be priceless! The memories, the little snapshots of every day life..they are truly priceless.

For me, this past week was a rather busy week and full of emotions, family, doubt, anxiousness and excitement. This past weekend was our Thanksgiving and I drove to my hometown to spend the holiday with my family. I drove down on Friday and Adam joined us on Sunday. I was so thrilled he could make it to be with my family! My family had a lot going on this week, some personal issues had arisen that took us by storm and I can tell you that personally, I’m so glad we were able to spend the weekend together.

On Sunday, we made our Thanksgiving supper. And let me tell you, it was delicious! I cleaned the turkey out, washed him up and prepped him before popping him in the oven. I was quite the proud little chef!

 
and here was our finished product…mmm, makes me want turkey again!
 
 
And because Adam & I got married last November, this was our first Thanksgiving as newlyweds. Although the holiday isn’t a big celebration in our home, I was definitely counting my blessings this week and he was right at the top!
 
 
Okay so I’m posting my 4 favorite photos of the week but my top favorite? Our holiday table scene…Normal Rockwell? Eat your heart out! HA!!
 
 
Here we go, things I want to remember from this week:
 
– On Oct 10, Adam asked me if we could put the Christmas tree up! I was delighted and shocked..I’m the Christmas lover around here and its even too early for me!
-On Tuesday, Adam & I went in to town an hour and a half away for building supplies and ate at Original Joes, which is where we had our first date! We talked about our favorite holiday memories and discussed big future plans & dreams for our little family of 2
-On Wednesday my poor brother was admitted to the hospital:(He’s doing better and will hopefully be out soon!
-Wednesday night we went to close the coop door for the chickens to keep the heat in over night and found some of the roosters picking on Dharma, my poor cross beaked hen. She can’t defend herself and it broke my heart to see how cruel they were being. this started a discussion about getting rid of said roosters…I’ll keep you updated on that
-Speaking of my chickens, Thursday was the first day I gathered 7 eggs in one day! I only have 2 more hens that will start laying and then we will finally be at full “capacity”! Ridiculously excited to collect all the beautiful eggs every single time!
– This week marked the beginning of construction on the dome again. Heres to hoping we will be completed the construction by March 2013..fingers crossed!!
-This week we have seen snow..not enough to stick around for long but enough to take notice. It just seems too early! And the -5 temperatures have heard more than one grumble come from my lips!
– As the week comes to a close I am excited and anxious for a huge surprise I have had planned for almost a year that will come out this weekend…more on that on Monday 😉
– this weekend we are all packed and leaving for a wedding that is 6 hours away for Adams cousin. I’m excited to see everyone again, last time we saw many of them was at our own wedding last year!
-and, finally…I’m thinking about my family. We have been dealt a huge blow and I still haven’t wrapped my head around it.
 
And that is my list for things I want to remember from this week. I hope you all have an amazing weekend, no matter where you are!!
 
 
 
 
 
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There once was a little girl who’s grandmother was under the weather. She dressed for the chilly Autumn weather and brought a basket of goodies to cheer her granny up. The tale that follows is that of a lone, scary wolf and the enchanted forrest that she wanders thru while amidst danger around every corner..

 
I love photography. Its been a passion of mine for years! Over the last couple of years I have shot a few family sessions for friends and even a wedding for complete strangers who decided to take a chance at a newbie photographer and started me off on this exciting venture of photographing children in all their innocent, childish glory. In fact, I think I’m finally coming in to my own..I know the style I’d like to achieve from all my photo shoots and, while I practice and dream..I have my cute nieces to model for me at my every whim 😉
 
A few weeks ago I came across this idea that I wanted to do a Little Red Riding Hood themed photoshoot with all the beautiful Autumn leaves that have fallen all around us. I found the costume {easy to do in October!} and what follows made my heart sing..
 
 
My lil red riding hood..
 
 
She wanders thru the forrest, peeking around every tree..
 
 
 
 
I’m pretty sure Lil Red has never looked so cute!!
 
 
and it wouldn’t be an ending without Lil Red reading Little Red now would it?
 
 
*THE END*
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