The ultimate afternoon date!

About a month ago Jim and I snuck away on a Saturday afternoon, intending to just do recycling and a couple of errands. A random comment about the baked brie appy at the Shinglemill had us heading there for what was supposed to be a late lunch "snack". I got the brie and he got onion rings and a beer and we sat on the patio and enjoyed the beautiful May afternoon. 

THEN while eating those appies we started talking about our dinner at Monk's on Marine two weeks before and the next thing I knew we were heading there for a big lunch, complete with a super yummy steak sandwich (my favorite in town!) for me and the dry ribs and a salad for Jim. 

Turned out to be just the afternoon that we needed. Quality time together is never a waste of time or money. Investing in our relationship is important, even if it's rare that we make the time to do it!

After our big delicious lunch we went home and forced our electronics attached children into some good old fashioned FFF (forced family fun) with a walk through the Penticton trails. Overall it was just such a great 6 hours we spent together on a very rare quiet May weekend day. After the craziness of the 8 months long hockey season it was wonderful to get out and enjoy time as a family where we weren't rushing off to the next thing we had to do. 

 

Crib Tournament Results - 2021 and 2022

I first wrote about our annual fun crib tournament in a post called 2021 Crib Tournament - how many games can we play in 365 days?

I always intended to share the results of that tournament, but clearly my total lack of 2022 blog posts would mean I never did. So, as suspected, Jim has now beat me two years in a row. The kids and I joke that it could be many years before I actually beat him, but I do believe that it WILL HAPPEN! 

So here are the stats: In 2021 we played a total of 162 games! Jim won 92 games to my 70 games. He had 13 skunks + 1 double skunk to my 8 skunks. I remember one particularly horrible day where he skunked me twice and double skunked me all in the same day. Why in the hell did I keep playing him after the first skunk/double skunk?! 

Just for fun, we also play for MONEY! We pay .05 cents per hole and .10 cents for each hole in a skunk. In 2021 Jim won $115.40 and I won $74.95 so he was the overall winner of $40.45.

In 2022 - we sadly only played a total of 95 games all year :( We went through almost 2 months and didn't play a single game. We struggled with a lot of things in 2022 and this was just one of those things that we didn't often find the time or energy to do.

2022's tournament ended up being a way closer race but in the end Jim won 49 games to my 46 games (10 skunks to my 6 skunks). His winnings totaled $66.65 to my $43.15 so he was money winner of $23.50 and again the overall game winner.

I'd love to see a year where the games won are close but the money winner is the opposite person. It could easily happen...but I will admit that 2023 is NOT feeling like my year either. I am already 0/4 of games played so it's not looking great! Still lots of games left to play and we're hoping for more time and energy this year. 

We still LOVE this crib board we bought off Wayfair in 2020. We use almost every time we play together. And in this photo you can see the trusty black book that holds our scores and our cards too!

Camping is always our main times to play crib. This past year I'd say at least 30% of all of our games played were while we were camping in the spring/summer

If you've never played this game and you love crib, you should try it out! It's called Crib Wars and it's crazy. It screws with the rules of cribs and makes you have to play really strategically and that doesn't always mean scoring the highest hands possible! We don't play it a lot but this weekend up at the Woodson's cabin on Lois Lake we did play quite a few rounds on it! 

 

Living the cabin life during my favorite weekend of the whole summer! I got a wicked sunburn but we played so many games that weekend. 

I love this last photo....our Jordie boy has learned to play crib too! He loves playing the game, while the other two have zero interest in learning. This kid is so much like his daddy!

After a long and heavy day we just made the time to do it

Today was just a beast of a day. It was long and heavy and full of hard things. Locked out of the strata's email, fence blown down from the storm, lots of driving, year end work at VIU, strata meeting prep...and all on not a great nights sleep! Not to mention Dr Henry's news conference today with more strict Covid restrictions coming our way. :( 

The day started early with the kids first day at daycare/spring break camp so we were out the door earlier than we are on school days, then work, then to pick up the boys, do some strata work, pick up KJ, more strata work, chat with my sister, make and feed kids dinner, virtual strata meeting...just another long and crazy day for me! Plus Jim only got home at 6 and had to turn around and leave again at 9 (don't ask, messy shift schedule this week on Texada). 

My meeting ended at 8 and KJ was sound asleep when I went up to check on her. As tired and hungry as I was and really wanted to just sit on the couch and visit with Jim for a few minutes, instead I decided I really needed to get in a quick walk and feel the cold air on my face for even just a few minutes. James asked if he could come with us but he had to stay home with the other kids and even when he suggested he come and Jim stay home, his dad replied with "no way buddy, I haven't seen Mom all day and I want to spend a few minutes with her before I have to leave again" It was a super sweet and touching moment and I was so happy to get bundled up and do our little 15 minute loop around the neighbourhood. 

That 15 minutes was the perfect ending to a stressful and hard day. I am going to bed with a huge smile on my face knowing how much I am loved and how much I love him, and once again really proud of how far we've come. We are putting in the work and we are seeing the benefits of that hard work every day. We are making the effort to connect and spend quality time together and it is making all the difference in the world for us and our family. 

Making time for us ❤️

I wrote a post back in January about how much Jim and I are working hard on our marriage and making time for each other, even if it's just an hour here and there. We really enjoy these short times together and come back feeling so refreshed and connected. 

Yesterday we escaped for an hour long walk through the Penticton trails and it was beautiful! No whining kids and time to just walk and talk and laugh together. We are in a new stage of our lives together and we are both loving it! For years our life was so stressful and so busy and these covid times have forced us to slow down a lot and I don't know that we'll ever go back to being as busy as we ever were before. I love this new slower pace of life we are living now. We're making time for each other and the health of us as individuals and our marriage has proven to be a real positive to our overall life together. 

It was the weirdest weather day yesterday...rain, sun, clouds, hail (not where we were but heard from friends it was crazy in other parts of town!) We timed our walk perfectly and the sun peaked out just as we got started on our walk.

I love this guy who is always up for a random trail selfie with me! 💕

How the 2021 Crib Tournament is going for me...

It's definitely NOT going good for me! 

I don't think he's ever beaten me this bad so many times in ONE day! I'm not even sure why I kept playing after the double skunk but I guess I'm a glutton for punishment! Yikes. Let's hope in coming months the Crib gods are on my side to kick his ass even half as bad as he has been kicking mine! 

2021 Crib Tournament - how many games can we play in 365 days?

If you know us at all you will know that Jim and I's favorite way to spend quality time together is to play crib. He taught me how to play when we had only been together less than 6 months and we have played thousands of games together over the years.

This year for our anniversary we splurged and bought this awesome huge crib board off of Wayfair. It comes with a stand that you can use between two chairs but we tend to use it on a table between us instead. It was not cheap but we both agree that it was our best purchase of the whole year! We both think that we played more crib in the last 6 months than we did in the last 2 years. 

Before we had kids we used to write down all of our crib games and even played for points/money (which we never actually gave each other). This year we decided to do a year long tournament with each point being worth 5cents (10cents for each hole if skunked!) Then on January 1, 2022 we'll tally all of our games and see who the ultimate money and game winner is. Then that person gets to go and spend that money on whatever they want....with zero guilt! 

This photo was from our first time playing on the new board! Funny story, it arrived to PR after we had left to Texada for camping, but our awesome friend Dena grabbed it from our porch and brought it over to us when she came for a daytrip visit!

We stole away to Lund the other day for a lunch date (thanks Nana and Papa for taking the kids) and the Boardwalk Restaurant has crib boards so you can play while you wait for your food. Jim kicked my ass and skunked me :( 

This is what a lot of our games here at home look like. A child, or two, around coloring or playing on their tablets or eating. They like to be where we are and we don't mind that one little bit. 

Jim says if yesterday is any indicator (I lost both games we played...I'm not off to a good start) then we should call it the 2021 ass-whooping extravaganza! This was from New Years Eve when he kicked my ass horribly (probably my worst loss in a long time!) Thankfully this skunk doesn’t count as we started the tourney on January 1 😉

Note: I started writing this post yesterday afternoon after we’d played two morning games that I lost, then last night we played two more and I beat him good both games! Not quite a skunk but still both games had significantly more points! 

My bet is on Jim winning this whole thing, but you just never know how the year will play out!

Note to self

On a relatively sunny early October day when you think you are okay to not wear socks to watch soccer on a Saturday morning....DON'T DO IT! You will freeze and regret that decision immediately as soon as you get settled in.

But another note to self - Always be grateful for the little things in life. And to others out there - Always marry the kind of man that will rub your feet for the hour long practice :)

I have one of the good ones...and yes I know that and know how lucky I am!  

Favourite Photo Friday

I'm exhausted today so these photos are not in date order, but all are cute photos nonetheless! 

Starting off the week with last weekend's Kings game, and a rare selfie with this fuzzy faced guy. I can't wait till he shaves this beast of a beard off, although he keeps threatening to keep it forever....which I know him well enough to know that as soon as it gets warm again he'll be too hot to keep it :) 

James living his best life enjoying the hockey game...and hot chocolate!

We LOVE Rocco!

Aaaawww I love this little guy! Baby Owyn has been such a wonderful addition to our whole extended family, and this great auntie is completely in love with him.

Yup...Grandpa still has the touch! Sunday dinner snuggles with the little guy

Another day and more snuggles

I see these two sharing a really special bond in the years to come.

Sassy girl ready for dance class

Sunday dinner outfit....a dress....with a skirt underneath it...with no tights or panties on apparently....finished off with a hoodie and snow boots. This was a not worth the fight outfit right here! 

Another day and another snuggle! I had hoped we'd get to see this little guy lots and thankfully we have! His awesome Mama brings him over often and lets me watch him for her when she goes to work out class...which PS: GO TANA! When I had a 2 month old I did nothing but sit on the couch and watch TV all day everyday...I certainly didn't go and workout! I'm so proud of this girl....she's killing this first time Mama thing! 

Thankful for this guy

He's on graveyard shift this week which is always tough but with a basement reno in full force before his surgery next week he has found himself running errands in the morning and then only sleeping a few hours in the afternoon/evening. Yesterday on zero sleep after working all night, he spent all day painting, picking up kids from school and the sitter, getting groceries, etc, all so that I didn't have to go out in the snow. I despise being cold and the snow makes me cranky. I love seeing it, but being out in it is not my favorite thing to do.

Then at 5pm he found out he didn't have to go to work, so he ate a quick dinner and then went outside for an hour and a half to shovel walkways and sidewalks at our strata. During his time outside I realized our KJ girl also hadn't been outside either all day so got her suited up at 7 to go out and play with Daddy for a little bit. She LOVED it and is clearly her Daddy's girl when it comes to snow!

I don't know how he was still functioning by the time he came inside shortly before 8. He had only slept maybe 5 hours the day before and then had been up since 4pm, so essentially awake for nearly 30 hours by that time. I could never do what he does!

I am thankful for his work ethic and how he will always sacrifice his own sleep and comfort if it means being able to be there for his kids and our family. I am a lucky wife.

True Love Tuesday

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have Crohn's disease. I've been very fortunate for the past several years that it has stayed mostly at bay, with just some random days/weeks where I feel kinda crappy, but overall no big flare ups since the year I got pregnant with Kennedy. I had a bowel resection surgery a few months after James was born so just over 9 years ago and I always said if it kept it away for 20 years I'd be happy, so we're half way there. 

Anyways, all that to say that these are some photos I came across while doing the basement clean out. The first one was when we first got together, and the second was three years later when I was deep into a flare of Crohn's and had been on prednisone for months. It's funny because when I looked like that Jim said he never even noticed it, I guess because he saw me every day, but wow, what a difference a few years can make. That's why the post is called True Love, because it's gotta be true love to not notice that your wife to be looks like a swollen balloon. I'll never forget the look on my dad's face when I walked off the ferry a few months before that photo was taken and he was shocked to see me (remember back when there was no FB, digital photos or things like Facetime, so my parents would go months between visits with no idea what I looked like!)

2003 vs 2006

Then here I was not quite 1 year later...after a lot of walking and eating healthy, and stopping the prednisone, losing the water weight and getting medications straightened out that helped my Crohn's finally. I think I went down almost 25 lbs from August 2006 when the photo was taken until August 200 when we got married. 

I know it’s Spring when...

....mom and dad are sneaking slurpies and ice cream after the kids got to bed!

A few nights ago we were thinking we wouldn’t get them again and then Danielle texted to say she was thinking of them since I mentioned them. So off Jim went for a treat for all 3 of us. Yummy!!