A lil' tribute to my BFFF

This post is dedicated to miss Bree (yes I'm pretty sure I've done this before lol)

But I just had to let everyone know that I have the bestest BFFF! (yes there's an extra f and yes it's an inside joke).

Nothing exceptionally special has caused me to write this post, just thinking about thanksgiving I guess and all that I am grateful for. Bree's one of those friends that will just last forever. She's kind, thoughtful, and just all around amazing. Many of you know that after Nixon was born I suffered from post partum depression. (and I'm not ashamed of it, it's normal, it happens, I got help and worked through it.) Anywho, I was sad, depressed but mostly ridiculously hormonal and crazy... and then I met Bree. Bree literally brought buckets of sunshine and happiness to my life. She talked to me every day, brought me cookies, treats, food, treasures, made me leave the house... and what I'm most grateful for... her friendship. Once I kinda got back into the swing of things and was feeling a little more chipper her service and amazing love didn't stop... it continued. Randomly, she'd still bring cookies, brownies, crave cupcakes, make me go on countless adventures, watch my kids, love my kids... there was no end to her loving care and no way out lol. I was hooked, I found a soulmate, someone I could depend on and tell anything and everything to. Someone who would never even think to judge me.

I just want her to know how much I love her and how grateful I am for good friends in my life. I have been blessed with some amazing friends throughout the various stages of my life thus far and hope that I can be as good a friend to them as they have been to me.

Breanna Jean, You're awesome and I wil forever be indebted to you for your graciousness and love. I love you!

Thoughts...

So I find myself on a friday evening reclining while watching Liar Liar with my laptop and a pint of Haagen Dazs Mayan Chocolate ice cream. Nixon's asleep, Liv's at her cousins for a sleepover and Nick's somewhere on the road between here and Edmonton returning from a business meeting. Now what do I do? I look around me and see my basement covered in food, toys and playdough, yet the urge to clean does not seem to manifest, no matter how much I say "I should...". I am quite behind with work and know that more is coming in the week, but still.... no urges. So, I do something that I frequently neglect and haven't done in some time... I blog. Now, what to blog about? Well, you've all seen my new blog design by now, and Yes, I do blogs as well as all that other stuff. I really love the way my blog turned out, it feels very.. ME! But this isn't my business blog, so enough about that. Lately I've been full of gratitude. I feel like I have so much and don't really deserve it. We have a beautiful home, a vehicle I LOVE, two happy, healthy children, a happy home, an amazing husband who is just so good to me despite my clear insanity and my amazing friends. I think that if I had to pick the 2 things that I was the most grateful for this year, it would be the gospel (even though I'm really not the best at living it to my fullest, but that's what progression is for right?) and for the people I have around me, both friends and family. My two closest friends, Kelly & Bree have been so good to me, they really are both just amazing women and I'm so happy to have them in my life, especially over this last year. I have so many other wonderful friends and really miss my close ones from Winnipeg & from childhood. As I reflect, I realize that this year has been an especially tough one. Despite my many blessings, I have had a rough time, figguring out post-partum depression that seemed to fester into I don't know what; stresses of managing a home, a business, partnering with some amazing women for another business, the guilt of my businesses, being a good mommy, wifey and friend and who knows what else! But looking back, all I can say is that I survived! And that survival was in large part to my best friends. They made me smile and talked me through a whole lot of issues, they took my kids, they threw parties, they let me vent, stress and cry. But most importantly, they let me just be me, and didn't judge me one bit for doing so. To them I am unbelievably and forever grateful. I know the Lord had a special plan when he put those women in my path, they are exactly what I need and combined with my wonderful Husband, they keep me going. I love them, I love Nick, I love my sweet little babies and I am truly grateful for the peace and joy I have been feeling recently.

Adventures in Breesitting! (warning.. this is a loong one!)

Haha like that title? Clever huh? (in case you are too young to know... or too old to remember, it's a play on "adventures in babysitting" (late 80's film)) ANYWHO.. the tagline for the movie is:"She thought babysitting was easy money - until she started hanging out with the Andersons."
So.. my tagline for this post will be: "She thought being a stay at home mom was slightly boring - until she started hanging out with Bree Johnson."
hahaha ok so I haven't posted in a while, but I wanted to recap some of my eventful adventures with the Bestest friend ever!

-Adventure # 1 (not our 1st.. but 1st I'll blog about) -The Settee!

Oh man, so this beauty was at the dump in Okotoks (Actually Salvage Yard but Dump sounds funnier). So we were at the dump (where the salvage yard is located) and Bree stopped dead in her tracks! She had found a Settee! Actually, I think she fell in love with the chair first, but whatever. After humming and haaing over it for quite some time she figgured she probably wouldn't have enough cash to buy both (sometimes they suggest the size of your "donation") but she was set on the chair. After tracking down a worker, she asked "how much" and to her amazement, the worker said... $15 for the set. "SOLD!" haha so that was the easy part! We couldn't fit both in either of our vehicles, so we had to put the couch aside until we could come back the next day with my truck. They had us haul it accross the salvage yard and into a room... it was funny, but awesome! So we paid and all was well. The next day, we went back and this awesom rugby player from Wales helped us carry and tie down the settee to my truck.. .it was quite the event!

-Adventure #2 -Saskatoon Berry Farm

This actually should be like adventure 1.5 'cause it occurred in between trips to the Salvage Yard, but meh. So... Bree and her Succulents!!! haha. We went to the SBF 'cause Bree was wanting succulents and I wanted to show her how awesome it is with the beautiful plants and just diviineness! So, since I was driving the truck (to pick up the Settee, Bree had my van... with ALL 4 KIDS! haha it was hilarious! She said it was fun singing ABC's with Liv and I wish we got a picture of all those car seats! It was LEGENDARY! The kids loves the SBF 'cause there are some sheep, pigs, chickens, dogs and lots of pretty things to look at! There was an old mechanical horse that was only a quarter a ride! It was soo much fun!

-Adventure #3 -Vintage Shopping!

Well.. more like adventures 3-25 lol we go vintage hunting a fair bit! But Bree has this draw to hats! She LOVES old hats and I swear everytime we go out she finds another one to try on! She hasn't bought any yet.. but she has had her eye on many a vintage hats! Oh man though.. vintage shopping with us is a complete gongshow! Our kids leave trails of food, nearly brake things, scream, cry... but we LOVE it! The vendors never seem to mind when we come in either! It's just soo much fun seeing all of the old treasures and wondering who owned them and what their stories are! We have been vintage shopping this year more than we probably would because we're both doing Antiqued Kids' rooms. Lotsa fun! Next time we go.. why don't you come along? The more chaos the better haha!

-Adventure #4 Spa & Okotoks Day!
So for Mother's Day Nick (with some encouragement) got me a spa day! Well it wasn't like a full day although it took up most of the afternoon! Anywho, I went to the spa and Bree came along! We got pedicures which were delightful.. mainly because they had awesome massage chairs and put us close to each other so we could talk and laugh the whole time. After the pedicures, I got a massage and my eyebrows done while Bree just relaxed and enjoyed some alone time! It was Heavenly! We had such a good time together there and then we went to some of the Boutiques which was extra funny 'cause it was raining so we were running through the rain from store to store jumping over puddles and laughing our heads off! One of the best days ever! At one of the stores they had the CUTEST hats so we both bought one and I'm sure you've seen us wearing them 'cause we both do all the time haha.

(sad, can't find my other pictures from this) -Adventure #5 (really occurred well before "Adventure #1" but meh! -Bree's surprise Birthday Party!
So I facebooked Brandon and told him I wanted to throw Bree a surprise party.. he had no problem letting me do that and it was awesome! haha I had so much fun.. it had a james bond theme because we were all sneaky and then we went Laser tagging but I gave the address of one place and the directions to another and everyone else surprised Bree while Nick & I sat waiting at the place we usually go to and then we all met up and it was hilarious! Oh man! Then we went back to my place where we drank fancy drinks and laughed all night! Such a good time!

-Adventure # 6 -MY surprise Birthday Party!
haha so this is a good one lol! Apparently Bree & Steph (my sis-in-law and dear friend) were planning this for some time and Steph was awesome at not letting me know anything! Bree on the other hand lol... No.. Bree was great! I knew something was up.. but I didn't know what. I knew she wanted to take me out for my bday so I thought we were gonna get food and then come back to someone's house and ppl would be there... UNTIL she made a phone call! She said she had to call Brandon and tell him to close the garage except Stephanie who was really on the other line was loud and very high-pitched! SO I knew it wasn't Brandon, but I didn't know who it was. We got to the restaurant and a bunch of my favourite people ever were there! IT was awesome! I loved it! Best birthday ever!


Oh how I love my little Doe! And that concludes the adventures... for now haha!