Birthday Floral Picnic

First of many picnics with these sweet gals last week to celebrate my birthday with them! We shared plenty of savoury, as well as sweet treats. We laughed our hearts out. We had genuine talks about traveling, friendship and how quickly time has flown by. It's only been a little over a year since I moved to the island and I'm so grateful to have these ladies in my life. 

(Rory & Sarah if you guys are reading this, we wish you were there too!)

Is it Thursday yet?

Greetings! Is it Thursday yet?

Tomorrow we'll be hitting the road to make our way to Sasquatch Festival! Sunshine, music and good company. I can hardly wait! 

That also means that I'll be taking just a little over a week off from blogging, but follow me on Instagram so you can see what adventures we'll be up to!

On The Road | Tofino

Being a wife to a carefree husband, it has taught me to be more spontaneous in life. Like this past Easter long weekend, on Friday morning, we decided to just drive up the island! No plans, we just decided to go. The weather was fantastic, the scenery was breathtaking and my company was the best. 

What more could this lady ask for? 

Here are some of our favourite shots from the weekend, enjoy!

{first stop was this view from the Malahat}

{both our favourite part of the drive, between Nanaimo and Port Alberni - majestic trees surrounded the winding roads}

{we spotted the teepee and had to pullover, duh}

{lighthouse in Ucluelet - beautiful small town}

{watched the waves crashing in - we were both in awe of such beauty}

{on the road to Tofino}

{at Long Beach, where the view was spectacular even if it was rainy}

{one of our last stops on the way back: Lake Cameron - a perfect lunch spot}

Adventure is out there. This was only about a five hour drive, but there were so many sights to see, and even the sound of the heavy rain pounding against the truck was different. Travelling truly is good for the soul and stimulates all senses. 

Next on our list is Portland, Oregon.

Click here for more travel posts!

A Time Of Reflection

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

The ever so bright rays of the sun woke me up, nestled closely to a sleepy man, whom fills my heart with so much joy realizing he's my husband. I can't help but feel overwhelmed with love, beauty and grace on this day. 

Today is a time of reflection upon the pain and sacrifice Christ our Saviour went through to pay for our sins. He came down to earth as a man, knowing that his life would be taken away so that we can have freedom. He portrays so much passion and affection towards us in this act of love upon dying on the cross. I will never fully comprehend this kind of love, but it has set me free. He has given me freedom so that I can spend days like today where I can be next to somebody I love. To be compassionate and caring. To be kind, humble and generous. 

Without this kind of grace, I don't know where I would be. 

The Best Day Ever

Just a little over seven months ago, the love of my life and I celebrated becoming husband and wife. Without a doubt, it was the happiest day of my life as of yet! I feel blessed being able to look back at these beautiful photos and even more grateful that I get to spend the rest of my life with the loveliest man. 

Yesterday, one of my go-to wedding blogs when we were planning the wedding, Ruffled, featured our rustic farm wedding! I thought I'd share some of our favourite shots that you may have not seen yet!

{This has to be one of my favourite shots. What a handsome fella.}

{Our wedding party sure knew how to make us laugh.}

{One of the many signs I calligraphed with paint.}

{Best looking groom & groomsmen!}

{Yup. That's my husband!}

{Garrett and I designed the patterns and sewed all of the polka-dotted bow ties!}

{The ceremony programs I designed also doubled as fans for the guests.}

{Hello lovely bridesmaids!}

{I've always loved Grace Kelly's dress from that scene in To Catch A Thief and knew that my wedding dress would be like it.}

{So much labour of love went into these paper flower bouquets! Garrett gets credit for adding the "crinkled" effect in each flower - so crafty!}

{The most amazing dinner. I wish we could have this every night!}

{The farm owner's pup was getting a little taste of the dinner too!}

{I feel like this would be one of those photos we'll try and recreate after 50 years of marriage!}

{The happiest ending to the day, but also so ecstatic to be living life together from that day on as husband and wife!}

For more photos, check out our feature on Ruffled blog! Thank you Sarah & Graeme for capturing our love! 

West Coast Adventure 02

This place was insanely beautiful. Only a ten minute hike down and majesty awaits to greet you. We spent the most time hanging out here. The tide was really low so we were able to walk out quite far. Garrett was hilarious and so stoked about everything. It was definitely his favourite. 

We actually went to China beach before we headed back here to have dinner. It was the most secluded area and we found a perfect spot to make a fire pit. Thankfully, it was not very cold out (though there was a bit of rain throughout the evening). The fire kept us warm, and it was so lovely to just sit back and appreciate the little things together.

After camping for the night, we decided to drive out and find a different spot for breakfast. We found this little gem called Flea Beach. We ate blueberry scones and bananas as we dreamed about having one of the houses on the cliffs.

As we were getting closer to the city, Garrett decided to show me one more spot - Beecher Bay in East Sooke. There were certain spots where it reminded me of our honeymoon in Tulum! It was beautiful! We hiked up to the top and admired the view. Oh and the little succulents obviously caught my eye - I wish I could've taken them with me! 

Whew! Such a jam-packed weekend that was. Next time, I hope I don't catch a cold or allergies... We're hoping to do Tofino sometime this summer! Isn't it amazing that this little island we live in has so much to offer?! 

West Coast Adventure 01

Here's the first of two posts from our west coast trip last weekend! We drove up along the coast of Vancouver Island towards Port Renfrew and stopped at the beaches and regional parks along the way. It was so breathtaking to be surrounded by such beauty in nature. It was a perfect little getaway for exploring and adventure!

Our first stop was at the Sooke Potholes. I'm pretty sure you can hike all the way up by trail, but we drove up and hiked only a very small portion to get close to the water. I've seen really great photos of the potholes during the summer, so I would love to go back when the weather is a bit warmer!

Our next stop was French Beach. I love all things "french" so of course, we had to pull over when we saw the name. There's an easy access to the beach which I found very convenient. There was definitely a bit more people here with families, runners, and pups! I didn't mind it at all, I was just in awe really! We Garrett skipped some rocks since there were so many perfectly flat rocks on the beach. 

Before we hit up China Beach, we actually stopped at a view point in Jordan River to have lunch. Clearly we were both so hungry, we didn't take any photos. We had a small picnic of crackers, cheese and sliced meats! We also decided to take naps, because hey, who's stopping us? After a couple hours passed, we woke up to surfers and paddle boarders on the water. It was neat watching them from afar.

Our next stop was China Beach! This was the longest trek to get down to the beach but it was isolated. Other than a couple surfers on the beach, it was just us! We also came across this neat looking fort that was built around a fire pit! 

Stay tuned for the next post with another beach find (our favourite) and a couple other great spots! 

Welcome Home Cake

My sweet husband came home last weekend from work/school and I wanted to do something nice for him. Naturally, I would've had some baked goods (like his favourite chocolate chip cookies). But this time, I wanted to step it up and decided to bake him a cake! I added a welcome home topper plus some babies breath because why not right? And he loved it, of course. 

We love surprising each other with little things like this especially after being apart for some time. It makes the reunion extra sweet!

I followed this recipe by Martha Stewart and then a buttercream icing recipe from here.