Our Proposal Story

Hello Ladies!

It has been quite a while since we've chatted on here! I know everyone is busy - growing babies and training puppies - but, I finally have a life event to talk about!

As you all already know, we got engaged on our 10th anniversary!

It wasn't exactly a surprise, we designed the ring together. The process of creating my ring began at the beginning of April. We went to a shop in Gastown, Cavalier, which specializes in gemstones. I've never wanted a diamond ring. I've always leaned towards Emeralds or Sapphires, and Cavalier had a ton, along side other stone we had never considered.  We were both really drawn to the green stones - Emerald, Green Sapphire and Tsavorite. And when we compared them all side by side the most vibrant was the Tsavorite (Green Garnet). So, it all started with a stone. After thinking a lot about what the finished ring would look like in the end, we made a design appointment at the beginning of June. It was a very simple and relaxing experience, and I'm so glad we got to do it together. When someone asks Corey about picking out the ring, he tells them, "We do everything else together, so it just felt right to do this together too."

So, I knew the ring was being made - we were told turnaround time was about 3 weeks, which would have pretty much been our anniversary exactly, July 8th. When Canada Day weekend rolled around I started to get curious, but Corey kept telling me had hadn't heard anything about the ring. He kept up that story all the next week. 

Finally, it was the 8th, and after work we went for dinner at a new - booked a month in advance to get a table - italian restaurant, Savio Volpe. Our dinner was amazing, I highly recommend it! Then we headed home, and as soon as we parked Corey turned to me and said "Can you wait here, I'll text you in a couple minutes." So, I sat and waited in the car… for about 20 minutes! The whole time I knew what was about to happen, but I still got butterflies while I walked from the car to our apartment.

When I opened the door, the whole apartment was filled with candles - similar to what he had done for our first Valentine's Day in his parent's basement. Snow Patrol's "Run" was playing, and Corey was kneeling on a blanket laid out on the living room floor. I went over to him, knelt on the blanket with him, and he took my hands. He started telling me the highlights of the last ten years. Corey became so overwhelmed by emotion, he started crying, and had to pause to regain his composure. This caught me totally off guard, and I didn't shed a tear the entire time - which is extremely unlike me. Continuing on, he said "There have been 10 years, 4 homes, 3 cities, 2 people and, 1 love". Little did he know, I had written the exact same thing in a card on the table waiting to be opened. He told me he couldn't imagine living his life without me, and then said, "Will you marry me?" Of course I said "Yes!" - I mean it's been 10 years! When he put the ring on my finger it was more incredible than I could have ever imagined.

I love that he chose to propose in our home, the place we share our lives. Now, everyday I am reminded of that night. The only problem is, now we can never move!

Here are a few "engagement" photos. Yes, we took them ourselves - gotta love self timers!

For a close up of the ring you can check out Cavalier's Instagram post. They also asked us to share our proposal story so they could use it in one of their #LeftSideHeavy posts. So, I sent them the condensed version...

It was the evening of our ten year anniversary. I walked into our apartment, flooded with candlelight. I heard one of our songs playing, and I saw him kneeling. I walked over to him, he took my hands and began retelling the story of us. There was 10 years, 4 homes, 3 cities, 2 people and 1 love. He could barley get through the speech he had prepared, overcome with emotion as I had never seen him before. Then he said "Will you marry me" I said "Yes" and a new chapter of our lives began.

We haven't spent much time on wedding planning yet, although Corey has taken the lead already. It's actually quite funny - he requested a white board for planning purposes. It will be a very small wedding, only immediate family and our closest friends - about 30 people. No wedding party, no hall, very little tradition. Just a day where we can celebrate our relationship with the people who mean the most to us.

Sending love.

Xo, A

Surprise

Hey everyone!
Well it is 3:05 am here and I can't sleep! And for good reason too.... We are having baby number 3! I am 10 weeks along. And have to pee in the middle of the night and can never settle again! So I am very thankful for the food network that's on 24/7.
It took me a while to come round to the idea of another baby but we have told William now and he was so excited! He said Oh Mom I am going to give you a cuddle now! He sings my tummy ABC's it is the most beautiful thing ever.  Lucas could care less!  He kicked me the other day and I said please don't kick Mummy it will make the baby sad. He said No! It will make the baby Happpppy!  We always said he is like our middle child. He kinda does what he wants most of the time 😳.
We only just got settled into our new 3 bedroom home and now we have to renovate the garage into a bedroom. The boys could share. But it still leave us with out room for my parents or company when they come. We have to look at a bigger car too. 3 changes things! Someone said what's it like to have three kids.  And the joke was. Imagine you're drowning and someone hands you a baby. I am praying for a bit of grace. Aaron has been amazing. Like I said it took me a while to wrap my mind around it.
Trips home will become less and less.  We will probably come home once before baby is two and then who knows.
William has started Prep. Which is Kindergarten at home.  He has gone from strength to strength. He soaks up everything and insists on teaching it all to me on the afternoon. I can't get over I have a school kid! Life is pretty good that's for sure!

Rachel Ray is cooking 5 nights worth of pasta. She made this Rigatoni. Oh my it looks amazing! And solves the question what on earth do I do with the Eggplant growing in my garden.

Missing you all!  Oxox

2016, so far

Hi Ladies!

I've been meaning to write a post for a while now… where did January go?!

I hope you all had a wonderful start to the new year - new goals, and endless possibilities!

Every year I put together a bucket list, usually updating it with each season as it comes. My goals for the year include the following…

Be more adventurous in the kitchen. Instead of trying a new recipe for a similar item each week - which I'll admit was more challenging than I had anticipated. I have a list of 12 new, more challenging, recipes and techniques to try this year. These include Beef Wellington, Mozzarella, and Panna Cotta. I'd also like to bake bread more often, and make better use of my ice cream attachment. I will also soon be adding a pasta machine to my kitchen arsenal - yay!
And our #sixpacksnackattack weekly challenge has definitely helped keep us inspired to try new recipes and techniques too, so I'm thankful for that.

Read more books. I'm hoping to read 12 this year (I only read 6 last year… not including cookbooks - which I will sit and read cover to cover, like a novel). So far I've read Paper Towns, am currently reading A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain, and I have Kitchens of the Great Midwest on deck.
Paper Towns was pretty good, it had some solid adolescent insight. Then we watched the movie, and so much was skipped over that it wasn't even the same story - thats what I get for reading the book first, even though I know better than that! I should probably also stop reading YA books, but I'm kind of a sucker for them.
A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain is a darker book (which I guess I read a lot of last year), but it's also kind of magical and draws you into this small town. It's based in BC around the Highway of Tears. I'm about halfway through, and enjoying it more and more.

Finish my "Auntie" Square Blanket. I put this project on hold about a year ago, and I really want to complete it this year. I have about half of the granny squares I'll need to make the blanket. I can whip those up pretty quick, but I think I'll have a hard time figuring out how to arrange the squares when I'm ready to assemble it. Since I'm using up the scraps from the blankets I made the girls, I have a random amount of each colour. But I'm sure it will work out fine, and become something I treasure.

Take more long weekends. I've already warned my boss, and he is 100% supportive. With the exchange rate the way it's been its not likely we'll ve venturing south of the boarder. But. we are hoping to do a Tofino trip in the next few months, an Okanagan trip, and a camping trip north of Whistler this summer.

Really this is the 2016 bucket list...

Other things...

• We started watching Friday Night Lights - binge watching the first season in a weekend! It is filling the OTH sized hole in my heart. It's a bit more real than OTH, less drama for drama's sake. Corey is also super into it - the football aspect helped with that.
  
• I've been listening to the album "If You Leave" by Daughter pretty much on repeat, especially this song. Isabella is dancing a contemporary solo to it, and it brings tears to my eyes every time I watch her. So much beauty and grace - I am a very proud auntie.
• Just found out Joy is working on a new book - Brunch! Due out next Spring!

• Also, getting more and more excited for the Gilmore Girls revival! This interview with Lauren Graham assures me it will be everything we are hoping for.

• And we can not forget about Fuller House! Seriously, way to go Netflix! We will definitely be getting our nostalgia fix this year. Now can they please make a series about Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski living happily ever after?
• Planning some projects around the house. Starting with a new headboard, like this one. We'll see what else we can come up with. Maybe a coffee table too, like this one.

February is looking pretty quiet, that is after this long weekend comes and goes.

We spent last weekend in Port Alberni, helping my sister and the girls move back into their old house. And I got to watch the girls' festival dress rehearsal, so I got to see 11 of their 16 dances! Which is madness! They all did so well, and are growing into such amazing dancers - SYTYCD watch out!

Corey left this morning for a few days in Toronto for work, meeting with Whirlpool. He also got to go to Las Vegas at the beginning of January with Samsung. So, needless to say he's been pretty lucky so far in his role at Best Buy.

And then when Corey gets back on Friday, Aaron & Michelle are coming for the weekend. We were originally planning a Portland getaway, but the exchange rate squashed all hope of that happening. So instead we are going to head over to Gibsons for the Sunshine Coast Beer Festival, and stay Saturday-Sunday. It should be fun, we haven't really had a chance to explore the Sunshine Coast.

Other plans for February include lots of cooking & baking, decluttering the apartment, and few long drives. I see most of my free time being spent at home this month, which I couldn't be happier about.


Thinking of you always.

Sending love,
Xo, A

The happenings with the Mulligans

Hello ladies, 

Thank you for keeping up with the blog posts, its a great way to keep in touch with you ladies outside of text messages and Facebook posts. 

The past month has been great, starting with the lovely Christmas vacation spent with family and friends. Quinn and I hosted Christmas this year, which gave me the PERFECT excuse to bake and bake and bake. Let me tell you, with Quinn being gluten free it was easy to make sure none of the Christmas baking went missing…. I mean, not much went missing, I'm allowed to indulge too ;) 

Quinn's parents and sister and her now fiancé came to our house Christmas eve. We has lots of appies and desserts that evening and of course, lots of visiting. The next morning, we opened up our gifts from Quinn's family. It was a nice time to spend together. While opening gifties, I had some gooey cinnamon buns baking in the oven. I have to say, I like this new Martha Stewart thing I have going on. At about noon, Mom and Dad came to our house. We then opened up gifts from them. My dad made me a live edge wood bench for our foyer… it is beautiful. I was very impressed with my dad's skills. He said the wood is very local, he got the wood from McLean's Mill in Port Alberni, BC. I am now very proud to show you when you come to visit. 

After Christmas day, Quinn and I went to Kelowna for one day to attend one of the Kelowna Rockets home games. Quinn does analytics for his team and they have been quite taken with him. Quinn has designed software making it possible to track many components of the hockey game. He has also made it possible for the coaching staff to access from behind the bench, live as the game is being played out. He is loving it, and is doing it with his friend Drake. On this particular day I went with Quinn along for the ride. 

We then went back to the island for New Years. It is always great to catch up with my side of the family too. We had new years this year at Auntie Corrie's in Comox, she has the perfect house for hosting such a big family. 

Since being back at work after Christmas Holiday Quinn and I have been trying to be better at going to the gym. I have brought my gym bag to work with me every day as the gym is 5 blocks from my work. I am able to walk there after work when Quinn is running late…. He only ran late twice this week = I went twice this week. I guess twice is better than not going at all. 

Also this month, Ella and Jon came over to visit. We went to the So You Think You Can Dance tour. It was GREAT. We decided it will be an annual get together! Very inspiring, makes me want to join dance again, but I wouldn't know what level I would be at anymore. 

Last Fall was a big time for me learning how to be a "Master Baker" as Quinn once called me until we both realized, that might not be the best word to call me. So, We are now going with Sous Baker! Quinn thinks the name sous Baker sounds like a woman's name, however it is certainly better than the alternative. 

My new goal is to make amazing Italian food. I have attempted gnocchi (packaged gnocchi pieces, handmade sauce from scratch) and I must say, it tastes great.. I'm making it tonight again. It's so easy, but tastes so good, you wouldn't think it was that easy. I will need to learn how to make gnocchi from scratch, Alysia I know you have mastered this, maybe we could have cooking day soon and make gnocchi from scratch :)  

Hope you girls are doing well. I think about you girls often 

Sending my love, Aalysia

Welcome 2016

Hello Ladies of 2016,

Just realized today that we are one year away from our 10 year reunion. Wild right! We all look a little different now ;) Well anyways happy New Year to you all. Hope everyone is doing well, it was great to see these post the last few days.

Minnesota is all well and good, cold....really cold. Martin is making me look bad by being super busy at work, but doesn't he always. My work is good, as of the 25th I am officially only working at one office Monday to Thursday 8-5pm. I am so grateful to for the first time in my career to be the full time, non temporary, respected, appreciated, oldest (haha), hygienist in the practice. The last few years have been full of all kinds of phases with work life, and I'm glad to say I feel like I've payed my dues and I'm ready for some regular scheduled work life! I can't wait to plan out the next few months in advance!

Some exciting life events in our family, My brother Drew and Tamara are expecting their second baby in mid to end of July. Martin is going to be traveling to Africa in April for a mouth the Mayo Clinic on an international health exchange. I plan to travel to BC in the beginning of April and am looking into a July trip when the baby comes, closer to their next dating ultrasound.

Looking forward to all that the New Year will bring. One of the things I was most proud of last year was getting our wedding photos on the wall and in a book without delay! I'll have to take a better photo of our gallery wall but I wanted to share the link to the book we made on Picaboo with our photographers pictures. So enjoy, will touch base soon with more adventures, recipes and more. Miss you all hope all is well!  


http://www.picaboo.com/?share=9ec6702a0f5c46bfe80db61e1476109b&version=661474&siteID=ViaPreview


<3 K xo

Here's to 2016.

Here's to 2016.
A new year full of new plans, ideas, and hope. Thankful for another year.

I was revisiting my goals for last year - this is something Jon and I do a lot at the start of each year together - and it was so fun to see the things I accomplished and compare them to what I'd like to try this coming year.

Though I didn't quite master recipes each week like Alysia did with her cookies, we did try a bunch of new recipes - basically all the recipes from the Oh, she Glows cookbook. Uh-maze-ing! Some of our favourites include the baked oatmeal, Spa day Bircher Museli, African Peanut Stew, Kale and Lentil soup, Soba Noodle Salad, and the Banana soft serve. Just to name a few. Her second cookbook comes out this year - very excited!

Aalysia & Alysia, you've inspired me to do more baking too, specifically from the Butter cookbook. We'll see if I can muster up enough butter for one specific baked item per month - that's outside of muffins, granola bars and the "regular" cookies.

Though I didn't get on my bike much - my foot was still having a hard time adjusting to that, I did do a lot of hiking in the spring and early summer, which was lovely. We have so many incredible trails around here.
This year, I plan to start trying to incorporate some running into my daily walks, try the bike again, and continue to hike/explore. :) We have started snowshoeing which is a wonderful way to spend the day up the mountain - we love it! So does Tolmie.

To continue learning new things, I tried some different knitting patterns and got a bit more adventurous with my sewing skills. This year, I've registered for a few different knitting classes already: some skill-building classes, as well as a Scandinavian Yoke Sweater class. I am so excited to practice my skills at colour work - the possibilities are endless! :)
Last year, I completed a cross-stitch for my sister for Christmas. This year, I plan to complete the Twelve Days of Christmas for myself to have hanging next year.

There are many other little things I hope to try out this year, but I'll post those as they come around.

I hope you've all had a wonderful start to 2016. Looking forwards to hearing your plans for the year.

Think of each of you daily.
Lots of love.
xo E.

Year of Cookies - December

Hi Ladies!

So the 2015 has come to an end. It certainly was an incredible year! 

Christmas was great, but very busy! Besides the holiday hustle and bustle at work, we did a bit of travelling to see all of our family over the 6 short days we took off for Christmas. We headed to Port after work on the 22nd, celebrated my sister's birthday on the 23rd, did Christmas with my family Christmas Eve (complete with making cookies for Santa - or supervised as Talia made cookies for Santa), and took the last ferry home that night. We spent Christmas morning just the two of us relaxing at our place, before hitting the road to Princeton. We spent a couple snow-filled days at Corey's parents' house with his sisters, before heading back to the city. Then we spent the 28th at home all day to recoup after an exhausting week.

Here are a few photos from our white Christmas…

And now for the last instalment of the Year of Cookies!

Cranberry Shortbread Bars, Gingerbread Cookies,

Peppermint Sandwich Cookies, Whipped Shortbread, Rugelach

Week 48 - Cranberry Shortbread Bars, via Fork vs Spoon - baked for 22 minutes, cut into 12 bars
I was hunting for a good cranberry orange shortbread recipe when I came across these bars. They turned out great! The perfect kick off to the holiday season - a little sweet, tart, citrusy, nutty & oaty! I subbed in pistachios for the walnuts, thought they would be a bit more festive. I will definitely be making these again… especially since Corey ate 3 bars the day I made them!

Week 49 - Gingerbread Cookies, via Pastry Affair - baked for 7-8 minutes, made 64 cookies (mixed sized cookie cutters)
I haven't tried many gingerbread recipes, mainly because the ones I have tried turned out dry and crunchy. these have quite a bit of molasses, so they remained a bit chewy. We decorated them simply with some white icing and a few gold sprinkles.

Week 50 - Peppermint Sandwich Cookies, via Joy the Baker - baked for 11 minutes, 18 sandwich cookies

This recipe was a bit of a flop. In theory it should have worked great, but it just didn't come together the way I expected. I didn't use all my dough, it started to get too warm, yet crumbly, and rolling was becoming impossible. I'm not sure why she specifies not to chill the dough before rolling. I think it would have worked better after being chilled. I had to let my filling cool for almost 2 hours for it to thicken up. That being said, the flavours in these cookies were great - closest cookie I've ever made to an Oreo. And the filling has a nice peppermint flavour and isn't too sweet. But, the process of making the cookies was enough to make me not want to make the again.

Week 51 - Whipped Shortbread, via Corey's Amma - baked for 10 minutes, made 40 cookies 
This is Corey's Amma's (his Mum's Mum) recipe, and has been a staple for him at Christmas his whole life. When we started dating I had some his Mum made, and I immediately asked for the recipe. I have made them every Christmas since - for the last 9 years. And they have now become known as "Sha-oh's Special Shortbread", by my nieces anyway. This is a very simple recipe, only 4 ingredients, but is one I would recommend having a stand mixer for. The first few years I made these Corey's arm got quite the work out helping me whip the dough.

1 cup Butter
1 cup Maragine (you can not substitute this for more butter, it won't turn out the same)
1 cup Icing Sugar
1/2 cup Cornstarch
3 cups Flour
Mix all ingredients together in stand mixer.
When you first start the mix the dough it will become crumbly, keep mixing it will come together, until the dough becomes light and fluffy - almost resembling whipped cream. 
Drop by tablespoonful onto a lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes, or until bottoms are just becoming golden.


Week 52 - Rugelach, via Food 52 - baked for 15 minutes, made 48 cookies 
this is a traditional Jewish cookie, and perfect for the holidays. the dough is more of a pastry, with equal parts butter and cream cheese. you can be creative with the filling, I followed the recipe for half of the dough - filling with a mixture of ground nuts & honey. Then I tried fig jam in one quarter of the dough, and raspberry jam and shaved dark chocolate in the last quarter. Some other ideas for fillings include different combos of nuts or dried fruits, chocolate & peanut butter, or nutella.


So, I did it. Challenge complete!
52 cookie recipes. Countless bags of flour & sugar, pounds of butter and cartons of eggs.
3 bottles of vanilla. 2 new oven mitts. 1 oven light bulb.

The ones that disappeared the fastest…
Dark Chocolate Pistachio & Smoked Sea Salt Cookies
Breakfast Cookies
Kitchen Sink Cookies
Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Seed
Cranberry Shortbread Bars

I'm trying to think of another culinary goal for 2016 - besides my usual bucket list of new recipes and techniques to try. Committing to once a week was a bit of a challenge this year, so maybe once a month. Pies, cakes, ice cream, bread? Or something savoury? I'll keep you posted.

We're spending our New Year's Eve in our traditional way - lots of movies and lots of snacks! Relaxing on the couch, just the two of us. We think it's the perfect way to wind down after the chaos of Christmas, and ring in the New Year.

Wishing all of you a wonderful year ahead! Happy New Year!

Sending love,

Xo, A