my everything

it was all worth it.  I love him more than I could have ever imagined.  I didn't think we would be where we are right now, but I am so glad we are.  We have so many wonderful things to look forward to.  I feel so incredibly blessed to have him in my life.

my momma

she is pretty much adorable right?  I just love her so much.  She strengthens me beyond words

photo taken in Trenton, Ontario.  September 27th 2014

hello 4th year

It is officially the 4th year of my undergraduate degree at UPEI.  It is crazy that it is finally here.  I also thought that it would be fun timing with Haig coming home, but now that school is picking up my heart is pretty heavy missing him.  It's hard, but he always reassures me and let's me know that it will all be worth it.  I told him last night that I will probably say "I wish I wasn't in school" up until the day I graduate.  It would just be so much better if I didn't have to worry about it and I could focus on work, making some $$$, and planning for our future.  But this is not the case.  I only have these two semesters left and then I am done, and hopefully forever.  

We will have to get Haig through school for the next couple years, but we will make it work.  I value my education so much, even though I have never really been sure what I will do with it.  I have learned a lot about hard work and dedication though.  I know all about commitment and doing something you said you would do.  So for all that, I am grateful and I am sure I will find something to make of myself once my educational journey comes to an end.

For now, I am just trying to have fun during all the in betweens.  Like eating poptarts while taking notes, having end of the night phone conversations with Haig, watching a movie with my Mom and just doing my best to laugh whenever I can!

Sister Kristy Wang

One of my best friends has gone on a mission.  I am so proud of this girl.  She has accomplished so much, especially since she has come to Canada and I have had the opportunity to get to know her better.  It is so funny how the Lord puts people into your life, and you realize you needed them there all along.  I hope she has a wonderful time on her mission, she will learn so much.  Her smile is contagious and I know she will be blessed for all of her efforts. 

the field is white and ready to harvest....  

salsa

this year I helped make salsa.  I didn't help as much as I probably should have, but I mostly have the recipe part down.  maybe next year I will try my hand at the canning part of it.

we doubled the recipe and also decided to make another batch the following night because we had bought 15 pounds of tomatoes.  our salsa is sweeter than most, but we enjoy it a lot.  especially with some multi-grain nachos with melted cheese on a cold winter's day.

salsa

5 cups chopped tomatoes

3/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped green pepper

3/4 cup chopped red pepper

3 stalks sliced celery

1/4 teaspoon cayanne pepper

3/4 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

2 teaspoon lemon juice

2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon paprika

gratitude challenge: day 7

haven't you heard the saying "when I count my blessings, I count you twice" ?  I am grateful for love.  It fills my life with so much joy and happiness.  When Haig was gone, I learned so much about love and sacrifice.  Now we have the opportunity to learn some new things together and from each other.  I am excited for all that is in store for us as we continue to love each other and to love life.  

gratitude challenge: day 6

I am grateful to live on Prince Edward Island. It is so beautiful year round. I love going on adventures around the Island, especially with the people that I love the most.

gratitude challenge: day 5

I am grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It brings so many blessings into my life. I love the Book of Mormon, my Eternal Family and the temple. I know that I am a Daughter of God.

gratitude challenge: day 4

I am grateful for very amazing friends. I am so blessed to have people in my life who have been so supportive and have cared for me during some tough times.

You know who you are, and I love you.

Special shout-out to my sweet friend Laura.  She is a super woman and she always manages to make time for me in her busy life.  Little miss Dunford is going to be lucky to have such an amazing momma.

gratitude challenge: day 3

This morning he called me earlier than expected, just so he could hear my voice. I am so in love with this man. I am thankful for our sacrifices, they make us stronger. He is my confidant and my best friend. 

gratitude challenge: day 2

These people. Sometimes they drive me crazy, but I love them.

gratitude challenge: day 1

Since I have been a little busy with school to write any long posts, I will post my gratitude challenges daily.  I was nominated by the lovely Katherine Persson.  I am going to post one every day for a week.

I am grateful to be attending the University of Prince Edward Island. I cannot believe it is the final year of my undergraduate degree already! I will graduate in May 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. I have learned so much and I have met some pretty great people along the way. I value my education and I hope I can use what I have learned to benefit my future family and my community.

700

blog post 700 will be nothing exciting but just an update on my current situation.  I have started my 4th year at UPEI and I think I am loving it so far.  I am taking Research and Methodology, Comparative Sociology, Introduction to Anthropology and Developing Management Skills.  I think it should be a pretty quick and easy semester and I am looking forward to some pretty great things that are in store come the end of the year, so I know it will fly by.  Time is so funny like that.  When Haig was over this weekend I literally had moments when I was just thinking to myself "he's home!?!".  It is actually pretty crazy.  Two years went by pretty quick!  So one more year to go of school and some pretty exciting things to happen in the months to come.  Bring it on life.

a weekend on PEI

we talked about the future.
took a walk on the beach.
did some shopping
a lot of laughing.
danced to a slow song in a school parking lot.
said I love you many times
watched some movies with family
ate some yummy dinners
went to church looking dashing
fell in love over and over again

you know I would do it all again for you

photos by Nancy Renzetti-Wentzell of Look Whoo's Cute Photography

Sunday: blessings

If Sunday could be described in one word it would be: blessed.

I felt so much gratitude on Sunday, especially to be around my 'family', my oh so handsome return missionary and close to the house of The Lord.  We love the Halifax temple and we love that it is so close to home.  Sadly we could not go there together because it was closed, but we will be able to do some work in there soon enough.  I think it is so interesting that the Halifax temple and the St. Paul Minnesota temple are the same building.  It made me happy to know that while Haig was on his mission.  I love how much he loves the temple.  

We will go inside someday...

After a great fast and testimony meeting, we attending the rest of our classes and I was happy all day long.  It felt great to fast because I haven't in awhile.  We took a couple pictures before heading home in the late afternoon to have a meal.  It was delicious as usual, but before we ate Mom talked to us and told us how much she loved us.  Haig's parents are so wonderful and I love them to the bottom of my heart.  When I am with them all, I can feel blessings in my life.  I love the gospel in my life and that it has placed me into this family because I know part of me is suppose to be with them.  I love my family very much too and I am thankful for their support in all of this.  I especially feel blessed at this time in my life that he is home.  In all reality, the journey was long and it was hard.  I was able to keep myself productive and optimistic throughout it and it made all the difference.  Now that he is home but we are still apart, I am trying hard to keep that same mindset.  A lot of exciting things are going to happen, but they will still demand some work, support and a lot of trust in one another.

I love my beautiful life.  I love this handsome, return missionary. 

Saturday: east coast love

I loved Saturday so much.  When I woke up it was nice and sunny, but then after I got out of the shower, I was sad to see that the sun had disappeared behind some clouds.  I didn't let it get me too down though.  I knew we would have a wonderful day otherwise, and it was still warm so that was a bonus.  It was so nice to see Haig early in the morning and keep coming to the realization that he IS HOME.  It was such a wonderful feeling.  I think we did some reading in the scriptures together that morning, but I can't remember.  We did it a couple times and it was always nice to read with him and learn from him.  

We drove Victoria to Eastern Passage to go to work.  We took a little walk around and took some self timer photos again.  We like this spot a little bit.  It is nice to be on the East Coast.  We are so blessed to live near the water.  From there, we drove to the Ferry to take a little stroll around Halifax.  We walked all the way down to the market, but then only stayed for a couple minutes to talk to mom.  We decided that we wanted to try some poutine on the waterfront instead of getting a snack at the market.  It was late in the afternoon at this point and vendors were winding down for the day.  It was nice to see Momma and make sure she was having a good day.  We got a double pork kind of poutine at a place with pulled pork and tons of bacon, like a mountain of bacon I'll tell yah.  It was delicious and we enjoyed it.  It didn't rain, but we decided it was time to call it a day so we got back on the ferry and then headed home. 

Saturday night was more than perfect.  We ate some cheesecake in front of the Halifax Nova Scotia and talked about everything exciting that is in store.  I could not have asked for anything better.

Friday: beach bums

Kayla took the shuttle home very early in the morning, but I decided it would be best to get up and ready for the day from there. I texted Laura for a bit, I am so thankful she was on night shifts those early mornings that I couldn't sleep and had no one else to talk to.  Haig and I did some relaxing in the morning and then took a walk downtown Dartmouth and went to value village.  We also had some fish and chips at John's Lunch, one of our favorites.  We got home when the kids were arriving home from school and it was such a gorgeous day it had been decided that we were going to the beach.  Haig had said earlier that he wasn't really planning on swimming, but I am sure happy he changed his mind.  I did not intend on getting my hair wet.  I am such a girly girl sometimes.  Once I had taken off my dress and went in the water for a little bit, I got out and just sat on the beach for a little bit.  Watching Haig swim with Luke, Hannah and Dad made me realize I needed to be out there.  I could do my hair again, but I wouldn't ever be able to have that moment again.

Once we were all tired, we went home and got in some comfier clothes and watched Iron Man 3 with the family.  My hair dried, I fell asleep on Haig while watching the movie, but it was sort of on purpose.  He brings me peace, joy and happiness.  The days were busy and long to tell the truth.  It was so nice to be back together, but my mind was still on an emotional roller coaster.  I cried everyday, sometimes because I was just so happy and it felt so right to be near him again.

Thursday: happy day

Kayla was still in town on Thursday but she left me for a good portion of the day to hang out with a new and good friend.  Before we went out separate ways, we stopped at the temple to just see its beauty and be there as sisters.  I love this temple, it is a home to me and being there with my sister just makes it so much more perfect.  Once I got to the Pinsent's house, Haig was up and ready to go to the day, which honestly was a bit of a surprise.  We decided we would go to the mall for a little bit to look for some new clothes.  We made a couple of stops there and then decided we would go home and he would make us some lunch.  He gained some great cooking skills on his mission, I am very impressed and my belly was happy too.  After lunch, we cleaned up his room a bit.  He brought a lot of ties home, like A LOT of ties.  Some are pretty crazy, but they are all his and I will have to deal with it.  He had a job interview with someone he met on the airplane the day before, so he got all dressed up for that and we went out to Dartmouth Crossing.  I did some shopping while he was in his interview which worked out perfectly.  We made a stop on our way back home, and then Haig went out a little later to pick up our good friend Jordan Bruce and drive him home.  Kayla took a couple fun photos for us in the evening.  I missed this silly boy so much.  Haig and I went to visit his old neighbors Maureen and Jim in the evening and then we made a stop at the lake before going to get Kayla and going to Granny's.  We love the lake and it was so nice to be there with him again and have some good conversations about everything that has happened and some wonderful things that are ahead...