HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! + 12 days to go!

Happy New Year everyone. I hope that you all had a great Christmas and spent it with your loved ones. We were sick with colds and slept a lot, but we also managed to visit with family & friends, and also managed to keep it low keyed. Mike did spoil me this Christmas....he gave me Scuba Diving Lessons! How cool is that! I was super surprised and thrilled. He got his family to give him money for his Christmas gifts this year to help him pay for his lessons. It will be so much fun to do this together. I've wanted to learn to Scuba Dive for quite some time now and I've mentioned it to Mike a few times that it is on my list of things to do in life. I love that he listens and he makes our goals and dreams come true. I've already crossed off completing a marathon (and will be getting ready to do another in 2007 -- maybe even 2 depending on how things go). The other cool gift he gave me was a board game I fell in love with last May at our fundraiser...it's called Ubongo. It's a german game and virtually impossible to get in Canada, but he managed to get one our friendly game store owners to round up a copy for him (thank you Buck!)....we are both having fun playing it and Mike quickly found out why I loved it so much and is now in love with the game too. We've introduced it to some different people recently, and they had a great time with it too. I think it will get played a lot. Our game collection is still growing and we are even registered at Drexoll Games for our wedding...hint hint...if anyone wants to help us add to our game collection, Darcy & Tamara can help you out with some games we'd love to own. We are also registered at the Bay & Home Outfitters. New Year's eve was a good day...Mike got to play some games at Drexoll while I worked on some wedding stuff. We then stopped off at Safeway and picked up some munchies for the evening (cheese, pate, bread, crackers, etc) and came home to settle in for the night. Watched "Da Vinci Code" on pay per view and had a yummy feast and a bottle of wine. Was a nice way to spend the evening saying farewell to 2006.

What a great year 2006 was. I got settled into my new home, with the help of Michael, especially after I broke my wrist....(okay that part -- broken wrist--was not so great). Especially because my curling year got cut short. We signed up for the Marathon and Fundraising as part of Team Diabetes Canada at the end of January. Went to visit my parents in Palm Desert in February and drove to Disneyland and Magic Mountain Six Flags park. That was my first trip to Disneyland....what a blast we had. Also my first time to Magic Mountain and on roller coasters.....I was nervous at first, but I had a blast and quickly got to see why Mike loves roller coasters....in fact I think one of my favourites even freaked him out! :)
When we came home it was time to start training and fundraising. That kept us pretty busy all spring and summer. In May we hosted our first fundraising event ever...it went really well, and we raised about $1500; the same weekend Mike's dad hosted a golf tournament as a fundraiser to help us out and he raised about $1200 -- what a successful weekend raising $2700 towards our $12,000 goal. Mike was keeping busy with his ball teams and training and me with cheering him on and training too. In late June, Mike surprised me and proposed to me at Burnaby Lake...making me one very happy lady!! In July we managed to get out on my parents boat with them for a weekend and had a great time. We also did a 20km hike around Stewart Island. A very pretty spot. That was how we celebrated my birthday. 2 weeks later is was Mike's big 30th birthday and we started the day by doing a 30km workout from our house to his mom's house out in Maple Ridge. After both of us soaking in the tub and getting refreshed, we had a bunch of our friends over to help celebrate. Sue hosted a great barbeque! Our friends, Colin & Lindsay managed to stop by with their son Shameus and their brand new daughter Brielle. We both got to hold her, and she was such a little doll. August had us gearing up for the last 2 weeks of training for our big marathon in Reykjavik, Iceland. Then off we went with Mike's mom & stepdad along for the experience to Iceland. Mike and I both successfully completed our first marathon. What an exhilarating feeling and even more so knowing that our group from Canada which existed of approx 180 people raised over $1,000,000. That added to the emotions of the experience. We as a couple raised just over $19,000. We were very proud of each other and our amazing accomplishments. We stayed in Iceland for a few days after the race and toured around with Mike's mom & stepdad. The four of us had a great time and loved Iceland. It's an amazingly beautiful country and we can't wait to go back again some day and see more of it. Also before we left for Iceland we managed to set our wedding date, book a hall and I found and ordered my dress. September seemed to come and go quite quickly as we recouped from the trip and marathon and started planning our wedding. Mike wound up his ball teams with a few tournaments one of which was at Nat Bailey Stadium. I'm not really sure where Oct, Nov & Dec have gone...but they have. End of September found us back at curling at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster. We have a lot of fun at our Friday night league. Mike has also joined the Men's Curling league this year and is having a lot of fun with that. The 2 nights a week that he is out, I'm trying to get some studying done for a course for work. October we had a farewell dinner with my folks and my step-sisters and their husbands, and our folks would leave for Palm Desert for the winter...lucky snow birds. First weekend of November found me at my best friend Rachel's for my bridal shower. My matron of honour and 2 bridesmaids, Rachel, Christy & Donni hosted a great shower. And in spite of the Pitt River Bridge being partially closed due to a horrific accident the turn out was still great. I got thoroughly spoiled at the shower and it was great to spend an afternoon with so many great ladies. Mid November I had my 3 girls over for Thai food and an invitation assembly party. We had a good time and managed to get a lot done and still gab & visit. The invitations went out shortly after and we received a lot of nice feed back on them. They turned out really nice if I do say so myself. It was fun being so creative and was great to have the help making it happen. Late November was my stagette hosted by my 3 awesome ladies. They did a great job and surprised me all day long. Picked me up in the morning for a spa day -- I got to have a pedicure and body massage. Heavenly. The four of us ladies had fun being pampered and then stopped for a bite of lunch afterwards. Was a great way to start off the day. I was then dropped back at home with the promise of being picked up between 5:30 and 6:00 and not to be too attached to the shirt I was wearing....well girls showed up to pick me up and gave me my attire for the evening....a graffiti shirt to wear and some other accessories. Off we headed in Rachel's mini van to dinner....Milestones...Yummy food, good drinks, and great women. Was a fun time. Then half of us had to head off to other commitments but half of us hopped back in Rach's van and off we went to.....The Foggy Dew in Coquitlam. We had a great night and the girls had a great list of "dare to do" stuff for me, and I managed to complete every single one of my tasks...much to I think their surprise and mine. It was a blast and I had a fabulous time. Drank lots, but not too much, if you know what I mean. I even got to dance on a table and then got handcuffed by the same bouncer and had a shooter bought for me. December was about working on some more wedding plans, and watching the reply cards come in. Got ready for Christmas too in there somehow. Over the course of the year we also managed to get together with our friends and family to share good times, and also with our game group fairly regularly -- which is always a good time.

Now here we are it's officially 2007 and only 12 days till we get married. I'm excited and can't wait to marry Michael. He's a great guy and we have so much fun together. Life with him is go-go-go and one big adventure after another. We have a lot we want to accomplish this coming year; we are going to enter our first bonspiel--wish us luck; wedding & honeymoon; scuba diving lessons and hopefully get out for a few dives over the course of the year; I have to finish my course for work by the end of April and I'm also instructing a walking clinic at the Running Room in Port Coquitlam for the Half Marathon and the Full Marathon; we have more fundraising to do as we prepare for our next Marathon in October, in Dublin, Ireland; and we hope to work on starting family. I'm sure there are other things we'll end up doing, just because that seems to be the way it is...but it's all good and I can't wait.

Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of Michael and Waleah.....

Can't wait for our big day and to share it with our family and friends.

Best Wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to each and everyone of you. And may all your goals and dreams come true.

My favourite quote.... "you miss 100% of the shots you do not take" by Wayne Gretzky.
So if you have a goal or a dream that you are contemplating....go for it!! If you don't, you'll be missing out, and just believe in yourself and you'll make anything you set out to do a reality.

Cheers,
Waleah (& Mike)

Only 39 days till our BIG day!!

Life has been so incredibly busy lately and it just came to my attention that it's been a while since we updated our blog!! Our apologies to those who are so kind to stop by here regularly and check to see what we are up to.

I cannot believe it's only 20 days till Christmas and only 39 till the Wedding. Seems like time is flying by at warp speed. Now the Christmas parties are all starting up. Still have to figure out what to get the people on my list this year for Christmas. And of course continue to deal with Wedding preparations. I will say that things are falling into place nicely though. Mike has already taken the guys to the Tux shop (Debonair Formal Wear) -- so they are set for the big day. (Guys truly have it easy on that front!--show up, get measured and then a few days before the wedding, pick up Tuxes....now how easy is that!!). The bridesmaid dresses are in the works. My fabulous seamstress, Irina (Loma Couture) is hard at work creating 3 lovely dresses to match my 3 lovely ladies. They will be wearing black dresses created with a satin shell and a chiffon overlay. Cocktail length -- skirts will be the same but the tops of the dresses will be tailored to the individual. I like that there will be a flow to the dresses, but they will also be unique....Just like my friends who will be wearing them.

Speaking of dresses....Mine has finally arrived at the Bridal Gallery. Going to try it on this Thursday evening and get shoes and any other accessories I need. Making the trip with Mike's mom....Should be a fun evening!! I'm looking forward to sharing it with her, as my mom is out of town till the wedding.

We've ordered our "cake" (we went with something fun and a little less traditional!)-- Can't wait to see how it turns out....We know it will be yummy!! That's for sure. Already taste tested.

Invitations have been sent out and reply cards are trickling in. Almost half have been returned so far.

Going to apply for our marriage license this week and our liquor license too! We are having fun with the wedding plans. As I said things are falling into place with less than 6 weeks to go.

We will try to update our blog a little more often over the next while.

My girls hosted my stagette on Saturday, November 25th -- It was a great night!! They surprised me and took me to a spa in the morning for a massage & pedicure and then out for lunch to visit. I was then returned home to relax before I was picked up for the evenings festivities. The girls returned to my place just before 6pm to dress me up -- had to wear a graffiti shirt that everyone got to write on later on. Also ended up wearing a dollar store large engagement ring...very cute... also a tiera and a leigh (sp?) and a banner that said "Bride to Be". After a yummy dinner at Milestones and a good visit with some of the ladies...we party girls (only 6) piled into Rachel's mini van and off we drove through the snow to the Foggy Dew in Coquitlam. The bar was lots of fun and the girls had a "Dare to Do" list for me.....I managed to complete each and every task and even a couple of extras too!! Thanks to the bouncer who let me dance on the table and who later handcuffed me and bought me a shot at the bar. He added to the fun of the evening. The girls took great care of me and made sure that I had fun, but didn't make a complete fool of myself. I also didn't get too drunk! Felt great, happy & giddy and crazy enough to do all my dare to do tasks....including removing my bra without leaving the room; and getting a pair of guys boxers....well....actually I managed to get 2 pairs....Thanks Mark & Liam.....Rugby guys are wild & crazy!! Good times had by all. Thank you Rachel, Christy & Donni!! You girls rock.

Well I'm sure I could ramble on about more.....but I'll stop for now. Save something to add later in the week or next week.

Stay tuned for the new year as our fundraising will start up again and we'll start training in the new year for Dublin 2007! I will also be instructing a walking clinic at the Coquitlam Running room for Half/Full Marathon Walkers. Looking forward to the experience and the opportunity.

Take care and wishing you & yours all the best of the holiday season.

Waleah (& Mike)