the pelley adventures

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things..."

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:27:42 -0400

““Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things you did do…so throw off your bowlines sail away from the safe harbor, dream, explore, discover!””

- ~ Mark Twain

9 Years ago...Today....

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:06:00 -0500

(The two photo collages below this are from our ‘early’ years together…)

Today marks 9 years since we met… since we were matched … paired…set up on a date…

9 Years ago today… I met the man I would spend the rest of my life with, the man that I now have children with, the man that makes me happier than I even knew was possible.

I truly can’t believe that 9 years has passed by already. It is honestly amazing how quickly life flies by without much notice – especially when you are blissfully enjoying it.

A quick recap… we had our first son, built our house, had our second son, gone through many vehicles, went to the Dominican for our first “alone” trip, got engaged, planned our wedding together, got married, many misc camping trips in between the years, birthdays, xmas’s, soooo many memories/highlights in 9 years…

I could go on and on and on for ages typing out memories and reasons why I love this man…. But it’s simple. I love him because he is him. His dry sense of humor, his realistic views, his amazingly unique personality, his generous and kind/loving heart, his immense knowledge of every little fact (like all the star wars characters names, or Christopher Columbus’ boats names….?? lol or that it costs almost 3 pennies to actually make a single penny….), the way he loves his boys (he is an amazing father)…and the way he loves me. I love Everything about him. Unconditional. He is my rock, my foundation, my strength…

I love him passed the heavens and back. Happy Anniversary … <3

Photo

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:52:53 -0500

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Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:47:18 -0500

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Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:32:18 -0500

you can’t really see - but it is snowing like crazy...

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:49:01 -0500

you can’t really see - but it is snowing like crazy here…. this is from my office at 11am today….. wow… I seriously am tired of this winter nonsense!!

wow… such an awesome pic… love the HDR...

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:32:55 -0500

wow… such an awesome pic… love the HDR treatment

allthingseurope:

Strömsborg, Stockholm, Sweden

(by Kurt Qvist)

mmmm… this was yesterdays dessert I made… the...

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:22:13 -0500

mmmm… this was yesterdays dessert I made… the chocolate covered fruit for the kiddo’s and the cheesecake filled strawberries for the mum/daddy…. mmm…. thanks to lkxo for the tips and idea!!! This was a huge hit in the house… and so easy to make…..

lol… i love this pic… i was just looking at the...

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 23:44:42 -0500

lol… i love this pic… i was just looking at the trash the dress pics and this one made me laugh out loud… i remember posing for these alone in particular and Rob was standing in the distance laughing his head off at how i had to look serious for the pics until the waves would come crashing in my face… then compose myself again for another pose… lol… *sigh*…. had sooo much fun…

i looove this… someone special gave this to me a long long...

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:25:03 -0500

i looove this… someone special gave this to me a long long time ago…..

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Mon, 21 Feb 2011 08:00:07 -0500

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Sun, 20 Feb 2011 12:00:07 -0500

these little moments

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:15:20 -0500

Im sitting here, in awe, soaking in the little moments…

my boys are sitting on the floor playing and giggling….

“Up High…

Down Low…

On the Side….. too slow ….

Cut the Pickle …..

Tickle Tickle!!!! “

They are having a blast…. and have been playing this game for almost 45 minutes now….

Each room of my house is jam packed full of toys, electronics, books, craft supplies… and they are sitting on the floor playing a clapping game…. these are the little moments that I love… and make a point to memorize for all the days to come….

Photo

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 10:00:06 -0500

…just going through some of the wedding photos….....

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:00:06 -0500

…just going through some of the wedding photos….. ah…..my poor cake …. was doomed from the beginning…. as you can see it was carried so many times from the resort, onto a bus, passed the beach, on a motor boat… onto the big yacht where it is sitting on the counter here in the picture… so the layers started to slide/tip over…. but it stayed standing until the very end when we cut it and ate it all up….. and it was sooo good… it was a white icing (vanilla) cake with banana cream in the middle and was served with pineapples and pineapple sauce…. mmmmmm….

Its gone....

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:48:00 -0500

My Dress….. its gone….another beautiful bride has purchased my dress and walked away glowing with excitement and awe.

Its just a dress… I have to keep reminding myself… material made with thread…sewn together … altered three times … and worn only for less than 24 hours for one day… Its just a dress…

But I’m finding myself a little saddened that I no longer have it… I decided before I even went to try on 45+ dresses that any dress I bought, I would sell to another bride afterwards. I do not have daughters to pass the wedding dress on to, an I most certainly do not have extra storage space in my house to store a huge boxed wedding gown. The price alone to dry clean and box the wedding dress is astronomical - and for what? To let the box collect dust on it for 50 years? Only to be eventually sold down the road?

But I spent a very special and magical day in this dress. I married the man my heart beats for in this dress. We splashed and played in the ocean for 3 hours in this dress.. laughing and making special memories that will never be forgotten. I was stopped by hearing a little girl in paradise under the tropical sun by the beach who whispered to her daddy that “there is a real princess here”… So a piece of me wishes I kept the dress… if only to keep an extra piece of those memories with me.

The way that dress made me feel… beautiful… important… and extremely over-heated! :) I remember standing in the shade, lifting the bottom of the dress and trying to fan my poor melting legs…. it felt like I had insulation wrapped around them. Still, I wouldn’t have traded it for the world that day, it was perfectly exactly what I have envisioned and wanted. The trials of having the dress altered over and over so that it would fit properly (that darn seamstress!)…. all these little memories tied to that dress….

Walking down from my room where me and my girls got ready to the Gazebo where my future husband waited was another memory I won’t forget. The train was dragging on the ground, so one of my girls picked it up and walked directly behind me the whole time making sure it did not drag. This was a very long walk, in +32C weather… We were all a little nervous and rushing, so no one said much, until one of my girls said “Gee, you all don’t need to feel like we are walking the last walk of death row… lol” We all burst out laughing and realized we were all so tense trying to focus on getting to the Gazebo and not letting the train drag on the ground… we forgot to smile…

I remember, also, walking down the incredibly long “aisle” in the Gazebo (to the sound of the traditional Wedding March) thinking “Golly, this has to be the longest aisle in the world!” … then suddenly I realized that there were steps over the bridge, then down the bridge, and then again up into the gazebo. Steps!? I hadn’t practiced steps in the dress! What if I fall, or trip on the hem!? I remember briefly freaking out and thinking “slow..slow.. one foot up.. one foot down… ok… passed that step”… I was terrified I would fall flat on my face.

I remember the sound of my new husbands breath escaping him when I walked into the Gazebo and he saw me in the dress for the first time. This memory alone, melts me.

Sitting… sitting in this dress was an activity in itself… the dress had boning in the torso to help keep the shape when being worn… boning in a dress is AMAZING for the look… however not the most comfortable to wear… In all honesty though, after this first 30 minutes, I did not notice it at all. Except when I tried to sit down. Naturally, I sort of slouch when I sit (I know this is BAD for me and my posture..), so when I tried to sit down in the dress, if I naturally let myself fall back into a slouched position I was quickly reminded not to do so by the boning jabbing me in the ribs. I remember sitting down for the reception dinner and trying to get into a comfortable “sitting” position… lol…

All of these memories and the others not written down, are the important pieces.. not the dress itself. So I have to remind myself that selling my dress to another happy eager bride was the best choice as I do not have need or room for it here, she does.

I only hope that she feels as magical as I did in it, and that her day goes just as well as ours did.

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Thu, 17 Feb 2011 01:35:25 -0500

A much better morning

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:20:00 -0500

Wednesday. “Hump Day”. The hump of the middle of the week… not the beginning of the week… not the end of the week… the Hump. I don’t necessarily like Wednesdays, but they are always much better than Mondays, and Tuesdays. Wednesdays are much closer to Fridays than the previously mentioned days which in my books - is great!

The closer that Friday gets, the closer it is to having my new husband home from work. You see, we have a little bit of a different schedule in my home than most traditional families do. His profession allows us to live the lifestyle that we have by providing stability and financial flow… but as with anything there is a downside… This type of profession steals my new husband away from me every week for 6 days a week.

On Mondays he leaves, and 98% of the time I do not see him until Saturday afternoons, if we’re lucky he is home before suppertime.

It is not the most ideal or envied career choice from anyone’s perspective. But it is what has been decided for almost 8 years now. Back when the decision was made to choose this path, the pro’s out-weighed the cons and as a young family we had not much choice otherwise. He made the sacrifice, giving up 6 full straight days a week to provide for his young home.

I can only imagine things from his perspective, from descriptions told to me throughout our many endless telephone conversations or texting seminars over the years while he is on the road. And my heart dually aches for him in sadness, and beams with utter pride.

The reasons for the sadness are many … he physically aches from inactivity - prolonged hours in the same position in the same environment. His health is deteriorating from exposure to constant a/c & heat registers in his proximity, as well as from lack of opportunity to take care of himself food wise or exercise. On top of those reasons are the more important ones that fuel the sadness, those are reasons like our young boys go through a minor grieving process every week watching daddy leave - knowing it will be 6 days before they can hug him again or play with him again, or just simply be with him in the same vicinity. He, himself, longs to be with us during the week, to follow a normal hectic routine, attend his son’s hockey practices, volunteer at his school, go grocery shopping, enjoy a meal at a table that was cooked at home by his new wife (partner of almost 10 years). The simple things most people take for granted every day, he longs for. And sacrifices for the better of his family. And for this, I beam with utter pride. For his strength, for his determination and motivations. For his constant uninterrupted ability to be the rock & foundation of our home and family. For the love he shows us everyday by doing something he hates while watching the calendar months turn into years.

One day, hopefully incredibly soon, we will have a normally stereotypical schedule with all of us home everyday at the dinner table, all of us sleeping in our own beds in our home. One day, hopefully incredibly soon, I can hold my new husband everyday and beam with utter pride that I have contributed enough to this family to allow him to end his sacrifices and enjoy his kids, his life.

But for now, I count the days every week until it turns Saturday.

For now, we talk constantly on the phone, or over text while he is on the road. Even when he is enduring time away, he manages to always put us, his family, first. It’s no new news that I had a crappy day yesterday, and this man made a point today to make sure I smiled, first thing in the morning to start my day. And what he doesn’t know, is I am always smiling on the inside beaming with pride that this man loves me and will be at my side until the end of days. This man is my husband.

"......grow old with you....."

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:44:00 -0500

Wow… must be something in the air or something… but I feel really old today… (could be because I feel crippled?)

Nah, really though… my heart is a little sad today….

I just finishing filling out and signing my youngest sons kindergarten registration forms. Crossed all T’s and dotted all i’s. Done…finito….

My baby… my littlest….

Where does the time go?

My oldest is going to be 8 years old in only couple handful of weeks!? And in grade 3 in the fall!? Where have I been!?

If only I knew a way to freeze time…. I would freeze it right now…. this very instant… before my boys stop believing in the tooth fairy or Santa Clause… before they don’t want to “hang out” anymore…. before the hubby and I get ‘old(er)’ and lose energy as always happens with age…

I’m in my prime years right now… my family is in its prime years right now… my life is at it’s prime and Im a little sad that time seems to be slipping away from me so quickly. It wasn’t long ago when I was introducing my oldest son to his new little brother in the hospital when he was just known as “baby-X” because we couldn’t decide on a name for almost 2 days. Now, he is going to Kindergarten!?

*Sigh* Just goes to show… stop and smell the roses every once in a while… it passes by too fast…

Now onto the daunting task of taking him for his pre-kindergarten immunization booster shots….. hmmmm….

Ahh… there… that makes me feel much better… I...

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:14:22 -0500

Ahh… there… that makes me feel much better… I love seeing this photo.. it is my FAVORITE so far I think… his smile always makes me smile…