Still Looking Back....

I grew up in an area of Canada called the Fraser Valley. It's so amazingly beautiful, it hurts my heart.....that is, when it's not raining ;) 

I know I took it for granted growing up here....

raspberry fields are everywhere (and are where I spent a good portion of my summers) .... 

as are barns and farms...

chicken farms are abounding....

and don't even get me started on the mountains! 

they're ALL around...hence it being a "valley"....yup, I'm smart.

and that, my friends, is Mt. Baker. 

It's technically in the US, but us Canadians have the pleasure of seeing it from all over the Fraser Valley.  

I'm not going to lie,  I got choked up every time I saw it on my last trip back. 

and if the weather permits, there are some amazing places you can go to check out the amazing views! 

Seriously, God is so amazing!

How someone can stand in the midst of all this beauty and not believe?!? 

I don't get it!

I have no clue who these women are...

but they were so stinking cute.

I can't get enough of the Oma's!

It makes it hard to come back to a very flat, mountain-less Georgia...

although the constant sunshine is a welcome change!

Scenes From A Farmer's Market....

While in Canada, I went to a local farmer's market and though it was nothing to really write home about (read: super small, like 10 booths small), it still had some seriously beautiful flowers and produce!

The tomatoes were gorgeous....and expensive. How is it possible that a tomato could cost so much??

And the honey, ooooh the honey! I had NO clue there were different types of honey?!? I walked away with a jar of this...

and let me tell you, it actually has a blackberry taste to it...who knew?? Apparently the bees get their nectar mainly from blackberry bushes...I may or may not have had an in depth discussion with the seller about her honey.

I love me some funkily shaped pumpkins...gourds...whatever these were called.

mmmmm bread.

It helped that we had these two beautiful girls to watch dance, wander, and run around as well.

I mean, how cute are they?!? They being Aubrey and my sister Astrid's girl, Aniya.

Dancing away and making some Oma's fall in love with them :) And then they begged for more money to put in the case...

Seriously?!? SO CUTE!

Linking up with....

How's This For Random?!

*It's cold here people! Like really cold, get out the sweaters and scarves cold! Who knew this could happen in Georgia?!? Certainly not me.

*I'm wearing a zip-up hoodie....I'm in my happy place:)

*I have a big family, see...

*That's right, immediate family.

*It. Gets. Loud. at a family gathering.

*Might be the fact that the kids out-number the adults....yup, I bet that's it...although, we are not the quietest bunch of adults out there....

*When we get together there is a lot of this going on....

Mass chaos.

*and we eat a lot of this....

*I would like to add that I took this picture after a bunch of people had already taken some steak...and we actually, if memory serves, ran out of meat on this occasion. 

*we Kliewer's love us some meat. 

*One of my sister-in-law's doesn't eat meat. Seriously. I bet she goes home at night and cries over our crazy consumption of meat....probably not. She's used to us by now.

*Moving on from all things meat, I'm about 20-ish weeks along now

*I have yet to find a doctor here in Augusta, probably should get on that one.

*The baby is kicking up a freaking storm! LOVE this part(no, that was not sarcasm, I really do love it. Figured I'd clarify because I tend to err on the side of sarcasm)

*Aubrey is going through cousin withdrawal. Who can blame her?! She had someone to play with at ALL times in Canada and now, just me. Poor thing.

*Did I mention that I was cold and wearing a hoodie?!? Because I am :)

Where To Start?!?

I stayed up WAY too late last night editing pictures from my Canada trip. Like way, waaay too late...as in I'm seriously suffering today. But in my defence, Zach was working a night shift and I had no one there to ask me what the heck I was still doing up and that I should get my butt in bed...don't know how that is in my defence, but I'm going with it, okay?? Good.

I have several hundred pictures to go through and these were the ones that I felt like editing, so here they are! 

This is Clayburn Village, an old historic town in the area I grew up. 

I know what you're thinking, "old historic town in West Coast Canada?!?". Well, it's there, so it must be true. And yes, on the West Coast, 1905 is historic.

This is a SUPER cute tea/old time candy shop that I went to with my sister and her little family. WAY over priced, but so cute it's worth it! It's been around for years and the joke is that no one knows when it's open. Seriously, you'll go there in the middle of the day, on a week day, for coffee and it's closed. There are no hours posted on the door and no dates when it's open. Yet it is super popular and has been in business for something like 25 years. 

I don't get it!

But I do when I go in, SO charming!

All the old fixtures and antiques all over the place, it's so wonderfully cluttered! The owners are English and it has a total feel of an English tea shop.

Look at this amazing cash register! 

And for a candy buff such as myself, this is heaven!

I may have been slightly obnoxious in there with my camera, but I'm so glad I took pictures....minus the fact that I'm having a serious candy craving now...

In Just One Week I'll Be...

- crying because I'm flying....pregnant. The two don't go well together, believe me.

- headed to Canada.

- drinking a slush

- seeing family I haven't seen in way over a year

- getting to squish all 14 of my nieces and nephews

- eating my dad's world famous BBQ(well, family famous)

- wearing pants and sweaters! YAY

- watching Zach's little brother (hahaha little, he's about a foot taller than Zach) get married...well in two weeks, but you get what I mean ;)

- watching my little girl be a flower girl for the first time.

- and a WHOLE bunch more!!

I'm not going to lie, we would not be going back if it wasn't for Jordan and Ashley's wedding. We just don't have the money. And for a looong time I let that get in the way of me being excited to go. How were/are we going to pay for the trip?... it always ends up being super expensive to travel back, way more than you plan on. No matter how hard you try, you get into vacation mode and eat out more. There are so many restaurants (as I listed in a previous post) that I have not been to in a LONG time and they don't have them here in the States. Not to mention clothing stores that I love and are cheap, but  add up in the end.

I had only planned on going for the week Zach was going (in Intern Year you only get one week off at a time, three weeks over the year, but you're not allowed to take them at once) because I have developed a MEGA fear of flying....and that started when I was pregnant with Aubrey and flew to England....and I'm pregnant now--not good for my fear. 

I did NOT want to fly with Aubrey alone, seriously. I end up just holding her in my lap and bawling while grasping the arm rests during turbulence......yup, I'm quite the sight on a plane.

But God provided me with the most amazing of amazing friends, Marcy. She's going to fly back to Georgia with me, which enables me (and my stupid fear of flying) to come back 2 weeks later than Zach. This is the same friend who has flown out to help us move, twice! Yup, she's amazing and is coming through for me again. Everyone needs a Marcy, seriously, they're amazing blessings ;)

And to be honest, I'm assuming God's going to provide us with the $$ because, well, that's just how He rolls!

So, I'm one week out and I'm now getting excited to fly back! Still nervous about flying, our finances, and being away from Zach for 2 weeks, but I'm looking at the amazing way's God has provided for us in the past and I know He'll do it again.

There are more reasons that I'm excited to go back to Canada, but I'll share those another time(have to ask permission to share first!). 

Now I just have to get past that pesky flight there and I'm golden! 

My whole family....minus Zach (another trip where he went home earlier than Aubrey and I)

Aubrey and her Opa (my dad)

with Grammie!

Playing with Jordan

Auntie Marcy