early november

If you follow me on Instagram, a lot of these pics will be reruns but oh well.

1. This boy is cute:

2. How many people can say that they love their job? Well count me among that percentage because I am one of them. I love making a difference, and to see progress within even a couple months is so fulfilling. It feels so amazing to know that I am influencing the lives of the children that I work with in such a monumental way. I am essentially helping to prepare them for one of the most important part of their lives...school. Not only school, but I should also include the successful integration into our society. That's a pretty big one.

3. Kobe got his annual shots and he was not a happy pup. He sulked in his bed in the corner for a couple days. I've never seen him so sad for so long.

At least we got him a new name tag. My phone number on the back of the old one was pretty worn.

4. Burns and I babysat Nitty and Naves. Natalie wore her princess dress the entire time and as usual (when Kobe is there) the girls stayed up late. They just love him. Here's Burns serenading the little princess with some Handel.

5. Last Sunday I was resting on the couch and Kobe came and collapsed on me. He is so nice. Whenever he does this, my heart melts like an ice cube thrown into the Sun.

6. I took the car through a touchless car wash the other day. For $6 it was so great to not have to do anything, but it didn't get the car as clean as $2 would have if I had just done it myself.

7. Fennec Foxes are so freakin' cute! Look up videos on YouTube of them. People have them as pets and they are so adorable! So adorable, in fact, that they reminded me of a little dog I know.

8. Wow, this past weekend was ridiculously snowy! I took Kobe on a walk and he loved just leaping and bounding everywhere through the snow.

I shovelled my sidewalk and I got dumped on.

9. Haha!

10. I hosted my first bridal shower. It was for Bryanne Litousky, soon to be Ogden. I can't believe her wedding is in less than 3 weeks! I made a bunch of appetizers. I don't know what I would have done without Pinterest.

I had cups of veggies and ranch; mozzarella, basil, cherry tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar (sooo delicious!!!); cucumbers and roasted red pepper hummus; and cups of tomato soup with triangles of grilled cheese sandwiches. The other two bridesmaids (Alyssa Lamb and Haillee Litousky) made the cupcakes and the punch.

Pinterest also provided free printables that said "Almost Married".

We played some games. Some were pretty classic, like the toilet paper wedding dress:

I also had the girls who came draw or write some memories that they have with Bryanne. Some were pretty funny. We gave the papers of memories to her to add to a journal or scrapbook. Another fun game was while she was opening gifts, we made a "Poem for the Bride". I started the poem with one sentence, then the next girl added another sentence. The girl after that could only see what the previous girl had written because we folded the previous lines down and added to the poem. It turned out to be pretty great! Bryanne's mom made her a nice wedding hat out of the ribbons from the presents.

I gave Bryanne a "It's the Little Things Care Package". I put a bottle of sparkling grape juice, post-it notes, a box of cheap date ideas, a box of questions to ask each other when she and Trajan are bored, and decision dice, all in a felt box. 

I'm not going to lie, I liked hosting this bridal shower waaaaaay better than attending bridal showers. I think I was just so busy trying to keep people entertained that I didn't have time to sit awkwardly making small talk with people I didn't know. It was great! 

And now I'm making snowflakes out of coffee filters for Bryanne's reception. They're going to hang tonnes of these snowflakes to get the feeling of a lower ceiling in the Cochrane chapel's gym. I've already made a few and I can't wait to see what it will look like all put together. I'll be sure to take pics when that time comes. 

a situation worthy of jane austen

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of a lot of stuff must be in want of a husband.

A universally acknowledged truth. Why did I just find out about this truth this morning? I'm more sheltered than I ever imagined! Surely this is not as universal as I'm thinking it is. I'm writing this post firstly to explain my feelings on this matter, and secondly to get the opinion of others on the subject. Let us begin.

I had invited a friend over the other day to help me organize all of my stuff. There was just so much stuff that I felt extremely overwhelmed as to what to do with it all and where to put it to make my basement look nice and tidy. She came over, helped me so much, and my basement now looks fantastic! She did an amazing job.

I received a phone call this morning from my dear significant other (I think we need a better word for boyfriend in our language), Burns, who informed me that this friend whom I had invited over said something along these lines:

Paige has a lot of stuff. She must really want to get married.

My first reaction, being the passionate person that I am, was anger, "Who was she to judge me based on how much stuff I had accumulated over the years?" Then disbelief, "How could anyone think such a thing?" Then it turned to curiosity, "Does everyone think this?"

My pride was hurt because of her prejudice.

Now that I have taken control of my emotions, I feel safe in writing this post and now realize that this isn't as big of a deal as I had initially deemed it to be.

I have a lot of stuff, it's true. I have pretty much everything I would need to get married and start a household except maybe a bigger bed, some tools, and a couch. I have pots, pans, muffin tins, plates, utensils, cups, pizza cutters, knives, a dish rack, rags, towels, recipe books, a table and chairs, lamps, a printer, camping gear, heck I even have my own nativity set! And let's not forget about my huge spice collection. Yes, I could elope right now and have everything I need except a couch (Burns has the bigger bed and the tool box). Does having all of this stuff indicate that I am desperately in want of a husband? I had never even considered this before this morning.

How did I acquire so much stuff? Three words: sisters and roommates.
It's that simple.

Alex somehow got a hold of a lot of stuff such as plates, cups, and utensils. She got the table and chairs from my parents. Arianne lived with her, then Alex got married. The stuff was passed on to Arianne. I then lived with Arianne for a couple years, she got married, and the stuff was then passed on to me. I wish I had a little sister who I could help out and pass all this stuff on to when I get married. I got a bunch of stuff from old roommates. The thing is, I may have a lot of stuff, but it doesn't mean that this stuff is good quality and it certainly doesn't mean that it all matches. Nor does it mean that I really want a husband!

To me, having all of this stuff is practical. I needed all of it when I lived in my old house. Now that I'm in my new house, sure I don't need all of it because a couple girls have a tonne of their own stuff. To me, my stuff is a symbol of my independence. To me it means I could live on my own comfortably without a husband if I had to. I take pride in this. As for my huge spice collection, hey, I like to cook and bake when I have spare time. In my friend's words, this collection of mine is "impressive". I like to try new recipes that require spices that maybe aren't used all that much. I've had almost five years to get all of it. A few of them were spices that my old roommates didn't want or forgot about. Again, this is practical for my own interests in cooking and baking.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not at all saying that I don't want to get married. I really do! I really, really want to get married and start a life with the man I have known and loved for almost four years now. I don't want to be separated at night anymore. I want to be able to go home and do housewifey things like cook healthy meals for my husband and have a nice, clean house, and only have to deal with one man's crap as compared to multiple girls' crap like I've been doing for the last five years. I want to cuddle in complete privacy. I want to be able to leave for the weekend with Burns without having to tell anyone where we're going and when we'll be back and who's sleeping where and "remember who you are!". I want to be with Burns for Christmas! Something we have never had the privilege of doing. You married people, don't take for granted what you have. I would want all of this even if I had absolutely nothing. No stuff.

Stuff is not an indication of whether or not I want to get married.

Now that I've spilled all of my internal workings and thoughts, please let me know what you think about it. If you're married now, did having a lot of stuff mean that you wanted to get married? If you're not married, do you think having a lot of stuff is an indication of your desire to have a husband? What would you think of a man having a lot of stuff? Is this a symbol of wanting a wife or is it a symbol of wanting independence? Or neither? Or both? Let me know! I want to hear from you even if you think I would be weirded out if you commented because we don't ever talk in real life. I love comments and I'll appreciate any and all feedback that I get.

P.S. I wrote this post with complete control over my passion. Please don't interpret it like I was angry or upset. I really just want to know what other people think.