over half my life...♥♥♥

September 12, 2017 Arlene Giddings

i sat here in front of a flickering screen
and thought...what can i possibly tell you
that i haven't told you before...
in words and whispers,
notes on the back of bills,
letters with postage stamps and
envelopes covered in sesame street stickers...
love notes written in cards store bought and cards handmade...
phone calls and texts and blog posts
and facebook statuses...
conversations in the car, during supper,
while you are trying to watch a movie...
:)

i keep all my best stories for you.

when anything happens,
good, bad, funny, weird...
i can't wait to tell you.
you are my best audience...
you always listen, you always laugh
in the right places,
and you always, always make me feel better
when there are wrong places in the story.

i have shared over half my life with you.
and it doesn't feel like nearly enough.
♥ ♥ ♥

18 years in the blink of an eye...

September 12, 2016 Arlene Giddings

18 years ago
we said i do in a church
that neither one of us attended...
during the
mandatory
marriage planning course
we each had such a fit of the giggles
that neither of us
could speak
or look at each other
and i laughed until i cried...
afterwards,
neither of us
could explain
why.

i wore a dress and veil
that your mom made for me
and you cut your own hair
like...
the day right before the wedding.

no special jewelry, no hair appointments
we signed the marriage license
with a 49 cent bic pen.

my parents drove me to the church
in their little blue chevette
and just before i was going to leave the room
we were waiting in
to walk down the aisle
my best friend said
stop! there's something on the back of your dress!
in a mad panic
we rushed into a washroom
where she dabbed at the stain
and i tried to think of desperate-yet-ridiculous ideas
like "could we just pin it together"
or "maybe no one will see it" -
(it being a stain on the back of my dress
obviously forgetting that i would be standing with my back
to everyone for the entire service)...
she got the stain out
by the time they had played my "walk down the aisle" song
twice
and i hadn't walked yet....
your dad shouted out
maybe she's not coming!
but then i made it to the aisle...
my adrenaline was so high at that point
that i think i pretty drug my father
beside me
as i rushed down that
aisle to get to you.

i knew the first night that i met you
that you were the one.

the thing i love most about you
is that no matter
what i say i am going to do,
you support me.
even when i wanted to paint an under the sea picture
on our ENTIRE picture window...
you are always the one
egging me on
telling me i can do it,
i should do it,
i should try it...
and you know me better than anyone...
sometimes, i think you know me better
than i know myself.

happy anniversary sweetpea...
we celebrated with purple flowers and
KFC and later
maybe a movie & microwave popcorn...
sharing a blanket
curled up on the couch
and i wouldn't
have it
any other way.
♥ ♥ ♥

friday i'm in love

June 24, 2016 Arlene Giddings

♥ with this photo...it makes me think of fairy tales and paths that lead to dragon caves and trails of breadcrumbs left by orphans looking for witches who wear silver sparkly shoes and sing songs about pirate ships that glow in the night but disappear during the day.

♥ that i have signed up to do this read-along-course again with this girl whose blog i have adored for years...& i love the look of her brand new site!

♥ this little doll's big and bright imagination..."shark girl has the power of sharks"

♥ dan mangan has a new EP!

♥ this website...i am enamored.

♥ and this letter to the female hat wearing dog in the PD Eastman book...gold. pure gold.

♥ and this...well this....broke my heart.

♥ sunny warm fridays off with stirling manning the bbq while i play on the computer in a house that has been freshly scrubbed and laundered...my absolute favorite.

♥ finding this old wedding photo of stirling and i...this just makes me incredibly happy :) :) :)

father's day weekend 2016

June 19, 2016 Arlene Giddings

i have not been here in a while...
good intentions
but life is starting to get busy again

but this was a good weekend.

i shot my first wedding of my last season of weddings
which i think i keep repeating
to make myself get used to saying that...
my LAST season.
this is it.

which is both liberating and bittersweet sad.

the wedding was beautiful.
and the fact that it was my sweet cousin getting married
just added icing to the sweet sunny day.
they had an outdoor wedding in my aunt & uncle's backyard
and i can't wait to post photos of how
GORGEOUS
that yard turned out.
it literally took my breath away.

and because it was family,
it meant i got to sit with my parents and
another aunt & uncle for the meal
which was so awesome.

and today was father's day...which
meant the building of a new bbq
and a subsequent meal cooked on the new bbq...
a new deck chair complete with it's own cooler
and a harmonica.

it's been a great weekend...
i'm sad to see it come to an end.
<3

a perfect mother's day...

May 8, 2016 Arlene Giddings

this has been a perfect mother's day.
i slept in,
had breakfast made for me,
spent some time finishing up
my "new work/playspace"
and then...got presents!
stirling & campbell got me
the pink and black polka dot rubber boots
that i have been coveting forever
and emma got me
a purple bag
filled with the cutest stuff ever...
kitty cat post it notes,
scented markers shaped like bears,
a twisted fairy tale coloring book...

and then, we picked up a bucket of KFC
and headed to my mom & dad's for supper...
it's not that often that all
four of us are in the same car
so, that alone, was a great part of my day...

emma fell asleep on the drive back...which didn't stop me from taking selfies with her... :)

there is nothing i like more
than seeing my parents...
making plans to go to cabot trail
this fall,
sharing garden ideas,
eating KFC,
making height jokes at my dad's expense,
talking about when we were small...
this was the best way to finish my mother's day.

if there is anything that my mom taught me
it was that love
is unconditional.
no exceptions, no substitutions,
no excuses, no denying it....
love is unconditional.
no matter what,
i knew they were both not always just
there for us
but behind us every step of the way...
the biggest and best supporters
we would ever have.

happy mother's day, mom!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3